Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon: Apocalypse ❯ Book of Pestilence: Chapter 1 ( Chapter 4 )

I’m only 24-years-old, and I already wish I was younger. I remember watching t.v. one day, some talk show or something, I don’t know, it was like two or three in the morning, anyway, they were asking people if they could be any age they wanted, what age would it be? Every child said they wanted to be older, but every middle-aged person wanted to be a young adult again. Strange that I’m the age everyone wants to be at, but I want to be younger. It’s not that I’m worried about getting older or anything, my wish to be a kid again has to do with how much happier I was as one.

I mean, when I was ten I was already part of a team that was destined to save Earth and the Digital World. And even though we were facing life and death situations, I still loved it. Well, maybe that’s too strong a word, but I did enjoy myself a little too much. I mean, I felt like it was what I was born to do. Four years after that summer, a group of younger kids took over defending both worlds. I was a little bummed, but I got over it. I then started to like the idea of teaching someone else how to be a hero, and let’s face it, those guys needed it, especially Daisuke…

Daisuke…I still remember the day the BD-2 killed him. I think it was the saddest day of my life. Hikari always told me that I didn’t handle my emotions too well, and I think she’s right, I was ready to destroy every tree at the cemetery he was buried at.

Koushrio had already died, and losing Daisuke was more then I could handle. I just kind of…disappeared from life. I even moved away from Odaiba, settling in Shinjuku. I was supposed to go to college, but my heart just wasn’t in it anymore. My friends, the ones that were still alive, I mean, just weren’t important anymore. I hardly spoke to my parents, but what young adult who finally got a place of his one wants to talk to his parents? I mean, I still made sure to send them cards on holidays and birthdays, I had to because my mother would have killed me..KILLED me if I forgot her birthday. Hikari was really the only one I stayed in close contact with, and after she graduated from college and got a teaching job in Shinjuku, I offered her part of my apartment until she saved up enough to get her own. She kept trying to get me to see the others, but after a while she gave up. I really didn’t even think about them too much.

That was until I saw Sora again. I couldn’t believe how much she grew up. Then Jyou called me completely out of the blue. He and Yamato were tracking the church of Digitalatri, which grew from the fear of the BD-2.

The Digitalatri, headed by the mysterious prophetess Chihi Miayag, renounced the Sovereigns: Qinglongmon, Zhuqioamon, Baihumon and Xuwanamon, instead worshiping the supreme God of the Digital World. Using his power, Miayag was able to convert Hiroshi, Keiko, Takashi of Japan, Tatum and Sam of New York, James of England and Vicente of Mexico to her side, giving them digimon partners who were the evolutionary forms of former Chosen enemies: Piedmon, Pinocchimon, Mugen Dramon, Archnemon, Mummymon, Metalseadramon and Skull Satanmon.

Then came those guys in the colored cloaks. They wanted to see our X-Antibody powers and used us as lab rats! Something evil is happening to the Digital World, and I swear that I’m not going to ignore it anymore. Book of Pestilence Chapter 1

The Digital World was a mirror version of Earth, with digital areas corresponding to terran areas. An inaccessible island in the center of all landmasses, with four major continents, including Server, encompassing it and with thousands of smaller islands scattered around. The Western hemisphere of the Digital World was more alike to the Western culture of Earth, the Eastern hemisphere of the Digital World was more alike to the Eastern culture of Earth. The Northern Hemisphere was cold and windy, while the Southern Hemisphere was deserted and abandoned.

In a southern area of the Eastern Hemisphere sat a city named Ausata, populated by Chosen and Digimon that spoke a variety of languages, mostly a dialect of English. This city had it’s share of infected citizens, but the sea water that flowed onto his banks served as a way to slow down the disease, only slightly, but the water and sun were enough to make them comfortable with their fate.

Dingo, a Chosen from Australia, was one of the Chosen modified by the X-Antibody, and, like most of the other X-Chosen, he tried as best he could to make the infected Chosen as comfortable as possible while Jyou and others searched for a cure. He was seated on a green lawn chair, facing the ocean, but his eyes were focused on the scantly-clad females wandering around the beach. He focused on a spiky-brown-haired girl with a Gizamon as a partner. She was wearing a blue bikini that barely covered her breasts and while covering her bottom, it left her thighs completely exposed. She was missing her right arm, and after blocking the sun with his hand and squinting his eyes, he could see that she was missing her ears as well. He would not have cared if the BD-2 had taken away all her limbs and destroyed her hair, she still would have been beautiful to him. Then again, any girl with a figure like hers he would have fallen instantly in love with.

