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Chapter Text

Waking up to Koromon jumping on his chest was normal to Taichi. The blue, cloudless sky above him not so much. Blinking didn't make it disappear and with a defeated sigh he sat up. The motion caused a sleepy Koromon to fall from his chest onto his lap and the little Digimon landed with a squeal. His partner hopped around to look up at him with big eyes.

Taichi absentmindedly patted Koromons head, smiling at the soft, happy noises his partner made while he tried to remember what happened. He was pretty sure that he came home from school, prepared food for Hikari, their partners and himself and then went to study for the upcoming test.. everything after that was a blank.

Really, at this point he shouldn't even be surprised anymore. The weirdest things seemed to happen to him anyway, and this could still be classified as a relatively normal day for him.

Well, first things first.

"Hey Koro, do you know how we got here?”

“Nope! But it feels like the Digiworld! But also not”

"So its the Digiworld but.. wrong?” he tried to clarify. Koromon nodded enthusiastically.

That... wasn't a good sign. Even under the control of the Kaiser the places they investigated had always felt like the Digiworld to their partners. That this was seemingly not the case anymore wasn't reassuring.

"Do you know what makes it wrong?” he asked. Koromon’s face scrunched up in thought and Taichi smiled, amused despite the situation. His partner always managed to make him smile, one way or another. The pink antenna that had perked up while Koromon had been thinking, dropped with Koromon's defeated sigh. “I'm sorry Taichi but I don't know... It just feels weird, like something is missing or... I dunno.. put in wrong?”

He ruffled Koromon’s head in a silent thanks, mentally rolling his partners answer over in his head but came to no conclusion. “Koushiro,” he called, “Can you help me with this?” Nothing. Only the leaves of the trees nearby made a soft, rustling noise in the breeze.

Standing up, Taichi carefully pulled Koromon up with him while looking around. The pair was in an open area that seemed to be in the middle of a forest. It could have been very peaceful but the dawning realization that they were alone in the clearing made Taichi’s stomach drop with worry.

“Koromon," he began slowly, “ do you know where the others are?” A short pause and then a soft: “No... I can't smell them around either..”

Which meant they had landed here already separated or the others weren't near them. Taichi felt fear and panic slowly rise in his chest. Taking a few unsteady steps he began shouting for their friends while mentally scolding himself for not noticing the quiet surroundings earlier. Koromon had hopped out of his arms and was looking around, sniffing bushes and trees for any sign of their friends.

Taichi tried to distract himself from panicking by checking his pockets for anything helpful. That at least revealed his Digivice. Relief washed over Taichi, they weren't completely unprotected wherever they had landed. His relief turned into confusion however, when he also pulled his old Crest necklace free and he stopped walking around the clearing to inspect the Crest. It looked just like how he remembered it, orange with a stylised sun on it. With furrowed brows he turned the Crest around in his hand, half hoping for it to light up or a clue to appear.

When no mysterious light appeared and gave him a clue, Taichi pushed the necklace and the Digivice back into his pocket with a frustrated sigh. Later, he could figure this out later. But first he had to find his friends.

He picked Koromon up again, accidentally startling his little partner Digimon.

Petting Koromon's head as an apology that the Digimon happily accepted he remarked: "We should look around, Koro."  With something to do, a clear goal in mind, Taichi chose a random direction and started walking. The trees all looked the same to him so holding Koromon secure in his arms he began his search.

Of course he knew that the most logical thing would be to evolve Koromon into Agumon right now, maybe even go for Greymon to make the search easier and to deter potential enemies but he didn’t -couldn't- let go just yet. Waking up without his friends had shaken him up, worry and fear lodged in his chest and holding Koromon was a good way to ground himself.

Koromon however had become very adapt at reading Taichi and having sensed his worry spoke up: “Don't worry Taichi! I'm sure they're fine! All of them are super strong and we will probably find them in no time!” He gave his Chosen a happy smile.

Taichi knew his partner was right. All of his friends were strong and perfectly capable of protecting themselves but he was their leader. He should be with them to watch over them. And what if they did get hurt? He would never be able to forgive himself. Shaking his head, he tried to get these thoughts out. Worrying like that didn't help anyone.

Sensing Koromon’s concerned look at his prolonged silence he tried for a reassuring smile with at least partial succes judging by Koromon pressing into his embrace a bit more. He said nothing in return however, not trusting his voice just yet. Taichi knew he had to believe Koromon. He had to, otherwise he might start spiralling into full on panic and that wouldn't help anyone.

The breeze at least was nice and Taichi tried to focus on the peaceful forest around them and the clear blue sky above them rather than the worry still coiled in his gut.

The fragile, peaceful atmosphere around the pair was interrupted however by something stumbling through the bushes around them. Taichi tensed up, preparing himself for a possible confrontation and felt Koromon do the same.

He was hoping for one of his friends. The person almost falling on their face before him was unfamiliar however and Taichi tried to ignore the disappointment that started to rise.

The stranger was about to push themselves up when a bright purple Digimon slammed onto their back, effectively throwing them back into the ground. The scene was so comical and weird that Taichi, for a short moment, forgot he was worried and had to fight the laughter that threatened to escape him.

"AKHH- GUMDRAMON WHAT THE HELL?”

The yell made Taichi jump up in surprise, while Koromon let out a startled yelp. The purple Digimon on the other hand seemed to be completely unsurprised by the volume of the shout.

"Not my fault you're so slow! I told you we need to hurry!” ,the purple Digimon -Gumdramon?- said with a self satisfied expression. The human sat up with enough force to send the Digimon flying. Seeing the face of the person before him made Taichi pause. It was... familiar? In a weird Deja-vu way. But that made no sense, he would know a Chosen like that, right? Especially after they made that website for all Chosen Children...

"Nee, you guys are funny!” Koromon’s happy shout effectively ended the argument the strangers were caught up in. Something about hot headed and being an idiot. Taichi decided to break the now reigning silence via the diplomatic move called introducing himself. “I'm Taichi Yagami and this is Koromon. I'm looking for my friends. Did you see anyone else on your way here?”

"Your looking for your friends too? Oh! Sorry, but I didn't see anyone so far... “ The gloominess of being unable to help fell away when the teen stood up to introduce himself: “I’m Tagiru Akashi and this is Gumdramon!”

