Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon Tamers: The Next Level ❯ Episode 7: Shibumi's Secret ( Chapter 7 )

After several minutes, a motley crew arrived at Guilmon's old hideout. Yamaki rested one hand against the wall, breathing rather heavily. "I'm getting too old for this," he said. "And here I thought I was finally getting settled down."

"Just like old times, eh?" Kenta said. "Running for our lives, I mean."

"Yeah, terrific," Kazu shook his head. "That's the one thing I didn't miss."

"What do they want with us?" Henry asked.

"You're not the only ones who know about the back door, but so far you're the only one who's had any success in sending anybody over," Yamaki told everybody, taking his cell phone back from Rika.

"What about the Tyrannomon?"

"A result of stolen tech I'm afraid," Henry explained. "An earlier prototype was stolen from our lab."

"Lab? Okay, what's been going on these past few years? I get the sense there's a whole lot that we haven't been told."

Meanwhile, Yamaki had dialed a number on his phone and began speaking into it. "Yeah, this is Yamaki reporting in. Yes, I've seen the missing Tamers." Yamaki stopped to look over the group, the hints of mistrust on their faces. "You should check west of the Nonaka residence."

Hanging up the phone, Yamaki smiled. "They really should, seeing as how we went east. That'll buy us some time. With any luck, we can use that time to find Shibumi before they do."

"Not a problem," Takato said, looking to Henry. "Right buddy?"

"Not a bit," Henry smiled. "We just happen to know exactly where he is. He's got a lab out in the country, and he's been helping develop our tech."

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Yamaki laughed. "Well, you provide the directions, and I'll provide the transportation." Pulling out his cell again, Yamaki dialed another number. "Don't suppose I can get a lift? The park. Yeah, that park. I'm, uhh, bringing a few old friends. Right, see you then." He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. "It's all set."

"Let me see if I've got this straight," Takato said. "Hypnos knows, or at least suspects that I'm back in the Real World, and they're looking to interrogate all of my friends. Are you sure we can trust your transportation?"

"As much as you can trust me, for what that's worth," Yamaki replied. "Officially, I'm with Hypnos. If push comes to shove though, I'll cast my lot firmly in with yours. And you have my word of honor on that." Yamaki extended his hand, and Takato took it, giving it a firm shake.

******

A large van pulled up a few yards from the group and Yamaki headed over to the driver's side. The window rolled down and a woman stuck her head out. She was a redhead, not much younger than Yamaki. "You called for a lift?" She said cheerily.

"Hey, I remember you back from that time with D-Reaper," Takato said, brow furrowed in thought. "Riley, isn't it?"

"That would be correct," Yamaki said with a rare smile on his face. "I'd like you to meet Riley Ootori, my fiancé."

"Your what?" Henry gaped. "I didn't think you were exactly the marrying type."

"I'm full of surprises too," Yamaki laughed. "Shall we, honey?"

"Anything you say, Boss Man," Riley grinned as everybody climbed into the van. "So, where are we going?"

As soon as everybody was inside the van, they started off, Henry riding shotgun to give directions. During the ride, Takato took the opportunity to fill the others in on everything that had happened after the seal.

"You built a city?" Kazu said slowly, unbelievingly. "You?"

"Well," Takato said, "when you compare it to all the other settlements in the Digital World, it's a city. It's only about as large as a good sized town though."

"And you did this on your own?"

"Well, I had quite a bit of help from the local Digimon. When they realized they could benefit from the security of a large group of allies, they were eager to help. Being a big star for saving the Digital World didn't hurt either."

"Where'd you get the materials?"

"Most of it is stone, which isn't hard at all to find. Of course, if you know where to look and what to do, getting metal isn't all that difficult either. Naturally, anything really high-tech was sent over by Henry and Shibumi."

"Speaking of Shibumi," Yamaki called back from the front of the van, "we seem to have reached our destination."

"All ashore that's going ashore," Kazu joked as everybody piled out. Their destination appeared to be a small residence in the country. It didn't look anything other than an ordinary town house, but Henry knew better. Shibumi was inside, as well as his lab where he had helped design their new tech. Henry led the group up the path to the front door and rang the bell.

