Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Digimon Trinity
Chapter: 169/ Episode 24: One Vision for the Future
Takeru took out a UBS drive and inserted it into Izzy's computer. On the screen an image of a stylized eye with rays of light centered around the iris popped up. Beneath it were lines of digi-code with a Japanese translation alongside them.
"One Vision?" Takato read from the first row, cocking an eyebrow.
"It is unknown what that line means," Takeru began, flicking his lighter open with a low click. "Gennai has hypothesized that it could be the name of a plan or organization responsible for this prophecy."
"I told them before that there are groups in the digital world that see into the future and design prophecies that will guide a generation of Digidestined or Tamers to the best possible future," supplied Izzy, to which Rika made a derisive humph. Ignoring her, Takeru nodded.
"That saves time," he said, flicking his lighter closed. "This is the Trinity Prophecy. Gennai sent me a copy of it before his disappearance. The translation is still largely incomplete and makes references to many things. Things such as everything being up to 'our future selves' and time. Including an odd line about forgetting one's homework."
"Sounds like something Chumley would do," snickered Kazu, earning him a harsh shushing noise from Jeri.
"We're trying to listen!" she said heatedly.
"The most notable element is the statement about dreaming." Takeru tapped the screen and highlighted the line below One Vision. "Dreaming is the start of everything. Or the 'start of all tomorrows.' The translation is still rough, but the general idea fits well enough. Later on, the prophecy specifically mentions three individuals, one of them being identified as the Dreamer, alongside the Princess and the Machina. They are also connected to a line mentioning Three Primary Colors."
"And you think that's us," Rika said, a sinking feeling forming in her stomach. She resisted the urge to glance at Takato and see how he was digesting this. Thoughts of his dream about her swam through her mind. The meaning of it remained unclear. She wondered if perhaps, just perhaps, they should bring it up now. Maybe clear the air about it.
Rika felt every muscle in her body go taut at the idea and she immediately rejected it.
"Your digivices each represent a spectrum of primary colors. Red. Blue. Green." Takeru continued, his lighter snapping open once more. The click sounded even louder to Rika's ears. "All the data that Hypnos has gathered about you three suggests that you have an unusually high ability to work together."
"Hold on!" Rika now rose from her seat, suddenly becoming incensed. "You were spying on us?!"
Takeru adjusted his sunglasses, looking at the Digimon Queen dispassionately. "You are a registered Tamer and a person of interest regarding the activities concerning the digital world. Your information is readily available to my agency."
Rika flushed a little in recollection. Making an annoyed muttering, she sat back down. Yolei furrowed her brow at the young Tamer, but said nothing.
"Is it really as simple as the three of them having a digivice representing a primary color?" asked Joe, adjusting his glasses.
"Come on, Joe," Gomamon said. "Why wouldn't it be? A lot of the prophecies have been pretty easy to figure out once we hear about them. I mean, look at what happened when Gennai mentioned Angemon and Angewomon had to shoot Tai and Matt with their arrows of Light and Hope."
"Yes, but that also makes it too easy to track down the users, doesn't it? Not everyone that's a Digidestined has a digivice that's color coded after all."
"Only everyone that doesn't have a D3 or an iC digivice model," Izzy pointed out. "Though admittedly, the Tamers from the War were all required to turn in their digivices and their partnerships terminated. That leaves only the D3's, and of those models there were those of you that are here, Davis, Kari…"
"…and the ones Oikawa implanted with the Dark Spore," Takeru finished. "Hypnos had the remaining ones under observation, but with the exception of one or two partners being deleted – one as a consequence of an IceDevimon – they appear to have been left alone."
"I…was targeted though," Rika said, her voice tense, remembering the IceDevimon Takeru mentioned. "By the Darkness, I mean." Ignoring the eyes that were now all on her, she looked at Izzy, her violet gaze hard. "Renamon used to be part of the Nightmare Soldiers. They wanted me…us to be some new kind of 'Dark Digidestined' or something."
