Not much to say at the fore here - I have enough notes at the end. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: The Players of the New Game
—
I was already at 'what even happened to my life' before all this…now it's straight-up Twilight Zone. Pretty soon I'm gonna hear that creepy repeating four-tone noise and an overly dramatic voiceover. Any moment now…
It was easy to see why Iris was struggling to process it all with the scene around her. Her arm was around a creature that she'd been dreaming about for years but had never realized actually existed until just yesterday. Not far from where she was kneeling were the slowly-melting patches of ice on the tree, the last remnants of a giant living snowman who had been intent on turning her into a human popsicle. And near that were scorch marks on the ground and trees, and a few licks of flame on patches of grass. And coming over to kneel in front of her and Shockavimon was a large fiery lizard creature that she was fairly sure had been two people up until just a couple minutes ago. "Are you sure you're okay, Iris? You look really pale…"
"Am I okay? No, I'm NOT okay. Nothing about this is okay!"
"Iris!" Shockavimon tried to settle her down. "Easy, it's…we're not hurt, and Frigimon's gone…it's as okay as it's going to get."
"That's just…" Iris shook her head. "I don't know what's going on anymore!" She looked up at Burnreptimon, still utterly lost about him. "What's going on? How did you do that?"
"Ah…er…" Burnreptimon looked away, rubbing his head. "I don't actually know."
"Wait, how can you not know?" asked Shockavimon.
"Easy. I don't know anything THEY don't know. And they sure as hell don't know anything about this."
"They? Are you…talking about Reyn and Salmandmon? So…you're really them?"
"Yeah…except…look, it's complicated, I'm still trying to figure out how to explain it. Listen…there's only one thing I'm sure of. And that's that the whole game's changed. The others…we need to round them all up. The humans and the digimon. And we need to do it ASAP. You're going to have to make the calls, I…I need to stay like this for now, I need to try to understand more."
"I don't understand-"
"We don't have time." Burnreptimon looked around at the scene, the lingering chaos still very obvious. "There's no way no one heard that. And even if they didn't come over, there's no way it's going to stay unnoticed for long. I need to split, fast, and you need to get out of here before it's too hard for Shockavimon to hide. We don't have a lot of time…"
"Wait, how are YOU going to hide?" demanded Shockavimon.
"As best I can. Look, you remember that old athletic field to the south? The one they call the 'Undevelopment' because they've been in court for years over what's not being done or something like that?"
"You mean Glikke Field?" said Iris. "But that's right out in the open!"
"The field is, but there's still the woods behind the field. It's close enough that everyone should be able to bike there easily, but far enough that we aren't going to have eavesdroppers. Bring everyone there, and don't take no for an answer. I can't stress that enough, EVERYONE has to be there. I don't care if Derek is sleeping, wake him up if you have to."
"…Okay. But…you owe me an explanation."
"You'll get as much as I can. But best if I only have to do it once." Burnreptimon took off into the trees, and Iris finally got to her feet, trying to ignore how much her legs were shaking. Everything was happening so fast…she didn't like when things happened fast, it was so hard to catch up sometimes. And on this she already felt about eight miles behind to begin with.
"Iris? You all right?" Shockavimon wasn't quite as overwhelmed, but seeing Iris out of sorts was an uncomfortable feeling for her. Especially because she had no idea what was going on either…she'd expected the visit to this world to bring twists and turns, but this was absolutely NOT what she was prepared for.
"…I don't know. But…if that's really Reyn in there…I trust him. And, well, I'm gonna guess you trust Salmandmon, right?"
The avian nodded. "Right. So I guess we'd better get cracking…the sooner we do, the sooner we figure out what the hell is going on here."
—
Glikke Field was not in the best of shape these days. When it had been used as a general athletic field for youth sports like soccer and football, it had been reasonably well-groomed and had a fair bit of the relevant infrastructure for sports as well as concessions and related things. But newer fields with better facilities had been built closer to the schools that had used it, and it wasn't close enough to anyone else to pick up the role. A development group had bought the property to turn into a small gated community, but squabbling over plan details and efforts to go well beyond the scope of the area they had originally claimed they would be using had caused some friction with the city, and the council had eventually revoked permission for the development. There had been an ongoing court battle over this, with the developers insisting that permission couldn't be revoked after being granted like that and the city refusing to negotiate with the developers but also unable to open to other offers while the current developers had the rights to the land. The upshot was that Glikke Field was currently a fairly overgrown, barren field that didn't have much to offer to anyone at the moment.
But at the far side of the field was a relatively sizable woods, a nice place to get away to nature for a little bit. Efforts had been made in Braun to preserve and expand their green presence, and the woods had been one point of contention for the development when the group had tried to expand their scope to including razing it entirely to put in more houses. Although it wasn't being actively used for anything, it was still green area and lots of people were against its destruction.
Never before had it been of interest to this bunch, though…not until that evening.
"Where IS he?!" Skylar remarked testily as they hung at the edge of the wood. "It's almost a half hour after we said we were gonna meet! My dad's going to have a fit if I'm gone for eight hours or something!"
"Did you really think he was going to be here when he should be?" said Derek darkly; he was already in a less-than-stellar mood, considering he was usually in bed at this time. "This is classic Isaac. You'd think a robot-head like him could design an effective alarm clock. Maybe we should start without him."
"We're not starting without him," insisted Iris. "Everyone needs to be here."
Skylar huffed. "Does he really? I can't imagine he's going to offer anything that we could use."
"You really don't like him, do you?" asked Breezedramon.
"I have plenty of reasons for that. He's arrogant, he's irascible, he's stubborn…"
"Huh? What does irascialiable mean?"
"I believe the particular definition of the original word regards a temperamental or enragable personality," offered Blackcanismon. "Your idiosyncratic bowdlerization, conversely, defies any rational definition."
Breezedramon looked up at Derek. "Translate please?"
"Don't look at me, bud, I'm barely keeping up as it is."
"But you're his dream partner! You should know how to keep up with him!"
