Chapter 25: Road Trip!

Allen Residence-Sanford, Maine

It took a while for mom to recover from discovering Commandramon, admittedly, coming face to face with a gun toting robot dinosaur would cause anyone to question their sanity. But after a bit of recovery and a hot coffee, mom and I were able to discuss everything. I told her everything, about getting sucked into my computer, becoming a Digidestined, and the current problem of the Demon Lords.

To her credit, she believed the whole thing, but that could be due to her having seen Commandramon, I think at this point she'd buy anything. "I'm… sorry Jason, I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this," She said before taking another sip of coffee, I could see her hands trembling slightly, it was obvious she was nervous, whether that was about the impending doom of the Demon Lords, or that she just learned there's a whole other reality in cyberspace, I couldn't tell.

She took a moment before speaking again, "Jason, I don't know how I feel about… well… any of this," She said, oh no here it comes, she's going to go into Mom-mode and forbid me from saving the world, I just know it. "I mean… that thing has a gun for god sake! And you said he was a part of this… Rex character's attack force? How the hell do you even know you can trust that thing?" She asked.

Or she'd question Commandramon, that works too. To be fair though, she had a point… at least on the surface, it was kind of dumb for me to trust him initially, considering what I had seen his comrades doing previously, for all tense and purposes, I lucked out with him. "I've been with him long enough to know I can trust him, he's not a bad Digimon, just dealt a bad hand in life," I said.

Mom sighed, "If you say so," She said, "Do you have any idea how to go about this? I mean… do you even know where this Rex guy even is?" She asked me. This was a much more valid point, because I had no clue where they were, just that they were somewhere on Earth.

I let out a sigh of my own, "No… not really, I just know that they're in this world, not exactly where on this world," I admitted… to be honest, it was kinda dumb how little I knew right now, hell I didn't even know how I was going to reunite with the others! God I suck!

Mom seemed to pick up on this, "First thing we need to do is get in contact with those other Digidestined you mentioned, I don't suppose they gave you their phone numbers or anything?" She asked me.

How the hell did we not think to do that? It wasn't like none of us had our phones on us, I know I did, I guess everything just happened so fast and we were just so shocked Rex took the war to the real world we didn't think to do it. "I'm guessing by the look on your face you didn't," She deduced, sometimes I forgot how good mom was at reading me, I guess it just came with being an investigative reporter, or being my mother, one or the other, "Well, try Facebook, everyone's on Facebook, I've found several people at work using it," She said.

It was a solid plan, I knew their names and faces, getting in contact with them through there wouldn't be so hard, at least being able to coordinate would help immensely. So finally having a solid plan in place, I rushed up to my room to look up my friends on Facebook, who would have thought Facebook of all things would be instrumental in saving the world from utter destruction? Life is stupid sometimes…

I decided on finding Ethan first, since he was the closest one geographically to me, being Canadian and all. Of course the name Ethan Jacobs brought up a lot of results, god it was gonna take a while to find him, "Sir, may I ask what you're doing?" Commandramon asked me.

Commandramon had elected to stay in my room while mom and I talked, after his first encounter with her I didn't blame him. "I'm trying to find Ethan on Facebook so we can coordinate a game plan or something," I explained. But I forgot one key detail about Commandramon.

"What's a "Facebook"?"

He wasn't from the real world, there was something kind of ironic about a high tech robo soldier from a world born from computers asking what Facebook was like an out of touch grandma. So now I had to explain the concept of social media to a Digimon, "It's a website where people hang out and share pictures, web links, and stuff like that," I explained. "Problem is there are a million Ethan Jacobs in the world, finding the right one will be tou-" I began but suddenly my computer began to scroll inhumanly fast.

It wasn't until I looked to my partner did I realize what was happening, he was hacking into my computer, you could tell just from his blank, trance like expression, the fact he could do this was unnerving, especially considering how little time it took for him to do this, "Found him," He said, stopping the scrolling on Ethan's account and clicking on it, it didn't take long to confirm this was the Ethan we were looking for, he had plenty of pictures of himself on it, mostly of him skateboarding.

I'd have to send a friend request to chat with him though, but considering we all knew what was going on I doubt it'd take long for him to jump on it… well… as long as he checks his Facebook at least…

Meanwhile…

London Ontario, Canada.

It'd been too long since I've gotten to skate, I felt like myself again, I knew I was wasting valuable time, but I needed this, I really needed this.

