The trees hardly posed any obstacle for the two small digimon. The two pink ‘blobs’, as certain humans had taken to calling them, zipped around the trunks and under branches with ease, their small forms making it easy to avoid harm without needing to slow down. Piximon went over the possibilities in her head. He had broken the Server Tree at last. He had hurt Clockmon. He had hurt himself. No matter how she viewed it, it was worth going back to check, and it wasn’t like the humans - the digidestined - had anything left to offer. Piximon left her train of thought, content with that idea, before she heard it.

The yelling.

The swearing.

The crushing of dead leaves and grass underfoot.

Piximon made the mistake of looking back at the commotion and swore, violently, before calling ahead, "I think they're following!" What were they supposed to do about this? Why were these humans so dead set on chasing them? They hadn't even known what a digimon was - no way they were angry over the digivice! Whatever these items had been before, it didn't even matter, so no point getting mad. They were digivices now.

"I'm not sure we have time to lose them!" Marineangemon called back. "Speed up!" He began flapping his wings, already leaving Piximon behind in the dust.  Piximon adjusted the digivices in her hands.

"Bro, wait!" Her wings beat faster - buzzing loudly, a sound that might make a Kuwagamon feel inferior. Even if the humans were following, she couldn't hear them over the buzzing of her own wings, trying to deafen her. Even with the way her wings beat, almost invisible to the normal eye, Marineangemon was still trailing far ahead of her. She just had to push a little harder before Marineangemon left her behind. It would be impossible to get lost - all she'd have to was fly above the tree line, head for the largest tree in the forest, and they would always be able to meet there sooner or later - but she did not want to go alone. She did not want Marineangemon to arrive alone. Nothing good had boded from that terrible cracking noise and going alone was... worrying.

Piximon was not scared. She refused to let herself be scared by [I]him[/I] of all digimon. 

She called out to Marineangemon again, but the air in her lungs deserted her. She could hardly breathe, her wings straining to try to catch up and every muscle in her body pulled taut from the effort. It wasn't bad that Marineangemon had digivolved, but by Yggdrasil, it made him hard to keep up with! If he could just stop for a moment so they could go together - why was he so worried anyways? Why not bother trying to lose the humans? They both knew what could happen. Oh, but she knew: he [i]worried[/i] over that digimon. She tried to swallow some air to refill her rapidly-draining reserves. The trees were beginning to thin ahead. Marineangemon had about reached the tree line, and Piximon then maybe could catch up-

Piximon could not hear over the sound of her wings. The sharp wet sound of skin - texture data - being pierced had to be imaginary, as was the distant gurgling sound. Her brother, still so far ahead, could not possibly be heard over her wings. It had all happened so fast too, before she could bring herself to a painful halt. He had left the forest line, and then the jagged violet crystalline shard shot down through his chest. He dropped to the ground unceremoniously, the shard still protruding from the heart on his chest as greenish foam oozed from the edges of the wound. There was no noise now. Piximon, starved for air, held her breath before she dropped to the forest floor, wings still. Try to attract as little attention as possible, and maybe he'd get bored. Then she could go to Marineangemon, heal him with no fuss, and together they would find out-

"[color=fdc68a]Boo![/color]"

Piximon screamed at the voice behind her, dropping the digivices. Before she could take off, a violet shard fired and pierced her right wing. She spiraled to the ground with a heavy thump, dirt pressing into her eyes. An invisible grip locked around her body, pinning her wings and arms, and turned her around. She stared into the unblinking eye of the white shell mask, hiding the face of her assailant.

Her friend. Necrowisemon.

"[color=fdc68a]Found you, Piximon![/color]" He giggled, the horned angular mask remaining as impassive as ever. Its white color was marred by small pockmarks made by the shell-like material, and by the various purple lines and dots painted on its surface; its eye, with its yellow sclera and red pupil, stared into her soul. It stood as a stark contrast to the colorful clothing he wore, the yellow felt wings that stretched out behind him from the cloth that covered his shoulders and hooded his head; the leaf-green ragged scarf and fingerless gloves; the orchid tunic that poked out under the belt at his waist and flowed when he flew; the dark green capris that barely covered his knees; the orange cloth boots held in place by violet straps; and the black, black skin that connected all the color together. The digicores encircling his head like a gory halo orbited much more rapidly than normal, and Piximon noticed the holes in his clothing and limbs sealing shut. So it was a fight? With what? With a flick of his wrist, the three digivices lifted off the ground as if suspended by invisible strings. [color=fdc68a]"What're you doing hiding out here anyways, huh? I thought you hated hide and seek![/color]" The meter-tall digimon was gliding back to the clearing, taking Piximon with him. Piximon was starting to feel woozy, the grip far too tight for her to try to breathe, Marineangemon remaining still on the approaching ground below, the smell of [I]something[/I] in the air like blood and smoke and charred flesh.

