Author's Notes: It's been more than three years since I started this. I never thought I would pick this up again with my lack of interest in Digimon and all but the prospect of finally finishing this story is a bit too good to pass up. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for you, I can't say goodbye to this overall storyline just yet since the finale is going to be divided into three modules (as you'll find out) and then have a proper epilogue. Yes, I know I'm pretty lousy when it comes to commitment sometimes but I'll do my best.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, alright?
Ascension – V 4.0 (Tamers Module)
The afternoon weather was pretty brutal with temperatures hovering around 25 degrees Celsius, which translates to seventy or eighty something Fahrenheit (feel free to do the actual conversion yourself). Students and teachers who had to spend a good chunk of time at school were simply thankful that their buildings had installed air conditioners. But for a sixteen year old Suzie Wong, she preferred to be roasting in the hot sun rather than listen to her history teacher give a flawed lecture.
"Around December of 1937, the Japanese forces had helped to establish order and control within the City of Nanjing. Over the course of the next year, they would spread their efforts and assist all of eastern China," droned the elderly female instructor.
Suzie forced herself not to snort out loud in disgust. Her father had told her the truth a few years ago about how lucky her great-grandparents were to escape the Japanese when they went on a seven week rampage within the city. 'Please tell me that the class is over…' Her long hair draped over her chair like a cape as she leaned back into it.
Ten minutes later and the teacher continued to speak. "So the only option open to Roosevelt, who had been moving forward with his 'Plan Victory', was to use embargoes to force resource-poor Japan into war."
'With the amount of denial in the history that we're being taught, it's no wonder that the rest of the world is still mad.' Finally to Suzie's relief, the bell rung to signal the end of class and subsequently the end of the day. The class representative did the usual 'Stand and Bow' routine as the teacher left the room before the students filed out of the classroom.
Suzie cleaned up her desk and quickly placed her school items into her bag. It's about 3:45 in the afternoon and she has to meet up with Ai and Mako at their usual meeting place which is a secluded area in Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden near the high school. She finished packing up and left the room. As soon as she reached outside, a familiar weight landed on her head. "So how was school today?" asked Lopmon.
"Same as usual except with our history teacher continuing to talk about flawed history." Suzie moved her right hand to stroke her Digimon's head. It took about a year and a half for Lopmon to return to her after she gave her data to Zhuqiaomon. It was thanks to a good amount of work from her father and Shibumi that she was able to reunite with her partner.
It felt hard to believe that about ten years ago, the world was in chaos with the D-Reaper and Juggernaut running amok. The two programs had attempted to destroy each other repeatedly and the world was simply caught in the middle. 'When all looked lost, the Avatar of Chaos and the Scion of Heaven came through… geez, I sound like a preacher!' She couldn't exactly remember what the two did since at the time of those events she was only a six year old girl. At that time, she was still in emotional turmoil over the loss of Lopmon. 'Seriously… I keep forgetting to talk to Henry and ask him what happened! I guess I'll have to wait until after he finishes finals at Tokyo University.'
"Suzie!" The teenager looked up to see Mako waving enthusiastically at her. His attire consisted of a white dress shirt with the school crest on the left breast pocket, a belt, dark blue dress pants and sneakers. He was slightly shorter than Suzie but considering the age difference, that's nothing surprising. His hair had grown out a bit with streaks of red in it to differentiate himself from others. "You look absolutely beautiful as always. May I have the pleasure of taking you on a date this weekend?"
Ai stood behind him and wore a similar uniform to Suzie (with a minor difference because they were in different grades) which included the same dress shirt, a skirt that stopped right above the knees and white socks. Both girls wore different shoes. Her brown hair was kept at shoulder length and had not been styled in any fashion. "Mako, she's older than you. There's no way that you two would be able to hit it off."
Suzie had an amused look as the male twin glared at his sister. "She's only two years older than me! Besides, you've dated guys who were just as old as Suzie! What's the big difference?"
