Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon Tamers: The Silver Lining ❯ "Soldier of Death" ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: All canon characters and concepts are the property of Bandai, Toei Animation, Akiyoshi Hongo… you know the drill. Everything else is mine.

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Digimon Tamers

The Silver Lining

Chapter 03- "The Soldier of Death"

By Infinity Blade

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"You'll see me in hell?" Muertemon asked. "My, that's rather harsh… really, what do you expect to do to me, Yamaki? Tickle me to death with that gun?"

Yamaki smirked. "Don't be stupid. Everything has a weakness."

"Heh, that may be so…" Muertemon replied. "But the question is if you can find it. Besides that…"

"Yeah, I'd be 'alerting the local authorities," Yamaki said. "However, I'd rather take my chances with them…"

Not wanting to waste another moment, Yamaki aimed for the demon's head and fired. Unfortunately, just as he did so, Muertemon dodged it and flipped over his head. Before Yamaki could react, Muertemon grabbed him by the back of the neck, squeezing tightly.

"Moron," the warrior spat, and black mist swept up around them.

Moments later, a nearby police officer ran into the alley, alerted by the gunshot sound.

Yet when he reached the area, there was nobody there…

***

Takato, Kenta, Culumon, and Guilmon watched as Ruki, Jenrya, and Terriermon approached them. "Takato-kun!" Jenrya started as he neared. "Shuichon's-!"

"Been captured," Takato said, a growl developing in his voice.

Jenrya and Ruki came to a stop. "How did you…" the blue haired boy began.

"Katou-san and Hirokazu are with her," Takato replied, balling his fists up. "He… he taunted me with them…"

"Takato, what are you talking about?" Ruki asked.

"Muertemon," Takato said, and then suddenly broke into a run towards the nearby stairs. "Guilmon, c'mon!!" The red reptile nodded and dashed after his partner. Culumon squealed and floated after them, quickly taking a seat on Guilmon's head.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Kenta cried as Jenrya and Ruki turned to follow the enraged Tamer.

Takato stopped abruptly, but didn't turn around. "Stay here."

"Hey, Katou and Hirokazu are my friends too!" Kenta responded. "You can't just-"

"Stay. Here."

"But," Kenta continued, "I can't just let you guys-"

"You can't do anything to help," Takato muttered.

"But Takato…" Kenta said, his tone making it evident he was surprised at the way his friend was talking, "I-"

"Stay here!" Takato screamed, turning his head around to look at the green haired boy. "I don't want you to get in the way!"

Kenta just appeared to freeze completely, obviously surprised at Takato's actions. Takato just continued down the stairs.

"Listen," Ruki said as Jenrya ran after Takato, "he's right, even if he has a horribly bad way of putting it. You could easily get hurt."

"Y- yeah…" Kenta muttered, "just go… he's right, I'll just get in the way…"

Takato, Jenrya, and Terriermon had been at the bottom of the stairs, awaiting the other Tamer. As Takato heard her footsteps approach, he began speaking again. "What are you waiting for?"

"Takato," Guilmon said before Ruki could speak, "are you alright…?"

Takato shook his head. "Not until I'm sure the others are okay…"

"Anyone ever tell you that you have poor tact, Takato?" Ruki asked coolly.

Takato looked away from her. He seemed almost ashamed of himself now. "I… I just don't want there to be a chance of anyone else being hurt…" He sighed and started to walk. "But come on… We can't waste any time…"

***

"Crap, crap, crap," Impmon growled as he slumped down beside a dumpster, staring at the ground. He had put a fair amount of distance between himself and the construction site, but after seeing that digimon again, he couldn't help but feel nervous. Something about that thing made him uneasy… but he didn't know why. However, it felt like he should know…

This was his second time seeing that creature in one day. That was too much to be coincidence… But it's not like Impmon had been searching for him! Yet he had found him twice without even trying…

"Well now," a strong, female voice said suddenly, "I had been wondering where you were."

Impmon looked up to find a tall, humanoid fox digimon standing right in front of him.

"GYAH!" was about all Impmon could exclaim as his reflexes told him to jump back. Unfortunately, this only made him bang his head on the dumpster. Impmon let out a howl of pain and grabbed the back of his head. "Geez! Don't y'know not to sneak up on people like that?! IT GIVES THEM HEART ATTACKS!"

"Hmph," Renamon replied. "Gratitude is not a trait you show very often, is it, Impmon?"

"Gratitude?!" the small demon shouted, glancing up at her. "What the hell for?!" She remained silent, and he thought back to the last time he had seen the fox…

It was the battle with Indaramon.

Impmon scoffed and turned his head so he didn't have to look at her. "I didn't ask for your help."

"…you're still hurt, I see," Renamon said, not really responding to his comment.

"And what's it to you?"

