Disclaimer: Digimon Savers is the property of Toei Animation, Bandai, and Akiyoshi Hongo.

Somewhere in the Human World, two digital essences were tossed through the wind of a world not their own. Both of them were the souls of digimon... two digimon that had succumbed to their hatred and wrath, and had therefore been claimed by it. They had been destroyed, but rather than revert to an egg like the rest of their kind, they had lost their chance for rebirth.

No. They were not gone forever, but their choices had doomed them to a fate worse than any kind of death their species could experience.

The two souls eventually reached a beach, and they were drawn to a figure that stood alone on the shore. They drifted downward, and seemed to absorb themselves into the man's very skin. He sucked in a sharp breath, and closed his eyes. For a moment, his entire being shook, and his hands clenched into fists. Then, his face took on an expression of pure agony as he grit his teeth. Fire danced behind his eyes for a moment, and then, unable to take the pain, he threw his head towards the sky and screamed into the heavens.

After the cry subsided, he fell to his knees, panting. He dug his hands into the sand, mumbling incomprehensibly. Forces were at war within him... or rather, two lives, two souls were being savagely and mercilessly absorbed into another.

"Is this... the fate that waits for me..?" Nitta Masaki gasped.

"Still not in control of yourself, are we?"

Nitta shot up, and spun around, kicking up a bit of sand. Instantly, his expression once again became cold and emotionless, as he looked at he figure that had appeared behind him. It was a thin, gaunt-looking old man, with a large nose, a bald head, and a beard, wearing a black business suit. He also held a cane. The man was also very ugly, with dry, wrinkled skin which starkly contrasted with the immaculate state of his clothes.

"For now," Nitta said, quietly. "Now, what is it that brings you here, Bar-"

"In this world, call me Barbatos," interrupted the man, his shriveled lips curling into a disgusting grin. "And I am here to discuss our business in this world. Those digimon you sent after the humans failed, Nitta. They still live..."

Nitta turned to the side, looking away from the old man. "The plan was not to kill them," he said. "With them and their leaders thinking they are victorious, their 'DATS' organization can be revived. None of those humans truly understand where their actions are leading them. It's all going according to plan. You know this, 'Barbatos.'"

The man blinked, and then frowned. "Yes, well, I never supported that. It is too much of a risk to our ventures here... But if that is what we seven have decided as a group, then very well. We will continue that course. What are you to do now?"

"I will wait," replied Nitta. "Until we are called on again, by either our brethren, or by the human who has allied himself with us. And what about you?"

Barbatos paused for a moment, and grinned once again. "I believe I will investigate the other nations of this world... and see if I cannot find a way to sow the seeds of avarice from within. If we are to drag DATS down to our level, then we must plant the seed of corruption from within."

Nitta did not hesitate in answering. "Then do what you must. As long as you do not interfere in what we have set in motion."

With that, the younger-looking of the two men started to walk off. Barbatos watched him for a few moments, as he walked across the shoreline. Then he shook his head. "... Still too human, that one," he growled to himself. "He may be a problem... and if the others cannot see that, then... well. It shall fall to me."

He tapped his cane against a rock, and then set off himself, heading in the opposite direction from Nitta.

-- --

Hongo Naoyuki was not a happy man. He had found all of his words of warning ignored by his superiors, and he'd had to watch as Minister Nagano Wakana had handed power back to people who, in his mind, clearly intended to misuse it. But that wasn't what he hated most of all.

What he hated most were the methods that he was being forced to employ, now that those decisions had been made.

He had been his predecessor, Hashiba Satoshi's assistant before he'd been appointed to follow in his footsteps. In that time, he had seen his mentor ally with a mad man. Hashiba had, of course, been deceived by the man known as Kurata Akihiro, but he had also gotten into and done some unsavory things in his dealings with digimon. And what had it gotten him? Kurata betrayed him, and used the power of a digimon to wreck havoc. Hashiba was later stripped of his rank and removed from office, and only his lawyers had saved him from a long jail sentence.

