Part One: Thinking, Planning, Doing.
***
Note: Only the plot is mine.
***
Yagami Taichi stared pensively out the window as he thought about what had happened only a week before. His younger sister had traveled to an alternate universe – complete with an alternate Digiworld – and helped to save it.
Taichi had to admit he had been a little worried over Hikari's disappearance. The others would have said that he was very worried, though he was inclined to think they might be exaggerating. After all, Hikari was eleven years old now, and quite able to take care of herself.
Actually, it wasn't Hikari that he was now thinking about. It was himself. Or, rather, his other self. In that alternate universe, the girl named Yagami Hikari had been left to die. Although neither she nor her digimon had been found or reborn, her family and friends had been forced to admit that she was most likely dead.
This world's Taichi didn't want to even think about what his counterpart had suffered through. The pain of loosing a sibling, he thought, must be one of the hardest things to ever suffer. He himself had felt slight inklings of this pain whenever Hikari had been injured or lost. He knew that Yamato had felt a loss almost as great as a death when he and Takeru had been separated during their parents divorce.
There was a soft tap at the door and he turned to see his sister enter, cutting off his thoughts for the moment.
"Taichi, are you okay?" Hikari questioned. She set down her backpack, and opened it to allow Tailmon to escape.
He smiled a little too forcibly and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm fine, Hikari, why do you ask?" he replied nervously.
Tailmon twitched her ears and stretched after the cramped confines of the backpack had been eliminated. "You sure don't look fine," she commented off-hand.
Taichi turned back to the window and avoided the cat's scrutiny. "Why would you think that?"
Hikari stepped forward and stood beside her brother. "Taichi, I told you before, you don't have to be worried about me," she reminded him, smiling kindly. She had known him her whole life; she was smart enough to see that something was troubling him.
Taichi sighed, his shoulders slumping. He should have known better than to try to hide this from Hikari. "I know," he answered with a slight air of defeat.
On impulse, she hugged her brother, wrapping her arms tightly around his and squeezing slightly. "I'll be fine," she told him, and he relaxed slightly, squeezing back.
Taichi couldn't help but smile. She was so young, and yet so smart. "You always are," he agreed.
Tailmon yawned loudly. "Are we going?" she questioned, slightly impatient.
"Going?" the elder sibling repeated. Hikari nodded.
"I just stopped by to drop off a few books before I left. This bag is so heavy with all of them," she explained. "I have to get back to school to meet the others."
"Yes, and if we don't hurry we'll be late and they'll leave without us," Tailmon hurried her partner.
"I know, I know," Hikari assured her. Tailmon climbed back into the bag, and a few moments later they were gone, the door slamming behind them.
Taichi watched her go, a strange nervous feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. "It's just my nerves," he reminded himself. He turned back to his notebook then, trying to concentrate on his math homework.
***
Elsewhere…'So, the Digimon Kaiser has been defeated, huh? Well, I must admit I am surprised. Never would have thought they'd have been able to do it. Especially without my help.
'Then again, why would I help them?'
The dark figure strolled to the window that peered over the vast digital desert and stared over the territory that had once belonged to the Digimon Kaiser. Now, it was hers to command.
Not that a digital desert was great territory, she admitted.
A small figure behind her was eyeing her with some trepidation. "What do you plan to do now?"
"I'll get right to work, of course," the newest master – mistress, actually - of the Digiworld declared. "The Kaiser's base was not destroyed. It will be a simple matter to reactivate the dark towers and create new rings. Of course, I'll have to move the equipment out of there before I can get to work. It will be too easy for them to find me again if I stay there. Besides, that place was ugly."
"Agreed."
"Not that I really think they'd ever have a chance of finding me, let alone defeating me."
***
The computer room…"No, Daisuke, there's really no need to worry. Now that we know exactly how Hikari was transported to another reality, there's no risk of it happening again," Koushiro assured the boy.
"Right. As long as these numbers don't change, we'll be fine." Miyako pointed a finger at the digital gate, careful not to touch the monitor and smudge the screen.
"Isn't there a risk that the coordinates could be changed accidentally?" Iori questioned. His quiet voice some how managed to be heard over the sound of the digimon eagerly devouring the snacks behind him.
Koushiro shrugged slightly. "Probably," he admitted. "But as long as you make sure the coordinates are set before you jump through the gate, there shouldn't be a problem."
"I'm still wondering who brought Hikari to that universe in the first place," Daisuke frowned in thought.
"I don't think it was an accident either," Takeru agreed. "Someone wanted her there. The question is, who?"
"Speaking of Hikari, where is she?" Koushiro wondered.
There was a noise in the hall and a moment later Hikari entered. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized, looking a bit frazzled. "I had to run home for a bit."
"How's your brother?" Koushiro questioned.
She frowned in response as she released her digimon. "Doing okay, I guess," she replied with a sigh. "I think he's still worried about me."
"Enough talk, let's get going," Daisuke interrupted, bored with the chatter and eager to start doing things. "We're late already."
A few moments later, the light flooded the computer room, and Koushiro was left alone in the room.
***
Elsewhere…"Don't worry, we'll knock down all these control spires," Miyako stated. She turned to her digimon. "Let's do it, Hawkmon! Digimental Up!"
"My pleasure," Hawkmon agreed before he evolved. "Hawkmon armor evolve! Shurimon - bursting with purity!"
"Don't leave us behind!" Daisuke agreed. "V-mon! Digimental Up!"
"Let's knock 'em down!" V-mon shouted. "V-mon armor evolve! Fladramon - burning with courage!"
