Three weeks earlier...

Ingeniumon may have been an arse-

Scratch that.

Ingeniumon may have been the most colossal knob-end ever to wield a hammer and blowtorch, but he wasn’t half skilled at what he did. Not an hour had passed since the Funnyman’s untimely dethroning and already the digital core was being reshuffled back into the position it was in. Clusters of chambers re-opened up, and the geography of the digital world shifted into place as the laws of the land were being repaired one by one.

There was a lot of damage, but things were moving in the right direction.

On a physical level, at least. Mental scarring was sadly beyond Ingeniumon’s capabilities, and more importantly, beyond his capacity for giving a damn.

Perhaps a few lessons in tact would have helped to avert the inevitable catastrophic blowback.

Or perhaps not. You never can tell with these things.

After all, it’s always somebody else’s fault.

Sorimon had never felt smaller as she crawled through the tunnels, as they pulsed and stretched and warped all around her. A few hours ago she might have been in awe of the great unnatural wonder of the Digital World, but now she was just walking angrily, staring at the ground.

She twitched, and stopped mid-step as a spasm of pain ran through her chest. She sat up, rubbing the affected area, but there was no wound. Nothing visible, at least; being forcibly devolved, her many external wounds had been taken care of, though the fatigue and shock still remained.

The little shrew stared at her hand, glaring at every knuckle. She closed it, and walked up to one of the walls. It was metallic, and reflected her own pathetically small body back at her. Short, stubby legs, round belly, tiny hands and a little tail that curled around in a spiral. She was dwarfed by the chamber. It seemed to bear down on her, crushing her into something even smaller. Even weaker.

She hissed, and brought her claw forwards with all her might, striking the metal of the wall. Another flash of pain. She brought it away, and noticed the tiniest bit of blood on her fingertips. The wall was unmarked.

“It’s not fair.”

Sorimon’s gazed into the eyes of her reflection; brightest blue and welling up with tears. Eyes scarred with hurt, and with hate.

“Everything. Everyone. It’s just not fair...”

Shards of glass crunched beneath Callum’s sandals as he shuffled forwards, not in any great hurry to go anywhere. Somehow he’d found himself back inside the mirror maze. Or at least, the great wreck that had once been the mirror maze. There was the distant sound of crunching and jangling as distant shards were bundled together by some unseen force, flattened, pressed and reassembled.

Callum stopped in front of a half-mirror which had escaped the destruction of some of the others, and stared at himself. He looked terrible. Cuts and bruises all over, bags beneath his eyes, holes in his clothes. His shoulder looked grey and veins were popping out from where the D-Psyche had sucked away at it; a D-Psyche which was itself looking like it had had a bad encounter with a car crusher. Granted, not as bad as its previous bad day, but bad all the same.

Empermon shuffled forwards and stood beside him, not looking too much better himself. The penguin laughed, and clutched his saxophone to his chest. “We look a right state, don’t we…?”

Callum smirked. “I can’t believe we actually thought we could save the world looking like this. How did I not see it before?”

Empermon sighed as his partner trudged off, and tapped his shoulder with his instrument. “So what do we do now?”

“Who cares.”

“I’m asking you, alright?” Empermon turned towards him. “You can’t just walk around forever.”

“I can if I want to.”

The penguin hurried after him, walking alongside the boy. “What about going home? Or fixing your D-Psyche? You know. You had things to be doing.”

Callum didn’t answer, but he curled his fingers together.

“Aren’t you gonna find the others?”

Callum stopped, and glared down at the penguin. “What do you care about what I’m gonna do or not do? I thought you didn’t care either way?”

Empermon stopped, his flipper coming down hard on the ground. “Yeah, maybe. Maybe I didn’t. Maybe I was an arsehole. In fact, probably. Definitely. I’m an arsehole; I get it. But I care about you, man, and this isn’t right. I’m worried.”

“That’s a first.”

“I mean it!” Empermon slammed the bell of his saxophone on the ground, and held a flipper to his chest. “You found me out of everyone else and actually gave me some fucking purpose in life. Of course I care about you. We’re in the core of the Digital World, Callum; there has to have been a reason for it. You can’t expect me to follow you all this way and then just give up on you just ‘cause the whole mission was a lie.”

Callum flinched, and held his free arm up to his chest. “Why is it suddenly my fault?”

“Nobody’s saying it’s your fault! But you’re doing what you’ve done since the start; the moment things are getting hard you’re turning around and bailing. I know that; I’ve been doing the same thing my whole life.” Empermon’s shoulders sagged. “You’ve gotta stay standing, man. I have no right to be saying this, but...we’re not done yet. At the very least we can close this out properly.”

“Why? What’s the fucking point if none of it mattered anyway?”

“None of it mattered?”

Empermon placed a flipper on his chest.

“You’re saying I didn’t matter?”

“I’m saying-“

Callum froze mid-sentence, unable to find any words. Empermon watched him, his expression unreadable as always. There was the distant sound of glass shattering, followed by a low ringing. Callum put a palm to his head, sighing hard.

“Fuck, I don’t know what I’m saying anymore.”

Empermon chuckled, and placed his saxophone on his shoulder. “Awesome. Well, in that case, I probably won’t be seeing you.”

He turned, and waddled the other way with a flip-flap. Callum stared after him, but didn’t know what to say or do. Empermon stopped, and sighed.

“For what it’s worth, it’s been cool.”

“Yeah. I guess it has.”

“...right.”

Empermon kept walking, facing away so that Callum couldn’t see the tears in his eyes. At the end of the tunnel he stopped, and looked over his shoulder, but the boy had already moved on to who knows where.

“Big sis? Where are you?”

