Hi everyone, I know it has been a long time (three weeks, I know, I suck) but I'm finally here with the next chapter. I know no one likes excuses, but I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter. I literally tried four different approaches and none of them turned out good, until this version. So sit back and enjoy.
Also, as a special treat, I'm offering to write a couple of one-shots or very short fics on events in this story (like what happened with Tai while he was gone or the other digidestined, or the encounter between Tai and Sora, or even the battle with Parallelmon) So, what I want you guys to do is this: either send me a PM, or tell me in a review, which scene you want to see a one shot from, and I'll write a couple of them up.
Ok, enough from me, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I still don't own digimon. I mean seriously people if I suddenly got the rights to digimon I don't think I'd be posting this in fan fiction!
Chapter 20 Aftermath
~the Digital World~
Gennai stood alone in the Crest Room, studying the Crest of Courage as he once more waited for those he had summoned. That particular Crest was glowing far brighter than any of the other Crests around it, and Gennai was quite curious as to why this was.
In the past the only time the Crest symbols here in the Crest Room lit up like that was the very first time they were used to reach a higher digivolution level. Each of the Crests (other than Kindness) had burned that bright at least once before, and Courage and Friendship had burned like that twice, but Gennai had never expected any of them to burn that brightly again.
Just what has Tai gotten himself into while he's been gone? Gennai wondered to himself as he looked at the Crest. Suddenly the other seven original Crests glowed, and the Digicores that the Sovereign's used to communicate with Gennai within the Crest Room appeared.
"What is it this time Gennai?" Zhuqiaomon asked, sounding annoyed, which was most likely because he was. Since Gennai's original purpose had been to oversee the original Eight digidestined's Partner's eggs and their Crests, and he was now the main method of communicating with the Digidestined, Zhuqiaomon's hatred of humans often times transferred itself onto Gennai as well, especially since the appearance he had taken was one of a human. That meant that Zhuqiaomon was never pleased when Gennai summoned the Sovereign's for any reason, let alone when he summoned them for an emergency like he had.
"If you'll look behind you, the Crest of Courage is acting up once more." Gennai said, gesturing to the Crest in question.
"So, it's glowing brighter than the others, what does it mean Gennai?" Baihumon asked Gennai.
"Usually the Crests only glow that bright on their own when a Crest is used to digivolve a partner for the first time." Gennai replied, earning a snort from Zhuqiaomon.
"So, you called us here for no reason?" He asked, "Since it appears that you already know why it is glowing."
"But hadn't the Agumon partnered with the Bearer of Courage already obtained his Mega level with the Crest of Courage?" Baihumon asked, before Gennai could reply to Zhuqiaomon. That comment caused a silence to depend upon the Crest Room.
"You are correct, Baihumon." Azulongmon answered for both Gennai and Zhuqiaomon. "Both the Bearer of Friendship and the Bearer of Courage have already achieved the Mega level."
"Gennai, does this mean what I think it means?" Zhuqiaomon asked Gennai.
"You mean, has the Bearer of Courage pushed his partner to the Super Ultimate level?" Gennai asked, speaking the question that terrified each of the Sovereigns in the room.
The Super Ultimate level was the next level of digivolution beyond the Mega level. A Super Ultimate digimon was all but unstoppable, unless confronted by another Super Ultimate. They could throw Mega level digimon (including the Sovereigns) around as if they were In-Training level digimon. A Super Ultimate digimon hadn't appeared in the digital world for hundreds of digital years, and for a very good reason. Super Ultimates weren't what you would call a normal digimon. They didn't reach that level of power naturally, and the unnatural ways that a digimon used to reach the Super Ultimate were usually so deranged that only the most vile of digimon would even attempt to use them.
Luckily the last known digimon to possess the knowledge to reach the Super Ultimate level had been destroyed long ago, while attempting to gain even more power. Since then there had been attempts to reach a level of power above Mega, like a Super Ultimate. The Burst Mode that had been discovered in one of the other digital worlds was one of these, as was the X-Digivolution that the Gennai had been developing for the digidestined.
