Lay of the Worlds

I don't own Digimon and Mega Man

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'Thoughts'

"Talking"

+-+- Scene change

(----) Different point of view

(:-:) Flash back

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Chapter 16

Almost Six years have passed. He thinks as he glances at the calendar. It's only October 2, and in two days, it'll be six years since he ventured into the Digital World. He smiles a bit at this. He's now fourteen years old and he then turns to look at his PET. MegaMan is visiting Net city, giving him time to just sit around and think about his life.

He didn't know just what to make of the last six years. He has long since made and used that mask of immaturity. It's gotten to be second nature to him to act that way. But as it gets closer to Oct. 4, he always finds it harder to act that way.

He did find it odd that according to what he remembers, when he first got to the Digital World, the day had been Oct. 3rd, but here in the real world it had been the 4th. But then, who is he to judge what's weird. He had been transformed into a Digimon and then learnt to Digivolved into more powerful forms.

He decides to get something to eat. His mom's gone to go shopping, leaving him very much alone in the house. He knows that his friends were busy, mostly they just know that for some odd reason he acts very differently then usual. He doesn't blame them, truth is told. He's usually a bit of a killjoy and a bit bitter until Oct 5th. Then he puts on his mask and everything goes back to normal.

He makes a sandwich to eat and sits at the table. He's mind going over all the Digimon that he has deleted. He still feels bad about deleting them. Even if it's been six years, it just didn't sit right with him.

His thought then drift towards Chaud and Jinx. He smiles at the memories that he made with the other two. He misses Jinx for his ability to goof off at any moment and then Chaud for fighting by his side. It's a whole lot different doing something with one's bare hands then ordering someone else to do it.

He finishes his meal and decides to watch some TV. He just lies on the couch as he watches the screen. He finished channel surfing and is watching some anime show, one he can't remember the name for though. Then the show cuts off and a special news bulletin appears.

"About an hour ago. A strange mist appeared at the subway station of Korth Street. The strange mist also began to interfere with some of the electronics. Then according to witnesses, some strange creature appeared. Authorities claim that there isn't a Dimensional field. The creature is said to be a small white being with purple markings on it's ears and on the forehead a red upside down triangle with black triangles. We'll have more updates soon." The reporter says.

He turns the TV off and heads out the door. 'That sounds like a Calumon! Could it be Jinx?' He thinks as he races down the street. He needs to get there. He just hopes that the police haven't tried to take a look in the subway.

It takes him a good hour to get to the entrance way to the subway. He notices the yellow tape and people keeping others out. He bites his lip and then looks around to see if anyone would notice him slip by.

He's in luck; for most of the police are too busy with the reporters to notice him head down the stairs. He notices that the mist has cleared. He walks down and begins to look around.

Nothing looks out of place as he studies the platform. He then looks up and finds green eyes looking at him in interest. He pauses and just stares into the eyes too. After a good ten minutes, he hears, "Go away!" He blinks and then says, "I'm not going to hurt you. Who are you?" He watches as the eyes blink and then he hears, "I'm Jinx!" "Jinx? How did you get here?" He asks. He's hearts beating fast. "I don't know." Jinx answers and then decides that his not dangerous.

Jinx flies down and begins to circle him. He keeps an eye on the little Digimon. He can't help but smile as the in-training Digimon circles him a few times. "You don't look dangerous…" Jinx says in a disappointed tone. He laughs a bit at this and then says, "Been a while, huh?" Jinx then blinks and then stares harder at him. "Lan?" Jinx says in disbelief. He grins and says, "Yea. How's things with you?" Jinx then grins and hugs him. He holds onto the little guy.

"I can't believe I found you!" Jinx says. He says, "I can't believe you're here in my home world, Jinx. It's great to see you too buddy." Then Jinx asks, "You got anything to eat? I'm starved!" He just chuckles at that, knowing full well that Jinx could eat more then most humans.

Then he hears something and turns to find Chaud standing there. A thought crosses his mind and it then clicks. "You too, huh?" He asks the other teen. Chaud smiles a bit at that. "I thought that you were a Digimon, Lan. Who would have guessed that we had already worked together? Where's you PET?" Chaud asks and Jinx flies over to give the teen a great hug. "Left it home. I think you did too." He says, Chaud just nods.

Both Chaud and him just stare at each other. He can't believe that his old battling comrade isn't just a human, but one that he thought was a cold-hearted rich kid. Jinx then sits on Chaud's head and again asks, "Could we go eat now?" They both grin and they then turn right and walk to find a manhole to use. They didn't want to try and explain what they were doing down here. Plus, they had a great deal to catch up on, not just why Jinx is here, but also on reconnecting with each other.

