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D3 : Digital Diaries Dimensions
Variations 1.10 : The (Real) Digital World
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. Yu-Gi-Oh is created by Kazuki Takahashi and all original names are created by me.
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"Hey."
"Hey."
The brown haired girl, currently in a bathrobe narrowed her eyes at the boy who's hair had apparently been in between styling. Strands of his black hair tuffed out everywhere as the wig was half on. "Look, I'm sorry about last night. It was improper."
The girl remained silent as she sipped her coffee, heavily sugared and creamed. The boy pressed on. "I mean, it was Daisuke's idea, really. Please don't be mad, Misa."
Misa slugged down her coffee and glared at the boy. "What do you think I was supposed to be, Hiro? Some kinda call girl? Daisuke might be a perverted jerk but he knows me better than that."
Hiro rubbed the back of his head, nearly dislodging the pins and glue that held the wig to his scalp. "Daisuke can be an idiot. Okay, a REALLY big idiot," Hiro added, noting Misa's glare. "But his heart was probably in the right place."
Misa snorted. "Riiiiight," she drawled out. "His heart was in the right place all right. Three inches from my breasts and one hand down my..."
"Misa-san? Hiro-san? Am I interrupting anything?"
Misa stopped in mid rant as she looked at the little boy with blonde hair and wide green eyes. "Um, the make up studio is complaining that you guys aren't there yet, and Hiro, you ran off without them afixing the wig."
Hiro's hand went to his head and he chuckled. "I guess so. Sorry about making you worry Shugo." He then turned to Misa and said, "Tell you what; I'll find Jiro and we'll beat the living heck out of Daisuke. Sound fair?"
"I get first punch," Misa said, smirking. She then ruffled the wig hard enough to pop out the last few pins. "Get going you big lug." As Hiro ran off, she turned to Shugo and said, "Shugo-chan, you should really get going. Kairi-chan is waiting for you in the dressing room."
"Thank you, Misa-san!" As Shugo ran off, Misa reached for a donut, not heeding the grumble of the man who was reaching for it before her, and bit into it. "Some day this is turning out to be," she remarked.
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Jiro was pacing in the locker room back and forth several times when Hiro showed up. "Hiro!" he exclaimed, wringing his hands. "We're behind schedule! The director came up and said we had to be on set in five minutes! Where were you?!"
"Chill out, bro," Hiro said, slapping Jiro on the shoulder. "Breathe first. Ask questions later." He went to his locker and popped it open with a kick. Grabbing the freshly laundered blue shirt with the stars on the sides, he slipped it on, dropping his jeans as he did so. Fishing around the top of the locker for his jeans, he turned to Jiro and said, "Get dressed all ready, sheesh."
Jiro paced back and forth rapidly before going to his own locker and fumbling with the door before getting it open. He shoved the sleeveless green shirt over his head and pulled on the brown pants and boots. As Hiro slammed the locker door shut, the elder boy turned towards the blond and said critically, "You forgot to go to makeup this morning."
Jiro nearly freaked out, running around and checking his appearance in the various windows and mirrors before turning to glare at Hiro. "You idiot, you lied to me."
"Doi, I'm your brother. I'm supposed to." Hiro chuckled and lead Jiro out of the room, pausing to grab his gloves. "We're filming the World of Data scene today. You nervous?"
"Nooo..."
"Yes you are," said Hiro, turning towards Jiro, turning down the boys collar. "Look at you; you're a wreck! Just breathe, breathe and more breathing is good, okay?"
Jiro exhaled sharply before turning the corner, and his throat locked up again. "Um... hi," he squeaked out, sounding rather mouse-like.
Misa was already in costume in pink and dark red. She wore a smile that seemed almost out of place of the girl who had more piercings than most goths. "Hello Jiro, Hiro. Are you two ready?" she asked in a sweet voice.
Jiro's voice had locked up as Hiro sighed, shaking his head. "Yeah, we're ready."
Misa's expression turned annoyed. "Good, because the rest of the cast is late. Again."
"What now? Sora and Hikaru get mobbed by crazed fans outside of the studio?" joked an irritating, almost despised voice. Misa's mood darkened and dropped to an "Angry, must bludgeon" level while Hiro sighed and Jiro couldn't talk.
Daisuke slid out of the shadows like a ninja. Though it would have been ninja like if he hadn't tripped on the cord in front of him. Hitting the ground, he cursed fluently, ending off with the typical "Damn Backpack."
"Daisuke," Misa intoned icily.
"Misa-chan, how are you?" Daisuke smirked. "I see you can still pull off the cute girl act."
She then whapped him upside the head, but Daisuke was still smirking. "That, was for bringing that sake last night and trying to get me drunk."
"Now hon, it's not nice to make fun of your lover like that," said Daisuke. Jiro went completely red and began to sputter like a two-stroke motor while Hiro massaged his knuckles, just itching to hit him.
"Look, it's the end of the season. Can't we just get along?" asked Hiro, trying to warn off the impending explosion. "Daisuke, Misa, just back off, okay?"
"Fine. If she will admit defeat," said Daisuke.
Misa told him what Daisuke could do with himself rather graphically for a good three minutes. Daisuke didn't look offended at all as he whipped out his sunglasses and polished them on his shirt. "Sticks and stones love."
"Misa, it's the last time we'll see Daisuke. Next season, they're bringing in new kids so we don't have to deal with this arrogant idiot anymore." Hiro glared at Daisuke who shrugged.
"I can get an acting job anywhere," Daisuke replied smoothly. "Question is; can you guys?"
"Why you..."
"Hey, what's going on here?" The arguement came to a sudden halt as Shugo and Kairi walked onto the set. Kairi looked rather refreshed from the long sleep, but she was still picking at her long yellow shirt like she wanted to be wearing something else. Shugo on the other hand had one hand on a Game Boy Advance and was tapping away at some Role Playing Game that had just came out. His hat was tucked under his arm, revealing messy blond hair. "Are you guys arguing again?" Kairi demanded. Despite her short stature, the quartet seemed rather uncomfortable with the little girl dressing them down again.
Kairi had earned a reputation as an enforcer in the group, being able to bring arguements to a grinding halt. Of course, it was well known that Kairi was hell with a broom and a good running start.
"Nothing really, just discussing how we want to get this over with," Daisuke said with a shrug.
"All right. Where's Sora and Hikaru? They should be here by now." asked Kairi.
"They're just getting some final makeup done," said a tall woman with blonde hair. She was dressed in casual sweats and a t-shirt and a hat that wore the logo "Digimon Adventures". She also carried a cup of coffee and the studio was waking up with the sounds of people working and lights being turned on. "Morning all."
"Morning Hart-san," the kids chorused.
"So, okay kids, we're getting to the final legs of the story. Feel up to it?" asked Mina Hart, the director of Digimon Adventures.
"Hart-san, are we getting a contract renewal?" asked Shugo tenatively.
"I'm afraid not," Mina said, sitting down heavily. "The company feels that Digimon Adventures has gone too long. Already they've begun promoting the next season of Digimon as Digimon Tamers." She took a long drink from her coffee and sighed. "They've located new actors for the new season."
The kids slumped as one. "So.... we're being replaced, eh?" asked Hiro despondantly.
"Yes, unfortunately." Mina sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"I heard that they're moving the studio to a more exotic location for Tamers," pointed out Sora. Sora and Hikaru had come across the conversation when the topic had turned sour. "That we're going to New Zealand or something and there won't be money to keep producing and that they'll have to go back to cel-style animation."
"Completely unfounded," dismissed Mina. "We're staying here in Japan. This IS Tokyo TV after all."
The kids looked rather relieved at the whole development. Mina then clapped her hands, getting their attention. "All right. It's the big one, the fight before Apoclyamon. Lets do this! Gene!" A man with red hair looked up. "Start up the holographic imagers!"
In a flash, the world of data appeared around them as camera crews began to work. "Lets do this." Mina put out her hand and the rest followed suit.
Hiro grinned. "All for one and one for all." There were some snorts but they put their fists together and punched inwards. They then walked out onto the set, taking their places.
