Duality
Human World
"Surrender this world willingly and we will allow you to become our slaves in the new Hive Order. Oppose us and you will perish!"
Rika just barely resisted the urge to face-palm herself. 'Oppose us and you will perish'?, she thought to herself, who comes up with this stuff anyway?!
"Remind me why we let these guys talk again?" she asked her companions as she pointed at the offending Digimon. Hovering above them were three Flymon, an insect Digimon which resembled a large wasp, with four large wings each punctuated with a glaring yellow eye to intimidate their opponents. Or at least it would be intimidating had they been fighting against first-time Tamers.
"Because it's polite to let them rant for a bit before we kick them into next week, after all they came all this way." Henry reasoned.
"Besides, it's been a while since we've all hanged out together!" Takato pointed out, with his Partner Growlmon fervently nodding.
"Trust you would consider taking down Digimon equivalent to hanging out, gogglehead," Rika teased Takato.
"Excuse me!" One of the Flymon shouted at them, causing the Tamers to face their opponents. "Do you mind? We're trying to make a dec-"
"Yeah yeah, a declaration of war, we know," The redhead put up a hand to the Flymon to shut him up, "You're not the first Digimon with those goals to come to our world. I'll offer this one more time, we can give you safe passage while we discuss your visit here, however world dominance is out of the question. We can provide you with shelter and a place to stay out of the public eye, so what say you to these terms?"
"They are rejected!" the Flymon declared as they flew at the Tamers, "Brown Stinger!"
"Right, here we go," Rika sounded almost happy as she turned to her Partner. "Kyubimon?"
"On it," acknowledged the many-tailed Digimon. Using her powerful legs Kyubimon closed the gap between the Tamers and the approaching Flymon, leaping up and headbutting one of the Insect Digimon. Separating from the pack the fox Digimon jumped off her Flymon before flaring out her many tails, with each tip flaring up with a ghostly blue face.
"Fox Tail Inferno!" Suddenly the ghostly faces turned into fireballs, hurtling towards the Flymon. The insect Digimon was too dazed to react, and burst into particles of data. Rika nods her approval before turning to the other Flymon approaching her fellow Tamers.
"Wait for it…" Takato watched as the Flymon approached closer to him and Growlmon, twirling a card in his fingers and waiting for the opportune time to swipe. "Almost there…Now!"
"Digi-Modify!" Takato called out, swiping the card through the D-Power, "Eagle's Assist activate!"
A large pair of feathered wings materialised on Growlmon's back, and with one thrust sent the Dragon Digimon soaring into the air, high above the Flymon. As he made his descent the wings disappeared but he was already preparing his attack, with the blade on his elbow growing brightly.
"Dragon Slash!" With one fell swoop Growlmon cleaved the insect Digimon in two. Flymon only had a moment of shock before it too dispersed into particles of data.
With two of the Flymon down that left the final battle of Henry and Gargomon versus their Flymon.
"Gargomon, try not to take out the surrounding trees as well as Flymon, will you?" Henry warned his Partner. Even with the enemy hurtling towards him Gargomon still looked to his Tamer in mock-hurt.
"How dare you even suggest that I would do such a thing. I'll have you know I have perfect aim!"
"Really? Prove it."
"Fine!" The heavily armed bunny took a grounded stance, steadying his aim at the approaching insect. The Flymon tried a zigzag approach to throw off Gargomon's aim, but the bunny Digimon already accounted for its movements.
"Gargo Pellets!" Small green pellets flew out of the Vulcans on his arms, hitting true and taking out the Flymon with no trouble at all. Gargomon stood tall and nodded his head at his work before his whole body glowed brightly as he turned back into Terriermon. "Aww, back to travel size," he noted before returning to Henry, who gathered round the other Tamers.
"And Yamaki thought we were rusty as a team," Rika laughed at the idea.
"Like I said, at least we get to hang out; it felt like forever since it was just the three of us." Takato said cheerfully.
"Still, maybe next time we could just visit a café like normal high school students instead of fighting Digimon at night," Henry mused. Unexpectedly his limbs became heavier, and before he could help himself the blue haired Tamer let out a large yawn.
"Someone's clearly had too much fun for one night," Renamon teased, though Rika looked at Henry with both surprise and concern.
"It's only 8:30!" The Tamer told her friend, "Was that battle really that tiring for you?"
"I don't think it's that," Henry reasoned, "But I just feel lethargic, like I've been running for hours."
Guilmon started to sniff Henry up and down. "You don't seem ill," the Digimon gave his diagnosis to his patient. "Would Henry like to see a proper doctor?"
