The Abandoned Station
Takato felt like he had been hit by a speeding truck, his head felt like it was about to explode, and his body was numb. It took a lot of effort to just open his eyes, which even then, his vision was very blurry. But he could hear the sound of faint breathing, as well as warm air gently brushing his face, his other senses were better than his sight for now, but eventually, his vision began to focus, even though it was only for a few seconds.
There he saw Rika, sleeping beside him, her face just a few inches from his, although dried up blood was visible from her mouth, she looked and sounded as if she was in a deep comforting sleep, as if nothing had ever happened.
But despite Takato's head feeling terrible, he could recall the hands, the dark purple hands that attacked them, and although he didn't know what Rika had been though, the marks and blood was a good enough hint that she may have experienced the worst of this. He felt bad for letting this happen to her, but he was starting to struggle with coming up thoughts, no matter how small, his vision was starting to fade once more, he knew it was only a matter of time before he fell unconscious again, but he worried for how long.
But soon, he heard gentle footsteps on wooden flooring, it was faint, but began to pick up in sound. Takato was starting to feel scared, though he was struggling to think, his primal fear was clear, he knew something was approaching him, and there wasn't anything he could do. He tried to look, but struggled to move his head, only his eyes, and even then, his vision was becoming more blurred, all he could see was Rika, but even then, it was becoming difficult to make out any of her features.
He suddenly saw what appeared to have been jagged white claws, looked about six or seven, but his blurry vision was making it difficult to analyse, but what made him more and more stressed was the way the claw gently places itself on the side of Rika's face, he couldn't think of what it might be or what it's doing, but seeing it gently rub itself on her blurry face made him feel very scared of what might happen.
To his absolute horror, the claw crept under Rika's body, another one showed up and crept under her, and slowly but surely, he could see Rika being dragged away from him, seeing this made his heart sink, knowing she was about to be dragged away from her but couldn't do anything. It took all of his effort to just not fall back asleep.
But without anything he felt to lose, he suddenly pushed himself way beyond what he was capable of and managed to reach for Rika's hand before it was out of sight and grabbed a hold of it, exhaustion was beginning to overwhelm him, this took too much effort for what was a simple grab, but it was there that he felt he accomplished something, only for it to be quickly ripped away.
One of the claws that held Rika, moved to Takato's wrist, and gently grasped it, and to his dismay, began to pull his hand away from Rika's, the claw did it very gently, but it was clearly overpowering him to the point where he was practically a ragdoll, the claw gently put Takato's arm onto his chest, with no strength left, he was forced to keep it there, he then felt the two claws gently grab a hold of his shoulders, and what felt like an agonising minute, he was moved over onto his back instead of his side, and left there.
He tried to look to where this clawed figure was, and he managed to get a good view, but his vision was so blurry, he couldn't at all figure out what he was seeing. All he saw was a tall yellowish blur with a set of yellow horns, it held onto another blurry figure, most likely Rika, given the red for her hair, this yellow figure had Rika in its arms, and while not unexpected, made his heart sink down to a new level as he saw this yellow blur turn around and walk away with Rika in its arms, out of sight, he began to feel more and more distressed, wondering if Rika will return, but eventually, all of that gave way to exhaustion and pain, and he slowly and silently fell back asleep.
Takato soon found himself waking up once again, this time however, his head felt much better, and felt like he had awakened from a good, long, needed sleep, but with very little recollection as to what happened, with his first view being the ceiling of the train carriage.
The moment he realised what he was looking at, he jumped at the thought, and proceeded to push himself up, to his surprise, he was still on the train, it had stopped, and a bright light emanated from the windows, as he looked around, he saw Henry and Suzie sleeping together, cuddled up, though the shackle on Suzie's arm was still there. At the far end, Kenta was sound asleep sitting by a corner, and Jeri was asleep, lying on a set of double chairs.
But as he looked around some more, Kazu and Rika were nowhere to be seen, and soon he felt a cold chill down his spine, remembering that he saw those claws drag Rika away, but he began to wonder why just Rika? And was Kazu taken as well, but why just those two? But soon he realised wondering wasn't going to do anything, he had to get the others up.
He crawled up to Henry and Suzie since they were the closest. And began to gently shake Henry's arm. "Henry, wake up." He whispered as loud as he could, feeling like he should be silent.
Henry soon made a long groan as he began to push himself up slightly. Looking very sleepy as he looked directly at Takato. "Takato? W-What time is it?" But before either of them could speak up, he took notice of Suzie in his arms and seeing the shackle still on her arm. "What? You've…" he soon began to gently shake Suzie. "S-Suzie, wake up." He also said quietly, picking up on Takato speaking softly earlier.
To both his and Takato's relief, Suzie began to stir, she let out a yawn before steadily opening her eyes. "Just… five more minutes pwease?"
"Sorry Suzie, but you need to get up now."
Suzie slowly leaned up and looked around, but the moment she did, she noticed where she was and looked up to Henry. "Wait… where are we?" she asked.
"I'll go get the others up." Takato said as he began to walk up to the others.
Henry then spoke to Suzie. "We're inside a train. But… I need to ask, what happened to you?"
"What do you mean?" Suzie asked tilting her head slightly. But she quickly noticed the shackle on her arm. "W-Wait! What's this!?" She asked starting to panic and raise her voice.
"It's ok Suzie." Said Henry trying to keep her calm. "Please keep your voice down, we don't know where we are, but please stay calm, I'm here for you."
Suzie looked back to Henry and nodded, looking like she was already starting to remain calm, likely the sight of his brother doing so.
"Good. But please tell me, when you went to the bathroom to wash your hands, what happened?"
Suzie tipped her head down, trying to think back. "Um… let's see… I… I don't remember. All I wemember was opening the door, then everything went all fuzzy." She looked back to Henry looking very worried. "Awe we going to be ok?"
"We will be, I promise."
Soon Henry noticed Takato coming back with the awakened Jeri and Kenta. "We have some bad news, Rika and Kazu are missing." Said Takato.
"What happened?" asked Henry.
"Dunno, I just recall seeing this… thing… drag her away, I fell unconscious shortly after."
Takato soon looked out the train window and was completely in awe, he stepped closer to see, with everyone else doing the same, even Henry and Suzie getting out from under the table to do so, though for Suzie, it was harder given the shackle.
Seeing out the window, they saw the inside of a massive train station, with red brick walls, a black tower with four analogue clocks in the middle, curved windows and several doors leading to other rooms, there were several benches, a ticket office, chandeliers hanging on the ceiling, and even various posters advertising foods and performances. Everything about this looked to be an old European train station from the industrial era, and looked to have been just as old, given the roots creeping through the brickwork, broken, or dirty windows, blades of grass and weeds creeping out of the cracks in the stone floor panels, and cobweb sprawled about the place. It looked as if no one had been here for years, centuries even.
Takato soon recalled about Rika and Kazu missing, so despite this unnerving scenario they were in, it was high time he tried to search for them. He turned to the others. "I don't know where we are, but Rika and Kazu are missing, we gotta find them."
"Yeah, who knows what else might be here." Said Kenta.
"I better stay here with Suzie." Said Henry. "Just in case anything comes here while you're gone."
"Got it." Said Takato as he nodded. "We'll look for a way to get rid of that chain too.
