DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).
And here we go again, with the fourth book in the series, a big major life-changing one for the group, and the second of three books to be set in 2010. You will need to have read the Extra Dimensions story 'Sister Act' in order to understand a lot of this, so I strongly suggest you read it.
And so, on with the tale, after an age update:
Jeri, Ken, Kari, TK, Yolei – 15
Takato, Rika, Kazu, Davis, Henry, Kazu, Ryo – 16
Sora, Matt, Mimi – 18
Tai, Izzy, Joe – 19
Ai and Mako – 5
Suzie – 10
Cody, Kristy - 11
DIMENSIONS
BOOK 4 – GODS
CHAPTER 1
International Affairs
REAL WORLD
Nonaka Residence
09:06 JST
1st May 2010
The sun rose high over Shinjuku, as the vibrant city once again burst into life. Young and old alike roamed its streets, and amongst them was a group of generally secretive teenagers and children called the Tamers. They defend the great city from Digital Monster, or Digimon, attacks using Digimon partners of their own, and it was on this day that one of them, Takato Matsuki, 16 years of age, headed to a familiar destination, partner Guilmon, a Rookie Virus Type that resembled a red dino with a white chest and black markings, following rapidly behind.
"Takato, where are we going?" Guilmon asked in his usual immature way.
"To Rika's of course…" Takato replied cheerfully. "And then we're heading to Hypnos…"
"Why?"
"I told you before boy, Yamaki called us and told us that he needs to talk to us about something major."
"Is it something bad?"
"No idea…could be, knowing Yamaki, but I hope not."
Guilmon nodded. "I hope it's a free supply of bread…"
Takato chuckled, as he came to a stop outside the familiar home of the Nonakas, and its exterior gate. It was unlocked, and they walked up to the front door, knocking. After a short wait, Takato smiled to meet the face of his long-term girlfriend (and fellow incarnate being), Rika Nonaka. Rika pulled him into a kiss, as Renamon greeted Guilmon in a similar way. Pulling out of the kiss, Rika smiled at him.
"Ready to go?" Takato asked.
She nodded, yet frowned at the same time. "I am…she isn't…"
"I'm nearly ready!" came an unseen voice from behind her, similar to her own but more childish and cheerful. Takato's expression turned concerned as he heard a thump. "Ow, Kudamon, look where you're walking!"
"My apologies Kristy…" came a quieter response.
"You may as well come in…sounds like she's going to take a while…" Rika told the Gogglehead, whilst sighing at her sister's antics. Takato nodded, and sat down on the sofa, Rika sitting next to him shortly after. Takato put his arm round Rika, and she smiled happily, before her expression turned to one of concern. "What do you think Yamaki is going to tell us?"
"Not sure…I hope it's something good…"
"Yeah, when Yamaki calls all the Tamers and Digidestined somewhere, it always seems to turn out badly."
"I think he's learned from his previous mistakes."
"Yeah, but have his superiors?"
"Fair point…"
"I'm done!" came a voice from nearby. Takato and Rika looked up to see Kristy, a short girl with brown-red hair tied in pigtails, blue jeans, a pink and white shirt, and a card box and pale blue D-Arc attached to her belt, all in the style of Rika. Around her neck hung a necklace with a pendant in a 9 shape. Every time Rika saw it, it reminded her of what Rey had told her. She had only told Takato about it so far, and had shown him the necklaces. After mooting some various ideas, they had been unsure of who the rest of the Angels were, particularly based on what Harmony had told them once.
"A lot of them are familiar; surely they match with the Digidestined crests?" Takato asked.
"Unfortunately, it is not so simple. Some do not match at all, some you haven't even met yet, and may never do so if there is never a reason for the First Angel to awaken."
They had resigned to just waiting and seeing what would happen. Whoever the Angels were, other than the obvious one of Kristy, and Davis and Kari whose survival of otherwise fatal blows hinted at Angelhood, they would be found out in time.
"Finally, how do you manage it?" Rika asked.
"Be nice dear…" Seiko encouraged from her position at the table, sipping coffee.
"Fine…come on then…" Rika told her younger sister.
"Bye Grandma!" Kristy waved goodbye childishly.
"Bye dear…" Seiko replied. Takato stood up, and offered his hand to Rika, who accepted it.
"Very gentlemanly Takato…"
Takato chuckled. "Can you two stop flirting and go now?!" Kristy told them irritated.
"Fine…" Rika replied, as she followed her sister, Kudamon on her shoulder, out of their front door. She was followed by Renamon, Takato and Guilmon. Upon reaching the street, she turned to Takato. "So, fly, walk or gallop?" she asked.
"Whichever is fastest for all of us…" he replied.
