Well, they were getting somewhere with this. At least Rodendramon was...calm? More like a damn robot, but at this point, beggars couldn’t be choosers. If he could tell friend from foe, good enough.

“Alright, he’s in the loop.” Parasimon was the first one to talk after Rodendramon ‘clarified’ his situation. He did keep his shield engaged, though, pre-empting any sudden turns in the Digimon’s still-suspicious behaviour. “That makes four of us here, and Examon and Dorugoramon can’t be too far off. I think I can sense them getting closer.”

“About time,” BanchoLeomon grumbled. “We’re losing minutes here. Every second we waste regrouping is another that the thing up there is taking to charge up. Now, we should-”

“Right, I can sense something off in this direction. You’re doing a great job, I’ll be right back with a great job of my own, thanks bye!” Beelzemon called from down below, already running off to who knew where.

“Wait, don’t just run off!” Parasimon yelled, quickly disengaging his shield in the heat of the moment to try and stop Beelzemon from what appeared to be making a break for it. But as the orange light glimmered back into existence, it was already too late. The Demon Lord had gotten too far for Parasimon to stop while still keeping his shield shaped so that he and BanchoLeomon had a margin for error with Rodendramon.

“...God damn it.” BanchoLeomon sighed, raising one hand to pinch his brow. “As much as I’d rather not he get himself killed again, there’s no point chasing after him right now. You can fly, can’t you? Mind getting Examon and Dorugoramon? I’ll keep an eye on this one here.” He grunted to Parasimon, jerking a finger back in Rodendramon’s direction.

“Give me one moment.” Pulling himself away from glowering off into the distance, Parasimon straightened up and expanded his own senses, pushing past the overwhelming earthy musk of Rodendramon and the simmering frustration of BanchoLeomon as so to better gauge the positions of Examon and Dorugoramon. Before, he’d felt the two’s presence as a mere blip on his psychic radar, an indication of their increasing proximity rather than an accurate placement of their position. But as he pushed further outwards, something unusual emerged. 

“Right. I said they were getting closer, but that may not be the full truth.” He stopped, thinking how best to phrase the suggestion he was about to make. It wasn’t as if he didn’t trust BanchoLeomon to keep composed or, if he was being fully honest, care enough about the Digimon’s blood pressure to care about saying anything to worsen his mood. They both knew where they were at this point. But in the interests of not following Beelzemon’s example…

“I felt them getting closer, but now I can feel them moving away.” A pause. He looked up over the top of the building, the crystals along his back humming as he rose to gain a better vantage point. The fog was too thick to see far, but with his senses expended this far, he could tell that they were getting closer to the water. “They must have made it back to the bay. Examon’s not... well, he’s not completely out of his depth, unlike a few others of you seem to be, so let’s make an educated guess and assume he and Dorugoramon are sticking close to the water’s edge to keep track of their position.” 

“You go after them, then. Keep an eye on Beelzemon while you’re at it. Make sure he doesn’t do something stupid again.” He paused, thinking about that statement for a second. “Again.” BanchoLeomon shook his head. “Since the big rat’s not shooting at me yet, I’ll keep an eye on him for now, try to figure out what’s going on.”

“Alright, if we’re in agreement.” What Parasimon didn’t mention was that, as he’d opened up his mind to place the two dragons, he’d sensed what- or rather, [i]who[/i]- had snatched Beelzemon’s attention away. BanchoLeomon would be able to figure out what Beelzemon’s motives were, but he could do without his own interest in Dynasmon being open knowledge until the time came to make his play. “Perhaps if I give you two some space, he may calm down by himself. Whatever the situation is between you two, I doubt he’s got as much of a reason to hold a grudge as with me.”

Given the lack of cultural context, BanchoLeomon resisted making the quip that Lucas had called Jordan a drug dealer just this morning, and simply nodded, turning back to Rodendramon as Parasimon headed off.

“So. What happened to you anyway? We all got hit by that...illusion nonsense. Jordan still in there? This some sort of safe mode? Factory reset?”