章 247: Leaving the Digital World

Jayr POV - Digimon Tamers Universe, Digital World, Lowest Layer - 2001

Quickly after we finished our discussion about everything my companions needed to know about the logic, methods, and requirements of Digimon evolutions, our Digimon Partner finally finished their meal in the form of concentrated milk-like Data.

All five of them quickly fell asleep as they started to digest their meal and with that, we resumed our aimless wandering in the barren desert that is the lowest layer of this Server of the Digital World.

While holding the sleeping Chicomon, Leafmon, and Poyomon in my arms, I can easily sense how they are slowly digesting the Data contained in their meal and using it to stabilize their compositional data within their bodies.

Sensing that ongoing process, I smile brightly while thinking, 'Good... I'm pretty sure that once this process is over they will evolve to their Baby II stage, at that point, they will be stable enough to support their existence in the Real World. After all, since I'm here and thanks to a very lucky series of events I have already completed my main objective... the best thing I can do is make sure that nothing bad happens to the 10 years old kids who are destined to shoulder the fate of this universe until it is time for the second Random Battle, and of course change some things here and there...'

As we continue to walk without a clear direction, suddenly from the distance a loud, angry roar is heard that reminds me of something out of a Jurassic Park movie, which is quickly followed by another very similar one but with a lighter tone which makes Zandeer comment, "It seems that some kind of battle is about to start nearby..."

Nikita nods, and then she looks at me and asks, "So... we aren't avoiding other Digimon anymore?"

I nod and calmly reply to Nikita's question, "Not really, the little guys are now out of their Digitama, which was their most defenseless and frail state. Now there isn't any more a need to worry about something happening to them, especially since they are about to evolve to the even more stable Baby II stage..."

At the same time, I'm saying that I take a look at the three Baby I Level Digimon in my arms and see that they are now awake but they all show a different reaction, Chicomon looks excited at the direction where the roars come from, Poyomon is still calm, but it moved closer to Leafmon to reassure it as Leafmon who seems very wary almost scared.

I also take a moment to look at the reaction of my companion's Digimon Partner and see that the reaction of Botamon in Zandeer's arm is similar to Chicomon but with the difference that there isn't only excitement but also some kind of eagerness, like it can't wait for his time to come so that it can join similar battles, making me believe that Zandeer ended up with a cute little battle maniac.

On the other hand, the reaction of Yukimi Botamon in Nikita's arms is also interesting, or to be more precise the lack of it as Yukimi Botamon is still peacefully sleeping in Nikita's embrace without a care of the surrounding world.

After taking a quick look at them, I calmly ask everyone including our Digimon, "Now, would you like to watch a battle for survival between two wild and aggressive Digimon?"

Nikita and Zandeer respond with a simple nod, at the same time, Chicomon and Botamon both shout out, ""Yes!!"" while Poyomon simply looks at Leafmon, who quietly mutters, "Safe...?"

Understanding his question, I give him a reassuring smile and reply, "Yes, it is very safe, from what I can sense, the party involved are only Adult Level Digimon which is something that I, Nikita, and Zandeer can easily deal with... You have nothing to worry about."

Hearing that Leafmon then simply nods and with that, we don't hesitate any more and quickly walk toward the point of origin of those threatening roars.

We don't have to walk too far away from our previous position to reach our destination, and soon, we see right in front of us the somewhat expected sight of two dinosaur-like Digimon facing and threatening each other.

One is a big bipedal Tyrannosaurus rex-like Digimon with blue eyes, three fingers on each hand, three toes on each foot, and a pair of teeth so large they pop out of the mouth.

It has red skin on its body, white skin on its belly, and black stripes on its head, tail, and legs, with big white claws on its fingers and toes which are clearly very sharp and deadly, and it has green plates on its back.

The name of that Digimon is Tyranomon, another very iconic Digimon and one of the most possible evolutions of Agumon, famous for its intelligence and its docile personality despite its fierce appearance and relatively high power, making it easy to tame for inexperienced Digimon Tamers.

(Image Here - Tyranomon)

On the other side, there is a large, blue dinosaur derived from the Allosaurus with red stripes on its body, it has green eyes, a light blue belly, and a front neck.

In addition, this Digimon has red hair, white feathers with red tips, and red and yellow striped feathers on the back of its head drawing inspiration from the Native Americans like its previous evolution, Hawkmon.

