Digital Intervention
I got inspiration for this story and just couldn't help but start writing it. So now I'm juggling five stories, but I've been balancing them nicely, so far. I hope this doesn't seem too farfetched an idea. I've always wanted to find a good way to do this crossover and I'm hoping it'll go well this time around. Enjoy.
I do realize I started another story with Digital as the first part of the title… but I couldn't really think of anything else scratches the back of head sheepishly
Chapter OnePartners
Conan frowned at what he was seeing on the news.
"There have been an increased number of disappearances as of late. The police have been searching long and hard for the missing individuals, yet they haven't succeeded in finding a single one of them. they have given a warning to the general public from confirming the one common factor: stay away from fog banks." The reporter informed the viewers.
'What strange warning.' Conan thought. What did fog banks have to do with the missing people?
Originally, Conan hadn't been interested in this case… until more people were disappearing and none of them were found.
As luck would have it, Kogoro was being called in to help with the case at long last. Conan intended to tag along. He had no school for the day.
So as he and Kogoro headed off, the elder detective turned to his daughter. "You be careful, you hear? Those who have been disappearing are all around your age or younger."
"I'll be careful, Tou-san, you don't have to worry." Ran assured her father with a bright smile. "Now you two better head off before you're late."
"So where are we going?" Conan asked in an innocent voice, looking around.
"The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building." Kogoro responded, pointing to the two twin towers that stood out in the Tokyo skyline. Conan blinked. He'd always wondered about that place. It seemed to be enshrouded in eternal mystery. He knew it had been heavily involved with all of the strange occurrences that had happened seven years ago, including the strange red mass Conan recalled to be known as the D-Reaper. However, even as he'd dug for more information on the matter (his curious 10-year old mind driving him to such lengths), he couldn't get much information about the incidents after they were done with. It was like someone was trying to cover them all up.
Conan frowned as he puzzled the mystery over. Did that mean the strange building was involved yet again?
He was broken from his reverie when they entered the building. He scanned the area curiously and was surprised to see that Heiji was there alongside Megure, Takagi, Satou and Shiratori.
"Heiji-niichan?" he called out in surprise. What was the Osakan detective doing there?
"Ah, Ku – Conan-kun, I thought you'd pop up here." Heiji said, but Conan could tell his normal enthusiasm was muted. Conan frowned. What was bothering the Great Detective of the West?
"What are you doing here dealing with a Tokyo case?" Kogoro asked, crossing his arms. Heiji fixed Kogoro with a serious look.
"Because whatever is causing the disappearances is spreading to Osaka too… Kazuha went missing a couple of days ago." The Osakan said.
Upon hearing the news, Conan's eyes widened in shock. So that was why Heiji was acting so sedate in comparison to his normal self… Conan felt a flash of sympathy for his friend and confidante.
"What are we waiting for?" Kogoro asked. His answer was given quickly as a pretty woman with reddish brown hair walked out and joined the group. Kogoro leered at her openly, causing Conan to hang his head. Would the old man never stop?
"Good morning, I'm Ootori Reika. I will be escorting you up to the main conference room where Yamaki-san will be more than willing to answer all of your questions." The lady said and the group followed her into the elevator.
"I wouldn't leer at her if I were you." Conan told Kogoro, who gave him an annoyed look.
"Why not?" he asked.
"She's engaged, or have you not noticed the ring on her left ring finger?" Conan remarked, pointing to the engagement ring Reika wore. Kogoro deflated instantly.
When they arrived in the main conference room, they saw a teenage boy, around Heiji's age, with messy brown hair and crimson eyes, standing in the room, arranging the files in a neat pile. He wore black pants and a red shirt with the Hypnos logo on the right breast pocket. He wore a pair of golden-rimmed goggles that kept his hair out of his eyes and a pair of gold fingerless gloves. One of them had the symbol of the Digital Hazard (a hazard sign with the inner circle not filled in with an upside down triangle inside it) on it, and the other had the Catalyst symbol (an upside down red triangle with three black triangles surrounding it) on it. On his belt was a strange device with a golden circle around its LCD screen. It looked sort of like a mix of a beeper and a child's toy.
