Episode 1: Pilot 1/2

I had had the same weird nightmare on and off for years; about as long as I can remember, really. Some of the specific details of the characters in it have changed as my own imagination has aged, but it was always recognizable for what it was. I'm four again, my parents hugging me tight. I can't see their faces – those had vanished maybe nine years ago – but I know it's them. I can just tell because, well, because this hug is my entire world. I could almost smell the bread and pencil lead coming off of my father's shoulders, or the spice of my mother's perfume.

Then the more... absurd parts of the dream start to invade. At first it's almost funny. There's a red velociraptor just eating bread and rolling around like a doofus, a yellow kitsune slipping in and out of the shadows, some weird bunny dog sitting on my head. Those are the ones that are always there. The others are on a cycle. This time there's a rusty robot standing guard, and an angry robot t-rex. Hey, I said my imagination had aged, not vanished.

Anyways, for a little while, that's about all the dream was. These made up creatures playing around on the empty white expanse past our patio, making four year old me laugh excitedly. It was a dream that I never wanted to end because, after 12 years of this, I always knew it would. Around the time that the velociraptor ran out of bread, the air would begin to crackle with electrically charged mist. My father and mother, at that point, would end the hug. My tiny arms always reach out for them, begging to be held as they ruffle my hair and walk away into the mist without a word. The animals plod along close behind until, eventually, they all vanish and I'm left alone. A four year old, crying for his mommy and daddy on a patio.

It's around that time that I usually wake up with those tears on my face.

I growled and pushed myself up, wiping the water streaming from my crimson eyes. Another stupid thing that happened every time I had that dream. I pulled one knee up and rested my elbow on it before turning to check my phone on the table. My fingers brushed it just as the alarm went crazy. I slammed the screen to dismiss the annoying ring. Of course I would wake up with seconds of sleep to spare. I fell back down onto my bed and covered my eyes, hoping I could go back to sleep instead of going to school. But, unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen. I groaned and threw the sheets off so I could go take a shower.

I tried to shake off the dream the entire time, forcing myself to think about anything else. Music, tv, video games, engineering. Anything that wouldn't remind me of parents. So no art, no bread.

And absolutely none of that stupid card game my parents liked to play with me.

I walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later, and was nearly tackled by a tiny furball slamming into my chest. I stumbled and grabbed the tiny dog. "Momentai, do I need that greeting every morning?" I asked the tiny white terrier. It just yipped and licked my face in reply, ruining my attempt to remain sour. I chuckled and wrapped the dog up in my arms before scratching him behind the ears. "Ah, I guess it's okay." Momentai barked again and leaned into my hand.

"Tasuke!"

"I'm coming!" I shouted back before I started to plop down the stairs. I stopped outside the kitchen and put Momentai on the floor. "Hey, Henry."

The older man, who I called my Uncle, even if he was really just a family friend, was in the kitchen. He turned towards me, lifting the pan from the stove. His serious face, made all the more serious by his steel colored eyes, tanned skin, professional haircut, black-blue hair, and rectangular glasses, softened slightly as a tiny smile appeared. He put the pan down and shut off the stove before grabbing a couple plates. "Scrambled today!"

Uncle Henry was a good guy. A great one. He'd taken me in after my parents... left me. Been more family than they had, that's for damn sure. He taught me, helped me, raised me. Then when I was six he brought me to America with him, and he somehow managed to get us both citizenship. It was a comfortable life. A nice one. It was just us, Momentai, and the occasional visits to or from Henry's family from around the country. A lot from those that lived nearby.

"Scrambled? Again?" I grumbled, plopping down at the bar. "Is it a day that ends in 'Y?'"

He shrugged and walked over to sit beside me, placing a plate in front of both of us. His black suit with the same mint green tie he always wore was comforting every time I saw it. "No changes in the outfit today?" I asked with a smirk. "First the eggs, then the suit? What's next?"

He poked my shoulder. "You're calling me predictable? When was the last time you wore anything that wasn't a jacket," he joked before taking a bite of his eggs. "It's not cold yet, you know."

"Maybe not now, but this afternoon? September in Colorado can be pretty cold, Henry," I retorted as I brushed off the shoulder of my black jacket with its red sleeves. I zipped it mostly shut over my blue shirt. "Or did you forget the time you came home more blue than your hair?"

