I guess we're doing a quarantine now. Which I guess means I have no excuse for not working on this.
So, here's the next installment. Enjoy!
The rest of the night was quiet, a welcome respite. It had been a long and trying day, and all of the Chosen were desperate for rest. They found a suitable spot to finish their night and were able to sleep well.
When they awoke in the morning, they felt a renewed sense of vigor. Their victory against Vamdemon's Kimera the night before had bolstered their morale immensely. As they began walking again, they talked animatedly with each other, as if the two groups of Chosen had known each other their whole lives.
Koushiro immediately busied himself with learning all he could about the Legendary Warriors and the Spirits they held. Tomoki was all too happy to provide him with the information he sought. He would patiently wait while Koushiro notated everything on his laptop, then as soon as he was ready would start again. When he got to explaining Susanoomon, Koushiro was actually awestruck enough to stop typing for a moment; he'd never dreamed such a thing was possible, even with his extensive study and knowledge of Jogress evolution.
Daisuke, meanwhile, was ecstatic to be regaling the Warriors with his favourite story—the tale of their battle against BelialVamdemon. "—and then, I figured out the world around us could make our wishes a reality and BAM. All of V-Mon's evolutions popped up, every single one of them."
"So there's another Digital World?" Kouichi asked curiously, a thoughtful furrow to his brow.
"Seems like there are quite a few, from what you've said," replied Ken. "It looks like we went to two separate Digital Worlds."
"Okay but hold on, it gets better..." Daisuke continued his story, while Kouji raised an eyebrow and leaned in to whisper to Yukira, "Is he always this obnoxious?"
She stifled a giggle and nodded. "That's Daisuke for ya. He did kinda save our lives though."
"And it sounds like he'll never let you forget it, either," Kouji chuckled.
"He definitely will not. So, what's it like to turn into a Digimon?"
"It's pretty cool, not gonna lie." Takuya appeared at her side, dramatically slinging an arm around her shoulder as he straightened himself up to his tallest height. "I mean, you saw us, right?"
Kouji rolled his eyes. "Oh, here we go."
Takuya shot him a withering glare and hissed, "Shut up, Kouji. She's never seen us in action until now."
"You had to ask, didn't you?" Kouji gave Yukira a pointed stare. She giggled again, turning her attention back to Takuya.
"So, imagine you're just a boring kid with a boring life and then you're transported to a world you had no idea existed—"
"I don't have to imagine. We did that," she said with a laugh.
"Okay but then imagine that you get superpowers once you're there and—" He continued on, making sure that she got the most impressive and wordy retelling of his first evolution to Agnimon. While he spoke, she leaned in toward Kouji and whispered, "Is he always this obnoxious?" He snorted loudly.
Izumi then pushed Takuya out of the way (to his complete dismay) and looked to Yukira. "So what was that Armour Evolve thing that Akiryomon did?"
"It's one of the ways she can evolve," Yukira explained. She pulled out her D-Terminal and showed it to Izumi, explaining the Digimentals and how they worked. "Us second-gen Chosen all have them, and the others can also Jogress evolve—"
"Jogress?"
"Yeah, their Digimon combine to make a much more powerful Digimon—like Omegamon."
"So you can just combine your Digimon?"
"Sort of. Only with their Jogress partners—so Ken and Daisuke, for instance."
"Che meraviglia! Who do you Jogress Evolve with?"
"I...don't. Odd one out."
"Oh, I—"
"Hey guys! Let's stop here for a minute!" Taichi called. They'd reached the edge of a forest, which was thankfully still lush and green. It seemed to have escaped Vamdemon's wrath for now, and there was an almost tangible wave of relief that washed over them all. Taichi wound his way through the group to Koushiro and said, "Any idea where we're going?"
"Not yet. I've been trying to re-compile a map for us as we've been walking, but everything is out of place and the data is still too scrambled for me to make much out of it."
"Our D-Scanners haven't been able to pick up much either," Takuya said.
Koushiro suddenly looked up at him. "That reminds me. Would you mind if I take a look at one of your Digivices for a moment?"
"Uhh, yeah, sure, I guess." Takuya looked confused, but he pulled his D-Scanner from his pocket and handed it to Koushiro. He took it in his hands, turning it this way and that, occasionally poking and prodding at it and muttering to himself. He had that tell-tale Koushiro look on his face that said he was studying it just a little more than carefully, and the rest of the Chosen waited in anticipation for whatever it was that he would figure out.
"This is far more complex than our Digivices," he said. "Even the D-3's aren't quite this advanced. You had said earlier that you're able to scan your fractal code with these, correct?"
"Sure, that's how we evolve," Junpei said, munching on a chocolate bar. "We can use them to scan other fractal code—"
"Other fractal code?"
"Yeah, we can use the D-Scanners to purify the code of evil Digimon. It returns them to an egg and basically resets them. They get a fresh start."
Koushiro thought on this for a moment, then said, "Can you do it with Vamdemon?"
Takuya stuffed his hands in his pockets. "We might be able to, sure. But we'd have to knock it out of him first, and we couldn't even land a hit on him."
"That part we can figure out," Yamato said with a wave of his hand. "So if we can manage to knock the code out of him, you guys could theoretically scan it and—and you said purify it?"
"It will likely take all six of us to do it," Kouichi added. "But theoretically, yes."
"So all six of us will do it," Tomoki said, matter-of-fact. "I'm sure if we work together, he won't stand a chance."
"That's right Tomoki," Takuya said, clapping him on the back. "We took down Lucemon, we can take down this Vamdemon guy. And we've got more Chosen on our side this time." He looked to the others, who nodded their agreement. Their resolve was firm—they could handle anything that came their way.
