Before I begin, I'm just going to say that I don't know what Takato's parents bakery is called so here it's known as Matsuki Bakery. Also, unless otherwise stated, the Tamers are wearing their traditional clothes from the show.
I noticed that some of my summary was cut off so here's the rest of it in case anyone's interested.
Summary: 9 years since the Freedom Fighters defeated Robotnik's Doomsday Project, Tails is transported to Earth by an unexplainable means. There he meets the Tamers, can they find out how he got there, and more importantly, how to get him back home? Tails and Renamon pairing.
Disclaimer: See last chapter, thank you.
Some Mysteries Solved, and Others Left
"I can answer your questions later so why don't you come with me to meet some of my friends. It's obvious that you're not from around here and that way you only have to explain everything once and besides, I'm sure that you'll want a chance to dry off." She commented, observing his still damp fur. His simple nod confirmed that he understood what she just said.
"Good, now follow me, and please save any questions you might have for later." Tails did as instructed, albeit with a slightly confused expression still on his face at the lack of surprise in her attitude. He would have thought surely she'd be near shock after witnessing someone falling from the sky right into a lake. Of course, she was right about him wanting to dry off.
Along the way, Renamon made sure to avoid areas where people were present since she didn't want to answer any questions from bystanders and passersby. Fortunately, it was a Thursday afternoon and the park just so happened to be generally free of any annoyances.
The trip allowed Tails to see more of where he ended up. He noticed some structures that were definitely not in a natural forest such as artificial paths, statues, and a rather large fountain. The more time he spent walking, the more this place seemed like a park of some kind.
But Tails only caught glimpses of some of these items since Renamon had a quick pace and he had to hurry to keep up. Soon afterwards, roughly ten minutes from what he could make of it, they came upon what looked like a small, grey storage shed with a fence extending to above his head that had a gate currently hanging open in front of it.
Renamon went into the shed with Tails entering shortly after. The inside was permeated with the smell of bread and an assortment of other fragrant aromas. The opposite wall looked like someone took a wrecking ball to it even though the other three walls were completely intact. Empty bags littered the floor which, upon closer inspection, seemed to have once held something along the lines of food.
Renamon grabbed a spare blanket from the corner and tossed it over to Tails so he could dry himself off more effectively. "As long as we're here, I might as well tell you where you are and what a Digimon is." It sounded more like a statement than a suggestion to Tails who began drying himself.
"If you don't mind." Tails responded tentatively.
"Very well then, first, you're in Shinjuku right now, or more precisely, Shinjuku Park. As for what a Digimon is, there's one standing in front of you now." Renamon waited for this information to sink in before continuing. "Digimon come from the Digital World which is a sort of parallel world to Earth that exists within the computer mainframes."
Tails listened intently; now clear on the fact that he was no longer on Mobius and wanted to learn all that he could about this new place he landed in. Renamon proceeded with her clarification of his situation.
"How Digimon enter the Real World, as some call Earth, is by bio-emerging. Not all Digimon are the same, they're different sizes, colors, and levels."
"What do you mean by levels?" Tails inquired, continuing to dry himself as best as he could.
Renamon sighed internally, she only got started on the basics and she still had much more to tell him. "Digimon are classified under different levels of Digivolution; Baby, In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega in order of general power from weakest to strongest.
I'm a Rookie level but can Digivolve into my higher stages when necessary or De-Digivolve into my lower stages, but I can only Digivolve one stage at a time. When a Digimon Digivolves, their appearance, name, and attacks change."
Renamon realized that she had forgotten to include certain details, such as informing him about a Digimon's different attacks upon seeing Tails's confused expression.
"Digimon are capable of performing special attacks that, like I said, change with each stage of Digivolution."
At that moment, Guilmon chose to make his appearance with Calumon riding his head. The Rookie looked like a miniature dinosaur and stood just above half of Renamon's height with a strange symbol on his nose and chest.
Calumon, on the other hand, was a tiny, mostly white Digimon with huge ears compared to his small stature and had a slightly similar symbol to Guilmon's on his forehead.
