Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Shuffle ❯ Mission Start ( Chapter 23 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The Shuffle

Chapter Twenty-three - Mission Start

By: Lord Archive

Digimon belongs to Toei Animation and Akiyoshi Hongo. They are used without permission or the intent of profit. All rights reserved.

--

Takeru's Journal:

Spring flew by and little Ai was quickly not being so little. But babies are like that. It was June before we knew it and the next stage of the mission finally began.

--

Mimi was piling toppings onto a hot dog she just purchased from a vendor.

A man in black came up behind her and ordered one for himself. As he added condiments to his own, he asked the girl, "So where's your boyfriend?"

"Dealing with a war and perhaps spending too much time with another girl," Mimi replied to the DTA agent neutrally.

"Why is he spending time with her?" the man wondered.

"With over two-hundred Chosen now in eastern areas of Asia and more than a hundred in western parts of Northern America, the logistics of keeping track of all of them is difficult. Then there's tracking tens of thousands of enemy troops. Ken is working with her to plot out where everyone is and planning troop movements," Mimi explained.

"So it's just a working relationship," the agent noted.

"It was digimon related issues that started my relationship with Ken. I'm mostly recovered and don't need as much help anymore. Now he's spending several hours a day with her. And her life goal is to be a mother so the unwritten ban on us having an abortion won't be a factor to her," Mimi corrected.

The agent shrugged. "That can be an issue. Doesn't mean he'll dump a pretty girl like you for her."

"She'll be willing to go a step farther to claim him. It'll still be his decision rather to accept her, but I fear by the time she makes her move, he would be open to her." Mimi pouted. "And I can hardly interfere in their job. They're trying to figure out a full war. Something I want no part in. It is something that must be done to keep peace in the Digital World yet they would be plotting the deaths of thousands if the worst case scenario hits, which is something I can't condone."

"I see." The agent sighed. "You know, I wish you'd give me more specifics on this stuff. You won't even give me the names of the kids in the United States with digimon."

"I feel I can trust you, yet I do not know the people you answer to. You would certainly be willing to help us if we needed it, but can you honestly say the same for your bosses? Isn't it possible that such information could be used against them?" Mimi returned.

"I trust the bosses I have now." He then frowned. "However, one stupid politician could screw that up."

"Exactly," Mimi chirped.

"You still realize that in the last three months the number of people with digimon has quadrupled. Nearly one-thousand world wide at last estimate and it's not slowing down. Your friend's digimon videos has spread like a virus. There's even an Internet rumor that watching them will get you a digimon," the agent related.

"Well, when your bosses have digimon, they can find out everything for themselves. And the politicians should consider a world with billions of digimon on top of billions of humans. It may happen sooner than anyone thinks is possible," Mimi warned.

"Not a happy concept with areas of the world already experiencing food shortages," the agent commented with dread.

Mimi wagged a finger at him. "You're forgetting that there would be farms from TWO worlds to support the population growth. The problem I'm dreading most is a nation trying to claim areas of the Digital World as its own with no regard to the digimon already inhabiting it. Thankfully a lot of the new Chosen don't have the ability to get to the Digital World by themselves and portals are only large enough to send at most two dozen people with digimon. If we detect any portal larger than that, or repeated use of a portal in one area, we should be able to do something about it."

--

"Well, I would be introducing Ishida Yamato, but he called off due to an illness. Let's all give him prayers for a speedy recovery," the television host intoned. "Most times when a guest calls off at the last minute we end up in a mad rush to fill in for him. Ishida was kind enough to supply us with a replacement. It is my pleasure to introduce his digimon partner, Gabumon!"

The fur coat wearing lizard nervously stepped out from behind a curtain and waved at the audience and cameras as he made his way to the guest chair, the cheers and applause from the crowd making him want to run away. "Ah, hello, everyone!"

"Welcome Gabumon. You're giving me quite the honor of being the first to interview a being from another dimension," the host began.

"I guess it's also an honor being the first to be interviewed," Gabumon replied shakily with a chuckle.

"There's no need to be nervous. Ishida never had a problem," the host noted.

"Oh, there was a time he was scared of being in front of everyone. He worked through it. The only times I took center stage was in the middle of battle," Gabumon replied sheepishly.

"From what I understand, you can be one of the strongest digimon," the host stated.

Gabumon nodded shallowly. "Well, yes. But only with Yamato's help and energy. As I am now, by myself, I could at best hold my own against most adult digimon. It's working with Yamato I can battle even strongest evil digimon and win."

