Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Legacy ❯ Quest: Chapter 1 ( Chapter 7 )

Takato watched as the door open and two creatures walked into the room. His eyes opened wide as he grabbed his deck of cards. He quickly flipped through them until he found the ones he was looking for. "Agumon, and Gatomon? Two digimon!" He glanced at his teacher,"Y...y...you're the Master Digidestined, aren't you?"

Tai nodded. "That's right."

Yamaki glanced around the crime scene: a corner office with a smashed desk an chair inside. The shelf was slashed in half, and the books were scattered around the floor. In the center of the carpet was the familiar police outline. The deceased had been removed, but the evidence of its' remains were still there . "Another murder. What's going on here" He turned to face one of the Hypnos agents. "Who was it this time?"

The agent read from the file in his hands. "Satsuto, Megumi. She was an electrical engineer before being promoted to an executive position.

Skull Satanmon glanced around, then back at Yamaki. "All right, but before I go..." He raised his staff,"Here's something so you'll remember me!" He slammed down on the side of Yamaki's face, no doubt crushing at the least his cheek bone.

The agent with the red cap threw his arm down. "Fire!" The Hypnos army began firing their weapons, but Skull Satanmon shot through the ceiling.

The agent with the red cap charged over to the fallen commander. "Commander Yamaki! Commander!" He knelt down and gasped.All of his training, and it still took everything he had not to lose his lunch. He grabbed his communicator. "This is Agent in Charge Adams, we need a medivac stat! Yamaki is down! I repeat, Yamaki is down!"

As Growlmon and Nefertimon faced the group of evil digimon, Tai grabbed Takato and brought him over to the fallen Rika and Kyuubimon, who had now changed back to Renamon. "Are you all right?" Tai asked.

"I'm fine!" the Digimon Queen snapped. Tai bent down and examined Rika's ankle.

"I think you may have twisted it."

Rika glared at him. "I told you, I'm fine!"

Tai ignored her and turned to Takato. "We'll have to hide somewhere until we can bring her to a hospital. Get the digimon." The Master Digidestined reached down and lifted Rika up in his arms.

"I don't recall asking for your help!" she snapped. She started squirming to break out of his grip.

"And I don't recall asking for your approval!" Tai shouted back, tightening his arms.

Rika glared at his face, then gasped. "Y..you're the Master Digidestined!"

"That's right."

Rika instantly stopped struggling. She not only remembered that technically he was her Master, but also the Mega digimon that was his to command. She went limp in his arms.

"Henry, thank goodness," Takato sighed as he ran over to open the metal gate. The black haired teenager walked in and gasped. The fearsome Digimon Queen was lying on the ground, her ankle wrapped in a red cloth. Even that was not enough to cause him to gasp out, it was the man who was standing over her. "T..the Master Digidestined, I presume?" he asked.

Tai nodded. "Yes, and you're the one that broke into Hypnos with me the other night."

Henry placed his hands together and bowed. "Y..Yes sir!"

"We must!" Hakkado shouted,"Unleash Juggernaut on the city, show those...those infestations, what we humans are capable of! Look at what they did to Yamaki, they knew who he was, what he was in charge of. They're afraid of us, and look what happen! Activate Juggernaut, and we'll win!"

The general took a deep breath, then nodded. He looked up at the two technicians in their elevated chairs. "Commander Riley!"

"Sir?"

"Activate Juggernaut."

Takato grabbed a card out of his modify deck."We have the power to make our digimon stronger, we just have to believe in ourselves, and the power that brought us all here to begin with!" The Tamers watched as the card he held up slowly changed to a blue one.

"It's the blue card!" Henry gasped.

"Alright," Rika nodded,"I'm with you."

Takato was slightly surprised that he was able to make a blue card appear, but he wanted to pretend that he knew what he was doing, especially in front of the Digimon Queen. He slashed the card through his D-Arc. "Digi-modify!"

On the ground, the small triangle in Calamon's head glowed a bright red."Crystal Matrix Activate!"

Up on the roof, Mihiramon watched with wide eyes as Growlmon's data was quickly pulled back into the dinosaur's body. A bolt of energy sent the tiger flying backwards as Growlmon's entire body began to glow. "W...what is happening?"