"Could you at least let me buy you some jeans that aren't black?" he requested, motioning at me with his fork. "September can get pretty hot, too."

"... I have gray, too," I muttered defensively, staring down at my red slip ons.

"Fair, I suppose," he said before ruffling my hair and frowning. "We need to schedule another, don't we?"

I shoved his hand away. Ever since I had come to live with Henry, I'd hated my hair. He'd always been supportive, letting me dye it black-blue and grow it out so it dangled past my ears on the side. He'd raised me, after all, so I wanted some kind of connection to him. He was supportive to the point where he'd even keep me on track sometimes."Momentai. It hasn't even been a month," I replied dismissively.

He grumbled at me under his breath. Something about... 'just like him.' "You know," he said after a couple minutes, "you're going to be late if you don't get going."

I stuffed the last bite of egg into my mouth then glanced at my annoyingly large phone, a holdover from when everyone thought phablets would be a thing. "Gradp!" I swallowed and hugged Henry before sprinting out the door and jumping in my Bronco to drive away.

"Taj!" I parked beside the annoying voice, who was sitting in the passenger seat of her own bright purple jeep. She leaned out of the window and shook her head. "Are you trying to be late?"

"Momentai, May. You're out here, which means you've already got everything at your desk. I have to have at least five minutes," I said as I jumped out of my truck and shouldered my backpack. She hopped out and the horn of her truck echoed among the other students driving up. "Plenty of time."

Mayumi Anderson, my best friend. What to say about May? May's mom Jaarin was Henry's older sister by a couple years. May herself was... smart and upbeat, taking after most of her family. And, like most of her family, an over achiever to an insane level when it came to computers. She wore purple, all the time. In the colder months it was the puffy jacket she had on now, where the torso was white and the sleeves were purple. It had a small, purple, chibi dog pin on the left chest sticking its tongue out, the same one on the back of her white phone, a cool in development thing she got because her dad works for one of those companies. The buns she had done her dark hair in were even held up by purple hairbands. "I'm out here because I've already put all my crap in class," she pointed out. "Mr. Keane is going to kill you if you're late again."

"But you can play on your phone in class? Where's the justice?" I asked as we entered the building and made our way to my locker. I held the handle and kicked the bottom of the locker, causing it to fly open. I began to shove books and my computer into my class bag.

"Please, I'm only taking that course because they don't offer anything harder in the Comp Sci department," she said, waving her hand at me dismissively. "I could probably teach it better than him."

"Then why don't you?" I asked. I shoved my locker shut and began to sprint for class. I was going to be late.

"Teach? Ugh, it's bad enough trying to help you out and you're my friend," she said, sliding ahead and shoving the door open. She pushed in and I dove after her, making it to my seat just as the bell rang.

Mr. Keane glared at us, giving a warning call of "Mr. Joryawa, Ms. Anderson. On time, it appears." His eyes locked on me. "For once."

May ignored him completely and just continued what she'd been saying before. "Besides, I like my phone time." She pulled out her phone and began to play a game while the rest of us were forced to listen to the announcements.

She didn't stop playing it all through first period, even devoting most of her attention to it when we had an in class assignment. She still finished first, way before me. Computer programming was not my forte. "You finally done?" She whispered when I leaned back in my seat fifteen minutes before the end of class. "Took you long enough."

I glared at her. "Sorry I don't instinctively know it, May," I said. I rolled my eyes and gestured up and down at her. "Most people just have to figure it out instead of being programmed with the knowledge."

"At least you've got my Uncle to help you out," she pointed out.

My chin fell as my dream ran through my head again. "Yeah. At least I've got him."

She frowned and put a hand on my shoulder. "You okay?" she asked. When I didn't reply, she sighed. "You had the dream again."

"I'm fine," I hissed. I glanced up at the clock. "Class is almost over. We can talk more later."

"KayKay," May replied, her face still far more somber than it seemed used to. The bell ran and the room became a mess of loud talking and books being shoved into bags. "We can meet up at my house today."

I nodded and gave her a high five. "Sounds great. Catch you then."

