The icy cold wind whistling across the frozen docks did nothing to tell of the New Year that had arrived in the night. It was dawn, quite dark with shadows being cast far from objects where light was released. Deep shivered, holding his bare arms as he waited for Chase to arrive. He'd been practising the skill of making Cross-Continent Digital Fields all night. He thought that he'd gotten it down at long last.
"You're early, Deep," Sorcerermon muttered. "You could've at least attempted to get some sleep."
"That can be my Resolution," Deep replied wearily. "To get more sleep. I couldn't sleep, though, not tonight. I'm seeing Chase for the first time in months!"
"I'm glad that excites you," Sorcerermon said dryly. "Why did you buy that for Chase? I bet he didn't get you anything at all," Sorcerermon glowered at the gift, carefully wrapped, in Deep's arms. He'd been a long-time hater of Deep's good friend Chase, mostly because of his selfless influence, which made Deep even worse at looking out for only himself.
"It doesn't matter," Deep said icily. "This is because Chase's been worried about me. That was kind of him."
"How much did you waste on those?" Sorcerermon growled. Chase's parcel contained an internet connection in the form of a dongle and an iPad, which hadn't really set Deep back much. His family was quite wealthy due to his father owning a successful company, and though the Recession had caused decline in business, Deep was still an only child and his parents were still careful spenders.
"Around…" Deep started cheerfully, but his tone reminded him of Alison. She was still not really helping, and the events at Christmas and last night hadn't helped things. "Alison…"
"You spent Alison on it? Good job," Sorcerermon replied sarcastically. "Is she still bothering you?"
"Is your memory failing you?" Deep sighed. "Of course she is."
"Don't worry. She gave you DigiMemories, right?" Sorcerermon asked slyly, and his partner nodded, pulling up the small handful of chips. "Well, if she keeps giving you those, she'll vanish into thin air, just like that. Problem solved…"
Episode Seven: Darkest before Dawn! Welcome to 2012!
"Zhane," David smiled, striding into the dark-haired boy's apartment and glancing around the small, lit living room.
"Why'd you call, man?" Zhane asked, blinking. "I'm tired,"
"I know, Zhane," David said, ruffling his hair and laughing softly. "But some NetChat friends are coming over,"
"Over to my place?" Zhane's face suddenly turned from tired serenity to fearful rage in an instant, his eyes bulging and his face paling.
"No, over to England," David sighed, shaking his head. He'd found the moment priceless, and vowed to never let Zhane live it down. "It's Chase and Deep,"
"Oh…" Zhane remembered those Chats. They made him die a little bit inside. "Will they be jerks?"
"No, they're both very nice," David assured, smirking. "Anyway, get dressed you caveman, we've got to go up into town."
"At this time of the morning?" Zhane groaned, prompting David to smirk again, but before he could give another smartass reply, Coronamon answered.
"Sorry, Zhane," he said. "But town is our rendezvous point with the Americans. Since it's so Early it'll likely be all but deserted, especially if we don't go anywhere near the bars."
"Can't we do it near the bars in the daytime?"
"No." Kumamon answered bluntly. "Now dress." Zhane slinked off, while David, watched, already anticipant for meeting his friends, and for the delivery of the news that Chase and Deep would be staying with him for the rest of their visit.
X x x
"All Hunters are gathering," Chase said quietly, edging closer to the wall while sipping his tea. "Almost all of us are… And so are you,"
"Yeah… I hope I made the right decision, Chase-Kun," Hikari fiddled with her own tea, staring at the sleek floorboards of a room she may never see again.
"You have," Chase replied gravely. "Any weak links now will be killed by Hunters like the Lone Demon."
"…" Hikari felt a little dumb, clutching her phone for strength. "Who?"
"Sorry, I forgot that I haven't explained Titles to you yet," Chase shook his head, smiling. "What I mean to say is that titles are usually chosen by Hunters based on tactics. The Lone Demon is Kaoru Arakawa, because he works alone and has a reputation for being a ruthless demon, and mine's the Howling Wind."
"I see…" Hikari really didn't, but it was rude to say so. Besides, they couldn't be all that accurate because Kaoru seemed okay to her.
"It's something you should be thinking about. Titles are something to be renowned and feared; they're part of what makes a Hunter terrifying." Chase said icily. "It's also something that you should choose for yourself, Hikari."
