EPISODE 34 - FAR TOO GREAT A TOLL
The sky was dark, almost pitch black. It was hard to tell if it was from the late hour or the smoke clogging the air. Was it smoke? It was something, for sure, but it was almost impossible to discern what. It was just so dark. So empty. So constricting.
He could sense the Digimon in front of him, and turned to look at it. He couldn’t recognize it in the low light. It was familiar. He knew this Digimon. He just didn’t know who it was.
A hand tightened around his wrist and he looked down at… someone. A human? It had to be. He didn’t know who they were, either. Their face when they looked up at him was hazy, unfamiliar eyes staring up at him, unblinking. It was a desperate plea for help. They opened their mouth to speak, and though no sound came out, their words echoed in his mind.
Help me.
The Digimon turned to look down at them. Its face, though he could not see it, split into a grin. It raised a hand or claw or talon or something and reached down, aiming not for him, but for the human next to him, and as they tried to back away, its claws wrapped around them, threatening to dig into their flesh and rip them away, even as he held onto them with all his strength, trying to free them and pull them back toward him, where he could protect them, where he could save them -
Alex blinked, and then he was awake. His heart pounded in his chest, beating out a too-fast rhythm, and he took a deep breath to try to calm it down. He didn’t move. He remained where he lay in bed, his fingers practically buried in the comforter.
When his breathing and heart rate stilled, he blinked again, untangling his hand from the covers and reaching up to wipe at his eyes. Slowly, he sat up, reaching over for his phone on the nightstand beside him.
His fingers closed around something that was decidedly not his phone, and he frowned, pulling the object into his lap - a rectangular device with white and red plating and a small screen.
…Right. His digivice. Not his phone. And he was in a motel room, not his bedroom. And he was in Santa Belina, not Lilydale.
And that was a dream. It wasn’t real.
Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He chanced a look around the room, catching sight of his backpack at the end of the room, set in the corner next to everyone else’s. The TV was off, the remote balancing precariously on the edge of the dresser it stood on. A few stray articles of clothing - Damien’s - were draped over the chair sitting next to the sliding glass doors leading outside.
But other than that, there was nothing - and no one - of note.
Everyone must have woken up before him. He wasn’t particularly a late sleeper, but… well, it had been a long time since he’d slept in a bed, especially in this world. He looked down at the empty space in the bed beside him, where Ezra had been curled up next to him, their partners at the foot of the bed, and he felt something pleasantly warm bloom in his chest.
God, he’d slept next to his boyfriend last night. He’d held him in his arms and felt his own heartbeat reflected back at him. And sure, he’d been doing that for the past three days, ever since they’d kissed (which was still insane to him), but it had been so much different last night because they were in their own world! The human world! The world that Alex had wanted to do that in so much over the past few years but had never gotten the chance to do so because of fucking course he hadn’t. But last night he did and it was amazing.
Alex quickly wiped away the dumb smile spreading across his face and rolled out of bed, stretching his limbs out. Even despite the weird… dream he’d had, that was one of the best sleeps he’d had in the past three months. Or two days, he realized, unable to resist.
He shook his head and made his way to the tiny bathroom at the other end of the room to freshen up. He didn’t know what time it was, but the sunlight peeking in through the curtains was proof enough that he should probably get up. If even Ezra was already awake, he should definitely get up. And totally not because he wanted to say good morning to him and ask him how he’d slept and give him a kiss on the cheek. Not at all.
He emerged from the room a few minutes later, hair and teeth brushed and wearing new clothes that weren’t torn and stained with blood. He shut the slider behind him, taking care to not get the curtain caught in it, and turned to see the entire rest of the group sat at the tables just outside the rooms. A few turned to look at him, alerted by the sound, and Quinn raised a hand to wave him over.
“There you are,” she said, relinquishing her seat to him, in between Ezra and Damien. “Was wondering if you’d decide to join us.” Castor was perched on the table just in front of her, and Alex patted his head in greeting.
“Last one awake,” Damien said, arching an eyebrow as Alex settled in. “You sleep like the dead. I considered shoving you onto the floor to see if that’d wake you up.”
“What a warm welcome I’m receiving,” Alex said cheerfully, and to his right, Ezra snickered. Alex leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek, and as expected, his face went about as red as his hair.
“Better late than never,” Quinn said, reaching forward across the table to pull a box closer. He sat up straighter in his seat, his eyes widening as Quinn opened it to reveal donuts. The box had clearly been ransacked by everyone else, but there were still some donuts left, particularly a maple bar at the far end of it. Alex reached for it but Quinn batted his hand away, raising a finger as she pulled something else out of the box.
“I have sliced ham, turkey, and roast beef,” she said, laying out the packages in front of him. “Take your pick, but you have to pick something. No donuts till you have some protein in your body.” Off to the side, on the table in front of Ezra, Ember grinned and hopped forward, obviously looking for seconds (or maybe thirds or fourths, Alex couldn’t tell).
“I tried telling her she was acting like my dad,” Ezra explained as Alex took out a few strips of roast beef and practically shoved them into his mouth. “Making sure we eat healthy so we don’t have a sugar crash later or something. As if we are not in control of our bodies and can simply tell them not to crash.”
“That’s not exactly how that works,” Miguel mumbled from the other end of the table. Flip was alternating between nibbling at a piece of turkey and taking giant bites of a glazed donut, making a huge mess in his flippers. He didn’t seem to mind.
“I’m not letting you eat carbs and sugar all day,” Quinn shot back at Ezra, folding her arms. “Especially if there’s going to be more Digimon coming through. You need to keep your energy up. Just be grateful I’m not making you eat any more digitakes.”
Alex felt something bump against his legs, and paused with another piece of roast beef halfway to his mouth. He looked down under the table to see Alpha curled up, his eyes closed but breathing too focused for him to be asleep.
“I don’t think we have any left,” Damien said, and Alex looked back up. Damien leaned back in his chair and tilted his head at Quinn. “So that would backfire splendidly on you. For what it’s worth, though, I’m grateful for the real food.”
“I am too,” Alex said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Quinn rolled her eyes and leant forward again to grab some napkins from the other end of the table, handing one to Alex and another to Flip as he continued to make a mess. “How did you even afford all this? Donuts and deli meat for twenty doesn’t sound like it’d be cheap.” Plus all the clothes she bought for us yesterday…
“It wasn’t,” Quinn said, as she reached into her pocket to pull something out. She held it between her thumb and index finger and waved it around, revealing it to be a credit card. “Fortunately, this is my mom’s card.”
Alex stared blankly up at her. “…Are you allowed to be using that?”
Quinn pocketed the card and shrugged. “I don’t see why not. My ID has the same surname as her. I just told the cashier I’m picking stuff up for her while she’s busy.”
“Does she know you have it?” Ezra asked.
“Yes.” She paused, staring off into the distance, as something seemed to dawn on her. “Ah. That’s probably why I got so many texts from her last night.”
Damien snorted and placed his hands behind his head, his chair tipped dangerously far back. “What, because you’d been gone for twelve hours with her credit card? Does she even know where you are?”
“I haven’t talked to her yet,” Quinn said, despair creeping into her voice, and Alex felt Alpha shift under the table again. “It’s alright. Not out of the ordinary for her. I’ve been gone for longer with far more valuable items.”
Alex frowned and slowly, cautiously, reached forward to grab the maple bar in the donut box. “I am afraid to ask about your home life.”
“Good, you should be.” She clapped her hands together and Alex started, expecting her to tell him to drop the donut or she’d shoot, but she nodded down at him with a faint smile and he took a hesitant bite. “Now that everyone’s up,” she said, looking around at not just the table in front of her but the one behind it as well, where everyone else sat, “let’s discuss.”
“Discuss what?” Ember asked, peering up at her as he finished off his own roll of ham.
“Plutomon is nowhere to be found,” she said, stepping back to face the group as a whole. “I’ve checked - nothing online or on the news about a giant demon monster. He’s either in hiding, or back in the Digital World. Ideally the Digital World.”
“Isn’t it a bad thing if he’s in the Digital World?” Harmony piped up from the other table. “What if he lured us here on purpose so we can’t stop him?”
“I’ve considered that,” Quinn said. “Even if he did, there are still Digimon showing up here that we have to deal with. If we were in the Digital World fighting Plutomon, there would still be Digimon breaking through to this world, and if we weren’t here, there wouldn’t be anyone to deal with them.”
Alex nodded. She has a point. I don’t like the idea of Plutomon being back in the Digital World, but I also don’t like the idea of manic Digimon running wild through the streets here. Lesser of two evils.
“And speaking of the Digimon coming through,” Quinn continued. “I don’t know how many there will be, or when they’ll show up, but it’s looking likely that they will. We need to be ready to deal with them. Minimizing human injuries and casualties is the highest priority, of course, but it’s also important to try to make sure nobody sees you. It’s like what Alex said yesterday: people have worms for brains and will record the fight even if they nearly get killed.”
“You’re lucky you got a fight in a secluded park,” Moxie said with a sigh, resting her head in her palms. “I don’t mean to be a pessimist, but something tells me that’s not always going to be possible.”
“Most likely,” Quinn said, shaking her head. “If you do get caught somewhere with a lot of people, try to act like you don’t know any more than they do. Just tell them to get out. Show them some of your scars to really scare them if you have to.”
Alex bit his lip, absentmindedly running his donutless hand down the length of the opposite arm, where his injury from the Filmon fight was just starting to heal properly. Pale, half-torn flesh was knitted together, with a few open sections coated in dried blood, and he had to fight every bone in his body to pick at the scab and reopen the wound. Must resist… I can’t risk that right now…
“Sooner or later,” Quinn was still saying, and Alex blinked up at her as he came back to reality, “people are going to realize that something is going on. If we can put that off for as long as possible, that would be ideal. Especially since once everyone’s evolved up to rookie again, it’s going to be a lot harder to get around the city.”
“You’re failing to remember that some of us can fly in those forms,” Dare said.
Ren glanced over at her with a dull expression. “Do you really think you’ll be able to fly high enough up in the sky to be able to pass unnoticed, let alone for long enough to travel?”
Dare opened and closed her mouth a few times, searching for a rebuttal, and then scrunched her face up. “What is it with you and constantly shutting down my ideas?”
“Keep an eye and an ear out,” Quinn cut in. “I’ll be checking the news periodically, so I’ll let you all know if something comes up. Remember: no phones. I hate to have to reinforce this rule like some old man who thinks 5G is turning the kids gay, but it’s important.” She smiled wryly, placing a hand on her hip. “For now, you’ve got free reign of the town to try to get more information. Don’t be too obvious, but feel free to eavesdrop on any conversations that catch your ears.”
