DATS HQ, August 18, 2006, 10:47
Commander Sampson, and Kudamon on his shoulder, watched with mild interest as Yoshino wandered in circles, drifting around headquarters, even literally twiddling her thumbs, and whatever she could come up with to abate her boredom.
While the ferret-like Digimon had raised an eye-brow in mild concern at Lalamon's innocuously-voiced offer to 'push her off a roof and see if that would help', as Yoshino had not responded overtly to it, he assumed it to be nothing more than harmless banter.
Though he would still recommend a psychological evaluation to Sampson later...
The quietude of the monitor room ended abrubtly, with a blaring alarm. "Area E-38!" Miki exclaimed.
"And it's not showing up in our files!" Megumi shouted, and after typing various commands into her key-board, the image of the Digimon in the uptown area flickered to life on the screens.
It's main body was faintly grayish, and covered in dark-purple armor. It's head was covered by a helmet similar of that of GeoGreymon, right down to having similar markings on it's sharply-curving horns. A laser-projector was embedded in it's chest, alive and pulsing with emerald energy.
What passed for it's arms were several spindly cables wrapped together tightly, leading into a large, armor-plated hand with five maroon-colored sharp and long claws.
Sampson could only agree with his subordinate, while Kudamon recognized the Digimon-species all too well, remembering the previous horrors committed by one in another world, and the pivotal events that followed, both in that world, that Digital World and the wider multiverse.
"No..." The ferret-digimon whispered in abject horror at the sight, unnerving Sampson slightly as his companion was generally calm and collected. "Sampson, we must bring together the entire DATS team!" He spoke with a mild tremble in his voice. "Though even then, we would truly need a miracle to survive the current crisis..."
Sampson wasn't altogether certain what about this new Digimon had gotten the ferret so worked up, though he trusted his partner's judgment. "Yoshino, see if you can get a hold of Marcus and Agumon! Failing that, get people to safety! Once that's done! Thomas, you go on ahead and hold off that thing until Yoshino gets there!"
"Yes sir!" Thomas responded sharply, leaving Gaomon in tow.
"I'm sorry, sir, I've tried calling Marcus a few times, but he's not responding," Yoshino sheepishly replied to his unamused gaze.
...
...
Tokyo, the Arakawa-prefecture
Thomas and Gaomon arrived quickly, to nothing but devastation.
It looked almost as though an earthquake had struck, and in a way, one had.
The street they were on was cracked in various places, the windows of the surrounding building were shattered, several cars had been crushed under the Digimon's feet, and one skyscraper seemed on the verge of collapse, while another skyscraper already had snapped in half, the upper part having crashed down on a few nearby houses. Thomas preferred to estimate the death-toll at several hundreds...
After exiting the car, Thomas looked around, horrified at being too late to prevent it, while Gaomon looked around for the perpetrator. "How...?" Thomas whimpered. "How could this happen...?"
"I don't know, Sir..." Gaomon whispered, his head hung in shame. Suddenly, he jerked his head back to his partner, having heard a sound he'd thought he'll never hear, and saw Thomas falling to his knees, sobbing.
"We were supposed to keep people safe!" He yelled. "And if we can't prevent hundreds of people from getting killed by a single Digimon, then what damn good are we!?"
Gaomon didn't respond, not having an answer. After a lengthy, awkward pause, Gaomon finally spoke. "We cannot bring them back Sir, but we can still avenge their deaths. Please, Sir, come on..."
Though his sobbing had ceased, Thomas didn't respond, instead hanging his head in shame, staring blankly at the ground.
Suddenly, another DATS car pulled up next to Thomas and Gaomon. Out of the car stepped Yoshino and Lalamon.
"Is Thomas okay?" Lalamon exclaimed, noticing the unresponsive teen. Gaomon shook his head. Before anyone else could speak, the ground trembled, and Yoshino really hoped that this didn't mean what she thought it did.
