Sora, Meiko, Meicoomon, Matt and Tai were rushing up toward the entrance to Izumi Tech when they were cut off at the door by Dorumon. The dark purple digimon standing there with a smile, crossing his arms as the group circled him. 
“Stay out of our way!” Tai bellowed. 
“Humph, ungrateful as ever.” Dorumon huffed, turning away from them. 
“Grateful for what!?” Sora shouted. “You jammed your claws into them at the restaurant and the next thing we know they’re on the floor!” 
“We thought you really hurt them!” Meiko joined in, while Meicoomon growled and showcased her claws. 
“And yet, not only do they live. I can catch the stink of their “partners” on them.” Dorumon noted. 
“Wait, you-“ Matt stammered. 
“I’m the one who sent you there, after your incompetent team couldn’t find your own digimon.” He fired back. 
“Why?” Tai scowled. “Are you the one trapping them there!?” 
“I didn’t have anything to do with trapping them there, if you can even call what’s left of them alive anyway.” Dorumon let a quick snicker escape. “Get inside. I want to join your little conversation with Tentomon’s pet.” He said before vanishing. Tai lead the way inside, rushing to the elevator and riding up to Izzy’s office. Inside, Izzy was still hard at work while Yolei, Ken and Mimi were fast asleep in a few bedrolls nearby. 
“Izzy!” Tai shouted. 
“Whoa! Hey Tai, Matt, what’s going on!? Kind of an awkward place for a double date.” Izzy leapt up from his computer. Mimi and the others began to stir awake. 
“We found them!” Matt exclaimed.
“Wha!? Where!?” Izzy gasped. 
“The data world, where Apocalymon sent us during our battle with him!” Tai answered, finally catching his breath. 
“What, how? How do you know that for certain?” Izzy questioned. 
“We scanned the data stream of that world.” Willis joined in. “There wasn’t anything there.” 
“Morons.” Dorumon finally joined them, appearing behind Izzy. Leaping up from the table and taking a spot beside Willis everyone took a defensive stance against the intruding digimon. “All this at your disposal and you can’t even find your own “partners.” It’s truly pathetic.” 
“Dorumon.” Tai growled. 
“He’s an evil digimon?” Mimi wondered. “He looks like a purple Agumon.” 
“What’s Barney the losersaur doing here?” Willis insulted. Terriermon and Lopmon jumped up on the table to his defense along with Meicoomon, Hawkmon and Wormmon. 
“A truce, thanks to your big haired friend there.” Dorumon stated, circling Izzy’s desk, the digi-destined took a side opposite to Dorumon as he sat down. “You didn’t think my idiot brother was the only one working on this now did you?” 
“Brother?” Ken inquired. 
“Figures.” Dorumon briefly turned to him. “Homeostasis wants you and all your little digi-friends to stay in the dark. Hackmon and I hatched together. Though we couldn’t be further apart now. While he bathed in light, I was always left in the dark. So, I happen to know a little bit about it.” He smiled. 
“So what is it then you’re not telling us.” Sora inquired. 
“I sent Tai and Matt there for a reason. Homeostasis wants to keep you separated from your digimon. However, as per the orders of my master. I do not.” Dorumon argued. 
“Why do they want us separated?” Matt demanded. 
“Control, you blond haired buffoon. Homeostasis thinks it has the problems of the digital world under control. It doesn’t. You can’t control the chaos of the multitude of worlds born of the Quantum Sea, but heaven forbid you should ever believe it can’t.” He explained. 
“I. Well, no I don’t really care if this is rude but.” Meiko started to speak. “You couldn’t care less about us humans, let alone our digimon partners, so why would you want to reunite them?” 
“Because, Libra pet. My master in all his power cannot stop the invasion of the digital world alone. Even with the collective power of every darkness my world can muster, we can’t fend off an invasion from the primal world. If it bleeds into the digital world, it will spell the doom of us all. I hate you humans, but you pushed your digimon well beyond the limits of what either my master or those morons within Homeostasis could have predicted. If we’re going to stop this threat, we’re going to need you, and we’re going to need you even stronger than you were before.” 