She had just gotten out of the water and lay down on her blue beach towel while her Gizamon applied sun lotion to her body. He stared with interest as her back began lathered up, followed by her arm, legs, and nearing to her….

His face was suddenly covered by a blast of hot sand. He spit the ground out of his mouth and wiped his eyes. He saw Ganimon X, a large, blue crab, laughing at him from a hole in the beach. “Ya should have seen that look on your face!”

“Ya sand-brain!” he shouted, “What the hell was that for?”

“Oh come on,” Ganimon X said, “Jus’ havin’ a little fun.”

Dingo lightly kicked him aside and turned his attention back to the blond girl, only to find that she was gone. He started to turn his head quickly from left to right before he spotted her again. She and her Gizamon were walking to the small snack bar which was being managed by a Meramon, who was easily grilling burgers to temperature in mere seconds. He continued to gaze at her, but his attention was turned away by a sight that was quite surprising; a figure draped in an orange cloak, his head hidden deep within the shadows of the hood. “What the hell is that guy doin’ wearing somethin’ like that?”

“What’s wrong with it?” Ganimon X asked.

Dingo gave him an odd glance. “It’s got to be at least a hundred degrees right now.”

“So what?” his partner asked, “Let him be crazy if he wants…”

He shook his head in annoyance and turned back, only to discover that the strange cloak-wearer was seated at the snack bar, drinking some concoction of tropical fruit, while casting gazes at the brown-haired, blue-bikini-wearing girl. Dingo frowned and narrowed his gaze.

“”””””””” 221;”””

Taichi pushed open the door and flipped the switch, illuminating the apartment. “And here we are…the lovely castle Yagami.”

The girl resting on his back chuckled as she leaned forward so he could bring her inside easier. “Thank you for hospitality.”

He shrugged, but continued walking. Behind them, Hikari shut the door once they and their digimon were inside. As soon as the brown-haired girl stepped inside, she felt a blast of cold air. “Oh, I forgot to turn off the air conditioning.”

“That’s why my hair’s standing up on ends, huh?” Plotmon X asked, trotting inside.

Hikari ran over and turned the air conditioning until to off, then walked into the kitchen. “Uh, Maria, are you hungry?”

Taichi placed Maria down on the couch, where she was soon joined by her Patamon. “W…what do you have?”

Hikari opened the refrigerator. “Well, we have chicken, pork, fish, leftover pizza….”

The Hispanic girl’s eyes opened wide and she stared at her partner. “Wow….Patamon, when we were on our own before we went to live in the Digital World, we never had that much food in our refrigerator…”

Taichi laughed as he disappeared down the hall. “That’s only because Hikari remembers to buy food.”

His younger sister began to blush. “Well…that’s probably because of my mother. She would always make sure that the refrigerator was full.”

The other girl shrugged. “Well, if it’s not too much trouble, some fish would sound good.”

“Yeah, that sounds great,” her Patamon said, flapping his ears to hover into the air.

The brown haired young woman turned to her brother and the other digimon. “What about you guys?”

“That sounds great,” Taichi shouted from down the hall, while the other digimon nodded. Hikari smiled and began to pull a pan out of the cabinet.

“What are you doing?” Maria asked, “Y…you have to cook it?”

She nodded. “Yes…oh, did you want sushi? Well, I don’t really have the stuff for that….”

“No, I…I thought it was leftovers,” she explained, “If you have to cook it, then…please do not go to that much trouble…”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all,” she said, “Really…”

“Yeah,” Agumon X said, “Mrs. Yagami taught Hikari how to cook too.”

Maria tried to protest again, but Hikari shook her head. “No, it’s okay, really.”

Taichi reappeared from the hall and approached the Hispanic girl. “Okay, the bath is ready and I got some of Hikari’s clothes for you.”

“ Bath?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said, “No offense, but you really need one.”

Hikari appeared from the kitchen. “What my brother means is, you are our guest, please, relax and enjoy yourself.”

Maria smiled warmly. “Thank you.”

Taichi hoisted her onto his back and carried her into the bathroom. “Um…will you be okay, or should I…?”

She blushed. “No, I…I will be okay,” she said, “Thank you.”

“I’ll be right outside if you need anything,” he said, closing the door.

“”””””””” 221;””””””””””& #8221;

Yamato smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry about this, I know it’s not much to look at.”

