DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the original characters introduced in this story and my other stories (except where stated otherwise here or elsewhere by myself). Or Guitar Hero, for that matter.
A/N: Cheers again go to Crazyeight for beta-reading.
DIMENSIONS
BOOK SEVEN
Escapes
By Blazing Chaos
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Phase One
Ryo Akiyama
FRIDAY, 13th MAY 2011
Ichijouji Residence, Minato Ward
11:40 JST
Fingers rushed up and down, clattering across the coloured keys at a rate which made little logical sense to any onlookers, the hand far detached from its usual mind, some sort of reflex leaping straight from eye to muscle and skipping everything in-between.
And the reward? The next note of the song, or, at least, the impression that one had made some impact in producing it (or rather, ensuring that it was not replaced with an ungodly scratching noise).
An MP3 player, a computer, even a tape recorder, would've been easier and less exhausting, but the bizarre addition which Guitar Hero 6 provided had ensured it became a hit with teenagers across the world practically the day after launch late in 2010. Sure, it was only pretending to play guitar (or, worse, sing), but it was miles easier than actually learning how to do so. Coloured buttons were a lot easier than frets, even if a million teens would insist that they had awesome skills at it. People who pointed out that unfortunate truth were usually the subject of a quick dismissal, a glare, or a challenge to 'do better'.
Those were the cocky ones, the ones who always played on 'expert'. They were not the only ones on that mode though, not the only ones not content with the 'medium' and 'hard' modes the majority of the rest of the gaming populace seemed satisfied with, for there were also the humble ones. They were ones whose inherent abilities beggared belief but were never boasted about, who insisted on teaching everyone else to do better, and who barely let a smile go loose apart from to make a fake comment about how badly they felt they did.
They were by far the most annoying of them all.
Two of this particular type were currently engaged with this particular copy of the game and a pair of plastic guitars of slightly different makes, eyes set firmly on the screen as notes flew towards them at a rapid pace, swirling from one side of the screen to the other and being gone before most could even begin to think about acting upon them. And every one, or at least, almost every one, was met.
"Come on Ken…" cheered a rather large green worm-like creature, even if he was rather smaller than most of his kind – Digimon – who had a habit for being much larger than their real world inspirations. Ken barely reacted, clenching his teeth, whilst the other boy felt confident enough to throw a look back, a frown on his face about how his own partner failed to do likewise. "Cyberdramon looks miserable…like always when he's not fighting."
He couldn't help but wish that the large (indeed, rather larger than the living room of his friend's house seemed fit to take) dragon Digimon, one always hiding his emotions (besides rage, of course) both literally and figuratively beneath a mask, was more like the rest. The rest who stayed at the rookie level or at least at a higher level in a manageable size, the rest who seemed to talk to their partners all the time about anything which bothered them, and, of course, the type who didn't secretly half want to destroy the universe.
That last point was definitely the biggest pain of all. Sitting doing revision for his all-too-soon exams, eating tea with his father (or, at least, the man in this world calling himself that who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere), or just, as now, playing games, it dwelled on his mind, not least thanks to recent events. Whether it was an out-of-control moment for Cyberdramon, or just a harmless shiver in his spine, the dreaded beast, one who had threatened everything from the smallest space to the largest expanse of time, was leaving his mark more and more nowadays.
It wasn't like there were many he could talk to about it either, not least because doing so would've involved delving so far into history, and undoubtedly breaking a lot of the perception locks cutting off the majority of his friend's memories of the subject. The Digidestined knew nothing beyond the fact they had been involved to train him up, and perhaps the name of the great beast himself, although the boy speculated that even that could be stolen from them at a moment's notice by Milleniummon.
There was that shiver again. That ungodly word.
There was one friend who knew about most of it, at least historically even if his present fears hadn't been explained in as much detail. It was the same friend who he was currently neck and neck with on the game, the needle of the virtual 'Guitar Duel' dial wavering from left to right as both tried to get the upper hand. The same friend who had suffered so much in the past thanks to it all, so much so that he felt guilty every time he burdened Ken with even the slightest hint about Milleniummon's subtle manoeuvrings. He already felt guilty enough that, when they had beaten Milleniummon one of the previous times, it was Ken's attempt at pushing him out of the way of what later turned out to be a number of fast-flying 'dark spores' that had lead to that same boy's later trauma and much devastation for the Digital World.
"I'd rather have taken the hit – at least then I could be sure that Milleniummon would've kept me alive and close enough that I could destroy him." The idea that he was tied in destiny to a 'Digital God' was both puzzling and worrying, even if right now he seemed pretty subdued. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask – what if he died through another cause? Would Milleniummon automatically die too? Was that a better option?
What if he died naturally? Heck, what if Milleniummon killed him by cutting him up into tiny pieces? Surely he couldn't remain after that? Death was assured once the body was beyond even a glimmer of being able to function. At least, wasn't it?