Derek chuckled a bit. "I wouldn't mind getting some practice, to be honest. Oh, hey, finally." He pointed as Isaac's bike rolled up, at a less than rapid clip. "Look who decided to show up. Thought you might've finally fallen into the black hole of your ego."
"Bite me," huffed Isaac as he dismounted his bike. "I can only go so fast when I don't want to lose Data." Datacarnomon was tromping up, dropping his cloaking as he approached.
"Have you considered leaving early?" Skylar asked testily.
"Some of us have families that do stuff! My dad doesn't like me going off without knowing where I'm going and why, you have any idea how hard it is to come up with excuses he can buy?"
Iris jumped in before things could escalate any further. "No fighting, please. I'm stressed out enough already, I don't need you two adding to it. But Isaac, you really DO need to get better at the punctuality. People aren't going to stop getting after you over it."
"I know, I know. I haven't been late to class all this quarter, doesn't that count for something?"
"Hang on a tick," Datacarnomon said, looking around. "Aren't we missing someone? Where's Salmandmon?"
"Yeah, and Reyn? I thought you said everyone had to be here!"
Shockavimon sighed. "They are here…kind of."
"What do you mean, 'kind of?' Did you all start talking about stuff before I got here or something?"
"If we had, it would be your fault entirely," griped Skylar.
"C'mon, Sky!" Breezedramon said imploringly. "Just because he's not good at punctanmulotalimaziting doesn't mean he shouldn't be kept outta the loop!"
"His tardiness is an impediment to communal equilibrium, indubitably," countered Blackcanismon. "Irreclaimable temporal periods are forevermore banished to worthless irrelevance if proper timekeeping is not adhered to."
"You two…" sighed Shockavimon. "Why didn't we just challenge Emperius to try to make sense of what you were saying? We'd've had them licked in half a day."
"Oy, Shock! Ixnay!" Datacarnomon said frantically.
"Don't bother, Data, it's a lost cause now."
"…What?"
"What's all that about?" Derek asked suspiciously.
"Guys, one thing at a time." Iris shut down the conversation. "C'mon, into the woods. We're, uh, going to meet Reyn and Salmandmon in there."
"Ooookay…why did they go in there before us?"
"…You'll see."
—
The group mostly fell silent as they walked, several minutes passing with each of them wondering about any number of things. For most of them, including why they were here and why they were still waiting on someone. The breeze through the trees left a rather disconcerting ambiance to the whole thing, only stoking the apprehension felt by all of them. Everyone, other than Iris and Shockavimon, were starting to get the sense that something was building up, though to what end they didn't know.
Finally, Iris and Shockavimon stopped, and the rest followed suit behind them. Of course, naturally, there was some confusion. "Why're we stopping here?" asked Isaac. "I don't see Reyn anywhere."
"I think he's here." Iris pointed to a tree several yards in front of them, which had an X drawn on the trunk in what looked to be ash. "Glad he left some kind of sign, at least…"
"A sign is not him," Skylar pointed out. "What, is he hiding? Reyn, c'mon, come out, it's just us."
"…Wait!" Datacarnomon stiffened up. "I'm picking up a bio-sign! But…what the heck? I've never…what are these parameters? What's going on here?"
"What's the matter?" asked Isaac, suddenly sounding anxious.
"The signal's coming in, but I've got no database entry! It doesn't even match any of the classes! That can't be possible!"
"WHOA!" Breezedramon's cry cut through the air as suddenly something dropped from the trees, forward flipping twice before landing deftly on the ground. As it rose up, all of them could see the red reptilian form standing tall in front of them. And while the suddenness of the appearance threw them off enough, the dawning recognition of just why they hadn't yet seen Reyn and Salmandmon was taking them for an even wilder ride.
"No…no way…there's no way!" said Skylar shakily.
"What am I even looking at?" rattled Datacarnomon as he took a step back.
"This is…this is…" Even Blackcanismon was at a loss for words.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" shouted six voices in near unison.
Iris narrowed her eyes at Burnreptimon. "Couldn't resist making an entrance, huh?"
"I, ah…figured it would get their attention pretty well," replied the fiery reptile, somewhat nervously.
"Right, because you were gonna be SO unimpressive otherwise…"
—
After the commotion died down a bit, the rest of them eventually got to sitting in in front of Burnreptimon. The lizard was nervous, but that seemed to put him on the same page as everyone else at this point. "Right…so…I can't promise I can answer all your questions, but…I can answer some of them, I think. At least to some degree."
"Okay, let me start it off then," Datacarnomon said almost demandingly. "Just WHAT in blazes are you?"
"Well…" Burnreptimon took a deep breath. "I don't know that I can give an answer that would satisfy you, to be honest. What I know is that I'm Reyn and Salmandmon. And they've combined together into me, Burnreptimon."
"Burnreptimon? So you must be a digimon. Organic world creatures don't have the program identifier."
"Well…I don't know what to make of it, myself. I think my appearance is more digimon than human, but at the same time, I don't feel like…a regular digimon, if you know what I mean."
Datacarnomon shook his head. "I have absolutely no clue. But I'm gonna try to register these frequencies…ugh. In a world of novel data sets already…"
"Okay, so we have the who and the what," said Skylar. "Now we just need the when, where, why, and how."
Burnreptimon proceeded to recap for the others the events that had happened earlier in Eglin Park, with Iris and Shockavimon filling in a few extra details. To the humans, it mostly resulted in fascination and disbelief…but the digimon had a very different reaction.
"This is awful!" Breezedramon exclaimed. "Emperius is already coming here?! But we literally just got here!"
"The proximity of their arrival to ours…catastrophically disadvantageous!" lamented Blackcanismon.
"Unbelievable…of all the rotten luck!" Datacarnomon pounded the dirt. "What chance do we have now?! We might be on the verge of full-on madness and we've barely had time to get to know a few names!"
Burnreptimon bowed his head. "Settle down, everyone. We're going to have to get to that…but let's focus on this point first. Because I think it's going to be very important."
"So you…just combined together? For no reason?" asked Derek.