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION

"Growlmon matrix digivolve to...Wargrowlmon!"

Mihiramon was impressed, but he was not going to let that scare him. He jumped forward, his tail in the air. "Armored Tiger Tail!" Growlmon reached up with one hand and caught it. "What? This can't be! No one beats Mihiramon!"

Wargrowlmon chuckled." Well, it looks like I'm the first! Atomic Blaster!" A red beam fired out of the two gun barrels on Wargrowlmon's chest plate. It slammed into Mihiramon, causing the tiger to cry out in extreme pain.

"I am defeated," he wailed,"But know this, I am only one of the fearsome Devas! The Sovereign wants that journal! Beware, ha!" Wargrowlmon's red beam tore through the Mihiramon, and his data exploded across the city.

Takato growled and showed Mr. Kamiya his fist. "Listen, don't try to talk us out of not fighting anymore, got it? We have the power to protect this city, and we're gonna do it. You're the one that told us we have to believe in something that we're willing to fight for, remember?"

Tai grinned,"Yes, I do now. You made me remember why we were chosen to have digimon partners. I had forgotten what it truly meant to fight for something you believe in." His smile faded,"Tamers, I, the Master Digidestined of Tokyo, must now ask you this, Are you willing to go all the way? Are you willing to fight to your fullest to protect this city, and this world?"

Takato stepped forward. "I think I speak for all of us when I say, yes."

Tai nodded. "Good, training starts tomorrow!"

December 12, 2015

Quest: Chapter 1

Takato was so excited he was not able to fall asleep until well after midnight. As such, he missed his alarm, had to skip breakfast and was now completing the hundred meter dash to school. He was pleasantly surprised when he darted into the classroom seconds before the bell rang,, but his smile faded when he saw that there was an unfamiliar man standing in the front of the room. He slowly sat in his desk, staring at the front of the classroom. Kazu and Kenta soon took their seats next to him. "Hey Chumly!" Kazu cheered,"We've got a substitute, isn't that great?"

Takato's face frowned. "Y..yeah, I guess."

"What's with you, man?" Kazu asked,"I thought you'd love to have a sub!"

"I..ah...I..."

"Don't tell me you miss Mr. Kamiya!" Kazu laughed,"I mean, he is a pretty cool teacher, but, I'm not losing any sleep over it."

"That's not what I'm talking about," Takato said,"Mr. Kamiya is the...ah...."

"He's what?" Kenta asked.

Takato hesitated. "Oh, ah, nothing."

"What?" Kazu asked, smiling,"Is there something going on between you two? Have you been corrupted by him?"

"No!" Takato hissed,"I'm a Tamer, and Mr. Kamiya is the Master Digidestined! He's suppose to start training us later tonight."

Kenta and Kazu looked at each other, then they started laughing. Takato sighed, and lightly rubbed the top of his head. "Yeah, I really didn't think you'd believe me."

Kazu chuckled. "Listen, Chumly, if Mr. Kamiya and you are suppose to be.heh, 'training,' maybe he left you an e-mail or something."

Takato's frown turned into a hopeful grin. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

Kenta and Kazu looked at each other, then started laughing again. Takato gave an annoyed frown. He turned away from his friends and caught Jeri looking at him, a sympathetic smile on her face. Takato returned the smile, then noticed that Kazu and Kenta were staring at him. He turned beat red, then spun back around to the face the front of the classroom. He knew that they were snickering behind his back, but Kazu's idea of checking his e-mail was a good plan, so when his computer period arrived, he quickly check his e-mail before the teacher started the lesson. He smiled when he saw that one was from Mr. Kamiya.

"Takato, Rika, Henry, I have to pick up my daughter from the airport this morning. I should be back in time to start your training later. Meet at the abandoned construction site on the intersection of 23th and 5th in Shinjuku at 5:00. If I'm not there by six, we'll start tomorrow. "

"Daughter?" Takato gasped,"Mr. Kamiya's has a daughter?"

Jeri sat down at the computer next to him. "Hey, where's Miki?" he asked.

