Episode Two - 2011 Part Two
He ran fast, out the doors and back to his car before anyone could see him. 'That's it, this was it, everyone has moved on, they've all dealt with it, now even Hikari has moved on. Damnit! This is so much harder alone Vmon! It's not fair! Why am I stuck thinking about them every day? Thinking of her gets me up after I fall asleep thinking of him. Why would they hide it from me, let me make a fool of myself? I feel like a child again, so stupid. Buying her little trinkets...' His eyes welled up as he put the key in the ignition.
"Damn!... Damn damn damn!" He hit the wheel. "So stupid!" He cranked the car and left the parking lot, his tire chirped as he entered the roadway.
He felt his phone buzzing again and again. He finally just shut it off, cranking up the radio he shifted again and after a little while eventually pulled onto a dark unlit road.
As he sped along the empty road he lost himself in his thoughts, as the turn came close he downshift by muscle memory, 'my whole life was surrounded by the Digital World, but what am I without it? Without my partner, he brought out the best in me, what do I do now? '
Tires began to scream as he exited the turn, the empty mountain path was dark but stretched out for miles, the engine raced as he rocketed down the road.
'Why do I seem to be having the hardest time with this? I guess since I don't have a perfect angel to guide me through...' He thought, angrily, but he then sighed. 'I shouldn't blame them .They didn't do anything wrong. I should be happy for them...'
Another shift, the engine roared through the night, 'but I'm not damnit. I want to be angry, I want to hit him, I want to yell!'
"Rrrraaaaahhhhhh!!!!" He yelled as he slammed the brakes, tires screaming and smoke bellowing as the car finally came to a screeching halt. Daisuke had his head on the steering wheel when the smoke cleared. The tears wouldn't stay in anymore, the car idled on the empty road.
After a few minutes, he finally collected himself and pulled off to the side, he turned the car off, then stood up to walk over to the railing and look out over the city.
'Maybe leaving wouldn't be so bad...' he sighed. 'My friends don't need my train wreck of a personality. I can't get out of my own head anymore, I don't know how to move on yet.'
His phone buzzed as he finally turned it back on, once it booted up he could see her name on the screen, 7 missed calls was in bold red next to her name. Before he could think his phone began ringing, about the same time a noise began to reverberate on the mountain walls. The number was unknown to the phone but familiar to Daisuke. 'The American?' He thought, the noise began to quickly grow in volume. He slide the green button over but before he could speak the man on the other end interrupted.
"Mr Motomiya! I hope you made your mind up!" He yelled sounding muffled. The noise was beginning to drown out the call.
"Maybe, but I can barely hear you!" Daisuke yelled to the phone, putting a finger in his ear in an attempt to block the noise around him which oddly sounded as though it was still in both ears. Finally he caught sight of a light speeding out from the trees ahead of him over the cliff.
"Good! We need to discuss things, it's an emergency, don't move we'll be there momentarily." The man told him.
Daisuke attempted to protest, "I...what? Wai-" but click the line went to dead air. Daisuke looked up to the light, the noise surrounded him. A helicopter roared into sight, Daisuke could finally spot the Raider as it swiftly approached.
'Seriously? Is this real?' Daisuke stood ready, but worried as the helicopter finally slowed its pace and began to land on the desolate road.
'What in the world do these guys do? How can they fly an American helicopter in Japanese airspace?' Other thoughts raced through his mind as the helo landed. Finally a door popped open and that man in made his way towards Daisuke.
"It's nice to finally meet you in person Mr. Motomiya, though I feel like I already know you from your file." He reached out to offer his hand.
Daisuke took it hesitantly and shook, "that's... unsettling... Look what's going on, how did you know I was here?"
"I'm glad you're right to it, we've got an emergency. We need your help, we are an internationally sanctioned task force with orders to assess, manage, and if necessary eliminate global and other-worldly threats. As far as finding you, you have a cell phone, what do you think?" He spoke with a smirk.
"What do you mean other-worldly threats?" Daisuke asked, the man smiled.
"So you're in? Let's go, I'll explain more on the way there." He said.
"I didn't-" He protested.
"We're working against the clock Mr. Motomiya, come on." Mr. Royland turned on heel and walked back to the helo.