"I'm not sure about the details, honestly. It was pretty chaotic. But…the more I thought about it, the more I think I have an idea what happened. When things were getting rough out there, we were both thinking the same thing…we wanted to stand and protect each other, no matter what it took. And…I think when we had that same feeling at the same time, it triggered something in us that caused us to combine together like this."
"You just thought the same way? That's it?" Isaac sounded unconvinced.
"I think it was more than just thinking, it was that feeling of urgency and determination…at that point, we were so in sync that they became one."
"Okay, is it we, they, I, what the hell?" Shockavimon cut in.
Burnreptimon gave her a look. "Shut up. You have any idea how hard it is to figure out what pronouns I should be using? Not like I've ever been this before."
"Unbelievable…a human and digimon combining together…" Skylar shook his head. "It sounds wild. Did you guys know this could happen?"
"No way," Datacarnomon said flatly. "Us combining together? There's no way we ever thought that could happen."
"Data, c'mon, you're being too broad," countered Shockavimon. "I mean, I wouldn't have expected it with a human, but it's not like digimon can't combine together. There is Jogress or DNA Evolution…"
"Well, yeah, okay, but with a human?"
"I just said-"
"Hang on a second," Iris interrupted. "Evolution? What's that?"
"It's the way the digimon transform into other creatures in order to become stronger," said Isaac, causing all pairs of eyes to turn to him. He gave them a defiant look back. "What? Don't tell me I'm the only one who paid attention to anything going on in those dreams."
"…I guess he's got a point there," conceded Iris. "Now that he says it, it does sound a bit familiar."
"He's got the basics of it right," agreed Datacarnomon. "It's technically called digital evolution, different from the kind of evolution you guys are more familiar with, but, you know, shorthand. By changing into different and stronger forms, we can become more capable in battle, as well as more specialized for certain tasks, whether they're combat-related or not. There's a lot of different potential triggers, but they all are founded on the same thing, a surge of extra energy that lets us climb to a new level. With Jogress or DNA evolution, that energy comes from a powerful bond that unites two compatible creatures into one stronger one. But I don't see how that could possibly happen with a human, our foundational matter is completely different."
"You guys have DNA?" asked Skylar.
"It's not the same as your DNA," explained Shockavimon. "There's some long term for it-"
"Digital Network Attributor," Blackcanismon interrupted.
"-Some big long term that Blackcanismon would obviously know," she continued a bit tersely. "It's also called our core data set, and it functions about the same way, making up all the stuff that makes us who we are. But it's completely different from yours, ours is in Fundamental Code, yours is…in this weird stuff that I don't understand at all."
"Fundamental Code?" asked Derek.
"Wild guess, but I'm gonna say binary," ventured Isaac.
"Oh…hm, that would make sense. But just two different bases, then…"
"Ones and zeros become a hell of a lot of stuff in computers, why not in digimon?"
"I like him, he catches on quickly," snickered Datacarnomon.
"I suppose he would," said Derek with a shrug. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sidetrack, it's just a lot of…complicated stuff I never realized when I was dreaming about you guys. This evolution stuff…I remember some of it now, you guys changing forms a lot…but I also remember digimon that don't change forms at all, it seems like."
Datacarnomon nodded. "Yeah, there's two classes there. Fixed-state digimon are by far the norm, they take a pretty set path and that's it. There's some ways they can change but it's not easy, and it can be risky. Most of them stop at a pretty modest level, but can reach a stronger one if they put in a lot of training or get some help, but most don't really need it unless they're doing something special, or battling a lot. Variable-state digimon are different…we can shift between forms more easily and go back and forth without much trouble. A consequence of this is that we normally stay in Rookie state, because it's stable but low-energy so we can build up more energy to unleash in our stronger forms…but when we do, we have a lot more potential to easily get to stronger states, including Mega form, which is a super tall order for a lot of fixed-state digimon. So we're pretty sought after by anyone who likes to have a strong warrior on their side."
"Absolutely fascinating!" marveled Skylar. "Creatures which can alternate forms like that…I've never heard of such a thing happening on our world! The closest thing I can think of is insect metamorphosis, but that's still significantly different on a lot of levels!"
"Okay, so…that all I understand well enough, I think," said Iris, then she pointed to Burnreptimon. "But now explain HIM!"
"I daresay if our computational comrade possessed elucidation on this particular conundrum, said elucidation would heretofore have been proffered," remarked Blackcanismon. "Furthermore, there exist particular considerations which dramatically complicate comprehension of the matter, most notably our recently compelled debilitations."
"Okay, I caught maybe three of those words, but one of them stuck out. Debilitations?"
"We can't evolve anymore," Breezedramon said, with frustration in his voice. "Stupid Evolution Seals screwed us up! I wanna be Cyclodramon again! Making ginormous whirlicyclotwisters with my mind!"
Isaac raised an eyebrow. "Evolution Seal? You mean evolution can be blocked?"
"Apparently so," said Datacarnomon tightly. "Not that any of us knew that. It was supposed to be the one thing that was sacrosanct…I mean, yeah, there might be all sorts of reasons why someone might not be able to get to a particular form, but for us guys who can go back and forth, those are all temporary state things. Actually blocking off our evolution…" He went quiet, but the pain was pretty evident in his last words.
"It's hard," agreed Shockavimon sadly. "When you're like us, that ability to take on our higher forms, it's something that defines who we are. Having that taken away from is…it's like losing a part of ourselves."
Burnreptimon spoke up. "One of the reasons I wanted to make sure we got over here was because I thought maybe there was a chance they could do something about it over here. It probably hit me…well, Salmandmon the hardest, not to diminish anything you all felt. If there was any hope of a faster resolution, it probably lied over here."
"I wondered what had you so gung-ho…" Shockavimon sighed. "Not that it matters now. With Emperius on their way, it's probably only a matter of time before things go to hell."
"No." All eyes turned to Burnreptimon now. "That's not necessarily true. There's something I've been thinking about…but I think before we go too far into that, they need to know the REAL story. So…well, let's make sure there aren't any more questions about anything here before we move onto that."