"For myself?" Hikari thought, trying to come up with one then and there. She was completely sure on what to do for one. So she sighed, leaving it. "When are we going to meet your friend?"
"We'll go soon," Chase replied, setting his teacup delicately on the table.
X x x
Kaoru thought for a long time about what the random girl had said. He'd replied in the most polite way possible because he was tired. If he ever met that girl he'd have to prove to her that he wasn't nice and that she had to stay away. He hated company.
Word is everyone who's anyone is gathering there to find a solution.
England. It really wasn't that far when you consider that he'd been there before. He could just teleport. It would be simple. Of course, he'd train for a while. His shoulder was healing up well. Just because he wasn't allowed out of hospital, didn't mean that he couldn't function with it. If he took care of himself better, it wouldn't get infected.
Is that what I should do? He wondered. England's so far away. I might never come back. My parents will worry… Reiko will worry… But it'd be easier on them if I left anyway. I'm stopping them playing Happy Families.
Kaoru made his mind up, lifting his iPhone up in his right hand. He carefully generated a room-sized Digital Field and swung himself up, gingerly avoiding movement of his left arm and making his bed carefully.
"What're we doing, Kaoru?" Tsukaimon asked cheerfully, flapping his wings beside him and smiling cheerfully. "What's up, what's up?"
"We're leaving," Kaoru said simply. "Now stop acting gormless and help me look like I didn't just up and run away."
"Aren't you, though?" Tsukaimon asked pointedly.
"Yes. No. I don't know. It doesn't matter," Kaoru's eyes snapped up to him. "I'll be coming back at some point. I'm not gonna let someone kill me."
"How're ya gonna explain that?" Tsukaimon asked.
"I was kidnapped, madmen let me out, the doctors here suck," Kaoru replied. "Anything."
"Okay then," Tsukaimon laughed. "So are we going to England now, Ruru?"
"Wh- Ruru?" Kaoru turned murderously to the sound of his sister's childish nickname for him.
"I like it, you should use it more often, Kaoru," giggled Tsukaimon. He saw the look on Kaoru's face and sighed. "It was a joke."
"Anyway, we're not going to England right away. We're training first." Kaoru pushed Tsukaimon and retrieved his clothes, pulling them all on and wrapping his scarf around his neck. "Come on." He grabbed Tsukaimon, and as they left, closed the field, leaving no indication that he was ever there.
X x x
"Is now soon enough?" Hikari said, after an extended awkward silence. Chase sighed, checking the small clock on the wall, luckily in Roman Numerals.
"Yeah, I guess that we could go now," Chase held up his D-Spacer and created a Digital Field, before calling Deep. "Deep?"
"Yes?" the voice replied over the phone. It sounded warm, but Hikari couldn't differentiate the accent very well.
"Could you open the Digital Field for me?" Chase asked, smiling slightly as he spoke, fiddling with the rough texture of the back of his phone.
"Oh…" the voice of Deep answered. "Yeah, give me a moment. I'm gonna need to lock onto your field,"
"Alright," Chase replied, and the phone line was cut. "It'll be a moment," he added, glancing toward Hikari like she hadn't heard him. She nodded, wondering what this person would be like. She imagined strange. She carefully fixed her face into a natural-looking tired face, checking it in her phone and stood, shaking slightly as she looked all around her house and wobbling beside Chase.
A few minutes later, the field warped, and digital code coalesced into two humanoid figures, before forming into tangible forms of a regular human and a humanoid digimon.
The boy was quite tall and disturbingly muscle-bound, tanned with a pointed face and shiny, teal hair that reached his broad shoulders. It spiked up in well developed juts over his head. The digimon beside him looked like Wizardmon with a decidedly icy touch; he regarded her coldly from his position just behind the tall young man.
"Hey, Chase," presumably Deep said brightly, handing him a wrapped box. "Who's this?"
"Oh," Chase said in surprise, nodding graciously when he was handed the present. Chase dug in his own pocket for a small, wooden good luck charm and dropped it into the other guy's hand before replying; "that's Hikari. She's my apprentice, remember, I told you?"
