"Remind me never to go to this world ever again, Ken." said Eric.
"I second that," added Wormmon.
"I third that," Lopmon put in.
"A grand piece of technology that could benefit anyone travelling, ruined in five seconds." Ken sighed as he picked up a piece of the strange wood- like material that previously made up the Digi-Tama House. It gleamed in the light but otherwise, was seperated from the rubble that previously made up the house.
Being in a Digicore Z World had it's perks, but at times, it got wierd. At least it was in the seven years between what they termed the Vamdemon Saga, and the Majin Buu saga. Since the digimon equivilant of Majin Buu hadn't been unleashed on earth during their stay, they had somewhat of a peaceful stay. If you counted off the daily insanity that seemed to crop up around them in said world.
"Everything in this world gets destroyed, mauled or mutilated!" Sora exclaimed, frustrated as she threw up her arms in disgust. "And we had a comfy bed to sleep in until people started attacking Taichi during breakfast today!"
Everyone glared at the native Taichi, currently Hikari due to a run in with a computer screen, who sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Um, sorry?"
"Damn right you should be sorry," Lopmon growled out. He cast a glance at Shuichon who was sitting next to the Bag of Holding, thankfully out of earshot with her own Lopmon next to her. "Do you realize how much GOLD we spent on that house? We thought we could go through a few measly worlds without getting our stuff trashed! BUT NOOOOOOO!"
"Cool it," Eric said, rapping his partner on the head. "I can't say we'll have fond memories of our stuff getting mutilated in this world, Taichi, but I have to admit it was a blast."
"If you call the week 'A Blast'." Grumbled Ken. He didn't have anything that had been caught in the blast that leveled the Capsule house, but damnit, he had a soft bed for only two weeks before it was leveled!
"Aw well, it's back to the tent." said Eric. Everyone grumbled at that.
Sora sighed. "C'mon, lets get some breakfast at the nearest cafe before going home. We deserve that much at least."
===============
D3 : Digital Diaries Dimensions
Variations 1.8 : Shock to the System
written by Shaun Garin
Disclaimer : Digimon is owned by their respective companies. All rights and reservations considered. Strict useage of japanese names. Eric and the humans of the Canadian team belong to me. Lord Archive wrote the Diaries series. Static Shock is owned by WB. Ranma 1/2 is owned by Takahashi Rumiko.
===============
Slapping down a thick gold coin was the least of most people's worries. Nerima was a place where someone could get lost in, despite the numerous detours, broken roads, busted pipes that gushed cold water, rubble in place of walls and a rather high amount of holes in the shape of martial artists.
Considering it was voted the 'Most Likely place to become rubble within an hour", amidst other strange votings, Nerima usually had low property values and high insurance premiums.
As such, the owner of the small cafe barely twitched an eye but there was a speculative gleam as he sized up the thick gold coin that was set before him. "A lot of food please," Eric said, greatful that he was able to fish his D-3 out of the rubble and was undamaged. Otherwise, he would not be able to understand and speak any japanese.
The manager of the cafe nodded and soon, the travellers were seated before a large mountian of food. The Digimon drooled and stomachs rumbled from the loss of their breakfast in the ensuring collapse of the Digi-Tama House.
Ken sipped at his tea and munched on a few breakfast foods, ranging from a bowl of miso to several french pasteries that were of breakfast make. Eric buttered a scone and Sora finished off a breakfast BLT on a bagel. Both Lopmons and Wormmon, already hungry from the long night and the ensuring insanity of the morning before, ate quickly. Shuichon munched on a fresh set of apple fritters and sipped at her tea.
"We should spend like this more often," Eric said, finishing his scone and turning towards the danishes.
"We would run out of gold quickly then," Ken reasoned. "But a treat like this once or twice would be good before we left."
"It's good that we were able to discover how to control the gate," Sora said with a nod. She sipped at her tea and finished off a plate of cooked meats on toast with an egg perched atop it.
Shuichon's Lopmon sipped at a bowl of miso, careful not to drip onto his scarf. "This... cafe, as you call it, has quite the delicacies. I would be honored to eat her if ever we return due to later circumstances."
"Your japanese is improving a bit," Wormmon noted. "It's becoming more smooth and a bit more modern, if older."
"Yeah, you don't sound like a reject from Shakespeare," Eric's Lopmon joked, earning a scone tossed at his head from Shuichon's Lopmon who had a mischevious smile on his face.
"My brother, you speak your mind too much," the Deva said with an amused smile.
"Gee, I wonder who encouraged it?" Eric's Lopmon snickered, staring at his partner who feigned ignorance, muching on a slice of apple.
"We're going to have to teach English to you guys though," Eric noted. "A translator program won't be much use if our digivices are taken from us."
"That is true," Sora said. She flushed in embarrasment. "But I'm not good at english."
"I know some," Shuichon said. At the row of obsenities that emitted from her, Eric and Ken's eyes went wide and Sora blinked rapidly.
"Um," Ken said, holding up a hand to forstall the listing of english, "Shuichon-chan, where did you hear those?"
"From daddy, when he was upset." Replied Shiuchon innocently.
"Ooookay," Eric drawled out. "Shuichon, those are english obsenities. Your father probably picked them in his younger years."
Shuichon flushed red. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry," Sora said, looking a bit red at the row that came from the seven year old girl. "A lot of people learn the obsenities before continuing on with the language learning."
Breakfast went on as per follows, with the short exception of the Nerima Wrecking Crew smashing up the district around them.
================
A cool blue light flashed in a deserted part of an alleyway as the light resolved into the four travellers and their three digimon. Sora stretched as she massaged her neck. "I have a crick in my neck," she complained.
"Need a massage later?" Eric's Lopmon teased. "I think Eric wants to give you one."
Sora flushed. "Later."
Ken looked around the area and stepped out of the alleyway. "It looks safe enough."
Eric's hand folded around his D-3, ready to flick it out into a blade in an instant. "Just keep your eyes peeled. We could have wound up in Death Race 2000 or something like that."
"Death Race 2000?" Wormmon inquired.
"Stupid futuristic B-Movie," Eric clarified. "Drivers got points by killing bystanders by running them over."
Sora paled and backed up out of the road. "Well, I suppose it's not bad."
"It is still early in the day," Shuichon's Lopmon said. "We should find a place of learning, so we might discover what oddities this world holds."
"Best thing I've heard yet," Eric's Lopmon said.
"You know, you two need names, or at least one of you." commented Shuichon.
"My lady, I do not understand." said Shuichon's Lopmon.
"There are two of us," Eric's Lopmon said with folded arms. "Why not?"
"Why not I call you Loppy?" Shuichon suggested.
The newly christened Loppy sweatdropped. "Mayhap a different name?"
"Whatever Lopmon wants," Ken said, shrugging.
Sora scratched her head. "I suppose Loppy sounds fine."
Eric grinned. "How about L-Chan! L for Lopmon and Chan for cute!" He was immediately smacked by Sora and Ken, evoking a snicker from the digimon.
Sora seemed flustered at her violent responce. Apparently, Akane-Sora had rubbed off on her somewhat. Ken had long since been immune to his breaking of charecter several times during the trip. "Anything you decide should be fine, Shuichon-chan."
"I have an idea," Wormmon spoke up. "How about Jen?"
Everyone seemed startled at the fact until Shuichon said, "I like it. Makes me feel like Jen-niichan was here." She hugged her digimon to her. "I really like it."
"Jen. It's a good name," Lopmon said with a smile. "Though I'm going to have to adjust with the jokes later on." He was noogied immediately.
"Hmmm..." Eric walked over to the corner of the street looked around and scowled. "I don't recognise this place at all."
Looking around, he found a fire escape ladder. Despite protests, Eric scrambled up the fire escape and made it to the rooftop. He then ran to the edge and looked over. The canadian whistled in admiration. "Wow, this is cool."
Ken grumbled but scrambled up the ladder, followed by Shuichon and Sora. Sora had to boost Shuichon up to grab the ladder the boys neglected to unhook. Joining Eric on the top of the roof, Ken said, "Now what's going on?"
"Look, the geography is all wrong," Eric said, pointing out to the harbor that stood before them. "Edmonton doesn't have a harbor, especially one that stretches out that far. This is a huge lake, probably even one of the Great Lakes. We could be in Toronto, but I recognize some of the landscapes and the places here. And there's a distinct lack of japanese here, so unless in this world, the US took over Japan and assimilated it completely, we're either in the US or Canada."
Eric then turned and pointed out in the other direction. "There. That clocktower wasn't there before, and neither was those districts. But there's the Telus Building, and then there's Parliment Hill. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore."
"But we were not in Kansas to begin with," Wormmon reasoned.
"Haven't you seen Wizard of Oz before?" Lopmon asked curiously.
Wormmon shook his head. "Nope. Just recent movies like Star Wars Episode 1 and Lord of the Rings. That's a really old movie, isn't it?"
"Putting movies aside," Ken said. "Where in the world are we?"
"With a single guess, I can probably say that we're in a strange version of Edmonton. But don't quote me on that." answered Eric.
Suddenly, there was an explosion and smoke began to rise from a building a few blocks away. Almost instantly, there were wails of sirens. Sora's eyebrows knitted together in a frown. "That came out of nowhere. Do you think this place has terrorists?"
Suddenly, without warning, two figures came out of the sky. One was dressed in dark blue and black. His jacket had a yellow collar, and he wore a white mask with small, one way yellow goggles on his head. His shirt had a white symbol, a lightning bolt surrounded by a circle. He was also african american with messy black hair. The odd thing was that he was riding on a metal disk, powered by violet lightning that crackled with a tinge of ozone.
His partner was a white male wearing green spandex, with padding on his elbows and knees. He wore a metallic backpack, had a utility belt and wore a helmet with a green visor. His skates were the odd thing, as they burned with energy, and seemed to propell him like a harrier jet.
The pair rushed past them, and the african american and Eric's eyes met for a brief moment. Then, they were gone.
In the silence that followed, Jen asked, "May I ask if anyone of you know who they were?"
"Offhand, I'd say we've walked into Superhero central," remarked Lopmon.
"That ought to be obvious," Ken said, shaking his head. "Just when we think a world was normal."
"The black guy looked familiar in a wierd way," Eric said, frowning in thought.
"You're just seeing things," Lopmon dismissed.
"No, there was something wierd about that black teenager," Sora said, nibbling at her bottom lip in thought.
Ken's attention turned towards the smoke which had settled down, but now smoke appeared around the area that had been put out, and more fires were popping up which were being extinguished. "Hey, those fires are getting close," he said. "We should get off the roof."
"Right."
As they decended, a bird woman watched them with a small mini camera on her head, filming. Soon, the fires began to spread and she muttered to herself, "Better amscray."
=============
Static dusted off his hands as the small team of Metahuman villians were cornered and captured. "I'd say that's a job well done," Gear said from beside him.
"Yeah, but it took all of us to take them down," Static reasoned. "I think they're getting smarter."
"Ken wasn't there," Rubberband Man said, folding his arms.
Shebang shook her head. "I'm sure Ken won't stay low for long. We just busted half of the metahumans in the area."
Puff, Onyx, Hot Streak and Carmadillo gave them nasty glares as they were put into the back of a police van. Most of them were trussed up in specialized restraints designed for each of them.
As Carmadillo was rolled into the back of the police van, Timezone ran up, out of breath. "What did I miss?"
"Not much," Rubberband Man said with a smirk. "Just the battle."
Timezone glared at him for a moment before straightening up. "Lets get back to the hideout."
"Right! To the batcave!" Gear cracked before they activated their respective abilities to head back to the Gas Station. Shebang took the rooftops, Gear and Static flew with Timezone holding onto Static, and Rubberband Man curled up into a ball and bounced all the way out of sight.
