Digimon: War

Chapter 2: Preparation

It was almost silent when the party dispersed. Only a few good nights were shared as people began to depart.

Hikari looked down as she sat on a bench.

"You're okay?" Takeru asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Hikari looked over and said, "yes, just thinking about what was said… what was implied… War…"

Takeru smiled softly, "Come on, a lot of things would have declared war on us if they thought the line was cool. It's an empty threat."

"Didn't feel like it…"

"You don't trust us…?" Tailmon asked as she was sitting beside Hikari's feet.

"I mean I know, but… it felt different. Nothing ever… nothing ever felt that sinister." She closed her eyes, "DEVIL…"

Takeru looked at Hikari before giving her a side hug with one arm, "hey, we can make it through this. It will be nothing, but an empty threat."

Hikari leaned on Takeru, allowing him to embrace her. "I hope so…"

Koushiro didn't go home, he went straight to what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse. He looked to see cameras pointing at him as he looked at them. Suddenly the doors in the front of the warehouse began to open, revealing a high-tech laboratory within.

Koushiro entered with a confident stride as the doors behind him closed. Tentomon flew out of Koushiro's backpack, "never been here in a while…"

Koushiro sat at the only share as a screen pulled up. "Contact Gennai, asap." Koushiro then put on a headset and began to type rapidly. Different screens pulled up as some showed Earth and the Digital World before showing a grid.

"Koushiro-san! If you type any faster, you may burn the computer."

Koushiro stayed focused before different logs of various names were pulled up.

Suddenly, a screen of Gennai appeared, "Koushiro-san."

Koushiro glanced over, "I need you to help me find an extraordinary breach within the walls of the Digital World and human world."

Gennai raised a brow before he asked, "is there a reason?"

"Some guy just showed up to Ken's party. He said he was part of a group called DEVIL. They just declared war on the Chosen Children. He seemed to be a digital apparition… I am trying to see if this is an empty threat of some punk who thinks it's funny or…"

Koushiro and Gennai's eyes widened.

They were seeing a grid of the Digital World that was meant to be the protective wall. And it had a giant hole blown out the side of it. "What!?" Gennai said, looking closely.

"No way…" Koushiro stood up and dropped a single sweat for the first time.

Gennai glared, "this can't be… why wasn't it detected!?"

Koushiro gulped before sitting down and typing. "Protective Grid… completely nullified… sensors were taken out within seconds. A disruption caused warnings to be deactivated…" Koushiro whispered before a window pulled up to reboot the warnings and he accepted.

Suddenly a loud alarm went off and it soon was an echo of alarms. Warning notifications appearing in rapid succession. "Ultimate level…" Koushiro could see within the torrent of notification.

"They were here for a week!?" Gennai saw through the date logs on each notification.

Koushiro continued to type, "they arrived for a week, but they broke everything down. Sensors weren't turned off, but destroyed in mere seconds. The notifications couldn't come in because they didn't have time to detect it…"

Gennai looked in silence before saying, "the only thing that could do this at such magnitude… was BelialVamdemon."

Koushiro looked down, his hands sliding down as Tentomon tilted his head in concern. "Koushiro-san…" Tentomon said.

Gennai who glared then looked down, "We should warn the allied countries. If this is true… an attack is imminent…"

Koushiro looked up and then began to furiously type.

Gennai blinked, "w-what are you doing?"

"Creating the strongest firewall we got. They declared war, but haven't attacked… if I do this right then I can prevent an all-out assault." Koushiro soon pulled up a notepad where he began to type out scripts.

Gennai watched for a moment, silence once again before saying, "should we introduce the prototype suits…" Koushiro's typing slowed down, but still continued. He glanced at Gennai who continued, "the suits are in their beta, yes. And they were meant to ease the public view on Digimon's danger, but… this may be the exception."

Koushiro stopped typing, "who would be the first candidate?"

Gennai sighed, "all of you. The best candidates for now. We can't risk putting up with some stranger… not for public view."

Koushiro replied, "public view… this is war Gennai-sama. Is there a concern for that…?"

Gennai didn't reply, "I hate to say this, but if we're on the losing side of the war, it won't matter. On the winning side, it can be a 'two birds one stone' situation. Which side do you remain on…?"

Koushiro didn't say a word, still typing out the scripts. He took a deep breath and said, "we'll introduce the suits, BUT… I am choosing the Chosen Children because I know most of them will want to fight."

Gennai nodded, "I will send out an email to all of them telling them to meet here. I will arrive there in person to present the suits."

Koushiro only got a couple hours of sleep. Though, once morning came he could not be awake anymore. Him and Tentomon were standing in front of the warehouse as they saw the sun begin to rise.

Koushiro looked to see someone making their way. It was Daisuke with V-mon close by.

Koushiro walked to meet Daisuke as he said, "you're here early."

Daisuke smirked, "Working at the noodle shop makes you used to waking up at such early hours. By now, it's practically second nature."