Hongo had sworn that he'd try to not repeat Hashiba's mistakes. But the events with Kurata had also proven to him that no one could be allowed to have the awesome power of a digimon, even if they claimed they were working for the greater good.

That was why Hongo wasn't a happy man. He would have to violate both of those codes.

He mulled these facts over in his mind as he was led through a hallway by security, all inside a facility that wasn't public knowledge. The place was essentially a prison... Not just for people but for the remnants of a mad man's legacy. This included the monsters Kurata's ambitions had resulted in the capture of, and the ones he'd made himself.

And here he was, about to make a deal with one of them.

Eventually, he and his escorts stopped in front of a door. One of the guards input a key-code, which allowed them to open the door for Hongo. Hongo stepped through it, and was followed by a guard who carried a large steel case while the others stood watch outside.

The room was separated into two parts by a wall with a single large window. Sitting inside, cut off from them by the plate glass, was a haggard looking young man. He was blond, and his lower lip had a piercing. He wore a blue shirt with a yellow hood, which was now ripped and torn. And the expression on his face... was one of madness and hatred.

Hongo sat down at the counter just before the window, and the guard set the metal case beside him. Hongo reached forward, and pressed the button for the microphone that would allow the two of them to communicate with each other.

"You're an interesting man," said Hongo, pulling the case over to himself. "There is no official record of your existence, and yet, you've been causing trouble for quite some time. In fact, you've got quite a rap sheet... everything from being a public nuisance to traffic violations. And you even once attempted to assault a police officer..."

"That was no police officer," the young man hissed, throwing himself against the glass. "She was one of them... from DATS! Like Daimon!"

Hongo adjusted his glasses, waiting for the young man to be silent. In truth, he was quite shaken by what he had said. "Yes, well," said Hongo, his voice cracking. "Indeed she was. And she's also the reason why you're here today, though she's probably not aware of it. But then, that's what happens when you don't officially exist."

"I exist..." the man replied, his chest heaving. "I exist... and they took it all away from me... my power..."

"Oh, but you don't," replied Hongo. "Whoever you are... whoever you were, Kurata erased that when he made you into a monster, didn't he? You were different from the others, my friend. He plucked you out of nowhere, erased who you'd been, and made you into what he wanted. The others were just hires... desperate people, or at least, ones that were disturbed. But you... you, he took everything away from you."

"He gave me everything!" the prisoner shouted. "I was nothing... he let me be reborn! I hated who I was... I was weak! I was just a normal human... and he... he made me something great...!"

Hongo frowned. "Yes, well. Aren't you great now? In a cage, where you can't hurt anybody... Kouki. That's the name he gave to you, isn't it?"

The young man's eyes immediately focused on Hongo, and he nodded frantically. "Kouki... yes, that's it... my name's Kouki!."

Hongo sighed, and removed his glasses, setting them down on the table next to him. "Well then, Kouki," he began, "I think that I have something that may make you great again. All you have to do is follow our orders... and you'll have a chance to make up for everything you did, and for everything others put you through..."

And with that, Hongo began to open the case. Kouki watched, his eyes fixated on the box, as Hongo revealed its contents to be... an egg. A larger than normal, blue and yellow-colored egg. Kouki let out a cry, and stumbled back, falling onto his bed. To Hongo, it looked almost as if he was afraid of it...

... But that theory was proven wrong as Kouki leapt up to his feet and began to laugh. The young man began throwing himself about his chamber, literally bouncing himself off the walls as he wailed maniacally.

Somehow, Hongo couldn't help but feel like he'd made a deal with the devil.

-- --

Far from the island nation of Japan, events of a similar kind were occurring in the city of Moon Lake in Northern California. Two teenagers, both of them sixteen years of age, were walking through the forests that surrounded their modest-sized town. Both of them carried flashlights, and were of comparable height. The one leading the way was a girl with blond hair, and the young man following her had hair that was brown.

"Tara," said the boy, sounding as though he was bored with the situation. "We've been out here for about two hours now. Are you ready to pack it in, so we can go home? And you know, do things like sleep?"