"That's okay, I live nearby, so I'll probably grab an early night," Henry patted the red dragon Digimon as a way of thanks, "If you like Terriermon you can stay out with these guys, though don't come back too late."
"Aye aye, Cap'n!" Terriermon saluted, before Henry waved, turned and headed home.
That night Henry fell into a confused slumber. Sparse images of valleys and a fireplace kept creeping into his dreams, as if hinting at a direction. What are you trying to say?, Henry asked himself, as he walked on the Moon covered in pink bunny ears. Though he was walking aimlessly the world was leading him somewhere, until eventually he arrived in a crater. Down in the bowl stood a pedestal, with something glinting on top, every now and then blinking as the passing light shines on the object, as if calling out to Henry. With his curiosity piqued the young Tamer slid down the side of the crater and approached the pedestal to get a better view. The object appeared to be a locket, in the shape of a crescent moon, with a pink ribbon clasped inside it. Along with the pink bunny ears scattered around the Moon Henry suddenly formed an image of a pink rabbit wearing this exact piece of jewellery, with a long strand of hair and wearing a very worried look on her face.
"Lunamon…" Henry said the name as if it was familiar to him, when suddenly he felt something warm and metallic in his hand. Looking down the Tamer noticed he picked up the locket subconsciously, and with it the images around him started to fall into place. These were not just random images but actual places he had visited in the Digital World, and the pink bunny was actually someone he met when he last appeared there. As the realisations began to sink in Henry felt an all too familiar feeling of being pulled into a long tunnel, as his current dream melted into a blur of colour. Henry tried to focus on the images as they themselves turned into memories.
I appeared at the bottom of a hill, Henry recalled as he flew through this sea of colour, heading towards the bright light at the end of the tunnel. I figured out this was too real to be a dream, when this Digimon, Lunamon, spotted me and ran up the hill. Apparently I startled her so I ran after her when I stopped talking because I met-
"Alice."
The simple utterance of the name unlocked his final memories, as his surroundings hit him with the full force of materialisation. Looking around he appeared to have landed in a familiar room, with a piano in one corner and a fireplace next to him. Sitting up he realised he was on a white faux-fur rug, and he could hear the sound of two people running towards him down the corridor. Henry tried to fix his appearance before his hosts came bursting in, as Lunamon came crashing through the door, Tear Shot at the ready, with Alice quickly in tow.
"Who's the-" Before the blonde girl could say anymore she recognised the boy standing in front of her, and her expression immediately changed. She put her hand on Lunamon to stand down but the pink Digimon was already powering down her attack. Taking a few cautious steps forward she reached out towards him. "Henry? Are you really back?"
Giving her his best smile, the blue-haired Tamer laced his fingers in her's, and gave her a strong confirmation. "Hey there, I told you I'd come back."
Digital World, 2 weeks later
Henry looked out into the horizon, spotting the bank where he and his fellow companions were going to dock. Apparently there's a Digimon who's an up and coming chef and, in the words of Lunamon, "We must investigate the cuisine so Alice can get used to all manner of foods!" Both he and Alice knew this was just a ploy for the Digimon to eat out instead of thinking of something to cook for lunch, but they were still happy to come along.
As they travelled along Henry thought back to how the last couple of weeks have been. After meeting up again a fortnight before he had sat down with Alice in their kitchen, this time transformed into an okonomiyaki-styled seating, with Lunamon grilling everything together for their, or more specifically Alice's, lunch. While the Digimon was happily flipping and slicing ingredients, it gave the two humans a chance to catch up, and learn some things in the process.
"So how long has it been since we last met?" Henry started off.
"Well for me it was only a couple of days. Honestly I didn't think I would get to see you so soon." Alice replied a little shyly, which for some reason made Henry feel warm and fuzzy inside.
"Same here, so I guess time passes the same for both of us."
Alice nodded. "Well I'm glad you still remembered how to get here."
The warm fuzzy feeling Henry had suddenly turned into a stone of guilt. He couldn't look into her blue eyes, and took a moment to try and find the right words, something which didn't make him look like such a bad guy. "Actually…" Henry began, "I didn't remember anything from that night. At least, not initially." He chanced a glance at Alice and saw she looked slightly crestfallen. Crap, way to make her feel comforted, Henry!, he punished himself before continuing, "But it wasn't like you were completely forgotten! I could still feel something happened that night…just the pieces…weren't all there." The Tamer resisted the urge to role his eyes at how corny he sounded. And which romance flick did you get THAT from?!, he scolded himself, She's never going to let you off that easily!
