Chapter 7: Dominus Temporis
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Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Also, special thanks to CrazyEight for beta'ing this.
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"Wait, Old Clock Shop Man? What the heck?" Yuji asked, not believing what he just heard Tadashi mention. They were still in the classroom and the blond boy was getting his potential teammate up to speed. Really, he had no idea what Hypnos had planned for him.
"Yeah, really. I don't know who he is or where he came from. All we know about him, we learned from Mizuki," the blond responded.
"So, what's the point of this idiot?" the long-haired boy asked, disbelieving.
Tadashi shrugged. "He came out of nowhere. I looked him up and the only other person who saw him was some American named Marcos Diaz, who said the guy's shop ended up in his backyard somehow and his neighbors who confirmed that. Other than that, there were a few sightings, but nothing definitive."
###
A few weeks earlier, Miki passed out invitations to each of her classmates. She hoped they were all looking forward to her party as much as she was. She put them on each of their desks, smiling while she did so. Of course, she 'accidentally' skipped a couple of them, much to a certain blond's dismay.
"Hey, how come I didn't get an invite?" Tadashi asked, turning toward the dark-haired girl several desks after she skipped him over. The girl's smile went away and she turned around slowly. Why the fat kid wanted to go to her party, she didn't want to know. Then again, she had to maintain her status, and having him over to her house would detract from that.
"Oh, well, I don't know. Maybe because it's a girl's only party," she lied.
"Hey, I'm not a girl," a male classmate contradicted her in a masculine voice since he had received an invitation. Tadashi could have sworn he saw Miki's eye twitch.
"Okay, fine, you can come to my party," the dark-haired girl responded, not liking her decision but giving in anyway.
"So, what do you need me to bring?" the blond asked, excited to be going to an actual party. Of course, his parents would probably object to that, but he wasn't going to let that stop him.
"Well, it's a pool party," Jeri said after giggling for a split-second, causing Miki to writhe at the image of Tadashi in swim trunks. "So, just bring your bathing suit."
"Bring some soda too while you're at it," the dark-haired girl added before turning to her blonde friend. "So, Ayaka, are you doing anything after school?"
"I have English tutoring," the pig-tailed girl replied. "Maybe after that we can get together at my house."
"That would be awesome!" the dark-haired girl squealed.
###
Later on, at the end of their first week of lessons with their tutor, some American intern named Keith Jackson, Ayaka, Tadashi and Taizou received their progress reports. Their tutor had dark blond hair, blue eyes, a bit of a pointy nose and was wearing a pair of glasses. He was also wearing a blue suit which covered up his muscular build.
The American spoke in a somewhat deep voice, though he tried his best to not sound too critical. However, his Japanese wasn't exactly flawless, even though he tried his hardest. "Alright, so far so good. Some of you are definitely more advanced than the others, but don't worry about it. First off, Ayaka, you're doing great. You still need to work on memorizing your vocabulary and working on your pronunciation, especially your 'l's and 'r's as well as consonant clusters and your th's. Don't worry, though. Those are difficult sounds for most non-native speakers." He smiled. "Just keep on drilling those sounds as well as your vocabulary and you'll do great."
Ayaka bowed. "Thank you, Jackson-sensei!" she tried her best to say in English.
"Now for you, Taizou. Accent. That's your biggest flaw right now. Your vocabulary's pretty good. I can tell you've been using what you've learned in Elementary School pretty well. You accent, unfortunately, is all over the place. Don't worry, though, it'll come with time."
Taizou nodded. " I'll definitely improve," he assured his tutor.
Then Jackson turned towards Tadashi. "Now, as for you… How the heck do you speak English so good? I mean, I thought you forgot most of what you learned from Elementary School. Don't tell me you speak a language related to English."
Tadashi scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "Before starting school, my mom stayed at home with me and my brother and spoke to us in German. She even taught us to read in it."
Taizou raised a bushy eyebrow. "What? You mean you're bilingual? How come you didn't tell me this?"
The blond boy sat there with his mouth agape, somewhat embarrassed by his outing. "Uh, you never asked. I think my mom speaks some English too, so she helped me with my homework in Elementary School."
"Well, that's kind of cool. Here I always figured you were half American or something," Ayaka commented.
