Chapter Text
The Corrective Tone rang out again. Akatsuki and her friends found their way back to the inn before long. Dromamon slept comfortably in her arms, worn out by her new evolution. And what an evolution it was. Akatsuki and the others could see it all the way from the mall. It was an impressive feat of power that she was eager to see once more.
If they even could.
Akatsuki frowned down at her Codebreaker. “That’s strange. Dromamon’s Level Five form is locked, but not her Level Four form.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Pulsemon said. “It’s easier to unlock your Champion form than your Ultimate form. It can take years for a Digimon to reach that level. Some even go their entire lives without managing to do it.”
“But do you think we’ll be able to do that again?”
“With a Tamer’s power, I’m sure of it. But it will mean having Dromamon do some actual training.”
Akatsuki sighed. “As if we have any kind of ability to do that.”
“We’ve got that mini-safehouse in hand,” Kokoro pointed out. “We could probably do something with that.”
Tohru nodded in agreement. “I feel like we’re going to need much more powerful forms going forward.”
Pulsemon wrapped his arms around himself. “Yeah. Oblivimon was an Ultimate-Level Digimon. It’s probably only a matter of time until D.E.S.T sends even stronger Digimon after us. Not to mention, we’ll probably run into more Asuras before long. We’ll have to figure out how to train somehow.”
Kokoro winced, drawing a finger toward her chin. “Oblivimon… It was connected to a D.E.S.T agent, right? That means it was probably sent back to them when it was killed.”
Keramon pulled out a strange floppy disk from his inventory. “Yeah, that’s why I had to extract its memory before we left.”
“But if it doesn’t have its memory, and it failed its mission, then… do you think they’ll destroy it for good?”
Keramon blinked at her, a look of horror across his face as he processed what she said. He turned away, his antennae dripping down. “...I don’t know. But I feel like we couldn’t have persuaded it to turn away from them, in any case.”
Akatsuki put her Codebreaker away, setting her hand on Kokoro’s shoulder. “Let’s just focus on what we can do,” she insisted. “We’ll worry about saving the D.E.S.T Digimon once we have more power.”
Kokoro nodded glumly.
Keramon put the strange floppy disk back into his inventory with a huff. “Damn, I wish Dromamon hadn’t passed out like that. I have a few words for her.”
“I’ll talk with her in the morning,” Akatsuki insisted. “But it seemed like she understood where she went wrong when we spoke earlier.”
“She better! She almost ruined the whole mission by pulling a stunt like this!”
Kokoro set her arms behind her back. “Oh, but it wasn’t all bad. We were able to meet Dracmon because of it.”
Akatsuki nodded, looking down at Dracmon traveling beside her. “Thank you again, by the way. It meant a lot that you helped us find her.”
Dracmon nodded, his head dipped down slightly. “Yeah, well… it was time I looked out for someone else for a change.”
Pulsemon skipped over to him. “So who were you thinking of Partnering up with? I’m sure Kokoro would appreciate a little extra backup.”
Tohru chuckled. “Or you could stick with me and Keramon. We could teach you all about hacking and programming.”
Dracmon blinked his palm-eyes, and turned away slightly. “Oh, uh… I dunno. I… I still don’t like humans all that much, though you three are helping me reconsider. I think I’d like more time to mull it over.”
“That’s fine,” Kokoro nodded. “Until then, you can hang out with everyone in the mini-safehouse.”
“And that’s where your Royal Knight is, right? Heh heh, well, I wouldn't mind sticking around there for that. It will give me plenty of time to plan something for him.”
It felt like there was a deeper meaning to that last sentence, but it didn’t seem like Dracmon was planning on hurting anyone. The group continued on into the inn.
Nanomon and the others set about cleaning up the house. The interior furniture was all smashed up, and the holes in the walls brought in a draft. They cleaned up the debris, but they weren’t quite sure how to go about fixing the furniture.
“Did you know that Lekismon’s vegetables digitized in here?” Baboongamon said. “If our presence changes the way this place works, then maybe we could harvest the lumber in this server to make repairs. Just like back home.”
Nanomon hummed thoughtfully. “But then how would we harvest the material needed for cloth and stuffing?”
