Hello and welcome- here is my send off to the digimon seasons gone by and yet to pass. If I do it right it should be a blend of AU and Original Flavor- if I do it right. But be warned- I won't be getting to the Manga yet; this part is purely anime. Also this is Cannon Compliant- even the ZERO TWO EPILOUGE.
Some people are still reading? Thanks, but note that one there are no completely original characters they all come from somewhere; characters with little/ no known personality will not be completely developed by the time this is done- at least not on screen- take it how you will.
There should be very few Author Notes; I'm going to try and see if the story will stand without them.
Disclaimer: This work was not intended to make a profit off of the works of others or any profit at all. Digimon is not owned by me; please support the actual series.
"Rara avis in terris Nigroque simillima Cygno."-Juvenal (A rare bird on the earth looking like a Black Swan)
Comfort is being at home safe with friends and family. It is NOT being kidnapped in the middle of the night by the henchmen of a cartoon villain and being thrown into a cell with your best friend only to later be dragged out again and thrown into a machine before there is time to realize what is going on whilst the previously mentioned villain cackles insanely, his brainwashed slaves stare blankly, and the villain's partner just sighs; such was the situation that he found himself in. What else is new?
The machine turned on; he felt pain.
The Digi-Destined had brought their children up on tales of adventure, even before T.K. had gotten his first novel published. While they had learned a few new stories or heard revisions that were caused by looking at the tale from another point of view- no one had been in a rush to explain SkullGreymon nor did anyone but T.K. know about his first run-in with Primary Village- by and large the children and their partners looked to T.K.'s books as a collection of stories like others might see fantasy tales that took place in a land far away and long ago.
Each had their favorite story: Greg loved hearing about Agumon, Gomamon, Tai and Joe's awful signing, that was then contrasted with his mother's melodious tones- before MetalGreymon was forced to blow up one of the members of the audience for being rowdy (ironically the same mon that Mimi was singing FOR), those kinds of things put the Digi-Destined of Sincerity's singing carrier on hold. Meanwhile Chris liked hearing about her father playing on Christmas, though she was not as entranced about the Daemon Corps stealing the show and needing to be shown the door by Imperialdramon.
The digimon partners seemed to enjoy hearing about their seniors achieving their highest levels. Koromon and Tsunomon had probably heard the stories of the first time Agumon and Gabumon became WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon as was as Omnimon well into the thousands of times before their partners were ten. Each of the partnered digimon of the Children of the Digi-Destined could achieve Champion however due to size and for a lack of confusion they stayed in their In-Training forms (rookie for Salamon).
The newest Digi-Destined would sometimes fantasize about having adventures like their parents. And, on occasion, they would talk amongst themselves about these daydreams. It went without saying that during the tale there would be at least nine battles for the Fate of the Worlds, their partners would never dream of devolving to Ultimate, they always got along fantastically and if they didn't they were pretending to trick the villain, they would always win the first time, sometimes without breaking a sweat sometimes only by the skin of their teeth and the seat of their pants, they would occasionally spare a foe who would either repent or return and dog the heroes steps, the adventurers were never without food, water, or shelter, on the rare occasions where they needed help they always were given exact and trustworthy directions instead of having to decode an ancient and vague text which told you to pick one of the thousands of doors on the left and wing it from there, they could always ask their parents for advice but simply never needed to, by the end of the story they had earned the undying and unconditional love of all the inhabitants of both worlds, and they never had need to complain of walking. The parents, who sometimes overheard these flights of fancy, let them dream, sometimes pointing ridiculous things out by saying, "You would be able to walk three hundred miles in a day? And your feet wouldn't be tired? Wow maybe I should take you shopping with me- you could carry all my purchases!"
They were children with dreams that had no need to be seriously thought out because they knew that they lived in a time where peace abounds and would continue to do so until they had passed their stories onto their own great-grandchildren. Courage ruled with Loving Friendship, given Reliable advice by Knowledge, and Sincere Kindness roamed the land with Hope and Light in its heart. They had also learned that if they were ever lost and needed to get home to go before the dais and put everything in its proper place using a Reliable guide and keeping Courage in their heart.
Such it was when Alex Kimiya and Koromon went to bed after excusing themselves while his parents and their partners discussed whether or not using labor in the Digital World was in fact outsourcing jobs.
The world was in general harmony as it had been since the fall of MaloMyotismon, and Alex was feeling happy, earlier that day he had started at a striker position (he had been moved up from midfield) during a soccer tournament that his team had won. One thing he enjoyed about sports was the anonymity, he loved his parents but being known only as Alex the Son of the Courageous Tai, or Son of Tai the Digital Diplomat did get annoying past the age of five. On the field, he was just Alex and he was either your teammate or the guy trying to score on your goalie. Nothing else mattered right then. And he knew that the other Children agreed; it was a subject spoken of in whispers so that their parents would not notice, but all of them longed to be seen as themselves by the public at large, instead of as Mark, Son of the Miraculous Noodle Chef.