The group was silent for a moment, taking the chance to continue eating or take a sip of water or simply let Quinn’s words sink in. Alex finished off his maple bar and wiped his mouth, reaching for Ezra’s water bottle and taking a big swig, despite his protests.
“What, really?” Damien said finally, frowning up at Quinn from where he was still leaning back in his chair. “We’re just allowed to wander around town doing whatever we feel like?”
“Hardly,” Quinn said with another shake of her head. “But I’m not expecting you to stay cooped up here at the motel the whole time. It’s not a bad idea to try to get to know the city while you have the chance. I think you’re gonna need it, especially since these -” she held up her digivice “- do not give street names or addresses. We know of the auditorium on Maple Street that tragically burnt down, but that’s about it.”
“I still can’t believe that was real,” Damien said under his breath.
“That makes sense,” Alex said, folding his hands on the table in front of him. He looked up at Quinn, and she met his gaze. “I take it we should report back with any findings?”
She nodded. “Ideally. You can give me a call if you’re out and about, though. You don’t have to come all the way back here just to tell me there’s an emergent Digimon that you saw and then walked away from to tell me about. Which reminds me.” She placed a hand on the back of Alex’s chair and looked around at the group, locking eyes with each and every person and Digimon. “Curfew is 9 PM. You don’t have to be back at 9, but at least give me a call before then to tell me that you’re on your way back but you got stuck in traffic or whatever.” She pointed an accusing finger at Damien, who had smirked at the rule. “No-tolerance policy. If any of you are caught out later than then without a valid excuse, such as fighting a Digimon, I will revoke donut privileges.”
“Noooooo,” Ember wailed, tipping himself forward to faceplant into the table. “Not the donuuuuuuuts…”
“It’s better than nothing,” Ezra said consolingly, patting his partner gently. “9’s not too bad. That’s pretty late. We’ll probably be back long before then for dinner.”
“We had dinner at 9 PM last night,” Ryan said, and Ezra rolled his eyes.
“That was an exception,” he said, holding a palm up. “Our breadwinner was busy until then.”
“Please don’t call me that,” Quinn said with a faint groan, and Alex laughed.
The group dispersed eventually, after a few more donuts and slices of meat and good-mornings and did-you-sleep-okays. Alex helped Harmony and Quinn clean up the remnants of breakfast and put the leftover food away in their rooms, the deli meat going in the tiny minifridges and the very few remaining donuts stashed in a secret location in the room that Quinn, Azure, and the girls were staying in. Alex suspected she placed it under one of the beds, but he didn’t want to check, lest he face her wrath.
When they were finished and standing outside, Alex turned to Quinn, Castor in his arms, with one brow raised. “Are you sure about this?”
She blinked and looked over at him, clearly confused. “What do you mean?”
He lifted his free arm and gestured at the air around and above him, trying to convey that he meant everything. “Your plan. Letting us loose on the streets. I get that staying here at the motel wouldn’t be any better, but…”
Quinn seemed to catch his drift, and turned to face him properly, hands on her hips. “It’s better than nothing,” she said, head tilted to the side. “We - I don’t know what’s going on yet. But there’s going to be more Digimon coming through. If you’re all throughout the city, at least some of you should be able to find them and deal with them more quickly than if you were stuck here. We need to be ready and able to be on the scene whenever they show up.”
“She’s right,” Castor said, and Alex smiled down at him faintly. “You’ve spent the past three months traveling across entire continents and constantly running from Digimon out to kill you. It’s not a bad thing to take a break and relax a bit.”
“That too,” Quinn said with a nod. “Go get a coffee or something. Do you all even drink coffee?”
Alex nodded. “I do, but -”
Quinn raised a hand, as if already aware of what he was going to say, and then dug in her pocket. She pulled her hand out a second later, handing him a folded fifty-dollar bill.
Alex stared down at it for a moment, then looked up at her without taking it. “How do you -”
“ATMs exist,” she said, holding her hand further out. “You don’t have to use it if you’re super opposed to it. But if you’re out and you get hungry or want a drink, no use coming all the way back to the motel for that when we don’t really have anything here.”
Alex observed the bill for a few more seconds, before resigning himself to his fate and pushing it deep into his pocket next to his digivice. “I’ll spend it wisely,” he said, and Quinn smirked.
“I’m sure you will. Go on then. Have fun.”
Alex raised a hand in thanks and turned to leave. He hadn’t yet made it to the other side of the pool when he heard Quinn call out after him, and he turned to face her.
“And remember,” she said, arms crossed and eyes practically boring into his skull, “if you come across something you can’t handle, call me. Got it?”
Alex hesitated for a split second, then reached a hand out to give her a thumbs-up. “Got it,” he said, then turned to continue on his way.
Alex aimed straight for a nearby park as he and Castor wound through the streets. He kept his eye on his digivice as he went, using its map to guide his way. It didn’t have color nor street names, so he couldn’t entirely be sure that it was actually a park he was heading toward, but what else would the huge empty rectangle on the map be?
It was not the park that Quinn and Alpha had had their fight with Grademon in the night prior; that one was much smaller and much further west. Even so, he kept an eye and an ear out for any more emergent Digimon, and watched the other colored dots signifying the rest of the group as they too meandered throughout the city.
The few people they passed on the streets had nothing of interest to say. Alex certainly listened in, not exactly hoping they would be talking about Digimon but still unable to resist the desire to gain some sort of information about what they were up against. If they’re not talking about Digimon, that’s a good thing. It means there aren’t any here - yet. But if there aren’t any Digimon here yet, then unless they’re just struggling to break through, it means they’re waiting for something.
…I’m not sure how I feel about those implications.
Alex exhaled, almost unaware he’d been holding his breath.
When they reached the park, Alex immediately sat down in the nearest bench. There were a couple other people in the park - a family with their two small children, some kids who looked to be around his age with a picnic set up, a young girl reading at the bench a few yards down from him. None of them seemed to notice either him or Castor, but he waited a few moments before saying anything just to make sure.
“I’m starting to wonder if I should’ve just stayed behind and gone back to bed,” he said, slightly under his breath, trying his best to sound like he was talking to himself. He was pretty sure nobody would be able to hear him even if he talked normally, and they certainly wouldn’t care so long as he didn’t say anything too incriminating, but it was better to be safe than sorry, right?
Castor seemed to think the same, as he too waited a short while before responding. “Didn’t sleep well last night?” he murmured, glancing up at Alex from where he sat in his lap.
Alex sighed again and shrugged offhandedly. “I’m not sure,” he said, placing his elbow on the back of the bench and propping his cheek up with his fist. “I feel rested, but…” He trailed off and shook his head. I don’t want to worry him too much. It was just a dream. It doesn’t mean anything.
Castor was of the opposite opinion. “You can talk to me about anything, you know. Did you have a nightmare?”
…Ugh, he was right. Alex didn’t know why he was clamming up now of all times. He’d never had an issue with this in the past. Was it because it was something new?
He’d had nightmares over the past few months, of course. Dreams of Digimon reaching for him, their eyes white, telling him that he was going to die. Dreams of the others calling out, begging for his help, while he was rooted to the spot, unable to move. Dreams of Castor turning on him, and dreams of Castor dying, and dreams of himself not being who he really was.
He’d never said anything about them. They were just dreams. They weren’t real; it was just his brain trying to scare him. Even the one last night hadn’t been anything more than that.
But the one last night had felt more real than any other dream he’d ever had.
“…Something like that,” he said cautiously. Castor glanced up at him, his expression soft, patiently waiting for him to continue. After a few seconds of deliberation, Alex breathed out slowly. “I don’t know. It was weird. There was a Digimon there. A Digimon I’d seen before. And there was… someone else. A human. I don’t think it was anyone in particular.” He bit his lip, pressing a hand to his forehead as he tried to remember. “The Digimon grabbed them and tried to take them away, and they asked me to help, but… I couldn’t save them. And then I woke up.”
He clenched his fingers, feeling his nails practically digging into his skin. “It was just a dream, but… I still feel like I failed them. I should have tried harder to save them. …What if something like that… actually happens, and I’m not able to do anything?”
“Alex,” Castor said gently, and Alex sniffed, looking off to the side. “In the entire time I’ve known you, you have been one of the most dedicated, passionate people I’ve ever known. You always do your best to help others, even when they don’t want your help. I’m no exception.”
He smiled up at Alex, his naturally toothy grin stretching even further, and Alex couldn’t resist a small smile of his own. “You can’t save everyone. But you’ve never believed that. Whether something like that actually happens or not, I know you’ll do your best to help whoever needs it.”
“But what if I can’t?” Alex mumbled. “I mean… you saw Plutomon. We didn’t even put a dent in him. If we have to face him again, here, in our world… what if we can’t stop him? What if people get hurt?”
Castor shuffled in his lap. “People have already gotten hurt.”
“I’m not talking about us.”
“Your safety is just as important as everyone else’s,” Castor countered. “You’ve put yourself in more danger than anyone else in this world. All of you. It’s just as important that you take care of yourselves. Perhaps even more so.”
“That’s not really an option for us,” Alex said. “We’re the only ones who can deal with this. We can’t just stay out of it.”
“I didn’t say you have to,” Castor said, shaking his head. “That’s not my point. My point is that people have already gotten hurt, but you can’t let that stop you. Maybe you can’t save everyone. But I know that you’re going to try your best, and that’s all you need to do.”
…He was right. Alex knew what he needed to do, and what would likely be coming in the next few days. He knew his role in all of this. He’d deal with Plutomon the same way he always had: by not giving up.
All I need to do is my best, and I will. I’ll make sure of it.
“How is it,” he said absentmindedly, “that talking with you always manages to make me feel better?”
Castor laughed and winked up at him. “Because I’m the best partner ever and you love me?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Alex said, rolling his eyes, and Castor laughed again.
An hour later, Alex stood at the edge of the park, his eyes locked on his digivice, watching the little orange dot approaching. They’d stayed where they sat for a little while longer after their talk had concluded, just relishing in the opportunity to sit and relax. Eventually they’d been the only ones left, and Ezra had called to ask if they wanted to go on a walk. Alex had agreed, of course, because there was no reason he wouldn’t want to hang out with him, and now they were waiting for him and Ember to arrive.
Castor rustled in his arms, one of his antennae twitching and pointing, and Alex followed its direction to see Ezra heading toward him, looking down at his phone with Ember tucked under one arm like a football. Alex raised an arm and waved to get his attention, and Ezra’s eyes flicked up, his face morphing into a big grin when he caught sight of him.
