Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. The concept of The Tamer v2.0: In His Name is a fanfiction idea. Please support the official properties.
The Tamer v2.0: In His Name
Chapter 48: Along Came Another
"Cleanup Crews and Disaster Response Teams continue working around the clock with the SDF as they clear rubble and continue looking for survivors. The latest reports from government officials estimate between 300 and 350 deaths, and upwards of 10,000 casualties. The public is calling the events as the Red Sea Bombing - named after the gelatinous red mass that appeared in the center of Shinjuku and the attempt to bomb it by a joint SDF-US task force. This leads to our next story, the Prime Minister and his cabinet are under public pressure to resign following leaked audio that confirmed the Prime Minister personally ordered-"
Yamaki turned the television off and reclined at his office desk. Because his organization was technically off the books, they'd be immune from a lot of the fallout of the leaked phone call. What he was worried about was the fallout over the Digimon and this whole 'Red Sea Bombing'. Hypnos had just established that it alone could not effectively contain a situation like this if it needed to, even after billions had been pumped in to it.
And if it happened again?
He shuddered to think about what would've happened if the others - the digidestined and the tamers - hadn't been around to help. He shuddered at just the thought of how high the casualties would've gotten.
He shuddered to think what would happen if they failed.
Of course that raised another question: what happened to the Digimon Tamer and Guilmon? They were the only ones left behind when they fired the Juggernaut. It would've been easy to assume that they were either killed or pulled into the other Digital World onboard Yggdrasil when it was shut off. But no one wanted to be the one to turn the computer on to find out what happened to them. Because the best case scenario was they were alive and in that computer somewhere. And the worst case scenario was they weren't. And in both, the D-Reaper was also alive and looking to continue its attack.
The way only way to be know for sure would be to turn Yggdrasil back on. And the last thing any one wanted to risk was that rogue program getting out again. One thing about their absence really stood out to Yamaki, though.
Out of all the people to have such a divisive 'death', he never expected it to be either that Tamer kid or his red dinosaur. Some of the digidestined and the tamers seemed almost relieved that he was gone, celebrating the fact that his absence meant the end of their problems. Others were uneasy, treating his absence with dread over the uncertainty of when either would be back and if they would be able to handle the situation on their own if they needed too. And then there was the last group - the ones who genuinely seemed to want him back.
The alleged sister who was probably twice his age.
The classmates who might not actually be his classmates.
And the digimon themselves.
He pushed these musings from his minds as he returned to his work. He had a lot to do if things were going to get back to normal. But the more he thought on that sentiment, the more he realized things may never go back to normal. Not after everything that had happened - the government trying to bomb the city, monsters from another world, and a growing distrust of leadership to look after the best interests of its people. And he was partially to blame for it since he leaked the phone call. If there was any upside to any of this, it was that the dissolution of the Hypnos Program meant the end of the Morpheus Project in Japan. Then all of this would be someone else's problem. He just hoped whoever inherited it was better able to handle the situation. Because if a well funded government organization with the best minds and the greatest thinkers couldn't do it, then who could?
Lopmon led the way for Xiaochun and her father, accompanied by the digidestined Takeru Takaishi, Hikari Kamiya, and their partners Patamon and Gatomon. The Digital World was so different from how she remembered it. And how could it not be after everything that happened? So many digimon had become displaced by being shifted into another version of their world. Many found that what were once bustling cities were now empty wastes. Others found that their favorite quiet places were now in the middle of occupied communities. And many found that the places they called home, the livelihoods that they had built for themselves, simply didn't exist in this version of the Digital World.
It seemed the Digital World had simply traded one problem for another. And the Sovereigns were busy trying to maintain to order to actually think of a way to solve the problem. Which was where they came. The digidestined wanted to see the Digital World…and they needed a guide who could help them understand the artificial digimon.
A term she quietly hated. What exactly was artificial about her? She was just as real as any other digimon. But for some reason, she wasn't allowed the honor of that distinction. She was just that…artificial. Fake.
"Hey! What's botherin' ya?" Gatomon asked, running up along side her with a curious look in her eye.
"Honestly? It's the whole artificial and natural thing. I don't like it…it makes me feel…unreal…like I'm less than what I am because I wasn't born in this version of the Digital World," Lopmon frowned.