"It's quite simple, really. Girls like me and Suzie mature quickly while guys take longer because of their macho pride and all that," replied Ai in a simple tone.
"I feel enlightened already," muttered Mako.
"Wasn't Impmon supposed to be with you?" asked Lopmon as she noticed that there was a member of their little group missing.
Mako snapped out of his foul mood and addressed the only Digimon with them. "He had his usual appointment so he'll be running late. The good news is that with the new upgraded computers, he won't have to come in too frequently for new data infusions! When he gets back, we can do our usual patrol rounds and then get back to our homes to cram for exams."
"Sounds fun," replied Suzie dryly.
0000000000
"So, doc… how am I?" asked Impmon before hopping off the examination bed. The room itself looked like a normal doctor's office but had several computers and machines running in the background which gave it more of a 'top secret lab' atmosphere.
"With the last data infusion, you should be okay for around six months but just to be on the safe side, I suggest you see us at least twelve weeks from now," replied Janyu who had long ago given up on getting Impmon not to call him 'doc'. For some reason, it makes him feel older than he is.
"Twelve weeks, huh? Fine. See ya around, doc." Impmon left the room and emerged in a corridor where he could see doors to other offices much like Janyu's for the rest of the staff. Essentially, this is a special medical wing for Digimon and special programmers are examined and trained to act as Digimon doctors. Janyu and his crew (minus the late Rob McCoy) were the ones who acted as the first doctors and they eventually taught others how to treat Digimon. The funding for the equipment and personnel came from the government.
Impmon walked down the corridor until he reached the door which led to the stairs. He climbed on the railing and slid all the way down to the first floor before walking through the front doors to the outdoors. The rookie Digimon stretched before noticing the presence of another Digimon. "Sup, toots?"
"At least have the courtesy to call me by my proper name, Impmon," grumbled Renamon as she phased into view. "And because of some rather unexpected circumstances, the weekly combat drill has been pushed back a day."
"So I get to pummel ya on Saturday instead? Works for me, lady," said the virus Digimon with a cocky smirk on his face. Renamon rolled her eyes before moving off to spread the news to the others. Impmon gave a chuckle under his breath before he evolved to Beelzemon and walked to the curb near the road where cars drove through. "Behemoth!"
The vehicle zoomed past a few bewildered motorists and stopped near the demon lord Digimon. Before he got on, he noticed that his ride had a passenger already. All three green eyes glared at the small white Digimon clenched to the front of the vehicle. "What do you think you're doing, Calumon?"
"I wanted to come along for the ride! It was fun!" replied Calumon gleefully with his ears spread out.
Beelzemon rolled all three of his eyes. "It's been ten years and you still act like a brat. You should grow up." The white Digimon hopped on to Beelzemon's shoulder as he got on the motorcycle. He started up the engine and began to drive towards the usual meeting place.
"So what are you up to?" asked Calumon as he enjoyed the ride.
"Patrol as usual. Why would you wanna hang around us for? Aren't there desserts calling out for you, cream puff?" Beelzemon came to a stop as a traffic light turned red.
"I have to wait until closing hours before I can head to the bakery and see what leftovers they have there!" Calumon has become a frequent visitor to the bakery over the years where Takato's parents continued to work.
"What about Jeri's restaurant? If you ask real nice, I'm sure that she can give you a little treat. I can drop you off before patrol starts." The light turned green again and the demon lord Digimon accelerated his motorcycle.
"Really? Thanks a lot!"
00000000000
Leomon carefully eyed the target that was within striking distance. He carefully pulled out his large blade and allowed his instinct to let him know when the time was right. Five seconds… four… three… two… one…
With a mighty roar, he launched himself at the huge chunk of meat lying on the table and proceeded to slice it quickly and cleanly with just his blade. What would have taken a meat-slicing machine ten minutes only took Leomon three. 'With the meat sliced, I can take this back to the kitchen to be cooked and then prepped for the bento specials.' He carefully used his large knife to push the small chunks of meat into a clean bucket before walking over to a large sink to rinse off the blade.