Renamon went silent again, once more failing to give a proper response. After a moment, Impmon sighed. "Listen, if you're here just to throw that crap back in my face, leave me alone…"

"Impmon…" Renamon started slowly. He faced her again to see that she was now kneeling down, putting them at basically the same level. "I need to know something. Have you by chance seen a creature, most likely a digimon, wearing a black cloak anywhere in the city? He has kidnapped the younger sister of Jenrya, Terriermon's Tamer."

Impmon's mouth opened, but nothing came out. She was the third kid that thing had!

Renamon sighed and started to stand back up. "Nevermind, I'll just-"

"Wait!" Impmon exclaimed suddenly. "W-wait… I… know exactly where that thing took her…" Renamon's eyes widened, and the smaller digimon continued. "The construction site near here. You'll find 'em there… He also has a couple others… that goofy kid with the visor and the girl with the sock puppet…"

Renamon just stared at him for a bit, obviously surprised with him being so forthcoming with such information, and in such a subdued manner. Though she may have also been a bit surprised that this thing had captured even more people the Tamers knew. She then did something that surprised him greatly; she smiled. Only slightly, but it was more than he was used to.

"Thank you, Impmon," she said, but her smile soon faded. "Are you going to be alright?"

Impmon forced a grin. "Heh, oh, I'm fine. Don't tell me you're actually worried."

Renamon stood upright fully and crossed her arms. "I merely thought I owed it to you to ask," she said calmly, and then blinked out of sight.

Once she was gone, Impmon sighed and resumed viewing the concrete beneath him. *Yeah, I'm going to be just fine,* he thought. *Too bad I can't make myself believe that bull.*

***

Unnerving Ruki was an incredibly difficult thing to do. She had faced down countless digimon, rarely batting an eye, no matter how fearsome they may have been. If anything, digimon had more reason to be scared of her than she of them.

However, something felt… wrong all of a sudden. Not just because of Shuichon, Hirokazu, and Juri disappearing… it was something else. Something she couldn't pinpoint… and that fact alone made her feel uneasy.

Her traveling companions weren't really making things any easier. Jenrya's anger seemed barely restrained, and he had been that way since she met up with him that day. The only thing that seemed to be keeping him from blowing up was Terriermon assuring the boy that things would be okay.

Takato, on the other hand, was a completely different story. He was so… quiet. Now, Takato was a quiet boy, but the sense she was getting from him was different from everything she knew about him…

If Guilmon felt something was wrong with his partner, however, he chose not to say anything about it. Instead, he did as Takato requested, trying to find the scent of their missing friends while they traveled through Shinjuku.

Culumon, likewise, was completely quiet, merely riding on Takato's head. He looked to be quiet apprehensive over the prospect of seeing that creature again…

"We're getting nowhere fast," Jenrya said with frustration. "Maybe if we-"

"We shouldn't split up…" Takato muttered.

"Takato, we can all take care of ourselves if we run into anything," Jenrya stated. "All we're doing is walking around in circles, and we have no idea if we're even close to finding them or not. There's no way that we can possibly search this entire city in just one group."

Takato stopped and stared at the ground. "I… felt that monster, Muertemon… I felt what kind of power he had… I felt so many horrible things just as he spoke to me… None of us can fight that thing alone…"

"Of course," Terriermon said, "we can't fight him if we can't find him…"

"Which shouldn't be a problem," a voice suddenly spoke as Renamon appeared in the middle of the group. None of them acted surprised by her appearance, as they were all pretty used to her teleportation by now.

"You mean you found them??" Guilmon asked hopefully.

She gave a small nod in reply.

"Alright!" Jenrya exclaimed. "Lets get going!"

"You guys do realize," Ruki finally spoke up, "that we're very likely running right into a trap, don't you?"

Takato nodded slowly. "Yeah… but do we have much of a choice?"

As everyone already knew the answer to that question, they traveled the rest of the way silently with Renamon leading them.

***

One of the foremost things in Hirokazu's mind right now is that he almost wished he never had even heard the word "digimon" in his life. The boy had been brought back to consciousness by the very loud sound of a little girl crying. It was then he discovered himself, Juri, and said little girl tied to poles, and that they were being watched over by what appeared to be the Grim Reaper. Of course, there was also the fact that Leomon was being tortured by floating skulls that shot laser beams out of their eyes. And the blonde man that was there for some reason, lying on the floor next to the Reaper unconscious.

Hirokazu looked over to Juri, who was keeping her head bowed and her eyes shut so she didn't have to look at Leomon. Of course, his screams could still be heard. This was definitely getting to her, as Hirokazu could see tears seeping out from beneath her eyelids.

The younger girl continued having the only natural reaction to this situation for one her age. She seemed quite scared out of her mind, and was still bawling.

Hirokazu's eyes darted back to their cloaked captor. "You're a sick freak, you know that, right?"

The Grim Reaper-wannabe cackled and began to stride over to the boy. "Why, thank you. Glad to see that you're awake now… but please, call me Muertemon."