"I mean…if it makes you feel any better, we weren't exactly born in the Digital World either," Gatomon explained to the little bunny, "We were made…to be weapons in a war…it's not like we had a choice there."
"Yes, I remember the stories," Lopmon responded quietly, "The Sovereigns all spoke very highly of you. How you defeated the Dark Masters, the monster from beyond, and so much more. Honestly, it just makes me feel more...fake. More like...I'm not real."
"The fact that you're feeling anything at all means that you are real," Patamon offered.
"To be honest, I wouldn't worry too much about stuff like that. If you do, you'll start sounding like the Digimon Tamer," Gatomon explained, "Besides, we've got a lot of stuff to deal with. And it'll be nice to have some help from new people."
"Okay," Lopmon nodded, stifling a small chuckle at how welcoming the digidestined's partners had been. At that moment, Xiaochun ran up behind her to pick her up and squeeze her.
"Aw! You're so cute, Lopmon! What's so funny? Will you tell me?" the little girl asked.
"Just digimon talk," Lopmon answered, struggling against Xiaochun's hold and trying to not push her away, "Uh...can you not squeeze so tight?"
"But you're so squishy and soft and I love you so much!" Xiaochun said excitedly.
"Well, that all seems pretty real from where I'm standing," Patamon laughed. It shouldn't have mattered, but hearing those words took a weight off of Lopmon's mind. She was real. There was no need to question it.
Henry walked down the street with Terriermon in his arms like a doll, trying his hardest to ignore the stares he was getting from the many people passing him on the street. The city was still busy recovering and rebuilding from the unexpected rampage of the D-Reaper. Thankfully, most of the roads and buildings were still intact, with the damage limited mostly to broken windows and wherever the military's misaimed weapons hit. But the lives lost were a completely different issue, one he was reminded of when he saw the many memorials and flowers left along the street.
On his way, he noticed Kazu and Kenta coming down the street from the opposite direction getting their own wide eyed stares. Kenta was doing something similar and held MarineAngemon in his arms like a doll. Kazu had chosen a different approach and walked with Guardromon just behind him. Any time someone stared, he insisted on them that Guardromon was just a friend in some really good cosplay but that would be like showing up dressed like a robber after a robbery. Henry tried his hardest to not be seen but it was too late was Kazu was him, "Hey! Henry!"
Henry cursed his luck and cracked a smile, "Uh, hey guys. Please tell me you didn't actually think the cosplay thing would work, right?"
"Kenta was getting on me about that earlier too. What's the big deal? They're buying it and it's a hell of a lot better than Tamerkato's box idea," Kazu said defensively.
Kenta just shook his head, "Speaking of which, any word from him?"
"Nothing. Where are you guys headed anyway?" Henry asked.
"Same as you, I bet. To see Juri," Kazu frowned, shifting uncomfortably as he added, "She hasn't really been the same since...well, all this happened. And she's one of us, y'know? We've gotta...make sure she's okay."
"It's because of all that destiny stuff she was talking about," Terriermon finally broke his silence until Henry covered his mouth. He really wished his partner hadn't done that in front of all these people. Thankfully, Kenta was quick to cover for him.
"You're getting better at ventriloquism, Henry. But your voice needs a little work," Kenta said rather loudly, earning more looks that Terriermon's talking had. Henry could only nod and mouth a thank you before they hurried on towards Juri's home.
Her family's home was connected to the bar her father ran, but it seemed they'd been closed since the D-Reaper attack. Her father was outside, busy sweeping the front of the store and his head turned when he noticed them there, "Oh…what do you kids want?"
"Just checking in on Juri and making sure she's okay after everything that happened," Kazu said with a big smile. Her father grunted his disapproval and went back to his sweeping, muttering under his breath about more unwanted guests.
He swept his broom a few more times before he finally sighed, "Juri is inside. Her real friends showed up earlier. Just keep it down and try not to bother her."
"We are her real friends," Kazu said until Kenta dragged him inside.
Despite his rough behavior, Henry still stopped to bow out of respect for her father before hurrying inside. After how he'd just acted, how could they respect him? Still, Henry couldn't help himself and bowed anyway.
