Chapter Thirteen
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..Tamer's-verse
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"Incoming portal!" The computer warned again loudly.
"Yea yea, we heard you, shut up!" Ryo yelled, agitated, he stood at the ready with Gennai. They knew they couldn't do much without a Digimon but they both stood ready to give it their all.
A light flashed from the screen as a gate lit up on it and a silhouette faintly began to appear. Then a second, and a third.
"Digital Device recognition in progress." The computer said, which garnered a curious look to each other from both Ryo and Gennai.
"So does that mea-" Ryo started.
"Ryo!" His name was shouted, he knew the voice, it was familiar. His eyes snapped back to the silhouettes.
"Takato?" He asked as the light subsided. He could see his stupid goggles, he thought. "Yea Takato." He rolled his eyes.
"And Henry and me!" A girl's voice chirped.
"Jeri?" Ryo asked.
He finally could see her too, she smiled at him, then her face turned serious. "We're here to help."
"What is this place?" Henry asked as they all walked closer, their guards all down.
"Computer, add new entrants to the IFF system and answer." Ryo said, "come on." They began walking back to the main area as the computer explained the network and its purpose. They had to accept the hologram quickly, but Takato was in awe he couldn't wait until it wasn't serious time.
"So who the hell is this Bugendaimon?" Henry asked.
"We don't really know, I only heard of him through the digidestined in my world." Gennai said catching their attention.
"Wait a minute..." Takato, "you look really familiar..." he told Gennai, staring at him curiously.
"Well, like I was saying, Taichi and the others said Daisuke and Vmon-" Gennai was interrupted again.
"No fuckin way! You're Gennai!" Takato bursted out suddenly. Everyone looked at him confused.
"From Digimon Adventures? Come on, do you remember Henry?" He asked smiling.
"Holy shit, what is this some kind of joke?" Henry looked at Ryo.
"I played the card game I never watched the show..." Ryo said, also confused.
"What?! Seriously? It's the old guy that was in the show, he's the young version. Or wait... didn't he get young again in the show?" Takato said mostly to himself he thought.
"Yea I don't remember how but I remember both versions. What gives though?"
"He's from a different universe, I think, one that wasn't a show. But he's told me about Bugendaimon attacking his friends and opening a rift in the multiverse and breaking it, that's why the digital and real worlds everywhere are in turmoil. Bugendaimon caused it." Ryo told them.
"Right, when Daisuke and Vmon first disappeared trying to save that girl, we were able to isolate the signal that emitted apparently anytime a multiverse gate is activated it seems. Then Ken and Koushiro were working on reversing it into a gate opening program when I lost contact." Gennai told them.
"Well, how can we help?" Jeri asked.
"We're working on things now, you showed up just in time, we were discussing what we should do next. Which reminds me, computer?"
"I am here," the hologram shined, and stood beside Takato suddenly, who almost jumped out of his skin.
"Shit!" He said jumping away, "you were literally just standing over there." He grumbled to himself.
"Computer, you said this place was a communication network, we could contact other teams in the network, what teams?" Ryo asked.
"..." It stood there loading a moment, "facilities only come online once a live verified operator has entered, only two are online at the moment, would you like to connect to one?" Ryo looked at Gennai, then back to the camera.
"Yes, do it." He told the computer.
"X14 or 46'\?" It asked plainly, however Ryo felt like he was in calculus again.
"Um, what?" He asked.
"X14 is no longer online. Would you like to connect to 46'\?"
"I...Uhhhh..." he looked to Gennai, "what the fuck?" Gennai shrugged, Ryo looked back, "I guess yea, 46...whatever you said..."
"On-screen." It said, the others turned and they all looked towards the screen.
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..??
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As the light subsided, David and Taichi were up and looking around first.
It was dark, the others were up this point.
"Ugh someone turn on the lights, and the heater." Mimi complained.
Yamato and Sora reached out and felt for a wall to find a switch. Both reached about the same time, but the atmosphere instantly changed when their hands touched something.
