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"You started 'The Story' without me?"

The new voice caught the man by surprise, for he nearly jumped out of his seat from the sudden interruption. His two children perked up in their beds as the new person stepped into the doorway.

It was a Flamedramon.

"I thought you were asleep," the father spoke, holding his chest like he had nearly had a heart attack.

The Digimon only chuckled from the reaction. He leaned against the doorframe slightly in a lazy manner but looked awake and eager. He was about the same age as his partner but retained his Flamedramon form for some reason. The Digimon wore white pajama pants and a loose fitting T-shirt that looked great on his slender and lightly built body and frame. His personality matched his partner's in every way it seemed, and it showed as he soon chuckled again and walked inside.

Following him was a Veemon who only stood as high as the Digimon's waist. He held onto the male's hand like a little kid but looked to be around the same age as the human partner's children. His body was similar to his dad's body but he seemed more shy and timid than his father looked.

"My son wanted me to tell him 'The Story' as well, said he couldn't sleep," the Flamedramon said, setting his son on the man's son's bed. The Veemon crawled over and laid next to the little boy who actually looked scared. "You had most of the details of the first part anyway, so we decided to eavesdrop on you."

"You sneaky lizard," the man chuckled.

"You sly human," the Flamedramon laughed back.

"Shh, don't wanna wake the others," the man replied.

"Oh," the Mon gasped and nodded. "Sorry. How about I take over, you go and get some water for the young ones while I tell them about my part. Don't worry, I'll pick up from where you left off."

The father sighed and nodded, clearing his throat. "I am quite parched from talking so much actually."

The Flamedramon smiled. "Go get some water, I'll fill them in for a while until your special part comes back."

"Okay, thanks."

Just as the father left the room the Flamedramon took the man's seat and leaned back. He gathered his thoughts and let out a deep long breath. He looked at each other the kids and smiled to them and, before speaking, cleared his throat.

"Now, my part is...less than action-packed, so bear with me," he said.

Jason:

Ryan just looked at me like I had just risen from the dead. Well, technically he had gotten closer to death than I had but he survived like he always did, not really planning anything until the last moment.

Guess I was no better actually. I was so shy that a picture of me could've been pasted next to the definition. I was still so new to all of this, to the history, to the war, to the people, and most importantly to my life! I didn't know what it was like to live exactly yet but I was still learning as quickly as I could. Glad I had Ryan's help to keep going along, else-wise I would've been as scared as an elephant would be of a mouse. It was pretty pathetic of me to act like that, not talking, not really looking at anyone, and not really wanting to be me. I always got strange looks from others, mainly because I was part of this prophecy with this gold skin. I didn't think much of it when I was back at school with Ryan because no one really explained it to me, but now I understood why I was so special to everyone.

My abilities.

Even Ryan didn't see what I had done while I thought he was dead. My mind was working two steps ahead of everything else that was going on, but there were times when I couldn't figure things out, like when Ryan had rejoined us when we were heavily out-numbered. I also figured out how to use a gun perfectly, and I had never even seen one until today. My courage shot up like there was a sale on Black Friday (which I learned from Ryan) so I wasn't as scared as I used to be, heck, I even started talking more than I did and I was actually not scared of anything. Other than dying, that was the only thing that actually scared me.

Well, that was a lie. I was scared of losing Ryan too. He was my partner after all and I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose someone like him. He helped me gain more confidence in myself than anyone else (other than Kuros) did. Ryan was like the older brother I never had even though I didn't actually understand what a brother was I still felt like he was more than my partner, and I loved it.

Losing Nick...wow, I don't think I could live if I lost him. Sure, we barely knew each other, I was still new to the Squad, he had had more experience, and he was tough, sure. But I don't know why exactly I was feeling to be closer and closer to him. When I saw him face down, unconscious, my heart dropped deep inside my stomach and I felt like I wanted to cry. He looked like he was dead but I sensed (another weird thing) that he was still alive which I was glad I was right about. He was kind to me, being next to him felt soooo good, and even his touch sent delightful shivers down my spine. His smile made me melt, especially when he blushed which I found super cute. Oh, that Gaomon really knew how to make me feel great inside.

