Sorry my updates are no longer as quick as they once were, but they should begin to pick up speed soon enough (at least in theory). Events are really picking up, but I also have more characters to address now. You'll see what I mean and I hope you enjoy this chapter. As stated before, the original DigiDestined, Entomon, and a few other characters I've named in the past are my creation. They can be borrowed with permission and people with drawing skills are welcome to recreate any of my inventions, as long as I can view the finished product.
Standing right outside of the school was a collection of adults and strange characters. The largest was a large, purple fox with orange fire flickering around her feet and the tips of her nine tails. Sitting on her back, his hands gripping the grayish-blue and white rope that was tied around her neck, was a young man with reddish-blond hair, glasses, and a navy-blue polo shirt. Next to them, a black-haired teenager in an unnervingly dark outfit stared at the younger group. The nearly-grown boy held a blue digimon with large wing-like ears. On the other side of the large kitsune, a red-haired man in a hat, jeans, and t-shirt grinned cheerfully with an insectoid creature similar to the one currently standing near Guilmon. Finally, a man with sandy-brown hair that struggled to escape from the far-too-tight pair of green goggles stood in front of the group with a round, pink shape that any of the Digidestined would instantly recognize as Koromon in his arms. He seemed the most out of place of them, dressed in a very professional suit with the goggles, but he also seemed the most confident.
"Let me introduce you to the original DigiDestined," remarked Destiny. "Or at least, most of them." She'd followed the group outside in a calmer manner than the others. "Riku and Koromon. Jay and Tsukaimon. Ren and Youkomon. And this is Hiro and Entomon."
"This is what counts as a digidestined now?" remarked the blue Patamon-like creature. "Standards have really fallen."
"Well, you're not that impressive either," Impmon retaliated. "You're a flying pig with the human boy with an obsession with black and spikes. It takes skill to pull that kind of look off, and that kid just looks depressing."
"I'm not…" began Tsukaimon, but his partner interrupted.
"Already causing problems? I would have thought you'd have matured in the years since I last saw you. Too much to hope for, I guess."
"Wow, the kid's grown a backbone. What happened to the little wimp I could push around properly?"
"Hey, Tai-Tai," called the pink in-training. "I found Riku. We're back together and ready to save the world again."
The spiky-haired youth smiled in amusement at the first digimon he'd ever encountered, "That's great, but I've been meaning to tell you something. My name's Tai. Not Tai-Tai. And my sister is Kari."
Koromon blinked, "It is? Oh…"
"I heard you took care of my partner for a while," the goggle-wearing man commented. "So, thanks a lot for that. Even if he was a bit problematic as he gets bigger."
Tai nodded, "If it wasn't for meeting him, I'd never met my own partner, Agumon."
"Nice to meet all of you," Jeri greeted, shaking Ren's hand gently.
The reddish-blond man, still seated on the violet vulpine digimon, corrected, "Actually, this isn't all of us. Tammy isn't here. When the girl," he pointed at Destiny, "said she was 'still lost and trapped by lies,' her partner took off to find her. We should have followed, but she said our place is here."
"Guys, there's some kind of weird fog starting to cover the city," shouted Izzy as he ran out of the school, wires still dangling from his laptop due to his rush. He paused momentarily, stunned by the new faces standing outside, but his urgent news forced him to continue, "The reports say anyone coming into contact with it suffers from extreme fatigue, numb limbs, or even pass out completely. No one knows what it might be, but there are theories ranging from terrorist attack to government experiment accidentally released to alien invasion. My theory is this is the work of Diaboromon using Guardian. We need to warn everyone before they try sending in a clean-up crew or hazard team or even the army there to try and handle it. If the blue mist is Guardian, they'll be killed."
"You can't send a mass e-mail to the whole city and hope they check their mailbox in time," pointed out Tentomon.
"Even if most people will try to evacuate the area after that kind of news alert," Hiro remarked, "you're right about needing to let people know what they're facing."
"Mr. Ishida," Agumon suggested suddenly. "He works at the T.V. station. Ask him to broadcast a warning. Can we call them?"
"Better yet," grinned Ren. "Climb on. Youkomon and I'll get you there fast and you can explain in person."
Izzy nodded after a moment and pulled himself on to the back of the champion, "By the way, I'm Izzy and my partner's Tentomon."
"Well, hang on tightly, Izzy," he answered. "I may not look like one now, but I was a bit of a speed demon as a kid."
"Let's see if we can break our record," chuckled the quadruped fox before breaking into a run, Tentomon taking flight after them.