Red dark lights kicked on, an alarm rang out. "Intruder alert! Unauthorized entry!"
"Oh crap." Yamato knew it was him, not knowing he shared responsibility with Sora.
"System purge!" The computer said.
"Whoa what?!" Miyako started to panic a little.
"Wait I didn't mean to!" Yamato said assuming responsibility.
"What do you mean purge?" Iori shouted.
"Hold on now, whoa whoa whoa, override, security-" David stammered as quick as he could.
"System purging!" It interrupted, light filled the room.
Miyako, Rose, and Mimi screamed, Sora grabbed Yamato. They all panicked. Their ears all popped and started ringing. The digidestined were terrified. David reached out and grabbed Rose as they were engulfed by the light.
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..??
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They all stood together, eyes shut, holding each other, standing around for a minute, some heard the waves crash... Taichi opened one eye slightly when he noticed he wasn't dead. They all awkwardly opened their eyes one by one, David looked up, releasing his hold of Rose.
Birds chirped as the last of them timidly opened their eyes and looked up.
Everyone anticlimactically relaxed, "what the hell just happened?" Taichi asked.
"I..." The Doctor started, looking around. "I think it meant purge to evacuate, not purge to destroy..."
"Huh?" Mimi asked.
"I don't think we were invited so it kicked us out..." Sora said, thinking about her touch.
"Right-o, it didn't want to hurt us, but we must not have done something right or..."
"Yea I mean if we weren't invited why did it show our digivices where it was?" Miyako said.
Ding.
Ding, ding, ding.
They all noticed their phones made a noise, Miyako had it open first. The message from Gennai made it in the short time they were inside the network.
"It's from Gennai!" Miyako said excitedly. She read it aloud.
DigiDestined
I hope this reaches some of you. We are trapped, we think the Digital World has broken apart from your real world and attached to another. We found some answers and a way to fix it maybe! And to stop Bugendaimon!
We sent out a signal, follow it and contact us when you get there!
Gennai
"Reply, tell them we can't get in." Taichi said.
"Yea, ask them what we need to do." Yamato said.
Her device made an unhappy noise, then again, and again.
"What...ugh... what is your- It won't send damnit," Miyako said aggressively as she hit it two more before smacking the device against her side and finally practically dropping it.
"It's like it's frozen now. What the hell? Its back like it was before, no service at all." She said.
Ken noticed David and Rose had moved away from the others, he followed them but as he rounded a cliff side corner he caught them staring, Rose in awe, David in curiosity. Both at an odd amazing sight, a giant blue boulder stuck in the side of the cliff.
"Well, that's something you don't see everyday." Rose said.
"It doesn't look like anything man made, or real even, how could it be inside a stone cliff? It has to be an image." The Doctor was very curious. "I'm willing to bet that is where that room was." He said to himself.
Rose overheard him, but looked at Ken's amazed face, "Oi, what about you mate? Can you believe this thing?" She asked.
"I...uh- no I can't," he stammered at first, then went to science mode, "but the way it blends isn't something that happens naturally, but it's something I've seen before." Ken said confidently.
"Really, where?" David asked curiously. The others made their way to them by this point.
"You see blended mixtures like this in the digital world, it imitates what it sees even if it doesn't quite understand the composition and how they are made up. So you often see outlandishly odd mixtures sometimes, at least from a chemical or physics perspective." Ken finished.
"Whoooa, what is that?" Taichi asked as he walked up.
"It's so pretty!" Mimi said.
"We think it's where we just-" Ken stopped mid sentence.
Ken, Taichi, and David all noticed at the same time, footsteps, fast ones. Ken grabbed his bag and snatched the computer open as fast as he could, their partners knew there was trouble, the light shined and they all appeared and stood ready to digivolve.
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..Gravity Falls-verse OR 46.\
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"Ryo?!" She said partially confused, partially relieved. It was a step closer to home.
"Ruki!!" She heard another familiar voice.
"Takato too?" She said, Ryo backed up some she could see them both.
"We're here too! I'm so glad you're ok!" Jeri said with an arm around Henry.
