"Fireworks! Fireworks! Fireworks! Fireworks!" Gammamon cheered as he and Solisamon danced, albeit awkwardly, to their chant.

I could only smile while patting Hiro TM's head, watching the beige dog flop happily onto my lap. Lightning, the dog member of the AB, plus Jackie and Alexandria, or Xan in general, the two Buddyfighting hamster and hanging parrot of the Ace time, also joined in while Ruri Taiyou pouted, using her stubby front legs to try and shoo them away. Luno Mei could only shrug while landing on my head and Eoshiro curled up into a ball.

"You know, one could mistake you for Snow White," Jiji snorted as they and Gami walked over to help pick up Jackie and Xan.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny," I snarked before Pumpmon skipped over and placed Eoshiro on his head, making the hedgehog smile a bit. Bokomon was being nuzzled by Ruri Taiyou, and Bakumon was trying– and failing– to interact with Ko Beom and Young Sayo, the two disinterested axolotls just turning away and eating worms from Wuliang as he fed them. "I am not, I assure you."

SRS Dan teased, "As long as you don't start singing to summon birds, you'll be fine."

"Deedee, let's not tease too much," SRS Hiro said as he carried his Gammamon and Glasssweeper.

"Alright then."

"How's George-nii, though? Is he okay?" Wuliang asked the two.

"Oh he's fine! Last I heard he was off with some of the others for a training camp," SRS Drago said.

"Even though it's the year end."

"Trouble magnets."

"... Point taken."

"How do you guys deal with your trouble magnets?" Shin Yunbae looked genuinely curious as the others nodded.

"Taking it all into stride. You cannot be rid of the possibility of chaos when you are a member of the SRS. Hino Ankh learnt it the hard way ten years ago," Tokime joked.

"He was the first of us to join the team," Ryu agreed. "And he..."

"H-He didn't die right?..." Hiro paled.

"Oh. No. He FLOURISHED. The chaotic gremlin LOVED IT." There was something about the way Shotaro-san said it that just made it sound so resigned. "He never looked back ever since."

Wuliang sweatdropped while Winnie remarked, "Sounds like a lot changed in 10 years."

"Yeah it has," SRS Brakken said. "But we won't spoil a thing."

Winnie pouted a bit. "Phooey."

"You know the rules, Winnie-sunbae. No spoiling the future," Gangsan joked as she gave the demigirl a drink. "Never ends well yknow?"

"I guess. Anyway, fireworks? Are those things you use to celebrate the new year?" She asked. 

"Yeah. It's kinda an unspoken rule," Onyx shrugged. 

"That's pretty cool!" She smiled. "What do we do then?"

"Just wait and watch the show. The adults are setting it up," Blues said while typing furiously on his laptop. "I must say this is my first time seeing them too, so you're not alone, Winnie."

"Great!" She grinned. "Being lost about something normal is a pet peeve, really."

The others all burst out laughing before I looked up at the night sky. "It looks really pretty. The stars are just there; no clear pattern in them. A... chaotic scene, but one I can appreciate. I prefer to not think about stuff for one day."

"That's true," Hiro agreed. "We TMs don't want to think about how to survive yet another year of near deaths and so."

Yuga snorted, but he said, "I don't deny it."

"Same here," Ranma added. "We just have really bad luck."

"Only those from any SRS world can top the bad luck you guys have here, and that's saying SOMETHING," Jackjack said from Wuliang's shoulder. "The team had break times too but they always somehow got into chaos. They were getting into multiversal chaos LONG before you guys were."

"That long?" Dan asked. 

"In the present, I think that it will have been a year since we joined, right Deedee?" SRS Hiro looked over. 

"Yeah. And in that one year we learnt so much about ourselves. Nearly died multiple times."

"Numerous. And we were in university for like, a third of that year."

"Yep."

"You guys are talking so casually about stuff, it makes me worry that someday all the TMs will pick it up from our Dan, Hiro and Keita," Ren Riku, Sana's other dad, spoke drily. "That is never a good thing, by the way."