"Fine…Kristy, catch!" she called, passing a card to Kristy.
"Cheers…DIGI-MODIFY...Digivolution Activate!" Kristy called.
"DIGI-MODIFY…Digivolution Activate!" Rika echoed.
DIGIVOLUTION
Kudamon Digivolve to…Reppamon
Renamon Digivolve to…Kyubimon
"Climb aboard…" Kyubimon greeted. Guilmon had finally mastered the technique of boarding Kyubimon, and climbed on, although still clumsily, and was followed by Rika and Takato. Kristy leapt onto Reppamon.
"Let's go!" she called.
Main Entrance, Tokyo Metropolitan Building
09:35 JST
At any other building, the arrival of a multitude of flying and galloping Digital Monsters who then somehow shrunk back to far smaller monsters would be a surprise, even an event. But here, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, home to the secret government agency known as Hypnos, it seemed to be commonplace. Not a week went by without at least one Tamer visiting for any reason, normally Izzy due to his involvement in improving the programming of the system, but to see practically every Tamer arrive was still a sight to behold. The latest arrival, two fox-like Digimon with a red dinosaur and three Tamers distributed among the backs of the two, came to a stop outside the building.
"Good work Reppamon…" Kristy congratulated after climbing off, as Kudamon replaced his champion form and leapt onto Kristy's shoulder. Meanwhile, between Rika and Kyubimon, the only sign of communication was a flick of the eyes of Rika, and a slight nod from Kyubimon, before Renamon replaced her.
"How they cope in this building is beyond me…" Takato noted.
"It must be a helluva surprise for anyone new to the job." Rika added, before grabbing his hand. "Now, enough talk, we're attracting attention…"
"Rika, isn't it a bit late for that?" Renamon asked, noticing the various people watching. Rika nodded, and they walked calmly through the roundel doors. Security personnel simply nodded as they walked past, Yamaki's request for the Tamers to have ID cards simply being met with a threat of them being burnt straight away by Rika and Chaos. It was not like they were hard to identify regardless, despite attempts at secrecy and cover-ups, the Tamers had become well known throughout Tokyo, if not Japan and the World. Various websites, in particular Digital Watch which had become somewhat of an authority on the issues under its new leadership by Chiaki Konaka, had been set up to discuss them, and held a surprisingly full amount of data. Everything from Guilmon's evolution lines to, somewhat disturbingly, Rika's bra size, could be found by someone curious and prepared to search deep enough on the web, along with a full profile of each Tamer and the battles they are known to have participated in. Hypnos, after attempting to cover up, had generally given up, except for an automatic search which Takato had placed onto the system that would inform him via email of any mentions of Chaos, Harmony, Angels or anything similar, giving him a chance to delete the information.
As yet mentions had been rare, a fact surprising when considering the fact that they had been publicly seen in battles with wings, a fact that nevertheless had a page devoted to it on Digital Watch. Takato didn't doubt that right now, the arrivals of all these Digimon at Hypnos would've attracted attention from those who had improvised 'Digimon Trackers', which were far less powerful than Hypnos' systems, which in themselves were not as powerful as needed at times. The chat forums would be abuzz, but getting any information on the Tokyo Metropolitan Building and the meetings that took place in it would be difficult since no non-Tamers or high level government officials were allowed into any meetings labelled as top secret. On one occasion, Henry had pointed out that, contrary to what they would have expected, their meetings were only Level 2 secrecy wise. Typically, inquiry into what Level 1 would involve proved to be futile, simply giving a reply that it was 'Top Secret'. Takato was aware that Izzy, Henry and Terriermon each had their own Digital Watch accounts and used it to dispel any rumours that could potentially be highly damaging to the Tamers. One late night forum discussion had lead to Terriermon accidentally revealing his identity in an argument about the best Digimon Partner. It had taken a lot of effort for Henry and Izzy to dispel that, and it was clear that their attempt had been unsuccessful, and that the Digital Watch community was now aware of their observation by the Tamers themselves, a fact that they had actually used to their advantage, with a new tagline and attitude that they were the only real important website of their type, since the Tamers had thought it necessary to post on the site themselves.
Takato and Rika reached the elevator lobby. The building, despite its imposing exterior, was highly utilitarian inside, with a few additions of polished silver plating around the lifts. The lifts were arranged in blocks of 3, with two sets. One set went to the floors of the lower part of the building (the part that was connected between the two towers), and the other went all the way to the top, while missing out most of the lower floors. The setup was duplicated on the other side of the building for the other tower. In the lobby, stood Davis, Kari and partners. Takato presumed that everyone who had arrived so far had already taken the elevator.
"Hey…" Davis greeted.
