I don't own digimon.

Story 40

Cat's out of the bag

Meiko Mochizuki liked to believe that she had some handle on the strange turn her life took after Meicoomon's death. But in the face of Maki's apparent revival, anything was possible.

"Sore ga sagi-shide wanai koto o dō yatte shiru koto ga dekimasu ka? (How do we know that it isn't an imposter?)" she whispered and took a seat on the couch. Even after returning to her family home in Tattori, that dang thing had refused to go off to a dump. Why her mother held sentimental memories for it she couldn't say. Between her (former) partner, moving out of Tattori, the whole mess in Odiaba and then moving it back to Tattori for some god forsaken reason, the couch had more than enough miles on it. Her father had been of a similar opinion too, but kept a straight face whenever the topic was brought up. Kind of like everything happening as of late.

"Ogi wa shingō o tsuiseki shi, kako no tsūwa no rogu to hikaku shimashita. Shiaidesu. (Koshiro traced the signal and compared it to the logs of past phone calls. It's a match.)" the voice on the other end - Mimi announced, the sound of nodding from their companions echoing through. Part of Meiko wished that she could be there in person, but the sounds from the other suggested otherwise as she looked over to her partner. Attempting to lounge in a sun spot, the attempt was quite lackluster. Nowhere near an actual window. The last thing she needed was someone to see them and get any ideas. Not that it was really hard to do in a place like Tattori.

"Watashitachi wa wakai kodomo-tachi o kanojo to randebū suru tame ni okuri, kore no soko ni tōtatsu suru koto ga dekimashita. (We could send the younger kids to rendezvous with her and get to the bottom of this.)" Jyou suggested and 'Meicoomon' raised an eyebrow. Approaching his partner, they carefully rub against Meiko's legs. In turn, that got a pet from the former chosen.

"Ē to, debimon fujin ga modotte kite, dō iu wake ka jibun no kurōn o tsukutte iru to iu mondai mo arimasu. (Well, there's also the problem of Lady Devimon being back and somehow cloning herself.)" Hikari explained, sillence falling over the phone. Looking at Meicoomon, she tried her best to judge his reaction. But all she got was a look of indifference. Did he not know what was spoken here? She didn't mind him not knowing, but some context right about now would make following this conversation a heck of a lot easier. At least, she thought it would.

"Sore wa warui kotoda to omoimasu ka? (I'm going to assume that's a bad thing?)" Meiko announced, what could only be Tailmon sighing echoing through on her end, followed by the phone on that end getting yanked out of Hikari's hands and into her paws.

"Kore wa okori uru saiaku no jitaidesu! (This is the worst possible thing that could happen!)" Tailmon announced and muttered something under her breath. Whatever it was, the words were lost when her partner grabbed the phone back. The angry meowing was absolutely uncalled for.

"Sekainoowari o koete? Mata? (Beyond the world ending? Again?)" Meiko announced and felt her 'partner' scurry up her back. Taking a seat on her head, Meicoomon took care to not knock off her glasses.

"Misu, watashitachi wa anata no neko o mite mitai to omoimasu. (Miss, we would very much like to take a look at your cat.)" a voice announced and Meiko's gaze shot over to the front door. There, she could clearly see three girls through the glass of the front door. All dressed like nuns from overseas, what could bring them to her door? They had to have more important people that they could bother at a time like this.

"Watashi wa osoraku kakusu hitsuyō ga arimasu. (I should probably hide.)" Meicoomon announced and jumped off of Meiko's head. Scurrying under the couch, the former chosen focus on her phone. This felt like a constant occurrence when it came to these group calls.

"Ē to… iku hitsuyō ga arimasu. Minasan, yoiichinichiwo. (Uh… I need to go. Have a good day, everyone.)" Meiko explained as her finger reached out to the end call button. Letting out a sigh, she took care to slip the phone into her pockets. Turning to the door, she pushed the feelings of confusion and trepidation off to the side. That stuff had little place in her mind right now. Even as doubt threatened to blossom forth and bring forth the same old insecurities she had worked to defeat. Grabbing hold of the handle, Meiko slowly pulled the door open. Staring out at the three girls, she was pleasantly met with what could only be dressed as 'lolita habit dresses' or something close to that. The former chosen remembered Mimi talking about a recent line that resembled these but she had thought her friend had been joking. Whether or not she had actually been remains to be seen.

The tallest of the three had gone for a white one, choosing to pair white lace stockings with a set of ankle strap heels. A baby blue klobuk decorated with a mouse face and ears hung atop locks of dark blue hair. Said locks partially obscuring a set of blue eyes. Somehow didn't explain the need to hold a katana at the door.