"Her father's in the hospital," she shrugged.

Takato just nodded. "Takato, listen, it doesn't matter what Kazu and Kenta think. I know that you're telling the truth." She smiled,"And I also know that you're out there risking your life to save us. You're one of the coolest people I've ever known."

Takato blushed as he slid down into his seat.

Tai and Nami Isage stood firmly in the airport terminal, watching as the passengers filed out from the airplane. The two watched as married couples were reunited, as well as grandparents with grandchildren. Families were becoming completely in front of their eyes. Tai was doing his best to hide his excitement at seeing his daughter again. His companion noticed this.

"Why are you smiling so much?" Nami asked.

Tai tried to force the smile down, but it kept returning. "I'm not smiling."

Nami grinned. "It's okay to be happy to see your daughter again."

Tai shrugged. "Yeah, I'm happy, but I don't think I'm 'jumping-out-of-my-skin' happy..."

Nami turned to face him."You're lying."

Tai sighed. "Yeah, I am." He looked up at the people exciting the plane,"Where is she? She should have been here by now."

Nami place her hand on his shoulder. "Could it be that girl over there jumping in the air and yelling "Daddy?"

Tai quickly looked to where she was pointing. There was a sixteen-year-old girl with long blackish brown hair, wearing a red jacket, a wool skirt, and a red hat jumping up and down and waving her arms. "Daddy! Daddy!"

Tai grinned and charged through the crowd. He nearly tackled the girl to the ground. He hugged her tightly. "Kasumi!" he almost shouted,"You finally made it."

"Yeah," she grinned,"The plan was detained in Hawaii or New Zealand or something. I wasn't really paying attention, but we're finally here!"

"We?" Tai asked.

She mentioned to the large duffel bag on the ground. "Snow Agumon is in here," she whispered,"She's asleep."

Tai just nodded. He suddenly remember Nami. He turned around and saw that she was right behind him. "Kasumi," he said,"This is Nami Isage."

Kasumi grinned and was going to shake the older woman's hand, when she remembered where she was. She quickly withdrew her hand and bowed. "It's, ah, very nice to meet you." She stood back up and smiled when she saw Nami smiling at her.

"It's okay. I know the custom is to shake hands in America," she shrugged slightly.

Tai placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Well, let's get you home."

Rika sighed as she lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling of her room. She glanced at her bandaged ankle. After Takato brought her to the hospital, Tai called Rika's mother. She flipped out, as usual. Why did that stupid super model have to act that way? Why couldn't she just let Rika be who she wanted to be? She closed her eyes and she could hear her now.

"Rika! What were you doing that caused you to twist your ankle?"

"Rika! You shouldn't run around and play like that, you're a girl!

"RIka! You've got to act more ladylike!"

"RIka! Rika! Rika!"

She opened her eyes when she realized that someone else's voice was calling her. "Rika? Can I come in?"

Rika struggled and sat up in her bed. "Yeah, Grandma."

The doors to her room slid open and an elderly woman poked her head in. "Someone's here to see you."

Rika was confused. "Who?"

"The same boy that brought you to the hospital last night."

"Goggle-head?"

The elderly woman frowned. "Rika! That's not nice."

Rika muttered an apology, and her grandmother helped her into the wheelchair outside her room. She pushed her along the floor and into the hallway outside the room. Takato was standing there, leaning against the wall. He nodded. "Hey."

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Didn't you get that e-mail from Mr. Kamiya?"

Rika glanced at her watch. "It's only four thirty?"

Takato shrugged. "Yeah, well, I figure that's it's going to take a little longer since I've got to push you."

"What are you talking about?" Rika gasped,"I don't need your help!"

Her grandmother placed her hand on Rika's shoulder. "I don't know where you two are going, but this young man wants to help you. Why don't you let him?"

Rika frowned and placed her hands in her lap. "All right."

Takato bowed and grabbed the handles behind Rika's chair. He said goodbye to Rika's grandmother, then pushed Rika out the door.

