Chapter 24: Homecoming
Dublin, Ireland…
My eyes sort of fluttered open as I awoke, I was met with the familiar ceiling of my room, I picked myself off the floor, seeing everything was as I left it that fateful night. I looked at my computer's desktop to see that it had only been a mere day since I had left for the Digital World.
"Hey Kate, what's this?"
I turned to see Psychemon had made a… discovery, in his hands he held one of my bras, he sort of stretched it in his hands like a child who had no idea he was holding a woman's undergarments, "Psychemon! Don't play with my bras!" I said, snatching it from his hands. I knew Psychemon had no idea what it was, so I wasn't that mad at him, he was just curious, but still… I didn't like people touching my undergarments… or...Digimon in this case.
Suddenly the door to my room burst open, "Kate? You okay? I heard you scream someone was touching your bra! I got the creep stick!" Said a voice I had longed to hear again since I had gone to the Digital World.
A girl came into the room, wearing her signature gray beanie over her teal dyed hair, a black sleeveless shirt with "Kung Fury" written on it in red lettering, black biker gloves, and baggy jeans, she held her "creep stick", which was really just a billy club, this was Sam Higgleson, my girlfriend.
It didn't take Sam long to notice Psychemon, who was really focused on that billy club she held in her hands, Sam then took a swing at him with it, "Kate what the f**k is that thing?!" She screamed, swinging at poor Psychemon with the club before he ran behind me, hiding like a frightened child.
I got to my feet, and without even thinking, wrapped my arms around Sam, god I had missed her so much during my little excursion in the Digital World, I was so glad to finally have her back. "Kate… you okay? You're never this clingy..." She asked me, clearly confused.
I quickly let go, "It's a long story Sam, let's just say I've had quite the night," I told her, more accurately, it's been quite a couple of days but I didn't want to add to her confusion anymore than I had already.
So I began to tell Sam everything, about the disc, the Digital World, the Digimon King, and the Demon Lords, to her credit, she seemed to believe me, I guess that was the kind of trust you built when in a relationship like ours.
Sam crossed her arms and huffed, "So… you have any idea where this Demon Lord guy is?" She asked me, it was weird having Sam in on this whole Digidestined thing, but I appreciated having her help none the less.
I shook my head, "No clue, just that they're here and that they're gonna do something," I said, I hated not having a solid lead, the world wasn't exactly small, Lucemon could be anywhere! God what if we never found him? Or worse he destroyed the world before we even knew what was happening?!
Sam seemed to notice how stressed I was getting, as she put a comforting hand on my shoulder, "Hey, don't worry about it, we'll find them when we do, for now why don't you and your little friend take a breather eh?" She offered me.
I nodded, it had been a rough couple of days, I needed a moment to relax myself, I'm sure Psychemon felt the same way, he was always so easily stressed, and I doubt being swung at by Sam did him any favors either. We both joined Sam in the living room, sitting on the couch, Sam sort of cuddled up close, it was so nice having her with me, helping me through this.
Sam turned the TV on, I assumed she just wanted some background noise while we all tried to collect ourselves, "So… you said there were other people there? Other Digi-whatevers? Where are they now?" She asked me.
I shook my head, "I have no clue, they were all from different countries, the closest one to us would be Ross who was from the U.K," I said, you know, in hindsight, recruiting Digidestined from different parts of the world might not have been the best idea… but I doubted anyone could have seen these turn of events happening.
Sam nodded, "Then we'll start there, we can take a ferry," She suggested, even so it was still quite a drive, but I guess when the fate of the world is at stake, a little travel is a small concession to make.
But there was still one little issue, "Do we even have the money?" I asked, of course traveling the real world was much more difficult than the Digital World, in the real world, you needed money to travel.
Sam got up and left the room, after a few seconds she came back with a mason jar full of money, "I'd been saving up for a vacation anyway," She said, this was the first I'd heard of this, she must have been waiting to surprise me with it. "We should get packing, man I've always wanted to go on an adventure like this!" Sam said, she was so excited she looked like she was about to burst.