It was strange how he had found an affinity for cooking but he often drew in customers who wanted to taste Digimon cuisine (actually, there wasn't any such thing from the Digital World that he recalled) and to try out his trademark steak dish that he accidentally invented when he fired a small Fist of the Beast King attack in frustration at some stubborn meat four years earlier.
He entered the restaurant's back entrance to hear her father shout. "Jeri! We need some dumpling appetizers for Table Fourteen!"
"I'm on it!" The young woman poured some vegetable oil into a frying pan and turned on the heat. Dressed in a chef's uniform with her hair tied tightly into a bun, she hummed to herself as she took some raw gyoza dumplings that had been prepared this morning and carefully dropped them into the pan to be fried.
Her life had changed since she was able to do a good amount of reflecting after the chaotic time when she, Alice, Kenta, Kazu and Beelzemon had to defend the city. When she remembered the other Jeri, she felt disturbed and saw what could happen if she continued to use the false mask which hid her pain. The moment she came home, she spent a lot of time talking to her family and sought out some additional aid from professional doctors.
Thanks to the support of her family and Leomon, she had been able to come to terms with her personal trauma. There is a better understanding between her and her stepmother. Her personality is very open and trusting and because of that, Leomon, her father and her young brother often keep an eye on all of Jeri's associates to see who may take advantage of her trust. "Dammit! Where's that tempura?" shouted Mr. Katou again.
"It's coming!" The vegetables were bathed in some batter before being dropped in the deep fryer. Jeri quickly walked to the sink to rinse her hands when she saw a little visitor drop in. "Calumon!"
Outside the restaurant, Beelzemon was about to drive off when he noticed someone familiar approaching him. "Hello, Beelzemon. It's been some time."
The demon lord looked over to his right to see a woman in a ponytail and a professional business outfit. "I remember you. You're that lady who asked me to save that guy ten years ago…"
(flashback)
"Make way for the Giant Green Taxi!" bellowed Megagargomon while he descended with several people secured in his hands. He landed on his legs and knelt down so that the passengers could disembark safely and make their way to the large crowd who were watching everything.
"I think that's everyone!" exclaimed Justimon after landing on Megagargomon's shoulder.
"Wait! Did you see Yamaki?" asked Riley as she made her way towards the Digimon.
Justimon leapt down from the shoulder of the large vaccine Digimon. "Who is this Yamaki?"
"Mitsuo Yamaki. Blonde hair, sunglasses, sharp business suit and no sense of humour. I was wondering if you were able to see him escape. If you didn't… then can you see if he's still in the building and get him out of there?" asked the woman.
"Do we have enough time for another sweep? The building's looking pretty unstable," murmured Justimon as he looked back.
"I'll get on it. Where is he most likely to be?" Justimon wondered where Beelzemon came from but it seemed that he heard the woman's request to save Yamaki.
"He said he was going to check to see if everyone else has evacuated safely. It's been about twenty minutes so right now, he would be at the fifteenth floor," replied Riley. Beelzemon nodded before spreading out his wings and taking flight.
'Thirteenth… fourteenth… there it is!' The demon lord noticed a small figure sitting at a desk near the window. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the figure matched the woman's description perfectly. He made his way toward a window that connects to the next office. It probably would be best if he didn't startle the human. As soon as he punched the glass and got through, he exited the office and saw the door to the office being occupied was open. When he stepped through, he saw the human sitting at the desk with a bottle of whiskey and a glass. "Yamaki, I presume?"
The man looked up and then snorted. "Someone up there must be laughing their ass off if my messenger to the afterlife is a Digimon." His speech was slightly slurred but he was still aware of his surroundings.
"I ain't no messenger, buddy. I'm getting you outta here."
Another glass of alcohol was poured. "Why would you want to save someone who has tried to get rid of all Digimon over the past several months?" He downed the contents in one gulp and exhaled.
