Where to buy this CD: Amazon.JP, CDJapan

——————————–
CAST
Daisuke Motomiya : Fukujurou Katayama
Ken Ichijouji : Arthur Lounsbery
Iori Hida : Yoshitaka Yamaya
Miyako Inoue : Ayaka Asai
Takeru Takaishi : Junya Enoki
Hikari Yagami : MAO
V-mon : Junko Noda
Wormmon : Naozumi Takahashi
Armadimon : Megumi Urawa
Hawkmon : Kouichi Toochika
Patamon : Miwa Matsumoto
Tailmon : Yuka Tokumitsu
Narrator : Hiroaki Hirata

STAFF
Producer : Hiromi Seki & Yousuke Kinoshita
Script : Akatsuki Yamatoya
Sound Director : Satoki Iida
Recording : Satoru Matsuda
Sound Effects : Yuuji Furuya & Maki Takuma
Sound Production : TAVAC

——————————–

　The story has begun to revolve at full speed
　Dyeing the earth red
　On the map there lies an empty paradise
　Let’s try to save it ourselves
　We’re running as fast as we can now
　Up the endless hill, far away
　Stand up! There’s a hero inside of me
　A target that towers over everything, there’s no way I can lose!
　Burn up! My heartbeat burns within my chest
　We’re gonna get back the tomorrow we’ve forgotten
　With a heated battle!

–

NARRATOR: It’s early summer in the year 2010. Daisuke and his friends have each moved on to shape their chosen future careers, but with summer vacation approaching, they decided to form a plan. And in order to put that magnificent plan into action, Daisuke and his friends take a stand.

DAISUKE (Title Call): “Where Should We Go?”

TEACHER: Therefore, my emotions at this time would be choice C: “We could have continued on this together without abandoning all efforts.” Incident to that would also be “We could have continued, but we didn’t”—

[School bell rings]

TEACHER: That’s all the time we have, so that’s it for today’s lecture.

[Class stretches and yawns]

STUDENT: See you, Hida-kun!
IORI: Good work today. See you tomorrow.
STUDENT: Bye, Iori!
IORI: Goodbye. Please be careful on your way home.
DAISUKE: …I see you’re still talking formally to everyone as always, Iori!
IORI: Daisuke-san! And Takeru-san.
TAKERU: Hey there, Iori-kun. Long time no see.
IORI: It’s unusual for the both of you to come and see me. Did something happen?
DAISUKE: Sorry for the short notice, but we need to talk to you. Could you come with us?

–

FRONT DESK: Hello! Welcome to the Karaoke Palace! Do you have membership cards?
IORI: No, we’re not members.
DAISUKE: Three students, please!
TAKERU: Oh, but we may have more joining us later.
FRONT DESK: Understood. Should I add an all-you-can-drink option?
IORI: No, thank you.
FRONT DESK: You got it. How much time would you like?
DAISUKE: Three hours, to start!
TAKERU: Oh, but we might extend it later.
FRONT DESK: Understood. Please head to Room 505!

–

DAISUKE: All right, we’re here! Hey, V-mon, you can come out now!
V-MON: Yes! Daisuke, I’m starving!
TAKERU: Sorry to keep you cramped up in there, Patamon.
V-MON: Why did we have to hide?!
DAISUKE: Hey, don’t complain! I needed to save up from the admission fee that they would have charged you guys!
IORI: Well, that’s rather cheap.
DAISUKE: Get off my back!
ARMADIMON: Guys, long time no see, dagya!
DAISUKE: Hey, Armadimon! You came to our world too, huh?
V-MON: Oh, this is a karaoke bar!
PATAMON: Takeru, can I sing?
TAKERU: After we’re done talking.
PATAMON: Yay!
DAISUKE: Okay, guys, first… Let’s get something to eat!

[Daisuke picks up the phone]

FRONT DESK: Hello, front desk.
DAISUKE: Three oolong teas and three orange juices! Also, a large order of fries, the fried food combination platter, and one of each pizza you’ve got! Also, the entire first page of the menu!

[Daisuke hangs up]

IORI: The entire first page…
TAKERU: [laughing] They must think we’re total pigs.
IORI: Who’s going to be paying for this…?

–

FRONT DESK: Thank you for waiting! Here are your drinks, a large order of fries, the fried food combination platter, pizza, and the entire first page of the menu.
TAKERU: Wow… That’s a lot of volume.
FRONT DESK: Enjoy!
DAISUKE: All right guys, you can come out now! Go ahead and eat!
DIGIMON: Yay! Thank you for the food!
IORI: So, who’s going to be paying for this?
DAISUKE: Now look at who’s being the cheap one.
TAKERU: I could say that for the both of you.
DAISUKE: I’m not being cheap, I’m economizing!
TAKERU: Not that I care either way.
IORI: Putting that aside… What did you want to talk about?
DAISUKE: Oh, what I wanted to talk about was…
V-MON: Daisuke wants to go on a trip with everyone!
DAISUKE: Hey, V-mon! Don’t say it before I do!
V-MON: Oh, sorry…
IORI: When you say “everyone,” to what extent do you mean?
DAISUKE: I was thinking, first, Hikari-chan! Then Takeru, Ken, Iori, and Miyako. I thought about reaching out to Taichi-san and the others too, but our seniors seem pretty busy.
TAKERU: I think whoever’s busy can just come along if they happen to make it.
ARMADIMON: I heard from Hawkmon that Miyako is studying abroad in Spain right now, dagya.
TAKERU: Ichijouji-kun also mentioned that he has a soccer camp.
PATAMON: Wow, everyone’s so busy.
DAISUKE: Since we’re all more or less like that, I figured we’d ask Iori first about his schedule since he’d be the busiest with studying for college entrance exams and club activities.
IORI: Oh, I see. I have cram school and kendo practice during the summer, but I believe that I can arrange my schedule as long as it doesn’t take place on my training camp week.
TAKERU: Oh, great! That’s more flexible that I’d thought.
DAISUKE: That would be majorly helpful, Iori!
IORI: Going on a trip is fine and all, but what exactly do you guys want to do?
DAISUKE: Eat delicious ramen!
V-MON: See the ocean!
PATAMON: I wanna go gather firewood in the mountains!
TAKERU: …Firewood?
IORI: In this area, we could go to Izu for the ocean or Karuizawa for the mountains.
DAISUKE: I like that! Playing tennis with Hikari-chan in Karuizawa!
TAKERU: But the ocean is a great choice, too.
DAISUKE: I like that… Swimming underwater in the ocean with Hikari-chan… Hehehe…
V-MON: Daisuke… You’re kind of embarrassing me…
IORI: By the way, Armadimon, where would you like to go?
ARMADIMON: I want to go… to Nagoya, dagya!
ALL: Nagoya?
ARMADIMON [takes the karaoke mic]: “The castle is the mainstay in Owari, Nagoya!” as they say.^[1] Its landmark, the Nagoya Castle, is famous for its brilliant gold shachihoko^[2] on its roof! On maps, Nagoya is located at the very center of Japan as its central hub of culture! Containing the best of both the east and the west, it’s the number one place in Japan where a car is essential! Its four-laned highways on both sides that ignore pedestrians runs in all the four cardinal directions^[3] , and the local favorite date spot is the aquarium! There’s even a few zoos and art museums! And what’s more— What else could represent Nagoya more than its gourmet food! Gourmet food is what Nagoya is all about! Miso pork cutlets, shrimp tempura hand rolls, deep fried chicken wings, and Nagoya’s famous special “fwied shwimp”!^[4] A round table full of breakfast foods! Slightly salty spaghetti with starchy sauce on top! Not pasta, but spaghetti! When you’re in a hurry, stop by at the train station for kishimen! I recommend the shops located on the uptown platform!^[5] Piping hot udon noodles boiled in miso! Super-super-spicy Taiwan ramen! The slightly expensive hitsumabushi^[6], and last but not least, the Yamatoya ramen, dagya!
ARMADIMON: [breathes] So, that’s why I say let’s all go to Nagoya, dagya!
DAISUKE: I’m personally interested in the Taiwan ramen…
V-MON: Hey, why is it called “Taiwan” ramen if it’s popular in Nagoya?
ARMADIMON: Grk!
PATAMON: Right? If it’s from Nagoya, then it should be called Nagoya ramen!
DAISUKE: You have a point.
TAKERU: I’ve heard that the “fried shrimp” is spoken with a Nagoya twist as if it originated there, but it actually didn’t.
ARMADIMON: Grrrkkk!
IORI: This has always been on my mind, but most of Nagoya’s famous foods are rearrangements of already completed dishes, aren’t they? Take the hitsumabushi, for instance. Why don’t they just call it an eel bowl?
ARMADIMON: Huh?! Not you too, Iori!
TAKERU: Well, if you’re gonna talk about that, then that goes for the miso pork cutlets too.
DAISUKE: Yeah, the pork cutlet is kinda already a dish all on its own.
V-MON: And kishimen is just flattened udon noodles, right?
IORI: Perhaps I shouldn’t be saying this, but I feel that a majority of Nagoya’s food menu is rearrangements of dishes that already exist with extra things added in. In other words, they’re ripoff—
ARMADIMON: REARRANGEMENTS! [pants heavily] Good grief, I wish you wouldn’t speak of such slander, dagya! Nagoya is the great metropolis that very nicely blends the east and west together, dagya!
KEN: Sorry we’re late, guys.
WORMMON: Hello!
TAKERU: Hey, Wormmon! Hello!
DAISUKE: Ken and Wormmon are here!

–

KEN: I see. So that’s what you guys were talking about.
IORI: Do you have an idea of where to go, Ichijouji-san?
KEN: Hmm, well… If I had to choose… Maybe the hot springs?
ALL: Hot springs?
KEN: Yeah! Hot springs are great!
KEN [takes the karaoke mic]: The hot springs *obviously* must have free-flowing water. If possible, I think I’d prefer a quiet, rural flowing hot spring that’s surrounded by a moss-covered garden. Then I want to stay the night at a historical inn that focuses more on tranquility and wabi-sabi rather than wildness or beauty. I’m not looking for a lot on the food options, but the portions should ideally be neither too large nor too small. If we’re just going to relax our bodies, then I’d like it if there was a variety of hot springs to choose from. The water quality that I recommend for the ladies would be the hydrogen carbonate spring or the alkaline simple hot spring (these are otherwise known as simple hot springs with a basic pH of 8.5 or above), but my personal favorite is the hot sulphur spring! Incidentally, the hot sulphur spring is said to treat arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure. If it were possible, I’d like to take my time there… At least stay for two nights! Ahh… Hot springs… Hehehe…
TAKERU: Y–You have some unexpectedly refined tastes!
DAISUKE: I wouldn’t say “refined,” maybe more “obsessive”…
PATAMON: I didn’t understand a single word you just said!
V-MON: Me neither!
WORMMON: Don’t make fun of Ken-chan!
V-MON: Then did *you* know what Ken said?
WORMMON: Hmm… Nope!
ARMADIMON: Dagya!
IORI: A place that has the ocean, mountains, and hot springs… How about Atami?
KEN: Oh, Atami! It’s mostly chloride springs there, but soaking in a colorless, transparent spring would be nice once in awhile!
DAISUKE: Ramen at a hot springs spot, huh…? That’s got its own charm, so I like the sound of that! Refreshing shoyu ramen with naruto on top, a nostalgic flavor that reminds you of times past! Mmm!
TAKERU: Yeah, the hot springs at Atami seem like a good idea!
KEN: If we’re staying at a hot springs inn, then I can recommend a few places there that I regularly visit.
DAISUKE: Regularly visit? What are you, an old man?
TAKERU: But that would certainly help us decide on things quickly.
IORI: Then it’s decided! Our trip destination will be in Ata—
HIKARI: HOLD IT!
TAILMON: It’s premature to be making that decision!
DAISUKE: Hikari-chan!
V-MON: And Tailmon!
TAKERU: When did you two get here?
HIKARI: We’ve been here for awhile!
TAILMON: You were all so absorbed in your conversation that you didn’t notice us come in.
DAISUKE: What are you guys, ninjas?
V-MON: Ninjas? That’s so cool!
TAILMON: I’m not a ninja.
TAKERU: Hikari-chan, since you object, does that mean you don’t like Atami?
HIKARI: It’s not that I dislike Atami, but I thought if we’re going to do this as a group, then it would be best to go to Spain where Miyako-san is!
ALL: Spain?!
DAISUKE: We’re talking overseas now?
TAKERU: Isn’t that a little too high of a reach?
MIYAKO: Not really!
DAISUKE: Whoa, now Miyako is here!
MIYAKO: ¡Hola!
HAWKMON: By the way, I, too, am here!

[Eyecatch]

DAISUKE: Whoa, now Miyako is here!
MIYAKO: ¡Hola!
HAWKMON: By the way, I, too, am here! Also by the way, “¡Hola!” is how you greet others in Spain!
WORMMON: Hawkmon, long time no see!
V-MON: Now we’re all here!
HAWKMON: It’s been a while, everyone.
DAISUKE: Wait, Miyako, didn’t you leave for Spain?
MIYAKO: I did.
TAKERU: You came all the way back here just to meet us?
HAWKMON: Of course! It’s only natural for us to come since you said it was an important meeting.
V-MON: By plane?!
MIYAKO: No way! We used this!
BOYS: The smartphone D-3?
MIYAKO: That’s right! With this, we can open a Digital Gate and go anywhere in the world!
TAILMON: I see! We have that option!
DAISUKE: Which means…
KEN: Yeah. We can go anywhere in the world without taking up time!
V-MON: So that means…?
DAISUKE: It means, we can go anywhere we want in the world!
V-MON: Wow!
KEN: [laughs] Didn’t I just say that?
TAKERU: Anywhere…
IORI: In the world… Without spending money!
PATAMON: Wow, this is amazing! I’m so excited!
MIYAKO: …I feel like you guys are getting hyped about something else.
ARMADIMON: We can go to Nagoya whenever we want, dagya!
[The other Digimon talk excitedly]
HIKARI: I flat-out refuse that idea! Because… I want to visit Spain!
TAILMON: Hikari, I agree. I want to go to Spain as well. If possible, to the Basque region!
MIYAKO: Yeah! In all honesty, Spain is a great place. Their wines are delicious, whether in red or white, and their sangria is the best!
HAWKMON: Um, Miyako-san, we have underage people here.
MIYAKO: All of their foods taste amazing, and if you do an afternoon pub crawl, you can eat all sorts of tapas! Any restaurant you go in has exquisite dishes, and in their street market, you can buy raw ham and seafoods at a reasonable price!
HAWKMON: Miyako-san, you’re getting too worked up about this…
MIYAKO: So, Hikari-chan…!
HIKARI: Yeah! We have to convince the others!
HAWKMON: Miyako-san, you’re ignoring me, aren’t you…
MIYAKO: So… Listen up, everyone!
ALL: Huh?
HIKARI: We’re about to give you a presentation on just how wonderful Spain is!
MIYAKO: So be quiet and listen!

[They take the karaoke mic]

HIKARI: ¡Buenas!
MIYAKO: ¿Cómo estás?
HIKARI: Spain, the country of passion! Spain, the country of delicious gourmet!
TAILMON: Paella! Al ajillo! Spain omelettes!
MIYAKO: Spain, the birthplace of Antoni Gaudí!
HAWKMON: The Sagrada Família, the Park Güell, the Casa Batlló!
MIYAKO: Spain, where there’s the Liga Española!
DAISUKE: [jumps in] Camp Nou, Santiago Bernabéu, San Mamés!

HIKARI: …And you get the idea! Spain has a lot of famous tourist spots and their food, which goes without saying, is incredible!
MIYAKO: Their fruits of the sea and fruits of the land are better than you could ever hope for! Dare I say it, you could even call it the world’s capital for gourmet food!
HIKARI: It’s rich with art museums, and Barcelona has a huge zoo. Not a lot of people know this, but there’s even casinos!
MIYAKO: It’s low humidity there and the air is fresh, so it’s comfortable to live there! Also, the view of the streets is gorgeous!
HIKARI: So…
HIKARI/MIYAKO: Let’s go to Spain, okay?
DAISUKE/KEN/TAKERU/THEIR DIGIMON: Okay!
HIKARI: ¡Gracias!
IORI: …Everyone gave into that pretty quickly.
TAILMON: Then it’s decided! Our destination will be Spain—
ARMADIMON: Hold it, dagya!
TAILMON: Hmm?
ARMADIMON: I’m not letting go of Nagoya, dagya!
TAILMON: What if I said that *we’re* not letting go of Spain?
ARMADIMON: Grrr…
TAILMON: Are you picking a fight with me, Armadimon?
ARMADIMON: What if I said that I was, dagya?
TAILMON: Very well then! I’ll take you on!
DAISUKE: …Uh, what’s with this sudden change in atmosphere?
KEN: Wait, you two!
TAILMON: Hikari!
ARMADIMON: Iori!

[‘Break Up’ music plays]

TAILMON: Tailmon, armor evolve!
ARMADIMON: Armadimon, armor evolve!
TAILMON: The light of smiles…
ARMADIMON: The steel wisdom…
TAKERU: HOLD IT!
ARMADIMON: Huh?
TAKERU: Now hold on a second! If you evolve here, you’ll make a mess of the karaoke room!
ARMADIMON: You’ve got a point, dagya…
TAILMON: Then come outside with me. We’ll settle it there.
ARMADIMON: Bring it on, dagya!
IORI: Wait a moment! I don’t think you need to go that far.
TAILMON: Why not?
IORI: It won’t take any time at all to travel, so we can go to both places.
ARMADIMON: Oh… That’s right, dagya.
TAILMON: But are the rest of you okay with that?
KEN: Of course we are! …As long as we also go to the hot springs.
IORI: In other words… We can spend the night at a hot springs inn at Nagoya, and go to Spain from there.
PATAMON: Hey, then I want to go to the southern islands!
WORMMON: Going to the south in the summer is dull! Since it’s summer in Japan, we should go skiing in Australia!
DAISUKE: Wormmon… How are you going to wear the skis?
TAKERU: If we want to see a beautiful ocean, then why don’t we go to Tahiti? We could try diving there!
MIYAKO: Then I want to go to Taiwan next! The soup dumplings!
KEN: Wormmon, I just looked it up on my phone… If we take a car three hours from Melbourne, there’s a ski resort called Mount Buller.
WORMMON: Really?! Ken-chan, you’re so kind!
DAISUKE: [whispering furiously] No, seriously, how…?
IORI: Then if we go from Nagoya, to Spain, to Australia… What were the other places again?
MIYAKO: Guys, I’m fine with wherever we go, but don’t forget about foreign currency! You can’t buy anything without money.
KEN: Oh, that’s right.
MIYAKO: Especially the American dollar! As long as you have USD, you can rest easy! I mean, even the Digital World uses it!
TAKERU: Do you think we should carry our passports?
MIYAKO: You’ll need it in order to stay at hotels. Also, don’t forget to bring your toothbrush because some hotels don’t provide it depending on where you go.
KEN: Is that true?!
TAKERU: Yeah, it’s pretty common overseas.
V-MON: Hey, then, if we’re traveling overseas, should we bring rice with us?
PATAMON: And pickled plums?
HAWKMON: If you miss Japanese food, then you could just use the D-3 to come back to Japan.
ARMADIMON: We should always be carrying a bag of Yamatoya’s instant ramen with us, dagya!
DAISUKE: Um…
HIKARI: We are definitely going to Spain, okay?
ARMADIMON: We’re all absolutely going to see the Nagoya Castle together, dagya!
MIYAKO: I’ll give you guys the tour of Spain, but… I do like the idea of braised pork rice bowl in Taiwan!
HAWKMON: Miyako-san! If we’re going to Taiwan, then I also recommend its night markets!
PATAMON: Tahiti!
WORMMON: Australia!
ARMADIMON: Nagoya!
DAISUKE: Guys, listen to me!
ALL: Huh?
DAISUKE: My dream is to become a ramen shop owner in the future. I don’t know when I started thinking that way… But when I confided in Ken on my obscure feelings about ramen, he turned to me and said this: ‘If you really want to run a ramen shop, then you should form a concrete plan in order to turn that dream into reality.’
WORMMON: Ken-chan, you told him that?
KEN: Hmm, I might have.
DAISUKE: Hearing those words bowled me over because I was only vaguely thinking about owning a ramen shop. It made me realize that I was naive to think that just thinking about it was going to get me to accomplish it.
TAKERU: Yeah, just thinking about it won’t do anything.
PATAMON: Yep, yep!
DAISUKE: That’s why I circled around the ramen shops in my neighborhood in order to figure out for myself what delicious ramen is supposed to be like. I thought that I was getting somewhere with that, but this time, Iori saw what I was doing and lectured me.
IORI: I said something?
ARMADIMON: You don’t remember, dagya?
IORI: No, not at all.
DAISUKE: Iori said to me, ‘Ramen is deeper than it appears. Do you think you’ll understand it just by eating the ones from your local shops?’ So I studied up on the various ramen from all over the country! Asahikawa ramen from Hokkaido, Sapporo’s miso ramen, Hakodate’s shio ramen, Sendai’s chilled noodles, Fukushima’s kitakata ramen, Kanagawa’s iekei-style ramen, Tokyo’s niboshi ramen, Hachioji’s sweet broth with raw onions, Toyama Black, Wakayama’s tonkotsu-shoyu broth, Fukuoka’s tonkotsu ramen, Nagasaki’s champon noodles!
V-MON: Every kind of ramen was so tasty!
DAISUKE: Then Hikari-chan gave me a regional guidebook, and Miyako told me about the Seishun 18 ticket!^[7]
HIKARI: Oh, that was back when I was getting rid of stuff!
MIYAKO: You should have already known about the Seishun 18 ticket…
DAISUKE: As I traveled throughout the country, eating that region’s local ramen, I began wanting to learn more and more about ramen! I started seeing an albeit vague-but-getting-there idea of what *my* best ramen would be like! But at the same time, it brought to the front an issue of what I was clearly lacking.
KEN: Lacking?
IORI: What would that be?
DAISUKE: Experience. I had absolutely no experience as a chef. That’s why I’m attending a vocational school right now to become a certified chef. I’ll eat and make lots of ramen! I want to know more and more about ramen!
MIYAKO: Oh, I see…
IORI: I’m sorry, Daisuke-san… I had no idea you felt that way and we kept talking about what we wanted…
HAWKMON: So, what you’re saying is, you want to go on a trip not to spend time overseas, but to go somewhere famous for ramen to continue your research, right?
KEN: [smiles] If that’s the case, then why not?
WORMMON: We all love ramen!
PATAMON: I agree!
HIKARI: Seeing you pursue your dreams makes you look kind of cool.
DAISUKE: Huh?! Really?!
TAKERU: Then how about we let Daisuke-kun choose where we should go?
ALL: Okay!
KEN: But in return…
ALL: Huh?
DAISUKE: In return?
KEN: I hope you’ll let us try the ramen that you’ve come up with, Daisuke.
DAISUKE: Yeah, no problem!
[ALL smile]
MIYAKO: So? Where do you want to go?
DAISUKE: Right! So, the place I was thinking of going is…
ALL: ???
DAISUKE: It’s…

DAISUKE: [grabs a mic and yells] NEW YORK!!!
ALL: Why New York (dagya)?

–

　Try to wait a while, ’cause anyone is
　Totally different from yesterday
　Try to look for a while
　Even the silhouette of your profile looks mature
　Hey you, yeah, you
　I get why you feel like wanting to make excuses
　Because if the world is like this,
　Nothing’s gonna get done
　Right! I wanna breathe in
　Now! That feel-good breeze
　So badly, so badly
　Tomorrow my wind will blow
　So keep all the doors in the world open
　Tomorrow my wind will blow
　So that cowardice of yours
　Will be blown away completely
　For a gorgeous life!

–

NARRATOR: The New York City eats! Daisuke and his friends land in NYC, the city of cutting edge gourmet food, in order to research on a new kind of ramen free of preconceived ideas! But what awaited them there was a phone call from an unexpected person. Next up, Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna! Now, the gate to adventure opens.

–

DAISUKE: Whaaat, after all that, it’s just Ken and Iori?
KEN: Now, now.
IORI: Hikari-san and Takeru-san said they’d join us on the second day.
V-MON: Daisuke, I can’t wait to see New York!
WORMMON: Yeah!
ARMADIMON: Let’s hurry up and eat that ramen dagya!
V-MON: Daisuke!
DAISUKE: Sure! Then let’s get going! Digital Gate open!

[The gate opens]

DAISUKE: Let’s go, guys!
ALL: Yeah!

——————————–
[1] “The castle is the mainstay in Owari, Nagoya” (尾張名古屋は城で持つ) = There are different interpretations of this saying, one of them being that Nagoya is only famous for its Nagoya castle; the castle acts as the main tourist attraction that supports Nagoya financially.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shachihoko
[3] Nagoya is filled with highways, sometimes even having as many as five lanes for one direction. Pedestrians often have to use pedestrian bridges in order to cross streets. An example of how wide car lanes are in Nagoya and how much traffic dominates it can be demonstrated on this YouTube video.
[4] “Fwied shwimp” = The comedian Tamori joked about how the Nagoya dialect pronounces “fried shrimp” with a more distinctly nasal, lazy sound, and restauranters in Nagoya ran with the joke to make fried shrimp one of Nagoya’s specialty foods. While it’s hard to translate from the Japanese, the joke was that “ebi furai” (fried shrimp) spoken in Nagoya dialect sounds like “ebifuryaa”.
[5] Kishimen on the train platform = At Nagoya station are many kishimen counters where you can stand while eating. People often stop for a quick bite of this as they are commuting.
[6] Hitsumabushi = In Nagoya, the eel over rice bowl which is called “unajuu” everywhere else, is called “hitsumabushi” because it’s the same dish but with additional condiments.
[7] Seishun 18 Ticket = This is a budget ticket that one can use to travel throughout Japan. Since it’s a known form of travel among citizens, Daisuke really has no excuse for not knowing about it.

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Where to buy this song: Amazon.JP, CDJapan

AiM – Even When We Are Apart
Song: AiM
Lyrics/Composition: Mayo Okamoto
Outro Theme Song of “Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna”

KANJI
「大丈夫。」
泣かないよ 泣かないよ
約束したから

今も聴こえる 君の声
瞳閉じれば

晴れ渡る空の青
どこかで君も見ている

負けないように
うつむかないように
君との約束 握りしめるよ
君がいるから 心にいるから
離れていても歩ける

毎日がせいいっぱい
それでも明日を描くよ

流れる景色に
少しだけため息ついても

傷ついてたはずなのに
どんなときも君は笑ってた

何か足りない日々が続いても
どこかに光があると信じて
“あたりまえ”などないこの世界で
強くいられる勇気をくれたね

負けないように
うつむかないように
本当はそばにいてほしいけど
君がいるから 心にいるから
離れていても歩いて行くよ

出会えた事が 二人の想い出が
今もこの先も照らしてくれる
会いに行くから
会えたその時は
夢の続きを話そう

ROMANJI
“daijoubu.”
nakanai yo nakanai yo
yakusoku shita kara

ima mo kikoeru kimi no koe
hitomi tojireba

hare wataru sora no ao
dokoka de kimi mo miteiru

makenai you ni
utsumukanai you ni
kimi to no yakusoku nigirishimeru yo
kimi ga iru kara kokoro ni iru kara
hanareteitemo arukeru

mainichi ga seiippai
soredemo asu wo egaku yo

nagareru keshiki ni
sukoshi dake tameiki tsuitemo

kizu tsuiteta hazu na no ni
donna toki mo kimi wa waratteta

nanika tarinai hibi ga tsuzuitemo
dokoka ni hikari ga aru to shinjite
“atarimae” nado nai kono sekai de
tsuyoku irareru yuuki wo kureta ne

makenai you ni
utsumukanai you ni
hontou wa soba ni ite hoshii kedo
kimi ga iru kara kokoro ni iru kara
hanareteitemo aruite yuku yo

deaeta koto ga futari no omoide ga
ima mo kono saki mo terashite kureru
ai ni yuku kara
aeta sono toki wa
yume no tsuzuki wo hanasou

TRANSLATION
“It will be fine.”
I won’t cry, I won’t cry
Because I promised not to

Even now, I can hear your voice
When I close my eyes

The blue expanse of the sky that I see
You’re watching too, somewhere

So that I won’t give up
So that I won’t hang my head
I will tightly grasp onto my promise with you
Because you are there inside my heart
I can keep walking, even when we are apart

Every day is a chore
But even so, I will paint a picture of tomorrow

Even if the change of scenery around me
Makes me sigh a bit

I knew you were feeling hurt and yet
You always had a smile ready

Even if days pass where something feels lacking
I will believe that light exists somewhere
In this world where “the usual” is nonexistent
You gave me the courage to stay strong

So that I won’t give up
So that I won’t hang my head
The truth is, I want you to stay by my side but
Because you are there inside my heart
I will keep walking, even when we are apart

Our first encounter and our memories together
Light my future even now
I will go to see you
So when we meet again
Let’s pick up talking where we left off about our dreams

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Where to buy this song: Amazon.JP, CDJapan

Ayumi Miyazaki – Mismatched Futures
Song/Lyrics/Composition: Ayumi Miyazaki
Coupling song of album “Sono saki e”

KANJI
降り続ける雨の音が 少し切なくさせても
無我夢中で駆け抜けた 足跡は消せない

大切なこと伝える時 優しくいたいと
一人で抱えきれずに 回り道してきたこと
全部集めて

すれ違う未来と過去の間で
迷いながら 灯したい願いを
たとえそれが小さい光としても
信じて静かに守りたい

指先で綴る感情 ひとりよがりの日常
取り繕う笑顔さえ 忘れてしまいそうで

傷つくことを言い訳して 立ち止まるよりも
少しずつでもいいから 曲がりくねるような日々を
今は見つめて

すれ違う時間と人の間で
悩みながら 見つけたい答えを
足元に差し込む陽だまりのような
心はいつでもあるはず

すれ違う未来と過去の間で
迷いながら 灯したい願いを
たとえそれが小さい光としても
信じて静かに守りたい

信じて静かに守りたい

ROMANJI
furi tsuzukeru ame no oto ga sukoshi setsunaku sasetemo
mugamuchuu de kake nuketa ashiato wa kesenai

taisetsu na koto tsutaeru toki yasashiku itai to
hitori de kakae kirezu ni mawarimichi shite kita koto
zenbu atsumete

surechigau mirai to kako no aida de
mayoi nagara tomoshitai negai wo
tatoe sore ga chiisai hikari toshitemo
shinjite shizuka ni mamoritai

yubisaki de tsuzuru kanjou hitori yogari no nichijou
tori tsukurou egao sae wasurete shimai sou de

kizu tsuku koto wo iiwake shite tachi domaru yori mo
sukoshi zutsu demo ii kara magari kuneru you na hibi wo
ima wa mitsumete

surechigau jikan to hito no aida de
nayami nagara mitsuketai kotae wo
ashimoto ni sashi komu hidamari no you na
kokoro wa itsudemo aru hazu

surechigau mirai to kako no aida de
mayoi nagara tomoshitai negai wo
tatoe sore ga chiisai hikari toshitemo
shinjite shizuka ni mamoritai

shinjite shizuka ni mamoritai

TRANSLATION
The continuous sound of rain makes me feel a bit blue
But it doesn’t wash away the footprints on the path where I’d run full force

The desire to be kind when conveying something important to me
The detours I took because I couldn’t shoulder everything alone
I gather all of it in my arms

Within the spaces of mismatched futures and the past
There’s a wish that I want to shine light on even as I fumble around
That light may be small but nevertheless
I want to believe in it and quietly protect it

The feelings that I could spell out with my fingers, the days of self-satisfaction
Even times I kept up appearances with a fake smile, I am almost forgetting

Instead of using hurt feelings as an excuse and putting a stop to my life,
Right now I want to gaze on the twisting turning days ahead
Even if it takes a little bit at a time

Within the spaces of mismatched time and people
There’s an answer that I want to find even as I fumble around
Like a sunny spot shining at my feet
I should always find my heart there

Within the spaces of mismatched futures and the past
There’s a wish that I want to shine light on even as I fumble around
That light may be small but nevertheless
I want to believe in it and quietly protect it

I want to believe in it and quietly protect it

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Where to buy this song: Amazon.JP, CDJapan

Ayumi Miyazaki – To What Lies Ahead
Song: Ayumi Miyazaki
Lyrics: Yuuki Shirai
Composition: Yippee
Insert Song of “Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna”

KANJI
流れ行く 時は満ちて
溢れ出す 揺れる想い

もしも未来に待つ運命が儚くても
立ち向かえる 信じ合える
変わらずパートナー(きみ)が 隣にいるから

Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
消えない絆
Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
一人じゃない
行こう､その先へ

たとえつまづいても 立ち上がる
その勇気をくれたから
強くなれたんだ だから何も恐れない

僕らの想いはひとつ 心は繋がってる

Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
果てない軌跡
Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
前を向いて
どこまでも行こう

どこまでも行こう
きっと歩き出せる 僕らなら

Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
消えない絆
Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
一人じゃない
行こう､その先へ

行こう､その先へ

ROMANJI
nagare yuku toki wa michite
afure dasu yureru omoi

moshimo mirai ni matsu unmei ga hakanakutemo
tachi mukaeru shinji aeru
kawarazu kimi ga tonari ni iru kara

Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
kienai kizuna
Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
hitori ja nai
ikou, sono saki e

tatoe tsumazuitemo tachi agaru
sono yuuki wo kureta kara
tsuyoku naretanda dakara nani mo osorenai

bokura no omoi wa hitotsu kokoro wa tsunagatteru

Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
hatenai kiseki
Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
mae wo muite
doko mademo ikou

doko mademo ikou
kitto aruki daseru bokura nara

Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
kienai kizuna
Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
hitori janai
ikou, sono saki e

ikou, sono saki e

TRANSLATION
Time has passed to reach this moment
The feelings sway and overflow

Even if the fate that awaits us is fleeting
We can stand up to it, we can keep believing in each other
Because you, my partner, are always by my side

Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
Our bonds will never die
Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
We aren’t alone
Let’s go, to what lies ahead

Even if I falter, I will stand back up
Because you gave me that courage
You’ve made me stronger, so now I have nothing to fear

Our feelings are one, our hearts interconnected

Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
This path we have taken won’t reach a dead-end
Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
Facing forward
Let’s go as far as we can

Let’s go as far as we can
I’m sure we’re able to take those steps forward

Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
Our bonds will never die
Wish you to stand by me
Wish I can stand by you
We aren’t alone
Let’s go, to what lies ahead

Let’s go, to what lies ahead

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Where to buy this book: Amazon.JP

——————————–
Written by Ryosuke Maki, based on the screenplay by Akatsuki Yamatoya.
Chapter 01: The Unknown Digimon
Chapter 02: Partners
Chapter 03: Neverland
Chapter 04: Towards The Future

An ebook version of this final translation is available on Google Drive.

——————————–

Long fingers typed on a keyboard.

We aren’t so elderly yet that we simply accept a future that has been decided by someone else. In order to reach a higher stage, we are willing to do anything.

This isn’t a memoir. It’s a new story.

One day, there was a massive sun flare. The flames gushed out as if to reach the surface of the stars, and whatever flames danced up into space were swallowed up into the darkness of the universe, vanishing.
A couple, on a date in Odaiba, was the first to notice that something unusual was going on. They pointed up at the summer night sky, attracting other passersby around them to look at where they were pointing. All were struck dumb by what they saw.
Spread across the entire Tokyo sky was a beautiful, breathtaking aurora. Underneath the aurora, building lights and streetlights flickered like Christmas illuminations.
Various emotions swam through the people who viewed the sudden aurora. Some people merely found its whimsical glow beautiful, while others found its unnaturalness creepy. And among them were those who remembered the abnormal weather that took place worldwide over a decade ago.

The next morning, people walked on the crosswalk in front of Nakano Station as the light changed from red to green. It was a bit early for rush hour, so there weren’t that many people out. There weren’t many cars out either, so they could hear the voice of a news announcer coming from some speaker.
“Good morning and welcome to the news. Extreme weather, in the form of a mysterious aurora that originated from the West Coast of the United States, has now spread to Japan. This peculiar aurora was first observed on the United States West Coast three months ago, and has been spotted around various parts of the world since. The government has announced this aurora to be safe, having minimal effect on the peoples’ lifestyles.”
Two high school girls were listening to the news, and one of them turned to her friend.
“Did you see that aurora yesterday?”
“I sure did!”
“It was so pretty!”
“It was my first time seeing one!”
As the two chatted excitedly, a salaryman passed by them holding his smartphone to his ear.
A spark of electricity suddenly ran through the power cables, interrupting that peaceful morning. The pigeons roosting on the cables flapped away in a panic, but none of the people walking on the streets below noticed.
Sparks flew through the traffic lights as well, and they began to flicker at random.
“I’ll be coming home late— Huh? Hello?”
The line had been suddenly disconnected. The salaryman looked at his phone in confusion. Like a ripple effect, the cell phones and music players of people waiting at the intersection began to tweak as well.
Immediately afterwards, a dull collision sound that was out of place for that morning resounded through the air. Everyone jerked at the sound and looked around to find out where it had come from.
Their gazes fell on two cars, one that had been going straight while the other had made a right turn into it. It was a car crash. The traffic lights were blinking at random, no doubt the cause of the accident.
The two drivers got out and began heatedly arguing.
“Oh my god,” one high school girl who had seen the accident whispered, whipping out her phone to record a video.
Even more sparks passed through the telephone lines. The electric currents gathered between two buildings that were not far from the car accident, and a threatening hole appeared.
It was a digital gate, connecting this world to the Digital World.
The people looked up at it in blank amazement when, out of nowhere, the gate shrunk. They thought it had disappeared, but what appeared in its place was a giant parrot Digimon, Parrotmon.
He alighted on the ground in a free-fall with a thick and heavy crunch as the asphalt broke to pieces beneath him.
Parrotmon stood up on his feet, giving an intimidating shriek. He flapped his immense wings, rising up off the ground. The flapping got stronger, creating wind gusts. People, who had sensed the danger and were trying to run, were blown away by the enormous wind pressure, along with cars and signboards.
One of the signboards slammed into the pole of a traffic light hard enough to bend it. The wind pressure kept pushing it down where, beneath it, stood a woman holding her baby tightly to her chest. Fear and the wind blast kept the woman frozen in place, but she cowered with her back to the pole in order to at least keep her baby safe. Her eyes were squeezed shut, imagining the cruel future for herself that was only seconds away.
But the pole never fell on top of her. The woman nervously turned around to look and saw an angel with six brilliant white wings holding back the pole with a gold staff.
“Are you okay?”
Takeru Takaishi ran up to the woman and Angemon. He bent down to meet the woman’s eyes. “Get somewhere safe, hurry!”
“Ah… okay…”
Even though she was still in shock, the woman nodded.
“Takeru-kun! Sorry, I just got here!”
Hikari’s voice spoke through the microphone headset in his left ear. Takeru laid a finger on it. At that exact moment, Parrotmon took off, stirring up wind gusts in his wake.
“Hikari-chan, he’s heading your way!”
“Roger!” Hikari said, running out from the south exit of Nakano Station. She immediately saw the approaching Parrotmon in front of her. Stopping in her tracks, she called her partner’s name.
“Angewomon!”
At her call, Angewomon flew out from the viaduct, arrow already poised and ready on her bow.
Parrotmon scrambled to a stop, just barely managing to dodge the Holy Arrow. He changed direction by flying up higher to charge Angewomon.
Angewomon did not avoid him; rather, she took his headbutt on directly from the front. Then, grabbing the antenna-like feathers on Parrotmon’s head, she hoisted them forward with all her might, letting out a yell of “Haaah!”
The two Digimon, off balance, plummeted to the ground. Angewomon flipped their positions around so that she would be on top, and Parrotmon collided back-first into the pavement.
Even though he hit ground, Parrotmon did not appear weakened. He scuffled with Angewomon, fighting wildly as they plunged beneath the viaduct.
Hikari started running for safety as she kept pensive eyes on the oncoming giant Digimon.
Electricity fizzled between the two antenna-like feathers on his head. With the resulting spark, Parrotmon tore Angewomon off of him.
Hikari tumbled from the wind pressure of Parrotmon taking flight. But immediately she sat up and yelled.
“Brother!”
Taichi Yagami was standing on a connecting bridge that was some distance away from Hikari. Hearing his sister’s voice through the headset, he knew that Parrotmon would be coming in his direction soon.
With his goggles on, Taichi looked up and gazed ahead of him.
He could see Parrotmon through the goggles. Parrotmon was heading right to him, turning sharp corners between buildings.
“Here he comes, Taichi!” Agumon said beside him.
“Let’s go, Agumon.”
Without any sign of panic at the approaching Parrotmon, Taichi calmly held up his smartphone digivice. That composure reflected his state of mind.
This new digivice was developed by Koushiro Izumi. The old digivice’s functions were embedded into their smartphones by linking the two together.
Taichi’s goggles displayed four predicted routes that Parrotmon would take. These A.R. goggles that predicted the target Digimon’s moves were another of Koushiro’s inventions. With it, handling Digimon ought to be a lot easier.
But just as he thought that, the number of predicted routes suddenly increased to fill up the entire screen. Subdivisions of the routes had sprung up as the target drew in closer.
“Ehh?!” Taichi cried out pathetically, his former composed attitude all evaporated.
Unmindful of Taichi’s confusion, Parrotmon kept coming straight at him. Taichi and Agumon had to scramble out of his way at the last minute.
Agumon let out a moan at their fumble, while Taichi next to him said “Damn it!” under his breath and stood up.
“These aren’t helpful at all! Koushiro!” Taichi shouted into his headset as he angrily pulled the A.R. goggles off his head.
“I told you, they’re still a work in progress!” Koushiro, in his office, protested as he typed on his keyboard. “Anyway, he’s circling around to attack!”
“I know that,” Taichi said, standing up. Parrotmon had made a tight turn and was heading for him again.
“Agumon!”
Agumon leaped towards Parrotmon.
“Evolve!”
A light shone from Taichi’s digivice at his voice. Bathed in that light, Agumon changed shape. His larger orange body took on blue stripes, with a splendid powerful-looking horn. His carnivorous teeth and claws looked fearfully sharp and hooked.
Agumon, evolve! Greymon!
Greymon intercepted Parrotmon, grabbing his forearms with his own. The two of them ended up in an arm-wrestling position.
“It’s just as your intel said,” Hikari said from her position a bit of a distance away as she looked up at Greymon and Parrotmon.
“How did you know that the Digimon would appear in front of Nakano Station?”
“There’s a lot of energy put into opening a digital gate. It’s possible to infer in advance where it will happen when you follow the energy current,” Koushiro answered Takeru’s question, just as the situation changed. Parrotmon was beginning to get a slight upper hand on Greymon.
“You know what to do, right? Apprehend him as quick as possible and—“
“Avoid damaging the surroundings as best as can be, right? …Greymon!”
Hearing Taichi call his name, Greymon put more power into both arms. The ground cracked beneath his weight and he lifted Parrotmon up into the air with all his might. Then he slammed him bodily to the ground and held him down.
A smile on his lips, Taichi watched over Greymon’s battle with trust shining in his eyes.
His smartphone chirped. When he looked at it, he saw a map with a pin on the location “Shikinomori Park.”
“The digital gate will appear at those coordinates in ninety seconds. Lead Parrotmon there and we’ll send him back to the Digital World.”
Taichi and the others replied “Roger!” at Koushiro’s instructions.
Greymon raised his fist in order to knock Parrotmon out cold. But in that moment, electricity shot out from the feathers on Parrotmon’s head again. It grazed Greymon’s face, causing him to stagger. His body swerved, slamming onto the stairs of the connecting bridge. The stairs collapsed in falling rubble.
Taking advantage of that opening, Parrotmon opened his wings wide and shot up into the skies.
“Greymon!” Taichi cried, running up to Greymon. He spoke into his headset. “Hikari! Takeru!”
“Going after him!”
Taking his call, Hikari and Takeru ran through the streets. Angemon and Angewomon pursued Parrotmon from the skies.
“Drive him to the retrieval point!”
Hearing Hikari’s order, Angewomon unleashed her Holy Arrow. The arrow of light nicked Parrotmon, throwing him off balance. As she was about to quickly unleash another arrow, Parrotmon straightened up and shot an electric burst at them. Angewomon and Angemon pulled back to avoid the blow. The electric shock ran through the empty air between them and hit the outer wall of the Nakano Sun Plaza, causing rubble to fall to the ground like a rockslide.
People at the bottom of the building screamed. Takeru pushed himself up using the handrail of a connecting bridge and shouted, “Angemon!”
Angemon flew speedily through the air, deflecting the falling rubble towards empty, uninhabited places with his gold staff. But then, a massive piece of debris came down. A man was standing directly beneath it, paralyzed by pure panic. Deciding that he wouldn’t be able to effectively ricochet it away, Angemon scooped up the man in his arms and flew. The sound of the debris crashing to the ground came just behind them. It was a close call.
“Parrotmon normally isn’t the type of Digimon who likes battle. He could have been affected from the aurora last night,” Koushiro said as he perused Parrotmon’s data on his monitor.
“Why now when the aurora is long gone?” Hikari asked out loud in surprise.
Behind her, Taichi and Greymon were moving. Angewomon and Parrotmon continued to battle each other in the skies, but both sides were nimble so neither of them got a proper hit in.
“Sixty seconds until the gate opens!”
“Never mind, let’s first get him to the retrieval point,” Takeru said a bit impatiently.
“A second is all we need. Stop him from moving!” Taichi said into his headset as he ran alongside Greymon.
“Angemon!”
At Takeru’s call, Angemon approached Parrotmon with his staff ready. He aimed a full-body blow at Parrotmon’s head, knocking him to the ground.
Taichi shouted, “Greymon!”
Greymon made a giant leap off the ground. He landed on the roof of a nearby building, then jumped off that to grab the falling Parrotmon’s throat with his teeth. The two large Digimon crashed to the ground, rolling around in a scuffle. They broke through a glass building in front of them which finally slowed them down. Greymon attempted to pin Parrotmon down just then, but Parrotmon gave a mighty struggle.
The short-range electric shock that he shot out made Greymon wince and Parrotmon used that moment to slip out of the building and flee to the skies.
“Damn it! You okay?”
Greymon nodded at Taichi’s call.
“Hold him down!”
Angewomon flew gallantly through the air, unleashing three arrows consecutively in her chase. Parrotmon swiveled sharply to avoid them, shooting back with his lightning attack.
Angewomon swiftly moved in mid-air to dodge it. Immediately afterwards, while Parrotmon’s attention was focused on the enemy in front of him, a fireball from the ground struck Parrotmon directly. With a roar, the flames engulfed Parrotmon.
“Yes!”
Taichi raised his arms in triumph as Greymon stood beside him with smoke billowing from his mouth. That Mega Flame had made its mark. It definitely should have brought damage to Parrotmon.
As the explosion cleared, they saw Parrotmon wobbling in mid-air, just as they had expected. It was working.
But what happened next was unexpected. Parrotmon, who appeared to have lost consciousness, was beginning to free-fall. There was a building directly beneath him, and people could be seen on the roof.
“He’s going to hit that building!”
“Stop him!”
Hikari and Takeru cried out in horror as they converged with Taichi.
“Kuh!”
Angemon and Angewomon did their best to catch up to him, but they were too far.
“No!”
Taichi’s eyes widened. He could hear screams coming from the people on the roof and he felt himself go cold.
No good. They wouldn’t make it in time.
Just when he was about to turn his eyes away, a heroic-looking wolf Digimon bodyslammed into Parrotmon, blowing him backwards. The two Digimon fell straight into Shikinomori Park.
Taichi watched what happened, stupefied.
“Garurumon…” He whispered.
The loud sound of an engine came from behind them, and a motorcycle raced towards them. Taichi and the others shrank back.
The motorcycle parked in front of Taichi, a bit up ahead.
“Don’t be careless, Taichi!” Yamato Ishida shouted in anger as he took off his helmet.
“Yamato…”
Taichi gaped when he saw Yamato’s face, but immediately retorted back in annoyance, “Says you! Get here earlier!”
“Unlike you, I’m busy!”
“Koushiro-san. We’ve successfully led him to the retrieval point,” Takeru reported calmly into his headset as the two kept arguing beside him.
“Yes, I saw. Ten more seconds until the gate opens. Make sure he stays there!”
Hearing Koushiro’s command, Yamato turned to look at Shikinomori Park, all of his attention redirected to the problem before him. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“Yeah. Let’s finish this.”
Taichi stood next to Yamato, both holding out their smartphone digivices. The light from their digivices shone on their two Digimon.
Greymon’s left arm formed into a machine, and his head and chest were covered with armor. Six purple wings appeared on his back.
Greymon, super-evolve! MetalGreymon!
Garurumon stood up on his hind legs with a howl, changing into a bipedal form. A leather guard attached to his left shoulder and knee, and spiky brass knuckles were equipped on his left fist.
Garurumon, super-evolve! WereGarurumon!
Parrotmon had regained consciousness and was trying to take off from Shikinomori Park. MetalGreymon glared at him pointedly. He wasn’t getting away anymore.
MetalGreymon bent back his upper body and the hatches on his chest opened. It was his finishing attack, Giga Destroyer. Two missiles launched, flying low on the ground.
The missiles ascended up into the air just before they rained down on Parrotmon directly. The huge explosion that resulted shook the air.
Parrotmon, with his tattered wings, flew out of the explosion. As if anticipating that, WereGarurumon jumped up high. His whole body spun before he kicked Parrotmon to the ground. The impetus slammed Parrotmon’s body down and into a building. The sound of the impact rippled up everyone’s legs to their stomachs. Smoke and broken glass soared from the damaged building wall.
Parrotmon lay stretched out on the ground, unable to stand up. He was conscious but obviously weakened.
“Ten!” Koushiro’s voice said through the headset. He was counting down to when the digital gate opened.
Angewomon was in the skies, poised with her arrow ready, and Parrotmon shot lightning at her in a last act of defiance. But Angemon covered Angewomon, deflecting it with his staff. The lightning bolt hit the ground instead, stirring up clouds of dust.
Angewomon shot multiple arrows at Parrotmon, piercing his wings, shoulders, and legs. Parrotmon’s body was fixed completely to the ground.
“Three, two, one, zero!”
At the exact time as Koushiro’s countdown, a hole opened up beneath Parrotmon and the digital gate appeared.
Parrotmon gave a wild cry as he sank into it. When his entire body was in, the gate closed with a snap.
Koushiro, who watched it all on a monitor in his office, gave a sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair.
“The digital gate is closed. Parrotmon’s transfer has been completed.”
The others at the scene also sighed in relief when they heard the report.
Taichi and Yamato looked at one another and gave a high-five to show their appreciation for the other’s efforts. Several buildings had been destroyed, but they had defended lives.

