A corner of Cross Connectia, a town inhabited by Machine Digimon.

　Among the environment of dense forests, canyons, and snow-capped mountains covering most of the land, this town was an anomaly. Yet, the travelers who visited never felt disharmony between this place and its surroundings.

　This patchwork of tin scraps created by Digimon across the generations was both as organic and irregular as ivy growing in forests or cacti standing in deserts. The steel, rust, and machine oil in this town were, indeed, "natural."

　And now, a girl's shouts of joy rippled through the air tainted with the scent of oil.

"Ryu! And Suzune!"
"Hey! We're finally all back together!"
"I'm glad you’re safe, Yuuki."

　The debugger Yuuki waved wildly with a smile on her face, while her teammates, Ryutaro Williams and Suzune Kazuki, smiled back. Behind them were their partners, Frigimon and Tyrannomon, who were happy to be reunited after several days of traveling.

"Thank goodness! I was totally panicked-like-whoa when no one was there! I seriously thought it was 100% doom when I heard that everyone got separated!"
"But we managed to find our way back together, all thanks to your genius idea."
"It was so awesome how you told us where you were by using the booming audio of the rock festival!"
"...Yep, it was super effective."

　Next to Yuuki, who was getting all bashful from the shower of compliments, was her partner Impmon, sighing.

　Holding a once-a-generation rock festival to reunite everyone scattered across Cross Connectia was certainly an unconventional plan. Or rather, an absurd one, according to Impmon.

　However, the festival succeeded in its aim, leaving Impmon with mixed feelings of relief at the reunion and disappointment at not getting to see Yuuki's tearful face and say "I told you so." As an aside, it's worth noting that Impmon had the time of its life during the concert.

"Don't flatter her too much, Ryutaro, Suzune."

　The bespectacled Winr said this as he appeared from the shadows of a building.

"You made it here first, Winr?"
"Yeah, I got here just before you both, Ryutaro and Suzune."
"You just happened to be close by, huh! ...Hang on, Teacher! Why are you telling them to stop flattering me? I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I put in an MVP performance!"

　As Yuuki shook him by the shoulders, Winr lifted his glasses up. Impmon nodded emphatically in full agreement, muttering about all the hard work that had to be done because of Yuuki's reckless ambitions.

"It's true. It worked out in the end, but there was every possibility that the enemy would catch on first."
"Uh-huh, Winnie was worried about you, Yuuki."
"...Don't say more than you have to, FunBeemon."
"Aighty! I know what you're getting at! Thanks for telling me, FunBeemon!"
"Listen, Yuuki, it's not like that..."

　The comment from Winr's partner, FunBeemon, made him freeze, as if he had no place to put his hand that he had used to lift his glasses. It was an interaction that Impmon was used to seeing, but it sensed an unwavering closeness between them that was stronger than ever before.

"I only heard you two from afar, but that song was super cool!"
"I know, right?! You got good taste, Ryu."
"But what's most impressive is that everyone made it back okay. Right, Tyrannomon?"
"Yeah, but if we look more closely, you were apparently the most reckless one, Ryu."
"...I already apologized for that, didn't I?"
"That lecture before was nowhere near enough for that rashness of yours. I'll drill it into your head after the mission is over."
"...What the heck did you do, Ryutaro?"
"W-well, uh..."

　Taken aback by Impmon's simple question, all Ryutaro could do was scratch his head. The sight of Tyrannomon huffing in annoyance next to him suggested that he had already been given an earful.

"Frigimon."
"Hm? What's up, Suzune?"
"Everyone looks so much stronger now."
"Hehe, you think so?"

　Suzune and Frigimon's somewhat philosophical conversation could be heard from behind. Suzune always played the role of the stern protector, but Impmon noticed that there was a slight tinge of joy in her voice. Her partner, Frigimon, picked up on this as well, naturally, and its voice carried a hue of happiness.

"Maybe you were the one who changed, Suzune."
"...Perhaps."

