[Some time ago.]

"I can't believe my eyes, folks!" The play-by-play announcer sounded similar to a radio talk host. "Akiyoshi High School has won the High School State Championships! The first time in that school's history! Listen to that crowd!" Even through what was supposed to be soundproof glass, they could hear muffled screaming. "Who can blame them!? Akiyoshi High swept through the bracket like a dark horse! All their players came together, even that plucky newcomer ace, Taichi Yagami! I see nothing but a bright future for that kid!"

She chewed on her lunch as the TV showed a replay of the famous video.

"Oh? Meiko, dear. Isn't that your high school?"

A bespectacled teen with long black hair looked at the TV that showed one of her schoolmates. She remembered him; hard not to when he was the popular jock in high school, especially when they were in the same class. But the only time they 'interacted' with each other would be when they would respond to attendance by Mr. Daigo Nishijima.

The girl only nodded.

"He might be a future player in Japan's Olympic sports team! Meiko, dear. Get an autograph from him, and we can sell it later!" Her mother joked.

"Dear, don't let our daughter get involved with people like that. Sports fans are like rabid animals for people who only think about their bodies." He didn't lift his eyes from the newspaper once. "On that topic of school, Meiko, I've heard your grades have been slipping. Do better."

...

The girl only nodded.

However, she looked back at her classmate on the TV. He looked happier than she ever could be. A small piece of her wondered why her life was so unfair but not to others.

[Present time]

"I'm Meiko, and this is Meicoomon." The teenage girl finished telling the rabbit Digimon.

"I'm Lulu, a Lunamon." The Rookie introduced herself before her eyes widened. "You're a human?"

"I am? I-Is something wrong with that?" Meiko asked before the feline Digimon got out of her arms and went up to Lulu.

"Alright you, listen up! You and the others better let Meiko and I go, or else..." The cat looked ready to pummel the small rabbit Digimon.

"Meicoomon! No! I-I don't think she's the one who put us here." The girl named Meiko kneeled to her friend to calm her down before she turned to the newcomer. "Um, by any chance, do you know where we are?"

"No," Lunamon put a paw near her mouth. "The last thing I remember was..." She recalled how Devimon had taken her away from her brother. "Oh no! My brother! I'm so worried for him!"

"I-It must be heartbreaking to be separated from your family!" Meiko put her hands close to her chest.

"No! Not that! He's an idiot!" Lulu shouted back. "How is he supposed to lead Tai and Zero my way when he doesn't know the difference between East and North!?"

Meiko was a little relieved that Lulu was more—wait. Something Lulu said caught her attention.

"D-Did you say, Tai?" Meiko couldn't believe what she was asking. "As in, Taichi Yagami?"

Lulu looked over to the bespectacled girl. "He did say something that sounded like that. Oh, do you know him?"

"He's my classmate! Wait, what's he doing here!? You've seen him? Does he know a way out of here!?" Meiko kneeled to the white rookie and started to ask questions faster than Lulu could process them.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Lulu stepped back. "I don't know! There are a lot of questions I don't get. But..." The rookie tilted her head. "Sorry. If there were any answers, it was probably in the old journal my town elder had. But I left it with Coco." Despite being flame-based, Coco was always better at taking care of objects than she was. She recalled handing the book before their assault to rescue Tai.

Meiko sighed after hearing this. "What are we going to do now?"

Lulu huffed before putting her hands on her hips. "Why! We're going to escape, of course! With you two here, we can do that! Now hurry up and do that really cool thing you Human and Digimon pairs do!"

Meiko and Meicoomon's response was to just stare at Lulu.

"Did you hit your head on the way here?" The cat leered at the rabbit.

The Lunamon stared blankly. "So you don't randomly come up with a plan that somehow defies logic and ends up making you achieve victory?"

Meiko didn't know how to process what she had just heard. She probably would never understand it. "I-uh. Humans don't do that." Meiko looked flushed.

Lulu looked disappointed after hearing that. "Oh. Tai did something like that."

The raven-haired girl's eyes widened when she heard that name once more. "Do you really know Tai Kamiya? Brown hair? Likes to wear goggles?"

"You sound surprised. Don't you humans know each other?" The Lunamon tilted her head.

"I don't know this Tai." Meicoomon raised her brow.

When Meiko—ignoring the cold tone in Meicoomon's voice—heard those words, she felt a sudden burst of hope filling her heart. Someone she knew was here, and maybe he knew more of what was going on!