"How are you all there, where is there?" She asked them.
"I believe I might can explain that."
"Gennai?!!!" Daisuke, Takeru, and Joe said in unison.
"What are you doing there with them?" Daisuke asked caught completely off guard.
"Technically, they're here with me. I think."
"What?" He asked.
"We've learned a lot. Ryo came to my home, I was still in it when I lost contact with Koushiro," Daisuke felt a pang of guilt at the name, his stomach turned. "Ryo came to me in my house, though. I think the digital world, as in my digidestined's digital world is connected to his real world. While he has a separate missing digital world he was trying to get to when he stumbled on my house." He told them.
"That would explain why we suddenly stopped being able to open gates, our digital world is missing, connected somewhere else." Haru said, reasoning with himself almost.
"It might even explain why it's so boring in Gravity Falls..." Dipper said quietly.
"Hey, I wouldn't say boring, it's a great tourist attraction!" Mabel and Dipper both jumped.
Neither noticed, "Grunkle Stan? And Stanford? You're here too?"
"I mean, the light didn't say hey Stan, do you wanna come?" Stan said sarcastically and laughed.
"He's right, we just kinda stood there, and watched the impossible happen." Stanford said.
"Yea, what the hell did happen?" Stan asked.
"There's time to explain later, right now, he needs to talk, you won't believe what we found out." Ryo said.
"Us either." Ruki followed up.
They all began to explain what's they'd found out, Ryo and Gennai danced around him being 2.6 million years old though. But they talked about the Bugendaimon, the multiverse, everything. Daisuke and the others told them about the gate Ruki can open, the gate Ken and Koushiro created, meeting the awful digimon, what he did to poor Koushiro and them ending up finding the Doctor before making it to Gravity Falls and getting that signal.
Miyuki and Haru shared their history about the master, his search for power and Bugendaimon.
But then Gennai looked at Ryo.
"There's one more I haven't told everyone." He sighed. Hikari had never seen Gennai look like this, his face unsure, lost almost. She made a worried face to Takeru.
"This facility, no not just that, the digital worlds, the multiverse, all of it, we know who created it." He said.
"Who?!" Both Ruki and Daisuke blurted.
"Him." Ryo pointed at Gennai.
"What?!!" The digidestined all shouted.
"No not me, well, not exactly, I am a copy of a great ancient leader of a race who created the multiverse, these facilities, and even the digital world itself, all of them in every world. Supposedly. The computer told us they fought Bugendaimon..." he looked at Ryo who shrugged. He sighed, "he said the battle was over 2 and a half million years ago..."
"So you're a copy of a conscience that's over 2 million? That's interesting." The Doctor thought. "Did they happen to be Atlantean?" He asked, so curious.
"Wait, how did you know that?" Ryo asked. The Doctor looked back at Ruki and pointed.
"Apparently your friend is 74% Atlantean... Well according to the computer." The Doctor said.
"What, really?" Takato asked.
"It allowed me to talk to the computer, release control to others, everything, once it scanned me." Ruki said.
"Yea after it almost purged us." Daisuke muttered.
"We came in through the digital world, Gennai touched the door and activated the facility, we walked right in." Ryo told them.
"What's the difference I wonder?" Gennai said, his hand rubbing his chin lost in thought.
"What about Renamon?" Ruki asked, knowing the likely answer.
"We lost contact with her and the others at some point searching for you. The entire digital world basically disappeared, and once I finally made it, I was here in their digital world, not ours." He said sadly. Ruki nodded, she didn't show her disappointment nor sadness.
"Well. We need a game plan, or something to-" *flop* everyone looked over to see a book fell out of Miyuki's bag, when it did it began wildly flipping pages and glowing. A bright light fired out of the book and took shape.
"Wisemon!" Daisuke said when he recognized it.
"What the heck is a Wisemon?" Mabel asked.
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..??
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Taichi and Agumon stood ready with Yamato and Gabumon at the front the others behind them. It was dark there, they could hear noises but they were strange and distant but getting closer. Footsteps, some heavy some light. More than a few.
