Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon: Apocalypse ❯ The Mark: Chapter 2 ( Chapter 11 )

My name is Catherine Rupert, and I didn’t receive my digimon partner until the infamous Christmas Invasion. That was when I met Floramon. That was also when I met the first Chosen I had ever seen…besides myself that is. Brash and impulsive Taichi, and young and mature Takeru.

Takeru….How much I cried for him when I heard that he had died. My heart went out to Yamato and his family. Takeru was one of the few people I had ever met that did not treat me as having lower a lower IQ simply because of my blond hair and my…let’s say, supermodel good looks. Of course, while he didn’t think I had a lower IQ, he and Taichi were practically falling over each other trying to impress me. Not that I haven’t dealt with that on a daily basis…

Then I caught BD-2, and my hair vanished and I large patches of my skin were eaten away. Ever since then, I’ve come to realize exactly how much I always depended on my looks to make me who I am. But if I don’t have my beauty, what do I have?”

Apparently, what I do have is control over the powers of light. Not the same ‘Light’ that Hikari has…I mean, I can’t heal people, or read minds or anything like that, it’s more like….like what happens when you turn on a light bulb. That kind of light, and Sora can control fire. At least, that’s what the Demon Lords that kidnapped us said. They also said that the Chosen Council of the Digital World has begun marking the infected Chosen, to better classify them. They also said that Victor Von Schmidt, the leader of the council, apparently killed Miayag. I can’t believe it!” ------------------------ The Mark: Chapter II -------------------------

Victor Von Schmidt, the Security General of the Chosen Council, stood with the Secretary of the Chosen Council, Raven Osborn. They were standing before the seven Demon Lords, all of whom had their hoods firmly over their heads, shadowing their faces. “So,” Cahiti, the one in orange spoke, “How can we help you?”

“Hold on,” Schmidt said, “You’re the ones that came to me. “

“That is true,” Cahiti said, “And, as I said, we can help you in your mission to exterminate the infected Chosen.”

“And why would ya help us?” Osborn asked.

“We are the Gods of the Digital World,” he said, “It is our mission to secure the safety of the Digital World.”

“I’m not stupid,” Schmidt said, “The only Sovereign anyone ever heard of was Qinglongmon, and he vanished after being freed by Yagami’s Chosen Children. There are no Gods of the Digital World, maybe at one point, but not any longer.”

“You’re wrong about that,” the one in purple, Shiokuro replied.

“What does that mean?” Schmidt’s Gaomon asked.

Cahiti chuckled. “You are correct, we are not gods, but our power is supreme.”

Schmidt nodded. “And I don’t think that you’re really interested in the safety of the Digital World.”

“And the only reason you’re interested in exterminating the infected Chosen in order to save your own skin!” Seiduka, the one in blue, shouted.

“What?” Osborn gasped.

“It’s planted all over your face,” Asro, the one in red, added.

“Not bad,” Schmidt said, “You certainly have your eyes everywhere…”

“Yes…yes…” Cahiti placed his hands behind his back and began to walk in a circle around the two Council members. “Let’s be frank then shall we? No more…bullshit, okay?”

“Fine with me,” Schmidt said.

“We both want dominion over the creatures of this world, you are bound by the laws of your council charter, and we…well, let’s face it, we’ll never be popular enough for anyone to follow us. If you have the aid of we…heh, Gods, then it will appear as if you are acting from divine will, and we will get the worship we crave, what say you?”

Schmidt glanced at Osborn. “What do you think?”

“I don’t think they can be trusted,” she replied. She glanced at the Demon Lords, “No offense.”

“I wouldn’t be so trustin’ either,” Karetu, the one in yellow, chuckled, “But we’re not tryin’ ta trick ya.”

Schmidt crossed his arms. “All right…for now…”

Cahiti nodded. “Then we shall determine specifics later. In the meanwhile, please enjoy our generous, yet limited, hospitality.” He mentioned to the door, and Schmidt and Osborn exited. The Demon King closed the door behind them.

“Is this really such a good idea?” Amikyo asked.

“It is a definite stroke of good fortune in our favor!” Cahiti laughed, “Schmidt and his ‘Council” will be our pawns as we move towards our true goal. Now, each of you, hold out your hands…” He removed from his cloak the mysterious Soul Catcher, filled with the elemental energy stolen from: Maria of Earth, Anna of Wind, Lynna of Water, Iduia of Metal, Keeya of Forest and Noriko of Darkness. Only Sora of Fire and Catherine of Light refused to discharge their energy, and they were now trapped within the Demon’s base, prisoners within a cell of iron and concrete.

Cahiti held the artifact towards the ceiling and light from each of the six glowing crystals emerge and struck the hands of the Demon Lords, forming crystals of the same color in their palms. “What’s this?” Asro asked.

“I have given each of you a portion of the energy within this device,” he explained, “While I still retain the highest amount, you now hold an elemental power as well as your own Crests of Sin.”

He looked at Seiduka, “In addition to your Crest of Wrath, you now hold the Element of Metal. Asro, in addition to your Crest of Lust, you also have the Element of Wind, Shiokuru, Crest of Greed and Element of Darkness, Amikyo, Crest of Envy, and Element of Water, Enk, Crest of Sloth and Element of Forest, and Karetu, Crest of Gluttony and Element of Earth.”

“What do you want us to do with these powers?” Enk asked, yawning loudly.

“Bring a famine to the Digital World, the likes of which no one has ever seen. Dry the sears, kill the forest, stop the wind, turn the earth to salt, and block the sun. Do this secretly; do not let our ‘reluctant’ partners-the Chosen Council-know of this. We will help them exterminate the Infected Chosen only because of the pain and chaos it will cause.” He grinned in ecstasy, “Oh, I can hear the screams already. And when we are seen with the council, we will be worshiped as Gods.”

