It was well past ten o’clock by the time Kate opened the front door to the dwelling she and Dirk had shared alone until a few weeks ago. The leftovers from their dinner out were carried in by one of their new residents - Kotemon, who had dedigivolved from Guardromon in order to accompany them as a ‘costumed child’. The meal out had been Impmon’s idea, or his attempt at one - he still seemed rather out of it, struggling a bit with staying on any one thought for more than a minute. Kate wasn’t going to lie - when she finally found Beelzemon, wandering aimlessly on the scorched battleground and practically unresponsive, she had been worried. She had been told later by the man who had called himself ‘Herald’ that Dirk had been involved in no fewer than three fights against Royal Knights, and the fact that he was still standing was rather confusing. Even when Beelzemon had split back into Dirk and Impmon, the two still seemed to be feeling its effects. Aside from Impmon’s general lack of focus (moreso than usual), Dirk had barely spoken a word to her. And right now, he had just stumbled into the doorframe before Impmon pushed him inside, and Kate caught them before they could hit the floor and helped them both up. “Hey, Dirk?” He didn’t look up at her. “Dirk, how about you turn in? It’s been a long day, and I can handle putting away the leftovers.” And checking the mail, hoping that none of the bills she had left unattended were overdue, cleaning those dishes they had left in the sink before getting pulled to the digital world... After a minute too long, Dirk nodded. Kate beamed - he was still responding. Guardromon had suggested the two could be seriously concussed, but they seemed to be holding steady and hopefully tomorrow things would be better. “Great. Impmon, you go with him too, alright?” “Finally, a chance to sleep again in a [i]real[/i] bed!” Impmon ran past Dirk. “Impmon!” Her voice stopped him. “You forgot something.” He turned as she gestured to Dirk. “Oh, yeah, Pineapple Head.” Impmon shrugged. Dirk huffed. “He can walk.” “Just don’t want anything else happening to you two. I don’t think it’s much to ask.” She walked to the refrigerator while Kotemon dropped the bag of food onto the counter. Dirk nodded again and followed after Impmon. She exhaled and opened the fridge. Right then - yeah, she was also going to have to clean some stuff out, it had gone bad during their time away. Ah, the joys of being the responsible adult. -- Dirk laid down in his bed, outfit unchanged. Impmon was taking the pillow out from under his head when, for the first time since they had split, Dirk spoke. “You remember what they said too, right?” “They?” Impmon was trying to remember who specifically, but Beelzemon had spoken with and been spoken to by so many that in the end, he just made a ‘dunno’ sound. “BanchoLeomon and BlackWarGreymon.” Again, Impmon indicated confusion. Dirk groaned as he sat up, allowing Impmon the pillow. “After - after everything. I remember hearing them.” Despite his best efforts, Dirk couldn’t recall if he had even been talking with them or had been eavesdropping. “They know who made that Kimeramon. They know where he is. They know he can make more.” Right now, simple sentences seemed best for his fuzzy memory and likely for Impmon’s short attention span. “Good for you, Dirk. I sure don’t.” “Do you even remember what you had for dinner?” Impmon paused, trying to think. “...uh-oh.” “So, back to what I was saying.” “Which was?” “We - [i]I[/i] know where we’re going tomorrow.” “Alright, great.” Impmon pulled away the blanket. Then his brain seemed to boot up. “Wait, we’re going? Why?” “Well, we know who it is. We can get in, kill the bastard, and get out in ten minutes top.” “Sounds great but why [i]us[/i]?” Impmon poked Dirk’s chest. “I’m beat, you’re tired, I can’t believe I’m the one saying this but it’s a bad idea and we’re not gonna be at a hundred percent tomorrow. I don’t wanna do it.” “If we don’t, Lucas will-” “So let ‘im. I don’t care.” “Impmon, we beat two Knights alone, you’re scared over this?” “Believe it or not, I ain’t dying any sooner than I have to. And not over something that someone else has covered. Let ‘im.” “What if something goes wrong?” “He can handle it.” Impmon waved dismissively. “I don’t hear how any of this is our issue.” “Impmon, if something goes wrong with Lucas, it’s gonna be bad.” Impmon paused at the oddly serious tone Dirk had taken. He looked back up at his partner, whose gaze was aimed at the ceiling. “Siggy and Zei and Leon and Elle have Knight shit to deal with, and they’ll probably want Lucas to help. He’s the smart one. Jordan’s gonna probably go off to do his own crap. We don’t really have any plans of our own. If this goes well, it’ll give us a direction to go in. “And if not, I don’t think any of them will give a fuck if it’s just me.” Impmon flinched at the cold words. “Dirk-” “You know I’m right. If Lucas hadn’t said he’d do it, would you still be saying no anyways?” “...probably not.” Impmon sat down on the pillow. “They’d probably be upset if things did go bad for us, though. You know that, Dirk.” “So are you with me?” “Yeah, we’ll do it.” If Dirk noticed how subdued Impmon was, he didn’t ask. The two laid down to sleep. -- When Kate came into Dirk’s room at 6 AM to check on them, she found an empty bed and a letter on the floor. -- Many of the surrounding buildings of Tokugawa Heavy Industries building had no rooftop access, for reasons of ‘security’. Dirk’s plan to go in before Lucas even arrived ended up derailed by more than a couple hours and so, much to his frustration, it was noon by the time he and Impmon were on a rooftop, looking up towards the top of the building they were targeting. “It’s always the rich bastards who can’t keep a low profile.” Dirk rolled his eyes at Impmon’s remark. Sleep had done them both a world of good - Impmon had said they wouldn’t be at 100%, but whatever they were at now, Dirk was sure it’d be enough. “Lucky for us. We’ll just keep this simple. Ready?” “To go in and shoot ‘em up? Of course!” Impmon grinned. For the first time in quite a while, so did Dirk, before he activated his digivice. “Impmon! Biomerge!” The white light enveloped them both, merging their forms and leaving behind Beelzemon. Beelzemon opened his eyes. “Form Shift! [b]Blast Mode![/b]” The wings sprouted from his back and the large gun grew over his right arm. Everything seemed to be working perfectly and, at a glance, Beelzemon didn’t see any digimon nearby. This might still work out in his favor. He took off from the rooftop, soaring for the uppermost level of Tokugawa Heavy Industries and raised his gun as he did so. “[b]Corona Blaster![/b]” The destructive energy flew from the gun and hit the building with a large, satisfying explosion, sending smoke billowing into the air from the flames now lit within. He hoped Masashi Takeda felt that. Beelzemon landed among the destruction he had wreaked.