Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon: Apocalypse ❯ The Book of Famine: Chapter 2 ( Chapter 13 )

My name is Noriko Kawada, and I used to evil…well, okay, maybe not evil evil, but bad. When I was 9 years old, I was lonely, sickly and depressed, I hated my life, I was jealous of everything and everybody. That’s why I turned to Oikawa and the Dark Seed that he promised me. I thought I would be happy with that kind of power, but I only felt worse. Who knows how deep into self-destruction I would have gone if the Chosen Children of Odaiba hadn’t of saved me. Of course, while I don’t feel lonely and depressed anymore, I do feel sickly, very, very sickly.

I caught BD-2 sometime last year. Hiroshi, Keiko, Takashi and I were investigating the virus in Ylicis on our own since the Odaiba team had pretty much fallen apart at that point and that’s when we think we caught it. We each got the less virulent strain, in fact, it took a few weeks before we even realized it. It wasn’t like the strain that Sora later caught, which ate her foot and eye in less then two days. We just got sicker and sicker, well, I started to lose my skin, which wasn’t that bad compared to the others: Takashi was like me, he only lost a few pieces of skin, Keiko lost her fingers, but Hiroshi…his lungs started to disappear. We all knew that he would be the first to die, but, then they joined Digitalatri, and they were miraculously healed, except for Hiroshi, who lost his ability to talk. I guess the virus was just too deep.

I had a crush on Hiroshi for years, and when we started our training with Taichi, we grew even closer. But I waited too long to tell him, and he fell in love with Keiko. I moved on, but after I came back to live on Earth, I moved in with Yamato. I don’t know where it came from, but one day I suddenly found myself falling in love with him. I even gave him a wolf-shaped medallion to think of me.

Yamato and the others went to see Mina in the Digital World about some kind of weapons that the First Chosen used. While they were there, they were attacked by Asro of the Demon Lords. She grabbed Taichi’s goggles before burring them beneath a destroyed home. The Demon King Cahiti showed the goggles to Sora and Catherine, telling them that Taichi and the others were dead. ----------------------------------- The Book of Famine: Chapter 2 ----------------------------

Sora, Catherine and their partners stared in horror at the broken and bloodied goggles that were lying on the table before them. The Demon King Cahiti crossed his arms and slowly stepped forward. “Those goggles belonged to Taichi Yagami,” he said, “And he was the original leader of the Odaiba Chosen, one might have even said the leader of the entire Chosen population, but that was before the Chosen Council took over. At the end of his life, he was the leader of the X-Chosen.”

Catherine and Floramon glanced over at Sora and Piyomon, who were staring in disbelief at the object on the table. The French woman could see the fear in the redhead’s eyes. “No, Sora, it cannot be true! Don’t believe him!”

The Japanese woman slowly shook her head, never taking her eyes off of the goggles. “S…she’s right…she’s right…” She forced a smile, “Yeah, you almost had me. T…there’s no way that Taichi would die against a loser like you!”

Cahiti chuckled and mentioned to Asro. “My lovely Queen did the job.”

This time the redhead started laughing. “Oh really? Well, now you really blew it! There’s no way she could ever kill Taichi!”

Asro crossed her arms and grinned wickedly. “Oh trust me, he’s dead, I can bring you the head if you’d like….”

Sora glared at her, hate and defiance in her eyes. “I don’t buy it.”

Cahait shrugged. “You will see in time that we speak the truth.” She mentioned to Asro, “Come.”

The two Demon Lords exited the room, closing the door tightly. Sora’s eyes drifted to the goggles once more. She stared at them, long and hard. “It’s not true,” Piyomon said, “It can’t be…”

“But…those are his goggles,” Sora said, “Without a doubt.”

“T…they are?” Catherine asked.

The redhead nodded. “C…Catherine,” she said, “I…I think Taichi’s….”

“Don’t say it!” Floramon shouted, “Don’t!”

Sora continued to stare at the goggles. “Taichi….”

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

In the southern section of the Southern Continent, the city of Namu sat. It was once a city filled with Chosen and digimon, life and commerce. That was before Chosen Council Executive Order #045, the classification and relocation of all Infected Chosen. The city was cleared out, all except for the large mansion that sat at the city’s southern side. It belonged to Mina Aishuwayra, an Indian Chosen. The X-Chosen traveled there to claim two weapons from her that once belonged to the First Chosen. The Demon Queen Asro arrived and a vicious battle ensued, resulting in the destruction of Mina’s house, which toppled and buried the X-Chosen, crushing them to death. Or rather, would have crushed them to death, had Taichi’s partner not been in his Fully Evolved form of Metalgreymon X. The massive dinosaur had effectively shielded the others from the debris.

The dinosaur roared as he punched his metal fist through the debris, throwing wood, concrete and nails in all directions. Beneath him, the X-Chosen and their Child-level X-digimon slowly crawled out of the hole created by the dinosaur. They skidded down the debris pile and landed on the sand-covered ground.

“Is everyone okay?” Jyou asked.

“A little shook up,” Mimi said, dusting off her skirt, “But I think I’m fine.”

The others quickly agreed. Taichi grumbled as he patted his head. “That bitch stole my goggles…”

Hikari turned to him and gasped. “T..taichi, y…you’re bleeding?”

“What?” he asked.

“On your head.”

He ran a hand through his hair, then examined his hand. It had a fair amount of blood trickling down it. “Her nails,” he grumbled, “They were like damn claws! What did she do, file them into razors? Damn it…”

Jyou walked over and examined the top of his head. “You’ll be fine, it’s already starting to heal.”

Taichi rubbed his head again. “Stupid bitch…”

Mimi looked at the destruction before her “Mina’s home…is gone.”

“I hope she got to Earth,” Palmon X said.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Michael said.

“But…” his wife stuttered, “S…so much destruction…is it ever going to end?”

Michael did not respond. He only embraced her and hugged her tightly.

“What do we do now?” Yamato asked.

Taichi held up the Sword of Hidieto. He glanced over at Yamato, who was still holding the Airguns of Lucien. “We’ve got the weapons, now we’ve just got to figure out how to use them, but we’re gonna have to figure out on the way.”