"I get the feeling that Ryder might disagree on that one."
Ryder was another interesting point in his life, even if the pair hadn't shared that much conversation. The Tamers as a whole proved to be an interesting group, a united front with more isolated sub-groups within. Of course, everyone knew everyone, but that didn't mean everyone was everyone's best friend.
"I know I'm being cynical, but…"
The blindness of groups was inevitable with the Tamers, and was something he felt he had reopened his eyes from, for he had been an outsider to them once – self-imposed exile. Even after over a year back with the Digidestined, and even longer with the Shinjuku area Tamers, he felt like an outsider. This gave him a view without the rosy tint which most had, and he knew that his group was less than perfect. They pulled together every time there was a crisis, of course, but outside, there were far more conflicts, the majority rarely put into words.
Ryder was another outsider, and yet, he seemed to gel better with the group, at least marginally. "Knowing everyone from the TV show must help a lot. I remember when Takato and the others met the Digidestined – they were asked a lot more questions than they asked themselves. And Ryder knows more than that –he probably knows everyone, and their history, and everything. Which means he must know about Milleniummon too…" he thought warily, pondering what problems such a situation could bring. Ryder had to know about what was going on, didn't he? He couldn't have just stood back and watched when the Cult of Victory had attacked before and Monodramon had gone feral…could he? "Still…if he'd said something, I'd have heard about it by now. Seems like I can trust him in that at least."
The boy frowned, appreciating the irony that, despite trusting Monodramon (at least, the part which wasn't his arch-enemy) and his friends to the end of the earth, he didn't trust them with something they could probably help him with.
"I don't want to scare them though. Sure, the Demons want them dead, and Yggdrasil did a lot of damage but…Milleniummon is in a whole different league, and I don't think anything any of us have faced lives up to it. He can disrupt time, he's insanely powerful and he never seems to say die either. He's part of one of our friends too, and I really don't want Monodramon to become an outcast. Everyone could be so afraid of him, even more so than when he's Cyberdramon."
"Ryo?"
Ryo blinked, looking out at the game again and finding the dial was nearly on Ken's side, whilst his side of the game was flashing red. He looked across to Ken, the boy looking worriedly back even though it meant interrupting his own play, something which probably prolonged Ryo's avatar being booed off the virtual stage for at least a few moments.
"I'm fine," Ryo insisted, shaking his head and giving his best 'everything is okay' grin. Not that it would work. Ken knew him too well.
Diverting his attention back to the game in the hopes he could stave off discussion of what bothered him for as long as possible, he quickly picked up his A-game again, the bar swinging back again, just reaching his side as the song, 'Who Am I' by 38th Parallel, finally came to a close.
"Whew, so close…" Ryo said, fake wiping a beat of sweat and looking to Ken, half-expecting an immediate question about the exact topic he was thinking of. He was very thankful when, instead, the relieved look was returned.
"Heh, wouldn't have been if you hadn't phased out so much – well done."
Ryo contemplated the idea of Ken ever being able to actually boast. Well, at least, since he stopped being the Digimon Emperor.
"Seems like we both have some natural talent at this, huh?" Ken said, Ryo outwardly smiling but knowing that there were so many unspoken connotations to the words. Ken's skill, of course, came from the Dark Spore still within him, but Ryo's…he could only suspect that Milleniummon had something to do with it.
"I wish I knew how." "Yeah. If you got Wormmon pressing the buttons though…"
Ken laughed, shaking his head. "We've tried," he said, before with a quick leap of string Wormmon landed on his shoulder, nodding.
"I can't see the buttons and the colours that fast." His voice was almost apologetic, and Ryo gave a reassuring smile.
"Hey, don't sweat it – at least you wouldn't break the guitar like Cyberdramon would."
A hissed growl was all he got in return, something which would frighten most but which only remind him of his predicament, and didn't seem to faze Ken or Wormmon at all.
"Hey, can you even see in colour properly?" Ken asked, looking to the Digimon with a curious gaze.
"I don't know what that looks like."
"Oh, yeah, right," the blue-haired boy apologised, whilst Ryo threw a gaze at the screen, a slim smile on his face.
"You can choose the next song if you want."
"Right. And this time, can we just do lead and bass? My fingers ache so much."
Ryo nodded, looking back to the screen as Ken scrolled through the menus and songs, feeling in no hurry to pressure him to just pick a song already. Wormmon shot a thread and swung away again, back to the nearby coffee table alongside Ken's cell phone. He glanced back to Cyberdramon, biting down on his lip for a moment as he saw the rather cramped dragon give his a blank look in return. And it wasn't just a blank look because of the mask – Ryo could tell he wasn't expressing anything at all, not even annoyance at being squeezed into such a small space. Of course, he had the option for going back to Monodramon, but Cyberdramon never liked dedigivolving except when he had to through tiredness. "Which isn't often." "So, which universities are you thinking of trying for now?"
