PAUSE FOR BOURGEOIS LEGALITIES
"Digimon" and all characters and situations contained within are
copyrighted trademarks of Bandai, Saban Entertainment and Upper Deck.
Permission is hereby granted by the author to reproduce this document
unless you try to make money off of it; if so, please contact me first at
Calcite_McWhalen@hotmail.com. I may be a grown-up cartoon fan but I do
know my way around Title 17.
****
Road Trip
****
Tired. That's what Jyou Kido would call it; he was tired. It wasn't just the long day at work, although that was a factor. He'd been at work patching up people injured in the escapee rush from that morning. The worst case was an unfortunate secretary who'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time; she'd ended up with a cracked rib. Nothing beyond his capacity, to be sure, but there were enough cases to keep him busy until well into the afternoon.
He leaned back in his chair, savoring a moment of peace in the busy day, and relaxed his lean frame. His blue hair hung limply; he'd intended to do something with it but when Miyako sent him the e-mail that morning he'd forgotton all about the simple things in his life and immediately gravitated on what she'd asked him to do. Lying to the President wasn't a difficult thing for even Jyou Kido but this request boded ill for the rest of the world. Save them all being killed, Jyou couldn't imagine a worse scenario for the insurrection that Miyako led. Even for one with resourceful people like Iori and Hikari and Takeru in it. He was glad that they had managed to escape -- the people on the scene insisted that they had all made it out -- but he was pretty sure that this rebellion was over for now.
It was one his own friends had managed to stifle.
Jyou's mind wandered down well-traveled roads. His old friends had all found their way here, to the Odaiba Group. He'd been watching from the sidelines, always available for a chat and coffee, as his former partners in defending the Digital World from anything that could threaten it lost the battles against themselves. Taichi had been the hardest to watch because of how slow it had been; the enthusiastic Yagami had, slowly, simply changed for the worse. There hadn't been any major point that Jyou could point to and blame. Koushiro had been the second hardest to watch because of how fast it was. Almost overnight, he'd changed from the intelligent and witty person he'd been to... to what they all were, now.
They'd become shadows of their former selves, all of them. Jyou's mouth turned down in a frown -- a usual expression, these days -- and he shook his head as he thought over what they were, these days. After their adventures in the Digital World, Yamato had become something of a people person, but now that was almost surpressed down to nothing; it took a mighty force of will that made him look a person in the eyes, let alone talk to them about anything other than business. Sora, on the other hand, had been a caring and compassionate -- maybe even loving -- person back when he'd been a miser in the Digital World. These days she'd be able to shoot her own best friend and not bat an eye. Somewhere along the line she'd lost whatever it was that drove her to care about people. And Jyou hadn't seen Mimi for years. She was the only one that didn't work at the Odaiba Group.
As for himself, well, he watched over them all and cursed his helplessness to do something. Sure, he'd patched them up and tried to keep them on the straight and narrow, but they didn't exactly make his job any easier. The whole reason he'd joined the Odaiba Group as a medical expert and supervisor was to keep an eye on the old gang. He'd failed, and miserably at that. He couldn't even save them from themselves. Not only that, but he also had a gut feeling that the President had some design for them as well.
Almost involuntarily his left hand flexed itself into a fist and clenched itself. The President had conducted Jyou's interview himself. He'd even invited two of his Assistants along for the questioning. The two of them -- one slim woman in a dark red dress, the other a giant man in a solid blue Armani suit -- had unsettled him enough with a set of intent and unnerving stares, but it was the President who had made Jyou nervous. The President, innocuous in a normal business suit, had directed the questioning with a efficiency that would have impressed professional interviewers but something about him had set Jyou on edge.
He'd been holding something back.
Jyou didn't have a whole lot in the way of empathic skills but he'd had to deal with all of his old gang lying to him back in the Digital World and had learned to sense when something was going unsaid. The President had, in his relaxed stance and carefully modulated tones and businesslike gaze, set off a quiet alarm in the back of Jyou's mind. Jyou believed that idea even more when he was hired in less than a day. That was almost unheard of and it spoke of either desperation or calculation, and the Odaiba Group couldn't have had a shortage of doctors. It was true, though, that Jyou had been quite busy, so that even a herd of refugees barely rated a mild blip on his scale.
Much of his work now was paper-pushing and talking to frazzled employees; actually being a doctor was a tad unusual, but the pressure more than made up for that. He had never had to fire an employee and for that he was thankful. The job was beginning to chip away at him, though. Jyou let his legs relax and he snapped back into a ready position. His nights had been getting worse. He didn't sleep much anymore at night and what sleep he got was fitful and restless. Clinically, he knew exactly what the problem was. His fellow doctors would refer to it as stress.
His eyes, ever at attention behind their eyelids, narrowed somewhat. That was exactly the problem. Between watching the first generation Chosen, taking care of a normal administration job, and trying to help out Miyako's little revolution, he'd been carrying too many burdens these days. Blackly, he knew that he epitomized his crest, Reliability. Sometimes he cursed his fate for being the one with the long-suffering crest. He was weary beyond measure, very much alone, and growing more angry at fate for turning things out the way it did, where he had to work for a bloodsucking corporation that rather than devour people's money and leave it at that had decided to take all of their energy, too, just for kicks.
He was tired!
Yelling unintelligibly, he swept his hand across his ever-covered desk, sending all of the crap on it to the ground with a mismatched crash. He heard the tinkle of glass and, bending over, scooped up the group picture of the Chosen from the ground. Shaking hands holding the frame steady, he glared at the cheerful photo. Everyone was so happy in the picture, but that, along with everything he had fought for, was in the past, wasn't it? He dropped the picture onto the desk, making a resounding crash in his own mind, and strode out of the office.
A secretary outside glanced up, startled at the loud crash of Jyou Kido slamming his door open, a tired and resentful expression on his face. "Mr. Kido?" he asked uncertainly.
"Hold my calls," Jyou snarled, and walked over to the elevator shaft in the corner. Jyou's offices and the medical quarters, inexplicably, were on the sixty-ninth floor. He didn't understand why when it was designed and now, more than four years later, he still didn't get it. The elevator button was the unfortunate victim of a smashing blow as Jyou demanded the car's undivided attention. When it arrived less than five seconds later he jumped on board and delivered a strong blow to the UP button. Obligingly the elevator ascended and less than ten seconds later Jyou Kido entered the office of the President of the Odaiba Group.
The President was leaning up alongside his desk, chatting amicably into a phone as Jyou entered. The office was otherwise abandoned. "Yeah, I definitely need those tickets for tonight Keep in mind that I also require a backstage pass... Of course she'll approve. I fund these concerts, remember?" It was about then that the President noticed Jyou had entered. He held up a finger; against his more savage feelings Jyou complied with the President's unspoken request, waiting at the elevator shaft. "No, I don't want to say anything... Exactly. Appreciation, indeed... Great. How about, say, half an hour?.... Good." The President set the phone down. Walking over to Jyou he extended a hand, one that Jyou took with a bit of reluctance. "What can I do for you, Mr. Kido?"
Withdrawing his hand, Jyou answered, "Well, sir, right now I've decided that I need a vacation of some sort." That admission came out with an enormous sense of relief behind it. The President cocked his head to the side, surprised.
"You don't have to ask me for that," he said. "You can always go to your vice president and get your time scheduled."
"I decided that coming directly to you would be easier," Jyou lied smoothly. In all fairness, he hadn't even considered going anywhere else. "It'd help avoid the red tape."
The President nodded. "I know exactly what you mean, Kido," he said, and sat down behind his chair. He punched a few numbers into his keyboard while motioning to one of the chairs before him. Jyou sat down. The President reviewed the information on the screen; presently, he drew back surprised. "Mr. Kido, you have violated company policy. It reads here that you've logged almost four months in unused vacation time." He raised an eyebrow. "You know I don't stand for people burning themselves out. I give my employees almost a month in vacation time a year. Why haven't you taken one before?"
"I couldn't abandon my responsibilities," Jyou answered truthfully.
"Indeed," the President replied thoughtfully, raising an eyebrow. "I can... understand that sentiment, especially coming from you, Mr. Kido." Confused, Jyou didn't respond. "Well, considering your immaculate service record, your careful and accurate work, and your obvious need for one, I don't see how I can refuse."
Jyou's eyes widened somewhat and he leaned out of his seat. "Just like that?"
"Just like that," the President nodded gravely. "It doesn't take much, you know. Take a month and hit the beaches over in Hawaii or climb a mountain somewhere. Just try to not think about anything happening here." He pressed a button on his console. "There's another nine hundred employees here. They can handle any kind of problem that we have."
Jyou sat down again, hard. "I guess so," he said slowly. The elevator beeped its arrival and one of the President's Assistants stepped out of the car; it was the woman. She walked over to the desk and to Jyou.
The President motioned to her. "She'll take care of what little bureaucracy you'll have to deal with before you can go, such as pay and logging someone to fill your time out." Jyou stood up shakily. He was still trying to grasp what had just happened. "You don't have to be responsible all of the time, Kido, that's what the rest of us are here for," the President said, chuckling. "Now get out of here and go have fun." Shaking his head slightly, Jyou walked towards the elevator with the Assistant at his shoulder.
He waited a five-count before glancing down at the shortest of his Assistants. "I take it you have something to say?"
"Of course," Gatomon replied, licking one paw. "I thought that we were collecting Chosen, not letting them roam freely."
"We are, after a sort," the President replied.
"Jyou Kido's the best model for the Reliability crest that you'll find. He's far better than Iori Hida at that sort of thing," Gatomon fired back, rubbing one ear.
"Precisely," the President replied smugly, sitting down again. "I see you still haven't figured it out." It was something of a game between the two of them. Gatomon would try and figure out exactly what the President was up to, and if she ever guessed the gist of it he'd give her the entire story behind himself. Being a cat, she couldn't resist that sort of thing. She'd been working on the puzzle for almost four years now. Inwardly, the President smirked. He knew that her own blindspots would keep her from guessing, and judging by the mystified look on Gatomon's face, he was right.
"Okay..." she said, trying to process what it meant. "At any rate, you're out a Reliability chosen for a month or so. When Jyou puts his mind to something, he doesn't stop until it's very finished."
"I'd guessed as much," he said dryly. "You'd better get ready to set up shop here again. Your reactions allowed us to capture most of the second team of Chosen; now, you'll be doing something much more menial."
"Only the company?" Gatomon said indignantly. Only her eyes gave away her amused demeanor.
"I'd give you more if I had it," he responded. "Since you disposed of Miyako I'm going to have to recruit the other Sincerity representative."
"How long?" she asked, curling her tail around her midsection and uncurling it.
"Not very," he answered. "No more than two days, depending on aerial traffic. I can't predict that."
"Hmm..." Gatomon murmered, then grinned and shot back, "Don't be late, or I'll have to start the treatments on our newest arrivals."
Both of the President's eyebrows went up. "Gatomon, please. There's no need to take such pleasure in that. Besides, you're not starting without me to oversee the process. All you have to do is make sure that they don't escape." He stood and strode out towards the one door in the place, a sliding glass pane that lead to a staircase to the building's roof. "Keep the peace here and you may be able to assist me with my project," the President said and walked outside, climbing the stairs to his personal helicoptor.
Briefly he paused underneath the swirling rotors, the wind rippling his jacket and hair, thinking of Gatomon. "You've certainly come a long way, haven't you?" he murmured to himself, and boarded the helicoptor.
