Authors Note: Happy Mother's Day from Ruki44 and Crazyeight!
Chapter 35: Meeting Thanatos
Jeri let out a deep breath, standing in the shadow of the bakery where she would visit so often in her childhood before going home, hoping to catch Takato's eye or perhaps spend another minute with him before going to help out with her family's tavern.
As they entered high school, her visits slowly trickled down until they finally became sporadic now that she had no real ulterior motive to constantly buy bread.
She wondered what awaited her inside. Part of her thought about texting Kazu or Ayaka, asking them how Takato was in school, to get a gauge on his mood, but she wondered if the crimson-eyed boy would be so obvious that he got shot down. Besides, Ayaka seemed to be sore at her still, and Kazu, well…
I'm not completely sure if he meant what he said yesterday.
Forcing her feet to take a step forward, knowing this was the right thing to do - Takato needed to talk about this, and she had promised Rika she would check in on him - she entered the store, suddenly feeling very nervous.
Amber eyes glided over the different breads for sale before finally stopping at the counter, waiting patiently for the Matsuki patriarch to finish serving a customer before approaching him.
"Uhm, hi, is uh, Takato here?" she asked, trying to hide her awkwardness to the best of her ability.
Takehiro looked up at Jeri and smiled warmly at her. "Hey Jeri. Haven't seen you in a while. Yeah, Takato's here. He's upstairs right now. Studying I think he said. Can you believe that?"
"No," Jeri replied quite honestly. Gesturing vaguely upstairs, she continued. "Mind if I…?"
"Go ahead," Takehiro nodded. "I'm sure he'd appreciate the company. He's been a little down lately."
Jeri nodded, giving her thanks before slipping upstairs, following the stairs which she used to climb so many times. Stopping in front of his shut door, she reached for the doorknob before hesitating and curling her hand into a fist and knocked.
There was a loud thump from within the room. "Uh...yeah?" came the voice of Takato from the other side. "Mom? Er...Dad? Do you need me downstairs?"
"You have one more guess," Jeri replied back, leaning against the doorframe. "Can I come in?"
"Jeri?"
There came the sound of footsteps and the door slid open, revealing the Matsuki boy. His hair looked a bit disheveled and unkempt, and he appeared tired. His red eyes were clear, if a bit sad, but curious and questioning.
"Uh...hey Jeri," he said, stepping to the side. "What're you doing here?"
"I came to check in on you," she replied simply, walking in and looking around the room, folding her hands behind her back before spinning slightly to look at him. "How are you?"
"I'm...fine," Takato replied, scratching the back of his head. "A little tired, but…" He shrugged, uncertain as to what more to say. "I don't know. It's been pretty quiet lately so I've been...knocking the books for...whatever."
He flapped his hands uselessly at his sides uncertainly. "Uh… Is there anything I can get you?"
She shook her head, sitting down on his chair - one of few things which was clean in his room.
"I'm fine, thanks," she said before pressing her lips together and decide to dive right into it. "I … talked to Rika," she admitted softly, watching him carefully to gauge his reaction before deciding how to proceed.
Takato shifted, his eyes glancing away. "How...How's she doing?" he asked hesitantly. "She's doing okay, right? Well...why wouldn't she? I…" He frowned, as though at himself and shook his head. Running a hand through his hair, he turned his back on Jeri, sighing heavily.
"She's doing okay...isn't she?" he asked softly.
"She's doing OK," Jeri said slowly, amazed that Takato could be worried about her when he was the one turned down. She felt it would be bad to say the girl had been quieter than normal to the point getting her to talk was a chore. "She's worried about you though." A pause. "Takato … I'm sorry I pushed you into it. I should have listened more instead … of … well you know. Not."
"It's okay," Takato shrugged. "I mean, you were thinking about the number of times she and I got together so…" He trailed off and offered a wan smile at Jeri. "Don't worry about it, okay? And tell Rika not to worry about me. I'll be fine."
It felt like a lie, saying that. He could feel the sick, heavy weight in his chest, but he pushed it to the side. It was time to move on. There really wasn't any choice in the matter.
Rika always said Jeri and Takato wore their hearts on their sleeves; the brunette finally could understand what she meant now as she watched the boy. He wasn't fine, no matter how many times he uttered the lie. It was the type of fiction which one hoped if they said enough, it would become a reality, but when it came to emotions … things simply weren't that easy.
"Want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.
"I…" Takato cast a glance at Jeri and then looked away, sighing heavily. Walking over to his library shelf, he pulled off a How to be a Mangaka book and looked at it absently before setting it back on the shelf distractedly.
