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moon_blitzTitle: Interwoven Destinies, Chapter 2
Fandom: Digimon 02/Digimon Tamers
Genre: Fusion, Suspense, Action/Adventure, AU, Het
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or anything associated with it
Characters: Takato, Ken, Tai, Izzy, Davis, Yolei, Cody, TK, Kari, OFC + partners, mentions of others
Pairing: One-sided Davis/Kari
Warnings: Genderflipping, Violence
Summary: A new and powerful evil force is threatening the Digital World, and new DigiDestined are chosen to fight it.
Chapter 2: To the Digital World
“Where did he go?!” Ken snarled at the screen, gripping the arms of his throne in fury. He didn’t have time to play tag, class started in an hour! The lone human and his partner had seemingly vanished into the thick jungle, and none of Ken’s cameras could find him. It was always like this. That blasted DigiDestined and his partner would appear and attack, prompting Ken to send out an attack force of his own, with the end result being that the traitorous human would run away before he or his pathetic partner got captured.
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed behind his tinted glasses as he calmed down and considered his options. Some of his slaves had already located all the TV sets in the area and were keeping close watch on them, so he knew that the other human hadn’t left yet. That meant that his opponent must be hiding somewhere nearby, waiting for a chance to escape. “Well, I’m not going to let you go so easily. Not this time…” Ken hissed to the screens around him. Raising a hand, he summoned a keypad and typed out a message. Time to send for reinforcements.
- - -
“Hm?” Tai looked down at his pocket as a beeping sound came from it, quickly realizing what it was from. “Hey, I got an e-mail! I wonder if it’s from Matt?” Smiling as he dug out a palmtop computer with buttons along the edges, he eagerly flipped the top part open, revealing a screen on the reverse side. “Let’s see here…” Pressing a few buttons, he called up his e-mail account and opened the new message.
Subject: Help!
To: Tai Kamiya
From: Unknown Sender
The Digital World is in trouble again and needs your help. Notify the others and come as soon as you are able to.
“Well that’s cryptic. Definitely not from Matt, then. Gennai maybe?” Tai stared at the message for a few seconds longer, then tucked his book bag under his arm and opened a blank e-mail. He was almost at school, and since he had some time before class, he would go investigate the Digital World and see what was wrong. But in order to do that, he needed some help to get there.
- - -
“Tai! What’s wrong?” Izzy asked, taking a quick look up and down the hallway before closing the door to the computer lab.
“Glad you could come on such short notice, Izzy.” Tai smiled at the shorter red-headed teen, getting a hesitant one in return.
“No problem, although I can’t stay long - I told the teacher there was an emergency that only I could handle and that I would be back before class started,” his friend said, settling into the chair beside him.
“I’m not sure if this counts as an emergency or not, but it might be.” Tai held out a print-off of the e-mail and allowed a moment for Izzy to read it. “I got this on my way here, and I think it’s real. Could you try and access the Digital World from here?”
“Mmm…perhaps.” Izzy rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he re-read the mysterious message. “Unknown sender, huh? It might be a trap by a particularly evil Digimon, you know.”
“I hope not. I really don’t want to fight another Diaboromon again.” Tai frowned at the memory, then continued, “I don’t care if it’s a trap or not, I think we should check it out. I also don’t want to get the others involved if I can help it, at least not until we know what we’re dealing with.” It was the start of a new school year for everyone, and he didn’t want to make things any more hectic than they needed to be for their friends.
“As much as I hate to admit it, that’s probably a good idea,” Izzy said with a sigh, then nodded and rose. “I can’t do anything right now, but I can definitely work during lunch. If I get a connection, I’ll certainly let you know.”
“That’s great. You’re the best, Izzy!” Tai exclaimed, giving his friend a grin as he got up as well. His friend accepted the compliment with a smile, then went to the teacher’s desk at the back of the room and quickly wrote on a piece of paper.
“I’ll just leave a note for the teacher saying that I fixed the problem, just in case someone tells him about it,” Izzy explained, folding the note in half and leaving it on the desk before joining Tai by the door.
“That’s probably a good idea. The last thing the teachers need today is an apparent computer malfunction.”
“Yeah, that would be really bad. But since I am the new head of the Computer Club here, I’ll be able to fix any problem that does come up,” his friend said, opening the door and glancing out into the hallway.
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Did you hear who is taking your place at our old school?” Tai asked, following the younger male out the door.
“Uh…” Izzy thought for a moment, then nodded. “I believe it’s a sixth-grader of some sort. Not sure what their name is, though. Wong, maybe?”
“They’re not a mini version of you, are they? I don’t think the school could handle two of you back-to-back!” Tai chuckled as Izzy frowned and shot him a glare as they walked down the hall.
“Of course not, Tai. Don’t be ridiculous. They’re probably be great, but I’m the expert here. They’ll just have to manage without me,” the teen answered with a touch of smugness in his voice.
“I’m sure they will, Izzy. I’m going this way - e-mail me as soon as you know for sure!” Tai replied, backing down the hallway towards his class and flashing his friend a parting smile.
“Will do,” Izzy confirmed, waving goodbye before quickly walking in the direction of his classroom. Tai paused to watch him go, confident that he would soon be back in the Digital World and be able to get to the bottom of that weird message.
- - -
“See you at lunch!” Davis waved goodbye to Kazu and continued down the hall to his own classroom, a smile on his face. Walking into the room, he felt his spirits lift even further as he spotted the one person he most wanted to see. “Hey Kari! Glad to see we’re in the same class again!”
The brown-haired girl looked up at him with a smile, clearly pleased to see him. “Hi Davis. I saw your practice this morning - how’d it go?”
Davis felt a rush go through him at her words, and he grinned with pleasure. “Oh y’know, it was nothing serious. We still won, though. Some new kid said I looked familiar - bet they thought I was a movie star or something. No idea who they were, though.”
“I’m sure we’ll find out eventually,” Kari replied with a giggle, then waved him away. “Oh, the teacher’s here. Better get to your seat.”
“’Kay.” Locating his seat from the list on the teacher’s desk, Davis settled into his chair and waited for the rest of the class to do the same. The teacher stood quietly at the front of the room, waiting for silence. Once he had gotten it, the man smiled and looked around the room.
“Before we start today, I would like to introduce two new friends to you all. Please come in.” A murmur went through the class at that, and Davis swung his gaze towards the door. His eyes widened a moment later as a blonde boy dressed in a yellow and green shirt and white pants walked into the class, recognizing him as the kid who had spoke to him before. The black-haired girl who followed was a stranger, though, but he thought she looked kind of pretty, what with her red turtleneck, glasses and brown skirt.
“Everyone, these are two new transfer students. Please be kind to them and make them feel welcome,” the teacher said as he finished writing their names on the board.
Removing the white bucket hat he wore, the blonde boy smiled out at the class and spoke. “I’m TK Takaishi. Nice to meet you.”
The girl was next, and she stared at them for a moment before speaking. “I’m Leah Seta. Nice to meet you all.”
“Good, good. TK, please go sit beside the girl with the camera around her neck.” Davis frowned slightly at that. How come the new guy got to sit next to Kari?! “Leah, please go sit next to the boy with the square goggles.” Looked around, he realized that yes, there was an empty desk beside to him. He smiled as Leah approached, but his gaze quickly swung back to Kari and the new kid. They were smiling and laughing, seemingly getting along great. Davis gritted his teeth and glared at the other boy. That new kid was making moves on his girl! Deciding to straighten him out later, he returned his attention to Leah.
“Hi Leah, I’m Davis. Glad to have you in this class,” he greeted with a smile as she settled in beside him.
“Davis, huh? Thanks. I’m glad to be here,” Leah responded with a faint smile of her own, then focused her attention on the teacher as the class whispered among themselves. Davis did the same, doing his best to keep his eyes away from Kari and the new guy.
“Alright everyone, settle down. I am Mr. Kimimoto, your teacher for this year. Let me do role call, and then we’ll go over the rules of the class. Any questions you have can be answered then.” As Mr. Kimimoto started to call out names, Davis shifted in his seat and smiled to himself. New grade, new friends to make…this school year was going to be great!
- - -
“Leah, do you want me to show you around? I mean, you probably got a tour and stuff already, but I know this school pretty well too, if I do say so myself.” The girl looked up from packing her backpack and hid a smile. Davis wasn’t too bad of a seat-mate to have, even if he did seem to be distracted easily.
“You don’t mind? I wouldn’t want to keep you from anything.” Or anyone, for that matter. She had noticed the way he looked at a certain girl in class, but she certainly wasn’t about to comment on it, although part of her was dying to say something. New school, new attitude. Her father had hammered that into her in the weeks before moving here. She couldn’t be the person she had been before.
“Nah, it’s all good. Really!” Davis replied, absently adjusting his goggles as he waited for a response. She had no idea why we was wearing them, but perhaps he thought they made him look cool or something. She had seen stranger fashions, after all.
“Then sure, it would be great if you gave me a tour,” Leah answered easily, slipping on her backpack and joining him as he walked out of the class. Davis was right, she had already been shown around, but another tour wouldn’t hurt.
“Awesome! As you can see, our class 7-A is the first class in the Grade 7 wing, even though it’s at the end of the hall,” Davis began enthusiastically, leading her up the hall until they came to the main corridor. He then pointed at the hallway across from where they stood. “That’s the rest of the Grade 7 classrooms there. Grade 8 is on the floor above us. It has the same layout as ours basically, but I don’t know anyone in that grade, so I can’t tell you much else. And Grade 9 is on the bottom floor of the building next door.”
The tour continued as Davis pointed out where the staff room, main office and gym were, patiently answering any questions Leah had and even volunteering to draw her a map if she needed one. “So you belong to the soccer team? What other activities are there?” she asked as they walked across to the other building of the school.
“Well, there’s a baseball team and a badminton team if you’re into sports, otherwise there’s the band club, the art club, and the computer club. The elementary kids have some specialty clubs too, but I don’t think they allow middle school students,” the boy replied, ticking the names off on his fingers as he listed them. “Oh yeah, speaking of the computer club, the computer lab is in this building. It’s just up these stairs.”
Leah nodded silently, considering what he had told her. She wasn’t really interested in joining a club, but she suspected her father might hassle into doing so. And since she didn’t know anyone here, she didn’t know what kind of people were in each club. Perhaps she could start her own or something.
As they approached the computer lab, voices from inside distracted her. “There’s a meeting today?” she asked softly, glancing at her tour guide. Davis shrugged, apparently surprised as her to find students still around. Slowing down as they moved closer, Leah grabbed his shoulder to keep him from darting into the room. She wanted to listen first and find out what was up.
“So why do you need to use a computer?” a girl asked, sounding slightly awe-struck.
“Oh, the battery on my laptop ran out when I was in the middle of something. I would have gone home, but it was quicker to come here and borrow one of yours.” The second speaker was male and sounded like he was a few years older than the girl.
“Must be important if you had to stop here.” Leah’s eyes widened as another girl spoke up, this time recognizing the voice as belonging to one of her classmates. Davis gasped then and jerked free of Leah’s grip, practically bolting into the room.
