A world where Rita Alliara never went evil and met the Queen of Nexomon Suki by pure chance, leading her to become a member of the council while Suki struggles against the Abyssal Tyrants. Together with Rita and Oswin, she was meant to have taken them down...

But this world is the fourth to have the Anomalice manifest in it, seeking the Kwami of the Nexomon world, Shiift. Will the Dimension Keepers succeed in keeping this Miraculous out of enemy hands? Perhaps this will be the start of something new...

~~ Present Time ~~

"Anything yet?" Ranto asked Skyla as the four walked around the world they had landed in.

She shook her head. "Connex, anything?"

"N-Nothing," he answered quietly. 

"This IS a Nexomon world, right? So it should be... Shiift?" Gangsan stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets. 

"Shiift... from what I know she's pretty forgiving but also easy to trick," Skyla said with a frown. (Barebones explanation from her Sensei. He had been the Box holder before her, had interacted with most of them, each awakening according to their debut in the other world. 

He died before Connex awoke. When he died, they all scattered, even the newborn. She never got to bond with them.)

"So the chances of the Digimon tricking her into joining their side is there?" Ranto cursed. That wasn't good... "We need to hurry this up then. Find her before they do." 

(Losing any of the Miraculous to the enemy was NOT good.)

"She does also have a temper, so..." Skyla trailed off. "It's kinda like a volcano of bitterness if you anger her. She's pretty hard to trigger, thankfully."

"That's a relief. We should keep moving and maybe meet the inhabitants of this world," Jinpei offered.

"S-Sounds fun!" Connex smiled, and Jinpei nuzzled the chimaera Kwami with a smile while the others shared a glance. 

"What kind of shape does Shiift take?" Gangsan questioned. Thinking about it now, she found that she didn't know much about these things outside the fact that Skyla was supposed to take care of them.

"If I'm not mistaken, a Fenrir was the shape she took," she answered. (She asked why a wolf, and he said, "It's not our choice how they look. The Creators gave the concept life through Kwamis.") "Perhaps as a reference to the Tyrant of Light."

"Maybe..." the other mused.

"H-Hi there!" A new voice greeted, making them turn to see a trio walk over.

The source of the voice, a reddish orange haired person with copper skin, orange eyes, a red hoodie jacket, an orange shirt underneath, grey cargo pants and red and white shoes, waved. "A-Are you new around here?"

"Yeah, we are," Jinpei confirmed. "I'm Jiba Jinpei, this is Kirigakure Ranto, that's Tak Gangsan and that's Skyla Genevieve."

"Nice to meet you!" The woman at around the same height as Ranto waved with a grin. "I'm Rita Alliara, that's Oswin Soleil and this is the Queen of Nexomon herself, Suki!"

The aforementioned queen looked embarrassed as she poked the other, blushing really hard while A-Oswin giggled. "S-Sensei is pretty shy."

She then turned to her apprentice, signing rapidly and confusing Jinpei, leading to him and Connex tilting their heads in unison as Jinpei's ahoge curled up into a question mark. "What's she saying?"

"She's saying that she doesn't want to be known by her title when she's meeting someone for the first time," Skyla explained. (Knowing sign language was handy at times. She was using ASL too, which Konju had taught her among other languages.)

"Not that it warrants any special treatment from us anyway," Jinpei said with a shrug. "We don't care either way."

(Having special status sucked, and everyone in the group knew how that felt, so no one could judge A-Suki for feeling the way she did.)

The other smiled while signing a thank you.

"Anyway, have you seen a small thing flying around?" Ranto got right to the point.

The three blinked, and A-Rita pointed the way they had come from. "Yeah, we saw one picking up flowers in the meadow nearby."

Skyla and Ranto resisted the urge to facepalm. PICKING FLOWERS?

"Awww that's so cute!" Jinpei smiled.

"Sounds nice!" Connex agreed.

Gangsan chuckled. "Thanks a lot for the information. If you see a pile of goop form, though, please just run away. It's dangerous and could hurt people."

A-Suki signed, 'That bad?'

"It's more than dangerous. That kind of monster... you can't fight it with Nexomon," Skyla explained. "Wishing for something seems to trigger it, so-"

A loud roar cut them off as behind the four, a Psychic Nexomon with a red cape... thing snarled at the group. 

A-Oswin yelped. "V-Venefelis!?" 

