Cross Connectia.

　An MMORPG where you and your Digimon partner explore a world inhabited by Digimon. The world is not so large, just that of a single island, but the environment in each area is varied. From dense forests to deserts to snowy mountains, the Digimon there are able to live carefree lives as they are each inclined.

　In this diverse environment, the initial respawn point chosen for the players was a spot near a cliff in the grassland area. The location offers an all-encompassing view of the surrounding open world, so right from the very first step players can enjoy the excitement and anticipation of an adventure.

　But Cross Connectia hadn't been released yet, so there shouldn't have been any players singing the praises of that setting. Yet—

"Whoa! Cross Connectia! We're here!"

　Half a day before Yuuki and Impmon visited that place— around 30 minutes ago in real-world time— the wild cries of Ryutaro Williams reverberated throughout there— a place where the whispers of the wind are all one should be able to hear.

"How unnecessarily loud."

"What th—!"

　His partner, Tyrannomon, wagged as it spoke. Its sizable tail hit Ryutaro at the knee, immediately causing him to lose his balance and topple over onto the grass.

"Hey Ryu, just cause you're yelling doesn't mean that Cool Boy's gonna appear, you know."

"You've got it wrong, Tyrannomon! I'm just excited at this sight! How could you not be?!　Snowy mountains! Deserts! Jungles! I remember the days of picking mushrooms on File Island. You were there by my side then too!"

"Reminiscing at a time like this? Are you serious?"

　Tyrannomon mutters this in disgust, and behind it Frigimon looks up into the face of its partner Suzune Kazuki.

"Suzune. Did you get in touch with Yao?"

"Yeah. She told me about how time passes differently here and in the real world. Though I'd like to have heard about this before setting out."

"Nothing to be done about that now. It was an emergency situation, and it seemed like Yao had a lot on her hands she had to do then."

"Right, I do understand that."

"Come on Suzune, you've got to relax those shoulders. Again— it'll be fine."

When Frigimon taps her on the shoulder, Suzune gives an annoyed-looking smile and mutters.

　

"Even so, an hour in the real world is about a full day here... It's hard to imagine what exactly that means for us."

"The time limit for the rescue is four to five hours, right?　So with that calculation, we have four to five days. Given the size of this world, with the help of our Digimon we should be able to cover the whole place in no time at all!"

　Putting his hand on his chin and looking back at Suzune, Ryutaro spoke in an easygoing manner.

"You're definitely a reliable teammate, Ryutaro. But Yao said it’s important to make sure to get a good night's rest. Time might feel slower, but in the real world it's passing at the same rate as ever. Our brains will have to process multiple days' worth of information in just a few hours."

"And that would definitely be exhausting if we didn't rest, that's true."

"Exactly. That's why we're building a base here."

　As if continuing on from what Frigimon said, a bespectacled boy, Winr, joined the conversation. Behind him is his partner FunBeemon, its wings buzzing away. Now digivolved into a Champion ForgeBeemon, it is using its arm glue gun to stick together surrounding trees and stones to form a temporary base.

"Winnie! Is this enough?"

"Yeah. We'll be here for a couple days really, so this should be just about right. Thanks, ForgeBeemon."

"Yeah, thanks! You're a life-saver in situations like this. I mean, you built us a place to sleep in almost no time at all."

"Heh. I don't get to utilize this in Lacuna too often, but nest-building is actually one of my best skills!"

　Winr smiled a little at FunBeemon, who'd de-digivolved and produced a proud smile before its expression steeled back up.

"For the time being, this'll be our base as we search for data on Cool Boy and Zenith. As Ryutaro said, this world isn't that big... But still, you never know what's out there. I don't think we'll be able to cover it all if we move in one group."

　Tyrannomon nods at Winr's words.

"Right, we probably need to split up."

"But we don't have any clue as to where to look, do we? If Cool Boy was to come to this world, then I think he'd have anticipated we would too and would have done something about it."

"An insightful point, Master Williams."

　Standing behind the cross-armed Ryutaro, an AI in humanoid form wearing a blue suit— Altea— spoke up. His partner Espimon, now digivolved to Oblivimon, was in the air utilizing its strong maneuverability capabilities to scout out the area.

"I also searched for Cool Boy and Zenith as soon as I got here. However, due to the unknown nature of this world and a lack of detection accuracy, I wasn't able to find any traces of them, nor any reliable data concerning them."

"Ugh, seriously? So does that mean our chances are close to nil here?"

"No. On the contrary, that in itself is a clue. The fact that we've detected nothing—”

“Means that they're somewhere where we won't easily find them, right?"

