The darkness was overpowering.

Takuya opened his eyes slowly, knowing even before he did so that he would not be met with any light. Sure enough, the world around him was shrouded in shadow, and deep gray fog rolled in at the corners of his vision. He could make out the silhouette of a train station all around him, but he would not have said that it was light that let him see it. Instead, it felt more like there were simply a few spots where the darkness was loose enough for him to look beyond it. There was no light; there was simply the absence of shadow.

As soon as Takuya picked out the silhouette of a train station, he felt his heart begin to drop. He knew where this was. There was only one spot he could possibly be in where he would be surrounded by such deep, all-consuming shadows... And he hated it more than anything. He should have been done with this place. He should have never had to deal with it again. He had already fought his way out twice before, and the second time, he had proven how he was able to break out. He shouldn't have been there. 

And yet, the world of the Dark Trailmon defied all reason, and it did not care for the logic Takuya offered as to why he was not meant to be there. It had chosen to suck him under its weight once again, and his only choice was to fight in order to escape. He had found himself caught in nightmares of the dark world many times before, and yet, something about tonight felt different. This was no mere nightmare. There was something far darker underlying every tiny detail he caught a glimpse of. This was not simply him dreaming up the world of the Dark Trailmon... It was him actually being there. 

Takuya's gaze dropped to his hands, and he realized that he was not Takuya at all. He had been transformed into Flamemon just as he should have expected from the outset. There was no Takuya in a world like this unless he was willing to fight to have his humanity back. He was nothing but a beast, and the world did not bend to the whims of beasts. He would have to fight and claw and scrape if he wanted to escape. He would have to battle the very fabric of reality itself if he wanted to become Takuya again--if he wanted to become human again. 

Flamemon had done it before though. He knew he had. He knew what he was doing now. The first time, he had made his way out by proving that he would not be running from his problems ever again. He could face them head-on, and he had done so when he arrived back in the Digital World. The second time, he had started to wander from the path of righteousness, and so, the Dark Trailmon had pulled him back in. Back then, he had started running from his problems once again, refusing to acknowledge that he was suffering and fighting even more so that he didn't have to bring up his issues with his friends. During that second trip, Flamemon had become Takuya when he realized that his friends would be there by his side. They would all be together so long as they were willing to fight to stand by one another tot he bitter end. 

That had worked before. It had to work this time too. He just had to remember everything that had kept him safe. Flamemon reached out internally, trying to find the grasp of his friends. They may not have been there within the world of the Dark Trailmon with him, but there were phantoms of him that existed everywhere he was willing to look. He could pull the pieces together enough to give himself the peace he sought, and that would be enough to save him. His friends had brought him salvation before, and he was certain they would be there to give him peace again this time too. 

But Flamemon couldn't seem to focus his thoughts anywhere near as much as he knew he needed to. He wanted to give himself concrete to grasp onto, but he didn't know where he was meant to find it. His mind was blurring together into a haze that could best be compared to the terror that had come with reaching his Beast Spirit. Flamemon remembered what it had been like for his body to move through instinct instead of through active desire, and that urge to live and fight was too great for him to overpower. His Beast Spirit had taken him over, and now, the beastly form of Flamemon felt like it was taking him over too. 

He couldn't understand why he couldn't push through this. He knew what needed to be done, and he knew how he could do it. All he had to do was find his friends, or at least find some traces of them in the world of the Dark Trailmon, and use their faces to ground himself. He would be safe as long as he was able to reach for those who had helped him in the past... But Flamemon couldn't seem to center his thoughts enough to reach what he sought. Why wasn't this working? Why did it feel like he simply couldn't escape? 

Flamemon wanted to reassure himself by thinking that he was dreaming. He didn't remember ending up there in the world of the Dark Trailmon. In the past, he had agreed to it before he stepped across the threshold between worlds, and he hadn't done that this time. It was as good a cue as any that he had not truly crossed through the barrier to that other realm... But if all of this was a dream, then why wasn't that enough to snap him out of it? If this was all imagined, then why couldn't he find a way to fight through it and then find a way to escape? Why couldn't he get out? Why did the world not want him to get out?

The fog intensified, and Flamemon looked up to see the silhouette of a bitterly familiar figure walking through the darkness. He already knew who he was going to find before he caught a glimpse of those horrific eyes, but that wasn't enough to prepare him for it. Flamemon's heart threatened to stop then and there at the sight of Duskmon, and he felt like he was going to collapse. His body was on the verge of caving in on itself, but Flamemon knew that would be nothing compared to what Duskmon's blade could do to him. Duskmon's sword had almost cut Koji in half during that one battle. It didn't matter that months had passed since that moment. Flamemon still feared it, and he would have done anything to escape that terror. 

Blood dripped from Duskmon's blade, and Flamemon forced himself to breathe even as his lungs yearned to take in as little air as possible in their haste to escape. "No... You're not real," Flamemon found himself saying, though the words were distant and didn't feel like they were coming from his lips... But it must have been him speaking. He couldn't seem to reach the other Warriors of Fire. They existed within his mind and body, but they were always out of his grasp whenever he was sucked into this alternate world. It was only Takuya and the monster that he had become. It was only Flamemon and the illusions created by the master of this realm. "You can't hurt me. My friends are going to keep me safe. I'll find them, and everything will be okay. I'm sure of it."