"Not sure really. I guess the thought that I could have done something but decided to sit on my ass and leave the sucker to his doom doesn't sit too well with me." Beelzemon walked over and yanked Yamaki out of his chair. The bottle of whiskey fell to the floor with the alcohol staining the carpet.
"Dammit! Let go! Can't you just let me die with some dignity?" Yamaki managed to get Beelzemon to let go of his arm.
The demon lord frowned. "You really wanna die that badly?"
"The point of the matter is that in my failure to complete my goal, I have lost face. The world is on the brink of change and whether I like it or not, Digimon are the future! Because I can't accept that change… I have to die along with the project that I had feverishly worked on. I don't have anything left to focus my life on."
"Yamaki…" As soon as the man heard his name, he felt a painful blow in his stomach as Beelzemon punched him. "That is the biggest load of bull I ever heard. What I hate are people who still have lives to live but don't make any effort to live them. And you are falling dangerously close to that category. As for a new focus, I can think of at least two things. First, there's that lady who wanted someone to rescue ya."
Yamaki's thoughts drifted to the only person who would possibly ask that. 'Riley…'
"And if that ain't enough…" Beelzemon plunged his hand into Yamaki's pants and stretched the back on his briefs over the man's head. "You can focus your life on getting revenge for me pulling that wedgie on ya! And then of course, the subsequent humiliation when I drop you off in front of your people." The demon lord picked up the man and tossed him over his shoulder.
"You bastard! I'll see you rot in hell for this!" As Yamaki continued to curse, Beelzemon simply grinned like an idiot, knowing that by acting like an ass, he fired up the man's will to live.
(end flashback)
"So how has he been? Is he still dedicated to getting a position with the government liaison group to us?" asked the demon lord.
Riley sighed. "That's quite an understatement. He's really putting a lot of energy into trying to set up something that would strictly monitor your activities and develop a few anti-Digimon weapons that a human can use in case you guys go rogue. But the higher ups keep saying that he should keep a clear distance away from government matters regarding Digimon. In fact, they think his dedication to the work he's been doing is quite unhealthy."
"Why are you telling me this?"
The woman smiled gently. "Because I'm grateful for the dramatic measures you took to bring him back to life… even though it's quite unorthodox."
0000000000
"On my pride as a Holy Knight…" The virus Digimon slowly got up, bearing the pain from the damaged inflicted on him before. "…if you ever hurt my friends…" His torn red cape flapped in the wind and his body armour had several cracks all over the place. "…I will kill you!"
"Oh?" Shadowgallantmon paused when a red aura flared from his counterpart and he saw the knight's golden eyes harden. 'Is he tapping into the power of the Hazard?' He blinked in shock when he saw Gallantmon vanish. 'Where is he?' He felt a shift in the wind above him and saw the holy knight armed with his shield and ready to strike.
The dark knight swung with his own lance but Gallantmon moved his body to the left to dodge the attack. He dashed forward, intending to give a harsh body check with the right part of his body but his counterpart had beat him to the ideal position and his shield glowed with power. "This is my resolve! FINAL ELYSIAN!"
Takato Matsuki looked up from the story that had been handed to him by his friend and co-worker, Hirokazu Shiota. "Not that this isn't cool or anything but…"
"What do you think? Your original adventures when you guys had the Digidestined in town are practically screaming out to be filmed as a recreation! You know… one of those films based on a true story? I really maxed out the drama and tension and it totally sounds better than the original story that you told me a while back! Once I finish the last bit, I'll send it to our publisher and he'll probably want you to draw a manga based on this! And then maybe we can start talking to film producers and distributors!"
Takato protested weakly. "But… we're already swamped with work on the Digimon Chronicle story! Not to mention that I need to meet up with the animation staff to go over the plans to produce Frontier as an anime and then there's the re-launching of the Digimon V-Tamer manga!" He was about to put Kazu's script on his desk but seeing how cluttered it was already with pages and pages of his drawings all over the place, he opted just to keep it in his lap.