Their Digimon, back in their smaller forms, returned to them.
“We did it, Taichi,” Agumon said.
“Yeah!”
“Yamato~”
“Takeru~”
“Hikari.”
Gabumon and Tailmon rushed back to Yamato and Hikari, while Patamon landed on top of Takeru’s head as though it was his own personal seat.
“Still, only the four of us came? What happened to the others?”
“Everyone has their own business to take care of. We have no right to complain,” Yamato pointed out calmly at Taichi’s disgruntled squawk.
“Did you guys eat breakfast? Do you want to eat together if you haven’t yet?” Takeru suggested, looking around at the group.
“I’ll go!” Patamon said, raising his short arm adorably.
“And me!”
“Me too! Me too!”
Gabumon and Agumon jumped up and down for joy.
“What about you, Hikari?” Tailmon asked.
“Of course I’ll go. What about you, Brother?”
Taichi looked at his phone and smiled up at them apologetically.
“Sorry. I gotta get to class.”
Waving goodbye, Taichi hurriedly rushed off.
“Mom said to show your face at home once in awhile!” Hikari shouted at her brother’s retreating back.
Yamato turned to Takeru. “Sorry, I’ve got stuff to take care of too. Takeru, will you take Gabumon?”
“Okay.”
Yamato got on his motorcycle and made a U-turn, driving off.
Agumon and Gabumon watched as their partners busily retreated and said in unison, “…They’re gone.”

The university cafeteria was bustling with students. The sunlight shone pleasantly through the large windows, creating a lively, invigorating atmosphere.
But Taichi’s heart felt gloomy. He was looking down with his brows scrunched at a form labeled “Summary of Bachelor Thesis” on the table.
“Why are you acting so quiet? You’re not even eating.”
Taichi looked up at that voice. At some point, without him noticing, his school friends Morikawa and Nemoto had sat down across from him.
The fashionable Morikawa was wearing a stylish outfit as usual. Nemoto was a girl who attended the same seminar as Taichi, and acted as the older sister of their group.
“You still haven’t decided on the theme of your graduation thesis?” Nemoto asked.
Taichi quickly turned the form over.
“It’s not that I haven’t decided. I just can’t decide,” Taichi answered. He split his wooden chopsticks and began eating his udon.
“That’s the same thing,” Nemoto said in exasperation.
“Do you even want to graduate?”
“Of course. And that’s a fact,” Taichi said, pointing his chopsticks at Morikawa.
“What about job applications?” Nemoto asked.
“Of course I’ll do that too,” he said, this time pointing his chopsticks at her.
“Don’t point at people with chopsticks.”
Morikawa held up three fingers, smiling triumphantly. “I’ve gotten job offers from three places so far. What about you?”
“Urk,” Taichi grimaced, unable to find a response.
“You haven’t even begun applying yet, have you? Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Nemoto asked worriedly.
“I’ll be fine… Now just isn’t the right time,” Taichi said, trying to sound tough, and he continued to eat.

“Who said that?” Yamato asked his friend Abe, who was walking in front of him. They were climbing up the entrance stairway of their university.
“It’s everyone, man. Everyone! The word is that Ishida is gonna be welcomed as an executive officer for the S.D.F.!”
“Who would believe a stupid story like that?” Yamato said in exasperation.
“What, so it’s not true? But you guys are famous, it’s no wonder there are rumors about you. Comes with being a ‘chosen one,’ right?”
Abe tapped on his smartphone and showed the screen to Yamato. It had online news articles on the Parrotmon that had appeared that morning.
“It was you guys who took care of the incident in Nakano today, right?”
Yamato gazed at the smartphone screen without answering.
“The only thing ordinary guys like me have going for them is working for society starting in April.”
“You got a job?”
“My first choice,” Abe said proudly.
“I see… Congratulations.”
Yamato’s words were congratulatory, but there was an awkward smile on his face. He couldn’t help but feel somehow that his friend had gotten the jump on him.
Abe gave him an easy laugh and a thumbs-up before turning around and heading up the stairs.
As Yamato watched his friend’s retreating back, a shadowy sensation crossed his mind that he was being left behind.
It was only when his friend was no longer visible that Yamato looked down.

As he wandered Shibuya, a light musical tune reached his ears. Yamato looked up to his left to see where the music was coming from.
A small boy was playing the harmonica inside a musical instrument store.
Feelings of both nostalgia and desolation welled up in his heart. His band had broken up years ago, but he still enjoyed music as a hobby. Yet, why did it make him feel so alone?
Yamato turned his face back to look ahead and continued to walk.

Taichi walked alone on the dark streets at night. After his classes today, he had gone straight to his part-time job at a pachinko parlor and was now heading home.
When he opened the front door of his apartment, he switched on the light. This was his fourth year living on his own, which he had begun once he’d entered university. He was used to coming to an empty home with no one to greet him by now.
He dropped a convenience store bag on the table. In it was the katsudon that would be his dinner. He opened his fridge to take out a can of beer.
As he sat at the table, he suddenly remembered his conversation with Morikawa and Nemoto earlier that afternoon. The gloomy, uncertain feelings came flickering through his head once more.
Without much thought, he went to the TV rack and opened its topmost drawer, looking inside. His original digivice and goggles were kept there.
As he gazed at them, he easily remembered the days when he had gone on that adventure with his friends. Sometimes he had doubts and sometimes he and his friends had clashed, but it was because of those days that he was the person he was now.
After a few moments of gazing, Taichi slowly took a hold of his smartphone.

Taichi and Yamato sat facing each other in an offal meat restaurant in Asagaya. Yamato came all the way from Shibuya to meet Taichi after receiving his call.
“I see. In other words, your classmates criticized you and now you’re feeling troubled,” Yamato said as he held his glass full of beer.
“I’m not troubled,” Taichi responded, chugging his own beer. “I just want to do what I really want to do.”
It was how he truly felt, but somehow it also made him feel awkward and embarrassed. Taichi looked away.
“If you have such a positive outlook on it already, then why did you call me?”
That hit a nerve.
“Ugh,” Taichi responded, quickly changing the subject. “Yamato, you’re heading to graduate school, right? Why aren’t you applying to jobs?”
It was Yamato’s turn to look away. “No idea.”
“No idea?”
“I don’t know if going to graduate school is really even the right choice for me. I’m doing it to find out what I really want to do with my life… But maybe all I want is a grace period.”
Saying that quietly, Yamato drained his beer glass. He sighed and looked at Taichi, continuing. “We know a lot of people around us with goals, though, so maybe it’s just more of a sensitive topic than usual for us.”
“You have a point,” Taichi said, remembering their friends. “Jou is steadily becoming a doctor, Mimi put up an online shop selling general goods, and Koushiro is a CEO. Even Hikari, Daisuke, and the others look like they’re working towards a goal…”
Taichi grabbed the offal meat with his chopsticks. “By the way, what about Takeru?”
“He told me he’s writing a novel. He hasn’t let me read it yet, though,” Yamato answered, eating a piece of offal meat.
“A novel, huh?” Taichi murmured in admiration.
“Sora has been putting all of her time into studying flower arrangement recently.”
“Hmm,” Taichi answered halfheartedly as he played with his piece of offal meat in the sauce dish.
Yamato’s gaze dropped to the table, his expression forlorn. “Things can’t stay the same like they used to. Choosing your own path can sometimes mean being alienated from friends.”
Taichi was already well aware of that. But pain still shot through his chest hearing it put into words again. He sighed dramatically in order to alleviate the heavy atmosphere.
“The only things that never change are our Digimon.”
“A lot’s happened and now we can open the gate whenever we want, but those guys really do stay the same.”
“You should take Gabumon with you to your classes,” Taichi said jokingly.
Yamato smiled wryly. “Don’t be stupid. Why don’t you take Agumon to your classes?”
“It’s not that simple. I have my own life to live.”
There, the conversation dropped and the two hung their heads awkwardly. That’s right. People each had their own lives to live, and there was nothing else that could be done about it.
In the silence, they could hear the conversations of the other restaurant patrons.
“If that’s the case, I’d rather not grow up at all,” a woman’s voice was saying. They felt as if she was voicing their thoughts out loud.
“Hey, Yamato. We…”
Taichi was about to break the uncomfortable silence when there was a loud thump behind him. He turned around in surprise to see that the girl sitting behind him had collapsed to the ground. Her arm was drooped to the floor, telling them instantly that she was unconscious.
“Ayaka!”
A woman that appeared to be her friend rushed to the fallen woman and crouched down. “Hey, wake up!”
“Is she okay?” Taichi said, standing up.
“I don’t know!” the woman said in bewilderment.
“Yamato, call the ambulance!”
“Got it.”
“Ayaka! Ayaka!”
Taichi rushed to the woman as well, bending down on his knees. “Did you drink?”
“No!” The woman cried with grief. Taichi looked at their table.
There was a smartphone on the table, its screen wet from spilled oolong tea. A light glimmered from it.

Cumulonimbus clouds were forming across the sky.
As the students sat in the lecture hall, listening attentively to the professor’s lesson, Taichi secretly browsed the news with his smartphone on the desk.
“As of early morning on the 20th, there have been reports of several people falling into a coma throughout Tokyo and being transported to the hospital. Eight of them are men, while five are woman. The cause of their collapse is still unknown, and none appear to have regained consciousness yet.”
As he slowly perused the articles, he received an e-mail notification. The sender was “Koushiro Izumi.”

Taichi, Yamato, Koushiro, Takeru, and their Digimon partners gathered in the conference room at Koushiro’s office in Odaiba. The room was tidy and simple, but gave off a chic atmosphere. There was a decorative plant placed by the windows, and on his desk were his computer and multiple monitors.
“Tentomon,” Agumon said in greeting.
“Have you been well?” Tentomon said in his usual friendly manner.
“Thank you all for coming when you’re so busy,” Koushiro said formally.
“It’s an emergency, right? Don’t worry about it,” Taichi assured.
“Indeed. Take a look at this first.”
Koushiro shifted his weight on his swivel chair to face the monitors and double-clicked an icon with his mouse. A portrait-oriented video that looked like it was filmed by smartphone opened up. The video was in an apartment room. Exotic-looking non-Japanese buildings could be seen behind the windows, and there was a woman wearing glasses standing before it. She was someone they were all familiar with.
“Hola! Long time no see, everyone! It’s Miyako from her study abroad! Paella is amazing, let me tell you!” Miyako Inoue said excitedly with both thumbs up. She came closer to the camera.
“Wai— Miyako-san, you’ll look blurry if you move around like that!”
“What, no! You’re just bad at this, Hawkmon. Give it here.”
“Eh?!”
Her hand covered the screen before it switched to selfie mode. Hawkmon was standing dazedly under Miyako’s arm.
“I may be in another country right now, but I’m still pretty active in the online Digimon community and people come to me asking for advice and stuff. Which is how I received this e-mail.”
“Here it is,” Hawkmon said.
The camera moved in a blur, showing her computer screen. There was a window tab of the e-mail opened, but the blur made it a bit hard to read.
“I wasn’t sure what to do, so I figured dump… I mean, consulting with you guys would be the best choice. So I’ve forwarded the e-mail to Izumi-senpai.”
The screen shook violently again, returning to selfie mode.
Miyako saluted into the camera and continued cheerfully, “I leave the rest to you then! Adios!”
“Adios!” Hawkmon added as he came into camera view, and the video ended as blurry as it had begun.
“…You guys also heard her say she was dumping this on us, right?” Taichi mumbled. He couldn’t help himself.
“What’s the e-mail about?” Yamato asked Koushiro.
“It’s better to hear it directly from the sender rather than from myself.”
“What? The sender is here?” Takeru asked.
“Please come in,” Koushiro called out. The door opened and a man and a woman entered the room.
The woman was young, wearing a blouse and skirt. Her long braided hair sloped over her right shoulder. There was a cute butterfly hairpiece pinned at the end of it. Her eyes were a beautiful green and she had a soft smile.
The taller male appeared Japanese, with a stiff look on his face that could be interpreted as either serious or surly. His good physique was apparent even through his suit.
The woman introduced herself in a lively voice. “Good morning, everyone! Pleased to meet you all. I’m Menoa Bellucci, an associate professor at Liberica University in New York City.”
Her cheerful, daring personality was clear from her brisk tone.
The man spoke up next, his face still as stiff as a board. “I’m Kyoutaro Imura, her assistant. Pleased to meet you.”
His voice, in contrast, was curt. He seemed like the type that preferred keeping his distance from strangers.
“Pleased to meet you!” the Digimon greeted back cheerfully.
“Pleased to meet you. You’re very good at Japanese, Menoa-san,” Takeru said, impressed.
“Thanks,” Menoa said lightly.
“Just so we’re all clear on this, our specialty isn’t on physics or chemistry but Digimon research,” Imura continued indifferently.
Taichi and Yamato both immediately looked nervous.
“Don’t worry. We’re not planning on using you guys as lab rats.”
“We wanted your help on solving a certain investigation,” Menoa said, grinning as she looked around at them. “Since you’re the heroes who have saved the world again and again, your help is necessary.”
“So you’ve done your research.”
Menoa shrugged at Yamato’s words. “Research is my specialty.”
“The investigation we’re working on has to do with the mass coma incidents that have been occurring throughout the world recently.”
At Imura’s words, Taichi and Yamato looked at one another.
Koushiro double-clicked something on his desk computer and everyone peered to look at the screen. It showed an opened photo of someone collapsed on the side of a road. There were other photos that were similar to it, even photos of patients lying in hospital beds. He also had a distribution list of where the victims were located on the world map.
“A large number of otherwise healthy people worldwide have fallen into a comatose state. Probably three hundred of them have been reported to date,” Menoa said as she peered at the monitor. “The victims appeared random at first, but they all have a connection. It’s—”
“All of them are Chosen Children?”
“That’s right.”
“As expected, you’re sharp, Koushiro Izumi,” Imura said monotonously.
“There wouldn’t be a reason for you to come here otherwise. Also, I have noticed that several Chosen Children on the database have dropped contact out of nowhere recently.”
From the three computer monitors on Koushiro’s desk, the far left displayed the list of the Chosen Children. A few names on that list were marked with “Unable to communicate” next to them.
Menoa, watching Koushiro explain with a sidelong look, returned her gaze to the center monitor. “So far, none of them have regained consciousness. All of their Digimon partners are missing as well.”
“No way,” Takeru said, his eyes wide with shock.
“Their Digimon too?” Patamon said worriedly.
“From the four places that we’ve investigated, we’ve found minuscule amounts of digital static and traces of a Digimon,” Imura said in his businesslike tone.
Koushiro frowned as he put a hand up to his chin. “So you’re saying that the criminal is a Digimon.”
“Yes. We’re certain of it. We created a pattern out of the traces of digital static and went in pursuit. We’ve located that Digimon’s hiding place. What’s more, this Digimon’s data is made up of patterns that are unlike that of Digimon in the Digital World.”
“Then it’s…!” Koushiro’s eyes widened.
“An unknown…”
“Digimon…”
Even Taichi and Yamato gulped in surprise.
“Yes. We call it Eosmon.”
“Eosmon,” Yamato repeated.
“That’s the name I’ve given it. Since I found it one early morning, I took the name of Eos, the Greek god of dawn.”
“This goes without saying, but we can’t tolerate any more damages,” said Imura.
“A Digimon that steals the Chosen Children’s awareness…” Koushiro whispered, as if reaffirming the threat.
“But there is a way to save them.”
“Huh?” They all said at Menoa’s words.
“Eosmon is stealing their consciousness by changing it into data, in some way,” Imura said.
“And it seems to be saving that data temporarily in an area of cyberspace that’s under its control.”
“Then that means…” Takeru said.
Patamon on top of his head tilted his own head in thought. “In other words?”
Koushiro’s eyes lowered as he deliberated. “If we defeat Eosmon and salvage that awareness data from cyberspace—”
“Everyone will be saved,” Taichi finished the sentence.
Menoa turned towards them. “We want your help. That’s why we’ve come here.”
“Then we’ll just have to do it! Right, guys?” Taichi cried out determinedly, turning to Yamato and the others.
Yamato felt a wave of nostalgia seeing Taichi like that, but immediately put on a stern face. “Yeah. But as I’m sure you already know, Taichi, there are people’s lives on the line.”
“We should form our plan with caution.”
“Urk…” Taichi drooped a bit under Yamato and Koushiro’s warnings.
“But we also have no time to be taking things slow,” Menoa said.
“That’s why we’ve already devised a plan.” Imura placed a USB memory stick on Koushiro’s desk.
“If there’s anything at all that we can help with, just say so,” Menoa added. “We’ll do everything we can.”

A ceiling projector was turned on, projecting onto a wall.
“Now, let’s begin the briefing,” Koushiro said, standing before the wall. “This plan has been made based on Menoa-san’s suggestions. Our target is Eosmon.”
A 3-D figure of Eosmon made with wireframing appeared on the screen. They could tell that it had antennae and wings, but the structure of its whole body overall was unclear.
Gabumon’s face turned dark as he looked at the image. “So this is Eosmon.”
“Hey, Taichi. We just have to beat this Digimon, right?” Agumon said, sounding motivated.
“Yeah, that’s right.” Taichi gave a big nod. Seeing the images made him finally feel that this was really happening.
“Its level is unknown, but I believe the four Digimon that we have here will be enough to handle it.”
The 3-D wireframe figures of Agumon, Gabumon, Patamon, and Tentomon appeared on screen.
“Hey, it’s us.”
“Why do we look like webs?” Patamon asked innocently.
Letting the Digimon’s words go in one ear and out the other, Koushiro continued with a serious look. “The thing we need to worry about most is…”
“Not letting it escape,” Menoa said, resting her chin in her hands. “That’s right.”
The projector displayed the area map where Eosmon was hidden.
“Therefore, we’ll first use Kabuterimon and Angemon to block off the entire area where the target is.”
The lines on the map that surrounded the target turned into a square.
“This looks like drive fishing,” Tentomon remarked.
“The website’s domain is linked to an aquarium, so I guess that thought works?” Takeru said.
“For the blockade, we will use the newly programmed ‘wide area siege net.’ It’s strong enough to defend against Perfect level attacks.”
Koushiro fiddled with the switch and Greymon and Garurumon appeared on screen.
“Once we’ve finished locking the area down, Taichi-san and Yamato-san will eliminate the target with their partners.”
Koushiro turned to Menoa, sitting on the sofa. “We’ll leave Menoa-san to handle the backup for this strategy.”
“Of course!” Menoa said confidently, sitting up straight.
“The goal of this plan is to recover the awareness data that Eosmon has stolen. Defeating Eosmon, therefore, is essential. Let’s keep our guards up, everyone, and make every action count!”
Taking in Koushiro’s words, Taichi slapped a palm on his knee to psyche himself up. “All right, guys! Let’s go!”

Taichi and the others flew with their Digimon partners through the tunnel-like passages of the cyberspace.
“Do you all know the plan?” Koushiro asked.
“We’re fine. Don’t worry about it,” Taichi answered.
“Well, I guess it’s not that difficult,” Koushiro agreed, fixing his necktie.
A buzzer rang and they looked up. A browser window opened in the direction of their travel, showing Menoa.
“Hello. Can you hear me, everyone?”
Menoa and Imura were using the computer in Koushiro’s office to backup their strategy.
“Menoa-san, are you ready to salvage the awareness data?” Koushiro asked.
“No problem.”
Menoa winked and the screen flipped to Imura.
“If you capture all of the data in that area of cyberspace, then theoretically it will be possible to recover their consciousness.”
“You guys are almost there. Are you ready?”
“Yeah. We’ll end this fast.”
“Taichi, don’t let your guard down,” Yamato rebuked.
Menoa gave a small smirk, said “Good luck,” and the window closed.
As they advanced through the winding cyberspace tubes, they saw a large sphere up ahead. It was the domain of the aquarium, which was their destination, as well as the cyberspace where Eosmon resided.
Taichi and the group plunged into the sphere. In preparation for battle, their Digimon partners evolved to Adult level just before they entered.
“Transfer complete,” said Menoa.
The interior of the sphere was curved walls, with a thick pillar extending vertically at the center. Perhaps because it was the aquarium’s domain, schools of fish swam through the icons and blocks of various sizes floating in space.
Taichi looked around. He found their target at once.
Eosmon was floating in mid-air in front of the central pillar. It wasn’t even bothering to hide.
Its crystal wings were folded over itself so that it looked like a round ball. They couldn’t tell what its body looked like, only that it was quite small.
In Koushiro’s office, Menoa’s fingers were typing on the keyboard at lightning speed as she worked on the backup.
“Moving onto phase two of the mission. Backup of the area’s data commencing.”
“I see it. I’m sending you the wide area siege net.”
As Imura typed on the keyboard, cylindrical objects that looked like a bazooka appeared before Kabuterimon and Angemon.
“Let’s go.”
At Koushiro’s urging, Kabuterimon and Angemon separated to the left and the right. They moved around the cyberspace in a circle, shooting out black spheres from the bazookas.
The black spheres flew to the center of the area, stopping in mid-air.
Kabuterimon and Angemon continued to shoot the bazookas, working silently. It wasn’t long before Eosmon’s antennae began to unfurl like licks of flame out from its curled up head. But Eosmon didn’t move. All it did was look out from behind its wings and observe the two Digimon.
After confirming that there were enough floating black spheres to cover the cyberspace area, Imura made his move.
“Wide area siege net at deployment rate of one hundred percent. Active.”
When Imura pressed the key, the black spheres popped, creating rays of light that flew in all directions. The rays connected together as they expanded through the area in the blink of an eye.
As if finally sensing that something was wrong, Eosmon opened its wings, revealing its entire form.
It had long arms and short legs. Its wings looked like hexagonal panels put together. It was probably an insect Digimon. Its size was so small that it was smaller than Taichi.
Eosmon flew off and tried to escape outside, but the net of light stretched out in front of it blocked its path. It turned and tried to find a different route, but there was already no place to run.
“The enclosure is complete. Now it’s your turn to salvage. Do your best,” Imura reported matter-of-factly.
“Well, that’s a haughty way to put it,” Yamato grumbled as he climbed off Garurumon’s back.
“We just have to beat that guy, right?” said Taichi.
At Taichi’s “Let go!” as the signal, Greymon and Garurumon leaped towards Eosmon.
Noticing their presence, Eosmon’s eyes moved from the net to the incoming Digimon.
A fireball was already built up in Greymon’s mouth and he attacked with his Mega Flame. The flame hit Eosmon squarely. When Eosmon flew out of the explosion, he kept shooting more fireballs which also hit it. However, the opponent didn’t appear to be fazed.
As Eosmon kept running even while receiving attacks, Garurumon chased after it. He spat blue-white flame at Eosmon, but it dodged nimbly. Garurumon kept attacking, but Eosmon kept evading the blows with quick moves.
All of a sudden, one panel of Eosmon’s wings broke off and aimed for Garurumon. The hexagonal object flew straight for its mark.
Garurumon twisted himself, managing to avoid it. The flying panel gradually lost speed and stopped in mid-air.
“Ghh. It’s fast,” Garurumon said in annoyance.
“But not so fast that we can’t catch it,” Yamato said encouragingly.
“We can do this!” Taichi said.
Greymon pursued Eosmon, shooting out fireballs. But the distance between him and Eosmon, who was flying at a lower altitude, wasn’t shortening.
Angemon, supporting Greymon from higher up, threw his staff at Eosmon. Eosmon braked suddenly when the staff came down, blocking its path. It changed direction, ascending vertically along the central pillar. Kabuterimon was waiting for that and aimed for Eosmon with his Mega Blaster. He unleashed the energy he had stored up before him in one blow.
Eosmon tried hurriedly to dodge it, but the shot hit its left arm. It lost its balance and flew backwards, spinning.
Garurumon chased after it with his claws outstretched. Eosmon was sent flying with tremendous speed into blocks that floated like bubbles through the digital cyberspace.
Seeing Eosmon buried beneath the blocks, Takeru cried out, “We got it!”
“Now’s the time!” said Koushiro.
“Let’s do this!” Taichi said fiercely.
Just as their Digimon were about to attack in unison, Eosmon raised its head. Its body flashed with intense light.
“Guh!” Their Digimon shielded their eyes.
“What’s that?” said Kabuterimon.
“This is…!” Angemon said in a tight voice.
On the monitor in Koushiro’s office, Eosmon’s icon filled with “0”s and “1”s running through it. The data that made up Eosmon was rapidly being rewritten.
When she saw that, Menoa’s eyes widened in astonishment and she whispered, “…Evolution.”
As the flash died down, Taichi and Yamato lowered their arms covering their faces and slowly looked ahead. Standing before them was Eosmon, now with an even bigger, hardened-looking body.
As if to demonstrate its newfound power, Eosmon slowly spread a raised hand in front of its face.
Apart from slender arms extending from its shoulders, it also had larger arms made up of hexagonal panels coming out from both sides of its abdomen. The feelers on its head rippled like flames, and its crystal-like wings were beautiful to look at. Its body parts were angular all over, making it look more mechanical than biological.
Takeru muttered in shock, “Eosmon just…”
“Evolved…” Even Koushiro looked upset.
“Doesn’t matter.”
Greymon gazed undauntedly at Eosmon. No matter what shape their opponent took on, it didn’t change what they needed to do.
“Yeah. Let’s do it!” Garurumon agreed.
Greymon and Garurumon lunged towards Eosmon. To meet them head-to-head, Eosmon used its large hands to push itself against a block and shot forward from the recoil.
Its speed was so great that Greymon didn’t have time to step out of Eosmon’s way. Greymon’s body was easily lifted and slammed into the siege net, held down.
“Greymon!” Taichi cried.
“Garurumon!”
At Yamato’s orders, Garurumon opened his mouth and let loose a stream of fire. But just before it reached Eosmon, the fire dispersed as if blocked by an invisible wall.
Yamato’s jaw tightened. “It deflected it!”
Shining particles of light floated around Eosmon. Seeing that made Koushiro realize what was happening.
“Its scales! Eosmon is shedding scales that deflect attacks!”
“In that case…” Takeru said, giving Angemon a look.
Angemon immediately headed towards Eosmon to attack. Eosmon was just about to plunge its antennae that sharpened like a lance at Greymon, when Angemon drove it away with swipes of his golden staff.
Retreating from Greymon, Eosmon landed on top of the panel that it had discharged earlier. Angemon chased it, swinging his arm to shoot his Heaven’s Knuckle at close range.
They all thought that Angemon’s attack had hit its mark, but all it destroyed was the panel that Eosmon was standing on.
“What?!”
While confused, Angemon sensed a presence above him and looked up. Eosmon, who should have been standing in front of him a moment ago, was standing on a panel that was far above.
Before Angemon could understand what was going on, Eosmon pushed off against the panel with its limbs. The oncoming rush was too fast for Angemon to react, and the feathers of his wings scattered painfully.
“Angemon!” Takeru shouted, appalled.
Eosmon used the panels to move at high speed through the air in all directions. It looked like both a threat and a display showing off its power.
“It’s fast!” Taichi said in surprise, following Eosmon as hard as he could with his eyes.
“The panel that it first ejected…” Koushiro said.
“Was meant to be used for high-speed travel,” Angemon said, the pain from the damage he had endured seeping into his voice.
“I’ll stop them!”
Kabuterimon took flight to try and release his Mega Blaster, but Eosmon passed by him at high speed as if ridiculing him.
Unable to catch the target in his sights, Kabuterimon murmured, “Oh crap.”
While moving at high speed, Eosmon extended its antennae like a beam. The antennae hit Kabuterimon in the shoulder, throwing him backwards.
“Gwah!”
“Kabuterimon!”
Koushiro looked fretful. “Menoa-san, what’s the status on the area’s data backup?”
“Sixty two percent. It still needs more time!” Menoa answered, her eyes running across the screen.
Yamato raised his voice. “Taichi! No holding back!”
“Yeah. Let’s do it!”
In response to their humans’ will to finish this at once, Greymon and Garurumon became spheres of light, rising up in a spiral like upside down meteors. When the lights crossed together, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon’s heads appeared and the light particles spewing out from them took shape. Even Eosmon stared at the glow of the beautiful light.
Unable to help herself as she looked at the monitor, Menoa whispered, “This is…”
“Omegamon.”
Even Imura’s voice held a faint tinge of astonishment.
The intense light that illuminated the cyberspace area gradually faded. When the light disappeared, Omegamon appeared in his brave knightly form, spreading both his arms as his cloak fluttered behind him. His round blue eyes shone beneath his white helmet and armor. Taichi’s Crest of Courage and Yamato’s Crest of Friendship were combined to form the emblem on his chest. Just him standing there gave the impression of a dignified and much experienced warrior.
“Go!” Taichi and Yamato screamed as one, and Omegamon stuck out his right arm that had the head of MetalGarurumon. It opened its mouth and a cannon emerged from inside.
Using his right arm to prop it up, Omegamon fired with the Garuru Cannon. A ball of light that contained enormous energy headed straight for Eosmon.
Eosmon used the panels once more as footholds to move at high speed. The ball of light smashed a panel behind Eosmon, exploding with a deafening sound.
Omegamon continued to shoot his Garuru Cannon a second and third time, which Eosmon continued to dodge by traveling between panels as if teleporting.
“It’s fast,” Takeru said.
“No. Omegamon is aiming for the panels.”
Just as Koushiro said, Omegamon was using his Garuru Cannon to destroy the panels in the area. With every shot, a panel easily crumbled. Omegamon mercilessly destroyed all of the panels in his sight.
Eosmon looked around its surroundings as if searching for something. But there were no more panels left to be seen.
“Now!”
In response to Yamato’s voice, Omegamon unleashed a full-body Garuru Cannon. His cape fluttered back against the impact of the discharge. The giant ball of light flew in a straight line.
The bombardment finally hit Eosmon. A great explosion swelled up with a tremendous sound loud enough to hurt the eardrums.
Eosmon’s left arm was blown off, worn from the damage.
Shaking a fist, Taichi cried. “Finish it off! Omegamon!”
Omegamon flew through the air posing with his Grey Sword high in the air. His distance with Eosmon shortened.
“Yes!” Takeru said, holding up his fists. He was certain that they had won.
Koushiro was also smiling and nodded.
“Go!” Yamato said, leaning forward.
“You’re finished!” Taichi cried.

The change took place in Taichi’s room.
In that quiet room, empty of anyone, a ring of light suddenly appeared on the original digivice that was in his drawers.

“What’s going on?”
Taichi froze as he watched the unusual event take place in front of him.
Just as the point of the sword was about to reach Eosmon, Omegamon stopped moving all of a sudden. He didn’t appear to have been attacked. But every part of his body began to move irregularly, as if he had suddenly lost control.
“Omegamon!” Yamato cried, confused.
Omegamon’s body moved jerkily, like a puppet that was being roughly played with. He couldn’t even move his eyes in the direction that he wanted. Before long, his body lit up and split into Agumon and Gabumon, who were sent flying.
“Gweh!”
Agumon banged into an icon that was floating in the area, and degenerated to Koromon.
“Gwah!”
Gabumon was struck by a block, and he returned to Tsunomon.
“What’s going on?! Why did Omegamon’s fusion separate?!” Taichi cried out shakily over this unexpected outcome.
“Koushiro! Explain!” Yamato asked wildly, also losing his composure.
“How should I know?!”
“If they’re back to Baby levels, then this won’t…” Takeru said.
“Tsunomon!”
As she listened to the jumble of confused voices while monitoring, Menoa’s eyes widened with astonishment. “It can’t be…”
Eosmon had used their moment of agitation to cling itself to the siege net. From there, it plunged an arm into the net, trying to rip it open.
“It’s trying to get away!” Takeru cried in panic.
“I won’t allow it!” Angemon said, heading to stop it.
Eosmon’s antennae shot forward to attack the approaching Angemon. Because his wings were damaged, Angemon didn’t have extra strength to avoid the blow. He took the blow head-on, tragically shot down.
“Angemon!”
“Koushiro-han, I’ll go!”
Kabuterimon moved forward to stop Eosmon, but its lightning-quick antennae beat him to the punch. He was blown backwards.
“Gwah!”
“Kabuterimon!”
Koushiro turned around. He saw the floating remains of Eosmon’s left arm in the direction where Kabuterimon went flying.
Having eliminated the threat in front of it, Eosmon’s antennae restored back in their rightful position. The hole where it inserted its arm gradually got wider.
“No good, it’s getting away!” Taichi said as he held the limp Koromon.
Applying strength into its arm, Eosmon ripped apart the siege net.
“Kuh!” Yamato grit his teeth in frustration.
A gate opened up on the outer wall, and Eosmon jumped in.

On the computer monitor that Menoa was working from, a message appeared that stated they had not only lost their target, but that the awareness data in the area had disappeared as well.
Dumbfounded, Menoa leaned back into her chair.

The room was filled with a heavy atmosphere. They had returned to Koushiro’s office after the plan had failed.
Taichi slammed both hands against the desk in frustration. “What’s going on?! Why did Omegamon’s fusion suddenly come apart?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to think that Omegamon received damage. Yet, for some reason, they returned to Baby level,” Koushiro said thoughtfully, with a hand to his mouth.
On the sofa, they were hurriedly feeding hamburgers and french fries to Koromon, Tsunomon, Tentomon, and Patamon to help them recover their energy.
“At any rate, we need to reform our strategy,” Yamato said.
“I know, but…” Taichi turned to look at Koromon. “What do we do in this state?”
No one could answer Taichi’s question.
Before the heavy silence overpowered them, Koushiro spoke up.
“For now, let’s concentrate on finding Eosmon and the awareness data. I’ll also look into why Omegamon became that way. Maybe there’s something in that cyberspace that prevents Digimon from evolving.”
“You’re wrong.”
Koushiro’s words died at Menoa’s voice.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Menoa. Agumon and Gabumon had returned back to their Child levels at some point, and were looking at her blankly as well.
“What do you mean he’s wrong?”
“This is most likely your problem,” Menoa said quietly, standing up to face Taichi.
“Our problem?” Yamato said dubiously.
“What do you mean?” Koushiro asked with knitted brows.
“Do all of you know why it’s children who are chosen to be partners with Digimon?”
As she spoke, Menoa moved towards the window. Huge cloud columns towered outside.
She continued as she watched the clouds. “It’s because children are full of possibilities.”
“Possibilities?” Taichi repeated.
Menoa lifted a hand up against the glass window as if tracing the faraway clouds with her fingers. Lightning sparked disturbingly within the clouds.
“The future is rife with limitless choices. You grow as a person by making those choices. ‘Growth’ and ‘possibilities’ together produce vast energy.”
Saying this, Menoa made a fist.
“As I’m sure you guys are already aware, the evolutions of your Digimon partners are triggered by your growth.”
Taichi and the others listened to Menoa’s explanation with uneasy faces.
“In our daily lives, we make tons of choices and grow. But in those choices, the power that exists between you and your Digimon gradually decreases. When that power is gone…”
Menoa trailed off, and looked back at them sadly.
“Your partnership with your Digimon ends.”
Taichi and the others swallowed in stricken silence at Menoa’s cruel declaration.
“What do you mean?” Agumon said.
“We have to separate?” Gabumon asked as confirmation.
“What? No!” Patamon cried like a small child.
“I don’t understand,” said Tentomon.
Menoa spoke plainly as the Digimon began to make a fuss. “It’s exactly as I say.”
“This is my first time hearing about this,” Koushiro objected. There was the possibility that it was a lie or a mistake. In fact, he wanted it to be those.
But Menoa’s expression didn’t change. “There are some things that even you guys don’t know.”
“Then how do you know?” Yamato asked provocatively
“It’s the theme of my research. Being unable to maintain an evolution is the first sign.”
Taichi abruptly turned around as though to toss Menoa’s explanation out of his mind. “Agumon!”
“Eh?”
“Let’s go. We’ll find Eosmon and take it down.”
“Don’t do it! If you push your partner to evolve and fight, you’ll be separated faster,” Menoa stepped in to stop the rash Taichi.
“I don’t believe you! Let’s go, Agumon,” Taichi yelled. He took his smartphone digivice out of his pocket and bent down to meet eye-to-eye with Agumon.
But it was there that Taichi noticed what was wrong and his expression hardened. Light in the shape of flower petals surrounded his Crest of Courage at the center of his digivice, forming a ring.

“What… is this?”
“That’s the proof,” Menoa admonished quietly. “That ring is the last light connecting you to your Digimon partner. When that ring of light disappears, you will separate.”
The other three boys hurriedly checked their smartphones.
Takeru let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the ring wasn’t there. Koushiro also breathed easier when he saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“I won’t accept this…”
Koushiro looked at Yamato, who had spoken in a low voice, and grew speechless. The ring of light shone brightly on Yamato’s smartphone.
“I will never accept this!” Yamato cried out indignantly, pushing Koushiro out of the way to leave the room.
“Brother!”
“Yamato~” Gabumon worriedly chased after him.
“Yamato…”
Taichi, who could only watch his upset friends walk off, looked back down at the ring again.
“So… What? You’re saying that when we grow up, all of us have to separate from our Digimon?”
Just as he said that, one petal of light vanished. A chill ran down Taichi’s spine. The shadow of unfamiliar anxiety spread through him.
“I won’t accept this either,” Koushiro stated bluntly. “Even if what you say is true, I won’t give up. I will find a way to solve this.”
“I understand how you feel,” Menoa said, looking down. “But this is the reality.”

Yamato and Gabumon left Koushiro’s company office from the rear entrance. The ring was still floating on his smartphone, and Yamato clenched his teeth bitterly.
Gabumon was looking up at Yamato worriedly when he noticed a figure.
“Yamato, look,” he said, pointing in front of them.
Gabumon was pointing at Imura, who was standing behind a pillar as if hiding from view.
Come to think of it, Yamato remembered, he had been concentrating so hard on Menoa’s story that he hadn’t noticed before now. That man had suddenly disappeared from the room at some point.
Imura had his smartphone to his ear, apparently in the middle of a phone call.
“Yeah, I’ll go to you,” Imura said, ending the call and walking off.
Sensing that something was off, Yamato pulled in his chin and watched Imura’s back.
“Let’s go, Gabumon.”
“Huh? Okay!”
Yamato and Gabumon ran to keep Imura in their sights.

On a coastal street with a view of Rainbow Bridge, Taichi was walking along with his back hunched. His surroundings were filled with the loud competing cries of seagulls and cicadas. Normally he would have found the noise annoying, but now he paid them no attention at all.
No, he couldn’t pay attention to them. After leaving Koushiro’s office, questions without answers kept repeating themselves in his head.
Agumon, walking behind him, spoke to Taichi in his unchanging, usual tone.
“Taichi~ Hey, Taichi~ What happens to the three hundred people who are captured?”
“We have to find and help them,” Taichi replied absentmindedly. Even though he knew they had to do it, he just couldn’t put his heart into it.
“Yeah. I’ll do my best.”
“Yeah.”
The summer sunlight burnt the asphalt. The clouds in the sky and even the ocean nearby looked so peaceful that it felt like an insult.
As he looked up at Taichi’s back, Agumon spoke.
“…Hey, Taichi. When you become an adult, are we not able to be together anymore?”
A dull pain ran through his chest and Taichi stopped in his tracks. He felt that if he lowered his guard for even a little bit, he’d be swallowed up by the tumultuous anxiety and fear that he was holding back. He didn’t want to imagine a future where Agumon wasn’t with him. But at the same time, he knew that this was a problem that he couldn’t look away from.
How was he supposed to answer?
What was he supposed to do?
Wasn’t there something he could do?
Was it all even true to begin with?
Unable to form his thoughts, he couldn’t respond.
Agumon’s stomach growled loudly, cutting through their stuffy silence.
“Ah, sorry,” Agumon said, holding his stomach.
Taichi let out a huff, put on a smile to wipe the worry away, and turned around.
“Agumon. Let’s go eat.”

Three males were sitting at a counter in a ramen restaurant in New York City. The suspicious-looking one in the middle wearing round sunglasses and informal summer clothes folded his hands together and looked happily at the ramen and dumplings placed before him.
“Let’s eat!”
He split his wooden chopsticks and slurped the noodles with gusto. “So good!”
Satisfied with the flavor, Daisuke Motomiya raised the sunglasses on his face with a smile.
“Thank you for this meal,” both Ken Ichijouji and Iori Hida sitting on either side of Daisuke said politely with their hands folded.
On each of their laps were Chibimon, Minomon, and Upamon, hiding from public view.
“But why ramen?” Ken asked Daisuke.
“I’m planning to open a ramen shop here in the future. So, I need to gather info on my competitors.”
As Daisuke was explaining, Ken picked up a fried dumpling with his chopsticks and fed it to Minomon.
“It’s so good, Ken-chan. Thank you,” Minomon said happily.
“It’s good, but the flavor is no different from the ones in Tokyo. Also, the price—”
“Be quiet, Iori,” Daisuke said with pursed lips.
“Daisuke, I want some too!” Chibimon pleaded. Next to him, Iori was feeding noodles to Upamon.
“I like Yamatoya’s ramen better dagya,” Upamon said honestly.
“Here,” Daisuke said, feeding Chibimon his ramen.
Chibimon’s eyes shone after he chewed and swallowed. “So good!”
“Keep it down!” Daisuke hissed, clamping his hand over Chibimon’s mouth.
Just then, Daisuke’s smartphone rang.
“Who’s this?”
Daisuke took his smartphone from his chest pocket and looked suspiciously at the caller I.D. It was coming from a public telephone.
“Hello? Oh, it’s you, Yamato-senpai. Yeah, long time no see. Eh, now?”
Daisuke’s face took on a proud smile.
“We’re in New York City eating ramen right now!” he answered excitedly.
“Yeah. I heard from Takeru that you were there. That’s why I called.”
In contrast to Daisuke, Yamato’s voice was calm and composed.
“The digital gate sure is convenient, isn’t it? No airplane fees! We get to travel the world for free!”
The smartphone digivice that Koushiro developed enabled them to open a digital gate from anywhere. With it, they could travel to any place on Earth via the Digital World.
“Is there any change going on with your D-3s?”
“Huh? No, haven’t seen anything,” Daisuke said, confused.
“I see. Never mind then.”
“Is something wrong?”
After some hesitation, Yamato spoke.
“…To tell you the truth, there’s something I want you guys to do.”

“Background check?” Ken and Iori said at the same time.
The three of them were traveling down the streets after paying their bill.
“Menoa Bellucci and Kyoutaro Imura. He wants us to investigate those two,” Daisuke explained as they ran.
“But why dagya?”
“No idea.”
“Hmm, something smells fishy,” Chibimon said from atop Daisuke’s head.
“Daisuke. I know that person,” Ken said.
“Huh?”
“From what I recall, she entered university by skipping grades and earned her PhD and license. I bet she made the news as a child prodigy.”
“All right then! Let’s wrap this up quickly and catch a major league game!”
With an energetic full turn, Daisuke raised his arms up into the air.

Taichi sat at the window seat of a hamburger shop, smiling as he watched Agumon hungrily eat a hamburger beside him. Watching his partner happily chew on his food made him happy too.
But then he’d be struck by the sudden thought that moments like these weren’t going to last forever. Eternity didn’t exist. One day, they would have to separate. He knew that moment was coming. But no matter how often he was told that this approaching moment could come at any time, his heart had yet to accept it.
After they finished eating, Taichi and Agumon left the shop and headed to the park.
Taichi absentmindedly watched Agumon as he joyfully slid down the slide. Agumon had never changed, ever since he first met him.
But what about himself? How much had he changed compared to when he was a child? Even as he asked himself, he couldn’t find a clear answer.
When the sky turned to dusk, Taichi took Agumon to his apartment.
“Pardon the intrusion.”
Agumon looked around with interest at the room as he stepped inside. Taichi pulled open the curtain, letting the sunlight shine into the room.
“It’s small.”
“Leave me alone. Agumon, this is your first time coming here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. My first time here,” Agumon said somewhat happily, then sniffed around the room.
“The walls are thin, so don’t make any loud noises,” Taichi lazily warned his partner as Agumon moved around. He opened the fridge. “Would you like a drink—”
“Taichi~”
“Huh?”
“What’s this?”
When he turned around, he saw Agumon holding up the adult DVDs that he’d hidden under his bed.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Taichi screamed, his eyes round. He hurriedly snatched the DVDs out of Agumon’s grip, rolled towards his bed, and stuck his secret collection into his blankets. He held the blankets down with his hands behind his back, trying to bodily hide what he’d done.
“My friend gave these to me! NEVER MIND!” Taichi explained in a voice loud enough to be heard from the next room.
“Hey, show me!” Agumon said innocently.
“You need to be an adult to see th—”
Taichi’s voice faltered at the word “adult.”
“Hm? What’s wrong?” Agumon asked curiously.
Taichi stood up and walked to the TV rack. He opened the top drawer and looked inside. His brow furrowed.
Just as he had been expecting, there was a ring of light on his original digivice. Whether Menoa’s explanation was real or not, there was no mistake that something was going on.
“Taichi?”
“Agumon.”
“Huh?”
Taichi looked straight into Agumon’s eyes and held out his right hand.
“We’ll always be together.”
The words were both a promise and a prayer.
Agumon gazed back at Taichi. Although Taichi had grown up, Agumon could still see traces of the child he’d first met in Taichi’s earnest face. He nodded and gripped the outstretched hand.
“Yeah.”
Just then, the screen of Taichi’s open laptop on the table flashed abruptly. Taichi and Agumon looked at it in surprise. Light stretched out from the screen like stretchy dough and landed on the floor.
The light took on the shape of a person. It was a young man with a long ponytail.
“Hey. Long time no see.”
Their hands still in a handshake, Taichi and Agumon’s eyes widened upon seeing the man greeting them with a smile.
“Gennai-san!”