"Do it." Taichi said to Yamato they had an awful feeling both, they grabbed their digivices, felt the power coursing through them. Agumon and Gabumon digivolved to ultimate. Piyomon, Palmon, and the other followed suit to champion.
"Something doesn't feel right here." David said, scanning the darkness with his odd device he called a screwdriver.
He looked at it and grumbled. "It says no lifesigns but we can hear whatever they are getting closer." He said looking at the device then back to the darkness. "Rose-"
"Already on it." She said, looking through a bag, arm deep in a bag that wasn't an arm deep. Daisuke quietly narrowed his eyes and watched, 'what the f-' she pulled a small handheld globe and suddenly tossed it past a now wide-eyed Daisuke to reach the doctor. His instinct made him want to grab it, but he resisted.
"Oh, you're beautiful, you know that? Perfect idea!" David grinned, he looked down and dropped it before making a nice soccer kick with it, sending up high up in the air where it sudden cast off a huge bright light. But instantly they all wished it hadn't.
"Oh my g-" Mimi almost screamed, Miyako grabbed her terrified but shook her head and told her, "shhh, I'm not sure they've noticed us."
They looked out at what had to be hundreds of deformed and disfigured digimon and human both. That odd noise was identified, and it was sickening to realize it was footsteps squishing through entrails and body parts, dragging them through pools of blood.
The human's disfigured, groaning, bleeding, some with limbs and appendages hanging off. The digimon almost as bad. Many dark colored, flashing purple and staticky, like they're stuck, unable to fragment.
Kens eyes were wide, he felt genuine fear for the first time in a long time, were his eyes showing him the truth? 'Is this real? If it is I don't have time to hesitate. Shit! Shit shit shit!' His mind raced for ideas.
"Are those digimon? Are they...?" Sora started and trailed off.
"We can't risk treating them like they're not, we need to get out of here immediately." Ken said.
"My Tardis is not responding, she can't get to us, we need to figure out where that computer sent us." David said.
"Wait, that's it!" Taichi said, but instantly regretting his volume he stopped, covering his mouth. After he paused for a moment he whispered, "but that's it, we're in the the digital world, we need to just get back to a computer, any computer and we can open a gate back out."
"Maybe we can get ba-" David was feeling around the blue rock when he was interrupted by an awful, "hisssssss."
Everyone stopped as they realized one of the creatures had spotted them and a set itself off like an alarm.
"Hissss." Another joined, "hissssss," and another.
"Uh, shit they noticed us. We need an exit, what do we do guys?" Yamato said, the fear building up.
"Fire!" Taichi yelled as the crowds suddenly started barreling towards them.
Metalgreymon and Weregarurumon shot off, one in the air, the other leapt up into the trees.
"Giga destroyer!" Metalgreymon fired.
"Kaiser Nail!"
They both made contact, throwing hordes of them back, but double what they hit jumped over their bodies and kept coming.
"David they're coming...really fast." Rose said as David felt around.
"Like really really fast." She started holding onto him.
"Come on, what do we do..come on you slow brain, think, think...wait." He scanned the rock with his screwdriver, he tried like he always does.
All the digimon were pushing the army that seemed nonstop, every face they blasted away had two in its place after.
"Come on you big beautiful thing, tell me your secrets." David said to the door. The rock *hissed* as it formed a doorway and door, the door opened.
"Hah!" David said triumphantly as he smiled.
"Rawrg!" Something replied, jerking him back to reality.
"Right, come on then!" He yelled at everyone, "go!" He demanded, they all started piling in towards the door.
"Flower Cannon!" Lilymon backed up Stingmon, covering his back, they were the last to the door, they both devolved and ran through as Ken, Taichi and Mimi stepped through with them.
"Hissss." Close on their tail.
"Close the door, close it, close it, close it!" Taichi yelled passing through last as the door finally snapped shut, leaving a dead bloody hand on the floor. He sat on the floor, catching his breath.
"Damn that was close." He said leaning back and taking a deep breath, but his relaxed posture instantly reverted back to panic, "intruder detected!"