Duskmon did not care in the slightest for what Flamemon was saying. He continued his march toward his target, and blood continued to slide off the tip of his blade and onto the train platform. Flamemon wanted to stand tall and proud in the face of him, but he simply couldn't do it. His courage had abandoned him along with everyone and everything else in this world, and it was flickering as embers dying between his fingertips. He had to get out of there, but how could he start? How could he pry the doors open and arrive back in his body? How could he return to his consciousness when so much was trying to keep him away from it?

"Takuya!"

Flamemon froze at the sound of that familiar voice, and he watched as Duskmon froze a few steps away from him. Duskmon was perfectly statuesque, and even the eyes scattered across his armor went still. It was as if the world had been put on pause, but Flamemon was still able to move through it all. Flamemon let out a slow breath, pulling away from Duskmon enough to glance up at the air around him. He knew that voice well... But he didn't know if he had ever heard it call out his name quite like that before. 

Flamemon turned around and saw the silhouette of the Dark Trailmon appear just behind him. They were on the train platform, the same one that Flamemon always used when he entered and left the world. Duskmon was standing just in front of the elevator that led up into the rest of the world from the train station beneath Shibuya. Flamemon's only escape was to turn and face the Dark Trailmon, and he knew which of his two companions he would prefer to turn to. 

The Dark Trailmon's voice was urgent when he spoke, and Flamemon felt the eyes of the train looking right through his soul. "You must come and find me... One last time," the Dark Trailmon instructed. The train did not have a mouth to speak of, and the words simply echoed in the air around Flamemon with enough bass and brutality to threaten to tear his body apart. "We have one more meeting in our future... It will be our last. Our paths will part once you have seen the truth. All you must do is come and find me."

"But where am I supposed to go?" Flamemon burst out. How could he find the Dark Trailmon deliberately? He had been searching for truth and information around the Dark Trailmon's true nature for months, but he hadn't found anything. No one seemed to know a thing about this strange world of shadow. It wasn't quite Earth, but it wasn't quite the Digital World either. It was somewhere in between, but stranger still, it was a world that only Flamemon could visit. He wanted to find the truth more than anything, but he didn't know where to start. He didn't like to venture there on his own, but it seemed like he was the only one who could pass through that barrier... But why? What in the world was keeping him tethered to that mysterious realm that did not impact the rest of his friends?

"Come and find me!" the Dark Trailmon exclaimed, a sudden burst of urgency echoing through his voice. Flamemon realized why a moment later; the dream around him was starting to melt away, proof that his distress was finally hitting a turning point and was about to pull him into the waking world once more. "The fate of the universe depends on it!"

"But how do I find you?!" Flamemon shouted. The darkness began to peel away all around him, and light replaced it. "I want to find you! Just show me how to--"

~~~~~

"Wait!"

Takuya sat up in his bed breathlessly, his chest burning from a lack of oxygen. His lungs heaved in desperate search of a reprieve from the pressure, and he glanced around slowly to try and soothe himself. He wasn't in the world of the Dark Trailmon anymore. The endless shadows had been replaced instead with stretches of light. He was in his bed within his room where he had been all along. He had never been dragged off to that other world. Just as he had reasoned within the nightmare, it couldn't have been real because he had never willingly crossed over the barrier. He had never spoken to the Dark Trailmon and agreed to enter his twisted world. He was still there on Earth right where he belonged. 

Takuya finally managed to get a grip on his breathing, and he leaned his head back so he was staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom. He was safe, and he would be for as long as he was there too... Well, as safe as he could have been as long as the mastermind was trying to chase after him. If nothing else, Takuya could say that he hadn't been dragged into the realm of the Dark Trailmon. He was still there in what he knew to be reality. The world of illusions had not unfolded around him just yet, and right now, that was enough reassurance for him. 

Still, Takuya couldn't help but feel like something about that dream was... Different. He was used to dreaming about the Dark Trailmon and the world of terror he had created. Takuya couldn't seem to tear images of Duskmon's blade covered in blood out of his mind. He knew what it was like to be completely consumed by terror, and he had felt it that day when Duskmon nearly killed Koji. Takuya had grown used to seeing those pictures in his dreams, but he was not used to the Dark Trailmon calling out to get his attention. Normally, it was only Duskmon who appeared in his dreams, and when the Dark Trailmon did show up, it was very clearly a creation of Takuya's mind rather than the echoing screams of someone who was trying to contact him. 

Takuya didn't know how he was supposed to reach out to the Dark Trailmon even after being asked. How was he meant to reach a world like that when he didn't know how to get to it? He had only ever been pulled off to the realm of the Dark Trailmon when the train tried to drag him into the place between reality and fantasy. Takuya had gone there willingly after the idea was proposed to him, but he hadn't ever been the one to find it on his own. The Dark Trailmon was always the one in charge... But if that was the case, then... Then why in the world wasn't he trying to pull Takuya off on his own? If he was the only one who had that power, then why wasn't he taking advantage of it to try and get Takuya's attention? Surely he knew that Takuya couldn't reach his destination on his own, so why was he acting like it was something the Warrior of Fire had ever been able to choose? It made no sense. None of it made any sense. 

Takuya shook his head as his alarm blared on the table beside him. He wouldn't be able to sit there in his bed just thinking about this for the rest of the day. He had to go to school. Even after feeling like he was being dragged into another realm, he had to find a way to pull himself together enough to go to classes. There was no rest as a Legendary Warrior. Earth required his attention, and right now, that meant school. 

Not for the first time and certainly not for the last, Takuya asked what the point of school was when the world was going to end if he didn't act quickly. Just like every other time, he received no answer but knew he had to get up and face it anyway. 