****
Again, Miyako woke up in that strange place.
Putting on her glasses, she looked around the room. Seeing nobody there, she got up and stretched. She hadn't slept too well, of course, but that was to be expected once she found out that she was back in the Digital World. It forced memories, both good and bad, to surface from well-buried chambers in her mind. This night's particular dream was of the time when she had charged directly at the Emperor's base, rather than wait for the others; in her mind's version things went south pretty fast and it ended with Milleniumon with a foot raised, coming down on top of her... She surpressed a shudder and examined herself quickly. The robe was still on and she took a moment to examine the sigils placed on it; one a stylized heart, the other a pair of circles inside a teardrop. The moment passed and Miyako, finding the door unlocked, stole out quietly into the hall.
The place wasn't much more to look at on the outside. It was all stonework and cavern, with the occasional wooden door. Again, there was nobody out in the hall, and Miyako had a vague feeling of uncertainty; she knew that there had been several people with her yesterday as well as the Keeper guy. Rubbing the place where her shoulder should have been bleeding she kept going down the hall, keeping to the side, and hit a large open area with, of all things, a lake in the middle. An enormous hole was carved into the ceiling and Miyako could see the faintest hint of stars shining down from up there, into the cavern she was in. The area was lit with some kind of moss growing from the walls that could glow; phosphorence, her mind reminded her. Over near one such patch of moss was the person she had seen earlier -- the Keeper. He was staring up at the stars and there was one of the others at his side.
Miyako approached the couple warily. The Keeper's hood had been down but, upon seeing her, he hurriedly threw it back over his head. She hadn't gotten a good look at him before he got it up. His companion, however, hadn't had her hood up and made no effort to cover her head; she had snow- white skin and purple-streaked white hair with pointed ears and, curiously, a single purple dot in the middle of her forehead. She turned as Miyako approached and said, "Feeling any better?" in a voice like a wind chime -- all high pitches without a trace of alto in her sound.
"Somewhat," Miyako said carefully. "What do you want from me?"
The Keeper turned to her and said, "Not much. You pretty much fell on top of us so we're not quite sure what do to." He shrugged. "I figured that you'd want to see the Digital World again so I sent for an Airdramon from the Capital. It'll be here soon."
Miyako's eye twitched. Airdramon were serpentile, creepy-looking flyers that the Emperor had always employed to move around; and if this Keeper guy got one from some place named Capital... "I'm sure the Emperor's quite pleased with you," she bit out sarcastically.
The girl next to her glanced up sharply, but the Keeper waved what she was going to say down. "You won't be seeing the Emperor," he replied evenly. "You might say that he's out of town."
Miyako rolled her eyes at the two of them. "Right. So when's my ride get here?"
"Not until you get changed," the girl said, looking at the robe critically. "You'll need to wear something else when you ride an Airdramon." Beside her, the Keeper nodded silently. "You'll find a change of clothes into the outfit you used to wear in the room you were in, along with what your age requires. They're all sized for you."
"Fantastic," Miyako said blandly, and stood up. Without another word she turned and headed back to the room she was in; sure enough, the clothing she was looking for was right where the purple-haired elf thing had said it would be. It took her a minute to struggle out of the robe and into the outfit, but when she was done, she felt a little better for it. She discarded the helmet, though. That would have been a bit too much.
Back outside, she looked around; the Keeper was nowhere to be seen, but that little elf thing was still over where it had been. Miyako walked over to her and said, "Just what are you, anyway?"
"I'm a Migotomon," the girl responded. "We've moved in here to help the Keeper take care of things. The Keeper named me Bishojo a long time ago, and I've stuck with it ever since." She pulled out a vial of some liquid from a pocket in her robe. Extending it to Miyako, she said, "Here. This is extracted Essence of Light and is the most powerful curative in the Digital World. We used it on your shoulder. If you get hurt, put a few drops into the wound and it'll close up. Be careful, though, because you'll have some pretty intense dreams the next time you sleep."
Hesitantly, Miyako took the vial, remembering what it had apparently done to her the night before. "Uh... thanks, I think." A touch of wind caressed the back of her neck and she put a hand there unconsciously.
Bishojo glanced up and motioned. "Your ride's here."
Miyako spun around, nearly dropping the vial, and almost fell over when she saw the Airdramon. She hadn't ever seen one from up close before; the only time she had seen the things was when the Emperor had been flying on one and, quite suddenly, one was almost in her face. It wasn't the most attractive thing either, with a leering snarl permanently pasted on its skull-like visage and no arms or legs -- merely one long torso that stretched into a tail and a pair of huge leathery wings. She managed to keep from screaming, straightened up, and climbed onto its back when it presented itself. Surprisingly there was a human-sized saddle on the back of the creature.
She was barely seated when the Airdramon took to the skies with a low keen and a strong pull upwards. It took them several seconds to get clear of the cavern, but once that was cleared, they were off like a shot, Miyako unable to restrain a startled squawk, grabbing tightly to the reins placed at the saddle. The sky was still quite dark, but it was warmer than she had expected, and the giant Airdramon's head was well-placed for keeping the wind off of her as the two soared away. Quickly the landmass that the Chamber was on fell behind them and Miyako saw that it was on a small island; the two of them flew off over rippling seas.
About an hour later the sun began to break over the horizon. Miyako had been letting her mind wander, not focusing on anything, but her mind solidified when the first hint of daybreak came up over the edge of the sea. It was... beautiful! It painted the already-colorful digital sky in waves of red, yellow, and oranges, dabbing bits of pink on the edge of the rays and deepening to a blinding white in the center. It had been a long time since Miyako had taken the time to watch a sunrise -- since before the malfunctioning ED reactor at home -- and its raw beauty held her spellbound. That is, until the sun itself cleared the edge. It proved to be almost incandescent white and she had to turn her eyes away from it or be blinded. It took her several minutes before her eyes adjusted to how bright the Digital World was getting.
Shaking her head a bit to clear out the last cobwebs, Miyako wondered why it was so bright... that is, until she chanced to look down at the ocean, no more than a hundred feet below her and the Airdramon. She stared in wonder; in all her life she had never been able to see clearer water. It seemed that she could see down, and down, and down deeper than she could even swim. Not only that, but she could see shapes, too -- a school of Betamon were swirling around an enormous Seadramon; further over a pod of Dolphmon were celebrating the sunlight by leaping clear out of the water, flipping end over end. In the far distance, she could see the enormous back of a Whamon surfacing, spouting water out of its blowhole.
She took in a long, cleansing breath at all this. "It's so beautiful..." she whispered to the sky.
Beneath her, the Airdramon rumbled. "As the sun raises in the sky, so do the Digimon raise to meet the new day." It turned slightly, adjusting their course. "Do not the hu-mons also greet the sun?"
Miyako shook her head, still shielding her eyes from the sun's glare. "No, we're usually all too busy for that."
"Shame," the Airdramon grunted. "We're almost to shore." Miyako looked ahead of them for the first time and saw a curling edge of land, extending as far as she could see. "We land at the roadside. You must travel on the ground the rest the way to the Capital. I would carry you but for the no- fly zone surrounding the city at the moment."
"That's alright," she replied, still absorbed in the world. "I think I'd rather walk, anyway."
All too quickly they broke over the land, leaving the joyful seas far behind them. The Airdramon continued a little ways inland, allowing Miyako to see the calm treeline and the sight of a quaint village behind it, its Salamon inhabitants cheerfully moving about their daily chores, one waving up at the passing Airdramon and Miyako. The road came into view after that, a long meandering brown line stretching far into the distance, and there was another surprise next to it; the orange-black frame of a Centarumon stood next to it, hooves pawing the ground impatiently.
"Friend Centarumon," the giant Airdramon growled. "You're early." It settled onto the ground and Miyako slid off carefully, secreting the vial away into a pants pocket.
"I'ses tryin' ter get a quick start," the Centarumon said, and straightened up, presenting himself to Miyako. "Ready to go, Miss Miyako?"
That was about when it slammed down on her; there was no Dark Ring on this Centarumon. Turning, she stared at the neck of Airdramon and noticed the same thing; no Dark Ring. Fighting down a odd feeling of suspicion and embarassment she waved to Airdramon. "Thanks for the ride!" she said quickly and jumped onto the Centarumon's back. Airdramon keened again, lifted into the air, and flew off slowly.
Shaking slightly, she grabbed the odd reins that were again placed onto Centarumon's back and held on tight as the creature took off down the road, running smoothly down a hill and back up the next one. The wind whistled past her face sending her hair flying; she kept one hand on her glasses as Centarumon dipped his head and galloped into a forest. The sun, formerly so bright and cheery, suddenly disappeared as Miyako and Centarumon rode through the darkened forest, bursting out the other side to reveal the sun again.
After a tense few moments Miyako got comfortable with the ride and was able to relax, looking around for signs of the Emperor's old Control Spires. She hadn't seen one thus far into the ride, but in all fairness she hadn't seen much in that period of time. Still, the absence of the giant black obelisks was unsettling to her; it was as if, her heart fluttered hopefully, the Emperor had simply disappeared. She tried as best she could to ignore that idea and kept looking for Spires.
Apparently, the Centarumon noticed her. "What're ya lookin' fer, lady?" He jumped over a fallen log, sending Miyako for a bit of a loop. "I kin find perty much anythin' in these here woods -- they're me home, see?"
Miyako responded absently, "I'm looking for Control Spires."
The Centarumon did something very surprising then -- he laughed, long and loud, a joyful and open sound. "Yer not gonna find any o' them kickin' around, lady -- the Emperor's long gone!" The impossibility of that statement rang in her head, a mixture of disbelief and hope mixing themselves together and contesting for her belief, but Centarumon's follow- up shattered that particular struggle. "He got kilt by his own critter, too. Couldn't think of a better way to kill him meself."
Eyes lit up, she asked, "Are you sure?"
"Well, now, not exactly." Centarumon seemed to consider that even as he ran through a set of bushes and through the middle of a village. "That's what they say outta the Capita' but I'ses not always sure, ya know? People say that he made it outta the battle without getting kilt. All I know is, Regent's runnin' the place and all's fine and dandy. Heads up!" Miyako was barely able to react in time, ducking under a low-lying branch. Centarumon had to lower his torso all the way to fit. Running on down the road, Centarumon and Miyako passed a pair of Koromon on the side of the road, tossing what looked like a ball back and forth. They made welcoming sounds as the mounted pair passed them, Miyako waving hesitantly from her perch.
"What does that mean?" Miyako asked him crossly. "You're not making any sense -- and who is this Regent guy, anyway?" Directly ahead of them was a medium-sized stream and she grabbed up higher on the reins, preparing for the jump ahead.
"Tell ya in a moment, marm -- Hold on!" With that Centarumon gathered himself and leaped -- clearing about half of the stream. To Miyako, it seemed as if they were suspended above the glittering stream for a moment. Then, with an exultant cry from Centarumon and a more panicked one from Miyako, rider and mount plunged right into the middle of the stream, spray going in all directions. Even then Centarumon didn't slow down, plowing right through the chest-deep water and out the other side of the stream. Miyako spit out a mouthful of water. "Sorry, marm, couldn't help meself. Gettin' a wee bit warm up here, see."
She shook her hair, grabbing some of it to wring out. "You better be sorry, Centarumon! This is all new stuff!"