　Actually, definitely. Suzune muttered with glee.

"I haven't felt this excited in so long."

　Impmon watched the group chat away and sighed.

"Geez."
"What's wrong, Impmon?"

　("Ugh, not again. Every little sigh is always picked up by this pesky partner of mine.")

"It's nothing. I was just thinking that everyone here totally rocks."
"Huh, what the heck? Like, they're super very good?"
"You're completely off!"

　("Well, 'super very good' does seem pretty appropriate this time.") Despite being irate over having its feelings constantly summed up by weird phrases, Impmon nodded quietly to itself.

"No way! I can't believe that's what everyone went through!"

　At the edge of the town, Yuuki's exclamation rang out inside a room in the home of Rebellimon, who helped her. Impmon sat next to her as their teammates explained their ordeals, and some expression of sympathy or admiration might have been in order. However...

"That sounds like SO much fun! I'm super jelly!"

　Yuuki glanced at everyone with a genuine look of envy. Winr beat Impmon to the punch in sighing with dismay.

"What kind of reaction is that to all of the suffering we've been through?"
"I mean, you got to meet a lot of different Digimon, right? That's totally awesome!"
"Yeah, it was awesome! I was scared at first though because I thought they were all like Mistymon and hated humans."
"Right. It seems like only the Guardians, Mistymon’s group, view humans as their enemies. They're the major obstacle to rescuing Cool Boy, so we need to focus on figuring out what to do about them."
"Guardians..."

　Yuuki quietly echoed the word, then opened up a map between everyone.

"Mirai told me where Mistymon is."
"When compared to what we’ve each seen as well this map looks accurate. Mirai always does great work."
"Do you know Mirai, Suzune?"
"Yes, because of my position. There's no doubting her work. I'm sure Mistymon's group is here."

　Impmon stared at a point on Mirai's map. The fortress of Mistymon's group—the Guardians—could be found deep in the forest near the town they were currently at.

"The world of Cross Connectia isn't very big. I'd say it would take less than a day to cover that distance. The roads might be rough, but we can manage with the help of Tyrannomon and the others."

　Impmon knew why Ryutaro sounded so impatient. It was highly likely that both Cool Boy and the captured Altea were with the Guardians.

　Given the hatred Mistymon and the others harbored for humans, there was no guessing how much time they had left. Cool Boy and his physical body, and Altea, the artificial intelligence, were in a situation where death in the Digital World could truly be fatal.

"Nothing too bad should happen since Altea's got Espimon, right?"
"Right, but it'd still be best to hurry."

　The fact that Suzune, who would usually be the one to placate panicked teammates, was in agreement was a testament to how dire the situation was.

"But what do we do when we confront Mistymon?"

　Winr sounded glum. This was the biggest topic that had to be decided upon in their final strategy meeting.

"As there are almost no Mega Digimon in this world, I'm sure we'll win if FunBeemon and the others digivolve into their Mega forms. Aside from that, there's also nothing they can do if we challenge them to a card battle."
"But that would make us invaders, no different from the rogue NPCs."

　Frigimon thumped its chest in front of the downbeat FunBeemon and Winr.

"I should be able to drive them away without deleting them. Just like back in Panjyamon's village."
"You can't do that, Frigimon. Judging from the first battle, the enemy's numbers are huge. Who knows what they'll do to their hostages while we're having a hard time handling them."
"Hmph."

　Silence fell upon the group—the kind of silence Impmon hated. Nobody could come up with anything, making Impmon want to scream out in frustration over the cloud of indecisiveness hanging over them.

"U-um..."

　This time, however, Yuuki meekly raised her hand, sparing Impmon from having a conniption.

"Could we, maybe, talk it out?"
"That would be the best solution, if possible."

　Ryutaro crossed his arms as well.

"Mistymon and the others have an extreme hatred for humans. I don't know if they'll be open to a conversation..."