“Kari! What are you still doing here?!” he exclaimed, and Leah groaned softly to herself. So much for eavesdropping, then. Sighing, she adjusted her glasses and followed Davis into the room, arriving just as Kari answered him.
“Davis? I could ask you the same question.” She noticed Leah then and gave her a small smile which the new student returned. She was surprised to see TK standing next to Kari, and glanced curiously at the older girl with a purple bandana and glasses and the red-haired high-schooler also present. What were they all doing here?
“I was showing Leah around the school!” Davis replied defensively. “Were you doing the same for him?”
Kari frowned at his tone and said, “He has a name, you know. It’s TK.”
“Whatever! So, what are you all doing here? I thought the computer club didn’t start until next week.”
“It doesn’t.” Everyone looked at the older girl as she continued. “Izzy came to me asking if he could get into the lab for a minute, and we ran into Kari and TK along the way.”
“Oh.” Davis paused for a moment, and Leah looked over to see him frowning in thought. “Are you that new computer club president I head about?”
“Nope. I’m Yolei, a member of the computer club, and this is Izzy,” she responded brightly, smiling at all of them. Davis pouted, gaze locked on Kari and TK, so Leah decided to press for more details.
“Alright, so Izzy needed a computer. Is there an emergency of some sort? Can we help?”
The high school student stiffened at her question, and quickly waved his hands. “Ah, no, no, that’s alright! I can definitely handle it by myself, thanks. It’s just a personal matter I have to deal with, that’s all.” Leah frowned at his words, sensing that she was being brushed off.
“I suppose we should let you be, then,” TK said, and Davis muttered something mostly inaudible that ended with ‘TA’ in response.
“I guess so. You are the previous president after all. So! Everyone except Izzy and me out!” Yolei ordered sharply, hands on her hips. Izzy opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted before he could.
“Yolei, aren’t you coming to fix my computer? You said you would.” Leah turned to see a younger boy with a bowl-shaped haircut standing in the doorway.
“Cody! I’m sorry, I nearly forgot. Yeah, I’ll be right there, just give me a sec, ok?” Yolei said with a gasp, then dug a key from her pocket. “Could you lock up once you’re done? Just hang it by the door when you leave.”
“Sure can. Thanks, Yolei,” Izzy replied with a grateful smile and a nod. “And it was nice to meet you all.” Everyone said goodbye to each other and filed out of the room. Leah went last, dropping to the back in order to watch everyone interact.
Yolei turned to address her as they headed for the school entrance. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name back there.”
“It’s alright, things were kinda hectic. I’m Leah, and the guy with the goggles is Davis. We’re in the same class as TK and Kari,” Leah explained. Davis turned at the mention of his name, then went back to giving TK the evil eye. Clearly someone wasn’t happy with the way things were going.
“Oh, ok. Man, I wish I knew more people in my class!” Yolei exclaimed, dropping back to walk beside her and striking up a conversation.
- - -
Tai leaned against the cool rock wall of the cave, waiting patiently for a message from Izzy. True to form, his friend had found a way to access the gate to the Digital World, and they had met after school to try it out. He had entered safely and met up with Agumon, but something had gone wrong and he had lost contact with Izzy. And then there was the second strange message.
Subject: Look Here
To: Tai Kamiya
From: Unknown Sender
Come to this location as soon as you can. Hurry, since time is running out!
Attached to the e-mail had been a map which had led Tai to the tunnel in which he now sat. Which was probably a good thing, since it seemed like someone was looking for him. Peering around the curve of the tunnel wall, he stared at the group of Digimon currently destroying the jungle around the cliffs where he had found the tunnel. They had strange black bands around their bodies, and their eyes shone with a ominous crimson glow.
“Anything from Izzy?” Agumon asked as he turned back.
“Nothing y-oh, hold on a sec,” he answered, looking down at the palmtop computer in his hands as it beeped. Flipping it open, he quickly scanned the message.
Subject: Sorry!
To: Tai Kamiya
From: Izzy Izumi
Sorry Tai, ran into some trouble with my laptop and was delayed. Did you find anything out?
“Seems like everything’s ok. But since Tentomon’s not here, he should probably stay away…” Tai muttered, typing out a quick message and sending it off.
“Well that’s good. I found something in a cave at the back that you should probably see,” Agumon said, and Tai quickly got up to follow him. Something was definitely going on in the Digital World, and he needed more information than the little his partner knew.
“Huh? What’s this?” Sitting on a small mound at the back of the cave was what appeared to be a Digiegg. A Digiegg with a flame pattern on its shell, a metal blade sticking out the top and emblazoned with the Crest of Courage. Definitely not normal.
“Are those Digimon looking for this?” he asked softly, circling the odd Digiegg.
“No idea. Those guys seem more intent on smashing stuff than finding anything.” Nodding at his partner’s words, the teen eyed the strange Digiegg again. Maybe it was for him, seeing as he was the one who held the Crest of Courage. Well, there was only one way to find out if it was or not. Kneeling down beside it, he reached to pick it up.
“Ahh!” As his fingers touched it, the egg glowered brightly and a pillar of red light came out of it. Squinting against the glare, Tai relaxed as the light quickly faded away.
“Tai, are you alright?!” Agumon asked anxiously, placing a claw on his shoulder to steady the teen as he leaned away from the egg.
“I think so.” He hadn’t felt any pain or anything, just a weird tingling sensation in the fingertips. “Are those fireflies?” Five glowing red dots had materialized above the strange Digiegg, where they hung for a moment before shooting out of the distant hole in the roof of the cave.
“If they were, they’re really fast ones,” Agumon replied, following Tai as he moved to sit against the cave wall again.
“I better contact Izzy and tell him about this. Could you go see if it’s safe outside?” First the Digimon with the glowing eyes, and now a strange Digiegg with his crest on it. Whoever had sent him that e-mail this morning had been right - the Digital World certainly appeared to be in trouble again.
- - -
TK checked his backpack one final time to make sure he had everything he needed. No homework had been given out since it was the first day of classes, but there were a bunch of papers he knew his mom would want to see.
Satisfied that he hadn’t forgotten anything, he faced his three classmates to say goodbye. “See you guys tomorrow. Have a good evening.”
“Bye TK. Have a good evening too,” Kari answered, and they shared a smile. He hadn’t imagined that they would end up sharing the same class, but it was great to be with an old friend again.
“Yeah, bye.” Davis still looked upset with him, and TK wasn’t quite sure why. He seemed like a nice enough kid after all, if a bit weird at times.
“Good night. See you in the morning.” Leah was the last to answer, and he returned her polite nod as he passed by her to go out the door. TK wondered how she felt, transferring to a new school like this. Personally, he liked being back in Tokyo, but maybe she didn’t like big cities. Deciding to ask her about it sometime, he smiled and broke into a jog. Yolei and Cody had agreed to walk home with him, and he didn’t want to keep them waiting.
It only took him a minute to find his two new neighbours, and he gave them both a smile as he approached. “Thanks for waiting, let’s get going.”
“Right behind you!” Yolei said with a grin, and they began to walk away from the school. But TK had hardly taken three steps before lights flashed from behind him, making him jump and spin around.
“What-” he began, then stopped as he saw what had just appeared in their hands. “No. No way…” They were both holding what seemed to be Digivices, although that was impossible.
“Wait, you know what this thing is?” Yolei asked sharply, jerking her head up to stare at him.
“Um, I think so…” TK quickly dug his old Digivice out of his pants pocket and held it out for them to see. Even after all this time, he rarely left home without it. “It’s called a Digivice,” he explained awkwardly.
“A Digivice, huh? But why did it just appear like that?” Cody asked, still staring at the device in his hands. TK took a moment to compare them, easily seeing the differences between his and the new ones - theirs being larger and oval-shaped, with handgrips and a different button and antenna configuration. Yolei’s had dark red handgrips while Cody’s were yellow, a personalized touch that wasn’t present on the old ones.
“Well, it means that you’ve been chosen to help the Digital World.” TK paused as an idea struck him. “I know! Let’s head back to the computer lab and see if Izzy’s still there. He might have some idea what happened.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Yolei agreed, and Cody nodded to show he felt the same.
- - -
“Prodigious! I never imaged this might happen!” Izzy exclaimed, looking at the group of students before him. He had just finished explaining the basics of what the Digital World and Digivices were, and was still stunned by this turn of events. Yolei and her neighbour had gone to phone home, but had insisted the meeting continue without them.
“So Digimon and the Digital World are real, then? Tai wasn’t just telling some story?” Davis asked, looking both surprised and excited at the idea.
“Yes, he was very much telling the truth. Tai, TK, Kari, myself and some others helped save that world about three and a half years ago. I had hoped that everything would remain peaceful, but apparently a new threat has appeared,” he explained grimly. Tai had been right after all - something big was happening in the Digital World, and new DigiDestined had been chosen as a result.
“Wait, you know Tai?” TK asked in surprise.
“They sure do. They’re on the same soccer team,” Kari answered, giving him a faint smile. “They’re both good players, too.”
“I see…” TK paused for a moment, then added, “If the Digital World is in trouble, then we have to help it. You said Tai was already there?”
“Yes, he went through earlier,” Izzy confirmed with a nod. “I was going to join him, but my laptop battery died before I was able to. Then, just after I re-established communication with him here, four beams of light shot out of the computer screen and went out the door. Tai said five balls of light appeared after he touched an unusual-looking Digiegg and flew off. Obviously, they were carrying the Digivices you now hold.”
“Five? But only four of us got new Digivices, - Davis, Leah, Cody and Yolei,” Kari pointed out. “TK and I still have the older models, like you do.”
“Oh. Hmm.” Izzy sat back and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Then there is another new DigiDestined somewhere.” They would have to be found quickly, but he wasn’t sure how to go about doing that. The computer behind him chimed then, and he twisted around to see that a new e-mail had appeared in his inbox. “Ah, another message from Tai. It looks like the ravaging Digimon who were around before are gone now, so it’s safe to enter.”
“Awesome! Let’s go then!” Davis exclaimed, raised a clenched fist in excitement. Everyone else eagerly agreed, so Izzy moved aside to give them clear access to the computer screen.
“Good luck, and be careful. We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet,” he said cautiously as Kari stepped up and held out her Digivice.
“Thanks Izzy. We will,” she answered, the screen glowing brightly and sucking her in a moment later. TK was next, a determined look on his face as the portal opened for him.
“Uh…” Davis stared at the screen, clearly intimidated by the fact his two classmates had just been sucked into a computer. Leah, on the other hand, simply looked impressed.
“Going, Davis? Surely you’re not scared?” Izzy prodded, hiding a smile. It might have been better for him to go first.
“O-Of course not!” the boy snapped back, shaking his head furiously and taking a step towards the waiting computer.
“Hey Davis. Let’s go together, alright?” Leah suggested, moving to stand next to him and giving her classmate an encouraging smile.
“Yeah!” Davis agreed, and they held out their Digivices together. A bright flash of light, and they were gone. Izzy stepped in front of the computer and held out his own Digivice, eager to return to the world and his partner he had left behind.
“Hold on! What did I miss?!” Yolei’s sudden arrival made him fumble and nearly drop the device.
“Ack! U-Um, well…the others just left to go to the Digital World and see what the trouble is,” he answered shakily. “And I was just about to do the same.”
