Author's Notes: Wow. It's been ages since I sat down to write an instalment of this story. To be honest though, my interests in writing are near zilch. And let's not start on my interest in Digimon. I still intend to finish this story somehow. I want to have at least one completed series under my belt.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, alright?!?
Ascension – V 4.9
When Neo Saiba awoke, he felt as light as a feather. He felt immensely invigorated for some reason. However, the new life that he felt left him quickly as he heard some voices.
"Oh, my gosh! What happened to him?!?"
"I can still feel a pulse…"
"He's still alive? Then why is he like that?"
"Maybe I can send a message to Joe to get him to check him out."
"It's possible that he's just really exhausted."
"Don't let your guard down, guys. He may be up to something."
"I don't think Neo is in any condition to do anything."
Out of all seven of them, Neo vaguely recognized the voice of his rival, Taichi Yagami but it seemed to be garbled up with something else. He looked at the scene and could only come up with three words to describe the situation. "What the hell?!?" Actually, the word 'hell' should be replaced with a more colourful word. I'll give you a hint: it has four letters and begins with the letter 'f'.
To understand why he swore, you'll have to picture a scene where you are seeing yourself, lying on the ground unconscious with six children and seven Digimon (six being the partners of the children and one large mega level Digimon) surrounding your body. That's exactly what Neo saw. He didn't recognize anyone except for Taichi. Actually, that wasn't Taichi. It was another boy who wore goggles like Taichi. "What is this?!? Can anyone hear me?!?"
A girl with short brown hair spoke up. "Joe set up a meeting time at his home. We'll bring Neo there so he can get a look." The larger Digimon split up into a blue dragon Digimon the size of one of the children and Taichi. "Where did Takato and Rika go? Did they get sucked up in that portal too?!?" The girl started becoming agitated.
Neo saw another boy approaching the group with a rabbit Digimon on his head. He held the hand of a little girl in pink. Taichi gave a weak smile before resting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "They'll be back. They don't seem the type who wouldn't do everything in their power to return where they belong."
"And they got a lot of it at their fingertips thanks to that wicked display we saw earlier!" commented the rabbit Digimon. The boy, whose head he was on, spoke next. "At the moment, we'll have to go on without them. We have to get back home as soon as possible. I want to make sure that Kazu and Kenta are still holding up. It looks like our next destination is Azulongmon's lair."
"With the disaster that we've prevented, providing a ride home is the least he should do," grumbled another boy with blue eyes and brown hair. On his back, a small dragon Digimon slept on. "In the meantime, we'll keep sending messages to Rika and Takato's D Terminals," said the blonde boy with the hat.
Neo watched as the group left with his body. "Wait!!" He ran after them and tried to get their attention but they passed through him as if he were a ghost. 'I'm dead?!? But I still have a pulse…right?!?' The cold reality slowly dawned on Neo as he realized that all he had were many unanswered questions and a gap in his memory. "What has happened to me?!?" He collapsed on his knees and clutched his head, hoping to find some fragment of memory.
"You have undergone a death and a rebirth, brother." Neo gasped as he heard a familiar and gentle voice. One that he had not heard in a long time. "But I'm glad you came back." He looked up to see his younger sister, Rei Saiba, standing over him with a small smile on her face. "Rei…you're okay!!!" The boy jumped up and hugged her as if his life depended on it. "But how did you get here? When did you wake up?"
Rei wiggled out of her brother's grip and spoke. "I'm not awake back in the real world. My spirit has been travelling through the digital world, at least what they told me."
Neo blinked. "They?"
Rei nodded. "The two nice old heads on that one big green turtle with a forest for a shell. I found out about what happened to me and to you." She giggled once before continuing. "It's kind of weird. I always used to come to you for answers in the past and now, the roles have been reversed. It'll probably take you a while to understand what I'm saying though when I answer your questions."
"Actually, I think it would be better if we got out of here and back to Mom and Dad. They're probably worried sick about us." He took her hand. "Wait a sec! How are we supposed to get out of here? This really stinks!!"
"Even if you knew how to get out, you won't be able to reunite with your body until you come to terms with what you did." Neo paused at Rei's statement. "Right now, you're not mentally stable to return to your body. As for me…the two headed turtle said that you will need my help and that's why I can't go back to the real world…where I can't run like the wind."
"Rei…you know?" For a moment, Neo felt slightly relieved with the fact that he won't have to divulge the fact that his sister won't be able to walk again. She nodded sadly. "Brother, I've accepted what has happened to me. Now you must do the same and release your hatred of Hideto or the Neo Saiba that should not have existed will be reborn."
"Forgive Hideto?!? He's the one who caused this whole mess to happen!!! And what do you mean the Neo that should not have existed will be reborn?!?" Neo forced himself to calm down.
