"Urgh... what the ****, I feel like ****..." I muttered as I tried to move my body, but froze when I felt my wrists tied together by some sort of gooey material. I wiggled a bit and found my wrists were also pinned to my back. My chest was tight, as if something was squeezing air out of me. My feet were stuck too.

Had I been kidnapped? I remembered waiting for Uju at Kitamachi, then something covered my mouth and black. 

"Boko, Pump, Baku?" I called out while struggling to get up, only for something to pin me down as a familiar voice sang, "You've got guts, I'll tell you that!"

"Sistermon Ciel!" My eyes widened, but then I flinched as a searing pain cut through my forehead. "Ugh... What the..."

She giggled. "Coming along was very reckless, which honestly makes you a perfect fit for the group! Kidnapping you was a bit over the top, though! Uju, I know you're whipped for Akashiro but couldn't you have chosen a person who DIDN'T murder Digimon and humans?"

"Stop playing around, Ciel. Pull him to his feet already," Akira called out. 

"Okay~" she lugged me to my feet, and now I could see. The four remaining members of Perfectio. Amato was watching me with a frown as he leaned on the wall with Hagurumon X glaring at me. Pandora looked out of the window with a dazed look on her face as she patted Ghostmon on the head. RobinHoodmon still had a hateful scowl aimed my way. Akira was smirking, and Uju?

I had just seen them yesterday... how did they look so sick...? Bated breathing, red eyes filled with rage. Something about their gaze scared me. It had been less than a day and already the mark was glowing so brightly... Had Uju exerted all of their self-restraint against the Code yesterday, to save all those people, to... have a talk with me? Like how Shiramon had exerted all her willpower to save the other Sin Code Digimon before she tried to kill herself and Aliana to hold Malicemon back? 

How far were they willing to go for this? Just what did Perfectio truly want?

"I'm half expecting your friends to come busting in here," Hagurumon X spoke.

"I told them I wanted to go at this alone. I didn't expect you all to be here, but it's perfect for what I wanted to do in this fight."

"You act as if we were planning on having a fight in the first place." Sistermon Ciel giggled. 

"What do you me- guys!" My eyes widened when I saw my partners in a cage, hanging over a pool of purple mist. "Wait, that's!!"

"We found it thanks to your friends and the Dark Mist issue," Akira laughed. "Somehow we opened a gateway to the Dark Ocean. It seems to enhance the effects of the Codes so we took what we could get."

"What?! You don't know what you're doing!!" I struggled. "There are things you shouldn't touch, Akira!"

"If it's to change the world, if it's to make them acknowledge me, I'll gladly destroy my body over and over."

"You don't have to work for their ****ing approval! They don't deserve it! Not after what they put us through!"

"Us?! You got lucky! You were chosen to be the Sacrifice, and I wasn't! They cast me aside because of my schizophrenia! You didn't have any mental illnesses whatso-****ing-ever, so stop acting as if you get it!"

I had to hold myself back from spouting it out. Right now, I was severely close to losing, but if I played my cards right...

I inhaled. "You have hostages, but from Ciel's words... You want to recruit me into Perfectio, don't you? With five members down, you're getting desperate. Why else would you lure me to Kitamachi then have me brought here?"

"As expected! You figured it out!" Uju clapped slowly. "You really are a ****my detective then. If you can do this and yet you still killed."

"There are no excuses for my actions. I won't lie and pretend like I had a reason behind them. But what I can do right now, is bargain." I had done it once, when a cartel had gotten Dad and I cornered. It had somehow saved our hides, so...

"Bargain? Ha! You have no right or room to do so!"

That was what they thought. But I could tell Perfectio wasn't just about changing the world. It was also about Digimon trying to get revenge on me.

"I can offer you a way to completely destroy me in exchange for an entertaining show." Dan had used this tactic against Haavik, so if it worked on an evil alien, it could work here, much as I hated to emotionally manipulate others.

"Oh? What do YOU have to offer?" Akira asked, disgust laced in his tone.

"A battle. As promised. Uju and I face off. You can broadcast it all over the ****ing multiverse, heck broadcast it to Wuliang's home world if you can! But I'll go with 2 Digimon for this battle, Pumpmon and Bakumon. We face off, and most probably my side will lose via my death. In other words-"

"Checkmate," Robinhoodmon looked surprised as he said this.

"But my victory.... Will be apparent when Uju breaks free of the Code. When they choose to come back out and stop hiding."