“Wait, you’re just going to leave this place unattended? What if the janitor or someone walks in and shuts the computer down?” she demanded, hands on her hips. “And you can’t leave it up to me, since I don’t know how to get that portal back up if something happens.”
“Ah, right.” Unfortunately, she had a good point. “Then I guess we’ll be staying here. Wasn’t your neighbour with you?”
“Cody? He was, but he went home to pick up some snacks since we were all staying late. He shouldn’t be too long,” she replied, dragging two chairs over and settling into one of them. “While we wait, could you tell me how the connect to the Digital World? I mean, we can’t rely on you all the time to open the portal for us.”
Nodding, Izzy sat down as well and began to explain it as simply as he could. Once Yolei’s neighbour returned, he could tell them what they had missed.
- - -
“Ken! Sorry I’m late!” The Digimon Emperor smiled faintly as Takako wrapped her arms around him in a loose hug, pleased that she had arrived.
“Held up, were you?” he asked, turning away from the array of screens to look at her.
“Yeah. Kai insisted on meeting me after school and walking home with me. Like I was a little kid who didn’t know the way or something,” she said dismissively, clearly not impressed with her cousin’s actions.
“Those inferior fools simply can’t understand that we’re smarter than them,” Ken agreed. His first day of classes had been utterly boring, as usual. Even with being in a specialized class, he was still surrounded by those who simply couldn’t match him in terms of intellect. At least his schedule gave him ample opportunity to check in on the Digital World during the day, unlike Takako.
“They can certainly be a nuisance sometimes. But enough about them. You said that deluded human was back again? What happened?” she pressed, absently running a hand through his spiked hair as she leaned against his throne.
“Nothing aside from the usual, unfortunately. I was able to delay his escape for a short while, but I had to leave for class. I assume he did the same,” Ken answered, calling up a screen displaying the jungle area where the human and his partner had been last seen. Well, former jungle area now.
“Ken! We’re supposed to be saving the Digital World, not destroying it!” Takako moaned as she looked at the devastation their slave army had caused.
“We are saving it, Takako. I simply decided to redecorate a little bit to make it harder for them to hide. It can easily be fixed,” Ken said, idly jumping from camera to camera. He had recalled the Digimon just a short while ago upon getting word of a sighting of that irritating human in another sector, so the ruined jungle was quiet.
“Hm? What’s this?” There was a strange human and Digimon wandering amid the downed trees. His green jacket and pants labelled him as high-school student, and was wearing a blue headband with white goggles. His partner was Agumon, a small orange dinosaur species which Ken had heard about but never seen.
“What’s he doing here?” Takako muttered, leaning forward to get a better look.
“Perhaps that traitorous fool managed to get reinforcements of some kind. Not that it matters much. Let’s watch and learn, shall we?”
“Yeah…” Sounding slightly upset, Takako slid into her throne which sat right next to Ken’s. Leaning back in his seat, the Digimon Emperor smiled. This was a very interesting development, but they were still going to win this game.
- - -
“Nice, this place comes with an outfit change!” Davis grinned as he inspected the white shirt and blue jacket he now wore, admiring the flame pattern that decorated the bottom half of the jacket and sleeves and the fur trim around the collar. With that and the yellow gloves which had appeared on his hands, he thought he looked really cool. Ready to save the world, if that was really what he had been picked to do.
“Yeah, not bad,” Leah commented, and the boy turned and realized her clothes had changed. Gone were the turtleneck and skirt, replaced by a grey brown shirt, black denim jacket and blue jeans. Davis was surprised to realize that the clothes looked good on her - even better than the outfit she had worn to school. He guessed that she was one of those people who looked good in just about anything.
“What happened to this place?” the new kid asked softly and the boy saw that they were standing in what once had been a forest but was now a smoking wasteland of fallen trees and scorched ground.
“This is really bad…I hope Tai is alright,” Kari said, sounding horrified at what she was seeing.
“I’m sure he’s fine - didn’t Izzy say they were in contact with each other?” Davis replied, determined to boost his friend’s spirits.
“I’m picking up a signal from Tai’s Digivice, so he’s nearby.” The new kid frowned down at the small device in his hands, then started to walk away. “It’s coming from this direction, and it looks like there’s someone else with him.”
Kari quickly walked after her new friend, and Davis and Leah followed, the boy glancing around at the devastation. “The way Tai talked about this place, it seemed like there were monsters everywhere. It seems pretty quiet right now.”
“Yeah, but something had to cause all of this. Let’s hope they’re long gone,” Leah replied and Davis bit back a frown. This was a brand new world they were visiting, so there was no need to be too down about the damage, right? Surely it would grow back in time.
“Tai!” Kari’s relieved shout made him smile, and he watched as she dashed off among the fallen trees to go meet her brother.
They caught up to the pair a minute later and Davis’ eyes immediately landed on the small orange dinosaur standing next to the high school student. “Is that a Digimon?! Cool!”
“Davis? What are you doing here?” Tai asked in confusion as the boy bent down to get a better look at the dinosaur. The new kid answered him, but Davis was too busy to listen as the dinosaur stared back at him.
“Hi, Davis. I’m Agumon, Tai’s partner,” the dinosaur said pleasantly after a moment of surprise, and the boy grinned.
“Hi Agumon! This is so cool, I can’t believe this is happening!” Then a thought struck him and he looked up at Tai. “Wait, does everyone who comes here get a partner?”
“They sure do, Davis. I met Agumon a little after I first arrived here, so yours and Leah’s must be around here somewhere…” The older student paused for a second, then nodded to himself. “Follow me everyone, I have something to show you.”
Davis rose and followed Tai and Agumon, fists clenched in excitement. He hoped his partner would be as cool as Tai’s, but it didn’t have to be.
- - -
Leah dropped to the back of the group as the filed after Tai and his partner, glancing down at the Digivice she still held. Unlike the others who had gotten more attractive colours for their handgrips - blue for Davis, dark red for Yolei and yellow for Cody - hers were a dull grey colour. It wasn’t like she disliked grey, she just thought something a little brighter would have been nice. At least it wasn’t pink. She hated pink, and was glad her father didn’t force her to wear that colour.
The snap of a twig behind them made her stop and turn, scanning the smouldering forest for signs of life. Was whatever had caused this still around? If so, she hoped Tai and Agumon would be able to protect them. Otherwise things might turn bad very quickly. Seeing nothing, she glared at the wasteland for a moment then trotted to catch up to the others. Perhaps it was nothing. Hopefully it was nothing.
- - -
“So this thing’s a Digiegg? Whatever chicken laid that must be hurting,” Davis said, walking around the egg again. It was certainly one of the strangest things he had seen since arriving here, not that he had seen a whole lot of it.
“But since it has your crest on it, doesn’t that mean it belongs to you, Tai?” Kari asked her brother, looking between him and the Digiegg.
“I thought so, but I can’t even pick it up. I tried, and it weights a ton,” he replied, looking mildly concerned.
“Let me try, then. I’m pretty strong,” Leah said and Davis grinned at her comment. Maybe she was stronger than she looked. Bending down beside the DigiEgg, his new classmate wrapped her hands around it and pulled. He could tell by the look on her face that she was straining to lift it, but nothing happened. “Never mind,” she muttered sourly after a second attempt. “It’s not moving an inch.”
Kari tried next, but got the same result, and Davis gave her a sympathetic look. He had hoped she would have been able to lift the egg, but apparently not. Then the new kid stepped up next and made a similar try, groaning with the effort of trying to lift it. “Oh man, this thing is heavier than it looks!”
“Hey, let me try! I pump iron all the time!” Davis finally said, figuring he might as well try to move the Digiegg. His blonde classmate stepped back to give him room, and the boy bent down, carefully gripping the spiked egg in his hands. He could lift this thing no problem.
Taking a deep breath, he focused on the Digiegg. It almost seemed warm, which was weird, but it was an egg after all. Maybe whatever was inside was ready to hatch. “Arrrgggh!” he cried, pulling as hard as he could. “Ahh!” A moment later he had toppled backwards onto his butt, the Digiegg in his hands.
“Heavy? This thing’s as light as a feather!” Well not really, but it wasn’t near as heavy as the others made it out to be. Everyone was looking at him in surprise, but their attention was quickly grabbed by the pillar of red light that shot out of a hole the egg had been sitting on. Davis stared as well, watching as a form materialized in the centre of the pillar. It grew in size, and he realized it was a creature of some sort, curled up as if asleep. That didn’t last long, however, for the creature quickly uncurled, opened its eyes and bounded onto the cave floor.
“I’m free, I’m free!” it chanted, bouncing in a circle around him in apparent joy. “I was in there for so long and now I’m free and it’s all thanks to you!” It stopped in front of Davis and held out a hand. “I’m Veemon, your partner!”
“Uh…hi. I’m Davis.” Veemon was short, mostly blue and kinda looked like a young child if someone were to squint hard enough. This wasn’t the way he had imagined getting his partner, but whatever. Veemon shook his hand and smiled, clearly glad to see him.
“Nice to meet you, Davis! I know we’ll do great together!”
“So…what’s this thing then?” Davis asked, holding up the weird Digiegg as he climbed to his feet.
“That’s the Digiegg of Courage, which will allow me to fight our enemies better,” his new partner replied cheerfully, looking around at the others.
“Speaking of enemies, what exactly is going on here?” Tai asked, focusing on the blue two-legged Digimon at the boy’s side.
“Yeah, I’d like to know, too. Something bad is happening, but I haven’t been able to find out much except that a human is involved,” Agumon said, shifting uneasily as his partner shot him a disapproving look.
“Who’s there?!” Davis jumped at Leah’s snap, and turned quickly to see her glaring at the tunnel leading out of the cave. When nothing happened, she spoke again. “I know you’re there - come out or else.” The boy wondered exactly what ‘or else’ meant, but he wasn’t able to find out because a pale face peered from around the curve of the tunnel wall.
“You’re a Gazimon from the forest, right? Why are you still here?” Agumon asked in surprise, and the Digimon nodded hesitantly before speaking.
“I couldn’t run because I could tell you were coming soon, and I wanted to meet you as quickly as possible,” Gazimon replied, revealing herself to be female.
“Someone told you I was coming?” Tai sounded confused, and Davis frowned. Was there such a thing as a psychic Digimon?
“No, not you,” Gazimon shook her head and advanced a little into the cave, gaze focused on the girl who stood beside Davis. “You’re Leah, right? I’m your partner, Gazimon.”
- - -
“You’re…my partner?” Leah repeated slowly, staring at the Digimon in front of her. Gazimon looked a bit like a cat with light purple fur, or perhaps a mutant rabbit. Either way, she had been expecting something a little more normal for a partner. Then again…she had no idea how to describe Veemon except that he was blue and vaguely human-like, so perhaps this was normal for Digimon.
“Yep, you’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not,” Gazimon answered, walking up to her and holding out a paw tipped with ridiculously long claws.
“Ok…then hi.” Careful not to impale herself on the claws, she shook her new partner’s paw reluctantly. “So how’d you know I was coming, anyway?”