A few minutes later, the returned to the Gas Station. With a crackle of electricity, the door opened. "I still say you should find some other place to hide out," Shebang said, removing her mask to reveal the face of Sora Takenouchi. The odd thing about this Sora, was that she was africian- american.
Static and Gear removed their masks as well, revealing the faces of a black Eric Stewart and a normal white James McConnell. Rubberband Man, who technically didn't have a secret identity because of his music career and subsequent previous supervillany, changed his form from a violet rubber suit to jeans, a white shirt, violet overshirt and a shock of messy violet- black hair. "We don't exactly have a budget like the Justice League," Osamu Ichijoji said, shrugging. He was the only one who retained the features of a japanese boy.
Timezone was the last to remove her mask, and Mimi Tachikawa let down her hair from the high ponytail. She was not japanese either, being a white girl. "This does prove a point though. Remember the time when Eric was captured for being Static and James had to bail him out?"
"So it was a bad move that Talon followed us," Eric snapped, sitting down at the table. Eric was a african-american boy.
"That was YESTERDAY," James deadpanned. "Cooler, Command, Root Beer." Two arms popped out of the ice, holding two Root Beer. He passed them out and gave the command twice more. "I think the others are right. We need like a batcave or the Watchtower."
"I don't think Batman is willing to spend that much money," Mimi said, sipping at her Rootbeer. "Considering we're not exactly the world protection agency, just Dakota."
"We could talk to Batman, see if he's willing to spend that much money," Eric put in. Everyone gave him the Look. Yes, the Look every mother gives their child at one time or another that said, 'Could you be any dumber?' The africian american shrugged. "Just a thought."
"It'd be like trying to pull teeth," James remarked, sipping at his Root Beer. "Speaking of which, Eric, didn't you say you know Batman's Secret Identity?"
"Yeah, spill," Sora said, folding her arms. "We wanna know."
"Do I hafta?" Eric asked, sinking into his chair. "I mean, it's Batman we're talking about. He could be listening in as we speak!"
"I don't think he's THAT paranoid," Mimi said with a shrug.
Osamu leaned on the table. "C'mon Eric, everyone in the Justice League knows each others secret identities. Why not give us some enlightenment?"
"All right, all right," Eric groused, waving his hands. "It's Taichi. Taichi Yagami, head of Yagami Enterprises."
Sora whistled. "So that's why he has all those neat toys."
"I would have been surprised if you said it was someone else," James said, rubbing his chin. "Like he was Superman's younger brother or something. But I had my finger pinned on someone that had a lot of cash flow to build all of that stuff."
Mimi made a dismissive snort. "The only other wealthy industrialists in the area are Oikawa and Lex Luthor. And we know those two are pretty much bad to the bone."
Eric sighed, rolled his eyes and looked at his watch. "Aw man, I gotta split. There's homework to be done."
"Whey don't you stay here and do it?" James offered. "I could finish it for you."
"Thanks, but dad said if I bomb another test for any reason, he'll ground me until I'm twenty three. And if James does my homework, I won't bother to look at it before I hand it in."
Everyone winced. Since Eric's superhero gig began, his grades had been going downhill, or at least unsteady in the best possible senario. He had begun before everyone else, and spent hours and hours on patrol when he did not have homework. His dad could be quite strict when it came to school. "Ouch," said Osamu. "Then we'll see you later."
Eric nodded as he grabbed his backpack. "Later." Then, he was gone, slamming the door behind him.
=============
"That'll be five seventy five." said the lady at the front of the counter.
Eric dug into his pants pockets and coughed up the remaining amount of his canadian cash. He mentally made a note to get Lopmon to dig the slowly dwindling sack of gold out of the Bag of Holding. Taking his food, the woman looked at him curiously. "Haven't I seen you before?"
"Um, nope, don't think so." said Eric, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. He took his food and walked over to where Ken, Sora, Shuichon and the three Digimon sat. He set down his food, handing one of the large foil wrapped burgers to his Lopmon who eagerly opened the foil.
Taking his own burger in hand, Sora stared. "What kind of burger is that?"
"Beef, why?" Eric replied, taking a huge bite, and wiping his lips with a napkin. Grease dripped down to the foil that lay under it.
"It's so greasy," Sora said, looking a bit ill. She then looked at her own Mandarin Chicken salad that she had. Shuichon had discovered McWonder Chicken Nuggets and with the money given to her, had ordered a dozen. Ken had preferred to get one of the remaining breakfast items, his half eaten breakfast burrito laying on the paper wrap before him as it contained less grease than the McWonder burgers.
"I suppose," said Eric, shrugging, taking another bite. "Though," he added thickly "I haven't eaten McWonder stuff for ages. Not since finding out I was slowly dying a few months ago."
"Eating that stuff, it's no wonder you were dying," Ken joked, earning an evil eye from the Canadian.
Eric glared at him, but smiled and shook his head, a few chuckles escaping him. "Ah, yes. Poking fun at my near demise. Good times."
"If you can call it that," Sora said, remembering the few brushes with death the trio had along the way.
Shuichon fed another Nugget to Jen and said, "Eric-oniisan, why do you laugh at your own death?"
Eric smiled, albeit sadly. "Because it's the only way. If I can't laugh at almost dying in the line of duty, I would become dark, brooding and someone that isn't me."
"Is that why the whole lot of you are quote 'insane maniacs'?" Asked Ken, making quotation fingermarks, something he picked up from being around Eric and Lopmon for a very long time. "Because you guys are NEVER serious."
"Pretty much," said Eric, finishing his burger with three massive bites. Sucking down orange soda, he swallowed hard. "You see, we've seen and heard the stories from other teams. Teams like Germany, Texas, and other places. Even Odaiba has their brooders. A group of us who met one day, made a pact. 'Always smile. Never become brooding, dark and depressed. Even when one of us dies, keep smiling. Promise us, to never let yourself die inside.'"
"Who exactly made the pact with you?" asked Sora, amazed that chosen like her could remain themselves after trying events and times.
"Melbourne Florida, Philippines Estancia Team, Puerto Rico... we're thinking of convincing France's team to take the pact...." Eric sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It's hard, to keep cheerful. I think Renamon said it best one day, after a late night meeting."
"And that is?" asked Jen from his seat on Shuichon's lap.
Eric smiled. "'I want my journey.... to be full of laughter.... never forget who you are, or who you are becoming. This is your story.... lets see it through till the end.'"
"Sounds cheesy," added Lopmon. "But it's true. A chosen's life can be full of pain. But it can be full of laughter, fun, happiness.... and filled with people whom you care about."
"So.... a method to the madness," said Wormmon said thoughtfully. "Has there been any time that there has been false laughter?"
"Sometimes, during tough times, when we crack jokes," Lopmon admitted. "But we have the ability to laugh. Laugh even in the face of death. If we can die laughing, remembering the good times, we'll be happy."
A long pause. For a bit, there was only the sound of patrons around them. Then, Shuichon said, "Eric-oniisan? I... want to laugh too. Laugh, for the memory of Jen-oniichan, Takato-oniichan and Ruki-oneechan."
"So do I," said Sora with a smile. "It's been a long journey, and honestly I don't think it's over yet. I need to laugh too... and remember where I came from."
Ken sighed. "I don't know...."
Eric frowned, propping his fists under his elbows, his eyes going wide and round. "Please, Ken? Do it for me?"
Ken quite literally recoiled. "DUDE!" He exclaimed, using one of Eric's expressions. "Don't do the puppy dog eyes!"
Sora and Shuichon laughed and Eric stepped out of Uber-kawaii mode. The canadian grinned and laughed. Ken eased out of his recoil and laughed quietly, rubbing the back of his head. Even the Digimon joined in, though their laughter was much more subdued. Even though the other resturant patrons were giving them glares for being too loud, the laughter died down.
Eric sighed, slumping into his seat. "Aaaaah," he sighed, grinning from ear to ear. A twinkle in his eye could be seen. "I'm glad you know how to laugh, Ken. I'd have to go with plan B instead."
"What's plan B?" asked Shuichon, a mischevious look in her eyes.
"It involves really loud forced laughter so that half a block can hear you," Lopmon said, grinning, holding up a hand. "First of all..."
"Okay, I get the picture," Ken said, grinning. "From those Final Fantasy games, right? Ten, right?"
"Yep," said Lopmon. "You've played it?"
"V-mon introduced the Playstation 2 to Wormmon," Ken said as the little worm blushed, embarrased.
"I'm trying to get Ken-chan to buy one," Wormmon admitted.
"We could pick one up here, but that's just a waste of Gold," said Lopmon. "Eric still needs to update his old PSOne to the PS2. I'm getting tired of playing FF9 all the time, and having to go to Hikaru's to play the PS2."
Eric sighed. "Lopmon, I said I'll get a PS2 when Kingdom Hearts 2 comes out, okay?"
"But that's like..." Lopmon counted on his fingers. "All the way in August or September! I can't wait that long!"
"Deal with it," Eric said. "I don't have the money right now."
"Besides," Wormmon pointed out to his distraught friend. "It could be November when we get there."
Lopmon's eyes lit up. "Yeah! Eric's birthday is in November! I could get Kingdom Hearts 2 and FFX-2!"
The pair of digimon looked at each other, pumping a hand or claw into the air. "FFX-2! W00T!"
Wormmon then turned a grin towards Lopmon. "Well, you have to wait. I already played it."
"Bastard," Lopmon replied, but he was grinning.
"Eric, you've corrupted Wormmon," Ken said, smirking.
"Corrpted hell. That was V-mon's doing." Eric retorted.
"Then where'd he learn to use Internet Lingo?" asked Ken.
Eric shrugged. "Piro and Largo?"
Ken shuddered at the thought. "The last thing I need is for Wormmon to try and overclock himself."
Eric laughed hard as Sora and Shuichon giggled. Ken sighed as he recalled the memory. It had been a simple enough world, but the digimon had gotten seperated during what appeared to be a Rent-a-zilla attack. The giant Rent- a-zilla which looked somewhat like an oversized V-mon was stomping around downtown Tokyo.
The trio of digimon had encountered the pair, known as Piro and Largo. But to them, they looked like Ken and Eric. Ken was undoubtably Piro, as he was softer, more gentle. And he looked more innocent from his younger years. Eric on the other hand, seemed more crazed, and spoke in a funny language while dodging who he called the Zombie Queen. The aformentioned Zombie Queen was Hikari, if she had gone all gothic in their world. Then there was Eric and Ken's friends from the States, Carter and Koushiro. One worked for Sony, the other one for some other rival company that Ken hadn't discovered due to the Rent-a-zilla smashing downtown. Both carried guns for some odd reason. Well, one handgun, the other, a high powered shotgun. Or two.
Adding to the chaos was the girl known as Mimi, a PS2 Accessory Doll, built for Dating Simulation games, Miyako, a girl who worked at an Anna Millers and was a voice actress, and her friend Sora who was older, and a bit more jaded than their Sora. Finally rounding out the situation was Raine, a school girl who was japanese in that world, and had been somewhat in love with Ken for a while. Two others, Culumon and Yami Raine, who prefered to be called Yamitsu in that world, were Ken and Eric's conciences. Yamitsu worked for Ken while Culumon unsucessfully tried to help Eric.
That encounter left Wormmon and both Lopmons speaking a lot of l33t having become l33t themselves by the hand of Largo-Eric. For some reason, the internet language had become something of a speakable language in the world. Eric, Ken, Sora and Shuichon had to learn l33t themselves to understand their digimon for a few worlds afterwards. Fortunately, they had un-l33ted themselves and were now back to normal. Relatively.
