Shattered Light
By: Linkmaste
Author's Note: Now, I'm going to be honest. I loved writing about this group and their dynamics. It's just too much fun and I got to the point where I made Lindy (my OC) pretty flexible and able to mesh into the group. Not that I hated writing about the others-Henry was a blast to write, Renamon was great to use and even Guilmon had a few pieces of dialogue where I laughed while writing. I had so much fun with all of them! Oh, and Impmon is Ian if you all forgot. Just that's his identity in his human form.
Disclaimer: I do not own digimon. I own Lindy, Hopemon, and Ian's concept. I also own Azazel.
Chapter Sixteen: Dumpster Dive
Not a lot of people think about smell when they first wake up. Usually, they first come to and it's what they hear, feel, or taste-like the sounds of voices, or how your mouth is dry. When smell does come into play, you can usually imagine the scent of bacon sizzling, or a vanilla candle wafting in the room. Under normal circumstances, it's a more pleasant smell that wouldn't make you want to cringe. One would not quite describe themselves pleasantly roused awake by the smell of rotten fish, sweat, and excrements. Quite the opposite actually. Alas, that is what Ai, Ian, Lindy and Mako smelled and awoke to. Everything was dark and they couldn't see. The 'ground' was squishy, as if they could fall right through. One hybrid touched something sticky with her hand.
"Ew! Oh, my God-where are we?"
"Ow, my back." Mako groaned.
"It stinks here..."
"Toots-Lindy! Calm down! Ya just kicked me!"
"No! I will not calm down! Not until we know where that jerk sent us!"
It was with the great detective skills of Ai Haruki, that she solved the problem. She stood up and lifted the 'ceiling' to find a bright light burst forth into the darkness. Then, it was clearly seen where the quartet had landed. Lindy was climbing over a garbage bag, looking freaked that she made contact with an unknown substance. She had a banana peel in her hair and dirt smudged on her face. Ian was lying on some more garbage bags, rubbing his chest where Lindy had kicked him. He looked pissed. Her brother, Mako was trying to stand up, but he fell over face first into more open garbage. Ai looked outside and realized that Azazel had sent the four of them into a dumpster.
Upon realizing and shouting her discovery, the hybrids scrambled out, landing on the pavement with a 'thud'. From there, they assisted in helping their Tamers out and assessed the situation.
"He threw us in the freakin' dumpster-wait until I get my claws on him!" cried Ian, trying to pick out the ramen noodles out of his hair. Lindy was trying not to puke from the awful smell, but she doubled over near some garbage cans.
Ai looked around curiously. They were in a back alley of a restaurant in the older part of Shinjuku. She could hear cars drift by, along with the murmur of people walking on the main street. The sun shined brightly-making her squint.
"Sis, what's up?" Mako put a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and made a confused face.
"Why would Azazel put us just a few blocks outside of Hypnos? Wouldn't it make more sense just to capture us?"
"You have a point..." Mako frowned. "We should go back and warn the others-he could be big trouble for our group."
"Let's get our partners." Ai walked over and tugged on Ian's shirt. "We gotta go back to the Tamers Expo at Hypnos. We need to warn the others."
"Yeah, munchkin. I hear ya. As soon as toots over there can keep her stomach from flippin' over. I don't wanna get near that." He made a face at the retched sounds of Lindy's puking.
"Lindy, it's okay." Mako rubbed the hybrid's back, giving her comfort. She had a weak stomach for smells, especially garbage.
The group gathered their bearings and made their way to Hypnos in a light jog-well- except for Lindy who chose to wear her heels. After several blocks of running, the group staggered at the sight Hypnos which was destroyed.
The building was crumbled down but parts of it were stilling standing, barely. Glass was shattered along the one side, looking like something deliberately attacked it. Rebar and metal twisted off-ripped apart. A large chain link fence sanctioned it all off, making it unable to even enter. Even if the group did get by, there would be nothing left in there.
While Ian, Ai and Mako were aghast at the sight, a strange feeling over came Lindy. She felt like she had seen all of this before. The details on Hypnos were slightly different, and something about this place made her uneasy. She felt her mouth go dry and her heart beat rapidly at the sight of the building.
"He couldn't have...could he?" she whispered to herself. Looking around, she went to a bulletin board and found something that made her want to lose her lunch all over again. With shaky, clammy hands, she ripped a poster off the board and ran over to the group.