Hinkymon’s eyes flashed in the darkness, and his flame whipped left and right as he rushed from corridor to corridor. After his partner had run off he’d tried to keep up, but she turned too many times and he’d lost her.

He shook his head, and carried on, entering a much larger hall than the ones he’d been travelling through. There were windows in this one, and a large open door, through which he could see the white fury of the storm outside, albeit slightly less furious now. There were wheel marks on the ground. Obviously Ingeniumon had been in a hurry when he’d come through this way.

A flash of red caught Hinkymon’s eyes, and he found himself looking at a little hideaway, just a few metres from the entrance. Edging forwards, he saw a figure curled up in a ball, a mop of ginger hair draped over her arms as she sat there.

“Hey...big sis? Are you alright?”

Hinkymon’s hands went to his chest. His lamp burned low, and he gingerly tiptoed forwards on his little stubby feet.

“It’s me. I’ve been running around. You’re as good at hiding as me, miss.”

Hinkymon tried a smile, but he got no reaction from the crouched up figure in front of him. The girl seemed smaller than he’d ever seen her, and at this distance he could hear her crying.

“...Ursula...?”

“Just leave me alone!”

Hinkymon flinched, and held his hands out, giving a reassuring smile. “Hey now...it’s alright...really...”

“It’s not alright! None of it’s alright! It’s never been alright!”

She looked up, as strands of her hair fell down across her face. Her eyes were reddened, and she burst out into a new fit of sobs.

“I...I tried so hard, Hinkymon...I tried to smile and do good and be the best I could be, but it wasn’t enough! None of it was enough!”

Hinkymon shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault-“

“That doesn’t matter! None of us could win! None of them! Callum, Eleanor, Lorelie, Aardmon! You! If they tried their hardest and they couldn’t win, what chance do I have?”

Her face creased up, and she fell into a new batch of sobs.

“I tried, but I’m not good enough for them. Or you. I’m not good enough for anything, and I never will be.”

“Ursula...”

“I was so stupid. Thinking I was actually worth something for a change. Thinking maybe I could...I could...even...love someone...”

The girl planted her head back in her arms. Even as he looked up at her, Hinkymon had never seen her looking so small.

“Please...go. Find someone else.”

Hinkymon stuck his bottom lip out.

“I’m not going nowhere.”

He waited, but Ursula was no longer capable of answering, drowning as she was in her own tears. Hinkymon sat down, his head low as he waited. And waited.

Eventually Ursula’s wailing subsided, giving way to small, quiet sobs. Hinkymon stood up, and tiptoed forwards, holding out a palm.

“Do you wanna talk to me-?”

Ursula flinched, and Hinkymon drew back. The little goblin looked hurt for a second. He sniffed, and walked to one side.

“Can I sit here for a bit?”

No response. Hinkymon turned, leant against the wall, and slid down with a thunk, his legs stretching out in front of him. He clasped his hands, flicking his thumbs back and forth as he waited. He said nothing else. He only sat there, listening to the sounds of the distant storm, and the haggard sobs of his partner.

Bzzzz.

Bzzzz.

The buzzing echoed through the chamber around Martin as he stared forwards, the communicator vibrating in his grip. He didn’t move. He only stared at it, waiting for it to stop buzzing again. It had been doing this – on and off – for the best part of an hour.

It dropped out again, and left only silence, save for a gentle audible hum from air circulating through the pipes up above. Martin wasn’t really listening. Or watching. He just felt strangely hollow, outside of everything, like his body wasn’t really his own. He supposed it wasn’t. Not that he could tell at the moment. He just sat there, existing in his empty space.

Bzzzz.

Martin sighed, and rested his forehead on his knuckles as the communicator shouted at him once again. There was a little beep-beep and a flash of pink, and Zoamon bobbed up in front of him, looking up in a concerned manner.

“Shouldn’t you talk to them?”

Martin sighed. “Why is it my job again?”

The jelly shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re the one who grabbed the thingy.”

Martin scowled. “Don’t you logic me. It’s not fair. I’m trying to be sad and hurt and stuff.”

He shut his eyes, refusing to look at his partner. After a minute he felt Zoamon’s short tentacles brushing over the back of his hand. They didn’t sting. Only tingled. He looked up again. Zoamon swung gently in mid-air.

“Please...?”

“Goddamnit...”

Bzzzz.

The device ruined the moment, lighting up in his palm again. He turned it around, and his thumb hovered over the response button. He pressed down, and held his breath.

“Hello? Anyone? Please, someone answer-“

“I’m here.”

“Martin?” Perez breathed a sigh of relief, before picking up again. “ Why weren’t you answering!? We’ve been worried sick? Where the hell have you gone; we’ve only got one signal left from you and it’s moving away from the core. Please answer! Where are you? Are you all there?”

Martin swallowed, and rolled his fingers over the surface of the device. “It’s just me. Me and Zoamon.”

“What do you-“

“I don’t know where the others are. I didn’t follow them. We all kind of split up.”

“Why would you do that, you...you -“

“I don’t know! Why would you tell us a bunch of lies and ruin everything?!”

The line went dead, leaving Martin sitting there, seething. Zoamon hovered awkwardly, rotating in mid-air. “That was well-done.”

Bzzzz.

“Take 2, I guess...”

Martin pressed the button, this time holding the device a bit further up. Keble’s voice came through this time, a bit less cheery than his usual dulcet tones.

“Martin? Are you still there?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m sorry. Please don’t blame Perez, she’s...stressed.”

“Hold on, I think I’ve got it in my pocket somewhere...”

“What?”

“My tiny violin.”

Keble let out a long sigh that rang out through the communicator. “If you’re going to blame someone for lying to you, blame me. I told you to enter the core.”

“How long did you know for?”