Rika's face was beat red. She hated showing any kind of weakness, and being pushed down the street in a wheelchair by Goggle-head of all people was more then she could bear. The doctor said her ankle should heal in a few days, but she would make sure that Henry was pushing her from now on.

"By the way," Takato asked,"Where's Renamon?"

Rika grinned and pointed up. Takato turned to the building tops and watched as the fox danced across the rooftops. "Where's your partner, Goggle-head?"

"He's at the meeting place already."

"Oh," Rika said,"Hey, listen, just because you're helping me, and we're having this small talk, that doesn't mean we're 'together' and it certainly doesn't mean that I've forgotten what you did to me! Once I get strong enough, I will defeat you."

Takato felt his "Whatever."

Yamaki lifted up his left arm and bent it. He knew it was moving, but he did not feel the same feeling that a normal person would. It was more like a set of numbers were flashing across his brain, sending him the knowledge that his arm was bent, but not the normal sensation of feeling. He sighed as he leaned back against his hospital pillow and stared at the ceiling.

The door opened a second later, "Dad?"

He turned and saw a blue haired teenage girl, wearing a blue jumper standing in the doorway. "Miki?" he gasped. The girl ran into the room, and was soon followed by a red headed woman and the doctor.

"Riley?" he asked, as he was hugged by his daughter.

The red headed woman smiled, uncomfortably. "I thought I should call her."

Yamaki nodded."Thank you."

"Daddy," Miki said, hugging him,"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I was attacked by that digimon, Skull Satanmon."

"Oh jeeze! Are you okay?"

"Actually," the doctor said, stepping forward,"There was extensive damage to your legs, right arm, and the left side of your face. We used the latest in cybernetic technology and research. In addition to still being able to walk, you should now have impressive strength, far above that of Artemis, or even Orion. As an added bonus, you should be able to fly."

He nodded. "Yes, I..I understand, thank you."

"Wow, Dad!" Miki grinned,"You're a cyborg too! That's so cool!" He grinned and lightly rubbed the top of her head. He turned to Riley.

"What happened while I was out?"

Kazu slapped his card down on the pile. "...and I win again! Ha!"

The color from Kenta's face drained,"W..w..what? B..but how? I..Ahh! Kazu, why do you always beat me?"

"Simple," he grinned,"I'm just better then you, that's all."

Kenta sighed as he gathered up his cards. "You're leaving?" Kazu gasped.

"Yeah," he pouted,"I'm gonna lose all my cards at this rate."

"Kenta, wait, come back!" he called, but it was too late, his friend had left. Kazu laid back on the gassy feild,"Now what?"

"Kazu, is that you?"

He sat back up and glanced around the playground of the park. He smiled when a familiar brown haired girl wearing a green jumper walked towards him. "Oh, what's up, Jeri?"

"Oh, nothing," she giggled as she sat down next to him,"I was just looking for Takato. You haven't seen him, have you?"

Kazu shook his head. "I didn't know he was even in the park. Hey, do you want to play Digimon?"

"What?" she gasped,"I..I don't know anything about Digimon! Takato doesn't either!"

Kazu looked at her oddly. "Takato doesn't know how to play Digimon cards?"

"Oh, the cards!" she breathed out quickly,"Yeah, Takato knows about the cards!"

"What about you? Do you want to play?"

"O..oh," she figited,"I..I only have a few cards..."

Kazu grinned, "Great! Let's see them."

Jeri reached into her pocket and pulled out a large stack of cards. Kazu's smile dropped. "What?" the girl asked,"Don't I have enough?"

"I...I," he looked down at the pile in his hands. His dreams of a quick win were fading fast.

"Are those all the cards you have?" she asked curiously.

"No!" he lied,"I..ah..just left the rest at home."

"Well, are we going to play, or what?"

Kazu took a deep breath, and was about to start. Suddenly, they heard a loud rumbling in the bushes around them. "What was that?"

"I don't know."

The two children stared at the moving bushes. A creature unlike anything they had ever seen leapt out at them.

Henry glanced up when he heard the door of the warehouse open. He was ready to grab the digimon and run, but he sighed with relief when he saw Takato walk inside, pushing Rika's wheelchair. Guillmon ran away from playing with Terriermon and almost knocked Henry over. "Takato-mon!"

