A/N: November 21, 2015, Japanese Time (though it's still the 20th in Canada)! Digimon Adventure Tri., here we are at last! On a side note, I would like to add that I'm not sure if I'll be integrating Tri. into this. Maybe, maybe not, we'll see as we progress, considering this fic would technically take place a year after Tri.
I also revised Chapters 1-10, in terms of formatting and fixing tiny plot mistakes. It's all good now! (I hope…)
But I should stop rambling. You're all here to read Chapter 11, so…
Here we are in the second arc. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or its characters; only this plot, and…yeah. Let's just get on with the story.
P.S. Those of you who were Guests and left a review in Chapter 10, I replied to it via my profile in the 'Q&A Corner' section (since I can't directly PM you).
~X~
Chapter 11: Blood on the Horizon
-Hypnos Headquarters-
35th Floor – Infirmary, 4:10
There was an instant uproar in response to the redhead's statement. Izzy, Nene believed the boy's name was.
She, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on. It seemed that most of the kids (and adults) in the room hadn't understood what had just been said, either, for most of them had reacted with looks of confusion.
The Digimon, however, withered at the sentence said.
Nene's attention shifted elsewhere. She scanned the room, searching for—
There he was!
Just a few beds over, her younger brother Ewan looked to be okay, which was a relief for her. She'd been surprised enough when he'd showed up at this facility at the same time she had, along with a bunch of other people; now he was in a hospital bed along with her as well.
When the relief began to fade away, she started to tune back into the current heated conversation.
"What do you mean he's dead?" a blond fumed, but his voice sounded thicker with grief than with fury. "How could you even know? You forgot about the Digital World just like the rest of us!"
For some reason Nene suddenly recognized him. His name was Matt…Sora's boyfriend…but Sora had never described him before.
How did Nene know it was him? Were they in a class together and she hadn't noticed?
"Tentomon told me," Izzy replied, tone shockingly steady. He was hiding his sadness well. "He saw it happen. He gave me a hard drive that Gennai had told him to give to me."
"I didn't see it happen," the insect Digimon interrupted. "…It was more like—like I felt it. Gennai…he was like a part of the Digital World, protecting it, making sure everything was in balance. When we—" Nene assumed 'we' meant 'all the Digimon'. "—all left through the Portal, I felt something in me…break apart, like some wall in the Digital World was breached."
"How could you feel it?" someone asked—one of the adults.
"Digimon are data," a tall black knight replied. Nene hadn't even noticed him standing there. "Gennai, you could say, was neither human nor Digimon, but a digital entity whose job was as a guide and to defend the Digiworld. So during Gennai's…downfall…to a Digimon it's as if a barrier in their home is going down."
For a second, no one answered.
Maybe everyone was in shock.
Maybe they were taking a moment of silence in tribute for someone who had evidently fallen for the sake of them.
Then one boy said, "Well…" He looked conflicted in what to say. "It's…four in the morning. There's plenty of time to talk about all this; but first, I think we should speak with our parents to tell them we're okay."
Everyone agreed to that.
"The only problem with that," said the blond grown-up who seemed to be the head, "is that I think your parents would want you back home as soon as they've heard from you."
"That's easy," a guy said confidently. "We just tell our parents it's a Digimon issue and they'll—"
"But my parents don't know about Digimon!" a group protested.
"They don't?" cried an obvious majority.
"Aside from that," an elderly man boomed, silencing them all. "Your parents wouldn't have remembered anything about Digimon, regardless!"
"Like you, they've forgotten as well!" a redheaded woman added.
It seemed to take awhile for everyone to process the new bit of info they'd just been fed.
"But…can't we just remind them again?" someone said softly.
"It's not a question of whether or not you can remind them or not." Everyone's head jerked toward the lone knight.
"That's Alphamon," Nene's partner Sparrowmon whispered into her ear. She'd somehow climbed onto the bed despite her slightly wide wingspan, but Nene let her stay there. "He was one of the guys that came and rescued us."
Rescued you from where? Nene wanted to say, but Alphamon was already talking.
"…only reason being because at the moment, it would not be wise to let anyone else know about Digimon except everyone in here. With things in enough turmoil already, we wouldn't want the rest of the…human race in a panic."
"I'm not sure if our parents exactly count as the entire human race," Ren muttered at the same time Izzy said, "What about the other DigiDestined, or Chosen, around the world?"
"It seems that the whole world has forgotten," Alphamon confirmed. "The only difference being that they weren't, and aren't, in as dire a situation as you were."
"Meaning they weren't just about to die," an older brunet stated flatly. Nene recognized him; but from where? She had a feeling she'd seen his face in the university, but hadn't been in any of her classes. But she still knew him.
"I'm the invincible street fighter, Marcus Damon!" he introduced that day.
And then she remembered. It shocked her so much, but it made sense. She wanted to voice her thoughts out loud to her fellow Fusion Fighters and Hunters, but she knew that wouldn't be the best decision.
