Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I do not own Heroes of Olympus. My songs know what you didn't adore...

Author's Note: Written for the Novel with Prompts Challenge found on the Digimon Fanfiction Challenges forum. The prompt for this chapter is "alternative".

Reminder: I post all review replies on my personal forum topic found right here on this site. Just navigate to the little button at the top of the screen to Forum to Anime to Digimon to Digital Connections. The topic you are looking for is called "Blurring Boundaries: And so it begins..." Or you can go to my profile and use the direct link there!

I had a huge burst of inspiration of how things were going to play out during this installment. It unfortunately did alter some plans I had already started setting up in chapters one and two, but I am really excited by this new direction. I hope everybody enjoys it. I think it's going t really differentiate ToH from TLT, which I think is sorely needed. However, this new direction will do a number of things, the main thing being that we will be sticking with TK's POV for a little while longer than initially planned. I just think that we need TK's POV to explore the changes in the Tamer's world, changes that the Adventure world did not have, so wasn't necessary. I hope Tamer fans will be patient, because I definitely plan on the Tamer's having a lot of POVs moving forward. We're just going to stick with TK longer in ToH than we did with Takato in TLT. Eep.

Enjoy!


Chapter Three

"Wait," the boy with glasses said, "did he just say…?"

He sounded as if he recognized TK's name. TK focused on him, hoping to see a familiar face.

He might have been around TK's age, maybe a year or two younger. His dark hair appeared to be a shade of deep green the longer TK stared. He wore a white unbuttoned shirt over a brown t-shirt. A messenger bag hung from one shoulder. On the other shoulder sat the smallest digimon TK had seen to date, pink and fluffy and all around adorable. TK didn't recognize either of them, but the boy stared at him as if he were a movie star.

"Don't be stupid, Kenta," the lighter haired boy said. "He obviously didn't mean the TK Takaishi." Then he paused uncertainly and gave TK a funny look. "Did he? Did you?"

"I don't know," TK said, mirroring their look of confusion. "Did I?"

"Of course not," the kid at the front of the pack said, but he sounded disturbed, as if he didn't believe his own words.

"Guys," the only girl said, "where did the Vilemon go?"

Now that they were closer, TK could clearly see why they were having a much easier time navigating the fog than him. Each of them wore a pair of sunglasses to help better see through the mist. Even Kenta, whose glasses were obviously prescription, wore a pair of clip-ons onto his frames.

"I don't know," the blue-haired boy – Henry, TK remembered, starting to match the voices with the faces – said. "Terriermon?"

"Don't look at me!" Terriermon said. "Usually if I hit something, it tends to want to hit me back!"

"And even when you don't hit something, it tends to want to hit you," Guardromon said delightfully.

"Hey!"

"Uh…" Kenta started nervously. "Does this mean we could be surrounded right now and have no idea?"

The group took an anxious step closer together as they all fumbled to get something into their hands. TK remained kneeling on the ground even as his senses tingled with unease. This whole situation was bizarre on so many levels, and they just got a whole lot weirder as he realized that each of them held a digivice in their hands. Sure, it was different than his model – he could tell that even from his viewpoint on the ground – but they were definitely digivices, which meant what? That these kids were – what had the Vilemon called him? A tamer?

They moved their digivices around in the fog as if trying to scan through the thick mists. TK was pretty sure that his digivice didn't have any sort of scan function, and he wondered if there was some sort of tamer store out there where he could get an upgrade. Maybe he could install some sort of software update so that his digivice would become update 8.1 instead of the basic 7 that nobody ever used anymore.

"Nightmare Shocker!"

Terriermon let out a cry of pain as he went flying into the mist.

"Terriermon!" Henry yelled.

Then he did something odd – he pulled a bunch of playing cards out of his pocket. The fog was starting to lift rapidly, dissipating around them as if it had never been there to begin with. TK could finally make out the world around him. Spread out to his left were lanes of traffic, separated by a median. Several cars were stopped at a stoplight that appeared to be bugging out as it flashed rapidly between red and green. Pedestrians stood around, looking confused, having stopped when the fog rolled in.

The geography wasn't anything immediately recognizable. TK could have been anywhere in Japan and not been able to tell the difference whether he had his memory or not. Strip malls lined every corner of the streets surrounding him. A McDonald's sat directly to his right, which explained the smell of teriyaki that had been making his stomach growl since arriving here.