“We could ask those Tamers to deliver that stuff for us, and then we could make a plot of land to grow it on.”
Lekismon kicked her foot on the ground. “We shouldn’t get too comfortable here. This is only a temporary residence.”
“It most certainly is not,” Tyrannomon said. “You heard what Gankoomon said, didn’t you? We’re never going to find the real safehouse. And even if we did, we wouldn’t have a place there.”
Turuiemon paused in their sweeping. “He didn’t mean it like that. And we will find the safehouse. We just have to be patient.”
“But he said that the Digimon hunters corrupted his memory.”
“And the Tamers will repair it. We just need to be patient.”
Lekismon stepped outside, finding Angoramon sitting on the porch. “Hey, so you were one of the Digimon in the Royal Knight’s safehouse?”
Angoramon nodded.
“Did… Did the Digimon there get along? Even though they were from different places, and had different Typings?”
“I heard it was rough going at first. It took some time for everyone to get along. But Gankoo-Sama had them working together on several small projects, things that would get them to know one another. And after a while, they were willingly working together on bigger things. They even became friends.”
“So… they probably wouldn’t appreciate it if we started up the fighting again, would they?”
“Probably not.”
Lekismon looked up at the sky. “We’d probably get along better if this place felt more comfortable. If we treated this place like one of the old cities back in the Digital World.”
Angoramon nodded, getting up. “It would probably greatly encourage Gankoo-Sama if you could do that. Why don’t you talk to Nanomon and organize things with him?”
“Are you going to fetch the Royal Knight?”
“I’ll make sure he’s doing alright. We’ll come back around before long.”
Lekismon nodded. She waved Angoramon goodbye as he left.
The server had something like a cliff overlooking an ocean. If one looked out far enough, they would see the waves crashing against the boundary of the server. It was just a facsimile, after all. But it still made for a nice view.
Gankoomon sat beside the cliff, his legs crossed, staring out at the sea. Angoramon slowly approached him.
“Gankoo-Sama.”
No response.
“...Gankoomon.”
Gankoomon turned his head slightly. “I don’t deserve that name. If you’re not going to destroy me, then you should just forget me. Erase me completely that way.”
“Stop talking like that. You can’t let a setback like this-”
Gankoomon firmly turned to look at him, his teeth bared. “Setback!? I’ve lost track of the real safehouse, and put you all in danger from D.E.S.T! You want to call somethin’ like that a simple setback!? And I thought you were the one complainin’ about getting locked out!”
“I was- and I’m sorry about that.”
Gankoomon’s anger faded.
“I didn’t consider the kind of stress you were under. The guilt that you felt from watching us struggle and suffer, and not knowing how to fix any of it. You may be a Royal Knight, but you’re still just one Digimon. This problem is bigger than you alone. It’s bigger than all of us alone. So don’t feel guilty for being unable to fix it all on your own.”
Gankoomon turned away, planting his face in his hands. “Is… Is Omnimon still around?”
“Huh?”
“You heard me. Is Omnimon still around? He coulda fixed this by himself. He could have stopped D.E.S.T single-handedly.”
Angoramon sat beside him. “How much do you remember about the Royal Knights?”
“Just bits and pieces. Fragments of moments where we bickered or came together. I remember… I remember bein’ a pain in the ass for the big guys. They didn’t like how brash and hot-headed I was.”
“Mm, but it signified that you cared.”
“I remember that they didn’t want to come down and get involved unless it was somethin’ big. World-endin’. It never sat right with me. The end of the world means somethin’ different for everyone. And bein’ a Royal Knight meant protectin’ others. But even then… I wasn’t as powerful as any of ‘em, was I?”
“You were more powerful than the rest of us.”
“But not as powerful as Omnimon, right?”
“I mean, he was a league above most Royal Knights, if I heard correctly. But… But even he was no match for Kagutsumon, when the time came.”
Gankoomon blinked at him, then went back to staring at his hands. “Right. Right, he… he is gone. If he were still here, he coulda repaired the Digital World, and we wouldn’t even need a safehouse.”
Angoramon glanced out at the sea.
“What ‘bout Leopardmon?”