Ken frowned. "No idea…this week has just made it all the more confusing."
Nodding, Ryo turned his gaze back to the screen from his friend, the song 'w.a.m.s.' by Fall Out Boy chosen and the loading screen popping up. "Good choice."
"If only universities were so simple."
"Well, I have to say, you were a lot more thorough than me in looking at the courses. My dad just insisted on going to the highest one on the list he could get me into. Just hope I get the results I need to get in." Ryo, of course, was a year older, and could only look back on the process of looking at the various universities and choices available with cringing. It had been so boring, and he still wasn't sure that his Dad's method of university selection was the best.
"Still, thanks again for coming to look at them with me and my folks."
"No problem – we don't see each other enough. Felt a bit like the old times…the good parts at least. And, I was planning to visit everyone in Tokyo again soon anyway, so I saved on train fare too."
"Couldn't you have just flown here on Cyberdramon?" Ken asked, genuinely curious. Ryo tried to suppress a frown; looking for some answer he could give which wouldn't worry his old friend.
"I didn't even plan to have Cyberdramon here – although I'm glad he waited until after we finished looking at all the universities to digivolve. If he didn't fit in the car, then I'd have to fly on him – I really don't know what he'd do." "Yeah, I could have. I might fly home, or get the train as usual. Depends on whether Cyberdramon feels up to it." "Yeah, right, as if he'd really object. I just hope he dedigivolves before Sunday so I've got a real excuse." Ryo couldn't believe that once upon a time he had made practically all his trips by Air Cyberdramon, not least given the risk he now knew he presented every time. "Milleniummon was just pretending to be quiet all that time."
Apart from Cyberdramon's usual angered state, of course.
"Yeah, but he kept complaining." "Please don't comment Cyberdramon, please don't comment."
Yet, no such comment came, and Ryo was left silently thankful for the interruption as the song burst onto the screen. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ken look round to the graphics seen a thousand times before, none of it fazing the pair as they picked up their guitars, hands at the ready and conversation pushed aside. Quick fingers dashed about, the song beginning with the loud sound of guitars once played by distant hands.
"Ken…your phone is flashing over here," said Wormmon from behind, slightly nervously. He probably was worried about interrupting Ken's game.
"Huh?" The blue haired boy sounded surprised, and missed a bank of notes too as they flew thick and fast towards them. Ryo helped his friend out by pressing pause, whilst a quick burst of white webbing shot out from Wormmon, grabbing the mobile from where it had been left on the table and depositing it in the blue-haired boy's hand. The Legendary Tamer looked over curiously, seeing Ken's expression go to a smile once he read the name. "Damn, I must have left it on silent from the admissions talks."
"Your D-Terminal is probably full of messages from her now,"Ryo mused with a smile too. Regardless of his light jibing, his old friend seemed to be much more successful in the department of romance than him, and had been for the past three years. Albeit being disrupted at times by Yolei's rather changeable moods and temper, coupled with Ken's occasionally melancholic nature, they had survived together, and Ryo couldn't really imagine them apart now, not least because he hadn't known Yolei beforehand.
Ryo, meanwhile, found himself too far from his friends, in a school where everything seemed rather mundane and dull, and with a life which meant he didn't really feel up to being a full time boyfriend. Plus, it didn't really seem fair to put such weight on someone – once you were in the 'group', Tamer or not, you were there for life. And that wasn't just for romantic relationships – just being friends with a Tamer meant you were at risk. And so, he usually stuck to those who were Tamers, ones who had already been through the fire anyway.
And yet, of all his friends over in Tokyo, he tended to stick to a small few. In terms of friendships, Ken, of course, was top of the list, and occasionally he would meet one of the other Digidestined like Izzy or Davis. As for the single girls, Kari was a minefield he could clearly see and knew to steer clear of, even if the people involved themselves only seemed to be just becoming aware of it themselves in the brief glimpses he had seen of them. Sora and Yolei, of course, were already in relationships, and Mimi, although once having offered Ryo the prospect of a date, didn't exactly feel like his type, even if she was rather attractive. The two year age difference didn't help either.
Since they weren't so tinged with bad memories, he would usually instead stick with the Tamers, the ones based around Shinjuku that was. Although only really getting to know him properly after the D-Reaper, he felt he could trust Takato a lot, even if their paths crossed too little for them to be the best of friends. Henry was easier to communicate with, of course, thanks to his love of technology, and Ryo had played plenty of games of e-Digimon cards and such with him in his time, but the card game increasingly seemed meaningless compared to the real thing, and the two boys rarely found much to talk about besides their taming life. Then again, the same was true for most of the Tamers. As for Kazu and Kenta he didn't know them as well and hadn't spoken to them as much, even if they once adored the very ground he walked upon, a practice which had thankfully ceased to the most extent.