~~~~~

Takuya dragged himself through the process of getting ready for school, his body refusing to fully cooperate with him. He wanted to shake off the dream to the best of his ability, but he couldn't seem to do it. Part of him felt trapped within the world of the Dark Trailmon even now. Takuya had always struggled a bit with fighting through the aftermath of a nightmare like that, but something about it felt different today. Everything about the dream felt different, as a matter of fact, and Takuya knew things had changed without being able to truly calculate how. None of it made any sense, and he was exhausted just thinking about it. 

"Are you okay?"

Takuya jolted out of his thoughts at the sound of Shinya's voice. Takuya was walking to school with Chihiro and Shinya, though Takuya had fallen a little bit behind his friend and brother. When Takuya looked up, he saw that both of them were looking over their shoulders at him in concern. Takuya let out a small laugh even though he knew it was strained and fake. Judging by the frowns Shinya and Chihiro cast him, they knew it was fake too. "I'll be alright," Takuya replied even though that said nothing about the current state of his mind and body. He would be alright eventually, but that was not the point at the moment. 

Takuya should have known he would be called out on it, and yet, he was still shocked when Shinya's eyes narrowed and his lips fell into a flat line. "That doesn't really answer my question," Shinya pointed out. "What's going on with you? It seems like you've been out of it ever since you woke up this morning."

Takuya hesitated for a long moment, yearning to brush off Shinya's concern as nothing and then go back to the rest of the day. He already knew he wouldn't be able to escape the pressing of his brother forever though, so Takuya relented with a sigh. "I had a dream about one of the worst parts of our time in the Digital World... My trip to the realm of the Dark Trailmon."

Chihiro's eyes widened by a fraction before they sighed and shook their head. "I shouldn't be surprised that it's still bothering you," they murmured. "Something like that would probably have an impact on anyone, but it seems like the Dark Trailmon has always had a particular interest in you above all others."

"I don't get it," Takuya admitted. "I've been trying to figure out why the Dark Trailmon is so interested in me specifically for a while now, but it never seems to go anywhere. I just don't get why it wants to come after me but is willing to leave the rest of you alone. It doesn't make any sense. Why would it want to get my attention but not bother with anyone else on our team?"

"I don't understand it either. You've been there twice now, and both times, you've been impossible for the rest of us to reach while you were on the other side," Chihiro commented. "The rest of us have been worried about it when it happens too, but there's not all that much we can do to get to the bottom of it when your body is glitching out. It's like we can't even touch you without our hands going right through. You're still there, but at the same time..."

"I'm not," Takuya finished for them, and Chihiro nodded. "I don't get why the Dark Trailmon wants to be around me specifically. Why hasn't it tried to get in contact with the rest of you guys? It seems like it only wants to spend time with me, but I don't think I should be the one it wants to talk to. Koichi feels a lot closer to its natural element, so what makes it so interested in me?"

The air went silent since no one had an answer to that. Takuya had already known they wouldn't have an idea of how to answer a question like that, and yet, it still stung to think about his confusion continuing to extend well into the future. Takuya sighed and shook his head, giving up on getting the answer he was looking for. "During my dream last night, it said something else strange. The Dark Trailmon said that he wants to see me again. We're supposed to meet one more time before we'll be able to part ways forever... Or so he said. I've had dreams about the Dark Trailmon before, but this is the first time it has ever reached out to me to say that it wants me to come with it once again. It usually just comes by and picks me up whenever it wants to talk to me."

Chihiro hummed, cupping one hand around their chin. "I guess we're going to have to just wait and see where this goes," they said softly. "I don't like the idea of leaving you in suspense for any longer than you already have been, but I don't think we'll be able to do much of anything about it. We're going to have to wait and see where all of this takes us and hope that it doesn't end too poorly for us."

Takuya nodded, and with perfect timing, the trio arrived at the front gate of their school. That was all they would be able to talk about as long as there were soldiers constantly keeping an eye on them. Takuya was ready to bury his head down and wait until all of this blew over. He didn't like the idea of having to cut off the conversation so abruptly with so much on the line, but he didn't have a choice in the matter. The last thing Takuya wanted was to be overheard when he was discussing something so sensitive. None of them could afford it, and Takuya hated having to admit it more than anything. 

Takuya pulled away from Chihiro and Shinya with a brief wave, starting off in the direction of his classroom. He had an awful feeling about the Dark Trailmon, and he knew that bad feeling was only going to get worse the longer he was left to sit with it... But he couldn't just talk about it now. His only choice was to stay quiet, get through the day, and hope that the rest of his friends would be able to help him to find the truth behind the Dark Trailmon's strange actions once all of this was said and done. 