Once inside, they found Juri sitting quietly on the couch surrounded by some of the other girls from their class. Her mother appeared holding a tray of drinks that she quickly handed out before noticing them too, "Oh…more of your friends are here, Juri."
Juri looked up briefly to nod before her head sank back down. Then one of her friends, a girl from their class named Minami, marched up to them, "What are you guys doing here?"
Kenta took a step back and threw up his hands defensively, "We just came by to make sure she was okay. Jeez, you don't got to bite our heads off over it! Her dad already did that."
In that moment where he let go of MarineAngemon, the little digimon started floating to catch himself...unfortunately it was in front of all the girls and every single one gasped in surprise. At least, they were gasping up until MarineAngemon smiled at them with his big pleading eyes and nervously said, "Uh…hi?
Henry expected the girls to all start panicking at once. Instead they just became excited at his presence, "OH MY GOSH! HE'S SO CUTE!"
"So those things were digimon!"
"Were all of you boys there?"
"I want to hug him!" one of the girls squealed as she grabbed MarineAngemon and squeezed him so tight that he looked ready to suffocate. Henry sighed while he felt Terriermon stiffen up in his arms. At least until one of the girls pointed at him, "So is that actually a Terriermon pretending to be a doll or is it just a doll?"
He knew where this was going and pulled away, "Yes, he really is a Terriermon and he doesn't want to be coddled. He got enough of that from my sister Xiaochun."
"HENRY! WHY!?" the little digimon panicked as he leapt out of his arms and crawled onto the back of his head to hide. Henry tried reaching for the bunny eared creature but Terriermon's grip was too tight, leaving him to wonder if he'd have to start claiming the rookie level digimon was actually a hat.
"You have a sister, Henry? I didn't know that!" one of the girls said.
"Yeah and Terriermon hates all the coddling he got from her. I had to sneak him to school a bunch of times to hide him," Henry admitted.
"So…no one wants to check out Guadromon?" Kazu knocked on the metal robot's chest proudly, "I mean, he is just the most awesome thing ever, right?"
His boasting went unnoticed by almost every single one of the girls, who were either too engrossed with MarineAngemon or Terriermon.
Which was just as well to hide his embarrassment when the machined asked remarked, "Kazu, I do not see how your approach to acquire the attention of the female will work if you are trying to market the quality of my appearance. By the standards of humans, I am not what could be considered cute."
"Cute? Who cares about cute? You're cool is what you are and…hey, wait a minute! What was all that about females?" Kazu grumbled out as what Guardromon said finally sank in.
Henry stifled a laugh while one of the girls finally spelled it out for him, "He says that if you're trying to impress us, you're doing it wrong."
"Why would I be trying to impress any of you? I'm just trying to show off how awesome Guardromon is!" Kazu retorted defensively.
"That's...that's what that means," Henry had to point out.
"If that's how you show off, I'd hate to see what you do when Guardromon isn't around," Rika's voice said from behind Henry. Henry jumped in surprise as he spun around to see Rika and Ryo standing behind him, Renamon and Monodramon just behind them. The arrival of more digimon had the girls in more awe, half at Renamon's beauty and half at how adorable Monodramon was. The fact that they were gushing over Monodramon just left Kazu more agitated.
Especially when Monodramon started growling. For some reason, the girls just laughed and mused at how cute he was being.
Ryo waved at them nervously as Rika made her way up to Kazu, pressing a finger into his chest, "And tell me you didn't just come here to show off."
"What!? What kinda guy do you think I am?" Kazu fired back.
"Guys! Guys! We're all friends here," Henry said, trying to stop things from escalating between them before they got any worse than they already were. Unfortunately for him, or rather Kazu, Rika didn't seem to be in the mood to place nice. It was just good that Ryo was there to pull her back before she threw a punch at him. The fact that two of them had arrived together wasn't lost on anyone.
Especially not Kenta, "So you two came together…do you two live close or-?"
"About two train stops away but I came to get her before we-" Ryo began to answer until Rika stomped on her foot. The others girls started laughing at them while Kazu and Kenta could only stare in disbelief.
You'd almost think they weren't in the battle of their lives against a horrifying monster that even the digimon were afraid of. For the briefest moment, it felt like they were normal kids.
