Chapter 8: Culture Shock
Tai wasn't exactly sure what his expectations had been as his group introduced themselves to Marcus Damon. Even with said introductions finished as they explained how they came to be in this reality, Tai felt himself second guessing whether or not he had a good read on him. On the one hand, despite Marcus' height and confident demeanor, Tai was almost positive he wasn't any older than T.K. and Ken. On the other, he didn't carry himself quite like any Digidestined or Tamer their group had come across.
Marcus had immediately stepped forward to confront the group, physically taking the lead from his partner. Not that Tai could claim he had never made a a rash decision like that, having done so a couple of times in recent memory, but he always left room for Agumon to step up if needed. As it had stood in those initial moments, Marcus had seemed like he would have tried to deal with them himself if they had turned out to be a threat.
Of course, that was all assuming Tai wasn't putting more thought into their interactions than the group's new potential ally. As Marcus narrowed his eyes and nodded at their tale, Tai felt the odds were about fifty-fifty between Marcus actually taking in explanations of the multiverse or just tuning them out entirely.
"Did we lose you at some point?" Tai asked, deciding they needed to know one way or another before they did anything else.
"A little after you told us your names," Marcus' Agumon answered, tilting his head back and forth as his eyes wandered from person to person.
"They're not from around here," Marcus explained, before putting his fists on his hips and briefly averting his gaze. "At least that's my best guess."
Tai sighed. "It's really not that complicated."
"It isn't?" Mimi chimed in.
Ken took a step forward. "The simplest explanation is that we're friends from a different walk of life."
Marcus shrugged. "I definitely don't think you're lying."
"Though a lie would probably be less convoluted," T.K. commented, earning a giggle from Patamon.
"Well, since we're being honest," Tai cut back in. "There's probably a fight coming right behind us."
"That suits us just fine." Marcus threw his right fist into his left palm. He grinned and looked to his partner, who mirrored the gesture.
Mimi let out a sigh of relief. "Guess we should count ourselves lucky we ran into another Digidestined."
Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Digi-what now?"
"I guess not everything crosses the culture barrier," Wormmon put forward.
"Then what do you call yourselves?" Tai couldn't keep himself from asking.
"We're peacekeepers!" Marcus slammed a fist into his own chest. "After that punk, King Drasil, almost destroyed the human world, we had to seal off the gate between here and there so both sides could rebuild. Agumon and I have been looking after things on this end ever since."
"Sounds kinda like us, Tai," Agumon pointed out without a second's consideration.
"Does it really?" Tai replied through his teeth, not sure if he wanted to agree with his partner or not.
That being said, Tai had to pause at the mention of King Drasil. The unseen entity had worked against them that previous summer, nearly "rebooting" the material world and ending life as they knew it. They didn't hear from him again after beating Ordinemon, Izzy claiming that Drasil had been shut down. The details had gone over Tai's head just a bit, and he was willing to write off whatever Marcus had dealt with as coincidence, though he knew Izzy would likely have had questions and theories had he been present.
"So wait," Ken spoke back up, curiosity in his voice with a small amount of concern. "You're cut off from the material world?"
"How long have you been out here?" Tai asked, latching onto the thought as well.
"A month," Marcus answered, though quickly following up by crossing his arms and looking away again. "Or maybe a year?"
"You don't know?"
Marcus frowned. "Hey, it's not like there's clocks and calendars just lying around."
"Unless you count all the Clockmon," Patamon added with a smirk.
"Tell 'em, Agumon."
The native Agumon's whole body deflated. "I only know how many days it was before the food your mom gave us ran out."
Marcus drove his fist onto the top of his partner's head. "You ate all our food the second day we were here!"
"You know I eat my feelings, Boss."
"How about we head to your camp?" Tai suggested, realizing they were just spinning their wheels at this point. "You do have one, right?"
"Of course." Marcus' confidence came back. "We can't go yet though."
Tai's eye twitched. "Why not?"
"You gonna leave without your sister?"
"My sister?" Tai paused, pretty sure he hadn't even mentioned Kari since running into Marcus. He looked between his friends, doing a quick head count as a consequence. "Where's Rei?"
All eyes snapped to the back of their group, where Rei and Koromon had been sitting just a moment ago. With both gone now, Tai scanned their surroundings, no clear indication of which way they had left in.
"She walked off," Marcus said, with what sounded like disappointment in his voice.
