Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She walks into the room, past a row of seats, looking around. Just where had she left her pencil case? It must be in here somewhere, that's where she last saw it...

In the middle of the row, she spots something light blue. Upon closer inspection, she realizes it's the pencil case she was searching for – she finally found it. She leans down to grab it, smiling. “I'm so glad,” she whispers to herself.

A sudden loud noise startles her, and she jumped, wondering what it was. It sounds like her alarm... but she didn't have one set. What was going on, was her phone malfunctioning? She grabs into her pocket to pull it out and check, when she hears the distinct sound of clock hands spinning. Was the clock malfunctioning, too?

She looks over to the clock, and realization suddenly strikes her... wasn't there a rumor about this? Something about a Sewn-Lip Man, who steals people's time... First the alarm, then the clock going out of control--

She's growing scared, she should leave before it's too late. She steps back a bit.

“What time is it now?”

The voice came from seemingly nowhere. She looks around, trying to find the source, her fear rising by the second. As she turns around, she finds herself face to face with a creepy face. Sewn lips.

The hologram stands just a few steps away from her. It grins, before opening its mouth to speak. “What time is it now?” it asks again.

She looks to her phone, but the numbers are going crazy – she can't even read them. She looks to the clock, but that's no help, either. Oh, what time was it when she got here? She had just checked her phone before coming here. She begins panicking, not knowing what to say.

“U-Um...”

She isn't sure how to answer.

“I-- I don't know.”

The hologram ghost seems delighted at her inadequate answer, smiling even more now. “I don't know. I don't know.” it repeats. Its hands grip tighter onto the hammer it is holding. “You don't know anything!” it yells, jumping at the girl.

“You're mine!” It whacks her with its hammer, but the hammer never connects. Still, she suddenly feels a strong pain surge through her, causing her to drop the items she was holding, cringing. She hears the maniacal laughter of the hologram as she feels herself grow weaker and weaker. And within the blink of an eye, it's over, and she blacks out.

The hologram stands, grinning. Another great bounty of time.

---

An alarm rings. Hiro moves his hand to turn it off, yawning, still a little tired, but knowing he'd have to get up sooner or later.

His morning routine is pretty much the same as always. Wake up, get ready for the day, meet with Kotaro in the canteen. Hiro grabbed his food and sat down at the table across from Kotaro, who already looked at him like he wanted to ask something of him.

Unsurprisingly, it turned Kotaro hadn't completed his homework again, and asked Hiro if he could see his. Hiro sighed. “I knew you were gonna say that.” he said in a slightly annoyed tone, but decided he didn't want to turn down his friend. “Fine then.” he says after a moment, groaning a little.

“Don't copy and paste when you send it in. Write it yourself.” he warns.

Kotaro seems delighted by Hiro's response. “I knew you were a reliable friend!” He then asks Hiro if he could pass the soy sauce, which Hiro does.

Hiro is focused on his food when Kotaro asks him another question. “You saw the ambulance at school yesterday?”

Hiro recalls, remembering hearing the sirens and flashing lights, but he had no clue what was going on. “Yeah. What was that about?” he asked, looking back up at Kotaro.

“They say the Sewn-lip Man showed up!”

Right, Hiro remembered that rumor. A 'hologram ghost' – one that causes clocks nearby to go haywire and then asks you the time. “Huh? Here, at our school?” He didn't quite believe it. “Isn't that just an urban legend?”

Kotaro shrugs. “The class chat's all buzzing. Could be real. Freaky!”

Hiro doesn't seem quite as convinced. He grabs his phone and starts scrolling through the chat to see what's up. “It'd be interesting if it's true... What's with Ishida? Someone's real informed.” He then finds a summarized post in the group chat and reads it out loud.

“Here's the deal. Hologram Ghosts have been spotted these past two or three years. They are a glitchy paranormal phenomenon but different from ghosts. Yesterday's case was...”

Kotaro interrupts him. “From the rumors, a second-year girl.”

Hiro blinks. “They all assume she's dead.” He then shrugs, still not buying into it. “Besides, no one would be able to talk about the Sewn-lip Man if they died.”

“They say that girl heard it. 'What time is it now?'”

“It's 7:45,” Kiyoshiro says, standing next to the table the two were sitting at. “I don't think you have time to be eating right now.”

Kotaro and Hiro are surprised to see Kiyoshiro. “Uh, Senpai-!” Kotaro stutters, but Kiyoshiro interrupts him. “Haven't I told you enough? Call me Dorm Leader in the dorms and Senpai on campus. Remember to use them accordingly.” Kiyoshiro responds, looking pretty smug.

Kotaro rolls his eyes, looking away. “What a pain.”

“Did you say something?”

“Good morning, Dorm Leader!” Hiro and Kotaro say in unison.

Kiyoshiro puts his bandaged hand on Hiro's shoulder. “Now, Hiro Amanokawa-kun...” Hiro stops him before he can say any more though. “Why do you always have bandages on?” he asks.

“Hm? Oh, this?” Kiyoshiro asks, looking at his hand, smiling. “It's just as you imagine.”

Kotaro grins, seeming interested all of the sudden. “Oh? You mean that ambulance yesterday was for you then? That injury is from the Sewn-lip Man?!” Kiyoshiro winces upon hearing that name. “Whoa! There's a victim here!”

Kiyoshiro is quick to scold him, though. “That is not true!” He looks Kotaro straight in the eye. “You! Do not accuse people of such things so lightly! If you jinx me and lure that Sewn-lip Man, you're gonna be responsible! What are you gonna do then, huh?!”

Hiro seems confused. “Aren't you overreacting a bit?”

However, Kiyoshiro doesn't respond to the question, instead saying “Anyway, Amanokawa-kun, you're in charge of the third floor for the next two days.” He waves the two as he's leaving. “Make sure to get it done!”

Kotaro shrugs. “He's weird as ever.” Hiro nods. “Yep.”

---

Hiro and Kotaro are walking along the road, when they suddenly spot a police car on campus. “A police car,” Kotaro says, “it's for real then.”

Seeing the police car suddenly reminds Hiro of something...

~

He's standing in the kitchen, preparing food. It's quiet in the house.

“Dad!” Hiro calls out once he's finished and had set the table, beginning to walk up the stairs. “I have my junior high's entrance ceremony today, so I need you to hurry and eat breakfast!” He pauses in front of the door to his dad's room and knocks. No answer. He knocks again. Still nothing. It's eerily quiet.

The moment Hiro opens the door to his dad's room, he sees a hole partially in the floor where his father should've been, still smoking a little. “D-Dad?” Hiro says, looking around the room, finishing no trace of his dad. Even the cables leading to the hole are cleanly cut off exactly where the wires start. A device is laying in the middle.

He calls the police. Something is wrong. There's no trace of his father.

The police ask him a few questions, like where his mother was. Hiro had already called her, though she was shocked to hear what had happened. Hiro asks if this means he's missing, and the police officer responds that that's what he'll be considered as. He grips the device he found in his dad's room tightly in his hands behind his back.

~

“Hiro, we'll be late,” Kotaro calls out to him, snapping Hiro out of his thoughts. He looks up, nodding, walking after his friend.

---

After class, Hiro and Kotaro run into a teacher who asks them to carry some boxes to storage. Hiro agrees quickly, and when Kotaro says “Work hard, Hiro!” he gets roped into it too.

Once the two are done, they begin walking back. “Why do you take these on so willingly?” Kotaro asks, to which Hiro responds with “Well, there's no point complaining.” Kotaro sighs. “You know, you're probably giving off an unrefusable aura.” he jokes. Hiro blinks. “What are you saying?” he starts, though the thought makes him pause and wonder if he is.

When he looks over, he sees the barrier surrounding a nearby building.

“Our school's already known nationwide.” Kotaro comments, looking at the digital tape. Hiro is surprised to hear. “What?! Already?” Kotaro nods. “It's going viral.” He then shows Hiro something on his phone. Someone is searching for information about the Sewn-lip Man. However, Hiro doesn't quite get it.

“What's this? Showing off your girlfriend?”

Kotaro jumps. “Whoops! Of course this isn't my girlfriend. It's this girl called Lirurun. Her followers are growing fast and I'm one, too.” He shows Hiro the phone again. “More importantly, look here!”

Hiro sees many messages, all talking about their school and the Sewn-lip Man. “It's spreading like crazy.”

Kotaro nods, then walks over to the barrier, slipping through it. Hiro is surprised. “Hey, isn't that bad?” he questions, but Kotaro seems pretty nonchalant about it. “Well, Lirurun wants information. We could take a pic if there's something.” he replies, however quickly realizing the door is locked. He turns around to look at Hiro, demeanor quickly changed.

“My savior, Hiro-sama! Please help me!”

Hiro sighs, but gives in. “Oh, fine.” He walks over to the door, pulling out a small kit for lockpicking.

“You're seriously handy!” Kotaro says while waiting for Hiro to unlock the door. Hiro shrugs. “I guess it's my dad's influence, because he invents everything.” he replies. Then, the door clicks.

Hiro and Kotaro sneak in, and Kotaro casually calls out to the Sewn-lip Man, walking to the middle of the room. “The rumors say the clock goes berserk.” Hiro glances up at the clock upon hearing it, but nothing is wrong with it.

A sudden ding startles both boys – however, it was just an update from Lirurun. Upon confirmation that nothing is up, Hiro asks Kotaro if he's sure this isn't just another rumor. Kotaro points out the police, but Hiro argues that it might've been an incident that has no connection to this Sewn-lip Man and people just made the rumor up.

However, suddenly, their phones start ringing like crazy. It's the alarm sound again, but it won't stop this time. Hiro and Kotaro wince, looking at each other.

The clocks start going crazy, both the one hanging on the wall and those on their phones. Hiro and Kotaro glance to the clock on the wall, then back at each other, when they suddenly hear a voice.

“What time is it now?”

The voice is raspy.

“Was that.. you..?” Kotaro asks, but Hiro shakes his head – that wasn't him. But they both heard it.

Despite everything, Kotaro starts taking pictures, trying to catch a glimpse of the Sewn-lip Man. Hiro is about to say something when he suddenly feels a cold air at his side, as if something is staring at him.

“What time is it now?” it asks again. Kotaro and Hiro both see the Hologram Ghost hovering above them, looking down at them.

“Both of your time...”

The Hologram Ghost gets annoyed by the flashing light from Kotaro taking pictures. It quickly descends to where Kotaro is, whacking him on the head with its hammer, but not connecting.

“...is mine!”

Weird symbols appear around Kotaro, and a stream of light appears above him, leading straight to the Sewn-lip Man. Kotaro screams. A bunch of zeros and ones accompany the flowing light.

Kotaro rapidly grows older... until he collapses.

Hiro is in shock, looking at the two. Hiro is unable to move, frozen in place. The Sewn-lip Man turns around to make Hiro his next victim. Hiro steps back, but the figure is already in front of him. “What time is it now?” it asks again, taunting. However, before the blow can land, the lights suddenly turn on.

Hiro hears a voice call. “Hey! Is someone in here?! How did you get in?!” Hiro is stunned, standing in place, slowly lowering his guard. He sees Kotaro at the other end of the room, laying on the ground. His skin is wrinkled, his hair is grey, it's as if he aged several dozen years in the span of a few seconds. He's passed out.

“Aida sensei, there's another student!”

Everything after is kind of a blur. Hiro remembers being guided outside by the teacher. There was police again.

---

Hiro hears a knock on his door. He slowly opens, looking outside. It was their dorm leader, Kiyoshiro.

“Amanokawa-kun, I heard.” he says.

Hiro looks down. “Y-yes...” Hiro didn't know what to say. It all happened so fast.

“Nomura was hospitalized.” A slight pause. “You were asked, “What time is it now?”, right?” Hiro gives a slight nod. Kiyoshiro escalates from there like usual when talking about those kinds of things. Before leaving, though, he hands Hiro a talisman.

Hiro sits down on his bed, and starts scrolling through his phone, absentminded. He was still recovering from the incident, unsure what to think about what happened. Would the Sewn-lip Man be back for him? Was Kotaro going to die? Was there any way to reverse this?

A sudden loud skittering sound surprised Hiro. He looks around his room, trying to find the source, startled. He can't see what's causing the noise, and panics a bit. “Don't tell me... it's the Sewn-lip Man again?!”

Something drops on his head, causing Hiro to jump from his bed and attempt to take cover next to his desk. Some sort of USB.. looking sticks fell onto his bed? He wonders what they are, but then recognizes them to be similar to the one that was in the device left behind by his dad...

He walks to his closet and grabs the box where he kept the devices in, carefully tucked in. He picks one up and tries to plug one of the cards into the seemingly fitting slot, but he then hears a voice tell him “Wrong, that's backup.” Hiro recognizes it as his dad's voice, and looks around, confused.

He tries another one, but receives the same message. He tries the last one, and a shining bright light suddenly emerges from the screen of the device, temporarily blinding Hiro. When he can see again, there's grass everywhere in his room, even on his books and on the bed! And there's weird, colored particles floating everywhere, and even in the wall.

“W-W-What?!” Hiro blurts out, looking around, startled and confused. He looks up, and suddenly sees what appears to be a cat with gloves in a weird outfit, carrying something. It points to the side, and Hiro follows to where it's pointing, realizing it was pointing to his bed.

And there was a giant, round, beige bunny on it.

Hiro is startled and looks back to where the cat was, but it's gone. He looks back at the bunny, and then sees it move, startling him more, causing him to back up to the window sill.

The bunny smiles gently. “You must be Hiro Amanokawa,” it says. Hiro is even more confused and frightened now. “Y-You talked!”

The bunny nods. “I'm Angoramon.”

Hiro blinks, repeating the name. “Angora...mon.” A moment of pause. “Huh? What?!”

Angoramon nods. A hologram suddenly appears behind Angoramon, who steps a bit to the side. It's Hiro's dad. Hiro is completely bewildered at this point.

“Yo, Hiro! You doing all right? I'm doing all right. Were you surprised?”

“Dad?! What is this? What's going on?! What have you been doing? Where are you!?”

A moment of pause.

“You just interrupted me, huh?”

Hiro gets annoyed. “You didn't need to time that.”

“This is the Digital World! Well, it's like a cyberspace. I don't know too much, but isn't it cool?”

Hiro waits for the hologram to continue.

“Interrupted me again, huh?”

Hiro frowns. “Enough already! I didn't interrupt you either.”

“Don't get mad! That Angoramon is a Digimon. A creature unknown to mankind. In other words, a Digital Monster.”

“Wait, wait, wait! This is too much information!”

Hokuto suddenly changes his stance, and his expression changes to a more serious one.

“Hiro.”

Hiro blinks.

“Starting today, Angoramon is your partner. Take good care of him for me, will you?”

Hiro is stunned. “Huh? Partner?!” Angoramon offers a gentle smile once more.

Hokuto laughs. “No need to worry about me. Now, take care of your partner!”

“Take care? Partner? Hey!” Hiro shouts as the hologram fades. Hiro moves to reach out to it when it suddenly reappears.

“Ah, I forgot. Put on that Digivice in your hand and insert the DIM card again. Your world will change, Hiro.”

Hiro grasps the Digivice in his hand tightly.

“See ya!”

“W-Wait a sec! Dad!” Hiro reaches out again, when everything suddenly fades to white. When Hiro can see again, he's back in his room, and everything is back to normal, leaving Hiro to figure things out himself.

Hiro looks down at the Digivice in his hand, muttering to himself. “The Digital World? Digimon? Jeez, what was he doing for half a year? That good-for-noth--”

Hiro suddenly sees a book float up into the air, startling him. Then he remembers.

“W-Was it Angoramon? Are you there?” The book opens and Hiro sees a slight indent on one of the pages, pointing out a word. 'Materialize'.

Hiro blinks, then carefully puts on the Digivice. A line appears. Hiro turns his head and sees Angoramon holding the book, finger hovering above the page. How did he interact with the book?

“A hologram?” Hiro questions, taking a closer look. “Is it even alive?” He reluctantly inserts the DIM card. The device beeps and Hiro presses a button, causing Angoramon to materialize. The bunny smiles at him, thanking him for materializing him.

Angoramon puts the book down and pulls Hiro in for a hug, and Hiro is surprised, noticing the very real feeling of fur. Angoramon lets go after a few seconds, placing Hiro on the bed. “Hiro, are you okay with taking care of me? I will cause as little trouble as possible.”

Hiro is surprised by the question, and retorts with one of his own. “W-Why did Dad-”

Before Hiro can finish his question, his phone alarm starts going wild again, vibrating intensely. Angoramon's large ears twitch, and he quickly turns his head towards the window.

The glass shatters with a loud noise, pieces of glass falling everywhere. Hiro is startled and doesn't know what to do. Angoramon moves in front of Hiro defensively, one arm stretched out as a barrier between Hiro and the intruder.

“Clockmon. What are you doing here?!” Angoramon questions, ready to fight. Hiro looks straight at the Sewn-lip Man, who is apparently a Digimon called Clockmon. The intruder notices this. “You can see me clearly?” Hiro nods in response, stunned.

Clockmon's gaze turns to Angoramon. “Is that a Digimon?” he asks. Angoramon pushes Hiro backwards a bit to better shield him. “I'm Angoramon. What do you want!?”

The other Digimon grins. “My greatest pleasure is to look at the time stolen from humans!” His gaze focuses on Hiro. “His time... is mine!”

Clockmon lifts his hammer to try and attack, but Angoramon whacks him in the chest, causing him to lose balance and fall from the windowsill. Angoramon jumps on it, turning back to look at Hiro. “Hiro, stay here and hide! I'll deal with him!”

“W-Wait! He's-” but before Hiro can even finish his sentence, Angoramon has already jumped from the windowsill after Clockmon. Hiro quickly gets up and walks over to the window, looking out, seeing Angoramon fly after Clockmon, who is jumping over rooftops. Hiro makes up his mind and decides to follow them despite Angoramon's request, remembering that his dad referred to Angoramon as his partner and that he can't just leave him alone with Clockmon, especially not after seeing what happened to Kotaro before.

Hiro runs out after them, seeing the two fight in the distance. Angoramon is trying to avoid causing damage to his surroundings, but Clockmon is being very ferocious. “They're too rough!” Hiro mutters to himself as he continues following them, “Are all Digimon battle-hungry?!”

Finally, Angoramon and Clockmon come to a stop in a park, standing across from each other. Angoramon charges at Clockmon, who also charges at him. Hiro arrives just moments before the two are about to clash.

“Your time is mine!” Clockmon calls out. His attack is faster – he hits Angoramon with his hammer, and a yellow orb passes over Angoramon, before the same symbols Hiro saw on Kotaro earlier that day appear on Angoramon. Hiro is stunned. Is this it?

Angoramon groans and falls to the ground. The light stream between the two Digimon appears, just like with Kotaro before. Clockmon laughs – he's won. Hiro is frozen in place.

But then Angoramon tries forcing himself to his feet. A weird, yellow-orangeish cloud appears above him, small at first. The pink-magenta symbols around Angoramon suddenly disperse, and the mist grows really large, strong gusts of wind unleashed from it. Its shape is hard to make out, but Hiro can see bright, orange-reddish eyes in it, looking like those of a feral beast, with the wild glance of a hungry monster looking for prey.

Clockmon is extremely startled by the apparition, stammering. The figure above Angoramon suddenly disappears, and Clockmon tries to pull himself together. Angoramon has pushed back onto his feet, and is making his way towards Clockmon, even if very strained. Hiro snaps out of it, looking at the two Digimon. The Digivice suddenly lights up.

Hiro begins walking closer with each step Angoramon is taking. He suddenly remembers what happened to Kotaro, and quickly grabs a branch close to his feet, launching it towards the beam above Angoramon with all his might. The branch follows the stream, growing into a huge tree as it gets closer to Clockmon, about to hit him. Clockmon is forced to interrupt his attack and jump away.

Hiro smiles. “Just as I thought! I fast-forwarded the chestnut's time with your powers!”

Clockmon chuckles. “Not bad, human.”

Hiro turns to look at Angoramon. “You okay?!” Angoramon nods, and dashes towards Clockmon again. “Hiro, nice going!” Hiro faces Clockmon.

“I don't understand yet, but you're my partner, right?!” Hiro calls out to Angoramon.

“Yeah! We're partners, Hiro!” Angoramon calls back, getting into a stance just a few feet away from Clockmon. “It's our turn now!”

Hiro suddenly feels something weird... as if a word he has never heard before streamed into his mind? 'Petit Tornado'. Hiro blinks, at first unsure what those words meant, but feeling like he knows what to do just a few seconds later.

“Petit Tornado!” Hiro calls out, and Angoramon shoots a strong stream of wind directly into Clockmon's lower body, breaking the clock hands on it. Clockmon suddenly spews out all the time he'd consumed, unable to hold it in. A giant, yellow stream emerges from his mouth that falls from the sky in little particles.

Clockmon growls as he looks at Hiro and Angoramon, staring at them with pure rage. But he knows he has to admit defeat here. “Your time will definitely be mine!” Clockmon calls out as he runs off.

Angoramon and Hiro look after him for a few more seconds, before Hiro plops to the ground, exhausted after all that adrenaline. Angoramon glances up, then over to Hiro. “The power of my attack came from you, Hiro.”

Hiro is confused by the statement, tilting his head to the side. “From me?” He looks down at the Digivice... it was glowing earlier when Angoramon was fighting, but now it's back to its black screen.

“Hiro, should we head home?” Angoramon asks after a few moments of pause. Hiro looks up at him, and nods. “Yeah.”

Chapter Text

Hiro is fast asleep on the floor, snoring, a pillow tucked under his head and a blanket placed softly on him. Angoramon smiles as he reads a book, sitting on the bed, leaned against the wall. Tape, scissors and cloth were neatly placed on the desk – the two tried to cover up the window together during the night, but eventually fell asleep. Angoramon decided to finish their work after waking up and gently removing himself from underneath Hiro's head, since Hiro fell asleep on him as if he was a pillow. Not that Angoramon minded that, though.

He feels his stomach growl, but decides to ignore it, trying to further immerse himself into the book to block it out. He didn't want to wake Hiro up after the rough last night the two of them had. Angoramon just hopes that Clockmon won't be causing any more trouble for a while.

After some time, Hiro wakes up, yawning and stretching. He seems surprised to be on the floor for a moment, propping himself up on his elbows and noticing the window, then Angoramon. Angoramon looks up from his book and waves to Hiro. “Good morning, Hiro.”

Hiro blinks, then recalls the events of the previous night. “Right, so that wasn't a dream...” he murmurs to himself, sitting up. “Good morning.. Angoramon, was it?” The bunny responds with a nod, closing the book and putting it to the side, shuffling to the edge of the bed. Hiro rubs his eyes, looking at the window again.

“Did you fix the rest of it?” he asks, sure that they weren't finished with it yesterday. “Yes,” Angoramon replies, “I was already awake so I figured I'd do it.”

Before Hiro can ask anything else, he hears Angoramon's stomach growl. “Are you hungry?” Hiro inquires. “Yes, but I didn't want to wake you.” The bunny Digimon replies. Hiro smiles – that was quite thoughtful of him.

“I can get you something from the canteen,” he offers, getting up. Angoramon nods. “Okay, wait here. I'll be right back.” With that, Hiro walks to the door to get some food for his partner.

Burgers are on the menu today, so Hiro grabs one and sneaks back to his room with it, hoping no one saw him. Luckily, he didn't run into anyone on the way back.

Once in his room, Hiro gently closes the door behind him and pulls the hidden meal out, handing it to Angoramon. Thinking about it, though, Hiro doesn't think this'll be enough for a big guy like Angoramon, especially after the fight last night, which must've cost him a lot of energy.

The bunny Digimon thanks him, but seems hesitant for a moment. Hiro blinks. “Anything wrong?” he asks, to which Angoramon looks from the burger in his hands to Hiro. “Don't you want some of it as well? You must be hungry, too.” Hiro can't help but smile again – Angoramon was really kind. However, Hiro shakes his head. “It's okay, go ahead. I'm not that hungry.”

Angoramon looks to Hiro for a few more seconds, but starts eating afterwards. Hiro sits down in the chair at the opposite end of the room, watching Angoramon. He seems to be enjoying the food.

“Hey, can I ask you a few questions?” Hiro starts. His partner looks up to him. “Sure,” he replies.

“Where is this Digital World that my dad is in?” is the first one Hiro thinks to ask. Angoramon pauses to answer the question. “The Digital World is like a world parallel to your Human World, located in the network – you might know it better as the internet.” Hiro ponders that for a moment.

“Do you know where he is in the Digital World?”

Angoramon sort of shrugs. “I don't know where exactly he is right now. Hokuto moves around it a lot, so he's probably not in the same place as he was when he sent me to you.”

Hiro gives a small nod – that does sound like his dad. He stops for a few moments, thinking about what else he wants to ask. “What are Digimon? How do they get here?”

“Digimon are the inhabitants of the Digital World – there's many different kinds of them.” Angoramon says after another bite, then pauses for a second. “As far as Hokuto and I were able to find out, Digimon are being thrown into the Human World, but we haven't been able to find the cause.”

“That's odd. Did you have any leads?” Hiro retorts. Angoramon shakes his head. “All we know right now is that gates to the Human World are opening all over the Digital World at seemingly random intervals.”

Angoramon had since finished his meal, but his stomach growls again after a few moments, clearly indicating that he's still hungry.

“Should I get you some more? I can go buy something.” Hiro offers. Angoramon hesitates for a minute or two, but reluctantly nods. Hiro gets up from the chair, slowly making his way to the door. “Thank you, Hiro,” Angoramon says, offering a small smile. Hiro responds with a “No problem,”, but then pauses in front of the door.

“I can hardly keep you in my room forever... how am I gonna sneak you out of the dorm without anyone noticing?” Hiro mutters to himself, seeming perplexed by the issue. Angoramon thankfully has a quick answer though, getting up from the bed and walking over to Hiro.

“Do you see that button on the side of your Digivice?” Hiro looks at the button Angoramon is pointing to. “Hokuto said it should be able to turn me invisible to anyone without a Digivice.” Hiro blinks, then presses the button. Within a second, Angoramon becomes semi-transparent, similar to how Clockmon appeared yesterday. Angoramon walks to the closet and sticks a hand through to demonstrate to Hiro. “I can also phase through objects like this.” Of course. His dad thinks of everything when making a new invention.

“Well, if anyone sees you, we can just say you're a hologram – that won't be as odd out there.” Hiro says, putting his hand on the door handle. “Do you want to come with me?” he asks, turning back to Angoramon, who nods.

---

Along the road, Hiro spotted a small, pink mouse that looked like a Digimon, and he asked if it was one. Angoramon nodded. “It's called Tyumon – usually it is seen with another Digimon called Scumon, but it seems like this one is on its own.” The Tyumon had since scurried off into the nearby bushes, though, so Hiro doesn't bother going after it.

Hiro already asked Angoramon about what kind of foods he'd like, but Angoramon didn't know what exactly to answer since he imagined food in the Digital World and in the Human World aren't the same. The two agreed to have Angoramon point foods out to Hiro that he'd like to try and Hiro picks them up, since it'd be pretty weird if Hiro was just seemingly talking to himself in the store.

Thankfully, the function his dad built worked like a charm – nobody has addressed Angoramon's existence at all.

Angoramon points out various foods at the store, some of which he says seem similar to what they have in the Digital World, albeit not the exact same. Hiro also packs a few things for himself, having gotten hungry.

While waiting at the self-checkout, Hiro spots a magazine that mentions a hologram ghost, catching his eye. He chooses to pick it up and have a look at it later, when they're back in the dorm.

After finishing their grocery shopping, Hiro decides they should go to a park for a bit and enjoy the day while it is still bright outside. The two find a nice, shady spot, and sit down together. Hiro had brought a blanket with them so they could have somewhat of a picnic.

The two are pretty much sitting in comfortable silence, both enjoying their food. Hiro occasionally asks Angoramon if the food he's having tastes good, but Angoramon seems pretty content with everything they got. He did notice that Angoramon has taken a particular liking to tea, especially the darjeeling tea Hiro got, making a mental note of that.

Hiro asks if they have anything similar in the Digital World, and Angoramon says they do have tea variants, but not this specific kind, and that it tastes really good. Hiro smiles. “I'm happy you found something you really like,” he replies.

After some time, the two decide to return to the dorm.

---

It's getting pretty late when Hiro and Angoramon get back, the sun already gone. They make their way to Hiro's room pretty quickly, though thankfully most other students are already in their room, so they don't run into anyone.

Back in their room, Hiro decides to take the time to read the magazine he bought. Angoramon is looking over his shoulder, reading along.

“A mummy that walks around at night... Starting last month at the New National Ueno General Museum, the ancient Egyptian mummies have been on special display.” Hiro reads out loud. “However, there is a rumor that people go missing around the area. They say a huge man fully covered in bandages was witnessed kidnapping people. This may be another type of Hologram Ghost.”

Hiro has a sudden realization, remembering that the rumors about Clockmon also referred to him as a Hologram Ghost. He looks over at Angoramon. “Could this be a Digimon too?” Hiro asks. Angoramon seems lost in thought for a moment, inspecting the picture provided in the magazine closer. “The picture looks kind of like a Digimon called Mummymon; in the Digital World it is known as a Necromancer because it can interact with the souls of dead Digimon.”

Hm, Mummymon... maybe this Digimon knows how to get to the Digital World, a question Angoramon wasn't able to answer either. “Should we investigate, Hiro?” Angoramon inquires, ripping Hiro out of his thoughts. He nods. “Maybe we can get some more information from it.”

---

The next day, Hiro and Angoramon get ready to head to the museum. Hiro had turned Angoramon invisible to other humans again for now, and just at the right time, as some workers arrived to replace the window Clockmon had destroyed when he came to attack Hiro.

He packs a few snacks and something to drink for on the road, as well as the magazine the two of them had read yesterday. Before he leaves, he turns to the workers. “I'll leave the repairs to you, then!”

The worker turns to him, nodding. “Yeah, sure.”