"Oh! I have one!" yapped Breezedramon. "Are you stuck that way? Are you this Burnreptimon guy impermatonatemabletaly?"
"Uh…oh! Permanently! No, no…thank goodness, no, that's not the case. I mean, imagine, what do you think my parents would think?"
"Your parents?" said Derek with a smirk.
"Oh, can it. I'll figure this out sooner or later…but yeah, we can split apart. Lemme show you…" Burnreptimon stood up, closed his eyes and tilted his head back. The form of the reptile glowed red, and then deformed into a shapeless mass, which bifurcated and reestablished itself as one human and one digimon. Both of whom looked none the worse for wear, if somewhat tired out.
"Whoa…that was…wow…" Breezedramon's jaw was dropped in awe.
"You said it, buddy," agreed Skylar. "That was wild. I don't think humans are supposed to work that way."
"Well, supposed to or not, it did…" Reyn breathed and obvious sigh of relief. "In every way, thankfully."
"Don't tell me you were only guessing you could!" Isaac exclaimed.
"Oh, no, nothing like that, I could feel it right away even when I was in there. I'm just glad I came back with my clothes on. THAT woulda been waaaaay awkward."
"Oh, c'mon, you didn't have any problem with it as Burnreptimon," teased Salmandmon.
"Hey, that's different and you know it. You guys have different standards."
"Individuals mayhaps suggest human standards to be unnecessarily stodgy," chuckled Blackcanismon.
"Says the dog who can't wear much anyway," countered Derek, though he was grinning.
"So you were still yourself in there, Sal?" asked Breezedramon.
Salmandmon's brow furrowed. "Kind of…it' s a weird state. It's like…kinda asleep, but not really? And I'm aware of myself, but I'm also…Burnreptimon isn't just like me and Reyn thinking together, there's something else in there. I don't really think I understand it all, but…well, it's gonna take some time. Right now, I think we need to focus on a different kind of story time."
"Are you sure, Sal?" Datacarnomon still sounded nervous. "I thought the idea was to keep things on the down low."
"Yeah, that was the original plan. But you know what they say, the plan never survives the first contact with the enemy. I think Reyn already knows a good bit from this incident, anyway, but the rest of you should know, too…"
"I'm not sure how much I remember, but I'm also not sure if that's because it's not stuff I really wanted to remember…" said Reyn heavily.
"It's that bad?" asked Isaac seriously.
"Maybe worse than that bad, from what that snowy asshole was saying…"
—
After a brief break for the digimon to get everything straight, the gang of now-ten reconferred in their little spot in the woods. The sky was getting somewhat darker, putting a bit of time pressure on them all, earning Isaac a few more ribs for his lateness, which he clearly didn't appreciate. But all that was put aside when faced with the serious mood of the digimon.
"We'll try to make this as simple as possible for you guys," said Salmandmon. "So I'm gonna let Data do the honors."
"You let him speak for you a lot, don't you?" observed Skylar.
"You wanna get it from Breezy or BC instead?"
"Narrate away, Datacarnomon." A chorus of snickers arose from the others, and a pouty huff from Breezedramon.
"Right then…" Datacarnomon stepped forward, clearly focused. "Let me try to set the stage a bit. Obviously, our worlds are different in a lot of ways. Digimon are creatures with natural abilities oriented towards combat. They come in sizes ranging from barely bigger than one of your fists to, uh…let's just say 'unnecessarily macro.' As you can imagine, it's…not exactly the most peaceful place in the world. But, despite that, it's still a place where people can work together, come together in cities and regions and other cohesive units of society. Sometimes really huge cities…some of them that I've never seen are supposed to leave you wondering how anyone could ever live outside them…"
"Data, you're getting sidetracked," interrupted Shockavimon. "See, Isaac, nigh perfect recall, but not-so-perfect playback. That's what happens when you give the robots free will, remember that."
"Duly noted." Isaac's face didn't suggest that that deterred him from the idea.
"ANYWAY. It's not like digimon live in a lawless land, but in some places a lot of stuff is…localized. Despite the efforts of some…uh, we live on a continent called Tetraquaz. It's the fourth and smallest major continent in our world, but that's not saying much, it's still probably at least as big as all yours combined. But, remember, there are a lot of huge digimon, too, so it's probably not as densely populated overall, and there's a lot of stretches of land between the cities. That makes it challenging to have any real central authority. There's one that plays at it, though…the Kaiser, we call him, but his full name is Kaiserhuanglongmon. He's…kind of a batty one, in my opinion, seems to have some weird ideas."
"Excuse you," Salmandmon said indignantly. "The Kaiser's an amazing person and he's actually a really good ruler, in that he doesn't try to rule too much. He's there to help, not to lord over everyone."
"Sure, sure…" Datacarnomon didn't seem keen to change his position. "Just because you've got connections to him…"
"Not the time, guys," Shockavimon interjected, getting things back on track again.
"Anyway, this isn't about the Kaiser, really, it's about what we're up against. About…eight years ago, I think it was, was the first sign of this new group called Emperius in Northern Tetraquaz. It happened after a pretty nasty event down in Southern Tetraquaz, and they started growing fast, way faster than anyone would have wanted to see for what they were. They were a group of digimon with some rather nasty ideas…the main ones being, they wanted to rule over all digimon everywhere under one united world under their power alone, and to stratify all digimon based on power alone. So basically, if you're powerful, you get to rule, and if you're not powerful, you better hope not to die. They're fanatical about destiny and fate, too, thinking that because they are powerful, then they cannot possibly lose, and those who are weak and unworthy have no chance against them. They pretty quickly showed that anyone they didn't deem worthy, they had no qualms about getting them out of the way."
"Yeesh…" Derek muttered. "That sounds ghastly."
