Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I do not own Heroes of Olympus. And they do not own me!
Author's Note: Written for the Novel with Prompts Challenge found on the Digimon Fanfiction Challenges forum. The prompt for this chapter is "plastic".
Reminder: I post all review replies on my personal forum topic found right here on this site. Replies to the previous chapter are often posted about an hour after the newest chapter is posted. To find the topic, navigate to the little drop down menu at the top of the screen for Forum to Anime to Digimon. Find the forum called 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!
Well, hello, everybody! I know it's been a while. Hopefully you all remember where we last left off. I'm sorry it took so long, but that's just the kind of writer I am. I take long extended breaks sometimes. Also, it doesn't help that there have been things battling with my inspiration. Firstly, Digimon Adventure tri. I love that we're getting more Adventure stories, but my TK and tri's TK aren't exactly... simpatico. So, this story is even more AU than it already was! Also, Rika is hard to write, I've found. So any feedback on her in particular, I'd love to hear it. I will be participating in April's Camp Nano, just like I did last year, so hopefully I'll get some more chapters out at a reasonable pace. However, I am also selling my house, so depending on how quickly the sale goes through, I may not get nearly as much writing done as I would like. I just ask that everybody be as patient as possible! Thank you! And...
Enjoy!
Chapter Four
TK was used to waking up in places that he didn't recognize, which was lucky. The white-walled sparse room that he awoke to held absolutely no familiarity of any kind.
A single bed in gray sheets and as soft as cardboard made up the room. He'd awoken on top of the sheets all alone, but that hadn't lasted long. He'd no sooner sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed before the door to the room opened. One of the women from before stood there, and though TK's memory was foggy, he remembered her distinctly gassing him. He knew he should be afraid – wasn't he just kidnapped? – but this woman didn't seem dangerous or concerned. She just nodded her head and said, "C'mon, kid." What else was TK supposed to do? He got up and followed her.
TK realized that they were in some sort of office building. Men and women dressed in dark suits walked through the halls. A meeting of important-looking people was taking place around a conference table. People wearing white lab coats talked excitedly, using lingo that went way over TK's head. And through a pair of double doors, a large screen displayed hundreds of images all around Japan, focusing in on… Were those digimon?
As the woman led TK through the halls, the adults stopped what they were doing and stared at TK. A few looked confused. One of the suits muttered something about, "What's a kid doing here?" One scientist dropped the folders in her hand, squeaked excitedly, and ducked back into her office.
TK wished he could hide too. After weeks on his own, all the attention made him uneasy. He trailed behind the woman leading him with his head down and tried to look inconspicuous.
"Why is everybody staring at me?" he asked. "Do they know who I am?"
The woman didn't answer right away, but she did come to a sudden stop, nearly making TK run into her. She glared around at the gawkers before snapping, "Do we look like a circus act to you? Back to work!"
"Uh, thanks," TK said. "Where are we? Who are you?"
"Name's Riley," she said. She swept her long flowing hair over her shoulder with such grace that TK would not have been surprised if she'd revealed to him that she was actually a model and not some secret government agent. "I was one of the agents sent to collect you."
TK stared at her. "Do you always collect your guests by knocking them out with gas or am I just special?"
"Just special," Riley said, but the corners of her lips did twitch slightly showing that she may actually have a sense of humor after all.
"Is that why everybody is staring at me?" TK said. "Just because you told them to stop doesn't mean I didn't notice it."
"Yes," she said, but there was a hesitation in her voice as if she weren't telling the whole truth. "The number of children who are able to tame digimon is very small. Every time we meet a new one, it's either a threat against national security or very exciting. Depends on who you ask."
"My relationship with Patamon is… bad?"
Riley's eyes swept up and down the hallway, giving TK the distinct impression she was trying to make sure the wrong people weren't overhearing her. "Not really, but not everybody is of the same opinion as me."
"I don't remember who I am," TK said. "Not completely. You seem to know more than I do."
"I'm Government," Riley said. "It's my job to look like I know more than you do."
"Meaning…?"
Riley gave a mysterious smile before pushing her way through a pair of double doors. TK resisted the urge to growl in frustration and followed. They passed a sign that labeled the hallway as Research & Development. Riley pulled a badge out of her coat pocket and swiped it across a magnetic strip. The locked door gave a large click as it unlocked for her, and TK once again followed her silently, wondering more and more where she was leading him.