Noriko glanced around the messy apartment. Clothes and other garments were strewn about the living room, piles of dust were collecting on the tops of the shelves, the dishes in the sink had actually dissolved in the water, and small piles of food appeared to be attached to the floor. “Uh, no, it’s…fine.”

The blond smiled. “You don’t have to lie, it’s a pig-sty, I know.” He slapped his hands together and mentioned to the hall. “The, uh, bathroom is down there, as well as the bed. I’ll be camping out on the couch.”

“Do you have anything to eat?” Noriko’s Plotmon asked.

Yamato’s Gabumon X paled. “Uh…well…the stuff that’s in the fridge probably isn’t edible anymore….”

The young man rubbed his chin. “Well, tell you what, you can make yourselves at home, and I’ll run out and buy some real food, how’s that?”

“Oh, uh, you don’t have to…”

He waved his hands. “Hey, it’s no problem. I’ll be right back.”

Noriko watched him leave, then sighed. She felt like a shower, so she walked into the bathroom, only to find that it looked even worse then the living room. “Is there even a clean towel in here?”

Gabumon X shook his head. “Probably not.”

“”””””””R 21;””””””’

Sora had fallen asleep on the couch when she heard a loud pounding on her door. She fell out of the couch, and was afraid that she was not going to be able to get back up, but she managed to limp to the door. When she opened it, she gave a surprised gasped. “J..Jyou?”

The older Chosen leapt inside and helped to support her. “I came over as soon as I got your message. I’m sorry, we had a….problem, in the Digital World?”

“What?” she asked.

He shook his head. “That’s not important now.” He glanced down at her foot, or rather, her missing left foot. “Sora, why didn’t you tell me you had BD-2?”

She searched for a answer, and had to turn away from his gaze. “I…I don’t know. I…I guess I didn’t want to accept it…”

He nodded patiently like the doctor he had become. “Let’s get you over to the couch.”

Once the redhead was lying back on the couch, Jyou began to examine what was left of her left foot. “D…do you want to see Piyomon too?” she asked, trying to ignore the growing sense of sudden fear she had in her stomach.

“Yes,” Jyou said, “Just one second….” He started twisting and turning it, checking it from all sides. “How long has it been like this?”

She swallowed. “I…I think the toes were gone a few days ago….”

He sighed and gently placed it down. “Anywhere else?”

Her hand was shaking as she pointed at her left eye. “Here.”

Jyou reached over pulled the skin away from her eye socket. He pulled it back a second later. “Where’s Piyomon?”

The red-headed young woman nodded and shouted down the hall. “Piyomon! Piyomon, Jyou’s here!”

They heard scuffling from the bedroom, and a moment later, the pink bird came trotting out. Like Sora, the BD-2 had eaten out sections of her body, most of her feathers, and the tip of her wings, were gone. Jyou examined her carefully, then rubbed his forehead.

Sora and Piyomon glanced nervously at one another, then looked back. “Jyou?” Sora asked.

“Well,” he said, “I can give you the standard medicine that I’ve been giving everyone else, but there’s not much else I can do….”

Sora felt her heart sink into her stomach. She did not want to ask, but she had to. “How…how much longer do we have to….to….to….?”

He hesitated for a moment. “I…I’m not sure, but we’re still experimenting with new medicine every day, it’s…it’s possible we’ll find a cure, and….I…I hate to say this, but if you told me about this a few days ago, maybe I could have done something. I…I’m sorry.”

Sora felt sharp needles of fear jab into her heart and stomach, but she fought them back. She tried to speak, but she could only nod. Piyomon glanced up at her, and she grabbed her partner tightly.

Jyou was going to speak again, but his cell phone began to play its ringing sound. He tried to ignore it, but he eventually looked at the small monitor. “I…I need to go. Sora, I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?” He placed a hand on her shoulder, but she could not look at him, only stare down at Piyomon in her arms with closed eyes.

Jyou reluctantly exited the apartment, leaving the two partners to break down in tears. They squeezed each other as tightly as they could. The young woman was not sure how long she had stayed like this, but they soon broke apart.

“What are we going to do?” Piyomon asked.

“I…I don’t know…” Sora said, burying her face in her hands, “I…I can’t think…I….I need to talk to someone…."

Her hand was shaking as she reached for her home phone. She gripped it tightly, as if it was the only thing keeping her sane at this moment. She pressed the first button on the speed dial. She held her breath as a familiar voice sounded over the speaker. “Hello, you have reached the Takenouchis. For the flower shop, please press 1, for the home apartment, please press 2.”