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Tai breathed. 
“Hm, aren’t as dumb as you look.” Dorumon smiled. 
“Wait, hang on.” Yolei jumped in. “Do you know how to restore the digimon that have been lost?” 
“Restore them, no.” Dorumon shook his head. “Find them, yes. They’ve been torn in half in a sense.” 
“What!?” Everyone gasped. 
“How did we not crush you before?” Dorumon scratched his head. “The world of data holds the digitized consciousness of your digimon. However, their physical data is in the possession of Homeostasis. I can only assume Gennai has tricked it into thinking they’ve been processed as a whole. At least he’s been useful enough to keep them somewhat intact.” 
“That’s why they aren’t sleeping or eating.” Matt realized. 
“There’s a vault, deep within the digital world not too far from the Kernel where the physical data is being stored. So, perhaps if you can extract the consciousness data and merge it with the physical forms.” 
“We can restore our digimon.” Izzy finished. “But what’s to stop Homeostasis from recalling them again?”
“I don’t know.” Dorumon shook his head. 
“How can you not!?” Tai demanded. 
“I don’t claim to understand the inner workings of those fools! Why not ask my idiot brother, or one of your precious light-born allies? Haven’t they served you so well in the past? Oh right, they claimed your digimon like trophies and left you limp and powerless.” 
“You’ve actually been helpful, so that begs the question.” Ken moved in a little closer. “What do you want out of this?” 
“I told you, this is a truce. A very, temporary one. Trust me when I say that when this is all over and the digital world is safe from the primal world, I’ll find every one of your heads with my blade as Alphamon.” He threatened as he vanished. 
“The world of data. There was a program written by Kyotaro Yamata and Menoa to isolate consciousness data, and retrieve it from one realm to bring it back to another. Even if that wouldn’t work in a direct sense, we may be able to apply it to our own predicament.” Izzy recalled. 
“Humph, I really don’t trust that girl.” Mimi touted. 
“Neither do I. But during a crisis like this, all options must be on the table. Perhaps it’s time I pulled in a few extra favors.” Izzy stated. “Tai, now that we know where they are. The next move will be how to retrieve their consciousness data, and how to transfer it. Perhaps you can sweet talk your way into finding out more about the digimons physical locations.” 
“Don’t trust what that thing said?” Matt cut in. 
“Not entirely, no. King Drasil has made it abundantly clear in the past, his desire is for the digital world to prevail over all. Regardless of what we face, he and his subordinates are not on our side.” Izzy restated. 
“I don’t think he was lying.” Tai cut in. “But I also think he’s telling us what we want to hear because it’s against what Homeostasis wants. Still, the more we find out on our own, the better. You’ve got a great team working for you here Izzy, use it well.” 
“I plan on it.” He agreed. 

Davis and Cody along with their digimon had teamed up and were patrolling down a forested pathway in the digital world, not too far from where the amusement park was on Server. It could be seen off in the distance behind them while they were ascending up a small hill. Davis just kept his arms folded and his head up in a rather snooty look while Cody occasionally glanced at him, half smiling with his brow raised. 
“How long are you planning on brooding over Kari?” Cody just outright asked. 
“Humph!”
“I thought he’d have fun on the rides, but he’s being such a downer lately.” Veemon stated. 
“I’m not down about anything!” He refuted. “I’m just bored. Sides, rides are for kids.” Davis brushed off. 
“That why you were too scared to ride the rollercoaster?” Cody grinned. 
“Ah!” Davis halted briefly. “Hey, no one was driving that thing, we coulda been stuck on there forever, ya think about that one huh smart guy?” 
“Well, we weren’t tall enough to go with you.” Armadillomon added. “We coulda drove it.” 