"Who's there?" Shibumi's voice asked over the intercom. Henry pressed the button on their end and answered. "It's Henry." A buzzer sounded from inside and the door unlocked. Henry pushed it open and the group filed into the entrance hall. The place almost seemed larger inside than outside if that was possible. A figure came into sight on a second floor balcony, Shibumi.

"I see you've brought guests," he called as he descended the stairs. Once he had reached them, he looked Takato up and down. "Ahh, the Prodigal Son has returned." His gaze traveled over to Yamaki. "And he's brought a Hypnos agent."

Yamaki tucked his sunglasses back into his coat pocket. "Well, more or less. It's good to see you again Mr. Mizuno."

"If it isn't Mr. Yamaki," Shibumi said. "Still, I'm surprised you wouldn't mind being around a Hypnos agent, especially after the incident with a certain Miss Katou an hour or two ago."

"Jeri?" Takato said, eyes wide. "What happened with Jeri?"

"You haven't heard, have you?" Shibumi said amazed. "She's been arrested."

******

"Where are you taking me?" Jeri asked the two Hypnos agents who were leading her to the back of a truck. She wasn't handcuffed, but her arms were securely in the grip of the men. "What's going on?"

"You're being brought in for questioning," the man explained. "It's a matter of national security. You'd be well advised to cooperate."

"This is pure bullshit!" Jeri yelled. "National security? What the hell are you talking about?"

"I understand you were contacted by an old friend today," a third agent explained once the van was under way. "We've been keeping our eye out for him for quite some time now."

"You can't mean..." Jeri gasped.

"Yes," the man nodded. "We're very interested in talking to Takato Matsuki."

******

"I thought you said they were just going to leave once they asked her a few questions?" Takato sneered, glaring at Yamaki. The man in black took a few steps back from the anger in the young man's eyes.

"I assure you!" Yamaki said, "I had no idea anything like this would happen!"

"He's right," Shibumi nodded. "In fact, I wouldn't count on him giving you any more information. See, they're looking for him too."

"Damn it," Yamaki grunted. "Is anything going to go right today?"

"Sadly," Shibumi answered, shaking his head, "no. I need to amend what I said last. They're not looking for you, Yamaki, they've found you."

At that, a number of men, each one in a dark black suit, entered the room. The Tamers clumped together, completely surrounded. Renamon dropped into a fighting stance, but held back. Yamaki whirled around, cursed loudly, and reached into the inside of his jacket.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Yamaki," Shibumi said. Yamaki turned, and ended up facing down the barrel of a gun leveled at him by the man. "Now, kindly take it out slowly, set it on the ground, and kick it over."

Growling, Yamaki pulled his hand out of his jacket, half closed around a revolver of his own. Bending over, but never taking his eyes off of Shibumi, he placed it on the ground and kicked it over to one of the black suits.

"I'm truly sorry it had to come to this," Shibumi told everybody. "But this is bigger than all of us. We are all but flies compared to Operation Prodigal Son."

A second ring of men joined the first group surrounding the Tamers, each man carrying a machine gun. Rika glanced over at Renamon, and the Digimon gave a slight nod. Rika returned the nod, and Renamon slowly began to move her arm. Almost imperceptibly, Renamon reached to her wrist and pressed a couple of buttons on the D-Band she was wearing. For a split second, she appeared to glow with energy, but nobody seemed to notice.

"Operation Prodigal Son?" Yamaki said with a confused look on his face. "What is that? Why have I never heard of it?"

"The fewer people who know about it, the better," Shibumi shrugged. "Matters of national security, you know. Let's just say that almost nothing has happened without a reason. Men, take them away. See that nobody gets hurt, will you?" Shibumi turned his back and gestured with his gun.

As soon as he had turned his back, Renamon sprang into action, sending herself at the nearest grunt. She crashed into him sending the man and his weapon flying, and leapt at the next one. Halfway there, the rest of the men opened fire with a loud yell, and Renamon was caught in a hail of bullets. Rika screamed in horror as Renamon crashed to the ground and lay still, a multitude of wounds on her body leaking data. Rika ran over to her partner's body, cradling Renamon's head in her arms, tears streaming down her face.