For Research & Development, this part of the office building seemed pretty relaxed. Kids fresh out of college and perhaps younger lounged around. Several older guys sat in a room playing a computer game. Each room was labeled as something important and scientific as if it were put together by some fussy science professor, but the occupants were made up of his rowdy students. A room called the Green Room had several adults – ranging from young to old – lounging around on the softest looking sofas, playing cards and drinking sodas.
Along the back stretch of the department, they passed the food court. The smell of coffee and food flooded out, beckoning him like a siren's call. The expression on his face must have been pretty obvious, because Riley smirked back at him. "We'll see about getting you something to eat. But first, we need to talk."
The thought of food made TK's stomach rumble. The scent of miso from the dining hall made his mouth water. He was certain that was sweet buns filling the air as well, but he could tell from Riley's expression that doubling back for an order to-go wasn't going to be allowed.
Riley finally stopped in front of one of the doors at the end of the hallway. "Let's see if we can improve your memory."
x X x
"Patamon!" TK cried.
His partner in crime sat stuffing his face on the table in the office. White sticky rice stuck around his mouth as he looked up from his plastic bowl, and he broke out into a grin.
"TK!" he yelled. He flew into his arms, and TK hugged him tightly. "Oh, TK, I was so worried when I woke up and you weren't by my side!"
TK's thought had been all over the map since waking, but he realized how on edge he had been without Patamon there with him. Seeing his best friend immediately relaxed him in a way that nothing else could. He swallowed back a lump in his throat and forced himself to let him go. He let out a small laugh as Patamon immediately returned back to his bowl.
"You finally found yourself some food, I see," he said.
"We weren't sure when you were going to join us or else we would have brought some for you too," a voice to his left said.
TK turned and found himself standing face-to-face with the auburn haired girl from the fog. She smiled kindly at him before moving to take a seat at the table where Patamon sat eating. The idea of food sounded so appealing, but there was so much more on his mind that it was somehow being pushed to the side. His mind was finally starting to lift out of the confused haze. This whole situation was so… bizarre.
The office appeared to be some sort of game room. Beanbag chairs were scattered around on a multi-colored bright carpet. A large television sat mounted on the wall, with several different gaming consoles laid out on the shelving below. The walls were covered in video game posters, all of which seemed to be Digimon based, making TK feel like he had just stepped into some strange alternate reality. Along the back wall were several cabinets and a mini-fridge – where they kept the secret stash of food, TK guessed.
In the center of the room, a large round wooden table sat the five kids that TK had already met. The auburn-haired girl – Jeri, TK reminded himself – sat next to the vibrant redhead, and Henry sat on the other side of her. Terriermon kept trying to steal some sticky rice from Patamon's bowl, but Patamon just kept moving it out of his reach. When Terriermon tried to scoot closer, Henry would tug on his ear with a light glare of warning, forcing him back in front of him. Kazu and Kenta sat on the other side of Henry with MarineAngemon sitting on Kenta's shoulder. TK wished he could sit down, but Riley made no move to sit. TK got the feeling that maybe he should stay standing as well.
"So…" he started to say.
The redhead was the only one of the teenagers not afraid to stare right at him, and her gaze seemed to cut right through to his core.
TK froze. He hadn't been around humans much in the last few months – at all, actually – but he always had the feeling that he usually got along with pretty much everybody that he met. But this girl, he could tell that she wasn't one to be won over easily. Her glare seemed as sharp as razors.
"Why do I get the feeling I did something wrong?" TK muttered, but in the empty room, his voice echoed.
Henry turned to the redhead with a soft glare of his own. "Rika."
Rika turned toward Henry. "I've got questions I want answered," she said plainly.
"We all do," Henry sighed.
"Jeez," Terriermon said. "You're making even me nervous!"
TK looked from the group of teenagers to Riley. The combination of the kids and the digimon with the government employee just seemed completely out of place. He could tell by their body language that they were trying their best not to stare. Each of the teenagers kept sending him expectant and even excited glances, as if waiting for him to do or say something amazing. Even Riley – for all of her relaxed yet vigilant persona – kept regarding him as if she didn't know what to make of him. It was all starting to give him the creeps.