Turning back towards the others, Riku added, "And I guess we'll head towards the source of the problem."
As soon as Willis hit the send button and launched the forwarded e-mail into cyberspace, complete with his detailed suspicions that Izzy could take into account when examining the message, he realized something had been missing for almost a minute. His room was silent beyond the soft hum of the computer. The snoring and off-key humming of his sleeping partners no longer came from behind him.
The blond boy turned slightly. Both of the rabbit twins were staring at his screen, concern clearly evident in their dark eyes. The digidestined didn't even have to ask whether or not they'd read the e-mail he'd just forwarded. Likely, his earlier stroke on Lopmon had awakened him.
"Willis, we have to help them," whispered Terriermon.
He shook his head,"I warned them at least. And they're all the way on the other side of the world. Even if we grabbed a red-eye flight right this second, we have no guarantee of getting there fast enough to help."
"But it's our fault," muttered the brown and pink rookie hesitantly.
"No," the boy stated firmly. "Diaboromon, the virus, or anything to do with it? Neither one of you are at fault. You have absolutely nothing to do with what's happening in Japan. You aren't involved with what's after the Digidestined."
"Or you? He wants you too," reminded Terriermon.
He shook his head, "I'll always be involved somehow. It was a mistake, but that thing will still be my responsibility. If it comes after me, so be it. But I won't let you get caught up again."
His partners exchanged glances, their expressions illuminated by the harsh glow from the computer. They were twin brothers with extremely different personalities and life experiences. In most cases, they would end up with nearly opposite opinions on a topic, though Lopmon would usually demur to his now-older brother sibling. But the pair was clearly united in the current belief: Willis was making a mistake.
"Aren't those digidestined your friends?" asked the brown rabbit.
"Yes, but…" he began to explain.
"And friends are always there for each other," interrupted Terriermon. "They helped you and we saved my brother. We have to help them now."
"… I just don't… want to lose you," the boy finally admitted softly. "That virus, the one who corrupted Diaboromon, turned Lopmon into a monster once. I couldn't stand it if either of you were hurt by my actions again."
"But if we don't try, others could be hurt," reminded the brown rookie. "I spent too many years powerless and unable to help anyone. Don't make me powerless again, Willis. Let me fight back this time."
The blond boy stared at his shy, nervous, little partner. He didn't like to talk about being tainted and controlled by the virus. It was a sensitive topic for all three of them. But Lopmon had raised the subject this time and actually looked fairly confident. Confident and pleading. He really wanted to risk facing the monster again.
He'd failed so many times in the past. Not only did he create the digi-egg on the computer that spawned this entire nightmare to begin with, he'd allowed it to take his partner prisoner, which led to the twins battling repeatedly over the years and for Terriermon to eventually help cause his brother's death. Those memories, those failures, would stay with them forever. After all of this, he owed the two rabbits too much to fail again. He had to do the right thing.
Willis grabbed his digivice from the desk, scribbled a quick note to his mother about attending an astronomy class trip, and scooped up his partners. Both rabbits grinned at him from their new location on his shoulders.
"Do we have enough money for a flight?" Terriermon asked.
"We're not taking a plane," the digidestined hurriedly explained. "I'm going to take a short-cut. But if we're going to Japan, I think I know someone who needs to come too."
The blond teenager gently strummed his bass strings, not really focusing on the sounds produced. Instead, his mind was miles away and years in the past. Specifically, it was reflecting on the changing relationship between him, a girl with hair of an elusive shade of reddish-brown, and a brunette boy who once bore a pair of goggles at all times.
Matt remembered back to the days when he kept his distance from everyone, even his younger brother while still trying to be somewhat protective of his younger sibling. He wouldn't open to anyone and was considered "the loner" by all his peers. But on that snowy day in August, his life spun in a whole new direction. By the time he made it home from the digital world, the anti-social youth could claim a partner and a highly diverse assortment of kids and digimon as his friends.
Still, the most shocking change was how his closest human friend was Tai, the boy who he'd spent the most time fighting with during the entire time they spent in the digital world. It didn't necessarily make sense, but they somehow managed to overcome every argument from the most pointless to the seemingly unsolvable. Now, the rougher edges of their relationship had shimmered down to a friendly rivalry rather than an insatiable blood feud of epic proportions.
Sora, on the other hand, was always closer to Tai than him back in the old days. While the spiky-haired boy's plans were rash and Matt sometimes wondered if he cared at all about anyone's safety, he couldn't deny that Tai truly cared about the Digidestined of Love. Anyone with eyes could have seen the sparks between the pair back in the old days.
