Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

To say that Matsuki Takato and his friends had a strange life would probably be a small understatement. This story began with a blue card and the wishes of the children who would come to be known as the heroes of two worlds. Well these children and their partners, the Digimon. It was fun at first, meeting ever compassionate Lee Jianliang and eventually befriending the tomboyish Nonaka Rika. But all good dreams eventually end.

The Devas to hunting their friend Calumon, but the children managed to combat the invading zodiac for a time, with the help of their Digimon. Then amist that chaos came Mephistomon, a foe that pushed them further. But one day they failed, Leomon the partner to a close friend of the children was slain. By the hand of another friend, Beelzemon. The face of their enemy changed as did the face of friends.

The D-reaper had come calling, craving death and torment. Yet still the children succeeded but not without loss, friends that could never return and bonds that could never be mended. Scars that would fester in the dark if not fail to heal all together. And this leads us to the inciting incident to the next four years of Tamer's life; the invasion of Parasimon that left them stranded in an unfamiliar Japan.

"One might go so far as to say that they ended up in a very quirky situation." A soft voice chuckled. Before you sits a honey blond haired person with a strange cat creature sitting in their lap. "I'm sure you're curious, about who I am. I am not someone important to this story. I have my own story though, one to be told at another place and in a different time." Soft hazel eyes kindly gaze upon you. "I am Simon Pilgrim, but I would prefer it if you would call me Si. And with that our time is up. I do hope you can enjoy the story you are about to witness."

"Dandan," The cat-like creature says to you, before they both vanish from sight.

>i<--------------------->i<

They were falling, that was the first thing that registered to Takato as his consciousness returned. Panic quickly followed, the normal feeling of absolute strength wasn't there. He wasn't Gallantmon anymore, he was the small boy known as Takato. And he was about to hit the hard pavement below. That was, before something furry grabbed him and deposited him safely. "Are you okay Takato?" A voice he quickly recognised to be Jianliang's asked.

"Yeah, just surprised. Gallantmon has never fallen apart on me like that before." It seemed like Jian was relatively unharmed but in an equal amount of shock to his fellow Tamer. "I'm glad that everyone seems to be unhurt." He stated after taking a moment to look around. Guilmon looked fine but was unconscious, but that was similar to most of the other Digimon sans Lopmon. He quickly moved to give a closer examination.

"At least you got the soft landing," Jian joked as he ponied to a suspiciously Antylamon shaped crater. "Shaochung wasn't so lucky."

"Small miracles that the one Digimon who didn't revert to rookie was the first to get spat out." Rika commented in a tone that betrayed her mood. "Where in the world are we anyways?" She asked no one in particular as she fiddled with something on her phone before hissing out something vaguely inappropriate in german. "No signal."

"Where ever we are, it's on Earth. Otherwise there wouldn't be a digital feld. Ryo supplied from next to his partner, Monodramon. The small purple dragon curling ever so slightly closer to him. He was gesturing to the fog that surrounded them from all sides. "But we should probably think about moving somewhere hidden before it lets up. Can't exactly think of any way to explain," he vaguely gestured to the prone beasts, "them."

"Yeah, moving somewhere safer before we touch base is a good idea." Jianliang agreed as he moved over to collect Terriermon. "What are we going to do about food?" He asked aloud. If they were somewhere far from Japan they likely wouldn't be able to feed themselves, let alone their Digimon. But he and the other couldn't shake the feeling that something was fundamentally wrong.

"Food first, base touching later." Shaochung piped up, stomach rumbling in tune with Lopmon, who was currently in her arms.

"That sounds like a better plan Sailor Scout." Rika piped up as she helped Renamon to her feet. The yellow fox idled at Rika's side for a few moments, allowing her balance to slowly return to her. "Considering that not all of us have Digimon that are easily carried." She gestured to the small red dinosaur that was currently dead to the world, despite Takato's best efforts. "Jian, help the poor guy out, Shaochung and I can go scrounge up some food."

>i<--------------------->i<

That was four years ago, and quite a bit has changed since that day. They were still in Japan... just not the one they knew. This world was like something out of a comic book. Digimon had begun to emerge in the world shortly after the Tamer's arrival. Takato's most powerful attack made contact with the dimensional gate created by the mind controled GrandLocomon, sending all the Parasimon back to the Digital world if not outright erasing them. But it had the unfortunate side effect of launching those closest to the gate into a third reality with no way home.

But let's return to our story for now, lest we get to far ahead of ourselves.

>i<--------------------->i<

Takato awoke in a cold sweat almost screaming from the newest nightmare his mind managed to piece together. His terror barely contained in the wake of his nightmare's sudden conclusion. His eyes moving to a digital clock kept on a nearby nightstand. It was almost four in the morning, a frankly horrible time to be awake at if you asked him. But this had become an unfortunate routine for the not nearly so young Tamer. He ran his hands through his hair that had grown a lot longer without his parents to nag him into cutting it. Playing with his hair had become a habit recently, to assist with focus. But he wasn't entirely sure if it actually did anything to help with that.

Trying to find reason within the fading vividness of his most recent self terrorizing was proving fruitless as ever. And he likely wasn't going to return to his restless sumber for fear of the memories he wasn't equipped to face. So Takato opted to quietly move out of his fairly large bed, as to not disturb Guilmon, who had come to prefer sleeping with him. Takato didn't really mind, given the fact the the dinosaur Digimon was essentially his creation. Not to mention comfort on the nights when sleep was illusive. But at the moment he wanted to be alone with his thoughts and to work out some of the anxiety that was bubbling to the surface of his mind.

"Momentai," his sleep deprived brain chasited in Terriermon's voice. Just as mocking as the original, but not in the way that made the beast tolerable. He opted to focus on softly feeling his way down to the first floor of the group's shared home. It wasn't anything fancy, but with a little work it managed to hold four teens, one child, and five digital monsters. It was better than the two years the spent on the streets of the not-Japan-Japan, so no one complained when Takato all but claimed the basement as an art studio. Sure, every now and then he 'kidnapped' Jian's computer set up for commissions, but good ol' canvas and paint was still nice to use. Not to mention the fact that he had gained a bit of fame from his works, and no one was complaining about the money that allowed them to buy the house in the first place. It was by no means easy to come this far, but still they managed. And in Takato's mind that was enough for him. The dust had settled, no need to kick up more.

>i<--------------------->i<

Jianliang stretched out his sore muscles as his alarm went off. His brain slowly allowing his senses to take in the pleasant smell of bacon, eggs, and toast. His partner on the other hand was not so keen on rising, readjusting with Jian's movements. "Terriermon, don't make me get Shaochung. She genuinely needs her sleep." He was given a glare for his troubles. His bluff was called. He supposed that was fair, it wasn't like Terriermon agreed to be woken up at six in the morning. "Okay, I'll save some breakfast for you then."

"Fine I'll get up," the 'if only to insure that I don't get leftovers' went unsaid. A very real issue given the purple and red bottomless pits they kept in the house. Terriermon stumbled slowly to his feet, sleep still managing to hold it's grip on the rookie. Doing Terriermon the favor of preventing his face from meeting the floor, Jian picked him up before leaving his room.

The door at the far end of the hall was open, Takato's room. With a distinct lack of the chestnut haired boy. He had a pretty good idea of where the smaller boy had gotten off to. Hopefully he had at least managed to eat something. But the only way to discover if that held true was to continue his trek to the dining room. So he did, finding Rika impassionately scrolling on her phone, her plate seemingly half forgotten. "Good morning Jianliang," Renamon said from her place at Rika's side.

"Oh, hey dude." Rika supplied, eyes not drifting far from her device. Clearly enthralled by whatever it was that she was seeing. "If you're looking for your boy crush, he's in the basement. I checked on 'im earlier, take some food down if you're going that way."