The name of this Digimon is Allomon, mostly famous for the rivalry between it and its fellow species of Dinosaur Digimon, Tyranomon, as those two species can't help themselves but fight whenever they encounter each other despite the usual personality of the Tyranomon species.

(Image Here - Allomon)

Watching the two dinosaurs Digimon, one red and the other blue, staring and snarling at each other searching for a moment of weakness or an opening to start their attack, I calmly introduce the participants of this battle to my companion, I start by pointing at Tyranomon and say, "It seem they have yet to truly fight one other... well, let me introduce them. The red dinosaur is Tyranomon, an Adult Level Digimon. A Digimon that resembles an ancient dinosaur that existed in the prehistoric world. It sweeps everything away with its two well-developed arms and its gigantic tail. Its Special Move is spewing out deep crimson flames the same color as its body and with a temperature hot enough to melt through the most resistant metals, this Special Move is called Fire Breath."

As soon as I finish saying that, Allomon lets out another powerful roar and then it uses its powerful legs to run at blistering speed toward Tyranomon, tilts its head down, and takes a horizontal stance, with the clear intent of slamming into the opponent head first.

In response to that, Tyranomon also roars, before it also tilts its head down taking a similar stance, and then starts to run to ram against the incoming opponent.

The red and the blue dinosaurs meet in the middle as their heads crash against one other generating a powerful shockwave, before Allomon is sent flying back despite starting the attack first, and that thanks to its superior speed it gathered more momentum, but it is clear that Tyranomon has a clear physical advantage over Allomon, not only in simply pure raw power but even more importantly in weight.

At the same time, I point at Allomon who is quickly getting up from the ground, and say, "Meanwhile, the blue dinosaur over that is Allomon, an Armor Level Dinosaur Digimon that evolved through the power of the "Digimental of Courage". Particularly ferocious among Dinosaur Digimon, it is in a hostile relationship with fellow Dinosaur-type Tyranomon for some strange reason. Allomon's special features are having powerful leg strength, and being able to run at blistering speed by tilting its head down and taking a horizontal stance like you just witnessed. Its Special Move is spewing out an ultra-high temperature wind which is called Dino Burst..."

Hearing that, Nikita can't help herself from releasing a groan before asking, "Armor? Another evolutionary stage? What is this now? How is this different from the others? I thought that you already told us everything we needed to know?"

Meanwhile, Tyranomon roars loudly and taking advantage of the small advantage it gained from the previous clash, opens its maw wide while shouting "Fire Breath!" spewing deep crimson flames from its mouth that are the same color as its body.

In response, Allomon roars back before opening its own maw wide while shouting, "Dino Burst!" releasing a vortex of ultra-high temperature wind from its mouth.

Soon the crimson flames crash against the wind vortex generating a terrifying flame tornado hot enough to turn the ground in its immediate surroundings into molten lava.

At the same time, I make a fake cough, and a little embarrassed, I say, "*Cough* Well, I forgot about it... it is only when I saw Allomon that I remembered about it."

After saying that I start to explain, "Anyway, in simple words, Armor is an artificial Evolution Stage comprised of Digimon who have, typically, used a Digimental to undergo Armor Evolution. Armor Digimon originated in ancient times with the development of the pseudo-evolutionary process of Armor Evolution. In order to compensate for limited evolution options and limited likelihood of ever-evolving, Ancient Species Digimon developed the technology of Digimentals which compatible Digimon could use to Armor Evolve. However, the technology is now lost."

While I'm explaining the Armor Evolution, the fire tornado that resulted from the crash of Tyranomon's Fire Breath and Allomon's Dino Burst dissipates leaving behind only the scrotching hot air and the small patch of molten lava between the two dinosaur Digimon.

At the same time, as soon as the fire tornado dispersed, Allomon once again started to run toward Tyranomon, tilted its head down, took a horizontal stance, and then used its powerful legs to leap over the molten lava yelling, "Dynamite Head!" with the clear intent of slamming into the opponent head first.

But in response, Tyranomon turns its body and uses its tail to intercept Allomon with a powerful swipe and slams Allomon on the ground.

Then without giving its opponent any chance, Tyranomon opens its maw and spews a torrent of deep crimson flames from its mouth yelling, "Fire Breath!!"

