Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

A/N: Please review!

Chapter 13

Izzy typed furiously at his laptop, but nothing was coming up. "Error…" He said when the error sign popped up. He typed some more. "Error…" And again, "Error…"

"Nothing's getting through?" Tai asked him. Izzy shook his head in response. "These Digimon are getting in the way of everything!"

"Where did these things come from?" Cody asked. "If we find out where they're from, we would at least know if these are actually real Digimon."

"Do you really think fake Digimon will do this must damage?" Joe asked.

Cody nodded. "Maybe there's a malfunction in their programming."

"Good idea!" Davis said, slapping his back.

"Look there!" Everyone looked as Kari pointed to a girl. It was the cheerleader, Dawn, running for her life.

"Hey!" Tai called to her. "Miss! Where did you get your Digimon?"

She stopped. "My dad got it for me. I think the place is called…Kawada's or something."

"Great!" Davis said, taking out his phone. "I'll message Willis."

Tai nodded. "You do that. Izzy, let's go check it out."

"We'll go too." Agumon said.

"Yeah." Tentomon agreed. And the four set off with their journey to find the place.

"Great." Matt rolled his eyes. "And what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

Mimi shrugged as Davis flipped through his phone. "Willis sent me a stream of the news in America. It's not very clear, but it said something about them launching a missile at the hole."

"Will attacking it really work?" T.K. asked.

"Then, let's do it!" Veemon said.

Davis nodded to him. "There's also an article that explains more, but I can't read English."

"Don't you have automatic translate?" Ken asked him.

"I don't know how to turn that on." He said. "Nick usually handles those kinds of worldly affairs."

Mimi let out a huff and stuck out a hand. "You would never survive in New York." Davis rubbed the back of his neck and handed his phone over. She scanned the article before letting out a gasp. "People worldwide are going to capture the Digimon and put them down!"

"What?!" Everyone turned and asked.

Mimi nodded. "It started in America and they're doing it in Germany too."

"We can't just sit here now! We have to do something!" Matt pounded his fist to his hand.

"Let me see one of them." Joe said. "Maybe the Digimon are sick."

"I'll help." Cody volunteered.

()()

"I'm getting too old for this." Michael Washington complained. After twenty-five years, he has changed a lot! His once skinny teenaged frame gained a lot of muscle, his once flawless face now has a scar coming from the bottom of his left eye, and his once bare skin now has a tattoo on his right shoulder of an anchor. The only thing that didn't change was his hair, blonde and long as always.

"Seadramon, let's ride!" Being a part of the marines has done a lot for him as well as his Digimon. The mighty sea dragon Digimon splashed through the water ways and de-digivolved back to Betamon. Both of them hopped into the jeep and rode off. "I got a call from this guy named, Willis. He says we need to meet up."

"Who's Willis?" Betamon asked. "And why are we taking orders from him?"

"We're in war, Betamon." He told him. "We're from the same country, fighting against the same enemy."

"But the Digimon aren't our enemies. Everyone seems to believe that."

"But this time," Michael said, "this time, it's different."

The car ride was long and quiet. The two were really focused on their mission. After an hour or so of driving, Betamon decided to speak. "What are we going to do to these Digimon? We can't possibly take them all on alone."

"Don't doubt, Betamon." Michael told him. "We can't afford that anymore, remember? We couldn't afford it for fifteen years. Maybe even longer." He kept driving, thinking of a past love.

Lee Smith was her name. She was beautiful and young. She didn't have a penny to her name but she was rich. At first, Lee was just a band aid or cover up for his relationship with Mimi. He couldn't get her out of his mind when they broke up. The only reason he was with Lee is to tell everyone he was alright without her.

But he was wrong.

Michael was better off without Mimi. And he figured that out when Lee discovered his whole plan. She left that day and took all of her tender love and care with her. She took all of the sunshine Michael thought was fake with her. She took all of the happiness he thought was a lie with her. And then he was left with grief. Even if he knew it was only a matter of time until she found out, he thought he would be over it. But the grief now was different. Lee gave him her heart but she took it back before he could genuinely take it.

Michael woke up the next morning, drowning in himself, but he didn't show it. The only person that knew, or Digimon, was Betamon. He noticed each and every one of Michael's robotic movements. And for the next few months, he continued with them until he joined the US Marines. There, his heart would only have to be in one place, America.

But after a year in the marines, Michael got a letter from Lee. It didn't say much, but it read "Michael Jr." along with an attachment of a photo. It was of a baby with blonde hair and blue eyes. He knew for sure that the baby was his son. But the note said a little more. "I want you to know that the baby is healthy, and that he's being taken care of. I met a guy…" And he stopped reading. It didn't take long for Lee to move on.