She pressed the second button, and her mother’s voice once again appeared. “Hello, this is the Takenouchi home apartment. We are not home at the moment, but please leave your name and number, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.”

Sora’s heart began to pound again, but she was able to stay calm enough to dial another number. A cheery, female voice shouted over the speaker. “Hey what’s up? Mimi and Michael aren’t home right now, but just leave your name and number, and we’ll catch up with you as soon as we can! Later!”

Sora dialed another number. This time, she was actually surprised to hear a female’s voice answer. “Hello, this is the Yamato Ishida residence…”

The red-headed momentarily forget her plague-infection and she even forgot her voice. She did not expect to hear a woman’s voice, she did not know Yamato was even seeing anyone…

“Hello?” the other voice asked.

She blinked. “Oh, uh…may I speak to Yamato?”

“He…ah…stepped out for a moment. May I take a message?”

“Ah...n…no, it’s….it’s nothing…”

The voice on the other end was silent for a moment. “Uh…may I ask who’s calling?”

“Sora Takenouchi…”

“Sora!” the voice gasped, “I thought you sounded familiar. It’s Noriko Kawada.”

“Noriko?” the red-head gasped, “w…what are you doing there?”

“It’s a long story,” she said, “What have you been up to? I heard you were a fashion designer?”

Her mind suddenly flashed her a reminder of the disease that was infecting her body. She needed to talk to someone. “I…I have BD-2….”

“You too?” the voice on the other end asked.

The red-head nodded, even though the other young woman could not see. “Yes.”

“Don’t worry,” Noriko said, “Just tell me where you live, and I’ll be right over.”

“W…what?”

“Please, I know what you’re going through.”

Sora swallowed and told her the location from Yamato’s apartment. Noriko promised she would be right over, Sora only hoped she would hurry.

“””””””””&# 8221;””””””

Dingo had been following the bikini-wearing girl for most of the day. After she left the snack bar, she traveled back to her beach towel, then played with Gizamon in the ocean for an hour, before gathering up her belongings and leaving the beach. She changed out of her swimwear into a pair of blue, tight-fitting shorts and a shirt that contained a front and a back, but the sides from her breasts down was absent. He probably would have left her alone, but that strange cloak-wearing figure had been there the entire time; he was worried about her.

He and Ganimon X followed her from the sandy beach to the rock and dirt of the inner city, where she led him through the twists and turns of the alleys before finally stopping and spinning around to face him. “What?”

He blinked. “What?”

“You’ve been followin’ me, and I want to know why!”

His eyes drifted away from her face to her missing right arm, or more accurately, the socket, which was wrapped tightly with brown bandages. “What the hell are you lookin’ at?” she spat, “Whatda BD-2 do to your….” She trailed off as she examined his body. “Nothin’s missing’….you…you aren’t even infected, are ya? But how can that….” Her astonishment turned to disgust as she stared at his face. “You’ve been modified, haven’t ya? You’re an X-Chosen! What the hell do you want?”

“This ain’t gonna be good,” Ganimon X muttered.

Dingo ignored him and stuttered an explanation. “I…didn’t you see that weird guy in the yellow cape and hood?”

“Yeah, what if I did?”

“He’s been followin’ ya!” he exclaimed, “I’m just worried about ya…”

“Oh, I get it,” she said, throwing her head back in a slight chuckle, “Just because you’ve been modified and aren’t infected, you think you have to protect me because I am infected, right?”

Her Gizamon placed a paw on her leg. “Lynna, calm down…”

“I am calm!” she shouted, “I’m just so pissed! Just because these X-Chosen aren’t sick, they think they have to watch over the rest of us! They think they have the right to rule us!”

“What are you talking about?” Dingo gasped, “Look, I don’t know what you’ve heard about us, but we Chosen that have been modified by the X-Antibody are just Chosen. We’re just trying to help you get cured…”

“You’re all the same,” she laughed, “Just like everyone else says. Just stay the hell away from me.” She began to walk away, but stopped when she noticed that the strange figure draped in the yellow hood and cape was standing before her.

“Lynna Jeffry,” he said, “Prepare for your death!”

She blinked-sure she had not heard him correctly. “What?”

His hand emerged from within his yellow cape, revealing a yellow digivice in his hand, which began to glow brightly.

“What the hell are you doin’?” Lynna shouted.

Dingo charged forward and placed an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s not wait to find out!” He began to drag her away, but she protested.

“I don’ need your help, you sell out!”

