For future reference, update's will probably not be this frequent. The first chapter's been done, and put on Ao3, for a while now so I figured that, since this is done, I should just put it up to align the two sites update plans.
And I also noticed one instance, in the previous chapter, where I referred to the Scubamon as Divermon. That's fixed, hopefully I didn't miss anything. This is the first story I've tried to write in a while, you see.
That said, I'm rather surprised that I managed to get some reviews so soon so thanks for that! (PS, Sightbent, you are the one who got me started on this ship in the first place so thanks for that too!) You guys are great and it's serving as a good motivation to keep going! I think I'll put up a chapter each week, unless otherwise stated. Yeah, that sounds manageable.
/Execute: Opening Phase: 「New World」
Chapter 2: New Friends, Alternate Universes?
Kari looked over the boy again. He was resting on their couch, in their living room. The two were quick to explain how the boy was involved in 'Digimon matters,' as they'd started to call them, and how they'd inform them of the details when they could. Although it answered none of their questions, the Kamiya's parents accepted their explanation, if only for now. That being said, the other members of the ruined picnic were settled in the kitchen, around the table, talking about Takuya and his rather… strange circumstances. It took even longer for them to convince their parents to leave while they figured out what to do; they needed to go grocery shopping anyways so it wasn't that hard.
"This is a weird looking Digivice." Davis said from the kitchen, moving the small device from between his hands.
"Well yeah. I thought the same thing about your Digivices when I first saw them." Tai chuckled. "New models tend to be like that."
"I still think you're just jealous that our Digivices look cooler!" Davis held out his D-3, proudly.
"Mmmm. Nah, that can't be it." Tai shrugged, grabbing Takuya's Digivice from Davis. "If anything, this thing looks cooler. A lot more high-tech, at least. I should probably call Izzy."
"Ah! No no no, then we'll probably never see it again!" Davis slammed his hands on the table.
"Don't you think you're overreacting, Davis?" Veemon laughed.
"No way! You know how Izzy is about stuff like this!"
"I hate to admit it but he has a point." Tai looked at the D-Tector again, before looking over at his sister. "Any changes, Kari?"
"Afraid not. He's still asleep…" She sighed as she got up and sat across from Tai at the table. "I wonder what happened to him…"
"Yeah, me too." Tai paused. "What did you say happened in the Dark Ocean again? That he turned into a Digimon?"
"I, for one, still think that you were just seeing things." Davis mused. "I mean the Dark Ocean messes with your head, right?"
"No, I'm sure that's what happened!" Kari gave him the look, causing Davis to sink into his seat a bit. Gatomon popped onto her shoulder.
"I believe her." She nodded. "It sounds weird but then, a lot of weird things have turned out to be true before."
"Mmmm…" Tai looked at the device again. "A Digivice that turns people into Digimon…" Davis crossed his arms.
"Oh come on, you believe this too, Tai?"
"Well yeah. It doesn't sound like Kari was hallucinating or anything and something had to have beaten those Scubamon or else she wouldn't be here." He leaned back in his chair. "Adding in that we have no idea what this Digivice is or what it can do. Anything's possible." He stared at the device in deep thought.
"Well when you put it like that…" There was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it." Kari got up and went to the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me, TK!" Kari opened the door.
"Hey, TK, what brings you here?" He grabbed a hold of Kari's shoulder.
"Did something happen today?" There was something in his eyes that showed fear, Kari could tell.
"Yeah… I went to that place again… But I managed to get out and…" She turned towards the couch. "Well, let me show you." She walked him over to where the boy slept. "I found him there."
"Do you know who he is?"
"No but he's a DigiDestined. I found his Digivice; Tai has it. It's a new model." Kari turned to face him. "But how did you know something happened?"
"I got… a bad feeling. My Digivice started acting weird and I got the chills, just like the last time."
"Hey, my Digivice was acting weird too!" Davis got up. "Right before Gatomon found us, the screen started shining and making weird noises. I think I felt chills too…"
"But why would that be?" Tai asked.
