I do not own Digimon Tamers or any other property referenced in the story. Digimon belongs to Bandai and Toei respectfully.
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Fifteen years, Takato had a hard time believing it had been fifteen years since D-Reaper. He walked through the Shinjuku Central Park where he spent many years of his youth. He saw the old hideout, a tear came down Takato's cheek. He missed that red goofball. It had been five years since Guilmon was sent back to the Digital World by Janyu after the Digimon returned.
He was now working as an assistant to a manga artist, Takato was an inker. He still had the mop of hair he had most of his life. He was wearing a pair of tan slacks, a t-shirt, and a blazer. He had his goggles around his neck.
Takato thought of his family and friends. In fifteen years things had changed, some hadn't.
His parents still ran the bakery in Shinjuku, though the bakery may be moved due to a proposed skyscraper. His parents were fighting it. But both the city, the people who want the building, and a major construction firm were pushing hard. But his parents were doing well thanks to a popular tourist program stopping by, as was Rika's fans.
Henry was working with Hypnos, Henry and his father had a falling out after sending their Digimon back to the Digital world a second time. Henry got his father fired from Hypnos. Henry was enraged with his father and had taken steps to get Janyu arrested and put into home arrest far from Tokyo. Henry was hurt the most by his father's actions. He was in a deep depression after Janyu forced the Digimon away for a second time.
Suzie and Henry were still close, living in the same apartment. Suzie was apart of a lower-ranked J-Pop group that was undergoing some drama. Suzie had dyed her hair black to fit the role of the goth chick in the J-pop group. She didn't mind it as she was allowed to be bubbly. Her bubbly personality hid her hurt at Lopmon being returned to the digital world. Suzie was hurt just as hard as Henry.
Rika was ironically a part-time model, though it was for her brand of Motocross wear. Some of the pictures were rather raunchy. Her relationship with her mother improved. The pictures she took were more showing off her line of activewear. What was making her brand so popular? It was functional pockets on women's pants. It was a major selling point in advertising. Takato tried to meet with Rika but she was so busy with Motocross, modeling, and spending time with her family that she hadn't seen Takato in some time. It took Takato some time to get used to seeing Rika without her trademark pineapple hairstyle, she now had a pixie faux-hawk haircut, it fit better in the motocross helmet. After Renamon was spirited away, Rika had started drinking more and when Takato last saw her she was smoking outside of the restaurant they were meeting at.
Kenta was working as an accountant at a huge bank. Takato saw him now and again but Kenta was often traveling to various bank branches all over Japan. Who would expect Kenta in a suit, now on the verge of climbing to the middle of the corporate ladder? The last few lunches involved Kenta texting his office every two minutes and then leaving early. Kenta put himself into his work right after MarineAngemon was spirited away.
Kazu was a mechanical engineer, he made robots. Takato saw him often. Kazu was also a weightlifter and MMA wannabe. But Kazu was still a good friend. They talked when they met and Kazu would show off his bruises. Kazu almost always wore a hat that said, "When in doubt: Dab." Kazu took his Digimon disappearing hard, Kazu wrecked a project of his after the disappearance of Guardromon.
Ai and Mako were Freshmen at college, they still lived together, a colossal mistake. Ai was an aspiring computer science major and Mako was going to go into engineering. The two kids were close to Henry (Ai) and Kazu (Mako). Impmon being returned to the Digital world made the kids, 14 at the time, weeping and bawling openly after what Janyu did, Takato agreed with the twins, they punched Janyu in the groin when the Tamers confronted him.
Then there was Jeri, he had after some time got the nerve up to ask her for a date and after some time they began dating. Takato and Jeri lived together in an apartment block near Shinjuku station. It wasn't super big, but it was expensive. But Jeri was a kindergarten teacher at an elementary school. Jeri made Takato smile and he made her laugh. She helped Takato the most after the disappearance of his buddy.
Ryo… Takato hadn't heard a thing about him since four years ago.
As he walked by, Takato saw a busker getting harassed by police officers. Takato thought of the world since D-Reaper.
The D-Reaper crisis had come close to nearly wiped out mankind. The world united briefly after that but mankind once again went back to fighting amongst themselves. It only took six months before terrorists attacked America and England. The economic ripples from the D-Reaper Crisis caused a massive recession which caused many incumbent governments to be replaced in elections, though less democratic governments still had internal problems that they solved with force. China had problems in Hong Kong and its Muslim minority and tried and failed to put both down. Russia had problems in Chechnya, and the Ukrainians and Georgians were wanting to join the EU. Iran had pro-democracy protesters as did Saudi Arabia. But many countries put down protests.
The world was heading towards disaster again. It never ceased to amaze Takato that human nature was inclined towards self-destructive nationalistic attitudes at times.
In the last American Presidential election, a narrow minority of states elected their new nationalistic conservative pro-business hypocrite, which replaced their liberal progressive pro-business hypocrite. The new American President was buddies with the Russian President from the American President's time as an oil company CEO who also was heavily into real-estate. That same President was in a trade fight with China. Also due to some shady deals with people in Central Asia and trying to shake down a country's leadership, the American President was being impeached by congress. Takato didn't care for what laws that idiot broke.
China's new president saw himself as the next Mao. He was showing off how strong China was with military might, economic might, and cyberattacks. Yamaki told Takato, he hated how good China had gotten at the attacks. Yamaki had to give China some respect in their modernization.
North Korea, Iran, and Brazil had nuclear weapons with Argentina, Chile, Saudi Arabia and others in the race. North Korea was ruled by a thirty-something dictator, who was fond of eliminating rivals with anti-aircraft machine guns in a stadium for all to see. Brazil's New President barely had the job for a year and was already being investigated for corruption.