"All right! Lets get this going!" Mina crowed as the lights came on, 0's and 1's appeared everywhere and strange creatures materialized in a flash of light.
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"Okay, Take twenty three. And Action!"
Suddenly, there was a tremendous blue light that burst from the middle of the holographic stage. As it began to fade, a heated arguement could be heard within the light.
Hiro threw up his hands to shield his eyes from the light when pitched voices caught his attention.
".... just had to pull a stupid stunt, didn't you?!" The voice was female and curiously close to Hikaru's.
"I did what I could!" The second was tinged with an accent that seemed from the western countries.
"Can't we calm down here?" The third voice seemed weary but young still. As if the owner had soaked up many of these arguements before.
"NO!" A chorus of both first and second voices shouted.
"Eric-niichan, Sora-neechan, stop arguing." The voice that put in it's opinion was young and female.
"I'm with her." The voice was strange, like it tried to be brooklyn and cute at the same time.
Suddenly the light faded as it revealed four kids, two of them in a heated arguement. The boy with messy brown hair was holding his arm like it was injured and the girl with longer styled hair looked about ready to smack him around. "Tis but a scratch!" the boy with messy hair protested.
"A scratch?!" the girl who looked oddly like Hikaru screeched angrily. "Only YOU, Eric Stewart would call a Disruptor Blast Wound as 'A scratch'!"
"Hey, we got it treated, right? What's the big deal?" Protested the boy named Eric.
"The point is, you can't keep doing the stuff you do," pointed out the boy with long violet hair.
"Might I remind you of the Xena incident, Ken?" Eric said. Ken scowled but clammed up.
"That's rich coming from the guy who charged at a Vorlon head on," laughed the bunny at Eric's shoulder.
"And might I remind you of the incident with the trout and the Dragon Talisman?" pointed out the minature worm at Ken's feet.
"Right, and I suppose Ken hasn't done something stupid yet. How about the incident in the Dimension of Pain?" drawed the bunny.
"Oh ho, that's rich from the guy who got one foot stuck in Earthworm Jim's collar and had to be dragged twenty miles by Peter Puppy," pointed out the Worm, looking rather annoyed at the whole reminder of the Dimension of Pain incident.
The little girl who was with the small group, held a bunny of her own. The bunny however sported a red scarf around it's neck and when it spoke, it was soft and rather older japanese. "Peace, travellers," it placated. "We are all to blame for rushing into territory we were not prepared for." It then smirked. "Shall I remind you of the incident with the lightsaber, bantha and two tons of poodoo?"
The small group broke out into chuckles. The girl with red hair giggled a bit and said, "Jen, you really know how to stop an arguement."
"I have a lot of practice, dealing with unruly children, as well as my Deva brethren," pointed out Jen.
"Hey, who're you calling an unruly child?" exclaimed the second bunny.
"Brother, you ARE an unruly child," said Jen.
"Damn straight," the bunny exclaimed. A pause. "Hey!"
"Um, guys? We DO have company, you know." Said the worm. Everyone turned around to look at the kids who were standing around, looking completely lost at the turn of events. There was a few men and women standing around, some of them holding cameras and such.
A silence fell on the small travelling group before the red haired girl exclaimed, "What is this; a Documentary of Digi-destined?"
Hiro felt a tugging at his pant leg. Looking down at his holographic Agumon, it asked, "Taichi-san, who are these people?"
Hiro was caught off guard from the question. Then he remembered that the programmers were able to produce near shy lifelike intelligence with the simulated digimon. It was only natural that Agumon would ask who they were. The simulated intelligence was given to the Digimon to make the acting more life like and less ridgid. "I don't really know, Agumon," he replied. Hiro, at this moment, felt slightly stupid talking to the holographic creature outside of his lines.
"Um, hi?" the red haired girl said. "I'm Sora. And um... well...."
Before anything else could be said, a tremendous roar was heard throughout the room as a creature came barrelling out of nowhere, swooping over their heads. The kids ducked reflexively as the creature made a tight U turn and buzzed them again.
Unlike most Imperial Dramon, this one was a bit different. The blue skin and the wings were there, but he was missing the giant laser cannon on his back. Instead, his claws were extra long and he had tusked teeth. It looked like someone had tried to put him together with a Ikkakumon.
"Another Imperial Dramon?!" Eric exclaimed, annoyed. "This is getting old. All right guys, we know the drill, right?"
"Right!" The group chorused.
"Lopmon evolve! Wendigomon! Wendigomon super-evolve! Antiramon!"
"Lopmon evolve! Antiramon!"
"Wormmon evolve! Stingmon!"
"Let him come!" Antiramon crowed, pulling a huge axe out of subspace and waving it at the Imperial Dramon who smirked.
"I'll come get some all right!" It landed with a tremendous crash and slashed at Antiramon who dodged neatly out of the way. Jen leapt up, bounced off of Antiramon's shoulder and brought down his axe hands into Imperial Dramon's eye. Imperial Dramon roared and flicked him off angrily.
Stingmon dove in and jabbed his weapon into Imperial Dramon's nose, causing a burst of data to explode from the nostrils. "Eeew, Dramon bogeys," he remarked. "Antiramon! That's 67!"
"What, are we counting old wounds and kills are we?!" Lopmon hacked a good chunk of data flesh from the shoulder of the Imperial Dramon. Imperial Dramon growled and bit at him. "That's 68 wound for me then! Ha! 69!"
As the smaller digimon leapt around and fought off the Imperial Dramon, Piyomon tugged at Hikaru's pants. "Sora, can we go fight too? They need help."
"Um..." Hikaru looked over at Hiro and the others. Jiro was shaking, the kids, Shugo and Kairi were wide eyed and Daisuke, Sora and Misa were staring. "What should we do? This wasn't in the script."
Hiro turned towards Mina who shouted, "We can't shut the projectors down! Play along! We'll edit later!"
Hiro nodded. "Right! Okay Digimon, go for it!" He held out his prop digivice which burned with simulated light. Several other digivices and crests burned with the simulated light as well.
"Agumon warp evolve! War Greymon!"
"Piyomon evolve! Birdramon!"
"Gabumon warp evolve! Metal Garurumon!"
"Tentomon evolve! Kabuterimon!"
"Gomamon evolve! Ikkakumon!"
"Palmon evolve! Togemon!"
"Patamon evolve! Angemon!"
"Tailmon evolve! Angewomon!"
"CHARGE!" Hiro roared, getting into charecter once again.
Imperial Dramon was completely caught unawares when two angels flew into his face and released two blasts of holy energy that drove him backwards. "What?!" He exclaimed, surprised.
Kabuterimon, Ikkakumon, Birdramon and Togemon released their own projectiles, blasting and knocking him further backwards when the twin Ultimate level Digimon floated up in front of his face. "Hey there," greeted Metal Garurumon as his weapons were bared. "Garuru Tomahawk!"
The missiles impacted and Imperial Dramon staggered backwards, almost crashing into the sound stage wall due to his speed. When War Greymon held up his hands and cried out, "Gaia...!", the tremendous dragon grunted to himself and he pixilated, vanishing into thin air.
War Greymon pouted. "No fair." He then shrunk back into Agumon as the rest of the Digimon devolved.
With a burst of pixels, the holographic worked around them vanished, leaving the actors surrounded by the holo sound stage.
Hiro let out a sigh of relief. "That definately wasn't in the script." He then felt a familiar tugging on his pants leg.
"Taichi, I'm going to get something to eat."
Hiro's eyes widened to the size of dishplates as he whirled down on the dinosaur which shouldn't be still around. "Wha?"
"Can't I eat?" Agumon asked.
"Um.... sure?" Hiro said. "There's some donuts over there."
Hiro nearly got bowled over as a flood of Digimon raced for the donuts, many of them shouting, "Yay, food!"
Spinning about unsteadily, Hiro shook his head to clear out the dizziness. Mina was at his side immediately, checking him over. "Mina-san," Hiro said, "What... is going on?"
"Not sure," Mina said, listening to her technicians arguing in the background. She then straightened and turned to the actors. "Until this is settled, can you guys look after your, um, Digimon?"
Daisuke grumbled as he tossed his prop laptop to the ground. "Why should we?"
