Regless: Thank you anime obsessed fan you were right about Oblivion and OathKeeper, and the site was a big help. I wish I knew about those white things and a few other things earlier, but since I'm already three chapters in I think I'll leave them out. (My mind, as always, is subject to change later though.)

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Digital Hearts – World 01 – Close Window, Open Door

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***Rika's POV: Traverse Town: Unknown***

I started making my way out of the alley with the infamous Gogglehead in tow. When we got to the entrance the smiling faces of Ryo, Henry, Jeri, and Terriermon greeted us. Monodramon was turned around taking in the sights. It seemed as though Henry had escaped from his parents to join us. He was waiting between Ryo and Jeri, who had been waiting for us. Suzy was on Jeri's other side, causing grief for her older brother. I didn't ask how he got away from his mom, I didn't want to know.

"What's going on?"

Jeri smiled happily. "I thought we could all search for Calumon together."

Leave it Jeri to say something like that. I turned slightly, she really does match Takato well… "Sounds good."

Suzy waved to us. "Hi Wika. Hi Angwy kid."

I wish she'd stop calling him that. There isn't anyone here who wants to remember that.

"Hey squirt!" I waved back and smiled. Takato waved too. "So what are we waiting for let's go?"

***Takato's POV: Traverse Town: Unknown***

"Calumon!"

"Calumon! Come out come out where ever you are."

I continued looking down the streets and stores. Why was it always Calumon that had disappeared or been kidnapped or just wondered off. I think I need to get a bell for him, Jeri would probably think it was cute. Suzy had a bird's eye view from her brother's shoulders. I pitied him because, well when Suzy screamed, the whole city knew it. One person even threw a can of tomato sauce at us… and hit me. Rika kinda solved that though the way she usually does.

Speaking of Rika… "This is soo annoying… Do we really have to scan every inch of this town."

Henry nodded, causing his sister to wobble. "Well he doesn't really have a preference to any place, and he's completely inept so… yes. We have to check everywhere there's space."

Terriermon jumped onto my shoulder from out of nowhere and leaning into my ear. "CALUMOOOON!"

Bloody… That really hurt. I staggered back. "Terriermon! What are you doing?"

"Henry said to look anywhere there's space."

"Very funny."

Guilmon had his head in a trashcan. "Calumon? Oooo~ooo bread!"

"Don't touch it Guilmon, it was thrown out for a reason." The dragon sighed and pouted at me. I was glad Jeri was there to comfort him.

"There, there. I'll buy some bread for you when we see Riku again."

Suddenly a shadow washed over me. It didn't look like anything I recognized. "Boo!"

In a rather uncourageous display, I freaked… Renamon had done that thing where she appears right behind. It takes me only a second to figure out who it is, but during that second I never seem to fail in thoroughly embarrassing myself. Renamon just stared at me with that expressionless face.

"Sorry."

I sweatdropped. "Eh, no problem. I just-"

"Went screaming to his Guilmon." Rika finished. I hate when she does that.

"Anyway, I think you'll need a better way to search. I've check out the city and well there is quite a bit more hidden behind those gates. I've also seen a few of those Manufactured Heartless lurking around town… they can be dealt with."

"Aww nuts."

"Hey everybody, still looking for Calumon?" Kazu and Kenta hollered. Making their way over to us. Kazu was still working on his drink. Guardromon was behind Kazu and MarineAngemon was probably somewhere in Kenta's pocket.

"Yeah, wanna help?" I asked. Kazu smirked.

"Actually we already found him. He's a few blocks over but he kinda got away from us. Wiry little bugger."

"He only got away cause you tripped." Kenta injected.

"I only tripped cause you got in my way."

"Both of you shut up." Rika growled. "The more time we waste bickering here the harder it is to catch up with the cream puff again."

Rika led the way, making her way down the path towards a large wooden gate. The path was about as wide as a one-lane road, but I didn't see any cars anywhere. It had a small town feel to it, which I guess is better than being lost in a big city. I followed as everyone else went through the door ahead of me.

That's it… Come to me…

"Hmmm?" I turned around to see who, or what said that. The voice was almost too deep to be human.

That's odd… I wonder why I didn't notice the moon before…

It was kind of hard to miss to be honest. Taking up a great part of my view despite the fact that over half of it was hidden behind one of those wooden gates and a couple buildings were cutting off the bottom. It was a warm golden color but just at the very bottom I thought I saw a bit of red. I squinted to try and see better. My eyes widened a bit. It was one of those little Heartless, the same on I saw in my dream and outside my window.

Why is it always… that one.