"Huh? What are you talking about?! This is me! And if you can't accept it, you're the fool!" They hissed.

"You're the one you're refusing to accept! Isn't that why you introduced yourself as he/him!? I had to be told you were genderfluid!"

Something... Something seemed to shift in their eyes. "What the... How the **** did you...?"

"I had help. I know what you went through, Uju. The reason we could fight Jang... It was because I had known about where you guys had been hospitalised. I was told."

"You..."

"I saw your letters. I saw the pain, the tears that went into them. Unanswered letters... Your parents never replied. They never came. You never returned to Korea afterwards. You tried to find work. Here in Japan. You're an amazing mechanic. You could have gotten work, but you were in that institution for EIGHT years... And the stigma in our society makes it so that no matter what diagnosis you get you... Still get treated like you're insane. Dad did some background checks once we got the letters too... You were either rejected flat or treated horribly in your workplace. So badly that..."

"It's not just gender dysmorphic disorder anymore?"

"I'm afraid so. I found a more recent mental health check and it diagnosed Uju with PTSD."

"I wouldn't blame them... Look at all these reports... Just what the **** is wrong with society...?" Gami looked sick.

"That's how people see mental illnesses. They're not just issues that you can get over right off. They take time. They're... Painful. And yet, even among us, we accidentally treat those with mental illnesses the same way others do. Ismaya is a prime example of that. He took advantage of it. Praise be to the Lord that He helped Benton and Philomena, not to mention Mei for finding those files." Shin Bernard sighed.

"So... So... WE did this to them..." Yuga paled.

That realisation made everyone look sick...

"You got PTSD from it, right, Uju?"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!" They snarled while holding out their Digivice. "I WILL DESTROY YOU! START UP THE BROADCAST!"

The three Digimon were set down and I gave them a quick hug once my miasma binds were dissolved (my guess was that Amato had done it) before I turned to Pump. "Pump, I know you're scared of Jokermon. It's a scary form, but... Both times..."

"From desire to protect." Pumpmon looked like he had figured it out too. "Jokermon can be ace in battle if careful."

"Then you know what we gotta do?"

"Of course!"

That made me smile, and looking at Bakumon nodding along, I felt confident. As if some sort of warmth had entered my body, fueling me.

"Boko, I don't want to make you feel left out, so-"

"I'll be your eyes and ears," He said while climbing onto my head. "Let's do this, Eos."

"Yeah!" Was it too much, hoping for a double miracle? Yes. Did I care? Oh, absolutely ****ing **** no. But I had Boko to fall back on. The backup plans I had figured out after yesterday. I could do this.

As we moved, I realised that this place looked oddly familiar.... Did they....

The circular arena seemed to lift up, nearly making me stagger. Similar to a Buddyfight stage but it would do.

"Alright, we're streaming!" Ciel giggled while landing beside Akira. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are at Hazakura's very own males dorm! Uju has helped us form this arena above, but one wrong move, and the entire building could collapse!~ so yay, an extra stake to winning!"

"What?!" My eyes widened. But...! "You could kill people, Uju!!"

"LET THEM DIE! ALL THE PEOPLE IN THIS FORSAKEN SOCIETY BROKE ME! IT'S DOWNRIGHT EVIL! IT MUST BE DESTROYED!" They snarled.

"You don't seriously think that! If you did would you have risked so much to save those people from GranDracmon?! Face it, Tak Uju, you're much stronger than you think! You managed to hold off the Code for one day! And now... You're suffering because of it. Uju.... You push yourself for others. You love so much, and because of that, you get hurt. And that... That ****ty feeling tells you that you have loved. So... I'll help you break out of that curse. Let's share this pain together, Uju."

Their eyes widened.

"A-Akash-" They screamed as their mark glowed. Their eyes then glowed while they held out their Digivice.

"You guys ready for this? We are bringing Uju back. We're taking down that Code in them!" I gripped my own Digivice. Time to go all out!

"Yeah!!" They nodded.

It was now or never. Do or die.

Uju's scarlet eyes were just burning with hatred as they held 2 DIM Cards and inserted them into their Digivice.

Hang on... Wait, wasn't there another kind of Digivolution involving fusing spirits.... Takuya had achieved that.

Oh ****.... No it couldn't be...

"SPIRITO... EVOLUTION!"

Robinhoodmon Fragment Ultimate Evolve to!!

"Oh ****...."

"ShatteredHopemon!!"