"Hi…" Takato replied.
"Oh, hello, I don't think we've been properly introduced…" Kari said to Kristy. "Kristy, is it?"
"Yeah, Kristy Nonaka. Kari, right?"
"Yeah…this is Gatomon…"
"Greetings…" the cat added.
"Nice to meet you. This is Kudamon…"
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance" the ferret replied.
"That necklace looks great on you…" Kari complimented, looking at the gold jewellery around Kristy's neck. She held the pendant in her hand.
"Thanks…"
Rika recalled the various necklaces back at her home. She wondered what they did, if they were merely ornamental, or if they actually had some powers of some sort. Whatever they did, it was clear that their owners would make themselves known soon enough, and it would be up to Rika to distribute them. She actually found it surprising that Harmony had no idea who the Angels were, but the explanation that the Angels were dormant at present seemed logical enough, if not explaining Rey. Whoever Rey was, she clearly was very significant in their lives. Her surname, if her pausing at it were accurate, was Matsuki. What this meant, however, was unclear. The sound of a chime and the lift doors opening distracted them from their conversation and Rika from her thoughts, and they stepped into the elevator.
Hypnos Boardroom, Floor 29, Tokyo Metropolitan Building
10:18 JST
Takato found his seat next to Rika at the table. The long wait outside the modern furnished boardroom had been tiresome, and they were glad to have a chance to finally find out what was going on. Around the table (and some of whom were standing up, this was the largest boardroom in the building and it still failed to have enough seats for all of them) sat every Tamer, a definition that had been extended to cover the Digidestined for simplicity's sake. Yamaki sat at the head of the table, along with Riley and an unknown official. He started a digital audio recorder.
"This is Mitsuo Yamaki speaking at 10:19 on 1st May 2010. Under the Digital Monster Control and Prevention Department, also known as Hypnos, guidelines, this meeting is classified level two," he began. "Under the guidelines, this means that matters discussed in this meeting should not be discussed outside of this meeting outside of between Tamers and Hypnos Officials, along with any other specified parties, which in this case includes Yuuto Fujita" he continued, gesturing to the government official to his left. "Any information that is allowed to be discussed outside of this meeting with any party will be clearly labelled as such. Are all observant parties in agreement?"
A resounding "Yes" came from around the group.
"Good. This meeting concerns the relationship between Digital Monster and the world governments, namely, the United Nations."
That sentence received a curious look from most of the attendees. This was far more interesting than the usual bioemergence rate reports.
"I now pass the speakers role over to Fujita Yuuto, whom the board recognises."
"Welcome…" the man said. He was wearing dark glasses, and had brown hair, and an official-style black suit. Despite his imposing exterior, his voice was calm and collected, and he seemed to do one rare thing for any government official, namely that he smiled. "The United Nations has contacted the Japanese Government and wishes to speak with the Tamers about Digital Affairs, namely the Digimon. It has given a formal invitation for a selection of Tamers to speak with them on various occasions in their headquarters in New York City, USA, during the period of the 22nd of May 2010 to the 29th May 2010, the first two and last days of which will involve transportation to and from the USA provided by the Japanese Air Force which may be reimbursed by the UN for the cost. The transportation will depart around 11:00 hours JST on the 22nd and arrive at around 15:00 hours EST in New York on the 23rd. The Tamers will be accommodated in a hotel in Manhattan, and non-urgent transportation around the city will be provided by the Public Transit system with complimentary MetroCards, on the basis that the Tamers will keep their Digimon in check while using the system to avoid panic. Urgent transportation will be provided by the relevant authorities, although based on the Tamers history it is expected that they shall find their own methods to complete this category of journey. The Tamers are expected to maintain decorum during the trip as ambassadors both for the Digital World and Japan. The particular Tamers selected to visit the UN are up to the group themselves, although it will not be every single Tamer for reasons of security and safety in Tokyo."
Yuuto let the ideas sink in through the group. The idea was generally met with enthusiasm.
"So, what do we have to do?" Rika asked.
"The board recognises Nonaka Rika." Yamaki interrupted as a formality.
"You have to decide as a group on who will be going on the trip, and then write their names down on this list" Yuuto replied, pointing towards a sheet of paper that had been placed on the table. Rika pulled it over to her, along with the attached pen.
"I see…" she replied.
"Well, we clearly can't leave Tokyo defenceless after what happened last time." Tai told the others, who nodded.
"I think you should go Tai, you need a vacation." Matt suggested. "We can hold down the fort here."
"Well, if you're okay with that."
"Don't worry about it, my band has got a lot of rehearsals lately and I really haven't got the time for a break." Matt replied cheerfully.
"Okay then. Sora, what about you?" he asked, looking to his side.