"I think everyone is looking at us," said Sora, feeling embarrased at the looks they were getting.
Eric switched to l33t speak and lowered his voice. "I think when we talk about stuff pertaining to other universes, we should at least speak l33t or Al Bhed."
The others nodded as Eric pulled out a small navy blue notebook and pulled out a pen. Ken leaned over and said, "Making notes on this world?"
"Yeah," Eric said. "It's good to keep a journal when you start world hopping." He then made a note. "Date Unknown, hopped into a superhero world."
"So, how many worlds do we have here?" Sora asked.
Eric started to recite the worlds. "Lets see. Starting from the beginning, there was the alternate world of ours, and then the alternate world of the first Odaiba adventure. Then, there was Bubblegum Digimon, Digi-Earth, The Digimon Frontier, Dark Tamers, Shaman King, Digicore Z, Megatokyo, Final Fantasy X and Taichi 1/2. I've got notes on everyone that we met in that world."
Sora leaned over and read an entry. "Day ??, World, Megatokyo. I thought I had seen everything. But Megatokyo is wierder than I thought." She then looked at Eric, smirking. "You call that an entry?"
"Turn the page," suggested Eric.
Sora did so and blinked at the huge amount of notes on that world, including l33t pronounciation, how to handle high powered weaponry, and the un-l33tification process. "Okay, that is a lot."
Ken wadded up the wrappers of his breakfast burrito and finished the rest of his drink. "We should get going," said Ken. "No sence hanging around this place too long."
==============
"Those them?" Ebon asked, pointing down the street where the small group were headed to. The Metabreed stood on top of a building, watching the small group as they exited the McWonder.
"Yeah," said Talon. "Those four just appeared out of nowhere. Metahumans perhaps?"
"Maybe," said Ebon, rubbing his shadowed chin. He then peered at the group and he froze. "Osamu?"
"Where?" Talon looked over the edge and noticed a boy with long violet hair. He was speaking animatedly to the other three, a boy and two girls. "He does look like your brother, Ebon."
"Yeah, and the girl there is Takenouchi!" Shiv exclaimed, pounding a fist into his open palm. "I'd recognise that hair anywhere, even if it was longer!"
"That's because you keep getting pounded by her," remarked Kangorr with a smirk.
Shiv snarled. "Hey, she's got superhuman strength! Not easy dealing with that." One of his hands turned into a light energy blade. "I should go down and lop her head off right now!" With that, Shiv leapt from the rooftop.
Talon shook her head. "Lets go get Shiv before he gets himself arrested again." She then flew down, followed by a reluctant Ebon and Kangorr.
=============
"SURPRISE!" Crowed Shiv as he sliced downwards with his light energy blades.
The group, long since used to surprise attacks, leapt out of the way. Shiv pressed his advantage, heading for Takenouchi who was forced to dive out of the way of his attacks. "What's the matter, Shebang?" Shiv taunted. "Afraid to use your powers in the middle of public?"
"What powers?" Sora protested, getting to her feet. She reached behind her and pulled her sword and Ken's from the Bag of Holding she wore on her back. Tossing one of them to Ken, she held out the weapon in a fighting stance.
Shiv smirked nastily. "Going to play swordwoman on me? All right! En guarde!" Shiv elongated his blades into two longswords and leapt at Sora. Sora parried two strikes and rolled under his legs, delivering a kick to Shiv's backside. Shiv was surprised for a moment that his weapons had not pierced the swords Sora held, but shrugged it off as a new technology.
Meanwhile, Eric hung back, protecting Shuichon as Ken was confronted by Ebon who was staring the younger Ichijoji down. Kangorr leapt high into the air and brought both tremendous feet down on the ground. The impact carved up a fissure in the earth and Shuichon and Eric dodged to the sides.
Shuichon rolled to her feet, long experienced in the art of duck and cover. But she came right up close to Talon who smirked and said, "Nice day, ain't it?" She then screamed, a shockwave knocking the little girl backwards into the wall.
"Shuichon!" Jen exclaimed in horror. When Shuichon only moaned in responce, there was a flash of light and Antiramon towered over Talon. "You hurt my partner!" Jen shouted angrily. Talon was then forced to dodge wildly as axes formed on Jen's hands and he slashed at her angrily.
"What's the matter, man? Can't deal with a Meta-human like myself?" Kangorr taunted as Eric dodged from one of his powerful kicks.
Eric came out of his diving roll and smirked. "I'd be more worried where you can find socks that big."
Kangorr didn't reply, but merely slammed his foot against the pavement, creating another fissure. Eric moved to dodge but his foot caught on the crack. With a thud, he landed on the ground in pain. "Ow."
Ken stared down Ebon as the pair circled around each other. "You seem different from my brother," Ebon remarked, a scowl marking his shadowed features.
"You seem familiar to me," Ken said, one hand curled around the hilt of his sword. Though he suspected it wouldn't do much good against a living shadow. "Why don't you tell me who you are?"
"Fair enough. I am Ebon, leader of the Metabreed."
"Ken Ichijoji," Ken replied mockingly. Inwardly, he wondered where he picked up the talent for in battle mockery.
Ebon's eyes widened in surprise. "How can that be possible? I AM KEN ICHIJOJI!"
Ken narrowed his eyes in thought. So the version of himself was still a villian. "I don't want to fight you," Ken said, sheathing his sword. "You still have a chance to become good."
Ebon's laughter was cold. "I've always taken care of myself since mom and dad died. I took care of Osamu, and he turned hero on me. Face it. You're staring at what you could have become."
"Or something that I have already, and have defeated before," Ken replied firmly.
Ebon snarled. "Enough talk!" He rose into the sky and screamed angrily. Suddenly, an egg of digitial information wrapped around his body, reforming the Metahuman into something more powerful.
And with a tremendous crash, Duskmon walked the earth once again.
=============
"What's up, James?" asked Eric, running up behind James. The genius stood in a back alleyway near the school. Sora and Mimi ran up behind James and from the top of the rooftops, Osamu bounced to a stop, looking down.
"Metahuman alert. I think one of them has gone Beta too." reported James, his Backpack machine giving him readouts. "We should suit up and prepare for a big fight if one or more of them goes Beta."
"Great, another Beta," grumbled Sora, suiting up by essencially peeling her clothing off, revealing the red and violet skintight outfit. Pulling her cape from her own backpack, she tied it on and pulled her mask over her face. "The last time we dealt with a Beta, Hot Streak turned into a human torch and leveled a good portion of the warehouse district."
"It can't be helped," James said, already in his skintight green outfit. Slapping his helmet on and pulling on his skates, he let Backpack crawl onto his back. "Something in the Bang Baby Gas is triggering these advanced evolutions. It's wierd, because it's nothing I've ever seen before."
"Who ever said Bang Baby Gas had to be normal?" Mimi said, putting her hair up in the high ponytail.
"She's got you there," Eric pointed out, pulling on his own mask and pulling out his disk. Expanding it with a flick of his wrist and a jolt of electricity, he jumped on, letting Mimi get on beside him.
In a burst of electricity and a flaring of skates, the group was off with Rubberband Man bouncing along as fast as he could.
Along the way, they noticed a distinct signiture of metahuman capability. Several lamposts were toppled along with the pavement uprooted. There were craters and debrie littering the road, and the occasional razor sharp cut gouged into the sidewalk.
"Looks like we're dealing with the Metabreed," remarked Rubberband Man as he bounced over a paticularly large crater, dug out by a sonic blast.
"Or at least two gangs," remarked Gear, checking the remains of a mailbox. It was sliced into quarters. "There's a hell of a lot of destruction along the way. You think we could have two Betas on hand?"
"God lets hope not," replied Shebang as she made an impressive jump across the canyon made by the buildings. "Last thing we need is two Betas on the rampage."
Timezone made a face. "Lets hurry."
After a minute and a half of flying, running and bouncing, the group crested a building, just in time to dodge a blast of crimson energies. "Looks like the party started without us," Static quipped, cracking his knuckles.
Gear let Backpack off and the little machine fed him readouts. "One Beta Class Metahuman confirmed... wait..." Gear looked down and his jaw dropped. "Um, make that three Beta class and a Gamma Class."
"GAMMA CLASS?!" The crimefighters exclaimed in shock.
"Yeah, and it looks like the Gamma Class is winning!" added Gear.
Down below, the fight raged on. Duskmon had taken his swords to Jen as the Deva parried and slashed in a deadly dance that made most manslayer styles look like childsplay. Wormmon and Lopmon had evolved, circling around to protect the others. Stingmon fended off one of Shiv's light blades as he kicked him into the nearby lamppost, only to get slammed into the wall by Talon's sonic scream.
Wendigomon took on Kangorr in an old variation of bait and slam. Essencially, Wendigomon would shoot out one of his Club Arms, and when Kangorr came close enough, he would swing his other fist. Often than not, the fighting style made it easier to defend himself against Kangorr's tremendously muscled feet.
Duskmon parried two strikes, and cried out as he was struck from behind by a bolt of electrical power. "Someone forgot to invite us to the party!" exclaimed Static as he dropped down to the ground, flanked by the other Superhero Alphas.
"STATIC!" Duskmon shouted. "You have wasted my time for the last! Duskmon Gamma Mode!"
With a flash of light, Duskmon changed from a humanoid eye warrior to a pterodactyl like creature with a cry of "Velgmon!". The other members of the Metabreed nodded to each other and leapt backwards to get some room.
"Talon Beta Mode!" Talon curled up and exploded into feathers, revealing a bird woman who was very familiar to the travellers. "Harpymon! Talon Gamma Mode!" Harpymon shot upwards and came down as an armored woman with wings and sharp claws. "Shutumon!"
"Kangorr Beta Mode!" Kangorr stomped the ground and it exploded around him. When the dust settled, a large kangaroo digimon stood in his place, boxing gloves at the ready. "Kangaroomon!"
Shiv sighed but slammed his hand into the ground. "Shiv Beta Mode!" Light exploded around him and when it faded, a woman in golden armor and a red headdress stood. "D'Arcmon.... god I hate my Beta Mode."
Rubberband Man's eyes widened. "We're out of our league here. Static?"
"Right. Shebang, Gear, Timezone, get the kids out of here. Rubberband Man and I will handle the Betas and Gammas." Static charged his hands with electrical power. "You up for this, Osamu?"
Rubberband Man nodded, casting a glance at the kids who had their strange monsters at the ready. "As ready as ever."
"Right. Static Beta Mode!"
"Rubberband Man Beta Mode!"
The ground around Rubberband Man exploded outwards in ice as he was covered with a sheet of ice and snow. The sun hit him and he melted into a 5 foot tall snow bear who then wrenched a weapon out of the frozen ground. "Chakkumon!"
Static held up his hand and electrical power coursed through his body, reforming the superhero. With an electric discharge and a slamming of fists together, armor formed out of lightning, forming a bulky digimon with a beetle motif. "Blitzmon!"
"Chakkumon, get D'Arcmon and Kangaroomon. I'll deal with the two Gammas." said Blitzmon.
Behind them, Eric blinked twice and said, "This is really odd." He then pulled out the notebook. "Metahumans can change into digimon," he wrote down while speaking. "Now that is out of the picture, what's say we go help those nice superheros?"
"Like we have a choice?" Ken replied dryly. "Go for it Stingmon!"
"I'm all over them!" Stingmon shouted, barreling into Kangaroomon. Wendigomon followed quickly behind him with a yell of "SPOON!"
"Are you all right, Shuichon?" Jen asked, kneeling beside Shuichon who coughed up a bit of blood.
"I'm fine," she replied, wiping her mouth. "It just hit hard."
