Under the Sea

Lee Jiang-yu POV - Real World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo - 2001

I'm currently in a restaurant hall of the Hotel Century Southern Tower that is located a 3-minute walk from Shinjuku Station meeting with all the parents of the kids that went to the Digital World with my son together with my friends from the Wild Bunch to give them more information about the place our children went and possible things we could do to help them. 

This is something I felt I needed to do after reading the e-mail Jianliang sent me explaining what they were going to do and the reason behind their reckless actions, furthermore, I and my friends are surely the most qualified to explain and deal with the current situation.

While I'm looking at the sights of the city through the window, I suddenly hear some of the parents yell while Dophin is in the middle of his explanation. 

"We don't need an explanation! Just tell us where this Digital World is!"

"We'll bring Hirokazu home ourselves!"

Hearing that, Daisy can't help but exclaims, "Going there isn't that simple!"

At this point, one of the parents starts to cry, the mother of Kitagawa Kenta if I remember well, and quickly the mother of Matsuda Takato, Matsuda Yoshie-san rushes over to console her as her husband offers his wife a handkerchief and says to everyone, "No, it's all right... You see, he left a letter for us. If only he had told us himself, we could have said goodbye to him..."

Hearing that, the grandmother of Makino Ruki calmly comments, "Say goodbye? They will come back safely." making the father of Shioda Hirokazu ask, "Do you have anything to back that up?"

Before the situation could escalate even more, the father of Katou Juri steps forward and says, "Hey... Could you be quiet for a while? Lee-san and everyone else were telling us about Juri and the other kids. But we're missing the important part."

At this point, I move away from the window, walk back next to my friends, and say, "I understand how you feel, Shiota-san. My son is there too, after all." 

After saying that, I fix my glasses and ask, "Uh, where were we at? making Matsuda Takahiro-san, the father of Matsuda Takato kindly reminds us, "Why only children could go there."

Hearing that, Dolphin, Professor Rob McCoy, steps forward and says, "Allow me to explain that part. Although we created the Digimon in the early 80's, as adults, it was my son who came up with their shapes and abilities. So, we think that Digimon are heavily attracted to human children. In other words, Digimon like children."

At this point, the mother of Makino Ruki, Makino Rumiko-san, stands up and suggests, "I... was a child at the time... So I..." but before she can continue, her mother interrupts her and says, "But you don't believe in Digimon anymore, do you?" making Makino-san sit down once again as she mutters, "I guess..." 

After that interruption, we continue to explain to them everything they need to know, and then, we finally start to tell them what we are doing to fix this situation with Babel concluding, "... We've also contacted our fellow researchers from around the world. We have plans to set up a new forum. If there are any new updates... Tao... I mean, Jiang-yu, will inform you."

Suddenly, I hear someone approaching us from behind, and turning around, I see the figure of Yamaki the man in charge of Hypnos as he lightly bows and says, "Greetings."

Seeing him, I remember what I saw yesterday and with a little more hostility than I liked, I walk toward him and ask, "Yamaki, what do you want?"

Yamaki calmly brings up his laptop and answers, "There's something I'd like to show you all."

But I ignore his answer and continue to ask after remembering all the damage that they have already caused, "That thing over the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building yesterday was Shaggai, right? Haven't you learned anything after what happened!?"

In response, Yamaki calmly declares, "That was an accident." before he opens the laptop and walks toward Matsuda Takahiro-san while saying, "Please take a look at this."

Matsuda Takahiro-san looks at the screen and exclaims, "Takato? ..."We're okay"... "Okay"? "Okay", he says... that idiot."

Hearing that, I look at Yamaki and ask, "Why was it sent to you?" making Yamaki look at me and reply, "Before they left, I gave them my communicator."

At this point, Matsuda Takahiro-san can't help but ask followed by the other hopeful parents one after the other.

"Any other mail?"

"Is that all? What about Hirokazu?"

"And Juri?"

Hearing that, Yamaki leans over the laptop and starts inputting various commands while saying, "I'm checking."