Gaomon didn't seem too fond of it though, god he looked so bored, he just had that look on his face like he wished he was anywhere else right now, I kinda felt bad for him now… I picked my board off the ground, "You okay dude?" I asked him.

Gaomon seemed startled, as if his mind were somewhere else up until that point, "Y… yeah… why?" He asked sheepishly. He knew why… I could tell just by the look on his face.

However, before I could ask, I heard a very loud growling sound come from Gaomon, "Uh… Ethan… you wouldn't happen to have any food on you would you?" He asked me, this seemed like a good time as any to take a break and grab some food.

I chuckled, "Come on, there's a diner not too far from here we can eat at, I'm buyin'," I said, why did I add the "I'm buying" part? Of course I was buying, I doubt Gaomon had Canadian currency on him, bringing Gaomon through town wouldn't be hard, I could just tell people he was in a costume, he was about the size of a kid anyways, besides, it's been too long since I've had real food.

Gaomon and I walked down the street until we happened upon Johnny's, a diner I frequented, I opened the door with a jingle, thankfully things were slow today it seemed, as I seemed to be one of the few people here.

"Yo, Ethan! Man what's up?"

I looked to the counter, a boy with scraggly semi long brown hair and bright green eyes had noticed me, he was in his work uniform, this was Tyler Mac, one of my skater friends who worked at the Diner. I sat at the bar counter, Gaomon pulling himself up next to me, Tyler noticed him instantly, "Dude… what's up with the dog dude?" He asked me.

I should probably mention that Tyler wasn't exactly the brightest bulb of the bunch, he was failing most of his classes, that is if he even attended them, but he was a good dude at heart, "Oh, this is Gaomon," I explained, I didn't want to go into too much detail with other people within listening distance.

Tyler laughed, "Sup man," He said, extending his fist for a fist bump, Gaomon cautiously bumped fists with him, I could tell Gaomon didn't think too highly of Tyler just by the look on his face.

"MAC! Quit wasting time and get the customer's orders or you're fired!"

Tyler jumped at the sound of his angry manager's voice, "Uh! Sure thing Mr. Banks sir!" He said, fumbling for his notebook to take our orders, "So.. what'll it be?" He asked me.

I already knew what I wanted, "The usual," I said simply, the "usual" for me was a bacon burger and fries, unhealthy? Yeah, but I was young, I didn't really care to be honest. "How bout you Gaomon?" I asked my Digimon.

Gaomon seemed to puzzle over the menu for a while, I remembered that the Digital World had it's own lettering style, so I imagined trying to read normal English was quite a challenge for him "I guess I'll have the same," He said, I doubt he even knew what it was I ordered, he just basically gave up on deciphering the menu.

Tyler began writing down on the notepad, "Okay, that's two bacon cheese burgers with fries, it'll be out in just a few secs," He said before going back to inform the cook of our order.

Gaomon waiting until Tyler was out of ear shot to speak, "I don't think I like your friend Ethan," He said rather bluntly, then again, Gaomon was always as subtle as an atom bomb when it came to telling people how he felt about others.

I chuckled, "Tyler's not the brightest guy, but he's cool as they come," I said, I was debating with myself whether I wanted to involve Tyler in this Digimon thing or not, he did have a driver's license, something I lacked, and the idea of having a close friend with me in this adventure made it feel less intimidating.

However suddenly my phone pinged, it'd been so long since my phone had any sort of service I had almost forgotten what it's notification chime sounded like, I quickly took it from my pocket and pushed the button to bring up the lock screen.

It was a notification from Facebook telling me someone had sent a friend request, usually this kind of message was something I simply swiped away and ignored, but the name prevented me from doing so.

It was from Jason, he must have been trying to contact me, and decided for whatever reason, Facebook was the best means to do so. I wasted no time, if Jason wanted to talk it had to be important right? I accepted the request, and within second Jason began to chat with me.

"We really should have given each other's phone numbers lol"

Well… yeah… thinking about it, we really should have had more foresight in that regard.

"So… what's our plan exactly, I don't really have a means to get to you dude,"

"If we can all meet in one place it would help, would really help if we knew where the Demon Lords were,"

"Yeah,"

"So, what are you up to now?"

"Gaomon got hungry, grabbing a bite at a diner my friend Tyler works at, how about you?"

