Under Friimon’s new ring, little looked different - except the shadows eating at the edge of Marineangemon. The shadows seemed to grow hungrier as May suggested being allowed to follow the siblings. To everyone else, though, Marineangemon just seemed to wilt a bit; one could imagine the anime sweatdrop on the side of his head. Piximon abstained from beginning her tirade against DoKunemon to actually look at Marineangemon with interest. He reached up to tug at his collar only to remember, right, he’d just given it away. Piximon then spoke up.

“You know, bro, I think they have a point.” Despite her light tone, her glare was visible. “We could have them come with us. Clockmon’s probably around the Tree anyways.” Her wings buzzed, making her bubble drift closer to Marineangemon’s. “It should be safe, right?” She drew the question out. To Friimon, the shadows drew in closer around Marineangemon.

Then he blinked and the nervousness and shadows alike seemed to recede a tad. He gave a nod. “You can follow, to a point.” He turned to Piximon, who looked rather confused. “Sister, give me the digivices. I’ll deliver them - you go lead them to Clockmon, alright?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll deliver the digivices. You lead them to Clockmon. She’s bound to be around the tree, right?”

“Are you crazy!”

“You said it yourself - he’ll probably be happy to see these. So shouldn’t I be fine?” He might’ve looked innocent to the humans as he asked his question, but Piximon could see the challenge in his eyes. She grimaced.

“How dare you. Ugh, fine!” With that, both bubble shields dissolved and she handed the digivices off to Marineangemon, who very carefully flipped them so the backs were facing up, showing their constellations. “You people are gonna be following me, I guess. Save your dumbass questions-”

“Piximon!”

“-your dumb questions for Clockmon because, like I said, neither of us owe you anything and you still made my brother cry.” Marineangemon grimaced and looked down.

“It was - it was just like before, was all.” He managed to hold all the digivices in one arm as he rubbed at his eyes with the other. It seemed like the matter was settled, perhaps not to the satisfaction of everyone present, but settled regardless.

Then Dante spoke up.

“Damn it, forget about the fucking digivices or whatever they're called! What took them- what took the Sovereigns? Does it know we're here? How long do we have before it finds us?”

To Friimon, both siblings became shrouded in shadows. To everyone else, both siblings tensed and exchanged looks - Marineangemon’s desperate, Piximon’s a touch manic. Then they began speaking over each other.

“Oh, I’m certain it was that Sovereigns-damned-” 
“Sister!”
“-himself Necrowisemon, but he’s not actually-” 
“-listen to her, he’s not really that-”
“-gets his kicks out of torturing my brother and-”
“-a dream, and something else-”
“-decided to play Hide-n-Seek with the Sovereigns, screwing-”
“-just needs help-”
“-as if he ever does anything else-”
“-need to be destroyed. I beg you-”
“-how someone like him raised Clockmon-”
“Piximon, that’s enough!”

The two had been steadily raising their voices until Marineangemon finally snapped. He sniffled but maintained his glare, somehow made more potent by the tears gathering in his eyes once more. Piximon huffed, averting her gaze. Now she was the one to make her brother cry. Guilt sucked.

“Bro-”

Before she could calm him down, Marineangemon tightened his grip and bolted into the forest. Despite their delicate appearance, his feathery wings were surprisingly fast and he was quickly hidden among the trees.

“Crap -” She flew after him, leaving the humans behind in her rush. “Bro, I’m sorry, but he is a psychopath! Bro!”