Broken and fractured wings with faded colours... Evil antennae looking at us.

This... was not gonna end well.

Despite this, I knew, somehow, that we could beat them. Some sort of weird belief, but...

I shared a glance with Boko, and we nodded at each other before I looked at the two. "Brace yourselves."

The glow was really bright, and I had to cover my eyes as I felt the warmth grow stronger.

Bakumon Ultimate Evolve to...!

Pumpmon Evolve to...!

"FrosVelgrmon!"

"Jokermon!"

And as FrosVelgrmon looked at it, a faint smile could be seen on their face. "I see your heart is now worthy. I am astounded at how this change happened only over a few days."

"You can't know what the future brings, least of all tomorrow, so don't underestimate time. It keeps running but so do we."

"Very well, I see that you are prepared.”

Looking over at Jokermon, I was about to ask if he was okay, but paused when he looked back at me, a gentle grin clear. "Let's win this battle!"

And even though I did worry that this could quicken the progression of the virus, I also knew that Pumpmon wanted nothing more than to go out fighting, so if he was meant to leave now... Well, I would be honoured to have been with him all these years.

"We're not losing here, Jokermon, FrosVelgrmon! We're going to stop you right there, Uju!" I yelled, the landscape turning into the normal digital space as we prepared ourselves.

No more time for hesitation. It was go time.

ShatteredHopemon roared at us as they rose. "DIE!!!"

"Come at us!" Jokermon grinned.

"We're not scared!” FrosVelgrmon added.

"No matter the fight, we WILL come out on top! So prepare yourself, Tak Uju!"

"YOU MET YOUR MATCH TODAY!" The three of us roared.

The battle had finally begun.

+ SPIRITUAL DIGILEMMA +

"Jokermon, the ground under you is unstable! Take to the skies!" Bokomon commanded.

"You too, FrosVelgrmon! Keep the stadium steady and balanced!" I added as both took off to the skies at the same time. "Alright!"

"Impressive, but I have counters for that! Mechanical Fire!"

"Dodge!" I countered.

"Ugh, this is not gonna end well..." Bokomon muttered.

I gripped my fists. I could tell Jokermon was losing power, and FrosVelgrmon couldn't keep up the protecting game. I had to do something!

My hand then felt my taser, and I wondered, Could a Digimon use it to destroy the mark? Would it be enough?

No, I had to believe it would work out. This battle was banking on too much!

"JOKERMON! CATCH!" I threw it at Jokermon, who dodged another Mechanical Fire and grabbed it. It immediately powered up, electricity crackling while he held that and his sickle. "Alright!"

"Grrr! Shattered Dreams!" Uju yelled as a purple blast that struck Jokermon and he was.... Oh **** they were flinging him into the Dark Ocean data!

"For the love of-" I growled. "Bokomon, hold the fort down!"

"Wha-" He didn't have time to react as I jumped over the railings and dove in as well. "EOS!"

"Eos, get out of here! You're the one the most in danger of-"

"Who the **** cares?! We are partners and I would put my life ahead of yours!" I protested. "No matter what, Pump! You and I, and Boko and Baku! We're a team! And we're not losing here! If we're going to lose we're going to do it together!"

"Eos...!" He gasped.

"Courage is bravery even if you're scared! I won't be scared! I won't satisfy the codes! I will fight to the bitter end! We are not fated to lose this battle! I can feel it!" I held out my hand. "Come on, let's do this!"

He grinned, and he began glowing as we fell. "Together... WE SAVE UJU!"

A huge burst of light made me cover my eyes, but then I felt someone catch me. When I opened my eyes, Bolgmon smiled back at me. He was also holding the taser in hand.

"But you were in Jokermon before! Does that mean...?!"

"Impossible!!" Amato gasped.

"Slide Evolution!" Bokomon looked completely giddy. "I didn't think... I didn't think it was possible in our time!"

"Our bond unlocked that, Eos," Bolgmon grinned while getting up and setting me down on the podium beside Bokomon again. "But please, no more reckless acts. Let's leave that to the others."

I rolled my eyes, wiping the tears off them as I said, "Alright. Let's keep this up, Bolgmon, FrosVelgrmon! Anti-Ground Ultimate Thunder and Innocence Blizzard!"

"Oh!!" The blizzard immediately started up while 2 lightning blasts headed toward Uju, but they scowled. "Straitjacket Shield!"

