Stepping out of the small wooden hut we had taken for the night, the bright morning sun of File Island hit my face. It felt warm, completely indistinguishable from a summer morning in Gotham, except the air lacked that chemical or exhaust smell and instead had fresh grass. I took a deep breath, letting the tension bleed out of my shoulders. Ikaris had told us to rest. To take the day off. My instincts, drilled into me by Batman, screamed that standing still was a tactical error. But the memory of my bruised ribs, cracked skull and the heavy, exhausted sleep I had just woken from told a different story. We needed this.
I walked down the dirt path toward the center of Primary Village. The transformation from yesterday was staggering. Where there had been corrupted thorns, craters, and the suffocating purple miasma of Devimon's presence, there was now a vibrant, bustling nursery village. Giant, colorful blocks resembling toy bricks formed the fences and walls. Soft grass blanketed the ground, and hundreds of Digimon eggs of every conceivable pattern rested in soft fabric nests.
"Good morning, Dick! We didn't get to speak at all during breakfast." Tentomon buzzed down from the roof of the hut, landing lightly beside me. His large green eyes blinked happily. "I'm glad your alright you slept for fourteen hours straight. I was starting to think you were evolving."
"Just recovering, partner," I said, offering a small smile. "Where is everybody else?"
"Oh, they are all over the place," Tentomon gestured with one of his red claws. "Wally, Gabumon, Biyomon and Gomamon are at the central square. Conner, Patamon and Gatomon are near the hatching beds. And Kaldur, Palmon and Agumon are helping Leomon and Ogremon fortify the eastern gate."
I nodded, deciding to take Ikaris's advice to heart. We were risking our lives for this world, and up until now, all we had really seen of it was blood, corruption, and desperate survival. I needed to see what we were actually saving.
I found Wally first. He was in the middle of a wide, grassy clearing, surrounded by what had to be forty bouncing, squishy baby Digimon. Tentomon was quick to introduce them all there were white, ghost-like Poyomon, pink Koromon, and little yellow Tokomon with their massive, toothy smiles. Wally was laughing, a genuine, unburdened sound I hadn't heard since before we stepped through the portal in Happy Harbor. Gabumon and Biyomon were sitting on a nearby oversized toy block, watching him with fond expressions. And I can see Gomamon lazily swimming in the fountain not far away.
"Okay, okay, you little ankle-biters, line up!" Wally shouted, clapping his hands together. "First one to tag my shoe wins a piggyback ride at super-speed!"
A chorus of squeaks and happy chirps erupted as the baby Digimon scrambled over each other. Wally grinned and took off at a jog. He obviously wasn't using his full speed, but he was moving fast enough to make it a fun game. The baby Digimon bounced frantically after him. Watching him, I realized just how heavily the near-death experience against SkullGreymon had weighed on him. Tentomon had told me later how he had shielded me, fully expecting to die. Seeing him here, playing with the newest lives of this world, it felt like a necessary release valve for the trauma we had all been quietly carrying.
I didn't interrupt him. I just watched for a few minutes, feeling a profound sense of relief, before moving on toward the nursery beds.
I found Conner sitting cross-legged on the grass near a large cluster of blue and white striped eggs. Patamon was resting on top of his head, fast asleep, while Gatomon sat elegantly by his side, her tail flicking thoughtfully. Conner was speaking with a Digimon I hadn't seen before. It looked like a red and blue mammal with nine tails spreading out behind it like a peacock's fan.
"His name is Elecmon," Tentomon whispered as we approached. "He is the caretaker of Primary Village. He watches over the eggs and raises the babies until they are strong enough to leave."
"So, they just hatch, and they already know who they are?" Conner was asking, his voice low and serious.
Elecmon chuckled, a warm, crackling sound. "Not exactly. They hatch as fresh data, pure and innocent. But they carry the echoes of their past lives. When a Digimon falls in battle, their core data is purified and returns here to the Village of Beginnings. They start over. But the essence of who they were, their courage, their kindness, it stays with them. It is not a burden, but a foundation."
Conner stared at the egg closest to his knee. I knew what he was thinking about. Cadmus. The cloning tubes. The feeling of being manufactured, of having his identity forced upon him by Lex Luthor and the scientists who made him to be a weapon.