“Sides we gotta job to do. Stupid truce. We should be watching our world. Don’t Jesmon and Alphamon have this place covered?” Davis inquired. 
“Willis sent us a map of areas that a breach might occur based on where they had to seal off certain gates.” Cody explained. 
“Maybe those two are just exaggerating how strong they were. After all we’ve seen Seadramon by the dozens and they’re no sweat.” Davis shrugged off. 
“Our job is recon, not to engage the digimon.” 
“Like me!?” A voice shouted as it leapt from the bushes. 
“What the!?” Davis exclaimed, seeing the figure before him. She looked faded and the flower on her head was more violet but it looked almost exactly like Palmon. “Palmon?” 
“Ha, as if! I’m Aruraumon. The boss sent me to scout this area.” She stated, waving her finger. 
“Same with us.” Cody answered. 
“So which boss are you working with?” Veemon questioned. 
“King Drasil of course. After all, it’s the one actually watching our backs instead of taming it.” She chuckled. 
“Did she just call you a pet?” Davis questioned. 
“We’re not pets, we’re partners.” Veemon argued. 
“Right, save it.” Aruraumon countered. “Well, might as well join you guys. Strength in numbers.” She said leading the way. Cody and Davis weren’t sure if they should go along, but in a huff Aruraumon turned around. “You gonna stand there looking dumb all day, or we gonna hunt some rogue digimon?” 
After a little time walking together Veemon was the first to speak up. 
“So why do you serve King Drasil?” 
“Just drop it.” She dismissed. 
“I’m just trying to be nice.” He pressed. “No need to be so rude.” 
“I’m not being rude, I just don’t care for humans. I’m not looking to be some partner or friend to you guys. I just want to live my life. But the boss is asking us all to seek out dangerous digimon and report them back to him.” 
“So, you live here?” Armadillomon asked. 
“A bit away from here. Near the dark forest, not too far from Myotismon’s castle.” 
“Wait what!? He’s still around!?” Davis exclaimed. 
“Yeah, but he’s in his “Slumber” or whatever.” Aruraumon air quoted. 
“Good, that guy was a massive headache.” Davis huffed. 
“Huh!?” Aruraumon stopped along with Veemon and Armadillomon. All three of them looking up at the sky. 
“What is it?” Cody asked. 
“Can’t you feel that?” She asked, trembling. 
“I sure do.” Veemon joined in. 
“Same here, my whole shells a shakin.” 
“Feel what?” Davis asked, looking up into the sky.
“Davis, the goggles Izzy made you!” Cody was quick to remind him. 
“Right.” Davis slid them on and almost went blind. “Ah!! What in the world is that!?” As enormous swirls of red were converging on a singular point. Shockwaves of white were pulsing out, hitting the digimon on the ground. 
“Davis, what do you see?” Cody questioned. 
“Something’s coming through!” As he spoke, the portal opened up. A massive tear that spanned nearly a mile across the sky. Falling through and landing in the forest up ahead was a digimon, though which one, they couldn’t say for sure. After it landed, the portal remained as lightning cracked across the sky. Davis put the goggles back on his head. “Come on, we gotta find out what it was! Let’s go!” 
“I ain’t going after that, you crazy?!” Aruraumon argued. 
“Fine, we’ll find out and report it back to Homeostasis, you can explain to your boss why you chickened out!” Davis fired back rushing ahead. 
“Davis, wait, be careful!” Cody joined him along with Veemon and Armadillomon. Reluctantly Aruraumon joined them as well, and as they entered a clearing, they could see a creature that looked similar to Ogremon rise to his feet. Ice shards were protruding from his back, and he stood at least two and a half times bigger than him. 
“Is that, Ogremon?” Cody questioned. “He’s so much bigger!”