Anyway, back to the original story.

Ryan had finished head-butting and knocking Rodrigo out cold by the time I had arrived. He was a tough one alright, surviving dead here and there, and it showed that he also had power to show even after using it all up. I saw some of the battle between the two of them and all I can say was it wasn't pretty. They were cutting each other up pretty badly (Ryan mostly getting hit) while I did my best to help Piper and Nick recover. I knew he was tough, but I didn't expect him to be that tough. I guess I underestimated him, and he underestimated me.

I guess we were like each other.

After I had spoken, he smiled at me. "I did tell him I had some surprises up my sleeve." He then took the sword that had landed on the ground, a black colored one, then walked over and pulled a golden colored sword from the ground. He then walked back over to me and handed me the black one. "Here."

I thought he was kidding at first but with a smile and glint in his eyes I knew he wasn't joking. The weapon looked heavy and I highly doubted I could lift it, but I took the handle and watched as it felt so light in my hand. I gasped, along with Ryan, as the blade glowed dimly for a few seconds, the blade changing color almost like it was being drained form the sword. The metal began to turn paper white, which made the blade shine in the bright sun as the inscription was so clear and readable, sadly it was written in something I didn't understand. The whole blade had turned from black to white in only seconds, and it looked like it had also shrunk a few inches, making it a better fit in my hands, going well with the lightness it had.

"Didn't see that coming," Ryan muttered, looking at his golden colored blade.

I held the white one up in the air and watched as the sun warmed the metal along the hilt, the rays of the sun making it look like a diamond in the light.

"I like it," I smiled, holding the blade.

He eyed my sword as well then smiled. "I think we can keep these as...battle trophies."

"Battle trophies?" I had no clue what he was talking about.

Just as he was about to explain, we heard the buzzing and whirring of what looked like helicopters dropping down from the sky. There were half a dozen of them, all of them armed with twin machine guns mounted on the open sides. They were large enough to hold about six troops and were colored navy blue. I took it that they were here to pick us up from this whole mess.

They hovered over the ground not far from us when the Chief and his partner called us to the 'copters. Soldiers began to file inside the aircrafts while we followed closely behind them. We decided to take the one with Hector and his Angemon partner since those were the only two who had actually saved us some spots. As we buckled inside, the helicopters began to rise and take off. After flying in a plane that crashed an almost killed everyone on board, I can't say I was too thrilled about flying once more only a couple hours later. I just hoped that we weren't shot down again, that would only make me want to just walk to wherever they were taking us.

We were handed headphones with mics to talk to each other, and it was there that Ryan finished his explanation to me.

"Battle trophies are like..." he thought about it. "Things from a battle you take from the fallen, if they haven't been killed or something. I beat Rodrigo, he lost his swords, we take them as trophies."

I didn't really understand anything but the last part. Maybe these things would come in handy later, use them as close ranged hand-to-hand combat stuff or something. Only problem I had, was how the heck were we supposed to carry these things while we were shooting at someone else from far away. Maybe we could get some equipment to hold them while we shot, or I don't know. It felt like I needed to keep this sword with me for some reason just because it felt right to me, I don't know exactly why but it just felt right inside of me.

While we flew over the city, I could finally see all the destruction one army had done. Buildings were set ablaze while some towers had crumbled to pieces, the streets were bumpy and were littered with bodies, cars, large stones, and large craters. I could still see signs of firefights going on but our side was still winning.

It was the same way in the air. Our forces were beginning to push the Shadow forces back, hard. Our dark blue jets were making mince-meat out of the black jets, most of them blowing up into a million tiny pieces. It was good to see we had made a comeback and were pushing then back, but I couldn't say I enjoyed all the killing and death they brought. It was all so much, and I had shot and killed dozens of men, women, and Digimon alike and it was eating away at me on the inside. I was told it never got easier to do it, some soldiers even said they didn't even want to pick up their own guns and do it, but they did it anyway because they didn't want to die either. I did it to survive and keep this country safe, and I had killed dozens in order to do that which didn't feel nice in my heart at all.