[Meanwhile...]

"You guys have no idea what you're doing. Do you?" Coco asked as he found the two somehow covered in rope.

"No rope can hold the 100 Percent Combination!" Zero exclaimed as he struggled against the ropes. However, try as he might, they only tightened the more he struggled.

Coco walked up and touched the rope surrounding the champ. One flash later, the rope burned and came loose. "You know," The rookie put his hands on his hips. "We named this place Trap Forest for a reason."

He then walked up to Tai, who struggled inside a net. Coco was more gentle with Tai than he was with Zero. "Thanks for that, but I would have gotten us out of there!"

"Before or after security finds you in those traps?" The fire rookie folded his arms. Tai chuckled nervously while scratching his chin, but Coco went on. "Look, I need your help. I can't fight a Champion Digimon, but you two can. If something bad happens to you two, then I won't be able to save my sister!"

"Don't worry, Coco!" Zero patted the head of the rookie. "Tai and I can beat a hundred champions! It's why we're the Hundred Percent Combo!"

"Not to brag," Even though they already were, Tai took out something from his cloak and gave it to the rookie. "But I've written on this notebook all of our victories!"

Coco took the notebook and opened it up. He paused for a second before the other two noticed the rookie look back up. "I can't read this."

"Wait-what?" Zero looked down on the rookie. "I can read this just fine! Are you dumb?"

While most would have taken that tone and question as an insult, Coco looked more confused and curious about something. He fished his satchel for another book, older than all three of them combined by the looks of it. Coco opened it up and showed a random page to Zero. "Can you read this?"

"Uhhhh..." Zero stared hard at the foreign scribbles.

"Huh." Coco then showed it to Tai, who looked puzzled but had a more subtle look than Zero's. "That's odd. You should be able to read Digi-Scripture." The Coronamon told the blue champion.

"I raised him myself." Tai began. "I don't think he's ever seen Digimon language before today." The brunette started to feel like the book was more important than he thought. "What is that book?"

"It's the journal of our town's first founder. Lulu seemed convinced it held a clue about a mystery in our world." Coco thought about it a little more. "Now that it's been brought up, we've never known what humans looked like before we met you, so why was the Great One so convinced you would usher the end of the world?"

Tai motioned to Coco if he could borrow the book. The rookie handed it over, and Tai glanced through the pages. He also couldn't read the language of Digimon, but he had this determined look in his eyes. "I promise you that we'll solve this problem together and that Zero and I won't destroy this world!"

Coco swore Tai looked different at that moment. However, he pushed the thoughts aside and nodded his head before pointing forward. "Well, just stay close to me. According to the journal, the founder of our town frequented this area. He talks about a giant dome that prisoners get sent to. It matches the direction Devimon went with Lulu, so I won't be surprised if he also has back up there."

"In that case," Tai took out his spyglass from his cloak. "We'll have to be sneaky about it. That's why I had us take the higher path. Come on!"

Two traps Coco had to free Tai and Zero from later, the trio crawled their way to the top of a hill. The brunette held a spyglass to scan the area. "I see the dome you talked about." His voice trailed off, and the next time he spoke, there was a subtle edge to it. "But there's no sign of any guards."

"That's great!" Zero almost shouted. "We'll have an easier time getting in!"

"Or," Coco's eyes narrowed as he picked up on what Tai meant. "It's a trap for us specifically."

Tai came to the same conclusion. "Here's the problem. We might have to spring it to save Lulu." He stood up and looked down at the lone entrance of the dome. "Well, I meant what I said. We're going to rescue your sister."

The area around the dome was clear of everything. As the trio made their way, they noticed more about the dome. The rust, mold, and even some grass growing out of the dented areas gave the feeling that the prison existed long before it was used as a prison.

They all stopped just before the entrance, but Tai quickly noticed that he could barely see anything beyond the door. "Hey, before we go in. Coco, can you throw a ball of fire in there?"

Coco did as he was asked, but instead of revealing what was in the shadow, the ball of flame got absorbed into the darkness.

"So much for that," Tai held his goggles for a second. "Let's go."

With that, Tai and two other Digimon stepped into the darkness.

"Coco, you still there?" "Yeah?" "How about you, Zero?" "I'm still here, Tai. But I can't see anything." "Same. Coco, can you light a flame?" "Gimme a second."

