Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dimensions Collide ❯ Collision ( Chapter 1 )

Dimensions Collide

By Jack

Let me ask you a question; has anything strange or unexpected happen in the last couple of days? No? Well, what would you think if I told you that in the last few days, existence itself almost cased? Now, I'm not talking the just the Earth, the galaxy or even our universe. I'm talking about the entire multiverse, the collection of all and every universe in existence. Still don't believe me? Well, maybe I'd better start from the beginning…

***

It was a dark and stormy night in Switzerland… but since there is going to be no one in this story who has anything to do with Switzerland or the storm, this is the last thing you're going to hear about the two.

Anyway, getting on to the story…

Three days ago

Somewhere in the United States, where it was a nice sunny afternoon and not in the least bit stormy, we find a house just like any other American house. And in this house we find a perfectly normal brown haired American boy sitting at ordinary computer finishing a perfectly normal (but very well done) story. Yes, this is the picture of normality that everyone would think of if asked to think about it.

"Yes!" exclaimed the boy, "I'm finally done my story!"

As he managed to get over his excitement, he hunched over the keyboard once again. "Right, grammar and spelling are fine, punctuation, plot, flow, everything's there! Now I just need to upload it to FF.Net."

Opening the Internet and typing in the address, the familiar blue and white designs of the famous fan fiction archive came into existence on the screen. A swift click of the mouse brought him to the login screen where he quickly entered his email address and password. A few more clicks opened the menu controlling the upload function and entered the necessary information. Finally everything was set to send the story into the swirling currents of the Internet.

"Alright, all that's left is to push this button and my best story I ever wrote will be out there for everyone to see." Grinned the boy as he with greatly exaggerated movements pushed the button.

But what did happen was something that took the boy completely by surprise. Instead of showing the standard 'Everything went Ok' message, the screen became blurry. It was as if it was loosing focus on the page. The blurred images then began to shift and swirl, the turning and spinning blurred images and broken data formed a whirlpool, sucking everything on the screen into its gaping maw.

"What the…" breathed the boy as he watched the last remnants of the screen vanished into blackness.

It was all over in a couple of seconds, the monitor on whom the image of the web page and his story was left empty and black. Seconds ticked slowly by in silence as the he stared at the screen in stunned amazement. Suddenly in depths of the empty blackness, a small spark of colour appeared in the centre of the screen. The spark grew, eating away the blackness and growing larger.

"No way…" said the boy in awe as details of what it was became visible.

It had now grown to the size of the screen and as the Digiport clicked from closed to open, it pulled Brian, a.k.a Anorexic Chibi into the adventure of his life.

***

"Oooof"

Brian just lay where he fell on what felt somewhat soft like moss, trying to find out what happened and where he was. Looking up above him he could see the distinct outlines of immense trees bending down and almost covering the sky with their heavy burden of leaves. Gazing past the leafy canopy, Brian saw that the sky was covered in a sheet of dark, churning storm clouds that rolled across the sky with frightening speed. The dark ominous felling of the clouds blanketed the entire forest, for that is where he realised he was, in a fearful hushed silence.

As he drank in the view, one thought coursed through his mind. "Man, they're right. The landings do hurt," he groaned.

"Yeah, no kidding. I think I'm going to get a bruise from the way I landed," came a voice.

Brian quickly turned his head to where the voice came from. There, standing a few feet away with her hand outstretched in an invitation to help him up was a girl.

"Thanks," he smiled as he accepted the hand and was pulled back up onto his feet.

After he dusted himself off he took another look at his apparent friend. She was average height, just like him. Her hair was dirty blond in colour and was pulled into a tight ponytail. Gold-rimmed glasses rested comfortably across her nose. She wore a black, short sleeved, shirt with the word GEMINI imprinted on the front in silver letters. A pair of black jeans and sneakers matched the shirt.

"Now," began Brian, "Who are you and what is this place?"

The girl seemed to hesitate before she answered, "Why don't you just call me Renn. As for what this place is, well, your guess is as good as mine. See, I just got here too… uh what is it?" Renn asked as she realised that Brian was looking at her in deep concentration.

"I don't know," he began, "You just seem very… familiar in some way," he shrugged, "Ah, it's probably nothing. So, it seems that we both have been brought here, wherever 'here' is and we need to find out why and how we can get back. So we'd better start form the beginning; what were you doing just before you were brought here?"

