Chapter Text
Visiting Family
"Okay so let me get this straight." Mitsuba began. "Apparently, an entire different dimension existing next to ours, which is composed entirely of digital computer data and is inhabited by beings that are also entirely made of data called Digimon." She said with her arms crossed and her eyes closed in contemplation to everything she just heard.
"Yep." Yuichiro replied with a smile.
"And this Digital World is loosely connected to ours through the digital technologies and networks to the point that it is possible for digimon to cross over to our world occasionally. Or by going to a specific place like... a train station?" Mitsuba added with veins popping out on her forehead and gripping her arms tighter.
"Yes." Mikaela replied with a neutral expression on his face.
"And the two of you just so happen to know this one from a long time ago?" Mitsuba then gestured at DarkKnightmon, who was still sitting with his back leaning against the wall of the train cart they were all inside of and still holding his two-headed lance in one hand and an unconscious Mirai in the other.
"Correct." He replied simply.
"Okay. I think I get it now." Mitsuba took a deep breath and sighed as her body visibly relaxed... And then she opened her eyes again and exploded. "THAT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL!?" She said throwing her arms in the air in frustration. The others in the train cart just let her go on her tantrum with neutral expressions on their faces. "That sounds just moronic! How the hell is this even a thing for real?! What's next? Is the train also a digimon?" She shouted.
"I CAN HEAR YOU BACK THERE, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!" A gruff mechanical voice boomed through the cart, causing the pigtailed girl to stop.
"Wha..." Mitsuba said in disbelief.
"That would be GrandLocomon, one of the few digimon that can make it relatively easy to the human world on purpose. Or at least that was the case before 8 years ago." DarkKnightmon said before looking down at Mitsuba. "You'd do well not to disrespect them unless you want to be thrown off the train in the middle of the void between your world and the digital one." This made the blonde girl stiffen up slightly, while behind them a loud sigh rang through from the other digimon in the cart.
"You fight vampires and supernatural monsters that defy all logic other than a singleminded urge to kill humans with weapons that are literal demons and this is where you draw the line to the fantastical?" Devidramon asked as it still looked down at the group with the two eyes on one side raising the eyebrow, before facepalming. "Mika, your new friends are weird."
"They are not my friends." The blonde vampire replied with a blank face.
"They are mine though!" Yu said happily.
"Figures." Devidramon replied with an equally deadpan tone before it suddenly began to glow and shrink. Makoto, the Shinoa Squad and Krul all watched as the mass shrunk down to a small bat-like creature that flew in the air for a moment before flying over to Mikaela and landing on his shoulder. "Yu always got stuck with the strange crowd."
"DemiDevimon..." Mikaela said in a disapproving tone when Yu grabbed the small devil digimon by his antennae and pulled it off of Mikaela's shoulder like pulling out a carrot out of the ground.
"What's that supposed to mean? Huh?!" Yu asked angrily as DemiDevimon flapped his wings around and kicked his small legs in the air in an attempt to free himself.
"OW OW OW OW! Let go Yu! I'm sorry!" He cried out in surrender.
"Speaking of which, what... well, who is that?" Shinoa asked.
"Oh, that's DemiDevimon. He's Mikaela's partner." Yu said letting go of the ear like antennae as it quickly flapped its wings and flew back to Mikaela's shoulder, glaring at the black-black haired teen. "Now that you mention it, how come you were the only one coming with DarkKnightmon?"
"We did not really plan on finding you guys again and I was around when he was trying to make it to the other side." The devil digimon stated bluntly. "That and it had been a while since we were in the human world and I was curious." He fidgeted with his wings a bit as if poking his own finger tips with the feather like ends. Yu's face fell a bit at the news that they hadn't come specifically to their aid in Nagoya, but then turned to the dark knight, who seemed to understand what he wanted to ask.
"8 years ago when this strange virus outbreak happened, all conncections between the digital and your world were severed. Despite the fact that both worlds rarely interact with one another, this was unheard of and several groups in the Digital World began to investigate this phenomenon. Since most digimon are unaffected by this, there hasn't been much of a fuzz about it, but it certainly worried some concerned with the balance between them and how it could affect them now that they could no longer have any input on what was going on in your world." DarkKnightmon explained.
"So what's the situation like in the digital world now?" Yuichiro asked.