Each one of the X-Chosen and their digimon stared up at him. They were waiting for his orders and leadership. They needed him, now more then ever. After years of being away, he had forgotten how truly important he was to them.

He smiled and chuckled slightly. “All right. According to the Digital World’s news reports, Schmidt’s taken over a couple of cities and made them into his own personal killing grounds.”

“And the Council’s got the Demon Lords to help them,” Agumon X added.

“Right,” Taichi nodded, “Which makes them all the more dangerous. We’ve got to knock them off of their high horses before they kill every Infected Chosen.”

“They’ve got Iduia and Maira too,” Mimi reminded them.

“I know,” Taichi said. He pulled out his cellphone and entered his text-message screen, where he had previously entered a few names, “Okay, the Council’s got Zeradza in the north, Ausata in the south, New Havenwood in the west.”

“Split up?” Yamato asked.

“Yeah,” Taichi said, “But….hold on…I got a text message about an hour ago. Never heard the phone during the fight with Asro…it’s from Yuri!”

“Yuri?” Michael asked, “That’s the guy we tried to help save Nightsun with, right?”

“Yeah,” Taichi nodded, “He’s…he’s in Ylicis with Anna. They escaped from Zeradza, but Karetu is chasing them. And…damn it! Maria’s in Zeradza and they going to exterminate her!”

Mimi gasped and Hikari exclaimed, “No!”

Taichi growled. “Damn them! I’m gonna kick Schmidt’s ass, I seriously am going to kick his ass!”

“Taichi…” Agumon X said.

The young man shook his head. “Right, right…Um...” He glanced over at Yamato, and saw Mimi and Michael standing behind him. “Yamato, you, Mimi and Michael go to Ylicis, Hikari, Jyou, we’re going to Zeradza.”

The others nodded. “Let’s go,” Taichi said.

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

The city of Zeradza was the last city before the great wastelands of the Northern Continent. A few hundred miles to the north, and the effects of the Digital World’s ‘Midnight Sun,” would have been seen. However, at this latitude, the sun should have rose and set at normal times. So it was a tremendous shock to the citizens of the city as dawn never arrived and the sun never rose over the horizon.

The Zeradza citizens, while not nearly as many as New Havenwood, were still not pleased about their city being turned into a Relocation Center for the Chosen Council, but when they became trapped in a never-ending night, they marched to the actual ‘camp’ and demanded answers.

Ivan Kragoff, a representative from the Chosen Council, stood at the metal gates of the camp, along with another figure, who was draped within a purple cloak. “I understand that you are frightened!” Kragoff shouted, “This is not an illusion, the sun has never risen today!”

“Why?” a teenage boy with a black-colored Patamon asked.

“I have been investigating a possible solution,” Kragoff said, “When this…being…appeared to me, giving me a solution.”

“What solution?” a teenage girl asked.

“Allow me to answer that,” the cloaked figure responded, stepping forward. “My name is Shiokuro, and I am the God of Night and Day…”

“God of Night and Day?” one of the males asked.

“That is correct,” he replied, “I am one of the Seven Gods that protect this world.”

“Then why haven’t you shown yourself before!”

“Our world was once enough, but now with Digitilatri and the false god they worship, we must now appear in our full glory.”

A young woman with a Yanmamon as a partner stared at him. “All right, so if we believe you, then why are you here?”

“Because the power I have over night and day has been taken from me, as such, I only have a limited amount to prove to you of my claims…”

Shiokuro then raised his hands to the sky and used the power that he stole from Noriko Kawada to force the darkness to part and allow the sun to pass through in slivers. However, this only lasted for the shortest of moments, and the sky was once again covered with darkness.

The so-called God of Night and Day fell to the ground, panting heavily. “I…I am sorry,” he said, “But my power is still being blocked.”

His explanation was not needed, the entire population could clearly see. They truly believe him and trusted that he was who he claimed to be. “What do you want us to do?” the boy with the black-colored Patamon asked.

“I know of the threat to this world,” he said, “It is the BD-2, it is killing this world. You must…exterminate all Infected Chosen…”

The citizens glanced at one another, then up at the night-colored midday sky. “Then we will,” the boy with the black-colored Patamon said, “We will exterminate them all.”

Kragoff nodded. “Yes, this is why a camp has been set up here, the Gods approached us weeks ago and told us of the threat. This must be done.”

The citizens cheered in agreement. The Chosen Council representative put his hand on Shiokuro’s back and the two slowly marched through the gates, shutting them behind them. Once they were safely in the confines of the building, Shiokuro’s fatigue instantly vanished. “A scene worthy of the greatest actor!” he laughed.

“Yeah,” Kragoff nodded, “Your plan worked great. Now we’ve got the whole city behind us, and they turn a blind eye to the extermination of those pathetic, filthy Infected Chosen!”

Shiokuro chuckled and crossed his arms. “It’s refreshing to hear such anger and hate. Maybe this world does have hope after all.”

“I’m only doing this to serve the greater good,” he said, “I will be known forever after as the man who saved the Northern Continent from the threat of the Infected Chosen!”

“You seek fame.”

“Who doesn’t?”

His partner chuckled again and followed him through a door in the rear of the building which led to the actual camp itself. There were cabin-shaped buildings running along the sides of the electrified fences, but the unwilling occupants of those dwellings were outside in the yard. They each turned to the small balcony where Kragoff and Shiokuro had appeared.

“Attention,” the Council member shouted, “We will begin to further separate you later in the day. Expect the call around 3 or 4. That is all.”

Seated on the ground, leaning back against one of the cabins, was Maria. When Asro had taken her from Earth, she had pulled her out of her wheelchair, and not knowing anyone, indeed, with everyone in the camp having injuries from the BD-2 maybe worse then even Iduia, she was forced to crawl around on her own. Her Patamon was lying in her lap, trying to keep the Latino woman warm in the cold climate.

He looked up at her. “What do you think he was talking about?”

Maria sighed deeply. “They’re going to start to exterminate us.”

“What?” her digimon gasped.

“Yes, I know,” she said, struggling to keep calm.

Her Patamon fluttered into the air. “I can’t believe it, we’re gonna die like this?”

“It’s not the end,” Maria responded, “Taichi will rescue us.”

Patamon sighed. “I hope so."