Kazu adjusted his blue Digimon cap. "When you think of it, maybe we took on a wee bit too much. But then again, this stuff is nothing like the old days when I defended the city with Alice and the others." He glanced down at the tiny scar on his right thumb that he got from a battle against a visitor simply known as Death-X-Mon.
"How is Alice by the way?" Takato gave back the script and attempted to organize his drawings by series that he was working on. 'This one's for V-Tamer and this one is for Digimon Chronicle. And here's the Frontier concept art that got sent to me yesterday. I was wondering where I put this!'
"She's swamped with work on her end but then again, she is trying to set up an American Branch of the Digimon Tamers Federation. Hopefully, she won't be as brutal as Rika with combat drills and that stuff." Kazu walked over to the mini-fridge set up in Takato's office and grabbed a cold drink from inside.
"Rika's not that bad! And where's Kenta?"
"As her boyfriend, your opinion doesn't count." Kazu took a swig and briefly remembered how the two drifted apart for a few years after the Juggernaut/D-Reaper clash before finally straightening things out after the DTF was established five years back. "As for Kenta, he's getting some stuff so we can pull another big night to get the Digimon Chronicle chapter done."
Following the Juggernaut/D-Reaper clash, the trio of friends repaired their friendship and started a little fun project on the side while in junior high school. Kazu and Kenta worked out story details and created new concepts based on the Ancient Digimon cards. The product was their first doujinshi manga called Digimon Frontier. Takato drew the story out while Kazu let his imagination run wild to come up with the story. Kenta coordinated the efforts of his friends and edited the final work so that picture and dialogue would fit together. They finished the Frontier project just as they graduated from high school and while thinking of future plans, the trio were contacted by a manga publisher who wanted the trio to draw up some new Digimon stories when Digimon were being more accepted in the mainstream media.
A knock on the door broke the brief silence as Kenta, Guardromon, MarineAngemon, Guilmon and Terriermon entered the office, carrying snacks to munch on and takeout food for supper. "We're back!" exclaimed Guardromon. The group dropped the bags of food on a small table near a black leather couch with a television and a video game system.
Takato grinned. "That's good to hear. Guilmon, don't eat all the food, okay?"
"I hear ya, Takato. Let's play some games until they are ready to eat dinner." Takato would never admit it but he felt a bit bothered by Guilmon's change in attitude and the reason for that as Terriermon pointed out accidentally in another conversation was because of Guilmon's mindset evolving from that of a child to a teenager. At least he would have experience when it comes to handling his teenage kids with Rika… if they ever went that far.
00000000000
The time was about 5:45 PM and the administrative office of the DTF still remained busy tracking Digimon activities in the human world and the Digital World. It's practically a 24 hour operation since nobody knows when a Digimon could create a digital field and bio-emerge.
The Digimon Tamers Federation worked similarly to the FBI in the United States. They operated under their own rules but they were funded by the government. To encourage anyone who is a Tamer to step forward and take on a role as a defender of Japan, the Federation offered to pay Tamers in Yen. Currently, the Japanese Branch of DTF has about 130 Field Agents, half of which are still in elementary school and junior high. Tamers who previously acted as Field Agents but had to scale back because of other commitments would be labelled as reserves.
There is still quite a bit of debate surrounding the DTF with questions on why should children be the ones risking their lives. And parents have to live with the possibility that their child could become a Tamer. For public safety interests, the government passed a few new laws regarding Digimon. Any Digimon that is found in the real world without a Tamer would have to go back to the Digital World. Anyone who is a Tamer but has no wish to be part of the Federation still needs to register themselves with the government for precautionary purposes. And technically, if the media wants information on Digimon, they should contact the DTF Staff, there are some unscrupulous journalists and photographers who attempt to go after the Tamers themselves and their families for information.
