*sound of footsteps*

Hey, anyone listening? FlaWizardmon here. There's a giant battle going on in Neon right now. I bet the networks are going crazy!

Anyway, Harry's running towards it... because it's Harry, you know? He and trouble are like magnets -- he draws it, and it draws him.

He says to tell everyone in Neon City to get out and that if anyone needs to be evacuated from the fight zone, let him know and he'll make sure you get to the lightpost. And anyone without an Perfect-level Digimon should get out of the way. I here Axoryi is nice this time of year.

Aw, ashes, he got ahead of me...

So... um... hi.

Yeah, I'm back. How long has it been? I'd guess it's been about three-ish years on my end.

My apprentice was fine. Things are... getting heated up back home. Damn World Tree picked a hell of a time to grab me. Could have been worse -- a week earlier would have been worse.

Does anyone have any leftover chocolate or something from White Day or Valentine's Day or whatever? I want to do an experiment on Xellos. Ideally it should be a gift from a loved one.

Harry, people don't give that kind of stuff to strangers.

I know that, Candmon. But by now, anything edible has gone stale, so only a very dedicated person is going to be eating it.

Since someone's going to ask, talking with Lina Inverse revealed Xellos feeds on human emotion and his harmed by positive emotions. There's a type of vampires like that back home, and they can't touch anything imbued with love -- wedding rings, flowers given by boyfriends to girlfriends, that kind of thing.

How... corny.

Anyway, if I can stay uninterrupted by Candmon, I want to see if the same effect works on mazoku.

And, to be honest, if it doesn't, it's not like me giving Xellos stale food will do much more than make him wonder what is up. If he asks, it's a gift from the Cherrymon Street Business Association.

Like hell if I'm letting some tinpot dictator kick me out of my new city. If anyone else needs help moving, though, I'm happy to lend a hand or help you all find a place. And, if anyone stays, you're welcome to crash on my couch if you need a place to stay. I'm also happy to help set up defensive wards on places, though most of them are things that need to be tied to the people who live there.

[locked to DATS Commanders and Kat]
We're going to have to do something about this, and I mean soon. If Ravemon is operating openly, then it makes it that much easier for him to build up strength. I've seen what happens when we get open warfare in Tetha -- it's not pretty.

[locked to Lina Inverse]
Tell me about mazoku. I'm used to the demons in my world, but not familiar with these.

So, hey, good thing. I evolved, and I think we helped save another Tamer.

Bad things is that my partner is injured. Again. Three times Tetha has been in trouble, and two times he gets something wrong with him. Hell, the third time we weren't in Tetha at the time, so it might explain why we didn't get hurt.

He's in a cast now -- the doctors noted that he heals fast and were more concerned about other Tamers, so they shuffled him off with that and some painkillers. Maybe it'll keep him out of trouble.

*muffled voice -- sounds like Harry*

Oh, Harry says that he'd be happy to trade favors with any healers to get the cast off more quickly. I assume he means healing, and not taking a hacksaw to it. Though you never know.

So, is it just me, or does this virus seem to be not going through the vast number of animal forms. I mean I haven't seen any people turning into a platypii or anything.

What's a platypii anyway?

Trust me, Candmon, you'd know one if you saw one. Makes me wonder if there is some kind of rhyme or reason to the transformations. I haven't been counting, but I see a lot of rabbits.

I need a place to stay for a while outside of Tetha. Preferably out of sight.

Also, we need to talk. Might want to talk to that superhero squad you hang around with as well. I'll be in D'Ango forest, but I have the lightpost data for Neon City if I need it.

(as always with Harry, locked post is hackable)

[public]
Office will be closing for a bit -- I'm on vacation, since Tetha seems to be having some problems. If you need me, contact me via D-Comm.

All right, I'm looking for someone who knows something about computers. I have a job for you.

[Locked to Ryo, hackable because Harry continues to fail at technology]
Speaking of jobs, I tried the spell. Your boyfriend isn't in Tetha, but you knew that. I could head to Neon and some other places and see if I find anything, but first I'm going to try to pick up his trail from your apartment, so if you see me outside, that's why.

You guys have my help in dealing with Doom, if you want it. Even if you don't. Not as part of Dresden Investigations, but as a favor. I can round up my own contacts as well.

I never was impressed with him as a comic book villain, anyway.

((OOC: Lock is hackable -- Harry is not good with computers))

I have to remember to get a suit. And... what do Digimon wear as formal wear anyway?

Depends on the Digimon. Don't worry about it, Harry.

As long as this goes better than the last wedding I went to -- then again, we already had the rescue of the bride from someone with a grudge against the happy couple, so that shouldn't happen again.