"What's there to talk about?" he asked. "Rika doesn't feel the same way I do about her. She can't return my feelings, so…" He swallowed painfully and brought his hand to rest on the shelf. "It's just up to me to not be a problem for her. I'll get past it."
"Talking about your feelings is better than keeping it in," she pointed out, her hand straying to her wrist, rubbing it with her thumb before catching herself and quickly dropping her hand. It seems like recently, she was catching herself touching the scarred skin more and more. "Trust me on that."
Takato ran a hand over the spine of another book, one labeled Gojira, and nodded reluctantly. "I know. It's just...I don't know how to put it into words. What do I say to her? How do I act? Does she hate me? Is she...afraid of me?"
He winced noticeably at that, and a look of horror made itself known in his eyes before he ruthlessly squashed it.
"That's just dumb. She'd kick my butt before that happened," he said, berating himself for even thinking such thoughts.
Jeri smiled wanly and chuckled slightly.
"I think she would kick your butt for even suggesting she's afraid of anything," she pointed out, slightly sarcastically before her eyes took a gentler approach. "Rika doesn't hate you - I don't think she ever could. As for what to say or do …" she glanced down playing with her fingers. "It's not like you haven't done this before. It'll be awkward at first, but I'm sure you two will work something out."
"Yeah," Takato agreed, in spite of his heart's doubts. "I know. It's just...I guess...it's more like I'm afraid. Afraid of losing her. Losing her friendship." He gave a dry chuckle. "I'm sure if Kazu were here, he'd say something about how I just have that weird sort of luck with girls, but...I just don't see it." He shrugged again. "Not that it matters you know. It's just…"
He frowned and breathed a heavy sigh. "I...really don't know what it is I'm saying right now. I feel like I'm stuck in a fog. I mean, I know I usually act like that, like I have a disconnect between my brain and mouth, but this time it's like…" His mouth twitched, searching for the words. "I don't know."
"I don't think you'd lose Rika. She's the last person I think who would ever leave anyone," Jeri started, remembering the girl's fear of being left behind herself. Pausing a moment to consider Takato's words, she leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. It was such a beautiful day outside. When they were younger, they no doubt would be playing until the sun set. Now …
Now we stay indoors, fighting something we can't hope to win against while trying to figure out our future and our present, she thought, realizing that even though they'd be taking entrance exams for college soon, she hadn't given what she planned on doing after high school much further thought besides her initial plans before all of this started.
"I know what you mean though," she said finally, returning her attention to him. "With the stuck in the fog. Like your mouth might say something which you aren't thinking or won't say something, and it's like even though you should be able to control it … you can't."
"How'd you manage it?" he asked, following her gaze over to the window.
"We can make our own destiny. Remember Rika always says that?" she said after a moment. "But … things … are just out of our control in what happens to us, but we do control how we react to what life throws at us. Sometimes it's just taking one day at a time, and just toughing it out even if we want to scream and quit. It's not simple and there isn't some cheat code you can do to simply make things easier. The most important thing though is even if you fall down to get right back up and keep going."
Takato gave Jeri a small smile. "You know… Jeri… Has anyone ever told you how awesome you are?"
"I've heard it occasionally," Jeri chuckled slightly, noting the irony that Takato was the second person to tell her this today; the first was Rika before they parted ways.
"People should tell you that more often," Takato nodded in affirmation, crossing his arms together. "You're awesome."
"Careful now," Jeri smirked slightly. "We only need one narcissistic egotistical person in the group."
"Jeri, I'm pretty sure that if anyone's going to become egotistical or narcissistic or whatever, you're the last person to end up like that." His eyes softened on her. "You forgave Beelzemon. Do you know how rare something like that is?"
Jeri sobered up a bit, glancing away.
If she was honest … part of her still hated Impmon, Beelzemon, for what he did. However, him trying so hard to save her, to make it up to her …
And if I just went with him instead of refusing … so many more people wouldn't have gotten hurt? she thought. She saw the death toll numbers. Despite everyone wanting to keep the full horrors of what had happened from her, she wanted to know. Sticking her head in the sand was what lead to this mess in the first place
"... Keeping a grudge wouldn't bring back Leomon," she said finally.
Silence reigned for a moment before Takato spoke again.
"Have you talked about...how you felt when the echo of Leomon died?" he asked carefully, uncertain if he should even broach this topic.