Suddenly, Matsuda Takahiro-san comments, "What's that?" before he starts to read out loud, "Greetings, Yamaki-san. I'm Pucci Jayr and I'm about to update you on our current situation, I hope that you will reach out to the parents of the kids to let them know about this too." 

At this point, Matsuda Takahiro-san exclaims, "Pucci Jayr!? Does it mean Pucci-sensei? He is there too!?"

At the same time, Yamaki nods and explains, "Indeed, Pucci Jayr followed the kids in the Digital World to ensure their safety. He is also a Tamer like them and quite a capable one too. From what I was able to find out, he has been protecting the kids from the shadows for quite some time."

I am very surprised to learn this, as I never expected that Pucci-sensei was a Tamer like my son, this already overthrows some of the facts we were so sure about the Digimon and the Digital World.

But at the same time, as I remember the imposing figure of Jianliang's English Teacher I have to admit that I'm quite relieved to learn of his presence in the Digital World watching over our sons as he seems to be quite a reliable man, especially after learning that he seemingly watched over and protected our sons and daughters for quite a long time too.

This sentiment is something that is obviously shared by the other parents who know him as they all seem a lot less tense about this difficult situation we found ourselves in.

Soon Katou-san asks Matsuda Takahiro-san to keep reading the e-mail, something that he quickly agrees to do and the first sentence already reassures us a lot, "First of all, everyone is fine and healthy while I can't in good conscience say that the Digital World is a completely safe place because such place doesn't exist, but it also isn't a place fraught with deadly danger at any corner." 

Hearing that, I felt a weight lifting from my shoulders as I imagined a quite worse outcome, but just as I started to relax, Matsuda-san continued to read, "Most of the Digimon are actually peaceful and reasonable beings, but of course, it is also true that there are those with a more aggressive nature. Currently because of an accident caused by a Data Stream (will explain in another email what they are) we are separated into two groups. One is composed by me, Matsuda Takato, and Lee Jianliang, and the other one is composed by Makino Ruki, Katou Juri, Shiota Hirokazu, and Kitagawa Kenta."

Hearing that, I once again start to worry about the possible implications of what I just listened to, but then Matsuda-san doesn't give me any time to digest these new pieces of information as he continues, "At the moment of this e-mail, my group is located in an underwater cave and are about to jump in the water to explore our surroundings. Do not worry, this is the Digital World, the water here doesn't act exactly like real water, you can breathe and talk in it without the risk of drowning (Something I already ensured and proved beforehand)."

As I'm going through a rollercoaster of emotions, Matsuda-san reads the last part of the mail, "Regarding, the other group composed by Makino Ruki, Katou Juri, Shiota Hirokazu, and Kitagawa Kenta. I can also ensure and confirm their safety despite my distance from them thanks to the presence of another of my Digimon Partners who is together with them. This is possible thanks to the D-Ark which is capable of projecting a display that shows a live feed of what the Tamer's Digimon is seeing. So again you can inform the parents of those kids that they are safe."

After hearing that, I and all the other parents present sent another e-mail asking for more information about the status of our children, and a few minutes later, another e-mail arrived giving us a brief summary of their current status and luckily everyone is fine, the only one with some problem is Matsuda Takato, but it is just something minor as he is stressing over the fact that he is currently separated from his Digimon.

In the end, Pucci-sensei cuts off the communication telling us that they are about to jump in the waters and that he must now focus on his surroundings to ensure that nothing happens to Jianliang and Takato.

At the same time, Yamaki told us that he would also help and work with us to find a solution to this situation.

After that, Yamaki shuts down his laptop and says, "I'll let you know if I receive any more messages." earning the gratitude of Matsuda-san and the other parents.

I too look at him and say in a heartfelt tone as I offer him my hand, "Thanks... We'd appreciate your help."

In response, Yamaki removes his sunglasses and holds my hand saying, "It will be my pleasure."

Then Babel also smiles and comments, "We go ourselves a strong ally." followed by Daisy who adds, "Now we just need Shibumi to join us."

