Chapter 7: Displacement
It took a few seconds for Matt to realize he was drowning. Worse, he couldn't remember ever hitting the water. As far as he could recall, one second he had been in the hidden chamber underneath Myotismon's castle and next he was here, wherever here was. Not that he had time to think about any of that.
Unable to breathe, Matt's first reflex before realizing he was under water was to gasp for air, a mistake that ended up filling his lungs with water. Now desperate, he followed his second reflex, to swim up to the surface. The problem quickly became the stacking disorientation, not helped by him not not knowing how far down he was. He flailed his arms, at least until exhaustion and the lack of oxygen started to weigh him down. Luckily, his life wouldn't get a chance to flash before his eyes.
Right before he could give up, something came up from beneath him and lifted him upwards. Matt didn't look down, but his third reflex led to him wrapping his arms around a familiar metal frame. Next thing he knew, there was a crash, followed by him gasping again. This time, he was able to breathe.
"Matt, are you okay?" MetalGarurumon's voice broke through the sounds of the water below them.
"I think so," Matt replied between breaths. He continued to cough for a few seconds, expelling what water he could without hacking up an entire lung. "What is this place?"
"Not sure, but if I had to guess…" MetalGarurumon motioned to the sea they were hovering over.
Matt finally took a moment to take in their surroundings, though to be fair, there wasn't much to see. There was no land in any direction, just a single body of water that stretched out to every horizon. If that alone wasn't a confirmation that they had been dropped in the middle of the Dark Ocean, the colors of the world around them looked like they had been dulled significantly.
A couple more splashes caught Matt's attention and broke his train of thought. The first was Ophanimon, who flew up to their side. Bunched together in her arms were Kari, Akira, and Salamon, all of them slowly acclimating to the ocean around them. Kari in particular seemed extra alert, eyes widening as they bounced around their immediate vicinity. With that said, she didn't look particularly surprised as far as Matt could tell.
From the second breach came Submarimon, with Cody, Izzy, and Tentomon clinging to the silver submersible digimon's armor plating. While gasping just as Matt had been less than a minute ago, they seemed to be in one piece.
"You guys alright?" Matt called down to them anyway.
"For the most part," Izzy answered as he did his best to lift himself out of the water and stabilize himself on top of Submarimon. He paused for a brief moment, quickly looking over his person. "Though I think I've lost my laptop."
"Truly a sign of the end of days," Tentomon commented as he stood up.
"We have to find a way out of here," Ophanimon stated urgently. "Now."
Cody scanned the sea around them. "Not that I'm objecting, but how-?"
A series of beeps and alarms cut him off. Matt followed the noise to his digivice, finding the screen blinking red in sync with the alarm. Matt instantly recognized the notification, a distress signal that he would receive from the Digital World whenever Gabumon was in danger. Looking to his friends, their devices were doing the same.
"Izzy…" Matt requested, not sure what to make of the persistent beeping.
"I don't know…" Izzy glanced up, before his eyes locked to a shadow behind him, just beneath the surface. "But if I had pose a hypothesis…"
The shadow grew larger, the figure casting it eventually beginning to surface. At first, the top of a bulbous gray head with red marking, followed by glowing red eyes. Beneath them, tentacle-like mandibles hung over a gaping maw, looking more than large enough to easily swallow them all at once. Judging by how this creature was drawing closer to them, it intended to do just that.
"Let's get out of here!" Matt yelled, a feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him they shouldn't try to fight this foe.
"I… can't…" MetalGarurumon strained to say.
It was only then Matt realized his partner was vibrating. He looked around, finding the rest of their digimon doing the same, their data eventually starting to flake and glitch around them.
As webbed wings and gray shoulders breached, Matt looked around for any clue how to respond. Izzy and Cody shook their respective partners, though they remained in place. Ophanimon seemed only slightly more respondent, though her focus seemed to be on the charges in her arms. Most notably, Kari was shivering and hyperventilating.
"Mommy!" Akira called to her, though the boy didn't seem much better off himself.
Matt braced himself as the sea monster's jaws widened, ready to fight himself if he had to. Tai's bad influence, if he had to guess the source of his sudden second wind. Before the moment came to pass, however, one final voice made itself heard.
Salamon screamed, writhing around in Ophanimon's arms like they were in pain. Their collar lit up, with a white light that was soon matched by Akira's D3. The light expanded, encasing their entire group in a glowing orb.