"Wha-"

A shield reminiscent of a straitjacket blocked the attacks and Uju glared at us. "YOU WILL NEVER GET THE PAIN, THE TRAUMA WE HAD TO FACE BECAUSE OF STIGMA! YOU PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED MENTAL ILLNESS WILL CONTINUALLY LOOK DOWN ON US! YOU HURT AND HURT AND HURT! SO I WILL RAZE YOU ALL TO THE GROUND! I WILL BURN EVERY SOURCE AND DESTROY IT! EVERY HOPE, EVERY DREAM, I WILL CRUSH IT AS MY HOPES AND DREAMS WERE CRUSHED THE DAY MY GRANDPARENTS DIED! STYX HAMMER!!"

My eyes widened as a huge wooden hammer towered over us. Oh no...

"SAY GOODBYE, PUNY HUMANS!!" They screamed before they swung it downwards.

Down... Down... Down.... It came, but-

Right into my trap!

"FREEZING RAY!"

"Hu-" The hammer was frozen right off the bat.

"And Gigantic Impact!"

"You got it!"

With one huge blast, the hammer fell apart.... Fading into Digibits as ShatteredHopemon's eyes widened. "How...?"

"Have you ever played Pokemon?" I asked. "Wuliang once mentioned his adoptive grandfather, well, one of them, uses double battles and the weather to his advantage. Apparently, you can whittle down on the opponent and strengthen attacks of the same type with a certain condition."

"That's why you used Innocence Blizzard!" Akira looked shocked.

"To heighten the chance of it landing and making it stronger. Also, if you had been Uju instead of a crazed version, you would have realised Phase Two," I said. "Bolgmon, you ready?!"

"Yeah!! This ice camouflaged me pretty well!" He confirmed while he was charging up. "Let's go!"

"No time to waste then! FIELD DESTROYER!!" I yelled.

The attack hit them right on, and they screamed as they fell to the ground.

But I knew it was too early to celebrate. The mark was on Uju's shoulder.

All things considered, despite the odds, I knew how to win this battle.

Steeling my eyes at Uju, I finally spoke, in front of the cameras, in front of everyone I loved, "Uju, you think I didn't have a mental illness?"

"Y-You do-"

"You're wrong. I... I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when I was 13."

And that seemed to surprise everyone. Bolgmon, FrosVelgrmon and Bokomon all stared at me, mouths agape.

"WHAT?!" Akira gasped.

"And... Heh, I guess we're even now, Uju. You say that I got the lucky end of the stick, but... Even after the diagnosis, I was never given therapy. In other words, I... Never got treated for it."

Uju seemed shook to the core. "You... You..."

"I never told anyone. Mei... Probably doesn't know. The records were burned by the Daikis because they refused to believe it. If anything... Their abuse grew worse. They said that I was making this all up, and..." I felt my own shoulder. "The wounds I have on my body show just how bad it got until Dad saved me. But... The disorder flared up. Until Pump died, I was manic. I did whatever I wanted. The good that did me now, huh?"  I gave a bittersweet smile.

"You're... Lying... There's..."

"I think you and I both know that you believe me. As for proof... I still have it." I  took it out of my backpack. "Managed to save this from the burning. I still bring it around with me, because I... I feared what if Mei or someone else found out."

I  couldn't help but tear up. It hurt... Just admitting it hurt. But...

"I guess that's why... We connected so easily. We were both hurt by society, by our own family, Uju. We can't open up to those close to us. If anything.... The real difference is that you could fully open up with Perfectio. You got to have the support I never got. Dad, Hiro, Ruri, Kiyo, Mei... At the end of the day, I'm alone. And... I lashed out because of it. I killed. I subconsciously believed what the Daikis told me. All those humans, all those Digimon... I killed them with my own hands, and... I'm so sorry..."

I kneeled and bowed deeply. "I... Know I can't change anything, Robinhoodmon, all of you, but... I'll pay for my sins. I promise you that. I won't hide. I won't lie. I'm sick of it, really. No more pretending I'm okay. So you shouldn't either. I... Care for you, Tak Uju. Very very much. I don't know why but I do. And... I find that I love you. Not romantically, but... Queerromantically. I want to be with you through every bump. At the end of the day, Uju... I won't let you fall. I will keep on fighting for you."

"I... Akashiro..."

"Eos," I corrected as I walked over to them, and sat down with a smile. "We're cool, Uju."

Their eyes widened, but... Tears began to fall. Purple tears as they devolved.