Speaking of the X-Digivolution… Gennai thought to himself, remembering the other reason he'd summoned the Sovereigns. Before he could ask that question Zhuqiaomon answered his question.
"Yes, of course that's what I mean!" He exclaimed, and Gennai faced his Digicore.
"I do not believe that he has. I could be wrong, but we would have detected the imbalance of the world that the birth of a Super Ultimate would have signified." Gennai replied.
"Then what could it be?" Baihumon asked, and Gennai sighed.
"It could be anything. The Bearer of Courage could have unlocked a new way of digivolving, or something else is happening with his Crest." Gennai started to tell the Sovereigns. "I don't think I need to remind all of you that the Crests aren't just there to help with digivolution, they do far more than that."
"Of course Gennai." Zhuqiaomon deadpanned. His voice then turned more thoughtful. "I think we need to find out exactly what is going on in the human world, and if Beelzemon has anything to do with this."
"I agree." Azulongmon replied quickly. "We need more information before we can act. Gennai, you will travel to the human world and ascertain exactly what is going on there."
"Of course." Gennai replied, bowing to the blue Digicore.
"Very well. If there is nothing else, we shall depart." Zhuqiaomon said, the Crest behind him starting to glow, along with all the others in the room.
"Actually, there was one more thing." Gennai spoke quickly, and the glowing stopped.
"What is it Gennai?" Azulongmon asked, and Gennai once more turned to the blue Digicore.
"I would like to give the digidestined the X-Digivolution upgrade while I am in the human world." Gennai said, looking at all four of the Digicores around him.
"And just how many of these X-Digivolution upgrades have you prepared so far?" Baihumon asked, speaking before the others.
"Just one is complete at this time." Gennai replied. "But, even one digimon with that power could turn the tide of battle for the digidestined." There was a snort form Zhuqiaomon at that statement, but Gennai wasn't finished. "And it could mean the elimination of one or more of the Demon Lords."
That shut Zhuqiaomon up right away, and Azulongmon spoke up before the Sovereign of the South could recover.
"Very well Gennai, you may use your one upgrade during you trip." With that all of the Crests glowed, and Gennai was alone. Now he needed to get to the real world.
~The Real World~
Tai Kamiya sat straight up, nearly hitting his head on the top bunk that he hadn't known was there.
Where am I? The last thing I remember was being EmperorGreymon, and fighting Beelzemon… Tai wondered to himself.
~Flashback~
EmperorGreymon grab ahold of the cross-guards of his sword, lowering the sword so that it faced Beelzemon.
"Dragonfire Crossbow!" The edges of the swords blade separated from the blade, which ignited. EmperorGreymon then pulled on the pair of triggers that had also appeared, and the blade shot out, straight at Beelzemon.
The Demon Lord was so stunned he couldn't move, and the attack hit him full in the chest, ironically hitting the Crest handing from his neck.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Beelzemon shouted, before chattering into a thousand different bits of data.
~UnFlashback~
That's the last thing I remember, taking out Beelzemon. Tai continued to think to himself, as he looked around the room he was in.
One of the two questions he had was answered as he looked around however, because he recognized the room he was in. It was his room. The room he'd lived in ever since his family had moved from Highton View Terrace to Odaiba.
The room was exactly how he remembered it being when he'd left it to go face down Parallelmon on that fateful day three years ago. It was clean for once, since his mother had made him clean it the day before and he hadn't had time to mess it up yet. All of his soccer posters were still up on the walls, and the shelves were covered with trophies and medals from the same sport, all belonging to him.
Tai was quite shocked at how exactly things were the same. He'd often imagined when he'd finally manage to get back home exactly how different things would be. He always thought that his parents would convert this room into an office, or a bowling alley, like they had been planning to when he was filling out college applications. Yet, now that he was here the room was exactly how he remembered it, and it even seemed to be well dusted and vacuumed.
Something caught Tai's eye as he looked around the darkened room. There was something on his desk, which hadn't been there before.