He threw his arms to the ceiling, “Worshiped as Gods….”

--------------------

The Church of the Seekers of the Digital Light, the Digitalatri, was in chaos. Their leader, the High Priestess Chihi Miayag, had been shot, struck in the head by the Chosen Council leader, Victor Von Schmidt. Takashi and James had rushed her back to Nightsun, their base of operations, where she was being examined by their chief medical experts. Tatum, Hiroshi and Keiko were waiting nervously outside of the examination room.

When the chief doctor finally emerged, the three Chosen began to bombard him with questions. He raised his hand to silence them. “I’ve done what I can, the rest will have to be up to the Digital God.”

“He will save her,” Tatum said, “She has done so much for Him, He won’t let her die.”

“We can only hope,” Keiko said.

“We must let her rest now,” the doctor said, “Come.”

The group of Chosen reluctantly exited the hospital building, leaving only Miayag’s faithful partner, Witchmon, in the room with her. The broom-flying digimon stared down at her unconscious partner.

“Oh please, Chihi, you’ve got to wake up. Please, don’t die on me…”

She gave a regretful sigh before exiting the room as well. Miayag continued to lie on the hospital bed, eyes closed shut, a thick white bandage wrapped around her forehead and an array of sensors attached across her body.

The room was silent, deathly silent. The only sound was the continued beeping of the heart-monitor machine. It kept a continued rhythm, beeping to a silent pendulum until it began to ding erratically. Her arms began to spasm and her body flung out of control, ripping the IV-unit out of her arms and pulling the sensors out of the heart monitor. Her eyes shot open and she gasped for breath.

She sat up in her hospital bed, panting heavily. She moved her hand to her forehead, specifically the bandages. She felt around to the rear and gently began to remove the medical cloth. Once it collected into her lap, she lightly touched the area where Schmidt’s gun had struck. She was expecting there to be a serious injury, a laceration covered with stitches, however, to her surprise and awe, there was nothing. Any injury that should have been there was not.

“The Digital God,” she muttered, “I have been healed by His divine presence. His will shall be done!”

--------------------

Maria wheeled her chair over to the front door of Taichi and Hikari’s apartment. “Yes? Can I help you?”

An slightly older middle-aged woman answered from the other side. “Oh, um, this is Yuuko Yagami, Taichi and Hikari’s mother…”

“Oh, please come in, the door is unlocked.”

The door opened immediately and Mrs. Yagami walked inside. When she saw Maria, she smiled and bowed. “Oh, you must be Maria.”

“Yes,” the Latino woman responded, “Taichi and Hikari aren’t here right now…”

She frowned. “Oh, I had told them that I was coming…”

“I’m sorry,” Maria responded, “They…uh…needed to step out…”

“The Digital World again?” their mother asked.

“Oh, you know about…?”

She smiled and nodded. “Yes, I do.”

“Well, then yes, they had a mission they needed to handle in the Digital World. I don’t know when they’ll be back, but…um…I guess you can wait here if you want.”

“Thank you,” she said. “Um…do you know if Taichi has any of his school marks anywhere….”

Remembering what Taichi had warned her about, Maria changed the subject. “What do you do for a living?”

“Oh, I’m just a homemaker,” she replied, shrugging slightly, “My husband makes more then enough, and now with the kids out on their own…” She smiled, “But, what about you? Do you have a job? Are you a student?”

She fidgeted. “Actually…I…really don’t have a job or am going to school. I moved to the Digital World permanently because of my digimon partner, Patamon. He can’t survive for long on Earth.”

“Oh, you have a Patamon too?” she asked, “Takeru had one…” She began to look around. “Is he here….’he’, right?”

She nodded. “Yes. He is using the S-DEA right now.”

She nodded. “Let me try to remember…that’s what Plotmon and Agumon had to use before they were…changed by the X-….Virus?”

“X-Antibody,” she explained, “Yes, Patamon is receiving energy that will act like the energy from the Digital World. But he can’t stay here forever. I need to take him back in a few days.”

She nodded. “Right. This is very confusing…”

“It was for me the first time, but Mimi and Michael helped me understand everything.”

“How are they? Good? Enjoying married life?”

“I guess. They’re really in love.”

Mrs. Yagami glanced at her wristwatch. “Well, no wonder I feel so hungry, it’s after noon. Why don’t we have some lunch?”

The Latino woman smiled. “That would be great, thanks.”

------------------

The leaders of Digitalatri were in disbelief as their High Priestess, Chihi Miayag, sat before them in the capital building of Nightsun. Hiroshi and Keiko grabbed each other’s hands tightly, while Tatum was on her knees, staring up at the sky.

“How can you be healed?” James, partner of Metalseadramon asked, “I saw Schmidt shoot you!”

“The Digital God has brought me back through His divine ability. My mission has not yet been fulfilled.” She raised her arms, “We must reclaim the kingdom of our forbearers! We will take the Holy Island of the First Chosen!”

“The Holy Island?” Keiko asked, “The island in the center of the Digital Ocean?”

“That is correct,” she responded, “Hiroshi, Keiko, you, Vicente and Sam will lead an expedition to that island.”

“What shall we do, my lady?” Tatum asked.

“We march to Tokyo,” she said with a sneer, “And reclaim the Machina Codex stolen from us by Yagami!”

----------------

Victor Von Schmidt, the Security General of the Chosen Council, stood beside Cahiti, the King of the Demon Lords. They were staring down at the combined forces of the Demon Lords and the Chosen Council. They stood at attention, behaving in perfect routine. However, this was only a ruse: the Demon Lords began their deception of cooperation, while the Chosen Council trusted them all too easily, and wanted their alliance to continue perfectly. The Demon Lords continued to wear their hoods to hide their faces.