"Count me in…" he told.
"Okay, that's me, Takato, Sora, Tai…"
"Hold on, did you just add your names to the list while we were talking?" Kazu asked concerned.
"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" Rika asked, glaring at Kazu, who retreated in fear. Riley chuckled at the back and forth between the members of the group.
"If Rika's going, I'm going!" Kristy cheered.
"Fine…" Rika answered, adding the name.
"Oh come on Rika, why do you never have a problem with it? I always thought that sisters were meant to object to everything the other does!" Kristy replied.
"Meh, it doesn't really bother me" she replied. "So long as you don't become an annoyance."
"Psst…Kristy…" Terriermon whispered. "Consider that an invitation…"
Terriermon received a glare from Rika. "Right, since I will be beating Terriermon to death for the next year with a frying pan, I guess that he and Henry will be coming" she told them, adding the name.
"No problems here," Henry replied. Terriermon gulped.
"I want to come too then…" Jeri added quickly, blushing slightly when Henry looked at her. Everyone noticed this, but no-one pointed it out.
"Davis, let's go too!" DemiVeemon told his partner. "We didn't get to see much of New York last time…"
"Okay then, Kari, you coming?" he asked. Kari nodded.
"Added…" Rika told them, writing the names. "Anyone else?" she asked.
"I think that will be all Mrs Nonaka, this is not turning into a holiday" Yuuto instructed. Rika nodded.
"Fine by me…" she replied.
"Okay, so you will need to tell your respective parents about the trip, and details will be given to you nearer the time. Meeting is adjourned at 10:27." Yuuto finished, before exiting the room followed by Yamaki and Riley.
"Well, I've got to get moving…" Matt told the group. "See you guys later…" he said to them while leaving the door, followed by Gabumon. Gradually, most of the group left until only the Tamers due to go on the trip remained. Rika looked around, noting the fact.
"So, what do you think they'll want to talk about?" Kari asked.
"Probably just general administrative rubbish that we won't understand a word of" Rika replied. Davis nodded and chuckled.
"Yeah, me least of all…"
"Anyway, I've got to help my father out in the restaurant, see you guys later…" Jeri told them, standing up to leave. The others nodded. "Come on Elecmon…" she added, as Elecmon leapt from the table onto her head, and they left. Watching the door close, attention then turned to Henry.
"So, when are you going to pop the question?" Rika asked bluntly.
"What?" Henry replied confused.
"You've had eyes on her for three years for god's sake!" Terriermon told his partner, leaping down onto the table.
"I have no idea what you're talking about…"
"I think you do…" Kari told Henry. "What are you scared of?"
"I'm not sure…" Henry replied, sighing.
Takato sighed, leaning back on his seat. "Glad to know that we've sorted that one out…"
DIGITAL WORLD
Apex
09:01 UTC
"Greetings my lord…" a voice said. The voice was warrior-like, yet still regal. Gold armour flashed in the limited light shining through the opening into the grand room, illuminating blue and white skin adjacent to it. The figure was on one knee as a mark of respect to the shadowed figure he stood near. The reply was in a voice that was monotonous, yet radiated power and command with every word.
"Greetings Magnamon…I trust you have completed the task I set you…"
"The disruption in the north-eastern zone has been quelled."
"Thank you for your service. However, the matter of this disruption has to be discussed."
Magnamon nodded. "Correct my lord…" he replied.
"What do you currently think of the state of the Digital World?" the shadow asked.
"We have had an increased level of conflict since the Cataclysm a few months ago."
The shadow nodded, but sounded concerned. "Where have you heard that name from?"
"One of the Digimon I allied with to combat the rebels mentioned it. It appears to be a name given by the humans to the event."
"The false Gods are one of the issues that must be dealt with. Their role in the Cataclysm is noted, and their existence concerns me."
Magnamon nodded. "What will you do about it?"
"I intend to remove them. There shall be a meeting in one week's time; I shall call the Royal Knights to discuss affairs. That is all."
"Thank you my lord for your time." Magnamon replied, before turning to leave. As he walked to the opening at the front of the structure, he considered what his master had told him. 'Yggdrasil is always right. Yet I feel that there is something strange occurring, he normally prefers peace. But…he is all perfect, he must be correct. Why do I doubt him?'
TO BE CONTINUED…
Well, the story has begun to be set out. You can probably predict what is going to happen from this chapter alone. And you are probably almost completely wrong as well. Reviews are welcome.
Next time…
Will Henry muster up the courage to tell Jeri? How will their trip to New York go? Why does Magnamon doubt Yggdrasil?
Find out in 'Secret Mission', Chapter Two of Dimensions Book Four: Gods.