“Ingeniumon contacted us just after you left Motimon.”

“Of course he did.”

“He told us to pull you away, saying you’d just ruin things. I...I ignored him. It’s not his fault either; he’s just doing his job, but I thought you could-“

Martin snorted. “Yeah. Enter the core. Beat the Funnyman. Something like that, wasn’t it?” The boy sighed. “Why? We could have cut our losses. Instead this has just gone from bad to worse. We started this whole quest on a lie spouted at us, and this whole time the lies have just kept growing.”

“If we’d known back then we would never have let you go.”

“For god’s sake, were you ever in our corner? Did you ever listen to us? Cause we listened to you, this whole time. You’re supposed to be the adults for crying out loud; you’re supposed to know what you’re doing and help us get through! This whole time we’ve been locked up, chased, beaten, stabbed, bitten, all with these piece of shit bodies. Did I tell you I nearly had my damn soul sucked out by a whiny puddle of antimatter? It fucking hurt! We damn near killed ourselves to get to the core and our partners damn nearer killed themselves in this god-fucking-useless fight against a dumb virus which someone was gonna take out anyway. And you knew about it? You could have stopped us? Why the hell did you let us get this far?”

There was a pause. Only the dim sound of static, and Martin’s own breathing, slowly becoming less irate.

“’Cause I believed you could win.”

Martin glanced down at Zoamon, but the jellyfish had no response.

“Yeah, I get it. So did I.”

The boy sniffed, and rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. “So what now? I guess we’re going home?”

“Somehow. We’re working on it.”

“And our bodies? Do you know what’s gonna happen with them? And all the stuff going wrong back in the human world?”

There was a long, disconcerting pause. Martin could hear the sound of Keble breathing on the other end of the line.

“We....we can...”

“Don’t lie to me. Not again.”

“...I don’t know. Nobody does.”

The boy scrunched his eyes up. “It’s okay. I know.”

“Look, just stay there, alright? Stay safe.”

Martin didn’t answer. He tilted his hand outwards, and the communicator dangled in his grip.

“I...I know it’s worthless, but I’m sorry. Really.”

“I know.”

“You did a really good job. All of you. Far better than us.”

Martin smirked. “Please stop lying, alright? Thanks.”

“I wasn’t-“

The boy hung up on the receiver, and dropped it on the floor, kicking it away. For a moment he and Zoamon stared at it, but it didn’t buzz again. Zoamon gently hovered near Martin’s cheek, brushing it with their body. The boy smiled, and held his partner close, just for a minute. He could feel the tingling sensation over his skin; it felt warm, and almost invigorating. And possibly a teensy bit painful. Probably not healthy.

Zoamon blinked, and flashed pink. “Oh Martin...”

Martin sighed, and stood up, brushing his knees down as best he could. “Well, moping time over I guess.”

Zoamon perked up. “See, I told you you’d feel better after that!”

“Oh trust me, I’m still incredibly depressed and angry and god fucking damn-“

The boy took a deep breath and cleared his throat.

“I don’t have the time to feel depressed; I have shit to do.”

Zoamon cocked their body to the side, and Martin tapped the side of his head.

“Did you forget? My companions are all morons. If we are going home I’ll need to find them first. They’re probably lost, or in the middle of making some very bad decisions right now.”

Zoamon blew a little static bubble, and let out a distressed hum.

“You can be very mean when you put your mind to it...”

Lorelie couldn’t help but feel this was déjà vu as she slowly pushed herself along the corridor, holding onto the wall with one palm and tentatively keeping her balance. Though admittedly it was an easier time than she’d had in the catacombs. She could see for one thing. And hear.

She stopped, pausing for breath and letting her thoughts settle in her mind. It was difficult to describe; she didn’t feel angry as such, though maybe she just didn’t understand it all yet. Despondent? Definitely, but then again, that was nothing new. More than anything though, she felt strangely vindicated.

She pushed the thoughts from her mind, and perked her ears up beneath her D-Psyche. She could hear something. A dull, repetitive thudding, just a bit further on. She carried on to find the source, having a sneaking suspicion she knew who it would be.

She was right.

Aardmon had apparently given up her shameful escape and had now regressed to pure, clean depression. She was kneeling in front of one of the walls, letting out little whines under her breath and slowly, but repetitively, banging her head against the wall. Lorelie was sure she could hear the words ‘stupid’, ‘failure’ and ‘waste of space’ being uttered over and over again. It was hard to make out amongst the banging.

She stood there, waiting patiently without a sound. After a few minutes, Aardmon noticed her. She turned her head to one side, smooshing her mohawk against the wall as she did so. Lorelie gave a little wave.

“Hey there.”

Aardmon sniffed. “There’s nothing I can do to help. I’m sorry.”

“I think you need more help than me.”

“I don’t deserve any.”

Aardmon sighed, and looked up at the girl with tired eyes. Lorelie’s screen was slightly fuzzy, with two blue lights dancing around like little eyes. Aardmon shut her own eyes tight.

“Anybody but you. Please. I can handle anyone else, but I can’t handle you.”

“Well, now I have to hang around.”

Lorelie sighed, and gently knelt down beside Aardmon, resting her hands in her lap. She tilted her head sideways, and her voice came through softly.

“What’s wrong with me then?”

Aardmon turned herself round, sitting back against the wall. “I told you I don’t deserve any help. ‘Never speak to us again you piece of shit’ I can handle. But you’re not gonna do that.” Aardmon glanced up. “You’re not even angry, are you...”

“Maybe. A bit. I don’t know. There’s more to this whole problem than your mistake.” She shrugged. “You did save us back then.”

“Did I? Didn’t feel like it.”