Henry looked at Alice to see her reaction, but it wasn't as sad as he thought it would be, rather she looked as if she was working something out. Could I be in the clear?, the blue-haired boy thought to himself somewhat selfishly, as he waited for the blonde girl's thoughts.
"Maybe it wasn't your fault you forgot," Alice told Henry, and his stone got a little bit lighter at the words. "Maybe you didn't remember because you couldn't. I mean, it could explain why, if the other Tamers come here in their dreams too, they don't talk about it too each other. Maybe your memories only return when you return to the Digital World, like how you recognise me and Lunamon."
"That could actually explain it. Nicely deduced!" Henry smiled at Alice, who returned it in full. After that they sat and talked with Lunamon and each other until he felt it was his time to go. When he woke up the next morning he still felt he left something behind, even though he had no recollection of what it was; but at the same time he felt a bit happier, as if somehow he gained access to a forgotten friend.
A couple of days later Henry felt himself being brought back to the Digital World, and with this trip he noticed something which happens on the Human side. In the few hours leading up to the dream he would always feel sluggish, slowly depleting of energy as if his body was calling him back to his slumber so he could travel to the Digital World; though he wouldn't remember this revelation when he woke up there would always be something in the back of his mind that linked this unusual fatigue to Digimon.
And so began this double life that Henry has lead over the last couple of weeks; one as a normal teenage high schooler with Digimon Tamer duties, the other in the actual Digital World with Alice and Lunamon. Each time he arrived the pink bunny would take them to the different miniverses that make up the World, from the strangely calm forests of the Candlemon to the bustling network of stalls that make up the Digimon Marketplace. Lunamon always tried her best to educate her Human companions about the surrounding area, sometimes with a little help from the locals, which Henry and Alice both appreciated.
Every time he returned to the Digital World Henry could see the blonde girl was looking better; the check-ups from the DigiGnomes were apparently becoming less frequent, to the point that only a couple of DigiGnomes stayed in the house now, the rest flying off to do whatever the Digimon Sovereigns required. Henry always liked coming back to her; just seeing her light up when he visited, how she has a small skip in her step as they visited the different locations of the Digital World, how they always talked as if they haven't seen each other in years. Sometimes the blue-haired Tamer just gazed at her, just taking in all her little quirks; he enjoyed hearing Alice laugh, how she absent-mindedly twirls a lock of hair when she's thinking, how each of her dresses cling smoothly to her every curve…
Henry shook his head fiercely, trying to dispel the images from his head.
"Is something wrong?" Alice asked with a look of concern on her face.
"It's nothing! Really, it's nothing!" Henry waved it off, though he could feel his heart racing. What is happening to me?¸he asked himself, as he stared blankly at the approaching port. I mean, she's just a friend, right? Sure we've been hanging out quite often lately, and she's really great to talk to, not to mention easy on the eyes- Wait, why am I thinking that?! It's not like I feel that way about her… do I?...
"We're here!" Before Henry could resolve his inner turmoil Lunamon pointed towards a quaint little restaurant. It had French-styled exterior, with a Digimon setting up the counter to begin receiving guests. He had a white teddy-bear like body with a green cape and a pumpkin for a head, complete with its own axe. He also wore an apron with a smiling egg on the front, the restaurant's logo, and judging by the activity going on behind him he was just about to open for service. Replace the Digimon with human staff and Henry guessed it could have fit into any other fine dining establishment.
Just as Henry and Alice disembarked, however, the DigiGnome accompanying them suddenly started chirping. Yet it wasn't addressed towards them, but instead towards Lunamon.
"What's up?" Lunamon said. The chirps of the DigiGnome seemed unintelligible to Henry and Alice, so they kept looking between Lunamon and the little animal for any sense of what was happening.
A small smirk appeared on Lunamon's face. "What's this?" Lunamon said in such an overdramatic way it was immediately suspicious, "There's important work that needs doing back at the cabin? A direct request from the Digimon Sovereigns?" The pink bunny Digimon grabbed her long-strapped purse and chucked it at Alice, who caught it out of instinct. "Oh well, looks like WE have to return back home, but there's no point wasting a good meal, right? You two have fun and I'll come pick you up in a couple of hours; there should be enough money in the purse to cover the cost, bye!"
Before either of the humans could react Lunamon and the DigiGnome were already speeding off into the distance, leaving just the wash of their boat in its place. It took a few moments before these actions sank in, both of them suddenly feeling a bit more awkward.
"Did they…?" Alice began.
"Speed off in our ride? I think so." Henry replied.
"So that means we're…"
"Going to be eating together."
"By ourselves?"
"Yup."
"Kinda like a date."
"Yea-wait what?!" Henry spun to look at Alice, who was blushing heavily with her hands covering her mouth.