"Hi Renamon, what're you doing here? I didn't think you spent your time around here." Calumon asked in his usual happy voice and then noticed Tails against the wall. "Hey, who's he, a new friend?" He exclaimed, jumping from Guilmon's head and running up to the twin-tailed fox.
"I don't remember seeing him anywhere. Is he a Digimon? Guilmon inquired, walking to Renamon's side.
"Guilmon, Calumon, this is Tails and he's not a Digimon. He came out of a white portal above the lake. I was just in the middle of explaining what Digimon are to him when you and Calumon came in." Renamon responded, but Calumon didn't seem to be paying any attention to her because he shouted…
"WOW, YOU'VE GOT TWO TAILS, COOL!" Calumon's reaction to Tails's namesakes had been quite different from Renamon's in several respects. One was most definitely how he handled expressing his emotions. Although the little Digimon barely came to about Tails's kneecaps, he seemed to have more energy than would be normal.
"Calumon, have you been spending too much time with Terriermon again?" Renamon inquired.
"What do you mean too much time?" Calumon responded innocently, causing Renamon to sigh in an annoyed way.
Tails, silent this whole time, had learned Renamon's, Calumon's, and Guilmon's names and could only guess as to the whereabouts of Terriermon. He also noticed a trend in their names; they all seemed to end in 'mon', although he didn't have any idea why. However, he'd have to figure that out later.
"Anyhow," Renamon continued, "before Guilmon made his entrance, I just finished informing our guest on how Digimon change during Digivolution and I was going to move onto Digimon Tamers.
Those," she began, looking at Tails, "are humans who are partners with one individual Digimon, helping them to become stronger. Tamers can be identified by their D-Arcs which serve as a connection between them and their Digimon."
"Does every Digimon have a Tamer?" Tails queried.
"No, most Digimon don't have Tamers either because they haven't found a suitable Tamer or don't desire one." Renamon replied. "By the way Guilmon, do you know if Rika and the others are out of school yet?"
"Uh…maybe, it's after lunch time." Guilmon responded, scratching his head in thought which caused Renamon to sigh in exasperation yet again.
"I'm going to see if Rika's home yet and when I get back, I want you to still be here." Renamon said to Tails before she left the shed and teleported out of sight.
"Say, where are you from?" Calumon asked Tails with a manner of curiosity that reminded him of himself when he was younger.
"I think Renamon said something about me telling everyone my story when they're all together." The brown fox replied.
"You mean we have to wait?" Calumon groaned pitifully.
"I guess so." Tails said in an apologetic tone.
"Hey, let's play a game!" The white Digimon exclaimed in a newly excited voice.
"Like what, I can't leave here until she gets back, remember?"
"I know, but we can play I Spy."
"How do you play?"
With Calumon describing the game to him, we'll move on to Renamon who is now at Rika's house. She first noticed Rika on her porch talking on her cell phone to someone, presumably Takato or Henry.
As soon as Renamon entered earshot, Rika had finished on the phone and hung it on her waist next to her deck and D-Arc.
"Renamon, I was just going to call for you." Rika stated to her Digimon when she noticed her partner appear.
"Why's that?" The vulpine Digimon asked interestedly.
"Because I just got off the phone with Yamaki."
"What did he want; I thought he would be too busy at HYPNOS to call anyone other than his superiors."
"Something about an undetermined anomaly in the middle of Shinjuku Park but when he sent agents to scope it out, there wasn't anything there."
"Was he able to determine the precise location of this anomaly?"
"Yeah, it was the lake. Why, do you know anything about this?"
"I believe so, a two-tailed fox dropped out of a white portal and landed in the lake. I took him to where Guilmon usually stays." Renamon said yet again for the second time.
"Whoa, and you didn't tell me earlier because…"
"I assumed you were still at school at the time."
"Well I just got home, let's go."
"I was thinking that you could call Takato and the others so he could explain to us all at once about where he's from."
"Good idea, Renamon." Taking up her cell phone and dialing in Takato's number, Rika heard the voice of his mom on the other end.
"Hello, Matsuki Bakery, how may I help you?"
"Hi Mrs. Matsuki, it's Rika, is Takato home?"
"Well not now, I think he went to see Guilmon not long after he got here. Why, is something wrong?"