"Ah …"
That seemed so long ago now. Like a scar which had healed. Losing the echo was like losing Leomon all over again, except … easier to get through. She had distracted herself with reorganizing her memories, and with everything else going on … simply forgot.
"I was sad … of course," she said slowly, suddenly feeling very horrible that she had completely forgotten about the instance. "But my memories were erased shortly afterwards, and then with Renamon hypnotizing me to bring them back … and with everything else happening."
She shrugged, not sure how to go on, before finally-
"I'm used to loss."
Takato opened his mouth to say something, only to close it when he realized he didn't know how to respond to that. Did being used to loss numb a person that much that they just...didn't feel it as much? Or at all? Takato cast his eyes down to the floor, wondering if that ever made Jeri sad. It reminded him of all the stories about losing one's innocence to the world.
My problems are so small compared to hers, he thought. I've got no business moping around like this. If she can get through that, I can get through this.
"You're strong," Takato said after a moment. "Stronger than a lot of people might think. There aren't many people who can go through what you did and still be like you."
Jeri smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She didn't feel strong nor was she as grand as Takato thought she was. She was sure there was people who went through worse, and wouldn't have been responsible for the death of millions however inadvertently.
And I tried to add one more to the count, she thought, her wrist hurting.
"You set your bar lower than you think," she said quietly, glancing away.
"Why would you say that?" Takato asked, shocked. "You shouldn't say that! You're…" A flash of memory shot through his mind, and he staggered against the bookshelf, suddenly becoming dizzy. In his mind's eye, he saw Jeri standing in front of him, looking lost and sad amidst the cloud that Azulongmon transported them in, Leomon's recent death weighing heavily upon her.
His heartache throbbed to a different song now as the memory faded, but the words that he said then felt as true now as they did then.
"You're one of the strongest people I know."
Jeri chuckled dryly, standing up and dusting her skirt off. She had come here to cheer up Takato, not the other way around. She ought to leave before she said anything to add to his addled mind.
"If you say so," she said simply. "Anyway, I need to get going back and help with the tavern. If you need someone to talk to or whatever, just give me a call, OK?"
"Uh...sure," Takato nodded, raising an eyebrow at her. "Um… Thanks for checking in on me."
"What are friends for?" she asked, smiling at him once more.
###
Chewing on a cigarette, Himiko was getting tired of watching the constant bleeps on the screen appearing before disappearing. While Hypnos managed to properly identify IceDevimon and Renamon's digital signature based on the data Renamon provided, they were no closer to deleting the demon than they were earlier.
Needing a break - and barking orders at Tally and Riley to make sure they delete the echo next time it popped up on the screen, she decided to go check in on how the Monster Makers were doing with her request.
Yamaki wasn't here today; he was making sure Ryo - after his little stunt yesterday - stayed home and properly grounded. Even though the boy turned himself in, he caused a panic amongst Hypnos, and most notably between Yamaki and Riley who were acting as his legal guardians.
He's growing up to be a proper teenager. All the same if my plan works, all our problems will be solved, she thought, her tongue pushing the unlit cigarette to the other side of her mouth before she removed it, tapping the end of it like there was ashes purely out of habit.
"How's it going?" she asked, opening the door and announcing her presence to the scientists.
"We're ready to begin testing," Janyu said, looking up at Himiko from his computer screen. "We've isolated the frequency from the original Hazard echo event and we're ready to to activate our recall signal." He frowned at Himiko. "I feel that I should remind you, we don't know what we're dealing with here. This Digital Hazard's effect… We still have systems that are down as a result of it. We've only had two days to study it, but we're still no closer to truly understanding its impact on the network."
"Please Himiko," Aishwara 'Curley' Rai said, rising from her chair and adjusting her glasses. "If nothing else, let us study the phenomenon in more depth. We have Yuggoth. That's been working as an excellent means to deal with the echoes. This...Digital Hazard… It's too big of a risk."
"I will take responsibility for anything which may happen," Himiko said curtly, her eyes traveling over the Monster Makers. Putting the cigarette back in her mouth, she resumed speaking.
"As for Yuggoth … it takes too long to boot up. For the echoes who can hide themselves from our sensors like Renamon and IceDevimon, it's too slow. Not to mention we no longer have the time with echoes now becoming visible to everyone," she said simply. "Yuggoth is good for those which are … realizing still. Not for ones which have already made their way into the Digital World. The Digital Hazard will open up new avenues for abilities to protect the public from harm's way."