He appreciated the normalcy, even if he knew it wasn't going to last. Nothing could go back to how it was after everything that just happened. Nothing could be normal again. At least, not the normal they were used to. And he cast a sideways glance at Juri who was just staring at her glass blankly, "Hey Juri. How are you feeling?"
Juri seemed to snap out of her trance and stared at them, "Huh? Oh…yeah…just…thinking."
"That doesn't answer my question. How are you feeling?" Henry asked the girl again.
She looked down at the glass, "I don't know. I don't know how I feel."
"Yeah, all of this was crazy," Minami said, "That monster, the army, the bomb, and everything else! Mom was saying they're not going to reopen the school for a while."
"I hope so. I want a break after everything that happened!" Kazu proclaimed with a sigh of relief.
"It's not about the school or any of that," Juri stated quietly, "It's because…a lot of things...but not any of that. When that thing was in my head, the D-Reaper or whatever, it…I could see everything it saw. I could hear everything it heard. I knew everything it thought. And it knew everything I thought. I've been thinking about it because…with everything going on and all the thoughts, I wasn't sure which thoughts were mine and which weren't. Even now that it's all over…part of me still isn't sure. There was so much anger…so much confusion…so much fear…"
"Heavy stuff," Kazu crossed his arms.
Kenta nodded in agreement, "I can get why you'd be afraid, Juri. Having a big monster like that in your head must be scary."
"But it wasn't just me…I think it was afraid too," she said.
"What are you guys talking about?" another of Juri's friends asked. Rika began ushering them off to the side, "I'll handle this. The rest of you…actually, just Henry. Fill me in later, okay?"
"What? Why Henry?" Ryo blurted out.
"Because Kazu's an idiot, Kenta will take forever, and I'm still mad at you," Rika glared, continuing to take the girls off to another part of the living room to talk to them.
While the girls were busy talking, Henry asked, "So...what is she mad about?"
Once again, Ryo waved his hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it. What were you saying about it being afraid, Juri?"
Juri rubbed her arm nervously, "It kept…thinking about an enemy that it needed to defeat…that was too powerful, even for it. It was the whole reason it had tried to take over the Digital World and attacked us. It was trying to become stronger. To get the power it needed to fight back."
"Wait, so there's something more powerful coming!?" Kazu jumped in surprise, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?"
"We barely defeated the D-Reaper even with The Digimon Tamer," Renamon remarked, breaking her characteristic stoicism as her voice shook, "Now you're saying there's something worse coming!?"
"I don't know," Juri shook her head, "I'm trying to make sense of it…but it's so confusing."
She paused again as she massaged her temple before shaking her head, "I'm sorry. I'm fine. Has anyone heard anything about Tak…Tamerkato or Guilmon?"
"Nothing. For all we know, they're still in that computer Henry's dad helped make. And no one wants to turn it back on if it means that THING will get back out," Kenta said anxiously.
That statement didn't put a smile on Juri's face who just frowned, "Wherever they are, I just hope they're okay."
As she said that, Henry noticed tears begin to drop from her eyes to her hands. She was upset. Of course she was upset. After everything that happened, Henry was surprised that the poor girl wasn't completely broken yet. But she wiped away the tears and stifled a sniffle, "Sorry. The last thing he asked was for me to have a good life. I need to remember that."
In another part of the Digital World, the Sovereign digimon Azulongmon traveled along side Imperialdramon ridden by ther human partners Davis and Ken. The Digital World seemed calm but the peace wasn't going to last. A lot of digimon were lost in the battle for the Digital World - friends and family gone forever to that red thing. But other issues were beginning to appear that they couldn't have foreseen. The revelation that some digimon were artificial or 'not real' sparked anger among some of the digimon who saw them as cheap imitations.
But that wasn't what brought any of them to this part of the Digital World. What really brought them here was a surge of energy that none of them had ever felt before. And when they followed it, they came across a vast and open grassy plain that would've been normal if it wasn't for the cracks appearing on the ground as if something were trying to escape. Davis was the first one to point it out, "THERE!"
"I really hope that's not what it looks like. The last thing we need is for that D-Reaper to have followed us," Imperialdramon groaned.