"Thanks, I'll do that." He responded ignoring what he hoped was Rika's attempt at being funny. He had come to regret confiding in Rika. But he honestly couldn't bring himself actually be upset by her jabbing him to let Takato to know how he feels. He had chosen to let his 'crush' fester for several years by this point and Rika was clearly tired of watching the trainwreck in progress.

She shrugged at his gratitude, seemingly out of some odd discomfort. "Just be honest. Goggle head doesn't need another Jeri in his life right now." Jian had to suppress a slight cringe at the mention of the girl's name. "Not that she was in the wrong for how she acted, given... everything. But she didn't need to go nuclear on him." That was the truth, after the death of Leomon and the D-reaper kidnaping her, she had all but distanced herself from the group. Be it envy or grief, she inevitably lashed out and chose to blame Takato. Failed romance with the girl aside, Jeri just couldn't take the loss and Takato had awful timing in that moment. That was all the other Tamers knew, the truth of that interaction was kept under Takato's lock and key. "Point is, you've been crazy about him since we were kids and it's exhausting watching you two pussy foot around eachother. Takato's not gonna make the first move, so you have to do it."

"Like you and Ryo then," Terriermon snarked, earning a glare from Rika. Renamon chuckled as Jian walked off, a heated debate sparking between Rika and his partner. He was glad that RIka was comfortable enough to openly discuss such things. She likely would have told him to confess ether way, it just would have been far ruder. And most definitely involving far cruder language. Just more proof that things had changed.

"Don't forget to send Goggle Head my way when your done! That art thing's today!"

"Kay!" Jian responded at a similar volume, halfway to the basement. He could see that the lights were still on at the bottom. The sounds of Takato at work weren't present. He was ether taking a break or was passed out on the lazyboy he had moved down there after the first time Takato was caught sleeping in the basement. Sure enough, there was a Takato sized lump curled up in the chair, covered head to toe in a fairly thick blanket. It was a wholly endearing sight to the taller of the two Tamers. Jianliang chuckled as he poked the lump, "Time to get up Takato."

The lump in turn shifted as a hand emerged from the blanket, trying to shoo him away but quickly retreating to warmth. Plan B it was then. He swiftly yanked the covers off forcing the lump to reveal it's human shape. A groggy and groaning brunette, sleepily rubbing his eyes. Softly mumbling some form of curse as he adjusted to his awakening. "Jian is that you? What time is it?"

"A little past six." He supplied discarding the removed blanket on the floor. "I brought some food if you're hungry." Softly, the boy mumbled his thanks before shifting into a more upright position. The two just sat in a comfortable silence, only disturbed by the sound of silverware meeting plate. Color that Takato lacked slowly returned to his face, allowing a unnoticed weight to lift from Jian's chest. He thought about just blurting out his feelings in this moment as the clawed to be heard. But some part of him found the moment to be lacking as he opened his mouth. "Rika wants you for something by the way. But, I think she won't mind waiting for a bit if you want to talk."

"I don't mind talking if there's something you want to talk about." Takato responded with a soft smile. Jian could almost feel his heart threatening to burst from his chest. He took a few breaths, cleared his already clear throat, and tried to find the words. This wasn't something he normally did, growing up a gay kid in Japan helped him to keep his romantic feelings close to his chest. But Takato wasn't the type to be cruel in a potential rejection. Even now as he scoured the boy's ruby eyes, he found only a genuine fondness.

"I want to tell you something... something you may find, untoward." The words seemed to stick in place as his mind rushed to find a reason to avoid what he wanted to say. But it was quickly losing what little ground it had. 'Takato was non-binary for sovereigns' sake,' he rebuffed his own mind. Takato's lips tightened together, his breath becoming more erratic by the moment. "Is something wrong?"

Takato let out a wezy and nervous chuckle, "So she had this conversation with you too." That's when it all came together. Rika, the wonderful and horrible friend she was, planed this. Jianliang's face flushed crimson in embarrassment that quickly shifted to flustered as Takato kissed him softly on the forehead. "For the record, I like you too." He chuckled with an equally red face.

The blue haired Tamer entered into his own fit of laughter. "She was really sick of us, wasn't she?"

"To be fair, I may have been a tad bit more insufferable with my feelings." His mind went to one of several conversations with the red-head. She looked likes she wanted to kill him the moment he started gushing about the easel Jian had gotten him for his birthday. "Yeah, looking back on it, I was a little insufferable." The next few minutes were just spent laughing at their shared stupidity.

"This was a long time coming wasn't it." Jian admitted, his tone full of fondness. Takato nodded in response. "How long do you think she was planing this?"

"Probably since yesterday." He shrugged, "That's when she unsubtlety hinted that you had feelings for me. When she was finishing up my dress for tonight." So she lied to him about needing the other boy for something. Well he couldn't find it in himself to be mad at the result. "I guess that makes tonight our first date."

Chapter Text

Rika was feeling quite good about herself at the moment. Jian and Takato's hopeless pining wasn't her problem anymore. But she still had more to do, namely she had to address the problem named Ryo. Make no mistake, she genuinely loved the idiot. But the vanishing act was getting annoying. It was fine back when he wasn't a part of the group, but now given their situation, it was down right dangerous. She didn't trust some hero to decide that the world would be better off with one less Tamer in it. So the vanishing act had to stop.

Speaking of the devil, Ryo had returned with Monodramon and was face to face with an angry red-head. "Hello Ryo. What have you been up to?" He slowly tried to back out the door behind him but bumped into something furry.

"And just what do you think your trying to do?" The humanoid fox Digimon asked from behind him.

"Flee in terror," his mind conjured up before his mouth could respond. Renamon slowly corralling him back into the house that had come to feel more like the den of some mega-level Digimon. Fashionista Rika wants to everate you and, in fact, you cannot run from trainer battles. "Mercy." He whimpered out.

Rika rolled her eyes, "I'm not going to hurt you. Sovereigns, you are so over dramatic sometimes." It really didn't seem like that to him. "I just want to know where you keep disappearing to. It's... getting concerning." She mumbled out the last bit. "Now explain yourself Akiyama."

Ryo just stared at her for a moment. "Is that all?" He chuckled, "I'm doing favors for the Digimon Village, that's all. Rounding up stray Digimon and other handyman things." It was Rika's turn to stare. "I didn't think it would be an issue."

"It's not..." Rika groaned slightly, "But you should have told the group where you were going everyday. We aren't as protected here as we were back home." After the incident with the D-reaper the organization Hypnos changed from being hostile to Digimon. Actively working with the Tamer's to protect Digimon that entered into their world and ensuring that the children would be safe in their day to day lives. But this world didn't have that. "What if some spandex wearing asshole decided that you were some kinda criminal? You could have been hurt and we wouldn't know about it Ryo."

"I work better on my own Rika, you know that."

"You can't do that anymore, the rules we have were made for this purpose! You can't leave the house without someone to accompany you." He was one of the people in favor of that rule being put into place. "You can't support something you don't listen to!" She and Ryo both sighed in unison, but for different reasons. Rika, from embarrassment over what she thought to be a childish loss of emotional control.

Ryo on the other had was out of remorse. "I didn't want to make you worry. I'm just not used to being on a team." He softly took her hand into his own. "I'm sorry Rika. I didn't think about you again, about how worried you would be about me." His voice was soft, understanding.

"It's fine," She sighed once again. "I shouldn't have yelled at you, despite the results." They both softly chuckled.

"For you my Queen, the world shall be your oyster." He said, softly kissing her hand.

"And what if I find oysters revolting, my King?" She retorted cheekaly.

"Then the world is still yours, minus the oysters of course." He returned with an equally cheeky smile.

"Ewwwww!" Both teens turned to face a revolted Shaochung. "Right in front of my Lopmon, are you serious? Get a room!" She shouted as she ran off.

"I have one! You walk by it every morning!"