Hiro and Angoramon leave their room and head down the stairs. Hiro hands a piece of paper to Niijima, the dorm caretaker, who smiles, taking it, then looking up at him. “Your curfew's 11 p.m. Be back before that,” she says, and Hiro nods. “Yes, ma'am,”

The door opens and Hiro turns to look who is coming in. It's Kotaro, leaving Hiro quite surprised. “Kotaro, you're back already?” Kotaro grins and shrugs. “There was this super cute nurse!” he replies.

Hiro blinks. “What?”

Kotaro chuckles slightly, putting a hand to his head. “My mom found out I was hitting on her, so I was forced to leave.” he explains.

“I-I see...” Hiro replies, sighing slightly.

While the two are chatting, Kiyoshiro comes down the stairs. “Amanokawa-kun, about your room's window...” Hiro panics for a moment – right, he couldn't just say Clockmon smashed it when he attacked. He had to think of a better excuse quick. “Oh, I-I apologize! I just tripped a little and smashed right into it.” he explains. That was a terrible one though, wasn't it? How would he have destroyed all of the glass?

Kiyoshiro doesn't question it further though, instead whispering to Hiro “Did you make them tempered glass or double-paned?”, which confuses Hiro quite a bit. “Huh? Tempered glass?”

Kiyoshiro nods slightly. “Well, you know, there's been many dangerous things around lately.” Hiro blinks. “Dangerous things? Senpai, have you seen something?” he asks. Kiyoshiro backpedals real quick after that. “That's not it! I haven't seen anything! Nothing whatsoever!” he replies, waving his hands in front of him frantically. He turns around to walk away, but greets Kotaro first. “Nomura-kun, welcome back from the hospital! Bye!”

Then he walks away, looking around himself nervously.

Kotaro and Hiro are left perplexed by the interactions. “What's with him?” Kotaro asks, and Hiro shrugs, “I don't know. He probably has issues.” Hiro then starts heading for the door, waving Kotaro goodbye, and heading to the museum with Angoramon.

---

At the museum, the two wander through the various exhibits, Angoramon curious to learn more about human history and culture. He points out the hologram of a dinosaur, remarking that it looks like a Digimon.

Hiro blinks. “That's a dinosaur. They lived on Earth a long time ago. You have Digimon similar to them?” he retorts. Angoramon nods. “Quite a few, actually – it would take me some time to name them all. That one looks most similar to Tyrannomon, or maybe one of the Greymon variants.” Hiro listens, intrigued. So dinosaurs are a thing in the Digital World too, to an extent.

They then head to the Ancient Egyptian display, looking around. No signs of any Digimon, but it wasn't night yet. Unsurprisingly, the display is just as crowded as Hiro anticipated – it's hard to navigate through that amount of people.

Hiro decides the best place to hide and wait until closing time would be in the bathroom, since him and Angoramon are less likely to be found there.

Hiro is looking at his phone when Angoramon's ears twitch. Seconds later, the announcement comes that the museum will be closing soon. Hiro looks up at Angoramon, who says that it's almost time. Hiro nods and turns his gaze to his phone when it dings, seeing that Lirirun has made a new post – it seems like they were at the exhibit, too.

As everything turns dark just a short while later, Hiro and Angoramon sneak out of the bathroom together, ready to investigate further. They begin making their way to the mummy exhibit, but run into a problem quickly as Hiro is confronted with a digital keypad on one of the doors.

“Oh, gee, I can't do anything about this,” he murmurs, stumped. How are they gonna get through this? Angoramon looks over to Hiro. “Let me have a look.” he requests.

Hiro moves to the side so Angoramon can inspect the keypad more closely. Angoramon stares at it intensely, and the keypad suddenly runs back a 'success' message, opening the door. Hiro is surprised, and looks to Angoramon. “How did you do that?” “Most Digimon are capable of interacting with electronic devices, so I only had to find which passcode had been used previously.” Angoramon explains. Huh, Hiro didn't expect that; that's quite handy to know, though.

Hiro and Angoramon wander into the mummy exhibit together. Once in the hallway where the mummies are lined up in displays on both walls, Angoramon's ears twitch again, and the two see a Digimon emerging from one of the mummies just seconds later. It steps out of the display, into the hall, and looks to them.

Angoramon steps to Hiro's side defensively, just in case. “So I was right,” he murmurs. Mummymon stares at Hiro first, then moving to Angoramon. “A human with a Digimon? Who are you?” Mummymon's voice is a lot more soft and calm than Hiro had anticipated. “I'm Angoramon, and this is Hiro,” Angoramon replies.
Mummymon turns to their direction fully, though not walking towards them. “I am Mummymon.” So the 'Hologram Ghost' was indeed a Digimon. Hiro takes a step forward.

“Ah, we had a question, and wondered if you might be able to answer it,” Hiro explains, not exactly wanting to get into a fight with him, though it didn't seem like Mummymon was hostile either way.

The mummy Digimon waits for Hiro to ask his question. “Do you know how to get to the Digital World?” Hiro asks. However, Mummymon unfortunately shakes his head. “No, I do not know.”

That wasn't the answer Hiro was hoping for. Well, it was worth a try. He sighs audibly... looks like Angoramon and him will have to look for answers elsewhere.

However, something about Mummymon's demeanor suddenly changes, and he shoots out bandages towards the two of them. Angoramon barely jumps out of the way, but they catch directly onto Hiro, wrapping him completely. “Huh? What!? What is this?!” Hiro yells, flopping to the ground.

“Hiro!” Angoramon calls out, turning to face Mummymon. Mummymon points to Angoramon. “There are no problems with you.” he says.

Angoramon charges at Mummymon in an attempt to defend Hiro, but Mummymon dodges out of the way. Just as Angoramon lands on his feet and turns to look at the other Digimon, he sees a pair of bandages coming straight towards him, launching him into the wall at the other end of the room, taping him to it with a couple of knives.

Mummymon turns over and picks up the bandaged Hiro. “I shall grant you eternal rest and eternal peace.” Hiro is wiggling, trying to struggle free. “Wait, wait! What's with this?! Let me go! Let me out!” he screams.

Angoramon is trying to free himself from his bindings, watching Mummymon walk off with Hiro. He calls his partner's name as the two disappear into the darkness of the corridor.

Hiro has no clue where he's being brought, still trying to get out. “Put me down! Are you listening?!” Hiro suddenly hears the echoing of Mummymon's footsteps. Where has this Digimon brought him that it would echo so loudly?

Suddenly, he hears another voice. It sounds like a man. “What have I ever done to you?!” he questions. And with that person starting to speak, so do others. Within a few moments, a bunch of voices start overlapping each other, all pleading for their freedom.

Then, Mummymon speaks again. “Shroud yourself in darkness further. Then you shall gain eternal rest.”

“Let me out! Let me out!” another one shouts.

“Fear not. This is the eternal peace chosen by darkness.”

Hiro blinks. “Eternal peace? Don't tell me that means becoming a mummy.” he murmurs to himself, starting to struggle again. “Stop saying such stupid stuff and let me go!”

Meanwhile, Angoramon has managed to free one of his ears, which he uses to smack down one of the knives keeping him stuck to the wall, loosening one of the binds enough to allow him to wiggle free.

Mummymon walks further into wherever it is they are going, still carrying Hiro with him.

“I... don't want... to die... yet...” another voice whispers.

Mummymon looks up. “I see great signs. Have hope.”

This confuses Hiro even more. “What? What do you mean, 'signs'?”

“Am I... done... for?” someone else mutters.

“You shall too. Soon, just as the blossoms abloom in heaven, your body and soul shall meet its time of resurrection.”

Hiro listens, trying to figure out what Mummymon is talking about.

“Do not fear! Trust in my powers of purification and attain eternal peace!”

Hiro blinks. “Purification? Eternal peace... Signs, body and soul, resurrection...”

However, before Hiro can finish the thought, he feels a rumble. “Hiro!” It's Angoramon's voice – he's managed to free himself and follow Mummymon down here.

Angoramon has grabbed Hiro's wrapped up body, but Mummymon notices Angoramon and knocks him away. However, Angoramon holds tight to the bandage he had in hand as he's flying to the other end of the room, pulling Hiro along and freeing him from his binds.

Hiro hits the ground at about the same time as Angoramon. He turns over, getting onto his hands and pushing himself up. “T-Thanks, Angoramon!” he yells to his partner.

“Hiro, be careful! Mummymon is much stronger than me, I don't know if I can take him in a fight!”

Hiro nods, and turns around, spotting the several dozen 'mummies' stuck to the walls and ceiling, all wrapped up in bandages. “Purification... Signs... Resurrection!” His gaze falls upon Mummymon, who was looking at his hand which he was just carrying Hiro with.

Mummymon's glare focuses on Angoramon, enraged. “You little... How dare you take my patient!” he screams, the wrapping around the object on his back loosening itself, revealing a large gun, which Mummymon starts shooting wildly with.

Hiro is surprised by the word Mummymon used to describe him. “Patient?”

“How dare you?!” Mummymon roars, still shooting without a target in the general direction Hiro and Angoramon are in. Hiro quickly shuffles behind a pillar to protect himself, just like Angoramon.

As the mummified people scream out in fear, Mummymon calms down a bit and focuses his fire. “Do not worry! I promise to heal you all!” He begins walking towards Hiro and Angoramon.

Hiro is trying to put things together in his head. “Patient, heal...” A realization comes to him. He slightly looks around the corner. “Hey, are you a doc--” However, Hiro immediately has to retreat to his initial position when Mummymon fires in his direction.

When Mummymon aims back to where Angoramon is, Hiro tries again. “Hey, you! If you're a doctor, you've got the wrong idea! Doing this won't heal humans!”

The Digimon doesn't listen, though. “I have come to the human world and seen with my own eyes. This is the way to attain eternal life. The art of medicine in the human world!”

Hiro huffs. He has to get through to Mummymon. “Hey, like I said--” Hiro stops the moment he feels bandages wrap around him again – oh no. Hiro falls over to the floor, wiggling again. Angoramon calls out his name.

“I have not gotten anything wrong.”

Hiro feels himself be dragged towards Mummymon. Angoramon runs over to Hiro, right out into the open, fending off more bandages and trying to free Hiro from his. However, before he is even able to react, Mummymon shoots him with a bright pink beam from his gun, forcing Angoramon to the ground and paralyzing him.

“These humans give off deep sighs and they all wear a look of exhaustion. It is my mission to cure illnesses!” Mummymon explains.

“Wait a minute! But--”

“I have no ear to lend you!”

Hiro feels the bandages wrap tighter around him. He flops over to the other side, looking at Angoramon, who is unable to get back up. “Y-You okay?” Hiro asks, worried for his partner. More bandages wrap around Hiro and drag him towards Mummymon.

“Answer me, Angoramon!”

Angoramon claws at the ground, trying to drag himself forward to where Hiro is. “H-Hiro..!”

Hiro looks to Angoramon, pulling himself to his partner across the concrete floor. “I.. promised..!” “A-Angoramon.. hang in there!” Hiro calls out to his partner. Angoramon begins pushing himself up, ever so slightly. “Have to.. protect...” He groans in pain as he forces himself to his feet. “..Have to save.. H-Hiro!”

Hiro struggles against the bandages. “Angoramon, run!”

“I... I can't...! I-- I promised... H-Hokuto... to protect you..!” Angoramon forces out as he tries to step forward despite Mummymon's attack.

Hiro is surprised to hear Angoramon's words. Is that why his dad sent him here?

Mummymon suddenly increases his attack, hurting Angoramon even more, forcing him to put his hands on the floor again.

“Angoramon!” Hiro cries out to his partner.

Angoramon pushes himself up. “I-I'll... I'll save Hiro!”

A bright, white light suddenly emerges from both the Digivice and Angoramon, almost blinding to Hiro.

“Angoramon, evolve to..!”

Angoramon's form is completely enveloped by the white light, and Angoramon's shape changes. Hiro looks on in awe. Suddenly, the white light vanishes from Angoramon as strong gusts of wind sweep through the room.

“SymbareAngoramon!”

The wind cuts straight through the bandages Hiro was caught up in, blowing them off of Hiro's figure as well. Hiro stares at Symbareangoramon in amazement and confusion. “Huh?”

Mummymon is frozen in place.

“An evolution?” Hiro murmurs, unsure what that means. Angoramon looks quite different now – if Hiro didn't just see him change shape himself, he would never believe this was Angoramon before.

Symbareangoramon stands, calm, a serious look on his face. He suddenly charges towards Mummymon. Hiro feels a phrase come into his mind just as Angoramon passes him, and he knows it's like before, with Clockmon. He looks after Symbareangoramon, knowing what he has to do.

“Breaking Stream!” Hiro yells out. Symbareangoramon elegantly jumps up, flipping over Mummymon, shooting a strong gale of wind directly at the other Digimon while in midair.

However, Mummymon isn't defeated by it. He slashes away the remaining gust, pointing his gun at Symbareangoramon again. Before he can shoot, though, Hiro tries to get through to him again.

“Your treatment is wrong!”

Mummymon turns his head over to look at Hiro. “Lies.”

Hiro is determined to convince Mummymon, though. “A doctor can't be killing their patients!” he yells.

That stops the Digimon in his tracks. He turns around completely, seeming shocked. “What?”

Looks like Hiro finally got his attention. He slowly walks up to Mummymon. “Humans don't resurrect. After we die, we just become like those dried-up mummy displays.”

“What?”

“That is an ancient Egyptian method from thousands of years ago. Not the treatment of today!”

Hearing that seems to startle Mummymon. He looks at Hiro, seemingly realizing that he's been harming people all along when he tried to help them. Mummymon falls to his knees at the realization he's been wrong this entire time.

Symbareangoramon suddenly begins glowing yellow, and Hiro looks over at him. Symbareangoramon devolves back to Angoramon, plopping down onto the ground as the light vanishes from him.

“Angoramon! What's an evolution?” However, Angoramon doesn't answer, seeming too exhausted. Hiro decides he'll just ask at a later time.

---

“I must have misunderstood...” Mummymon says, looking out onto the lake in the park, seeming distraught over his actions. Well, at least not all Digimon that came to the Human World are purposefully violent like Clockmon.

The three are standing at the lake, looking out to the rest of the city. “There are some pretty famous hospitals around this area,” Hiro explains. “So why don't you go and learn? How to heal humans.”

Mummymon turns to Hiro, nodding. “Thank you. Then I shall go back to the basics as a doctor and make a fresh start.” With that Mummymon begins walking away. Hiro smiles. “Careful not to get caught,” Hiro tells Mummymon.

“In the darkest night, a museum's lone mummy learns to cure again.” Angoramon says with a happy expression. Hiro blinks – a haiku about Mummymon.

He and Angoramon make their way back to the dorm – they can still make curfew, so Hiro won't be in trouble.

While walking down a flight of stairs, Hiro hears Angoramon's belly growl, and then his own. “Let's buy something on the way home,” he says, and Angoramon nods, agreeing that that sounds like a good idea.

However, Angoramon suddenly stops, and points to the other side of the road. Hiro sees a girl walking there, looking strikingly similar to the girl who runs Lirurun. And behind her... is what appears to be a Digimon, following her. The jellyfish Digimon floats after her.

Chapter Text

Ruli is sitting in a cafe with her friends, enjoying her day, discussing the ongoing situation with Hologram Ghosts, and Lirurun.

“Ruli, there's a weird message for Lirurun.”

Ruli looks over at Mika. “What?” she asks, confused what Mika meant, but her friend is quick to show her.

It's a picture of Ruli, but with red scribble lines over her fingers. That's quite odd. Who would sent something like this?

“I wonder what this is.” Ruli says, perplexed by the picture. Aoi chimes in. “What did the follower say?” Ruli looks at the message. “Lirurun-san, doesn't this picture look weird? Isn't this the red scribble?” she reads out loud.

Ruli blinks. “What's the red scribble?” She looks back over to Mika. “Do you know?”

Aoi is searching something on her phone, speaking up again. “Isn't it this?” She turns her phone over so Ruli and Mika can see. “Scribbles suddenly appear on digital photos. The part where the scribbles appear on your body will begin to act strange, and this strange condition will get worse within two days! And in 48 hours, something even more disastrous happens to their body!”

Ruli and Mika look concerned, and Ruli turns her head to look between her two friends. “So, what should we do with this?” Aoi asks, a slight frown on her face.

Ruli shrugs. “It's okay, let's just delete it.” “Right? You should probably delete the original photo data too.” Ruli nods at Mika's comment. “That's true.” Ruli promptly deletes the photo, not thinking about it further. Probably just another strange rumor that leads to nothing, like the last few ones they investigated.

---

Later, in the evening, back home, Ruli is playing the piano. She suddenly stops when she hears the blinds in front of the balcony door rustle, a bit startled but mostly confused. Did she leave the door open by accident? She goes to check, but no, the door was shut tightly.

She opens it and looks out on the balcony, trying to see if a bird or something smacked against the door, or anything that could've caused the blinds to move, but she finds nothing. She even steps outside to make sure. She suddenly hears something and jumps. It's her piano... it's as if someone is playing it, but nobody's there. The keys are pressed down accordingly to the notes, but there is nothing that could be doing that.

This phenomenon has been haunting her for a few weeks now. She would be elsewhere in the room or on the balcony, doing something, and would suddenly hear the piano playing (though not necessarily well). She would look to it, and there the piano was, keys pressed, despite nobody being close to it. Then it would abruptly stop. She's been annoyed with this stupid prank ever since it started.

She walks back inside, finding the piano exactly as she predicted it would look, keys down, and then it suddenly stops, as if nothing happened. At least whoever is playing the prank is getting better at playing the piano.

She crosses her arms. “Stop with this stupid prank already and show yourself,” Ruli sees, fed up about being toyed with like this. Of course, like always, no response. If she hadn't seen the piano playing itself on video before, she would surely be questioning her sanity at this point.

She decides to leave it at that, walking past the piano and to a small table, grabbing her phone off of it and unlocking the screen – but she's suddenly greeted by the same photo she deleted earlier today. She's surprised to see it back. “Huh? I deleted this photo.” she mutters to herself, confused. “How come?”

The scribbles suddenly start rapidly changing on her screen, startling Ruli, causing her to flinch a little, moving her other hand to her face. But a look down at her hand offers a far more horrifying sight – part of her hand has started to disappear, turn invisible. She inspects it, thinking she must've imagined it, but no, it's quite real.

“My hand is fading... No way!” She looks at her hand in shock, and begins remembering what Aoi said, about the red scribbles... something horrible is supposed to happen 48 hours after the scribbles appear. “Wait, 48 hours?” she whispers to herself as she checks the picture again.

“The first reply was at 14:28... and the photo was uploaded at 14:19...” And now it's 21:11. That means...

“W-What's gonna happen to me the day after tomorrow around 2 p.m.?”

---

Ruli decides to be absent from school the next day and seek out other victims of the red scribble... maybe they could help her. She had since figured out that gloves apparently negates the fading of her fingers... for now.

She figures out where one of the most recent victims lives and goes to visit her, hoping she might have an answer on how to stop them.

She rings the doorbell, determined to find an answer. The voice of a woman answers. “Who is it?” Ruli is still quite startled by the whole revelation, but knows she shouldn't waste time. “Umm.. Are you the beauty salon's... Could the red scribble--”

The voice suddenly answers with an annoyed “Go away.”. She seems quite irritated. “I'm sick of all these visitors like you.”

“Um! I just want you to tell me! I know I'm acting crazy, but how do you stop it?” Ruli asks, the tremble in her voice clear.

“That's what I'd like to know!” The woman on the other side answers.

Ruli is a bit taken aback by the response. “Um... What happened to you?” she reluctantly asks.

“My hair... grows.”

“What?”

“It keeps growing like a monster. I'm gonna be killed by my own hair.”

Ruli is shocked to hear that, but the woman continues before she can say anything. “Something worse is going to happen to you too.”

With that, the stranger disappears. Ruli walks back to the road, deciding to have a look at her hand, to see what's going on. As soon as she takes off her glove, she is greeted by her hand having mostly disappeared, deeply upsetting Ruli, who clenches her mostly invisible hand.

A sudden rustle from the nearby trash bags startles her, and she runs off into another direction.

She takes shelter under a nearby bridge, and decides to search the internet for answers... but she can't find anything. There is no results. “Why?” she asks out loud, sliding down against the wall of the tunnel. “There's only a day and six hours left.”

A sudden call rips her out of her thoughts, and she looks who it is. It's Aoi. Right, maybe she can talk to her about it! She quickly picks up.

“Aoi, I'm-”

“Ruli, I'm so glad! You didn't come to school today, so I was worried something happened to you with the red scribble!” Hearing Aoi talk like that discouraged Ruli from bringing it up to her, not wanting to worry her friends further. “Did anything happen? Are you okay?” Aoi asks. Ruli quickly remembers that nobody knows how to stop the red scribble, and that all its victims suffer a horrible fate after 48 hours... she couldn't tell her or Mika about it.

“Ruli? What's the matter? Hey!” Aoi's voice snaps Ruli out of her thoughts. She isn't sure what to say, so she decides to lie. “No... I just have a little headache. I'll be fine if I rest.”

Aoi tells Ruli to get better soon, and that they can talk later. Ruli nods, agreeing. “Yeah, I'll talk to you later.” She then hangs up.

But the moment she hangs up, she's greeted by that image again, with even more scribbles on it. In her shocked and panicked state, Ruli throws her phone to the ground, startled. “Why... is this picture back?” she questions, and quickly thinks to check her other hand, seeing as she saw her other hand start to fade when the picture popped back up yesterday.

She feels her hand, and her fingers, through the glove. It's okay. “They're there.” The other hand wasn't affected yet... right? When she pulls her glove up, though, she is proven wrong. The tips of her fingers had started disappearing.

She begins tearing up, but tries to get herself together, turning off her phone's screen. She notices the nearby camera at the top of the tunnel, looking up at it... everywhere she went and the scribble progressed, there were cameras of some sort. She decides to leave quickly and return to her room.

---

The sun is setting... there's only about a day left. At this rate, Ruli wouldn't be able to figure out what to do, and the scribbles would take her hands...

She presses down one of the keys on her piano with her gloves on, to see if it still works. The key goes down like she had hoped. She then takes her glove off, and tries again... but the fading is quite real. Her finger disappears right into the key.

Ruli tears up again, frustrated and scared. What is she supposed to do?

The piano suddenly starts playing again, startling Ruli, who jumps back a little. She looks, but nobody is next to her. The keys are pressing down as if by magic. Ruli opens her mouth to speak, but the piano suddenly stops and a set of music sheets that were resting atop the instrument are knocked onto the floor.

Ruli's getting a little freaked out now – that never happened before. She takes a step back, looking at the sheets. She suddenly spots one of her pens... just floating. One of the music sheets turns over, and the pen goes down to it. Ruli blinks, getting on her knees to see what is going to happen, determined to figure things out.

It writes on the top left of the blank white back of the paper. 'I want to help', it says in bright pink.

Ruli doesn't believe it, though. “Are you the one doing these horrible things!? Are you here to taunt me?!” she says angrily, tears forming at the corners of her eyes again. Great. Now whoever is hurting her is making fun of her, too.

The pen suddenly writes furiously. 'No! It's not me', but Ruli still refuses to believe that. “It has to be you, you're the one who has been pranking me this whole time! Is this your sick definition of fun?!” she questions.

The pen doesn't write a reply. It draws something instead. On one side what looks to be a jellyfish, and what looks to be a weird little demon on the other side. An arrow points to the jellyfish, written next to it is 'me' and an arrow pointing to the other figure says 'meanie. made your hands disappear'.

Ruli looks at the paper with suspicion, then sighs in defeat and walks to her couch, burying her face in her pillow. “You're just messing with me at this point, aren't you,” she quietly whimpers to herself, “you're lying,”

Her phone dings and lights up, but Ruli doesn't notice it, head still buried. Whatever used the pen did, though, and Ruli is startled when she suddenly feels her phone be shoved in her face. It takes a few seconds, but she reluctantly takes her phone to see what's going on, expecting to see that picture again.

But no, it's a message from someone she doesn't know. “I'm sorry for the sudden direct message. I'm Hiro Amanokawa, a first-year at Hazakura Academy. Is there anything strange happening around you lately? It could be the doing of Digimon. I may be able to help you somehow. Tomorrow, at 12 p.m., let's meet at...” Ruli had been reading the message out loud to herself, suddenly stopping when she hears the paper fluttering again.

The same paper that was previously written on was placed on the table, with a new line added. 'See? I'm helping'.

---

Ruli is standing on the bridge, not sure what she is expecting, but she doesn't really have a lot of options at this point. All of this is confusing and she doesn't even know what this Hiro meant by 'Digimon'.

Hiro approaches, Angoramon by his side, not invisible, like usual. Ruli may not believe him if Angoramon remains hidden.

“Yup, something's there.” Hiro murmurs, and Angoramon nods. “I haven't seen this type of Digimon before,” Angoramon says. The two begin walking to Ruli, who meets them half way.

Hiro stares over Ruli, into the seeming nothingness. His gaze moves to Ruli, who stares straight back at him, with a look of almost... anger, disbelief? Hiro's not sure.

“So, you're the one who can help me?” she asks. Hiro's gaze moves back up to the jellyfish floating right above Ruli, who looks a little miffed.

The two decide to move to a nearby cafe to talk, seeing as on the bridge is kind of awkward. Ruli shows Hiro her hands after the two had settled at a table, and Hiro seems a little startled at first to see the largely faded hands, but nods.

“They're probably the doings of Digimon,” Hiro explains.

“What is this 'Digimon'?” Ruli asks, blinking, still seeming a little distrusting.

“There's a lot I don't know myself, but... I think it's better if you see for yourself.” Hiro says, pointing to Angoramon, who steps closer to the two. Ruli looks at Angoramon. “I was wondering about this,” she admits, “a hologram, or a stuffed animal?”

Angoramon politely holds out his hand for Ruli to shake, which she does, and feels Angoramon's fur brushing against her arm, surprised. “Whoa, this thing's real!” she says, slightly in shock.

“I'm Angoramon, a Digimon.” he explains, offering a small smile. Ruli looks at Angoramon, then back to Hiro. “There's one beside you, too,” Hiro says.

The Digimon next to Ruli seems happy to finally be acknowledged. Ruli looks at her phone, stressing out about the time. “I have only an hour and a half left,” she says, when suddenly, the jellyfish Digimon disappears into her phone. Hiro and Angoramon gasp, and Ruli is confused by their reaction. “Huh? What is it?!” she asks.

“The Digimon that was beside you... went into your phone,” Angoramon says, surprised.

Seconds later, the jellyfish reemerges, though looking a little beat up. The Digimon gestures for Hiro and Angoramon to follow. Hiro looks at Ruli. “The Digimon gestured for us to follow, I think it wants to talk..” Hiro says, getting up from his seat and following to where Angoramon walked. Ruli follows after them, even if she can't see this Digimon.

The jellyfish floats at about the same height as Angoramon's head. “Finally, someone who can see me,” she says, and suddenly changes her form, a small, humanoid body emerging from within what Hiro assumed was the central body. She puts her hands on her hips.

“I'm Jellymon, and we're running out of time,” she explains, an impatient and slightly stressed look on her face. “I'm not the one behind Ruli's woes. That'd be Dracmon, an evil Digimon that pranks others with the evil eyes in its hands.”

Hiro blinks, but Angoramon asks a question before he can. “So when you went into Ruli's phone, did you...” “Yes, I tried to fight off Dracmon,” Jellymon interrupts, puffing her cheeks in annoyance. “But he's annoyingly good at evading me. He's been stalking her from any network connection Ruli gets close to, including her own phone.”

“Who are you talking to?” Ruli asks, looking between Angoramon and Hiro. “Ah, one moment, Tsukiyono-san,” Hiro says, looking back over at Jellymon. “Those don't sound like normal pranks,” he remarks.

“Of course they aren't!” Jellymon replies. “They're evil and harmful, unlike my pranks on Ruli, like the piano playing itself, or the window opening on its own.” She crosses her arms. “According to the Digimon I talked to, Dracmon is trying to materialize by taking in human suffering with glee.”

Angoramon looks over at Hiro. “What Jellymon is saying makes sense. That sounds like Dracmon.” Hiro blinks, thinking.

“Can Dracmon really materialize that way?” he asks. Jellymon shrugs. “That's the rumors that have been going around. No idea if a Digimon can materialize that way. Not that I really care – I like being intangible to humans.” She floats closer to Angoramon, and sits down on his shoulder, surprising him.

“Since I got here, I've been going from person to person, pulling my own pranks on them – of course, not cruel like Dracmon's. Harmless things, like dropping books from a shelf. Most people ran off, scared, but Ruli didn't freak out when I pranked her, and even demanded I reveal myself. I decided to stick around after that. She's quite interesting.” Jellymon's expression turns serious. “Dracmon can be strong, but I won't let him hurt Ruli – only I'm allowed to play pranks on her.” She looks directly at Ruli, who can't see her.

“...If Dracmon actually manages to materialize, he will hurt Ruli, and likely others. I've been trying to catch him before that happens, but he keeps slipping away.”

Hiro puts his hand to his chin, thinking. “So it would be best if we bait him, somehow,”

However, Ruli then interrupts, fed up with sitting around, waiting. “What are you guys talking about?” she asks. Hiro looks over at her, ripped out of his thoughts. “Jellymon is trying to protect you. The one who's making your hands vanish is a culprit called Dracmon.”

“Huh?” Ruli says, confused. But then she remembers the drawing on the back of her sheet... the little demon, and the jellyfish.

“If we can catch Dracmon somehow...” Hiro mutters to himself. Then, an idea suddenly comes upon him. “Tsukiyono-san, wait here with Angoramon and Jellymon! I promise I'll come back!”

Ruli can't even say anything before Hiro is gone, looking after him, somewhat distraught.

---

Hiro rushes into his room, grabbing one of the two remaining Digivices. If Dracmon wants to materialize, maybe they can lure him out that way.