"You do know me," he decided. "All of you. But I don't know how. Please, just tell me what's going on."
"First things first," Riley said, finally pushing off of the door she'd been leaning against. "We want to hear your story." She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and spoke into it. "Yamaki, we're ready for you."
TK was just about to ask who Yamaki was when the tall blonde guy from the park entered the room. Even indoors and without his sunglasses, the man didn't look any less intimidating.
"Oh, this is going to be good," Terriermon said.
Patamon looked from Terriermon to Yamaki. Recognizing him from the park as well, he abandoned his bowl and flew over to TK, landing on his head. Terriermon grabbed his bowl and happily finished the rest of the rice himself.
"Do you remember me?" Yamaki asked him.
TK resisted the urge to take a step away from him. "Unfortunately."
"First, you need to know that we brought you in the way we did for you own safety," Yamaki said.
"Even if it was completely unnecessary," Henry said.
"And creepy," Kazu added.
"No kidding," Kenta said. "That would give me nightmares for weeks!"
Yamki sent them a warning glare. Clearly the tamers being present was just a courtesy, a little gift to allow them to watch the interrogation of Takeru Takaishi, but they weren't supposed to participate in it. He turned attention back to TK.
"What do you remember?" he asked. "How did you get here?"
TK found himself getting annoyed. He had so many questions of his own, but they kept brushing his off, dodging them, leaving him in the dark. But he was outnumbered here and in a place he knew nothing about, so he played along. He told his story – how he'd woken up at the base of a tree in the forest of the Digital World. He described his time roaming the terrain, learning about digimon, and relearning how to help Patamon ward of enemies.
A lot of what he learned had been intuitive, things he'd picked up from observation or somehow knew in the back of his mind already. He'd figured out that he was some sort of tamer, a human child
equipped with the ability to partner with a digimon. Children like him were rare, and some digimon believed that by defeating Patamon in battle, it would send them to a paradise beyond the Digital World. Those had been his first enemies encountered, the ones that thought that he and Patamon would be pushovers.
None of it seemed to surprise any of his audience. In fact, it seemed like everything coming out of his mouth was pretty darn ordinary – except for one thing.
"No memory at all?" Rika asked. "You still remember nothing?"
"Fuzzy bits and pieces."
"That's awful…" Jeri whispered.
TK glanced around the room. He didn't want to mention Kari. It seemed too private, and he was still confused about where to find her. He was sure they were connected through the digimon – but none of this felt like the right connection.
Also, he was reluctant to share his one clear memory: Kari's face, her light brown hair and amber eyes, the way she giggled, ducked her head, and blushed lightly whenever he would call her beautiful.
Considering how beautiful the image was, she must've blushed a lot, TK thought.
He feared that if he spoke about that memory to anyone, it would evaporate like a dream. He couldn't risk that.
Yamaki crossed his arms over his chest in a thoughtful manner. "Most of what you've described is just typical Digital World behavior… well, as typical as it ever gets. The Digital World is a harsh and unforgiving place."
"There's a reason most digimon are just looking for a way out," Henry said, sharing a look with Terriermon who had finished off Patamon's lunch.
"Wait, I don't get it," Kazu said, scratching his head. "If you were in the Digital World, how did you get here?"
TK told them about the last three days – the Vilemon who wouldn't die, meeting ghost-Shibumi who turned out to be very much alive, and finally meeting Henry and the others in the fog – the Digital Field, Yamaki corrected him.
Jeri took the story over from there. She described TK and Patamon as brave and heroic. It made Patamon grin from ear to ear, but it made TK feel uncomfortable. All he'd done was chase after some kids and tell his partner to be careful.
"How old are you, kid?" Riley asked. "Sixteen?"
It seemed like such a mundane question that it took TK a moment before he could respond. "I think so."
Henry gave Yamaki a strange look. "Since when can Shibumi appear in the Digital World without being in a coma?"
Yamaki raised a single eyebrow at him. "What do you think we do here all day? Chase after you kids chasing the digimon? Shibumi and the Monster Makers have a lot of toys that you don't know about. And no, before you get the idea in your head, you cannot go to your father to find out what else we have… He's under contract not to tell you a thing."