Deep down though, Takuya already knew there was nothing any of them could do as long as their target was buried so deeply within the shadows. 

~~~~~

The morning passed in a haze, and Takuya could have sworn he felt the darkness from the world of the Dark Trailmon creeping in on him even when he was not in it. When he blinked, he almost felt like the fog that surrounded Duskmon was rushing forward to try and consume him. Takuya was overwhelmingly relieved when lunch began since it would give him something to think about other than how stressed he was by Duskmon appearing in his dreams again. The Dark Trailmon was the much more concerning part of this particular nightmare, but Takuya couldn't shake the feeling that Duskmon was coming after him too. Duskmon had always been terrifying to him, and he only got scarier when his power was accentuated by the strange illusions of the Dark Trailmon's realm. 

Takuya shuffled his feet on the way to the lunch table, and he practically collapsed once his seat was within his reach. His head was pounding, and Takuya had to wonder if he got any rest at all when the Dark Trailmon was trying to communicate with him. He felt like he had been hit by a train--pun fully intended--and Takuya really hoped all of this ended before he had to worry about that happening a second time. He was on the verge of crumbling then and there, and it would only get worse if Takuya was forced to face this again before he was ready. 

The others were already talking by the time Takuya arrived, and Koji was in charge of the conversation. He was trying to speak up, but his gaze kept catching on the guards that were circling the outside edge of the cafeteria. "I..." Koji saw a soldier get a bit too close, and he cut himself off until the man in question had walked away entirely. "Yesterday, we..." 

Katsuharu arched an eyebrow with a frown. "You can't say it, can you?" he asked, and Koji hesitated before shaking his head. Katsuharu sighed and then began to dig through his bag. When he found what he was looking for, Katsuharu pulled out a notebook with a pencil clipped to the spiral. He slid it to Koji where the Warrior of Light was sitting just beside him. 

Koji immediately took to writing down everything that had happened the day before, outlining how the Legendary Warriors had managed to trap one of the dark beasts and then capture it so they could conduct tests on it. The dark beasts were still a question mark in the grander scheme of the mastermind, but if they could learn even a little something about them, then the Legendary Warriors would be in a great place. Takuya could barely believe that had only happened the day before. His head felt like it was full of cotton, and the battle against the horde of dark beasts near Inaie felt like it had been years ago. Takuya knew the world of the Dark Trailmon always tampered with his ability to properly perceive the flow of time, but it still made him feel sick to his stomach to realize just how little control he had over understanding what was happening in his life. 

Koji returned the notebook to Katsuharu, and Teruo leaned over Katsuharu's shoulder to read what was written there. Katsuharu's eyes went wide, and when he finished reading, he passed the notebook over to Teppei and Chiaki. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Katsuharu asked. "You have no idea how dangerous it could be if something like that gets out."

"It might be dangerous, but it's not as if we have much of a choice in the matter right now," Chihiro sighed, having already figured out what Koji was trying to get at without reading the notebook. "We have to find a way to get to the bottom of this, and that starts with learning everything we can about the enemy. We're going to conduct as many tests as we have to in order to figure out the truth."

Izumi opened her mouth to speak up, but she fell silent when a soldier came a little bit too close to the table for comfort. Everyone went quiet and focused on eating, and Takuya found himself wondering if the soldiers knew how uncomfortable they made all of the students at the school. The soldiers had to at least be vaguely aware of the fact that their presences were very unwanted, and yet, they were there anyway because they had no other choice. It was what they had been ordered to do, and Takuya didn't know how any of them could live with themselves as long as they were being forced into something so intense. 

The table remained quiet until everyone was certain that the soldier was gone and well out of earshot. Katsuharu took his notebook back once he was sure Chiaki and Teppei had read over the message Koji had written out. "I'm glad that you're making progress in your own way," Katsuharu concluded. "Even if it could be very dangerous for everyone involved. It's good to know that at least one side of this is making progress in learning about everything that is going on. We've been coming up with a whole lot of nothing lately."

"We're doing what we can," Teppei chimed in, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "We're going to try and get to the bottom of this mystery. You've got nothing to worry about on our end. We'll meet up again this afternoon to try and learn more, and if you find anything out for yourselves, then you can pass it along to us so that we can do something helpful too."

"Thank you all for the help," Izumi smiled, finally managing to get her words out. A moment later though, she was forced to go quiet again, and the rest of the table followed suit. They buried their attention in their food, suddenly finding it much more interesting than the conversation they had been trying to have. Once again, Takuya found himself wondering if any of the soldiers were aware of how much they upset and unsettled the students of the various schools they had been told to patrol. 

Takuya wanted to think that the reasoning for the soldiers being stationed in the schools was protection. He wanted to believe it was that simple... But on that specific day where he was high on cynicism and exhaustion, Takuya was sure there was more to it than that. Maybe Akimitsu and Botan hadn't been planning to keep an eye on all of the students, but that was a natural byproduct of their desire to keep everyone safe and out of trouble. Takuya had to wonder if they were hoping for that all along. It wouldn't have shocked him if that was the case, though the thought made him feel sick. He didn't want to think that all of this was an elaborate ruse to have a reason to watch the students of the different schools, and yet, the idea simply refused to leave him alone properly. 

Chihiro's rage was barely restrained by the time the soldiers were out of earshot. They snarled and slammed a clenched fist onto the table, jolting everything on its surface over slightly. "I can't help but feel like we're being stalked," they muttered crossly. "We can't get a moment of peace without being listened to. They're just everywhere, and we can't seem to get away from them for even a minute at a time."

"Maybe I'm just being dramatic, but I feel like we're being... Hunted somehow," Izumi admitted. "It reminds me a lot of the time we spent during our first trip to... That place. We were always being watched by the enemy, and they would have done anything to ruin everything we were trying to build."

"I can't blame you for feeling like that," Takuya sighed. "I must admit that I see the similarities." Takuya didn't say that his paranoia was infinitely worse that day than he was used to. Normally, he was able to brush off the bulk of his fear with a smile and a reassurance in the mirror that everything would be alright. If he told himself that they would be okay, then maybe he would be able to believe it... But he already doubted it would be that simple. His dream about the world of the Dark Trailmon had gotten in his head whether he wanted to admit it or not, and he wouldn't be able to pull himself out of that trance until he was certain there was no one trying to hunt him down. He wouldn't be able to snap back to reality until he was confident he had visited the Dark Trailmon for the final time.

"It reminds me a lot of being at home," Chiaki admitted. "My father never really wanted me to have privacy. He thought that I would exploit it and then end up doing something that would hurt me or someone else, so he was always there to look into everything I was saying or doing. He thought that it would keep me out of trouble, but now... I think he was just intent on trying to know everything about me. He doesn't really want to protect me so much as he wants to control me."

"And that's the heart of all of it, isn't it?" Chihiro sighed. "I don't care how much Botan is saying that this is for the sake of everyone's protection. If he really cares about protecting people, then he'll know that stalking them isn't the way of going about it. All you're going to do if you're following people constantly is earn their ire, and they're not going to like it if you do manage to protect them. They need space and time to figure out how they feel on their own, and I'm tired of him deciding that no one has the right to decide how they feel about this but him."

Takuya hummed as he looked back down at his food. He wanted to feel like everything was fine and that Botan really was acting in his best interests, but he couldn't bring himself to believe it. The thought felt impossible as long as Botan was involved with so much more that had the chance to bring the world to ruin. Botan did not exist in a bubble even though Takuya wished more than anything that he did. If Botan did operate entirely on his own, then all of this would have been a lot easier to bear, but he was a small part of a much greater picture, and that picture was going to lead to the destruction of the Legendary Warriors if they were not careful to hold back on what they shared and how they handled their lives. 

"We're going to do what we can to keep searching for the truth after school today," Katsuharu announced, trying to use the words as a balm of reassurance on everyone's rattling nerves. "I know things probably look bleak right now, but we're going to do what we can to fix this. I promise. You just have to trust that we'll be able to handle it."

"And we do trust you," Izumi assured him with a kind smile. There was something strained about it, but Takuya had to admit that he at least admired her for being willing to try and seem like she knew what they were doing. "We'll do what we can on our end too, and if we happen to find out anything new about our... Our new friend, then we'll be sure to let you know."

Takuya nodded. He could only hope that the other Legendary Warriors who knew a bit more about what the dark beasts were like would be able to get to the bottom of their mysteries. Takuya didn't know a thing, and he especially didn't understand complex security systems that had been built into monsters. He was praying that the others would have a better chance of getting to the truth at the heart of the beasts' bodies, but Takuya doubted he would be able to supply all that much. 

At least he could give his encouragement... And if he was lucky enough, then maybe he would even be able to make himself believe that he was right when he said everything would be okay. There was only one way to find out for sure, and that was to fight to the bitter end and see where all of this took him. Surely he would be able to do that. 

Another soldier walked by the table, and Takuya ducked his head to try and seem invisible. He would be in the Digital World soon, and he could talk to the others about everything that had happened in his dream. In a perfect world, that would be enough for him to get to the bottom of it, and then, everything would make sense. He would be alright. He had to be. 

And if that made the soldiers who wanted to kill him mad, then Takuya would be more than happy to provoke their tempers each day for the rest of his damn life. 