“Good,” Schmidt said, “This is our plan: each of you will be paired off, and sent to a specific area to aid first in the marking and then execution of the Infected Chosen.” He mentioned to a large, muscular man with a Karetamon, a bird-man covered with black feathers. “Ivan Kragoff, you shall be partnered with Shirokuru, and your area will be Zeradza.”

He turned his head to another pair, “Madelyn Frost, you and Amikyo will have Auasta. Sebastian Pierce and Enk will aid you.”

He turned to another young man, this one dressed in lose jeans and a flannel shirt. “Samuel Sterns and Karetu, your mission will be to round up any Infected Chosen that has escaped.”

“Sounds like fun ta me,” the Demon Hunter added with a smile.

Schmidt placed his hands behind his back. “Asro and Seiduka, you will be paired with Raven Osborn and myself. We will be heading to Tokyo.”

“What’s our mission?” Osborn asked.

“Maria Silvano and Noriko Kawada are two confirmed Chosen infected with BD-2. They must be marked, and, according to Cahaiti’s intelligence, Iduia Ramiro will be heading there, along with Keeya Garnet and Lynna Jeffry, two more confirmed Infected Chosen. They must be marked and catalogued.”

Cahiti stepped forward. “We are now a team together. Work with each other, and our mutual goals will be realized.” He raised his hand and threw it to the side, “Go and fulfill your destiny!”

---------------------

Taichi and Hikari, along with Mimi, Michael, Iduia and their digimon partners, had returned to Tokyo, specifically, Jyou’s apartment, where Yamato, Jyou, their partners, as well as Keeya, Lynna, Dingo, and their partners, were waiting. They had offered Mina to come with them, but she refused. She had already been marked by a group of the Chosen Council in the Southern Continent, but as she was at Level 3, the least contagious, she was allowed to remain free. She had gone to investigate a possible lead onto the true origins of the Demon Lords, and promised the X-Chosen that she would contact them as soon as she could.

“What about Anna?” Taichi asked.

Jyou shook his head. “We were on our way, but we thought we should...uh…drop them off first…” He mentioned to Keeya and the others.

“Yeah, uh, I guess that’s not a bad idea,” he mumbled.

“I got a question,” Lynna spoke up, “Where are we all stayin’?”

“I was wondering that myself,” Keeya spoke up.

“I’m sorry,” Hikari said, “We would offer, but with Maria staying with us, our rooms are all used up.”

“I don’t think she’d mind sharing the guest room,” Taichi said, “And if worst comes to worst, we can share our rooms too…”

“Well don’t look at me,” Yamato said, “My apartment was barely big enough for me and Gabumon, with Noriko and Plotmon staying there…well…it’s a tight squeeze.”

“What about this one?” Dingo asked, “It’s big enough ta hold a continent!”

Jyou began to pale. “Uh..um…ah…eh….”

“Oh come on Jyou,” Gomamon X said, “Everyone else is sharing their homes….”

The elder Chosen sighed and waved his hand. “Yeah, all right…”

Lynna and Dingo charged past the others and began scouring the rooms. “Hey, hold it a second!” Jyou shouted, running after them, “The guest rooms are…”

“All right,” Taichi said, “That only leaves Keeya and Iduia…”

Michael and Mimi glanced at each other. “Um, maybe we can help with that…”

“What do you mean?” Hikari asked.

Mimi stepped forward. “My parents have a big apartment, and they said me and Michael could stay there whenever we wanted, and we can take Iduia and Keya…”

“Are you sure?” Yamato asked, raising an eyebrow, “That’s four people, plus digimon…”

“It’ll be no problem,” the young woman smiled, “It’ll be good to see Mom and Dad again…”

Taichi shrugged. “Well, that worked out pretty well.” He turned to Yamato, “You’re going to get Anna and Yuri, right?”

The blond man sighed. “Yeah…yeah…we’re going...”

“Taichi,” Hikari said, “What about the rest of us?”

Before Taichi could answer, a loud, mighty crash was heard from outside, the sound of metal hitting metal and glass shattering. The Chosen ran to the windows and peered outside. Down below them, hundreds of vehicles had been involved in a major accident. It appeared that traffic has suddenly came to a screeching halt somewhere further up the highway. “What’s going on down there?” Keeya asked.

Jyou turned on his television. After the screen came to life, the Chosen and their digimon partners all crammed one another to achieve a perfect view of the t.v. Displayed on the monitor was an image of a major intersection a mile from Jyou’s apartment, and standing within that intersection was a massive, metallic creature and a smaller, spider-like monstrosity.

“Mugen Dramon!” Yamato shouted.

“Archnemon” Hikari asked.

“Tatum…” Mimi said.

“Digitalatri!” Gabumon X exclaimed.

“Turn up the sound!” Taichi ordered.

Jyou pressed the volume button on his remote and the voice of the reporter was soon heard as loud as possible.

“…..calling themselves the Digitalatri have appeared in this city. They are connected to the Digital World and the Chosen Children, but at this point we are not sure how or to what degree…wait…wait, I’m just receiving word that the leader of this group, Chihi Miayag, has issued a statement. Quote: We are the Seekers of the Digital Light, we are Digitalatri. We do not wish to cause any further harm to this city or it’s people, but we demand the return of what is ours, the Machina Codex! Deliver it to us, or face the destruction of this city!’ Who exactly is this demand being sent?”

“Miayag!” Agumon X gasped, “But, how can she be alive? Schmidt’s gun shot right through her head!”

“She rose from the dead…” Hikari said in awe.

“What are we gonna do about the book?” Yamato asked.

Taichi hesitated. “I…we didn’t read everything in it yet, if she wants it so bad, then it’s got to have more information then we know.”

Keeya glanced at the television. “But…they’re hurting innocent people…”

He ran his hands through his messy-hair. “Oh man! What the hell are we gonna do?”

“I hate ta bring this up, but I think we’ve got another problem…” Dingo trailed off.

