Chapter Fifteen
..
..Gravity Falls-verse
..46'\ Digital World
"What just happened?" Hikari asked unable to even see Takeru's face, though she held his hand and knew where he was.
"Power and ventilation have been shut down. We're stuck." The Doctor said, his device warbled as he moved it around and looked at it. "And I think you should get your Digimon friends ready." He said to her.
Hikari was already swinging her laptop around to open it.
"There's four life signs that aren't human and they look to be coming this way." The Doctor said looking at his "screwdriver" again. No sooner then the words left his mouth came an awful shriek. Saki and Miu couldn't be seen but looked terrified.
"The fuck was that." Kaito asked whipping around trying to see. The Digimon had all made it through the gate and stood at the ready. The doctor aimed his screwdriver around, trying to find a better light or power source.
"I can't see anything." Daisuke said, he knew Vmon was beside him he could feel his presence, he just couldn't see him.
The Digitestinded and their partners surrounded the others without partners.
Everyone stood ready, just breathing, anxiously waiting in agonizing silence.
"Should we-" Haru was interrupted by another shriek.
"We're sitting ducks here Doctor." River said looking around.
"I'm trying!" He protested, his device again making noise. "Wait, I think," a noise was heard in the distance, like something energizing. "I think I was able to communicate to the backup power. The signal was being blocked!" The Doctor said.
In the distance behind them red emergency lights turned on one-by-one towards them.
"Yes!" Takuma motioned with his arm in victory.
Some of them turned to look just as the emergency lights sparked to life in front of them, Hikari, Saki, and Miu gasped.
"Oh my god..." Mable said.
"What happened to them?" Dipper asked.
"No!" Hikari felt her heart hurt.
"Catherine!" Meiko's eyes teared up.
Michael, Catherine, along with Metalseadramon, Betamon's Mega and Gryphonmon, Floramon's Mega, stood in the hallway feet from them. All of their faces distorted and blurry, purple bile dripping from their jowls. Only their eyes were visible, yellow almost cat-like. They all gave everyone a harrowing feeling to their core.
"No not her. Sssssis gone, dead when masssster took her image and gave it to me. Hahah." The Catherine doppelgänger hissed and laughed in a gross dual voice chopping up Catherine's beautiful accent.
"No!" Hikari was finally angry. "How could you?!"
"Tailmon..." the light engulfed her, she felt the power flowing through her. Hikari's passion and strong feelings for her friends that was crushed was replaced with a drive for justice for them.
Angewomon's arrow flew towards the beasts before she was fully visible. They barely jumped away from it in time, after they did they watched her emerge and hissed.
"Vmon...!"
"Agumon...!"
"Gabumon...!"
"Syakomon...!"
"Dracmon...!"
"Renamon...!"
"Floramon...!"
They all followed Tailmon's lead only hesitating a second for an odd noise, then at the ready, moving towards them, the Doctor stopped them. "Hey, I said wait!" He shouted a second time. He was the odd noise they dismissed.
One of the beasts growled. "What do you want?!" Myotismon said with a sneer ready to fight.
"I can't in good conscience not try to understand why, what's going on! They deserve a second chance!" The Doctor pushed his way to the front as he spoke.
Standing in front of the awful crew of lookalikes, "now," he looked at them, "you can't just want us dead, not at least without reason, what does that get you? What does that accomplish?" He questioned.
"Why is he antagonizing the enemy? It's gonna kill him." Ruki muttered under her breath to River.
"He's like that, he has to give them a chance or at the least gather more information." She whispered back.
"Massster will reward us for finding the network. But he'll be even happier when we sssshow him we could handle the puny likes of you, only her issss important. We will never go back again, we'll get to sssssstay." The Michael doppelgänger said in the gross creepy dual voice, stretching his last words as it started to move closer.
"Now wait wait wait a minute, what do you mean back? Whatever he's promised you it can't be worth killing people." The Doctor protested. They all four inched closer to him, smiling, growling.
"Besides, all bosses want to tell someone their plans, or or or, what if we're important? If we're all dead he might not be very happy with you." They all stopped and looked at each other with wide eyes. He struck a cord.
"I didn't think of that." Michael said.
"He sssaid just the girl, it'ssss just a trick!" Catherine said.
"But they're important!" Michael's replacement argued.
"No they're not! He asked if they were important, idiot!" She yelled back.
"Are important?" He asked the Doctor curiously with narrowed eyes.
"Well, isn't everyone? I think we're all important." He said confidently, as the Doctor does.
"He's lying, humans are liars, it's a-"
The Doctor interrupted her, "no wait, I'm not a human though. I'm a Time Lord! Remember?!" The Doctor said absolutely, confidently, and completely bluffing.