Engulfed by Tyranomon's deadly flame, Allomon lets out a mournful as its body breaks down into countless motes of Data, which then, starts to get absorbed by the victorious Tyranomon.

Meanwhile, as Tyranomon "loads" its defeated opponent's Data into its body, enhancing its own parameters while at the same time getting closer to the Perfect level, I calmly continue to explain to my companions what I know about Armor Evolution, "Moving on, I already told you guys that each individual Armor Digimon is the result of using a specific Digimental. Armor Digimon draw their power from their Digimentals, specifically from the Digimental's elemental attribute, which generally grants them both the ability to wield that element and other enhancement effects that in some manner tie into the element. Relying on borrowed power from Digimentals instead of their own innate power enables Armor Digimon to easily draw upon great power, for this reason, Armor Evolution was viewed as dangerous in the ancient Digital World. Armor Digimon typically, but not universally, evolves from Child Digimon but of course, there are always exceptions. The ability to Armor Evolve is also limited to compatible Digimon, usually Ancient Species or those who inherit their genes."

I stop for a moment and focus on Tyranomon who just finished loading Allomon's Data and it is now looking at us, moreover, its gaze stops on our Partner Digimon for a little longer, but before I can say anything, Tyranomon slightly lowers its head saying "Hello..." before peacefully leaving searching for a place to rest or maybe some new prey.

Seeing that, I simply resume my explanation moving on to the Power Level of Armor Digimon, "The power of Armor Digimon can vary considerably, so some are categorized as belonging to an Evolution Stage of equivalent power for clarity. The affinity between a Digimon and Digimental affects the power of the resulting Armor Digimon, which increases the better affinity they have with it, and it is said that if they have perfect compatibility with each other, then the resulting Digimon will even be able to express Ultimate-class power. Another factor is the Digimental used, as two Digimentals, Miracles and Fate, are associated with granting their users exceptional, potentially Ultimate-class, power. The majority of Digimon media either treats the Armor level as roughly equivalent to the Adult level, or simply assigns Armor Digimon directly to the Adult level but a common exception are certain Digimon who are created using the Digimentals of Miracles and Fate, Magnamon, Rapidmon Armor, and Gold V-dramon, who are often described as either possessing almost Ultimate-class power, having the potential to exert Ultimate-class power on occasion, or in some cases, are outright assigned the Ultimate Level directly."

Suddenly, Zendeer comments, "I got it! So basically Armor Digimon are more or less something like the Saints of your home universe, mostly regular Digimon without the "armor", but with it, they can become a hell lot stronger by passing the restrictions of the usual evolution."

Hearing that, I nod finding his comparison somewhat correct, and say, "That's right. This is the principal idea behind the Armor Evolution."

But just as I'm about to add something else, Nikita interrupts us and says, "Are we just gonna ignore the fact that the big, scary red dinosaur Digimon that just killed and absorbed another Digimon looked at us, greeted us like nothing happened and then he left?"

Hearing that, I smile and explain, "Come on, Nikita. I already told you guys that the Tyranomon species is famous for its intelligence and its docile personality. Even in a setting like the one in the Tamer Universe where it is mostly about the survival of the fittest. There are still Digimon who follow their own moral code. It is obvious that Tyranomon saw that the Digimon that are with us are still at their Baby Level, so it didn't consider us a threat to its existence, and neither did it wish to harm us. Now if the winner of that fight would have been Allomon, I'm pretty sure that considering its much more aggressive nature, then, it wouldn't have hesitated in attacking us to load even more Data no matter how minuscule and irrelevant to its progress..."

After that discussion, we continued to explore this barren desert, encountering many more instances of Digimon fighting one another, and even being attacked by a few more evil-aligned Digimon who didn't hesitate to attack Baby Digimon and humans to load their Data, which luckily were all Adult or even a few Child Level, of course, such attack were easily repelled by us.

But while I didn't hesitate to kill the Adult Level Digimon and use their Data to create more meals for our Digimon, I made sure that the Child Level Digimon were only simply repelled giving them the chance to grow and maybe evolve into a better Digimon.