“He… as far as I know, he’s still alive. He’s leading things with Merukimon on Ceresmon.”
“Tch. Then which idiot left me in charge of all of this? If anyone could lead the Digimon here, it’s him. I bet he wouldn’t have gotten captured like I did.”
“Gankoomon-”
“I probably did somethin’ stupid like chargin’ at the enemy, fallin' into a trap that Leopardmon woulda seen comin’ from miles away. I’m not smart and patient like him. I’m not powerful like Omnimon. Hell, I don’t even have the powers I used to. Everythin’ useful about me was stripped away. I’ve got nothin’ now.”
Angoramon looked back at him. “That’s not true. You haven’t lost everything.”
Gankoomon shook his head “Yeah. I still got my temper and my impulsiveness.”
“But you also have your kindness and your passion. You still have that justice-seeking drive. You still care about protecting others. Do you… Do you remember the mural project you had me working on with Ludomon?”
Gankoomon closed his eyes, trying to picture it. “It was… it was some kinda memorial thing, right?”
Angoramon nodded. “For the soldiers that died at the Shattering’s impact site. I found it strange, at first. I thought you’d have us paint the Guardians.”
“Well, you all lost more that day than we did. And the Guardians probably have a memorial painted somewhere on Ceresmon.”
“I wasn’t initially keen on working with a Homerian, but you insisted on it. You didn’t give us any space the whole time. You even helped us paint.”
Gankoomon looked over at him.
“That’s what sets you apart from other Royal Knights. You work with other Digimon to make things happen. I don’t think anyone would have been willing to go to a safehouse if it were anyone else in charge.”
Gankoomon looked away again, burying his face in his hands once more. “I've strayed far from that, haven't I?”
“But that's why you need to remember to work with others again. That's the only way we're going to make it through this.”
Gankoomon began trembling. Angoramon opened his arms, offering a hug. He wasn’t sure if the Royal Knight would accept it. But Gankoomon threw himself at him, gripping his shoulders tightly, burying his face into his fur as he began pouting.
“How can I?” Gankoomon muttered. “How can I let myself burden others by freezing up all the time?”
Angoramon set a hand on his back, giving him another minute to pout. Then he said, “Perhaps… it would help to talk to someone about it.”
Gankoomon picked himself up, blinking at Angoramon with red, puffy eyes.
“You don’t have to do it right now- I know it’s been a long day for you. Just… sometimes when we’ve been through something tough like this, the stress crashes down on us, and we need to make space to work through it. And not only do you have stress from what D.E.S.T did to you, but you’ve been under stress from trying to take care of everyone for so long, even if you don’t remember much of it. Perhaps it would help to talk to someone, and get all of that off your chest.”
Gankoomon pulled himself away, wiping his tears. “How can I… How can I possibly put that weight on someone else? Everyone’s havin’ a rough time of it.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to suffer in silence.”
Gankoomon scoffed, looking back out at the sea. “Kaht’skey, she… she deserves a stronger Partner than me. A real Royal Knight. Someone who won’t freeze up when she really needs protectin’.”
“You’re afraid of letting her down?”
Gankoomon nodded.
“But this is a Partnership. Akatsuki has to support you as much as you support her. And she has another Partner too, right? The three of you will support one another when things get tough. I think I can assure you that Akatsuki doesn’t need anything that you can’t provide for her.”
Gankoomon looked back down at his hands. He had been able to help her before, right? He helped her get away from Hasumi while they were in Minato. He helped her buy time for the others to escape to this place. He drove the truck while they made their way out of Tokyo. Perhaps he didn’t have his old strength, but could the rest of that stuff make up for it?
D.E.S.T was going to target her regardless of his presence in her life. He could fade from existence right now, and they’d continue hunting her down due to this feeling of vengeance. If Gankoomon hid away in fear, then he really wouldn’t be worthy of the Royal Knight title.
Gankoomon picked himself up, taking a deep breath. “Right, I’ll figure somethin’ out. I’m good at improvisin’.”
Angoramon got up as well, a small smirk on his face. “You’re going to keep fighting?”