Nobody that Taichi knew then. But something caught his attention and he tilted his head to the side in thought. “You said ‘too'.. Your friends are also missing?”

“Uhu. I woke up in this forest with Gumdramon and no one else around. I mean, I know Ryouma likes to mess with me but this isn't really like him.” Another unfamiliar name.

Gumdramon spoke up, impatience evident in his voice. “Can we go already? We need to find the King!”

Taichi was about to ask what he meant, when Koromon beat him to it: “What? There's no King in the Digiworld!” Tagiru blinked, confusion all over his face. His partner however let out an angry shout:” You take that back! Everyone knows King Shoutmon! He's the strongest Digimon! Or are you one of these stupid Bagra-Army soldiers huh? Come on, I'll fight you right here an-" Tagiru clamped a hand over Gumdramon’s mouth and pulled the Digimon back which prompted the Dragon to push him. They started roughhousing and rolling around on the ground.

For a second Taichi smiled fondly, thinking about Daisuke and his usual antics but the more pressing matter at hand took his attention back.

With both of the newcomers effectively occupied with another argument, Taichi started to really think about what Gumdramon had said. Nothing that he had heard sounded familiar whatsoever. There was no Bagra-Army as far as he was aware and they would have noticed if an Army did appear in the Digiworld, right? But Gumdramon also sounded extremely sure of what he had said and neither the Digimon nor Tagiru seemed to be lying...

Deciding to just go for it he called out: “Hey Tagiru, Gumdramon?”

"Huh?” the teen and Digimon in question looked up from where they were trying to headbutt each other.

“Did you ever hear anything about a Digimon Kaiser?"

They shook their heads. Taichi was about to try and pray for an answer and less confusion when Tagiru piped up: ”Well... I've never been to the Digiworld before anyway and Gumdramon’s still a kid so we're really not the type to ask about this.. You could ask Taiki-san, he's super smart and knows a lot about the Digiworld! But uhhh we would need to find him first.”

Taichi blinked and then abruptly sat down. “I think we should start with you not having been to the Digiworld before. You have a Digivice, right?” He got a confused look in return. "You mean this?" Tagiru pulled something from his pocket, a square device Taichi had never seen before and that made him pause in surprise. The Digivice was completely different from the models Taichi knew. He slowly pulled his own Digivice free holding it next to Tagiru's weird model. Tagiru leaned forward to stare with wonder in his eyes: "Whoa that's a pretty cool Xros Loader!" 

Koromon pouted. "Whatcha talking about? This is a Digivice, not a Xros Loader!"

"But don't you need a Xros Loader to go to Digiquartz?" ,asked Gumdramon.

Taichi stared. Digi...quartz? He had never heard of a place called Digiquartz before. "But you said that you have never been to the Digital World before... so where is this Digiquartz and how did you meet Gumdramon? 

At that Tagiru grinned widely: “Digiquartz is like a weird copy of the Human world made outta Data and stuff! Thats also where I met Gumdramon. We had a rocky start but I guess he finally realized how cool I am!” Gumdramon looked up from where he had sat down to play patty cake with Koromon. “More like I had to make sure you don't get into trouble, so King and Taiki-Sensei wouldn't be worried" Koromon giggled at the exchange.

Taichi smiled at the banter as well before he focused on his questions again. “So this place isn't in the Digiworld... What exactly is the use of Digiquartz?” This time, Gumdramon spoke up absentmindedly: “Sometimes Digimon fell into Digiquartz from the Digiworld! It was made by a Digimon called Quartzmon but we kicked it's butt.” “These Digimon got kinda mad while in Digiquartz so me and a few others had to hunt them down.”,Tagiru added.

“Hunt them down,” Taichi repeated slowly “Wait did you kill the-" “What? No, never!” The twin shout made Taichi jump in surprise.

“We had to capture them with a special Capture program! They would join us and help in the hunt!”

“King made it illegal to kill another Digimon too! And even Tagiru knows how to follow the rules sometimes!” Tagiru yelped in mock-offense which prompted Gumdramon to stick his tongue out. Koromon watched the whole thing like a very entertaining Soccer Game.

“Did you get your... Xros Loader from Taiki and this King then?”

“No from an old clock shop owner actually. He gave them out to all new Hunters. He knows a lot about Digiquartz as well but now that I think about it he is kinda secretive about alota things..” Tagiru trailed off, lost in thought. That description of the old man reminded Taichi a bit about Gennai and he frowned, thinking about how Gennai too used to be more secretive at times.

"Well, I know nothing about that. Did that all happen in Tokyo ?”

"Mhm. It's cuz Tokyo is the place were Taiki-san fought Bagramon! But I don't know anything about that, Taiki-san doesn't like talking about it.” Taichi decided to file that information away for later. 

Tagiru hummed, lost in thoughts, before he inclined his head and gave Taichi more confusing Info about Digiquartz. "Taiki-san said it was Quartzmon’s plan to become one with the Human and Digital world but he got stopped.” Gumdramon added a helpful explanation as well: “King locked all the gates to the Digiworld so that it could rebuild! Some Digimon still fell into the Human world and ended up in Digiquzartz due to Quartzmon tho”

"That sounds scary..” Koromon’s soft mumble got both Tagiru’s and Gumdramon’s attention. While they were busy reassuring his partner that Quartzmon was defeated and nothing of the sort could happen to him, Taichi mulled over the new information.

Tagiru was obviously very lost, having never been to the Digiworld before and all. Furthermore he knew nothing of the Kaiser, while Taichi was clueless about Digiquartz or the Bagra-army. While Gumdramon could probably get around a bit better, being a Digimon and all, he too was obviously rather inexperienced, furthermore they both were looking for their friends and oh man, Taichi sighed. Sure, Tagiru very obviously wasn't like Taichi and his friends but Taichi couldn't just let them wander off alone. Oh, he could already hear Yamato making fun of him for being a softie to juniors.

Standing up, he got the others attention. “Alright. All of us are looking for our friends and it's definitely safer to travel in a group. So what do you say? Wanna go search together?”

Gumdramon grinned: “Only if you tell us a cool story! You never saw Digiquartz and you're no Hunter so what was your whole thingie like? I bet Quartzmon was a way cooler villain than whatever you had!” Koromon made a rather offended noise and turned to face his partner: “Our stories are way cooler, right Taichi?”