Just like that, another hour passed and finally, our Partner Digimon fully digested their meal, which meant that it was very likely that they would evolve at any moment now, but after a few moments of waiting nothing happened, and I finally remembered a little detail unique to this universe of the Digimon Multiverse, 'That's right! In an attempt to avoid provoking the D-Reaper, Qinglongmon had the Digi-Entelechy, which can be translated as the light of evolution, transformed into a Digimon and hidden away, to make evolution impossible... Oh well, that is quite easy to fix, after all, the Spiral Power IS the power of evolution and my Spiral Cosmo is even better!"

Realizing that, I don't hesitate and quickly send a small trace of my Spiral Cosmo into our D-Arks making sure to send just enough energy to our Digimon through it, and as expected, the result is instantaneous.

The first one to show a change is Yukimi Botamon in Nikita's arms who fully stabilize its Data and quickly, its whole body starts to shine in a bright white light as it evolves into the next stage.

Soon the light fades away and Nikita's Digimon shows its new appearance, the once fluffy cilia are gone, and instead the surface of its body is now covered with snow, it also grew a small mound-like body, with two cute arms, then it also has ice-like beak, claw, and icicle that grow out of its back, overall, it looks like a small cute snowman, the name of this new form is Hiyarimon.

(Image Here - Hiyarimon)

But before we can congratulate Hiyarimon for its evolution, the Botamon in Zandeer's arms also starts to shine in a bright white light as its body quickly goes through drastic changes.

After a few seconds, Zandeer's Digimon evolution process is over, and the new form couldn't be more familiar and iconic, Botamon shed the fuzz covering its surface, and its body grew even bigger becoming a pink, ball-shaped Digimon with floppy ears, bright-red eyes, and sharp teeth, it became Koromon, the Digimon who can evolve into the poster child of the whole Digimon Multiverse, Agumon.

(Image Here - Koromon)

Just as I'm looking at the newly evolved Hiyarimon and Koromon that just jumped down from my companion's arms and started to move around to get used to their new bodies, I quickly notice that Chicomon, Leafmon, and Poyomon in my arms also started to shine in a bright white light as their bodies change as they go through their evolution.

A few moments later, the light fades away revealing my Digimon new Baby II forms in all their glory.

Chicomon evolved into a small Digimon that vaguely resembles a baby dragon or dinosaur, it is blue with a white belly and has two long ears and a tail, it became a Chibimon.

(Image Here - Chibimon)

Leafmon evolved into Minomon, whose appearance and name come from the larva of a moth in Japanese, minomushi, its skin is green and its mouth is pink, and on its head, it has a small stem that appears to be what is left of the Leafmon leaf, it has ears like Leafmon's but longer, two little front legs sticking out of the brown shell that protects it.

(Image Here - Minomon)

Last but not least, is Poyomon who evolved into Tokomon, a small Digimon with snow-white skin, four stubby legs, two black, beady eyes, two ribbon-like eyebrows, and two small fangs protruding from beneath its upper lip, it also has four sets of sharp teeth in its mouth reminiscent of Fizzgig, two lower sets of teeth, two upper sets of teeth.

(Image Here - Tokomon)

After giving them a quick glance, I congratulate them for their evolution and gently put down Chibimon, Minomon, and Tokomon, who quickly join Hiyarimon and Koromon in getting used to their new bodies as they all play together.

At the same time, I look at Zandeer and Nikita, and with a smile on my face, I say, "Now that our Digimon evolved to the more stable Baby II level, we can head to the Real World without worrying about any issue arising. We'll-."

But before I could continue, suddenly, Nikita raised her hand and without waiting for me to finish what I was saying, she asked, "Wait, Jayr! I still don't understand why are we going to the Real World. Isn't better for Hiyarimon and the others to remain in the Digital World?"

Hearing that, I let out a sigh and then, I answered her question, "Not really, once our Partner Digimon reaches the Child level, the most effective way for them to evolve is to take advantage of their bond with us. The reason for that is that Humans who are partnered with Digimon and have a Digivice, basically Tamers like us and Chosen Children, are able to use their energy to artificially induce an evolution of their Partner Digimon to a higher Evolution Stage. These evolutions are generally short-lived, only lasting for one or two battles. After the battle, they will usually devolve back to the form that they regularly inhabit when their human partner is not evolving them. Like I said before, the ability of a human to evolve their partner Digimon is typically based on the bond that the two share, and on the emotional state and maturity of the human partner. When both their relationship and their mindsets are healthy, they are able to evolve, and as they improve, they become able to evolve into stronger and stronger Digimon. For this reason, it is useless for us to stay in the Digital World and push our Digimon into one battle after the other or feed them a lot of Data to push their evolution forward, we only need to create a strong genuine bond with them and then we only need to use our energies to make them evolve when needed. So it is better to focus on the Real World to watch over those destined to protect this universe."