Europe was dealing with near-weekly anti-EU protests. The government of France had problems with daily protests by farmers, factory workers and now it sounded like the police would join in the protests. It did not help the French President was being accused of corruption, favorite her billionaire friends got sweet deals the farmers and poor hated that. Germany was seeing the rise of the far-right in new quasi-fascist parties. Poland, Hungary, and Romania were seeing quasi-racist parties either increasing in power or power. Italy, Spain, and Portugal kept electing hung parliaments.
The UK was having a snap election that experts were saying would result in a hung parliament. The newest Prime Minister was a scheming brutish man that succeeded because he was the least incompetent in his party and the opposition was wracked with scandal and somehow more stupidity. The Queen was still loved thoroughly but she was in her nineties.
Australia didn't bother with elections to change leaders, more often they just changed prime ministers in party leadership contests every six months. Takato remembered Fat PM, Bald PM, surfer PM, Lady PM, different fat guy PM, and Aborigine PM. It also seemed like they were either tied to white nationalism, the Chinese and for one Prime Minister, both!
Mexico was in the middle of a war with Drug Cartels and they had just arrested a former president for helping drug cartels. It looked bad as the current Mexican Government was fighting with the troubled American President. It was not helped with the two presidents hating one another due to both being stubborn old men.
Canada was odd in Takato's mind from what he knew they had an election recently. Despite the current PM being the daughter of a former Prime Minister. She was mired in scandal. Apparently, she took trips to a resort owned by a rich friend, broke ethics rules in a trial, and was very fond of blackface. She celebrated Black Peter in Montreal, it was met with confusion.
Globally, terrorism was a major issue; it seemed like mass shootings in America, bombs in the Middle East, and knife and vehicle attacks in Europe were becoming a three-time a week thing. Terrorists were busy figuring out new ways to kill other people every day.
Japan had problems too. Japan for over ten years now has been under the same Prime Minister, and he was a militant nationalist, he believed in giving the country a proper military. Even in Japan, violence was up. The Yakuza were now fighting with Korean and Filipino gangs. Motorcycle gangs were a terror in parts of the country. The Yakuza had the problem of like the rest of the country a population growing old, harder to be as effective a gangster in your seventies or older. Even the wonderful Japanese Police were found being brutal. Japan was putting the best foot forward for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and the homeless had to be routed from Tokyo and Kanto by hook or by crook. And Jeri telling Takato police were not doing as much as they should for sexual assaults.
Nature still made disasters like typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, and so forth. Nature didn't care about the affairs of man. A massive earthquake hit off of Indonesia less than a year after D-Reaper, it made a tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands. Louisiana was hit by a Category 4 Hurricane two years after D-Reaper. The one most vivid in Takato's mind was the super-typhoon that hit Japan the year prior, it spawned tornadoes in and near Tokyo. Also in the last year, New York was slammed by two hurricanes, California and Australia was on fire, the oceans were rising, and concerns about several volcanoes were big on the news. And despite the Japanese best efforts, Takato and others had to deal with smog. Climate scientists crunched the numbers and determined D-Reaper helped increase the severity of global climate change.
But natural disasters and D-Reaper had put more impetus on started governments and private industry looking at alternative energy. More fuel-efficient cars, nuclear power was being experimented with to create safer reactors, wind and solar power that produced more energy, better batteries, and more things Takato saw on his Friendczar newsfeed.
At least technology had advanced in fifteen years. It seemed like a few generations were skipped by technology. The biggest scientific news was by next year three manned missions to the moon were going to happen or were planned to occur, one American, one Chinese, and one private. Holograms, Powerful computers, WiFi everywhere, and other things Takato would not understand. His D-Ark was still far more advanced than his cell phone.
Takato had to admit, he missed his youth. He missed the days where the biggest worries were hiding Guilmon and getting home without getting into trouble with his parents. Now he had deadlines, bills, insurance, the apartment complex online forum which complained about him and Jeri being too loud, having to go to a love hotel for sex so the neighbors didn't complain, and politics.
God, he could not escape politics, could he? Walking down the street he saw newspapers saying how wonderful the governing party was at one newsagent and another he saw a vendor saying how bad it is. Further down the street, he saw a far-right-wing sound truck, Takato laughed it was at a traffic light and next to it was a communist sound truck. At least it was not election vans, with a candidate on top declaring how great their party was and how horrible the other was.
Takato passed a car with a prop energy drink can on top of it. He drank far too many of those things as a manga inker. They often gave him rotgut, they were not good for him.
Takato wished things were easier for him, he wished he and Jeri could be with their Digimon again. Takato missed his buddy Guilmon. He sometimes looked out the small balcony with Jeri. They had and wished to be with their partners.
As Takato walked his Golden-ringed D-Ark beeped. Its battery was getting low. It had an older style beep that his newer Pineapple phone didn't have. Then again the device while far more advanced than anything that Pineapple and Foxxon made, the D-Ark was old, it was not like he could get parts for it from a local electronics hobby shop. At least the charger was a USB port, Takato worried someday he would never be able to charge it again.
The typical sounds of the city were ever-present. Takato heard police and fire department sirens, traffic, jet planes, trains in the distance, jingles from stores, and the cacophony of urban sounds.
He entered the apartment building and got on the elevator, people could hear the muzak. Takato got off the elevator and opened his door. Takato took off his shoes and Jeri was there exhausted, half-asleep on the table, he realized it was Saturday, a half-day for school. Takato was tired after doing several days of catch up for Hirata's manga before he went on a break, at least he was going to get time with Jeri.
Takato was ahead on his inking for now so they could be together. Takato let Jeri be asleep and walked to his drawing-room. The drawing-room was small but it served the purpose he needed. He would digitally ink each page typically but today he went to the old drawing board.
Takato doodles some ideas he had for his potential manga but the higher-ups said he was not a new voice and the company was still recovering from a financial scandal. When they had to ask an old popular favorite artist of the company to help bail them out because of the old company president's foolish ideas. Now they were too worried to take a gamble.