As for the girls, there wasn't much to discuss – Jeri, probably one of the nicest people he had ever met even if he still felt that before the D-Reaper she was probably a somewhat different (for better or for worse) person, was, of course, with Henry, whilst Rika, the member of the group he had known the longest and felt he had the most connections with, was, suffice to say, rather tied up in a lot of things, and always seemed to find him annoying, even if they seemed to get along better nowadays than historically.
It was strange – for all the people he had met, across all the universes he had visited, he hadn't really met anyone that he had clicked with well enough to consider them in that way. He hadn't really stayed in one place long enough at all, and with all the Milleniummon stuff in the past, such things as love hadn't really crossed his mind.
That wasn't to say that others hadn't thought as such – he knew that, thanks to his rather mysterious nature, reasonable looks and a fairly easy-going personality (at least outwardly), coupled with, of course, his fame from before it was even known he was a Tamer, he had plenty of admirers in his school. Some had even asked him out, and one or two he had been out with, for the most lasting about two months, but in the end he found himself unable to really commit to something like that when his mind was forever five hundred miles away.
Looking up curiously at his friend, he found Ken holding the phone pointing down in his hand, well away from his ear as a rather bemused expression manifested on his face. "What's up?"
Ken looked round, still seeming highly puzzled as he stared at the screen. "I'm not sure."
"Why? What'd she say?"
"She was glad I was safe, and then she asked me to listen."
"Listen to what?"
"I don't know, the phone cut out before she could say."
"Probably just a bad line. Call her back."
Ken looked down to his cell, grimacing and furrowing his eyebrows even more. "I've got no signal now."
"That's strange." But it wasn't beyond the normal gripes of phone networks and their odd reception.
"I'll use the landline," Ken decided, wandering over to where it sat on its base station and reaching for it, only for the lights and television to suddenly and inexplicably die as he did so.
Ryo looked upwards, blinking in surprise at how everything had suddenly cut out. Spinning round to Cyberdramon, he half-expect it all to be Milleniummon's work, but the dragon looked just as surprised as anyone. Wormmon quivered, swinging onto Ken's shoulder once again.
"Ken, what's going on?"
"Power cut?" The blue-haired boy's words were more of a question than any sort of wisdom, his eyes turning to Ryo for confirmation. The Legendary Tamer couldn't be too sure himself.
"Cyberdramon, do you know what it is?" His words were wary – he didn't want the Digimon bursting into a fight, particularly not with the risk he'd destroy his friend's home in the process, or, worse, destroy his friend full stop.
The Digimon simply snarled, leaving Ryo with a deep sense of unease. Did he actually know? Or was he just apprehensive in his own way? Or, worse, was he snarling about something else entirely?
"Ken, what's that?"
"Huh, what do you mean Worm…" the blue haired boy began, before it dawned on both him and Ryo what the Digimon was now pointing at through the dark. Over in the hallway, there was light – a lot of light, fading brighter and darker in a cycle. He began to wander towards it, Ryo following as they pushed through the apartment, blinds down to avoid the midday sun from heating everything up too much and also blinding them from their game, a dim light cast by the windows.
As he moved, he could hear Cyberdramon traipsing after him, which made him rather nervous as to what was going on. Perhaps he really did know? Regardless, upon reaching Ken's room and opening the door with a quiet squeak, they quickly found the source of this bright light, one bright enough to be noticeable even without complete blackness.
"Oh, it's just a message," Ken said, a sigh of relief from his lips as he wandered over to his D-Terminal where it sat by the computer on his desk. Ryo gave a rather smaller sigh, still somewhat apprehensive as he wandered to the window, pulling on the cord for the blinds.
"Better get some light back in here," he commented, as with a sharp hissing and clapping noise the fabric shot up into a roll. The sun was refreshing to see again, and his eyes blurred for a moment. "I play video games too much," he thought, hearing the nearby whir of a helicopter even through the panes. It was not an unusual sound in this city, of course.
What was unusual, however, was the rather large gathering of police and military cars at the apartment building's base.
"What's going on?"
"Ryo…it's from Izzy," Ken interrupted from behind, Ryo turning as his friend drew up to him, D-Terminal still in hand. Wormmon, on his shoulder, looked especially worried, matching his Tamer's tone.
"What does it say?"
Ken, grimacing, held up the heavily-shortened email for his old friend to see in all its glory. SOS all Tamers. Run. Gvt on warpath. Mt at hdt. Izzy.
"The government is on the warpath? That doesn't sound good at all."
Ken shook his head in agreement. "That's not the worst thing though. This email was sent about twenty-five minutes ago – if we're in danger, then we're in danger…"
The boy wasn't able to finish that sentence, as with an almighty crash the front door, just down the hallway and visible through the half-open door to Ken's room, practically flew off its hinges and into the wall, a number of heavily armed men in military gear storming straight through as if it had never existed. Ryo's eyes flashed with alarm as he saw the weapons, Cyberdramon far too big and dominating in the room to go unnoticed.