>i<--------------------->i<

Takato's eyes ran over the dress currently adorning his body. The dress in question was made of a stunning but easy-to-wash breathable material. Mostly white with some gold accents that were used for the hemline. Light green vine-like embroidery ran up the silhouette that was tastefully cut in a V-shape at the front each one ending at a rose that ran along the waistline. Each rose was a beautiful shade of scarlet with white centers. The bodice was a fabric that slowly faded into black at the neckline that ended in a more comfortable turtleneck. The sleeves of the dress started at the triceps and were similar to the neckline fabric but faded in reverse with the same embroidery winding around the sleeve. But the colors were swapped. With three small roses on the end of the sleeves.

To cut a long story short, it made Takato feel beautiful. He hoped that Jianliang and the others liked it. "Yo, Goggle Head. You just about finished getting ready?" Rika asked from the otherside of his bedroom door. Oh, he almost forgot about being on a time crunch. What with the gender euphoria. "Damn, I do good work." Rika commented with a cocky smirk when he opened the door. "How's it feel?"

"Good," He returned breathlessly. Rika was wearing a pantsuit that was clearly inspired by Renamon, a subtle shade of purple being the most prominent color. Proving an interesting contrast to her fire hair. "Do you think Jian's gonna like it?"

"If he doesn't, I'll maul him." She joked, patting him on the shoulder. " The ball awaits Cinderella and we better get going before we turn into pumpkins." She quickly ushered her fellow Tamer to the stairs like a butler would escort their lady. "Your idiotenprinz awaits." Something about that sounded like an insult to Takato's ear. Curse her liberal use of the a language he didn't speak!

But anything he may have chosen to voice died the moment he and his paramour lock eyes. Lee Jianliang was dressed like some sort of prince. Colors colors matched to Takato's own dress. Chest contorting into fluttering knots, both looked at the other as if they were something beyond comprehension. "You look..." Jian seemed to physically search for the words needed to color his feelings. "Radiant."

"You look princely." Takato responded dumbly. Jian just laughed, any airy sort of joy. Shoulders relaxing slightly. Rika and Ryo fist bumped behind Jian. Rika having moved down the stairs at some point and Ryo who was adjusting his red and grey tux. "Okay, Guilmon, I'm moving." Aforementioned dinosaur was slightly bumping into the boy, clearly impatient. "You should revert to Gigimon before we leave big guy." He gave his partner a pet before he was enveloped with light, form shrinking into a one more akin to a stuffed animal.

"Now we're just waiting on Shaochung." Lopmon sighed, pink ribbons tied around her chocolate colored ears. A of the princess treatment given to Terriermon clearly paying off for the almost identical Digimon. "I'll go fetch her," the rabbit offered, her tone betraying some fondness.

"No need, she's here." Ryo supplied. The statement punctuated by the sound of rushing footfalls. Rika had cannibalized an old pink tutu of the girl's and sewed it onto a white suit. It wasn't the most inspired work Rika had ever done, but the little Lee liked it, so all was well.

"Well don't you look darling." Takato complemented the youngest of their group. "Are you excited?"

"Yep!" Shoachung did a quick twirl.

"Well then, we should to the limo before it takes off without us."

>i<--------------------->i<

"This is nice, thank you for taking some time off for me Nemuri." Lily Kayama said as she and her wife walked. Her eyes moving from painting to painting. "It sucks that you've been so busy lately." She leaned on her partner's side.

"I know, but all of these disappearances have the H.P.C in a tizzy. Not to mention the random monster villain attacks." Nemuri sighed, "I think I needed this more than our relationship did." She chuckled dryly, more out of exhaustion than genuine mirth. Nemuri was more interested in the people funneling in than the art on display. Her eyes never moving far from any entrance.

Her darling wife began to excitedly tap on her shoulder. "Nem, Nemuri! Look!" Following her art nerd wife's eyes, she saw what had gotten her attention.

"It's a painting." Nemuri wasn't really a fine arts person all things considered, she did enjoy following fashion trends. The painting itself depicted a vauely childlike silhouette done in a dull almost coppery red. It was reaching towards several vividly colored lights, but was otherwise done in various shades of gray. The lights were green, light blue, pink, yellow, even purple being closest to the silhouette. "A bit of a depressing painting, but a painting."

"Just look at the name Nem, then you'll see." She didn't get the excitement, but she did live for her wife's adorable reactions to the things she liked.

"The Duke. Duke of what?" It seemed like a bit of a stupid name. Not that Nemuri could talk, what with one of her friends willingly going by Eraser Head.

Lily sighed in exasperation. "The Duke is a relatively new face on the art scene. But their works are super popular, and finally getting to see one in person, I can see why." Well that was good, because Nemuri couldn't see why anyone would like it. "Most of the popularity is built around the fact that no one has ever actually met The Duke before. But there is a genuine respect for their style nonetheless."

By this point the heroine was passively listening to her wife's ramblings. Her attention was more focused on the outfits of the other patrons. A kid with a red scarf, who must have said something stupid, as he was quickly flicked on the forehead by a girl in a pantsuit. Clearly there was something between the two of them, given the fond looks adorning their faces. It reminded Nemuri of her and Lily's relationship. A little girl was running around in a suit with an odd bit of pink fringe. Her little stuffed toy looked cute, she made a mental note to hunt one down for Sho's kid.

Actually now that she was looking at some of the kids, most of them had little stuffed animals. Not all of them as cute to her as the little girl's chocolate bunny one. A kid in a positively gorgeous dress had a little red lizard creature and was seemingly talking to it. Some of their mannerisms were similar to Lily's. "Someone's in the info dumping mood." She said, drawing her wife's attention to the kid.

"That's adorable. Stuffed animal's kinda weird though." She supplied with a joking tone. "I do wonder where their parents are. They can't be here alone, right?" Nemuri hummed in thought, with all of the recent weirdness it was dangerous for kids to be out alone. Somehow anticipating what her wife wanted to do, Lily sighed fondly. "Go on Nem. Go be a hero."

Chapter Text

Three figures of varying heights stood still in the darkness of night. Looking towards a building ailight in a peaceful spectacle. The smallest of the three was tightly gripping a golden trident, bouncing a leg nervously. The tallest of the three leveling something vaguely t-shaped at a large window, an ominous smile on her face. "My dear sisters, are you ready?" The tallest asked, receiving a nod from the smallest and a thumbs up from the one closer to her height. She let out a almost witchy cackle, "Lets crash a party my dear sisters."

>i<--------------------->i<

Takato and Jianliang were enjoying their evening together, fondly lost in each other's company. For once the weight of everything was lifted from their undeserving shoulders. Laughing at some inside joke shared betwixt the two of them. Gigimon was getting a little antsy in his tamer's arms. Terriermon was in a similar predicament, something Jian noticed. "Is something wrong Terriermon?"

Takato focused on their partners, an antsy Digimon normally meant only one thing. "Please tell me you two just need to use the bathroom." He prayed to whatever digital deity would listen that it wasn't what he thought it was. Gigimon made a noise that told him that his prayer had fallen on deaf ears. "Oh goodie, so much for a nice date."

"They're really powerful too." The dog named monster shuddered in his partner's grasp. "Jian, I don't think we can beat them. They feel almost as powerful as Ceresmon." Takato and the other boy visibly paled. Ceresmon was by no means a weak Digimon. One of the Olympus Twelve and a mega level at that. Thankfully for the Tamers, she proved to be a understanding and kind creature, but there was no guarantee that these mystery Digimon would be so inclined.

"We need to get everyone out of here." Jian and Takato announced in tandem, normally this would lead to something jovial, but they didn't have the time for it at the moment. "I'll go get the others, hopefully we'll have enough time to figure something out before they attack." Takato nodded, before taking stock of potential exits. Having his partner start a small fire would likely cause a panic. If they didn't handle this properly it could be a disaster.

It was in this moment that Kayama Nemuri approached the teen. Her face a mix of concern and self confidence. "Hey kiddo, where are you parents? It's not safe to be out at night." Speaking of disasters, now Takato had to get this woman to leave him alone, without sounding like a crazy person. Or getting the authorities involved. The last thing the Tamers need was to end up warming a jail cell for doing their job.