Hiro rushes back down the stairs, but gets stopped by Kiyoshiro, who calls out to him. “Amanokawa-kun!” He walks up to Hiro. “You left class early? Are you okay?”

Hiro turns to look at him. “Oh, uh, yes.” He scratches his head. “Um, well...”

Kiyoshiro points at the Digivice. “That's a unique smartwatch you have on lately.”

“Huh? Yeah, kinda...” Hiro stammers. He really needs to get going to Ruli, they don't have much more time.

Kiyoshiro steps closer and begins whispering. “Does that perhaps have the ability to ward off evil?” he asks.

Hiro is getting annoyed with this. “It does not!” he replies. “I'm in a hurry!” Before Kiyoshiro can say another thing to him, Hiro rushes out of the building, back to where Ruli should be waiting. As he's leaving, he can hear Kiyoshiro murmur to himself “Ahh, what am I gonna do?! The talismans' powers aren't enough anymore!”

---

Ruli is sitting on the stairs, hugging Angoramon tightly, growing nervous. “He did tell me to wait here, but...” Angoramon gently pats her on the head. “Hiro will come back, I'm sure of it.” The rabbit Digimon's words comforted Ruli only a little.

“Was it... Jellymon? Is she still here?” Ruli asks Angoramon, looking up at him. Angoramon nods in response. “She's right next to you.” Ruli blinks, attempting to see the Digimon that has been protecting her, but unable to spot her.

“If you're going to protect me, at least show yourself,” she says, directed at Jellymon. “I fear that's not that easy to do for her,” Angoramon replies, and Ruli wants to ask why, but the two are interrupted by Hiro running up to them.

“Tsukiyono-san! How's the time?” Hiro calls out to them, rushing towards them. Ruli stands up. “About 15 minutes left!” she says, glad that Angoramon was telling the truth when he said Hiro would return.

“One second!” Hiro takes Ruli's phone from her hand and gives it to Angoramon. “Dracmon, do you hear me?! This is a Digivice! It's a device that materialized Angoramon!” Hiro turns his gaze to Ruli. “Now, Tsukiyono-san!”

Ruli looks at Hiro, confused. “What is it?” she asks.

“We're gonna materialize Jellymon, who is protecting you right now!” Hiro's gaze turns to where Jellymon is floating, who looks a little unsure at first but quickly nods. He then looks back to Ruli. “You can do it if you just put this on your wrist.”

Ruli looks uncertain, too, her gaze turning to Angoramon, who is holding her phone. 13:54. She didn't have much time left. She stretches her arm out to Hiro, looking back at him. “Put it on!” she says.

Hiro steps closer, and Angoramon holds the phone facing towards the two. Before Hiro can give the Digivice to Ruli, Dracmon jumps out of the phone, like Hiro anticipated. Hiro recoils, quickly moving his arm away from Dracmon.

“Give me that!” Dracmon shouts as he emerges. Dracmon lunges at Hiro, while Jellymon launches herself at Dracmon. However, the vampire Digimon simply phases through his target. He turns his head.

“Jeez, this sure ticks me off! I go through everything!” he growls, angry. Jellymon tries to hit Dracmon, but Dracmon narrowly dodges. “You're so slow as always!” he laughs, jumping away. “You won't ever be able to catch me!”

Hiro and Angoramon look at each other, nodding, then run after Dracmon, who disappeared into the alleyway. Ruli blinks, looking after them, unsure if she should follow them.

As Hiro and Angoramon enter the alley, Dracmon lunges at Angoramon from above, biting him in the neck, who becomes unable to move.

“Angoramon!” Hiro calls out, shocked. Dracmon's gaze moves to Hiro.

“If you don't give me that, I'm gonna suck up this Digimon's data!” he threatens. Hiro is stunned. “I wanna materialize and play more pranks on everybody with my own hands!”

Hiro gulps, but gathers his resolve. “Digivices are only used by humans! Even if you had this, you can't materialize!”

Dracmon doesn't seem discouraged, though. “You idiot! There's a ton of bad guys in this world too! I'll find a partner in crime right away!”

“How are you going to bring this to that bad guy?” Hiro questions the vampiric Digimon's logic. “You can't touch anything, right?”

That causes Dracmon to pause. He grumbles, realizing this human is right. But then he gets an idea. “Then I'll make you do it!” he says, moving his hands in front of his eyes. “Eye of Nightmares!”

Angoramon isn't able to warn Hiro before it's already too late – Dracmon has hypnotized Hiro with his attack.

“Now, materialize my body!” Dracmon commands. Hiro, under the effects of hypnotism, murmurs “Yes, Dracmon... I just need to materialize you.” And Hiro begins walking forward.

Ruli has since made her way to the backalley, along with Jellymon, and sees Hiro stumbling forward. She runs up to him. “Hey, you!” However, Hiro doesn't even acknowledge her. “What's wrong with you?” Ruli asks, confused and concerned. Ruli rushes after Hiro.

Jellymon clenches her fist. “No, at this rate...” she mutters to herself, knowing that if she intervenes now, Dracmon won't hesitate to kill Angoramon.

Ruli grabs Hiro by the arm in an attempt to stop him. Dracmon growls. “Get out of the way, woman!” he shouts, attempting to use Eye of Nightmares on her, but it fails. Dracmon realizes why quickly. “Crap! It won't even work on those who can't even see!”

He decides to let the materialized Digimon do the dirty work for him. “You, hold that woman back!” Dracmon commands Angoramon as he uses Eye of Nightmares on him.

Angoramon is about to attack Ruli, but Jellymon kicks him square in the face, knocking him out of the trance. Angoramon is confused as to what happened, but Jellymon quickly floats to him. “Stop him!” she says, pointing to Hiro. Angoramon looks to the still hypnotized Hiro, then nods, punching him in the stomach, albeit gently enough to not seriously harm Hiro.

Hiro falls to the ground, also confused as to what was going on. “Huh? What was I...”

Ruli acts quick and grabs the Digivice, walking a distance away from Hiro, in case something happens with him again. “What am I supposed to do with this?!” Ruli asks, looking at Hiro and Angoramon.

“Tsukiyono-san!”

Dracmon growls. “Crap!” Jellymon lunges at him, and Dracmon jumps away from her.

Hiro throws the DIM card to Ruli, which she catches. “Put on the Digivice! And once you insert the card, press the button!” Hiro calls out to her. Ruli looks at the card, blinking.

“That thing's mine!” Dracmon yells as he punches Jellymon out of the way, using his Eye of Nightmares to make Hiro and Angoramon do his bidding again. Ruli sees their eyes turn to that same shade of red-pink from before.

Angoramon lunges at Ruli again, but is knocked down by Jellymon, who Ruli can't see, having knocked Angoramon unconscious entirely. But she can't do anything about Hiro, since she isn't materialized. Ruli steps back as Hiro comes closer. “Wait, again?! Jeez!” she says to herself, putting on the Digivice as quickly as she can.

As soon as it's activated, she can see the Digimon floating in front of her, trying to stand between Hiro and her. So this is...

“I can see now!” Ruli murmurs with wonder. Jellymon turns her head to the one she has been protecting. “Ruli, materialize my body!” she calls out to her. Ruli blinks, still seeming a bit stunned and as if she was still taking things in.

“You're...” The jellyfish Digimon nods. “Jellymon.” She turns back to Hiro, who was still coming closer. “I'll protect you. I'll stop him, and Dracmon – they'll regret messing with my human,” Jellymon says, lunging forward to try and stop Hiro, but simply phasing through him. Hiro is getting ever closer. Jellymon turns around, trying to grab him with her tentacles, but they just phase through him. “Ruli, get back!”

Ruli steps backwards, still stunned by the whole situation. 'Her human'? What does Jellymon mean by that? Why is she fighting for her, despite them barely knowing each other?

Jellymon tries to grasp at Hiro again, but it doesn't magically start working. Dracmon jumps at her and kicks her, laughing. “What's with that pitiful state?!” Jellymon doesn't have time to focus on the vampire Digimon, though, determined to stop Hiro. “You pathetic weakling! You couldn't even catch me once and now you're helpless against a human?”

“It makes me sad to think I was chased around by someone like you!” Dracmon laughs, kicking Jellymon in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground.

Ruli steps further back. “Why do you go that far?” she asks Jellymon, in disbelief.

Jellymon moves her tentacles to grab Dracmon, but he jumps away before she can get a hold of him. She gets back up, once again trying to catch Hiro, but simply falls to the ground again. It's pointless.

“I...” Jellymon seems hesitant to admit the truth why she is willing to sacrifice so much for Ruli. “I've taken a liking to you. You're so independent, headstrong, and brave, unlike all the other humans I've pulled pranks on before. Where they ran in fear, you demanded I show myself.” She gets up again. “And... I like how you play your piano. I want to play together with you.”

Ruli blinks. Of course, it all makes sense now. The piano playing itself... Jellymon was trying to imitate Ruli's playing, to learn. The books falling, windows randomly opening... Jellymon's pranks. The music sheet she wrote on, shoving her phone to her face when she didn't notice Hiro's message... that was all Jellymon. She was telling the truth – she really was trying to help her.

“Were you... trying to learn how to play with me whenever you played the piano?” Ruli asks. “Yes,” Jellymon nods.

Jellymon looks at Ruli. “Ruli, please...materialize me so I can protect you!” she calls out to her.

The line on the Digivice begins moving, like a heartbeat. Ruli looks at the card Hiro threw to her.

“I swear I'll protect you!” Jellymon cries out.

Ruli gathers her resolve. She can do this. She looks at Jellymon. “Then starting next time...” She moves to put the DIM card in. “...let's play the piano together!”

She insert the DIM card, and the screen of the Digivice lights up in orange. Ruli presses down on the button, and looks up at Jellymon, watching her materialize.

Jellymon looks at herself with amazement as she materializes, then turns her glance to Hiro, who is still walking towards Ruli.

“Jellymon...” Ruli says, looking surprised and astonished. Jellymon grins, readying herself, floating to Hiro and wrapping her tentacles around his arm, sending an electric shock through him. Hiro falls to the ground, blinking his eyes open, back to normal.

She then turns her gaze to Dracmon, who quickly realizes he's in trouble and tries to escape, but Jellymon is now much faster, easily chasing him up to the highway. She balls her hands into fists before uncurling them again. “Power is flowing through me!” she exclaims excitedly.

Dracmon realizes she's right behind him and try jumping away again, but Jellymon quickly charges after him.

Ruli follows their movements, and suddenly feels a phrase flow into her mind. She knows what to do, as if it were a simple instinct.

“Bibi Thunder!” she calls out, and Jellymon shoots electricity from her two main tentacles, shocking Dracmon, paralyzing him midair.

Another phrase comes into Ruli's mind, and she does the same as before. “Volt Knuckle!”

Electricity gathers around Jellymon's balled fist, and she smashes Dracmon straight into the floor with it, before he could even react. Dracmon yells in pain as he hits the ground. Jellymon sits down on top of him so he can't get back up.

“You win...” Dracmon mutters in defeat.

---

Dracmon is on his knees, begging for forgiveness. “I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!” he says, bowing his head.

Jellymon crosses her arms, floating next to Ruli, puffing her cheeks angrily. “Just turn Ruli back already!” she shouts, seeming quite ticked off.

“Yes, right away!” Dracmon says, popping the eyes from his hands out.

The moment they do, Ruli's hands turn fully visible and normal again. Ruli looks at them, ecstatic. “I'm back to normal!”

Angoramon sighs in relief. “We made it.” he murmurs.

Dracmon holds out his hands to Hiro can take his evil eyes from him. “I'll give you these, so please...” he says.

“Promise never to do this again.” Hiro says sternly, leaning forward to take the eyes from Dracmon's hands.

The vampire Digimon eagerly nods. “Yes, sir!” he replies as Hiro takes the eyes. As soon as Hiro has taken them, Dracmon gets back up on his feet. “Then I'll be on my way now. Please excuse me!” With that, he jumps off into the distance.

Hiro sighs, that was quite the stressful situation... hopefully it's over now, though, and Dracmon keeps his promise.

Jellymon turns to Ruli, smirking. “Anyways, let me reintroduce myself. I'm Jellymon, but you should call me Jellymon-sama,” she says, having regained her confidence quite quickly after being materialized.

Ruli chuckles. “I'm not calling you that,” she responds, looking at Jellymon with a slightly challenging look.

Jellymon doesn't seem upset by that response though, snickering, enjoying how defiant Ruli is. “I like you more and more each day,”

Angoramon looks to where Dracmon ran off to. “So crime and punishment is determined only after the dust settles.” Hiro looks to him, blinking. “Another haiku?” he asks, and Angoramon nods.

The jellyfish then retracts into the form Hiro and Angoramon had seen her in originally, retracting her body into her head, floating closer to Ruli and landing on her head. “Well, I think it's time we head home, darling,” she says, getting comfortable.

Ruli blinks, looking up to where Jellymon is. “Darling?”

Chapter Text

Ruli is at her school with Jellymon, decorating things for a Halloween party.

“How's this, Akane-san?” she asks, walking up to the older girl, looking at the decorated room with happiness and pride.

The other nods her head. “Yeah, looks good! You're pretty good.” she says, smiling.

Ruli chuckles. “Well, I've been looking forward to decorating this place since I was a kid,” she admits. Jellymon floats beside her, bobbing in the air ever so gently.

Aoi suddenly calls out to Ruli. “Hey, Ruli- I don't think we'll finish in time with just us here,” she says, carrying a stack of boxes with Mika.

Hm, she's right. “That's true..” Ruli thinks who they could ask for help... And someone comes to mind just a few seconds later.

---

Hiro is looking at his phone, a map with a red dot marked on it. Ruli had asked him and Angoramon to help finish decorating for a Halloween party at her school. He puts his phone in his pocket, looking at Angoramon. “Let's go,” he says, smiling. Angoramon nods, and the two are on their way.

They walk past many people in costumes, and Angoramon looks over at Hiro. “Why are humans all wearing costumes?” he asks, seeming confused.

Hiro is quick to explain, though. “Everyone dresses up on this day for a costume party. Kids go around the neighborhood and get candy after saying trick or treat.”

Angoramon hums to indicate he understands. “Is it a yearly holiday?”

“Yeah, it's called Halloween. It's not an official holiday, but it's widely celebrated regardless – not just in Japan, either.” Hiro tells Angoramon. “Ah, I see,” Angoramon responds.

It doesn't take long for the two to reach Ruli's school, where she and Jellymon are already waiting for them.

---

While the four of them are decorating one of the hallways under the directions of Ruli, four of Ruli's friends show up to check in on them.

“Is he the one you called?” Mika asks, and Ruli nods. “Yeah. He's Hiro Amanokawa.” Hiro turns around to look at the four girls. Ruli then introduces him to them. “This is Aoi, Mika, Nana, and Moe.”

Hiro walks closer to them, smiling. “Nice to meet you,” he says, Angoramon standing next to him. “Nice to meet you too,” Aoi responds.

Nana turns to look at Angoramon. “It's another AI hologram.” She looks between him and Jellymon, who is floating next to him. “It's different from Ruli's. Is it a new model?”

Hiro nods, a bit nervously. “Yeah, something like that.”

Later, Ruli asks Hiro to do a few things around the school, to which Hiro always responds with 'yes'. Eventually, she sighs a bit. “You'll really do anything,” she says, a bit teasingly.

Hiro shrugs. “I guess? It's just easier that way.”

Ruli blinks, looking down at the Digivice. “Oh yeah, about this...” Hiro is quick to answer though. “Sure, keep it.” he responds, smiling. Ruli looks up, surprised. “Yeah? Thanks.”

“Tsukiyono-san, did you want this outside?” Hiro asks about the box he's carrying. However, Ruli doesn't respond to the question, instead saying “I'm going to call you Hiro from now on, so you can call me Ruli.” She then turns around and walks elsewhere.

Hiro is a bit confused. “Copy that,” he replies as Ruli walks out of the hallway.

---

Later, the four are in the hallway together. “Oh yeah, Jellymon and I discovered something the other day,” Ruli explains. “I think it's another function of the Digivice.”

Hiro blinks, surprised. “What do you mean?” he asks.

“Well, Angoramon and you told us about that invisibility function, but I think I pressed the wrong button combination. We were still in my room, but there was grass everywhere all of the sudden, and the outside looked a bit like a jungle,” Ruli explains. Jellymon chimes in. “It looked like the Digital World, but while we were still in the Human World! It was like some sort of Digital Field,”

Hiro and Angoramon look at each other. “Do you know if dad implemented anything like this?” Hiro asks Angoramon, who thinks, then shrugs. “I think he might've mentioned it in passing, but I'm not sure.”

He turns to Ruli. “Can you show us the buttons you pressed?” he asks her, to which Ruli nods, though she doesn't actually press them this time. Angoramon thanks her, and seems like he's thinking about it really hard.

“We figured the invisibility thing out on our second try, though.” Jellymon says.

Ruli looks back at Angoramon. “Hey, Angoramon,” she starts, catching the bunny Digimon's attention, “can you tell me more about Digimon and the Digital World? You guys didn't really get to explain much about it last time, and I didn't really wanna bother Jellymon during the evening.”

Jellymon floats over to Ruli, landing on her head again. Angoramon nods. “Sure, I'll tell you what I know.”

---

The four sit together in an empty room, and Angoramon is explaining things about the Digital World to Ruli, and also mentions a few things he didn't tell Hiro before.

That brings Hiro back to what happened when they ran into Mummymon before, and he decides to bring it up right now.

“Hey, Angoramon,” he says, “remember a few days ago, with Mummymon? You suddenly evolved into Symbareangoramon, and then turned back. What was that about?”

Jellymon perks up at hearing this, having rested in Ruli's lap up until now. “Suddenly evolving and turning back? I haven't heard of that before.”

Angoramon hums in agreement to Jellymon's statement. “Normally, Digimon evolve naturally over a long period of time – it's similar to how humans grow up. I'm not sure what happened, either. I suddenly felt a rush of energy and then it just.. happened. And afterwards, I was really exhausted, and turned back. I'd never seen or heard of something like it before.”

Jellymon blinks. “That's weird.”

---

Ruli walks up to the group, concerned. “What's wrong, Akane-san?” she asks.

“It's weird. I can't get in touch with a few of the staff members.” Akane explains, looking equally worried. Aoi and Mika's expressions are similar.

“Have you seen Nana or Moe? I found this in the hall,” Aoi mentions, showing Ruli Moe's phone. Ruli blinks. “That's Moe's..”

“She said she'd be right back but hasn't returned,” Mika says. “Nana went to find candles a while ago.”

That's odd, they disappeared with out a trace... Hiro is thinking about it. “Has anything else happened?” he inquires.

Upon hearing that the candles are in the storage room, the four make their way there. However, they find nothing.

“Nobody's here,” Jellymon says, looking around. “They said the others disappeared in the same way.” Angoramon adds.

Hiro is standing next to one of the shelves, arms crossed, thinking about what happened. “They all went missing while they were alone,” he brings up, seeing as that is the only thing that seemingly connects these cases.

“Right now, we shouldn't split up. Let's all move together.” Angoramon has a point there, splitting up would be dangerous. “But we have to find Nana and Moe,” Ruli is very concerned for her friends. Where could they have gone?

Hiro then has an idea. “I'll try being the decoy,” he offers. “We might be able to learn something if I'm alone.”

“Isn't that dangerous?” Ruli asks.

However, Hiro has an idea on how they can avoid that danger, and tells the others that they should follow him from a distance. Angoramon is worried, but agrees that it's the best plan they have for finding the others who have disappeared.

Hiro then walks out into the hallway alone, while Ruli, Angoramon and Jellymon wait around the corner, watching what happens. Once Hiro is far enough away, the three follow him, trying to keep the distance intact. While following Hiro, the school's AI hologram suddenly creeps up behind them, and then passes them, rolling into the wall, surprising and confusing Ruli.

“Cosmo-kun?” she says, wondering what made it malfunction. The three have a closer look. “What was that?” Ruli questions, and Jellymon flies close to it. “Looks like the projector short-circuited. Seems like there was an electromagnetic interference.” Angoramon replies.

Jellymon looks up, and spots one of the dolls set up around the school standing around the corner. When it notices it has been noticed, it tries to scurry away, falling over, revealing a Candlemon temporarily. Jellymon quickly flies after it, closely followed by Angoramon. “That was a Digimon!” Jellymon exclaims.

Ruli follows after them, but then remembers what they were doing before they got distracted by the malfunctioning AI. “Wait! Hiro's gone!” she yells. Jellymon and Angoramon turn around.

Meanwhile, Hiro has also spotted one of the puppets walking around, and followed it from a bit away. It was apparently going into a restricted area. It enters a room in the restricted area, and Hiro decides to follow after it.

When he enters the room, he doesn't expect to see what he ends up running into. A dozen people, all tied up with vines to chairs, a carved pumpkin on their heads. What was going on here? He quickly walks up to them, trying to check on them. “This is...”

He suddenly hears a voice next to him. “Trick or Treat!” it says, startling Hiro, causing him to stumble back against the door, falling to the ground. A giant pumpkin drops on his head.

“Do you want to be my friend too?” The figure asks. Hiro gets restrained further by a bunch of vines, not even getting a say in the matter. “Okay, let's start with the eyes!” The voice was quite cheerful.

Hiro feels the figure smashing something against the pumpkin. It isn't until a few seconds later that he sees it is a knife, which narrowly misses his face, startling him even more.

In that moment, Ruli, Angoramon and Jellymon find their way into the room, seeing the Digimon above Hiro, knife in hand. Ruli realizes the missing people are all here, looking at them.

Angoramon is quick to react, knocking Pumpkinmon away from Hiro when it turns to look at the trio. “Hiro!” He rushes over to his partner, crushing the outside of the pumpkin to free him.

Pumpkinmon gets back up, angry. “Trick or Treat!” it says, creating a huge pumpkin the group narrowly escapes. “We're not done yet. Catch those kids!” Pumpkinmon commands its companions, who reveal themselves to be several Candlemon and Ekakimon.

“We have to fight them!” Jellymon says, getting ready to attack, but Ruli holds her back. “Wait, the captured people are...”

Hiro suddenly recalls what Ruli told Angoramon and him earlier, about finding another function of the Digivice. It was worth a shot. Which buttons did she say she pressed? He clicks the same buttons on his Digivice he remembers Ruli showing. The people vanish as the whole floor becomes over grown with grass.

Ruli is surprised. “This is just like--” “This is just like what we found!” Jellymon interrupts, “just without the trees. It's more like a grassland.”

“The people aren't here anymore, so we can fight without worrying about them now,” Hiro explains. “I figured there had to be some use for that function you discovered with Jellymon.”

Angoramon elaborates on their opponents. “That's Pumpkinmon. Pumpkinmon's a plush toy Digimon with a pumpkin head and despite appearances, can unleash powerful attacks. The other Digimon are Candlemon and Ekakimon.”

Pumpkinmon is touching the grass on the ground, amazed. “Look at what you can do. You guys are really amazing. I'll definitely make you my friends!” it says.

“What do you mean 'friends'?” Hiro asks, confused.

“When I came to this world, I was alone the whole time. But when it becomes this time of year... my face is plastered all over the city! Everyone seems happy wearing pumpkin heads! Everyone should have the same face as me... and then be my friend!” Pumpkinmon tells the group, summoning up more pumpkins, launching them at the four.

The group quickly escapes the restricted area. “I don't want a pumpkin head!” Ruli exclaims, followed by Jellymon saying “I don't think any of us want one!” Angoramon and Hiro run in the other direction, causing the group to split into two.

The Candlemon attack Hiro and Angoramon with Bonfire, who barely escape the attack by rushing around the corner. “We need to run and hide,” Angoramon says.

“Colorful Change!” the Ekakimon attacking Ruli and Jellymon shout, however Jellymon defends Ruli and herself against them with a Bibi Thunder, allowing them to rush off before the smoke settles. They hide around the corner, where they see Angoramon and Hiro, and the four sneak into the closest room together.

“What's the plan?” Ruli asks, to which Hiro responds with “Let's find an opening.” Hiro then has an idea, and quickly explains it to the others.

Ruli and Jellymon are running from Pumpkinmon and its companions together, taunting it to put a pumpkin head on them. As they dodge more of Pumpkinmon's attacks, Ruli wonders just how much longer Hiro and Angoramon need, but then gets a message from them, and leads Pumpkinmon to a room, beckoning it to follow them.

“You're not getting away!” Pumpkinmon grins as it walks in, and quickly spots what appears to be one of the two humans. “Found you! Go capture her so she can't escape.” it tells the Candlemon and Ekakimon following it, then throwing a pumpkin down on the human's head. However, it shatters, turning out to be a statue.

Pumpkinmon is surprised. “A fake?” it asks, looking closer at the pieces.

“You fell for it!” Ruli says, revealing the four of them from underneath a blanket.

Pumpkinmon suddenly looks extremely upset and angry. “So mean. You tricked me.” “Listen-” Hiro starts, but Pumpkinmon interrupts him. “I hate you!” it shouts, summoning up a huge pumpkin with Trick or Treat, intending to crush them with it.

“Hiro!” Angoramon says, getting in front of him. The Digivice suddenly lights up again.

“Angoramon, evolve to...”

A white light encases Angoramon, and he changes shape again.

“SymbareAngoramon!”

Jellymon and Ruli look on with amazement, but especially Jellymon, who'd never seen something like this before. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and she wondered if she could do that too, one day.

As the pumpkin comes closer, a new word streams into Hiro's mind, and he quickly calls out the attack. “Jive!”

Symbareangoramon jumps up to the giant pumpkin, one leg stretched out to it, kicking it hard, breaking it into dozens of pieces, falling to the ground.

As Pumpkinmon is distracted, Hiro then calls out another attack. “Breaking Stream!” And Symbareangoramon shoots a beam of strong wind at Pumpkinmon while falling back to the ground, knocking it over, before landing gracefully himself. He looks back to Hiro, waiting for another attack command. “Hold on,” Hiro says, and looks to Pumpkinmon, who falls to its knees, beginning to cry.

“You're so mean. I don't want to be friends with you anymore!” it shouts. Hiro walks up to Pumpkinmon, who looks up at him.

“Pumpkinmon. Halloween pumpkins are just decorations.”

“Decorations?”

“Friends don't need to have the same face, and friendship shouldn't be forced.”

“R-Really?”

“If being together is fun, you're friends. Right?” Hiro turns to looks over at Ruli, who scoffs a little.

“I mean, you put us through a lot, but as long as you understand.” she says, offering a small smile.

Pumpkinmon gets back up. “So will you be my friend?” it asks.

“Okay.” Hiro nods. “You just have to ask like that.”

“Yes, but I don't want a pumpkin head,” Ruli adds.

Pumpkinmon begins jumping, very cheerful. “Hooray! Hooray! Friends! I made human friends!” The Candlemon and Ekakimon begin to cheer with Pumpkinmon.

Hiro decides it's best if they return to the normal Human World now, turning the Digital Field off. However, they are surprised to see that Pumpkinmon and his Digimon friends didn't follow them to the other side, and wonder what happened.

The group can't figure out what happened, though. “Well, I'm sure they'll visit again next year,” Hiro says, smiling.

“A festival to fend off demons. Summon a demon, and the pumpkin disappears.” Angoramon murmurs.

Chapter Text

A repetitive alarm sound blares in the background, a big red pop-up on the screen saying 'Warning'. He hears another book drop from the shelf, huddling further under his blanket in absolute terror, just wanting the ghost to go away.

It gets quiet again aside from the beeping, and for a moment, Kiyoshiro wonders if the one haunting him decided to leave. That thought quickly vanishes when he feels something tug at the blanket he hid under, and he pulls back, trying to keep it in place. It suddenly stops.

After a good few seconds of nothing happening, Kiyoshiro slowly pokes his head out from underneath to see if it was over. A weird sound catches his attention, and he turns his gaze to the pillow in front of him.

There's bite marks all over it, as if the ghost had been using it as a chewing toy.

Kiyoshiro can't help but scream loudly in terror, shuffling back so fast he falls out of his bed.

---

Hiro and Angoramon are making their way up the stairs of the dorm, headed to their room. Not far from them, Hiro notices Kiyoshiro, reluctantly tapping various options on the vending machine's screen, but nothing happens. That's odd, is it broken?

“Huh Senpai?” Hiro murmurs, looking at the dorm leader, who seems quite distraught over the situation, head leaned against the vending machine and facing downwards. “No response from this floor either.” he mutters to himself, straightening up and slinking away. “I knew I was cursed.”

Hiro blinks, confused. “What's up with him?” he asks himself, gaze turning to the vending machine. “Is it broken?”

As Kiyoshiro makes his way back to his room, he sees his door open slightly, causing him to stop in his tracks. Oh no, not again. “T-That's strange. I know I closed it.” he stammers, already feeling fear creep up on him again.

He carefully approaches his room's door, pulling it open ever so slightly and peering in, looking around to see if anything strange was going on. Everything looked normal and tranquil, for a change. Then he spots something floating by the window.

Upon closer inspection, it looked just like that thing Hiro had been wearing for the past few days now. “That's.. Amanokawa-kun's...” he whispers to himself, hesitantly stepping into his room. He suddenly sees something drip down from in front of him. His gaze slowly shifts upwards, and he spots something written on his ceiling, albeit messily. 'Put this on,' it read in pure red. Kiyoshiro is startled, stepping back. “W-Writing in blood!” he yells, terrified.

He stumbles back, falling to the ground as the odd device floated closer to him. He tries to back up further. “W-What is it?!” he questions with a shaky voice. It is pretty much pushed in his face, scaring Kiyoshiro even more. “Okay, I'll put it on!” he says in pure panic, quickly fiddling to fit the bracelet around his wrist.

A few seconds later, a heartbeat line shows up, and Kiyoshiro suddenly spots something right in front of him, face to face with him, smiling at him. Some kind of white bipedal dinosaur looking hologram – is this the ghost that's been haunting him? He screams, shuffling back even further, but the ghost doesn't close in on him or even try to hurt him, instead holding out some weird card, as if waiting for him to take it.