"Well, I was sitting at my computer and I had just finished uploading a story I just finished writing, when all of a sudden a thing called a Digiport sucked me into my…what's the mater now? Renn asked again as she saw Brian's eyes go wide in surprise.

"No way," he breathed for the second time this day, "You couldn't be… Renegade?"

Now it was Renn's turn to be surprised, "How did you know my penname?" she demanded.

"Renn… it's me, Anorexic Chibi."

"AC?" she said as she peered closely at the boy standing in front of her, "but how?"

But before Brian could respond they were both interrupted by a very embarrassed sounding voice that seemed to resonate from the very air around them.

Ummm, yeah. I think I can explain that one, it said.

"Who said that?" demanded Renn as she looked around wildly for the speaker. "Show yourself!"

I can't. Renn, AC, it's me, Jack.

"Jack?" exclaimed Brian as he looked around for his friend, "What's going on? Why can't we see you?"

Well, this is going to sound pretty hard to believe but… you two are in a fanfic, my fanfic to be exact. And I hate to tell you but its now terribly out of control.

"Whoa," Brian said in awe, "We're actually inside a real fanfic."

"But how did we get into it…" Renn trailed off as she realised what happened, "The Digiport"

A Digiport?

"Yeah," said Brian as he explained, "Both of us were uploading stories to FFN when a Digiport opened on the screen and pulled us into, well, wherever we are."

Hmmmm. Yes that would make sense. The disruption to the dimensional fabric must have pulled you in when you both simultaneously uploaded your fics. This is worse than I thought. There isn't much time left.

"Whoa, slow down Jack! What disruption?" Brian asked.

"Yeah and what's this all about the dimensional fabric?" demanded Renn.

Ah, well you see the dark villain of this story has attacked the forces that hold the dimensions together and soon they will all collapse. And it seems that you two are the only ones that can stop him.

"What? Us? How the heck are we going to do that?" asked Brian.

I'll explain everything as soon as your reinforcements arrive… Ah, here they are.

Any response from either of the Authors was cut shot by the snapping of twigs and rustling leaves from somewhere in the forest close by.

"Ah ha! I told you I heard voices." A very familiar voice said in triumph.

"No way," Breathed Renn as the speaker and his companions came into view, "It's not possible…"

***

Davis brushed aside the last of the branches and stepped out into the clearing. Without turning around he knew that the rest of the Digidestined followed suit, each glad to be out of that infuriating forest. Davis wasn't sure how exactly he and the others came to be in the forest, only that they were and couldn't find any way out of the maze of trunks and branches until he heard the sound of the voices.

As he took in the sight of the owners of the voices, he was a little disconcerted that both of them stared at them with stunned, surprised expressions while the brown haired boy's mouth hung open in what appeared to be a feeling of awe.

Funny, thought Davis, I thought I heard three voices but there are only two of them. "Uh, hello there. Could you tell us were we are?" he asked out loud.

The boy's mouth just moved up and down as he managed to get out a very strained 'What?' and the girl wasn't much help ether for all she could say in reply was "How is this possible?"

Davis was getting annoyed fast by this and was just about to get angry when a third voice answered the girl's question.

Remember, you two are in a fanfic now.

That seemed to snap the boy out of his awe-induced trance. "Oh yeah, I forgot," he said.

"Forgot what?" asked Kari as she stepped forward.

Instead of answering the question, the girl looked up to the sky, "Wait, can they hear you?" she asked some unknown presence.

No they can't. Only Authors like you two can communicate with me.

"Can hear who?" asked Cody as if he hadn't heard the response from the voice.

The others can't seem to hear that voice, thought Davis, but I can. Why? And why does that voice sound so familiar? Wait, realised Davis, I have hear that voice before! Oh, no! It can't be him! "No! Not you! It can't be you again you stupid Author! Anyone but you!" he cried as he collapsed onto his knees with everyone staring at him as if he had gone mad.

Oh yeah, and Davis. He can hear me too, amended the voice of the Author somewhat belatedly.

***

Renn watched the scene before her as what appeared to be the Digidestined gathered around what appeared to be Davis, as he appeared to have a mental break down.

"Uh, Jack, what just happened?" she asked.