"Is he supposed to not tell anybody or is it just me?" Henry asked, his tone dry with annoyance.
Yamaki ignored him and returned his attention to TK. "So you only have memories for the past two months. You must have been somewhere before that."
TK shrugged. It made sense; he doubted he just popped into existence, but other than the glimmer of a memory about Kari, his whole life was a huge solid blank. But there was something else, too. When he woke up under that tree in the Digital World two months ago, he'd had the vaguest feeling that he'd been asleep for a very long time. But that didn't really make a whole lot of sense. Did it?
"Well, we haven't been able to find anything on you or any missing person reports that would suggest this is just some hoax, so I suppose you're telling the truth," Yamaki said.
"Great," TK said. "Now that the interrogation's over with, can you just tell me who I am?"
Yamaki and Riley shared a glance while the teenagers at the table stared at each other. TK took that to mean a big fat no.
"Look, kid," Riley said, obviously deciding that she had to be the unlucky one to break the news to him, "even if we believe you, there's a lot about your story that just doesn't add up."
TK crossed his arms and frowned. "Like what?"
Yamaki mimicked his look, making it pretty clear that he wasn't going to be intimidated by some punk kid with a Patamon. "Even if we believe that you're—" He caught himself from saying something else, annoying TK more. "If we accept your story," he said instead, "you're still not a typical Digimon Tamer. How'd you get into the Digital World in the first place?"
"Man, where's Ryo?" Kenta whined. "I bet he has all the answers."
Rika rolled her eyes. "We don't need Ryo."
"I bet he'd be able to tell us what's going on," Kazu said.
"He'll be by later, but…" Henry stopped and sent a look toward TK that he couldn't decipher. "He seemed just as confused as the rest of us."
"I think you just broke Kazu and Kenta's fangirl hearts, Henry," Terriermon said.
"Hey!" the boys exclaimed.
Yamaki rubbed at his temples as if he were starting to get a headache. "Can we get back on topic?"
"Your Patamon," Riley said, taking over.
TK bristled, feeling himself instantly getting defensive. "What about him?"
"We haven't seen a single celestial digimon despite the programming being there. Not a single one has shown up," Yamaki said. "That's… strange."
"I'm not strange," Patamon said.
"You're not strange," Jeri cooed. "You're adorable!"
Rika made a disgusted sound while TK felt Patamon puff up on top of his head, obviously letting the compliment boost his ego.
Yamaki shook his head. "That's not even getting into how you brought two Wild Ones into the middle of Downtown Shinjuku. You assisted in destroying public property. You've created a PR disaster for my department by allowing Patamon to digivolve in public view. You are already quite the headache."
That deflated Patamon's ego instantly. "We didn't mean to…" he whimpered.
"Are we in trouble?" TK asked, his eyes wide.
"Not with me," Yamaki sighed, sounding tired. "And I'm trying to keep it that way. Your digivice... do you know what it's called?"
TK grimaced as Yamaki laid out the charges against him. He was starting to feel a lot less like a hot shot and more like some juvenile delinquent. He pulled his digivice off of his belt and compared it to Henry's laid out on the table. While Henry's was melded into a strange organic shape, his own was just a simple oval. Green siding. A screen. An antenna. There was nothing seemingly special about his digivice, and in fact, it looked a little lackluster next to the other digivices in the room. Even so, the device felt important to him, like it was a part of him. Snapshots of his life existed in this device, he just had to figure out had to access them.
"No," he said.
"And your D-Terminal?" Yamaki continued.
TK checked his pocket. The D-Terminal sat where it always did. He pulled it out, but then realized he'd never shown Yamaki the D-Terminal. Henry and the others hadn't seen it either. And sure, he'd been out for a couple of hours, but how did they even know it was connected to the Digital World at all?
But it was far too late to pretend it didn't exist. He flipped open his D-Terminal. The kids around the table stood up to get a better look at the screen only to be faced with static.
Kazu let out an annoyed breath. "What gives? I wanted to see his Digiegg!"
"Side effect," Yamaki answered for him, "of bringing him to the Real World the way we did."
"Shibumi did warn us, and he's usually right," Riley said. "Still, I had hoped…" She shook her head, as if dismissing the idea.