Better to wait when things had settled at least a bit.
It was four in the morning now, after all.
"Wait," a different blond said. "We were out for nineteen hours, you said?"
"Yeah, Thomas," Marcus sniffed. "One-nine, not nine-zero."
The boy named Thomas ignored Marcus's remark. "According to our Digimon—"
"—we were dead," the blue-haired teen named Joe completed. "Our hearts had stopped. But for—"
"—nineteen hours?" Thomas took over again. "That…I have no intention to put it grimly, but that shouldn't be possible."
"I agree," Joe concurred. "By this much time, all of our brain cells…should have died."
"That's what we thought too, until we noticed something," Yamaki said. "Or, Riley noticed it first."
Alphamon took up the mantle. "It seems that when your Digimon first connected with you, your core body temperatures dropped. It was as if all your organs had shut down for a time from how cold your body was getting."
"Thirty degrees Celsius," a blonde short-haired woman verified.
"That's extreme hypothermia," Joe and Thomas said in unison.
"We got doctors in the house," somebody muttered.
"When are Digimon first connected with us…?" one of the youngest kids trailed off.
~X~
Pretty soon, everyone was getting into conversations of their own, probably about all the confusing info they'd been dumped within the past moment.
A few beds over, Davis noticed a group of people (Kazu among them; they were probably his friends) smiling at the sight of a Leomon. Davis suddenly remembered Tai and the others talking about their friend Leomon whom they'd lost during the battle with the Dark Masters, back in their very first adventure.
But this Leomon was different. He seemed to be a partner of someone; was he the partner of that brunette who was beaming the most at the sight of the biped lion?
Of course she'd be smiling so widely. Davis himself was so happy that he now remembered Veemon and all the awesome times they'd had together; before that, life had seemed empty, and there were certain things that didn't make any sense. And now they did.
He looked back at his Digimon for good measure.
"Hey, Veemon," Davis suddenly said, noticing something for the first time. "What's that?" He pointed to the golden trinket around his partner's neck.
"Oh yeah!" The blue dinosaur seemed to have forgotten it had been there. He quickly pulled it off and put it around Davis's neck. "It's your Cresht of Miraclesh!"
For a second Davis thought he had heard wrong. "Crest of…me? I have a Crest? O-Of…Miracles?" After talking to his partner in their dreamlike state, he hadn't noticed Veemon wearing any sort of necklace. Or Crest.
But it was really true. He was the Bearer of a Crest!
He suddenly looked around, realizing his friends were receiving similar things as well.
"Did I forget everything that much?" Tai said in bewilderment as Agumon held up the Crest of Courage. "These were destroyed by Apocalymon or something, weren't they?"
"No…no, you're not remembering wrong," Joe answered, equally awestruck, as he stared at his Crest of Reliability in Gomamon's flippers. "I remember it going like that too."
But among the nine Crests that belonged to nine of them, there were also three new ones. Davis realized his was a part of the new set. The other two…the goggle-head searched the room for Yolei and Cody. He found them a few beds over.
Sure enough, they were being given something too.
"So now we've got Crests too, huh?" Davis mused to himself. "I wonder what Cody's and Yolei's are called?" He didn't need to wait long to find out.
"The Crest of Passion?" the violet-haired girl repeated, as if Hawkmon had just told her. She had already put the magenta coloured necklace on.
"What's mine called, Armadillomon?" Cody asked, more controlled, but Davis could tell he was just as excited.
"It's called the Crest of Wisdom, Cody," the armadillo said happily. "And I think it suits you perfectly, if I do say so myself!"
Davis realized the rest of the room had gone silent for a while. He looked around again. Everyone was looking at him. Or rather, him and his group of friends.
"What's a Crest?" someone asked plaintively.
Now that was a good question. Before it could be answered, though, something strange happened. Davis nearly missed it out of the corner of his eye, but he saw it just in time.
Tai had reached out to take his Crest, which was in Agumon's claws, and the second he made contact with it, an orange glow poured out so powerfully, soon vanishing as fast as it had come, and the Crest was gone too…
…replaced by the Symbol of Courage over Tai's heart.
Everybody's eyes had now switched to Tai and Agumon, who looked quite amazed at what had just happened.
A blue flash suddenly appeared, and Davis threw his gaze over to Matt, who had the Symbol of Friendship also burned over his heart, the glow leaking though his clothes so everyone could see.
And so it happened one after the other that Davis's eyes had never moved as quickly as they did now.
The red glow came…and Sora…with the Symbol of Love.
Then the purple flash appeared…and Izzy…with the Symbol of Knowledge.
The green sparkle came next…and Mimi…with the Symbol of Sincerity.
Davis was shocked when he saw grey able to shine so brightly…and Joe…with the Symbol of Reliability.
The yellow blaze came…and TK (his real name came so naturally to Davis now)…with the Symbol of Hope.