"They remain divided in their interests as usual. The group I worked for was more empathetic towards what could have happened to Mankind as a whole, while others essentially wish for the two worlds to remain solitary and cease any interaction. I don't think I must tell you who thinks ill of your kind." DarkKnightmon replied, making both Yu and Mika frown which the others naturally took note off, but decided to wait until later to ask.
The group wanted to ask more questions when the train started to slow down and they felt once more the rumbling of the train moving over solid ground again, though it felt more like being on actual tracks rather than plowing through the ground like GrandLocomon did in Nagoya.
"This is were we part ways." DarkKnightmon said as he stood up, holding the still unconscious Mirai in his hand like a ragdoll. "I need to report this to someone who might be able to discern more from it than me."
"No, you can't take her." Shiho said biting back a groan from the pain shooting through him as he drew his swords. "Give her back!"
"Oh?" DarkKnighmon's eyes gleamed as he observed the redhead with interest. "And what makes you think you can challenge me in this pathetic state you are in?" Shiho gritted his teeth in a mixture of pain, frustration and anger as he knew the giant before him was correct. Then a hand was placed on his shoulder and he looked at Yuichiro.
"Don't worry. I'm sure your sister is going to be fine. She's in good hands after all. Right DarkKnightmon?" He said with a thumbs up. The warrior digimon nodded, before the train started to come to a stop. Brakes hissed loudly and the shutter of the wagon opened allowing warm sunlight to shine in.
Outside the cart, the group looked at a deserted train platform surrounded by a lush green forest. The sun shone brightly in a blue sky with a few white clouds dotting it in the distance. Overall it was a warm summer day in the digital world. The group looked a bit surprised while Yuichiro, Mikaela and DemiDevimon (still sitting on Mikaela's shoulder) stepped out, with Yu stretching his arms over his head and letting his joints pop after the train ride and the events in Nagoya.
"Ah, it's good to be back." He said before turning to the others. "Hey come out already. It's not like you'll get jumped by some monster."
"Yu, that is exactly what happened to us back then, plus we were much younger." Mikaela said with a flat look.
"Why am I not surprised at him forgetting that?" DemiDevimon asked himself, facepalming with one if his wings. "Good times though..."
"I'd not describe almost getting crushed by a stampede of Monochromon as 'good times'..." Mikaela deadpanned at his partner digimon, who simply smirked back at him.
"Not for you, but it wure was entertaining for me." He said. Not much sooner did the train horn rang out again making most of then hold their ears.
"GET OFF ALREADY OR I'LL START CHARGING YOU." GrandLocomon said, their red eye glaring down their side towards the open train cart. Reluctantly, Krul and the Shinoa Squad and Makoto got off. The third progenitor simply moved over to Mikaela's side and shit him a look of demanding answers later, while the humans looked a but unsure about their surroundings.
As he got off the train with Yoichi's help, Shiho looked back at DarkKnightmon and Mirai in his grasp, who gave him a curt nod in return before the shutter closed again and GrandLocomon drove off.
Before long the train had disappeared from sight, which now left the group of 6 human teens, 2 vampires and 1 digimon on the platform in the middle of seemingly nowhere.
Almost instantly, the members of the JIDA minus Yuichiro pointed their cursed gears at Mikaela and Krul, while DemiDevimon was surprised at suddenly being held at sword/axe/lance/arrow point. Yuichiro immediately jumped between Mikaela and his squadmates.
"Hey, hey, hey! What gives? I didn't do anything yet!" DemiDevimon said as Mikaela's hand wandered to his sword.
"Hey, what's wrong with you now?" Yu asked, while the others looked with distrust at the 3rd progenitor next to Mikaela.
"I'm sorry, Yu-san, but while I get why you want to protect Mika, she is a different matter entirely." Shinoa said as she pointed at Krul with her scythe.
"Oh really. And you think you can defeat me with your little toy?" Krul said with a grin. The tension in the air continued to rise as either side was ready to kill the other before Yu shouted.
"Alright, stop!" He declared, making everyone look at him. "Look, I get we are not exactly trusting each other... at all right now."
"That's an understatement." Krul commented dryly, making Mikaela and DemiDevimon look at her disapprovingly.
"But if we fight right now, all we'll do is make things worse. I mean, you guys want to leave this place again, right?" Yuichiro asked. At this question, Makoto narrowed his eyes.