"Uhhhhm, I can take care of myself." Takato's tone betrayed the confusion behind his words, something that the woman took note of. "If you don't mind I have to go find my friends." Something about the woman was familiar to him and not in a good way. He was about to walk off when the woman grabbed his arm and pulled him backwards.

Before he knew what was happening, the woman was in front of him. Knocking him to the ground behind her, albeit accidentally. "Get down!" She shouted as several windows and a good portion of wall was shot though. Thankfully those present heeded the woman's words and remained relatively unharmed as a result. "Shit, what was that?" She muttered under her breath, likely not knowing that the kid behind her could hear. But he was more focused on the origin of the attack, one that had no intention of staying anonymous.

A cackle broke though the shocked silence as a woman dressed in black walked through the rubble. At her side were two others in similar clothes to the one in black. They each had a sort of veil-like thing on their heads, with the smallest having a pink one and was noticeably younger looking that the other two. "Well that was fun. Right sisters?"

The smallest made no move to agree or disagree with her statement. She merely adjusted the weapon in her hands. "Come on Noir, you know little Blanc ain't the biggest fan of that kinda thing." The one with a blue hood chastised. "'Sides, you're gettin' a bit to amped up about this." She held a sheathed katana in her right hand.

"Well it isn't often that we get to have fun, Ciel." The one known as Noir curtly responded. She held two silver t-shaped guns. "Oh look, one of the little saviors. All though I could hardly call you anything so impressive at the moment." She looked directly at Takato as she spoke. A wide grin on her face, like she knew she could easily do away with him. "What, did the D-reaper die of laughter at the sight of you?"

Takato took stock of his surroundings, the room was too small for Guilmon's champion form. And he held no reservations about his partner's chances in a fight, when it came down to it. Even the woman in front of him seemed reticent to do anything. But only he knew why that was a good thing, now that he was looking at them, it was clear that individually they were nowhere near the strength of Ceresmon. But they were still too strong for him to face alone, and a human stood even less of a chance against them. Not that they had any interest in attacking one, they were solely focused on him and Gigimon.

"We're waiting, little hero." Noir sneered, clearly amused by Takato's inaction. Until a fist made contact with her face, failing to even make her flinch. "Is that all you've got, Foxy?" Renamon immediately jumped away from their foe, fur bristled like a threatened animal. "Hmm. Smart move."

"Your an ultimate, aren't you." It was more a statement of fact than a genuine question. That information made Takato's heart sink. It was Beelzemon all over again, a foe they couldn't hope to match. Lopmon, maybe, and that's a big maybe. Given her ultimate level's sheer size, Noir would have to be foced outside.

"Gigimon, it's time to fight." This could be a very bad idea, the boy thought. Seeing his friends coming from a distance. Most of the bystanders had fled once they realized that the Digimon had no interest in them, those that hadn't were trying to avoid incurring their wrath, sneaking to the nearest exit. Takato pulled his D-ark out, ready to assist his partner in what was sure to be a grueling fight.

At his tamer's command, Gigimon lept forwards, form enveloped in light. "Gigimon digivolve to..." The light completely enveloped the small loafish creature, forming into a sort of crimson egg, bigger than body it housed. "Guilmon!" The larger, raptor-like monster announced as it broke free from the light that enveloped it. It then growled like a feral animal, sights set solely on the one known as Noir.

"Oh, not going straight to champion? You'd stand a better chance." The one called Ciel jabed. She was slowly moving to unsheath her sword. Aware that negotiation wasn't going to take place. Blanc moved into a more combative stance, trident pointed directly at Guilmon. Nemuri's brain having finally finished comprehending what was going on, or at the very least compartmentalizing.

"You kids need to get back!" She shouted, "What you are currently doing is illegal, not to mention dangerous! You should wait for qualified heroes to arrive and hande these villains!" The girl in the pantsuit rolled her eyes and threw something at the kid behind her. "Are you even listening to me, this is illegal activity, I could arrest you for this!" But her warnings fell on deaf ears. The Tamers knew that this was a fight at they couldn't avoid, a fight only they stood a chance in.

Rika was the one to break the news to Nemuri. "Listen lady, just shut up and leave this to us. You can arrest us when we aren't fighting for our lives." The woman let out a insulted gasp. "Or and follow me on this one, you could just leave us to do our damn job." She pulled a card out of a case on her belt, "Renamon, time to digivolve." She said with a tone of finality, slashing the card thought a device that looked like a toy to the hero.

"Right." The bipedal fox spoke in a serious but neutral tone as their form was shrouded in a solid blue light, forming into a familiar egg shape. "Renamon, digivolve to..." Within the cloak of light, the fox Digimon was being stripped down to a wireframe in preparation for the transformation. One tail splitting into nine. "Kyubimon!" The now nine tailed fox announced as her new form broke free of it's shell of evolution. Four paws and nine tails alight with flame.

Ciel's katana gleamed dangerously, a cruel smile breaking out on her face. "I've always wanted a fox fur stole." The Digimon rushed towards the fox, abandoning the sheath of her blade altogether. "White Murder!" She announced as she threw twin knives at the fellow champion. Her grin was almost manic as she watched Kyubimon jump back in order to evade the attack.

"Fox Tail Inferno!" The nine tailed fox announced, her tails flaring out like a peacock. Several strangely cute balls of azure flames rocketing directly for her foe. But before they could make contact, a barrier formed around the Digimon. "What?" Kyubimon's attention turned to the smallest of their foes, Blanc's hands were raised towards her sister, a soft light flowing from them. "Guilmon, take smallest one," she commanded, swiftly running at her chosen foe. "Dragon Wheel!" Her body becoming cloaked in dragon shaped flame.

"Pyro Sphere," the crimson Digimon shot a orb of crimson energy at the pink veiled girl. Nemuri all the while watched on with something akin to a sinking weight in her chest. She watched the fight unfold, but couldn't believe how strong these children's quirks were. If she had tried to fight with them, she doubted just how much of a help she would be.

"Divine Pierce." The attacks seemed to clash for a moment, thrown trident vs crimson orb. But Blanc's attack proved more powerful, her golden weapon lodging itself into Guilmon and detonating with holy energy. "Sorry." She mumbled, with seemingly genuine lament. She looked to be preparing a second attack, her weapon returning to her hands.

"Guilmon get out of the way!"

She never got the chance to strike, as a Terriermon's champion form, Gargomon struck first. "Bunny Pummel," a explosive punch made contact with her stomach. It wasn't enough to force her back, but it still seemed to hurt quite a bit. "Gargo Pellets!" The Gatling Arm that was still in contact with Blanc erupted with green light, as the sound of a gatling gun rang out. Finally the humanoid Digimon reacted, shouting in pain as she was pelted point blank by a hail of bullets.

"That's enough of that, me thinks." Noir said as she leveled one of her guns at Gargomon's face, having cleared the distance in blink. "Mickey Bul-" She didn't get to finish calling out her attack as a flaming mass slammed itself into her, forcing her shot to miss, if only by the thinnest of margins. Strikedramon, Mondramon's champion level quickly backed out of range of Noir's kick. She seemed to be genuinely angered by the attack being halted.

The Tamers watched from a distance as the fighting went on. Things weren't going well for them, that much a clear. Aside from Gargomon's sneak attack on Blanc, most of their partner's attacks were being effortlessly countered. "We're losing," Ryo supplied.

"We noticed, king of the obvious," Rika responded as she shuffled through her modify cards. Looking for anything to give her partner the edge she lacked. "Where's Shaochung? Lopmon's the only one who can match Sistermon Noir." Her D-Ark registering, Noir's level. Ultimate, Puppet Digimon and a virus type to boot. "Kyubimon, try this!" She slashed an attack card.

