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Ethan hesitated.
His priority was finding Jake and the others. But he couldn't just ignore injured students.
Besides — if these people had been stuck in the Rift since last night, they might have seen Jake's group.
"Let's check it out," Ethan decided. "T.K., hold your position. We're on our way."
"Got it! We'll stay put — hurry!"
After hanging up, Sideswipe adjusted course without needing to be told.
The red sports car accelerated, weaving between trunks as the engine's roar grew louder. The noise drew two Tier 2 monsters from the underbrush — but Agumon and Pikachu handled them without slowing down.
Didn't even need to evolve into Greymon.
Ten minutes later, Ethan spotted Blurr.
The blue car was parked in a relatively open clearing, surrounded by seven or eight young people. All students, by the look of them. Their summons stood in a loose ring around the group, standing guard.
Angemon hovered nearby. Stitch and Konohamaru stood beside Blurr. Po lay flat on the ground, watching the newcomers with drowsy curiosity.
"Ethan — you're here!" T.K. rushed over the moment Sideswipe pulled in.
Ethan nodded and scanned the group.
The students looked terrified. Pale, exhausted, running on fumes. Three of them sat on the ground with bleeding wounds — legs, arms, makeshift bandages already soaked through. The others were doing their best to tend to them, faces tight with anxiety.
"How're you holding up?" Ethan walked over to the injured trio.
One of the boys looked up. Seeing Ethan, Agumon, Pikachu, and the rest of the entourage, surprise flickered across his face before he shook his head. "We're... okay. Got ambushed by monsters. The injuries are pretty bad, though."
"No medical cards?"
"We had some," one of the girls said hesitantly. "They died during a fight earlier."
Ethan asked a few more questions and pieced together their story. They'd been out grabbing dinner last night and gotten sucked in while walking past Anchor Street. Same university as Ethan — Combat Department students.
Since everyone had a Tier 3 Purple, they'd immediately decided to explore.
Last night, the Tier 1 monsters on the periphery were easy. Even two Tier 3s hadn't been a problem.
But then they'd rested for the night. And about thirty minutes ago, pushing deeper, they'd run into two Tier 3 monsters plus four Tier 2s.
The monsters were completely different from yesterday. Harder. Faster. More aggressive.
Their Purple cards had fought while shielding the group. They killed the monsters — but lost four summons in the process. Gone. Permanently.
As for their medical cards, they'd only had two. Both died in the fight.
"Have you seen three other people since you got here?" Ethan asked. "Also from our school — one guy, two girls. The guy's name is Jake Porter, and the girls are Sophie Harris and Lily Ashton."
Head shakes all around.
"But we heard fighting over there earlier." One of the boys pointed southeast. "Don't know if it's your friends."
Ethan looked in that direction. At least he had a lead now.
After some quick discussion, the priority was clear: get the three injured students to safety. Everything else was secondary. They all had Tier 3 summons, so basic defense wasn't the issue — medical care was.
"If you trust me, Blurr can take you back to where I entered. There are police officers there — they should have medical resources."
"Police?" Confusion. "Since when do police come into Rifts?"
"The Rift expanded this morning. Sucked them in too."
That clicked. The students' faces shifted from confusion to grim understanding.
It wasn't that they were weak — the monsters inside had been buffed.
After a brief discussion, they accepted. The three injured students plus one escort climbed into Blurr and headed back toward Officer Hayes's position.
Ethan prepared to push southeast.
Eight Tier 3 Purples struggling against two Tier 3 monsters... even he was starting to feel the pressure. If Jake's group had gone deeper, they'd be in serious trouble.
Just as he was about to set off, the sounds of distant combat reached his ears.
"Look — up there." Big Big Wolf's sharp eyes caught something in the sky.
Ethan looked up.
A blue phoenix.
That was Lily's Ice Crystal Phoenix.
And it looked to be only about a mile away.
Ethan glanced at the remaining students, made a quick decision, and summoned the Scrap Yard.
"Wolfie — I'm leaving this spot to you."
Big Big Wolf's eyes lit up. Finally. Time to build.
"Tai, T.K., Agumon, Angemon — you're with me. Everyone else, hold here."
Agumon and Angemon were their heaviest hitters, especially since Agumon could still evolve. Based on the fighting up ahead, this was Tier 3 combat. Sending the smaller cards in would just put them at risk.
A mile wasn't far. Sideswipe covered it in under two minutes.
From a distance, Ethan could see the battlefield.
Jake, Sophie, and Lily stood in a corner with the Healing Flower Fairy and Sir Ashford guarding them.
Ahead, over a dozen people in olive-green tactical uniforms were engaged in a chaotic melee with monsters. The Rift Response Team — the government's specialized unit for clearing Rifts.
Their opponents were ten Tier 3 monsters.
Ethan's brain short-circuited.
Didn't 803 say the Rift had at most ten Tier 3 monsters total? Why are there ten right HERE, and all of them Elite-grade?
He knew the Rift expansion meant increased difficulty — but he'd assumed a quality boost, not a quantity and quality boost simultaneously.
Seriously, 803. You said you followed the rules.
Ethan ran toward his friends while pulling up the chat group on his phone.
"Ethan?! What are you doing here?" Jake's face went through surprise, confusion, and relief in the span of a second.
"I was worried about you, brat. Came to get you." Ethan greeted the girls with a nod, then asked for a situation report.
Their story was the same as the other students'. They'd gone exploring after being sucked in, realized quickly that they were outmatched, and pulled back to the periphery.
Late last night, they'd run into the Response Team.
Since then, they'd been tagging along — helping when they could, staying out of the way when they couldn't.
Plz Throw Powerstones.