X X X

Where Henry and I live has always felt a little too big. There's just the two of us and the dog, so there's just a lot of empty space that never gets filled. It's nice, but it's always felt like there were entire rooms being saved for someone that was never going to show up. Everything outside of my room, Henry's room, and the kitchen just felt like a house. May's house, on the other hand, was cramped, full, and a home. She had three younger siblings running around all the time, playing with toys and tackling each other despite their parents ordering them to play nice. Most of them definitely took after May's dad with his lighter skin and blonde hair, though they had their mom's brown eyes. It seemed the only thing May got from her dad was his purple eyes, probably the source of her 'purple mania.' Best of all about this family, they treated me as much like family as Henry did. I could basically walk in unannounced and they'd have a spot for me at dinner ready in a couple seconds.

"TASUKE!" May's youngest brother, the destructive Dan, shouted as I shut the door behind me. He took off from the pile of boys that were wrestling in one of the larger rooms and left a trail of chairs and tables falling or balancing precariously in his wake. Dan slammed into my legs, almost tackling me into the door. He looked up at me and smiled wide. "Are you gonna play with us today?"

"I'm here too, Twerp. No love for your sister?" May growled from beside me, grabbing his head and lightly shoving him off of my legs. "And we're going to hang out. You can get him when you invite him over."

The kid's face fell. "Meanie." He slammed his heel on his sister's foot and stuck his tongue out as she bounced on her other and cursed at him. "See ya, Tasuke!"

"You got taken down by a five year old," I muttered mockingly. I glanced over at May. "All brains, no brawn."

"At least I have brains, Taj," she retorted. She grabbed my wrist and yanked me up the stairs. "Mom, Dad, Taj and I are heading upstairs to hang out and do some homework."

"KayKay!" Her dad shouted. "Just be ready for dinner!"

"Dory!" May shouted, tossing her backpack up onto her bed before jumping into the chair at her desk. The ugliest dog I have ever seen in my life burst out from under May's bed, an empty four pound tub of Redvines on its head. It was a purple blob with ears, and a jagged white splotch on the front of its face. It leaped through the air and landed in May's lap, staring up at her with almost a human smile on its face. May grinned and pulled the tub off its head before she scratched at its ears. "Who's a good girl! You are! You are!"

"Tell me again where you got a dog that ugly?" I requested of May. The dog took offense at that and turned to me, the smile replaced by a scowl. "You're four legs, a mouth, and ears. You're ugly."

Its eyes narrowed. "Oh, he doesn't know what he's talking about. You're perfect!" May picked up the tiny beast and began to nuzzle its face with her own, and the grin reappeared.

"Okay, can we get started on homework before you get cuddly with your freaky deaky dog?" I asked, sitting down on the bed and starting to pull out my computer. May put the ugly dog down in her lap and glared at me. "We can do the Comp Sci first then math. I'll physics while you do-"

"Oh, no, we are not doing homework, Taj. We are doing this!" She pulled her phone out and displayed the screen. "We're playing phone games."

I looked at the screen and my blood ran cold. "I'm going home," I announced, drawing a flustered sound of surprise from May. The dog in her lap charged past me as I turned for the door, and she stood guard, growling at me. I shifted my backpack to my left shoulder. "Get your dumb dog out of my way."

It growled at me for that one. "May, you know I hate Digimon, so why are you trying to get me to play it?" I growled, turning back to her.

Her eyes flicked to the door, then back to me. "I... Uncle Henry and my mom talk, you know?" she began from her chair. "You don't talk about your parents at all. Ever. Used to be you'd have the dream and cry to me about it, but now I have to force it out of you that you even had it!"

I shrugged. "I don't want to bother you with it."

"No, you don't want to think about your parents, Taj. You used to play Digimon all the time, but once you stopped playing you stopped talking about them at all," May said, jumping up to her feet. She gestured with her phone at me. "Henry doesn't want that. Neither do I. They're your family, you shouldn't forget them."

"They left me!" I hissed, quietly so her parents wouldn't hear. "Why the hell should I remember them?!"

"Because you miss them. And because Henry says they're coming back," May explained. She gestured at me. "You don't think Henry would lie, right?"

