Make sure you always support the original story, but I’ll continue to release my version the Monday after the official release. If you’ve been enjoying this project, please make sure you leave a like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends.

Eiji takes the next few days after the incident wallowing in his small apartment. Guilt weighs heavily on his soul. The images of Kazuchimon pulling Omnimon into the vortex haunt him constantly. It is his fault Leon is DMIA.

Eiji regretted answering the Professor’s ad. He regretted taking his job offer. He regretted joining the Sons of Chaos and plotting against his friend. It’s the regret that left him feeling so helpless.

He spent most of his days lying in bed and staring into the darkness. He would only get up to vomit what little stomach acid he had left. The depression dulls his hunger, not that he could keep anything down anyway.

“Are you just going to wallow in your pitty till you die?” Loogamon asks.

Eiji blinks and stares blankly into space. His eyes are red and puffy. “It was my fault…” he manages in a gruff voice. “It was my fault you turned into Helloogarmon and went berserk.”

“Yeah,” Loogamon chirps. “I would have never messed up so badly.” A smirk creeps up its face.

Eiji sighs. “I just had to beat him. I needed to beat him…” Eiji’s voice trails.

“I wanted to win too. I wasn’t about to lose to Pulsemon.”

Tears begin to creep over the corners of his eyes. “That’s the difference. You didn’t want to lose, I was terrified of losing… I had so much to lose.” Eiji fights back his tears thinking about the frivolity of it all. “I didn’t want to lose the trust of the Sons of Chaos….I didn’t want to let the Professor down. I didn’t want to lose it all and go back to how it used to be…before.” Eiji thinks about the times when he barely made enough to make it paycheck to paycheck. He remembers the struggle of constantly searching for the odd job. 

“Well, let’s do something about it. Let’s go save Leon and Pulsemon!”

Eiji sits up and looks down from his nest. It had been a while since he moved or did much of anything. He watches Loogamon who waits eagerly for an answer. He lets out a long sigh and wipes the tears from his cheeks. He jumps down from his bed and lands on the floor with a thud. “Alright. Let’s do it!”

“Alright, Eiji. Mindlink!”

“Let’s go!” Eiji exclaims, pressing at the face. An error message fills the face of the Digimon Linker. Eiji stands bewildered in his dark apartment as nothing happens.

“The vital check failed. We can’t mindlink,” Loogamon sighs. “I could bypass the lock easily, but I might go berserk if I let you drive…like this.”

Eiji hadn’t showered or changed in days. His hair was greasy, and bits of vomit stained his shirt. Dark bags had settled under his eyes.

Eiji’s stomach growls loudly. “Good point.” Eiji can’t remember the last time he ate and kept it down.

“We’ll have to find a way to find them from here,” Loogamon adds.

“Can you ask around the Wall Slums?”

“I did a bit when you were wallowing in bed, but I didn’t get much. Nobody knows what’s on the other side.”

The doorbell rings. It takes a moment for Eiji to register it as his. He shuffles slowly towards the door. He looks through the monitor, but there is no one there. On a second look, Eiji makes out the edge of a shoulder. Someone was doing their best to hide from the camera. His Digimon Linker chimes as he receives a message. It’s a message from Tartarus.

I’m outside, the message reads.

The messge leaves Eiji stunned as an unexpected knock follows. “I know you’re in there Fang. Open up!” A deep voice calls through the door.

A second voice chimes in, “Aren’t you Tartarus?” The voice feels strangely familiar.

“Who’s asking?”

“Wait a minute…” Eiji mutters to himself as he turns to search for Loogamon. “Where the hell…”

The door unlocks and slowly swings open. Loogamon slides through the crack. “Hey Eiji, the boss is here, and he’s old!”

“Seriously…”

An older unfamiliar gentleman darkens the doorway. He is slender and neatly dressed in a black jacket and nice slacks.

“May I come in?” Tartarus asks as he takes off his glasses. He looks down and finds the entrance cluttered by a pile of sneakers.

“Erm..umm,” Eiji stutters as the man removes his shoes and steps into the small apartment.

“At least make some tea for your visitor,” Loogamon scolds

“..Right,” Eiji begins to move towards his kitchen.

“Oh don’t go to any trouble. Besides, it doesn’t look like you have any.” Tartarus looks around. “Not bad. You got a kitchen, loft, and bathroom.”

“Yeah but the walls are thin, and Eiji barely fits in the bathroom,” Loogamon adds.

“The apartment I first lived in was old and infested with rats.” He says before stopping at the small alter Eiji kept. “Is this for your parents?” Tartarus presses his hands together and kneels.

Eiji bows slightly to show his thanks, but can’t find the words to say to to the man.

“The WWW flight…such a tragedy.” The two sit in silence for a moment.

“Oh here. I brought you some supplies.” Tartarus says as he places the small plastic bag on the floor. Inside is a sports drink and a bottle of tea.
“Er.” Eiji lets out in a dry and raspy voice.

“Just take it. You haven’t had anything in ages,” Loogamon urges.

“I thought that be the case. That’s why I came.”

Eiji chugs at the sports drink. The cool liquid feels good as it goes down his throat. He drinks about half the bottle before asking, “What do you mean?”

“I know what you’re going through…Someone close to me went DMIA too, and it was all my fault…” Tartarus voice trails. ” I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. I tried to drown it out with alcohol, but nothing made the pain go away. I kept seeing the events, over and over till I nearly went mad with grief.

“Wait? What? When?” Eiji struggles to keep up with the events unfolding before him. The familiar smell of beef bowls and miso soup creeps into his nose and makes his stomach growl.

“Good, that means you’re alive.” Tartarus smiles as he hands Eiji the bag of takeout.