"We're dead," he announced, seeing the hugely shocked look on his friend's face. Wormmon shivered up on the boy's shoulder, whilst Cyberdramon simply stayed…silent.
The lead soldier glanced around, oddly confused. "Did you hear something?" he asked his colleagues behind, his tone aggressive and sharp. None of them seemed too sure, and so he instead turned back, feet pounding towards Ken's bedroom.
"Why haven't they noticed us yet? They can hear us…right?"
"This must be the kid's room…search it, they might be hiding, or there might be something we need," the soldier, now evidently the head of the group, ordered. Nods came in reply, as the people giving them soon began to ransack the room, the handle of a machine gun sending a pile of CDs crashing to the ground, and another smashing in the door to a wooden closet. Another man got down on his hands and knees, looking under the bed, whilst a final one strode straight past Ryo as if he weren't really there, looking out the window and peering up, down, and to either side.
"They can't see us," Ryo thought, looking to an equally-shocked Ken but neither wanting to voice it right now for fear of making themselves 'visible' again. Both, like Cyberdramon too, stayed back out of the way of the men.
With Cyberdramon, it was particularly surprising though, given his large size. And, even Wormmon wasn't exactly a normal sight. Indeed, right now he looked very bewildered and confused, eyes jumping around nervously in a pose rarely seen by the Legendary Tamer on the virus-type.
It was, however, when peering over at his dragon-like partner that the truth about everything that was going on, from Wormmon's nerves to the soldier's ignorance, all hit Ryo like a ton of bricks, as his eyes became caught on a particular feature. Namely, the eyes of Cyberdramon.
Those eyes that were never normally visible now shone through the opaque head-mask, ovals of a dull red glow appearing on it. An eye colour which rang so many bells in the boy's mind.
And one which brought a voice back, a voice back from so many memories, so many nightmares, only now it spoke different words.
New words.
The world slowed to a crawl around him as he heard them. Whether it was the drama of his mind hearing that old voice again, or whether it was that old voice itself playing its part, or whether those thoughts simply moved so fast they made it all seem so slow by comparison, the soldiers moved so sluggishly around.
"Ah humans. You are all so pathetically easy to deceive."
Ryo's eyes went to widen in horror, before his brow instead furrowed in irritation and loathing. "What are you doing?"
"Saving your lives, ingrate. That is, unless you would wish me to stop?"
The boy gritted his teeth, the voice penetrating his conscious from all corners of his mind, impossible to block out, even more so to ignore or to forget.
"I think you should be counting yourself lucky that your beast is weak enough that he cannot do this himself, lest you would be dead or in chains by now. Alas, perhaps not the former, unless those Digimon bullets live up to their concept."
"You would never die so easily."
"I shall take that as a compliment then."
Snorting, Ryo dispensed with Milleniummon's attempts at humour. "What do you want?"
"Who said I wanted anything?"
"You always want something."
"Cannot a leopard change his spots? The irony is delicious – you are ever so hasty to forgive all others you fight – Impmon, DarkRenamon, and the Cult of Victory. Every single being in creation except me. Or rather, almost all. Your grudges are far too harsh Ryo."
"You are the last person I need a lesson in morality from."
"Ah, but I know you so well, I have forever known you so well, and I am certain that I struck a chord there, let a nag loose in your head. Your will now wonder how unfair you have been. Those seeds of doubt have been sewn, my Tamer, by none other than yourself."
"It's the lesser of two evils."
"So glad we agree that you are anything but good. It never ceases to amuse me how such perspectives change – I recall when that anarchist ENIAC insisted on protecting an old and deathly regime over my supreme, content empire, and you were there, sitting firmly on your high horse and insisting I was wrong."
"You were! You hurt so many!"
"You cannot deny that ENIAC has not done the same. Or rather, should that be Yggdrasil? I must admit I have lost track of his schizophrenia. Alas, it need not matter – he has rightfully passed from existence."
"I'm betting that you must have had a part to play in him turning evil."
"Ryo, you underestimate me. If I had done such a thing, I would confess it – as I am certain you would be first to say, I am far too proud to keep such a thing as a mere secret of mine."
"Then tell me what you're doing now."
"All in good time, my dear Ryo. All in good time."
"Answer me!"
"Humph. It is clear that you have been spending too much time with violent characters like those incarnations of Chaos and Harmony. Hard to think you used to be such a friendly and sweet boy."
"Yeah, well you didn't help much in keeping that."
"You always had an option to step away, to escape a war you had no reason to be involved in from the very start. I had no interest in the real world back then – you would have been perfectly safe."
"So you're interested in the real world now?"
"I am interested in nothing but you Ryo. Be my Tamer – it is all I now wish for."
"No way!"
"I mean no harm. Am I not allowed to have emotions, to long for anything? Can you honestly say I have done nothing for you, even when right now I am keeping you alive?"