Kiyoshiro blinks, still shaky, looking between the ghost and the card, unsure what it wants. Was it trying to tell him something?

His heart is racing as he reluctantly reaches out to the card the dinosaur is holding out for him, trying not to pass out from fear, wondering if this is some form of elaborate trap. The second he grabs it, the ghost lets go of the card, pulling its arm back, causing Kiyoshiro to flinch backwards. He looks at the card and the device around his wrist with confusion, trying to figure out what any of this means. He quickly finds a slot which he thinks may be where this thing is supposed to be inserted?

The moment he does, the screen of the device starts flashing, showing some form of symbol. He panics, trying to make it go away, randomly pressing buttons. He presses the one on the bottom, and suddenly something happens to the Hologram Ghost, though he has no clue what.

It suddenly starts flying, yes, flying, with tiny bat wings on its back, right up to Kiyoshiro's face, and hug him tightly.

Kiyoshiro is very spooked by the sudden physical contact. “A-Are you the Hologram Ghost everyone's talking about?!” he asks, terror clear in his voice.

The 'hologram' looks up at him. “Holo.. Ghost? What's that?” it retorts, tilting its head to the side slightly. “I'm a Digimon! Gammamon!”

“G-Gammamon?” Kiyoshiro repeats, all kinds of questions running through his head right now, more confused than he's ever been in his life.

He hears another voice speak up behind him, and sees Hiro, standing in the doorway. “I knew it was a Digimon.” he states. Kiyoshiro also sees that AI hologram that has been with Hiro recently, the big yellow bunny.

Gammamon is clinging tightly to Kiyoshiro's arm, who turns to face Hiro. “Amanokawa-kun, help me!” he cries out. Before Hiro can say anything though, Gammamon pipes up, snuggling Kiyoshiro.

“Big brother!” they exclaim excitedly, seeming quite happy. Kiyoshiro is bewildered by that. “W-What?! Why would you say that!?” Kiyoshiro asks. Gammamon puts a finger to their chin, then grins again. “Big sib!” Kiyoshiro blinks, then sighs, giving up.

Suddenly, the alarm from before blares again. Another warning.

Hiro blinks, coming in with Angoramon and closing the door behind him. He looks at the computer, where the alarm is coming from.

“What is this?” Hiro asks, looking down to Kiyoshiro, materializing Angoramon.

“I was troubled by a strange phenomenon every night,” Kiyoshiro explains. “My regular talismans didn't work. So I programmed virtual talismans to place around.”

Hiro tilts his head. “Virtual talismans?”

Kiyoshiro has moved to the desk, Gammamon now comfortably seated on his shoulders, head resting on his head. Kiyoshiro turns off the warning. “I thought I could digitize a talisman's blessing and set a barrier online.”

“You can do that?” Hiro inquires.

“By going into accounts and e-mails...” Kiyoshiro starts, but Hiro interrupts him. “That's hacking! How many did you set?!”

Kiyoshiro stares at the screen, not even turning his head to Hiro to answer the question. “About a thousand.”

“A thousand?! Where?!”

Kiyoshiro explains where he placed the talismans. “Of course, this dorm, but also the local IoT and inside the phones of friends and classmates.”

“I can't believe it.”

“Your phone too.”

Hiro is shocked to hear that, but Kiyoshiro continues.

“But it's strange! The alarm went off late even after the Hologram Ghost-- I mean, Gammamon appeared. I-It failed!”

Gammamon flies over to the window, staring outside, into the distance.

“Something's... coming...” they murmur.

---

Ruli is sitting in the self-study room, finishing up math right now – onto literature next.

However, she's interrupted when she hears a knock on the window next to her. She looks outside and spots Jellymon floating on the other side of it, looking nervous.

Jellymon motions for Ruli to meet her outside, and Ruli quickly packs up her things and follows her partner, concerned to see Jellymon like this, who is normally quite foolhardy and brave.

When the two meet up at the parking lot, Jellymon tells Ruli that she feels on edge and that something big is coming their way, though she doesn't know what it is. Ruli asks if it is a Digimon, and Jellymon says it might be. She then asks her to call Hiro and tell him as well.

Ruli does so, picking up her phone and dialing Hiro's number. Once he picks up, Ruli is quick to explain the situation.

“Yeah. Jellymon is a little worried about something.”

It sounds like Hiro and Angoramon have their own issues on their end, though, and Ruli can tell Hiro is busy with that.

“I'll make sure we can reach you,” she says. Hiro agrees to do the same and replies that they'll see each other later. Ruli nods. “Okay, later then.”

She moves her head up to try and look at Jellymon, who is sitting on it, still looking nervous. “He said okay,”

Jellymon suddenly twitches, looking up at the sky. Clouds are obscuring most of it.

“Something's coming..”

---

“Is that true?” Kiyoshiro asks, Gammamon sitting on his shoulders again now.

Hiro nods. “Yeah, Angoramon isn't an AI hologram, but a creature called Digimon.” he explains. While he and Kiyoshiro are talking, something drops down onto Angoramon's face, and he wipes it away with a finger, looking at the red substance. “What's this?” he questions, looking up at the ceiling.

Gammamon starts flying again, moving closer to Angoramon. “Ketchup!” they say, smiling. “Kiyo couldn't see, so I wrote a message.” Kiyoshiro blinks, having caught wind of their conversation. “Why on the ceiling, though?!” Gammamon sort of shrugs. “You would look there,”

Kiyoshiro sighs, knowing that they are right, he would. His gaze turns to Hiro again. “W-What do we do about Gammamon?” he asks.

Gammamon lands on Angoramon's head this time, who looks to Hiro once they've landed. “Hiro, something is odd about this Digimon.” he states.

Hiro blinks. “Gammamon does act quite child-like, more than you and Jellymon.” Angoramon shakes his head though. “That isn't uncommon for Child level Digimon. Something about them feels weird, but I can't tell what.”

Hiro seems confused, but he figures Angoramon knows more about Digimon than he does, so it would be easier for him to notice.

Kiyoshiro looks back to Gammamon. “S-So were you the one that... that did all those things?” he questions.

“You mean the books?” Gammamon asks, still smiling. “The books, the door, the pillow...” Kiyoshiro lists. The dinosaur Digimon nods eagerly. “Yeah!”

“And Amanokawa-kun's device?” Gammamon pauses for a moment. “Not my idea.” Kiyoshiro doesn't seem to quite believe it though, since as Gammamon was right up in his face after he put it on. “Then who gave you the idea?”

Gammamon puts a finger to their chin again, thinking. “Will they get in trouble?” they ask. Kiyoshiro nods. “Of course they will,”

“Hm, I don't know,” Gammamon responds, dropping their thinking pose. This causes a collective sigh from the group.

It gets quiet for a moment, before Kiyoshiro turns back to Hiro. “Amanokawa-kun, please take Gammamon!”

But Hiro shakes his head. “I don't think I can,” he replies. “I don't think Digimon who were materialized through a Digivice can be desynced from their human partner. The best I can do is teach you how to use it.”

Kiyoshiro sighs heavily, not having wanted to get involved in all of this. Why did he put this Digivice on in the first place.

While Hiro is explaining the basic functions of the Digivice to Kiyoshiro and Gammamon, an announcement is suddenly made.

“Attention, dorm students. The dorm is currently experiencing trouble with our management systems. We're sorry for the inconvenience. Please remain calm.”

Hiro blinks. “Something seems off,” he says, and Angoramon nods, having moved to the window, looking out. Hiro pulls out his phone to check the news.

On a news broadcast, the four hear the following: “We have more on the major disruption to Kanto's digital money system that occured this morning. At 3 P.M. Today, this shut down all digital transactions, causing confusion and panic.”

Gammamon is sitting on Kiyoshiro's stomach, who is laying on the bed, facing the ceiling. Another alert suddenly appears on the computer, startling the group. Gammamon looks at it. “Kiyo, why is it beeping?” they ask.

Kiyoshiro gets up, looking at the video Hiro is watching. “We are currently doing everything we can to find the cause, but there is a chance that an unauthorized program infiltrated the system.”

He then checks his own phone, scrolling through a forum he frequents. It is practically blowing up with messages. 'Someone hacked the digital money management system!' 'The code name is apparently YENOM.' 'What? So MONEY backwards?' 'What a lame name.'

Hiro started reading the messages alongside Kiyoshiro. “Money?” they both say at the same time, perplexed.

Kiyoshiro decides to check his talismans due to the warning that popped up again. Hiro follows him to the desk. One of the talismans appears to be altered.

“Are these the talismans?” Hiro asks, blinking.

Something suddenly pops up on the screen. The acronym YENOM, which changes to MONEY, and coins suddenly start appearing, overall seeming similar to a slot machine.

Before anyone can say something, Hiro gets a call from Ruli and Jellymon.

“Hiro!” Ruli's voice speaks from the other end of the phone. “We're coming to you,” she explains. Jellymon suddenly chimes in. “You should be able to see it from your dorm soon,” the jellyfish Digimon mentions.

The group instantly turns to the window, looking outside, to see what Jellymon was talking about.

There it is, in the distance – a giant dragon Digimon marching towards the dorm. Gammamon is really amazed by it, squealing a bit. Hiro also seems quite interested.

“Wow, I didn't know there were Digimon this big,” he remarks. Angoramon is quick to explain who the Digimon is. “That's Majiramon. A Digimon that looks like a dragon and is an envoy of the god of wealth.”

Jellymon chimes back in. “There's other Digimon with it,” she says. “Quetzalmon, Bitmon and Goatmon." Angoramon nods. “They act as guides for Majiramon, leading it.”

Gammamon suddenly speaks up. “Kiyo, what is this?” they ask, holding up a bunch of snakes. Kiyoshiro visibly recoils at the sight. “That's freaky!”

The four can also hear fellow students yelling in the hall when another announcement is made. “Snakes have infested the dorm. Please evacuate to the gymnasium for the time being.”

Angoramon explains further while helping Gammamon gather up all the snakes in the room and bring them all out the door, their two humans hiding from the serpents on the bed. “From what I heard, humans believe that white snakes appear along the divine path. The white snakes appearing means Majiramon is heading our way for sure,”

“Why's that?” Jellymon asks from the other end of the phone.

“Majiramon's duty is to wealth. It's to properly preserve the flow of money.”

“The flow of money?” Kiyoshiro murmurs, looking to his computer screen again.

“Anyone who stops or disrupts that flow will not be forgiven.”

Hiro gazes at Angoramon. “Not forgiven?”

Angoramon nods. “First, a giant tail will fall upon them. That's life-threatening enough. But afterwards, a powerful light will gather in the sky and...”

“And then what?!” Jellymon pushes.

“...Then 108 arrows of light will rain down to pierce their body.”

Kiyoshiro shudders in his chair, realizing that will happen to him. He's almost frozen stiff, unable to even say anything. He's going to die?!

He turns over to his computer slowly, trying to figure out what altered his virtual talismans. “W-Why? How did they change?! I didn't alter anything on them! They can't just change on their own!”

Jellymon suddenly pipes up again. “Hey, Hiro! Are you with the grey-haired guy from your dorm? The one with the bandaged hand?” she asks for seemingly no reason. Hiro blinks. “Yeah, I'm with him. Why?”

Jellymon halts in her tracks, covering her mouth with one hand. “Oops.” is all she says.

Ruli whips her head around to her. “What is that supposed to mean, 'oops'?”

Her partner looks to the side, laughing nervously. “Well, I might have messed with his talismans to prank him a little, but he didn't react to it so I just left it be.”

Kiyoshiro and the rest of the group realize what that means.

“You rewrote my virtual talismans into an illegal program to hack the digital money management system?! F-For a prank!?” Kiyoshiro yells to the two girls through Hiro's phone, before grabbing the sides of his head, shaking it. “What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do?!”

Jellymon tries to defend herself. “I thought it would be funny! And I didn't think you wouldn't notice, or that Majiramon would come to kill you.”

You can practically hear Ruli fuming at the other end of the phone. “How is that funny, or even a prank?! I thought you didn't play harmful 'pranks' like Dracmon did!”

“Hey, don't--”

“Jellymon, you can't be serious! You're going to get him killed! This is even worse than what Dracmon did!”

“I didn't know Majiramon would come to the Human World to enact punishment! I didn't think it through, okay?!”

“Well, you should've! You and I need to talk about this,” Ruli says, voice loud and angry. Hiro and the others were listening both with shock and surprise, not having expected Ruli would be able to be that furious.

“Hiro, I'll call you back later!” However, before Ruli can hang up, Jellymon chimes in one more time. “Hey, just a suggestion, but you should probably delete those talismans if you want to live. Or, you can always try running,”

“And we'll have a chat about pranks like this,” With that, Ruli hangs up.

Kiyoshiro and Hiro look at each other and sigh loudly. Kiyoshiro plops back into his chair, head in his hands. “I don't think I can delete all the talismans in time,” he admits, despairing.

Hiro knows how to pep talk Kiyoshiro into doing it, though. “You're the dorm leader, you can do it.”

Kiyoshiro blinks, then nods. “Right, I'm the dorm leader...” Gammamon flies over to Kiyoshiro, sitting down on the desk next to him. “I'll help my big brother!” they say, smiling. Kiyoshiro looks over to Gammamon, and thanks them... though he's not sure they're actually able to help him at all.

Hiro glances over to Angoramon. “We'll try and buy you some time and stop Majiramon in its tracks. Hopefully Ruli and Jellymon resolve their fighting quickly and help us.” he tells Kiyoshiro, preparing to leave the room, but turning on his Digital Field before they do. Kiyoshiro looks around, confused. Is that the function Hiro and Angoramon tried explaining to him earlier?

“Good luck, Senpai,” Hiro says, before quickly leaving with Angoramon.

Kiyoshiro gets to work almost instantly, erasing the talismans as quickly as he possibly can, but he doesn't think he can do it in time. Oh, if only he never programmed them in the first place!

Gammamon is sitting on the desk next to him, tilting their head while watching him, asking him questions. “Why is that Digimon coming to us?”

“To punish me,”

“Why you? Jellymon did it,”

“They're my talismans, even if she altered them.”

“Can you delete them fast enough?”

“I don't know.”

“Wouldn't running be easier?”

“Maybe... but I want to restore the flow of money. If I run, I will be chased forever.”

Kiyoshiro inhales, his breath unsteady from panic. “I-I'm the dorm leader. I have to do it.”

There's still so many. He doesn't think he can do it alone...

He turns to Gammamon.

“Gammamon, please, if you can somehow help me...” Kiyoshiro begins getting teary-eyed, starting to cry. “I beg of you,”

Gammamon blinks, surprised and slightly confused, but then puts on a serious expression, nodding. “I'll help, Kiyo!”

Kiyoshiro is puzzled when Gammamon simply stares at the screen really intensely, but notices talismans starting to be deleted. Digimon are weird creatures.

He turns back to his screen, continuing to delete things as fast as he can.

“Thank you, Gammamon,”

---

Hiro and Angoramon have met up with Ruli and Jellymon in the path of Majiramon.

“You who have disturbed the beautiful order of wealth! Show yourself!” It speaks, and then roars, causing all of the talismans to show up visually in the Digital Field.

Ruli looks at Hiro's phone, where one has appeared as well. “So that's...” Hiro nods. “The virtual talismans which caused this entire mess.”

Ruli and Jellymon looked like they got into quite the fight before getting here, though it seems like Jellymon pulled the shorter straw in the argument, her expression being a mixture of anger, embarassment and... guilt? Hiro isn't quite sure.

The three guides of Majiramon show up and jump to attack the group.

“Hiro!” Angoramon calls out, and Hiro nods. Light envelopes Angoramon once again, changing shape.

“Angoramon evolve to Symbareangoramon!”

He jumps to attack Quetzalmon, it overpowers him and binds him in place. “Symbareangoramon!” Hiro calls out to him, about to rush forward, when he suddenly sees to sharp blades appear around him, holding him in place. It turns out to be Bitmon's ears.

Goatmon has trapped Jellymon and Ruli as well with its bell, stopping them from moving with some form of paralysis ability. “What is this?” Ruli asks, trying to power through, to no avail.

“Are they telling us not to move?” Hiro wonders, unsure. His question is answered when Majiramon steps over the four of them, leaving them unharmed – but now Majiramon is right with Kiyoshiro and Gammamon.

The pair had made a lot of progress, having deleted every talisman except for one, but they weren't fast enough. Majiramon whacks most of the dorm room apart with its tail, destroying the roof and crumbling a good chunk of the walls. Kiyoshiro and Gammamon were sent flying into the wall.

Gammamon opens their eyes, injured from the attack. Kiyoshiro appears to be passed out. “Kiyo, wake up!” Gammamon calls, gently shaking their partner's arm. “Big brother!”

Kiyoshiro's eyelids twitch for a moment, and he repeats Gammamon's words quietly.

“Only one more!” they say, shaking Kiyoshiro more. “We can do it!”

The guide trio lets go of the rest of the group, following after Majiramon, who is about to enact its divine judgement.

“Are you the fools who stopped the flow of wealth?!” the dragon Digimon questions.

“Hear me. Your evil actions will now be punished by 108 arrows!”

A huge ball of light appears in the sky, and a single ray of light shines straight down on Gammamon and Kiyoshiro.

Gammamon is about to start crying, but Kiyoshiro suddenly stirs, chuckling. “Not yet. It's not over yet.” he murmurs, slowly sliding up against the wall, Gammamon letting go and flying next to him, blinking. “Kiyo?”

“I am Hazakura Academy dorm leader Kiyoshiro Higashimitarai!” he yells, a sudden surge of confidence that surprises Gammamon, and equally amazes them. They look at Kiyoshiro with sparkles in their eyes, in absolute awe of their big brother's determination.

“Limit Break!”

“Be pierced and repent!” Majiramon shouts, the stream of light narrowing to nearly non-existant.

“Big brother!” Gammamon cries out, but Kiyoshiro isn't afraid. And suddenly, he feels a word stream in, and he knows exactly what to do.

“Breaclaw!”

Gammamon roars and charges up to the final talisman, destroying it. They panic a little. “I messed up!” they say, looking down to Kiyoshiro, but he shakes his head. “It's okay,” he says.

The talisman shatters, and with it, the light beam retracts into the giant orb in the sky, which promptly vanishes. Light particles rain down from the sky.

Kiyoshiro smiles slightly, looking up to Majiramon. “Now the flow of wealth will return to normal,” he says. He then gets down on his knees to apologize for creating the talismans in the first place.

“I'm fully responsible for making the virtual talismans that caused this! I sincerely apologize!” he says, bowing his head. “I, Hazakura Academy dorm leader Kiyoshiro Higashimitarai, solemnly swear to never do it again!”

Ruli looks over at Jellymon, the rest of the group having watched the scene from the ground along with the three guides of Majiramon. Ruli slightly pushes Jellymon forward, motioning for her to go up there as well. “You need to apologize for what you've done,” Ruli says, arms crossed. Jellymon looks at her for a moment, intense staring between the two, but Jellymon realizes Ruli is right, this was mostly her fault, after all.

She floats up to where Kiyoshiro and Gammamon are, and begrudgingly gets into the same position. “I sincerely apologize as well, for altering his talismans in a way that stopped the flow of wealth! I swear on my life to never do something like this again,” she says, also bowing her head.

Majiramon looks at the two of them. “All has been purified. Very well!” it says, flying off into the sky, disappearing in the distance.

Bitmon, Quetzalmon and Goatmon run off, too.

Hiro turns off the Digital Field once the four Digimon have disappeared, leaving Kiyoshiro surprised to see his dorm back to normal, as if nothing happened.

---

“The digital money system was restored at 7 P.M., and all transactions have resumed.”

The group has met up at a small playground near the dorm, sitting together. Hiro is watching the news broadcast with Angoramon, relieved to hear everything has returned to normal.

Kiyoshiro doesn't know how he got out of that situation. What happened? He remembers being knocked into the wall, and then suddenly... he was back in his dorm room, as if nothing happened.

However, Kiyoshiro's focus changes to Gammamon, who is fast asleep, tightly hugging his arm, snoring calmly. Kiyoshiro can't help but smile a little. “Big brother, huh?” he mutters to himself, gently patting their head.

“The dragon god follows blindly, and a dinosaur. Therefore, the world is unharmed.”

Chapter Text

Ruli and Hiro are walking up a forest trail, followed closely by their Digimon partners. Ruli seems quite excited about it.

“It's right up ahead!” she says, grinning, speeding up. Hiro looks over at her. “Is it really a ghost?”

Ruli shrugs. “There are rumors.” Jellymon floats over to her.

“This place is pretty creepy,” Hiro remarks, looking around.

Ruli is pretty ecstatic upon reaching the top and spotting what she was looking for. “This is it! This fox statue!” She rushes on ahead, right up to the shrine.

“An offering?” Angoramon asks, seeing the plate with food on it in the middle of the shrine. Ruli is taking some pictures, while Jellymon floats around, inspecting it closer.

The leaves on the trees suddenly start rustling pretty intensely, prompting Hiro and Angoramon to look around, gaze focusing to where Jellymon is when she lets out a startled yelp.

A purple-white fox-like Digimon has appeared, sitting on the roof of the temple. After the short, initial shock, Jellymon puffs her cheeks. “Don't scare me like that!”

Ruli looks up to try and catch a glimpse of what startled Jellymon. “But you're--”

“We figured it was a Digimon,” Hiro says. Angoramon nods. “That's Youkomon.”

Youkomon scoffs. “Honestly. Such a rude lot.”

Jellymon looks offended to be called that, but flies back down to Ruli's side.

“Recently, these foolish Hologram Ghost pilgrimages became popular, and they are quite the annoyance. I assume that is why you're here.”

Ruli pauses for a moment. “Um... hey, why are there rumors about you?” she asks, eager to know more.

“I picked up a wallet some local woman dropped. Then she started bringing me offerings, and people began to talk.”

Hiro blinks. “Well, um... I have a question for you,” he starts, however, Youkomon seems like it is growing tired of the conversation, turning around. “It's my nap time.” it replies dismissively before disappearing back into the forest. The group look after it.

Ruli looks down at her phone. “So it was a Digimon, huh...” she murmurs, before looking up at the others. “Although we didn't see a ghost, we got to meet a Digimon. Okay, on to the next site!”

Hiro seems surprised. “We're not done yet?” he asks, turning to Ruli.

Ruli nods. “I mean, I want Lirurun to post about a real ghost.”

---

“There's two of us, but could we get a large room?” Ruli asks the lady at the counter. The four had heard about rumors at a local karaoke place, and Ruli wanted to investigate further.

Once they get the room, Jellymon lands on Ruli's head. “Now what?” She seems a little bored.

“They say a Hologram Ghost appears in this karaoke room if you sing a certain song.” Angoramon explains. Ruli nods to confirm what Angoramon said.

A trio of girls passes by them, looking pretty down. The group looks after them, and sees one of the staff members come up to them, asking for discretion.

“Our room is on the fifth floor, let's go,” Ruli tells Hiro and Angoramon, who follow her.

While in the elevator, albeit a bit cramped due to how big Angoramon is, the four discuss what happened at the entrance.

“They were covering it up,” Hiro says, getting Ruli excited. “So maybe there really was a ghost,” she replies.

“That was pretty sly. People talk more when they know it's being covered up. Especially with the trend.” Angoramon looks between the two of them. “The rumor only started going around recently, but they'll soon spread and attract a crowd.”

“They want to make money from the rumors, obviously,” Jellymon chimes in. Ruli nods. “And we're the first ones on the scene!” Hiro and Angoramon sigh a little at Ruli's excitement.

Once they've reached their floor and are on their way to their room, Ruli turns to Hiro with a question. “What songs are you good at, Hiro?”

Hiro looks to the side, scratching his head. “I don't really sing,” he admits. Jellymon giggles, glancing down at Ruli. “We should let Hiro sing, maybe it'll make the ghost come out faster,”

The four are surprised when they bump into Kiyoshiro on the way, who is here with Gammamon.

“Kiyocchi? Gammamon?” Ruli asks. Hiro blinks. “What are you two doing here, Senpai?”

Kiyoshiro seems equally surprised to see them, turning to them fully, Gammamon in his arms. “O-Oh, Amanokawa-kun, Tsukiyono-san,” he says, seeming quite on edge. Gammamon waves to the other four, smiling. Kiyoshiro looks down to them, before his gaze moved back to the rest of the group. “Gammamon learned about karaoke and wanted to try it, so I figured I'd take them here,” he explains, “b-but we heard of some startling rumors of H-Hologram Ghosts,”

“Did you see it?” Ruli asks, but Kiyoshiro shakes his head, before letting out a long sigh. “I-- I was too nervous. Gammamon said it's okay if we wait until I felt a bit better, but...” he frowns, looking down at Gammamon. He's still getting used to all of this, but he isn't exactly doing a good job at being an older brother, is he?

“Well, you could come with us,” Hiro offered, looking to Ruli, who nods. Kiyoshiro blinks. That isn't exactly the response he was hoping for, he'd rather leave altogether, but it's better than going into one of these rooms alone... after a moment of consideration, he agrees. He's going to try and pull himself together, for the sake of Gammamon – he did want them to have fun, even if he was really scared to even be here.

“I'll have to get a picture and post it!” Ruli says excitedly as the group made their way to the room Ruli had booked.

Once they arrive, they all settle in together, while Ruli picks out the song that apparently causes the ghost to appear, Jellymon looking over her shoulder.

While preparing, Angoramon suddenly hears something, gasping. Hiro turns to look at Angoramon. “What's wrong?” he asks, tilting his head.

“Something's happening on the second floor!” he replies, and the group gets up, quickly making their way towards where Angoramon heard it, rushing to get there before it's too late. As soon as they've reached the destination floor, they rush down the corridor. “The room on the right!” Angoramon calls out to the rest of them.

The door is locked, so Gammamon crashes through, knocking it out of its hinges. The rest of the group is right behind them. “W-What in the...” Hiro stammers, seeing a girl laying on the floor, enveloped by what appears to be some sort of black matter?

Gammamon growls at the substance. “I'm getting bad vibes!” they say, looking ready to fight. It suddenly unlatches itself from its victim, dispersing. “Who are you?!” Jellymon yells, but it simply disappears back into the screen.

Rulli quickly walks up to the girl on the floor. “Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt?” she asks. The girl is panting.

“What was that thing? That was no Hologram Ghost.” Hiro muses.

---

Ruli went outside with the girl to safely give her to her friends, who would bring her home, before returning inside to join the others, who gathered back in their room.

Kiyoshiro is shaking quite hard, even more frightened now that they saw the thing. “I-I just want to get out here,” he says, shivering. Gammamon looks at him with a slightly sad expression, sitting on the backrest of the couch, patting him on the head.

Jellymon scoffs. “What are you talking about?! We should expose it!” she argues.

Hiro turns to look at his partner. “Angoramon, was that...?” But Angoramon is unsure, too. “I don't know. I've never seen anything like it before.”

Ruli is getting on the elevator, getting ready to go back to the others. An advertisement is running inside. “Over 80 million songs! Sing anything from the latest hits to children's songs! Like this song!”

Ruli gets startled when she realizes it's the song related to the Hologram Ghost. The elevator shakes for a short moment, then stops altogether. Ruli panics, pressing the emergency button repeatedly. “Come on, work!”

“Listen to my song.” A voice suddenly speaks. She turns over to the screen as the light goes out, and the voice starts singing, but in a low tone.

“Starting low? That's different from the rumors!” A hand emerges from the screen, made of the same material that had enveloped that girl earlier. “A Hologram Ghost?!”

An deafening sound forces Ruli to her knees, gripping the sides of her head. It was like a migraine, but worse. “My ears... M-My head...”

The hand disperses into orbs that begin flying around wildly. And something else emerges from the screen, too, a band of the dark substance wrapping around Ruli's neck, choking her, as she tries to struggle against it.

The Hologram Ghost shows itself. “Listen to my song.” it says again.

Back in the room where the rest of the group is, Jellymon suddenly feels that Ruli is in danger. “Ruli!” she says, and quickly flies out towards the elevator, closely followed by the others.

“Inside the elevator! Ruli's in danger!” Jellymon shouts to the others. Hiro is trying to make the elevator move to their floor, but it doesn't work. “Move!” Jellymon yells, flying through the doors straight into the elevator shaft to save her partner.

Gammamon gets into a charging position, and Kiyoshiro feels a new phrase come to him. “Horn Attack!” he calls out, and Gammamon rams straight into the doors, knocking them out of their hinges, falling after them.

Angoramon looks to Hiro and Kiyoshiro. “Ready?” the two nod, and Angoramon grabs them, flying down into the elevator shaft.

Inside the elevator, Jellymon is trying to pull Sirenmon off of Ruli, repeatedly shocking her. Gammamon crashes down inside through the emergency hatchet. “Who are you?!” they question. She turns to look at them.

Angoramon and Hiro are also about to enter the elevator, and the former spots the Digimon. “Sirenmon!”

Sirenmon escapes into the screen as soon as she realizes there is too many, letting go of Ruli. However, Jellymon isn't having it. “You're not getting away!” she shouts, giving chase. She flies through the rooms, able to tell that Sirenmon is moving through the network. “Get back here! I know you're running in there!”

Ruli is catching her breath, leaning against Angoramon. “That was close. I thought I was going to die.” she murmurs, somewhat jittery from the incident.

“Were you about to die?” Kiyoshiro asks, concerned.

Jellymon returns in that moment. “She might have actually died, if we were any slower.” she says angrily. She flies over to Ruli. “Are you okay?”

Ruli gives a little nod. “I think, yeah.”

Hiro looks to Jellymon. “What about the Digimon?”

“Got away. But I figured out that Sirenmon is moving through the online karaoke network.” she replies.

Angoramon looks back up to Hiro. “Sirenmon is like a diva in the Digital World. But this Digimon also uses songs as a form of self-defense.” he explains.

Ruli looks down, but then her expression changes to one of determination. “We have to do something.” She gets up. “You all saved me,”

“We'll save the others too!” Gammamon chimes in, seeming really brave again. Kiyoshiro looks to them, still seeming nervous himself, but nodding, trying to pull himself together.