"Hold on, what about my car?" He said giving in and running back to his car. He grabbed the keys from the ignition and locked it with the key fob as jogged after the American. "Hey, wait!" He ducked and ran up to the helo.
..
As the helicopter set off in the air again, Mr. Royland handed Daisuke a headset.
"We'll have to save the formal introductions for another time. We'll call this a trial run. For now, up there," he pointed to the front cab as he spoke to the headset, "is the pilot Gucci. His co-pilot is Iris." Daisuke couldn't see them.
But as he looked around the cab, there were four others strapped in, all wearing black. One more woman, three more men. The man pointed to a very handsome man, probably mid 30s, dark hair with light hazel eyes, "that's Teflon." Daisuke waived, feeling slightly intimidated by the man, the man nodded back.
The next man was huge, younger late 20s max, blond and smiling, 'he makes me think of a happy lumberjack.' Daisuke thought. "Then there's Shrek." Both waived.
The woman didn't seem to fit the rest, closer to Daisuke in age probably but just a little older, he thought maybe mid 20's, she reminded Daisuke of Mimi. But a little spicier, red and purple short hair, green eyes. "She's Icetea." He waived, she half-smiled and nodded.
Then the last one was a scruffy looking man, grey hair and brown eyes, the oldest looking so far 50's at least. His eyes dismissed Daisuke completely. "And finally Captain Ford."
The man didn't bother to acknowledge Daisuke instead asking Mr. Royland, "how much time did we waste with this stunt?"
"Mr. Motomiya has unique experience that will prove crucial to this mission Ford, anything to improve the chance of a successful mission is not a waste." The man said slightly annoyed.
"Hmph." Ford was visibly frustrated. Daisuke didn't understand the reasoning yet. But he didn't really understand why he was there either.
"It's all just slowing us down." He grumbled.
"Forgive Ford, he's much more friendly when he's not feeling micromanaged. He's this task force's leader. I see to a few groups like this the connection between leadership. But my focus right now is former digidestined."
"Why digidestined, what's going on?" Daisuke asked through the headset.
"There's a lot to explain but there are enemies who have been found experimenting, violating what should be the laws of Geneva." He started.
"Should be? What do you mean?" Daisuke asked.
"Digimon aren't considered beings under the code of Geneva in the eyes of the law. But that doesn't stop it from being wrong." He said.
Daisuke's blood boiled once he realized the situation, "they're experimenting on them?" He said angrily.
"Yes, either being taken from the digital world or being recreated in the real world, rewriting their code live, damaging them, permanently scarring their code. The US and Australia began finding the first evidence almost a year ago here and there. Now we've run into facilities in every country almost, and in a few cases found some...thing. One team caught a video of it. A warped being. Stuck between real and digital. Faceless, formless, impervious to human weaponry. They rampage before finding a way self terminate." Daisuke remixed at the words. "Now due to mounting evidence of enormous amounts of manpower and funding being funneled into these projects we were brought in to find the source, shut down all facilities allowing this and arrest or eliminate all parties involved. And show the experiments mercy." He said.
'Eliminate... He said it so casually.' "I'm not sure about eliminating someone. Even if it's neither Digimon nor human. I don't know about a person. But..." Daisuke trailed off, unsure. Thinking back to the first digimon he had to permanently eliminate... His stomach suddenly unsettled.
"I understand your hesitation, I read your file. Courageous but passionate and heartfelt. Good qualities to have in a leader. Maybe one day-"
"On approach sir." A new voice said through the headset. "Rendezvous point is 3 minutes out."
"Right, that's it for story time, when we land the others are going to move out ahead to scout and assess our options. I'll have something in the cargo area for you to get aquatinted with. What will hopefully help our dire situation." Daisuke was curious. He felt overwhelmed with information, he tried not to show it.
Daisuke felt the helicopter's motion shift as it slowed, the engine dulled slightly as it began to land. Daisuke looked out, they had to be in Kanagawa, about 60 miles away from Odaiba, he could see Ō-Yama.
A few moments later they dropped below the tree line in a clearing. Seconds later, touchdown. The engines immediately shut down.
"Move out team." Ford stood and walked out and the rest followed swiftly.