Koushiro typed furiously on his keyboard while facing his computer. He was trying to analyze the fragment of Eosmon that he had retrieved.
“How is it going?” Tentomon asked, standing next to him.
“Nothing to speak of yet,” Koushiro answered, looking away from the monitor briefly to rest his eyes. With his mind off work, he recalled the words that Menoa had spoken to them earlier that afternoon. His face clouded as he remembered the rings on Taichi and Yamato’s digivices.
“Tentomon, have you ever heard of ‘the candle of life’?”
“What’s that?” Tentomon asked, tilting his head.
“It’s a rakugo performance about the grim reaper. The reaper has a cave where they overlook the candle of life for many people. The protagonist learns from the grim reaper that the length of that candle represents that person’s length of life.”
“Huh. The candle represents the person’s length of life…” Tentomon repeated doubtfully.
“Yes. When the candle’s light goes out, the owner of that candle dies. The protagonist’s candle was in a precarious situation, so when the protagonist saw that…” Koushiro trailed off.
“What did he do?” Tentomon pressed impatiently.
“What do you think he did, Tentomon?”
“Oh now, don’t be mean! Just tell me!”
Koushiro smiled at Tentomon’s reaction.
“The story actually has various endings. There’s one where the protagonist uses the candle next to his to extend his own life and it turns out to be his wife’s candle, or he puts a fallen candle back up and it turns out to be his sick younger brother’s, or there’s one where the flame goes out while he’s mulling over what to do.”
“Uh-huh… Sounds like getting a happy ending is quite the high hurdle,” Tentomon said, shaking his head.
“I can’t help but think of that ring of light as the candle of life.”
Would his own digivice bear the same ring of light that was on Taichi and Yamato’s digivices, one day? Just imagining that he would eventually be facing that problem made him feel bleak.
Koushiro gazed at Tentomon. “What kind of ending would you like, Tentomon?”
“Let me see…”
Tentomon paused in thought, then looked up. “Instead of taking things from people against their will, I’d much rather give what I have to them before my end.”
“…Me too.”
Koushiro and Tentomon looked at one another and broke into smiles.
Koushiro faced his monitor once more and went back to work. This time, with the belief that it would be the first step in breaking down this current state.

Standing next to a magnificent stone statue of a goddess sitting in a chair with her arms outstretched, Daisuke heaved a heavy sigh. He, along with Ken and Iori, had split up to run interrogations at Liberica University where Menoa was employed, but all three of them came back without any results.
“We found that this Menoa person is pretty famous…” Iori said.
“But we didn’t get the information that Yamato-senpai wanted,” Ken said.
“Even though the internet’s getting popular, there are just some things you never know.”
In contrast to the three depressed boys, V-mon was having fun riding on Armadimon’s back. As Armadimon ran around, Wormmon crawled after them saying “Wait!”
“Hello!”
All of them turned around at that cheerful voice. At the top of the stairs stood Miyako, with the same bright smile that she’d always had as a kid, and Hawkmon.
“How have you guys been?” she asked.
“It has been awhile,” Hawkmon said, bowing his head respectfully.
“Hey there, Miyako-san. That was fast,” Ken said.
“Hawkmon!” V-mon cried.
“Dagya.”
“Have you been well?” Wormmon asked.
“Yes,” Hawkmon nodded.
Miyako jumped down the stairs. “Flew right here from Spain through the digital gate!”
“It’s so convenient to be able to arrive in New York in just a few minutes,” Hawkmon said in an impressed tone.
“Well, since you two are here, you’d better be useful,” Daisuke said with a grin.
“Of course! That’s the plan. So what’s the situation?”
“We’ve done some interrogations, but…” Ken started saying uncomfortably.
Daisuke raised both hands up in defeat and finished the sentence. “We’re at a dead end.”
After a moment of thought, Iori spoke up.
“In that case, why don’t we try using a different approach?”

Daisuke’s group was standing at the door of a research room. The door plate on top had Menoa Bellucci’s name engraved in it.
“I see. We investigate the target’s own research room,” Miyako said as she peered at the door.
Daisuke and V-mon checked the hallways surreptitiously to make sure they were empty.
“But how do we get in? The door’s locked.”
Just as Daisuke had pointed out, the door was locked with a key card security system. None of them here, of course, had the key card.
Armadimon, who was being held up by Iori, raised up his hand.
“Dagya.”
Armadimon slashed his claws through the slot of the card reader. The light on it changed from red to green.
The door clicked open.
“Bingo!” Miyako said happily, snapping her fingers.
“That’s all it took to open it,” Ken said in half-amazement. Iori remained poker-faced.
Miyako slowly opened the door.
“Hellooo,” Daisuke called out politely, but the room was empty.
Menoa’s research room was a mess. There were large bookshelves lining the walls, and two chairs surrounding a round table loaded with stacks of papers. A painting hung on the wall, with millions of sticky notes posted around the painting.
“Found it,” Iori said out loud when he found the computer desk.
“Okay.”
Miyako approached the desk, straightening her shoulders.
Daisuke, showing zero interest in the computer, looked around the room instead. “Wow, there’s so many books.”
“Guess this is where I get to work,” said Miyako.
Putting her hands on the desk, Miyako looked triumphantly into the computer screen. However, there was something more interesting than the computer decorating the desk, making her inadvertently stare at it. It was a decorative object that used raw amethyst. The insides of the purple crystals looked like they contained small universes.
Wow, she has such good taste, Miyako thought silently to herself.
“What a beautiful painting dagya…” Armadimon said in admiration, and Miyako turned in his direction.
A painting of a beautiful goddess hung there.

In a hotel room in Shinbashi, there was an open travel bag on the bed, and a water bottle and wine bottle brought by room service on the table. The room was dim because no lights were on.
Menoa let down her hair and sat on the bay window in a tank top and underwear. The laptop in her lap displayed an image of Eosmon, a map of Tokyo with several blinking red dots, and a list with Taichi and his group’s names on it.
The raindrops on her window formed a line. Before she even realized that it was raining, the summer rain fell down even harder.
A bolt of lightning briefly lit up the room for a moment.

The loud sound of thunder echoed sometimes, cutting through the sound of heavy rain.
As the rain soaked him, Yamato looked down from the emergency staircase outside a multi-tenant building at a large military car parked in a narrow T-junction.
“What is he doing?”
Yamato was watching Imura, who was sitting in the passenger seat. Sensing trouble, Yamato had tailed him all the way to Roppongi.
Imura looked like he was talking to the driver. Then, the driver handed Imura an uncommon and violent tool.
Yamato and Gabumon’s eyebrows raised at what they saw.
“Yamato! Isn’t that a gun?”
Imura’s face remained composed as he held the gun in his hand. It was obvious that he was used to handling guns on a normal basis.
A feeling of foreboding coming over him, Yamato’s mouth drew into a tight line.

Rain pounded against the window. The atmosphere of the room inside was dark and heavy.
“So, it’s true?” Taichi asked Gennai in a depressed voice.
“Unfortunately, you are experiencing the case where your partnership is dissolving.”
“How come you’ve never told us this before?”
“Well, talking about life expectancy is not a natural topic of conversation with humans,” Gennai answered.
Taichi lowered his head. That’s right. That was pretty much the gist of what this was about. He held up his smartphone and gazed at the ring. “So, this ring…”
“Yes. It’s the time you have left together,” Gennai said plainly.
Agumon simply looked at Taichi’s face, his expression unchanging.
Taichi gritted his teeth. The hand holding his smartphone shook. Even so, he brought out his courage and asked the question he was dreading.
“When the partnership ends, what happens to us… To Agumon?”
“The Digimon will disappear.”
Taichi was appalled by his brutal response.
Gennai continued to speak slowly while Taichi was at a loss for words. “But if you guys still have infinite possibility… Then it’s possible…”
Taichi was no longer responsive to Gennai’s words.
No one spoke after that. Only the sound of the rain continued to echo within the room.

Mimi Tachikawa hummed happily as she stepped into her company’s warehouse with Palmon. The warehouse was lined with tall shelves filled with cardboard boxes that contained the items that Mimi sold on her online store.
Mimi lowered the tote bag she was holding onto the floor.
“Palmon. Let’s do a quick inventory check today.”
“Okay~”
Mimi reached out to the box closest to her. Her smartphone peeked out from her tote bag, the camera aimed at her direction.
Palmon opened a box closer to the ground and counted the number of items in it. “Five, six, seven, eight, nine…”
The smartphone rang.
“Mimi, phone call!”
“Okay, I hear it!”
As she spoke, Mimi took her smartphone out of her bag. Her hand covered the camera.

Hikari was sitting in a moving subway car with Tailmon on her lap. The two of them were looking up popular restaurants on her smartphone to pass the time, gazing at photos of their dishes.
“This one looks tasty, Hikari.”
“Yeah. Let’s try it out next time.”
Neither Hikari nor Tailmon paid any attention to the front lens camera of the smartphone.

Takeru was walking through the pouring rain with Patamon in one arm and an open umbrella in the other.
No one paid attention to the fact that they were being watched by security cameras mounted on buildings they passed by. Not the swarm of cars driving through nearby, not the pedestrians walking slowly along the sidewalk, and certainly not Takeru.

Yamato was at the National Diet Library, looking with intense concentration at the microfilm screen. He had bags under his eyes.
He was looking through past newspaper articles for information on Menoa and Imura. As he pored through them, he found a single photo. Menoa, still with some child-like features, was shown holding up her admissions letter for university.
Yamato looked closer at the photo. Something was at Menoa’s feet. When he enlarged it, he saw a small and cute Digimon standing nestled close to Menoa’s legs. Beautifully patterned wings were on its head.
After staring at the photo in silence for a bit, Yamato shifted the machine to the next article.
He found Imura in an article that took place several years after the first one. In every photo of every article after that, Imura could always be seen near Menoa.
Yamato glared suspiciously at the Imura in the photo, but rubbed his eyes as he felt a wave of fatigue suddenly wash over him.
“Are you okay, Yamato?” Gabumon asked worriedly.
“Huh?”
“You haven’t been sleeping at all. You should take a break.”
“This is nothing. We’re in an emergency right now.”
Saying this, Yamato was about to continue working when his smartphone rang. Their eyes turned to it.

Yamato swiftly opened the hospital door.
Taichi and Koushiro, along with Jou in white medical scrubs, were standing inside. Agumon, Tentomon, and Gomamon were with them.
And in the single hospital bed, Mimi was lying in it with her eyes closed. Palmon was nowhere to be seen.
“Jou!”
Yamato, having rushed here from the library after receiving the call, looked to the older man for an explanation.
“The police received a report of a loud noise, and when they arrived at the scene, they found Mimi all by herself lying on the floor in the middle of a warehouse.”
“What’s her condition?” Taichi asked.
“Nothing yet,” Jou said, his eyes downcast.
Gabumon approached Gomamon. “Gomamon, have you been well?”
“Yeah, I’m doing great.”
“I’m doing great, too,” Agumon said, pointing at himself.
Jou continued to explain as he watched their Digimon rejoice over their reunion. “On the other hand, besides being unconsciousness, there’s nothing else wrong with her.”
“Eosmon… This is their doing,” Koushiro whispered.
After a brief silence, Yamato opened his mouth.
“Taichi, Koushiro. Got a minute?”

“What are we doing in here?” Koushiro asked.
“We won’t be spotted by any cameras here.”
Only Yamato, Taichi, and Koushiro were in the men’s bathroom at the hospital.
“You’re saying that we’re being watched?” Taichi said with his brows furrowed.
“It’s just a precaution.”
Yamato took off the backpack he was carrying and rummaged through it, taking out two cellphones. “These are prepaid cellphones. Don’t use your smartphones anymore.”
“Prepaid… Are we in a spy movie?” Taichi joked as he took the phone.
“Why don’t we update each other here on our current situations?” Koushiro suggested.
“Good call. I want to know what you two are up to also.”
“…I met Gennai-san.”
The other two looked at Taichi in surprise.
“What did he say?”
“Does he know how to stop or avoid the progression of our partners’ separation?”
Taichi shook his head at their eager questions.
Koushiro looked down sadly. Yamato’s face also clouded, but he closed his eyes to close off his sadness.
“We don’t have time to wallow in despair,” Yamato said. He took a file out of his backpack and handed it to Taichi.
“What’s this?”
“Look at the bottom right photo.”
What Yamato gave him were printouts of the newspaper articles on Menoa and Imura that Yamato had looked up in the library.
“Is that a Digimon?” Koushiro asked beside him, peering at the photo.
“Yeah, I’m sure of it.”
“Does this mean that Menoa is also a Chosen Child?” Taichi asked, looking at Yamato.
“Since her Digimon partner hasn’t shown themself…” Koushiro put a hand to his mouth in thought.
“I don’t know. But I find her assistant to be more suspicious.”
“Assistant?” Taichi said.
“Look at the second photo.”
Taichi and Koushiro looked down at the next document.
“Imura became Menoa’s assistant at around the same time that Menoa published her research results.”
“You’re right…” Taichi said with a tight jaw.
“Also, he’s been acting strange. I don’t know who he is, but I’m gonna find out,” Yamato said with quiet determination.
“We’ll leave that to you. I’ve been analyzing Eosmon’s arm that I’ve collected, as well as determining its location at the same time.”
“Have you found anything?” Yamato asked.
“Not yet,” Koushiro said looking away in shame. “But I’ve sent a warning to all of the Chosen Children in our database, just in case.”
“Good idea. Koushiro, you be careful too. Try not to log online outside the building as much as possible.”
“Yes, I know.”
As Taichi listened to their conversation, he quietly looked down to check his smartphone. Half of the ring of light was gone.
Forcing down the gloom that rose in his chest, Taichi looked up decisively.
“Koushiro, Yamato. Let’s put an end to this incident once and for all.”
His grip on his smartphone tightened unconsciously.

While the boys were talking privately in the bathroom, Agumon and Gabumon wandered the hospital corridors.
Agumon peered intently as he stood on top of a wire-mesh fence that kept people from falling off. He was looking through the hospital windows, trying to find Taichi and the others, but couldn’t find them.
“That’s dangerous. You shouldn’t be up there,” Gabumon warned at the bottom of the fence.
“Hmmm. I don’t see Taichi and the others anywhere.”
Agumon walked carefully across the top of the fence as if he was on a tightrope. Although he was skillfully balanced, he didn’t realize that his footing was wet and he slipped.
“Wah!”
He floated in the air for a brief moment before falling towards the corridor. He reflexively grabbed the fence, but it only made the situation worse. Unable to carry Agumon’s weight, the fence broke with a crash.
“Aw, man…”
Gabumon had closed his eyes at the fall, and he now opened them cautiously. Agumon had fallen on his back and the fence had a huge hole.
“Ouch…”
“I told you it was dangerous,” Gabumon said, looking down at Agumon.
Agumon sat up and looked wide-eyed at the broken fence.
“Oh, what do I do? Maybe I’ll get yelled at…”
“Agumon, you really don’t change,” Gabumon said in exasperation. Agumon looked annoyed.
“Well, neither do you, Gabumon. You always stay the same shape.”
“I’m not talking about physical change,” Gabumon said, smiling.
Giving up on finding their humans, Agumon and Gabumon sat down on a bench in the corridor.
As they watched the rain fall, Agumon spoke. “Taichi and Yamato both grew big.”
“Yeah. They have.”
“Taichi is living by himself. He even has alcohol in his fridge. That means he’s an adult now, right?”
Agumon spoke happily, but there was also a hint of loneliness in his voice.
“Yeah. He’s an adult now,” Gabumon nodded, still looking ahead.
“They aren’t children anymore.”
“…I guess… We’ll have to say goodbye,” Gabumon murmured solemnly.
“Is that so?” Agumon asked.
“Lately, Yamato has been spending more time with me and it makes me happy. It makes me happy, but when I’m with him, I remember all the fun times we had together. Because the time I spent with Yamato, all of it, is my most valuable treasure.”
Agumon, who had been gazing at Gabumon’s profile, quietly turned his face ahead.
“I want to stay with him forever,” Gabumon admitted softly, and silence fell. Agumon felt the same way.
Agumon and Gabumon sat without saying a word in the bittersweet silence that followed.
Then Agumon’s stomach growled loud enough to drown out the sound of the rain.
Agumon and Gabumon tried to keep staring silently ahead, but they gave in quickly and chuckled. The corridor filled with their laughter.
“Honestly, Agumon.” Gabumon smiled at his friend’s unchanging manner.
“Sorry.”
“It always happens.”
“…Gabumon. Thank you.”
“It’s not something that I should be thanked for either.”
Agumon broke into a smile as he looked ahead.
“Hey, Gabumon. I’m just as happy to have met everyone as much as having met Taichi. Hikari and Tailmon. Takeru and Patamon. Jou and Gomamon. Mimi and Palmon. Koushiro and Tentomon. Sora and Piyomon. Yamato and Gabumon.”
“And Taichi and Agumon,” Gabumon added.
“It’s thanks to Taichi that I met everyone.”
“Yeah. It’s thanks to Yamato.”
Agumon raised his chin a bit. “The time that we spent together won’t disappear.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll never forget it,” Agumon stated clearly.
Gabumon clenched his fists.
“You’re right. I’ve troubled over things with Yamato before, and fought with him. This is just the same as those times.”
“Yeah. We stay by their side, and when there are worries, we think about them together. Taichi is sure to find an answer that way.”
Agumon jumped down from the bench as if shaking off his worries.
“Yeah. As their partner, we’ll walk on the path that our dearest person has chosen, together.”
“Yeah. That’s right,” Agumon nodded. Then he seemed to realize something. “Until then, we need to make even more memories. Like eating meat, and eating ramen. I want to eat parfait, too.”
Gabumon gave a little laugh seeing Agumon act the same as usual. He held out his hand.
“No regrets.”
Agumon looked blankly at the outstretched hand. Then, realizing what he meant, Agumon smiled.
“Hehe. We’re like adults.”
Agumon also held out his hand, grabbing it into a firm handshake.
“This is embarrassing,” Agumon said after a moment.
“Yeah,” Gabumon said, blushing a little.
“Ah! Agumon, Gabumon! Here you are!”
They turned around to see Jou at the door to the inner hallway.
“Taichi and Yamato are looking for you.”
Agumon and Gabumon looked at one another and nodded.
“Let’s go.”
Letting go of their handshake, the two ran to Jou.
“Hey, Jou?” Agumon asked, poking Jou in the leg.
“What’s up?”
“I made a hole,” Agumon said, pointing to the large hole in the fence.
Jou’s eyes went wide. “Aaah! What did you do?!”
“Sorry!”

Sora Takenouchi traced a raindrop falling down her window from inside her room. The drop joined with another water drop, getting bigger and accelerating downward.
The heavy rain gave no sign of stopping.
“Hey, Sora. Are you sure you don’t want to go to the others?” Piyomon asked from within Sora’s arms.
“I’ve already made up my mind. I’m not going to fight.”
Sora held Piyomon to her in a loving embrace.
“I’ll be with you, Piyomon.”
As she watched the falling rain, Sora remembered what happened that day.
Sora was scrolling on her phone, looking through the group chat. A few hours earlier, Koushiro had sent a message saying “The sign of a digital gate has been detected near Shibuya.” As she kept scrolling, she saw a message from Taichi saying “Mission accomplished!” and congratulatory messages from others. When Sora had read that, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness. Everyone’s okay.”
Just as she was about to put her smartphone down, she got a call. It was from Mimi.
“Ah, Sora-san. Long time no see! How have you been?”
A video of Mimi showed up on her smartphone screen. She was currently in Paris, so the large building in the window behind her must be the Eiffel Tower. Sora felt a bit jealous that she got to travel over the world.
“I’m doing fine. What’s up, out of the blue?”
“You haven’t been responding in our group chat these days, so I was wondering how you were,” Mimi said with a smile. Sora knew that her intent was out of pure kindness and not sarcasm. Mimi was always so kind and straightforward that sometimes Sora found it dazzling.
“I’m sorry. I know I should be rushing to the scene, but I’m not able to, so I feel bad.”
“Look at me! I never make it since I’m always overseas, so don’t worry about it!”
“But I’m always nearby…”
By keeping away from the Digimon-related issues that Taichi and the others were addressing, she felt that she wasn’t satisfying her role as a Chosen Child and felt guilty.
“Are you busy?”
“A bit. I’m going to have my piece displayed at my mom’s exhibit soon.”
“What?! That’s amazing!”
Sora smiled wryly at Mimi’s over-the-top reaction.
“It’s not. It’s only because I’m the Grand Master’s daughter. But I can’t put out anything embarrassing, so…”
Even today, she had been practicing on her flower arranging until a few moments ago. But she couldn’t make a piece that she was satisfied with. Truth be told, her own worthlessness was making her feel discouraged every day.
Come to think of it, where had Piyomon gone?
Maybe she was still feeling down from earlier.
When Piyomon had come to inform her that Koushiro had sent a message, Sora had said to her angrily, “Don’t bother me!”
The distress and irritation of her practice not going well had caused Sora to take it out on her. But even when lashed out by that irrational anger, Piyomon had been the one who apologized.
When she saw Piyomon hanging her head apologetically, Sora had felt a surge of regret but no room in her heart to apologize as well.
“I need to focus on this right now…” She had said as her excuse, and looked away.
“I see! You’re fighting your own battle, Sora-san,” Mimi said earnestly.
Sora turned back to the screen. “What have you been up to, Mimi-chan?”
“I’m opening up an online shopping site for general goods soon.”
“Online shopping?”
As Sora repeated the words, Palmon came into view wearing a fancy hat and scarf around her neck. Were those what they were selling?
Mimi gave Palmon a peace sign as her approval and responded, “I’m spreading Cute across the globe. Although I did have Koushiro-kun help me with it.”
Mimi smiled wryly at the camera and continued speaking happily.
“Speaking of Koushiro-kun, isn’t he just incredible? He’s a company CEO and he manages the community network for people with Digimon. According to him, there’s 30,000 people worldwide with Digimon partners!”
“There’s that many now?” Sora murmured. “Well, it has been over a decade since then.”
“Right? We’re getting old. Takeru-kun and Hikari-chan are turning twenty next year.”
“Those two are going to be able to drink legally…”
Sora felt almost dizzy by how fast time passed.
“Jou-senpai is struggling in medical school, and even Yamato-san said he’s finally deciding what he wants to do.”
After some thought, Mimi added, “As for Taichi-san, I don’t really know.”
Sora smiled at that. “It’s true. Everyone’s starting to walk down their own paths.”
Mimi spoke up, still smiling on the other side of the screen.
“Hey, Sora-san. I think it was destiny that we became Chosen Children. But I don’t think it was fate.”
Sora listened silently to her friend.
“I’m going to be myself and do things freely. That’s why you should spread your wings freely too. We’ll stand by you no matter what, Sora-san.”
“Mimi-chan… Thank you.”
Sora smiled gently, grateful for Mimi’s feelings.
The sound of a doorbell went off.
“Oh, that’s right, I forgot,” Mimi’s brow furrowed. “Sorry, I have to attend a meeting now. I’ll see you later. Bye bye!”
Mimi waved energetically and the call ended.
Sora gazed at her smartphone screen for a bit, thinking back on Mimi’s words. She needed to apologize to Piyomon later.
Just as she thought that, she felt someone enter the room. Sora turned around in her chair.
Piyomon was standing there with small flowers in her hands. She held them out as Sora looked on blankly.
“This is for you, Sora. Since you’ve been looking blue… Flowers are something to express your feelings, right? I hope you cheer up, Sora!”
Sora’s eyes opened wide, and her face crumpled. Despite being shouted at unreasonably, Piyomon was more concerned about Sora than her own self. That pure kindness gently permeated through her heart.
“Piyomon!”
Sora rose vigorously and hugged Piyomon.
“I want to be a normal girl! Not as a Chosen Child or the daughter of a Grand Master. I just want to live as Sora Takenouchi!”
Those were her real feelings that she had always kept hidden deep inside her heart.
Piyomon gently embraced Sora back with her small wings and said softly, “Hey… The reason why the sky is so vast must be because it was made to fly freely there. If you’re ever worried to fly on your own, I’ll be there to fly with you together.”
Because I’m your partner, Sora.
At those words, Sora’s expression softened. She had no more hesitations.

It was on that day that Sora decided that she would no longer join the battles.
Instead, she would take her own path.
That was how Sora Takenouchi would live.

Agumon watched the nonstop rain.
Taichi had the drawer opened and was looking down at his goggles and original digivice. There was only half of the ring on this digivice as well.
Obeying Yamato’s warning, he took his smartphone in hand and powered it off. After watching the screen go dark, he left his smartphone on the floor and picked up his goggles.
He hung the goggles around his neck, and took his original digivice. The light of the ring shone upon Taichi’s face.
Taichi stared down at his digivice as he questioned his resolve.

Menoa was in the hotel pool, not swimming, but floating in it.
As she watched the rain outside hitting the glass ceiling, she remembered her past. The sunsets at her hometown in Colorado, the handmade swing hanging from a tree in the garden of her childhood home, and her partner who was always with her.
Menoa’s mind came back to the present when she heard someone approaching. Looking over as she continued to float in the water, she saw Taichi and Agumon standing by the poolside.

Menoa sat down at a chair by the pool and took a sip of mineral water from a plastic bottle. “So, what do you want?”
“I heard from Koushiro that you’re staying here.”
“I see.”
“You have a Digimon partner, too. Right?” Taichi asked point-blank.
She didn’t even bother to hide it.
“Yes,” she assented. Then, lowering her eyes, she began to speak.
“She was called Morphomon. I met her when I was nine, and we’d been together ever since. I took her with me to school, even when we went traveling. No matter where I went or what I did, we were always together.”
Menoa smiled nostalgically and added, “They’re good memories.”
“What about now?”
The smile still on her lips, Menoa turned her face up to the sky.
“My partnership broke off eight years ago, when I was fourteen. Like you, I had no idea of what was happening, so I was pretty upset when we separated.”
Since she spoke with her eyes closed, she looked both as if she had overcome something and that she was purposefully putting up a cold front.
“I see…”
Taichi looked upon her with sympathy. Agumon, too, lowered his eyes in sadness.
“I don’t want others to have a sad parting like I did. Don’t you think it’s unreasonable that you can’t be together just because you grew up?”
Menoa’s voice grew increasingly sad. It sounded like maybe she hadn’t completely accepted the loneliness of leaving her partner.
As if realizing that her tone had dropped, Menoa continued to speak in a more cheerful voice, “That’s why I’ve been researching on Digimon.”
“Then would you happen to know how to stay with your partner?” Taichi asked her, almost imploringly. Agumon looked at Taichi without changing expression.
Menoa slowly shook her head. “Sorry. If I knew, I would have already told you.”
Taichi took a small breath. He was anticipating that answer, but it was still a shock.
“…Why did you approach us?”
“You guys are the strongest team to exist.”
And, Menoa said as she slowly lifted her head to meet Taichi’s gaze.
“You guys might be able to change this tough reality. That’s what I thought.”
The shadow of raindrops running down the glass overlapped with her face, making it look like she was crying.

Imura left a multi-tenant building tucked within a dim alley. Yamato watched, hidden from view, as Imura looked around as if cautious of his surroundings.
“Let’s go.”
After making sure Imura was gone, Yamato and Gabumon approached the building that he had just left. The entrance of the building was narrow, and there were stairs immediately upon entering. There was only one door at the top, so there was no doubt that Imura, earlier, was in whatever room this door led to.
Yamato carefully opened the door.
“Yamato, look!” Gabumon, who entered the room first, cried out in surprise.
“This is…”
Yamato looked in astonishment at the board in front of him. There were tons of photos, documents, and even a world map posted on the wall board.
The markings on the map looked familiar. It was the same as the one Koushiro showed in his office, where it recorded the places where Chosen Children had lost consciousness. Photos of Menoa that looked like they were taken from her research room, and data images of Eosmon were lined up along the board, but what really sent a chill down Yamato’s spine were the other photos. Photos of not only him, but Taichi and his friends, were posted in a row. The photos were clearly taken in secret.
Even if it was, let’s say, for research purposes, there was no need for him to go this far. Imura was definitely working towards another goal.
“Y–Yamato! We have to tell the others!” Gabumon said uneasily.
Just then, the prepaid cellphone in his pocket went off.
“Hello?”
“Helloooooo! Is this Yamato-senpai?”
“Daisuke. You sure this call is safe?” Yamato asked instantly.
“It’s fine. I’m calling from a public phone, just as you instructed.”
“All right. Have you found anything?”
“Hehe, absolutely! Which one would you like to hear about first?” Daisuke said proudly.
“Let’s start with the assistant.”
“Well, if you want my opinion, he’s totally suspicious. Does that person Imura even exist?” Daisuke said imperiously.
“What?!”
There was a rattling noise over the phone. Apparently, someone had taken the receiver from Daisuke.
“This is Miyako. Menoa-san’s laptop was filled with files on her research and dissertation, but her assistant’s laptop was abnormally empty. However, I did find traces of data concerning Eosmon that had been collected before it was manually erased.”
“What?” Yamato repeated, stiffening.
“We found that suspicious and looked up his personal information. There’s no record of anyone named Kyoutaro Imura. It’s an alias,” Ken added.
“So, no such person exists.”
“There’s no mistake about it,” said Iori.
Yamato gazed at a photo of Menoa in a white lab coat on the board, and whispered half to himself, “Then is Menoa… being used?”
“That, I don’t know… But Menoa-san is apparently very smart. Would a person like that allow herself to be manipulated?” Miyako asked.
V-mon’s voice piped up. “She had a reputation for being very pretty.”
Then Armadimon’s voice. “Speaking of pretty, that Aurora painting in her room was really pretty dagya.”
“Aurora?” Yamato asked with furrowed brow, to which Hawkmon answered.
“The Roman goddess of dawn. Armadimon took quite a liking to that painting. I ended up telling him a lot about it.”
“The goddess of dawn… Aurora.”
Yamato observed the board again. There were many newspaper clippings on the aurora that was observed throughout the world.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. It was just a painting in the room,” Miyako said.
“…I see. Is there anything else I should know?”
“Yes! Treat us to okonomiyaki when we’re back in Japan!”
At Daisuke’s request, Chibimon added, “And make it all-you-can-eat!”
He could tell through the phone that the whole group was grinning. Yamato also smiled.
“Done. Thanks, guys,” he said, and ended the call. “Let’s go, Gabumon.”
“S–Sure.”
Shoving the prepaid phone in his pocket, the two left the building.

In his office, Koushiro was gazing steadily at his computer monitor. Empty plastic bottles and energy drinks were cluttered on his desk to indicate just how long he had been working there.
Beside him, Tentomon was separating the garbage like a fussy house-husband.
The monitor displayed the analysis data of Eosmon’s left arm. He had recovered it in their previous battle after Omegamon had blown it off. Koushiro’s expression tightened as he read through the analysis result.
“This can’t be. If this analysis of Eosmon’s data is true, then… this entire string of incidents…”
“Koushiro-han, don’t leave your empty bottles sitting around,” Tentomon complained, when Koushiro received an e-mail notification on his screen. The sender was “Hikari Yagami.”
“Hikari-san? I wonder what’s wrong.”
Koushiro put his hand on the mouse and opened the e-mail. All it contained were the words “Which one this time?” and a URL.
“‘Which one this time?'” Koushiro read out loud.
With a feeling of foreboding, he clicked on the attached URL.
“Wha–?!”
What he saw on the screen made Koushiro’s eyes widen in shock.
Tentomon turned around to look at him quizzically. “What’s wrong?”
“This is bad…”
What he had clicked open to was a video site. The video, indicating that it was a live broadcast, was split in the middle, and a man and woman were shown being tied down to chairs in different locations.
Hikari and Takeru were sitting with their heads down, motionless.

“Koushiro! Where do I go?” Taichi barked into his prepaid cellphone at the back of a taxi. His heart wouldn’t stop hammering ever since he received the news. Just thinking about what had happened to Hikari made him feel as if he was breathless underwater.
“Hikari…” Agumon whispered worriedly.
“To Hiroo! Hikari-san is captured there!” Koushiro responded.
“How’s Takeru?”
“Yamato-san is heading to Nerima as we speak! Taichi-san. I’m unable to reach Jou-san. Please be careful.”
“Jou too…?”
Taichi grit his teeth as the situation just kept getting worse.

Yamato accelerated on his motorcycle as he swerved between cars on Loop Route 7. He paid no mind to the raindrops running down on him through his jacket. The only thing on his mind was his brother, Takeru.
His hands on the handle tightened. He had to rescue him quickly.
“Yamato!” Gabumon shouted loudly from the backseat so that he could be heard over the rain and engine.
Yamato shouted back at him, “What?”
“No matter what happens, we’ll be together!”
It was the best Gabumon could do to express his feelings right now.
Yamato looked up in surprise, then lowered his chin.
“I know that!” Yamato responded forcefully, and increased speed on his motorcycle.
The warehouse that he was heading to gradually came into view. If Koushiro’s information was correct, this was where Takeru was being held captive.
He rode up to the warehouse and cut the engine. One of the warehouse shutters was open, as if inviting its prey to enter.
Yamato gazed at the open shutter and took off his helmet.
“Let’s go, Gabumon.”
“Yeah!”

Koushiro was watching the computer screen with his hands folded on his desk in prayer. There was no change in Hikari and Takeru’s situations.
“Everyone, please hurry,” Koushiro muttered to himself, when an alarm suddenly went off.
When he checked his right-side monitor in surprise, he found a red marker and gauge displayed on the map of the Digital World. A huge mass had been observed there.
“What is this?” Koushiro said, doubting what he was seeing and drawing his face closer to the screen. But there was no mistake what he was seeing.
“Maybe you found Eosmon?” Tentomon said as he too peered into the monitor.
“I have. But this… Its mass is too big.”
Koushiro stared at the monitor, puzzled.
“Have you found Eosmon?”
At the sudden female voice, Koushiro and Tentomon looked at the room’s entrance.
“Menoa-san…”

Yamato and Gabumon slipped through the warehouse shutter. In front of them was a staircase leading to the second floor, where a man sat.
“You’re late, Yamato Ishida,” Imura said in a low voice. He held the gun in his right hand.
“T–That guy…” Gabumon said.
“What are you doing here?”
Imura looked straight back at Yamato, his expression unchanged. “I saw you snooping on me with your poor tailing technique, but…”
Yamato frowned. When had he been found out?
Imura spoke coldly, “Unfortunately, you’re too late.”

At the warehouse in Hiroo, Taichi held up Hikari in his arms, aghast. Agumon’s mouth was also open as if in shock. Tailmon was nowhere to be found.
Even as he called her name, Hikari showed no signs of waking up. Her consciousness had already been stolen.

“Too late?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Your brother, Takeru Takaishi, has just had his consciousness taken by Eosmon.”
Imura pointed with his gun up to the second floor.
“What?!”
“Yamato. This guy really is…”
“Yeah. He’s the culprit!”
Yamato glared at Imura with hostility. “Give us back Takeru right now! If you don’t…”
Gabumon’s mouth opened slightly to show the blue flames collected there.
Imura’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Wait, Yamato Ishida. What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb! You’re the one controlling Eosmon and stealing the Chosen Children’s consciousness!”
Imura looked downward and closed his eyes. Then, with a snort, he smiled.
“I see.”
Imura put his hand in the inner pocket of his jacket.

Menoa placed a hand on the desk and looked with glittering eyes at the monitor.
“I knew you could do it, Koushiro! If we find Eosmon, the awareness data should be there as well. Now we can defeat Eosmon and save the three hundred people in a coma!”
Koushiro looked at Menoa’s profile as she jabbered on excitedly, and took a step back. And then, making sure that she didn’t see what he was doing, he hid his prepaid cellphone behind his back.
“Menoa-san.”
At Koushiro’s voice, Menoa straightened up from looking at the monitor. “What?”
“Why are you here today?”
“Oh, that’s right! I’ve figured out a way to save everyone!” Menoa said happily. “For that, I need the list of Chosen Children that you carry. Work with me, Koushiro.”
Menoa held out her hand to him. Koushiro looked down at it, then back up at her face.
“Menoa-san. When we fought Eosmon earlier in cyberspace, I collected its remains.”
Menoa’s smile dropped at Koushiro’s words. As she slowly brought her hand back, she said, “And?”
Koushiro continued, the tension evident on his face. “From analyzing its arm, I saw from its tissue composition that it clearly contained a number of mathematical formulas that were man-made. Looking up those formulas led me to a paper.”
Koushiro’s words cut off there. Menoa had her head down, so he couldn’t gauge what expression she had on her face right now.
“Menoa Bellucci… Eosmon is an artificial Digimon made by you.”
Silence fell upon them. Menoa let out a quiet sigh.
When she turned to him, brushing her hair up to expose her face, there was no longer even a hint of friendliness to her.
“You really are a genius boy,” Menoa said, gazing at Koushiro in annoyance.

Yamato cried out in surprise at the ID card that Imura held out.
“F.B.I.?”
“Agent, yes. My name is Kyoutaro Yamada,” Imura said calmly.
“Then…”
“As the world calls it, I’m an ally of justice.”
“Yamato. Does this mean this guy isn’t a bad guy?” Gabumon asked.
“No… Probably not,” Yamato said, studying the ID card. It looked real.
“I’m just a shy adult who can’t be honest with himself,” Imura said in a serious voice as he returned his ID to his pocket.
“Then what’s the shy adult doing here?” Yamato asked.
“This is the reason.”
Imura showed the screen of his smartphone. On it was the same footage of Takeru tied to a chair that Koushiro had sent to Yamato.
The minute Yamato saw that, he pushed Imura to the side and ran up the stairs to the second floor. Takeru was asleep on the floor with a blanket over him.
“Takeru…”
“He was already unconscious when I got here,” Imura said.
Yamato gently touched Takeru’s cheek, but his brother did not awake.
“We at the F.B.I. have been marking Menoa for years, but she’s been really good at covering her tracks… I wanted to arrest her myself.”
Imura closed his eyes in chagrin as his hands balled into fists. “But she got us good this time. Her real goal is…”
Hearing that much, Yamato suddenly understood. Takeru and Hikari had been captured in order to lure him and Taichi to them. And since he hadn’t been attacked here…
Yamato’s eyes widened in surprise and he gulped.
“Koushiro…”

“In other words, the person who has been taking everyone’s consciousness is…” Tentomon said slowly.
“Her using Eosmon. She is the criminal.” Koushiro responded. “Menoa-san… Why are you doing this?”
“I’m doing it for you guys,” Menoa said coldly.
“For… us?” Koushiro repeated, trying to comprehend the meaning of those words.
Menoa touched her butterfly hairpin and didn’t answer.
“Is that why you took everyone’s consciousness away?” Koushiro asked sharply.
“Menoa-han, no one wants this,” Tentomon admonished.
“They do.”
Koushiro gaped at Menoa’s cold response. The computer monitor glared brightly and Eosmon with a missing left arm appeared out of it.
“All of us do.”

Yamato slammed open the door to Koushiro’s office.
“Koushiro!”
Yamato stopped in his tracks at the sight he saw in the room. Koushiro was lying on the floor.
“Koushiro…”
“We were too late.”
Imura, who had ran with Yamato to the office, went to look at the computer.
“Damn it…” Yamato murmured in frustration.
“Tentomon’s gone, too,” Gabumon said, looking around the room.
“It’s no good. There’s traces of the list having been removed.”
“What exactly does Menoa plan to do with it?”
“I don’t know… But she would often say that she wanted to save the Chosen Children.”
“This is what’s going to save us?” Yamato snapped as he looked down at Koushiro. “Do you have any ideas where she could have gone?”
Imura regretfully shook his head no at Yamato’s question.
“So we’ve come this far and there’s nothing to be done,” Yamato said resignedly.
“Not yet.”
Upon hearing that voice, Yamato raised his head and turned around. Taichi and Agumon were standing at the entrance.
“What do you mean, ‘not yet’?” Imura asked, turning in Taichi’s direction as well.
“This,” Taichi said, pulling his prepaid cellphone out of his pocket. “Koushiro sent me this e-mail.”
The e-mail was full of rows and rows of numbers.
“What’s with these numbers?”
“This citation…” Yamato said.
Taichi said with certainty, “It’s coordinates to the Digital World.”

Imura brought up the map of the Digital World on the computer and displayed the location with the coordinates that Koushiro had sent.
“There’s nothing there.”
“Yep, nothing,” Imura echoed Agumon’s murmur.
Taichi gazed steadily at the monitor. “Koushiro gave us these coordinates, so Menoa has to be here.”
Beside him, Yamato was looking down gloomily at the floor with his arms crossed. Gabumon was the only one to notice.
“Yamato?”
At Gabumon’s voice, the others also turned to look at Yamato.
“…What’s the matter?”
“Taichi, are you okay with just going to Menoa like this?”
Yamato’s hands clenched as he gripped his folded arms. Taichi waited silently for his next words.
“If we go to Menoa, we’ll have to fight.”
“Yamato…” Gabumon looked up at him worriedly.
“If we fight, we’ll have to force them to evolve… Our separation will come sooner!” Yamato bellowed, leaning forward.
Taichi gazed back at him quietly.
“…Even so, we can’t just leave everyone who’ve gone into a coma and do nothing,” Taichi answered, dropping his gaze.
“You’re… okay with this…?” Yamato pressed further in response to Taichi’s words.
Agumon and Gabumon looked up wordlessly at Taichi. Imura looked down at the ground, feeling sorry.
A raindrop that had hit the window slid down the glass, splitting into two different paths.
“Of course… not.”
Yamato looked up in surprise.
“But someone has to do it…!” Taichi shouted, his face stricken by grief. Even he wasn’t fully convinced. He was merely doing all he could to do the right thing.
Seeing Taichi like that helped Yamato to calm down. He could painfully feel Taichi’s conflict and suffering. He wasn’t the only one who was sad. Taichi was feeling the same way, and yet he was forcing himself to keep going in order to save everyone.
Yamato gave a deep sigh and took his digivice out of his pocket. Half of the ring was gone.
“So… This is our destiny, huh?” Yamato muttered to himself.
Imura typed on the keyboard. “I’m opening the digital gate.”
Taichi and Yamato gripped their digivices to tell themselves that there was no turning back.
“Come back safely, boys.”
The two of them nodded firmly at Imura’s words.

When they passed through the gate, all they found was a pitch-black area. They could see each other standing beside them, but nothing else beyond that. There was no light or sound. It was pure darkness.
“What is this place…?”
“Is it the Digital World?”
Agumon and Gabumon were also there, next to a stunned Taichi and Yamato.
Something shone faintly in the depths of the darkness.
“What’s that?” Yamato murmured suspiciously.
“Let’s go check it out,” Taichi urged, and the four walked towards the light. As they got closer, the identity of the illuminating light grew apparent.
Taichi and Yamato’s eyes widened at the strong sense of deja vu that came over them. They were looking at a familiar trolley, except there was one distinct difference from how they remembered it. While the shape of it was the same, it was see-through as though it was made of crystal.
Astonished, Taichi touched the side of the trolley. “What is this?”
Yamato also reached out to identify the material. “It’s… crystal?”
Gabumon and Agumon had climbed up to the top of the trolley and were peering down at them.
“Yamato, this train car…” Gabumon said.
“It’s the one on File Island, isn’t it?” Agumon said.
“Probably,” Yamato crossed his arms and thought.
“But the material is completely different,” Taichi said.
“What’s going on?”
A butterfly suddenly flew past, flying between Agumon and Gabumon. The butterfly, glowing with an ethereal blue light, flew deeper and deeper ahead of them. From the light it gave off, they could see that they were surrounded by water.
The butterfly fluttered nimbly, gradually lowering in altitude. Before long, it touched the water surface and the butterfly scattered as if it had popped.
There, Menoa emerged to the surface.
Taichi and the group let out brief expletives when they noticed Menoa’s presence.
“I’m surprised you found this place,” Menoa said flatly. The water surface at her feet shone as if there was a spotlight on it.
“Where did you put everyone’s consciousness?”
Taichi glared at Menoa, and Yamato uncrossed his arms.
“We’re taking them back.”
“Let’s see…” Menoa whispered. She looked away, seemed to think for a bit, then looked back at the two coldly.
“Why don’t we ask them?”
Thousands of blue butterflies took off behind her.
“What?”
The butterflies flew over the group’s surprised heads, ascending as they covered the whole sky.
Up in the air, the butterflies popped like fireworks and huge crystal-like rocks appeared immediately after. No, they could see buildings on top of the rocks, so it might be more accurate to call them islands rather than rocks. Crystal islands appeared, floating in the sky.
The butterflies popped in every direction over their heads, forming the islands. The light that built up from these hundreds of floating islands brought dim light to the dark area, revealing that Taichi’s group themselves was also standing on a giant crystal island.
“What is this place?” Yamato was overwhelmed by this incredible sight.
“Taichi, look!”
Taichi turned to look at what Agumon was pointing at.
On one of the floating islands was Hikari, looking as young as she had when she’d first come to the Digital World, with Tailmon. The two of them were holding hands, laughing happily.
“Hikari…?” Taichi whispered in amazement.
Yamato looked at the other floating islands. As he had suspected, one of them had a younger Takeru and Patamon frolicking around joyfully with each other.
“Takeru…”
The other islands were all the same. The children were playing harmoniously with their Digimon.
“Mimi…”
“Jou…”
“Koushiro…”
“Mochizuki…”
They even saw Meiko Mochizuki and Meicoomon, who they had known in high school. All of their friends’ faces on the floating islands were shining with happiness.
“They’re all kids again!” Agumon said in surprise.
Gabumon cried out, “And their Digimon are here, too!”
The Chosen Children of the world, who were in a coma in the real world, were all gathered here with their Digimon partners on these floating islands.
The landscape of each island was different, but the islands that their friends inhabited were familiar to them. They were the places that they had adventured with together as children.
Realizing what it meant, Taichi was appalled. “The Chosen Children…”
“You trapped them in their own memories…”
Yamato, who had also come to the same conclusion, turned pale. Those floating islands were made from the children’s memories.
Spreading her arms theatrically, Menoa exclaimed, “Welcome to Neverland! Our utopia!”
“You call this a utopia?!”
“You dragged everyone here against their will!’
Taichi and Yamato cried out indignantly.
Menoa accepted their anger quietly. “Yes. Perhaps it was me who brought them here… But, it was their desire to come here.”
At those words, Taichi and Yamato looked shaken. Menoa kept talking, indifferent.
“I don’t want to grow up.”
With a start, Taichi looked up at the floating memory islands.
“I want to be a child forever.”
Yamato looked with dismay at the children. All of them were back to looking like children, playing happily with their Digimon partners.
“Those desires are what drew Eosmon to them.”
Taichi and Yamato looked at Menoa at the same time. They realized that they couldn’t deny her words completely, and felt discomposed. Their purpose for coming here lost its focus, and now they couldn’t remember what it was for.
“This is the only way for us Chosen Children to be happy,” Menoa told them persuasively. “No one can stop the countdown ring on the digivice. Separating from your partner is your fate. It can’t be changed.”
Taichi and Yamato shrank back. A butterfly landed on the water next to Menoa and popped.
“But if we all go back to being children, we won’t have to lose our partners. No one will have to go through that pain.”
At some point without them noticing, Eosmon stood behind Menoa. But neither Taichi nor Yamato moved. Their consciousness was already under the control of Menoa’s words.
“Taichi. Yamato. I will save you both. So come to me. To our Neverland.”
Menoa slowly held out a hand to them as she spoke gently. In that moment, it looked like the answer to all of their problems.
“Taichi!”
“Yamato!”
The two jumped upon hearing their names called. They looked down to see Agumon and Gabumon standing there, facing them.