"Spent the morning trying to stop my mom from beating Commandramon with a toy lightsaber lol"

It seemed Jason had a much more chaotic return to home than I did, I lucked out that my dad happened to be passed out in front of the TV, I can't imagine what his reaction to Gaomon would have been. I imagine it wouldn't have been a calm reaction, probably resulting in a long lecture about how I should know better than to get mixed up in inter-dimensional wars or something.

"So, how are we going to meet up?"

"I think it might be better if I come to you Jason, my dad's not exactly the most friendly type,"

"Fine, I'm in Maine, so it shouldn't be too far away from Canada, you got a means to get here?"

"I might,"

And with that, we ended the text chat, it was clear set, getting to Maine from Ontario would be a bit of a trip, god why did we all have to be from different countries again? Seems like a really stupid way to build your hero team. But now I knew I'd have to rely on Tyler to get me there, I'd have to talk to him later.

Speaking of Tyler, he finally came out from the back and laid our plates on the counter. "Okay, here you are," Tyler said.

I waster no time in taking a big bite, god it was so good, having to subsist on Commandramon's horrible bars from hell for as long as I had been would make anything taste amazing, it was so nice to have real food again. Gaomon was already digging in, if I learned one thing about Digimon during my adventures in the Digital World, it was how much they loved food. I'm sure he was having the same sensation I was over having real food again.

However, I noticed something on the TV in the corner of the diner, a news report about something going on overseas, an attractive woman was on screen, with a totally trashed boat behind her. "Reports say a ferry traveling from Dublin, Ireland, to London, England was attacked by what witnesses say looked like a quote "metal sea dragon", the ferry you see behind me arrived earlier today in the English harbor, barely holding together after the alleged attack," The reporter explained.

My blood ran cold, normally, I would have waved off such a thing as crazy nonsense, but knowing what I knew now, there was no way that wasn't a Digimon attack, oh god, what if it was one of the Demon Lords? We weren't ready to fight them off yet!

The report continued, "The bizarre claims don't end there though, survivors of the alleged attack claimed the monster was dispatched by "Some small pink thing wearing an animal pelt," British authorities are baffled by these claims, fearing the attack may have caused some form of delirium in the survivors, as no such creature was found among the survivors," She continued.

That had to be Psychemon, which told me that Kate was on that ferry, it didn't take a genius to put two and two together that the Digimon attacked the ferry specifically because Kate was on it, that made this so much worse, they were targeting us, which meant I had the risk of running into a nasty surprise if I tried to travel to America.

I was beginning to have second thoughts on involving Tyler, how could I put one of my best friends in danger like that? That ferry was a wreck, I can't imagine Tyler's rickety old van could survive a pounding on that level! What if he got hurt or worse killed? I would never be able to forgive myself.

Gaomon and I both finished our meals, I of course picked up the tab, it wasn't much really, Tyler always gave me a discount. However I had a conundrum now, Tyler was my only feasible means to get to Jason, but I really didn't like risking his life like this.

I decided I needed a second opinion, and if anyone knew how to be brutally honest with me, it was Gaomon, "Hey Gaomon, can I ask your opinion on something?" I asked him.

Gaomon blinked, "Of course, what's on your mind?" He replied.

Well, here it goes, "Jason messaged me earlier, we agreed to meet up in America, but… there's a problem," I began, "I only have one means to get there, and I don't really know if I like it," I added. "Tyler's one of the only friends I know with a driver's license, but… that report in the diner, that creature that attacked that ferry in Ireland, I'm scared something like that will happen to us and… I don't want my friend in the middle of that ya know? What should I do?" I asked.

Gaomon gave it some thought, I know he didn't really like Tyler all that much, so the fact he'd have to travel with him was probably going to effect his response, "Ethan, I may not care too much for your friend, but I wouldn't let something happen to him any more than I would let happen to you, if he's our only way to Jason, we have to take it," He said.

He had a point, I needed to get to America, and Tyler was my only real option, no way would I ever be able to convince my dad to drive that far out, and explaining the Digimon thing to him would be much easier than doing so with anyone else. As much as I didn't want to risk his life, there really wasn't much of a choice here.