“I mean it. I...well...” The girl blushed a little, her screen flashing pink. “I’ll admit, I didn’t expect that to happen.”

Aardmon grimaced, and shrugged. “That...was a rush.”

“You were very beautiful back there.”

“Please stop. Every nice word you tell me just makes me want to punch myself in the gut even more.”

“I’m...sorry?”

Aardmon blinked, and rubbed her claws through her hair. “Crap, goddamn, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I mean...thanks. Sorry for ruining your life, but, you know, thanks.”

“You haven’t ruined my life. I’m still alive, aren’t I?” Lorelie scratched the side of her D-Psyche. “I think I might feel a little better than when I started, you know.”

Aardmon smiled. “You’re certainly a bit more talkative.”

“Yeah...when did that happen?”

Lorelie held a hand to the side of her D-Psyche, feeling a strange tingling warmth within. She hadn’t noticed, all this time. She could see better, and hear so too. Her whole head felt lighter, and everything seemed a little bit clearer.

She laughed, and her laugh mixed with a soft electronic whistle. “What a time to finally get the hang of this thing.”

The aardvark raised her arms in a dramatic fashion. “Okay, that I can’t help.”

“Does this mean we’re partners?”

“I have no idea. I didn’t think we were. I thought I was gonna get away with it.”

“What about Sorimon?”

Aardmon’s smile faded, and she rubbed beneath her chin. “Again...I don’t know. I thought for certain...maybe you still are...”

Lorelie exhaled. “I feel really bad for her. She was trying so hard. I’m the one who let her down.”

Aardmon placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault. None of it was.”

“Still...I should apologise to her. And thank her. And give her a hug. Hey, we can still all work together, can’t we?”

“Do you want to find her now?”

The girl looked uncertain, staring first down the length of the corridor, then down at the ragged beast at her side. She thought for a moment. Thought of everybody’s reactions. Everyone’s anger. Everyone’s sadness.

Frankly, they all needed a hug. If nothing else, she could do that much.

But first...

“It’s been a very, very long day. I think everyone just needs a moment to calm down. And right now I think I need to stay with you. That okay?”

Lorelie leaned back, watching the twinkling crystals on the ceiling of the cavern. Aardmon held herself tightly, and shuffled up a little closer to the girl.

“Thanks. I mean it.”

It would be a lie to say that Ingeniumon ever got into a particularly ‘good’ mood. After all, he was taking a break every five seconds to mutter under his breath about the youth of today and the pox that was the human world and all those wonderful phrases you associate with old farts but they actually come from the people in power-

That’s not the point.

It has to be said that, despite his mutterings, his workflow never ceased. In only a few short hours he had managed to fix the panels, reroute the wires, forge and fasten a new bridge and dismantle the Funnyman’s hodge-podge of a body into a multitude of separate components which now lay in neat little piles all around him. It was, if nothing else, a darned good tidy-up, and after a solid few hours’ work his mood had lightened to the point where some might even call him ‘approachable’.

Although that mood soured pretty quickly when he realised that he was, in fact, being approached.

“For the love of... I can hear you, you know.”

There was a scraping from behind him, followed by a cuss-word, and rather spectacularly the entire pile fell to the floor. Ingeniumon looked down as a couple of eyes bounced off into the ether, and he sighed dramatically. There was a muffled tittering from the Funnyman’s canister beside him, and he banged the vessel with the rim of one wheel.

“Quiet you. You’re on timeout.”

The Funnyman didn’t seem to mind the abuse. It merely watched as Ingeniumon trundled forwards towards the collapsed pile, an irritated bump in his step. The robot shifted a couple of pots to one side, and hoicked out Sorimon by the scruff.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Sorimon wriggled helplessly, looking embarrassed. “I...uh...got lost...”

“Easily done. You’re not trained.”

He placed her roughly down on the ground, and turned to carry on with his ever-growing work pile. “Hurry on then; you’re in the way.”

He reached down and picked up a few of the eyes, gathering them in the boxes around his midriff. He turned, only to find Sorimon still standing in his path.

“Didn’t you hear me?”

Sorimon cleared her throat. “Actually, I...thought you could use...a bit of help...maybe?”

“I had help once. It was awful. You’re not much better.”

He rolled past the shrew as she – more gently this time – clambered up one of the piles and looked around. She whistled as she did so, her eyes wide. “I can’t believe this controls the entire Digital World...”

“It doesn’t.” Ingeniumon placed his gripper on his hip, examining his own work. “It doesn’t do much of anything at the minute. The world’s more complicated than a single keyboard.”

“So you can change anything?”

“You’re not going to go away, are you...”

“Well can you?”

“No. Yggdrasil does that. This whole place is...I guess sort of a massive control panel? It’s far too complicated for me to understand.”

Sorimon cocked her head. “But you’re the engineer, aren’t you?”

“I’m a janitor, for god’s sake. I clean things, and then arseholes come along and break them and then I have to clean them again.” The robot threw a stray eyeball down on the nearest pile with a clang. “It’s a living, I guess.”

“Oh...”

Sorimon’s snout drooped, and she looked down at her muddied paws. Ingeniumon paid her no heed for a good few minutes, before finally giving in and rolling up to her. He rubbed behind his head, before holding out a gripper. She tentatively took it, climbing up onto his shoulder.

“You look sad.”

“Do you care?”

“No. But I’ll listen. It passes the time.”

Sorimon sighed. “Why does Yggdrasil get to choose what goes on around here?”

“Yggdrasil’s clever.”

“Yeah, I know that, but...why make the world so...”

“So what?”

Sorimon looked up, staring into his blank eyes with her bright blue ones.

“So wrong...”

It was easy to feel like the whole situation was one big joke, and that everyone involved should just deal with it and move on. Yet still, every step Callum took just made him more and more pissed off.