"Yeah, it was. And they just kept growing…and causing more trouble for everyone. People wanted the Kaiser to step in, but…unfortunately, as messy as it was getting there, Southern Tetraquaz was even messier. There's been a conflict going on down there for at least two decades, maybe longer, and it's a nightmare…hard to tell which side is in the right, and all of them do some pretty ugly things in the name of their cause. The Kaiser's been doing everything in his power to try to quell it since he rose about ten years ago, but it keeps most of the military forces he has at his hand occupied trying to prevent them all from killing each other, especially after in escalated about eight years ago following the Gradwen Massacre. So Emperius didn't have much to fear…they had the room to grow unchecked, until they were big enough to be a threat to the Kaiser and have the first step of their takeover complete."
"But the big thing Emperius had going against them is that people HATED them. Not everyone, obviously, but a LOT of people were against them, because they were brutal in their tactics. They went after you, you joined or you died, that was their philosophy. But it got them a lot of people who didn't really want to be with them, and there was a lot of betrayal and dissension. And then other groups started moving against them…including the one we joined, the Knights of Liberty. They formed about four years ago, under the oath of our commander Dynasmon, and his two top lieutenants, Gallantmon and Crusadermon. The group basically exists solely for the purpose of countering Emperius, and has the full support of the Kaiser. Of course, we obviously try to help keep the peace in other ways, but Emperius has always been the central focus, because they've been the biggest threat."
"For three years, we landed blow after blow. They were tough, it wasn't easy, but we were more cohesive and we managed to turn some of theirs that didn't want to be there. And the five of us were leading the charge a lot…we were part of the Elite Force, and made a particular unit called Zetta Unit, the tops of the tops. Last year was the biggest turning point…we were engaged in a fierce battle and their leader, Craniummon, showed up. Went straight for Sal…he turned that bitch into charcoal."
"I still don't know what the hell he could have possibly been thinking, doing something like that," Sal said with a shake of his head but a fierce grin on his face. "Guess he was a better backseat commander than frontline fighter. But I thought I'd just decapitated the beast…was a pretty good feeling."
"Emperius went quiet after that, but we knew they weren't totally gone, and we were trying to clear out the last scattered remnants. We searched for them…the base they had been at was abandoned in a hurry, but there were skirmishes here and there, pockets of resistance that would crop up from the stragglers…or, at least, that's what we were all thinking, and we were trying to root them out, and see who might be heading them. Lots of searches turning up nothing…but then, not long ago, we got word that there was a big Emperius force being led by a group of 'generals,' and we thought maybe we had them. They send out as much of the Elite Force as they could, planning to put them on ice for good."
"I'm going to take a stab and say it didn't go as planned," sighed Skylar.
"Sadly not. Their number were…terrifying. It was far more than we were prepared for. We hadn't been recruiting as much because we thought the worst was over…we were outmatched horribly. Emperius, I guess, had been shadow recruiting for nearly a year…their tactics had changed, and we had no idea. Whoever took the helm, they completely blindsided us. But for us in particular, it was about to get even worse…we went after the generals, trying to ice their leadership and hope that the rest got in disarray enough to let our forces prevail. But as we tried to engage them…boom. We suddenly revert to Rookie form, and this crap appears." Datacarnomon pointed to the mark on his hand, scowling at it. "Our Evolution Seal…and the marks all look different, but you can tell, there's a vague sense of matching our elements…this wasn't just random luck, these were DESIGNED for us. And they worked disastrously well."
"I'm not even sure how we survived getting out of there," shuddered Breezedramon. "I thought for sure that general was going to obloteronamonite me."
"I think we only escaped because they knew we weren't a threat anymore," sighed Salmandmon, rubbing his own mark. "Because we weren't. Without being able to evolve…Shock's right, it's like a part of yourself is torn out of you."
"Bastards…" growled Reyn. Iris looked over, and noticed that his hands were in white-knuckled grips. She put a hand on him gently, he started a bit and looked over at her, then away, but she noticed his grip relaxing.
"But we did survive. And…well, glum as we were about things, we knew that the world wasn't going to stop for us to mope. And Sal had the idea that we could do something else…something that apparently we were just in time to do."
"So, I'm not sure what anyone else has said about this, so I'll just cover it quick. The digital world's known that your world exists for…20 to 30 years, thereabouts. We don't know much about it - that it exists, that you guys are called humans, a bunch of coincidental details, all that. Lots of digimon have been forming opinions about humans, but the Kaiser's got a fascination with them…one of his passion projects is trying to make it possible for our worlds to connect, he wants to come here and learn about this world and establish ties with it. As you probably expect, some people are all for it, some are really against the idea…Emperius didn't seem to care originally, they wanted to take over the digital world, any other was seemingly off their radar. But…it was about a month ago that we heard about this new thing. The Declaration of Purification. A statement that all races who lacked the power of digimon were worthless, and their lives were forfeit if Emperius so willed it. And it was very clear that they were talking about humans."
"Good lord…" Isaac was going a bit pale. "They want us dead? Why? It's really just about some fanaticism?"
"No…I don't think so." Datacarnomon bowed his head. "I think there's another reason. Emperius thinks…and we at the Knights of Liberty think they're right…that your world is an attractive target because they can use it. Nothing they do isn't about power, and while they'd certainly be happy using that power to crush you, I think they want MORE power, and they can use this world to make that happen."
"Use it? How?"
"Your digital infrastructure. No one is entirely sure how it would react with us, but…it's been posited, by a lot of our smartest folks, that it could be used to enhance and upgrade digimon, and possibly even create new ones - be they copies of existing types or brand-new types entirely. It would probably take some time to figure out, but if Emperius got over here, established a foothold, or worse, succeeded in all-out conquest, they could do whatever they wanted over here, and once they figured it out…an army of radically enhanced digimon, swarming in out of nowhere, overwhelming with both numbers and capacity…"
"No force in either world could oppose them," finished Derek, his voice shaking.