“Well, I don't know about you guys but I had to jump into a Computer and had to fight while being inside the literal internet.”

Tagiru turned to look at him with wide eyes, mumbling something about a Superstar while Gumdramon, who was currently carrying Koromon on his head, stared. “Fight against what, a Digimon?"

Taichi grinned and started walking. “Come on, I'll tell you while we search!”

Chapter Text

Takato looked over at the other teen again. Staring was rude, he knew that, but the other was weirdly familiar and the Tamer would much rather think about the Deja-vu he was feeling, then the weird situation they were in. Guilmon at least was convinced that the newcomer was as safe as they would get in the Digiworld, so Takato trusted him for now.

“Something wrong?”

The question made him jump in surprise. “N-No of course not haha! Why wouldn't it be okay?”

The other teen -Takuya, he should start calling him Takuya- hummed. “Well you've been staring for some time now. If something's up you should just say so.”

Takato turned away to stare at the ground instead. “It's nothing.. don't worry about it..” Instead of replying Takuya shrugged and continued walking.

The silence stretched on, interrupted only by Guilmon’s happy humming. Takato absentmindedly patted his best friends head, happy to have him by his side at least. The situation was so weird already and he felt better having his partner with him.
Takuya was evidently not going to break the silence and Takato finally caved by blurting out a question he had since they met: “Do you-I mean what does your Partner look like?”

The other blinked in surprise, before he frowned. “My.. Partner?”

“You know.. your partner Digimon? Like hmmm.. Guilmon is my partner you know? And I'm his Tamer. Everyone who goes to the Digiworld has a partner! Uhhh I mean you already know that probably..Anyway! Since I haven't seen yours around, and since we're looking for them too I kinda think it's important I know what they look like? I mean if that's okay for you!”

Takuya furrowed his brows in thought before he slowly said: “I.. don't know how to talk about this.. “

‘Maybe his partner got...’ Takato paled, thinking about his own experiences with deletion of Digimon. ‘Oh no! And I probably just reminded him of this traumatic event!’ Unaware of Takato's internal struggle, Takuya was considering how to explain his... unique situation to his current traveling buddies.

The silence stretched on. Takuya opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. Takato too, tried to say something but couldn't find the right words. It was Guilmon who broke the gloomy atmosphere. “If you're sad you don't have to talk about it! Takatomon didn't wanna be mean, so don't be mad!”

“I'm not mad, it's just... complicated.. is all.”

Takuya's words made the guilty feeling grow. Takato stood up straight with a soft exhale. He had to be brave and just say sorry for bringing up unwanted memories.

“I...I'm sorry!”

“Huh?”

Takato's outburst made Takuya freeze. “I shouldn't have pried into something so personal! Losing your partner must have been very traumatic and-"
“Woah, woah, woah, woah! Hold on! I didn't lose my partner! I mean not in the way you probably mean, agh damn it! It's a different kind of complicated, so don't worry please.” For a second both of them just stared at each other.

With a sigh Takuya sat down. He motioned for Takato to follow suit. The Tamer did, with Guilmon happily curled up on the ground next to him, his head placed on his Partners lap. Takato scratched between his ears while patiently waiting for Takuya to start talking.

"Why do you think my Digimon partner was..." ,Takuya tapered off with an awkward expression.

“I.. I have a friend, she's super kind and caring and her partner was too! But he, well, was deleted in a fight. Deletion means complete loss of a Digimon and since you are so hesitant to talk about this I thought you had faced something similiar.. When we came across each other you came across as a veteran of the Digiworld and if you fought many battles then maybe ...” Takato slowly stopped talking, aware that he was rambling more than anything to fill the silence.

Takuya inclined his head a bit in thought before he said: “You're correct, kind of. I did go through the Digiworld before and I had my own adventure. I have a partner too! He's just... well his name is Agunimon and he's a spirit. Not because he died or anything! I mean I guess?” Takuya abruptly flopped onto his back with an annoyed shout. “Agh this is way to complicated! Essentially I ‘become’ Agunimon, I get his powers, appearance and stuff. But he also exists as a spirit I can talk to. Sounds unbelievable I know but it's true!”

“That's...” Takato suddenly jumped up with an excited shout, “SO COOL! You can TRANSFORM into a DIGIMON? What does it look like? What's it feel like? Oh! Oh! Your powers! What are they? Are you ranged or more defensive? CAN YOU EVOLVE?!”

It took a lot nowadays to truly surprise Takuya, but the overly excited Takato seemed to do the trick just fine. Staring with a dumbfounded expression, Takuya was trying to comprehend this reaction. He had expected outrage, disbelief. Maybe even disgust. What he got was a load of excited questions. He laughed softly while holding up a hand to stop the others rapid fire questions.

“Yes I can do it at will. It feels pretty cool actually and Agunimon is a melee, fire user. Yes, I can evolve and yeah that feels as badass as it looks. I could show you Agunimon some time later if you want.”

Takato whooped, punching his fist into the air. “Absolutely! I would love to see you in action!”

Guilmon, who had been watching the whole scene with interest let out an excited: “So he’s Takuyamon!”

Takato groaned, flopping onto Guilmon’s back in a dramatic manner. “Guilmon, buddy I explained it before! Humans sadly aren't Digimon. Takuya can become a Digimon. There's a difference!”

“But he smells like a Digimon!”

“Well so does Jenrya when Terriermon sits on his head all day!”

Closing his eyes, Takuya decided to tune the conversation out. Instead he thought about his friends, about the weird situation and about the easy acceptance he got from both Takato and Guilmon. But something still bothered him and the Cap wearing boy spoke up: "Hey aren't you confused by someone being able to evolve into a Digimon?" 

Takato looked at him, something Takuya couldn't decipher flashing over the other goggleboys face before he steeled his face into an attempt at a smile: "Is it alright if I explain this when uhh.. maybe when we find our groups or..." For a second neither of them moved and only Guilmon's purring was heard. But right as Takuya decided to answer he noticed the soft noises of the forest were broken by something loud coming closer. He was about to warn his companions when the newcomers stumbled through the bushes, effectively waking Guilmon and getting the attention of Takato and his Digimon.

Two more unfamiliar people with Digimon by their side. They didn't look dangerous, but neither had that one Digimon and Takuya wasn't willing to fall for a seemingly innocent act again. He readied himself, slowly reaching for his Digivice.