“I don’t know…it was just a feeling I had. That’s why I couldn’t run away when the Digimon Emperor attacked.” Gazimon frowned then, but brightened a little as she looked at the others.
“Digimon Emperor?! Is that the human Agumon mentioned?” Tai asked quickly, and Gazimon nodded.
“Yes. The Digital World has been under attack by a human for some time now, and he calls himself the Digimon Emperor. He enslaves Digimon using Dark Rings and forces them to do his bidding,” Leah gritted her teeth in growing anger. How could a human do something like this? Slavery was wrong, no matter what the intention behind it.
“That’s horrible…” TK muttered, echoing her thoughts.
“That Digimon Emperor! I’ll put a Dark Ring on him!” Kari exclaimed, and Leah looked at her in mild surprise. Clearly her classmate wasn’t as sweet-tempered as she appeared to be.
“Agumon, why didn’t you know about this?” Tai asked, looking down at his partner with a frown on his face. “We left you guys here to protect the Digital World!”
“We have been, Tai! I heard about attacks occurring before this, but I didn’t realize it was this bad! And there were only rumours about a human being involved…” Agumon looked upset, and Tai bent down to pat him on the head.
“That’s understandable - very few Digimon escape capture, and most who do get destroyed,” Gazimon said softly.
“Hey, don’t look so glum! Fighting this Emperor guy must be what we were called here to do!” Davis exclaimed, and Veemon nodded vigorously in agreement.
“Yeah! I’m sure we’ll be able to beat him in no time!”
Leah hid a smile, pleased that someone was optimistic about the situation that they had suddenly been plunged in. But being too optimistic was a bad thing, since it could lead to someone getting hurt.
“Gazimon, what else do you know?” Tai asked, and everyone focused back on her partner. Leah looked at her as well, curious to know how she knew so much when Agumon didn’t.
- - -
“How dare you insult Ken! I’ll pay you back for that, you pink brat!” Takako growled in fury, and Ken reached over to pat her hand soothingly. He didn’t care much about the threat the girl with the camera had made towards him - she would never be powerful enough to get close to him, let alone harm him.
“Now, now, calm down. The Dark Rings don’t work on humans, remember?” If they had, he would already have that human and his partner under his control. “Hmm…Time to break their little chit-chat up, I think.” The fact that the Gazimon even knew about him was interesting, but irrelevant.
“Now who shall I send to play with you…?” An array of buttons arranged in a square appeared before his raised hand, and the Emperor thought for a moment. “Eenie, meenie, miney, mon,” he muttered, pressing a button on the last syllable. An image of a large, four-legged dinosaur looking vaguely like a Triceratops but with only one long horn projecting from its nose appeared on a side-screen and he smiled. Yes, this slave would do nicely.
“Go, Monochromon!” Time to see what these fools had in them.
- - -
“So this human is doing something that prevents you from Digivolving…well, that explains things a bit,” Tai said, arms crossed as he thought.
Davis shifted and resisted the urge to sigh. Talking over stuff was all well and good, but he wanted to get out there and start kicking the Emperor’s butt. From what Gazimon had said, this guy had already taken control of a large portion of the Digital World.
“Ack!” he yelped a second later as the ground began to shake. “Is it an earthquake?”
“No, look up there!” Davis followed the new kid’s pointing finger and saw that something was ripping apart the small hole in the roof of the cave. The creature bellowed and broke through some more, and he realized there was a big black and grey dinosaur with glowing red eyes about to come crashing down on top of them.
“Run!” Davis heard Tai’s shout, but his gaze was fixed on the dinosaur as it opened its mouth and spat out what looked like a huge ball of fire. How were they supposed to fight this?! “Davis, come on!”
“Ahhh, yeah!” Bolting out of the way of the fireball, he felt the heat from it on the back of his jacket as it slammed into the cave floor.
“Davis, use the Digiegg of Courage so I can fight!” Veemon said as they ran down the tunnel towards the exit.
“This thing? But how?” he panted, holding up the weird egg in his hand. This place was strange alright, but even he wasn’t convinced that some egg could help them win against the dinosaur behind them.
“Use your courage to unlock it and shout ‘DigiArmor Energize!’” his partner urged, voice raised to be heard over the bellows of the Digimon chasing them.
They ran out of the cave a moment later, and Davis bent over to catch his breath. “That was close!” This place was intense!
“Down here!” Tai called from the bottom of the short cliff the cave was located on, and the boy nodded in acknowledgment. But before he had a chance to slide down, Veemon shoved him forward with a warning shout, sending them tumbling out of the way of another blast of fire.
“Uhhh…I don’t wanna do that again…” Davis sat up with a groan, raising a hand to his head to make sure his goggles were ok. Luckily, they were fine, but he had something bigger to worry about. “Kari!” She was down on the ground, apparently injured, and it was all his fault. If he had just been a little faster…
“Davis, use your courage so I can Digivolve!” Veemon said, giving him a determined look. “If you do that, I know we can win!”
“It’s worth a try,” Tai answered as he jogged back to them, and Davis took a deep breath. It was all up to him, if what Veemon said was true. The new kid and Agumon joined them a moment later, both looking worried at the situation they were now in. The boy looked over at Kari again, relieved to see that Leah and Gazimon were helping her to her feet. Good, she wasn’t seriously injured.
A loud roar made them all look up, and Davis gasped as he saw that the enslaved Digimon had leapt off the cliff above them and was heading right towards Kari and Leah. The ground trembled as the dinosaur landed, and he made up his mind. He had to save Kari!
“You want courage, I‘ll show you courage!” he cried, rising to his feet and holding up the Digiegg. He would do anything to save Kari, even if that meant fighting that humungous Digimon by himself! “DigiArmor Energize!”
The Digiegg glowed red in his hands, and Veemon was quickly enveloped by raging flames. “Veemon Armour Digivolove to…Flamedramon, the fire of courage!”
Davis stared in a mixture of surprise and delight as the flames vanished to reveal his Digivolved partner. Flamedramon looked like a mature Veemon in terms of a blue body with a white chest, but his hands, feet, head, knees and upper chest was covered in armour that bore the same flame design as the Digiegg of Courage. The metal blade that was present on the Digiegg now curved upwards from the middle of Flamedramon’s forehead, making him look even more fierce.
With a few running steps and a leap, Flamedramon slammed into the side of the dinosaur Digimon, sending it crashing onto its side and away from Kari and Leah.
“Armor Digivolve?” Tai echoed in surprise, and Davis saw that his classmates and Gazimon had similar looks of surprise on their faces.
“That’s awesome!” For his part, Davis was impressed that his partner had managed to stop such a huge creature with one hit. “Go get ‘em, Flamedramon!”
His partner needed no further urging, giving his opponent a level stare as the other Digimon climbed to his feet and charged towards him. Davis clenched his hands as he watched Flamedramon block the charge and flip the dinosaur with little effort. Letting out a roar of anger as it climbed to its feet, the Digimon opened its mouth and spat out three fireballs. “Volcanic Strike!”
Flamedramon proceeded to bat them away like flies, charging towards his opponent with the intention on attacking. But the other Digimon was ready, throwing Davis’ partner high into the air upon contact with one toss of its head. Davis gasped as he watched Flamedramon fly through the air, worried about what the throw might do to him, but his partner had one more surprise in store.
“Fire Rocket!” Bright flames once again engulfed Flamedramon from head to toe, and he hovered in the air for a moment before plunging down towards the other Digimon.
“Aim for the Dark Ring, Flamedramon!” Gazimon cried, and Davis let himself grin as his partner hit the black ring around the dinosaur’s body dead-on. Clearly, both of them had perfect aim. The attacking Digimon slid to the ground as the black band cracked and disappeared, and as the flames faded from Flamedramon’s body, he glowed and reverted back to Veemon.
“Huh?” Davis looked down at his Digivice as the Digiegg was sucked into it, then stiffened as a bust of light came out of it and his jacket pocket became heavy. “What’s this?” he muttered, taking out the odd device that had just appeared in his pocket and flipping the top up to see an outline of an egg on the screen that was on the inside. Deciding that it didn’t matter much, he put that and his Digivice away and ran over to make sure Kari and Leah were ok.
- - -
“Bye, Monochromon!” Leah smiled slightly as Kari waved to the departing Digimon.
“So that’s the power of the Digimon Emperor…” Gazimon muttered, and she looked down at her partner. She didn’t really understand everything that had happened today, but she was confident she would soon.
“I can’t believe that the Digimon Emperor could turn such a peaceful creature into such a nasty Digimon…” TK said, and she turned to see that he was frowning slightly.
“But that’s why we’re here, right? To beat this guy?” Davis asked as he walked up, Veemon by his side. Leah was still impressed at the power that Digiegg had. Maybe there was a way for Gazimon to Digivolve so she could fight this Digimon Emperor, too.
“That’s probably it. I’m sorry we couldn’t fight alongside you, but we’ll do everything we can to help out,” Tai said, looking at them and smiling.
“Yeah! I know you new guys will beat him no problem,” Agumon added and Davis grinned.
“Just leave it to me! I’ll show that guy who’s the boss!” he boasted and Veemon gave his partner a thumbs up in agreement.
“Look at that, the sun’s going down. Everyone can relax now,” Gazimon said with relief.
“Why’s that?” Leah asked, noting that the sunset they were witnessing looked a lot like a sunset from home. Obviously, some things were the same no matter where you were.
“The rumours I heard say that the Digimon Emperor never appears at night,” her partner explained with a smile.
“I guess it is getting late…I just hope we can still go home,” Tai said, turning and looking at the ruined jungle around them. “I have no idea how long the portal will stay open, or if Izzy would be able to connect again if it closed while we were still here. That’s why you guys should never stay too long. Even without the Digimon Emperor, this isn’t a place you want to be trapped in.”
Leah bit her lip and looked at the ground. Her father would flip if she didn’t come home at a reasonable hour. Come to think of it, he was probably getting worried already. Perhaps she should have called home like the others. “Then let’s find the spot we came in by and see if we can leave,” she said, looking up to see if the others agreed. They did, so Tai led them back the way they had come.
- - -
“How amusing…it seems like we have found a worthy foe at last!” Ken exclaimed as he watched the group leave. There was no point in sending another Digimon after them now - like them, he had to return home, as much as he was loathe to.
“Armor Digivolving, huh? Well, at least they’re more resourceful than that other human,” Takako said grudgingly, and he turned slightly to look at her. She brightened upon noticing his gaze, and said more cheerfully, “Do you want to come to my place for dinner, Ken? Kai has practice, so there’s lots of food.”
While the thought of putting up with Takako’s aunt and uncle made him cringe, he needed more time to fill his Empress in on all the day’s events. So he smiled and nodded in agreement, “Dinner sounds lovely, yes. I’ll go inform my parents, and be over as soon as possible.”
“Great!” She beamed at him, then sprang from her throne. “I’ll go tell Aunt Chie that you’re coming. See you soon!” Ken settled back in his chair as she went to leave, deciding to relax for a few more minutes before returning home himself.Chapter 1 || Master Post || Chapter 3
Fandom: Digimon 02/Digimon Tamers
Genre: Fusion, Suspense, Action/Adventure, AU, Het
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or anything associated with it
Characters: Takato, Ken, Tai, Izzy, Davis, Yolei, Cody, TK, Kari, OFC + partners, mentions of others
Pairing: One-sided Davis/Kari
Warnings: Genderflipping, Violence
Summary: A new and powerful evil force is threatening the Digital World, and new DigiDestined are chosen to fight it.