Coco's flame was very dim. Yet it was more than enough to show a dozen or so Digimon eyes surrounding the trio along with glints of fangs, claws, and smiles big enough to bite all their heads off.

"... Tai?" Coco finally spoke after a second of stillness.

"Yes, Coco?"

"These next few minutes are going to suck." The rookie's words were aptly put as the obscured Digimon next to him blew out his flame.

[?]

"Come on! We've got to find a way out of here!" Lulu shouted as she stomped her foot.

"We've already tried!" Meicoomon huffed. "We can't even see anything in this dark room!"

Lulu raised her brow. "It's dark? I can see just fine." Perhaps it was because of her dark attribute, but the moon rookie could see what the two could not. As such, she spotted something an outline of what looked like a door.

"Hey, there is a door!" The other pair watched the white rookie walk up to a wall before pushing it. When she did, light seeped out, making the two cover their eyes for a second.

"Well?" As their eyes adjusted, they saw Lulu waving at the entrance. "Let's go! I doubt you two want to stay here forever! Don't you want to see Tai again?"

Meicoomon growled. "I don't trust her."

"Meicoomon," Meiko petted her friend. "I don't think she's bad. We should follow her and get out while we still can." And she didn't like being in the dark for so long.

The raven-haired girl walked after the bunny Digimon, but she knew that Lulu claimed they were in prison. A part of her prepared for the unexpected.

That is why when she entered what looked like a hallway, Meiko realized she didn't prepare for the mundane.

She heard Lulu say prison. So instead of iron bars and cells, why did they walk into what looked like an office hallway?

It took a few seconds for Meiko to realize that the hallway looked... uncanny. The fluorescent lights above them somehow made the place look dimmer instead of brighter and made the white walls look dull and gray. She saw paintings across the hallway, but what creeped her out was that they were all the same oil paintings of a boat on the sea.

"Are we in some office?" Meicoomon looked around the area.

"I don't know." Lulu shrugged.

Meiko felt this odd sensation, like sound becoming distorted. As Meicoomon and Lulu started to argue, the girl swore their voices were getting distant despite being so close.

She looked beyond the two Digimon.

She wished she didn't.

Even though the hallway looked endless, something stood out: a flickering light bulb. It flashed light and darkness until it showed longer periods of darkness.

In one flicker of light, she saw it.

She didn't know what it was; the inhuman figure vanished in the darkness as it appeared in the light.

But then the light next to it started to flicker.

Then the next.

Then the next.

At the third light, the figure appeared. Closer than before.

Meiko doesn't remember what happened next. All she could make out was a scream that sounded like her own voice, and she yanked the two Digimon in the opposite direction faster than she ever ran before.

The raven-haired girl didn't know which she did first but really wanted to find Tai.

[Domed Prison Entrance?]

Zero, Tai, and Coco all gasped for breath as they practically dragged themselves out of the darkness and into what looked to be the inside of a church.

"Those," Coco gasped between breaths and covered in what he hoped was saliva. "Digimon did not... fight fair... how are we... still alive?"

"I-I told you," Tai hunched over. "We're the 100 Percent Combination... me and Zero... are unbeatable..."

"Tai, let's not... go back there." Zero gasped as he pulled a spike from his shoulder.

Well, aren't you a bunch of toughies?" The trio turned to see someone sitting on a rock: a strange green Digimon adorned with armor and mirrors. "I let those Digimon out to stretch their legs, and you go and beat them!"

Tai narrowed his eyes before he stood up straight. "You must be the warden, right?"

"Indeed. And you must be a human, are you not?" The mon laughed with all the sophistication of a spy villain. "You may call me, Mercuremon. I do hope you'll enjoy your stay here, human. You're going to be here for a long time."

Tai narrowed his eyes. The guy didn't look tough, but he assumed the arrogance wasn't just hot air. He had some hidden advantage, but what?

"We're here for Lulu, freak! And we're not leaving without her!" Coco pointed to the Digimon as his flames ignited. "Where is she!?"

"Oh my! Did anyone hear that? It sounded like the wind." Mercuremon circled his hand in a showy fashion before he placed it where an ear should have been.

Coco growled before he jumped up and enflamed his fist. "Corona Knuckle!" He shouted as a petite fire fist rocketed towards the warden.