I felt sick to my stomach.

Just as the sun begin to set, Ryan placed his hand on my shoulder and rubbed it gently. Instantly I shut my eyes and breathed out a long breath of relief, this whole day had been stressful and painful to do and I was glad I still had someone beside me to help me get through this. And I was even gladder it was my partner.

A couple of hours passed after we left.

Ryan and I were able to get some sleep for the time being and I can honestly say that I treasured every second I was out. My body hurt of course but I was better rested and I could actually focus on more things than trying to figure out which way to aim my gun without the stress of having a squad to back up. I wasn't as tired as I was before, which was to say I was exhausted by the day's end. It had to be early in the morning since we were still flying and the sun just broke up over the horizon. I was the only one awake right now, Ryan still being in dreamland along with the Chief and his partner, whose name I still didn't know (or remember) yet.

Just let them sleep, I thought to myself. I did what I thought and shut my eyes, unable to go back to sleep. Okay, so I could just stay awake now and take in the fact that we hadn't been shot down yet. Good thing we were flying right over a long grassy field that seemed to go on forever. We weren't in any rush now, just taking it easy until we got to this "Admiral" or so he/she was called. I had a feeling once we got there we would finally get some answers, like how that city got attacked. From what I was told earlier, the country we were in wasn't close to where the war was and it was said they had some of the strongest military in the war, besides the U.S. It seemed impossible but the Shadows had made it possible and had broken through somehow.

I thought about it for a while, until I fell back asleep.

A few more hours had passed and I was able to see the sun high in the sky along with some fluffy white clouds. The temperature was cool and refreshing, just how I felt after getting an additional few hours of sleep. I was wide awake and felt like a million bucks, which was exactly what my skin (or I) was probably worth.

Ryan, Chief, and his partner were now up, finally. They were pretty lazy (kidding), sleeping in like they had so many days to spare. We really didn't have much time, for I knew they were going to throw out on the battlefield again, soon. I hope it wasn't too soon since Ryan and I still needed to time recover and get everything back together, yet something told me we were going to be hitting the ground running soon, which really didn't make me feel better.

"Good morning, sunshine," Ryan greeted, patting my shoulder while I was still kinda dazed. "You were just about to miss the sight."

I cocked my eye at him and probably looked confused, which I was. "What're you talking about?" I asked.

He gave me a smile then pointed out of the helicopter, showing me the landscape. Okay, it wasn't landscape anymore, there were roads, small houses, and plenty of trees. Sure, it was nice to civilization again but I didn't really think that that was a great sight, unless you were gone for a year and hadn't seen a house since then, so then it would be a sight to behold.

"Just some houses and roads?" I asked again.

He shook his head and chuckled. "Close, but no. Ahead of the helicopter." He explained and looked outside the aircraft then forward.

I shrugged and followed his lead, sticking my head outside the opening while looking ahead. Oh, my mind told me. I was such an idiot. He wasn't talking about the land we were flying over, he was talking about the large city that we were flying to!

The city looked pretty big, skyscrapers looming over the city, roads leading into the large place, cars going in and out at steady paces, houses and homes becoming more frequent after getting closer. We were just passing over what looked like the city boarders until we actually started flying over small businesses like shops, restaurants, and hotels. But as we got closer, I could see the skyscrapers that flanked us, surrounding us from different corners, but being only about five-hundred feet in the air, they may have looked like skyscrapers but they could've been pretty considerably sized.

I could see crowds of people walking across the streets and along the sidewalks while cars drove by at steady paces. I could make out a few parks, but only one large one that made the others look like miniature ponds.

"Wow," I marveled at the sight. This was a pretty cool sight. After seeing Manchester nearly reduced to ash, I thought I had seen it all. But I knew that was a lie, I still had a ton more to see.