"What the hell do you want with us?!" Hirokazu shouted back at him.

"Oh, simply to reduce your mental state to a quivering mess," Muertemon stated gleefully. "As you can see, this was quite easy for your friends, and made getting what I need from their minds quite easy…"

Hirokazu considered his words as Muertemon neared him, and then smirked. "Somehow, I don't think you're gonna get me to cry, buddy."

The demon chuckled lightly. "Maybe. But there are other ways to get what is needed…"

He suddenly shot out a hand and grabbed Hirokazu by his brown hair, and then proceeded to slam his head into the pole behind him. As Hirokazu screamed in pain, Juri and the young girl both looked over in their direction.

"Hirokazu-kun!" Juri shouted.

"I'd like to say this is going to hurt me more than it would you," Muertemon said, pulling his other fist back. "But I'd be lying, because this is going to hurt you like hell!"

***

The Digimon Tamers had arrived at the location that Renamon said had been specified by Impmon. Upon their first look at the place, it was quite obvious that the information was correct… It was a construction site covered in what looked to be an extremely twisted version of a Digital Field. Rather than thick, gray fog, it was surrounded by streaking black and red energy. It covered the area in such a way that it was made difficult to tell that it even was a construction site for a few minutes.

Just looking at it was starting to make them all sick to their stomachs.

"Well, there's no doubt about it," Jenrya said. "This is the place…"

Renamon's eyes narrowed. "Indeed, but when I checked on it before after getting the information from Impmon, the barrier was not as… intense as this. I could actually see your sister and friends then, as well…"

Ruki bent down, scooping a rock into her hand. She tossed it up and down for a moment, looking at the distance between them and the barrier, and then tossed it across the way with all her might. Upon nearing the barrier, power streaked out and blew the rocked into dust.

Culumon shrieked, falling off of Takato's head and into Ruki's arms.

"Weird," Terriermon muttered. "Why would he practically invite us here through Takato, but make it so hard to get to him?"

"Either he's hoping we'll rush blindly in and get ourselves killed," Jenrya replied, "or he wants to make it seem too easy, and thus make it seem more like a trap so we may not expect something else right after we get past it..."

"Even though it is a trap, obviously," Takato sighed, stuffing a hand into his pocket and retrieving a card. "Well guys?"

Jenrya nodded and pulled out the same card. "Ready when you are."

Ruki looked down at the frightened Culumon, sighed, and placed the little digimon on her head. She then pulled out a card herself and nodded. "Right. Lets give this a shot."

"CARD SLASH! SUPER EVOLUTION PLUG-IN S!"

"Terriermon, evolve! GALGOMON!"

"Renamon, evolve! KYUUBIMON!"

"Guilmon, evolve! GROWMON!!"

The three Adult digimon stepped up in front of their Tamers.

"I really do hate rushing into things like this with no idea what I'm getting into," Kyuubimon muttered.

Galgomon smirked. "Yeah, I'm sure you do."

Kyuubimon shot him a glare, but Growmon just snarled.

"It doesn't matter… he has our friends…"

The other two digimon nodded in reply and readied their attacks.

"DEMON FIREBALL!"

"GATLING ARM!"

"EXHAUST FLAME!!"

The three attacks flew out in unison and moved so fast that the barrier didn't have the time to defend itself. With surprising ease, the barrage of fire and bullets punched through the barrier, leaving a rather wide hole in it.

"Oh yeah, this is way too easy," Ruki grumbled.

The others nodded in agreement, but nonetheless, all dashed for the newly formed entrance. Energy streaked out from the remaining parts of the barrier, but they were easily deflected by the digimon's attacks. Upon coming through the entrance, however, it immediately closed up behind them.

Galgomon looked back and sighed. "Yep…"

"Trap," Jenrya finished for him.

The Tamers barely had the chance to register the state of their friends before them, or even Leomon, before a bolt of energy for everyone but Culumon came down and struck them. As Culumon was tossed away due to the force of the blow, the others found themselves forced to the ground and stuck there as the energy continued to pulse down, holding them in place.

"JEN-NIICHAN!"

"Takato-kun! Ruki-chan!"

The Tamers strained to look up, taking in the situation in front of them. Though they could see that Juri and Shuichon were, physically, fine, their attention focused on Hirokazu, who Muertemon was standing by. The brown-haired boy was bleeding from both his mouth and the top of his head, and looked as if he had just suffered a rather nasty beating. Then there was also Leomon, hanging in the air and bleeding from several places.

Jenrya tried to get up, but was forced down even harder by the energy. He screamed as he hit the ground and Muertemon laughed.

"Might not want to do that, buddy," the demon said, "unless you want to shatter every bone in your body."

"…bastard…" Jenrya growled, but could barely get it out due to the extra force being placed upon his body.

