"That ****ing ***** is back!?" Dad yelled, eyes burning while Bokomon seethed in anger, Neemon patting his back. Hiro literally snarled, and Kiyoshiro even looked a bit angry too. 

Aliana and Shiramon were both shivering while their adoptive father, Mummymon, hugged them, whispering soothing words. Azami was a real sore topic around those two considering her actions towards them... Mei would be so mad if she knew... 

"Even though Mei beat her *** up, she still thinks she's entitled to anything!?" Koutarou looked downright enraged. "That ****ing *******! I'm going to rip her up!"

"... Am I the only one lost? Even after seeing her for myself, I am still lost why they're so angry," Lumosmon asked aloud. 

"Ah, well... you know how the Sin Codes were inactive at one point?" I said.

"Yeah, that was how the Sin Codes ended up with Wrath, right?" Tiko, one of Ichita's partners, blinked. 

"And then the former hosts reabsorbed it, but it's now in remission right?" Dan asked. 

I shook my head. "No. It was... reactivated."

"WHAT?!" the AB paled while Dia shuddered. Her partner Leonidas chose to hug her in his human form as I continued, "Mei was visiting her cousin and Duri-san in America, so she was letting her rest at home due to therapy and all that... but... she got captured by Azami, whose poking and prodding led her to... to..."

"To reawaken a part of Malicemon..." Hiro shuddered. "It turned her into a monster for some days, but we managed to capture her, yet..."

"Her Digicode became... it now required the Sin Code due to her tampering..." I finished. "So we had to... reactivate it..." 

"And that's not all... one of Aliana's wards, Morphomon, or Bluebell as she's known now..." Angoramon seemed to be avoiding the topic of Morphomon. "She caused a case where Digimon went rampant because Azami had captured her and hacked into her to find out about Digimon..."

"But the worst was when... when..." Mummymon gripped his fists tight. "When she captured the two and... and made them her servants... modifying them to become... become..."

"We managed to reverse the damage, and Mei beat her up, but the damage... had been done," Ruri finished. 

"I was sure to lock her up, but apparently she got out during the fight against Haavik. I checked after you told me about it," Dad cursed. "**** I should have... been careful..."

Shin Gao's eyes were so dark, and so were Shin Fukushima Kana as the Darkness Dragon World user snarled. "What an utter *****!"

"... the worst part is that... I let her get away." I punched the couch. "****! All because she baited me with that picture of Grandma! And about RobinHoodmon and MusosIatreiamon!"

"Who now?" Bakumon blinked, but Pumpmon had gone pale as he shook, hugging Gammamon with a fearful look.

"The... the first Digimon we were told to kill was... RobinHoodmon," I answered quietly. 

But that made Gulus gasp. "Wait, RobinHoodmon exists?!"

"I thought... it was... it was a myth..." Astraeamon, another of the six whose Vessel was Kyaromon, Reppamon's student, was downright pale. 

"A myth? What myth? Because I can reassure you RobinHoodmon was pretty real," I blinked.

"Powerful too... even though he was the same level as Gamma and the others..." Pump agreed. "I had difficulty fighting him off... he was very good."

"Did you actually kill him?!" Lumosmon looked shocked. "That's... that's insane..."

"I..." 

My head started to hurt. I vaguely remembering stabbing him, watching him fade to Digibits...

"I... I don't know. Everything during that time before Pump's death. I hate to admit it but... I don't remember them well. I'm not like Dad who can remember every victim he killed..." I heavily admitted. "And even then... he managed because of the cemetery up in the mountains."

Dad flinched, but Shin Fujin Tamamo said, "Then we need to stop her."

"Agreed." Blues nodded. "If we stall for too long, we don't know what this new type of Evolution could do. And you mentioned that it could be because of the Sin Codes?"

"I don't know, but Acheelmon and Ragnarokmon both had the mark of Hubris. But it's never really been seen on Digimon before. We've only seen a Sin Code affect others when Dan got his Corrupted Genesis form and when Dia was corrupted by the Sin Codes," I said, and Dan sighed. "True..."

