s/k: updating spree, kind of deeply fascinating, isn't it?

Ch. 14

Ryo hauled himself out of the sludgy water, the pressure in his head had vanished completely, and his leg only complained when he turned or twisted it, walking was no longer a chore. "What on earth is going on?" He asked no one in particular.

A ways away, he could see Kenta as he tapped Suzi's shoe and the small girl crawled out from under her bush. To his right, he could see Jeri as she scrambled away from the tombstone that had burst up in front of her. "Takato!" She screamed.

Ryo turned his attention to where the red Tamer had fallen from the tree. Around him there was a circle of small blood spatters, and his forearm had a single long slash cut just slightly off centre running from his wrist to the inside of his elbow. Ryo started towards him, but was beaten by Guilmon, who ran out of the forest's edges and made a B-line for his Tamer.

"Takato! Takatomon!" The red digimon was in a panic, reverting momentarily back to his original name for his Tamer.

Ryo looked around for Rika, finding her sprawled at the base of a large oak-like tree, and carefully picked her up, bringing her unconscious form over to where the others were converged over Takato. It was chaos in the little circle, clips of sentences were about all anyone could make sense of. "He's bleeding too much." "Put pressure on it." "Doesn't anyone know how to fix this?" "Since when did we ever take anything for this?" "Shut up and help me tie this!" "You don't know what you're doing any more then we do." "He needs to stop bleeding!"

Takato was dazed, his vision was blurry, everyone was talking at once, and no one seemed to know what to do. "I'm… fine… " He mumbled thickly.

"It's going to be ok 'Kato, we're here." Someone said, smoothing his shaggy hair away from his face and sliding the goggles off. Something ripped, it sounded like a fabric of some sort, it was being wrapped around his arm, wrapped too tight. They were all talking at once again, and then it all faded away.

---

The group was rather defeated and beaten looking as they made their way to the beach, Renamon carried Rika, and Antylamon had Henry and Takato in each hand. Guilmon never strayed far from the threesome, and Terriermon rode on the large digimons' shoulder. Ryo and Monodramon were almost completely silent, as were the others. It seemed to take an eon or so until they made it back to the beach, or what was left of it. The water looked unbelievably deep one moment, and then hardly 3 inches the next, there were houses half-submerged, and people peeking their heads cautiously out of their destroyed homes.

Digimon, both large and small, were looking around confusedly at their new surroundings, and only a group of small, finned Scubamon appeared calm and composed. The colour that was seeping into everything was what really caught the Tamers off-guard though. The tones were significantly muted, but the water was again its proper hues of blue, green, and pale browns at its edges on the beach; and when they glanced around they noticed some patches of green grass, and a few faintly pink blossoms from a large Sakura tree standing alone on a small hill in the middle of the water.

Ryo took one look around and abruptly sat down on the sand. "Well, looks like we've got our work cut out for us."

Kenta just looked at him, Marineangemon by his shoulder. "What are you talking about? This is horrible! These people are innocent and they shouldn't be here!"

Renamon set Rika down, almost immediately the girl rolled over and threw up violently. Suzi sighed. "They don't have a choice Kenta, we don't have a choice, nobody here has a choice in the matter!" Her voice rose to almost a scream, causing people and digimon to turn momentarily and look at the small girl raging at the world.

"You're going to attract the wrong kind of attention Suzi, we don't have the energy to deal with that." Ryo said flatly, helping Rika to sit up and lean against him once her stomach was empty. "What we really need is rest." In unison they looked up, hoping against hope that the sun had tried to return with the colour. They were rewarded with a faint glow showing behind the clouds to the west, it was dusk in this new world.

"They collided, didn't they." Jeri almost whispered. It was the first time any of them had dared to give voice to the thought, but they'd all been thinking it.

"Guess so." Rika replied, eyes closed in exhaustion. When was the last time we slept? After I got out of that cell? Yes… that sounds right… that was a long time ago, an age ago.

Takato was also awake, but he'd lost enough blood that he was light-headed and dizzy if he tried to stand, only Henry remained truly unconscious, but he still had a pulse, was still breathing, still had the black mark on the back of his neck.

---

Meiko and Kira had just booted up their computer and retrieved their D-arcs when the world abruptly turned itself over. The dorm they lived in was on the second floor, and with a boom of what sounded almost like thunder, the ground heaved and they were thrown to the floor. The carpet bulged in between them, and the support beams from the inside of the wall below them burst through. Electrical wires flashed, and the room was plunged into darkness.

"K-kira? You alright?" Meiko asked from one side of the wood and wire barrier.

The reply that came back was stalled. "Yeah, yeah I'm ok. The fridge nearly crushed me though."

Meiko nodded, knowing her friend couldn't see it, but not caring. "Ok, we need to get out of here."

"There's a bathroom window over here I can get out of, what about you?"

"The fire escape is on this side, is the drop over there an alright size to get down from?"

"I'll manage."

"Where should we meet up?"

