Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. The concept of The Tamer v3.0 - Brave New Frontier is a fanfiction idea. Please support the official properties.
Author's Notes: Welcome all to phase 3 of the story of the Digimon Tamer. Like a lot of you guessed, this will be set in the timeline of Digimon Frontier. And much like v2.0, v3.0 will try to distance itself from the events of the previous story. The main objective is give this story more of a stand alone feel when compared with v2.0. That's not to say the previous story will not have any bearing on this phase. It does. But only a handful of characters from the previous story will appear here - the focus here will be on telling the story of these characters. And there is one more thing to mention: the pandemic is still keeping me busy at work. I'm hoping that the vaccination roll out will start to help peter things out but I'm going to be realistic and stick to a three week update schedule until I can get back to work. I hope it can live up to the expectations of everyone who wants to read this next phase of the story.
Eight year old Takuya Kanbara walked down the quiet sidewalk after school let out, excited to get home and watch the latest episode of Super Ultra Hyper Force Go! He was excited just thinking about what new villain they would be fighting today and how they would win the power of good! If he was lucky, maybe he could watch the intro without his brother jumping in to sing the theme song while wearing a blanket as a cape.
"Takuya," a voice called in a low whisper.
Takuya looked over his shoulder, down the near empty sidewalk for the source of the voice. But there was no one there. Actually…now that he thought about it, why was no one there? Sure it was late in the afternoon now that school was out, but people should've been busy heading home from work. There should have been high schoolers doing gross kissing stuff or kids running to the park. But instead there was nobody. He didn't know how he'd missed it before…He was the only one on the street.
"Takuya."
Takuya spun around again towards the source of the voice and saw the street ahead of him was now equally empty.
"Takuya."
It was behind him again, and Takuya spun around one more time to see no one there. To anyone watching, he must've looked crazy spinning in place like this. And whoever was watching him was definitely trying to scare him. And it was working. He was definitely scared, not just of whoever was playing such a horrible prank on him but also on the fact that they'd somehow managed to do the one thing Takuya hated above all else. They managed to isolate him. And now Takuya was scared with no one to turn to for help.
"Takuya."
There was a roar behind him, and little Takuya turned around to see a bright light before him. There was a figure obscured by the light and it reached out a hand towards him, "Hello, Takuya."
Takuya felt a great fear over come him and he wanted to runaway in terror. But his feet remained firmly planted on the ground. And the figure came towards him. To anyone else, this sight would've prompted intervention and a call to the police. But no one saw this sight - not the light, nor the figure approaching little Takuya. All anyone saw was a backpack fall to the ground in the middle of a busy street in Tokyo.
The Tamer v3.0 - Bold New Frontier
Chapter 1: A Train to Nowhere
Izumi Orimoto always felt like a fish out of water. After all, she was a naturally blonde haired Japanese girl who'd lived her entire life in Italy. And for some reason, despite everything that had happened, her family decided the best choice was to move back to Japan of all places because her mom got a new job at some big tech company which she ironically shared a name with: Izumi. However, she'd taken to using the nickname she'd acquired during her time in Italy: Zoe.
She had no actual problem with the nickname itself since it sounded exotic and that fit her to a T. But that also made it hard for her to get along with her peers in either Italy or Japan. After all, she was the foreign kid in her school in Italy and 'the rich kid who's traveled everywhere' in her family's native Japan. Not to mention, everyone thought she was 'too forward' and so people tended to shy away from her because it gave her a reputation as not understanding personal boundaries.
Despite her lack of friends, her mother had decided to give her a cell phone on her tenth birthday. Zoe immediately tried to return it but her mother said at the very least to keep it so that she could get a hold of anyone if she ever needed to. Something she didn't agree with because who was she going to get a hold of anyway? The friends she didn't have?
Even so, she kept the phone - if for no other reason than to appease her parents who became increasingly concerned for her safety even if there was no need to be. Something Zoe didn't worry about until her cell phone started beeping of its own accord one day. It took her by surprise, because she hadn't been expecting it but she found a text message waiting for her when she inspected it.