"And no one noticed?" Tai asked none of his friends in particular as he checked behind the nearby brush and trees.
"Isn't that your job?" Marcus asked as stepped closer, looking over the vicinity as well.
Tai snapped his attention back towards him. "Okay, first off, she's not my sister."
"She looks an awful lot like you." Marcus kept his eyes trained on the treeline.
"She's my daughter." Tai paused, realizing the distinction made things worse if anything.
Marcus squinted at him. "Did you have her when you were six?"
"She's from the future."
"You gotta stop acting like everything you say is normal."
"Let's just spread out and look for her," T.K. declared, before glancing up at his partner. "Patamon?"
"I'll get to flying." The little orange digimon flapped his wings and ascended.
With Agumon in tow, Tai chose a direction and set off, not liking the mix of anxiety and failure he was currently feeling. It reminded all too much of how he had felt when Datamon had taken Sora years prior. This time, however, he buried those feelings, deciding he would sort them after he searched every bit of this forest.
Sora breathed a bit easier, even if she wasn't quite ready to relax just yet. It had been easy enough to figure out where they were and decide on a route to their destination. Not for the first time that day was she thankful for Izzy's quick thinking, having sent them somewhere where they had friends who could accommodate them.
Speaking of, Henry Wong currently stood slightly apart from the group gathered in his living room, taking a call on his cell phone while they waited. Tan shorts and a black t-shirt said Henry had not been expecting any formal company that day, but had rushed them into the apartment all the same. His partner, Terriermon, was currently attached to the teen's shoulder with an ear draped over the top of his head, so he could lean closer and listen in on the phone conversation. Henry had protested at first, but eventually accepted Terriermon's current perch.
After a couple more minutes or so, Henry hung up and rejoined the group. Only Joe remained standing, by an armchair currently occupied by Gomamon. Sora sat on the room's larger couch with Yolei, Davis, and their partners, with Mari being the one outlier. Alone and squished into the corner of the nearby love seat with her Gabumon seated at her feet, she almost looked like she was hiding from the rest of them.
"Alright, Hypnos will keep an eye out for any more tears or portals," Henry began, sounding as practiced as Izzy at conveying information to a group. "Though they didn't detect you guys, so we'll see if that even helps."
"Did it have something to do with that tunnel we appeared in?" Yolei asked, curiosity having seemed to replace any urgency she might have been feeling.
Henry shook his head. "Judging by your story, it was more likely the Celestial energy you used to travel here. We're still having trouble identifying it."
"On the bright side, we saved ourselves from a flashy entrance," Joe put forward.
Henry placed a hand on his chin. "That said, I don't remember ever telling Izzy about that tunnel."
"Haven't we just accepted that that place is a weird-magnet?" Terriermon asked impatiently.
"That dial didn't have a map," Yolei explained, eyeline wandering as she paused to think. "Maybe that was just the best spot to open the portal or something like that?"
"I think you're missing the bigger question," Terriermon replied as he leapt onto the top of Gomamon's armchair.
"And what's that?" Henry asked, though with a weary tone to his voice.
"Why does any of this matter?" Terriermon splayed and waved his arms about, addressing his own partner and then the rest of them. "Shouldn't we be more worried about the evil digimon that laid out half your team?"
"Terriermon…" Henry warned.
"What?" Terriermon shrugged. "I prefer my posterior un-kicked if possible."
"I second that," Davis declared, pumping a fist into the air.
Yolei rolled her eyes. "You would."
"No, they have a point," Sora cut in, hoping to avoid having to physically get in the middle of this argument. "We should start planning for when they catch up with us."
"Step one," Gomamon said with a raised claw. "Don't get decked by that Argomon fella."
"It did really hurt," Veemon added softly.
"We could go over what we saw of the fight," Yolei said before pausing again. "Though that wasn't really much of it."
Sora nodded and looked to Henry. "We should get the rest of your friends in the loop as soon as possible."
Terriermon sighed. "Yeah, about that…"
"Summer's actually been a little slow on our end," Henry picked up almost immediately. "We're a little short-handed, between people going on vacation and what not."
"How short-handed are we talking?" Davis asked nervously.
"My sister went with my parents to visit family outside of the city," Henry answered, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. "It would take a while to get her and Lopmon back here."