"I said it didn't smell human..." The Metalseadramon lookalike said.
"Master makes bad decisions when he's mad..." The false Gryphonmon reminded them.
It stood there, breathing heavily, "fine." Catherine finally growled. "I guesssss we'll take them all back to the control center and tie them up."
"Hsssss you heard her, move!" Michael's fake shouted at everyone.
"But we could stomp-" Daisuke started to question why they weren't fighting.
"Shh. Yes, you are magnificent fighters, but the best way to find out what your enemy is after is to get captured. You heard Wisemon, they're up to something. Sometimes fighting isn't always the answer, just stay the the ready, stay in this form." He continued quietly, "but for now," his tone and volume then raised to normal, "you heard it, let's get moving."
Daisuke gritted and ground his teeth, agitated, but he, along with the others, fought instinct, stood down and followed Michael and Metalseadramon while Gryphonmon and Catherine followed behind.
..
..Adventure-verse
..Zzzz Digital World
"What is this?!" A voice screamed in anger and confusion.
"Traveling into pocket universes is not what a Tardis is meant for. It can be a bumpy ride, please be weary." The David hologram said.
Renamon bared her teeth and growled, "then warn me before next time!" She jumped off the rafters she'd grabbed hold on as the Tardis righted itself. "Did we make it? That trip better not have been useless." She walked over to the door and as she cracked it open, the hair on her back and neck stood on end.
Her nostrils filled with a awful but familiar smell, human blood. Then she smelled the rotting flesh, her eyes adjust quickly and slammed the door back shut.
"Where the hell did you take me box?!" 'That's not those humans, that smell is putrid, old rot. Where are they and why would it be like that in the digital world what kind of place is this?'
..
..??
..Zzzz Digital world
Taichi, Iori, and Miyako were in the lead walking along a hallway, then Rose with Sora, Mimi, and Yamato. Ken followed them, trying to judge David's mood. Who walked behind, deep in thought.
'Why would I be jealous of myself, just because he's older doesn't make him better, just older. It's not like he can sweep her away, the rules haven't changed... But why does him being here upset me so?'
"Think?" Ken asked, David snapped back to reality.
"I'm sorry what?" He said.
"The device, I think it's a portal maker, what do you think? It has to be." Ken asked.
"Right. Yes, I suppose." David nodded, not invested in the talk really.
They were approaching the room with an object on a pedestal when David stopped and listened or maybe he was focusing, Ken thought.
All the sudden David's face lit up, he felt a familiar presence, he smiled, "ha! You beautiful thing. Computer!" He yelled.
"How may I be-" he said before David cut him off.
"Can you show me the outside?" He asked.
"Specify." The computer simply replied.
"Just scan the area outside the direct perimeter of the entrance." He told it, under his breath he muttered, "I can feel her."
A screen lit up on the wall next to them, the others stopped and watched. He looked as the picture showed up, mostly black, vague figures and hints of movement was all you could see.
"Is there thermal or infrared lighting?" David asked trying to make out something in the darkness.
"Acknowledged." The screen changed and adjusted, a night vision like picture showed. It was a sickening image again, Mimi and Sora looked away. You could see dismembered bodies scattered. There was movement everywhere, slow, grotesque, slabs of what used to be Digimon filled the view. From child to mega walked together. It was eerie.
The camera continued to pan over until, "stop!" Was all David could say, he was sure. The camera stopped and focused. Empty husks stomped around aimlessly, nothing else, but they stared anyway.
"..."
"..." They all looked at each other while David never looked away, a little too long.
"I don't-" Taichi started.
"There!" He pointed, as a dark white line faintly glimmered in the night vision. As it grew closer the attention of the horde of grotesque husks began to notice the object.
As it changed direction the others realized the speed it was moving at along the ground, it continued gaining size as it grew closer and more definable.
It surged closer, three Digimon jumped up to grab the object, determined to drag it down. Taichi and Yamato's jaws both dropped in disgust when the old column splattered through all three with minimal effort, entrails dripped off the shields as it flew into full view.
"They didn't fragment..." They both noticed.
"My Tardis!" David exclaimed.
"She's flying?!" Rose was both curious and relieved at the same time.
"Computer, lock onto that ship, it has an intelligent guidance system. Get it out of harms way!" He told the computer.
The computer began transmitting, the Tardis noticeably altered course to aim directly at them and fired towards them full throttle.
As more and more bodies noticed the ships shields began to grow brighter, impact after impact. One after another they dived in front, splattered each time.
