Yay! Updates! Ryo has an interesting background (not to mention complicated…) that is apparently explained in several digimon games that I'm afraid I never played. Thus, I am working off summaries of the storylines of those games and Digimon Wikipedia in order to incorporate it some what. While I won't delve into it greatly, I will try to bring some aspects into my story. Mostly, these few connections will be handled later in my story and even then not much. I just thought I'd let you know this.
Oh, someone wanted to have Mr. Olkowski say more. So here he is finally. Hope you like the chapter.
Kokoro Olkowski glanced out the window as night began to fall. Between the Monster Makers and the technicians, Riley and Tally, Hypnos was still organized and under the control of rational individuals. She shook her head in frustration over her old school mate, Kirai Suzuki. The red-head had always been trouble, but she wanted to turn on an unstable weapon, destroy all the digimon she could with it, and even though that the woman claimed at first that she had no problem with the kids having their partners because of the publicity benefit, her later words demonstrate she held them in contempt and would either break the pairs apart or even destroy those digimon as well. If that monster ever got any real power to try these things, then…
The mother smiled ruefully. That was why the hooded figure had instructed her to come. The mothers of the tamers, the "caregivers to those who care for those of two worlds," had been the ones to "stop the woman who tries to meddle in what she knows not" and kept her from taking her evidence and plans to those in power. The girl knew what she was doing. What was her name…? Mei Matsuki had said it right before that idiot Suzuki arrived.
As she tried to remember, the elevator binged as it arrived at the floor again. The doors slid open.
"A note?" a voice asked suddenly. She turned to find her husband coming off the elevator. He didn't look so much angry as exasperated. "Our children vanish again, you run off to this government building, and all I find when I get home is a note? This is a little unnerving sort of thing to come home to after a long day at work."
She sighed, "I'm sorry, dear, but I had to come and help get a handle on events. Kirai Suzuki was here causing problems."
"That girl from school?" he asked confused. "The annoying one?"
She nodded, "That's the one. She was trying to take over Hypnos and just ruin the world in general during Yamaki's absence."
"So, not only are the children missing, but so is the man in charge here," her husband summarized slowly. He sighed softly, resigned to the events unfolding before him. "What can we do to help?"
Kokoro considered. Neither of them was gifted enough with technology to assist the Monster Makers in monitoring equipment or trying to discover what had occurred with the second group, the group with her children, had vanished. Rumiko Nonaka's fame and experience with media of any form could handle any public relations that may come up. The Matsuki couple, especially Mei, were experts at multi-tasking and managing chaos, this experience gained both from running their business and raising their son. Those two might have little practice with large numbers of employees, but they were working well at organizing the parents and Monster Makers along with the other Hypnos members into a manageable system, the wife's strong personality forcing stubborn government agents to obey civilians without question. Others took care of the remaining children, the two eldest Wong kids and Masahiko Katou, and generally helped out as best they could.
Still, they needed a way to help. Some role only they could fulfill. As a housewife, her skills that could be applied here were limited. Her husband's job, however, held possibilities. Though his generally laidback nature seemed opposed to his career choice, he was highly successful at it. And even if Suzuki's initial assault to crumble Yamaki's empire had failed, Hypnos was still vulnerable to human attack. If she or another returned, they needed a reliable defense.
"Well, Mr. Olkowski," she smiled to her husband mischieviously, not realizing how much Impmon must have rubbed off on her. "It seems that we find ourselves in need of your skills as a lawyer. Think you can examine the various contracts and rules of Hypnos to find a defense against the government? Specifically, anything to keep another, outside force from taking control?"
He smiled back, "I'm sure I can find something, Mrs. Olkowski. After all, how can I fail with such a lovely assistant?"
The married couple stepped away from the window, leaving the coming stars behind to twinkle like diamonds. Both silently wondered if their children were safe, but remained focused as possible on their coming task. Worrying would not help anyone and it would be easier to remain busy. They could help Hypnos, so they would. They would do what they could and hope for the best for those they loved.
The darkness came more quickly than expected. This doesn't mean they simply lost track of time; it literally meant that it turned dark abruptly. Yamaki was startled as the transition from day into night took only a few seconds. Not that there had been any obvious source for the earlier light to begin with. The digital sky lacked a sun, a moon, or any stars. Only a representation of Earth and pink beams of light decorated the sky.
"Oh, is it bedtime now, Mr. Yamaki?" asked Suzie, blinking in the darkness.