I wanted to shout yes, he would lie about this. He wanted to make a kid believe in a miracle, and he'd kept wanting it even years after the kid stopped wanting to. But... no. Henry hated lying, especially to me. If he said something, it was something that he 100% believed in. "...No," I replied after a few moments. I sat down on the bed and her ugly dog stopped growling. I shrugged. "No, I believe he believes it. But I know he's wrong. They were bad people who abandoned their kid, and ever since then they've refused to come back."

"But they made you, so they can't be all bad," she explained quietly. I didn't respond, so she changed tactics. "And you loved Digimon. If they're that bad don't let them ruin it for you. Where's the guy that claimed until he was fourteen that the Shinjuku military weapons leak was real Digimon instead of something else? Or who bought those dopey ass goggles and wore them every day until they broke?"

I glanced over. "You broke them because you said they were dorky."

"They were. But I can miss them, anyways," she retorted. She walked over to the bed and sat beside me. "It doesn't have to be this phone game – but if you play it, use my friend code as the person who suggested you. I'll text it to you, it gets me a ton of in game items – but if not, whatever. Just pick up your cards and bring them over. It'll at least be fun to look at them all again."

"How do you know I didn't get rid of them?" I asked.

May scoffed. "You put almost two thousand bucks into that collection. You have limited edition cards that are illegal in the tournaments, now. You didn't get rid of a collection like that."

I rolled my eyes. "You know me too well."

She nodded. "Better than you know yourself, at least."

"True," I admitted with a laugh. I punched her shoulder lightly and decided to just appease her so we could start our homework. "Ah, okay. If I get bored – really bored -" I added when her face began to brighten. "- then maybe I'll download that stupid app. Or maybe I won't."

The girl furrowed her brow, annoyed with me. "That's better than a no, I guess," May said, a soft smile growing on her face. "But I'm warning you – I've got an almost perfect Alphamon deck. You'll have to be pretty damn good to win."

I shook my head. "Okay, can we work on our homework now, or do I need to go home?" I asked, gesturing at the door.

May scoffed. "All work, huh?" She sighed and shrugged. "Fine, let's get started, you bore."

X X X

A little while after Tasuke left, May was sitting in her purple striped pajamas with her feet on her desk, waiting for the computer nearby to finish downloading the data from her 3D. When a tiny growl sounded out from beside the chair, she glanced over at the tiny purple ball glaring up at her from the foot of the chair. "What? You got something to say?" May asked the fuzzball.

The creature sighed and then, in her squeaky voice, said, "May, why do you hang out with him? He called me an ugly dog!" She bounced up to the human girl's lap. "He's a big jerk!"

"He's just... going through some stuff," May responded sadly, scratching the purple creature behind the ears. "In a couple weeks, he won't have seen his parents in twelve years. That's almost his entire life."

The creature's mouth screwed up into an empathetic pout. "Yeah, well... he still doesn't have to call me ugly! He wouldn't say that if he saw me when I'm big!"

"No! You know you can't Digivolve! Those people that were chasing you would definitely find you if you did!" May snapped, voice desperate, picking her up and staring directly into her orange eyes. She huffed and rolled those eyes. "Dorimon..."

"Ugh, sorry, May. I was just joking," she said with an obvious lack of penitence. She glanced around the room and began to drool like a maniac. "Is there more licorice for me?"

"No! That tub was supposed to last you the week, Dorimon," the girl explained, putting her friend down in her lap again and petting her. "I can't keep blowing all this money on candy, okay? I don't have a part time job to pay for all this, and mom's going to start wondering where it's going!"

"To feed me, of course," the tiny Digimon said. She winked at her human partner. "The most important thing you can do!"

May glared down at her. "Dorimon..."

Dorimon groaned in May's lap again. "Fine. But can we at least go for a run tomorrow? I'm getting stir crazy in here!"

"Yeah, don't want you to chew through the wall again," May mumbled, pushing her foot through the hole underneath her desk.

The Digimon grinned nervously, if not apologetically. "Uh, sorry," she muttered. She turned away from the hole and looked up at her human partner. "But... will you please look for some? I won't eat it in one day again!" Then she started giving puppy dog eyes. May thought she was pretty good at that despite not even remotely being a dog.

So May caved. "KayKay," the girl sighed, even though she knew that her Digimon was giving her a bald faced lie. The girl patted her head. "But it won't be the tub this time."