Taichi spun back to the television. Displayed on the screen was a live image of an event occurring on the other side of the city: Schmidt and Osborn, along with their digimon partners, standing atop a building roof.

“What the hell are they doing here?” Yamato shouted.

“Yamato,” Gabumon X, “You don’t think it has anything to do with the Infected Chosen in this city?”

“Maria!” Taichi shouted.

“Noriko!” Yamato exclaimed.

“We’ve got to keep them as far away from here as possible,” Michael said.

Taichi turned to Yamato and saw Mimi and Michael standing behind him. “All right, you three go after the Council, me, Hikari and Jyou will got after Digitalatri.”

“Wait,” Mimi said, “Can’t I see Tatum?”

He hesitated. “I…I don’t know….”

“I’ll go with Yamato and Michael,” Jyou offered.

Taichi nodded. “All right, Mimi, you’re with me and Hikari.”

“Whadda ‘bout me?” Dingo asked.

“Stay here and protect the girls,” he ordered, “Let’s move!”

The X-Chosen began to file out of the apartment, all except for Hikari, who was still staring blankly at the television. “Hikari!” Taichi shouted.

“Right…right…” She slowly followed him out of the door.

-----------------

Mrs. Yagami nervously approached the door to her children’s apartment when she hard a feverous knocking. “Hello?”

“It’s Noriko! Open up!”

“She’s a friend,” Maria explained, wheeling over, “It’s okay.”

The middle-aged woman nodded. She opened the door a crack and Noriko came rushing inside. “Maria!” she shouted, “Have you looked at….” She trailed off as she realized that Maria could not have opened the door from the living room. She spun around and saw Mrs. Yagami slowly pushing the door away from her.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, turning beat red as she ran over to help her back to her feet.

“Uh, Noriko,” Maria said, “This is Taichi and Hikari’s mother.”

Noriko began to blush even more. “I…um…”

“Hey, this is a first,” Noriko’s Plotmon chuckled, “She’s actually speechless.”

“It’s okay,” Mrs. Yagami smiled, “Really, I’m all right.”

Noriko was still stuttering an apology, and Maria did not want to interrupt her, but she was curious as to why she ran inside so quickly. “What can we do for you?”

She blinked for a few minutes. “Oh, right. Um, have you been watching the news?”

Maria’s Patamon mentioned to the large television in the corner of the living room, which was displaying an image of the chaos occurring outside.

“Oh. I think we might want to get somewhere a little safer.”

“Safer?” Mrs. Yagami asked.

“I mean, the Council probably knows that we’re here, why else would they be here?”

Maria glanced over her shoulder towards Hikari’s room. “We can’t leave yet, I’m….”

“The Digitalatri are here too?” Noriko shouted, staring at the television newscast.

“Yes,” Patamon sighed, “Didn’t you watch everything?”

“Patamon!” Maria shouted.

“And they’re right outside!” the other young woman shouted, almost pulling out what hair she had left.

“Is she always like this?” Mrs. Yagami whispered to Maria.

“I think she’s just a little scared,” she sighed, “So am I, I guess…”

“Taichi and Hikari will make everything all right,” Mrs. Yagami said, shrugging slightly, “I know they will.”

Noriko ran over to Maria’s wheelchair and began to push her towards the door. “What are you doing?” the Latino woman asked.

“Yamato called me on my cell phone, Lynna and the others are at Jyou’s apartment. We’re going there, then we’re getting to a safer place.”

She tried to stammer out a protest, but a curious thought entered her mind. “Where did you get a cell phone?”

“Yamato gave me one…”

“Yamato gave you one?” she repeated.

She waved her hand. “It’s not important…”

Maria only nodded and called out. “Mrs. Yagami,” she called out, “Can you finish…?”

The middle-aged woman nodded. “I’ll do it, don’t worry.”

“You should be safe here,” Noriko said, “The Council’s only after us, and as much of a bitch as Miayag is, I don’t think she’d come after you to get at Taichi and Hikari.”

“But,” Maria added, “You should go somewhere safer. Please don’t put yourself through any danger because of us.”

Mrs. Yagami nodded. “I understand.”

Noriko pushed Maria towards the door. “Come on, we’ve got to.”

Mrs. Yagami watched as the front door slammed shut, leaving her completely alone in her children’s apartment. She nervously paced the living room. As she stepped on one of the floorboards, it creaked loudly, causing her to jump three feet into the air.

“I’ve got to take my mind off of this…” She walked over to the television. The news report was now displaying images of Digitalatri, focusing on Takashi, Tatum, and finally Miayag.

When Mrs. Yagami saw the image of the Digitalatri’s High Priestess, her eyes bulged wide. Her knees became weak, and she needed to grab hold of the wall to keep from falling onto Hikari’s living room rug.

“It…it can’t be…It’s….it can’t be!”

She turned to run to the door, but stopped short. She ran into Hikari’s room and emerged a second later with the first volume of the Machina Codex. She then ran out of the apartment as fast as she could.

-------------------

Taichi, Mimi and Hikari were running down the sidewalk towards the center of the Digitalatri’s destruction. “What exactly are we going to do?” Palmon X asked.

“A couple of things,” Taichi said, “First, we’ve got to lead them away from the city, where they can really hurt people and plus, if they see Schmidt and Osborn, they’d probably freak out. Second, they’re still a danger to the Digital World, it would be better to take them out.”

“Why?” Hikari asked, “Just because they believe something different then us?”

Taichi turned to her. “What?”

She shook her head and turned away. “Just…something I was thinking of…”

They continued to run until they arrived at the location of the city where Mugen Dramon’s massive body was standing within the intersection without much room to spare. The other members of the Digitalatri were standing at his feet. There was not the same crowd of people as there was around Schmidt and Osborn, as the intersection was surrounded by thousands of car crammed into a neck-to-neck traffic jam. The police had arrived, but like the Chosen Council, they were powerless to stop them.