"Renamon stayed behind, she didn't go in the network!" Miyako remembered.
"It has to be her!" Rose said confidently.
"I forgot Renamon what a beautiful beast!" David said.
"She's able to fly it?" Ken questioned.
"Because I was no longer detected in the universe, if there was a living soul on board the AI will attempt to get them back home or to me or well it sort of works off what they want. Obviously she was looking for us." David told them with a smile as it grew closer.
..
..
The computer led the Tardis towards them and up, to an entrance none of the outsiders could reach. As it grew closer there was a blue area in the very top of a giant rock around the area the Tardis was guided to. It landed on the blue spot, directly at the exact coordinates it was given. Renamon let go of the console to make a move to the door but as she did the blue rock phased out to nothing so the Tardis suddenly dropped inside, Renamon grabbed hold again. As the old column cleared the roof the rock phased back into view as weirdly as disappeared.
..
..
David and the others had asked where it would come in and were running to try and get to the area. Iori had stayed and grabbed the device and brought up the rear.
It fell out of the roof just as David opened a door at the top of a set of steps.
He stopped just inside as the others came in and stood beside him. They eyed the aging column as the engines finally went completely silent, then from the side of the column a very cautious Renamon peeked out.
She was met with David running right up to her and without hesitation, "oh you beautiful beast!" David grabbed her and kissed her, shocking her completely. He ran past her inside. Renamon was left speechless for the first time in her recent memory, both angry and confused. 'Did that just kiss me?' She growled even in her thoughts, attempting to ignore the fact he was a good kisser, for a human...ish...thing.
"Renamon! You saved us!" Rose told her.
"Well, let's not get carried away-" David started.
"Hush you!" Rose snipped before he could finish, "you did not plan this, you thought you were stranded too."
'I cannot be away from these ridiculous humans soon enough.' Renamon thought as she followed David back in.
The digidestined all began to run towards the ship but the computer hologram flashed in front of them, cutting them off.
"Stop! This facility is active, when using the surph board or any other such reality phasing device, you must remember this facility requires a minimum of two live operators at all times until the network is not longer active." The computer told them.
They all looked around at each other.
"So wait, are you saying two of us are stuck here until we defeat Bugendaimon?" Yamato asked looking at Sora who gave him a look back.
"We don't know how long it's going to take and we're about to go to another universe, we can't split up more, not now." Miyako said, tears forming.
A panel on the wall beeped, "here take these." They opened a panel on the wall that made noise and found wearable devices for the ears. "You can communicate across universes up to a certain distance using certain human radio frequencies. Distance varies based on variable in each reality."
"I don't think we have a choice Miyako." Iori said, knowing he was staying he handed the device he held to Taichi.
"But-" she started.
"It's fine, I will do what I can from here to help, I won't be sitting around. There must be a library or something to try and learn more... It's what Koushiro would do..." He said solemnly, remembering his sensei's sacrifice.
"Who else is staying?" Yamato asked, looking around.
Mimi shook her head and walked straight to the Tardis, "nope I can't I'm sorry. That was too much. I can't do-" she didn't stop before she disappeared behind the column.
"What about you Ken?" Taichi asked.
He shook his head, " I can't I owe it to Daisuke, I have, I'm going on."
"I'll stay." Sora said quietly.
"What? But-" Yamato started to protest.
"I said I'll stay, now go, I'll be fine here. I'll help Iori gather intel, and coordinate our effort here." She told them, looking sternly at Yamato, who she knew wanted to say more, but refused to let him.
"That settles it, off we go!" David said giddily running back onto the Tardis.
As everyone else ran off to the Tardis, Piyomon and Armadimon also left the network to stay with their partners. Yamato was the last to walk in. He stopped at the last second and looked back.
"I can take of myself tora, you worry about you and get back here safe." She smiled.
He smirked, "I'll see what I can do." He winked and turned, disappearing behind the column.
"Good luck." She whispered to herself before turning and looking at Iori, "so, where do we start, you think?"
..
..Inside the Tardis
..
"Right, give me the device." David said looking at Taichi.
"Can you make it work?" Rose asked.
"Of course I can!" David proclaimed, almost offended. "I just have to figure out how it works..." Rose and the others all had a huge sweat drop.
Miyako muttered, "he's a madman. I swear..."
David yelled from under the console grating, "I am absolutely a madman with a box...ish...column!" He said confidently as a circuit whirred to life, he sprung from under the console, pulling wire along with him. He ran to a console and snatch a panel off, connecting a few more circuits before he ran back to the main computer, he looked at everyone.
"Well," he smiled, "allons y!" He snatched the lever down and sparks flew and the who Tardis went dark and sputtered.