"Thanks."
Takato, Jeri and Kenta reluctantly made their way to the carriage door and opened it up, the moment they stepped out, they felt a cool chilly breeze from the broken windows, though they still had their coats on, so the cold wasn't so bad, but it made the train feel very stuffy as a result. The three looked around to see everything, but not a soul in sight, it felt very ominous, but for some reason, more comforting compared to the forest.
"So should we split up or…?" asked Jeri.
"No, if an enemy is here, we'll be easy pickings, there's safety in numbers." Said Kenta.
Takato nodded. "Yeah, we'll stick together for now. We should look in every room too, to find any trace of the others, and maybe something to get that shackle off Suzie."
About twenty minutes pass and the trio have checked several rooms, from a storage room, the cafeteria, the bathrooms, and the staff rooms, but no trace of Rika or Kazu, and there weren't any tools that could help remove the shackle or at least remove the chain.
As the three walked forward heading towards the ticket office. Takato began to hear an unnatural noise, one that made him freeze in place. It was the sound of footsteps, but none of them belonged to the three.
The moment he froze, Jeri and Kenta stopped to look at Takato. "What's up?" Kenta asked.
Before either of them could say anything, Jeri felt a chill down her spine, the feeling she was being watched, and against her better judgement, she looked behind her.
Takato unfroze and jumped out of his skin the moment he heard Jeri shriek, Kenta jumped and screamed to, but without hesitation, Takato suddenly spun around and spread both his arms out to cover Jeri and Kenta, in an attempt to protect them from whatever it was. And what Takato saw, made him slack-jawed, he couldn't believe his eyes.
About seven feet from them, were three creatures that were not human. In the middle, was a large red bipedal dinosaur or dragon like creature with black patterns, a white underbelly with a black hazard symbol, yellow eyes and two wing-like appendages on its head.
The one on the right, where Jeri was positioned, was a quadruped, red and blue skunk-shaped creature with several feather-like strips for a tail, pointed ears and blue eyes with a wide smile.
The last, on the left, where Kenta was positioned, was a small purple penguin-like creature, it had a white underbelly with purple stripes on it, red claws on the end of its wings and two strips of feathers going down the back of its head.
All three of them stared at them with smiles, but Takato was completely in shock. It wasn't that these creatures were so strange looking, on the contrary, he recognised them. He couldn't explain how or why, but he knew without a doubt, he was looking at Digimon, real life Digimon. The red dinosaur creature is Guilmon, the red and blue quadruped was Elecmon, and the purple penguin was Penguinmon.
"It's alright children." Said Penguinmon holding his flippers up as he spoke in a mature male voice. "We won't harm you… we are-"
Takato interrupted out of shock. "D-Digimon!? Real life Digimon!?"
The moment he said that; Kenta and Jeri looked at him feeling very surprised, but looked back to see that he was right, letting their fear pass by, they realised that they really were Digimon they were staring at. But as Takato also mentioned the word Digimon, Guilmon, Elecmon and Penguinmon all looked back in surprise.
"You… you know what we are?" asked Guilmon.
"Y-Yeah! You're Guilmon! E-Elecmon! And Penguinmon! You're Digimon!"
All three Digimon looked at each other in shock, before turning back to them. "We're… honestly shocked you know what we are, and that you knew our names." Said Elecmon.
Although Takato couldn't believe what he was seeing, it all felt too strange, but despite this, he began to calm down a little, though he wasn't sure if it was because he was seeing real Digimon, or if he was dreaming and would wake up soon. He lowered his arms, which in turn, Jeri and Kenta stepped forward to see them properly.
"Y-Yeah, but that's because well… you're… fictional?" asked Jeri.
Kenta nodded. "Y-Yeah, we have cards, toys, video games, even a TV show all about you guys. But… are we dreaming?"
"It's no dream." Said Elecmon. "We don't know what you're talking about, but we do know one thing."
"W-What's that then?" Takato asked.
"That we've been waiting for you. And we're super glad you finally arrived." Guilmon cheered. To Takato's shock, Guilmon suddenly ran to him making him flinch, but Guilmon stopped just before he could tackle him, and began to rub his head on Takato's open hand, he stopped flinching to see how gentle he was being. "We've been waiting for a long time Takato."
"Y-You… you know my name!?"
"Sure do." Said Penguinmon as he made his way to Kenta. "You're Kenta Kitagawa. And I'm your partner for life!"
"Partner for life!?" asked Kenta.
Takato and Kenta immediately noticed Jeri bending down to pick up Elecmon. She immediately began to cuddle him like a teddy bear. She giggled a bit. "Well, I'm sorry for making you wait."
"Think nothing of it Jeri." Elecmon replied. "I'm just glad to finally meet you."
Kenta soon turned to Takato. "So, wait, if these are real Digimon, then are we… are we Tamers? Digimon Tamers!? Like in the shows and books!?"
Takato was about to respond, but soon the memoires of the events leading up to this came back to him, he looked up at the sky from a hole in the ceiling. "If this is real then… we're in the Digital World… it's real… the Digital World is real." But soon he remembered something. "W-Wait! Crap! Rika and Kazu!"
"Rik- oh right!" said Jeri. She then moved Elecmon to face him. "Have you seen two of our friends, Rika Nonaka and Kazu Shioda? They were with us."
"Yeah, but then something dragged them out of the train!" said Takato.
"Oh, don't worry about them." Said Guilmon. "They're in the medical room. Their Digimon partners are treating their wounds."
"O-Oh, that's good. C-Can you take us to them?"
"Follow us." Said Penguinmon as he immediately began to take the lead.
As they followed Penguinmon and Guilmon, with Elecmon still in Jeri's arms. Takato fell deep in thought, despite everything, he still couldn't believe what he was witnessing, he felt he could still be dreaming, and he would wake up soon, but it didn't happen.
He looked over to Kenta who had also been following, his face shown he must be having as much trouble believing this as he was, but as he looked over to Jeri, he couldn't tell or understand why, but Jeri seemed to be the calmest, he couldn't tell if she was accepting this easier than he was, or if holding onto Elecmon was giving her comfort.
Soon however, he was taken out of his thoughts as they made it to a door with the word 'Medical' at the top of it, the door was even slightly ajar. Penguinmon immediately pushed the door open, and they went inside, though Takato was hesitant, he wasn't sure if it was because he didn't want to see what terrible thing happened to Rika, or if he was scared or nervous to see more Digimon, still having trouble taking all this in, regardless, he stepped in.
Much like any medical room, it had white walls, floors, a bunch of medical beds, shelves, and cupboards for the various tools, but what caught his attention the most were the guests inside.
Sitting on one of the beds with an icepack on his forehead was Kazu, despite his head injury, he seemed himself very much, even showing that cocky smirk, and next to him, was a robotic bipedal stag-beetle looking creature around half Kazu's height, it's horns resembled a taser, it had two arms with pinchers for hands, and two smaller hands looking like plugs, and it has stiff metal wings. Takato immediately recognised it as a Kokuwamon, a Machine Digimon.
