Summary: (Inspired by Digimon Tri: Reunion.) Sora and the others are about to stumble onto a secret 6 years in the making. Ever since the first appearance of Digimon in our world, organizations have formed in the shadows to take action both to protect against and harness the amazing power of these creatures. What happens when they realize these Digital Monsters are beyond their control, a little too late…? Sora-centric, but to include the original 8 Chosen.
Pairings: Sora x Matt, Izzy x Mimi
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon and do not make any money for the free online publishing of this work of fiction. Digimon is owned by Toei Animation.
Author Note: I'm interested in the direction that Tri has initially taken so there will definitely be some Tri influence. I'm also a huge Sorato fan so that will factor in here, but I will do my best to balance that with the bigger plot and other characters.
It should not contain blatant spoilers for Tri, though there are some parallels. I will include a tag in the chapter should I feel there is anything that may give away Tri.
Thank you!
"Sora, move!" A strong hand grips her arm, pulling her away from the burning rubble. In horror she watches as the rest of the bridge collapses into the river, the sound of cries from helpless citizens caught in the fall burn her ears. She fights the hand pulling at her until she is enveloped in a pair of strong arms, encircling her from behind. "We have to go. It's too dangerous here, we have to move!"
She snapped out of her distraction in time to avoid missing the tennis ball that was screaming toward her. Luckily it was served back to her close enough to strike without too much movement on her part.
Thwack!
The muscles in her arm burned as she sent the small sphere over the net, watching as it bounced right toward the petite girl on the other side. Her focus faded again the minute her racket made contact, unable to stop her mind from drifting to the dreams that haunted her sleep.
Her cinnamon eyes trail up to the sky, where two large creatures are embroiled in combat: Omnimon and another she doesn't recognize. They are the only ones left fighting. The others… She turns away from the collapsed bridge, where her fallen Digimon friends lay defeated. Blue eyes meet hers, pleading. TK. Where is Matt?
A shriek from behind TK cuts through her thoughts. Kari is watching over the bridge, tears streaming down her face. "Tai! No!"
Sora turns to see Omnimon crashing into the water. 'Tai... and Matt. No...'
Thwack!
She grimaced as the green-yellow ball came blazing across the court, too far for her to reach in time to hit it back onto her opponent's side of the court. She threw her body in the direction of the ball and swung at it as it approached. She missed by mere inches.
The red head stopped and hunched over to catch her breath, her hands on her knees. Her brows furrowed as her opponent approached her, the girl twirling her racket jovially in her hand. Sora was having an off day, that was certain, and the co-captain of her tennis team was delighted to enjoy a rare win against her.
"Can't win them all, Sora. Maybe next time," the grinning girl offered, her hand outstretched for Sora.
Sora straightened, nodding her agreement. "Right. Good game, Mika." She smiled kindly, doing her best to hide her disappointment and her fatigue as she shook the girl's hand. She had thought she should have skipped practice this afternoon, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. They had a match coming up and she didn't want to let anyone down. No matter how worn out she was, she had to try.
It felt like forever since she'd had a decent night of sleep. The nightmares woke her up – nightmares of being in the Digital World, nightmares of the attack at Christmas years ago, and images her mind created to scare her of things that hadn't happened.
It started with the power outage that shut down all of Odaiba and Tokyo for an entire day two weeks prior. The city officials never reported an official cause, which immediately led her to be suspicious. After that, there were little things here and there. Network television glitches, radio frequency anomalies, lights flickering throughout the city at random. Joe had insisted these things were being caused by freak solar flares, something they had learned about last year in science. That's what the news had reported at least. They could affect the Earth's magnetic field and thus cause issues with the electricity all around the world. Sora wasn't convinced, and neither was Izzy, but the others had insisted if something was up there would be other indications or communications from the Digital World. They told her not to worry. She only wished she could.