“Miayag!” Taichi shouted.

The High Priestess of the Digitalatri held the Staff of Yuushi in front of her as she addressed them. “Yagami, have you brought the book?”

“I’m not giving you anything,” he said, “We found that book fair and square.”

“You stole it from under my nose,” she said, “Besides, you are not worthy to touch it; it’s sacrilege.”

Taichi sighed and crossed his arms. “I’m getting really tired of you saying that.”

“It is the truth,” Tatum responded, “You are a plague that must be purged from the Digital World.”

Mimi stared in horror at her younger friend. “Tatum…”

“Silence!” she shouted.

Hikari, meanwhile, was staring at Miayag, specifically, her forehead. She had seen Schmidt’s gun penetrate one side of the Priestess’s head and out the other. Yet, now, she was completely healed. It was impossible, even for a Chosen.

“If you won’t hand the Machina Codex over,” Miayag said, “Then we will have to take it from you!” She raised her staff, which began to glow with the light of a digivice.

Her Witchmon partner floated over to her. “Witchmon evolve to Bastemon!”

Taichi nodded at his small group. “Let’s do it!”

“Agumon X evolve to Greymon X! Greymon X evolve to Metalgreymon X!”

“Palmon X evolve to Togemon X! Togemon X evolve to Lillymon X!”

Plotmon X was waiting for the familiar bust of energy, but when she felt none, she spun to her partner. “Hikari?”

The young woman nodded. “Right…right…”

“Plotmon X evolve to Tailmon X! Tailmon X evolve to Nefertimon X!”

Metalgreymon X charged forward, ready to slam his fists into Mugen Dramon’s snout-face, but the metal monstrosity quickly brought his own hands up to block the assault. The dinosaur pushed forward as hard as he could, pushing with all of his might. The metal dragon did the same, moving forward slowly. Even though he was at his Final Level, Mugen Dramon was not able to easily knock Metalgreymon X, who was at a level lower then his own, to the ground. The two giant behemoths were locked in a power struggle with one another.

Archnemon and Lillymon X, meanwhile, were battling one another with some reluctance on the part of the flower child. She hovered in the air, her leaf-wings buzzing loudly. The spider-digimon skittered along the ground. “Are we going to fight, or are you just going to float there all day?”

“I don’t want to fight you,” Lillymon X said, “Please, I know you only evolved into Archnemon, but you’re the same digimon that was Airdramon. I don’t want to fight you.”

“Too bad!” she laughed. The spider opened her hands and sent out streams of silk threads which wrap around Lillymon X’s foot. She pulled as hard as she could, yanking the flower child into the ground. The spider sent out another stream of thread that covered Lillymon X’s entire body within a cocoon. The flower child struggled, but she was trapped tightly.

Archnemon laughed and leapt on top of her. She began to pound her face with her fists. Lillymon X groaned and moaned with each assault. She struggled to free herself, but her arms were bound tightly to her sides. After much struggling, she was able to slid her hands from her sides to where they met at her stomach. “F…F….Flower Cannon!”

Her hands transformed into a blossoming cannon that blew out the front of the webbed cocoon and sent Archnemon tumbling onto her back. Lillymon X dove at her opponent and began to assault her with her own barrage of punches and jabs.

Nefertimon X was staring down her own opponent, Miayag’s Bastemon. The upright-cat woman licked her lips and mentioned with her long claws. “Come on, what are you waiting for?”

The four-legged cat looked at her partner. “Hikari, are we fighting, or not?”

The young woman glanced over at her teammates. While Metalgreymon X and Mugen Dramon continued to ram into each other with all their might, Taichi and Takashi were shouting threats to one another. Archnemon was firing streams of silk threats at Lillymon X, who simply darted and dodged out of the way, even Mimi was cheering her partner on, while Tatum watched with heated interest. She slowly turned to look at Bastemon’s partner. The High Priestess Miayag was holding her staff tightly as she stared at Hikari. The younger Yagami sibling could only stare at the priestess’s forehead, and the area where there should have been an injury, but was completely healed.

“What happened to your forehead?” she asked, “I saw Schmidt’s gun…”

“The Digital God had brought me back,” she explained, “My divine mission is has not yet been completed.”

The color drained from Hikari’s face. “You…rose from the dead….”

“Hikari?” Nefertimon X asked.

“D…don’t!” she shouted, “Don’t fight them!”

Despite the roar of his curse-filled taunts, Taichi still heard his younger sister. “What?” he shouted, “Hikari?”

“T…taichi,” she said, “She came back to life! W…what if she really is some kind of…of savior…? Taichi, I can’t….”

“Hikari….” he trailed off.

Miayag smiled and waved her staff before her. “I am indeed the savior of the Digital World. I will bring the message of the Digital God to the Chosen Children, and the glory of the First Chosen will be realized once again!”

“And you’ll just destroy everyone who doesn’t believe in what you believe, right?” Taichi spat at her.

“Have you looked at the world today?” Takashi asked, “Hell, that’s been happening throughout history!”

“Is that why you’re doing this?” Mimi asked, turning to Tatum, “Because of what…what everyone else was doing? Didn’t I teach you…”

Tatum pointed a finger at her and screamed, “The only thing you taught me was that as soon as you get a cure, leave everyone else behind!”

Mimi blinked, “W…what are you talking about?”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about! We all get infected, but then you and Michael get cured by the X-Antibody! You promised you would help find a way to cure us, but you left us to die in the Digital World! You are a liar! A damn liar! You made us think that we needed you, well, we don’t need you anymore.”

Mimi placed a hand over her mouth, but tears were beginning to fall from her eyes.

Miayag tapped her staff into the ground. “They are correct. Only my crusade is not one of violence.”