But nothing beyond those sparks ever materialized. In the years since they first set foot in the digital world, Sora and Tai never progressed beyond the closest of friends with the occasional moment suggesting deeper emotions. Matt's relationship with her, on the other hand, did evolve and grow. At Christmas time, it became clear that she wanted to be more than just friends. She wanted to have deeper relationship with someone. On the one hand, he knew she would have wanted that type of relationship with Tai once. But, something prevented her or the Digidestined of Courage from trying to form that kind of bond. So she'd reached out to another. Matt knew that could, in theory, make him like a "back-up boyfriend," but she did like him. She was such a caring person, which made sense considering her crest. She cared for others deeply and protected those she loved. He could tell she loved him and he could accept it. If he wanted some girl who simply worshipped the ground he walked on and was completely devoted to him, he had fans that would do just that. Including, at one point, Davis' sister, Jun. But Sora knew exactly who he was, beyond "that guy in the band," and she knew and accepted every flaw that made him Matt Ishida, Digidestined of Friendship. If Sora thought she could be happy with him, the blond teenager was happy to be with her. And if she and Tai should ever begin to rekindle their old feelings… he knew that he would stand aside and let them be together. It was more important that they all be able to remain friends than to argue how those bonds were arranged. But he would pound the brunette teenager if he broke her heart.
His parents had divorced when he was far younger. The fact he was able to reach out to anyone proved that his time in the digital world had changed him for the better. He could have grown to be far more cynical and be completely disillusioned with the idea of love. Since he was able to have a girlfriend at all, it meant his old "loner" persona was truly gone. Did it matter if Sora was with him or Tai? They were both his friends and, as long as they stayed close, it didn't matter what the label for their relationship ended up being.
Briefly, a small thought in the back of his mind presented itself to him. His close friendship with Tai wasn't as close as it once was. Between the band and his developing romantic relationship with the Digidestined of Love, he'd not been seeing as much of the spiky-haired boy as he once did. There were only so many hours in a day and life was busy now. Still, he was the Digidestined of Friendship. If he couldn't make time for his best friend, then what kind of friend was he? After this concert, he needed to find an opportunity to spend some time with Tai. It was summer, after all. This was a time to hang out with your friends and goof off. Maybe they could go watch a soccer game and listen to the spiky-haired youth complain about how he could beat the opposing team with his eyes closed.
Matt smiled briefly, gaining an inquiring look from Gabumon. Currently, the partners were in a cheap hotel room, waiting for the Teenage-Wolves' performance. The band's popularity had grown to a point where they would have concerts out of town and they would rent a few hotel rooms for the group. Regardless of the anti-digimon sentiment growing around them, or maybe because of it, the blond teenage insisted his partner stayed with him while away from home. It was easier to protect the rookie from the stupid prejudices of ignorant people if he had Gabumon with him. Besides, the fact he was a Digidestined never seemed to bother his audience, including love-sick girls like how Jun once was, which led Matt to believe that his band's music tended to appeal to more open-minded individuals.
Setting down his instrument, Matt glanced over at the furry figure perched on the bed near him, "Want to see if there's anything on T.V. worth watching, Gabumon? We have half an hour until our warm up rehearsal."
"As long as it isn't another silly game show," he shrugged.
The blond boy reached for the remote and flicked the machine on. The screen lit up to reveal a man in a very professional suit and perfect hair. Matt automatically identified the program as some kind of news report. He prepared to change the channel, but something the announcer said caught the teenager's attention.
"…unexplained blue mist is spreading across Odaiba at an alarming rate. This mist does not appear to obey any meteorological rules concerning its behavior, moving unhindered by terrain or wind direction. There have been news of power outages accompanying the mist's movements, limiting our ability to learn of any events taking place within the areas already covered. Furthermore, we are receiving numerous reports of people suffering negative reactions from contact with the mist. These reactions are ranging from mild fatigue to loss of sensation of the limbs to loss of consciousness. Reports of possible fatalities are as yet unconfirmed. Officials say to remain calm and avoid approaching the mist if at all possible. While no official order for evacuation has been issued, the roads have become packed since news of this event leaked onto the internet prior to this report. Stay tuned to this station as more information becomes availa-hey!"