"No, there's just something I wanted to talk to him about, I can meet him at Guilmon's place. Thanks, bye."
"Your welcome, Rika." Mrs. Matsuki replied before hanging up. Rika then proceeded to dial Henry's number yet, to her surprise, Lopmon answered.
"Lopmon speaking, who is it?" The chocolate Terriermon asked, picking up the receiver.
"It's Rika, is Henry there?"
"I think so; do you want him for something?"
"Yes, but I'm sure you'll be interested in this as well."
"Really, what would that be?"
"Just tell him, Terriermon, and Suzy to meet me at Guilmon's shed. Takato, Kazu, Kenta, and Jeri should be there, too."
"Can I ask what can be so important?"
"I'll explain everything once we'll all there, until then be sure you pass this on to them, okay?"
"Alright, I'll let them know immediately, bye."
"I'll see you later then."
When Rika called Jeri's house, Kazu and Kenta were there as well practicing their card skills against her; however, thanks to the tips Rika gave her, she could cream them both without even trying. Rika couldn't help but feel a certain sense of pride at the thought that she had trained a protégée whom had learned well.
Now the only person left to call was Ryo, but she only got his answering machine. After leaving a quick message for him, she and Renamon headed to Guilmon's place.
When they arrived minutes later, they found Takato there already speaking with Tails about something inside.
When they entered earshot, Rika called out, "Hey Goggle Head, what's up?"
"I should be asking you that same question, Rika." The brown eyed Tamer replied with his trusty goggles currently on his forehead.
"Well actually, you should be asking Renamon, right?" Rika said, quickly glancing over at her partner who merely shrugged slightly and responded…
"I just found and brought him here."
"Well anyhow, we just have to wait for everyone else to make it here." Rika said.
"What do you mean wait for everyone else to get here?" Takato asked with a confused look on his face, stepping out of the shed.
"I called the guys and told them to meet me and Renamon here, but I didn't tell them about Tails." Rika responded to his question.
"So they're coming here not knowing that they'll be meeting an alien fox with two tails?"
"That we're what?" An amazed voice came from behind Takato.
"Neat-o, and you kept saying nothing interesting ever happened around here anymore, Henry." Terriermon exclaimed from his Tamer's shoulder.
Takato, Renamon, and Rika turned towards their friends and fellow Tamers, Guilmon was still inside with Tails who just listened to the conversation taking place outside. Tails could understand why they all found him so interesting; after all, how many aliens practically landed right in the middle of their backyards.
"So, when do we get to meet this alien?" The orange-vested Tamer asked, intrigued by this turn of events.
"You can meet him now; we're just waiting for Kazu, Kenta, Jeri, Marineangemon, Guardromon, Ryo, and Monodramon to get here. Oh, and by the way, his name's Tails." Rika told him.
"Well, enough stalling, why doesn't he come out and meet everybody?" Takato asked in the general direction of the shed.
Suzy, Lopmon, Henry, and Terriermon watched the entrance with apprehension, waiting for their unexpected visitor to emerge. Tails stepped out looking a little nervous under all of their inquiring stares.
"Hi, I'm Henry Wong," Henry warmly greeted him with a wave, "and this jokester right here is Terriermon." He finished, indicating the dog-rabbit Digimon sitting on his shoulder.
"I'm Suzy and this is Lopmon." She said holding up the chocolate version of Terriermon.
"Umm…hello." Tails hesitantly answered.
"Come on, it's not like we're going to bite you or anything. Momentai." Terriermon laughed at his uneasiness.
"Pardon, but what does momentai mean?" Tails asked, curious of this new word.
"It means take it easy." Henry replied. "So, where're you from?"
"That can wait until the others arrive." Renamon interrupted.
"Well you won't have to wait much longer, eh?" Came the voice of Kenta. "So this is why you guys wanted to meet us here."
"Gee, nothing gets by you, does it?" Rika said sarcastically.
Before Kenta could come up with a retort, Jeri jumped into the conversation.
"Why don't we go meet him now?" She suggested, not wanting to hear a shouting match between Rika and Kenta.