The titanic creature bellowed in protest, before the orb submerged itself back into the Dark Ocean.
Abbadomon felt the mist at his feet stir, restless and agitated as it moved to coalesce. Not an uncommon occurrence, but not one he had been expecting given that everything had seemed to go according to plan.
Likely thinking the same, Argomon grunted, gesturing to the mist and tilting his head.
Abbadomon sighed. "Well, I doubt he's calling to congratulate us."
Argomon grumbled as he marched to stand before the forming cloud. He complained an awful lot for a digimon who couldn't speak.
Not that Abbadomon had a chance to voice this criticism. The mist finished rearranging itself, though only managing a vaguely round shape. The gaseous figure's only real defining characteristic was a set of glowing red eyes.
"Did all go as planned, my liege?" Abbadomon asked. He stood at attention, but didn't bow. After all, that wasn't part of their agreement.
The dark mist shuddered, emitting a low but intense groaning sound. Abbadomon felt a chill run down his spine, and a hunger form in his core. Not his own feelings, of course, but secondhand sensations from The Master himself.
Dragomon never actually spoke to them, though his demands were always succinct.
Despite that, Abbadomon did still have questions. Again, he and Argomon had played their part, buying time for Dragomon to establish his foothold. While difficult, Dragomon's limited interactions with reality outside of the Dark Ocean allowed him some influence, hence how he had been able to recover warriors and use them for his ends. This had been the first time that Dragomon had been able to snare the runt and their human pet in his mist, after having them trek across multiple realities to track down the pair, though apparently some underestimation had still been made.
Abbadomon wasn't sure if any amount of Celestial energy could separate Dragomon from the Dark Ocean, with how woven together the two were, but he did as asked for the sake of his own goals. The issue was that Dragomon either didn't share or didn't know that their prey could move along timelines. It was fortune that led to them detecting Salamon's use of their powers, and it was anyone's guess where or when they were now.
Dragomon didn't offer any solutions either, his mist dissipating as quickly as it had formed, leaving behind nothing but a quiet chamber full of rubble.
"Apparently someone's a butter fingers," Abbadomon said under his breath as he started to walk away.
Argomon immediately stomped after him, growling insistently and incessantly with each step.
"Oh, relax!" Abbadomon waved a dismissive hand in his associate's direction. "I doubt they've actually gotten that far away."
Argomon slammed a fist against his chest, clearly volunteering to pursue their targets. To be fair, the initial two groups of Digidestined to escape would likely be easy enough follow, assuming they didn't move through time as well.
"No…" Abbadomon considered their options carefully, mostly not wanting to waste his own effort on a fool's errand. "I'll rally up a couple B-listers to track them first. We'll move in once we actually find what we're looking for."
Dragomon had brokered a number contracts with capable fighters, plucked from all lots of life. Some even possibly familiar with the very Digidestined that had entangled themselves in this conflict, or at least variants of them. Abbadomon simply had to sift through the catalog and find the appropriate lost souls.
For whatever it was worth, Tai hadn't lost consciousness when he and the others transitioned between realities. The process was disorienting, however, and at some point he had ended up laid out on his back. Looking at the trees directly above, he took a couple seconds to breathe and very quickly take stock of the battle they had just left behind.
"I guess that could've gone worse," Tai said, not whispering but not particularly loudly either.
"My head still hurts though," Agumon replied. He was laying in mirrored position next to Tai, the tops of their heads touching, with his claws resting on his chest. "My stomach too."
Tai looked past the trees and focused on the sky, which was clear save for the circuit board patterns traced throughout. Coupling that with the fact he couldn't remember ever seeing anything like this before, he assumed they had been moved into an alternate digital world.
Finally sitting back up, Tai let the rest of his thoughts start back up, little by little. There was a small part of him that wanted to panic, solely based on what the state of things had been when they'd left everyone else behind. He ended up choosing not to, knowing how irresponsible it would be given the friends right in front of him that he still had to look after. Plus, he knew better than to count the rest of his friends out with how capable he knew them to be.
Looking around, he noticed Mimi and Palmon getting back on their feet. T.K. and Ken were already standing, the latter carrying Wormmon, while Patamon fluttered upwards and settled down on top of T.K.'s head.