“Sell out?” he repeated, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You sold your soul to get a cure!”

He sighed in annoyance and continued to pull her. “We’ll talk about this later! Let’s go!”

They twisted around and started to run, but stopped as an explosion of yellow light appeared before them. They watched in horror as a figure appeared within that light: a tall human-like creature dressed in black leather and carrying two shot guns in holsters at his hips.

“Nice ta make ya acquaintance,” he said, “But like ma partna was saying, you’re all about to become spots on the sidewalk!”

“It’s time to go!” Gizamon shouted.

Ganimon X dug into the dirt and sand with his large pincer claw and flung it into the enemy digimon’s eyes, momentarily blinding him. Dingo began running as fast as he could, dragging Lynna and their digimon partners with them. He did not even stop to glance over his shoulder to see if the man in yellow was following. Instead, he reached for his cellphone.

“What are you doing?” Ganimon X asked.

“Calln’ for help, what’da think?”

“”””””””&# 8221;””””””””””

When Yamato kicked open the door to his humble apartment, he shouted out to his guest. “Noriko? Plotmon?”

“They’re not here,” Gabumon X answered, walking out of the back room.

“They’re not?” he asked, “Where are they?”

“They went to see Sora about something,” the X-digimon answered.

Yamato placed the bags of groceries on the counter. “I just went shopping for the first time in weeks…”

“Make that months,” Gabumon X added.

Yamato cast him an evil glance, but continued to unpack. “Did she say when she’d be back?...Or is she even coming back?”

“I don’t know,” he answered, “Sorry.”

The blond man took out his cellphone, but stopped. “I can’t even call her. I don’t know her number…or if she even has a cellphone.”

“You could just call Sora’s,” Gabumon X.

Yamato smiled. “Hey, that’s a great idea.” He was about to hit the auto-dial, when to his surprise, the phone began to ring with a segment of one of his former band’s songs. He glanced at the screen. “It’s from Jyou.”

“You’d better take it,” his partner advised, “With what’s going on now.”

He put the device to his ear. “Hey Jyou, what’s up? Dingo? The guy from Australia? Yeah….Yeah, we’ll be right there.”

“What’s up?” Gabumon X asked.

“We’ve got to go to Ausata, it’s in the southern hemisphere of the Digital World,” he said, running to the computer which was resting on the tv stand in the living room. “One of those cloak wearing guys is attacking Dingo. We’ve got to go now!”

“What about the others?” he asked.

“Jyou already called them,” he answered, pointing his X-Antibody modified digivice at the computer screen. “Digital Gate open! The City of Austa!”

The screen exploded in brilliant white light which pulled Yamato and Gabumon X into the Digital World.

“””””””””&# 8221;”””””””””” ””””””””””

D uring her bath, Maria was forced to remove the bandages which were wound tightly around the remainder of her legs. After she dressed in a pair of Hikari’s shorts and a sleeveless shirt, she tried to reapply the bandages again, but they were very dirty. Once Taichi saw her, he insisted on bandaging them for her.

“No, it’s….it’s okay…” she began, but stopped when Taichi held up his palm.

“No, it’s not okay. I know you have BD-2, but it’s not going to help you get any better if your open wounds get infected.”

“He’s right,” her Patamon said, landing on her shoulder, “Let him help you.”

She smiled and nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

The young man carried her into the living room, where he placed her on the couch, her leg stumps near the edge. Hikari and the Yagami’s digimon were watching the television, so the Latino girl decided to join in while Taichi journeyed to the bathroom to get the medical supplies.

She was missing almost half of her knees, and everything below them was completely gone. There was only a mesh of red, spongy tissue at the edges. “Well…I’m not Jyou, but I’ve bandaged up enough injuries to know when something’s infected or not.”

“And?”

“I think this looks okay. I mean…not as bad as it could be….” He cleared his throat and began to wound a thin strip of white bandage around her bare legs.

Maria turned her attention from the television to the brown mop on the top of Taichi’s head. She hesitated a moment before speaking up. “Um, Taichi, do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

She hesitated a moment longer before speaking again. “I...like a lot of Chosen I know, really look up to you and have the greatest respect for you, so if this is out of line I’m sorry, but, why did you decide to become a diplomat?”

“Instead of a Chosen general?” Taichi asked with a smile. Hikari and Plotmon X began to giggle.

She blushed. “What…?”