"You make it sound like he's the real hero even though you're the one doing the fighting," the host pointed out.

Gabumon shook his head. "That's not what I'm saying at all. Yamato and I are partners. He's not my 'glorified cheerleader' as some people have put it. We're partners. I need his energy, and he needs me to fight for him. Together we can do amazing things that would be impossible when we're apart."

"Talking with you is certainly showing me the other side is wrong as well. You're not Ishida's pet," the host added.

Gabumon frowned. "Certainly not."

"I know Ishida has been asked what the Digital World is like, I wonder what do you think of Earth?" the host questioned.

Gabumon paused in thought. "It's very... orderly, I guess. There seems to be a reason for everything. You've got clocks that tell time and can set them to your subway. In the Digital World there's little care to know what second or minute it is. And if you needed a ride from a Trailmon or a Locomon, you can hardly expect them to be some where the same time each day."

The host nodded thoughtfully. "Yamato said much the same in reverse at how chaotic the Digital World is."

"Before meeting Yamato, I never thought about how having a scorching desert next to ice fields would be considered strange or weird. Course I was rather young when we first met, so I don't think that actually means much," Gabumon finished with a chuckle.

"Now do you have anything to say about the recent growth in the number of Chosen?" the host asked. "I can't even say 'children with digimon' now as many adults have them as well."

"It does seem to be for more reason the current troubles in the Digital World. There's even a team of digimon partnered to people in Antarctica now where there has been no trouble yet," Gabumon replied. "I'm beginning to wonder if having a digimon now no longer means there's something you need to do. It may now be finding your digimon will only increase the size of your family."

--

Hikari walked into a building Yamato's band had used for practice but was now dominated by computers and a large map of the Digital World. "How is the war faring?" she asked in a slight teasing tone.

"Amazed that we've been able to keep zero human casualties," Ken admitted. "Though so far, there have been no major impact on their forces either. I do not look forward to a full scale battle of hundreds of Chosen, especially with some having machine digimon for partners."

"It's thanks to the machine type Chosen digimon we've gotten to open a dialogue with the enemy," Miyako added. "This mess with the Metal Empire is proving to be a practice run for dealing with Xuanwumon's dimension."

"Too bad I don't get to practice being a spy," Hikari nervously joked.

"That's one thing we don't have with them. So we really don't know if our attempts to negotiate peace means anything," Miyako admitted.

"The problem is none of them want to commit to any treaty until Mugen Dramon is reborn and approves it," Ken related. "At best we've managed a cease fire that hasn't been closely followed. We're willing to work with them to let them have a Metal Empire, only so long as it does not cause harm to other digimon. We've even been scouting areas where they could build it."

"And as he said, until Mugen Dramon gets reborn, they won't pick one of the options we've set forward," Miyako affirmed. "We're mostly acting as police making sure they don't step out of bounds and try to remove digimon from their homes."

"Well, at least it's not a full scale war out there," Hikari commented.

"You worried about your part of the Xuanwumon mission?" Miyako wondered.

"Yes." Hikari nodded. "I don't know if I can pull this off. To walk amongst angel digimon and yet trying to find out if we need to destroy them. It's not something I'm entirely comfortable with."

"It is asking a lot of you," Ken agreed. "Yet it is still a job that needs to be done. There may even be risks we don't know about, while the rewards of you going may include saving them."

"I know that. I'm not going to back out now," Hikari affirmed.

"With luck we'll have the Metal Empire mess behind us and we'll be able to move forward full force and hammer out a peace deal in Xuanwumon's plane as well," Miyako cheered.

Hikari nodded. "Do you have a list of who else is going to Xuanwumon's plane?"

Ken passed the girl a sheet of paper. "Mimi will be heading a group of data type plant digimon this weekend to get the outside view. They will go there first to 'escape the troubles back home and hope this dimension is better.' Rick from Oklahoma will lead the group that will side with the dark digimon on Monday, 'following the path Mimi and the others made.' Then you and Daisuke will go at the end of next week with the stated intent of chasing after Rick's team as if they were fugitives."

"Considering Rick's group includes the chronic thief from Greece, it wouldn't be a full lie to say I'm going after a criminal," Hikari pointed out.

--

Jyou looked at his girlfriend with wide eyes. "Are you... sure?"

Kasumi nodded with tears in her eyes.

"I... I don't know what to say..." Jyou looked away.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Kasumi asked desperately.