"Yeah, no kidding," Taizou commented. "Did you ever go to Germany?"
"Yeah," Tadashi replied. "Every year or two my family goes over there to visit my grandparents."
"Das ist sehr gut," the tutor said, scratching his chin. That is very good. "Ich spreche ein bißchen Deutsch." I speak a little German.
"Ja? Mein bruder spricht Deutsch auch." Yeah? My brother also speaks German.
"Sehr schön," the man replied. "Well, that definitely explains your rapid advancement."
Taizou quashed any sense of jealousy. He tried his best to be happy for his friend.
###
"So, how come you never mentioned that to anyone?" the brown-haired boy asked Tadashi on their way down the elevator shaft of the Hypnos building with their digimon.
"Well, before moving to Shinjuku, I was picked on a lot at school for my mixed ancestry," the blond replied, his demeanor downcast. "I guess that ever since then I've tried my best to fit in."
"Dude, that's cool," Taizou responded. "Some people are just idiots and like to pick on others for no reason. Don't let it get to you, man."
Tadashi smiled at his best friend.
"What are you talking about?" Coronamon asked.
"Your partner's half German," Taizou told the lion, ecstatic to hear that. The digimon was a bit confused at that.
"Wait, does that mean he has to take a bath?" Coronamon inquired, not sure what to think about that since his partner forces him to plunge into the tub once a day.
Solarmon took the opportunity to correct him. "No, Coronamon, that means that one of his parents is from Germany."
"Oh! I knew that. Sounds like a dirty place, though," the lion added.
Once again, the gear took it upon himself to correct his friend. "On the contrary, it doesn't come from the English word for bacterium. It comes from the Latin word Germania, their name for the tribes that inhabited the area north of the Roman Empire."
"Wait, Solarmon, how do you know all that?" Taizou asked in awe.
"That's sooo cool!" Tadashi exclaimed at the digimon's knowledge.
The lion still had a few questions. "Okay, so how come the Roman Empire spoke Latin? Shouldn't they speak Romanian or something? Shouldn't it be called the Latin Empire?"
"No, Romanian is the name of a language spoken by one of the successor states," Solarmon explained. "The empire was named after its capitol which was a part of the Latin-speaking area of Italy, Latium."
"Wow, you could get your partner to help you with your homework," Tadashi joked to his best friend.
"Yeah… okay, how do you know all that?" Taizou inquired, raising a bushy eyebrow. He hated having to ask it again.
"Well, I downloaded large amounts of information from the internet. Your world is quite intriguing," Solarmon replied.
It was then that they reached the bottom floor and that Tadashi realized he had forgotten something. "Oh yeah! Coronamon, we have to go upstairs." Taizou swore his blond friend's voice got higher-pitched whenever he got nervous.
"Uh, why?" the lion asked, actually knowing what he was about to hear and not liking it.
"We still have to see Commandramon," the blond responded.
"Again?"
"You guys go up to see Commandramon?" Taizou asked in confusion.
"Yeah. Want to come?" the blond offered.
"Certainly," Solarmon responded before his partner could object.
"Uh, I guess we can," Taizou said, giving in to his partner's request.
###
Deep inside Hypnos, Commandramon was sleeping while being fed data intravenously. Tadashi looked through the glass at the reptilian digimon, who was lying on a table with restraints over his chest and legs. Apparently the scientists that were there didn't want him to hurt them by accident. His helmet was also on the nearby table along with his gun.
"So, you think Yuji will join the team after he gets out of juvie?" Tadashi asked his brown-haired friend.
"You know, knowing him, he'll probably have a grudge on us for a while, so don't hold your breath," Taizou responded.
"At least until he decides that there's more money in the Taming business than in selling digimon to mad scientists," Solarmon suggested.
"They weren't all mad scientists. Just the dirtbag from Yokohama, who I hear actually called Hypnos to complain about that," Taizou corrected.
"So, ready to go?" Coronamon inquired of the group. "I'm bored."
"Sure," the blond responded before the group headed toward the elevator, not noticing that the blue dinosaur's arm twitched as they left.
###
The next day, Miki was just about ready for people to come over. She hoped that the turnout for her party was good and that people didn't simply avoid it. Her fears were unfounded though when she spotted the first of her guests: her friends Ayaka and Jeri. "Ayaka! It's good to see you!" she exclaimed, hugging the blonde girl who reciprocated.