But TK felt like he'd stepped into a dream. He knew what those characters said, what the advertisement was referring to, what the stoplight meant – but which way to the highway? Where was the closest department store? He was just as lost here as he was in the Digital World.

Something about this place felt very familiar, yet not quite right.

"Guardromon, get in there!" Kazu said.

"Guardian Barrage!" Guardromon said, pointing his gigantic mechanical arms toward Cheery Vilemon. Little missiles slid out of compartments hidden on his wrists before flying through the air. They exploded upon impact.

Kazu cheered. "Nice shot!"

The explosion sent Cheery Vilemon flying; he tumbled into oncoming traffic. A truck slammed into him, and he disappeared under the wheels where he was dragged a hundred yards before finally managing to get himself free. His data destabilized for several seconds before simply coming back together again like nothing had happened.

"Ow," he said, and then he launched back into the air.

Kazu cried out in protest. "That should've done it!"

"Welcome to our world," Patamon complained.

"We should get off the streets," the girl, Jeri, said. "There are too many innocent people around."

"Agreed," Henry said. "Terriermon! Let's lead them toward the park!"

"Annoy them enough so that they'll chase me?" Terriermon said. "I can do that."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Patamon quipped.

The edges of TK's mouth twitched, threatening to break out into a smile. "Patamon," he admonished.

"What?" Patamon asked innocently. "Call it a lucky guess."

Terriermon was too busy spinning around like a helicopter as he barreled into both Vilemon again to hear him, which was probably lucky for them. The Vilemon turned to glare at Terriermon, and he gave a cheery wave.

"I think they're annoyed, Henry!" Terriermon announced.

"Digi-Modify! Speed Activate!" Henry grabbed one of the playing cards and slide it through his digivice, as if it was something that he did every day. "We'll catch up with you, Terriermon! Go on ahead!"

Terriermon didn't need to be told twice. The Vilemon took to the air and started to chase after him, and Terriermon disappeared down the street a lot quicker than TK thought he should be able to move naturally. Somehow, the card in Henry's hand had buffed Terriermon. As if things couldn't get any weirder.

"C'mon!" Henry called as he started to race down the street after them.

TK hesitated all of two seconds before he got to his feet and moved to follow. He didn't know what else he was going to do instead. Besides, he felt responsible for the Vilemon being here at all. They had only arrived here in the Real World, because they had been after him in the first place. He wanted to make sure that they didn't hurt anybody else while here.

"Will Terriermon be able to hold them off?" Kenta asked.

"Normally, yes," Henry said, "but based off of what's been going on lately…" He trailed off, which TK took to mean as a not likely. Henry slid another card through his digivice.

TK followed the group, staggering under his own exhaustion. He was definitely running on fumes at this point. He didn't know how long Terriermon could last without back up, but he was too tired to ask and run at the same time.

The cemented and crowded streets dispersed and gave way to forested park. The sight was quite beautiful at first glance, a complete contrast to the busy city life they had just left behind. The pathway curved through the trees and led them deeper into the park. Lovers walked hand-in-hand, families strolled through the shade, and joggers ran by without a care in the world. A few hundred yards ahead, TK saw a small explosion that he figured was a sign that the Vilemon had caught up to Terriermon.

His legs dragged along the paved path like heavy sandbags. His ankles shook from the strain. Guardromon's joints squeaked and creaked as he ran, which didn't help TK concentrate any.

In front of them, the Vilemon's voices echoed through the trees. Terriermon shouted. TK pushed himself to run faster so that he could get to him as quickly as possible to help, but then Terriermon came to them. He burst through the trees – or some form of him, anyway. He'd gone through a growth spurt in the few minutes that TK had lost sight of him, and he was now wearing a pair of pants with cannons for arms.

"Gargomon!" Henry called.

"Henry!" the Terriermon-lookalike said, "A little help!"

"Digi-Modify! Reload Activate!" Henry slid another random card – or random to TK's perception – through his card reader.

"Now we're talking!" Gargomon came to a stop and turned to face the direction he had come. The Vilemon shot out of the trees, and Gargomon lined up the shot before unloading on them. Machine gun fire exploded from the cannons on his arms. The Vilemon screeched and then separated, evading most of the shots.