You'd never think the fate of the world was a concern by looking at her, even as we packed she treated it like we were going on vacation, but hey, at least we were making some form of progress, but reuniting with Ethan and Jason would be difficult, given they were all the way in North America, and I didn't even know where to begin to look for Bridget, but we'd cross that bridge when we got there…
Meanwhile…
London Ontario, Canada
Ugh… did traveling between worlds have to be so painful? I had almost forgotten how unpleasant my trip to the Digital World had been, or rather, the immediate aftermath of it. I opened my eyes to see I was back in my room again, in the exact spot I was when I first left for the Digital World, my laptop still sat in my lap, the only thing out of place here was that Gaomon was passed out next to my bed.
I couldn't lie, it felt good to be back in boring, safe, London Ontario, just a nice sense of normalcy. Although I knew that wouldn't last long, as I remembered why I was here. The Demon Lords were out there somewhere, just waiting to start the world's destruction.
"Ethan? Where are we?"
I turned around to see Gaomon waking up, "My room," I told him flatly, Gaomon's eyes widened, as he looked at his surroundings, I imagine he must be having a similar feeling I had when I first came to the Digital World, stuck in an unfamiliar world he had no clue how to even grasp.
Gaomon then looked at me, "So… this is the real world? I admit… it's not what I expected," He commented. I don't know what he had expected quite frankly, the real world was for all tense and purposes, kinda dull, at least in comparison to the Digital World.
I got out of my bed, setting my laptop gently to the side, I knew I'd have to somehow find the others eventually, how the hell I was going to pull that off I had no clue. I didn't have a penny to my name, I had no car, not to mention my dad would probably lose his mind if I tried to leave Canada. Where would we even meet? We had no clue where the Demon Lords would even set up shop, they could be based in Kenya for all we know!
I guess the best thing to do for now was to just enjoy the downtime until the Demon Lords made themselves known. It's not like I had any other plan really, so I grabbed my phone off the end table, grabbed my skateboard, and decided to just skate around for a bit to unwind myself from the insane adventure I had been on for the past couple of days.
Meanwhile…
Norfolk England, UK...
My eyes opened to the familiar sight of my dingy old flat, I never thought I'd miss this run down old place, but I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder. I slowly sat up on the couch, my laptop sat in the same spot it had been when I was first whisked away on my ridiculous adventure, the date was oddly the same as when I first left, meaning time in the Digital World moved faster than in our world.
It was the middle of the night, the apartment was almost pitch black, the light from my laptop the only illumination in the room. I got up from the couch and slowly made my way to the light switch, with a simple flick, everything became brighter.
I could see now that everything was exactly as I'd left it, not a hair out of place. I know I should be relieved to finally be home, in a world I understood, but I knew in the back of my mind my little adventure was far from over, it just changed venues. Speaking of… where's Hawkmon?
I looked around the room, but saw no signs of my avian compatriot, did he not come with me? Because if he hadn't, fighting the Demon Lords was going to be even harder. I began to move around the flat, looking for any signs of Hawkmon.
It wasn't a big flat, so it wasn't like I'd have to cover much ground, however I began to hear strange noises coming from the kitchen, I slowly began to inch towards it, the kitchen was dark, I couldn't make anything out, I felt around the walls for a light switch, when I found it I flicked it on and instantly found out what was making those noises.
Right in the middle of the kitchen, I saw an overturned laundry basket sliding inch by inch across the floor "Hello? Is anyone there? I can't see," a familiar voice spoke from under the basket. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Hawkmon had somehow managed to get trapped under my laundry basket.
I'd best help him out, I walked over to my trapped partner and lifted the plastic bucket revealing Hawkmon was indeed under there, he took a moment to process being freed before turning his head towards me, "Oh… thanks Ross," He said with an embarrassed chuckle. Hawkmon began to look around, he had the face of a child who had just walked into a candy store, in wonder of my less than impressive home.
I guess to him it was an otherworldly wonder, every bit as weird as I had thought the Digital World had been. I guess to a Digimon, my dingy, murky old flat was like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. "I know it's not much, but it's all I can afford on my pay," I said.
Hawkmon just kept marveling at my kitchen, "So… this is really the real world?" He asked me.