"Maybe it was because we all opened that portal two years ago, when we trapped Daemon there." TK recalled the fight. "Maybe that linked us all there…"
"That sounds pretty bad." Davis sat back down.
"Or it's really good. Now we can monitor if something tries to get to our world from there!" TK slammed his fist into his hand. He turned his head and looked at Kari, who was looking around him. "What's up?"
"Where's Patamon?"
"Oh, I left him at home. He was taking a nap." He rubbed his hand behind his head. "In hindsight, I probably should've woke him up and brought him." Kari giggled. "But what did you say about his Digivice? It's another new model?"
"Yeah! And apparently, it looks cooler than our D-3's!" Davis crossed his arms and shot a glare at Tai, who only gave a shaky smile and a shrug.
"Haha." TK walked over to the table. "Let me see it." Tai handed the gadget over. "Whoa, this is pretty cool looking." He looked it over.
"Aaaah, not you too! Everyone's against me today!" The young goggle head ran his hands through his hair,
"Ah don't worry, buddy. I'm on your side." Veemon laughed.
"Thanks a lot, Veemon…"
"Is the guy okay?" TK asked to everyone at the table.
"Yeah. I looked him over; he doesn't even have any scratches or anything." Tai paused. "Then again, I'm no Joe. We're actually waiting on him right now; I left him a voice message a few minutes ago." TK nodded.
"Well, I should probably get back to Patamon before he wakes up and worries himself to death over why I'm gone. Keep me updated, okay?" TK handed the D-Tector back to Tai as he held up his D-Terminal.
"Got'cha! I'll send you a message if something comes up." He smiled.
"Thanks. I'll let myself out." TK gave them all a wave as he left the apartment.
"Ah!" Davis almost jumped out of his chair mere moments later. "I just remembered that my mom told me to clean my room before she gets home!"
"Woooooow. I can't believe-" Tai started.
"No time! Come on, Veemon! We gotta go!" Davis ran towards the door. "See you guys tomorrow!" He smiled before closing the door behind them. There was silence for a couple moments before something fell over on the other end of the door, following by a couple groans and an "Oh come on, Davis!" and a "Sorry TK." Both Tai and Kari laughed. Their laughter, however, was halted when they heard someone's stomach grumble.
"Ah, Tai. If you're hungry, we could go out to eat today." Kari turned to her brother. "If we go out before mom gets back, we'll get to skip one of her 'health experiments.'"
"But Kari…! That wasn't me!" The older boy seemed a bit unsure and touched his stomach.
"What? Then who…?" Kari stood up and headed into the living room, then gasped. "Kari?"
"He's awake!" The elder Kamiya bolted up, coming up behind her.
"Um. Hey." The boy, now sitting up, gave a slow wave. "Not to be a burden or anything but…" His stomach grumbled again. "Can I get something to eat?" They both hit the floor.
/Execute:
"So what's your name?" Tai asked as the boy dug into a sandwich.
"Takuya. Takuya Kanbara, pleasure to meet you!" He smiled after swallowing. "Who are you guys, if you don't mind me asking."
"I'm Kari Kamiya, and this is my brother Tai." Kari answered for him. "And this is my partner, Gatomon. Tai has a partner too but he's in the Digital World." She gestured to the white cat that sat at the table with them.
"Partners?" He tilted his head to the side. "Like, you teamed up with Digimon?"
"Yeah, pretty much!" She smiled. "We've been friends for years now. You don't have a partner, do you?"
"Nope." Takuya finished off his sandwich before continuing. "I can turn into a Digimon."
"Ah, so Kari really wasn't hallucinating." Tai said slowly as the aforementioned girl elbowed him.
"I can't believe you still didn't believe me, Tai." Kari giggled while Tai playfully shrugged. Takuya grabbed his D-Tector from his pocket to show them, or at least he would've if it was still in there.
"Hold on." He checked his other one. "Where's my D-Tector!?" He started frantically checking the other pockets on his shorts, and his jacket too.