He laughed again. "Well ain't you as joyless as they come? It's a great day -- have some fun wit' it!" He broke from a gallop into a trot once they reached the top of the current hill they were on, one steeper than the others with nary a tree to speak of. "It don't matter anyway -- we made it, see?"
She glanced up from her hair, intending on letting him know just how much it did matter, and stopped dead at the sight laid out before her. Down the hill from her was a vast stretch of plains that led back to the sea... but that wasn't what was important. For before her, open on all sides except for its harbor, was an enormous city. It was laid out more or less in a circular manner with several large buildings at the center of it. From here she could hear the murmur of the Digimon citizens as they went about their day; from here she could pick up on the scents as open-air cooks tossed and fried and broiled and baked; from here she could see the simple design of most of the buildings, small and circular, looking all the world like larger versions of huts. From here she could see the enormous open stadium on the left side of the city, filled with cheering Digimon as some sport was played on its grassy field. She could see clear down to the harbor on the far side of the city, with a series of Seadramon and Zudomon with rigged sitting places on their backs streaming in and out of the place. She could see a tall tower on the near side, with no entrance save for the wooden top where she could see several Biyomon and a Birdramon resting. Above all, she could see the squat building in the middle, marked with a single image: that of a single rose head, just coming out of its bud.
All that she took in a single long stare, mouth still opened. Then she took a second look and saw what she had missed the first time -- there were Gotsumon and Meramon and Kunemon and Agumon and Floramon and more that she couldn't even count on the ground; there were Birdramon and Airdramon and Kuwagamon and even a horned red-white hawk Digimon she didn't recognise; there were Seadramon and Zudomon and Scorpiomon and even an enormous MetalSeadramon in the ocean -- this place was swarming with Digimon. Not only that, but they all seemed to be getting along, too.
Centarumon had stopped at the top of the hill; now, he turned his torso around so that he could see Miyako. "Well? Whaddya think? Ya like our Capital?"
"It's incredible," she said shakily. "I never imagined..."
It was about then that things began to stop going according to plan. In the air at that moment, the horned head of Aquilamon had been searching to and fro across the city he was protecting. His support patrol of three Birdramon were doing much the same. Aquilamon hadn't expected much more than usual, and even that was proved to be a disappointment; he was on the verge of heading back to the Aviary when he chanced to glance at the west road and saw Centarumon. Now that wasn't all that unusual -- in fact, judging by his markings, this particular Centarumon lived in the area -- but it was the rider on the back that caught Aquilamon's eagle's eye. This one was roughly humanoid, lavender haired, and still, after six long years, very familiar. He made a decision.
With an earsplitting cry the horned hawk dived down towards his long-lost partner.
Miyako had very little time to react -- none, in fact. Centarumon was tossed to the side as the giant hawk snatched her up, yelling in surprise and fear, into his claws as easily as any fish he'd ever caught. He landed quickly, using one claw to soften his impact while dropping her onto the ground -- then snatching up the very surprised Miyako again into his wings, giving her a massive bird-sized hug. "Miyako! You've finally come back! How I've missed you..." the giant trailed off, then sobbed. "But you're back now!"
Miyako struggled to pull away from the bird and succeed in doing so. "What are you?" she yelled at him.
"Oh!" he said back, realizing. "You've never seen me like this before." Setting her down, he stepped back a few feet and began to glow. Miyako flinched, remembering suddenly what happened the last time a Digimon had glowed like that -- but instead of getting bigger, he instead shrank, condensing down to a small red-white hawk with a pair of red lines on his cheeks and a very familiar looking headband, tied in the front, with an equally-familiar feather in the back. The little guy then proceeded to spread his wings, turned his bright eyes on Miyako, and said, "Do you remember me now?"
Miyako's heart leaped well past her throat to some point inside her brain. She sat down hard, feeling only the thumping inside, staring at someone who was supposed to be dead, had died right in front of her. "Of course I remember you, Hawkmon..." she managed to choke out, then he was running and she picked him up, collapsing back onto the grass and crying into his white crown feathers, opening the valve on six years worth of pent-up loss and sadness.
****
Ken shook his head, examining his D-3's tiny screen again. The morning had long since risen and Ken and Chardsy with it. Chardsy had gone off to try again and fix his car for the trip later that night. Ken, in the absence of anything to do to help out, had to find some way to spend his time, and using his D-3 to call home was better than nothing. "What do you mean?"
"We're not entirely sure, Regent," Biyomon said quietly, her feathers extended slightly. She had been in the camera for the better part of the morning, reading off what had been happening in the Digital World over the last few days. "As far as Datamon's been able to tell, your D-3 / Crest method for bulling through the Seals left some kind of pathway or residue behind. Datamon says that it's collapsing in on itself and disappearing, but until then..."
Ken finished for her. "Until then, we could have visitors that we'd know nothing about. Okay, then, just keep yourselves on alert and be ready to respond if something goes wrong." A massive clang resounded from below followed by Chardsy's ensuing exclamation and Ken winced a bit in sympathy.
"Sure." Biyomon rustled through the other stacks of documents, finally pulling one out for closer inspection. "Um, the Keeper says that he's got something that came up but he absolutely can't relate it through any of us, can you call him at home when you get the chance, sooner rather than later?"
Ken resisted the urge to roll his eyes. An old friend and ally the Keeper might have been but it was Ken's opinion that he had a penchant for overreacting to pretty much everything that came up. "Tell him I'll be able to call him after this particular chunk of research is done." He carefully picked up the device that Datamon had sent through the D-3 the night before, and put it into a large pocket. "It won't take more than a day, anyway, and I'm pretty sure the Keeper can hold on for that long."
Biyomon tapped a few keys on her console. "Got it."
"Anything else that I need to know?" Ken asked, listening for the sound of Chardsy working on the car. It wasn't forthcoming.
"Well..." Biyomon trailed off, looking a mite too casual for Ken's liking.
"Yes?" Ken prompted.
"Agumon's kinda promised Palmon that he'd take her to the semifinals..."
Ken raised an eyebrow. "Since when did Palmon begin to care about soccer?"
"I think it was when the Dramons began their winning streak, but I'm not really sure," Biyomon said innocently. "Anyway, he's been wanting tonight off to, you know, take her on out to the game."
Ken's other eyebrow went up. "Oh really?" He made a show of thinking it over, watching Biyomon's pink feathers slowly turn red, and finally came to a 'decision'. "I don't see the harm. Fine then. Call in Piedmon and have him keep an eye on things, but make sure he's clear on the extent of his authority. Who's playing tonight?"
Biyomon's odd redness was replaced almost immediately with a very happy look, and she set to tapping keys with a flourish. "Great! Uh, I think it's the East Server Floras against the... uh... Infinity Crags."
Ken smirked. "Kiss the Floras good-bye. Their playoff run's just run out of steam. There's no way that the Floras can take Leomon's Crags."
Biyomon looked completely befuddled. "Uh, okay, if you say so. Anyway, I'll tell Palmon the good news! Thanks, Regent!"
"I thought you said that Agumon requested the night off," he remarked offhandedly. "Why don't you put him on and let me talk to him?" Biyomon's face suddenly turned red again and her beak opened slightly as the weight of what she had given away suddenly crashed down on her. Ken let her stay there like that for a moment, then said, "On second thought, I really don't need to talk to Agumon. Tell him to have a good night out, and can you put Stingmon on?"
Biyomon's face turned sour. "Ken... you... you didn't need to do that!" she huffed, and called Stingmon over out of the background. As Stingmon approached Chardsy reappeared at his door, hands painted black by oil.
"Hey, Ken? We don't gotta ride for tonight -- the car just dropped the goddamned transmission." He looked disgusted with himself. "I'd get it fixed but I can't just pull a new trannie outta thin air, man. Got any ideas?" He sat down on a nearby chair.
"Blast," Ken said, shaking his head. As he did he happened to glance at that Gardening Sincerity cutout, and something about the girl on it tugged at him again... He leaned back, thinking hard. "I think I can make something work," he said distantly. He had an idea, all right; he'd been nursing it ever since Chardsy had been outside. He knew that they'd be more than willing to help him, it was just the matter of finding them in time... "Tell you what -- you go get cleaned up and ready and I'll handle getting us a ride."
Chardsy's expression told Ken what he thought of that idea. "Dude, what the hell are you gonna do about getting a car? You don't know jack about it."
"I'm not getting a car," Ken said evenly. "I'm getting a ride, and a better one than a car." Chardsy shook his head and went into the back, and soon enough Ken heard the sound of running water.
"Regent?" a tinny voice sounded. Ken looked down and finally noticed that Stingmon had made it to the camera station, and had been there for a moment. "Are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here," Ken responded sheepishly. "How long have you been there?"
"Oh, just a few seconds. Don't worry about it. What do you need?" Stingmon gave a close approximation of a shrug as he talked, rolling his shoulders up so much that the studded shoulder pads he wore actually moved somewhat.
"I need for you to contact a few individuals for me."
A few minutes later Chardsy emerged from the shower, relaxed again off of the hot water. It was always his biggest soothing moment but he absolutely refused to take it for granted, reveling in every minute of heat upon his tired body, relaxing his nerves. Toweling off, he tossed his new change back on -- something he had picked out long ago for the concert -- and walked out into his living room nervously. He'd left that Ken guy out there to do whatever it was he was going to do and damn but that made Chardsy nervous. Ruler or whatever of the Digital World and all that aside, there was something not quite right about his new houseguest. But even those suspicions hadn't prepared Chardsy for what awaited him when he came out; Ken was there, all right, but...
But Ken had invited friends. Sitting against his couch, yapping happily with the indigo-haired ruler dude, was a little blue lizard-dragon thing. It had a tail, and a horn, and odd markings on its forehead and talked with a slight lisp. On the other side of Ken was a furry animal of some sort, with long ears and a striped blue back. A single large horn protruded from its forehead. Rather than interrupt the conversation this little guy was quite content to sit back and watch Ken and the blue dude go at it. Chardsy didn't react all that well to his sudden new arrivals, and stumbled back into the nearby couch, mouth opened but without sound, staring wide-eyed at the exotic creatures that suddenly appeared inside his formerly predictable living room.
He tried to find the words to respond but nothing came out, his mouth moving up and down without success. Ken watched him silently with an air of trepidition; after a moment, Chardsy got himself together and was able to stammer out, "Wha... what the hell are they?"
The little blue guy took it upon himself to answer. "Hi!" it said back. "I'm Veemon, that'sh Gabumon, and we're Digimon!" Chardsy's eyes bugged out of his head again and he drew further into the couch.
"Try to think of them as little people," Ken said. "Maybe it'll help." Chardsy looked at Gabumon, who had leaned forwards and used one long leg to scratch behind his ear, and his eyes calmed down somewhat. He glanced down at Veemon, who was balancing on his forehead, and his eyes came right back out. Ken shook his head despairingly.
"Whoa, dude..." he managed, then glanced over at Gabumon again, who nodded respectfully. "Damn..." Veemon, flipping right back over, stuck out his left hand and Chardsy, being rather stunned, found himself putting his hand into Veemon's automatically. Veemon enthusiastically pumped it up and down and released Chardsy's hand. Chardsy looked down at his hand, where Veemon's little one had held onto it, and looked at Veemon again.