Koushiro nodded before saying, "you're an hour early though…"

Daisuke shrugged, "well you were going to wait an hour for someone to show up outside."

Koushiro replied, "you could say I had a lot on my mind."

Daisuke, walking past Koushiro, "same, how about you make me a guinea pig."

Koushiro turned and said, "you're sure?"

Daisuke, without turning around, gave a thumbs up as he headed inside of the warehouse. Koushiro with their Digimon followed as once inside, Daisuke only saw a stack of boxes on a platform.

Koushiro entered as Daisuke asked, "what is that?"

"Those… will be important a bit later." Koushiro clicked on a button on the floor below them before descending. A magnetic platform elevator began to descend.

Daisuke looked around, "Mimi-san said this place was hightech, but…" as the platform arrived at the secret basement. It looked to be an empty metal room full of boxes except for a machine in the middle with a suit attached by wires.

"What is that?" Daisuke smiled in amazement as he stepped towards the machine and suit.

Koushiro crossed his arms. "It can be called many things, but I call it the Digi-suit. We know how the government is worried about Digimon running rampant. So Gennai and I came up with a solution– give humans something to fight back in case Digimon became a threat. Technically, this plan came to be when you guys were hurt and defeated by BlackWarGreymon. Now…" Koushiro saw Daisuke looking at the suit, "it's going to help us in case this war happens."

Daisuke tugged on the sleeves of the suit.

Koushiro then said, "that one is a prototype, the real ones were in the crates above."

Daisuke looked back at Koushiro, "then why aren't we putting those on?"

Koushiro walked until he was beside Daisuke. "This isn't just something you can put on and know what to do. It's better to know what you're dealing with. Battle is entirely different, of course, but the prototype will help with the feeling."

Daisuke turned to the prototype and then began to slowly put on the suit that did seem like a bulky space suit.

Koushiro explained as he went over to the other side of the machine. "Fair warning, the actual suits will be skin tight. Like everything in technology, we made it smaller to be convenient. You will be able to change into those suits and they were made to be easily cleaned and worn even in bed time."

Daisuke finally got inside the prototype suit. He noticed the metal nodes on his wrist, shoulders, ankle, knee, three up his spine and the two on his neck. "It doesn't feel different…"

Koushiro began to type into the computer, "that's cause it isn't on."

Suddenly Daisuke felt the nodes push against his skin before feeling something strange. He wasn't tired waking up early, but he wasn't full of energy. Though now he could feel energy surging, something made him feel like he could jump higher, run faster, and fight. Daisuke looked at his palms in the suit, amazed.

Koushiro smiled confidently, "see, okay, to make things as short and simple as possible. Right now the prototype is connected to an infinite supply of digital energy. The actual suits will not be, those will be finite in its resource. This prototype is only at Baby 2 level Digimon, this is just to get you used to the feeling. But the actual suits will be much higher in energy, right now you feel like you can jump three times as high… right?" Daisuke nodded as Koushiro continued, "the actual suits, you may be able to do more. Much more…"

Koushiro began to type as he said, "I am going to override the prototype safety measure and allow you to see what your suit will feel, at least the starting point."

The nodes glowed as Daisuke then felt another immense surge enter his body.

Koushiro pulled out what seemed to be a joy-stick as suddenly this machine with a holographic shield and blade appeared.

"So, right now, the suit is drawing on the digital energy around the air that Qinglongmon put out. The second source is more complex, but think of it as drawing on your soul as a Chosen Child. In the digital world this was manifested as a way for you to evolve V-mon, for example. Now the suit is drawing on that. What it means is that you're the same level as V-mon. Child level."

"V-mon can go to Adult on his own though…"

"Great point. On the real suits that will be important. But for the safety of the lab, you will be in Child Level. You will feel that surge of the energy then. And I will allow practice on such. But with progress and work, this means there is essentially 2 V-mon. You and V-mon, fighting together."

Daisuke chuckled and looked at his suit, "this would have helped before…"

Koushiro nodded, "but the technology wasn't there yet. Now it is." Koushiro moved the combat machine around, "Daisuke, just for an example, I need you to stick your right arm out. Trust me, it's for you to learn."

Daisuke blinked, confused before doing so. In a quick instance, the machine with its holographic blade sliced down on Daisuke's right arm.

Daisuke and V-mon gasped before Daisuke noticed a gash of digital energy was seeping out before it quickly healed. "It… it stung… but… I thought you just cut off my hand." Daisuke then touched where the arm was cut and realized, "no injuries…"

"Precisely. To simplify something complex. The suit gives you a second body, one that is of a Digimon. Though, right now with the prototype and infinite energy source makes it where it feels like it can last forever. In the actual suits in an actual fight, not so much. Think of it like a video game… you have defense, health, and power… those three things make up the suits. As I stated before, it's like a second V-mon."

Daisuke couldn't help, but to give an impressed chuckle.