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

The deception of the Demon Lords was also experienced in Ausata. In that coastal city, the waves of the sea had mysteriously ceased. This affected the currents, which affected the fish and sea life. Being a costal city, their economy was based on fishing and tourism, and with a lack of either, the city had simply stopped.

It did not make matters any better having their city transformed into a Relocation Center by the Chosen Council. However, like the citizens of Zeradza, they were easily fooled by the appearance of Amikyo and Enk of the Demon Lords, posing as the Goddess of Water and the God of Forest respectively. They arrived with Madelyn Frost and Sebastian Peirce of the Chosen Council. They were able to deceive the citizens into believe that the death of their ocean was the result of the Infected Chosen, and that they had to be exterminated. The non-Infected Citizens were fooled, but the Infected Chosen were not, especially Iduia.

She had been sent there after being abducted by Asro, and, even in the sea of Level 1 Infected Chosen, she felt a sick feeling in her stomach to discover that she was still the Chosen with the worst infection of BD-2. While most of the other Level 1 Chosen were missing large portions of their body, Iduia was the only one missing nearly all of her internal organs. Her lungs were deteriorating, her voice box was damaged and her kidneys were all but destroyed. Osborn was correct; she was the sickest out of all of the Infected Chosen.

She lightly fingered the side of her oxygen mask, where it attached to the elastic band that was around her head, the back of which was covered by her hair. She unclasped the edge and slowly opened the mask to reveal her hose and mouth. Once she did, she began to gasp for air and had no choice but to reattach it once more.

Her Kokuwamon turned and gave her a horrified look. “Iduia, what were you…”

“Nothing,” she said through her mechanized voice box, “I….just…nothing….”

Kokuwamon flitted over. “We’ll find a cure, you’ll get better…”

“I…have…heard…that…sa me…thing…for…two…years…”

He sighed. “Yeah, I know it’s bullshit, but, we’ve got to keep positive, right?”

“I…just…get…jealous…someR 30;times…I…mean…every…other…Chosen…isn& #8217;t…as…bad…as…me…”

“I̵ 7;m sorry,” Kokuwamon said, “I just wish I could do something…”

The Brazilian Chosen placed her hand on his back. “You…are…here…with…me…that…isR 30;enough…”

He shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, well, I just hope that someone else gets here soon, before we’re killed along with everyone else.”

Iduia silently agreed.

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

Cahiti, Seiduka and Asro of the Demon Lords sat in their main conference room along with Schmidt and Osborn of the Chosen Council. “Our plan is working perfectly,” Schmidt said, “With your intervention, the citizens of the cities we have commandeered won’t protest our extermination of the Infected Chosen.”

“Yes,” Cahiti said, “Our plan is working perfectly, but now your help once more.”

He raised his eyebrow. “How?”

Seiduka walked over and handed him a manila envelope. Osborn stared at it. “Hey,” she said, “That’s the folder I gave you with the info on Digitalatri!”

“That’s correct,” Cahiti said, “We’ve reviewed it, especially the surveillance.”

“The point is,” Asro said, “We don’t like them being on the Center Island.”

“And why’s that?” Schmidt asked.

“The simplest answer,” the Demon King said, “Is that island does not belong in the hands of that false prophet Miayag.”

“You want to take it?” Osborn asked, “But…it’s covered with Digitalatri!”

“We’re gonna take it,” Seiduka said, “And you’re gonna help.”

“We are?” Schmidt asked.

“Yes,” Cahiti said, “Together we can take that island from their hands and with the center of the Digital World at our command, this world will belong to us!”

Schmidt grinned. “All right, what do you need?”

The Demon King mentioned to the Demon General. “You and Seiduka will plan an assault to take out their armies.”

The Security General of the Chosen Council crossed his arms. “All right, but if I’m going to use Council resources, I want something in return.”

“Like what?”

“What do you want Takenouchi and Rupert for? Why are you holding them here?”

“How dare you!” Seiduka shouted, “That is for us only!”

“Easy,” Cahiti said. He turned to Schmidt. “The reason that we are holding Takenouchi and Rupert is that they are currently holding something that I want.”

“What? You’re not giving me the information I want!”

Seiduka growled, but Cahiti continued to speak, “Takenouchi holds the power of fire, while Rupert holds the power of light. I covet those powers for my own.”

“And what about the others?”

“What others?”

Schmidt mentioned to Osborn, who pulled a PDA out of her pocket. “Lynna Jeffry, Anna Danika, Maria Silvano, Noriko Kawada, Iduia Ramiro, and Keeya Genet? You attacked them.”

He smiled beneath his hood. “Your surveillance is quite exceptional. Yes, each of them contained a certain power that I required. I stole a portion of that power using the Soul Catcher device. Once I have the powers that Takenouchi and Rupert hold, I will have the power to remake this world. Help us, and you will sit at our side…”

The leader of the Chosen Council crossed his arms. “Sounds great to me.”

“Excellent,” Cahiti said, “I knew I made the right choice in approaching you for partnership.” He mentioned to the Demon General, “Now, go with Seiduka and prepare for the assault.”

He and Osborn nodded and they exited the room. Asro turned to Cahiti. “Was that such a good idea? Telling him everything?”

“I had a feeling he would still continue to be with us,” the Demon King chuckled, “As I said before, he truly has a heart of treachery and darkness. With him, he will complete our goals, and transform this world into our own image! We are only false gods in this world, but in our world, we will be true gods! True gods….”

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

When Yamato, Mimi, Michael, and their digimon arrived in Ylicis, they were confronted by silence-deathly silence. The streets were completely deserted, even a pin being dropped on the cracking dirt-covered ground would have resounded like a cannon being shot.

“Where is everyone?” Palmon X asked.

“I don’t understand this,” Yamato said, “Noriko said this city was full of Infected Chosen…”

“Maybe we’re overlooking the obvious,” Betamon X said, “They were probably rounded up by the Chosen Council….”

“Probably,” Michael sighed, shaking his head, “We’ve got to do something about this!”

“We will,” Yamato said, “We’ll take down the Council and their Demon Lords partners! Especially, Seiduka, I’ll tear his head off!”

The others stared at him for a moment, but just shrugged it off. “What about your weapon?” Gabumon X asked.