"Yeah," Deep nodded slowly. "I just don't remember you telling me that she was coming with." Deep turned, nodding at Chase, who subsequently closed the field. "I'm Deep," he said, holding his hand out to Hikari. "You're under strictly your own supervision and I won't be taking part in your upkeep… Even so, it's nice to meet you."
"Yes," Hikari said, trying to keep her voice level so that she didn't show any of her surprise. "Konichiwa. Watashi wa Akarui Hikari."
"You're Japanese, then?" Deep said, grinning. Hikari nodded coldly. "What I said just now was a formality. Do you think you got major "Skillz" then, newbie?" Hikari blinked up at Deep, trying to appear careless, but his personality was hard to ignore.
"Not really," she answered, glancing downward. "Never mind,"
"Okay then," Deep replied, shrugging, "Let's open this DigiGate and wait, then!"
X x x
"I'm cold, it's too early, fireworks blinded me and I hate you," Zhane grumbled, stumbling along beside David in the New Year firework fog.
"No you don't," was David's only reply, as he strode determinedly ahead. They'd jointly decided to open the field outside the Library, because the library wouldn't be anywhere near open on a Sunday Morning.
"Hey…" Coronamon suddenly said making the over-alert David jump and span round, shocked and the under-alert Zhane do nothing. "David, calm down, it's me. You didn't open the field yet, did you?"
"Of course I haven't," David answered carefully. "You'd know,"
"Then I'm sensing a Digital Field just down from here in the Shopping District," Coronamon sighed. "Since your friends are coming, you should probably deal with it now… It's of no consequence though, just a really low level field."
"Damn…" David moaned. "Zhane, can I trust you to do this without cocking up while I'm gone?"
"Sure," Zhane said miserably. "Kumamon's here to give me a good kick up the ass if I start messing around anyways." David smiled appreciatively before running off through the dark and fading to a shadow while Zhane trudged unhappily on. "Dumb David going ahead and doing this without me…"
"You're doing it without him, Zhane," corrected Kumamon cheerlessly. "Come on, hurry up, and hurry up! Pick up the pace, man!" Zhane cursed to himself quietly, before standing up and marching on purposefully. The City Centre was so different deserted; the usually bustling streets were empty, making Zhane realise just how big it was. With the rush all the time, it seemed like the place was tiny and had to be expanded, but the sheer walking area was massive and the rows of buildings a good deal of feet apart. He glanced along to the road, long, wide and ultimately empty, the parking spots untaken, the unforgiving grey tarmac free to walk on.
Taking the emptiness in his stride, and waking up a bit, Zhane sprang from the curb, feet slamming into the road and walking where you risked being knocked down by cars friskily. He turned on the road, walking down to the dead-end of the road and springing onto the Town Square; large, with a statue standing erect in the centre. The massive library stood to one side, a great many stone steps leading up to it.
Zhane walked up them slowly, resisting the urge to start running crazily in circles. He reached the top, which was a large area of concrete that lead to various other buildings, and marched up to the library.
"Alright," he said hoarsely. "Here we are,"
"Then open the field," replied Kumamon irritably. Zhane nodded, lifting his D-Spacer and creating a digital field. He clicked onto NetChat and sent a quick message to the first one of the two he'd seen; Deep.
Zhane-Tracer: Alright. We're ready.
Shortly after, three… Wait, three? Digital beings appeared, striding towards him, before the code dissipated into a broad-shouldered, teal-haired boy, a well-tanned, moody-looking boy and a small girl.
"Hikari decided to come pretty last minute," the ginger one apologized. "I didn't see the point in sending you a message. It just seemed like a useless waste of time, but that's just me."
"We're Deep, me, Chase, the ginger bloke, and Hikari, the stuck-up bitch," the teal-haired boy said. His hair was a little shocking; the colouration so bright even in the dark of New Year's morning.
"Stuck-up bitch?" Hikari questioned blankly.
"Be more respectful, Deep," Chase said, trying not to smile at Deep's crude nickname for his apprentice. "She might just be shy."
"She's not," Deep said airily. "She's acting like a stuck-up bitch. If she were shy, I'd see it, but she's not." He paused as Zhane closed the field. "You know what's nice? Not having that kid at my shoulder."
"Where's David?" Chase asked, completely ignoring Deep. Hikari dithered behind him, unsure of whether to ask the dark-haired boy's name or to just leave it.