"They're really real, ain't they?" he said. "I... I never really thought..." He trailed off again, with Veemon looking up expectantly at him. Tentatively, Chardsy reached a hand down and patted the little guy on the head. Veemon looked up at him, head to the side.
"They're going to give us a ride," Ken supplied helpfully, standing up. "Come on -- they need to get outside."
Too stunned to respond back, Chardsy just opened the door for them, watching Veemon scurry out and Gabumon walk calmly out behind him. Ken followed the two of them. It was about then that Chardsy's logic came back and in a big way. "Wait a sec -- those little dudes ain't gonna fit either of us on their backs! We'd crush 'em!"
Ken turned, already part of the way down the stairs. "They'll get bigger," he said, and continued down the way. Shaking his head, Chardsy decided to follow them. "When Digimon want to, they can change their shape and abilities in a process that we call digevolving," Ken lectured. "The process is usually pretty bright and they look completely different, so try not to react too much. How far away is the concert place again?"
"A few hours, by car, figure a coupla hundred miles," Chardsy responded automatically. His eyes were on Gabumon, who had simply slid down the stairway banister, chuckling a bit as Veemon pouted from two stories above him.
"One more thing -- why are you wearing that ridiculous getup?" Chardsy looked down at himself. He'd picked it out a few weeks ago for just this occasion, but had modified it since to serve his needs; it was a starkly green jacket, highlighted lightly in black and collar turned up, over a navy blue undershirt. He wore black jeans with two crossing belts, one of them bearing a massive buckle, and capped at the bottoms with a pair of boots. Adorning the outfit were a pair of navy blue gloves, a large necklace with a head that reached below the jacket's top, and a pair of sunglasses.
Chardsy shrugged. "It works."
"For what?" Ken asked incredulously.
"Don't knock it, dude," Chardsy said warningly. "If you think that this is crazy, you'll go nuts at the concert. Besides, one of us has got to have the color, Mr. Grey."
Ken rolled his eyes. "Right. I'll handle the scanning; you stay out in the open and draw attention."
They reached the ground floor to find Veemon and Gabumon waiting for them. Mentally preparing himself, Ken reached out his D-3 towards Gabumon. Chardsy watched mutely as a deeply black light tinged with blue hightlights spilled out of the tiny device, enveloping the relaxed Gabumon and drawing from him a bright white glow. The glow expanded and Gabumon vanished into its brightness, reemerging again when the glow grew diffuse as a giant wolf with a blue-striped white coat and enormous claws. It reared up onto its hind legs and bellowed, "Gabumon, digevolve to... Garurumon!"
Chardsy looked in awe at the newly emerged wolf. He approached it carefully, keeping to one side, and when it became clear that it wasn't going to attack him he stuck out his arm and touched Garurumon's fur on the left side. Garurumon leaned his head over to Chardsy. "Hey, kid," the wolf snarled out. "Would ya mind scratching behind my left ear? Can't quite reach it." Struck with a huge grin Chardsy walked the step forward and rubbed behind Garurumon's ear, which had the wolf grunt a bit. "Thanks, kid, that's been bothering me for a while now."
Chardsy laughed right out loud -- he couldn't help himself -- and turned to Ken. "Damn, man, this is crazy --" It was about then that he noticed Ken's state; on the ground, gasping for breath, D-3 no longer glowing. There was sweat on his forehead. Chardsy reacted immediately; he ran on over and hoisted Ken back to his feet. "You all right, dude? You don't look too good."
Panting now, Ken managed to remain on his feet when Chardsy released him. "I'm okay," he managed to bite out. "Just... not used to trying to force a Digevolution here in the Real World." He straightened up. "It took more out of me than I thought."
Chardsy raised an eyebrow. "How you gonna make the other guy do that when you can barely do this one without fallin' over?" he asked, indicating the impatient Veemon.
Ken put his D-3 away. "Simple," he answered. "He'll do it for me." With that, Ken reached into a pocket and pulled out what looked like a rounded steel box, bright blue with silver highlights. Holding it by a protrusion on the top shaped like a thunderbolt, Ken dropped it onto the ground in front of Veemon. Veemon's eyes shot open as his expression went from confused to solidly understanding.
"Ya shure, Regent?" he asked eagerly. Ken nodded. "That'sh great! I never thoughth I'd get the chancthe to do that again, not after..." Suddenly Veemon ran out of words, and to Chardsy it seemed as if the happy-go-lucky Digimon somehow gained five years in a second; he leaned over, shoulders slumped, with a brutally sad expression in his eyes. Ken leaned down, gently rubbed the little guy's shoulder once. That seemed to placate Veemon somewhat. During that Chardsy and Garurumon looked on, one mystified and the other quietly dignified, allowing his comrade the space he needed.
"I can do thish, Regent," Veemon pronounced after a moment.
"Thanks, Veemon," Ken said quietly. Then, louder, "Step back, everyone! Give him some room!" The three of them walked back a few yards. Meanwhile Veemon picked up the device and held it in both hands, looking it over with that deeply troubled expression back on his face.
"When did you grab that, Regent?" Garurumon whispered to Ken.
"One of the Keeper's acolytes sent it to me when I pulled you two through." he replied absently, watching Veemon. "Funny thing, though; she wanted me to stay on the line for something. Has anything untoward happened over the last few days?"
"It's been quiet as it ever gets," Garurumon replied.
"What's he doin'? What is that thing?" Chardsy asked, gazing intently at Veemon.
"It's called a Digimental, and it'll all be plain in a few seconds," Ken responded.
In the meantime, Veemon seemed to come to some kind of decision; he lifted the device over his head, bellowed at the top of his lungs, and the Digimental exploded into a showering of blue lightning that played over everything around him. Garurumon lowered his head and closed his eyes to block out the brightness; Ken held up his left hand, squinting to see, but failing he pulled his head to the side. Chardsy flipped down his sunglasses and didn't twitch. Veemon's form began to glow, but not like Garurumon's had; rather, it was a diffuse glow laced by electrical discharges. His form was rent asunder, dashed into particles, by one almightly thunder blast coming from the Digimental, but the cloud that had been Veemon remained in the air as the device shot into where Veemon's body had been, and all of the lightning and particles came together and flashed once --
And suddenly there before the others was a much larger blue lizard than Veemon had been, sinewy and long. This creature stood on two legs and was roughly reminiscent of a wolf; but no normal wolf had ever had blue-black armor wrapped around its head, body, and legs, leaving gaps for forelegs and its tail. No wolf ever possessed a horn like this one, either; paper- thin and razor sharp, in the shape of a thunderbolt. The newly unveiled creature reared up on its hind legs and slammed into the ground, releasing an electrical discharge. It bellowed in the rough, thundering voice of the storm, "Veemon armor digevolve to... Raidramon!"
Garurumon raised his head, Ken turned back to look, and Chardsy raised his sunglasses again revealing another shocked expression. Raidramon shook his head and yelled out, "That felt great! Man, I need to do that more often!"
Ken walked forwards. "May I present Raidramon and Garurumon. They're our rides." Raidramon tilted his head to the side while Garurumon's face was split by a feral grin. "Which one do you want?" he asked, and Chardsy swallowed.
****
Two hours later, from the back of Garurumon, Chardsy held on for dear life as he directed the wolf forwards. "Take this right! No, the other one!"
"Alright, we'll take the other one!" Garurumon snapped, and leaped in the opposite direction that he'd been going. Chardsy wasn't quite used to a ride that could change direction on a dime and yelled out at Garurumon did so, clinging onto Garurumon's neck fur for dear life.
Behind them, Ken smirked a bit. He'd had long experience in catching a ride off of Digimon before he was the Regent and so this wasn't too unusual. It was a little different from flying Digimon, though, as he kept quite the firm grip on Raidramon. The four of them were currently running down the grasslands beside a packed highway, and by all accounts they were scaring the passing motorists silly. That might have been from how easily the two Digimon could outrun the cars, though. Raidramon leapt into the air to follow Garurumon and Chardsy's dubious directions -- further clouded by how dark it was getting -- and Ken held himself in place almost effortlessly, just changing his balance for a second.
Ken's Spore suddenly picked up something... foreboding in the distance. Frowning a bit, he got a better grip on Raidramon and thought, 'What's up ahead?'
The Spore extended tendrils of dark energy from itself, trying to tell. As far as Ken could tell the little guy was running on almost full power from his brief encounter with the VandeNet a few days ago. Eventually the Spore came back with an answer. 'There's lotsa and lotsa people ahead, Regent!' it sent. 'Lotsa them!'
"Hey, Ken," Chardsy yelled over. Ken looked up; he suddenly realized that they had stopped moving and Raidramon was pawing the ground in front of him impatiently. "You still with us?"
"Yeah," he said, shaking his head. "What?"
"We're here," Raidramon called out. Ken looked up and, down the steep hill they were standing on, saw the stadium. It was enormous in terms of sheer size; it was completely enclosed with a bulbous roof, with cars completely filling its vast lot, and people streaming into it from every entrance and filling even the parking lot with a mass of moving heads. The floodlights mounted on the top of the stadium, twenty-four of them, pierced the darkness above them with shafts of green light while forty other lights cut their path to light up the area around the stadium. Above their heads, the winds whipped as a trio of helicoptors flew overhead, their marker lights pulsing, moving towards the stadium.
"Wow," Ken whistled. "It's bigger than I thought."
"Good turnout for Gardening," Chardsy said thougthfully. "I hear that they're releasing a few new songs tonight."
"Won't have any problems getting that research stuff done," Chardsy said, and reaching into a jacket pocket he produced two tickets. "Here we go, man. Got all the stuff we need." Ken pocketed one of them while Chardsy replaced the other one. He then jumped off of Garurumon and patted him on the side. "You take it easy for a while -- " Garurumon cut him off by growling softly. Not a nice growl, either; this one was full of suspicion.
"Are you okay?" Raidramon asked. Ken, at his side, looked on concerned.
Abruptly, Garurumon lifted his head to the sky and took in a deep breath through his nose. The others looked on as he did so three more times, then he seemed to relent. "I thought that I smelled someone familiar," he snarled out, "but I was mistaken." With that, he glowed slightly and shrank back down to the horned, striped Gabumon. "Time to go home," the little guy said.
Raidramon crackled with released power as he, too, shed his larger form, becoming Veemon again with the Digimental sitting next to him. "Yeah," he lisped. "Beshides, it'sh too dark here anyway." Ken lifted his D-3 and flicked it on; the tiny screen glowed bright white and the two Digimon collapsed into particles, flying into the D-3's screen and disappearing. The glow inside the D-3 immediately faded after that.
Chardsy shook his head. "Well, here we are," he said, waving at the vast stadium. "What now?"
"We go," Ken said, and motioned downwards.
"Good." They both started downhill, Chardsy in the lead. "Officially we've got real good seats, in the forward section. That means that we can get in a bit early, get relaxed a bit before the show begins." Ken let him babble onward about his favorite subject as he carefully picked his way down to the parking lot. "And that's cool because sometimes Tachikawa gets out there early to warm up on stage for the sound techs. That's just the greatest -- Hey, what's up, man?"
Ken had stopped, his face dropping a few shades, a moment ago. "Did you say Tachikawa?" he asked quickly. Chardsy nodded enthusiastically... and for Ken, all of the pieces that were so carefully gathered as differing components in his mind slammed together. The name of the band, the last name just given to him, and the red-haired girl in the cutout -- if she was a bit younger, and her hair was pink instead of red -- it all added up to a person he'd contended with in his earlier days, back when he was busily terrorizing the Digital World, and it was about to make things a whole lot more complicated.