"Because they obviously know us, idiot," Misa said, punching the shorter boy in the shoulder.
Sora folded his arms. "Any idea of how this should be working?" He adjusted his glasses, an unconcious gesture after wearing them for so long during filming.
"Maybe there's something wrong with the Kaiba Corperation Technology?" put in Shugo. He had already taken off his hat and sat down on a piece of equiptment.
"Maybe," said Kairi, folding her arms. "But their digimon didn't vanish either." She pointed to the quartet who's digimon had reverted to child stage. Walking over she looked at the four critically before saying, "So, what's your story?"
Ken blinked. He wasn't used to Hikari, or at least a look alike of her being rather blunt. The way she moved was also symbolistic of lots of sports. "Um, that's kind of hard to explain," he said. "Eric take over."
"WHAT? Sheesh, leave me with the explanations." Eric grumbled.
"We could just write it down," remarked Sora with a smirk.
"I'm waiting," said Kairi, scowling.
Jen, in Shuichon's arms, sighed. "My lady," he said, "we are from another world, far beyond from this one. My companions and I are travelling each world, trying to get back home. Thus, the situation. Though we have not suceeded as of yet."
"What he said," said Lopmon.
Kairi blinked. "You're serious." she said.
"Very serious," pointed out Wormmon.
Kairi smiled a bit and held out her hand to them. "Toukai Kairi."
The four shook hands with the young girl, introducing themselves seperately and their digimon.
Shugo looked up from his apple that he was feeding Patamon with, when the group approached. "Hi," he said, bounding over. "I'm Miyabi Shugo, nice to meet you!"
Sora was taken aback a bit from seeing Takeru little again. After seeing him several times in various other worlds as a teenager or even adult, it was hard seeing the little boy so young again. Though this Takeru didn't share the same darkness and experience that her Takeru grew up with during their time in the Digital World. "Takenouchi Sora," Sora said, stooping down to look at him. "And is this Patamon?"
"Yep!" Shugo exclaimed as Patamon munched on the apple happily. "Say, you have the same charecter name as Hikaru." Shugo then pointed towards a girl, dressed like Sora was several dozen worlds back. "That's Kino Hikaru. She's a nice girl."
"Different names, holographic sound stage..." Eric mused. "We're in an actor world."
Ken nodded. "I have to agree," he said. "They don't have the same look as the Chosen in our world do. Not if they've been killing holographic simulations."
"But they're not anymore, at least not these ones." Eric pulled out his old tricorder from the home world and flipped it open. After scanning Patamon who exclaimed, "That tickles!", Eric nodded. "Full biological systems. They're real all right."
"Which brings up a point. Did our emergance into this world solidify the hologram digimon?" said Sora.
"And if we destroy the Imperial Dramon, would that turn them back into holograms?" said Shuichon. "We can't deprive living beings of their life."
"Moral dilemma," said a voice behind them. The group turned to see who they initially thought as Koushiro standing behind them. But this one had slung a leather jacket over his shoulders and wore wrap around mirror shades. "Hey babe," he greeted Sora.
There was a collective blink. Then, Ken said, "I don't know about you guys, but that sounded just WRONG coming from Koushiro." There were nods and Koushiro fell over in mock death.
Getting up quickly, the boy frowned and removed his sunglasses. "The name is Shiranui Daisuke," he said. "I can show you guys around town. It's not big deal."
"Like hell," interrupted the Mimi look alike who stomped up and punched Daisuke in the shoulder. "You'll take the time to feel up Hikaru's look alike."
"Feh," remarked Daisuke as he slunk away. "Mimi" turned towards them and said, "Don't bother about the lunkhead. He's just a lecherous pervert who acts cool in public."
"Um, yeah," said Ken. "And you are?"
"Nonaka Misa," said Misa. She had pushed her hat off her head, letting it dangle as she pulled out several earrings and afixed them onto her ears. A bit shamelessly, she also pulled off her skirt and Eric and Ken threw up their hands in front of their eyes to prevent a beating and a free show, but she wore jeans underneath the pink skirt.
"You're... certianly different from the girl we know," said Shuichon as she looked over Misa. Misa wore her cowboy jacket open with a t-shirt underneath that read "Digimon Bad Girl" over the front and jeans.
"Bah. I love this job, but I don't like the type casting they like to do for me." Misa hustled the girls over to the table where Palmon was soaking up some spring water. She picked up two donuts, handed it to the girls and grabbed a muffin from the table for herself. "They look at me and for some reason, they like casting me in roles that star innocent peace loving girls. I mean, hello! I have piercings, I wear jeans and my Digimon Bad Girl t-shirt all the time, I wear too much jewelry and makeup..." Misa bit into the muffin a bit savagely.
"Maybe they can't help it?" asked Sora. She had never experienced a Mimi like this before, not since the Bubblegum Digimon world where Mimi was Sylia Stingray.
Mimi shrugged. "I guess. It's a nice place to work with, and Palmon here is a great partner to work with." Palmon gave a thumbs up and went back to her soaking. "But damn, I would love to be a bad girl some time. Just be myself."
"To each their own," Shuichon said with a smile. Hikaru and Kairi soon came over with their digimon and the talk dissolved into rampant girl stuff.
While Ken and Eric and their digimon were slowly regaining balance from Misa stripping in front of them, the Taichi and Yamato came up. The Yamato looked nervous, timid, almost, in Eric's option, Hinata-ish from Naruto. "Hi," the Taichi greeted. "I'm Ishida Hiro and this is my brother, Hibiki- Ishida Jiro."
"You don't look alike," remarked Lopmon and was noogied for it.
Hiro laughed. "Jiro here is adopted. He was the son of my dad's best friend."
"My dad... died of cancer two years ago," said Jiro, twiddling his thumbs in such a manner that made him look vulnerable and almost, in Ken's opinion, cute. "My mom left me with the Ishida's since she had to move out of the country. I hear from her sometimes, but she has basically given me up."
"That's rough. Sorry man." Eric made to clasp him on the shoulder but Jiro shied away. "Sorry," said Eric, withdrawing his hand.
Hiro nodded. "It hasn't been easy. Jiro here, would never have been able to grow out of his shell somewhat if it wern't for the acting job. I was a kid actor, did a mini movie with Kairi when I was little. It was the preview acting job for Digimon."
"The Hikarigaoka Incident?" asked Wormmon.
Hiro nodded. "Yeah. It was a mix of CGI and live action. Back then, Kaiba Corperation hadn't released their holographic technology and we had to work with CGI. I tell you, I was what, five? It was hard enough interacting with a Digimon you couldn't see or touch without using a reference point. Kairi did well though, she worked out things rather easily."
Eric goggled. "Kaiba Corperation? As in Seto Kaiba?"
Hiro grinned. "You've heard of him?"
"He has a reputation even in our world," said Ken. Ken had seen a couple of episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters in their home world and in the boring worlds. Eric had been meaning to teach him to duel, but Ken wasn't willing to spend a quarter gold piece on a deck of cards. They had found recently that the gold was beginning to dwindle, and had to take odd jobs once in a while in places where Digimon helping them would not seem unusual. With some luck, they found that most places had the same currency as most worlds. When it didn't, they found some way to exchange their funds for something that would be accepted later on. Like gold or silver.
"You guys up to something again?" teased the tall boy who played Jyou. He and Shugo had come up beside them and were leaning on the food table.
"Hey Sora," greeted Hiro. "Guys, this is Aino Sora. He's our resident Jyou. And you guys already met Shugo, right?"
"Pleased to meet you," was the chorus as they shook hands.
===============
"Make yourselves at home." Hiro switched on the light as he, Jiro, Eric, Ken and the digimon piled into the house. "It's not much, but it's home."
"Not much?" Ken whistled. "This is a good sized house. The Taichi we know lives in an apartment."
"Mom and dad bought this land when property was still down," said Hiro. He kicked a soccer ball out of the way, and moved some clothing that had been neatly folded but sitting on a chair. "Sit down, I'll get some drinks." He moved into the kitchen, followed by Agumon who called out, "Taichi, let me help!"