"I must protest against this course of action," Curley insisted. "Just from what we've seen, we risk widespread network damage! Surely there must be something else that can be used. Some other program we can design or...or something! This is…" She pressed her hand to her face and ran it up to her eyes, pushing her glasses up her forehead. "I can't believe I'm about to say this but...it's too hazardous!"
"Duly noted. Once again, I already said I will take full responsibility for whatever happens," she said coldly, her patience beginning to run thin. It was getting aggravating, having to command people who didn't know the danger they were in and trying to take the quickest and best course of action to protect them and everyone else. She was the director here and their boss. She gave the order, they stated their fears and she took them into consideration.
She wanted to shake them, yell at the danger they were in. That a bunch of children were doing more than them to try to address it, and if they had any self-respect as adults, they would stop letting their future take all the risks.
Yet she didn't.
Doing so would attract Mnemosyne's attention, and she was already skating on thin ice in that department as was. This would tip her over the edge to make the digital entity pay her another visit … which she hoped for.
She wouldn't have a second opportunity, and test or no test, she needed to make sure Mnemosyne and the danger he posed to Rika and the rest of her family, and populace as a whole, was properly eliminated. Whatever fallout might happen from that would pale in comparison to the constant risk it posed by being around.
"This isn't about you taking responsibility for what happens," Babel said with a frown. Leaning back in his chair, he folded his arms over his chest. "We're not interested in you taking the fall if things take a dive for the south. We're looking at the big picture. What'll happen to people's lives if this thing goes wrong? Who's going to get killed? There's a whole planet full of people out there you know. Not just us."
"I am looking out for this planet, which is why, as your boss I am ordering you to do it," Himiko snapped, any and all patience she had evaporating just like that.
Babel sighed and looked at the others. "She's played the rank card on us guys. Guess we better do what she says."
"All right," Janyu conceded, only to be interrupted by Babel.
"I was being sarcastic when I said that you know."
"Sarcasm or not, you will do as I say," Himiko warned. "I am your employer. You work for me. You don't get to decide what goes or stays. I do. So deploy it now."
"No, I do get to decide what I do," Babel rebuked. "I'm just breaking my end of the contract because I think what you're doing is not a good idea."
He tapped a key on his computer and got up. "You'll be wanting to arrest me now I take it?"
"Babel!" Janyu protested.
"Let's not get hasty here or anything," chimed in Daisy, getting up from her seat. "I mean, this is just a test we're doing, right? We don't have to decide right away that this is the direction we're going in until we know for sure what it's going to do. Isn't that the whole point of having a test in the first place?"
"It is currently a test," Himiko acknowledged, one hand already on a call button for security, although if she didn't have to press it, that would be ideal. Babel, as aggravating as he was, was still a Monster Maker. She just couldn't have him running around blabbing his mouth off where Mnemosyne could hear. After that …
Well she doubted with everyone's memories back, she'd still be in this position, so it wouldn't make much of a difference.
I just need one test … and one launch. There'll be no second chances, she thought.
"Please Babel," Janyu pleaded. "We don't even have to run the test for that long. We can do this in incremental stages, gather data as we go. The scientific method!"
"I'm not comfortable with employing the scientific method when people's lives are being played with," Babel rebutted.
"I don't think she's doing that…" began Janyu, only to be cut off by Rob McCoy.
"Whether she is or not makes no difference!" he said, his fist slamming on his table. "Look… Let's talk about this! We've all seen the data that we have so far on the Hazard, and God knows where these echoes are coming from. We just know that it has a source! A source we know nothing about except that it's packed full of data. It's like a librar-!"
Rob McCoy's eyes went wide as his back stiffened in surprise. "A...library…" he continued in a soft voice.
"Dolphin?" asked Janyu, raising an eyebrow.
Himiko's eyebrows raised as well, a bit surprised at Rob's ability to connect the dots. She didn't say anything at first, wanting to see if he could put them together himself without having to out herself.
"It's...some sort of digital library," Rob continued, quickly clicking through the information they currently had on file. "That's what the source is. The unusual data we found in Renamon… The fact that we've been able to call up people and all those digimon and other humans that just seem to be reenacting events from the past… This… This is all a record of some sort. Only...some of them became sentient."
"That's all very interesting, but what does that have to do with us using the Hazard effect?" Babel asked, glancing over at Himiko. "Seriously. You're asking us to nuke the equivalent of some kind of Akashic record from the digital world?"
"It may already be having some kind of containment failure," Rob continued, losing himself in his train of thought. "This Digital Hazard was a recording of an event that occurred in the digital world. The question is...what caused it? And what's more...what else is in those records that might pop up?"