"The true question I have, though, is why Azami's grandmother had a HOSHIMON for a partner," Aoi added. "I thought they were a recent Digimon..."

"A recently discovered one?" Remdepiamon looked confused. "What do you mean? It's been around for a while."

I rubbed my temple. We could deal with this later! "Let's not think about that, for ****'s sake! We need to deal with Azami first!"

"I'm in either way. We're taking that ***** down!" Shin Gao snarled. 

"Same," Shin Kana nodded. "Let's kick her ***!"

"How do we find her, though?" Amano Keisuke asked. "We need to find her first to make her pay, don't we?"

"That..." Mika frowned. "Point taken."

But I walked over to Bokomon, who averted his eyes. 

"... Bokomon, I know you still don't trust me, but... I need your help to beat Azami." I looked down. "I nearly failed because I was going at everything alone. I nearly died when facing the Agumons, Gami and Jiji could have died were it not for their necklaces protecting them, and... I let Azami get away. I... I know this doesn't wash the blood off my hands. It doesn't mean you have to forgive me, but... please, we need to beat Azami and save Ophanimon Falldown Mode... I need to right this wrong, so... please."

"Taiyou..." Reiji frowned. 

Bokomon frowned even more, but sighed. "Fine. Just me. I don't want Bakumon or Herissmon near your sorry ***."

"I understand. Thank you, Bokomon." I knew it wasn't forgiveness, but...

A tiny part of me, the selfish part, was happy. 

"Alright, how do we find her...?" Hiro asked. 

"That's a good question," Dad muttered. "If we're gonna get her out, though... we might need to dive into her mind in order to anticipate her next move."

"... I could try that," a familiar voice spoke up, making our heads turn to see Asagao-san and Shin Bernard-san walking over. 

Once again, Blues had to be restrained but Asagao-san seemed unaffected as she said, "Tsukumo Azami is also a technical person. She would need a place to... make adjustments..."

"Adjustments?..." I repeated. 

"The Fragmented Evolutions... as Akashiro mentioned, they are triggered by Sin Codes but... Azami... she most probably would want to play around with the person she forcefully bonded to herself. I was wary when Akira-san mentioned he wanted to recruit her... and... what you mentioned, about her being able to Fragment Evolve... I... have no doubt she's going to try to get her to a different level, to Mega... no, something BEYOND..." her fists tightened. 

"Beyond Mega...? There's such a thing...?"

"I heard rumors," Tukaimon spoke up as he sat on Asagao-san's head. "That there was some sort of group whose powers were beyond that of Mega. Gifted by something... beyond our world, beyond the boundaries of reality."

I felt the bells and the bracelet grow warm at that, and I couldn't help but wonder. Why were they reacting? Was it somehow connected to them?

"So you're saying Azami is trying to access that power?" Dan asked. 

"I don't know... but if she wants that she needs a place to work on it. I know more than anyone that this isn't easy. The Digilemma Digivice took months... and that involved us going all over the Digital World and such to get the information we needed to make it as safe as possible. Even then the Digivice has.." she seemed to struggle to say this, but eventually got it out. "... flaws."

"HA!"

"Blues, NOT THE TIME!"

"What flaws?" Shin Baku-san asked. 

"It... you saw Amato was able to Biomerge, right?"

"That was a surprise," Bokomon admitted. "But what about it?"

"Well.. each of us have a type of evolution specified towards a certain group of DigiDestined. For me, it's the original way of evolving, for Amato it's the Biomerge, Akira-san has our time's, and the others have been given evolutions for specific eras."

"But Azami didn't have one, and she threw a fit about it," Tukaimon said. "She said that she wanted an evolution similar to her grandmother's. RobinHoodmon said that it was impossible and then..."