Then the pink light shone (which the goggle-head knew all too well)…and Kari…with the Symbol of Light.
No one else's Crest glowed after that.
Once again, there was another round of awkward silence. They were only four hours into the new day, and it had been full of them. Top that off with their early morning light show they'd just seen, and today was just a perfect day.
"Well…" Davis recognized a Terriermon speaking. But it didn't belong to Willis. With a pang of regret he realized that the American probably didn't even remember his twin partners Terriermon and Lopmon, according to Alphamon and the grown-ups. "I've never been through a crazier day..."
"I don't get it," Davis muttered. "Why did their Crests disappear…" He glanced down at his own, then at Yolei, Cody, and finally Ken, who was in the bed to his right. "…and not ours? How did we get Crests in the first place?"
"Hey," another brunet said. He, too, also wore goggles, except they were more rectangular. "Why don't we talk to our parents first and then we get to all the explanations?"
"I don't think that's going to be possible," the blond boss said.
"And why's that, Yamaki?" Davis saw Kazu demand. How'd Kazu know that guy's name?
And…why did Kazu have a weird look on his face every time he saw Davis or one of his friends? Only now, it looked like he understood what that reason was, but just couldn't quite believe it yet.
"Talking to your parents right now would be fine," Yamaki relented. "But after knowing that you're all okay, I doubt they'll trust us to keep you here for a moment longer. They'll want you to go back home—not to mention you have school in about four hours."
Everyone groaned. Davis had completely forgotten he'd skipped class to get here.
He glanced at himself again, noticing for the first time that he was still in his high school uniform. For nineteen hours. Actually, maybe a little more than half the kids were in some sort of uniform too. At least he wasn't the only one.
"So when do we get our explanations?" a hot-headed brunet questioned. He looked to be about Tai's age, with no goggles.
"How about after school?" an African-American man suggested.
"But where?" someone wondered.
"Not here," Sampson and Yamaki said in unison. Another grown-up added, "Your parents would never go with it."
"Would our parents even let us go to school?" Yolei pointed out.
I hope mine don't, Davis thought. He needed more time to catch up with Veemon anyway.
"I bet Sarah will," an Agumon piped up. A different Agumon, though. With red armbands. "You were laying on the bed the whole time, anyway, Aniki."
"I thought I told you not to call my mom by her name," the hot-headed brunet growled.
"Can we just get to calling already?" someone sighed.
~X~
At first, Ewan forgot how to stand. Or maybe it was because he'd been lying down for…how long had they said…nineteen hours?...and his body was still transitioning from Shutdown Mode to Wakeup Mode.
There were his shoes he had been wearing before on one side of his bed.
Ewan swung his legs off to the side, letting them dangle an inch above his shoes. Then he let himself drop, shoving his feet into the footwear.
Except his legs didn't seem to like the idea of holding his body up at the moment. He staggered as nothing was left to help him stand, and nearly fell face-first forward toward the ground had Damemon not been there to catch and support him. Ewan was faintly surprised his partner could actually take his weight given the Digimon's size.
"Thank you," he grunted.
"Hey," Tagiru hissed, sliding off his own bed to land right beside the blond. For a moment, he, too, staggered, but soon found the strength without Gumdramon's (who was right beside him) help.
"What?" Ewan murmured, glancing at the goggle-head.
Tagiru's eyes darted everywhere, as if worried that someone would be eavesdropping. His gaze rested on what looked to be a translucent Digimon. "Ewan…y'think those things are ghosts?"
For a moment Ewan just stared at his friend, puzzled for a moment. Then he smirked, and then his smirk turned into a laugh. "After all these years…I almost forgot…you're still afraid of ghosts?"
Tagiru snorted indignantly. "'Course not. I'm just making sure—"
"Yeah, sure." Ewan quickly followed the adults out of the room, staying a few steps behind his older sister Nene, making sure Damemon was beside him. He didn't even want to think of all the weird things that kept happening, one after the other, making his life a whole lot more complicated than it needed to be.
Tagiru was quick to follow right in step with him.
"Okay, I'm serious now. Do you remember our battle with Quartzmon?"
Ewan nearly stopped walking when he heard the name of their final enemy. "Yeah…I do now."
"Remember all those superstars that helped us?" Tagiru continued. Ewan glanced at his face and saw a dead seriousness in his eyes.
Superstars…why would Tagiru bring this up?...superstars…
Tai Kamiya…Davis Motomiya…Takato Matsuki…Takuya Kanbara…Marcus Damon… The names kept coming, along with their faces. Wait. Their faces…four years ago…and now…
Ewan had seen the same exact faces reflected off of a few of the other people here with them. Only now they were much older, maturer, in appearance and action, but the fiery eyes, just like Tagiru, had never ceased to lose their spark.
Not one bit.
"W-We met them…" Ewan stammered. "They were—they helped us defeat Quartzmon!"