Takato plugged in the D-Ark into the old Antares Arcadia Q Arts computer. It was not the newest machine but Takato could not afford the top art graphics computer for manga coloring and digital inking. Shibumi and Janyu made the cables to connect the D-ark's to regular computers for all the Tamers.
The drawing had Takato's full attention. He was sketching ideas, his D-Ark flickered to life as it charged.
However, the computer was open to a fatal weakness as the Antares software had been breached by a group of hackers from a Troll Farm in Foshan, China. Some of the hackers look through code that interests them or their bosses, many of the hackers work off the books for Chinese state security. Their main employer was a shell company set up by Chinese Triads. This group was authorized to conduct cyber warfare by the Chinese government. The group's primary purpose was industrial espionage.
One hacker: their most popular nom de guerre Nyan-Nyan 1993, was delving into the Antares Systems in Japanese Antares computers. Antares computers were very popular in Japan for businesses. Many companies and employees bought the Antares because of how liked it was in Japanese circles. Antares was aware of the hack but they had yet to act.
Nyan-Nyan was happy to hack Antares systems by "updating" or "installing" a photo-shop and art tool known as Antares Art Editor Celas. But Nyan-Nyan put a trojan virus in the program that would look through the system for what they wanted. The virus was designed to locate and find passwords, bank information, and access to more secure systems.
As Nyan-Nyan hacked this particular computer they were amazed at the vast packets of data an art PC would have. Where was all this coming from? Sure Art PCs had a lot of information but usually, it was not of the greatest use to Chinese companies. The data could fill the cheap little supercomputer they made here of gaming system blades, a move they copied from the American military. These machines were able to do the job of a dedicated supercomputer and they could take it apart easily.
Whatever the file Nyan-Nyan had found they were using data from the machines and quickly taking up space from the smaller backup unit. Nyan-Nyan had to upload Antares data to be accepted by the D-Ark.
Unknown to Takato or Nyan-Nyan, Shibumi had based the software of the D-Ark on an old line of code from a company called Redfield Electronics. Antares bought Redfield Electronics 16 years ago. Redfield Electronics had the first portable computer at a lightweight, 27 pounds. Shibumi liked their software more than FACADE or Pineapple, the only other software coding Shibumi used was Finux.
Takato was unaware of the programming that was going on with the D-Ark as the hacker was extremely curious about what they had found. The hacker had no idea what they had found but their bosses would be intrigued. This had to be something. The sheer volume of data meant it was something.
However, the D-Ark was magical. It defied the laws of physics it could hold many many times the data that current cell phones could, you could see from your Digimon's POV, get up to the second data on Digimon in the area, know when one was coming into the real world. Nyan-Nyan was hacking something that they didn't understand. This would change the world and they viewed it as something that would give them the praise of their bosses. Hacking the device had unintended consequences for not only Takato's device but all D-Arks. The other devices viewed this as an update. They just beeped and accepted the new data as if they got an update. They were still machines, very complicated but still machines that would see the coding as they were designed.
The coding became a bizarre chimera that unearthed coding that never was leftover from previous versions that Shibumi didn't send out into the real world. Shibumi was like many developers, had used beta and alpha designs in early iterations of the design before the final product. The new codes were twisting and almost dancing in the D-Ark making something new, alien. What these codes could do was near limitless and thanks to Biomerge Digivolution it could affect Tamers, other humans, perhaps reality itself. It had limitless potential
Shibumi was aware of hacking and what it could be even back in the 1980s. However, the tactics of the second decade of the 21st century would be alien to him. Troll Farms, massive government data facilities, using social media to manipulate people, bots, and more? Even genius could not tell where reality would go. Nyan-Nyan's actions would have a far-reaching effect, more than just some guy that was just stealing account information, patent information, or bank account numbers. They did something that could cause problems with reality. Though for Nyan-Nyan, they were just looking for a way to get paid.
The D-Ark went ahead with the changes and beeped a little. Takato was listening to music as it happened. He looked at the clock on the computer and saw it was one in the morning.
Takato shambled into bed, after a night of drawing and snuggled with Jeri, "Tomorrow we go to the park." Takato groggily told Jeri. She grumbled.
The Next Morning, Takato woke up with Jeri, Takato and Jeri had been spooning. Takato felt Jeri leave and he heard the TV in the kitchenette and dining room turn on. Takato was still tired, he took longer to wake up.
It was news from Minato TV News. "Last night, North Korea fired an ICBM over Honshu and the missile landed in the Pacific. The JADF was on alert but the missile showed no path of attack. Foreign Minister Hideki Akasaka called the move a deliberately provocative militant move by North Korean Dictator Choi Ha-guk. Prime Minister Okouchi has put one of our new aircraft carriers into the Sea of Japan along with three air defense destroyers. Civil defense authorities are urging people to remain calm. The North Korean government stated the missile had no offensive warhead, just a weight for a future satellite payload. American President Hollis Doyle told the press he is disappointed in Choi. 'Choi is a mad dog, you only deal with mad dogs by putting them down. If any missile hits an American ally or American territory, the United States will respond in kind.' Prime Minister Okouchi has put the JDF on full alert status."
"In Tokyo, 'The Closet Money gang' a gang of thieves stealing money people hide in their homes has struck a record twenty homes in one day, including the homes of several senior prefectural government members, Tokyo Governor Ken Kozuka, Deputy Governor Takeshita Kawamata, Deputy Governor Taro Tahara, and the Superintendent-General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Yoichiro Onchi. As usual, the police are saying little but sources claim the gang leaves no trace of evidence as to who they are. The gang is believed to have made off with 200 million yen."