"It's good to see you too. It's only been, what? Since yesterday?" the blonde said jokingly.
The three girls giggled at that. "It's good to see you too, Jeri!" the dark-haired girl said, hugging the brunette.
"So, what are we going to do?" Jeri asked after the hug was finished.
Miki replied wistfully. "Oh, maybe play some music. Dance a little. Hang out in the pool. That sort of thing. There will be some boys coming over too!"
"Are you sure your parents are alright with this?" Ayaka asked, doubting the whole thing as they walked into the mansion.
"Oh, they said I could have friends over. Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing bad happens," the dark-haired girl reassured her friends before walking over and turning on the radio. "Just relax. It'll be fun!"
"Okay, I hope so," the blonde said as they walked into Miki's living room. Actually, house isn't a good enough word. Mansion is more appropriate. In fact, just then, two boys were headed toward the mansion with drinks on hand and were amazed by the size of the thing.
"Whoa! This is huge!" Tadashi exclaimed. "I thought she lived in an apartment like the rest of us!"
"Yeah, no kidding. Can you imagine how much this must have cost her parents to buy?" Taizou asked.
"No way, man," Tadashi asked. "I don't even want to think about that."
###
Coronamon arrived at the meeting ground just in time to run into the other two digimon. "Good, you showed up!" the lion exclaimed.
"Well, you said five-o-clock," Salamon said.
"And it's two minutes till, so I think we're on time," Solarmon told the group, smiling at them.
"Well, anyway, I was wondering if you had any ideas about what to do now that the others are at their party or whatever," Coronamon explained to the group.
The orange gears spoke first. "To be honest, I have no idea. I'm sure we can figure out something." Then he thought of something. "I know, we can go visit Lopmon or Impmon."
"Did somebody say my name?" The trio of digimon looked up above to see a certain small devil holding a flame with his right index finger.
"Oh, speak of the devil!" Coronamon exclaimed.
"So, what brings you here?" Salamon inquired.
"Oh, I'm just here to see what you chumps are up to, that's all. I get bored easily hanging around a pair of five-year-olds," the imp explained before dissipating his flame. Apparently he had plans for some sort of prank but he didn't follow up on them. "So, where the heck are your Tamers anyway?"
"They're at something called a party," Coronamon blurted out. "I don't know what that is, but I sure want to find out!"
Impmon grinned at that one. "A party, eh? Sounds like we should go crash it! You know what they say, every party needs its pooper!"
"Um, are you sure this is proper?" Solarmon asked the others.
"Are you kidding? I love parties!" Impmon exclaimed. "Come on, parties run on sponan… spanon…"
"Spontaneity?" Solarmon asked, his expression turning to one of annoyance.
"Yeah, that!"
"Okay, I just hope that my partner doesn't get mad," Salamon said, expressing her misgivings.
"Oh, just relax. It'll be fun!" Coronamon exclaimed. "Wait, does anybody know where this Miki girl lives?" In response he got several shaking heads. "That's not good. Now what are we going to do?"
###
Miki ran up to her room and shut the door, gritting her teeth. So far, only a few of her guests have arrived, including Fatboy and Bushy Brows. And they had the nerve to bring Dr. Thunder instead of Dr. Pepper!
She just needed to get away from them for a couple minutes. Unfortunately, as she turned around after shutting her door, she saw an old man on her bed.
"Ah! What are you doing in my house?!" she shouted.
"Oh, everybody needs to do a little trespassing once in a while. Don't worry, girly, I have just the thing for you."
"Yeah, right! Get out before I call the cops. On the other hand, that would get my parents' attention. Hmm…" The girl stood there for a second.
"You're not too bright, are ya?" the old man asked. "If I were you, I would call the cops immediately at the sight of someone my age in your room."
"So, just who the heck are you anyway?" The girl asked warily.
"Just a simple old clock-shop owner, that's all," the man said with a grin. "By the way, I have something you'd like."
"My parents told me not to accept gifts from strangers," the dark-haired girl told him.
"I'm sure they also said to scream whenever you find yourself alone in the room with an old man. To tell you the truth, this is a bit creepy so I'll make this quick." The old clock-shop man grabbed something large and round from behind him on the bed. "Here you go!"