“No way, that’s Hyogamon! He’s an Ogre type just like Ogremon, but watch out, if he gives you the cold shoulder, you’ll be frozen solid.” As she explained, Hyogamon turned around and spotted them, growling as he raised his club. “Ok, too cold for my taste! I got enough to report to the master, I’m outta here!” 
“Fine, you wanna bring the cold, here comes the heat! Veemon!” Davis shouted. 
“I’m ready!” 
“Digi-armor energize!”
“Veemon, armor digivolve to! Flamedramon The fire of Courage!” 
“Armadillomon Digivolve to! Akylomon!” 
“Two on one, huh?” Hyogamon chuckled, tapping his club on his hand. “I like those odds. I don’t know why you brought me here, but you’re gonna regret it!” 
“No one invited ya you frosty freak, but we’re gonna send ya back where you belong! Get em Flamedramon!” Davis ordered. 
“Fire rocket!” Flamedramon called out, hurling three flaming shots directly for him. Hyogamon stuck out his chest and took it like it was nothing. 
“Tail Hammer!” Ankylomon joined in, but Hyogamon caught it and started spinning the big digimon by his tail. 
“Haha, let’s see if you can fly! Ha!” He shouted, tossing Ankylomon over a hundred feet away. “Pathetic.” 
“Ankylomon!” Cody shouted, giving chase to his friend. 
“Fire Rocket!” Flamedramon tried again, this time at point blank range to Hyogamon’s face. “Gotcha!” He taunted, but as the smoke cleared, Hyogamon grabbed Flamedramon by his hand and laughed. 
“My turn. Ice Punch!” He shouted. Flamedramon took the shot right to the chest and was sent flying through the trees. Davis started running to catch up to him. 
“Flamedramon! Are you alright!?” Flamedramon was slow to get up, clasping his chest, his body armor had shattered and had major cuts where Hyogamon’s punch landed. 
“I’m, alright I think.” He tried to say. Davis caught him and helped him to his feet. “That was. Just one punch. Davis, I think he’s too strong.” Flamedramon said between breaths. Hyogamon began tearing down the trees in his way as he approached Flamedramon and Davis. “Fire Rocket!” He shouted and began a volley of the attack over and over. “Come on! Stay down!” 
“This is a joke! Snow Barrier!” He called out, raising a wall of ice high above the trees. Hyogamon scaled it and leapt up into the air, shouting as he came down. “Ice mace!” He slammed the ground hard, the shockwave blowing Davis and Flamedramon back. Davis was a little slow to get up and could see Hyogamon starting his way toward him. 
“No way. I won’t give in!” 
“Tail Hammer!” Ankylomon swung for him, but the attack barley disturbed the big ogre. 
“Stay outta this you overgrown turtle! Blizzard Punch!” He called, firing a frosted version of Ogremons Pummel Whack. The shot blew Ankylomon back into the trees and de-digivolved him back to Armadillomon. “Not even worth my time.” 
“Fire Rocket!” Flamedramon shouted, igniting himself and sending himself head first toward Hyogamon. Slicing with his ice club he landed a direct hit on Flamedramon’s head and shattered his helmet, the blade splintering into pieces clanging as they showered the ground. Davis looked on in awe, as Flamedramon rolled over and over toward him, landing at his feet. 
“No! Flamedramon!” He cried out. De-digivolving, Veemon lay unconscious, but Davis was quick to scoop him up. “Veemon, talk to me. Say something, anything!” He cried. 
“Flame Dive!” An unknown voice called from beyond the trees. In a blindside ambush, Hyogamon was blown back through the trees and back into the clearing. Davis looked up to see a massive winged and fiery lion digimon before him. 
“Great, not another one!” 
“Take your Veemon to safety.” He growled. “You’re too weak to handle this one.” With a powerful roar he charged back after Hyogamon. 
“Blizzard punch!” 
“Fira bomb!” The digimon yelled back. The fire ball blew past his attack and hammered Hyogamon head on. 
“Ah! Unreal!” Davis exclaimed. 