But Yamaki quickly says, "That won't be possible." making Daisy ask, "What do you mean?"

Yamaki then puts his sunglasses back on his eyes and explains, "I ordered my men to search... for Shibumi, or Mizuno Goro-san, but... he disappeared in front of their eyes."

Hearing that, I can't help but repeat in disbelief, "What? Shibumi disappeared?"

Jayr POV - Digital World, Ocean Area - 2001

After reassuring them of the safety of my Digimon incarnation's group, I nod and say, "Now, let me finish explaining what our options are... as I was saying before, there are many possible solutions to our current problem. Making a hole in the wall was only one of them and while direct, it isn't the easiest nor the safest. Our best choice is simply to jump in the water and explore our surroundings..."

Hearing that, both Takato and Jianliang look stunned before Jianliang exclaims, "But that's impossible! There is no way we are able to hold our breath underwater long enough to find anything!"

In response to that, I simply smirk and ask, "Who said that we have to hold our breath to explore those waters?"

Then I look at V-mon and say, "Show them what I mean." making V-mon nod with a confident smile before he jumps in the water without any hesitation.

After that, I tell the kids that they just have to wait for five minutes and everything will be revealed before I focus on the communication in Takato's hand and ask him to give it to me as I want to send a message to Yamaki directed at their families to reassure them on the well-being of their kids.

So, while waiting for V-mon to resurface, I quickly write the e-mail I'm going to send, I make sure to report that everyone is fine, reassure the parents, and give a quick rundown of the current situation without mincing my words, but omitting some more worrying details, like the existence of Mugendramon and Chimairamon which quite frankly could fuel their nightmares for years to come. 

Quickly after I sent that e-mail, I received a response with dozens of questions from the parents who are likely all together at the moment, so I took a few more seconds to answer all of them to the best of my abilities.

As I finish writing the answers to their questions, V-mon jumps out from the water surprising both Jianliang and Takato since he lasted so long, but when I ask them to touch V-mon's body they look a little confused before they timidily touch his hands and while Takato doesn't notice anything, Jianliang realizes that V-mon is strangely dry and then he again looks at the communicator in my hands and something clicks in his mind.

With those hints Jian suddenly declares that the water isn't real, he starts to explain his logic to Takato saying that the water is only wet because they believe that it'll be wet, while machines aren't affected because they can't think and come to the conclusion that because the water isn't real, we might be able to breathe in it without any problem. 

Hearing that, I start to clap my hands and say, "Good job! That's exactly right! As long as you guys believe that you can actually breathe in these waters you will be able to do it. So we actually aren't even trapped in this cave to be with and can easily move to search for a way out of this area... But let's do it with style."

I then pull out a card from the card case and my D-Ark from my pocket, look at Patamon, and say, "Are you ready, buddy?" 

Patamon smiles and comments, "Of course. Even more so if we encounter some cute Mermaimon or gorgeous Ancient Mermaimon..."

Hearing that I smile wryly and start to swipe the card in the slot on the right-hand side of the D-Ark calling out, "Card Slash!" 

Once I completed this action, I called out the name of the card I just swiped, "Digimental of Sincerity! Digimental Up!"

In response to that, Patamon jumps toward the water as his body starts to become enveloped by countless bubbles that cover his whole body as he yells, "Patamon, Armor Evolve...!"

Then his body starts to grow and change shape, and soon after, his new form bursts out of the bubbles dispersing them as he calls out his name before landing in the water, "...Mantaraymon!" 

Mantaraymon owes its name to the manta ray, but physically he looks more like a fusion between a dolphin and a manta ray as his head is shaped like a dolphin but with the addition of two horn-shaped cephalic fins located on top of the head and two more side-by-side dorsal fins on his body, he has blue and white skin, and the fins look like the wings of an aircraft. 