Sora knelt beside Shuichon and pulled out a small bag. She looked inside it and grimaced. "There's only a half a Digi-bean left. Ken?"
"Let her take it," Ken said, his eyes following the battle. "I'd rather not anyone else get a hand on the Digi-beans back home or anywhere else."
Sora nodded and gave the bean to Shuichon. The girl crunched on it, and grimaced. "They still taste bad."
"I know, but it cannot be helped," replied Sora, handing the girl a cold drink from the recesses of the Bag of Holding. "Are you feeling better now?"
Shuichon nodded. She then got to her feet as Jen stood up and held out his hand. "Shall we?" the Deva inquired. "To stop the fighting quickly?"
"Yes. Matrix Evolution!"
"Antiramon Evolve!" In a flash of pink light, the pair merged and Cherubimon towered over the group. "Cherubimon!"
Gear's Backpack whined and beeped rapidly. Gear's jaw dropped as he saw the towering Angel Digimon. "That's an Omega! Shit!"
Velgmon blinked and paled. "Omega? Uh oh."
"I dunno about you guys," D'Arcmon said, taking to the air, "But I'm ready to bail. What about you, Velgmon?"
"Yes, you're right. Lets go." Velgmon melted into the shadows as D'Arcmon and Shutumon took to the air, Kangaroomon hopping away as fast as possible.
Blitzmon and Chakkumon landed and Chakkumon whistled. "So that is an Omega Class. It's pretty big."
"Yeah," Blitzmon replied. "Blitzmon Power Down." Electricity crackled around him as the armor faded into Static who moaned and sank to one knee.
"Chakkumon Power Down." Rubberband Man groaned and slumped against a doorway.
"You guys okay?" Shebang asked hurridly as she she trained a sensor on them. Gear and Timezone helped the pair to their feet.
"Yeah, just could really go for a triple decker burger right about now," replied Static. He then looked at the quartet of travellers. With the help of the others, he made his way over and stuck out a hand. "Thanks, for all your help."
"No problem," Lopmon interrupted quickly. "Name's Lopmon, and this is my sidekick Eric."
"I'm cutting you off the coffee," retorted Eric, holding out his hand. Static had a big eyed expression on his face and Eric blinked. "Something the matter?"
"I'll say there's something the matter," Gear said. "Static, when was the last time you checked your family tree? I'm sure there's nothing in your family history for a White you."
"Wait a second... I thought you looked familiar!" Shebang said, walking up to Sora. "You're me!"
There was a collective blink. Then, the sirens could be heard in the distance. "Um, we should get back to your Bat-cave or something," said Ken. "Those sirens are getting close."
"Right," said Eric as Lopmon hopped of his head. In a flash, Wendigomon was hoisting the two tired out Superheros onto his back. "Lead the way."
"Head towards the Hospital. We'll drop Static and Rubberband Man off at the Metahuman treatment center." said Shebang. "Standard procedure for superheros who have gone Beta."
==============
"Ebon? I brought food."
"Leave me alone."
Talon put down the food and walked out of the hideout room. Shiv looked up at Talon who sat down and started picking at her own stolen food. "Ebon's still in a funk, eh? Give him some time."
"I think it's more than that man," replied Kangorr, folding his arms. "He seemed to be affected by whatever that kid with the violet hair said."
"Feh. How would you know, Carlos?" Shiv was then slammed against the desk hard as Kangorr snarled.
"Carlos is dead! He died three years ago in the Big Bang! Got that?"
"Carlos, hold up." Carlos gave Talon a glare but the bird woman folded her arms derisively. "Why can't you go and visit Pedro? He obviously misses you."
"I told you. I died in that explosion, and came out something else." Carlos kicked the wall angrily. The wall crumbled under the impact of his boot. "You know how it is, Hunter! Giving up our humanity for powers that no one else wants! God I'd like to go see him, tell him I'm sorry.... but times changed. And I'm Kangorr now. Not Carlos, not the brother of Pedro, just Kangorr."
"And how do you think I feel?" Hunter retorted. "I lost my own family. Thrown out of the house because I was a freak of nature."
"Hey hey, lets all settle down here, okay?" Shiv said, holding out his hands. "Even I know when it's getting personal."
"So what is your real name anyways, Shiv?" asked Hunter. "You have the same looks as you did when we picked you up three years ago for the Metabreed."
Shiv scowled but said, "My name is Rene. Rene LaSalle. I was a kid from a well off family, but they disowned me when I developed Metahuman powers. What those powers did to me, well..." Rene formed a light blade and slashed the table into halves. "You can see for yourself."
Hunter looked over to where Ebon was resting in the darkness of the other room. "He sure is taking a long time regaining his strength."
==============
'Ken.....'
'Ken.....'
'Wake up Ichijoji....'
'Who are you?'
'A friend.....'
'I have no friends....'
'Oh? Then perhaps you want power instead? Power, and the chance to survive on your own, to be known as the most powerful Metahuman ever?'
'Maybe....'
'Come now.... let me show you what I can do....'
===============
The door slammed shut as Ebon strode out. The Metabreed stood up, watching their leader. "Ebon?" Talon asked. "Are you feeling all right?"
Ebon chuckled, crimson eyes flashing. "Of course I am."
"Good... then, are you up for robbing a couple of banks then?" Shiv asked.
"No.... I have a better idea...."
===============
The small gas station was alight with activity that evening as the superheros had all given up their identities to make things easier on all of the people present. There had been some strange interaction amidst the pair of Soras' but the whole story of them being from another world had been readily accepted.
Mimi and Sora were relatively normal, if you discounted that the native Sora was a genetic experiment from birth and Mimi could control time. Ken personally thought it was something of an overkill ability.
James was an amazing blur of movement at the computer, startling Ken who had remained at the hideout and Eric who had gone with Static and Rubberband Man to the Hospital to keep an eye on him. From what Ken remembered of James, James loved nature a bit too much, to the point of hating computers with a passion. But this James was rather accustomed to the computer keyboard, and had the intelligance to create some incredible things such as Backpack and his weaponry.
Right now, James sat at his terminal, having scanned most of the city. "There's no Metahuman activity anywhere," he reported after wheeling back in his chair and stretching his back. Getting up, he picked up his helmet and set it aside so it would not fall off the armrest.
"That's good at least," said Sora, or Shebang as she called herself in that world. "We don't need someone else stepping in while our Beta capable Teammates are out of comission."
"But it's too quiet right now," James pointed out. "I don't think we'll hear from the Metabreed any time soon, but there's still a few more Metahumans out there."
"Not everyone can make trouble in the same day," said Sora, resting a hand on James' shoulder.
James smiled and nodded. "Yes, you're right."
Wormmon sat on the table, tapping at Backpack who was chattering in it's own clicking language. "You're so different from the James we know," Wormmon said.
"How different is your James?" asked Mimi, sitting down at the table.
Ken chuckled. "James is a biologist, loves everything green. He absolutely hates cars and technology. It's a shock, changing from world to world and seeing various people as they are."
James shrugged. "My dad is a scientist. He works for Yagami Enterprises. You know him?" James asked, addressing Ken and Sora's surprised expression.
"The leader of this Company is Taichi Yagami?" asked Sora.
Shebang nodded. "Yeah. Taichi Yagami is the head of Yagami Enterprises. He's also Batman."
"That's a first," said Wormmon.
Shuichon thought to the various Taichi's she had met and said, "Batman?"
"Batman is like ninja in a bat costume," said Shebang. "He's a really good fighter and has no special powers. Eric said that all of his weaponry comes from research and funding."
"A normal human, doing things that superheros do." Wormmon looked at James and shrugged. "It doesn't seem too far off the block."
===============
Eric Stewart looked up from where the door closed. But there was no one in sight. A quick, 'psst' was heard and a familiar brown haired boy stood up, grinning foolishly. "Hey me. How's life?"
"Better," the superhero replied. "Thanks for keeping them from removing my mask. Wouldn't want pops to figure out his son is a metahuman."
Eric sat down, pulling the chair in front of himself and straddling it. "Who is your father anyhow?"
"He's the best pop I could have. His name is Sean. My mom, well, she died, during the Dakota Riots five years ago. She was the best mom ever. Name was Yamitsu."
Eric blinked in surprise. "I know a Sean. The Yamitsu sounds close enough to someone else's name I know."
"I wouldn't be surprised." Native Eric chuckled. "Hey, I can't keep calling ourselves by our own name all the time. Feels wierd."
"I'll call you Static from now on, or V-man."
"V-man?" the newly christened V-man asked curiously.
"It's from my world."
The conversation lapsed into an awkward silence. "So," Eric asked, "do you play video games?"
"Not enough time," Static replied. "Superheroing takes a lot more time than you think. There's only so much one can do. I do go out to the arcade, but I don't own any systems."
"But you have a team, right? Couldn't they cover for you?"
Static sat up in his bed and scratched at a spot behind his mask. "As much as I trust them with my life, it's hard, Eric. Rubberband Man and I have been the most experienced Metahuman superheros. The only superheros for three years. It's a miracle that we discovered the Beta Metahuman Form three months ago against Hot Streak. He turned into a flaming man and torched a good portion of the city."
"Those metahuman forms. Why do you call them Betas?"
"No real reason. It was a term Gear used a while ago and it kinda stuck. Now everyone refers to normal Metahumans as Alphas while Betas are stronger forms. Ebon and Talon could gain even more power and become Gammas. As for your friends Omega, well, I'm glad no one has that kind of power."
Eric kept silent. He knew that anything could be possible.
And his fears were answered when a building in the distance came crumbling down in a tremendous explosion.
==============
"We have Metahumans on the move, and they just demolished the Hopsner building!" Shebang exclaimed, running into the room.
"Damnit," James exclaimed, slapping his fist onto the monitor. "My camera in that area went down. But Backpack did manage to get some readings. Looks like a bunch of them. And I think they're all Betas."
"The Metabreed maybe?" Mimi asked, hovering over James's shoulder.
"It's possible, but how could they recover so quickly? And so soon too? The Beta Transformation drains metahumans to the point of exhaustion and hospitalization in the Metahuman ward." James rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "I'm worried. With Osamu and Eric down...."
Ken sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I'll go. I have a Beta with me. It shouldn't be too hard."
"What if they upgrade into Gammas?" asked James, spinning around in his chair. "You know the danger."
"I'm used to danger," Ken replied, standing up. Wormmon hopped into his arms.
"Wait. I'll go along too," said Shebang, reaching for her mask.
"And me." The others looked at Shuichon who had a determined expression on her face. It was a bit fierce, but full of courage. "I have what you call an Omega. I can end the fight quickly if possible."
"All right. We'll keep in touch from here," said James, returning to his computer hook ups.
=============
"Ebon, I think that was a bit too far," said Harpymon, only to get pushed into the arms of D'Arcmon. "hey, what's with the attitude?"
"This is just a warm up," replied Duskmon. He ejected a crimson blade from his arm and swung it in a wide arc. A crimson blast shot out and leveled a small building on the opposite side of the road. "Ah... feels good just to stretch my powers."
The Metabreed exchanged nervous glances. "Since when did Ebon just 'stretch his powers'?" inquired D'arcmon, voicing their combined opinions. A bullet then suddenly whizzed by Duskmon's face.
"Freeze punk!" proclaimed a detective, the leader of policemen who had set up a barracade. They held guns and random other weaponry donated by the local Superhero force to hold down Alpha level Metahumans. Many of the officers looked rather worried at facing four Beta class Metahumans. "Dakota Police Department! You have the right to remain silent! If you refuse the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law!"
"Oh look, a gnat," remarked Duskmon dryly. His expression turned sinister as his eyes flared red. "How utterly doomed. GEIST ABEND!"
