Author's Note
Welcome back! The demand was strong enough and the presence of three new teams was tempting enough to dive in once more! This is partially a teaser to generate some excitement and partially a bridge chapter to help explain all the chaos ensuing when we get started again. It's not all that essential, and maybe not so impactful if you didn't watch Hunters, but it'll give you a good feel for one of the new main characters and some clues about how other things will fit in. The sequel will be posted as a new story, so please make sure you're following me as an author and not just the story to make sure you get notified.

Neverworld

Manifest destiny, straight up on the top.
Corporate business: will it stop?
- Tower of Power, "Rhythm & Business"

Teaser

Tagiru Akashi didn't know he was being watched. At least he didn't act like he did. Either way, it didn't deter him from doing donuts with the company forklift in the warehouse loading area. The fun ended when he rammed one of the forks into the wrong side of a pallet. He jumped out, looking around frantically. Now he cared about being watched. Rhythm ducked out of the way in time. Ever since the Quartzmon battle six years ago, she had been dreading this trip.

Massive, worlds-spanning threats take a toll on a universe. Once the chaos ends, particles from the inevitable distortion linger in the air. Given enough time to decay and in the hands of the right entity, knowledgeable users could manipulate them to introduce copies of a world's elements into another. Rhythm was thankful Meicoomon exposed these particles in such a conspicuous way. Otherwise, she may have never learned about them, or that six years was the ideal time to draw the most out of them. She was uncertain the first time she tried it, but also so desperate to reclaim the world from Algomon the delirious hope of it actually working propelled her through it.

But someone in Tagiru's world was also capable of these inter-dimensional shenanigans. Whoever coordinated the effort against Quartzmon was better at this than she was. She could pull heroes six years after their victories, rousing them in the middle of the night to arrive, stunned and confused, in her world. Here, for one fight, they crossed both dimensions and time itself to drop in, minds sharp from their current adventures, raring to save the world. Rhythm could only dream of such power. More importantly, she hoped she wouldn't have to deal with whomever could. Her first trip to pull in Mikey and the original Fusion Fighters succeeded without a hitch. But was she noticed?

By now the gig was up for Tagiru. An older, larger worker, probably a manager, lectured the nineteen year old about forklift safety and the dangers of reckless mischief. Tagiru waved his hands around, bright smile on his face, loudly defending himself with all the charm he could muster. The manager's stone face cracked with a snicker. With a shake of his head, he held up a hand, said a few more words, and walked away. Tagiru turned around and heaved a sigh. He climbed into the forklift, cringing at the creaking wood as he pulled out of the pallet. He looked around again, giving Rhythm a closer look at his face. All the energy had left, replaced with a defeated scowl. He patted the roof the forklift, closing his eyes for a moment before carefully driving it back inside.

It was hard to watch Tagiru flail at his menial warehouse job, toiling in dissatisfaction and anonymity. The legendary hunter deserved a reality where he had a chance at better. But Rhythm had concerns. The dimensional abuse to the world left it full of red flags, not to mention the shadier tendencies of the other hunters. Even Tagiru was successful only with the support of multi-dimensional ringers and only thrust into the role due to irreconcilable issues with the original representative's partner. He didn't impress her much, enough to make her consider staying away.

"Pitiful sight, isn't it?" Rhythm's entire body bristled when she heard the old man's voice. She knew when she turned around she'd see the bow-legged elder, standing only with help from his cane. "No one knows who he is. Nobody has any reason to care. Stuck with a lousy job until he's tossed out and forced into the next one." He peered past the crate they were hiding behind and into the warehouse. "Three weeks, if you're curious."

Rhythm wasn't. Her eyes never strayed away from him. "I know who you are," she said, as close to a growl as her normally bright voice could get.

He didn't flinch. "I'm just an old man who sells clocks. And you're just a young girl who breaks them, am I right?"

"Do you know why I'm here?"

"Of course." He turned to her. Through his sunglasses, he was impossible to read. "You're here to gather heroes from across time and space to help you protect your world."

She forced a cheerful smile. "Well, not time. Never messed with that!"

"You can't reach through time?"

"I'm lucky to reach anything!" Rhythm laughed at her own mediocrity. She hoped this was a casual conversation and he would eventually leave her alone. "First time I tried it, I trapped the kids in a time loop with a deranged Etemon!"

The old man let out a hearty laugh. "Is there any other kind?" She joined in after his joke. Jokes were a good sign, and she drew out the laughter as long as possible.

Once it subsided, he leaned in. "Do you want to reach through time?"

Her hands shot up. "No thanks!" She hoped her smile wasn't as uneasy as she was. "There's enough questions about pulling from the here and now to worry about that."

He tilted his head. "Questions? Ask away."

"Oh, uh..." She wasn't expecting him to cooperate. Best she had hoped for was him leaving her alone. "Okay! First off, how bad is the damage? Between Quartzmon, everything you did, and me pulling in Mikey and them, I don't want to put anybody in danger."