"I can't believe it! No signal and none of the phone numbers are working." growled Mako, smashing numbers to make at least one call. He tried Suzie's number again, but only the dial tone greeted him. Ai looked pale, horrified that idea of Azazel had hurt all those Tamers and digimon. Ian was suspicious. Just how could all this happen within the time they got put in a dumpster a few blocks away? He looked at Lindy and immediately went over to her-something from the look on her face told him she was not alright.
"Toots, you okay?"
No response. Ian shook her.
"Lindy!"
Lindy shoved the poster into Ian's hands and went over to a clump of bushes to puke again. The sound of her retching made everyone queasy.
Ian was looking at a picture of Lindy. However, she looked thinner and more artificial-like something smoothed her skin, gave her bigger eyes, and plastered so much makeup, it look unattractive. She had this cold stare in her eyes that made Ian feel nervous. In big letters, it read the following:
DIGIMON RUINED MY LIFE. JOIN THE A.D.A AND PROTECT OUR CHILDREN.
Ian was connecting the dots. It made sense why Hypnos was destroyed here, why there was this poster of Lindy, and why Azazel had made that circle before they fell. This was that alternate reality. He ran to his Tamers, giving them the poster.
"Munchkins, we ain't even in our world anymore. That asshole gave us the one way ticket to an alternate reality."
"Alternate reality?" Mako asked. Ai snatched the poster and looked at it. Her eyes squinted in confusion and she made a face.
"I don't get it-"
"-We're in the reality where I never saved you and I was taken to years ago." Lindy leaned against a lamp post, clutching it for support. She felt disgusted to be back here again, after all she had been through. She pushed down the memories of being in the interrogation room, Erika Rose...even when she first met Azazel.
"So, there weren't any Tamers in there?" Ai asked pointing to the building. Lindy shook her head.
"No, that place has been like that for a long time in this world..."
"Are ya sure?" Ian asked.
"Only one way to find out." she beckoned them into a small alley beside a corner store. It was away from public eye. Lindy turned on her heel and closed her eyes.
"Change me."
The command prompted Mako to pull out his purple and white D-Arc. It shined brightly along with the crest of hope tied around Ai's neck.
HYBRID CREST DIGIVOULTION
"Lindy hybrid digivolve to..." She glowed and a young girl emerged. She had short black and white hair with small back horns on top. She wore a matching robe, and silver, feathered wings sprouted from her back. A golden staff with a cross on it appeared to her hands.
"Hopemon!"
Ruffling her feathers, Hopemon stretched. It had been awhile since she was in this form. Her voice changed more child like, with the haunting echo of a older woman. Holding out her staff, she instructed the others to grab on to it. They did, reluctantly.
"Hopemon, are you sure you can teleport us all?" Mako asked. She nodded.
"It's not too far but I don't want to waste time." Closing her eyes, she teleported them all to a very familiar part of Shinjuku park. They were at Guilmon's hideout.
Groaning, Hopemon doubled over, changing back into her rookie Impmon form. Lindy panted, feeling drained and exhausted. She was out of juice. Ai picked her up.
"You okay?"
While Lindy reassured her Tamers she was fine, Ian walked over to the hideout. It hadn't been used in years. The gate was rusted, no bread had been buried and vines were over crowding it. On one side of the small hideout, a memorial was placed there. It was well kept, with fresh flowers and various pictures of Takato and Guilmon. A plaque read their names and their death. He knew that they died in this reality from the D-Reaper trying to have its revenge. Lindy told him when she returned last time, but seeing it right in front of him made it real. Takato and Guilmon were actually dead.
"Shit," muttered Ian, clenching his fists. He took a knee and shook his head. "Shoulda been me-I'm sorry, guys."
"So, what do we do now?" Mako asked, trying to avoid looking at the memorial. He did not want any more thoughts lingering on the death of two good friends. Ai paid her respects sorrowfully, and bowed.
"We need to find Azazel." Lindy frowned and changed back into her human form. Looking at her garbage ridden outfit, she gave a grimace. "And, some new clothes."
The group left the park at a sluggish pace. Unknown to them, someone followed behind, keeping a fair distance away.
Aside from the destroyed Hypnos building and the left over posters of the A.D.A, the streets of Shinjuku didn't seem too different. Mostly the same stores, people walked around, and the weather was actually pleasant. The group walked down the tourist sector, occasionally bumping into clumps of people who were too busy taking photos of the city.
"So, we can't go to Hypnos, since it's destroyed." Lindy walked between Ai and Mako while Ian was behind. Ian stopped now and then to do something, then caught up to the trio.