"I-I mean not a 'date' date, not that I'm saying you aren't date-able, you are very, VERY date-able but I-I guess if you don't want it to be a date it doesn't have to be a date why do I keep saying 'date'?!" Henry found it strangely adorable how much Alice reminded him of Lunamon right now.
After a few more seconds of some untold tension Henry decided to make a move. "Well she did give us money to spend and a nice restaurant to eat at!" He grabbed her hand, causing an adorable little "eep!" to escape her lips and together they walked towards the maitre d'.
"Welcome to Digitamamon's Delights," The head waiter told the human pair. "My name is Pumpkinmon and I shall assist you today. May I ask how many people will be joining us?"
Henry could hear Alice muttering, "When I see you next Lunamon…" The blue-haired Tamer gulped before turning back to Pumpkinmon. "Just us. A table for two please."
Down in the inner most planes of the Digital World there is one location where very few have seen, and even fewer have entered. It is only accessible by the four greatest Digimon and those they choose to grant an audience with, though for the most part it remains unused. Having their own domains to rule over, the Digimon Sovereigns communicate through the DigiGnomes, a simple form of messaging one another for trivial things. Only in times of great importance or peril do they ever convene at this location, known as the Council, and unfortunately for both Worlds another meeting is about to take place.
One by one the four great Sovereigns assembled at the Council, each of their auras encapsulating their bodies, with their DigiCores floating majestically around them.
"What is the meaning of this, Azulongmon," Zhuqiaomon began, his feathers shining brightly with indignation, "You are aware that I, as well as all of us here, have an entire domain to rule over?"
"You know that I would not have called this meeting had there not been a good cause, Zhuqiaomon," the Azure Dragon replied, calmly but firmly. "It concerns Alice McCoy."
The Vermillion Bird gave a derisive laugh. "That human girl? Haven't we already poured enough resources into her? Let us be rid of her already!"
"You know the young lady isn't ready," the left head of Ebonwumon said, the right nodding in agreement. "We are exploring unknown territories with her recovery, and releasing her at the wrong time could be the same as signing her death sentence."
"We may not have that luxury, Ebonwumon," Baihumon addressed his fellow Sovereign, "I have received a messaged from him."
The other Sovereigns focused all their attention on the White Tiger. Over the last few weeks an individual has been gathering strength, and what seemed like a passing wind soon gathered into a rolling storm large enough to catch the Sovereigns' attention. While it only developed in one corner of the Digital World, the Sovereigns were worried how soon it will be before he grows out of their control.
"What did it say?" enquired Zhuqiaomon.
"The messenger simply uttered one phrase: I will find her."
"So the girl was the target all along," Ebonwumon talked to himself, the other head gravely nodding before turning to the others, "And what of the messenger."
"Deleted," Baihumon bowed his head in remembrance, "It was a young Elecmon, who was only spared enough data to give this message to me."
"So why shouldn't we give her to him?" Zhuqiaomon exclaimed angrily, "If this will placate this menace then why should we let our kind continue to die just for this human?"
"Because we swore an oath, Zhuqiaomon!" Azulongmon roared, a feat which was rare, but showed great authority when used. "Have you already forgotten why she is in our care in the first place? We have already used her for our own bidding once; we should not treat her like some tool that can be used over and over again to solve our problems!"
The Vermillion Bird paused for a moment, surprised by his fellow Digimon's sudden outburst. Finally he sighed, and nodded his head. "Forgive me, Azulongmon, I did momentarily overlook why she was in our care." With a new fire in his eyes Zhuqiaomon looked to his fellow Sovereigns. "If we are to indeed take this threat seriously, then we must make preparations immediately."
"Indeed. Her treatment must continue though," Ebonwumon noted sagely.
"Then it must be done while she is moving, it is the only way she can be safe." Baihumon suggested.
"Very well. I will get in touch with Lunamon and inform her and the human of the situation." the Azure Dragon replied, and the Sovereigns nodded to each other before once again separating to their domains. Though they sped off into different directions they were all united; because only by standing together could they even hope of hindering the evil that was approaching across the Digital World's horizon.
A/N: Writing 101: If you you do not wish to delay your story for over 8 weeks plan ahead! This is probably not going to be my finest work but at least the story is finally progressing, and I enjoyed writing Lunamon's little plan for her companions :P Also I am taking artistic liberties with the time jumping mainly because I wish to move the story on, though perhaps in the future I might elaborate about Henry and Alice's initial time together.
The final part of this chapter is the beginnings of our antagonist. Who could it be? I'll let you muse on that until I finish the next chapter, so until next time!