So we both agreed to the plan, I just had to wait until Tyler got off work…

Meanwhile…

Outside Mack's Bar, Canada…

Traveling between worlds wasn't something I'd ever experienced before, or even really desired to do, but when Lilithmon commands you to do something, if you value your life you do it. I found myself outside of some kind of bar, motorcycles were all parked in neat rows outside, I had my mission, to hunt down and destroy the Canadian Digidestined and his pet Gaomon. Seemed easy enough, a rookie stood no chance against an Ultimate like myself.

I could hear the faint sounds of rock music coming from the establishment, the humans inside where probably drinking themselves into a stupor, leaving their bikes unattended, I needed a means of travel, so borrowing one wouldn't hurt.

I sat on the nearest one, but the second I did, "HEY! The hell you think you're doing on my bike asshole?" One biker happened to notice, and was clearly not pleased. However it didn't take long for him to notice I wasn't a human, as he quickly lost his courage, "Th.. the hell are you?!" He asked.

I laughed, "Me? I'm SkullMeramon, you'd best rethink attacking me human, you won't like the outcome," I said, I knew I could tear through these humans like wet toilet paper, humans were notoriously weak creatures, but I'd rather not waste energy on these fools.

But of course, "F**k you man! I ain't losing my bike to some Ghost Rider looking motherf***er!" He said before bringing out a switchblade, I got up off the bike with an annoyed sigh, so much for not wasting energy.

The human quickly went to stab me in the stomach, the blade snapped the second it hit my skin, the human was in shock, "What the f**k?" He questioned, I wasted no time, simply backhanding the human sending him flying into the wall of the bar, out like a light. I took the keys from his pocket, "Thanks for the help human," I said sarcastically.

No one else dared approach me after that, I simply took the bike and drove off, I had a job to do, and I was going to do it….

Meanwhile…

Back at the Diner…

Gaomon and I waited out back for Tyler to get off his shift, I had shot Tyler a text telling him I wanted to talk to him after he got off work, god I felt awful for doing this, I almost felt like I was using him, but we were talking about the fate of the world right? That kinda made it okay right?

I heard the back door of the diner open, "Hey man, so what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" He asked me, oh god here it comes.

Okay Ethan, you can do this, deep breaths, "Okay… I'm going to tell you something, but you gotta promise me to keep it secret okay?" I told him, I knew Tyler well enough to know if I didn't open with this he'd post about it on Facebook or Twitter, he'd probably even come up with a hashtag for it.

Tyler nodded, "Okay… you met Gaomon right?" I said, pointing to Gaomon, Tyler again nodded, "Well… he's not wearing a costume, he's a creature called a Digimon they come from this world called the "Digital World"," I began, god I have to sound like a lunatic right now, "Well, me and a few other guys got roped into this war of theirs and well, long story short, I need to get to America to reunite with one of them, and I need you to drive me there so I can help save the world from evil demon Digimon who want to take over the world," I said, I was leaving a few details out, but I needed to abridge it for the sake of brevity.

Tyler just sort of stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time, yeah he thinks I'm insane now, good job Ethan! You doomed humanity by sounding like a crazy person to your friend, good job. However, suddenly Tyler's expression changed to one of excitement, "Dude! That's awesome! Of course I'll help out dude! Canada's boring anyways!" Tyler said, sounding like a kid who just got the toy he always wanted for Christmas.

I admit, I didn't quite expect this reaction from him, he had absolutely no fear of death or anything, but then again, Tyler wasn't the kind of guy who worried about that sort of thing. "Dude this is so cool, I get to go on a world saving adventure! Hold up, let me get my van dude," He said before going of to do just that.

I guess I should be thankful, this just became significantly easier, but the idea I was putting his life at risk still nagged at me, but the fact he was so stoked about helping me kinda alleviated that a bit.

Soon Tyler's van came rolling up to us, it was an old as dirt hippie van he got from his uncle, it was a piece of crap, but it was my best way to get to America, Tyler hung himself out the window, "Hop in dude! We've got a world to save!" He said.

Gaomon and I both got in, the van itself was a three seat deal, the back being empty, "Your friend seems bizarrely accepting of all this," Gaomon commented.

Tyler however didn't wait for me to answer, "You kidding dude? Nothing cool ever happens around here, besides, I've always wanted to go on a cross country road trip!" He said, Tyler had always said he wanted to travel the world when he graduated high school, see the sights and all that, I guess in a way this was a means for him to do just that.