"Explain." He said dryly, which is when Mikaela spoke up.
"The digital world is full with digimon, who could easily pose a threat to ordinary humans. While not all of them are ill-spirited, there is plenty of those and they are all comparable in strength to DemiDevimon earlier when he was Devidramon." The blonde vampire said, making DemiDevimon hold up his chin in pride.
"If not stronger." Yuichiro added. "To put it simply, we need to stick together. Once we are out of the digital world again, you guys can try and fight her, but as far as I'm concerned she's fine cause Mika said so." He said with absolute confidence. The other members of the JIDA looked at him in disbelief before Shinoa lowered her cursed gear and returned it to its small key like form.
"Fine..." She said.
"Shinoa! You can't be serious!" Makoto protested to which she simply shrugged.
"They aren't exactly wrong. We have no idea where we even are in this place and they are the only ones with experience. And if what Mika-san said is true as well, we don't really stand much of a chance." Shinoa said. The others eventually lowered their weapons reluctantly, while Krul frowned a bit.
"Thanks guys." Yuichiro said with a smile, causing the JIDA members to roll their eyes a bit (or blush in Mitsuba's case).
"Alright then, where are we exactly supposed to go?" Shinoa asked. At this question, Yu grinned widely as he pumped his fist into the air.
"To our grandparents' house, of course."
Everyone new to the digital world blinked as the words started to sink in.
"Grandparents?"
Before long the group was moving through the forest on an old beaten path leading through them. The light shone brightly through the canopies overhead and the fallen leaves rustled under their feet as they moved through the forest. Yuichiro took the front to lead the group as a whole, followed closely by Shinoa and Mitsuba while Yoichi, Shiho and Makoto were behind them and in turn followed by Mikaela and Krul. This was both to keep the group on track by the only two people who actually knew the path and to prevent the humans from trying to attack Krul and/or Mikaela.
Something the group did notice was the fact that there were actually signs around the trees. Though these were no signs that showed where to go but rather a lot of signs to not proceed further. From traffic signs like for dead ends or STOP! signs to crudely made ones, reading "Keep Out!", "No Tresspassers!" and "Turn Around!". The group looked at the two teens that were apparently familiar with the digital world for answers when they saw that.
"Oh, that's just grandpa for you! He doesn't like it when people come to his door and try selling him stuff." Yuichiro laughed their concerned looks off when he kicked a small mound of fallen leaves aside. "Man they really could rake the leaves at least." He sighed.
"So, your grandpa appears to be a bit... excessive." Shinoa worded carefully, making him chuckle.
"That he is. Don't worry, you'll love him once you get to know him." He said.
Meanwhile, DemiDevimon looked down at Krul from Mikaela's shoulder. Or rather, the small bat-like familiar she had on her shoulder, who stared back at him with its single eye. Mikaela and Krul chose not to comment on this staring contest, that DemiDevimon was clearly losing by the way he strained to keep his eyes wide open, and instead talk among themselves.
"Say Mika, how come you never told me about this?" She asked.
"It never appeared to be actually relevant. That and I personally chalked it up as some vivid childhood dream after everything that had happened." Mikaela said, making DemiDevimon turn around at him.
"Hey, I'm still here, you know?" He said, poking Mikaela's cheek with one wing when he noticed something. "Huh? Why are you're eyes red and slitted? Are you wearing contacts now?" Mikaela looked away at this remark, which only revealed another part of his changed appearance to his partner. "Hey, you're ears are pointy now!" He said, before he then shifted on top of Mikaela's head and was now laying on top of it.
"What are you doing now?" The blonde vampire asked his partner digimon, who just closed his eyes and smiled.
"Taking a break. I'm tired from flying."
"I've been carrying you ever since we got off the train..."
"Don't care. It's good to have you back, Mika." The bat-like digimon said as it nuzzled against his head. Mika didn't reply to that, though Krul actually spotted the slightest hint of a smile on Mikaela's lips.
"Ah, there it is!" Yuichiro's excited shout made Mikaela look up to see his friend now at the end of the road where there was some stone pavement on it leading towards a clearing.
Beyond the treeline, the group of 9 was looking at a small house in the middle of the woods. The pathway leading to the door was paved with stones and a small fence surrounded separated a garden in the back from the rest of the clearing. Strangely enough it appeared that within the garden there was a field where meat was sticking out of the ground.