A-Suki immediately went into her Omnisun form, snarling at the Nexomon while A-Rita got Gemaxar out. "Let's get going!"

"R-Right!" A-Oswin nodded, calling out their Fortle as well. 

"You pathetic creatures! I will end you!" The Legendary Nexomon hissed, swinging their arms at the three Nexomon. They dodged. 

"We should help!" Jinpei immediately got his medal ready, but Skyla shook her head. "This isn't our battle! We HAVE to focus on the Anomalice! If they get their hands on Shiift...!"

Round black eyes glared at her blue orbs, and she flinched, yet Jinpei gritted his teeth. "...Fine. Let's hurry up."

Skyla felt relieved that he was willing to hear her out on that, at least. 

The four then rushed in the direction A-Rita had pointed towards, unaware of the purple goop that had followed them there. 

Miasmamon wasn't dumb. He had seen Jaltermon be defeated. (Oh, how his heart raged, burned, SEETHED at these humans who DARED kill his brother.) He had been smart enough to have some slime attached on the girl's shoe, which kept him under the radar. Now that he had been defeated in the Bakugan world, he could finally get his hands on the Miraculous! 

Pulling away from the shoe, the slime slid into a bush. Miasmamon smirked before he flattened himself against the grass, rushing to the meadow where Shiift had been found. He was going to claim her first! 

The garden itself was quiet when the four arrived. Skyla frowned while feeling for the Kwami's aura, but found nothing. "Strange, I could have sworn she was here."

"Some of the flowers have been picked, and they're pretty crudely cut, so it must mean she WAS here. She just left. Why, is the real question now." Ranto examined the trail. The only explanation was either that she was absentminded and had just wandered off, o-

A loud scream suddenly echoed, and the four barely avoided the attack from Fenevelis as Omnisun lunged for it. Fortle was trying its best to fight back, and Gemaxar was growling at the other Nexomon who roared in retaliation. 

Not enough. They needed more power! They needed more strength! THEY HAD TO END THIS RIDICULOUS WORLD! BRING BACK OMNICRON AND REPLACE THIS PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A NEXOMON WITH THE TRUE KING!

"Perhaps you require some assistance?" Miasmamon's voice wafted from behind them. "I could do that if we make a deal; you take out those meddlesome brats behind the Nexomon and I'll lend you a hand."

Venefelis paused. That... did sound like a good plan. "Very well. You just need me to keep the brats at bay? So be it." 

"W-Wait, who are you talking to?" Gangsan frowned. 

"Oh, no one but little old me," Miasmamon spoke from behind them, making them jump. 

"Miasmamon! And...!" Skyla's eyes widened. 

(No no no she failed her mission, she...)

Shiift screamed as she struggled to get out of the cage. "Meanie! You tricked me! Let me go!"

"I rather not lose you right away. Master Aesopia has good use for you." the Digimon did not comply at all. "In order to rewrite the worlds, we must have all 13 Miraculous in one place and utterly destroy them all. You are one of the chosen sacrifices for that."

Wait, they wanted to .... to KILL the Kwamis!?

"You can't do that! If you do-"

"Of course Master Aesopia knows the answer. However, in order to create, one must destroy beforehand, must they not?" they asked. 

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!!!!!" The fear in Shiift's eyes-

(She knew those eyes. Every night, those nightmares had her shaking, waking up in cold sweat, hugging something, ANYTHING to calm down.

Every night, when she looked in the mirror, those eyes stared right back at her. 

Memories of her mentor being swallowed by that inferno, a glamour put on him to make the Awesome Brawlers assumed he was dead instead of an innocent soul. 

A similar fear was solidly crystallized in those eyes.)

Solarmon spun her gears frantically. This was not good! At this rate, they were going to...! 

"Hand over the Ghost Game Kwami, Jiba Jinpei. It will serve better under Master Aesopia than it'll ever serve under you." Okay, that was out of line!

"Jinpei was chosen by the Kwami. YOU don't have any right to say ANYTHING!" Skyla vehemently snarled. "I doubt Shiift chose you anyway!"

"How are you so sure?" a smirk formed on his face. 

"W-What?" Skyla was taken aback as he continued, "How are you so sure that she didn't choose me, even if it was by accident? How are you sure that YOU didn't bring me here, allowing me to not have to use someone's desire to manifest again?"

"You...! Let her go!" Gangsan hissed. "She should have the choice to sever the contract!"