Ken sat down, and removed the Bag of Holding from his shoulders. Wormmon hopped into his lap. "Very nice place," he said. The house resembled a cross between American and Japanese homes with a couch, love seat, but a room with a traditional eating area with a table to kneel at and some sliding rice paper doors. Jiro settled himself into an arm chair that resembled something that one would find in an eclectic post-modern art form. Gabumon sat at his feet. He noticed Ken's look and smiled a bit nervously. "It's more comfortable than it looks."
Gabumon looked up at his partner and said, "Is there anything I can help you with Yamato?"
Jiro shook his head. "No, it's all right Gabumon."
Eric settled down next to Ken with a omph and a bounce of the couch. Lopmon then leapt off of his shoulder and landed on the top of the couch. Eric then picked up a photograph that stood on the end table. "This is nice."
"It's a picture of my mom and dad." Jiro said quietly.
Eric didn't say much. He recognized Mr. Ishida and Mrs. Ishida from their home world but the girl beside Jiro was unfamiliar. She had long black hair and looked a bit different from the Ishidas. "Who's the girl?"
There was a uncomfortable silence and Eric set down the picture. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. It's just my sister. Adopted. Her name is Hibiki Kanako." Jiro sighed. "I haven't seen her in ages. She's with my mom."
"Kanako?" Lopmon grit his teeth in order not to make a Love Hina Joke. "She's very pretty."
"She looks familiar," Ken mused. Then it hit her. Koushiro said Miyako dyed her hair. The girl, Kanako was Miyako. He decided not to mention it to Jiro.
Hiro then came out bearing a few tall glasses of dark liquid with ice cubes floating in it. "I dunno if you guys like Oolong Tea," he said, setting the tray down. "My mom has this stupid health food thing going on."
Ken and Eric looked at each other and they burst out laughing even with their digimon. When the laughter subsided, Wormmon said, "It's an inside joke." The response only increased Jiro and Hiro's puzzlement at the whole situation.
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"Mom, I'm home!"
Sora looked around the house. The interior looked similar to her own home but the room was different. Shuichon stood beside her, clutching Jen to her chest. Hikaru was at the front of the small group holding her Piyomon, as well as with Misa who was chewing gum and popping it while holding Palmon. Kairi hugged Tailmon to her chest, carrying her like a stuffed animal.
A middle aged woman in slacks and a t-shirt walked out of the kitchen, holding a ladle. "Hikaru! Good, dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Oh and you brought friends too! Hello Misa, Kairi. And you brought friends?"
Sora felt a bit uncomfortable at her supposed mother regarding her as a stranger. "Um, Takenouchi Sora. Pleased to meet you."
"Lee Shuichon," Shuichon said. "Hello."
"You look so much like my daughter," Mrs. Kino gushed. She then turned to Shuichon and ruffled her hair. "And you are the cutest thing ever! Well, I have to get going. Dinner won't fix itself. Go ahead and enjoy your stay."
Hikaru gripped Sora's hand and said, "C'mon."
The five girls and their digimon in arms rushed upstairs. Mrs. Kino smiled. "Cute toys too." Then she went into the kitchen to finish preparing the evening meal.
Once secured in Hikaru's room, Hikaru put down Piyomon. Tailmon leapt out of Kairi's arms and Palmon was set down. "Sorry about my mother," Hikaru said. "She's a bit too bubbly."
"So much unlike my mom," Sora remarked, settling down amidst the stacks of trading cards and games everywhere. "My mom is a real traditional lady.... but so am I a bit."
"Mom works as a nurse," said Hikaru. She set down and picked up a stack of cards Sora identified as Yugioh playing cards. "She's a real active woman and something of an animal rights activist. I hope you like Tofu because she takes cooking lessons with Mrs. Ishida."
Kairi sat on the floor, teaching Tailmon how to play Blackjack with one of Hikaru's many card decks. Misa and Palmon were playing poker against Shuichon and Jen. Kairi looked up. "My mom is kinda the same way. She's an American, Diana is her name, but my dad is Japanese. So I'm half and half. My dad's name is Hiroshi." She pulled out a picture from her wallet and handed it to Sora and Shuichon.
Sora didn't recognize the woman or man in the picture. The man was dark skinned and dark haired, presumably japanese as well. Apparently he had spent a lot of time in the sun to have developed such a dark tan. The woman had reddish-pink hair and was fair skinned and dressed predominantly in pink and white. Kairi stood in the middle, making a victory pose with her fingers.
"My parents are both Japanese," said Misa. "They're cool. When they were younger, they were both part of a band." Misa held out a picture to Shuichon who examined it. From the descriptions given to her by Misa on the way there, the people in the photograph was taken in their earlier days. Sora looked over and giggled. The Tachikawa's in the photograph was obviously in their younger rock and roll days. It looked so out of character, but having raised a girl like Misa, it had to be expected.
Shuichon yawned and stretched. She then nearly knocked over several piles of free standing cards. "There's not much room in here."
"I haven't cleaned up yet," said Hikaru. "It was just a couple of days ago when the Second Annual Battle City began and I'm still looking through the rare cards that I won. Didn't get enough puzzle cards though. I was knocked out of the tournament by Kujaku Mai and Dinosaur Ryuuzaki respectively. We wagered two cards each."
"That would be a dream of Eric and Lopmon, getting knocked out by those two," said Sora.
Hikaru shrugged. "Mai was nice, and Dinosaur Ryuuzaki mellowed out after getting ground into paste by that cheater Esper Roba last year. I can't believe that he tried the same stunt as last year, getting his brothers to spy on the opponents cards. Good thing Kaiba Mokuba had security watching him."
"So Kaiba Corperation provided the technology for the sound stage?" asked Shuichon. She also had heard about Kaiba from Eric when he went on a Yu-Gi- Oh binge in one world.
"Yeah," said Misa. She then turned to Palmon. "I dunno how you guys became real though."
"We were always real Mimi," replied Palmon.
"That's right," Tailmon said. "We've been with you since you entered the digital world, right?"
"And we won't be apart anymore!" added Piyomon to Hikaru. "Right Sora?"
With a sudden realization and a sickening lurch, Sora realized that the digimon's data banks or memory or whatever, still ran like they were interacting with the actors. They still regarded Misa, Kairi and Hikaru as Mimi, Hikari and Sora. The only memories they had of their time together was when the were in the "Digital World".
Sora coughed and said, "I need to go to the bathroom. Shuichon, can you come with me?"
Shuichon got up and followed the girl out into the room. The actors looked blank. "What do you think that was about?" asked Misa.
"I dunno," said Kairi.
Once in the bathroom, Sora pulled out the communicator and strapped it onto her wrist. Pressing the talk button, she said, "Eric? Ken? You guys there?"
"Sora? Shuichon? I was just about to call you guys," came Lopmon's voice.
"Lopmon? Is there something wrong?" Shuichon asked.
"Well, it's a bit problematic," put in Wormmon. "Eric and Ken are busy doing guy stuff with Jiro and Hiro. Sora and Shugo came over and Daisuke is lurking around. Even the digimon are with them."
"The point is," Lopmon said, "Is that the digimon still think Hiro and his actor friends are still Taichi and others."
"That is how the digimon here are as well," said Jen. "They may only retain memories of recordings done during the filming process. They believe that their partners are the Chosen that they portray."
"Telling them could shatter their whole perception of ideals," said Wormmon. "They were basically programmed to interact with their chosen partner. Sure they think like a real being, they are real, but the only world they know is the adventure they had experienced."
"So we don't tell them, just ease them into the real world," said Sora. "That's a good idea. You two go mingle with the other digimon and help them cope with the real world. We'll do the same with the digimon here."
"Eric has a copy of the Chosen CD," put in Lopmon. "We can select and burn various parts of the CD to help them cope with the responsibilities that may or may not occur with having a digimon. For all we know, this could be a random thing."
"What makes me wonder about something." said Shuichon. "They look so much like the people you all know. But if their personalities are different, are they the same souls?"
Sora frowned to herself. "That's something to address. They might not even be the same souls."
"Right. Well, we'll check out a few things, keep the Digimon entertained," said Lopmon. "Lopmon and Wormmon over and out."