That left Rei, still laying on the ground while staring at Koromon. Tai was just close enough to see blinking and movement in her eyes, which made it seem to him like she was choosing to not stand back up. He decided to let her be for the moment, though kept an eye on her in case there actually was something wrong or if she just never moved at all.
"Alright, everyone huddle up," Tai instructed, standing and walking to a spot in the middle of all of them. "Any injuries?"
"No," Ken answered, looking over the group before his eyes settled on Rei. "Not physical ones at least."
"Where are we?" Palmon asked as she examined the forest.
"Not in Kansas anymore, I'll tell you that," Mimi replied as she looked upwards, likely also having noticed the sky.
Ken nodded. "I think it's safe to say we've moved into a parallel reality."
"What are the chances that we'll spend less time fighting for our lives than last time," Wormmon asked, voice surprisingly hopeful.
"Better question," Tai cut in as he looked to T.K. and Patamon. "Can we get back?"
"Maybe?" Patamon shrugged, though put on an earnest smile.
"We'll work on it," T.K. added quickly.
"I'm more worried about what's happening back home," Mimi said as she brought her eyes back to ground level, her expression sinking along with them. "Even if everyone else got away, those digimon can cause a lot of damage while we're gone."
"Probably not as much as you think," Rei said dryly, missing the attitude she'd maintained since they met. "Abbadomon likes an audience."
By this point, Rei had picked herself up and tucked Koromon under her arm. Any emotions she may or may not have been feeling were currently being buried. As for Koromon, she stayed quiet, aware enough to avert her gaze from the rest of the group.
"He did act like he knew us," T.K. pointed out.
"Maybe a future enemy we haven't encountered yet?" Ken offered.
Rei shook her head. "Not one my parents ever talked about."
"We'll put a pin in that for now," Tai cut in, not wanting them to waste time talking in circles about something that didn't impact the immediate future. "If this is a digital world, then there should be some digimon nearby. I say we go meet the locals."
"I guess we should start walking then," Patamon said with a sigh.
"We?" T.K. raised a playful eyebrow, causing his partner to giggle in response.
"Carry me, Mimi," Palmon whined as she leaned into her partner's leg.
"Carry you?" Mimi placed her hands on her hips as she looked downwards. "What about me?"
"Lead the way, buddy," Tai said to his own partner.
"Already on it." Agumon gave a quick salute before turning his nose outward. After a couple seconds, he had chosen a direction.
Sora raised an arm, covering her eyes as she stepped out into the daylight. Once her eyes adjusted, she looked around and upward, not recognizing the neighborhood their group had stepped into. Her best guess was that they were somewhere in Tokyo, but even that felt like a stretch for the moment.
"Well, we're not back in our reality," Yolei put forward, currently holding her cellphone up in the air but apparently unable to connect to the necessary service to make a call.
"I guess going back isn't an option?" Davis asked, though definitely not the only one wondering.
Hawkmon crossed his wings. "Without Gatomon or Patamon, I'd say our chances are unlikely."
There wasn't really much for them to be certain of. The portal they had stepped through had dumped them into a drainage tunnel or something similar, followed by it closing behind them before any of the rest of their friends could step through. Without anything else to go on, they had started walking, eventually finding surface access.
With the digimon hiding in the shadows just behind her, Sora peaked around the corner, spotting some pedestrian traffic. Somewhat reassuring, given that the Digital World had plenty of cityscapes. Some paranoia crept into the back of Sora's mind, planting the notion that it was at least possible that these humans weren't real, but she made an effort the push the thought away until she saw some evidence of it. They had enough to worry about as things currently stood.
"What should we do?" Sora asked quietly, directing the question to Joe.
"Not sure," he answered with a shrug, though the tone of his voice stayed light. "Besides, I think that's your call."
Sora raised an eyebrow. "My call?"
Joe nodded. "Yeah, the official rule is that you're in charge when Tai's not around."
"No, that's Matt's job," Sora replied through her teeth.
"Matt made the rule," Joe insisted, a weird mix of honesty and humor in his voice. "Right after we defeated Ordinemon."
"His exact words were…" Gomamon chimed in, before pausing to clear his throat and deepen his voice. "The next time Tai goes and gets himself killed, Sora can carry around his goggles."
"So where to, boss lady?" Biyomon chirped, smirk on her face.