Jyou looked at her seriously. "That's something I can't answer for you."

"We should've seen this coming. Should've planned on it," Kasumi muttered. "I'm scared."

Jyou hugged her tightly. "I'll be by your side. I promise."

"Aren't you going on that mission in a couple months? What will I do then?" Kasumi questioned.

"I'm not one of the big guns. It would not do much if I stayed behind, especially since Sora and Piyomon can take over as healers," Jyou related.

"I... I think part of me wanted this," Kasumi admitted.

A large blue tadpole digimon waddled into the room. "Is something wrong?"

"No, Otamamon, I'm just worried what it means now that I'm partnered to you," Kasumi told her new partner.

Jyou looked upon his girlfriend's digimon for the first time with a worried gaze. "There's a war brewing in the Digital World, with you she may be called to fight and kill in it," Jyou added.

Otamamon frowned. "I don't wanna kill anyone."

"I don't either," Kasumi agreed.

"Hopefully that choice won't be taken from you," Jyou replied. He then smirked. "But there is one thing we can do now."

Kasumi pouted at him. "What's that?"

"Go to the Digital World." Jyou then looked at Otamamon. "I'm sure my partner, Ikkakumon, would love to meet you."

--

"Geez, you're getting big," Hikari said teasingly as she lifted up her niece. "How is little Ai doing?"

"Eating, pooping and sleeping," Sora groused.

Hikari looked at the young mother. "How are you doing?"

"I've been better," Sora admitted. "She's keeping me up all night long."

"I wanna help but I don't have hands," Poyomon chirped.

"At least he warns me if something is wrong," Sora added.

"And how are you, son?" Tailmon asked.

"I miss you!" Poyomon replied. "Do you really have to go on the mission?"

"Of course I do. It's important to save lives," Tailmon replied.

"Aren't you going there to decide who needs to die?" Poyomon pointed out.

"Yes, better the guilty leaders sending innocent troops to their deaths than going in and killing all of them," Tailmon noted.

Poyomon pouted. "So you plan on spying on them until you figure out who to target for death."

"That's a bad way to put it," Hikari chastised, but then sighed. "But, yes, that's the functional plan."

"If I need to play the part of an assassin to save others, it will be what I have to do," Tailmon intoned.

"Now you really have me not wanting to let you go," Sora groused.

"You're not getting a choice in this," Hikari returned. "I'm not some innocent girl."

"You realize the whole reason for you to go is to earn the trust of angel digimon and then betray them," Sora pointed out.

"I know that, but they'll hardly be the first I've betrayed," Hikari retorted.

"Who have you betrayed before?" Sora asked seriously.

"You know I masturbated while in Jyou's body, and the first time was without his permission," Hikari returned. "And by dating Daisuke, making him want to stay as he is, I've hurt the original Daisuke and delayed the mission to free Xuanwumon."

"You know the delay was Iori's idea," Sora retorted.

"Because Daisuke doesn't want to switch back. If I had not started to go out with him, Iori might not have asked Sayuri out. It's my decisions that started it," Hikari insisted. She then turned away. "There are worse things I've done. Things I can't tell you."

"We will do what is needed of us," Tailmon added. "I'm certainly no stranger to breaking trust and betrayal. I was a traitor first to Hikari, and then to Vamdemon. The one I worry about most in this mission is Patamon. He may be far less innocent than he seems, but he still does not know what it's like to truly and intentionally hurt someone important to you."

--

Iori arrived at his classroom and frowned seeing Bakumon pushing Yume around in her wheelchair. He then raised an eyebrow noting the floating pygmy elephant was hardly the only digimon in the room. Three of his classmates had baby digimon sitting on top of their desks. "This is getting ridiculous."

Sayuri huffed. "You're telling me. At least when the explosion of people getting partners started Koushiro shut down certain parts of the Chosen web pages and forums."

"Especially considering Takeru's mother isn't the only reporter that's now partnered with a digimon. We hardly want Piemon's curse getting out," Iori agreed.

The teacher entered the room, and frowned. "Togashi, is that your partner?"

"Yup!" Yume chirped. "This is Bakumon."

"Pleased to meet you," the digimon waved.

"She doesn't look to be at baby level," the teacher intoned.

Yume shook her head. "She's at child level. I don't know what her baby form is. She has always been at this level or Hanumon when I evolve her."

Excited noises ripped through the room.

"You're a full Chosen?!" one of her classmates asked.