What's that? Tai wondered to himself as he stepped over to the desk. The last things he remembered being on his desk were a few school books that he'd left there rather than lugging them to school. There were several different things on the desk, and Tai couldn't really make out any of them in the dark, so he reached for the lamp on the desk.
Snapping it on Tai was surprised to see himself looking back at him. The desk was covered with pictures of him, usually with someone he knew, mostly close friends and family members. Tai took a step back, a little shocked at the sight, but after a second was used to this.
He'd gathered that everyone had thought that he was killed by Parallelmon, and this seemed to be some sort of shrine, or remembrance spot. Tai smiled a little at that, touched by what his family and friends had done in his memory. Tai looked at all of the pictures, smiling at some of the memories they brought back, until his eyes came upon the book.
It was sitting there in the middle of the desk, and his preoccupation with the pictures had caused him to miss it, despite the fact that it was clearly the center piece of the set up.
He looked at the book for a second, wondering at the title emblazoned on the front of it. It read simply, The Diary.
Tai hesitated for a second, and then opened up the book, looking at the first page. He got all the way through the message before he really realized what it was he was looking at exactly. By the time he saw Joe's signature at the bottom he was more than a little surprised.
He quickly flipped the pages and saw an entry from each of the digidestined, and then his parents, and then other people, friends from school and soccer, family members, all of them had a page where they left him a message.
All of them, they said goodbye to me… Tai thought, a little freaked out, but very touched by the little bit he had seen in the book.
"So, you found the Diary." A voice said from Tai's doorway, and Tai spun around with lightning fast speed, ready to attack whoever it was out of sheer reflex. Joe was standing in the door, looking in at him.
"Joe…" Tai said, looking at the tall, blue haired man.
"I actually started that." Joe said, his eyes glazing over with memories. "We were all having a lot of difficulty coping with you being dead. One of my dad's friends recommended trying something like that. Before I knew it, we all had an entry, and everyone who knew you wanted to add their own."
"I, I don't know what to say." Tai said, speaking honestly. He hadn't really thought about what his absence had done to any of the others, only concerned with himself and finding a way back home.
"Don't say anything, it isn't needed." Joe said, and then stepped forward, pulling out a thermometer. "You were running a fever when we got you here, and I want to see if it's gone."
"What happened?" Tai asked as Joe stuck the thermometer under his tongue.
"Well, EmperorGreymon, er, well, you, or, you and Agumon, destroyed Beelzemon." Joe said, and Tai nodded, remembering that much. "Then, after that, EmperorGreymon broke back up into you and Agumon, and both of you collapsed completely. We weren't sure what had happened to you, but it turned out you were just completely exhausted. So we brought you back here so you could rest up."
Joe pulled the thermometer out and looked at it before nodding.
"Ok, you don't have a fever anymore." Joe replied, and then gestured for Tai to follow him out into the rest of the apartment.
Tai looked back at the Diary, but then followed after Joe. After all, there would be plenty of time to read the rest of it later if he wanted.
The two walked out into the living area, where Izzy, Ken, and Yolei were all sitting on the sofa, watching the news, which was showing scenes from the earlier battle. All of their partners, plus Gomamon and Agumon were laying on the ground in front of them, mostly asleep.
"Tai!" The three exclaimed, seeing him follow Joe out of his room. They jumped out of their seats, heading over to Tai. They spent the next few minutes talking, laughing, and asking questions. All four of them were quite curious as they hadn't had an encounter with him like most of the others.
Before long Tai was able to ask his own question, one that had been nagging him since he'd come out of his room.
"Hey, Joe, where's everyone else?"
~Elsewhere~
"Davis, if you don't hurry up and pick something we're going to be the last ones back." Matt said to the goggle wearing teen as he looked through a shelf of movies in the convenient store the two were in.
They were supposed to be picking some food for both the digimon and all the digidestined, and Davis had decided it would be a good idea to buy some movies so they could catch Tai up on what he'd been missing the last three years.