“We’re ready.”
“We’re doing this, right?”
“Let’s save everyone!” Agumon said in a determined voice.
At their partners’ encouragement, Taichi and Yamato regained their composure. Nodding vigorously, they held out their digivices.
“Yeah!”
“You’re right!”
Seeing them get ready for battle, Menoa involuntarily cursed.
Agumon, evolve! Greymon!
Gabumon, evolve! Garurumon!
The two evolved, and another petal disappeared from the rings on Taichi and Yamato’s digivices.
Eosmon barred Greymon and Garurumon each with one arm when they leaped at it, taking on an arm-wrestling position.
“Why would you fight when all it does is shorten the time you have with your partners?” Menoa asked calmly.
“Someone has to stop you!” Yamato replied.
“And by doing so, we’ll save everyone! Greymon!”
At Taichi’s words, Greymon who had been comparing arm strength, opened his mouth wide and shot out a Mega Flame. The flames hit Eosmon’s wings, destroying them. Its body bent, and Eosmon released its hands to get away, but Garurumon immediately pounced. Water splashed under their weight.
Eosmon plunged its antennae at Garurumon, who was holding it down, blowing him away. But Greymon instantly rushed to it, holding it back down.
“We have greater numbers!” Taichi raised the hand holding his digivice triumphantly.
“And more experience. Garurumon!”
At Yamato’s cry, Garurumon jumped high and spat Fox Fire from mid-air.
Just before the attack hit, Greymon got off of Eosmon and pulled to the side. The blue flames poured down relentlessly on Eosmon.
Eosmon tried desperately to take flight, but Greymon knocked it back down with his tail. Eosmon slammed into the water surface sideways, spraying water everywhere.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Garurumon’s fangs were around Eosmon’s neck as it lay on the water. He bit down, his eyes like that of a wild carnivore who had caught his prey and was never letting go.
The light in Eosmon’s eyes vanished, and its arms drooped.
“Yes!” Yamato cried, clenching his fist.
“It’s over, Menoa. Give us back the others,” Taichi said firmly.
But even though Eosmon was defeated, Menoa was unmoved.
“As expected of you… Is what I’d like to say, but…”
Menoa slowly lifted up a hand and snapped her fingers. A circle of light spread out on the water surface around her feet. It wasn’t just one either. Rings of light kept appearing on the water surface as if they were mobilizing each other.
Garurumon’s eyes went wide at this unexpected event. “The water surface!”
“What is that light?” Greymon asked warily.
The lights continued to expand until finally the entire water surface began glowing.
“That’s…”
“What have you done?”
Without answering Yamato’s question, Menoa whispered a name.
“Eosmon.”
A blue angular object appeared through the water surface. As it slowly rose up, they could see that it was a wing.
Taichi and Yamato looked with disbelief at the wings that gradually emerged. They could predict who those wings belonged to, but their brains refused to understand.
Eventually the head appeared, and both Taichi and Yamato gasped.
“Wha—?!”
It wasn’t just one. At Menoa’s call, a swarm of Eosmon appeared through the water surface.
“How is this possible…?”
“There’s so many of them…”
Garurumon and Greymon were wide-eyed at this extraordinary sight.
“That’s…”
“…Impossible.”
Taichi and Yamato both murmured in shock as they looked up at the endless swarm of Eosmon.
“This is my Digimon. She is the goddess that I have created, who will save everyone.”
Menoa gazed at the despairing Taichi and Yamato as she motioned to the countless number of Eosmon behind her. Her eyes were cold, as if she was possessed by something.
“That thing isn’t a Digimon!” Yamato denied strongly.
“You had a real partner once, remember that?!” Taichi cried.
Menoa gently touched her hairpin.
“That’s right. She was my best friend… That’s why I’ve been trying all this time to get her back. For years and years, I spent all of my time on it. But there was simply no way to kindle digital data with the light of life.”
As she spoke, Menoa remembered the days of her research. No matter how hard she tried, she never got any results. Every time her monitor returned with errors, she could feel her heart wearing down. Even so, she kept up her research without giving up, only to fail again. That was how her days repeated.
Over and over again. For years and years. She saw the “Error” word so much that it was burnt on the back of her eyelids.
“But on that day… That day when the aurora appeared. What was once mere digital data was brought to life.”
Menoa vividly remembered the aurora at that time. It was a majestic aurora that was beyond description, taking on the shape of a butterfly.
“What’s more, when Eosmon was born, she came with a special ability.”
“And that was her ability to turn human consciousness into data,” Yamato guessed correctly.
“Exactly. When I found that out, I knew. I am meant to use this power to save the Chosen Children… I felt as if Morphomon was telling me that.”
Menoa clutched the butterfly hairpin.
“That’s why I have to save all of the Chosen Children throughout the world.”
“The world…?”
“Don’t tell me…”
Imagining the upcoming terror, Taichi and Yamato grew speechless.
Menoa took her smartphone out of her pocket. “This contains the list of all Chosen Children in the world.”
“Don’t do this… Menoa,” Taichi said, practically begging.
“I’m bringing all of them to Neverland.”
Yamato shook his head at Menoa’s monotonous voice. “This is wrong.”
“You can be here together forever. With your best friend and your best memories.”
Taichi and Yamato leaned forward in their desperation.
“Stop!” They shouted.
Greymon rushed towards Menoa, but an electric shock struck his cheek to stop him.
“Tailmon, Gomamon, Palmon…”
No emotion could be seen from the Digimon’s eyes.
“What’s wrong with you guys?” Taichi asked.
“Are they being controlled?” Yamato guessed.
“No,” Menoa quietly refuted. Taichi and Yamato looked at her.
“This is their will.”
The younger, child forms of Koushiro, Mimi, Jou, Hikari, and Takeru were standing in a line behind Menoa.
“This is their desire. It is everyone’s wish.”
The three hundred Chosen Children and their Digimon had also lined up behind Menoa.
“This is where we all belong.”
All of the children were staring straight ahead with emotionless, red glowing eyes.
“Since you want to destroy this place… You are the enemy.”
Taichi and Yamato’s faces twisted at Menoa’s words.
“This proves that I am right,” Menoa said as the children stood behind her.
All of the children simply stared at Taichi and Yamato. The two felt like those empty eyes were blaming them.
“No. This isn’t right,” Garurumon said in shock.
Taichi and Yamato, caught in the gaze of hundreds, were unable to move.
“This is my salvation for you,” Menoa declared, and tapped the screen of her smartphone.
Light rushed out from her screen into the air and popped instantly. Digital gates opened in all directions.
The Eosmon who had been on standby in the air, all looked up as one and flew to the digital gates. The gates immediately closed as soon as they passed through.
“Now all of the Chosen Children throughout the world will be saved.”
There were still several Eosmon remaining around Menoa as she spoke.
Taichi and Yamato’s faces darkened with despair. There was no way to beat her. Would they have to fight their own friends? Was fighting really the right thing to do?
“Now. What will you guys do?”
While the two were unable to reply to Menoa’s question, Greymon was the only one who had remained calm. Deciding that they should withdraw from here for the time being, he made a surprise attack by aiming his Mega Flame at the water surface.
The fireball hit, spraying water everywhere.
Menoa turned, raising her arm to ward off the splash. When she looked again, Taichi and the others were gone.

At an apartment in England, one of the Chosen Children, a young boy, was working on his laptop in the middle of the night. An Elecmon was next to him, leaning against the desk and snoring.
All of a sudden, a digital gate appeared on his computer screen.
Light flew out from the screen and the boy gave a shout of surprise, falling back off his chair. Elecmon woke up, startled by the noise.
When they turned around, Eosmon had appeared within the room.
At the coast of Palau, the Yunnan province of China, at Paris and Dotonbori, Eosmon were appearing before the Chosen Children all over the world.

Eosmon blocked the path of a young girl walking the streets of New York City. The girl took a step back in fear as she cradled a snowy white Yukimibotamon in her arms. It was obvious to her that this was not an opponent that she could shake off by running.
Eosmon opened her large mouth, which at first looked like a scarf wrapped around the neck, and approached the girl.
But Eosmon’s mouth never reached her. XV-mon suddenly appeared and violently punched Eosmon, slamming her against a building. The wall shattered and smoke flew up in the air.

Eosmon didn’t appear to have much stamina, because XV-mon’s single full-body hit was enough to extinguish the light in her eyes. Her antennae drooped. She stopped moving completely.
“Good one, XV-mon!”
Daisuke ran up and laid a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” The girl replied, albeit still nervous.
“Hurry and get out of—”
A thunderous roar came from across the street, cutting off Daisuke’s words. He and the girl flinched.
“What’s that?”
When Daisuke turned around, two cars flew from the corner of the crossroads. Miyako, with laptop in hand, and Hawkmon were running towards them from that direction with Eosmon hot on their trail.
“I told you we shouldn’t go online, remember?!”
“Hey, don’t snap at me! Chosen Children around the world are being targeted! We need information!” Miyako countered her partner’s complaint as they ran.
Daisuke’s eyes turned from the arguing pair to the incoming threat. “Those must be Eosmon, huh?”
Eosmon, with her mouth open, slowly approached them.
“Here they come, Daisuke!” XV-mon warned.
Ken’s voice immediately spoke up from the other side of the street: “Stingmon!”
“Spiking Finish!”
Stingmon lunged with his sharp extending claws, then kicked Eosmon with both legs in rapid succession, causing her to topple sideways. With Ankylomon’s Megaton Press crushing her on top of that, Eosmon was sunk into the ground and rendered immobile.
“Does this mean that something has happened to Yamato-senpai and the others?”
As Miyako spoke, Iori and Ken ran up to her.
“Miyako-san, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Miyako said, waving a hand to ease the worried Ken.
“Wah!” A boy screamed from the other side of the street. When they turned to look, they saw a light had jumped out from the boy’s smartphone, changing into Eosmon.
“We’ll have to defend this place,” Ken said, encouraging his friends.
“Yeah. Let’s go, guys!” Daisuke cried.
“Yeah!” His friends responded.

The large island at the center of Neverland had giant crystals adjacent to it as if to emulate wings. Taichi and the others were hiding on top of the crystals. Agumon and Gabumon looked down at the center of the island.
“We ought to be okay here,” Gabumon said.
“Yeah.”
“Damn it…”
Agumon and Gabumon turned at Taichi’s voice. Taichi was hanging his head, sitting on the ground, while Yamato was looking discouraged with his hands against the wall.
“What do we do now… Did we just not have enough resolve?” Taichi muttered weakly.
The ring on his digivice was already significantly reduced. Taichi gritted his teeth as he looked at it. He punched the ground as helplessness washed over him. “Damn it!”
As he watched Taichi, Yamato said, “You’re not the only one…” and painfully looked away.
They had both lost sight of where to go next.
“Let’s fight,” Agumon and Gabumon said in unison.
Taichi and Yamato looked up.
“Come one, Taichi. Let’s go.”
“Let’s fight and save everyone.”
Taichi and Yamato’s faces clouded at their partners’ reprimands.
“But you guys…”
“Do you know what that means?”
Neither Taichi nor Yamato could keep up with Agumon and Gabumon’s resolve.
“Of course I know,” Agumon said, looking straight at the boys.
“But there’s no other way to save everyone,” Gabumon said decisively.
Taichi and Yamato looked at their partners in silence.
All of a sudden, Agumon’s face broke into a soft smile. “Watching you guys grow up into adults makes me feel so happy.”
“Watching everyone change gives me so much excitement,” Gabumon smiled warmly.
“You guys…” Taichi said.
“Besides, I get the feeling that we’ll always be with you guys,” Agumon said, laughing cheerfully.
The shadows lifted from Taichi and Yamato’s faces. Those honest words and innocent smiles had melted inside their hearts, filling them up with love.
They had always been able to fight because their partners had been there. It was because of them that they didn’t give up.
“C’mon, Taichi.”
“Let’s go, Yamato.”
Yamato paused for a moment to take in their partners’ feelings.
“Yeah,” he whispered, then said louder, “Let’s go save them! Gabumon!”
Taichi stood up and brought the googles hanging around his neck up to his forehead where they belonged. Just as how it had back then, when they had overcome every obstacle.
“Let’s show her our bond. Let’s do this!”
Smiles appeared on Agumon and Gabumon’s faces, and Taichi and Yamato also responded with grins of their own.
The partners reached out to one another and fist-bumped.

A flock of Eosmon were keeping watch of the surroundings around the central island. Menoa was also surveying the skies as she was carried in one of their arms. She was searching for Taichi and his group, but couldn’t find them.
Giving up, Menoa landed back down on the island and spoke gently to the children playing with their Digimon.
“Come, everyone. Return to your places. Other Chosen Children will be arriving here soon, from all over the world.”
The children looked up at Menoa with deep affection. She may have appeared to them like a holy mother, or a goddess.
Menoa bent down to meet the children’s eyes.
“When that happens, this place will be even more fun. You will never stop smiling here.”
As she spoke, Menoa’s mind filled with memories of her and Morphomon.
“Here, you can be with your best friend…”
When she and Morphomon had played together.
“Without ever having to leave them.”
When they had slept on the sofa together.
When she had given Morphomon a butterfly hairpin as a present.
“Forever.”
When she had disappeared, leaving only the butterfly hairpin behind.
“Let’s all stay here together, forever…” Menoa said to them with a smile.
Hearing footsteps behind her, Menoa slowly turned around. Taichi, Yamato, and their Digimon were standing in front of the crystal trolley.
“You came here of your own accord. Does that mean you’ve changed your minds?” Menoa said, standing up.
“No,” Taichi said.
“We’re going to save everyone.”
Menoa snorted, her face immediately darkening. “Nonsense. This place is everyone’s utopia!”
She stretched out her arm as if to protect the children, and the swarm of flying Eosmon stopped and turned in Taichi and Yamato’s direction.
“Let’s go, Agumon!”
“Yeah!”
“Let’s go, Gabumon!”
“Okay!”
Their digivices glowed and Agumon and Gabumon became spheres of light that spiraled up into the air. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon’s heads appeared in the sky, and the emitting light particles formed the body. Omegamon emerged from within a scattering of light with both arms spread.
The ring on their digivices vanished drastically. There was only a bit of it left, but neither Taichi nor Yamato felt hesitant anymore.
“GOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
The two yelled, and Omegamon turned to face the Eosmon swarm. Using the momentum of his turn, he sliced through one nearby with the Grey Sword of his left hand, and aimed with the Garuru Cannon on the other, firing. The ball of light hit Eosmon, creating a massive explosion.
Omegamon continued to fire at the Eosmon as he flew through the air at high speed. The shots hit their mark, and their opponent’s numbers decreased tremendously.
Menoa spoke at the boys, stunned, as the sky ignited behind her. “Why do you try to stop me?”
“Because this is a fake paradise,” Taichi said immediately.
Omegamon pierced Eosmon with the Grey Sword, plunging straight into a memory island. The crystal island shattered under the impact, and glittering shards flew up into the air.
In a lonely voice, Menoa said quietly, “Why are you trying to destroy this place?”
“As long as we’re in this place, none of us can move forward,” Yamato said promptly.
Omegamon spun upwards, looking down at the enemy as he aimed at them with the Garuru Cannon.
With the rumbling of the cannon, a ball of light shot out. He continued to fire more without a moment’s pause. The dizzying beams of light destroyed the Eosmon, along with the memory islands.
Menoa’s face distorted into sorrow.
“All I want to do is save everyone…”
Omegamon swung the Grey Sword widely, twisting his body to bring his left arm down. As if the slash had manifested through the air, the Eosmon and memory islands that were ahead of where the Grey Sword came down were sliced in two.
Menoa gripped her hairpin and her voice shook.
“As long as you’re here, you won’t have to feel as if you’ve lost a part of yourself…”
Shots from the Garuru Cannon destroyed several more Eosmon and memory islands.
Unable to bear it any longer, Menoa screamed.
“Why?!”
Omegamon swooped down towards the last Eosmon. He plunged his sword into her abdomen and she hit the water, generating a huge spray.
Within the large waves, Taichi and Yamato gazed at Menoa. She didn’t look up even as the water sprinkled over her.
“…I can’t take it,” Menoa whispered as she took off the butterfly hairpin. It fell from her fingers and sank slowly into the water.
“Losing something that’s so precious to you…”
Looking down, she covered her face in both hands.
“I can’t take any more of it.”
Through the spaces of her fingers, Menoa’s eyes glowed red.
All of a sudden, the Eosmon that had been pierced with the Grey Sword scattered into particles.
“What?” Omegamon cried out in surprise.
The remnants of Eosmon floating in the sky also turned into particles that flowed in one direction.
“That’s…” Yamato whispered as he looked up at the flowing particles above him.
All of the particles of light gathered at the central island where they were standing. It formed a single pillar of light around Menoa.
“Only I know what this pain feels like,” Menoa whispered in an angry, shaking voice from within the light. “I will save everyone… I will become your goddess!”
As she shouted, Menoa disappeared into the light.
The pillar of light spread like a wall dividing the central island in two.
“Uwah!”
Taichi and Yamato turned their faces away from the brightness.
The water disappeared as if it was being sucked down into the light. The water flowed, falling into the breaks of the wall of light.
As the water drew back, the wall of light opened up. Looking at it, Taichi and Yamato could feel themselves turning pale.
“It can’t be…” Taichi choked.
It was Eosmon in a new form.
Her golden body was hundreds of times bigger than Omegamon, and her beautiful wings glittered like an aurora. Along with her usual slender limbs, there were an additional two, short arms crossed over the crystal on her chest. The tail part that extended out between her legs looked like a hornet’s abdomen. Her golden shine made her appear beautiful.
Yamato looked up at Eosmon in amazement. “She evolved… No, she absorbed her!”
There was a shadowy figure within the crystal on her chest.
“Menoa…” Taichi whispered as he stared at the crystal. What on earth was driving her this hard?
As he was contemplating that, the crystal on Eosmon’s forehead flashed without warning. The light beam it emitted crossed in the space between Taichi and Yamato, and the trolley behind them instantly melted. A large explosion erupted, and the two were caught up in the blast.
“Taichi! Yamato!”
Omegamon inadvertently turned his eyes and Eosmon shot her beam again without giving away any motion. Omegamon knew the attack was coming, but couldn’t avoid it. The beam hit him directly, causing another explosion.
Taichi had fallen to the ground from the blast. He managed to push himself back up and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. It felt unpleasantly sticky and wet. When he looked, he saw that he was pouring bright red blood. Among all of the fights they’d had, this was a first.
Biting down to bear with the pain, he wiped at the blood on his forehead again.
“Yamato!”
“…Yeah.” Yamato responded to his call, getting up. He was also bleeding from his forehead. “I’m okay! How’s Omegamon?”
Omegamon appeared from within the smoke. Looking as though he were undamaged, he floated just above the ground and approached Eosmon as if he was skating on ice. His cape flapped as he zigzagged as a feint while closing the distance. Eosmon nimbly fended him off.
But Omegamon’s body slowed into a curve before turning sharply. He flew, closing in the distance, and lunged with his Grey Sword regardless of whether he was in reach or not.
But his Grey Sword did not reach the target. Plank-shaped shields suddenly sprang up between Eosmon and Omegamon, blocking his attack. He pushed harder to pierce through them, but they wouldn’t budge.
“Guh!”
Deciding that it would be impossible to break through with his Grey Sword, Omegamon readied his Garuru Cannon. At close range, the ball of light flashed and exploded.
Eosmon appeared within the explosion. Her body did not have a single scratch.
The third beam that she shot from her forehead pierced through Omegamon’s right shoulder. His armor was destroyed and it gouged out a hole in the central island. The explosion that ruptured the ground caused the island to shake.
“Gwah!”
Omegamon flew off into the skies after receiving the attack, and Eosmon followed him.
Omegamon shot his Garuru Cannon at the oncoming Eosmon. Two shots flew straight and landed where he’d aimed, but there was no reaction. As expected, his attack was once again blocked by shields that she had extended to cover her front.
Eosmon called off the shields and shot the beam again. The ray of light immediately split into eight like an unwinding thread.
Omegamon bent his upper body to avoid the beams and tried to escape by flying. The eight beams relentlessly pursued Omegamon, destroying the remaining memory islands in their paths while still giving chase.
Unable to break free of them, Omegamon whirled his body around and struck the beams with his Grey Sword. But he only managed to hit two. The rest of the beams caught Omegamon and exploded. The wounded Omegamon fell facing upwards.
“Omegamon!” Taichi and Yamato cried.
“Khh!”
The falling Omegamon tried to turn his body over somehow and regain his posture.

Daisuke and the gang’s struggle on the streets of New York City continued.
“There! XV-mon!”
“X Laser!”
The wave of energy that radiated out of XV-mon’s chest exploded, destroying Eosmon.
Another Eosmon was waiting for her chance right after his attack and jumped down at XV-mon from the skies.
“Blast Laser!”
As he glided through the sky with his large wings, Aquilamon released a ring-shaped beam from his mouth. The Eosmon that had been lunging for XV-mon was sent flying backwards.
“Nice one, Aquilamon!” Miyako said cheerfully, waving a hand.
A wave of Ankylomon’s heavy tail whammed into another Eosmon’s face. The dull clunk reverberated through the air and the target sank into the pavement.
“There’s too many of them,” Iori said as he stood in front of the pedestrians to protect them.
“We keep taking them down and they still keep coming dagya.”
“Even so, we can’t give up!”
“Ken-chan is right!” Stingmon agreed at Ken’s words.
“Of course!” Daisuke said with a wide grin.
The Eosmon were appearing all over the world. But the other Chosen Children weren’t going to let themselves be helplessly captured. Surely they were still desperately resisting even now.
To raise their spirits, Daisuke proclaimed, “We’re not the only ones fighting!”

“Gwah!”
Eosmon’s attack sent Omegamon flying backwards. Several more attack beams came for him. Omegamon’s body, which had slammed against a giant crystal floating in the area, was pushed down with a thunderous roar by the impact of several beams hitting him. Smoke rose.
Nevertheless, Omegamon didn’t falter. He readied his Garuru Cannon and charged her, trying to fight back.
Suddenly, Eosmon raised a long arm.
Omegamon jerked back in surprise when a shield suddenly appeared in front of him. The crystalline shield that blocked his vision overlapped the barrel of the Garuru Cannon on Omegamon’s right arm. The tip of the Garuru Cannon fell off as if the part had come loose. It had been sliced off by the shield that had been generated instantly.
“Wha—?!”
His back to the floating crystal, Omegamon’s eyes widened in astonishment.
Eosmon’s long arms moved even faster. Several more shields were generated, matching her movements, and Omegamon’s whole body was cut into the crystal. The shields that she had previously been using as a defense were now being used on Omegamon as a terrifying weapon.
“Ahh…” All Taichi and Yamato could do was watch, stunned.
As if passing judgment, Eosmon lowered down her arm. A giant shield appeared then, cutting the floating crystal in half.
All of the shields disappeared and the giant crystal ruptured to pieces in all directions. Various sizes of the broken crystal shards floated in mid-air, slicing his right arm and left leg.
Omegamon, tattered to pieces, floated in space.
“Omegamon!” Taichi and Yamato yelled grievously upon seeing Omegamon’s pitiful state.
“I’m not… done yet…”
Hearing Taichi and Yamato’s voices, Omegamon brought out the last remnants of his strength to raise the Grey Sword on his left arm.
“Woooooooohhhhh!”
He raised the sword up high and rushed at Eosmon with a battle cry.
The sword thrust was blocked by a shield. Regardless, Omegamon, with strained cries, desperately kept trying to pierce through the shield to get to Eosmon.
As if mocking him, Eosmon quietly raised her long left arm. The newly generated shield severed Omegamon’s left arm.
Without even a pause, Eosmon called off the shields and shot out a ray from her forehead. The beam hit Omegamon as he was bent backwards. An explosion occurred, and the wounded Omegamon slid without resistance to the ground.
With a loud thump, Omegamon hit the floor and his fusion came undone. Agumon and Gabumon lay limply on their sides within the cloud of dust.
“Agumon!”
Taichi anxiously tried to run to him, but someone grabbed his left hand. When he turned to look, he saw his sister with red eyes holding firmly onto his arm.
“Hikari?”
His right arm was pulled this time, and he turned in surprise to see Koushiro grabbing onto it, his eyes emotionless.
“Koushiro?”
“Let go, Takeru!”
Yamato was also being held back by the child forms of Takeru, Mimi, and Jou.
“Let go, Hikari! And Koushiro! I have to go save Agumon!”
“Takeru, you have to let me go! I promise we’ll save you guys!”
They appealed to them desperately, but the children didn’t change expression.
“Hikari, you know this is wrong! You know you can’t just escape to this world, only living in your memories!”
“We have to keep going! Guh!”
Patamon flew at Yamato as if to cover his mouth, and Yamato fell on his back.
“Yamato! Gah!”
Taichi fell back under Tentomon’s body blow.
“Guh…”
He straightened back up, but gulped at what he saw before him. The large crowd of children and Digimon was looking down at them coldly.
“Guys…” Taichi whispered in a shaky voice.
As one, the children’s Digimon partners fell upon Taichi and Yamato.
“Uwah!”
“Ugh!”
The Digimon dog-piled on each other, swarming over the two and squashing them. Eosmon watched this triumphantly.
A gate opened in mid-air and the Eosmon army returned. They landed on the floating crystal shards and each spat out a child’s digitized awareness data and their Digimon partners from their mouths.
This caused the crystals to radiate, forming new memory islands lined with chimneyed houses and windmills.
As the giant Eosmon stood regally like a queen, memory islands flourished all around her. Neverland was reviving.
Just then, Taichi’s arm stretched out from within the pile of Digimon. Eosmon noticed this and turned to look.
“Have to… keep going.”
Taichi stretched his arm out laboriously towards the expressionless Hikari and his friends standing stock still before him. It was true that this place was like a dream. But because it was a dream, they needed to wake up one day.
“We have to… keep going.”
Taichi took on the cold stares of the children without any trepidation. They’d had this dream for long enough.
He pushed himself back up with all his might, brushing the Digimon aside.
“Towards the future!”
Taichi bent himself forward and grabbed the whistle hanging around Hikari’s neck. He blew into it as hard as he could. Just like that time when, as a kid, he had first met Agumon.
The trill of the whistle echoed throughout Neverland, and the faces of his friends started contorting. The sound that shook their eardrums matched the same tune that they had heard as children, the one that was carved into a corner of their memories.
Agumon and Gabumon, who were lying on the floor in a worn-out, exhausted state, weakly opened their eyes.
“Taichi…”
“Yamato…”
Alone in a hushed and silent room, Sora looked up as if she had felt something. She gazed at the nonstop rain and placed her hand on the window.
“Taichi…”

The sound of the whistle echoed through Neverland.
“Phew!”
Taichi let go of the whistle after blowing all of the air in his lungs into it, and painfully took a deep breath.
“Brother.”
Taichi looked up in surprise. Hikari, Koushiro, Mimi, Jou, and Takeru were all standing before him, back in their older forms.
“…Hikari. Guys.”
Patamon tilted his head in confusion, while Gomamon whispered confusedly, “What are we doing here?”
The Digimon partners were also back to their old selves.
Yamato looked at his friends and smiled. None of them were willing to cling to the past anymore. “That’s what makes us us.”
“Taichi-san, where’s Eosmon?” Koushiro asked.
Taichi stood up and looked behind him at the giant Eosmon with countless smaller Eosmon floating around her. It was an intimidating sight, but he no longer felt any fear. His friends were here. As long as they were with him, he was convinced that they could overcome any adversity.
Jou shook his fists. “Let’s go, Gomamon! We’ll protect everyone!”
“Yeah! You got it, Jou!”
“Palmon! Let’s go!” Mimi said, joining hands with Palmon.
“Yes. It’s been a long time since I’ve given them a taste of my thorns!”
“Let’s go, Patamon.”
In answer to Takeru’s call, Patamon flew up and sat on his head.
“We’ve gotta help my brother and everyone!”
“Takeru. I’ve got this!”
Hikari and Tailmon stared fixedly at Eosmon.
“Let’s go, Tailmon.”
“Don’t let your guard down, Hikari.”
Koushiro murmured with interest as he put a hand on his chin, “So that’s Eosmon’s evolved form…”
“Koushiro-han,” Tentomon warned him with some slight exasperation. “This is no time for analyzing.”
“You’re right. Let’s go, Tentomon.”

Sora’s grip tightened around her petrified digivice that had lost its color.
Right now, her friends were fighting somewhere. Even though they were apart, she could tell.
“Guys,” she whispered. She held her digivice to her chest and looked up. “I believe in you…!”

Togemon, Ikkakumon, Angemon, Angewomon, and Kabuterimon faced down the enormous Eosmon.
A beam shot out from Eosmon’s forehead, splitting the ground between Ikkakumon and Togemon.
“Wah!”
Angemon, Angewomon, and Kabuterimon tried to attack from the skies, but the Eosmon army surrounded them, blocking their path.
“Harpoon Vulcan!”
“Prickly Bang Bang!”
Ikkakumon shot the horn on his head, while Togemon spun to unleash multiple thorns.
Taichi and Yamato watched their friends fight from a distance. The ring of light on their digivices was almost gone. Their minds were made up.
“Taichi…”
“Yamato…”
Upon hearing their partners’ voices, Taichi and Yamato looked down. Agumon and Gabumon were standing closely by their side.
“Agumon. I want to save everyone.”
Agumon gently placed his hand on Taichi’s right hand gripping his digivice. Just that alone brought courage.
“I know, Taichi.”
“Gabumon. Even if this is the end, please fight with me.”
Gabumon gently placed his hand on Yamato’s left hand gripping his digivice. Their faith in each other needed no words.
“Let’s go, Yamato.”

Their hearts united, they cried out together.

“This is our last evolution!”

Their digivices changed to gold, cracking as if unable to sustain the force of it. A pillar of light stretched from the digivices to the skies, disappearing in the distance before blooming into a large flower of light.
As the light rained down upon them, Taichi and Agumon, Yamato and Gabumon floated upwards.
“That light…” Hikari murmured in awe.
“It’s so pretty…” Mimi said.
Taichi and Yamato each took their partner by the hand and drifted into the light. There was no worry, no fear, no doubt. They were slowly absorbed into the light in the skies.
The dazzling light gradually subsided, and two humanoid shapes appeared from within it.
One of them was a muscular Digimon who wore a warrior’s helmet that reminded them of Greymon. His orange body had bluish-white stripes, and he wore a belt around his waist with a red crystal at the center. The claws extending from his hands and feet looked sharp, and he had a long narrow tail with a red sword blade at the tip.
The other Digimon wore a helmet that called to mind Garurumon, and he had a mechanical dark blue body. Long hair trailed out from the back of the helmet, and he had a thick fat tail at his waist. His forearms were Vulcan cannons, and on his back were airplane wings with circular tips.
Both of them were about five meters in length. Taichi and Yamato were riding on their shoulders.
Overwhelmed by the majestic radiance, Koushiro murmured. “A new evolution…”
Jou’s eyes were also wide. “This is…”
“Incredible…” Takeru said.
The newly evolved forms of Agumon and Gabumon raised their heads to look upon their target. The swarm of Eosmon headed for them like soldiers protecting their queen.
The space between Gabumon’s wings was equipped with an attack bit shaped like a thorn. The single bit separated into four and fired, quickly closing the distance to their targets. Beams were released from their tips. The Eosmon army was shot down in the twinkling of an eye.
Against the Eosmon who had managed to escape the bits and were closing in on the two, Agumon raised both arms in front of him. Tremendous laser beams shot from the red nails on the back of his hands. The beams sliced through the Eosmon easily and they disappeared into dust.
Seeing her countless allies flattened almost instantly, the Eosmon that carried Menoa began to move. Agumon and Gabumon saw that and jumped into the air, flying towards her. The shields that were generated, aiming for the two, cut vainly through empty space.
Agumon and Gabumon approached so fast that they couldn’t even be caught by the naked eye, and their upraised fists bashed into Eosmon’s face. Her giant body bent backwards, and she dropped into the central island with a rumbling of earth. Still in the sky, the two Digimon went into offense mode, thrusting their arms forward.
Eosmon was attacked with concentrated fire from both the lasers and the Vulcan cannons. The incessant attack that rained down mercilessly upon her was so overwhelming that Eosmon couldn’t even sit up.
Still on her back, Eosmon shot the beam from her forehead that spread in all directions. But the beam that she had half-desperately discharged flew through the air without hitting its target.
Neither Agumon nor Gabumon let up on their attacks. Eosmon, on the other hand, resisted this time with a flurry of long limbs. These movements caused numerous shields to be casually generated in mid-air.
“Ugh!”
Among the shields that were being indiscriminately generated, one appeared close by to Agumon and Gabumon, causing them to involuntarily stop their attacks and keep their distance.
But even though the attacks stopped, Eosmon’s limbs kept floundering as though she was having a panic attack. Shields of various sizes appeared all over the central island, and one part of the island crumbled down as though it had been scraped off. Her rampaging attack was destroying the Neverland that she herself had created.
“Wah!”
“Kyah!”
Hikari and the others barely avoided the wild blows.
Taichi and Yamato rode out the attack on their partners’ shoulders.
“Let’s go, Yamato!”
“Yeah, Taichi!”
As the two looked at one another, Agumon and Gabumon raised their fists and rushed at Eosmon.
Eosmon crossed her giant hands, forming many layers of shields in front of her.
Taichi and Agumon, Yamato and Gabumon hit the shields with their whole body. The impact was transmitted through the shields, pushing Eosmon into the central island and cracking its ground surface. The entire island vibrated violently with a terrific sound that was like a terrifying roar.
“Wohhhhhhhh!”
Taichi and the others kept pushing Eosmon so that their single blow would reach its target.
Unable to withstand the pressure, the cracks on the ground spread further until finally, the central island fractured at its core. The hunk of giant crystal shattered with a rumbling roar, its glittering pieces reflecting off light as they flew. The sight was so spectacular that it made everyone gulp.
Having lost their foothold, Hikari and the others were flung into the air, but their partners gathered their human into their arms and escaped safely.
Crystal shards, the last remnants of the central island, fell down everywhere in the sky.
Just then, one of the shards reflected a young girl happily embracing a Digimon.
“Ahaha! Morphomon, we’ll always be together.”
Another shard reflected the girl, this time slightly older.
“Morphomon… Everyone keeps avoiding me.”
“I want to become an adult soon. That way, everyone will stop looking at me strangely!”
“Morphomon, I’ve decided! I’m going to New York!”
Seeing the young Menoa reflected in the crystals, Taichi and Yamato spoke.
“This is…”
“Menoa’s memories…”
In the shattered crystal shards that came flowing down, they saw Menoa sitting on a swing.
“I’m going to live on my own from now on.”
Menoa, standing at her home entrance with her hair down, looking a little older.
“I’ll be fine on my own.”
“I can hear her voice,” Agumon said. What he was hearing wasn’t the voice from her memories, but her current voice.
“She’s looking for help,” Gabumon said.
“She’s been crying this whole time.”
Neverland caved in, and Eosmon dropped downwards.

Morphomon…
Morphomon…
“Morphomon!”
Fourteen year old Menoa banged the front door open in her excitement. She couldn’t wait to tell her best friend the good news.
“I did it! I’ve got special honors to go straight to university!”
Morphomon was sitting on the backyard swing under the tree where they always played together. Her back was turned.
“From now on, I’ll make my own life! I’ll do research that I love to help the world!”
She was talking excitedly, but Morphomon still wouldn’t turn around.
“Morphomon?” Menoa called out uncertainly once more, stopping in her tracks.
When Morphomon turned around, she saw that her arms and wings were disintegrating into particles of light.
“Ah!” Menoa cried, and ran to Morphomon. Her digivice dropped out and fell to the ground as she ran. The last bit of the ring on it vanished.
Menoa clung to Morphomon, grabbing her by the shoulders.
“Morphomon! Why…? I don’t know anything about this…”
Menoa panicked, unable to understand what was happening. Her mind blank, she could only call out her partner’s name.
“Morphomon… Morphomon… Morphomon!”
Morphomon gently took Menoa’s hands and smiled at her. Morphomon’s mouth moved as if she was telling her something, but the words were drowned out by Menoa’s own voice. She couldn’t hear what was being said.
Morphomon’s body turned to light and vanished.
“Ahh!”
Her outstretched arms hugged empty air. The hairpin that Menoa had given as a present dropped to the ground.
“Morphomon…”
Menoa hung her head, covering her face with shaking hands.
Is it because I…
Because I made that choice?
Because I wanted to grow up?
What else should I have done?
I don’t know anymore.
I know nothing.
Someone.
Someone…
Someone…!
Please help me…

Menoa looked up at the deafening roar.
Agumon and Gabumon were pushing their fists through the last shield trying to shatter it. Bits and pieces of the shield flew and sparks fell.
“Menoa! We’re coming to save you now!” Taichi called, and Yamato also raised his voice.
“What you’ve chosen wasn’t a mistake!”
“But no matter what waits for us after making that choice…!”
“We have to live with the decisions that we make!”
Menoa’s eyes glistened as the two desperately tried to get through to her. They had also made their choice. Even while knowing what would happen to them by doing so.
From his position on Agumon’s shoulder, Taichi leaned forward.
“We might not be able to change our fate. But!”
“We can change our destiny!”
Menoa’s eyes widened at those words.
There was a crack and the last shield shattered. Taichi and Yamato jumped forward, raising their digivices into the air.
“That’s why we won’t give up!”
Their digivices touched Eosmon’s crystal chest. A tremendous light exploded out of the digivices, blowing the darkness away.
“Woooohhhhhhhhhhh!”

Menoa’s view was blinded by light.
In that pure white world, the butterfly hairpin floated in front of her.
When Menoa looked up to watch, the hairpin suddenly changed into the shape of Eosmon.
The moment when Morphomon left her came up in Menoa’s mind. Just before Morphomon had disappeared into particles of light, she had taken Menoa’s hand. With a happy smile, Morphomon had spoken to her.
The words that she hadn’t heard back then could be heard clearly now.
“We’ll always be together.”
With those gentle words, Morphomon’s afterimage vanished and Eosmon smiled quietly. As if she was happy to have finally been able to convey how she felt.
Tears fell down Menoa’s face.
“I’m sorry.”
Even her tears were embraced gently by the light.

The Eosmon that Daisuke and his group were fighting disintegrated into particles of light and flew up into the sky.

Eosmon all over the world were disappearing at the same time.
“Is it over?”
“I guess?”
V-mon and Wormmon looked up in a daze at the sky.
“I think it is,” Ken said.
“Me too,” Hawkmon responded.
The tension drained from Miyako’s face. “Oh, thank god!”
“Yes! I knew Taichi-san and the others would succeed!” Daisuke cried out in a pleased voice as he pumped a fist into the air.
Iori held up Armadimon in his arms. “We did it.”
“Dagya!”

The dawn rose, and the rain that had been falling incessantly came to an end. Sunlight peeked through the rain clouds.
In Koushiro’s office, Imura handcuffed Menoa. Taichi and the others looked on beside them.
Menoa met Imura’s gaze for a few seconds, then smiled gently as though a great weight had fallen off her shoulders.
Sunlight pierced through the windows, lighting up the room.
Jou woke up from the hospital bed, looked up at the ceiling and whispered in confusion, “Huh?”
“What was I doing?” Gomamon asked half-sleepily, poking his head out from beneath the bed.
On this day, all of the Chosen Children worldwide who had been in a coma woke up.
Mimi, who had also been sleeping on her hospital bed, woke with a start. She sat up and looked out the window to see vapor trails streaked across the clear sky.
“I had such a strange dream,” Palmon said, rising up from the floor.
Mimi raised both of her arms up into the air and stretched.
“Mm, today looks like such a good day!”
Her cheerful voice, which seemed to reach even the skies, echoed throughout the hospital room.

Even though giant columns of clouds hid the sun, the blue sky was still bright and beautiful. Taichi and Agumon were sitting on the shore of Odaiba, looking out at the sea. The loud sounds of cicadas filled the air.
In Taichi’s hand was his digivice where, like a single petal, the last remaining bit of the ring was trembling uncertainly.
He remembered the first time that he and Agumon had to separate. Back then, they could afford to laugh at each other. That had perhaps been because of the unfounded confidence, born from child-like thinking, that they would one day meet again.
Their separation now was approaching with finality. But even so, he wasn’t going to panic anymore. Right now, all he wanted to do was spend time with Agumon in the same way that he’d always had.
“It’s hot,” Agumon said.
“Well, it’s summer.”
“Taichi, do you remember the first time we met?”
Taichi smiled. “How could I ever forget?”

Yamato and Gabumon overlooked the city at an observation deck in Yokohama’s Harbor View Park.
“Wow, what a great view!” Gabumon said excitedly.
“This is nice once in awhile,” Yamato said as naturally as he could, realizing that this may be the last moment they would be together. They mutually understood, without having to say it, that they both wanted to act the same as usual.
Yamato stared out blankly at the view from the observation deck, and took a harmonica out of his pocket.
“Ah, your harmonica!”
“I refurbished it because I wanted to try playing it again.”
Watching Yamato look down gently at his harmonica, Gabumon lowered his eyes to the landscape.
“Let me hear it.”

The ocean waves crested and hit the sandy beach, then pulled back, repeatedly. Just looking at it made him sweat buckets.
“Hey, Taichi…” Agumon called for Taichi in his usual drawled tone.
“What?” Taichi asked, turning to Agumon.
“I wanna eat shaved ice.”
“Huh?”
Taichi leaned forward in disbelief.
“Fine, all right.”
Taichi stood up. Agumon simply watched him.
“You like melon-flavor, right?”
He knew what Agumon liked better than anyone.
When Taichi stood up, his back was higher and bigger than Agumon was expecting. Agumon looked up at him in wide-eyed wonder. His heart felt full.
“Taichi. You’ve grown big.” Agumon said, looking pleased.
“…You don’t change,” Taichi responded back with a quiet smile.

Gabumon closed his eyes as he listened to the familiar, gentle tune of the harmonica. The wind blew and the sun filtered through the trees.
He opened his eyes again to the scenery spread out so wide before him.
“…Yamato, I’m proud to have you as my partner.”
Quietly taking in Gabumon’s words, Yamato brought his hands down.

“Hey, Taichi.” “Hey, Yamato.”
At the same time, at different places, their partners asked the same question.
“What do you want to do tomorrow?”
“Well, let’s see…”
They who were once boys turned their gazes to look up at the sky and think for a bit.
“I don’t know my plans for tomorrow.”
Two butterflies flew past, flying towards the sun beyond the clouds.
“I got it.”
A smile came upon the faces of they who were once boys, and they opened their mouths as if struck by an idea.
“Tomorrow, why don’t we—”
Turning around, they found that their partners were no longer there. The only thing that could be heard were the cicadas.
Both boys stared at the spot for a while, as if searching for leftover traces of their partners. Before long, they faced forward.
The digivice in their hands petrified from the inside out, losing its color. They clutched their digivices, their hands shaking. The drops of water that fell to the ground didn’t come from the sky. No matter how much they tried to hold it down, the tears wouldn’t stop.
On that day, the day that they became adults, giant tears leaked from their eyes as they sobbed quietly.
The blue sky and the magnificent sunset peering through the clouds in the background looked both so out of place and so beautiful.

This is how we arrived at the entrance to adulthood.
And then, the story evolved into new territory.

The hands typing on the keyboard stopped.

Some time after the incident, the Chosen Children were back in the rhythm of their everyday lives.
In the cafeteria where Taichi was chatting with his school friends, he was holding a single sheet of paper in one hand. It was the outline for his bachelor’s thesis, which had been previously blank but was now filled up with a detailed theme in mind.
He had found what he really wanted to do and accomplish. No matter how steep that road was going to be, he would not hesitate to reach that goal. With strong determination in his heart, Taichi resolutely wrote the title on the paper.
The title read, “How mankind and Digimon can co-exist.”

Spring.
Taichi ran under a row of cherry blossom trees in full bloom.
Yamato, a bit of a distance away from Taichi, parked his motorcycle at the shoulder of the road, and took off his helmet to look up at the cherry blossoms. The tree branches swayed in the wind and pink-white petals danced gracefully in the air.
As he felt the beauty of the cherry blossoms wash over him, Yamato smiled daringly. There was no fear or hesitation in his face.
Within the petals dancing down upon him, Taichi’s smile widened. His running speed increased as though he was hurrying towards the oncoming future that he must face.
The two, who were now adults, declared resolutely:
“Wait for me! I promise to come for you!”

Ryosuke Maki

Silver award winner of the JUMP Novel Theme Category Contest for New Writers of 2018. This book is his debut.

Akatsuki Yamatoya

Screenplay writer, lyricist, and general writer. He has worked as a screenplay writer on such series as the “Gintama” anime, and “Super Sentai Series.”

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Where to buy: Amazon.JP.

Afterword

In late January 1999, the post-recording for the first episode of “Digimon Adventure” took place. Because it was a new television series, without an original novel or manga to use as its reference, we had to cut back on the aspect of explaining the character to each voice actor, something that we would usually do under normal circumstances. We only described their basic personality during auditions because it was likely that those personalities would change drastically in the future depending on the plot’s developments. We did not omit the explanations because there were too many characters. I swear.

But in exchange, we began post-recording by saying just this:
“This story is one that’s being reminisced on by one of the children in the group who becomes a novelist 28 years later. The narrator here is that child as an adult.”
Those who watched the last episode of the continuation series “Digimon Adventure 02” would know that this was Takeru, but back then, that information was kept secret.
At the time of the show, it was planned that the last episode of “Digimon Adventure” would end with ‘where are the characters now’ 28 years later. However, in mid-run, production for its sequel “02” was decided and its story contents were established to be juxtaposed to the previous show, so we carried over the 28 years later scene to the sequel series instead.
The ending for the first series changed into a scene of goodbyes, which I think is the most fitting for a story that began with scenes of greetings and encounters with the Digimon.

During the latter half of the series, I came upon many instances where I wanted to do things but almost gave up on them because wanting to do something is easier than actually doing them. Of course, when I compare what I couldn’t do to what I could, the amount of what I actually did manage to pull off was a thousand times greater. I am grateful to all of the staff who helped me with this, as well as grateful to the viewers who took all of this in and supported it.

Seeing just how much of it was accepted by the audience, I found out in more concrete terms later on, after seeing the number of video stocks go up in rental shops, the toys that were released, as well as the seemingly neverending production of CDs. Each time that I went to a video store, I was shocked.
As for the mysteries and things I couldn’t do in “Digimon Adventure,” I ended up being able to develop them in “02.”

Oh, by the way, these novels — These three paperback books in your hands — are not, of course, the novel that Takeru had written. But I’m sure that you knew that already. Sorry for that unnecessary point.

If there is an opportunity to novelize “Digimon Adventure 02”, the sequel to this story that takes place three years later in 2002, then let us reunite then. I would like it very much if I also had the chance to write about the stories that took place during those three years, as well as the stories that took place after.

Late June, 2001.

Hiroyuki Kakudou

That is the end of the Digimon Adventure novelization. Thank you for reading.

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Chapter 9; The Last Enemy

① The Wall of Fire

Mechanorimon’s hatch popped open and Gennai peered out from inside. His face shone a brilliant red against the incandescent flames that shot out from the ‘Wall of Fire.’
“So this is the ‘Wall of Fire’…” Centaurmon said next to him.
The thick open book in Centaurmon’s hands was a transcription of the “Digimon Book of Revelations” that was carved as an epitaph in the ancient Dino ruins’ walls. “I never expected to see the ‘Wall of Fire’ with my own eyes. To speak with you frankly… I had thought that it was more of a symbol and that it didn’t really exist.”
“That’s because Spiral Mountain has been formed,” Gennai responded with a bitter look, very unlike his usual easygoing expression. “It was originally hidden deep beneath the Digital World thanks to the four Holy Beasts, but it’s been laid bare now with the heavens and earth absorbed into Spiral Mountain. Still, this is bad news. The flames look like they are weakening. At this rate, the wall will be wide open.”
“What happens when it opens?”
“Don’t ask me that. I don’t even want to think about it.”
Gennai shook his head, looking as though he had sucked on a particularly sour lemon.

They were in a corner of empty sky far away from Spiral Mountain. Where emptiness surrounded them was a round circle, with bright crimson flames gushing out along its edges. Like a lid, the flames covered the hole that linked the Digital World to another world on the outside.
“But according to what you said… It seems that at least one of the beasties has escaped through this hole.”
“I wouldn’t call it a beastie. At the very least, according to the old scriptures, it’s known as an Idea without a material body.”
“Well, that’s what the myth says, but… Either way, it is an evil being?”
“For this world it is. The Digital World as we know it wouldn’t have existed in the first place if it hadn’t rejected that Idea.”