"You know that art sculpture in the field? It's right next to the building; I'll be there in 5 minutes."

"Ok, see you there."

Meiko turned and crawled through the dark towards the red patch, marking the window they had put curtains on to keep out the early morning sunlight. She pulled the material aside and slid the window open, clamoring out and almost flying down the stairs. Kira on the other hand, shattered the smaller bathroom window with a well placed sidekick, using a thick towel she managed to clear away most of the remaining sharp bits around the edges, and began to slide herself out head first. The dorm complex had compressed, and so the drop once she was hanging out the window wasn't too large. It wasn't long before both were standing beside the sculpture of two chairs stacked oddly together.

"Now what?"

"Now we figure out what the hell just happened."

---

The Tamers had eventually agreed to take turns sleeping, with one person and their digimon awake as watch. Ryo and Monodramon went first, Ryo leaning with his back to a tree, the little dark digimon beside him. "We've certainly messed up this time, don't really feel like much of a Legendary Tamer."

Monodramon nodded, the pair was in a silent agreement of exhaustion and solemnity. "I know what you mean." He sighed. "I guess we'll just have to wait until it's our turn to sleep, and then remember how to be Legendary again."

---

"Hey Mei… this doesn't really resemble campus all that much anymore…" Kira turned in a full circle, looking apprehensively at their surroundings. The entire physics main building had fallen into a huge canyon that seemed to have simply opened in the middle of the ground, a section of the library was hanging in thin air because the ground had crumbled into the new chasm, and people could still be seen as they helped pull survivors from the edge.

Meiko shook her head. "My Gods, what is going on?"

Kira mimicked her friends gesture of incredulity. "I… I don't know, but I think we need to find those new Tamers, Cellomon, and Oollamon. Right now." Without a word of disagreement, or any other words at all, the two girls set off towards the park in the centre of the city. It was one of those things they'd come to realize over time, a portal was far more likely to stay open if it was in a sheltered area. That was their best chance to start anything, the city's biggest park.

---

Ryo and Monodramon had swapped watch with Jeri and Calumon after two hours or so, then it was Kenta and Marineangemons' turn. It was on Kenta's watch that two women, perhaps in their early twenties strode past the group with a pair of shapes shadowing them. The group of four paused, one of the smaller shapes lifting its nose to the misty night air, then it looked right at Kenta.

Kenta froze, and when the shape didn't take its eyes off him, he whispered to Marineangemon: "Wake everyone up, but be quiet about it. Hurry!" The little digimon did exactly as his Tamer had asked, floating immediately over to Takato and Jeri, then to Ryo, then Suzi, and finally Rika. As the blurry figures approached through the mist, Ryo casually rolled over and glanced through his eye lashes at them. Takato was facing them already, and opened one eye to watch just behind Jeri's head. Renamon opened one eye from where she had settled on the opposite side of the tree to Kenta, wary.

When the smaller figures broke through the mist Kenta recognized them as a pair of digimon, the first resembled a small, pale tiger, its paws lit with fire, eyes a startling gold and amber hue; Oollamon. The second was similar in size, but a sleek black panther with green eyes, and a bead on her tail; Cellomon. Behind them came their Tamers, a female of average height for her 21 or so years, long dark brown hair pulled back with a chopstick, dressed in jeans, a black T-shirt and a camouflage green corduroy jacket. With her was another female, similar age, with short lighter brown hair brushing her ears. Her jeans accompanied by a red windbreaker and a red T–shirt.

The tiger digimon, hardly reaching her Tamer's knees stepped carefully around the group feigning sleep. When she came to Ryo she let out a small sound of surprise. Oollamon returned to her Tamer, the girl with longer hair, saying something into the now crouching girls' ear that made her eyes widen. "Is he awake?" A nod from Oollamon. She stood and turned to her companion, "We've found them." Her companion nodded once. "Akiyama-kun, stand up, I know you're awake, and I know it's you."

Still lying in the sand, Ryo ground his teeth together, aggravated that they knew none of the Tamers were sleeping. He stood up, looking this newcomer straight in the eye. She was human, she had a digimon, she could be defeated. The longer they observed one-another, the more Ryo thought he vaguely remembered someone with that same smirk on her face… "K-Kira?"

She nodded, smirk broadening into a smile. "You remembered me."

Now he studied her companion, she'd gotten taller, they'd both aged, he'd aged, and he knew them. "Meiko."

She smiled. "Good to know an adventure is not so easily forgotten."

Ryo was floored, he didn't know what to say, how to react. The last time he'd seen these two he'd been 10, he'd spent two years wandering the digital world, and they'd met at Wellen Gehen. "How… how are you here?"

Kira rolled her eyes. "Well, since you guys did such a fine job of not letting the worlds merge, we didn't have a whole lot of options; we're here to help you, because frankly, we all need help right now."

Meiko nodded. "I have to admit I'm surprised though, I didn't think we'd see you again, pretty much ever."

Ryo grimaced. "I tend to find ways out of tight situations."