I leaned myself against the kitchen counter, "Not the whole thing obviously, but yeah," I said simply, Hawkmon went right back to soaking in the sights, to be honest, it was kind of adorable how fascinated he was with something as simple as my home, but I knew the wonder would have to end at some point, the Demon Lords weren't going to stay quiet for long, but for now at least, we had some sort of quiet, some semblance of sanity to cling to before things began their inevitable turn to chaos…
Meanwhile…
Tokyo, Japan…
My eyes opened, they felt weak but said weakness soon passed, and I was met with the familiar sight of my bedroom, a sight I hadn't seen in quite some time, memories of my life before the Digital World began to flood my mind, most were uncomfortable memories…
The room itself was nothing all that special, I had been living here since I was eight, living with my grandfather in a simple Japanese apartment complex, it was weird being home after all that time I had spent in the Digital World, according to my computer, barely a week had passed since I left.
"Bridget,"
I jumped, Okamon's voice startling me more than I'd like to admit, I could see his golden eyes glowing slightly in the darkness, "We should begin our hunt for the Demon Lords, they won't stay quiet for long," He said.
I don't think Okamon quite got how things worked in the real world, it wasn't as simple as taking a stroll through the Digital World, getting around on Earth was much more difficult, hell I didn't even think reuniting with the other Digidestined would be feasible, they were all from different parts of the world, and I was the only Digidestined in Asia, in retrospect, plucking your Digidestined from all over the world was probably a really stupid idea in hindsight.
I stood up, "It's not that simple Okamon, they could be anywhere on Earth, we wouldn't know where to even begin to look," I said, but I knew I'd have to somehow find a way to rejoin my fellow Digidestined regardless of how difficult it would be. I knew Rex too well to think he would stay quiet for long. No he would strike as soon as he could, but where and how remained to be seen.
I walked out of my room, door clicking softly shut behind me, as predicted, my grandfather was fast asleep at the table in the dining room, a cup of tea left by his side, no doubt he'd noticed my absence, probably worried I'd ran away from home, it would be better if I didn't wake him, I didn't have time to try to explain my absence.
I simply grabbed a leather jacket off the rack and left through the front door, a walk through town would help me clear my head and form a game plan.
Meanwhile…
Unknown Area…
Rex seemed very weak, he was unable to even change back into Lucemon, and worse still, I had been watching the human world trying to formulate a plan of conquest only to discover the humans had managed to somehow get there with their Digimon, this would complicate things, but even at their strongest, their pet Digimon were considerably weaker than us.
But still, they were an unnecessary complication, they were separated right now, stuck in their respective territories, taking them down would be easy. "Are we ready to begin Lilithmon?" A voice sounded.
I turned to see Daemon enter the room, Daemon had been the most eager of the Demon Lords to invade the human world. Being the Demon Lord of Wrath he was absurdly violent, and very impatient. "Relax Daemon, we need to play this smart, and bide our time," I said.
Daemon sneered, "These humans are weaklings! I could crush a hundred of them with a single blow! What resistance could these creatures possibly serve that would warrant such caution?" He asked.
I swiftly grabbed Daemon by the throat, I could hear him gasping desperately for air, "Do not underestimate the humans Daemon, Lucemon did and look where that got him, if you value your life, you will stop questioning me and do what you're told!" I threatened him, I then released my grip, Daemon took several heavy breaths, despite his power, Daemon was very easily pacified. Despite his anger he was also easily frightened, making him quite easy to… discipline.
He got on one knee, "O… of course Lilithmon, I apologize, what are you planning?" He asked me, a marked improvement to his previous demeanor.
I looked to my magic crystal, the object of which I used to watch and study the human world, "We send a few grunts to each Digidestined's location, destroy them while they're still separated, then we can begin our invasion," I said, it saddened me to have to use grunts to destroy the Digidestined, I had hoped I would have been able to do it myself. But you know, business before pleasure...
Meanwhile…
Ireland…
Sam and I had wasted no time in getting ready to go to Great Britain, I remembered Ross said he was from Norfolk, thankfully I had visited Britain before and knew a little about the area, but the issue was getting there, Sam had suggested we take a ferry there, thankfully it wasn't exactly a holiday type of day so there was plenty of room.