Miki's eyes got large as soon as she saw it and her smile big. "It's so cute!"
"That, my girl is Syakomon," the old man said. "Now, I'll have to go. See you around, young lady, and attack if ever an old man shows up in your room again!"
Then the man disappeared. Now it was just her and the purple mollusk, Syakomon.
###
Downstairs, one of the party guests decided to comment on something he noticed. "Nice bottom." Taizou's remark surprised Tadashi, who didn't expect such a thing to come out of the mouth of his usually straight-laced friend.
"What?" the blond asked incredulously.
Taizou smiled before making a deadpan comment. "Look at that girl's figure! It's a pretty nice one. Not to mention, she's a red-head. And red-heads are hot."
"You know, I've never understood why guys like us would find girls' butts attractive," Tadashi remarked, still confused.
"Okay, it's not the butt itself, but the figure, the hips and how they work with the rest of the body... You know, I should go talk to her. It's not often we see a red-head that's not Rika around here." Taizou started to walk toward the girl before turning around to face the confused blond. "Oh, and don't worry, you have a nice bottom too."
Tadashi rolled his eyes at his friend's joke. "I'm glad I know."
"I'm only kidding," the brown-haired boy said, cracking a smile before walking over to the girl and talking to her. "Hi, my name's Taizou. What's yours?" he asked with a smile.
The girl looked at him with a grin of her own. "Mizuki."
"So, how are you liking the party?" the bushy-browed teen inquired, hoping the party guest was happy.
"Well, I've been to better, but it's alright," she replied.
"So, I take it you're not from around here?" Taizou asked, curious. The girl shook her head.
"Nope. Just visiting. I'm a ways away from home," she replied.
"So, where do you live?" he asked.
"Koto, more or less," she responded, smiling.
"Ah, Koto. So, how do you know Miki?" the guy inquired, getting a confused look from the girl.
"Miki? Who's Miki?" The two boys didn't know what to think of that one, so Taizou just looked at a confused Tadashi and then back at Mizuki.
"Wait, so you don't know who's holding this party?" the brown-haired boy asked.
"Nope, I just saw a party going on so I decided to crash it, that's all," she said, chuckling.
Tadashi decided it was time to pull his friend over and he tried whispering something in his ear. Unfortunately for them, a group of jocks decided to turn up the music to unbearable levels, causing the duo to run outside along with the red-head. There they saw the numerous party guests swimming and playing some volleyball game in the pool. The duo had to wonder how the heck Miki's parents had so much land in the middle of the city.
"That's better. So, what are you doing here so far away from Koto, Mizuki?" Taizou asked the girl.
"Oh, just hanging out. I thought I'd see what there was to do," the girl said with a mischievous smile.
Tadashi decided to finally pull his friend to the side. "So, are you going to tell Miki?" Tadashi asked Taizou in a whisper, not exactly trusting the girl.
"Well, I guess I should, but why? It's not like she's hurting anybody," Taizou replied, obviously enamored by the girl.
"Come on, you got on Yuji's case for selling digimon to the highest bidder," the blond retorted.
"Yeah, but she's not exactly doing anything illegal here. The only thing wrong is that Miki didn't invite her." The duo then looked at the girl, who took off her clothes, revealing the green bikini underneath. Tadashi looked to the side just as his friend fainted, falling backward.
"Oh, everybody just had to start puberty without me, huh?" Tadashi complained, rolling his eyes at his friend's drooling face.
###
Miki came downstairs and decided to turn down the radio, grumbling under her breath as she did so. She was about to try and find whoever decided to turn the stereo up to unbearable levels to yell at them when she saw Ayaka and Jeri walk into the room. Both were wearing swimsuits. Ayaka's was a red bikini while Jeri's was an orange one-piece.
"Oh, hey, Miki! We were just looking for you," Jeri told the dark-haired girl, whose visage went from visibly angry to smiling at the sight of her friends.
"Thanks. I was just doing something upstairs, that's all," the dark-haired girl told her two friends. "So, anything going on?" Other than some idiots upping the volume on the radio to unbearable levels.
"Not much," Ayaka responded. "Half the school is here and then some."