Before anyone could do something drastic however, Takato blurted out: “Taichi Yagami?”

“Huh? You know each other?” The one with the two coloured hair asked.

“..No.” The reply from the other -Taichi- was soft but had a hard impact.

All eyes turned to Takato. Takuya had trusted Takato so far, liked having him around actually, but this made him suspicious. The Tamer looked flustered where he was standing. Most likely he knew that he would have to explain himself.

Guilmon, who had stood up when these guys had stumbled into them, stepped closer and started squinting at Taichi in thought. The dragon's face lit up with recognition and he turned around to cheerfully proclaim: “Takatomon! It's the person from the TV that you like to watch so much!”

Takato flushed and tried to turn away in embarrassment. Takuya's eyebrows wandered up. TV? That made no sense whatsoever. Evidently the strangers thought the same, their expressions just as surprised as Takuya felt.

Reaching up to scratch the back of his head, Takuya sighed. Regardless of what was up he did think going about this in a civil matter was for the best. “Alright, first thing first. I'm Takuya Kanbara. That guy is Takato Matsuda and the Digimon is Guilmon. How about you?”

“Taichi Yagami, but you already heard that. This is Koromon. The other two are Tagiru Akashi and Gumdramon.” Taichi stared at Takato for a second, before he let out an exasperated noise. “Now what's this about you knowing me from TV?”

“It's uhh complicated and kind of a long story..”

Sitting down again Takuya declared: “Alright better start now then!” Tagiru immediately flopped down as well with the Digimon following suit. Taichi remained standing for a second longer, waiting until Takato sat down to do the same.

With a soft exhale to calm his nerves, the Tamer started: “I know you because of... damn this is embarrassing but uhm.. I know you from a TV show called ‘Digimon'. You were the main character of the first season. I used to watch your adventures everyday!” “You're his favourite!” ,Guilmon remarked with a cheerful voice. Takato tried to hide behind his hands, which did nothing to stop his ears from going red. Takuya had to stop himself from laughing, he really didn't want to make this more embarrassing for the other. It was a hard earned victory not to laugh.

Taichi took some time to think this new information over. He surprised everyone by addressing Takuya next: “You don't have a series like that, correct?” Takuya shook his head. He really would have noticed something like that existing.

Takato pulled himself free from his embarrassment and instead reached for something on his belt. A small leather pouch with blue cards in it. Searching through them he pulled one free and held it up for them to see. Depicted on the card was a Digimon Taichi knew all to well. Metalgarurumon in all his glory but what truly caught Taichi's eye was the image of Yamato behind the Digimon. The Tamer held the card out to the Chosen who took it and looked it over carefully. “I know this isn't the best proof but..“

Tagiru leaned over to steal a glance. “Wait, this looks like a playable game!” The Hunter turned pleading eyes to Takato. “Tell me it's a playable game! It looks epic!” “It is! There are even tournaments for it! Me and my friends play it all the time,” Takato became more and more excited with each word. “If you want I can teach you the rules? It’s not difficult and very fun to play.” Tagiru grinned widely, obviously agreeing immediately.

Taichi took a calming breath and handed the card back after he looked it over before he placed a hand on Tagiru's arm to calm him down. “I want to clear a few things up before we discuss this further. All of you woke up here without your friends. You all were involved in saving Digimon in some way and while acting as the leaders of your respective groups.” Stunned silence from Takuya and Takato. They nodded slowly. “Tagiru and me are in the same boat. There are at least two more people we will most likely find, my Junior Daisuke and Tagiru's upperclassman Taiki. It may sound crazy but I don't think we're from the same human world. Tagiru and me exchanged information, and the things he told me aren't things I would have overlooked. I assume it's the same for you.”

Takuya thought back to what he knew. The card game and the series.. That certainly didn't exist in his world. And Taichi being alive even though he was from a fictional show about Digimon..

Taichi reached out to show his Digivice. "I don't know if this will work as proof for you but Tagiru and me have different Digivices, sorry I mean a Xros Loader in Tagiru's case, and I assume it is the same for your Digivices." Takato and Takuya almost simultanously pulled out their own Digivices. 

Takuya lightly waved his own Digivice while explaining: "This is called a D-tector.." "Mine is called a D-Arc." ,Takato added.

Tagiru and Gumdramon leaned forward eyes almost sparkling.Taichi on the other hand straightend up, stating in a serious voice: "While we look for our friends, we should also try and find out as much as we can about this Situation. Is that alright with you?”

“You want to work together.” It wasn't a question but Taichi gave an answer anyway : “I don't know you but it's obvious that we all came here for a reason. It’s not trust, not exactly, but there is strength in numbers and something wanted us to meet. Whatever is happening, we should try and face it as a group.”

“I'm in.” ,Takato said immediately. All of these people, even Tagiru and Takuya, where weirdly familiar to him and if working together could help him figure this out, help him find his friends he would. And who wouldn't be excited to work with the Taichi Yagami? Takuya shrugged. "I already decided to work with Takato so might as well work with all of you to look for our friends, especially with this confusing Digiworld."

Tagiru, upon hearing the confirmation that they were now a team, immediately leaned forward a glint in his eyes: “Alright! That means you can teach me this game, right?” Grinning, Taichi stood up and motioned for them to do the same. “Come on, I'm sure Takato can explain while we walk.”

Before the Tamer could start explaining the Cardgame Gumdramon leaned forward, with a cheeky grin on his face: “Hey if Taichi is your favourite doesn't that mean you just met your idol?” Taichi, Takuya and Tagiru immediately turned to stare at the Tamer. Takato's face slowly turned from normal to a shade of red that could rival Guilmon. Taichi leaned forward practically emitting an aura of mischief: “Dunno, he had Yamato’s Digimon in his Deck.. I'm probably not cool enough.” Guilmon beamed, eager to share what he knew. “Takatomon likes you lots though! He even made art an-" Takato flung himself on his Partner's back to clamp a hand over his mouth. “Ahahaha Wow Guilmon sometimes doesn't know what he's talking about! Crazy I know!” Seeing the faces of the others, he realized that the excuse wouldn't work and resigned himself to the teasing.

Pouting, Takato was about to chase after Takuya and Tagiru.

Until a hand ruffled his hair.