② Collapse of the Cities

Taichi, Sora, Koushiro, Takeru, Hikari, and their Digimon partners ran from the world of forests into the world of cities. The ruler of the world of cities was Mugendramon.
Unluckily for them, they were spotted by a platoon of Tankmon on patrol shortly after they arrived into this world.
Although they ended up having to battle, Taichi forbade all of them from evolving. The only one he allowed was for Piyomon to evolve to Garudamon. The other Digimon were strictly ordered not to evolve.
This was to make sure that they were fresh for any future potential unexpected situations, but Koushiro, who didn’t know that, was enraged.
“Why won’t you allow Tentomon to evolve?! Tell me why!”
Koushiro understood after Taichi explained himself, but he turned pale upon realizing that he had spoken to his senior Taichi with such an insolent tone. Even he himself seemed surprised at what he’d done.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean—”
But Taichi said, “Don’t worry about it. In fact, it made me happy to hear you speak so casually to me. I felt like you’d finally opened up your heart to me.”
Hearing this embarrassed Koushiro. But if reconciling with his parents had helped him to close his distance with other people, then it made Koushiro happy about himself as well. Taichi’s big-hearted way of accepting his brazenness with a smile only deepened Koushiro’s admiration for Taichi more than ever.
While Garudamon was taking out the Tankmon platoon alone, the news that the Chosen Children had been found reached Mugendramon.
Because Mugendramon was a machine, he felt neither the ruthless joy of hunting prey like MetalSeadramon nor innocent malice like Pinocchimon. He moved quickly, without waste, into carrying out his plan to eliminate the Chosen Children.
In other words, his plan involved using his Mugen Cannon to desecrate his own cities and subordinates, if it all meant killing the children.
The truth about the world of cities was that the machines on its surface were only a cover; the power generated underground was what were more important.
Mugendramon implemented his plan immediately. Quickly, without waste.
Mugen Cannon was fired.
A giant mushroom cloud rose, and the city beneath it was instantly wiped out.
But Taichi and the others avoided damage.
While Garudamon was fighting, Taichi found a manhole to use for retreat and ordered everyone to escape underground.
There, they reunited with Andromon and his resistance team.

○

Koushiro connected his laptop to the access point that Andromon told him about.
After hearing the click and whirring of the modem, his laptop was connected to the Digital World’s network.
“What is this?”
The network that he had hacked into once while on Server Continent was now in shreds, and the shadow of a mysterious polygon shape was calmly moving through it.
“Is it a virus?” Koushiro said aloud, to which Andromon replied,
“It’s not a virus. It’s neither data nor a program either. But if you asked me what it was, I wouldn’t know what to tell you. It seems to have formed after Nanomon made the black hole. It could have been the cause of the black hole, or perhaps it is a barrier… The venerable Gennai has called it the digital form of an Idea.”
“What does that mean?” Sora, who was ignorant about computers, asked, but Koushiro also shook his head in puzzlement.
Andromon continued his explanation. “This is outside my field of expertise, but there is an old legend. It says that when the Digital World was first created, two Ideas fought over what sort of world should be made. One of those Ideas won and the rules of the Digital World were established. The other Idea was cast out into the ‘Wall of Fire’…”
“Is that what this is?” What Andromon was saying had flown over Taichi’s head, but he questioned him anyway.
“Well, the venerable Gennai says it is possible. I… am not so sure.”
“Is it an ally of the Dark Masters?” Takeru asked this time.
“I don’t know. But it doesn’t appear to be our friend.”
It was then that the violent vibrations came.
“Wh–What was that?”
“It’s Mugendramon,” Andromon replied. “He must have realized that you have survived.”
“What do we do?”
It wasn’t Andromon who answered Sora’s question, but Taichi.
“Takeru and Patamon. Also, Hikari and Tailmon. You’ve got a tough opponent on your hands, but can you handle it?”
“Leave it to me!”
“I’m ready.”
The Digimon replied before their kids even opened their mouths.
“But don’t push yourselves. If you ever think that it’s dangerous, fall back.”

○

The underground was tightly packed with pipes and cables, so in order to move further into it or deeper underground, they had to cut through pipes and cables that blocked their path. It felt like parting through a sea filled with algae.
But once they made it through, they reached a wide cavity underground.
It didn’t change that it was still a difficult place for Mugendramon to fight in.
He couldn’t use his Mugen Cannon. Although cramped, the source of the city’s power was underground. If he used his cannons carelessly, there was the apprehension that the world of cities itself would be destroyed.
But not even that was a major problem — That was what Mugendramon’s mechanical brain cells calculated. Even in hand-to-hand combat, his power had the precondition of eclipsing the powers of all the Chosen Children’s Digimon partners.
“Heaven’s Knuckle!”
“Holy Arrow!”
The two angel Digimon attacked him boldly, but they couldn’t make a single scratch on Mugendramon’s steel body.
On the other hand, Mugendramon’s punches knocked them down and they received severe damage.
“Well? Is there a good plan?” Taichi asked his adviser Koushiro as he watched the battle.
“The two cannons on his back! How about we aim our attacks into them?”
They acted on that plan right away, but it had no effect.
“Then how about cutting those red and blue cables?”
They tried that as well, but the cables on Mugendramon that connected from his abdomen to the cannons on his back were more solid than they had expected, so it was a meaningless attack.
“Nothing we’re doing works… What do we do?” Koushiro fretted.
Next to him, Taichi asked Koromon, “Can you do it?”
Koromon tightened his lips. “Of course!”
“Okay then, evolve!”
“Koromon, evolve! Agumon!”
But although the gauge of Taichi’s digivice rose vigorously at first, it lost speed before it could peak and evolution did not happen.
“I’m sorry…”
Pyocomon, who had evolved to Garudamon only moments before, had no energy left to evolve either.
“I’ll do it!” Tentomon said, but Taichi shook his head.
“Retreat! We’ll retreat for now and look for another chance to attack!”
Andromon ran forward to inform Angemon and Angewomon, who were still fighting, of the orders. But Mugendramon would not allow it.
“Booster Claw!”
The attack headed towards Angemon, Angewomon, and Andromon.
“Look out!” Taichi cried, when suddenly, Mugendramon stopped in mid-air.
“W–What happened?”
Looking closer, they saw that something sticky clung to Mugendramon’s body. It was Adult level Numemon who looked like slugs.
The Numemon dropped down onto Mugendramon from the cables hanging off the ceiling. Their numbers, when including those who stuck to the ceiling waiting for their turn to drop down, exceeded several thousands.
“N–Numemon… There’s so many of them… Where are they coming from?”
Andromon responded, “Mugendramon was exploiting them like slaves here underground.”
Each of the Numemon were powerless on their own, but in these numbers, even they were a menace to Mugendramon.
But although Mugendramon was buried beneath the mountain of Numemon, he wasn’t getting his ass kicked. With his hands, he tore the Numemon off of him, tossing them away and stepping on them.
Even so, the Numemon kept coming to Mugendramon.
“Why…? They know they can’t win… They know they’ll die, so why?!” Sora whispered, aghast. Next to her, Hikari heard the Numemon’s voices from their hearts.
The Chosen Children are our hope!
We can’t let them die!
Before coming to the Digital World, Hikari had seen the Numemon in the real world and had honestly thought them to be disgusting.
But not now. Right now, they were magnificent warriors who did not fear death.
The multitude of Numemon that had been there was reduced to just a few.
And even those few left were crushed beneath Mugendramon’s feet, completely wiping them out.
The Numemon’s last message reached Hikari.
We’re counting on you, children… Please, don’t let our deaths be in vain…
“I know that!”
Hikari held back her horror and sadness, and folded her hands together.
Please. If God exists, then please give us strength.
Hikari’s body suddenly glowed. It was the light of prayer.
“Huh? What…?”
Bathed in that light, Koromon looked up in surprise. He felt the power of evolution that had been depleted, returning.
“Taichi, evolve me!” He urged his partner.
Taichi nodded. “Can you do it? Then go for it!”
“Koromon, evolve! Agumon! Agumon, warp-evolve! WarGreymon!”
The evolution that he had given up on had been granted.
WarGreymon held out the Dramon Killer on his right hand like a medieval knight holding out his lance, and charged at Mugendramon.
“Uwoohhhhhhhhhh!”
WarGreymon cut Mugendramon’s body in two with a single stroke.

○

From within Angemon’s arms, Takeru said, “We did it.”
“Yeah.”
Taichi, who was being held in one of Angewomon’s arms as she held Hikari in the other, stared down at the world of cities as it scattered into data dust.
“The world of cities is vanishing…”
The dead Numemon’s data rose up above their heads like the bubbles in carbonated water. Taichi and the others prayed that their souls rested in peace.
Then Andromon spoke up. “Look.”
The children saw that the scraps of Mugendramon’s black data dust were sinking lower and lower to the bottom, in the opposite direction of the Numemon.
“Does it mean that the data of an Ultimate level has more mass?” Koushiro asked Andromon. “Or did he get absorbed by that thing we saw in the net…?”
Not even Andromon knew.
In any case — Sora thought — Compared to the Numemon, who had banded together for a common cause, what were they doing?
They were scattered.
Had Yamato figured himself out by now? Was Jou still working on persuading Mimi?
Their only enemy left was Piemon.
Would someone else end up being another sacrifice? Or maybe, this time, it would be their turn…
Taichi fixing his former recklessness and forming careful plans now was a good thing. But if they wanted to make the best use of it, they needed more fighting power.
There would be nothing better than if Yamato and Mimi came up with their answers on their own and returned, but if they were already on their way, then maybe she should go and get them.
Just as she was about to suggest that,
“Taichi-san. I want to go get my brother.” Takeru was the first to say it.
“Yeah,” Taichi said, nodding. Not only did Taichi nod, but Koushiro and Hikari did as well.
All of us were thinking the same thing, Sora thought. It made her a little happy.
“Let’s look for them together,” Hikari said, but Taichi turned that idea down.
“No. It will be faster if we broke into groups and looked for them. Let’s see…”
Taichi looked around at their faces and then said, “Sora and Andromon, could you go with Takeru? Koushiro, Hikari, and I will go look for Mimi-chan and Jou.”
“Okay,” Sora nodded. Even she agreed with this choice.
When considering who would be the most suitable at persuading Yamato to return, both Taichi and Koushiro were out since they had been Yamato’s reason for leaving. Hikari wouldn’t work either. The only suitable choices would be Yamato’s own brother, Takeru, and Sora, who had an experience similar to Yamato’s at Temp Lake and understood how he felt. The reason he told Andromon to accompany them must be to even up the power gap.
“Guys, let’s stay alive and meet up again! It’s a promise!”
They all formed a circle and Taichi stuck his fist out in the middle. Everyone laid their hands over it.
“Yeah!”

Before they parted ways, Koushiro quietly went up to Sora. She wondered what he was up to, when he spoke softly into her ear, “When you see Yamato-san… Well… Please tell him that I spoke too far and that I’m sorry. I’m counting on you.”

③ Mimi’s Battle

When they had previously visited the Village of Beginnings, it had vividly-colored saplings, an elastic ground that was as soft as a cushion, and the cries of newborn baby Digimon everywhere — It had been so full of life, but now that it was built into the world of darkness, it looked as ravaged as lost historic ruins.
“See? What did I tell you,” Ogremon said sadly as they stood at the village entrance. He was the one who had led them there.
Having lost his purpose in life with Leomon’s death, Ogremon felt that the devastation of the village was like a physical manifestation of what he was feeling.
In between leaving the world of forests and arriving in the world of darkness, the group that had started out as just Mimi, Jou, Palmon, Gomamon, and Ogremon, had grown into a larger family. While they were on their way here, their numbers had increased.
First came the Geckomon and Otamamon who had obeyed Mimi’s every whim at Temp Lake. Then Meramon and Yukidarumon, who had attacked them under the control of black gears on File Island. And so on and so forth; there was Digimon who they had met before and Digimon who they were meeting for the first time.
Since there was no telling when Piemon’s subordinates would attack them if they were separated, they all joined together as a group with Mimi at its center.

Upon entering the village, they could see there were several digieggs left there. But all of them were petrified, with no chances of hatching.
“This is terrible… How could this happen…?”
Mimi had been prepared for this after hearing Ogremon’s story, but looking at it with her own eyes filled her heart with deep sorrow all the same.
Now that the Village of Beginnings was dead, no Digimon could be reborn. In other words, the Digital World had its future stolen from it.
“Is this what the Dark Masters want? I thought they just wanted to rule the Digital World. But they want to change the Digital World into a world with no future, with only destruction and death to look forward to? What’s so fun about ruling a world like that?!”
Jou felt like saying something to Mimi, but he hesitated.
What he wanted to tell her was this: that he didn’t see any likelihood of co-existing with the Dark Masters, and that they had no other choice but to fight them.
Even a neutral country like Switzerland had a military. They would be invaded by enemy countries without one. It would be nice and ideal if they used the nonviolent resistance approach as Ghandi did. But that didn’t mean it was okay to just be killed without lifting a finger…
But not even he could find a good answer.

QUESTION: Under what circumstances is it okay to battle?

That sort of question would never appear on a school test, and he’d never once thought about it before…
Jou heaved a long sigh.
Someone approached them.
It was Elecmon, the guardian of the Village of Beginnings. Jou didn’t know if Digimon aged, but he appeared much older than the last time he’d seen him. Not in the way he looked, but in the way he walked.
“You’ve come back, Chosen Children,” Elecmon said feebly, but he smiled at them. “I thought maybe that was the case. Three of the Dark Masters got taken down so fast, I knew it had to be you.”
“It’s Taichi and the others, to be more precise,” Jou answered. “We separated from the group for reasons. We don’t know how the others got taken down besides MetalSeadramon.”
“Separated from the group…” Come to think of it, Elecmon realized, he didn’t see Takeru and Patamon among them. “What on earth are you trying to achieve by working separately? I mean, what sort of job are you—?”
“Umm…” Jou said, struggling for an answer, but Mimi said quite nonchalantly,
“Nothing. I was just running away.”
“Running away? From what?”
“From fighting. I thought that there could be a way to save the Digital World without having to fight.”
“…Is there?” Elecmon asked out of curiosity.
“It doesn’t look like it,” Mimi chuckled a little, shaking her head.
Oh? Seeing that, Jou cocked his head.
“Yeah, I guess there isn’t,” Elecmon agreed. “So, what are you going to do now? Are you still going to keep running?”
“I quit running. Come, let’s go back to the others, Jou-senpai.”
“O–Okay…” Jou answered, but after seeing all of the Digimon gathered around them, he began to reconsider that maybe they didn’t have to return so soon.
“Hey, why don’t we continue this journey and gather friends?” Jou suggested.
“Gather friends?” Gomamon asked.
“Yeah. I think that we have our own fight, in the same way that Taichi and the others have theirs. I mean, we should form a group not to recruit troops but to protect ourselves from the enemy. Let’s continue this journey. Otherwise, we would have just been wasting time separating from the others.”
Jou thought it to be a good idea, if he did say so himself.
That’s right. There isn’t just one path that you’re meant to take. You’re free to choose the path for yourself… Isn’t that right, Shin-niisan?
“I agree!” Mimi said cheerfully. She was back to her old self. “I expected nothing less from you, Jou-senpai! I’m so glad it was you who came with me. Well, everyone, let’s go!”

④ The Darkness Within the Heart

“Black gas?”
Sora cocked her head in puzzlement at Andromon’s words.
“Yes. I haven’t seen it for myself, but Leomon has told me about it. This must be that black gas. It is where Yamato is kept prisoner.”
Sora, Takeru, and Andromon had arrived in this spot using the locator on Sora’s digivice. But black gas hung over where the blinking point was, and when Sora and Takeru tried to step into it, Andromon hurriedly stopped them.
“What happens when you go inside it?” Takeru asked, looking worried.
“According to Leomon, once that gas surrounded the Digimon, they began to kill one another. Perhaps it has the ability to control those with darkness in their hearts and drive them mad to their deaths.”
“Then… Did that happen to my brother too?”
“I do not know. Fortunately, since I’m a machine, the black gas will not be able to take control of my heart. I will go check it out, so the rest of you, stay here.”
“No, I wanna go too!” Takeru cried out, but Sora stopped him.
“Let’s leave this to Andromon.”
Sora really wanted to go save Yamato as well. But she knew that no matter how emotionally stable a person was, there was still a danger that they would be seized by darkness. All humans were like that.
But would Andromon’s words be enough to break Yamato’s heart free from the darkness—? Not even Sora was sure about that.
Piyomon piped up. “It’ll be okay, Takeru. Yamato will have figured things out on his own, and he’ll be back,” she said, consoling Takeru. “After all, he has Gabumon with him.”
Hearing that, Sora nodded vigorously.
That’s right. When she had been stealthily avoiding everyone at Temp Lake, it had been Piyomon who had stirred Sora’s heart.
That’s what partners are for.
Sora’s certainty was reinvigorated.
Yamato will come back. He had Gabumon with him. So, she would have faith in him and wait. After all, that’s what friends did…
Sora looked up at the sky above her. She could see the land and seas of the real world.
You feel the same way too, Mom, right? I’m far from your reach right now, but you’re waiting there having faith in me too, right…?

○

Right, left, up, and down; their entire surroundings were a jet-black darkness.
How long had Yamato and Gabumon spent surrounded by this darkness?
One hour… Two hours… No, one day? One week?
Humans go mad when they are trapped in darkness for a long period of time — He had read that in a book somewhere.
Fortunately for Yamato and Gabumon, a light that was as faint as a single candle was with them wherever they walked. The source of the light was Yamato’s digivice, and that meager light protected them, managing to shield them from the darkness trying to enter into them. And, like a pair who was trapped in a mountain hut during a blizzard and was gathering before the light of a weak stove for warmth, the two huddled close together.
But even though Gabumon was in such close contact with Yamato, he felt that Yamato’s heart was somewhere far, far away.
That was because Yamato had a faint idea that his own hatred, his heart of darkness, was what had drawn this darkness to them, and his guilty conscience had obstinately closed off his heart.
Yamato’s biggest miscalculation had been that he thought he could control the power of his hatred.
But in the same way that temptation is easy to give in to, yielding to evil deeds make a person lose their self-control or even, by letting their emotions get the better of them, make them do horrible things without thinking. Controlling temptation (the power of darkness) was not easy (even if one could).
But that small power of darkness was not like a virulent virus that hung in the air. It lay within humans; in the hearts of all humans.
It didn’t mean that Yamato was a wicked person. Most likely, it was because he had rushed too quickly.
He felt so compelled to hasten the defeat of the Dark Masters that he had allowed his choices to be made out of hatred. His justification of using hatred “to save the world” had robbed him of the time and effort that he could have used to divert that energy towards a goal of more acceptable social and moral nature.
He should have realized that a fight based on hatred only brought forth more hatred.

“What Koushiro said was right,” Yamato began to mutter. “Someone who lets his emotions get the better of him isn’t fit to be a leader. That’s right. I thought that Taichi had no tact and only thought superficially about everything. But I was wrong. He’s decisive and he has leadership… Unlike me… I’m just a useless person…”
“You’re wrong. You’re not a useless person, Yamato!”
Hearing Gabumon’s voice brought Yamato out of his trance. He thought he had been speaking only to himself. He had completely forgotten that Gabumon was beside him.
“I’m no good… As proof, even my own brother Takeru likes Taichi better. But of course he does. Taichi is more like an older brother.”
“That’s not true!”
“I don’t have the right to act like Takeru’s brother… I just wanted to feel comfortable in my position as his brother. I wanted to convince myself into believing that the only person Takeru had was me…”
“Stop that!”
“That’s why I was so pissed at Taichi… But I finally realize that. No one needs me… It makes no difference if I’m there or not…”
“No! There are plenty of good things about you that only you have!”
“Enough… Just leave me alone.”
“Yamato…”
Gabumon knew that whatever he said wouldn’t cut through. Yamato’s eyes had a faraway look in them.
If talking didn’t work—
Chomp!
Gabumon bit Yamato’s leg.
“Kuh!”
Yamato grimaced. “What are you doing?!”
Yamato turned to Gabumon and sucked in his breath. Gabumon was crying. Why…? For who…?
“There’s only one of you in this world, Yamato. Isn’t that right?” Gabumon appealed to him fervently, holding back his own sobbing.
Yamato was so overwhelmed by his pressure that he reluctantly nodded.
“Then why do you compare yourself with Taichi? Of course you and Taichi are different! You’re Takeru’s brother, Yamato! Saying that Taichi is more like his brother makes no sense!”
“Gabumon…”
“Besides… besides… if you weren’t here, then what would I do? I waited in this world all my life just to meet you and you alone!”
Yamato couldn’t say anything.
“Do you really not want me around? Do you really want to be alone, Yamato? Then I’ll leave here and disappear for good. But only if you really want that!”
“N–No…” Yamato hurriedly shook his head, as if he’d thought that Gabumon would immediately leave. “I was lying when I said that I wanted to be alone. I was just putting on airs. In reality, I want to be with someone. All I do is keep putting up airs and not letting people get close to me, but the truth is—”
In Yamato’s mind, the sight of his mother that day pulling Takeru by the hand as they left them came to him vividly.
That’s right. Why hadn’t he said it back then? Don’t go, Mom, don’t go…
“The truth is, I was lonely… But back then, I thought that I absolutely must not cry. Because I was alone, I wanted to think of myself as this worthy person who could do anything alone. But… the truth is… I wanted to cry.”
Don’t go… Please come back, Mom!
“I hate… being alone.” Yamato spoke as if he had changed back into a small child.
“Then…” Gabumon said fiercely, “Lean on me! Need me the same way that I need you! Then… I’m sure that… I’ll be able to work even harder!”
The tears fell freely on Yamato’s face as he smiled.
“That’s right. You’re with me, Gabumon. I’m… not alone.”
“You understand me, Yamato.”
“Yeah. I have my friends… I have Takeru, my dad… And my mom.”
And the darkness that surrounded Yamato began to fade. Now that the darkness in Yamato’s heart was gone, the black gas seemed to have lost interest in him and had gone to find other prey.
“Hey, Yamato! Look!” Gabumon pointed at a shadow approaching them from across the fading black gas.
It was Andromon.
“Everyone is waiting. Let us go.”
That was all Andromon said before he promptly made an about-face and walked back to where he came from.
Andromon’s mechanical heart didn’t know how to express tenderness, but Yamato was exceedingly grateful for it.
Behind Andromon, Yamato walked side by side with Gabumon.
As the gas thinned out around them, Yamato saw the shadows of other people ahead.
It was Takeru and Sora, but to Yamato, Sora looked like someone else.
Mom…

⑤ The True Enemy

“Damn it! They’re over here, too!”
While Taichi and his group were wandering in search of Mimi and the others, they were attacked by Piemon’s troops.
Taichi’s decision was to run for the time being.
It was not the wrong decision. After all, this was not a war about honor, but about survival.
But Piemon wouldn’t let that happen. He had already sent his subordinates LadyDevimon, MarineDevimon, and SkullSatamon to surround the children’s location well in advance.
It was LadyDevimon who now blocked their path of retreat.
“We’ll have to fight,” their adviser Koushiro said. The thought was already on Taichi’s mind. There was no other way.
“Tailmon, I’m counting on you!”
Tailmon super-evolved to Angewomon and challenged LadyDevimon.
Both of them were Perfect levels, so their power should have been equal.
But this was the world of darkness. The power of darkness made LadyDevimon’s attacks more effective.
“Tentomon, help her!”
Tentomon super-evolved to AtlurKabuterimon.
But Angewomon apparently had her heart set on finishing this match on her own. After a round of fierce hair-pulling, she managed to defeat the enemy.
“Magnificent work, just magnificent.”
Piemon had, at some point, appeared standing behind them unawares. He was pretending to applaud them.
With a polite bow of greeting at Angewomon, he then said, “Would you like to have a round with me, if you wish, mademoiselle?”
But knowing that Piemon was an Ultimate level,
“You’re fighting against WarGreymon!”
Agumon warp-evolved to WarGreymon.
Piemon didn’t look disappointed. “Very well. I would be dealing with you sooner or later anyway.”
“You’re not gonna win!”
WarGreymon unleashed his Gaia Force. It exploded violently towards Piemon, but Piemon said quite unconcernedly,
“Hehehe. It’s quite rude to be using your special attack right off the bat. I will respond in turn then… Trump Sword!”
The four swords on Piemon’s back vanished, reappearing the next instant in a rectangular formation before WarGreymon, ready to skewer him.
“Look out!”
WarGreymon hurriedly took off the Brave Shield on his back to guard himself. It managed to shield his upper body, but his unprotected legs were each pierced through with a sword.
“Wah!”
WarGreymon fell to the ground, unable to walk. Piemon ambled up to him with a calm expression on his face.
“Is that painful? Then I will remove the pain for you.”
He snapped his fingers together and a chainsaw appeared out of thin air.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen! What you are able to see next is a magic trick where I will cut this mon’s body in half! I will be cutting through his belly in order to sever off his legs! Behold, ladies and gentlemen!”
As he spoke, he turned on the chainsaw’s switch and brought it down to cut off WarGreymon’s legs.
Is this the end? — was what everyone thought.
At that moment, Sora, Takeru, and Andromon brought back Yamato with them.
“Sorry we’re late, guys!”
“Yamato, I need you right now!”
Taichi pointed at WarGreymon and Yamato nodded willingly.
“Gabumon, warp-evolve! MetalGarurumon!”
He lunged at Piemon, breathing his Cocytus Breath.
Piemon smoothly dodged the blow, but as he was doing so, WarGreymon got to his feet and pulled out the two Piemon swords that were embedded in his legs.
Garudamon, Angemon, and Andromon headed for MarineDevimon and SkullSatamon.
What was more…
“Guys!”
It was Mimi and Jou’s voices.
Looking up, they saw that the horizon was filling in with an immense number of Digimon. Mimi and Jou had returned with allies.
“D–Damn you!”
Not even Piemon, who had been fighting composedly until then, could hide his panic.
He summoned a herd of Evilmon, and the all-out war between Chosen Children and Piemon’s army finally began.

○

“Hurry, pi! The battle has already begun, pi!”
Piccolomon, who had come for Gennai and Centaurmon at the “Wall of Fire,” was now leading them to the battleground.
“The real disaster is lying in wait. We must inform the children. Will we make it in time?”

○

“Holy Arrow!”
“Shadow Wing!”
“Horn Buster!”
“Heaven’s Knuckle!”
“Spiral Sword!”
“Flower Cannon!”
“Hammer Spark!”
“Fist of Domination!”
MarineDevimon and SkullSatamon were both extinguished. The swarm of Evilmon was dispersed.
Only Piemon was left.
Once they beat Piemon, this battle would be over. They could stop the danger that was falling over the Digital World and human world.
“H–How dare you…!”
Because Piemon’s face was hidden behind his mask, it was hard to tell what his expression was, but his voice was clearly quite shrill.
WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon slowly approached him and he took a step back.
“Prepare yourself!”
WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon dashed towards him.
“Gaia Force!”
“Cocytus Breath!”
The special attacks of the two Ultimate levels hit Piemon.
“Gyaaaaaah!” Piemon’s screams echoed.
“We did it!”
Piemon’s body turned to data and scattered. At the same time, the world of darkness faded.
“Did we win?” Taichi asked, looking around wildly.
“I think so, but…”
“We did it! We finally did it!”
“But what happens now?”
With the collapse of the world of darkness, Spiral Mountain disappeared.
But that did not change the Digital World back to the way it was before. All that remained was empty sky. The children and their Digimon floated in it, weightless.
“Hey, what’s that?” Mimi pointed at where the world of darkness had existed only moments ago.
What stood in its place was a mysterious, giant polyhedron shape, with protuberances all over it. Chains stretched out from the protuberances. The chains were shaped like the double helix of DNA and they whipped around like tentacles.
“That… was inside the internet…” Koushiro said, looking at Andromon.
“Yes,” Andromon nodded.
The remains of Piemon’s data flowed towards the object as if it were being pulled by a string.
“What’s… happening…?”
“It’s being absorbed.”
“What happens after it’s absorbed?”
“I don’t know either!”
After it had eaten all of Piemon’s data, its body changed shape. A human form came rising up from one of the protrusions.

⑤ Those Who Defy Evolution

It appears from beyond the wall of fire,
bearing the name Apocalymon.
The bringer of many calamities, the enemy of all evolution.

— “Digimon Book of Revelations,” Chapter 23, Verse 8

Even with the Digimon Analyzer, they couldn’t tell what it was.

NAME: ????
TYPE: ????
ATTRIBUTE: ????
ATTACKS: ????

Like a tetrapod, it had polyhedron-shaped protruberances with double-helix chains dangling out of them, ending in curved cranes.
On top of one of the protuberances stood a human-like creature.
“Who are you?!” Taichi cried.
But the human shape kept silent.
“Answer me! Who are you?!” He asked again.
The human shape opened its mouth.
“Goooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh!”
A massive low-frequency sound pressure rippled through the air, turning into an impact that assaulted the children and their Digimon.
“…This feels gross!” Mimi said, grimacing.
It was as if a rotten-smelling mucus had been coated onto their skin.
“What do we do?” Yamato asked.
“You’re asking me?” Not even Taichi knew if what stood in front of them was a friend or a foe.
That was where Piccolomon, Centaurmon, and Gennai riding inside a Mechanorimon, arrived.
“Thank goodness! We made it!”
Mechanorimon’s hatch opened and Gennai’s face popped out.
“Gennai-san, what is that? Is it a Digimon?” Koushiro asked.
“I don’t know if it’s a Digimon or not. But I’ve heard that its name is Apocalymon,” Gennai answered.
“Apocalymon…” The children repeated.
“At least, that’s what was written in the Book of Revelations.”
“Is it an enemy or an ally?” Takeru asked.
“An enemy. Our real enemy.”
“Our real enemy? Our enemy wasn’t the Dark Masters?” Jou squeaked loudly.
“Could it be the mastermind that controlled the Dark Masters?” Yamato asked.
“You could say that, but then again, maybe not. To be quite frank, I don’t know. But what’s certain is that it is our enemy.”
“Then we just have to beat it.”
Taichi exchanged looks with the others. Everyone nodded back at him, grimly.
“Let’s go!”
Just when Taichi gave the order, Apocalymon gave another cry.
“Kyeaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!”
This time, it wasn’t the low voice it had before, but a shrill cry, like sharp nails running down glass. The children automatically covered their ears.
Then,
Smash!
Smash!
The Crests in their hands broke to pieces.
“Wh–What happened?”
“Our Crests!”
WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, Garudamon, AtlurKabuterimon, Lilimon, Zudomon, and Angewomon reverted to their Child levels. Angemon, who was not relying on a Crest for power, remained in his Adult form.
“N–No way!”
“Why did you change back?!”
“Are we not able to evolve anymore?”
“How do we fight now?!”
Koushiro looked at Gennai, hoping he would save them. But not even Gennai knew what to do.
It was Gennai and the other agents working for Homeostasis who had made the Crests. With each step in making the Crests, they had put into them their hopes that the Crests would one day save the Digital World.
And now, those Crests, their hope, had been destroyed.
Gennai was aghast. At the same time, an old injury on his back suddenly spiked with pain. It was coming from the seed of darkness that Piemon had once buried inside him.
“Urghh, owwwww.”
Taichi, who was unaware of Gennai’s pain, said to him snidely, “This is no time to be acting senile! Do something!”
“I’m not acting senile…”
Gennai was fighting with himself right now. In order to prevent the dark seed from activating, he needed to suppress any negative emotions he felt. He tried to recall the self-control training that he had been working on while he’d resided within the barrier beneath Temp Lake. He needed to maintain his sense of calm.
Piccolomon, who was watching Gennai with a sidelong glance, felt compelled to act. He wanted to teach the children to never give up on their dreams. What he was going to undertake might appear to them like a foolish, reckless act. But his message ought to reach them. No, he had to believe that it would.
“Children, watch me pi!”
Like a vanguard, he raised his beloved spear Fairytale high above his head and flew at Apocalymon.
“Don’t do it, Piccolomon!”
Gennai tried to stop him, but he wasn’t listening.
“Bit Bomb!”
Bombs filled with computer viruses fell upon Apocalymon like rain. Explosions fell around it, but Apocalymon didn’t appear the least bit fazed.
Instead, Apocalymon’s double helix chains stretched out, twining themselves around Piccolomon.
“Uwah!”
It was then that Apocalymon’s human shape spoke.

       You
         will
           know
       our
    regrets

It wasn’t just one voice. It was the voices of countless many, with an echo to it.
“Gyaaah!”
The double-helix chains burned red hot from their roots to their pointed ends. When the red hot parts of it touched Piccolomon, his body began to burn with black smoke.

       Our
         regrets
           as
        we
      disappeared
         in
          the
        evolution
      process

Piccolomon’s pink body dissolved like melting candy.

      Our
        regrets
           as
       we
     were
      denied
        life

“Gyaaaaaah!”
Piccolomon’s body evaporated.
“Piccolomoooooon!”
The children sobbed.
Among them, Andromon asked Apocalymon mechanically, “Since you refer to yourself as ‘we,’ does that mean that there is more than one of you?”

     We
       are
         the
      accumulation
    of
  regrets
    from
     Digimon
       who
     had
   died
     through
       the
    evolution
  process

Koushiro was the first among the children to understand their meaning.
“But that’s inevitable. It’s to be expected that some lives will disappear during the evolution process. Some may not have been able to adapt to their environm—”
Apocalymon interrupted him.

     Inevitable
        ?
          Do
      you
    think
      that
        single
     word
   satisfies
      us
        ?
      Are
    you
     telling
       us
    that
      we
       are
        unworthy
     of
   life
     ?

Mimi began to feel that Apocalymon deserved to be pitied.
While they had been spending their time laughing joyously within the light, the multiple lives that made up Apocalymon had been denied to exist. If their lives had been placed in darkness and left to die out, then that was too sad.
That was why she said, “Can’t we talk this out? If you guys wish to co-exist with us in the Digital World, then maybe we can help.”
Apocalymon closed their mouth for a moment. They seemed to be studying Mimi’s suggestion.
Then, after a time, they said:

    You
      will
        help
     us
    ?

“Yes, you can tell me anything.”
Mimi felt relief that her feelings had reached them. If they had only talked it out to begin with, she also thought, Piccolomon wouldn’t have had to die.
However…

     Then
       come
          to
      us
    !
      There
         we
      shall
    live
     together
        !
     Within
    us
      !

“I–I can’t do that,” Mimi said hurriedly, shaking her head. “If you want us to fuse with you guys, then I don’t mean that! There must be some other—”
But even before Mimi could finish, Apocalymon’s double-helix chains sped towards her.
“Look out!”
Palmon tackled Mimi, barely escaping the danger.
“Hey! Listen when someone’s talking to you!” Gomamon yelled angrily.
Just then—
“It is useless to speak to it.” Hikari said in a cold voice.
“Huh?” Tailmon looked up at Hikari in surprise.
Hikari wasn’t looking the way she usually did. Something had taken possession of her. Her small body glowed with divine light.
“Apocalymon is merely buying time. It is letting the Digimon that it has absorbed to speak their grudges in order to prevent anyone from disturbing its preparations to reset the Digital World. You must not waste time listening to their nonsense.”
“What’s wrong, Hikari?!” Taichi cried, shaking Hikari by the shoulders. Gennai stopped him.
“Don’t do that. Homeostasis is borrowing her body to speak to us. Pipe down and listen.”
“Homeostasis? What’s that?”
“I am one who wishes for balance…” Homeostasis said with Hikari’s voice.
“Are you God?” Sora asked.
“I am not. Please think of me as the Digital World’s security system.”
“Anyway, about what you just said… What did you mean?” Mimi asked.
“I mean that Apocalymon’s real body is elsewhere.”
“What in the world is Apocalymon?” Koushiro asked.
“Apocalymon is merely an Idea. An idea that rejects “evolution.” In other words, it is the very essence of the idea to “not evolve.” While it is true that there are those in the Digital World who have disappeared through the evolution process, they get reconstructed as different species at the Village of Beginnings. However, what remains is their feelings of regret. This guy absorbed those lingering emotions as its nourishment in order to form its physical body.”
“Is that so…”
“You must hurry. Apocalymon is storing energy to create a big bang in the Digital World. The big bang will effect both the Digital World and the human world overlapping it. You must seal away Apocalymon this instant.”
“How?!”
“Our Digimon can’t evolve anymore!”
Homeostasis responded to the children’s questions with its own question. “Why are you unable to evolve?”
“Because our Crests are gone, of course!”
“It is true that your Crests have been destroyed. But are you really unable to evolve without your Crests? Have you tried?”
“Tried…? Is it possible?” Takeru asked.
Takeru didn’t have a Crest to begin with. That was why he wasn’t flustered like the other children. He had a feeling that he could evolve without a Crest.
But…
“Don’t try to console us,” Jou said. “If it was possible, then we should have been able to do it without even getting the Crests in the first place. Since that wasn’t done—”
“You’re wrong. The Crest is merely an amplifier for the spiritual trait that you each possess. Your real Crests already exist within your hearts.”
“I’ll try it!” Takeru said, his eyes shining with hope. “I feel like I can do it! Besides, I won’t let it end like this. There are important things that we need to protect!”

○

Back in the human world, the people down in Odaiba had been watching the spiral mountain that, moments ago, had been floating up in the night sky disappear.
Natsuko Takaishi was gazing up at the sky worriedly when she saw a flash of bright light. “Ah!”
She turned to Hiroaki Ishida who was standing beside her and asked him, “What is that?”
Her ex-husband answered, “I don’t know. But… to me… It looks like the light of hope…”

○

“Angemon, super-evolve! HolyAngemon!”
Angemon finally achieved super-evolving to Perfect level. Without a Crest.

“H–How?” Koushiro asked Hikari, but Homeostasis had left her at some point and Hikari couldn’t provide an answer.
But she had seen and heard everything while Homeostasis had taken possession of her and said, “I’ll try it too.”
Copying Takeru, she folded her hands in front of her heart. Light formed in front of her, taking on the same shape as her Crest of light.
“Tailmon, super-evolve! Angewomon!”
“It’s like…” Watching her, Jou could feel his heart singing, “I can see the light of hope!”
This time Jou folded his hands together. The image of his Crest of sincerity appeared.
“Gomamon, evolve! Ikkakumon! Ikkakumon, super-evolve! Zudomon!”
Hope didn’t belong to Takeru alone, nor did light belong to Hikari alone. Hope and light also existed in Jou’s heart. Like a catalyst, it boosted Takeru’s hope and Hikari’s light, and Jou accepted with sincerity that hope and light would bring about miracles. That was why his super-evolution was achieved.
Yamato gazed at the front of his heart.
I feel it… I feel the power of friendship…
It was visible to the naked eye. Delicate beads of light came out from within Yamato, gathering into the shape of his Crest of friendship. When he traced the lines of the beads of light on the outside, he could see that it was also overflowing from the other children.
Everyone’s friendship… I can feel it gathering inside of me…
“Gabumon, warp-evolve! MetalGarurumon!”
The Crest of one person’s heart was not only stimulating everyone else’s hearts. The Crests of everyone’s hearts were stimulating one person’s heart at the same time. The individual spiritual traits that they possessed were mutually influencing each other.
That was what “friends” did. It was impossible for humans to live their lives alone.
“Piyomon, evolve! Birdramon! Birdramon, super-evolve! Garudamon!”
“Tentomon, evolve! Kabuterimon! Kabuterimon, super-evolve! AtlurKabuterimon!”
“Palmon, evolve! Togemon! Togemon, super-evolve! Lilimon!”
One after another, without a Crest, their Digimon achieved super-evolution. Then, at last,
“Taichi! Give us your courage!”
“We’ll give you ours!”
Taichi nodded silently.
Everyone’s courage was gathering within Taichi’s heart. Taichi’s courage, as well, bubbled up from within him.
“Agumon, warp-evolve! WarGreymon!”

⑥ The Last Battle

“Hammer Spark!”
“Flower Cannon!”
It was Jou with Zudomon, and Mimi with Lilimon, who were in charge of destroying the double-helix chains that were rushing towards Taichi and Yamato. However, there were so many chains that they also rushed upon Jou and Mimi.
Hikari with Angewomon, and Takeru with HolyAngemon, covered for them, cutting off the chains’ with their arrows of light or their holy sword.
Andromon, Centaurmon, Ogremon and the other Digimon, even Gennai piloting Mechanorimon, went to support them.
The remaining four children aimed for the human-shaped part of Apocalymon’s body.
Apocalymon used the data of the Dark Masters that it had absorbed to recreate their finishing moves and attack them. Right now, Mugendramon’s cannon appeared bubbling up like mucus from the surface of its protuberances, ready to fire the Mugen Cannon.
But before it could,
“Horn Buster!”
“Shadow Wing!”
Koushiro with AtlurKabuterimon and Sora with Garudamon pulverized the cannons.
“Let’s go, Taichi!”
“You got it, Yamato!”
Taichi rode on WarGreymon’s shoulder, as Yamato rode on MetalGarurumon’s back. They hurled their finishing attacks on Apocalymon’s human shape.
“Gaia Force!”
“Cocytus Breath!”
The human shape shattered into pieces.
“Yes!”
All of Apocalymon’s chains were also cut down. The children were certain about their victory.
But Apocalymon, whose existence was originally an Idea, only needed a physical body to reset the Digital World. It was not affected by the loss of its physical form in the least. It had steadily been preparing for the big bang within its body all along.
After the big bang, Apocalymon planned to rule the new world that was created out of it by becoming its god. It wanted to become the god of a dead world— a world that fully denied evolution, growth, movement— all sorts of transient processes in exchange for silence and stagnation.

     My
       time
          will
      now
     begin
       !

At some point, it had changed its pronoun from “we” to “I.”

    Grand
      Death
         Big
     Bang
    !

Apocalymon’s body burst. In the place where Apocalymon had been was dark space filled with a subzero frigidity that was felt by all five senses.
That dark space shrunk momentarily, and then came the big bang.
An unimaginable shock wave headed towards the children.
“It exploded!”
“Is this the end for us?”
“I don’t want that!”
“It isn’t the end!”
“Yes, I refuse this to be the end!”
“We won’t let it end!”
“No matter what!”
“After all—”
“We have a future!”
The children’s digivices glittered brightly. All eight of them connected line by line.
The big bang just happened to be in the center where the eight children surrounded it. The lines of light formed a perfect cube that enclosed the big bang, shrunk it, and vanished.
“What… was that?”
The children were taken aback in shock. Gennai flew towards them, piloting his Mechanorimon.
“The power of your digivices have contained it!”
“Then… Did we win?” Taichi asked, still finding it hard to believe.
Yamato clapped him on the shoulder. “Looks that way.”
“Did we just save the worlds from doom and destruction?” Jou asked in a cracked voice.
“Yeah,” Sora answered. It still hadn’t struck her that it was all over, but the anxiety that had been tightly built up within her had loosened and tears were streaming down her face. Sora didn’t notice.
“Man, you guys sure are somethin’,” Ogremon said to Mimi happily.
“Oh, you think so?” Mimi said, posing as if it had all been no sweat.
“Thank you so much.”
Andromon bowed his head, to which Koushiro said “Not at all” with an embarrassed blush.

○

Even on the human world, the people there could tell that the menace to the Digital World had vanished. The empty space of the Digital World that had covered the skies was gradually fading away to a light, night sky.
From the east, the morning sun was starting to rise.
Because they had been prepared with the possibility that they may never see the sun again, the morning sun then looked particularly beautiful. Its light seemed to rejoice in the wonderfulness of life. All of the people who saw it were moved to tears.

In Odaiba, the families of the Chosen Children shook with emotion as they watched the sun rise. Some hugged each other, some whooped with cheers, some raised their clasped hands up to the rising sun in prayer.
Just before the Digital World disappeared from the skies, Shin Kido shouted his thanks to his brother and his friends who had worked desperately to save them.
“Great job, everyone.”

⑦A New World

The first to revive was the island of beginnings.
The island modeled all sorts of geographic features
that were copied to make new sky, sea, and land.

— “Digimon Book of Revelations,” Chapter 28, Verse 12

In that empty sky, the first place in the Digital world where the children had landed on, File Island, was reconstructing before their very eyes.
Centaurmon spoke. “File Island is small but it contains various terrains and climates because it was originally known as the “Island of Beginnings.” That name originated from records of when the Digital world was first created. It’s like a miniature copy of the entire Digital world, so to speak. I learned of this by deciphering the inscriptions of a different part of the Ancient Dino region. The Digital world is being recreated now, once more, using the data of File Island as its base to create a new world.”
They could see particles of light gathering in one spot on File Island.
“The Village of Beginnings, right?” Mimi asked, to which Gennai gave a resounding nod.
“Yes.”
“New Digimon will be born!”
“Hey, let’s all go check it out!”

○

The Village of Beginnings was recovering its youthful vibrancy. Multiple Digieggs appeared on its cushioned ground, waiting for their rebirth.

At the beginning of the world, when the Digital world was still in chaos, the Digital world chose the idea of “evolution.”
By deciding that this process would involve the Digital world itself “evolving,” it created Homeostasis for that necessity. Homeostasis mainly worked on minute security detail within the Digital world. Because Homeostasis was a system and did not have physical form, it created Gennai and others as autonomous agents (called “Agents”) to act as its arms and legs.
Light and darkness are two sides of the same coin. It is when light and darkness are at equilibrium, that the world is stable and balanced. Homeostasis functioned to keep that balance equal, so whenever the powers of darkness increased dramatically, it needed to stop them in order to keep the balance of the Digital world from collapsing.

And in the human world, four years ago, a single Digiegg flew through the gate into Hikarigaoka. It was an unexpected— Or, perhaps, fateful accident.
That Digiegg hatched into a Digimon who “evolved” to Koromon, then Agumon, then Greymon. Such rapid evolution was unthinkable in the Digital world.
It was a young human girl named Hikari Yagami who had caused the evolution. They didn’t know what it was about Hikari that accelerated “evolution.”
Homeostasis sent Parrotmon to Hikarigaoka to retrieve Greymon. At that time, they scanned the data of that curious young girl and, for comparison purposes, also scanned the data of her brother Taichi beside her along with the data of all humans who had witnessed the battle between Greymon and Parrotmon.
Homeostasis used a group of its Agents to analyze the data set they had obtained. The result was their discovery that in each child existed unique spiritual traits such as courage, friendship, love, knowledge, purity, sincerity, and kindness, etc. These qualities were not about whether they already possessed them or not, but that they had the hidden potential for it.
Hikari’s trait, however, was different from them all. It was like the presence of the power of “life” itself. It had the same meaning as “evolution” for the Digital world, or maybe even the same meaning as “truth” and “beauty.” As an umbrella term for the source of life, they called this trait “light.”

Four years in the human world meant several thousand years in the Digital world. The Digimon’s basic traits continued to evolve within that time, and sometimes there would appear Digimon who had special connections with children from the real world. Those Digimon achieved rapid evolution through the special qualities of that human child’s heart, and they could exterminate the powers of darkness in the Digital world that grew in excess.
The Digimon and the children that they had a special bond with became known as “partners.”
In order to provide a device that would easily convey a human’s heart to their Digimon, Homeostasis made the digivices.
They also made the Crests. The design of each child’s Crest were the exact replica of the design that took form in their hearts when overlayed with a special oscillograph.
If the digivices were a transmission device, then the Crests were amplifiers. But they weren’t made to unconditionally amplify their powers. If the child acted on wicked feelings that went against their special trait, their Crest acted as a limiter instead.
That was how dangers in the Digital world were overcome countless times. The containment of the first Apocalymon was one of them, but at that time there weren’t enough children and Digimon partners to seal it away perfectly. Four of those Digimon evolved into the Four Holy Beasts, bestowed with the role of protecting the Digital world. The Digimon who lived at that time recorded all that had happened in the “Digimon Book of Revelations” as posterity for future generations.

The four Dark Masters had been scheming to take over the Digital world for some time now, and their attention fell on the Book of Revelations.
With with Book of Revelations, they designed their evil plot and used Nanomon to have him make a program that would build Spiral Mountain. In the meantime, all four of them made an all-out attack on the Four Holy Beasts to get them out of the picture.
Apocalymon must have sent its thoughts through the “Wall of Fire” into the Digital world. It planted the idea into the Dark Masters’ minds to unconsciously reject “evolution.” The Dark Masters’ plan would permanently destroy the function of the Village of Beginnings. It was possible that, to the very end, they had been unaware of it.
In other words, the construction of Spiral Mountain took “evolution” away from the Digital World.

In the human world, the families of the other “Chosen Children” moved to Odaiba at roughly around the same time as the Yagami family. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that the hearts of those other children had their own separate traits. Some sort of power operated in the human world, something that took away the memories of the Hikarigaoka incident from the children. If it had a large design that stretched between both the human world and the Digital world, then it was an event of such a high-level that not even Homeostasis could sense it.