=============
D3 : Digital Diaries Dimensions
Variations 1.10 : The (Real) Digital World
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. Yu-Gi-Oh is created by Kazuki Takahashi and all original names are created by me.
=================
"Hey."
"Hey."
The brown haired girl, currently in a bathrobe narrowed her eyes at the boy who's hair had apparently been in between styling. Strands of his black hair tuffed out everywhere as the wig was half on. "Look, I'm sorry about last night. It was improper."
The girl remained silent as she sipped her coffee, heavily sugared and creamed. The boy pressed on. "I mean, it was Daisuke's idea, really. Please don't be mad, Misa."
Misa slugged down her coffee and glared at the boy. "What do you think I was supposed to be, Hiro? Some kinda call girl? Daisuke might be a perverted jerk but he knows me better than that."
Hiro rubbed the back of his head, nearly dislodging the pins and glue that held the wig to his scalp. "Daisuke can be an idiot. Okay, a REALLY big idiot," Hiro added, noting Misa's glare. "But his heart was probably in the right place."
Misa snorted. "Riiiiight," she drawled out. "His heart was in the right place all right. Three inches from my breasts and one hand down my..."
"Misa-san? Hiro-san? Am I interrupting anything?"
Misa stopped in mid rant as she looked at the little boy with blonde hair and wide green eyes. "Um, the make up studio is complaining that you guys aren't there yet, and Hiro, you ran off without them afixing the wig."
Hiro's hand went to his head and he chuckled. "I guess so. Sorry about making you worry Shugo." He then turned to Misa and said, "Tell you what; I'll find Jiro and we'll beat the living heck out of Daisuke. Sound fair?"
"I get first punch," Misa said, smirking. She then ruffled the wig hard enough to pop out the last few pins. "Get going you big lug." As Hiro ran off, she turned to Shugo and said, "Shugo-chan, you should really get going. Kairi-chan is waiting for you in the dressing room."
"Thank you, Misa-san!" As Shugo ran off, Misa reached for a donut, not heeding the grumble of the man who was reaching for it before her, and bit into it. "Some day this is turning out to be," she remarked.
===============
Jiro was pacing in the locker room back and forth several times when Hiro showed up. "Hiro!" he exclaimed, wringing his hands. "We're behind schedule! The director came up and said we had to be on set in five minutes! Where were you?!"
"Chill out, bro," Hiro said, slapping Jiro on the shoulder. "Breathe first. Ask questions later." He went to his locker and popped it open with a kick. Grabbing the freshly laundered blue shirt with the stars on the sides, he slipped it on, dropping his jeans as he did so. Fishing around the top of the locker for his jeans, he turned to Jiro and said, "Get dressed all ready, sheesh."
Jiro paced back and forth rapidly before going to his own locker and fumbling with the door before getting it open. He shoved the sleeveless green shirt over his head and pulled on the brown pants and boots. As Hiro slammed the locker door shut, the elder boy turned towards the blond and said critically, "You forgot to go to makeup this morning."
Jiro nearly freaked out, running around and checking his appearance in the various windows and mirrors before turning to glare at Hiro. "You idiot, you lied to me."
"Doi, I'm your brother. I'm supposed to." Hiro chuckled and lead Jiro out of the room, pausing to grab his gloves. "We're filming the World of Data scene today. You nervous?"
"Nooo..."
"Yes you are," said Hiro, turning towards Jiro, turning down the boys collar. "Look at you; you're a wreck! Just breathe, breathe and more breathing is good, okay?"
Jiro exhaled sharply before turning the corner, and his throat locked up again. "Um... hi," he squeaked out, sounding rather mouse-like.
Misa was already in costume in pink and dark red. She wore a smile that seemed almost out of place of the girl who had more piercings than most goths. "Hello Jiro, Hiro. Are you two ready?" she asked in a sweet voice.
Jiro's voice had locked up as Hiro sighed, shaking his head. "Yeah, we're ready."
Misa's expression turned annoyed. "Good, because the rest of the cast is late. Again."
"What now? Sora and Hikaru get mobbed by crazed fans outside of the studio?" joked an irritating, almost despised voice. Misa's mood darkened and dropped to an "Angry, must bludgeon" level while Hiro sighed and Jiro couldn't talk.
Daisuke slid out of the shadows like a ninja. Though it would have been ninja like if he hadn't tripped on the cord in front of him. Hitting the ground, he cursed fluently, ending off with the typical "Damn Backpack."
"Daisuke," Misa intoned icily.
"Misa-chan, how are you?" Daisuke smirked. "I see you can still pull off the cute girl act."
She then whapped him upside the head, but Daisuke was still smirking. "That, was for bringing that sake last night and trying to get me drunk."
"Now hon, it's not nice to make fun of your lover like that," said Daisuke. Jiro went completely red and began to sputter like a two-stroke motor while Hiro massaged his knuckles, just itching to hit him.
"Look, it's the end of the season. Can't we just get along?" asked Hiro, trying to warn off the impending explosion. "Daisuke, Misa, just back off, okay?"
"Fine. If she will admit defeat," said Daisuke.
Misa told him what Daisuke could do with himself rather graphically for a good three minutes. Daisuke didn't look offended at all as he whipped out his sunglasses and polished them on his shirt. "Sticks and stones love."
"Misa, it's the last time we'll see Daisuke. Next season, they're bringing in new kids so we don't have to deal with this arrogant idiot anymore." Hiro glared at Daisuke who shrugged.
"I can get an acting job anywhere," Daisuke replied smoothly. "Question is; can you guys?"
"Why you..."
"Hey, what's going on here?" The arguement came to a sudden halt as Shugo and Kairi walked onto the set. Kairi looked rather refreshed from the long sleep, but she was still picking at her long yellow shirt like she wanted to be wearing something else. Shugo on the other hand had one hand on a Game Boy Advance and was tapping away at some Role Playing Game that had just came out. His hat was tucked under his arm, revealing messy blond hair. "Are you guys arguing again?" Kairi demanded. Despite her short stature, the quartet seemed rather uncomfortable with the little girl dressing them down again.
Kairi had earned a reputation as an enforcer in the group, being able to bring arguements to a grinding halt. Of course, it was well known that Kairi was hell with a broom and a good running start.
"Nothing really, just discussing how we want to get this over with," Daisuke said with a shrug.
"All right. Where's Sora and Hikaru? They should be here by now." asked Kairi.
"They're just getting some final makeup done," said a tall woman with blonde hair. She was dressed in casual sweats and a t-shirt and a hat that wore the logo "Digimon Adventures". She also carried a cup of coffee and the studio was waking up with the sounds of people working and lights being turned on. "Morning all."
"Morning Hart-san," the kids chorused.
"So, okay kids, we're getting to the final legs of the story. Feel up to it?" asked Mina Hart, the director of Digimon Adventures.
"Hart-san, are we getting a contract renewal?" asked Shugo tenatively.
"I'm afraid not," Mina said, sitting down heavily. "The company feels that Digimon Adventures has gone too long. Already they've begun promoting the next season of Digimon as Digimon Tamers." She took a long drink from her coffee and sighed. "They've located new actors for the new season."
The kids slumped as one. "So.... we're being replaced, eh?" asked Hiro despondantly.
"Yes, unfortunately." Mina sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"I heard that they're moving the studio to a more exotic location for Tamers," pointed out Sora. Sora and Hikaru had come across the conversation when the topic had turned sour. "That we're going to New Zealand or something and there won't be money to keep producing and that they'll have to go back to cel-style animation."
"Completely unfounded," dismissed Mina. "We're staying here in Japan. This IS Tokyo TV after all."
The kids looked rather relieved at the whole development. Mina then clapped her hands, getting their attention. "All right. It's the big one, the fight before Apoclyamon. Lets do this! Gene!" A man with red hair looked up. "Start up the holographic imagers!"
In a flash, the world of data appeared around them as camera crews began to work. "Lets do this." Mina put out her hand and the rest followed suit.
Hiro grinned. "All for one and one for all." There were some snorts but they put their fists together and punched inwards. They then walked out onto the set, taking their places.