"Now then," Muertemon said, reaching up to lower his hood. As he pulled it down, they all finally got a good look at his face; it was little more than a skull with two red, jewel-like eyes. Despite having a skull for a face, with no skin or muscles, he could still somehow express emotions, as his grin suddenly became a frown. "You know what? You guys really disappointed me. I never thought it would be this easy…"

He bowed his head and sighed, seeming almost genuinely sad about this fact for a moment… before his smile returned and he clapped his hands together. "Oh well! All's well that ends well, right?"

Takato stared at him with an immensely hateful look. "What-"

"-do I want with you," Muertemon finished for him. "Man, if I had loaded an Ultimate digimon every time I've been asked that lately, I wouldn't even need to do this…"

The cloaked digimon then strolled past someone the Tamers hadn't noticed before; a certain blonde man that they definitely recognized, who was lying unconscious on the floor.

"You're… really pushing your luck…"

Muertemon paused and looked down at the man. "Ah, Yamaki… took you long enough to wake up."

Yamaki groaned as he started to get up. He then froze in shock as he saw the situation around him, and the state of the children and digimon. "You're sick…"

"Says the man who wants to commit a mass genocide upon my race," Muertemon said, "now that, my friend, is sick."

Yamaki growled as he got back to his feet. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but if you think you can get me to allow you access to Shaggai after seeing this, you're nuts."

Muertemon chuckled. "Oh, I don't need your cooperation, it just would have made things easier on you." That said, he raised a hand and a black wave of energy suddenly washed over Yamaki, knocking him back and to the ground. As the man hit the ground and cried out in pain, the demon digimon continued. "All I need is for you to be alive."

He looked over to Hirokazu, Juri, and Shuichon. "Of course, as I am done with these guys, they're an entirely different matter…"

"Leave them alone!" Ruki screamed.

"Shui… chon…" Jenrya gasped, now barely able to breath.

Muertemon shook his head and held out a hand. Black mist shot out of his palm and formed into a solid object; a giant scythe. "I'm sorry, I can't quite do that. You see, I have what I need from them. If I were to allow them to live any longer, I could very well be put at a disadvantage… but don't worry, you'll be soon enough." He glanced over at Culumon cowering in a corner. "It was also so nice of you to bring me a present, too…"

"Don't you dare touch them…" Takato hissed. "Or… or else…"

"'Or else', what?" Muertemon questioned, and then eyed the injured Hirokazu. "Might as well take care of the dead weight first… …heh, heh. Dead weight…"

Takato stared at Hirokazu, then Juri and Shuichon… Leomon… the other Tamers, the digimon… even Yamaki… "Don't… you can't… I'll… I'll… NO!!"

With Takato's scream, power burst from his Digivice and started to flow around his body. Muertemon looked at him, but seeing as nothing else was happening other than that, started to dismiss it…

Until he saw Growmon's body also take on a glow… It covered his body for a moment before flowing straight to his eyes. His golden eyes quickly became little more than flaming orbs in his head and he released a mighty roar, rising up against the power keeping him down.

"You won't… hurt them…" Growmon snarled, and suddenly leaping to his feet. The energy wave restraining him was suddenly obliterated by the power radiating from him, much to Muertemon's surprise. The power from Takato's body released itself immediately afterwards, destroying what was holding him as well.

The demon dragon hunched over and bared his fangs. "I won't let you…"

Muertemon, and most everyone else, for that matter, just stared at the Tamer and digimon. After a moment, Muertemon chuckled and turned to face them. "Of course, this works too…"

Takato rose to his feet, his Digivice still blazing red. His face held a look of intense anger, something which looked completely unnatural on this usually kind-hearted boy.

"What in the world…" Ruki gasped.

"Takato-kun…?" Juri mumbled, wide-eyed.

"What the hell…?" Yamaki muttered as he lay on the floor, clutching his side.

"Growmon," Takato commanded, gripping his Digivice tightly. "DESTROY HIM!"

The dragon roared and rushed towards his opponent. Muertemon's amused expression didn't change, even with Growmon moving at such an incredible speed. Once the Adult reached him, Muertemon barely dodged away as Growmon sent his claw streaking down for him.

Missing him, Growmon buried his claw in the ground. The demon warrior took this opportunity and leapt up, kicking his foe in the head. As Growmon stumbled back, Takato did the same, holding the side of his head. His other hand, however, he swiped through the air, an action which Growmon followed.

Muertemon let out a howl of pain as Growmon's claw struck him in the back and slammed him into the ground. Not wasting any time, Growmon then unleashed a massive wave of fire from his mouth.

Muertemon looked up to see the flames coming for him. "Day of The Dead!" he cried, and the circle of skulls quickly formed into a makeshift shield before him. The shield deflected the flames, and the demon grinned. "FIRE!"

Beams launched from each of the skulls and blew through the fire, striking Growmon in the chest. This sent him flying over Muertemon's captives and into several steel girders. As this happened, Takato fell back and hit the concrete hard.