"Hey, it's a great coping mechanism."

"How is that supposed to be coping?!"

"Helps you process stuff. Our Duri mentioned it."

"I... don't even want to know anymore."

"The OD is confusing. I think I see why Wuliang warned us away from visiting his world," Kidou Seiji decided. 

"It's fun, but if you're not used to the chaos your mind could explode. Literally." Wuliang patted Alec's head. 

"E-explode?" Kiyo paled. 

"Emotionally."

"Ooh, Darling, that sounds interesting!"

"J-Jellymon-sama!"

"Don't be such a scaredy cat, Kiyocchi!"

"Oh! Not scary at all!"

"Ruri, Gammamon! You are NOT convincing me! Mei-san-"

Mei raised her hands in surrender. "Can't do anything about it. I am perfectly content in my world."

"Welp," Shiramon shrugged. "Sorry Kiyo, you're on your own here."

Hiro just gave a noncommittal hum. "Sounds tempting to go just to ask how many times they've died."

"I can't vouch for the team as a whole but I've nearly died 3496 times in the 11 years I was with the team," SRS Hiro said. "And that's not even counting the amount of times I had to learn something new about those around."

"That bad?"

"That bad."

"... never mind."

"Plus, we're used to landing in a different world. You're not. Let's see.... Maybe when you're as tall as our Brakken."

"Are you serious? He is a skyscraper. HOW?"

"Four years of apocalyptic revolution does that to you."

".... Four years of wha-"

"Long story again. And that was BEFORE we joined," Philip-san chuckled. 

Ichita looked over. "Who's the brain cell?"

"Our leader. Whoever it is becomes the brain cell, and even then Papa does let loose at times, so..." Wuliang trailed off.

"Not as rational?"

"In a way, but he tries," SRS Magnus said. 

"Alright, the fireworks are set for midnight launch!" Jane said as she sat down with her dad and mom. "I'm so excited for this!"

"The year end to commemorate the true beginning of multiversal friendship. It's been a crazy few months, huh?" I remarked. 

"And we definitely gained new friends along the way," Aoi said while hugging a red Dantella's arm. "Even if it was hard for us."

"With every trial, comes hope and faith," Shin Bernard spoke. 

"Yeah, I agree on that." I smiled while holding the book I had found in my room last night, after all the gift exchanging. "And faith takes a while to nurture right?"

He smiled back. "Indeed, but patience goes a long way."

"Well then, I can't wait to see what God has in store for me," I said. 

Duri-san and Semo-sensei shared a smile as Denpamon cheered while PowUp and Bitten giggled. 

"I was not aware you were a believer," Philip-san said while he looked back at me, curiosity in his eyes. 

"It was pretty out of nowhere, but... I'm willing to give it a shot. No matter how scary it is, I'll do my best to keep believing and applying it to my life."

"Haneul, that is all God will ask of you, for when you have been forgiven without punishment, you are challenged to fulfill His will the best you can. After all, we are but humans." Duri-san slung an arm around his boyfriend.

"Flawed and sinful, but He forgives us even though we were His enemies after the garden of Eden," Semo-sensei agreed. 

"So keep on forging forward and being proud of your identity as a Child of God!" Wuliang finished. 

All four then stopped upon seeing our baffled faces, and Duri-san asked, "Too vague?"

"A little bit, but... the Bible you gave me should give me answers right?" I asked. 

"Indeed," Shin Bernard answered.

"We should totally have more diplomacy missions next year, though! I want to go to Hazakura Academy!" Athena suggested. 

"Would love to go see Aibou Academy!" Koutarou admitted. 

"Visiting the Nexomon world sounds like a fun thing to do too!" Shin Tasuku added. 

Oswin Soleil, grandmaster of their world and Suki's disciple, smiled sheepishly. "S-Same here!"

"Sleepovers! Camping! And even tests of courages!!" Violet cheered. 

