The final piece clicked into place, and I felt it through my entire being. The Digital World was complete.
I stood at the edge of File Island, watching as the last of the Digimon settled into their territories. A week had passed in the Divine Space, though barely a day had elapsed in the real world. Every muscle in my god form should have been screaming with exhaustion, but instead I felt energized, alive in a way I'd never experienced as a human.
"Phastos," I called out, and he appeared beside me instantly, his tools still in hand. "Run through the final checklist one more time."
He nodded, pulling up a shimmering interface only he could see. "All enemy types are active and placed according to difficulty curves. The Dark Masters are positioned in their respective domains. Apocalymon is sealed in the final area, ready to manifest when the chosen heroes gather all eight crests and have defeated all the Dark Masters." He swiped through more data. "Treasure chests are distributed throughout the world with randomized loot tables. Items range from healing consumables to equipment upgrades. Dungeon coins drop at a rate of one to five per defeated Digimon, scaling with the enemy's level."
"And the food situation?"
"Significantly improved from your source material. Fruit trees are abundant near safe zones. Fish populate the rivers and coastal waters. Small game Digimon that are non-hostile can be hunted if necessary. Divers won't starve, though they'll need to work for their meals."
I felt a surge of satisfaction. In the anime, the kids had nearly starved multiple times through sheer bad luck. My divers would face challenges, but not artificial ones born from poor planning.
"The partner extraction system?" I asked.
Sprite materialized on my other side, grinning. "That was my favorite part to program. When divers clear the dungeon, they'll receive a final shop menu. They can spend accumulated dungeon coins to either buy Digital World items or permanently extract their Digimon partner into the real world or both if they have enough. The cost scales based on the Digimon's final evolution level."
"Expensive?"
"Very," she said cheerfully. "A Mega-level Digimon will cost thousands of coins. But if they're smart and thorough, they can earn enough. There are hidden caches, bonus challenges, and achievement rewards throughout the world."
I looked out at the Digital World one last time, at the forests and mountains and beaches that hadn't existed a week ago. It was beautiful and deadly in equal measure. Perfect.
As if summoned by my satisfaction, the System's blue screen materialized in front of me, larger and brighter than usual.
*CONGRATULATIONS, DUNGEON GOD AMIR. TASK FIVE COMPLETE. YOUR FIRST DUNGEON WORLD HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY CREATED AND IS FULLY FUNCTIONAL.*
The screen pulsed, and new text appeared.
*TASK SIX: PLACE YOUR DUNGEON GATE IN THE MORTAL WORLD AND ASSIGN ONE SERVANT AS MONITOR. UPON COMPLETION, YOUR DIVINE ENERGY WILL DOUBLE, GRANTING INCREASED POWER AND FASTER CREATION CAPABILITIES FOR FUTURE DUNGEONS.*
*CHOOSE WISELY. THE LOCATION OF YOUR FIRST GATE WILL DETERMINE YOUR INITIAL REPUTATION AMONG THE INHABITANTS OF THIS WORLD.*
The screen faded, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Well, not entirely alone. Most of the Eternals had gathered behind me, waiting patiently for orders.
"Call everyone back," I said to Ajak. "We're returning to the throne room."
The transition was instantaneous. One moment I stood on digital sand, the next I was back in my temple, the familiar golden light streaming through the high windows. The Eternals formed their semicircle, attentive and ready.
I paced in front of my throne, hands clasped behind my back. Where to place the gate? The decision felt monumental, like I was choosing the first domino in a chain reaction I couldn't fully predict.
Gotham was the obvious choice. The city was a cesspool of crime and corruption, filled with people who desperately needed the power to protect themselves. But it was also Batman's city, and the Dark Knight was notoriously paranoid and controlling. If I placed a dungeon in Gotham, I'd be dealing with his scrutiny immediately, before I'd even proven the system worked.
Metropolis? No, too clean, too protected by Superman. Coast City? Star City? All had the same problem—established heroes who would view a mysterious dungeon as a threat before an opportunity.
Then it hit me. This wasn't just the DC Universe. This was the Young Justice universe, and I was in the first season timeline. There was a team of young heroes, sidekicks really, who were hungry to prove themselves. A team that operated out of a secret base in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island.
A team that would investigate anything strange in their vicinity.
"Happy Harbor," I said aloud, and the decision felt right the moment I voiced it. "Rhode Island, near Mount Justice. That's where we place the gate."
Druig raised an eyebrow. "Any particular reason, my lord?"
"The Young Justice team operates there. Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian. They're young, skilled, and eager to prove themselves. They're perfect test subjects for the dungeon, and they won't immediately assume it's a threat to be destroyed."
I pulled up a screen showing a map of the area around Happy Harbor. There was a small clearing in the woods, about a mile from the mountain where the team's base was hidden. Isolated enough not to cause immediate civilian panic, but close enough that the team's sensors would detect the energy signature.
"There," I said, pointing. "Place the gate there."
I reached into the pocket dimension where I'd stored the completed dungeon world, feeling the sphere of condensed reality pulse against my consciousness. With a thought, I projected a gateway point at the coordinates I'd selected. Energy flowed from me, carving a permanent connection between my Divine Space and that specific location in the mortal world.