The man removed his shades carefully and glanced around. Nothing but trees, bushes, and other plant life in sight. They had yet to encounter any hostile digimon and it was making him nervous. From what he had heard and assumed, the digital world was filled with digimon who lived by the law of the jungle and he had expected danger at every turn. The lack of problems so far, other than being separated, was unnerving.
Calumon, rarely one to be bothered by anything less than a real threat (and then, only a little), laughed lightly and launched himself off his favorite perch (Yamaki's head) to fly once more. Suzie, the young girl's legs tired from walking all afternoon, was currently on the adult's back, her arms wrapped around his neck and Lopmon on her back. For a man who possessed little practical experience with young children beyond his occasional interactions with the other tamers (and Calumon), he was adapting fairly well to Suzie in his opinion.
"We need to find a more secure location before we stop," he explained, somewhat winded from carrying the eight year old and the two small digimon.
"But I'm sleepy," she complained. "I want to stop. Pwetty please, with lots and lots of spwinkles on top?"
"No," he sighed.
"But I wanna stop," whimpered the girl.
The adult tamer rethought his earlier assumption that he was able to handle children. He had given her a logical explanation of why they could not stop and she responded by reasserting her desire. The older children would have accepted his reason, or at least tried to find a logical compromise, but she didn't. If she could not be reasoned with logically, he had no choice but to try his more "Calumon-proof" arguments.
"We can't stop here," he informed her.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because I say so," answered Yamaki, cringing that he was forced to fall back on this flimsy excuse for someone other than the tiny digimon.
The child was silent for a moment before muttering, "Okay."
"Yay!" shouted Calumon, gliding towards them once more. "I found pretty flowers. They're really nice."
"Calumon, we're not here to pick flowers," Lopmon reminded him. "We're here to find Ryo and his partner."
The tiny creature smiled, "But they're really big flowers. And they talk too."
"'Talking flowers'?" Yamaki raised his eyebrow, wondering if this was just another common feature of the digital world or if Calumon's strange imagination was getting worse.
"Floramon?" suggested the brown rabbit. "They're plant-like digimon that look like flowers and we're looking for their village. Did they have red petals?"
"Yep!" Calumon answered. "And they're coming over now."
"What?!" asked a shocked Yamaki, but the strange digimon were already arriving.
"Now, to regain my past power I need to absorb data of other digimon," DemiDevimon explained as the trio camped out in a shallow cave. "But until then, I'm too weak to defeat any but the most defenseless digimon. You two, though, have the ability to win. So you'll help me out by being the muscle while I'm the brains."
Monodramon tilted his head, still uneasy with their new companion, "You want us to kill random, innocent digimon so you can benefit?"
"Of course not," the bat smiled. "I'm not cruel. I'm doing this to help. We have to stop those traitors, don't we? The ones that killed you and weakened me? Besides, I've done a little… research. Rather than butcher innumerable innocent digimon, I've selected a few key ones that should result in the best outcome. And these digimon are better off gone anyway."
Ryo raised an eyebrow, "So we'll only be hurting evil digimon?"
"Evil, vicious, dangerous digimon that are almost as bad as those tamers," confirmed the virus type. "First up is a jerk named 'Vilemon.' So get your rest. He's a champion after all and mean."
DemiDevimon fluttered out of the cave and up to the shadowy branches of a nearby tree, apparently to sleep. The boy and his partner were left alone together.
Ryo sighed, "Do you think we'll ever remember our pasts? Before the tamers killed us?"
"I don't know," answered the purple reptilian creature. "I'm not even sure we can trust him."
"But he was right about my D-arc and he explained why I'm not like any digimon," pointed out the human.
"Yeah, but he also said your species are monsters," argued Monodramon. "I can't believe that."
"Maybe they are," snapped Ryo. "But DemiDevimon apparently thought some of us aren't beyond help. Even after some of the tamers betrayed him and us, he still trusts us. Why can't you trust him?"
The digimon stared at his friend for a moment before answering, "I don't know. He just feels… wrong. I can't explain it. Maybe I'm just paranoid."
Sighing, the boy patted his head, "No, it's alright, Monodramon. You're usually really smart about stuff. I shouldn't have been so uptight. If you think there might be something wrong, maybe there is. We'll be careful and if we have to choose, we'll stick together. No matter what DemiDevimon says."
With a smile, the smaller creature curled against his friend. As long as they were together, it would work out in the end. Right?
"I've heard of quick transportation, but this is ridiculous," laughed the boy, leaping in and out of the connector again.
"Kazu, I really must protest…" tried his metallic partner as the human vanished and reappeared once more.