"W-wha? But May!" she whined, pawing at May's leg to try and reverse the unjust decision.

May turned from her and towards her computer as it began beeping. "Finally, the 3D's data's been downloaded." May picked up the phone and shut her computer. "I'll check this tomorrow. Right now, I'd better make sure Taj actually downloaded it. If I keep bothering him, he might actually do it!" May typed in her friend code and sent the message with the words, Come on, Taj! Show me your Mon tomorrow!

May picked up Dorimon and stood up, placing her on the bed, then jumping back in to snuggle the creature tight to her chest. "For now, though... bed!"

Dorimon grumbled, "I hate bed..."

X X X

"Night, Henry!" I shouted out of my door.

"Night, Tasuke!" he called back, still typing away on his work computer.

I shook my head and shut the door. The guy was going to stay up until three again, wasn't he? I sighed and jumped face first into my bed, groaning in comfort as my face hit the pillow. Then my phone beeped and that comfort vanished. I pulled the brick over and turned the screen to me. "May..." I growled and opened the message. Six numbers and the words, Come on, Taj! Show me your Mon tomorrow!

I knew, in that moment, that she wasn't going to let this go. Digimon may have been a stupid kids game, but if just downloading the app made her chill out it would be good. Besides, once I got it I could crush this Alphamon deck like it was –

Damn, she had said that just to get me interested in the game, hadn't she?

No, no way. I wasn't going to do it. I was going to stand my ground! I'd just tell her that I decided against it. I'd only given her a maybe, after all. Just a maybe. That didn't mean I had to –

Why was I already downloading it?

I cursed under my breath and let it finish downloading. Dammit, might as well get through this. Finish what you start, and all that. I input my name and May's friend code when it asked who had referred me, then the main screen appeared. Different important Digimon from the various seasons of the show were arranged around the title of the game, exploding out in action poses. "Digimon: Digidestined," I muttered at the screen. I tapped it and the game began.

"Now, a few questions to find out what Digimon partner you'll have!" ran across the screen, slowly changing from the digital script from the show and into English. "Choose a Digimon to form the DNA Basis."

A list of Rookie level Digimon appeared, more than a dozen. I hadn't expected something this deep. It was insane – this was an RPG of sorts, where the Digimon you got would be the main Mon in your deck and the best friend to your avatar as you saved the Digital World. I briefly thought about looking up a guide to get a Royal Knight deck like May's. But it would be way more fun to get better than her because I was meant to. Or beat her with a lame Numemon deck. I was really hoping for the former.

Still, I knew I wanted Agumon in there. It was Tai's Digimon, so that meant it would be the strongest. Besides, I'd always loved the dinosaur looking ones as a kid. Felt cool to look at. But as I was sorting through the list, I found that a different dinosaur caught my eye. "What the hell is a 'Guilmon?'" I wondered. The red digimon with its dopey eyes and wide grin, the hazard on its chest. It just felt... right. So I clicked on it.

"Now pick a second Digimon to fill the missing DDNA!" So I went through the list and found another that I thought looked cool. Renamon, a bipedal yellow and white fox with purple arm bands emblazoned with the yin-yang symbol.

"Now for character backstory! Are you searching for your family?" I felt my heart skip a beat. This was oddly personal. The options for creating my character's backstory included this? And it was the first that popped up. This was getting weird, but... I don't know. It was like something compelled me to hit yes, to answer honestly even if it was off putting.

"I see. That's what your wish, Digidestined... Now, would you like to use a randomized Digi-egg item?" Yes and no appeared on the screen. "Warning: Can completely change the Digimon hatched."

Well, at least that was a lot less off putting and personal a question than 'Are you looking for your family?' Still though, completely change the Digimon? Guilmon and Renamon were both cool, and had high stats. Anything that was created from their DDNA would be pretty cool. Hazard Digimon were powerful, and who knows what Renamon's 'yin-yang' deal would do when crossed with that..?

Eh, why not see what it would all do with another unknown thrown in? I clicked the flashing yes. Might be fun.

My camera flashing in my face in my pitch black room was not fun. I yelped in surprise and my phone hit the ground. "Stupid, dumb game! I should have read the download permissions!" I hissed, suddenly wanting to throw the stupid thing at the wall in revenge.