Her worst fears were comfirmed when from around a corner, the Digimon, standing at 25 meters in height, appeared. "Good..." Thomas growled, as he got up. "DNA: CHARGE!" He exclaimed, pulling out his Digivice and snapping his fingers, coating his hand in bluish-white crackling energy.
Next to him, an energy-field spread over Gaomon, from head to toe, changing his form from a mildly short biped to a large lupine quadruped. "Gaogomon!"
"You too, Lalamon!" Yoshino shouted, holding her Digivice. "DNA: CHARGE!" Similar to Thomas, her hand was covered in purplish-white crackling energy.
Lalamon's body was likewise changed by the energy-field radiating from her body, the bud-Digimon replaced by another whose body was largely leaf-green, sporting a pair of large dark-green leaves as make-shift wings. Her cream-colored head was adorned with yellow petals. "Sunflowmon!"
Gaogamon released a gust of wind from his maw, while Sunflowmon's petals lit up brightly. Their attacks hit the Digimon's head directly, though the manic glint in its eyes did not waver even minutely.
"No effect at all..." Yoshino whispered, shocked. No matter how powerful that thing was, Sunflowmon's and Gaogamon's attacks together should've inflicted some damage.
"You can't fight a Mega-level with a couple of Champion-level Digimon!" A voice called out behind her and Thomas. When they turned, they saw a girl with soft-maroon hair and eyes, wearing a pale-grayish brown shirt, light-brown jeans, a belt with a square leather box attached and a pair of pink sweat-bands on her wrists.
Next to her was a long-eared chocolate-hued rabbit-like creature, with a bashful, somewhat wary expression on it's face.
Thomas sharply told her to get the civilian to safety and Yoshino moved to comply, before he could fully register her statement. "LOPMON!" The girl declared, earning a quick nod from the rabbit.
"We have to get you out of here! It isn't safe-" Yoshino began. However, the girl cut her off, by sliding what seemed to be a trading card through her Digivice-like object, somehow causing the rabbit to Digivolve.
"No DNA Charge!? How is that possible!?" Her bewilderment was quickly forgotten, as the rabbit turned what appeared to be a judeo-christian angel, interspersed with elements of the rabbit's form.
Even the other Digimon seemed surprised at this turn of events, which was only magnified by the rabbit-angel charging at him, grabbing hold of his head with it's left paw.
"Foolish Digimon who would wantonly slay hundreds..." The angelic-being smirked with a cruelty ill-befitting the loving innocence and compassion it seemed to radiate. "SHALL BE PUNISHED! TERMINAL JUDGMENT!"
Yoshino and Thomas watched with awe, shock and horror as arcs of crimson lightning erupted from the angelic-rabbit's paw, streaking down the other Digimon's body, regressing it almost instantly to a Digi-Egg.
Her own energy almost entirely depleted, Cherubimon reverted to Lopmon, barely registering her fall...
Suzie rushed to her partner, catching her before she could hit the ground, while Yoshino went for the Digi-Egg
"Now that the battle is over, we have a few questions for you," Thomas cordially spoke. "Firstly, who are you? And why are you in unauthorized possession of a Digimon? Should I find your answers unsatisfactory, I will have to erase your memory, and return the Digimon where it belongs."
The girl succinctly responded that her name was Suzie Wong and that Lopmon was her partner. Thomas grumbled as he pulled out his eraser.
However, before he could activate it, Gaomon's gloved hand covered it. "I cannot in good conscience allow you to act so rashly, Sir."
Thomas sighed, placing it back in his pocket. "Perhaps you have a point, Gaomon. Miss, we will have to bring you back to DATS for questioning."
Suzie figured that the less she let slip about the Digimon Savers season, the better, so feigning ignorance about DATS seemed wise. "What's DATS? Is that like the Hypnos of this world?" They gave her clueless stares, so she decided to clarify it for them. "Is DATS a government agency that manages Digimon traffic to and from the Digital World?"