Gankoomon nodded, his arms folded. “ ‘Course. I’m Gankoomon, after all. I always charge ahead, no matter what problems come my way. And now that I’ve got a Tamer on my side, it’ll only be a matter of time ‘til D.E.S.T goes down.”
Angoramon nodded.
“Thanks, by the way. This talk really helped.”
“Are you ready to head back to the others?”
Gankoomon laughed nervously. “Sure. Hope they’re not too mad at me.”
“Oh, I don’t think they’re mad at all. Come on, let’s go.”
The two of them arrived back at the village, which had transformed greatly since they left. The camps that Gankoomon had created were gone, all merged together into one. There were two plots of farmland at the center of the village, just beside the main house, growing both Digi-Meat and human-world vegetables. And someone had built a rookery beside the main house, where the Digi-Eggs safely nested.
Gankoomon heard a few of the conversations;
“You want to try figure skating?” Lekismon chuckled warmly. “Don’t you hover around everywhere?”
“Yeah, but that’s the fun part of the challenge,” Fanbeemon insisted. “To do something that you don’t normally do.”
“Hm, well we’re going to need an ice rink, then. I could give you a few pointers.”
“Oh, what if you coached everyone on figure skating? You seem like you really know a lot about it.”
“You know what, I might just do that.”
“Were the Railroad Plains really that good for racing?” a liamon asked. “We’ve never been there.”
“They were the best,” Devidramon nodded. “But your Railroad Junction sounded like a cool place for racing, too. I wish they hadn’t been destroyed.”
“Same here. Maybe we can set up a racetrack here? I’m sure we could beat you.”
“Oh, I like a challenge.”
“Oh dear, Elizamon, they attacked you just like that?” Gatomon gasped.
“They attacked me in the same way,” Vorvomon nodded. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Yggdrasili or Homerian, most people hate Virus Digimon.”
“Oh no, I won’t stand for anyone to get treated like that anymore! Let me know if anything like that happens to you again, and I’ll sort it out!”
“Thank you for helping me lift that log,” ToyAgumon said.
Loogamon nodded. “It was the least I could do.”
“Let me know if I can repay the favor somehow. And uh, sorry about before. You’ve done a lot for us. It was wrong of me to disrespect you like that.”
“Just make sure you get along with everyone in the future. And I’ll work on getting along with everyone, too.”
Gankoomon looked out at everyone with a smile. “They’re… getting along…”
Angoramon nodded. “I didn’t think we were gone that long. They’ve gotten a lot of work done.”
Tinkermon and a few of the other kids hurried over to them. “Gankoo-Sama! You’re back! You’re back! Are you doing better?”
She tackled him in a hug. Gankoomon gave her a pat on the head. “Yeah, much better. Angoramon here sorted me out.”
“That’s good,” Biyomon said. “With the way you were talking earlier, we were worried you might…”
“Give up? Nah, y’all know me. I never stop fightin’, and I’m not gonna start now. Especially not with a Tamer by my side.”
“Well that’s good to hear.”
Nanomon and Turuiemon approached them, urging the kids to give them some space. “What do you think, Gankoomon?” Nanomon asked. “We changed quite a bit from what you intended, but-”
“Nah, it’s great,” Gankoomon insisted. “I think this was how I shoulda done it before.”
“If we’re going to stay here for a while, then we need to make this place as comfortable as possible,” Turuiemon said. “We’ve even thought about naming it. How does ‘Ark Village’ sound?”
“Sounds perfect.”
Gankoomon took out the last comm device, handing it to Nanomon. “Say, you two, Angoramon, can y’all take care of things from here on out? If I’m gonna work with Kaht’skey and the others, then I can’t put my energy into worryin’ about y’all in here.”
“So you’ve changed your mind about staying in here?” Nanomon said with a smile.
Gankoomon nodded. “She needs me more. But I need to make sure y’all can take care of things here.”
Turuiemon clenched a fist by their chest. “Don’t worry, Gankoo-Sama! We’ll take care of everything!”
Angoramon nodded in agreement. “You have nothing to worry about, Gankoomon.”
Gankoomon folded his arms. “Right. Think it’s ‘bout time I head back.”
He gave his goodbyes to them, and then made his way out of the village.
Gankoomon got out of the laptop just as Akatsuki and the others arrived back at their room.