~~~~~

The rest of the day passed in a haze that no one wanted to even bother to define. There was work that needed to be done after classes ended, and the Legendary Warriors and investigation team ran to get started on all of it as soon as they were given the chance. They couldn't let their enemies get the upper hand, and that meant making sure everything they were able to investigate was uncovered as soon as possible. 

For Katsuharu, that meant inviting the rest of the investigation team over to his house so that they could continue their search for the truth behind the mastermind. They hadn't had all that much luck recently with getting to the bottom of the person responsible for the dark beast attacks, but they had to be getting closer. They had been at it for ages, and something was going to have to give sooner or later. Someone was going to end up slipping up, and when they did it, then the investigation team would be there to find them, catch them, and then expose all of their ugly secrets to the world. 

Katsuharu had to admit that he was worried though. The dark beasts that had been attacking both Earth and the Digital World contained security systems that let the mastermind see everything the monsters did. Katsuharu didn't know how such a thing was possible, though he supposed that it wasn't really his job to understand the inner workings of the mastermind's recent technological developments. He just had to find out who they were, what they wanted, and how to reveal all of that to the world. Katsuharu wasn't sure of if they would be able to expose the mastermind publicly, but the thought was certainly appealing. He would have loved to drag the truth out into the open and force the mastermind to reckon with the way the world viewed them: as a monster. It would have been cathartic if nothing else, and Katsuharu was certain he would continue to imagine such an outcome even if it was proven to be illogical later in this twisted journey.