"Oh no, no tests of courage!!" Ayumi pleaded. 

"We scaredy-cats can't take the heartburn!!" Dan shuddered. 

"It's happening whether you like it or not! Heck, let's do it on Halloween just to scare the living **** out of our victims!" Yuga cackled. 

"I LOVE your way of thinking, Yuga! Makes me glad we hired you as our game master," Bunbuku said as he and Bagra giggled. 

Ashes' Father, Bunbuku's former Buddy, was shaking his head as the Dragod said, "I can't deal with you at times, old friend. But if Ashes is brought along... well, I will gladly join in."

"I think we're screwed for next year," was Pandora's blunt conclusion, making us all burst out laughing before Akira said, "I agree, but at the same time, it sounds so funny I need to see it happen in front of me."

"Oh you don't know. The first Halloween I had after discovering Digimon and I nearly got my eyes gouged out," Hiro drily cut in. "I don't blame Pump at all so that's that, but-"

"Let's not have a conversation about whether the TMs really are cursed," Benton decided to intervene. "I don't want to even think about that possibility."

"Because he's going to be family in what, seven year- OW! THAT HURT, GANGSAN!" Jinpei complained while holding his leg. 

"You're the only one who's actually spoiling stuff, so..." Gangsan gave him a pointed look and he sighed. "Phooey."

"I'm so curious how you even got wrapped up into all of this, though, San," Uju said as he looked over. 

"Secrets are secrets, Uju," she giggled in reply. "I can't spill."

"True," Ranto agreed. "We are technically not supposed to spill stuff, so..."

"Rules?" Morinomiya guessed. 

"Semi-strict," Gangsan answered. "It really does allow loopholes for bad situations."

"Huh... wait, where's Daun?" Uju asked again. 

"Who?" I blinked. 

"Gangsan's younger brother. Good with mechanics and he works with us too." Ranto looked up from his book.

"Wait, she has a younger brother...!" My eyes widened. It... couldn't be...! "Did he give me the nutcracker hat?"

"He did," Gangsan confirmed. 

"So that shadow..."

"Most probably me or Areum, a friend of ours, but yeah, we were at the festival!" She answered. 

"That makes so much sense now!" I smiled. "Thanks for clarifying, Gangsan!"

"No problem!" She smiled back. 

"Guys, it's nearing midnight! Get ready to meet the new year!" Amity Blight suddenly yelled. 

"Awesome! They're ready for launching already, so prepare the countdown!" Bagra answered. 

"Fireworks! Fireworks! Fireworks! Fireworks!" And this time Shiramon's babies joined in the chant with the other kids, even the more shy members. Everyone was so excited for the year end!

I leaned my head onto Uju's shoulder. It felt so surreal. This year had been just insane, and something told me next year would be even more surreal. It was like every year someone out there was trying to make things worse and worse for us. Actively. 

Was I scared about that? Maybe. 

Would I worry for my family? ... Maybe...

Should I... keep the Miracle Boxes just in case?

That question made me pause as I looked at the box in between Hiro TM and myself. 

I... can't deny their power, and honestly? It could benefit everyone involved! Making it easier to solve issues and all that. 

But power also corrupts, and... Eosmon would have never approved. 

I had only gotten this far by going at it the hard way, and I didn't intend on stopping now. 

And... I didn't know the state of the afterlife, but I sure hoped Eosmon was resting with her partner... 

With that in mind, I closed my eyes, clasping my hands together quietly. 

'So, the year is ending, and the new year sounds terrifying, but... I want to be better, so... I will move forward from the story of Menoa Bellucci. From here on out, it is my story with all my friends. I... I will believe He will give her strength to finally pass on peacefully, so... take the power You gave me away, and... thank you for everything, God.'

'Goodbye... Morphomon, Grandmother.'

As a smile formed, though, as the countdown began, something... began to happen. 

At precisely midnight, as the fire firework was launched-

MORPHOMON, ARMOUR JOGRESS EVOLVE TO!