"Ah, sorry, we have it." Tai handed it over to him as Takuya gave a sigh of relief. "And it's called a D-Tector?"
"So… how does the whole 'turn into a Digimon' thing work, huh?" Tai asked, curiosity dripping from his voice.
"Simple!" He lifted up his D-Tector and flicked his wrist, summoning his Fractal Code. "I just scan my Fractal Code with my D-Tector. I guess it's like… putting a layer of Digimon code over my human one."
"Fractal Code…?" Kari cocked her head to the side.
"Yeah. The stuff everything in the Digital World's made of. It's like a condensed form of data, I think." He tapped his chin. "How do you guys not know about Fractal Code?" He paused. "Actually. How do you guys know about the Digital World at all? Lady Ophanimon would've told us if she brought other kids."
"Well, we've been going to the Digital World for years now and haven't heard of anything like that."
"Yeah, I haven't either." Gatomon added. "And I definitely haven't heard of a Lady Ophanimon."
"But that's…" He returned the device to his pocket. "Hey, you guys have Digivices too, right? Can I see them?"
"Mhm." Kari pulled out her own as Tai pulled out his. Takuya leaned over the table.
"These aren't anything like mine. And they're different from each other!"
"Well, Kari used to have a Digivice like mine; I guess we'll call it a first generation Digivice, but then it turned into that one, a second generation Digivice. We also call it a D-3." Tai explained while Takuya nodded.
"But things still don't add up. Lady Ophanimon never told us about other Chosen Ones, especially not ones who teamed up with Digimon." Something clicked in Takuya's head. "Wait a minute… Where am I?" The siblings could only manage nervous smiles as they exchanged glances.
"You're in Odaiba."
"Odaiba!? How'd I get here!?" Takuya panicked. "The last thing I remember is… is…" He gripped his head. "Why… can't I remember…? I know me and the others got called to the Digital World again but…" Kari put a hand on his shoulder.
"Calm down, it might just be because you were unconscious for a while. Give it time."
"Yeah, right." He calmed down a bit, sighing.
"So tell us about yourself, Takuya. And what you do remember." Tai leaned forward. Kari found herself doing the same, far more curious than she'd let on. Takuya began to explain his first adventure to the two, from finding the underground part of the Shibuya station to defeating Lucemon as Susanoomon. He then went into how Lady Ophanimon had called them all back to the Digital World, because some monstrous Digimon had started causing major damage. The last thing he could remember was getting into the Trailmon. Once he'd finished, Tai whistled.
"Maaan, that sounds awesome. But…"
"That doesn't sound like the Digital World." Kari finished for him.
"Huh? How so…?" Takuya raised an eyebrow. The siblings then began telling him about their adventures in the Digital World, Tai being the only storyteller in the beginning since Kari wasn't around then. But eventually, they ended with their final battle with MaloMyotismon.
"Yeah… that does sound different…" Takuya sounded unsure. "And you guys say you don't have Fractal Code so…" You could practically see the steam rise from his ears as he struggled to understand the implications that this gave.
"Are you okay?" Kari asked him.
"Yeah, I think." He sighed. "I don't know. Everything's weird. I don't feel like you guys are lying, and I know I'm not lying, so what's the deal?" The trio sat in silence.
"Maybe you're from an alternate universe?" The other two looked at Tai with confused, maybe even shocked, expressions.
"Alternate… universe…?"
"Yeah. Like, we already know that there are different worlds." He started. "So it shouldn't be weird to think that there are different universes too; with their own Earths and their own Digital Worlds." Takuya thought to himself for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, that makes sense." He then ran his hands through his hair. "But how I am supposed to get back?" The siblings could only shrug. "That's not helping!"
"You can stay with us until we figure something out." Kari suggested. Tai raised an eyebrow at her before turning back to Takuya.
"If our parents agree, then sure." Tai leaned back in his chair.
"Worst case, I guess I could camp in the Digital World." Takuya suggested. "I've done the same in the past."