Kazu opened up his mouth as if to make a quip about her, but, for a wonder, thought better of it and shrugged.
"Didn't seem to have worked," he said instead. Terriermon giggled.
"Of course not. They're too stubborn for that."
"But there's been nothing like that since then. Er… Has there?" Takato looked at Rika quizzically.
"There was Vajramon."
"Who serve a Sovereign." Izzy thumbed his chin, his brow thoughtful. "There's a great deal about what's going on in the digital world that we don't know. Up until the Devas appeared, there were four Sovereigns. Gennai's disappearance suggests that there was some kind of massive disruption in the power dynamics between them."
"Not that we have any proof," Yolei pointed out, leaning forward in her seat. "We have communication logs between the Devas, but nothing about who their current master is. I think that until we can actually get out into the field and gather more information, we're only making uninformed guesses. And none of this tells us anything about why this Trinity Prophecy is so important. Why these three?"
"There's the matter that each of their digimon represents an attribute," offered Izzy. "Data, Virus and Vaccine. Now, we know that from the Okinawa incident and subsequent battles with the Devas, when they were each able to combine their powers, they created something called a 'Trinity Burst' that allowed them to destroy opponents at a much higher level, such as Gulfmon. Perhaps there is something about the attributes of Renamon, Guilmon and Terriermon that enables this."
"I don't know what it could be about us that lets us turn into a flying firebird," Terriermon chimed in from his spot upon Henry's lap. "Virus and Data types get along as swimmingly as oil on water. Same for Vaccines and Data types."
"It is true that you each have a weakness against one another, but perhaps those weaknesses are negated when you work together," said Izzy. "It could be something that was recently discovered. Previously, when digimon were selected for Digidestined, it was with their attributes or abilities in mind to counteract the threats. The original Digidestined…"
Izzy's words ground to a halt and his eyes widened with realization. Seeing this, Mimi looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"Izzy-bun?" she prompted, giving his cheek a poke with a slender finger. "Do you need a Mimi-moment to get you unstuck from Dark Mode?"
"A-Ah!" Blushing, Izzy gave an awkward laugh before smiling at her. "No. I just… Give me a second."
His chin fell into one hand and his eyes moved from side to side, seemingly as if reading something only he could see.
"Tentomon," he began after a moment. "Show us the stats of each of the Four Digimon Sovereigns."
"At once, Izzy!"
As commanded, four images, each with detailed information, appeared on the screen of his computer. Azulongmon; A blue, serpentine dragon wrapped in chains and crowned with a horn shaped like a lightning bolt. Baihumon; A white-furred tiger with gauntlets upon his front legs. Zhuqiaomon; A red bird of blazing fire with a long, pointed beak. Ebonwumon; A turtle with two heads and a massive tree growing from out of its shell. All four of them had glowing orbs encircling their bodies.
"Data," Izzy said, pointing at Azulongmon. "Virus." He pointed at Zhuqiaomon. "Vaccine." His finger moved over to Ebonwumon before sliding over to Baihumon. "Data."
"You want to clue us in here?" Rika asked impatiently.
"The original Digidestined – the very first to go to the digital world and fight Apocalymon and the Dark Masters – achieved something similar to what you describe with the Trinity Burst. Similar, but not quite. Each Digidestined group when being partnered, were given partners selected to be affective against their projected opponents."
"They didn't do too well against the Dark Masters," pointed out Yolei, remembering when they met the surviving members of that original group all those years ago. "They needed Homeostasis to bail them out in the end and trigger their digivolutions to Mega."
"Well, lessons were learned it seemed. Our team featured more Vaccines and anti-virus abilities. The team that followed involved digimon with the now rare Armor-digivolution trait to compensate for the loss of digivolution. Perhaps this is a new take on what the Sovereigns did in their final battle with the Dark Masters. But again, we're guessing here."
"Well, I'm through with guessing," grated Rika. "Look, why are we even talking about this when we should be finding a portal to the digital world and rescuing Calumon and your friend?"