Then he brought her outside the tree line, to the clearing surrounding the largest tree in the Central Processing Forest.

[I]And Piximon understood.[/I]

The largest tree in the forest, the Server Tree, bore obvious signs of battle, its bark riddled with vicious claw marks, bullet holes, crystal shards, and scorch marks. Near the base of the tree, a massive impact had caused the trunk to splinter. Impaled on one of those massive splinters was a humanoid digimon, his outline fuzzing and red blood staining the purple pinstripe suit he wore. While he bore a mask, unlike Necrowisemon, Piximon knew the digimon's species well enough to know Astamon's mask was simply a part of his face. Perhaps Necrowisemon hadn’t known, as it looked like his face had been split in uneven halves from someone trying to yank off the ‘mask’. Astamon's gun laid between the gnarled roots of the Server Tree, broken in two beneath where he now hung. The grass around the roots was burnt to ash and laying in that ash was a cloaked digimon, its long arms severed and charred. Baalmon, Piximon dimly realized, was missing the blue hat usually covering his blond hair. Tattered pieces of his amulets laid scattered about, an inadequate defense against a powerful unholy foe. On the edge of the new ash-field was a lion-like digimon, laying face down and claws digging into the dirt. Piximon took a moment to realize what had happened - [I]what Necrowisemon had done[/I] - to him; the blond mane he had covered the damage, soaked in his own blood as it was, but Piximon could see blood and edges of data strands oozing out from under Flaremon. Eviscerated. Right behind him was a narrower, more lynx-like digimon, and Piximon could tell right away, her spine had been snapped in two. It wasn't even like Meicrackmon was a fragile digimon and yet, with her shallow panting and desperate attempts to right her body even with her long claws ripped off, she looked almost vulnerable.

Piximon had a feeling she knew what the cracking sound was now.

"[color=fdc68a]I can't believe you guys just came back now, though. You missed all the fun with my new playmates![/color]" He lifted Marineangemon off the ground, leaving the digivice behind. Piximon struggled - her brother so close, and yet out of her reach. The other four digimon were forgotten. Not like she could save them, not now that they'd been designated 'playmates'. The fact they seemed to still be breathing was miracle enough. "[color=fdc68a]It was fun playing some more, but it might've been more fun with you guys here. Maybe you could've helped? I'm not sure these guys are up for a second game themselves.[/color]" He giggled again, ignoring Piximon's attempts to pull herself free to reach her unresponsive brother. "[color=fdc68a]Where did you guys go? Clockmon didn't seem to know.[/color]" He waited a moment, looking between the two fairy digimon.

"[b][color=fdc68a]Why did you leave me?[/color][/b]" With a roar, he flung his hand down, and the telekinetic force followed suit. Piximon crashed into the ground, tearing up grass with her landing. Marineangemon tumbled tail over head, the shard in his chest twisting and the foam splattering under him. The grass hissed at the contact and began to wither. The three digivices scattered across the ground, unyielding to the force pushed upon them. It was then Necrowisemon finally seemed to notice their presence.

"[color=fdc68a]Hey, what's this?[/color]" The telekinetic force reached out and plucked the three digivices from the ground. Piximon ceased her attention to him, first taking in a much-needed breath of air before stumbling over to Marineangemon. The impact had forced the wound wider. She grimaced and grabbed the poisonous crystal, wincing as she yanked it out. Red and green mixed together as they oozed from the wound.  Her magic was not made for healing, but she contorted it, trying to force it to harmlessly expel the poison from her brother's body, force it to seal the wound shut.

Praise to Yggdrasil, he still breathed.

Necrowisemon examined the three digivices, at first with disinterest. They spun lazily in the air - once their backs faced Necrowisemon, his whole frame tensed. 

"[color=fdc68a]No way...[/color]" He studied the three devices. "[color=fdc68a]But it's missing-[/color]" His gaze tore away from the digivices, searching around the clearing from his position in the air. He then spied the one Marineangemon dropped and, with a whoop, he pulled it up with the other three. Turning it around revealed the same constellation pattern etched in - rather, the same kind. All four varied, but it was clear by Necrowisemon's laughter that something about the four together appealed to him.

"[color=fdc68a]Well, glad to have you back. Thanks, guys![/color]" He plucked the digivices out of the air and hugged them to his chest, otherwise ignoring the still-unconscious Marineangemon and still-panicking Piximon on the ground below.