Lying on another bed was Rika, sleeping soundly, the bruises have mostly faded and the dried-up blood under her mouth was cleaned up, but the fact she was still asleep worried him, but at least she was clearly breathing. But next to her, looking down at her, was a tall yellow humanoid fox with white fur on the chest, belly and paws, purple sleeves with purple swirls on the front of her legs, a long bushy tail and a set of pointy ears and pitch-black eyes, he recognised her as Renamon, the fox Digimon.
The moment Kazu took notice of the gang entering, he gave a wave and chuckle to them. "Sup! You finally got your partners too!"
"Y-Yeah." Takato nodded, but he soon looked down at Rika, still sleeping, but then his view was directed at Renamon who looked back at him, despite looking intimidating, her expression showed calm and serenity. Then he began to recall seeing this yellow blur taking Rika away, and immediately deduced it was Renamon, and it was a very fair guess that she was Rika's new partner.
He could question everything again, but he knew he just had to accept what he was seeing. "Is Rika going to be ok?" he asked Renamon.
Renamon nodded. "She will be fine; the bruises are minor. But she seems to have fallen into a bit of… shock for lack of a better description. What has happened to her?"
Kenta responded. "She got grabbed by these strange purple hands, it would've grabbed all of us if the train we were on hadn't started moving."
The moment Kenta mentioned the hands, all of the Digimon had a look of shock to them. Kokuwamon soon walked towards them. "These hands… did they come from a thick blanket of fog?"
"Yeah…"
It was at this point, Renamon shuddered. "I see…"
"You know what it was?" asked Jeri.
"I've never seen it for myself, but it was told in legends, about a monster that resides in a fog, it is known to drag anything away… where they go, we don't know… all we know is, the people in this world, refer to it as simply… The Fog."
"The Fog is the scariest story we all get told when we're very young." Said Guilmon looking genuinely concerned. "But you managed to escape it. That must mean you're very special."
"Or lucky." Said Kenta.
Takato looked back down to Rika, against his better judgement, he walked closer to her and gently placed his hands on her arms, in an attempt to gently shake her. "Rika… please… wake up…" he said softly.
After a few seconds of this gentle rocking, Rika quietly groaned as she began to stir, as she did, Renamon took a few steps back as Takato released her. Rika opened her eyes slowly as she let out a quick yawn. But the moment she saw the white ceiling, her eyes shot open, realising she was in an unfamiliar location.
"W-Where am I?" she immediately sat herself up and noticed Takato looking at her.
"It's ok! You're safe."
"Takato? Where-" Rika interrupted herself as she immediately noticed Guilmon and Penguinmon standing behind Takato and next to Kenta, and Jeri holding Elecmon in her arms. She soon leaned back looking as if she had seen a ghost. "W-WHAT THE!?" She yelled. "D-DIGIMON!?"
Guilmon, Penguinmon and Elecmon immediately waved to Rika. With Kenta shrugging his shoulders. "S-Surprise Rika, we're in the Digital World."
"I… Am I dreaming!? This has to be a dream!"
Takato stepped in front of Rika's view. "If this is a dream, then we're all sharing it. It turns out that Digimon have been real the entire time."
"But…" Rika soon started to shiver; she was having a terrible time processing this. "That's…" but she was interrupted by Takato placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Deep breaths. Take it easy."
Kazu soon responds from behind Rika. "Yeah, don't go freaking out, be cool like me."
Rika immediately looks behind her, and becomes shocked to see him with Kokuwamon, but her attention then diverted to Renamon standing there as she looked at her with a welcoming smile. But Rika soon jumped off the bed and took a few steps back, making Takato gently place his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.
"A… a Renamon!? And a Kokuwamon!?" Rika looked back at the other Digimon. "And Guilmon!? Penguinmon!? Elecmon!?"
Takato faced Rika, smiling at her. "And Rika…" he then directed his hand to Renamon, making her look at her. "Renamon here… she's your partner."
"My… partner!?"
Still feeling overwhelmed by this, she saw Renamon walking up to her slowly Rika would've stepped back in fear but having Takato's hands on her shoulders kept her in place. Renamon then held out her right hand for a handshake.
Very hesitantly, Rika slowly moved her left hand to Renamon and gently grasped it, which she did in response too. Rika felt a chill, feeling the soft fur of Renamon's hand, the smooth clothe that covered her arms and part of her hands, and the sharp yet gentle claws. It all felt so foreign to her, as if she was shaking hands with an actual fox, but feeling Takato's hands on her, and getting the reassurance she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating, given she could feel Renamon's hand, she calmed down by a bit, letting out a deep sigh.
"I'm so glad to finally meet you Rika, after so long." Said Renamon as she gently released Rika's hand, seeing her calm down a little more. "I know this is overwhelming to you, but I'm here to help and protect you."
Rika was silent, taking deep breaths, but she soon looked around, even noticing Kazu get off the bed and walk up to her. "So… where are we?" she asked.
Penguinmon responds. "My partner, Kenta had already mentioned you're in the Digital World, but you're specifically in an old Train Station, at least that is what we think it's called."
"You're not sure, is this your home?" asked Jeri.
"No." Said Guilmon. "This is our first time here, and of us here have only met a couple days ago."
Kokuwamon continued. "At the exact same time, all of us had a very strong feeling, the feeling that our fated partners were about to arrive. So, we had the urge to meet you, all of you. So, we made our way here, greeted each other, and then waited."
"When we saw the train arrive, we came in expecting you." Said Elecmon. "But all of you were asleep, and Kazu and Rika were injured, so we took them in for treating while we let the rest of you sleep."
Rika looked around, and then, something clicked, as she turned to the others. "If the Digital World is real… and if we're… well, Tamers, like the show and games dictate… then, shouldn't we have… well, Digivices?"
Takato realising this, he proceeded to dig into his pockets, and felt a chill when he felt something that wasn't in there before, something smooth and metallic. He pulled it out, and there in his hand, was a small metal object, it had four buttons on the base with a screen on the front, two buttons on the top shoulders, and a red ring that surrounds the screen.
He looked to see the others digging into their pockets, and there they all had the exact same device, but each one had a different coloured ring. Jeri's was Yellow, Kenta's was white, Rika's was blue, and Kazu's was black.
"Y-Yeah! Digivices!" said Kenta.
"How did these get here?" asked Jeri.
Kazu smirks. "Ah man! It was crazy scary at first, but now it's kinda awesome! We're Digimon Tamers! This is like a dream come true!"
Rika sighs and speaks up. "For now…" Everyone looks at Rika concerned. "I love Digimon as much as the next guy, but we've all seen the games and shows, and how often the characters are put into constant life or death scenarios… how do we know we're not gonna be put into the exact same situation?"
Takato looked down at his Digivice, he couldn't deny that Rika had a point, as awesome as the shows were, he now realised he and the rest of them were very likely in danger. He looked back over to Guilmon who looked at him concerned, until he suddenly nuzzled his snout on his arm.
"Don't worry Takato, I'll protect you."
Renamon nods. "Indeed, this world is very dangerous, but we've adapted to this lifestyle since we were born, we'll do everything it takes to protect you."
Rika looked back at Renamon, she had a look of scepticism, but she still nodded. "Thanks."
Kazu walks up to them with a smug look as Kokuwamon follows closely behind. "Ah relax, I think it'll be more awesome than scary. But man! I can't wait to see what this world has to offer!"