"Nice choice, Cutting Edge!" It was an Eosmon card, activating just in time as a hexagonal barrier blocked a forward thrust form Ciel. Now Kyubimon's foe was on the defence, jumping around sporadically in order to avoid the barriers that threatened to cut her in two with ease. "What's wrong doll? Scared are we?" She had begun to mix her attacks, launching her flames in tandem with the borrowed attack.

Sistermon Ciel groaned, "This is getting annoying." The attack itself seemed to be wearing the fox Digimon thin. If she had to guess it was an ultimate's attack, something fair too taxing for the champion to be using long term. She just needed one good clean hit, jumping higher with only one goal on her mind, finishing the fight. As she raised her katana above her head, Ciel began to fall. "Shirotsume Ichimonji-giri!" A final barrier blocked the strike, "Deffo an ultimate's," she noted, jumping off of the obstruction.

"Protect Wave!" Sistermon Blanc announced as several shots from Gargomon failed to strike the Digimon. "This isn't working, we should go Noir." The limited fight held by the rookie puppet Digimon seemed to be gone. Her trident vanishing into golden light. "It's not like this approach is doing anything, aside from making enemies that is."

"Fair point Blanc." Noir sighed grabbing Ciel's discarded sheath. "Ciel, catch." Her tone betrayed a total lack a amusement. Ciel seemed like she wanted to complain, but it quickly died. "Besides they'll have other company soon enough. It's not like we're the only ones who want to pick a fight." Now the the fighting inside had worn down, they could hear it. The sounds of combat from outside. "Welp, that'd be our queue to go, Chao." She blew a kiss in the Tamer's direction before vanishing like she was never there, her sisters following soon after.

>i<--------------------->i<

Outside something very different was occurring, as the combat reached it's peak and valley, some unwanted guests had gathered. Argomon (Champion), and a lot of them at that. The virus Digimon were swarming attacking any soul unfortunate enough to get in the way, intentionally or otherwise. With the lack of a digital feld, it was clear that they weren't new arrivals to the human world. "Voltline," they announced emotionlessly striking into the crowd of civilians.

Several screams of pain erupted into the night as the attacks struck true. Shaochung was unfortunate enough to get caught up in the mass exodus of people when the Sistermon began their attack, was forced into action. "Lopmon digivolve to..." Her partner announced as the rabbit Digimon jumped into the air, pink light enveloping her. "Turuiemon!" A purple rabbit broke free of the light of evolution, adorned in a sleeveless yellow jumpsuit. She was about the size of an teenager, large iron claws attached to it's red gloves. "Ninja Fist!" Turuiemon shouted as she descended into the crowd of Argomon. Several of the purple virus monsters detonating into data as the rabbit began her violent assault.

"Kick their butts, Turuiemon!" Shaochung yelled encouragingly to her partner as several more fell to her partner's 'Gauntlet Claw' attack. However the total number of foes failed to decrease in any noticeable way. Not for Turuiemon's lack of effort, merely out of the sheer quantity of foes, a number that seemed to only increase with time.

"Pyro Blaster!" A familiar voice roared out as a large clump of the purple Digimon screeched in a blaze of flame. Growlmon, Guilmon's champion form, had joined the fight. His yellow eyes contorted into slits as several more hails of his attack fell upon the Argomon, instantly deleting those lucky enough to lack durability. The large dragon Digimon huffing out flames as his foes disintegrated, annoyed that he couldn't get closer.

Strikedramon followed his fellow champion's lead in exiting the building, running the span of Growlmon's body and jumping off his head. "Strike Fang," he grumbled out as gravity swiftly brought him back to the earth, directly above a large gathering of Argomon. Body erupting into flame and swiftly ramming into his target. Instincts taking hold, the Commando Dragon roared in the wake of it's charred prey. The Argomon around him began to flee in vain, swiftly being slashed into by Strikedramon's 'Strike Claw.'

"Imprisonment," a Argomon behind Turuiemon announced, as electrified tentacles shot out of it's mouth. Turuiemon barely managed to jump out of the way, Gargomon firing into the swarm of Digimon. Several Argomon had set their sights on the helpless humans in their midst.

"Everyone, run back into the building!" Ryo shouted at the crowd of people. "You aren't helping by staying out here, now get back inside!" That seemed to strike a nerve with several of the bystanders. The kid seemingly trying to prevent them from watching the strange 'heroes' at work. "Oh forget it, Strikedramon! Give them a reason to leave!" He shouted, at his partner who responded by violently crushing the head of one of the virus Digimon, right in front of the crowd. Growling as if to imply that they'd be next, message received, the crowd quickly shuffled back to safety.

"Good work Ryo," Takato commented, glad that his partner now had more room to work with. No longer concerned with squishing humans Growlmon was free to rush into the frey. "Try out an energy boost big guy." The dress adorned boy announced as he slashed a card though his D-Ark.

Growlmon roared with delight at the boost in energy. "Exhaust Flame," He shouted as he loosed a stream of flames from his open maw. More Argomon disintegrating into data particles in the wake of the attack.

Something wasn't adding up in Jianliang's head. He watched a Growlmon and the other's, sans Kyubimon, mowed down the mounting force with ease. It was almost like the Argomon didn't have any sort of plan going into the fight. Sure Digimon that lacked higher intelligence did emerge from time to time, but these Argomon didn't fit with how they tended to act. Normally, those Digimon would just senselessly rampage when they emerged, not hideout for who knows how long. No something was wrong with the picture before him. That's when he saw it, a mass of Argomon, all untouched and absorbing the data of their fallen. They were trying to digivolve, "Shit. We have a problem!"

"What's up?" The three other Tamers currently focused on their partners asked. They hadn't seen the mounting problem. The Argomon were just using the children to further their evolution. As was proven when the untouched mass erupted with light.

"Argomon digivolve to," the mass announced as a cacophony of monotone voiced. The large mass contorting into one, larger still, existence. "Argomon (Ultimate)." A humanoid form, similar in color scheme brushed the light away from itself. A large grin on it's face as the remaining champions of the same name froze up, as if awaiting orders. "Thank you children, for your assistance." It curtly spoke, tone clearly meant to mock. "Now, die. Elimination Line!" Several beams of crimson light suddenly erupted from it's body.

Thankfully the Tamers had someone who could match the power of an ultimate. Turuiemon and Shaochung were up to bat. And with the slash of a blue card, all bets were off. A pale pink light enveloped the champion level Digimon, but that light quickly morphed into the shape of a upside-down triangle. "Turuiemon! Matrix Digivolve to..." The triangle was quickly expanding in size until it was equal to Growlmon. "Antylamon!" A mature female voice proclaimed as a seven foot tall harlequin esque rabbit emerged from the shattering triangle.

Swiftly, she set to work. Blocking the beams of light with her own hardened body, courtesy of her 'Mantra Chant'. This didn't save the ultimate Argomon's kin. A large number of their forms vaporizing in the crimson glow. "It attacked It's own friends." Shaochung gasped in horror as the attack petered out. "ANTYLAMON! Make it pay!"

Run Around, Jasan Radford

"Right!" The large, normally gentle giant respond, lunging at her callus foe. The two's fists connecting in a show of raw power held by the ultimates. Argomon wincing as it struck Antylamon's still hardened fist, her gangly limbs possessing a strength it wasn't expecting. The lagomorph gracefully jumped out of range of a punch launched in her direction, touching the ground for a scant second, before rushing into Argomon with her full weight. Forcing Argomon into, and though, a thankfully empty building, out into a more populated street.

Tentacles revealed themselves from the gaudy mass of green fluff that adorned Argomon's body as it shouted, "Hypnos Claw!" A almost intoxicated grin adorning it's face as accursed tentacles struck into it's target. Not letting the momentary opening provided by the pained rabbit got to waste, it set his next attack into action. "Imprisonment," it announced with glee as it bound it's foe before throwing her at a nearby building, caring not for those inside.