"You've pulled so many tricks before."
"Yes, but, tell me, for it continues to baffle me to this day even with such access to your every thought – why do you think your movements to the former Southern Quadrant real world were so simple? Why do you think the Digidestined do not remember everything? I want to keep life easy for you; I would hate to feel that my Tamer was having a bad life because of my actions."
"You just want to cover your own back so you're just fighting me."
"And yet you assist by keeping everything a secret. You honestly believe that you are better off facing this alone. How naïve"
"I'm the only one who can defeat you – I don't want to bring the others into our game."
"Defeat me? I have been slain at your hands as many times as you have at mine – we live and die together my dear Ryo, whether you prefer it or not. Our 'game', as you so peculiarly put it, shall last for an eternity."
"Yeah, well, if you want to be my partner, then why do you make Cyberdramon go out of control, huh? Do you really think I'd settle for you if I lost him?!"
"Calm down, my pet. Once again, your perspective is so, so wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"You do not honestly believe that I of all creatures, a Digital God, would be so petty as to let aggression be a tactic."
"I don't know what to believe about you."
"I feel so insulted – after all we have been through, you know nothing of me. Alas, it shall suffice to say that without my intervention, Cyberdramon would forever be little more than a vicious beast – I am the one holding him back, saving so many lives in the process."
"That's ridiculous. You're manipulating him."
"In which case, answer me this simple question. Where did the whip in your D-Arc originate?"
Ryo paused, mouth slightly open as he found himself unable to think of a response.
"I don't know."
Was Milleniummon…telling the truth?
"Excellent. Now we are reaching an understanding. But, alas, you have real life matters to attend to. The dark spore child wishes to address you."
"Huh?"
"Ryo…" broke the quiet, worried voice of Ken through the boy's mental conversation, bringing him back down to reality with a figurative thump. He quickly shot a glance about at the now soldier-less bedroom, one could be summed up by perfectly by only one simple word which would seemingly automatically cross the mind of anyone who saw it, coupled with a gaping mouth like that now on the Legendary Tamer.
Wrecked.
Every cupboard was busted open, every sheet ruffled, every screen pushed aside and every box opened. CDs cluttered the floor, pressing against books and homework. The window was left open, a cold breeze rushing through and making Ryo shiver on top of the shudder already going up his spine at the sight. The soldiers had replaced nothing to where it was – everything was simply left in situ once it proved fruitless in searching.
Ken's room was, simply put, ruined, and the culprits were nowhere to be seen. Down the hallway, the front door had been shut again, a surprise given how forcefully it had been opened.
"They're gone?" Ryo said, half stating and half questioning, his voice fairly low for fear of being overheard by any soldiers still in the flat, perhaps now busting open their guitar controllers in the search for clues. Perhaps they enjoyed busting apart lives? Was this what the military was ordered to do? Heck, why were they ordered to do it? What on earth was going on?
"Yeah…" Ken seemed hesitant, and somewhat bewildered, in his reply. Ryo soon found out why. "Didn't you see?"
"Yeah," Ryo lied. "I just thought they could have gone to the next room or something."
Grimacing, his old friend wandered over, picking up a photo frame of his family from the floor where it had been discarded, the glass cracked. Ryo saw the frown deepen as Ken gazed across the image, the Legendary Tamer wandering over to see that the image, of a long distant holiday from when Ken was a child, contained his late brother Sam too.
Putting his hand on his friend's shoulder, he uttered some words of reassurance. "These soldiers can't just do this without explanation. We'll find them, don't worry."
"My parents are still going to kill me."
"They'll just be glad you're safe," Wormmon disagreed.
"Yeah, but how? Why didn't they see us?"
Ryo glanced up at Cyberdramon periodically, the Digimon now back to his normal, emotionless state, well, apart from when he growled. The glowing eyes had receded, and Ken seemed not to have noticed. "I don't know."
"It's very weird."
Ryo decided to quickly change the subject before his friend cottoned onto anything, or, worse, before he slipped up in his words and gave his suspicions away. "I think we should just count it as a blessing for now that we're still here."
"Why are they after us though?"
Ryo looked over at the D-Terminal Ken still held loosely, now closed, in one hand. "The email didn't say anything, no?"
"Just that the government is on the warpath. But, if Izzy thinks it's important enough to send out an SOS, and if the government's involved too…something major must be going down."
"Then what about the others? Did they get the email?"
"I guess so. That must be why Yolei called. I should call her back…" he began, reaching for his phone with newfound anxiety in his voice, before he sighed upon seeing it. "Oh…no signal still."
"They cut the phones then," Ryo surmised.
"Ken, do you think it's safe here now?" Wormmon asked, the boy looking genuinely puzzled by it as he put his hand on his chin.
"Hmm…on the one hand, they don't seem to think we're here, and I doubt they'd check back for a while. But…then again…with the others heading for the hideout, maybe there's safety in numbers."
