i'm also an accomplished butcher!

Asuka stood up, feeling no pain from his swollen ankle. The woman — unlikely to be human — must be telling the truth. Stopping time… Even he had a hard time believing it. He felt incredible power capable of bringing global devastation while he had been in Goku's evolved form, but Asuka doubted he could come close to performing a feat such as this. This was closer to the realm of…

"Gods?" finished the woman for him, reading his mind. She smiled. "Not really. The only difference between Heaven and the Lower World is the existence of time itself. The Lower World constantly moves and changes. But if it wanted to, it could eliminate time, as well. Though that would be quite the sad day, so I hope it never comes to pass."

Asuka stared at her. What should he say? What should he ask first? Asuka looked at the chip of where his e-Pulse lied, frowning.

"…Why me?"

The woman's smile vanished. In that moment, Asuka saw again the sadness she'd showed her, looking at him. As if he was a reminder of something painful for her.

"That's just how it is," she said after collecting herself, her arms crossing and displaying sharp, nails from long, slender figures. "But you at least have some of it figured out."

"Goku?"

"Yeah, that runt. Though he's far from being responsible for your situation either." She let out a quiet, heavy sigh. "He's — well…"

"A bigger victim in someone else's design?"

The woman's eyes turned sharp. Asuka could feel an overwhelming force from her. She was not happy with his remark, yet she kept to her silence.

"The dream I saw wasn't a dream," he stated, boldly waiting a reaction from this ethereal, unknown entity. "It had Tomoro and I in some sort of island alongside Goku. And in that dream — in that memory, Goku didn't have a diadem on. Did you put that on him?"

He received no reply.

Asuka wasn't surprised, and he believed he knew why.

Goku, his partner, who possessed the diadem. His e-Pulse, which the diadem reacted to, allowing him to to combine with his partner in an empowered state.

Wasn't it awfully similar to a Sapotama between a Sapowner and their Digimon? The diadem, which none had paid much mind to, was an even bigger mystery than Asuka and Goku themselves.

"How odd," said the woman quietly, knuckle touching her lips. "You really don't know."

Asuka frowned. "What?"

"You already made the connection. The runt's diadem is the link between you two. It's a part of him now, but it wasn't always the case." When Asuka continued to stare at her, the woman grew more perplexed. "Kid, the diadem came from you. Your e-Pulse gave birth to it. How could you not realize that?" she whispered, frowning.

It didn't. She made no sense.

"W-was it from Goku's memory? Wait, that's another thing—" He grabbed his head, overwhelmed, realizing how much more there was that needed answering. "How come Goku has memories of Tomoro and I that we don't recall? And Goku — he was — " Asuka's hands hovered to the width in which the other him carried Goku up. "—A really young child! But my brother and I looked exactly the same then and now!"

"That — I don't know either. I'm serious," she said at his wide-eyed, baffled look. "Heaven is aware. That's why we're more involved with the affairs of the Lower World more than ever. A great calamity must have occurred here to distort Heaven."

"So you are a god."

The woman considered for a moment.

"Yeah… but for the sake of putting things into perspective, would you consider Digimon to be gods? No?" she asked at Asuka's even more confused look. "No, then. But you know, some people would. In certain cultures, they already see Digimon as divine beings, and depending on how you would define 'god,' their perspective might make more sense than yours."

"Well, you're a god and you're here. It would be helpful if you told me how I should define you."

"Guiding humans to their happiness. Pretty standard definition," she answered nonchalantly, putting a hand out. "Not that we're required, mind you. But it is the expected role for us, the same way humans are responsible for the care of other living beings."

This wasn't a subject Asuka thought was important to know about. He still had too many other questions, and he had this inkling this supposed god wouldn't be able to stay long enough to answer them all. But this would probably not be the last they'd meet either. Asuka wanted to understand how this unique associate of his thought.

And of course, she knew why he entertained this idea, able to read his mind.

"Does that mean Digimon are above humans?"

"That remains to be seen. You understand when I say Digimon don't belong in this world. You felt how their mere presence attacked the fabric of reality." The god tilted her head, curious at Asuka's complicated expression. "Oh? I thought you hated Digimon."

"That's…my personal feelings. Objectively, it's not like they asked to come here. So, how are they similar to gods like you?" he asked, ignoring the smile that returned to the god's face.

"Even without a Digimon of your own, you know how they're born, right?"

"Yeah. They come from the powerful emotions of people. The e-Pulse generated from it—"

A long finger was raised in front of him.

"No." Asuka followed her finger as it drew a circle by her chest. "They are born from the emptiness inside humans. To fill the holes created by desire and earthly attachments. Since the dawn of civilization, humans have reached out to external power to relieve them of their never-ending despair and suffering. They prayed. They offered sacrifices and conjured rituals according to a system of beliefs. They longed for fulfillment that could last for eternity. 'God,' was the being that responded to them. Just as…"

Asuka's mouth moved on their own as he stood in shock.

"…Digimon respond to e-Pulse."

Haruomi's fierce, dark eyes flashed in his mind, but it was Asuka's own voice — his own speculation — that came back, speaking to him of a chilling sign.

"What more could World Union not be telling us about e-Pulse?"

"Tell me about Tomoro!" Asuka was upon her, completely forgetting just who — or what — he was speaking to. His desperation — the need for answers from years of watching his brother be pushed aside by a Sapotama-driven society — put every matter besides Tomoro aside. "Are there other people like him? Why does his e-Pulse cause Sapotama tech to malfunction? Why are Digimon drawn to his e-Pulse?"

Asuka recognized intuitively the minute details of the god's facade. Not all of them — at least one of them had an answer she could provide.

"Digimon do not belong in the physical realm," she explained, unfazed by the gal of a human to approach her up close. "The material plane constantly rejects them; they, who are not bound to reality, are like water spilling out of a broken cup. e-Pulse adds more volume to the water, but it does not fix the cup. As a survival instinct, they become naturally drawn to energies that would strengthen their existence. Your brother must have such an e-Pulse."

"You don't sound sure."

"I am. The problem is, it doesn't make sense. A human wouldn't possess that kind of energy."

Asuka couldn't help but display his disappointment. So there isn't any other case like Tomoro.

"That's not what I said."

"Huh?"