"The American Congress is getting ready for a full floor vote of Impeachment against President Hollis Doyle. President Doyle is being impeached due to his attempts to hold security money and training to Georgian and Azeri Governments in exchange for information on Skip Hammond, son of political rival and former American Vice President, Alvin Hammond. House Speaker Jackie Sharp stated when the House of Representatives impeaches the President, she wants the senate, controlled by Senator Henry Mitchell of the President's party, to ensure a fair trial. The President is expected to survive the impeachment trial but it has gravely hurt his poll numbers in the upcoming election. A recent ATN News poll put 51% of Americans say the president should resign due to the Georgia-Azerbaijan Tit-for-Tat Affair. President Doyle on 1KWordsworth called Sharp 'Ugly and vindictive,' before claiming he is the victim of a witch-hunt."
"Also in American politics, the American Presidential election is heating up, the opposition party has narrowed the field of candidates from fifteen candidates down to three candidates. Senator Gil Eavis of Pennsylvania is leading in primary victories and polling, Senator Eavis is followed by Minnesota Governor Danny Cheung and Illinois Senator Rosalyn DuPeche. Senator Eavis is the likely nominee for his party and a GNN poll puts his electability very high. Eavis promises reforms that many establishment politicians in his party opposed but the party's young voters and many more liberal voters support. This includes higher taxes on the 1%, a re-evaluation of military programs, eliminating student loans, strengthening laws in favor of unions, health care, and increasing education spending."
Jeri turned the TV off, she heard Takato grumble as he came into the room, Jeri knew Takato was upset with The political stories.
Takato lumbered into the dining room and yawned. "Mornin' makin' noodles?"
"Yup." She smooched Takato on the cheek. "Thanks." Takato smiled at her.
They ate their breakfast and Takato went to his studio and picked up the D-Ark. he noticed on the screen. "Software update?" Takato tapped the device and looked at it closely.
'New software updated at 01:47 AM.' That was odd he hadn't seen a software update in years.
Takato activated the D-Ark and brought up the holographic interface. He saw the usual things there; settings saved slashed cards, history, and other functions. But he saw something new. It was an edit function.
"Edit function? What the hell is this?" asked Takato to his Digivice. He opened it up and began to fiddle with it. As he did a cartoon paintbrush appeared. 'Hi, I am Eddie! The editing helper. Do you need some help with the editor function?' Takato was not happy, did he break the D-Ark like he had broken a computer so bad one time it was bricked and then caught fire. Henry still didn't know how he did that.
The Tamer typed on the holographic interface. 'What is Editor?' Eddie blinked and made a smile with its eyes. 'Editor is a simple art and editing program that allows the user to alter a subject within certain parameters. You can edit through text descriptions of what you wish to edit, sliders, and uploading pictures and altering them through the editing brush tool, the voice controls are not optional at the moment. You can save edited choices and have files ready at a moment's notice. '
Takato arched his eyebrow, "Yeah right. That's ridiculous! This is a joke." Takato didn't believe this app was a real thing, it was far too fantastic. 'So I could give myself Guilmon ears?' he scoffed.
'Yes.' Eddie smiled on the holographic display. 'You can change parts of your body, your mind, gender, and other things.' The cartoon brush image had a happy look in its eyes. Takato didn't believe this garbage, Henry had to have played a prank. No way was this a real thing. The mid-twenties man smirked, 'Alright, how do I do this?' Takato typed in how to use the editor app.
'To alter the person, such as yourself or another selected person, please enter the person's name and how you wish to alter them. This can be via text, photo alteration, art describing the changes, or other methods.' Takato grumbled at the tool as it explained the changes that could occur.
'Once done click OK and the editor tool will get to work.' The cartoon smiled. 'Please select your first subject and watch what happens!' Takato smirked, "Yeah right. This will just alter an image or give me something pre-loaded in the files or some nonsense like that."
Takato decided to humor himself and he smiled. "Alright Editor, let's try and see what the gimmick is." Takato wanted to see if this would change his picture and decided to try it on something obvious.
Takato entered himself as the subject and saw there were options of areas to alter, with the text option he picked his ears, he wrote, 'Guilmon's batwing ears.' He then hit okay.
He huffed, the cursor became a spinning beachball that had the word 'Processing' over the wheel. Takato began to clean his area. He felt the whole editor thing was a virus he'd have to have Henry purge from the D-Ark. His ears felt warm but he didn't think about it.
As Takato cleaned the studio his ears turned red and then began to rise from his head they began to gain the distinct shape of batwings they were beginning to gain width as they got near the top of his skull. They flapped out and Takato felt warmth in them.
"Alright" Takato went to leave the studio. He walked out by Jeri. She was not looking at him, she was looking at bills, as Takato went to the bedroom his ears twitched.
When in the bedroom Takato looked into the mirror of the bedroom and for a second nothing registered in his mind, he was tired. Then he blinked, wait… what?
Takato touched the ears, his eyes went wide. He could feel his fingers touching the scaly red bat-wing ears. "This can't be real… this is impossible." Takato's jaw practically hit the floor.
Takato had to figure out a way to fix this. How could he undo it? An idea popped into his head. He opened the D-Ark and looked at the editor. He looked for an undo function.
'Would you like to undo the recent edit to Takato_Matsuki? Y/N?' The text came up.
Takato selected yes. He hoped it would reverse the changes.
He looked in the mirror and saw his ears revert to normal. Takato was relieved.
An idea crossed his mind. He was gonna see if a similar program was on Jeri's D-Ark. If it was, then excellent he could see if it worked, but he would change his ears first before forcing any change on Jeri. If not he'd use his device to change Jeri into a different form than her current appearance. Takato had to see what this could do. It could help him design characters for his manga
Takato had an idea that he could change himself into a more anthropomorphic clone of Guilmon and see what he could do from there. And if he could share this with Jeri, perhaps they could do this together? He liked that idea.
"Hey, Jeri where is your D-Ark?" Takato asked, heading to the bedroom. "In the bedroom on top of the fresser, you know the same spot I usually keep it." Jeri then paused, her voice was in the kitchen, "Why?"