Tai watched as the opposing Digimon raised one of his arms, or rather one of his mirror shields. "Dark Reflection!" The mirror absorbed the fire attack and the green Digimon switched to his other mirror. The other mirror launched back the attack at twice the speed-

"Gah!" "Coco!"

And apparently twice the power with how big the attack was when Coco used it.

Zero and Tai rushed over to the rookie while Tai eyed Mercuremon. Inwardly, Tai supposed that's why this Digimon themed himself around mirrors. Any attack they threw at him would be bounced back.

In that case, "Zero, rush him! Don't use any long-range attacks!"

The blue dinosaur was faster than most people expected him to be. However, Mercuremon proved to be graceful as he avoided Zero's attacks as if he was dancing.

"Hold still!" Zero roared as he punched forward. Mercuremon threw one of his shields forward while another mirror was positioned at Zero's face.

Because of how Mercuremon's mirrors worked, Zero's fist went through the first mirror and escaped through the second, which made him punch himself in the face.

"Zero, back off!" So much for that, their opponent could also reflect physical attacks back at them.

"Is this all?" Mercuremon taunted. "I was expecting more from a human and Digimon pair."

Tai narrowed his eyes. He typed and pointed his Digivice at Zero. The Digimon glanced at Tai before he jumped back and inhaled. "Arrow Breath!"

Coco looked up in confusion as they knew Mercuremon could simply reflect attacks back at them. What was Tai thinking? Yet the rookie looked on when Zero shot a second attack, one much faster than the first.

Now, Zero unleashed the attack as soon as Mercuremon prepped his first mirror. So as he brought up his second shield, the reflected attack...made contact with the second V-Arrow Breath.

Mercuremon could send back attacks, but Tai had a feeling that he couldn't stop an explosion at point-blank range.

"GAAAHHH!?" No one heard Mercuremon's scream over the explosion. The Digimon slammed into the wall; his entire body singed and cracked from the power of his own attack combined with Zero's.

"No way... you beat him?" Coco looked on with shock at Tai.

"We beat him. We're a team!" Tai gave a thumbs up before looking at the broken Digimon. "Though with him out cold, how are we going to find your sister?"

The three heard the sound of slow clapping. Tai turned behind them and his eyes widened with alarm.

"Well done! Well done!" Against all odds, Mercuremon sat in one of the back pews of the church. "You handled that splendidly."

Zero and Coco looked back, only to see the body shatter into pieces like glass.

"Wait, was it a fake body!?" Coco screamed out.

Tai felt sweat down his face. Something felt off the moment they entered this place. The mirror thing wasn't the only ability their warden had.

"Fake? I wouldn't say that." Tai stepped back as he and the other two saw a second Mercuremon sitting on the opposite pew. "I prefer the word, reflection. It fits, doesn't it?"

"After all," The three turned behind them, seeing a new Mercuremon in place of the one they had just defeated. "I do love mirrors."

"Tai, what's happening!?" Zero cried out as he, Coco, and the human all huddled together back-to-back as more copies of Murcuremon appeared wherever they looked.

"I told you that I was the warden of this place." The Mercuremon spoke at the same time. "And you're never going to escape."

"Tai, we could use more of your impossible ideas." Coco looked up to see the human looking around frantically. "Please tell me you have another one."

"Working on it." He tried scanning with his Digivice, hoping that this was some kind of trick of light and mirrors. Unfortunately, his 01 confirmed that the bodies were all physical.

There was a secret to this place. And if Tai couldn't figure out what this was...

Wait. Why did he hear screaming?

[?]

Meiko had known enough about horror movies to know that once she saw an evil spirit, she had to run away.

Well, more like she saw one horror movie as a kid and ran to her mother before crying the whole night until morning. Afterward, she swore to never see another horror movie again, even going as far as to avoid horror movie commercials.

In her defense, she would survive most horror movies by simply choosing not to mess with forces beyond her understanding.

Yet, it both helped and hindered her as she closed her eyes and bolted in the opposite direction of the thing she saw. Both Meicoomon and Lunamon yelled as they got dragged along by the teenager's strength.

Because of these things adding up together, none of the three noticed the area shifting around them from an office hallway to a church.

Meiko wasn't looking as she crashed into something.

"GAH!"

...That had an oddly familiar voice.

"What!?"

Meiko stirred. She knew she fell, but her landing was softer than she thought it would be. ... And was it her, or did the floor have a heartbeat?