He powered through the labyrinth, blocking out all sounds and feelings from around him as he played through several different arguments in his head. He was so focused that he neglected to notice the tiny glass shards around him slowly morphing into dust particles, and the mirror maze giving way to a more traditional catacomb.

He didn’t notice until he very nearly ran into Eleanor, who was busy pacing back and forth herself, quietly seething. Callum slowed, swallowing his own anger as he watched the girl. She stopped, and turned towards him, scanning him up and down.

“Oh. It’s you.”

“That’s right. It’s me.”

“What are you doing here?”

“What do you think?”

Eleanor didn’t answer. She just waited for him to finish his thoughts. Callum sighed. “Yeah, alright, I’m pissed off and I’m trying to figure things out. Seem familiar?”

“You’re missing your little jazz buddy.”

“He went off to do his own thing.” Callum raised an eyebrow. “Where’s your partner? She’s a bit more vulnerable than mine, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, well, apparently being stubborn doesn’t decrease with size.” Eleanor leaned back against the wall, letting out a long breath. “She got away from me and ran off. Said she was gonna go back to finding her own way. Said some pretty rude things, honestly.”

“Seems like the norm nowadays.”

“Yourself included?”

“Of course.”

The two teenagers stood awkwardly, not wanting to just walk away. Eleanor folded her arms, her fingers digging into the skin of her forearms. “So I don’t get it. What the fuck are we supposed to do now?”

Callum shrugged. “Hell if I know.”

“You’re supposed to be our glorious leader, aren’t you?”

“Hardly.”

“Of course. One slight issue and you’re just pulling away and pretending it’s not your problem.”

Callum sighed. “Really? We’re doing this now? Now? After everything we’ve been through?”

“What do you mean by ‘this’?” Eleanor shuffled, and rolled her shoulders. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t particularly like you, Callum. In fact, it’s fair to say I have a fuckton of issues with you, but I’ve been kind and put them aside because, you know, we’ve had a fucking important mission to finish only it turns out that we can’t do it and it wasn’t even our mission anyway, so pardon me but I’m a little fucking pissed right now. If you can’t deal with that, then just piss off already.”

She turned, running her hand along the wall as she walked back down the corridor.

“No. I’m not gonna just piss off just cause you tell me to. Not this time.”

The girl stopped, and glanced over her shoulder. “Excuse me?”

Callum rolled his fingers, and placed a hand on the tunnel wall, glaring at the girl. “You know, it wasn’t too long ago we did have a mission. Did you ever stop to think that the reason things keep going to crap is because some of us just weren’t ready to fucking compromise?”

There was a rough scraping sound, as Eleanor clenched her fist against the wall. She turned around a little more, though making sure to keep her body facing away from Callum.

“What are you trying to say? Cause I really wouldn’t.”

“Oh come on, you don’t wanna hear what I really think?”

“Callum, trust me, I really wouldn’t fucking go there.”

Callum stamped his foot. “Well, you know what, I don’t care anymore. You’ve been pulling this bullcrap since we arrived here. You won’t work with us. All you care about is your own fucking pride, all the time-“

Callum was halted mid-sentence as Eleanor whirled round, shoving her face up in his. The boy jumped. Her expression wasn’t the regular furious grimace; that he was used to by this point. This was far harder. Stern, stiff, and with her green eyes boring into his.

“I’m gonna stop you right there before you choke on your own fucking hypocrisy, you thick-headed prick. I’ve been trying to find the right way since we got here.”

“You’ve been going against us from the beginning!”

“Try again, genius, I’ve been going against you.” Eleanor raised a finger and jabbed it into the boy’s chest. “It’s you. I have a problem with you. Not them. They don’t get it, none of them get it, but that is not their fault ‘cause I never fucking expected them to get it. But you don’t have that fucking excuse.”

“Why the fuck not?” The boy placed his fingers on his chest. “What have I done that you’ve found so offensive?”

Eleanor ground her teeth, taking a step back. “I can’t believe this...I can’t believe you...how the fuck did we get here...you...you...”

“I WHAT?”

“You never FUCKING LISTENED! When you needed to! When I needed you to!”

Callum started, instinctively raising both arms. “And that’s the reason? Cause you have some sort of grudge against me? Is that it? Is that worth ruining this whole thing?” The boy wheezed. “No wonder your partner’s run away from you, you fucking megalomaniac.”

SMACK

The girl’s fist cannoned into the boy’s cheek, and he staggered back, holding himself up against the wall. He stared up, half in shock and half in rage, as she stood shaking.

“Don’t you dare go there you fucking arsehole. I am NOT like that.”

Callum spat sideways, rubbing his cheek. “Sure looks like it to me.”

“Really? ‘Cause I wasn’t the one who tried to control this whole fucking mission until it got too hard for him.” Eleanor stood up, he hands shaking. “In fact, scratch that, I’m the one who had to take over from you and get us here in the first place ‘cause you couldn’t handle it. And suddenly it’s my fault everything went wrong? ‘Cause you can’t handle it? ‘Cause you could never handle it? I can see why your own partner’s fucking abandoned you, you piece of shit.”

“I WAS TRYING TO HELP.” Callum squared up to the girl, staring up at her. “You know, I was trying to get us ALL through this? Even you!”

“Fuck off! When have you ever given a shit about me?”

Eleanor swung again, her fist glancing off of Callum’s chin. She doubled back, but he raised a hand and caught the blow. With a single movement he drove her backwards, slamming her back into the cavern wall and causing dust to fall from the ceiling as he stared into her eyes.

“I did! I still do! I don’t get why that’s so wrong!”

“You don’t get anything!”