Guardromon marched forward, his creaky limbs echoing off of the trees, before hunkering down. He aimed his arms toward the fleeing Vilemong. "Guardian—!"

Angry Vilemon spotted him at the last second and spun toward him. "Demon Darts!" He slashed his claws through the air, and eight thin blades of air shot toward Guardromon, catching him in the chest. Guardromon's words caught in his throat for a second before his eyes suddenly went dark, and his arms fell limp to his sides.

"Ah, man! Guardromon!" Kazu cried.

TK's eyes widened. "Is he okay!?"

"He'll be fine," Henry answered without glancing back toward him. "He just needs to be reactivated."

Kazu tore through the cards in his hands, tossing useless ones over his shoulder and littering the walkway. "Kenta! What'd you do with the Reactivation Card!?"

"I put it back!" Kenta swore.

"Nightmare Shocker!" Cheery and Angry Vilemon called together. The blasts of dark energy shot from each of their mouths and ate through the digital bullets emitting from Gargomon's cannons. The energy hit Gargomon from both sides, knocking him right off his feet. He laid on the ground completely dazed for several seconds.

Kazu let out a cry of frustration and threw his deck of cards. They collided with the cards in Henry's hands, and 200 cards littered the paved park path. "Kazu!" Henry snapped.

"Rika's here!" Jeri suddenly announced with a relieved smile.

TK turned to look at where she pointed. He didn't see anybody at first; then, at the end of the park path, he saw a spec of red riding atop what looked like a giant yellow fox. If TK wasn't already so used to strange, he may have needed to check eyesight on that one.

Henry's expression suddenly filled with horror. "Gargomon!"

Gargomon was still trying to shake off the dual attack when the Vilemon descended upon him. Angry grabbed the left foot; Cheery grabbed the right; and then they shot into the air, carrying Gargomon with them. Gargomon screamed in pain as their claws dug into his skin, and he was hauled into the air.

The redhead and her partner fox digimon were getting closer by the second, but TK knew that she wouldn't get here in time before something terrible happened. Gargomon would be destroyed and gone forever. Henry was too shocked to try to sort out the mess of cards on the ground. Kazu was on his hands and knees, back to looking for the card needed to reactivate Guardromon, muttering something about how Rika would never let him hear the end of it.

Patamon leapt off of TK's head.

"Patamon, wait!" TK said.

Patamon exploded in light. A subtle tug pulled at TK's gut, and the light grew in size. "Patamon digivolve to… Angemon!" The light faded. An angel the height of an average adult male floated in the air. Six large white wings grew from his back. He wore a white bodysuit with an iron helm that covered his eyes, leaving only his tight-lipped mouth visible. Long golden hair trailed down his back, and golden armor accented his look with sky blue sashes. He carried a golden staff in one hand.

"O-oh my," Jeri gasped.

Kazu stared. "Holy…"

"Crap," Kenta finished.

TK stepped forward, his heart pounding in his chest. "Angemon, be careful!"

Angemon moved the golden staff from one hand to the other. "Let him go," he ordered.

The Vilemon exchanged a rather concerned looked.

"Pretty please?" Gargomon added.

Angemon gripped his staff in both hands and swung the rod like a baseball bat. The Vilemon grunted with pain as the rod caught them in the gut, and they dropped Gargomon in surprise. Gargomon yelled in fear as he started to fall, but Angemon caught him by his ankle and gently lowered him to the ground. Then the angel digimon walked calmly up to the fallen Vilemon.

"He did say please," Angemon said. The golden rod in his hand glowed brightly and shrunk, making the light glow brighter and brighter until it all collected into his fist. "You have caused my partner enough pain and misery. It is time to end your reign of terror before you bring your despicable acts to this world as well."

Cheery Vilemon held up a hand. "No, wait!"

TK heard Rika and her yellow fox digimon finally catching up to them, but he stayed focused on his digimon partner.

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon punched his fist out toward the two Vilemon, and the light gathered in his fist shot out like a cannon blast. The Vilemon took the full brunt of the blast and broke into data. Glittering clouds of Vilemon data struggled to reform, but Angemon pulled his golden scepter out of thin air once more and began to spin fast enough to create a cyclone. The data was pulled apart like a blender. Soon every trace of the Vilemon data was swept away by the wind in four different directions. The angel typhoon vanished, leaving Patamon left in the center of it.