“I hate to break it to you, but it’s very real.” A new and rather gruff voice spoke. An old man appeared behind Davis as Cody and an unconscious Amradillomon joined him. While they certainly didn’t recognize him, he was a more than familiar figure to the digital world. “You must be two of the new kids. Well I guess not so much kids anymore per say. Pleased to make your acquaintance, my name’s Gennai.” 
“Master Gennai!?” They both said in unison. 
“Wait, you’re way too old to be him!” Davis countered. 
“I see you’ve met my younger self. Hopefully he’s been treating you well. But right now, we have a little work to do.” He said. “Firamon! Take him back through.” 
“Right!” He acknowledged, snatching Hyogamon up by his shoulders, Firamon carried him high into the air. As they flew into the sky, the portal collected them both and as it did Gennai took front and center of the two. 
“Your digimon aren’t strong enough to counter these ones. It was very dangerous to try. Your Veemon and Armadillomon need medical attention as soon as possible. Fortunately, you know someone with a medical background, don’t you?” He smiled. “Best of luck!” Gennai vanished and with it, the portal finally began to close. 
“Davis!!” T.K and Kari called out with Tai, Meiko and Meicoomon hot on their tail. 
“T.K! Kari, you guys help!!” Davis cried out. 
“Davis!” T.K gasped, as Tai took to the front of the group. Tai was in shock at what he saw before him. Veemon was seriously injured, with lacerations on his chest along with a solid cut on his head. Tai gently placed a hand on his belly and checked his eyes.
“Veemon, you in there?” Kari took hold of Armadillomon’s paw and tried to coax him awake. 
“Armadillomon, can you hear me? Please wake up.” 
“Tai, he’s hurt really bad.” Davis choked back his tears, shaking as he held tight to Veemon. “Hyogamon tore him apart as Flamedramon. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Oh man.” Tai stammered, seeing blood trickle from Veemon’s head. “This is bad. We need to get him to Joe, right now.”  

Veemon and Armadillomon were taken to the hospital Joe worked at. He saw the two of them right away and after a battery of tests, he had Veemon resting in a bed while Armadillomon was wrapped up, being carried very carefully by Cody. Tai, Kari, T.K, Meiko and the digimon were all in the room with Veemon, with Gatomon holding Veemon’s hand. 
“Poor Veemon, he looks really bad.”
“He’s still sleeping.” Meicoomon added. 
“Veemon come on, you’re a tough mon, you’ll pull through.” Patamon tried to encourage him. Davis was sniffling, sitting in a nearby chair while Tai came over and put a hand on his shoulder. 
“Patamon’s right. He’ll be ok.” Tai tried to comfort him.
“I’m so stupid. He-he said it right aw-away. He could tell with one punch.” Davis cried. Armadillomon was still trembling in Cody’s arms. 
“I’ve never felt anything hit me that hard before.” Armadillomon recalled. “I thought he shot right through me.” 
“Shh, don’t speak Armadillomon, I got you.” Cody soothed. Joe opened the door and brought with him a small tablet. 
“Hey you guys.” 
“Joe, how is he?” Tai asked right away. 
“Well, let’s start with the good news. He’s not in any life threatening danger and given my understanding of Digimon physiology, he should recover within a few days of rest.” 
“And the bad?” Kari spoke up. 
“Well, I said he wasn’t in life threatening danger but he sure was put close to it. Whatever hit his chest shattered his ribs, and there’s a massive fracture on his skull. I think if it wasn’t for the fact his digimon line is known for thick skull plating, Hyogamon might have destroyed him with the head blow. Also, things could have been much worse. Digimon have their injuries downscaled when they de-digivolve, so the fact he’s in this shape now, speaks to how badly he was injured as Flamedramon.”
“Oh Veemon.” Kari moaned, clasping his hand over Gatomon’s.
“The other bit of good news is once we set the ribs, he already started healing. He’ll probably be out for several hours, but that’s actually a good thing. He needs to rest and I mean rest. No moving, no fighting and definitely no digivolving.”