"Oh hold your digihorses Matt." Davis replied, picking out a third movie.
"Digihorses?" Matt asked, looking over at Veemon, who just shrugged, not able to take responsibility for his partner.
"Actually, there aren't any horses in the digital world." A voice spoke up from behind Matt, one he hadn't heard since the Christmas the digidestined had travelled the world. Matt spun around to see Gennai standing behind him and Davis, looking completely out of place in his brown robes.
Davis spun around as well, recognizing the voice just as Matt had.
"Gennai!" The two exclaimed at the same time. Gennai nodded, glad the two still remembered him.
"Greetings digidestined." He said, bowing to the two of them.
"What are you doing here Gennai?" Matt asked, suspicious of the being before them. Whenever he appeared things usually went from bad to worse.
Though, things aren't bad right now. I mean, we already beat the bad guy. Maybe he's just a day late for once… Matt thought to himself.
"I was sent here by the Harmonious Ones." Gennai started, remembering to use the name that the digidestined knew the Sovereigns by. "They have been observing some of the events in your world, but were hoping for a better picture of what's going on."
"Wait, you know what's been going on?" Davis asked, looking at the robed man. They hadn't heard from him in ages, and now he suddenly appears, apparently knowing what has been happening.
"We know that the Bearer of Courage has returned, and that a powerful evil digimon known as Beelzemon is somewhere here in the human world." Gennai said, hoping the digidestined would fill him in on more details.
"Well, Beelzemon was here, now his data is scattered all over Odaiba." Davis said, still gleeful about their victory over the Demon Lord. Matt however was frowning at Gennai.
"Gennai, did you say that Tai had returned?" Matt asked, fixing Gennai with a stare that could kill.
Gennai froze as Matt asked him that question. Had he slipped up and said that?
"You knew!" Matt exclaimed, looking at Gennai with a new feeling of hatred surging in his gut. "You knew Tai was still alive, and you didn't tell us!"
Gennai looked at him, and knew that attempting to lie would just make matters worse.
"Yes, the Harmonious Ones knew that the Bearer of Courage was still alive." Gennai replied, looking between Matt, and the slightly confused Davis. "They decided not to tell you because he was as good as dead."
"What do you mean as good as dead?" Matt asked, both of his fists balled up into fists.
"Our digital world is protected by a powerful barrier that prevents beings in other, alternative worlds from accessing ours." Gennai said, looking at the ground. This wasn't at all how he expected this conversation to go. "It should have been impossible for him to return."
"Yea, well you should know by now that us digidestined are quite capable of doing the impossible." Matt said, suddenly tired of seeing their former guide. He'd been lying to them for the last three years about something of extreme importance, and that wasn't forgivable, at the moment. "Come on Davis." Matt turned and walked away, leaving Gennai behind.
"Wait Matt!" Gennai suddenly exclaimed as Matt walked away. Matt glanced back as Gennai hurried over to him.
"What?" Matt asked.
"Let me see your digivice. I have a gift for you." Gennai said, holding out his hand. Matt looked at his hand and then up to his face. Gennai could tell that he was considering not giving him his digivice, and considering it heavily. "It may help you fight any of the Demon Lords, should they somehow come here."
Matt looked at Gennai for another second, and then handed him his digivice. Gennai held it between his hands, which glowed for a second, and then he handed it back to Matt.
Matt examined it carefully, and noted two obvious changes. The first was the fact that the digivice had turned a shade of dark blue, just like it glowed when it was using his Crest. The second was a black X that went across the back.
"What did you do to it?" Matt asked, and Gennai chuckled.
"I've modified it so that you and Gabumon can access a power the likes of which you've never seen before." Gennai replied, and then looked up at the TV behind the counter. "And I think you'll need it soon."
Matt and Davis turned around quickly, looking at the TV which showed a large digimon standing in the middle of Odaiba, causing a massive amount of destruction.
"Where'd he go?" Davis asked, causing Matt to turn around. Gennai was gone.