Right beside her was a slightly shorter girl. Dressed in a black version of the habit dress, black stockings with white lace snaked down her legs into a set of matching ankle strap heels. Add in the black cat face klobuk nestled within gray locks of hair, a set of silver eyes stared directly at Meiko. Turning her gaze away over to the last girl, Meiko found her gaze forced downwards.

A younger girl stared back, white habit dress on full display. Unlike her older companions, she had chosen to go for a set of knee-length heeled boots. A pink rabbit klobuk hung in her white locks of hair, silver eyes split between her companions and the former chosen.

"Watashi wa anata ni 3ttsu o tasukeru koto ga dekimasu ka? (Can I help you three?)" Meiko inquired as guns, a sword and trident were pointed her way. All she did was ask what they needed. Why did this trio feel the need to be so hostile to her? She hadn't done anything wrong… that she was aware of.

"Watashitachi wa anata no neko ga hoshī dakedesu. (We just want your cat.)" the tallest girl announced and inched her katana forward. Meiko let out a gulp, doing her best to remain still. In retrospect, perhaps it would've been better to have just handed the phone to her partner. Not that he would've been much help with conversations.

"Anata wa kare o motsu koto wa dekimasen. (You can't have him.)" Meiko countered and stepped back. Closing the door behind her, Meiko turned to Meicoomon. Having tried their best to scurry under the couch. "Jesumon, anata ni aita gatte iru on'nanoko ga takusan iru riyū o watashi ni kirei ni suru yoi kikaida to omoimasu. (JESmon, I think this would be a good time to come clean to me why there's a bunch of girls demanding to see you.)"

'Jesmon' gulped and took a moment to scurry out from under the couch. Taking a moment to shift out of his meicoomon disguise, in his place stood an armored digimon made out of swords. Closer in size to that of his NX counterparts, he had a feeling that Meiko wouldn't mind.

"Karera ga sugu ni watashi ni todokanai koto o nozonde ita… (I was hoping that they wouldn't get to me so soon…)" JESmon announced and stared at the floor. Shaking his head, muttering escaped his lips. Afterwards, his focus returned to Meiko.

"Korera no tomodachidesu ka? Teki? (Are these friends? Enemies?)" Meiko inquired and ignored the continued pounding her door was getting. Thankfully, the girls outside had not resorted to using their weapon on the poor thing. Her father had slammed far too many times and the whole Meicoomon debacle hadn't done any favors either. Though, maybe that would convince her parents to finally replace the dang thing. She highly doubted it.

"Ryokō nakama wa tomodachi to shite kazoe raremasu ka? (Do traveling companions count as friends?)" JESmon answered and was met with a nod from his 'partner'. Then it's over to the door. The pounding continued, but now lighter. "Wakatta. Roiyarunaito ni naru mae ni, shibarakunoaida, shisutāmon… shisutā to issho ni tabi o shimashita. Sore wa osoraku watashinojinsei de ichiban sukina jiki no 1tsudeshita. (Okay. I traveled around with the Sistermon… sisters for a time before I became a Royal Knight. It was probably one of my favorite times of my life.)"

Meiko nodded and took care to get down on JESmon's level. In retrospect, this was probably the first thing she should've done. But with the people at her door trying their hardest to take attention away from that, it had slipped her mind initially.

"Soshite, watashi no konran ga hassei shimashita ka? (And then my mess occurred?)" she whispered and JESmon nodded. For something that had occurred a couple years, it felt like an eternity ago. So much had happened, bringing with a multitude of changes. The extent of which is well out of grasp of even the most astute of Wisemon.

"Anata wa sore o iu koto ga dekimasu… (You could say that…)" the sword knight digimon muttered and looked towards the floor. For a brief moment, Meiko could clearly make out a sword-shaped tear falling down his face. "Sōdenakatta to shite mo, roiyarunaitsu to no watashinojikan wa kazoe raremashita. (Even if it hadn't, my time with the Royal Knights was numbered.)"

Meiko raised an eyebrow. Beyond Alphamon's attacks and that weird battle with Imperialdramon, her knowledge of the Royal Knights was limited. But what she did know made them seem like the kind of digimon who were less than savory.

"Sore wa anata ga homeosutashisu no tame ni supai to shite hataraite itakaradesu! (That's because you were working for Homeostasis as a spy!)" one of the sistermon announced as a bullet slammed into the door. Bouncing right off, it was only a matter of time before the trio got in.