'It's time to decide your future. Your destiny is calling. Take the 5:45 PM train to Shibuya from Jiyuugaoka on August 1st. Reply 'okay' to accept.'
The number it came from was blocked. Naturally, she deleted the message and ignored it, but not even ten minutes pass before she got another message.
'Take the 5:45 PM train to Shibuya from Jiyuugaoka on August 1st. Reply 'okay' to accept.'
She deleted it again and this time made sure to set her phone to block all unknown numbers. She rested comfortably in the knowledge that she wouldn't receive this message from whoever again until her phone actually began ringing. That time, she jumped in surprise and saw her phone immediately decline the unknown number. Relief washed over her, and just as quickly went away as a notification appeared on the screen:
'1 Voicemail'
She hesitated at first, already having an idea of what to expect but listened to it anyway.
"Take the 5:45 PM train to Shibuya from Jiyuugaoka on August 1st. It's important that you reply yes to accept."
She gasped and turned off her phone immediately. Zoe had no idea who was playing this awful prank on her and she didn't care. At this point she just wanted them to stop.
She left her room to try and take her mind off it, heading towards the kitchen to get a drink of juice. She downed her first glass quickly and was about to pour herself another when the phone rang. She froze at the first ring. Was this a joke? A sick prank? How could they possibly know she was in the kitchen? No, how could they possibly know to call the house phone?
"Zoe! Why aren't you answering the phone?" her mother said as she entered from the living room and answered it, "Hello, Orimoto residence. Hmm? Oh, hello Rumiko! No, I've got a minute. What's wrong? He did what? Oh my! That's so precious, you'll have to tell me all about it!"
Zoe returned the juice to the refrigerator, shaking as she tried to make sense of what was happening. Her mother must've thought she was crazy for freaking out at nothing like that. But she wasn't crazy, right? Someone or something was trying to get a hold of her. And whoever they were, seemed just as determined to reach her as she was to ignore them.
Fine. If they wanted her attention that bad, she was going to give it to them. She made her way back to her room and turned the phone back on. She hesitated briefly before unblocking all unknown numbers and it beeped immediately. Another text message from the mystery sender.
'Take the 5:45 PM train to Shibuya on August 1st. Reply 'okay' to accept.'
She hated how quick that was and began typing her reply.
'Who is this?'
She waited patiently for the response.
'Your destiny. Take the 5:45 PM train to Shibuya from Jiyuugaoka on August 1st. Reply 'okay' to accept.'
Her destiny? What kind of creep sends that as a response? She began typing her response, 'What do you want?'
'Your help. Take the 5:45 PM train to Shibuya from Jiyuugaoka on August 1st. Reply 'okay' to accept.'
Her help? What? She'd had enough of this now and went back downstairs to her mom in the kitchen, still busy on the phone with her friend, "Mom!"
"Hold on," her mother covered the mouth piece of the phone and asked, "What's wrong, Zoe?"
"Some creep keeps texting me!" Zoe said, thrusting her phone into her mother's hands. Her mother took one look at the phone's screen and raised an eyebrow at her.
Her mother turned the phone back around, "All I see is you texting yourself, Zoe. That's your own phone number."
"What?" Zoe blinked as she looked back at the message on the screen in disbelief. She was right. Where it had once said a blocked number, the screen now said the messages were coming from her own phone. But that couldn't have been possible! "How? This wasn't…mom, I swear this said blocked number a minute ago!"
"Zoe, I don't know what this is about, but stop it," her mother scolded her, "I have work to get done and I don't need…whatever this is. We can talk about it tonight once I get caught up."
Her mother didn't believe her. Why would she? Fine…she was on her own and stormed out of the kitchen, looking at her phone and at the message. Without typing anything back, the mystery messenger typed back, 'That wasn't a very bright idea, Zoe. We need your help. Take the 5:45 PM train to Shibuya from Jiyuugaoka on August 1st. Reply 'okay' to accept.'