"But what if it's not mutual? Then she has no choice but to go along with it. After all... She is STILL a Kwami. She must bow down before her master." His smirk widened as he lightly continued, "However, I do understand if you do not want to hand the Ghost Game Kwami over. That just means... I can take it by force." 

"What is he-"

Skyla felt her stomach drop as a bracelet with 9 beads on it appeared on his wrist.

A wicked smile formed. 

"Shiift, unite this fami-"

Execute 

Explosive Sneeze! 

Cosmic Big Bang!

"Infernal Tornado Cannon!" 

"What-" He barely avoided the attacks as the three showed up with... a Faction Fused Bakugan?

"Get on! Hurry!" Daun urged. 

Everyone shared a glance, but A-Rita called Gemaxar back and called out, "Suki, let's go!" 

A-Omnisun nodded before turning back to A-Suki, grabbing A-Oswin's hand as they also called their partner back. The rest got onto the Bakugan as Little Kommander Ace shot around the two, kicking up dust to let them escape. 

The entire time they were running, one thought went through Skyla's head.

I'm an utter failure...

"We should have realised that a bit of Miasmamon escaped... We are so sorry..." Tsuchiyume apologised. 

"No, no, it's fine. I should be the one apologising..." Skyla was STILL rubbing her shoe against the ground, as if trying to rub the goop off. (They had found traces. It confirmed Skyla's worst fear. One of the Kwamis was in the enemy's hands because of HER. SHE had failed them, failed her sensei.) "I should have realised ahead of time. I'm the ****ing Box Guardian. How could I not have felt it?"

"Skyla, don't blame yourself too harshly. This is really stressful for all of us," Ranto said.

"I shouldn't have made such a rookie mistake!" She snapped. "Connex already fought Jaltermon! Without Shiift's help we-" 

"Skyla, stop blaming yourself like that!" Gangsan grabbed her shoulders. "Just because you were the first of us to find out about the multiverse doesn't mean you're automatically perfect! Making mistakes is NORMAL!!"

"Then what do you call me hurting Sandayuu, Jinpei and Tsuchiyume, huh?! What do you call me being an overall ***** to everyone around me!?"

"YOU'RE STILL REELING FROM KONJU-SSHI'S DEATH! OF COURSE YOU'LL STILL LASH OUT! YOU'VE NEVER LET YOURSELF HEAL!" Gangsan hissed. 

Skyla was about to retort when A-Rita spoke up, "Mind... if I say something?" 

All of them turned to her, and A-Suki looked at her, worry in her eyes as she signed, 'Will you be fine?' She knew the look on her surrogate sister's face. She was going to...

A-Rita nodded with a smile, before turning to Skyla. "I don't know what you went through, but when it comes to trauma... I think I get where you're coming from. I... I lost my entire team, my everything fighting against the Tyrants." 

"R-Rita-san..." A-Oswin frowned quietly. 

"I was imprisoned, locked away for being 'insubordinate'... And no one ever heard my cries. Not until Suki, that is. After she took down the Tyrants, she somehow heard my voice and we met. She helped me escape that ****hole. I... I owe her for leading me to a better life."

(Because for all her energy, Rita left that place feeling rage, anger, hatred. She was sure that had she not met Suki, had she not been shown a different path, one of love, healing, and forgiveness...  Her path would have been very much different. Perhaps she and Suki would have been enemies...

The life she had now... she considered it paradise. Being able to reunite with her team... This was the best and she was going to protect it, protect her loved ones, no matter what others said. Even if the Tyrants viewed her as a threat to their line, even if she still had nightmares in the middle of the night... She always had her siblings to fall back onto.)

"But that took time. It took time for me to heal. I had to ALLOW myself to heal, to let Suki and Oswin in. Be vulnerable to these people who wanted to reach out, who wanted to understand, as much as they could, my suffering and my past. Skyla, if you don't open up to them, then they can't help you. If you don't let YOURSELF open up, you'll never heal. You'll lash out and hurt others all while those scars fester and grow until..." she faltered. "Until it becomes irreparable. Until you finally lose everything again." 

"Rita..." her eyes widened.

(That was it, wasn't it? She had met the others right after the death. No time to heal. Even after the fight against Nura, she... she didn't let herself open up. Terrified of what could happen. Fearful of the pain that she could be subjected to. 