"You're Yamaki?" Kogoro gaped and the teenager looked up, startled. He blinked blankly, not comprehending what Kogoro was getting at. The moment he understood, a wide smile appeared on his face and he looked ready to laugh. He would have done so if it hadn't been for the hand that was placed on his head as a warning for him to behave.
The group turned to see a tall blonde man wearing a black suit and sunglasses standing behind the teenager.
"I'm not Yamaki-san." The boy said in a polite voice. "My name is Matsuda Takato, one of his employees." He backed away to the side to let the real Yamaki speak up.
"Hello, I'm Yamaki Mitsuo. I suppose you are all here about the disappearances?" the blonde asked, gesturing for the group to sit. "Matsuda, would you mind getting some water for everyone?"
"Yes, sir." Takato said, walking out. Technically, it was hardly his job to cater on those Yamaki spoke to in these meetings, but Yamaki preferred that the general public not know the real job Takato and his friends did for Hypnos.
"You know what these strange fog banks are, don't you?" Megure asked Yamaki.
"I know what they are." Yamaki confirmed, expressionless.
"Then what are they?" Shiratori asked. "People keep disappearing wherever those things arrive."
"I generally dislike letting people outside of this organization know anything about the Digital Fields. You must understand that the very purpose of this organization is to deal with them in the most subtle nature. If the general public was to get an inkling of the true nature of these fog banks, it could be disastrous." Yamaki said, intertwining his fingers in front of him.
"We'll make sure to keep what you tell us from the press." Megure promised in reassurance. "Now what are these Digital Fields?"
"It's a field made of false proteins that help life forms made of data gain a physical form here in the Real World." Yamaki said. The police officers and detectives frowned in confusion.
"Life forms… made of data?" Heiji repeated in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
"Tell me… what do you know of creatures known as digimon?" Yamaki asked them. The group looked incredulous.
"Wasn't that a huge fad some years back? There was that card game, video games, and even a TV show based off of it, right?" Takagi remarked, looking thoughtful. "What does the Digital Fields have to do with them?"
"Digimon are real." Takato said bluntly as he arrived with the drinks. The attention diverted to him and Takato fought back a flinch at the glare Yamaki was sending his way.
"What do you mean by that?" Kogoro asked, not believing his ears.
"Exactly what I meant. Digimon are real living, breathing beings just like you and me. You'd think you'd know that from what happened –" Takato's words were cut off as Yamaki covered his mouth.
"You talk too much, brat." Yamaki said without any real malice in his words. "Go do that paperwork I told you to finish earlier."
"Yes, Boss." Takato said impishly before going off.
"Isn't he awfully young to be working in a government building?" Shiratori asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Young he may be, but he makes it up with the experience he has in this field." Yamaki responded. "He and his companions deal with the bio-emerging digimon on a near daily basis."
"You let children fight these creatures? Are you out of your mind?!" Kogoro exclaimed. "How long have they been doing this?"
"Seven years." Yamaki said, not looking phased by Kogoro's exclamation. "Trust me, in the beginning, I did try to get them to back off and leave the digimon to us… but the truth was, they were doing a better job than we were and that there was nothing we could do to stop them. Unlike my initial belief, they don't see digimon as just a game. They take it as seriously as we do. So… I decided that instead of placing my efforts in stopping them, I would help them in any way I can to ensure their success and their safety."
"So they know what they're doing." Megure said. "As long as they are aware of the dangers and they're parents are aware of it, I suppose there is no condemning their employment."
"So can you explain more to us about these digimon? How they came to be?" Satou asked with an inquisitive look on her face.
"In 1984, a group of college students started a project to create artificial life forms on the net and they succeeded. However, before they could complete the project, their funding was cut off. Unknown to most of them, one of the students continued with the project: one Goro Mizuno." Yamaki began. "He helped digimon evolve in what they are today and then proceeded to help bring about the process that led to Takato and his companions taking on their roles with the digimon twenty years later."
"How exactly do these teenagers play a role in this?" Shiratori asked. "How can they go up against digimon?"
"They have digimon partners of their own." Yamaki explained. "Friendly digimon, so there are no worries about them turning on us."
"How powerful can these digimon be?" Conan asked, curious.