“Then what are you doing here?” Taichi demanded.

She pointed her staff at him. “You took the Machina Codex from us.”

“Are you insane!” he shouted, “You’re endangering thousands of innocent people just because I took your things and you want them back?”

“You are not…”

“Worthy, yeah…yeah, I heard you the first million times…” he muttered.

She looked over at her digimon soldiers, who were still engaging the X-Chosen. Mugen Dramon had managed to overpower Metalgreymon X and push him onto his back. The metal dragon pointed his back-based cannons at the dinosaur’s face. “Prepare to die!” he shouted, “Infinity Cann…”

Metalgreymon opened his chest plates and fired his two giant missiles at Mugen Dramon’s chest. The force of the explosion was not sufficient enough to send him flying into the air, but it did force the Final Level digimon off of the Fully Evolved one.

Lillymon X’s strategy for attacking Archnemon was to stay a safe distance in the air and fly in as fast as she could to strike her with her hands and feet. She had been doing this since freeing herself from Archnemon’s silk cocoon. However, she had gotten careless and came into to attack with her feet too soon after attacking with her hands, and the spider was able to grab her and smash her into the ground.

“You’re soldiers are losing, Yagami,” Miayag said, “Hand over the Machina Codex before you are destroyed and we take the Holy Book from you.”

Taichi was struggling to think of something to say, when he caught a sight out of the corner of his eye. While there had been onlookers, they had fled when the battle began, there was now a middle-aged woman charging towards them at full force…a middle-aged woman that he instantly recognized.

“Mom?” he asked in an awed whisper.

Mrs. Yagami seemed to ignore her two children as she ran to the battlefield. The Digitalatri had taken notice of her, especially Miayag, who’s eyes instantly focused on the book within her arms.

“The Machina Codex!” she shouted. She turned to her partner and waved her arm. “Go!”

Bastemon nodded and leapt into the air, flipping gracefully before landing before Mrs. Yagami. Before the middle-aged woman could react, Bastemon snatched the book and leapt back into the air. She was unaware, however, that when she jumped into the air, her tail struck Mrs. Yagami in the face. The force of the Fully Evolved digimon’s accidentally strike sent the older woman into the side of a building. Her head struck the concrete bricks and her legs turned to rubber. She collapsed onto the ground.

“Mom!” Hikari and Taichi screamed in unison.

“Mom?” Miayag gasped, twirling towards her. As she focused on the unconscious woman, her mind flashed her a vision, a vision of another woman, lying in near death on a poorly mad bed…and the five-year-old girl that could only stare in horror.

“No…” she muttered, “No….”

Bastemon stared in equal horror. “I…I didn’t mean…”

The X-Chosen and their digimon partners had lost interest in the battle with Digitalatri and were now crowding around the fallen Mrs. Yagami.

“What’s going on?” Tatum shouted.

“Nothing,” Miayag answered, “Let’s get out of here while we have the chance.”

Each of their digimon partners regressed to their Child forms, where they were easily concealed as they vanished into the crowd.

Taichi grabbed his mother and shook her as hard as he could. “Mom…Mom!”

“Oh my God,” Mimi gasped, “Oh no…”

“Call an ambulance or something!” he shouted.

Mimi nodded darted for the nearest phone booth, while the Yagami children clutched to their mother. “Mom…” Hikari cried, “Mom….”

----------

Yamato, Michael and Jyou ran as fast as they could through the onlookers of Tokyo’s awe-inspired citizens. “Come on!” Yamato shouted, “Let us through!”

“Excuse me,” Michael said, pushing past a group of women, ”Excuse me, excuse me…” He accidentally knocked into a high school girl, specifically, her rear.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” he said, pushing past her. “Oh man, Mimi’s gonna kill me…”

“It’s not that bad,” Betamon X said, as he ran past the citizen’s legs, “She won’t even know…”

The group eventually drove through the phalanx of people and arrived at the front of the group. Schmidt and Osborn, along with their Fully Evolved digimon partners, Machgaogamon and Lilamon, stood within the cleared intersection. The Tokyo police were standing with rifles drawn and pointed at the invaders.

“I will tell you again!” the lead officer shouted, “Surrender now!”

“We won’t be surrenderin’!” Osborn shouted, “And once we get what we want, we’ll leave.”

Her Lilamon mentioned over Osborn’s shoulder. “They’re here.”

When Schmidt noticed the X-Chosen, he smiled and crossed his arms. “Ah, so some of you have finally showed up.”

“What are you doing here?” Yamato demanded.

The leader of the Chosen Council smiled and bowed. “Please forgive this intrusion. We are here on behalf of the Digital World. Please surrender the Infected Chosen you are harboring, specifically, BB145….”

“Who?” Jyou asked.

“Iduia Ramiro,” Osborn said, “Hand her over now.”

“She’s not going anywhere with you!” Michael shouted, “Not so you can kill her!”

Schmidt kept his composure. “She will not killed, only moved so that we can better cure her…”

“We don’t buy it,” Yamato said, “You’re lying.”

He shrugged. “And I don’t trust you X-Chosen either,” he said, “You’re involved in covert operations against us.”

“What?” Gomamon X exclaimed, “Covert operations? You’re kidding, right?”

“Then why do you stand against us?”

“Because you’re denying basic human rights!” Michael shouted, “Just because someone is sick, doesn’t mean they’re…they’re liabilities for everyone else who isn’t sick!”

“Are you gonna hand her over or not?”

“Whadda ya think?” Gomamon X asked.

Osborn just smirked. “All right. We gave ya a chance.”

“Shall I handle this now?” Lilamon asked.

Osborn nodded. “Go for it.”

Schmidt glanced at his own partner. “Machgaogamon, you know what to do…”

“Yes, Master.”

Yamato nodded at the others. “Go.”

