Disclaimer: All animes copyright their respective owners. Considering I'm not finished the fic yet, I'll give the specifics as they come. They'll be at the end of the chapters so they won't be spoilers.
Oh, and my author persona is owned by me, so no take. 'Kay?
Author's Note: Just some silliness for when I'm totally uninspired to write anything else.
TransDimensional Blind Date
Chapter 1: Dumb Ideas
Thunder rumbled ominously overhead, as sky-blue eyes frowned up at the dreary, gray overcast above. The blond teenager hoped the weather wasn't some sort of sign. He already had a bad feeling about his friend's idea, and that was on top of the bad feeling he already had about dating a girl that was not his girlfriend.
Dark clouds were gathering quickly with the help of the cold, fierce wind that whipped through the city. He turned up the collar of his jet-black jacket and held it closed with a tight fist in an attempt to keep out the chill. Unfortunately, he hadn't thought to bring a pair of gloves. His exposed knuckles were already a deep red after only a few minutes of waiting under the small awning outside the restaurant. He wondered how much longer before they turned blue, and if it were possible to punch out his friend when his fingers were numb with frostbite.
He glanced over at the other boy leaning against the restaurant's front window with him, watching his wild hair rustle in the wind like the foliage of some small brown-leafed tree. Chestnut eyes stared straight ahead, deep in thought. His expression was surprisingly serious for someone who had jokingly insisted his blond friend join him in this little endeavour.
Yesterday, the dark-haired boy had approached him after school, with a strange ad from the newspaper in his hand. The blue-eyed teen had been uncertain about what the other had proposed.
"Don't worry about it, Matt," his friend had assured him, "you need to get your mind off that big fight you had with Sora, anyway."
"And you need to get your mind off Sora, period." Matt shot back angrily.
The other teen just winked and grinned mischievously. "Exactly. And what better way to do that than with a double blind-date with my best friend?"
"I can think of a few things." the blond boy muttered, as he read the ad over. The name of the company was suspicious; it was likely a scam of some kind. The service being advertised was just too farfetched, but then the two DigiDestined had seen a lot of farfetched things in their young lives, and they hadn't even finished high school yet. If it were a legitimate business, there would be no telling what might happen.
Matt shook his head. Then there was his girlfriend. "I don't know, Tai." He handed the paper back to his friend. "What would Sora say? She'd kill me!"
"If she asks, you can always tell her the truth."
"The truth? What? That I went out with another girl behind her back?"
"That you did it to help out a friend." Tai corrected. This last statement struck a chord with the bearer of the Crest of Friendship.
Though he still had his doubts, Matt had agreed. He and Tai were best friends after all. Having saved the world together, he knew and trusted him like a brother. A double date would be nothing compared to defeating the powers of darkness.
Still, the brown-haired teen also harboured a deep, not-so-secret love for Matt's girlfriend, a fellow DigiDestined. Despite everything they had gone through, a small part of him had suspected the other boy was plotting something to make it look like he was cheating on Sora, up until that moment.
Now, watching Tai under the awning, something about his determined look told Matt otherwise. Wow, I guess he really wants to get over Sora . . .
His train of thought derailed suddenly when lightning flashed across the sky, followed shortly by more thunder. Rain began to softly patter on the canopy above them.
Matt sighed, and silently prayed to whatever god-like entities happened to be listening at the time. Please, oh please, don't let this be a bad omen.
The room was vast, as vast as the darkness that filled it. There was a door somewhere in this blackness, but its location at the moment was lost in the void, as were the walls of the place, if there were any.
She sat at her console, which floated several feet above the floor. Information flooded the numerous holographic screens that surrounded her. Electronic bleeps and pings filled the chamber, as measurements, equations, charts, numbers, calculations, maps, all flashed across the different projections providing her with the data she needed for her research.
One particular screen however, held the girl's attention now, a private chatroom on the Internet she had hacked into. She had not revealed her presence to the users, deciding instead to see how such an interesting conversation would unfold. They seemed to know something she didn't.
~~*pRoDiGiOuS*~~: So your D-Terminal went off too?
boy_genius0102: Yeah, those programs you loaded into our D3s and D-Terminals are detecting another dimensional warp. But it's different than the one BlackWarGreymon created. It looks like it's more stable.
~~*pRoDiGiOuS*~~: I agree. I wonder what's causing it.
boy_genius0102: Do you think it's from the Digital World?
~~*pRoDiGiOuS*~~: I'm not sure. An unbalance of light and darkness would cause an unstable rift. Maybe someone or something created another gate between the two worlds.
boy_genius0102: But from the data on the D-Terminal, it doesn't look like a gateway. It's more like the warp is effecting a small neighbourhood.
~~*pRoDiGiOuS*~~: You're right. A gate wouldn't effect such a large area.
boy_genius0102: But what else could it be?
~~*pRoDiGiOuS*~~: I don't know.
The text-based dialogue paused as both parties seemed lost in thought. It took a few moments before one of them finally 'spoke up' again.
~~*pRoDiGiOuS*~~: *sigh* This is getting us nowhere. Our devices aren't giving us enough data. We'd better go observe this warp ourselves. If it is another threat from the Digital World, we'll need as much information as possible.
boy_genius0102: All right. I'll meet you there.
~~*pRoDiGiOuS*~~: See you in a bit.
boy_genius0102 has logged off
~~*pRoDiGiOuS*~~ has logged off
The girl smiled. Interesting. Apparently, she wasn't the only one investigating this anomaly in time and space. She would have to keep an eye on this pair.