Suddenly I noticed the moon wasn't it's normal golden color anymore. In fact nothing was. I remembered this very clearly since it happened when those nuts attacked my world. But one thing that didn't happen before was… the buildings… they looked like they had become rubber, bending of and twisting in all sorts of weird ways. It was… closing in on me. Everything was caving in, even the stone walk way. I let out another breathe but this time it appeared as steam. Why hadn't I noticed it get so cold? My vision began to get blurry, and sound did all but disappear…except for that voice.

…Kill………her…

Ugh… Who?

My eyes widened at what happened next. The shadow that consumed my world. It was back, and rushing at me along the ground. It covered the path and everything on it, eating it like some kind of monster. But this time there were solid black spikes ripping out of it. I wanted to turn and run, but instead the second I moved I lost all my energy and fell down. The door was too distorted to get through anyway. I could feel the darkness only a few inches behind me. It'd be all over in a second.

"Easy there."

Ryo caught me before I face-planted in the sidewalk. He was smiling at me pitifully, obviously wondering why I seemingly fell over for no reason. I pulled myself up, still using Ryo to keep me legs from shaking, and glanced back… whew, no shadow… no distorted buildings… no Heartless… and best of all no greyscale.

"Hey Takato, you alright?" He asked arching an eye brow.

I stood straight up on my own. "Uh yeah. I just tripped. No big deal."

I heard a stifled laugh followed by Rika's voice. "Gallantmon, faces down Demon Lords, trips on flat surfaces."

"Hey!" I muttered striving to catch up. When I did I turned to face Henry. "Ummm, is anyone else thinking about that Heartless back in our own world."

"I'm trying not to. I'm getting sick of that word." Rika commented.

Henry looked down. "Hmmm, actually I was. Riku said that the real ones move in a swarm… so why was that one from the school on it's own… Then there's Kuri-Kuri, Lumiere, and that other guy."

"Right, what Riku said about the real Heartless don't match them at all. We need someone else, preferably with a bit more reliable info." Kazu said folding his arms back over his head. "I wanna meet that kid with the girly name."

"I don't think Sora's just a girl's name." Kenta replied.

"You two watch the cartoon too much."

"At any rate, based on the information given I can expect that we're going to be here for the long hall. Has anyone given any thought to where we're going to stay?"

I scratched my head. "Well do they have an Inn?"

Henry nodded. "I saw on my way to meet you guys, but what are we going to pay with. We don't have any gil."

I blinked. "What?"

"Gil? You mean fish? I like fish." Guilmon stared at us. We both sweatdropped.

"Mmmno. Not fish. It's the currency system here."

The space in front of us suddenly warped into a strange light. I had to cover my eyes from the dramatic change in lighting when varied creatures stepped out and our peaceful group walk became a crowd. The creature varied quite a bit. Small floating wizards with different colored garbs, mini knights, and big armored Goliaths. The truly weird thing though was that not one of them was moving. The just appeared, apparently to stand still.

"This is weird. They aren't even facing us."

"Yeah." Kazu called out waving his hand in front of one of the creatures. "They were like this when we got here too. The lights are on but nobodies home."

Rika turned to Renamon. "I guess this is what you meant." She nodded.


One thing was I could now see the crossed heart symbol. It was colored brightly on every single one of the heartless somewhere. It really did look like and heart that had been X'ed out. And it was so crude I thought it might have been painted on at first, but upon closer inspection, I realized it was copied perfectly on all of them. The sharp effect was on purpose. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, I think Jeri felt it too because she backed up and grabbed onto my arm. I turned red again.

"Ummm, Henwy. I think I wanna get down now." Suzy complained. She didn't want to be in the open with so many… things… It was creepy.

"Tiny Twister." Lopmon spun around building up momentum, then released it as a tiny hurricane smashing into one of the small knights. It disappeared as soon as the impact was made, none of the others moved, but a few seconds later another one took it's place. "How peculiar. She began tapping on the creatures helmet.

Wake up…

I turned to Jeri. "Pardon?"

She gave me a look like I was from another planet and loosened her grip. "I didn't say anything."

"Really. That's odd." I shrugged, then smiled nervously. I just hope she doesn't think I've gone nuts.

"This is… really giving me the creep." Rika murmured.

"Wanna head back?" Henry asked. I think he was worried more about his sister tough. Rika turned and glared at him.

"No way. I'm not going to back out just because of a bunch of stupid statues."

I saw Ryo glance around. "…I think we should go back…"

Rika glare again, this time at the Legendary Tamer. "Don't tell me you're scared."

"If I say yes can we go back?"

"No."

Something was wrong. The air was getting thicker. At first I thought I was the only one noticing it while the others watched Ryo's and Rika's argument unfold. Then I realized, Ryo didn't want to go back because he was scared, at least, not for himself, he was reacting to the same thing I was feeling.