"Everything okay?" Henry shouted, bursting through my door. The lights flicked on and I groaned. Too bright. Again. "Are you hurt?"

I looked over, catching sight of a man with terror painted on his face. "I'm fine. My camera just went off in my face," I said, rubbing at my eyes. "What, did you think a killer broke into my room?"

Henry laughed in embarrassment. "I... no. Just surprised, that's all." He leaned against the door. "What's with you kids always taking selfies?"

"I – no, it was an accident!" I snapped.

Henry shook his head. "Sure." He didn't believe me. "Just try to go to bed instead of looking at yourself, Narcissus."

I groaned. "Just let me sleep, Old Man," I hissed over his chuckling. I tossed a pillow at him and he deflected it to the ground. "Night."

He shook his head. "Night." He slowly shut the door until it was me, alone in my room with the light on.

"Stupid game," I growled when I suddenly remembered what was at fault here. I leaned down and plucked my phone from the ground, hoping the screen hadn't shattered in the random tumble. Thankfully, it seemed fine. I pressed the home button and the screen illuminated, revealing an 8-bit, black Digi-egg with red lines pulsating at the center of the screen. But I was done with this. Taking photos of me randomly? Not on board. I pressed the home button again, intent on deleting this stupid app and ending this poorly conceived decision as soon as I could.

Except my phone wouldn't leave the game.

Okay, annoying, but fixable. I held down the power button to restart the phone and force a quit of the game. Then I could enter the app store and delete it, no problem. Except that I probably held it down for five minutes, growing angrier and angrier that I had downloaded an app that had broken my phone, and all I had to show for it was a red and black Digi-egg

"I'm going to kill May for getting me to put this malware on my phone," I whispered, feeling just... hollow at this turn of events. I didn't even want to toss it at the wall anymore, so instead I dropped my phone on the table next to my bed. I was just hoping my alarm would sound tomorrow at least. "... God, I hate Digimon."

X X X

"Mr. Gethen, I think you should see this."

The man glanced up from his computer and rose to his full height in a single fluid motion. He cut a tall, lithe figure in his burgundy suit and the men working around him were torn between shrinking away from him in fear as he passed or leaning close in awe. His blonde hair was longer than most people in his line of work would have, but with him it almost made him seem more in charge. He stopped near the desk that had summoned him and placed his hands in his pockets. "Agent Zubel, report," Gethen commanded calmly as he arrived.

The agent coughed nervously and gestured at his computer screen. "S-sir, there's a new D-digi-egg hatching in one of our nurseries," he began, growing more and more nervous under the gaze of his boss.

"Then send the Agents there to tag it. You know protocol, Zubel," Gethen growled. "Don't waste my time." He turned to walk away.

"But, Sir!" Zubel said. "This has power readings higher than almost any egg that hatched as a rookie!"

Gethen stopped and slowly turned back. "Higher than the Agumon we scanned in the Japanese nursery?" he wondered.

"Sir, it's easily stronger."

Gethen raised an eyebrow and returned to the table. "Start bringing up the firewalls so it can't escape. I want teams on it the moment it hatches so we can find the partner it's seeking out."

"Understood," Zubel said, turning back to his computer and typing commands. A few seconds later: "The teams are on their way. Scans say it's viral, so I sent Vaccines in for containment."

"Good," Gethen said, leaning forward to read the data coming in on this hatching Digimon. The numbers were nearly Champion level, without any of the augments from its partner. Could this be..? "We need this Digimon, Agent. It could alter the balance of power in Digital Warfare. Do not let it escape."

Agent Zubel nodded, his confidence growing after seeing his superior's positive response to his information. "The hatching process is nearing completion, Sir. In a few moments, this Digimon will be tagged and we can follow it to its Tamer."

"I am quite excited to see what kind of Digimon this will be," Gethen admitted, standing up straight and straightening his tie. It would not do to lose his composure in such an important moment. "I -"

A message popped up on the screen. Zubel's eyes widened and worry tinged his voice. "Sir, it's hatched. It's burning through the anti-Viral walls." Another message popped up. "Sir, it's breaking containment, and the agents aren't close enough to stop it. It – It's going to make it to the real world!"