Yamato pulled the Airgun of Lucien out of its holster and examined it within his hands. “It’s so weird, isn’t it?” he asked, “This weapon was used by someone who fought in this world before we did. And we didn’t have any idea that he even existed until a few days ago. And now I’ve got his weapon. Suddenly, I want to know everything I can about this guy, what kind of person was he? Was he like me? What kind of digimon did he have for a partner?”

“Wow, Yamato,” Mimi said, “Where’s all of this coming from?”

He shrugged as he put the gun back into its holster. “I don’t know…maybe you really do mature as you get older.”

The other chuckled slightly. Yamato began to glance around at the deserted streets. “So, where’s Anna and Yuri?”

“They could be anywhere,” Gabumon X said, “And this city is pretty big…”

“Oh!” Mimi said, hitting her forehead with her palm, “Duh!”

“What?” Palmon X asked.

“We can just send them a text message!” she exclaimed, taking out her pink-colored cell-phone. She quickly entered her message and pressed the send button. A few seconds later her phone emitted a beep and she read the displayed message on the screen. “They’re a few blocks away, but they’re gonna come out to meet us.”

“Cool,” Michael said.

The group followed Mimi as she navigated through the streets. They eventually turned a corner and found two blond-haired young adults walking through the streets. The blond woman had a white bandage around her eyes, and was clutching to the young man’s arms.

“Anna!” Mimi shouted, “Yuri!”

“Mimi?” Anna asked.

“Da,” Yuri said into her ear, “Mimi, Yamato and Michael are here.”

Anna held tightly to Yuri as he walked through the streets. She had lost her walking stick, and since Ylicis was not familiar to her, she was forced to depend on her friends to lead her.

When the BD-2 took her eyes, she was determined not to let it ruin her life. She stayed strong, strengthening her other senses. While in Zeradza and Nightsun, she knew that other Infected Chosen were inspired by her, she helped them not to give up. Yet, since being taken by the Chosen Council for extermination, she had fallen apart. She had lost her strength and determination, and was now a shadow of her former self.

She had her hands tightly wrapped around Yuri’s arm, but flinched slightly when she felt another pair of hands on her shoulder. “It’s just Mimi,” her Penmon said.

“I…I apologize,” Anna said, hanging her head low.

“No, it’s okay,” Mimi said, hugging her, “You’ve been through a lot, I understand that. But we’ll get through this, we will!”

She nodded slightly. “I know, I know, but, it will never be the same again, will it?”

“Probably not,” Michael said, crossing his arms, “This world’s been through hell in the past few years, and it’s only gonna get worse.”

“You’re in a bad mood today,” Betamon X said.

“Yeah, well, after having your friends try to kill you, watching the Digital World turn into a concentration camp, and then having a building dropped on you by a nymphomaniac-doppelganger of one of your friends, you get kind of annoyed.”

The others stared at him with wide eyes. “Wow,” Mimi said, “You’re really getting cranky.”

Yuri placed his hand on Anna’s shoulder. “What now?” he asked, “We need to free Zeradza…”

Yamato shook his head. “Taichi’s going to Zeradza, he can handle it.”

“Then what about us?”

Yamato smiled slightly. “I hope you guys are ready for some sun and water. We’re going to Ausata.”

The Russian man nodded. He turned to the blond young woman. “Ready?”

Anna nodded. “Yes, let’s….Get down, now!”

The others acted on instinct alone as they dove to the ground, narrowly missing a shower of arrows from above. The deadly projectiles whistled through the air and over their head and pierced even the sand-caked ground behind them.

The X-Chosen slowly rose to their feet and began to scan the building tops. There was a young man with a crew cut of blond hair and a pair of black sunglasses on his face. Sanding at his side was a centaur-type creature holding a large bow and arrow.

“Ya missed, Sagittarimon!” the human shouted.

“Sorry,” the digimon responded, “I didn’t know the blind girl could hear so well.”

“Who the hell are you?” Yamato shouted.

“He’s been tracking us!” Yuri exclaimed, “Him and that Demon Lord!”

“Demon Lord?” Mimi asked.

“He’s referrin’ ta me.”

Yamato frowned. “I know that voice…” He turned around to see Karetu and Beelzebumon standing on another building roof. “You…”

“That’s right,” the Demon Hunter said, crossing his arms, “Me and Mr. Sterns over there have gone on quite a chase to find you…” He eyed Anna and Yuri.

“Wait a minute,” Yamato said, “What’s your crest?

He smirked. “The Crest of Gluttony…”

“Gluttony?” he asked.

“That’s right,” he chuckled, “And my crest wasn’t created through a specific event, but from Takeru’s entire life!”

“What?” Yamato gasped.

“Through you’re first adventure, Takeru’s power was the greatest, but during his second adventure, he lost most of that power. So, he craved the might he once had, but he kept those feeelin’s hidden inside him, where they festered and grew until the Crest of Gluttony was created, my crest.”

Sterns of the Chosen Council sighed. “If you don’t mind, we’re in the middle of something! Hand over Infected Chosen Number RM187, right now.”

“If you’re talking about Anna,” Mimi said, “You’re not getting her without a fight!”

“Sound’s great ta me!” Karetu laughed. He and Beelzebumon leapt off of their building roof at the same time Sagittarimon jumped off of his roof with Sterns on his back. The two landed on both sides of the X-Chosen, the demon’s guns pointed at Michael’s head, while the centaur’s bow and arrow was aiming for Mimi’s stomach.

“Tell ya what,” Karetu said, “Why don’t we just kill the X-Chosen and take Danika back with us? I don’t think the bosses’ll have any problem with that.”

Sterns nodded, smiling slightly. “I think you’re right. Let’s kill all of them.”

Yamato turned to his group. “All right. Keep Anna safe in the middle.”

The Chosen nodded and their partners evolved to their highest level” Weregarurumon X, Lillymon X, Megaseadramon X and Kuwagamon X. The wolf digimon and the insect charged at Beelzebumon while the flower child and the sea serpent dove at Sagittarimon.