"How about we go to Rika and Renamon?" Ai asked. Lindy shuddered.
"I'd rather not. Last time, they beat me up and tied me to a chair. I'm not going through that again."
"Okay, how about our counter-part's place? They can help us." Mako suggested. He looked back for a second to see Ian nearby a cluster of tourists, then walking away swiftly, pocketing something.
"I'm not quite keen on paying Beelzemon a visit. Last time, he held his gun to my face and the other half of the time, he was drinking."
"So? Not that much different from our partner." muttered Ai, who glanced back as well to see Ian putting something in a mailbox and striding off towards them. She ignored the hybrid.
"What about your home?" Mako gasped. "You said you lived in a nice mansion. Maybe the other you can help us."
"Mako," Lindy gave a frustrated sigh and stopped walking. "You don't understand-" She bit her lip. "-the other me isn't like me. She doesn't want any part in digimon or hybrids or anything in-between. She's just this...'woman'."
"She has to be connected with us just a little." protested Mako, throwing an arm out. "We're your partners, we were meant to be together!"
"But in this reality, I was just your babysitter! Ai turned into a hybrid-not me."
"Which would be cool to see." Ai gave a grin. Not that it was the most appealing thing in the world, but the idea of changing into a digimon would spout endless possibilities for the child. Flying, shooting fireballs, advanced speed and strength-it was like being a superhero!
"Ai, you saw how much I lost by becoming a hybrid-not that I ever regret becoming one-" Lindy hastily added and put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "It's not all cracked up to be, trust me."
"Look, can we get some grub and clothes? I'm tired of makin' people run away from us." Ian complained as he stretched his arms to the sky. Lindy narrowed her eyes.
"We don't have any money."
"No problem." He took out a wad of cash and made the twins widened their eyes. "Took care of that."
"Ian, were you pick pocketing?" asked Mako disdainfully. He noticed the hybrid going to and from people with an imp like smirk, but he didn't think he was actually stealing. Ian started to count on his fingers.
"Uh, one, they were stupid American tourists. Two, we're in another reality-no help. And three, we stink nastier than a Numemon. Stop complainin', let's get some clothes, and eat."
"Still, not nice." muttered Mako, giving a disapproving look. Ian smirked.
"Okay, smell and starve-see if I care."
The group went shopping quickly for a new change of clothes. Twice, Ian had to drag Lindy out of her favourite staple stores that she loved to visit...and were incredibly expensive. She grumbled as she brought herself a cheap pair of light skinny jeans, and a dark blue shirt. Ai gladly went to her usual kind of clothing: jean shorts and a long sleeved shirt. She salvaged her card holder belt and put it on around her leg. Mako and Ian bought dark cargo shorts and shirts. Light purple for Mako and red for Ian. While the group tossed their old clothing, Lindy was holding a small memorial for her Miu Miu heels she loved. They were dirty and the group agreed that Lindy shouldn't wear heels in an alternate reality no matter how good they looked on her.
"Good-bye, Miu Miu." she whispered and threw them out. She found them at a sample sale in Toronto a year ago and got the last pair in her size. Now, she was wearing white tennis shoes.
Mako and Ai carefully made sure their crests were around their necks securely. Ai had the crest of hope Lindy used to wear religiously, while Mako had Ian's crest of life. Since the twins were older, the hybrids decided that they could handle the job of keeping the crests safe.
A diner was across from where they ditched their old clothes and decided to grab some food and think of a plan. Afternoon passed and it was starting to get late. Even though it had been six months since they controlled their hybrid curse, Ian and Lindy felt an instinct to change into their digimon forms when night was arriving. For now, it was better to blend in and stay human.
Inside the diner, the waitress took their orders and tossed the twins some crayons and paper kid's menus. They rolled their eyes at the gesture. Lindy happily took the crayons and started to doodle on the menu.
"I still don't get how this all works." Ian muttered, putting a hand to his head. "How can there even be two freakin' worlds?"
Mako took a blue crayon and flipped the kids menu to the back where it was completely blank. With the blue crayon, he carefully drew a line half way across the page.
"Okay, this is a timeline. Everything that happened before Lindy became a hybrid-like D-Reaper or you coming back to us, is represented by this line." Mako took a red crayon and where the blue line ended, and tapered it off into another line. "This is the point where Lindy got hit with that attack and because of that action, we went into our timeline." Mako plucked the green crayon from Lindy's hand and drew a line going to the opposite way. "This finally, is when Lindy did not save Ai in time. Different outcome, but they can still run parallel to our timeline. When Lindy tried to fix this timeline-it must have reset once Lindy left, making Ai still a hybrid."