(Image Here - Mantaraymon)

Seeing Mantaraymon emerging from the water, Jianliang doesn't hesitate to use the Digimon Analyzer to identify him with his D-Ark, "Mantaraymon. Armor Level. An Armor-level Aquatic Digimon that evolved through the power of the "Digimental of Sincerity". Based on its appearance, it looks like an offensive speed-type Digimon, but on the contrary, it is actually a Digimon with a calm disposition that elegantly swims in the vast Net Ocean. However, it is difficult to capture on radar because of its unique figure so it is called the "Stealth of the Deep", and it is often used for reconnaissance or treated as underwater bombardment among those who abuse Mantaraymon. For that reason, it is said to be overhunted and threatened with extinction. Also, Digimon that assault Mantaraymon always have the tables turned against them with an intense blow from the Stun Needle on its tail. Its Special Move is using the Stun Needle to pierce the enemy Digimon's body (Paralyze Tail)." 

After that, we do not hesitate and jump on Mantaraymon and start to freely explore the underwater area taking advantage of Mantaraymon's speed and agility in water, 

As we explore and enjoy the underwater sights of this area, I can't help but feel a certain mood, lightly tap on Mantaraymon's body to produce some familiar rhythm and start singing, "♪The seaweed is always greener. In somebody else's lake. You dream about goin' up there. But that is a big mistake. Just look at the world around you. Right here on the ocean floor. Such wonderful things surround you. What more are you lookin' for?♪"

At this point, Mantaraymon starts to swim following the rhythm of the song as I start the chorus, "♪Under the sea, under the sea. Darling it's better. Down where it's wetter. Take it from me. Up on the shore they work all day. Out in the sun they slave away. While we're devoting full time to floating. Under the sea.♪"

Wormmon and V-mon also start to bob their head as I move on with the next verse, "♪Down here all the fish are happy. As off through the waves they roll. The fish on the land ain't happy. They're sad 'cause they're in their bowl. The fish in the bowl are lucky. They're in for a worser fate. One day when the boss gets hungry.♪" 

Suddenly, Mantaraymon in a deep voice starts to also sing, "♪Guess who's goin' be on the plate?♪" followed by Takato, Terriermon, and Jianliang, who also join in the fun and exclaim, "Oh, no!"

After that, I start singing the chorus again, "♪Under the sea, under the sea. Nobody beat us. Fry us and eat us. In fricassee. We're what the land folks love to cook. Under the sea we're off the hook. We got no troubles life is the bubbles.♪"

At this point we all start to have fun and sing together, "♪Under the sea (under the sea). Under the sea (under the sea). Since life is sweet here. We've got the beat here. Naturally (naturally). Even the sturgeon an' the ray. They get the urge an' start to play. We got the spirit, you got to hear it. Under the sea (under the sea).♪"

As we continue to explore the area, I kick up the rythim as we are getting closer to the final part of the song at the same time, I also notice some DigiGnomes in the distance who are also listening and enjoying the song, "♪The newt play the flute. The carp play the harp. The plaice play the bass. And they soundin' sharp. The bass play the brass. The chub play the tub. The fluke is the duke of the soul. (C'mon yeah).♪" 

As our surrounding gets more lively, I we start to sing the final verses, "♪They ray he can play. The ling's on the strings. The trout rockin' out. The blackfish she sings. The smelt and the sprat. They know where it's at. An' oh, that blowfish blow. Under the sea. Under the sea. Under the sea. Take it from me. We're what the land folks love to cook. Under the sea we're off the hook. We got no troubles, life is the bubbles. Under the sea. Under the sea (under the sea). Under the sea (under the sea). When the sardine. Begin the beguine. It's music to me. What do they got, a lot of sand? We got a hot crustacean band. Each little clam here, know's how to jam here. Under the sea (under the sea). Each little slug here, cutting a rug here. Under the sea (under the sea, uh). Each little snail here, know how to wail here. That's why it's hotter under the water. Yeah, we in luck here, down in the muck here. Under the sea. (Woo!)♪"

Once the song was over Jianliang and Takato appeared way more relaxed at the same time, I noticed that the DigiGnome who were swimming around us as we sang also started to disperse after having their fun.