Psychemon was still trying to adjust to the real world, the concept of paying to travel still baffled him, and that's not even getting into explaining the concept of cars and buses to him. Sam had come up with the idea of explaining that he was my little cousin who liked to wear costumes, it was the best explanation either of us could come up with, he still got looks from people we passed by, but I didn't want to have to keep him cooped up in a suit case the whole time so I just had to make do. "Kate… everyone's staring at me," He whispered to me.
I patted his head, "Looking like you do it's no wonder, but it's better this than stuffing you on a suitcase right?" I said, Psychemon nodded, clearly not liking the idea of being stuck in a bag the whole trip.
Sam paid for our tickets and we all got on board, Psychemon had said he'd never been on a ship before, revealing that the Digital World had boats at least, I myself had only ridden on a ferry once, it was a trip to visit family in England when I was little.
However… about fifteen minutes into the trip, we had a problem. I happened a glance at Psychemon, who was looking quite pale, "Psychemon? You okay?" I asked him.
He weakly looked towards me, "I don't feel so good…" he said, oh god… he was getting sea sick wasn't he? I didn't even know Digimon could get sea sick! But it was obvious just by looking at him that he was about to throw up, oh god if he pukes on the deck of the ship…
I quickly scooped him up and held him against the rail of the ship so his head was hanging over it, and… inevitable happened, he lost his lunch all over the ocean below… oh god… gross... I could hear Sam laughing from behind me, apparently she found this quite humorous. "Your Digimon going to be alright Kate?" She asked me between giggles.
Psychemon merely groaned, still quite sea sick, "Kate… I don't think I like boats..." He said, oh this was going to be a fun trip wasn't it?
However… before we could enjoy more sea sickness related shenanigans, we heard a commotion come over the ferry, people all began to gather to one side of the boat. Curious, Sam and I both rushed over, Psychemon still in my arms, to see what the commotion was about.
Everyone was staring off the side at… something, there were too many people to see what it was, but I could hear them chattering about it.
"What do you think it is?"
"Is it the Loch Ness Monster?"
"That's in Scottland you moron!"
"Oh god it's headed right for us!"
That last one made me panic, I pushed myself through the crowd, I needed to know what it was, it had to be a Digimon, there was nothing else it could have been, what if it was one of the Demon Lords? I finally managed to get myself to a spot where I could see what was out there, and what I saw…
It was some kind of sea dragon covered in metallic armor, it's head ended in some kind of spout, like a giant water gun, a sharp blade on the top of it's snout like a horn, I took out my Digivice to scan it to see what I was up against.
MetalSeadramon
Level: Mega
Type: Cyborg
Attribute: Data
Family: Deep Savers
Attacks: River of Power, Hot Squeeze, Poseidon's Divide
MetalSeadramon is the final form of the Seadramon line, it's ChronDigizoid armor is nearly impenetrable, and it's swimming speed unmatched in the Digital World, it is a force to be reckoned with.
Well that's not good, the "impenetrable armor" part was the most troubling, that meant that taking this thing down was going to be really hard, if not impossible. But MetalSeadramon was clearly targeting the ferry, as it glided through the water like a speedboat, everyone began to panic and run away when it finally reached the ferry, "There's no where to run humans! You're all going to die here!" Said MetalSeadramon as he began to fire his nose... hose… thing… at the ferry, blasting several unfortunate travelers across the deck.
I looked to Psychemon, he was still out of it due to his sea sickness, god as if it wasn't bad enough right? "Kate we have to move before that thing fires at us!" Sam said, dragging me away by the arm.
Where the hell were we going to run? The ferry wasn't that big, and I doubt it was going to be able to withstand MetalSeadramon's attacks for long! "Where are you Digidestined?! SHOW YOURSELF! Or suffer the deaths of every human on this ship!" Cried MetalSeadramon, oh great, it was after me specifically, he must have been one of the Demon Lord's goons!
I took out my Digivice, I doubted Psychemon was in any condition to fight right now, but he was the only chance we had. It took a moment for the Digivolution process to trigger, but it eventually did.
"Psychemon warp Digivolve to… ASTAMON!"