"So, why would Azazel send us here?" Ai asked, taking a sip of her drink. She barely held on to the explanation.
"No idea. I'm eleven, not a genius." Mako shrugged.
"Also," Lindy grabbed the purple crayon and drew several lines from several points in the timelines. "The way Azazel explained it when I first met him, was that there were 'constants' and 'variables' each resulting in a different timeline. For example, there could be a reality where I never even babysat for you two. But, I think it's constant that Azazel is here-and in every timeline we can think of."
"And this freak of nature can just go into whatever reality he wants?" Ian looked mortified. That was a whole new level of power. Maybe, Azazel was a God.
"Yes, unfortunately." Lindy sighed.
While everyone ate, the thought that troubled everyone's minds was just how were they going to escape this reality, and stop Azazel? They sky turned dark and by the time the group finished their meal, it was night time. They had no plan where to spend the night and Ian didn't have enough cash to put them up for an hotel room. Ai and Mako kept arguing for the group to try their home.
"Mom and dad can help us!"
"Guys, I'm not even sure mom and dad are even there." Lindy replied, walking into the city. "They could have moved-"
Suddenly, she felt an unexplainable itch in her body. Lindy stopped and looked at Ian for a split second. She opened her mind to him almost as fast as he did.
We got company.
I sense it-let's keep walking. Tell the munchkins to walk ahead of us.
Lindy, without a word, put the Tamers in front of them and picked up the pace. Confused but obedient, the twins kept walking. They looking around, fingers grasping their battered D-Arcs. Any sudden attacks, and the two would be ready to battle.
Can you see it yet?
No toots, but it ain't powerful. Maybe a rookie at best... Ian looked around, trying to spot the digimon he and Lindy were sensing. So far, he didn't spot a single 'mon.
Behind, a small figure crept behind the group, using garbage cans, lamp posts and alleyways to conceal her movements. She jumped on the roof adjacent to the group she was following since the park, where she saw the woman change from that angel and into a replica of herself. What shocked the follower was that she could control it and change back into a human. Plus, there was that boy...he looked so much like him. The digimon stumbled a little and felt her head spin. She was getting sicker with her fever and her body was protesting to stop. She shouldn't be out, but she had to look for him and that one boy looked so much alike...
The digimon carelessly misplaced a step and gasped as she fell off the lamppost. Knocking her head on the sidewalk, she let out a groan. A burst of pain exploded in her mind and everything went black.
The twins spun around, yelping at the fallen digimon. Lindy and Ian gave a look to each other before approaching it, unsure what exactly it might be. Since it was dark, the two could only tell it was a small digimon, the size of a toddler. Their faces changed and with fast reflexes, sprinted to the digimon in concern. Ian was told exactly what the other Ai looked like in her digimon form and there laying on the ground, was her.
She was an exact replica of Impmon, only smaller. Her dark brown fur was mattered and in clumps like she had been in a battle. Her pink bandana and gloves were a little ripped and dirty. A small snaggletooth poked out. Lindy knelt down beside the digimon, feeling her forehead. She gasped and pulled back, shocked at how hot she was.
"She has a fever, we need to take her home-"
"-why did she come all this way-"
"-maybe she saw me change?"
"Who's that?" Ai asked, struggling to get a good look since Lindy and Ian were blocking the view. She stood up on her tip toes but Lindy moved to pick up the fallen digimon.
Lindy presented Ai with the brown Impmon hybrid.
"Ai, meet yourself."
Author's Note: That's right! We're in that alternate reality that I wrote about in Surrender-I told you all that was an important part in the series! Since Impmon used his data to save Ai's life that night instead of Lindy, we still get an Impmon-like hybrid but with different colour schemes and size. It just wouldn't make sense to change her into a Bowmon or a Gatomon. So, that's why I chose that. But, that doesn't mean she has the same digivoultion as Impmon...quite, quite different.
Miu Miu is an actual brand. I have their shoes-they are gorgeous! Oh and that whole theory about alternate realities isn't a tested theory. I picked apart some stuff from Bioshock, mashed it in with some dimension theory, added a little chaos theory and got...well this. For the purpose of the story, we are not going to deep into it-just giving a rough explanation as to how it was possible. Should hold up pretty well in this story.
So, how's Hybrid Theory so far? We're just getting into it, but get's better trust me. I havn't even introduced our group to the alternate digimon and Tamers...that should be fun.