“Which means we just lost Imperialdramon for a while.” Tai breathed. “Well, at least Veemon will recover.” Matt and Sora walked into the room, seeing everyone gathered up and sighed. Sora rushed over to join Kari and was in shock to see how bad Veemon was hurt. 
“Oh, you poor little guy.” She moaned, clasping Veemon’s only free hand. 
“Hey Matt.” Tai greeted. 
“Sup. Davis, can we talk for a sec out here?” Matt gestured toward the door. Davis picked himself up but kept his head down as Tai guided him outside. Tai stayed at Davis’s side and Matt stood before them as they put a little distance between Veemon’s room and themselves. “So what happened? I thought we agreed not to engage unless we had to.” 
“I’m sorry.” Davis said quietly. 
“You’re sorry?” Matt raised his voice. “You almost got Veemon destroyed, the hell were you thinking rushing in like that!? Didn’t it occur to you to wait for backup? T.K and Kari weren’t far behind!” 
“Matt, back off!” Tai cut in. 
“Don’t tell me you’re gonna stick up for him!?” 
“For someone who keeps telling me to think of someone else’s feelings, take a good look at him and tell me how he’s holding up? I get that you’re mad, but what’s done is done.” Tai argued. Matt scowled and turned away for a moment. “Davis, how did that Hyogamon get pushed back into the portal anyway?” Tai asked. 
“Some old guy showed up, calling himself Gennai and he brought a digimon called Firamon with him.” 
“Gennai!?” Both Matt and Tai said aloud. “He was old again?” Tai questioned. 
“Yeah, dark blue and pink robes, bald with this little pony tail, had trouble opening his eyes. Old dude.” Davis explained. 
“That’s impossible!” Tai breathed. 
“It sounds exactly like the Gennai we knew back when we were taken at summer camp years ago.” Matt stated. “And Gennai brought a digimon with him?” 
“Yeah, Firamon took out Hyogamon like he was a chump.” 
“Was Veemon able to hurt Hyogamon at all?” Matt questioned. 
“No. Not even a scratch.” Davis dismissed, hanging his head once again. “Flamedramon tried to tell me he was in trouble after just one punch from that thing. It blew the armor right off his chest. Then he smashed him over the head, and that finished him.” Davis explained. 
“Flamedramon was defeated in two hits!?” Matt exclaimed. 
“Yeah. Why I feel so stupid. I shoulda listened right when he told me he was in trouble.” 
“Yeah, you should have.” Matt crossed his arms. 
“Maybe. But on the plus side, Davis. Now we know that our Gennai is back in the mix, and we learned we’re not alone fighting against these invasions. If our Gennai is involved, then he must be doing something about it on his side.” 
“What do you suggest?” Matt questioned. 
“We’ll give the younger team a break. Matt, you and I should join the patrols on both sides. We can’t fight of course but, if we run into Gennai, we should talk with him.”
“Yeah, ok. Sounds like a good plan. Why don’t Sora and I cover this side of things, you and Meiko can scout out the digital world. Watch for portals there. If things get bad, at least Meicoomon can fight.”
“Good idea.” Tai agreed. 

The following day, Yolei was rushing into the office with a massive package that jingled as she carried it in. Kicking in the door she announced to everyone in the office. 
“Guys, I got them back!” She set them down at the center table in the office the team had been working out of.  
“Great timing!” Izzy praised. “Did you order the precise engravings we needed?” 
“What do you I look like, an amateur?” Yolei waved off. “Let’s check em out.” She cracked open the box and inside were an array of other much smaller boxes. Each one had a certain size and name attached to it. “See, Agumon, Tentomon, Patamon, Hawkmon. You name a digimon we got a ring for em.” Yolei winked. 
“Prodigious!” He smiled, opening up Tentomon’s box. 