"Significantly powerful. Digimon have a certain amount of times they can evolve. They're born as Baby I. From there, they go to Baby II, Child, Adult, Perfect and Ultimate. A single Perfect level digimon was able to destroy nearly half of West Shinjuku seven years ago… though his mere size factored greatly into that." Reika said.
"So, they're pretty formidable." Takagi said, swallowing. "Do you believe they're tied in with all these disappearances?"
"I have no doubt in my mind that they do. We've been getting peculiar readings ever since the disappearances began, but whenever we try to deal with the signal, it disappears like it was never there. Whoever's taking these humans is very smart." Yamaki said, frowning in displeasure. He hated getting one-upped by rogue digimon.
Suddenly, the alarm rang off. Yamaki instantly went on alert.
"What's goin' on?" Heiji asked, looking around with wide eyes.
"A digimon is trying to bio-emerge." Yamaki said as he started barking out orders. "Find where the bio-emergence point is!"
After a few minutes, Reika finally discerned where the digimon would arrive. "Emergence point is Teitan High School."
Both Kogoro and Conan's blood ran cold.
"Ran!" Kogoro cried, rushing for the door, only to be stopped by Takagi and Shiratori.
"Think rationally, Mouri-san!" Shiratori exclaimed. "What you're thinking of is dangerous!"
"I don't care! I have to save her!" Kogoro yelled irrationally.
"You need to calm down. I've got Matsuda heading over there right now with his partner." Yamaki said.
No one noticed that Conan was missing.
'I'm coming, Ran.' Conan thought, riding on his solar powered skateboard. He could see the fog bank beginning to form near Teitan High. Luckily, he wasn't too far away from it.
Without even worrying about the dangers he may face within the fog, Conan entered it. He squinted his eyes as the fog made them sting but he still couldn't see anything.
"Ran!" he exclaimed, trying to get to the entrance of the High School. He hoped whatever was in the fog hadn't made it inside just yet.
Suddenly, he heard a strange noise coming from the center of the fog and he froze. He was definitely not alone anymore.
A form slowly became visible and Conan paled visibly. He'd listened to everything Yamaki had told them about digimon but he hadn't actually processed that bit of information… until now. What he saw was a 5 foot pink creature that vaguely resembled a praying mantis with red sickle-like arms, pointed feet and two gray horns pointing out from his head along with a series of red spikes on his back. He didn't look friendly, at all.
'Oh shit.' Conan thought, backing away slowly. The digimon advanced upon him.
Yamaki and the others were in a real panic at the time when Reika spoke out some more bad news.
"Sir, another digimon is trying to bio-emerge!" she said.
"WHAT?"
'This is what going in head first without thinking does to you…' Conan scolded himself as he backed away more. He yelped as the digimon lunged and he dodged to the side. He thanked for his agility as it at least kept him a few steps ahead of the digimon. Then again… the thing didn't look like it was going all out yet in trying to get a hand on him.
The digimon raised one of its sickles and swung down towards Conan and the boy braced himself for the pain, but it didn't come.
"METAL CANNON!" another voice rang out. A series of black balls struck Arkadimon, distracting him. A purple blur shot out, grabbed Conan by his collar and pulled him from the danger zone.
Conan looked up to find himself caught in the teeth of a little bigger than average purple fox with golden eyes and a strange red triangle on his forehead. He had a white snout. He didn't look as frightening as Arkadimon but that could just be because he'd saved Conan.
"Er… thank you." Conan said as the digimon set him down.
"I'm not about to let him hurt an innocent human child." the vulpine digimon said.
"Who are you?" Conan queried, keeping a weary eye on the stunned Arkadimon.
"My name's Dorumon. That digimon over there's a rather nasty piece of work… Arkadimon. He may only be a Child right now, but he could take down an Adult with no problem and even give a Perfect a run for his money." The digimon said. "I've seen his cruelty back in the Digital World."
"Then… we're in trouble?" Conan asked, finding himself a little calmer now that he wasn't exactly alone in the danger zone and had someone who understood the situation beside him.
"We are… but I'll protect you. I promise you that much." Dorumon promised.
"You'll risk your life for me when you don't even know me?" Conan asked, surprised.