"I second that," added Wormmon.
"I third that," Lopmon put in.
"A grand piece of technology that could benefit anyone travelling, ruined in five seconds." Ken sighed as he picked up a piece of the strange wood- like material that previously made up the Digi-Tama House. It gleamed in the light but otherwise, was seperated from the rubble that previously made up the house.
Being in a Digicore Z World had it's perks, but at times, it got wierd. At least it was in the seven years between what they termed the Vamdemon Saga, and the Majin Buu saga. Since the digimon equivilant of Majin Buu hadn't been unleashed on earth during their stay, they had somewhat of a peaceful stay. If you counted off the daily insanity that seemed to crop up around them in said world.
"Everything in this world gets destroyed, mauled or mutilated!" Sora exclaimed, frustrated as she threw up her arms in disgust. "And we had a comfy bed to sleep in until people started attacking Taichi during breakfast today!"
Everyone glared at the native Taichi, currently Hikari due to a run in with a computer screen, who sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Um, sorry?"
"Damn right you should be sorry," Lopmon growled out. He cast a glance at Shuichon who was sitting next to the Bag of Holding, thankfully out of earshot with her own Lopmon next to her. "Do you realize how much GOLD we spent on that house? We thought we could go through a few measly worlds without getting our stuff trashed! BUT NOOOOOOO!"
"Cool it," Eric said, rapping his partner on the head. "I can't say we'll have fond memories of our stuff getting mutilated in this world, Taichi, but I have to admit it was a blast."
"If you call the week 'A Blast'." Grumbled Ken. He didn't have anything that had been caught in the blast that leveled the Capsule house, but damnit, he had a soft bed for only two weeks before it was leveled!
"Aw well, it's back to the tent." said Eric. Everyone grumbled at that.
Sora sighed. "C'mon, lets get some breakfast at the nearest cafe before going home. We deserve that much at least."
===============
D3 : Digital Diaries Dimensions
Variations 1.8 : Shock to the System
written by Shaun Garin
Disclaimer : Digimon is owned by their respective companies. All rights and reservations considered. Strict useage of japanese names. Eric and the humans of the Canadian team belong to me. Lord Archive wrote the Diaries series. Static Shock is owned by WB. Ranma 1/2 is owned by Takahashi Rumiko.
===============
Slapping down a thick gold coin was the least of most people's worries. Nerima was a place where someone could get lost in, despite the numerous detours, broken roads, busted pipes that gushed cold water, rubble in place of walls and a rather high amount of holes in the shape of martial artists.
Considering it was voted the 'Most Likely place to become rubble within an hour", amidst other strange votings, Nerima usually had low property values and high insurance premiums.
As such, the owner of the small cafe barely twitched an eye but there was a speculative gleam as he sized up the thick gold coin that was set before him. "A lot of food please," Eric said, greatful that he was able to fish his D-3 out of the rubble and was undamaged. Otherwise, he would not be able to understand and speak any japanese.
The manager of the cafe nodded and soon, the travellers were seated before a large mountian of food. The Digimon drooled and stomachs rumbled from the loss of their breakfast in the ensuring collapse of the Digi-Tama House.
Ken sipped at his tea and munched on a few breakfast foods, ranging from a bowl of miso to several french pasteries that were of breakfast make. Eric buttered a scone and Sora finished off a breakfast BLT on a bagel. Both Lopmons and Wormmon, already hungry from the long night and the ensuring insanity of the morning before, ate quickly. Shuichon munched on a fresh set of apple fritters and sipped at her tea.
"We should spend like this more often," Eric said, finishing his scone and turning towards the danishes.
"We would run out of gold quickly then," Ken reasoned. "But a treat like this once or twice would be good before we left."
"It's good that we were able to discover how to control the gate," Sora said with a nod. She sipped at her tea and finished off a plate of cooked meats on toast with an egg perched atop it.
Shuichon's Lopmon sipped at a bowl of miso, careful not to drip onto his scarf. "This... cafe, as you call it, has quite the delicacies. I would be honored to eat her if ever we return due to later circumstances."
"Your japanese is improving a bit," Wormmon noted. "It's becoming more smooth and a bit more modern, if older."
"Yeah, you don't sound like a reject from Shakespeare," Eric's Lopmon joked, earning a scone tossed at his head from Shuichon's Lopmon who had a mischevious smile on his face.
"My brother, you speak your mind too much," the Deva said with an amused smile.
"Gee, I wonder who encouraged it?" Eric's Lopmon snickered, staring at his partner who feigned ignorance, muching on a slice of apple.
"We're going to have to teach English to you guys though," Eric noted. "A translator program won't be much use if our digivices are taken from us."
"That is true," Sora said. She flushed in embarrasment. "But I'm not good at english."
"I know some," Shuichon said. At the row of obsenities that emitted from her, Eric and Ken's eyes went wide and Sora blinked rapidly.
"Um," Ken said, holding up a hand to forstall the listing of english, "Shuichon-chan, where did you hear those?"
"From daddy, when he was upset." Replied Shiuchon innocently.
"Ooookay," Eric drawled out. "Shuichon, those are english obsenities. Your father probably picked them in his younger years."
Shuichon flushed red. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry," Sora said, looking a bit red at the row that came from the seven year old girl. "A lot of people learn the obsenities before continuing on with the language learning."
Breakfast went on as per follows, with the short exception of the Nerima Wrecking Crew smashing up the district around them.
================
A cool blue light flashed in a deserted part of an alleyway as the light resolved into the four travellers and their three digimon. Sora stretched as she massaged her neck. "I have a crick in my neck," she complained.
"Need a massage later?" Eric's Lopmon teased. "I think Eric wants to give you one."
Sora flushed. "Later."
Ken looked around the area and stepped out of the alleyway. "It looks safe enough."
Eric's hand folded around his D-3, ready to flick it out into a blade in an instant. "Just keep your eyes peeled. We could have wound up in Death Race 2000 or something like that."
"Death Race 2000?" Wormmon inquired.
"Stupid futuristic B-Movie," Eric clarified. "Drivers got points by killing bystanders by running them over."
Sora paled and backed up out of the road. "Well, I suppose it's not bad."
"It is still early in the day," Shuichon's Lopmon said. "We should find a place of learning, so we might discover what oddities this world holds."
"Best thing I've heard yet," Eric's Lopmon said.
"You know, you two need names, or at least one of you." commented Shuichon.
"My lady, I do not understand." said Shuichon's Lopmon.
"There are two of us," Eric's Lopmon said with folded arms. "Why not?"
"Why not I call you Loppy?" Shuichon suggested.
The newly christened Loppy sweatdropped. "Mayhap a different name?"
"Whatever Lopmon wants," Ken said, shrugging.
Sora scratched her head. "I suppose Loppy sounds fine."
Eric grinned. "How about L-Chan! L for Lopmon and Chan for cute!" He was immediately smacked by Sora and Ken, evoking a snicker from the digimon.
Sora seemed flustered at her violent responce. Apparently, Akane-Sora had rubbed off on her somewhat. Ken had long since been immune to his breaking of charecter several times during the trip. "Anything you decide should be fine, Shuichon-chan."
"I have an idea," Wormmon spoke up. "How about Jen?"
Everyone seemed startled at the fact until Shuichon said, "I like it. Makes me feel like Jen-niichan was here." She hugged her digimon to her. "I really like it."
"Jen. It's a good name," Lopmon said with a smile. "Though I'm going to have to adjust with the jokes later on." He was noogied immediately.
"Hmmm..." Eric walked over to the corner of the street looked around and scowled. "I don't recognise this place at all."
Looking around, he found a fire escape ladder. Despite protests, Eric scrambled up the fire escape and made it to the rooftop. He then ran to the edge and looked over. The canadian whistled in admiration. "Wow, this is cool."
Ken grumbled but scrambled up the ladder, followed by Shuichon and Sora. Sora had to boost Shuichon up to grab the ladder the boys neglected to unhook. Joining Eric on the top of the roof, Ken said, "Now what's going on?"
"Look, the geography is all wrong," Eric said, pointing out to the harbor that stood before them. "Edmonton doesn't have a harbor, especially one that stretches out that far. This is a huge lake, probably even one of the Great Lakes. We could be in Toronto, but I recognize some of the landscapes and the places here. And there's a distinct lack of japanese here, so unless in this world, the US took over Japan and assimilated it completely, we're either in the US or Canada."
Eric then turned and pointed out in the other direction. "There. That clocktower wasn't there before, and neither was those districts. But there's the Telus Building, and then there's Parliment Hill. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore."
"But we were not in Kansas to begin with," Wormmon reasoned.
"Haven't you seen Wizard of Oz before?" Lopmon asked curiously.
Wormmon shook his head. "Nope. Just recent movies like Star Wars Episode 1 and Lord of the Rings. That's a really old movie, isn't it?"
"Putting movies aside," Ken said. "Where in the world are we?"
"With a single guess, I can probably say that we're in a strange version of Edmonton. But don't quote me on that." answered Eric.
Suddenly, there was an explosion and smoke began to rise from a building a few blocks away. Almost instantly, there were wails of sirens. Sora's eyebrows knitted together in a frown. "That came out of nowhere. Do you think this place has terrorists?"
Suddenly, without warning, two figures came out of the sky. One was dressed in dark blue and black. His jacket had a yellow collar, and he wore a white mask with small, one way yellow goggles on his head. His shirt had a white symbol, a lightning bolt surrounded by a circle. He was also african american with messy black hair. The odd thing was that he was riding on a metal disk, powered by violet lightning that crackled with a tinge of ozone.
His partner was a white male wearing green spandex, with padding on his elbows and knees. He wore a metallic backpack, had a utility belt and wore a helmet with a green visor. His skates were the odd thing, as they burned with energy, and seemed to propell him like a harrier jet.
The pair rushed past them, and the african american and Eric's eyes met for a brief moment. Then, they were gone.
In the silence that followed, Jen asked, "May I ask if anyone of you know who they were?"
"Offhand, I'd say we've walked into Superhero central," remarked Lopmon.
"That ought to be obvious," Ken said, shaking his head. "Just when we think a world was normal."
"The black guy looked familiar in a wierd way," Eric said, frowning in thought.
"You're just seeing things," Lopmon dismissed.
"No, there was something wierd about that black teenager," Sora said, nibbling at her bottom lip in thought.
Ken's attention turned towards the smoke which had settled down, but now smoke appeared around the area that had been put out, and more fires were popping up which were being extinguished. "Hey, those fires are getting close," he said. "We should get off the roof."
"Right."
As they decended, a bird woman watched them with a small mini camera on her head, filming. Soon, the fires began to spread and she muttered to herself, "Better amscray."
=============
Static dusted off his hands as the small team of Metahuman villians were cornered and captured. "I'd say that's a job well done," Gear said from beside him.
"Yeah, but it took all of us to take them down," Static reasoned. "I think they're getting smarter."
"Ken wasn't there," Rubberband Man said, folding his arms.
Shebang shook her head. "I'm sure Ken won't stay low for long. We just busted half of the metahumans in the area."
Puff, Onyx, Hot Streak and Carmadillo gave them nasty glares as they were put into the back of a police van. Most of them were trussed up in specialized restraints designed for each of them.
As Carmadillo was rolled into the back of the police van, Timezone ran up, out of breath. "What did I miss?"
"Not much," Rubberband Man said with a smirk. "Just the battle."
Timezone glared at him for a moment before straightening up. "Lets get back to the hideout."
"Right! To the batcave!" Gear cracked before they activated their respective abilities to head back to the Gas Station. Shebang took the rooftops, Gear and Static flew with Timezone holding onto Static, and Rubberband Man curled up into a ball and bounced all the way out of sight.
