Chapter 2: Blood Gulch Memories

A portal of gold and silver appeared in the sky, out of the portal came Oculus and Gatomon ready to begin searching for the Reds and Blues. They both landed in the middle of the Blood Gulch canyon. Now Gatomon couldn't be quite sure but she thought that she heard a guitar riff play as she stood up and took in the view of Blood Gulch. Blood Gulch contains the old Red and Blue bases and… nothing else really.

I'd hate to live here Gatomon thought to herself as she realized just how empty the canyon was.

"There is nothing here" Oculus said with a chuckle as he rubbed the crest of tenacity, anxious to meet the one who was to be his partner.

"Where should we start looking?" Gatomon asked remembering the importance of their mission

"Well, it looks like the Red base is closest to us so we should start there." Oculus said pointing towards Red base. Gatomon nodded and the two set out at a brisk walk to the construct. As they approached it, they were admittedly caught off guard by a cardboard cut-out of Donut that appeared right in front of them. They recognized him because Gennai explained the basics of who the Reds and Blues were before they used the crests of time and space to travel to Blood Gulch in 2552.

"Halt" the cut-out ordered in Sarge's voice "in the name of the re-" suddenly Sarge's voice took on a slightly more feminine impersonation as the recording continued "lightish-red army oh-la-la I like tea and crumpets" Gatomon and Oculus were genuinely weirded out as they kept walking to Red base before another cardboard cut-out, this time of Simmons popped up. "This is your last warning, turn back now, I like math!" a similar recording played in Sarge's voice. As the two digimon kept moving they heard more from the Simmon's cut-out recording "Your only hope for survival now is to kiss my commander's ***" They neared the entrance to Red base when a cut-out of Grif appeared that had obviously been shot by a shotgun "And here's another warning" Sarge's voice said through the last cut-out "I know that other one was supposed to be the last but I don't listen to orders, I'm too lazy and stupid!"

"These people are insane!" Oculus exclaimed as he and Gatomon were finally able to get inside of Red base. They were sorely disappointed to find that Red base was more or less empty with the only things inside being some cots and a few old weapons that were laying around. Discouraged, they gradually made their way across the canyon to Blue base hoping to find something helpful, however unlikely it seemed at this point. As they passed the point of their initial arrival, they heard two people talking. Crouching to avoid being spotted, the digimon saw two people in white armor with blue trim.

"Sorry Jack-" the one on the left said sounding like a girl

"It's Jax" her companion replied in a low voice

"Jax, I lost my temper and was unprofessional, think you can help with the story?"

"Can we do one of my shots?"

"We'll do it both ways"

"Awesome, because I think we can use that tank over by Blue base as a dolly." Jax replied as they began to walk off. Gatomon stood up to follow them.

"What are you doing?" Oculus hissed

"What am I doing? Those two are the only worthwhile lead we've found since landing in this pitiful canyon, we need to talk with them." Gatomon replied, Oculus sighed before standing up as well

"Fine, but we can't afford to mess this up."

"Agreed" Gatomon replied with a victorious smirk, they went after Jax and the lady who was with him. "Excuse us!" Gatomon called out causing the two humans to turn around and look at them.

"Did one of those animals just talk?" Jax asked scratching his head, he simply couldn't remember any biology lesson where he could have been taught that animals could speak.

"Who are you calling animal?" Oculus said

"Son of a *****, they did talk" the lady said to Jax before returning her attention to the digimon. "Hello, who or what are you?"

"Well, were digimon from the Digital World. We're also from the past, 1999 to be exact and were looking for the Reds and Blues."

"What a coincidence" the lady began as her partner elbowed her

"Dylan" Jax whispered "whatever they are, they must be crazy. Time travel is impossible"

"Jax, if there was any chance at all that time travel could be possible then wouldn't it make sense for the creatures we've never heard of before to understand it, besides this will make the story even better" Dylan pointed out

"Fine" Jax agreed

"Sorry about that" Dylan said turning her attention back to the digimon "I'm Dylan Andrews, a reporter for Interstellar Daily, why exactly would, um, what did you say you were again?"

"Digimon" Oculus replied

"Why exactly would digimon from 1999 be looking for the Reds and Blues?"

"Because we need their help desperately. A vampiric digimon named Myotismon is slowly taking control of Earth and the Digital World in 1999, it's only a matter of time before the repercussions catch up with 2552."

"Well, we're looking for the Reds and Blues too, we have extra room on our ship if you want to come along"

"Dylan can I talk to you for a second?" Jax asked worming his way into the conversation

"Is that good with you?" Dylan asked Oculus

"Yeah, we should talk this over too" he replied as the four broke off into their pairs and spoke quietly to each other.