"She... she said that she would make it happen, because she was so amazing. That's why she needs a place to adjust and... make it her own. She called it the Perfevo, and said that only she could have it. Plus... Ophanimon Falldown Mode was the first to ever not fall apart from her experiments..." she heavily added. "But I saw what the code does... it breaks people apart. Maybe it's because she is an underling of a Sin Code Digimon, yet..."

"With prolonged exposure, it... the evolution she made... it can destroy the Digimon inside out... erase data of that form, no that entire line ever existing in this universe..." Tukaimon whispered. "In other words... absolute death. And considering Ophanimon was a crucial figure in olden times... it could cause the complete annihilation of our worlds..."

WHAT?!

"****ing piece of ****! SHE WOULD ENDANGER SOMEONE LIKE THAT ALL TO SATIATE HER EVIL MIND?!" Bokomon was downright filled with rage. "She would...! She would...!"

"WHY DID YOU LET HER DO IT IN THE FIRST PLACE YOU ******?!" Semo-sensei demanded. 

"I DIDN'T! I SWEAR TO GOD I DIDN'T! SHE CUT OFF CONTACT WITH US SHORTLY BEFORE THE CONCERT! SHE WAS GOING TO HELP BUT SHE DIDN'T AND THAT IS WHY AMATO WAS THERE WHEN IT WASN'T HIS TIME YET!" She yelled, frustration clear in her tone.

"So she canceled out on you once she got what she wanted... ****ing *******," Hiro snarled.

"Let's not think about the past. We need to find out where she is and fast!" Mika said. "If we... if we stall for too long... she could..."

"I refuse to let that happen, so pull your **** together!" OnakaZetsuboumon hissed. 

We all shared a glance, but I nodded. "We need to find her first, as Keisuke mentioned. But how, is the question."

KiraHoshiimon frowned. "Onaka, maybe the mark could help out here?"

"I could try, but the connection... it's fraying."

"Better now than never, then!" Tenade urged. "We need to find her!"

His eyes steeled over at that. "Alright."

As he closed his eyes and began to focus, Blues walked up to me, still eying Asagao-san with a sinister look before he turned to me, holding out my Digivice. "Here, I finished maintenance on it. It should be upgraded now."

"Warp Evolution?" I asked. 

"Warp Evolution," he nodded. "But be careful out there, Taiyou. Azami may not hold a candle to my skills but insanity is a skill of its own."

"Yeah, I know that." I took the Digivice and secured it on my wrist before handing the one I had been using back to him. "Thanks for the assistance, though." 

"Assistance... Taiyou, you nearly got frozen to death because I did. I don't feel like I helped." He frowned. 

"You did, though. And I'm always grateful for your help," I said while giving him what I hoped was a grateful smile. "Plus, I chose to take on the case, so don't sweat it."

He frowned, but sighed. "None of you people ever listen anyway. Well, you and Mei do. Mostly you cause Mei still hates my guts slightly."

"I spend time with you in my downtime, so we're friends, you idiot," I drily reminded him. 

Here, he coughed. "... Thanks."

"No worries. I'll see you tonight for a movie marathon with Violet," I said. 

"You better not die beforehand, you idiot."

"Sir, how dare you call me an idiot?"

The two of us just burst out laughing, and I felt a bit better. Even if Bokomon probably hated my guts now, at least we could deal with Azami before he cut off the partnership. 

I... didn't know whether that was something I wanted or not. I just... I knew that it was inevitable. People almost always left. Reiji, Kagami, even Dad... even Mei would probably leave... 

It was only a matter of time before they got tired of me and threw me out, like the Daikis.

+ SPIRITUAL DIGILEMMA +

"Are you sure this is the right place, Suku?" Shin Gao asked as we all hid behind trees to look at the abandoned factory on the outskirts of town, where I had once spent time in during my killing months. 

"It is," Yuga confirmed while the sounds of keyboard clacking could be heard and some cursing from Shin Kana-san. "It has stuff that could be used for modification, and considering the size of Ragnarokmon from your description, it would make sense."

"Plus, there are reports of this place recently," Ruri agreed while skimming her phone. "About screams that sound like banshees..."