"Exactly," affirmed Datacarnomon grimly. "They would have basically an instant-win machine at their fingertips. And we wanted to keep that from happening, for obvious reasons…there was talk at the KOL of trying to get over here and establish relations to get that sort of capacity for ourselves, just to try to keep Emperius from getting their hands on it, but…we have the capacity to transfer matter across the planes, but that's about it. No one wanted us to just send a force in and make you think we were invading, we needed to establish a rapport. So they've been trying to work on communication across the planes first…"
"But with Emperius having crippled the KOL, we didn't have a choice but to come here," said Shockavimon. "And not looking for power, even, but just looking to prepare you guys for what was probably coming. I'm not gonna lie, a lot of digimon think you couldn't stand a chance against us. But…well, there's some among us who think you've got more capability than the rest think. The five of us certainly think so, though, well, we do have a bit of an advantage there."
"I'm sure actually knowing about the world does help," Iris said, sounding stressed. "But I'm not sure, either…I remember some of those creatures from those dreams, some of them were incredibly terrifying. I don't know what we could do about them."
"It's a long shot in the first place, we know that," hissed Salmandmon. "But if your other option is no shot, why not take the long shot, right? And if they could do something about our seals, we could help out, that was what I thought…if they had even five full-capability digimon at their backs, that would have to count for something."
"Yeah, cuz five puny Rookies don't really cut it," Breezedramon growled, though the somewhat cute sound that come out didn't exactly have the effect he might have hoped for. "But Emperius already started their invasion! We're staring down animahimalonation before we even get started!"
"Man…I can see why you didn't wanna tell us about this," moaned Isaac. "This sounds like a nightmare…I mean, our whole world on the brink of invasion and no one knows it except us. It sounds completely hopeless."
"Yeah, it does…" Salmandmon said…then he looked up, and there was a glint in his eye. "Or, rather, it did, until today."
"Huh?" Four of five humans, and the other four digimon, looked towards Salmandmon blankly.
"Emperius showed their hand today. They're ready to strike…but if they only sent one Frigimon, that probably means they're starting by testing the waters. Making sure the humans are as easy as they think they are. Weirdly restrained for them, but…I dunno, something changed with them, they've been acting more restrained than they used to. Whoever took over over there, they knew what the hell they're doing, and that's pretty terrifying. But the equation's changed on our end, too. Because it's not just an unsuspecting human populace against them...it's five warriors they weren't at all ready for."
"What? Wait…you're not suggesting…!" Shockavimon's jaw dropped. "Sal! Are you crazy?"
"Salmandmon! You cannot be seriously contemplating the prospect I'm envisioning!" barked Blackcanismon. "We are completely absent any significant evidence of transferability of the phenomenon you underwent!"
"No, we're not!" fired back Salmandmon. "Think about it! What's different between you guys and me and Reyn? You have the shared dreams! You felt that pull to them when you came here! All five of us, all five of them, we're connected in a way they didn't even imagine, in a way that bypasses the bonds they put on us! If Reyn and I can make for a capable fighter, you guys can too!"
"You…you want us all to be…fusing together like that?!" gasped Iris.
"That's madness!" Isaac exclaimed. "I'm not a fighter! Hell, I wouldn't expect anyone over here who IS a fighter to be ready for this!"
"And he's the only one built like a lummox enough for it in the first place," added Skylar. "Look at me, one of YOU could probably take me!"
"And so what?"
That very unexpected response got Isaac, Skylar, and Iris all looking at Derek in shock; the dark-haired boy's expression was grim but resolute. "Do any of you really think how you feel matters here? Consider everything they say is true, and we've no reason to believe otherwise…do you think Emperius goes away and leaves us alone because we said we don't wanna?" Dead silence met that, as the other three looked awkwardly between each other, which was about what Derek was expecting. "Say it to their faces, and see how far that gets you...me, all I have to do is imagine talking to my dad. Doesn't matter what words you have, they're useless. They're coming, whether we like it or not…"
"All we get to say is whether we meet them," finished Reyn with a nod. "I can't blame anyone for not being happy about this, but all I can say is, ready or not, here they come. I already faced one of them today, trying to take my life just because I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And I'm here because I stood and fought…with Salmandmon. And I'm no more a fighter than any of you…less than you, Isaac, mister 'I'm not an uber-nerd because I can actually lift.'"
"I knew I'd regret saying that someday," mumbled Isaac. "But…you've got a point…if you two together can make it happen…Jesus. This is really going to happen, isn't it?"
Salmandmon nodded. "There really aren't words for how much I hate to ask this of all of you…but this is why I had to tell you all this, so that you understood what was at stake. The way things stand now, everyone present here in this group is literally the only line of defense this world has against a force that would gladly see every single person on this planet deleted as soon as possible, and most of them on ours. It's ALL on us. And it's a burden that has no business being on any of us, but sometimes we're not left with the choices we'd rather have. It's sink or swim…and we need to know now if you're swimming. I can't force you to do anything, but…"
"But if we don't, then we're probably done for," Isaac said grimly.
"Ike…I'm sorry…" Datacarnomon looked away. "I had no idea it would end up like this…"
"I know. How could any of us know? But…well, they're right, aren't they? Fight or fall. If I'm going to end up face to face with one of those goons, I'd rather it be swinging back than just cowering at their feet."
"I suppose, Derek, that I needn't ruminate over your cognitions regarding this debacle," stated Blackcanismon with resignation, "considering your preceding declarations…misgivings notwithstanding, I would humbly beseech your accommodation."
"I'm going to do what I can," asserted Derek. "Whatever that ends up being…like Isaac said, if we fail, at least we tried, rather than letting it happen without a fight."
"Sky? Are you okay with all this?" asked Breezedramon tentatively.
"…Of course not. None of this is all right, it's all utterly and completely batty." Skylar rubbed his head, looking exceedingly weary. "But the logic is infallible, no matter how I look at it. And I can't just sit by and do nothing while everyone I know and care about is in danger. Even if I feel like I just entered a bad nightmare."
"Sky…I'll make sure I help you stand tall! Uh, well, as tall as you are, anyway…you wouldn't happen to have a few extra inches or anything hiding somewhere, would you?"
"Tch! Breezedramon! Humans can't just do things like that." Skylar let out a sigh, but the ridiculous statement actually seemed to have helped unwind him a bit. "I guess there's not much to do but try to prepare for it, though. Jeez, and here I thought my biggest fear at my age was supposed to be thick-headed bullies and conveniently-sized lockers."