Takato couldn't help but smile at Kazu's enthusiasm, while Rika had an annoyed look to her, Jeri and Kenta just smiled awkwardly. Suddenly, Takato remembered something. "Oh right! Henry and Suzie! They're still on the train!"
"Right, we better head back to them!" said Kenta. With that, all of them quickly made their way out of the medical room.
The train was still there, thankfully, in the back of Takato's mind, he thought it might had disappeared with Henry and Suzie still inside. The gang soon walked back into the train, with some degree of hesitancy from the kids, none from the Digimon.
As they made it back to the carriage Henry and Suzie were still there, there was a sigh of relief from Takato to see they were still doing fine, even though Suzie still had her hand shackled. But became surprised to see two new faces with them.
Two small bipedal rabbit creatures, both had very long ears, but one was white, had green patches on his arms, feet and ear tips, and a singular horn. The other was brown instead of white, had pink patches, and three horns instead of one. The white one was Terriermon, and the brown one was Lopmon.
Terriermon was sitting by Henry having a conversation with him, while Suzie played with Lopmon's ears.
"Terriermon and Lopmon?" asked Takato. Getting their attentions.
Henry immediately took notice of their Digimon partners, and quickly took out his Digivice with a bit of a smirk. "See you found yours too!" his Digivice was the same but had a green coloured ring. Also taking notice of another Digivice by Suzie, having a pink ring.
"Heh, figured the siblings would get the twin Digimon." Said Kazu smirking.
Suzie just noticed them and waved at them. "Oh hi! You have your own fwiends too!" with Lopmon waving at them too with one of her ears.
Henry continued. "These little guys arrived not long after you left."
"Well, we didn't wanna keep our partners waiting." Said Terriermon.
"Yeah. But we can't get the shackle off." Said Lopmon looking sad as she looks over to Suzie.
"Hm, allow me." Said Kokuwamon.
He walked up to Suzie and examined the shackle for a moment, before gently placing one of his pinchers on it, with one end of the pincher at the end reaching Suzie's hand, and the other at the bottom at the end of her wrist. "This might hurt a little, but I'll try my best not to." Suzie nods as she remains quiet to let him focus. Kokuwamon then began to press down slowly but as hard as he could. Then with a bit of a jolt, the shackle smashed to pieces with his pincher just barely missing Suzie's wrist altogether.
Suzie moves her hand closer to her as she begins to flex and rotate her wrist. She smiles sweetly at Kokuwamon. "Thank you."
Kokuwamon, although it lacked a facial expression, was clearly showing it was blushing from Suzie's adorableness. "N-No problem." He quickly made his way back to Kazu.
Henry and Suzie got up and walked to the others. Taking note of the Digimon partners they had. "Still though, to think Digimon were real this whole time."
"It is pretty crazy." Said Kenta.
Jeri looked around before turning back to them. "So… now what?"
"What?" asked Takato.
"Well, we know we're in the Digital World. We have our Digimon partners." Jeri looks back down to Elecmon, still in her arms for a moment before she looked back at them. "But what do we do now? We're stuck in a train station in another world, we have no idea why we got sent here or how to get home."
Kazu speaks up. "Maybe we got sent here to save the Digital World, just like in the shows and games! Maybe we're destined for greatness!"
Rika was silent as she looked out the window seeing the state of the train station. She soon turned to Renamon. "You said this world is very dangerous, right?"
Renamon nods. "Yes, we did fight plenty of savage Digimon on our way to meet you."
"And were there any around here?"
"No, it was quiet, but I don't know if it's always like this."
"I see." Rika turned to the others. "Listen, I think we should try to make this station our temporary base. We don't know what's out there so it may help to have a safe haven."
Kenta adjusts his glasses, and he looks around. "I have to agree. Whether we're destined for greatness or not, survival should be our priority. So, having somewhere we can fortify would be very beneficial."
Everyone looks around, but soon Henry looks over to Takato. "Hey Takato." When Takato looks at him, he starts looking around the train, before looking back at him. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Takato ponders for a moment, but then it clicks. "I think I do. C'mon."
Takato and Henry quickly move from the crowd, with Suzie holding Henry's hand. Guilmon, Terirermon and Lopmon quickly follow.
"Where are you going!?" asked Kazu.
"Front of the train, follow us."
Confused, the others decide to follow them to see what they're on about.
The gang were now in the train's engine room, seeing everything neat and tidy as it was left. Takato and Henry both look out the front windows on either side. There they noticed that the wall facing them had two large metal bars between them, with a slither of light coming from between them.
"How are we gonna open that?" mumbled Henry.
"There must be levers or something that open them somewhere." Takato responds.
"What are you two talking about?" asked Kazu.
"We don't have time for any games." Said Rika looking annoyed.
Kenta realised what they were doing. "Wait! I got it!" The others besides Takato, Henry, Guilmon and Terriermon look over to Kenta. "This train brought us here. And it looks like the rails keep going. We might not be able to use this to go back, but…"
Rika speaks up. "We can use this train as our base. A moving base."
"Exactly."
Henry turns back to them. "When Takato got the train moving, all the glass repaired itself and pushed the fog's hands out, and it seemed to go by itself, even when Takato wasn't in control of it. I think it'll go by itself so long as one of us at least keeps an eye on the front."
"Assuming it'll even move." Said Rika.
"It's worth a shot." Said Takato. "Let's see if we can find a way to open this door." Everyone agreed, one by one with their Digimon partners, they left the train and began to explore the train station.
Rika was the last to leave, she looked around feeling apprehensive. Not only was she having trouble accepting all of this, the very idea that a franchise she grew up with was real the entire time, feels like a bizarre dream, but the very fact that she knows this world is extremely dangerous, they have no supplies, no adults to guide them, and finally, their plan was to use the train to go around in this unfamiliar world in, the very train they were attacked by the hands in. She loves Digimon, but everything she's seeing, and hearing is just bad news, she let out a quiet sigh and looked around the desolate place, just praying this is all some kind of sick and twisted prank or dream.
Although Renamon clearly noticed Rika's expression, her aggravated face, tense shoulders and slightly hunched. Renamon herself let out a very quiet sigh as she gently placed her hand on Rika's shoulder. Who jumped slightly and looked over to her.
Rika immediately took notice of Renamon's warm smile. "Rika… I know this must be overwhelming to you." Renamon then bent down slightly to look Rika in the eyes. "But know that I will protect you, no matter what. It's what partners do."
Rika couldn't help but feel somewhat at ease, her beautiful eyes and comforting smile. But her doubt still lingered, which was obvious to Renamon with her looking away briefly followed by a very slight shoulder shrug, Rika wasn't aware of what she did, but Renamon clearly noticed.
Renamon nodded slightly. "Alright then. So, tell me, if you're very much aware of what we are. Do you know what I'm capable of?"
Rika perked up a little, yet she was confused by this question, but she decided to answer it anyway. "Um… well I know you can… shoot leaves… it's called… Diamond Storm?" she asked feeling a bit hesitant.
Renamon nods. "That's correct. What else?"
"Um… oh! The Power Paw technique." Rika was starting to show more confidence.
"And what makes it powerful?"
"It's envelopes a flame on your hand for a deadly punch. Right?"