Looking up he met Taichi’s eyes. The Chosen smiled in a soft, almost melancholic way. “If you really think of me that highly, I must have done something right.” He turned around to leave but faced Takato again to add: “Show me the art sometime, I would love to see it.” Before Takato could respond, Taichi caught up to Takuya at the front of their little group.

Reaching up to touch where Taichi had ruffled his hair Takato smiled softly, before he ran to follow Tagiru's excited shouting, so that he could finally teach him the Digimon Card game.

Chapter Text

“THORN WHIP!”

The deadly attack missed it's mark by only a few millimetres. Daisuke scrambles to his feet to start running again. The BlackRosemon sprinted after him with a snarl of rage, her whip cracking against the ground with her rapid, angry movement.

Daisuke turned to the one who, in his opinion, was responsible for the furious Digimon chasing them right now.

“THIS IS ABSOLUTELY YOUR FAULT, YOU KNOW THAT?”

“HOW IN THE HELL IS THIS MY FAULT?”

The other guy's Agumon pointed an accusing claw at Daisuke and Veemon while running: “YOU'RE THE ONES WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE! ANIKI AND ME DID NOTHING WRONG!”

“NOTHING WRONG?? YOU STARTED PUNCHING THINGS THE MOMENT WE RAN INTO YOU?!”

The rest of the argument was interrupted by another Thorn Whip attack that only narrowly missed either party. Daisuke cursed under his breath. There was no way in hell they could keep on running forever, BlackRosemon was simply to strong of a Digimon, she wasn't going to run out of energy anytime soon.

The Chosen grabbed his Digivice tightly. He could get out of here with his partner fairly fast but the other guy... Coming to a decision he called out: “DIGIMENTAL UP!”

The evolution sequence took barely a few seconds. By the time the light had faded Lighdramon had already furthered the gap between them and BlackRosemon. While breezing past them, Daisuke reached out and grabbed the other guy and his weird Agumon.

“Hold on tight!” That was the only warning they got before Lighdramon started going for max speed.

The BlackRosemon followed them for a while but her form became smaller and smaller the faster Lighdramon ran.

It still took a while before either, Daisuke or Lighdramon, felt that they were far enough away from the rampaging Digimon. When they finally reached the beginning of a treeline they stopped.

The strangers had fallen of Raidramon the moment the Digimon came to a halt. “So... fast..” ,was the only thing the Agumon could get out. Daisuke let out an amused noise, while sitting down next to the now dedigivolved Veemom.

He grinned. “Yeah, Lighdramon is pretty cool.” The strange guy sat upright. Instead of punching things like Daisuke had expected, he turned critical eyes on them, seemingly to try and analyse the Chosen.

“You saved us back there.. Why? I mean you blamed us for the whole debacle back there.”

Daisuke shrugged. “It's the right thing to do. Regardless of who is actually at fault, leaving you there even though I coulda saved you, that woulda just been the worst.”

He was surprised when the other guy offered him his hand. “We came off on the wrong foot I think. Now that I'm getting a good look at you, you're actually a pretty nice guy. Im Masaru Daimon. This guy here is Agumon.” Shaking the others hand, Daisuke replied: “Daisuke Motomiya and this here is Veemon!”

Introductions done Agumon pointed at Veemon, asking: "How didja evolve into that Digimon, we saw no Digisoul?!"

Daisuke and Veemon blinked, looked at each other and then at the other guys. "What's a Digisoul? We used Armor-Evolution."

There was abrupt silence, confusion evident on everyones faces. Masaru leaned forward, squinting at Daisuke with a critical eye. "You don't know about Digisouls? But D.A.T.S. wouldn't have given you a Digivice if you didn't show a Digisoul." 

Veemon leaned back, arms crossed and a pout on his face. "What is a 'D.A.T.S.' ?" 

Agumon let out a startled noise and went to open his mouth to say something, only to close it when Masaru after a few shocked seconds  finally managed to find his voice: "But.. don't you guys have a Digivice?" 

The Chosen held up his Digivice. "You mean this one? It's called a D-3 but you could call it 'Digivice' and I got it from a Legendary Holy Digimon."

Both teams slowly slipped into a somewhat awkward silence, thinking about what they heard from the other. The D.A.T.S. member held up his own Digivice Burst, comparing it to Daisuke's. They looked completely different in almost every way, but even if they had different Digivices...

"Why didn't you help with the fight against the Royal Knights?" ,Masaru demanded, his fist slamming into the ground next to him. The fighters sudden frustration made Daisuke flinch back, Veemon jumping up in surprise. 

"What do you mean? What's a 'Royal Knight' anyway? You guys are being rude!" Veemon sounded more frustrated by the minute, after all these guys were making no sense to him. 

"Oh please everyone knows about the Royal Knights! That was a very public event and these Digimon aren't exactly small!" ,Masaru was becoming more and more frustrated evidently.

"EVERYONE CALM DOWN ALREADY!" The loud shout made everyone flinch, staring at Daisuke. 

The Chosen looked pained, almost desperate, while he pleaded: "Please, we shouldn't fight. And I don't know what you think we did wrong but we really don't know anything about 'D.A.T.S.' or a 'Royal Knight'. Veemon and me don't even know where we are! This place is confusing and we're just looking for our friends!" 

Daisuke curled up slightly, Veemon reaching out to console his obviously stressed Partner with soft words. Masaru reached up to push his hair out of his face a conflicted look on his face. Agumon reached out, placing a claw on Masaru's arm and mumbling a soft: "Aniki..." 

"Look I... I didn't mean to snap at you, so what I am trying to say is, I am very sorry. You have literally helped me and Agumon out without a reason to do so and I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." 

A snort from Daisuke got his attention. The Chosen smiled. "You really are an upstanding guy, huh? It's okay I get it, from your point of view we were some guys leaving you with some hard work. But now you know we aren't like that."

The yellow Dinosaur held up a claw, asking: "But what do you mean, if you don't know the Royal Knights then what were you guys doing? Were you raised in the Digital World, like Keenan?" "That can't be it",Masaru interrupted, "they would have at least heard of the Royal Knights then."

Daisuke blinked in confusion. "Ooookay I will come back to the part where you said some kid grew up in the Digiworld later. But to answer your question Agumon, we were busy saving the Digiworl and destroying Dark Towers." 

"What? That can't be WE were saving the Digiworld together with all our Friends from D.A.T.S.!" ,Masaru looked as confused as Daisuke at this point.