The calm demeanor of the news reporter was shattered as a reddish-brown haired teenage boy and a red-shelled insectoid digimon ran into view. Matt felt his jaw drop at the arrival of Izzy and Tentomon on the program, quickly followed by some off-screen shouts for them to get off the set. The Digidestined of Knowledge turned to face the camera and addressed the viewers.
"Attention, everyone currently watching. This 'blue mist' is far more hazardous than you believe. It isn't a weather phenomenon, chemical weapon, or any of the hundred theories that are currently being circulated on the internet. It is a physical manifestation of a complex digital defense program created by a group called the Digital Anomaly Detection and Processing and it was hacked into and activated by…"
"Keep it simple, Izzy," shouted an off-screen voice Matt recognized as his father's.
"Fine, how's this? A government group created a weapon against digimon and now it's being used against humans instead, thanks to an artificially-created, virus-corrupted digimon named Diaboromon. That weapon, Guardian, will kill you if you go near it," he explained, raising his voice to be heard over the complaining news reporter and voices that Matt was willing to bet were security or the camera crew. "You have to understand how dangerous this program could be to you. I wouldn't have ridden across the city on a giant fox at high speed if this wasn't serious. You have to get away from it now. Don't wait for an official evacuation order."
"Time to go," Matt's father called from off-screen. "They're calling for more security and the door won't hold for long."
"Thank you for listening and now we'll return you to your regularly scheduled program," finished Tentomon before the pair moved quickly out of view.
Matt turned to face his partner. If they weren't who they were, the question of whether the concert and his responsibilities to it should out-weigh the simple idea to abandon his band mates to dash back home to provide unrequested help would have appeared in their minds. A normal teenage boy might wonder if his career and fame should take precedent over some old friends who could possibly handle events alone. After all, no one called the hotel to ask for them to return.
But Matt and Gabumon didn't even bother with the insane concept of staying away when their friends were in danger. The Digidestined grabbed his digivice, cell phone, and hotel card key. He'd give the key to one of the band members, like Akira, on his way out and ask them to bring his stuff back home later. While the fans would be disappointed by the abrupt cancellation, some things take precedent over his music career. And while he hoped the band could forgive him, Matt would pick the life and friendship he'd gained as a Digidestined every time.
When a blond boy with two rabbit-like creatures on his shoulder appears on your doorstep at 1:15 am and asks to see your daughter and a computer immediately, you don't necessarily respond that quickly or coherently. While the Tachikawa family had lived in "the city that never sleeps" for quite a while, they did tend to retire early compared to many of the New York inhabitants. Only their daughter might stay out on occasion when some new clothing trend is being revealed at a fashion show or a midnight premiere of a romantic movie. Though her bubbly personality and mainstream outfits might suggest otherwise, she wasn't a real party girl. Thus, Willis pounding on the door at this hour caused the adults to stumble out of bed.
"Why do you need to see Mimi? It's the middle of the night," the bleary-eyed mother asked, her normally fashionable pink hair flat and limp against her head.
"Because there's a problem half a world away," answered Willis. "She'll want to be there."
A pair of head poked around the door, looking at the boy and rabbits standing outside the apartment. One was a brunette teenager in pink pajamas. The blond youth knew that her clothes and hair changed regularly, including a phase where her hair had been cotton-candy pink with stars in their strands. The other head was green with large, black eyes and a pink flower on top. After the events in Colorado, Willis began to reach out to his fellow digidestined and, other than his numerous electronic communications with Izzy, Mimi and Palmon were the older Digidestined he knew the best.
"What's going on?" the girl asked. "Isn't it a little late for a visit? I'm not exactly dressed for company. And I haven't even fixed my hair yet."
"Mimi, there's a problem," Willis quickly explained. "I believe Diaboromon is back and he's after our friends in Japan. I'm going to go help. And since you're part of their team and the ultimate commuter…"
"Oh…" she blinked. After a moment, she glanced over at her two parents and gave them a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it. Palmon and I'll take care of this. It should just be a quick trip. No more dangerous than hunting down a blouse at a sale at Bloomingdale's. Go back to sleep."
Neither adult seemed completely convinced by her words, but they slowly left the children and digimon alone. Before closing their bedroom door, her father gave her one final look.
"Please be careful."
As soon as her parents were gone, Mimi grabbed her shoes from beside the door and led Willis, Terriermon, and Lopmon to her room. Various shades of pink assaulted her eyes on arrival. A bunk bed, obviously shared with her vegetative partner, bore an army of stuffed animals on its fuchsia comforter. Cut-outs from various fashion magazines lined he coral walls. On her desk, next to a collection of make-up and hairstyling products, was a computer. It wasn't the most high-tech model on the market, but it would serve their purpose.