Rei spoke again. "You've just proved the point that you're not mentally ready to return. As long as you keep your hatred, you keep the other Neo alive. Your memory gaps are because of him. When you fully released your hatred, your mind switched out in a sense and the other one took over until now when you resurfaced." She paused. "In any case, we have a new journey ahead to get you on the road to recovery." After saying that, she took her brother's hand and started walking in another direction with Neo reluctantly following her.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
The only noises in the chamber were the sounds of Zhuqiaomon's slow breathing as he slept and Shibumi tapping away at the computer console to ensure that everything remained stable. The man had started to make calculations as to when Zhuqiaomon's data would be stable enough to bring back the little girl's partner. He hoped that the equations would come out in his favour.
He paused when he heard a pair of voices quietly arguing amongst themselves. "Just let me do the talking, you knucklehead!!" hissed a female voice. There was some grumbling from the other figure. Shibumi blinked as two figures, one blue female and one red male came out from the shadows. "Excuse me? Are you Mr. Mizuno?" The human nodded once. "My name is Hasu and my friend here is Talon. We've come to ask you some questions."
Shibumi narrowed his eyes. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't answer right away." He noticed the appearance of his visitors. "Odd…I thought that all Digimon have the 'mon' ending in their names." While Talon observed the giant phoenix, Hasu spoke to Shibumi. "We're not exactly Digimon. Let's just say we're the latest evolution of both human beings and Digimon."
"A new type of symbiotic evolution between humans and Digimon? Fascinating…so how can I help you?" asked the computer programmer. Hasu pulled out a computer disk and inserted it into the console. The console automatically opened up a menu with some files on it. She double clicked one icon. "Can you identify this program? An associate of mine told me that you may have some knowledge of this." The screen started filling up with lines of computer code.
Shibumi frowned. "I'm not sure. I recognize some lines of computer code but not enough to get a full picture. Have you tried running the program?" The female avatar spoke her next sentence in an icy tone that gave the programmer shivers. "Running the program in this environment is the LAST thing we want to do."
"In that case I'm as much in the dark as you are, Miss Hasu. Unless you can show me something else that's related to the program." She paused before minimizing the window with the code and opened up a media file. Shibumi looked in horror as he saw a red jelly substance spreading in West Shinjuku. "What is that?!?"
"That's the same program that she just showed ya. At least that's what I was told by the one who sent us. As we speak, it's causing a big, freaking mess back in the human world in more ways than one," replied Talon without looking back at the duo. The programmer blinked in surprise. How could they be one and the same?!?
"If I am able to get to the bottom of this mystery, will you two be able to utilize what I find and save the day?" asked Shibumi softly. An uncomfortable silence settled in as neither avatar could not give an honest answer to that question.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
"The gateway has been set. When you pass through it, you will arrive in West Shinjuku in the human realm," stated Azulongmon. Ryo smiled faintly. "You hear that, Monodramon? I'll be able to come home." The small Digimon just gave a 'thumbs up' gesture and a yawn.
Henry glanced behind him to the other Chosen Children. "Well…I guess this is goodbye." Terriermon gave a little wave. "At least for now. I mean…who knows how many menaces from beyond will pop up? It's a sure bet that we'll have to join forces to kick some major butt." The Chinese boy grinned at the statement. "Tastefully said, Davis."
Taichi decided to speak up. "Just keep in mind what I said, Henry!! You and your partner have got a lot of potential!!" And at this moment, Kari…erupted for lack of a better word. "What is it with you and your obsession with posing?!? Did you watch too much sentai shows with all the heroes doing crazy martial arts poses or something growing up?!?!"
"Um…just what exactly is a sentai show, squirt?" As this conversation went on, Ryo and Monodramon went through the gateway. Henry followed the boy with Terriermon and Suzie close to him. The small rabbit Digimon just shook his head in pity before he vanished from the eyesight of the other Chosen. "A world without sentai shows? No spandex heroes, funky monsters and realistic robots?!? Talk about torture!!"
When Henry's vision returned to him, he was startled at the sight of a city on the edge of oblivion, even more so than when they had left. "I think this should be the last time you leave the entire world in Kazu and Kenta's hands, Henry," chirped Terriermon. The Chinese tamer frowned as he felt his sister huddle closer to him. "Cut them some slack, Terriermon. There's got to be a reasonable explanation for this!" His eyes fell to the remains of a fairly recent newspaper and he noticed the date printed on it.
"We've been gone for three months?!? But…we've only been there for about one day!! I didn't realize that there would this huge of a difference in the passage of time between our realms!" murmured Henry. He could worry about that later. Right now, he and Ryo have to go find Kazu and Kenta. He turned to find their other two companions but he didn't see anything. Then he heard Ryo's voice shout from a couple of feet to the north.
"Henry!! Over here!! I think I found your friends…or rather they found me and Monodramon!!" Henry made his way over to the other Tamer's position and was surprised to say the least at the current group assembled. "Jeri?!? Since when did you become a Tamer?!?"