"Well then," Muertemon said, waving a hand and commanding the skulls to vanish. "Where was I…"

The demon trailed off as he saw that Shuichon was no longer tied to her pole. A quick look around found the young girl instead hiding behind it. The source of this was easily found, as he saw Culumon trying to untie Juri's bonds.

"That little bastard's smarter than I thought," Muertemon growled, "but it won't make a difference."

"CARD SLASH! WHITE WINGS!"

Muertemon's head jerked up and he found Growmon shooting up into the air. The demon dragon then dropped down, kicking Muertemon away from his captive friends.

The demonic warrior flew back, but landed on his feet, barely keeping his balance. Growmon didn't seem ready to give him time to recover, though, as he snapped the blade on his right arm out and channeled power into it.

"PLASMA BLADE!" Takato and Growmon screamed in unison, and the dragon unleashed an unnaturally large wave of energy from the blade.

Muertemon barely reacted in time and flipped over the energy blade. He laughed once he hit the ground. "Hah! You missed!"

Growmon, however, just grinned. His eyes lost their glow, although he retained a feral look. Muertemon didn't quite understand what had just happened until he looked behind him.

The energy blade crashed through the power restraining the other Tamers and their partners, freeing all four of them. Muertemon gawked at the sight briefly before slapping his head. "Shit…"

Growmon looked to see his friends getting away, with Juri basically being forced to drag Hirokazu along. Seeing that they were safe, for the moment, he looked straight up. "EXHAUST FLAME!"

A mighty wave of flame scorched through the air until it collided with the top of the energy field surrounding them. For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, with the sound of a large pane of glass shattering, the entire field collapsed and vanished, as did the things within the field created by the same power. The poles that had once held Hirokazu, Juri, and Shuichon blew apart, and with nothing holding him up, Leomon's body dropped to the ground. Upon seeing the lion man fall, Juri immediately started heading in his direction.

Muertemon cursed softly as he watched the children escape. He wanted so badly to finish his job here and now… but doing so at this point wouldn't be easy. "I must say, you're smarter than you look," the warrior said, glaring at Growmon, "or act…"

"Hey, don't forget about us!" Galgomon shouted from behind the scythe-wielding digimon.

"Oh, yay!" Muertemon mock-cheered. "Well. Guess the rest of this plan is screwed."

The cloaked demon slammed his scythe's pole into the ground with great force that sent him flying into the air. Taking aim at Juri, Hirokazu, Shuichon, and Culumon as they made their way to Leomon, his scythe's blade became pitch black. "DARK EXECUTION!" A black wave of force that took the form of multiple blades with varying size went flying in their direction.

Growmon's eyes went wide and without a moment's hesitation he flung himself in the path of the attack. As it struck him, his and Takato's united scream filled the air. The boy was tossed back, barely caught by Jenrya. The digimon, on the other hand, was not as lucky as he was pounded into the ground, crushing the earth below him. As the dust cleared, they could see Guilmon, rather than Growmon, lying in the dirt unconscious.

Muertemon snarled in frustration as gravity took over and his metal boots slammed into the ground. "Damned idiots always have to play the hero…"

"DUM DUM UPPER!"

Muertemon turned on his heel and brought up his scythe, barely blocking Galgomon's charged punch with it. The demon warrior kicked up, drilling his foot into the furry digimon's chest. Galgomon's attack immediately cut off as he found himself rocketing upwards. Muertemon followed him up and smacked the Adult with the flat of his scythe's blade.

Galgomon's body slammed into the ground with great force. Jenrya, who was busy holding up Takato, suddenly cringed and nearly lost his grip on the other boy. "Jen?" Ruki asked, glancing over at him.

"I'm… fine," he said in a strained voice. He then looked back to Takato, who was now all of a sudden shivering. "Takato…?"

Takato held his eyes shut tightly for a few moments, and then relaxed and let out a long breath. It was just then that they realized he hadn't been breathing for a few seconds. "That… guy… he's not normal… not at all…"

Muertemon swept his cloak back around him as he watched Galgomon try to painfully get back up. "Don't even bother… I am a Perfect Level, and one of the highest ranking and most loyal soldiers to the great Lord Asmodeusmon. You can't even hope to compare if you're just going to fight like this…"

"Lord… Asmodeusmon…?" Galgomon muttered, and then slumped down, glowing and devolving to Terriermon.

"Card Slash! Meramon!"

"FOX FLAME DRAGON!"

Muertemon looked behind himself and grinned, seeing Kyuubimon's attack now forming into a red-hot stream of flame. "Yes now… come on… DAY OF THE DEAD!"

The skulls flew out around the flame dragon, and each fired a beam at one specific spot. Seconds later, a scream came from it and the dragon vanished. Kyuubimon appeared in its place and fell over, while Ruki gasped and dropped to one knee, clutching her chest.

