Butter-Fly Effect

"...Maybe I just don't want to fight with you." There. You've said it. You're not sure how much it'll mean to her, but it'll probably do more than pointing out all the reasons that arguing with one of your fellow DigiDestined is a bad idea. "And, we can't really... solve things, without talking."

Not unless you messed around with your Digivices, anyway, and you're not sure Mimi knows any Digicode. She might just be getting Palmon to translate for her when necessary.

"But why is he here?" And there it is. The biggest issue of all of this. Because Daigo's too good at talking, and so is Mimi, when she wants to be, but only one of them has had time to adapt to this new talent.

Said goggleboy is looking off to the side, not really focusing on anything in particular. "Well... Sora told me about your fight, and... I guess I sort of understand where you're coming from. It's just- Sometimes I wish that people would question me more often, too."

"You do?"

"Do you think I asked for any of this?" He doesn't wait for an answer. But, then, you all already know what it is. Of course he didn't. None of you ever asked for anything, perks or responsibilities, but the Digital World just keeps throwing them at you. "I have to be... really careful what I say now, so I don't convince someone of the wrong thing. And, I mean, I'm the leader, so I have to try and be right all the time anyway, but it was... easier, back when people actually asked questions."

Across the park, the Digitamamon flickers and fades from existence, leaving a battered Togemon that reverts to Palmon. The little plant Rookie picks herself up- really, you aren't sure when she got so tough- and drags herself back over to her partner. "Mimi... I'm sorry that I couldn't win."

"It's fine, Palmon." She picks up her Digimon and hugs her close. "You kept him from hurting anyone else, and that's what's important."

"Oh... Okay." Palmon doesn't sound entirely convinced, but snuggles up to Mimi anyway. "You aren't gonna fight Sora anymore, right?"

"That..." She glances at you, then Daigo, and back again. "I think we- we actually need to talk about things, don't we?"

You think that would be a great idea.

---

"You're coming along to the Digital World!?" You honestly don't blame Mimi for being surprised by this. She hasn't had much time to get to know the older DigiDestined, other than through stories and the occasional email.

Daigo nods. "We're... worried, about our partners. I'm sure that they could defeat the Dark Masters in a fair fight now, but nobody ever said that the Dark Masters fought fair. And that's not even considering..." He winces, but doesn't say anything.

"What? What aren't you talking about?" Biyomon asks. "Tell me!"

"Biyomon!" You scold her. "He doesn't have to say anything he doesn't want to."

"No, no, it's fine. We were probably going to have to tell everyone about it eventually. See... we didn't have much interaction with him, but there is a force more powerful and dangerous than the Dark Masters out there. And if those four have broken free, there's a chance we might be dealing with him as well."

"What kind of Digimon is he?" Palmon asks, having gotten over her injuries enough to eat takoyaki. Or maybe it's just that it's food and she's a Rookie Digimon. You can never tell.

"I'm not sure if he technically counts as a Digimon, really... but his name is Apocalymon."

Wow. Even the name's ominous.

---

Not that there's a lot Daigo really knows about Apocalymon. Mostly, it's just the fact that he exists. Still, that's more than you knew a week ago, and it's something that makes preparing for your next trip to the Digital World all the more important.

Not that it ever wasn't. You don't even really have time to deal with everyone else, you're too busy with...


[ ] Acquiring food. Because you just know that, even if Kazuya comes along, you'll be stuck eating nothing but canned food eventually.

[ ] Brushing up on your Digicode in case of emergency. Sure, with Izzy, Joe, and Haruka it'll be kind of redundant, but you can never have too much of the power to hack reality.

[ ] You know that under a week isn't long enough for training to get any major results. But every little bit counts, right?

You need food. For a number of reasons, mostly the fact that you want to spend as long as possible not being limited to canned goods. You know Kazuya's probably going to bring some amount of seafood, but odds are everyone's going to get sick of that when the time comes for you to deal with MetalSeadramon. If that Digimon escapes into the ocean... you could spend a long time living off of fish and bottled water.

So you probably don't need to get any fish. Mimi or Joe will probably grab some cans of food- if you're really lucky, both of them will. So you don't really need to worry about that, either. Nor do you want to. Canned fruit is nice and all, but the stuff in the Digital World just tastes so much better.

Which is how you find yourself at the convenience store looking through bags of trail mix and wondering when, exactly, this became your life.