But what is it?

WAKE UP!

All of a sudden there were eyes all around us. What was once a mass of tiny black voids now gleamed with eerie yellow light. The statues had eyes. The Heartless had woken up.

I grabbed my D-Arc as the Digimon broke into a fight pose. "Guilmon! Get Themph!"

One of the large Heartless grabbed me from behind. We had wandered right into them so pretty much all of them, with the exception of Renamon and Terriermon we're caught. Renamon was fast, Terriermon was small and apparently a faster fighter than Lopmon. They managed to get to the side and begin charging their attack when those pint-sized mage encircled them. One, two, hell Renamon could avoid dozens of those things, unfortunately every mage in the area had locked onto her. A stream bolts surged at them despite the Digimon's efforts, both were hit, causing a mini explosion. One of the larger Heartless picked them up and began marching, as did all the others.

"Put me down fatty."

"Told you we should have left."

"Shut up Ryo."

Those two… always fighting…

I looked ahead again. Some more of those Heartless were coming around the corner, one had Ai and Mako, and another carried Impmon and a very upset Calumon. Suddenly a few of them distorted and vanished, the same they at first appeared. The rest followed in a wave, and pretty soon, we disappeared too.

***Ryo's POV: The Door to Darkness: Unknown***

My eyes opened. It had been almost a full day since the last time they did so. How did I know? Because I'm good with time, ask anyone. The scenery here though… that was even more depressing than being in a place I knew nothing about. There was… nothing but darkness everywhere. I hated it. A mob of manufactured Heartless stood gaping around, waiting for something… or nothing. Whatever, I couldn't tell anyway. They didn't act like anything I'd seen before. A lot of them we're carrying my friends, even through I could only see their outlines because of the extremely limited light of where we were.

"Hey wild cat, you awake?"

I heard a growl. "I am now, idiot."

"Heh. Nice to hear you too, as always."

"Be quiet. Hey Gogglehead. You alright?"

That's interesting, she checks on Go-er, I mean Takato first… argh. Great now I'm reading to much into things.

"Umm… Yes? Wait lemme check."

He's fine.

I turned my head aimlessly in the darkness. "How about you Henry."

"Ryo, don't abandon us."

I sweatdropped. "Don't worry Kazu, Kenta. I'm just as worried about you as anyone else… except Rika." I heard another growl.

"Henwyyyyy!" I heard Suzy sob.

"Don't cry Suzy, I'll find some way to get us out of this."

"Or die trying."

Everyone glared. "Terriermon!"

The next voice I heard was like a mini mobster. "Errrahhh! What gives? How come I can't Digivolve."

"You can do it if you try Impmon." The male twin's voice rang out. I had trouble remembering his name. Wasn't it Mayonnaise or something? Oh wait, Mako! That was it.

"I tryin'… but it still ain't workin!"

Well this certainly went from bad to worse. If we couldn't Digivolve then…

"Maybe all of Digimon are stuck at their default level." Henry suggested, pointing out the obvious.

"Renamon, can you slip out of their grip."

"I've… been… trying." She stated in a slightly annoyed tone.

A new voice overpowered the rest of ours as the Heartless all turned to one direction. "So good of you all to join us."

We we're being forced to stare at a man that I unfortunately recognized. Even in the darkness I could make out his blue hair and eyes. It was one that little girl called Reseal. Speaking of the little girl, she was right next to him. But she was glowing, making it extremely easy to see all of her features.

"Looks like we didn't need to get that other girl after all. Reseal, I'll leave them to you."

Other girl?

The blue haired man nodded with a sadistic grin. "I thank you for the honor, and I'll also depose of the other one while I'm at it."

"Good, I need to make sure Kuri-Kuri isn't slacking off." Lumiere turned around and began walking away as she faded into the shadows.

"What do you think of her little trick, reactivating Ansem's Heartless just at the right time."

"Shut up and will you let me down!" Rika yelled out, more of a threat than a request.

I smiled. "Well, I give it a four out five for deliverance but couldn't you think of something more original?" I heard him growl. I don't think he likes my sense of humor, I'm hurt.

"Ripping you apart is going to be most enjoyable."

I grinned again. "Hmph. Yeah whatever. I can understand Kurashell but I haven't seen you do anything that requires any real skill yet."

If I can get this guy to tell me what his abilities are, I can be prepared to break free. Henry said he thinks all the Digimon are stuck at their default level, and I hope he's right. Because Monodramon is not my partner's default level.

"Have you gone nuts Mr. Perfect?"

"U-umm. I think I agree with Rika." Takato commented. Henry didn't say anything, possibly because he had figured out what I was planning.