And what happened next may not have been a coincidence either.
Homeostasis had its Agents choose and safeguard Digieggs from the Village of Beginnings that held the possibility of becoming those children’s Digimon partners. However, one of the Dark Masters, Piemon, sniffed out what they were up to and attacked the Agents. All but one of them were wiped out.
The lone Agent that survived— In other words, Gennai— seized an enemy Mechanorimon and made off with the eight Digieggs with their digivices attached to them. The Crests alone he could not recover. The Digieggs were what reacted with the children in Odaiba.
It was at that time that Piemon buried a black ball, a clump of pure darkness, in Gennai’s back. It was to assure that even if Gennai made it out of there alive, he would be prevented from moving around freely. This black ball was the prototype for what would later be reformed into the Dark Seed, a vital weapon for the Digimon of darkness.
While he was escaping, one of the Digieggs fell from Gennai’s grasp as he was flying above Temp Lake on Server continent. Tailmon was born out of that Digiegg, and during her long days of wandering, forgot about her own mission and was picked up by Vamdemon to become his servant.
Gennai shook off his pursuers, crossed the ocean, and hid the Digieggs on File Island, which was a remote area in the world at the time that was still covered by a thick glacier. Then, he immediately flew off again, burrowing at the bottom of Temp Lake. He needed to create a barrier that would prevent the black ball from activating.
While inside that barrier, Gennai had to think about what he could do to suppress the black ball’s power. The conclusion that he came up with was to “grow old.” By disabling his regenerative function, he could prevent the black ball from enlarging.

On File Island, the Digimon hatched and waited for their human partners to arrive. The glacier covering the island gradually melted away and greenery sprouted.
And then, when it looked like their prospects of defeating the Four Holy Beasts looked brighter, the Dark Masters dispatched one of their subordinates, Devimon, to the remote File Island in order to commence the spread of the powers of darkness throughout the Digital world.
The time had come.
Equilibrium in the Digital world fell out of balance as the powers of darkness increased, and the digivices flew towards the human world to bring back the Chosen Children…

○

The first Digimon that was born at the Village of Beginnings, after the great disaster, hatched just as Taichi and everyone were getting ready to take a commemorative photo.
They were all gathered in front of Andromon’s eye camera, making poses. Just as the shutter went off, the Digiegg that Hikari was holding in her arms popped open with a puff of white smoke, changing into a Botamon tucked in a cute cradle.
“It hatched!”
“Who could it be?”
“Maybe it’s Leomon or Whamon!”
They all watched lovingly over the energetically wailing baby Digimon.
“Now then…” Ogremon finished preparations for his travels and stood up. “It’s about time for me to split.”
“Wait, where are you going?” Mimi asked.
“I’ve got no business here no more. I’m off on a journey.”
“What’s with that attitude? We should all live together here, as friends!”
“Keh, no thanks. See ya!”
“Wait!”
Mimi tried to go after Ogremon as he barreled away, but Jou stopped her. “Let him go. We need to accept that everyone has their own way of life. That sort of life suits Ogremon the best, I’m sure.”

○

Until now, time in the Digital World passed quicker than time in the real world.
In terms of real-world time, the Digital world had only been born recently. Perhaps its rapid flow of time was what caused the real world to try and catch up to its “history” from the big bang to the present time. Because of it, the Digital world as a world before now lacked stability. This was the reason why other worlds invaded it so easily, as well as why it influenced the real world.
The Dark Masters’ “restructuring” of the Digital world actually helped it to increase in stability. What’s more, the scale of the computer network in the real world had rapidly expanded the past few years, and there were more personal computers in use as terminals. Both sides must have satisfied enough elements of some sort, because time in the new Digital world was now synced with the real world.
It was an indication that the Digital World had proceeded into its next steps, as both signs of its own evolution and a new era for the humans living in the real world.

Of course, no one was told the meaning behind this. This was “God’s” territory. The knowledge of this was not conveyed to Homeostasis, which was simply a security system, much less to a mere Agent like Gennai…

But even Gennai was able to sense that the flow of time had changed.
Taichi and the others still thought that time passed differently, so they were thinking about continuing their adventures in the Digital World until summer vacation was over in the real world. That wasn’t going to happen.
A solar eclipse was taking place above File Island right now. It was actually the gate to the real world, and it was going to close in two hours.
There was no telling when it would open again next. That could take several years or even hundreds of years.
Gennai and the Digimon had to return the Chosen Children, the heroes who had saved their world, to the real world before that gate closed.
Although he was heartbroken, Gennai mustered up his courage and broke the news to the children who had no idea about this and were excitedly planning their next adventure…

⑧ And So, the End of Summer

“…When you’re back in your world, say hi to your Mom for me,” Piyomon said cheerfully to Sora as they sat on the branch of a large tree in the forest of Dragon’s Eye Lake.
“Okay…” Sora nodded earnestly. “I need to thank you for that, Piyomon. I’d misunderstood my mother for a really long time. But thanks to you, I understand her better. I think I’ll be on much better terms with my mom from now on.”
“Really?”
Sora gazed at Piyomon with a gentle smile and said quietly, “Really.”
“If that’s really true, then I’m so happy!” Piyomon flapped her pink wings widely to try and convey how happy she felt. “I thought that I was only a bother to you because I kept depending on you.”
Sora suddenly pulled Piyomon into a tight embrace.
“That’s not true. That was never true…”
She must have thought that Piyomon would be sad if she showed any tears. But Piyomon heard and felt the shaking that came through in her voice and body, so Piyomon hugged Sora back just as tightly. This way, she would always remember how she felt and how she smelled…

○

Jou and Gomamon avoided looking at each other directly. Instead, they looked at each other’s reflections on the quiet lake surface in front of them.
“I might not have been a good match with you, Gomamon, but I had a lot of fun,” Jou said.
“Me too. Anyway, good luck on your studies when you’re back in that world.” He clapped Jou on the shoulder.
“Yeah!” Jou nodded without hesitation, and then held out his hand to Gomamon.
“Hm? What?”
“Let’s shake hands.”
“Huh? Okay.”
Gomamon wiped his hand on his furry side like a towel to rub off dirt before holding it out, to which Jou said,
“Ahh…”
Gomamon looked at him blankly. “What?”
“So that really was a hand.”
Gomamon looked annoyed for a brief moment, but his frown changed immediately into a smile.
When he had first met Jou, Jou had been a really straight-laced guy who couldn’t even make a single joke. But now…
“Hahahahaha!”
Gomamon laughed. Jou laughed. They both looked at each other and laughed even more.
They could see the tears falling from the other’s eyes, but neither of them brought it up.

○

Koushiro discussed with Gennai and Andromon that they would need a vehicle of some sort to return to the real world, and they decided on using the scraps of a single train car that was on the narrow sandbank dividing the lake.
While Gennai and Andromon were attaching propellers on the outside, Koushiro was sitting in the conductor’s seat of the train car, inputting Odaiba’s location into its destination.
Next to him, Tentomon watched happily at Koushiro’s hands as they skidded skillfully across the pad.
Suddenly, Koushiro’s hands stopped.
With a meek look on his face, Koushiro said to his partner in a choked voice, “Te–Tentomon…”
Tentomon knew that Koushiro was about to say his goodbyes to him and replied back a bit tearfully, “Koushiro-han…”
But Koushiro’s parting words were:
“Truly… I… I have been very much in your care,” with his usual courteous manner.
“Ahh~ To the very end, you speak to me as if we’re strangers!” Tentomon retorted.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. But what are the right words for me to say at a time like this…?”
Koushiro had also thought that there was a different way, but when it came time to say it, he ended up speaking in his usual tone of voice.
“Hmm, that’s a difficult question. But I don’t think you need to push yourself to search for the right words. It’s fine to speak formally. I’m sure that one day, there will come a time when you can say those words naturally.”
Tentomon said this and gripped Koushiro’s hand.
Koushiro returned his grip and said, “Do you think so? I hope so too…”
Tentomon nodded silently. And, within his heart, he said:
Do your best, Koushiro-han.
You couldn’t have it with me because we lacked the time, but I hope instead that, one day, you will have a natural conversation with your father and mother in the real world. One that’s just like a conversation between a real child and their parent…

○

In the center of the prairie, Takeru and Patamon clung to each other, sobbing.
“Waaaaah! Waaaaah!”
“Takeru, don’t cry!” Patamon said, who was also crying.
“But… But we won’t see each other anymore!”
“That’s not true! Your world and my world have the same time now, so there will be a day one day when we see each other again.”
At his words, Takeru blinked. “Really?”
“Really!” Patamon nodded. “We met again after Devimon.”
“Yeah. That was because I believed we would see each other again.”
“You have to believe in that again!”
“Okay.” Takeru’s tears changed into a smile and he held out his pinky finger. “Then, let’s meet again. It’s a promise.”
“Okay!”
Patamon grabbed Takeru’s pinky with both hands and they made a pinky swear.

○

Yamato and Gabumon sat next to each other at the bank of the river.
“…”
“…”
Neither of them spoke. Were they going to go their separate ways without ending up saying anything to each other? Because he didn’t want that, Gabumon mustered up his courage and spoke first.
“…Hey, Yamato?”
“…Yeah?” Yamato looked at Gabumon’s face.
“Could I listen to it again? Your harmonica.”
Yamato said readily, “…Okay,” and nodded.
Yamato’s harmonica played a sad melody filled with grief.
Gabumon let it sweep over him and thought, There’s no need for words.
In Gabumon’s heart, he felt Yamato’s feelings, that were more than words could ever convey…

○

The wind carried Yamato’s music to where Taichi and Agumon were.
Taichi grumbled low under his breath, “Damn it, Yamato!” and kicked the ground sullenly, turning his back on Agumon.
“What’s wrong?” Agumon asked worriedly at Taichi’s sudden mood.
Taichi secretly wiped away the tear that had unexpectedly rolled down his cheek and turned back around, forcing a cheerful smile. “It’s nothing.”
“Oh.”
The place they were in was memorable to the both of them, and Agumon pointed at a spot on the dirt. “This is the place, right? Taichi. This is where I used my Baby Flame to light the firewood.”
“Yeah, that’s right. That firewood burned Seadramon’s tail and that’s what made Seadramon mad.”
“Huh? That was my fault?”
“No, it’s because I poked the fire. Ahahaha!”
“Taichiii,” Agumon grumbled, glaring at Taichi, but his eyes were fond.

○

“Here,” Hikari said, holding out the whistle that she wore around her neck.
Tailmon blinked up at her in surprise. “Are you sure?”
Hikari crinkled her adorable eyes and said, “Yeah.”
And she placed the whistle herself around Tailmon’s neck.
“Thanks.”
She knew that Tailmon was concerned about how childish she might look to others with a whistle around her neck, so Hikari complimented her. “It looks really good on you.”
“You think so?” said Tailmon, looking pleased. “Well… Take care… Hikari.”
Tailmon tasted each word of goodbye carefully in her mouth as she said them.
She thought Hikari might burst into tears, but instead, Hikari smiled and nodded. “Yep. Until next time.”
“Next time?”
“Yep, next time.”
The confident way that Hikari said it bewildered Tailmon, but Tailmon felt fortunate that Hikari hadn’t cried.
If Hikari had cried, then Tailmon would have definitely cried as well…. Which would have been fine, but Tailmon felt that wasn’t in her own nature.

○

Within a forest that was lined with nonsensical traffic signs,
“Palmooooon! Palmooooon!”
Mimi shouted out her partner’s name as she walked.
When she came upon the Geckomon, she asked them, “Did you see Palmon?”
When one of the Geckomon answered, “No, we haven’t ribbit,”
“Oh…”
She looked sad. When the Geckomon asked her what was wrong, she said,
“I can’t find Palmon anywhere. Oh, where did she go? There’s not much time left… Palmoooon! Palmoooon!”
And she walked off again, searching a different place.

○

The solar eclipse was going to end soon.
While Gennai and Andromon were preparing the train that would take the children to the real world, the children came grouping together after they had finished saying their goodbyes to their Digimon partners.
Each of the children came with their Digimon except for Mimi. Mimi was by herself, crying softly. Sora was comforting her.
“Have you all finished saying your goodbyes?” Gennai called out to them. “We’re pretty much finished here too. Go on, everyone on board.”
“Well…” Sora glanced at the crying Mimi and said hesitantly, “We want a little more time. Just a little!”
“That’s impossible. The gate won’t wait.”
“I thought so…”
“What’s wrong?
Agumon answered Gennai. “Palmon disappeared. Where did she go off to?”

○

Inside the woods, Palmon looked up sorrowfully at the solar eclipse.
“Mimi…”
There, the Geckomon arrived. She hurriedly tried to hide in the bushes but the Geckomon had already spotted her. They called out,
“Ah, there you are ribbit.”
“Mimi was looking for you ribbit.”
Palmon gave up on running away.
“I know… But I don’t want to see her,” she said in a small voice.
Not knowing why, the Geckomon asked her, “Why not ribbit?”
Palmon shouted wildly in distress, “Because! It’s painful saying goodbye if we see each other! So… It’s better if I don’t…” and she trailed off into sobs again.
The Geckomon waited for her to calm down, and then asked, “…Is that for the best ribbit?”
But when Palmon didn’t answer, they pressed her again.
“Is that really what you want ribbit?”
“Are you sure you won’t regret it later ribbit?”
“…”
Palmon hung her head and began to argue with herself inside her heart.

○

“Well, guys. Take care,” Taichi said for all of the Chosen Children.
Outside of the train car to see them off were Agumon, Gabumon, Piyomon, Tentomon, Gomamon, Patamon, Tentomon, Gennai, Andromon, Centaurmon, Elecmon carrying the newly born Botamon, along with Meramon, Yukidarimon, and the crowds of Digimon who Mimi and Jou had brought with them.
Speaking for all of the Digimon, Agumon said back with a smile, “You guys, too!”

As if to brush away the trailing, lingering aftertaste of their goodbyes, Tailmon blew the whistle that Hikari had given her.
Triiiill!
The steel tower standing on the sandbank sent electricity through its power lines to the pantograph on top of the train car.
The train began to move slowly towards the gate that looked like a solar eclipse. Towards the real world.
“Goodbye!”
“Goodbye!”
The children and Digimon waved each other goodbye…

While everyone was looking down from the windows and waving reluctantly goodbye to the Digimon, Mimi sat apart from them alone, sobbing into her hands.
Sora glanced over at Mimi and wondered if she should speak to her. But she didn’t know what to say to comfort her.
Just then, Mimi abruptly stood up from her seat and threw open the window closest to her, sticking her head out and shouted.
“Palmooooon!”
At the lake shore that they could see below, Palmon was running while wildly waving her arms.
“Mimiiiii!　Mimiiiiiii!”
Agumon and the other Digimon were also behind Palmon.
“Mimi! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” She frantically apologized to Mimi with a voice hoarse from crying. But of course Mimi knew how Palmon felt.
“It’s okay! It’s okay, Palmon! Goodbye! And thank you!”
As Mimi waved wildly back, her arm jostled her pink ten-gallon hat. It fell off her head and disappeared, carried off by a clear breeze…

○

Near the Village of Beginnings, in an empty prairie, the alarm on the railway crossing rang loudly.
Ogremon, who just happened to be there, looked up and stopped walking.
Mimi’s ten-gallon hat came floating down from the air like a leaf. Ogremon tried to catch it, but a sudden gust of wind picked it up again and stole the hat away.
Somewhere in the skies up there, Ogremon understood, the Chosen Children are heading back to the real world at that very moment.
And, turning his eyes up to the sky, he mumbled something under his breath before continuing to walk again.
The skies of the Digital world, in its blinding brightness, were as vivid as the August sky in the real world…

Epilogue

And so, the first adventure of the eight children came to an end.

The rest of their summer vacation ended quickly.
Sora quit the soccer club and began to learn the basics of flower-arranging under her mother’s tutelage.
Yamato grew more involved with other people, searching for the best way to express himself in his relationships.
Koushiro began doing more active work. First, he created a computer club for the elementary school.
Jou decided that he did want to become a doctor after all. He couldn’t forget about the Digimon who had died before his own eyes.
Mimi had her parents buy her a new hat, one with the same design as before.
Takeru stopped crying easily.
By the time Taichi and Hikari heard the whistle— The very whistle that Hikari had given to Tailmon— they were at the end of autumn, and winter was near.

Read the author’s afterword.

Where to buy: Amazon.JP.

Go back to the previous chapter.

Chapter 8; The Dark Masters

① Spiral Mountain

The earth will split, the waters will part, and all will be swallowed into the skies.
It will be followed with the division of towns, forests, ocean, and darkness,
to build the tall spiral mountain in the sky.

— “Digimon Book of Revelations,” Chapter 15, Verse 5

The prophesy was on its way to being fulfilled.
The mountains, hills, forests, rivers, ocean, buildings, and the Digimon of File Island were one by one swept up into the sky.
Leomon could only watch in amazement, unable to move into action right away. He was in awe of the horrible catastrophe that was progressing before his eyes. Of course, he knew that even if he wanted to run, he had no place to run away to.
This catastrophe wasn’t occuring on File Island alone. It was happening all throughout the Digital World.
The substances that were swallowed up on the other side of the sky rumbled as they swarmed like a whirlpool. They seemed to follow a certain rule, dividing into four belts that entwined together like snakes, creating a massive cone shape altogether.
File Island was about to be rebuilt into it now as well.
“Urgh!”
The land that Leomon was standing on shook. It ripped itself off the ground as a giant clump of dirt and began to rise up into the air at incredible speed.
Leomon hurriedly tried to grab onto the trunk of a large tree in front of him. But even the tree was pulled out of the ground, along with its roots. Leomon laid on his stomach in the dirt to keep from falling off the lump of earth.
Screams of other Digimon in his surroundings came flying into his ears.
His surroundings transformed into a living hell.
There were some who were crushed between rocks, while others had their bodies ripped apart as they were caught in the flow of data separation. Bile rose up his throat as he imagined that he could have met an end like that if he had taken one wrong step.
Leomon looked away in horror.
Below him, the destruction of File Island progressed moment by moment. Holes appeared throughout the island, and through them, he saw the night. A night without stars. An empty sky.
If there was a place where he could escape this catastrophe unfolding on the Digital World, then it could only be that empty sky. Everything else was reconstructed into the four strips of that outrageous giant spiral, the Spiral Mountain…

○

There was a great number of Digimon who lost their lives in this catastrophe, but there were still many who survived.
Leomon was one of the survivors who ended up on one of the four strips on Spiral Mountain, the world of darkness that was ruled by Piemon.
Although it was called the world of darkness, the darkness in it wasn’t jet-black but that of faded twilight. There were no buildings or woods in it. It was a simple, desolate, petrified-looking plain that stretched for miles.
Leomon wandered through it, searching for friends.
Along the way, he found a group of Digimon who had miraculously survived like he had.
They were a group of various types and attributes. They must have been a discouraged lot who tried to discuss with each other on what to do after being thrown together into this crazy world, but had started arguing from a difference of opinions.
Leomon approached them to try and mediate. However, he stopped in his tracks. He had seen black gas suddenly envelope them from behind.
The gas coiled around them like a living creature, attacking the defenseless Digimon.
Once the black gas surrounded them, the color of the Digimon’s eyes changed. They were controlled by the powers of darkness.
And then, they began to kill each other.
As Leomon watched with his mouth agape, the Digimon died one after the other. The last one to remain standing was so excited by the smell of blood that it laughed wildly as it slit its own windpipe, then died.

○

The boundaries between strips was evident, like single lines dividing them. Leomon moved from the world of darkness to the world next to it: the world of cities.
This world was ruled by Mugendramon. All of the cities in the Digital World were lined up and divided into regions in systematic fashion.
However, there was a great deal of inconsistencies in the mix of different landscapes. It was a clear display that, to Mugendramon who had the heart of a machine, a perfect blueprint of his cities did not include an artistic eye to judge whether or not it was also beautiful.
Tankmon filed in patrol formations along the wide roads that formed the grid-lines of the cities. Their cannons were propped up, ready to fire at any intruder that showed up on their radar.
Leomon stood back for a bit to watch them. From there, he learned that the patrol took place in intervals of fifteen minutes, so he used that time to move ahead and hide on repeat.
But as he got closer to the center of the city, the patrol intervals grew shorter, so Leomon gave up moving on land and dove into a nearby manhole.
Fat pipes and cables crossed from right to left everywhere underground, making Leomon think that he was inside the belly of a machine. Small platoons of Hagurumon were mainly here, patrolling under a regular timetable.
Leomon evaded the Hagurumon’s surveillance, using the cables to travel to the heart of the city.
There, Leomon reunited with Andromon.
Andromon, along with all of Factorial Town, had been pulled into the world of cities, and now he was leading his group of comrades in an underground resistance movement.
To put it into more concrete terms, they were using the underground cables to infiltrate the network, manipulating them to secretly keep in contact with their comrades and hack into the enemy’s secret information.
In doing so, they had a general idea on the process that had led to this catastrophe.
According to Andromon, “The program that Nanomon made was the trigger for this catastrophe.”
When Nanomon was worked like a slave under Etemon, Nanomon received orders from the Dark Masters to develop a certain program. The program was built to divide all the information of the Digital World into the elements of city, forest, ocean, and darkness that would be reconstructed into separate areas that would each be ruled by the Dark Masters.
The idea of dividing areas into belts that twisted into a fourfold spiral was modeled after a description of “Spiral Mountain” that appeared in the Digimon Book of Revelations. The stability that came from forming such a shape must have made sense to Nanomon as well.
Nanomon himself was swallowed into a black hole and was no longer of this world, but the program was passed down from Etemon to the Dark Masters, who waited for the moment to start it up.
“I see,” Leomon nodded. “But isn’t a vast amount of power needed to change the entire Digital World? How did they get such power?”
“They didn’t get it, rather, they sealed away the powers that oppose it. They sealed away the power of the four Holy Beasts who protect the Digital World.”
The Dark Masters’ plot had been carried out secretly for centuries, according to the Digital World’s time flow. That was the long, long battle that had overwhelmed the four Holy Beasts.
During all of this, the Dark Masters had left control of the Digital World to their subordinates Vamdemon, Etemon, and Devimon. When the sealing away of the four Holy Beasts was at last complete, they started up the program that would restructure the world.
“I don’t think that was all,” Andromon said. “There may have been another reason for all of this. After Etemon was defeated, an abnormality in the net— Well, the venerable Gennai and Centaurmon are investigating that right now, so we should wait for their report.”

○

Leomon stayed in the world of cities for some time, aiding Andromon and the others in their fight.
But beyond fighting enemies, he couldn’t figure out a way to return the Digital World to normal or — if that was impossible — to destroy this Spiral Mountain. Being unable to come up with a plan was making him visibly irritated.
One day, Leomon went up above ground for the first time in a long time.
Something strange hung in the sky like a mirage, replacing the stars. It was land and sea hanging right above his head.
Why was that up there? Did water somehow end up in the sky and reflect this world on its surface? But the shape of it looked so different. What on earth could it be, then…?
Just then, on it flashed one point of bright light. It was a rainbow light. It flew from the air towards Spiral Mountain, falling to the ground like a comet with a long tail.
Leomon clenched his fists without realizing that he was doing it. He knew from intuition what exactly that rainbow comet was.
It was the Digital World’s last hope.
There was no doubt in his mind that it was the return of the Chosen Children, who had followed Vamdemon and left for the real world.

○

“Fist of Domination!”
The green goblin, Ogremon, used all of his power to attack the Woodmon.
The response was effective. The Woodmon’s body crumbled into splinters. But it wasn’t a single Woodmon that he was facing. Because they were attacking him in a large swarm, they kept coming and coming no matter how many times he took them down.
When they kept coming in swarms like this, not even Ogremon whose life revolved around battle could handle them.
“Damn it! I’m gonna have to run!”
In the end, Ogremon ran off.
But there was no chance that the Woodmon would quietly overlook him. He was their long-awaited prey. They shook their withered branches as they chased after Ogremon. If the event was seen from the skies, it would probably have looked as if the entire forest was moving.
They were in Pinocchimon’s domain, the world of forests.
Ogremon had only just arrived in this world, having wandered through the other worlds previously in search of Leomon.
To Ogremon, Leomon was his eternal rival. Defeating Leomon was Ogremon’s reason to live.
“That’s why I can’t die until I’ve achieved that! I can’t let nobody Digimon like Woodmon kill me!”
The Woodmon moved slowly, so Ogremon thought that he could outrun them.
However, while he knew the forests of File Island like the back of his hand, he was now in an unfamiliar land. When he pushed out of the forest and thought that he’d found the exit, he instead found himself at a dead end, face to face with the bottom wall of a precipice.
“C–Crap!”
He tried to turn back, but it was too late. The head of the Woodmon pack had already reached him.
“Geehhh!”
Ogremon took a step back. The Woodmon surrounded him, leaving him with no other means of escape beyond scaling the precipice.
“I–Is this it? Is this where it all ends…?!”
He wasn’t moaning out of fear of death, but at how he had pathetically allowed himself to be cornered like this.
He would have been satisfied to die if it had been by the hands of Leomon, but to think that his death would be from these small-fry Digimon ganging up on him and sucking dry his energy…
“Leomon…Leomoooooooon!”
Ogremon cried out towards the upside-down land and waters floating in the blue sky like cirrocumulus clouds.
Did my voice reach you? I’m not asking you to save me, I just want you to be the last one to hear my voice.
Will not even that wish be granted?
The Woodmon rustled closer.
Ogremon waved his bone club in a last ditch effort of retaliation, but the Woodmon moved first, thrusting the pointed edge of the branches that acted as their arms into Ogremon’s entire body.
“Gyaaaaah!”
Ogremon’s energy was being sucked from his wounds.
Shit, I’m fading…
He collapsed onto his back to the ground and the Woodmon fell upon him.
Tch, the sky is so bright…
Just then.
Through the cracks between the bodies piled on him, he could see someone behind the Woodmon.
It jumped down from the cliff above Ogremon’s head. It had brilliant yellow fur with red stripes, two long fangs that protruded out of its mouth, and a tight small waist framing a ferocious-looking body frame. The claws on all four of its limbs gleamed like steel.
“Grrroaaaaaaaar!”
The Digimon landed gracefully at the bottom of the cliff, jumping on the Woodmon from behind. Standing upright on its rear legs, it used the sharp claws on its fronts to slice the Woodmon as if with an axe, splitting them vertically, horizontally, diagonally, or merely in two.
There should have been a considerable number of them, but it didn’t take very long for the Woodmon to be wiped out.
When it was over, the unknown Digimon approached the fallen, injured Ogremon and spoke. “Are you all right, Ogremon?”
Ogremon was so sure that he would be killed next, so he blinked stupidly upon hearing his name.
The other Digimon smirked at him, then reverted before Ogremon’s eyes in an instant.
It was Leomon, the very one that Ogremon had been searching for.
“L–Leomon! Since when were you able to evolve?”
“Not too long ago. I don’t know how it happened either. According to Andromon, it might be because the Chosen Children’s digivices touched me while I was on File Island.”
“…Ahh.”
Ogremon could only huff a deep sigh of disappointment because his rival Leomon had opened up such a big lead over him.
“By the way, Ogremon, did you see a rainbow-colored comet?”
“Yeah, I did. It fell into the world of oceans.”
“The world of oceans…”
It was an area that Leomon hadn’t explored yet, so he asked, “What kind of place is it?”
“Just like the name says: It’s an ocean. All ocean wherever you look. It has beaches and islands here and there, but it’s a tough place for me to live.”
Leomon remembered that Ogremon couldn’t swim.
“Are you going to the world of oceans?” Ogremon asked.
“Yeah. I have to find the Chosen Children.”
“Wait, if you’re going, then at least fight me before you go!”
Ogremon challenged him to battle even though he couldn’t even stand.
“Don’t be stupid. Even if I fought you now and won, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth. We’ll fight after you’ve healed those wounds.”
As he spoke, Leomon broke off the branches of a nearby tree, heaping them around Ogremon to camouflage him. It would keep him from being spotted by enemies as he healed.
“That’s what you say, but you’re not really trying to run away, are ya?” Ogremon said, still putting up a tough front.
Leomon lightly shrugged him off. “Don’t worry. Once my business is finished, I’ll return. So stay quiet here and take care of yourself until then.”
Saying this, Leomon turned his back and raced to the world of oceans.
Behind him, Ogremon shouted, “Hey, Leomon! Don’t you dare die on me! I’m the only one who gets to beat you! Don’t you dare die!”

② The Unmerciful Sea

“Wh–What is this?!” Mimi cried out, but at least she was still able to cry.
Jou was floundering beside her, kicking wildly with his arms and legs. Fortunately, Gomamon was there to give him a hand so he didn’t drown.
Still, being dumped into the ocean right after they had been cheering each other on about going to the Digital World sure took the wind out of their sails.
Luckily, there was a small island nearby, so they managed to swim towards it.

“Sorry, Hikari. I’m sorry that you have to go through this just after getting here.”
Taichi apologized to Hikari, even though none of it was his fault.
In response, Hikari said, “What are you talking about? It’s not your fault.”
“Well, it’s not, but…”
Everyone laughed, seeing Taichi unexpectedly be so caring towards his little sister.
“Anyway, what is this place? Is it close to File Island?” Jou asked, grimacing because he had swallowed a lot of saltwater and it stung his throat.
“What do we do? If we are to think that the world floating in the sky is our world, then this place we’re in should be the Digital World…”
Koushiro booted up his laptop, thinking that he might learn something. When they were falling within the rainbow, he had seen that there was an ocean beneath them and had hurriedly pushed his laptop into Tentomon’s arms so that his laptop remained safe.
“Did you find something?” Yamato asked.
But, unable to find any clues, Koushiro said “No” and shook his head.
“It feels weird, though, doesn’t it?” Patamon piped up.
“What’s weird?” Takeru asked.
“I’m not exactly sure, but it doesn’t feel like the Digital World.”
“Now that you mention it…” Sora asked the question that had been on her mind. “When we were falling, the landscape looked like it was twisted up into a spiral. Was that my imagination?”
“Oh, I saw that too. I thought I was seeing things, but you saw it too, Sora?” Taichi said.
The others also said, “Come to think of it, me too!” “Me too!”
But none of them could explain why that was. Everyone’s gazes naturally turned to Koushiro.
“I–I don’t know either…”
In any case, what was clear was that this wasn’t the time to be dawdling. They moved on to discussing how to swim to other land.
“How about having Gomamon evolve to Zudomon?” Yamato suggested.
“I can do it anytime,” Gomamon said. He was itching to evolve once more to Perfect level.
But there was no need. A Digimon had arrived for them.
It was the whale Digimon who had carried them to Server Continent after they had beaten Devimon on File Island — Whamon.

○

The inside of Whamon’s mouth was like being inside a cathedral. Even the smallest noise echoed noisily. There, Taichi and the other children discussed the various new pieces of information that Whamon told them.
“I can’t believe this all happened during the 2-3 days we were fighting Vamdemon in Odaiba,” Piyomon said, her face pensive.
Koushiro said, “That’s not so. The flow of time is different between this world and our world. If, for example, we are to consider that one minute in the real world is one day in this world, it would mean that a considerable number of days or even years have passed.”
“Who are the Dark Masters anyway?” Palmon asked.
If Palmon didn’t know them, then naturally their other Digimon partners had no idea either. The only one who could possibly know, while indirectly, was Tailmon, who had worked for Vamdemon.
It was Tailmon who answered. “They’re Mugendramon, Pinocchimon, MetalSeadramon, and Piemon. All of them are Ultimate level Digimon plotting to rule the Digital World. Vamdemon, Etemon, and Devimon were merely their underlings.”
“Which means they’re stronger than Vamdemon…”
At Yamato’s words, everyone nodded silently.
“If we’re comparing strength…” Tailmon added, “Then yes, they rival in power to the four Holy Beasts. The Dark Masters managed to seal away the four Holy Beasts, after all.”
“What are the four Holy Beasts?” Takeru asked curiously.
“They refer to Qinglongmon, Baihumon, Xuanwumon, and Zhuqiaomon…” Tailmon paused just then because her knowledge on the four Holy Beasts was obscure. “Um… To sum it up, they’re the Digimon who protect the Digital World’s time and space.”
“So, these four Holy Beasts…” This time, it was Jou. “Are they our friends? And if that’s the case, are they the ones that chose us?”
“I don’t know that. I was on the antagonist’s side when I learned of them. They would certainly be the enemy of our enemy, but whether that makes them our allies… I’m not sure…”
In the end, all they had were more questions. But at least understanding that the Dark Masters were their real enemy was something of a gain.
“This fight is going to be tougher than anything we’ve ever faced before, but let’s do our best, guys!”
Just when Taichi said that—
There was a sudden boom and violent shaking.
“What’s going on?”
Whamon’s voice was low in his throat when he replied to Hikari’s question. In agony, all he said was, “The enemy…”

○

Whamon silently swam through the deep sea in order to avoid the enemy’s eyes, but it was impossible to escape surveillance completely.
Whamon himself was prepared for this eventuality, but he wasn’t expecting them to chase him all the way down to the ocean bottom, where a normal Digimon would have been flattened from the hydraulic pressure.
As far as he knew, only one Digimon was capable of that: One of the Dark Masters. The raging king of the sea, MetalSeadramon.

When MetalSeadramon saw the rainbow-colored comet falling from the sky, he quickly ordered his Hangyomon subordinates to converge on where it landed.
However, the Chosen Children had already fled with Whamon by the time they’d reached there, so MetalSeadramon mobilized all of his troops and went in search of the children.
Whamon’s location was caught by Anomalocarimon’s radar eye.
But even though his location was found, he was too deep underwater to be attacked.
“Then I will have to go.”
The ruler of the world of oceans, MetalSeadramon, stirred himself into action.
MetalSeadramon was the type who preferred joining the battlefield with his troops and fighting rather than sitting imposingly on a throne. When faced with a worthy opponent on top of that, his fighting spirit boiled.
In those terms, he considered himself extremely lucky that the Chosen Children had fallen into his territory.
MetalSeadramon elegantly winded his long, narrow body through the waters, tracking Whamon. Quietly, so that his presence would not be felt.
And then, he fired his first attack at Whamon from behind.
That was the identity of the shaking blast that Taichi and the others had felt.
The force of it was slightly weakened due to the hydraulic pressure, but the Ultimate Stream that had unleashed from his nostrils like an energy beam left deep lacerations across Whamon’s back.
MetalSeadramon could have shot his Ultimate Stream consecutively, killing them instantly, but that wasn’t his style.
If he was going to kill someone, then he preferred tormenting and then killing them, rather than just killing them. That’s right. He wasn’t going to let them die easily.
Making his decision, MetalSeadramon began to use his tail made of Chrome Digizoid to dig into Whamon’s fresh wounds.

○

Whamon desperately endured MetalSeadramon’s persistent attacks.
The pain made him want to scream, but with Taichi and the others taking refuge in his mouth, he couldn’t even do that. All he could do was keep still and take it.
But the shivering of his body from the intense pain and the moans that blurted out even when he wanted to hold them back, didn’t go unnoticed by the children.
“Stop!”
“Surface!”
“We’ll fight him!” They cried.
He was happy that they worried for him, but there was no way that he was going to do any of that.
If he surfaced, he would still be in the middle of the ocean. Their Digimon partners, excluding Zudomon, who weren’t fit to fight on water would only die in vain. All of his efforts in enduring this pain would have been for nothing.
MetalSeadramon seemed to think that simply whipping him with his tail was unrefined, because he moved into a different attack method.
With his body that easily exceeded two hundred meters in length, as well as the overwhelming power of an Ultimate level, he constricted himself around Whamon.

○

Splaaaaash!
On top of a small hill that lay near the boundary between the world of oceans and the world of forests, Leomon observed Whamon jump vertically high out of the waters. His pathetic body, riddled with wounds, was painful to look at.
Whamon’s giant body heavily hit the water surface, causing massive tidal waves. The waves broke through the boundary, surging onto the world of forests.
Whamon summoned up the last of his strength to push himself past the boundary so that his upper half beached onto the world of forests.
Then, he opened his mouth which he had kept shut like a clam this whole time, and the Chosen Children stepped out of it.
“Everyone, over here!” Leomon shouted, waving his arm from the top of the hill.
The children saw Leomon, but they couldn’t leave Whamon behind.
Even Leomon wanted to tell Whamon “Hang in there,” but it was already too late. He saw that Whamon was beginning to disintegrate into particles of light starting from his tail, the particles rising up into the sky.
MetalSeadramon appeared out of the water.
“Oh no!”
Leomon ran down the slope of the hill.
“Leomon, warp-evolve! SaberLeomon!”
Evolving into SaberLeomon, he boldly leaped at MetalSeadramon as he was about to attack the children.
“Leomon has evolved! We should fight too!”
It was Yamato, not Taichi, who was the first to say that. His eyes burned with a desire to avenge Whamon’s death.
“Gabumon, warp-evolve! MetalGarurumon!”
A short time later,
“Agumon, warp-evolve! WarGreymon!”
“Gomamon, super-evolve! Zudomon!”
The three of them headed straight for MetalSeadramon.
SaberLeomon, reaching MetalSeadramon first, targeted his attack on one spot. He knew that attacking MetalSeadramon’s body wouldn’t make a scratch on him since it was made of the Chrome Digizoid alloy.
What he went for was… the eyes!
SaberLeomon’s pointed front claws stabbed through MetalSeadramon’s left eye without any hesitation.
“Gyeeeeehhhhhhhhhh!”
One of MetalSeadramon’s eyes was wrecked.
SaberLeomon tried to go for the other eye, but he was thrown off by the thrashing MetalSeadramon and slammed into the water surface.
“How dare you!”
MetalSeadramon opened his giant red mouth to chew SaberLeomon to pieces, but just then, he saw MetalGarurumon, WarGreymon, and Zudomon from the corner of his working eye.
“I’ll start with you guys first! Ultimate Stream!”
Changing targets, he aimed his special attack at them.
Luckily for the three of them, MetalSeadramon’s aim was off due to SaberLeomon destroying one of his eyes. They dodged a direct blow. A small hill in the world of forests took the blow instead, vanishing without a trace.
But that failed attempt helped MetalSeadramon to adjust his aim. He computed the deviation from his right and repositioned his aim to the left.
“Die!”
MetalSeadramon got ready to unleash his second wave.
Just then,
“What?!”
SaberLeomon clung to MetalSeadramon’s nose, covering the nostrils with his body.
“Do you want to die?!”
Unable to cut off his Ultimate Stream’s barrage, its high energy gushed out. However, blocked by SaberLeomon’s abdomen, the energy had no other exit and instead backflowed into MetalSeadramon’s insides.
Craaaaaaash!
MetalSeadramon’s head blew off.
SaberLeomon was also thrown back by the blast, falling somewhere into the distance.
Under normal circumstances, that would have concluded the fight, but MetalSeadramon was tenacious.
Even without a head, his body headed for WarGreymon and the others.
“That guy’s unbelievable!”
The children shuddered from his fierce will to live that went beyond all common sense.
MetalSeadramon’s body wrapped around MetalGarurumon. It tightened around him.
“You bastard! Let go!”
Zudomon used his Thor Hammer, which was made of the same Chrome Digizoid as MetalSeadramon’s body, on MetalSeadramon’s tail but it only caused sparks to fly. It had no effect at all.
“Leave this to me!”
WarGreymon tore through MetalSeadramon with the pointy claws of his arms. They were Dramon Killers, the greatest weapon that could be possessed by Dramon-type Digimon, and it split MetalSeadramon’s remaining body into two from the base of his neck to his tail.

③ A Falling Out Among Friends

The oceans were vanishing…
Spiral Mountain’s ocean area disassembled into data once more and vanished. All that remained from the empty space, where the world of oceans used to be, was the boundary of the world next to it.

Before he was caught in the blast, Leomon was prepared to die at the very moment he chose to block Ultimate Stream with his body.
He had reverted back to Leomon after spending all of his energy, and the upper and lower halves of his muscular body were held together by mere threads.
“Don’t die, Leomon!” Taichi screamed, clutching Leomon’s hand.
Behind him, the other children and Digimon watched silently. They had no other choice but to watch Leomon’s end.
Leomon let out a long sigh and spoke to the children. “Do you remember the Village of Beginnings?”
“Y–Yeah?”
What is he bringing that up for? Taichi thought. Maybe he was getting flashbacks of fond memories right before his death?
“Did I ever tell you? After a Digimon dies, they are reborn in the Village of Beginnings. They become digieggs and have another chance at life. So… there’s no need for sorrow.”
“Really?” Takeru asked.
Leomon looked into Takeru’s eyes. “Yes.”
His eyes crinkling and his smile soft, he nodded.
The bottom half of Leomon’s body radiated faintly with light. His cells disintegrated into glittering particles, starting from the tips of his feet, that rose silently up to the sky.
“Anyway…” Leomon continued. “The battle is only beginning. I’m sorry to involve you humans in our fight, but you, Chosen Children, are the only ones who can save this world. It will be tough, but good luck.”
“It’s not just the Digital World’s problem anymore. Strange things are taking place in the real world too. If nothing is done, both worlds will be destroyed.”
Taichi told Leomon about what had happened in the real world — about the Digital World’s shadow in their sky after Vamdemon’s fog had cleared, as well as the crystallization of objects that touched it.
“I can’t believe that’s happening…” Leomon bit his lip in frustration from hearing this news.
He had perhaps rushed to his death too soon. He wished that a miracle would take place and that he would be immediately reborn in the Village of Beginnings so that he may fight alongside the children once more, but…
“Anyway, I wish you luck. Our allies will do whatever they can to back you up. If the fates allow it, then let us meet again.”
And there, he stopped speaking.
Leomon’s data turned to dust that rose up towards the blue sky…

○

Mimi said that she wanted to make graves for Leomon and Whamon, so everyone lent her a hand.
Hikari said “And one for Wizarmon too,” so there was a total of three graves.
The graves were simple structures of small stones gathered up into three piles, with the names of each written with black marker on scrap lumber as the headstones.
They all lined up before the graves, folding their hands together in prayer. They all prayed that the three dead souls would rest in peace.
Everyone was silent except for Takeru, who said out loud, “I pray that all three are reborn in the Village of Beginnings.”

No one felt like moving for a while.
They were exhausted. Both physically and in spirit.
But they couldn’t keep staying like this forever.
Taichi pushed himself back up and said casually, “Let’s go,” as if he were speaking to himself.
“Yeah,” Yamato said grievously, also standing up.
It was easy to tell from the way they sluggishly stood up that no one felt enthusiastic about what they had to do. None of them stood up briskly.
Mimi didn’t even bother to stand up.
Did she not have the energy to stand?
“Mimi-chan.”
Sora held out her hand to help her up.
But Mimi didn’t bother grabbing it. Instead, she said, “I’m not going.”
The way that she said it wasn’t in her usual pleading whine, but in a gloomy, oppressed tone. It threw Sora off.
“What do you mean you’re not going, Mimi-chan…?”
“We fight, and fight, and then what do we gain from it? Nothing is born out of it. All that comes out of it is sadness and hate. I don’t want to deal with that anymore. I’m not going!”
Sora looked at Taichi’s face, troubled. Taichi also searched for the right words to speak to her when,
“You can’t just not go,” Yamato spat harshly at Mimi. “You’re shocked by Whamon and Leomon’s deaths. I get it. But we need to fight, or someone else will get killed just like them. Do you want that blood on your hands?!”
“Of course not! But I just can’t see fighting as the only answer to our problem!”
“What other choice is there? Should we propose a cease-fire? I doubt they’d even bother to agree to that.”
An uncomfortable silence fell among them.
Jou thought that it was his turn to lighten the mood and stepped in.
“Now now, you two, calm down. I understand both of your views. But let’s calm down and talk about this. Okay?”
Yamato and Mimi continued to glare at each other.
Thinking that he was inadequate after all,
“C’mon, Taichi, say something!” Jou said, looking to Taichi for help.
“Say something…?” Taichi sighed. “To tell you the truth, I’m troubled too. The Dark Masters are too strong. If we face them head-on, we’ll suffer damages. Maybe there’s a way. Some nice way for us to get through this with the least damage…”
Yamato got a little annoyed at the way Taichi spoke. Fighting was the only option here.
Even Koushiro said, “Actually, I was thinking the same thing as you, Taichi-san. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are Ultimate levels, but they don’t have the same amount of experience as the Dark Masters. Which means that they aren’t an opponent that we can fight hand-to-hand with. Maybe we can ask Gennai-san or someone what their weakness is.”
Tch. Yamato clicked his tongue. What was the point depending on other people for this?
Yamato felt that he couldn’t get along with the rest of them.
Now that they knew the Dark Masters were their real enemy, this was exactly the time when they needed to band together and fight.
While they were in the tomb room in Vamdemon’s castle, Yamato had accepted Taichi as the leader of the Chosen Children. But now, he didn’t think so.
After seeing Whamon and Leomon’s tragic deaths, Taichi was faltering.
Would they be able to continue fighting the Dark Masters this way? There was a chance that one indecisive mistake would lead them to digging their own graves.
He couldn’t trust Taichi with this at all!
Making his own decision, Yamato said to Mimi, “If you don’t want to fight, then leave!”
And he cast her out.
Mimi smiled at him coldly and, without any protest, turned her back on them and walked off.
“Mi–Mimi…”
Palmon hurried after her, along with Sora and Jou to try and persuade her to stay.
“What did you say that for, Yamato?!”
Taichi grabbed Yamato by the shoulders, trying to figure out his intentions.
But Yamato said curtly, “Having someone like her around will affect our morale. If you’re the leader, you should know that.”
“I did know that. That’s why we were trying to persuade her, weren’t we?!”
“You’re soft. Or maybe I should say, you’ve gotten soft. In the past, you would have made snap decisions. But the reason you can’t…” Yamato looked at Hikari. “Has gotta be because your sister’s here.”
“Wh–What are you talking about…” Taichi was at a loss for words.
He hadn’t gotten timid because Hikari was with them. But it was true that he had gotten more careful so that no one got hurt or pushed themselves.
He couldn’t call that a con as a leader.
By thinking about how Hikari would feel about it, it led to him guessing how the others felt. It made him think about how to speak so that the others would feel motivated, and how to ask things that made them feel enthused about doing. Was sympathizing with how others felt affecting his position as leader?
That was a problem that Taichi needed to agonize over and conquer from here on. He just needed some more time on it.
But Yamato, who didn’t understand that at all, said, “Looks like I’m right.”
He continued triumphantly, “You’re a failure as a leader.”
That was when Koushiro, who had kept himself from arguing with anyone before, said in a stronger tone than usual, “I’m against this. I don’t want to acknowledge anyone other than Taichi-san as our leader.”
Koushiro had never spoken to anyone in a quarrelsome manner before, and it shocked Yamato.
“Well,” he said, trying to put up a tough front, “I guess I should expect that coming from one of Taichi’s fans.”
But Koushiro hadn’t spoken out of loyalty to a single party.
“Yamato-san, you’re unfit for leadership because you’re too emotional. If the leader lets his emotions get the better of him, then he loses his followers.”
Yamato hated to admit it, but he was right.
The people around Yamato may have thought that he was a cold, aloof person, but that was only because he didn’t show what he thought to other people.
When had he become like that? He hadn’t been like that when he was younger. But after his parents decided to divorce and his mom took Takeru by the hand and left home…
Don’t go! Please don’t go! Don’t leave me!
The truth was, he had wanted to plead with her and cry — but he couldn’t.
Part of it had to do with his father standing by his side.
Maybe his mother had secretly wished for Yamato to say that to her.
But at that moment, Yamato had thought that he would never show weakness in front of his mom, even if he died from it. It was his own decision to follow his dad.
Ever since coming to the Digital World, even Yamato was surprised by how much emotion he expressed. All of the emotion that he’d held back while at home, at school, had come bursting out without pause.
And this Yamato was the only one that Koushiro knew. That was why Koushiro’s view of Yamato was “an emotionally unstable upperclassman.”
Yamato took on a nasty attitude to hide that Koushiro’s words had ruffled him.
“I’ve known this for a long time now, but it looks like I can’t work together with you guys after all. I’m leaving. Let’s go, Takeru.”
And he turned to Takeru with a gentle older brother smile.
But Takeru looked troubled.
“Hey, Brother, why don’t you reconsider? We need everyone if we want to beat the Dark Masters. Even Gennai-san said so. All eight of us have to be together.”
Yamato’s smile dropped and he took on the stern face of a guardian who knew better. He rounded on Takeru, giving him only two choices. “Are you coming or not?”
“Brother…”
Taichi intervened, taking pity on Takeru. “Don’t do this, Yamato. Whatever I have to change, I’ll change. You’re putting Takeru in a tough position. You need to understand him.”
“Understand him…?”
Yamato looked at Takeru again. Just as Taichi said, he was looking in bewilderment at Yamato, as if he was saying, “Please understand.”
Yamato was shocked.
Taichi knew how Takeru was feeling, while he didn’t understand Takeru at all.
Even though they were brothers…
Well… Well, there was no helping that, was there? We may be brothers by blood, but we aren’t living together.
The Takeru that I know is the baby Takeru from when we lived together as a family. Takeru is a crybaby, who’s extremely shy around other people, and who would always hide behind my back whenever someone came to visit. That small Takeru. That cute Takeru who always begged to hear my harmonica…
He’s in the third grade now.
But the Takeru that’s within me is still the baby from back then. He hasn’t grown up at all.
No… The one who hasn’t grown up here is me.
Ever since we came to the Digital World, Takeru has changed from being a crybaby to a more stronger person day by day. He even overcame Angemon’s death to become a worthy fighter who holds up his own now, without dragging anyone else down. He handled himself on his own in the Village of Beginnings, even without me around.
That’s right.
He doesn’t need me.
Compared to him, I’m… I’m…

“H–Hey! Where are you going, Yamato?!”
Taichi was taken aback when Yamato abruptly ran away.
“Don’t go, Brother!” Takeru pleaded desperately.
But Yamato did not look back. It wasn’t that he had a place in mind to go, more like he wanted to get away from there as far as possible.
Gabumon frantically chased after him.

