Fortunately for Beelzemon, a reprieve for the thorny situation he’d been plunged head-first into came in the form of a new set of scents and aura approaching. One of them, he found difficult to identify; but the other was readily familiar even with the unusual qualities it seemed to have picked up since the last time he’d encountered Examon. 

“They’re here.” Parasimon spoke first, turning from looking out over the waters with a calm, committed expression on his face as he likewise picked up the signals, and looking up to where Dynasmon floated. “Examon and Dorugoramon will be here soon. If you have anything to tell them, do it quickly. We’ll need to act as soon as we’re all back together.”

It was at that point, with a heady hybrid feeling of relief and dread, that he realized that another was en route to replace it. So that ambiguous, ominous signal was Dorumon, Alphamon and Zei? That last one in particular weighed heavily on his mind, bringing Dirk out from the dark, confused mood that had consumed him after his talk with Parasimon as they debated what to do. 

‘Are you going to be able to handle this?’ Beelzemon asked the human in there with him. Perhaps a bit ironic after what had happened, but the concern was sincere. 

‘... Yeah. We can’t run away any more.’ Dirk was going to ride this out, one way or another. 

Above them, Parasimon watched as the large forms of the two partnered Dragons gradually became visible through the thick fog, becoming more and more distinct and tangible with every passing moment. He moved from his position to the path of the oncoming Digimon, his copy of Avalon bursting into life above him as orange shimmered and flickered as a beacon and greeting for the two. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Dorugoramon finally made her landing, followed closely by Examon. For a moment, the metallic dragon growled as she took in the sight of familiar faces, and nobody could tell what she’s about to do next. However, as she quietly folded her wings and let her tail rest on the ground under her feet, there was hope that, despite her less-than-ideal state of mind, nothing egregious would occur. Examon’s eyes, meanwhile, scanned carefully across the assembled Digimon, as if searching for someone in particular-


“Picked up a few more.” If Parasimon perceived anything unusual about Examon and Dorugoramon’s behaviour, he didn’t note it. He simply offered them a terse greeting before diving straight into business, Avalon fading out from its makeshift role above him. As it faded out of existence, the orange light sputtered a little, glitching around the edges: but again, Parasimon didn’t seem to notice. “BanchoLeomon stayed behind to try and cajole your other insane friend back to reason. Everyone is accounted for, minus one.” 

“Right.” Examon nodded as Parasimon’s words brought him back to attention. Beside the Hazard Knight, he could see Dynasmon floating quietly a short distance away, and now that he was close enough he too could sense BanchoLeomon and Rodendramon, the former now moving towards them. Again, that just left UlforceVeedramon. He could catch up and brief them one last time shortly, put out the feelers for his oldest friend again before they went in all guns blazing, but before then-

“We can talk things over again soon, but first things first.” His eyes scanned downwards, looking towards the signal that seemed to be doing its best to try and fade into the background. 

“Beelzemon?” There he was, standing by Parasimon’s vast, skeletal legs, as if nothing had ever happened to put him out of commission in the first place.

“Dirk?” Zei’s voice, tiny and fractured, echoed inside the dragon’s maw. Her head was tilted slightly to one size like a confused puppy. So many conflicting desires from the two parts of the whole dragon made her stand still like a statue, unwilling to approach him yet also unwilling to leave.

“Easy. We’re all still processing what happened.” Again, Examon tried to keep Zei tethered to sanity as he navigated them through this bizarre new situation. Perhaps a bit selfishly, he hoped that Beelzemon’s presence meant that the Demon Lord was standing on an even enough heel to help guide them through it-

“Oh god, I really fucked it up this time, didn’t I?” And then those words came, blurted out in a moment of foresight compromised by panic and horror. 

There was a sound like steel doors slamming shut as Examon’s thought process came to a crashing halt. Slowly, with the sound of metal creaking, the Dragon Emperor turned from Dorugoramon to Beelzemon, looking down at him with a blank expression as he spoke with that all-too familiar voice and cadence. Slowly, as his mind resumed function, a mixture of emotions began to trickle in, first a heady mixture of relief and confusion-

A soft chirp from Dorugoramon’s maw broke the tension between Examon and Beelzemon as she finally made her move, trudging slowly towards the familiar form of the Demon Lord. She stopped only when she had to bend down to look at Beelzemon’s face, her tail flicking and kicking up dust from the ground.