"Heheh, I might join you sometime, in that case." Tai put his hands behind his head and smiled. "That'd take me back." Then the phone rang. "Ah, let me get that. It's probably Joe." Tai stood up and went over to the phone.
"Joe?" Takuya looked at Kari.
"Another DigiDestined. He's training to be a doctor. Tai called him when we brought you here, to check on you."
"Ah. Thanks!" Takuya smiled.
"No problem." Kari smiled back. Tai sat back down at the table.
"Joe said he'll be here in a few."
"Alright. I feel pretty fine though." Takuya looked himself over.
"Better to be safe than sorry~" Kari sung.
"Ah, true." Takuya agreed.
"Oh! That reminds me, we should tell Davis and TK that you're awake!" Kari pulled out her D-Terminal and began typing on it.
"More DigiDestined?" Takuya looked over to Tai, who nodded. "Oh. And what's that thing?"
"It's called a D-Terminal. It's like a cell phone but text only. It's the communication tool for the DigiDestined."
"Wow. I wish we had those in my world." Takuya commented, with a laugh. "Mmmm. I wonder how many years it'd take us to make one… Hey, what year is it here?"
"Huh? Oh. 2005"
"So… here, it's 2005…?" Takuya sighed. "There are time differences between universes. Makes sense since the same applies for worlds, I guess." The Kamiya siblings nodded as Takuya looked around their apartment again. "Maaan, this is pretty lame for 2005. I was kind of expecting more than this, this all looks pretty similar to what we've got!" Takuya joked.
"Trust me, Takuya. You weren't the only one." Tai laughed.
"Wait, so how old are you, Takuya?" Kari asked.
"16."
"I'm 17, and Kari's 14."
"Heading to college soon, eh?" Takuya looked genuinely curious.
"Yeeep. Still a little iffy on where I'm going but as long as it's got a good soccer team, I'm a-okay!"
"Ah! You play soccer!?" Takuya smiled while Kari only rolled her eyes.
"Not another one…"
"Of course! You do too?"
"All the time."
"We should play sometime; we could get Davis and Ken in it too."
"That'd be great! I'm feeling more at home already…" Takuya was silent after that. "Yeah…" He leaned his head against his hand.
"Takuya?" Kari raised an eyebrow; he was so excited not a minute ago.
"I'm just wondering what my family's doing right now." He told them. "I said I'd be home soon but… yeah…"
"No worries. We'll get you home as soon as possible!" Tai assured him. "And in the meantime, we'll make you feel welcome." Takuya managed a smile.
"Thanks guys."
"Tai, Kari, we're home!" Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya walked into the apartment, each one carrying their share of bags. "And it seems our guest has awoken!" Mrs. Kamiya exclaimed.
"Oh. Hello ma'am." Takuya bowed.
"And polite too!" Mrs. Kamiya placed her bags on the kitchen floor then went over and poked Kari with her elbow. "Seems about your age too, eh~?"
"M-Mom!" Kari blushed.
"Oh boy…" Tai hid his face behind his hands.
"Excuse me!? My daughter is far too young for any of that!" Mr. Kamiya spoke up, throwing a glare Takuya's way.
"W-Wait, hold on…" Takuya put his hands up defensively.
"Mom, dad, please…" Tai pulled down his hands. "He's a DigiDestined who's a little… lost. The guy just needs a place to stay for today, at the least."
"Well, the balcony's open…" Mr. Kamiya began but upon catching his daughter's glare, quickly stuttered out, "and the couch is too."
"That sounds like a plan." Takuya grinned. "And thank you for this, I appreciate it!" He bowed again.
"Yeah, don't mention it, kid."
/Execute:
They sat around until Joe showed up, who took Takuya into the bedroom to get a better look at him. Kari went and sat down on the now vacant couch, sighing.
"What's on your mind, Kari?" You'd think she would be used to Gatomon appearing out of nowhere by now but she never was. Well, at least she could play it off now.
