Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon Tamers: The Next Level ❯ Episode 11: Return to the Digital World ( Chapter 11 )

"Chéz Takato," Kazu repeated weakly, adjusting to his new surroundings. Once he had done so, he let out a low whistle. He and the others were standing in a large courtyard just outside a large stone building, their partners only a few feet away from them. Kazu estimated that the building in front of them was easily as large as the school back in the Real World. What surprised him even more were the goings-on everywhere else around him.

"That's a lot of Digimon..." Kenta said, mouth slightly agape. The surrounding town was rife with Digimon as if it were an everyday thing, which Kenta supposed it was. If it hadn't been for the fact that everybody around weren't human, he could have sworn it was a normal town back home, including lights. Though the sky was black for night, the place was alight with a myriad of lamps. The only thing missing was the traffic.

"See?" Henry said to his sister. "I told you they worked."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Suzie said, still a little disoriented. "I think I left my stomach back in the Real World somewhere..."

"So this is what you've been doing..." Jeri said softly. Takato gave a start; surprised that Jeri had spoken to him.

"Yeah, well," he said, embarrassed. "I had a lot of free time."

"I'll say," Rika said, adding her commentary. "Renamon didn't do this place justice."

"Wait until you see the inside," Takato said, a lopsided grin on his face. "Shall we?"

Meeting back up with his or her partners, everyone followed Takato in through what could only be the front door. The entrance hall was vast, with an arched roof. Despite the fact that everything was made of stone, it was surprisingly warm. He led them up to a large door, knocking loudly. A small port opened up, and Takato announced himself.

"I'm back, and I've brought some friends."

The port closed again and a second later the large door opened up and a Gotsumon made himself seen. With a small bow, he said, "Welcome back, Master Takato. Ahh, and Mister Terriermon as well."

Takato winced. "Haven't I told you not to call me that?"

"Of course, Master Takato," the rocky Rookie bowed. "You're back sooner than we expected. Have things not gone well?"

"You might say that," Takato said evasively. Seeing Suzie yawn, he added, "Would you please see my friends to some rooms? Treat them with the same respect as you do me."

"Of course," Gotsumon bowed. "This way please."

"It has been a long day," Rika yawned. "Even I'm beat."

Gotsumon lead them down one of the many hallways inside the complex, stopping at a set of four doors. "I'm afraid these old storage rooms are the best we have. They're empty at the moment, so I'll have someone bring some bedding."

"Only four rooms?" Kazu said. "But there are six of us."

"Dibs on a single room," Rika and Jeri said simultaneously before the words had left Kazu's mouth. Kazu could only stare, pole axed.

"Damn," Kenta said. "And I was looking forward to having my own room."

"Well," Henry said, "Suzie and I could share a room, which just leaves..."

"No!" Kazu said. "No way!"

"Uh-uh!" Kenta protested. "There's no way I'm sharing a room with him!"

"I wouldn't share a room with you if my life depended on it!"

"I wouldn't share a room with you for all the money in Japan!"

"Well, I..."

The sound of a trio of doors closing silenced any further arguments between the two. Turning their backs on each other, they both said, "This is all your fault."

******

"Ugh, I thought those two would never be quiet," Rika said once she and Renamon were firmly in their new room. Even after they had finally relented to sharing a room, the two had continued to argue.

"Just like old times," Renamon chuckled.

True to his word, Gotsumon had sent up a pair of mattresses and bedding to go with them. The two mattresses were pushed together on one side of the room, which Rika and Renamon were now reclining on.

"In old times I would have remembered to bring a change of clothes," Rika sighed. "I didn't even bring any pajamas."

"Well, now," Renamon answered, wrapping her arms around Rika's shoulders. "Is that really that much of a problem?"

Rika returned the embrace, smiling dreamily and leaning in. "I suppose... that it's not... so much... of a problem..." she murmured in between kisses.

******

The next morning, everyone save Kazu and Takato were gathered in what the Gotsumon called the Meeting Hall. The plan was to discuss what the next move was, but nobody really had any ideas. Everybody was sitting around, save Suzie, whom Henry said was still asleep, and Jeri who was noticeably absent the meeting. It wasn't long before Takato entered the room.

"Everybody sleep well?" he asked, grin on his face as usual. He was greeted with murmurs and much shaking of heads.

"It was, uhh," Henry said carefully, "rather hard with all the noise."

"You were across the hall from it," Kenta said. "I was just about right next to it."

Just as Rika opened her mouth to respond, the last latecomer, Kazu, entered, scratching the top of his head and yawning. "Morning," he said lazily. Smirking, he added "Everybody sleep well?"

"Well," Rika began, "not exactly. Not with you snoring so damn loudly!"

"Like a freaking chainsaw," Kenta added with an angry grumble. "I didn't know whether to cover my ears with my pillow or your mouth."

Kazu reddened noticeably. "My snoring is not that loud! Isn't that right, Guardromon?"

