"Next time, I'm coming to Japan!"

　Unchained had yet to take control of Digimon Liberator, nor had Yuuki and the others ventured towards Cross Connectia. Ryutaro Williams sat behind his gaming desk, where he let out a yell. His ears were immediately greeted by an exaggerated sigh coming from his headset.

"Hey, why do you have to shout? It hurts my ears."
"Hey come on, Aruba! It's your country."
"You can go wherever you want, it doesn't bother me."
"Come on, man! I mean like, we could meet up—"
"Don't kid yourself. We're not that close."

　Knowing that the person in comms couldn't see him, Ryutaro gave an over-the-top shrug of his shoulders in reply to the curt words.

　Dokuson Aruba—The ringleader of a group of hackers, who Ryutaro was tasked by the debugging team with shutting down. After a card battle with Ryutaro, his account was frozen, preventing him from being able to log in to Lacuna.
　Ryutaro couldn't just kick him out and move on, so he sent him his contact info before the freeze. It was a shot in the dark, and Ryutaro didn't honestly expect him to take the offer, but surprisingly enough, Aruba did eventually reach out. Luckily, Aruba could speak Ryutaro's native tongue, so the two would occasionally battle over webcam.

"That's a direct attack. While you were talking about that, I won the game."
"Dang it, I lost..."

　As Aruba's Digimon dealt the lethal blow, Ryutaro held his head in his hands. He's always been a strong player, but he tends to make loose plays when he senses the win. Lately, he's been improving in that aspect.
　When Ryutaro cracked down on him for cheating, he boasted that it was child's play, that he could do something similar somewhere else, as much as he liked. Despite his claims though, he didn't seem to pursue this, instead applying himself to the Digimon Card Game.

"You're pretty good, Aruba!"
"Was that meant to be sarcastic? Well, I'm glad to hear you finally accept that your win was merely a fluke."
"I don't think I'd go that far. I'll win the next one."
"...Hmph."

　Aruba sighed loudly enough as to be unmistakable, to which Ryutaro let out a forced laugh. They only spoke maybe once a month. At first, he would only reply to Ryutaro with sarcastic jabs, but lately, he's started to talk a little more.

"Oh right, I wanted to ask about Liberator."

　It was unusual for Aruba to offer up a topic.

"I saw something about it on the news online. Things have been pretty rough in Lacuna, haven't they? Wasn't there some emergency reboot due to a massive bug or something?"
"There was a big update... So, they've been putting out fires."
"You're not very good at hiding it. People online are calling it a cyber-attack and all that."
"I don't care what they say, my lips are sealed."

　Realizing his sudden reluctance to speak, Ryutaro broke out into a cold sweat.
　The circumstances surrounding the attack on Lacuna by the Black Imperialdramon were explained to the general public as a glitch associated with a major update. It was trending on social media at one point, and users had conjured up all sorts of guesses as to the real reason.
　User dissatisfaction was quelled in short order after the developers, who viewed the situation very seriously, gave out some generous in-game assets as compensation, but remnants of discontent still smoldered.

"Come on Aruba, do you really read that sensationalist stuff?"
"Is that a bad thing? I can look at what I want to."
"I mean, nobody's saying you can't."

　Ryutaro sighed, remembering the last time they battled, where Aruba hinted at doing something to expose the debugging team, potentially opening them up to public backlash.
　Even now, the fact that he was in contact with a known cheater whose account was frozen would be seen as problematic, were it to be exposed. However, given that this info wasn't circulating the web already, Aruba didn't seem inclined to share it.

"Whatever it was, I'm sure the wannabe heroes leapt into action. How 'inspiring’."
"Hey, cut it out with that."

　Ryutaro lowered his voice. The entire debugging team was dispatched to deal with the Imperialdramon. There is no doubt that everyone gave their all on that mission. The result, however, was the data corruption of Zenith, one of the strongest among them, and the subsequent disappearance of him and Cool Boy.
　Ryutaro himself was not very fond of Zenith. He wasn't a fan of his cheerful yet enigmatic demeanor, nor the fact that he jumped into the Digimon Card Game, and from out of nowhere, dethroned Owen Dreadnought, whom he looked up to.
　But, leaving that aside, he was a bit removed from Digimon, and his coolheaded judgments had led the team to victory on many occasions. He bolstered their spirits and was relied upon by many other members. And then he just went missing. Even now, nobody knows his whereabouts. It was unsettling.
　He knew that there was nothing he could do. And if he were to take responsibility as the eldest one, he'd probably get scolded by Winr and the others. Still, the fact that he was unable to do anything about Lacuna's crisis, instead having to rely on the mysterious power manifested by the new guy—Shoto Kazama—to resolve the situation, weighed heavily on his mind.