Veemon decided to chime in: "How about we figure this out another time cuz Daisuke and me still have to find our friends!" 

"Explain." Masaru and Agumon both looked rather serious all of a sudden.

Daisuke shrugged and started talking: “We went to go play soccer after a normal day at school. All our friends where also at school and nothing weird happend. Just a normal, boring school day. I went home to fetch some stuff for soccer but then we woke up here. No one else besides Veemon and me. Well and you guys. We were looking for them when we ran into you.”

Masaru frowned. “Your friends are missing then.. Well, count me in!”

“What?” ,Veemon and Daisuke asked at the same time.

“Agumon and me” ,Masaru declared, ”are gonna help you guys find your friends.”

Daisuke blinked. “Oh.” After he finished processing what had been said he abruptly leaned forward: “WAIT A MINUTE! Are you actually serious? Like really serious?"

Masaru grinned. "Leave it to me and Agumon!" 

Said yellow Dinosaur turned to address Veemon. "Hey, say do you also feel like this isn't your Digiworld, like it's kinda... dunno I can't put it into words Thoma is better with big, complicated stuff." 

"I thought I was hallucinating that! You feel that too?" ,Veemon exclaimed. Agumon surged forward to press a claw over Veemons mouth. "SHHH I didn't tell Aniki yet because I don't want him to worry!" The ancient Digimons face lit up with understanding.

"You guys okay?" ,Daisuke asked.

The Digimon cheerfully nodded and hurried towards their Partners with a cheer.

Veemon inclined his head in thought, addressing Masaru: “You know.. you give me a feeling of being pretty reckless and hotheaded Masaru."

Masaru abruptly jumped up. “HEY! I am no hothead!"

“Oh and what about when you tried knocking us out before?” Daisuke's teasing made Masaru laugh awkwardly. “Okay so that was kind of a rushed decision.. But I can be patient and think things through!”

Agumon let out a confused: “Wow! Since when?” This in turn prompted Daisuke and Veemon to start laughing. Masaru on the other hand turned a very interesting shade of red in embarrassment, only to suddenly turn around to try and wrestle Agumon to the ground. Daisuke and Veemon laughed even harder, the blue dragon quite literally rolling around on the ground with laughter.

After they had all finally calmed down, Agumon now sporting a brand new bruise, Daisuke spoke up: “Well, we appreciate the help for sure but we kinda don't know where to start searching. This isn't any part of the Digiworld we are familiar with. To be honest I don't even know if this is our Digiworld.”

Masaru crossed his arms. “Then that means that we are definitely in the same boat. Cuz we don't recognise this place either and trust me, we've spend so much time in the Digiworld we would know.”

“How much time do you spend there? Because me and Daisuke just go to the Digiworld after school.”

Agumon raised one claw to the sky, mimicking a student raising his hand “Aniki and me live in the Digiworld!” Masaru laughed. “It's a bit more complicated. To keep it short the Digiworld needs someone to protect it and that's what we're doing.”

“Cool" ,both Veemon and Daisuke whispered. “Wait what about your friends?”

“They're still in the Human world.” Masaru smiled softly, lost in memories for a second. The Fighter turned to face Daisuke: “But we still gotta find your friends. Best bet would be to find a Village or something, they might have heard something.”

“Well there was nothing in the direction we came from, so maybe if we cross the forest?” ,Agumon suggested. Everyone agreed, eager to not run into BlackRosemon again.

Daisuke stood up abruptly filled with energy, startling Agumon and Masaru in the process. Veemon was right beside him with a bright grin. “Well, what are we waiting for! Let's go!”

Masaru stared for a second before he smiled and stood up as well. He reached out and ruffled Daisuke’s hair with a grin. Daisuke reached up to his hair, his expression unreadable before he tried to tackle Masaru. “Stop patronising me!” The fighter laughed, sidestepping the attempted tackle.

“Man you're slow! We need to work on your speed!”

“What did you just say? Come here aagh-“

Masaru dodged again, laughing all the while. Daisuke tried to hide his own smile but failed, while still trying to at least get Masaru in a headlock. It really wasn't fair how tall the other was! Masaru evidently had the same thought, because he said with a grin: “You should grow a bit more so you can actually reach me!”

Daisuke's enraged: “WHAT DID YOU SAY??” Made not only Masaru laugh but also their partners.

Veemon and Agumon looked at their bickering partners with fondness before they turned to look at each other. They grinned at their humans antics, before they chased after them, further into the forest, with a laugh.

Chapter Text

Taiki narrowed his eyes in frustration. That didn't stop his Xros Loaders screen from glitching, before it turned off yet again. Pocketing his Xros Loader he called out: "Seems like something is messing with the ability to find the others Xros Loaders."

Shoutmon gave a hum of acknowledgment. "That should be impossible, right?"

"Normally yes," ,Taiki remarked ,"except in instances with outsiders who have the ability to influence the Xros Loader..."  

When Shoutmon realised his Partner had slowly stopped talking he turned to face Taiki and blinked in confusion. "What's wrong? You hear anything?"

The General let out a soft hum, tilting his head with his eyes closed listening to a Digimelody. Taiki startled his partner when he suddenly jerked upright. "That way." ,he called, pointing to show where to go.

Trusting Taiki's direction, the two of them started moving, hoping to find a trace of their friends. What they found instead was a group of unfamiliar humans and Digimon loudly yelling.

The two humans were both brunette although there was one with longer hair who was currently angrily gesticulating at the smaller one who wore round goggles on top of his unruly hair. The respective Digimon, both Dragons Taiki thought, were cheering and whooping.

Shoutmons shoulders started shaking in silent laughter when the Gogglehead called the tall guy a 'fists for brains who wouldn't know what north was if it punched him!'. Even Taiki had to fight down a snort of amusement at the tall guys expression at that.

They were finally noticed when the two Digimon looked up and jumped in startled surprise at suddenly seeing them, shouting:  "Whu- WHO ARE YOU GUYS?"

The sudden loud shout made the argument between the two humans stop as they looked up from where they were trying to pull the other around. Seeing the long haired guy slowly move into a fighting stance, Taiki held up his hands in a pacifying manner.

"My name is Taiki Kudo."  

"The name's Shoutmon."

A beat of silence were the two guys blinked, only interrupted when the two Digimon waved cheerfully.