And for the rest of that time, he didn't see his son. Michael believed he didn't need to. It was just him, Betamon, and Sweet Lady America. But he still can't help but to keep her picture nearby as he rode down the quiet, damaged highway. He skid to a stop in the middle of it when he saw a man and a woman on the side. Michael rolled his window down as he and Betamon kept their eyes on the couple.

"Are you the boy from Colorado?" He asked the man.

He nodded, showing him his digivice. "The name's Willis." He introduced. "And this is Coco, and my Digimon, Terriermon."

Michael nodded. "Well, come on in. We have worlds to save." He and Betamon kept a close eye on them as they slid to the back seats. Michael paid closer attention to Coco, staring her up and down. "Where's her digivice?"

"I don't have one." She said, giving him the don't-mess-with-me look.

"She's with me." Willis told him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "She's cool."

"We have to be careful around the Non-Destined." Michael said, starting the car again. "They could turn on us just like their Digimon did."

"Oh, I know."

The jeep finally regained motion down the rigid highway. "So where are we headed?"

"The nearest DigiCorp." Willis pulled out his cellphone and spoke into it. "GPS, on. Search: DigiCorp Headquarters."

"Searching…" The phone replied. "Searching… Searching…"

Michael gripped his steering wheel even harder when the word kept repeating. Finally, he barked "Can't that thing go any faster?"

"Not sure. I didn't have time to update it."

"Since when? 2010?" Michael asked. "What are we going to do at DigiCorp anyway?"

"DigiCorp, or Digital Corporation, is a business that specifies in Digi-human interactions. Since they're going crazy, DigiCorp is going to try to gather them and put them to sleep. And since we're not all in DigiWorld, we're talking thousands, maybe millions of Digimon never moving on."

Coco gasped. "You mean, we'll be haunted forever by evil Digimon?"

Willis nodded. Finally, his phone stopped its repetitive rant. "DigiCorp Headquarters unable to locate."

"Great!" Michael pounded the steering wheel.

"Let me try again." Willis said. "GPS: on. Search: DigiCorp Headquarters."

"I'll try mine." Coco said, getting out her phone. "GPS, search DigiCorp Headquarters."

"Searching…" Both phones said.

"Digimon Corporation Headquarters located in Washington DC. This is not your area. Would you like directions anyway?" Coco's phone asked while Willis's phone kept searching.

"Yes." She replied.

"Please repeat."

Coco looked over at Willis. "Turn your phone off." Willis clicked a button and exited out of the app. Then, Coco repeated "Yes."

"Here are the directions." It said, displaying a holographic map. "Please keep on south freeway."

()()

"Here it is!" Tai exclaimed once they came across the small building called Kawada's. He kicked down the door and took a closer look inside. "DigiDestined official business!" He flashed his badge around, but no one was around to see it. "The coast is clear. Spread out!"

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Who are we? The Swat Team?"

"Well, you know what I mean!" Tai looked around. "Maybe there's some sort of device or something…"

Izzy flipped the light switch but nothing worked, so he got out a flashlight instead. The building was small. In fact, it was just the room. Izzy noticed the small waiting area with two chairs, a coffee table, and a thick book on top. Curious, he picked up the large tome and took a quick peek inside. It was a strange book that had a lot of information on Digimon. Each page had a picture of a Digimon, their types, their attacks, their appearance, and so forth. The last thing he wanted was for all of this information to get into the wrong hands, so Izzy put the book into his pocket.

"Hey, look at this!" Agumon called from behind the counter.

"How'd you get back there?" Tentomon asked.

Agumon pointed to his right. "There's a door just right there."

The others found the door before Tai opened it. "What'd you find, Agumon?"

Agumon handed the large log book to him. "Izzy, hand me your flashlight."

"What is it?" Izzy handed it to him.

Tai flipped open to a random page. "Dawn Ikezawa; match: DemiVeemon, time and date: 6:42 pm, December 26th." He read. "It's an appointment book."

"Look here." Tentomon said pointing to the cabinet behind them. "Since when did they even cabinets with wheels on them?"

The two blinked at each other in confusion. "Didn't they always have wheels?" Tai asked.

"But the question is: why would it have wheels?" Izzy asked, raising a thought. "I'll tell you why. So that it would be easy to get to what's behind it."

"In this case…" Tai pushed the cabinet out of the way to reveal an arrangement of purple and white lights. "…a portal?"

Izzy nodded. "Precisely."

"I smell Digimon." Agumon said, taking a whiff.

"Really?" Tai and Izzy asked.

"Through here?" Izzy asked before popping his head through it. Seconds later, he came out. "It is the Digital World."

"Great! Now, let's get the others and…" Before Tai could finish, there was a shriek coming from the door.