"Yeah," Tagiru agreed, eyes still emanating the serious vibe. For the first time, Ewan realized it didn't suit him. The goggle-head kept talking. "Remember what the Clock Shop Owner said about them?"
Ewan's mind went back to that fateful day he finally remembered, when their whole world had been turned into DigiQuartz by Quartzmon himself. What had the Clock Shop Owner said? "He said…all of them were from different universes." The second the words were out of his mouth they felt strange. What did it even mean to be from a different universe?
"Exactly," Tagiru said determinedly as they continued walking. Gumdramon and Damemon seemed to be in the midst of their own conversation "Didn't that Clock Shop guy say only his Clockmon would be able to travel through time and space?"
Ewan nodded thoughtfully. "I guess…" His eyes widened. He made sure to lower his voice. "You think the Clock Shop Owner brought them all here?"
The brunet shrugged. "It's the only thing I can think of...anyway, the only reason that old guy would bring them here would be because—"
"Because if the worlds are in danger, like with Quartzmon," Ewan finished. He paused. "I can't believe you just thought of that."
"What?" Tagiru shot back defensively. "So I can't have a good idea every now and then? Anyway, I did just think of that, and you know what that means?"
"It means the worlds are in danger and you're not completely dumb anymore," Ewan half-teased.
"Yeah, that too, but it also means I can prove to be a superstar again!"
Ewan rolled his eyes. He'd put his hopes too high.
"There's one other thing," Tagiru added quietly.
"What's that?" Ewan asked, interest rising. What else did their leader have up his sleeve?
"You remember Quartzmon was using Astamon to control Ryouma, right?"
"Yes…why—?"
"Before I came to talk to you, I was talking with Ryouma. He said…Astamon came back as Psychemon. Except…he's free from Quartzmon's control now. He was in Ryouma's Fusion Loader."
"How...?"
"He said he'd talk about it later."
Ewan didn't know if Tagiru was referring to Ryouma or Psychemon. He didn't answer anyway.
He felt unexpectedly happy for the silver-haired boy. Maybe because he knew what it was like to lose your partner, even though Ryouma and he weren't in the exact same situation for it to be called feeling empathetic.
But it was close enough.
Just then, he noticed he was going up a flight of stairs. His body had done the work while his mind had been clueless of what he was doing…even as he was doing it.
They must have passed two or three floors before entering a huge room.
Monitors flashed on the walls. There were a bunch of revolving chairs scattered about a bunch of desks, and on some of the desks were telephones; and there were a lot of desks.
Ewan's first thought was Izzy must love this place. His second thought was Find a desk.
"You can make your calls now," the man named Yamaki said. "If you don't have your own phone, you can use the ones here." He looked quite relieved for them all being in here, probably because parents would now stop breathing on his neck.
Ewan left Tagiru to get to his own phoning business. He realized he was instinctively following Nene to one of the desks, Damemon beside him, his yellow Fusion Loader given back and safely tucked away in his dress pants pocket.
After getting his memories of Digimon back, he somehow felt even more respect for his older sister Nene, as well the others. He couldn't believe he had forgotten the lengths she had gone to save him from AxeKnightmon back in the Digital World, back when the Fusion Fighters had been fighting Baguramon.
"Sis," Ewan said hesitantly as he sat down on one of the revolving chairs beside the desk. "How worried do you think Papa is?" He took Damemon and placed his partner on his lap.
Nene pursed her lips as she sat down as well and let one hand reach for her cell phone. Sparrowmon had decided to go back into Nene's lavender Fusion Loader.
"I don't know…" Ewan's sister began. "…he's probably really worried. He's always been trying to watch us the best he can; he was even more worried when I'd become a singing idol, but now I've stopped to focus on my studies…but he's still overly protective ever since…"
Ewan let her leave her sentence hanging because he knew what she'd been about to say: Mama… But he didn't want to push his sister on stuff that she didn't want to talk about, let alone stuff he didn't remember as a baby.
Nene sighed and dialed the familiar numbers in. A few seconds later Ewan could tell the other end had picked up. "Hello?…Yes, Papa, we're fine…yes, he's right beside me…Alright." She held out her phone to him. "He wants to talk to you."
Ewan took the phone. "Hello?"
His father's voice came on the line. "Ewan, are you alright? Why didn't one of you tell me you were both staying over somewhere?"
For a moment the blond was at a loss for words. His father's voice was edged with anger, but since he was his dad, Ewan could tell he was really very agitated. But what he didn't get was what his dad had said: …you were staying over somewhere…
And then it dawned on him.
Papa…all the parents…they called—uh, Hypnos—already! Did Yamaki and the others make a bluff to hide the real reason? They avoided the whole fact that we were asleep—Ewan gulped when he caught his mind avoiding the actual term—for all this time since yesterday morning? It made sense, and it would make parents worry less than if they'd been told the latter, but they would have gone crazy all the same.
What if Papa had asked them to talk with me or sister? Ewan thought with a frown. What would the adults have said? What did they say?