Hiro thinks. “What's our best strategy?” he mutters, looking over at the board on the wall. He spots the VIP rooms on the sixth floor. “I've got it, Senpai!”

Kiyoshiro seems surprised to hear his name. “Me?” he asks, pointing to himself, confused.

---

The group is in the VIP room, setting things up. Kiyoshiro plugs in a USB cable connected to his phone.

“Sirenmon is travelling through this building's online karaoke network.” Hiro looks to Kiyoshiro. “Could we cut it off and lure Sirenmon here, the largest room?”

Kiyoshiro is tapping on his phone, setting things up. “Yes, probably. But the online karaoke is connected outside, so that needs to be cut off too. We'll need to ask the owner,” Kiyoshiro mutters.

“It's an emergency!” Ruli and Jellymon yell in unison, startling Kiyoshiro.

“Okay!” he replies.

Ruli blinks, looking at what Kiyoshiro is doing. “Isn't that...?” Hiro nods. “Yeah, it's hacking.”

After a few moments, Kiyoshiro looks to the rest of the group. “Are you ready?” he asks, hovering with his finger over his phone.

The group gives their signs that they're ready for Sirenmon.

Jellymon looks to Ruli. “Just put in the song!” “Okay!” Ruli responds.

“H-Here we go!” Kiyoshiro says, and clicks the ok button on his phone. “I'm cutting off the outside network so that Sirenmon can't get away. I'm cutting off the online karaoke system from the bottom floor. If Sirenmon appears anywhere after having nowhere else to go in the online system... I-It'd be here.”

Ruli promptly turns on the song, and seconds later, Sirenmon interferes. “Are you the ones who took away everyone's chance to hear my song?” she asks, emerging from the screen.

“Whoa!” Gammamon gasps, but readies themself either way.

Angoramon stands next to Hiro, ready to protect him. “Sirenmon!”

Hiro looks directly at the Digimon. “Do you know what you've done?” he asks sternly.

Sirenmon seems confused. “Why would you throw away the honor of hearing my song?” she retorts. “How foolish.” She shrugs.

“That's not it!” Hiro replies. Jellymon chimes in, too. “listen to what we're saying!”

Sirenmon doesn't really care though, looking around. “Let me think. This is rather small for a recital hall.” She turns back to the group. “Let's bring my song to a bigger audience!” she exclaims, spreading her wings.

“It can't be!” Angoramon says as Sirenmon crashes through the wall of the building. “Oh no! Sirenmon's going to sing where it's crowded!” The group quickly grabs their things and rushes outside to follow Sirenmon.

Sirenmon flies back into one of the giant billboards outside, starting to sing again. Everyone is covering their ears to try and block out Sirenmon's singing, but it doesn't help much.

“I'll use the field!” Hiro says, but Jellymon stops him.

“Wait, Hiro!” She looks down to Ruli. “Darling! You got this!”

Ruli is confused. “Wait, mine?!”

“Just hurry!” Jellymon shouts.

“Fine!”

As soon as Ruli activates her Digital Field, the surroundings change to a jungle-like area, overgrown with trees.

Sirenmon stops singing, looking around. “Where did my audience go?”

Hiro blinks, but then realizes. “Of course! This works!” Kiyoshiro nods. “We're at the advantage hiding and fighting a flying opponent!”

Sirenmon has since re-emerged from the billboard, flying towards the group. “You again?” she murmurs, annoyed. “How dare you keep a diva from the fans?”

Before anyone can even reply something, Sirenmon attacks them with Canon, hitting Gammamon, knocking them back.

“Everyone hide!” Angoramon yells, prompting everyone to retreat to the trees. Kiyoshiro runs over to Gammamon, picking them up, then running to a hiding place.

Jellymon guides Ruli to a hiding spot. “This way!”

Hiro and Angoramon go not far from where Ruli and Jellymon are.

Gammamon wiggles free from Kiyoshiro's grasp, their back spikes changing into wings. “Gammamon?!” Kiyoshiro calls out as they fly to fight Sirenmon. “I'm gonna go kaboom!” they yell angrily.

“It's no use!” Sirenmon shoots another attack out, this time straight into the trees. The Canon attack richochets off them, bouncing around. “Watch out for the ricochet!” Ruli calls out. Jellymon scoffs, changing into her battle mode, ready to deflect the attack.

“Bolt Knuckle!” Ruli calls out, and Jellymon punches the attack away from them. A new attack streams into Ruli's mind, surprising her a little. “Spiral Kick!” Jellymon kicks the music note, but there is just too many.

“We're supposed to hide and fight! This puts us at a disadvantage!” Ruli says, ducking to avoid the bouncing notes.

Angoramon is knocking the Canon attack away to try and protect Hiro. “There has to be something we can do!” Hiro says, trying to figure out how to turn this around.

Gammamon is still flying straight at Sirenmon. “It's kaboom time!” they yell, and Kiyoshiro calls out to them again. “Gammamon!”

Sirenmon gets annoyed with them. “You fool.” she says, throwing more notes straight at Gammamon, who shields themself with their arms. The notes suddenly gather, turning into that same black substance again, in the shape of a hand.

“So this is what that black mass was.” Angoramon says.

The hand is about to grab Gammamon, who can't dodge out of the way anymore. They cry out to their partner. “Kiyo!” The attack envelopes them, the hand closing around them. Kiyoshiro stares up in shock, and calls their name. “Gammamon!”

He suddenly feels an attack name flow in, but something about it is different from last time. It almost... hurt a little. Still, he wastes no time calling it out. “Breaclaw!”

With a powerful burst of energy, Gammamon obliterates the black mass that was surrounding them, and Kiyoshiro could swear he saw what he could only describe as tiny speckles of black-blue flames dissipating, but perhaps he was just confusing the remnants of the black hand for it.

Gammamon couldn't fly anymore, though, thoroughly exhausted from the massive attack. Angoramon is quick to intervene, though, flying to catch Gammamon, who was helplessly trying to flutter with their little wings. “Leave it to me, Gammamon!” he says, catching them in midair.

Hiro watches them carefully. It would make no sense to have Angoramon evolve, since he would lose the ability to fly, and Sirenmon could easily go out of range, taking their chance to fight back. As he sees Angoramon fly higher, though, he realizes something – the attack can only richochet in the forest below.

“Angoramon! Get higher than Siremon!” he calls out to his partner.

Gammamon has since recovered their energy, clinging to Angoramon's arm. Sirenmon starts shooting more Canon attacks at them, but since they are in the air, but Angoramon is able to dodge them all, the attacks flying off into the sky – just as Hiro thought they would.

Gammamon suddenly climbs onto Angoramon's arm. “Kiyo!” they call out to their partner, who is about to call back, but realizes what they intend to do. “Horn Attack!” he calls out, and Gammamon crashes straight into Sirenmon as she tries to get closer, knocking her back somewhat. As Gammamon falls out of the sky, Kiyoshiro rushes over to catch them.

Sirenmon attacks with Canon again, but Angoramon easily dodges.

Sirenmon chuckles. “You figured it out.”

“I see,” Kiyoshiro says, looking over at Hiro.

“That attack won't work if there's no place to reflect it!” he says.

“However, my song will never end. Its end would be the world's loss! I doubt you could sing such a wonderful song.” Sirenmon says, hovering right in front of Angoramon. “It can't be done!”

Hiro has a sudden realization as he listens to what Sirenmon says.

“I'll give you front row seats to my performance!” she yells, stretching out a hand in front of her, readying another attack.

Ruli calls out to Angoramon, who is about to be hit by the attack.

Hiro starts singing, confusing everyone. It is absolutely awful, causing the rest of the group to cover their ears in an attempt to block it out.

“Is this supposed to be singing?” Ruli questions, followed by Jellymon saying “I wish I didn't have ears right now!”

“Incredible. This goes beyond a cursed voice.” Kiyoshiro sarcastically remarks. “I can't stand it!” Gammamon grumbles.

Sirenmon surprisingly flies down to the ground, landing next to Hiro, staring with wonder and enjoyment. Hiro turns to Sirenmon. “I gave it a try,”

Sirenmon smiles. “Fantastic. I'm so moved!”

“Yeah? Well, thanks. Wondeful songs are moving and make you happy. You know what I mean?”

Sirenmon blinks.

“It communicates what the singer was feeling. So I sang with all my heart.” Hiro explains.

“With all your heart?” Sirenmon repeats. Hiro nods. Sirenmon smiles again. “Then I've received your heart.”

Ruli, Jellymon, Kiyoshiro and Gammamon are watching from the treeline, unsure of what is happening. “Wait, those two...” Ruli murmurs. “They understand each other.” Kiyoshiro murmurs.

“I guess songs make people happy.” Hiro says.

“After coming to this world, I was moved by human songs, but for some reason when I sang, everyone ran away scared. I understand now. My singing was the issue.” Sirenmon replies. She then turns around. “I'm going to go train. A journey to find a way to move people with my singing.” With that, she flies off.

“I'm sure you'll find a way to sing and communicate your heart.” Hiro calls after her.

Angoramon lands next to the group. “It seems that Hiro's singing moved Sirenmon's heart.” he smiles.

“That was a strange phenomenon.” Ruli comments, and Kiyoshiro sighs, murmuring about the 'seal on his hand' to himself for a moment before looking down at Gammamon, who seems thoroughly exhausted.

Hiro suddenly realizes as Sirenmon flies away. “There's more I wanted to ask y...” he tries yelling, but Sirenmon is already too far away. “Oh, well.”

---

Back in the Human world, Gammamon is singing the song Hiro was singing, though theirs is much better than Hiro's. Gammamon turns to Ruli, smiling. “Ruli, how's my singing?” they asks.

Ruli smiles. “Hard to say!” she tells them.

“Yeah?” Gammamon then goes back to singing.

Ruli then looks over to Hiro. “Hiro, why didn't you let Angoramon evolve?” she asks, blinking.

Hiro turns to her. “Symbareangoramon can't fly like Angoramon can. It would've given us a disadvantage.”

Ruli hums. “That makes sense,”

Jellymon looks at the both of them. “I wonder why he can evolve and turn back,” she says, still perplexed by the whole thing. Could she do it too?

Angoramon sort of shrugs. “I don't know either,” he admits.

“Should the truth be known or remain unknown? Only those who know know.”

Hiro blinks, looking up at Angoramon.

Chapter Text

Kiyoshiro and Gammamon are on their way back to the dorm after having just been at the grocery store. Gammamon is comfortably settled into Kiyoshiro's backpack, holding a small box of chocolate.

“My champion! My champion!” they cheerfully hum, excited. “Wait until we get to the dorm,” Kiyoshiro says, but Gammamon doesn't listen.

“Just a little bit!” They drop three pieces of chocolate into their hand, but since Kiyoshiro is walking, the chocolate falls to the ground. Gammamon gasps and reaches out towards the orbs now laying on the sidewalk. Kiyoshiro turns around to look what happened.

A crow flutters down, and starts pecking away at it. “Ahh!! My champion!” Gammamon cries out, waving their arms around. “Gammamon, calm--” but before Kiyoshiro can finish his sentence, Gammamon hops out of the backpack, flying towards the crow, causing it to take off into the sky.

Gammamon tries to chase after it, but the crow is much faster, leaving Gammamon behind. “Get back here!” they yell after the crow.

“It's way faster and more mobile,” Kiyoshiro states. Gammamon pouts. “Gammamon, come back down,” Kiyoshiro calls, and Gammamon flutters to him, upset. “Kiyo, gimme another!” they say, but he shakes his head. “You still have some left. Let's go back to the dorm, the crows can't bother you there,”

Gammamon climbs into the backpack again, mourning the loss of their chocolate. Kiyoshiro blinks when he gets a message from Ruli – she usually didn't text him unless she wanted something from him.

---

“Your sparrow went missing?” Hiro asks, looking at the picture on Mika's phone. She nods. “Yes. Crows broke into my room and melted her cage.”

Kiyoshiro is startled by that. “Melted?!”

Mika looks down. “I've been looking since yesterday, but she's nowhere to be found.”

“Mika, leave Chiroru to us.” Ruli says.

“Okay...”

The group gathers outside the cafe as Mika leaves, trying to figure out what to do.

“Violent crows broke an electronic lock and attacked?” Kiyoshiro murmurs. Gammamon looks over Kiyoshiro's shoulder. “Kiyo, did crows take my champion?” they ask, looking at him, and he gives a slight nod. “Yes, that was a crow.”

“Look,” Ruli says, showing the group a news report on bird attacks.

“There have been reports recently of a drone-like object, shaped like a bird. The object was often seen leading a murder of crows...”

“I think it's a Digimon,” Hiro mentions. The others nod. “Jellymon thought so, too. I think that this Digimon is connected to Mika's missing bird. Help me investigate!” Ruli explains.

“Oh, uh...” Kiyoshiro starts, but Gammamon interrupts before he can even say anything. “I want to help, Kiyo!” they exclaim. Kiyoshiro blinks, but reluctantly agrees, not wanting to disappoint Gammamon or have them realize he's scared. “Okay,”

“Angoramon and I'll help, too.” Hiro and Kiyoshiro watch Jellymon float in, stopping next to Ruli. “It's decided, then! We start tomorrow. Hiro and I have class, so Higacchi, you take the afternoon shift.” Ruli looks between the two of them.

“Now I'm Higacchi?” Kiyoshiro asks, looking like he's a little unhappy with that.

Ruli doesn't respond to the question though, instead continuing. “You already have your master's degree from America, so you're exempt from class.” She pauses. “What do you do during the day?”

“Well...” Kiyoshiro murmurs, staring at the ground.

---

The next day, Kiyoshiro is setting things up in one of the empty rooms of the dorm. “What are we doing here?” Gammamon asks, fluttering after Kiyoshiro.

“We're setting up headquarters!” Kiyoshiro explains, carrying some things around. “These steps are important. Let's put the FBI to shame!”

Angoramon looks to the two. “Kiyoshiro, where did you want me to put this?” he asks, and Kiyoshiro walks over to him, directing Angoramon to where he should place what he was carrying. Gammamon looks at some long cable, grabbing it and biting it. “No flavor.” they mutter.

Kiyoshiro quickly turns back to them. “Don't bite that!” he calls over to them.

---

“Gardening and Caretaking Club? I didn't know you were a member.” Hiro says, walking alongside Kotaro. “It's an old club that was established when the school was founded.” he explains, then giggles. “The third years are so cute!”

The two walk around the corner, and see the door to the animal enclosure is opened. Kotaro quickly runs over. “Help!” He looks inside the pen. “Chunta? Perako is gone too! Koko? Where are you, Koko?”

Hiro hurries over to check on things, and then notices something on the ground. It's the lock to the enclosure, opened and misshapen, as if something attacked it. “What is this?”

---

Hiro received a call from Ruli, who said a series of bird attacks had occurred in the district she was in and to come and bring Angoramon with him.

He walks through the alleyway, seeing Ruli on the other side. The moment he leaves it and turns his head to the side, he can see the destruction that happened. “It's a mess.” Angoramon states.

A woman was kneeling on the ground, holding a bird cage. “My P-chan...” she muttered, “Someone took my P-chan!”

Ruli blinks. “Isn't this...?” Hiro nods. “Yeah, it's the same as Kashiwagi-san.”

Jellymon suddenly floats to the trio. “It's even worse over there, darling,” she says, pointing further down the road. The four make their way there.

A local pet shop is quite destroyed, dozens of cages knocked over and deformed. The police appear to already be investigating the matter, too. Over here too.” Ruli comments, then spots who appears to be a worker at the store, walking up to him.

“Do you work here? Are you okay?” she asks. The man slightly nods. “Y-Yes, but the crows... They took all our birds.”

In the meantime, Hiro has called Kiyoshiro. “Senpai, what could their goal be?”

Kiyoshiro is back at the dorm, holed up in the room he set up with Gammamon and Angoramon earlier, having put a 'Keep out' sign outside so he'd remain undisturbed. “I haven't figured that out yet,” Kiyoshiro says, typing on his laptop. He'd set up a map on the whiteboard with locations of attacks marked.

“Not yet!” Gammamon repeats, sitting in Kiyoshiro's lap, watching him work. “Reviewing all points of attack...” Kiyoshiro mutters to himself. “Let's review!” Gammamon cheers.

Hiro, Jellymon and Angoramon decide to take a closer look at the attacks on-site. “Hiro, there's something on the floor,” Jellymon says, floating down to it. Hiro crouches down to get a closer look, and realizes the lock looks the same as the one at the enclosure earlier. “It's the same as the one at school,” he remarks. Angoramon nods. “It's a move that breaks down digital cells. The Digimon must be sharing its power with the crows.”

“So this is how they were melting the bird cages. So is their goal to free the birds?” Hiro muses. Jellymon moves over to Ruli, who is looking at her phone. There is a picture of two crows and a weird man standing outside one of the stores. “'Violent birds and a shady man.'”

She turns to show the photo to the pet shop worker. “Have you seen this person?” she asks, and the man blinks. “He was just at the store,”

When Kiyoshiro receives this info, he believes the shady man must be connected to the crimes. “An accomplice perhaps? Let me add that to the analysis and recalculate.”

---

As it's getting late, Kiyoshiro figures it out. “I'm such a genius! It's the Fibonacci sequence!” He looks at the map he and Gammamon had been working on, a red swirl now covering most of it. “The attacks seem random, but if you connect the locations on a map, it creates a spiral like an ammonite!”

“You know where they will hit next?” Hiro asks.

“Yes,” Kiyoshiro replies, “You should come back though.”

Hiro seems confused. “Why?”

“Because the crows won't be active after sundown. According to my analysis, the next attack will be tomorrow morning!” Kiyoshiro explains, drawing a red line to the next target. “The target is founded on the idea of bringing back nature to the city. Fujinohana Bird Sanctuary!”

Hiro is shocked to hear this. “The bird sanctuary?!” Ruli, Angoramon and Jellymon look at him. “Hiro?” Angoramon asks, followed by Ruli's “What's wrong?”

“Eagles, hawks, condors. Dangerous predators will be released! They might hurt people!” he tells the others, who are equally as stunned.

---

The group is waiting together at the bird sanctuary, early in the morning, when it is still quite foggy outside.

Kiyoshiro and Gammamon are looking at the birds, one of the eagles suddenly turning its head to them, startling Kiyoshiro. “Be quiet!” Jellymon hisses from Ruli's side.

“Look.” Ruli whispers, looking into the distance. “Someone's here.” The rest of the group turns to see the man approaching them. “The one from the picture.” Hiro mutters.

“We're going to free everyone here.” the man murmurs, seemingly to himself. “We're going to release them. To release them.” He stops when he sees the group. “Who are you?” He spots the three Digimon. “What are those weird creatures?”

Gammamon walks forward a bit. “I'm a Digimon!” they say. “Digimon?” the man repeats.

Above him, the rest of the group can see the massive bird hiding itself in the shadows and fog of the dawn. However, Angoramon recognizes it quickly. “That's Yatagaramon! The Mysterious Bird Digimon that controlls darkness.”

“Darkness?” Ruli looks to Angoramon.

“We're going to free all birds. Are you going to get in the way of our noble mission?!” the man questions, and suddenly dozens of crows emerge from the trees in the distance, gathering where Yatagaramon is.

“You're friends with those black birds!” Gammamon yells, angry. “Give me back my champion!” They suddenly take off into the sky, flying at the crows, who all seem to have weird yellow glowing orbs. “Gammamon!” Kiyoshiro calls after them.

Angoramon quickly realizes what the light the crows have is. “That's Mikafutsu no Kami! Don't touch that light! You'll be turned into ones and zeros!” he yells up to Gammamon, and Kiyoshiro looks to Angoramon, startled by the explanation of the attack, then back to Gammamon. They dodge out of the way of the crows in the last second, however the crows don't stop flying forward, going straight towards the rest of the group.

“Petit Tornado!” Hiro calls out, and Angoramon blows a stream of wind straight into the crows, causing them to disperse.

One of the crows swerves around to attack Ruli, but Jellymon gets in front of her, quickly changing to her battle mode, kicking the bird away with a Spiral Kick that Ruli calls out.

The man has managed to get behind Kiyoshiro undetected, grabbing him by the arms to prevent him from moving. “Kiyo!” Gammamon yells down to him, trying to fly towards him but narrowly dodging a crow.

“I told you not to get in our way!” the man angrily says as Kiyoshiro struggles against him. “Let go!” he yells, scared.

“Ruli!” Hiro calls over to Ruli, who quickly activates her Digital Field, freeing Kiyoshiro from the grasp of the man, who is left in the Human World with the crows, confused, searching for Yatagaramon. “W-Where did you go? Please answer me!”

“Nice, darling!” Jellymon says to Ruli, smiling. “You could really learn something from her, Kiyoshiro!” Kiyoshiro simply sighs. “I know.” he says, still a bit shaken up.

Yatagaramon, now on its own, hovers above them, staring them down.

“All right!” Angoramon flies up into the air. “Gammamon!” The ceratopsian Digimon quickly jumps after him, grabbing onto his arm once close enough.

“Breaclaw!” Kiyoshiro calls out, followed by Hiro's “Double Lariat!”

However, Yatagaramon easily knocks Gammamon back and grabs Angoramon with its feet, flying down towards the ground with him, intent on throwing him into it.

“I've got you now!” Jellymon yells as she emerges from the thicket below. Ruli looks up to her partner. “Bibi Thunder!”

Jellymon shoots her shot, but Yatagaramon easily dodges, turning around in the air quickly and throwing Angoramon at Jellymon, with both crashing into a nearby pond together. All three humans look after them. “Angoramon!” “Jellymon!”

Gammamon flies towards the crow Digimon, when it lets out a loud screech, startling them. Suddenly, a huge black orb envelopes all of their surroundings. Angoramon and Jellymon had just emerged from the water, thoroughly soaked. “It's Haguro! Careful!” Angoramon calls out before the darkness surrounds them.

“Guys!” Hiro calls out, unable to see in the dark. His eyes can't adjust to it.

“Kiyo!” Gammamon's voice echoes from afar.

“We can hear each other, but...” Ruli says, standing still.

“I can't see a thing!” Kiyoshiro looks around, shaking.

“Stop panicking!” Jellymon yells.

“We shouldn't move too much. We don't know where the enemy--” Angoramon suddenly gets knocked over, followed by Gammamon and Jellymon. Nobody can see what is happening, but it seems Yatagaramon has found the three Digimon and is attacking them.

“W-What? What's happening?!” Kiyoshiro stammers.

When the orb finally fades after several moments, the group spots their Digimon, laying on the ground, very beat up.

“Jellymon!” “Angoramon!” “Gammamon!”

The three want to rush to their partners, but Angoramon tells them to stay back, voice strained. Yatagaramon is hovering right above them.

Jellymon groans. “Darling.. That Digimon's way too strong.” she says, unable to move.

“You need to get away and leave us behind!” Angoramon calls out to them.

Yatagaramon descends to them, two big yellow orbs appearing at the tips of its wings. Hiro looks to Angoramon. “Angoramon!” he yells.

Kiyoshiro suddenly notices Gammamon getting back up. “Gammamon?” he murmurs, surprised.

Though quite injured, it seems like Gammamon isn't ready to give up yet. “Give me back my champion!” They suddenly jump at Yatagaramon, biting one of its three legs. Gammamon!” Kiyoshiro shouts.

Yatagaramon swiftly flies back up into the skies, over the three humans, who have to shield themselves from the wind.

It doesn't stop going until it is above the clouds, grabbing Gammamon with its other claws. Gammamon doesn't know what's going on, looking down at the clouds with confusion. Then, Yatagaramon plunges back down, crashing through the clouds, gaining more and more speed.

Once it has passed through them, it throws Gammamon straight at the Sanctuary, and they scream, trying to fly.

“Gammamon!” Kiyoshiro calls out, running after them in an attempt to catch them.

His partner is desperately wiggling in the sky, trying to stop themself midair, eyes closed. “Oh no! I can't stop!” they yell, flapping their wings with all their might.

Kiyoshiro trips and falls while running towards them struggling to try and get back up. “Kiyo, I wanna fly!” Gammamon shouts to him.

“Don't give up! Fly, Gammamon! You have to fly!” he screams back. Gammamon is still helplessly fluttering. “Gammamon!”

“Kiyo!” Gammamon cries out.

Suddenly, the bar on the Digivice fills up and it lights up, and Gammamon becomes envelopd by bright, white light.

“Gammamon, evolve to...”

They change shape midair, growing much larger, to about the same size as Symbareangoramon is. Suddenly, the white light disappears from their figure, and a gust of wind bursts from them, rustling the leaves of the trees below.

“Kausgammamon!”

Everyone looks on in awe as Kausgammamon disappears behind the dome and moves with the wind, reappearing on the right side of it, flying up into the air.

“Gammamon evolved?” Kiyoshiro murmurs, blinking, slowly getting up, quite surprised and shocked. Hiro and Ruli are shocked as well.

Angoramon smiles. “Gammamon managed to evolve, too,” he says. “Hey, not bad!” Jellymon cheers from the back.

Kausgammamon pratically floats on the air, circling the group from above. “I can fly. I can fly, Kiyo!” they cheer excitedly, before swerving around, even higher, right back up to Yatagaramon, who shoots feathers at them in an attempt to stop them, however Kausgammamon manages to dodge them all.

However, Yatagaramon then flaps its wings, causing a gust of wind that throws Kausgammamon off balance and knocks them towards the ground.

Kiyoshiro looks up to them, feeling like he's about to panic, but pulling himself together, telling himself that he has to stay calm and levelheaded. “Kausgammamon's flying is like a glider... Ride the wind or you'll lose speed.” he murmurs to himself. He looks up to his partner. “Kausgammamon! Capture the wind!”

Kausgammamon turns their head, scanning the area for another gust they can use. They spot one, flying to it, then spreading their membranes to catch it, flying back up to the height of Yatagaramon.

Kiyoshiro watches them closely, when a new attack name suddenly enters his mind. “Urda Impulse!” he calls out.

Kausgammamon dashes forward, ramming straight into Yatagaramon, knocking it back. They swerve around, ramming it again, and then again, before finally landing a strong kick that sends Yatagaramon crashing to the floor, hitting it harshly.

“Did we win?” Ruli asks, walking to Kiyoshiro's side with Hiro.

Kausgammamon is still circling in the air, staring where Yatagaramon landed, a huge cloud of dust covering the area.

However, suddenly, the crow Digimon flies back up into the sky, and Kausgammamon watches it closely, floating in the air.

“What's happening?” Jellymon says, looking up.

“You want another one?” Kausgammamon asks Yatagaramon. The Digimon roars again, but then flies off. The group watches it leave.

“Wait a second. Did the Digimon run off?” Kiyoshiro questions as Yatagaramon starts disappearing into the distance.

Ruli promptly turns off her Digital Field.

The man is still on the other side, stammering as he sees the crow Digimon in the distance, closely followed by other birds. “W-Wait, what am I supposed to do?” he asks, reaching out a hand towards the leaving birds. He quickly runs after the birds. “Wait! Don't leave me!”

Kausgammamon lands, glowing blue all of the sudden, then devolving back to Gammamon, seeming exhausted. Kiyoshiro quickly runs over to them. “Gammamon!”

Gammamon looks up at him, grinning. “Yes! I got 'em back for my champion.” they cheer as Kiyoshiro picks them up. He responds with a nod, smiling at them.

So they can evolve like Angoramon can, too.

The birds disappear into the sunrise in the distance. Hiro looks after them. “I wonder where they're heading.” he murmurs.

“It's said that Yatagaramon will lead the birds to the Golden City.” Angoramon explains.

“But not all birds are following,” Ruli remarks.

“The caged bird yearns for freedom, while the wild bird yearns for friends.”

Ruli blinks, looking over at Angoramon. “What?”

Hiro seems to understand, though, smiling. “The birds are free to choose who they're with.” Angoramon nods. “Yeah. While some leave, some choose to live with humans. It means bonds take different shapes.”

Chapter Text

Kiyoshiro is sitting in his chair, watching a news report about recent accidents. “The cause of the highway accidents that have been occuring since last week, has yet to be determined.” He bites his lip.

A sudden yell startles him, causing him to jolt together. “No! My champion! Won't share!” Kiyoshiro turns around to look at Gammamon. “Won't.. with Gulu...” They're just dreaming... okay. Nothing to get scared of. What were they mumbling about, though?

After a few seconds of quiet, he hears someone calling. He looks at his tablet – it's Hiro. He picks up.

“Yes, this is the dorm leader.” Kiyoshiro says.

Hiro is sitting at the desk, Angoramon standing next to him. “Senpai, have you heard about the mysterious incidents on the highway?” Hiro questions. “It's got me a little worried. The drivers say they saw a herd of monsters. And I saw something online about a nightly procession.”

Kiyoshiro looks confused. “A nightly procession?” He then looks back at Gammamon, lifting his finger to go out of the call. “Sorry, I need to check on Gammamon.”

“H-Hold on a second!” Hiro stammers, when there's another call on his end. It's Ruli. “I have a call from Ruli. Can I patch her in?” Hiro asks.

Kiyoshiro lowers his finger. “I'll allow it.” With that, Hiro adds Ruli to the call. “Hi, Ruli,” Hiro says.

“Hi! Higacchi is here too. Nice timing. Could you guys help me find something I'd like?” Ruli smiles.

“Something you'd like...?” Hiro and Kiyoshiro reply at the same time.

---

Kiyoshiro, Gammamon, Hiro and Angoramon walk along the sidewalk together. Hiro looks around. “This is the area of the accidents.” he remarks.

Kiyoshiro grows nervous just at the mention of that. “C-Can we not--” he starts, but is interrupted by Gammamon, who he is carrying in his arms, waving at Ruli and Jellymon. “Ruli!”

“I'm here!” Ruli yells over to them from the other side of the road, waving back.

---

“Go-karts?” Kiyoshiro asks as they arrive at the tracks, surprised.

Ruli nods. “I had a feeling I might find what I'm looking for. I was in the mood for a ride. They're having a sale right now, so it's fifty percent off!” she explains, seeming quite excited.