Mimi Tachikawa.
****
****
Road Trip
****
Tired. That's what Jyou Kido would call it; he was tired. It wasn't just the long day at work, although that was a factor. He'd been at work patching up people injured in the escapee rush from that morning. The worst case was an unfortunate secretary who'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time; she'd ended up with a cracked rib. Nothing beyond his capacity, to be sure, but there were enough cases to keep him busy until well into the afternoon.
He leaned back in his chair, savoring a moment of peace in the busy day, and relaxed his lean frame. His blue hair hung limply; he'd intended to do something with it but when Miyako sent him the e-mail that morning he'd forgotton all about the simple things in his life and immediately gravitated on what she'd asked him to do. Lying to the President wasn't a difficult thing for even Jyou Kido but this request boded ill for the rest of the world. Save them all being killed, Jyou couldn't imagine a worse scenario for the insurrection that Miyako led. Even for one with resourceful people like Iori and Hikari and Takeru in it. He was glad that they had managed to escape -- the people on the scene insisted that they had all made it out -- but he was pretty sure that this rebellion was over for now.
It was one his own friends had managed to stifle.
Jyou's mind wandered down well-traveled roads. His old friends had all found their way here, to the Odaiba Group. He'd been watching from the sidelines, always available for a chat and coffee, as his former partners in defending the Digital World from anything that could threaten it lost the battles against themselves. Taichi had been the hardest to watch because of how slow it had been; the enthusiastic Yagami had, slowly, simply changed for the worse. There hadn't been any major point that Jyou could point to and blame. Koushiro had been the second hardest to watch because of how fast it was. Almost overnight, he'd changed from the intelligent and witty person he'd been to... to what they all were, now.
They'd become shadows of their former selves, all of them. Jyou's mouth turned down in a frown -- a usual expression, these days -- and he shook his head as he thought over what they were, these days. After their adventures in the Digital World, Yamato had become something of a people person, but now that was almost surpressed down to nothing; it took a mighty force of will that made him look a person in the eyes, let alone talk to them about anything other than business. Sora, on the other hand, had been a caring and compassionate -- maybe even loving -- person back when he'd been a miser in the Digital World. These days she'd be able to shoot her own best friend and not bat an eye. Somewhere along the line she'd lost whatever it was that drove her to care about people. And Jyou hadn't seen Mimi for years. She was the only one that didn't work at the Odaiba Group.
As for himself, well, he watched over them all and cursed his helplessness to do something. Sure, he'd patched them up and tried to keep them on the straight and narrow, but they didn't exactly make his job any easier. The whole reason he'd joined the Odaiba Group as a medical expert and supervisor was to keep an eye on the old gang. He'd failed, and miserably at that. He couldn't even save them from themselves. Not only that, but he also had a gut feeling that the President had some design for them as well.
Almost involuntarily his left hand flexed itself into a fist and clenched itself. The President had conducted Jyou's interview himself. He'd even invited two of his Assistants along for the questioning. The two of them -- one slim woman in a dark red dress, the other a giant man in a solid blue Armani suit -- had unsettled him enough with a set of intent and unnerving stares, but it was the President who had made Jyou nervous. The President, innocuous in a normal business suit, had directed the questioning with a efficiency that would have impressed professional interviewers but something about him had set Jyou on edge.
He'd been holding something back.
Jyou didn't have a whole lot in the way of empathic skills but he'd had to deal with all of his old gang lying to him back in the Digital World and had learned to sense when something was going unsaid. The President had, in his relaxed stance and carefully modulated tones and businesslike gaze, set off a quiet alarm in the back of Jyou's mind. Jyou believed that idea even more when he was hired in less than a day. That was almost unheard of and it spoke of either desperation or calculation, and the Odaiba Group couldn't have had a shortage of doctors. It was true, though, that Jyou had been quite busy, so that even a herd of refugees barely rated a mild blip on his scale.
Much of his work now was paper-pushing and talking to frazzled employees; actually being a doctor was a tad unusual, but the pressure more than made up for that. He had never had to fire an employee and for that he was thankful. The job was beginning to chip away at him, though. Jyou let his legs relax and he snapped back into a ready position. His nights had been getting worse. He didn't sleep much anymore at night and what sleep he got was fitful and restless. Clinically, he knew exactly what the problem was. His fellow doctors would refer to it as stress.
His eyes, ever at attention behind their eyelids, narrowed somewhat. That was exactly the problem. Between watching the first generation Chosen, taking care of a normal administration job, and trying to help out Miyako's little revolution, he'd been carrying too many burdens these days. Blackly, he knew that he epitomized his crest, Reliability. Sometimes he cursed his fate for being the one with the long-suffering crest. He was weary beyond measure, very much alone, and growing more angry at fate for turning things out the way it did, where he had to work for a bloodsucking corporation that rather than devour people's money and leave it at that had decided to take all of their energy, too, just for kicks.
He was tired!
Yelling unintelligibly, he swept his hand across his ever-covered desk, sending all of the crap on it to the ground with a mismatched crash. He heard the tinkle of glass and, bending over, scooped up the group picture of the Chosen from the ground. Shaking hands holding the frame steady, he glared at the cheerful photo. Everyone was so happy in the picture, but that, along with everything he had fought for, was in the past, wasn't it? He dropped the picture onto the desk, making a resounding crash in his own mind, and strode out of the office.
A secretary outside glanced up, startled at the loud crash of Jyou Kido slamming his door open, a tired and resentful expression on his face. "Mr. Kido?" he asked uncertainly.
"Hold my calls," Jyou snarled, and walked over to the elevator shaft in the corner. Jyou's offices and the medical quarters, inexplicably, were on the sixty-ninth floor. He didn't understand why when it was designed and now, more than four years later, he still didn't get it. The elevator button was the unfortunate victim of a smashing blow as Jyou demanded the car's undivided attention. When it arrived less than five seconds later he jumped on board and delivered a strong blow to the UP button. Obligingly the elevator ascended and less than ten seconds later Jyou Kido entered the office of the President of the Odaiba Group.
The President was leaning up alongside his desk, chatting amicably into a phone as Jyou entered. The office was otherwise abandoned. "Yeah, I definitely need those tickets for tonight Keep in mind that I also require a backstage pass... Of course she'll approve. I fund these concerts, remember?" It was about then that the President noticed Jyou had entered. He held up a finger; against his more savage feelings Jyou complied with the President's unspoken request, waiting at the elevator shaft. "No, I don't want to say anything... Exactly. Appreciation, indeed... Great. How about, say, half an hour?.... Good." The President set the phone down. Walking over to Jyou he extended a hand, one that Jyou took with a bit of reluctance. "What can I do for you, Mr. Kido?"
Withdrawing his hand, Jyou answered, "Well, sir, right now I've decided that I need a vacation of some sort." That admission came out with an enormous sense of relief behind it. The President cocked his head to the side, surprised.
"You don't have to ask me for that," he said. "You can always go to your vice president and get your time scheduled."
"I decided that coming directly to you would be easier," Jyou lied smoothly. In all fairness, he hadn't even considered going anywhere else. "It'd help avoid the red tape."
The President nodded. "I know exactly what you mean, Kido," he said, and sat down behind his chair. He punched a few numbers into his keyboard while motioning to one of the chairs before him. Jyou sat down. The President reviewed the information on the screen; presently, he drew back surprised. "Mr. Kido, you have violated company policy. It reads here that you've logged almost four months in unused vacation time." He raised an eyebrow. "You know I don't stand for people burning themselves out. I give my employees almost a month in vacation time a year. Why haven't you taken one before?"
"I couldn't abandon my responsibilities," Jyou answered truthfully.
"Indeed," the President replied thoughtfully, raising an eyebrow. "I can... understand that sentiment, especially coming from you, Mr. Kido." Confused, Jyou didn't respond. "Well, considering your immaculate service record, your careful and accurate work, and your obvious need for one, I don't see how I can refuse."
Jyou's eyes widened somewhat and he leaned out of his seat. "Just like that?"
"Just like that," the President nodded gravely. "It doesn't take much, you know. Take a month and hit the beaches over in Hawaii or climb a mountain somewhere. Just try to not think about anything happening here." He pressed a button on his console. "There's another nine hundred employees here. They can handle any kind of problem that we have."
Jyou sat down again, hard. "I guess so," he said slowly. The elevator beeped its arrival and one of the President's Assistants stepped out of the car; it was the woman. She walked over to the desk and to Jyou.
The President motioned to her. "She'll take care of what little bureaucracy you'll have to deal with before you can go, such as pay and logging someone to fill your time out." Jyou stood up shakily. He was still trying to grasp what had just happened. "You don't have to be responsible all of the time, Kido, that's what the rest of us are here for," the President said, chuckling. "Now get out of here and go have fun." Shaking his head slightly, Jyou walked towards the elevator with the Assistant at his shoulder.
He waited a five-count before glancing down at the shortest of his Assistants. "I take it you have something to say?"
"Of course," Gatomon replied, licking one paw. "I thought that we were collecting Chosen, not letting them roam freely."
"We are, after a sort," the President replied.
"Jyou Kido's the best model for the Reliability crest that you'll find. He's far better than Iori Hida at that sort of thing," Gatomon fired back, rubbing one ear.
"Precisely," the President replied smugly, sitting down again. "I see you still haven't figured it out." It was something of a game between the two of them. Gatomon would try and figure out exactly what the President was up to, and if she ever guessed the gist of it he'd give her the entire story behind himself. Being a cat, she couldn't resist that sort of thing. She'd been working on the puzzle for almost four years now. Inwardly, the President smirked. He knew that her own blindspots would keep her from guessing, and judging by the mystified look on Gatomon's face, he was right.
"Okay..." she said, trying to process what it meant. "At any rate, you're out a Reliability chosen for a month or so. When Jyou puts his mind to something, he doesn't stop until it's very finished."
"I'd guessed as much," he said dryly. "You'd better get ready to set up shop here again. Your reactions allowed us to capture most of the second team of Chosen; now, you'll be doing something much more menial."
"Only the company?" Gatomon said indignantly. Only her eyes gave away her amused demeanor.
"I'd give you more if I had it," he responded. "Since you disposed of Miyako I'm going to have to recruit the other Sincerity representative."
"How long?" she asked, curling her tail around her midsection and uncurling it.
"Not very," he answered. "No more than two days, depending on aerial traffic. I can't predict that."
"Hmm..." Gatomon murmered, then grinned and shot back, "Don't be late, or I'll have to start the treatments on our newest arrivals."
Both of the President's eyebrows went up. "Gatomon, please. There's no need to take such pleasure in that. Besides, you're not starting without me to oversee the process. All you have to do is make sure that they don't escape." He stood and strode out towards the one door in the place, a sliding glass pane that lead to a staircase to the building's roof. "Keep the peace here and you may be able to assist me with my project," the President said and walked outside, climbing the stairs to his personal helicoptor.
Briefly he paused underneath the swirling rotors, the wind rippling his jacket and hair, thinking of Gatomon. "You've certainly come a long way, haven't you?" he murmured to himself, and boarded the helicoptor.
****
Again, Miyako woke up in that strange place.