"Oh, oh, my name is Veemon and that's Daisuke!" 

"My name is Agumon and this floppy guy is Aniki!"

Taiki smiled, deciding to tease a bit. "I see, then it's very nice to meet you Veemon, Daisuke-kun, Agumon and 'Aniki'."

'Aniki' spluttered in surprise and embarrassment before grabbing Agumon and putting him in a friendly headlock.

"Now listen here Agumon!!!" While the Yellow Dragon was trying to throw 'Aniki' over his head,  with the other two busy laughing, Shoutmon leaned towards Taiki: "These guys the Digimelodies?"

Taiki focused on the melodies he could faintly hear, before he nodded, slowly adding: "We can't just leave them here." The red Dragon grinned. "Come on Taiki, when have I ever not agreed with you on stuff like that? Of course we're gonna help 'em. But first we needa check something yaknow?" With that he straightened up and abruptly called his McField-Microphone which appeared in a swirl of data.  

With a grin Shoutmon leaned into the Mic and shouted once to get some attention ftom the group. Taiki who knew rather well how loud the Microphone could make Shoutmons already impressive voice, leaned away slightly with a small smile.

The shout made the new group look up surprised. Veemon yelped and 'Aniki' was so startled that he let go of his Partner. Agumon, now free from the headlock hopped out of grabbing reach to prevent another headlock with tickling. 

'Aniki' whistled impressed. "Sheesh you can be loud huh! But we gotta clear some stuff up if that's cool with y'all?" Shoutmon let out a snort, having wanted to do the same.

Before anyone could answer, the long haired guy continued: "Alright first of all I'm not named Aniki. My name is Masaru." After he stared at the sheepishly smiling Agumon, his gaze turned more serious. "Secondly, what are you guys doing around here?"

"We were looking around for clues when we heard noises that sounded kinda fighty y'know?" ,Shoutmon explained.

"Clues? Are you guys detectives?" Agumons question made Taiki smile. "No we aren't detectives, we are looking for our friends though." 

"Then you're in the same boat as us!" ,Veemon called surprised.

"Huh?",Shoutmon looked and sounded as confused as Taiki felt. Their shared expression made Masaru grin in amusement. Daisuke crossed his arms. "Masaru is helping Vee and me with looking for our friends!" 

Taiki hummed thoughtfully while Shoutmon inclined his head, asking: "Hey before we talk about that more, were you guys fighting when we found you or nah? 'Cuz you guy were yelling pretty loudly!" 

Agumon waved, bouncing up and down exciteably. "Oh we were arguing about were north is 'cuz Aniki says the Digimon we ran away from is up north and then Daisuke said he's pointing in the wrong direction and then Aniki called him a shortstack!" Masaru opened his mouth to add something but Daisuke was faster than him. "In my opinion," ,he began, "Masaru is still wrong about where north is because he is a meathead."  Masaru let out a noise of surprise and tried to reach for Daisuke, who skillfuly dodged back.

With the argument effectively starting up once again Taiki shook his head, amused at the reminder of Yuu and Tagiru and their usual antics in Digiquartz. But the thought brought worry which made him frown, making him think about where the other Hunters could be in this weird Digiworld. Kiriha and Nene were experienced and knew how to handle the Digiworld, but the Hunters were a different story since they hadn't been to the Digiworld themself so what if they got lost or a wild Digimon-

A hand on his arm made his rapid thoughts pause and looking down he saw Shoutmon who flashed him a reassuring smile, softly saying: "Don't worry too much, Tagiru and Gumdramon are Troublemakers with a capital T but they and the others, Airu, Ren and Ryouma, are strong and we taught them what we could, so what I'm trying to say is, trust in their abilities to handle the Digiworld."

Exhaling slowly, the General nodded his head while trying to tell himself that Shoutmon was right and Tagiru and their other Juniors were going to be able to get by with the skills they learned during Digiquartz.

Pulling out his Xros Loader Taiki called up the Map-function. After a few seconds he was presented with a hologram of the surrounding area. Only a moment of consideration later he called out: "North is that way." 

Masaru und Daisuke stopped abruptly, while Agumon and Veemon looked first at the direction Taiki was pointing at, then at themselves and lastly at their Partners. "Aniki you were both wrong with directions, north is the completely opposite way!" While Agumon was pointing out the obvious, Veemon was busy trying to climb up Taiki to peek at the map. 

The General leaned down to allow Veemon a better look. The blue Dragon, after he took some time to look at the entire hologram, pointed at something on the map. "Oh hey that looks like a Village!"  

Agumon leaned over to look at the map aswell, mumbling: "Woah thats one useful Digivice." 

Taiki frowned, asking: "Hey... what do you mean with 'Digivice'?"

"Isn't that a Digivice?" 

"Well It's called a Xros Loader." While talking Taiki held up his hand showing his Xros Loader to zhe others present. 

Daisuke fumbled for something in his pocket and then presented something. "This is called a D-3." Masaru held up his own Digivice: "Digivice Burst." 

Taiki hummed in thought. Three different 'Digivices'...

"Hey" ,Shoutmon called, "You guys know a Bagra Army or a Code Crown?" 

They didn't, but Taiki didn't know any Dark Towers or Royal Knights either. 

"Thinking about this is making my head hurt." ,Masaru grumbled. 

"I have a few theories but to little evidence or proof to verify them." ,the General stated.

Well there was that Village right?" ,Veemon suggested. Taiki smiled, calling up the map one more time. "This one correct? We should check it out. Oh! Provided you want to travel together?" 

Daisuke grinned, already walking. "Sure why not! You guys seem to be pretty fun!" Masaru voiced his aggreement with a laugh. 

"A Village is something we wanted to look for anyway!"

"Let's check it out then, better then just standing around doing nothing!" 

"You're just trying to pretend like you weren't wrong about were north is!" 

Shoutmon sighed and calmly walked over to stop Masaru and Daisuke from arguing again. With that cleared up however, Taiki inadvertently thought about Tagiru and Gumdramon. He didn't even realize he was frowning until a hand came down on his shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts. 

"Hey I know your probably worried and all but we're gonna find your friends, so heads up!" Masaru's words made Taiki attempt a smile.

Shoutmon shook his head, remarking: "Ya'know this is kinda funny, normally Taiki is the one giving the pep talk to the Juniors!" 