"Is Reyna here? Damian? Yukari?" There was no answer to Kira's question. She and Meiko dropped their eyes in sympathy. "I'm sorry."

"What about Jason, Yuki and Ayami?" Ryo asked quietly, not looking at them.

"Ayami made it out, he's in Britain though."

Ryo nodded. "I'm glad." He whispered.

They all stayed as they were, Kenta and Marineangemon looking back and forth between the three as if he'd been dropped into the middle of a play without a script. After a while, Ryo turned and simply said: "Get up guys, it's as safe as it's ever going to be."

Rika was up in a moment, Suzi right behind her. Jeri helped Takato to stand, and Ryo made introductions. The Tamers were pretty battered, but generally alright, Jeri's olive green dress had a tear in it from where she'd broken her falls with her knee multiple times, the gash on her shin was still plainly visible. Takato's hoodie sleeve was pulled back, exposing the make-shift bandage and dried blood all over his arm. Suzi and Kenta were mostly just covered in a rather wide variety of small cuts and bruises, as was everyone. Suzi's pink vest was covered in mud, and Kenta's zippered sweater had a rip down one arm. Rika's long black shirt had been shortened from where she'd worked so hard to tear it into bandages, now it fell just past the belt on her Capri's. The knees of Ryo's jeans were worn to the point where small rips had begun to form, and his white T-shirt wasn't really white anymore. Somewhere in their endeavors his maroon sweater had been lost.

Henry stayed where he was on the sand, orange vest acting as a beacon to remind them of his presence, Terriermon stood defensively in front of the boy. "Hey, is that Jenrya-kun?" Meiko asked uneasily, eyeing the boy on the ground. "That looks like his vest."

Ryo's shoulders sagged. "Yeah, that's him. I think you need to hear what happened to understand why we're grid-locked with him." Kira and Meiko exchanged apprehensive looks, then sat themselves down cross-legged and gathered their digimon into their laps. Ryo starred at the sand. "He first started acting out of character about two days ago…"

---

Meiko's eyes were wide, Kira absently stroked Oollamon's ears. "This was… unexpected, to say the least."

Suzi looked away, biting her lip hard and trying to hide her anger. "Can you fix it? Can you help him?"

Terriermon had sat down beside his unconscious Tamer, leaning back and looking almost relaxed as he listened to the conversation taking place around him. Henry moved a little, seeming to struggle as if something were pinning him down. As he did so, the black mark on the back of his neck was clearly exposed to the circle of Tamers. Meiko's gaze transferred almost immediately to the spot. "What, is that?"

Kira stared. "I… I think that's… a spore…" The younger Tamers exchanged looks with one another, what on earth were these two talking about?

Meiko shook her head. "Not possible, the Emperor is long gone. He's a successful business person of some sort now. My aunt knows him."

"Tueno mentioned that word, spore." Takato said suddenly, he cleared his throat. "He called it a dark spore, and was pretty mad when Henry collapsed. As if he'd just levitated, or done something else impossible."

Ryo narrowed his eyes. "I've heard of what you guys are talking about, the Digimon Emperor, right?" Kira and Meiko nodded. "He was the one who created Dark Spores, and the collars with the towers."

Meiko nodded. "Yeah, he was knocked out of power just as we started to really realize what we'd found in the digital world."

Everyone sat in silence for a while, digesting this new information and trying to see how it all fit in with their current situation. Then Kira voiced a thought that at least a few of them had been pondering: "So, how do we get it out?"

More silence.

"His D-arc is black." Terriermon said quietly, breaking the group from their reverie. He swept one of his long ears back over his small shoulder and unclipped the D-arc from his Tamers belt. "See? Black."

Kira and Meiko pulled out their own D-arcs, the other Tamers shadowing the new-comers confusedly. Meiko's was a deep, rich pink, almost magenta, while Kira's showed a shadowy, teal and cobalt kind of blue. "How do you suppose we go about doing this without hurting him?" Kira asked as she stared at her D-arc.

"We'll find a way, there's always a way."

---

Three hours later, it was only Meiko, Kira, Kenta and Suzi that were still awake; the foursome had gathered around Henry with their digimon and Terriermon, deeply engrossed in trying to remove the spore. The others had been told to get some rest while they could, everyone was hungry, and they couldn't be wasting energy when it wasn't necessary.

Takato was resting with his back on the tree sheltering them all, with Jeri leaning on his chest, her head cupped in his shoulder. Not far from them, Rika and Ryo were fast asleep as well. Ryo had one arm loosely draped over the fiery red-heads side, and Rika had snuggled up against him. A wind had picked up over the last hour or so, and goose bumps could be seen over the pairs' arms. Kira chanced a look over her shoulder, checking on everyone. She smiled softly when she saw the two couples, Ryo had lost everyone the last time he'd been to the digital world, and here were all these new Tamers his age… Her smile broadened into a grin, he'd found someone he could care for, and she was happy for him.