Since Digimon are sentient beings, there is a large amount of discussion as to whether they can have the same rights, privileges and freedoms as a human. Religious groups and fanatics have continually voiced their thoughts about how Digimon will be the end of humanity while other groups have fought to shed positive light on the phenomenon. It's been a long debate and with what Rika had found out, the debate could take an interesting turn.
The young woman was dressed in a sharp military uniform with a special badge on to represent her rank (which was pretty much at the top) and affiliation with the DTF. Her cards were attached to her belt. "Well… this is an interesting development. How long have you had your partner?" She scanned the small Digimon in front of her with her D-Ark. The Digimon looked like a dull yellow dog with red ears, red markings on his cheeks and a bushy red tail that looks like it should belong on a Vulpix. 'Labramon. Animal Digimon. Rookie level. Vaccine type. Special moves are Cure Liquor and Retrieving."
"I've had him since I was ten, madam," replied the Digimon's tamer, who was a thirteen year old girl dressed in a private school uniform and sitting in the chair provided to her. She nervously played with the D-Ark in her hands which had a purple and yellow rim.
She clipped her D-Ark back to her belt. "And why did you decide to reveal yourself just now?"
"I was scared at first how my parents would react to all this and how the people would react when they found out that I had a Digimon. Then I realized that we are on the brink of a new era with Digimon and if our people are to realize that our lives are intertwined with the Digimon, I have to step forward and reveal Labramon to everyone."
Rika smiled at the girl's courage. "That's very courageous of you, Aiko-hime. Let's get you set up in our database." As she shifted her seat to her computer to begin working on an ID for the latest Tamer to join their ranks, she idly pondered how the public would react when they found out that Princess Aiko, the current member of the Imperial Family reigning on the Chrysanthemum Throne, is a Digimon Tamer.
"Um… madam? I was just wondering about something. Nobody really understood what happened on that night ten years ago. As one of the first Tamers, were you able to make sense of those events?" asked Aiko meekly.
Rika continued to type on her keyboard as she replied to the question. "Well, the Juggernaut program and the D-Reaper program were trying to delete each other and they pretty much succeeded but they left a big mess to clean up behind. Takato and I, in our final ascended forms, pretty much cleaned up that mess by sealing up whatever rifts were left and sending unwanted visitors back to where they came from. Then a special program was run to ensure that the rifts would never happen again and our higher forms were sealed."
The version she told Aiko was partially watered down to avoid talking about Amaterasu. The Sun Goddess was the one who ran the program to repair the barriers of reality and she sealed their higher powers, leaving them with the power to bio-merge into four different forms and to quantum bio-merge into all four forms for a short while.
"Okay… you're just about set. And…" A beeping noise came from the machine and the woman frowned slightly. "Hold on a second." She pulled up another program which linked communications between the real world and the Digital World. "Nonaka here."
"Rika, the assignment you gave me is just plain ridiculous."
She grinned mentally while she kept a straight face and a business-like tone. "What do you mean, Ryo? I gave you what you wanted. You came to me asking for a different assignment since you felt restless. What more do you want?"
"Do you have any idea how long it will take to travel the entire Digital World and map it?"
"Not really. I would love to send something to help you along but unfortunately, our R&D team hasn't come up with something yet. Now if you will excuse me, I have other business to conduct. Good day." Rika cut off the connection and went back to work. She had to admit that she loved her job. She dealt with Digimon all the time, she didn't have to wear a dress to work and she got to boss around Ryo Akiyama. Life is good.
And life went on normally. Or as normally as you can get for Digimon Tamers. But overall, it looked like things were going to remain quite stable for a while.
0000000000
0000000000
0000000000
0000000000
0000000000
"YOU'RE PROPOSING TO ME IN THE MIDDLE OF A FREAKING COMBAT DRILL! ARE YOU NUTS, GOGGLEHEAD?"
To be concluded…
Adventures Module and V-Tamer Module will be coming soon. I swear!