"Bunny Blades!" The tentacles binding Antylamon were swiftly slashed to pieces by her hands turned to axes. Rabbit Deava doing as one might expect such a beast to do, jumped into the night sky and began to spin. "Asiptravana!" She screamed falling into her target, ripping into digital flesh with each rotation. Almost seeming to revel in her foe's agonized screams, more out of base instinct an actual malice. And if not for those same instincts telling her to jump back just in time, she would have been met with the full force of a blonde man's fist. "That wasn't a smart move human," Antylamon chastised as she gracefully returned to the ground.

"FEAR NOT! FOR I, ALL MIGHT, AM HERE!" A boisterous voice announced, ignorant of the danger he had just put himself into. Stopping Antylamon's attack before the kill was assured, was a bad move. Argomon was already drawing in the data from surrounding devices to heal itself. "NOW YOU FOUL VILLAINS WILL FACE JUSTICE!" A crowd of the once fleeing civilians was quickly gathering, hooked on the icon's words.

Antylamon softly growled at the interloper, Argomon was internally singing the human's praises. The large gash in his chest was but a flesh wound now, meaning he could go on the attack, "Thank you, you stupid human." It's voice as deceptively posh as before it announced, "Elmitantion Line." It released a manic laugh as crimson light built up on it's body.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Antylamon shouted as she instinctively hardened her body, "MANTRA CHANT!" But even that proved ineffective against a point blank blast from Argomon. The ultimate screamed in pain as she was sent flying by the ensuing blast and fell into a building.

"Antylamon!" a small group of children shouted at the massive woman with rabbit features. All Might was quick to action, rushing to the girl who had broken off from the group, only for the massive woman to block his approach with her hand. She was slowly climbing out of the hole made from her impact, strangely parts of her body seemed to be glitching. Argomon was already gearing up for a second assault. "Oh no, Antylamon you have to move!" Just the girl shouted with worry.

"Pyro Blaster!" Several balls of crimson and green energy struck into Argomon. "Growlmon (and Gargomon) to the rescue!" The large reptilian Digimon announced, voice booming in comparison to the smaller lagomorph Digimon, as a second volley was fired off. But this time the attack was deftly evaded.

The enemy ultimate's smile was quickly straining, as it's foes grew in number. The confidence it once held in it's strength was quickly waning. It's only option left was to flee. But Antylamon wasn't going to make that easy, "No you don't," she hissed out, "M-Meditation Cure." As she spoke those words her body began to heal rapidly, much to Argomon's ever growing horror. "Round two, right Shaochung?" Her Tamer nodded in admiration of Antylamon's tenacity.

"Take him down!" That was all Shaochung's partner needed to hear. Jumping into the night, a movement even All Might found hard to track. The little Tamer girl slashed a card through her D-Ark, wire frames forming on the rabbit's back in response.

"Double Impact!" She grabbed the now formed imitation Berenjena, Beelzemon's signature shotguns. Losing a hail of bullets into Argomon from above, striking dead with a skill that would almost put the Demon Lord of Gluttony to shame. But Argomon wasn't out of the game just yet, as he lashed out with another 'Hypnos Claw'. But it was swiftly evaded by Antylamon who leveled another shot at the flailing virus. "Heartbreak Shot," she calmly announced as Berenjena fired once again, piercing Argomon's core, "Bang." The ultimate Digimon falling slack as his life expired and it's body vaporized into data particles.

All Might was almost horrified with how easily the massive rabbit woman killed her foe. It was no different from an execution, but neither her, nor the children who were currently applauding her actions seemed to care. These were likely young villains, perhaps wrapped up in a bloody dispute over territory. He was about to apprehend the children to be tried for their crimes, when who should appear, but the R-rated heroine, Midnight with her beloved wife in tow. But she didn't seem intent on a fight, rather she was more concerned than anything. It was a behavior the symbol hadn't come to expect from the normally perverse woman. What she said in place of a reprimand gave the top hero pause.

"Let's get you kids somewhere warm, before we get into the info dump."

Chapter Text

Looking back on things, getting into a car with a strange older woman wasn't the best decision to make. Thankfully, Rika was fairly confident that she wasn't going skin them alive, or worse turn the group over to the cops. Viximon, Renamon's in-training from was quietly curled up on her lap, sleeping off the price of Rika's choice of modify card, in a few hours she would likely be back to fighting strength. As the passing scenery blurred into a display of passing lights, Rika couldn't help her mind's wandering. Listlessly working through the events of the day as the sound of the tires fell into white noise. How it all seemed to go down hill when Nemuri had revealed herself to be a hero before they got into the car that somehow managed to fit the five Tamers. Money well spent if you asked her, it was nice not being cramped into the back like sardines. But she could do without the unsubtle threat the reveal of Nemuri's identity posed to the Tamers as a whole.

Nemuri's hands looked tense from Rika's angle, not like she was expecting a fight. If she was Rika wouldn't be awake right now. It was more like she was taking out her pent up emotion on whatever was closest. Apparently they weren't doing nearly as good of a job of keeping Digimon a secret, as ladies Ceresmon and Venusmon would prefer, especially given how much Venusmon willingly interacted with humans. It's no small blessing that the black knight wasn't in Japan at the moment, apparently keeping an eye on some Digimon that emerged in Britain. With Ryugumon busy assisting Amphimon with keeping watch over the oceans. One of them would likely have to check on those two on the first of next month. It was kinda funny to think of how bad things looked a few months after their arrival, when it was mostly feral Digimon that had begun to migrate into this weird hero world. If not for those three's arrival the the situation would have been much worse, like end of the world worse.

"Okay, full warning," Nemuri spoke after was was a good hour of silence. "My boss is kinda ...Eccentric." Rika snorted, but made no further effort to comment. 'That's a very polite way to say bat shit insane', she joked in her head. But Nemuri seemed to read her mind, using the mirror above the windshield to give the teen a judgmental look. She clicked her tongue before continuing, "But if you're honest with him, he'll do what he can to get you kids out of whatever you've gotten into."

Takato spoke up from beside Jianliang, "Like I told you before Miss. Kayama, there are just somethings we can't tell anyone." Somehow saying that the second time this evening failed to convince the hero of anything. "Putting us in front of a different person isn't gonna change that fact," Takato was already exhausted from the usual lack of sleep and trying to convince the woman to just take them home wasn't helping. Sometimes you could tell just how much he resented the fact that people wouldn't listen to him. Rika could empathize with that. Normally everyone just prefered to see them as stupid kids that were in way over their heads until proven otherwise.

"Give it up Goggle-head, she's just gonna keep ignoring you." At this point, Rika was seriously thinking that they'd have an easier time convincing the D-reaper to not be a genocidal murder program. "You know how it is, she's already convinced that she knows what's right, because she's the adult."

"No, but if I were just a little bit less of a decent person I'd be convinced to throw the book at you. I'd just say 'fuck it' and assume that you kids are dangerous vigilantes who just commited murder." The heroine almost shouted out, clearly less than amused by the girl's assumption. "Several counts of murder actually, not to mention severe property damage. But I think there's more to it than that. Whatever it is, I've got no clue." She sighed clearly just as exhausted as the Tamers, "...I want to believe that you kids have a good reason for doing what you did."

Rika was tempted to roll her eyes, but just barely managed to restrain the urge. "And yet you won't just accept our answer and leave it at that." Ryo supplied, not so much questioning the decision, but more so to poke the bear. "Your actions aren't exactly matching up with your words." Nemuri waved her had in a motion to signal her wife's turn to tag in as the car turned.

"Nem, just wants to make sure that you kids aren't in over you heads." Lily supplied from the front passenger seat, partially turned to face them. "At least talk to Nem's boss. He's smart enough to be able to help. And you kids could try to go easier on my darling wife, she hasn't had a break from work in months." The kid named Takato was texting someone on his phone, who ever it was, they were clearly annoying the young man. His little loaf shaped creature was nuzzling closer to him.