"Tamer's plan should've worked. There's no way that thing is here," Ken pointed out.
"If it did follow us, we need to strike it down now before it gets out of hand," Azulongmon declared as he encircled it in the air, "There's nowhere else for us to run."
"Yeah…I was just hoping we wouldn't have to fight for our lives again after we just barely won the last time!" Davis grumbled.
The ground began to break away, splitting like glass and ripping apart as a great blast of red light shot out of the ground. But it wasn't the D-Reaper that came out. Or maybe it was and it was just taking a different form. A creature that looked like a goat standing on its hind legs with black leathery wings growing from its back. It rose up and shook its head, raising up one hand to shield its eyes from what must've been the first bit of daylight it had seen in a while, "Ah…so bright. I forgot what the sun looked like…or how it felt to bask in its warm glow."
They watched as the new digimon spread out its arms and closed its eyes, bathing in the light of the sun. This wasn't what they were expecting to find at all. They were waiting to battle against the D-Reaper. Not a flying goat. Once its finally lowered its arms and opened its eyes, it took notice of them and asked, "So where…Ah! Azulongmon…you've gotten older. And that's…Imperialdramon? Why are you flying around like that? Did you get tired of two legs or…? Wait, what are those on your back?"
"Hey! We're not a what! I'm Davis!" Davis protested angrily.
"Ever the diplomat, Davis," Ken sighed.
"Humans…in the Digital World? We have fallen on hard times, haven't we Azulongmon?" the goat grumbled.
"Mephistomon," Azulongmon identified the creature, "How are you here? You were banished! This shouldn't even be possible."
"Many things are possible, Azulongmon. You should know that better than anyone. After all we've seen and all we've been through," the digimon called Mephistomon replied.
Ken didn't like being left out of the conversation like this and grumbled, "Is anyone going to tell us what's going on? Who is this guy, Azulongmon?"
"Oh please, do introduce me to these plebeians so they can scream my name in terror as I disembowel them, Azulongmon," Mephistomon cackled with a roll of his hand and a sing song voice. Azulongmon grumbled, "This is Mephistomon. One of the digimon who turned to darkness during the Great War. But he was supposed to have been banished outside reality."
"Is THAT what they told you?" Mephistomon howled with laughter, "Outside reality? No. We were buried, deep beneath the Digital World with that…beast containing us for so long. But then it vanished. And there was nothing to stop our glorious ascent to freedom!"
Mephistomon raised his fist to the air with a cheer as he declared that but paused, "But I have some time to chat before the rest of us arrive. Catch me up on current events, will you? What's the current state of the war?"
"Over," Azulongmon answered briefly.
"Oh? Who won?" Mephistomon asked.
"No one won. We all lost," was Azulongmon's answer.
"I see. And the Digital Agents? Oh sorry! Guardians of Destiny! Or is it Precursors? Fore-bearers? They really had too many names," Mephistomon grumbled dryly, "Which they gave themselves. Really pretentious if you ask me."
"Dead. They're all dead," Azulongmon answered, pausing before he quickly corrected, "Well, except for one. The one you fear."
"Oh? Is The Digimon Tamer still around and kicking? I would've thought he and that Agumon would've gotten themselves killed by now. So where are they?" Mephistomon asked, his tone shifting from glee to concern. Azulongmon hesitated to answer and it didn't take a genius to see why. Just the mention of the Tamer's name was enough to make Mephistomon nervous. But even Azulongmon seemed nervous to challenge this goat creature. Thankfully, Davis' mouth ran a lot quicker than any of their brains could.
"Don't worry about Tamer! You worry about us kicking your ass up and down the Digital World!" Davis roared proudly. That only made the goat creature laugh in amusement, "Oh you poor, deluded human. You have no idea who you're fucking with, do you?"
"A flying goat in desperate need of eye drops," Davis answered.
"Davis…please…just stop," Ken shook his head.
Mephistomon paused at the insult, seemingly alarmed that someone he considered so far beneath him could be so quick with words. On the other hand, they were not very good words. That was the best insult he could come up with? This would be a lot easier than he thought. Mephistomon grumbled, "Okay, y'know what? Dropping the formalities! Imma just kill you now."