"Eh, I am curious about an update my D-Ark got. I want to see if you got it too." Takato said honestly.
"I'd be surprised since Leomon died I can't see why I'd get an update."Jeri replied, "But if I did, great… I think." Takato looked at the dresser and began to look at the top. He found the device and opened it and saw it too had the update. A small smile crossed Takato's face. He now had an idea of what to do for today. He had Jeri's D-Ark.
Takato looked at the editor and saw past changes. He saw the option next to changes, History. He looked through history and saw the changes to his ears. And he hit the ear changes. Now walk into the kitchen.
Jeri was looking through the kitchen in seeing what was needed on the supply run for the day. She had an idea but it was best to be ready, especially with a sale on some beer she was fond of. She had to also get Twinkies and fruit. God did she wish she could just buy Twinkies…
Jeri looked up at Takato. His ears were growing. That was not normal. 'Okay Jeri don't panic, maybe you're tired.'
"Hi, Takato. How are you…doing?" Jeri said in a staggered manner due to his ears turning into that of a Guilmon.
"Great Jeri. How about you?" Takato acted innocently, he had to use his limited acting skills to help sell this to Jeri.
"Uh… not sure."
"Why?" He asked dumbly. He was playing but hey selling the bit.
Jeri had to think about this, she was not going mad was she? "Hey Takato, stop me if this sounds nuts but your ears are turning into those of Guilmon's."
Takato felt the ears at the side of his head. He touched them and shrugged, "So what?" He said be glinting a devious smile.
"You're doing this? How?" Jeri asked confused and scared, Takato held up the D-Ark and pointed at it. "How?" Her frustration and fear made her voice shaky.
Takato then explained the D-Ark editor showing his golden D-Ark to Jeri what he had done. He explained the editor as best he could. It took Jeri some time to understand it as it was very fantastic, even for them.
"So I can tell it to edit myself or someone else and it will do it?" Jeri made sure she understood the concept.
"Yes," Takato had explained it to her as best he understood. "I mean I am not sure how it does it but it does it. I think something akin to magic is the best thing I understand."
"Okay, so I could do anything I think of and enter it?" Jeri looking at her D-Ark. Takato typed in the D-Ark and hit enter.
Jeri didn't notice anything at first and then looked at her hands, her nails darkened and then lengthened. They became amazingly sharp, Jeri poked her palm and felt the point enter her palm.
"Ow!" Jeri jumped at the pain in her palm.
"See." Takato smiled.
Jeri was shocked and had ideas. A smile crept across her face. "May I look at your device and mine? Then close your eyes." Jeri took the two devices and began typing in the editor function. She was going to do something interesting.
She hit enter and waited. She hid the device's actions from Takato, "What will they do?" Takato asked.
Jeri smiled, "Wouldn't you love to know? It will be a drastic look for both of us."
Takato shrugged, "Well can you hint to me what it will do?"
"No, just find a mirror." Jeri smiled.
Takato was curious about what Jeri did. Jeri looked off, her hair seemed different, what was different, he couldn't place it. Jeri looked at her boyfriend and smiled. "Come on, let's look in the bathroom."
Takato and Jeri were looking at the mirror image, it was odd but Takato noticed his hair seems shorter. He glanced at Jeri and her hair appeared to be getting shorter.
"Jeri, is our hair getting shorter?" Takato saw his hair getting slurped into his head slowly, the same was happening to Jeri's.
She laughed. "Yup. I figure if we're gonna look odd let's look odd together." Her hair was now to her chin and getting shorter, Takato saw in the mirror his hair was now a crew cut and getting shorter. Jeri's hair was now at her ears.
"Uh, I wonder if we should test this elsewhere?" Takato asked as his hair was between a crew cut and buzz cut as it was sinking into his scalp at a steady rate. "This is gonna look odd if the neighbors come in and see this."
Jeri thought about it for a second. Her hair was now closer to a pixie cut. "Hm… yeah, I think we need somewhere where nosy neighbors aren't gonna barge in."
Takato snapped his fingers, "The old tunnel! The place where Guilmon vanished briefly. Henry, Rika, and I snuck into the city via that tunnel. The homeless are being forced elsewhere thanks to the Olympics so it should be empty now." Takato's buzz cut was thinning.
Jeri brought a finger to her chin, "Alight, There we can test the Editor out without guests." Jeri's hair was at buzz cut length and getting shorter. She laughed at Takato. "Chrome dome."
Takato looked at his shiny head and then pointed at Jeri "You too!" He laughed. As she laughed Jeri noticed something interesting his eyebrows were gone. She felt hers and noticed that she was missing her eyebrows. Her other body hair was probably gone as well.
"Let's get our wigs from that con. We still have them somewhere." Jeri began to look.
"If we can find them. And sunglasses too. " Takato started his search.
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It took a half-hour to locate the sunglasses but the wigs were easy to find. Takato suggested baseball caps too made it easier to keep the wigs on their heads. Sure they could get their hair back but what is the fun in that? Jeri had brought with a bento meal she made for the two of them and some other things she brought with, like the bolt cutters.
If you are curious about the bolt cutters, Jeri had them from her father, his connections had gotten them a few years back for 'reasons'. It was something they were worried about briefly but it was sorted out before needing them.
The bolt cutters made opening the door to the tunnel easy. They got in and proceeded with moves towards a good distance in the tunnel. They looked around and set up their testing area.
Takato and Jeri as their planning also brought a blanket, an LED lantern, a small video camera, and some spare clothing, in case their clothes got messy or something happened.
Takato decided to try the editing app by going all out he wasn't sure just yet but there was a reason he was in the tunnel in his underwear Jeri was trying not to snicker at this. But Takato was going to have her join him later if this worked.
"You'll look cool Takato!" Jeri teased.