While Taichi and the others were at a loss, Sora returned from her attempts at persuading Mimi, looking haggard.
Mimi was resolute on her decision, and Sora hadn’t been able to change her mind.
After discussing it with Jou, the two of them decided to respect Mimi’s opinion. They decided that either of them should accompany Mimi and continue to persuade her, rejoining with the others once Mimi understood.
Sora said that she would take on that role, because it would be better for girls to travel together but,
“Leave her to me.”
Jou was unusually assertive.
“I think that each of us has a part to play, in the same way that each of our Crests has a different meaning. And I think that this is my job. Please, let me go with her.”
After being told that, Sora couldn’t find any other argument.
She left Mimi in Jou’s care and returned to the others.
There, Taichi told her what had taken place with Yamato.
“I should have been more levelheaded…” Taichi cursed his own timidness.
“You’re wrong. Yamato needs time to be by himself. It’ll be okay. I’m sure that he’ll come back.”
Sora felt that she understood what Yamato was going through. When she had been on her own at Temp Lake, she had felt the same way.

④ The Forest of Hatred

Within the forest was a mansion made out of toy building blocks. Inside of it came the sound of continuous gunshots.
“Hyaaaaaaaaah!”
Pinocchimon, who was shaped like a wooden puppet, was running throughout the mansion shooting a 0.44 magnum. He was playing tag and he was It.
“Found you, Mushmon! Bang!”
Once he found Mushmon hiding beneath the table, he pointed his gun at it and pulled the trigger. It wasn’t a toy gun, but a real gun. The bullets were dum-dum ammunition.
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
The dum-dum bullets flew into Mushmon’s stomach and exploded. Pinocchimon watched and laughed joyfully as the Mushmon clutched painfully at its abdomen and died.
“Aww, this is fun! Now, who’s next?”
Just then, from outside the window,
“Young master.”
Pinocchimon’s loyal butler, a giant tree named Jureimon, had arrived to make his report.
“The Chosen Children have beaten MetalSeadramon and have arrived in your forests.”
“The Chosen Children! Oh boy, they’re here already! I should welcome them!” He exclaimed innocently, as if he were welcoming a distant penpal.
“Let’s see, which one should I go with…”
He turned the toybox in the corner of his room upside down, spilling its contents.
“The hand grenade? The automatic rifle? What about the flamethrower?”
“Please, anything but the flamethrower,” Jureimon humbly requested. “It will burn down the forests.”
“Oh, right. Then I’ll go with this.”
What he chose was his Bullet Hammer, where the head of the hammer was turned into a revolver. A massive load of gunpowder was stuffed inside the revolver’s storage, so that it created a huge explosion whenever he hit with it.
“I’m off to play!” Pinocchimon cried, running out of his house joyfully.
After seeing him off, Jureimon sighed. “Good grief. It sure is a lot of work babysitting young master Pinocchimon.”

○

“I’m sorry, Jou-senpai.”
Mimi looked apologetically at Jou, who was sitting beside her stuffing himself with the berries that Palmon and Gomamon had gathered.
Jou swallowed down the contents in his mouth with one huge gulp and said, “Don’t worry about it. Go on, Mimi-chan. You should eat too.”
“Okay.”
Mimi plucked the berries one by one with her fingers, bringing them to her small mouth.
“Besides, you don’t have to rush. Um… think through this carefully, Mimi-kun. Until you’ve come up with an answer that you agree on. There’s plenty of time.”
He meant that in terms of the flow of time being different between the real world and the Digital World.
But whenever he looked up and unavoidably saw the real world in the sky, he couldn’t help but feel that they did have to hurry.
Just then.
“Hey, do you smell something?” Palmon asked Gomamon, sniffing the air.
“Uh, no?”
Gomamon didn’t notice anything, but Palmon seemed to have locked onto the source of the smell.
“It’s coming from over there! There’s someone there!” she said, and ran towards it.

A Digimon lay fallen on the ground, camouflauged within the heap of branches over it.
“They look hurt!”
Palmon and Gomamon began to clear away the branches to help the poor Digimon. As the branches cleared, they saw the familiar ugly face of a green demon.
“It’s Ogremon!” Jou cried. “Let’s get outta here, Mimi-kun!”
Jou hurriedly ran off. He turned around, expecting Mimi to follow him immediately, but Mimi wasn’t there.
“Mimi-kun!”
Mimi was still in the same spot, beginning to treat Ogremon’s wounds of all things.
“Don’t be crazy!” Jou said, hurriedly rushing back.
Ogremon regained consciousness and saw Mimi and Palmon, his enemies lending him a helping hand. He looked at them like he couldn’t believe what they were doing.
“Wh–Why? Why are you helping me…?”
“Stay quiet! You’ll open your wounds!” Mimi chided Ogremon in a severe tone.
But Mimi’s way of wiping around Ogremon’s gaping wounds with her handkerchief lacked some delicacy, so Jou, watching this, said, “Let me. I am a doctor’s son, after all.”
He didn’t know any special training, despite being a doctor’s son. The most he ever did was look through his father’s medical textbooks and play doctor with his older brother Shuu, as a child.
Still, he knew a bit more than the average kid.
He promptly told Gomamon to bring water and for Palmon to bring medicinal herbs. He asked Mimi to be his assistant.
Ogremon’s right arm appeared to be broken, so he put a splint against it and used the toilet paper that he’d brought from the real world as a sling around Ogremon’s shoulder.

It was self-evident that Ogremon, who only knew a life of fighting, was puzzled by Mimi and Jou’s act of charity that did not discriminate between ally and foe.
“I tried to kill you guys on File Island. It would’ve made sense to anyone if you’d killed me here. So why…?”
Mimi looked annoyed at his question. “Could you stop that? Stop talking about killing and being killed. Why doesn’t anyone think about living together as friends?”
Ogremon took a moment to imagine everyone living together as friends, but it made him feel ill.
“Well, anyway, I guess I should say thanks. Thank you.”
He staggered to his feet.
“By the way, did you guys meet Leomon? He said he was going to get you guys—”
Mimi’s face, which had looked energetic only moments before, suddenly darkened and fell. Jou answered him instead, solemnly.
“Leomon is dead. He died protecting us from MetalSeadramon, one of the Dark Masters…”
It was so hard to believe at first, that Ogremon could only stare at them with his mouth open. It was only after Jou repeated himself, that Ogremon’s large chin began to tremble.
“You’re kidding… Leomon is dead…? He died without settling the score with me?”
He held his face in his hands. “How the hell do I live now?!”
She could have left him be, but Mimi thought it would be comforting to remind him. “At least he’ll be reborn in the Village of Beginnings one day—”
But Ogremon shook his head.
“He won’t.”
“What do you mean, won’t?”
Ogremon slowly raised his head.
“The Village of Beginnings is dead…”
“Dead? What do you mean?”
Just then, they heard the sound of an explosion far away.

○

“Bullet Hammer!”
Pinocchimon jumped into the air, bringing down his cylinder-shaped iron hammer on WarGreymon.
WarGreymon quickly pulled out the Brave Shield on his back to protect himself, but the impact was intense. White smoke and an explosion that split the eardrums covered that entire area.
In that white darkness,
“Are you okay, WarGreymon?!” Taichi’s voice echoed.
WarGreymon didn’t reply back, but Tailmon answered. “He’s okay! He’s reverted back to Koromon, but he isn’t dead. Let’s run now while we still can!”
“Where are you?! Bam! Bam!”
Pinocchimon continued to swing his Bullet Hammer even though he was unable to see his surroundings in the smoke.
Taichi decided that it was the better choice that everyone split up and got far away from here, rather than gathering everyone up first to run. “Guys, run away from here!”
“Run where?!”
“Anywhere! Just get outta here!” Taichi shouted, and he, too, ran blindly within the gunpowder smoke.

The smoke gradually cleared. Taichi hid in the shadows of the trees, looking at the screen of his digivice.
The dots indicating where Sora, Koushiro, Takeru, and Hikari were blinked in scattered directions.
“I have to regroup with the others!”
When one of the Dark Masters, Pinocchimon, had suddenly attacked them, he had made Agumon warp-evolve to WarGreymon without a plan. Now he regretted that decision.
Maybe the decision that WarGreymon was the only one who could fight the Ultimate level Dark Masters wasn’t a wrong one, but he hadn’t even considered what to do with their remaining fighters in the event that WarGreymon was beaten.
Maybe he should have trusted the other Perfect levels to fight first, in order to assess the opponent’s abilities, if not to also think of an effective strategy to take the opponent down.
Taichi remembered SkullGreymon.
“Tch. I haven’t learned anything,” he said, but that self-criticism didn’t have a lasting effect on him as it had back then. In fact, it was more positive. When he said it, he meant that this failure would be the ingredient for his next success.
But first, there was something that he had to do.
Taichi used the blinking dots on his digivice to move towards gathering up his friends.

○

“97… 98…”
Pinocchimon knew that the children had escaped, but he didn’t chase them right away.
Instead, he closed his eyes and counted.
“99…”
Hide-and-seek had begun. A survival game where, if you were found, you were dead.
“100!”
Pinocchimon finished counting to one hundred. The rule for counting to one hundred first was a rule that Pinocchimon had come up with on the spot. In this world of forests, Pinocchimon was the law.
The smoke had cleared, but the sharp stench of nitric acid still lingered. Pinocchimon breathed it in as if it were the most delicious smell.
“Now then, time to look for everyone!”
He ran into the forest, searching for his prey.

○

Patamon held down his breath as he hid in the shade of the trees.
“Where are you? Here?” He heard Pinocchimon drawl. The violent explosions of the Bullet Hammer came in succession.
Boom! Boom!
Apparently, the Bullet Hammer never ran out of bullets. Pinocchimon had been discharging it so many times already that the trees blocking his path were blown to smithereens. Maybe he was planning to make a path within the forest. He didn’t seem to mind that he was decimating the forest’s natural beauty, or that he was letting them know where he was. Maybe he didn’t care, or maybe he just didn’t realize it.
“He’s getting closer…” Patamon heard Hikari’s small voice say behind him. He turned around to see that Hikari was clearly afraid.
When Takeru saw that, he said, “It’s okay. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you, Hikari-chan.”
He smiled comfortingly at their new friend, this small girl who was the same age as him.
Takeru has gotten to be so strong, Patamon thought, his eyes crinkling.
Although Takeru was currently the only one without a Crest, Patamon was certain that Takeru would obtain it soon, in the near future. And when that happened, he too, would evolve to Perfect level. Just what sort of form would he end up as? As he was imagining it,
“Are you here? Bam!”
Pinocchimon’s voice and the impact of the Bullet Hammer interrupted his thoughts.
He sounded pretty close by.
Patamon looked at Tailmon, and Tailmon nodded back at him quietly.
Tailmon was carrying the injured Koromon in her arms. Koromon had spent all of his energy when taking on Pinocchimon’s attack, and now that he was separated from Taichi, there was no chance that he could evolve to Child level, much less warp-evolve.
Which meant that the only ones here who could fight were Patamon and Tailmon.
Would they have to fight the Ultimate level Pinocchimon, much less beat him?
“That’s weird… You’re not here? But that’s all right!”
The sound of Pinocchimon’s Bullet Hammer continued.

○

Taichi thought that it was strange when the explosions unexpectedly stopped.
Just then,
“Hey, Chosen Children, can you hear me? I’m gonna start the execution now. I’ll keep killing, so if you want me to stop, just raise your hands and come out! Okay?”
When Taichi heard Pinocchimon announce this, he thought that Pinocchimon had captured one of his friends.
He hurriedly looked at his digivice. Out of the four dots, two were overlapping each other in one spot, while the other two were moving closer like Taichi to try and regroup with everyone.
The two moving dots had to be Sora and Koushiro. Like Taichi, they knew about this function on their digivice.
Which meant the two unmoving dots were Takeru and Hikari. Although Tailmon could evolve to Perfect, Taichi hadn’t told Hikari yet about this function on her digivice. Too many things had happened ever since they had arrived here, so he had lost the chance to tell her.
“Did Takeru and Hikari get caught?!”
That was why, when the first execution was carried out, Taichi went pale.
“Here’s the first one!” Pinocchimon said out loud, and without even a countdown, the explosive sound of the Bullet Hammer and screams reached Taichi’s ears.
“Hikari! Takeru!”
Taichi was on the slope of a hill at the time, so he quickly slid down from it.
“If you wanna kill someone, kill me!”
Just as he was about to shout that, the smoke cleared and he saw Pinocchimon leaning his Bullet Hammer on one shoulder. Neither Takeru nor Hikari were next to him. Of course, neither was it Sora or Koushiro.
The only ones there were forest Digimon who must be Pinocchimon’s subordinates.
Taichi hurriedly hid himself. Thank goodness he hadn’t spoken out loud. It was a trap. Pinocchimon was only pretending to execute someone in order to lure them out.
But that wasn’t true.
Pinocchimon looked around with a hand over his eyes, but seeing no response from the children, he said petulantly, “Why aren’t you coming out? These guys are gonna die! Are you okay with that?”
As he spoke, he pulled out a Floramon that was in line behind him and threw it to the ground in front of him.
“Well, here’s the next one!”
The Bullet Hammer came down on Floramon.
“Gyaaaaaah!”
Taichi couldn’t believe his eyes. Pinocchimon was executing his own comrades, all to lure out the children.
I have to stop him, Taichi thought, but he didn’t have Koromon with him.

○

I won’t forgive him…
The only thing that Yamato felt in his heart right now was hatred.
On top of a distant precipice, as he watched Pinocchimon execute his friends without batting an eye, he painfully flashbacked to the time in Shibuya, when Vamdemon had killed Gotsumon and Pumpmon.
I won’t forgive him! I… will kill Pinocchimon!
The force of Yamato’s hate was transmitted to his digivice, causing the gauge to shoot up.
“Gabumon, warp-evolve! MetalGarurumon!”
Gabumon evolved to MetalGarurumon.
“Go, MetalGarurumon!” Yamato screamed.
The laser wings on MetalGarurumon’s back allowed him to fly at superspeed. MetalGarurumon headed for Pinocchimon like a jet fighter.
Zchwing!
By the time Pinocchimon hurriedly turned around to look, it was already too late.
MetalGarurumon sank his steel fangs into Pinocchimon’s middle and flew up into the air. He didn’t attack right away because he didn’t want Pinocchimon’s subordinates who were nearby to be dragged into this battle.
“Get the hell off me, you bastard!”
Pinocchimon tried to hit MetalGarurumon’s head with his Bullet Hammer. But MetalGarurumon shook his head widely from side to side, causing Pinocchimon to drop his Bullet Hammer to the ground.
“Let go of me! Let go!”
Pinocchimon flailed his arms and legs like a spoiled child.
At that moment, the words “Kill him” resounded as a refrain within MetalGarurumon’s head.
Kill him, kill him, kill him…
It was Yamato’s voice. The voice of Yamato’s soul, filled with hatred.
MetalGarurumon flipped his neck, throwing Pinocchimon up into the air. Then, as Pinocchimon fell,
“Cocytus Breath!”
Hatred increased the power of his absolute zero breath to an even stronger degree.
“Waaaaaah!”
Pinocchimon’s body instantly froze over, splintering into ice fragments when he hit the ground.

From the top of the precipice, Yamato shook a fist into the air and cried “Yes!” as he watched the battle.
Since Pinocchimon was one of the Dark Masters, he thought he would have a much harder time of it, but it had been so easy to beat him. It was almost disappointing.
Yamato didn’t know why he had been able to do it, but it was because he had gained the power of darkness through his hatred.
Using the powers of darkness to beat the powers of darkness was the most effective way.
Letting oneself be seeped in darkness made people, and Digimon, stronger. This was because it allowed them to devote themselves to defeating their opponent without mercy.
Even when that opponent is begging for their life, if you allow any moment of hesitation, the opponent will use that to their advantage!
Once you’ve decided to kill, then kill!
All other emotions are unnecessary for battle.
But at the same time, Yamato did not realize that he had lost something important.
In any case, he felt, as long as he didn’t forget this feeling, he could defeat the Dark Masters all on his own.
Just as that thought struck Yamato, the world of forests began to fall apart.
MetalGarurumon returned to him and Yamato jumped nimbly onto his back.
To the next battle! I’ll handle them all by myself!
Just then, threatening black gas appeared from the world of darkness and crossed the border.
“Wh–What’s that?”
The black gas engulfed Yamato and MetalGarurumon.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
The black gas tangled around Yamato and MetalGarurumon, and they were dragged into the world of darkness…

Read on to the next chapter.

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Prologue

The directions of “East, West, South, and North” also existed in the Digital World. The idea of the four cardinal directions was used by humans on Earth to accomodate their lifestyles, but perhaps the Digital World used them as a starting point grid when its world was first functional.
At its east end, an enormous sound echoed.
Something abnormal had been occurring in the four cardinal directions of the Digital World for several years now. If one were to travel from its center to the edges of the world, less and less creatures could be seen and the sky grew more and more overcast with dark clouds. No movement could be seen anywhere.
Because of that, hardly anyone was there to hear that enormous sound.
Signs of life were fading from this side of the earth. All that could be seen were rocky mountains on top of rocky mountains, and no wind to be felt. The sound seemed to have been that of something enormous falling, landing on the rocky crags and smashing them. It even sounded like the moan of an immense dragon. The crushed rocks sent a cloud of dust high into the air, covering the entire eastern sky. It took several days for that dust to settle back from the sky onto the ground.
Only marks remained on the ground, about a hundred meters wide and thirty meters deep. Its length was almost three kilometers. The marks were from the Ultimate level Digimon who had guarded the eastern end of the Digital World, Qinglongmon.
Qinglongmon had vanished. He had been sealed away by the powers of darkness.

After a while, the Digimon who guarded the south, west, and north were also sealed away, vanishing in the process.
At the center of the four cardinal directions was a small island that stood alone in the center of the ocean, File Island. The area that lined the backdrop of File Island was covered in darkness.
“The sealing is finally complete.”
“Finally.”
“Let’s do this already.”
“Don’t fret. At this moment, no one stands in our way.”
The Digimon who was as big as a adult human, smirked. This was Piemon, who had sealed away Qinglongmon.
“Let’s begin the reintegration.”
Signals ran through the black network laid throughout the Digital World. Those signals reached File Island, Server Continent, the ocean depths, as well as other continents and islands.
Black gears lay buried beneath all of those lands. The sizes of the black gears varied, ranging from the size of a fist to that of a three-story building. After receiving the signals, all of the gears slowly began to turn.
The earth split open, falling away into many fragments that began to move.

Chapter 7; August 2nd, 1999

① Memories of Hikarigaoka

“So, all of us here lived in Hikarigaoka four years ago?” Sora Takenouchi asked as if seeking affirmation from everyone.
It was still early in the morning, so the only ones in the public park adjacent to the Odaiba apartment buildings were the seven children and their Digimon partners.
“Takeru too,” Yamato Ishida said, speaking for his brother. Takeru had returned to their mother in Sangenjaya some time yesterday.
“Apparently it was a really big incident. I had just entered elementary school that time.”
Not even Taichi Yagami, who had said this, remembered the incident until he’d heard about it from his younger sister Hikari.
“Here’s the newspaper article about it back then. It doesn’t have much details though.”
Koushiro Izumi showed them his laptop screen. The library wasn’t open yet, so he couldn’t use their newspaper microfilm archives. Instead, he had to pick it up through the internet from the newspaper’s company database.
Jou Kido read the article on the screen. “A terrorist bombing at the Hikarigaoka apartment complex, huh? Come to think of it, I may have heard people talking about that back then.”
“You know… When I first saw Greymon…” Mimi Tachikawa said slowly in reflection (Palmon, having evolved from Tanemon that morning, stood beside her), “I thought that he looked familiar. But since it was our first day in the Digital World and so many confusing things happened that day, I just thought that I was mistaken.”

The incident from four years ago.
In 1995, Taichi and the others had lived in one section of the Hikarigaoka apartment complexes. On the night of one spring day, light suddenly emitted from Taichi’s father’s computer monitor. The first to notice it was Hikari, who was still too young at the time to even attend pre-school. She felt a presence of some kind from within the monitor, even though it showed nothing on display.
Her older brother, Taichi, was the second to notice. As Taichi watched, an egg even bigger than an ostrich egg popped out of the screen.
From that egg hatched a round, pink creature— Koromon. Taichi and Hikari hid Koromon from their parents. But not for very long.
Koromon evolved into a bigger form, gaining arms and legs to achieve the appearance of a small dinosaur named Agumon. The Agumon at that time was a whole lot bigger than the Agumon that currently stood before Taichi and his friends in 1999.
“I thought that it only looked that big to Hikari because she was still small back then. But as she kept describing it, I began to remember more about the Agumon back then too. It was bigger than an adult.”
“So that’s why Hikari said that I was small this time when she saw me yesterday,” the Agumon with them now muttered to himself.
The large Agumon, from four years ago, had run off into the town during the night with Hikari on his back and with Taichi chasing after him. Then, a creature that appeared to be a giant bird had appeared in the skies of Hikarigaoka.
“That must have been a Digimon too, now that I think about it! Although I don’t know what it was called.”
Agumon and that bird Digimon had fought, and Agumon had evolved into Greymon. Even that Greymon was a size larger than the Greymon that they knew now.
The two giant Digimon unleashed light right in the center of Hikarigaoka’s streets.
Once they heard that part, the other children who had been silently listening up to now, remembered.
“I saw it. I’m pretty sure I saw that fight with Takeru.”
“Why did we forget about it until now?” Koushiro mused. “Something’s not right.”
“I was the only one who saw it, and when I told my mom about it, she wouldn’t believe me,” Sora said.
“That’s right! I was the only one who saw it in my family, but neither of my brothers saw it…”
“I talked about it with my friends the next day, but then we gradually stopped mentioning it…”
“A lot of kids were looking outside their windows in the apartment complex, but none of the adults were watching.” Hikari even remembered that little detail. “But that’s all I can remember. I don’t know what happened to Koromon and that huge bird after.”
Because the Agumon/Greymon from four years ago did not speak words, Hikari still thought of it as Koromon in all of its forms to this day.
“Me too… I do remember there was an explosion of some kind, but…”
It wasn’t only Taichi who couldn’t remember; none of the others could remember what had happened at the very end. But what did remain were the signs of battle throughout town. Pedestrian bridges were destroyed, and giant holes gaped in the middle of the streets.
“There must not have been any adults who saw it. That was why it was handled as a terrorist bombing.”
“Even if they did see it, they probably wouldn’t have believed it. It’s just like how they dealt with Shibuya yesterday.”
Yamato had seen WereGarurumon and Angemon’s fight with Vamdemon in Shibuya, but the TV news channels had reported it as a bombing incident of unknown origin.
“Apparently, there was electromagnetic interference throughout Shibuya and video recordings were full of static, so nothing could be seen from them,” Jou said, remembering the morning news. He had no idea that the news report was the result of a Digimon fight until he’d heard his friends’ accounts.
“But something is unnatural here. Especially compared to what happened four years ago. Greymon and that other Digimon back then were a lot bigger than our Digimon now. What’s even stranger…” Koushiro looked around at the group, “What’s even stranger isn’t that all of us lived in Hikarigaoka four years ago, but that we’re all in Odaiba now.”
There must have been crowds of children who had witnessed the incident at Hikarigaoka. So why was it that seven of those children were in Odaiba now, on top of being the “Chosen Children”? Was it a mere coincidence?
Could the reason that they were “Chosen Children” be because they were in Hikarigaoka? That they had moved to Odaiba? Or even, that they had gone to camp?
“I think my parents said that it was scary to continue living in a place that had a terrorist bombing, which is why we moved.”
“I moved because it was closer to my dad’s workplace.”
Yamato didn’t want to remember much more beyond that. It had suddenly occurred to him that whether their sons had seen a monster or not had been one of the many arguments his parents had had right before their divorce. The divorce and the move had happened pretty much at the same time. “Anyway, first things first. We should figure out how to protect Hikari-chan from Vamdemon, right?”
“Right. I can’t believe it was Taichi’s sister who was the eighth child!”
“We have to be careful. Vamdemon is not only cruel, he’s ruthless. He’ll even kill those who work for him without batting an eye.”
Pumpmon and Gotsumon’s deaths in Shibuya remained vividly in Yamato’s mind. He didn’t think that he would ever forget that sight.
“That’s the same thing you told me over the phone last night.”
When Taichi was heading to pick up that phone call, Tailmon and Wizarmon had disappeared from the balcony.
“Maybe it would be best to hide Hikari-chan somewhere.”
“But Tailmon needs to come back.” Hikari had stayed up all last night thinking only of that and waiting for Tailmon.
“Besides the eight Chosen Children have to be together, right? We need to get Takeru-kun over here too.”
At Jou’s words, Yamato averted his eyes slightly. Sora could tell that it was because he didn’t want his younger brother to be involved in these fights. Taichi had a complicated look on his face as well, so he must also be thinking the same thing about his sister. Hikari was the same age as Takeru.
“The problem won’t be solved unless all eight of us go to the Digital World together. I’m not quite sure what that means in itself, but time must be passing by at an exponential rate in the Digital World even while we’re sitting here. I think we need to hurry.”
At Koushiro’s words, Mimi spoke up, sounding very much fed up: “But Vamdemon and his lackeys are here in Tokyo already. What do we do about that?”
“Well…”
There were so many problems that no one could come up with a substantial way on how to start tackling them.

“Taichi-saaaan!”
They heard a young child’s voice approaching from outside the park.
“Hey, Daisuke! What’s up?”
Taichi ran towards the voice, in order to prevent its owner from entering the park and seeing their Digimon.
“Who’s he?” Jou asked Hikari, but it was Sora who answered.
“He’s a junior from our soccer club. If I remember right, he’s in second grade. The same age as Hikari-chan and Takeru-kun.”
After a few moments, Taichi returned to them, his face pale.
“There are monsters rampaging around Tokyo. Apparently it’s on the news. They must be Digimon.”

② Ambush

The order that PicoDevimon received from Vamdemon was:
“Gather all of my Digimon subordinates to Odaiba before the night arrives.”
After getting in contact with the Digimon scattered throughout Tokyo, PicoDevimon decided to sleep for a bit.
“I’ve been working without rest the whole night. Besides, it looks like later tonight is gonna be another round of hard work.”
But as he slept, something unexpected happened. Large-sized Digimon had slipped into the underground sewer system during their roaming. Since they only needed to look at whether or not their copies of the Crest of Light reacted, they had wandered aimlessly, moving through places that were easy for them to pass through. However, once they were given the order to head for Odaiba, they found out that there were certain places underground that did not give them passage. They had to spill out from beneath the roads.
There were even some flying Digimon who dropped from the skies to rampage on land. They were starving.

○

All divisions in Odaiba’s TV station, not just the news department, were in a state of confusion. There were reports that monster-like creatures were going crazy throughout various parts of the metropolitan area, but no solid video proof could be made.
“Hm? Oh, it’s just you, Yamato. I’m busy right now, don’t call me in the middle of work. Huh? What? You want me to tell you the locations of the monsters showing up? What do you wanna know that for?” Yamato’s father, Hiroaki, said irately, but he relayed the reports to his unusually serious-sounding son all the same.

○

Sora Takenouchi’s mother, Yoshiko, was at the “Takenouchi School of Flower Arrangement” office on Block Eight in Ginza.
Sirens from police cars rang uninterrupted outside. Sometimes, something like explosions or (quite large) beastly roars seemed to be mixed in. The TV and radio had strong static, so they were unable to be viewed or listened to. Not even the phones worked, so she had no idea what was going on.
“I wonder if they’re filming for a movie. All I hear are police car sirens, so it can’t be a fire,” Yoshiko whispered as if to herself, looking up from her examination of documents for the fall exhibition.
The Takenouchi School wasn’t that big, but it was a school of long old tradition, and Yoshiko had dignified, strong-willed eyes that were befitting for the head of the school.
Because of its long-standing tradition, her husband, who was an assistant university professor at the time they were wed, chose to take on her surname. It didn’t mean that he was adopted into her family, but while her apprentices would frequently visit her home, her husband Haruhiko was not at home, or even in Tokyo, for long periods of time since his field research on folkloristics kept him away. It was possible that others saw her as a person who treated her apprentices highly, but her own husband frivolously. Even her only daughter, Sora, gave her a hard time when she secretly took on a rebellious attitude because of it.
But when Sora had returned home yesterday, she was surprisingly obedient. In fact, she looked as if she had wanted to say something. Originally, since Sora was supposed to spend the night at summer camp^[22], Yoshiko had arranged her own schedule so that she could work on tasks late into the night. It was already past 10 PM by the time she had gotten back home, so she’d rebuked Sora that they would talk tomorrow and to go to bed immediately.
And she didn’t even make a single complaint. I wonder what that was about?
In the end, when next morning came, there wasn’t any time to talk even though she was curious about what had happened at camp.
“Master, look! There’s a walking cactus! A really huge walking cactus!” One of her apprentices shouted, looking out of the windows.
“Don’t make such a fuss! I’m sure they’re only filming for a movie.”
“But it’s— Oh, a giant praying mantis!”
Five or six more people in the office also ran towards the windows, clamoring in loud voices of “Wow, you’re right!” and “What is that?”
A large fireball flew across the windows.
“Whoa!”
All of them jumped back. Then they heard the sound of a loud explosion.
Not even Yoshiko could ignore it any longer. She stood up, heading towards the windows.
An even bigger fireball flew across their sights. This time, it looked like a flaming bird. But Yoshiko’s eyes were drawn to the figure wrapped around the phoenix’s legs.
“…Sora!”
The young girl hanging off the giant phoenix’s legs looked like none other than her very own daughter.
In a panic, she raced to the window and looked outside, but it must have already flown off, because she couldn’t see it anywhere.
Not even the giant cactus.

○

“Fox Fire!”
Garurumon spit out blue flames from his mouth. A lump of rotten sludge, filled with pieces of metal and some kind of wreckage, scorched against the flames as it trudged along. The lump was a span of ten meters long, and it glared at them with milky eyes.
“Raremon… It’s an Adult level,” Koushiro said, looking at the Digimon’s analysis on his laptop.
Without a moment’s pause, Kabuterimon unleashed a ball of electricity mid-air.
“Mega Blaster!”
There were a bunch of warehouses in Shibaura, and the Raremon who was cornered to one of those warehouses got hit with the attack directly, abruptly disappearing.
“Yamato-san, hurry!” Koushiro shouted, jumping onto Kabuterimon who had flown down to low altitude. Garurumon, with Yamato on his back, pounced up, reverting to Gabumon in mid-jump.
It was, of course, all part of the plan, and Yamato and Gabumon landed perfectly on Kabuterimon’s head just as he began to ascend.
The police cars and officers surrounding the warehouses looked up at them in gaping astonishment.
“At least we cleaned up this place.”
“Next is… Asakusa. We’ll fly towards it now.”

The Chosen Children couldn’t disregard the Digimon showing up in Tokyo. They decided to split up and deal with them.
Unsure of when Vamdemon would come to attack Hikari, Taichi decided to be on standby in Odaiba to protect her.
Sora headed to Ginza while giving encouragement to Mimi, who seemed rather unwilling to fight.
Koushiro and Yamato went to Shibaura.
Along the way, they kept in contact with each other through Koushiro’s PHS^[23] and the cell phone that Mimi borrowed from her parents. The blunder to this idea, however, was that electromagnetic interference was horrible while their Digimon partners were Adult level, so they couldn’t connect to each other.
If the time called for it, Taichi’s Agumon, who was protecting Hikari on his own, could evolve to Perfect level, along with Sora’s Piyomon, Mimi’s Palmon, Koushiro’s Tentomon, and Yamato’s Gabumon. Their fighting power was evenly distributed, and what’s more, Sora’s Piyomon and Koushiro’s Tentomon could fly the skies as Birdramon and Kabuterimon. They had to move quickly; otherwise, they could get caught by the police and be hindered from taking out Vamdemon’s subordinates.
Jou and Gomamon, who were still unable to evolve to Perfect and were also not so great at moving around on land, had a different role to play.

○

Takeru Takaishi and his mother, Natsuko, took the Setagaya Line from Sangenjaya to Goutokuji station. An avenue that led off from the main street into a residential road had a small French restaurant among the private houses.
“I’m so sorry about yesterday. I never thought that camp would be cancelled.”
When Natsuko had returned home late last night, she was surprised to find Takeru at home before her.
“If I had known, I would have made you dinner.”
Upon hearing that Yamato had made dinner for him, she decided that the two of them should eat lunch at a French restaurant the next day as a small penance.
“But Brother’s spaghetti was delicious. Besides, you were busy with work.”
“But I ended up waiting for nothing on one of them, and it pushed back the rest of my plans. That person said he could only meet me on a Sunday, and since that was a camp day, I thought it worked out perfectly and made time for him. And in the end, he stood me up. Isn’t that horrible?”
Because her father was French and she herself had lived for a long time in France, Natsuko worked as both a French translator and a writer of non-fiction. Most of her work involved being a reportage writer for physics and chemistry research. Although she couldn’t say that she was paid well for it, she felt that this suited her better than a regular desk job.
Among her normal jobs, a side project that she was working on involved investigating the “Hikarigaoka terrorist bombing incident” four years ago.
It was an incident that occured in the very place where they had lived. Not only did it capture her interest, but as she kept investigating it, she found many aspects about it that weren’t acceptable explanations to her. It still wasn’t enough information for her to put into an article or a book, but someone, somehow, had managed to find out that she was working on it and had contacted her wanting to talk. But when the time of their appointment came, the man she was supposed to meet didn’t appear.

What was that man’s name? Oikawa? I think? Well, I’m never going to set up a meeting with him again.
She crunched into an artichoke from their appetizer dish, and heard a stomach growl from across the table.
“Takeru? Were you that hungry?”
“N–No…”
Takeru couldn’t tell her that the stomach gurgles were coming from Patamon, who he’d placed on the seat next to him. Patamon was pretending to be a stuffed toy. Because Takeru’s mother was with them, he hadn’t been able to eat anything since waking up that morning.
I can’t believe it’s harder to find food here than in the Digital World…
Patamon suppressed his tears. Last night, he had eaten his fill of Yamato’s spaghetti, but that energy had been spent evolving to Angemon.
Patamon continued to be hungry until Takeru pretended to eat bread and secretly nudged it in Patamon’s direction.

The French restaurant naturally had no TV or radio playing in the background, but a quiet stream of classical music. Mother and child had no idea on the chaos that was happening until they stepped outside.
The Setagaya Line was suspended. The roads were terribly congested for some reason.
“It’s a bit late, but why don’t we go for a walk to work off that meal?” Natsuko said, unhurried, but Takeru felt on edge.
“Could this be… the work of a Digimon?”
All he knew was that something had happened. But how was he going to explain that to his mother?

After walking for thirty minutes, the cause of what had suspended the Setagaya Line grew clear. Police cars and fire trucks gathered in front of an area lined off by police tape. The earth protruded out like mounds, while the railway tracks on them were devastated and pulled to shreds.
“What’s this…?”
Natsuko stood paralyzed, looking dumbfounded, but Takeru knew right away. It had to be from a Digimon, one of Vamdemon’s lackeys.
There was a sunken hole made out in the center of the mounds of earth, and a large Digimon appeared to have emerged from underground.
No, that Digimon— Gesomon, had not appeared above land yet. It changed direction halfway and looked for a different spot that was easier to exit.
There weren’t many passages in the sewer system that were wide enough, so it kept running into dead ends. In pure irritation, it decided to force its way through to the surface.

The trees lining the streets began to tilt from their roots and noisily fall.
When mother and son turned, they could see white tentacles poking through the ground.
“…A squid?”
The earth bulged up and Gesomon’s body sprung out. It looked nothing more than a giant squid.
As they hurriedly ran away, Takeru held Patamon close to him.
“Should I evolve?”
“But my mom…”
The police fired their pistols. The dull sound of shots echoed, and the bullets hit Gesomon full-on.
Gesomon’s body surface was smooth, but certainly not soft. The bullets bounced off its skin, landing slowly on the ground.
Its two long tentacles mowed down the officers standing at the very front with a single swipe.
Gesomon, when standing upright, was eight meters high, even bigger than the roof of a two-story building. Its slippery eight legs wriggled, chasing after Takeru and his mother.
“I think it’s coming after me,” Patamon said in realization. “It knows that I’m a Digimon!”
He tried to remove himself from Takeru’s grasp, thinking that he should evolve and fight.
Gesomon’s tentacles shot out in front of them. When stretched out, the two tentacles were as long as fifty meters. The tentacles easily slipped behind them, blocking their path. The alleyway, which wasn’t that wide to begin with, was barred on both sides.
“Takeru!”
Natsuko held Takeru close to her. The tentacles closed in.
“Harpoon Vulcan!”
A long, narrow triangle shape came flying from over the roofs of the houses. Its shell split open mid-air and the organic missile inside flew out, aiming straight towards Gesomon.
The first one hit, followed without pause by five more. Gesomon dissolved into particles without even the least resistance.
A young boy carrying a large sports bag over his shoulder came running towards Natsuko, who continued to stand there, petrified. He was a lanky boy in glasses.
“Takeru-kun! I finally found you!”
“Jou-san!”
Takeru ran towards the boy.
Was Takeru friends with him? Natsuko wondered, still unable to process what was happening, when the boy turned to greet her.
“Oh, it’s a pleasure to meet you! I’m Jou Kido. I’m a sixth grader from the same Odaiba elementary school as Yamato Ishida-kun.”
“Jou, what are you standing around talking for? Let’s hurry up, I’m hungry!”
A voice called out from inside the sports bag. Then a head popped out.
“Oh crap, someone else was here.”
Seeing Natsuko, Gomamon scratched his head sheepishly.
“It spoke…” Natsuko said slowly in surprise, but that wasn’t the end of it.
“Gomamon…”
Not only did Jou and Takeru sigh, but so did the stuffed toy that Takeru held in his arms.

③ Barrier of Darkness

Tachikawa Mimi’s father, Keisuke, headed back to Odaiba from his studio in Shiba. He worked mainly as a freelance audio mixer for rock music, so his workplace was in an underground recording studio. However, he had been unable to get any work done since the early afternoon today. Regardless of whatever sound generator he reproduced, he would always catch static mixed into it somewhere.
After looking through his various audio sources, he decided that all of his equipment would need to be checked over. The day ended with him having to put his work on hold as he waited for a serviceman to arrive and do maintenance.
Because he always walked from the studio to Shinbashi to ride the Yurikamome^[24], he was unaware of the traffic congestion that was taking place in various parts of the city.
“Wow, the sunset sure is red today.”
As he absentmindedly gazed out the window, the scenery began to cloud over faintly.
“Fog? That’s weird.”
The Yurikamome that he was riding on arrived at Odaiba without any predicament. Thirty minutes later, it suspended all services.

Around the same time, Taichi Yagami’s father, Susumu, was riding the Rinkai Fukutoshin Line^[25] from Shinkiba to Odaiba.
“Sure, tell me to come home early because there are monsters or whatnot going crazy in Tokyo, but… man…”
Since he hadn’t seen such a thing for himself, he was feeling more put out than nervous. Pretty much the rest of the crowd with him returning home was feeling the same way.
Standing behind Susumu, back to back, was Koushiro Izumi’s father, Masami. Of course, neither of them knew who the other was at this point in time.
Masami was looking very apprehensive. Last night, his son Koushiro had apparently locked his bedroom door and then had secretly slipped through his window to go outside.
“Today… I’m going to need to talk with Koushiro.”
There was something that he knew he would need to speak to his son about one day. Would today have to be that day? Even as the train glided into the station, he couldn’t decide.
There were more people than usual at the platform stop. The people who’d come to visit Odaiba had heard the weather conditions within the city and had decided to return home early.

○

Although it had gotten pretty dark, the sunset had turned the sky such a bright red that Birdramon was barely noticeable as she flew through it.
Birdramon landed on the roof of the condominium, returning to Piyomon. Sora, Mimi, and Palmon were with her.
“Good work today.”
“Sora~ I’m hungry~”
“Hang in there just a bit longer, Piyomon. I’m sorry about this, but could you come in from the window again? I’ll open it and signal you once I’m inside.”
Kabuterimon landed some short moments later. Riding on him were Koushiro, Yamato, and Gabumon.
Kabuterimon turned back into Tentomon, and when the electromagnetic interference died down, Yamato grabbed Koushiro’s PHS and looked at its display. There was no message from Jou.
“Nothing yet, huh?”
Apparently, the last message that they had sent before flight was taking time being sent because communications had been cut off along the way.
“That took longer than I thought,” Koushiro said. The Digimon who had appeared in Tokyo had not only attacked aimlessly, but several had even managed to skillfully hide themselves. It had taken time just trying to find them. “The day is almost over.”
“Yeah… But Jou ought to be all right. On another topic…” Yamato looked around at their tired Digimon. “Let’s eat something now while we can and store our energy.”
“We should hurry. Taichi and Hikari-chan are waiting,” Sora said, but it was actually Sora who needed to hurry the most. Yamato’s father wasn’t due to arrive home yet, and Koushiro could escape through his window. Mimi could also manage somehow, but Sora alone needed to eat and leave home before her mother came back. She did not expect her mother to be very understanding about these circumstances.
All of them rode up the elevator, dispersing to their seperate floors.
Because they had been battling throughout Tokyo, they didn’t realize that Vamdemon was already targeting Odaiba.

“Sora, I need to talk to you.”
She wasn’t expecting her mother to be home already.
“Please don’t think that I’m saying something stupid, but… Could you tell me where you were this afternoon?”
She saw Birdramon.
Her mother’s tone of voice wasn’t accusatory. She spoke hesitantly, as though she was unsure and confused.
That only made it harder for her to find a more ideal moment to talk to her mother about Piyomon.
If I knew this was going to happen, then maybe I should have brought her in with me instead of telling her to come through the window.
What would be the best way for her to tell her Mom what was going on without giving her too much of a shock? Sora thought about it, but immediately got overwhelmed. She got the sense that it would be best if she told her mother everything from the top, and then had Piyomon come in at the end to meet her.
“Mom… It’s kind of a long story, but will you hear me out?”
Piyomon was left spending more time waiting outside the window.

The sun set.
Under more usual circumstances, the sun would have set at a later time than this. But in the west, a heavy sheet of fog hung over thickly, darkening the sunset early. The sunset, which everyone today had felt was more red than usual, disappeared completely behind the fog.
After it had swallowed up the sun, the fog surrounding Odaiba increased in density. It writhed like a living being.
As it encircled the whole area of Odaiba,
“Hehehe…”
A low laugh could be heard coming from somewhere within.
Both the Yurikamome and the Rinkai Fukutoshin Line stopped functioning. Even all of the automobiles crossing Rainbow Bridge^[26] died because their electrical systems failed.
No phone calls would go through. This not only applied to landlines, but wireless connections as well.
The television radio waves that were being sent from Odaiba were also shut down, their channels showing up in households all across the nation as nothing but static.
From outside its surrounding areas, Odaiba looked as though it were covered in a giant dome of fog. But the residents who were inside didn’t realize right away that something was wrong. The fog was thick only at its outline, while the inside of it was sparse. No changes were noticed in the electricity and water supply. The only people inside who noticed something was odd were those making phone calls or watching TV. All TV and radio stations inside the dome had poor reception.
During its initial formation, the fog dome could still be cut through. People who had stopped their cars on the highway, leading to the Rainbow Bridge and Shinkiba, had left them to walk across, so they were able to slip through the fog and out of its dome. They had no idea that they were the lucky ones.
Not even ten minutes passed when the fog intensified until it was almost solid.
“Now, no one can escape from my barrier.”
Within the fog, a human shadow stood on the rustic triumphal arch rooftop of the Telecom Center building^[27]. His dark cape with crimson lining fluttered behind him. It was Vamdemon.
His cape spread out like wings.
“Go now, my servants of darkness.”

④ The Captured People

Taichi’s family lived in a four-unit condominium that was partitioned by a road from the condominium of Sora and Koushiro’s families. Yamato lived in yet another unit that was closer to Fuji TV station.
The Ishida family’s front door slammed open and a voice rang into it.
“Yamato, are you in?!”
It was Yamato Ishida’s father, Hiroaki. He walked hurriedly into the living space without stopping to take his shoes off.
“We need to get out of here—”
Yamato and a large stuffed dog doll with a horn on its head both looked up at him from the dining table in the living room.
“From Odaiba…”
Both of them were holding chopsticks in one hand, eating mackerel cooked in miso with their rice. His son and that stuffed doll were both irrefutably in the middle of eating dinner.
The doll— Gabumon, looked at Yamato helplessly. Yamato hurriedly set his chopsticks down.
“D–Dad! This is…!”

○

Needless to say, it was the people within Fuji TV station who were the first to notice that something was wrong with the signals.
No transceivers could be sent or received. All video equipment were non-functional. No matter what was put on display, all that could be seen were screens filled with static.
Hiroaki’s intuition told him that, with the news of monsters going wild early that afternoon as well as the radio interference yesterday, this couldn’t be just any regular abnormality. It was this intuition that had primed him into a skilled director.
He also knew, from the wide view of the city at the top of Fuji TV station, that their surrounding areas were closed off by fog.
He went straight into his next course of action without a moment’s hesitation. He left the broadcasting station in its bustling confusion and headed for home.

○

“Explain later! Right now, we need to get out of here!”
But his quick actions were almost in vain. White blankets floated into their home through the open front door. They looked like the depictions of Western ghosts, as if they were people with white blankets over their heads; but they were Digimon named Bakemon.
“Petit Fire!”
Gabumon immediately spat out blue flames, holding back the Bakemon, and then ran for the front door.
“Gabumon, evolve! Garurumon!”
He loped through the long corridor as he evolved, scattering the attacking Bakemon in his path. Garurumon was just barely small enough to squeeze through the corridor. Yamato chased after him, along with his father Hiroaki, who had no idea what was happening but followed anyway.
Their surroundings were thronged with angry bellows and screams. An immense number of Bakemon had appeared, capturing the residents of the condominium. As Digimon went, the Bakemon had weak fighting strength, but they could still easily overpower regular humans. Whoever ran out into the hallways or jumped out from windows were snatched right up into the air and taken hostage.
To those people who tried unreasonably hard to resist, there appeared to them a Digimon wrapped in a red robe that covered his entire body: Phantomon. The giant sickle that he carried could soundlessly cut through walls and steel-thick doors. No human kept up their will to fight after seeing that in action.