"I wasn't of much help at all."
"What's this, a hero showing humility? Now I've seen everything."

　Ryutaro mumbled in an uncharacteristically reserved tone, while Aruba slung sarcastic words his way.

"Well, it's a bit late for that, don't you think? What was your tag line again? Wasn’t it 'I'll show ya who're the heroes and who're the villains!'?"
"Why you..."

　Ryutaro's voice twisted with anger at Aruba mocking his way of speaking. Aruba seemed unperturbed by this, and suddenly dropped his tone of voice.

"It's sickening, even now. There's not a hint of humility in that line, it's pure pride."
"Yeah, that's kinda the point."

　He didn't need to be told by Aruba, he wasn't a child anymore. He didn't believe that justice was something that one decides on their own. But even so, Ryutaro continued.

"I told you before. Somebody's gotta stand up, stand proud, and shout out 'this is justice!'　for all the impressionable kids watching from the wings! That's what I think."
"Unbelievable... but—"

　Aruba let out a sigh.

"—that pride did allow you to beat my Lucemon. The Demon Lord of Pride itself. So don't pretend to be humble now, it's irritating."
"Oh Aruba..."
"I have to go. I have work tomorrow, I'll take off while I'm ahead."
"...Oh, all right, thanks for the game!"

　Ryutaro's polite gesture was met with a curt "oh knock it off" by Aruba. Then, Ryutaro stopped him as he was about to hang up the call.

"By the way Aruba, why don't you use Lucemon anymore?"

　Ever since his account got frozen, Aruba had not used his old partner Lucemon even once in their online battles. Ryutaro thought that he had given up on it after his defeat, but after hearing the way he spoke of Lucemon when he brought it up earlier, it didn't seem like he'd left the deck behind.
　In response to Ryutaro's question, Aruba adopted a serious tone, absent the sarcasm from before.

"Right, I don't plan on using it anymore. I'm sure Lucemon would want nothing to do with me the way I am now."

　Ryutaro was taken aback at this response. That's when he started to understand why Aruba was keeping in touch.

"So that's why you're fighting me, huh? To show Lucemon your old strong self?"
"...Got a problem with that? It's not enough to win once. I won't be worthy to fight alongside him until I obliterate you entirely."
"Huh... Well in that case, let me know whenever you want to battle!"

　Ryutaro happily nodded several times. "Ugh, gross. I'm out." and just like that, he hung up.

"That's right. I... We are proud."

　Muttering quietly to himself, Ryutaro kicked at the ground.
　He didn't train so that he could beat people up. Still, he thanked his past self for putting in the work to let his body perform in this moment.

　Ryutaro lowered his posture and flung his fist forward. But Dinohyumon easily dodged it. He threw out a straight punch aimed at its torso.

"...Hmph!"
"Waah—?!"

　Dinohyumon's fist smacked into the rock wall above Ryutaro's head as he ducked down in a panic. Even though he threw down his sword, this was a Champion level Digimon, and one that boasts its strength. If his avatar were to take a square hit, Ryutaro would be done for.

"Not half bad!"
"Thanks!"

　Rising up again, he propelled himself into another punch. Overhead, Dinomon was still fending off the attacks of the Dinosaur Digimon, repeating words of concern for Ryutaro.

"We're proud. We came here from another world, and we're here to help the Digimon who are toughing it out. You guys are desperate, but it doesn't matter what you say."

　Dinohyumon kicked off the ground, sending a flying kick towards Ryutaro. He tried to dodge, but the Dragonkin's foot grazed his left shoulder, pushing his entire body back.

"But if we get discouraged, just 'cuz we're being attacked by the Digimon, that'd be pathetic. However!"

　Gritting his teeth at the pain in his left shoulder, he raised his voice.