"If this works you'll be here with me~!" Takato teasingly said while grumbling. It was an odd response but it was one the couple had done before.
"All I am currently is bald with Guilmon ears, let's see how this works." Takato began inputting data for the changes. He wanted to see what it would allow in his changes. He would allow it to be slow enough for Jeri to capture it on camera.
Takato made sure they were in a well-lit area, that was why the LED lantern was here. Recording the change with night vision would be a pain.
Takato's first changes were to bones. Takato's skull changed shape to be closer to the saurian Guilmon. The dome of his flattening out skull and the mouth pulling into a saurian muzzle. It felt bizarre for Takato feeling his head be squished in such a manner. His teeth changed shape and shifted to match Guilmon's. His ribs barreled out, that was an odd feeling. His hands each lost a finger, the pinky, and gained deadly claws. His legs changed shape and he looked like he was squatting slightly. From his rear, his underwear was torn as a tail pushed from his tailbone. It broke the elastic easily. His feet which were cold on the concrete began to change his middle three toes were pulled into his foot. His big toe and little toe grew in size. They turned into two claws. A third one came out the heel of his foot.
Then Takato's muscles began to bulk up as he grew in height. He was now well over six feet tall at a staggering six foot seven, very tall by Japanese standards. His tail popped off the underwear as it was not able to adjust in size. Takato went from being slightly flabby to being a weightlifter in appearance.
Finally, Takato's skin gained scales that turned red on most of his body apart from his stomach and chest and portions on his palms, face and other parts of his body. His stomach and chest became white, with a big black hazard symbol on his chest. On his face, a variation Hazard symbol appeared, with the variation symbol appearing on the top of his hands and feet. Under Takato's eyes were black triangle markings. Black triangles also appeared on his arms near the shoulders. His palms became a dark grey. Black bands appeared all over Takato's body, at the base of his tail, on his thighs, around his neck, on his arms above his hands, and his torso.
Takato blinked a bit as new information entered his head on how to use this new body. Jeri saw Takato's eyes go from brown to gold. "Amazing!" Takato flexed his arm. The muscles rippled, Jeri was practically drooling.
"Oh Okay! I can't wait. So was there any issue moving?" Jeri asked excitedly.
Takato (or was it Takatomon now?) smirked, "I included minor mental changes to allow for body control being made easy. Takato explained it to Jeri and would move away from the camera when she wanted to do the changes to herself.
"Well before I start my changes I must ask what happens if we change our minds too much?" Jeri asked worriedly.
Takato shrugged his massive shoulders, "I don't know, Jeri. All I saw was a warning against it. But it stated most mental changes would change things like fears, speaking habits, and gaining some more nasty habits. More in-depth changes require a timer."
"Well, I would be curious to see what the mental changes do to us in smaller bits at first." Jeri smiled.
Jeri finished inputting her changes to the device and felt fantastic as she grew to an impressive six foot two. Her body then began to twitch as her muscles ballooned out. Her ears went to the top of her head and looked like a cross of pointed human ears and cat ears.
Jeri smiled as her teeth sharpened and changed shape. Her face pushed out into a muzzle and her nose darkened. As she flexed her arms she noticed her skin turned tan, Her hands got bigger and her legs got larger in girth. From her spine erupted a tail with a tuft of fur on it. Fur sprouted from her tan skin and spread like wildfire all over her body. It was itchy but that itchiness faded after it was done in thirty seconds.
Her feet grew to size eleven and a half women's shoe size and the toes gained dark claws on each of them. Jeri wiggled her toes it felt weird.
"Wow." Her voice was deeper and huskier. Her chest was now sporting a sizable pair of breasts and they were rippling with muscles. "Oh, I could like this,"
The last changes that hit Jeri were the subtle mental changes, allowing her to move easier. The final physical changes were her eyes changing color from brown to blue.
Jeri smiled, "So Takato, what do you think?"
"I think we'll need to buy bigger clothes from the thrift stores." Takato smiled. "Though I am gonna see if I can attack."
Jer's lioness ear twitched. "What?"
The Saurian male smiled nervously, "Well do we look like Digimon or are we Digimon technically?"
"So you want to see if we have Digimon powers? That would be cool! I could hear those little miscreants in my classroom when they're planning stuff." Jeri smirked.
Then Takato shook his head, "And you could hear all the conversations of everyone in the building, maybe the whole campus. Do you want to hear the security guards talking dirty while on break?"
Jeri with her muscled frame shuddered. "No, though what I heard at my family's restaurant was probably much worse."
Takato carefully maneuvered his tail to not hit Jeri, "No doubt but do you want to be trying to explain something to the kids while trying to drown out a guard talking about the lines he used to hit on girls while at a pub?"
Jeri nodded her now muzzled face, "I get it, but shouldn't we have abilities and notice them now?"
Takato sighed, hard. "I am an artist, I am not sure this tunnel would allow us to notice any new senses as you can hear the metro, the road traffic, and the people traffic thanks to all the access points. I mean can you see better?"
Jeri shook her head with uncertainty, "But I didn't include night vision. Maybe next time I will do that."
"Okay, I am gonna try something." Takato began to shake his arm and feet, the naked saurian human cross rotated his neck like a boxer getting ready for a fight. "Alright, come on let's see if this works."
Takato then felt strange, it was bizarre like he was gonna puke but it felt different, it was like indigestions coming up with the "throwup" becoming hotter and hotter, Jeri saw that Takato's throat expanded and seemed to glow, the glow hit his mouth. A fireball exited his mouth and hit the wall nearby.
Takato was panting, the whole experience alien to him, "Holy fuck."
Jeri's new lioness jaw was slack, that was new. "Alright, that is a new tweak in things. Did you include that?"