Beelzebumon grinned as his enemies flew towards him. He grabbed Kuwagamon X with his claw and flung him into Weregarurumon X, causing both of them to tumble along the ground. The wolf growled and leapt back to his feet. He charged at the grinning demon, his claws glistening in the afternoon sun. He slashed at the air, sending a wave of purple energy into Beelzebubmon. “Kaiser Nail!”

The demon digimon chuckled and dropped to his left side, allowing the wolf’s energy wave to shoot right over him. While still lying on the ground he shot around, knocking his feet into Weregarurumon X’s, bringing him to the ground. Before the wolf could react, the demon spun around the other way, knocking his feet once more into him, but this time, sending him into the air. Beelzebumon jumped into the air and bashed his snout with his dark fists.

“Weregarurumon!” Yamato shouted.

Beelzebumon grinned in amusement as he watched Weregarurumon X fall back to the ground. He was unable to fly as well, and so feel to the ground as well. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Kuwagamon X heading towards him at full speed. He waited until the insect was closer before fully spinning around and slashing him with his claws.

Weregarurumon X was back on his feet in moments executed another Kaiser Nail attack to save Kuwagamon X. This one did strike Beelzebumon in the back, twisting him around in the air.

“Ya’ dirty little sneak!” he shouted, “I’m getting’ tired of handlin’ ya with kid gloves! They’re commin’ off now!”

“I think we may have made him mad,” Yuri said.

Yamato growled and looked down at the Arigun of Lucien in his hands. “How am I supposed to use this?!”

Kuwagamon X and Weregarurumon X charged at their enemy, determined not to lose.

Meanwhile, the Chosen Council member Samuel Sterns watched as his Sagittarimon fired a barrage of arrows at Megaseadramon X and Lillymon X. The two digimon darted and dodged the attack, but while Lillymon X was agile as a fairy, Megaseadramon X had a body that was long and twisted, and much more of an easy target. Sagittarimon began to fire arrows after arrows, finally managing to strike the tip of his tail. The quick and sudden attack surprised him and threw him off balance. He twisted to the right, which left him open for another barrage of arrows from the centaur.

“Megaseadramon!” Michael shouted.

“Lillymon!” Mimi shouted, “Help him!”

Her X-digimon partner instantly obeyed and shot over to him. She placed both of her palms together and created a large flower which blossomed into a cannon. She pointed her new weapon at Sagittarimon, but when she tried to fire, Megaseadramon X fluttered into the way. She darted to the side, lined up her shot and fired. “Flower Cannon!”

The centaur turned his head upon hearing Lillymon X calling out her attack. He affixed another arrow and fired it directly at the energy ball. “Judgment Arrow!”

He fired his arrow, which transformed into a three-pronged projectile that shot into the center of Lillymon X’s attack, causing it to explode from the inside out.

“Damn it,” the flower child muttered.

“Nice work,” Sterns chuckled.

“Thanks,” his partner grinned. He affixed another arrow in his quiver and positioned it at the floating Lillymon X. “Judgement Arrow!”

“Get out of the way!” Mimi shouted.

Her X-digimon partner shot further into the sky, but impossibly, Sagittarimon’s arrow twisted direction in mid-air and followed her path. She attempted to dive out of the way, but once again, the arrow followed her, finally striking her in the back. The force of the impact sent her twisting and spinning until she crashed into the ground.

“Oh no!” Mimi gasped.

Sterns chuckled, “Perfect as always, now finish the job!”

Lillymon X struggled to get to her feet, but Sagittarimon pounded his hoof into her chest, trapping her on the ground. He placed another arrow in his quiver and pointed it at her head. “Nothing personal, but I always complete my hunt! Judgment…”

He stopped short when he saw out of the corner of his eye, Megaseadramon X shooting towards him, his horn glowing brightly. “King Javelin!”

The centaur twirled around and held up his quiver in an attempt to block the attack, but to no use, Megaseadramon X simply tore through the bow and struck Sagittarimon in the chest, throwing him onto his back.

“Ah!” Sterns shouted. He turned to Karetu, only to find that the Demon Lord was too busy watching his own partner battling Weregarurumon X and Kuwagamon X.

The wolf and the insect hovered around Beelzebumon, who stood motionless with his arms crossed. The two X-digimon leapt to attack at once, but the demon slipped his hands into his holsters, pulling out his two shotguns. He pointed them at his two attackers and pulled the trigger. “Double Impact!”

A quick assault of bullets flew from his weapons and struck the two X-digimon across their bodies. Kuwagamon X reverted to Kokuwamon X and smashed into the ground. Weregarurumon X was thrown to his knees, but remained in his current form. He clutched his stomach and panted heavily. He managed to lift his head as Beelzebumon marched over and pointed his shotgun at his forehead. “See ya!”

Weregarurumon X batted the shotgun aside and slammed his fist into the demon’s face. Beelzebumon stagger backwards, but grinned as he turned back to face him. “Not bad, I really felt that one. Too bad it was enough! Double Impact!”

This time, the wolf took the shot directly in the chest at point blank range. He instantly reverted to Gabumon X and fell to the ground.

The demon chuckled and twirled his shotguns around in his hand. “All right, time ta finish ya once and for all.”

“Stop!”

The demon turned around and came face-to-face with Lillymon X and Megaseadramon X. “Don’t you take another step, or you’re finish, understand?” the serpent asked.

“Ya really think ya can stop me?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Lillymon X said, “We’ll fight you to the end.”

“Karetu!” Sterns shouted, “Kill them and let’s get going!”

“No!” Anna shouted, pushing through the X-Chosen.

“Anna!” Yuri shouted, “What are you doing?”

“I’m not going to let him kill you,” she said, “I’m giving myself up…”

“No!” Yamato shouted, “Not anymore! No one’s getting hurt to save us!”

Karetu shrugged and crossed his arms. “Ya know what, I really can’t see the harm in letting ya go free anyway.”

“What?” Sterns gasped, “We’re under orders….”

“For what?” Karetu asked, “All this trouble just ta kill a girl in a gas chamber? Let’s just let em’ go, we’ll kill another time.”

“But…we’re under orders….”

“Loosen up,” the Demon Hunter said, “Let ya hair down.”

The Chosen Council member sighed and shook his head. “Whatever…”

Karetu snapped his fingers and he, Sterns and their partners vanished in his trademark yellow light.