He waved his hand. “Never mind. Um, to answer your question, it was really because of the Christmas invasion back in 2002. I knew it was only a matter of time before the Digital World would become common knowledge to Earth, and I wasn’t going to let the governments try to take it over. I was going to make sure the Digital World could be protected, and that meant it needed someone to represent it.”

“Really?” she asked.

He looked at her. “Why?”

“I…um…just heard something different…”

“Really? What?”

She hesitated again. “Um….”

“No, it’s all right, tell me…”

She hesitated again before spurting quickly, “I heard that after you were modified by the X-Antibody, you didn’t care about us anymore.”

Hikari and the digimon turned to them in silence. Taichi slowly lifted his head to look at Maria, who was blushing feverously. “I…I never believed in it….” She stuttered.

“Nah, I can see why everyone thought that,” he said, “Yeah, after BD-2 hit the Digital World, what could I do about it? I wasn’t a doctor...” He turned his head back down to continue bandaging Maria’s legs, “Besides, I couldn’t say Koushiro or Daisuke…”

Hikari frowned. “Oh Oniichan…”

Taichi finished his wrapping of Maria’s legs and stood up to stretch his back. “All right…”

The Latino girl glanced at her leg stubs, which were securely wrapped in white bandages. “Thank you.”

“So, time to eat?” Taichi asked.

Hikari nodded. “Yeah, come on.”

Taichi hoisted Maria into his arms and carried her into the dinning room. Maria lightly kissed the young man on the cheeks. “Thank you for everything. And I still think you’re a hero.”

Hikari giggled slightly at her brother’s embarrassment.

“”””””””& #8221;”””””””””” ;”

Yamato and Gabumon X began to look around at the city of Ausata. The Chosen and Digimon that resided there did not even give them a passing glance as they walked by, continuing with their daily lives. “Where are Jyou and Gomamon?” Yamato asked.

They were answered a moment later when they heard what appeared to be a shot gun echo throughout the alleys. The young man and his partner did not even glance at each other as they charged through the buildings and openings to discover the source of the shot. What they found closer to the beach was a young man, a young woman and their digimon being chased by a large, digimon with guns and a figure wearing a yellow cloak. “There’s Dingo and Ganimon X,” Gabumon X said.

“Who’s that girl he’s with?” Yamato asked.

“Yamato!”

They twisted around to see Jyou and Gomamon X behind them, running as fast as they could to catch up with Dingo as they ran past Yamato and Gabumon X. “We’ve got to hurry!”

The blond man reached for his digivice. “All right. Ready Gabumon?”

He nodded. “Right. Gabumon X evolve to Garurumon X!”

Yamato leapt onto his partner’s back and waited until Jyou and Gomamon X were on before ordering his partner forward. The large wolf used his evolved leg muscles to easily run forward, moving closer to Dingo and his mysterious enemy. They soon reached an area of the city where the beach had disappeared and the ocean was pushing directly up to the guard rails of the street.

“It’s one of those guys that made us fight for them!” Jyou shouted, “But who is his partner?” He held out his X-modified digivice and waited as the screen projected an image a few inches above it, the word ‘PROCESSING….PROCESSING….NO DATA….”

“I’ve got nothing on him,” he said, “Gomamon, Garurumon, do you know him?”

“I’ve never seen anything like him before,” his partner answered.

“Me either,” Garurumon X

“Well we’ve got to stop him,” Yamato said.

Jyou glanced to his right and saw the bright blue of the Digital Ocean stretched out before him. “Perfect! Gomamon, we’re by the ocean, that means we’ve got the advantage for once!”

His partner sighed. “Jyou, we never have the advantage.”

The young man sighed in annoyance as he reached for his digivice. “Just get in the water.”

Gomamon X chuckled as he leapt from Garurumon X’s back and dove into the water. “Gomamon X evolve to Tylomon X!”

The evolved sea creature leapt out of the water like a dolphin leaping into the setting sun. Once he was high enough in the evening sky, he dove at the gun-totting digimon. “Torpedo Attack!”

His sharp snout struck the creature in the side, throwing him onto his side. Dingo and the girl spun around in surprise.

“Hey, the Calvary’s here!” Dingo shouted.

“Who?” the girl asked.

“Just some friends, Lynna,” he said, “That’s Jyou and Tylomon X and that’s Yamato and Garurumon X.”

“More X-Chosen!” she gasped.

“They’re gonna help you, trust me, all right?”

The yellow-cloak wearer turned to face Garurumon X and his passengers. His eyes focused on Yamato a moment before he spoke. “So, the Odabia Chosen have come to the rescue, but you’re not going to stop me from completing my mission.”