"Oh come on, we can't go back out there we'll die!" Taichi yelled back.
"Oi, is there really no control interface or security override, we're supposed to be here you stupid computer!" David asked, looking around the room scanning with the screwdriver again.
Something in the ceiling quickly decompressed, letting out a quick hissing noise. Everyone jumped.
A light flashed and suddenly someone stood in front of the doctor. It didn't speak, just looked at him curiously.
David watched, but before he could speak he felt a prick on his neck behind him.
"No!" He spun around and grabbed but missed the mechanical arm. "Excuse me but you can't just take someone's blood..." It just stared at him with an odd smile, all the sudden they all felt a prick at the same time. Then a red light scanned the room.
"3.2% match acknowledged. Verifying." The computer smiled.
"Failed internal scan. Low viability, operator must be approved. Contacting lead control, please wait." David looked at Rose.
"What the hell does that mean?" Yamato asked staring with everyone one else as the hologram disappeared.
"I guess it means we wait." David turned and found the closest empty corner, where he sat, closed his eyes and lost himself in thought. The others looked around.
Taichi sighed, "ugh I hate waiting." He muttered.
"I think it's better than the alternative." Miyako said.
"I agree with the smart one, any place not with..." Rose trailed off.
"Say it, they were zombies weren't they." Mimi said almost hyperventilating.
"Oh sweetie, calm down." Sora noticed Mimi's panic. "We don't know that."
"But that's sure what it looked like." Yamato said bluntly.
"There wasn't just digimon either." Ken added, they all grew silent feeling an entirely new weight on their shoulders. Mimi closed her eyes.
"Guys, really?" Sora scolded, "can you not see Mimi is freaking out."
"Yea but that's not going to help, I'm freaking out, you're freaking out too, I can tell! Are you freaking out Taichi?" Taichi nodded and Yamato looked back at Mimi, "we're all freaked out, but you've got to hold it together, we have to keep ourselves sharp and ready. Even if it's scary as hell." He finished, looking at Mimi. Who sniffled and nodded.
"Now she's just-" Sora started defending Mimi but was cut off.
"No it's fine, he's right." She took a deep breath, "we've done this before, I'm good now."
"Are you sure?" Rose asked, she nodded.
"Besides that what friends are here for, to lean on when you need help, or when you're scared." Yamato smiled. Mimi smiled back.
"Operator approved," everyone jumped at the sudden interruption, "activating facility network." He looked over at Iori making eye contact he walked over to him.
"Facility online, awaiting operator instructions." It finished, now staring at Iori.
"Uhhhh, what?" He didn't know what to do, he looked at Taichi who just shrugged then David.
David knew what to ask, "who is the operator?" He asked.
"..." It didn't acknowledge him whatsoever.
"Helloooo, am I talking to myself here?" David asked, it still stared, like a statue.
"Why won't it talk to you?" Iori asked, but instead of David, the computer answered.
"This system and its facilities are restricted from unauthorized use or access. You must be Atlantean to access any system or to open the facility." It told him with a smile.
"Atlantean? But they're just a myth!" David said, "thats impossible."
"Does that mean I'm Atlantean?" Iori asked the computer.
"Yes, 3.2% exactly according to blood test. Singular cardiovascular system triggered verification." He answered.
"Wait what?"David and Rose both locked curious eyes.
"Based on your relaxed vital signs and speech, I've noticed possible allies nearby, would you like to add to Identify Friend/Foe database?"
"Yes." Iori said, not hesitating.
"Confirmed. Adding. Data fragmentation signatures saved." It said, then everything went quiet.
Taichi broke the silence, "soooo, who verified-"
"Incoming facility communication!" The hologram unapologetically interrupted.
This time Iori hesitated, "should we answer?" He asked the others.
"How could we not?" Yamato asked. They all felt the same, the pressure building.
"Ok computer, answer." Iori told him, the screen lit up, they couldn't see yet. They all looked at each other worried, waiting to see who spoke first...
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..To be continued.
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