Takato shook his head, "No, I did not." His voice was a little hoarse
Jeri was curious, "I wonder if I use an attack if it will work?" Jeri was trying to remember the attacks that Leomon had and it was not the one with the sword. Jeri focused on the rubble and area where smoke was and concentrated. She thought of the attack it seemed to come second nature to her. "FIST OF THE BEAST KING!" A Fireball shaped like a lion's headshot from her fist, It made the hole in the wall even more impressive.
Takato did a double-take. He knows he didn't include Digimon's abilities in the changes when he wrote them up. Takato had to carefully type in the D-Ark to have "Eddie" take verbal commands. Once it was set up he clicked it on."Eddie, why do I have Digimon abilities?" Takato asked pointedly.
It took a few seconds but Eddie gave the Tamers an explanation, "Due to preexisting Digimon data in your bodies you are going to have abilities in this hybrid form. It is also possible in a more human form the abilities may transfer over." Eddie the editor program avatar, which was a cartoon brush told Takato and Jeri. Eddie's voice was similar to that of Vizzini from The Princess Bride.
"So I can have these abilities in my old human form?" Jeri asked. She didn't want to accidentally incinerate a student if she got mad at them.
Takato was confused, Digimon data in their bodies? It made sense for him, he bio-merged with Guilmon. But Jeri? That didn't make any sense. "How does Jeri have Digimon data in her? She didn't Bio-merge with her Digimon."
Eddie took a second to formulate a response, "I lack precise data to give a correct answer. What I can guess from available data is the real world is full of Digital world data. The exact reason is likely Digimon are still trying to come to the real world, however, many humans are full of digital world data, much more than fifteen years ago. Also being in a tunnel which fiber optic cables owned and operated by Japan Telecommunications & Wireless Company may have given the program more power." Eddie then made a smile emote.
Jeri was trying to wrap her head around many things so much of what had happened today was impossible. She needed to think this over, she sat in a corner of the dark tunnel. She was excited by the bizarre events of the day and had been freaked out. She would be lying if she was not even more curious.
Takato paced the tunnel slightly. He wanted to figure out what Eddie meant, "There is Digital World data all over this world? How? There are no Digimon here now?"
Eddie waited 23 seconds. "Not currently in the strict sense. However, this program surmises that it could be possible with the editor program to lead to a return of Digimon and it is also possibly many other humans could gain Digimon abilities through the editor program or the sheer amount of Digimon data."
Jeri stood up, her tail swished behind her, she was no scientist but she remembered how the Hypnos guys explained after Janyu sent the Digimon back that it was going to take a much longer time to reconnect worlds.
"How can data come from the digital world into the real one? The worlds are sealed off." Takato rubbed his bald head, a sensation he was getting used to.
"Exact reason this program cannot say. But the data this program is getting is data from Digimon that came over, while the Digimon returned to the digital world spread through screens, TVs, cell phones, and places Digimon would bio-emerge. The data is absorbed, much like radiation, into human bodies, structures, trees, and other things. Data that I can get indicates the government believes the data is harmless as they have not seen any incident in years."
Jeri typed into the D-Ark and wanted to see if the program would give her an earring. The program then made a gold earring from nothing and attached it to Jeri's ear. That was amazingly quick. From entering it on the D-Ark to realization was only 30 seconds.
Takato was amazed by how fast a gold earring appeared. Takato was tempted he was not a ring man but he was curious. Takato cautiously entered gaining a nose ring into the digivice. He was unsure of what would happen.
Much like Jeri, a gold ring formed and then it went into the side of his saurian nostrils. There was no pain, it just felt odd. "Well, that felt weird."
"That is what you thought felt weird? " Jeri sauntered towards him, her ears having two rings each and a nose ring.
"Overdoing it a little bit huh?" Takato smirked, he said adding another ring to his other saurian nostril.
"Well, I think that might be the time to stop physical changes and additions." Jeri stated, "Though I admit a lion tattoo on this form's back would be tempting. It is not like I'd enter a bathhouse like this anyways."
Takato rolled his eyes, "Here I assumed that you'd never want a tattoo. Didn't you say you didn't like pain?" He let out a rumbling chuckle.
"Yeah, but this way I can-" Jeri was stopped when from the end of the tunnel they heard a shout, "WHOEVER BROKE THE PADLOCK I AM COMING TO DETAIL YOU!" Jeri and Takato saw a circle of light on the floor from the way they entered.
Takato had an idea, "Enter in some data like I am about to." he whispered showing Jeri what he was doing. He set the siders and input the changes.
"I hear voices who's there?!" the voice belonged to a uniformed security guard, the phone company hired them to keep the homeless out of the tunnels, they had little enforcement powers but they would call the cops if need be.
"WHO'S HERE!?" demanded the security guard. He walked down the tunnel slowly minding that he could get jumped by a homeless person at any moment.
"COME ON OUT!" the guard commanded. He wished he had a real weapon, not a big flashlight.
The guard saw two sets of eyes reflecting at him, then a gust of wind and a pair of mighty roars echoed in the narrow tunnel. The guard decided this was not worth the slightly above minimum wage he got after he retired and ran as fast as his seventy-something body could take it. It was not going to be in his report at the guard shack. He didn't need them to think he was hungover on the job again.
Jeri and Takato were chuckling in the tunnel. They didn't believe those sounds emanated from them. It was unreal the sound came from their chest and made them feel powerful. "Good god that felt amazing!" Takato laughed, rubbing the back of his bald head.
"I know! It felt like I was Leomon! I mean gotta be careful but that power felt good." Jeri was playing the claw muscles in her hand. She then suddenly flexed her right arm, it showed off her bulging muscles. Takato stood there, mouth agape, gazing upon her form.
"So Jeri… uh, what do we do now?" asked the nervous saurian male.
Jeri walked back to the well-lit area and retrieved something from the bag they packed. She returned with two cigars and a lighter.
"Jeri! I don't smoke, you don't smoke!" Takato said annoyed. "And do you want to get addicted to an expensive bad habit?" Takato said feeling more than a little upset about Jeri bringing something to smoke here.