Jeri leaned forward. "But he was in the Digital World for months, maybe he's seen something that Ryo didn't. Maybe he's come across Takato!" She turned to TK. "Did you meet another tamer while you were there?"
Kazu bounced in his seat. "Yeah! He's this short kid with brown hair and these goofy goggles—"
"He would have told us if he had," Rika said, glaring at Kazu.
A strange expression crossed TK's face at the mention of the goggles, but whatever memory had been trying to break through to the surface quickly slipped through his fingers. He pocketed his D-Terminal and secured his digivice back to his belt. "I haven't seen… well, anyone since I've woken up, except for you guys. Who's Takato?"
Rika gave Kazu an I told you so look, giving TK the impression that she was giving Jeri a pass on purpose. Henry took a breath and leaned forward before answering, "He is… was our friend." A collective wince stretched across the table at the past tense, and TK wondered if he should have asked at all. "He was another tamer. He had a partner Guilmon. Neither have been seen since last October."
"And it's not just the two of them," Rika said.
"Impmon's gone too…" Jeri whispered.
TK furrowed his eyebrows together, trying to process all of the information he was being fed at once. He hadn't paid much attention to the weather outside while chasing down the Vilemon, but winter didn't really seem to fit. "Wait… what month is it now?"
"It's June," Kenta said.
Patamon stared at the group. "You mean they've been missing for eight months?"
"That's a really long time…" TK said faintly, unable to say what he was actually thinking, but it must have been written all over his face.
"They're not dead!" Rika snapped. "We haven't given up."
"Yeah, Guilmon is too hardheaded to let anything happen to Takato," Terriermon said.
Jeri blinked her eyes rapidly and had to look away from him. TK got the feeling that this Takato guy might've meant more to her than just a friend.
Henry cleared his throat. "We were hoping now that it's summer, we'd have more time to look. But… we're not really sure where to start."
TK frowned. "Wait. What day is it?"
"June 16th," Rika said.
A chill went down TK's spine. "The summer solstice… That's June 21st, right? Vilemon mentioned that date. He said that the real world was going to be attacked on that day, something about some digimon name Huanglongmon, and an army marching through a portal. You're telling me that day is five days from now?"
It was like TK had just sucked all of the air out of the room. Every face stared at him in shock as if waiting for the punchline. Then Yamaki made a small sound and nodded to Riley. She turned, opened the door, and gave the hallway a quick scan. Finding nothing, she shut the door and locked it behind her.
Yamaki gave TK a hard look. "You will say nothing about that outside of this room," he ordered before giving the other tames the same look. "None of you. That will only make everything worse."
"Make what worse?" Patamon asked.
"Panic," Riley answered.
TK waited for her to elaborate for half a second before being unable to keep his mouth shut any longer. "So it's true. Did you already know? Can we stop it?"
TK had just met these people. He didn't really trust them, and he wasn't sure whether or not he even liked this Yamaki guy or his sidekick Riley. But he wanted to help. The teenagers at least – they were tamers, the same as him. They had the same enemies. Besides, TK remembered what Shibumi had told him: it wasn't just this city at risk. His old life, the people from it, the entire world might be destroyed. Whatever was coming, it was going to be huge.
"I think we've talked enough for now," Yamaki said.
"No!" Rika said, getting to her feet. "I want to hear more about this. If the real world's in danger—"
"We have a right to know—!" Henry started.
Yamaki sent the two teenagers a look that gave TK the distinct impression that he was only here as a courtesy, and they were quickly pushing their luck. Once they both silenced their protests, Yamaki said, "Riley, take Takeru and Patamon to the director. Brief him. Answer his questions. Tell him what we do here."
"Yes, Yamaki."
TK still had so many questions, he felt like his brain would melt, but Yamaki had made it clear that this little audience was over. He glanced back toward Rika and the others, and he found himself staring into mirrors of his own expression: desperation to stop whatever was coming. And in that moment, TK realized that as alone as he felt, he wasn't completely alone.
"Good luck," Terriermon said.
MarineAngemon chirped out a few encouraging notes. Patamon dropped into his arms. Rika got to her feet and stepped up next to TK. She regarded him with something close to understanding.
"Don't give him anything," she said quietly, her gaze unblinking. "He's not to be trusted."
TK wanted to ask what she meant, but Riley placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him out the door.