...Probably when you decided to go to summer camp. Because it's either that or when you actually became a DigiDestined, and you'd rather not think you were doomed to do this just because you were messing around once with your parents' computer.

You also tell Biyomon not to puncture any cans of soda with her talons, and that even if she does, she is not allowed to drink any. The caffeinated beverages are for the humans only. And even then, you think they'd get more use as a weapon against lower-leveled Digimon than as an actual drink. You've seen Rikuto explode them as an experiment.

Sometimes, you see a girl with purple hair peering around shelves at you and Biyomon. You wave to her, and she squeaks and runs away.

...It says a lot that you consider this to be stranger than anything else that's happened this month.

---

When the day comes that you're all going to the Digital World, Kazuya doesn't look all that impressed at you putting bags full of chips and trail mix on top of his locked neon orange cooler. You aren't sure if he'd be more or less upset if he saw the instant noodles, but it's important that you have as much food as possible, because the Digimon won't be very happy otherwise.

"At least I've got a bit more to work with..." He sighs. "Hey, Haru, how much storage space can you fit in this thing?" He taps the cooler.

"Depends. How do you feel about permanent marker?"

Gatomon raises her paw. "How about we cover as much of it as possible?"

Patamon flutters up and down in agreement. "My eyes hurt!"

"Then why are you looking at it?"

"I think they're trying to figure out the combination on the lock by staring at it," Tai suggests. Which actually makes a lot of sense, when you think about it. "Agumon, don't set the lock on fire."

"Why would I do that!? It could burn the food!" Well, at least you know your supplies will be well-guarded.

"I can't help but feel we should be going back for Mammothmon..." Wizardmon comments. "...But then, I don't think we could have fit him into this apartment."

"We can barely fit all of us..." Gomamon grumbles. You blink and think of something.

"Oh, Joe, have you told your parents about Gomamon, yet?"

"Are you kidding? I'd be grounded forever!"

"I was just checking..."

"You haven't told them!?" And then there's Mimi, who seems to be personally offended by this. This doesn't surprise you one bit. "Even with... everything?"

Everyone winces. While you haven't been focusing on it overly much, more and more Digimon have been slipping through the cracks recently. You haven't asked anyone how they've been handling things, but there hasn't been that much property damage yet, so you guess it's not such a big deal.

Or maybe that's just because you were lucky enough to not really run into any. And you're not like Tai, who will actively go out and look for trouble if he's bored. You actually do care about your own safety.

"Again, I would be grounded. Forever. Not exactly helpful when it comes to world-saving." This is about when he sees Kazuya's cooler. "...So, we're painting that thing over once we reach DigiWorld, right?"

"What's wrong with my cooler!?"

"It's not exactly... a subtle color," Daigo points out. "I don't even know where you got it from..."

"There was a sale." Probably because everyone had the good taste not to buy it otherwise. Not that you say that out loud. You know better.

"Really, though, it'll lead the Dark Masters right to us. Just look for an ungodly bright orange, and there's the DigiDestined." Rikuto crosses his arms. "How much ink do you have in that marker?"

"...Probably not enough, unfortunately..."

"Can we just go now?" Mimi asks, fidgeting. "I need space to breathe."

"We all do," Daigo sighs. "Okay, everyone, Digivices out."

You take the moment to look around at what the others brought. Haruka has her own laptop and marker, like Izzy's, while it appears Mimi has stolen the camp survival kit for indefinite use. Rikuto has his own first-aid kit and a backpack where you don't know what's in it.

Kazuya has his own backpack along with the cooler and food supplies, which you'll probably have to divide up a bit better once you reach the Digital World. Izzy, of course, has his own technology kit, which can no longer be used in public in the Analog World because people will question the glowing runes that mark its entire surface.

And you brought bags of soda and trail mix. Honestly, you feel a bit underprepared for this.

"So, to open a big enough portal, we all need to focus on the Digital World," Haruka instructs you. You honestly don't see the point, when you've got a whole twelve Digivices on your side- thirteen, if you count Maki, but you don't think keychains can open portals.

Still, you do as you're told, closing your eyes and thinking about...


[ ] The wide expanses of ocean.

[ ] The vast- and annoying- desert.

[ ] The incredibly thick forests.

[ ] The vast, tall mountains.

[ ] File City.