"I stand by my statement..." Miyako said.
"Hold on," he ran back to the panel he snatched off, pointing his screwdriver he followed up with, "ohhh, well of course that's what's wrong." He reversed the two cables and the Tardis lit back up, he then ran back over and grabbed the lever.
"Now let's try that again, allons y!" He snatched the lever down and the ship shook to life, the engines roared and it disappeared from the facility. If they could see the outside, the column turned an odd purple as is moved through reality, in a void between.
"Wait, do you know where we're even going?" Miyako asked.
"Nope, not a clue, it's set for 46'\ whatever that is, but things just have a habit of working out for me." David said with no hesitation and 100% confidence.
"...we're gonna die." Miyako said turning around and walking away while David laughed. Rose knew he loved embracing the doubt, she also knew he listened to his gut, and it was rarely wrong.
..
..Gravity Falls-verse
..46'\ Digital World
Ruki walked with Daisuke, she was worried but as they walked quietly her mind couldn't help but drift.
He caught her eyes, "what is it?" He asked her quietly.
She shook her head and looked away, looking back ahead of them. Daisuke looked back forward too, a half frown on his face, "I-" he started.
"Don't!" She said slightly louder then she wanted, gathering a few looks from the others. "Just...don't make it harder Daisuke."
Catherine growled, "move!"
Daisuke didn't say anything, 'I won't give up on us, it's destiny we met.' He thought simply looking forward.
They came to a door it was dark in the red lighting, but it wasn't where they had been Ruki noticed. It wasn't a control center, it hissed open.
As the door passed its face an evil grin stared back at the Digidestined, familiar, dripping with a purple malice.
"Bugendaimon," Daisuke said sternly with an angry look.
"Remember." The Doctor said, Daisuke wanted to fight but gritted his teeth and nodded.
"Hello, you must be the Bugendaimon I've heard so much about, I'm the Doctor, and you seem to have harmed or attempted to harm many of my new friends here. I'm here to tell you that stops now, you will not harm them, you will not being taking anymore lives, and you'll go back to your cell. Peacefully I might add." The Doctor finished. Bugendaimon stared blankly as he finished.
"..." his face crinkled into an odd shape before he burst into laughter, "or what? Ha, you're a funny human. I might keep you. My master released me, I would not throw away his blessing just because you asked." He sneered sarcastically.
"Master? I thought you were the master they spoke of. I won't waste your time anymore, I need to speak to him, not you, you however can go back to your cell." The Doctor antagonized him, immediately loosing interest and turning his back on the monster. A small grin on his face.
He growled, "wretched scum!"
"Why are you pushing his buttons?" River asked.
"I demand to see the real brains here!" The Doctor said loudly walking away
"Grrr I am just as strong as him! I make my own decisions! I will end you all! You don't deserve to be in his presence!" He sneered.
"Oh but you won't, because you can't, because he's the boss not you." The Doctor retorted passive aggressively dismissing Bugendaimon.
"Hey whoa whoa, stop pushing it!" Dipper protested, "we're not all in on this."
"I won't have this insolence! My master will not be bothered from the likes of you. This is my responsibility." The words seethed from his mouth.
"What is your-?" The Doctor asked.
"Silence. You're not even what I need, master trusted me, when I bring that and her! The rest of Hahahaha, now you!" he looked at Michael's ugly clone. "Shed those skins." He looked at the others, "all of you!"
All four gängers turned, twisted, and shook as their appearances changed drastically. Then faded to purple as they all one-by-one started to resemble Bugendaimon, but smaller, more defined malice.
He turned, "now you three watch them." He turned, as he and the little repeat walked, "I need you," he grabbed him and pointed upwards, "to go grab me that device up there on that platform in the case." Where he pointed upwards was a spot in the wall, shelved in a corner, housing a small device.
The beast slowly inched towards the device, nervous, looking back at his master.
"Grab it!" He yelled, angry, excited, and anxious at the same time.
The monster jumped at the voice and lunged forward, he touched the case that housed the device.
A light flashed and the beast disappeared, "NO!!" He growled.
"You! You will open this thing now!" He looked at Ruki.
"No! I'll do it!" Daisuke jumped between him and Ruki.
"I don't care who, just do it before you all start dying!" He yelled.
"No Daisuke, you're not a-, what if it-'" he motioned for her to stop as one of the beasts grabbed his arm.
"Can't risk you." He said as two beasts stopped her from following.
"Damnit Daisuke, stop being stupid! I can't-" Ruki started really feeling worried, if he disappeared what would she do. She felt power, 'what is this feeling?' "I can't lose you!" She yelled loudly, as light engulfed the room, the beasts holding her let go and covered their eyes.