And with that we were off, ready to embark on our epic quest to save the world, I just hope we don't run into any trouble along the way…

Meanwhile…

London, England…

Saying it was lucky we had survived that encounter on the ferry would be an understatement, we had to quickly duck out of the crowd at the docks to avoid the media, who had clearly wasted no time at all in reporting on the thing, I didn't like the idea of splashing poor Psychemon all over the news.

Sam had thankfully woken up by the time we had reached shore, so I didn't have to carry her around, but after all that chaos, we were wet, tired, and a bit miserable, we all plopped ourselves onto a park bench and tried to compose ourselves, "God… you weren't kidding about the end of the world stuff," Sam commented.

I groaned, "That thing knew I was on that ferry, you know what that means right?" I asked her, I didn't wait for Sam to answer, "It means they know what we're doing, where we're going, and I doubt we've seen the last attack either," I explained, to say I felt demoralized would be an understatement, if that was how powerful their goons were, how powerful where the Demon Lords themselves? I shuddered to think.

However, Sam chuckled, "Well then we'd better find that Ross guy quickly then, wouldn't want him to miss out on all the fun now would we?" She said, Sam somehow managed to maintain her high spirits regardless of how bad our situation had become. In a weird way that helped me feel a bit better, "So… where in England is Ross again?" She asked me.

Crap! I knew I was forgetting something, "I think I remember him mentioning he worked at a Tattoo parlor in Norfolk," I said.

Sam nodded, "Then that's where we'll go, come on!" She said, excitedly running off, Psychemon and I having to scramble just to catch up with her.

Meanwhile…

Canada…

I have to admit, getting used to Ethan's friend Tyler was a bit of a task, he was careless, childish, and wasn't taking this as seriously as he should be, he was treating this like a road trip with his buddies, not a world saving mission. Ethan seemed to be sharing his friend's upbeat demeanor, singing along with the radio, as much as I liked seeing Ethan happy during this decidedly unhappy situation his world found itself in, I couldn't help but feel like I was the only one taking this seriously.

I found myself just staring out the window, watching the scenery pass me by, despite it being a completely different world to my own, the forest that flew by us reminded me of home, I didn't think I'd miss it as much as I did, but I guess Ethan felt the same way when he was brought to my world.

Tyler suddenly took a left turn, "Dude, I'm running low on gas, gotta pull into a station," He said, I admit, I wasn't too familiar with cars, they weren't common in the Digital World, but it almost seemed like wasting time to make a stop like this, every second was precious.

Add this to the fact that Tyler didn't seem to understand the importance of this mission, and I was beginning to lose my patience with him, "We don't have time for detours Tyler! The world is at stake!" I objected.

Tyler seemed caught off guard by my objection, "Dude, I can't drive with no gas man, why you goin' all aggro on me?" He asked.

That was it, I couldn't stand this guy, "Maybe because you're not taking this seriously? This isn't a vacation! We're trying to save the world here! And all you've been doing since we left London is goof around!" I snapped, my frustrations with Tyler were starting to get the better of me, his explanation should have been good enough, the car had to run on something, but I didn't really care, there was just something about Tyler that got under my skin.

Ethan decided to intervene, "Gaomon? Dude relax, it won't take long," He said, trying to calm me down, I did my best to stay my tongue as Tyler pulled into a gas station. As he exited the car Ethan decided now was a good time to talk, "Dude, what was that about?" He asked me.

I didn't really have much of an answer for him, there was just something about Tyler that bothered me, but for the life of me, I just couldn't pin point what it was. There was just something that didn't sit well, something that annoyed me. "I… I'm not sure… I just…" I tried to fumble for the right words to explain myself but kept coming up empty.

Ethan sighed, "Look, I know Tyler can be a bit of a goofball, but I've been friends with him for years, he knows what's at stake okay?" He explained, something about that "friends with him for years" comment sent a ping in my stomach. "Look dude, we'll get there, just relax alright?" He then said.

Relax… sure… I'll do that…

I found them… I admit, I almost missed them, but I happened to spot a Gaomon in the van, that had to be them, but before I could approach, another human got into the van and drove off, but at least I had them in my sights now, I couldn't wait to tear them apart, it would be so easy, almost unfair… but this is why I loved doing what I do…

Enjoy your little road trip while you can human, because it's about to become very unpleasant…

A/N: Uh oh! Looks like SkullMeramon has found our intrepid heroes! Will our heroes make it to America? And what is up with Gaomon? Find out next time! Whenever I decide to update again...