"Tai, are you alright!?"

"Huh? Coco?"

"Lulu? LULU!"

"Hey! L-Let me go!"

"Who the heck are..."

"Who the heck are you!?"

The voices made Meiko shake her head and open her eyes.

It was then that she found out that she was on top of Tai Yagami's chest. (She knew he was toned, but wow. Does he have a six-pa—) And she got off him faster than either of them could realize.

"T-Tai!?" Meiko screamed as her voice started to flush.

The google-wearing teen pointed with equal amounts of shock. "It's you! ... Uh... who are you?"

Meiko knew they don't interact at all, but it still hurt to know he didn't know her. "W-We go to the same class? I sit two rows behind you?"

"You're my classmate!?" Tai's eyes widened as he bolted upward. "What are you doing here!?"

"ERHM!" Meiko knew things were weird. But there was no way she could explain the crowd of mirror creatures surrounding them. Despite none of them having a face, she could feel them all looking annoyed.

"I don't know how another human appeared, or how you found where I hid that rookie Digimon. But this doesn't change the fact that none of you are ever getting out of here!"

Tai moved back while holding an arm out to protect the new human. "Stay behind me, classmate!" The other four Digimon got into fighting positions.

"M-My name is..." Meiko did not get a chance to answer when she, and everyone else, heard a loud sound.

They all noticed the cracks beneath the six... that grew within a second before giving way and causing them to fall into the darkness.

[?]

Tai liked to think he could handle any Digimon with Zero's help, and to be honest he still thinks he can.

But the brunette had to admit that unless he could figure out Mercuremon's trick as to how he made so many copies of himself, he and Zero would have to give up their 100 percent victory shtick.

And there's no way he's losing to some punk.

That, and why was there another human here with him? His classmate of all people. Was she also into V-Pets?

The questions just keep coming.

Tai woke up to find himself and others in what looked like a field of flowers.

"Is everyone alright?" He asked as the others all gathered their bearings.

"Tai! Zero! Coco!" Lulu smiled as she saw the three. "You actually found your way here!"

"You gave me the book." Coco handed the satchel over to his sister. "I just followed the directions."

"Wait, so who are you two?" Zero turned to Meicoomon, who kept staring intensely at Coco.

"Oh, I met these two when I got thrown in here! These are Meicoomon and..."

"KYAAAAHHHHHH!" Meiko suddenly screamed, making everyone turn to the bespectacled girl.

Everyone suddenly got into another fighting stance when they saw why she was screaming: in front of her was another Mercuremon.

"Zero!" Tai got his Digivice ready before he took another look at the Mecuremon in front of them. "Wait!" This Mercuremon clone stood out from the others. For one, it was brown and rusted instead of the clean green the others were. The mirrors all across his body were fractured and some pieces were missing.

"What? But he's a Mercuremon!" Coco pointed.

"I...I think this one is different from the other Mercuremon." Tai moved his hand to calm the other Digimon.

"Thank you for stopping them." Tai noticed how kind the tone of this Mercuremon was compared to the ones that faced him. "I wouldn't have any power to even defeat a rookie as I am now. Let alone all those fractured versions of myself."

"Fractured?" Lulu tilted her head.

"Forgive me. I'm getting ahead of myself." The cracked clone motioned to himself. "You probably think my name is Mercuremon. It is not. Neither is it the names of those that attempted to contain you. My real name is AncientWisemon, and you are all trapped within my corpse."

{Author Notes}

Be me.

Decide to follow up on this story.

Realize it's been around 6 months since the last update.

Oops.

Anyway, welcome to chapter 2 of Metempsychosis! We meet the 2nd Digidestined: give a warm welcome to AU Meiko Mochizuki! I know she gets flake, and for good reason. But when planning this AU, I wanted a really bizarre team of Digidestined, and I saw potential with her.

But that's in spoiler territory. The first adventure our group faces is the mystery of the "Dome" or what was just revealed: the corpse of AncientWisemon.

I know what you're all thinking: what? Digimon can't die. They get recycled and don't leave corpses.

Well... in the normal Digital Worlds, yes. But the Digital Worlds have always been weird in their rules. I've always liked the idea that the Digital World is never the same place twice. And this is my take on that.

Sorry that I come back with a cliffhanger, but I think this story has a lot of fun potential.

Thanks for reading, and hope your day goes well!