I watch as all our Digimon are running around chasing each other and with a smile, I add, "Moreover, it isn't like the Real World is exactly calm and safe at the moment, there is Hypnos that is causing quite a few problems, it is an organization dedicated to studying Digimon and trying to prevent their Realization, including outright destroying them. This organization mainly uses two programs to deal with Digimon that are the Yuggoth and Shaggai programs, which could track Digimon as they cross between the border of the dimensions and delete them before they fully Realize, what they don't know is that because of the use of those programs, they will make it even easier for Digimon to cross over the Dimensional Barrier and reach the Real World."

Hearing that, Zandeer snorts while commenting, "Classic of humanity... they are always able to find new ways to fuck themselves over..."

I show my agreement by nodding, and then, I continue, "But that isn't the only problem... One of the Four Holy Beasts believes that Digimon shouldn't partner with humans and wants to strengthen the Digimon through conflict with the humans so that they can face an existential threat for both the Digital and Real World... the D-Reaper."

At this point, Nikita let out a defeated sigh as she commented, "Of course... there is always some world-destroying calamity somehow... after we are done with this universe and with the Random Battle, I want to visit some peaceful universe... if they even actually exist..."

Then she asks, "So, what kind of abomination is this D-Reaper?"

I don't run around the issue and simply start to explain, "The D-Reaper is something unique to the Digimon Tamers Universe, it was originally a computer program, also called the "D-Reaper," which was created in the 1970s, long before the Wild Bunch began their research, therefore, it "predates" other digital lifeforms such as the DigiGnomes and Digimon. Its original purpose was to purge data from memory spaces in order to reset them to zero which can alternatively described as deleting useless data from the Network. At some point, however, the program underwent an aberrant evolution and became the D-Reaper entity. The precise cause of its evolution is a mystery, but it is speculated to have come into contact with another world entirely during its hibernation in the depths of the Digital World... which isn't so strange considering the multiversal nature of this universe as a whole."

Sensing the interest of our Partner Digimon in the subject as they stopped running around and are now carefully listening to our discussion, I give some more details, "This program has quite interesting in-universe history as multiple events in the history of networking and computer science have been speculated or implied to have been linked in some way to the D-Reaper:

-In the early 1970s, the world's first computer worm, Creeper, spread across the United States Department of Defense's ARPANET until a program by the name of Reaper eradicated it.

-The self-defense system built into the American/British mass surveillance program ECHELON, whose operations commenced in the 1980s, is theorized by some to have been a forerunner to the D-Reaper.

-In 1990, the Tierra computer life simulator had a Reaper program that committed a genocide against the simulation's virtual lifeforms after they multiplied to the point of exceeding memory limitations.

Moreover, according to one of the Holy Beasts, a different one from the one that wants to fight humanity to sharpen the Digimon's metaphorical blade, the D-Reaper had been present in the Digital World since its earliest days, when the Digital World consisted only of the physical layer. It inhabited the layer along with the early Digimon and the DigiGnomes; the Digimon had no knowledge of its name or nature beyond that it was neither a Digimon nor a DigiGnome, but they deduced that its purpose was to delete them, and came to refer to it as "the true enemy". The D-Reaper was at one time in early history actively seeking out and deleting Digimon and DigiGnomes, but after a time, it totally vanished from the Digital World, retreated to a world of its own creation in the Digital World's deepest depths, and entered hibernation. In the D-Reaper's absence, there was a simultaneous rapid expansion of both the Network and the Digital World. The Digimon were able to proliferate and evolve, but they did so at too fast a rate, and this triggered the D-Reaper into reawakening, with the intent of deleting them and it is only a question of time before it actually makes a move."

At this point, I don't let the somber atmosphere linger much longer and tell everyone to get ready before I use my Spiral Cosmo to open a gate to the Real World, and after that, we don't hesitate and jump inside.