"Hontō? (Is that true?)" Meiko inquired and was met with a nod from JESmon. Looking towards the ongoing assault on the door, his attention shifted back to the former chosen.

"Mā,-sōdarou. Dejitaru sekai de saidai no nakimushi ni karera jishin no shihei o mota seru koto wa saigai no reshipidesu. (Well… yeah. Letting the biggest crybaby in the digital world have their own private army is a recipe for disaster." JESmon announced and was met with a nod from Meiko. Hard as it was to ignore the sounds coming forth behind them, this was her best option. She was not a fighter. The whole mess with Eosmon reminded her of that. Good of a fight she tried to give in that moment, all it took was a single strike for her to be whisked off to Neverland.

" (Am I at least allowed to tell the others about this?)" Meiko announced as part of the door went flying. Ducking down, the chunk of wood harmlessly passed right over her head. Landing on the couch, it managed to avoid creating further damage for the already wrecked piece of furniture. Looking in the direction of the sistermon trio, she was met with the gaze of the tallest one. "Ē to… onamae o oshiete itadakemasu ka? (Uh… could you tell us your names?)"

The tallest sistermon rolled her eyes. Why did it even matter to this idiot? Once they had gotten JESmon, it was likely their paths would ever cross. At least, in a timeframe that would come close to telling her their names. So what if JESmon had taken the time to sub in for whatever digimon that was supposed to be their partner. The crime he had commited was of the greatest concern. Regardless of the fact that Homeostasis was trying their best to

"Anata no saiaku no akumu! (Your worst nightmare!)" she announced and was met with chuckling from Meiko. What the heck was up with this woman? This was a very serious situation with lasting repercussions. Nothing about this was remotely funny. Unless there was something in play that she somehow was unaware of. Not that she would be surprised. Even with the combined knowledge of the Royal Knights, there were still major gaps in their knowledge. Gaps not so easily filled here. Nor did they seem keen to really fill those gaps either.

"Anata ga watashi ni nageru koto ga dekiru mono wa nani demo Ordinemon no sore ni kanari chikadzuku to wa omowanai. (I don't think whatever you can throw at me would quite come close to that of Ordinemon.)" Meiko countered and waited a moment for her opponent to respond. Just thinking about that digimon was enough to make her shudder long after the event had occurred. Not that any of the sistermon were aware of that.

"Soredewa o mise shimashou! (Then let me show you then!)" the sistermon announced and pulled her katana back. Swinging it at the pair, Meiko took the opportunity to get back. Scooping up JESmon's miniature form, she made a beeline for the far end of the room.

"Sore wa ichigeki no kachi ga arimashita. (It was worth a shot.)" JESmon added as Meiko headed through the back door. Taking the time to close the door behind her, she let her focus turn ahead. Now outside, that made her an open target for the trio. Unless they decided to follow the tallest sistermon through the hole in the door. But that would be silly and ineffective. "Ikitai basho o shitte imasu ka? (Do you know where you want to go?)"

Meiko gazed about the surrounding buildings that made up her family home. For now, their best option was to put considerable distance from the sistermon trio. Which left only one place - her father's lab. For something that was supposed to be hidden, she was fairly confident of the entrance's location. Though, Meiko had Meicoomon to blame for that. If she hadn't tried to kill all those people, then the former chosen wouldn't have been made aware of all the dumb stuff her father and Maki had been doing… for some reason.

"Sō sō. Kono basho. (Oh right. This place.)" JESmon muttered as the building came into view. Relatively plain as they got, one wouldn't think that this place was where all kinds of awful experiments had occurred. The results, buried under rubble and who knows what else. "Anata ga koko ni kite kara shibaraku tachimashita ka? (I trust that it's been a while since you've been down here?)"

Meiko nodded and dug into her pockets. Eventually, out came a flashlight as the pair entered the entranceway. Turning the device on, she shined a beam towards a bookcase. Most of the books had been knocked off by the wind and/or other forces, except for one - Ōrushingusudejitaru no shoshinsha-muke gaido (A Beginner's Guide to All Things Digital).

JESmon jumped out of Meiko's arm and slowly approached. At the bookcase, his arms extended out to meet the book. Grabbing hold, all it took was a light pull for the bookcase to reveal the secret entrance. A set of stairs led down, the landing appearing to be surrounded by a pair of gray metal walls. Done up so as little of the shininess remained on the metal, artificial lights had been spaced out to provide some level of illumination. But after Meicoomon's rampage, the power wasn't quite what it used to be. If there was any at all running through this place. Meiko doubted it, but she had been proven wrong before.