"Is this a good idea?" Jax asked apprehensively

"We could always more eyes and ears besides, if we make this story as explosive as it is true, not only will it make our careers, but it will also make a good movie adaptation in Hollywood."
"On second thought, I'm in" Jax said excitedly, meanwhile Gatomon and Oculus were speaking to each other away from Dylan and Jax

"What do you think?" Oculus asked Gatomon

"Honestly, I think it would work, we'll probably need connections to find these people especially if humanity is galactic wide these days, besides Gennai was never really specific about whether or not the crests of time and space needed a cooldown period in between uses, and I'd rather not get torn apart because we used them too often.

"I agree" Oculus said before turning to Dylan and Jax "Hey guys, were good if you are!" he called over to them

"Awesome" Dylan said "Let's get to Blue base, take a quick shot and see what we can find." the group of four made their way to Blue base and went to the top of it to take a shot.

"The Reds and-" Dylan started before being cut off by Jax

"And, were recording" Jax said

"The Reds and Blues originally came here as simulation troopers for Project Freelancer. Most of the records of their time here are classified, missing or both. Without said records, we have no way of knowing just how formative these early years were for them. Perhaps if these walls could speak, they would tell us why the Reds and Blues turned from heroes to Chorus' bloody mercenaries" Dylan noted the shock on the faces of the digimon before continuing. "Was if for fame, money or perhaps, just for fun?" As Dylan finished speaking a woman in yellow armor peered up onto the top of the base.

"Hey" the woman began "quiet down, some of us are trying to sleep here."

"Sorry" Dylan said "We thought these bases were abandoned, we were just searching for-"

"Fire Marshals? **** were up to code I swear."

"No, were not Fire Marshals. Were journalists doing an in depth story about the Reds and Blues and these" Dylan motioned to the digimon "Are looking for the Reds and Blues as well"

"What do you want with my brother?"

"Brother?" Gatomon asked

"Holy ****, they can talk!"

"Of course we can" Oculus said "Were just as intelligent as humans are."

"Brother" Dylan briefly mused before understanding dawned within her "your Kaikaina 'Sister' Grif?"

"Wow you know my name?" Sister said "Big ****ing deal, get off my base!"

"Please, we just need to know why the Reds and Blues went rouge. Can you help out?"

"Ugh, fine, someone has to set this dumb story straight. What do you need lady?"

"Just anything about the Reds and Blues that you know"

"Alright, let's get started" Sister said actually climbing on top of the base now.

(Japan 1999 one week following Gatomon's escape)

Myotismon was pleased, a feeling he was growing used to. All of Japan had fallen under his control, his armies size had doubled as human soldiers forcibly drafted were intermingled with the digimon that came with him. A fitting start to his empire. There were a couple minor annoyances which was to be expected in an operation of this scale. First, Gatomon had escaped his dungeons in the Digital World a week ago due to the treachery of the Gaomon he had employed as an enforcer. Myotismon had momentarily panicked before remembering that as long as the Eighth Digidestined remained his prisoner on Earth, Gatomon was all but powerless. The second annoyance was one that honestly caught him off guard. Once he broke the news of the upcoming executions of the Digidestined to their parents as well as the populace as a whole (upon his conquering both the human and digital worlds to maximize the blow to morale their death would bring of course) he had expected them to be too busy grieving to cause any trouble. He was sorely mistaken, just last night, multiple districts of his growing empire had reported an uprising of former Japanese citizens under the leadership of someone calling himself Locus. What had disturbed Myotismon the most was the fact that this Locus was spotted with a digivice, crest, and digimon partner, he was currently awaiting a report from his spymaster, a boy genius who hungered for power: Ken Ichijouji. Myotismon heard footsteps behind him and turned just in time to see the boy in question bow to him.

"Your Imperial Majesty" Ken greeted "I have gathered enough information on Locus from captured rebels as well as infiltrators we've planted within their ranks to build up a basic profile for him."

"Excellent work" Myotismon approved with a smile "Let's hear it" Ken stood up and faced the vampiric digimon who was twice as tall as he was and began to speak.

"Locus is always wearing an unusual suit of armor that is black with green tracing it, he somehow has the ability to turn invisible and is a terrifyingly good shot with a sniper rifle. He does indeed have a digivice and crest, the crest is known as the Crest of Redemption, it is a green crest with the image of two hands shaking. His digimon partner is a Terriermon and while Terriermon has been seen in champion form, he has yet to reach Ultimate."

"I see" Myotismon said as the information sunk in "Well done Ken"

"Thank you, sire"

"I'm sure that it goes without saying that Locus has now become Public Enemy #1, distribute wanted posters and put a bounty on his head, we must get rid of him before he becomes too big to handle."

"Yes sir" Ken bowed again before rushing off to fulfill his orders

(Blood Gulch 2552)

"- and then the ship blew up and Tex along with everyone else on it were never seen again. After that everyone got reassigned and I've just been here alone ever since." Sister concluded, finishing her recap of her personal time with the Reds and Blues.