Yume nodded. "Yes. I've even been to the Digital World. I can even WALK there."

"That's so cool!" another classmate commented.

"Is there some way you can devolve your digimon?" the teacher asked. "While baby digimon are mostly harmless, I hear child digimon can do some damage."

"The only method I know of to devolve a digimon below her natural age is for the digimon to use up a lot of energy, and that's usually done only in combat. And she's no more dangerous than any other kid in school," Iori intoned. "Bakumon's abilities are more defensive." He motioned toward Sayuri. "Her Psychemon at best can blind someone for a little while. While my V-mon has only offensive abilities."

"And where are your digimon?" the teacher questioned.

Iori shrugged. "Hiding together somewhere nearby."

The school bell rang and all the students immediately rushed to their assigned seats and began the day in practiced fashion.

The teacher moved to the head of the classroom. "The school board is in process of figuring out to do with the digimon situation. We are aware that digimon need to be near their partners to maintain their health in our world. In the mean time having your digimon in class will be tolerated so long as the digimon is not being disruptive. Any rules violations by either the digimon or the partner will have the punishment be shared by both."

The teacher pulled out a stack of papers. "Now that is out of the way, I have your mid-semester evaluations." He then walked down the rows, giving each child their current grades in each class.

Iori frowned at his report card.

Sayuri glanced back at him and noticed his look. "Why don't you have all A's?"

Iori set his collection of B's and C's face down. "Between the situation in the Digital World and going over this stuff for a second time, I didn't spend any time studying."

"I wish I spent more time studying," Yume added, wanting to rip up her grades.

"We can't let the Digital World be used as an excuse to do poorly," Sayuri told them harshly. "We have to do better."

Iori smirked. "You didn't do well either?"

"Got a couple B's," Sayuri admitted as if anything less than an A was a failure.

"Maybe we should start having study sessions together," Yume suggested. "They did wonders for Takeru."

Sayuri nodded. "We should start right away. How about after school today?"

"Shouldn't be a problem for me," Yume replied.

"I don't know..." Iori almost muttered.

"You should be the one helping us!" Sayuri shot at him. "There's no excuse for you to do poorly."

"Fine," Iori conceded. He wanted to say the grades only bothered him as he should already know this stuff. If he was Daisuke, he would be happy with these grade, yet he still felt disappointed. He could've done better, he SHOULD have done better. He had already went through these classes, had this teacher. He knew what was expected of him. Why couldn't he just shut off the part of him that was Iori and just accept the passable grades?

Iori glanced over at Sayuri, expecting her grades were better than his and yet she was probably just as disappointed, if not more so with his less than perfect scores. Once she learned he didn't have a single A, he was sure she was going to yell at him. As much as he enjoyed being around her, she could be a real bitch at times.

The presence of the digimon in the classroom was another problem. It was an issue he wouldn't have as Daisuke. That part of him thought it was neat that others got to enjoy having a digimon partner. The Iori side of him was worried about what this meant. With more and more digimon appearing on Earth, things would be changing in ways he couldn't even guess at.

Iori slouched in his seat. It was times like this he really wished he could just be Daisuke and not worry nor think about things he had no control over.

--

Hikari stood next to a machine along with Daisuke and their digimon. All the misgivings in the world meant nothing in the face of her siblings, with the one who should be her brother the mother of a baby girl. She had to set that right, even if she did not want her partner on this mission to return to his original body.

"See you all in a couple months," Patamon chirped.

"We'll have this war licked in no time," Miyako cheered. "We'll come in full force. Just wait for us."

Hikari giggled. "Maybe we'll have everything settled before August on our side as well."

"Not likely, but we can hope," Taichi commented. "You better take care of each other over there."

"We will," Tailmon pledged.

"Hikari better come home a virgin," Sora jokingly ordered.

"Can't promise that one since she's already not a virgin," Daisuke replied quickly before reaching over and slamming the activation button.

"DAISUKE!" Hikari cried out as she blushed deeply while disappearing from sight with the boy and their digimon.

Sora turned red for a different reason. "Wha? Why that... Next time I see him, I'm going to kill him."

Taichi made a fist. "I think he planned to tell us this way for a while now."

"He might've lied to give me more reason to stay this way," Iori pointed out. "And to get you two use to the idea of them being lovers."

Takeru cocked his head. "Don't think he was lying. Can't put my finger on why."

"She was a virgin before the switch, wasn't she?" Sora demanded.

Takeru nodded. "I certainly would've remembered that."