Yet letting go... She had to let go, let herself heal again. It had been far too long since she-)

The rain came down. Her vision grew blurry as she let out an anguished scream. 

And she felt firm yet gentle arms hugging her. The hug grew bigger, her tear ducts dried. 

(The wound was reopened but this time... it wouldn't scar over. This time, she was going to let it heal. Take her time, let herself process it. 

She owed herself that at least.)

"My, my, look at what the WHALE brought in," a sickeningly familiar voice sang, making them separate as Miasmamon and Venefelis walked into the clearing. Once again, A-Suki snarled, going into her Omnisun form while A-Rita's Blimpapa and A-Oswin's Sectoc were called out. "Get it? Cause she WAILED?"

"Can you please die after we defeat the false ruler? I can't handle your stupid puns." Venefelis slid into a battle stance. 

"It's pure torture!!!" Shiift moaned. "I thought Baattl was bad with his parental tendencies but this! This is too much!!!"

"We're getting you out of there! We promise!" Jinpei said as the four prepared their watches. Daun grabbed out Tyrannus and Kongor's Bakuballs again. Gangsan held her belt at the ready while Skyla?

She got her nunchucks out. Sensei, please, watch over me.

(Her Sensei was proud of that small step made.)

"We're doing it the hard way, I see. Very well, we shall squash you all with a fell swoop!" 

"You WILL perish, fake! And the real king shall finally return!" Venefelis snarled. 

"We'll see about that!" A-Rita snapped back.

"Anomalous Field, Set!" Gangsan inserted the coin into the slot in her belt.

The field digitised again, surprising the Nexomon and their enemies.

"What the-" A-Rita looked around. What just happened?!

"Wait they got sucked into it as well?!” THIS was a first for everyone. These fields were to combat those who messed time and space up, not drag in those uninvolved!

Skyla frowned, but regardless she got into a battle stance as well. They had to get serious.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Kongor! Tyrannus!"

"Henshin!"

Changing form, Youkai Hero!

Ultimate!

Earth Walker~

Little Kommander Ace~

Deep Shadow Galaxy~

Shrine King~

"Solar, Mega time!"

The gear Digimon was soon a Mugendramon, and the Nexomon was still stunned at this as the seven prepared themselves.

"W-What in the world...?" A-Oswin murmured. "A-Are they like Bloom-san?"

"Maybe," A-Rita said with a frown. "We can ask them if we need to-"

Omnisun nudged them, reminding them of the situation and leading them to nod. "Right!"

"We're going to rescue Shiift and make you PAY. Connex, you ready?” Earth Walker asked.

The Kwami nodded before turning into the gloves. "Let's go!”

"Connex, help me bond!" He called out, and he then slipped a hand into the tool belt he now had around his waist, taking out a yo-yo identical to his own and attaching boosters to his roller blades. "No time to waste! We're going all out!"

"This is what I've been waiting for!” Miasmamon roared. The bracelet appeared around his wrist again but this time, Skyla swung her nunchucks at that arm, cutting it open and allowing her to grab the bracelet. "What?!"

She rushed over to Shiift and broke the cage she had been in, freeing the Kwami as she held the bracelet out to her. "Here, it's yours."

"Y-You don't want... To use it?" She looked so scared, the poor thing. Being tricked like that must have been painful.

(She remembers, of course. When the orphanage said she would be alright with this family. They lied. They just wanted to send her off.

Konju was the one who saved her from that family. Took her in as his own.

She spent years roaming around the worlds with him until her Sensei, no, her father's death.)

"Only if you want to. I don't want to force my will onto anyone. I want to let others have their opinions," She firmly answered. "So I won't use it unless you want me to."

Shiift's eyes widened, and the Fenrir Kwami looked at A-Rita, fighting for her life as well, something seeming to just... Connect at that moment...

Then, she shook her head. "I want you to have it for now. You need it to take down the Fragmented Digimon right?"

Skyla wondered how she knew, but pushed that aside as she smiled. "I won't let you down."

The Kwami grinned. "You know what to say, so go go go!"

(Shiift could see it. The pain hidden behind that smile, but also the scars that were starting to heal.

An admirable feat. One she felt deserved recognition and more.

She might have found her partner, the Best Match.)

Skyla then put the bracelet on as Miasmamon snarled, "You little...!! Miasmic Blast!”

"Shiift, unite this family!" She yelled out, and rolled out of the way as her transformation commenced.