“Oh man,” Mimi said, “I can’t believe we got out of that one.”

“Just barely,” Yamato muttered, kneeling down to help Gabumon X to his feet.

Yuri ran over to Anna. “What were you thinking? Don’t ever do anything like that again!”

“I am sorry,” she said, “I…I just could not bare the thought of you being hurt because of me. If anything happened to you…’

“Anna,” he said, “If anything were to happen to you…”

Yamato watched the two young adults embraced one another tightly. For a moment instead of Yuri and Anna he saw himself holding another young woman, one with short brown hair….

“Something wrong?” Gabumon X asked.

“N…no,” he said, shaking his head, “Nothing.”

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

Taichi’s small group cautiously made their way through the city of Zeradza. Due to the near-zero temperature, they were forced into thick wool parkas, which, thankfully, hide their faces. If it had been a more populous city, he would not have been as worried, but Zeradza was a typical calm, quiet northern town. This meant secrecy was of the essence.

“It’s the middle of the day,” Gomamon X said, “Why is it so dark right now?”

“Don’t you remember?” Plotmon X replied, “The sun never rose here for some reason, just like the ocean is moving in the Southern Continent. The Digital World’s just not doing it’s basic….thing.”

“I think this might be classified as a famine,” Jyou said.

“Isn’t that where there’s no food?” Taichi asked.

“Yes,” he said, “But considering the Digital World, like Earth, needs to have the sun rise, it needs the have it’s oceans moving, it’s like the world isn’t getting the food it needs.”

“Why Jyou,” Gomamon X said, “You’re becoming pretty philosophical in your old age.”

He grumbled a response, as they walked through the streets in silence until they arrived at the newly constructed extermination camp. They stood in front of a metal fence and peered inside.

“Hey, Taichi,” Jyou asked, “How exactly are we going to get Maria out of here?”

“I’m not planning on getting Maria out,” he said, “We’re going to get everyone out.”

“Right,” he said, “That’s what I meant. Any ideas?”

He rubbed his chin through the thick wool mittens as he stared at the metal fence. It was a chain length fence, but it was thick metal, topped with wires and sharp points. He followed it around to two guard towers on the left and right. With such a simple outer perimeter, there should have been plenty of guards standing at attention.

“Where is everyone?” Agumon X asked.

Taichi nodded. “Yeah, something’s wrong. Where are all the guards?”

“Maybe they just thought that since all the Infected Digimon can’t evolve past the Child level, they wouldn’t be a threat?” Hikari suggested.

“Or maybe they need to be somewhere else, at another part of the camp?”

“But why?” Jyou asked.

Taichi’s eyes shot open. “Oh shit, you don’t think they’re exterminating them already?”

Hikari gasped. “Maria….!”

Her older brother glanced up at the fences and mentioned with his hands. “All right, we’re jumping over.”

“What?” Jyou gasped, “Taichi, that’s probably an electric fence…”

“I’ve got that covered,” he said. He walked over to one of the buildings where a large metal dumpster was resting. It was empty, which meant that there were not many people living in this area. He positioned himself behind the dumpster and began to push it as hard as he could. It moved fairly easily and picked up speed even in such a short distance. It crashed through the gate’s entrance, granting the X-Chosen access.

Hikari, Jyou, and their partners were in shock as Taichi simply ran through the newly-created opening. “Come on!” he shouted, “Before someone comes over to investigate!”

They ran after him and entered the camp. To their surprise and horror, it was exactly the way they pictured it, rows of wooden cabins, depressed, sickly prisoners, healthy, corrupt guards, and, most sickening to them, a long concrete building running alongside one of the fence, even more sickening, was that standing before the building were dozens of prisoners.

They hid behind the furthest cabin bunker and peered around the edge. Hikari watched in horror as the Infected Chosen were placed a hand over her mouth and turned away. “T…that’s a…a…a…isn’t it?”

“Gas chamber,” Jyou said, nodding slowly, “yeah…”

The digimon looked up at their partners. They had never heard that phrase before, but they could sense that it was bad. “W…what is a gas chamber?” Plotmon X asked.

Hikari took a few deep breaths. “That’s where…they’re going to…k…kill them…” She turned to her brother, “Taichi…what are we waiting for?”

He glanced back at the damaged gate. There were not any guards anywhere to be found. “Why aren’t there any guards around? This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Taichi,” Hikari said, “What about them?” She mentioned to the Infected Chosen.

“I’m trying to make sure we don’t get killed,” he said, “And I’m really worried about why there’s only a handful of guards from the Chosen Council. Why aren’t they worried about security?”

Jyou crossed his arms. “I think Hikari’s right, the prisoners aren’t much of a threat. I mean, their partners can’t evolve even to the Adult level, not to mention that many of the humans are missing the limbs necessary to run.”

“Maybe,” Taichi said, “But something’s still bothering me….”

“Taichi!” Hikari cried.

He sighed and shook his head. “All right, there are five guards, each one partnered to a Yukidarumon.”

“Sounds pretty simple,” Agumon X said.

“Yeah…all right, let’s go.” He reached for his X-digivice, and nodded at Hikari and Jyou, who reached for their own digivices.

The Infected Chosen were not aware that the X-Chosen had come to save them. Each and every one of them was horrified at the sight of the gas chamber that they were being led into, for they knew that once they stepped inside, they would not being stepping out again.

Even more horrifying was the fact that this chamber was about to be used for the first time, and that the chamber was completely full. One of the condemned Chosen was Maria.

She was seated on the floor, with her back against the metal wall. She glanced around at the other Chosen inside the chamber with her. Most were crying, and those that were not, were desperately clawing at the metal doors in a vain attempt to escape. She sighed deeply and turned to the floor.

“This sucks, doesn’t it?” her Patamon asked, “After all this, everything we did, we get killed like this! I can’t believe this is how it ends!”

“Yes, I know,” she responded.

“Why aren’t you freaking out?” he asked.

“Because I have hope,” she said.

“Hope in what?” he shouted, “I think this is it!”

“I mean hope in what will come after this life, I believe that we will be rewarded for our sacrifices and good deeds.”

“You mean…the Digital God?”

She shook her head. “No, I do not know what the God of the Digitalatri truly is, but I do not believe he is the one we will sit in front of and be judged.”