Along with the buildings closer to the ground, soldiers patrolled the streets, on top of shops closer to the ground, while snipers stayed on the top of the lower skyscrapers. This city was well guarded and I wondered if anyone had ever thought of taking control of it. If Ryan and I were killed I'm sure this beautiful city would be destroyed and there would be nothing but ash and rubble and bodies all over the place. The thought just made me shiver.

I had seen enough death for one week, or day, or life.

"London," I spoke, talking louder than I actually thought.

I colonel nodded and chuckled. "Mmm-hmm. The crown jewel of Europe, also th' strongest city according to the Europeans."

Wow.

We kept flying over the city for a few more minutes before I saw the prize of the whole place. It was huge! It was a base, that much I could see. But it was larger than I actually expected it to be. The compound was placed at the edge of the water, which looked to be placed large river. The base was surrounded by a tall stone wall with four towers along the wall, each one with four soldiers taking guard. Outside the base were trucks that drove in a sort of oval formation, each one with a driver, wingman on the side, and a man on the turrent.

Inside the base was a new story. There was a huge courtyard that had two rows of green grass that led to a new skyscraper that looked like a rounded right triangle. Not even joking. Inside the compound, soldiers in fairly large groups were jogging from one place to another, obviously looking tired and exhausted.

If only they had been in my shoes.

Just as we hovered over the large compound, the helicopter began its decent. Some of the helicopters had already landed and were letting their passengers out on the courtyard. We were one of the last ones let out, just as we hovered over the ground. My legs felt like Jell-O instantly which caused me to buckle right when foot met ground.

"Whoa," I gasped, trying to get back on my legs, with aid from Ryan as he helped me back up. Why he wasn't wobbly, I had no clue. I was glad I was up and walking again, that just felt weird. "Grazie."

_ "Nessun problema,"_ he replied back, speaking in his Italian just like I was. (No problem.) How I was able to speak it, I didn't even understand. Maybe it was because I was his partner.

Once I was up, my eyes darted over to a limping Gaomon who had a white bandage around his forehead, along his forearms, and in a diagonal across his chest...his bare chest. Oh God, I swore I nearly drooled. If Nick--yes, that hunk of a Gaomon--was gorgeous to me before, seeing him shirtless just made my heart dance inside.

I seriously had no clue why I was falling for him. I didn't. All I understood was that my heart ached to be away from him and seeing him (and being with him) just made my heart flutter with excitement. In my mind, he was a god, however in my heart, he was the guy I knew I would one day fantasize over. He had the cutest smile that any Digimon could have, his muscles may not have been big (ugh, I hate bulky muscles) and that's just how I liked him. He's such a charmer too, from the moment he saw me he complimented on my skin, my personality, and my looks. He didn't gawk at me like others did, which I loved, since he treated me like a regular Digimon, since I was just a regular Mon like everyone else of my race.

I'd kiss him, but it was hard to know how he felt about me. I had no clue if he liked me back or not. Okay, he smiled at me and blushed a little but I still didn't understand relationships much. I had no clue. Was a blush a good thing or a bad thing? When he smiled at me, did it mean he liked me? IDK (learned that from Ryan) but I wanted to know.

Sometimes I just wondered how complicated I made things.

We decided to walk over to them, Piper and Nick, and greet them after a long time. Knowing Ryan, he was going to want to talk to Piper and walk with her and it was going to be the same with me since I wanted to be close to Nick.

"Hey, Piper," Ryan greeted, walking beside her. "How're you feeling?"

I wasn't sure if I could answer for her. The last time I had seen her she was spiral-ed on the ground, looking pretty bad with cuts, bruises, and scrapes along her body. She was carried out on a stretcher and that was the last I saw of her. She looked better at least, most of her cuts had healed and her bruises were fading away. She still looked bad, but at least she looked better.

"Better," she replied shortly. "My head is pounding but I still feel a lot better than I did yesterday." She gave Ryan a quick smile, which caused him to blush. Earth to Ryan! She likes you! Don't ask how I knew, I just knew!

"Hey, Nick," I said to the injured Gaomon, completely ignoring their con-versation. I wanted to meet his eyes, just to see them again and fall in love with them, but he barely met mine. "You feeling okay?"