Well, it seems that Davis still has some resentment towards me from the last time we met.

"You mean this has happened before?" she asked incredulously.

No, not this situation in particular but in one of my many other travels to their dimension Davis hit his head and somehow gained the ability to hear me. I thought it would stop when I left but it seems that our situation has changed things.

"Hey, yeah," said Brian, "I remember that fic, 'Voices and Angles' right?"

Yep, that's the one. Of course if you had read it you would have figured that out.

"Hey! I did read it!" replied Renn to the implication, "I just didn't review and that's all."

Yeah, well it's amazing what you can miss.

"Well it's not like I planned this on happening," she grumbled.

"Besides," said Brian. "How did this happen anyway?"

Before Jack could respond, Davis pushed his way into the discussion.

"Yeah, I want to know how I got into this mess and how you three are connected with it," he grumbled as he cast a withering glare towards the sky.

Well, it's nice to see you too Davis…

"Hey Davis, what about the others?" asked Renn as she nodded towards the rest of the Digidestined as they began to sit down on the forest floor.

Davis snorted. "Since I'm the only normal person here, they sent me to find out what's going on."

"Well Davis," said Brian as he deliberately ignored the barb. "It looks like you're the official ambassador for the Fan fiction universes."

Davis brightened slightly as he heard this. "Really? Is it really that important? I'm representing entire universes? Cool."Right, now that we're done stroking Davis' ego…

"Hey!" exclaimed Davis.

I can tell you what happened,he continued as if he wasn't interrupted.

As both of you know, this is a fanfic but what this really is, is a Blank.

"Whoa, really?" said Renn.

"Man, I've never even seen one before," said Brian as he looked around him.

"A Blank?" asked Davis.

"Oh yeah, you don't know," said Brian.

"Hmmm, looks like we'll have to start from the beginning," said Renn.

"Ok, lets see," said Brain as he tried to find the best way to explain things to their companion. "It's like this Davis, as you know, there is more than one universe that exists like the Digital World and your world. But those are just two of an infinite amount of different universes."

"But how is that possible?" asked Davis as he sat down on a nearby log. "How can each one be different?"

"It's all a matter of possibilities and chance Davis," continued Renn, "A new universe is created after an event in another universe. Look at it this way, think of a universe as a river flowing along. Now it comes to a fork in the stream that represents an event, like you sitting down on that log. The river separates into two different directions, or universes, one in which you sat down on the log, the other might be that you decide not to. This creates two new universes and this keeps on happening in each one. Splitting and dividing an infinite number of times over."

In our universe for example, we Authors have the greatest ability over any other universe for our imaginations to move between the other universes and watch what happens.

"And meddle in other peoples business," shot back Davis.

Only when necessary to correct anything that goes wrong Davis… Like you being able to hear me. But even so, there are universes where I wasn't there and you never ended up hearing me.

"Which brings us back to the Blank universe," continued Brian. "These are extremely rare. They happen when a universe possibility creates a new universe where absolutely nothing exists. There was no Big Bang, not even the smallest trace of matter anywhere. If an Author is very lucky to find one, his power over that universe is limitless. He can create the universe himself, in any way they would like."

"You mean to tell me," interrupted Davis, "That here, in this Blank universe, this guy is in all aspects, God?" Davis cast a finger up towards the sky.

Renn scratched the back of her head, "Well, yeah I guess you could think of it that way."

"Oh great! I'm stuck in a universe where an idiot is in charge," sighed Davis.

Hey! Watch it Davis, I may not have all my power because of what happened, I still have enough to throw a few lightning bolts. And the clouds above let loose with a threatening clap of thunder to emphasize the point.

"Speaking of which," Brian quickly interjected before things got out of hand, "What did happen?"

Well, it's kind of really embarrassing really, Even without a face to see his emotions, the feeling of regret and embarrassment could be easily heard in the voice. I found this universe a few days ago, purely by accident. I started creating as soon as I realised what it was. I had just finished the landscaping and scenery when I turned to the challenge of creating the toughest, the vilest, and the most evil enemy ever. And, well, that's when I goofed…

"Wait, are you saying what I think you're saying?" asked Renn.

Ummm, yeah, that's what I'm saying…

"Awww, man Jack!" exclaimed Brian. "How could you have made the biggest mistake in the book?"