Gethen's fist clenched at his side. "Implement stronger anti-Viral containment. I do not want this thing escaping!" he commanded before slamming his fist on the table.

Agent Zubel jumped in his chair and began typing rapidly, desperate to stop the Digimon. "Level three containment walls enacted, Sir. It's stopped, Sir," he explained, worry growing more and more distant. Gethen stood up straight, a satisfied smirk spreading across his features. It was only a matter of time until the squads arrived to take this new Digimon into custody. Then – "I... Sir!"

Gethen placed his hand on the back of the chair. "What?" he snapped.

"Sir, it's attacking the nursery. Prepared Digi-eggs and nests are being wiped out!" the agent shouted, drawing the attention of the many other agents in the dark room. They all turned, eyes widening. "Sir, what should I do? At this rate, the Nursery will be gone before the agents can get close!"

Gethen's hand tightened on the desk chair, drawing out an angry squeak from the leather. "Let it go, then send a tagged Digimon after it," he said, thinking fast. "A wild Rookie should at least give us what city it is heading for when it Bio-emerges. From there we can scan for 3D activity." He leaned down until he could whisper in the agent's ear. "I will not have a repeat of the Dorumon incident."

Zubel's face went white and he began typing quickly into his station. "Sir, the tagged Digimon is set to arrive the moment you order the walls down.."

"Good," Gethen growled. "Then do it."

Zubel nodded and entered the program commands. The anti-Viral walls fell, and data began to pop up on the UI. "Sir, the Digimon are set to Bio-emerge. We're locking in on the tagged Wild One."

Gethen pushed Zubel to the side and leaned over the computer, watching as the tagged Digimon did its job. In just a few moments... Well, wasn't that interesting. That address... So close to him? Well, there was no way that could be a coincidence. Not where a Digidestined of his caliber was concerned. "Agent Zubel, book me and you a flight to Colorado. We're going to go meet with the illustrious Henry Wong."

X X X

The Digimon had not been prepared for this. He had expected that the human world and the Digital world would not be all that different. The Digimon didn't have anything to compare it to, after all. Or even all that much knowledge about the Digital world. He had just been born, after all. He knew things from the data used to create it, but everything else...

For one, everything smelled. The Digital world was not not huge on sensory input other than enemy locations and pain. And these overwhelming smells gave him an entirely new feeling it didn't recognize. It was like the inside of his lower torso hurt. Like he was downloading his own data from the inside. It hurt so much! But, not more than the Digimon could handle. He was strong, after all. It was the strongest!

The creature growled when one of those smells hit it. It was warm and... he felt like the human words were spicy and sweet. The Digimon's mouth began to drool like it was a waterfall. It needed some of whatever that smell was. It sprinted through the alleyways and eventually came close to the source of the smell. "Kin nae bonn..." the Digimon growled at the human letters above the... kiosk? The kiosk. It was blue and white, this kiosk, and full of that smell. That delicious smell... It took a slow step out of the darkened entrance to this building. Surely one bite of whatever a Kin nae bonn was would not hurt. His mouth watered and he felt fire beginning to rise in his throat. Just one attack and this entire Kin nae bonn would be –

Then it felt the pull again. It turned away from the Kin nae bonn and sniffed the air, trying hard to ignore the smells nearby in favor of that so far away. The scent of the pull. He forced his mind to forget the Kin nae bonn, a distraction to its mission of power, and sprinted away. His pitch black hide melted into the shadows, leaving barely visible crimson lines and triangles dashing between the large metal things the humans rode around it. Its white chest angled down, hiding the symbol of the Digital Hazard and helping him melt even deeper into the shadows. His claws dug into the the ground as he pushed and began to gain speed. He would not stop until it found the source of the pull, the human that would make him strong. The human that would make Black-Guilmon the strongest Digimon that had ever existed. Or until it found him.

X X X

Takato here, and this is so crazy! I can't believe Henry is all grown up. I wonder what happened to me, Rika, and everyone else. Are we still in Japan? Well, for now, I'm really hoping to find out what the deal is with this Gethen guy. He's like an American Yamaki! What is Digital Warfare, and why does nobody think Digimon are real!? Jeez, this is just so confusing...

Well, maybe we'll find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!