They knew her name. How did they know her name? What else did they know? Would they just be reaching out to her endlessly? The fear shook her as she slowly typed back her response, 'Okay.'
August 1st came and Zoe had never felt more dread for a date. She arrived at the train station a few minutes before the appointed time and made her way towards the only train set to depart for Shibuya at the scheduled train. She'd also made sure to bring a backpack stuffed full of rocks just to be safe. It made the bag extra heavy but she felt the extra precaution made it worth it. After all, she had no idea what she was about to run into. All she knew was that she didn't trust whoever had sent out the mysterious summons for her.
The whole train ride, she shifted uncomfortably as she watched everyone else on the train with her. There were a lot of men in business suits but she tried not to focus on them. After all, it was quitting time for a lot of people who were getting off of work and they were probably more concerned with going out for drinks than they were with…an unaccompanied girl…
…crap…
She shouldn't have come here! This was definitely a bad idea! She'd heard stories about what happened to girls on train cars that were crowded like this! Well, she wasn't about to let herself become just another statistic. No, she had to get out of here as soon as possible. As the train slowly rolled into the station, she readied herself to run. But her phone beeped and she saw another message from the mystery person.
'Take the first elevator on your left when you arrive at the station.'
What the hell kind of message was that? No, she wasn't going to adhere to these mystery messages any more. This was a mistake. Just one big mistake. Once the train came to a stop, she hurried out the train with every intention of bolting for the nearest exit. That was her plan, but instead she got swept up in a massive crowd of people busy pushing her back and forth around the station.
Panic set in as she tried to push her way through the crowd and get out of it, heading towards any kind of opening she could. She was pushed around so much, she was just relieved to finally be out of the crowd. At least she was until she heard a beep and realized she was on an elevator. She gasped as the door closed shut in front of her and went for the door open button only to find a bare panel. No buttons to indicate floors, no button to open the doors, or an emergency call button to ask for assistance if the elevator jammed. Then it began descending downward. Was this the elevator she was supposed to be on?
As she took a step back, she took notice of someone else in the elevator with her - a boy wearing a blue jacket and a blue bandana on his head leering at her. Instinctively, she retreated to the other end of the elevator and asked, "Are you the one who's been calling and texting me?"
He stared at her, "I was about to ask the same question. After all, it was a girl calling me."
"You think I did this!?" Zoe blurted out.
He raised an eyebrow at her and crossed his arms, raising up a flip phone in his hands. He pressed a button and a voicemail began playing. A woman's voice repeating the same message she'd received so many times, "Take the 5:45 PM train to Shibuya from Jiyuugaoka on August 1st. It's important that you reply yes to accept."
"That doesn't sound anything like me!" Zoe protested at the boy who continued to stare at her. Before she could say anything else in response, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. He turned away and proceeded out of the elevator without another word. Zoe could only just stare in disbelief at the insult before she realized she had no other choice but to follow him out. It wasn't like she had any other options to get the elevator back out of here. She sighed and proceeded out of the elevator, into a large open chamber that resembled a massive train station filled with children. Then her phone beeped and a new text message appeared.
'You've made it this far, Zoe Orimoto. Your fate is in your hands now. Choose a train and a new world awaits you.'
"Whoever you are, you sure like being cryptic," she stated as she walked out into the crowd of children. Many of the tracks were empty or had trains that were already departing. She took one glance around and saw she didn't exactly have many choices left as kids began filing into separate cars. One small child in particularly large orange hat was being bullied by two older boys who shoved him into a car as he cried to be left alone.
They then hurried off to get into another train with a girl, laughing and poking fun at the boy they were harassing as their train started taking off. She couldn't believe what she'd just seen and walked towards the crying boy on the floor of one of the train car's as he sat there rubbing his eyes and whimpering.
She kneeled down and offered a hand to him, "Hey there. Are you okay?"
He sniffled as he pulled his hat down and pushed himself off the floor, quietly murmuring, "I'm fine."