　As he furrowed his brow, Yuuki tilted her head in confusion.

"Do you really think so?"
"Hm?"
"Mistymon and the others are angry, right? They're mad, full of hatred, and are doing all they can to chase us."
"Yeah, so trying to talk to them would be off the table..."
"I think it's possible to talk to those who are as earnest as them!"

　Ryutaro couldn't help but look up in response.

"Mistymon is really mad at Cool Boy and thinks that we're to blame for the rogue NPCs. It'll be pretty tough, but talking isn't the tough part—it's getting them in the mood to talk!"
"Yuuki."
"But if we're able to talk to them and clear up the misunderstandings, then we might all get along! I wanna be friends with Mistymon! Because..."

　Yuuki clenched her fist in front of her chest.

"Being seriously angry means that you seriously want to protect something. If it's a Digimon who's able to devote itself that much, then I think I'd wanna get to know it a little more!"

　Winr and the others looked at each other as if caught off guard by what Yuuki had said. Impmon, standing next to Yuuki, shrugged its shoulders at their response.

"You haven't made your point clearly, Yuuki. This always happens when you let your emotions control your words."
"What?! Did I say something weird?"
"No, you're right."

　On any other day, Impmon would apathetically dismiss such an utterance from Yuuki. However, it raised its finger as if to say that it would explain on her behalf.

"Basically, what Yuuki's trying to say is why are you guys focusing on trying to fight Digimon? The debugging team's mission is to save them, no?"
"Oh!"

　Ryutaro gently bumped his fists together at Impmon's words.

"You're right. Looks like we forgot something important."

　Winr lifted his glasses in agreement.

"So you're saying that if there's a way to solve all of this by talking, then we can't give up, no matter how hard it is to get to that point. Wise words, Impmon."
"Heh, guess so."
"Hey! I was the one who said it first!"

　Suzune gently nodded as she smiled at the sight of Yuuki protesting at Impmon who had its puffed-out chest.

"They're genuinely angry because they genuinely have something they want to protect. There's no denying that Mistymon and the other Guardians are extremely desperate right now. They have to deal with the rogue NPCs and the recent disasters."
"If we can make them understand that we want to help them resolve all of that, then maybe we can patch things up."
"Totally, right?"

　Yuuki pointed her index finger straight up to the sky with glee.

"Then that settles it! We'll talk to Mistymon and the others, and get them to release both Cool Boy and Altea! It'll be tough, but this is totally a debugging team-style strategy!"

　Impmon clasped its hands behind its head in satisfaction over what Yuuki had said. Moods like these were much better than silence.

"So have we figured most of it out now?"

　Impmon yawned after the four of them spoke, and Yuuki nodded, full of confidence.

"Yup! Everyone sorted it all out for us."
"That's nothing to gloat about."
"Can you blame me? It's not like we know what to talk about until we're actually having that conversation!"

　Suzune chuckled as Yuuki pouted.

"It's still a lot better than nothing. We have a much clearer picture of the situation in this world now, after putting together all of the information everyone has gathered. I'm sure we'll be able to speak in good faith, even if it's Mistymon we're talking about here."
"You heard her! It's all about groovy faith, Impmon."
"You clueless bandwagoner."

　Yuuki's smugness made Impmon give a resigned shrug.

"There's still the problem of how we're going to get that crazy ticked-off Mistymon to listen to us. Don't bother asking Yuuki because she's only got a monkey playing the cymbals in her head."
"Hey, Impmon! Could you not make assumptions like that?"
"Then have you got any bright ideas?"
"...Go with the flow?"
"Point proven."
"What do you mean?! There's nothing wrong with going with the flow!"

　Winr, Ryutaro, and Suzune all glanced at their partners as Yuuki and Impmon had another one of their noisy arguments. Then...

"Listen."
"Speaking of bright ideas."
"I might have one."

　The trio sounded out in unison, prompting Impmon and Yuuki to look at each other.

　To be continued.