"Nothing will happen to this world. I can make sure of that." The old man thought for a moment, and answered more slowly. "But Quartzmon put us on uneven footing when it comes to time. That's how I was able to reach back and gather everybody at the height of their power. Which disrupted it more. Now there's no telling who you'll end up getting. You may end up reaching through time and space whether you want to or not."

It was an unsettling thought. She was after the hunters of this world and that was it. An unpredictable distortion pulling in additional kids from unknown places and times would normally be a serious problem. But not anymore.

"Good thing I've already gotten everybody from the past who could get selected," she said.

"True. They wouldn't get pulled in twice," the old man replied. "How about the future? Been to any new worlds lately?"

"It could go there?! You didn't touch Haru's world!"

"Sounds like you have. That'll do it." He smiled. "And thanks for cluing me in."

She cringed. The old man knowing about the appdrivers made her uneasy. Still, this wasn't a deal breaker. In fact, she'd prefer getting both the hunters and appdrivers at the same time. They didn't exactly utilize Digimon and their battle took a different form, but they were powerful with more reliable demeanors.

But it wasn't the end to her questioning: "Question two! How did you pick who gets to be a hunter? Some of those kids who might get pulled in seemed kinda sketchy. Why them?" She added a little extra cheer to the question to tamper any perceived rudeness.

He stared back for a while. She feared he was glaring, but he only chuckled. "There are some characters, that's for sure. But I needed kids who weren't afraid to do things on their own. There were a lot of stranded Digimon that had to be hunted. No time to be picky."

"Some of them were pretty awful to their Digimon. I don't know if I would want them in my world."

"You already pulled in Christopher. Don't forget who gave him his Fusion Loader."

Rhythm pouted. Now the doubts were mounting. And she still had one more question: "The first world I pulled from had hundreds of digidestined. I had to filter them down to the most active participants in a world-saving event. Also, it's easier to capture their data if they've been in the Digital World. But the hunters worked in digiquartz instead. So..."

"So you get nobody," the old man stated firmly. "None of my hunters have been to the Digital World. You'd have to use Fusion Loader data to cast a wide enough net to catch them."

Her shoulders fell. All the other factors were bad enough, but using data collected from digivices in an unstable world was a daunting obstacle. She'd grown comfortable with her process. Could she really abandon it to learn new steps with all the possible side effects hanging in the air? Was Tagiru Akashi worth all that, especially with Algomon still recovering from his death and for now unable to pose any significant threat? Could she wait five years for Haru?

"Everything you're saying makes me think I should leave this alone," Rhythm said, surprised at her own melancholy. It felt like the coward's choice; excluding anybody broke her heart. She adored humans, especially the heroes who risked their lives to preserve different worlds and the different creatures inhabiting them. As little as she needed Tagiru, she wanted him so badly.

"Good," said the old man, surprising her. "Quartzmon did a number on this place. Probably for the best that you leave it be and let me do what I can to stabilize it." He chuckled, leaning towards her. "I know we're on the same side now and all, but I still hate competition." A chuckle escaped his curling lip.

Rhythm shuddered. The conversation had been going just fine. Any antagonism, even as a joke, made her nervous. She couldn't dismiss the possibility of him having a motive to swing her against pulling from this world. Was she playing right into his hands? As she looked away, she composed herself.

She realized she couldn't psych herself out and had to do what she thought was best. She turned back, her smile returning: "Okay! Well, thank you for your-" The old clock shop owner was gone. She didn't get time to wonder before Tagiru raced around the corner, skidding to a stop in front of her.

"I saw him! Where did he go?!" His head darted in every direction before settling on her. His hard stare, quick nasal breaths and reckless smile caught her off guard. Not only did she not know the answer, she didn't know whether to let on that she knew who either Tagiru or the old man was, or that she was in any way aware of their exploits.

"He just disappeared on me," Rhythm said tentatively.

"I saw you two talking. Who are you?" Both Tagiru's speech and mannerisms seemed to move at a faster speed than the rest of reality.

"Oh, I'm just, uh..." She forced a childish grin. "Trying to figure out how to get to Odaiba."

He pointed over her shoulder. "That way just a bit. Was he trying to give you something?"

"No," she replied quickly. Thankfully he paused long enough for her to add more to her story. "He just sounded like an old man who wanted someone to talk to." She realized she may not have been lying.

Tagiru listened intently, but his shoulders sank and his smile fell the more he heard. "Hmm... I was hoping he had something new going on."

"Nope!" she blurted back.

"Oh." He frowned, but only for a moment until his entire face kicked back to life. "Because man, the first time was so sweet! You wouldn't believe what I did!"

Rhythm forced a smile. "I'm sure I wouldn't."

"Nobody ever does!" Tagiru said with a laugh. "Everyone kind of looks at me funny when I talk about it. Sure doesn't help me get a good job! But man…" He still stared at her with that wild grin, but she felt like he looked through her, to something she couldn't see. "It was awesome. I was awesome! And my friends…" He shook his head. "We had something. We clicked. I thought they'd be around forever." A loud breath exited his nose. "I'd seriously give anything to see them again."