"We gotta do what we gotta do! So we got no choice but to make you guys understand!　It's too bad it's just an avatar, but I'm putting my all into this"

　He takes off at a sprint, swinging his fists, trying to get into Dinohyumon's reach.

"Take this! This is what I believe in!!"

　The dry sound of muscle smacking against muscle echoes through the valley.

　Dinohyumon caught Ryutaro's fist in the palm of one hand. No matter how much they train their bodies, a person's strength will never be able to match that of a Dragonkin Digimon.
　But then he realized. With a Dinohyumon's physical capabilities, dodging his fist would be easy. Or, it could have taken the blow to its torso, clad in steel-like muscles, and immediately delivered a counter.
　But now, the Dinohyumon chose to stop his fist using its hand. And even as time passed, it did not appear to be readying a follow-up attack.
　When Ryutaro looked up fearfully, the Dinohyumon met his gaze and laughed, its blue eyes dancing with a spark of joy.

"Thanks! I think I understand what you're saying!"

　Later, at Dinohyumon's command, the Dinosaur Digimon withdrew their attack and invited Ryutaro and Dinomon into their village.
　Dinomon kept up its guard, maintaining the digivolution, but the exchange of fists had apparently won Ryutaro and Dinomon a measure of respect from the Digimon, and they were welcomed to sit around the fire. The two looked at each other in surprise at how fast things had progressed, but were relieved to have escaped the crisis for the time being.
　Then, relieved, Dinomon's next step was...

"Yeah, yeah, Dinomon. I know already, you can spare me the lecture..."
"I'm not so sure. It doesn't seem to sink in, no matter how many times I say it. What were you thinking, challenging a Digimon to a fist fight?!"
"I told you, I just had to do it. It worked, didn't it? And the other Digimon were watching..."
"No, I'm going to say it all. Ryu. Every single time, it's always like this with you..."

　—What followed was a harsh lecture for Ryutaro's constant brazen actions. Dinomon’s harsh words born out of concern for Ryutaro hurt to hear, but still, they were reassuring.

"You two get along well, huh?"
"Hey, Dinohyumon. I know, right?"

　It was Dinohyumon who interrupted the lecture and sat down next to Ryutaro. Dinomon looked like it had a thing or two to say to Dinohyumon as well, as it had assaulted Ryutaro. Dinomon glared at the Dragonkin sullenly, but restrained itself.

"Is this really okay with you, Dinohyumon? Treating us so kindly? I thought you said that life out here was really tough?"
"Oh, it is. But you are our friends now!"
"... Honestly, you guys are either incredibly straightforward or impossible to read. I can't figure it out."

　Dinomon let out a great sigh, then took on a puzzled expression.

"I have to know. What did you mean 'life is tough?' You also said 'that's how the world is now.'"
"Right! Things are tough everywhere you go in this world right now!"
"... Is that because of invaders from another world?"

　When Ryutaro described the characteristics of the runaway NPCs, Dinohyumon shook its head in amazement.

"I am not aware of those people. The thing that's bothering us is the sudden change in weather and the constant earthquakes. That's the only thing of note lately."
"Seriously?"
"...Hmm."

　Ryutaro and Dinomon looked at each other. A natural disaster had recently begun to occur in Cross Connectia. Judging by the timing, it was likely not unrelated to Unchained's plans. What on earth was Unchained thinking and what was going on in this world?

"... It sounds like there's much I need to investigate."
"Yeah. But perhaps it's best if you took a break for today."

　Dinohyumon nodded in agreement with the kind words of Dinomon.

"That's it, you're staying the night! You can tell us all about it! I'm keen to hear about this world the human wants to take us to."
"I mean, I suppose we do need to tell them about Lacuna...actually"

　Ryutaro stood up, as though Dinohyumon's words had reminded him of something, and thrust out his right hand towards the dragon.

"You can stop calling me 'human!' The name's Ryutaro Williams!"
"Ryutaro... Ryutaro! Nice to meet you."
"Back at ya!"

　The setting sun shone over the ancient realm. Dinomon looked down upon the figures of a man and a dragon shaking hands, bathed in orange light.

"Honestly... You're more of a hero than you ever thought."

　The old dragon whispered those words into the sandy wind, where they were swept away, never to be heard by another soul.

To be continued.