"Come on." Mr. Royland stood and moved out, ducking down slightly, moving to the cargo area outside at the back of the helo. Daisuke followed. He pulled out a large metal case and began to walk away from the helicopter. It's blades were slowing now, Daisuke noticed the pilot and copilot leaving with the others too, still not getting much of a look.
"We, by we I mean the IS military, were working on this technology first, but couldn't get it stabilized. Your country was able to not only stabilize it but also was the first to design a working prototype they call it the mimiclyst," he set the case down and opened it, "but after multiple testing programs they figured out, even thought it's completely made and programmed in the real world it is considerably more powerful in the hands of a digidestined."
He pushed a few buttons and a screen turned green, "now come here." It hissed. He turned the case around showing Daisuke.
"Is that... a weapon?" He asked trying to understand its shape.
"It's a creation made using data collected from Digimon fighting in their ultimate forms. Collected with our most advanced tech... Let's say it is... progressive. It changes to fit the person. For most of us it just forms the shape of something familiar."
He grabbed it and as he showed Daisuke it morphed in a flurry of movements. It was almost like Liquid Metal, it turned into what looked like a semi-automatic rifle. American military probably. "Something familiar like this. It's always different. But it fires concentrated electromagnetic energy. Which was finally effective against these beings. A win for us. But it's when a young digidestined that had joined one of my other teams that things got truly interesting for us, when she grabbed one of the prototype weapons something different happened. They think with the coding that seems to gather it's energy from the Digital World, while we can harness it, a digidestined can wield it in a totally different way we never expected." He said as he set it back down, in another flurry the object returned to its original odd looking flowing metallic shape.
"Since that moment I've been vetting former digidestined all over the world. Yours was at the top of this short list. Now, if you're ready it's your turn. They should be checking in shortly." He. Iced out of the way. Daisuke slowly walked up to the case. Hesitant, he finally reached out. Before he could make contact, *pow!, both stopped in their tracks, birds and animals rushed away as the crack of the gunshot rang out. *pow, pow, pow*
"Change of plans, grab it let's go!" The man told Daisuke. Suddenly trees snapped as another ring of shots, two of the team came running out chased by a huge shapeless figure. It pushed trees over like butter as it gained on them, their shots being absorbed. Daisuke watched it barrel towards them.
"Shit that's bigger than any we've seen!"
Daisuke turned and grabbed the weapon without any hesitation, determined now. He made contact. He felt a rush of energy, relief almost. He hasn't felt that since... He didn't have time to think, they were in trouble. He felt the object overtake his arm, it was cold to the touch, but he didn't feel cold, the energy flowing through him felt like a fire burning inside. He finally felt it subside, he felt the object around his arm moving like it was flowing in the wind.
As he turned his focus to the figure, he didn't know what to expect, 'what is it-' it unexpectedly began to take shape. Suddenly it was familiar, his face in shock, but he knew he could ask later. He needed it to- *Boom* it fired in the air, he just thought the word and *Boom* another huge shot of energy. This time directed at the figure. It hit the figure, firing it backwards as it closed in on the happy lumberjack. Who waved at Daisuke.
"This is unbelievable." Daisuke said to himself as he ran towards the danger. He fired again, barely missing as the figure had recovered and started back hurtling in his direction, he fired two more shots as he ran. The figure fired off a shot of its own. Daisuke jumped and barely avoided it, but as they zeroed in on each other, his arm changed shape as he grabbed a limb with both hands and hurled himself up in the air, his arm changed again in a blink. A huge spike formed, it charged with energy. It made contact in the top of the shapeless figure. They both came to a dead stop. The creature suddenly screeched and disintegrated in front of them.
Daisuke stood in the middle of the mess trying to catch his breathe. He had dropped the object at some point when he thought he was going to pass out. After dropping it he began to recover. 'What the fuck was that?' He thought as he stared at his arm back to normal now.
The happy lumberjack walked up as Daisuke finally stood up, feeling a bit better. He held his hand out to shake the big man's.
"Nein, Ich muss meinen neuen Freund umarmen!" He suddenly and unexpected grabbed Daisuke up in a bearhug. "I must hug my new friend who save us!"
The man laughed heartily as Daisuke flailed wildly in his burly arms.
"It was nothing, really." Daisuke gasped as the man set him down.
"He's right, we were caught off guard, thanks for the backup." Iris simply nodded in thanks. The girl was the Co-Pilot, blonde American. A looker Daisuke thought.