The girl looked back at him, grinning. "That didn't work the first dozen times you said it, Dan, and it's not going to work the thirteenth."

Dan rolled his eyes at her, and sighed loudly. "Tara, whatever it is that happened out here after all the electronics went haywire, the military probably already took care of it when they were out here. Didn't you notice all that was going on? The trucks, the helicopters? All of the people asking questions? I'm not saying it isn't mysterious, Tara, but they were definitely thorough."

Tara shook her head. "Dan, are you sure you're my brother? Geez, you always back off whenever something exciting is going on. I swear, you were probably switched at birth, or something..."

The boy sighed yet again. "Tara, do you no how many times you've used that line? No, wait. Do you realize how much that line has been overused in the history of people using lines? Do you basically have any concept of how completely, utterly overdone your lines are? Now come on, Mom is probably worried about us."

That caused Tara to laugh. "Mom told us we could be out as long as we wanted to," she replied cheerily. "Those are the blessings that come from having a parent that's woefully irresponsible!"

Dan groaned, bringing a hand to his forehead. "Whatever you say, Sis," he replied, knowing fully that he'd exhausted his excuses to get them to give up and go home. And so, as he followed Tara, he couldn't help but think back on the events of the days prior, and what had brought them out into the woods that night.

It had happened at least half a week ago. It began with all of the electronics in town suddenly going crazy, and then becoming unusable. It had affected everything from cell phones to radios, and every possible household appliance. Then, after hearing numerous loud noises, confused people ventured out of their homes. Tara claimed to have personally seen a man in white armor flying through the sky. Then, it all culminated in a series of loud explosions.

The military arrived soon after. Moon Lake had become a swarming ground for the army, the national guard, and the FBI. Dan thought he had seen people in strange-looking, unidentifiable uniforms as well. It was like something out of a science fiction movie.

Or something like what had happened five and a half years before, when those 'monsters' had invaded the world.

But then, after they had combed the area for several days and questioned over half the town, they'd left as quickly as they'd came. It seemed the whole thing would be discussed for a while, and then completely forgotten.

But Tara wasn't showing any sign of that.

Suddenly, Dan was jerked out of his reminiscing by Tara crying out excitedly. He looked up sharply, and saw her running forward, he flashlight focused on something that was lying a few feet away. "Tara!" Dan cried, dashing forward. He passed his sister, and blocked her away.

"Dan!" Tara whined. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Dan ignored her, and turned around. He searched with his flashlight... and found what Tara had been looking at. Sitting no further than five feet away was what looked like two giant easter eggs. One was colored reddish orange and had flame patterns on it, and the other was white with numerous teardrop patterns on it.

"Stay back. I'll check it out," Dan said to his sister. Tara scowled and crossed her arms, but did as she was told as Dan walked towards the eggs. Once he was right up near them, he kneeled down... and after hesitating a moment, put his hand on the red-colored egg.

It felt warm.

Suddenly, a loud cracking sound filled the air. Dan instantly fell backwards, and cried out, as the egg he'd touched began to burst open. Bits of shell fell away, and a shape began to emerge from underneath it.

"Dan..." Tara breathed, her eyes wide. "What is that...?"

Dan's jaw was hanging open. "I... I don't know!" he cried, scrambling to his feet.

The upper half of the egg's shell fell away, and suddenly, the immediate area became filled by a warm glow. The creature that floated out of the egg was round-shaped, with several points coming off of it that made it look like a cartoonish drawing of a sun. The light and heat was coming off of a sizable flame that burned on the top of its body.

It looked at them, and spoke, saying a single, simple word.

"Sun... mon?"