Eventually, we run into what looks like the entrance of an underwater cave which is blocked by a rock-like gate. 

Without any hesitation, Mantaraymon rams into the rock-like gate that starts to revolve leading us into the cave that we find inhabited by a bunch of Otamamon. 

Otamamon are purple pollywogs with developed forelimbs and undeveloped hind limbs. 

They have a wide mouth with several pointed teeth, and round eyes, and their tail ends in a web of skin supported by bony rays.

(Image Here - Otamamon)

Seeing the Otamamon, as always the first thing that Jianliang does is identify them with the Digimon Analyzer and read out loud, "Otamamon. Child Level. A larva Digimon whose skin has not yet fully hardened because it chose to live underwater. It swims in lakes and rivers upstream of the Net Ocean with its large tail, and occasionally climbs up onto rocks with its developed forelimbs and does vocal training. Its mostly undeveloped hindlimbs act as rudders in place of its tail, which has gained propulsive power, contrary to typical organisms. It is valuable among Child levels in that it signals its upcoming evolution clearly, but since its potential for mutation is extremely high, caution is necessary in its training. Its Special Move is sending the opponent into an eternal slumber (Lullaby Bubble)."

Of course, our sudden entrance scares the army of Otamamon that swim away, and quickly after another Digimon appears, a Hangyomon.

Hangyomon almost looks like a dwarf fish-man with blue and white skin, it wears only diving gear and a propeller that allows it to move at great speeds. 

The whole skin looks like part of a wetsuit with fins and a tail, and it is armed with a harpoon.

(Image Here - Hangyomon) 

As Hangyomon reveals its appearance, Jianliang again uses the Digimon Analyzer to identify the new Digimon and reads, "Hangyomon. Perfect Level. An Aquatic Beast Man Digimon clothed in a wetsuit. It has a cheerful personality, and is always swimming around the "Net Ocean". Its specialty is moving in the water, and in battle, it uses the high-speed, underwater mobility Motor on its back, and uses a fighting style that capitalizes on its speed. Its Special Move is stabbing the enemy with its cherished harpoon, "Torrent" (Strike Fishing)." 

This Hangyomon is clearly hostile as it believes that we actually want to harm the Otamamon, so it doesn't hesitate to throw its harpoon at us.

Seeing that, I do not waste any time and quickly grab the harpoon in mid-flight surprising both Hangyomon and the kids, and then, with a forceful tug, I pull Hangyomon toward me making the Digimon yelp in shock.

At the same time, Mantaraymon quickly swims toward the incoming Hangyomon and pierces the Digimon's body with the electrified Stun Needle on the end of his tail while yelling, "Paralyze Tail!"

Paralyzed by Mantaraymon's attack, the electrocuted Hangyomon can only lie on the floor with its body constantly twitching while stuttering, "I-I give u-up..." making Mantaraymon comment, "Well... that was anticlimating... I expected something more from a Perfect Level..."

Soon the situation calms down and Hangyomon with the Otomamon explains the reason behind his attack, and after hearing that, Jianliang can't help but exclaim, "We were attacking the Otamamon?" followed by Takato who declares, "No way! It was a misunderstanding!" 

Hearing that in addition to the fact that we didn't actually harm him and the Otamamon, Hangyomon understands that they misunderstood us and explains, "Yeah, it's just that all they can do to attack is make some bubbles. So, I'm quite overprotective about them and they do panic quite easily."

After saying that, Hangyomon and the Otomamon bow as he says, "In any case, we're really sorry." making Terriermon casually reply, "Momantai, momantai!"

After the misunderstanding is cleared up, we ask the Hangyomon for directions and the Digimon points us to a large pipe which could potentially lead to a way out. 

Without any hesitation, Terriermon and V-mon try to charge into the pipe only to get an electric shock, and the Hangyomon tells us that nobody has ever been able to make it through. 

At this point, I simply ask the Otamamon to make a giant bubble to protect us as we go through, and thanks to that and a little reinforcement from my Spiral Cosmo, we are able to safely move through that pipe that will lead us out of this area.