"POSITRON LASER!" Imperialdramon roared, firing the cannon on his back at Mephistomon. The beam normally fired at the speed of light, but Mephistomon moved out of the way in time to not only avoid it but also close the gap between them.
The demon laughed at them for their efforts, "Nice effort. Well done. Shame it won't save you."
He flicked the dragon in the forehead with his finger and sent them rocketing through the sky. Ken and Davis held on for dear life as Imperialdramon tried to straighten himself out in the air, leaving Azulongmon alone with the goat demon. Beams of light shot across the sky as the two god like digimon tried to strike the other down.
And then…there was a flash of light as Mephistomon ascended, "You think you can just kill me after I just got out? Hell no! I'm free! And I'm going to go see the rest of reality for myself. What worlds did and didn't survive the war. I want to see it all…so that he may know the domain he rules over now."
"What the hell is he talking about!?" Ken shouted at the top of his lungs as Imperialdramon was finally able to steady himself in the sky. Whatever it was, they never found out. Somehow, without a digivice, Mephistomon was able to force open a hole in the sky the same way a Digital Gate would open to another world. Azulongmon tried to stop him from going through but the newly freed digimon was too fast, and Azulongmon was too tired from their battle against the D-Reaper.
The gate he'd forced open slammed shut behind him.
"Okay, who the hell was that and what the hell was he talking about?" Davis asked.
"I really hoped you never had to find out," Azulongmon answered.
"Tell us later. Digiport OPEN!" Ken said, raising up his digivice. But nothing happened. No signal. No gate. Nothing.
"Nothing's happening," Davis said.
"I noticed!" Ken snarked back.
"Here. DIGIPORT OPEN!" Davis held up his digivice as well, only for nothing to happen. Davis started waving his digivice in the air and shaking it, "Why isn't it working!?"
"Guys…I think we're stuck," Imperialdramon answered.
Juri jumped in surprise as every single one of their digivices went off at the same time - even her broken yellow D-Arc started beeping, bringing everyone back into the room. Her friends, her mother, and Rika. Rika was the first one to speak, "What's happening?"
"No idea! But I want it to stop!" MarineAngemon whined as he covered his tiny ears.
"It can't be another digimon, can it?" Henry grumbled, dreading the idea of more stray digimon coming to the Digital World after everything they'd gone through.
"I thought we were done with all that!" Terriermon groaned.
"It was happening before the D-Reaper. There's no reason to think it can't happen after the D-Reaper," Renamon stated the obvious. Yes, because this is what they needed right now. To face more digimon out to kill them.
Juri looked down at her digivice as an image loaded onto the screen. An image of something that looked like a cross between a demon and a goat, "I've never heard of this digimon before."
"There's not even a name on the digivice. All it's telling us is…south west. What the hell is south west of us?" Kazu said.
"I don't know but we better bet get going," Henry announced, turning back towards the door, "Sorry to leave so quickly, Juri. We'll come back after this is over."
She wasn't needed. Without a digimon partner, what good was she? They knew that. And part of her agreed. The other part stood up and shook her head, "I"m coming, too."
"What? Juri!" Minami gasped, "Well…if you're going, then so am I!"
"Me too!"
"Me three!"
"Guys! I know you want to come along but this is dangerous. We've all gotten hurt before. We've all seen-," Rika paused before mentioning death but Juri knew where she was going. When she finally was able to talk again, it was just to say, "I just don't think it's a good idea for you guys to come along."
"Oh come on! You're letting Juri go!" Minami complained.
"Juri has a lot of experience and she's done this with us before. If anything, Kazu and Kenta are the ones who shouldn't come since they're newbies compared to her," Terriermon snickered.
"Very funny, Terriermon," Kazu leaned in angrily, "And what do you think Juri's going to do since she doesn't have a-"
He caught himself just before he finished the sentence but it was too late. Juri heard him and knew what he wanted to say. And he was right. What could she do without a partner? What could she do at all? Of course, that didn't stop Rika from smacking the back side of his head.
"She definitely won't screw up as bad as you just did," Terriermon answered matter of factly. Juri wasn't going to lie. That did make her feel a little better. But she knew Kazu had a point. It was useless. She nodded, "It's fine. You guys go ahead. Tell me how it went when you get back."