"Yeah, I think some people invited some of their friends along," Jeri stated. "There's this red-head that I don't recognize."
"Red-head? That's not Rika?" Miki asked, confused. "Now this I've got to see."
It was just then that Tadashi ran out of the bathroom wearing his red swim-trunks. Miki found the sight profoundly disturbing, since she couldn't handle the sight of anyone that's even remotely overweight without a shirt on. "Tadashi, what are you doing?"
The blond stopped to look at Miki. "Oh, hey, Miki, Jeri and Ayaka. There's this girl here that doesn't know you and Taizou's all… all… You come and see!"
"Wait, what is she doing to him?" Jeri asked, worried for her friend.
"Let's go see," Ayaka went along with them. To their utter lack of surprise, Taizou and the mysterious girl were having a rather normal conversation in the pool.
"Really? Your friend did that?" Mizuki asked, surprised. "What a jerk."
"No kidding. It turned out that one of the guys he was selling digimon to was a mad scientist," the brown-haired boy responded before noticing Tadashi and the three girls standing on dry land above them. "Oh, hi guys, this is Mizuki."
"Hi, sweet party you're having," the red-head told the quartet. "Which one of you is Miki?"
"That would be me," the dark-haired girl said, raising her hand.
"Nice to meet you," Mizuki said smoothly, smiling at the girl. "Sorry I crashed your party. It's pretty fun, though. Definitely a nice change of pace. Taizou was talking about how you guys are all Digimon Tamers."
"What? You're talking to her about that?" Tadashi asked, suspicious of the girl and surprised that his friend would reveal that so quickly.
"Yeah, Tadashi, Taizou and I are Tamers," Ayaka told them.
"Don't forget me," Miki added, smiling. The group looked at her in shock.
"Wait, you're a Tamer? When did this happen?" the brown-haired boy inquired, not liking that she hadn't revealed that she was one yet.
"Oh, that happened this afternoon. She's upstairs. You want to meet her?" Miki offered bubbly.
"Great! This means we now have five Tamers that can go to the digital world!" Tadashi exclaimed, excited to have another teammate.
The group went upstairs, leaving the other party guests behind.
Meanwhile, the sun was getting lower outside as well. While the group was in Miki's room, some boys entered into the house through the front door, carrying several large metallic kegs. "Hey, guys, we have beer!" The other party guests cheered as the party got a little crazier.
###
The group entered into Miki's room. "She should be somewhere around here somewhere," the dark-haired girl commented. "Syakomon, where are you?"
Briefly, from behind the closet door, the team spotted a small, purple mollusk that quickly went back behind the door. "Syakomon, don't worry, they're friends!" Miki exclaimed, running over to the door and picking up her partner.
"That's your partner, huh?" Ayaka inquired as the shell opened up.
"Wow, she's pretty cute," Jeri commented.
"You really think so?" the mollusk asked, finally smiling.
"Yeah, definitely," Ayaka remarked.
"You're the cutest digimon I've ever met," Miki told her partner. Other than MarineAngemon, of course.
The two boys smiled at that. "So, what colored digivice do you have?" Tadashi asked curiously.
"Oh, I don't have one yet. I'm sure I'll get one soon, though. Does Hypnos hand them out?" Miki inquired.
"No, they form automatically," Taizou remarked.
"Really? I got mine from an old man," Mizuki told the group, causing them to gasp.
"Wait, you're a Tamer?" Tadashi asked, aghast. Miki instantly thought about the old man who gave her partner to her.
"Actually, I'm what you call a Digimon Hunter. Oh, yeah, I'll show you guys my digivice. Let me go get it," the red-head told the group before rushing downstairs.
"I'll go with her," Taizou said, rushing after her with a grin on his face.
"That's interesting," Tadashi remarked. "So, maybe that means we'll have six of us go to the digital world, if Yuji decides to come with us of course." The boy was greeted with silence and he looked around. His team was all frozen. Okay, this is weird.
His fears were increased when he spotted someone that wasn't there before. An old man was leaning against the wall, smiling a toothy grin.
The Clock Shop Man moved toward Tadashi, who was unsure of what to do. Everything and everyone around him was frozen in time. Okay, if that's the case, then how can I still breathe? the chubby boy asked himself. Then again, maybe instead of time being frozen, just the others were frozen.