He seemed to have been in a daze for he looked up then at me and blushed. (So cute!) I don't think he noticed me before but now he did. "Oh, sorry about that. Head still foggy. I'm feeling good for the most part, massive headache and major stiffness but I'm feeling good." He was telling the truth at least, if he was in more pain than he let on then he wouldn't be walking per-say.

I gave him a smile back and nodded. "Good, can't imagine how you feel right now. I know you're in a lot of pain..."

He sighed then patted my shoulder, which made me gulp. "I'll live, don't worry. I'm more surprised that you survived the whole thing! A rookie, no training, no combat skills, no anything, and you survived!" he sounded proud of me, which, of course, had me blushing the color of blood. "I'm impressed, seriously. And you say you've never picked up a gun before?"

I nodded. "Y-yeah..." I stuttered like an idiot.

He gave me another smile. "You handled it like a pro." I felt his eyes look into mine again, making me fidget while I walked. He was seriously starting to make me feel even more special than I was already feeling.

And I loved this.

As I looked back at him, my gaze was torn away once we were approached by a human wearing a white coat, black pants, and a light blue button up collar shirt. He had on circular glasses with scruffy hair. He held a clipboard in one arm while he readjusted his glasses with his other hand. There was a word for this guy, problem was I couldn't remember it.

Yet another problem with being new.

"Which of you are Ryan and Jason Masters?" he spoke to the four of us.

Ryan and I exchanged looks of worry for a few seconds. Whenever it was the both of us, either something bad was gonna happen or there was something that needed explaining to us. I heard him sigh from beside me, telling me he was not looking forward to any of this.

"Yeah, I'm Ryan," Ryan introduced himself then gestured to me. "This is Jason." He stated. I think the white coated guy could tell I was who he thought I was. My skin showed perfectly, the gold reflecting the shine of the sun perfectly. I could've been used a reflective tape during the day pretty much, or maybe even a light-bulb if anyone put a flashlight against my skin.

The man cleared his throat and looked us over before speaking. "I see. Well, I was sent by the Admiral to and bring you to his quarters so he could see you. He wants to ask about the situation back at Manchester and he knows you two were in the epicenter of the whole attack." He readjusted his glasses again (like they needed to be) then cleared his throat again. "Please, follow me."

Ryan looked at me and I looked back. Whoever this "Admiral" was that everyone talked about had to be good. If he could get Ryan and me some answers then by all means we had to see him. Maybe once we're done with that we could finally rest in a nice comfy bed and get a good night's sleep for once. Or, maybe we were going to be taken to the nearest training area and start.

I only wondered how far that training would take us.

I looked at Nick and sighed. "I'll...catch ya later, I guess."

He looked a little sad to see me go, since I could see the pain in his eyes (not to mention his body), but he gave me a nod and patted my shoulder, sending shivers of, I dunno, love stuff throughout my body? Whatever or however you call it, it still felt soo good and I wanted to feel like that all the time.

"Okay, I'll see you later then," he gave me a bright smile that I knew had to be painful. "Bye, Jason." He drew out my name in a way that made me shiver again. This guy knew how to make a Mon feel special.

We tore away from Piper and Nick in a few shorts seconds and while I looked back I couldn't help but keep my eyes glued to the Gaomon before having to tear my gaze away to walk on.

On the bright side of things, the building looked pretty cool.

We had to follow the scientist--Ryan explained to me that--through the lobby inside the large building, which actually looked pretty impressive. The floors were white marble stone, with that little even whiter white kinda cloud swirl effect inside the stone. The walls were shiny green and swirled this way and that, much like the marble floors, along with marble columns that were lined in a sort of arc through the room. Lights from the ceiling illuminated the room and gave us a clear picture of everything. At the far end sat a receptionist in a desk, his fingers moving quickly over the keys while she spoke into a headset.

We passed her on our attempt to keep up with the scientist, who was already entering a nearby elevator. Once we were inside, he pressed a button that read 35 then we began our rise.