Ewan realized he was leaving his dad hanging. "Hello? Ewan?" came the voice.
"Yes, sorry! I—I—" …didn't know I was going to stay here for the night until this morning! He stopped himself from saying what had formed in his head.
"We forgot," Nene supplied smoothly, soothingly, taking the phone from her brother. "We'd wanted to tell you before, but we'd forgotten." She handed the phone back to Ewan.
"Well…" Their father paused for a moment, as if contemplating what to say. "I'm just glad you're safe. But next time, don't forget to tell me anything, alright?"
"Alright, Papa," Ewan replied, voice steadier.
Was this really the only right way? To lie to his dad? Why wouldn't he understand if they reminded him of Digimon again? When, why, and how had things gotten so messed up?
"Ewan, what were you and Nene even doing there?"
Ewan froze at the question because really, there was no straight answer to that. "…You see…" He gritted his teeth as he tried to evade the question. "We were going to go home earlier, but…"
He was saved from answering, startlingly, by his father. "Never mind, Ewan. We'll talk about this later. Just…I'll come pick you up now. Tell me the address?"
Ewan was about to answer when he remembered what the blue-haired bespectacled man had told all of them at Odaiba High, just before they'd left for Shinjuku: "The ride back to your homes shall be made as well."
Ewan said, "Papa it's fine, we'll be coming back home right now. Some nice people here will be dropping us off." He nearly said "See you soon" but felt it was too sentimental. Instead he pressed Call End and handed the phone back to his sister.
"I don't think Papa's convinced." He exhaled slowly.
"I know," Nene nodded grimly. "I don't want to keep this a secret, but…after just remembering, it seems like telling him won't make it any better."
Ewan got the real message. They understood enough that Digimon-related problems were always dangerous; if they told their over protective father, wouldn't it be dangerous for him too?
"No good, no good!" Damemon spoke for the first time. "Telling your dad will do no good, no good!"
"It'll be okay, Nene," Sparrowmon reassured from Nene's Fusion Loader. "Things will come out fine in the end. But for now, we'll stay a secret from your dad!"
A commotion stopped the siblings' conversation. They glanced over to where the red lizard—Guilmon, Ewan remembered, back when Takato had introduced themselves back in the battle with Quartzmon—and his Tamer were speaking with Yamaki and the other adults.
"Guilmon," Takato was arguing, "Guilmon Home was filled with concrete three years ago, remember?"
Yamaki looked stunned for a moment as he spoke softly. "That's right…it was…but…it isn't anymore."
"…What?"
"Takato doesn't remember?" Guilmon whimpered. The dino shook his head. "Never mind. Takato'll remember… It's open now and bigger. Everyone can meet there and we can all talk."
This seemed to pique everyone's interest as they all turned Guilmon's way, having seemed to have finished talking on the phones.
"Guilmon Home?" Izzy echoed curiously. "Your Digimon has a home in the Real World?"
"Uh…you could say that," Takato said timidly.
"And he says we can meet there?"
"All of us!" Guilmon cheered.
"Yay~!" a small white Digimon applauded.
"Not a bad idea," another brunet (Takuya, Ewan recalled) considered. "When and where do we meet?"
"After school," came a few answers.
"At four, then," one said. "Twelve hours from now."
"But where exactly is Guilmon Home?" Mikey asked.
"It's a small…shed, I guess you could say, with a black metal gate," Suzie described. "You'll find it at some point. It's in Shinjuku Park."
"Shinjuku?" an older spiky-haired boy repeated. He leaned in and whispered something to Takuya.
Ewan, having been walking closer to the group, heard something like "…gotta take the train…"
"Okay, then!" Tagiru declared. "We've got a date and time set! Everybody better be there!"
And if they're not? Ewan countered in his head. Whatever. Just leave him be.
For a second everyone was quiet. Again. Then:
"Can we go home now?"
Crier Residence, 13:00
Not for the first time, Keenan's eyes strayed to the clock mounted against the wall.
Three hours to go.
His parents had let him stay home today, and he was quite grateful for it. He got to hang out with Falcomon, with his parents at work as researchers and his five-year-old sister Ruka off at school (in kindergarten).
The only downside was that he had had to go to school early in the morning to pick up whatever work he would've missed today and had already missed yesterday. He was working on it right now.
Keenan had already confirmed with Kristy that she, he, and Marcus would go together at four. He knew he couldn't miss this meeting with the other kids...
Kids that had Digimon.
With different Digivices.
That were not known to Sampson or Yushima.
So who were they?
The events of the morning (the whole morning) were still struggling to digest in his stomach. On top of that were long-lost memories beginning to resurface, and as unbelievable as they were, they were the only explanations that were able to fit the gaps in his life.
No wonder he'd felt overly jittery on the first day of high school: he'd barely had any experience in school to begin with.
For the first ten years of his life, he'd grown up in the Digital World, raised by Frigimon, Merukimon, and Falcomon as his partner. But the two former Digimon had both died due to Kurata's evil intentions.