"Fine, but we reserve the right to leave whenever we want." Jianliang spoke up, finally entering into his role as the voice of reason. Takato gave the taller teen a questioning glance. "It's the best way to get them it back off. "We should at least meet them halfway, besides we don't need to tell them everything." He whispered, Rika just hummed thoughtlessly, clearly more interested in Takato's furious texting. But his forming scowl seemed to have lessened slightly. But even she couldn't deny just how thin they were starting to wear. "Maybe you give me the phone for a bit?"

"Sure, not like Miss Kuremi was being very helpful anyways." Takato almost tossed the phone into Jian's lap, clearly more annoyed than he was letting on. "I'm just gonna close my eyes till we get there." He said, resting his head on Jianliang's shoulder, "Wake me when we get there?"

"Of course."

>i<--------------------->i<

Okay, the last thing that Takato was expecting to do today was talk with a mouse dressed in a suit. A mouse that seemed oddly disappointed at the lack of reaction from him and his friends. Sure the inhuman principal was ...different from what he was expecting, but his bar for weird was firmly somewhere around a massive, multi-headed snake monster addicted to 'milk shakes' and a giant fuck off fire chicken with anger issues. So everything else wasn't too impressive by comparison. "I'm sorry Mr. Principal, our bar for weird is just a bit higher than a talking mouse running a school." He still felt the need to at least attempt to lift his spirits.

"Oh, it's no matter." The mouse, Nezu, hand waved. Clearly mulling over some new found curiosity that was slightly alarming to the young Tamer. "Midnight has informed me of the incident that brought you to my office." The toddler sized animal took a sip of some tea, lukewarm going by the lack of steam. "I would very much so like to offer my assistance... Pending that you sate my curiosity about your, intruding situation." It was almost intimidating, the hungry gleam in his eyes.

"What do you have to offer?" Ryo spoke up also partaking of some tea. His, fresher than the contents of the predatory rodent's cup. Perhaps given his extended stay in the digital world, Ryo found himself almost insulted by the attempt at intimidation. "Because we won't be telling you anything otherwise."

"And only you." Renamon walked over to the mouse's desk and dropped a small camera on to it. Renamon glared at Nezu who seemed almost amused at the sight of his destroyed property.

"As you wish," One of his paws dipped under his desk, "You children will make fine additions to this year's class roster." Jian raised a brow at that, the smallest reaction of the group. "Given the rather public display from earlier this evening, the HPSC is no doubt doing everything in their power to track you five down." Takato visibly paled, the notion of that possibility hadn't even registered to him. Nor the others, whose faces had hardened.

Jianliang, just a few steps behind the rodent spoke up, "You want to keep them from getting us." It wasn't a question, it was a fact. "And if we became students of your school, the HPSC would be unable to get us without incident." Nezu smiled, a dark and manic grin. "Fine, we'll answer some of your questions to the best of our abilities. You understand just how little trust we can afford to give out at the moment."

"But of course, with villains and the HPSC on your tails, I couldn't expect any more." That jovial veneer of his was back in full force. So the mouse wasn't very high on the weird meter, but he was certainly on the up there on the creep rating. "Now, I do believe it is time for you to uphold your end. Share whatever you think I should be made aware of."

Jian thought for a moment, the sheer amount of things that someone should now before getting involved with Digimon was massive in scope. The Digital Hazard was immediately off the table, for Takato and Guilmon's protection. Ceresmon wouldn't take kindly to any discussion of her Karpos Hulē without permission, so that wasn't an option. The rat had managed to limit what information could be safely shared with him without even knowing it. And he had the gall to just sit there, with a smile on his face. "Could you be more specific, maybe in a direction that doesn't get a forest dropped on your head?" He sounded a bit more flippant than he would have liked, but he really needed a direction for this to take.

A few of the teens and their Digimon had barely suppressed their laughter. They knew Ceresmon was fully capable and entirely willing to do that. After Nezu's momentary reboot, the suited rodent decided to file that information away for later and ignore the implicit threat. "Well, I certainly wouldn't want that. So, perhaps for now you could tell me more about your little group. Afterall, I can't very well enroll you without knowing such important details." It was clear that he didn't actually need to know, it was more so for the sake of seeming less like a threat. Or, more likely, a morbid curiosity in regards to the sheer lack of personal information about them individually.

Jian would not put it past the little rodent to hack the government out of sheer boredom and a desire for chaos. "We can't really tell you anything out right at the moment, but we can at least point you in a general direction." Nezu nodded to confirm that he was content with that agreement for the moment. Really Jianliang was probably giving him the keys to unraveling more than just their origins if he just outright mentioned multiverse theory. "Well for starters, we and our partners don't have quirks." Nezu nodded ushering the tall boy to continue talking. "Ryo and Rika are the oldest, with me and Takato being a bit younger than those two," He gestured to his sister who was doing her best to stay awake, "and Shaochung's my little sister."

That wasn't quite the direction Nezu was hoping the discussion would go. It was nothing more than basic information that he would have figured out on his own or already knew from looking at their practically nonexistent personal information. It was nothing short of disappointing. Both the lack of information and trust, but it was also very telling. His mind was already considering possible origins for the children and their more beastly companions. But he couldn't help but think that he was missing something, a few pivotal threads of information that would weave the tapestry of truth. While he didn't want to push his luck too far at the moment he did have one question he wanted answered. 'What are you so afraid of me finding out,' is what Nezu wanted to ask. But instead he settled for was, "If your companions aren't quirks, then what are they?"

Rika chuckled lightly, as the group met each other's eyes with a mischievous glint. Shaochung's glint was particularly joy filled. "They're Digimon, digital monsters!" The group announced in an almost practiced chorus that proved quite entertaining to the rodent. The Tamers had swiftly devolved into a giggling mess, the past moment of stress lost from one moment into the next. It was pleasure from the simplest of things. That much was clear, these children had fought against the world and learned a lesson most never did. To live in the moment, lest the past drown you in a silent abyss. Nezu had to retract a previous thought, he had learned quite a bit more than he thought about his newest students.

"I believe, it's about time I let your young minds go get some rest. Miss Midnight and her wife have offered to act as your guardians in place of directly becoming wards of U.A itself, so you'll be staying with them for a few days while I get U.A's dorms set up for the coming year."

>i<--------------------->i<

Mrs. Kayama's apartment was too small for the group to stay at long term, it was clearly only meant to fit the wives. Takato couldn't help but think this was a bit of an oversight on Nezu's part. It was probably for the best that the Kayamas would be moving into what was once Takato's room, due to it being the largest bedroom in the house and most of his possessions being kept in the basement. Takato would be moving into Jian's room, something that both boys didn't really mind. Honestly the biggest issue was only having two bathrooms, one on the second floor and the other on ground level. But that wouldn't be an issue when the Tamers moved into the dorms.

But that had also led to Takato's current conundrum, he needed some time to himself. The house was big, but not big enough to grant the boy the level of privacy he had become accustomed too. Especially with their new housemates, who seemed sent by the Seven Demon Lords themselves to torment him. Not intentionally mind you, Takato had yet to feel like the invasion of privacy was intentional. It was just bothering him and led to him leaving the house more often. A bit of a positive, given his less than active nature. Today he was out with Ryo, who had accompanied him to the park on a mon hunt.

Apparently one of the younger Digimon that normally lived in Ceresmon's forest had gone and wandered off, an Elecmon to be precise. That was a bit of an issue, the Elecmon in question was almost fresh out of his Digi-egg. So Ryo was borrowing Guilmon's nose to help him track down the little guy, not that Monodramon's nose wasn't just as good. It was more of a outing of convenience, Ryo got an extra snout and Takato got to sketch out some of fall's beauty to later use as inspiration. It was a comfortable opportunity to enjoy a moment of solitude.