"What are you saying?" Daisy asked. "That we should destroy it before a really bad echo shows up?"
"We may have to," Rob said, clicking through the source signal. "I could probably create a reading program that lets us analyze the feed and get us some kind of video footage of the events as they unfold, but there's no guarantee that we still won't accidently summon something. We may be better off destroying it after all."
Pressing his lips together he leaned back and sighed. "Such a waste…"
Himiko's smile - an incredibly rare sight to begin with - was slowly growing as he put the pieces together. Taking the cigarette out of her mouth, she tossed it into the trash can.
"One more thought for you all," she said simply. "Regarding the Digimon and it pulling from a digital library and reenacting past events … does it seem odd to you that the reenactments we've seen so far haven't taken place at all in the Digital World?"
The Monster Makers all exchanged looks. They had noticed it during their many data pings of the digital world and its surrounding network of information. The focus of echoes had, in fact, largely been centered in Shinjuku.
"If we do this," Babel began, "I want to make sure that we're airtight. We need a buffer or something."
"I think if we duplicate the Hazard a second time and overlap the two patterns, we can create enough destructive interference that they end up cancelling each other out once they've done their job." He looked at Himiko. "We'll need to play with numbers first but I think it's doable. Still…" He glanced back at the computer. "The entire history of the digital world could be within this stream. If we could just figure out what's wrong, maybe we could repair it…"
"If you can find a way to duplicate the records first and then destroy what's inside, that would work as well," she pointed out. "Honestly I don't think the records are the problem so much as a librarian." She smiled wanly. "After all … if it was just the records … we would get Digital World echoes as well, and they'd be … more randomized statistically speaking."
"All right," Babel said with a nod. "Then let's get to it."
###
Mako looked at the small slip of paper with an address he pulled off the Internet on it; Internet stalking at its finest.
He had told Ai - and his parents - he was going to the store to buy some food, and as he stood in front of a small, family-owned bakery on the other end of town, he doubted this is what they had in mind. All the same, he doubted they would believe him if he told them the real reason - Ai especially would scoff at him, calling him "delusional" and the little white lie was necessary.
OK, remember, you aren't accusing. Just trying to help, he thought, rubbing his hands together as he entered the store, already practicing what he would tell the parents in asking to speak to him (alone) if they were the ones to greet him; he was trying to get better at art, and after meeting him at the flower viewing, he's been trying to get better and was hoping to ask for tips.
If they didn't go for that, he would need a Plan B, and he wasn't sure how much time they had.
OK, so remember, he can hunt Digimon. Don't let him know about IceDevimon. See what he knows. See how he's involved. You're here to help, he thought, approaching the counter, although getting distracted several times by some of the pastries.
"Excuse me," Mako said in a quiet voice, approaching the counter looking at an older man who he supposed could be the boy's father. "Uhm, my name is Mako … is uh … is uh Takato here?"
Takehiro looked up from the counter and at Mako, one eyebrow raised curiously. He didn't recognize the boy as one of Takato's friends, but he knew who his son was.
Probably someone he met, he thought with a mental shrug. "Sure, he's upstairs. Let me yell for him."
Stepping away from the counter, he poked his head into the hallway.
"Takato! Someone to see you!"
"Okay!" came the loud reply from upstairs. Within short order, the brown-haired teen appeared in the doorway and looked around, spying Mako.
"Oh! Hi! You're...um… You were at the Hanami celebration. Um…" He tilted his head to one side. "What...was your name again?" he asked. "Sorry. I'm usually better at names."
"Mako," the boy said smiling in understanding. He didn't expect the teenager to remember who he was. "I was the twin if that helps any."
"Right," Takato nodded. "Um… So...can I help you with something?"
"Well … ever since I saw that Renamon picture you drew, I've been working really hard on my own artistic abilities," Mako lied smoothly, scrunching up his nose in perfect frustration. "But it's been really hard! And my school is having our school festival coming up, and I said I'd be in charge of the drawings, but I've been struggling and uh … I was hoping you could give me some tips? I don't want to let anyone down."
He looked at Takato hopefully, widening his eyes innocently and pleadingly.
"Please?" he begged for extra good measure.
Takato opened his mouth to refuse, but closed it. He glanced away, feeling conflicted. The pain he felt from Rika's rejection still bled too freely, and yet…
Maybe… Maybe this is what I need to help me move on, he thought. It'll at least take my mind off of things and I can get back to focusing on...everything else.