And because of that, Keenan had hated humans, even considering himself as a Digimon. That is, until Marcus and the others had opened his eyes and made him realize that not all humans were bad.
In the end, he was a human with a Digimon's heart.
Back to this morning's events.
His parents had been extremely worried for him, wondering why he hadn't come back, if they'd lost him again… And that was when Keenan realized that they'd subconsciously said 'again' as if some part of them remembered losing him as a baby from the Digital Gate accident.
When he'd gotten home at almost five in the morning, his parents had instantly started asking how he was. Keenan had attempted to sidestep each question, but was pretty sure he hadn't exactly done the best job at it.
His parents left him alone anyways, which could only mean they'd bring it up again when he'd least expect it.
But for the whole time, they didn't seem to remember anything related to Digimon or the Digiworld.
So Falcomon had stayed in Keenan's Data Link the whole ride back as the adults had driven them back home in groups depending on where they lived. Thomas, Yoshino, Megumi, Miki, Sampson, and Yushima had all gone back to Hokkaido via plane or chopper, he didn't know.
Maybe both.
Keenan didn't know whether to feel bad or not that they'd have to take another aerial trip back to Shinjuku on the same day.
Two hours and fifty-two minutes to go...
And counting.
Matsuki Residence, 15:52
"Takato, c'mon, we gotta go!" Guilmon called.
"Guilmon, keep it down!" Takato warned. He instantly felt guilty for the reprimand and backed it up with, "I'll be there in a minute, boy! I just need to get something…"
He rummaged around in his closet, looking around, feeling, feeling…there it was! His fingers touched something thick and smooth, and in a few seconds, he had a deck of cards (in the case) in his hands. But not just any cards.
Digimon Power-Up cards.
Somehow it felt reassuring, familiar, to be holding them. It wasn't nearly as much joy though, as seeing Jeri's delighted face—all their happy faces—when they'd first seen Leomon sitting on the edge of his partner's hospital bed back at Hypnos.
After so long…they had all seen Leomon die right before their very eyes, bursting into bits of data…they'd even seen him being absorbed by Beelzemon, something Impmon had never forgiven himself for.
But there Leomon was, alive and well, insisting that he'd explain everything this afternoon.
Which, according to Takato's clock, meant in eight minutes.
He strapped his cards to his waist. His other fellow Tamers would probably be bringing their own Digi-Modify cards as well.
But there was one other thing that was disturbing Takato, and he and his friends had agreed to discuss this at the meeting: the Digimon TV show.
From the first day of high school, Kazu had recognized Davis Motomiya, a student in his class and new friend, from somewhere, though he hadn't known where. But now he did.
Back at Hypnos's infirmary, they'd seen the proof; thirteen pieces of proof, to be precise.
The DigiDestined from the TV show had been there with their exact appearances and matching partner Digimon. They'd even had the Crests with them even though Takato didn't really get how since they'd been destroyed in the first groups' final battle.
Takato also didn't get how Davis, Cody, and Yolei had received Crests, either.
But that wasn't the point; the final piece of evidence was that they had mentioned Gennai, who, if Takato remembered from the show right, was the DigiDestined's guide. The old wrinkled man that had gone young in the second season.
Except according to the kids before Takato's eyes, they'd mentioned Gennai was dead, which alarmed and confused the Takato's group at the same time.
And that was exactly why the Tamers had agreed to discussing it at Guilmon Home.
Come to think of it…Ryo had seemed a little off when they'd spoken anything about the DigiDestined or the Digimon TV show to begin with. Takato had a hunch on what it was, but didn't want to pursue the older boy any further. Ryo would find his answers soon enough.
"Takato~!" Guilmon cried.
"Coming!" the Tamer responded. He noticed his Digimon at the foot of the staircase. "Gah!"
The brunet quickly grabbed a cardboard box from his room and, flying down the stairs, shoved it on top of his partner. "Guilmon, we have to make sure Mom and Dad don't see you!" he whispered.
Takato quickly shoved Guilmon-in-the-Box across the corridor, hastily trying to cross the intersection that led into the kitchen where his parents were.
He sighed in relief as they passed it and made it to the front door and were about to leave when his mom called out, "Takato? Where are you going?"
He did the first thing he could think of: tell part of the truth. "Just going out to meet up with some friends!"
"Are you done all your homework?" That was his dad.
"Y-Yes!"
Silence. Then, his mom again: "Well, if you're going to see some friends, why don't you bring some bread for them?"
Takato's mind flashed back to the time his parents had first made Guilmon Bread. It felt like so long ago and yet he still remembered it. It had soon grown popular in their bakery, but they weren't making it anymore.
Takato couldn't seem to remember when they had stopped.
If they only knew… Takato thought sorrowfully.
"Sure, Mom! Guilmon, stay here," he added in a hushed tone.