"Well, well, well…" Muertemon said happily as he strolled over to her. "What have we here? If it isn't little Renamon…"

Kyuubimon stared at him as he approached, and attempted to get back to her feet. He just laughed and smacked her leg out from under her with his scythe's pole. "What? Don't you recognize me?"

The gaze she gave him was like ice. "I think I would remember something as ugly as that face."

"Aww, I'm hurt. Really, I am… but I've certainly remembered you, naïve little fox…"

Her eyes widened with realization and he smiled darkly, squatting down to put the two of them nearly at eye level. "You… how…"

"Oh, it wasn't that hard," Muertemon said. "All I had to do was… find the right employer. But why should we talk about me? You're so much more interesting…" He grabbed her face roughly and lifted it up. "You were so strong back then, Renamon, even only at your Child Level. Not just in your physical strength and abilities, either, but your character… such a loner. With such a swift, merciless way toward your enemies… But now… what the hell happened to you?"

Muertemon looked over at the Tamers; specifically, Ruki. "To associate with a human such as you do… to be led around by a 'Tamer' like her little pet, listening to her bark orders at you… You may have great power in battle, but that is not your power. You are merely fooling yourself if you think so…"

"You're wrong," Kyuubimon snarled. "That power is our power. I am not Ruki's pet. I am her-"

"Friend? Don't make me laugh… but do you want to know why I came here to do this?"

"Not particularly."

"You," he said gleefully, squeezing her face so hard he threatened to crush it. "To… repay you. To finish what we never did in the past…"

Kyuubimon's expression didn't flinch. "And what about you? You said that your power came from your 'employer'… so how does that make you any better than me? If anything, you're as much of a sniveling little cowards as your ever were, kidnapping inoccent children that have no place in this whole mess!"

"Heh, maybe you're right," Muertemon said, releasing her and standing up. "Of course, I never said I was better than you… no, I never said that… But my dear, do me one favor…" His face turned dead serious.

"Do not question things that you have no comprehension of!!" he cried, slamming his metal-clad foot into her gut and sending her sliding across the ground. "You have no clue what you have gotten involved in… you've only signed your death warrant… where is the peace in your soul now?!"

"Kyuubimon!" Ruki shouted. "What on Earth is he talking about?!"

"Yes, Kyuubimon!" Muertemon mocked in a high-pitched voice. "What is he talking about?!"

With Muertemon's attention now focused on Kyuubimon, he seemed to momentarily be forgetting about his former captives. They were now by Leomon, who was completely still aside from his breathing.

"Leomon…" Juri murmured.

"…looking at him, I suddenly think I should be feeling fresh as a daisy…" Hirokazu groaned.

"Hirokazu-kun!" Juri exclaimed, shooting him a look. "You're awake… thank goodness…"

He nodded weakly and pushed himself away from her. "Thanks…"

An explosion erupted behind them and they looked to see Kyuubimon flying into the air. Shuichon squealed and suddenly clung to Juri. The older girl looked down to see her trembling with her eyes shut tightly. "Hirokazu-kun…" she mumbled, "can you walk?"

Hirokazu blinked, and then tried to stand up. He succeeded, although he wavered a bit and almost looked like he was about to fall over. "Uh… yeah. Why?"

"Get her over to the others, and out of here if you can," Juri stated, still staring down at the younger child. "She's… just a little kid, she shouldn't have to see all of this…"

"…and you?"

Juri looked at Leomon. "I can't just leave him alone…"

"…got it," Hirokazu said after a moment and kneeled down next to them. Juri could tell he was pained to do this, but he did it regardless. He took Shuichon's arm gently and tugged her away from Juri. "C'mon kid."

"But-" Shuichon began, sniffling.

"Just c'mon," he said, pulling her along as he broke into an unsteady run towards Jenrya and Ruki.

"Culu!" Culumon exclaimed, floating up onto Juri's head.

Juri looked up at him. "You're staying?"

Culumon nodded. "Of course, culu!"

As fate would have it, though, Muertemon chose then to spin around and notice the fleeing humans. "Hey, who wants to take bets on whether or not I can hit a moving target?!"

Juri's expression hardened. "No!"

Muertemon paused and looked at her. "Excuse me?"

The brown-haired girl stood up. "Don't hurt them…"

"Oh, really, and what are you going to do to stop me?"

"You…" her voice started to tremble, but her expression didn't change, "can take me…"

"Katou-san!" Takato exclaimed, but Jenrya and Ruki both clamped hands on his shoulders to keep him from doing anything stupid. They all looked to their partners, but none of them looked in any condition to do anything.

"Culumon," she said, "just go…"

The small digimon just shook his head silently.

If she kept Muertemon distracted for just a few moments longer, there could be a chance for one of the digimon to recover and make sure that no one else was hurt…

Muertemon eyed her. "Well… can't say I'm too picky. And I'll just take out your lion friend while I'm at it…"

Juri's eyes widened and looked down at Leomon. "No… wait…"

"Then I'd suggest you move out of the way, little lady," Muertemon beamed and dashed towards her.