It was surprisingly quiet as we took off to the thirty-fifth floor. The only sound that seemed to keep things alive was the sound of the scientist fidgeting with his glasses and fumbling his clipboard. I wasn't an expert on science stuff or anything but you'd think your glasses would stay on after about the millionth time you readjusted them! Honestly, was that really nessesscary?

Once we finally reached out floor, we followed him out and down a long corridor. To our left were the windows, slightly tinted black but not enough to make it impossible to see. I looked out to see just how high we were, and I wish I hadn't. I had flown in a plane, but we were on our feet and I was gazing down at the ground from way far up, and it just made my stomach cringe. Jeesh, if someone pushed me out then they were going to find out what a Veemon looks like as a pancake.

As we passed the corner of the corridor, we passed a few doors on the way down to see a large metal door at the end of the hallway. As we passed the doors I was able to see what they all read. One had Field Armory, another had Medical Bay, then the third one had Weaponry Storeroom on the front. Obviously, I knew that the storeroom had to be filled with guns, knives, explosives, et cetera. That room could be a time bomb waiting to go off any second but it could actually come in handy if this base ever needed so many guns at their disposal.

"What's up with the big door at the end?" Ryan asked the scientist.

He turned his head then looked back ahead, like he didn't even notice Ryan. "That's where I center of operations are. Its where we plan most of our attacks with our own troops, as well as a place where we discuss plans with the other European countries."

I stepped in, without realizing. "You mean the ones that aren't under the Shadow's control?"

The scientist stumbled right after I had said it. Once he got his balance back he stood stiffly and huffed out a breath of air. He didn't look at me but I knew he had a scowl on his face, something just told me that.

"Yes, the ones that aren't under...their control," he almost hissed out the words. Wow, I didn't know I struck that hard. He didn't even wait for us and continued to walk forwards, his head forward and his back straight.

Once we reached the huge door that was even taller than the scientist, I was able to see the locks that kept it locked. There was a high tech keypad with numbers and a hand analyzer (don't ask how I knew that), a fingerprint stamp check, an eye scanner, then a voice recognition scanner. The amount of locks was really astounding, who knew they used so much high tech stuff just to keep a door locked? Well, since this was the center for their ops then I guess that qualified for it to be heavily shielded with thick doors like these.

The scientist began to use all the locks and started to unlock the door. I think he seemed a little jumpy as he did it, he fumbled once with the keypad and sounded totally stressed. He just seemed a little too jittery to me, maybe he had a little too much coffee or something before he came to get us.

Once the locks were dealt with, the door opened automatically while the man led us inside. He said nothing as we walked inside.

"Holy," I started, staring at the scenery.

"Crap," Ryan finished for me, staring at what I was.

The room was massive for such a small-ish building! The room was shaped like a dome with a windowed skylight at the top. The room was colored pure white with light blue tile flooring, which made the room look cool and nice to relax at but I still knew this was a place to work and communicate for the war, and if there was anything I had learned at all yesterday it was that even the calmest situations can be trying and hard to beat in a matter of seconds.

Soldiers and workers were walking from one monitor to the next, in which there were two sections of three rows of high tech computers with highly trained people already at them working hard. Bulky looking soldiers were placed at certain points at the room, arms cross over their hulking chests as they seemed to "scan" over the perimeter with their sharp eyes.

Jeesh, tight here.

While we were gawking like idiots at the sight, the scientist had abandoned us and had begun to walk towards a nearby metal door that looked crisp and shiny even from where we were. Talk about being a jerk.

We had to run just to catch up to the man, who still didn't seem to notice we had separated from him. This guy was getting on my nerves but stopped at the door, along with us as we returned to our places at his sides. He then spoke into an intercom, saying something that was inaudible to us but once finished he turned to us and sighed.

"The Admiral will see you two now," the man said as the door slid to the side and revealed a carpeted hallway leading to a wooden door at the end.

Once the door had opened, the man left and began to leave the room, just straight up leaving us here alone. I guessed we had to just walk on and head towards the door since that was where the Admiral was.

