37) Home Again, Home Again
The Ark was hovering, just above the ground. A hatch had opened, and Impmon was the first on board. He was pleased to see that they hadn't forgotten, and that the seat in the cockpit had a gap between seat and back to accommodate his tail. He pulled the three point restraint over his shoulders and between his legs. He scanned the instrument panel, seeing that all the flight instruments were where they should be, and arranged the same as the fighters he flew.
Radio and transponder mounted to a console to the right of the seat, frequency and code preset. The quadrant below the engine instruments. Overhead, the navigation and internal system panel. As of yet, there was no power.
A stiff breeze blew in from the desert, strong enough to push the Ark into a mesa.
"Shuichon and Lopmon: get on board now", Jen told them. "Kazu, Kenta: help Juri".
"Cyberdramon!", Ryo called out, and the digimon dragon understood, as he stabilized the craft and kept it from banging against the rocks.
The green data stream broke up into four filaments of light, surrounded by red rings at regular intervals. Inside, the systems were powering up.
Impmon keyed the mic: "This is the Ark".
"Yamaki here, Impmon".
"So far, so good. We're powered up, and should be on our way directly".
"If all goes well, you should be back in the Material World within the half hour".
"Takato!", Guilmon called.
"Stay there, Guilmon", he ordered, "you wouldn't want to miss out on trying Dad's Guilmon Bread would you?"
"What about you?"
"Koichi and Renamon aren't back yet. I knew this would happen. I knew it. Why did you have to go?"
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
"We really are idiots", Koichi was saying.
"I'll get us back yet", Kyuubimon promised, "it's never too late until it's too late".
"Can you keep this pace up?", he asked, concerned.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine".
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
"Juri, culu?", Calumon asked. "Why aren't you saying anything, culu?"
Calumon had missed everything: he wasn't there to see Juri become Leomon's partner, was at best vaguely aware she had some connection to Leomon, had missed seeing the battle where Leomon gave his life. After being rescued, restoring the Light of Evolution had left him semi-conscious. Between rescuing him, then fighting off that Chaos Mass, the run for the evacuation point, no one had the chance or time to explain it to him.
Kazu, sitting just behind the cockpit, asked: "Juri... are you alright? 'Cause we're going home".
"Going home, culu?", Calumon reiterated.
"We're moving!", Shuichon announced.
"Takato!", Jen called out.
Takato had his back to the Ark, and didn't see it start up.
"Already!", he called out. "What should we do?"
"Jen, let's take a look...", Terriermon suggested.
"Stay here", Jen ordered. "Takato!", he called out, "move your ass!"
"We'll go", Ryo offered. Cyberdramon was still riding outside, and Ryo climbed onto his back. It didn't matter if he and Cyberdramon missed the trip back. They'd been there the longest, and a little longer meant nothing.
Takato had delayed, and now had to run for it. The Ark was gaining distance on him at an alarming rate. He would have made it, but for tripping and falling over his feet.
"Impmon! Stop! Takato isn't on board!", Guilmon called out.
"I know. I'm working on it. So far, I've figured out how to keep that hatch open... Not exactly like anything I ever flew before".
"Takato, hurry up and jump in!", Kazu ordered.
"Right!", Takato called back as he got up, running.
Hypnos HQ
"Yes!", Yamaki exclaimed, "The Ark is coming back, on schedule, and all systems are nominal" They were monitoring its progress on the main view screen.
"Everyone: stay safe", Janyu added.
"Course correction", Megumi announced, "X + 0.0057; Y - 0.2451. Tractor beam is still stable, output at 75%"
"To think we've come this far with distributed computing", Rob McCoy was telling himself.
The Digital World
Takato almost made it, just barely catching Jen's fingertips. It still wasn't enough for him to get a hold, to pull him into the Ark.
Guilmon tried next.
"Look out!", Jen called out as he grabbed Guilmon, "you almost fell out yourself".
"Takato!", he called out. Now, it was obvious that Takato wasn't going to be able to get on. The Ark was too high now.
"IMP-MON!", he called out.
"I know, Guilmon, I know". It was time to try something he had wanted to avoid. He pressed a button on the joystick. A klaxon sounded. "Warning: autopilot disengaged. Warning:..." A second press silenced the alarm.
"Impmon! What the hell are you doing!", Yamaki's call came over the radio.
"Sorry 'bout that, but we still don't have Takato, Koichi, and Renamon on board yet", he explained.
"They were supposed to be on board! If you miss the window...", Yamaki paused to get updated information, "...you have 38 seconds. If you're not underway..."