"Stop enjoying this." Sora suppressed her own grin. While she appreciated the attempts to lighten the mood, she knew they needed to think over their next move. "We need to figure out where we are."
"Finding a place we could get a snack would also help," Veemon added as he hopped to his feet.
Sora didn't disagree with the suggestion, but also knew they had other pieces to consider. Even putting aside whether or not everyone else was okay and focusing on the present, finding a safe space they could recuperate was must. The problem was navigating a city with an unknown relationship to digimon as a whole.
There was also Mari, who sat against a wall next to her Gabumon. She had been quiet enough since their arrival that Sora had all but forgotten about her. Mari clasped shaking hands together, eyes never raising above them. If just one of them needed a moment to catch their breath, it was her.
Davis sighed. "It would've been nice if Izzy had told us where he was sending us."
"Maybe…" Yolei said softly, pausing to look down at her phone again. "Or maybe he thought he wouldn't have to."
Davis tilted his head in her direction. "Except that Izzy knows that none of us are psychic."
Yolei didn't look up. "Yeah, and you have trouble with things being explained to your face."
"Jeez…" Davis scowled at her. "I didn't even say anything to deserve that."
"Maybe you did and forgot," Veemon suggested, likely trying to be helpful.
"You're supposed to be on my side!"
Hawkmon raised a feather. "To be fair, Yolei doesn't always need to be provoked."
"See! Thanks, Hawk-ow!" Davis was cut off by Yolei flicking him between the eyes.
"Stop yelling, would you?" She presented an empty hand to him. "Do you have any change?"
"For what?"
"I need to make a call."
"To who?" Davis muttered as he turned his pockets inside out. "I'm out."
"Here you go," Joe cut in as he dropped a handful of coins in Yolei's palm.
She gave him a grateful nod before turning to the street. Not wanting Yolei to go alone, Sora gave the rest of them a hand signal to stay put while she followed. Sora didn't ask any questions, though, knowing she could trust Yolei to test whatever theory she had come up with. After walking for a minute at most, they stopped at a payphone, which Yolei quickly slotted a couple coins into.
"Please pick up, please pick up…" Yolei tapped her free hand against the phone, right up until the ringing stopped and the call's recipient answered, at which point Yolei's face lit up. "Yes!"
The person on the other hand spoke, causing Yolei to collect herself. Sora couldn't quite make out what was being said, but they sounded confused.
"Oh, right," Yolei said, realization seeming like it was hitting her face. "We've never heard each other's voices before. It is you, right, Henry? It's me, Yolei."
Sora let herself feel some relief. Not that she had thought Izzy had left their fates to chance, but it was good to know they had some friends they could rely on.
"Yeah, I told you swapping numbers would be a good idea," Yolei continued. "Anyway, I'll gloat later. Boy, do we have a story for you."
Gatomon nearly lost her balance, falling to one knee as she finished dedigivolving. The creature that she had assumed was Dragomon had been drawing nearer, and Salamon was struggling to maintain whatever barrier they were emitting. As Ophanimon, Gatomon had poured what energy she had left into the Rookie in her arms, which seemed to have gotten them… somewhere.
Back on solid ground, Gatomon did a quick assessment, starting with the group and then of their new surroundings. Most of them seemed to be in one piece, with Gabumon and Armadillomon back in their Rookie forms and at their respective partners' sides.
Salamon looked less well off, as Gatomon finally got a good look at the Rookie after setting down them, Kari, and Akira before her Mega form dropped. Salamon lay on their side, eyes closed and breathing heavily, and decidedly not their usual chatty self.
"Are they okay?" Kari asked as she knelt down to check for injuries.
"Yeah," Akira answered, gently picking up his partner and holding them against his chest. "Salamon just gets sleepy when they use their powers too much."
"What happened here?" Izzy's voice pulled all of their attention away from Salamon.
It was a fair question, given the state of the city they had been dropped in the middle of. The surrounding buildings were all wrecked and ruined, the remains of which were covered in green and overgrown plant life. Other than said plants, Gatomon couldn't spot signs of any other living creatures, which didn't sit well with a lingering presence that made her nostrils flare.
"This place wreaks of Dragomon," Gatomon summarized.
"Did he do this?" Cody asked, not taking his eyes off the city around them.