Digimon Savers
Balance of Power: The Return
By: Infinity Blade and Megaraptor the Scribe

END

To Be Continued in...
Balance of Power: New Mission
Balance of Power: Haunted Past
and
Balance of Power: A World Apart

Mega Sez: This is where the first stage of our story ends, everybody. We'd like to thank everyone for reading. Special thanks goes out to my good friends, Fullmetal Ai and DigiStar DBZ. They've both been willing to listen when I in particular wanted to run an idea for the series. And Fullmetal Ai has also been willing to read the story in advance before we post it up, so she deserves a bit of a hand for giving us early feedback as well.

Alright. Well. Where to begin? First off, this fic was always meant to serve as the establishment of the situations that would be present in the ongoing stories. So, as this story ends, so begins a whole new arc. Several in fact, which is why the next iterations of Balance of Power will be three individual stories.

First off... new characters. I realize not everyone is a fan of OCs, but we feel that they fit well enough when in reason. You have the figures in the government, Minister Nagano and Chief Hongo in particular, and the ones introduced here in the epilogue, and they'll have a role to play in the epilogue. Dan and Tara are particularly important, as they and the digimon they'll come to be associated play a big part in the events surrounding two groups. The key though, is to make sure everyone, OC or not, has a role to play, and that you strike a balance.

All without making anybody a Mary Sue or Gary Stu, of course.

Anyway, what's coming up next? Well, "New Mission" and "Haunted Past" all pick up a year after the events in this story. "New Mission" focuses on Masaru and Yoshino in Japan while "Haunted Past" deals with Touma working with DATS Austria. As for "A World Apart," it takes place in the same time frame as the others, but is set in the Digital World where Falcomon and the Royal Knights deal with the crisis there.

That said, it feels good to have worked on this story, even if it is a piece of a larger whole. For anyone familiar with our other attempt at an ongoing project, our not falling (yet) into the same traps as we did there is very refreshing. Here's hoping that we can keep it up.

That's all I have to say. Take it away, Infinity.

Infinity Says: WOO. We actually accomplished something!

Heh, truthfully, I personally think that Savers – in general – has inspired me more for writing, just in general, than any of the previous series in the franchise. Now, don't get me wrong. I love every season (mostly), and Tamers is still one of my absolute favorites... but I've grown to have an attachment to Savers' characters and world setting that's greater than any other iteration of the franchise. So I think that has a LOT to do with us actually getting stuff done here, on my end, and I think it's similar for Mega.

Now, one thing I do want to say... in regards to the oh so important aspect of pairings, since some people find it so important... If all you are going to do in your reviews is pester us to include your OTP of choice, then we're likely going to ignore you at best, and block you at worse. Seriously. It's one thing to comment on something that is firmly established in the story (such as Ikuto & Chika) or speculate, but... we already know, basically, what will happen to all the characters in Balance of Power in the end. Thus – although this is mainly an action/adventure story at heart – any pairings we may include in the story have already been decided. But because this ISN'T primarily a romance story (not to say there won't be any, mind you), we don't feel the need to make this long list of labels for such things. Not only would that spoil the HELL out of the storyline, but... it's not all about that. It's not the primary draw, at least in my mind.

Now, if you want to read about Masaru-tachi doing what they do best - kicking ass and taking names – then we've got you covered. There will be other things beyond just that, and certainly, some aspects that I'm sure won't appeal to everyone... but, really. Our first action for Masaru in this story is him punching a giant pig in the head. I think that should tell you something. Everything is meant to be generally in line with how these characters would actually act – so, no, Masaru's not really going to care about shacking up with anyone five minutes after arriving back in the Human World.

THAT said... thanks to all the reviewers, and everyone who's read but not reviewed, regardless. It's all appreciated, as all we're setting out to do is make the best Savers story we can – especially since it's in such short supply so far. So we hope everyone's enjoyed what's been put out so far, and hope you look forward to the three upcoming Balance of Power series. We certainly are.

(Oh, and to the reviewer "correcting" us on Lalamon's name... It can be either Raramon or Lalamon. Japanese R's and L's sound the same way. We prefer Lalamon because we think it fits more with her nature and origins. DATS subtitled it as Raramon for whatever reason they did, while Ryuu-Rogue chose Lalamon. It's just a matter of preference.)