Yoshino blinked; that description summed up DATS's purpose fairly well, but how could this girl possibly know anything about that sort of situation?
"What is Hypnos?" Lalamon inquired.
"The government agency that I work for... Well, 'with', technically, but pretty much for," She replied without a hint of irony, earning her disturbed looks from Yoshino, Gaomon and Lalamon.
"You're only a child..." Yoshino whispered. What sort of desperate or depraved organization was this 'Hypnos', that they would employ children to fight their battles? Certainly, the people on the DATS were young as well, but they were fourteen at the youngest, and she couldn't be more than ten.
...
...
DATS HQ
Marcus was bored out of his skull. Once school had ended, he was summarily called to DATS, to cover for Thomas and Yoshino. Suddenly, the doors slid open, which did nothing to relieve his boredom.
"Yoshino, Thomas, this is highly unorthodox!" Sampson roared, as they walked into the facility, before noticing the girl and the Digimon, reasoning that they had brought her in for questioning.
The DATS facility was quite unlike Hypnos, Suzie immediately noticed. While both were certainly high-tech, the Hypnos-atmosphere was considerably more dark and off-putting, compared to the emerald-green walls and bright lights of the area.
"Is something wrong?" Yoshino and Lalamon asked, mildly concerned, noticing the girl's surprised expression.
"Nothing... DATS is just a lot different than I expected... Less moody, for one thing..." Suzie replied.
"Fascinating..." Thomas drawled. "Now, I believe that it's time for you to start giving us some answers. Where did you obtain that Digimon?"
"The Digital World, when I was seven," Suzie replied without missing a beat.
"Putting aside that technology is required to reach the Digital World, were you aware that possessing a Digimon without the sanction of DATS is a serious offense?" Thomas shot back.
"Dude, until a few hours, I'd never even heard of DATS, so I don't really care what DATS has to say; Lopmon's my partner, and you're not separating us!"
"We'll be the judges of that..." Thomas disdainfully spoke.
"Oh, really?" Suzie gave a wide grin, unnerving Yoshino and Lalamon. "I saw your fight with Diaboromon, and I don't think that any of your Digimon can go higher than Champion. Lopmon here, however, can go all the way to Mega, if need be. So I don't think you're in any position to judge anything."
Thomas had just about had it with the girl's obstinate and loudmouthed attitude, while Marcus found it hilarious that someone actually talked down to Thomas and could seemingly back it up.
"I've got a few questions too," Yoshino interjected, hoping to keep a fight from breaking out, which Thomas seemed to be the only one interested in. "Such as, how were you able to Digivolve your partner without a DNA Charge?"
Marcus, Agumon, Sampson and Kudamon gave Yoshino a mildly skeptical look, wondering whether they'd heard her right. A human not using a DNA Charge to digivolve their partner was impossible, so why was she asking such ridiculous questions?
"In my universe, we don't use the DNA Charge for that," Suzie answered, earning her further incredulous look. "In fact, this is the only universe I know where it's even used.
"Of course..." Thomas snorted. Parallel universes? Did she actually expect them to fall for that? "Suzie, parallel realities doesn't exist-"
"SUZIE?!" Kudamon exclaimed in shock at the mention of the name. There were certainly a similarity between this girl and that legendary Tamer, partnered to a Deva, that supposedly had been lost in space and time long ago, but could it actually be? "Suzie Wong?"
She nodded in confirmation, and much to everyone else's surprise, he gave a soft chuckle. "We welcome the lost Tamer." The ferret humbly addressed her, giving a small cordial bow.
There was a mild pause before anyone spoke again. "The... Lost Tamer?" Yoshino asked dubiously. "Why did you call Suzie, 'the lost Tamer'?"
"Because that is what I know her, that fabled girl that without hesitation faced ZeedMillenniumon during his brief resurgence centuries ago, as..." The ferret whispered in awe, deciding for good measure to keep the detail of him being a Royal Knight to himself.