“Where’s Anna?” Alex asked when Ezra reached him, tucking his phone into his pocket and pulling Ember fully into his arms. Ezra wrinkled his nose and nudged his shoulder with his own.
“What a way to greet your boyfriend,” he said, and Alex smiled. “She’s back at the motel. We had a stupid argument. She needed space.”
Alex placed one hand on his hip. “Stupid on your part or hers?”
“Both of us,” Ezra said, then paused. “…Mostly mine.”
“Well at least you’re owning up to it,” Ember mewed, blinking up at his partner. He looked over at Alex and winked, his mouth curling into a devious kitty smile. “I told him to let her go but he didn’t listen to me. Maybe you can knock some sense into him.”
“I’m not knocking anything into anyone,” Alex said, and Ezra laughed. Alex reached over to ruffle his hair and Ezra scowled, flicking his hand away. “Anywhere specific you wanted to go? Or just wanna scout out the town? Find the best alleyways to hide in just in case we get ambushed by some sort of bloodthirsty monster?”
“You can’t say those things out loud,” Ezra hissed, placing a hand over Alex’s mouth as his eyes darted around the street. There wasn’t anybody close enough to have heard, and Alex was pretty sure Ezra knew that, but he wasn’t entirely wrong. Still, Alex stuck his tongue out and licked Ezra’s palm, and Ezra drew it away, gaping at Alex as he shook it out.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ezra spluttered, wiping his hand against his shirt, and Alex laughed. “That’s so gross!”
“We’ve literally kissed before,” Alex said, and Ezra scrunched his face up.
“You didn’t lick me when you kissed me.”
“Would you want me to?”
Ezra pulled the collar of his shirt up over his face, but not quickly enough for Alex not to notice the reddening of his cheeks. “Shut up!”
Alex chuckled and reached over to pull Ezra closer to him with his free hand. Ezra dropped his shirt and frowned, pointedly avoiding Alex’s gaze. Alex smiled. “Are you ignoring me now?”
“You’re being a bully.”
“Not at all.” Alex planted a kiss on his forehead and Ezra groaned, squeezing his eyes shut, but his shoulders slumped and he rolled his eyes.
“To answer your original question,” he said, hoisting Ember higher in his arms - both the Digimon had watched with mild amusement during the whole ordeal - “I don’t know this city any more than you do. I don’t have a plan. We can just go and see where we end up?” He gestured out at the road ahead of them, where a few cars were rolling past.
Alex shrugged and nodded, ignoring Castor’s grumble of protest at the movement. “Sounds good to me. Lead the way.” He swept an arm out to usher Ezra forward, and Ezra rolled his eyes but obliged.
It was difficult at first to get used to the prospect of walking just for the hell of it. Over the past three months, Alex had walked more than he had over the course of his entire life, he was pretty sure, and it had always been to get from one place to the next. Sometimes he’d had to run, and sometimes he’d had to sit on his partner’s back while he ran, but it was always because they needed to go somewhere. Now, walking side by side with his boyfriend (am I ever going to get over saying that? Nope), with their monster friends held in their arms, strolling through an unfamiliar city just because they wanted to and not because they needed to travel to another continent or whatever, it felt almost… unreal. In a good way, of course, but still unreal.
They talked about anything and everything; the weather, the city, the strangeness of being back in their own world, how they thought their parents were reacting to them being missing. Alex felt a sharp pang in his heart when he realized that his parents were finally getting that break from him, the one he’d thought they’d get before he knew about the time dilation. He didn’t know how long they’d have it, or when he’d be able to go home, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
I know they’re probably worried about me, he reasoned. Of course they’re worried that I’m gone. Nadia… she’s probably worried too, at least a little bit. And Derek and Austin…
But… they don’t have to deal with me. Even if they won’t admit it, they’re at least a little relieved about that. They’ve got to be.
“My parents are probably freaking out,” Ezra lamented, a hint of regret in his tone as he tipped his head back to look up at the sky. “They’d probably be able to handle it fine if it was just me missing, but with Anna gone too… I bet they’re losing their minds.”
“Do you think our moms have talked?” Alex asked, tilting his head. “Surely they’ll think it’s weird that both of us are gone. I’m sure when the school or whatever called them to let them know that we disappeared into thin air they mentioned that a couple other students did as well. It’s got to seem suspicious to them.”
“Hopefully they don’t think we eloped or something,” Ezra mumbled, his eyes flashing with fear for a brief second. “With Anna gone too… I’m sure they think it’s weird. Ugh, I wish I could just call them and tell them that we’re fine and we’ll be home soon.” He pulled his digivice out to stare down at it, and Alex subconsciously placed his hand over his pocket to feel his. Ezra’s nose wrinkled as he tucked it back away. “But Quinn’s right. They’ll want to come pick us up, and if I tell them that actually, we can’t go home, Anna and I have to save the world with our new monster friends, they’ll freak the fuck out and probably try to take Ember to the pound.”
“What’s the pound?” Ember asked, looking up at Ezra. “It doesn’t sound fun. Why wouldn’t your parents like me?”
“Because you’re a tiny little furball that can turn into a fifteen-foot-tall flaming lion,” Ezra said, patting his partner’s head. “And the reason you turn into a fifteen-foot-tall flaming lion is to fight other giant monsters who are way less friendly than you. And if they saw Anna and I fighting with you guys against giant monsters they would literally have a heart attack.”
Ember frowned. “What’s a heart attack?”
“You guys really don’t know anything, do you,” Alex said, reaching over to poke Ember’s cheek.
Castor wriggled in his arms. “You didn’t know anything about the Digital World when you first arrived. I still remember having to explain everything to you. You didn’t even know where you were.”
“We didn’t know where we were,” Alex said, looking back down at Castor, “because we’d just been sucked through a computer and fell through the sky. We didn’t even know the Digital World existed at that point. You guys at least knew about humans and our world.”
“You’re just proving my point further,” Castor said.
“I am not.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Alex saw Ezra smile lightly, but he seemed distracted. Alex turned to face him, placing a hand on his shoulder and startling him out of whatever reverie he was seemingly in. “You doing okay?”
“Mm,” Ezra said, which wasn’t an answer, and his shoulders stiffened. Alex’s brows pinched together and he slowed to a stop, his hand sliding down from Ezra’s shoulder to place over his own hand. Ezra looked up at him and put on another smile, but Alex saw through it. He held back a sigh and looked up and around, trying to figure out where they’d ended up.
(It wasn’t like knowing where they were was going to help, since he didn’t know anything about this city, but… well, he had a plan, and he needed to make sure it was going to work.)
Fortunately for him, it seemed like it was. Alex patted Ezra’s hand and tightened his hold on it, pointing over at one of the nearby buildings. “Looks like a nice cafe,” he said, and Ezra blinked. “Let’s take a break. Drinks on me.”
“We’re sixteen,” Ezra said, but he smiled anyway, a genuine smile. “Are you gonna be sad if your drink isn’t symmetrical?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Alex hissed, and Ezra burst into laughter, nearly dropping Ember. The Digimon exchanged confused looks, but Alex paid them no mind as he shoved Ezra away. “I was thirteen. I’ve grown and matured since then.”
“Have you really,” Ezra said, finally composing himself. Alex rolled his eyes, grabbing Ezra’s hand and practically dragging him toward the cafe.
A bell above the door chimed gently when they stepped inside, and a few of the workers behind the counter looked up at them. Alex dipped his head in greeting as they got into line.
Beside him, Ember rustled in Ezra’s arms, who leaned down to listen to what his partner had to say. He whispered quietly enough that Alex couldn’t catch what he said, but he had to assume it was some sort of request for a pastry. Castor did not move or indicate he wanted to speak, which honestly was probably for the best, considering the cafe was relatively busy and Alex really didn’t want to have to explain why the little pink blob in his arms was able to talk and ask for him to get it a croissant.
After they’d placed their orders, they retreated to an empty booth in the far corner of the cafe, away from the employees and the rest of the customers. The Digimon hopped up onto the table next to them, on the innermost sides of the booth, so that if someone wandered up next to their table, they wouldn’t be the first thing they’d see.
They sat in silence at first. Alex didn’t know what to say. He knew something was up with Ezra, and he knew he needed to get him to talk about it, but he didn’t want him to feel cornered.
“You’re gonna hate me for this,” Alex started, at the same time as he heard his name called from the other side of the cafe. He turned to see one of the workers placing their drinks and two paper bags down on the counter, and he bit back a sigh. Dolefully, he stood up and trudged over to grab their orders.
When he returned, he set their items down and plunked back down into his seat, taking a long sip of his mocha. Ezra blinked up at him, his expression a mix of amusement and bemusement.
“Actually, I don’t hate you for getting my drink for me,” he said, and Alex huffed and rolled his eyes. Ezra smiled faintly, swirling the ice in his lemonade around. “You didn’t check yours to see -”
“It doesn’t need to be symmetrical,” Alex grumbled, and Ezra giggled. Alex rolled his eyes and stuck his lip out, and next to him, Castor placed his croissant down with his ear-tendrils (which he was using as rudimentary hands in order to eat).
“Are we going to get context for this ‘symmetrical drink’ thing you keep bringing up?” he asked in a low voice, and Ezra couldn’t resist another bout of giggles.
“No,” Alex said, “because it was three years ago when I was thirteen and Ezra agreed to never bring it up again back then, but I guess the promises we made to each other in our youth mean nothing now.”
Ezra picked his drink up by the rim and tilted the bottom towards Alex in way of pointing at him. “It’s because I’m your boyfriend now, so I’m legally obligated to tease you at every given opportunity.” He looked down at Castor and grinned, placing his chin in his unoccupied hand. “Three years ago -”
“Don’t start,” Alex said, and Ezra continued, unfettered.
“- we were at the movies together and Alex got a soda with ice, and he noticed the ice and the bubbles in it were kinda symmetrical, and he thought it was some sort of sign from god or whatever?”
“Did not,” Alex mumbled, feeling his ears heat up. He pressed his hands over them and scowled down at the surface of the table as Ezra went on.
“He claimed that it made the drink taste way better, but I had a sip and it was perfectly normal. But he stuck to his claim. He got super obsessed with symmetrical drinks after that, like, whenever he got a drink, he would always check to see if it was symmetrical. And it never was, because that’s a crazy person thing, but whenever he had a non-symmetrical drink he would claim it didn’t taste as good. Eventually he got over it, but I still like to tease him about it.” Ezra reached across the table to poke at Alex’s arm, and Alex lightly swatted him away.
“You did not have to tell them all that,” Alex said, and Ezra grinned.
“Of course I did. Payback for you threatening to lick me.”
“I did not threaten to lick you. I asked if you would want me to.”