“Normally they just say digital monster, but since we needed an anchor, we got the inscription of their digi-destineds name and crest on one ring, and normal inscriptions on the other. If we can get them sanctified by Ophanimon or Seraphimon, they should work as anchors keeping them here. Now all we have to do is recover the others.”
“So how much did this end up being?” Ken turned around in his chair. 
“Don’t ask.” Yolei nervously waved off. 
“Yolei, you didn’t over spend, did you?” Izzy questioned. 
“Gatomon’s was 14 karat gold, and the material had to match. So...” 
“Wha!!” Izzy read the invoice and nearly fainted. “Well, there goes our vacation to Hawaii after.” Izzy moaned. 
“Stay-cations are underrated anyway.” Yolei nervously chuckled. 
“Call Kari and T.K. We need to return the original tail ring to Gatomon anyway.” Ken suggested. 

Matt was walking with Sora on his arm through the mall, passing by shop after shop without either of them really taking the time to stop. Sora caught their reflection in a clothing store window and smiled, cuddling his arm a little closer. 
“Hey, we make a pretty cute couple.” She smiled up to him. 
“Yeah, I’m glad we’re together. One normal thing in our crazy lives huh?” Matt chuckled right back. 
“So, is a portal supposed to open here, or did you ya decide today’s a great time to play hooky?” 
“It’s Tai again. Sticking up for Davis. I almost lost it on him yesterday.” 
“Oh?” 
“It was so stupid of him to try to fight a digimon that strong. But, as much as I hate to admit it, Tai was right. What’s done is done and now, we know there’s a lot more going on to this than we thought.” Matt stated. 
“That, and we almost lost Imperialdramon, right? That’s why you got so upset?” Sora questioned as she swung around, clasping both of his hands standing in front of him. 
“Yeah.” He grinned. 
“I can read ya like a book.” She smiled, leaning into his chest. “You were worried about them. Like always. You’d hate to see Veemon and Davis separated, and don’t wanna lose Imperialdramon in case we need him again. You’re thinking of everyone, another thing we have in common.” 
“Mmm. I just get worried you know? Seeing Veemon like that.” Matt spoke softly, shaking his head as he held Sora a little tighter. 
“It breaks my heart to see our digimon injured or scared. But I know Davis learned his lesson so, I can’t hold it against him. We all have that instinct to jump in and protect what’s precious to us.” Sora explained, retaking her spot in front of him. 
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Maybe you’re right, I should apologize to Davis.” Matt conceded. 
“Could you two stop flirting?” A gruff voice called out from a coffee table not too far from them. “Public displays of affection are a little rude.” Matt and Sora nearly dropped their jaws at who it was. 
“Gennai!?” Matt shouted. 
“Wha, it’s true, you’re old again!” Sora joined in. 
“Implying I wasn’t before? But let’s be honest, I still look great for my age.” He chuckled. Matt and Sora joined him at the little cafe in the mall and watched him sip his tea for a bit. “I take it you’re wondering why I’m here.” 
“I’m wondering who the Gennai is that we’ve been dealing with.” Matt huffed. 
“Oh that’s me too. And that horrid rat who was causing so much mayhem before, that’s also me.” 
“So what, they’re like your brothers?” 
“Copies.” He corrected. “Like I said ages ago, I’m like the digimon but I have no attributes. However, I can copy myself as many times as needed and once Apocalymon was defeated, I had access to my younger forms as well.” 
“So you’re really our Gennai then?” Matt questioned. 
“Yes, well we all are. My memories were copied over entirely into the new entities, so they know just as much about you as I do.” He explained. 
“So where’ve you been?” Sora thought aloud. 
“The Quantum world, or primal world as you call it.” 
“What have you been doing there?” Sora continued to question. 
“I was called. The Quauntum world has beings just like me to help manage and guide it. Sadly the one overseeing the western continent was destroyed, so an opening was available. They reached out to other worlds with similar entities and I was happy to answer the call. Now I sit as the elder of the west, I even have a few digimon companions of my own as a result.”