Tak Uju could only sob. Of relief or of sorrow, of empathy or of pain... I didn't know, but I could tell they were finally letting it out.

So, against my better judgement, I brought them into a hug, letting the tears fall as I let them sob. "You're you, Uju, and... I wouldn't want you any other way."

When I looked up, though, I saw that the other Perfectio members were gone, which made me sigh before I switched the field back to normal. "We should probably carry this off before it crushes someone. FrosVelgrmon, Bolgmon?"

The two nodded with smiles as I turned to Bokomon. "Mind helping us out too?"

"Of course I'll help!" He smiled.

"Then no time to waste!"

Bokomon Ultimate Evolve to!

"AncientWisemon!"

Bolgmon set us down on the ground before the three set off, of course, leaving me with a sleeping Uju. Being carried bridal style.

I felt my face flush, and Robinhoodmon snickered, but soon the two of us burst out laughing as I set Uju on a bench to adjust it so that I was carrying them piggyback style.

As the two of us walked to the usual teleportation pad in Gami's old workplace cafe, I awkwardly said, "So... Erm, about the deaths... I think I know why Young and Beom were killed off."

"You do?" He looked over.

"Project Sleepy Hollow," Was my answer. "Leviathan was revived and caused the deaths of various DigiDestined alongside the Codes that ripped people apart."

"I... See... So the aura around Jokermon that time..."

"Most probably was Leviathan," I confirmed.

He sighed, and looked at Uju with a fond smile. "I... Used to babysit Uju when Beom and Young were being idiots. Gosh, you do not know how insane those two got when they were trying to deny their love for each other. They got married to each other, for crying out loud. You would think it would hammer itself into their heads by then."

"How bad?" I joked.

"Old married couple style," He solemnly answered. "But FunBeemon and I loved them all the same."

"FunBeemon?"

"He was Beom's partner. He also spent time with Uju when they were younger."

"Oh... But... What about my grandmother...?"

He sighed. "That... We think it was because she never activated her Fruit when she was younger. Apparently the Fruit activating kept the Digimon from fading. If only we had supported her back then..."

"Hey, I know more than anyone that you can't change the past... But maybe you can try to move forward by being there for Uju," I said.

"I... You're right. Even after that, I dragged Uju down a dark path of revenge... My memories being weird made me go insane..." He sighed.

"H-Huh? Your memories were weird?” That was weird.

"I... I was told that I somehow survived but... Something is telling me that I had died and..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's weird."

"That IS weird. Maybe Blues could check you over once we get to the others," I agreed. "Boko only had fragmented memories due to Ruri wishing for it when they were facing Witchmon."

"So you're suggesting...?"

"That you did die. I wish I could help, but truth is, my own memories are wonky at best. All I know is that I did kill, so..." I sighed. "I'm sor-" He hit me in the back of my head. "Ouch! How the heck did it connect?"

"The Digivice, dummy," He said. "And for crying out loud, stop apologising. You're gonna make my ear fall off. It's my fault for dragging Uju down."

I couldn't help but give a sheepish smile. "Really?"

He scoffed while looking away. "You're forgiven, dummy. Gosh, don't make me sound like Beom!"

I laughed, but soon we arrived at the teleportation pad, waving at my partners as they swarmed Robinhoodmon and began asking him questions. He could only yelp when Pumpmon carried him on his back, but we soon entered and opened the portal.

"EOS!!" I almost immediately fell over were it not for my instincts kicking in and allowing me to dodge the hug. "Ow!!"

"Chill," I couldn't help but laugh at Dad. "Seriousl- wait have you been crying?"

"Of course you idiot!! Dumb***...” Reiji hugged me. "Why didn't you tell us...?"

"I'm so sorry Makua!!" Ruri wailed while joining in. "We... We..."

"You should tell us stuff like that!!" Hiro was sobbing as well.

"Forgive me, I was dumb," Kiyoshiro mumbled.

"Darling means to say that we're sorry for not letting you be open enough. We know you joined us late, but that's no reason to shun you out, to make you feel alone..."

"Mei... Would have been so angry and sad as well," Shiramon added. "I guess you took care of us so much, we forgot you also need love."

"Nah, it was my thing. It's not your fault. But... I'm glad I finally admitted it," I said.

And as we hugged, I felt something hum. A quiet one, too.

But not the main focus right now. I just wanted to stay in this embrace a bit more.

It was okay to let loose once a while, and I felt so relieved I could.

venusaura owns Tartarusmon from yesterday.