A few minutes later, the returned to the Gas Station. With a crackle of electricity, the door opened. "I still say you should find some other place to hide out," Shebang said, removing her mask to reveal the face of Sora Takenouchi. The odd thing about this Sora, was that she was africian- american.
Static and Gear removed their masks as well, revealing the faces of a black Eric Stewart and a normal white James McConnell. Rubberband Man, who technically didn't have a secret identity because of his music career and subsequent previous supervillany, changed his form from a violet rubber suit to jeans, a white shirt, violet overshirt and a shock of messy violet- black hair. "We don't exactly have a budget like the Justice League," Osamu Ichijoji said, shrugging. He was the only one who retained the features of a japanese boy.
Timezone was the last to remove her mask, and Mimi Tachikawa let down her hair from the high ponytail. She was not japanese either, being a white girl. "This does prove a point though. Remember the time when Eric was captured for being Static and James had to bail him out?"
"So it was a bad move that Talon followed us," Eric snapped, sitting down at the table. Eric was a african-american boy.
"That was YESTERDAY," James deadpanned. "Cooler, Command, Root Beer." Two arms popped out of the ice, holding two Root Beer. He passed them out and gave the command twice more. "I think the others are right. We need like a batcave or the Watchtower."
"I don't think Batman is willing to spend that much money," Mimi said, sipping at her Rootbeer. "Considering we're not exactly the world protection agency, just Dakota."
"We could talk to Batman, see if he's willing to spend that much money," Eric put in. Everyone gave him the Look. Yes, the Look every mother gives their child at one time or another that said, 'Could you be any dumber?' The africian american shrugged. "Just a thought."
"It'd be like trying to pull teeth," James remarked, sipping at his Root Beer. "Speaking of which, Eric, didn't you say you know Batman's Secret Identity?"
"Yeah, spill," Sora said, folding her arms. "We wanna know."
"Do I hafta?" Eric asked, sinking into his chair. "I mean, it's Batman we're talking about. He could be listening in as we speak!"
"I don't think he's THAT paranoid," Mimi said with a shrug.
Osamu leaned on the table. "C'mon Eric, everyone in the Justice League knows each others secret identities. Why not give us some enlightenment?"
"All right, all right," Eric groused, waving his hands. "It's Taichi. Taichi Yagami, head of Yagami Enterprises."
Sora whistled. "So that's why he has all those neat toys."
"I would have been surprised if you said it was someone else," James said, rubbing his chin. "Like he was Superman's younger brother or something. But I had my finger pinned on someone that had a lot of cash flow to build all of that stuff."
Mimi made a dismissive snort. "The only other wealthy industrialists in the area are Oikawa and Lex Luthor. And we know those two are pretty much bad to the bone."
Eric sighed, rolled his eyes and looked at his watch. "Aw man, I gotta split. There's homework to be done."
"Whey don't you stay here and do it?" James offered. "I could finish it for you."
"Thanks, but dad said if I bomb another test for any reason, he'll ground me until I'm twenty three. And if James does my homework, I won't bother to look at it before I hand it in."
Everyone winced. Since Eric's superhero gig began, his grades had been going downhill, or at least unsteady in the best possible senario. He had begun before everyone else, and spent hours and hours on patrol when he did not have homework. His dad could be quite strict when it came to school. "Ouch," said Osamu. "Then we'll see you later."
Eric nodded as he grabbed his backpack. "Later." Then, he was gone, slamming the door behind him.
=============
"That'll be five seventy five." said the lady at the front of the counter.
Eric dug into his pants pockets and coughed up the remaining amount of his canadian cash. He mentally made a note to get Lopmon to dig the slowly dwindling sack of gold out of the Bag of Holding. Taking his food, the woman looked at him curiously. "Haven't I seen you before?"
"Um, nope, don't think so." said Eric, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. He took his food and walked over to where Ken, Sora, Shuichon and the three Digimon sat. He set down his food, handing one of the large foil wrapped burgers to his Lopmon who eagerly opened the foil.
Taking his own burger in hand, Sora stared. "What kind of burger is that?"
"Beef, why?" Eric replied, taking a huge bite, and wiping his lips with a napkin. Grease dripped down to the foil that lay under it.
"It's so greasy," Sora said, looking a bit ill. She then looked at her own Mandarin Chicken salad that she had. Shuichon had discovered McWonder Chicken Nuggets and with the money given to her, had ordered a dozen. Ken had preferred to get one of the remaining breakfast items, his half eaten breakfast burrito laying on the paper wrap before him as it contained less grease than the McWonder burgers.
"I suppose," said Eric, shrugging, taking another bite. "Though," he added thickly "I haven't eaten McWonder stuff for ages. Not since finding out I was slowly dying a few months ago."
"Eating that stuff, it's no wonder you were dying," Ken joked, earning an evil eye from the Canadian.
Eric glared at him, but smiled and shook his head, a few chuckles escaping him. "Ah, yes. Poking fun at my near demise. Good times."
"If you can call it that," Sora said, remembering the few brushes with death the trio had along the way.
Shuichon fed another Nugget to Jen and said, "Eric-oniisan, why do you laugh at your own death?"
Eric smiled, albeit sadly. "Because it's the only way. If I can't laugh at almost dying in the line of duty, I would become dark, brooding and someone that isn't me."
"Is that why the whole lot of you are quote 'insane maniacs'?" Asked Ken, making quotation fingermarks, something he picked up from being around Eric and Lopmon for a very long time. "Because you guys are NEVER serious."
"Pretty much," said Eric, finishing his burger with three massive bites. Sucking down orange soda, he swallowed hard. "You see, we've seen and heard the stories from other teams. Teams like Germany, Texas, and other places. Even Odaiba has their brooders. A group of us who met one day, made a pact. 'Always smile. Never become brooding, dark and depressed. Even when one of us dies, keep smiling. Promise us, to never let yourself die inside.'"
"Who exactly made the pact with you?" asked Sora, amazed that chosen like her could remain themselves after trying events and times.
"Melbourne Florida, Philippines Estancia Team, Puerto Rico... we're thinking of convincing France's team to take the pact...." Eric sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It's hard, to keep cheerful. I think Renamon said it best one day, after a late night meeting."
"And that is?" asked Jen from his seat on Shuichon's lap.
Eric smiled. "'I want my journey.... to be full of laughter.... never forget who you are, or who you are becoming. This is your story.... lets see it through till the end.'"
"Sounds cheesy," added Lopmon. "But it's true. A chosen's life can be full of pain. But it can be full of laughter, fun, happiness.... and filled with people whom you care about."
"So.... a method to the madness," said Wormmon said thoughtfully. "Has there been any time that there has been false laughter?"
"Sometimes, during tough times, when we crack jokes," Lopmon admitted. "But we have the ability to laugh. Laugh even in the face of death. If we can die laughing, remembering the good times, we'll be happy."
A long pause. For a bit, there was only the sound of patrons around them. Then, Shuichon said, "Eric-oniisan? I... want to laugh too. Laugh, for the memory of Jen-oniichan, Takato-oniichan and Ruki-oneechan."
"So do I," said Sora with a smile. "It's been a long journey, and honestly I don't think it's over yet. I need to laugh too... and remember where I came from."
Ken sighed. "I don't know...."
Eric frowned, propping his fists under his elbows, his eyes going wide and round. "Please, Ken? Do it for me?"
Ken quite literally recoiled. "DUDE!" He exclaimed, using one of Eric's expressions. "Don't do the puppy dog eyes!"
Sora and Shuichon laughed and Eric stepped out of Uber-kawaii mode. The canadian grinned and laughed. Ken eased out of his recoil and laughed quietly, rubbing the back of his head. Even the Digimon joined in, though their laughter was much more subdued. Even though the other resturant patrons were giving them glares for being too loud, the laughter died down.
Eric sighed, slumping into his seat. "Aaaaah," he sighed, grinning from ear to ear. A twinkle in his eye could be seen. "I'm glad you know how to laugh, Ken. I'd have to go with plan B instead."
"What's plan B?" asked Shuichon, a mischevious look in her eyes.
"It involves really loud forced laughter so that half a block can hear you," Lopmon said, grinning, holding up a hand. "First of all..."
"Okay, I get the picture," Ken said, grinning. "From those Final Fantasy games, right? Ten, right?"
"Yep," said Lopmon. "You've played it?"
"V-mon introduced the Playstation 2 to Wormmon," Ken said as the little worm blushed, embarrased.
"I'm trying to get Ken-chan to buy one," Wormmon admitted.
"We could pick one up here, but that's just a waste of Gold," said Lopmon. "Eric still needs to update his old PSOne to the PS2. I'm getting tired of playing FF9 all the time, and having to go to Hikaru's to play the PS2."
Eric sighed. "Lopmon, I said I'll get a PS2 when Kingdom Hearts 2 comes out, okay?"
"But that's like..." Lopmon counted on his fingers. "All the way in August or September! I can't wait that long!"
"Deal with it," Eric said. "I don't have the money right now."
"Besides," Wormmon pointed out to his distraught friend. "It could be November when we get there."
Lopmon's eyes lit up. "Yeah! Eric's birthday is in November! I could get Kingdom Hearts 2 and FFX-2!"
The pair of digimon looked at each other, pumping a hand or claw into the air. "FFX-2! W00T!"
Wormmon then turned a grin towards Lopmon. "Well, you have to wait. I already played it."
"Bastard," Lopmon replied, but he was grinning.
"Eric, you've corrupted Wormmon," Ken said, smirking.
"Corrpted hell. That was V-mon's doing." Eric retorted.
"Then where'd he learn to use Internet Lingo?" asked Ken.
Eric shrugged. "Piro and Largo?"
Ken shuddered at the thought. "The last thing I need is for Wormmon to try and overclock himself."
Eric laughed hard as Sora and Shuichon giggled. Ken sighed as he recalled the memory. It had been a simple enough world, but the digimon had gotten seperated during what appeared to be a Rent-a-zilla attack. The giant Rent- a-zilla which looked somewhat like an oversized V-mon was stomping around downtown Tokyo.
The trio of digimon had encountered the pair, known as Piro and Largo. But to them, they looked like Ken and Eric. Ken was undoubtably Piro, as he was softer, more gentle. And he looked more innocent from his younger years. Eric on the other hand, seemed more crazed, and spoke in a funny language while dodging who he called the Zombie Queen. The aformentioned Zombie Queen was Hikari, if she had gone all gothic in their world. Then there was Eric and Ken's friends from the States, Carter and Koushiro. One worked for Sony, the other one for some other rival company that Ken hadn't discovered due to the Rent-a-zilla smashing downtown. Both carried guns for some odd reason. Well, one handgun, the other, a high powered shotgun. Or two.
Adding to the chaos was the girl known as Mimi, a PS2 Accessory Doll, built for Dating Simulation games, Miyako, a girl who worked at an Anna Millers and was a voice actress, and her friend Sora who was older, and a bit more jaded than their Sora. Finally rounding out the situation was Raine, a school girl who was japanese in that world, and had been somewhat in love with Ken for a while. Two others, Culumon and Yami Raine, who prefered to be called Yamitsu in that world, were Ken and Eric's conciences. Yamitsu worked for Ken while Culumon unsucessfully tried to help Eric.
That encounter left Wormmon and both Lopmons speaking a lot of l33t having become l33t themselves by the hand of Largo-Eric. For some reason, the internet language had become something of a speakable language in the world. Eric, Ken, Sora and Shuichon had to learn l33t themselves to understand their digimon for a few worlds afterwards. Fortunately, they had un-l33ted themselves and were now back to normal. Relatively.