A few moments later, two or three control spires had fallen. Daisuke and Miyako cheered happily and danced in joy.
"We can't let them do all the work, can we?" Armadimon asked hopefully.
Iori nodded his agreement. "Digimental up!"
"Armadimon armor evolve! Digmon - the wisdom of steel!" A few more useless dark towers had landed beside the ones Daisuke and Miyako had felled.
"Takeru?" Patamon questioned hopefully.
Takeru didn't answer for a few moments. He looked at his partner and then out at the sea of control spires. He shrugged slightly. "Digimental up," he stated with less enthusiasm than his teammates.
"Patamon armor evolve! Pegasmon - the hope that gallops across the heavens!"
Pegasmon flew through the air and joined in the fun. Takeru sat down with a sigh on the ground. He was unaware of the red eyes behind him, watching his every move.
***
"Already? Knocking down my towers?" the dark figure demanded. She fumed silently. "Unacceptable.""I don't know," the smaller figure admitted. "They seem to have quite a head start. And the spies in the Real World suspect Ichijouji may soon join them."
"Ichijouji?" she half shrieked. "Make certain that does not happen."
***
Elsewhere…
"You're late," Ken observed. Daisuke let out a visible groan.
"See?" he demanded of his team. "I told you we were going to be late!"
The others could only stare with some embarrassment.
"It's no big deal," Wormmon assured, standing beside his partner. "We've already managed to knock down a few towers." He gestured towards the valley behind them. It was littered with at least fifty of the fallen black obelisks.
Daisuke and V-mon could only stare in surprise. "You knocked all those down yourself?" the blue digimon questioned.
Wormmon 'shrugged' (as best he could) nonchalantly. "Yeah," he admitted.
"I got out of class early this afternoon," Ken explained. "I thought we'd come here and work off a few things."
Later…"Well, we sure knocked down a lot of towers today," Daisuke grinned, proud of himself and his team.
"Yeah, we should go out and celebrate," Miyako agreed readily.
"I suggest a healthy dinner to rejuvenate," Hawkmon declared.
"Healthy dinner?" V-mon stared. "No way, dude, we have to have ice cream!"
This brought a cheer from the rest of the digimon. "Ice cream!" Patamon, Armadimon, Tailmon and Wormmon agreed.
"There isn't time for ice cream," Takeru noted. He looked at his watch. "We'll be late for dinner."
"You're right," Iori agreed, seeing the time. "We'll have to have ice cream another time."
"Yeah, how about tomorrow? It's Saturday," Daisuke suggested. "We'll go out for some ice cream before we knock down some more towers!"
Takeru, Hikari, and Iori nodded in agreement. Miyako was a bit more enthusiastic.
"Yeah!" she agreed. "Ice cream will totally motivate us to knock down more of those ugly things."
"How about it Ken?" Daisuke questioned. The others became quiet. "Wanna join us?"
The indigo-haired boy looked at Wormmon for a moment. There was a long moment of silence. "I don't know," he hesitated.
"C'mon Ken!" Miyako pleaded. "You'll love it."
The others stared at him, eagerness pasted over their faces. "I guess I could come," he agreed softly.
"Yeah!" Daisuke and Miyako cheered simultaneously. Wormmon looked happy because of the food involved.
***
"Mom, Dad? I'm home!" Hikari called as she entered the apartment and removed her shoes. "Taichi?"
The door to the bedroom opened and her brother stuck
his head out. "Mom and Dad are out to dinner tonight," he explained. "You get
to cook."
"Me? Why me?" his sister demanded as she released her digimon.
"Because the only thing I can make is omelets," Taichi reminded her. "And I don't think you want that for dinner."
"The only thing I can make is ramen noodles," Hikari shot back. "And microwave soup."
Taichi sighed. "I guess we're ordering out then, huh?"
***
The next day…Miyako ran. She gobbled down her breakfast and hurried to the place they had agreed to meet. "I can't wait for the ice cream!" she cheered as she hurried.
"Miyako," Poromon's voice was muffled from inside
her bag. "Do you think you could slow down? I'm feeling a bit sick."
"Ech." Miyako opened her bag. "Don't throw up in there, Poromon. It's very hard
to get the smell out."
"I've got a bit of motion sickness," the little bird squeaked in response.
"I'll slow down," Miyako decided immediately. She walked the rest of the way with the bag in her arms.
"Hey! Miyako!" Daisuke waved to her from the table. Takeru, Iori, and Hikari were already seated. "I would have thought you'd be the first one here."
"I would have been, but I had to walk instead of run," Miyako explained. She gestured to her bag. "Poromon was getting a bit sick."
"I guess everyone's here except Ken," Hikari noted. "Should we order or should we wait?"
"Let's give him a couple minutes," Takeru advised. "He does have to come all the way from Tamachi, remember."
***
Standard notes: This is the sequel to my story "A Stranger Digiworld." If you haven't read that yet, it's advisable to do so. This one might stand on its own, but it probably won't. Read that one first. It's at:
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=326235
Who is the dark lady that's taken over the digital world? Here's a hint: whenever you see her (or hear her, since she's not "seen" yet), you're in the Alternate world visited in "A Stranger Digiworld." The story line with Takeru being sort of out of it? That's in that universe, too.
BEWARE: It may be confusing when I switch between universes and digital worlds and all that. Sometimes that's intentional, so if you're confused, just keep reading. It will all make sense eventually.
Remember: I own none of the characters. Only the plot. All you'll get from suing me is my stuffed cow, and trust me, you don't want her.