Zoe frowned, wondering if he refused her hand to put on a brave face, or if he did it because he'd learned not to be trustful of others. In either case, she stepped back as he stood himself and hurried over to one of the nearby benches, sniffling and trying to wipe tears from his eyes. That was when she took note of the other boy on the train with her. A tall portly boy in a blue jumpsuit and hair spiked up to the top. He waved to her and winked, "Hey gorgeous."
"Ew," she revulsed at his attempted flirt. It wasn't so much his appearance that alarmed her as it was his greeting. Specifically, his attempt at being charming to someone he'd literally just met. And it seemed her response wasn't going to deter him, "So, you got the mystery message too? 'Come to the train at Chibuya Station!'"
She nodded, taking a seat on a bench away from him and replied, "Yeah."
He nodded, "Me too. I'm Junpei Shibayama but you can call me JP, cutie. So what can I call you?"
"Ew," she replied in disgust at the nick name. She contemplated using her bag of rocks on him but decided against that - she didn't want to start a fight.
It was made all the worse by the chocolate candy bar he retrieved from his pocket, one that appeared to be half eaten. He unfolded the part that has been bitten off and asked, "Want a bite?"
"No thanks," she threw up her hands defensively.
JP just shrugged and took a bite of it himself before turning to the boy with the oversized hat, "What about you, kid?"
The little boy fidgeted nervously and leaned away from JP. Obviously, she wasn't the only one weirded out and out off by his behavior. She turned towards the little boy and asked, "What about you? What's your name?"
"T-Tomoki...Tomoki Himi..." he stammered out quietly, still sniffling.
"Tomoki, hmm? Were those boys bullying you?" Zoe asked him. He didn't respond, keeping his gaze transfixed to the floor. That was a definite yes. Poor kid must've been enduring that for some time for him to be so closed off to people. She could only imagine how on guard he must've been. But if that was the case, why did he come here at all? Wouldn't he have turned down this invitation? Or perhaps he was forced to be here against his will? Whichever case, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor boy. She wanted to reach out and hug him, but she noticed he would scoot further away and bring up his arms defensively anytime either she or JP tried.
She sighed and said the only thing she could, "I'm sorry."
He gave no response, and seemed to be trying to ignore her.
The train continued for what felt like hours through darkness. She had no idea how far underground they were, but it must've been really deep for them to still not come out of whatever tunnel system they were in. All the while, so many questions ran through her mind: where were they going? Who summoned them? What were they going to do? And what did 'your destiny is in your hands' mean?
Their answer came when they finally saw light bleeding into the tunnel through the windows. Then the train came to a stop inside a dusty looking train station as they saw their first bit of light. As the train cars slowed, they felt a rumble in their pockets. Zoe's cell phone leapt out and floated in front of her - illuminating images of a purple butterfly. Tomoki's phone did the same and illuminated images of a white polar bear, while JP's showed images of a blue beetle.
He moaned, "Aw man, why does Tommy get the bear?"
"My name's not Tommy," Tomoki protested sheepishly as the light died down and the train finally rolled to a stop.
"Looks like it's the end of the line. Come on! Let's go see where we ended up!" JP said as he hopped out of his chair and led the way towards the door. Tomoki followed along just behind, rubbing his arm nervously as he followed just behind JP. Zoe followed just after them, heading towards the door when she noticed a soft glow of red light coming from the front of the train. It drew her attention, leaving her to wonder if someone else had been on the train with them when she hurried out after them.
"You coming?" JP called out to her.
"Y-yeah," Zoe nodded as she hurried out after them, keeping her attention towards the front of the train. In the car just ahead of theirs, a boy stepped out wearing a yellow shirt under a red short sleeved jacket, with brown khaki shorts, and a reversed brown baseball cap with a pair of goggles wrapped around them. He was kind of lanky for his height, almost scrawny, as he cracked a tired yawn and took a look around.
Then the new boy noticed them, "Oh, hello. I don't suppose you three happen to know what's going on?"
"Not a clue," JP answered cheerfully, "Looks like we're all on the same boat! So, you got a phone call, too?"