“That’s pretty much the same thing.”
“I don’t see why it’s such a big deal,” Castor said, taking a bite of his croissant before continuing. “Even if the symmetry didn’t actually make it taste better, the fact that he somehow got a symmetrical drink… whatever that is… that’s special in its own right, isn’t it? It would heighten the experience anyways, even without actually affecting the taste.”
“See, he gets it,” Alex said, gesturing at his partner with one hand. “It’s the difference between having a really fancy drink and a really boring drink. The fancy drink just is better, even if they taste the same.”
“Well, it being fancy kind of implies that it’s better than the boring drink, right?” Ember piped up. He finished off the last few crumbs of his cookie and then cast a wistful glance at Castor’s croissant, but Cas shook his head when he realized what Ember wanted. Ember pouted but looked up at Ezra, then over at Alex. “If it’s fancy then it should taste better, right? What else would make it fancy?”
“Being expensive, mostly,” Alex said, and Ezra nodded sagely as he took another sip of his lemonade. “Typically the fancier something is, the more expensive it is.”
“But what makes it expensive?” Ember asked.
Ezra shrugged. “Being fancy.”
Ember scrunched his face up, looking down at the tabletop while he thought to himself. “So… the fancier something is… the more expensive it is… but something being expensive is what makes it fancy…” He shook himself out and blinked up at Ezra. “That feels redundant. Is there really nothing else that makes something fancy?”
Alright, that’s it, I can’t take this anymore. “I think we’re getting off topic,” Alex said, drawing all three pairs of eyes to him, but he only met Ezra’s. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh, no,” Ezra groaned, putting his head in his hands. “Are you going to lecture me about Anna?”
“Is that what this is about?” Alex kept his tone gentle, not wanting to incite anything else. He hesitated, then reached a hand across the table to place on Ezra’s forearm, drawing his gaze back. “I was going to say, before all this, that I know something’s up, and… you know you can tell me anything, right? Now more than ever. Now that we’ve resolved all those previously unresolved feelings.”
God, he hoped he wasn’t coming across too strong. Sure, they’d had talks like this before - hell, they’d had a talk like this the day that they’d kissed - but… it felt like it was different now, in a way. Both because they were in a different world, and because they were dating.
A lot can change in just a few short days, huh?
Ezra raised a knuckle to his mouth to chew at his lip, and Alex squeezed his arm gently. “I’m not going to force you to talk about it if you don’t want to, because Cas does that to me and I hate it -” his partner huffed at this, and Alex smirked “- but… you can talk to me about it. Whatever it is. If it’s Anna, or if it’s Plutomon, or if it’s your parents, or if it’s me -”
“It’s not,” Ezra said, and Alex exhaled slowly. “It could never be you. It’s just… god, there’s so much going on. It’s so hard to pretend that everything’s normal when it’s so clearly not.” He put his head in his hands, staring down at his lemonade. “I want this to work between us but… I’m worried that I’m not doing enough. That I’m not enough. I know it’s stupid, but it’s just so hard.”
Oh, Ezra, Alex thought, his shoulders drooping. “You are always enough for me,” he said, and a corner of Ezra’s mouth twitched upward. “You always have been. I know everything sucks right now. I know nothing is normal. We don’t have to pretend it is. We… don’t have to do anything. We can just be us. For right now, at least.”
“Oh thank god you’re on the same page,” Ezra groaned, and Alex smirked. “I - yeah. We can just be us. I’m happy just to be with you.” He twisted his hands around to grasp at Alex’s. “After we save the world we can be… I don’t know, whatever we want to be. But for now, I’m… happy just to be with you. I think that’s enough right now.”
“It is,” he said, and Ezra smiled back.
He couldn’t deny that he wanted to pretend everything was normal, now that he finally had the chance to, after three months in a world that was so much different than this one. If he really wanted to, he could act like nothing had ever happened.
But he couldn’t. None of them could. Even if it was tempting, and it was, he just couldn’t.
It was enough, right now, just to be with Ezra. And with Castor, and Ember, and everyone else in the group.
Just that little bit of normalcy was enough - or, it was as close to normalcy as possible, when half of their friends were puffballs from another world.
…Honestly, that was becoming pretty normal too.
When they left the cafe about an hour later, Alex practically ran headfirst into a girl standing just outside the door.
“Sorry!” he said, backing away and holding his free hand up. “I didn’t see you there. You okay?”
“I’m fine,” the girl said, brushing the front of her shirt off. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have been standing so close.” She looked up at him, her eyes drifting over Castor and then Ember in Ezra’s arms behind him. “I… it’s just… sorry, I just need to talk to you about something.”
Alex blinked, sharing a look with Ezra and tightening his hold on Castor just slightly. The two Digimon were doing a remarkable job of playing dead, and he knew that there was no way in hell she’d noticed something off about them, but he couldn’t help but worry a little.
But she hasn’t said anything about them yet, right? I’m sure if she asks then we can just tell her they’re toys. She doesn’t seem malicious. …At all.
She was small and mostly unassuming; she couldn’t be any older than Alex himself. She had medium-tan skin, with brown hair cut into a sharp bob and spiky bangs, held back by a simple blue headband. There was some sort of air around her that lent her the aura of a depressed Victorian child, not helped by her sad brown eyes, a stark contrast to the smile she had on her face.
Actually, the more he looked at her, the more he thought she seemed a little… familiar? Not like he knew her personally, but like he’d seen her before. He didn’t know where, just that…
…Wait. She was the girl reading at the park.
“Have you been following me?” he asked, and then realized that he hadn’t said his realization aloud, and then he realized they were still standing in the doorway of the cafe when someone behind him cleared their throat. He grabbed Ezra’s hand and ushered him and the girl off to the side.
“Yes,” the girl admitted, dipping her head. “I’m sorry, but… I heard you talking about…” She trailed off, whipping her head around to make sure nobody was around, and then leaned in closer, holding her hands up to her mouth and dropping her voice to a whisper. “About the Digimon.”
Alex practically felt himself flatline.
“What,” Ezra said, and the girl blinked over at him as if she hadn’t realized he was there. “What do you mean? How do you -”
“I have one too,” she said, and Alex practically felt himself being cremated.
“You’re joking, right,” he said, placing his empty hand on his forehead, and the girl’s face fell.
“No. I wouldn’t joke about something like that.”
“How do you have a partner?” Ezra asked quietly. “How long… were you there? In the other world? Do you know what’s -”
“I don’t know a lot,” the girl cut in, shaking her head. “I haven’t been there. I just met Gigi last night. She told me…” She looked down at Castor, who met her gaze and blinked, and then she looked up at Alex, concern evident on her face. “She said she wants to talk to you. Just you and your partner. Sorry.” She looked at Ezra here, shrugging apologetically. “I don’t know why.”
“Why not me?” Ezra said, placing a hand on his hip. “I’m much more charming than Alex.”
“Not really the time for jokes,” Alex mumbled, but he shook his head and turned to face the girl. “Sorry - you said your partner’s name is Gigi? What’s your name?”
“Oh, I’m Kiki,” she said. “I named her Gigi. She told me that I’m her partner. She came from the Digital World to find me. Sorry, but it’s really important that she talks to you. She said it’s important.”
“Asking again why she doesn’t want to talk to me,” Ezra said, and Alex’s brow furrowed. I know he’s joking, but it is weird, isn’t it? Why just me and Castor? What’s so special about us?
And how did she come from the Digital World if she wasn’t sent by Plutomon? Are there gates opening up there that other Digimon are coming through?
…Actually, why haven’t we gotten a notification from our digivices?
Alex shook his head out, returning to the present just as Kiki shrugged again. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’d offer to let you come anyway, but she was really insistent that it’s just these two.”
She blinked up at Alex, eyes full of something like hope. “Could you meet us here later tonight? Right outside the cafe? Gigi doesn’t like coming outside during the day. She’s a lot bigger than your partners.”
That raised a whole other slew of questions, but Alex didn’t ask any of them. He looked down at Castor, who met his gaze evenly, if a little concerned. Slowly he let out a breath and shook his head again.
If Kiki really was telling the truth - and he had a feeling she was - he had to talk to her partner. He had to find out just what the hell was going on, because Asuramon and Piximon hadn’t said anything about there being another pair of partners in their group. Whatever her reasons were for not wanting to talk to Ezra and Ember, they still had to figure out what she wanted.
“Sure,” he said, and he could practically feel Ezra cringe behind him. “Why just us, though?”
Kiki bit her lip. “I don’t know. She didn’t tell me. I asked, but she just said that she wants to tell you two directly.” Kiki straightened herself up, looking back over her shoulder for a second. “I need to get going. Just… promise me you’ll be back here later tonight, okay? Maybe around seven? Seven-thirty? I can’t do any later than that, sorry.”
Alex nodded. “Sounds good. Uh… don’t go around telling anyone else about us, though.”
“Only if you don’t tell anyone about us.”
Fair enough. Alex lifted a hand to wave goodbye as Kiki left. When he was certain she was gone, he released a long, heavy sigh, raising both eyebrows at Ezra and Ember.
“The fuck was that about,” he said, at the same time as Ezra said “That was sketchy as hell.” They both cracked a smile, but the mirth died down as they realized the importance of their questions.
They headed away from the cafe to escape any other nearby eavesdroppers and give their partners the chance to talk, something they hadn’t been able to yet. There had been enough people inside and outside the cafe that they couldn’t risk it.
“I don’t trust it,” Ezra said, putting his free hand on his hip. “Not that I don’t trust her, she seems nice, but… another pair of partners? That we haven’t heard anything about until now?”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Alex said, and the two Digimon nodded their agreement. “But she clearly knows a Digimon. She brought up the term and the Digital World without either of us saying anything. Sure, maybe she was just listening super closely to what we were saying inside, but if that’s the case, at worst this is some sort of prank.”
“And at best?” Ember piped up.
“At best, she really does have a partner, and they’re literally a god and can defeat Plutomon in one hit,” Alex said. “It’s not likely, but that would be the best case scenario.”
“At second best, she does actually have a partner,” Ezra added, “and we get another addition to the group. But I don’t think that’s likely either.”
“But what else would it be other than her partner?” Alex asked. “If it hasn’t attacked her or said anything about, like… ‘the end of the world’ or ‘fulfilling her duty’, then it’s probably not a Digimon Plutomon sent through.”
Castor rustled in his arms, peering up at him. “It could just be a Digimon who’s falsely claiming that they’re partners.”
“But do random Digimon know about partnerships?”
“…Not typically.”