"It's not that easy," spoke up Sora, having been digesting everything that's been said so far. "The prophecy Gennai sent TK… If you three are as important as it sounds like, then it's going to determine how we tackle this problem. How we select who goes to the digital world and who stays behind to protect everyone else. And by the sounds of it, you three and your partners can't be separated." She looked at Takeru. "Am I right?"
"The translation remains unclear," Takeru admitted. "But I think we can safely assume that's the case, given what we've seen so far."
"Right," Sora nodded. "So that makes you three our trump card. Even more so since you're young. The rest of us…" The Digidestined of Love trailed off, looking unhappy. Sensing her distress, Biyomon pressed herself against Sora's arm, nuzzling her bare skin. "It's harder for us to digivolve our partners now that we're older," she continued, running a hand through her partner's feathers.
"Not to mention that there've been other complications," Yolei remarked, looking at Mimi indicatively while her hand fell upon her own belly.
"And Davis and Matt are still in the hospital as well," Izzy noted. "And Tentomon doesn't have a body anymore."
"That doesn't leave us with much," Cody said.
"No, but we've worked with less before, Cody," Armadillomon said. "And this time, we've got a lot more experience on our side."
"I wish it were that easy though. Optimism aside, we're in a really difficult position here. With so few partnered Digidestined left in the world, we can't afford to take too many with us."
Henry brought a hand to his chin, massaging it thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should stay behind. With the Trinity Burst as our trump card…"
"No."
Takato, who had been silent for some time now, looked up at his friend before looking out at all the others. Rika glanced at his red eyes, seeing a fiery determination burning within them.
"We promised Calumon that we'd rescue him," he said. "I can't walk back on that now. Not after everything that's happened. And if digivolving is as hard for you now as you say it is, then we're going to need something seriously powerful to take on the Sovereign. I don't think we can sit this one out."
Terriermon looked up at his partner, grinning. "You heard him, Henry. Besides, I'd like to see what's so hot about the digital world. I've never actually been there before, you know. Just the game version."
"I don't think that's a good reason to just go to the digital world…"
"Saving Calumon's as good a reason as any. I'm just saying there's a bonus to it."
"Are you going chicken on us?" Rika asked, giving the half-Chinese Tamer a dark look. The grey-eyed boy met her gaze levelly and without flinching.
"No. But we should be considering whether or not it's a good idea for us to stay here and protect our homes."
"Didn't we just have that conversation with Ms. Asaji that we were taking off?" chimed in Kazu now.
"Hold on," Rika said. "You and your little friend don't even have partners. I don't care what you say about going to find one, but I'm not going to babysit you two while we're there. Things are going to be hard enough as it is without keeping you out of trouble."
"Who said that you even have to?" demanded Kazu, planting his fists on his hips and giving Rika a defiant glare.
"All right, that's enough," Ken interrupted before Rika could even retort. "For now, let's concentrate on finding a way to the digital world. Once we do that, we can determine who stays and who goes."
"You mean you'll determine who stays and who goes," Rika said crossly, folding her arms together. Ken snapped a hard look at her, but she didn't flinch.
Only the sound of Takeru's lighter flicking closed interrupted their staring match.
"Now that we understand the situation as best we can, considering what we know," he began, "we should get to work. The effects of yesterday's battle won't last for much longer. We need to take advantage of that while we're able to."
"I'll begin my flight over the city," Hawkmon said, getting up. Biyomon hopped off the couch and raised a wing.
"I'll help!"
"As will I," offered Wormmon. "Well, once I digivolve to Stingmon that is."
"We'll all do our part," Takato smiled. "I promise."
###
With the end of the meeting and the departure of the Tamers, Ken collapsed into a chair. Running a hand over his face, he took a deep, shaky breath.
"Are you okay, Ken?" Wormmon asked. Blinking his eyes back open, he smiled wanly at his partner before looking out over those who remained in the apartment, Sora, Cody, Armadillomon, Mimi, Palmon Izzy, Joe, Gomamon and Yolei before settling his gaze on Takeru. The blond-haired man stood at the window, an unlit cigarette in his mouth and his lighter flicking open and closed.