Harry, you make it sound like that's a normal part of the ceremony. What kind of people did you hang out with back home?

The kind that accidentally pissed off a faerie queen helping me out. Good kids, though. I'm happy for them. Happy for Masaru and Yoshino as well.

I fear for you if you ever get married.

So, I was thinking about the whole Kurata thing. We have DATS, and the Titans in Neon, but aside from that, it's mostly based on who knows who. And, having some organization couldn't hurt when bad things go down. I just came from a world where vampires might pick off anyone with magical talent. So, the magic users being organized might be a good thing.

It also would be good for things that don't involve a major catastrophe. Like if any untrained mages show up. Not that that couldn't turn into a catastrophe.

As long as there's no dress code. I left my robe at home.

Comments? I mean, I suppose we could all join DATS, but a network would still be useful for sharing information.

(The crowd at Whatever's Shop of Magical Convenience is invited, but I can't guarantee that Lina Inverse unhappy customers won't show up.)

Flawizardmon and I are going to try to head towards the lightpost and secure it. There are too many people running around here and we need to evacuate who we can. If the Gizmon and Sue's evil cousin don't get them, friendly fire will.

Sue? Oh, never mind.

Silverwing, can the Titans help out with directing any civilians you see towards me? If anyone else is already there, tell me, and we'll take over leading people there.

Well, I spend a week in Neon City trying to pick up the traces of Kurata's group, and I log on today and discover they already had found the base and were going to go knock it down. Good luck to everyone on that mission, by the way.

I need to develop more contacts. Or just throw in the towel and join DATS as more than an affiliate member.

Hell's bells, if I was feeling ambitious, I could take the mages I found and set up our own branch of the White Council here. Bob thought I had flipped out and gone to the dark side when I started wearing a Warden's cloak, he'd probably think I was crazy if I started calling myself the Merlin of the Digital World's White Council. I don't even want to be in charge of the mess, but if it's what it takes to get the ball rolling.

If any of you are magically inclined, I'm putting together a group to help out DATS find missing people. I don't care if you're just an apprentice back home, if you know finding or divination spells, or just think you can learn one, come to Tetha.

Yes, Dresden Investigations will provide food for the meeting. If you help and don't just show up for the pizza.

(Post is somewhat hackable -- Harry is no computer genius. Also, it's only locked to people known to be working with Kurata and the Demon Kings/Dark Area generals/etc., and anyone known to be controlled by Kurata. Unknown agents can see it.))

The office of Dresden Investigations will be temporarily closed for normal investigations -- I'm helping some people over at the Silver Dragon renovate. If you have an emergency, you can call me on the D-Comm. Other than that, we can work something out.

---

Dresden Investigations
HARRY DRESDEN - WIZARD
~ Lost Items Found ~ Paranormal Investigations ~
~ Consulting ~ Advice ~ Reasonable Rates ~
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment.

---

There is a young boy and his Palmon sleeping in my office.

Can anyone help me find somewhere for them to stay? They are welcome to crash here for as long as they need, but I'm not really set up to handle a five year old.

So, what do you think about this whole situation? I'm still trying to skim through it all.

So, back home, there's a war between the White Council -- the wizards -- and the vampires. Sure, we've got alliances, and so do they, but that's what it boiled down to. A war that I'm not sure if we were winning -- they kill some of us, we kill some of them, and nothing much changes, besides that we've got dead people.

Anyway, this war had pretty much taken up all of my time. Hell, they even managed to draft me, the White Council's black sheep, into the Wardens because they were just that desperate for anyone who knew how to toss around combat spells.

When I got here, I felt guilty for it, but I finally had a chance to go back to my old life, when all I had to worry about was paying the rent every month, and not getting killed by the occasional loup garou or warlock. Sure, there was this business about saving the world, but there was no good place to begin there.

And, now, after Tetha, I find myself joining up with DATS, into another war to protect people. Just my luck.

At least I didn't set anything on fire this time...

---

HARRY DRESDEN - WIZARD
Lost Items Found ~ Paranormal Investigations
Consulting ~ Advice ~ Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment.

---

Not bad, huh? It's mostly a copy of my old Yellow Pages ad. Since I'm working with someone now, I might have to come up with a business name, though.

Kat, I found a couple of places that look like they have decent locations and reasonable rents. How's the money situation?

...

Before the Truth Virus makes me spit it out, I have to say this. I'm feeling guilty I was at the wrong side of town when Duskmon attacked, and couldn't do anything. If anyone needs something, don't hesitate to ask.

Now that I'm in Tetha, I think I'm going to need to start up my business again. A man's got to eat and all, and I'm sure Candmon does too.

You better believe it.

Anyway, does anyone know of a store front a freelance wizard can use?