Renamon simply moved her hand up to eye level, clenches it slightly and makes a purple flame emit from it for a brief second. Rika was startled slightly but had a look of amazement to her as well.
"And… and the Korenkyaku! A flurry of kicks!"
"You're spot on Rika. I'm very impressed." Renamon said with her comforting smile, though she mostly did it to help Rika be put at ease, she couldn't help but smile at Rika looking a bit more excited.
Renamon soon took a few steps away from her and up to a large stone block that was originally from the ceiling. "Observe." She then lifted her leg up high and slammed it down onto the block, breaking it in half. Rika jumped a bit, but she looked very impressed by Renamon's power.
"This is the power I have to protect you, Rika. And if anyone tries to take a bite out of you…" she then performs a flurry of kicks at an incredibly fast pace, before turning back to her. "I'd like to see them try after I've smashed all their teeth."
"G-Got it. Thanks." Rika still had some apprehension, but clearly looked to be more willing to trust Renamon.
Renamon looked over to Takato, he and Guilmon were making their way to one of the rooms. She recalled how much he seemed to help comfort her and shown great care for her. She just smiled a bit as she walked back to Rika. "C'mon now, let's find a way to open that door."
"Sure."
Renamon gently took Rika's hand and began to walk with her towards where Takato and Guilmon went.
During the search. We find Henry and Suzie, alongside Terriermon and Lopmon as they went through a door to find a room full of computers and consoles. As Henry moves closer, he turns to Suzie. "Alright, one of these must let us open the door, please stay where I can keep an eye on you, ok?"
Suzie nods, she then moves to one of the computers, holding Lopmon's ear like a hand. "Let's twy this one Lopmon."
"Ok." She said shyly.
As Suzie walks off, Henry notices Terriermon climbing onto his shoulder, which he accepts easily. "And make sure you stay with Suzie, Lopmon!" he calls out. With Lopmon giving him a wave with her free ear.
Once the two were looking at the computers and pushing the buttons. Henry looked over to Terriermon who jumped off his shoulder to walk on one of the consoles. "Gotta keep an eye out for your sis too, huh?"
Terriermon nods. "Yeah, we're twins, but she might as well be a little sister, she can be quite sensitive, and timid."
"I know that feeling." Henry looks back at Suzie just pushing buttons with Lopmon looking around. Then back to Terriermon. "Though I'll admit, I'm not used to being so responsible for her, and when she got taken to that train… well…" Henry rubbed the back of his head feeling guilty. "I felt like I really screwed up."
"It wasn't your fault. Plus, that was your first time being her guardian, right?"
"Well yeah, but-"
"What's important is that she's alive and well, and heck, if it wasn't for that, you might not have met us."
"Yeah." Soon something inside Henry's head clicked, he realised something. "You know… now that I think about it… I'm wondering if it's possible that whoever kidnapped Suzie and brought us here, might have wanted us to go to the Digital World?"
"You said you escaped the Fog on that train, right? Maybe the guy who did it was trying to save you?"
"Sending us to a world filled with monsters… then again, we don't know what would've happened if that Fog had caught us." He soon shudders, recalling the hand that grabbed Rika. "I guess whoever did it, we should owe them, I guess, but I don't know their motives."
"Yeah, I'd say don't worry about it for now, we should focus on either getting you home or finding answers, maybe both. But I'd say take it easy for now."
"Yeah… Moumantai."
Terriermon tiled his head in confusion. "Moumantai?"
"It's a saying my family would use, it's a Cantonese phrase that means 'take it easy', 'Relax' or more commonly, 'not a problem'."
"Moumantai huh? I'll have to remember that."
"Henwy!" called Suzie. "Are you gonna help?"
"Yes. P-Please help." Said Lopmon sheepishly.
"Oh right. Sorry Suzie." Henry immediately walks to one of the computers to check them out, with Terriermon doing the same for a different one.
We find Kazu, Kokuwamon, Kenta, Penguinmon and Jeri with Elecmon searching a back room with all sorts of wires and machinery. "Looks like the door open button would be here." Said Kazu. "There's enough of that machinery stuff here."
"That would make sense." Said Kokuwamon as he searched around. "Are you familiar with these Train Stations?"
"Not at all." Said Kazu as he began to search the machinery. "I buy tickets and ride the trains, but I don't know jack about what goes on in them."
"It does make sense." Kenta added. "We're just kids. That stuff is usually left to the grown-ups who work there."
"I see, I'm not completely familiar with human customs." Said Kokuwamon.
Penguinmon interjects. "Honestly, I think all we need to know is about our Tamers and how to protect them."
"Are you not the least bit curious about their lifestyles?" asked Kokuwamon.
Penguinmon shakes his head. "Nope, all I care about is making sure Kenta's safe. It's what partners do."
As the two Digimon talked, Jeri ignored them as she searched around to find anything of note. All while she still held onto Elecmon.
"I'm not seeing anything that looks helpful." Muttered Jeri.
Elecmon looked up at her. "If I may. I can help be your eyes in smaller areas. If you don't mind putting me down."
"O-Oh! Sorry!" Jeri only just realising she had been carrying him the entire time, and gently places him down.
"It's alright." Elecmon said with a smile. He then proceeded to look around, specifically in smaller gaps or areas his size would notice.
Jeri blushed a bit, feeling embarrassed by this, but she soon noticed Kazu and Kenta looking around while Kokuwamon and Penguinmon continued to debate. She simply sighed as she started to look around as well.
"Hey! Check this out!" said Kenta, directing to a series of large wooden boxes blocking a tall door behind a corner. Jeri, Elecmon, Kazu, Kokuwamon and Penguinmon walked over to see.
"Reckon whatever opens that big door is behind this little door?" asked Kazu.
"It is possible, but to move them may be challenging." Said Kokuwamon. "There are twelve boxes in the way, and all of them are approximately four feet large. Assuming the contents are not empty, they would take some time to move."
"Well then why don't we just smash them?" asked Penguinmon. "I'm sure we can bust these down."
"While I'm not against that, we should consider the contents. They could be of use to us."
"And you wanna open and check all of them?" asked Penguinmon.
Jeri sighed a bit and walked past them to the stack of boxes, seeing the twelve boxes stacked in a pyramid style of sorts, five at the bottom, four on top of them, and three on top of them. She quickly climbed onto one of the boxes on the bottom, then the other on the second row and stood up facing down at the two on top.
Everyone else looked at her confused, except Elecmon who panicked a little as he ran forward. "J-Jeri! Be careful!"
Jeri placed her hands on one of the boxes and pulled up slightly, not to lift, but to determine their weight. Working at her father's tavern, she learned a lot of things she feels other kids wouldn't know, one being how to judge a box's weight before lifting, given they get weekly supplies of various alcohols, food and other things needed to keep the business going.
With this knowledge, she was able to determine that the box indeed had contents and was relatively heavy, but the boxes being made of solid wood were more of its weights factor than the contents, and since all of the boxes were nailed shut, removing the contents to make them lighter doesn't seem possible.
Without even trying to lift it, she immediately let go and looked down at them. "These boxes have stuff in them, and they're heavy. Not super heavy, but it'll take at least two of us to lift them off."
Kazu rubbed the back of his head in amazement. "H-How did you figure that out?"