"Then I set down on the Digital World. We're all coming home... or none of us are"
"IMPPPP-MONNNN...", he turned the volume all the way down.
"It... stopped?", Takato asked himself.
"Takato!", Guilmon called out to him.
"Hey!"
"I thought I heard...", Takato said to himself. Was it just the wind?
"Hey!", this time, there was no doubt about it. "Takato!"
"Koichi!", he said, "and Kyuubimon!" They were just now appearing out of the swirling dust. "When we go home, we all go together".
"Need a lift?", Koichi asked as he held out a hand. Takato grabbed on, swung himself onto Kyuubimon's back. She gave a mighty leap, sent all three through the open hatch just before devolving to Renamon so that she could fit through the hatch.
She was followed closely by Ryo and Cyberdramon, who devolved to a smaller, blue-gray and yellow dragon.
Impmon closed the hatch, and returned to auto pilot.
"Jeez, Koichi, you transform into a girl just once and you pick up all their bad habits: girls are always late...", Kazu was razzing him when he saw who he'd brought.
"It's her", he said with as much contempt as he could. "You know what she did?"
He nodded: "I was there, remember".
"If you know and still brought her... what more can I say?"
"Chief, we have everyone and will be on our way. We've also recovered Ruki Makino and Ryo Akiyama", Impmon was explaining, "you'll need to inform their folks, as I'm sure they must be quite worried".
"It's fortunate you haven't missed the window. You gave us all back here a helluva scare".
"Sorry 'bout that".
"Don't apologize: that's why we wanted a pilot on board", Yamaki explained. "We alerted Ruki's parents that you rescued her. How she found her way into the Digital World..."
"It's a long story, just be glad you can hear it from her".
"Pee pee puu".
"Huh?", Kenta asked. From his pocket...
"A... digivice?"
Another small figure appeared:
"Ahhhh! I see... I get it now!", he said. "Marineangemon was my partner all along!", he laughed.
"My partner is a Mega: Marineangemon!"
Outside, the Ancient One who'd delivered Marineangemon and the digivice fell back to the Digital World.
"Renamon went back to find Ruki...", Jen was explaining to Ryo.
"They're OK with... someone like me going back?", Ruki asked herself. "Someone like me..."
Kenta pulled Marineangemon back protectively.
"I just want to touch him", Kazu protested.
"No way!", Kenta complained.
"Someone... like me...", Ruki was thinking.
"Here", Ryo said as he offered Ruki the jacket he tied around his waist.
"Thank you", Renamon said for her.
"Say, didn't we...", Ryo began to ask, but Renamon cut him off with a look. Whatever this was all about, he knew he wasn't going to get any answers right now.
"I'll just shut up", he said.
Something rocked the Ark: "the Frontier: we arrived", Impmon announced.
The Material World: Hypnos HQ
"Keep going!", Janyu encouraged as he watched the Ark's progress.
"They've reached the Frontier", Riley announced. "Preparing for re-materialization"
"C'mon keep going!", McCoy encouraged. "Almost there! Keep going: bring the children back safely. Its course shifted", he called out.
"Leave that to me", Babel called back.
"Notify the families of the change in the materialization point", Daisy suggested. "Get me those calculations!"
"Here!", Babel said.
She stuck a stick-pin onto a map: "Here! Chou Park".
The Digital World
"Juri, we're almost there", Takato thought to himself as he looked back at Juri.
"Juri, we're almost there", Koichi told her as he placed a hand over the head of her hand puppet. "Hang in there".
"Huh?", Takato asked as Koichi said the very words he'd just been thinking. Renamon was now holding her x-partner in her lap.
It felt as if something struck the Ark.
"What the hell was that?!", Jen called out.
"We just lost that path of light", Impmon informed them. That wasn't the only problem he had: all systems were down, all power lost.
"Huh?", Takato asked.
"We're falling!", Shuichon called out. The Ark was sinking, tail first.
"So the Ark's power lasted just this long?", Lopmon asked.
"You gotta be shitting me!", Kazu called out. "After getting this far..."
"Is this for real?", Kenta asked.
"Since the path is gone, the Ark lost its direction", Jen said.
"Will allayez SHADDAP!", Impmon demanded. "This is no time for panic!" Impmon knew that aphorism of aviation well: if ten seconds is all you have, best to think for nine and act for one than the other way around.
"If I were the auxiliary power, where would I be?", he asked himself. A red panel just below the quadrant with a latch... he pressed it and the panel swung open. "Ah-hah, so that's where you're hiding". He flipped the large circuit breaker into the upward position: the universal "on" position for all aircraft toggle switches. The power came back on.
"Mayday", Impmon called over the radio, "we have a Mayday situation..."