"Stay back!" Takato shouted.

Henry smiled. "Takato, you look like you're about to jump out of your skin? Why are you smiling so much?"

Rika looked over her shoulder and saw the grin on the boy's face. "Oh great, I've been pushed around by some grinning idiot."

Henry sighed as he looked at the injured red-headed girl. "Rika, at least you're feeling better, huh?"

"Watch it," she growled.

Renamon appeared behind her. "Rika, remember, we are here to learn."

She sighed. "Did Mr. Kamiya get here yet?"

Henry moved aside so the group could see deeper into the warehouse. Seated on a rotted armchair was the Master Digidestined Tai nodded slightly at them. "Now we can begin."

He rose to his feet and walked over to them; Agumon and Gatomon were following him, and a teenage girl and a white covered Agumon. "I'm glad that you're here, but, first things first." He mentioned to the girl,"This is my daughter, Kasumi, and her digimon partner, Snow Agumon."

The teenager bowed slightly, "Hi, it's ah, very nice to meet you."

Snow Agumon bowed as well,"I am pleased to be here."

"Okay," Tai said,"This isn't going to be a walk in the park, you digimon will reach your highest potential, and you may even reach the mega level."

Renamon's eyes opened. "A mega?" she asked, amazed.

"You're going to work like you've never work before," Tai said,"You will become stronger than you ever thought you could."

Takato's eyes opened wide. He whispered to Kasumi. "Is he serious?"

"I don't know," she whispered back,"When I told him that I got a digimon, he wasn't too happy, now he's ready to train me with the rest of you. What did you guys do to him?"

"I didn't do anything..." he protested.

"Mr. Matsuki!" Tai shouted,"Is there a problem?"

Takato quickly straightened. "No sir! I'll get back to work sir!" He looked down, then realized something. "Oh, I'm not in school."

He saw the look the others were giving him. "He's my teacher too."

"Okay," Tai said,"The first thing that we have to do is gauge your strength, your, for lack of a better term, 'power level." He lifted up his digivice. "Takato, you're first."

"Oh, okay. What should I do?"

"You and Guillmon stand right here..good. Now, Guillmon, Agumon is going to bring his strength up to a point where he would be able to evolve to the next level. I want you to try and match it."

Guillmon nodded. "O..Okay, I understand."

Agumon walked over to face Guillmon."Ready Agumon....go!"

Guillmon watched as Agumon's strength suddenly double in power. "Try to match it!" Tai shouted. The red dinosaur nodded, then tried to bring himself to the same way he felt when he digivolved to Growlmon for the first time.

Gatomon jumped onto Tai's shoulder so she could see the readout on his digivice. "Wow," she said,"That's pretty good."

"Okay, that's enough."

Guillmon started panting as Takato patted his head. "Good job, boy."

Tai nodded at Agumon. "Renamon, you're next."

Rika wheeled herself over and she and her partner stood in front of Agumon. Tai pressed a button on the device,"Okay, go!"

Agumon raised his strength again, and Renamon attempted to match it, bringing herself to the energy she felt when she evolved to Kyuubimon. Gatomon gasped as she watched Tai's digivice. "Wow, " the cat said,"She's strong too."

Rika smirked at Takato, who just crossed his arms and gave the Digimon Queen a sour look.

Tai was about to call Henry over, when there was a loud explosion from outside. "What was that?" he shouted.

The group charged outside and saw what appeared to be a giant rooster hovering over the city. It pointed one of his wings at an office building. The Master Digidestined and the Tamers watched in horror as all of the lights in the building went out and a stream of yellow light shot into the rooster. The monster bird grew even bigger!

"What's going on here?" Henry shouted.

"Guys!" Terriermon shouted, holding up a small radio,"Listen to this!"

"...only this morning, when all media stations received a strange warning from a being calling himself Chatsuramon of the Devas. He demanded the location of an Alice McCoy, and promised retaliation if we did not hand her over. It appears that he is now attacking the city, as he promised. A giant rooster is floating above our heads, draining the city's power, a snake is terrorizing the subways and a rat is reeking horror through the parks. Who is this Alice McCoy, and what do these creatures want with..kzzthc...zzzzzzzzzzzz..." Terriermon started smacking the radio, but it was not use, the signal was lost.