Ford and the rest of the team had ran up in between the Daisuke's second shot and the bearhug.
"The intel was bad, this was definitely a setup Chief, they knew we were coming." Ford told Mr. Royland.
"It ambushed us the moment we were close, almost took me and the captain out when it blew the doors open." Teflon said.
"Nothing is even viable, they trashed the facility." A Korean man said, 'Has to be Gucci I guess.' Daisuke thought spotting the last face he hadn't seen.
"I need to get back and convene the directors. Daisuke, you did great. But what's the answer. If you do this, you're leaving this life and becoming a classified agent. Barred from social contact, your family is allowed to speak with you only in urgent situations. Others can only know you've left, zero contact. This job asks a lot of you. But I know your answer, I've-"
"Read my file, right.." he thought a moment. "Then you know, how could I turn it down?" Her face flashed in his mind's eye. He dismissed the idea. She was happy. "When do I start?" The rest of the team besides the Captain looked relieved. They began making their way back to the helicopter.
"I told them, if the world is at stake you wouldn't be able to say no. Especially after what I saw today, you picked it up and were able to immediately control the mimiclyst, not only that we've never seen it change shape once someone's touched it."
"And you call it a what? Mimiclyst?" He scoffed at the name.
"I'm sure you'll have a lot of questions, our scientists will have plenty as well." They all climbed in the helicopter. "But for now let's get you back to your car." The engines fired up.
"They can ask whatever they want but we're changing that dumbass name..." Daisuke muttered.
..
Back at his car Daisuke stood with the man. "Like I said strictly classified. Go home pack, make arrangements, you can tell your immediate family you're entering a overseas program but everyone else can only know you're leaving at most. We've got people that do this thing, they'll also set up to have your apartment transferred to an alias. Take care of it. Any personal business. They'll contact you a few hours after I drop you off. I'll see you in a few hours.
..
The locked clicked inside the apartment, Daisuke entered. Deep in thought he shut the door and walked over to the couch. He sighed before sitting down, 'it's not like old times buddy. But it's the first time I've felt needed since you left. Besides I can't pass up on saving the world right?' He thought to himself looking to a picture on the table. In it Vmon smiled while hanging onto Daisuke. 'She took the picture', he thought but when he began to resurface the memory he grimaced and shook it off. He stood up and went to his room to pack. He grabbed his phone from his pocket as he walked and unlocked it. It was the middle of the night. He stared at the screen for a few minutes stuck in the hallway, before he changed his mind, locked it and continued.
With a pile of bags ready by the door Daisuke looked around his apartment, it was time.
He sat down at the table and began to write.
First his parents. He told them he accepted an overseas job, it was urgent, and he would call them as soon as he was settled.
Then one to his sister.
He made one for his Senpai, Taichi. Thanking him for helping make him someone to be proud of.
He wrote one for everyone, even Takeru, all that was left was hers... He stared at the paper, with just Hikari written on it.
He had no idea what to say. He tried, but after only a few minutes there was 6 crumbled pages that said Hikari at the top.
"Nothing does you justice..." he sighed.
He finally decided on,
..
Hikari,
I have enjoyed being your friend ever since our first class together. I think of it often, and will as I go through this. I'm accepting the job, and I'll be leaving immediately, I have to go. I can't say more. But when I get back one day I hope you'll accept my apology. I know I should've talked to you but I couldn't, you would just talk me out of it and I have to get away for awhile. I'm happy for you both. This is something I can't pass up, you know me, I'm a sucker for saving the world. Hah. I have you and Taichi to thank. I wish you and Takeru luck and happiness. I hope you wish me the same...
He sat there, hovering the pen, not sure what to say. Finally ending the letter with just,
Daisuke.
..
Once he finished all the letters it was past midnight. He left and hand delivered every single letter to each digidestined. After he'd traveled all over the city he had completed the task and was pulling up at home. He walked back in and sat on the couch. His phone read 3:22AM, he sighed.
In what felt like a seamless transition, Daisuke blinked, his eyes closed at night and the next moment they opened to the sound of buzzing and ringing. He looked to the phone with dreary eyes.
5:15AM
He stood up and called Mr Royland.
"I'm ready..."
..
Till next time.