“I think we’re losing the plot,” Ezra cut in. “She knows a Digimon, and she wants to talk to you two.” He inclined his head at Alex and Castor, then looked down at Ember. “I don’t think her ‘partner’ would like it if I showed up uninvited, but… it feels weird. What if something goes wrong?”
He looked over at Alex, eyes desperately pleading for something he couldn’t discern. “If something happens to you and nobody’s around to help and I could have done something, I… I don’t know how I’ll manage that.”
Alex stopped in his tracks, just at the corner of the sidewalk they’d been walking down. The light on the other side of the street flashed green, and cars rolled past them, oblivious to what was going on between the four individuals standing on the edge of the pavement.
“I have to do something,” Alex said, and Ezra closed his eyes. “I have to find out what’s going on. I’ll be okay. I have Cas with me.” He plastered a smile onto his face, trying his best to reassure Ezra. “You’ve run off on your own before. You’ve attacked a Digimon. Twice. I think I’ll be fine.”
“I know,” he mumbled, rubbing his neck. “Just… be safe, okay? And call me if anything goes wrong. Or Quinn. Call both of us, actually. But call me first. Actually, call Quinn first. But then call me immediately afterward.”
“I will,” Alex said, reaching forward to pull Ezra closer and kiss him. When they separated, he flushed a deep shade of red, the same way he always did when Alex kissed him. He grinned.
He’d be just fine.
Later that night, the group was all together again back at the motel, finishing up their dinner. It was sandwiches again - the easiest thing for Quinn to grab large quantities of - but Alex didn’t mind. It was just like Quinn had said earlier that morning: at least it wasn’t digitakes.
They’d spent most of the meal regaling their experiences from the day. Moxie and Damien had checked out the park that the previous night’s battle had taken place in, finding several people taking photos and filming the damage. Quinn had looked online and found that it had made it to the local news, but thankfully nobody knew what had caused any of it.
Alex, Ezra, and their partners didn’t say anything about meeting Kiki. Ezra was clearly on edge, but when pressed by Harmony, he said he was just worried about the possibility of more Digimon showing up.
It wasn’t that far off from the truth, honestly, but Alex still felt a twinge of guilt.
But he couldn’t say anything. If he told Quinn about going off to meet with a strange Digimon, there was no way she’d let him. She’d go by herself, and Gigi - whoever she may be - wouldn’t be happy about that.
So it wasn’t that he was surprised that Quinn took him aside when he said he and Castor were going to go back out. It was unfortunate, yes, but he’d expected it.
“You know it’s 7 PM, right?” she said, folding her arms across her chest. At her feet, Alpha looked pointedly from his partner to Alex, his expression revealing nothing.
“Yes,” Alex said. “I just wanted to go on a walk. Alone.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you go on one earlier?”
“I want to go on another. I will be back before curfew. Cas will keep me in check.” He lifted him up in his arms to accentuate his point; Castor rolled his eyes but nodded.
Quinn eyed the two for a few more agonizingly long seconds, then nodded, leaning back somewhat. “Alright. Keep an eye out. Don’t get jumped in any dark alleyways. And remember - something goes wrong, you call me. Got it?”
“Got it,” Alex said for the second time that day, and Quinn smiled. She saluted the two of them as Alex turned to leave, and he waved back at her over his shoulder.
He passed by Ezra as he headed toward the exit of the pool, leaning in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek but not saying anything. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and lead Quinn to believe there was something else going on.
Castor didn’t say anything until they were off the motel lot and across the street, and when he did, it was quiet. “I’m sure it would be fine if you told her.”
“It wouldn’t,” Alex said, and Castor exhaled slowly.
“I know.”
They walked in silence the rest of the way, lost in their own thoughts. The entire way there Alex kept wondering if he was making a huge mistake. What if it really is a prank? What if Gigi really is working for Plutomon? What if there’s no Digimon at all and Kiki calls the cops or something and they kidnap me and torture Castor?
Wow, that really was not helping. Alex sighed and looked up to the sky, seeing the moon rising steadily in the distance. Darkness was approaching quickly; they weren’t deep enough into spring for it to still be light at this hour.
A beeping noise coming from his pocket startled him back to the present - a familiar, but not incredibly so, sound. Frowning, Alex reached in and pulled his digivice out, switching it on to see the map was active. Just like it had been yesterday, when they’d all gotten the reading for what had turned out to be Grademon.
And, sure enough, a small white dot was present at the very top of his screen, just coming into range as he walked closer to it. Guess that’s why we didn’t get an alert whenever Gigi first came through.
He thumbed over the dot to bring up the information on it, and just as before, it simply read “???”. He supposed it made sense. Whatever Digimon it was, he probably hadn’t come across it before.
…He hoped that wasn’t a bad thing.
It took a while longer to reach the cafe. Alex hadn’t realized just how far he and Ezra had gone earlier in the day. The park that he and Castor had stopped at first was only about halfway between the motel and the cafe, and he cast a glance over at it when they passed by.
When they finally approached the cafe, it was dark enough that Alex had to strain to identify the figure sitting at one of the outdoor tables. There were streetlights on, and the cafe itself was dimly lit despite being closed, but Alex struggled to recognize Kiki until he got close enough to get her attention by waving. As soon as she caught sight of him, she practically leapt out of her seat for him, her eyes wide.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” she said, voice hushed and fervent. “Gigi was right here just a few minutes ago but I don’t know where she went. I know that she still has to hide even though it’s nighttime but she was right there and I just -”
She was rambling at this point, her hands waving frantically as she struggled to get her words out. Alex placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down and she gulped a breath in.
“It’s alright,” he said. “She’s still nearby. I can check my digivice to see where she went off to.”
Kiki blinked, her face shifting to one of confusion. “Your what? How can you see where she went?”
Alex returned the expression. “You don’t have your digivice?” So Gigi hadn’t evolved yet, then. Is she an in-training level like our partners devolved to, or is she still a rookie? Kiki keeps saying she has to hide - is she too big to pass off as easily as Castor and the others?
Shaking his head, Alex pulled his digivice out, switching to the map option as soon as he turned it on. Kiki’s eyes went wide as she took in the device, leaning in closer to get a better look.
The dot for the other Digimon was almost overlapping with the red one indicating Alex’s own digivice. He frowned, looking up and around. She had to be somewhere if the digivice was showing that she was that close.
“Alex,” Castor suddenly said, and Kiki jumped slightly upon hearing his voice and the urgency in it, “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Without warning he jumped out of Alex’s arms and turned around. Alex followed his movement, his back to the cafe door as he looked out around him. A car drove past, the only movement other than their own breathing.
Kiki peeked out from behind Alex. “She’s still nearby, right? She didn’t run away, did she?”
“It says she’s right here,” Alex mumbled, looking down at his digivice again. The dot had moved just slightly, now almost completely covering his own. Alex frowned and looked back up at the parking lot across the street. Nothing there. He looked both ways up and down the sidewalk. No Digimon in sight. He glanced over his shoulder to see inside the cafe, knowing it wasn’t likely but not impossible. Sure enough, there was nobody visible within.
There wasn’t anywhere left to look.
…Or maybe there was.
Alex turned around and looked up, up, up to the top of the cafe building, and in the low light of the streetlamps and the moon and all the stars in the sky, he finally caught sight of something.
And it saw him too.
With a flourish and a jump, the silhouette leapt down off the building to land in front of Alex and Castor and Kiki. It smiled, unfurling itself and stretching up to its full height.
“Well, here you finally are,” she purred, raising a hand to her face. “Thank you, Kiki darling.”
This was, presumably, Gigi.
She was almost entirely humanoid, the only true difference between her and someone in cosplay being her size (about as tall as the streetlamps dotting the sidewalk). She wore a flowing green robe with black underclothes, ribbons, and boots, matching the four black demon wings that spread from her back. Her hair, also black, was pinned up by various green and gold accessories, similar to the comb and horn decorations atop her head. There were more golden accents all over her outfit, and, as if to match, she wore a large golden gauntlet over her right arm, ending in wickedly sharp claws.
She smiled down at the three individuals gathered before her, revealing sharp fangs and piercing yellow eyes.
…Well… at least she wasn’t manic…?
Castor was instantly on high alert, baring his teeth up at the Digimon. It wasn’t very effective with the size difference between the two of them, but the Digimon raised an eyebrow down at him, obviously amused.
“I have to say,” she said, her eyes flicking up to meet Alex’s, “I didn’t really think you’d come alone. Didn’t you realize how foolish of an idea that is?”
“What do you mean?” Kiki asked, stepping forward with her arms wrapped around her midriff. She clenched her fingers tighter as she looked up at the Digimon (her partner? Gigi?). “What’s going on? You told me you wanted to talk to them. Why is that a bad idea…?”
The Digimon blinked and then smiled again. “You really haven’t realized, have you? My, my. Well, at least they know what’s going on.” She pointed a long golden claw down at Alex and Castor, then spread her arms out wide. “After all… it’s me! Prophet of doom! Bringer of your demise! Harbinger of death.”
Alex’s heart sank in his chest.
He knew who this was now. He’d had a feeling ever since she’d first leapt down, when she’d looked at him like she knew him. He’d been hoping against hope that something like this wouldn’t happen. He knew this Digimon. The words she spoke were enough to confirm his suspicions.
He knew who she was, but also who she was not.
“LadyDevimon?”
The Digimon grinned, lifting a claw to her chin. “Oh, not anymore. It’s Lilithmon now! And what a lovely evolution I’ve undergone, don’t you think?” She twirled around, her wings and robe flaring out as she spun. “He’s finally granted me the power he promised me so long ago. The power I deserve. It took a little while, but it’s been so worth it in the end!”
“You’re not under his control anymore,” Castor said, and Lilithmon blinked down at him, almost like she’d forgotten he was even there.
“Of course not. It’s cute that you assume I would be.” She sighed, raising her non-gloved hand to examine her nails. “I still follow him, but now I have that power, and I intend to use it.”
Her eyes flashed, and her grin spread wider on her face as she flexed her golden claws. “And for once, you’re in no position to stop me.
She lunged for Castor before Alex even realized she was attacking. He stumbled forward, reaching out for his partner, while Kiki recoiled with an “eep”, pressing her back up against the door of the cafe. Lilithmon’s claws glowed bright green just as they were about to strike Castor, but it was quickly broken up by a flash of red coming from Castor himself.
Alex vaguely heard his digivice beep and say something in his pocket, and when he looked back, Castor stood in his rookie form - but he wasn’t stood for long, as he jumped out of the way of Lilithmon’s attack just in time. She struck the pavement instead, sending chunks of concrete and flurries of dust up from where she cracked it.
Hissing, she whirled around to face Castor, a few paces behind her. He lifted his chin and narrowed his eyes, his claws beginning to glow.