Ryo put his hands behind his head, sighing. "I just wish we had some way of finding out what's going on, but doesn't seem like there's anything in here that could help us." "It's not like there's nothing tying the four of us together, after all. Maybe the government found out about Milleniummon? But how would they?"
"So, let's go and find the others."
"Yeah, but Cyberdramon or Stingmon would look really conspicuous on the streets of Tokyo. We need a better way, and I don't think going mega would be the answer either."
"We can work that out in a second – I am going to pack a bag," Ken decided, grabbing the thankfully-intact (if pulled widely-open) school rucksack of his off a nearby shelf. Ryo nodded, putting out a hand as Ken set about the room, mourning a few things now destroyed as he went about looking for anything of any use. The bag was loaded up with a some money, a sweater or two, a pair of shoes, and other hopefully useful bits and bobs.
"Can I help?" "Not that I know where anything is. I really should know my best friend better…maybe I should ask Dad if we could move. Then again, with his job coming up, and me going to university anyway, it's not like it'd make much difference." He still half-expected his thoughts to be interrupted by that ominous voice, but Milleniummon made no attempt at such. He had done the minimum he wanted, he had left the Legendary Tamer off guard, and so he had vanished away again into the depths of non-existence.
It was at that moment that his question was interrupted by a rapping of something against the front door, Ken gesturing down it as he placed the photo frame of his family in it, along with another one of just Sam.
"Can you check the door while I keep packing?"
Ryo felt a lump in his throat as he looked that way, grimacing and hoping it wasn't the soldiers back for round two. After what he'd discussed with Milleniummon, and after the Digimon failed to get his wish, he doubted they'd get the same benefit this time round.
"Ken," called a voice, an oddly familiar one as a look of relief crossed the boy's face.
"I need to get some food," the former Digimon Emperor was still insistent on his plan, as he grabbed his bag up and ushering Ryo down the hallway in order to reach the kitchen. The Legendary Tamer couldn't help but be rather impressed by his friend's planning and haste in a crisis, and lack of hesitation in prioritising finding food over answering the door, even for his girlfriend. He somehow doubted that she would see it the same way.
"Ken." The voice was oddly restrained for someone they would have expected to be shouting loudly.
"Okay," Ryo answered as Ken vanished away, probably to find any food which wasn't perishable. Although, then again, very little food could probably stay intact in a rucksack like that no matter how optimistic its owner was.
Ryo nodded, reaching the door and going for the handle. He heard Cyberdramon creeping up behind, followed by the squelching noise of Wormmon attaching a web to the wall and swinging along. He was left unfazed when the Digimon landed by his feet.
"Are you t…?" continued the voice, before Ryo opened it, a look of shock on a surprisingly large number of people there, including Davis, Veemon, Hawkmon, Jun, Tai's mother, and, most importantly, Yolei, gaping incredibly widely.
"You're…safe."
"Yeah," was all that Ryo could think to reply with. Yolei didn't seem as interested in talking though, as she rushed past him, heading straight down the hallway before back-footing once she evidently caught an eye on Ken, swerving into the kitchen.
"You're safe too!" she cried, such happiness in her voice. Ryo felt an odd sense of humour at the moment as he heard Ken say something about trying to get supplies together, even if he sounded equally pleased to see her at the same time.
"What the hell?" interrupted Davis, finally breaking into speech. "I thought all the soldiers came up here."
"You must be good at hide and seek," Veemon added. Jun grimaced at the joke, peering around at the apartment over Ryo's shoulder, and then brushing straight past him. Her hands were held out wide, palms opened as she looked with dismay at the damage.
"Really really good at it," Jun added, sounding in disbelief. "They must have searched everywhere."
"They did," Ryo replied, the others entering before he closed the door behind them. Was probably better not to leave the door wide open and obvious to any other residents nearby, not that a herd of soldiers traipsing in wouldn't have been.
"Something made them not see us," Wormmon said, sounding unsure still himself. Did he know about Milleniummon? Could he sense the Digimon, the 'evil' in the air? That was the last Ryo needed right now.
"What was it?"
"I don't know – I couldn't sense anything," Cyberdramon growled. Ryo raised an eyebrow. It was a surprisingly talkative turn for the dragon – did he know about how Milleniummon had used him scant seconds before? Was he trying to cover his Tamer's back? Or…perhaps…was it Milleniummon controlling him even now?
Was it true? Would Cyberdramon be so out of control were it not for the Digital God inside? Or was something else going on?
Ken came out of the kitchen at that moment, followed by a happier-looking Yolei. Hawkmon gestured to her, before back to the door.
"Now that that matter is dealt with, can I suggest that we hurry out of here before the soldiers return?"
"Is that likely?" Ken asked, sounding pretty worried. Yolei shrugged.
"I don't know, but it's probably wise to leave."