Katsuharu waited at the edge of his school's campus for the rest of his team, and they all filed in around him. Shinya and Masae were the last to arrive, and their faces visibly relaxed when they caught a glimpse of the four upperclassmen. They had been forced to hold their tongues all day with everything else going on, but when they were with the investigation team, they could be honest. They could finally feel safe and at ease in a world that demanded they constantly be on edge in the name of twisted survival. 

Even after they were away from school, Katsuharu knew better than to say anything. The recent burst of activity at the school had taught Katsuharu many things, and one of them was that he needed to be very careful to not speak until he was sure that he was safe. Random people he passed by on the street had less of a chance of ratting him out than the soldiers who were being paid to keep an eye on him and the rest of the students at his school, but Katsuharu still wanted to be cautious about it. He never knew for certain who could have been listening, and that meant keeping his head down, keeping his lips sealed, and waiting until he was absolutely certain that he would be safe. 

The others followed Katsuharu's lead, and they all stayed quiet until they arrived at his house. Katsuharu unlocked the front door and then gestured for everyone else to go inside first. They were almost able to speak, but they had a few steps more to take before then. Katsuharu felt like he was practically bursting at the seams from something he could best define as excitement. He always felt eager like this when he was on the verge of conducting another leg of the investigation even when he doubted it would actually lead to anything. None of his past searches had taken him anywhere, but he was still willing to face it all with a smile on his face. Something was going to have to change soon, and Katsuharu was determined to be there to embrace it when it finally happened. 

Once the six members of the investigation team were all gathered inside of Katsuharu's bedroom, he let out a slow breath. "Alright, team. It's time for us to get into another afternoon of searching," he declared. "Do any of you guys have ideas for where we should be headed next? Do you know what we should try to dig into from here?"

"No," Teruo sighed with a shake of his head. "We still don't have a clue about who the mastermind is or what we're supposed to be searching for from them. All we really know is that they have to be able to pull off the... Whatever it is they're doing with those monster things."

"They have to be aware of how technology functions on an intimate level," Teppei pointed out. "They would need to know how to manipulate technology in order to create elaborate security systems that are hidden inside of monsters. I don't know how that would connect with everything else going on, but it has to be relevant somehow."

"But what if they were only able to do that because of the magic involved with making the monsters?" Masae asked with a small frown. "They could be able to create the security systems because of the power of Void that they inherited. For all we know, they could not know anything about the way technology works and are just funneling it through that other form of life."

That was enough to give Katsuharu pause. He supposed that there was a chance something like that was true. No one knew for certain who the mastermind was, and even what vague details they were able to grasp could have all been for nothing. This couldn't have mattered at all, and it could have wound up being a red herring if they decided to pursue it a little bit too much. It was nauseating, and Katsuharu couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the world trying to crush him. He was going to falter if he let it all sink in, so he did his best to keep himself held together even though he knew it was all just a matter of time. 

"We're going to find something soon," Shinya announced, his voice just a little bit too loud for the quiet bedroom they were all sitting in. "We just have to keep searching. Something is going to give soon, and I think we should start by looking into what we've seen of the dark beasts in online forums. There are a lot of pictures out there, and maybe one of them will be able to tell us more about the security systems that are inside of those things."

"You're right," Katsuharu nodded. There was no point in losing his grip on his confidence now. He could keep pushing, and one of these days, something was going to have to change. He just had to believe it. "Let's get to work, team! The mastermind isn't going to reveal themself!"

