43. Transmigrated Again? Veemon and Davis

When Taichi opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in the middle of a barren desert.

"You're awake, Taichi," Zeromaru said from beside him.

Taichi climbed to his feet. "I remember we were undergoing Piximon's trial."

Zeromaru nodded. "I don't know what happened. We were just in that cave, and then suddenly, we were here."

"Piximon said he was a wizard," Taichi remarked. "It wouldn't be strange for him to command the magic required to teleport us elsewhere."

"Since we've arrived here, it must mean there’s some sort of challenge or enemy nearby. In any case, let's scout the area and see if we can find anything unusual."

With that, Taichi and Zeromaru set off to explore. Fortunately, they didn't waste much time; before long, Taichi heard the sounds of a commotion in the distance.

"Veemon, digivolve!"

Oh?

Upon hearing the name "Veemon," Taichi and Zeromaru exchanged a glance. Back at NEO Village, when they first encountered a Veemon, they had felt that—compared to Zeromaru, who evolved from Agumon into Veedramon—the blue-skinned Rookie-level Digimon with the V-shaped pattern on its forehead and a similar name was the true evolutionary line for Veedramon. Now, it seemed they had a chance to verify that hypothesis.

Taichi and Zeromaru picked up their pace, reaching the scene of the battle in mere moments.

A massive Digimon radiating an intense, overwhelming aura was squaring off against a creature that looked similar to Zeromaru, though it had wings on its back and disproportionately slender limbs. As the light of evolution faded from the creature, it shouted its new form’s name:

"ExVeemon!"

"Uh... honestly... it doesn't seem as impressive as Greymon."

After evolving to the Champion level, ExVeemon looked even more like Zeromaru in many ways. However, looking at those thin limbs, Zeromaru couldn't help but feel a bit dismissive, even if the opponent did have wings that allowed for flight.

Taichi noticed a human boy standing behind ExVeemon, clearly under its protection. The boy wore a red and blue jacket and held an oval-shaped device in his hand. With his keen eyesight, Taichi spotted runes on the device identical to those on the Digivice they had found in the Centarumon ruins. Although the shape was slightly different, Taichi guessed that this device was definitely related to the Digivice. After all, those ruins were ancient, and the information recorded there was likely outdated; perhaps what this boy held was a "Digivice 2.0" that had evolved with the times.

"So, is this boy the 'Chosen Child'?"

Before Taichi could step forward to greet them, the Digimon facing ExVeemon suddenly attacked. Ignoring ExVeemon entirely, it fired a claw-shaped energy projectile from the single eye on its head.

"Absorption Claw!"

Taichi felt an overwhelming surge of energy from this attack—far greater than any enemy he had faced before.

*Could this guy be a Mega level?*

The thought flashed through Taichi's mind. He then realized that this suspected Mega-level Digimon was playing dirty; the attack bypassed ExVeemon and flew straight toward the boy behind it. The boy clearly lacked Taichi's extensive experience in wild combat; seeing the attack headed straight for him, he stood frozen in place, neither dodging nor moving.

ExVeemon tried to turn back to protect the boy, but it was too slow. "Davis!" it shouted.

Seeing that a fellow human—a rarity in the Digital World—was about to be struck, Taichi didn't hesitate. "Zeromaru!"

"Right!"

Zeromaru responded in perfect sync. The two figures moved with incredible speed. As Taichi ran, the Digivice hanging from his chest swayed in the wind, its orange and azure lights interweaving like two streaks of flowing light.

ExVeemon felt a blur pass before its eyes; Taichi had already surged ahead, throwing a punch at the enemy. Meanwhile, Zeromaru scooped up Davis, pulling him out of the way just before the "Absorption Claw" struck the ground where he had been standing.

The mysterious Mega-level Digimon raised an arm to block Taichi's straight punch. Seeing that his strike hadn't even forced the opponent to take a step back, Taichi immediately recognized the enemy's immense strength.

Taichi's eyes blazed with excitement. He scanned the enemy with the Digivice on his right arm. Realizing that the decryption process would take a moment and that the enemy was now looking his way, Taichi kicked off the creature's face and vaulted away, landing beside Zeromaru.

Davis was staring at him as if dazed. Worried that the boy might have been clipped by the attack, Taichi asked, "Are you alright?"

To his surprise, Davis spoke with the familiarity of an old friend. "Taichi-senpai, that move you just pulled was incredible!"

In Davis’s mind, Taichi had always been an amazing senior—responsible, courageous, a great soccer player, and Kari's brother. And, of course, he was Kari's brother! Davis had always looked up to Taichi-senpai as if he were his own older brother.

Even with such heavy idol goggles on, he was still stunned after witnessing the series of maneuvers Taichi had just performed. "That was so cool! You're practically a superhero!"

"Huh?" Taichi tilted his head. "Do you know me?"

"What are you saying? It’s me, it’s me! Davis Motomiya, your junior!"

Taichi looked the boy up and down. While the guy acted a bit dim-witted, like a toddler, his height and features clearly indicated he was around Taichi's own age. Furthermore, he had absolutely no memory of anyone named Davis Motomiya.

"It seems you've mistaken me for the 'me' in your world," Taichi said, shaking his head. The truth of the situation dawned on him. It appeared Piximon’s magic had transported him to yet another parallel world, where this boy was his junior—and perhaps... Taichi looked at the goggles on the boy's forehead, which were identical to his own, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Huh?" Davis seemed to notice something as well. "Taichi-senpai, why did you shrink?" He started measuring their height difference with his hands. "And your Digimon changed from a Greymon into this giant Veemon-lookalike. Being so fickle isn't good, senpai."

Taichi: "..."

"Hey, you two! We're in the middle of a fight! Can't you save the chatter for later?" Zeromaru’s annoyed voice cut through the air.

Davis looked back and saw Zeromaru struggling against the enemy alone. ExVeemon, having been caught in the crossfire of their struggle, had devolved into Veemon and was now lying unconscious with dizzy swirls in its eyes.

"Veemon!"

Davis immediately pushed thoughts of Taichi's odd behavior to the back of his mind. Regardless of his own safety, he ran into the fray to scoop up Veemon.

*The injuries are severe,* Taichi noted, observing Veemon's condition. If it didn't receive immediate treatment and rest, there could be serious consequences.