“Why is it attacking our world?” Matt demanded. 
“It’s not, at least not intentionally however as the worlds begin to reach out to one another the paths between them begin to connect and it won’t be long before a wave of breaches begins. Since the digital world is a reflection of yours, the primal world has found it first, but it won’t be long before primal digimon make their appearance in the human world.” 
“How do we stop it, especially now that Homeostasis has taken away our digimon?” Sora requested.
“This is where I’m most concerned. You see, when you were younger, Homeostasis existed as a unified entity, but as the multitude of worlds and complications in the digital world rose, it divided its power to manage them as best it could. However as time has gone on it has begun to grow unstable and discordanent. The leader of Homeostasis never intended to recall digimon back to their source, however as it struggles to maintain order within its own ranks and the digital world, it has fallen to desperate measures to retain its strength. Sadly, even in that effort it failed, as I’m sure my counterpart here has likely intervened and halted the deletion of the enriched digimon. It’s a barbaric practice, one that I find distasteful.” 
“Wait, recalled!? Enriched, what do you mean? Is this potential protocol even real!?” Sora slapped her hand on the table.
“It’s very real, but meant originally to be only an emergency measure. A digimon’s fighting experiences can be returned to Homeostasis in the form of its consciousness data. With all other characteristics wiped out, this new enriched data can be passed to new digimon to empower them. However whether or not it takes is another story. If a digimon is not returned to its prior form, fractal portions of their former selves may manifest, and cause conflict within the newly raised digimon and that can only spell devastation to their partners and the digital world. Homeostasis isn’t above making mistakes, even critical ones and it’s likely going to be costly to try to fend off the primal digimon without your aide.” 
“How are they so strong, these primal digimon? Tai said that Jesmon and Alphamon were getting slapped around by a Seadramon.” Matt questioned. 
“The primal world is ancient, its size far greater than your world and since all life that can exists, does exist, the digimon within are far stronger. Their digimon are based on quantum coding, thus increasing their data size and capability. The digital world that you know could catch up to where the primal world is now, but would need at least a century of technological improvement.”
“Is it possible for us to travel there? Maybe we could look for help.” Sora asked, however Gennai shook his head. 
“The journey through the portal is dangerous as it is, the distance between your world and ours is vast. It’s one of the reasons some portals collapse before they make it here. Even if you survived the trip, you’d struggle to survive within it. The planet is massive and its natural gravity much greater. You’d barely be able to stand let alone fight. Sadly I can’t advise going there, the risk is too great.”
“Gennai.” Matt hung his head. “Is there any way we can get our digimon back?” 
“There is always a way, but how to do it, I’m not sure. You’d be better off speaking with my younger counterpart on that one. I worry that Homeostasis is losing control, and that Drasil will capitalize on that to overthrow it. If it does, the digital world would serve a very dark and cruel purpose, and no digi-destined would survive.” Gennai hung his head. 
“So we have to convince Homeostasis to take our side.” Sora surmised. 
“Tough sell. If Homeostasis is willing to destroy our digimon, I doubt anything we say will convince it to join our fight.” 
“And yet, you must.” Gennai said, taking his last sip of tea. “Homeostasis is unbalanced, King Drasil on the offensive and now the risk of Primal Digimon invading.” He hummed. “I will do all I can from my side of things, though I have to beg your understanding on something. Once this threat is over, I too must leave for good. My presence in this world would only further endanger you and the digital world, still. It’s been nice to see you again. Keep faith in each other. I trust you’ll know what to do when the time comes, you always have.”  
“Right.” Matt agreed. 
“Hope you don’t mind paying for the tea. Gotta go.” Gennai said, vanishing before them. 
“Ugh!” Sora stammered. “Oh sure, leave us with doom and gloom news, then stick us with the tab.” She smirked.