“Gabumon X evolve to Garurumon X! Garurumon X evolve to Weregarurumon X!”

“Gomamon X evolve to Tylomon X! Tylomon X evolve to Anomalocarimon X!”

“Betamon X evolve to Seadramon X! Seadramon X evolve to Megaseadramon X!”

Machgaogamon and Lilamon walked forward. “You know,” Anomalocarimon X said, “I can’t help but noticing that you’re outnumbered.”

Schmidt smiled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He looked to the sky and shouted out, “I think it’s time you showed yourself.”

A moment later a bright blast of blue light exploded a few inches from Schmidt, revealing a figure draped in a light blue cape and cowl, with a demonic beast behind him.

“A Demon Lord?” Jyou asked.

“What’s he doing here?” Megaseadramon X gasped.

“Demon Lord?” Osborn asked, turning to Schmidt. The Security General only waved his hand to silence her.

“In case you forgot, I’m Seiduka,” the Demon Lord said, “I hold the Crest of Wrath.”

“Crest of Wrath?” Jyou asked.

Seiduka mentioned to his partner. “Demon, take whoever you want.”

The demon digimon growled with such rage and horror that the mass of onlookers instantly cleared the streets. Only the police officers and reporters remained, but they stepped back a considerable distance.

Demon leapt forward swinging his fists into Weregarurumon X, sending him onto his back. Anomalocariomon X and Megaseadramon X jumped over to help, but Lilamon kicked into the sea digimon, while Machgaogamon grabbed the serpent’s tail and flung him into the ground.

Lilamon went to attack Anomalocarimon X once again, but the crustacean used his stinger tail to bat the flower woman into one of the traffic lights hanging over the intersection. She executed a perfect back-flip and dove to try her attack again. Anomalocarimon X pointed his pincers at her and fired a pair of twin glowing beams. “Tail Blade!”

The flower fairy was struck in the chest and she hovered back slightly, clutching her breasts. “Ouch! Ouch! Why did you do that?” she cried, “Come on, you’re so strong, you didn’t have to hit me so hard!”

“I’m sorry,” Anomalocarimon X said, “I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you there…!”

Lilamon was still clutching her injured torso as she descended to the ground. The crustacean digimon skittered over. The flower digimon smirked wickedly and twisted her body around, slamming her feet into the sea digimon’s face. Her arms suddenly turned rubbery and she began to assault him with a series of punches. “Beauty Slap!”

Anomalocarimon X struggled to free himself, but he was helpless to the flower woman’s attack technique.

Megaseadramon X shot like a bullet at Machgaogamon, his horn growing sharper and more jagged. “King Javelin!”

The wolf digimon whipped his hands around and grabbed hold of the horn seconds before it would have skewered him. The serpent continued to push forward with all of his might, but Machgaogamon was able to hold him off with remarkable ease. The wolf man threw him into the air and shot at his underside with his fists priming with energy. “Winning Knuckle!”

Megaseadramon X felt the instant pain in his stomach. He curled to help alleviate the pain, but as he did, his head was pointing at Machgaogamon’s back. He was now able to execute his King Javelin’s attack, jamming his horn deep into the wolf’s back. He stumbled forward in pain but managed to spin around, growling deeply.

Weregarurumon X flipped further onto his back and kicked Demon in the chest with all of his might. The demonic digimon stumbled back and the wolf tackled him to the ground. He slammed his face with his clenched fists. He assaulted him again, then again, then again. The demonic digimon swung his arms beneath the wolf and threw him into the air as hard as he could. Demon jumped back onto his feet and shot into the air after Weregarurumon X. He placed both of his palms together and shot out a stream of fire. “Flame Inferno!”

“Weregarurumon!” Yamato shouted, “Get out of the way!”

Even though he was in free-fall, Weregarurumon X was able to twist himself around and fire his own blue stream of energy. “Kaiser Nail!”

The two attacks struck one another, resulting in a massive explosion of fire and light, showering the battlefield.

Yamato placed his hand over his eyes to shield them from the explosion of light. “Damn it!”

“Just give up!” Seiduka shouted, “You’re not gonna beat me!”

Yamato glared at him. His face was the exact duplicate of the deceased Daisuke Motomiya, but he was so full of anger, hate and…

“Wrath,” he said, “You said you have the Crest of Wrath. What do you mean?”

Seiduka smirked. “Fine, listen up, ‘cause I’m not telling you again! The Crest of Wrath was created from you.”

He blinked. “F...from me?”

“That’s right. Remember the Dark Masters, specifically, Pinocchimon and Juriemon?”

Yamato winced at the memory of the cheery-tree digimon. “What about him?”

“You were full of a lot of rage at that point, right? Rage, anger, hate, and Juriemon manipulated you into focusing all that anger and rage at Taichi, right? That was when the Crest of Friendship failed, and the Crest of Wrath was born. That’s right, Yamato, my power comes from you!”

The blond man swallowed a few times, comprehending what was just told to him. “T…then why do you look like Daisuke?”

“You’re not getting that from me yet. Now shut up and watch the fight, your partner’s getting his ass kicked.”

Yamato growled but turned back to the battlefield.

-----------------------

Noriko and Maria had reached Jyou’s apartment in record time, despite the chaos occurring in the streets of the city. “Thank goodness you are all still here,” Maria said.

“So far,” Lynna muttered.

“We…should…be…safe…here…&# 8221; Iduia said.

“But for how long?” Dingo said, pacing the floor, “If that council knew that we were in the city, doncha think they know where we are?”

“I think he’s right,” Noriko’s Plotmon said, “We should get out of here now!”

“I don’t know,” Keeya said, crossing her arms, “Taichi told us to stay here.”

“But Taichi’s not here now,” Lynna said, “And I think they’re gettin’ closer!”

“Let’s just wait a little longer,” Keeya suggested, “Then we’ll move if we need to.”