"Yeah, who is he? He doesn't look like he's from around here." Kazu agreed.
Looking over at the newest group to arrive, Tails noticed five individuals. Two boys, a girl, and what were obviously two Digimon. One of the Digimon appeared to be some sort of short, broad robot about the height of the kids while the other seemed more like a diminutive, pink angel without any legs and a heart design on his chest that merely floated in mid-air without any physical means of support.
"Guys, this is Tails, Tails, this is Kenta, Guardromon, Kazu, Marineangemon, and Jeri." Takato introduced each of them in turn, pointing to each one.
"So now we're only waiting for Ryo and Monodramon to make it here." Renamon remarked seeing they were the only ones missing from this little get-together.
"I say they snooze, they lose. We don't even know if they got the message yet and we could be waiting here for them for who knows how long." Rika announced.
"Alright, then everybody better get to where they can hear Tails's story." Takato declared. As they all got into their own comfortable positions, being sure to give the fox as much room as he needed.
Tails took a seat on a nearby rock still feeling more than a little nervous and with one last look at the so far friendly strangers began his tale.
"First," he started, "I come from a planet called Mobius. It's a world not just inhabited by Mobians like myself, but also Humans." This drew some form of shock from each of his listeners.
"Amazing, another planet with Human life on it." Henry said thoughtfully.
"Yes, although Humans and Mobians haven't really seen eye-to-eye. Just over 20 years ago, the Great War broke out between the two sides. For a while, the war seemed to be at a deadlock until HE showed up."
"Who showed up?" Jeri pondered.
"Julian Kintobor, he was a human but King Acorn allowed him to stay. No one knew exactly where he came from or how he ended up in Mobotropolis, but he actually helped us to win the war using robots of his own design he called SWATBOTS.
King Acorn made Julian head of the War Ministry. After the war was won, from what I heard, the king was going to dismantle the War Ministry and make Julian head of the Science Ministry, but before that could happen, Julian overthrew the king and stole a machine from one of our most accomplished scientists, the Roboticizer."
"What on Earth's a Robocizer?" Kenta inquired.
"It's pronounced RoBOTicizer," Tails corrected, feeling a bit more confident once he actually began his explanation, "and it turns organic beings into mindless cyborgs."
"Who'd want to make a machine that does that?" Terriermon questioned.
"That wasn't its original purpose," Tails continued, "it was designed to heal damaged limbs by replacing them with mechanical copies so Mobians could live longer, but the only side effect was the loss of their free will. Julian however, used it to make robotic slaves and use them as a workforce.
My friends, Sonic, Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, and Princess Sally were able to escape into the Great Forest to a secret village named Knothole. Other refugees who managed to get away from the devastation caused by Julian, who changed his name to Dr. Ivo Robotnik, also went there."
"Did you say PRINCESS Sally, as in daughter of the king?" Takato queried bewilderedly.
"Yeah, she eluded capture and became an active member of the Freedom Fighters, the resistance group we formed."
"Wow, that's one tough princess, she almost reminds me of Rika." Terriermon observed.
"I do not see how a fox can remind you of Rika, Terriermon." Guardromon responded to his friend's sarcastic remark.
"Sally isn't a fox, she's a squirrel." Tails corrected the robotic Digimon.
"What species are the others?" Kazu wondered.
"Well, Rotor's a walrus, Antoine's a coyote, Bunnie's a rabbit, and Sonic's a hedgehog, of course, back then they were only around five and the Knothole Freedom Fighters didn't take an active role in trying to defeat Robotnik until ten years later."
"Were you one of the refugees that escaped to Knothole?" Takato questioned.
"No, actually I wasn't even born until a short while after Robotnik threw the coup. Sonic found me abandoned and took me back to Knothole."
"What happened to your parents?" Jeri asked concernedly.
"To tell you the truth, I never saw my parents until we finally beat Robotnik and Snively and built a Deroboticizer." Tails answered with a slight hint of sadness present in his voice.
"I don't remember you mentioning Snively before." Kazu said, trying to change the subject seeing their new friend wasn't too fond of the current one.