"Is that..." Yoichi wanted to ask about the strange meat, but Mikaela just cut him off.
"Don't ask. Just don't." He said facepalming as Yuichiro made his way to the door. The rest of the group followed them, taking in the details about the house, including a small mailbox with the letters J and B written on it.
"Okay... who's going to open the door?" Yu asked. "Not me."
"Not me!" DemiDevimon joined. Mika sighed.
"Of course you wouldn't." He sighed when DemiDevimon flew off his shoulder and simply flew in the air next to him. The blonde vampire took a deep breath before hammering his fist against the door repeatedly. This surprised the others a bit, while Yuichiro couldn't help but grin at what was about to happen next.
The door suddenly opened inward and Mikaela was struck square in the face by a staff with a large paw on its end, smacking him right in the face. This happened so fast even Krul had barely any time to react when the other vampire hit the ground and staff was caught by the one who had apparently thrown it.
"FOR THE LAST TIME, I'M NOT BUYING ANYTHING YOUR STUFF!?" They shouted in a gruff tone before coughing loudly. the group looked a bit perplexed aside from Yu and Mika when the figure in the door revealed itself. It was a short person with white hair covering his head and face to the point where none of his facial features were visible. A thick white beard reached to his chest as he appeared to wear an old rag. The hands were covered in brown gloves and the feet appeared large as well with tuffs of white hair on them. But aside from that, everything about this person screamed old man.
He then turned his attention to the rest of the group who looked still in shock between him and Mikaela on the ground.
"What do you want? Scram already before I-" The figure stopped when Yuichiro laughed.
"Oh, this is so like you Jijimon. Sorry Mika, I couldn't..." He said before bursting out in laughter.
"Haha... very funny..." Mikaela said, rubbing his face where the paw had slapped him.
At that, the now named Jijimon brought a hand to his hair and lifted it up, revealing a brown eye to look at the group before focusing on Mikaela and Yuichiro. Almost immediately the mood shifted as Jijimon laughed out loud.
"Yuichiro! Mikaela!" He said as he would have run at them with open arms to hug them, when...
CRACK!
"AH! My back!" He yelled and holding his back. By that time Mikaela had picked himself up again and DemiDevimon landed on his shoulder. Jijimon looked at the two of them. "Oh it's so good to see you again. My, have you grown! Look at you!" He said as he looked the two up and down, causing Yuichiro to sheepishly scratch the back of his neck.
"Oh you know..."
BAM!
"AH!" Yuichiro shouted when Jijimon hit the black-haired boy in the face with his staff. "Why?" He whined as he held his nose.
"That's for never writing or calling us, young man." Jijimon said sternly. "That and your reflexes have gotten rusty. I'm disappointed." He said with his arms crossed.
"Hey what's going on out there?" A second voice rang out from inside the house, making everyone turn to the open door.
"Baba! Come out! Yuichiro and Mikaela have come to visit!" Jijimon shouted.
"What?" The feminine voice shouted back even louder.
"GET OUT OF HERE YOU OLD BAT!" Jijimon yelled, before turning to the other members of the group. "Oh, and you have brought friends as well. Sorry if these two gave you any trouble. They can be a handful at times.
"Grandpa!" Yuichiro cried out in embarassment and betrayal, while Mikaela gave Jijimon a flat look. The old digimon meanwhile specifically looked up at Mitsuba and Shinoa.
"My, my. And such good-looking friends they have brought. Hehehe..." He chuckled to himself, before all of the sudden a broom hit him in the back of the head.
"JIJI! Don't you dare go around and creep on the young girls like that you pervy old geezer!" The owner of the feminine voice from earlier said as she stepped out. Her appearance was a bit more inhumane than Jijimon's but also was essentially that of an old woman. She wore a green robe and a necklace, giving her a witch-like aesthetic. Her skin was a pale violet with her ears slightly pointed. Her gray hair was covering the upper part of her face like Jijimon's and tied up in a bun. Meanwhile, her mouth appeared to be sown shut like a puppet, though she could clearly open her mouth and speak normally. Her fingers had long violet nails and she wore pointed shoes.