The sensation was strange, like stretching a muscle I'd never known I had. I felt the gate materialize, a towering archway of crystalline blue light, humming with power and promise.
"It's done," I said, opening my eyes. "Now we wait and see who comes."
I didn't have to wait long.
Thirty-seven minutes later, I felt a disturbance near the gate. Multiple life signs approaching, moving with purpose but not panic. I called up a viewing screen, showing me the area around the dungeon entrance.
A bio-organic ship, primarily red with black stripes pulsing with alien design, descended from the clouds. It landed in the clearing with barely a sound, and six figures emerged.
Robin. Aqualad. Kid Flash. Superboy. Miss Martian. And Artemis, the archer I'd almost forgotten about.
I leaned forward on my throne, fascinated. This was it. My first real test.
Robin was already scanning the gate with a handheld device, his masked eyes narrowed in concentration. "Energy signature is off the charts. It's not magical, not exactly technological either. It's something else entirely."
"Can you identify the source?" Aqualad asked, his voice calm and measured despite the obvious tension in his shoulders.
Robin shook his head. "Nothing in the Batcomputer's database matches this. It just appeared forty minutes ago. No warning, no buildup. One second the clearing was empty, the next this thing was here."
"Dude, that is so cool," Kid Flash said, zipping around the gate at super-speed, examining it from every angle. "It's like something out of a video game. Think it leads somewhere?"
"Obviously it leads somewhere," Artemis said, her bow held ready but not drawn. "The question is where, and whether we want to find out."
Superboy stood silent, arms crossed, glaring at the gate like it had personally offended him. Miss Martian hovered a few inches off the ground, her alien features troubled.
"I don't sense any hostile intentions," she said quietly. "But there's something inside. Many somethings. Living minds, but strange. Not quite like anything I've encountered before no matter what I do I can't connect with them."
"We should call the League," Artemis suggested.
Robin shook his head. "And tell them what? That we found something weird and ran away? We're supposed to be a team. Let's at least gather more information."
I watched Aqualad consider this. He was the leader, the one who would make the final call. After a long moment, he nodded. "Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, and I will investigate. Miss Martian, Artemis, stay here with the bioship. If we're not back in thirty minutes or if something hostile emerges, contact the League immediately."
"I'm going too," Artemis protested.
"Someone needs to stay with M'gann," Aqualad said firmly. "And you're our best ranged fighter if something tries to come through the gate from this side."
Artemis looked like she wanted to argue more, but Miss Martian placed a hand on her shoulder. "He's right. We'll keep watch."
The four boys approached the gate. Up close, it was even more impressive, easily fifteen feet tall and ten feet wide, the crystalline surface rippling like water.
"Well," Kid Flash said, cracking his knuckles. "Here goes nothing."
They stepped through together, and the gate flared brilliant blue. I watched as their bodies were scanned, analyzed, and transported into the Digital World. The dungeon's programming activated, detecting four entrants and allocating two partner Digimon to each of them.
Miss Martian tried to follow immediately after ten seconds had passed as she realized something was wrong when she couldn't sense anything anymore from the gate. I saw her face change from worried to panicked as she reached the gate and her hand met solid resistance.
"No!" She pushed harder, but the gate's entry protocol was absolute. One group at a time, and the group was already inside. "Artemis, I can't get through! I can't reach them telepathically either!"
Artemis was already pulling out a communicator. "Batman, this is Artemis. We have a situation in Happy Harbor. Unknown energy gate, possible trap. Aqualad, Robin, Superboy, and Kid Flash are inside. Miss Martian and I are locked out. Requesting immediate assistance."
I smiled. Let the Justice League come. Let them scan and analyze and theorize. They couldn't enter until the dungeon was cleared, and by then, the boys inside would have experienced something that would change everything.
I shifted my viewing screen to inside the Digital World. The four heroes were lying unconscious on a beach, waves lapping at their feet. They'd wake in a few minutes, and when they did, they'd find themselves in a world unlike anything they'd ever experienced.
"Ikaris," I said, and he stepped forward from the group of Eternals. "This is your assignment. Enter the dungeon as the tutorial guide. When they wake, introduce yourself, explain the basic rules, and answer any questions they have about the Digital World itself. Nothing more. Don't tell them about me yet, don't tell them about the System ever, don't explain the greater purpose. Just the immediate situation."
He bowed. "It will be done, my lord."
"And Ikaris? Be patient with them. They're young, inexperienced. This will be overwhelming."
"I understand." He paused. "What name should I use?"
I considered that. "Your own. They don't know anything about Eternals in this universe. It won't raise any red flags."
Ikaris nodded and disappeared, his existence diving into the dungeon world to wait for the heroes to wake. I watched him materialize on the beach, standing at a respectful distance from the unconscious boys, patient as stone.
The System screen appeared again, smaller this time.
*TASK SIX COMPLETE. MONITORING SERVANT ASSIGNED. FIRST DIVERS HAVE ENTERED YOUR DUNGEON. YOUR REWARD HAS BEEN GRANTED.*
Power flooded through me, doubling in an instant. My divine energy expanded, filling reserves I hadn't known existed. I gasped at the intensity of it, feeling my god form grow stronger, more complete.
When the sensation faded, I was breathing hard, energized and eager.
On the screen, Kid Flash's eyes were starting to flutter open.
The real test was about to begin.