"All right! Lets get this going!" Mina crowed as the lights came on, 0's and 1's appeared everywhere and strange creatures materialized in a flash of light.
==============
"Okay, Take twenty three. And Action!"
Suddenly, there was a tremendous blue light that burst from the middle of the holographic stage. As it began to fade, a heated arguement could be heard within the light.
Hiro threw up his hands to shield his eyes from the light when pitched voices caught his attention.
".... just had to pull a stupid stunt, didn't you?!" The voice was female and curiously close to Hikaru's.
"I did what I could!" The second was tinged with an accent that seemed from the western countries.
"Can't we calm down here?" The third voice seemed weary but young still. As if the owner had soaked up many of these arguements before.
"NO!" A chorus of both first and second voices shouted.
"Eric-niichan, Sora-neechan, stop arguing." The voice that put in it's opinion was young and female.
"I'm with her." The voice was strange, like it tried to be brooklyn and cute at the same time.
Suddenly the light faded as it revealed four kids, two of them in a heated arguement. The boy with messy brown hair was holding his arm like it was injured and the girl with longer styled hair looked about ready to smack him around. "Tis but a scratch!" the boy with messy hair protested.
"A scratch?!" the girl who looked oddly like Hikaru screeched angrily. "Only YOU, Eric Stewart would call a Disruptor Blast Wound as 'A scratch'!"
"Hey, we got it treated, right? What's the big deal?" Protested the boy named Eric.
"The point is, you can't keep doing the stuff you do," pointed out the boy with long violet hair.
"Might I remind you of the Xena incident, Ken?" Eric said. Ken scowled but clammed up.
"That's rich coming from the guy who charged at a Vorlon head on," laughed the bunny at Eric's shoulder.
"And might I remind you of the incident with the trout and the Dragon Talisman?" pointed out the minature worm at Ken's feet.
"Right, and I suppose Ken hasn't done something stupid yet. How about the incident in the Dimension of Pain?" drawed the bunny.
"Oh ho, that's rich from the guy who got one foot stuck in Earthworm Jim's collar and had to be dragged twenty miles by Peter Puppy," pointed out the Worm, looking rather annoyed at the whole reminder of the Dimension of Pain incident.
The little girl who was with the small group, held a bunny of her own. The bunny however sported a red scarf around it's neck and when it spoke, it was soft and rather older japanese. "Peace, travellers," it placated. "We are all to blame for rushing into territory we were not prepared for." It then smirked. "Shall I remind you of the incident with the lightsaber, bantha and two tons of poodoo?"
The small group broke out into chuckles. The girl with red hair giggled a bit and said, "Jen, you really know how to stop an arguement."
"I have a lot of practice, dealing with unruly children, as well as my Deva brethren," pointed out Jen.
"Hey, who're you calling an unruly child?" exclaimed the second bunny.
"Brother, you ARE an unruly child," said Jen.
"Damn straight," the bunny exclaimed. A pause. "Hey!"
"Um, guys? We DO have company, you know." Said the worm. Everyone turned around to look at the kids who were standing around, looking completely lost at the turn of events. There was a few men and women standing around, some of them holding cameras and such.
A silence fell on the small travelling group before the red haired girl exclaimed, "What is this; a Documentary of Digi-destined?"
Hiro felt a tugging at his pant leg. Looking down at his holographic Agumon, it asked, "Taichi-san, who are these people?"
Hiro was caught off guard from the question. Then he remembered that the programmers were able to produce near shy lifelike intelligence with the simulated digimon. It was only natural that Agumon would ask who they were. The simulated intelligence was given to the Digimon to make the acting more life like and less ridgid. "I don't really know, Agumon," he replied. Hiro, at this moment, felt slightly stupid talking to the holographic creature outside of his lines.
"Um, hi?" the red haired girl said. "I'm Sora. And um... well...."
Before anything else could be said, a tremendous roar was heard throughout the room as a creature came barrelling out of nowhere, swooping over their heads. The kids ducked reflexively as the creature made a tight U turn and buzzed them again.
Unlike most Imperial Dramon, this one was a bit different. The blue skin and the wings were there, but he was missing the giant laser cannon on his back. Instead, his claws were extra long and he had tusked teeth. It looked like someone had tried to put him together with a Ikkakumon.
"Another Imperial Dramon?!" Eric exclaimed, annoyed. "This is getting old. All right guys, we know the drill, right?"
"Right!" The group chorused.
"Lopmon evolve! Wendigomon! Wendigomon super-evolve! Antiramon!"
"Lopmon evolve! Antiramon!"
"Wormmon evolve! Stingmon!"
"Let him come!" Antiramon crowed, pulling a huge axe out of subspace and waving it at the Imperial Dramon who smirked.
"I'll come get some all right!" It landed with a tremendous crash and slashed at Antiramon who dodged neatly out of the way. Jen leapt up, bounced off of Antiramon's shoulder and brought down his axe hands into Imperial Dramon's eye. Imperial Dramon roared and flicked him off angrily.
Stingmon dove in and jabbed his weapon into Imperial Dramon's nose, causing a burst of data to explode from the nostrils. "Eeew, Dramon bogeys," he remarked. "Antiramon! That's 67!"
"What, are we counting old wounds and kills are we?!" Lopmon hacked a good chunk of data flesh from the shoulder of the Imperial Dramon. Imperial Dramon growled and bit at him. "That's 68 wound for me then! Ha! 69!"
As the smaller digimon leapt around and fought off the Imperial Dramon, Piyomon tugged at Hikaru's pants. "Sora, can we go fight too? They need help."
"Um..." Hikaru looked over at Hiro and the others. Jiro was shaking, the kids, Shugo and Kairi were wide eyed and Daisuke, Sora and Misa were staring. "What should we do? This wasn't in the script."
Hiro turned towards Mina who shouted, "We can't shut the projectors down! Play along! We'll edit later!"
Hiro nodded. "Right! Okay Digimon, go for it!" He held out his prop digivice which burned with simulated light. Several other digivices and crests burned with the simulated light as well.
"Agumon warp evolve! War Greymon!"
"Piyomon evolve! Birdramon!"
"Gabumon warp evolve! Metal Garurumon!"
"Tentomon evolve! Kabuterimon!"
"Gomamon evolve! Ikkakumon!"
"Palmon evolve! Togemon!"
"Patamon evolve! Angemon!"
"Tailmon evolve! Angewomon!"
"CHARGE!" Hiro roared, getting into charecter once again.
Imperial Dramon was completely caught unawares when two angels flew into his face and released two blasts of holy energy that drove him backwards. "What?!" He exclaimed, surprised.
Kabuterimon, Ikkakumon, Birdramon and Togemon released their own projectiles, blasting and knocking him further backwards when the twin Ultimate level Digimon floated up in front of his face. "Hey there," greeted Metal Garurumon as his weapons were bared. "Garuru Tomahawk!"
The missiles impacted and Imperial Dramon staggered backwards, almost crashing into the sound stage wall due to his speed. When War Greymon held up his hands and cried out, "Gaia...!", the tremendous dragon grunted to himself and he pixilated, vanishing into thin air.
War Greymon pouted. "No fair." He then shrunk back into Agumon as the rest of the Digimon devolved.
With a burst of pixels, the holographic worked around them vanished, leaving the actors surrounded by the holo sound stage.
Hiro let out a sigh of relief. "That definately wasn't in the script." He then felt a familiar tugging on his pants leg.
"Taichi, I'm going to get something to eat."
Hiro's eyes widened to the size of dishplates as he whirled down on the dinosaur which shouldn't be still around. "Wha?"
"Can't I eat?" Agumon asked.
"Um.... sure?" Hiro said. "There's some donuts over there."
Hiro nearly got bowled over as a flood of Digimon raced for the donuts, many of them shouting, "Yay, food!"
Spinning about unsteadily, Hiro shook his head to clear out the dizziness. Mina was at his side immediately, checking him over. "Mina-san," Hiro said, "What... is going on?"
"Not sure," Mina said, listening to her technicians arguing in the background. She then straightened and turned to the actors. "Until this is settled, can you guys look after your, um, Digimon?"
Daisuke grumbled as he tossed his prop laptop to the ground. "Why should we?"