Putting on her glasses, she looked around the room. Seeing nobody there, she got up and stretched. She hadn't slept too well, of course, but that was to be expected once she found out that she was back in the Digital World. It forced memories, both good and bad, to surface from well-buried chambers in her mind. This night's particular dream was of the time when she had charged directly at the Emperor's base, rather than wait for the others; in her mind's version things went south pretty fast and it ended with Milleniumon with a foot raised, coming down on top of her... She surpressed a shudder and examined herself quickly. The robe was still on and she took a moment to examine the sigils placed on it; one a stylized heart, the other a pair of circles inside a teardrop. The moment passed and Miyako, finding the door unlocked, stole out quietly into the hall.
The place wasn't much more to look at on the outside. It was all stonework and cavern, with the occasional wooden door. Again, there was nobody out in the hall, and Miyako had a vague feeling of uncertainty; she knew that there had been several people with her yesterday as well as the Keeper guy. Rubbing the place where her shoulder should have been bleeding she kept going down the hall, keeping to the side, and hit a large open area with, of all things, a lake in the middle. An enormous hole was carved into the ceiling and Miyako could see the faintest hint of stars shining down from up there, into the cavern she was in. The area was lit with some kind of moss growing from the walls that could glow; phosphorence, her mind reminded her. Over near one such patch of moss was the person she had seen earlier -- the Keeper. He was staring up at the stars and there was one of the others at his side.
Miyako approached the couple warily. The Keeper's hood had been down but, upon seeing her, he hurriedly threw it back over his head. She hadn't gotten a good look at him before he got it up. His companion, however, hadn't had her hood up and made no effort to cover her head; she had snow- white skin and purple-streaked white hair with pointed ears and, curiously, a single purple dot in the middle of her forehead. She turned as Miyako approached and said, "Feeling any better?" in a voice like a wind chime -- all high pitches without a trace of alto in her sound.
"Somewhat," Miyako said carefully. "What do you want from me?"
The Keeper turned to her and said, "Not much. You pretty much fell on top of us so we're not quite sure what do to." He shrugged. "I figured that you'd want to see the Digital World again so I sent for an Airdramon from the Capital. It'll be here soon."
Miyako's eye twitched. Airdramon were serpentile, creepy-looking flyers that the Emperor had always employed to move around; and if this Keeper guy got one from some place named Capital... "I'm sure the Emperor's quite pleased with you," she bit out sarcastically.
The girl next to her glanced up sharply, but the Keeper waved what she was going to say down. "You won't be seeing the Emperor," he replied evenly. "You might say that he's out of town."
Miyako rolled her eyes at the two of them. "Right. So when's my ride get here?"
"Not until you get changed," the girl said, looking at the robe critically. "You'll need to wear something else when you ride an Airdramon." Beside her, the Keeper nodded silently. "You'll find a change of clothes into the outfit you used to wear in the room you were in, along with what your age requires. They're all sized for you."
"Fantastic," Miyako said blandly, and stood up. Without another word she turned and headed back to the room she was in; sure enough, the clothing she was looking for was right where the purple-haired elf thing had said it would be. It took her a minute to struggle out of the robe and into the outfit, but when she was done, she felt a little better for it. She discarded the helmet, though. That would have been a bit too much.
Back outside, she looked around; the Keeper was nowhere to be seen, but that little elf thing was still over where it had been. Miyako walked over to her and said, "Just what are you, anyway?"
"I'm a Migotomon," the girl responded. "We've moved in here to help the Keeper take care of things. The Keeper named me Bishojo a long time ago, and I've stuck with it ever since." She pulled out a vial of some liquid from a pocket in her robe. Extending it to Miyako, she said, "Here. This is extracted Essence of Light and is the most powerful curative in the Digital World. We used it on your shoulder. If you get hurt, put a few drops into the wound and it'll close up. Be careful, though, because you'll have some pretty intense dreams the next time you sleep."
Hesitantly, Miyako took the vial, remembering what it had apparently done to her the night before. "Uh... thanks, I think." A touch of wind caressed the back of her neck and she put a hand there unconsciously.
Bishojo glanced up and motioned. "Your ride's here."
Miyako spun around, nearly dropping the vial, and almost fell over when she saw the Airdramon. She hadn't ever seen one from up close before; the only time she had seen the things was when the Emperor had been flying on one and, quite suddenly, one was almost in her face. It wasn't the most attractive thing either, with a leering snarl permanently pasted on its skull-like visage and no arms or legs -- merely one long torso that stretched into a tail and a pair of huge leathery wings. She managed to keep from screaming, straightened up, and climbed onto its back when it presented itself. Surprisingly there was a human-sized saddle on the back of the creature.
She was barely seated when the Airdramon took to the skies with a low keen and a strong pull upwards. It took them several seconds to get clear of the cavern, but once that was cleared, they were off like a shot, Miyako unable to restrain a startled squawk, grabbing tightly to the reins placed at the saddle. The sky was still quite dark, but it was warmer than she had expected, and the giant Airdramon's head was well-placed for keeping the wind off of her as the two soared away. Quickly the landmass that the Chamber was on fell behind them and Miyako saw that it was on a small island; the two of them flew off over rippling seas.
About an hour later the sun began to break over the horizon. Miyako had been letting her mind wander, not focusing on anything, but her mind solidified when the first hint of daybreak came up over the edge of the sea. It was... beautiful! It painted the already-colorful digital sky in waves of red, yellow, and oranges, dabbing bits of pink on the edge of the rays and deepening to a blinding white in the center. It had been a long time since Miyako had taken the time to watch a sunrise -- since before the malfunctioning ED reactor at home -- and its raw beauty held her spellbound. That is, until the sun itself cleared the edge. It proved to be almost incandescent white and she had to turn her eyes away from it or be blinded. It took her several minutes before her eyes adjusted to how bright the Digital World was getting.
Shaking her head a bit to clear out the last cobwebs, Miyako wondered why it was so bright... that is, until she chanced to look down at the ocean, no more than a hundred feet below her and the Airdramon. She stared in wonder; in all her life she had never been able to see clearer water. It seemed that she could see down, and down, and down deeper than she could even swim. Not only that, but she could see shapes, too -- a school of Betamon were swirling around an enormous Seadramon; further over a pod of Dolphmon were celebrating the sunlight by leaping clear out of the water, flipping end over end. In the far distance, she could see the enormous back of a Whamon surfacing, spouting water out of its blowhole.
She took in a long, cleansing breath at all this. "It's so beautiful..." she whispered to the sky.
Beneath her, the Airdramon rumbled. "As the sun raises in the sky, so do the Digimon raise to meet the new day." It turned slightly, adjusting their course. "Do not the hu-mons also greet the sun?"
Miyako shook her head, still shielding her eyes from the sun's glare. "No, we're usually all too busy for that."
"Shame," the Airdramon grunted. "We're almost to shore." Miyako looked ahead of them for the first time and saw a curling edge of land, extending as far as she could see. "We land at the roadside. You must travel on the ground the rest the way to the Capital. I would carry you but for the no- fly zone surrounding the city at the moment."
"That's alright," she replied, still absorbed in the world. "I think I'd rather walk, anyway."
All too quickly they broke over the land, leaving the joyful seas far behind them. The Airdramon continued a little ways inland, allowing Miyako to see the calm treeline and the sight of a quaint village behind it, its Salamon inhabitants cheerfully moving about their daily chores, one waving up at the passing Airdramon and Miyako. The road came into view after that, a long meandering brown line stretching far into the distance, and there was another surprise next to it; the orange-black frame of a Centarumon stood next to it, hooves pawing the ground impatiently.
"Friend Centarumon," the giant Airdramon growled. "You're early." It settled onto the ground and Miyako slid off carefully, secreting the vial away into a pants pocket.
"I'ses tryin' ter get a quick start," the Centarumon said, and straightened up, presenting himself to Miyako. "Ready to go, Miss Miyako?"
That was about when it slammed down on her; there was no Dark Ring on this Centarumon. Turning, she stared at the neck of Airdramon and noticed the same thing; no Dark Ring. Fighting down a odd feeling of suspicion and embarassment she waved to Airdramon. "Thanks for the ride!" she said quickly and jumped onto the Centarumon's back. Airdramon keened again, lifted into the air, and flew off slowly.
Shaking slightly, she grabbed the odd reins that were again placed onto Centarumon's back and held on tight as the creature took off down the road, running smoothly down a hill and back up the next one. The wind whistled past her face sending her hair flying; she kept one hand on her glasses as Centarumon dipped his head and galloped into a forest. The sun, formerly so bright and cheery, suddenly disappeared as Miyako and Centarumon rode through the darkened forest, bursting out the other side to reveal the sun again.
After a tense few moments Miyako got comfortable with the ride and was able to relax, looking around for signs of the Emperor's old Control Spires. She hadn't seen one thus far into the ride, but in all fairness she hadn't seen much in that period of time. Still, the absence of the giant black obelisks was unsettling to her; it was as if, her heart fluttered hopefully, the Emperor had simply disappeared. She tried as best she could to ignore that idea and kept looking for Spires.
Apparently, the Centarumon noticed her. "What're ya lookin' fer, lady?" He jumped over a fallen log, sending Miyako for a bit of a loop. "I kin find perty much anythin' in these here woods -- they're me home, see?"
Miyako responded absently, "I'm looking for Control Spires."
The Centarumon did something very surprising then -- he laughed, long and loud, a joyful and open sound. "Yer not gonna find any o' them kickin' around, lady -- the Emperor's long gone!" The impossibility of that statement rang in her head, a mixture of disbelief and hope mixing themselves together and contesting for her belief, but Centarumon's follow- up shattered that particular struggle. "He got kilt by his own critter, too. Couldn't think of a better way to kill him meself."
Eyes lit up, she asked, "Are you sure?"
"Well, now, not exactly." Centarumon seemed to consider that even as he ran through a set of bushes and through the middle of a village. "That's what they say outta the Capita' but I'ses not always sure, ya know? People say that he made it outta the battle without getting kilt. All I know is, Regent's runnin' the place and all's fine and dandy. Heads up!" Miyako was barely able to react in time, ducking under a low-lying branch. Centarumon had to lower his torso all the way to fit. Running on down the road, Centarumon and Miyako passed a pair of Koromon on the side of the road, tossing what looked like a ball back and forth. They made welcoming sounds as the mounted pair passed them, Miyako waving hesitantly from her perch.
"What does that mean?" Miyako asked him crossly. "You're not making any sense -- and who is this Regent guy, anyway?" Directly ahead of them was a medium-sized stream and she grabbed up higher on the reins, preparing for the jump ahead.
"Tell ya in a moment, marm -- Hold on!" With that Centarumon gathered himself and leaped -- clearing about half of the stream. To Miyako, it seemed as if they were suspended above the glittering stream for a moment. Then, with an exultant cry from Centarumon and a more panicked one from Miyako, rider and mount plunged right into the middle of the stream, spray going in all directions. Even then Centarumon didn't slow down, plowing right through the chest-deep water and out the other side of the stream. Miyako spit out a mouthful of water. "Sorry, marm, couldn't help meself. Gettin' a wee bit warm up here, see."
She shook her hair, grabbing some of it to wring out. "You better be sorry, Centarumon! This is all new stuff!"
He laughed again. "Well ain't you as joyless as they come? It's a great day -- have some fun wit' it!" He broke from a gallop into a trot once they reached the top of the current hill they were on, one steeper than the others with nary a tree to speak of. "It don't matter anyway -- we made it, see?"