"Damn it!" Shibumi yelled. "I said I didn't want anybody hurt!"

Renamon looked into Rika's eyes and smiled faintly before her body broke up into data, and the data slowly faded. All anybody could do was stare at the spot where Renamon had been, expressions of shock and disbelief evident on their face. "Oh my God! Renamon!" "Damn you!" "It can't be!" "No way!"

"Just get the rest of them the hell out of here!" Shibumi screamed. The men closed in once again after helping up their fallen comrade and herded the Tamers into the van. Rika walked despondently, shoulders slumped. Takato tried to put a comforting arm around her shoulder, but she shrugged it off with a tearful glare at him.

"I'm sorry, Rika," Takato said as everybody was handcuffed and led into the back of a large truck. Rika only looked at him sadly and shook her head. The van pulled way once everybody was secured inside.

******

For the entire ride, Rika sat quietly and nobody's attempts to talk to her were able to garner a response. The majority of the ride was spent in silence; not even Suzie had a trace of her usual liveliness. What seemed like an eternity in the truck later, they came to a brief stop in front of a gate before it was lifted and they continued on. They had finally arrived at their destination.

The destination was a government complex far outside the outskirts of the city. Whatever the place was, it was clearly designed to keep the people inside of the place inside, and everybody else out. The Tamers and Yamaki were herded inside one of the secondary buildings, and the group was separated.

"Get in there," one of the agents sneered, shoving Kazu, Kenta and Henry into a cell and locking the door. Yamaki and Takato were all led further down the hall.

Rika and Suzie were led down a second hallway, Rika having to be pushed to keep going. They were shoved into a second cell, one that already had an occupant.

"Jeri!" Suzie said, walking over to sit next to the girl. Rika slumped against the wall, seeming to lean on it for support.

"So they got you too, huh?" Jeri asked, looking up. "Damn Takato. It would have been better if he had just stayed the hell where he was."

"You can't mean that," Suzie said, as Rika looked outside to make sure the guard was gone.

"Of course she doesn't," Rika laughed, leaning nonchalantly against the wall. She looked over to the two other girls, smiling. "She's just too damn stubborn to admit it. Looks like more of me rubbed off on you than I thought."

"Yeah, whatever," Jeri said, dismissing the idea with a shake of her head. Suzie had a different reaction.

"Rika," Suzie began hesitantly. "I thought..."

"That I was mired in an endless depression due to Renamon's death?" Rika asked with a chuckle. "My mother always said I would make a good actress. Everything set to go, Renamon?"

Suzie looked at Rika sidelong, trying to discern whether the girl had snapped. Her question was answered when Renamon phased into the room, not a trace of a scratch on her.

"Everything's set," Renamon reported. "They're just waiting for the word."

"Good," Rika nodded, walking over to the bars of the cell. She looked out to check on the position of the guard. He was about to come back. "Tell them to standby and wait for the signal. I'd like to learn as much as I can before we blow this joint."

"Of course."

"And Renamon? Be careful. I'd hate to have that just be a rehearsal."

"It will take a whole hell of a lot more than that to get rid of me," Renamon replied, giving Rika one more kiss before fading from the room.

"But I... I saw her die," Suzie said, completely confused. One second Renamon was little more than random data, and the next she appeared unharmed.

"What you saw die was just a clone," Rika explained, "thanks to the power of the Alias card. A split second after the real Renamon left a clone took her place. A rather effective ruse."

"But, why?"

"Well, I had to get Renamon out of there so she could gather our forces in secret. Just be patient," Rika assured Suzie. "We'll be out of here as soon as we find out everything we can."

"Well," Jeri spoke up. "They already interrogated me. Naturally, I didn't know a damn thing about what was going on so they brought me back here."

"Were you able to get anything?"

"They kept mentioning some Prodigal Son, and something about a Key."

"Hmmm," Rika muttered, deep in thought. "We already know who the Prodigal Son is, Takato. But what could this Key be?"