Astamon stumbled a little, clearly still a bit sick, "Don't worry Kate… I'm good," He tried to reassure me when he noticed my worried expression, "But right now, I gotta take this over grown snake down!" He added before launching himself off the boat right at MetalSeadramon. "MAVERICK!"
He delivered a powerful kick to the sea serpent, but Metal Seadramon barely flinched, that armor of his absorbing the blow, MetalSeadramon retaliated with a strong whip of his tail, sending him sailing into the boat, crashing through the walls of the cabin, causing the people inside to scatter.
MetalSeadramon wasn't done with the Demon Prince though, snagging him with his tail, "You really thought you could hurt me? My Digiziod armor can reflect any attack you throw at me!" He said before beginning to squeeze, Astamon cried out as his ribs were being crushed by the pressure… being dragged into the sea by his captor.
Sam and I could only watch as MetalSeadramon began to slowly kill Astamon, "F**k this! I'm not sitting here watching this!" Sam suddenly said before Running off, confused, I quickly followed, Sam was up to something I could tell.
We found the control room, the driver probably having fled before the battle began, Sam quickly took the wheel, it was then I realized what she was doing, she was going to try to ram Seadramon with the boat. "Are you crazy?!" I cried out, did she even know how to drive a boat?!
Sam however, was undeterred, "He said his armor could reflect any attack, let's see that son of a bitch deflect this," She said as the ferry drew ever closer to MetalSeadramon who seemed completely oblivious to the ferry inching closer and closer to him… too wrapped up in Astamon's suffering.
However his glee turned to surprise and pain as the ship collided with him, his head smacking against the window of the control room causing it to shatter, shards of glass flew in every direction but luckily we managed to come out of it with only a few cuts. "YEAH! Reflect that you overgrown garden snake!" Sam cheered.
For what it's worth, the impact seemed to free Astamon, as I could see him swimming back to the ferry. However it didn't take long for MetalSeadramon to shake off the blow, as his crimson eyes shot open, and he turned his head in our direction, "You little twerps! That hurt! But this will hurt you a lot more!" He said before firing his nose hose again, the room began to flood with water, as Sam and I were washed out of the room, only to be stopped from flying off the ship itself by the safety railing.
The impact from hitting the metal bars knocked the wind right out of me, however Sam got the worst of it as her head hit the bars, knocking her right out! Thankfully the violent flow of water had stopped, but I couldn't even will myself to get up, still recovering from the impact.
Worse still, MetalSeadramon began to slither across the boat, murder in his eyes, "You should have just let me kill him human, I wasn't told to kill you, but now that you've really pissed me off, you're going for a little swim!" He said before smacking me with his tail, sending me flying off the ship and into the sea.
I hit the water had, sending me into the depths, I managed to right myself and swim but up to the surface, but when I did, I saw just how far MetalSeadramon had sent me, no way I'd be able to swim far enough to reach the ferry now! Worse still MetalSeadramon wasn't done with me, as I could see him torpedoing towards me. "Oh my gooood!" I screamed as soon enough I was sent tumbling through the water again by the displaced water alone.
It was then I realized what he was doing, he was trying to drown me, this was confirmed when I was sent deeper underwater by a smack of his tail, any attempts I made to resurface were met with the same result. Oh god this was bad! I couldn't last long like this, and I could only hold my breath so long! I was terrified, more scared than I'd ever been in my life, this was a losing battle with no chance of me surviving.
God why doesn't he just kill me and be done with it? Was he toying with me? Knowing how much glee he was taking in squeezing the life out of Astamon it wouldn't surprise me.
However, something grabbed the back of my shirt, pulling me out of the way of MetalSeadramon's thrashing, my savior and I both resurfaced, me finally being able to fill my lungs with air, "Are you okay?" I heard Astamon ask me, I should have figured it was him, who else could it have been?
I nodded, but before more could be said, MetalSeadramon fired his nose spout again, Astamon managing to leap out of the water and out of the way of the attack. He then took out his Tommy Gun and began to fire, the bullets mostly bouncing harmlessly off his armor, but… one managed to hurt him, as he yelped and fell back under water.
Astamon managed to get me back to the Ferry, which was in tatters by the way, however something began to bother me, "Why? Why did that hurt him?" I asked more to myself than Astamon.