“Listen to me, for god’s sake!”

Callum raised a hand, but Eleanor struck first, smacking him in the face again. He let go, and stepped back a few metres, holding his bleeding jaw. The boy glared upwards at the girl, his eyes steely. He could feel the words at the back of his throat, tumbling out before he could even think to stop them.

“How could anyone ever care about you when you never give them a chance?”

The last of Eleanor’s composure snapped, like fine threads. She let out a cry of pure, unfiltered rage, and threw herself forward, knocking Callum to the ground in one brutal swoop.

Ursula felt the wind buffeting her face as she looked out at the white storm surrounding the core. It seemed a little weaker than before. Perhaps it felt a bit safer now that the engineer had showed his face. Squinting, she could make out the conduits of water spreading outwards and further down, the spherical ocean itself. Already things were changing; some of the aerial streams had begun to band together, forming large watery pathways as opposed to the hazardous jetstreams of before.

“Ursula, look at this.”

The girl snapped out of her trance, and wandered over to Hinkymon, who had clambered on top of a series of large metal vessels that had appeared within the storm. Many of them were beaten up beyond repair, but the girl recognised them at once. Tugboats. Dozens of them, littering the ground.

“I guess Motimon wasn’t joking around. He is on the lookout for us.”

Hinkymon sat on a bent hull, waggling his toes in the air. “Where are the little guys then?”

The girl pointed sideways at the mass of wrecked wyrms that lay just outside the entrance. Hinkymon opened his mouth.

“Ooooh...”

“Honestly, that guy is going to be trouble. Or in trouble. I suppose Ingeniumon will sort him out.” Ursula hooked her fingers under the rim of one of the less-destroyed tugs, and pushed it over. It was fairly small, but certainly big enough for a dinghy of some kind.

Hinkymon watched as she pulled the vessel across the ground, reaching the edge of the core.

“What are you doing?”

Ursula shrugged. “I don’t know. Getting away from here.”

“But why?”

“Why not?”

The girl looked up tiredly at the constantly shifting buildings above, all the energy and enthusiasm she’d once had just now sapped away.

“There’s nothing more for me to do here. And there’s nothing back home for me. Not really.” She sighed. “Maybe I’ll find an island somewhere. Become a hermit.”

Hinkymon clamped his hands over the rim of the boat, holding it in place. “Are you being silly in the head again?”

Ursula smiled weakly. “I’ve never really stopped.”

“What about the others?”

“They don’t need me.”

“And Lorelie?”

The girl flinched, and Hinkymon shut his mouth in an instant. Ursula leaned back against the tug, placing her hands in her pockets.

“She really doesn’t need me. It was a nice thought, but...you know. I never had a chance.”

“Have you asked her?”

“I don’t need to.”

Ursula frowned, and pulled something out of her pocket, inspecting it in her hand. “Oh for god’s sake...”

Hinkymon peered over the boat, and saw the flash drive blinking weakly in her hand. The girl laughed spitefully. “Seriously? We still had one?” She sighed, and threw it over her head, where it clinked down next to Hinkymon’s feet.

“Whatever. It’s no use anyway.” She turned to her partner. “Thanks for this, but you can go now if you want. I’m gonna head off.”

The goblin put a finger in his mouth in a thoughtful manner. Then he hoisted himself up over the rim of the boat and plonked himself down, folding his arms.

Ursula raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Hinkymon shrugged. “I wanna get off this island too. And I can’t swim.” He grinned. “Pretty please?”

He grinned, and fluttered his eyelashes at Ursula. She sighed. “You had to be such a sweet thing, didn’t you...”

She waited for him to change his mind. When he didn’t, she sighed, and clamped hold of the boat again. “Alright, but if you’re coming along you’re helping me push this thing out.”

“Yippee!”

Hinkymon bounced out, and stood the opposite side of the hull as the two of them gently pressed the vessel outwards into the mist. The front end began to bob, the depleted storm carefully lifting it up.

“So where are we going?”

Ursula shrugged. “Heck if I know.”

The two pushed forwards, until the boat had been lifted. The girl climbed inside, and helped Hinkymon in with her. For a moment they looked back, watching as the fortress kept growing, more rooms opening up by the second. Ursula felt moisture on her face, which might have been the mist, or might have been something else. She rubbed her eyes.

“It was a nice thought.”

She held tightly to the hull with one hand, and to Hinkymon with the other, as the mists carried them away from that dreadful place.

All sound was just white noise, and all vision was a blur as Eleanor and Callum threw themselves at one another again and again. Months of resentment, of irritation, and of pure, unadulterated rage bubbled to the surface with every blow, and each blow grew in power. Eleanor stayed up close and personal, landing blow after blow against the boy and lashing out with fists and legs. Callum used his momentum more, throwing the girl’s body against the walls, the floor, anything. Neither was backing down, and neither was willing to stop. Not now. Not ever.

Callum bent double as Eleanor’s foot struck his shin, and he ran forwards, pushing her down to the ground. “I knew this would never work!”

“Did you?”

Eleanor writhed, and pushed herself over, kneeling on Callum’s chest. She was breathing heavily, scratches and bruises all over her face and arms as she punched downwards. “I was trying to make it! I was willing to let things go! And for what? For FUCKING WHAT? So people like YOU could-”

Callum scrabbled backwards, kicking out as Eleanor chased after him. “I’ve had to carry us all this time! Don’t you DARE throw this on me!”

“I’ve had to carry you, you fucking arsehole! I had to carry you when you just gave up and became dead weight!”

The girl grabbed Callum’s leg and pulled, bringing him down again with a thud. He kicked again, striking her in the forehead. Dazed and bruised, she stood up, holding the wall as she shot daggers at the boy. He was pushing himself up again, his expression steeled and filled with rage.