"So," Yolei began, coming up behind Ken and placing her hands upon his shoulders, massaging the tense muscles within. "Mr. Bossman. Did you actually tell us everything? Or are you pulling a Gennai on us and leaving things out like he used to?"
Yolei's fingers felt like daggers in Ken's shoulders, but he said nothing to stop her ministrations. She was working out some of her frustrations and as far as he was concerned this was a considerably more preferable method compared to what she could be doing right now with regards to her former superior.
"I've told you all that I've been able to understand," Takeru said, flicking his lighter closed. "Gennai, after all, was as forthcoming as you say. As much as he might trust me, he doesn't trust Hypnos or the Japanese government that we worked for."
Yolei's fingers dug hard into Ken's shoulders. "You could have told me what you knew," she said, her tone taking on an edge. "I worked with you and you kept me in the dark."
"For your own protection." Takeru turned toward her, his expression unreadable. Yolei tsked irritably.
"I'm starting to regret not kicking you in the ass when I was at your apartment."
"Yolei," Ken sighed, finally brushing off her hands with a grimace. "Takeru, you came to us now that your own plans have fallen apart. This is not the time to be keeping things close to your chest. If you know anything that could help us, now's the time to let us know. You've been in contact with Gennai. What has he told you about what's going on in the digital world?"
Takeru frowned beneath his sunglasses.
"Only what he knew about the Nightmare Soldier situation from a few months ago. He was having someone look in on it. He believed that it was in connection to the Trinity Prophecy, which he had discovered last year in one of the older layers of the digital world. Oikawa's remains had been growing increasingly active in that area and he felt it worth investigating at the time. He set up a base of operations there and began sending me messages regarding it."
"But why you, if you don't mind my asking?" Izzy asked from his spot in front of his computer. "Don't misunderstand me. I am a little upset that Gennai didn't contact me instead, but as you yourself just pointed out, he often expressed concern about working with the government. I am curious about that."
Another click from the lighter and Takeru wandered over to a nearby chair.
"Call it a defensive posture," he said, settling himself in. Reaching up, he took his sunglasses off, revealing his grave, blue-colored eyes. "Hypnos is where it is due to a dimensional distortion between the worlds there. It's almost a portal in itself, but not quite."
"A spot thin enough that not even the firewall can keep digimon from appearing, especially if they're powerful enough," Ken said.
"Thin enough as well that Gennai was concerned that something might cross over there and he wanted it fortified," Takeru said. "He knew that I was more amiable to preventing crossovers between our worlds. As a Digidestined and a war veteran with a respectable reputation as well as direct connections to use, he believed I would be able to apply a certain degree of pressure on members in parliament or others in key positions to provide me with the necessary resources to do just that. And as he had proof that another conflict was likely to occur…"
"The Trinity Prophecy," Izzy said as Takeru trailed off.
"We couldn't ignore it despite what went on during the War," Takeru continued. "And it was old, even by the standards of prophecies, which we felt was to its benefit as far as trustworthiness goes. It predated any false prophecy that we've discovered and every prophecy prior to our involvement with the digital world. Gennai's analysis of its data was thorough, so he vouched for its authenticity."
"So Gennai worked with you to build a castle on the shores," Yolei snorted, settling herself on Ken's lap and snuggling up to him nonchalantly. "You still could have told us."
"Yolei…" began Sora in a warning tone, but Yolei pressed on.
"You could have told us. Setting aside the fact that we used to be friends, there aren't many Digidestined with active partners on this side of the dimensional waters. And we're still the only ones capable of handling the Darkness!"
"Gennai was hoping to mitigate events, but…" Takeru shrugged. "He felt it was important to keep things quiet and I had no interest in disrupting the lives you made."
"Do you have any idea where Gennai could be?" asked Sora, her expression a portrait of concern. Takeru shook his head.