Walking through the crowded streets with a huge stack of files and folders on a windy day was probably not a bright idea. At least, I had enough sense to pile them in a covered box before I left the office. Losing crucial client records would not only effect our business' ability to provide its services, but the myriad of lawsuits we would suffer would shut us down, if we were lucky. Considering the wide range of places and cultures we catered to, punishment for violating the "privacy of personal information" policy could range from a good-sized fine to the total destruction of the planet.
The hazards of providing transdimensional services, I guess.
These particular files were from one of our company's newest ventures, TransDimesnional Dating Services, or TDDS for short. Since we were still working out bugs in our match-making system, the service was being offered on a use-at-your-own-risk, free-trial basis. 'Free', however, had always been the "magic word" in any universe, so we were swamped with forms and requests from single (and not-so-single) beings from a multitude of worlds.
Out of the countless files I had somehow managed to read, one file had intrigued me, one Yamato Ishida. According to his data, he had been reluctant to sign up. Apparently, a friend of his, a Taichi Kamiya, wasn't comfortable going on a blind date by himself. Despite already having a girlfriend, the Ishida boy had registered with Kamiya, requesting a double blind-date. I found it sweet that he would do that for his best friend.
I could also see this entire experience going very badly for him on so many different levels. Match him with the wrong girl and the evening could end in disaster. A date with the 'right' girl could ruin his current relationship with his girlfriend. Not to mention the various levels and combinations of strange powers and odd personalities in a number of our customers in the TDDS database. On top of all that, there was always the possibility of his girlfriend showing up unexpectedly, catching him 'red-handed'.
Anyone who would try to help out one of his closest friends like this didn't deserve to have his entire love life collapse in the process, so I figured I could play his guardian angel and pull a few strings here and there. It was my company after all. It couldn't hurt to attempt to do I little good with some of my authority.
I had found an applicant in a similar situation to Ishida's earlier, and arranged for the two to meet. Like Yamato, the girl was already in love with someone else, only she had been registered into TDDS by a jealous rival. I thought that if Ishida and his date were both committed to their own relationships, they wouldn't start one with each other. It seemed like a sound plan, and even solved two problems at once.
As I continued to navigate through the busy, wind-swept streets, I reached under the lid of the box and I pulled out the first file. Opening the folder, I began reading over the data sheets, which in retrospect was a pretty dumb idea. With my attention away from the crowded sidewalk, I turned a corner and immediately walked into someone. Thunder rolled ominously overhead, almost as if it were a pre-scripted encounter.
"I'm sorry." We apologized in unison. The speaker sounded kind of whiny, or maybe that was me. I wasn't too sure.
Judging from her clothes, which appeared to be a uniform, I had bumped into a high school girl. Her hair, a pale purplish-reddish shade, was spiked up, reminding me of a star. She had eyes of a similar colour that quickly looked me over, before searching the crowds for something or someone.
Thinking the brief exchange was over, I started to walk on, when her wandering eyes fell on the file I was reading. A photo of the client was stapled to the top page.
"Oh my gosh!" she squealed, "That's Matt!" She rudely yanked Ishida's record out of my hand.
"Um . . . that's confidential. I . . . uh . . . I'm going to have to ask you to give that back . . . uh . . . please?" I requested, rather weakly I might add. I was never one for assertiveness, and I regretted that when she just took off with the file.
I chased after her, swearing, just as lightning flashed. Thunder followed shortly as rain began to fall. Dread sank in as I ran, still hefting the box of records. The weight of the load was slowing me down. There was no way I was going to catch up with her on my feet.
TransDimensional Dating Service,
A sub-division of CCD, Inc.
Confidential Records
FileNo.: DA0102-003
Name: Yamato "Matt" Ishida
TDDS Status: Registered since Testing Phase 01
Age: Not on File, likely between 14 -16
Birthdate: Not on File
Occupation: High School Student, Lead Singer and Bassist in rock band, "The Teenage Wolves"
Dimension: Digimon Adventure 01/02 Universe
Special: Digimon Partner, Gabumon
Hobbies: Plays a mean harmonica and bass guitar, Impressive cooking skills as well.
Why did you sign up with TDDS?
"Honestly, it wasn't my idea. I already have a girlfriend. I just did it for Tai; he didn't want to go on a date alone with a total stranger. He took it pretty hard when Sora and I started dating. I guess he's pretty desperate to get over her if he's using a dating service.
"Either that or he's trying to make it look like I'm cheating on her, so she'd break up with me. Okay, so it's not like Tai to do something like that, but still . . . why didn't he ask Joe or Izzy instead?"
Additional Notes:
Special Request: Double date with Taichi Kamiya. (Ref. DA0102-001)
Disclaimer: Digimon copyright Toei, Saban, Bandai, Fox. . . errr . . . I think . . .
As for the mystery girl in the big, dark room, I'll give the specific copyrights when her identity's revealed, or when her co-stars show up, whichever comes first. I don't want to spoil it for anyone.
'Course, if you've seen the anime, it's pretty obvious who it is. Just to be safe, she's copyright the company that owns her series. Hope that covers all the legal stuff.
Author's Note: Did my description of Jun actually sound like a description of Jun? I had trouble figuring out what her shade her hair was. That's one weird colour.
Anyways, I wasn't originally planning to put in a version of myself in here, but I've been reading Anime Survivor II by Survivor Globie and Anime Survivor II: Side Stories by Star Otaku, lately. I figured omnipotent author-powers can be fun. : )
Well, I'm going to move on to another fic for a while, so don't expect the next chapter any time soon. Maybe in a month or so, if I can get a few other fics done. Anyways, read and review, just be civil in your criticism. That's all I ask.
And feel free to send in any coupling suggestions, via review or e-mail. Tai and Matt aren't the only ones using TranDimensional Dating Services, you know.
Thanks for reading!
(Man, what was I on when I wrote this stuff?) -S@m