"Okay, Takato!" Guilmon said in a shout-whisper.
Just how much bread should he take with him? There were more people—and Digimon—this time around. Way more.
"Um…" And then he had an idea.
He grabbed a red wagon in the back of the kitchen. He used it sometimes when he was on errands delivering breads and pastries to more than one person. "We can put the bread in here!"
His mom looked at him. "Takato, are you really taking a wagon-full?"
Takato flushed, flustered for a moment. "Well…there are a lot more friends I'm meeting up with this time. On the bright side…it'll, uh, promote our bakery!"
His mother did a face-palm, thinking hard. She was probably thinking I shouldn't have asked him to bring bread.
"…Alright, but you're only taking so much just this once."
"Okay! Thanks, Mom!" The two quickly stuffed the wagon with bags of bread, pastries, and the like. At least no one would be hungry in their meeting.
Pulling the wagon behind him, Takato called a quick "Bye!" as he pushed his partner out the front door. Lucky for him, there were holes at the front of the box in which Guilmon could see out of, so Takato wouldn't have to push him and pull a wagon full of baked goods at the same time.
They walked down the streets, people occasionally shooting them an odd glance or two, but leaving them alone. Takato sighed in relief.
That was when he chanced a look up at the blue sky…well, almost blue.
He immediately did a double take.
"Guilmon…l-look up."
Through the serene azure, a crack of blood-red showed, almost hidden among the swirling clouds. But the goggle-head was sure he was seeing it right.
"Takato…" Guilmon growled. Takato risked a lift of the box to check on his partner. His eyes had gone concentrated, his pupils thinning into slits, as he continued to stare at the sky. His biohazard mark glowed ominously.
And then it happened.
Takato suddenly felt a rush of emotions; he felt his senses go into overdrive. He coukd hear the squeaking of a mouse ten metres to their right, saw the red tendril in the sky with much greater detail than before, tasted the thick tension in the air, felt an imminent danger hanging in the balance…
And he sensed Guilmon by his side, thinking the same thoughts, knew he was discerning the same things; for a moment they were completely in sync with each other, Takato with Guilmon and Guilmon with Takato.
"There's danger…" they hissed in unison.
And then it stopped.
The sky stopped bleeding, almost as if it had magically healed, and Guilmon's eyes went back to the way they were. The lizard suddenly acted as if nothing had happened. Takato jerked as if he had been tugged out of something, which, in a sense, was exactly what had just happened.
"Takato?" Guilmon asked. "Why's the box not on me? Is it safe to come out now?"
"Er, no, not yet," Takato said, hastily placing the box back on. They'd arrived at the entrance to Shinjuku Park. "Just a little further, boy, and then you can take it off."
As they continued walking, the wagon rolling along behind them, Takato couldn't help but think of what had just happened a moment ago.
They'd nearly reached their friends—Takato could see some of them now—when he heard a voice, whispering in the wind. He paused slightly, and then continued walking, his pace ever faster, his spine still tingling from the words he had heard, churning in his head.
"There's a storm coming, boy, and you won't be able to stop it…"
DIGITAL WORLD
Flame Terminal, Unknown Time
The explosion rocked under Bokomon's feet as he heard a blast ring through his ears. He felt another detonation shake the ground, sending him stumbling into Neemon, who yelped in surprise.
In the distance, shouts and cries could be heard.
The enemy had come.
"C'mon, you Bakamon, we need to get outta here!" Bokomon tugged on Neemon's pants and let them snap back, startling Neemon into reality as they both dashed for the exit to their hut.
Right before they reached the door, Bokomon threw a one-eighty as he reversed, making a beeline for his bookshelf.
"Hey, Bokomon!" Neemon called in his wake. "I thought you said we need to get outta here?"
Bokomon quickly grabbed the book he wanted and went back to the door. "Yes, you idiot! Go!"
As they made their way out, Bokomon noticed the throng of Digimon escaping with them. They were mostly at the In-Training level. All around them, huts, homes, and buildings went down as they were shot by red flaming arrows seemingly coming out of nowhere.
How ironic, the small white Digimon thought. Flame Terminal would be brought down by fire.
They kept running, even though Bokomon had no idea where. Out of the flaming town, that was for sure.
Maybe the Forest Terminal? Even if it was so far away…
Bokomon, Neemon, and the other Rookie and (some) Champion (but mostly In-Training) Digimon were at the edge of Flame Terminal when they were intercepted by tall shadows.
Literally. Complete with red eyes.
Bokomon instantly stopped, Neemon crashing into him. The horde of Digimon eventually came to a halt as well.
Behind them lay their home, being destroyed, perhaps with some not able to escape from the wreckage. In front of them lay their foe, blocking their way forward, standing imperiously before them.
The escapees were trapped.
"Join us," the Voice threatened. "Join us if you wish your lives to be spared!"
Neemon's legs shook. The pair were in the midst of the crowd. "H-H-Hey, Bokomon…why don't we…j-join them, huh…?"