Ruki was absorbed by the light, her eyes closed, she thought 'I feel power surging through me, what is this feeling... I feel... Can it be...Renamon?'
The Doctor and River were still covering their eyes when they heard it, the unmistakable sound of a Tardis' engines in phase-shift.
When the light subsided Sakuyamon stood sternly watching the enemies. She spoke with a dual voice of Renamon and Ruki. "Bugendaimon, your reign of terror ends here. You won't take that device, you won't take him, and you will stand down or be destroyed."
One of the smaller repeats guarding her reared back to strike her back, "we don't fear you-"
She didn't hesitate nor look over when she interrupted, "kongoukai Mandara." She said simply, holding eye contact with Bugendaimon as she jammed the rod into the ground and a wave of energy shot out to the lackey, sending him flying into the wall.
Knocked unconscious, he laid on the floor. The others looked at their boss.
He snarled, "useless!" His eyes lit up as they all screamed, suddenly lost their form and became a mass of purple liquid almost that shot off towards the evil standing in front of them.
Bugendaimon absorbed the liquid, 'recalling his divided powers meant he's worried,' the Doctor thought. But his thoughts were ripped away as his eyes suddenly locked with hers. Tears in hers. They both knew now wasn't the time but they both felt each other's heartbeat change being so close again.
"You will not run away, we will end this now." Sakuyamon said.
'That's cool...and kinda hot.' Daisuke thought as he watched.
"We've got your back!" He said aloud, XVmon and the other digimon stood up behind her now.
Bugendaimon lost his temper finally, or maybe he was just scared of going back again, he yelled, "you puny things just don't understand, you're no match for me, I'll kill you all!" He lunged forward until suddenly something flashed too fast for anyone to see.
A being had suddenly flashed into sight the middle of the room.
"Master?" Bugendaimon stopped, confused. Everyone was shocked, that small hooded figure was the giant beast's master?
"Bugendaimon," the hooded figure said, "you found the girl and the device, thank you, you can go now." He snapped and the beast began screaming in agony but it stopped almost immediately. It was replaced with a sickening, gut wrenching, gushing noise. Turning to red squared data before finally fractalizing and bursting apart.
"That was your own guy, what kind of monster are you?!" Hikari screamed.
He laughed, his grinning smile hidden inside the hood, "did you know if you reverse their data fast enough their insides become their outsides before they die." He said laughing more.
Suddenly he stopped and with a stone cold hidden face, "that kind, the worst kind." He said calmly. "And you," he looked at Daisuke. "You still surround yourself with those wretched things you think are friends." He sneered. "If you hadn't gotten a digivice they wouldn't even know your name anymore. She never would've given you the time of day and your friends wouldn't given two shits about you if you hadn't gotten that digivice."
"What? How do you-?" Daisuke tried to ask, confused, but he disappeared, Sakuyamon took a hit, never saw it coming. He moved faster than anyone could keep up with. In fact he hit Sakuyamon so hard as she flew back and light flashed, Renamon flew to one side. He had grabbed Ruki and gotten back to the locked up device before Renamon had even touched the ground.
As Ruki laid unconscious in his arms, he grabbed her limp hand, touched the panel, which granted him access, and finally he removed the device. Renamon landed as he removed it. Daisuke and XVmon along with David and the Doctor were the first with their attention on him again. They all ran, Daisuke lounged at them to grab her.
"Well, this has been fun." He and Ruki disappeared.
"No!!! Fuzakenna!!" Daisuke hit the ground they were standing on.
"What the hell was that?!" Taichi asked.
"What a shit reunion, what just happened?" Yamato asked.
"And how the hell did that puny thing take on a room full of us and push us around like toys? What kind of digimon is that?!" Kaito asked.
"It doesn't matter, I just need to know where he took her, I told her I would protect her and I failed." Daisuke was angry at himself.
"Maybe we should regroup with the others, we still need three devices." David tried.
"There's no time! We don't know who that is or what he wants? He destroyed his own guy at the snap of a finger we can't leave her with him!" Daisuke said, frustrated.
"But we can't rush off, you said yourself we don't know anything yet, and he destroyed an enemy you all could at the snap of a finger. He needs her, he won't hurt her. Let's focus on getting to the others now, then we can summon that odd Digimon that knew everything." The Doctor said.
Daisuke growled, "damnit. You're right." 'I promise you, I'm coming for you, Ruki.'
"Let's go find the wiseass. We need to knew who we're dealing with and a way to find them." Daisuke said.
...
To be continued...