She glanced up from her hair, intending on letting him know just how much it did matter, and stopped dead at the sight laid out before her. Down the hill from her was a vast stretch of plains that led back to the sea... but that wasn't what was important. For before her, open on all sides except for its harbor, was an enormous city. It was laid out more or less in a circular manner with several large buildings at the center of it. From here she could hear the murmur of the Digimon citizens as they went about their day; from here she could pick up on the scents as open-air cooks tossed and fried and broiled and baked; from here she could see the simple design of most of the buildings, small and circular, looking all the world like larger versions of huts. From here she could see the enormous open stadium on the left side of the city, filled with cheering Digimon as some sport was played on its grassy field. She could see clear down to the harbor on the far side of the city, with a series of Seadramon and Zudomon with rigged sitting places on their backs streaming in and out of the place. She could see a tall tower on the near side, with no entrance save for the wooden top where she could see several Biyomon and a Birdramon resting. Above all, she could see the squat building in the middle, marked with a single image: that of a single rose head, just coming out of its bud.
All that she took in a single long stare, mouth still opened. Then she took a second look and saw what she had missed the first time -- there were Gotsumon and Meramon and Kunemon and Agumon and Floramon and more that she couldn't even count on the ground; there were Birdramon and Airdramon and Kuwagamon and even a horned red-white hawk Digimon she didn't recognise; there were Seadramon and Zudomon and Scorpiomon and even an enormous MetalSeadramon in the ocean -- this place was swarming with Digimon. Not only that, but they all seemed to be getting along, too.
Centarumon had stopped at the top of the hill; now, he turned his torso around so that he could see Miyako. "Well? Whaddya think? Ya like our Capital?"
"It's incredible," she said shakily. "I never imagined..."
It was about then that things began to stop going according to plan. In the air at that moment, the horned head of Aquilamon had been searching to and fro across the city he was protecting. His support patrol of three Birdramon were doing much the same. Aquilamon hadn't expected much more than usual, and even that was proved to be a disappointment; he was on the verge of heading back to the Aviary when he chanced to glance at the west road and saw Centarumon. Now that wasn't all that unusual -- in fact, judging by his markings, this particular Centarumon lived in the area -- but it was the rider on the back that caught Aquilamon's eagle's eye. This one was roughly humanoid, lavender haired, and still, after six long years, very familiar. He made a decision.
With an earsplitting cry the horned hawk dived down towards his long-lost partner.
Miyako had very little time to react -- none, in fact. Centarumon was tossed to the side as the giant hawk snatched her up, yelling in surprise and fear, into his claws as easily as any fish he'd ever caught. He landed quickly, using one claw to soften his impact while dropping her onto the ground -- then snatching up the very surprised Miyako again into his wings, giving her a massive bird-sized hug. "Miyako! You've finally come back! How I've missed you..." the giant trailed off, then sobbed. "But you're back now!"
Miyako struggled to pull away from the bird and succeed in doing so. "What are you?" she yelled at him.
"Oh!" he said back, realizing. "You've never seen me like this before." Setting her down, he stepped back a few feet and began to glow. Miyako flinched, remembering suddenly what happened the last time a Digimon had glowed like that -- but instead of getting bigger, he instead shrank, condensing down to a small red-white hawk with a pair of red lines on his cheeks and a very familiar looking headband, tied in the front, with an equally-familiar feather in the back. The little guy then proceeded to spread his wings, turned his bright eyes on Miyako, and said, "Do you remember me now?"
Miyako's heart leaped well past her throat to some point inside her brain. She sat down hard, feeling only the thumping inside, staring at someone who was supposed to be dead, had died right in front of her. "Of course I remember you, Hawkmon..." she managed to choke out, then he was running and she picked him up, collapsing back onto the grass and crying into his white crown feathers, opening the valve on six years worth of pent-up loss and sadness.
****
Ken shook his head, examining his D-3's tiny screen again. The morning had long since risen and Ken and Chardsy with it. Chardsy had gone off to try again and fix his car for the trip later that night. Ken, in the absence of anything to do to help out, had to find some way to spend his time, and using his D-3 to call home was better than nothing. "What do you mean?"
"We're not entirely sure, Regent," Biyomon said quietly, her feathers extended slightly. She had been in the camera for the better part of the morning, reading off what had been happening in the Digital World over the last few days. "As far as Datamon's been able to tell, your D-3 / Crest method for bulling through the Seals left some kind of pathway or residue behind. Datamon says that it's collapsing in on itself and disappearing, but until then..."
Ken finished for her. "Until then, we could have visitors that we'd know nothing about. Okay, then, just keep yourselves on alert and be ready to respond if something goes wrong." A massive clang resounded from below followed by Chardsy's ensuing exclamation and Ken winced a bit in sympathy.
"Sure." Biyomon rustled through the other stacks of documents, finally pulling one out for closer inspection. "Um, the Keeper says that he's got something that came up but he absolutely can't relate it through any of us, can you call him at home when you get the chance, sooner rather than later?"
Ken resisted the urge to roll his eyes. An old friend and ally the Keeper might have been but it was Ken's opinion that he had a penchant for overreacting to pretty much everything that came up. "Tell him I'll be able to call him after this particular chunk of research is done." He carefully picked up the device that Datamon had sent through the D-3 the night before, and put it into a large pocket. "It won't take more than a day, anyway, and I'm pretty sure the Keeper can hold on for that long."
Biyomon tapped a few keys on her console. "Got it."
"Anything else that I need to know?" Ken asked, listening for the sound of Chardsy working on the car. It wasn't forthcoming.
"Well..." Biyomon trailed off, looking a mite too casual for Ken's liking.
"Yes?" Ken prompted.
"Agumon's kinda promised Palmon that he'd take her to the semifinals..."
Ken raised an eyebrow. "Since when did Palmon begin to care about soccer?"
"I think it was when the Dramons began their winning streak, but I'm not really sure," Biyomon said innocently. "Anyway, he's been wanting tonight off to, you know, take her on out to the game."
Ken's other eyebrow went up. "Oh really?" He made a show of thinking it over, watching Biyomon's pink feathers slowly turn red, and finally came to a 'decision'. "I don't see the harm. Fine then. Call in Piedmon and have him keep an eye on things, but make sure he's clear on the extent of his authority. Who's playing tonight?"
Biyomon's odd redness was replaced almost immediately with a very happy look, and she set to tapping keys with a flourish. "Great! Uh, I think it's the East Server Floras against the... uh... Infinity Crags."
Ken smirked. "Kiss the Floras good-bye. Their playoff run's just run out of steam. There's no way that the Floras can take Leomon's Crags."
Biyomon looked completely befuddled. "Uh, okay, if you say so. Anyway, I'll tell Palmon the good news! Thanks, Regent!"
"I thought you said that Agumon requested the night off," he remarked offhandedly. "Why don't you put him on and let me talk to him?" Biyomon's face suddenly turned red again and her beak opened slightly as the weight of what she had given away suddenly crashed down on her. Ken let her stay there like that for a moment, then said, "On second thought, I really don't need to talk to Agumon. Tell him to have a good night out, and can you put Stingmon on?"
Biyomon's face turned sour. "Ken... you... you didn't need to do that!" she huffed, and called Stingmon over out of the background. As Stingmon approached Chardsy reappeared at his door, hands painted black by oil.
"Hey, Ken? We don't gotta ride for tonight -- the car just dropped the goddamned transmission." He looked disgusted with himself. "I'd get it fixed but I can't just pull a new trannie outta thin air, man. Got any ideas?" He sat down on a nearby chair.
"Blast," Ken said, shaking his head. As he did he happened to glance at that Gardening Sincerity cutout, and something about the girl on it tugged at him again... He leaned back, thinking hard. "I think I can make something work," he said distantly. He had an idea, all right; he'd been nursing it ever since Chardsy had been outside. He knew that they'd be more than willing to help him, it was just the matter of finding them in time... "Tell you what -- you go get cleaned up and ready and I'll handle getting us a ride."
Chardsy's expression told Ken what he thought of that idea. "Dude, what the hell are you gonna do about getting a car? You don't know jack about it."
"I'm not getting a car," Ken said evenly. "I'm getting a ride, and a better one than a car." Chardsy shook his head and went into the back, and soon enough Ken heard the sound of running water.
"Regent?" a tinny voice sounded. Ken looked down and finally noticed that Stingmon had made it to the camera station, and had been there for a moment. "Are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here," Ken responded sheepishly. "How long have you been there?"
"Oh, just a few seconds. Don't worry about it. What do you need?" Stingmon gave a close approximation of a shrug as he talked, rolling his shoulders up so much that the studded shoulder pads he wore actually moved somewhat.
"I need for you to contact a few individuals for me."
A few minutes later Chardsy emerged from the shower, relaxed again off of the hot water. It was always his biggest soothing moment but he absolutely refused to take it for granted, reveling in every minute of heat upon his tired body, relaxing his nerves. Toweling off, he tossed his new change back on -- something he had picked out long ago for the concert -- and walked out into his living room nervously. He'd left that Ken guy out there to do whatever it was he was going to do and damn but that made Chardsy nervous. Ruler or whatever of the Digital World and all that aside, there was something not quite right about his new houseguest. But even those suspicions hadn't prepared Chardsy for what awaited him when he came out; Ken was there, all right, but...
But Ken had invited friends. Sitting against his couch, yapping happily with the indigo-haired ruler dude, was a little blue lizard-dragon thing. It had a tail, and a horn, and odd markings on its forehead and talked with a slight lisp. On the other side of Ken was a furry animal of some sort, with long ears and a striped blue back. A single large horn protruded from its forehead. Rather than interrupt the conversation this little guy was quite content to sit back and watch Ken and the blue dude go at it. Chardsy didn't react all that well to his sudden new arrivals, and stumbled back into the nearby couch, mouth opened but without sound, staring wide-eyed at the exotic creatures that suddenly appeared inside his formerly predictable living room.
He tried to find the words to respond but nothing came out, his mouth moving up and down without success. Ken watched him silently with an air of trepidition; after a moment, Chardsy got himself together and was able to stammer out, "Wha... what the hell are they?"
The little blue guy took it upon himself to answer. "Hi!" it said back. "I'm Veemon, that'sh Gabumon, and we're Digimon!" Chardsy's eyes bugged out of his head again and he drew further into the couch.
"Try to think of them as little people," Ken said. "Maybe it'll help." Chardsy looked at Gabumon, who had leaned forwards and used one long leg to scratch behind his ear, and his eyes calmed down somewhat. He glanced down at Veemon, who was balancing on his forehead, and his eyes came right back out. Ken shook his head despairingly.
"Whoa, dude..." he managed, then glanced over at Gabumon again, who nodded respectfully. "Damn..." Veemon, flipping right back over, stuck out his left hand and Chardsy, being rather stunned, found himself putting his hand into Veemon's automatically. Veemon enthusiastically pumped it up and down and released Chardsy's hand. Chardsy looked down at his hand, where Veemon's little one had held onto it, and looked at Veemon again.
"They're really real, ain't they?" he said. "I... I never really thought..." He trailed off again, with Veemon looking up expectantly at him. Tentatively, Chardsy reached a hand down and patted the little guy on the head. Veemon looked up at him, head to the side.
"They're going to give us a ride," Ken supplied helpfully, standing up. "Come on -- they need to get outside."