The others nodded and they turned their attention to the television. Yamato, Michael and Jyou were in the midst of their battle against the Chosen Council. To their surprise, they also saw Seiduka and Demon engaged in a fierce struggle against Yamato and Weregarurumon X. The demonic digimon charged at the wolf and slashed him across his fur-filled chest.

“Oh no!” Noriko gasped, “Weregarurumon. Oh, I hope Yamato’s okay…”

Maria glanced over her shoulder and gave the slightly older young woman a glance, but said nothing.

“What is a Demon Lord doing there?” Keeya’s Mushmon shouted.

“They’re gettin’ killed!” Lynna shouted, “And they’re gettin’ killed because of us!”

Noriko stared at the screen, which was now focusing in on Yamato and Weregarurumon X; the wolf was lying on the ground, gasping for air. “Yamato…”

She turned and began to walk to the door. “Where are you going?” Keeya asked.

“I’m not gonna let them get killed because of me. What about the rest of you?”

---------------------

Yamato, Jyou and Michael were shaking with anticipation as they stared at their digimon partners. Weregarurumon X was once again on his back, helpless and Demon scratched and slashed at him with his long demonic claws, Machgaogamon had used both hands to grab Megaseadramon X and pull on him as hard as possible, while Lilamon was bashing and slapping Anomalocarimon X repeatedly with her hands.

“Megaseadramon!” Michael shouted, “Hang in there!”

“We can end this anytime you want,” Schmidt said, “Just hand over the Infected Chosen that you’re harboring.”

“We’re not handing any of them over!” Yamato shouted, “Weregarurumon, get up and finish this!”

Weregarurumon X struggled to get to his feet, but Demon’s chaotic assault drastically picked up tempo. He began to slash at such an increased rate that he was not able to free himself. Demon grabbed Weregarurumon X and threw him into pavement. Lilamon’s barrage of punches had left Anomalocarimon X’s body so weak that she was easily able to throw him on top of Weregarurumon X. Machgaogamon stretched Megaseadramon X as far as he could, then slammed his knee into the serpent’s body before throwing him into Weregarurumon X and Anomalocarimon X with such force that all three X-digimon regressed to their Child levels.

“Oh crap!” Michael shouted.

Schmidt crossed his arms and stepped forward. “Now,” he said, “Hand them over.”

The three X-Chosen glanced at one another. They nodded slightly and looked back at their enemies. “We’re not doing that,” Yamato said, “You’ll have to kill us first.”

“No! Stop!”

The X-Chosen and the Council twisted their head to the right and saw Noriko and the other young women standing a few feet away. They began to march forward, their eyes focused on Schmidt. “Stop hurting them. We’re giving ourselves up to you.”

“What?” Jyou gasped, “Don’t do it!”

“Iduia,” Michael said, “We’re not out yet, we can still win.”

The Brazilian-BD2-Infected Chosen shook her head. “No…you’re…lying…”

“I still don’t understand what the problem is,” Schmidt said, “We are simply going to give them a number to classify the level of their infection…”

He nodded at Osborn, who pulled out a large notebook, along with the rectangular box that was used on the citizens of the Digital city of New Havenwood. “Step forward!” she ordered.

“Don’t do this!” Yamato shouted. He tried to run forward, but Demon and Machgaogamon shot in front of them.

Osborn began to record the information from the Infected Chosen. “Name and Chosen team?”

Noriko was first. “Kawada, Noriko, Odabia Chosen.”

Osborn recorded the information, then burned the number into the back of her neck. “You’re now JO324. Next.”

“Silvano, Maria. New York Chosen.”

“Your number is NY154. Next.”

“Jeffry, Lynna. Sydney Chosen.”

“Your number is SA230. Next.”

“Geney, Keeya. The Sudan.”

“Your number is AS244.” She looked around, “Where is Anna Danika?”

“We don’t know,” Yamato said, hate and rage dripping from his every word.

“She will be found and marked, make no worry about that!” Schmidt grinned, “Now all those Chosen with Level 2 or 3 infection are free to go for now. However, those with the greatest infection level, Level 1, must come with us now.”

Osborn pointed at two of the young women. “Numbers NY154 and BB145, you’re coming with us now.”

Maria felt her blood turn to ice. “No…”

“Maria, no!” Michael screamed. He ran towards the wheelchair-bound woman, but was thrown back from a light pat by Machgaogamon. He and the others were helpless as Osborn pulled the Latino woman from her chair while Schmidt grabbed Iduia’s arms. Their digimon partners trailed behind in defeat.

“Stop!” Yamato cried in vain.

The Chosen Council leader ignored him as he and Osborn walked over to stand beside Seiduak. The Demon Lord placed his hands on their shoulders, while his Demon partner did the same for Lilamon and Machgaogamon.

Schmidt stared at the X-Chosen. “I would advise you to cease your insurrections against us, or else we will start to use force. Farewell…” He, along with Seiduka, Osborn and their digimon partners vanished in Seiduka’s blue light.

“No!” Yamato shouted, collapsing onto his knees. He began to pound the street with such force that it threaten to shatter the pavement. “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!”

Noriko hesitated a moment before walking over and placing her hands on his shoulders. “Yamato…”

“That’s twice!” he screamed, “Twice I had to watch as someone sacrificed themselves to safe us! Damn it!”

Jyou suddenly became aware that the onlookers were now slowly walking towards them. “Come on, we’d better get out of here before we’re all in jail.”

“Come on,” Noriko whispered in Yamato’s ear. The young man reluctantly rose to his feet. He lifted the injured Gabumon X and began to run after the others. His mind could only think of Maria and Iduia.

“Damn it…”

The Mark has ended, the Book of Famine now begins.

Author’s note: Thank you for your reviews. They are greatly appreciated, and I am truly, truly pleased that you are enjoying this fic.