“ Mission?” Yamato asked.

He did not answer.

“Who the hell are you?” Dingo shouted.

He shot him a glance, but began to laugh. “You want to know my name, huh? Fine, I am Karetu, the Demon Hunter! This is my partner, Beelzebubmon.”

The demonic digimon twirled one of his shotguns on his finger. “Pleased ta’meet’cha!”

“Demon Hunter?” Lynna gasped, “What does that mean? Gizamon?”

Her partner shook his head. “I dunno.”

Karetu swung open his cloak to reveal that he was wearing a pair of green pants and a grey t-shirt, but he kept his hood securely over his face. “Beelzebubmon, if you please…”

He grinned. “You got it.” He pointed his guns directly at Lynna. “Say yer prayers!”

“No!” Dingo shouted, “Ganimon!”

Ganimon X ran forward, his body glowing brightly. “Ganimon X evolve to Gesomon X!”

Beelzebubmon raised an eyebrow in amusement at the grinning octopus creature standing before him. Gesomon X began to repeatedly pound the demon with his tentacles. “Devil Bashing!”

Beelzebubmon kicked the octopus as hard as he could, causing him to fly backwards over Dingo, Lynna and Gizamon’s heads. Tylomon X leapt into the air again but this time shot past Beelzebubmon at fast speed, striking him with his fins. “Shark Fin Blade!”

Yamato leapt off of Garurumon X as the blue wolf expunged a blast of blue light the engulfed the demon. “Fox Fire!”

The demon digimon flexed his muscles, sending a wave of energy that dissolved Garurumon X’s attack. He launched forward, striking the large wolf in the snout with his foot, timing it with perfect accuracy so that the momentum sent Yamato’s partner into Tylomon X, knocking both of them into the water.

Gesomon X leapt back into the battlefield, but before he could even attack, Beelzebubmon knocked him into the pile of X digimon floating in the sea.

“Damn it!” Dingo spat.

Karetu laughed manically, as he turned to the brown-haired female. “Now, ‘princess,’ let’s get this over with.”

His partner grinned as he positioned his gun at her head. “Say goodbye! Double Impact!”

Lynna whimpered in fear as she watched the bullets zoom towards her. Her Gizamon leapt in front of her, while Dingo leapt in front of them. The trio of tangled digimon floating in the water attempted to claw their way to the shore, but they knew they would not reach it in time. However, to their surprise, Beelzebubmon’s attack struck the ground instead, causing an explosion that sent Dingo and Gizamon flying to the sides. Lynna stared in fear.

“Now that they’re outta the way…” the demon grinned, readying his guns again.

“No!” Lynna screamed. Her body suddenly began to glow with a bluish-green light. This light then exploded, showering the immediate area. Her Gizamon’s body began to glow in the same light.

“Gizamon evolve to Ebidramon!”

Lynna was overcome with awe at the strange light being emitted from her body, but still turned to her partner. “Gizamon? How did you evolve? You haven’t been able to evolve since we were infected with BD-2!”

“I have no idea,” he said, “But I’m not complainin’!”

“Me neither!” she grinned, “Show that guy not ta mess with a Chosen Child from Australia!”

“Yeah!” Dingo shouted, “We’ll attack ‘im together! Gesomon!”

“You too Tylomon!” Jyou shouted.

“Kick his ass Garurumon!” Yamato joined in.

The three X-digimon leapt out of the water and poised to attack. Ebidramon shot forward and trapped Beelzebubmon within his large pincer claws. Tylomon X executed his Shark Fin Blade attack, slashing across the demon’s face. Gesomon X was next, pounding the demon’s face repeatedly with his tentacles before Garurumon X performed his Body Blow attack, energizing the hairs on his shoulders to slash at the demon’s midsection. Beelzebubmon was stunned for a moment before he flexed his muscles, easily breaking free of Ebidramon’s grasp. He grabbed the lobster’s midsection and swung him around, smacking into each of the other digimon before throwing him into the ground with such force that the entire battlefield shook. This sent everyone, including Karetu, stumbling to their knees. The Demon Hunter’s hood was jarred loose and fell to his shoulders, revealing his face.

Jyou could not believe his eyes and Yamato was almost in shock. He stared at Karetu’s face and shouted in amazement and horror. “Takeru!”

The Demon Hunter’s hair was cut into a bowl-shaped style, and his eyes were brown instead of blue. Despite these small differences, the face was that of Takeru Takashi. He rose to his feet and stared at Yamato’s face.