"Oh come on! In these forms, I am certain our tolerances are closer to that of a Digimon than a human." Jeri then abruptly punched the concrete wall next to her. The spider web formation of cracks splintered outwards from the center near her fist. She shook her fist a bit and looked at it no damage but it certainly was not fun.
"Are you okay?" Takato looked at her hand and saw no blood, no bruising, nothing. "What?"
She was still shaking her hand. "It still is not a fun feeling though punching concrete." She then looked at Takato's claws, "You should give it a go, then we can see what we can do."
Takato shook his head. "Come on Jeri, we do this we'll get caught and dissected on a table? Hypnos probably has a lock on us!"
Jeri nodded, "That they could, but if they were worried they would have sent a team of guys in spacesuits by now. So let's have you hit the wall and then we can leave here sooner than later." replied the lioness woman.
Takato let out a frustrated sigh, "Fine!" Takato struck the undamaged concrete near where Jeri had punched it. Mentally he wanted to yell 'Rock Breaker! But he refused to do so. The concrete shattered when his clawed fingers hit the wall, it was amazing the damage he did, it shattered as though a powerful pickaxe. Takato pulled away from the wall his hand and looked at it in awe. The power he had now was amazing. This felt good! Takato smirked
"Alright, Jeri you win. Let's have those cigars." he winked at Jeri as she swaggered towards him. She bit the end of the cigar off and handed it to him, She bit the end of hers and proceeded to light hers she took a few puffs to start the cylinder of tobacco to get it started and she then lit Takato's cigar.
After a few puffs, Takato was surprised, he wasn't coughing, he wasn't gagging, hell Takato expected to puke. But no nothing affected his breathing, he just inhaled and then blew out. He was surprised at how good he was at this. He just hoped this didn't make him a smoker while human. Though there was a question Takato had in his mind."Jeri, where did you get the cigars?"
Jeri smiled, "My dad often has boxes and boxes filled with cigars. Though he takes out the cigars many times. He puts in money for his friends to give to others affiliated with the organization respectable events so they can appear respectable. I took a few boxes to give to the superintendent and principal. It is not money so the bosses don't complain." Jeri said taking a pull on the cigar.
"Huh…" Takato had the cigar limp in his maw. "So, anything else or do we call it a night?"
Jeri gave him a wild smile, "Want to try some mental changes?" Takato smiled in return.
"But let's not go overboard. After this, I say we should finish for the night." Takato took a drag on the cigar, he was still floored he was not affected by this.
Jeri swiped his again D-Ark and began to alter some sliders and input information into the holographic interface. He had an idea what Jeri was doing. But he remained silent as he shifted the cigar in his mouth, something he never thought he'd be doing. Jeri was filling in a lot of information on the devices. It was interesting but Takato hoped it was not anything too complex. She faced Takato," Are you ready?"
Takato was unsure but he shrugged, "I guess." Jeri hit enter on both D-Arks, Takato and Jeri were still, their eyes glazed over. The arms limply hung at their sides. It took thirty Seconds but then they suddenly were back.
"What the hell was that!?" Takato asked angered. "Leowomon what the hell!" Takato then blinked. Did he call Jeri Leowomon? Also, why did his voice sound like what he thought a Yakuza sounded like, brash and from Osaka?
Jeri or Leowomon smiled, "Well Guilmanmon I figured if we are going to galavant like this in the future we should have alternate names to call one another and this way when I think of saying your name I say, Guilmanmon. And you'll say Leowomon trying to say my name." Much like Takato, her voice sounded like it was from Osaka.
"Well that'll be confusin', later on, won't it?" Takato asked, Taking a puff on the cigar. He then looked at his arms, he was shocked. He had on leather bracers but that was all for clothes he or Jeri wore. "You added more shit!" Takato was not as angry as his voice indicated but it was a hard tone to control for the twenty-something tamer.
"Yeah, if we do this again, it may be fun to see what else we can do." Jeri leaned in, she threw her cigar on the ground and then she threw Takato's away and they began to kiss. If some humans came upon them the sight they would have seen would have been downright bizarre. An anthropomorphic dinosaur and anthropomorphic lioness making out.
Takato then pushed her away for a bit of air, "I wish we could do more but I don't think this is the best place for lovemaking." Takato or Guilmanmon told her.
"No, but if we leave we'll need to revert to our human selves. And what is the fun in that?" Leowomon teased.
Takato nodded, "Yeah, and end all our fun. But I think we'll have to go somewhere else, next time. Somewhere we know we won't be bothered." Jeri nodded.
They would wait for a while and then prepare to revert themselves later in the evening. They did so and got dressed. They had all their hair back and their voices were now normal. Takato and Jeri got the camcorder and would take the stuff back to the apartment with them Takato was still amazed at his discovery. But no matter what he and Jeri would be enjoying this, he still was not sure what to do with it but it would be fun.
Though he did wonder if his friends and fellow Tamers had noticed it yet.
The strangest thing that Takato and Jeri commented about on their return to their apartment was the thick pea soup fog. "I haven't seen fog this thick in some time," Takato stated holding hands with Jeri.
"Nor I, Let's be careful," Jeri said holding onto the railing along the side of the street, they were almost home. It was hard not to hear the occasional car crash. Takato and Jeri thankfully made it home. The odd thing was this fog was very dry…
(+=+===++==+=+)
In a luxury apartment in Shinjuku, a red-headed woman with her hair in a pixie cut looked at her D-Ark. An annoying brush shaped cartoon character had popped up asking her if she needed help, 'Hello, Rika! I'm Eddy the editor helper!'
"What the hell are you?" Rika Nonaka asked the strange cartoon character.
(+=+===++==+=+)
The first chapter Done This story was inspired by RPG Maker and I am trying to go my own direction with though.