"We're under attack!" Takato shouted.

"Okay guys," Tai said,"Takato and Kasumi go to the park, Rika and Henry head to the subway, Gatomon, Agumon and I will take care of the rooster."

"Are you sure?" Henry asked,"That tiger was pretty strong..."

"Of course he can do it!" Rika shouted,"He's the Master Digidestined, he's stronger than all of us put together!"

"I don't know about that," Tai said,"But go, quickly, before they destroy anything else. Good luck."

Yamaki ran into the Hypnos control room, followed closely by his daughter, Miki. Riley was already climbing into her elevated chair, and Taily was lowering hers. "Welcome back, sir."

Yamaki nodded."Glad to be back. How have things been without me?"

"He activated Juggernaunt," Taily said.

"I heard,"Yamaki growled,"And I also understand that the first of these...Devas arrived through the Juggernaunt core?"

"So we believe, sir," Taily said.

"He opened the way for all of them," Riley sighed.

"He's after your job," Taily warned,"The General is still on your side, but Shiru is planning on playing Hakkado into Hypnos Commander."

"As long as I'm still alive, that witch and her pawn aren't going to win this power struggle." He mentioned to the red alert on the dome shaped monitor ceiling. "What's going on?"

Riley started typing on her keyboard. "We have digital signals from the sewers, the park, and there's a signal growing at an incredible rate above us. I think that it is, incredible as it sounds, absorbing electrical energy from the city."

Yamaki sighed. "We'll send Orion and Artemis out, but we won't be able to fight one of the Devas."

"Not to worry sir," Taily said,"We're registering a very powerful signal rushing to engage the flying Deva, I've only seen this signal a few times before. I think it's the Master Digidestined."

Yamaki nodded. "Okay, Orion will go to the swears, and Artemis to the park. This city is ours, and we won't let them take it!"

Calamon hopped down the stairs, humming to himself. He was skipping along the sidewalk when he spotted a staircase leading under the ground. It was a cold winter's day, and, even though he was covered in white fur, he was freezing. He felt heat coming up the tunnel, so he traveled down into a white room with lots of people. He quickly darted under one of the benches and watched as the people walked around. Suddenly, Calamon heard a woman scream, and more people started screaming and running even faster. "What's going on?" he asked. He hovered into the air. "Why are you all running?" he shouted.

"Calamon?"

The small digimon turned around and smiled. "Renamon!" he grinned,"And Terriermon!"

Calamon looked past the two digimon and saw Henry carrying Rika down the stairs, with a pair of crutches in his hands. "Stop struggling!" Henry shouted,"You're going to fall off!"

Rika grumbled as she hoped onto her good foot and leaned against her crutches. "Okay, I don't see the snake anywhere."

Calamon hovered over. "Hi, Rika-Rika!"

"Calamon?!" she gasped,"W..what are you doing here?"

"Having fun," he grinned,"Are you here to have fun too?"

There was a loud grumble from deep in the subway tunnel, and it was growing louder. "I think he's coming," Henry said.

Rika grinned. "Bring it on." The two Tamers and the digimon watched as a massive serpent suddenly appeared out of the tunnel. Rika and Henry nodded at each other. "Digi-modify! Digivolution activate!"

DIGIVOLUTION

"Renamon digivolve to Kyuubimon!"

"Terriermon digivolve to Gargomon!"

As Rika and Henry prepared to battle their opponents, Takato, Kasumi and their digimon were racing towards the park to combat the mouse invader. The Kamiya daughter had always been shy, and she was afraid that it would be a few days before she gathered up enough courage to talk to them. However, she was surprised that she was not engaged in a conversation with Takato, but that she had actually started it.

"...but when he heard that I had received a digimon partner, he was less then thrilled," she sighed,"I'm really surprised that he's actually training me! What happened to him here?"

Takato shrugged. "I didn't know he was so against training us."

Kasumi gasped. "Oh, you mean, you don't know?"