"I've seen what's been happening with the abducted humans. If I can thwart their plans in any way or form… I'll do it." Dorumon said, attention solely on Conan. Unfortunately by doing so, he didn't notice that Arkadimon was back in action but Conan did.
"Watch out!" Conan cried but it was too late.
"Soul Absorption!" Arkadimon cried and Dorumon cried out in pain as some of his data started spilling out. Arkadimon absorbed it. Conan called out in alarm, kneeling in front of the writhing digimon.
"Stop it!" he yelled. He turned on his super-kick sneakers, pushed the button on his belt and as the soccer ball came out, he kicked it with all the force he could muster.
Arkadimon was caught by surprise and his attack ceased. Dorumon slumped to the floor, exhausted. He'd had no doubt that he would be taken care of easily at Arkadimon's hands but he'd try anyways. He didn't want to see another human fall into the rogue digimon's hands.
Arkadimon let out a loud angry hiss as it headed for Conan again. The boy swallowed. All he'd managed to do was make the digimon angrier.
"Pyro Sphere!" another voice called out and a fireball struck Arkadimon. The three individuals looked to see a tall red dragon with feral golden eyes and a black Hazard symbol on his white belly. Takato stood behind him, wearing his goggles over his eyes and holding his D-Arc in his hands.
"Are you okay?" Takato asked Conan.
"Yeah, somehow." Conan responded, slightly relieved. Yet, he was still apprehensive. Would the saurian digimon make any difference against Arkadimon.
"Take him down, Guilmon." Takato said to his partner before he witnessed something odd.
Arkadimon was retreating.
The dark digimon knew he wasn't yet ready to deal with a Hazard digimon. Not until he had a Tamer… and it looked like this one was off limits as long as the other Tamer was present. So hissing angrily, he disappeared back into the Digital World.
"Well… that was weird." Takato decided.
"It didn't want to fight you." Conan assessed. "For whatever reason."
"It was just a Child, so I suppose it was acting on self-preservation." Dorumon murmured weakly. "Your Hazard digimon would have been able to take it down… being an abnormal digimon in its own right."
"There's no denying that." Takato admitted. "Who are you?" If Dorumon had been a dangerous digimon, he would have attacked already… and Guilmon would have still been feral.
"Dorumon…" the vulpine digimon responded before he passed out.
"He got hurt defending me." Conan said. "It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't run in here."
"It's not your fault. I wasn't paying attention." Dorumon responded, trying to appease the shrunken detective. Suddenly he groaned and he shrank down into a pitifully tiny little fox kit.
"What happened?" Conan asked, surprised.
"He de-digivolved." Takato explained. "When digimon get injured too badly to sustain their form, they revert to a lower level. He's in his secondary Baby form for now… Dorimon." He referred to his D-Arc.
"He'll be okay then?" Conan asked anxiously. He'd hate if Dorimon had got permanently damaged trying to protect him.
"He'll be fine." Takato said, finding himself smiling at the 'child's' worry for the digimon. Was it just him or did he see a potential partnership in the making?
Almost as if on cue, a glowing white orb appeared in front of Conan and a D-Arc with a royal blue ring around the screen dropped into his hands. A Cheshire grin appeared on Takato's face as he looked at the surprised look on Conan's face. It looked like even the DigiGnomes agreed that Conan and Dorimon would be good partners.
"What's this?" Conan asked Takato, raising the D-Arc.
"That would be a digivice. Or a D-Arc, rather. Your D-Arc. It binds you to Dorimon. Looks like you're one of us now, kid." Takato said.
"It's Conan. My name is Edogawa Conan, not kid." Conan said. "You mean… We're like you and that digimon of yours?"
"That's right. You're Dorimon's Tamer now. He'll protect you and you'll protect him. A partnership of mutual benefit." Takato said.
"A-ah." Conan said, comprehending it somewhat.
"I'll explain more about it on the way back to Hypnos." Takato said. "This is my partner, Guilmon, by the way." Guilmon waved cheerfully, looking quite childlike for one who had appeared so dangerous just minutes before.
Conan scooped Dorimon into his arms, marveling at how small he'd become, as he followed Takato.