"No. And I think…that might be why I responded the way I did. Another friend potentially lost. Another invasion looming on the horizon. A war without end." Takeru looked down at his father's lighter. "Hope surrendered to despair and the end result was making things worse."
"But something about those Tamers changed that," Cody said. Takeru's expression didn't change outwardly, but Cody could have sworn he saw something flicker within his blue irises.
"At first, I thought their part was over, using the Trinity Burst and destroying the last of the Nightmare Soldiers. After that, if attributes were all that was needed, we would be able to replicate it with the digimon in this room. But then a thought occurred to me. A line from the prophecy. When two hearts change to zero. There is another power still waiting to be unlocked by them. Perhaps it has something to do with their model of digivice and it's waiting on them to achieve something we haven't seen before. Something that will hold back the coming chaos."
###
"What a waste of time," Rika hmphed as she, Takato, Henry, Jeri, Kazu and Kenta exited the apartment doors. Takato watched a car go by before it took a turn down the street. Its pace was casual. The bustle of the city appeared normal again, as though there hadn't been a Deva rampaging through Shinjuku.
"Why do you say that?" he asked. Crossing her arms together, she gave him a flat look.
"You seriously have to ask? We came all this way to hear about some prophecy and receive marching orders to go looking for a portal that we might not be allowed to use? We could have worked all this out on our own."
"There was a lot about the prophecy that we didn't know about before," Henry pointed out as Terriermon adjusted his balance atop his head. Rika's eyes narrowed darkly.
"Like we even need it," she said, her tone reproachful. Henry cocked an eyebrow before exchanging a look with Takato. The goggle-wearing boy could only shrug helplessly.
"Well, it doesn't help that it's still kind of vague," he said. "But by the sounds of it, as long as we stick together, we should be fine. Nothing too serious to worry about, right?"
"That's the spirit!" Terriermon cheered, pumping a tiny fist into the air.
"Or not," Henry began. "Remember what Izzy told us about how prophecies aren't a guarantee of anything. They're meant to be clues and guides for the best possible future. That doesn't mean it will actually come to pass."
"I'd just as soon as not have a stupid prophecy," Rika grated. "I don't know about this One Vision group or whoever it is behind this prophecy, but I don't like the idea that someone is trying to control me."
Rika's eyes narrowed, thinking of Apocalymon's manipulations of herself and Renamon. "I've had enough of people trying to tell me what my future should be."
"Well, whatever," said Kazu, folding his arms behind his head. "Prophecy or no prophecy, I'm still down with saving the world."
Rika rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You're not saving the world."
"Says you." Grinning, Kazu pumped his fists up in front of him excitedly. "Those Dark Masters or whoever it is just never met their match before. You watch. Once I get a partner, I'm going to show them what being a Tamer is really all about!"
Rika stared at Kazu in bewilderment, wondering just where he got such baseless confidence.
He can't even beat Gogglehead at the card game and he seriously thinks he can take on the Dark Masters? How does Takato find these people? His dreams?
Dreams. That word only fouled her mood even more as she remembered how it had been brought up in the meeting. She hadn't said anything then and, fortunately, neither had Takato. She didn't want to think about how he had dreamt her or whatever that said about their connection with one another. More prodding from whoever was behind the prophecy?
Once again, she thought about that strange feeling of 'completeness' at the end of their adventure in Okinawa. That sensation of being a puzzle finally fitting together.
Deciding she had had enough, Rika whirled about on her heel and proceeded to storm off.
"Ah! Rika…!"
"I'm going home, Gogglehead. You should go get Dinoboy and fill him in on the situation!"
Takato's hand recoiled at the sudden fire in her voice. Scratching the back of his head, he instead turned to the others.
"Uh… Well, I guess we'd better get going, huh?"
Kazu shook his head at Rika's retreating back.
"Crazier than a Deva, am I right, Kenta?"