Jeri giggled a little. "When working with your dad at a Tavern, you learn a thing or two."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."
Kenta spoke up. "Well now we have that sorted, if it's going to take two to remove one box, who should do the lifting?"
Penguinmon stepped forward. "Leave that to me, I'm fairly strong."
"I should be able to help too." Said Kokuwamon.
As Jeri climbed down, Kokuwamon and Penguinmon began to climb up, though Penguinmon needed assistance from Kenta due to height issues. But it didn't take them long to reach the top. Kokuwamon stood on the bottom row in the front to lift the box by one end, while Penguinmon stood on the middle row, lifting it from the right.
"Alright Penguinmon. On three. One, two."
"Three!" Both said as they lifted the box at the same time, Penguinmon looked to struggle a bit, due to not having any fingers, but keeping his flippers under the parts of wood making the lid helped.
However, Kokuwamon, holding the box from the front, had little footing, and he suddenly slipped backwards causing the box to fall and aim towards the kids.
"INCOMING!" Shouted Kazu as he, Kenta and Jeri flinched. But Elecmon suddenly tackled Jeri from the front, pushing her out of the way in time as the box, thankfully didn't hit Kazu and Kenta directly, but it smashed open and out came a large wave of splinters, glass, and some kind of liquid as the two fell onto their backs.
"Oh CRAP!" Shouted Penguinmon. "Kenta! Are you alright!?"
Kenta and Kazu both leaned up, all of them sporting minor cuts from the splinters and glass, as well as soaked shirts and trousers.
"Y-Yeah. Nothing serious."
Kokuwamon got up in a panic. "I'm so sorry! I lost my footing!"
Kazu laughed a bit. "Don't worry about it. It was an accident."
All of them noticed Jeri unharmed, as she sat there watching with Elecmon on her lap. "Are you ok Jeri?"
"I'm fine, thank you." She proceeded to hug Elecmon again, but she soon stood up and noticed the contents of the smashed box.
There were several glass bottles with a fruit picture on them. Most of them has smashed from the impact but looked as if ten of them had survived. As Kazu and Kenta stood up, wiping the splinters and juice off them, they looked back at the contents.
Kazu dug and picked up a bottle to examine it further. "Fruit Soda? Who'd use these the block the door?"
"Beats me, but it might be worth stashing them on the train." Said Kenta. "We're gonna need supplies for the go."
Jeri smiled and nodded. "Oh! Good idea. How about Elecmon and I go look for the cafeteria, there might be some food in there, and we'll also take the medical supplies, in case we need to patch ourselves or our Digimon up! It might even be worth taking some sheets and pillows, we might need to sleep on the train!"
Kazu, Kokuwamon, Kenta and Penguinmon all had surprised looks to them seeing Jeri like this.
"Alright, after you move those boxes, check what's inside them, we could use them! I'll also see if I can get help carrying the supplies! I'll meet you back at the train! C'mon Elecmon!" Jeri quickly picked up Elecmon and made her way out of the room, leaving the four utterly confused.
"Is… is she often like this?" asked Kokuwamon.
"She's very peppy and cheerful yeah… but that was a weird shift." Said Kazu.
About an hour passes by.
With Guilmon and Renamon's help, Kokuwamon and Penguinmon managed to lower all of the boxes down gently, with Kazu and Kenta using hammers they found in the storage room to pull the nails out. All of the boxes had glass bottles full of drinks in them, ranging from sodas, fruit juices, water, and which made them sceptical, alcohol was also in that collection.
They had three furniture dollies they got from the storage area in the cafeteria. Rika and Takato would lift the boxes onto them and deliver them into the train's second carriage. They had done so for most of them, but the box with the alcohol in it, both of them stared down at it for a few minutes, they then look at each other.
"So… do we take these or?" asked Takato.
"I mean… survival is key… they're… technically drinks…" Rika responded, both of them feeling a very unsure of this.
"Well… yeah, but… none of us are twenty… it's… illegal."
Rika shrugged. "Well… yeah, mom would kill me if he saw me drinking this stuff. Not to mention I've seen what it can do to people." She shuddered a bit. "But if we run out of drinks..."
"Well… it is possible that we'll come across another place that'll have more drinks and food. So, we shouldn't need to bring this with us…"
"And if we don't?" asked Rika. Takato looked at her, feeling puzzled. She just shrugged a bit. "It is possible."
Takato looked down at the alcohol, then back to her. He then sighed. "Ok, we'll take them with us, but they should be a last resort."
"Yeah. Best case scenario, we can trade them for something better."
"Yeah…"
Reluctantly, the two lifted the box of alcohol onto the furniture dolly. And Rika began to wheel it out, with Takato taking one with the box of water bottles out shortly after.
Renamon and Guilmon had been watching them the entire time, both of them seemed confused. "I wonder why they were acting so strangely?" asked Guilmon.
"I'm not sure. We should ask next time."
As Takato and Rika were taking the dollies to the train, they noticed Jeri and Henry doing the same with their own furniture dollies, finding boxes of surprisingly fresh food, and the blankets and pillows from the medical room were rolled up and stored on Jeri's furniture Dolly.
Terriermon, Lopmon and Elecmon all had smaller bags of food with Suzie carrying some extra pillows, though she lagged behind a bit, the pillows weren't heavy, just awkward to carry for her, in addition, Henry found a spare pair of shoes in he lost and found room, for her to wear since she left hers back at the log cabin, they weren't the correct size, a little too big,, so they slipped a bit, and neither of them matched, one blue, one green, but it was better than walking in just socks. Henry looked back every other minute to check if she's still there. After last time, he's grown paranoid on Suzie disappearing again.
Soon enough, Rika and Takato returned to pick up the last of the boxes, and as they left, Guilmon and Renamon joined them, leaving Kazu, Kenta, Kokuwamon and Penguinmon, and the door they've taken so much time revealing.
"That switch or whatever better be behind that door." Said Kazu.
"We've looked everywhere else besides outside." Said Kokuwamon. "It is a fair guess."
Kenta approaches the door and grabs the handle. "Please don't be locked."
"Hey if it is, we can always rely on Rika to open it." Said Kazu, referencing how Rika broke the door handle to the bathroom back in the log cabin.
Kenta opened the door to what looked to be a pitch-black room, they could make out shapes and silhouettes, but what made his spine shiver, was the tall dark silhouette of a man standing in the middle of the room. Kazu, Kenta, Kokuwamon and Penguinmon all looked absolutely stunned seeing this man in the middle of the room, just standing their perfectly still. It looked extremely creepy.
Kenta stepped back, feeling overwhelmed by this. With Penguinmon stepping in front of him, looking just as intimidated but trying to defend Kenta. But before Penguinmon could do anything to the silhouette of a man, Kazu realised this silhouette wasn't moving at all, unless this guy was the best at playing statues, it was completely unnatural. He took notice that Kokuwamon appeared to have calmed down and was analysing it.
Kazu looked to his left inside the room and noticed an indentation, no doubt a light switch. So, he flicked it on, but he regretted doing it. As the moment the light turned on, it revealed the whole room. Inside was a large computer on a desk, several cobwebs and dust, filing cabinets and even a large lever on the wall, with the word 'door' written underneath it.