Kiyoshiro is still confused, though. “Why did you ask us to come too?”

Ruli shrugs. “Because guys like this stuff,” she replies. “Come on, let's go.”

The group goes inside together, and it isn't long until Hiro, Gammamon and Ruli are on the track, driving around. Kiyoshiro, Angoramon and Jellymon decided to stay on the side, simply watching them.

“Woohoo!” Ruli cheers as she crosses the finishing line.

“Ruli is so fast!” Gammamon exclaims. Hiro blinks. “She's too good. I can't keep up.”

Meanwhile, Kiyoshiro is reading something on his phone, sitting on the bench next to Jellymon. Angoramon is standing beside them, looking over at Kiyoshiro. “Why don't you race with Gammamon?” Angoramon asks him.

Kiyoshiro turns to face Angoramon. “I-I'm not good at this stuff. Gammamon... wouldn't have fun with me, unlike with Hiro. I'm too careful, because I find these things too dangerous.” he admits. Angoramon gives a gentle nod. “Right.”

While the two watch the race between Ruli, Hiro and Gammamon for a short moment, Jellymon disappears, which Angoramon only notices a few minutes later, looking around. “Where's Jellymon?” he asks. Kiyoshiro turns his gaze to Angoramon, then back to where Jellymon sat just a short while ago, blinking. “Huh?”

---

“The circuit will close shortly. Please return all karts to the pit.”

The group has been here pretty much all day, one group racing to their hearts' content, the other on the sidelines, simply watching.

“I managed to go faster this lap!” Ruli says excitedly. “That's amazing, Ruli!” Gammamon yells, arms in the air, cheering her on from the sidelines, having sat down with Kiyoshiro after some time.

“She's so tough,” Hiro sighs, not having managed to overlap Ruli once this entire time.

Kiyoshiro is sitting on the bench still, having gotten comfortable, reading something together with Gammamon and Angoramon.

The trio suddenly hear what appears to be an engine revving, trying to find where the noise came from. Kiyoshiro gets up, Gammamon flying next to him. They walk a little to the right when the door of a go-kart garage unexpectedly flies out of its hinges, a huge cloud of dust emerging from the room.

“What is happening?!” Kiyoshiro shouts, turning around, startled. “Kiyo, a Digimon!” Gammamon says, pointing to the go-kart that is drifting onto the tracks. He turns to look – indeed, a very humanoid-looking Digimon was seated in the kart.

Hiro spots it as it passes by him, blinking. “What is that?”

Ruli looks back to see the recklessly driving Digimon, barely managing to not be hit when it overlaps her. “Woohoo!” it cheers, before standing up in its kart, pulling out what looks to be a katana and cleanly slicing some of the course obstacles in half, which come crashing towards Ruli and Hiro, who are forced to stop.

“A Hologram Ghost?!” Ruli says, surprised.

It drives straight for where Kiyoshiro, Angoramon and Gammamon are. “Watch out!” Kiyoshiro yells, and the trio dodges out of the way quickly. The Digimon crashes through the barricade of the place and out onto the open street.

The three look after it, Kiyoshiro still pretty shaken. “That's speeding and reckless driving!” he murmurs as the Digimon disappears onto the road.

Jellymon suddenly floats over to them. “I wasn't expecting it to be used like that.” Kiyoshiro looks to her. “Do you know something about that Digimon?” he asks, and Jellymon giggles, nodding. “Of course. I'm the one who offered that kart.”

Kiyoshiro blinks, confused, before realizing what that means. “What?!”

---

As it's getting dark, the group gathers in a nearby park to discuss what happened and hear more about the Digimon from Jellymon. Ruli, Gammamon and her are sitting on the bench, while the rest is standing around them.

Jellymon takes a sip from her drink, then starts explaining. “That Digimon's name is Sistermon Ciel. A Digimon obsessed with speed, and will do anything to be the fastest and strongest.”

“Why did you do that for her?” Ruli asks, unsure if Jellymon had a good reason or if this was just one of her antics again, like a bit back with Kiyoshiro.

“You won't believe it! I was asked to find the fastest, strongest machine that could beat anyone. Sistermon Ciel said the kart there seemed like the strongest and fastest... so I got it for Sistermon Ciel.”

Ruli looks quite ticked off. “Jellymon, didn't we talk about this back when you nearly got Kiyoshiro killed?!” she starts, “You barely knew her and yet you did something like this for her – this isn't some normal 'business', as you put it, what you gave her can be dangerous, and you don't even know if she has any motivations beyond being the strongest and fastest! For all we know, Sistermon Ciel could be intent on hurting others, including humans!”

Jellymon tries arguing back. “You don't know tha--” But before she can even finish her sentence, Ruli interrupts her.

“She drove off into the direction of the highway, the same one that has been plagued by accidents for the entire last week – chances are high she's behind them, especially with the attitude she showed when she passed Hiro and I on the course. She nearly crashed into me, damn it!”

Jellymon seems to visibly shrink as Ruli continues her rant, expression a mixture of shame and embarassment, briefly looking up shocked when her partner tells her that Sistermon Ciel nearly drove straight into her. She doesn't even try squabbling back.

“You could be endangering people! You could be getting someone killed for real this time, and you wouldn't even know it! What you did was reckless!” Ruli finally finishes, still seeming like she's fuming, though. Jellymon has basically retreated back to her regular form, unusually quiet.

After a minute of awkward silence, Ruli sighs and turns to the rest of the group. “We need to follow Sistermon Ciel and stop her from at the very least causing chaos on the highway.”

The others nod, agreeing. Even if Sistermon Ciel isn't the one causing the accidents, her presence on the highway means more danger for the humans there.

“I guess we will have to talk with her directly.” Hiro comments. “Maybe she'll come back to the go-kart place tomorrow?” Angoramon suggests, and the others think that is the best bet, too, so they decide to meet up there tomorrow in the evening again.

---

When the group arrives, they can see the entrance is locked, with a “temporarily closed” sign attached, and a lock around the gate to keep it closed.

Luckily, Hiro is quite handy. “Let's see.” He crouches down to the height of it and begins picking the lock.

“An analog skill, but one that is also quite beautiful,” Kiyoshiro says, and Ruli blinks. “You really do some amazing things like it's nothing, Hiro.”

Jellymon is laying back on Ruli's head, so it seems like they made up after their very one-sided fight yesterday.

Hiro unlocks the gate, and the group enters, walking to where the karts are stored. It doesn't take long for Sistermon Ciel to suddenly drive out of the garage, back onto the course and then straight to the highway.

“We were too late!” Hiro exclaims, but Ruli is already on her way to the karts. “Come on, let's go! We can still catch up!” Hiro blinks, but quickly hurries after her, followed by Angoramon.

Ruli sits down in the cart with Jellymon in the seat next to her, while Hiro is alone in his cart, since Angoramon decides to monitor things from the sky.

“Hey, guys!” Kiyoshiro calls out, but they're already driven off before he could say anything else, and he's left looking after them.

Gammamon suddenly grabs his arm and pulls him towards the garage. “Let's follow them, Kiyo!” they say, “They might need help!” Kiyoshiro stammers as he's stumbling after them. He looks between them and the kart they dragged him to. What should he do? He isn't sure if he can do this...

But Gammamon does have a point. They have no clue how dangerous this Sistermon Ciel might be. He takes a deep breath, taking all of the courage he has in him, and gets in the kart, causing Gammamon to cheer a little, fluttering down to sit in front of him. “Okay, let's go, Gammamon,”

Kiyoshiro then starts driving, surprisingly fast, even though he's very nervous, doing his best to keep steady. Gammamon seems to be super excited to be with Kiyoshiro, their eyes sparkling. “You're so good, Kiyo!” they cheer, raising their arms to the sky.

Kiyoshiro chuckles slightly, although it's more of a nervous chuckle than anything. “T-Thanks, Gammamon,”

Sistermon Ciel crashes through the new barricade, back onto the road, but the group isn't letting her go this time. “You're not getting away!” Ruli yells after her, not far from Sistermon Ciel. Hiro is right behind Ruli and Jellymon, and decides to activate the Digital Field to avoid harm to any humans.

“I see! This should work!” Kiyoshiro says, nodding.

The group follows after Sistermon Ciel, who is speeding down the now liveless highway.

“I can't believe I'm on the highway!” Ruli exclaims, thrilled. “It feels so good!”

“Sistermon Ciel is really flooring it!” Jellymon remarks as Ruli and her try to get closer.

Hiro looks to where the Digimon is. “We have to catch up so we can talk!” However, he is startled when he suddenly hears something large run next to him, and turns his head to see – it's a giant unicorn! “What?!” On his left, a two-legged flightless bird appears.

“What are these?!” “Are these all Digimon?!” Gammamon and Kiyoshiro yell nearly in unison as more and more Digimon appear, running on the track with them. Kiyoshiro is scared of the giant bird next to him, but unable to drive further to the side, since there's another creature there. Despite his fear, he holds a steady grip on the wheel, though. “That's why I didn't want to come!”

Angoramon is still flying above the group, looking down. “I see.” he murmurs. “This is the truth behind the nightly procession.”

A wasp-like Digimon flies up to Hiro. “Hey! Are you guys humans?” it asks. The elephant one also turns to him. “How did you get mixed up in the race?”

Hiro blinks, confused. “Race?”

“Here it comes!” One of the Digimon in the back yells.

Hiro looks back and spots a large, black fog unexpectedly rolling in. And then, from it, some weird monster that looks like the grim reaper appears.

“What is that?!” Ruli exclaims, turning her head around to see what the others were yelling about. Jellymon quickly takes over the driving so they dont lose speed. “Stay focused, darling!”

Sistermon Ciel grins, looking to the giant monster suddenly chasing them. “Metalfantomon is here!” She suddenly drifts over to where one of the Unimon was, ramming it with her kart, causing it to fall over.

It topples back, rolling back to where Metalfantomon has appeared, who slashes it with its scythe, causing the Unimon to be absorbed into it. “Let me out!” it cries from the scythe.

The group is shocked to see it, gasping.

“Rule number one.” the Flybeemon that was talking to Hiro starts. “Any Digimon overtaken by Metalfantomon gets absorbed by that scythe.” The Elephantmon continues.

“Absorbed?!” Hiro questions. The Flybeemon suddenly moves away from the race. “I-I can't do this anymore! I'm out!” However, it too is absorbed.

“Rule number two. Digimon who try to pull out from the race will get absorbed without question.” Elephantmon explains further.

“I see,” Angoramon says, slowly descending and landing on Elephantmon. “Please excuse me.” The elefant Digimon looks up at him.

“Metalfantomon is an extremely dangerous Digimon who some call the grim reaper. Why are you racing someone so dangerous?” Angoramon asks.

“It's Sistermon Ciel's fault!” The Kokuwamon next to them replies. “We were having fun just racing. And Sistermon Ciel summoned Metalfantomon saying it would make it more fun!” It then points out the red dot on its forehead. “Look! We've been branded by Metalfantomon!”

“Rule number three.” Elephantmon starts again. “Those marked with that brand cannot escape the rules.”

Kiyoshiro gulps when he hears that.

“Until morning. If you can manage to avoid being overtaken until morning, you're safe for the day.”

Kiyoshiro looks down at Gammamon, who looks up at them. He feels his heart sink. “Kiyo?” they murmur, looking confused. “You have the mark on your forehead!” he says, startled.

Ruli looks to Jellymon, who looks at her own head as well, quickly realizing she has been branded by Metalfantomon too. “Aah! Darling, there's one on me too!”

Hiro looks up to Angoramon. “What about you, Angoramon?!” he calls up, and Angoramon lifts the fur in his face, revealing the brand, too.

“Kiyo, behind us!” Gammamon calls out, and Kiyoshiro realizes Metalfantomon has gotten dangerously close, so he speeds up, passing even Hiro and Angoramon.

“Why is this happening to me?!” Jellymon questions, but Ruli is quick to remind her. “You're the reason we're in this mess in the first place, Jellymon!” Jellymon groans, puffing her cheeks in annoyance. “Stop rubbing it in and keep driving!”

“We have to keep racing until morning to save our Digimon?!” Hiro mutters. “Can we call off the race?!” he asks, turning over to Elephantmon again. “These rules are ridiculous, why did you agree to them?”

“We didn't! Sistermon Ciel was the one who made the contract!” It explains.

Of course. Hiro looks to Sistermon Ciel with an irritated expression. “Sistermon Ciel!” he grumbles.

She seems to be enjoying herself. “What's wrong?” she asks, looking back, grinning.”You guys gonna eat my dust all night again?”

“Sistermon Ciel! Can we talk?” Hiro calls out. However, Sistermon Ciel simply starts snickering, and pulls out her katana, cutting one of the lamps on the side of the road cleanly in half, causing the top half to come tumbling towards Ruli, Jellymon and Hiro, who barely dodge.

“Shut up! I'm the fastest and the strongest!” she yells back.

“That Digimon is crazy.” Ruli says, and Jellymon nods. “I don't know how I didn't realize before.” Ruli gently knocks her on the head. “And you've learned your lesson now?”

A Thunderballmon is running pretty close to where Sistermon Ciel is. “I can't go on! Do something, Sistermon Ciel!” it cries out. But she just draws her blade, forcing Thunderballmon to the side of the road, causing it to tumble backwards the moment it lets go of her blade, promptly getting absorbed by Metalfantomon.

Kiyoshiro and Gammamon look back. “That one got rolled,” Gammamon says.

Hiro looks to Ruli. “It's no use, they won't listen.”

Ruli watches Sistermon Ciel, getting angry. “That Digimon makes me so mad!” She suddenly speeds up, catching up with the Digimon. “Ruli?!” Hiro shouts.

“What are you doing?” Sistermon Ciel questions when Ruli and Jellymon are right behind her. Ruli doesn't respond, simply driving for a moment, before whispering “Now!”, overtaking Sistermon Ciel, who looks after her, shocked.

“She passed me?!” Sistermon Ciel yells.

Gammamon claps their hands. “Ruli's so fast! She's the fastest!”

Sistermon Ciel growls. “This is unfair! How are you faster than me?” she asks. “It's all skill,” Ruli bluntly replies, but the Digimon isn't buying it. “Yeah, right!” Her gaze turns to Jellymon. “Jellymon, you were hiding this fastest and strongest go-kart from me!”

Ruli is about to say something to refute that claim, but Jellymon elbows her slightly to tell Ruli to follow her lead. Ruli looks at her, and she gives a little wink.

“Well, Ruli asked first, so naturally she got the best!”

Sistermon Ciel grows smug again. “So that's the deal.” She addressed Ruli and Jellymon both this time. “Trade that machine with mine!” she exclaims.

“That's fine with us, if you could do something about that Metalfantomon behind us,” Ruli replies.

“Really?! You really mean it?!” Sistermon Ciel shouts. “All right!” she suddenly hits the brakes, drifting back to where Metalfantomon is. “The fastest and strongest! Woohoo!” She uses a blade to hold the gas pedal in place, then jumps back, unsheathing her sword, to fight Metalfantomon. “Take this! Shirotsume Ichimonji-Giri!” she laughs.

Ruli and Jellymon grin, fistbumping. “Our plan to pit those monsters against each other worked like a charm!” Ruli says.

“No. Not exactly.” Angoramon injects, and the group turns around, seeing the two titans clash, causing shockwaves that cause the whole highway to tremble, a sign unable to withstand the impulse and crumbling, falling onto the road, the group barely dodging. Elephantmon falls over, and Angoramon is barely able to jump off in time, escaping the attack from Metalfantomon that absorbs the Digimon.

“Angoramon!” Hiro cries out, unsure if his partner became victim of the attack or not, but his worries are relieved when he can hear his partner's “That was close.” from behind him, seeing Angoramon holding onto his kart.

However, Ruli and Jellymon are getting overlapped by the other Digimon. “Ruli!” Hiro calls out, looking back at the two. Ruli tries to speed up, but it doesn't work. “Oh, no! I can't go faster!” The two, being at the tail end of the group, start getting caught up in the shockwaves of the fight between Sistermon Ciel and Metalfantomon. “We're done for!” she screams.

“Here we come!” Gammamon exclaims as Kiyoshiro hits the brakes just enough, getting right behind Ruli and Jellymon. The two look back, blinking at the other pair. “Great plan, Kiyo!” Gammamon cheers as they gain a little distance from the fighting. “Thanks, Gammamon, but--” Kiyoshiro starts panicking. “W-We're out of gas!”

Hiro and Angoramon stare back at the others. “Ruli! Senpai!” he yells. “Hiro! The kart is smoking!” Angoramon points out, and Hiro looks in shock. The two begin falling back, too. “We're overheating?!” Soon they're at the side of Ruli and Jellymon. “We've come so far!”

Another shockwave.

“We're done for!” Kiyoshiro shouts, falling further into his panicked state.

However, Angoramon suddenly spots something at the far end of the highway. Another Digimon, carrying what appears to be a rice cooker. It places it on the ground, and it opens. And then, a gate opens.

“Everyone, out of the way!” Angoramon yells, and the group quickly disperses to the sides of the road. “Here we go!” Jellymon says, driving to the left side along with Ruli, Kiyoshiro and Gammamon, while Hiro and Angoramon drive to the right. They're scraping the wall, but enduring it, knowing there's no other way.

One by one, the Digimon start running into the gate, disappearing back into the Digital World. Finally, even Sistermon Ciel and Metalfantomon disappear. “The fastest and strongest!” is the final thing Sistermon Ciel says before the gate closes.

The group gathers. “What was...?” Kiyoshiro starts, bewildered, followed by Ruli's “What was that?”

“That was a gate.” Angoramon explains. Hiro looks to him, surprised. “It was?”

Jellymon looks up at her forehead, seeing the brand of Metalfantomon disappear. “Well, you know what? It all worked out.” she says, and everyone gives a collective sigh of relief.

---

“So did Sistermon Ciel and the others return to the Digital World?” Kiyoshiro asks, to which Angoramon nods. “I don't know where they were transported exactly, but that was definitely a gate to the Digital World.”

Kiyoshiro sighs. “I'm more worried about taking the go-karts without permission.” he admits.

Suddenly, Ruli calls. “Senpai, it's Ruli again.” Hiro goes to pick up, and Kiyoshiro blinks, growing visibly nervous, not wanting to get roped into something like this again.

“Higacchi is on too? Nice timing.” Ruli smiles. “Come with me!”

The two boys blink, confused.

“The go-karts weren't quite exactly what I was looking for. So this time--”

“Sorry, I remembered I have to go!” Kiyoshiro interrupts and abruptly leaves the call.

“Higacchi?” “Senpai?” Ruli and Hiro say at the same time, but Kiyoshiro is already gone. Jellymon chuckles.

“Fast like the wind, quiet like the forest. And... running away like the fastest and strongest.”

Chapter Text

He sleepily opens his eyes... was it still night?

He looks in front of him, and is startled by what he sees – it is himself, still fast asleep, head comfortably rested on Angoramon's belly. His Digimon was slumbering, too, and everything would seem normal, if it wasn't for the fact that Hiro was looking at himself as if he wasn't in his own body.

He gasps, unable to move any of his limbs. What's going on? Was he dreaming? “W-What?” he stammers.

And then suddenly, it feels like he is being dragged down to where his body is, and without warning, everything turns black again.

Hiro jolts up as he snaps awake, breathing heavily, afraid, trying to calm himself down from the experience. That had to be a dream, right? “What was that?” he mutters to himself, before looking at his clock, realizing he's going to be late.

Angoramon stirrs awake from how fast Hiro suddenly sat up. “Hiro, is everything alright?” he asks, drowsy.

Hiro stays quiet for a moment, not sure what to tell Angoramon, but decides he doesn't want to worry his partner, so he makes up a lie, which might not be a lie anyways. “It's okay, I just had a bad dream and slept through my alarm,” Hiro replies, trying to sound as believable as possible.

He hurries to get ready for the day. 'Did I set my alarm wrong?' he thinks to himself, but scraps that thought quickly. 'No, that's not it.'

As soon as he's all set to go, he tells Angoramon he's going to class, and says they'll see each other later. Angoramon answers with a gentle nod, watching Hiro leave.

Something was wrong, even if Hiro didn't tell him.

---

Later that day, as the sun is setting, Hiro meets up with Kotaro. He looks around for him, spotting him fairly quickly. “Huh? You're early.” he comments, but Kotaro shakes his head. “Are you kidding me? You're 30 minutes late.” he says, waving with the hand that he's holding his phone with.

Hiro blinks. “What?” He checks the time on his Digivice. 16:32. That's odd, he was pretty certain that it was still 16:00. “I thought it was still four.” he explains.

“See how the sun is already setting?” Kotaro points out. “You've been weird lately.”

Hiro looks down at the ground, a little distraught. “Sorry.”

“Hurry, before the limited colors are gone!” Kotaro then turns around and starts running to the store, closely followed by Hiro. “It's your fault if they're sold out!” he yells to Hiro.

“I said I was sorry!” Hiro yells back.

---

The dorm is pretty silent when Hiro gets back, surprising him a bit. He places his shoes in his locker. Where was everybody? It wasn't that late yet.

He suddenly hears a voice. “Hiro, you're late.” It's Angoramon. Next to him are Kiyoshiro and Gammamon, the former looking a little annoyed, arms crossed, but also worried.

Hiro blinks. “Angoramon, Senpai, Gammamon?” he asks. Kiyoshiro sighs. “Amanokawa-kun, what time do you think it is?” he retorts.

“It's not even 7 pm yet,” Hiro replies, and checks his Digivice again. 22:35. What? How is that possible? He was convinced he left at about 18:00.

The trio can see Hiro's expression of genuine confusion. “I'm surprised you were out so late. Angoramon asked where you were.” Kiyoshiro explains. “You barely made curfew.”

Hiro looks up at them again. “I went shopping with Kotaro. I left at around six, before he did. After that, I...”

“Nomura-kun got back ages ago.” Kiyoshiro states, shocking Hiro. “What?” he murmurs. What is going on? “This is a problem for me as your dorm leader.”

---

The four returned to their respective dorm rooms not long after. Hiro was still trying to wrap his head around the situation. How was he losing so much time in between? He doesn't even know how he spent so much time out.

He checks just about every clock in his room, but no, they were all at 22:50. Hiro puts a hand to his head. “Something is off with my sense of time.” he murmurs to himself.

“Hiro, what's wrong? You seemed a bit off today,” Angoramon asks. Hiro turns around to answer him, but as soon as he does, Angoramon isn't where he was standing anymore, instead on the bed, fast asleep.

Hiro is startled. “H-Huh?” he stutters, then looking to the clocks again. All of them at 00:04. Nearly an hour, gone, just like that. He begins panicking, growing scared.

What is happening?!

---

“What? So you were up all night?” Ruli questions. Hiro nods. “Yeah.”

The two had agreed to meet up when Hiro couldn't fall asleep, constantly waiting. He hoped maybe Jellymon or Ruli would have some ideas, as neither Kiyoshiro nor Gammamon did.

Hiro is really tired – he even has bags under his eyes. “I couldn't help but wonder when time would skip.” Angoramon looks to his partner, worried.

Ruli glances up to Jellymon, who was sitting on the backrest of the bench, dangling her legs a bit. “I'm not sure how we can help.” Ruli says.

Hiro stares down at the ground. “I just thought I'd ask.”

“What about Kiyoshiro?” Jellymon asks, but Hiro shakes his head before rubbing his eyes, tired. “He went somewhere with Gammamon.”

“I'm just kind of scared.” Hiro admits.

Angoramon looks at him with intense concern. “Hiro...” he starts, but he isn't sure what to say. He doesn't know what's happening, either. If it was a Digimon, surely he would've noticed by now, right?

“It's okay, don't worry.” Hiro tells Angoramon with a small smile, though it was easy to tell it wasn't how Hiro was truly feeling.

“It could be stress,” Jellymon says, shrugging slightly.

“Then let's go let off some steam!” Ruli offers. Hiro blinks, turning his head to her. “Huh?”

“We have to take a train, but there's this cool library Jellymon and I heard about.” she explains, showing Hiro a website on her phone. 'Reading in nature'.

“It could be nice to relax surrounded by nature,” Angoramon replies. Hiro nods. “It's decided, then!” Ruli smiles.

“I haven't been solo camping in a while,” Hiro murmurs.

Ruli and Jellymon blink, slightly confused. “Solo camping?”

“Yeah, tomorrow's just the library. Maybe a walk after.”

“Solo camping...”

---

“Sorry!” Hiro apologizes. Angoramon and him were late to the meet-up. “It happened again.”

“No, we should've come get you,” Ruli responds. “We're sorry too.” She then turns to look at Kiyoshiro and Gammamon. “So, why are you two here as well?” she asks, surprised to see them.

“Well, I wanted to pick some things to read with Gammamon,” he explains. Gammamon nods, seeming quite excited for it.

The group decides to enter the library, and Jellymon tells them something she's heard about. “I visit all sorts of libraries to study human culture, and I heard a certain rumor about this place recently. Apparently, this library is haunted.” She grins. “Like you can hear clothes rustle against the floor when nobody is there. Or when you're reading... the pages will flip when there is no breeze. And apparently, there are other things as well.”

“Yeah, what else?” Ruli questions.

Hiro blinks. “Wait, do you mean...?” he starts, but suddenly he hears a painful ringing in his ears. He tries to cover them to block out the noise, but to no avail – it doesn't help in the slightest. He gets down on his knees, forcing his eyes shut.

The others notice, turning over to him. “Hiro? Are you okay?” Ruli asks, but Hiro doesn't respond. “Hiro?!” Angoramon says, trying to help, but he doesn't know what the cause is or what to do.

Hiro opens one eye, looking at Angoramon. “I hear a ringing.” he mutters. However, as he looks to the group, everything in his vision starts getting wobbly, and the voices of the others sound distant and drowned out. He can hear them calling his name.

Angoramon puts a hand on Hiro's back. “Hiro, what is it?!”

“Hiro...” Gammamon murmurs.

“Hiro!”

“Hiro!”

“Hiro!!”

The ringing suddenly stops, and Hiro slowly moves his hands from his ears in utter confusion, looking at Angoramon. “Are you okay, Hiro?” His voice is filled with worry.

Hiro gently nods, getting back up. “Yeah. It's all back to normal now.”

Angoramon tilts his head slightly. “What do you mean?” he asks. “Was there more than the ringing?”

Hiro look at the group, then back to Angoramon. “This time, everything went wobbly, and like it was moving farther and closer.”

“What?” Ruli murmurs.

Hiro takes a few deep breaths, hand placed on his chest. Then, he tries to smile at the others as best as he can. “Don't worry, I'm okay now.”

Not that that actually stopped any of the others from worrying. This was getting worse and worse each time. “Really?” Ruli questions, not believing him. However, Hiro is stubborn and would not admit that he's not okay, so she reluctantly drops it. “Okay, then.”

Hiro looks down to the ground, dropping the facade, walking behind the others. What is going on? Is he sick, should he go to a doctor?

The group suddenly hears a scream upstairs, turning around to see what is happening. They rush to where it came from, and spot a floating tower of books, moving towards them. Kiyoshiro hides behind Hiro, startled.

The books topple and fall onto them before anyone can react, burying everyone except for Angoramon and Jellymon in a huge pile. Gammamon burrows their head out. “Kiyo!” they call, feeling themself lifted up unexpectedly. Kiyoshiro was underneath them – they were sitting on his head.

“Ow, why are these so hard?” Ruli asks, equally as buried as Hiro. Jellymon floats in front of them. “Show yourself, library ghost!” she giggles.

“I knew it was Digimon.” Hiro says, as the group looks upon one with a long white cloak, while the other one was floating. Angoramon nods. “Bokomon and Bakumon. Bokomon is a fairly famous Digimon scholar in the Digital World. Bakumon can do all sorts of things like detect brain waves. You were both here,” he explains.

“Well, what a surprise to see other Digimon come here.” Bokomon remarks. Bakumon turns to him. “Seems like those humans can see us, Professor.”

Hiro blinks. “Professor?”

“Professor Bokomon is a great scholar!” Bakumon excitedly mentions. Bokomon smiles. “Well, I'm actually that great!”

“Seems pretty proud of it.” Ruli whispers to the others.

Gammamon walks up to the the two Digimon. Bokomon seems surprised by them. “I've never seen you before.” he says, surprised. Gammamon waves their arms a little. “I'm Gammamon.” they introduce themself.

Bokomon seems a bit confused for a moment, but then smiles. “I like your spirit!” he replies.

He then turns to Bakumon. “I always tell you to be quiet when you're picking a book!” he scolds Bakumon, who apologizes. “Sorry, I thought I'd carry them all.”

Hiro blinks. “Excuse me, being a professor, you must know a lot about the Digital World!”

Bokomon nods. “Of course! Books provide knowledge. Strange rumors began to spread when I delved into my human world research. Not that I care though!”

“Professor Bokomon, can I ask you a question?” Hiro starts. Bokomon agrees, but says they should retreat into a more isolated area to speak.

The group decides to retreat into a small study room with the two library Digimon so they can talk in peace.

“Digimon are usually invisible in the human world. In other words, humans can't see them. Although, they can be seen in other stages.” Bokomon explains. Hiro and Ruli are taking notes.

Bokomon suddenly becomes transparent. “This is the invisible state.” Kiyoshiro takes off his digivice, seeing what Bokomon is talking about. “I see, you disappeared.”

“We could walk through things with ease, but we also can't touch them. Obviously, we can't interact with humans either, but Digimon are able to see and touch each other.” the professor continues. Bokomon walks up to Gammamon, who gently bonks heads with Bokomon, smiling.

“We can go through walls and ceilings, and freely go in and out of digital devices, data, and the Internet.”

“Well, I can go through walls and ceilings now!” Jellymon brags, seeming quite proud of herself.

“At the next stage, we are invisible, but able to touch things. We can also hold things briefly.” Bokomon picks up a book, holding it up into the air before it drops. “In exchange, we can't go through walls anymore.”