“Takeru….h….how….?”

Karetu grinned wickedly. “Wouldn’t you like to know. Beelzebubmon!”

The demon digimon jumped to Karetu’s side, his guns pointed outwards. The Demon Hunter raised his yellow digivice to the sky and he and his partner vanished in a burst of yellow light.

“””””””””&# 8221;””””””””

Sora threw open the door in anticipation when she heard it knock. She breathed in relief when she saw Noriko and her Plotmon standing on the other side. “Noriko!” she gasped, collapsing into the other woman’s arms.

“Sora…Sora…” she said in amazement. The redhead had been one of the strongest women she had ever known, but to see her broken down in tears before her almost sent her into fear as well. However, she kept her emotions in check; Sora had called her for support, she could not let her down.

She helped her to the couch, where Piyomon was waiting in anticipation. “It’s okay Sora,” she said, “It’s okay…”

“Noriko,” she sobbed, “I…I don’t know what to do!”

The black-haired young woman hesitated a moment. “Sora, listen, I understand what you’re going through, but just because you have BD-2 doesn’t mean your life is over.”

“But…but there’s no cure!” Piyomon protested.

“We know that,” Plotmon said, “But there could be one. We just have to fight until there is one.”

Noriko continued. “She’s right. Our time might be short, but we’re going to live it as best we can: me, Maria, Catherine…”

Sora turned to her. “Catherine has BD-2?”

She nodded. “Yeah, a lot of Chosen have BD-2, but we’re not giving up. And you can’t either.”

The redhead turned away and stared at the carpeting of her floor. Noriko placed a hand on her shoulder. “Sora, did you know that you’re the role model of a lot of female Chosen?”

She turned to her in surprise. “I am?”

The black-haired woman nodded. “Yes. And when they find out that you have BD-2, they’re going to be looking at you for inspiration. Sora, if you break down, then how are they going to act? Be strong, don’t give up, and they won’t either.”

The red-headed woman was silent for a moment, then nodded. “You’re right. I can’t give up, because when I do, then I’ve already lost.” She turned to her partner, “I’m not going to give up, what about you?”

The pink digimon nodded. “If you can be strong, Sora, then I’ll be strong too.”

Noriko smiled. “Yeah, it’s going to be tough for a little while, but you’re really strong, Sora, I know you’ll pull through.” She started looking around the apartment. “So, this is nice.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, and expensive. The last dress design that I sold just about paid for the rent.”

The other woman smiled. “Really? I’d love to see it!”

“”””””””̶ 1;”””””””””” 221;””

A few hours later, Jyou, Yamato, Taichi and Hikari were standing in the midst of a cemetery while the full moon shone down on them. A group of older men were busy digging dirt and stone away from a headstone, a headstone that displayed in granite letters, TAKASHI TAKERU. “So what happened to the girl?” Taichi asked.

“Lynna Jeffry,” Jyou corrected, “And she stayed with Dingo, who said he’d watch over her, and if anything happened, he’d call us right away.”

Taichi nodded.

“How’s Maria?” he asked.

“She’s back at the apartment,” Taichi said, “I didn’t think it would be a good idea to bring her along.” He glanced over at Hikari, who was standing apprehensively next to Yamato, “I wanted her to stay home too, but she wouldn’t.”

The older Chosen nodded. Taichi walked forward to stand by Yamato’s side. “So how’re you doing?”

“How do you think I’m doing?” he gasped, “That…that demon looked just like Takeru!”

Taichi looked to the gravesite, where the cemetery workers were pulling a brown casket from the ground. “But are you sure this is the right way?”

“I have to know,” he said, “I watched my younger brother die from the Second Black Death, I need to know if that was real.”

Taichi nodded, and looked past him to where his sister was standing, her arms wrapped tightly around her torso. He walked past Yamato and placed a hand on her shoulder. She smiled slightly at him. “Are you okay?”

She hesitated. “I…I don’t know. How can Takeru be alive? It…it can’t be!”

The workers pulled the casket over to where the Chosen were standing. Hikari tensed up, and Taichi hugged her. “You don’t have to watch.”

“Yes I do,” she said.

Yamato nodded silently at the cemetery workers. They each grasped a side of the coffin lid and slowly moved it aside, allowing the contents to be seen. Yamto’s body tensed, and Hikari gasped in horror, twisting her head away to burry it in Taichi’s chest. She could not bear the sight inside the coffin.