Agumon, Lalamon and Gaomon collectively gaped in disbelief. Had Suzie actually faced that evil god of time and lived? He was nothing but a myth, or he was supposed to be anyway, Gaomon noted. She did not seem that impressive, but looks could be deceiving.
"What do you mean 'centuries ago',?" Suzie questioned, her face contorted in confusion. "I've only been gone for a couple of days; how could it be centuries?"
"Ah, well..." Kudamon nervously began, trying to think of a plausible explanation that didn't involve him being a Royal Knight. "Perhaps that particular legend has simply been distorted on it's passage from world to world?"
"Maybe," Suzie shrugged, not even believing him in the slightest. It was readily apparent he was hiding something, but she saw no reason to pry.
"Have you actually fought the legendary ZeedMillenniumon?" Lalamon shyly asked, deeply honored to be in the presence of someone like that. "Does that mean that that other myth, the one about the human who fought ZeedMillenniumon for the fate of the multiverse, is true too? The human who could supposedly travel to other worlds and realities as he pleased?"
"Well, Ryo Akiyama is real, but I've never heard anything about him being able to travel between dimensions, sorry," Suzie replied, dismaying Lalamon somewhat.
"Come on," Agumon laughed. Lalamon and Gaomon stared in annoyance at him. "You expect us to believe that both the stories about ZeedMillenniumon, and the Brave Tamer are real? What's next, that your partner is a Deva?"
"I was," Lopmon quietly responded, earning her incredulous looks from the present Digimon. "Would you like a demonstration?" Agumon, Gaomon and Lalamon were too stunned to speak, so they simply nodded.
Lopmon gave her Tamer a curious look, and after she'd slid the Digivolution card through her Digivice.
Antylamon soon stood in Lopmon's place, a curious glint in her blood-red eyes. "Still doubt I was a Deva?" She sardonically asked. The other Digimon gave weak nods, and she reverted to her Rookie form.
"If that's all the questions, we need to figure a way out of here..." Suzie said.
"I'm afraid that's not happening," Sampson told her firmly. "You will not be leaving DATS in any way, shape or form."
"Oh, I don't mean out of DATS," She responded with a grin. "I mean out of this universe."
"Wha-" Thomas began but was cut off by the computers acting up, flashing, beeping and some even doing what appeared to be cold-reboots, yet there seemed to be no discrepancy in the power supply.
"Suzie Wong!" A soft, feminine voice cried out from the computer systems, while Thomas hurried to find the malfunction, or even make anything at all work. "We have need of you! Will you aid us?"
"Isn't that always the way?" Suzie laughed to everyone's confusion. "Whenever the great powers of the Digital World need something done, some evil to be fought, they always leave the matter in human hands... Can you send me and Lopmon home, once it's all over?"
The voice hesitated slightly before responding, as if concerned how she might react. "I am sorry, but I cannot. Will you aid us regardless?"
"Of course!" Suzie passionately declared. "We won't leave any Digital World to fend for itself, not when me and Lopmon can help out!"
"... Well spoken!" The voice replied fondly. "Now come, Suzie Wong!"
Before anyone could respond or speak, Suzie was swallowed up by the bright light of the monitors, giving a sardonic, 'wheee', as she went, leaving Thomas, Marcus, Yoshino and Sampson to gape in shock at what had just occurred.
"H-h-h-h-h-h-HOW?!" Yoshino yelled, while Marcus seemed fairly disinterested.
"I don't know!" Thomas shouted back, furiously typing away at the keyboard, trying to locate the origin of the malfunction. "What just happened is impossible!"
"Meh, we've seen weirder," Marcus pointed out. "Besides, as someone once told me, there's no such thing as no such thing."
It was either Arakawa for the FullMetal Alchemist reference or Taito for the Digimon injoke.