Even as he said it, Katsuharu hoped more than anything that one of these days, the mastermind would make it all easier for him by just ripping the bandage off on their own. It would certainly make everything easier. 

~~~~~

Tomoki had grown used to finding a whole lot of nothing from the recent trips to the Digital World. It was agonizing, reminding him of a car with two wheels stuck in a ditch. It didn't matter how much he tried to apply the accelerator or burn the gas; the wheels did nothing but spin idly in place, and no progress was ever made. Tomoki was stuck right back where he had started, and he was beginning to doubt he would ever be able to pull himself out of this rut he had been buried in. 

In a strange way, Tomoki yearned for the days of Alastomon. Back then, he at least felt like he was making progress each time he was able to free a Digimon from the clutches of the Void Fragments. He felt like he was getting closer to stopping the mastermind with each small battle he won... But now, it felt like nothing was going anywhere. The process of finding Alastomon had been slow going for a while, but it eventually led to the truth. That path had eventually exposed Alastomon for the monster he was, and he was then destroyed for everything he had done to bring the Digital World to ruin. It had all paid off in the end. 

But now, Tomoki felt like nothing had happened at all. He had been looking for ages, and the mastermind was still out there. He was spinning his wheels, looking up at the sky as the time passed him by and unable to make himself join the progress of the world. He was trapped. All of them were stuck with no other choice than to go along with the misery of their circumstances. One day, something was going to change, but it didn't seem to come soon enough. 

Tomoki shuffled his way through the streets of Shibuya as he made his way back in the direction of his house. His head was pounding from the events of the afternoon. He had been so eager to get going and start searching that he hadn't eaten much that day, and he was starting to feel it now. Tomoki struggled with eating when he got anxious, and it seemed like he was nothing but anxious these days. He hoped he would be able to snag at least a small snack when he arrived back at home. His body needed it even if it was simultaneously trying to reject all ideas of sustenance before they could properly form. 

Tomoki shouldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched as he tried to carve his path back in the direction of his home. That fact really shouldn't have been shocking to him. If anything, it would have been considerably more surprising if he wasn't being watched because of everything Yutaka had said and done recently. It felt like he was simply always there, and Tomoki hated it more than anything. Did Yutaka ever get tired of following his brother everywhere he went? Did he ever think that he had better things to do than try to make Tomoki so constantly miserable? Apparently not, but Tomoki still wished that he would come up with a better hobby than stalking his younger brother. 

"You really should talk to your parents about this." 

Tomoki wished he could have said he was surprised by Blizzar's words when they reached his ears. He wasn't shocked by them at all though, and all they really did was make Tomoki bite back a groan and a shake of his head. Of course he should have been talking to his parents about everything going on with Yutaka. Tomoki knew that he should have brought all of this up ages ago, but he simply didn't know how to do it. There was always something that got in the way to keep him from committing to it. 

Tomoki should have just told them back when all of this started. He should have declared that there was something wrong when he first realized that Yutaka was following him and breaking the rules of the restraining order. He should have spoken up ages ago, but he hadn't done it, and now, Tomoki was starting to regret everything he had ever done or not done. Yutaka wasn't going to give up on following him until he was certain his brother understood just how much of a horrible person he was. It didn't matter what Tomoki said or did; Yutaka simply wasn't going to give him the chance to escape. 

But at the same time, Tomoki wasn't sure if he would ever be ready to tell his parents. He wanted this to stop, but he was being forced to hold a fragile balance with Yutaka at the moment because of the Digital World. If Tomoki revealed everything that he knew, then it would only take a few moments for Yutaka to ruin everything by saying that Tomoki was one of the Legendary Warriors. Back when he first decided to not tell his parents about what was going on, Tomoki had thought that it would be better this way. His parents hadn't been there for him when he was struggling with everything going on with Yutaka, and they very clearly had no plans of helping him now that he was in the midst of another horrific battle. He was stuck, and Tomoki didn't know if he would ever be able to convince them that he was worth their help. He didn't know if he would ever be able to convince them that he needed the aid in the first place. 

Tomoki knew he should have at least tried to have a bit of faith in them, but no matter what he did, he couldn't seem to do it. His parents hadn't supported him at all when he was struggling beneath the weight of Yutaka's abuse. It didn't matter what Tomoki said or didn't say. They hadn't wanted to see the fact that their son was abusive, and so, they didn't acknowledge it or give Tomoki the help he needed. Tomoki was unraveling from the weight of it all, but they hadn't recognized what was going on nor had they done anything to try and speak up and help him. They had been destroying Tomoki actively without even noticing, and Tomoki couldn't decide if that was crueler than them actually knowing what they were doing and continuing with it anyway. 

Tomoki bit his lip and walked a little bit faster like that would be enough to help him to escape from Yutaka's gaze. He knew it wouldn't be. Yutaka was everywhere at once, and he would appear around every corner to try and make Tomoki miserable. He would come out at the moments when Tomoki thought he would safe and prove that he never truly would be. Nothing was ever enough for him, and Tomoki hated it more than he would ever be able to put to words. 

But when Blizzar insisted again that Tomoki at least try to reach out to his brother to make all of this easier, Tomoki couldn't help but think that maybe he should. He didn't know how his parents were going to respond nor did he knew what he would do if they wound up failing him, but he found himself wanting to at least try to put in the effort. Maybe it would all be for nothing and this would go up in smoke before he recognized just how great of a mistake he had made. At least he could say that he had tried to fight to save his own life before Yutaka arrived to try and force him into an early grave. 

"Soon," Tomoki murmured to no one in particular, but the others in his mind knew that he was talking to them. "I'll try to tell them soon." It was a poor answer, and Tomoki knew that he was leaving enough room for him to back out of it whenever he wanted to. If he decided that he didn't want to do this, then all he had to do was tell the others in his mind that it wasn't the right time and that he would get to it later on. The vague response was a cop out, and it would give Tomoki the perfect chance to slip out from beneath their scrutinizing gazes when they put a bit too much pressure on his shoulders to talk. 

Blizzar seemed to know this, and he was hardly happy with the way Tomoki had phrased his answer, but he knew there was little point in pushing the matter right now. "Alright," he agreed instead. "But if you end up taking too long, then know that I won't hesitate to take control of your body and tell them for myself. I'm not going to let Yutaka drive you into the ground for any longer than is absolutely necessary. If that means getting your parents involved, then I'll do it. You just have to stay safe, and if they won't do that for you on their own terms, then I'll force them."

Blizzar's words sent a shiver down Tomoki's spine even though he was immune to getting cold the vast majority of the time. "Alright," he relented softly. He didn't know how much he liked the idea of Blizzar trying to talk to their parents by force, but Tomoki doubted he would have much of a choice in the matter. Yutaka had taken away that choice from them ages ago, and Tomoki was going to have to fight to stay afloat beneath the weight of it all. 

He just hoped that he was able to find a way to survive. The entire world counted on it, and Yutaka didn't seem to realize yet that if he tortured his brother too much, he would be doomed too. Tomoki had to wonder if Yutaka found that a fine price to pay for a little bit more misery, but all the thought did was give him an even worse headache than before. 