Patamon sighed. “Well, if you believe, then I guess I believe too. If you say so, then that’s good enough for me.”

The screams and cries instantly stopped as a loud, mechanical sound began to whirl throughout the building. Maria clutched Patamon tightly. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

“Likewise,” her partner responded, tears forming in his eyes.

They both closed their eyes and held one another tightly as they awaited the deadly gas to cloud their air. However, after only a few moments, they realized that nothing had happened. She slowly opened her eyes and glanced around. “What happened?”

The reason that she and her fellow Infected Chosen had not been sent to the afterlife was that Metalgreymon X had damaged the pipes connecting the chamber to the smaller building where the gas was stored as he, Nefertimon X and Anomalocarimon X bashed their way through the emptied cabin bunkers.

The five guards of the Chosen Council ordered their Yukidarumons to attack, but they were easily defeated by the X-digimon. Taichi pointed to the gas chamber. “Bust them out!”

“You got it,” Metalgreymon X said, stomping through the snow and used his metal arm to rip the roof off of the chamber. The Infected Chosen inside stared up at him in horror. “Hang on guys,” he said, “I’m here to get you out.”

They were hesitant, but after watching him rip off a section of the wall, they began to stamped through the new opening.

Taichi ran through the crowd of Infected Chosen. “Maria!” he shouted, “Maria!” He ran into the damanged gas chamber. “Maria!”

“Over here, Taichi…”

He strained his eyes and saw the young woman in the corner, crawling towards him. He ran over and lifted her into his arms. Once she was safely in his grasp, he body went nearly limp.

“I knew you’d save me,” she weakly said, her eyes slowly closing.

“Maria!” her partner shouted.

“It’s okay,” he said to the Patamon, “She just fainted.” He mentioned to his back. “Come on, get on.”

Once the small digimon was attached to his shoulder, they ran out of the building and joined the others

“Maria!” Hikari exclaimed, tears starting to form in her eyes, “I’m so glad you’re safe!”

Jyou looked over the Infected Chosen, who were standing in awe before the X-Chosen. “Hey, that actually went pretty well. Now we’ve just got to get them out of here.”

“We’re got a slight problem,” Anomalocarimon X said.

Jyou turned to him and followed his gaze to the gate they had damaged on their way inside, where the entire population of Zeradza was assembling. One of the Chosen, a teenage boy with a black-colored Patamon, stepped forward. “You are freeing those prisoners?”

“They’re not prisoners,” Hikari said.

“They must be exterminated so that the sun will rise again,” he stated.

“Who told you that?” Jyou gasped.

“The God of Night and Day.”

“God of Night and Day?” he repeated,

“He is referring to me.”

The X-Chosen spun around to the tallest building in the camp, where, standing at the base, were a muscular young man with a crew cut of blond hair, a humanoid bird man holding two swords, and a human draped in a purple cloak.

“You’re here?” Taichi gasped, “That’s why there’s no security, huh? Because with someone as powerful as you here, you don’t need it.”

“You catch on quick,” he chuckled, “Allow me to introduce Ivan Kragoff and his partner, Karentmon, they are of the Chosen Council.”

“We kinda figured that,” Anomalocarimon X said.

“I don’t get it,” Taichi said, “Why are the Demon Lords so interested in exterminating Infected Chosen?”

“Demon Lords?” Kragoff asked.

“Demon Lords?” the teenage boy with the black Patamon asked, “You said you were a god…”

“I am a god,” Shiokuro said.

“No he’s not!” Hikari shouted, “Don’t believe him! He’s a Demon Lord! He’s going to take over the entire Digital World!”

“She’s right,” Taichi said, eying him, “Which crest do you have? Huh?”

“My crest is the Crest of Greed,” he replied.

Taichi waited for his further explanation, but when he received none, he cleared his throat. “Um…?”

The Demon Lord smirked. “I’m greed, I’m not giving you anything, including information!” The self-proclaimed God of Night and Day waved his hands in front of his body, “Now, Kragoff, we need to stop the prisoners from escaping. Why don’t we just destroy them now?”

“Sounds good to me,” his Council partner chuckled, “Just give us a moment to vacate the Zeradza citizens…”

“Why wait?” he asked, “Their lives are all pointless anyway.” He threw open his cloak so he could point his right hand to the sky, where it was revealed that he hand a pointed crystals attached to his forearm via a purple strap. He pointed that crystal at the sky, and the sunless sky transformed into a black nightmare.

The Zeradza citizens began to gasp and chatter amongst themselves. “What’s going on?” the boy with the black Patamon asked, “What have you done?”

Shiokuro chuckled. “Guess what?” he said, “What the Yagami-girl said about me…it’s true.”

He suddenly fired a blast of black energy from the crystal. It sliced the boy through the stomach and he fell to the ground, his eyes rolling back in his head.

The Chosen, both Infected and non-Infected, all began to scream as they trampled over one another to escape from the deceptive ‘God of Night and Day.’ Taichi shifted Maria from his back into Hikari’s arms. He mentioned to the fleeing Chosen. “Lead them to safety.”

“But…”

“Go!” he shouted, “We’ll handle this!”

She hesitated a moment, but nodded as she jumped onto her partner’s back. “Nefterimon, let’s go!”

The angelic sphinx hovered into the air and flew to the front of the fleeing mob. “Follow me!” Hikari shouted, “Follow me!”

Taichi ran back over to his fellow X-teammates. “All right Jyou, it’s you and me.”

“No offense, but I’d prefer it if there were more of us.”

“Me too,” he said. He glanced at his partner, “Ready, buddy?”

Metalgreymon X nodded. “You know it.”

“How about you?” Jyou asked his own partner.

“I’m always ready!” Anomalocarimon X said, swinging his claws in front of him in an attempt to appear tougher.

Kragoff crossed his arms and chuckled slightly. “Do you really think you’re going to escape that easily? Karatenmon, go after them.”

The bird-digimon cawed and grabbed his sword. He made a fancy movement with it before darting forward. Metalgreymon swung his claw arm up to strike him from beneath, but the bird digimon used his wings to leap into mid-air, completely missing the assault. However, this left him open for Anomalocarimon X’s attack.