"Phone call? I was napping until a few seconds ago," the boy answered, "What's this about a phone? Also...where are we? I swear we were in Chibuya station when I fell asleep. How long was I out for?"
"You…you're joking, right?" JP asked.
The boy just shrugged, "Oh, were we making jokes? Okay! I got one. What do you get when you cross a-"
"You're clueless!" JP face palmed.
"No more clueless than you," the boy replied.
Now, JP was annoyed and he grit his teeth, "Okay, since you know so much, what's going on? Where are we?"
"Hmm? Based on a first glance, we're in some part of the Digital World I've never been to," the boy replied, looking around with a confused gaze. What? Digital World? What the hell was the Digital World? Was this kid crazy? He had to be. He said he'd been sleeping on the train until a minute ago. Actually, there was something else off about him. He seemed…uneasy. Like his mind was somewhere else that it didn't want to be.
"Well, when it doubt, ask the driver," the boy said, walking towards the front of the train without a secondary look back, "Hey! Hey Locomon! Where are we!?"
Locomon? Who's Locomon? Did he know the driver? Maybe he could persuade the driver to send them back! Then they could get this nightmare over with.
"LOCOMON!" the boy called out even louder.
A loud mechanical voice that sounded like grinding metal grunted back, "WHAT!?"
"Where are we?" the boy asked as they reached the front of the train. She looked at the engine at the front and was alarmed to see no windows or even a place for a driver to sit. In fact…it looked like there wasn't even a way in. So who was driving the train? Actually, now that she paid attention, was the front light staring at her. Then it blinked and Zoe jumped back, "AH! WHAT!?"
"Stupid humans, always screaming about nothing. Look, what d'ya want!?" the train spoke to them.
"Where are we?" the boy asked.
"Flame Terminal in Fire Village," the train grumbled at them, "Now if you don't mind, I've got a schedule to keep and more stops to make! Bye."
"Okay, thank you! Be safe!" the boy waved as the train started to pull ahead. Zoe was so shocked by the fact that the train of all things was alive that it didn't occur to her that it was leaving until it was almost out of the station. She bolted after it, "Hey! Wait! Take us with you!"
"Sorry, no time to stop! If I do, I'll be put behind schedule! The next train is in thirty years, good luck until then!" the train replied as it continued on into the distance, slowly gaining speed until she was no longer able to keep up with it. That was when she noticed the tracks turned down at a ninety degree angle which should've been impossible. But that didn't stop the train from continuing downwards at a and disappearing down a canyon into darkness, until only the glimmer of its lights were visible. And even those eventually disappeared into darkness.
Zoe slid to a stop at the end of the platform, gasping for breath and looking back to see no one else had given chase. However, she could see Tomoki was crying and JP was furious with the boy, "WHY WOULD YOU JUST LET IT LEAVE!? HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GO BACK!?"
"Walk backwards?" The boy suggested, "Why are you so upset? This isn't the end of the world."
"Why am I!? Why aren't you freaking out?" JP said, "Why are you being so calm about this?"
The boy just stared at JP before a thought occurred to him, "I take it you guys wanted to go back?"
"Yes," he and Tomoki said in unison.
Takuya looked like he'd just realized something obvious, "I see. Well, don't worry. I know a few tricks to help you with that. Where do you want to go?"
"Where do I...are you just stupid?" JP asked, "We want to go home! Tokyo! Japan!"
"Not the worst thing I've been called," the boy remarked as he held out the device that had appeared in all of their hands, "Never mind! We'll figure that part out later. Digiport open!"
He stood there, arm out as if he expected something to happen before he tried it again, "Digiport Open!"
Still nothing.
"Well, this is embarrassing," he said quietly, shaking the device in his hands as if he expected that to solve whatever problem he thought was happening. JP turned to Zoe and gave an expression of disbelief that Zoe shared as the boy tried once again to open whatever a digiport was. As Zoe made her way back to them, she couldn't help but think the same thing to herself. Who was this kid and what was his deal? Why was he so calm about all of this and what did he seem to know that the others didn't?