Today he had chosen to sketch a path that was shaded by trees. Or at least that was the plan, the walking corpse and green haired boy seemed to have other plans. Apparently the boy had done something to warrant being chewed out by the blond man. Takato figured it would be rude to continue 'spying' on whatever their situation was. But if he moved they would likely notice, so he was stuck watching this clearly private discussion. After a while the man seemed to leave, abandoning the boy, who looked to be about Takato's age, to his own devices. Maybe it was because he could see a bit of the person he once was in the boy, or perhaps it was just to absolve himself of any potential guilt. But he chose to make his presence know to the boy once he was sure that the skeletal man was out of sight. "Hey... Are you doing okay?"

Midoriya Izuku startled at the presence of another person, it was slightly muted due to exhaustion but still managed to announce itself. They were dressed sort of femininely so his mind defaulted to girl and blue screened for a few seconds. "I. Um, I'm good. Apparently I've just been working myself too hard." And now he was venting to a stranger, a girl stranger at that. A girl stranger his age! But she was being so nice to him, something that quickly stifled the more intelligent part of his brain.

"That's good, I'm glad you aren't letting getting chewed out by your dad get to you."

"That wasn't my dad!" Midoriya quickly covered his mouth, he didn't mean to shout. The idea of someone as great as All Might being his dad was too much for his brain to handle. "Sorry, that man was just helping me get ready for the U.A entrance exam in a few months." It wasn't the first time he had vocalized this wish, but it was one of the few that was met with joy.

The girl was smiling, sort of in the same way his mother did. But it lacked the assumption of failure that always found it's way into her eyes. The girl's ruby eyes held only hopeful wonder. "That's great! If you get in I'll already know someone at U.A and I'll be able to introduce you to my friends!" Something about they way the girl said that made him smile, albeit nervously. "Oh, I haven't told you my name yet. I'm Matsuki Takato," Mastuki said, extending a hand. "But most just call me Takato."

"Oh, right! My name's Midoriya Izuku." He would have said that his friend called him 'Deku', but something told him that wasn't a good idea. "Are you also going to try out for U.A?" Matsuki just moved their hand in a so-so motion with the hand he realized he should have shook. Well that was odd, but he wasn't going to question it and risk loosing a new friend. Perhaps that was also the reason he didn't question the strangely masculine name.

"It's a bit complicated, so I don't want to bore you with the details. But me and my friends will be going to U.A." Midoriya's mind was swiftly switching into quirk nerd mode. If someone like Matsuki had some kind of special exception to attend U.A, her quirk must be really strong. Or dangerous, he was reminded of an apparent villain turf war that was on the news a few days ago, sure he had only managed to catch the tail end of the broadcast. But apparently a rabbit heteromorph with some kind of giganification quirk was fought and killed another villain with an undisclosed quirk. Apparently All Might had made an appearance, towards the end of the fight, but for some reason was unable to stop the situation from escalating or capturing the surviving party. Midoriya knew it was because of his time limit. "So what class are you trying for?"

"Um, I want to become a hero. No better place for that than U.A's hero course." Talking to Matsuki had gotten easier as things went on. "What about you? Any hopes for the classes you end up with?"

She seemed to think for a moment, "I'll probably end up in the hero course, so we may end up being classmates." She smiled and his heart squeezed a bit. "But if you ask me, heroes are a bit overrated." She waved her hand as if to put emphasis on her point.

Oh, that just would not stand. "No they aren't. Heroes protect people, fight villains, and save people from disasters." She nodded, agreeing with the points he was making.

"Sure, but knights are way cooler, protecting entire kingdoms and fighting monsters to save damsels. What's not to love?" She seemed to mime out the motion of drawing a sword. "Honestly it's stupid to compare the two. Knights will always win, hands down." But just before Midoriya could retort something the size of a small dog rammed into his back. knocking him over. "Now what are you doing here little Elecmon?" Matsuki asked what ever was on his back, with a soft chuckle.

Whatever it was it looked to be some kind of red porcupine, at least that's what it seemed to resemble from Midoriya's angle. Being on the ground and only seeing it from the corner of his eye. Matsuki crouched down and carefully picked the porcupine up off his back. Giving it soft reasurenaces all the while. "Are you hurt?" She asked him softly.

"Just my nonexistent pride." He chuckled, getting back on his feet. And yep, his new friend was holding a dog sized and vaguely porcupine esque creature. And just a few feet behind the girl was could only be described as a small, red velociraptor. "Matsuki get behind me!"

"Why would I do that Midoriya," she asked with slightly amused smile. "Guilmon's my partner." She grabbed his hand so suddenly that he instinctively gripped back. "Here," she had brought him closer to Guilmon, "just let him get a feel for you." Maybe it was the fact that a pretty girl was holding his hand, or it was just that curiosity had gotten the best of him but he did was told of him.

Guilmon sniffed his hand, sort of like a dog would. "Takatomon, he smells like bread." Guilmon spoke, like actual words! "And he's sweaty." Quickly he reclaimed his hand out of embarrassment. He didn't want Matsuki to know he had been so nervous that he started to sweat. Guilmon laughed.

"Is he a part of your quirk?"

Matsuki hummed in thought for a moment. "Something like that, Guilmon's a really good friend of mine." It was in that moment that Midoriya decided, Matsuki Takato was amazing. Despite her opinions about heroes. "You're thinking something weird, aren't you?"

"No!" He quickly denied. And it was true, Matsuki was someone amazing. Just like Kacchan but without the anger issues. "I just think your really incredible."

She laughed at that, "I'm really nothing special, I'm just someone who happens to be a bit greedy." There was sort of a bitter smile on her face, it made Midoriya think he wasn't seeing the whole picture. But even that bitter look quickly faded into something tense. Now that he thought about it, where did all this fog come from? All of the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. Something was in the fog, something dangerous. Slithering, just out of sight. "Midoriya, take Elecmon and run. Don't look back and don't turn around."

"What's going on?" He asked as the creature was shoved into his arms. It was trying to get away from him, squirming against his arms. Guilmon had become almost terrifyingly alert. The small dinosaur seemed to lock on to whatever was hidden in the fog.

"Ame No Murakumo!"

"GET DOWN!" That was the only warning that he got before being dragged to the ground. A massive blade cut through the fog moments later, right were they had been a moment before. Matsuki was already standing back up, now with the addition of goggles. That's when he saw it. A massive eight headed snake, scales black as night. And it had them all to itself, like rabbits prime for hunting. "Looks like we're fighting," Matsuki announced as she took out a card and strange toy-like object. And quickly slashed the card through it.

"Guilmon, Digivolve to... Growlmon!" Midoriya's jaw was firmly on the floor. Where once the dopey, but still slightly intimidating Guilmon one stood was now the much larger Growlmon. Then another thought struck the young man, 'was this even legal?' Sure it could be considered self-defence, but Growlmon looked down right murderous. Or maybe that was just his face. He hoped that it was just his face. "Exhaust Flame!"

Flames shot from Growlmon's mouth, clashing for the briefest of moments one of the snake's heads. Midoriya didn't notice that it had more than one head, with most of them being made of some sort of metal. Elecmon was still fighting against his hold, and if it weren't for All Might's training, the little creature would have escaped his grip long ago. "AH!" It bit him, hard enough to loosen his grip. And the little creature managed to wiggle away from him.

Even with Elecmon now free from his grip, he still couldn't bring himself to run. Faced with the massive serpent, now locked in brutal combat with Growlmon, his mind was telling him to become as small as possible. Heroes didn't fight like this, this fight was purely blood sport, flames burning away at intoxicating fumes. It was terrifying. Was this what it felt like to be a hero? No, this was just him being that same old weak and quirkless Deku.

But Matsuki also looked afraid. But she was at least fighting through that fear, to protect them. And Elecmon was also trying to help, striking at the serpent with bolts of electricity. He hated this, this uselessness that had always, ALWAYS, been his definition. And just when he thought he, Midoriya 'Deku' Izuku thought that maybe just maybe, he was worth something. Someone as incredible as Matsuki showed him just how unworthy he really was. It made him feel sick.

And he hated it.