Nothing but static came back.
"Yamaki?"
Still nothing but static.
"Dammit!"
He still had one thing he could do. He set the Ark's transponder to the international distress code: 7700, and pressed the "Ident" button. That might at least alert Yamaki that there was a problem, even if he couldn't establish two-way communication. He just had to hope Yamaki knew what he was doing back at Hypnos.
Hypnos HQ
"What's going on!", Yamaki demanded.
"I don't know", Megumi replied. "Something's interfering... we lost all contact with the Ark, and our communications are being jammed. Whatever it is, it doesn't want the Ark to return".
"Is there anything..."
"We're still working on it", McCoy broke in over the intercom. "It looks like another attack from that virus that corrupted and locked out the mainframe's memory. We still haven't figured it out".
"Then we lost the children?", Yamaki asked.
"Impmon will be flying blind". McCoy told him.
"Is this it?", Janyu asked, "Jen? Shuichon?"
"Prepare for re-materialization", Yamaki ordered. "It's all on Impmon now. We assume he'll follow the original course".
The Digital World
"What do we do now?", Kazu asked.
"I try to recalculate the course based on our last known heading, how long we've been down, how far we drifted", he said as he worked the flight calculator slide rule. "Then we hope for the best and that we don't spend the rest of our lives in Yamaki's mainframe".
"Everyone: grab onto something and hold on tight", Impmon called back as he began the main engine ignition sequence.
"It's either the Material World or oblivion", he said as he shoved the twin throttles to the forward stops. They could feel the vibration through the floor plates. The Ark's tail slide slowed, reversed, and the Ark regained lost altitude. Impmon swung back on course...
"Shouldn't we land back on the Digital World?", Jen asked, "try again later?"
"You saw what happened", Impmon explained. "Something disrupted that path of light, cut off our communications - something that doesn't want us to leave. You want to go back and face that instead?"
"What?" Koichi asked, "that red shit? Zhuqiaomon?"
"I don't know, and something tells me we're better off not finding out. At the very least, we may never have another chance".
"He did it! We're breaking through!", Kenta called out. A bright light appeared outside the windscreen.
"It ain't over yet", Impmon admonished.
The Material World
A pinpoint of light appeared at the bottom of a shallow reflecting pool. No one was there to see it. The pinpoint flared into a column of white mist that glowed brightly against the darkness. Janyu and Yamaki arrived in time to see it.
"The children?", he asked.
They, with the parents of the Tamers, and Hypnos personnel, ran to the reflecting pool. The digital field was waning, as the Ark appeared. The Tamers had to wade. Everyone was waiting behind the guard rail. There were happy reunions. The parents had brought hot coffee and cocoa. Kazu's father gave him a playful bop on the head. Takato's parents greeted Takato and Guilmon with a mug of hot cocoa and affectionate pets. Ryo's father was there, but didn't look entirely pleased. Ryo didn't seem to notice.
Not all reunions were happy ones. Koichi accompanied Renamon as she was carrying Ruki to where Rumiko and Seiko were waiting. They couldn't help but notice that Ruki was wearing just a jacket that was barely long enough to cover her ass. They greeted Ruki with hugs, as Renamon set her down. It was still like she was almost in a state of shock. They couldn't understand any of it, not how Ruki had come to be in the Digital World, how she had been found and rescued, and definitely not why she wasn't ecstatic about being back home.
"Thank you for bringing Ruki back to us", Rumiko said.
"It's the least we could do", Koichi replied. What else was there to say?
Koichi and Renamon left them to join Doyle and Victoria.
"Ruki?", her mother asked, "what is it? I thought you...".
"I...", she started, swallowing hard and blinking back the tears, "...did some... horrible things... back there".
Her grandmother noticed how the others were avoiding her.
"Horrible things, even before".
"If it has anything to do with your running off", Seiko told her, "we're just glad to have you back".
"It's more..."
"C'mon, we'll take you home", Rumiko said as they headed away from the park.
Koichi's father and grandmother were waiting for him and Renamon.
"I thought you'd be back in the 'States by now?", he asked. "Sis?"
"I delayed my return", Victoria explained, "no way was I going until you two were back".
"I had to come", his younger sister explained. "You go off to Japan and walk right into a real life Godzilla movie? I never would'a thought..."
"Renamon is a digimon", he objected.
"And so were those Deva that caused so many problems", Renamon explained, "but I get your point. Odd way life has of imitating art".
"So, Renamon, we meet at last".
"I brought back a little something", Koichi said as he poured a little of the clear liquid into everyone's coffee: "a going-away present from the Gekomon".
"What is that?!", his father asked.