"More importantly, who is the Goth chick and why is Beelzemon with you?!? Wasn't he trying to kill us a while ago?!?" exclaimed Terriermon. A slight frown appeared on Alice's face. "We don't have time for Twenty Questions. There is a crisis looming and we will need your help."
"I don't mind helping but I would like to be roughly caught up on things," stated Henry. Alice briefly told him about the new problems with extra portals opening, Beelzemon's change, the mysterious red blob's destructive capability and now the red blob's current behaviour moving towards the large buildings, where the sky directly above them turned into a green colour. "We originally intended to find out about the program simulating the Digimon's data when Andromon's sensors detected over 400 humans in those buildings. We need to get them evacuated now before the red blob gets too close."
Henry came up with a suitable plan. "Alright…you guys can do the evacuating. Me, Ryo and Beelzemon will try to hold off the blob for as long as possible while you guys get as many people out. Terriermon, you think you can do this one more time?" The rookie vaccine grinned. "Ask and ye shall receive! That's me, the miracle rabbit!!"
The Legendary Tamer looked once at his partner Digimon. The rookie rubbed his eyes and then grinned. "I'm still feeling bushed but I'll nap later. Let's do this, Ryo!" exclaimed Monodramon. Ryo just smiled before taking out his D-Ark.
"Biomerge Activate!!"
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Yamaki played with his lighter some more as technicians scurried about the office area. "How much longer until Juggernaut is fully online?" Riley gave him a report from her seat. "At this rate, it will be up and running in three minutes. The other programs over the world will also be fully online around the same time."
Janyu kept his eye on the monitor and frowned when he noticed some strange lines of code. "Yamaki? What is with this strange code in the Neo Juggernaut?" The other man placed the lighter in his pocket. "I ordered my technicians to add a little something to make it more effective. That's all."
"I would have preferred that you had consulted me and my colleagues first before doing something like this," said the Chinese man. Yamaki gave a slight smirk. "Of course. My apologies." Janyu went back to looking through the strange code and then asked another question to the Hypnos director.
"I recognize this line of code. All of this code creates a piggyback function! What did you do, Mr. Yamaki? What did you add?" Yamaki ignored him and asked Riley again for the time.
"Ninety seconds left, sir."
"Dammit, Yamaki! What did you do?!?" shouted Janyu in frustration. Yamaki strode forward to where Janyu stood and stared him in the eye. "I did everything in my power to fix the mess that you started years ago. My technicians told me that your Neo Juggernaut program ran efficiently but to try and pull off what you had in mind…sending all of these life forms back to where they came from? That would essentially rewrite the laws of quantum physics and they didn't see how this would work! So I ordered that the original Juggernaut program piggyback onto your program and override it in certain areas to make sure that we don't have to deal with this ever again!!"
Janyu couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're even going to destroy those Digimon…who have bonded to humans and fought to defend us?!?" Yamaki simply shrugged. "They can think of it as a final sacrifice. If you wish, you can honour them with something but you won't see me shedding any tears over this."
"Juggernaut is fully active!! I repeat Juggernaut is fully active!! It looks like that our first customer is that big red blob!!" exclaimed Megan. "The big red blob is being the first customer all over the world, according to these reports," stated Riley.
'Once we get rid of the red blob, it won't take too long for all other digital life to be deleted. How delightful,' thought Yamaki to himself. Riley and Megan continued to provide reports. "We have contact! The red blob is in touch with Juggernaut! Commencing deletion…"
"We have an incoming report from the United States!! Strange…this message is full of broken code!!" Riley gasped as new messages popped up on her terminal.
"What's going on?!?" barked Yamaki.
"Deletion process has been terminated for some reason! I can't start it up again!! The red blob must be affecting Juggernaut somehow!" Megan shielded herself as some sparks flew out of her console. "The blob is starting to affect all of our systems thanks to our link with the Juggernaut!!"
"Terminate the link!!"
"Unable to comply, sir!! We're locked out!!" The computer equipment in the chamber started sparkling with electricity and flickered dangerously. A discharge of electricity came out of a console and to Janyu's horror, struck Dolphin. "Rob!!" He rushed over to his friend's side to feel a pulse but got nothing. "No…"
'Where did it all go wrong?!?' Yamaki activated the fire alarm. "Everybody get out of here now!! Move!!" Janyu found himself being pulled to his feet by the other Monster Makers. "You heard him! Let's get out of here!!"
"You have to come too, sir!!" shouted Riley. Yamaki made his way towards the stairs. "Not yet! I have to make sure that everyone else is evacuated to safety first! You go without me!! That's an order!!" With that said, he dashed upstairs. As Riley prepared to leave, she hoped that would not be the last time she would see him.
After more than a year in hiatus, I'm back and I'm going to try and give this story the proper send off to completion. The conclusion should hopefully not take as damn long…