Koushiro noticed and couldn't help but to smile. "This means you can get your leg blown off, but it will return as long as you metaphorically have enough power and health and so on. So one more thing for this tutorial on the suit…"

Daisuke turned and then saw the shield on the training machine expand as it grew thicker.

"The final part is about attacking. Now I mentioned how the suit draws on your soul and your Digimon's soul. You should be able to do the attacks that V-mon does. Now, do you remember V-mon's most famous attack?"

"His headbutt."

Koushiro nodded, "now, as cool as you think that attack may be… maybe trying to headbutt everything won't be the most… useful thing. So the suits were optimized so that you can focus what would be V-mon's headbutt to any melee attack. Try it out on the shield."

Daisuke looked at V-mon and then at his body before looking at his right hand. He took a deep breath and began to focus. Imagining himself as V-mon, but instead his hand as V-mon focusing on his signature move.

"Daisuke…" V-mon said as Daisuke opened his eyes and saw his fist was releasing this air and glowing.

Daisuke quickly turned to the shield and punched it. The pressure pushed out air and scattered dust as Daisuke was in complete shock. He looked at the hand that he punched with.

Koushiro continued, "good, you felt something build up. It's going to be JUST like that again and again. Remember that feeling, it will come out faster as you improve. One thing of note, these suits only aid and heighten physical abilities. Mental will be on you from here on out."

Daisuke turned to Koushiro with an excited smile and said, "alright, I think I'm ready for the real suits now…"

It was afternoon.

All of the Chosen Children except for Jyou and Yamato arrived now.

Each of them put on the suits as they were all a black gray color with much smaller nodes than the prototype, they were also nearly skin tight compared to the almost spacesuit of the prototype.

"I wish we could customize it," Mimi said as she spun around with the suit.

"Gennai and I are working on that," Koushiro chuckled before saying, "but you can wear your clothes over them."

"Good," Miyako said, "cause the joke of 'does this make my butt look big?' is becoming reality." She put on a red skirt quickly.

"How does it look?" Hikari asked Takeru who gave her a blushed thumbs up.

Taichi was putting on his normal clothes over his suit before asking, "how do we turn them off, a knob or something?"

Koushiro replied, "it's connected to your 'soul'. You can turn it off and on whenever you want. But remember it needs to recharge if you wasted enough power. The suit can rip apart, but remember that as long as the nodes are there. You are able to fight. If a node breaks, please tell me or Gennai. They are expensive, but valuable."

Koushiro then saw dust flying in the air as he covered his eyes. The Chosen Children gasped as they looked to see Daisuke that jumped from the ground to the top of a nearby building.

"D-Daisuke-san!?" Hikari gasped.

"Woah, even I can't do that!" V-mon said.

Koushiro sighed looking down, "that's cause Daisuke is drawing on XV-mon, your adult form. Remember, these suits don't have to evolve. Adult is just your current peak…" Koushiro looked towards Daisuke before tilting his head, "is he jumping…"

Suddenly another dust cloud appeared. This time with everyone ready.

Miyako coughed, "you know you could warn us."

Daisuke got out of the dust cloud and dusted off, "I just wanted to see how it felt."

Piyomon, who was shaking the dust away, asked, "w-wait. So… Daisuke can only go to Adult Form Level…?"

Koushiro nodded, "correct. Everyone is going to be different. Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, and Ken… you three will be at Adult Level. Everyone else except Taichi and Yamato will be at Perfect Level. And finally, Taichi and Yamato will be at Ultimate Level. I couldn't figure out a way to make DNA Fusion work."

Daisuke looked at Ken, "so that means Imperialdramon is going to be our best shot at keeping up with everyone else…"

Miyako grinned at Daisuke, "that makes you one of the weaker ones."

Daisuke looked at his suit, "though, at least I can be of help, hopefully."

Koushiro added, "let's not make this a competition. This is for the sake of war… remember." This made everyone quiet and look at each other before coming back to Koushiro. "The enemy is unknown… DEVIL… the only thing that we can hope for is that the battle ahead is easy. The guy who came through was of Ultimate Level… let's hope like the Dark Masters, it's only four…"

The air got tense.

"Cause if there's more, we may be in trouble…"

The black haired young man who declared war walked down a long hallway with a red rug on the ground. He walked until he arrived at some double doors. As if on his arrival, the doors began to open revealing a dinner table. Around it were six other individuals.

The black haired young man smiled, "so, what's next?"

Author's Note: So, this got a MUCH bigger reception that I anticipated. Thank you to those who commented, as much as I want to respond to them… it's difficult as some questions may be answered later on, BUT still thank you.

I know I updated this chapter and not Starful, it's more that I had this chapter halfway done. Still trying to balance both.

One thing I want to point out is pairings. I won't be like wait and see, but I also won't be like... I may do something different. This is a completely different story that what I written in the past and especially Starful. There WILL be obvious things I will do... I will just say that I won't disrespect characters or make them horrible along the way for a pairing if I commit to one.