TK held his arms out, and Patamon flew right into his waiting embrace. Every time TK saw Angemon enter battle, he always felt a sick feeling of fear gripping his gut, like someone was pouring acid on his heart. It left him feeling exposed, raw… vulnerable.

Gargomon stood in the middle of the park path, looking stunned but perfectly fine. He dedigivolved back to Terriermon, and Henry rushed forward to gather him into his arms. Only then did TK realize how quiet the other kids had become.

Everyone was staring at him.

"What the hell was that?" the new girl – Rika – suddenly burst out.

"An angel," Jeri breathed. "A real angel digimon…"

"Guys, his name is TK Takaishi, and he has an Angemon as his partner," Kenta practically squealed. "Do you know what this means!?"

"Dude, no way!" Kazu gushed.

That was when TK realized that it hadn't only been Kenta that had recognized his name. In fact, everybody was staring at him as if he were either nuts or some sort of messiah. Only Terriermon seemed unfazed.

"Do I get to count that as a win even though Angel Boy stepped in?" he said. "I had them right where I wanted them."

The new girl wore faded jeans, hiking boots, and a red vest. Her red hair was cut choppy and uneven with two thin strands hanging down either side of her face. She wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, but it didn't work. She had high cheekbones and perfect bone structure; if she hadn't been so young and dressed like any other punk kid, TK might have thought she was a model.

She stepped forward and scrutinized TK as if he were some disgusting thing on the bottom of her shoe. TK couldn't shake the feeling that she kind of wanted to run him through with a kitchen knife.

"So," she said coldly, "who are you? You're obviously not TK Takaishi. How'd you get a digimon? What'd you do?"

"What are you talking about?" TK asked. "Why can't I be TK Takaishi? Who is he?"

"Who is he?" Kenta repeated, as if it was the stupidest thing he'd heard all year.

"Look," TK said, starting to get frustrated by all the staring, "my memory's a little fuzzy. Um, it's gone, actually. Do you know me or not?"

"Know you!?" Kazu blurted out. "Dude, you're TK Takaishi! You're, like—"

"Kazu, stop," Henry interrupted suddenly. "No… we don't know you."

That last part was a lie. TK could tell from his eyes. But he could also tell that he had no intention of going back on his lies. Not right now. And TK had waited long enough for answers; he didn't feel like being stonewalled by some kid he had just met.

"Fine. If you won't tell me, I'll find answers on my own," TK said. "Thanks for saving my life. I'm going to go now."

TK turned and nearly walked right into the chest of a man standing directly behind him. The near collision made him yelp and stumble back away from the body. The man in front of him was tall, almost 6 inches taller, which was saying something since TK had towered over everybody he had met in the Real World so far except for Kazu. And the other striking thing about the man – other than his dark suit and sunglasses – was the fact that he had bright blonde hair, not too unlike his own.

"Hey, you're not a ghost!" Patamon suddenly said.

It took a second for TK to realize that the tall blonde man was not alone. Two women flanked him on either side, probably in their mid-to-late thirties. But it was the man standing next to him, in the flesh (so to speak), that caught TK's attention: Shibumi.

"You," TK spluttered.

"Hello again, TK," Shibumi said brightly. "Glad to see you made it here safely."

"More or less," the blonde man said dryly.

"Are you going to tell me who I am?" TK demanded. "I came here, now what?"

Shibumi smiled sadly. "That's a bit harder to answer."

The blonde man adjusted his sunglasses as if he were surveying the area but trying to hide it from the others. "We don't have time for this. Riley, do it."

The woman with the long reddish-brown hair stepped forward. "Sorry, kid," she said.

TK was just about to ask what for when she pulled out a small vial and sprayed it in his face. He coughed and stumbled backward, Patamon coughing in his arms as well. Extreme exhaustion suddenly overtook his limbs, and his legs collapsed out from underneath him. Someone caught him under the arms before he hit the ground. His vision darkened.

"Yamaki! What are you doing!?"

"We're getting off the streets, Mr Wong, before our new friend here causes a scene."

"Ugh, I sure hope we're getting a raise for this. I feel dirty."

"Shibumi, are you this is really the only way? Isn't there any alternative? It seems a bit excessive to drug a kid."

"Maybe. But in this state, his mind would never be able to handle the truth."

Then everything went black.