"Well," Guardromon began tactfully, "it wasn't all that loud..."

"You're no help at all," Kazu sighed.

"Sorry..."

"Ahem," Takato broke in loudly. Kazu quickly settled into an open spot near Guardromon, redness all but gone from his face. "Now that we've all had a rest, we need to figure out what to do."

"Well," Henry began, "What do we know? According to what Shibumi told Takato, Hypnos is planning on bringing an army of Digimon over to the Real World. Obviously, as large of a group as would be required for that wouldn't be all that hard to locate."

"And that's where our scouts come in," Takato nodded. "We've got agents of our own out gathering information for us."

"You know what," Kazu spoke up. "I think it's about time you fill us in on everything that's been happening since you got here. I mean, you've got this large place, a network of scouts and who knows what else. What's up with all of this?"

Murmurs of agreement came from all present, and Takato nodded. "It's rather a long story, but here it is..."

******

Janyuu paced nervously back and forth in the empty lecture hall, trying to piece together the events of the past 48 hours and how they fit in with everything else he knew. Hypnos was suddenly much more active than in a long time, and suspiciously more low-key. The problem was that his network of friends no longer included an inside man into the strange government office with Yamaki notably absent.

Why hadn't the man even contacted him? The camaraderie between the two men that had begun back when D-Reaper was still a current threat surely meant that Yamaki would say something if he was suddenly let go. Janyuu supposed that it could only mean that the parting was less than sweet.

As if all of that wasn't bad enough, Digimon had been sighted in the Real World. No official reports acknowledged that the incident the night before was anything other than a regrettable accident, but Janyuu rarely paid any attention to them. One of the benefits of his teaching job at the college was that he had access to a wide variety of outside information, the gist of which suggested that the government was hard at work squelching any chance of information leaking to the general public. Try as they might, they couldn't stop the gossip machine, which was abuzz with talk about a monster that looked like it was "out of one of those old video games or something."

Janyuu coupled all that with the puzzling array of equipment that had been confiscated from his son's room. Throw in a bit of old friends, stir well, and what did you get? A recipe for trouble if there ever was one.

It was then that the first of the guests that Janyuu had invited arrived. She was tall and slender, with light blonde hair and fair complexion. Though the years had added a few wrinkles, there was no mistaking her. "Daisy," Janyuu said, happy to finally see a friendly face, something that had been in short supply lately. "It's good to see you again."

"As soon as I heard the news, I knew I had to come here," Daisy answered. "After what happened four years ago, I thought our old Digimon project had come to an end."

"That seems to be a common sentiment these days," the new arrival, Babel put in. The years seemed to have touched him little, no doubt augmented by the lack of hair on his head to turn gray. "Looks like we were all wrong."

"For better, or worse," Janyuu nodded. "Unfortunately, right now it appears to be for worse. Digimon are indeed back, and trouble has come with them."

"Surely we would have heard something about it by now," Daisy said, brow wrinkled. "Last time the whole world knew about it almost as soon as it became common knowledge."

"Obviously," Dolphin said, entering the room, "it hasn't become common knowledge yet. Three guesses as to why." For him, the passage of years was marked by streaks of gray hair among the brown.

"And the first two don't count," Janyuu chuckled wryly. Looking around the room he smiled faintly. "Who would have guessed that after all these years the Monster Makers would be reunited again?"

"We seem to be missing a couple of members," Babel corrected.

"Curly called," Janyuu informed him. "Her flight was delayed, but she should be here soon. As for the last two, well, they're part of why we're here."

"And why exactly are we here? You weren't too specific on the phone."

Janyuu cleared his throat and took a breath before beginning his explanation.

"As we all know, four years ago a seal was put into place to prevent transfers of more than basic data from the Digital World to the Real World. This meant that humans and Digimon were kept in their own separate worlds. We accepted that as the end, albeit an anti-climactic one, to Digimon. We were wrong. A couple of nights ago, there was an incident in a residential section of Shinjuku. Buildings were damaged, and some were even destroyed. Officially, it was due to a military test that went wrong, but a number of unofficial sources reported that it couldn't have been anything but a Digimon."

"Did you call us out here based on a few unofficial sources?"

"If that were all it was, I wouldn't have said anything. However, that was only the first in a string of occurrences. Last night, several residences received a visit from a Hypnos truck. Each one belonged to the parents of the 'Tamers', including my place. They were looking for Takato Matsuki."

"All right," Babel said, "I definitely do not like where this is going. What does Yamaki have to say about this?"

"That's where everything starts to massively fall apart. Yamaki, it seems, no longer has a position in Hypnos. Couple that with the fact that Shibumi has completely dropped off the map, and it paints one nasty picture."

"Tell me you at least have some good news!" Dolphin groaned.

"That depends," Janyuu said, "on what you can make of this."