I don't know! I guess I was so excited from finding this place that I wasn't thinking! Sorry!

"Whoa! Hold on a sec here!" yelled Davis "What mistake? What did he do this time?"

Renn sighed. "He broke the biggest, most important rule that we Authors follow when dealing with Blank universes: Never, ever, let an incredibly powerful enemy know you exist."

"Why? What can happen?" asked Davis.

"Because there is a chance, admittedly a small one, that he will be able to take control of the universe from the Author. Which seems to have happened here," explained Brian as he looked up into the sky.

"Wait, are you telling me that we're here in this out of control universe, up against an enemy that has god like abilities and that all this is his fault!" said Davis.

"Yep, that just about sums it up," said Renn as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I knew it! I knew that you were responsible for this!" said Davis as he shook a fist at the invisible presence above them.

Hey, I said I was sorry. Besides, there is still a chance to stop him.

That got Davis going. "How the heck are we supposed to stop him? He has all your 'godly powers'!" he ranted.

No, I said that he has most of my power; he doesn't have all of it. He only managed to get a small amount before I noticed what he was trying to do but unfortunately it was enough that I couldn't stop him. He and I have been fighting for control ever since.

Brian sighed. "Great, so how do we help you fight him?"

Even though he has most of my power, he still needs to follow the rules I set out for this universe, at least for now. That means that he has a physical form and can be killed. You guys have to find him and destroy him before he gets too much power to be stopped.

"Ok, that sounds easy enough!" exclaimed Brian, who was in a better mood now that he had a task to do, "let's get going!"

Hold on a sec AC, there's more you should know before you go.

"What? More surprises?" shouted Davis.

Unfortunately, yes.

"What's the problem Jack?" asked Renn.

Well, I don't know how yet but this guy has somehow discovered a way to use my connection to our world for his own purposes, he's infiltrating FF.Net and using it to gain access to the other dimensions. Once there, he pulls any evil that's present in the universe and absorbs it to make him stronger. You must hurry! You don't have much time! As he absorbs the evil, the stresses on the dimensional fabric are causing all sorts of tears and disruptions.

"Like the one that brought us here?" asked Brain.

Yes.

"What kinds of disruptions are there going to be? And how powerful?" asked Renn.

They could be anything ranging from small rips in the space-time fabric to outright tears, reality or time warping, things and objects disappearing and reappearing to the point where…

Before the sentence could be finished the very air around them crackled and shot out great bolts of lighting, a loud rumble sounded which was quickly replaced by the yelps of surprise of a large group of people who were rather unceremoniously dumped onto the forest floor as the tear that brought them disappeared as it resealed itself.

"…To the point where the entire group of 01 Digidestined are transported to this universe," finished Renn as she stared at the pile of humans and Digimon before her.

Yep, apparently…

***

Joe Kido groaned as he managed to open his eyes and was confronted by a familiar blurry haze. He groaned again, "Uh, could someone hand me my glasses?" he asked as he felt around the ground around him.

"Uh… here you go… Joe," said a hesitant voice.

Joe turned towards the voice and the hand offering the glasses. "Thanks Matt," Joe said as he recognised the blond hair of his friend through the blur. "Hey, is there anything wrong Matt? Your voice seems different," as he put on the glasses he let out a yelp of surprise, "You're not Matt!" As he blinked and looked around he saw that they were surrounded by a group of people each of who were looking at them with looks of surprise, though two of them were less than the others.

As usual, Tai was the first to take action in this situation and was on his feet already moving towards the strangers. "Who are you? Why did you bring us here? Where is here?

And why do you all have Digimon?" he demanded.

One of the two, the girl with ponytail, stepped forward towards Tai. "Calm down Tai…" she began calmly.

"How do you know my name!" he interrupted.

The girl sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "Look, we're not responsible for bringing you here. You really shouldn't even be here."

Before Tai could come back with a response, the boy beside the girl stepped forward. "Ok, it seems that we need to slow down a bit here, let's start with some introductions. My name is Brian, and this," he pointed to the girl with the ponytail, "is Renegade, we're Authors," he said as if being an Author had some special meaning.

"All right, we know who you two are but who are your friends with the Digimon?" asked Matt as he indicated the others with a nod of his head who at that moment were just getting over their shock of seeing the new arrivals.