"Sure," he said. "Um...I've got my things upstairs, so if you want I can show you or…"
He paused before frowning. No. That wouldn't do. He was tired of spending the whole day up in his room. He needed to get out of there.
"How do you feel about going over this in the park?" he asked.
"The park's fine," Mako smiled in relief, amazed how well that went. He was afraid the boy would say no, but as long as they spoke in private, he didn't care where they spoke.
"Okay," Takato nodded before turning to his father. "Um… Is that all right?"
"Just make sure you're back by dinner like always," Takehiro chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll cover your shift."
"I'll be back before then," Takato smile before turning back to Mako. "I'll be right back. I need to grab my things."
With that, he disappeared upstairs toward his room and quickly returned with a sketchbook and his art supplies tucked under one arm.
"Okay," he said. "Let's go."
The two walked in silence for a bit - well, Mako skipped cheerfully in front of the older teen, occasionally slowing down to wait for him before darting out in front. However, as they approached the park and the people walking about around them began to wane, he fell back to walk side-by-side with Takato.
"So that Hazard event was something, huh?" he said after a minute, not sure how to approach the topic and while deception was one of his skills, tact clearly was not.
Takato turned to him, eyes wide and body suddenly going tense, not at all sure how to respond to Mako. The hazard event had made headlines in the news, with everyone who was anyone trying to solve it. Hearing the question from Mako though - someone he remembered, even if in part - made him wonder...did Mako remember anything?
He suddenly took note of the timing of Mako's appearance. Is he here because he remembers? Or is it just a coincidence and he really does need help with his school festival?
"Uh… Yeah, it was," he replied carefully, deciding to test the waters. "It screwed up the cash register for a bit. Good thing it didn't last for very long."
"Yeah," Mako agreed before looking right at him, his brown eyes meeting red eyes. He needed to make sure Takato truly was innocent and a pawn in this. He didn't want to be helping someone who willingly hurt other people after all. "What happened though?"
Takato shrugged. Although he knew, he wasn't ready yet to answer. Mako hadn't been there in the digital world when it first occurred and he didn't remember anyone talking to him or his sister about Impmon's crimes.
Maybe it really is all just a coincidence, he thought.
"I don't know," he replied. "What about you? Have you heard anything?"
"That it was either you or Guilmon," Mako answered truthfully, bluntly, before he stopped and looked at Takato. "I know about the Digital Hazard, and your connection with your partner and … abilities. I'm talking to you because I'm worried someone might be manipulating you."
He looked at Takato, watching him with his eyes, seeing how he would react. Seeing if he truly was innocent. If he could help.
Takato's foot tripped on the dirt path and he nearly fell over with a squawk. Whirling about - completely missing half of Mako's words in his excited surprise.
"You mean… You remember?" he asked, a smile blooming across his face. "You remember Impmon and...and everything? The D-Reaper and… Oh wow… We're almost complete!"
"Remember … remember what? The D-Reaper?" Mako asked confused, not sure how Takato knew about Impmon at first, but then if he was a Tamer too, he supposed it wouldn't be that farfetched. Plus Impmon, er IceDevimon, did say he had forgotten him. Takato's words only seemed to collaborate that.
Still, something felt … off to him. Like a sinking feeling of something wasn't right.
"Is … is the D-Reaper what's trying to take over the Digital and human worlds?" he asked. "Also what do you mean we're almost complete?"
"The D-Reaper was destroyed years ago," Takato replied, shaking his head. "We don't have to worry about it anymore. But...well…" Scratching his head, he gave a happy laugh. "I've got a lot of people to introduce you to. Oh man…" He pulled out his cellphone. "I need to call Jeri and let her know what's going o…"
Takato was abruptly cut off as a massive, red-clawed hand closed around his neck from behind, crushing Takato's windpipe closed. Takato struggled, mouth gasping for air as a searing cold pain from the hand's owner clawed at his skin, revelling in his misery.
Feet kicking as he was lifted off the ground, the claw angled him until Takato found himself staring into the blood-red eyes of IceDevimon.
"Hello again," the demonic Champion smirked triumphantly, commanding ice to begin spreading across Takato's neck and down his body, causing the boy to jerk and choke in shock. IceDevimon tightened his grip around the teen, preparing to snap the bones that tied him to the material world.
"And goodbye," he finished.
"IMPMON, STOP!" Mako yelled, rushing to his partner and grabbing at his leg, horrified that the demon Digimon would just come out of nowhere and try to kill the teenager. "Stop! I think this is all a misunderstanding! Please! Don't kill him! What's wrong with you?"