"It must be nice," Conner said quietly. "To get a second chance. To just be born, without anyone expecting you to conquer the world or destroy a hero."
Gatomon leaned her head against Conner's shoulder. "That is what hope is, Conner. The belief that no matter how you start, you can choose how you grow. Devimon tried to corrupt that. But you proved him wrong."
Conner gently reached out and rested his hand on the blue and white egg. It glowed faintly under his touch, humming with a soft, steady rhythm. The anger that usually sat tightly coiled in his jaw was completely gone. He looked peaceful. He looked like a kid.
I backed away silently, motioning for Tentomon to follow. We walked toward the eastern edge of the village, where the sounds of heavy lifting and construction echoed through the trees.
Kaldur was there, his non-existent sleeves rolled up, using his water-bearers to create solid, crystalline structures to support a wooden archway. Beside him, the massive, muscular forms of Leomon and Ogremon were hauling massive logs into place. Agumon and Palmon were helping to clear away the debris of broken rocks. And I see Piximon laying under a tree relaxing a little further away.
"You fight with the strength of a king, but you work with the humility of a servant," Leomon rumbled, setting a massive timber onto the stone foundation Kaldur had formed. "Your people must be very proud of you, Aqualad."
Kaldur wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "My king taught me that a leader who cannot serve his people is no leader at all. We defend the innocent, but we must also help them rebuild. Otherwise, we only leave behind a different kind of ruin."
Ogremon snorted, crossing his green, club-wielding arms. "I used to think all that honor stuff was garbage. I only respected strength. But watching you kids throw yourselves at Devimon's Ultimates for a bunch of eggs that got you nothing out of it... I get it now. Strength without a reason to use it is just noise."
Kaldur smiled respectfully. "Then we share a common understanding, my friend."
I stood near the edge of the clearing, taking in the entire village. The laughter of the babies, the quiet wisdom of Elecmon, the hard work of Leomon and Ogremon. I looked down at Tentomon, who was hovering patiently beside my shoulder.
"Ikaris was right," I said softly, crossing my arms. "I spent the entire time treating this place like a giant puzzle box. A tactical scenario I had to solve. Calculate the enemy, locate the objective, execute the plan. But it isn't a board game. This is your home."
Tentomon's wings buzzed with a soft, comforting hum. "We are data, Dick. But we are alive. We feel joy, we feel fear, and we love our friends. You all did not just solve a puzzle yesterday. You saved our future."
I reached out and patted Tentomon's hard, metallic shell. The cool, solid reality of him grounded me. Tomorrow, we would cross the ocean. We would step into a desert filled with death traps, an oppressive surveillance network that would strip half our team of their power, and a warlord who wanted to boil us alive. It was terrifying. But looking around this village, I finally understood the stakes. We weren't just trying to find a way home anymore. We were fighting to protect a world that deserved to survive.
"Come on, partner let's see what else the village has to offer because," I told Tentomon, a newfound resolve settling into my chest like iron. "Tomorrow, we take the fight to Etemon."
***
I lounged comfortably on my throne in the Divine Space, swirling a goblet of perfectly manifested, rich red wine. I didn't actually need to drink it, but the aesthetics of godhood were something I was learning to deeply appreciate. Below me, the massive holographic projection of File Island hovered in the center of the marble floor, displaying the Young Justice team interacting with the digital locals.
*Notice: Hero emotional resonance parameters have increased by 14.7 percent,* the System's blue text scrolled across the edge of my vision. *Crest synchronization is stabilizing. Ultimate evolution strain threshold has been extended by an estimated two minutes per combat encounter.*
I smirked, taking a slow sip of the wine. "See? I am a generous god. I give them a day off to play with cute digital babies, and it pays massive tactical dividends."
In truth, Ikaris's suggestion had been a stroke of manipulative genius. If you push mortals endlessly without a break, they eventually snap. They become numb to the violence and lose their reason for fighting, descending into pure survival instinct. Survival instinct makes you predictable. It makes you selfish. But giving them a day to actually fall in love with the world they were saving? Showing them the innocent, beautiful things that relied entirely on their success? That forged unbreakable resolve. Now, when Etemon's De-digivolution network started crushing them, they wouldn't retreat. They would think of Elecmon and the nursery, and they would push themselves far beyond their natural limits to win.