"Then it's most probably Ophanimon Falldown Mode," Mika frowned. "We need to save her..."

"Let's split up. Ruri, Aoi, Ryubo-san, Shin Yunbae-san, can you distract?" I asked. 

They nodded, and Bokomon said, "We need Lumosmon for the purifying, Shin Gao and SS Bloom can help us fight, Mika is there cause of Ophanimon, and... I'm going to settle a score with that stupid Tsukumo."

Hearing this, Shin Gao-san and SS Bloom looked at Lumosmon, distrust in their eyes, but nodded.

This made me sigh. The damage Haavik had made her cause was still evident... I really hoped they got over it. 

Maybe... Bokomon could forgive me...

"No time to waste. Asagao said that if we're not fast, the corruption could kill her..." Shin Yunbae said. 

"Let's go then." I nodded, feeling Bokomon's hesitance from behind me, so I grabbed my taser just in case. Always paid to be safe than sorry.

We soon split up, with our team heading to the back door Shin Ashes had seen while we were flying here. 

My footsteps slowed a bit to match Shin Gao's pace as I asked, "Hey, erm... How did you ... how did you get over being corrupted, if I may ask?" 

Lumosmon's ears seemed to perk up at that, while Shin Gao sighed. "It wasn't easy. And when Ashes was slowly becoming an Eclipse Dragon, I blamed myself even more. Even after 23 years... it hadn't faded until... I met an alternate version of my older brother and he helped me realize that I couldn't... I can't change the past, the guilt, the regret I feel might not fade. People may not trust me fully after that, but... it's fine. But if I let it define me, if I become a coward..."

I gave a start upon seeing the lone tear dripping as he smiled. "That wouldn't be the Mighty Sun Fighter. After 23 years, I finally took it up again when fighting Alternate Ashes and defeating her with my new Earth Armour. So... even if you fear, even if you make mistakes... isn't that better than not feeling guilty whatsoever? That feeling, as unpleasant as it is, is a sign of the good core you have. Maybe you were steered wrong, but those feelings, they show a chance of repentance."

Repentance... huh, that was a new way of thinking about it. 

"I... thanks, Shin Gao-san," I thanked him. "That was pretty insightful."

"I'm glad I'm helping you out, Taiyou!" He smiled. 

I grinned, but soon we arrived at the main warehouse, where I could already see the others mocking Azami.

"You're such a pathetic person you had to ask a terrorist group for help!" Ryubo laughed. "I could fuse Digimon in my sleep!"

Dark truth about Ryubo-san, really; sometimes she reminded me why she was partnered to Oujiaoaomon, who was the second strongest to Shiramon.

"Even Whirnobog was better! You are nothing but a weak person trying to be something you're not!" Shin Yunbae cackled. 

"Really weak! Mei could beat you even without DigiSoul!" Ruri mocked. 

"You're really not worthy of the title DigiDestined!" Aoi insulted. 

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP!" She snarled, and Ryubo noticed us as she nodded slightly; a sign they had this covered so we should hurry up. 

I could see Ophanimon Falldown Mode lying on the ground, so we rushed there as I looked at the wires connected to her. They were embedded right into her... what the heck...? She was downright inhumane...

"We need to get these off," Bokomon frowned. "Taiyou?"

"Got it!" I nodded. 

SS Bloom and Shin Gao both activated their powers while Mika and I shared a glance and nodded. 

OnakaZetsuboumon Mega Evolve to...!

Bokomon Mega Evolve to...!

"Yokubarimon!"

"ChaosDukemon!"

"Judecca Prison!"

"Evil Purging!" Mika commanded. 

They immediately burned the wires off while Shin Batzz and Shin Ashes helped with pulling off the wires-

"HEY! WHAT THE **** ARE YOU DOING WITH MY PET!?"

"PET?!" ChaosDukemon snarled, eyes burning as he glared daggers into her. "You insane piece of ****! Ophanimon Falldown Mode is her own person! You do not control her!!"