"Takuya seemed so sad when he talked about his family…" She looked down at her partner. "I'm just wondering what'll happen if we can't figure out a way to send him back."
"Kari, you burden yourself with too much, you know?" Gatomon sighed as she got herself comfortable on the couch. "I'm sure we will soon. Something had to bring him here so something has to be able to send him back."
"Yeah, you tell me all the time Gatomon." Kari smiled. "But what could've brought him here…? He said he couldn't remember… And to appear in… that place." She avoided saying Dark Ocean, the very thought usually sent chills down her spine.
"Well, he checks out fine!" Joe announced as he walked out of their bedroom. "I couldn't find a single thing wrong with him. Maybe you passed out from exhaustion?" Takuya only shrugged.
"Maybe. I don't remember what happened that knocked me out."
"Mmmm." Joe thought to himself. "I'll be going then. I have a lot to study up on, if anything comes up, you know where to find me." He smiled. "I'll see you guys later."
"Alright and thanks again, Joe." Tai smiled back at him as he showed him out. Takuya flopped down next to Gatomon and yawned. It reminded Kari that it was actually getting pretty late, she yawned too.
"Whoops, forgot that those are contagious, sorry." Takuya laughed.
"It's okay. It's pretty late anyway, I should get to bed." She walked over to the calendar first. "We're heading to the Digital World again, tomorrow. I'll introduce you to some of the other DigiDestined then, okay?" She turned her head to Takuya.
"Alright." He leaned and started to lie down; Gatomon quickly scuffled off the couch.
"Hey, watch where you're lying around here!" She yelled at him.
"Ah! Sorry, I didn't notice you there!" Takuya threw up his hands.
"Yeah well don't let it happen again otherwise I might just use your face as a scratching post…" Gatomon walked off.
"Ouch. She's cold." Kari laughed.
"She'll warm up, eventually." She assured him. "Oh. That reminds me; I never thanked you for saving me."
"I saved you?" Takuya looked at her strangely. "I'm pretty sure you're the one who found me."
"Yeah but I wouldn't have been able to get you out of there. A couple Scubamon cornered us. You turned into… um, I think you said Agunimon and fought them off." She nodded as she recollected the events of earlier today.
"Wow really? I don't remember that, for some reason." He tapped his head. "Maan, I can't remember a thing today!"
"It's okay. Even if you don't remember, you still did it." She smiled at him before turning to Tai. "Hey, Tai, I'm heading to bed."
"Yeah, it's pretty late. I should probably get some rest too." Tai turned to Takuya. "There are some covers in the closet over there if you somehow get cold and don't eat anything in the fridge. Mom might've tried to start a cooking experiment." He shuddered at the thought.
"Tai, I can hear you in there!" his mother called from the parent's bedroom.
"Sorry, mom!" Tai yelled back, smiling. "Anyways, if you need us for anything, I'm bottom bunk, Kari's top bunk. Try not to wake up the other if you need one of us. That should be about it."
"Got'cha. Night you two." Takuya gave them a wave as they entered their shared room. When the door closed, Takuya walked over and turned off the light, putting his jacket on the coat rack while he was at it, before going back and lying down on the couch. He stared up at the ceiling; he was finally able to take in everything. "What happened…? And why can't I remember anything?" He questioned himself over and over before sleep finally overtook him.
/Execute: Ending Phase: 「Egao no Mahou」
Begin: Omake
Takuya: Well that was certainly mysterious.
Kari: Yeah, you can't remember your fight with Megidramon!
Takuya: You'd think a guy that big would leave an impression, you know?
Kari: I wonder what happened to him...
Takuya: Do you think he was brought to your universe with me...?
Kari: I don't know, that thought sounds pretty scary.
Takuya: Yeah, EmperorGreymon and MagnaGarurumon were just barely able to beat him. If you could call that a victory.
Kari: You can't become EmperorGreymon anymore, can you?
Takuya: ...That's a good question. Did my Spirits return to Zoe and Tommy or not?