"Sounds like my Senpai!" ,Daisuke remarked with a nostalgic smile.

After he looked down at the map to confirm were they were going, Taiki asked: "Tell me about him? Your Senpai I mean?" 

Taiki's question worked wonders and the Chosen was abruptly giddy with excitement. "Oh man were to start I mean theres a lot...Taichi-Senpai is like the absolute best, he is first of all a kickass soccer player-"

Chapter Text

The novelty of meeting new people had worn of after a while. And the rules of a card game, no matter how amazing, were done being explained after a while as well. Since everyone seemed to insist on being in their own thoughts the atmosphere was... awkward. Well, everyone except for their Digimon. And really Tagiru was glad that at least those guys were getting along and that they didn't seem to notice the tense atmosphere but he was also kind of jealous. The Hunt had never been like this, there he could at least talk with Yuu no matter how heated they could become in their arguments. 

But now everyone was being quiet. He thought the Digiworld would have more exciting things happening but so far he really started to miss Digiquartz and even Ryouma, Airu, Ren and their antics. 

Suppressing a sigh he continued trudging after Takuya, Takato and Taichi. Thinking about those guys... Tagiru frowned at their backs. He could swear that he knew them but from where? Had Taiki-san talked about them before? No he was pretty sure he would remember that. Also how would Taiki-san know these guys if they really all came from different worlds? Don't get him wrong, Taiki-san was still one of the greatest Superstars to Tagiru but... Thinking about all of that made his head spin so he tried to focus on something else. 

Since Taichi had started quietly discussing something with Takato and Takuya seemed to be really deep in thought, Tagiru focused on the Digimon. Since Takuya had said that he had a private reason for not having his Partner by his side right now, only Koromon, Gumdramon and Guilmon were out and about. Looking over his shoulder Tagiru had to suppress a loud laugh. Guilmon was swaying from left to right with Gumdram on his back who, in turn, was trying to balance while carrying Koromon. 

Since he was looking at the Digimon he didn't notice that the others had stopped up ahead and almost ran into Takuya. 

"Hey what gives? Why did you stop wal-?" Once he looked past Takuya the question as to why they had stopped was answered. 

The area ahead was hard to describe. Instead of the vibrant forest the group of Chosen and Digimon had been trecking through, the are ahead was a chaotic storm of Data-Cubes and particles in varying shapes and colours which seemed to stretch as long as possible up and sideways like a barrier of sorts.

"So, I am not an expert but uhhh...the Digiworld isn't supposed to look like this, right?" Tagiru scratched the back of his head, thinking back on Gumdramons explanations and descriptions of the Digiworld.

Taichi shook his head slowly: "No, the Digiworld can have some pretty fascinating places but it doesn't look like this..."

Guilmon stepped past them to sniff at the barrier, only to jump back to Takato's side with a growl and look up at his Tamer. Takato lightly scritched Guilmons head to calm his partner.

Tagiru looked at Gumdramon who had stepped close enough to hold onto his shirt. The purple Dragon Digimon looked up at him with an uncharacteristic serious face. Tagiru swallowed nervously. Both of them shared the same thought. Digiquartz had been pretty volatile and had been influenced by a lot of Digimon and their abilities but this was on another level from Quartzmons domain entirely. The whole.. Data-barrier-thing was giving of a rather creepy feeling and Tagiru was sure he wasn't the only one to notice.

The other Digimon looked pretty serious as well and even Takuya looked disturbed by the sight before them. As a matter of fact, Takuya moved back abruptly stating: "We are not going through that wall of Data, not without knowing how and why and what kind of Digimon could make that." 

Taichi exhaled softly before moving to follow Takuya with Takato and the Digimon closely behind him. Tagiru moved to do the same but something in the Data-wall made him stop. It looked almost like... a figure? A Digimon?

"■■■■■■■" 

The noise from the figure was impoosible to make out but the effect was still there. Tagiru slowly moved closer, almost in a trance to reach out to the (probably) Digimon. 

"Tagiru?"

Gumdramons voice snapped the Hunter out of his trance and he slowly stepped back from the Data-Wall. The figure had vanished. Tagiru spun aound to follow the others, away from the volatile barrier of Data and whatever else may be hiding in there. 

He caught up to the others. Taichi looked like he wanted to say something but Tagiru spoke faster: "Something was in there, I swear I saw something, I even heard something but I don't know if that was a Digimon but... had Gumdramon not called out I would have touched the weird barrier thingie.." he half expected ridicule. What he got was Guilmon agreeing with him instead. "Tagiru is right! I smelled something weird there!"

The Digimon as a whole seemed to agree that whatever was put behind that barrier was something to be avoided. Takuya frowned. "It's like the Dark Area." At the looks he got he elaborated: "The Dark Area is a space in the Digiworld were Evil Digimon get put. It's like a sealed off space and that Data-Barrier or whatever could be the same. A way to seal something away maybe. It's possible that whatever is behind that wall is a friend but we should talk to some of the local Digimon first before we do anything."

"That sounds good and all but... how are we going to find any of the local Digimon?" ,Takato asked. Guilmon seemed to have calmed down but the dinosaur still stuck close to his Tamer.

Gumdramon grinned. "That's why the Xros Loader is so good! We got a little neat function that can track down wild Digimon!" Tagiru picked the purple Dragon up and scowled: "Hey you know that function only worked in Digi-Quartz!" Gumdramon twisted out of his Hunters grip and landed with pout. 

Since Taichi could practically sense that an argument was going to start between Tagiru and Gumdramon he decided to step in: "It's alright even if it doesn't work. You said you were never in the Digiworld right? So maybe.." 

Tagiru and Gumdramon exchanged a rather intersting look only for Gumdramon to step forward and say: "No uhm.. Tagiru is right the Sensor won't work here, same for the map function, I didn't think about that before so..." 

Koromon frowned and Taichi found himself mirroring his partners look. That was an unusual response but why did the two behave like that? Before he could question it however Takato spoke up: "It's not a problem Tagiru! We should focus on finding a place to rest anyway, we have all been up and around so we can just think of a strategy then!" 

That at least was something Taichi and the others could agree on so for now the Chosen took up his leader position once more, though a shared glance with Takuya let him know that Tagiru and Gumdramons behaviour was noted by more then just him and Koromon.