But the silhouette of the man was nowhere to be seen. The moment the lights came on, it disappeared. And there was nothing in the room that resembled anything close to what could've made that shape. Unnerved by all of this, everyone stepped back a bit.
"What are you doing?"
All four of them shrieked and jumped, looking behind them seeing it was Henry and Terriermon, who were both startled seeing them freak out.
"What the heck! You trying to scare us!?" exclaimed Terriermon.
"N-No! We…" Kazu stuttered.
Henry peeked over to see the door open and the large lever. "Oh! You found it!" without hesitancy, Henry walked past them and entered the room, with Terriermon following behind. The other four simply watched in confusion as Henry grabbed the lever and pulled it down without any hesitancy.
Then with a loud rumble that surprised everyone, they felt the entire floor shake slightly as the sound of grinding stone was emanating. Everyone ran outside the room and back to the main room, and there, along with Takato, Rika, Jeri, Suzie, and their Digimon, they saw the wall in front of the train opening slowly, revealing a vast open field with trees, bushes, a bright blue sky, and most importantly, the train tracks continued onward. Once the wall finished opening, they noticed the buffer in front of the train lowered and out came more tracks to connect the two.
"Alright!" exclaimed Takato. "Now we can definitely use this train to get around!"
"Assuming it will even work." Said Rika, with him turning back to her. "Don't get me wrong, I want this to work. Being able to get through this unfamiliar land by train will be much faster and safer. And I know you activated it once, but how do we know it'll even activate again? And do any of us even know how to drive a train?"
Takato was silent at first, but then he turned to face her properly and spoke up. "Honestly, I'm just relying on luck for this to work out. It's all I can do really. And I don't think driving the train will be THAT difficult… It's on its own tracks and can only go forward, I think all I gotta do is keep an eye on the tracks and adjust the speed and such."
Rika huffed, clearly aggravated by this, it was clear she was still sceptical about all of this, and the fact they're relying on chance isn't winning her over.
Takato sighed a bit. "I… look, if the train doesn't work, we'll just grab what supplies we can carry and just walk. It's not ideal, but it's better than just sitting around and doing nothing."
Rika sighed. "I guess." She soon felt Renamon place her hand on her shoulder, Rika looked up to her seeing her smile and nod. Assuring her that she'll protect her. She felt a bit more at ease and looking back at Guilmon who was staring at Takato, she knew the Digimon will protect them, and while she was still sceptical, she is familiar enough with Digimon to at least take advantage of the situation.
"Alright, gather around." Called Henry who stood next to Terriermon, Jeri and Elecmon.
Soon everyone walked up to Henry. "What's this about?" asked Kazu.
"Jeri and I tallied up the food and drinks we stored in the second carriage. And if we plan all the food out accordingly, we should be able to survive off this stuff alone for at least half a year, and that's not considering of any food we come across."
"Half a year?" asked Kenta. "Could we be here for that long?"
"I dunno. But it's a possibility we'll have to take in. Since Jeri has had experience with serving food and drinks. She and I agreed she should be in charge of managing the supplies. And with that, I vote that carriage be for the girls, and the front one for boys. Which also means that whoever is driving the train, well that'll have to be a boy."
Takato nods. "Despite everything, I feel I should be the one to do it for now."
Rika speaks up. "Are you also implying that we sleep in the carriages?"
"Yes. We don't know if we'll ever stop at a place where we can sleep at, so it makes logical sense." Said Henry.
"That's also why I suggested taking the blankets and pillows too." Said Jeri. "Plus, we might have to sleep while the train is moving."
Henry continued. "Since Takato's volunteering to drive the train, I won't argue, but we should switch drivers every now and then, just in case anyone's either better or if our current driver needs to sleep."
"So… is everyone ready to go?" asked Takato.
"As we'll ever be." Said Kazu.
No other objections were made. Instead, everyone simply walked towards their respective carriages. But Jeri soon noticed Elecmon heading towards the first carriage. So, she walked up to him. "Um, Elecmon, what are you doing?"
"Well… Henry said this carriage was for the boys, and…"
Jeri just picks up Elecmon and carries him to the other carriage. "It's alright, you're an exception, you're my partner after all."
"Oh, ok."
As everyone entered the train, they locked the doors and tried to get comfortable in their respective carriages. Except Takato of course, who entered the train through its door with Guilmon and locked it. He looked in front of him, seeing the usual machinations, and the lever. He let out a quiet sigh as he walked forward, he looked out the window to see the beautiful fields, despite the scenery, he was naturally apprehensive, with his recent memory of the hands coming in from all sides, he wasn't sure if he's developed a fear of fog, but just seeing this scene without the hands felt surreal.
Nevertheless, he shook those thoughts away. He told to himself this was something they had to do. He only hoped it would work. He looked over to Guilmon who looked back at him with a sweet smile, something about it assured him, he nodded and placed his hand on the lever, and pulled it down as far as it could.
With a sudden shake, the furnace roared to life in a raging flame, and the whistle went off loudly. Then with the loud chugging, the train started to move forward. Takato felt excited, a surge of hope filled his heart. "ALRIGHT! IT'S WORKING!" he chuckled to himself more, looking back at Guilmon who was looking around excitedly.
"It's moving! It's moving! This is so cool!"
"Yeah, it is!" Takato responded. He chuckled once more as he looked over, seeing the scenery move. "ALL BOOAARD!" He yelled as loud as he could.
In the first carriage. Henry, Kazu, Kenta, Terriermon, Kokuwamon and Penguinmon all look around feeling surprised. "Ha! It actually worked!" said Henry feeling both excited and relieved.
"Great! I'm just glad we didn't have to haul the stuff back out!" said Kazu.
Kenta looked out the window seeing the beautiful fields and forests. "With this, we can get around safely and with good speed. Provided Takato doesn't screw up the driving."
"It's fairy fast, though rickety, is this what trains are often like?" asked Kokuwamon.
"Yeah." Said Kazu. "But normally we'd have to pay, and there'd be several other smelly strangers here, but nope! Just us and it's all ours!"
As Kazu and Kenta spoke to each other with Kokuwamon and Penguinmon. Henry looked out the window again. He tried to spot anything out of the ordinary, like any buildings, set pieces, anything to give them an idea of where to go. But he couldn't see anything, just vast fields, and forests, and even lakes. It almost didn't feel like they were in the Digital World, but their own, just out in the country. Something he kinda hoped for but wasn't putting any bets on it.
Henry soon sighed and muttered to himself. "Moumantai Henry. We'll get through this."
He soon noticed Terriermon jumping off one of the chairs and making his way to the door of the second carriage. Terriermon turned back to Henry. "I'm just gonna go check on Lopmon real quick."
In the second carriage, Suzie is seen running around looking at the scenery. "We're moving! This is so exciting!" Not paying attention to Lopmon who looked around nervously, not used to the shaking, until she noticed Terriermon entering the carriage, then she immediately climbed down to greet him.
Meanwhile at the back, Jeri was taking notes of all the boxes they stored in the back, as well as preparing the sheets and pillows in a separate pile. She took notice of Elecmon looking out the window, seeing his tail wag like a dog. She couldn't help but giggle a little, but she soon turned around to see Rika.