Sora picked up her water bottle and towel from the side of the court and followed Mika into the locker rooms to shower and change, making small talk as they went about their respective routines. The other girls were long gone, having left when Mika and Sora were in the middle of their match as the two tended to carry on long matches. They had learned not to wait. Mika finished up first, throwing Sora a "see you tomorrow" as she left. Sora followed minutes later, slinging her bag over her shoulder and opening the exit door to see a familiar bushy haired man waiting for her.
She smiled as she approached him, his brown hair tousled and wet from a fresh wash and lack of combing. He looked up as he heard her footsteps coming near, a grin spread across his tanned face. The soccer ball he had been toying with was set under his arm now, ignored in order to give her his full attention.
"Hey Sora, figured we could walk home together," he explained. Judging by his appearance he must have only now gotten done with his practice himself.
Sora smiled, appreciative of the thoughtfulness of her best friend. "Thanks, Tai. How did practice go?"
As they walked along the bustling streets of Odaiba, Tai rambled on about his day: running late in the morning, wishing he had a dog (or Digimon) he could blame for his misplaced homework assignment, and an awe-inspiring goal he made that "you had to have been there to believe!" Sora could feel her spirits lift the closer they got to home. He had always had that effect on her, and on everyone around him. His bright personality and endless energy radiated from him with such warmth, it consumed her. Perhaps not enough though, as by the time they reached her apartment building he was regarding her strangely.
Sora felt her face flush under his stare as they came to a halt on the sidewalk. "What is it?"
Tai tilted his head, an inquisitive expression on his face. "Are you doing okay, Sora? You seem quieter than usual."
At this Sora chuckled in an attempt to assuage any worry that her friend might have for her. "And just how do you expect me to get a word in with all of your talking, huh?" She grinned cheekily as she watched him consider this. He closed his eyes and covered his face shamefully with his hand.
"Sorry, you're right. I got carried away. You should have seen that shot though, Sora! Nothing but net!" He dropped a step back and mimicked his goal-kick. "It was… so beautiful." His brown eyes turned to the sky, surely replaying the moment in his mind as he stared off dreamily into space.
Sora laughed once more, genuinely this time. "I'll leave you to relive your glory. I have homework to do that won't be doing itself." He snapped out of his reverie, calling out to her as she began heading inside the building.
"Sora, wait! I wanted to ask you…" Tai took a few steps toward her, closing some distance between them. She paused to look back at him expectantly. "A few of us are going to the beach outside of town this weekend. I was wondering if you wanted to join us. It's been a while since we got the gang together."
Sora's heart lifted with excitement. It had been a long time and she missed everyone. It was getting harder and harder to make time as they all had their own responsibilities to worry about. "Count me in! Text me with the details later."
He jumped straight up off the ground and threw his fist into the air. "Yes! You betcha! Talk to you later, Sora!" Tai bolted off in the direction of his apartment, a spring in his step.
She shook her head as he disappeared out of sight. It should be dangerous for anyone to have as much energy as Tai. With a small smile on her face she continued inside the apartment building, taking the stairs to the floor which held the modest apartment she lived in with her mother. When she entered, her eyes went immediately to the counter space where an expected note from her mother sat out.
She picked up the small paper laden in her mother's handwriting, though she already knew what it would say even before she read it. 'Late night at the shop. Dinner in the refrigerator. Love, Mom.' She immediately began considering going to the flower shop to help her mother finish for the night, but the reminder of her homework ended those thoughts quickly. Sora set the note down and continued through their apartment toward her room.
A crackling sound on the far side of the living room stopped her cold. She swiftly turned to the television set and backed up a step as she watched it turn on by itself. As it began cycling through channels, slowly at first then faster and faster, her hand slipped into the pocket of her school jacket and pulled out her Digivice. She looked down at it expectantly, her heart racing. The screen remained blank, keeping dormant as if mocking her.
The sudden silence of the television drew her attention back to it. It had turned itself off. She reached for her bag, searching for her cell phone. Upon finding it she searched for "Izzy" among her contacts.
Solar flares… Right…