“This would never have happened if you’d give me a chance, but you wouldn’t. You always pushed me away! This isn’t my fault. It’s all ‘cause you’re just a stubborn little child!”

“You still don’t get it, do you...” Eleanor snorted, and rubbed a bit of red from her mouth. “I can admit when I’ve fucked up. I’ve fucked up plenty. I don’t need you to tell me I’m a child; I fucking know that!”

“Then why won’t you let me help you? Fucking talk to me! Or talk to anyone!”

“I did once and you threw it back in my face!”

Eleanor clutched her head, before rushing forwards again, throwing a punch towards Callum’s face. He ducked sideways, and the girl struck the rock, chips falling down from the impact. The girl turned with a cry and swung again, catching the boy on the jaw. He looked down, and saw tears in her eyes.

“You keep putting it on me to talk to you, but you didn’t listen! You still won’t!”

Callum ducked, and shoved backwards, causing Eleanor to stumble back. “You haven’t told me anything! I’m not the fucking bad guy here!”

“Aren’t you?”

Eleanor held her arms up, but Callum intercepted them. The two pushed against each other, grappling the other’s shoulders as they pushed themselves back against the walls. Eleanor ground her teeth together, her feet digging against the ground.

“I can admit I’m a piece of shit! I know that! But you’re so tied up in your own tiny little inconveniences that you can’t be fucking bothered to see anyone else’s actual problems! I might be a piece of shit, but I’m fucking trying to get better! I...I’m not the villain here, I swear it!”

She pushed backwards, pressing Callum’s back against a wall and bringing her head forwards.

“You think you’re so nice and helpful and friendly, but if you can’t bring yourself to sit down and listen when someone needs it then you’re nothing but a goddamn fraud!”

“SHUT UP!”

Callum screamed and pushed back himself, slamming the girl into the opposing corridor. He held her with shaking arms, not noticing the dust falling from the ceiling around him.

“When have I ever thought I was perfect? I’m a fucking moron and a coward and so much more! But I’m trying, for fuck’s sake! I’ve been trying all this time; I’ve been trying before we even came here! If you can’t be asked to give me a chance, that’s not my fault!”

“But it’s not all about you!”

Eleanor pushed. Callum pushed. The two didn’t let go, and they spun into the wall again. There was a crack, and another cascade of dust fell down. But the two were so enraged that they didn’t notice.

“You wanna help? Fucking apologise!”

“For what? Existing?”

“SAY SORRY RIGHT FUCKING NOW!”

“NO!”

Callum gripped Eleanor’s shoulders and braced himself, pushing against the ground. “I wanna help! I always wanted to help! But I won’t take this piece of shit treatment when it’s not my fault!”

“And what if it was? Could you deal with it then? Would you stand there and fucking accept it?” Eleanor pushed back, venom in her gaze. “If you can’t fucking accept it to your face, you’re no better thananyone we’ve fought! Motimon? Graymon? The Funnyman? Anyone! You’re just one more fucking liar in this godforsaken shitshow of a world!”

“I AM NOT THE BAD GUY!” roared Callum.

He ran forwards, his D-Psyche releasing sparks as he slammed the girl into the wall behind.

The wall crumbled on impact, giving way to a deep, black void. Callum saw Eleanor’s face turn from fury to shock to fear as she fell backwards, dragging him with her.

There was a mass of falling rubble and an explosion of dust as the corridor collapsed.

A few seconds later, it was over. Only a pile of rock and metal, and a few glimmering specks of data hanging in the air.

Callum and Eleanor were gone, and silence rang through the corridor once again.

Ingeniumon slowed to a stop, and paused, raising his gripper and rubbing behind his head.

“What do you mean, so wrong? What’s so wrong about the world?”

Sorimon laughed nervously. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I don’t spend a lot of time down there. I don’t see the kind of things you do.”

“What else could it be?”

Sorimon switched shoulders, practically whispering in Ingeniumon’s ear.

“Every age. Every generation. There’s always someone, or some people, who do whatever the hell they want to. The beasts from the Dark Area. Motimon. The Fire Kingdom. Geminimon. Those...monsters who killed Dallurmon. They wreck and ruin and kill everything, and yet Yggdrasil never punished them for it.”

“But they all fell, didn’t they? That’s the way the world works. Nothing is permanent.”

“In that case, the world just doesn’t care. And in that case, the world doesn’t care who stops them. Human. Digimon. The most unlikely of Digimon. Anyone can choose to be a hero, right?”

“Right.”

Sorimon rubbed beneath her chin. “And if anyone can choose to be a hero but the world itself doesn’t care, then the world itself can’t be a hero. It has no right; heck, no ability. Only we can save it.”

Ingeniumon stopped entirely, and straightened himself up. He turned his head sideways, and stared at Sorimon. His face gave away nothing, as usual.

Sorimon smiled innocently. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“It’s not as simple as that.”

Sorimon’s face fell. The robot raised his arms and she scampered down onto his gripper, allowing him to place her on the rubble. His voice changed tone ever so slightly, less abrasive and more...thoughtful.

“I can’t explain the way the world is because it doesn’t affect me. And I can’t make excuses for injustice that keeps happening. But you can’t change the way we are. You can only find the best of us.”

The shrew tapped her forearms together. “I could be among the best of us. But I never got that chance...”

“You’ve met humans, haven’t you...? And the rest of them. I’d say you stand tall among the best of them. Take it from an old arsehole like me; you really are the future.”

The robot spoke slowly, facing away as he did so. He shifted pieces of junk back and forth, as the Funnyman grimaced beside him. It was getting agitated.

No, not that. Not quite.

It was excited.