"Are you sure?" She smirked, holding out the Digivice. "Destroy them!"

"Wha-" Shin Gao barely dodged an attack as Ophanimon Falldown Mode got up, eyes glowing magma orange...

Wait no, it couldn't be-

Ophanimon Falldown Mode Fragment Evolve to...!

"Ragnarokmon! Ancient Vendetta!" 

The dragon Digimon nearly incapacitated the two humans with a bunch of red arrows were it not for Lumosmon grabbing them and getting them out of the way, even though some parts of her wings were seared. 

"T-Thanks," SS Bloom seemed surprised. 

"No problem!" She nodded. "Let's go and take her down! We can't let Azami away this time!"

"Yeah!" Shin Gao agreed. "We can't lose here!"

"ChaosDukemon! Waking Dead!" I commanded. 

"You got it!" He roared, and rushed in to attack while the others also evolved and rushed in to attack—

"WORLD TREE APOCALYPSE!" 

What?!

They all got ensnared by roots that made them all devolve and fall to the ground, looking really weak. 

"Guys!" Ruri gasped. 

"What the... what the ****..." Aoi paled. "What WAS that attack?"

My eyes were solely trained on Bokomon, though. I remembered that Hiro and the others had lost Bokomon and that was what triggered Gulus for the first time. 

Fear entered my mind. NO! I COULDN'T LOSE BOKOMON! I REFUSED TO LOSE ANY OF MY PARTNERS AGAIN!

Without thinking, my body moved to hug him, shielding him. 

"Wha... Taiyou! Get out of-"

"NO ****ING WAY! I AM NOT ABOUT TO LOSE SOMEONE I CARE ABOUT AGAIN!" I snapped back. "I DON'T...."

Weird... what was this... feeling I felt right now? 

Peace?... or patience? I couldn't tell but...

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU NEVER FORGIVE ME! I DON'T CARE IF YOU BREAK OFF THE PARTNERSHIP, FOR ALL THE RIGHT REASONS! I JUST DON'T WANT TO LOSE SOMEONE I CARE FOR! I AM DONE WITH ALL THE PAIN, ALL THE FEELINGS I HAVE RIGHT NOW! I REFUSE TO LET YOU DIE! I REFUSE TO LET ANYONE DIE FOR MY MISTAKES!" 

"YOU DISGUSTING PIECE OF ****! YOU DESERVE TO DIE!" Azami snarled. "ALL OF YOU JUST GET IN MY WAY, SO I WILL JUST END YOU!"

"FINE! BUT LEAVE EVERYONE ELSE OUT OF THIS! YOU CAN KILL ME! I DON'T CARE IF THIS FULFILLS WHAT THE DAIKIS CALL ME! ALL I WANT IS FOR THOSE WHO I CARE FOR TO BE SAFE!"

"Taiyou.."

"YOU IRRITATE ME SO ****ING MUCH! RAGNAROKMON! END HIM WITH DESTRUCTION ARROW!"

"DAD GET OUT OF THE-"

I refused to get out of the way. I flung Bokomon as far as I could, but as I did-

The Digivice seemed to react, and I felt the wreath grow warm in my pocket as Bokomon seemed to shine-

"YOU IDIOT! WE'RE STUCK TOGETHER! AND I REFUSE TO LET YOU DIE! I REFUSE TO LET AZAMI HAVE HER WAY! WE WILL GET PAST THIS TOGETHER! NO MATTER WHAT!"

A hand reached out to me, and I instinctively took it with my Digivice arm-

Bokomon Mega Evolve to!

"Jijimon!"

The name of a new attack streamed in my head, and I yelled, "Guard Stick!"

The ground seemed to shake as Jijimon held out his staff, and the arrow got negated by the wind and earth that came from it. 

"What the ****?!"

"Sun Heal Light!" I added, which healed up the rest of our allies as they got back up again.

"How did you...?!" Angoramon seemed very surprised, but Lumosmon grinned and said, "Payback time!"

"You got it!" I grinned. "Jijimon, you ready?!"