"Do you really think he'd do that for you?" She kept a straight face. After a few seconds of blinking, his matched it.

"I don't know," he conceded. "Guess something needs to be going on for me to help." He looked over her shoulder, at the peak of the Ferris wheel a mile away creeping over buildings. "I just need another chance. Just to prove I can do it. To prove it was real." Tagiru looked down at her again, this time straight into her eyes. He flashed a smirk. "You gotta admit you want to know what I'm talking about."

Rhythm reminded herself of all the reasons to pass on him and this world. Meeting him face to face offered little more than the energetic idiot his reputation suggested. Still, she couldn't deny the first thought in her head: she wanted to see it. Maybe it was morbid curiosity, but she wanted to know how he'd fare in her world. If he crashed, there were plenty others to clean up his mess. And maybe he would find a way to prove himself. After all, energetic idiots were the heart of her team.

More importantly, why did she have to be selective? Her rival was dormant. This was her chance to allow the world to grow into something less chaotic and more meaningful than a chessboard between herself and Algomon. If this pull introduced some less predictable hunters, her team had time to adjust. Reaching into Haru's world early wasn't a problem. She was keen on them. In fact, what was the problem of reaching into any of the other worlds? No matter what role they played, somebody picked them to partner with a Digimon. Somebody had faith in their abilities. Rhythm had no right to slam the door on them, regardless of who they were.

"I do," she said with a smile. "And I'm sure I will very soon." Tagiru's grin widened. Rhythm bowed to him, wearing a slender smile of her own. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

Rhythm turned around and followed his directions. How poetic that Tagiru's climactic battle drifted into Odaiba. Within an hour, she'd begin the process to pull him and gods knew who else into her world. She was excited to see whom she'd end up with.

Tagiru watched her leave, somehow emboldened by a vague conversation with a young girl he had never met before.

"Well done. Handled like the legend you are." He jumped hearing the old man's voice behind him.

As he turned around, the teen's mouth fell open, but still curved upwards. The clock shop owner continued, "I handled that all wrong. Didn't expect her to actually trust my advice. Good work."

Looking over his shoulder despite Rhythm being long gone, Tagiru asked, "Wait, who was that?"

He chuckled. "Boy, she's the keeper of a different Digital World. A special one. She pulls in heroes and their Digimon from other worlds to protect it, same way I did six years ago."

Tagiru gasped, his smile growing. "And I'm next?" Hopes of more adventures with Gumdramon flooded into his head.

The old man nodded. "And then some." He looked into the sky. "Thanks to you, the floodgates are open. It's not about who accomplished what or what time they're from. Now, anybody with a... what did they call it? A digivice... anybody with a digivice will get in. Past, present, or future."

"And I'm gonna surpass all of them!" Tagiru exclaimed, punching the air and running off, neglecting to ask when this was going to happen or what kind of environment to expect. Just as well, as the clock shop owner didn't know. He chuckled and watched the departing young man, life and energy restored.

"A nexus world… populated by everybody with a digivice... pretty incredible," the man said to himself. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his gray Fusion Loader, peering into it with his glowing right eye. "Course, nowadays they'll give anybody one of these things."


Coming This Summer- Nexusworld
More than a year after reviving Algomon, the world is rocked again when the next batch of new arrivals is not the small group of hunters everyone expected, but hundreds of kids and Digimon (or Appmon) partners. As Tai and the officers struggle to find a suitable home and way of life for the flood of newcomers, three new leaders are ready to challenge everything. This trio—Haru Shinkai, Tagiru Akashi, and Daigo Nishijima—are determined to redefine their fates… no matter who they have to cross to get there.


Author's Notes

Rhythm, as we learned at the very end of Neverworld, is one of the world's deities and responsible for bringing everybody in. She will have a much more active role in Nexusworld.

The "timeloop with a deranged Etemon" is an obvious reference to the tri. stage play. It won't have any bearing on the story, but might as well work it in there for the sake of completion.

Koto is the hometown for the Fusion kids, and happens to be right next to (or technically includes) Odaiba. While the real world locations of Fusion are more inland, some of Odaiba's landmarks are all over the final couple episodes of Hunters.

I finished this teaser a few months ago and have a couple chapters written, but waited until the finale of tri. in case there were any major surprises. Just as Neverworld did its best to maintain continuity with tri. (there are only a couple possible errors I can think of), Nexusworld will be tri. compliant to the best of our ability, but will make a few more leaps that open it up for contradictions if supplemental material comes out.

Speaking of which, look for the story to debut in early August, giving the next Digimon fan event a chance to clue us into what the new teased project is going to be. I'm not going to wait around for it to launch, knowing what the focus will be could help me know what sorts of details I should be vague about.

Once again, it is very important to set me up for author alerts instead of story alerts. This will be its own story (and is shaping up to be just as long!), so until it goes up author alerts will be the only way to be notified. Thank you in advance, and I'll see you this summer!