He tossed a small device onto the table before him, and the others crowded around to see what it was. Picking the device up, Dolphin turned it over and over in his hands. It looked just like a standard pager, a point that Dolphin pointed out.

"When Hypnos came to my house," Janyuu explained, "they left with much of the contents of my son Henry's room. I managed to find this in a compartment under the floor."

Meanwhile, Dolphin had taken off the back cover with a screwdriver from his pocket and was examining the insides. "Off hand I'd say it's some sort of communication device," Dolphin said, "But from whom to whom is the question."

"In that case," Babel replied, "there's only one thing to do. Turn it on and hope someone's listening."

******

"Well," Takato said, "it all happened like this. Before I left for the Digital World, Henry gave me sort of a 'going-away' present, a device he said he hoped would one day allow us to communicate with each other. See, he and I were the only ones who knew that there was still a chance, albeit a slim one, that travel between the worlds could be restored.

"With that in mind, Guilmon and I wandered around the Digital World for several weeks. It wasn't long before we came across a small village of Digimon that was being terrorized by someone stronger. I couldn't just sit back and watch them all get destroyed, so we did the only thing we could and fought for them. He proved no match for us, and ended up fleeing. Fearing he would return, the inhabitants of the village asked us to stay.

"Word spread quickly that one of the Tamers was protecting a village, and Digimon started to come from all around. It's a little embarrassing, but we're sort of famous around the Digital World." Takato gave a small chuckle at this before continuing the story.

"The Digimon were more than happy to help build a place for me to live in exchange for my protection. While all this was happening, I received my first message from Henry, and later he was able to send me more, including cards and all the technology that you can see here. This place just kinda grew and evolved into what it is now. This is the closest thing to a city that the Digital World has ever seen. Who knows? Maybe it will only be the first."

"Man," Kazu said when Takato was finished, "it all sounds so surreal. I might not be able to believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes."

"I find it a little hard to believe myself," Takato agreed. "Be that as it may, this place should work perfectly as a base of operations for us."

"All we need now is an idea of what to do first," Rika summarized. "Which brings us back to the original question..."

"Master Takato!" Gotsumon broke in, rushing into the room. "We've got some reports coming in about an incredibly powerful Digimon that has been spotted causing trouble near the caves to the west."

"Just how powerful are we talking about?" Henry asked. "Ultimate?"

"Well," Gotsumon said nervously, "it would seem from the reports that it's more like... Mega level."

"Mega level," Renamon restated. "Do you suppose it could be part of the invasion force?" If the entire force was that strong, did they even stand a chance? She reminded herself that she shouldn't think that way, but optimism came reluctantly in their position.

"Only one way to find out," Rika said, standing up from her chair. "Even if it's not, it's better if we don't risk it being recruited. At the very least, we can't just let it rampage." Either situation worked for her. If it was truly a Mega level Digimon, it could only be fought with another Mega level, like, say... Sakuyamon.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Kazu said. "Let's go out there and take that thing on!" After being so long without the excitement of being with his partner, Kazu was itching for some action.

"Back the truck up!" Rika interjected. "No offense to you or Guardromon, but you wouldn't last five seconds against a Mega."

"I can always provide backup, be a distraction. It worked against Beelzemon and D-Reaper."

"We need someone to stay behind and let Suzie know where we've gone," Henry told him. Though the thought of leaving Suzie behind worried him, he felt he had an obligation to help out, no matter what that amounted to.

"Kenta can do that!" Kazu answered.

"Says who?" Kenta protested. Glancing over at Henry, he hastily amended, "I mean... That is... I wanna..."

"We don't have time to argue," Takato decided. "Kazu, if you want to come then do so, just be careful. Kenta, you stay here with Suzie." Kenta's face fell, and Takato added, "Tell you what, you're in charge while I'm gone."

Kenta's chest puffed up with pride. "I won't let you down, Takato. Marine Angemon and I are ready to lay our lives on the line if need be."

Marine Angemon did a miniature double take at that last line, but sighed when he realized that the idea of power had gone to Kenta's head. "Right," he nodded.

"Now that that's all settled," Takato said, "it's time for us to go. You two ready?" he asked Henry, Rika and their partners.

Rika smirked in anticipation. "I've been ready for this for years."

"As have I," Renamon agreed. There was nothing remotely like the bond she felt with Rika as when they biomerged. No other feeling could come close.

"I'm pretty sure I remember how to do this," Henry said.

"Moumantai," Terriermon said, leaping onto Henry's shoulder. "It's just like riding a bike!"

"But you don't know how to ride a bike..." Henry said. "Forget it. Let's go!"

"You ready, Guilmon?" Takato asked. For him it hadn't been so long since the last time, but the thrill had yet to fade. Guilmon nodded eagerly, and they all headed out of the house.

"Don't worry about us!" Kenta called after them. "I'll hold down the fort!"

Once they were outside, Takato, Henry and Rika held their digivices out in front of them. In unison, they called "Biomerge Activate!"