"Or maybe his scent's just lingering," Gatomon added quickly, not wanting to raise unnecessary alarms when they had barely arrived in this reality. "We were pretty close to him."
"Either way, we shouldn't stay out in the open," Matt insisted, him and Gabumon seemingly having already picked a direction. They motioned for everyone else to follow.
As everyone fell in step behind, Gatomon was the only one to linger for a brief second. Not because she disagreed with Matt's plan, but because of something else scratching at her senses that she just couldn't place. As far as she was concerned, they needed to leave this place as soon as possible.
"In the off chance that anyone asks…" Mimi began as she mantled over a log that was blocking their path. She struggled, but kept her balance despite having Palmon's arms wrapped around her kneck, allowing the Rookie to cling to her like a backpack. "No, I'm not feeling nostalgic."
"Shouldn't you be used to this by now?" Tai called back her, waiting for her to catch up before allowing the group to continue onward.
"Oh, I'm used to it," Mimi announced, like she was filing a formal complaint to the trees around them. "I just don't like being used to it. On principle."
Tai snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure this place's manager will wanna hear all about those principles."
Mimi shot him an annoyed look, leaving Tai considering apologizing to avoid the jab coming back to bite him later. While they hadn't been walking for that long, their current situation was a little too familiar for its own good. It was hard feel a real sense of accomplishment for walking through a digital forest for the hundred and thirty-first time.
"It's weird that we haven't run into any digimon yet," Ken pointed out as they moved onto more level ground.
"We're getting closer," Agumon assured them, though paused mid-step to quickly look to both his left and right. "I think."
Tai raised an eyebrow. "You think?"
"Everything around here smells familiar and different, all at the same time," Koromon chimed in, barely any life in her voice. Being the first time she had spoken since becoming SkullGreymon, it was anyone's guess if that was a good sign or not.
"Well that sounds like a wonderful surprise waiting to happen," Tai replied, mostly about these supposed scents, though he couldn't help but worry about a potential relapse on Rei and Koromon's part.
"You doing alright, T.K.?" Mimi asked once they started walking again. "You've been quiet."
"Have I?" T.K. replied, confused look on his face as he suddenly became the center of attention. "I guess I've just been thinking."
"I see…" A sly grin slowly formed on Mimi's face.
"You do?" T.K. looked back at her like she had two heads, a sentiment Tai was starting to share.
Mimi nodded. "You're worried about Kari and Akira."
"I mean, yeah." T.K. massaged the back of his neck. "Of course I am."
"You're so cute." Mimi reached out and pinched his cheek. "You and Kari and your little family. We'll be sending the two of you off on your honeymoon before we know it."
"Can we talk about something else?" Tai requested, feeling irritation suddenly building up in his core.
"I'm just trying to be helpful." Mimi turned her sly grin in his direction. "T.K.'s obviously worried about his baby-mama."
"I just think we should stay focused."
"We can multitask."
Tai growled and faced forward. "Agumon, how much further?"
"We're close." Agumon stopped in his tracks again. "Like really close."
Tai halted to check the treeline himself. "What are you so confused about?"
"That scent…" Agumon placed a claw on his chin. "I know it, but I don't."
"That's what I just said," Koromon added.
Tai sighed. "Can I get an opinion from a non-Agumon, please?"
Any responses from the rest of the digimon were cut off less than half a second later, by the rustling of a large bush just a few steps away from where they had stopped. Tai couldn't even bring himself to even blink as a familiar yellow dinosaur digimon emerged.
"I don't think so, Tai," T.K. commented.
Though this new Agumon had some minor differences from Tai's own partner. Besides being the largest Agumon he had encountered since the one that materialized in the Highton View Terrace apartment, he also wore red bracers on his claws. While clearly not hostile, his eyes did bounce between them, with confusion written all over his face.
"Whoa…" Mimi said after a few seconds of silence. "They grow 'em big out here."
"Uh…" The Agumon hesitated, before glancing over his shoulder and back into the brush behind him. "Boss?"
"Alright, quit your yellin'!"
Rounding out their list of surprise encounters for a day, from the bush emerged a human teenager. Close to Tai's own height with shoulder-length brown hair, he wore a black t-shirt under red and white vest, though said clothes looked like they had seen some wear and tear. He paused upon seeing them, before crossing his arms and tilting his head.
"Who the hell are you people?"