"The whole family was supposed to go on this vacation, but someone was 'too busy' for stuff like that," Terriermon added, his voice not hiding how annoyed he was.
Sora glanced around the apartment, having not given a second thought to how empty it was. Part of her was suddenly grateful that Henry also shared Izzy's work ethic.
"There's also Kazu, who's recovering from an injury from a couple months ago," Henry added, seemingly ignoring his partner's comments.
Terriermon sighed. "And Kenta's still doing his whole sabbatical thing."
Davis' expression sank. "Please tell me Takato's around at least."
Henry nodded. "I already filled him in. He and Rika are gonna meet in the park in case anything else spills over."
"Cool!" Davis leaned back before leaping to his feet, energy suddenly restored. "Shoot him a text saying that Veemon and I are gonna come meet 'em."
"We should help too," Biyomon suggested as she nudged Sora's side.
Sora nodded in agreement. With Hawkmon likely staying with Yolei to help get Henry up to speed, they needed at least one flier out in the field. She had just one other priority to sort out first.
"How about it, Mari?" Sora asked, making it a point to smile again. "You wanna come with us?"
"N-No thank you," Mari answered, looking her way though losing eye-contact just as fast. "I'd probably just get in the way."
"Mari…" Sora's smile faded, a lump forming in her throat. "I could stay if you're still not feeling better."
"No!" Mari snapped, before turning away from everyone entirely. "They need you more than I do."
Sora felt herself being pulled in two directions. On one hand, she could see Mari's self worth crumbling. Whether they could consider each other family or not, Sora hated watching that, let alone feeling like she was contributing to it by leaving Mari behind.
The opposing issue was that Mari wasn't lying for anyone's sake, or at least Sora didn't get that feeling off her. Mari was more or less asking to be left alone, and whether or no that was best for her, having someone doting on her wasn't likely to help her rebuild her self esteem. The more she thought about, the more Sora was convinced she would be making the wrong decision either way.
"Okay," Sora said softly as she slowly stood up. "If that's what you want."
Mari only replied with a nervous nod, which Sora took as a signal to stop hovering over her. Walking away, Sora received a second nod, a more reassuring one from Joe. He would keep an eye on Mari while she was gone.
Sora didn't hesitate as she joined Davis at the apartment's entrance, nor did she slow down as they made their way out of the building. Mentally, on the other hand, she knew would be a completely different story.
Matt kept his head on a swivel, not liking how quiet the ruined city around them was. It felt like the buildings were waiting for them to take just one wrong step or look away for a second too long, so whatever trap they were hiding could spring. Tai would have called him paranoid, to which Matt would have argued was valid thanks to a list of very specific examples.
Brain catching itself on the thought, Matt had to admit to himself that he missed Tai, if for no other reason than he would have filled some of the surrounding silence. They had been separated plenty of times in the past, though each served as a reminder of how used to Tai's dumb comments and more recent brooding Matt had become. Stockholm Syndrome, if he had to put a label on it.
Still, Tai wasn't the only person missing at the moment. T.K., Sora, and two thirds of his friends were outside his ability to reach them, if not in some kind of danger. That was all before considering Mari, though Matt quickly told himself that Sora was a better fit for taking care of her than he was.
"No matter how you slice it, this place makes my insides squirm," Armadillomon said unprompted, looking over the streets himself as they walked.
"It doesn't help that we have no idea where we are," Cody replied, attention focused on one rooftop in particular.
"I mean, it looks like Tokyo," Gabumon pointed out, a small amount of optimism in his voice.
"Yes, but the Digital World has plenty of cityscapes based on our world," Izzy responded as he peered down an alley as they passed it.
Cody looked back towards him. "So it's possible we're in some alternate digital world?"
"It wouldn't surprise me." Izzy turned to look over his shoulder. "What do you think, Gatomon?"
"It's still tough to say for certain," she answered, eyes currently over her own shoulder. She had volunteered to guard the group's rear, and wasn't one give a job she accepted anything less than one hundred percent.
"Do you still sense Dragomon's presence?" Kari asked, stopping just long enough for her partner to catch up.
"Not really." Gatomon hesitated, like she was choosing her words. "More like we've landed in a spot where two worlds are overlapping. Everything is a little too mixed to pick apart.
"I think I see whatcha mean," Armadillomon chimed in enthusiastically. "It's like the static on the TV at Cody's grandpa's house."