"Master Winr's right. That's why we're here in the first place. Everyone here, we comprise the team Master Yao assembled with much care.

　Because he was created by Yao, Altea can hypothesize what Yao would likely have thought. In truth, Yao holds Cool Boy in high esteem, and she surely wanted to go help him too. However, she had the task of organizing the remaining debugging team. She must have paid meticulous care in selecting the members to entrust with the rescue mission in place of herself.

"So it'll work out. I know you have it in you."

　So Altea chose to inspire everyone by venturing to use vague words he had learned. Winr and the others nodded vigorously at Altea's words.

"At the same time, though, I bet the action won't really start until Yuuki gets here!"

"Right, Yuuki alone would probably end up lost in no time."

"That’s not very nice you two. I can imagine Impmon getting into a little trouble with some of the local Digimon though."

　Altea listened to this conversation, thinking that Yuuki and Impmon would be livid if they could hear this.

At that moment, the conversation is interrupted by a far off sharp cry-like sound. Altea's artificial intelligence quickly detected that it was his partner's voice, and used his own mouth to play it back.

"— Get away! Everyone! You've got to get away!"

　Almost before the voice cuts out, Ryutaro's eyes widened and he used his large body to cover Suzune and Winr.

　Battles in Cross Connectia aren't card battles like in Digimon Liberator. Instead, they had direct combat between Digimon. In its pursuit of realism, it was possible that a battle could open with a surprise attack from a distance.

"Unique Emblem activate, Tyrannomon!"

　The moment he shouted this, a giant flame descended from the sky. It moved with the shape of a slashing attack that ended right where Ryutaro and the others were, where it erupted in a fierce blast of flame.

　At that moment, a dinosaur rose from the rising smoke and swept away the flames with a swing of its claws. MasterTyrannomon, a dinosaur scarred by many a battle, cautiously looked in the direction the "slash" had come from, and called out to its partners behind it.

"Are you alright, Ryu?"

"Yeah. Everyone's in one piece. But we've got more to worry about!"

"I see it— Master Fire!"

　MasterTyrannomon shot an ultra-hot flame from his mouth at the second slash that was flying towards it. The two flames collided in mid-air, the explosion painting the sky a bright red.

"FunBeemon!"

"I got it!"

"Frigimon, we're off!"

"You know I hate hot things..."

　Winr and Suzune operated their respective D-STORAGE, and digivolved their partners into their Ultimate forms— Vespamon and PolarBearmon.

"Well, the Digimon-like characters kept by the humans seem to be decently capable."

　Once the smoke plume from the explosion cleared, standing there was a humanoid Digimon in silver armor and a purple cloak. Carrying a flame-covered sword, he looked completely like a wizard from a fantasy novel— no, like a Magic Warrior.

"Mistymon..."

The Magic Warrior— Mistymon — glared at Winr, who muttered its name as if it had seen it on a card.

"You seem to know my name. So, this is an invasion, then? We already know. We know why you've come to this world. You will go no further. You're done."

"Invasion? Hey, you've totally misunderstood. We're—"

"Don't move a muscle! So, you're those filthy 'card-carrying' humans. You're surely here to violate the liberty of the Digimon here in this world, using those devices.

　Mistymon shouts this, as it points the tip of its sword towards Ryutaro's D-STORAGE and starts to take a step forward. Mistymon turns towards MasterTyrannomon, who is poised to attack again, and smiles faintly.

"I'd suggest you forget about that. Brave fighter of many battles. Take one more step and it'll cost your friends' lives."

"What th—"

"Um... Excuse me..."

　Everyone turned to look at the subdued voice, one that felt completely out of place in the interaction. There, the blue, heroic-looking AI humanoid has raised his hands, several Ultimate Digimon’s weapons are pointed at him. Winr shouts:

"Altea!"

"It seems I've been taken hostage."

"Master Mistymon, this creature doesn't appear to be human."

　One of the Ultimate Digimon pointing its weapons at Altea, Betsumon, moves its nose closer to the humanoid, and a dubious look appears on its face. Hearing this, Mistymon tilts its head to the side.

"Huh? Is it the same as the ones attacking the Digimon here?"

"No, this one seems more advanced somehow... Closer to a Digimon, if anything."

"Hmm..."

　Mistymon was silent for a moment, as if in thought before eventually speaking.

"All right then, change of plans. I like this one. We're taking it back with us."

"Hey! You think you can just—"

"Ryutaro, wait."

　Ryutaro was about to use his D-STORAGE, but was stopped by Suzune and her calm voice.