"What are you doing in my office?!" They all turned around to see a woman standing there, obviously not amused. She had her hands on her hips and stood firmly, waiting for an explanation.

"Uh…" Tai took out his digivice. "We're here on DigiDestined official business."

"And who gave you permission to search and destroy my place?"

"To be fair," Izzy said, "we haven't destroyed anything."

"Well, who gave you permission to trespass?"

Tai flashed his diplomat badge. "I did. A government official in charge of all relations between Earth and the Digital World. If this is your business, you're in a lot of trouble for what's going on in the city."

"This is my business," she said, "but it has nothing to do with the chaos."

"Then how come our Digimon haven't been affected?" Izzy asked, pointing to Tentomon and Agumon.

The woman shrugged. "I don't know. I just want you out of my place at once!"

"Wait, Tai!" Everyone turned towards Agumon. "Doesn't she look familiar?"

They turned to her again and took a closer look at her facial features. Long black hair, dark eyes, pale skin, and a scar along the right side of her jaw line. "I don't…know." Tai said.

The woman frowned some more.

"It's Noriko!" Tai finally concluded.

"Noriko?" Izzy questioned. "From twenty-five years ago? That Noriko?"

"The very same!" Agumon realized.

Noriko put her hands on her hips. "What of it?"

Tai and Izzy looked at each other and back at her. "You do know this whole thing is linked to this place, right?" Izzy asked, taking out the book he found. He started scanning over it again.

"And what makes you automatically assume such nonsense?"

"Where else would these people get the Digimon from?" Tai asked, getting impatient. "Obviously, there's something wrong with your inventory that are somehow reacting to the hole in the sky!"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Noriko said. "I have nothing to do with the hole! It was there when I got here!"

Tai nodded. "You may have a point, but I'm still suspicious of this place." He said. "I don't even know if these Digimon are real. No one else in town have digivices."

"Can you even conceive in your mind the chaos that would happen if these people had digivices? They would make their Digimon digivolve willy-nilly for no good reason! I'm not up for creating billions of monsters."

Izzy looked up from the book. "Noriko," he said, "what exactly is the purpose of this business?"

Noriko sat down at the nearest chair, keeping her eyes on them. "I wanted to give people the chance us kids got when we were in the Digital World. All of those kids were upset because they didn't have Digimon. Maybe everyone else wanted one too. So I met up with a guy, and he helped me make this place. Now, I'm to blame for a random reaction due to weather change. I think the real fault is you, Mr. Researcher!" She pointed to Izzy.

"Hey, I'm working on it!" He defended.

"If you say so." Noriko tugged on her blazer.

"This argument is a waste of time!" Tai burst. "Now, what are these fake Digimon?"

"I'm telling you, they're real!" Noriko raised her voice. "Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe your digivices are protecting your Digimon from this thing?"

"I have." Izzy said, earning him a look from Tai.

"Damn it! There are lives in jeopardy right now!" Tai pounded a fist on the table. "Let's stop pointing fingers and find out how to fix this mess!"

"Agreed." Izzy said. "First of all, is this portal here really the Digital World?"

Noriko nodded. "It is."

"Then, the only person responsible would have to be the Digimon."

"Or…" Tai stated. "It could be her boss." The two turned towards her.

Noriko stood still. She didn't object, she didn't agree. She just sat there not saying a word with her lips a thin line. The guys just kept her eyes on her and vice versa. Suddenly, someone else opened the door. Noriko still didn't move a muscle as she knew who it was.

The guys looked up and saw a tall guy in a long, grey trench coat that covered him completely and matching fedora that hid his face and head. "Can we help you?" Tai finally spoke up.

They guy didn't say anything at first. He closed the door behind him and cleared his throat. "I am…Mr. Grey." He said with a deep voice that could rattle the walls. "And I am the owner of this business."

Agumon squinted. "I don't think you should trust him, Tai." He said.

Tentomon got into a fighting stance and spread out his ladybug wings. "He's trouble alright."

"What made you draw to that conclusion?" Izzy asked.

Agumon sniffed. "He's not human!" He took in a deep breath. "Pepper Breath!" He shot a fireball at Mr. Grey's fedora, knocking it off and burning it up.

Mr. Grey covered himself in defense before slowly dropping his arms. He laughed as Tai and Izzy gasped at his identity. "There's no use hiding it anymore!" He took off the coat as well.

"No, this can't be!" Noriko said, getting out of her seat. "This is a joke. You're a human."

"Noriko, he's not." Izzy told her.

"I just can't believe that he's here." Tai said. "I thought we beat you!"

Trivia: I believe that the DigiDestined don't speak English and that it's translated on TV so we can understand them. But Mimi understands the language since she's been in the US.

A/N: My question for you: What do you think about the technology here? Is it advanced enough? Too advanced?