"Juri, are you sure?" Rika asked. She was trying to include her. But what was the point?
"I'll be fine," Juri said, "You guys go ahead."
Henry and the others returned several hours later to Juri's home late into the night. It was dark when they came back and a day's search produced nothing. They must've gone all the way to the southern edge of the city and the D-Arc said to keep going. And instead, they found nothing. In fact, they were convinced that their digivices were broken now.
At least, that's what they thought until they saw the familiar unmarked white van sitting just outside her home. And inside, they found none other than Yamaki sitting in the living room patiently while Juri's father sat angrily opposite him in the living room. Yamaki waved upon seeing them and smiled, "Good to see you kids, again."
"Would've been nice to not see you again for a while," Rika remarked upon seeing them
"Let me guess. Your world is in trouble again isn't it?" Renamon asked.
Yamaki nodded, "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You kids...your...things went off too, didn't they? Alerted you to the...digimon, escaping to our world?"
Ryo crossed his arms, "We were running after it all day. What would you know about it?"
Yamaki massaged his temple, "I know it didn't emerge here in Tokyo. It bio-emerged in Okinawa."
"OKINAWA!?" Ryo jumped up in surprise.
"All the way over there?" Rika groaned.
"Why are you all panicking. How far is this Okinawa?" Renamon asked.
"964 miles," Yamaki answered, "Hypnos has been shut down and what resources we have left are...limited. But we can still arrange for transportation by plane. After that, you're on your own."
"Some help you guys are," Ryo grunted with his crossed arms.
"If it means that much to you, you can have my gun," Yamaki said as he produced the weapon from his coat, "Not that you'll find it very useful. I have no bullets."
"No weapons in my household, dammit!" Juri's father snapped angrily at Yamaki. The government agent smirked at him and reclined in his seat. After a moment's silence, Ryo asked, "How soon can we go?"
"As soon as you're ready," Yamaki answered.
"Okay…but why not those adults from before? The ones who were they to help out too?" her father demanded, "Dammit, we just got Juri back! I'm not letting her go off into-"
"Oh they'll definitely be joining. Well, some of them." Yamaki explained, "But there's a complication: Ishida is still recovering and his wife refuses to leave his side, one's a doctor so his hands are busy, another is a lawyer off helping with…legal issues I'm not going to try to wrap my head around. And the others are currently trapped in the Digital World."
That last part was met with a hail of surprise.
"What?"
"How?"
"Hang on, Xiaochun and Lopmon went there with dad earlier today! Does that mean?" Henry blurted out.
Yamaki raised up his hands to calm them down, "Yes. They've been trying to reopen the gate for a while but whatever's happening has kept them locked there. We're just at a loss for it as you are and we've got what's left of our team working on it now. But we don't have the funds we used to and a lot of people quit after last time."
"So it's not just us saving our world. It's saving everyone trapped in the Digital World," He day remarked.
"That's right," Yamaki nodded. Henry wished they would stop getting dragged into these messes. It was just supposed to be a digimon but it seemed now his family was in danger again. It was like a really sick and twisted pattern.
Author's Notes: Just as one threat is defeated another appears! Will they be able to stop this new threat? Who is Mephistomon working for? What are his plans for the human world? And why are the others now stuck in the Digital World? Find out all this and more in the next chapter of The Tamer v2.0 - In His Name, due out in three weeks on Friday September 11th at 8 PM CDT. Sorry for the delay in this but the pandemic is keeping me very busy at work and we're expecting a surge as some schools are reopening. If you loved it, let me know in the reviews section. Don't forget to favorite to show support and follow to keep up with the latest updates. That's all for now, let's look at previews for the next chapter:
"You don't want to play with them, Juri?" Calumon asked sweetly, "I bet it's a lot of fun! Look at them! Don't you want to join in?"
"I do. But I kind of want to be alone right now," she answered quietly.
"It's okay, Juri. Take as much time as you need," Ryo assured her, "We're here for you. We all are."
Juri gave them something like a smile. At the very least, she was less sullen now. She wasn't as carefree as she used to be, but this was a step in the right direction. And something was better than nothing when it came to her.