Juri continued to look at Leomon, and then back to Muertemon, her expression more determined. "No, you won't…"

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice!" Muertemon cried, raising his scythe above his head as he neared her.

Juri closed her eyes, bracing herself for what was to come… but it never did, as the sound of a gunshot was heard and Muertemon fell back, clutching his right eye. Everyone followed the sound of the gunshot and saw Yamaki kneeling on the ground with his firearm raised.

"Everything has a weak spot… Just have to know… where to aim…" he grinned before slumping back to the ground.

Muertemon removed his hand, revealing his jeweled eye to be shattered. "Asshole… I'm going to slit your throat when I'm done with you!"

Juri's breathing became frantic as she saw Muertemon turn back to her. "Now, kid… lets finish this."

Those words had barely left his mouth before something leapt out from behind Juri and tackled Muertemon to the ground.

It was Leomon.

Battered, bloodied, and bruised, it appeared he had regained consciousness without the others noticing. As he pinned the surprised Muertemon down, Leomon looked back at Juri. "RUN!"

Juri stood there, looking dumbstruck, until she shook her head. "No… I won't just leave you behind…"

"Katou, come on!" Hirokazu shouted, as he and Shuichon had momentarily stopped their retreat. "Leomon can take care of himself!"

"Get… the hell… OFF!" Muertemon screamed, kicking Leomon away from him.

"Leomon!" Juri shouted, running over to the lion as he landed.

Muertemon snarled as he scrambled to his feet, raising his curved blade. "Will both of you just freaking die already?! DARK EXECUTION!"

"Look out, culu!" the little creature on Juri's head cried. Juri turned just in time to see the dark blades rushing for her. Before she even had the chance to scream, a bright light suddenly appeared before her, and the blades vanished into nothing.

"What the-?!" Muertemon howled.

The light formed into a small orb and floated down to Juri's hand, then forming into a small, silver and yellow device. Light from the device washed over Juri and Leomon, and as it faded, the lion man's injuries were completely gone.

Leomon pushed himself up with one large arm and looked over his body. "How…?"

"She has a Digivice…?" Jenrya questioned, his mouth hanging open.

"Katou-san's a Tamer?!" Takato exclaimed.

"I- I- I-" Juri stammered, not being able to form many words at the moment.

Ruki just grinned, pulling out a card from her pouch. "Alright… Kyuubimon!"

The nine-tailed fox hefted herself up, now having had the time to recover some. "Right!"

"Lets-" Ruki began, but paused as she saw the card glow blue. Her grin widened. "GO! Card Slash! MATRIX EVOLUTION!"

Golden light illuminated from Kyuubimon's form. "Kyuubimon, EVOLVE!" Her body became humanoid and was draped in white robes and a pair of purple pants. A yin-yang symbol appeared on her chest, and she dropped down, her deadly gaze directed right for Muertemon. "TAOMON!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Taomon lunged forward, drawing out a large comb from one of her long sleeves. She swung it at her foe, but he blocked with his blade.

"That's an… interesting weapon you have there, my dear," Muertemon said, obviously having to keep himself from laughing.

Taomon just glared and vanished into thin air. Due to now being totally blind in his right eye, he wasn't able to defend himself as Taomon's foot smashed into that side of his face. As he stumbled, she disarmed him of his scythe with her comb. The weapon vanished as soon as it left his grip, and she pulled the comb back into her sleeve.

"Now, lets finish this," she growled, rising into the air and drawing a large brush out of her other sleeve. With it, she wrote glowing blue a symbol into the air. "BUDDHIST BRUSH BRANDISH!"

The symbol shot out and plastered itself on Muertemon's chest. The demon warrior screamed at the top of his lungs, dropping to the ground and clutching his chest. "Damn you… Renamon… you'll regret this… If it's the last thing I do, you'll regret this!!"

And as they saw the data of his body begin to break up, Muertemon vanished from their sight, leaving only a bit of black mist where he once was.

Everyone just stared for a long moment, before a smile appeared on Jenrya's face. "Ruki… you beat him…"

"JEN-NIICHAN!" Shuichon cried, nearly knocking her brother over as she ran over and hugged him tightly.

"Shuichon…" he muttered, and then dropped down to his knees, hugging her back. "Shuichon… I'm so glad you're alright. I was so worried about you…"

"Whoa there!" Ruki shouted, barely catching Hirokazu as he started to fall over. "Geez. What did that freak do to you?"

"Hit me in the head a few times," Hirokazu replied. "…I think it was a few times. I sorta blacked out pretty quickly…"

"Maybe we should get you to a hospital," Takato suggested.

"Nah, I'm fine," Hirokazu said. "Explaining it to Mom and Dad's gonna be hard though…"

Takato sighed and stared out over the area. Juri and Leomon both still seemed quite shocked in regards to the appearance of her Digivice. Guilmon and Terriermon were both back on their feet now, and walking over to their Tamers. However, someone was missing… "Hey, guys… where did-" he took a second to remember the name Muertemon had mentioned, "-Yamaki go?"