It was an ordinary night, until he was grabbed. He was gagged before he could call for help and Koromon was thrown into a woolen sack. He had his hands bound in front of him, and then he felt them strip him of his digivice. That act suddenly made him feel very exposed, now he really was at their mercy instead of being able to escape whenever he saw a chance, but that act was also the first time that he got a good look at his captors: Gotsumon, four of them, but what was odd was that they were wearing what looked like collars- just like when the Digi-Destined would talk about the days of the Digimon Emperor. But he was long-gone, so why were they wearing them? Was this some kind of whacky terrorist group that wanted to make a statement? Seeing these freaks, most likely, after all what better way to make people afraid than by reminding everyone of the Dark Days of the Digital World?
'Ok, Alex,' he thought to himself, 'Stay calm. If I can just let Dad know…' Tai Kimiya rarely let people see him angry anymore; however, when it did show the recipient had a better chance of surviving a nuclear bombardment… for three days straight… with each missile striking the head… it was one of the main reasons that the Digital World had so little industrialization, Tai didn't allow it. Alex thought about the likely routes out of the house, and all the things along those paths that he could "accidentally" knock over and get his parents attention, when two of the Gotsumon picked him up, one by the shoulders and one by the ankles and threw him out his bedroom window, onto an Airdramon also wearing a Dark Ring that was hovering just outside. Koromon followed, then the Gotsumon with the last one shutting the window on the way out. Alex still wasn't too worried, his mother usually snuck a peek into his room to see if he was alright when she thought that he was asleep, though she was usually just making him put down his handheld game player and pretend to sleep. These idiots had about an hour before they had the full force of the police bearing down on them with Uncle Ken at the helm.
But an hour it seemed was more than enough time to vanish entirely. Airdramon flew to what Alex recognized as the Heighten-View Terrace Gate, through which a Greymon and a Parrotmon had come and gone nearly thirty-five years ago. Alex saw the gate open, which was odd because BlackWarGreymon sealed that gate with his body, it looked as if it was opened from the other side, what's more something was… off. Having used the Digital World for quick access to foreign countries as well as having to wait for other dignitaries to come through had given Alex a good sense of how the Gate system was supposed to work: One only had to stick out their digivice and it would bring the traveler, his or her partner, and anyone in physical contact through the base layers of the Internet which appeared mostly Red and Green to most people and then the group was spat out on the other end, usually with inexperienced travelers ending up in a dog-pile.
However this gate was black- like it had opened through eternity, or- Alex shivered- death. For whatever it looked like the ride was smooth, BlackWarGreymon apparently hadn't stopped up the gate too well; at least Alex thought that until he saw where he was. It was the Digital World; or at least, some disturbed perversion of it. Obelisks that Alex recognized through the stories as Control Spires were everywhere. Every digimon in the area had some kind of control device on, though collars were the most common, there were no other humans in sight. 'What is this place? Surely no one could hide something this massive from Dad, but if he knew why hasn't he shut it down, or said anything?' Alex found himself beginning to panic, and though he tried to calm down with each new controlled digimon he felt the panic increase.
The Airdramon flew towards a floating base that looked as if it had popped right out of Uncle T.K.'s books. The dragon landed and Alex was led farther into the base, like the Gotsumon planned on taking him to their master. The word "master" even in his thoughts made him shiver, they should be called "monster."
When they reached the throne room, he saw… exactly the person he should have expected but did not. Everything that he had seen thus far screamed "Digimon Emperor" but his mind had argued with itself saying that there was no Emperor, that this the work of someone looking to besmirch his Uncle Ken. But sitting in front of him was a twelve-year-old Ken Ichijouji wearing the garb of the Emperor. The impossibility of the situation left Alex dumb.
"So you're my new plaything? I must say you don't look like much, but then again, altering you is where the fun begins, if you were perfect I wouldn't get to do anything and that wouldn't be fun, now would it? I do hope you'll be more interesting than those slaves that called themselves the Sovereign," the Emperor spoke cruelly.
The sound of another voice allowed Alex to find his own, "Who are you? Where are we? And why are you impersonating Uncle Ken? When my dad finds out-"
"How cute, he still hides behind his daddy," the boy scorned sopping the words with sarcasm. "Guards," he barked, the sudden change and ferocity disturbing Alex. "I want a Mega; he should have been ready five days ago! And I will not tolerate another failure like last time!" The Gotsumon marched him away from the throne-room and into a lab. Along the way he had seen some digimon that he did not recognize look at him with what might have been pity, but then they had turned the corner. Taking up the center of the lab was a large machine that was notable mainly for its size and three hatches. Alex didn't know what it was or what it did but instinct said that he did not wish to find out. Unfortunately, the Gotsumon marched him right up to the beast. Opening the far hatch, a tube came out. The one holding Koromon dumped him inside, snapping the unit shut before the digimon could even yell at them. They opened the hatch closest to him; he tried to run but the Rookie's grip prevented even three steps. One of the others grabbed his feet and together they lowered the boy in. Alex suddenly had the image of a casket in a crematorium. That thought made it all the worse, they strapped him in binding his thighs and biceps; he wasn't escaping now. Almost as an afterthought one of his kidnappers dropped in his digivice, right over his heart. They then pushed his tube back into the machine. Alex could hear the machine warming up but could hear nothing else, not even Koromon who had to be at most five feet away in this thing.
The machine turned on; Alex felt pain.