******

"So," the man sitting behind the desk asked. The desk was set in a large office on the third floor of the main building, and only a select few were allowed in there. "You say this thing is the Key?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Kurouji," the other man in the room reported. "That is indeed the Key. They call it the 'D-Band'."

"Ahh, excellent," Mr. Kurouji chuckled, picking the device up from the table. "And how many of these do we have, Mr. Mizuno?"

"I, uhh, am afraid, sir, that this is the only working prototype right now," Shibumi said nervously.

"Oh? I was under the impression that there was at least one more. Belonging to the Tyrannomon and the Renamon?"

"The Tyrannomon's emergence, sir, was a result of an earlier prototype device. Frankly, sir, the thing was a hunk of junk. Halfway through the second test the damn thing blew out. Lost one of our Ultimates to it."

"Well then, It's a good thing you had your force steal it," Mr. Kurouji said, steepling his fingers on the desk in front of him.

"Yes, sir. Had the Tamers tried to use it, the Prodigal Son would have been lost, along with any hope of us obtaining the Key."

"And the one in possession of the Renamon?"

Shibumi began to sweat. "Well, sir, there was an incident during the capture. The Renamon attacked one of our men, and they retaliated. The subject was destroyed, the second Key with her."

"Yes, I'm sure it's a shame," Mr. Kurouji grunted. "But it's only a minor setback. How long until you can equip our entire force with Keys?"

"My best estimate, sir, is three weeks for total outfitting, two at the soonest."

"That long? That'll put us off our schedule. I dislike delays, Mr. Mizuno."

"Well, sir, I'd consider it a bargain. The Key has powers beyond merely being the Key to travel."

"Explain."

"Yes, sir. The technology in the Key was derived from the final design for the Arks, especially the process of utilizing cards. May I?" Shibumi asked, just short of reaching for Takato's D-Band. Mr. Kurouji waved his hand, and Shibumi picked up the device and strapped it to his own wrist. He then pulled something out of the pocket of his jacket, an old Digimon card.

"The old Arks were able to power these innocuous little cards, and grant the extent of their imaginary power onto the real life Digimon. You've seen the films, sir."

Mr. Kurouji nodded. He was quite familiar with the process the children had dubbed 'Digimodifying.'

Shibumi continued. "The same tech that granted the power exists within the Key. So, all I have to do is this, sir," Shibumi said, pulling the card through the slot on the D-Band, causing the screen to flash. He closed his eyes and his body started to shiver for a few seconds. When it had subsided, he walked over to the large safe in the corner of the room.

"Ordinarily, sir, a human would never be able to pick this safe up with anything less than a crane. But, through the power of the Key..." Shibumi demonstrated by grabbing the safe with one hand and lifting it off the ground rather effortlessly.

Mr. Kurouji sat forward in his chair, barely maintaining his surprise. "So," he said, "two or three weeks in exchange for near limitless power." He leaned back again, regaining his composure. "Yes, I'd say that's quite a bargain."

"I thought you might feel that way, sir," Shibumi smiled, replacing the safe on the floor. He pressed a button on the D-Band and felt the extra power drain from his body. "Not only will that work on us, but it can also be used to power up our troops even further. I'll get to work on mass producing the Key ASAP, sir."

"And what of the children and my former employee?"

"They won't be around here much longer, I can assure you, sir," Shibumi nodded.

"Very good. Oh, and Mr. Mizuno? I would advise you not to fail me. You have a very pretty niece. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to her."

"I understand fully, sir. I will not fail."

Bowing profusely, Shibumi backed out of his boss's room, sweat heavy on his forehead. He felt like a fool, bowing and scraping before the man, but more was at stake than pride. "You," he called out to one of the guards. The man snapped to attention immediately. "Bring the Prodigal Son to me. I desire to talk with him." The guard saluted and dashed off, leaving Shibumi alone to sigh. He only hoped it was worth all the risks.

******

Back in his office, Mr. Kurouji turned to look out the window, watching the sun set. He chuckled to himself, imagining the power he would possess. Just two or three more weeks, he thought. And then... and then both worlds would be eating out of the palm of his hand. Just the way he liked it. The chuckle got louder and heartier, turning into a full laugh. He was still laughing when Takato was brought in to see Shibumi.