“
When the light cleared, he had evolved to champion, and wasted no time in attacking again. “
Lilithmon dove to avoid the attack, leaving the fireball to sail directly into the brickwork of the cafe behind her. Alex winced, practically pulling Kiki away as a couple bricks fell where she’d just been standing.
“I hope they don’t make us pay for that,” Alex said under his breath, trying to lighten the mood, but Kiki wasn’t having any of it. In fact, she was practically beside herself, taking quick short breaths with her eyes wide and hands held close to her chest. She blinked up at Alex, fear evident on her face.
“What are they doing?” she squeaked, flinching as Lilithmon called out another attack. “Why are they fighting? Why did yours get bigger? What’s going on?”
Alex tilted his head, confused by her confusion. “Lilith - Gigi is… she’s…” He trailed off, looking back over his shoulder at where the fight was continuing. Castor had managed to lead Lilithmon into the parking lot across the street, though not without trampling a few bushes and cracking the pavement some more. Further down the street, a few cars had stopped, some of their drivers having left their vehicles to get a better look at the fight.
Alex bit his lip. Goddamnit, we don’t need any brain worms right now. He shook himself out, grabbing Kiki’s hand and heading across the street, trying to hide his face from the onlookers the best he could.
But Kiki resisted, her arm going taut as she stood her ground. “What’s going on,” she repeated, clenching her remaining hand into a fist. “Why is Gigi attacking you? She told me she wanted to talk! What’s happening?”
“We’ve met her before,” Alex said quickly, tugging on Kiki’s hand. She didn’t relent. “Back in the Digital World. She attacked us. That’s… that’s what the Digimon who work for Plutomon do. And she’s one of them.”
Kiki shook her head. “I don’t know who that is! Gigi’s my partner! She shouldn’t be fighting! She… she said she wanted to talk to you…” Kiki clutched her head, squeezing her eyes shut as they began to shine. “I’m so sorry, I…”
Without another word, she wrested her hand free of Alex’s, darting toward the two Digimon. Alex raced after her, skidding to a halt just next to where she’d stopped mere feet away from Lilithmon.
“Gigi!” she shouted, her fists held tightly at her side. “What are you doing? Why are you fighting?”
Lilithmon paused, knocking Castor away with a swipe of her claw. She stared down at Kiki, a smile spreading across her face. “You poor thing. I don’t see why you insist on calling me that. I told you my name is Lilithmon.” She sighed, shaking her head out and looking over at where Castor was getting to his feet. “Oh well. You gave me what I needed. Your usefulness has been exhausted.
Lilithmon drew her clawed hand in a circle, forming a glowing green ring in the air in front of her, small symbols dancing within. When it was complete, she held her hand out palm-up and blew a kiss through it. As it passed through, the circle glowed brighter, and then shot out in a beam, aimed directly at Alex and Kiki.
They did not react in time. Castor, however, did, practically throwing himself into them and shoving them out of range just as the beam would have struck them, taking the hit himself. He growled as it knocked him to the ground, struggling to get back up, and Alex frowned, his fingers tightening around his digivice.
Right, his digivice. He quickly switched it on as Lilithmon swept down at Castor, flicking him aside without so much as a second glance, and aimed it directly at her.
“Lilithmon,” it said, and Kiki frowned at it in confusion. “Mega level Demon Lord Digimon. It confounds its opponents with its bewitchingly lovely appearance, and it is said that those who are taken in by its temptations are inevitably granted death.”
Not incredibly helpful, but when was it ever? Though it’s good that it’s not freaking out like Damien’s did with Plutomon…? And she’s a mega level just like he was…
Lilithmon paid no mind to him - or rather, she paid mind to him, but not his digivice. When she was satisfied that Castor was out of the picture, she set her sights on Alex. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she said, stepping toward him slowly, “for so long. Ever since you and that other brat ran me out of the city, I’ve been waiting. You’re going to regret making a fool out of me.”
“You’re the only one who made a fool of yourself,” Alex said, because he didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut. Kiki was holding tight to his arm, looking between him and Castor and Lilithmon over and over again. “I don’t care whether you’re following Plutomon willingly or not. And I also don’t care about whatever mission he gave you. None of that matters anymore.”
“You seem to care an awful lot, actually,” she said, pulling her wings in closer. “Considering you’re going on another of your ridiculous diatribes again. You’re sick and tired of us? Well, we’re sick and tired of listening to you whine about it.” She sneered down at him, tapping two of her claws together with a clinking sound. “What is it that you’re even expecting to accomplish by pathologizing me? You think I’m going to sit down and give up just because you’re using a bunch of big words?”
“Not exactly,” Alex said, seconds before Castor rammed into Lilithmon from behind, almost toppling her over.
She shrieked and shoved herself to her feet, whirling on him and spreading her arms out. “You wretch!
From the ground in front of her, a shadowy void began to form, swirling with dark energy. It seemed for a moment that that was all that would happen - but then a hand, grotesquely monstrous and almost bigger than Lilithmon herself, shot straight up from the center of the void, reaching out for Castor with wickedly long claws.
He tried to scramble backward, but it had a deceptively large range, and grabbed him with almost no effort. He growled and shook himself around, trying to free himself, but it simply tightened its grasp, stilling him instantly.
It took all of Alex’s willpower not to lunge forward and pry the fingers away from Castor on his own - the only thing that prevented him was Kiki’s firm hold on his arm. He bit his lip so hard he tasted blood and glowered up at Lilithmon, who simply smirked in return.
“Not so fond of being on the receiving end, hmm?” she said, tilting her head.
“
Lilithmon stumbled forward, dazed by a blast of energy hitting her square in the back. The suddenness was enough for the hand holding Castor to retreat into its void, which disappeared entirely, and with a flash of almost-blinding white, Castor stood tall in his ultimate form.
But Lilithmon didn’t care about that - she cared about whatever had attacked her. She whipped around with a fury alight in her eyes, and Alex followed her gaze, never so relieved in his life to see the appearance of Alpha - already in his own ultimate form - and Quinn, clinging to his back, a burning rage of her own visible on her face.
Alex was pretty sure that was partially directed at him, from the way she threw herself from her partner’s back, ran over to him, and shoved him hard enough that he fell flat on his ass.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she shouted, almost inaudible above the roars of Alpha and Lilithmon and Castor jumping into battle.
Alex just stared at her.
She wasn’t a fan of that response. “Going off on your own to fight a mega level? Without even telling me that’s what you’re doing? Are you insane? What is your problem?” She groaned and dug her hands into her hair, eyes flicking between Alpha still fighting Lilithmon and Alex still down at her feet and Kiki still standing just behind him. She blinked, pausing for a moment, and then pointed at her. “And who the hell is -”
“
“
“
Quinn hissed and reached down to pull Alex to his feet, her nails digging too deep into his skin to be an accident. “You lied to me,” she said, and Alex felt something curdle in his stomach. “To my face. That’s not - you’re -” She cut herself off, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, and then looked at Kiki. “You. Why are you here? There are giant monsters fighting to the death literally ten feet away and you’re acting like this is normal. What’s your deal?”
Kiki froze, a single squeak escaping from her lips, and she grabbed onto Alex’s arm again. He sighed and rubbed his face, trying not to meet Quinn’s glare. “I came out here tonight to meet her. Because she said she had a partner. Who then turned out to be that.” He gestured over at Lilithmon, and Quinn looked at him like he was a crazy person for a second, before something clicked in her expression.
“Shit,” she muttered. “I’m guessing you don’t have a digivice?” When Kiki just tilted her head, Quinn lifted her own and shook it around. “This thing. If that Digimon really was your partner, this would’ve downloaded on your phone when you first met her. Considering she is actively attacking our partners, and that you don’t seem to recognize this, I don’t think it did.”
Kiki shook her head and Quinn groaned. “Wonderful. Awesome. This is going great. We’re fighting a Demon Lord, I don’t know if Alpha can make it to mega, Castor definitely can’t, and I told everyone else back at the motel not to follow me no matter what.”
“Why?” Alex asked, and Quinn opened her mouth to reply, but then something else hit him. “Wait, Demon Lord? What’s that?” That’s what my digivice said she was, but -?
“Not important,” Quinn said, and Alex wanted to argue back, tell her that it was important if she brought it up like that, but he snapped his mouth shut when she turned back toward the fighting Digimon.
Around them, more bystanders had appeared, half of them watching with horror and half with terror. Several of them were recording the fight with their phones, and a few - unfortunately - were filming from an angle where Alex, Kiki, and Quinn would be caught in the videos as well. There wasn’t anything they could do to make themselves look less conspicuous, not when they’d been standing in the same spot for several minutes and paying very close attention to the giant monsters. Oh well. They’d deal with that later. Right now, they had to focus on the giant demon woman who was currently destroying the parking lot and the two dragons.
“
Alex did.
“Your problem’s with us, right?” he called out before Lilithmon could swipe at Castor with a glowing claw. She looked back over her shoulder at him, arching one brow, and he squared his shoulders before continuing. “Castor and me? We’ll fight you one on one. A fair fight. If you keep going like this, you’re just going to get people hurt.”
Lilithmon laughed, taking barely a second to register his words. “Oh, darling, but that’s the point!” She spread her arms out, turning in a circle to gesture at the parking lot and bystanders around her. “A few early deaths won’t change much! He won’t be too upset if I take some of them! I’m just warming up!”
Alex frowned, but it was Castor who spoke next, holding one arm close to his chest. “What do you mean ‘early deaths’?”
Lilithmon looked over at him with something akin to disgust. “It’s not my fault if you haven’t figured it out yet. Just know that, soon enough, all of this will be over, and your efforts will have been for nothing. Everything’s been set in motion already. You’re powerless to stop us.”
“
“
Lilithmon cut Alpha off before he could even reach her, summoning the hand right in front of him and stopping him in his tracks. It grabbed him with ease, lifting him high into the air and engulfing him with its sheer size.
It gave a tight squeeze, its claws digging into Alpha’s armor and exposed scales, and with a flash of black, he shrank down to his rookie form. He tumbled out of the hand’s grasp, too small for it to hold him any longer, and Quinn rushed forward to grab him, before whipping around to face Lilithmon.
“
“Castor!” Quinn yelled, her arms tightening around Alpha. “Fall back! We’ll call the others, we’ll get backup, we -”
Castor shook his head. “No. Someone needs to fight.” He looked back over his shoulder at Quinn and Alpha. “Alpha is injured. I’m not. I can keep going.”