The crustacean placed his claws together and fired out a blast of energy. “Tail Blade!” The energy attack struck the bird man in the back, throwing him off balance. This gave Metalgreymon X another opportunity to attack, this time successfully swatting the bird with his metal arm, crashing him into the ground. He lifted his massive foot and was about to crush the bird, but Karatenmon darted back into the air.

Shiokoru shook his head. “So far, you’re not inspiring me with any confidence.”

Kragoff twirled to face him. “We will not lose.”

The Demon Lord crossed his arms. “I don’t know. Do we have to take care of this?” There was a blast of purple light and Shiokoru’s partner, Barbamon appeared behind him.

“I can handle this!” Kragoff shouted.

Shiokoru glanced at the crystal that was attached to his arm. “This energy is the same energy that gave Ishida the ability to evolve his partner to the Fully Evolved level.”

“Darkness,” Taichi said, “That’s the energy you stole from Noriko!”

“Actually Cahiti stole it, and then he gave it to me, but why play around with semantics? An idea has been forming in my mind, something I want to test. If this energy gave Ishida’s partner the ability to evolve, what would happen if I did…this?!”

With a sudden and quick motion, he shoved the pointed crystal into Kragoff’s stomach. Everyone was silent for a few moments as their eyes were wide with shock and awe. Shiokuro pulled the crystal out and Kragoff’s body began to radiate with black waves.

Karatenmon ceased his battle with Metalgreymon X and flew to his partner. Once he was close enough, a blast of black light shot from Kragoff’s body, merging with the bird man. It pulled the digimon closer to the human until the two were a mess of black energy. A whirlwind of black light enveloped them and once the light exploded, a new, lone figure stood where once there had been two. It was a massive figure, wearing pitch black armor, two sets of yellow metal wings and carrying a black spear.

The Demon Vizer stared in wonder at his new creation. “Ivan, are you in there?”

“Yes,” he responded in a deeper version of Ivan Kragoff’s voice.

“How do you feel?”

“Power,” he responded, “Such…power! The power of darkness!”

Shiokoru laughed. “You wanted fame, you wanted to be remembered forever, and you will be, a force of might, an empire of darkness. I think I shall call you Reichmon.”

“Reichmon,” he growled.

The Demon Lord mentioned to the X-Chosen. “Fame, power, if you truly want these then I can think of one thing that would be no greater claim to fame for a Chosen; bring your master, bring Schmidt, the heads of the X-Chosen!”

“Oh crud,” Jyou sighed, “I had a feeling that was coming.”

Reichmon shot forward in a black blur. Both X-digimon twisted and turned their heads in an attempt to locate him, but as soon as Metalgreymon X looked in the opposite direction, the newly-created digimon appeared behind him and bashed his staff into the back of his head as hard as he could. The dinosaur fell forward, but managed to fix his balance before he crashed into the ground. He spun around, but Reichmon was already gone.

The newly-created digimon darted over to Anomalocarimon X and began to bash him repeatedly with his spear. The crustacean attempted to counter, or at least block, Reichmon’s attacks. He could not execute his Tail Blade attack, as he could not lift his front pincers. He finally shot his sharp blade over top and struck Reichmon in the chest. This threw him off and he would have fell onto his back, if his wings did not lift him higher into the air.

“Take this!” Metalgreymon X shouted, swinging his metal arm at the hovering dark digimon. Reichmon twisted his spear up and blocked the sharp metal claws, inches from his face. They were locked in a power struggle for a full five minutes before Reichmon was able to overpower Metalgreymon X and threw his metal arm higher into the air. The dark digimon shot into the air and punched the dinosaur as hard as he could, sending a shockwave of dark energy into the air.

“Metalgreymon!” Taichi shouted.

The dinosaur stumbled backwards, but twisted his body back forward and slammed his head into Reichmon. The newly-created digimon swung his spear around and slashed a section of orange skin away from his chin. Metalgreymon X shot his hands up and trapped Reichmon within his steel-grip.

“Yes!” Taichi shouted, “Yeah!”

Metalgreymon X chuckled as he squeezed Reichmon even tighter. “Try to escape now…”

Jyou flinched. “I don’t think you should be taunting him…”

His warning came too late as Reichmon pointed his spear at Metalgreymon’s chest and shouted, “Schwarz Lehrsatz!” His spear sudden became a blaze with orange flames. The spear shot from his hand, heading towards the dinosaur.

“Metalgreymon!” Taichi shouted, “Get out of the way!”

The dinosaur darted to the side as fast as he could. Reichmon’s spear pierced his right shoulder, tearing through bone and muscles, emerging from the other side. Metalgreymon X hissed in pain and he was forced to release Reichmon from his grip. The dark digimon darted back as the dinosaur fell to one knee due to the pain from his injury.

Reichmon chuckled and pointed his spear at the dinosaur once more, but stopped when he heard Anomalocarimon X began to shout. “Tail Blade!”

He caught the energy attack sailing towards him out of the corner of his eye. He used his spear to bat the energy blades where they exploded in the snow-covered ground.

“Take this! Trident Arm Version 9.9!”

Reichmon spun around at the sound of Metalgreymon X calling out his attack, but he was not fast enough. The sharp points of the cyber-dinosaur’s claws pierced even Reichmon’s armor.

The dark digimon hovered in the air for a moment, his body shaking and twitching before smashing into the ground. His body glowed with black light for a moment before his data dissolved into the sky.

“Are you alright?” Taichi asked, running over to his partner.

“Taichi!” Jyou shouted, “Look out!”

He spun around just in time to watch as Barbamon appeared before them. With ease he struck Metalgreymon X, regressing him to Agumon X in an instant. The demon leapt into the air, executed a series of flips before crashing on top of Anomalocarimon X, reverting him to his Child form as well.

Taichi and Jyou called out their partners’ names before twirling to face Shiokuro and Barabmon. The Demon Lord was grinning maliciously. “The power of darkness, it is truly incredible!”

He laughed as he looked down at the X-Chosen. “With this power, I can conquer the entire Northern Continent!” He looked at his partner, “Come, Barbamon, let us take what we want, we have the power to do so! We will truly be gods!”

His laugher was still heard long after he and his partner vanished in their familiar burst of purple light.

To be continued…………