Ruki blinked and looked around. "Huh… beats me. He didn't vanish with Muertemon…"

"Never would have expected him to help, though," Jenrya said.

Takato nodded silently. He had saved Juri's life…

The goggle boy shivered slightly as a cold wind blew through. He could still remember what it felt like when Growmon had been hit with Muertemon's attack… and he knew, as did the others, that he was far from finished with them…

***

In a dark alley, Muertemon was kneeling down for a glowing figure before him. "Thank you, my lord, for saving me."

The figure waved a hand. "I could not afford for my most loyal servant to die, after all. Although influence on that world is limited, and it took a lot out of me to rescue you from death… You cannot expect me to do it again anytime soon. You'll have to be careful."

He nodded. "Sire, I am afraid I was not able to kill any of them," Muertemon said in a resigned tone.

"I am aware of this."

His master's tone was unreadable. "I apologize greatly for this," the warrior stated, "but I am sure you are aware by now that I drew what you needed from Shiota, Katou, and the young Lee's minds…"

The figure nodded. "However, little Juri has bonded with Leomon, giving us yet another foe…"

Muertemon cringed visibly. "I am sorry, sir." He then grinned. "However, there is a failsafe already prepared for our dear little friend."

"Ah, so you bonded that with her…"

Muertemon nodded again. "She was too concerned with Leomon's safety to notice it when it happened. Sadly, time did not permit it the chance to rise up and latch onto Shiota and young Lee…"

"It is no matter," his master replied, "what is done is done… You have served me well, Muertemon, and you achieved your primary objective. Now, however, you must plan to complete the task… Makino, Matsuda, and the elder Lee's power must be accessed."

"Of course, Master."

"I am prepared to send any back-up you may need, as they are proving to be more formidable at this point than even I suspected…"

"But Master," Muertemon said, "you cannot risk alerting the Holy Beasts or Devas to your presence yet. If you do…"

His master chuckled. "Of course. Of course… One, then. I will send one when the time is needed…" He paused. "Oh, and I apologize for your eye. I am afraid I cannot repair it properly…"

Muertemon shook his head. "It is no matter, sir. I will manage, and take this injury proudly as part of my service to you… and I will pay that filthy human back dearly, once I am finished with him…"

His master nodded. "Good. Now rest, Muertemon… you only have a little work left to do."

With that, the glowing image vanished.

"Of course, Lord Asmodeusmon."

***

Ootori Reika sat on the couch in her living room, staring blankly at the television. If asked later what she had been watching, she wouldn't be able to answer, as her mind was elsewhere…

*Mitsuo couldn't have killed those people,* Reika said. *Not in the way that's being suggested, anyway… maybe in self defense… but…*

Reika knew Yamaki to be many things, but he wasn't a murderer…

…was he? Reika suddenly covered her ears as she recalled the screams of the digimon being dragged into the Shaggai Hole, though she knew it wouldn't block the sound coming from her mind… Those screams still haunted her… the thought of their bodies destroyed…

Killed.

Shaggai was Yamaki's creation. It was his desire to rid this world of these creatures that posed such a danger to it…

There was only one way that Yamaki saw to accomplish this.

Kill them.

Reika shivered. Could he truly be capable of killing other humans in cold blood, though? It just didn't seem possible to her… She had known Yamaki for a long time now…

*I love him,* she thought to herself. *Even if it's something we've kept from our coworkers…although I barely ever even sleep in my own apartment anymore…*

She thought she knew him, but as she thought back to everything that she had seen recently… the madness he had displayed at times… the cold, calculating way he planned to eradicate all of the digimon's lives…

A soft knock at the door suddenly tore her from her thoughts and caused he to leap into the air. She put a hand to her chest and took a few seconds to get her breathing under control, and then got up.

But what she saw there was the last thing she had expected.

"Mi- Mitsuo!" she gasped in a small voice.

"Hi…" he greeted in a pained voice, and then promptly collapsed inside her apartment.

-End Chapter 03

---

Revision Notes: This chapter completes the revision of the original SL Chapter 2. I basically changed… well, everything. Plot gets to the same points; Impmon informs the Tamers of where the captives are, Juri & Leomon are bonded, Taomon beats Muertemon, and Mitsuo shows up on Reika's doorstep. No plot changes yet, but they're coming up soon.

Other Notes: Hey, don't you just love school? Finishing up my last year of high school stuff has put a bit of a damper on how much I've been writing. So, sorry about that. Things are lightening up now, so I'm going to try my best to write more.

Not much else to really say, so I won't ramble needlessly this time.

Constructive criticism is accepted and encouraged, flames will be mocked. Y'know, the usual.

Next: Chapter 04- "Beasts"