"Because they obviously know us, idiot," Misa said, punching the shorter boy in the shoulder.
Sora folded his arms. "Any idea of how this should be working?" He adjusted his glasses, an unconcious gesture after wearing them for so long during filming.
"Maybe there's something wrong with the Kaiba Corperation Technology?" put in Shugo. He had already taken off his hat and sat down on a piece of equiptment.
"Maybe," said Kairi, folding her arms. "But their digimon didn't vanish either." She pointed to the quartet who's digimon had reverted to child stage. Walking over she looked at the four critically before saying, "So, what's your story?"
Ken blinked. He wasn't used to Hikari, or at least a look alike of her being rather blunt. The way she moved was also symbolistic of lots of sports. "Um, that's kind of hard to explain," he said. "Eric take over."
"WHAT? Sheesh, leave me with the explanations." Eric grumbled.
"We could just write it down," remarked Sora with a smirk.
"I'm waiting," said Kairi, scowling.
Jen, in Shuichon's arms, sighed. "My lady," he said, "we are from another world, far beyond from this one. My companions and I are travelling each world, trying to get back home. Thus, the situation. Though we have not suceeded as of yet."
"What he said," said Lopmon.
Kairi blinked. "You're serious." she said.
"Very serious," pointed out Wormmon.
Kairi smiled a bit and held out her hand to them. "Toukai Kairi."
The four shook hands with the young girl, introducing themselves seperately and their digimon.
Shugo looked up from his apple that he was feeding Patamon with, when the group approached. "Hi," he said, bounding over. "I'm Miyabi Shugo, nice to meet you!"
Sora was taken aback a bit from seeing Takeru little again. After seeing him several times in various other worlds as a teenager or even adult, it was hard seeing the little boy so young again. Though this Takeru didn't share the same darkness and experience that her Takeru grew up with during their time in the Digital World. "Takenouchi Sora," Sora said, stooping down to look at him. "And is this Patamon?"
"Yep!" Shugo exclaimed as Patamon munched on the apple happily. "Say, you have the same charecter name as Hikaru." Shugo then pointed towards a girl, dressed like Sora was several dozen worlds back. "That's Kino Hikaru. She's a nice girl."
"Different names, holographic sound stage..." Eric mused. "We're in an actor world."
Ken nodded. "I have to agree," he said. "They don't have the same look as the Chosen in our world do. Not if they've been killing holographic simulations."
"But they're not anymore, at least not these ones." Eric pulled out his old tricorder from the home world and flipped it open. After scanning Patamon who exclaimed, "That tickles!", Eric nodded. "Full biological systems. They're real all right."
"Which brings up a point. Did our emergance into this world solidify the hologram digimon?" said Sora.
"And if we destroy the Imperial Dramon, would that turn them back into holograms?" said Shuichon. "We can't deprive living beings of their life."
"Moral dilemma," said a voice behind them. The group turned to see who they initially thought as Koushiro standing behind them. But this one had slung a leather jacket over his shoulders and wore wrap around mirror shades. "Hey babe," he greeted Sora.
There was a collective blink. Then, Ken said, "I don't know about you guys, but that sounded just WRONG coming from Koushiro." There were nods and Koushiro fell over in mock death.
Getting up quickly, the boy frowned and removed his sunglasses. "The name is Shiranui Daisuke," he said. "I can show you guys around town. It's not big deal."
"Like hell," interrupted the Mimi look alike who stomped up and punched Daisuke in the shoulder. "You'll take the time to feel up Hikaru's look alike."
"Feh," remarked Daisuke as he slunk away. "Mimi" turned towards them and said, "Don't bother about the lunkhead. He's just a lecherous pervert who acts cool in public."
"Um, yeah," said Ken. "And you are?"
"Nonaka Misa," said Misa. She had pushed her hat off her head, letting it dangle as she pulled out several earrings and afixed them onto her ears. A bit shamelessly, she also pulled off her skirt and Eric and Ken threw up their hands in front of their eyes to prevent a beating and a free show, but she wore jeans underneath the pink skirt.
"You're... certianly different from the girl we know," said Shuichon as she looked over Misa. Misa wore her cowboy jacket open with a t-shirt underneath that read "Digimon Bad Girl" over the front and jeans.
"Bah. I love this job, but I don't like the type casting they like to do for me." Misa hustled the girls over to the table where Palmon was soaking up some spring water. She picked up two donuts, handed it to the girls and grabbed a muffin from the table for herself. "They look at me and for some reason, they like casting me in roles that star innocent peace loving girls. I mean, hello! I have piercings, I wear jeans and my Digimon Bad Girl t-shirt all the time, I wear too much jewelry and makeup..." Misa bit into the muffin a bit savagely.
"Maybe they can't help it?" asked Sora. She had never experienced a Mimi like this before, not since the Bubblegum Digimon world where Mimi was Sylia Stingray.
Mimi shrugged. "I guess. It's a nice place to work with, and Palmon here is a great partner to work with." Palmon gave a thumbs up and went back to her soaking. "But damn, I would love to be a bad girl some time. Just be myself."
"To each their own," Shuichon said with a smile. Hikaru and Kairi soon came over with their digimon and the talk dissolved into rampant girl stuff.
While Ken and Eric and their digimon were slowly regaining balance from Misa stripping in front of them, the Taichi and Yamato came up. The Yamato looked nervous, timid, almost, in Eric's option, Hinata-ish from Naruto. "Hi," the Taichi greeted. "I'm Ishida Hiro and this is my brother, Hibiki- Ishida Jiro."
"You don't look alike," remarked Lopmon and was noogied for it.
Hiro laughed. "Jiro here is adopted. He was the son of my dad's best friend."
"My dad... died of cancer two years ago," said Jiro, twiddling his thumbs in such a manner that made him look vulnerable and almost, in Ken's opinion, cute. "My mom left me with the Ishida's since she had to move out of the country. I hear from her sometimes, but she has basically given me up."
"That's rough. Sorry man." Eric made to clasp him on the shoulder but Jiro shied away. "Sorry," said Eric, withdrawing his hand.
Hiro nodded. "It hasn't been easy. Jiro here, would never have been able to grow out of his shell somewhat if it wern't for the acting job. I was a kid actor, did a mini movie with Kairi when I was little. It was the preview acting job for Digimon."
"The Hikarigaoka Incident?" asked Wormmon.
Hiro nodded. "Yeah. It was a mix of CGI and live action. Back then, Kaiba Corperation hadn't released their holographic technology and we had to work with CGI. I tell you, I was what, five? It was hard enough interacting with a Digimon you couldn't see or touch without using a reference point. Kairi did well though, she worked out things rather easily."
Eric goggled. "Kaiba Corperation? As in Seto Kaiba?"
Hiro grinned. "You've heard of him?"
"He has a reputation even in our world," said Ken. Ken had seen a couple of episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters in their home world and in the boring worlds. Eric had been meaning to teach him to duel, but Ken wasn't willing to spend a quarter gold piece on a deck of cards. They had found recently that the gold was beginning to dwindle, and had to take odd jobs once in a while in places where Digimon helping them would not seem unusual. With some luck, they found that most places had the same currency as most worlds. When it didn't, they found some way to exchange their funds for something that would be accepted later on. Like gold or silver.
"You guys up to something again?" teased the tall boy who played Jyou. He and Shugo had come up beside them and were leaning on the food table.
"Hey Sora," greeted Hiro. "Guys, this is Aino Sora. He's our resident Jyou. And you guys already met Shugo, right?"
"Pleased to meet you," was the chorus as they shook hands.
===============
"Make yourselves at home." Hiro switched on the light as he, Jiro, Eric, Ken and the digimon piled into the house. "It's not much, but it's home."
"Not much?" Ken whistled. "This is a good sized house. The Taichi we know lives in an apartment."
"Mom and dad bought this land when property was still down," said Hiro. He kicked a soccer ball out of the way, and moved some clothing that had been neatly folded but sitting on a chair. "Sit down, I'll get some drinks." He moved into the kitchen, followed by Agumon who called out, "Taichi, let me help!"