It was beautifully tragic, and it was going to generate an absolute massive amount of divine energy for me.
The De-digivolution frequency I had programmed into the Dark Network was a masterpiece of dungeon design. It didn't just strip away their power; it forced a complete shift in their combat doctrine. Without Gomamon, Biyomon, and Palmon providing ranged and aerial support, their entire tactical formation would collapse. Wally would lose his mobility cover. Kaldur would lose his secondary heavy-hitter. They would be forced to rely entirely on Dick's intellect to navigate the desert and find the underground pyramid while Conner acted as their sole brute-force deterrent with him having the sole Champion. It was exactly the kind of asymmetrical pressure that forced rapid psychological evolution.
"Ikaris," I called out into the empty throne room.
A shimmer of golden light materialized near the base of the dais, resolving into the tall, stoic form of the Eternal. He knelt gracefully, bowing his head. "You summoned me, Lord Amir?"
"You did excellent work today," I said, setting the goblet aside. "The seed regarding Datamon has been perfectly planted, and the heroes are adequately motivated. They will be ready to depart tomorrow morning. I need you to coordinate with Whalemon. Ensure he arrives precisely at sunrise. I want the ocean crossing to be peaceful. No random encounters, no corrupted SeaDramon variants. Let them arrive on the Server Continent with full stamina. Etemon's domain is going to drain them fast enough as it is."
"It shall be done," Ikaris replied smoothly. "Shall I provide them with any further guidance upon their arrival at the desert shore?"
"No," I answered, leaning my chin on my fist. "Once they step off Whalemon, they are completely on their own. Piximon can guide them through the initial dunes, but I want the sudden loss of their Champion evolutions to hit them like a physical blow. They need to feel the terror of Etemon's Dark Network immediately."
Ikaris bowed again and vanished in a streak of light, off to execute my will within the dungeon's code.
With the File Island phase officially concluding, I shifted my focus away from the Digital World and pulled up the real-time feeds from Earth. The Happy Harbor area where the Gate is was of course still under lockdown. The Justice League's perimeter hadn't grown more intricate in the two minutes that have passed in the mortal world thankfully. Batman had finished installing the advanced WayneTech sensors, blanketing the forest in invisible laser grids and sonic dampeners.
I zoomed in on one of the surveillance drones hovering near my crystalline gate. I could see the Flash pacing nervously, a blur of red and yellow lightning. The sheer ambient anxiety radiating from the League was incredible. They were dealing with an absolute unknown, an indestructible anomaly that had swallowed their sidekicks. Every minute that passed without a change in the gate's status only fed their paranoia, and to bad they aren't inside or, that intense emotional focus would have been slowly trickling into my divine energy reserves.
"Enjoy the waiting game, Bats," I murmured to the projection. "Because when those kids finally do come out, they aren't going to be sidekicks anymore. They are going to be battle-hardened veterans who command god-level data monsters. And you are going to have to decide how you want to deal with that."
I swiped the Earth feed away, returning my attention to the pending drafts for Task Seven. The blueprints for the Gotham, Metropolis, and Star City dungeons were nearly complete. The math checked out, the boss mechanics were balanced, and the environmental hazards were brutal. I just needed to stockpile a bit more energy from the upcoming Server Continent battles to finalize the creation sequences.
The board was perfectly set. The pieces were moving exactly where I wanted them to. I had taken four damaged, insecure teenagers and molded them into a cohesive strike team capable of taking down continent-level threats. And this was only the tutorial world.
I stood up from the throne, my white hair cascading over my golden armor, and walked toward the edge of the dais. I looked down at the projection of Primary Village one last time. I watched Grayson patting Tentomon's shell, a look of grim determination on the boy wonder's face.
"Rest well, my little heroes," I whispered, my glowing green eyes narrowing with anticipation. "Because tomorrow, we turn up the heat."
*System Alert: Etemon boss parameters finalized. Dark Network De-digivolution frequency locked. Awaiting diver entry into Server Continent Desert Zone.*
I smiled. Let the games begin.