"Of course!"

"GET READY THEN! HANG OF DEATH!" I ordered. 

"ALRIGHT! PREPARE TO BE DARK OCEAN-ED!" Jijimon screamed before the attack hit Ragnarokmon bullseye, making  it fall over as the Hubris mark shattered again, devolving her right back to Ophanimon Falldown Mode. 

"Sun Heal Light!" I called out, and he quickly healed up Ophanimon Falldown Mode, which made her sigh in relief. "Thank you..."

"What?! What just happened?!" Azami snarled. 

"That's a new way to use an attack specifically against Dark Digimon," Lumosmon seemed amused. 

"I just felt like it made sense," I answered while feeling the DIM card, but nearly jumped out of shock as I took it out and stared at it. It was... it was really warm! What did this mean?

"What's up, Taiyou?" Jijimon asked, looking back. 

"The DIM Card, it... it reacted! It's warm!" I couldn't help but smile. This was awesome! 

"That's awesome!" He grinned. "That means that emotions do play a role in this!" 

"Emotions, huh?" I hadn't even considered that as a variable, but it made sense! Digimon in our place did react to emotions!

"You…! YOU ----ING -------S! I WILL MURDER YOU! I WILL MAKE YOU ALL BOW BEFORE ME SOMEDAY!” Azami snarled as she backed a-

“I don’t think so. Apophimon, Energy Consumption!”

Wha-

Azami’s screams turned into those of fear, and yet even those cut off fast enough to not process them...

The serpentine Digimon licked its blood-stained lips, its tongue pulling in some ribs as it did so and chewing it like a candy bar. “That was a wonderful meal, Rinomi. Please, can we do that to the other humans and Digimon? I want to know how Buddy Monsters taste~“

"Not yet, Apophimon,” the black-haired person who stood beside him answered, green eyes sharp behind their "black" face mask, which was mostly that way due to the visceral smears on it from Apophimon's feast and red not mixing well with the green fabric. “Remember what we came here for.”

“Ugh, fine…” he relented, eyes still trained on me as he asked, “Maybe Aka-“

“Tomorrow, maybe,” they answered before turning to us, grimacing as they tried to get the blood off her grey jacket, even tossing away their brown gloves to avoid touching some marrow. “Ugh, you should stop eating so messily.”

"Who... who are you?" Shin Gao looked pale as heck... 

"Himemaki Morinomiya," they answered while sighing. "Don't worry. I did you all a favor by ridding the multiverse of Tsukumo Azami. I knew she wasn't trustworthy... Ugh, Akira-san should listen to us more often."

Another Perfectio member... and this time, Apophimon had the symbol of Melancholy on his forehead. 

"What are you here for?" Aoi asked, eyes narrowed. 

"... A challenge, like with Asagao-nee." They tossed their jacket away, revealing a blue shirt and beige jeans. "You know the cargo dock near the bridge? Meet us there tomorrow at 7 p.m. sharp. If you miss it... the entire dock goes boom."

"What?!"

"The hydrochloride acid is already in place to burn all the workers there." They leaned on a pillar. "So be there or the acid kills. Easy as that."

"You can't be serious!" Ryubo gasped. 

"Oh, we're serious," Apophimon said. "Verrrry serious."

"That's all from us. We'll leave you to your own thing. See you all tomorrow." They waved before they got on Apophimon and broke the ground to get out. 

And I could only stare in shock. Before, it had just been personal, but now... after the concert and this, it was becoming clear. Very much clear that...

That Perfectio wasn't playing around, and no matter what we couldn't go at this recklessly. 

But why did they kill Azami...?  Because of the betrayal? Or was it something else?

Something else bothered me about how they spoke fondly of Akira and Asagao-san... But why?

Perhaps everything would become clear tomorrow... I just hoped we could figure out what their deal was before it was too late.

@XenoSaiyan helped with the death scene. He is an awesome person too!

venusaura owns Astreamon, Ashes, Mirei, Leonidas and Malicemon.