"Are you getting that too?" Matt asked Gabumon, though only getting a confused shrug as a reply.
Izzy placed a hand on his chin. "Once we settle on a spot, I'll try to figure where we are."
"We'll try," Cody corrected him, catching Izzy's attention for a brief moment.
"Speaking of…" Tentomon suddenly stopped in midair. "I don't suppose you fancy any of these lovely abandoned buildings?"
"What's up?" Matt asked, noticing the demeanors of all their partners change.
"Movement," Gabumon answered, eyes zeroing on the street in front of them. "Definitely digimon, and they're heading this way."
At first, Matt didn't see or hear anything, though that didn't stay the case for long. Sprinting out from the shadows and into their path, a pair of red and white wolf digimon stopped short just before crashing into their group. Wiry but still large, they growled and beared their teeth as they regained their footing.
"Fangmon," Gatomon identified as she leapt to a defensive position at the front of the group.
The two Fangmon acknowledged each other, and with barely any more consideration, charged forward.
"Oh no you don't!" Tentomon declared, just as he began to digivolve. With the same motion, he intercepted the attack as Kabuterimon and caught both wolves midstride.
"Get to cover!" Matt ordered, leading the rest of them into the nearest alley. He doubted the rest of them were ready to digivolve again after their last battle, which meant leaving this fight to Kabuterimon. Assuming the Fangmon weren't any tougher than they looked, he didn't think this would be an issue.
Of course, that was before Matt considered the Fangmon making use of their numbers advantage. One of the Fangmon sank their jaws into the hand Kabuterimon was holding him in, causing him to flinch.
"Ow!" Kabuterimon called out, just before the second Fangmon jumped for his face and tackled him to the ground. The first grinned, though celebrations were brief.
"LIGHTNING PAW!
Gatomon threw one of her front paws forward, connecting with the Fangmon's lower jaw and successfully pulling his attention away from his counterpart and Kabuterimon. Their original dilemma reappeared, however, as Gatomon almost lost her footing as she landed back on the ground.
"Salamon!" Akira called out as he gently shook his partner. "You have to get up!" Unfortunately, he got no response.
"Can you guys help her out?" Matt asked their remaining reserves.
"Darn tootin'!" Armadillomon declared as he jogged into battle.
"You can count on us, Matt," Gabumon added as he moved into position.
Good that they did, as Gatomon looked like she had fallen back on dodging Fangmon's attacks. Again, she seemed slightly winded, though none of their digimon were known to quit when backed into a corner. In fact, from where Matt stood, it looked like Gatomon had lured Fangmon right where she wanted him.
"DIAMOND SHELL!"
Having rolled into a ball and rebounded off the wall of the alley, Armadillomon was able to blindside Fangmon, slamming into his midsection and propping him up for a follow-up strike.
"BLUE BLASTER!"
Gabumon released a small stream of blue flames from his mouth, hitting their enemy's snout dead-on.
Fangmon recoiled, collecting himself as the three closed in on him. He snarled, and at the last second, released a blast from his jaws that impacted the ground in front of the attacking trio. Gabumon, Gatomon, and Armadillomon were thrown backwards, not anymore injured or weakened than they had been at the top of the fight, but off their feet all the same.
Backed into a corner and watching Fangmon rear back to pounce again, Matt went against his instincts and did what Tai would do. He ran forward, not sure if he was planning on physically joining the fight or just getting closer to Gabumon in the hopes it would give his partner the boost he needed. Luckily, he wouldn't need to find out.
At the last second, a new digimon dropped in from above, right in between Fangmon and their partners. This digimon, a tall and round rabbit with light yellow fur, reeled back one of their oversized fists and drove it into Fangmon's forehead. The wolf digimon rolled and tumbled backwards, eventually ending up at the mouth of the alley.
Fangmon growled louder as he climbed back to his feet, only to be struck by a bolt of electricity from the rooftop above. Without any further ceremony, Fangmon collapsed to the ground.
"Night-night, fuzzy," another new digimon said with a giggle as she floated downward, this one humanoid with a black and pink leotard and a blue jellyfish as a headpiece.
"Are you guys okay?" a voice from the alley behind them called out. Approaching was a human girl, about Cody's height if not his age as well. She wore a light brown school uniform that Matt didn't recognize, with wavy brown hair stretching the length of her back.