"Well, that's Davis, Cody and Yolei," said Brian as he pointed to three of the group but seemed to hesitate before naming the last two, "and this is, uh, T.K and Kari."

Upon hearing their names the younger 01 versions broke free of the protective grasps of their older siblings and ran up to the rather startled looking T.K and Kari.

"Hi!" chirped the young Kari, "do you two have the same names as us?" she asked as she first circled around the older Kari before moving onto T.K while the young T.K moved up to and looked up at the surprised girl.

"Wow! You're b…bu…. beutif… you're pretty!" he managed to get out happily as he looked up at her.

"Uh, thank you," Kari smiled as she bowed and looked over at her T.K with eyebrow raised and small smile as if to say 'You were so cute!', the boy promptly blushed under the gaze.

As all this was going on, Tai, Matt and the other Digidestined were looking from the older to younger pairs in front of them with confused expressions. Finally, and to Brian and Renn's surprise, Tai made the connection.

"…Kari?" he whispered as he stepped a pace forward.

A small nervous laugh escaped her lips before Kari answered. "Yeah Tai, it's me."

"But you… You're bigger… How…?" Stammered her, technically, older brother.

"Yeah, I think I can answer that. You see Tai, this isn't really your Kari and this isn't really your T.K, Matt," said Renn as she pointed to the older T.K and Kari.

"What?" Tai and Matt said in unison.

Brian tried to ease their confusion. "You see, well, technically they are T.K and Kari, just not that T.K and Kari," he nodded towards the younger two of the pair.

At that moment Izzy chose to get himself into the conversation. "Are you saying that there is some kind of time travel involved?" he asked.

Brian struggled with an answer that would somehow make sense. "Yes but not exactly. You see, it's kind 'a, well… Ah, Renn? A little help please?"

Seeing the trouble her friend was in Renn quickly came to the rescue. "It's not really time travel Izzy. The older versions of T.K and Kari aren't actually from your dimension. In their universe time moves a fraction quicker than it does in yours. It's just one of the differences that exist between the two."

Izzy listened to the explanation and nodded a few times to show that he at least understood enough to be satisfied. After a few moments he spoke up, "Ok, I get it but there's one thing I don't understand. How do you know all this?"

"Well, as Brian said before, he and I are both Authors and in the dimension we're from that gives us the ability to view the experiences of other people in other dimensions. Think of it as something like a user viewing a system's files and each file is a different universe," explained Renn.

"So can you change what happens in those universes like in a computer program?" countered Izzy.

"Only slightly, except in this dimension," said Brian. "But I think Davis should explain the rest, Renn and I need to talk."

Davis jumped a little at that. "What?" he asked.

"Well you are the ambassador, aren't you?" asked Renn as she looked towards Davis.

"Well, yeah! I am!" Davis exclaimed as he puffed out his chest, which incited a round of giggles from those who knew him.

Renn and Brian watched as both new and old Digidestined gather around Davis as he launched into his explanation of what has been going on.

I just know that he's going to insult me.

"I wouldn't worry about it Jack," laughed Renn before turning serious, "besides we have other concerns."

"Yeah," Brian spoke up, "so far we're the only ones here that doesn't have some type of weapon or attack. We're going to need some firepower if we're going to beat this guy."

Yeah, I suppose going against him throwing rocks won't do it. Ok Renn you first, what do you need? But I have to warn you my powers aren't that strong so decide quickly.

It only took a few seconds for her to decide. "Ok, I've got it. Give me a magical bow and arrow."

As soon as she said it, as if by magic, an intricately carved long bow materialised on the ground along side a quiver full of arrows in a puff of Author creativity.

As she gathered the weapon from the ground she looked it over. "Very nice Jack. It looks strong."

I thought you'd like it. Now, the quiver contains your standard fire, ice and lightning arrows but I've included a special type, an explosive arrow. Shoot it and in three seconds after it hits it will explode. Also, the supply of arrows will slowly replenish itself over time, sorry but that's the best I can do.

"Oh I think I'll manage," Renn mischievously smiled as she tested the bowstring.

Brian stepped forward, "Ok Jack, I want everything you can give me. I want explosives, guns, rockets, the works!"