“Cripes, what happened to ya guys?” Gankoomon asked. “Ya look like ya ran a marathon.”
“Nearly,” Akatsuki sighed. “We found another Digimon while we were out there.”
A Dracmon hurried over, circling around Gankoomon. “Oh wow, you are the real deal! I can’t wait to see more of you!”
Gankoomon stepped back. He wasn’t sure how to take that comment. He gestured to the laptop, saying, “Well, everythin’ is all set in the mini-safehouse, so feel free to hop in. Nanomon should be able t’welcome ya in.”
“Coolio. See you later.”
Dracmon’s body changed into pixels, and he entered the laptop. Tohru hurried over, scanning the screen. He closed the device and plugged it in.
“It looks like everyone is getting along now,” Tohru said. “Did it take long to make peace between them?”
Gankoomon chuckled wearily. “Ya wouldn’t believe it…”
He then stifled a yawn, looking around the room. “Ugh, so what’re our sleepin’ arrangements? There’s only two beds here.”
“Kokoro and I were sharing a bed before,” Akatsuki said. “The girls could share one bed, and the boys could share another.”
Tohru winced. “I’m not sure I could sleep with someone’s shoulders tapping me.”
Keramon scoffed, his arms folded. “You don’t have a problem when I lean against you like that.”
“But that’s different. You’re not human.”
“Neither am I,” Gankoomon pointed out.
“You’re close enough. Erm, what if I just took the couch?”
“No way. A growin’ boy needs an actual bed to sleep in.”
“So do you. Akatsuki said you were sleeping on the grass in her Soul Chamber.”
Kokoro moved over to the drawers. “Hang on a minute. They might have left a futon for us in here.”
She did indeed find a futon. They set it up next to the couch, and that was where Gankoomon and Pulsemon settled in. Everyone else settled into their respective beds, all of them quickly falling asleep.
Akari stared at the image, concerned. “That’s… certainly an interesting piece of art.”
“This isn’t an art piece,” Hoshino continued. “This is ground zero of the Odaiba Emergence, eight years ago. You two would have remembered it as a terrorist attack.”
Natsume ran her fingers through her hair. “But what does this have to do with our daughters?”
Hoshino flipped the laptop around, clicking on the keys. “The two beings responsible for the destruction that night are known as Digimon. They hail from a world parallel to this one, where matter seems to take the form of data. They come to this world in droves, bringing death and destruction wherever they go. They gain more power by Bonding with the humans they might find, and children are the most vulnerable targets.”
She turned the laptop back around. It depicted Shibuya Crossing as the center of a battlefield. A large rock lizard of blue flame fended off several strange creatures. The photo was taken as the creature was in mid-attack, throwing a red-haired man into a building. Hoshino had circled something at the bottom, focusing on three individuals hiding behind a building. They were accompanied by a few of the creatures. Since they were so far away from the camera, it was hard to make them out. The clearest figure was one riding atop a strange dragon creature, illuminated by its flaming wings.
“That… That looks kind of like Akatsuki,” Natsume gasped.
Hoshino nodded. She turned the laptop back around, clicking on the keys once more. She turned it to show them once last time. It looked like security footage outside of Nakano Broadway. A white tiger creature emerged from the exit, with Kokoro on its back. Akatsuki sat behind her. Her eyes appeared orange, and it didn’t seem like it came from the camera glare.
Natsume covered her mouth, staring at the image of their daughters.
Akari clenched her fists. “Okay okay, hold on! You’re telling me that our daughters were abducted by creatures from a parallel world? Give me a break!”
Natsume clenched a hand by her chest. “Yeah, it’s… it’s rather hard to believe.”
Hoshino closed the laptop, shaking her head. “I knew you would find it alarming. I was hoping to ask for your cooperation in bringing them home, but if you’re this resistant to listening to me…”
“J-Just let us digest this information, alright?”
“Very well. We’ll meet back here when you call me again.”
Hoshino packed the laptop away, making her way out. Natsume and Akari gave each other one last glance before making their way home as well, thoroughly disturbed by this new information.
Their daughters couldn’t have been abducted by creatures like that, right? It was just too hard to believe.