Neemon was given a rubber slap in response. "Don't be a coward," Bokomon rebuked. "We have to have faith that the Legendary Warriors will come and save the Digital World again!"
"Yeah right, and be controlled to destroy fellow Digimon?" one of the Digimon retorted to the shady creatures. "We'll never join the likes of you!" Pretty soon all the Digimon were shouting, pushing forward in an attempt to escape.
And then it happened so fast Bokomon barely saw it. One of the shadows grabbed the nearest In-Training Digimon—a Pagumon—and withdrew a long dark blade from the folds of its robe (it was humanoid in shape anyway) and in a second slashed the Pagumon in half.
A burst of golden dust followed.
But no Digiegg came after.
For a moment, all were shocked in sadness. Then a wailing was taken up, first by one but soon spreading until everyone was screaming, screaming and mourning.
"SILENCE!" Everyone immediately stopped. "Let this be a lesson to you all. Or you will be next."
The shadows advanced, blades drawn, arcing and hacking, killing Digimon every which way. Some surrendered, horrified of suffering an irreversible fate, in the hopes that being the enemy's slave would somehow be better than utter deletion?
Fear rose at the back of Bokomon's throat. He looked around him as the enemy got closer, blades drawing nearer with each step…
Wait a minute. Where was Neemon? He threw a glance behind him to see the yellow bunny running the opposite direction toward the flaming Flame Terminal.
The idiot! Bokomon thought. He raced after him, a little slow because of the book he was carrying.
By the time he was able to catch up to Neemon, they were already a few steps into Flame Terminal. Bokomon could feel the heat from the flames coming off everything, felt the death hanging thickly in the air.
"Nee—mon!" he gasped, since he was still out of breath from all the running. "You…" He was too worn out to say anything else.
Something crumbled behind them. Bokomon whipped around to see a building teeter and smash into the ground, red flames swirling up, cutting off their escape route completely.
In front of them lay more fire and explosions.
There was nowhere else to go.
Bokomon looked down at his book, the one Takuya and the others had encouraged him to write: The Adventures of the Legendary Warriors.
Maybe they'd come again someday and reclaim the Digiworld like they had four years ago from Lucemon.
The only difference was that Bokomon and Neemon wouldn't be there to see it happen again.
"It's been nice knowing you, Neemon," Bokomon cried, suddenly feeling overly dramatic as he hugged the yellow rabbit, the book squashed between them. The flames trickled closer to them as more blasts slowly destroyed their home. "I just wanted you to know that all those times I've rubber slapped you or called you an idiot, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, and—"
"Hey look, there's a Digimon flying toward us," Neemon said cheerfully.
"That's nice, Neemon…wait a moment, WHAT NOW?!"
Before he could say another word, they were both lifted up into the air by two arms.
Bokomon felt light-headed. We're saved!
"Who are you…?" he slurred.
"Your rescuer," the Digimon replied. Bokomon's vision was slightly dim, so he couldn't exactly make out the shape, only the fact that Neemon was riding beside him, and that the book was safely tucked under his own arms.
"Where are we going?" Bokomon forced himself to ask.
"A place where old friends are," was the only reply.
For a while the only sound was the beating of wings as they flew through the now-permanently blood-red sky. Bokomon thought about all the Digimon that had probably died back at Flame Terminal. And their home…it was destroyed.
Neemon broke the silence.
"Hey, Bokomon…did you really mean it when you said you were sorry about rubber slapping me and—" He never finished his sentence.
Bokomon reached over, tugged on Neemon's pants and quickly let them snap back again. The yellow rabbits eyes went wide, then he smiled goofily.
Bokomon thought he could hear their saviour chuckle lightly as they soared toward the bloody horizon ahead of them.
Uh-oh, looks like things are rough in the Digital World! Who is Bokomon and Neemon's savior and where is their rescuer taking them? What did Takato and Guilmon see in the sky and how did they connect the way they did? How will the great gathering of heroes go? You'll just have to read the next chapter to find out!
Chapter Notes:
1. Willis: I want to bring him (and Michael and the other Chosen/DigiDestined around the world) in at some point. Just not now.
2. Guilmon Home: In the Digimon Tamers Audio Drama CD Message in a Packet, taking place a year after the Tamers had destroyed the D-Reaper, it is said Guilmon Home had been covered/clogged in with concrete (by Hypnos, I believe…?) for fear that the Digital Gate and/or Field there would one day expand.
3. Guilmon's Speech: Guilmon talks in the first or third person, so I'll switch occasionally.
4. Bakamon: 'Baka' means 'idiot', so 'Bakamon' technically means 'Idiot-mon', which is just something Bokomon used to call Neemon sometimes.
~X~
Okay, I do admit, I was planning to put the 'ultimate meeting' into this, but then I realized it'd be way too long. So that's gonna be done in Chapter 12. For sure. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and don't forget to leave a review before you go!