Ok, now that's more like it! Here goes!

As before a small puff of smoke erupted from the ground and when the vapours cleared only a small brown leather satchel rested on the forest floor.

Hmmm, that doesn't seem right.

As Jack's presence probed the existence of the bag, Brian moved up to it and reached inside and pulled out the one thing that no one would have thought would come out of there.

"A banana?" exclaimed Brian as he looked at the yellow fruit in his hand, "Jack, I asked for the equivalent of the entire US military and you give me a banana?"

Well, not really. It seems that that's a really powerful banana. Here, point it at that tree and squeeze.

"That tree?" asked Brain as he looked towards the closest one, "Ok, but I don't see what it'll do."

As he took careful aim at the tree, and feeling quite silly in the process, Brian tightened his grip on the base of the fruit. Instantly a bolt of pure energy shot out from the tip of the banana, flew through the air and impacted with the trunk of the tree with a deafening crack.

"Whoa," gasped Renn as both she and Brian stared first at the gapping hole in the tree, and then to the still smoking banana in his hand, "that's some freaky fruit."

After a few seconds of surprise, Brian managed to find his voice. "Uh Jack? What was that?"

Like I said, that's a really powerful banana. It seems that, because of my power being so low, while the spirit of the weapon was created, the form however got a little messed up.

"I'll say,"

But it looks like the other stuff is there though and in working order too. Check it out.

Brian shrugged and reached back into the bag, pulling out various fruits and vegetables. After the bag was empty Brian looked at the pile and sighed. "This isn't an armament, it's a fruit basket."

It still is an armament, just look.

As the Jack's voice named each item, it moved slightly around the ground to call attention to itself.

Ok, you've got the apple hand grenades, orange smoke bombs, and the potatoes are landmines, I call them Les Bombs de Terre. The onions are…

"Wait, let me guess," interrupted Brian, "tear gas?"

You got it. Now the watermelon in a demolition charge, pull the stem off and you have five minutes to get as far away as you can before whatever you want blown up, becomes many smoking bits.

"And this all fits into the satchel? Cool," said Brian as he stuffed everything back into the leather bag until he held a bunch of grapes. "Ok, lets see what these are," he said as he turned them over and over, "Anti-personnel grenades?"

Nope.

"Poison gas capsules?"

No

"Smoke screen dispensers?"

You're way off.

"Suicide pills?"

Wrong'o

"Come on Jack," Brian sighed, exasperated, "what kind of weapons are they?"

That's just it, they aren't weapons, I figured that you would get hungry on your journey and I packed the grapes as a snack.

"Oh, good thinking," was all Brian said before he popped a few grapes into his mouth.

As soon as Renn recovered from her small snickering spell, she became serious once again. "Ok, we've got the firepower. Now where do we find the bad guy?"

***

Yolei watched as the two strange Authors huddled together a few meters away in what seemed to be an involved conversation with the other, invisible Author, with godly powers that only they and Davis can hear. This day was getting weirder and weirder.

"Hi Yolei, how are you holding out?" asked a voice behind her.

Turning, the purple haired Digidestined found Kari, their Kari, standing just behind her. "Ok I guess, if you don't count the fact that we've been pulled out of our own dimension along with the original Digidestined to team up with three 'Authors' to help stop someone who is insanely powerful from destroying existence itself and I've just seen a banana blast a hole in a tree the size of my head. Other than that, everything's just peachy."

Kari winced, "Yeah, I'm having a tough time accepting all this too," she said as she looked towards her younger self, playing with both T.K's.

"I'm sorry," apologized Yolei, "This must be even more difficult for you and T.K, what with seeing your younger selves and your brothers and all. But you know what?"

"What?" Asked Kari as she sat down beside her friend to watch the digimon and humans alike playing with each other.

Yolei shook her head before answering. "No matter how weird things get, I can just tell myself that things can't possibly get any wor…"

"NO!" "DON'T SAY THAT!"

Both girls managed to look up in time to see both Brian and Renn running in a mad rush towards them. A second later they both tackled Yolei to the ground.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," gasped Brian from on top of her.

"What?" screamed Yolei, "Get off me! Now!"

"Not until you promise not to say that," said Renn as she pinned the girl's legs.