Of course, he immediately pushed that thought aside when the old man in front of him grinned. "Well, hello there, Tadashi. Long time no see," the man said, almost jokingly.
"What? We never met!" the blond objected. "What did you do to my friends?"
"Don't worry about them. Actually, they're just fine. I just need to talk to you about something," the old man stated nonchalantly
Tadashi didn't buy it. "What do you want to talk about, you creepy old man?" The boy looked at the old man's digivice on his waist, a model that he had never seen before. "How do you even have a partner anyway?"
"Would you believe I'm one of the first Tamers?" the man asked, grinning. "A friend of mine beat me to the punch, though, but I got my partner a few years after from Yggdrasil. No, the rumors about me being the reincarnated Bagramon are completely unfounded."
"What?" Tadashi asked, confused and scared.
"Like I say, it's a long story." The man chuckled before his demeanor went from comical to serious. "Well, anyway, now for what I'm here for. Tadashi, I've seen what you become in the future. It isn't pretty."
"What? What do you mean?" the blond asked, not believing the man.
"Well, Tadashi, here's the thing: you have a dark side. We all do. Except yours gets stronger, so strong that a member of the triumvirate takes advantage of you. The trigger is that you'll find the other Tamers and you'll be disappointed."
Tadashi looked at the man in shock. "Wait, you mean they'll be dead?"
The old man shook his head. "No, no, they're alive. They'll be alive. It's just that they won't need saving. They were taken away from here for a reason."
"I don't believe you. And you know what? I don't have a stupid dark side either!" the blond exclaimed. "Now, release my friends. Heck, if you know where the others are at, why don't you take me there?"
"I never said I knew where they were," the old man said, his voice quiet, "And although I did enlist Takato and the others' help to fight against the evil digimon Quartzmon, this wasn't me. You'll find the others, though. When you're ready to go, look for me."
"Why don't you take me now?" Tadashi asked, angry.
"There's that Dark Side now. Watch how it flares up. That hatred of all adults who happen to be Tamers." The old man took a device from his pocket and moved at a lightning quick pace, pressing the device against the boy's forehead.
###
The first image was that of a woman, maybe even a girl of European extraction. Her outfit was revealing, her black make-up heavy and her face pale. She had long black hair and she felt Tadashi's face with the back of her hand, her tone suggestive, her accent French. "Well, if it isn't my favorite."
###
The second image involved Tadashi facing a black-haired boy of European decent, also on the heavy side, though he was a bit bigger than the blond. The boy held a black digivice with a golden ring around the center screen and his partner, an unknown, raccoon-like Ultimate level with heavy armor and a pair of wings on his back was there, hovering behind him. He also had a digital hazard symbol on his chest armor.
Tadashi was in front of him, holding his own digivice. Coronamon was at his side. "Biomerge Activate!"
"Coronamon biomerge to… Apollomon!"
The lion-like member of the Olympus Twelve faced his opponent. Unfortunately, his color scheme was wrong and he had a blue hue instead of a red one.
"Don't do this, Tadashi!" the boy yelled in American English.
"I must do this, for all the crimes you have committed!" Tadashi yelled from inside his sphere.
The other boy held out his digivice. "Upgrade Program Activate! You think you can do this?" he asked his partner.
"Gladly!"
###
Now he was facing another pair of opponents. "Now, Apollomon, I have to exact judgement against you," the first figure, an androgynous being with long hair hovering with its legs crossed. It had a golden mask and floating around it were numerous golden orbs.
The other figure was a blue knight with a long, yellow blade being emitted from his right wrist. Apollomon attempted to attack the knight, but his attacks were thwarted by the godlike digimon.
Then the knight struck Apollomon in the chest.
###
Tadashi jolted awake. He was surrounded by his friends, who were concerned for his well-being.
"Tadashi, what happened?" Miki asked, obviously worrying for him.
"One moment you were standing and the next you were on the ground," Ayaka indicated.
"That stupid clock guy decided to visit me. He told me that I'm going to turn evil or something and that I have to fight my dark side, whatever that is," the blond explained, getting up. "Man, my head hurts."
"Take it easy," Ayaka ordered, lifting the chubby boy up.