“Where did he go?!” Ken snarled at the screen, gripping the arms of his throne in fury. He didn’t have time to play tag, class started in an hour! The lone human and his partner had seemingly vanished into the thick jungle, and none of Ken’s cameras could find him. It was always like this. That blasted DigiDestined and his partner would appear and attack, prompting Ken to send out an attack force of his own, with the end result being that the traitorous human would run away before he or his pathetic partner got captured.
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed behind his tinted glasses as he calmed down and considered his options. Some of his slaves had already located all the TV sets in the area and were keeping close watch on them, so he knew that the other human hadn’t left yet. That meant that his opponent must be hiding somewhere nearby, waiting for a chance to escape. “Well, I’m not going to let you go so easily. Not this time…” Ken hissed to the screens around him. Raising a hand, he summoned a keypad and typed out a message. Time to send for reinforcements.
“Hm?” Tai looked down at his pocket as a beeping sound came from it, quickly realizing what it was from. “Hey, I got an e-mail! I wonder if it’s from Matt?” Smiling as he dug out a palmtop computer with buttons along the edges, he eagerly flipped the top part open, revealing a screen on the reverse side. “Let’s see here…” Pressing a few buttons, he called up his e-mail account and opened the new message.
Subject: Help!
To: Tai Kamiya
From: Unknown Sender
The Digital World is in trouble again and needs your help. Notify the others and come as soon as you are able to.
“Well that’s cryptic. Definitely not from Matt, then. Gennai maybe?” Tai stared at the message for a few seconds longer, then tucked his book bag under his arm and opened a blank e-mail. He was almost at school, and since he had some time before class, he would go investigate the Digital World and see what was wrong. But in order to do that, he needed some help to get there.
“Tai! What’s wrong?” Izzy asked, taking a quick look up and down the hallway before closing the door to the computer lab.
“Glad you could come on such short notice, Izzy.” Tai smiled at the shorter red-headed teen, getting a hesitant one in return.
“No problem, although I can’t stay long - I told the teacher there was an emergency that only I could handle and that I would be back before class started,” his friend said, settling into the chair beside him.
“I’m not sure if this counts as an emergency or not, but it might be.” Tai held out a print-off of the e-mail and allowed a moment for Izzy to read it. “I got this on my way here, and I think it’s real. Could you try and access the Digital World from here?”
“Mmm…perhaps.” Izzy rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he re-read the mysterious message. “Unknown sender, huh? It might be a trap by a particularly evil Digimon, you know.”
“I hope not. I really don’t want to fight another Diaboromon again.” Tai frowned at the memory, then continued, “I don’t care if it’s a trap or not, I think we should check it out. I also don’t want to get the others involved if I can help it, at least not until we know what we’re dealing with.” It was the start of a new school year for everyone, and he didn’t want to make things any more hectic than they needed to be for their friends.
“As much as I hate to admit it, that’s probably a good idea,” Izzy said with a sigh, then nodded and rose. “I can’t do anything right now, but I can definitely work during lunch. If I get a connection, I’ll certainly let you know.”
“That’s great. You’re the best, Izzy!” Tai exclaimed, giving his friend a grin as he got up as well. His friend accepted the compliment with a smile, then went to the teacher’s desk at the back of the room and quickly wrote on a piece of paper.
“I’ll just leave a note for the teacher saying that I fixed the problem, just in case someone tells him about it,” Izzy explained, folding the note in half and leaving it on the desk before joining Tai by the door.
“That’s probably a good idea. The last thing the teachers need today is an apparent computer malfunction.”
“Yeah, that would be really bad. But since I am the new head of the Computer Club here, I’ll be able to fix any problem that does come up,” his friend said, opening the door and glancing out into the hallway.
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Did you hear who is taking your place at our old school?” Tai asked, following the younger male out the door.
“Uh…” Izzy thought for a moment, then nodded. “I believe it’s a sixth-grader of some sort. Not sure what their name is, though. Wong, maybe?”
“They’re not a mini version of you, are they? I don’t think the school could handle two of you back-to-back!” Tai chuckled as Izzy frowned and shot him a glare as they walked down the hall.
“Of course not, Tai. Don’t be ridiculous. They’re probably be great, but I’m the expert here. They’ll just have to manage without me,” the teen answered with a touch of smugness in his voice.
“I’m sure they will, Izzy. I’m going this way - e-mail me as soon as you know for sure!” Tai replied, backing down the hallway towards his class and flashing his friend a parting smile.
“Will do,” Izzy confirmed, waving goodbye before quickly walking in the direction of his classroom. Tai paused to watch him go, confident that he would soon be back in the Digital World and be able to get to the bottom of that weird message.
“See you at lunch!” Davis waved goodbye to Kazu and continued down the hall to his own classroom, a smile on his face. Walking into the room, he felt his spirits lift even further as he spotted the one person he most wanted to see. “Hey Kari! Glad to see we’re in the same class again!”
The brown-haired girl looked up at him with a smile, clearly pleased to see him. “Hi Davis. I saw your practice this morning - how’d it go?”
Davis felt a rush go through him at her words, and he grinned with pleasure. “Oh y’know, it was nothing serious. We still won, though. Some new kid said I looked familiar - bet they thought I was a movie star or something. No idea who they were, though.”
“I’m sure we’ll find out eventually,” Kari replied with a giggle, then waved him away. “Oh, the teacher’s here. Better get to your seat.”
“’Kay.” Locating his seat from the list on the teacher’s desk, Davis settled into his chair and waited for the rest of the class to do the same. The teacher stood quietly at the front of the room, waiting for silence. Once he had gotten it, the man smiled and looked around the room.
“Before we start today, I would like to introduce two new friends to you all. Please come in.” A murmur went through the class at that, and Davis swung his gaze towards the door. His eyes widened a moment later as a blonde boy dressed in a yellow and green shirt and white pants walked into the class, recognizing him as the kid who had spoke to him before. The black-haired girl who followed was a stranger, though, but he thought she looked kind of pretty, what with her red turtleneck, glasses and brown skirt.
“Everyone, these are two new transfer students. Please be kind to them and make them feel welcome,” the teacher said as he finished writing their names on the board.
Removing the white bucket hat he wore, the blonde boy smiled out at the class and spoke. “I’m TK Takaishi. Nice to meet you.”
The girl was next, and she stared at them for a moment before speaking. “I’m Leah Seta. Nice to meet you all.”
“Good, good. TK, please go sit beside the girl with the camera around her neck.” Davis frowned slightly at that. How come the new guy got to sit next to Kari?! “Leah, please go sit next to the boy with the square goggles.” Looked around, he realized that yes, there was an empty desk beside to him. He smiled as Leah approached, but his gaze quickly swung back to Kari and the new kid. They were smiling and laughing, seemingly getting along great. Davis gritted his teeth and glared at the other boy. That new kid was making moves on his girl! Deciding to straighten him out later, he returned his attention to Leah.
“Hi Leah, I’m Davis. Glad to have you in this class,” he greeted with a smile as she settled in beside him.
“Davis, huh? Thanks. I’m glad to be here,” Leah responded with a faint smile of her own, then focused her attention on the teacher as the class whispered among themselves. Davis did the same, doing his best to keep his eyes away from Kari and the new guy.
“Alright everyone, settle down. I am Mr. Kimimoto, your teacher for this year. Let me do role call, and then we’ll go over the rules of the class. Any questions you have can be answered then.” As Mr. Kimimoto started to call out names, Davis shifted in his seat and smiled to himself. New grade, new friends to make…this school year was going to be great!
“Leah, do you want me to show you around? I mean, you probably got a tour and stuff already, but I know this school pretty well too, if I do say so myself.” The girl looked up from packing her backpack and hid a smile. Davis wasn’t too bad of a seat-mate to have, even if he did seem to be distracted easily.
“You don’t mind? I wouldn’t want to keep you from anything.” Or anyone, for that matter. She had noticed the way he looked at a certain girl in class, but she certainly wasn’t about to comment on it, although part of her was dying to say something. New school, new attitude. Her father had hammered that into her in the weeks before moving here. She couldn’t be the person she had been before.
“Nah, it’s all good. Really!” Davis replied, absently adjusting his goggles as he waited for a response. She had no idea why we was wearing them, but perhaps he thought they made him look cool or something. She had seen stranger fashions, after all.
“Then sure, it would be great if you gave me a tour,” Leah answered easily, slipping on her backpack and joining him as he walked out of the class. Davis was right, she had already been shown around, but another tour wouldn’t hurt.
“Awesome! As you can see, our class 7-A is the first class in the Grade 7 wing, even though it’s at the end of the hall,” Davis began enthusiastically, leading her up the hall until they came to the main corridor. He then pointed at the hallway across from where they stood. “That’s the rest of the Grade 7 classrooms there. Grade 8 is on the floor above us. It has the same layout as ours basically, but I don’t know anyone in that grade, so I can’t tell you much else. And Grade 9 is on the bottom floor of the building next door.”
The tour continued as Davis pointed out where the staff room, main office and gym were, patiently answering any questions Leah had and even volunteering to draw her a map if she needed one. “So you belong to the soccer team? What other activities are there?” she asked as they walked across to the other building of the school.
“Well, there’s a baseball team and a badminton team if you’re into sports, otherwise there’s the band club, the art club, and the computer club. The elementary kids have some specialty clubs too, but I don’t think they allow middle school students,” the boy replied, ticking the names off on his fingers as he listed them. “Oh yeah, speaking of the computer club, the computer lab is in this building. It’s just up these stairs.”
Leah nodded silently, considering what he had told her. She wasn’t really interested in joining a club, but she suspected her father might hassle into doing so. And since she didn’t know anyone here, she didn’t know what kind of people were in each club. Perhaps she could start her own or something.
As they approached the computer lab, voices from inside distracted her. “There’s a meeting today?” she asked softly, glancing at her tour guide. Davis shrugged, apparently surprised as her to find students still around. Slowing down as they moved closer, Leah grabbed his shoulder to keep him from darting into the room. She wanted to listen first and find out what was up.
“So why do you need to use a computer?” a girl asked, sounding slightly awe-struck.
“Oh, the battery on my laptop ran out when I was in the middle of something. I would have gone home, but it was quicker to come here and borrow one of yours.” The second speaker was male and sounded like he was a few years older than the girl.
“Must be important if you had to stop here.” Leah’s eyes widened as another girl spoke up, this time recognizing the voice as belonging to one of her classmates. Davis gasped then and jerked free of Leah’s grip, practically bolting into the room.
“Kari! What are you still doing here?!” he exclaimed, and Leah groaned softly to herself. So much for eavesdropping, then. Sighing, she adjusted her glasses and followed Davis into the room, arriving just as Kari answered him.
“Davis? I could ask you the same question.” She noticed Leah then and gave her a small smile which the new student returned. She was surprised to see TK standing next to Kari, and glanced curiously at the older girl with a purple bandana and glasses and the red-haired high-schooler also present. What were they all doing here?