“You’re… alive…” There was something in the human’s voice: doubt, hope, or apprehension. It was difficult to tell due to how stoic the dragon’s face looked.

“Damn it. Damn it!” Beelzemon- no, Dirk’s- feelings were unambiguous, however. Dropping to his hands and knees, there was a loud [b]crack[/b] as a clenched fist smashed the asphalt beneath it. His voice wavered, flickering between his own and Beelzemon’s as the Demon Lord seemed to fight an unseen battle to snap his partner out of it; an invisible battle that he very visibly lost as that voice cracked with a sob. “Zei…”

Another metallic chirp from the smaller dragon Digimon, though closer to Beelzemon’s ears. Unsurprising, since the dragoness in question had lowered her head until her steel-clad snout was just a feet away from his forehead. Still, she made no other sound or move, her body still as a statue.

“... Dirk.” After what felt like an eternity, Examon finally spoke up, his voice surprisingly level for the countless and conflicting emotions that were assaulting him. “As much of a relief as it is to see you again, [i]how the [b]fuck[/b] are you here?[/i]” A moment later, and with a wince, he qualified: “I’m happy you’re here, but didn’t you-” 

“Y-yeah.” With a sniff, Dirk wiped away the deluge of tears that had been pouring down his face. His voice was shaky, but as he reached up and placed a clawed gauntlet on Dorugoramon’s snout, it levelled out somewhat, enough for him to speak clearly. “That old fascist took my head off. It’s a long story how I got back here, but-”

He paused. The presence of Lucas within BanchoLeomon had been unmistakable, as had Elle’s within Dynasmon and- ‘No, hold yourself together, you can’t fall apart now after everything you’ve been through’- Zei’s within the surreal creature who was currently staring down at him. Examon, however, seemed to be purely him and another signal he couldn’t immediately put a finger on. He hadn’t been able to sense Jordan within Rodendramon either, but the state they’d found him in was self-evident of why. Examon seemed perfectly lucid, so why-

“Where’s Siggy?” A chill ran through Dirk’s body, his voice becoming shakier once more as a fresh wave of horror threatened to drown him.

The next few seconds hung heavy in the air, the tension palpable. Standing a way back from the emotional scene, Parasimon looked between Examon and Beelzemon, and then to Dorugoramon. Silence. The tension began to creep into him, too, and he was suddenly conscious of just how depleted- emotionally and physically- his allies were. He wasn’t privy to anywhere near enough of their inner workings to gauge the full depths of the despair unfolding before him, but he could feel it weighing down on them, something as stifling and deadly as anything Moon=Millenniummon could throw at them. 

“... Don’t worry, he’s fine.” But as Examon spoke, that mood slowly began to abate. The Dragon couldn’t hide how tired he sounded, but there was a sudden humour and warmth to his voice. “I don’t know if you saw them too, but Millenniummon gave us all visions of the future and past so we’d give up. I don’t know what he’s seeing in there, but even if he’s not with us right now, he’ll be back before we know it. We all made it back, I’m sure he will too. I know he will.” 

He sighed, a cleansing sensation that further pushed the dark tension away. “What’s important is that you’re here. If you’re not ready to talk, we can do it once we’ve put this thing in the ground.” He gave the best approximation of a smile he could give with the structure of his jaws. “The others will be here soon. Until then, I think there’s one person you should focus on.”

Throughout that entire conversation, Dorugoramon had yet to budge from her spot and continued to watch Beelzemon like a predator eyeing a potential meal. However, after what seemed like an eternity of tension, she finally pulled away and gave him back his personal space, only to then poke at his head like a curious puppy. Either Zei had regressed back to the mentality of a child, or she was still trying to process the corporeality of the being in front of her. Given her tenuous grip on sanity, either seemed likely.

The prod snapped Dirk out of the minor trance of contemplation he’d fallen into, nearly knocking him over as he jolted back to awareness with a yelp. Staring at Dorugoramon, up to Examon and then back to the smaller dragon, he took a moment to collect himself before speaking once more. 

“... Yeah, I’m sure you’re right.” Well, Siggy wasn’t here and his last hurrah had broken something in Zei. But for the time being, he chose to believe in Examon’s words. He didn’t know how deep that belief ran, but anything would do to dam the rush of emotions that still waited for a chance to burst forth and crush him. 

He said nothing after that, instead just looking up at Dorugoramon as they backed off from him; silence settling over them again as countless confused and constrained feelings filled the air anew.