"Know what?"

Kasumi sighed. "I wasn't even born yet, and my mother and step-father never talk about it, but my aunt, my father's younger sister, was killed in the line of duty."

"What?" he gasped.

She nodded. "I guess it was fifteen years ago, which means she was...she was probably as old as we are now. My mother said Dad changed after that, I guess its never an easy thing to get over. Dad swore he wouldn't have any more dead kids. That's why I'm so surprised, he's actually going to let us fight!"

"Wow," Takato said, amazed,"I had no idea."

"Yeah, you know Gatomon?" Takato nodded. "Well, she was Aunt Kari's digimon partner."

"Oh, jeeze," he said, a sick feeling appearing in his stomach,"I..I really had no idea. Wow."

The group suddenly became aware that there was loud screams coming from the park's playground. A second later, a pair of familiar teenagers ran towards them. Takato recognized them instantly,"Kazu? Jeri?"

"Takato?" Kazu gasped, stopping in front of him,"W..what are you doing here?"

"Takato!" Jeri screeched, jumping behind him,"Save me! Save me from that thing! Guillmon, right? Get him, digivolve and get him! What are you waiting for?!"

"Guillmon?" Kazu asked. He suddenly noticed the large red dinosaur and the small white dinosaur in front of him. "T..two digimon? I...I think I'm gonna faint."

The goggle wearing Tamer spun around. "Jeri, what are you talking about?"

She gave another scream and pointed forward. "There!"

Kasumi gasped,"Takato, I think you should see this."

Takato turned back around and he saw what looked like a rat made out of Tinker Toys. This mouse grinned when he saw the two Tamers. "Ahh, you must know where Alice McCoy is."

Takato turned to Kasumi. "Don't look at me," the girl said,"I just got here, remember?"

Takato cleared his throat, then addressed the rat. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Wait," the creature replied,"Goggles, red dinosaur, you're the one that defeated Migiramon!"

"That tiger?" Guillmon asked,"Yeah, so?"

The mouse grinned. "Well, you won't find Khumbiramon so easy to defeat!" He charged forward.

Takato and Kasumi both grabbed cards from their decks. "Digi-modify! Digivolution Activate!"

DIGIVOLUTION

"Guillmon digivolve to Growlmon!"

"Snow Agumon digivolve to Veedramon!"

Kazu stumbled backwards, "I...I don't believe it! They're...real..."

Growlmon and Veedramon jumped forward, but Khumbiramon leapt to the side, causing the two digimon to smash into the sidewalk. The rat twirled around and allowed gravity to pull him towards the ground, both of his metal arms slammed into the backs of the two digimon. They quickly spun and charged forward, but Khumbiramon leapt over their heads. Veedramon quickly spun around and slashed her tail at the rat. It was a success, Khumbiramon was now on his back.

"Way to go!" Kasumi cheered, jumping into the air.

Her digimon lifted the rat over her head and turned to Growlmon. "Do you want a turn?" she asked.

Growlmon held up his arms and two blades folded out of his forearms. "Pitch 'um over!" Veedramon tossed the rat towards her partner. The dinosaur slashed his blades down, but Khumbiramon split into two identical rats!

"What's going on now?" Takato asked.

"Ha!" both Khumbiramons laughed,"Take this! Deva Clone!"

Each of the rats changed into two more, then those four duplicated into eight. The eight, Ultimate level Devas surrounded the two digimon and the four children. Kasumi took a deep breath and turned to Takato. "Any ideas?"

Takato turned to Jeri and Kazu. "Quick, do either of you have a blue card in your decks?"

The two teenagers glanced at each other, then shook their heads."What's a blue card?" Jeri asked.

Takato turned to Kasumi. "Now we're in trouble."

"Ha!" all eight Khubiramons laughed,"You'll never defeate me now! I will avenge Mihiramon, and I will bring Alice McCoy to the Sovereign! Prepare to meet your maker!"

"Halt! I cannot allow an evil creature such as you to have his way with a group of defenders of the good! You will not harm them!"

The Khumbiramons looked around."Who said that?"