"Sore de, kono basho wa Meicoomon no nōryoku no soko ni tōtatsu suru tame dakedeshita ka? (So this place was just to get to the bottom of Meicoomon's capabilities?)" JESmon inquired and Meiko took a moment to compose herself. That was how it looked when she was younger. But that was only a small portion of the lab. For all the former chosen knew, this place could stretch on for who knows how long.

"Watashi wa sō omoimasu. (I would assume so.)" she answered and tightened her grip on the flashlight. Tempted as she was too to point the light behind them to see if the sistermon trio were close, Meiko decided against it. That was tempting fate at the absolute worst time. "Jōshi wa maki ga nani o shite ita ka shitte imashita ka? (Did your boss know what Maki was doing?)"

JESmon raised an eyebrow. Beyond the few times he had been directly contacted, it was usually through a third party - a rookie digimon or some kind of note left behind. Though, there had been the one time that he got possessed that he swore a figure resembling Homeostasis appeared. But that moment had been so weird he couldn't say for certain that it actually was them. Not yet at least. But he pushed that thought away and shifted his focus ahead.

"Tabun? Karera ga nozonde iru no wa, dejitaruwārudo no baransu o antei sa seru koto dakedesu. Sore o koete, karera wa ki ni shimasen. Dorashiru-ō no fukōna fisutofakku no jiko no nochi demo. (Maybe? The only thing they want is the balance of the Digital World to remain stable. Beyond that, they don't care. Even after King Drasil's unfortunate fisting accident.)"

Meiko came to a stop. There was no way the words that had just come out of JESmon's mouth right now. Did he not understand the ramifications of what he just said? Or was this some kind of strange slang that digimon would use. The former chosen wasn't completely sure.

"Anata ga tatakai o imi shi,… anata ga shitte iru node wa nai to katei suru no wa watashi ni totte machigatte irudeshou ka. (Would it be wrong of me to assume you meant a fight and not… you-know.)" Meiko inquired and got a look from her companion.

"Tatakai. (A fight.)" JESmon answered and Meiko headed off. Jumping out of her arms, he took care in landing on his feet. Once he had, the sword knight digimon made a flashlight of his own appear. Grasping it to the best of his abilities, its light joined up with Meiko's. Now with twice the illumination, the gray walls opened up to reveal what the pair could only assume to be a lobby of some kind. Skeletons laid scattered across the floor, patches of dried blood hanging right underneath. A couple bones looked to be lodged into the ceiling, somehow hanging on well after the point that they had been put into there by Meicoomon or whatever might have been down here. Beyond that, a reception desk had been put off to the side. While no skeleton sat in the provided chair, it was as good of a place as any to check out.

"Kono yōna basho ni uketsuke-gakari ga hitsuyōna riyū ga wakarimasen. (Not sure why a place like this would need a receptionist.)" Meiko muttered, the sound of a sword slicing through an object bouncing across the walls and over to the pair. So much for the distance they had made earlier.

"Kagaku-sha wa osoraku, karera ga iku hitsuyō no aru basho ni karera o michibiku tame ni dareka o hitsuyō to shite imashita. (Scientists probably needed someone to direct them to the place they needed to go.)" JESmon suggested and watched Meiko look over the counter. Mostly empty, her gaze came upon a pamphlet. Grabbing hold, she handed it off to JESmon and pulled herself over the counter. Once she had, Meiko took care to illuminate their find. Seafoam green paper stared back, black letters had been placed right in the middle of the pamphlet.

Project Infuse

The future of Humankind

Opening the pamphlet up, the pair was met with a picture of a large purple avian creature. Just below it, was a picture of a girl. Adorned in an outfit fitting for someone her age, she looked to be in some amount of anguish.

Through the data acquired from Meicoomon, we have made a major breakthrough in the field of genetics. No more will humans be bound to their feeble human bodies. Instead, we'll have the infinite possibilities of digital monsters right at our fingertips. Disease, famine and other maladies will disappear. All without any harmful side effects!

While the words looked foreign to Meiko, the pamphlet came awfully close to falling out of her hands. Looking over to JESmon, what looked to be a massive sword appeared above him. Easily big enough to destroy the entire lab, the weapon floated there.

"JESmon, madadesu. (JESmon, not yet.)" Meiko barked and the massive sword remained in place. JESmon's gaze met that of the former chosen, care taken to decide what words would be used here.