"Gekomon moonshine: brewed and distilled from dust packets".
"That's got quite a kick".
"Yeah, don't it?"
Impmon was the last off the Ark, as he stayed behind to secure the craft.
"Thank you for bringing Jen and Shuichon back to us", Mr. and Mrs. Lee thanked him.
"You'll always have my gratitude", Yamaki told him.
"Back in the saddle, it comes back to you quickly".
"I'm just glad you were there... what happened?"
"Someone, or something, didn't want us leaving for some reason. Those weren't accidents".
"We finally were able to contact Juri's parents", Megumi was telling Yamaki. "They went to Matsumoto and are staying with Juri's step mother's parents, but..."
"But what?", Yamaki asked.
"Well... they said that if such a selfish and inconsiderate daughter wants to come home, then she can come by herself... I don't think they really meant it, but..."
"Huh?", Takato told himself, as he'd over heard.
"I'll go... I'll go with her!", he declared to the surprise of his parents and Yamaki.
"Juri doesn't have anyone", he explained to his parents. "I can't let her go like that".
"All the way to Nangano Prefecture?", his father objected.
"Alright then...", Yoshi said.
"Ehhhh?", Takato asked.
"After going all the way to the Digital World, what's a trip to Matsumoto?", she pointed out.
It's tough, being a man, eh?", his father asked.
"Just remember, come to your aunt's place in Zushi when you see Juri off", Yoshi reminded. "Promise?"
"Thanks"
"Matsumoto, huh?", Yamaki said as he consulted his laptop for train schedules. Most of the transportation into and out of Shinjuku had been discontinued, but he was able to get a reservation on one of the last trains out.
He was interrupted by the sudden disappearance of the Ark. This wasn't supposed to happen, and they had brought a crane and flatbed to bring it back to Hypnos. For some reason, it had disappeared, and would have taken with it anyone on board. He considered it very fortunate that everyone had gotten off. Just one last mishap ending a trip that was filled with them.
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Guilmon looked anxiously. It was 11:50PM, and the train was scheduled to leave any second now. Takato came running, carrying six boxed meals, and Calumon.
"I had to go all the way to the front of the station to get these", he explained.
"Always running to catch a ride at the last second", Guilmon reprimanded.
"I guess you're right", he said as the doors closed and the train pulled out of the station.
There were only two other passengers in the car: Juri, and another traveler who was sound asleep in his seat. Probably did a lot of traveling, he decided, if he could nod off like that.
The conductor looked very unsettled.
"I bought him a ticket too! I didn't know what else to do, so I paid the adult fare for him", Takato explained.
"Isn't that one of those digimon?!", the conductor asked. "They're dangerous!"
The rampage of those Deva had taken their toll. Before the rampage of the Deva, especially Vikaralamon. people didn't act that afraid of digimon.
"That's not true!", Takato insisted. "Guilmon helped save the city!"
"Uh-huh", Guilmon agreed with a nod.
"I thought that was a bigger digimon, wasn't it?", the conductor was saying. "The colour's the same though..."
"Well, that's when Guilmon evolves to Ultimate".
"Takato, are you going to argue all night? I haven't had a bite all day", he pointed out.
"So that's why you need all those lunch packs? He seems easy going enough..."
"Well, that's Guilmon: he's pretty laid back".
The conductor checked their tickets: "I didn't see any red dinosaurs on my train".
"Thanks", Takato said.
"Yeah, thanks", Guilmon agreed.
"Going to Matsumoto?"
"Yeah"
"Have a pleasant trip".
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
"Ruki", her mother told her, "yeah, we were very upset and angry that night... when you ran away. That's in the past, and we're just happy to see you back..."
"That's not what I'm talking about!", Ruki objected, "you don't understand... you wouldn't say that if you knew..."
"If we knew what?", Seiko asked.
Ruki told them all about Renamon and being a Tamer. The way she betrayed Renamon's friendship, how Renamon found a new Tamer. About choosing Icedevimon over Renamon...
"You hurt a Friend's feelings... I wish you would've introduced us to Renamon".
"How could I explain? Besides... it's more than that..."
Ruki explained about Catsuramon. Since she'd loaded the Deva, she knew everything he knew: "He knew all about me, he was following me, studying me. He knew exactly what I wanted to hear, everything I thought I wanted, he promised. He and Icedevimon - that's why I went to the Digital World... how I became... Lilithmon... Renamon and Koichi... they risked everything for me, and I didn't deserve it... I didn't deserve it... They should'a left me..."
"How can you say that!", Rumiko said, not believing what she was hearing.
"If you... knew..."