It took them a good thirty minutes to find one and he scouts it out first, then he pushes the cover off and gets out. He then helps Chaud out and then they headed to his house. With nobody home, it's a good place to feed Jinx and to talk about other things.

(---------------------------------------Chaud---------------------------------------)

He couldn't believe the sight that greeted him when he slipped pass the police to check out that subway. He didn't expect to find Lan Hikari there or hear the part about 'home world' coming out of Lan's mouth. This whole thing shocked and surprised him. He's glad to see Jinx again, but to find out that Lan was his old fighting buddy was a huge shocker.

They watch as Jinx ate and ate. He couldn't stop grinning as he watched this. "Are you sure that this is alright?" He asks Lan. "Mom will think that I ate it. So, guess we both changed since then." Lan says. He turns to look at the other teen. He knows now that Lan hid his maturity. He could understand why too. They both were eight when the whole thing happened and Lan had always acted the leader of the three. Considering the fact that his father didn't see the change in his behaviour didn't mean that Lan's parents and friends wouldn't notice his. He could understand that, and it made him feel closer to Lan for that reason.

He asks after a few minutes, "What do you make of Jinx crossing over?" Lan thinks about it and then says carefully, "Maybe it's the reason why we became Digimon in the first place? Maybe whatever picked us knew that Digimon might start finding their way here and we're suppose to stop them. How we do that, we'll figure that out later. I think we might want to stare keeping an eye out for our Digivices, though." He grins and could see what Lan means. He didn't mind letting Lan think this one over. He has too much to worry about already to begin to worry about what they should do next.

"So, which of us will Jinx be staying with?" Lan asks. He opens and then closes his mouth at that. They both turn to look at the now sleeping Digimon. "I might as well take him. He my responsibility." He says at last. "I think that's great. You two were always best of friends and I think he misses you more then me." Lan says. He smiles softly at that comment.

He then checks the time and sighs. Then thinks about something and asks, "Don't you have school?" He turns to look at Lan, Lan smirks and answers, "It's the same every year since I've made a teacher cry, the year after I got back. I don't go to school until after the 4th. Most people can't handle me when I'm not acting 'normally'. I've even snapped at Mega a few times already. I just don't have the energy to put on my mask." He nods in understanding. He tends to be more snappish and broody for the four days. Much like Lan, he lightens up after the 4th.

He then moves to pick up the sleeping Digimon and then they walk towards the door. "Talk to you tomorrow at the park?" Lan asks. He then nods and adds, "Around noon." Lan nods and opens the door. He walks out and he begins to walk home. His carrying Jinx in his arms and doesn't can for the looks he's getting.

After a few hours he finally makes it to his company. He then places Jinx on the couch in his office and sits down at his desk. He finds that Protoman has already finished the searches he asked for and was gone to Net city for the day.

He didn't mind, he's told Protoman that when his Navi did it the first time. It didn't give an apology, just approval for Protoman to disappear for long periods of time during this time. This will make it easier to keep Jinx a secret. He then goes back to work, he also couldn't help but have a small smile on his face for the rest of the day.

(-----------------------------------MegaMan---------------------------------------)

He blinks as he sees Protoman. He's kind of surprise to see Protoman once again. He spotted the other Navi three times already. He decides to walk over and talk to the red Navi.

"Hey Protoman. How's Chaud?" He asks the other Navi. "Fine." The other Navi says. He studies the red Navi and asks, "So, you're here on business?" Protoman sighs and says, "I'm just don't want to be around my Netop for the rest of the day." He blinks in shock and says, "Me too. Lan's been kind of snappish and not acting his normal self. He gets like this on Oct 1st and it lasts until the 5th." He could see that Protoman seems a bit surprise. "Happens every year?" The red Navi asks. He nods and says, "It's true. He's also home from school too. It began when Lan was nine years old. Lan ended up snapping at the class teacher and by the second day the teacher just broke down and cried. So since then, Lan's usual stays home for those days."

They stood there, both kind of wondering about what makes their Netops like this. Then Protoman says, "Kind of odd that it happens to Chaud during the same days as Lan." He nods his head slowly. "You want to maybe have a battle over at the arena? You know, just you and me without our Netops?" Protoman's mouth grins a bit at the idea and then says, "Might as well keep in shape." He grins and they walk towards the arena in hopes to get their minds off their Netops.

To be continued …