"Meiko, karera wa anata no pātonā o idenshi kumikae ni tsukatte imashita. Kore ga karera ga Meicoomon o tsukatte kami o enjiru koto o eranda mokutekidearu koto ni anata wa zettai ni gekido surubekide wa arimasen ka? (Meiko, they were using your partner for genetic modification. Shouldn't you be absolutely incensed that this was the purpose they chose to use Meicoomon to play god?)"

The words rolled out, Meiko doing her best to not rip the pamphlet to shreds. Perhaps it was best that her parents weren't here. If they had been, her father would've been brought to blows. While she probably would not have won that fight, Meiko would still give him hell. Or something close to it at least. Letting out a sigh, she watched JESmon's sword apparition disappear. Turning back to the pamphlet, the pair's attention turned to that of the opposite page. Compared to the part they had just looked at, this page had the text at the top. Below it, was a picture of a turtle shooting forth a stream of purple liquid. Possibly poison, but neither the former chosen or the sword knight digimon could say with much certainty.

Beyond our labs in Japan and our associates in the United States, Germany, Russia and Great Britain, we will soon be able to expedite the process of infusing people with digital data. In turn, we'll bring about a new era upon humanity and perhaps the stars beyond. Of course, that's relying on approval at the various agencies on top of other factors. Nothing a little money can't fix!

"Karera ga dōtokuteki tachiba o kanzen ni hasan shita koto o shitte oku no wa yoi kotodesu. (Good to know they were absolutely bankrupt of any moral standing.)" JESmon announced as a shot rang out. Spinning around, they were met with the sistermon trio. Shards of wood and glass filled their hair, some of which dropping to the floor and left behind like a trail of sorts.

"Watashitachi wa ima anata o te ni iremashita. (We got you now!)" they announced, weapons pointed right at the pair. For now, Meiko and JESmon raised their hands up. Turning to meet their pursuers, they were met with confused looks in return.

"Nani ka mondai ga arimasu ka? (Is there something wrong?)" Meiko announced and got a shrug from the shortest sistermon. Carefully walking over to the former chosen, she snagged the pamphlet out of her hands. Spinning around, she headed back to her companions and handed the pamphlet over.

"Sā, Big SisNoir to BigSisCieldesu. (Here you go, Big Sis Noir and Big Sis Ciel.)" the sistermon announced and watched them open the pamphlet up. Taking the necessary to examine its contents, unease washed over their faces.

"Kono tsumi dake no tame ni, watashitachiha kono `purojekuto chūnyū' ni kanren suru subete no kono basho o issō shinakereba narimasen. (For this sin alone, we must purge this place of all that relates to this 'Project Infuse'.)" the tallest sistermon announced and brought her sword back up. Pulling the blade back, she was met by an arm put in front of her. Looking to her left, she was met with the gun-toting sistermon.

"Shieru, ryōhō o suraisu shita dakede wa, dokoni mo ikimasen. Dochira mo watashitachi to onajiyōni muchidesu. (Ciel, we're not going to get anywhere if you just slice them both down. They're both as clueless as we are.)" they explained and Ciel focused on Meiko. A sigh escaped her lips, the blade sheathed right after.

"Anata wa ikite iru kamo shiremasen... Imanotokoro. (You may live… for now.)" Ciel announced and motioned for her two companions to come over. Huddling together, whispers echoed about. Sadly, none of it was quite decipherable to Meiko or JESmon's ears. Not that the pair had to wait long to get an answer. "Wakatta. Watashitachiha ketsudan o kudashimashita. (Okay. We've come to a decision.)"

Meiko raised an eyebrow. Glad as she was to not be dead, that didn't change the fact that her 'partner' was at risk of being taken away. After moving back to Tattori, JESmon had been the only one close to her that understood the pain she was going through. Yes, there was also Taichi and her other friends, but they were all back in Odaiba.

"Alphamon wa sono kotae o kiniiranaideshouga, Project Infuse no teihen ni tadoritsuku tame ni, JESmon o dejitaru sekai ni modosu koto o enki suru koto ni natte imasu. (While Alphamon will not like the answer, we are to postpone returning JESmon to the digital world in favor of getting to the bottom of Project Infuse.)" Ciel continued and looked over at Meiko. Met with a gulp, the other sistermon didn't even try to hold in their laughter. "Mochiron, watashitachi ga shiyō dekiru tekisetsuna kyojū-ku wa arimasu ka? (You do have proper living quarters that we may use, of course?)"

Meiko looked away, trying her hardest to remain composed. In retrospect, perhaps death would have been better.

Notes:

Going off of Wikimon, that is in fact how you're supposed to have Jesmon's name. I don't really get it either.