"Oh, I forgot to mention Robotnik had a nephew named Snively who helped in many of his schemes." Tails replied, his temporary gloomy mood dissipating a bit. "Anyhow, about that time, Robotnik unleashed his most terrifying machine ever, the Doomsday Project."
"Sounds impressive, what does it do?" Kenta said awed.
"It is impressive, but it's also extremely dangerous. It launches what Robotnik called Doomsday Pods that were nearly indestructible, only a special grenade Rotor made could effectively destroy them and we only had a few." Tails answered.
"Then how'd you beat it if it was so powerful?" Guilmon questioned with interest.
"Sonic and Sally used the Deep Power Stones to trash the Doomsday Project. The Deep Power Stones are powerful artifacts that either bring great destruction or give great power depending on how you join them together." Tails explained to them.
"So how'd they use them?" Takato queried.
"They joined them to give great power and annihilated the Doomsday Project. Robotnik attempted to get away in his personal HOVERBOT but got caught in the explosion.
We thought Snively also died in the blast as well, but he somehow survived and took control of Robotropolis. However, the devastation caused by the Doomsday Project's destruction nearly demolished Robotropolis, leaving Snively with a dying city.
When we finally beat him, he simply disappeared. No trace of him could be found in the city or any of the outlying areas. Some search groups were dispatched, but turned up empty and so they had to be recalled to Mobitropolis because of the extra help we needed in rebuilding.
It took eight years to mostly fix the mess left by Robotnik and Snively and that's pretty much were we are today with Sally now officially queen." Tails completed his story.
"And that's when you got sucked through that portal and landed here?" Renamon said after her silence throughout Tails's entire tale.
"Yeah, I was heading to Knothole for a visit when it appeared without any sort of warning." Tails confirmed.
"But how's he going to get back home?" Jeri asked, concerned again.
"Well, Yamaki might be able to help; HYPNOS does have quite a powerful computer. It could possibly give us some insight as to where Mobius is located." Henry suggested.
"Then what're we waiting for, Christmas? Let's get to HYPNOS on the double!" Terriermon exclaimed in an excited voice.
"That sounds like a plan to me; Yamaki ought to know what to do." Takato agreed.
"You mean the guy who used to hate Digimon?" Tails questioned.
"How'd you know?" Renamon asked, astonished he knew something she didn't mention.
"Oh, I filled him in on some details before you got here." Takato explained.
"Now that that mystery is solved," Rika started, "let's head over to HYPNOS, the energy generated by the vortex was picked up by it and they couldn't figure out what caused it. I plan on telling him in person what happened, a surprise if you will."
"Do we all have to go? I've got to think up some new killer strategies." Kenta complained remembering the beating he got when he played Jeri.
"Yes, I quite agree. You could use some more work on your card skills Kenta." Guardromon stated in his usual manner of clueless ness.
"Gee, thanks Guardromon. That was just what I needed, a card critic." Kenta answered back sarcastically.
"Your welcome." Guardromon said, missing the sarcasm completely.
"Never mind!" The now frustrated Tamer retorted attempting and barely succeeding to drag the metal Digimon away.
"I'd better go help him. Come on, Marineangemon." Kazu suggested, following his friend with his Digimon hovering close behind.
"He needs all the help he can get." Rika joked at Kenta's antics.
"Do they always act like that?" Tails wondered, watching them leave.
"All the time." Takato chuckled at their new friend's expression.
"Anyhow," Rika interjected, "if no one else has to leave for some unforeseen reason, can we head to HYPNOS now?" She asked as if daring them to give a lousy reason for not coming.
After an expected negative response from those left, they all made their way to HYPNOS to pay a surprise visit to Yamaki.
To anyone interested in why I spent so much time describing the basics of both worlds in this chapter, it's really for anyone who just wanders for something to read and stumbles onto this story (near impossible I know, but still probable).
I'm also sorry for not updating this sooner; I guess that's what happens when you rediscover your Pokemon Ruby game.
Finally, if all two of you who reviewed still like this story, please check out my other two fics: "Master Chief's Side Trip" (Sonic SatAM/Halo) and "New Worlds, New Adventures" (Sonic SatAM/Kingdom Hearts/other fandoms) if you haven't already. Thank you.