"Well, guess we have to head on," Ryan said, looking down the hallway towards the door with curiosity.

I nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I guess." Sound way to not into going on.

"C'mon," Ryan said, already leading me forward. I followed right beside him as we walked down the hall.

Once we had reached the door, I held out my fist and was ready to know before I hesitated. I felt a little scared to knock on the door of someone I didn't know anything about, other than a name (or "codename" or whatever) and the fact that he was some sort of powerful guy by the sounds of it.

With a sigh, I knocked on the door.

Right after the first knock, the door opened right before my knuckle made contact a second time. Standing in the doorway was another Flamedramon (which if you haven't realized, Flamedramon were very common around the world). He wasn't built very strong like others were, which he was actually lightly built like me. This one wore a plain white T-shirt that showed his flat chest, and black jeans that showed off his skinny legs, and finally a set of black combat boots to top it all off.

The Digimon looked at each of us then nodded. "Ryan, Jason, please come in." He ordered/asked us to enter, gesturing us to follow him. He didn't sound bossy but I knew just by appearance that he was.

He led us inside the well-sized room, which was probably the only wooden thing in this entire place. At the far end was just a wall of windows that looked over London and let in some bright light. Near the windows sat a regal looking man in a black suit behind a large wooden desk.

The man was probably the most handsome man I had ever seen (and yes, that probably classified me as gay in case you didn't figure that out) by the army's standards, and he looked powerful to boot. He wasn't overly muscular but just the regular build that told people not to mess with him. His hair was long and white, combed neatly back and revealed his smooth and flawless face. His eyes were piercing blue and stared directly at Ryan and me, which of course, had me scared. The way he looked at me didn't make me feel good, it was almost like he was looking right into my soul (which I found really creepy) and was looking me over.

Creepy!

"Jason, Ryan, please sit," the man who I suspected the Admiral spoke in a casual yet clear tone that made him sound young yet smooth and seductive at the same time.

We took seats in the comfy leather chairs in front of the desk. They were surprisingly comfortable but it didn't sway the feeling I had with this guy. If I had a Coke to go with this, then I might reconsider.

As Ryan took his seat, he spoke. "I'm going out on the limb and saying you're this so called Admiral, right?"

The white haired man smiled and nodded. "Yes, that is my name." The way he said it sounded like it was an everyday thing for him to say, which I had found odd since that could not really be his real name.

Having a name like "Admiral" would be a pain in the butt to have.

"Why did you want to bring us here?" I blurted out suddenly without realizing.

The Admiral, Ryan, and the Flamedramon looked at me. I felt my face flush from embarrassment but it was Ryan who came to the rescue.

"What he means is that we've been through a lot in the past few days and we were wondering why you decided to bring us here," he explained.

The Admiral lay back in his seat and gave us both a cocky smile. "Ah, I understand. Manchester is in complete devastation at the moment, and we were currently looking into how the Shadows crossed our borders and the borders of Germany and France." He looked away from us as he said it, which really didn't settle well with me. "Once the problem has been identified, we will address it and strengthen our power and authority once more to make sure something like this does not happen once more."

"So you don't exactly know how they got through?" I asked.

The Flamedramon shook his head. "Not yet but we're investigating right now. So far what we've gathered is that they slipped past our border patrol ships somehow and were able to get more of their numbers across and hinder us from the inside." The Mon rubbed his eyes, and I just now noticed that he had some dark circles under his eyes. Apparently, we weren't the only ones who were sleepy. "We have teams who're investigating the matter right now."

Ryan and I looked at each other. It was weird how only the Mon looked tired and the Admiral was perfectly fine, well-rested, and still looking like he could go on for a few more hours.

"Please pardon me, my name is Anders," the Flamedramon introduced himself, finally.

"It's a pleasure," Ryan and I spoke at the same time.

I heard the Admiral clear his throat, which caused the Flamedramon named Anders to wince a little. Okay...I found this weird as well.