He didn’t wait for a response before he was rushing Lilithmon again, slashing out with his tail and limbs over and over again. Sometimes they would glow red, other times not, and it was a random enough pattern that Lilithmon wasn’t able to discern from it whether he was about to feint or actually hit her. Quinn watched for a few moments, then raced over to where Alex and Kiki still stood, watching the fight continue.
“You need to call him off,” she said to Alex, and he furrowed his brow. “He’s going to get himself killed. He can’t handle her.”
“And Alpha could?” he shot back, noticing the way Quinn’s jaw tensed. “He’s right. Someone needs to fight her, because nobody is coming to help us. You said it yourself.”
Quinn faltered for a second, and then her eyes narrowed, something new flickering within. “Alex, you’re not supposed to be here. You lied to me about what you were doing and where you were going, and now we’re facing a Demon Lord, all on our own, with one ultimate who’s never evolved to mega and one rookie who can’t because he just got knocked out while he was busy trying to protect your partner.”
“This isn’t his fault!” Alex shouted, gesturing at Castor, and Quinn drew herself taller.
“And it sure as hell isn’t mine or Alpha’s! None of this is supposed to be happening! You’re not supposed to be here and Castor isn’t supposed to be fighting her and Alpha isn’t -” She cut herself off, drawing in a shaky breath and glancing down at her partner, still held in her arms, somehow deceptively light despite his size.
She shook her head, then paused again, frowning. “Where the hell is -”
“Gigi!”
Damnit.
Alex grit his teeth and turned to see Kiki facing Lilithmon, arms and eyes both wide. Lilithmon paused, looking down her nose at her, but at least she didn’t attack - though Alex wasn’t sure how long that would last.
Kiki balled her hands into fists and took a hesitant step forward, and Castor drifted slightly closer, ready to intervene if need be. Kiki didn’t pay attention to him; she just stared up at Lilithmon with something in her eyes that Alex couldn’t decipher.
“Why are you doing this,” she said, her voice far too soft. “We’re friends. We’re partners. Please stop fighting.”
“I was never your partner,” Lilithmon said, and Alex saw Kiki practically crumble. “You were foolish enough to believe me and get me close to the other humans. That’s all I ever needed from you.”
Kiki’s breath hitched, and Alex grit his teeth. Lilithmon saw that Kiki was vulnerable, and she took advantage of that. She doesn’t even feel any remorse. I wasn’t really expecting her to, considering she’s working for Plutomon, but…
But what? He’d said it himself; he didn’t care what she was hoping to accomplish or why she was doing it in the first place. The only thing that mattered was that she was, and that he and Castor were going to stop her, because that’s what they needed to do.
We can’t save everyone. I know that. But even if we can’t, we have to try. For Kiki’s sake. For everyone who Plutomon has used along the way.
Against his better judgment, against every rational thought in his mind screaming at him, against the feeling of Quinn reaching out to pull him back, he stepped forward.
“You’re not going to win this,” he said, and Lilithmon arched a brow down at him. “None of you are. You’re not going to win this fight, and Plutomon isn’t going to win his war. Because we’re not cowards. We’re not going to give up no matter what you try to say or do to us.” He inhaled sharply and drew himself taller, glaring up at Lilithmon with all of the repressed anger and fury he’d been holding deep within his chest over the past three months, and he smiled. “You’re not going to hurt anyone else.”
“You’re wasting your breath,” Lilithmon spat, her gauntlet beginning to glow green. “Do you really think your feeble words are enough to change my mind? Really?”
“I’m not trying to change your mind,” Alex said, bracing himself. “And the only thing I’m wasting is your time. You talk a big game for someone who still hasn’t figured out what I’m really trying to do.”
Lilithmon furrowed her brow and was subsequently shoved to the ground by Castor charging at her from behind. She shrieked and whirled around, swiping out at him, but he was already charging up his own attack, his blades flashing red. “
He managed to land a few hits on her, but was quickly overpowered by Lilithmon’s own strength and size, pinning him to the ground with her bare hand and holding the other poised just above his chest. He growled and snapped his jaws at her, but she simply struck him with her gauntlet, not even bothering to call an attack. Castor hissed as the green glow seemed to seep into his scales, and Lilithmon laughed.
“Such misplaced confidence,” she cooed, digging her claws deeper into him. “You’ve tried time and again and yet you’ve never managed to truly defeat me. Even when you had your filthy allies it wasn’t enough. When are you going to accept that you’re the root of the problem?”
Castor went still, and Alex took a step forward, aware of Kiki and Quinn watching in his periphery.
“He’s not,” he said, and Lilithmon’s wings twitched, but she didn’t turn around. “He’s not the problem. Neither am I. None of us are. You know who really is?”
“Do tell,” Lilithmon said, her eyes flicking back to meet his for a split second.
Alex lifted his chin and clenched his hand around his digivice, practically vibrating in his grip. “You. You and Plutomon and everyone else who works for him. You’ve tried time and again to stop us, but you’ve always failed. You keep underestimating us and what we’re capable of.”
He paused, feeling something spark in his chest, turning quickly into a blaze, a raging fire, and he grinned against it, looking up at Lilithmon again. “Plutomon once had a partner. He should know what it’s like. Castor and I have always had each other, and we always will, and that’s why I’m not giving up, and that’s what you’re missing.”
Lilithmon’s lip curled, and she opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Alex lifted his hands to cup around his mouth, one still holding his digivice. It was almost burning against his skin, but he powered through the pain, and shouted out with everything he had left in him. “You’re a fucking idiot if you think we’re going to give up and you’re even more of an idiot if you think we can’t beat you! Castor! Give her everything you’ve got!”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” his partner growled, shoving Lilithmon off him while she was distracted, and he grinned over at Alex.
Alex smiled back, tightening his fingers around his still flaming digivice, and then it burst into light, brighter than any star Alex had ever seen.
He blinked, startled by the suddenness, and it didn’t help to ease his confusion when it began to speak, in a voice very similar to the one it usually used but so, so much different - louder, more definitive, more confident.
“Final evolution activated. Do you want to proceed?”
What?
He looked down at the screen, but couldn’t see anything through the light, almost blinding in its luminescence. Was it really asking him if he wanted to -?
“Say yes!” Quinn shouted, at the same time as Lilithmon cried out in rage and turned toward him, claws glowing and pupils pinprick-thin.
He didn’t think. He just looked over at Castor, who met his gaze, and smiled again. “Yes,” he said, and the light on his digivice died down.
“Final evolution engaged. Please do not turn off the digivice while evolution is in progress.”
Then it exploded into light again, and everything went dead silent, and then pure white.
Realize your passion.
Alex blinked, and immediately tensed as he took in his surroundings. What had been a half-destroyed parking lot late at night just a second ago was now simply a blank white space - or, not entirely blank, he realized. Small particles of light danced around in the air, illuminating the area, and when Alex reached a hand up to touch one of them, his fingers came away glitchy and warm for a second.
He frowned, instinctively looking down to his digivice, but it wasn’t there. His hands were empty. Growing more unsettled by the second, he turned around, and saw a very tiny black shape sitting on the ground just a few feet ahead of him.
He knew instantly, even without having seen this form before, that that was Castor.
Alex knelt down, and Castor hopped over to him, landing in his open palms held in his lap. He couldn’t help himself, and cracked a smile, and though Castor did not have a mouth, his bright red eyes crinkled in his own sort of grin.
“Do you know what’s going on?” Alex said, relieved to see he could speak in this strange space. “What is this place?”
“I don’t know,” Castor said, voice high-pitched and slightly squeaky, and Alex couldn’t resist a snicker. “I’ve never…” Seen this place? Heard of anything like it? Thought this would happen?
He didn’t finish his sentence, instead huffing lightly and blinking up at Alex. “But I don’t think it matters one way or another. …We’ve come quite far, haven’t we?”
Alex nodded. “Figuratively and literally. It… I still find it hard to believe, sometimes, that I’ve managed to make it this far.”
“You’ve come a long way from where you started those few months ago,” Castor said. “I’m… really proud of you and who you’ve become. I always have been, but even more so after tonight.”
Alex shrugged, but Castor wasn’t done. “I’m serious. Throughout everything we’ve been through, you’ve had such an unwavering confidence through it all. It hasn’t always been for the best, but… it’s been enough to lead you and me to where we are right now. And I think that’s worth something.”
“I think you’ve come a long way too,” Alex said, almost surprising himself. “You were… you doubted yourself so much when we first met. Every step of the way. And now look at you. You’re so sure of yourself. You know exactly what to do to get what you want and need. Tonight’s proof enough of that.”
Castor didn’t respond immediately, and Alex fell silent, content to simply stay here in this place with his partner. He still didn’t know where they were, or what this was, or what was going to happen next. But he had Castor with him, and that was enough. It had always been enough.
“I’m really glad I met you,” Castor said eventually, and Alex bit his lip. “I’m glad we’ve done all of this. Even if it hasn’t always been easy or fun, I’m glad I have you.”
He looked up at Alex, then, his eyes shining red with so many things Alex couldn’t put a name to. “You have a deep passion for life burning within you. Don’t ever let anyone quench that flame.”
Alex smiled down at him. “So do you.”
Out of the corner of his eyes, Alex saw something new - a red glow, creeping in from the edges of the space, inching toward them. Without thinking, he lifted Castor to hold him against his chest, squeezing him as tight as he safely could.
As the glow spread over them, bathing them in warm light, Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“
Alex opened his eyes, instantly assaulted by light and darkness and sound and cold air. He blinked, somewhat disoriented, both by the sudden change in scenery as well as the swirling red light fading away from what he could only assume was his partner, and his digivice - safely back in his hand - finally powered down.
“Jesmon,” it said aloud, and he lifted it to get a better look at the screen. “Mega level Holy Knight Digimon. It is endowed with the ability to sense unusual phenomena that occur all over the Digital World, and rather than act independently, it tends to employ teamwork and coordinated responses.”
Castor was already fully in his new form, though it was hard to tell at first due to the still-fading light and the similarities between this form and his previous. He was still bipedal and mostly white, with blades for limbs and a flowing red cape, but the longer Alex looked at him, the more differences he spotted.
For starters, he was much larger and taller, more imposing in this form than any of his others, and the skeletal appearance of his ultimate stage had been enhanced in this one. Gold spines and armor decorated his body, most notably his claws and the spikes that lined his legs and chest. His blades had all been strengthened, shinier and sharper than ever before, as if to match the glowing blue accents all over his armor.
He stretched out, now towering over Lilithmon, and extended one bladed arm toward her. “This ends here and now.” Even his voice was different, deeper and more commanding than ever before.