Astamon began to think it over regardless, he then seemed to realize what happened, "I hit a gap in his armor!" He said, how did we not think of this before? Of course his armor had gaps, he needed to be able to move after all, we had a plan of attack now!
Both of us silently agreed to the plan, Astamon laying prone to get a better shot while I rushed off to check on Sam, she was still unconscious but thankfully still in the spot I'd left her.
MetalSeadramon predictably, came in for another attack on the boat, but this time, Astamon was ready, he fired, hitting his armor a few times, I couldn't imagine how hard it was to be accurate with a Tommy Gun, but he managed to hit the gaps a few times too, causing some damage to the sea serpent.
MetalSeadramon roared in pain as he once again submerged, he was getting wise to Astamon's strategy now, trying to keep himself underwater as much as possible, only resurfacing briefly to fire off an attack before submerging again. Astamon did his best to try to stay on him, rushing through the boat to try to catch MetalSeadramon off guard.
However, suddenly I noticed Astamon was having a hard time finding him, frantically looking over the railing to no avail, but before I could wonder what was happening, the boat began to shake.
It didn't take a genius to realize what was happening, MetalSeadramon was trying to flip the boat in a last ditch effort to kill us. I quickly grabbed the safety railing to prevent myself from falling off, grabbing Sam's unconscious body by the arm to keep her from falling as well.
The passengers on the ferry all began to panic, hanging onto the railings, some flopping helplessly across the deck, god this was bad! How the hell were we going to get out of this one? But as soon as I thought this, I saw Astamon leap off the deck…
I hit the water, hoping Sam and Kate could hold on for just a little longer, I could see MetalSeadramon trying to flip the ship over from where I was, pushing it with his head, little did he know but he was leaving himself quite exposed by doing this, I'd have to aim carefully, one missed shot would cause him to panic and abandon his plan to flip the ship over, and rob me of my one chance to take him out.
I knew exactly what to aim for, his eye, hopefully he'd stay distracted long enough for me to get the shot off, I aimed my gun, using a stay piece of wood to keep myself afloat, aiming a two handed gun one handed was a task, but I had no choice.
Once the aim was just right, I squeezed the trigger, the muzzle flashed, six shots off, peppering his eye with bullets, he cried out as he submerged himself, causing the boat to level back out.
I saw his tail poke out from the water, breaking apart into data fragments, letting me know I'd finally killed him, a good thing too, I doubted the ferry would have lasted much longer.
I swam back to the ferry, pulling myself up, rolling onto my side, god was I tired. I felt myself De-Digivolve back to Psychemon, that fight having taken everything out of me. I heard the sounds of feet running against the wooden deck. "Psychemon? Are you okay? Where's MetalSeadramon?" I heard Kate ask.
I opened my eyes, too weak to speak, I simply gave her a thumbs up hoping she'd get the meaning. Thankfully she did, wrapping her arms around me, "Great job Psychemon, I can't believe we actually managed to survive!" She said, overwhelmed with joy.
The other humans began to gather around, "Wait… that little thing killed the monster?" One of them questioned. However the others seemed to accept this, and applauded me regardless.
I hadn't been applauded by a crowd like this since I was the prince of the Nightmare Soldiers… it felt good… great even… knowing I just saved every one of these human's lives with my efforts, I couldn't help but smile… victorious.
"So… does anyone know how we're going to get to England now?"
My eyes shot open, oh crap I forgot about that! I looked around to see the ship was heavily damaged, my victory quickly became quite hallow, I saved the day but left everyone stranded in the middle of the ocean!
Suddenly a rather grizzly looking human approached us, "Ah… this thing can probably still get us to the port, although we'll have quite the story for them when we bring her in!" The man laughed. He then walked off to what I assumed was the control room to the thing.
And sure enough, the boat began to move again, a little worse for ware, but at least it would still get us to England… and a little closer to finding Ross…
I just hope I don't get sea sick again…
A/N: And there you have it, I admit, my absence this time was due to writers block, trying to come up with a logical way for everyone to reunite was a task, but I eventually (kinda) figured it out, hopefully the next chapter won't take an eternity to come out… hopefully.