The tamer grinned, "Live a little, Guardromon. This is cool."
There were an assortment of levels that varied drastically in appearance and rules in the digital world. And the connections between them were just as unique. Some were spiral staircases or bridges. The one his digimon had found was a tall stone arch that, if you stepped through it, took them to the black-and-white, oddly crooked, empty town. Going back through returned you to the desert-y wasteland. The hat-wearing youth had been leaping back and forth for several minutes.
"I understand that you are enjoying yourself," Guardromon explained, "but night has fallen and we should find shelter before long. You need to sleep before we continue searching for our companions."
Kazu started to argue, but was interrupted by a yawn. The boy grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. He did feel a little tired and they were in the digital world on a mission. They needed to keep their strength up if the pair wanted to pull off any cool heroics in the future.
"Don't act like you wouldn't appreciate a nap too, buddy," the boy teased gently. "I'm sure one of these weird, lop-sided buildings has a bed or two."
Suzie thought all the flowers digimon were really pretty and they had been nice. They lead all of them to a beautiful lake in the middle of the forest. On the banks was a small village with even more flower digimon. Lopmon and Mr. Yamaki seemed a little nervous, but Calumon was having fun. Maybe Henry was…
The young girl pulled her mind away from her absent older brother. She was a big girl now and that means she could take care of herself, right? And everything would be alright because there was a grown up with her. So there wasn't any real problem, right?
One of the pretty flower digimon, Floramon smiled at the new arrivals. Suzie smiled back and waved.
"I assume you have come seeking Ryo and Monodramon," she sighed. "I'm afraid that they are missing. We don't know where they've gone."
"Wyo's gone? Still?" asked Suzie sadly.
While he wasn't her brother, she liked the older boy and wanted him back. And everyone said that they would find him soon, but they still couldn't find him. She wanted both Ryo and Henry back soon. She and Lopmon would find them.
Floramon nodded slowly, "Come inside and I'll try to explain better."
The scenes kept changing and nothing made sense…
…He was standing beside a dark, powerful creature. He could feel the fury from the digimon. Cyberdramon, his mind identified. The boy held out his blue D-arc, creating a whip of light…
…Figures, some similar in shape to Ryo, surrounded him. Humans. Ryo smiled at one with red-hair standing with a yellow fox-like digimon. Just as before, a name appeared at the girl's appearance. Two names, really. Rika and Wildcat. The others seemed familiar as well, but before he could recall their names…
…A different place. The sky was blue and there was a yellow circle giving off light. Tall, rectangular buildings, like the buildings of the village, only larger, reached upwards. Closer to the ground, strange contraptions with black wheels rolled by. Humans seemed to be inside these cars. Is this the human world? But…
…More really tall buildings surrounded him, but some kind of pink blobby substance is covering them. The stuff seems dangerous. D-reaper, his mind whispered. Other beings were nearby. A large green one, a yellow one holding a staff, and a red one with a cape that looks like a knight. Then Ryo noticed he wasn't even in his own body…
…A fainter, fuzzier image. Something large and powerful is before him. An enemy. One that keeps returning and only he can stop. Unlike the other strange places, this time, the boy couldn't even make out where he was or what his enemy was. It was more of a feeling than anything. He just knew that there was no escape…
…Ryo was in the strange/familiar body again. Justimon. Smaller shapes, some digimon and some human, lay helpless. A dark, red-eyed creature with too much power stared at a girl with a brown and pink digimon. Ryo was already hurt, but know he has to help her…
…He was looking at a boy. The boy was wearing yellow goggles and was standing beside a dinosaur-like digimon. Ryo knows these two, but can't remember how. But he has known another boy who had goggles and a dinosaur, but that was even longer ago. Maybe it never even happened…
…The dark presence, the one he knows and doesn't know, is back again. It always comes back. Every time, it is stronger and worse than before, but now he can't recall him at all. No face, no name, nothing except a feeling. But Ryo watches as the mystery something, the thousand year monster, becomes Monodramon and Monodramon becomes it. The monster becomes his friend and his friend becomes the monster. When it stops, he doesn't know who it is that he sees…
Ryo shot up, awakening instantly. It is still night in the digital world. Monodramon is still curled up at his side. The strange, disconnected fragments of his dream float through his mind even as his breathing calms.
Were they just dreams that had been odder than usual? Or were they memories of his life before? Some were easier to recall, but those dealing with the thousand year monster were already fading away. For once, the boy had to ask, "Who am I?"
What do you think? Good way to reference Milleniummon? I hope you liked it and that you keep reading. Thanks!