"Thanks to you guys," Kari answered as she lifted Gatomon into her arms. "What's going on here?"
"Jellymon, we needed him conscious," the rabbit said with a calm and gentle voice.
"Hold that thought," the girl said as she walked past them, though not before turning around and giving them a smile and a friendly wave. "I'm Ruli, by the way."
Matt paused helping Gabumon back to his feet, to glance at each of his friends and get a sense of where they were. He knew they didn't have any answers he didn't, but they seemed interested in learning more nonetheless. If nothing else, Matt didn't want to pass up the opportunity to talk to first sign of human life since arriving in this empty city. With no visible objections, they moved closer to the unconscious Fangmon.
"Eh, I got an easy fix for that," Jellymon said, a mischievous look in her eyes as her fingers sparked.
She made contact with the Fangmon, zapping him, though nothing seemed to happen. A disappointed look formed on her face, before she rubbed her hands together to call up more electricity. She released it, which was unfortunate for the boy who chosen to approach at the worst possible second.
"Be careful!" the boy yelled as he danced around the electricity spilling onto the ground at his feet. Slightly taller than Ruli, the boy wore a blue uniform, and had silver hair grown just below his ears.
"Relax, Darling," Jellymon teased. "My touch hasn't killed you yet."
She then paused, hovering just over the Fangmon that still wasn't moving. She shrugged, before grabbing his tail and giving it one more jolt.
Fangmon yelped and jumped back to his feet. Looking around and seeing the new arrivals, his eyes went wide as he assumed a defensive position.
"W-We don't know anything!" he barked.
"Then why did you run?" Ruli asked as she crossed her arms.
"And attack us?" Kabuterimon added, currently restraining the second Fangmon in his arms.
"Kabuterimon…" Izzy said with a sigh. "Do you even know what this interrogation is about?"
"I just figured I'd return the favor for helping us."
"We don't know any details," the second Fangmon insisted. "Just that theys was low on mon power and was looking to recruit."
"And you didn't want to join them?" Ruli pushed further.
"What do you take us for?" the first snapped, startling the silver haired boy and nearly knocking him off his feet. "We don't get anything outta kidnapping humans."
The second nodded. "We ran because yous got a reputation for sending mons back to the Digital World."
"Angoramon?" Ruli raised an eyebrow to the rabbit digimon.
"I sense no deceit from them," he answered confidently.
"Alright, you can go," Ruli said directly to both Fangmon. "But stay out of trouble. We have that 'reputation' for a reason."
Kabuterimon released the second Fangmon, and both scrambled off. Matt wasn't convinced that was the right decision, but this wasn't his woorld, nor his call to make. Besides, they had waited patiently, and they needed their questions answered.
"Okay…" Matt kept a cool tone to his voice. "Now can you explain what all that was about?"
"Let's get out of here first," Ruli replied, though paused at the sight of her friend playing with his watch. "What's the holdup, Higashi?"
"The V-Bracelet's acting up," he answered, slapping it with the palm of his hand.
"Do you need help?" Izzy asked as he took a step forward, though quickly paused to check his belt.
Hearing beeping from his DigiVice, Matt did the same, finding it had opened some kind of loading screen. He looked to Kari, Cody, and Akira, their D3's seemingly doing the same. Within a few seconds, all five devices lit up with a green light in sync with Ruli and Higashi's watches.
Ruli seemed to notice as well, eyeing each before taking a long look at Gabumon and the rest of their digimon for the first time.
Higashi hit a button, and ruined city around them contracted, replaced by one still very much filled with human life. Matt's eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness instantly becoming daylight, but by that point, he wasn't sure whether to focus on the flat screens on every surface or the street full of holograms.
"I have so many questions…" Izzy said softly, his eyes wider than Matt had seen them in a long time.
Author's Note:
So yeah… Ghost Game! Being honest, it wasn't that long ago that I thought I was a ways off from including these characters in a story. Watching the show for the first time, however, some ideas planted themselves in the back of my head. The more and more I developed this story, the more I realized I couldn't not have Matt's group make a pit stop in this reality, and not just for the episode you're all thinking. There's also some value as a writing experiment, as a writer who leans closer to the dub handling a season that doesn't have a dub. The goal is keep the show's characterization and tone, while throwing some of the adjustments to character voices and terminology that I feel the dubbing staff of the first few seasons would have made. We'll see how it goes...