"Who even are you?" JP finally asked him. The boy stopped waving the device randomly and stared, "Who…um…actually, that's the good question. What is my name? Tak…Tak…um….yeah…Oh! Takuya! Takuya Kanbara!"
"Uh huh, and what's your actual name?" JP asked.
"Yeah, if you're going to lie, the least you can do is not be so obvious about it," Zoe added as she finally rejoined them.
Takuya scratched his head as he gave it some thought, "I think that's my name. At least, I'm pretty sure it is. It's the first name that came to my head…at least, I think it is…head's still fuzzy. I think I might still be waking up."
"Oh, is that it? You're just waking up," JP rolled his eyes.
"Okay…so what do we do next?" Zoe asked Takuya.
He blinked, "Sorry, are you asking me?"
"Yeah! We're all stuck in this together! We need to get back home!" JP said.
Takuya just stared at them in disbelief, "Um…I am home?"
"I can't take it any more! I want to go home! I WANNA GO HOME!" Tomoki broke out in tears. Before anyone could stop him, he leapt on to the tracks and started running after the train that had left, "I didn't even want to be here! I want to go home! I wanna go home!"
"Tommy! Wait!" Zoe called after the boy as he ran past.
"STOP CALLING ME THAT! THAT'S NOT MY NAME!" Tomoki wailed. She tried to grab him but he was surprisingly quick for his small size. That and the bag of rocks and went helping. She really needed to empty her bag.
JP however, was too busy staring in surprise. Only Takuya had the sense to jump onto the tracks and go after the little boy. Which was just as well -
Either Tomoki was too blinded by his tears, or was too upset, to notice the fact that train tracks ran right off a cliff and disappeared straight down. Just as Tomoki was about to stumble over the edge, Takuya grabbed him and pulled him back, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Calm down! It's okay, calm down! It's okay…just…listen to me…everything will be fine…"
"HOW DO YOU KNOW!? YOU'RE CRAZY! WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO YOU!?" Tomoki continued to cry, struggling against Takuya's hold.
To her surprise, Takuya was able to take a lot of hits and kicks from little Tomoki without flinching. Still, Takuya just held the boy in a somewhat hug until eventually the little boy calmed down enough to realize he wasn't going to break free of Takuya's hold and asked, "Why…why are you…helping me?"
Takuya just stared down, "Because you needed help. Isn't that enough?"
Tomoki just stared up at him, a skeptical look trying to understand what Takuya was thinking. That's what they were all thinking to be honest. It seemed everyone was trying to figure out what was going on with this weird kid who didn't seem to operate on the same kind of logic that the others did. Then Takuya went on, "Tell me, what's your name?"
"T-Tomoki," he responded.
"Tomoki. Listen to me. I promise I will do everything I can to get you home," he answered, "No matter how long it takes."
Tomoki stared at him disbelievingly but then shook his head, "And the reason I should trust you?"
Takuya let him go, "It's the same reason I'm trusting you to not go running off a cliff. Now then…if we're in Flame Terminal…then we must be on…the Continent of Server? Directory? Folder…eh, it's a continent. Let's head into town and see if we can't hitch a ride."
"Hang on! Who put you in charge?" Zoe protested.
Takuya looked back at her and shrugged, "No one? People just have a weird habit of following me, even though it's usually a very bad idea. Come along, Tomoki."
Takuya leapt back on to the platform and helped pulled Tomoki back up. Together, the two of them made their way towards the exit and out into the town.
"Man, can you believe this kid?" JP protested bitterly.
Zoe had to agree with JP's exasperation, "Gotta admit, he seems shifty. But do we have any better ideas? That train said the next one comes in thirty years. And this guy seems to know what's going on. That's more than we can say for ourselves. If we want to go home, following him might be the best idea."
"Hmph. I think we should keep an eye on him, though. This whole thing just puts me off," JP pointed out. Zoe nodded in agreement and the two followed after them.