Yamato and the others arrived outside the condominium, on the ground floor. Garurumon was able to fend off the attacking Bakemon, but he did not have the leisure to save the people being taken away. The Bakemon’s numbers were great, but if he made any clumsy attacks, he could end up injuring the humans in the Bakemon’s grasp.
A dazzling light broke out from a corner of the unit across from them. It was the light of evolution.
“Agumon, evolve! Greymon!”
Agumon was unable to evolve to Greymon in the narrow indoors, so he could only evolve after he had finally come outdoors. But during the time that took, Taichi’s parents were captured by the Bakemon.
“Taichi! Hikari!”
Their parents cried as they were taken away.
Taichi kept hidden behind Greymon, holding Hikari tightly to him to protect her.
“Dad! Mom!”
Greymon couldn’t use his fireball attack since it could hit Taichi’s parents. Using only his claws and horn to keep the Bakemon from grabbing Taichi and his sister was the best he could do. Greymon turned to Taichi. “Taichi! Please! We have to get out of here!”
Yamato’s group ran up to them, fending off the Bakemon in their path.
“Taichi! Is Hikari-chan okay?”
Taichi had to make a decision. He would save his parents later. Right now, he needed to protect Hikari.
“Let’s get outta here!”

Birdramon was also unable to evolve indoors.

The Bakemon attacked them just when Sora had more or less described how they had gone to the Digital World, their adventures, and then had invited Piyomon to come into her room through the window.
“Is this… Piyo-san?”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Piyomon.”
Sora’s mother Yoshiko timidly stretched out her hand just as the door flew open behind her and Bakemon swarmed in.
At first, Piyomon’s “Magical Fire” drove them back. But gradually, the number of Bakemon surging in was too great. Piyomon flew out of the window and evolved.
“Piyomon, evolve! Birdramon!”
The Bakemon closed in around them even as she evolved. Yoshiko pushed Sora towards the windows, then turned to face the Bakemon herself, pushing for time.
“Run, Sora!”
Sora clung to Birdramon’s legs, and when she turned around to look, Yoshiko was already surrounded by the Bakemon. There was no way to retrieve her from outside the window.
“Mom! I’ll come back to save you, I promise!”
As Yoshiko was dragged away, Sora thought that she saw her mother smile.

⑤ A Chance Meeting at Tokyo Bay

By the time Jou, Takeru, and Natsuko arrived in Shinbashi, the Yurikamome had stopped working. Ships were also prohibited from leaving port, so there was a crowd of people at the Takeshiba Terminal^[28]. Odaiba was covered in fog, and there could be no doubt that it was already in a state of chaos.
“In that case…” Jou said, facing Gomamon.
“Yeah!” Gomamon nodded.

Their group left the pier and went to a jetty that didn’t have any people around.
“Gomamon, evolve! Ikkakumon!”
Before Natsuko’s eyes, Gomamon, who was as big as a medium-sized dog, was enveloped in light before transforming into Ikkakumon, who was the size of a small truck bristling with fur.
“This is…”
Along the way here, these four had told her about the Digital World. Although she had trouble believing them right away, it did explain all of the baffling things that had happened in Hikarigaoka four years ago. There was also the Gesomon that she had witnessed earlier. Gomamon and Patamon were clearly both living beings, and they even spoke human language. And now, she had seen this phenomenon of “evolution” before her very eyes.
At this point, there was no longer any point in hesitating.
“I’m going, too.”
She couldn’t let her young son and this slightly helpless-looking boy go on their own.
The three humans and Patamon climbed onto Ikkakumon’s back and they entered the ocean.

○

As they approached the dome of fog, they realized that it wasn’t just the thickness of the fog that made it abnormal. It had an invisible pressure as well that blocked them out.
Something approached them from within the fog.
“Jou! Hang tight!”
Just as Ikkakumon finished saying that, something that looked like a giant snake’s head surged through the water surface.
“It’s huge…!”
Even just the part alone that rose from beneath the ocean was as big as a three-story building. Its actual body span was probably over tens of meters in length.
In the past, they had met an Adult level Digimon named Seadramon, but this Digimon was several times larger and wore a headpiece over its giant head. They could see that it was much stronger than the Seadramon they knew.
“It must be a Perfect level!”
Even so, Ikkakumon didn’t hesitate on firing his horns. There was no doubt in his mind that this was one of Vamdemon’s minions.
“Harpoon Vulcan!”
Natsuko, seeing the flying horns, established that it was this Ikkakumon that had saved them from Gesomon. However, unlike that time, the organic missiles that he was firing didn’t give any damage to their opponent, no matter how many were fired into it.
The Digimon— MegaSeadramon, fired a lightning bolt from the horn on its head.
Ikkakumon quickly moved away to dodge the blow. But the power of the lightning bolt when it hit the ocean surface was dreadful, and the sea swelled up as if it exploded.
Ikkakumon was flown up into the air.
Jou, Takeru, and Natsuko were also thrown down. As Jou’s mind slowly faded to unconsciousness from the blow, he only had one wish in mind.

“I have to do whatever it takes to protect Takeru-kun and his mother. I have to get us to Odaiba.”
The digivice on Jou’s bag began to glow brighter than it ever had before.

○

Ahead of the Odaiba Seaside Park^[29] was a place called “No. 3 Battery.”^[30] It was the remains of a gun battery from the Meiji Restoration period, sitting on a square plot of land that jutted out from the water ahead of a long thin road. It was the place where Tailmon and Wizarmon had fought Vamdemon the previous night. Wizarmon had sunk to the ocean depths right next to No. 3 Battery.
Vamdemon’s herd of bats in his “Night Raid” attack had wounded Wizarmon deeply. Since his body was like the composition of a stuffed doll, being permeated with water made his limbs drag down. He was unable to move with his own strength any longer. The only things he did not lose his grip on, even in unconsciouness, were his magic staff and the two Crests.
One of those Crests began to glow.
The Crest began to move forward as though it was being pulled by something. Wizarmon, still unconscious, tightened his hold on it.

Jou and the others floated in the water. Ikkakumon wanted to rescue them, but he couldn’t move.
MegaSeadramon, confident in its victory, approached them leisurely. The horn on its head glittered dangerously, ready to strike lightning at any moment. With a direct hit, Ikkakumon wouldn’t stand a chance.

Wizarmon was traveling through the ocean at incredibly high speed. The Crest in his hand was bucking forward with amazing strength. He cut in between MegaSeadramon and Ikkakumon, bursting out of the sea. The Crest, still in his hand, glowed brightly in mid-air.
Bathed in that light, Ikkakumon evolved to Perfect level.
“Ikkakumon, super-evolve! Zudomon!”
The hard shell of a turtle’s. The long tusks of a walrus. The horn on his forehead as Ikkakumon changed into a different one with more serrations. His whole body length grew twice as big in size, and he was now as big as MetalGreymon. What was even more different was that he was carrying a giant hammer in his right hand, the Thor Hammer.
He raised the Thor Hammer high, bringing it down on MegaSeadramon’s head.
The hammer, made out of Chrome Digizoid, the Digital World’s strongest metal, easily shattered MegaSeadramon’s headpiece to smithereens. Sparks so big that it might as well be an explosion flew from the point of impact. That single strike obliterated MegaSeadramon’s nervous system.
MegaSeadramon slowly fell back into the ocean, not even given the time to scream, disintegrating into particles.

Zudomon brought Jou and the others to rest on his immense back, and stepped into the fog. Of course, he scooped up Wizarmon as well. As a Perfect level, the pressure of the fog felt like nothing and he was able to enter into Odaiba.
Wizarmon’s consciousness fluttered back faintly. He was able to register that he had been saved by Jou, and that he was gripping his staff and the Crests in his hands. He could also feel that the Book of Sorcery he’d kept hidden in his chest pocket was gone. It must have slipped out and fallen somewhere down into the ocean.
That Book, along with his staff, had been items that he had always carried on his person since his time at his hometown, and the Book had also been the reason for why he was exiled from his hometown. However, there was something more important to focus on than that right now.
“This Crest… It’s yours.”
He stuck his arm out, handing the Crest, that had just moments ago glowed and delivered him to them, to Jou.
“This is my Crest?” Jou asked, accepting it quietly.
“That’s right. What you hold is the Crest of Sincerity… And this one…”
Wizarmon motioned to the other Crest.
“Is the Crest of Light… I must give this one to Tailmon… and Hikari…”

⑥ Escape from Big Sight

Everyone in Odaiba was gathered in Tokyo Big Sight, an enormous convention and exhibition center. Despite the rush of bodies from the earlier chase, none of the humans were hurt because the Digimon were given strict orders not to harm them in any way. Since they were going to end up as Vamdemon’s food, they needed to be treated delicately.
Large Digimon, such as the black dinosaur DarkTyranomon, were deployed around Big Sight so that no one could easily escape.
Mimi was there with her parents. It was possible that she wasn’t recognized as one of the Chosen Children because she wasn’t wearing her usual ten-gallon hat.
Palmon was pretending to be a doll, wearing a large baby doll’s apron and hat that had been hurriedly grabbed from Mimi’s room and thrown onto her. Palmon had low offensive ability since she couldn’t breathe fire, like Agumon and Gabumon, and hadn’t had the chance to resist capture. Of course, she couldn’t evolve to Togemon while in the condominium either. But now—
“Mimi, should I evolve?”
“Not yet, Palmon. Let’s wait until we have a chance.”
The wide convention center was packed tightly with people. Crying and murmuring could be heard all around them.
“Damn it! If I had the power, I’d beat those guys up!”
The young junior in Taichi’s soccer club that Mimi had seen running to them earlier that morning at the park was there, crying in frustration. The girl next to him gently comforting him must be his older sister.
It must be nice to have a sibling, Mimi thought wistfully. Palmon was by her side now, but if Mimi didn’t have her, there was no telling how much she would have bawled her eyes out.
At any rate, even if they evolved here now, they would simply be outnumbered.

“Foolish humans.”
Vamdemon appeared at the center of assembly hall, floating in the air. He hadn’t raised his voice that much, and yet it seemed to seep into every corner of the hall. He held something small and white in one hand.
“You have been gathered as valuable nourishment for my work in sealing up all worlds into darkness. But for now—”
His eyes glowed red.
“For now, wait. There is business that I must take care of first.”
When his eyes turned red completely, the people who had been watching those eyes were pulled in by his gaze, falling to the ground like dolls with their strings cut. They had been put into a deep, unshakeable slumber.
Vamdemon continued to look down on the humans as he spoke to Tailmon dangling from his hand.
“Looks like your partner isn’t here.”
Tailmon kept silent.
“Hehehe. I know the truth even without you telling me. I also know that she hasn’t escaped beyond the boundaries of my barrier.”
A small, black Digimon came flapping towards Vamdemon. It was PicoDevimon. He whispered something into Vamdemon’s ear, who laughed loudly.
“I see, you’ve found her. Do you hear that, Tailmon? Like a fool, your partner was found from her hiding spot. Hahaha!”

Mimi didn’t fall asleep. She didn’t realize that she had been prevented from this through the power of her digivice that she kept hidden within the folds of her clothes. But when she saw the other people in the hall falling to the floor, she decided that it would be safer if she also pretended to be one of them. If Vamdemon left, Mimi thought, there might be greater chances to escape from here. As Vamdemon did just that, his laughter fading into the distance, now was her chance.
“Palmon, let’s go,” she said out loud after she was sure that Vamdemon wasn’t coming back. Palmon immediately opened her eyes.
“Palmon, evolve! Togemon!”
Togemon and Mimi began to run, although not at full-speed since they had to avoid stepping on the fallen people as they moved.
Immediately, the Bakemon on lookout came towards them.
“Mimi, get down! Prickly Prickly Bang Bang!”
Togemon spun her body at high speed, shooting her thorns. More than ten Bakemon were disintegrated into particles in an instant. But there was an abundant numbers of Bakemon still present and they kept coming in swarms.
Togemon punched a hole through the shutter of the exit closest to her. Unfortunately, it didn’t lead to the outside of the building but to another hall.
For starters, she could evolve to Perfect level after slipping through this hole.
“Togemon, super-evolve! Lilimon!”
The petite flower fairy Lilimon posed with both arms as she turned around. The Bakemon pursuing them had tried to squeeze through the tear in the shutter all at once and were caught in it.
“Flower Cannon!”
A rainbow light shot out from Lilimon’s arms. The swarm of Bakemon disappeared inside its sparkling light.
“I’m sorry.”
Lilimon looked pained. That went for Mimi as well. She forced herself to keep from crying and ran for the exit.
Outside, the giant dinosaur DarkTyranomon was waiting for them. And there were three of them. They pounced upon her as one.
“Flower Cannon!”
But the rainbow light was only enough to take down one. DarkTyranomon’s fiendish claws were coming down on her before she even had time to aim at her next target.
“Lilimon!” Mimi screamed sorrowfully.
“Giga Destroyer!”
The voice came from behind DarkTyranomon. The DarkTyranomon quickly reacted by turning around, but reflected in their eyes were two organic missiles flying towards them trailing smoke. The missiles hit the two DarkTyranomon with deadly accuracy.
From the sound and flash of the explosion, it appeared to be of a higher magnitude than usual, but strangely enough, only the DarkTyranomon broke down into particles. The building of Big Sight itself, which was right beside them, remained unscathed. Perhaps the Giga Destroyer could self-adjust its own destructive force and level based on its target.
After the hot blast died down and Mimi opened her eyes, she saw the orange giant MetalGreymon flying at low altitude towards them from a vacant lot behind Big Sight. His bottom claws grazed against the ground as he flew. Taichi was riding on his back, waving.

Taichi and Agumon had left Hikari in Yamato’s care and come to do some enemy surveillance. Taichi was also worried about his parents. But while they were investigating how to get inside the building, the Bakemon suddenly bustled in agitation and they saw that Mimi and Palmon were inside, trying to escape. Agumon managed to evolve just in time to rescue them.

The Bakemon within Big Sight attacked MetalGreymon, but this time there weren’t any hostages around to make him hold back from attacking. Against what looked to be more than a hundred Bakemon, one swipe of MetalGreymon’s claws from his left metallic arm was enough.

“Where are my parents?” Taichi asked Mimi as he dropped down from MetalGreymon.
“Everyone’s just asleep. I think they’re all okay.”
Taichi almost let out a sigh of relief, when Mimi’s next words set him back on edge immediately.
“But Vamdemon left here not a moment ago saying that he found Tailmon’s partner. Where is Hikari-chan?”

⑦ Leaving Only A Smile Behind

The condominiums, recreational facilities, company buildings, and hotels in Odaiba were as empty as the Fuji TV office building. Not a single human remained. Vamdemon’s subordinates were scarily efficient.
But not even the Bakemon were aware that Yamato and the others were hiding inside a building in front of Fuji TV that was under construction. The construction site, which was planned to be a comprehensive recreational facility called “Aqua City” when complete, was still covered by cloth on the outside, while the inside was bare with steel beams.
Hikari hid herself in its dark belly. Yamato, Gabumon, Yamato’s father Hiroaki, Sora, Piyomon, and Koushiro were also with her.

○

When the Bakemon began kidnapping citizens, Koushiro was the first to realize it. He was online when his internet connection shut down, and looking up, he saw Bakemon approaching the condo from the first floor window.
Remembering one of the programs that Gennai had installed into his laptop computer, he immediately copied it onto his desktop computer and booted it up after forcing both his parents to join him in his own room. He had no idea how effective it was going to be. It was a gamble.
The software, called “Digimon Barrier,” worked wonderfully.
When the Bakemon broke down the door, they couldn’t see Koushiro and the others inside the room and promptly left to check other rooms.

“Do you really have to go?” Masami said just as Koushiro was about to leave the room. Even though he knew his son couldn’t be stopped, he tried anyway.
“Yes. You two should stay here until I come back. Quietly though, this barrier doesn’t seem to be able to mute sound.”
His mother, Yoshie, couldn’t stop herself from speaking up either. “You must return to us safely.”
“Don’t you worry. I’ll be with Koushiro-han and protect him.”
Although it had been explained to them, hearing a ladybug who was almost as big as a toddler talk to her almost made Yoshie faint.

Koushiro eluded the Bakemon wandering aimlessly around the area, and followed the reactions on his digivice to reach the construction site. In turn, Taichi left Big Sight.
Tentomon went alone to check their surroundings. Piyomon and Gabumon needed to rest and recover the energy that was spent on their evolutions, so he was the only one capable of moving at the moment.

○

When Tentomon returned, he made his report.
“I didn’t see anything that looked like an exit anywhere. The fog is so thick that no one can get through. However…”
Tentomon pointed directly above him.
“The fog up above is thin and I could see stars. It’s pretty high up, but we might be able to get through if I evolve to AtlurKabuterimon.”
But it was also highly likely that Vamdemon would spot them along the way.
“Satellite communication!” Yamato’s father, Hiroaki, murmured. “We might not be able to send regular radiowaves, but if we use satellite communication, it’s possible that we can communicate with the outside.”
Naturally, Fuji TV had a facility for that. The possibility of it was low, but it was worth a try. Tentomon could evolve to Perfect level and force their way out after if they had to. Hiroaki, Koushiro, and Tentomon left the construction site and snuck into Fuji TV station.

The only ones left were Hikari, Sora, Piyomon, Yamato, and Gabumon.
Somewhere in the background was the sound of water dripping.
A wind gently lifted up one end of the cloths covering the building under construction.
Without anyone noticing, two streaks of red lightning extended through that gap. They hit Gabumon and Piyomon directly.
The wind rose into a gust, blowing the cloths wide open to reveal Vamdemon waiting for them outside.

○

Because Zudomon was now evolved to Perfect level, Jou’s digivice unlocked the ability to detect his friends’ digivices and thus their locations.
“If only I had this earlier, then I wouldn’t have had to make Takeru-kun and you two wait so much.”
Jou laughed, but it didn’t work at relaxing everyone’s nerves.
The digivice showed that three of their friends were in one spot, while the other three were off at a distance.
“But this direction looks a little different from where we live…”
Jou tilted his head in thought. The three closest dots didn’t look like they were at the condominiums, as he was expecting, but closer to Fuji TV station. Zudomon headed that way. As he did so, the three dots that were further away looked to be heading their way. One of the dots from the three closest to them broke off from the group. Jou didn’t know that the three dots at a distance were Taichi and Mimi, with Taichi holding Hikari’s digivice, while the one dot that separated was Koushiro.
From the ocean, they saw a building in front of Fuji TV station that was under construction. They could see a dark, caped shape ascending from inside.
“It’s Vamdemon,” Patamon said in a low voice. Luckily, Vamdemon had his back turned to them.
Vamdemon disappeared at the top of Fuji TV station at the same time that Zudomon reached the shore. They also heard sounds of destruction inside the construction site.
After Zudomon let Jou and the others off his back, he hurled off the cloths covering the building with one flick of his hammer.
Yamato and Sora were inside. They were each holding Gabumon and Piyomon close to them.
With them were a giant praying mantis, Snimon, and a dinosaur with two giant horns like those of a bull protruding out from its shoulders, Tuskmon. Snimon’s scythes easily cut through steel beams, and the power from Tuskmon’s charges could easily bulldoze Digimon of the same level. What’s more, Vamdemon’s earlier attack prevented Piyomon and Gabumon from moving, so they had no way of defending themselves.
But for a Perfect level like Zudomon, they were no threat.
“Hammer Spark!”
Zudomon struck the Thor Hammer in his right hand at the closest steel beam. Sparks flew.
The real power of Zudomon’s attack was neither from the hammer nor the destructive force that came from his arm strength. With one focused swing, the sparks that were created when both the Chrome Digizoid and his force of will combined could destroy the data composition of Digimon itself.
The steel beams of the building stood in lines so close that Zudomon couldn’t slip through them, but the sparks became a dazzling striation that flew and hit Snimon and Tuskmon directly. The two of them were paralyzed, breaking down into particles in the next moment.

Yamato and Sora turned around slowly. Next to a large Digimon that they’ve never seen before was Jou, running towards them waving one arm. Takeru, Patamon, and Natsuko were there too.
“Mom…”
Yamato was dumbstruck.
“Thank goodness we made it!” Jou said, beaming. It was Sora who recovered first.
“Vamdemon has taken Hikari-chan!”
Jou learned that he hadn’t made it.

○

If they kept this up, Vamdemon would kill them all. Hikari gave herself in to Vamdemon on the condition that they did not attack Yamato and the others anymore.
But after Vamdemon had taken Hikari from the building, PicoDevimon had summoned Snimon and Tuskmon to finish them off.

Vamdemon and Hikari were on Fuji TV’s globe-shaped observation deck.
“What do you think, Tailmon? It’s a tearful reunion with your partner.”
He thrusted Tailmon, still dangling from his grip, towards Hikari.
“I don’t know this human.”
“It’s no use trying to fool me. Either way, you two are destined to die here. PicoDevimon.”
“Yes, Lord Vamdemon.”
The black, round Digimon pointed the needle of a large syringe at Hikari’s neck.
“Hikari!’
“See, you already gave yourself away.”
Tailmon bit her lip in frustration. Just then…
“Mega Blaster!”
At the same time as that voice, a part of the floor blew off. Electric shock pierced through the round ceiling. Kabuterimon rushed in from the bottom floor. Koushiro and the others had seen that Vamdemon was in this room through a window in Fuji TV.
“Heh, how interesting. You wish to battle me? Very well!”
Vamdemon flew out through a split in the ceiling. PicoDevimon took Hikari and was about to follow him, but WereGarurumon smashed through a window with a kick and jumped in, stealing Hikari back.
Outside, Garudamon was carrying Zudomon up to the top.
“Hammer Spark!”
Zudomon hit a corner of the Fuji TV building, sending sparks flying. But Vamdemon shook the sparks off with his cape.
“Shadow Wing!”
Garudamon’s advancing shadow lit up in flames. This was absorbed by the large swarm of bats that flew out from within his cape.
Once outside, Kabuterimon evolved to AtlurKabuterimon in mid-flight and rammed into him with his enormous horn.
“Horn Buster!”
A mysterious power dwelled in his horn that, normally, would pulverize whatever it hit. But even that was shaken off with one wave of his cape, and AtlurKabuterimon himself was snapped backwards.
“I suppose it’s time that I make my attack.”
Vamdemon tossed Tailmon aside, long strips of lightning stretching out from both hands like red whips.
“Heaven’s Knuckle!”
“Kaiser Nail!”
Angemon and WereGarurumon attacked at the same time. It was a direct hit.
But it had no effect.
“Remember where you are?”
Red lightning swung. Angemon and WereGarurumon were hurtled into the air.
“This is my barrier.”
His next hit sent Zudomon flying off the roof.
“My domain!”
Garudamon and AtlurKabuterimon were blown away to as far as the sea.
“The first step to turning the real world and the Digital World into darkness will take place here!”
Within his barrier, Vamdemon’s powers were amplified to ten times their original force. From behind him,
“Giga Destroyer!”
MetalGreymon’s organic missiles came flying at full speed.
Vamdemon’s eyes flashed red. The missiles came to a standstill just in front of Vamdemon, disappearing into particles. Lilimon flew out from a blind spot with both arms poised.
“Flower Cannon!”
But before she could fire the beam of rainbow light, red lightning cracked and Lilimon flew backwards, slamming into MetalGreymon who was inside, causing him to fall as well.
“Hehe. You fools.”
Vamdemon didn’t realize it yet, but MetalGreymon’s actions were part of a diversion. While Vamdemon was distracted, Taichi ran to Hikari, and Hikari took back Tailmon. Then, Taichi handed Hikari her digivice.
“Hikari!”
“Tailmon!”
Hikari held her partner in her arms for the first time.
It was then that Vamdemon realized that he had fallen into a trap.
“Night Raid!”
Wrath. And fear.
A great swarm of bats flew towards Hikari and Tailmon. They were no longer living life forms, but a lethal weapon that immediately deleted their own data upon hitting their target, forcing their opponent to be annihilated as well.
It was neither Hikari nor Tailmon that was hit.
Mustering up the last of his magical powers, Wizarmon flew through the air and stood in front of them. The bats disappeared into Wizarmon’s body as if they were being sucked in.
Wizarmon fell slowly to the ground.
The data composition of his body was already breaking down.
“This is for you.”
He handed Hikari her Crest.
“Wizarmon,” Tailmon whispered in a dumbfounded stupor. “I’m sorry, Wizarmon… for getting you involved in this.”
Wizarmon looked into Tailmon’s eyes.
“I should be thanking you. If I hadn’t met you, my life wouldn’t have had any meaning.”
And then, he smiled.
“I am glad… to have met you.”
Leaving only that smile behind, he vanished.
“Wizaaaaarmoooooooon!” Hikari shrieked.
Vamdemon tried to strike with his Night Raid a second time. He was too late.
Like a mini-explosion, light erupted from her Crest and digivice.
Enveloped in white light, Tailmon’s body rose into the air.
The light was so bright to Vamdemon that he was forced to cover his face with his cape.
Hikari, Taichi, along with Yamato and the others who had come to the top floor of Fuji TV, saw Tailmon change dramatically within the light.

“Tailmon, super-evolve! Angewomon!”

She looked like a celestial maiden wearing an angel’s raiment, or like an angel with spread wings. The only thing different was the helmet she wore that covered her head down to her eyes.
It was this evolution that Vamdemon had feared. This holy power exceeded even his barrier made of darkness, rendering it utterly powerless.

“Vamdemon!”
Angewomon spoke sonorously within the light. “You invaded the real world for your own ugly desires and took numerous lives, even the life of my friend Wizarmon. For these crimes, you shall pay.”
Vamdemon could finally look upon Angewomon. “What nonsense you speak of! After I have combined the Digital World and real world, I will seal it up with darkness and become its ultimate ruler! I won’t let the likes of you get in my way!”
As he spoke, he prepared to fire his red lightning.
Angewomon stretched out her left arm in front of her, while her right hand posed as if ready to let loose an arrow. The feather ornaments on the long arm glove she wore up to her left elbow extended out in the shape of a bow, and a bowstring and arrow made of light appeared.
“That’s…”
Vamdemon shuddered in fear. Apathetic, Angewomon drew back her bow,
“Holy Arrow!”
and unleashed the arrow of light.
“Nooooooooooo!”
Vamdemon’s scream bellowed until the arrow pierced through his heart.

After Vamdemon fell to the ground, disappearing into particles, the group had to quickly descend to the ground level. The battle at the very top of the globe-shaped observation deck had caused cracks in its structural support, and it could collapse at any moment.
But even when it did collapse, the fog barrier did not clear up along with it.

⑧ Ultimate Level

Takeru was so happy that his entire family of four had come together.
Hiroaki and Natsuko honestly couldn’t celebrate as he did. Yamato felt even more bummed out.
Jou was curious about how his own family was doing and went to his family’s apartment. No one had the time to fill Jou in about what had happened at Big Sight.
“I need to go,” Koushiro said, running off. His parents were still inside their apartment.
With no other ideas, the rest reluctantly headed towards Big Sight. Taichi and Mimi’s parents were there.
If the fog continued to persist, then they would have to evolve to Perfect level and break through it. Zudomon was proof that the topmost part of the fog dome wasn’t the only exit; a Perfect level would be able to travel through it via the ocean. However, Zudomon had turned back to his Baby form Pukamon. The other Digimon were also fatigued.
Tailmon was the only one who reverted back from Angewomon to her Adult form, Tailmon. Since that was the level she normally was, it was possible that she didn’t revert any lower than that so easily.
Hikari walked along carrying Wizarmon’s staff, which for some reason had remained, in her arms.

○

The people at Big Sight were still asleep. None of the Bakemon who were standing guard had stuck around.
“His pulse is normal. If I had the equipment, I could do a brain MRI for a more in-depth examination…”
Jou’s oldest brother, Shin, was taking their sleeping father’s pulse.
Shin, currently a student doctor, had come back home after staying up all night working on his research to take an evening nap. However, ever since the family had moved to Odaiba, his bed for some reason was the top layer of the closet where all of the futons were kept. Because the sliding door was closed while he was sleeping, the Bakemon hadn’t noticed him and neither had he noticed them. He had only woken up when Jou had gone home to investigate the rooms.
“Jou, listen…” Shin spoke up, looking at Jou who was peering worriedly into their parents’ sleeping faces. “You don’t have to push yourself to become a doctor.”
“Hey, you’d better not be making fun of Jou or you’ll be answering to me!” Pukamon cried out, poking his head out from inside Jou’s bag.
“I’m not. I’m just saying that a guy like him who faints at the sight of blood might wanna reconsider being a doctor.”
“Oh, then I’ll have to agree.”
Pukamon shifted back inside the bag again. Shin continued talking to Jou.
“You don’t need to live your life the way that Dad tells you to.”
“Huh? But…”
“After I pass the national exam, I won’t be working at Dad’s hospital.”
“Is that so?”
“I’m planning on going to an isolated island that has no doctor. Dad will probably try to stop me.”
“I had no idea.”
“You gotta make your own decisions on where you wanna go. No doubt Shuu will do that without me having to tell him, but I figured, with you, I should give you this talk.”
Shuu was the second-oldest brother between Shin and Jou. He was currently away for a summer training camp with his high school’s track team.
Jou didn’t know how to answer Shin. Shin clapped Jou on the shoulder, then stood up and looked around.
“Anyway, at this rate… We need help from the outside.”

Koushiro stood facing his parents in a corner of Big Sight’s empty main lobby.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
His father, Masami, spoke heavily. “While we were hiding at home, your mother and I had a talk and we decided to tell you the truth. The thing is—”
He knew that this day would one day come.
“We’re not your real parents.”
“…I already know.”
His mother, Yoshie, wasn’t surprised at all. “I knew it…”
Just before they had moved to Odaiba, Koushiro had woken up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. His parents’ voices could be heard through the thin crack of the open door.
“I decided to pretend that I hadn’t heard it. I tried to act as if everything was the same as before… but I just couldn’t do it. The more I tried, the weirder it felt… Until in the end, I became obsessed with computers… So that I could escape from reality…”
“It’s okay to be obsessed with computers!”
Koushiro looked up wonderingly at Masami’s sharp voice.
“Is there something wrong about that? No! It’s what makes you unique.”
Masami’s gaze changed to a reminiscent one.
“Also… It’s something that you share with your real father.”
“My real father…”
Koushiro’s real father, who was a distant relative of Masami Izumi, was a university lecturer and genius mathematician. His wife, Koushiro’s real mother, was an assistant professor, but despite having such a promising future, they died in a car accident almost right after Koushiro was born.
Around the same time, the boy that had been born to the Izumi couple had died young from illness.
When asked if they could take Koushiro, it was Yoshie who had accepted first.
“To us, you are our real son,” she said now. “We raised you as if you were our own.”
“…Is that so.”
“We were planning to tell you when you were a bit older.” Tears appeared in Masami’s eyes. “But you already knew… It must have been so hard for you. I’m sorry.”
“No. In fact, I’m very grateful that you told me the truth.”
As he said this, he realized that it sounded like he was still speaking to a stranger. How did a normal child say thanks to their parents?
“Ah, I mean… T–Thanks…”
Masami smiled at him kindly. “You don’t have to change.”
Yoshie, too, spoke while wiping away her tears. “Yes. As long as you’re happy, that’s all we want for you.”
As he was listening, Koushiro’s eyes sprung with tears and he scrunched his face.
Koushiro flew into Yoshie’s arms and began to cry loudly. Yoshie gently folded her arms around him, and Masami quietly embraced the both of them.

Tentomon hid behind one of the lobby’s pillars, crying his eyes out.
“Koushiro-han… Cry as much as you want. Let them pamper you.”

○

No one had noticed that when Vamdemon had fallen and vanished into particles, his red mask had fallen to the floor and remained.
An innumerable number of bats flew out from the mask, spreading throughout Odaiba. Not all of the Digimon who had worked for Vamdemon were dead. With no one to give them orders, they had hidden in places where Taichi and the others couldn’t find them.
The bats attacked them. Not even the Perfect level Phantomon stood a chance.
The Digimon were consumed by the bats in a blink of an eye.
The bats grew in size, returning to the red mask and holding it up into the air.
The mask itself also changed in size to about twenty meters. How big would the body be that corresponded to it? The mask rose even higher than the top of the Fuji TV building.
The only subordinate left was PicoDevimon.
“Hehehe! Lord Vamdemon is being resurrected!”
Happily, he flew around the mask.

The first person at Big Sight to notice was Yamato’s father, Hiroaki, who was having a smoke outside.
Something red was floating above the familiar Fuji TV station. It was Vamdemon’s mask, no matter how he looked at it, but the size of it was what threw him off.
From where he stood, he couldn’t see the powers of darkness that collected underneath the mask.
The dim darkness gradually became more concentrated, forming a body.

By the time Hiroaki ran in to call the children and their Digimon standing by their sleeping parents and came outside again, the mass of darkness that made up the body was visible to the eye.
The body shape released a flash of light. Apparently that was the final step, because it materialized perfectly as flesh. As it stretched out its enormous bat-like wings, the gust of wind it created knocked into the Fuji TV building, smashing it entirely to pieces.
“Ah… Hey, that’s my workplace…”
There was no time to gape in amazement. Their Digimon evolved and rushed towards it. Taichi, Yamato, and Sora rode on their Digimon. Koushiro decided to go with his parents. Jou rode on the back of Shin’s scooter, while the other children broke up into two groups, riding in Hiroaki Ishida’s and Masami Izumi’s cars.

When Taichi and the others got closer to the giant Digimon, they were surprised once again by how huge it was. It was over 200 meters high.
“Kyahahaha! Lord VenomVamdemon has returned as an Ultimate level! You guys will never be able to stop him!”
PicoDevimon appeared before them, sneering.
“Ultimate?! There’s a level above Perfect?”
“Kyahahahahahahahaha! All of you humans will be food for Lord VenomVamdemon!”
As he said this, PicoDevimon flew up to VenomVamdemon. VenomVamdemon spoke for the first time.
“That’s right. And I’ll start with you.”
He breathed in, mouth open wide. PicoDevimon was sucked into his mouth as he flapped noisily to get away.
“A–Ahhhhhhhhh! Lord VenomVamdemon!”
It was over for him all too soon.

VenomVamdemon took one step forward on a beastly leg that was covered in bristles. The earth sunk beneath his foot, shaking as though from an earthquake.
After lowering their humans onto the ground, the Perfect level Digimon began their attack.
MetalGreymon’s organic missiles exploded violently, while Garudamon’s flames knocked into it.
WereGarurumon leaped, using VenomVamdemon’s body to climb up all the way up to his masked face. From point-blank range, he used his Moonsault Kick, its vacuum wave cutting into VenomVamdemon’s forehead. But dozens of tentacles shot out from the open wound, tangling around WereGarurumon and flinging him aside.
“Gehehehehehee! Your attacks have no effect on me!”
He spoke in a slow, dumb tone, as if his intelligence had declined in exchange for amassing greater power. He flourished his arms and Garudamon and MetalGreymon were swept away by a single swing.
Neither the waves from AtlurKabuterimon’s horn nor the rainbow beam from Lilimon’s arms made a scratch on him.
Not even the holy powers from Angemon’s fist and Angewomon’s arrows of light made a dent. He had become a Digimon that was of a completely different dimension from Vamdemon.
VenomVamdemon walked slowly, sometimes unleashing colorful indescribable light from all over his body. It looked like chunks that carried viscosity, and the buildings around him that the light touched, even a little bit, corroded and crumbled.
The children realized something even more frightening.
“That guy… He’s headed to Big Sight!”
Was it true what PicoDevimon had said, that the humans were all fodder? Was VenomVamdemon heading for the sleeping humans at Big Sight?
Even if that was the case, they had no means to stop VenomVamdemon right now.
The Digimon fought desperately. Pukamon evolved to Gomamon and then Ikkakumon, shooting missiles from his horn in succession. However, the attacks of an Adult level had no effect on him.
MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon, who were fighting at the forefront, were blown back along with everyone else. As they tumbled to the ground, they changed back into Agumon and Gabumon. They had used up all of their energy.
Taichi and Yamato ran to them.
“I’m sorry, Taichi… We’re not strong enough…”
Nothing could be done. Behind Taichi and Yamato, a car stopped and Hikari jumped out of it, saying something to Wizarmon’s staff that she held in her hands.
“No, we can’t do that!”
“What’s wrong, Hikari?” Angewomon asked as she alighted next to Hikari.
“I can hear Wizarmon’s voice from this staff… He says that if we all surround VenomVamdemon, we can stop him from moving.”
“Really?!”
Taichi and the others turned around.
“But that won’t be enough to beat him… He says we need to shoot the holy powers at our brothers— Wait, no way am I—”
The staff in her hands crumbled into particles, disappearing.
Taichi and Yamato looked at each other.
“It’s worth a shot.”
“Yeah, of course. There’s no other way.”

VenomVamdemon kept walking. The eight children ran around him, splitting into two groups that surrounded him from all sides.
All eight digivices let loose rays of light. The lights extended until they gathered at one point above VenomVamdemon’s head, forming an octagonal pyramid.
“Gurgkhh, what the hell?!”
VenomVamdemon squirmed, but he couldn’t move his legs.
“He really stopped!”
“Okay! Next!”
Taichi and Yamato yelled out to Hikari and Takeru.
“Shoot us with the holy powers!”
“But—”
“Brother—”
“Just do it!”
“Things can’t stay like this forever!”
Hikari and Takeru nodded.
“Please, Angemon!”
“Angewomon!”
The angel Digimon did not hesitate. The fist of light aimed at Yamato, while the arrow of light aimed at Taichi.
Maybe there was meaning behind them being siblings. The two holy powers passed through Taichi and Yamato without harming them and their digivices released a new light.
That energy poured into Agumon and Gabumon.
“Agumon warp-evolve! WarGreymon!”
“Gabumon warp-evolve! MetalGarurumon!”
Agumon evolved into a warrior Digimon that wore armor all over his body, while Gabumon evolved into a mechanical wolf Digimon.
“Those… aren’t Perfect levels.”
“Are they Ultimate?”
It was understandable that the children hesitated. WarGreymon was way smaller than MetalGreymon, who was over two meters at best. Even MetalGarurumon wasn’t any bigger than a large dog. However, their fighting strength was beyond extraordinary.
All of the missile launchers on MetalGarurumon’s body opened and he fired several missiles at once. Each of them had destructive power greater than Giga Destroyer, and VenomVamdemon fell down to one knee from being hit by all of them. A second large mouth that was on VenomVamdemon’s body, not his head, opened wide and let out a snarl.
WarGreymon joined his arm gauntlets together over his head so that his long nails aligned against each other. He twirled like a tornado, plunging into the mouth on VenomVamdemon’s body. The inside of VenomVamdemon’s body was ripped viciously to shreds, and WarGreymon flew out from the base of his neck. But perhaps WarGreymon’s size didn’t bring enough damage to VenomVamdemon’s 200 meter height because he still struggled stubbornly.
“Things are about to get dangerous now. Taichi, get yourself and the others far away from here!”
“We’ll finish him off.”
So those attacks weren’t even at full power? Taichi and the others, while surprised, hurriedly ran for safety.
Even when the barrier of the octagonal pyramid was released, VenomVamdemon could not move. That was what those attacks had been for, to keep him immobile.
“Cocytus Breath!”
MetalGarurumon shot a blast of cold air from his mouth. It instantly froze VenomVamdemon’s entire body.
WarGreymon began to create a ball of fire in both hands. It looked like a small Sun as he raised it high above his head. Its diameter went over ten meters.
“Gaia Force!”
He threw the ball of fire straight into the wide open mouth of VenomVamdemon’s body.
It exploded on the inside.
The frozen VenomVamdemon broke off into chunks. The pieces scattered into particles before they hit the ground, while at the same time, the fog cleared as if it had never existed in the first place.
“We did it!”
“We beat VenomVamdemon!”
The children, their Digimon, and their parents ran to each other, rejoicing.
That joy only lasted until the fog had completely cleared.
Something unfamiliar floated in the expanse of the night sky. From one end of the horizon to the other, several strips could be seen that showed earth, cities, and ocean. They appeared upside-down across the night sky, shimmering like a mirage.
Only Taichi and the other children knew that it was no mirage. What they saw wasn’t a place from Earth. It was, without a doubt, the Digital World.

⑨ Once More to the Digital World

Immediately after Jou and Takeru had plunged into the fog covering Odaiba, the strips of different lands in the sky had appeared one after the other. It was also happening throughout the entire world at the same time.
The strips increased in size as time went on, and it could easily be seen that they were slowly lowering altitude.
The US Armed Forces aircraft that approached it for investigation became inoperable and went out of control when they got close. Parts on the aircraft that came into contact with it were crystallized.

In Tibet, an entire mountain was crystallized because its peak touched the lowering strips.
At this rate, if nothing was done, it would only be a matter of time before the entire world became crystallized.
No attacks that were fired into it had any effect, but a strange one-sided phenomenon occurred. Creatures that were seen from within the strips came down to Earth.
They were Digimon, of course, but no one knew that.
Compared to this worldwide panic that the entire world was going through, the fog incident that happened in Odaiba was only a local occurrence, so it wasn’t treated with that much importance.

○

The passenger plane, Flight 117, heading from London to Narita, was in flight when the tip of its main wing touched the strip and crystallized. The plane began to nosedive, unable to be controlled.
Chikara Hida was on that plane, having gone to London to bring home the remains of his son who had died there. As passengers screamed and items flew about, he prayed fervently that at least his daughter-in-law and grandson, who was still too young to attend elementary school yet, would be saved.
The plane suddenly up-righted itself. He thought his prayers had been answered and that a miracle had happened.
They landed safely and gently on Tokyo Bay, as if the plane had suddenly sprouted wings.
Chikara took the helm, guiding the other passengers towards evacuation onto the water surface, sliding down himself after everyone else had left.
While he was occupied, his grandson Iori witnessed strange creatures flying away into the night sky. It was a birdman, about twenty meters big, and a red rhinoceros beetle that was just as big.
It would be a couple of years later before Iori found out that they were actually two Digimon named Garudamon and AtlurKabuterimon, and that they had been the ones who had held up the crashing airplane so that it could land safely on water.

○

“Good job, Piyomon.”
“Thanks, Tentomon.”
Sora and Koushiro said, welcoming back their Digimon as they reverted from their Perfect levels.
“Just glad to be of service,” Piyomon answered, hiding her weariness.
“But this place isn’t the only one that’s in trouble.”
At Tentomon’s words, the children looked at one another.
A motorcycle scooter came driving towards them. It was Jou’s brother, Shin.
“Everyone at Big Sight has woken up. You don’t need to worry anymore.”
“Good. Okay then…”
Taichi looked at the others.
“We need to go.”
The children looked back at him with serious faces. Koushiro looked up at the scenery above them and spoke.
“It’s been a few days since we left the Digital World. Several years must have passed there while we were here. The distortions in the Digital World must be intense. That could be why we’re seeing that up there.”
Yamato looked up as well. “We’re the only ones who can do something about it.”
“Besides, we need to hurry.” Sora looked around. “Things that happened to that airplane are happening around the world. Our electronics are out of whack and, with Digimon showing up, even more trouble might come up.”
Everyone could see all of that already without having it be put into words. Right now, they were checking to see that everyone was feeling the same way.
“The hospitals are in trouble. There may be people in the middle of surgery right now.” Jou said, looking more rigid than usual.
“But… How do we get there?” Mimi asked, looking worriedly at the others. She had retrieved her trademark hat from her room at some point and was already raring to go.
“It must be these.” Takeru held out his digivice. “When we first went to the Digital World, these digivices came flying at us and glowed.”
“That’s right. Our digivices guided us,” Taichi said, holding out his own as well. Now that he knew his parents were safe, he didn’t hesitate.
“Everyone, hold out your digivices.”
Taichi was certain about himself. They had found the eight child, Hikari, and all eight of the Chosen Children were together here.
The children brought their eight digivices together, raising them up to the sky. The digivices began to glow, creating a circle of light.
A rainbow stretched out vertically from the circle towards the strips in the night sky.
“Takeru…”
Takeru’s mother, Natsuko, stepped towards him.
“Mama, I’m sorry that we have to go again, just when all four of us are back together.”
“We have to go! I promise to bring Takeru back safely.” Yamato said, searching for the right words as he spoke to Natsuko in earnest.
Natsuko looked like she still wanted to say something, but it was Hiroaki Ishida who stopped her.
“Let them go. We need to have faith in our own children.”
Koushiro looked at his parents, who nodded at him silently. Koushiro nodded back at them, said,
“I’m off.”
and entered the rainbow. The other children and Digimon followed.
The eight children and eight Digimon rose swiftly into the air, being carried up through the vertical rainbow.
It was at that moment that they could see the people from Big Sight running towards them. Among them were Taichi’s parents, Sora’s mother, Mimi’s parents, and Jou’s parents.
“Mom…”
“Mama! Papa!”
“Dad! Mom!”
“I promise… I promise we’ll come back safe!”
The feelings that they had all been holding back came bubbling up, and tears sprang from the children’s eyes. They didn’t know if their voices could be heard, but they waved their hands with all of their might. Both sides grew smaller and smaller from the other’s view as the children continued to rise through the rainbow, but they never stopped waving.
Before long, the eight children and their Digimon disappeared into the Digital World and the rainbow disappeared into the air after them. All of it could be seen clearly, even from the opposite shore of Odaiba, at Shinbashi.

Read on to the next chapter.

FOOTNOTES
[22] 本来ならサマーキャンプで一泊してくるはず
In case this needs clarification, summer camp in Japan usually takes place for only 3 days and 2 nights, and it is aimed mostly at elementary school kids (starting at 4th grade to 6th grade, using the USA school system) during their summer vacation. The purpose of summer camp is for children to play sports, enjoy a campfire, and other outdoor activities that they normally would not be able to experience. What I always found poetic about "Digimon Adventure" is how their adventure itself became the equivalent of a summer camp experience. 
[23] PHS
Short for "personal handyphone system," it is a portable wireless telephone that functions as a cordless phone in the home and as a mobile phone elsewhere. [Wikipedia]
[24] Yurikamome (link to Wikipedia).
[25] Rinkai Fukutoshin Line (link to Wikipedia). It was renamed to "Rinkai Line" in September 2000.
[26] Rainbow Bridge (link to Wikipedia).
[27] Telecom Center Building (link to Japanese website with photos).
[28] Takeshiba Terminal, known as Takeshiba-Sanbashi (竹芝桟橋) is a harbor for passenger ships/ferry service. Link to an English website with descriptions and photos.
[29] Odaiba Seaside Park (link to English website with photos). May also be translated to Odaiba Marine Park in some sources.
[30] No. 3 Battery, renamed to Metropolitan Daiba Park when it was refurbished in the 1920s and opened to the public. This link goes to an English website with descriptions and photos. I'll also provide you with this link to a Japanese website that provides more photos. 

Where to buy (DVD): Amazon.JP, CDJapan

Super Evolution Stage! Digimon Adventure tri. ~August 1st Adventure~
Source- DVD
Video dimension- 720×480
Video container- MKV
Length- 02:27:29
Audio- Japanese
Subtitles- English
Timing by shin (@miloucomehome)
QC by megumi (@suikun245)

CAST
Yagami Taichi : Matsumoto Gaku
Ishida Yamato : Hashimoto Shouhei
Takenouchi Sora : Morita Suzuka
Izumi Koushiro : Kamimura Kaisei
Tachikawa Mimi : Tanoue Marina
Kido Jou : Komatsu Junya
Takaishi Takeru : Nomiyama Kenta
Yagami Hikari : Shigeishi Yuuna

Etemon: Oreno Graffiti (Theatre Troupe Shika564)

Agumon (puppet) : Yoshihara Hideyuki
Gabumon (puppet) : Ootani Makoto
Piyomon (puppet) : Minami Rina
Tentomon (puppet) : Matsuoka Takuya
Palmon (puppet) : Washiya Michiko
Gomamon (puppet) : Miyake Ryou
Patamon (puppet) : Ikeda Kenshin
Tailmon (puppet) : Shouno Sakiko

Agumon (voice) : Sakamoto Chika
Gabumon (voice) : Yamaguchi Mayumi
Piyomon (voice) : Shigematsu Atori
Tentomon (voice) : Sakurai Takahiro
Palmon (voice) : Yamada Kinoko
Gomamon (voice) : Takeuchi Junko
Patamon (voice) : Matsumoto Miwa
Tailmon (voice) : Tokumitsu Yuka

Download: Torrent / Direct

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