Rika took off her coat and threw it onto one of the seats. She looked out the window. "Heh, Goggle-Head's crazy plan actually worked." She soon dug into her pocket to take out her portable radio and places it on the table, she then dug into her pocket to get her deck of Digimon cards, only to realise she didn't have them.
"Huh?" she checked all her pockets and even her coat pocket, she then remembered she left them on the table back in the log cabin. "Shit." She mumbled to herself.
"What's the matter?" asked Renamon.
"Forgot I left my cards back at the Log Cabin. Well at least I have my portable radio." She placed her headphones on and turned it on, only to jump at the sound of static coming from it. She tutted as she began to check the other channels, only to have nothing. She sighed annoyingly as she took off her headphones and gently chucked the portable radio onto her coat. "No music either. I knew I should've gotten a CD Player."
She then sat at one of the seats with a table, taking the Digivice out of her pocket to look at it. Renamon clearly didn't know what any of those meant, but she could tell Rika was annoyed she doesn't have her usual distractions. So, she decided to sit on the chair opposite of Rika's.
"Seems like we have a bit of time before we reach a destination."
"What destination?"
"Don't know, but I guess wherever Takato is going to stop this train at first. But since we have time to burn, why don't you tell me more about yourself?"
"About myself?"
"We're partners now. I figured it would help if we got to know each other more, and I can gladly tell you more about myself."
Rika was unsure at first, but she sighed and decided to humour her. She felt it might have been for the best anyway.
But as she began to strike a conversation, neither of them realised, nor did anyone else on the train, that at the very back of the second carriage, behind the boxes, a small pair of golden eyes peered at them through the gaps, with a faint snickering to itself.
Author's Notes
So, I feel I need to explain this. I did notice no one mentioned about Rika's AU to this and given how long it's been it's not surprising. I understand I was supposed to give out more of the script of future events, but I'll be honest, years ago I not only lost the files that had it, but I also completely forgot about them over time, which is the main reason why I never finished them.
But if I'm being honest, I wasn't enjoying the story anymore, I recently reread it and I found myself feeling more annoyed by what I wrote, granted it was several years ago and I was younger back then, but still. One particular comment also said that the story was starting to go downhill after the confession, which I honestly agreed with.
Looking back, I felt I should've thought about the adventure first and then wrote the love story going through its phases, instead of doing them all at once and then the adventure. And even then, I wasn't proud of how I made the characters capable of fighting without Digimon, and the concept of Data Streamers, with it becoming a lot more like the Devil Fruit powers in One Piece, it was becoming a far cry from what it was.
And I'll be blunt, I didn't mind the OCs I included, especially Jessica who was my favourite, along with VEX, but I did honestly find myself questioning the logic of characters with European or American names and styles living in Japan, I at least should've made some clarification on that, even if no one was really bothered by that.
But I honestly hated Thomas. Not only was he a self-insert, but he was also essentially a Mary-Sue or whatever they're called, and an edge lord. I feel he was very unlikable, and the story revolved too much around him at points.
So, I thought to myself, maybe I should remake it, make some alterations, and give it a modern flare to it. And this is sorta where this fanfic came in.
Tamers Adventure was essentially meant to be a practise fanfiction before I tell the complex story of a new Rika's AU, having it be more of a standard adventure, throw in some gags and references, have fun, and it was inspired by Digimon Survive, which was very evident with the fog with hands from the previous chapter, and the abandoned rundown train station being similar to the school in Survive. While Digimon Survive isn't fantastic, it did re-spark my love for Digimon which was the inspiration to write this and plan a Rika's AU remake.
But after a while, I thought to myself, if I wasn't too happy with the original story, I'm having trouble getting chapters out and I already have a fanfiction with an adventure to it.
Plain and simple. I decided that Tamers Adventure IS the Rika's AU remake. I'm going to be importing the script I had planned into this. And I understand that for a remake, it is far too drastically different compared to it's original, but if I'm being honest, I think it's for the best.
Since I wasn't enjoying the original story for Rika's AU and I've forgotten most if not all of what was left, I felt it would be more appropriate to simply write a brand new one. One I'm more comfortable with and I think will be more fun, especially since I'm going to have a different location almost every time so it's not just Tokyo.
And to those wondering why Kazu, Kenta and Jeri got their Digimon in their Rookie Levels. Honestly, I didn't mind them having higher levelled Digimon as their defaults, but since they're all starting at the same time, I figured it would be unfair to have three of them have two Champions and a Mega right off the bat, even if they didn't so much to begin with. (Which was honestly one of my biggest critiques in the story)
So, there are a few things I feel I need to address.
Much like the original Rika's AU, Calumon won't be present as the main story of Tamers heavily revolved around him, so it doesn't feel right to include him in a completely different story. Impmon and his Tamers MAY appear in this version but I'm not certain where. The same will also apply for Hypnos and Ryo, I don't know if they'll be showing up either.
Will Thomas, VEX and Jessica, along with my other OCs be appearing in this remake? I'll see if I can include a place for them somewhere, but regarding Thomas, he'll be going under massive changes since I'm not happy with this character.
This will still be a Rika X Takato, and Jeri X Henry story like in the original Rika's AU, but I'm not gonna try and blow all my load right off the bat like I did before, I'm gonna try and make it form a bit more naturally, at least with Jeri and Henry as it's kind of already established in chapter 1 that Rika and Takato have a crush on each other. But the love confession won't be happening any time soon.
I also understand that one of the core concepts of Rika's AU was Rika getting her Renamon from an egg and usually stays as Viximon, but I feel I didn't do enough with this to begin with, the only time I feel it was really established was the Nine-Tailed Spring chapter when it was revealed that Rika's Renamon was smaller than an average sized one. But as you've seen, I kinda flipped it a bit by having Renamon have a bit of a motherly approach to Rika.
Finally, because I have a lot of story points in mind, it may make the story go a bit smoother, but I don't have a lot of in-between stuff, so it's going to be semi-made up as I go along stuff here and there. In fact, I have other failed fanfictions that I can pull and rewrite for this no problem, especially one I've put so much time into but it's not getting any traction called "The Butterfly Effect."
And of course, I have every intention of reusing chapters from the old Rika's AU story to put into this.
But I'm also open to suggestions, if you wanna make suggestions for the story, I can try and implement them, I also don't mind if you wanna just suggest I try a rewrite an episode of a show or manga, Digimon or otherwise, since Rika's AU had a few chapters that copied. The Gastly Episode from Pokémon, the Medusa Scene from Percy Jackson (The Movie), the Spider Manor from the Phoenix Wright Manga, and the Duelling with Discord chapters were call-backs to several scenes from One Piece.
And I'm probably gonna take a few more ideas from Digimon Survive since that's been the bigger inspiration so far.
I do want to warn everyone. I'm a comic artist mainly, I do comics, and I have a subscription service with said comics too, those will always take priority over fanfictions, so gaps between chapters may be quite big but I'll try to work on it when the motivation and inspiration hits me.
But yeah, if you wanna help by suggesting some ideas, be it copying from another Digimon series or something else, or completely original, I'd greatly appreciate it, but you don't have to if you don't want to.
Now I can't guarantee Chapter 3 will be out soon, but I do hope you'll enjoy it when it comes.