Reseal smiled menacingly at me. "I can harmonize with the magics and battle techniques of any other world I chose, so you had best watch you're tongue." I grumbled, dissatisfied.

Any other world huh? That's still quite a bit of possibilities, but I guess I have to take a chance, so what better time then now?

I grinned and focused. It's just another advantage of being partner to an Evil God type Digimon. Plus my D-Arc only controls his Monodramon side. The small dragon's skin pealed off revealing what should have been a grid map. But it wasn't, instead it was a bunch of symbols, layered on to of each other to make Monodramon's form.

So that's why we can't go any higher, they aren't data in this world…

A new layer of skin coated the dragon leaving a much larger, angrier version. The Manufactured Heartless were still foolishly trying to hold him still. I grinned.

"Cyberdramon, time to do what you do best!"

***Takato's POV: The Door of Darkness: Unknown***

"Cyberdramon, time to do what you do best!"

I couldn't believe it, while the rest of us we're stuck, Ryo's partner Digivolved. It was weird though, I didn't see him swipe a card, but then again it's pretty dark here. Maybe I just missed it. At any rate, there's an old saying that applies to this: Never look a gift horse in the mouth. I don't understand it but it basically means don't question good things.

"Desolation Claw!"

Cyberdramon spun around, wrenching himself free and ripping the Heartless to pieces as he did so. None of the others even seemed to notice their comrades get destroyed though as they focused on holding the rest of us in place. Fortunately that didn't last to long as Cyberdramon ripped them to pieces moments later. Even this big one looked like pretzels after just a few glints of light, shining off the dragon's claws. Reseal yawned at us.

"Lemme guess." The blue haired man said raising his arms ahead of him and closing his eyes. "You're going to do this the hard way? I should've just let Kuri-Kuri handle this."

Reseal raised his hand at us, suddenly the place we were in brightened and I could see where we were. It was like we we're in a void, but this one had land. A nice stone chunk of it, to be precise. It was floating, and everyone else was just the same darkness as before. However there was one thing… behind us. A tall thin white double-door, almost gothic style except it was brightly decorated like a stained glass window. It would've been really nice if it was corroding and falling apart. Huge chunks were on the ground in front of it and there were a series of deep cracks. The door looked like it might crumble to dust any second.

"Go Cyberdramon!"

"Desolation Claw!"

Reseal raised his hand stopping the dragon's punch. The bad part was that he did it with less effort it takes to wave goodbye. Speaking of goodbye, with a flick of his wrist he sent the beast stumbling back. Cyberdramon's feet cracked the ground, almost to prove to us that that wasn't an easy task. He growled menacingly back.

"Don't tell me that's all the child with two hearts can do. I'm disappointed."

Two Hearts? What is he talking about?

"Well let's see… How should I finish you off, Harem-no-Jitsu…? Hmmm, you might be a bit too young for that to have any effect. Well, I suppose the classics will be enough for trash like you." His eyes darted to the side. "Renamon, if you think I can't see, hear, smell, and sense you then you're wrong on all four counts."

Before he was even done speaking Renamon had appeared out of nowhere and tried to surprise him, but as he just mentioned, there was no surprise involved. At least not for him. He ducked the fist punch nimbly, stood up and pushed the next punch way off the side, leaving the Vulpine's ribs exposed. He didn't take that shot though, instead he waited to grab the follow up round kick and swung Renamon around like a rag doll, eventually letting go only to send her into her partner.

Errr… Normal attacks aren't working on him. We need a strategy but… I wonder what kind of attacks other worlds have…

"Desolation Claw!"

Cyberdramon was already charging ahead, but Reseal was through playing. He met Cyberdramon's punch and mirrored it, just about breaking the dragon's wrist. Then he used a high kick, which fragmented an Ultimate Level's face-plate. The lumbering oaf staggered back, and passed out. Ryo narrowed his eyes, but he didn't seem to be hurting the way it was with me Henry and Rika.

"Anyone got any ideas?"

"How about running." Kazu replied cynically. I knew the mere thought must've been making Rika angry but… I kind of… thought Kazu had a point. I looked at Henry and Jeri and I could tell by their expression's they felt the same as me.

"And just where are we supposed to run to, dope?" Rika muttered. She had a point too.

The door!

That's right I had nearly forgotten about it. There was something extremely odd about it. We were on a miniscule floating isle with a door at the edge. A door that, as regular physics would indicate, led straight off the edge into oblivion.

No…Something's behind there… I can feel it.

"Takato take a nap?" Guilmon's childlike voice snapped me back into reality. I didn't give him an answer though, I went straight for the door and began to try and shove it open… but it really is a HUGE door. It's gotta be like twenty-stories high.

"Gogglehead! We could use you're help."