"Yes," he looked at his partner then back at us. "Once we understand how they crossed, we'll inform out military. But for now, matters only concern you and Jason, now Manchester is in restoration." He cupped his hands and looked at us. "I heard you two were in the middle of the firefights in Manchester, is that correct?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, our plane crash landed and I almost died."

That wasn't really a lie actually. Before we were taken out of the plane, I was told he was dead which had broken my heart into pieces. I had seen him out cold--at the time I used dead--when we had departed so I had no way of knowing he was still breathing and living. It was a miracle just to see him alive and somewhat well, even if he did look like he was pretty banged up.

"My apologies," Anders said, stepping forward. "I tried to send out a message through the channels, which I later found out was scrambled and out of order, and tell any airborne forces carrying cargo and soldiers to fly away from Manchester." He sighed once more. "I'm afraid your crashing was partly my fault, if I had gotten that message through the system..." He trailed off, looking away from us.

I held up my hand. "It's fine, really. We're still living and breathing so that means you haven't failed us at all."

I saw a hint of happiness return to his face since he flashed a smile at me. It was soon gone once the Admiral looked at him with some sort of "death glare" as I was told. What was this guy's problem? It was almost like he didn't like his partner to talk and it actually made me start to angry with the Admiral. He might have been older and smarter (not to mention meaner) than Ryan and I but he was really starting to make me mad for some reason.

Something told me he wasn't right.

The Admiral turned to us once more. "Once our meeting is adjourned, I'll see to it that you get well rested and cleaned up, as well as some warm food in your stomachs. I can understand that you both are exhausted?" He sounded well relaxed and cool, very uncomfortably smooth and mellow about what had happened just yesterday. It was like he didn't care as much as someone else would.

Our stomachs growled hungrily like a mountain lion just to answer him. Man, now that I thought about it, we hadn't had much of anything to eat for a long time. My body told me I want something fat, greasy, and sooo good! And for once, I wasn't even thinking about disagreeing. I just wanted to get cleaned up, to take a shower, eat a nice meal, and go to sleep in a bed--and I didn't even care if it was lumpy.

"Yeah, we could use a little rest, you know, still kinda sore," he replied, sounding a little strained in his voice. I forgot he had tangoed with Rodrigo, that Shadow Flamedramon, and I could understand how pained and sore he was.

The Admiral nodded and smiled. "I can arrange anything you want, just say the word. But before we depart, I must inform you to make a quick stop to a friend's laboratory a few floors down before taking your rest."

"Who?" I asked.

"Ian and Ron Yamaha," the Admiral replied.

"They sound familiar..." Ryan trailed off, looking like he was thinking.

Anders nodded and spoke up. "They were dubbed the smartest inventors and scientists on Earth, they even made the front cover of Science Weekly. It would make sense that they would sound familiar."

I took no part in the conversation. Whoever these two were, I hoped they were as good as these three proclaimed they were. If they could make it on the front of Science Weekly--something I had no clue about--then I guess they were some big shots as well. But that was still up for debate, of course.

"Once you've talked with them about your equipment and..." he looked over his desk to see our swords, which I realized I was still holding. He tensed up a little and sat back down, squinting his eyes at us like a cat. "...weapons. Then, once you have the items they have for you, then you will be allowed to leave and take your own rests and gather your strength for the upcoming days. Soon, you will be training for a while and we need you both at your best if we are to succeed at winning this war."

Ryan gave him a nod. "Alright, we'll go talk to Ian and Ron, but first we'll need a room or something."

"They're located on floor 28, their room is labeled 'Advanced Technologies in Enhancement'. You, I am sure, should have no problem with talking with them, they both are close to your age so maybe you can understand them better on...well, teenage terms or something along those lines." "Well, we'll get it done," I replied, sounding urgent and quick to respond.

"That is good, I look forward to your progress over the next few months," he gave me a cheesy and unconvincing smile--one I hoped Ryan wasn't falling for either--then got up and walked over to us as we stood. He shook both our hands and led us out of the room then shut the door behind us.

Even as we walked away, I could still hear the sounds of sobbing and a loud SLAP! that came from his office. Following that slap was the cry of a Flamedramon in pain.