"What about you, what did you do?" Gatomon asked

"Well, I was all alone here so I decided to throw raves in the caves to meet boys and it worked like a charm. But then, I realized that I could sell this place out and make a week long festival."

"You run a music festival out of Blood Gulch?" Dylan asked

"I wish, we got really popular after the initial festival, but then we needed a Comicon for the nerds, a Gaming con for the geeks, an Eco con for the hippies, and now we're working on an event in the desert called Burning Gulch." Sister replied

"That's quite the venture."

"You don't need to tell me lady, do you know how much time I spend talking about merch? Sometimes I miss the days where I was just someone who craved attention."

"Well, this has been enlightening but we should get back to our investigation."

"You still think my brother is guilty don't you?"

"I'm not ready to judge anyone, I'm just trying to find the facts so I can learn the truth."

"Well this is some conspiracy ****, I mean come on jet fuel can't JFK the moon landing!"

"Wait, what?" Dylan was confused for a moment before shaking it off. "We need to get more information."

"Well, if it's information you need just ask Vic."

"Who's Vic?" Oculus asked

"Not who, what" Sister replied turning her attention to him. "Vic is an old AI that lives in the caves below Blood Gulch."

"Let's go see him then" Dylan said

(10 minutes later)

Everyone at Blue base (minus Sister who went back to sleep) found Vic on the monitor of a massive computer terminal.

"Oh yeah, dudes and dudettes" Vic was saying "I was here the whole time and recorded every last event in this here canyon"

"Awesome, we need everything you have on the Reds and Blues" Dylan said as Oculus and Gatomon high-fived excited to FINALLY have a solid lead.

"Alright, no problemo, I've been down here alone for years since they left and I've been busy compiling the footage into five minute shorts, perfect for watching just a little bit at a time."

"Great, if you can put it on my flash drive that would be helpful."

"Got it, but I tell you what. I'll be your genie in a bottle, grant your three wishes but then, you got to do something for me."

"What do you want?" Jax asked voicing the question that was in everyone's mind at Vics words.

"I just want you to reach behind this terminal and pull that plug right out of that socket, I'd do it but I got no hands, NO HANDS!" Vic replied in a manic tone

"Won't that kill you?" Oculus asked concerned

"Oh yeah, eternal emptiness, it's gonna be great."

"Good heavens, are you serious?" Gatomon asked shocked

"Nope, I got you there didn't I?" Vic replied

"Oh thank you, that would've been a ethical nightmare"

"Yeah, yeah, good joke. But for real, would you do it please, please, Please?!" Vic said frantically as signs of concern could be seen amongst the group "Pull the plug, end the pain, set me free Please!"

"Ugh, this is so depressing, I'll be outside" Jax said walking out as the digimon followed him leaving Dylan alone with Vic.

(5 minutes later)

Jax and the digimon waited in the center of the canyon in silent distress at what had just taken place in the caves. They were pulled from their thoughts as Dylan came up to them.

"So, what did you do?" Jax asked

"I got the information" Dylan replied

"You didn't actually-" Gatomon began before being interrupted

"It's better if you don't know, suffice it to say Vic isn't dead, we've just come to an agreement." Dylan answered

"That's a relief" Oculus sighed

"I'll say" Jax said "are we going back to Earth now?"

"Are you kidding? We have 100 5-minute long videos to watch. We can do it on the way to the next point of our investigation."

"Where are we going?" Jax asked

"Sidewinder, we'll either find more clues there or find nothing and end up having to re-strategize."

"How long will that take?" Gatomon asked

"I'm honestly not sure, but if we want to find the Reds and Blues, we need to do this a thoroughly as we can, if we sprint from the starting line, we'll tire out and miss something obvious, I know your home is in trouble and we will make sure you get the help you need. We just need to be smart about it." Dylan told Gatomon to reassure her before turning her attention back to Jax "Trust me, one way or another, we're just getting started" Dylan concluded before leading the way back to the ship they would use. Unbeknownst to the group, they were being watched by a man on top of the canyon wall. He looked down on the group wearing a unique set of black and red armor and carried wah appeared to be an alien weapon. He heard what they had said and followed them with his eyes as they went to their ship, the creatures with the reporters had caught him off guard but he didn't mind as long as he was able to accomplish his goal.

"She is right" he said to no one in particular in a deep tone "We are just getting started"

Another chapter completed, next time Dylan, Jax, Gatomon, and Oculus continue their search for the Reds and Blues, meanwhile back in the year 1999 Locus and his band of rebels are being pushed to the breaking point as Myotismon tightens his grip on his claimed territory while his armies continue to conquer the human world. Will the group of four find something to lead them to the Reds and Blues? Will Myotismon succeed in destroying Locus' rebels? Find out next time in Chapter 3: Sidewinder search.