Ken sat down, and removed the Bag of Holding from his shoulders. Wormmon hopped into his lap. "Very nice place," he said. The house resembled a cross between American and Japanese homes with a couch, love seat, but a room with a traditional eating area with a table to kneel at and some sliding rice paper doors. Jiro settled himself into an arm chair that resembled something that one would find in an eclectic post-modern art form. Gabumon sat at his feet. He noticed Ken's look and smiled a bit nervously. "It's more comfortable than it looks."
Gabumon looked up at his partner and said, "Is there anything I can help you with Yamato?"
Jiro shook his head. "No, it's all right Gabumon."
Eric settled down next to Ken with a omph and a bounce of the couch. Lopmon then leapt off of his shoulder and landed on the top of the couch. Eric then picked up a photograph that stood on the end table. "This is nice."
"It's a picture of my mom and dad." Jiro said quietly.
Eric didn't say much. He recognized Mr. Ishida and Mrs. Ishida from their home world but the girl beside Jiro was unfamiliar. She had long black hair and looked a bit different from the Ishidas. "Who's the girl?"
There was a uncomfortable silence and Eric set down the picture. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. It's just my sister. Adopted. Her name is Hibiki Kanako." Jiro sighed. "I haven't seen her in ages. She's with my mom."
"Kanako?" Lopmon grit his teeth in order not to make a Love Hina Joke. "She's very pretty."
"She looks familiar," Ken mused. Then it hit her. Koushiro said Miyako dyed her hair. The girl, Kanako was Miyako. He decided not to mention it to Jiro.
Hiro then came out bearing a few tall glasses of dark liquid with ice cubes floating in it. "I dunno if you guys like Oolong Tea," he said, setting the tray down. "My mom has this stupid health food thing going on."
Ken and Eric looked at each other and they burst out laughing even with their digimon. When the laughter subsided, Wormmon said, "It's an inside joke." The response only increased Jiro and Hiro's puzzlement at the whole situation.
==============
"Mom, I'm home!"
Sora looked around the house. The interior looked similar to her own home but the room was different. Shuichon stood beside her, clutching Jen to her chest. Hikaru was at the front of the small group holding her Piyomon, as well as with Misa who was chewing gum and popping it while holding Palmon. Kairi hugged Tailmon to her chest, carrying her like a stuffed animal.
A middle aged woman in slacks and a t-shirt walked out of the kitchen, holding a ladle. "Hikaru! Good, dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Oh and you brought friends too! Hello Misa, Kairi. And you brought friends?"
Sora felt a bit uncomfortable at her supposed mother regarding her as a stranger. "Um, Takenouchi Sora. Pleased to meet you."
"Lee Shuichon," Shuichon said. "Hello."
"You look so much like my daughter," Mrs. Kino gushed. She then turned to Shuichon and ruffled her hair. "And you are the cutest thing ever! Well, I have to get going. Dinner won't fix itself. Go ahead and enjoy your stay."
Hikaru gripped Sora's hand and said, "C'mon."
The five girls and their digimon in arms rushed upstairs. Mrs. Kino smiled. "Cute toys too." Then she went into the kitchen to finish preparing the evening meal.
Once secured in Hikaru's room, Hikaru put down Piyomon. Tailmon leapt out of Kairi's arms and Palmon was set down. "Sorry about my mother," Hikaru said. "She's a bit too bubbly."
"So much unlike my mom," Sora remarked, settling down amidst the stacks of trading cards and games everywhere. "My mom is a real traditional lady.... but so am I a bit."
"Mom works as a nurse," said Hikaru. She set down and picked up a stack of cards Sora identified as Yugioh playing cards. "She's a real active woman and something of an animal rights activist. I hope you like Tofu because she takes cooking lessons with Mrs. Ishida."
Kairi sat on the floor, teaching Tailmon how to play Blackjack with one of Hikaru's many card decks. Misa and Palmon were playing poker against Shuichon and Jen. Kairi looked up. "My mom is kinda the same way. She's an American, Diana is her name, but my dad is Japanese. So I'm half and half. My dad's name is Hiroshi." She pulled out a picture from her wallet and handed it to Sora and Shuichon.
Sora didn't recognize the woman or man in the picture. The man was dark skinned and dark haired, presumably japanese as well. Apparently he had spent a lot of time in the sun to have developed such a dark tan. The woman had reddish-pink hair and was fair skinned and dressed predominantly in pink and white. Kairi stood in the middle, making a victory pose with her fingers.
"My parents are both Japanese," said Misa. "They're cool. When they were younger, they were both part of a band." Misa held out a picture to Shuichon who examined it. From the descriptions given to her by Misa on the way there, the people in the photograph was taken in their earlier days. Sora looked over and giggled. The Tachikawa's in the photograph was obviously in their younger rock and roll days. It looked so out of character, but having raised a girl like Misa, it had to be expected.
Shuichon yawned and stretched. She then nearly knocked over several piles of free standing cards. "There's not much room in here."
"I haven't cleaned up yet," said Hikaru. "It was just a couple of days ago when the Second Annual Battle City began and I'm still looking through the rare cards that I won. Didn't get enough puzzle cards though. I was knocked out of the tournament by Kujaku Mai and Dinosaur Ryuuzaki respectively. We wagered two cards each."
"That would be a dream of Eric and Lopmon, getting knocked out by those two," said Sora.
Hikaru shrugged. "Mai was nice, and Dinosaur Ryuuzaki mellowed out after getting ground into paste by that cheater Esper Roba last year. I can't believe that he tried the same stunt as last year, getting his brothers to spy on the opponents cards. Good thing Kaiba Mokuba had security watching him."
"So Kaiba Corperation provided the technology for the sound stage?" asked Shuichon. She also had heard about Kaiba from Eric when he went on a Yu-Gi- Oh binge in one world.
"Yeah," said Misa. She then turned to Palmon. "I dunno how you guys became real though."
"We were always real Mimi," replied Palmon.
"That's right," Tailmon said. "We've been with you since you entered the digital world, right?"
"And we won't be apart anymore!" added Piyomon to Hikaru. "Right Sora?"
With a sudden realization and a sickening lurch, Sora realized that the digimon's data banks or memory or whatever, still ran like they were interacting with the actors. They still regarded Misa, Kairi and Hikaru as Mimi, Hikari and Sora. The only memories they had of their time together was when the were in the "Digital World".
Sora coughed and said, "I need to go to the bathroom. Shuichon, can you come with me?"
Shuichon got up and followed the girl out into the room. The actors looked blank. "What do you think that was about?" asked Misa.
"I dunno," said Kairi.
Once in the bathroom, Sora pulled out the communicator and strapped it onto her wrist. Pressing the talk button, she said, "Eric? Ken? You guys there?"
"Sora? Shuichon? I was just about to call you guys," came Lopmon's voice.
"Lopmon? Is there something wrong?" Shuichon asked.
"Well, it's a bit problematic," put in Wormmon. "Eric and Ken are busy doing guy stuff with Jiro and Hiro. Sora and Shugo came over and Daisuke is lurking around. Even the digimon are with them."
"The point is," Lopmon said, "Is that the digimon still think Hiro and his actor friends are still Taichi and others."
"That is how the digimon here are as well," said Jen. "They may only retain memories of recordings done during the filming process. They believe that their partners are the Chosen that they portray."
"Telling them could shatter their whole perception of ideals," said Wormmon. "They were basically programmed to interact with their chosen partner. Sure they think like a real being, they are real, but the only world they know is the adventure they had experienced."
"So we don't tell them, just ease them into the real world," said Sora. "That's a good idea. You two go mingle with the other digimon and help them cope with the real world. We'll do the same with the digimon here."
"Eric has a copy of the Chosen CD," put in Lopmon. "We can select and burn various parts of the CD to help them cope with the responsibilities that may or may not occur with having a digimon. For all we know, this could be a random thing."
"What makes me wonder about something." said Shuichon. "They look so much like the people you all know. But if their personalities are different, are they the same souls?"
Sora frowned to herself. "That's something to address. They might not even be the same souls."
"Right. Well, we'll check out a few things, keep the Digimon entertained," said Lopmon. "Lopmon and Wormmon over and out."
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