He tried to reach up to Takato, free him, do something to help release him from the Champion's unusual murderous behavior.
IceDevimon turned a mocking smirk at Mako. "Pathetic weakling," he said. "I'm not Impmon."
With a vicious kick, IceDevimon slammed his foot into Mako's stomach, sending him flying backward with a brutal crash into a tree.
"Don't worry, I'll deal with you in due time," he promised. "But first I must do what I came here for and kill Takato… The one who killed me in another lifetime. Who took my queen away from me. Business before pleasure, as I'm sure you understand."
He turned back to Takato, whose eyes were rolling up into his head. Starved of oxygen, his hands slumped away from IceDevimon's claws.
"Although...this counts as both."
###
We'll play again. You promised.
Guilmon stared up at the digital representation of the Earth that hung in the sky above them, pink beams sweeping across the landscape. He remembered that the Data Streams were a result of humans sending and retrieving data from the digital world, and often wondered if they were a way to go back to where they belonged; with their partners. Their misadventures in the digital world – humans and digimon both – often served as a reminder that it was best to not trust such things.
It's too bad Renamon and Terriermon don't remember how they got there, Guilmon thought. I wish I remembered too.
The bat-wing like ears on his head wilted as he brought a claw to his mouth. Thinking about Takato again made him sad, as it did more often as time wore on. He hid it from the others as best he could, but he doubted that it was a secret from any of them, especially Renamon and Terriermon who knew him the best as well as the longest. They often found him finding a secluded spot to stare up at the Earth – and he knew they found him because he smelled their presence – seemingly in deep thought while missing his partner on the other side.
His best friend. His father and creator. The other half of his digital soul.
More and more this desire to go back to Earth and be with his partner grew. He couldn't explain it, but he felt…a strange sense of foreboding. That there was something Takato needed his help to fight against. So far he brushed it off as just missing him, but the feeling was becoming increasingly hard to dismiss. He remembered this feeling once before, when Yamaki launched the Juggernaut for the first time and the Deva's began emerging. Something huge and unidentifiable was coming. The question though was…what?
What did Takato need his help fighting against?
There was, he knew, only one answer. And if he wanted to settle that answer, sooner or later he would have to leave this 'Primary Village' that Renamon, himself and the others had cooked up to go find a way back to the real world. It was inevitable.
How long will I have to wait Takato? he wondered. If you take too long, I can't help you.
No answers came. Only the silence and the distant sound of data streams crisscrossing the desert.
###
Jeri felt tired.
The talk with Takato took more out of her than she anticipated, and she hadn't expected to pick at old scars. She had wanted to tell the boy that no, she wasn't strong, wasn't kind and that he put her up on a pedestal she couldn't hope to live up to.
She was happy, however horrible it might be, that Rika turned down Takato because that meant she could monopolize the girl's time and affections without feeling like she was getting in the way of something between them. What sort of person felt that way, especially about two friends?
A horrid one, that was for sure.
Not to mention, Takato still didn't know about the real reason for her scar. That she hadn't managed to stay strong, that she caved to the temptation and even now, sometimes, that dark little voice whispered to her when things were particularly bad to simply embrace the release which she became addicted to when the blood ran freely from her veins.
"I'm home," she called out, opening the front door to their home, kicking off her shoes to go change into something more work appropriate.
"Welcome home, Jeri," greeted Tadashi, looking up from the counter at the front of the tavern. He furrowed his brow at her worriedly, though he tried to hide it. "You're running a little late."
"I was talking with my friends and lost track of time, sorry," she apologized, not really wanting to go into the whole drama between Takato and Rika with her father. Not that he needed to know really.
"Well, it's good to have you home," Tadashi nodded. "Seems like there's a storm coming. One of my regulars says she can feel it in the air, and I've never known her to be wrong."
He scowled at the deceptive sunlight outside before turning his attention back to Jeri. "Better get washed up. Your mother might want your help with preparing dinner."
"Mn, OK," she said, heading upstairs where she shared a room with Masahiko even though the two siblings were growing to be a bit big to be sharing quarters. She was nearly 17 and Masahiko 11, although she supposed it wouldn't make much difference if she was going off to college next year.
If I'm going off to college next year, she grimaced in thought before shaking the thought from her mind, pounding up the steps.
Upon reaching the top, a voice called out to her from inside her parents bedroom. One that made her suddenly go cold. It was feminine, bringing with it the familiar memory of warm sunshine and laughter, and with it another one of hospital smells and a doctor towering over her, glasses gleaming as he presented her and her father with bad news.