"Agh! Watch it you hag! You could have killed me with that!" Jijimon reeled in pain from the attack on his head, while Babamon caught her broom.
"Good! Last time I checked I didn't marry you to go after younger girls!"
"I wasn't going after them! Have you gone completely senile now?"
"You take that back you bloody fool!" Babamon shouted with her broom held high over her head.
"You are the fool here!" Jijimon said as he also held up his staff when both of their backs cracked loudly, making them groan in pain as they were unable to move. With them being unable to attack each other physically, they instead switched back to verbal attacks.
In the meantime, the group just looked at the old married couple argue with one another.
"So, these are your... grandparents?" Krul and Shinoa asked Mikaela and Yuichiro respectively.
"Don't worry, you get used to it." They both replied in unison as the two Ancient digimon kept arguing with one another.
Inside the living room the group had gathered around a small coffee table. A few couches and arm chairs were put around it, allowing everyone to sit comfortably. In a fire place, the flames crackled as it greedily ate away at the wood thrown into it by Babamon earlier, who sat next to Jijimon on a couch. Yuichiro would have smiled at being back in this place, if the circumstances had been better.
Naturally, Jijimon and Babamon wanted to know what had happened in the human world as they too had noticed that the connection to it was gone. This led to a rather uncomfortable retelling of the events that had transpired ever since Yu and Mika had been in the digital world as children alongside their siblings from the orphanage. As well as informing them about the fact that the others aside from them were dead. And of course, an awkward silence settled into the room after this as even DemiDevimon looked downcast at the news of Akane and the others having passed away 4 years ago.
The reactions from Babamon and Jijimon had differed a lot. Babamon had gotten up from her seat, before excusing herself for a moment to go into the kitchen. Meanwhile Jijimon's anger clearly shot through the roof when Yuichiro told him about Ferid Bathory killing the other children of the Hyakuya Orphanage. He didn't shout or anything, but the way he was gripping his staff so tightly they heard the ancient wood crack and groan in protest under his fingers told them how mad he was.
Even Krul felt a chill run up her spine at that as she could tell that the Ancient Digimon was far more powerful than DarkKnightmon.
"Very well." Jijimon said after a long pause. "Please feel free to make yourselves home. Any friend of our boys is a friend of ours." He said.
"We can't stay here. That guy-" Shiho said as he shot up from the couch he was sitting with Yoichi on.
"DarkKnightmon." Yu corrected.
"Took Mirai somewhere. I need to-" Shiho was silenced by Jijimon hitting him on the head with his staff, forcing him back onto his seat.
"Sun Heal Light." Jijimon said as his staff emitted a soft golden glow. After a moment, Shiho and the others felt their wounds heal completely and feeling rather refreshed. "Now, from what you have told me, it appears that DarkKnightmon is bringing your sister to the Celestial City to figure out what is wrong with her. Not only is the place far away from here, you'd need to get there somehow without any digimon deciding to eat you or otherwise prevent you from going there. Not exactly something you can do on your own." He added.
"I don't care! I can't just leave her like that!" Shiho shouted. Jijimon stroke his beard at that.
"Uhm... what's this Celestial City now?" Yoichi asked to which Babamon answered.
"It's the home of a lot of holy digimon, including the 3 Holy Angel Digimon. If DarkKnightmon is working for someone, than it is probably them." She said before turning to Shiho. "You don't have to worry, my boy. I'm sure they will be able to help your sister." Shiho wanted to retord something, but eventually just gave up. Then Jijimon clapped his hands.
"Very well then. For now, you may stay here. But you will need to help with the chores." Mikaela and Yuichiro groaned in protest at this, already knowing what was coming their way. "Now, now. You live and eat here for the time being so you best help out a bit." Jijimon said as he threateningly patted his staff.
"Chores? Really?" Makoto asked sceptically with his arms crossed.
"It can't be too bad, right?" Yoichi asked innocently as Yu shot him a glare, while Jijimon and Babamon's eyes gleamed under their hair.
"What have you done?" Yu asked Yoichi, who had no idea what he meant. DemiDevimon tried to quietly escape only for Mika to glare at him whilst pulling him back by his foot towards the others.
Shiho, Shinoa, Mitsuba, Makoto and even Krul looked a bit surprised as to what got the two boys so worked up over doing some chores for some elderly couple.
They had no idea what was waiting for them...