…She's right… But I have to get this door open. I don't know why but… I know it's very important.

I put all my effort into pushing the door open with Guilmon, so that I didn't even look at what was happening behind me. Reseal's laughing was apparent though.

"Terrier Tornado!" I heard the little rabbit call out, and then yelp in pain. Reseal sounded like he was winning but then, what did I expect. The next thing I heard was his voice.

"Kuri-Kuri! I summon you, stop the heart of darkness while I take care of these pests!"

Heart of darkness? Who is talking about?

For a brief second I glimpsed behind me to see the Kurashell coming out of the ground like a black ink. Brandishing his weapon's at Rika already.

"Man do I have too? That girl freaks me out." I heard Kurashell ask. Looking around the room.

"Not her! The one with goggles you idiot!" The well dressed man really seemed to be losing his patience.

Goggles? …Uh oh…

"Takato look out!" Jeri screamed.

For a second I turned around to see what she was talking about a black claw whizzed by my face and embedded itself in the door. It was so close that I started to wobble on the back on my heals. I could only assume that the stretched arm it was attached to was Kurashell's. Though the wind that the claw caused told me I would have been a goner if it hit me, the assault didn't even scratch the door. As I stumbled back onto another leg another claw flew past me, again almost impaling me. Almost simultaneously I could hear Guilmon's feet pounding the ground behind me. Guilmon plowed into my back knocking me under the two claws just in time to prevent a third hand from going through me.

Wait, One, two… three?

I looked back to see one of Kurashell's arms outstretched and pure black and splitting into completely different limbs about half way down.

"Renamon, walk all over him." I turned to see the vulpine Digimon jump onto Kurashell's back and start riding him like a pony while Rika charged the door with her shoulder.

"Guilmon, go underground and help Renamon. Maybe you can get the jump on him." I said to Guilmon quickly, more to get him off of me than to help but in hindsight, that wasn't a bad idea. I just wish I knew how thick the ground were standing on was.

"Okey dokey!" With that Guilmon started digging.

Kurashell retracted his claws and started swinging his body around trying to knock Renamon loose. He really is an idiot. I looked back to see Cyberdramon back up along with Suzy pulling some surprise punches. I got up and started mimicking Rika.

Why is she suddenly helping me? I thought she would've stayed in the fight.

"Hey gogglehead! Put your back into it. You want this door open right?"

"Uh, Yeah!"

"Okay, but if there's nothing on the other side I am so going to kill you before anybody else does."

"…Well it's alright by me."

A few more seconds went by without even a creak "…Goggles this isn't working, Renamon can't hold him forever. Where's Guilmon?!"

Please don't tell me he fell through.

As I looked back I saw Terriermon take his final hit. Henry rushed to his side and then looked over at us. I could see it in his eyes, he was thinking of something.

Huh? It looks like he has a plan, I love his plans.

Henry got up to his feet and started running at Kurashell. I have to admit, I was hoping for a better plan. Well, I wasn't disappointed. The next words out of Henry's mouth kinda caused everyone to face-fault, but whatever works.

"Kuri-Kuri! My sister agreed to go out with you!" Kurashell stopped dead with Renamon's foot on his head.

"What? She did?"

"No you idiot it's a trick!" Reseal planted Cyberdramon in the dirt one more time and stopped what he was doing to try and sway Kurashell, bad idea when your fighting Cyberdramon.

Lopmon tried a Tiny Twister but Reseal blocked it with his forearm. This gave Cyberdramon the chance he needed. Suddenly rose from his own rubble behind Reseal and side swiped him to the other end of the stone platform. Henry just ignored all this and nodded.

"Yeah, she's though that door. All you have to do is open…"

"Say no more. Honey, here I come."

Kurashell made a move for the door, only to be clotheslined by his accomplice. It must really pay to be invulnerable to all our attacks. The gunner, however wasted no time in getting back up and aiming his guns, this time at Reseal. The blue-haired man could only growl in response.

They're… fighting each other…?

"Hey Mr. Perfect, Brainiac, we could use your help ya know!"

"On it Wild Cat."

Henry and Ryo wasted no time in making their way over to the door. Henry had Terriermon in his arms while Cyberdramon only had a slight case of wooziness from being tossed around. Regardless, even with their help we couldn't move the door. I called out for more help as another set of arms lined up next to me.

"Kazu! Kenta! Jeri?"

The other set of arms turned out to be Jeri's. She had started shoving right beside me while the other two and their partners we're still running over. She was really trying hard… I blushed for a second, only to have something whack me across the back of the head.

"Wake up Gogglehead. We still need you're help too."

"Er, s-sorry."

"Uh guys." Kazu called out. "The door still isn't moving."

"No kidding." Rika growled out."