###
Rika didn't go home straight away. Fuming as she was, she didn't want to go home and inadvertently pick a fight with her mother. Her grandmother could weather her tantrums, but her mother didn't have her seemingly endless well of patience to draw from.
She's too much like a child, Rika thought irritably, deciding to make a stop at a game shop first. The door swung open with a ring of its bell and she basked in the smell of the store. The scent of concrete floor trodden upon endlessly by feet; a feint hint of dust and cards. Cards! She felt a smile growing across her face as she sighted the glass case that contained the latest and greatest cards in the entirety of the digimon card game.
"Hello, Rika," came the voice of a greying, round-faced man seated behind the counter, a pad laid out in front of him. "Haven't seen you in a while."
Rika smiled thinly at Fumihiro as she descended the stairs into the shop. "Things have been…a little crazy," she said.
Fumihiro barked a laugh at that, his round face flushing slightly like a tomato as he always did whenever he laughed about anything. "It has, hasn't it? Digimon coming back and rampaging in the streets…" He shook his head. "What are these worlds coming to?"
"Nothing good, I bet," Rika said, glancing around. Tables where players normally hung out at, dueling one another, were almost entirely empty. Hardly anyone was in the store, save for one person wearing a red bandana around his neck, back turned to her, perusing the aisles. "Slow business?"
"Slowest it's ever been," Fumihiro grimaced. "Some parents don't like that I'm selling digimon merchandise to their children and others who used to be long-time customers haven't poked their heads in here since August." He looked at Rika hopefully. "Did you have something that I could help you find, or…?"
"I'd like to just look around," Rika said, a bit regretfully. She had some money on hand again, fortunately, but she hadn't come here to purchase anything. She just needed a place to hole up in until she felt she was in a better mood."
I should probably get something before I leave, she thought. It would be a nice thing to do at the very least for someone who had been one of her chief sources of cards ever since she took an interest in the game.
First thing was first however. Exploring. Making her way over to an open binder, she began to sift through its pages. Familiar and old digimon cards were at the front. She had gone over them so often in the past that she practically knew them by heart, yet she looked through them as she always did just in case she might have missed something in the eagerness of her past passion for the game.
A passion, she found, was somewhat lacking now. The endless battles and devastation had left her feeling rather drained emotionally. More and more, the fighting became less exciting and more something she worried about.
Each one's been getting worse, she thought, turning a page. Every Deva that comes through causes more and more damage. The last two times people were killed. Killed.
Her hands curled into fists at that. Dead. People were dead because of whatever was going on in the digital world that led to the 'prophecy.' Rika hmphed mentally, hating the word and whoever kept making them. Pushing and prodding. Telling them to 'go here' or 'do this' for whatever future they thought was best.
People died because they wanted us to go down this path, she thought. That made her even more angry now. Did people's lives mean nothing to those digimon behind the prophecies? Or were they all simply pawns being shuffled around some gameboard?
I could have killed Takato and Guilmon because of this dumb game, she thought, turning a page. I could have turned Renamon into a monster.
But…she hadn't. She supposed that there might be some comfort in that. That perhaps whoever was behind the prophecy had picked the two of them knowing that they wouldn't go that extra step and turn fully to the Darkness. It didn't make her feel better however.
None of this should have happened to begin with! Who do they think they are, toying with us like this?
Movement from out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Glancing up, she saw a teenage boy with dark, tanned skin and a smiling, easygoing face draw up next to her. She unexpectedly found herself blushing lightly and she scowled angrily at her reaction. Calling him handsome, as much as she hated to admit it, wouldn't have been kind enough, especially with those blue eyes of his. Crystal clear, like an open sky, attentive and kind, as if he was perfectly able to hear all your problems and know how to solve them. He carried a kind of refreshing air about him that was impossible for her to ignore.
It took her a second to realize that she recognized him as the boy she had seen once at the park. The one that the Digidestined knew from their childhood. Who had, by their accounts, disappeared almost completely from the record. The boy who had disappeared right in front of her.
"Hey, Princess," Ryo Akiyama smiled warmly at her.
9