"Suzune?! What are you doing?! Even if we've been taken hostage, we can still let MasterTyrannomon and the rest go into their Mega forms! We should be able to help Altea faster than that Betsumon can move!"

"You're totally right. That should be possible. But can we manage to not overdo it? What if we get carried away and delete Betsumon or Mistymon?"

"..."

“It'd then be us who are the aggressors. There'd be no way to reconcile with them after that. The aim of the debugging team is to eventually help the Digimon of this world, isn't it?"

"But still!"

"It's okay, Master Ryutaro."

　Altea called out to Ryutaro, who seemed unconvinced.

"I'll do what I have to do. Please carry out your mission."

　After being told that in such a straightforward manner, Ryutaro clenched his fists and slowly nodded. Mistymon, who had been watching their conversation play out with a bored look in its eye, raised its sword as if now giving the order.

"Said your goodbyes, then? Great, we'll take over from here. Betsumon! Bring it with us!"

"You got it!"

"Oh, and one more thing."

　As it leaves, Mistymon glances back at Winr and the others.

"Don't think you've been spared. The forces of us Guardians have you surrounded on all sides. You're all finished."

"Guardians...?

"You don't need to know about it, because there's no place for humans in this world.

　Then, it raises its sword once more and gives a ringing shout.

"In the name of Dalphomon!"

"Damn it! Just what is this?!"

　Next to Ryutaro, stamping the ground in frustration, stood Winr, who removed his glasses as if flustered.

"There's a lot of things we don't know, but the first thing we need to figure out is how to get through this."

"We don't really have many options available to us there."

　As Suzune, who was standing beside them, spoke, text data from the D-STORAGE floated in the air. Puzzled, PolarBearmon tilted its head.

"Suzune, what are you doing?"

"I left a message for Yuuki. About what happened, and what we're going to do about it from here."

　Saying that, Suzune clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Sure, this is a sudden, unexpected turn of events, but that's exactly what we've come to expect. The crux of what we must do hasn't changed since we spoke earlier. And do you know what that is, Winr?"

"...Split up and try to pick up traces of Cool Boy and the others."

"Exactly. We can no longer wait for Yuuki. Given this, we have no choice but to carry out the investigation as planned. At the same time, we'll look into this group of "Guardians", and try and help Altea. It's pretty straightforward. There's just a lot that we have to do.

"So, are we going to make our own escape here separately too?"

　PolarBearmon tilted its head.

"I wonder if Yuuki and the others are okay? I mean, it looks like it's been found out that this is the initial spawn point, and—"

"Well, that's exactly why they'll be fine."

　Ryutaro, having regained his composure, stood up and interrupted PolarBearmon.

"I'm saying: if the spawn point location is known, then Yuuki could face danger. But what if we were to break off in three different directions and make a spectacular getaway?"

"Distracting them, so they forget where exactly it all started... Well, it's not like we have any other real options..."

"Then it's settled! Winnie!"

"Right. Let's get moving, Vespamon."

　As if in response to Winr and Vespamon, they all nodded to one another. Like they were in agreement as to what needed to be done.

"Once we figure out where Cool Boy and the others are, that's where we'll reconvene."

"Right!"

　The three of them turned to face different directions and then, in the arms of their respective Digimon, raced out towards the countless other Digimon they could sense.

“(Oblivimon? Oblivimon, can you hear me? I'm using my telecommunications capabilities as an AI to speak directly into your digital brain.)”

　Altea's voice echoed in Oblivimon's mind as the Digimon flew as fast as it could, panicking over the emergency at hand.

"M-Master! Are you safe?! Being taken by those Digimon like that... I'm on my way to help you!"

“(No, that isn't necessary. I will use this as an opportunity to enter these Digimon's stronghold, where I'll continue my investigation.)”

"Wh-what?! Then I'll go and..."

“(You have your own part to play. Now, activate Unique Emblem.)"

　As that voice was heard, Oblivimon was enveloped in light and its figure transformed into that of an iron warrior covered in blue armor— Invisimon.

"Digivolution? But why? ...Oh!"

　Invisimon's puzzled question soon turned to a note of understanding.

“(Right, Invisimon. I'm going to ask you, operating separately from me, to infiltrate the stronghold of those Digimon who call themselves guardians. I know you're capable of this infiltration. I'm counting on your skills here.)”

"...Right! You can count on me!"

　As those words were spoken, Invisimon activated its optical camouflage, and its massive metallic-blue figure faded away, its hue blending into that of the sky. Concealed like that, Invisimon gained altitude and resumed its pursuit of Mistymon and the others, taking great care not to be noticed by anyone.

To be continued.