"I think everyone is looking at us," said Sora, feeling embarrased at the looks they were getting.
Eric switched to l33t speak and lowered his voice. "I think when we talk about stuff pertaining to other universes, we should at least speak l33t or Al Bhed."
The others nodded as Eric pulled out a small navy blue notebook and pulled out a pen. Ken leaned over and said, "Making notes on this world?"
"Yeah," Eric said. "It's good to keep a journal when you start world hopping." He then made a note. "Date Unknown, hopped into a superhero world."
"So, how many worlds do we have here?" Sora asked.
Eric started to recite the worlds. "Lets see. Starting from the beginning, there was the alternate world of ours, and then the alternate world of the first Odaiba adventure. Then, there was Bubblegum Digimon, Digi-Earth, The Digimon Frontier, Dark Tamers, Shaman King, Digicore Z, Megatokyo, Final Fantasy X and Taichi 1/2. I've got notes on everyone that we met in that world."
Sora leaned over and read an entry. "Day ??, World, Megatokyo. I thought I had seen everything. But Megatokyo is wierder than I thought." She then looked at Eric, smirking. "You call that an entry?"
"Turn the page," suggested Eric.
Sora did so and blinked at the huge amount of notes on that world, including l33t pronounciation, how to handle high powered weaponry, and the un-l33tification process. "Okay, that is a lot."
Ken wadded up the wrappers of his breakfast burrito and finished the rest of his drink. "We should get going," said Ken. "No sence hanging around this place too long."
==============
"Those them?" Ebon asked, pointing down the street where the small group were headed to. The Metabreed stood on top of a building, watching the small group as they exited the McWonder.
"Yeah," said Talon. "Those four just appeared out of nowhere. Metahumans perhaps?"
"Maybe," said Ebon, rubbing his shadowed chin. He then peered at the group and he froze. "Osamu?"
"Where?" Talon looked over the edge and noticed a boy with long violet hair. He was speaking animatedly to the other three, a boy and two girls. "He does look like your brother, Ebon."
"Yeah, and the girl there is Takenouchi!" Shiv exclaimed, pounding a fist into his open palm. "I'd recognise that hair anywhere, even if it was longer!"
"That's because you keep getting pounded by her," remarked Kangorr with a smirk.
Shiv snarled. "Hey, she's got superhuman strength! Not easy dealing with that." One of his hands turned into a light energy blade. "I should go down and lop her head off right now!" With that, Shiv leapt from the rooftop.
Talon shook her head. "Lets go get Shiv before he gets himself arrested again." She then flew down, followed by a reluctant Ebon and Kangorr.
=============
"SURPRISE!" Crowed Shiv as he sliced downwards with his light energy blades.
The group, long since used to surprise attacks, leapt out of the way. Shiv pressed his advantage, heading for Takenouchi who was forced to dive out of the way of his attacks. "What's the matter, Shebang?" Shiv taunted. "Afraid to use your powers in the middle of public?"
"What powers?" Sora protested, getting to her feet. She reached behind her and pulled her sword and Ken's from the Bag of Holding she wore on her back. Tossing one of them to Ken, she held out the weapon in a fighting stance.
Shiv smirked nastily. "Going to play swordwoman on me? All right! En guarde!" Shiv elongated his blades into two longswords and leapt at Sora. Sora parried two strikes and rolled under his legs, delivering a kick to Shiv's backside. Shiv was surprised for a moment that his weapons had not pierced the swords Sora held, but shrugged it off as a new technology.
Meanwhile, Eric hung back, protecting Shuichon as Ken was confronted by Ebon who was staring the younger Ichijoji down. Kangorr leapt high into the air and brought both tremendous feet down on the ground. The impact carved up a fissure in the earth and Shuichon and Eric dodged to the sides.
Shuichon rolled to her feet, long experienced in the art of duck and cover. But she came right up close to Talon who smirked and said, "Nice day, ain't it?" She then screamed, a shockwave knocking the little girl backwards into the wall.
"Shuichon!" Jen exclaimed in horror. When Shuichon only moaned in responce, there was a flash of light and Antiramon towered over Talon. "You hurt my partner!" Jen shouted angrily. Talon was then forced to dodge wildly as axes formed on Jen's hands and he slashed at her angrily.
"What's the matter, man? Can't deal with a Meta-human like myself?" Kangorr taunted as Eric dodged from one of his powerful kicks.
Eric came out of his diving roll and smirked. "I'd be more worried where you can find socks that big."
Kangorr didn't reply, but merely slammed his foot against the pavement, creating another fissure. Eric moved to dodge but his foot caught on the crack. With a thud, he landed on the ground in pain. "Ow."
Ken stared down Ebon as the pair circled around each other. "You seem different from my brother," Ebon remarked, a scowl marking his shadowed features.
"You seem familiar to me," Ken said, one hand curled around the hilt of his sword. Though he suspected it wouldn't do much good against a living shadow. "Why don't you tell me who you are?"
"Fair enough. I am Ebon, leader of the Metabreed."
"Ken Ichijoji," Ken replied mockingly. Inwardly, he wondered where he picked up the talent for in battle mockery.
Ebon's eyes widened in surprise. "How can that be possible? I AM KEN ICHIJOJI!"
Ken narrowed his eyes in thought. So the version of himself was still a villian. "I don't want to fight you," Ken said, sheathing his sword. "You still have a chance to become good."
Ebon's laughter was cold. "I've always taken care of myself since mom and dad died. I took care of Osamu, and he turned hero on me. Face it. You're staring at what you could have become."
"Or something that I have already, and have defeated before," Ken replied firmly.
Ebon snarled. "Enough talk!" He rose into the sky and screamed angrily. Suddenly, an egg of digitial information wrapped around his body, reforming the Metahuman into something more powerful.
And with a tremendous crash, Duskmon walked the earth once again.
=============
"What's up, James?" asked Eric, running up behind James. The genius stood in a back alleyway near the school. Sora and Mimi ran up behind James and from the top of the rooftops, Osamu bounced to a stop, looking down.
"Metahuman alert. I think one of them has gone Beta too." reported James, his Backpack machine giving him readouts. "We should suit up and prepare for a big fight if one or more of them goes Beta."
"Great, another Beta," grumbled Sora, suiting up by essencially peeling her clothing off, revealing the red and violet skintight outfit. Pulling her cape from her own backpack, she tied it on and pulled her mask over her face. "The last time we dealt with a Beta, Hot Streak turned into a human torch and leveled a good portion of the warehouse district."
"It can't be helped," James said, already in his skintight green outfit. Slapping his helmet on and pulling on his skates, he let Backpack crawl onto his back. "Something in the Bang Baby Gas is triggering these advanced evolutions. It's wierd, because it's nothing I've ever seen before."
"Who ever said Bang Baby Gas had to be normal?" Mimi said, putting her hair up in the high ponytail.
"She's got you there," Eric pointed out, pulling on his own mask and pulling out his disk. Expanding it with a flick of his wrist and a jolt of electricity, he jumped on, letting Mimi get on beside him.
In a burst of electricity and a flaring of skates, the group was off with Rubberband Man bouncing along as fast as he could.
Along the way, they noticed a distinct signiture of metahuman capability. Several lamposts were toppled along with the pavement uprooted. There were craters and debrie littering the road, and the occasional razor sharp cut gouged into the sidewalk.
"Looks like we're dealing with the Metabreed," remarked Rubberband Man as he bounced over a paticularly large crater, dug out by a sonic blast.
"Or at least two gangs," remarked Gear, checking the remains of a mailbox. It was sliced into quarters. "There's a hell of a lot of destruction along the way. You think we could have two Betas on hand?"
"God lets hope not," replied Shebang as she made an impressive jump across the canyon made by the buildings. "Last thing we need is two Betas on the rampage."
Timezone made a face. "Lets hurry."
After a minute and a half of flying, running and bouncing, the group crested a building, just in time to dodge a blast of crimson energies. "Looks like the party started without us," Static quipped, cracking his knuckles.
Gear let Backpack off and the little machine fed him readouts. "One Beta Class Metahuman confirmed... wait..." Gear looked down and his jaw dropped. "Um, make that three Beta class and a Gamma Class."
"GAMMA CLASS?!" The crimefighters exclaimed in shock.
"Yeah, and it looks like the Gamma Class is winning!" added Gear.
Down below, the fight raged on. Duskmon had taken his swords to Jen as the Deva parried and slashed in a deadly dance that made most manslayer styles look like childsplay. Wormmon and Lopmon had evolved, circling around to protect the others. Stingmon fended off one of Shiv's light blades as he kicked him into the nearby lamppost, only to get slammed into the wall by Talon's sonic scream.
Wendigomon took on Kangorr in an old variation of bait and slam. Essencially, Wendigomon would shoot out one of his Club Arms, and when Kangorr came close enough, he would swing his other fist. Often than not, the fighting style made it easier to defend himself against Kangorr's tremendously muscled feet.
Duskmon parried two strikes, and cried out as he was struck from behind by a bolt of electrical power. "Someone forgot to invite us to the party!" exclaimed Static as he dropped down to the ground, flanked by the other Superhero Alphas.
"STATIC!" Duskmon shouted. "You have wasted my time for the last! Duskmon Gamma Mode!"
With a flash of light, Duskmon changed from a humanoid eye warrior to a pterodactyl like creature with a cry of "Velgmon!". The other members of the Metabreed nodded to each other and leapt backwards to get some room.
"Talon Beta Mode!" Talon curled up and exploded into feathers, revealing a bird woman who was very familiar to the travellers. "Harpymon! Talon Gamma Mode!" Harpymon shot upwards and came down as an armored woman with wings and sharp claws. "Shutumon!"
"Kangorr Beta Mode!" Kangorr stomped the ground and it exploded around him. When the dust settled, a large kangaroo digimon stood in his place, boxing gloves at the ready. "Kangaroomon!"
Shiv sighed but slammed his hand into the ground. "Shiv Beta Mode!" Light exploded around him and when it faded, a woman in golden armor and a red headdress stood. "D'Arcmon.... god I hate my Beta Mode."
Rubberband Man's eyes widened. "We're out of our league here. Static?"
"Right. Shebang, Gear, Timezone, get the kids out of here. Rubberband Man and I will handle the Betas and Gammas." Static charged his hands with electrical power. "You up for this, Osamu?"
Rubberband Man nodded, casting a glance at the kids who had their strange monsters at the ready. "As ready as ever."
"Right. Static Beta Mode!"
"Rubberband Man Beta Mode!"
The ground around Rubberband Man exploded outwards in ice as he was covered with a sheet of ice and snow. The sun hit him and he melted into a 5 foot tall snow bear who then wrenched a weapon out of the frozen ground. "Chakkumon!"
Static held up his hand and electrical power coursed through his body, reforming the superhero. With an electric discharge and a slamming of fists together, armor formed out of lightning, forming a bulky digimon with a beetle motif. "Blitzmon!"
"Chakkumon, get D'Arcmon and Kangaroomon. I'll deal with the two Gammas." said Blitzmon.
Behind them, Eric blinked twice and said, "This is really odd." He then pulled out the notebook. "Metahumans can change into digimon," he wrote down while speaking. "Now that is out of the picture, what's say we go help those nice superheros?"
"Like we have a choice?" Ken replied dryly. "Go for it Stingmon!"
"I'm all over them!" Stingmon shouted, barreling into Kangaroomon. Wendigomon followed quickly behind him with a yell of "SPOON!"
"Are you all right, Shuichon?" Jen asked, kneeling beside Shuichon who coughed up a bit of blood.
"I'm fine," she replied, wiping her mouth. "It just hit hard."