"Yeah, I don't think we can second guess those guys – and there could be other soldiers too. The whole government is against us," Davis said, an apprehension in his voice. "And we didn't do anything."
Ryo nodded, agreeing with the sentiment. "We got the email, yeah," he replied, turning to look at Mrs Kamiya, still very silent as she took her own attempts at peering around the apartment, seeing all the damage. Perhaps she was worried her own would soon befall a same fate? Then again, had it already? Why was she with Davis, Jun and Yolei anyhow? "Where are Kari and Tai? Are they safe?"
"I hope so," was all she said. She had to have been wracked by fear for them by now. A mother, separated from her kids when it seemed everyone was being hunted. Not a good situation.
"Kari should be," Yolei explained, gesturing towards the windows. "Takeru, her and Cody were at mine, and she and Cody went to get Takeru's mom and his grandfather – they're most likely to be safe out of all of us."
"Takeru went to find his dad…right?" Davis asked, checking his reporting was right.
"Right," Hawkmon replied, nodding as he raised a finger. "I am certain that Tai and the others will all have received the email too, and are probably well on their way away."
"We didn't get the message until it was too late," Wormmon added. Ken nodded, as the Digimon landed back on his pride of place on the boy's shoulder once again.
"My D-Terminal was in the wrong room, and my phone was on silent."
"From now on, never turn them off or let them out of your sight – understand?" Yolei ordered, Ken quickly nodding. The girl seemed pretty paranoid about it all, anxiety lying under the surface of her insistent anger.
"Okay, I understand all of that, but, still…why are we all heading for the hideout? What happened?"
"You don't know?" Davis asked, sounding rather surprised.
"No…we were playing Guitar Hero when the power went."
"Talk about being caught napping," Jun exclaimed, her voice heightened. "The government is after all of you Tamers because they say that one of you killed the PM."
"What?! Who?!" This…this was unexpected for Ryo, definitely. Involved in a major Digimon incident, perhaps. A government attack to eradicate them, probably. But governmental assassination…that…that was not something he had put on his list of 'maybes."
"Ruki and Renardmon!"
Davis cleared his throat, interrupting his sister forcefully. "Rika and Renamon, Jun."
Ryo's eyes widened, it made no difference how the names were said – the picture was all too clear. They were being blamed for something they hadn't done – Rika and Renamon wouldn't have done such a thing in a million years. His normal, fairly reserved reaction to surprises, at least amongst more distant friends, went right out the window in that instant.
"I said that!" she insisted, before Ken interrupted a potential sibling argument with his gasp of surprise.
"They couldn't have!"
"Try telling that to the government." Mrs Kamiya's worry was still there in full force alongside the bitterness of her comment.
"They said on TV that Rika and Renamon were chief suspects," Veemon explained, both Ryo and Ken's eyes, as well of those of Wormmon, widening massively. Ryo doubted that Cyberdramon hadn't even slightly done the same underneath that mask of his.
"Milleniummon probably already knew of all of this too."
The Digital God, unsurprisingly, stayed silent.
"No wonder Izzy wants us all to meet up then," Ken noted, Ryo nodding.
"Safety in numbers."
"Excuse me, but why are we waiting here then? Izzy said to get to the hideout." Mrs Kamiya seemed oddly to have woken up now, perhaps thanks to the reality of everything going on becoming so much clearer for her from all of their talking. She definitely had a point.
"Come on then," Davis said, gesturing towards the door. "Raidramon's fast enough to evade detection."
"Did you get everything you needed honey?" Yolei asked Ken, sounding guilty all-of-a-sudden as she was interrupted.
"As much as I can probably carry," he replied, nodding and stringing the rucksack over his back. "I better leave a note for my folks first though," he mused, wandering up to the notice board and taking the pen to the whiteboard, one surrounded by school letters, phone numbers and to-dos, a large crack in the centre of it now, no thanks to the soldiers. They definitely weren't the subtle kind.
Ryo stared at the words he wrote, wishing he could do the same for his father. Doubtless, every other teen there, and, indeed, even Mrs Kamiya, were holding similar sentiments.
I'm safe, don't worry. Keep low. I'll find you soon. Love, Ken.
They were safe now. But for how long?
Ryo swore he could hear chuckling from the depths of his mind, that haunting voice again. But was it real? Or was he just remembering it, from so many days before? All that pain. All those deaths. All that suffering, of him and of others.
He closed his fist, digging into his palm with his nails. This wasn't over.
It never was.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Hehe, perhaps not as hugely explosive as some might have been expecting from Milleniummon in this chapter but still very, very dark and also terribly significant. This Digital God is definitely not going to stay quiet, even if his actions will typically speak louder than his words.
Next time, we get to see Henry, trying to save his father, a difficult job when he doesn't even know where the man is. And then, after that, Phase One concludes with Mari's point of view, as strings draw together in the park…
Until next time…
B.C.