Lilithmon’s eyes narrowed for a split second, before she laughed, covering her mouth with one hand. “You really think one evolution is enough to turn the tide? By all means, give it your best shot, but don’t be disappointed when - and I do mean when - you fail.”
Castor didn’t say anything else, simply straightened himself out and spread both his arms. From the space between his arms, three glowing red things appeared, looking almost like flaming spirits with the head of a dragon.
In a rush of clarity, something hit Alex. These spirits - he had seen them before, or at least something similar to them. The iron door knocker at Aldamon’s house, up on Twister Mountain; it had been in the shape of these spirits’ heads almost exactly. He’d thought at the time that it was supposed to be similar to Castor - or rather, Hackmon - but now, staring at these spirits, he knew what it was.
Just how much did Aldamon know?
But that was far from the biggest concern. The biggest concern - for Lilithmon, at least - was that these dragon spirits, immediately upon appearing, moved into a triangular formation in front of Castor and began to glow. Castor raised one arm into the sky, extending its blade, and swept it outwards, shouting as he did so. “
As he finished calling his attack, the spirits fired a beam of energy directly at Lilithmon, engulfing her entirely. She shrieked and struggled against the onslaught, barely keeping herself standing even as the attack died down.
She inhaled sharply, glaring up at Castor and clenching her clawed hand. “I see,” she said, voice heavy. “I see. Well then.
The void formed directly under Castor, opening faster than it ever had before, but as the hand reached up for him, Castor crossed his arms over his chest and the spirits rushed to cover him, forming what looked to be a barrier of fire. “
“Worthless,” Lilithmon growled, forming a spell circle in front of her. “
As she blew her kiss through it and the beam shot for Castor, he dodged to the side, but Lilithmon was prepared for this. She lunged for him, gauntlet at the ready and glowing green, and swiped her claws down his side.
Just as always, Castor was left with no physical wounds, but he winced in pain nonetheless - and, strangely enough, so did Alex. He felt a stabbing in his side as if Lilithmon had aimed for him instead, and hesitantly, he lifted his shirt to check to see what it could possibly be.
Nothing. There was nothing there - no injury, no indication that anything had happened at all, other than that lingering pain.
That was curious.
Lilithmon smirked as Castor looked over at Alex, concern shining in his eyes. “I told you you’d fail. I don’t know why you seem so confused.”
“That’s not -” Alex started, but cut himself off when he felt a hand on his shoulder - Quinn. Kiki was standing just behind her, with Alpha practically wrapped around her legs in a defensive posture.
Quinn gave Alex a look which he could only interpret as understanding. She let her hand drop to her side and looked up at Lilithmon, but said nothing more.
It was just as well, since Lilithmon didn’t seem interested in them anymore. Her gauntlet began to glow again and she hurled herself at Castor, managing to knock him to the ground despite their size difference, and swiped down at him with a cry of “
“
With a hiss, she shoved herself up, wobbling slightly on her legs. Castor drifted closer, holding one arm out to prevent her from getting too close.
“You should forfeit now while you have the strength and the chance,” he said, and Lilithmon glowered at him.
“There’s nothing left for me if I can’t complete my mission,” she said, flexing her claws. “You still don’t understand. This is what I was made for. Everything I’ve done has been to get me to where I am right now, and I’m not going to let your pathetic group stop me.”
Castor did not reply, simply hovered in place, and Lilithmon huffed in disdain. She looked him up and down, her gauntlet clenching into a fist, and then -
And then she turned and went for the humans, standing not far enough away, her claws gleaming green and a wicked grin on her face.
She was aiming at Kiki.
“
“No!”
Alex jumped forward without even thinking, practically barreling into Kiki just moments before Lilithmon reached her. With a flash, Lilithmon’s attack connected, and Alex cried out as he felt something strike his face, slashing across his eye.
He stumbled forward and fell to his knees, and somewhere in the distance - or maybe not distance, maybe that was just the pain making everything around him seem fuzzy - he heard Castor roar and lunge for Lilithmon, his spirits flickering into existence again. “
Alex was vaguely aware of some of the onlookers, who for some reason were still here and still watching all of this, approaching him, but when Castor clashed with Lilithmon, they backed up. Quinn and Kiki knelt down next to him, Alpha standing guard between the three of them and the two battling Digimon as Quinn steadied Alex with her hands on his shoulders.
His own hand came up to dart at his eyelid, coming away deep red. He could still mostly see, thankfully, though his vision was blurred with blood and pain. It was hard to tell how deep the wound was, but it hurt like a bitch, and the blood wasn’t stopping.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Kiki was saying, over and over like a mantra of some sort. Alex tried to shake his head, but that just made him dizzy, and he screwed his eyes shut as he reoriented himself.
He could still feel stings of pain peppering his body whenever Lilithmon hit Castor, but they were fainter this time, less frequent. He pulled himself up onto his knees to look over at the fight just as Castor pinned her to the ground, one bladed arm held just above her throat.
Lilithmon laughed, spreading her arms out wide. “I didn’t actually want to hurt them,” she giggled, as the very tips of her wings and sleeves began to pixelate. “I thought you’d be better at recognizing a feint. It’s just a shame your partner tried to play the hero.” She sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her face. “I just needed to rile you up a bit. Thank you for playing your part so well. It truly means the world to us.”
Castor’s expression hardened, but he said nothing. Lilithmon shifted her head to look over at the three humans - no, at Kiki.
With a wink and one last smile, she burst into pixels. As her data faded away, a small green orb shone in the air for a split second, and then it too disappeared.
Castor devolved almost instantly, consumed in another rush of red light and energy as he shrank and dropped to the ground. He headed for Alex immediately, brows pinched together, but he didn’t get the chance to say anything before Quinn hoisted Alex and Kiki up and began to tug at them.
“We have to go,” she said, her voice as urgent as it had been when they’d first arrived in this world just yesterday. “Now. Come on.”
Alex didn’t need telling twice, and he helped Quinn pull Kiki along as they and the two Digimon began to run, ignoring the shouts from the remaining bystanders behind them. They didn’t have the time to think about where they were going, so they simply ran, the Digimon doing their best to stick to the shadows and the humans leading the way down side streets and alleyways.
They didn’t stop until the sound of sirens in the distance had faded away and the street they turned down was entirely empty, crouching up against the side of one of the shops lining the sidewalk. Alpha and Castor peeked out from behind a dumpster, emerging fully once they’d made sure the coast was clear.
Alex collapsed to the ground, crossing his legs and his arms around himself, trying to ignore the pain still throbbing above his eye. He didn’t bother wiping the blood away as it dripped down his face in a thin trickle. It was too hard to focus on that.
He wasn’t the only one who felt that way; Kiki fell to her knees and buried her head in her hands, her shoulders heaving. Alex looked over at her through his hazy vision as Quinn knelt down, placing a hand on her shoulder gently.
“Is everything -” Alex started, even though he knew it was a dumb question.
“Was she really not my partner?” she sobbed, pulling her hands away to stare at them. “Was she really lying to me? I thought - I thought that she - she told me she was - and now she’s - she’s dead, she -”
“Even if she wasn’t,” Alex said carefully, “she’ll - she’ll come back. Digimon are reborn after they die. Their data gets reformatted, and… they…”
He trailed off when Quinn’s breath hitched and she averted her gaze, looking down at the pavement. Something churned in his gut. “…She’ll come back,” he said again, quieter this time. “Right?”
Quinn didn’t answer. Her fingers tightened on Kiki’s shoulder.
“Quinn,” Alex said, quieter. “Tell me she’ll come back.”
“She won’t,” Quinn said, voice barely louder than a whisper, and Alex’s heart sunk into the earth below. “When Digimon die in the real world… their data disperses. It doesn’t have anywhere to return to.”
She looked up at Alex with something shining in the corners of her eyes and swallowed. “If they die here, that’s it. No second chances.”
…No second chances.
Alex felt hollow. He clenched and unclenched his fists, his knuckles scraping against the concrete beneath, and looked down at Kiki. She’d stopped crying, but her eyes were red and raw, her cheeks stained with tears that hadn’t dried yet, just like the blood dripping down Alex’s face. He reached a hand up to his eye absentmindedly, wiping at it gently, and once again it came away covered in blood, but this time, there was something else there. Maybe something abstract, like guilt, or regret, or shame, or maybe something more literal, like tears of his own. He couldn’t tell. He couldn’t focus on that. Not now. Not here.
He blinked up at Kiki again, and she looked away, refusing to meet his gaze.
Even if Gigi wasn’t really her partner, Kiki believed in her. Believed in herself. Throughout all of it.
And they don’t get a second chance. Neither of them do.
Just like I won’t if something happens to Castor.
“It’s not your fault,” Kiki said, voice distant. “She was… she…”
But… even if it’s not… she’s still gone, isn’t she? They didn’t know each other for more than a day, but…
Kiki had really believed Gigi to be her partner. Maybe, in another time, another life, they could have been.
But they weren’t going to get that chance now, and Alex couldn’t help but feel as if that was his fault.
“I have to go,” Kiki mumbled, getting to her feet unsteadily. “It’s late. My parents are probably worried.” She smiled down at Alex, however faintly. “…I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“It’s not your fault,” he echoed, and the smile slipped off Kiki’s face. She blinked rapidly, took a deep breath, and then headed down the road, looking down at her phone as she did.
Alex just watched her go from where he sat. The four of them stayed there for a long time, moving very little and saying nothing. There wasn’t anything they could say that would change anything, or that hadn’t already been said.
Castor had evolved. It hadn’t taken four years to reach his final stage. They’d defeated a mega level, a Demon Lord - whatever that was - and one of Plutomon’s followers.
But they’d made and lost a friend. They’d killed a Digimon that someone - a human - had an attachment to, even if its foundation was a lie.
And if one of their partners died here, they wouldn’t come back.
Everything had happened so quickly that Alex didn’t know how to process it.
Eventually Quinn exhaled slowly, pushing herself to her feet and leaning down to help Alex up. He took her hand without hesitating, but didn’t meet her gaze when she looked at him.
“Don’t do that again,” she said softly, and Alex knew what she meant. This. All of this. Lying to her and running off on his own late at night to talk to someone who said they had a Digimon and then getting into a fight and not calling for backup. Every bit of it had been a mistake that Alex couldn’t take back.
All he could do was move on.
“I won’t,” he mumbled, and Quinn’s expression softened. “I’m sorry.”
“I know,” she said. “…Come on. Let’s go home.”
He knew what she meant - the motel. He didn’t know why she called it home. It wasn’t anything close to the sort. But even that small, false comfort was enough.
He couldn’t help but long for the day when he would be able to really go home, when all of this would be over and he wouldn’t have to worry anymore.