Too stunned to respond back, Chardsy just opened the door for them, watching Veemon scurry out and Gabumon walk calmly out behind him. Ken followed the two of them. It was about then that Chardsy's logic came back and in a big way. "Wait a sec -- those little dudes ain't gonna fit either of us on their backs! We'd crush 'em!"
Ken turned, already part of the way down the stairs. "They'll get bigger," he said, and continued down the way. Shaking his head, Chardsy decided to follow them. "When Digimon want to, they can change their shape and abilities in a process that we call digevolving," Ken lectured. "The process is usually pretty bright and they look completely different, so try not to react too much. How far away is the concert place again?"
"A few hours, by car, figure a coupla hundred miles," Chardsy responded automatically. His eyes were on Gabumon, who had simply slid down the stairway banister, chuckling a bit as Veemon pouted from two stories above him.
"One more thing -- why are you wearing that ridiculous getup?" Chardsy looked down at himself. He'd picked it out a few weeks ago for just this occasion, but had modified it since to serve his needs; it was a starkly green jacket, highlighted lightly in black and collar turned up, over a navy blue undershirt. He wore black jeans with two crossing belts, one of them bearing a massive buckle, and capped at the bottoms with a pair of boots. Adorning the outfit were a pair of navy blue gloves, a large necklace with a head that reached below the jacket's top, and a pair of sunglasses.
Chardsy shrugged. "It works."
"For what?" Ken asked incredulously.
"Don't knock it, dude," Chardsy said warningly. "If you think that this is crazy, you'll go nuts at the concert. Besides, one of us has got to have the color, Mr. Grey."
Ken rolled his eyes. "Right. I'll handle the scanning; you stay out in the open and draw attention."
They reached the ground floor to find Veemon and Gabumon waiting for them. Mentally preparing himself, Ken reached out his D-3 towards Gabumon. Chardsy watched mutely as a deeply black light tinged with blue hightlights spilled out of the tiny device, enveloping the relaxed Gabumon and drawing from him a bright white glow. The glow expanded and Gabumon vanished into its brightness, reemerging again when the glow grew diffuse as a giant wolf with a blue-striped white coat and enormous claws. It reared up onto its hind legs and bellowed, "Gabumon, digevolve to... Garurumon!"
Chardsy looked in awe at the newly emerged wolf. He approached it carefully, keeping to one side, and when it became clear that it wasn't going to attack him he stuck out his arm and touched Garurumon's fur on the left side. Garurumon leaned his head over to Chardsy. "Hey, kid," the wolf snarled out. "Would ya mind scratching behind my left ear? Can't quite reach it." Struck with a huge grin Chardsy walked the step forward and rubbed behind Garurumon's ear, which had the wolf grunt a bit. "Thanks, kid, that's been bothering me for a while now."
Chardsy laughed right out loud -- he couldn't help himself -- and turned to Ken. "Damn, man, this is crazy --" It was about then that he noticed Ken's state; on the ground, gasping for breath, D-3 no longer glowing. There was sweat on his forehead. Chardsy reacted immediately; he ran on over and hoisted Ken back to his feet. "You all right, dude? You don't look too good."
Panting now, Ken managed to remain on his feet when Chardsy released him. "I'm okay," he managed to bite out. "Just... not used to trying to force a Digevolution here in the Real World." He straightened up. "It took more out of me than I thought."
Chardsy raised an eyebrow. "How you gonna make the other guy do that when you can barely do this one without fallin' over?" he asked, indicating the impatient Veemon.
Ken put his D-3 away. "Simple," he answered. "He'll do it for me." With that, Ken reached into a pocket and pulled out what looked like a rounded steel box, bright blue with silver highlights. Holding it by a protrusion on the top shaped like a thunderbolt, Ken dropped it onto the ground in front of Veemon. Veemon's eyes shot open as his expression went from confused to solidly understanding.
"Ya shure, Regent?" he asked eagerly. Ken nodded. "That'sh great! I never thoughth I'd get the chancthe to do that again, not after..." Suddenly Veemon ran out of words, and to Chardsy it seemed as if the happy-go-lucky Digimon somehow gained five years in a second; he leaned over, shoulders slumped, with a brutally sad expression in his eyes. Ken leaned down, gently rubbed the little guy's shoulder once. That seemed to placate Veemon somewhat. During that Chardsy and Garurumon looked on, one mystified and the other quietly dignified, allowing his comrade the space he needed.
"I can do thish, Regent," Veemon pronounced after a moment.
"Thanks, Veemon," Ken said quietly. Then, louder, "Step back, everyone! Give him some room!" The three of them walked back a few yards. Meanwhile Veemon picked up the device and held it in both hands, looking it over with that deeply troubled expression back on his face.
"When did you grab that, Regent?" Garurumon whispered to Ken.
"One of the Keeper's acolytes sent it to me when I pulled you two through." he replied absently, watching Veemon. "Funny thing, though; she wanted me to stay on the line for something. Has anything untoward happened over the last few days?"
"It's been quiet as it ever gets," Garurumon replied.
"What's he doin'? What is that thing?" Chardsy asked, gazing intently at Veemon.
"It's called a Digimental, and it'll all be plain in a few seconds," Ken responded.
In the meantime, Veemon seemed to come to some kind of decision; he lifted the device over his head, bellowed at the top of his lungs, and the Digimental exploded into a showering of blue lightning that played over everything around him. Garurumon lowered his head and closed his eyes to block out the brightness; Ken held up his left hand, squinting to see, but failing he pulled his head to the side. Chardsy flipped down his sunglasses and didn't twitch. Veemon's form began to glow, but not like Garurumon's had; rather, it was a diffuse glow laced by electrical discharges. His form was rent asunder, dashed into particles, by one almightly thunder blast coming from the Digimental, but the cloud that had been Veemon remained in the air as the device shot into where Veemon's body had been, and all of the lightning and particles came together and flashed once --
And suddenly there before the others was a much larger blue lizard than Veemon had been, sinewy and long. This creature stood on two legs and was roughly reminiscent of a wolf; but no normal wolf had ever had blue-black armor wrapped around its head, body, and legs, leaving gaps for forelegs and its tail. No wolf ever possessed a horn like this one, either; paper- thin and razor sharp, in the shape of a thunderbolt. The newly unveiled creature reared up on its hind legs and slammed into the ground, releasing an electrical discharge. It bellowed in the rough, thundering voice of the storm, "Veemon armor digevolve to... Raidramon!"
Garurumon raised his head, Ken turned back to look, and Chardsy raised his sunglasses again revealing another shocked expression. Raidramon shook his head and yelled out, "That felt great! Man, I need to do that more often!"
Ken walked forwards. "May I present Raidramon and Garurumon. They're our rides." Raidramon tilted his head to the side while Garurumon's face was split by a feral grin. "Which one do you want?" he asked, and Chardsy swallowed.
****
Two hours later, from the back of Garurumon, Chardsy held on for dear life as he directed the wolf forwards. "Take this right! No, the other one!"
"Alright, we'll take the other one!" Garurumon snapped, and leaped in the opposite direction that he'd been going. Chardsy wasn't quite used to a ride that could change direction on a dime and yelled out at Garurumon did so, clinging onto Garurumon's neck fur for dear life.
Behind them, Ken smirked a bit. He'd had long experience in catching a ride off of Digimon before he was the Regent and so this wasn't too unusual. It was a little different from flying Digimon, though, as he kept quite the firm grip on Raidramon. The four of them were currently running down the grasslands beside a packed highway, and by all accounts they were scaring the passing motorists silly. That might have been from how easily the two Digimon could outrun the cars, though. Raidramon leapt into the air to follow Garurumon and Chardsy's dubious directions -- further clouded by how dark it was getting -- and Ken held himself in place almost effortlessly, just changing his balance for a second.
Ken's Spore suddenly picked up something... foreboding in the distance. Frowning a bit, he got a better grip on Raidramon and thought, 'What's up ahead?'
The Spore extended tendrils of dark energy from itself, trying to tell. As far as Ken could tell the little guy was running on almost full power from his brief encounter with the VandeNet a few days ago. Eventually the Spore came back with an answer. 'There's lotsa and lotsa people ahead, Regent!' it sent. 'Lotsa them!'
"Hey, Ken," Chardsy yelled over. Ken looked up; he suddenly realized that they had stopped moving and Raidramon was pawing the ground in front of him impatiently. "You still with us?"
"Yeah," he said, shaking his head. "What?"
"We're here," Raidramon called out. Ken looked up and, down the steep hill they were standing on, saw the stadium. It was enormous in terms of sheer size; it was completely enclosed with a bulbous roof, with cars completely filling its vast lot, and people streaming into it from every entrance and filling even the parking lot with a mass of moving heads. The floodlights mounted on the top of the stadium, twenty-four of them, pierced the darkness above them with shafts of green light while forty other lights cut their path to light up the area around the stadium. Above their heads, the winds whipped as a trio of helicoptors flew overhead, their marker lights pulsing, moving towards the stadium.
"Wow," Ken whistled. "It's bigger than I thought."
"Good turnout for Gardening," Chardsy said thougthfully. "I hear that they're releasing a few new songs tonight."
"Won't have any problems getting that research stuff done," Chardsy said, and reaching into a jacket pocket he produced two tickets. "Here we go, man. Got all the stuff we need." Ken pocketed one of them while Chardsy replaced the other one. He then jumped off of Garurumon and patted him on the side. "You take it easy for a while -- " Garurumon cut him off by growling softly. Not a nice growl, either; this one was full of suspicion.
"Are you okay?" Raidramon asked. Ken, at his side, looked on concerned.
Abruptly, Garurumon lifted his head to the sky and took in a deep breath through his nose. The others looked on as he did so three more times, then he seemed to relent. "I thought that I smelled someone familiar," he snarled out, "but I was mistaken." With that, he glowed slightly and shrank back down to the horned, striped Gabumon. "Time to go home," the little guy said.
Raidramon crackled with released power as he, too, shed his larger form, becoming Veemon again with the Digimental sitting next to him. "Yeah," he lisped. "Beshides, it'sh too dark here anyway." Ken lifted his D-3 and flicked it on; the tiny screen glowed bright white and the two Digimon collapsed into particles, flying into the D-3's screen and disappearing. The glow inside the D-3 immediately faded after that.
Chardsy shook his head. "Well, here we are," he said, waving at the vast stadium. "What now?"
"We go," Ken said, and motioned downwards.
"Good." They both started downhill, Chardsy in the lead. "Officially we've got real good seats, in the forward section. That means that we can get in a bit early, get relaxed a bit before the show begins." Ken let him babble onward about his favorite subject as he carefully picked his way down to the parking lot. "And that's cool because sometimes Tachikawa gets out there early to warm up on stage for the sound techs. That's just the greatest -- Hey, what's up, man?"
Ken had stopped, his face dropping a few shades, a moment ago. "Did you say Tachikawa?" he asked quickly. Chardsy nodded enthusiastically... and for Ken, all of the pieces that were so carefully gathered as differing components in his mind slammed together. The name of the band, the last name just given to him, and the red-haired girl in the cutout -- if she was a bit younger, and her hair was pink instead of red -- it all added up to a person he'd contended with in his earlier days, back when he was busily terrorizing the Digital World, and it was about to make things a whole lot more complicated.
Mimi Tachikawa.
****