If the station took them by surprise, the surrounding village and its villagers left them floored. It was a mix of steel and stone structures modeled like domes and large blocks - and the occupants were all manner of creatures, some more humanoid than others. Others looked like overgrown animals, while others resembled cartoon drawings that came to life. But others were outright alien in appearance - there was one creature where Zoe was unsure of where the head ended and where the body began. Zoe, Tomoki, and JP stuck close together as every creature they passed gaped at them. And some weren't as quiet as others about it.
"It's humans."
"What are humans doing here?"
"I heard some were seen not that long ago. Do you think it's the same humans?"
"Nah, I heard the first one had black hair."
"That one's got goggles. You don't think that's the one, do you?"
"Probably not."
JP scratched the back of his head and sighed, "Great…the first time I get public attention and its for being weird."
"Do you think they're going to eat us?" Tomoki whimpered.
"No way. They don't look like they just outright attack people," Zoe pointed out, "They're just staring."
"Oh come on. This is a village! No one goes around just attacking people in villages. Well...criminals do but criminals also try not to do it in broad daylight!" Takuya said in what must've been his attempt at assuring them.
Only Takuya was completely unfazed by all the creatures, and he calmly made his way up to the biggest and most terrifying one present. It was some kind of gray fuzzy creature with rabbit like ears and razor sharp claws. Takuya waved to get its attention, "Hey! Excuse me! Gazimon! You wouldn't happen to be the one in charge here, are you?"
"Yes, I am. What d'ya want?" the creature called Gazimon asked.
"Well, we're kinda lost. Where are we and how do we get to the Hallowed Bastion?" Takuya asked.
Gazimon answered by spitting in his face, "Go to hell."
Takuya wiped the spit off his face, "Well, that wasn't how I expected that to go."
Zoe proceeded to get a handkerchief from her pocket and offered it to him, "Got any other bright ideas?"
Takuya took it and wiped it off his face, "Yeah, find a place to wash my face."
BOOM!
An explosion in the distance, had all of them turn around to face a screaming throng of creatures running towards them. The panic spread their way as voices cried out.
"RUN AWAY! CERBERUMON IS COMING!"
"WHY IS CERBERUMON HERE!?"
"DOESN'T MATTER! JUST RUN!"
"Uh, guys. I think that maybe we should run," JP reasoned as he looked off towards the rising smoke and the billowing ash rising skyward.
Zoe was inclined to agree but as they turned to join the crowd of fleeing creatures, a blast of fire descended from the sky and slaughtered them. Their screams lasted mere seconds before it was drowned out by the roar of the flame and their bodies decayed to soot. Zoe fell backwards in shock - both at how quickly those creatures perished and how close they had been to death. If they had run just a second sooner, they would be the ones burning in that moment.
Then she heard a roar and looked up to see black dog leaping over them, landing in front of the go was. It turned to face them, revealing two pauldrons on its shoulders designed to look like dog heads. It roared, "Humans! I am Cerberumon! Now, you will take me to the Spirit!"
"Um...no?" Takuya replied.
Author's Notes: How will Zoe and the others get out of this one? Will Takuya tell them his real name or will he get them into deeper trouble? And what does Cerberumon want with the Spirit? Find out all this and more with the next chapter of The Tamer v3.0 - Bold New Frontier due out in three weeks on March 5th, 2021 at 8 PM CST. If you guys loved it, don't forget to follow and favorite to show support. And hey, leave a review to share your thoughts and provide feedback. I always love reading what you guys think and I will try to be more proactive in my responses. Things got a little busy towards the end of v2.0 so I apologize for not responding as much and I give my word I will try to do better this time around. That's all for now! Let's look at previews for the next chapter:
"It's nice to meet you. What are you doing here?" Bokomon asked.
"More importantly, do you think my finger smells weird?" Neemon asked, plucking his finger out of his belly button. Zoe stuck her tongue out in disgust, "Gross."
"Stop that, Neemon. You'll scare them!" Bokomon slapped the rabbit's hand away.
Neemon's tilted his head to the side, "Because I'm the one scaring them right now."