Sora knelt beside Shuichon and pulled out a small bag. She looked inside it and grimaced. "There's only a half a Digi-bean left. Ken?"
"Let her take it," Ken said, his eyes following the battle. "I'd rather not anyone else get a hand on the Digi-beans back home or anywhere else."
Sora nodded and gave the bean to Shuichon. The girl crunched on it, and grimaced. "They still taste bad."
"I know, but it cannot be helped," replied Sora, handing the girl a cold drink from the recesses of the Bag of Holding. "Are you feeling better now?"
Shuichon nodded. She then got to her feet as Jen stood up and held out his hand. "Shall we?" the Deva inquired. "To stop the fighting quickly?"
"Yes. Matrix Evolution!"
"Antiramon Evolve!" In a flash of pink light, the pair merged and Cherubimon towered over the group. "Cherubimon!"
Gear's Backpack whined and beeped rapidly. Gear's jaw dropped as he saw the towering Angel Digimon. "That's an Omega! Shit!"
Velgmon blinked and paled. "Omega? Uh oh."
"I dunno about you guys," D'Arcmon said, taking to the air, "But I'm ready to bail. What about you, Velgmon?"
"Yes, you're right. Lets go." Velgmon melted into the shadows as D'Arcmon and Shutumon took to the air, Kangaroomon hopping away as fast as possible.
Blitzmon and Chakkumon landed and Chakkumon whistled. "So that is an Omega Class. It's pretty big."
"Yeah," Blitzmon replied. "Blitzmon Power Down." Electricity crackled around him as the armor faded into Static who moaned and sank to one knee.
"Chakkumon Power Down." Rubberband Man groaned and slumped against a doorway.
"You guys okay?" Shebang asked hurridly as she she trained a sensor on them. Gear and Timezone helped the pair to their feet.
"Yeah, just could really go for a triple decker burger right about now," replied Static. He then looked at the quartet of travellers. With the help of the others, he made his way over and stuck out a hand. "Thanks, for all your help."
"No problem," Lopmon interrupted quickly. "Name's Lopmon, and this is my sidekick Eric."
"I'm cutting you off the coffee," retorted Eric, holding out his hand. Static had a big eyed expression on his face and Eric blinked. "Something the matter?"
"I'll say there's something the matter," Gear said. "Static, when was the last time you checked your family tree? I'm sure there's nothing in your family history for a White you."
"Wait a second... I thought you looked familiar!" Shebang said, walking up to Sora. "You're me!"
There was a collective blink. Then, the sirens could be heard in the distance. "Um, we should get back to your Bat-cave or something," said Ken. "Those sirens are getting close."
"Right," said Eric as Lopmon hopped of his head. In a flash, Wendigomon was hoisting the two tired out Superheros onto his back. "Lead the way."
"Head towards the Hospital. We'll drop Static and Rubberband Man off at the Metahuman treatment center." said Shebang. "Standard procedure for superheros who have gone Beta."
==============
"Ebon? I brought food."
"Leave me alone."
Talon put down the food and walked out of the hideout room. Shiv looked up at Talon who sat down and started picking at her own stolen food. "Ebon's still in a funk, eh? Give him some time."
"I think it's more than that man," replied Kangorr, folding his arms. "He seemed to be affected by whatever that kid with the violet hair said."
"Feh. How would you know, Carlos?" Shiv was then slammed against the desk hard as Kangorr snarled.
"Carlos is dead! He died three years ago in the Big Bang! Got that?"
"Carlos, hold up." Carlos gave Talon a glare but the bird woman folded her arms derisively. "Why can't you go and visit Pedro? He obviously misses you."
"I told you. I died in that explosion, and came out something else." Carlos kicked the wall angrily. The wall crumbled under the impact of his boot. "You know how it is, Hunter! Giving up our humanity for powers that no one else wants! God I'd like to go see him, tell him I'm sorry.... but times changed. And I'm Kangorr now. Not Carlos, not the brother of Pedro, just Kangorr."
"And how do you think I feel?" Hunter retorted. "I lost my own family. Thrown out of the house because I was a freak of nature."
"Hey hey, lets all settle down here, okay?" Shiv said, holding out his hands. "Even I know when it's getting personal."
"So what is your real name anyways, Shiv?" asked Hunter. "You have the same looks as you did when we picked you up three years ago for the Metabreed."
Shiv scowled but said, "My name is Rene. Rene LaSalle. I was a kid from a well off family, but they disowned me when I developed Metahuman powers. What those powers did to me, well..." Rene formed a light blade and slashed the table into halves. "You can see for yourself."
Hunter looked over to where Ebon was resting in the darkness of the other room. "He sure is taking a long time regaining his strength."
==============
'Ken.....'
'Ken.....'
'Wake up Ichijoji....'
'Who are you?'
'A friend.....'
'I have no friends....'
'Oh? Then perhaps you want power instead? Power, and the chance to survive on your own, to be known as the most powerful Metahuman ever?'
'Maybe....'
'Come now.... let me show you what I can do....'
===============
The door slammed shut as Ebon strode out. The Metabreed stood up, watching their leader. "Ebon?" Talon asked. "Are you feeling all right?"
Ebon chuckled, crimson eyes flashing. "Of course I am."
"Good... then, are you up for robbing a couple of banks then?" Shiv asked.
"No.... I have a better idea...."
===============
The small gas station was alight with activity that evening as the superheros had all given up their identities to make things easier on all of the people present. There had been some strange interaction amidst the pair of Soras' but the whole story of them being from another world had been readily accepted.
Mimi and Sora were relatively normal, if you discounted that the native Sora was a genetic experiment from birth and Mimi could control time. Ken personally thought it was something of an overkill ability.
James was an amazing blur of movement at the computer, startling Ken who had remained at the hideout and Eric who had gone with Static and Rubberband Man to the Hospital to keep an eye on him. From what Ken remembered of James, James loved nature a bit too much, to the point of hating computers with a passion. But this James was rather accustomed to the computer keyboard, and had the intelligance to create some incredible things such as Backpack and his weaponry.
Right now, James sat at his terminal, having scanned most of the city. "There's no Metahuman activity anywhere," he reported after wheeling back in his chair and stretching his back. Getting up, he picked up his helmet and set it aside so it would not fall off the armrest.
"That's good at least," said Sora, or Shebang as she called herself in that world. "We don't need someone else stepping in while our Beta capable Teammates are out of comission."
"But it's too quiet right now," James pointed out. "I don't think we'll hear from the Metabreed any time soon, but there's still a few more Metahumans out there."
"Not everyone can make trouble in the same day," said Sora, resting a hand on James' shoulder.
James smiled and nodded. "Yes, you're right."
Wormmon sat on the table, tapping at Backpack who was chattering in it's own clicking language. "You're so different from the James we know," Wormmon said.
"How different is your James?" asked Mimi, sitting down at the table.
Ken chuckled. "James is a biologist, loves everything green. He absolutely hates cars and technology. It's a shock, changing from world to world and seeing various people as they are."
James shrugged. "My dad is a scientist. He works for Yagami Enterprises. You know him?" James asked, addressing Ken and Sora's surprised expression.
"The leader of this Company is Taichi Yagami?" asked Sora.
Shebang nodded. "Yeah. Taichi Yagami is the head of Yagami Enterprises. He's also Batman."
"That's a first," said Wormmon.
Shuichon thought to the various Taichi's she had met and said, "Batman?"
"Batman is like ninja in a bat costume," said Shebang. "He's a really good fighter and has no special powers. Eric said that all of his weaponry comes from research and funding."
"A normal human, doing things that superheros do." Wormmon looked at James and shrugged. "It doesn't seem too far off the block."
===============
Eric Stewart looked up from where the door closed. But there was no one in sight. A quick, 'psst' was heard and a familiar brown haired boy stood up, grinning foolishly. "Hey me. How's life?"
"Better," the superhero replied. "Thanks for keeping them from removing my mask. Wouldn't want pops to figure out his son is a metahuman."
Eric sat down, pulling the chair in front of himself and straddling it. "Who is your father anyhow?"
"He's the best pop I could have. His name is Sean. My mom, well, she died, during the Dakota Riots five years ago. She was the best mom ever. Name was Yamitsu."
Eric blinked in surprise. "I know a Sean. The Yamitsu sounds close enough to someone else's name I know."
"I wouldn't be surprised." Native Eric chuckled. "Hey, I can't keep calling ourselves by our own name all the time. Feels wierd."
"I'll call you Static from now on, or V-man."
"V-man?" the newly christened V-man asked curiously.
"It's from my world."
The conversation lapsed into an awkward silence. "So," Eric asked, "do you play video games?"
"Not enough time," Static replied. "Superheroing takes a lot more time than you think. There's only so much one can do. I do go out to the arcade, but I don't own any systems."
"But you have a team, right? Couldn't they cover for you?"
Static sat up in his bed and scratched at a spot behind his mask. "As much as I trust them with my life, it's hard, Eric. Rubberband Man and I have been the most experienced Metahuman superheros. The only superheros for three years. It's a miracle that we discovered the Beta Metahuman Form three months ago against Hot Streak. He turned into a flaming man and torched a good portion of the city."
"Those metahuman forms. Why do you call them Betas?"
"No real reason. It was a term Gear used a while ago and it kinda stuck. Now everyone refers to normal Metahumans as Alphas while Betas are stronger forms. Ebon and Talon could gain even more power and become Gammas. As for your friends Omega, well, I'm glad no one has that kind of power."
Eric kept silent. He knew that anything could be possible.
And his fears were answered when a building in the distance came crumbling down in a tremendous explosion.
==============
"We have Metahumans on the move, and they just demolished the Hopsner building!" Shebang exclaimed, running into the room.
"Damnit," James exclaimed, slapping his fist onto the monitor. "My camera in that area went down. But Backpack did manage to get some readings. Looks like a bunch of them. And I think they're all Betas."
"The Metabreed maybe?" Mimi asked, hovering over James's shoulder.
"It's possible, but how could they recover so quickly? And so soon too? The Beta Transformation drains metahumans to the point of exhaustion and hospitalization in the Metahuman ward." James rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "I'm worried. With Osamu and Eric down...."
Ken sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I'll go. I have a Beta with me. It shouldn't be too hard."
"What if they upgrade into Gammas?" asked James, spinning around in his chair. "You know the danger."
"I'm used to danger," Ken replied, standing up. Wormmon hopped into his arms.
"Wait. I'll go along too," said Shebang, reaching for her mask.
"And me." The others looked at Shuichon who had a determined expression on her face. It was a bit fierce, but full of courage. "I have what you call an Omega. I can end the fight quickly if possible."
"All right. We'll keep in touch from here," said James, returning to his computer hook ups.
=============
"Ebon, I think that was a bit too far," said Harpymon, only to get pushed into the arms of D'Arcmon. "hey, what's with the attitude?"
"This is just a warm up," replied Duskmon. He ejected a crimson blade from his arm and swung it in a wide arc. A crimson blast shot out and leveled a small building on the opposite side of the road. "Ah... feels good just to stretch my powers."
The Metabreed exchanged nervous glances. "Since when did Ebon just 'stretch his powers'?" inquired D'arcmon, voicing their combined opinions. A bullet then suddenly whizzed by Duskmon's face.
"Freeze punk!" proclaimed a detective, the leader of policemen who had set up a barracade. They held guns and random other weaponry donated by the local Superhero force to hold down Alpha level Metahumans. Many of the officers looked rather worried at facing four Beta class Metahumans. "Dakota Police Department! You have the right to remain silent! If you refuse the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law!"
"Oh look, a gnat," remarked Duskmon dryly. His expression turned sinister as his eyes flared red. "How utterly doomed. GEIST ABEND!"