"Keep trying. We have to get this open."

Jeri squinted. "I'm… doing the best… that I can."

"I'll hewp too." That childish voice could only be Suzy's as she ran towards her brother.

Unfortunately Reseal had beaten Kurashell off of himself. Even though the idiot gunner had still managed to latch onto his partner's leg, Reseal finally had use of his hands again. He parted them quickly as his whole body began to glow with light and he began to levitate. Suzy was only a couple feet away from the door now.

"Luminai-!"

This might really hurt…


Just as Suzy touch the door it suddenly began falling apart like it was only being held together with cheap glue. It literally disintegrated as revealing bright light on the other side. Some of it shone through the cracks and one beam washed over Reseal. He stopped his attack immediately and howled.

"Kuri-Kuri… you… IDIOT!"

"GUILMON! If you're there, Now!"

The little red dragon ripped out of the ground and charged the pair. "Pyro Sphere!"

Kurashell let go and scrambled to the side like a spider, only to have Cyberdramon stomp him through the thin isle we were standing on. I turned to the side as Ryo flashed me a thumbs up.

"One down, one to go!"

Despite that fact that Reseal obviously couldn't stand being directly in the light, he was still managing to gain ground by sidestepping and jumping. He didn't want to let us go free. I kept pushing against the door, if I could open it all the way then… He wouldn't be able to get near us.

Reseal finally got close enough and leapt at us, drawing a pair of daggers out of the air. He was in for a bit a surprise though as he smack face first into MarineAngemon's barrier. The extra time the little angel had bought us was invaluable. The rest of the door cracked open and light poured through. It was so bright, Reseal disappearing into it.

A few of us took a breather with the two nut jobs gone. But just as I was relaxing and the rest of us waited for the light to die down, Jeri's eyes widened and she pointed ahead. My gaze followed her figure inside the door way. Ryo said it best.

"You've got to be kidding."

Behind the door, there was nothing but more Heartless, real ones this time. The kind you can't hurt no matter what you do. The space was so thick with them it almost looked like a dark sea.

"…Is this making anyone else thirsty?"

"Terriermon!"

Why is there darkness… behind the light?

I didn't have time to answer myself though. Something skittered past us… from behind? It blended in with the Heartless so well I had trouble telling what it was, then it hit me. As soon as it turned back with those beedy, tiny little eyes. Standing about a foot tall.

"It's the Heartless from my dream! How did it get here?"

The others turned and stared at me like I was nuts. Rika turned back and focused for a second, then her eyes widened as I could tell she remembered chasing it along with Renamon.

It's… leading me…

I stepped forward slowly, then broke into a hundred-meter dash after the miniature Heartless. The reason was half instinct and half intelligence. Since we had nowhere else to go… and besides, this thing seems to know where it's going, which is more than can be said for any of us.

"Hey chumly!"

"Takato!"

"Gogglehead! What are you doing?" Kazu, Jeri, and Rika called out behind me, in that order.

When I finally got the black liquid like stuff. I slowed down. The little Heartless had gone right through it. But… well… it had eyes. And it was getting bigger. Suddenly a pink tint cover everything and I felt a strong hand grab mine, while another force pushed me from behind. Rika and Ryo, with MarineAngemon's barrier. Everyone was running as a group, leading each other. Henry was leading his little sister. The Heartless bounced off the barrier. They may be invincible, but they were far from unstoppable.

"You picked a hell of a spot to stop, Gogglehead."

I sweatdropped. "Sorry."

"Don't be." Jeri said happily from the side. "You found us a way out."

"I did?"

She smiled at me nodded, of course causing me to blush. "Look up ahead."

I did. I also heard a few small clicks as Rika tightened her grip on my hand. It kinda hurt. There, about fifty yards ahead of us, was another door. It was the same style as the last, except it was completely black. The Heartless stood at it's base, almost waiting for us to catch up.

"Black and white… and entrance and an exit." Henry murmured. I could tell he was already halfway done analyzing all the numerous possibilities this could mean.

"Alright, we need to break through this one too. Everyone ready."

"Okie-dokie."

"Mmmgh…Five more minutes."

"Very well, I'll do my best."

"You bet Pineapple head."

"This should be interesting."

"Affirmitive."

"Pi-pipi. Piiii!"

"Graaagh."

We all charged in headstrong that this door wouldn't stop us after we had already come so far… That, was a bad idea… True the door didn't stop us… but that was only because it swung open on it's own. So we kind of… fell through in some rather lousy poses. In contrast to the last door, this one opened into a bright area. It was still a void, and we were all still falling, but at least it gave off a good vibe… if that make any sense.