"Iris…" Shockavimon had stepped over, and put her wing on the human. "I…I understand if you don't want to do this. I saw how nervous you were even trying to confront me…it's too much of any of us to ask you to put yourself through something you know you can't handle."
Iris's eyes were closed, she was keeping her breathing very deliberately steady. Every time I think I'm overwhelmed enough, there's another layer of whelm to add on top of it… Slowly her eyes opened and she looked up, not at Shockavimon, but at Reyn. "Reyn…I hope to hell you're right about me."
"Iris?" Shockavimon's eyes widened. "You're…"
"I can't let them all go off and feel any good about staying out of it. And…after feeling how I did when that Frigimon attacked…I think I'd rather feel like I had some chance to do something other than run around like a panicking chicken. I have to at least try…for everyone, including myself."
"I'll do everything I can to help you, Iris, I promise. If you can stand up to this, you can stand up to anything."
"Well…we'll see." Iris hugged Shockavimon tight, and looked at Reyn again. "I don't suppose anyone needs to ask you."
"My fate was sealed the moment I became part of Burnreptimon," said Reyn with a nod. "What I felt there…I knew I had to do it. Trust me, I'm plenty scared, too, but…you'll feel it, Iris. There's a power there…it's unlike anything I've ever felt before. Once you've felt it, you'll know what I mean. If there's a way to beat these guys, it's gonna come from that."
"I'll say one thing," Salmandmon said with a smile. "They really underestimate the courage of humans over on our side. That might be our biggest advantage…Emperius thinks they're going to waltz in unopposed. They aren't ready for us, either that we exist or that we're willing to stand against them. I'm not gonna lie, this is gonna be hard…we're gonna likely get hurt, and there's a good chance it could end badly. But this is the second time since I got here that I've really felt anything like real hope, and that was in short supply back in the digital world. We've got a chance here. Let's do what we can to make sure we make the most of it. Shock, Breezy, Data, BC, I want you guys to do everything you can to make sure they're as prepared as they can be. I know you guys are ready, but they're from a different world, this isn't something they've really experienced. Psych them up!"
"We'll do what we can, for sure," agreed Shockavimon. "But, it's gonna be pretty nasty, isn't it? How're we going to keep up with Emperius? For all we know they can pop in any time, anywhere."
"Hey, yeah…" Isaac said with dawning realization. "How're we going to track them? I don't think any of us can just flit off wherever we want without worry."
"So…it's good news bad news time." Datacarnomon took a deep breath. "The barrier between our worlds, it's…weird. We don't really understand it very well. What we do know is that, uh, establishing a transfer, it requires…well, a hole. A hole that we, uh, made when we first came through."
"Right, the anomaly in the sky," agreed Skylar, and then he did a double-take. "Wait! The sky hasn't looked right ever since that time…you're saying…"
"The hole's still there. And that's probably why there was no sign that Frigimon came through. So, bad news: it's probably NOT going to be obvious when Emperius sends soldiers over here. But good news…well, maybe good news, depending on your point of view: We still don't know how to really 'direct' transfers over the worlds, so it's pretty much a given that they'll follow the path of least resistance. Since there's already a hole here…"
"Then it's almost a guarantee that they'll show up somewhere in Braun," finished Derek. "Can those holes repair themselves?"
"Theoretically, but if they're being actively used? Almost certainly won't happen. And let's hope it doesn't, because that sounds like it'll be a bad thing for us if it does. Probably the bigger concern is that it gets bigger, but whether it'll do that, and how quickly if it does…you're asking the wrong mon."
"We still need another plan of action, too," added Isaac. "There's no way that we're gonna be able to last alone against everything Emperius has to offer, even if they start slow. We're gonna need support and backup at some point, and that's gonna have to come from somewhere."
"Then let's do the original plan, too!" piped up Breezedramon. "Send word to the athorbamalaities!"
"The who-what now?"
"Our original mission was to find someone we could warn who could prepare for a defense of this world," said Salmandmon. "Breezy's right, we still should do that. I guess what we talked about before ended up happening without a conference anyway. So we're gonna be relying on you guys to know what the best course of action on that front is, since you know this world better than we do."
"Good point…I suppose the obvious choice would be somewhere in the federal government," mused Skylar. "President Herrera, maybe? She's the commander in chief, she'd have to give the orders…I don't think a declaration of war is a factor here, so probably she wouldn't have to put up with a lot of fuss over it."
"Wait, you have a military leader in charge, but they can't declare war?" asked Datacarnomon.
"It's not quite as simple as that. Our system is…a little bit complicated. And even if you get the rules, things get weird when it comes to actually following them."
"I don't think I want any of those clowns involved period," huffed Isaac. "You just know they're going to be looking for some way to get some personal benefit out of it…"
"Yes, yes, we're all well aware of your dim view of politics," Derek remarked with an eye roll. "Now, let's rejoin reality and realize there's no way they aren't going to be involved at some point, and figure out an actual solution. Why not start at the top?"
"I don't think that'll work," cut in Reyn. "First off, the message has to get to her, and anyone who filters her messages is going to toss out something that looks like a crank. Second, she's in the Middle East, trying to broker another peace treaty between Israel and Palestine."
"Lovely. Speaking of hopeless causes…"
"But I think we're in the right sphere. Somewhere in the federal government. But it has to be somewhere that might believe us and listen. Maybe Homeland Security, though they've always been kinda iffy, this should be something they should take care of."
"Maybe we should go higher?" suggested Isaac. "DOD?"
"Absolutely not. That hack Jonah Wheeler is still there. I'd trust him like I'd trust that Frigimon to throw me a parade."
"Ah, right, the only guy you actually really have an opinion on…yeah, that tells me enough, no chance."
"He's that bad?" asked Salmandmon. "And he's in a leadership position?"