"He's… He's just—" Zhane began, but distant footsteps grew more pronounced and soon, out of the smog, came David's recognisably thin form. He hopped up the stairs without incident, and landed, breathlessly, at Zhane's side.
"I… I just… I ran here… The battle… Slave Drives… It, uh, took longer… 'Cuz of the Slave Drives," David breathed heavily. "Who's…? That?"
"This is Hikari Akarui, my apprentice," Chase replied, putting his hand neatly between Hikari's shoulder blades and pushing her forwards. She pulled a face weakly, nodding.
"Hai," she said quietly.
"Was that 'Hi'?" Zhane asked sleepily, returning to his zombie mode.
"Hai, yes in Japanese," David corrected. "I love Japanese Culture, it's really nice to meet you," David smiled warmly. "By the way… Zhane?"
"Wha…?"
"They are coming to yours… They're staying."
"Wh-What?"
X x x
Wandering round and round, searching desperately around the docks, but she knew he was gone. Alison knew that he was long gone. Her powers registered a very weak signal far, far away. England, like he'd said. He'd left her in the middle of the night, and he wouldn't have given her as much as a goodbye if she hadn't tackled him late the previous night. There was an empty feeling in her soul, and even just thinking of his unique name brought tears to her eyes.
"Why would he just leave me like that?" she asked the lake hopelessly. It splashed uselessly in reply. "Was I too needy? Did I act too useless? I was just new to this…" Alison stood, suddenly, scuffing her trainers on the wooden parquet. "That's right," she said, dropping her kid act and purposefully deepening her voice. "That's right! Deep ditched me like that because he thought I was a damn useless kid! Because I was! But I swear I won't be anymore, Deep…"
"Alison, don't be dumb. We get more territory, and that's good, right, especially if you're gonna stop acting like an eight-year-old,"
"Territory! Ha," Alison snorted darkly. "I'm going to hunt and get loads of DigiMemories. For Deep, to prove to him that I've done well! To prove it, prove it, prove it…"
"Wait, what?" Birdramon cried. "No, that's dumb! How'll we ever get up there with those other hunters? You get to be the very best by getting DigiMemories, buying devices that that Contractor bloke gives."
"I don't care," declared Alison. "Deep will come back one day, and he'll see I'm not a kid! He'll fall in love with me instantly, and we'll be together forever! True love, true love! Love at first sight, you name it, we'll do it!"
"He saw you before," Birdramon corrected sharply. "Didn't love you then, did he?"
"But I'll be different when he comes back," Alison replied happily. "It will be love at first sight… I swear that I'll make it so,"
X x x
However, the New Year's message was still causing panic all over the world; a passionate hunter wondered what to do about it in Australia;
"What do we do about this note?" he asked.
"You could do what you always do about important things like this; ignore it," his partner snapped.
"Say what you like," he responded sharply, though the ways of dealing with the letter were different with every single hunter and every group of hunters, demonstrated by the group in Rome;
"Have you heard the meeting places that are being set up? There are loads," a dark-haired, red-eyed boy commented.
"The main ones, I heard, are in England and here near the Coliseum," his longer haired friend commented.
"You're both wrong," their female companion muttered darkly. "We should head to Tokyo. The main gate's there, in the under-construction Sky Tree," meanwhile, in Tokyo, the resident hunter commented softly to himself;
"I expect that this is the beginning of a really bad year,";
A girl with red hair, smirked in the early morning, while her partner purred "Perfect..." and a masked man standing on his lonesome grimaced behind his mask.
"This feels like déjà vu… I won't let this happen... again... "
X x x
Zhane stalked melancholically beside David, glaring at the American/Canadian trio, who were walking just ahead, talking awkwardly. He was in a mood still, until an idea struck his mind. "Hey… David! Any ideas for Birthday Presents?"
Next Time: That's right, it's my birthday in six days time and it's just my luck that a Digimon would appear while I was enjoying myself. Even so, I've gotta prove to myself that it's not just Kaoru who can unleash his Digimon's true power, right Coronamon? Yes, that's right; I'll unleash it using my DigiMemories! You want to see that right? Well, tune in next time on Digimon: Rewrite! "17 today, happy birthday David! The searing flames of Firamon!"