~~~~~

Katsuharu was exhausted by the time the day's investigation had finished. He had spliced work on the search for information in between bouts of working on homework, and he was glad to say that he was done with his classwork for the night... But he still hadn't found anything that could point him in the direction of the mastermind. He shouldn't have been shocked by that. After all, he hadn't found anything leading up to that point either. What made him think that he would be able to get to the bottom of something like this when the mastermind was so good at avoiding his grasp and staying hidden within the shadows of Japan?

Katsuharu lingered in the doorway of his home for a long moment even after his friends all left to return to their own houses. It was getting late, and they weren't going to be able to stay out for too much longer if they wanted to avoid their parents' worries. Chiaki having to leave was everyone else's cue to get out of Katsuharu's bedroom too. After all, Chiaki's father was incredibly intense, and if she was anxious about having to get back, then that meant they all had to get going too so that they didn't run the risk of their parents deciding they didn't want their children out after sundown under such dangerous circumstances. 

Katsuharu sighed and started back into the depths of his house. He glanced around for a few seconds, trying to figure out where everyone else was. He had been spending less and less time with his family recently as a result of everything he had been forced to research, and he knew that the rest of his family had opinions on it that were decidedly negative. Katsuharu couldn't blame them for being upset at all. He wished he could have spared a bit more time for them too, but he knew he couldn't do that when the world was on the line. He would be able to make up for lost time once all of this was over. Katsuharu didn't let himself acknowledge the fact that it could have been too late by the time he finally had the chance to snap himself out of his thoughts and help those who needed it though. He wasn't going to let that fear hold him back when he was having a hard enough time with everything else as it was. 

"I can't believe you let them leave long enough for me to maybe see you before you went to bed."

Katsuharu jolted out of his thoughts at the sound of his younger brother's voice. Kenji was standing a few steps away from him with something harsh in his eyes, but he was doing his best to mask it so as to not chase his brother off completely. Katsuharu forced himself to unwind the tension between his shoulders, but it was a difficult battle to fight. "Kenji," Katsuharu greeted. "I didn't realize you were standing there."

"You don't realize a lot of things these days," Kenji sighed. "It seems like all you ever have time for these days is being around your friend for whatever project it is that you're working on. Surely you're not working on something for school that takes up this much of your time without you being able to do anything about it."

Katsuharu wanted to argue with that, but he knew that Kenji was going to see right through him if he tried. Of course this wasn't a school project, but that was what Katsuharu had told the rest of his family so that they didn't try to push him on it too much. The last thing Katsuharu wanted was for any of them to be put in danger because of everything he was investigating on his own. They were dealing with more than enough stress because of the Digimon attacks, and Katsuharu refused to hurt them any more than he knew he already had. They deserved better than that even if they didn't know that they were being kept safe from the rest of the world at all. 

"We're... We're working the best we can on it, and there's something that keeps getting in our way. Big research projects like this take time, especially with all of these monster attacks stopping us from being able to look into things the way we would have liked," Katsuharu forced himself to say, justifying the lie to himself by saying that it wasn't as huge of a mistruth as he would have said otherwise. He was just lying as much as he could to keep his brother from digging into this and trying to uncover the truth. Katsuharu had to lie in order to keep him safe from the weight of the world. If Kenji found out about all of this, then he would want to be involved too, and Katsuharu couldn't stand the thought of that. His brother needed to be kept safe, and Katsuharu would be the one to do it on his own terms if he had to. 

Kenji was unconvinced though, not that Katsuharu had expected much of anything else. Of course his brother didn't believe that all of that was just a school project. A school project would have ended by now instead of taking up every waking second that Katsuharu had to spare. "You can tell me if there's something else going on in your life. You do know that right?" Kenji pressed. 

Katsuharu's chest went tight. Once upon a time, he would have wanted to tell his brother everything. He hadn't told him all that much about his Digimon research back when he first started it because he wanted it to be a surprise, but he had been planning on telling Kenji everything he could have possibly wanted to know about another world of monsters. Katsuharu just wanted to be seen as cool in his younger brother's eyes, and revealing that he knew everything about monsters that were attacking Japan certainly would have done it. 

Since then, Katsuharu had realized just how dangerous all of this was, and he wouldn't be able to tell the truth just yet. He didn't know if he would ever be able to tell the truth as long as so much was hanging over his shoulder. He just wanted to make sure his family was safe. Everything else could wait until he had a better solution. 

But Katsuharu said none of this. "Yes," he replied. "Of course I know that."

Kenji's eyes narrowed, and he was clearly far from convinced. "Then I wish you would actually commit to it."

Katsuharu let out a heavy sigh. Yeah... I know you do.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter time! Woohoo!

I don't have all that much to say about this one. I'm happy with how it turned out, especially when it came to the nightmare scene at the beginning. I wanted this chapter to have a running theme of emptiness and an inability to make up for what has been lost, so not too much happens here, but that's kind of the point. Everyone is trying to fill in gaps of something that they just can't reach yet, and they're having a hard time of it. 

No one is having a harder time than Takuya though. I bet you thought I forgot about the Dark Trailmon. Nope! We're going to have one last visit there with Takuya in this book, and after that, they'll finally be able to part ways as was said in this chapter. As for the details behind that visit along with all of the other questions that surround the Dark Trailmon... We'll get there soon enough, but I've been planning this plot beat out for a while, and I'm sure that you're all going to enjoy it. It's going to be a great chapter when we get there in... However long. 

Next time, we'll continue through act two. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!

-Digital