“I was showing Leah around the school!” Davis replied defensively. “Were you doing the same for him?”
Kari frowned at his tone and said, “He has a name, you know. It’s TK.”
“Whatever! So, what are you all doing here? I thought the computer club didn’t start until next week.”
“It doesn’t.” Everyone looked at the older girl as she continued. “Izzy came to me asking if he could get into the lab for a minute, and we ran into Kari and TK along the way.”
“Oh.” Davis paused for a moment, and Leah looked over to see him frowning in thought. “Are you that new computer club president I head about?”
“Nope. I’m Yolei, a member of the computer club, and this is Izzy,” she responded brightly, smiling at all of them. Davis pouted, gaze locked on Kari and TK, so Leah decided to press for more details.
“Alright, so Izzy needed a computer. Is there an emergency of some sort? Can we help?”
The high school student stiffened at her question, and quickly waved his hands. “Ah, no, no, that’s alright! I can definitely handle it by myself, thanks. It’s just a personal matter I have to deal with, that’s all.” Leah frowned at his words, sensing that she was being brushed off.
“I suppose we should let you be, then,” TK said, and Davis muttered something mostly inaudible that ended with ‘TA’ in response.
“I guess so. You are the previous president after all. So! Everyone except Izzy and me out!” Yolei ordered sharply, hands on her hips. Izzy opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted before he could.
“Yolei, aren’t you coming to fix my computer? You said you would.” Leah turned to see a younger boy with a bowl-shaped haircut standing in the doorway.
“Cody! I’m sorry, I nearly forgot. Yeah, I’ll be right there, just give me a sec, ok?” Yolei said with a gasp, then dug a key from her pocket. “Could you lock up once you’re done? Just hang it by the door when you leave.”
“Sure can. Thanks, Yolei,” Izzy replied with a grateful smile and a nod. “And it was nice to meet you all.” Everyone said goodbye to each other and filed out of the room. Leah went last, dropping to the back in order to watch everyone interact.
Yolei turned to address her as they headed for the school entrance. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name back there.”
“It’s alright, things were kinda hectic. I’m Leah, and the guy with the goggles is Davis. We’re in the same class as TK and Kari,” Leah explained. Davis turned at the mention of his name, then went back to giving TK the evil eye. Clearly someone wasn’t happy with the way things were going.
“Oh, ok. Man, I wish I knew more people in my class!” Yolei exclaimed, dropping back to walk beside her and striking up a conversation.
Tai leaned against the cool rock wall of the cave, waiting patiently for a message from Izzy. True to form, his friend had found a way to access the gate to the Digital World, and they had met after school to try it out. He had entered safely and met up with Agumon, but something had gone wrong and he had lost contact with Izzy. And then there was the second strange message.
Subject: Look Here
To: Tai Kamiya
From: Unknown Sender
Come to this location as soon as you can. Hurry, since time is running out!
Attached to the e-mail had been a map which had led Tai to the tunnel in which he now sat. Which was probably a good thing, since it seemed like someone was looking for him. Peering around the curve of the tunnel wall, he stared at the group of Digimon currently destroying the jungle around the cliffs where he had found the tunnel. They had strange black bands around their bodies, and their eyes shone with a ominous crimson glow.
“Anything from Izzy?” Agumon asked as he turned back.
“Nothing y-oh, hold on a sec,” he answered, looking down at the palmtop computer in his hands as it beeped. Flipping it open, he quickly scanned the message.
Subject: Sorry!
To: Tai Kamiya
From: Izzy Izumi
Sorry Tai, ran into some trouble with my laptop and was delayed. Did you find anything out?
“Seems like everything’s ok. But since Tentomon’s not here, he should probably stay away…” Tai muttered, typing out a quick message and sending it off.
“Well that’s good. I found something in a cave at the back that you should probably see,” Agumon said, and Tai quickly got up to follow him. Something was definitely going on in the Digital World, and he needed more information than the little his partner knew.
“Huh? What’s this?” Sitting on a small mound at the back of the cave was what appeared to be a Digiegg. A Digiegg with a flame pattern on its shell, a metal blade sticking out the top and emblazoned with the Crest of Courage. Definitely not normal.
“Are those Digimon looking for this?” he asked softly, circling the odd Digiegg.
“No idea. Those guys seem more intent on smashing stuff than finding anything.” Nodding at his partner’s words, the teen eyed the strange Digiegg again. Maybe it was for him, seeing as he was the one who held the Crest of Courage. Well, there was only one way to find out if it was or not. Kneeling down beside it, he reached to pick it up.
“Ahh!” As his fingers touched it, the egg glowered brightly and a pillar of red light came out of it. Squinting against the glare, Tai relaxed as the light quickly faded away.
“Tai, are you alright?!” Agumon asked anxiously, placing a claw on his shoulder to steady the teen as he leaned away from the egg.
“I think so.” He hadn’t felt any pain or anything, just a weird tingling sensation in the fingertips. “Are those fireflies?” Five glowing red dots had materialized above the strange Digiegg, where they hung for a moment before shooting out of the distant hole in the roof of the cave.
“If they were, they’re really fast ones,” Agumon replied, following Tai as he moved to sit against the cave wall again.
“I better contact Izzy and tell him about this. Could you go see if it’s safe outside?” First the Digimon with the glowing eyes, and now a strange Digiegg with his crest on it. Whoever had sent him that e-mail this morning had been right - the Digital World certainly appeared to be in trouble again.
TK checked his backpack one final time to make sure he had everything he needed. No homework had been given out since it was the first day of classes, but there were a bunch of papers he knew his mom would want to see.
Satisfied that he hadn’t forgotten anything, he faced his three classmates to say goodbye. “See you guys tomorrow. Have a good evening.”
“Bye TK. Have a good evening too,” Kari answered, and they shared a smile. He hadn’t imagined that they would end up sharing the same class, but it was great to be with an old friend again.
“Yeah, bye.” Davis still looked upset with him, and TK wasn’t quite sure why. He seemed like a nice enough kid after all, if a bit weird at times.
“Good night. See you in the morning.” Leah was the last to answer, and he returned her polite nod as he passed by her to go out the door. TK wondered how she felt, transferring to a new school like this. Personally, he liked being back in Tokyo, but maybe she didn’t like big cities. Deciding to ask her about it sometime, he smiled and broke into a jog. Yolei and Cody had agreed to walk home with him, and he didn’t want to keep them waiting.
It only took him a minute to find his two new neighbours, and he gave them both a smile as he approached. “Thanks for waiting, let’s get going.”
“Right behind you!” Yolei said with a grin, and they began to walk away from the school. But TK had hardly taken three steps before lights flashed from behind him, making him jump and spin around.
“What-” he began, then stopped as he saw what had just appeared in their hands. “No. No way…” They were both holding what seemed to be Digivices, although that was impossible.
“Wait, you know what this thing is?” Yolei asked sharply, jerking her head up to stare at him.
“Um, I think so…” TK quickly dug his old Digivice out of his pants pocket and held it out for them to see. Even after all this time, he rarely left home without it. “It’s called a Digivice,” he explained awkwardly.
“A Digivice, huh? But why did it just appear like that?” Cody asked, still staring at the device in his hands. TK took a moment to compare them, easily seeing the differences between his and the new ones - theirs being larger and oval-shaped, with handgrips and a different button and antenna configuration. Yolei’s had dark red handgrips while Cody’s were yellow, a personalized touch that wasn’t present on the old ones.
“Well, it means that you’ve been chosen to help the Digital World.” TK paused as an idea struck him. “I know! Let’s head back to the computer lab and see if Izzy’s still there. He might have some idea what happened.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Yolei agreed, and Cody nodded to show he felt the same.
“Prodigious! I never imaged this might happen!” Izzy exclaimed, looking at the group of students before him. He had just finished explaining the basics of what the Digital World and Digivices were, and was still stunned by this turn of events. Yolei and her neighbour had gone to phone home, but had insisted the meeting continue without them.
“So Digimon and the Digital World are real, then? Tai wasn’t just telling some story?” Davis asked, looking both surprised and excited at the idea.
“Yes, he was very much telling the truth. Tai, TK, Kari, myself and some others helped save that world about three and a half years ago. I had hoped that everything would remain peaceful, but apparently a new threat has appeared,” he explained grimly. Tai had been right after all - something big was happening in the Digital World, and new DigiDestined had been chosen as a result.
“Wait, you know Tai?” TK asked in surprise.
“They sure do. They’re on the same soccer team,” Kari answered, giving him a faint smile. “They’re both good players, too.”
“I see…” TK paused for a moment, then added, “If the Digital World is in trouble, then we have to help it. You said Tai was already there?”
“Yes, he went through earlier,” Izzy confirmed with a nod. “I was going to join him, but my laptop battery died before I was able to. Then, just after I re-established communication with him here, four beams of light shot out of the computer screen and went out the door. Tai said five balls of light appeared after he touched an unusual-looking Digiegg and flew off. Obviously, they were carrying the Digivices you now hold.”
“Five? But only four of us got new Digivices, - Davis, Leah, Cody and Yolei,” Kari pointed out. “TK and I still have the older models, like you do.”
“Oh. Hmm.” Izzy sat back and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Then there is another new DigiDestined somewhere.” They would have to be found quickly, but he wasn’t sure how to go about doing that. The computer behind him chimed then, and he twisted around to see that a new e-mail had appeared in his inbox. “Ah, another message from Tai. It looks like the ravaging Digimon who were around before are gone now, so it’s safe to enter.”
“Awesome! Let’s go then!” Davis exclaimed, raised a clenched fist in excitement. Everyone else eagerly agreed, so Izzy moved aside to give them clear access to the computer screen.
“Good luck, and be careful. We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet,” he said cautiously as Kari stepped up and held out her Digivice.
“Thanks Izzy. We will,” she answered, the screen glowing brightly and sucking her in a moment later. TK was next, a determined look on his face as the portal opened for him.
“Uh…” Davis stared at the screen, clearly intimidated by the fact his two classmates had just been sucked into a computer. Leah, on the other hand, simply looked impressed.
“Going, Davis? Surely you’re not scared?” Izzy prodded, hiding a smile. It might have been better for him to go first.
“O-Of course not!” the boy snapped back, shaking his head furiously and taking a step towards the waiting computer.
“Hey Davis. Let’s go together, alright?” Leah suggested, moving to stand next to him and giving her classmate an encouraging smile.
“Yeah!” Davis agreed, and they held out their Digivices together. A bright flash of light, and they were gone. Izzy stepped in front of the computer and held out his own Digivice, eager to return to the world and his partner he had left behind.
“Hold on! What did I miss?!” Yolei’s sudden arrival made him fumble and nearly drop the device.
“Ack! U-Um, well…the others just left to go to the Digital World and see what the trouble is,” he answered shakily. “And I was just about to do the same.”
“Wait, you’re just going to leave this place unattended? What if the janitor or someone walks in and shuts the computer down?” she demanded, hands on her hips. “And you can’t leave it up to me, since I don’t know how to get that portal back up if something happens.”