"I had these visions. First, I was talking to this woman!" the blond boy exclaimed. "She was beautiful, but she was evil. She called me her favorite. Then I was fighting this American guy with a raccoon."
"Was the guy white or black?" Miki asked.
"White, why?"
"Oh, I just wanted to know what he looked like. I was hoping for black. That would be so exotic," the girl squealed.
Tadashi rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I was fighting that guy, then it changed scenes again, so I was fighting the flipping Buddha or something along with a blue knight with a yellow sword."
"That sounds kind of familiar," Jeri said, wondering who it could have been.
"Eh, he probably just had some weird dream or something," Miki stated abruptly, not believing anything the boy mentioned.
"She's right," the brunette agreed. "Just because you have a dream about something doesn't mean that it will actually happen."
Ayaka and Miki both agreed.
"But… but it was so real!" Tadashi exclaimed to the group.
"It might be true." The group looked toward the door to see Mizuki. "The old man you're talking about, did he have circular red glasses, a visor and a cane?"
"Yeah, all of that!" Tadashi exclaimed. "How do you know?"
"I've been traveling with the man you're talking about," the red-head indicated.
"Wait, you've been traveling with an old man?" Miki asked, somewhat weirded out.
"Well, there was this cute guy with us, but he left awhile back. Still, if you got some sort of warning from the guy, you should listen to it," Mizuki admonished the group.
"Even if it's stupid?" Tadashi asked.
"It isn't stupid. He knows what's happening in the world, believe me," Mizuki warned.
"Wait, so you… where are you from?" Taizou asked, really confused right now.
The girl pulled out her digivice. "I'm from another world, actually. It was getting too dangerous for people with digimon so, when I got the invitation to travel with the Watchmaker, I accepted. He helped us defeat a digimon named Quartzmon, after all."
"So, how long have you been traveling with this guy?" Ayaka inquired.
"For a few months, I guess. I've kind of lost track of time," the girl replied. "Oh, and by the way, Miki, you better go downstairs. Most of your guests are plastered on the ground."
The dark haired girl was confused at that one so she ran downstairs. Sure enough, most of the kids she invited were lying around drunk and there was a keg in the middle of the living room. "What the heck? Okay, who was the idiot that brought the beer?" the girl asked no one in particular, feeling a massive loathing.
###
A few hours later, the red-head made it back to the Watchmaker's shop. "So, how'd the party go, hmmm?" the old man asked as she walked in, a massive grin on his face.
"It was a lot of fun," the girl replied. "Well, at least until we had to get rid of all the drunk kids since someone decided to bring alcohol."
"Ah, reminds me of my college days," the old man said before laughing. "Still, they're still in middle school, so they're a bit young for that. So, ready to go forward to our next destination?"
"Where is that?" the girl inquired.
"Oh, we'll be moving forward another two months. This time we'll be taking the others to the digital world," the old man remarked, smiling again.
"Well, I look forward to seeing the others again," she said, ready to move forward as the Watchmaker started to mess with the machinery that would send them through time and into the future.
###
One Month Later…
Yuji sat there, rolling his eyes. "That's just ridiculous. So there's some old man that travels through time like he's the flipping Doctor or something and he gave you some vision? Yeah, right," the long-haired boy responded in disbelief.
Tadashi was confused. "The Doctor didn't time-travel. He was a hologram on a starship. Okay, maybe he did travel through time a couple times."
"Wrong Doctor," the long-haired boy corrected. "You're thinking of the one from Star Track Voyeur or whatever."
"You know, I'm surprised you even know what Doctor Who is," they heard a voice from behind them say. Yuji turned to see the one person he really didn't want to see. That traitor, Taizou…
"What the heck are you doing here, huh?" the long-haired boy yelled.
"I'm glad to see you too," the buzz-haired boy replied, grinning.
"So, does this mean we're friends again?" Tadashi asked the long-haired boy, ever optimistic.
Yuji shook his head. "Nope! I'll join your team, but there's no way we'll be hanging out after what happened. Not a chance."
"The feeling's mutual," Taizou told the other boy, not really buying it. In reality, he knew they'd pull through, eventually. It was just going to take time.
###
A/N: What do you know? There's the end of the first arc. This is when everything starts to get interesting, actually. Hehe.