"I don't know, but right now we've got place to be." Matt said, dropping the bag of food he had, and heading for the door, followed closely by Davis.
~Chapter End~
Uh oh, I wonder who that could have been on the TV? Sounds like the digidestined aren't done just yet. Anyways, hopefully I won't take so long to update this next time, anyways, until then!
Review Replies:
Animepotterfan: Thanks! and thanks again!
T. Riyanto: Thanks! and I hope this answers your question. I don't know yet if anymore will get Mega, but there will be some more special digivolutions.
TaioraWarrior: You know, you're supposed to put that backwards, it sucked, jk, I loved it…unless of course you really did hate it. And I'm glad you're enjoying the story that much. I aim to please lol.
my daydream world: Glad you enjoyed it that much!
Dark Anbu Knight: Thanks! And actually I haven't decided yet, but probably no. I could think of a good way to fit him in, but my plans/ stuff I've already written have pretty much cut that possibility out. Now Lucemon Shadow Lord Mode, he'll probably make an appearance as the Ultimate boss.
TheOtherGuy4544: So, you're not getting a review reply until you stop the silly not reviewing nonsense you're pulling in PMs. So now you have incentive.
Now if I wasn't a nice guy I would leave that there, but I'm going to actually just try and mess with you a bit, then do this.
And no, I won't do that. You don't even know who my friends are so they're safe. And messing with you is in all contracts. And yea, Journey inspired this a bit, I just changed things that I liked better. And yes, EG is a total BA. And you need to watch the battle between Beelzemon and Gallantmon. The only time the bullets moved that slow was when he was destroying the Crysalismon. And no, I just wanted to focus on Kari and Sora/in an intense one on one battle it's really hard to throw in the other people. And eh, I won't kill you. And that's because EG is from another world. Tai's program uploaded the info for Izzy. And yea, I mean with really heavy armor like EG has, it wouldn't hurt at all. And glad you caught that. I thought the extra presence of humans would establish more control for digimons. And yea, Agumon is EmperorGreymon, all around Tai, so he can do that. And yea, the other DL will be a lot of fun to write. Just wait for them to show up.
LyraXEthan: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed. And soonish, though it'll be in the sequel not this particular story.
Phantomgirl96: Yea, I thought it was pretty obvious myself, but no one else seemed certain about it. And I actually plan on going back and writing a story on Tai's adventures while he was gone, so that'll be in there. Though, when the crossovers start, you'll probably get a few flashbacks.
Angelfish369: haha, I'm glad they are finally. And I wouldn't count the three out just yet if I were you.
digimonfan18: Thanks! I had actually been planning to do that since I wrote The Diary, I was just waiting for the right moment, which happened to be this chapter. Thanks!
TheOmegaMan: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it that much.
Supershooter: yep, right on time sound s right. And yea, I really wanted to do a lot with that, because a lot of stories I've read don't.
xOne N Onlyx: haha, no worries. I'm glad you enjoyed both of them, and I tried pretty hard to make that one really cool. I'm glad you thought it was awesome, because that's what I was going for. I was planning on biomerge from the start, so I'm glad you picked up on it. And I'm glad you thought that because that's exactly what I was going for. And you're welcome. I do my best to keep things as balanced as possible, because I hate when things are ridiculous. And no, they never explain it, so I just with what I wanted in this lol. And actually that's one of my favorite stories, and was a big inspiration for this story (though I also hated the Renamon beating Magnamon part, and I used to hate the biomerging to EmperorGreymon, until I actually watched Frontier and realized just how awesome EmperorGreymon was.) And thanks again! And don't worry, you'll find out exactly where he is next chapter.
Countdown: Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it!
Shara Raizel: Thanks! I rather liked it myself (at least after watching Frontier. I used to hate all of Takuya's forms, until I actually watched the show.) And they did. More on that next chapter though. And I'm not sure on more megas, but there will be some different types of powering up for the digidestined, as you'll see fully next chapter.
Agubiyofan: Thanks! and sorry but no.