“Ah, right.” Unfortunately, she had a good point. “Then I guess we’ll be staying here. Wasn’t your neighbour with you?”
“Cody? He was, but he went home to pick up some snacks since we were all staying late. He shouldn’t be too long,” she replied, dragging two chairs over and settling into one of them. “While we wait, could you tell me how the connect to the Digital World? I mean, we can’t rely on you all the time to open the portal for us.”
Nodding, Izzy sat down as well and began to explain it as simply as he could. Once Yolei’s neighbour returned, he could tell them what they had missed.
“Ken! Sorry I’m late!” The Digimon Emperor smiled faintly as Takako wrapped her arms around him in a loose hug, pleased that she had arrived.
“Held up, were you?” he asked, turning away from the array of screens to look at her.
“Yeah. Kai insisted on meeting me after school and walking home with me. Like I was a little kid who didn’t know the way or something,” she said dismissively, clearly not impressed with her cousin’s actions.
“Those inferior fools simply can’t understand that we’re smarter than them,” Ken agreed. His first day of classes had been utterly boring, as usual. Even with being in a specialized class, he was still surrounded by those who simply couldn’t match him in terms of intellect. At least his schedule gave him ample opportunity to check in on the Digital World during the day, unlike Takako.
“They can certainly be a nuisance sometimes. But enough about them. You said that deluded human was back again? What happened?” she pressed, absently running a hand through his spiked hair as she leaned against his throne.
“Nothing aside from the usual, unfortunately. I was able to delay his escape for a short while, but I had to leave for class. I assume he did the same,” Ken answered, calling up a screen displaying the jungle area where the human and his partner had been last seen. Well, former jungle area now.
“Ken! We’re supposed to be saving the Digital World, not destroying it!” Takako moaned as she looked at the devastation their slave army had caused.
“We are saving it, Takako. I simply decided to redecorate a little bit to make it harder for them to hide. It can easily be fixed,” Ken said, idly jumping from camera to camera. He had recalled the Digimon just a short while ago upon getting word of a sighting of that irritating human in another sector, so the ruined jungle was quiet.
“Hm? What’s this?” There was a strange human and Digimon wandering amid the downed trees. His green jacket and pants labelled him as high-school student, and was wearing a blue headband with white goggles. His partner was Agumon, a small orange dinosaur species which Ken had heard about but never seen.
“What’s he doing here?” Takako muttered, leaning forward to get a better look.
“Perhaps that traitorous fool managed to get reinforcements of some kind. Not that it matters much. Let’s watch and learn, shall we?”
“Yeah…” Sounding slightly upset, Takako slid into her throne which sat right next to Ken’s. Leaning back in his seat, the Digimon Emperor smiled. This was a very interesting development, but they were still going to win this game.
“Nice, this place comes with an outfit change!” Davis grinned as he inspected the white shirt and blue jacket he now wore, admiring the flame pattern that decorated the bottom half of the jacket and sleeves and the fur trim around the collar. With that and the yellow gloves which had appeared on his hands, he thought he looked really cool. Ready to save the world, if that was really what he had been picked to do.
“Yeah, not bad,” Leah commented, and the boy turned and realized her clothes had changed. Gone were the turtleneck and skirt, replaced by a grey brown shirt, black denim jacket and blue jeans. Davis was surprised to realize that the clothes looked good on her - even better than the outfit she had worn to school. He guessed that she was one of those people who looked good in just about anything.
“What happened to this place?” the new kid asked softly and the boy saw that they were standing in what once had been a forest but was now a smoking wasteland of fallen trees and scorched ground.
“This is really bad…I hope Tai is alright,” Kari said, sounding horrified at what she was seeing.
“I’m sure he’s fine - didn’t Izzy say they were in contact with each other?” Davis replied, determined to boost his friend’s spirits.
“I’m picking up a signal from Tai’s Digivice, so he’s nearby.” The new kid frowned down at the small device in his hands, then started to walk away. “It’s coming from this direction, and it looks like there’s someone else with him.”
Kari quickly walked after her new friend, and Davis and Leah followed, the boy glancing around at the devastation. “The way Tai talked about this place, it seemed like there were monsters everywhere. It seems pretty quiet right now.”
“Yeah, but something had to cause all of this. Let’s hope they’re long gone,” Leah replied and Davis bit back a frown. This was a brand new world they were visiting, so there was no need to be too down about the damage, right? Surely it would grow back in time.
“Tai!” Kari’s relieved shout made him smile, and he watched as she dashed off among the fallen trees to go meet her brother.
They caught up to the pair a minute later and Davis’ eyes immediately landed on the small orange dinosaur standing next to the high school student. “Is that a Digimon?! Cool!”
“Davis? What are you doing here?” Tai asked in confusion as the boy bent down to get a better look at the dinosaur. The new kid answered him, but Davis was too busy to listen as the dinosaur stared back at him.
“Hi, Davis. I’m Agumon, Tai’s partner,” the dinosaur said pleasantly after a moment of surprise, and the boy grinned.
“Hi Agumon! This is so cool, I can’t believe this is happening!” Then a thought struck him and he looked up at Tai. “Wait, does everyone who comes here get a partner?”
“They sure do, Davis. I met Agumon a little after I first arrived here, so yours and Leah’s must be around here somewhere…” The older student paused for a second, then nodded to himself. “Follow me everyone, I have something to show you.”
Davis rose and followed Tai and Agumon, fists clenched in excitement. He hoped his partner would be as cool as Tai’s, but it didn’t have to be.
Leah dropped to the back of the group as the filed after Tai and his partner, glancing down at the Digivice she still held. Unlike the others who had gotten more attractive colours for their handgrips - blue for Davis, dark red for Yolei and yellow for Cody - hers were a dull grey colour. It wasn’t like she disliked grey, she just thought something a little brighter would have been nice. At least it wasn’t pink. She hated pink, and was glad her father didn’t force her to wear that colour.
The snap of a twig behind them made her stop and turn, scanning the smouldering forest for signs of life. Was whatever had caused this still around? If so, she hoped Tai and Agumon would be able to protect them. Otherwise things might turn bad very quickly. Seeing nothing, she glared at the wasteland for a moment then trotted to catch up to the others. Perhaps it was nothing. Hopefully it was nothing.
“So this thing’s a Digiegg? Whatever chicken laid that must be hurting,” Davis said, walking around the egg again. It was certainly one of the strangest things he had seen since arriving here, not that he had seen a whole lot of it.
“But since it has your crest on it, doesn’t that mean it belongs to you, Tai?” Kari asked her brother, looking between him and the Digiegg.
“I thought so, but I can’t even pick it up. I tried, and it weights a ton,” he replied, looking mildly concerned.
“Let me try, then. I’m pretty strong,” Leah said and Davis grinned at her comment. Maybe she was stronger than she looked. Bending down beside the DigiEgg, his new classmate wrapped her hands around it and pulled. He could tell by the look on her face that she was straining to lift it, but nothing happened. “Never mind,” she muttered sourly after a second attempt. “It’s not moving an inch.”
Kari tried next, but got the same result, and Davis gave her a sympathetic look. He had hoped she would have been able to lift the egg, but apparently not. Then the new kid stepped up next and made a similar try, groaning with the effort of trying to lift it. “Oh man, this thing is heavier than it looks!”
“Hey, let me try! I pump iron all the time!” Davis finally said, figuring he might as well try to move the Digiegg. His blonde classmate stepped back to give him room, and the boy bent down, carefully gripping the spiked egg in his hands. He could lift this thing no problem.
Taking a deep breath, he focused on the Digiegg. It almost seemed warm, which was weird, but it was an egg after all. Maybe whatever was inside was ready to hatch. “Arrrgggh!” he cried, pulling as hard as he could. “Ahh!” A moment later he had toppled backwards onto his butt, the Digiegg in his hands.
“Heavy? This thing’s as light as a feather!” Well not really, but it wasn’t near as heavy as the others made it out to be. Everyone was looking at him in surprise, but their attention was quickly grabbed by the pillar of red light that shot out of a hole the egg had been sitting on. Davis stared as well, watching as a form materialized in the centre of the pillar. It grew in size, and he realized it was a creature of some sort, curled up as if asleep. That didn’t last long, however, for the creature quickly uncurled, opened its eyes and bounded onto the cave floor.
“I’m free, I’m free!” it chanted, bouncing in a circle around him in apparent joy. “I was in there for so long and now I’m free and it’s all thanks to you!” It stopped in front of Davis and held out a hand. “I’m Veemon, your partner!”
“Uh…hi. I’m Davis.” Veemon was short, mostly blue and kinda looked like a young child if someone were to squint hard enough. This wasn’t the way he had imagined getting his partner, but whatever. Veemon shook his hand and smiled, clearly glad to see him.
“Nice to meet you, Davis! I know we’ll do great together!”
“So…what’s this thing then?” Davis asked, holding up the weird Digiegg as he climbed to his feet.
“That’s the Digiegg of Courage, which will allow me to fight our enemies better,” his new partner replied cheerfully, looking around at the others.
“Speaking of enemies, what exactly is going on here?” Tai asked, focusing on the blue two-legged Digimon at the boy’s side.
“Yeah, I’d like to know, too. Something bad is happening, but I haven’t been able to find out much except that a human is involved,” Agumon said, shifting uneasily as his partner shot him a disapproving look.
“Who’s there?!” Davis jumped at Leah’s snap, and turned quickly to see her glaring at the tunnel leading out of the cave. When nothing happened, she spoke again. “I know you’re there - come out or else.” The boy wondered exactly what ‘or else’ meant, but he wasn’t able to find out because a pale face peered from around the curve of the tunnel wall.
“You’re a Gazimon from the forest, right? Why are you still here?” Agumon asked in surprise, and the Digimon nodded hesitantly before speaking.
“I couldn’t run because I could tell you were coming soon, and I wanted to meet you as quickly as possible,” Gazimon replied, revealing herself to be female.
“Someone told you I was coming?” Tai sounded confused, and Davis frowned. Was there such a thing as a psychic Digimon?
“No, not you,” Gazimon shook her head and advanced a little into the cave, gaze focused on the girl who stood beside Davis. “You’re Leah, right? I’m your partner, Gazimon.”
“You’re…my partner?” Leah repeated slowly, staring at the Digimon in front of her. Gazimon looked a bit like a cat with light purple fur, or perhaps a mutant rabbit. Either way, she had been expecting something a little more normal for a partner. Then again…she had no idea how to describe Veemon except that he was blue and vaguely human-like, so perhaps this was normal for Digimon.
“Yep, you’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not,” Gazimon answered, walking up to her and holding out a paw tipped with ridiculously long claws.
“Ok…then hi.” Careful not to impale herself on the claws, she shook her new partner’s paw reluctantly. “So how’d you know I was coming, anyway?”
“I don’t know…it was just a feeling I had. That’s why I couldn’t run away when the Digimon Emperor attacked.” Gazimon frowned then, but brightened a little as she looked at the others.
“Digimon Emperor?! Is that the human Agumon mentioned?” Tai asked quickly, and Gazimon nodded.
“Yes. The Digital World has been under attack by a human for some time now, and he calls himself the Digimon Emperor. He enslaves Digimon using Dark Rings and forces them to do his bidding,” Leah gritted her teeth in growing anger. How could a human do something like this? Slavery was wrong, no matter what the intention behind it.