"Say what?" grunted Yolei as with one giant heave, pushed both of the Authors off her, "All I was going to say was 'Things couldn't possibly get worse'!"

"NO! Argh!" yelled Renn again, "she said it!"

Brian was immediately in front of the girl grabbing her shirt with both hands and drawing her close to his face. "You fool! Don't you see what you've done?" he hissed, "This is an out of control universe! It can always get worse!"

"Even with all that's happened?" gasped Yolei who was startled by the voice's venom.

"Especially with all that has happened," Brian growled menacingly.

Before anyone else could speak, the clouds above rolled back and let loose with an immense clap of thunder and the first heavy drops of rain of what was promising to be a very wet, windy and miserable storm.

"Great, just great," muttered Renn.

***

As the trees thinned and the branches parted the wet and soggy group were met with a menacing cliff that dropped off sharply in front of them to the valley floor hundreds of feet below.

"Whoa, nice view," commented Tai as he peered over the side and was quickly pulled back by scolding Sora.

"At least that storm let up," said Davis as he rang out his jacket and cast a withering glace towards Yolei who just shrugged in response.

Mimi looked around the group and sighed, "Ok, we're here, now what? … Oh," she said as she turned to see both Davis and the Authors, their heads tilted at an angle and nodding occasionally, listening to that voice that only they could hear.

Renn nodded her head one a final time and thanked the voice before turning towards the rest of the Digidestined, "Ok, this is what's going on so far. There are three places where Jack thinks our enemy could be hiding and gathering his power," she moved towards the edge of the cliff and pointed down towards its centre, "down there is a city were some weird energy is being given off, we don't know what it is so I'll take Tai and his team down to check it out."

"Following the ridge of mountains," continued Brian as he pointed down the trail to their left, "there's some sort of castle there. That too is producing energy waves that we don't like. I'll take Davis and the rest of you to look and see what's going on."

"But you said there was three places. Where's the third?" asked Joe nervously.

"The third," explained Renn, "is right across this valley. If nether of us find the enemy then he'll have to be there. We'll meet in the middle and attack when we're ready."

"Well, why doesn't your friend know where he is?" asked the younger T.K.

Brian decided to answer the little boy's question. "His power is too stressed by fighting to find the exact position, this was the best he could do. And that means that he won't be able to help us from now on, he'll be to busy fighting to spare the extra energy. So from here on out we're on our own."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" exclaimed Davis, "Let's get out there and kick this guy's butt!" This was met by a loud cheer from both Digidestined groups who immediately separated into the two parts of the search teams, all except one.

"Izzy?" prompted Renn as she moved up to the boy who was furiously typing away at his computer.

"It doesn't make any sense," groaned the genius, "nothing here follows the laws of physics! It's impossible!"

Renn couldn't help but laugh at that, "Izzy, in this universe those laws don't necessarily apply," she scolded playfully.

"But… That's… Not… Possible," said the boy evenly through gritted teeth, "The moment the laws of physics stop applying to things is when pigs start fly…ing" he trailed off as he followed Renn's outstretched finger as it pointed towards the sky.

"Wow, those porkers are really making good time," commented Brian as he watched them quickly disappear into the distance until they were just pink dots on the horizon.

"Speaking of which," said Renn as she dragged the still stuttering Izzy after the others, "We'd better get flying too if we're going to save anything. Good luck Brian," she flipped off a salute and disappeared down a curve in the trail that would lead her down into the valley.

Brian paused a moment to gaze out onto the valley and think until a harsh voice interrupted his musings. "So what's the hold up? Are we going to go or not?"

"You guys go on ahead Davis," he said without taking his eyes off the vista before him, "I'll catch up in a minute."

As Davis and the 02 Digidestined moved down the trail, Brian was left almost alone in a contemplative silence. He sighed one more time and turned away from the valley, moving towards the path that would bring him to the first obstacle in his mission, but paused before he reached it, "Well Jack," he said, "I don't know if you can still hear this but if you can, wish us luck," and then he took off running to catch the others.

And as the silence descended once again on the area like a comforting blanket, a single voice spoke but failed to disturb the quiet and then faded away to fight the unseen enemy in the fight for existence itself.

Good luck Brian, you're going to need it, it said, because all of you are our only hope.

***

Well, that's it for now, but check back soon for the next chapter in this exciting series!
~Jack