The void was a bright white, with several floating isles in bubbles. Some of them had nature, others had urban areas, some had a nice mix of both. The tiny Heartless fell past us zoomed into one of the isles and warping out of site before he even reached it.

"Hmmm, perhaps these little floating islands… represent some of the other worlds."

"Then let's pick one, go into it and see if anyone else can help us."

"Alright, MarineAngemon." Kenta stated. Our descent slowed rapidly and in only a few seconds.

Impmon folded his arms. "Well Pineapple Head if anyone else ran into a sea of monsters without any decent backup such as yours truly, I would've called them stupid."

I blinked. "Uhh…"

"You're just inept."

"Hey!"

Ryo laughed. "Heh. Way to go on finding this door. But I'm curious, what made you follow that little guy."

I sweatdropped again. "Umm, my gut?"

"Go figure it would have something to do with his stomach." Terriermon quipped, obviously feeling better. Everyone laughed at that. At first I wanted to defend myself but… seeing them all happy, even for a brief period of time… was enough for me.

The next thing I saw was a bright beam aimed right towards us. It was so fast and sudden none of us even saw it coming. And it was gone before we could even try to figure out where it came from. Guilmon grabbed my arm and groaned.

"Aww. Not again. Don't worry Takato, I got you."

"Yes but now we can't control where we land." Henry stated frantically. "We might end up falling forever!"

"MarineAngemon… MarineAngemon!!!" Kenta shouted. The tiny pink angel was out could.

He must've been hit by the blast.

"Wah. I always wanted to miss Ms. Asagi's class but not like this." Kazu called out. Guardromon was falling lifelessly alongside him. Another casualty I didn't even see.

"Come on Brainiac think of something!"

"Henwwwwyyy!"

Henry squeezed his eyes shut. "Dammit… there has to be something."

"Jeri grab onto to me!" I called out. She did, around my neck.

"Gogglehead now's not the time for-"

I don't know what she was going to say, and for once I didn't really care. I grabbed her hand with one of my own. Don't ask me why but she seemed to lose concentration for a second when I did that… probably just wondering what I was doing. With my other hand I grabbed Henry's arm. He looked at my hand, studying it.

"I'm not sure if we can figure a way out of this but… I… I don't want to be separated from any of you. Just.. as long as we're together… we can… you know."

I really need to think of what I say before I start saying it.

"Takato… I don't want to be separated either…" Rika said quietly.

"That's it!" Henry suddenly called out surprising me. "Takato, you're a genius! Everyone grab hold of each other."

"Huh?"

Rika turned around swinging her arm around. She grabbed Ryo's hand. Kazu and Kenta were each holding onto Guardromon and one of Ryo's legs. Suzy and Lopmon hung onto Henry and Guilmon swung himself around so he was holding onto Takato on the other side of Jeri. Impmon grabbed hold of Guilmon's tale while the twins held onto his legs.

"Not a pleasant view." The demon yelled out angrily.

"Rika, let go. Guardromon is way to heavy for you."

The red head narrowed her eyes. "Shut up Ryo. You don't get to give up on yourself just because the situation looks bleak. If you don't make it I swear you'll be wishing you were back with the Heartless."

"…" Ryo was speechless as Rika turned to me.

"I just figured that out recently myself."

Is she refering to… the Parasimon…?

Something about the way Rika was staring at me… made me feel a bit uneasy. I'm pretty sure it was getting warmer too. I blinked for a second, but when my eyes opened again Cyberdramon was in plain view holding Guardromon as well as the three Tamers closer to the rest of us. Ryo smiled.

"Thanks Rika…"

She turned her head away from him, hiding a slight smile. But I could see it perfectly. "No problem."

"…But I wasn't giving up on myself. Cyberdramon would've made sure I was okay. I just didn't want you to get hurt."

"…"

I saw a small vein appear on the girl's head and her smile faded… That sucks. She's got a nice smile… I'm sure Ryo would've liked to have seen it. She snapped back at him. "You are so full of yourself. Would it kill you admit you needed help just this once."

He sweatdropped. "Sure I need help sometimes."

"Good."

"Just not this time."

"I can't believe you!"

"Excuse me! Falling into oblivion!" Henry stated. His urgency overtook the argument easily. "Now that we're all together we can maneuver ourselves into one of those worlds. Will Cyberdramon please do the honors?"

So that's why he said I was a genius… but it was just a fluke.

As Cyberdramon pushed us, I turned my head to see which world we were being throw into. It was the same place that the little Heartless fell into. It was a rather pleasant looking space. Definitely urban, but there were Sakura trees in full bloom along the sidewalks as well as parks a few patches of woods. Something else seemed different though, and it took me a second to realize what it was. The area was clean, almost devoid of the kind of liter and pollution you see in a place like Shinjuku.