There was a shuffling from behind Ingeniumon.

“Don’t make me laugh. Humans are liars. They’re all liars. They can’t make the world right...”

“Maybe not. But then again, nobody can. Not them. Not me.”

He straightened up, and turned his head slightly.

Sorimon had vanished.

“...and not you...”

The Funnyman was guffawing now, laughing silently in its elliptic prison. Ingeniumon ignored it, instead shuffling towards the glimmering orb that sat in the corner of the room. The hodge-podge remnants of the dimension sphere, still holding far more data and power than was really suitable for one place.

Ingeniumon twitched, and trundled forwards, glancing left and right. As he did so, he spoke softly. Calmly. Trying desperately not to raise his voice.

“I mean it when I say you’re the future. You can make choices that far outweigh us. You know others who did the same. The Fire Kingdom, and the humans and Digimon who fought them. Everyone makes choices.”

There was no response. Only a faint scrabbling from his unseen observer, as he travelled further and further towards the orb.

“And those choices come with consequences. Nothing lasts forever. No peace, but no war either. Yggdrasil may not care about you, but it’s certainly not against you.”

A few metres away. The dimension sphere glimmered enticingly, shimmering on the rubble around.

“As I said, I don’t know the affairs of the Digimon down below. But I do know this...”

The robot bent down, embracing the sphere and raising it off the ground.

“Nobody’s ever as noble as they believe they are.”

He raised the orb on high, but it juddered to a halt. He looked down, and saw Sorimon standing on the ground. She looked up with those liquid blue eyes, holding tightly onto several cables as they dragged her along the ground.

“I am. I promise.”

Ingeniumon tugged. “Let go.”

“I’ll be fine! I promise! I just need to be a bit stronger!”

Ingeniumon pulled back, but the shrew held tightly. He could see lights pulsing into her body as she scrabbled for even more wires. The sphere was reacting. The core itself was reacting.

The damage was still there, and it was finding somebody new to latch onto.

Somebody with a lot of emotion...and a lot of potential...

After all, there were still some blessings left to receive.

“Let go, Sorimon. You can’t handle it.”

“Why not?! Nobody else can handle it! I’ve never had a chance!”

“You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“It can’t be hard! This thing...it gave Motimon his power! It gave the humans their power! Why can’t I have some?”

“Please listen to me-“

Shrewmon pulled backwards, digging into the ground beneath her as her body rippled with new power. “I just need a little! Just give me a chance!”

SLAM

Ingeniumon raised an arm and brought it down, cracking the ground beneath them. Sorimon rushed to one side, but the robot was quicker, and the dimension sphere slipped from her grasp. She scrambled and clutched tightly to one panel as she flew upwards, finding herself face to face with Ingeniumon’s emotionless face.

“Is this what you want? What you really want?”

Sorimon clenched her fists, placing one on her chest as her eyes flashed white.

“I WANT TO SAVE THE WORLD!”

“Sorimon!”

“PIERCING SHRIEK!”

There was a noise like a clap of thunder, and a resonant shattering of glass and metal that travelled throughout the entire core. Everybody heard it, and everybody jumped.

Everyone who was still there, that is.

Sorimon hugged the wires tightly, awaiting her fate.

When nobody moved, she opened one eye. Then the second. Ingeniumon was still smiling down at her, his face unchanged, save for a hair-thin crack from one corner of his face to the other. He wasn’t moving.

The shrew stood up, and pulled the dimension sphere from his grasp. It came easily. Far too easily, in fact, as she hoisted the large orb over her shoulders.

“It’s alright...I just need to...borrow this...just for a short time...”

Ingeniumon took this well.

Meaning, his wheels rolled backwards beneath him, and his body collapsed to the ground with a clang. His face split in two, ejecting springs, cogs and several rubber pipes that sprayed fluid everywhere, including all over Sorimon. Her eyes widened as it dawned on her what she had just done.

“OH GOD! I’M SORRY!”

For a moment she stood there, frozen. She half expected Ingeniumon to pick himself up again, dust himself off, put his face back on and start reprimanding her again.

Let’s face it, it was the kind of thing he would do.

When he didn’t do that, Sorimon caught her breath. She held the core more tightly than ever, feeling its warmth and light coursing through her.

“I’ve...I’ve gotta get out of here...”

She ran, not even feeling the weight of the sphere on her back. Still, she only got a metre before she stopped. Her gaze flicked sideways, and she caught sight of the Funnyman, lying sideways in its pot. It was shaking all over the place, laughing its non-existent head off.

“You...”

Sorimon looked down at her paw, and walked towards it, placing her hand on the glass. She clenched it just a little, and the Funnyman stopped moving, staring at her in a mixture of curiosity and fear. Sorimon smiled.

“No. You’re gonna come with me as well”

A few moments later, and Sorimon was stood alone in the chamber. The dimension sphere and the Funnyman lay in separate bundles behind her, wrapped haphazardly in pieces of spare cords, and tied around her waist. She didn’t feel a thing. No fatigue, no pain...nothing.

“I finally got your blessing, Motimon...”

Ingeniumon lay in pieces behind her. She placed a hand in front of her mouth, calming her breathing.

“Yggdrasil...doesn’t care...you don’t care...”

She looked back, staring at the wreckage. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, and she laughed nervously.

“I’ll look after this world better than you, or Yggdrasil, or any human ever did.”

There was a clatter nearby, and the shrew’s ears perked up. In moments she had vanished, dragging the twin capsules with her.

For a few moments there was only silence.

Then, claws shaking, Empermon pulled himself from out of his hiding place, looking among the carnage before him. He placed a flipper to his mouth, and shook his head violently.

“Oh god...not again...”

TO BE CONTINUED...