"Ruki", she explained gently, "I know I pushed you. May be a little too hard. I was happy for you that you were interested in Battle Cards, and we were both proud of you when you won the tournament".
"That's right", Seiko agreed.
"But you aren't going to make a living playing Battle Cards, and I wanted you to show as much interest in something you could make a living doing. You will be out of elementary school next year, and you need to begin thinking of your future. I know you don't want to hear it, and it sounds like I'm lecturing you again. You will have to earn much in this life, but there is one thing you will never have to earn, and that's my love. We, your grandmother and I, could never stop loving you no matter what you did, or think you did. We will always be there for you, no matter what".
"We always will", Seiko agreed.
"You...", Ruki swallowed hard, "...mean it?"
"More than anything else. It's been a long day", Rumiko said, "I'll draw you a nice warm bath, and you go and get ready for bed. I'm sure you had a very long day".
"I don't deserve you guys".
"We'll hear no more of that talk".
Ruki lay on her futon, just looking up at the ceiling. The visions still haunted her: Juri, Harpymon's Tamer, the woman from the subway, Takato as he feared he would lose Guilmon, the hurt in Renamon's eyes as she betrayed her: all whirling together and separating again. No idea how to even begin to make this right.
"They should'a left me", she said to herself.
There wasn't much sleep that night.
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
They'd been on their way for long enough for Guilmon and Calumon to polish off four of those boxed lunches. They both had drifted off, but Juri just sat there, not touching her lunch, not saying a single word the whole time.
"Juri, it's like a dream come true, being with you like this, on a train ride together", he was saying to her. "You and I talked a lot in the past and... I wondered if, maybe, you liked me, you know, even just a little bit?
"I mean... just a thought about whether it might be true... In other words... I'm not like that! I, you...", this wasn't going so well. He got up and took a seat behind her.
"It bothers me... seeing you like this... I was happy... I was happy when you became a Tamer and we could go on an adventure to the Digital World together. Then Leomon died and that made you feel so sad. I said 'I have to bring you back to the Material World'. That's why I...", he paused.
"The feeling I get when it seems you won't talk to anyone, like everything just disappeared..."
Takato was beginning to suspect he'd somehow failed with his intentions to bring her back safe. Did a piece if that Chaos Mass hit her? Did it delete some vital part of Juri? Was she going to be like this forever...
"That feeling... it bothers me... I...", he couldn't go on.
"Energy: 688 kilo calories
Protein: 24.6 grams
Fat: 15.7 grams
Carbohydrates: 12 grams"
"Juri", Takato said. Reading the label on the box was a start. At least she was talking.
Takato saw the time was 4:32AM as they got off at the Matsumoto station. Guilmon and Takato led her down the steps leading to the street. Juri's father was waiting by a cab.
"Good evening... errrr... good morning", Takato greeted.
"Come on", he roughly pulled Juri forward. "Thank you for taking care of Juri", he said, but not as if he meant it.
"Uhhhh", was all Takato could say as he watched the cab pull away. At least Calumon was with her.
"What an asshole", Guilmon said.
"Total fuck-nozzle", Takato agreed. He could only hope he wasn't physically abusive. Or that Calumon could somehow protect her from a beating. He couldn't say it wasn't a definite possibility. "I hope he doesn't..."
"Doesn't what?", Guilmon asked.
"Never mind", he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.
Her step mother and younger brother were waiting. She gave Juri a welcome home hug, but Calumon didn't like the way he saw Juri grin. Her parents didn't see it.
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Hypnos had brought something else back along with the Ark. The first to see was a night watchman on a routine patrol. He'd gone to investigate a strange noise he'd heard. In the subbasement, the floor had cracked. Some red substance was oozing from the fractured floor. As he watched, the substance spread over the entire floor. Fortunately, he knew better than to touch it. He had never seen anything like this, never heard of any such thing.
By sunrise, it had filled the lower levels and was beginning to pour through the doors and onto the street.
Takato slept in the waiting room of the train station, and woke up at about 8:00AM. There were just two others there, watching something intently on the overhead TV. The sound was off, but the text crawl was saying that this was a special report.
"That's...", Takato called out.
"Huh?", Guilmon rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"It can't be! It can't be true! This can't be happening!"
The entire Hypnos building was surrounded by a slightly shimmering red, formless, mass. ...
"Did we do this?", Yamaki said as he and Janyu stood by, watching. "Did we bring it in? Is this why they wanted to stop the Ark?" He didn't know which "they" to blame: the Digimon Sovereign, that Digimon "God", that red mass, someone else?
"I don't know. If the Ark hadn't returned, maybe it would make no difference? How could we leave them behind?"