“That’s horrible…” TK muttered, echoing her thoughts.
“That Digimon Emperor! I’ll put a Dark Ring on him!” Kari exclaimed, and Leah looked at her in mild surprise. Clearly her classmate wasn’t as sweet-tempered as she appeared to be.
“Agumon, why didn’t you know about this?” Tai asked, looking down at his partner with a frown on his face. “We left you guys here to protect the Digital World!”
“We have been, Tai! I heard about attacks occurring before this, but I didn’t realize it was this bad! And there were only rumours about a human being involved…” Agumon looked upset, and Tai bent down to pat him on the head.
“That’s understandable - very few Digimon escape capture, and most who do get destroyed,” Gazimon said softly.
“Hey, don’t look so glum! Fighting this Emperor guy must be what we were called here to do!” Davis exclaimed, and Veemon nodded vigorously in agreement.
“Yeah! I’m sure we’ll be able to beat him in no time!”
Leah hid a smile, pleased that someone was optimistic about the situation that they had suddenly been plunged in. But being too optimistic was a bad thing, since it could lead to someone getting hurt.
“Gazimon, what else do you know?” Tai asked, and everyone focused back on her partner. Leah looked at her as well, curious to know how she knew so much when Agumon didn’t.
“How dare you insult Ken! I’ll pay you back for that, you pink brat!” Takako growled in fury, and Ken reached over to pat her hand soothingly. He didn’t care much about the threat the girl with the camera had made towards him - she would never be powerful enough to get close to him, let alone harm him.
“Now, now, calm down. The Dark Rings don’t work on humans, remember?” If they had, he would already have that human and his partner under his control. “Hmm…Time to break their little chit-chat up, I think.” The fact that the Gazimon even knew about him was interesting, but irrelevant.
“Now who shall I send to play with you…?” An array of buttons arranged in a square appeared before his raised hand, and the Emperor thought for a moment. “Eenie, meenie, miney, mon,” he muttered, pressing a button on the last syllable. An image of a large, four-legged dinosaur looking vaguely like a Triceratops but with only one long horn projecting from its nose appeared on a side-screen and he smiled. Yes, this slave would do nicely.
“Go, Monochromon!” Time to see what these fools had in them.
“So this human is doing something that prevents you from Digivolving…well, that explains things a bit,” Tai said, arms crossed as he thought.
Davis shifted and resisted the urge to sigh. Talking over stuff was all well and good, but he wanted to get out there and start kicking the Emperor’s butt. From what Gazimon had said, this guy had already taken control of a large portion of the Digital World.
“Ack!” he yelped a second later as the ground began to shake. “Is it an earthquake?”
“No, look up there!” Davis followed the new kid’s pointing finger and saw that something was ripping apart the small hole in the roof of the cave. The creature bellowed and broke through some more, and he realized there was a big black and grey dinosaur with glowing red eyes about to come crashing down on top of them.
“Run!” Davis heard Tai’s shout, but his gaze was fixed on the dinosaur as it opened its mouth and spat out what looked like a huge ball of fire. How were they supposed to fight this?! “Davis, come on!”
“Ahhh, yeah!” Bolting out of the way of the fireball, he felt the heat from it on the back of his jacket as it slammed into the cave floor.
“Davis, use the Digiegg of Courage so I can fight!” Veemon said as they ran down the tunnel towards the exit.
“This thing? But how?” he panted, holding up the weird egg in his hand. This place was strange alright, but even he wasn’t convinced that some egg could help them win against the dinosaur behind them.
“Use your courage to unlock it and shout ‘DigiArmor Energize!’” his partner urged, voice raised to be heard over the bellows of the Digimon chasing them.
They ran out of the cave a moment later, and Davis bent over to catch his breath. “That was close!” This place was intense!
“Down here!” Tai called from the bottom of the short cliff the cave was located on, and the boy nodded in acknowledgment. But before he had a chance to slide down, Veemon shoved him forward with a warning shout, sending them tumbling out of the way of another blast of fire.
“Uhhh…I don’t wanna do that again…” Davis sat up with a groan, raising a hand to his head to make sure his goggles were ok. Luckily, they were fine, but he had something bigger to worry about. “Kari!” She was down on the ground, apparently injured, and it was all his fault. If he had just been a little faster…
“Davis, use your courage so I can Digivolve!” Veemon said, giving him a determined look. “If you do that, I know we can win!”
“It’s worth a try,” Tai answered as he jogged back to them, and Davis took a deep breath. It was all up to him, if what Veemon said was true. The new kid and Agumon joined them a moment later, both looking worried at the situation they were now in. The boy looked over at Kari again, relieved to see that Leah and Gazimon were helping her to her feet. Good, she wasn’t seriously injured.
A loud roar made them all look up, and Davis gasped as he saw that the enslaved Digimon had leapt off the cliff above them and was heading right towards Kari and Leah. The ground trembled as the dinosaur landed, and he made up his mind. He had to save Kari!
“You want courage, I‘ll show you courage!” he cried, rising to his feet and holding up the Digiegg. He would do anything to save Kari, even if that meant fighting that humungous Digimon by himself! “DigiArmor Energize!”
The Digiegg glowed red in his hands, and Veemon was quickly enveloped by raging flames. “Veemon Armour Digivolove to…Flamedramon, the fire of courage!”
Davis stared in a mixture of surprise and delight as the flames vanished to reveal his Digivolved partner. Flamedramon looked like a mature Veemon in terms of a blue body with a white chest, but his hands, feet, head, knees and upper chest was covered in armour that bore the same flame design as the Digiegg of Courage. The metal blade that was present on the Digiegg now curved upwards from the middle of Flamedramon’s forehead, making him look even more fierce.
With a few running steps and a leap, Flamedramon slammed into the side of the dinosaur Digimon, sending it crashing onto its side and away from Kari and Leah.
“Armor Digivolve?” Tai echoed in surprise, and Davis saw that his classmates and Gazimon had similar looks of surprise on their faces.
“That’s awesome!” For his part, Davis was impressed that his partner had managed to stop such a huge creature with one hit. “Go get ‘em, Flamedramon!”
His partner needed no further urging, giving his opponent a level stare as the other Digimon climbed to his feet and charged towards him. Davis clenched his hands as he watched Flamedramon block the charge and flip the dinosaur with little effort. Letting out a roar of anger as it climbed to its feet, the Digimon opened its mouth and spat out three fireballs. “Volcanic Strike!”
Flamedramon proceeded to bat them away like flies, charging towards his opponent with the intention on attacking. But the other Digimon was ready, throwing Davis’ partner high into the air upon contact with one toss of its head. Davis gasped as he watched Flamedramon fly through the air, worried about what the throw might do to him, but his partner had one more surprise in store.
“Fire Rocket!” Bright flames once again engulfed Flamedramon from head to toe, and he hovered in the air for a moment before plunging down towards the other Digimon.
“Aim for the Dark Ring, Flamedramon!” Gazimon cried, and Davis let himself grin as his partner hit the black ring around the dinosaur’s body dead-on. Clearly, both of them had perfect aim. The attacking Digimon slid to the ground as the black band cracked and disappeared, and as the flames faded from Flamedramon’s body, he glowed and reverted back to Veemon.
“Huh?” Davis looked down at his Digivice as the Digiegg was sucked into it, then stiffened as a bust of light came out of it and his jacket pocket became heavy. “What’s this?” he muttered, taking out the odd device that had just appeared in his pocket and flipping the top up to see an outline of an egg on the screen that was on the inside. Deciding that it didn’t matter much, he put that and his Digivice away and ran over to make sure Kari and Leah were ok.
“Bye, Monochromon!” Leah smiled slightly as Kari waved to the departing Digimon.
“So that’s the power of the Digimon Emperor…” Gazimon muttered, and she looked down at her partner. She didn’t really understand everything that had happened today, but she was confident she would soon.
“I can’t believe that the Digimon Emperor could turn such a peaceful creature into such a nasty Digimon…” TK said, and she turned to see that he was frowning slightly.
“But that’s why we’re here, right? To beat this guy?” Davis asked as he walked up, Veemon by his side. Leah was still impressed at the power that Digiegg had. Maybe there was a way for Gazimon to Digivolve so she could fight this Digimon Emperor, too.
“That’s probably it. I’m sorry we couldn’t fight alongside you, but we’ll do everything we can to help out,” Tai said, looking at them and smiling.
“Yeah! I know you new guys will beat him no problem,” Agumon added and Davis grinned.
“Just leave it to me! I’ll show that guy who’s the boss!” he boasted and Veemon gave his partner a thumbs up in agreement.
“Look at that, the sun’s going down. Everyone can relax now,” Gazimon said with relief.
“Why’s that?” Leah asked, noting that the sunset they were witnessing looked a lot like a sunset from home. Obviously, some things were the same no matter where you were.
“The rumours I heard say that the Digimon Emperor never appears at night,” her partner explained with a smile.
“I guess it is getting late…I just hope we can still go home,” Tai said, turning and looking at the ruined jungle around them. “I have no idea how long the portal will stay open, or if Izzy would be able to connect again if it closed while we were still here. That’s why you guys should never stay too long. Even without the Digimon Emperor, this isn’t a place you want to be trapped in.”
Leah bit her lip and looked at the ground. Her father would flip if she didn’t come home at a reasonable hour. Come to think of it, he was probably getting worried already. Perhaps she should have called home like the others. “Then let’s find the spot we came in by and see if we can leave,” she said, looking up to see if the others agreed. They did, so Tai led them back the way they had come.
“How amusing…it seems like we have found a worthy foe at last!” Ken exclaimed as he watched the group leave. There was no point in sending another Digimon after them now - like them, he had to return home, as much as he was loathe to.
“Armor Digivolving, huh? Well, at least they’re more resourceful than that other human,” Takako said grudgingly, and he turned slightly to look at her. She brightened upon noticing his gaze, and said more cheerfully, “Do you want to come to my place for dinner, Ken? Kai has practice, so there’s lots of food.”
While the thought of putting up with Takako’s aunt and uncle made him cringe, he needed more time to fill his Empress in on all the day’s events. So he smiled and nodded in agreement, “Dinner sounds lovely, yes. I’ll go inform my parents, and be over as soon as possible.”
“Great!” She beamed at him, then sprang from her throne. “I’ll go tell Aunt Chie that you’re coming. See you soon!” Ken settled back in his chair as she went to leave, deciding to relax for a few more minutes before returning home himself.
(no subject)
29/11/12 12:52 (UTC)Digimon's just one of those fandoms that goes well with OCs. I have no idea why I'm thrilled that her partner is a Gazimon, but I am.
Also that fifth Digivice. Could be another OC, could be another one of the Tamers (I see mentions of someone else in this chapter~).
(no subject)
29/11/12 15:47 (UTC)Digimon does go well with OCs, doesn't it? I've encountered lots of fanfic with original characters, and several of them were done really well - although it's an older fanfic and is absolutely massive, I highly recommend Wira Digital. Digmon: Battle! is another OC fanfic which I've enjoyed, although I haven't quite finished reading it yet.