Bokomon suddenly reappears before everyone, even Kiyoshiro, who still has his Digivice off, surprised to see him. “This is the state some people call Hologram Ghosts. In this state, we can be actively and passively physically interacted with, and even touch humans.”

“Can you go through walls?” Hiro asks.

Bokomon nods. “We can. However, only when we stay calm and do it carefully.”

“I can do it normally,” Jellymon brags again, to which Angoramon simply says “This isn't a competition.”

Then, Bokomon materializes, no longer transparent. “Lastly, let me talk about Digimon materialization.”

Hiro blinks. “So you can materialize at will.”

“Emotions factor into Digimon materialization.” Bokomon explains.

“Emotion?” Hiro questions.

“Unlike the Digital World, the feelings that come from the heart are what's important, not data.” Bokomon continues.

“From the heart?” Hiro repeats.

“What humans call emotions. Unlike when Digimon exist as data, Digimon are able to materialize when those different types of feelings come pouring out of the heart. You could also say that it's when Digimon are not like data, but more like humans.”

“Humans?”

“However, there are also bad ones who use their glee from hurting people to try to speed up their materialization.”

Ruli frowns, easily able to think of an example. “Dracmon,” she murmurs.

“Do you know why Digimon come to this world? Is there a way to get to the Digital World from here?” Hiro asks.

“I don't know. There seems to be a greater force at work. A gate suddenly appeared, and we ended up here when we went through. We don't know how to return even if we wanted to.” Bokomon tells him.

Hiro thinks about that. “Gate?” He recalls what happened just a few days ago, during their encounter with Sistermon Ciel. “Oh, that.”

“There are also a few Digimon who can go back and forth between the two worlds.” Bokomon adds.

Hiro slowly nods. “Um, so my dad is actually in the Digital World right now.” he says.

Bokomon seems quite confused by that statement. “That is strange indeed. Combining what I know from the two worlds, humans passing through the gate may burn up when their bodies digitize.”

“I can't go visit then!” Ruli mutters, frowning. Hiro puts a hand to his chin. “How did Dad travel there by himself?” he wonders.

“I don't know.” Bokomon replies, but Hiro isn't too concerned. “It's fine since he seemed well.” He walks over to Bokomon. “So my next question, can I see that book?” he asks, but Bokomon holds the book protectively away from him. “Not this!”

Gammamon turns to the rest of the group. “Kiyo, I'm hungry.” they look up at him. Kiyoshiro blinks. “Okay,” he smiles slightly.

---

Hiro stayed behind while the rest of the group went to the nearby coffee shop. Though Angoramon originally intended to remain as well, the others convinced him that Hiro will be okay and that he is with Bokomon and Bakumon, so nothing should happen.

“Not bad at all!” Jellymon giggles. “It's as delicious as I heard!” Ruli smiles.

“Wait... Ruli, was the library-” Kiyoshiro starts, but Ruli interrupts him. “This was our real motive! Jellymon and I heard there were a lot of great sweet shops around here.” Kiyoshiro sighs. “Look, I'm worried about Hiro, but he seemed fine. Besides, Bokomon and Bakumon are with him.”

“And there's always room for dessert.” Jellymon adds, grinning.

Although Angoramon seems somewhat dissatisfied, he did have to admit that they had a point with Bokomon and Bakumon, especially since Bakumon is a holy Digimon with healing abilities. Bakumon might even be able to cure Hiro's ailment, should it come up again – so there really wasn't anything to worry about; but Angoramon couldn't help it.

“It really is good...” Kiyoshiro says, though he doesn't seem quite as content just leaving Hiro behind as the others. Then again, he couldn't just leave Gammamon alone, either, and he forgot to bring any snacks for them since he didn't expect to be at the library for so long, anyways.

“I was getting tired of the lecture anyway.” Jellymon comments. “So thanks, Ruli.”

Gammamon is happily eating away at their chocolate ice cream, sparkles in their eyes.

---

Back at the library, Hiro just finished up his lesson with Bokomon and Bakumon. “Thank you very much.” he says, smiling. “Um, could I come back sometime?”

Bokomon nods. “Of course. And please, tell that Kiyoshiro to come by with that little Gammamon, or bring them along. I would love to talk with them more.”

“You got it!” Hiro replies. He turns around to look at the rest of the group. “Are you guys... huh?” He suddenly realizes the others aren't here anymore.

“They left a while ago.” Bakumon tells Hiro, who is even more confused now. “What?”

Hiro decides to leave the library for now and call Ruli once outside to ask where they went. He can't seem to remember them leaving, but he might've just missed it while he was so immersed in his chat with Bokomon. Besides, he'd been here for a while, as he noticed. They probably got hungry.

Still... “They could've said something.” Hiro mumbles to himself, somewhat upset that they just up and left. Oh, well.

Suddenly, he hears this piercing ringing sound again, causing him to lose focus and become unsteady, putting his hand up against the wall to support himself, holding his head. Everything turns wobbly again, and he doesn't know what to do. “It's happening again,” he groans in pain.

His phone alarm starts going wild. Wait, wasn't that... He pulls it out, somewhat strained, and looks at it. The clock is going crazy, and so the the one on the wall. This was...!

“Wait, are you...?”

Everything turns dark again, like back then.

“What time is it?” A familiar voice asks, the smugness and malicious joy audible.

Hiro remembers. Back then, on the night he met Angoramon. The Digimon he was attacked by...

“Did you know? When you make time fly, in other words, if you mess with someone's sense of time, it will throw off their ability to recognize space, making it look wobbly.” Clockmon explains.

Hiro tries to continue standing, but everything is making him dizzy.

“I've been playing with you for a few days, but the real fun starts now.” Clockmon says. Hiro falls to his knees. “I was waiting for you to be alone!” The Digimon begins laughing loudly.

Hiro's phone drops from his hands, and he falls to the ground completely as Clockmon approaches. Hiro only has one idea that might save him...

He moves his hand to his Digivice and activates his Digital Field, hoping it would throw Clockmon off and alert the others.

The group at the cafe suddenly finds themselves in the grassy fields of Hiro's Digital Field.

“Hiro's in danger!” Angoramon exclaims, immediately flying off, with the rest of the group following after him quickly, hurrying back to the library.

Clockmon looks around, confused by the Digital Field. “What is this? What did you do, you brat?!” Clockmon growls. Hiro is struggling to try and get up, but it seems impossible. “Well, it doesn't matter.”

Clockmon cackles, jumping up to attack Hiro. However, a beam of light suddenly shoots out, stopping Clockmon in his tracks and curing Hiro's ailment. “What?” the Digimon shouts in confusion. Hiro looks at his hand, blinking, and then sees Clockmon jumping back.

“Curse you!”

Bokomon and Bakumon saved Hiro. “Bakumon is able to fix anyone affected by demons.” he explains. Hiro stands back up, shaking the dizzy feeling off. “Thanks, Professor Bokomon, Bakumon.

“It doesn't mean it's over!” Clockmon yells, charging at Hiro again. However, before he can land his hit, Angoramon gets between the two, bodyslamming straight into the clock Digimon, knocking him back. “Stay away from Hiro!” Angoramon shouts. Hiro blinks, then smiles. “Angoramon!”

Clockmon is startled to see Angoramon. “Y-You...!” he stammers, surprised and a little frightened. “I didn't want to mess with a wild card like you, but I don't have a choice.”

The rest of the group arrives while Clockmon is muttering to himself. “Hiro, are you okay?!” Ruli asks, and Hiro nods. Gammamon growls. “You give me bad vibes!” they yell.

Clockmon is about to smack Angoramon with his hammer. “Chrono Breaker!” However, before the blow can land on Angoramon, Gammamon has jumped into the fight, taking the attack for Angoramon instead, getting inbetween the two.

Gammamon cries out and a heavy wind blows against them, pushing Angoramon back to where Hiro is standing. “Gammamon!” Kiyoshiro yells for his partner, and Hiro and Angoramon, the two who have already dealt with Clockmon before, look on in shock, knowing what the attack will do to them.

“Who is that Digimon?” Ruli asks, and Angoramon explains. “Clockmon. A Digimon who steals and feeds on time from its target.” Kiyoshiro looks startled, realizing what Clockmon is about to do to Gammamon, and calls out to them again.

“It was Clockmon who was messing with Hiro's sense of time and space.” Bokomon adds.

“Clockmon came to feed on my time again.” “Again?” Ruli questions.

“That's right, I came for revenge! This time I'm going to devour your time whole!” Clockmon laughs, looking directly at Hiro.

However, Gammamon doesn't seem to be that affected by Chrono Breaker, having stood back up. “You really make me wanna go kaboom!” Gammamon screams at Clockmon, extremely angry. Kiyoshiro is about to call out their name again, but then sees something that startles him – as Gammamon opens their eyes ever so slightly, they have become pitchblack.

A strong, dark burst of energy obliterates the Chrono Breaker attack, making the beam of light disappear entirely – something that didn't even happen with Angoramon back then. Everyone looks with a mixture of surprise, shock and confusion.

Suddenly, a large, black shadow emerges from Gammamon, gathering above them. Kiyoshiro stammers, startled. What is happening? This has never happened before with Gammamon. “W-What?!”

Though barely discernable, Kiyoshiro can spot what appears bright magenta markings, like an X, glowing in the shadowy mist. What is this...?

Clockmon is as startled as the group itself, taking a step back. This one too? It's even worse than with the other one... this isn't just a strong presence in the Digimon, it's dark. And he's frozen in place.

Where Kiyoshiro spotted the markings he sees what appears to be an eye open, with a bright red pupil.

Suddenly, the black mass smashes against Clockmon, sending him flying into a wall.

And just like that, the mist disappears. Kiyoshiro is rooted for a moment, but his instinct to protect Gammamon overrides his fear pretty quickly and he runs over to his partner to check on them. Gammamon's eyes are back to normal, and Gammamon falls to the ground. “Gammamon?” Kiyoshiro asks, “Are you okay?”

Gammamon looks up at Kiyoshiro, holding their head, seeming a little out of it.

However, everyone is distracted by Clockmon yelling in pain, and they look over to him. His clock hands suddenly start spinning rapidly. “N-No, this can't be happening!” Clockmon cries out.

“Did Gammamon reflect Clockmon's Chrono Breaker back to him?” Angoramon wonders.

“After losing control of that move, Clockmon's time will move forward rapidly.” Bokomon explains. Hiro looks over to Bokomon. “What happens then?”

Bokomon looks to the side. “I'm not sure in this world.”

Clockmon reaches out. “Help me.”

Angoramon's gaze moves to the ground. “There's nothing we can do.” Jellymon seems kind of distraught, too. “Yeah.”

Clockmon begins falling apart. “Help... me.”

Hiro tries to think of something he can do.

“Help me!” Clockmon cries out.

Hiro suddenly becomes determined, looking to Angoramon. “Let's help!” he says. Angoramon seems surprised by the notion, but then nods. “I'll help Clockmon, Hiro.”

Angoramon then becomes engulfed in a white light again, and changes form.

“Angoramon evolve to... Symbareangoramon!”

The light fades.

Hiro looks over to Bokomon. “Is there anything we can do?!” he asks. “You might get attacked again.” the professor replies, somewhat confused that Hiro wants to help someone who tried to kill him just mintes ago. “We'll deal with it then.” Hiro states.

“Spin the clock hand the other way!” Bokomon then tells him. Hiro looks to Ruli and Jellymon, who are ready, and then Kiyoshiro, who in turn looks at Gammamon, asking if they feel strong enough to help. Gammamon agrees, standing next to Symbareangoramon and Jellymon.

“Breaking Stream!” Hiro calls out, followed by Ruli and Kiyoshiro letting Jellymon and Gammamon use Bibi Thunder and Breaclaw in turn.

The clock hand slows down considerably, which Hiro points out. “The clock hand's speed!”

“Now! Rewind the clock with everything you got!” Bokomon says.

“Jive!”

Symbareangoramon jumps to where Clockmon is and begins kicking away, stopping after a few seconds. Clockmon groans in pain, but the hand is spinning backwards again.

“Did we do it?” Hiro asks, but Bokomon shakes his head. “Increase the speed!”

Hiro calls out another Jive.

“Hiro! That will work as CPR!” Bokomon explains. “Okay!”

Symbareangoramon continues kicking Clockmon with Jive, speeding up the clock more and more, until a final kick breaks the Chrono Breaker attack entirely, the yellow glow vanishing from Clockmon.

Symbareangoramon is exhausted, panting.

But the clock has returned to normal. “I-I'm saved.” Clockmon mutters. Hiro turns the Digital Field back off as Clockmon gets up – however, Clockmon remains visible.

“You even materialized it, that's some CPR technique.” Bokomon states, laughing.

---

The sun is already setting as the group gathers outside.

“I guess I can't attack people now after meeting folks like you,” Clockmon says.

“Don't attack anyone in the first place.” Hiro replies. “Time continues to flow forever. It cannot be resisted, it cannot be touched, it cannot be eaten.” Angoramon adds.

Clockmon huffs, turning to leave. “See ya!” he murmurs, but Bokomon stops him. “Wait!” Clockmon stops in his tracks, confused, turning his head around. “You can't be waltzing around like that in the human world! I'll keep an eye on you here!” Bokomon makes a fair point. “You'll start your invisibility training tomorrow!” Clockmon seems a little annoyed, but makes no further argument.

“Maybe I'll join you,” Angoramon speaks up. “I'll be the first to learn it!” Jellymon interjects, clearly wanting to be the best at it. Gammamon turns to Bokomon. “Me too!”

Bokomon smiles, then looks up at Angoramon. “That was quite the evolution.” Angoramon turns to face Bokomon. “It was?” he asks.

“That evolution could be the result of you and Hiro's feelings combined.”

Hiro blinks. “Our feelings?” Bokomon nods. “There could be a new use for it.”

“I wonder what's possible.”

Chapter Text

“Fighter's Kingdom? Is it fun?” Hiro walks up to stairs with Kotaro.

“Apparently, when you get on a win streak, they say a mysterious and beautiful character cuts in to fight!” Kotaro explains, smirking. “I have to see it for myself.”

Hiro blinks. “I see...”

As they reach the top of the stairs, they see Kiyoshiro, and Hiro can see Gammamon and Angoramon, too. “Nomura-kun. You're inside the dorm. Please refrain from openly discussing such imappropriate things.” he says with a scolding tone.

“Sowwy.” Kotaro puts a hand to his head, looking apologetic. He then turns to walk to his room, waving to Hiro. “See ya, Hiro.”

Hiro nods, then looks to Kiyoshiro. “Senpai, we were just talking about a game.” Gammamon giggles. “Kiyo played that game before!”

Angoramon walks over to Hiro, and the two exchange a wave. “Stopped after he heard a rumor, though.” Gammamon continues. Hiro's gaze moves to Kiyoshiro. “Rumor? Other than the beautiful character rumor?”

Kiyoshiro seems nervous that it was brought up at all, not wanting to deal with this anymore, but motions for Hiro to follow him, leading them to one of the lunch rooms. The two sit down at one of the tables, and Kiyoshiro starts explaining, while Gammamon is fluttering by the vending machine and Angoramon is standing next to Hiro.

“Not to brag, but I'm pretty good at games. Fighter's Kingdom was a rare hit for me. However, a terrifying rumor started going around lately.” Kiyoshiro tells Hiro and Angoramon.

“Is this beautiful character scary?” Hiro asks.

Gammamon is continously tapping the button for the chocolate milk, but it doesn't work. “Kiyo, champion juice,” they murmur, but Angoramon looks to them and says it's empty since the button is red.

“Players who encounter that beautiful character are apparently disappearing one after the other.” Kiyoshiro's expression is quite serious.

Hiro seems confused. “What?”

Kiyoshiro shakes his head. “At any rate, I'm never touching a scary game like that again. Nobody should! You don't play it, do you?”

“No, but Kotaro does.” Hiro retorts.

Kiyoshiro seems startled and hurries to where Kotaro's room is, closely followed by the other three. He begins knocking on the door. “Open this door, Nomura-kun!” he yells.

“Calm down, Senpai.” Hiro tries to get Kiyoshiro to relax, not seeing why he's so worried about it.

However, that changes when they hear a scream from inside, surprising both of them. Now Hiro is panicking, too, trying to open the door. “Open up! What's wrong, Kotaro?” No response. “Answer me, Kotaro! Kotaro!”

Kiyoshiro tries open the door via the keypad, but can't recall Kotaro's code. “What was Nomura-kun's key number?” he mumbles, trying to remember.

“What is your name?” the two hear a voice from inside the room, and look at each other. “W-What?” Kiyoshiro stammers.

“K-Kotaro.”

“When I call out your name...” Suddenly, another voice finishes the sentence. “...you are to answer.”

“I'll open from the inside!” Gammamon says, fluttering up, but Angoramon has already figured out the code, the door handle finally going down.

“Kotaro.” the second voice speaks again. “Yes.” Kotaro mutters.

The four rush inside, and see Kotaro in his chair, surronded by some weird, white mist emerging from the monitor. They all freeze in place, not knowing what is happening or what to do.

A white light encases Kotaro, becoming a small orb that them gets sucked into the screen. “I claim you as my spoils.”

Then, everything turns to normal, as if nothing happened, other than the fact that Kotaro was gone.

Gammamon runs up to the desk, jumping up to it, closely followed by Angoramon. “Someone's there?” Gammamon murmurs, looking at the screen, but it just starts glitching. “Kotaro?” Suddenly, it turns to a blue screen, with nothing else on it.

“The rumor... it can't be!” Hiro exclaims. Kiyoshiro is still rooted in place, looking like he just had a heart attack. He twitches slightly. “I-Integer overflow! Integer overflow...” Then he falls over, passed out.

---

“Hiro, did you figure anything out?” Ruli asks, sitting at her desk. Hiro shakes his head. “No. His log is gone. What just happened? Where did he go?”

Gammamon is standing on the bed, looking at the still passed out Kiyoshiro. “Integer overflow! Integer overflow...” they repeat, poking Kiyoshiro's head.

Jellymon blinks, deciding to address it. “What's this 'integer overflow' Gammamon keeps repeating?”

Gammamon flutters over to Hiro and Angoramon. “Kiyo always says it when he gets really scared, and then he falls over.” Ruli tilts her head slightly. “That's weird.”

“But when he wakes back up he gets really brave!” Gammamon exclaims. “We call it a limit break.”

Angoramon has been helping Hiro trying to find a trace of where Kotaro went, when the game suddenly opens up again, the sound of the title screen starting Kiyoshiro awake, who promptly hides under the blanket, yelling “I'm so sorry! Please spare me!”

Jellymon looks unimpressed. “Is this the limit break?”

Gammamon flies over to him, looking at him, before shrugging. “No. Didn't work this time,” they murmur.

The group suddenly hears the ding of a message with Hiro and the other three. “What is it?” Ruli asks, and Hiro checks his phone, but he didn't get a message – however, Kiyoshiro did. He slowly crawls out from underneath the blanket. “It's a text from Professor Bokomon,”

---

As the sun starts setting, the group meets up with Bokomon.

“Hey, Gammamon. Chocolate for you, neighbor.” Gammamon inspects the chocolate closely, squealing happily. “My champion!” they cheer, eating away excitedly.

Bokomon chuckles. “I love the way you eat.”

Ruli looks to Bokomon. “This is close to Hiro's and Higacchi's dorm. Why did you move here?” she wonders.

“We moved here because the professor read all the books at the last library.” Bakumon explains.

Ruli is quite impressed with that. “All of those books?”

Bokomon nods. “Of course.”

The group had already explained the situation with Kotaro when they got here. “Professor, do you have any idea what happened to Kotaro?” Hiro asks.

Bokomon puts a hand to his chin, thinking, but he seems unsure. “I actually don't know much about games.”

Ruli looks to the others. “I'm asking my followers, but nobody knows anything.” Jellymon turns to Kiyoshiro, giggling a little. “Looks like our only option is for you to play the game and look into it,” she states.

Kiyoshiro doesn't seem fond of that idea at all. “I-I just told you I'm not touching that game again.” Jellymon shrugs. “I guess it's impossible for cowardly Kiyoshiro.”

Bakumon speaks up. “You said you heard a feminine and masculine voice, didn't you?” he inquires with Hiro, who confirms it. “That could be the siblings Kinkakumon and Ginkakumon.”

Bokomon seems surprised. “How do you know that?”

“I love computer bugs, and I ran into them when I went to eat some bugs from a different game. The older sister Kinkakumon loves to break into games and go wild. The younger brother Ginkakumon turns defeated opponents into liquor.” Bakumon tells the others.

“Liquor?” Gammamon tilts their head.

“I've heard of that rumor. Ginkakumon's gourd called Beni-hisago sucks in anyone who answers its call and turns them into liquor.” Angoramon interjects. Hiro is shocked. “Wait, so Kotaro too?!” he questions.

“There's no coming back once he's fully turned into liquor.” Bokomon says. Hiro looks down. “This is bad...”

Ruli nods. “We have to hurry. How long has it been?”

“How do we reach someone inside the internet?” Hiro looks up at Bokomon. “Professor Bokomon?”

However, Bokomon's gaze isn't very reassuring. “The internet is vast. We may not ever find them.”

Hiro is distraught, not knowing what to do, but then remembers the events of earlier today, how Kotaro told him about the rumor, the Digimon claiming Kotaro, and Kiyoshiro's words. He takes a deep breath, standing up, turning to Kiyoshiro. “Senpai!”

Kiyoshiro seems scared, but it looks like he was following Hiro's train of thought exactly.

---

The group has split up, with Ruli and Jellymon staying behind in the library with Bokomon and Bakumon, while Hiro, Kiyoshiro, Angoramon and Gammamon returned to the dorm.

Kiyoshiro has the game opened up, though clearly nervous. “I-If I get a 20 win streak...” he mutters. “If the rumors are true, Kinkakumon will appear.” Angoramon says.

“Please win! If you beat Kinkakumon, we can probably save Kotaro as our spoils. Senpai, it's all on you!” Hiro adds.

Kiyoshiro feels like he's going to crumble under the fear and pressure. What if he fails? Then not only will Kotaro be lost, but he will, too.

He suddenly feels Gammamon grab his face, turning it towards them, and he looks up at them in confusion.

“Kiyo, you can do it! You're dorm leader. And you're my big brother. And my big brother can do anything!” they cheer him on. Kiyoshiro blinks, but smiles slightly.

Meanwhile, at the library, Bokomon, Bakumon, Ruli and Jellymon are watching the game. “I'm worried about Higacchi.” Ruli admits. The screen suddenly changes to the character selection, indicating that Kiyoshiro is starting.

Back at the dorm, Kiyoshiro puts on his VR headset with determination. “I am the dorm leader, and Gammamon's older brother!”

He chooses his character, and starts playing. He's doing great, quickly getting his first win.

“Did you win?” Gammamon asks, but Kiyoshiro corrects them. “That's one win.”

“Wow, he's really good!” Ruli exclaims, surprised to see how well he is doing. Bokomon seems equally impressed.

Kiyoshiro is blazing through the fights, easily winning each of them, even as they grow more difficult each time.

“Kiyoshiro is amazing. That's 20 wins already.” Angoramon murmurs.

In the game, a bright yellow light suddenly falls upon the defeated character, and a new one appears.

“Oh, mighty one. I challenge you to make my soul tremble!” she exclaims. It's Kinkakumon, who has appeared to fight with Kiyoshiro.

“Kinkakumon's here!” Kiyoshiro stammers, nervous. Gammamon pats him on the shoulder. “Kiyo, you can do it!” they say, and then flutter over to the computer, sticking their finger into one of the ports. They suddenly appear as the fighting character. Everyone is confused, not knowing what's going on.

“G-Gammamon?!” Kiyoshiro stutters, bewildered. Hiro and Angoramon look at Gammamon's body in the real world, where it is flying by the computer, motionless.

“Kiyo, let's show Kinkakumon that we're stronger!” they say, seeming quite energetic. “We will claim our spoils, too!”

Kinkakumon chuckles, seeming a little surprised to see an opponent as small as Gammamon, but not questioning it further. Behind her, a huge Digimon shows up – that must be Ginkakumon, her brother. “Don't make me laugh.” he responds.

Gammamon and Kinkakumon clash, their battle sending sparks flying. Gammamon is fighting hard, but Kinkakumon is dodging all of it. “Weak.” she frowns, attacking back, with Gammamon barely able to dodge, getting pushed into a corner.

“Don't hold back! Give me everything you have!” Kinkakumon yells, kicking Gammamon, who tumbles back, falling to the ground.

“Are they losing?” Angoramon questions. “Kinkakumon is way too strong.” Hiro mutters.

“My fists are nowhere near satisfied, but this seems over.” Kinkakumon states. Gammamon gets back on their feet. “How boring.” She charges towards Gammamon.

However, Kiyoshiro doesn't seem phased. In fact, he seems more focused than ever. “I figured out the range.”

Gammamon easily dodges Kinkakumon's attack with Kiyoshiro's inputs, quickly following it up with a Horn Attack that pushes their opponent back.

“What?!” Ginkakumon says, surprised.

“We can do this, Gammamon!” Kiyoshiro tells his partner.

“Okay!” Gammamon exclaims, fighting back much more intensely now, pushing Kinkakumon into a corner with Kiyoshiro's help.

Back at the library, Ruli is quite ecstatic about how well those two are doing. “Yes, there! They're winning!”

“It's quite impressive,” Bokomon admits, “But don't forget your objective.”

“Please hurry, Senpai. Save Kotaro!” Hiro implores Kiyoshiro.

“My fists, my body, my fighting spirit are delighted!” Kinkakumon expresses as she blocks Gammamon's attacks, barely at times.

“Time to get serious!” Ginkakumon suddenly makes the gamepad he had been using bigger, adding more buttons. After an input, Kinkakumon's club is summoned into her hand, and she charges at Gammamon again. “Here I come!”

Gammamon is knocked back, though not ready to give up yet.

“There is no faster finger movement! No human can keep up!” Ginkakumon states, mashing buttons.

“The move inputs are too fast! Did they add more buttons?” Bakumon wonders. Ruli blinks. “What? They can do that?”

However, Kiyoshiro isn't out of the fight yet, matching Kinkakumon's movement speed, letting Gammamon dodge all the lightning strikes hurled towards them, and strike back against Kinkakumon with their claws. The two clash, pushed back, before rushing at each other again.

Both sides aren't giving in, their battle heated, sparks flying, neither able to land a blow on the other.

“You're keeping up?!” Ginkakumon yells, not having expected Kiyoshiro to be able to keep up with his inputs.

“Wonderful! This is a battle between raging souls! I have been waiting for this kind of battle!” Kinkakumon exclaims, amazed with Gammamon's fighting spirit. They grin. “We're doing great, Kiyo!”

“Wow, he's managing to keep up!” Jellymon says, quite impressed.

Hiro blinks. “At this rate, we save Kotaro!”

Angoramon nods. “It seems Kiyoshiro and Gammamon have exceeded their abilities through the game.”

Kinkakumon and Gammamon knock each other away again. “Unbelievable! To think an opponent who could make my soul tremble still existed!” Kinkakumon shouts. “I would love to see their face!”

“Me too, Sis!” Ginkakumon yells to her.

Suddenly, Kiyoshiro is knocked out of his chair as the screen lights up brightly, and Gammamon returns to their body in the Human World, confused with what happened.

“Senpai?” Hiro calls out, looking over to him. Then, they see Kinkakumon's hand emerging from the monitor, startling the group, who take a step back. Kiyoshiro panics, and quickly activates his Digital Field to prevent any damage to the dorm in the real world.

It is just in the nick of time, too, as seconds later, a huge explosion destroys a good chunk of the dorm, including the roof.

Kiyoshiro covers his head to protect himself, opening one eye to see what happened. “My dorm!” he murmurs.

Then, he spots Ginkakumon and Kinkakumon. Ginkakumon is giant, even more so than he anticipated from what he saw in the game, and is startled. Kinkakumon is tiny in comparison.

“Are you the player?” Ginkakumon questions Kiyoshiro. “Let's continue.” Kinkakumon adds.

Kiyoshiro is more terrified than he's ever been in his life, stammering, feeling his heart race, getting dizzy. And then... “I-In... Integer overflow.” And unexpectedly (or expectedly), he passes out.

“Senpai! Get it together!” Hiro shouts, having been caught by Angoramon when the explosion happened.

Kinkakumon is very displeased. “I expected a mighty opponent, not a sniveling coward!” she yells. “We demand satisfaction!” Ginkakumon adds.

He looks to Kinkakumon. “Sis, I know we're not done fighting yet, but I can trun them all into booze, right?” he asks. Kinkakumon doesn't exactly answer, though. “You will be punished for this disappointment!”

Gammamon jumps in front of where Kiyoshiro is laying, looking to Hiro and Angoramon. “Leave Kinkakumon to me!” they say, seemingly unusually serious and even a bit confident.

Hiro blinks. “Okay, we'll deal with the gourd!”

“I am extremely irritated.” Kinkakumon states. Gammamon charges at her. “Breaclaw!” they shout, but get whacked by Kinkakumon's club, tumbling back, hitting the ground harshly. Kinkakumon rushes in to attack again. “You are too weak, peon!” she roars, and hits Gammamon again.

“T-This attack is nothing!” Gammamon groans in pain, getting hit again and again. “It was so easy before..”

They can feel it bubbling beneath, but they couldn't give in. This is their fight. When their emotions make that clear, the feeling stops.

Meanwhile, Hiro and Angoramon get ready to take on Ginkakumon. Angoramon looks to Hiro. “Hiro!” His partner responds with a nod.

White light gathers around Angoramon, and he evolves to Symbareangoramon again. Ginkakumon seems quite shocked to see the evolution. “What?!”

Symbareangoramon runs underneath Ginkakumon quicker than the giant can react, and Hiro calls out a “Breaking Stream!”, however, Ginkakumon turns just before it would've hit the gourd. “Don't you touch my booze!” Ginkakumon yells.

Jellymon and Ruli are hurrying to the dorm. “I'm worried about everyone.” Ruli tells Jellymon as they get closer.