After the events of New Year's, both Willis and Izzy had been working on a far more efficient way to move digidestined than to simply fly around the world at high speed. One theory was to travel through a digi-port into the digital world and exit through a digi-port into another part of the human world. The main problem with this idea was the fact that digi-ports tended to return you to the same computer you entered from. This idea, a side-project to their main efforts to catalog new digidestined, eventually produced limited success. By linking two computers with a very complicated program and synchronizing their servers, it was possible to enter from America and exit in Japan, only stopping in the digital world briefly. Of course, this kind of freedom of travel would give border guards fits. Not to mention put all the airports out of business. They couldn't just let everyone know about it, even if it was just the other digidestined, without risking it falling into the wrong hands, but they wanted to still put it to use. So, in order to test this program and limit its influences, Izzy shared a very user-friendly version with only one person; the digidestined who spent the most time traveling between two distant countries and wouldn't be able to share the program's secret anyway.
"Okay, so click the little airplane icon to activate it," she muttered softly, dragging her mouse across the screen. "And we'll end up at Izzy's house. And hopefully Michael and the others can handle things if anything goes wrong here."
"Isn't it strange that he set it up so you travel between your bedroom and his," Willis teased.
"I'd get strange looks if I popped out of computers at a library or at their school. This is less obvious. Besides, it's Izzy. If it isn't high-tech and complicated, he barely notices its existence," the Digidestined of Sincerity responded.
"Anyway, Mimi still takes a plane half the time," pointed out Palmon. "People get upset when nice girls from other countries arrive without going through customs and stuff like that."
"Still, it's nice seeing my friends more regularly without spending hours on an airplane and spending all that money I could be using on shopping when I get there. Even if I can't tell anyone how I'm getting there so fast," the brunette finished as her computer screen switched to display a digi-port. Once, it would have required a D-3 to activate one. But, the barrier was far more permeable now that so many digimon are arriving to join their human partner. Now, it only took a little knowledge of how to find one and a digivice to gain access. "But this isn't a trip for fun."
Terriermon grinned slightly, "But it'll be nice to see more of the human world again. Since our trip to Colorado, we've barely left New York beyond an occasional visit to the digital world for some reason or another. And now we're headed for Japan. Road trip!"
The first part of his plan was working. The simple form of Guardian flowed easily across the city. But, just as he did when he sent the numerous Kuramon into the world in the past, he had bigger plans for the simple blue mist.
Briefly, Diaboromon wondered how much of his personality was the virus and how much was him. Obviously, they weren't indistinguishable and indivisible since it was only the virus that possessed Kokomon. That was why his memories of that time period were fuzzy. Only a portion of him existed at that time. Who was in control: virus or digimon?
The mega simply shoved the question aside. It didn't matter anyway. The virus gave him far more advantages than a normal digimon would ever have. He was more powerful than normal digimon at the same level. He digivolved quickly, shifting through the levels like a virus mutating to overcome an anti-virus program. He was durable and adaptive. Diaboromon learned different tactics of attack easily, going from his original direct assault to more infiltrative and elaborate strategies. He could manipulate programming and alter its purpose. But, best of all, he could multiply into numerous clones.
With a shift of concentration, he activated the next stage of his plan. Part of the blue mist began to solidify into a familiar shape. Several copies of that shape. Each one matched the shade of blue of the mist they emerged from. Each one possessed the potential to grow in power and they remained unharmed by the draining effect of Guardian. In fact, they drew power from the program. The shapes could easily be described as being a contact lens crossed with a jellyfish.
Diaboromon silently ordered his Kuramon to go forth and spread the influence of Guardian. They would eventually digivolve into more deadly forms and help subdue any resistance the humans and digimon might eventually raise. If he created these obedient clones now, they would be at full power when he turned his attention on the digital world. Besides, his Guardian-enhanced creations would be far superior to any regular digimon. Everything would be destroyed.
Okay, I originally considered showing Izzy's ride across the city and him convincing Mr. Ishida to help him at the television station, but I think that combining it with Matt's viewpoint somehow works out better. And, yes, I am bringing it some more of the Digidestined to the fight. Including Mimi and Willis all the way from America. Having Willis and the twins present just seems right. Finally, the Guardian program and Diaboromon are far more deadly than they at first appeared, aren't they?
Feedback is the nicest way to keep the chapters coming. Or you could pay me… No? Alright. I'll settle for a review.