The sort of news one never wishes to hear in their lifetime. The sort of news that was as inevitable as the sun setting.
"Jeri?" came the voice again, insistently before sighing. "Honestly, would you stop looking like that strange Takato child caught in dream land and come help me? I could use your help."
The door had been open just a crack, and movement behind it shifted, and now it swung open.
Jeri's breath caught in her throat, her amber eyes - the same eyes which were now looking back at her - widening to see a woman whom she shared a likeness to. Her father as she grew older said she looked just like her mother, but for the brunette, who only remembered her from photographs, she didn't know how true it was.
Now though, a woman, who looked to be in mid 20s … maybe early 30s and vibrant and full of life instead of still and unmoving, a white cloth draped over her face, was staring at her now.
Jeri's mouth moved but no words came out for a minute, a million emotions and thoughts fighting for control, taking a shaky step backwards.
An echo. It's just an echo, somewhere inside her shouted, reminding her that her real mother was dead and was now ashes. Still, despite knowing technically the woman in front of her wasn't alive, she still croaked out,
"... Mum?"
###
Himiko stood in the room where the Monster Makers were set up, preparing a live testing of their systems.
Here we are, she thought, finding herself wanting a cigarette badly. The last time we did this, we wound up summoning my mother as she was...committing suicide. She shuddered involuntarily. And here we are, preparing to call up a memory of a destructive, digital equivalent of a hurricane.
For the first time, she wondered if they were making a mistake, but upon remembering that Mnemosyne and the power that it had over the human world - erasing everyone's memories - she steeled her resolve.
"How much longer?" she asked, turning to Janyu.
"Almost done," the man replied, glancing up at her briefly before returning to his work. "One more line of code and...there!"
He tapped a key and then looked up at Himiko. "All we need is your authorization."
Himiko nodded, picking at her fingernails. She frowned, taking note that in her anxiety they had become a bit jagged now.
This is it, she thought. Once done, there's no turning back.
"Babel. I want you to monitor the firewall between the worlds. At the first sign of trouble, shut it down."
"Yes ma'am," Babel nodded.
"I would not recommend that," a voice said from the doorway, a person with short black hair and steely cold eyes staring at everyone in the room, before finally landing on Himiko, glowering darkly. What this woman was up to was beyond it, but when he noticed the line of code the Monster Makers were playing with … well it needed to come and investigate. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Who…?" Dolphin began, getting up from his chair before Himiko shot a sharp glare at him. Composing herself, she returned her attention to Mnemosyne.
"Why don't you explain what you've been doing?" she began, circling around the computers, keeping her eyes locked on Mnemosyne's. "Controlling our world… Threatening us… Wiping our memories." Drawing to a halt, she leaned forward on Janyu's desk. "Go on. Let's hear it before we do anything else, seeing as how you're here."
"Threatening you?" Mnemosyne asked, insulted wondering where this woman got such thoughts from. "I've been saving you all! I've been saving the humans and the Digimon! Yet here you are, trying to play with a force which should not be trifled with! I'm the only thing standing between the total destruction of two worlds, and you're trying to destroy my hard work by toying with the Digital Hazard. I told you of the dangers, yet it seems Icarus lives in you."
Taking a threatening step forward, Mnemosyne raised it's hand to get rid of the hazard program - and their memories - before they could do any more harm.
Himiko stared hard at Mnemosyne, her eyes blazing with fury. Oh, to think that this entity could be so naive. It could very well have thought it was protecting humanity, but as far as she was concerned, it was wrong.
Just another dictator thinking that they're breaking eggs to make an omelet and that it somehow justifies everything they've done. Well, here's where you learn what happens when you put humanities back to the wall.
"You're the one with wings of wax," she shot back. "Here's the sun."
She hit the button on the keyboard. The lights in the room darkened and silence fell over the air. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then a red glowing hazard appeared on the screens of the computers. The building shook violently and electricity sparked in the air.
"The firewall…!" Babel shouted suddenly. "We're getting some bad readings from it! I don't think…!"
With a thunderous roar, all the computers in the room exploded. Crying out in surprise, Himiko jumped back, covering her eyes from the blinding glare and flying shrapnel.
That...was different, she thought, lowering her arms to take in the situation.
Her eyes met Mnemosyne one more time. The Digital entity was holding itself - as if it was trying to hold itself physically together, it's body flickering like a broken hologram.
"You'll regret this," it promised and with a burst of light, it was gone.
Authors Note: Maniacal laughter comes from somewhere off in the distance.