The void started changing color to a gentle sky blue and I could tell we were entering the world. But… after a few seconds it felt like we hit something. Obviously this would've been the point where, if someone else were watching us we would have disappeared from his or her site. The sudden shock caused us to lose grip with each other as we plummeted down.

"Henry! Rika! Jeri! Ryo!"

"Takato!" Jeri screamed as she fell back.

"Er, don't worry. I'll find you again! I swear it."

Why did I say that… Sometimes… I really need to think before I speak.

"Of course you will." Henry replied and smiled… that same… faked smile.

"I'll hold you too that Gogglehead." To be honest, that sounded like a threat.

"See you around Takato." Ryo's always so calm and cool. How does he do it?

"I'll be waiting…" Jeri said, just as she faded out of view.

The second I began to feel a moment of piece it was shattered by a voice behind me. "Takatoooo… I don't feel so well."

"Guilmon?"

I turned around to see the dragon with droopy eyes. His features we're changing. I wanted to see exactly what was happening, but the longer we fell the harder it became to see.

"GUILMON!!!"

***^***

Even after I regained consciousness I was far to relaxed to open my eyes. Well I wasn't sure how long I had been asleep. Maybe seconds… maybe hours.

"Guilmon?" There was no response so I sat up and finally opened my eyes.

By my feet there was a little bear doll only with a tail and wings. He was sitting in front of a game controller for the PlayStation. Almost as if he was playing it. It was kind of cute I guess, but I couldn't tell it was a lion, a bear, or something else. It had a pair of wings like a pixy on it's back and it was a harsh yellow color, almost golden. It had a pair of beady black little eyes and… was that… a vein on it's head. Wow, it was really made well. It fell over cutely and I looked at the game it was supposedly 'playing'.

That's kind of odd. Third Level. I guess the owner must've just left. But, why didn't he pause it then.

There were some explosion sound effects and the character died. I could've sworn the vein on that little toys head got bigger. Jeri would probably like it. I'd have to ask the owner of the house where he got it. I glanced around.

Or where she got it.

When I turned my head to the left I could see a window, desk and the start of a bed. The walls where a bright yellow. When I turned my head to the right I saw a door. The room was simple enough but there was something odd about it. I got up and turned around to see what else I was missing only to hear a bloody curdling scream.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

******^******

WARNING: MY PROOF READING STOPS HERE.

Well it's the beginning of the cross-overs. Can anyone guess where the first world is? It's not really a huge brain buster but… meh. I redone what this fic is going to be about in my head. Instead of it being simply Tamers responding to odd situations, I'm going to try and focus more on their relationship with each other. Mainly Takato, Henry, Rika, Jeri, and Ryo.

Oh and a Ryuki moment. Actually I had little trouble writing it. Granted I'm still a Rukato fan, but Ryo really is a character you can have a lot of fun with if played right. He's going to be counterpart to Takato in a lot of ways and an important part of this story so you can count on some more Ryuki and a few… less than flattering situations he'll get himself into.

******^******

Q's:

I did not make that up. King Mickey has a Keyblade similar to Sora's only it's golden. He sealed the Door of Darkness along with Riku. Donald and Goofy are his head mage and knight respectively.

The Tamers will not have Keyblades, at least not all of them. I'm hoping I can figure something else for them that doesn't sound to clique or stupid. But giving them all such an important weapon takes away from it in a sense. So I'm holding off on that.

I'll will not disclose the amount or specifics of the World I'm using because it takes away from the surprise.

Side Notes:

Heh. I always thought the Blindfold guy was Ansem returned and that the dual wielder was Riku. (Hence his role thus far) I appears I'm mistaken, but I ain't changing a thing. Thanks for the site though. Big help

I like the Idea of Leon and Beelzemon going at it. But I would rather wait until I can manufacture a better reason for them to fight. It's not something I'll star working on right away, so it'll definitely be a while.

Sephiroth's role isn't finished either.

Explanations (Spoilers for those how haven't played the game):

Alright the Door of Darkness was sealed by King Mickey and Riku by the use of their Dark and Light KeyBlades. This restored the World Border, thus separating the worlds. That is how the game ended.

The reason the World Border was destroyed again (In my fic) was because something nearly destroyed the door.

I'm going to be operating under the principle that there is another door on the other side that leads to a different set of Worlds. This is fan made. I got the idea from the words 'Another Side, Another Story'

The beam that injured MarineAngemon was Reseal's 'True Form'. I won't go into details but, like Kurashell's, it's very powerful.

More will be revealed once I figure it out.

Special Thanks:

Anime Obsessed Fan

and

Nobody

for providing me with a damn good site to get info.

SerpentTreize

For the trailer link. Thanks to all of you.