"He's a flake. Pretends to be one party, then the other, whoever's in charge, just so he can get positions. Pretty sure he only got there as a show of 'unity,' but everything he says comes off as skeevy to me. Wait…there's a better direction entirely. FBI and CIA. They're investigators, they've got a history of getting involved in weird stuff, and they're probably already looking into things in Braun after that sky flash. They'll be more inclined to look at things that involve this stuff seriously."
"Oh! Maybe we can ask my dad?" offered Iris.
"Or mine," added Derek. "I'm pretty sure they both occasionally coordinate with the federal agencies already."
Reyn frowned at the two of them. "Not a chance in hell."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Derek. When's the last time you and your dad were on good terms?"
"…I'd say probably sixteen years ago."
"Aren't you fifteen?" asked Isaac.
"Yes."
"…Oh. Right. Sorry."
"What's that about?" Skylar asked.
Reyn didn't respond to that, instead turning to Iris. "Iris. When's the last time your dad flipped out over your safety?"
"…Yesterday morning when he wanted me to stay in because of the flash." Iris sighed. "Okay, I get your point. They can't know anything's going on, they'll take it totally the wrong way."
"Yeah. I wish they were better options, but I think the backfire potential is huge there. Let's reach out directly to the agencies. Isaac, Skylar, it's probably best if you do it…you don't have any close connections that might get back to someone and you're probably better at crafting anything written than I am."
"A-freaking-men to that, I've seen your term papers," snorted Isaac. "Seriously, let me proof them, you'll be happier."
"It's gonna be SUCH a joy working with you again," grumbled Skylar. "Try to tone your…everything down a notch, okay?"
"Hey! I could do just fine without you!"
"I think you're more liable to get yourself arrested than anything, given the opinionated way you write."
"It's better than your dry, boring dreck! They'll fall asleep reading it!"
"Which is why you two together can tone down the biggest issues you have," said Reyn, leaving both boys grumbling but not arguing. "I know you've got issues. See if you can't take the time to try to resolve them while you're at it. We're gonna have to be seeing a lot of each other, we can't be at each other's throats."
Before any response came to that, the sound of a church bell rang in the distance. 8 rings.
"Crap!" Reyn suddenly leapt up. "I can't believe how late it is!" I told my parents I'd be out for about an hour or two, it's been like seven!"
"Jeez…I don't think anyone's going to be happy," Isaac said with some dread. "Hope Dad's in a good mood."
"Sneaking in could be hard like this," Shockavimon observed. "Jeez, what I wouldn't give for Sal's good situation."
"You wanna tear your leg open three times to get there?" the lizard snarked.
"Point. I'll take the less painful way."
"Everything's changed, huh?" said Breezedramon. "Who'da thought it'd turn out like this?"
"None of us, for sure," said Skylar. "I still kinda hope I wake up and find out it was all a dream."
"Anything to avoid working with Isaac?" said Iris with a strained smirk.
"Well, that too."
—
Derek held back a bit as the rest got on their bikes and started off; Reyn was without his, and wasn't looking forward to the walk back. "Hey…just curious. Are you feeling all right after that, uh, merging thing?"
"I desire to extend the same query towards my own compatriot," added Blackcanismon.
Reyn and Salmandmon exchanged looks. "Uh…yeah, I think so," Reyn said. "At least, I don't really feel any different that I know of."
"Me either," agreed Salmandmon. "Kinda surprisingly so, after all that, I guess."
"Hm." Derek was quiet a moment. "Well, I'm glad for that. But, I dunno, you sure seemed more driven than I've ever seen you before. Why, I'd almost go as far as to say you showed a bit of leadership there."
"Leadership?" Reyn chuckled. "I hope not, I have a reputation to keep up."
"Well, I just wanted to be sure. I guess when you're the only one who knows what's going on, it can seem like it…" Derek stared off into the night sky. "Though I don't think it'll be long before the rest of us find out firsthand."
"Well, hopefully the right one'll take charge then. It's exhausting trying to keep everyone in line. You'd probably do better, you were pretty solid back there yourself."
"See, you're like me," Salmandmon remarked with a grin. "I just wanna be pointed at the nearest enemy and take them down. Not everyone needs to be in charge!"
"Which explains your appointment as Zetta Team commandant consecutively for a quartet of annual honorifics," snickered Blackcanismon.
"Hey! That's only because you all outvote me. I've tried to get Data put in there every year!"
"There remains the remote potential that eventually you shall arrive at understanding. Enjoy your ambulations."
The two watched as Derek and Blackcanismon rode off into the darkness. A quick gaze around told them how far they were away from where they needed to be. It wasn't like it was going to be hard, but it was going to take quite a while, and they had already been out far longer than intended anyway…
Reyn looked down at Salmandmon with a knowing grin. "Merge?"
Salmandmon grinned back. "Merge."
As with a lot of these remastered chapters, the overarching concept here is pretty much what it was. The execution, though…yeah, some considerable adjustments. Two bigger than the rest, though.
The first is the general tone. Not that the original was all happy-go-lucky, but the whole thing felt way too casual for something with serious stakes. This harkens back to one thing I mentioned in the announcement for this - I'm not intending to go all grimdark or anything, but I do want to do a better job conveying the seriousness of the situation. That also links into the way the characters respond to the idea of actually fighting, a lot less at ease with it but accepting the likely inevitability.
The second, giving an actual purpose for the invasion. Credit this to better forethought a decade down the road. Having a justification beyond 'we're just feeling genocidal today' wasn't strictly necessary - goodness knows there are plenty of plots with that as the sum total of the motivation - but for the way I want things to progress, it makes a LOT more sense to have a more concrete purpose. And I think it also feeds back into the first change as well, adding to the sense of urgency and seriousness - the idea that it really COULD be the end of two worlds if they don't act.
Names will forever be my bugbear. Emperius is still an unimaginative name, but I'm kind of partial to the idea that genocidal megalomaniacs aren't the deepest well of creativity out there. Plus, it's short, and I'm abusing myself badly enough with names as it is. Knights of Liberty is an upgrade over the previous name, though, straightforward and with an acronym that is much more visually distinct. Could be better, perhaps, but I'm satisfied.