Back at the dorm, Gammamon has taken quite the beating, falling to the ground again.

“You were only strong in the game.” Kinkakumon states, disappointed.

Gammamon tries to stand back up despite the pain. “Kiyo, please wake up!” they cry out, but their partner is out cold.

Kinkakumon starts walking towards them.

Gammamon starts crying, tears streaming down their cheeks. “Kiyo, wake up,” they call again, but to no avail. They crawl towards him, dragging themself across the floor.

“Kiyo... please...”

Kinkakumon readies her club as she gets close.

“The game didn't make us strong! We were strong because we had each other!” they yell. They are almost full-on sobbing now, having crawled all the way to where Kiyoshiro is laying.

Kinkakumon steps on their back, causing Gammamon to cry out in pain. “Kiyo, please... wake up...”

“Are you prepared?” Kinkakumon asks, about to strike Gammamon down with her club.

Gammamon grabs Kiyoshiro's arm, pulling at it, then biting it, like they previously did to wake him up, before he asked them to stop that.

And despite everything, that actually works. Kiyoshiro suddenly sits up, completely unfazed, almost like a different person entirely.

Kinkakumon is confused by what just happened, looking down at Gammamon and Kiyoshiro.

Kiyoshiro looks to Gammamon, a serious, determined expression on his face, and he stands up.

“Big brother!” Gammamon calls out, overjoyed, still teary-eyed though.

Kiyoshiro smiles back at them. “Little brother.”

And then, the two synchronize perfectly, even speaking in unison. “Max Level... Limit Break!”

Gammamon begins glowing, a bright, blinding white light engulfing them, and they change shape.

“Gammamon evolve to...”

However, their shape doesn't change to Kausgammamon again like Kiyoshiro and the others expect, like it did before. No, they look completely different this time.

“Betelgammamon!”

The white light dissipates as black-red flames burst from their figure, causing Kinkakumon to stumble back. Betelgammamon stands next to Kiyoshiro.

Hiro and Symbareangoramon look to them, surprised. “They went red this time?!” Hiro stammers, confused.

Ruli and Jellymon, who just arrived, are equally confused. “Betelgammamon!”

Betelgammamon stands between Kiyoshiro and Kinkakumon. “Evolution? How interesting!” she exclaims. She then roars, charging up her lightning strikes again, shooting them out at Betelgammamon, who dodges them easily with their newfound speed.

Betelgammamon scoffs, in a way mirroring Kinkakumon from before. “Is that the best you've got?! You didn't even hit me!” they ask, taunting.

“How dare insult our battle!” Kinkakumon shouts back, and rushes towards Betelgammamon with her club drawn.

However, Betelgammamon easily dodges even the melee attacks, not getting hit a single time.

A new word streams into Kiyoshiro's mind, and he calls out the attack name. “Sorblow!” Betelgammamon grins, their fist lighting up with black and red flames, hitting Kinkakumon square in the stomach with their attack, causing Kinkakumon to fall backwards.

“Sis!” Ginkakumon calls out as he sees Kinkakumon flying through the air, tumbling to the ground, defeated with a single strike.

“We win! Game over!” Betelgammamon grins, jumping back to Kiyoshiro's position.

---

“We lost fair and square. Give them back.” Kinkakumon says. Ginkakumon grumbles. “I should've taken a sip at least.”

Ginkakumon opens the gourd, and the people the two Digimon had claimed as spoils are returned to their rightful places. Ginkakumon looks at his gourd with a sad expression. “My booze...”

“You don't need to bother making it, you can buy booze here.” Bokomon explains, and Ginkakumon looks to him with surprise. “What?!”

“If you promise not to attack any more people, I'll give you my dad's stash.” Hiro offers. “Stash?! Okay! It's okay, right, Sis?” Ginkakumon asks, looking down to Kinkakumon.

She looks up to the other. “No.” she states. “Do not get the wrong idea. My interest was in the battles. I will challenge you again.” Kinkakumon sternly says.

Gammamon smiles. “Kiyo and I will take you on anytime!” they confidently exclaim, sitting down on Kiyoshiro's head, who chuckles a little at their eagerness, trying to not let his nervosity get the best of him.

“When they engaged in fisticuffs, there were sounds of dinosaurs blooming. The booze drinker got nothing.”

Chapter Text

It's night, and Jellymon seems to think that Ruli is asleep – Ruli sees her out on the balcony, turning around to look back to where she is one more time, prompting Ruli to think that Jellymon spotted her spying, but then she flies off into the night.

Ruli knows Jellymon often goes out at night... but it's been getting increasingly frequent. At this point she's out nearly every night, and Ruli wonders where she wanders off to, what she does in all that time.

Is she getting up to trouble again? She'd hope not, she doesn't want to have to stop her again. The last time this happened, with Sistermon Ciel, she feared a rift was going to form between the two of them, because Jellymon is such a free spirit and doesn't like being told what to do. Ruli hopes she understood the point of her argument, but she worries that if it happened again, that rift could become very real.

She just wished Jellymon would tell her what she does, where she goes at night, but Jellymon hasn't mentioned anything to her, which is the exact reason Ruli has those worries of her getting up to no good again. She wants to trust her partner, but she has a track record of putting people into harm's way and being reckless.

---

The next day, Jellymon accompanies Ruli to take some pictures in the city. Ruli photographs the flowers, smiling. “Does it look good?” Jellymon asks, trying to get a look over Ruli's shoulder. Ruli holds up the camera for her to see. “It totally looks good!” Ruli smiles.

She promptly prints out the picture, grabbing the still white photograph. “These old cameras are really trendy now. They say they take unique pictures.” She then lightly shakes the photo. “This might be just what I was looking for!”

Jellymon giggles. “I thought you shouldn't shake it after taking a photo because the chemicals will mix, darling,” she smirks.

Suddenly, though, she thinks she heard something. It sounded like someone saying “Don't you...” - but maybe she imagined it.

“Honestly! It'll be fine!” Ruli replies, when a wind of gust hits them. Ruli flinches, and Jellymon looks over to her. The sign outside the nearby coffee shop suddenly malfunctions, turning black. Ruli blinks. “What?”

She feels a sudden shiver, and as she breathes out, she can see it, frozen. “The temperature dropped,” Jellymon murmurs, looking around.

Then, the display outside the store suddenly sparks, and Jellymon sees a cut go straight across, before the lower half comes off, falling apart and to the ground. “Darling!” Jellymon yells as she pulls Ruli away from the pieces, getting her out of harm's way seconds before she would've been hit.

“That was scary!” Ruli stammers, startled. The lady who owns a nearby store walks out, looking concerned. “Are you okay, sweetie?” she asks.

Ruli quickly nods. “Yes!” The woman looks relieved. “I'm glad you weren't hurt.” she says, “We've been having strange weather recently. A lot of strong winds and blackouts. You should be careful.” She then turns around, walking back into the store. “Thank you,” Ruli replies.

Jellymon got lost in thought while the lady spoke. Strong winds? Blackouts? The way that screen broke... that didn't seem just like some weather phenomenon. She should investigate it further.

It takes several calls for her to hear Ruli. “Jellymon!” Her gaze turns to her partner, who is already standing a few meters away from her, seeming to be ready to move on. “Is there something bothering you?” Ruli inquires.

Jellymon shakes her head. “No, darling.” Ruli doesn't look like she believes it though, sighing.

“You say that, but I bet there's someplace else you want to go to. You've been acting weird lately. Why do you go out so much more often than before? You're rarely home.” Ruli states.

Jellymon blinks. She didn't realize Ruli was so bothered by not knowing where she went off to. “I'm doing business!” She puts a hand to her chest in pride. “I'm using my contacts to help local stranded Digimon, by getting them basic supplies! No funny business this time.” she boasts.

Ruli seems surprised, but smiles, delighted to hear that Jellymon is using her smarts for a good cause for a change, instead of doing whatever with any Digimon, causing havoc. “Oh,” she starts, “I didn't expect that. I'm glad you're using your skills for good things,” She then has a thought, curious. “I can I meet those Digimon, too?”

Jellymon falls silent for a minute, seeming uncomfortable with the request. “I... don't think that's a good idea, darling. There's a lot of dangerous Digimon out there,”

Ruli huffs at the response, upset. Is Jellymon implying she can't defend herself when push comes to shove?

“I'm no kid, I can take care of myself. You of all people should know that, Jellymon. Your contacts and clients can't be that dangerous if you're doing this for good reasons,” she angrily replies.

However, Jellymon doesn't back down. “No, darling. You can't come. It's too dangerous.”

The two stare at each other intensely for a few moments, seeing if the other will back down – however, Jellymon is more stubborn than Ruli. Still, that doesn't leave Ruli less mad, though.

She turns on her heels. Jellymon's gaze softens. “Darling-”

“That's all for today! Bye!” Ruli yells before running off. Jellymon is stunned, looking after her. Was it that wrong of her to tell her partner no?

---

Later, as the sun is already setting, Ruli is on her way back to the dorm, on her own. She receives a text from Aoi, saying “Let's go with everyone next time!”. Ruli smiles.

“I can't remember the last time I was alone.” she murmurs, looking at the picture her friend sent.

She decides to reply with an Okay emoji.

---

Gammamon flutters up to Kiyoshiro. “Kiyo!” they say, sitting down on the desk next to him. “Ruli took pictures. Can we take pictures too?” they ask.

Kiyoshiro is quite immersed into his game, but hears Gammamon's request. “Sure thing, Gammamon,” he replies, “let me just finish this round and then we can go.”

Gammamon cheers, excited. “Yay! You're the best, Kiyo!”

---

Ruli is walking to the front door, ready to leave. She turns to look at Jellymon, who came to check in on her. “Do you want to come along?” she inquires, but she already knows what the answer is gonna be.

Jellymon shakes her head, though not looking happy about it. “Sorry, darling. I have to deal with a situation.” she replies. “Where are you going today?”

Ruli blinks. “I'm meeting Mika and the others at the usual shop. I'm going to the park I talked about.” she responds.

Jellymon nods. “Be careful, darling.”

Ruli sighs, putting her hand on the handle. “I wish you weren't away so often.”

Jellymon is surprised by that comment. “Darling..” she starts, but Ruli is already leaving the room. “Bye.” is all Jellymon hears before Ruli is out the door, leaving her to her own thoughts.

She looks at the ground for a moment, upset, but then pulls herself together, deciding she had no time to be moping about, turning invisible and flying out the balcony door.

---

“It's been like that. What do you think? Am I wrong when I think I can handle things?” Ruli asks Hiro, sitting across from him. Hiro thinks for a moment, taking a sip from his drink.

“If asking didn't get you answers, and you're sure you can handle it, why don't you tail Jellymon?” Hiro suggests, but Ruli doesn't seem happy with the answer.

“That's not what I meant.”

“Then what do you want to do?” Hiro shrugs. Angoramon and Bokomon are sitting next to Hiro, listening as well. “I'm actually more interested in that mysterious gust you guys encountered. Even the school gave a warning about the damage from winds recently.”

Ruli blinks. “Are you saying it's not just bad weather?”

Hiro seems unsure, though. “I can't really say at this point.” Angoramon chimes in. “It may be a Digimon. I've heard a few rumors about it recently.”

Bokomon jumps on the table, standing closer to Ruli. “Are you upset because of what Jellymon said, about it being too dangerous?” he questions. Ruli looks to the side, but gives a gentle nod after a few seconds.

“I know you're capable and steadfast, but Jellymon may have a point, too. A lot of Digimon can be quite dangerous, even if it doesn't seem like they might be.” Bokomon explains.

Ruli doesn't respond.

“She might be worried about your safety, and doesn't want to put you in harm's way.” Bokomon adds.

That idea surprises Ruli, and she becomes thoughtful at the notion. Could Jellymon really just want to keep her safe...? Maybe she--

However, her thoughts are cut short when her friends arrive.

“There she is! Sorry to keep you waiting, Ruli.” Aoi says. Ruli smiles at them. “It's fine,” She then turns to Hiro. “Well, I have to go,”

With that, she gets up and leaves, leaving Hiro, Angoramon and Bokomon behind.

Hiro blinks. “What did she call me here for?”

---

Later, Angoramon goes off to one of the local Digimon gatherings, hidden deep in an alleyway. Plenty of Digimon were gathered here, playing and chatting.

“Was anything damaged?” Angoramon asks. The mysterious gusts have been causing trouble for the Digimon here, too. “Yeah, I lost all the fruit I was growing,” Muchomon replies, shrugging slightly.

Angoramon thinks to himself. “A gust that slashes anything and everything around it...” he murmurs to himself, then looking back up to Muchomon. “It's clearly different from a natural downburst, right?”

Floramon interrupts the two of them. “Here, Angoramon,” she offers him a cup of tea. “Today's tea!”

Angoramon smiles, turning to her. “Thank you.” He stares down into the cup. “Although, lemon would make the tea better.”

Suddenly, a Labramon runs up, lemon in its maw, biting down on it to add some lemon juice to Angoramon's cup.

Angoramon awkwardly smiles. “T-Thank you. I'll have this later.”

---

Meanwhile, Jellymon is standing in a small park with a pair of Palmon and three Pomumon, hidden away from humans. Jellymon had just delivered some basic supplies to the group, mostly seeds and some food.

“Have you heard anything about those mysterious gusts lately? They've been plaguing a couple of sanctuaries.” Jellymon says, putting down a small paper bag.

One of the Palmon nods. “We've heard, though they've yet to bother us here. Most of the other Digimon don't think it's natural – but nobody knows who the culprit could be.” The other one chimes in, too. “Apparently, there have been a lot of sightings at the nearby bamboo park. Even some humans got involved.”

Jellymon puts a hand to her chin. A Digimon causing intense gusts of wind... a few candidates would come to mind, but she couldn't be sure until she saw it.

Then she remembers that Ruli mentioned going to said bamboo park today, and she grows worried. Hopefully she can finish her business really quick and join her partner to make sure nothing happens.

“Thanks! I'll see you guys later,” She then floats off to the next client.

---

It's already a bit dark when Ruli arrives at the park, camera in hand.

“This is it!” Ruli murmurs, smiling, walking towards the bamboo to take a picture. “It's a great spot for a photo just like I heard!” She promptly takes a picture.

A wind gust sweeps through the area, causing Ruli to look around a bit. “It's a little scary. But I came all the way here.” However, then she heards voices speaking, surprising her. Was someone else here?

“Just stop...” “I'll...” She turns to where she heard the voices coming from, looking out into the bamboo. Who was there?

“I'll kill you!” one of the two voices says. Just moments before Ruli is about to ask who's there, a sudden strong gale of wind blows through the area, and all the lights in the park are break with a loud shattering sound.

And then it starts freezing again – Ruli can see her breath. “It suddenly got cold again,” she mutters, holding her arms.

She can feel her heart race, waiting to see what happens next. It takes a few seconds that feel like hours, but then...

One of the bamboo culm is cut cleanly at the bottom end and the wind slashes across the stone floor. Ruli looks after it, but then it disappears into the thicket again. She tries to follow the noises with her eyes, managing to catch the moment the wind breaks through the bamboo again.

She takes a picture at that exact second to see what is causing the gust, but all she sees is a blade with... an eye on it?

It charges at her, spinning. The creature barely misses her, only slicing her camera in half.

Ruli is scared, falling to her knees and trying to cover her head.

Another slashing of bamboo, this time to her right. She looks up in shock, and sees the sharp edges of the culm coming straight for her, but then suddenly a gust of wind blows it away before she would've been pierced.

“You're in the way, human!” Ruli looks up to where the voice came from. At the top of the trees she spots a small, mammalian creature, though she can't quite make out what exactly it is. “Leave this place!” it warns.

Ruli is surprised. “A Digimon?!” she questions. The Digimon is equally stunned that Ruli recognizes what it is. “You know about Digimon?” it replies.

“I knew it.” Ruli states. “Are you the one causing all that wind damage lately?”

“That's...” The Digimon starts, when its tail suddenly rises up. “Why are you so afraid of this weakling here?” it mocks with a voice of its own.

Ruli blinks, confused. “Human!” the tail blade speaks. “I'll cut you to pieces!”

The Digimon is flung into the air and begins spinning, charging at Ruli again. “Take this!” the tail yells.

Ruli is frozen in place.

---

“We gathered more information than we expected.” One of the two Palmon says. The Palmon pair and Jellymon had met back up on the roof.

“Seems like a Digimon is causing the gusts, like the rumors said,” the other one adds.

Jellymon nods. “Thanks for the help,” she says, and tells the two Palmon to stay safe before flying away into the night sky.

“Darling said she was heading to this park today, I should surprise her!” Jellymon giggles to herself as she's floating towards her destination. However, a gust of wind hits her, and she can sense her partner is in serious danger, causing her to shift directions and hurry to Ruli as quickly as she can.

---

Hiro is doing some homework when he suddenly gets a call. “Hello?” he asks, picking it up. It's Ruli.

“Hiro, I'm in trouble! Come to the bamboo park near our usual spot! I need your help now!” she yells through the phone, seeming out of breath.

Angoramon is sitting on the bed, reading a book, but hears the conversation, too, putting the book down and getting up.

“We're on our way!” Hiro quickly replies, practically jumping out of his chair. “Let's go, Angoramon!”

Angoramon nods, and the two head out.

Meanwhile, Kiyoshiro and Gammamon were out late, taking pictures, but on their way back to the dorm now, on a train.

“That was fun, Kiyo!” they say excitedly, sitting on his shoulders, head resting on his. “I'm tired now, though...” they mutter, closing their eyes. Kiyoshiro smiles, patting them on the head slightly. “We're home soon.”

They then notice Kiyoshiro's phone vibrate. “Kiyo, someone's calling.” they murmur. However, Kiyoshiro points to the sign the two are next to. “A dorm leader needs to follow the rules. I'll call them back later.”

Back with Hiro and Angoramon, the two are hurrying to the bamboo park, Angoramon carrying Hiro, soaring through the air. “We might not be fast enough,” Angoramon says. Hiro thinks. “If you evolve, we could be faster, even if you can't fly anymore. We can go over the rooftops,”

Angoramon nods, that's a good idea – he's much more nimble as Symbareangoramon, and even if they lose the ability to fly, the extra speed makes up for it easily. “Okay, let's do it, Hiro,” He lands on a nearby rooftop.

Angoramon evolves to Symbareangoramon, enveloped by white light briefly. He picks Hiro up and dashes forward, hopping from one roof to next, much faster than if they stayed in the air.

---

Ruli is running through the bamboo park in an attempt to escape the Digimon. Another bamboo culm is suddenly cut, falling over, right into Ruli's way, causing her to stumble and fall.

The Digimon jumps in front of her. “I finally got you! Don't resist!” the tail blade laughs.

However, the Digimon interrupts it. “Stop!” it shouts, and jumps at its own tail, trying to attack it, holding it in place. “You little!” the blade growls.

Ruli pushes herself up, confused. “This Digimon keeps attacking me then stopping midway. What is happening?” she mumbles to herself.

The Digimon pushes the blade to the ground. “I'm going to stop you! Today is the day!” The tail blade is wiggling on its own, trying to get free. “That's rich coming from someone who won't even work on sharpening their skills!” It then cleanly slices yet another bamboo culm. “How irritating! You're just a part of me, the great Reppamon!” the tail blade boasts. “Stop trying to resist me!”

Ruli gets up, still not really understanding what is going on. “Reppamon?”

“I want to show off how sharp I cut!” the tail says. “That doesn't mean you can hurt people!” the Digimon argues back.

“Shut up!” the blade shouts, and flings them into the sky again, slashing into the sky. The two land on the tree tops. “Stop wasting my time.”

Ruli looks up to them. “Your tail has a mind of its own? So your fighting is what caused all the strong winds.”

“Yeah, that's right. That's why I just decided now! I'm going to cut this off!” the Digimon tells Ruli.

Ruli is stunned. “Cut it off? If you do that...!”

“You little...” the tail grumbles, and starts spinning again, cutting through the bamboo up top.

“Jyuga Rangeki!” The Digimon strikes his own tail with his claws, in an attempt to remove it. The tail blade groans in pain for a moment, before switching directions, flying towards the ground again.

“I'm also responsible for not controlling you. We're going down together!” Reppamon strikes the tail again. “You trash!” the blade mocks back.

Ruli is standing near the bamboo, trying to keep herself away from the fighting, watching the Digimon fling itself from one part of the forest to the other.

“I can't count the number of times I thought you were awful!” “And I've been wanting to cut you to pieces for ages! If only you were gone!” “I could say the same!”

The battle continues, slicing more and more of the bamboo, which falls all over the place. “That's enough!” Ruli yells. “You two have just been complaining to each other nonstop! Just talk to each other!”

“I don't need to!” the blade shouts back, aiming directly for Ruli, charging at her. Ruli is frozen in place, reflexively putting her arms up to try and brace herself.

However, just before Reppamon would've hit her, Jellymon comes flying in, kicking them out of the way and into the bamboo. Jellymon moves back to where Ruli is, floating in front of her protectively. “Sorry for the wait, darling,” she says, “but I'm here now. I'll protect you.”

“Jellymon,” Ruli murmurs, happy that her partner is here. “Those two...”

“I heard. Doesn't seem like they're interested in a peaceful resolution.”

“Wait, Jellymon!”

“They'll cause more harm if we don't do anything – they're just fighting with each other. They won't talk.”

“Jellymon... I know. But I want to talk to them!”

Jellymon pauses for a moment, but then nods slightly. “Okay, let's try.” She turns to Reppamon. “You two. Talk to my darling for me, will you?”

However, neither part of Reppamon has any interest in that, just like Jellymon expected. “Fat chance! I don't want a lecture!” the tail shouts. “I thank you for stopping us, but I've made up my mind. Don't get in my way!” the other half states.

They then lunge at Ruli and Jellymon, and Jellymon rushes in to take the hit, knocking them back a bit. They charge at Jellymon, knocking her into the bamboo, but Jellymon quickly flies back out to keep them away from Ruli, trying to move the fight away.

“I'm going to protect you, darling,” she tells Ruli as she punches Reppamon, but it doesn't do anything. She gets thrown into the trees once again, but she's not keen on giving up, rushing back into the fight.

But Jellymon is absolutely no match for Reppamon in this form, even if the pair is quite dysfunctional. She's pretty much being thrown around like a ragdoll. “Jellymon!” Ruli calls out to her partner, but Jellymon yells for her to stay back.

“I'm going to protect Ruli, no matter what,” she groans as she gets back up, but as she's pushing herself up, Reppamon's tail smacks her back into the thicket.

“You can't even defend yourself, how do you think you're going to protect this human?” it taunts, laughing, turning to where Ruli is standing, rooted in place.

Jellymon is quite injured now, bruises all over her. Still, she remains steadfast. “I made a promise to protect her, and I intend to keep it,” she shouts back, getting between the Digimon and her partner again. “I'm going to keep her safe,” Jellymon balls her fists.

Her voice begins to waver. “I might not be strong and I might not be able to evolve, like Angoramon and Gammamon,” she says, getting teary-eyed, quite visibly upset by the fact that she is the only one who isn't capable of doing it, “but even without that, I won't let you hurt her!”

She doesn't even look back to Ruli, clearly crying – Ruli can hear the sniffling as she talks. “I'm sorry, darling... I'm sorry that I'm not good at keeping you safe, not as good as Angoramon or Gammamon are at keeping the other two safe... but I will do everything I can. I won't let them touch you, even if... even if...” She doesn't finish the sentence, charging back at Reppamon when they attack.

Ruli is stunned, hearing what Jellymon said. Is that how she truly feels?

She suddenly recalls what Bokomon had said earlier that day. About how Jellymon might be trying to keep Ruli out of harm's way.

Of course. This exact situation is why Jellymon meant when she said Ruli couldn't come along to meet those Digimon – they might be dangerous, even if she doesn't expect it. This is exactly what Jellymon wanted to protect her from... because she felt she couldn't protect Ruli against bigger threats on her own.

She didn't want Ruli to get hurt, because she didn't think she was able to fend off enemies like this on her own – and she was right, to an extent. Jellymon isn't able to land any meaningful hits on Reppamon, and is in turn being flung around like a ragdoll.

Jellymon is knocked to the ground again by Reppamon, very hurt, but still trying to get back up. “I'm done playing. Prepare yourself, human!” the tail shouts before Reppamon is able to do anything to stop it. It spins, and flies straight towards Ruli, surely going to cut her up.

“Ruli!” Jellymon shouts, suddenly jumping in to take the attack and protect her partner, despite her heavy injuries. The damage will be fatal.

Ruli feels herself freeze, and it's as if time suddenly slowed down significantly. “Jellymon!” Ruli screams her name, knowing her partner won't survive this attack.

However, then, suddenly... the Digivice lights up, and a bright white light envelops Jellymon, blinding Reppamon and Ruli alike. Jellymon begins changing shape.

“Jellymon evolve to...”

She grows taller, and six belts grow from her back – however, many of her signature features stay just as they were before. The white light fizzles from her figure, revealing her new, evolved form.

“Teslajellymon!”

Teslajellymon looks at herself, seeming confused and surprised, but equally amazed. She looks at her hands. “I.. evolved?”

Reppamon's tail growls. “This changes nothing!” it shouts, and flies towards them again, dragging the other half along.

However, Teslajellymon chuckles, clenching her fist as the Digimon comes flying at her, and she easily knocks them away, into the bamboo.

Ruli looks at her, amazed. “Teslajellymon!” she says, smiling. Her partner smiles back at her. “Let's give them some payback for what they've done, shall we, darling?” she asks with a smirk. Ruli blinks, but then nods.

As Reppamon jumps back out of the thicket, Teslajellymon charges at them. Ruli feels a new word come to her mind. “Physalist!” she shouts, and electricity gathers around Teslajellymon's fist, sparks flying as she punches Reppamon square in the face, smashing Reppamon to the ground. Teslajellymon suddenly readies the high-voltage belts on her back.

Another new attack. Ruli knows what to do. “Punishune!” she yells, and Teslajellymon grabs the holy beast Digimon, shocking it thoroughly.

Reppamon lays on the ground, and Teslajellymon retracts her belts. Both parts of Reppamon groan in pain, bruised from the fighting. Teslajellymon giggles, doing a victory sign with her hand. “We win!”

“Ruli!” the two suddenly hear another voice shout, and look up, seeing Symbareangoramon and Hiro arrive just now, and the two look at Teslajellymon. “Is this the Digimon giving you trouble, Ruli?” Symbareangoramon asks, but Teslajellymon scoffs slightly.

“I'm not the one giving her trouble, those two are.” She points to Reppamon. “It's me, Jellymon. The jellyfish hat didn't give it away?”

Hiro and Symbareangoramon blink, surprised. “You're Jellymon?! Then you...” Hiro starts, but Teslajellymon interrupts them.

“I evolved to Teslajellymon because of Ruli, and then we really showed those two! They were so lame in our rematch.”

Reppamon groans, still on the ground. Ruli walks over to them. “Are you okay?” she asks. “That last one hurt, but I haven't changed my mind.” Reppamon states.

“Cut me off if you can! I dare you!” the tail shouts. Symbareangoramon, Hiro and Teslajellymon walk over as well, the former two looking quite confused with the situation.

“One Digimon is fighting as two? What's going on here?” Hiro asks, but Symbareangoramon is quick to explain. “That's Reppamon. It is said the blade on its tail has a will of its own, making it hard to sneak up on one. However, it looks like these two are quarreling with each other.”

Ruli kneels down to them. “I was like you, too. Tell me, what is it you want to do? Do you really want to cut off your tail? Do you truly want to lose a part of yourself?”

“I... I just don't want to hurt anyone. I kept wondering how I can get along with this one without anyone getting hurt. But...” Reppamon says.

“So it's not what you really want. And you?” she turns to look at the tail. “Right, you already know.” Ruli murmurs. “Hey!” the tail shouts, seemingly offended.

“I understand what you two want to say. But surely there's a way for both of you to meet in the middle, right? There has to be a path you can both agree on.” Ruli explains.

The tail scoffs. “I could never get along with this weakling – there is no other way to show off my sharpness!” it retorts angrily.

“Hm, I thought you were strong, but I guess you're not up for the challenge, after all. That's pretty lame.” Teslajellymon replies, seemingly trying to taunt the tail into agreeing.

“I am strong and sharp! I could do this easily, if he wasn't refusing to let me sharpen my skills and show off my edge!” the tail argues.

“Every time you sharpen your skills and show it off, you destroy something! I can't allow that.” Reppamon argues back.

Symbareangoramon has his hand to his chin, thinking. “I have an idea. Would you like to come to our gathering?” he asks, crouching down. “A bunch of Digimon who came here get together to swap information. I've been looking for someone to cut lemon slices. I think it's a good way to show off your edge.”

“Don't rope me into your stupid games!” the tail says, annoyed.

“It's not stupid. It's extremely difficult to cut thin, uniform slices.” Symbareangoramon responds. The tail doesn't seem quite too happy about the arrangement. “It's fine if you can't.” Symbareangoramon states.

“Of course I can! I'll cut it better than anyone!” the tail shouts.

However, the other half doesn't seem to believe in it quite yet. “There's no way that would work.”

“You're right. We don't know if it'd work out either. Which is why you two need to talk a lot and learn to respect each other. You guys are always together. It'd be a shame not to have fun.” Ruli smiles.

After a few moments, both parts of Reppamon give in, agreeing to try.

Ruli turns around to Teslajellymon when Hiro starts asking Reppamon some questions. “Darling-” Teslajellymon starts, but Ruli simply hugs her tightly. Teslajellymon seems stunned for a moment, but then moves her arms to hug Ruli back.

“I understand what you meant now... thank you for always trying your best for me, and looking out for me, Teslajellymon.” she murmurs. “And please... don't feel like you have to compete with the others. You are my partner, and I think you're just as good as them,”

Teslajellymon stammers, unsure of how to respond to Ruli, deciding to simply hug her tighter. “Thank you, darling.” she mutters.

Symbareangoramon heard their conversation, and smiles. “When we sit and talk at each other's level, we are able to see the issue from the other side.”