Daun's eyes widened. Now in front of them was Skyla wearing a regal outfit; a purple dress shirt, pink jeans flowing to her white heels, a princess tiara on her head with nine jewels representing each of the Tyrants, Omnisun and Omnicron. Her magenta hair was now flowing behind her, floating slightly as her blue eyes were all that could be seen on her face, covered by a cream mask with twin horns that she detached, allowing them to grow into spears.

"Upending the world's evil... I am Tyrannical Protector!” she declared.

"This is cool!!!" She heard Shiift cheer from inside her head. "Come on come on, let's beat that guy up!"

"I hear you!" Adjusting her posture, Tyrannical Protector rushed forward, dodging Miasmamon's attacks and thrusting her spear forward. He roared in pain, stumbling back as she threw her other spear forward like a javelin right to his left shoulder.

"Time to finish this!" Earth Walker SD yelled.

"Got it!" They all inserted their medals while Gangsan roared, "GIGA DESTROYER!"

"FLAMING METEOR!!" Daun threw his BakuCore at the Faction Fused Bakugan, allowing the two to form a meteor and throw it at Miasmamon.

Execute!

Unity of Souls!

Cosmic Big Bang!

Comet Lance!

DS Galaxy's leg gathered energy into it before he jumped upwards and aimed his leg at his target.

Explosive Sneeze!

Shrine King threw his weapon to the sky, morphing it into a raindrop-shaped blast as he kicked it towards the Digimon, freezing him in place.

Skyla herself readied her stance. "Let's go Shiift!!"

"Yay! Time to teach that big meanie a lesson!" Shiift cheered.

Going on all fours, the Dimension Keeper roared as a bright light engulfed her, transforming her into a wolf with magenta fur. She howled to the sky, loud and proud, and Omnisun soon joined her once Venefelis was on the ground.

Both shared a glance, and Skyla howled again, an aura engulfing Omnisun as glitches showed briefly before it was gone.

Time to end this!

Both charged up their attacks, and lunged-

A loud BOOM! was heard, the sheer force nearly sending everyone flying. Even the two attackers were knocked back a bit.

Please, please, let this be the last of Miasmamon!!? Skyla thought to herself.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The dust cleared. Skyla saw the egg sitting there.

Her heart leaped to her throat as she detransformed. Relief crashed all over her body.

She, no, THEY had done it. They had taken down yet another Anomalice. They had saved Shiift.

"THAT WAS SO AWESOME!!!!" If she was relieved, Shiift was down right HYPED. "YOU WENT LIKE BOOM. AND BAAM! YOU'RE SO AWESOME!!!"

Skyla felt her cheeks flush, but then a teasing voice agreed, "She IS pretty smart. It's just that she's an idiot when it comes to opening up."

"H-Hey!" She puffed her cheeks out at Tsuchiyume, who chuckled, and the others soon joined in the laughter.

Skyla then picked up the Digitama. "I'll drop it off at HQ once we head back. For now, though..."

She bowed towards A-Rita, A-Oswin, and A-Suki as the queen reverted back to her human form. "Thank you so much for your help. I... I really needed it."

"You would have realised it on your own regardless. I just helped speed it up, is all."

"Maybe," She said with a smile. "But you still helped."

"That I admit. But hey, drop by sometime, Skyla. We'll show you the sights and all that! I refuse to let you guys not have any grand tour!" A-Rita chirped.

A-Oswin nodded with a shy smile. "P-Please do!"

A-Suki signed, "Maybe you could even have your own Nexomon team!"

Her own team, huh...?

"Thanks. I'll definitely take you up on it!" Skyla fistbumped A-Rita.

(Shiift is happy. She saw the chains on Skyla's heart shatter, the connection she had made.

Having Skyla as a partner wouldn't be a bad idea, really. Would take some time to get used to it but she was always ready for an adventure!)

"Two down, eleven to go."

Aesopia looks outside the window. Another Digimon forms.

"You know what your next target is," is all she says.

A golden warrior nods. Acheelmon then disappears just in time for someone to walk in. She disappears into her vessel again.

”[REDACTED], you okay? You seem pale..."

"I... I don't know," They say.

(Whether it's because of their SO going missing or the amnesiac spells, they don't know, but they don't like it. Not one bit.)

Their mark aches all the while, the black continuing to take over their body inch by inch...