A figure suddenly descended into the ring of rat Devas. It appeared to be a large brown colored robot with a submarine hatch on its stomach. It spoke in a male voice, and without any other male or female characteristics, the group assumed its gender to be male. "Who are you?" the Khumbiramons demanded.

"You may call me Guardromon!" it answered,"And I have traveled to this planet to seek my Tamer. However, I will not allow you to hurt these children!"

Kazu watched the mechanical construction with awe and wonder. "Wow," he said to himself,"He would make a pretty cool partner."

The Khumbiramons laughed. "Very well, three or three hundred, you've still got to destroy all of my clones, or I'll keep returning!"

"He's right," Takato said,"Growlmon, Veedramon, Guardromon, you've got to attack all of them, don't give him a chance to re-clone himself."

"You've got it, Takato-mon!" Growlmon said,"Come on, let's go!"

The rats leapt forward and back to attack with such ferocity, that the group was sure they were going to lose. Veedramon grabbed one Khumbiramon by his claw arms and flung him into another one. When both of them hit the ground, Growlmon fired his Pyro Blaster and destroyed them. Another two leapt in to take their place, but Guardromon held up his arms."Guardian Barrage!" A streame of rockets flew from his forearms and down the Khumbiramon's throat. He exploded from the inside.

"That's three down," Growlmon said,"Five to go."

Guardromon fired another missile attack at another clone, shattering him apart. "Make that four to go."

"But I only see three," Veedramon said.

Kazu was watching the battle intensely from behind the digimon. As such, he had a better advantage of sight, and quickly saw the missing Khumbiramon heading towards Guardromon's back.

"Guardromon!" he shouted,"Look out behind you!"

The robot quickly spun around, but it was too late. The Khumbiramon smashed his metal face with its claw. "Guardromon, no!" Kazu shouted. Growlmon and Veedramon started to run over to help him, but the Khumbiramon was much faster, and was all ready in the air, intending to bring his claw in the small break in Guardromon's armor.

Kazu shouted again. "Guardromon!" Suddenly, a bright glowing ball appeared in front of him. He watched as it landed in his arms and changed into a peculiar shaped device. "Hey, this is..this is a digivice." He quickly looked back up and saw the Deva heading closer to Guardromon's helmet. "And I know how to use it!"

He grabbed one of his cards and slide it along the side. "Digi-modify! Energy shield activate!"

A dome of white light suddenly appeared around the fallen Guardromon, flinging the rat off of him and into the ground, where he vanished. The robot jumped back onto his feet and stared at Kazu. "You...you are my Tamer!"

"And you're my partner!" Kazu shouted back,"Now kick some butt!"

The three remaining Khumbiramons launched forward, but they proved no match for the combined power of Guardromon, Veedramon and Growlmon. The rat Deva, at least, was gone.

Tai and Agumon were riding Nefertimon as they headed towards their target; the large rooster was starting to open his mouth as he hovered about a power plant. "We've got to stop him!" Tai shouted,"If he sucks up that energy, he'll put half the city in a black out!"

"Don't worry," Nefertimon grinned,"No one is faster than I am!" She shot forward and was soon at the rooster's side. "Rosetta Stone!" A massive stone tablet exploded from her front paws and crashed into the rooster's head.

The demonic bird spun around and glared at him. "Did you throw that?"

"That's right," Nefertimon said,"What do you think you're doing?"

"I am expanding my power...You are a digidestined?"

"I am the Master Digidestined," Tai answered.

The rooster did not seem to be affected by this. "I am Sinduramon where is Alice McCoy?"

"I don't know, but I was hoping you could tell me why she is so important?"

"The Sovereign wishes her presence, that is all I know or care about."

Tai was going to ask again, but he became aware of a loud noise heading towards them, from both sides. He turned to the right and saw a devil creature with a bone shaped staff, then he looked to the left and saw a familiar looking young woman hovering in the sky. "Artemis?" he gasped.

The Digital Hunter nodded. "Yes, Master Digidestined. Tell me, what is happening here?"

"I am Sinduramon," the rooster said,"I am one of the Devas, here to secure Alice McCoy."

"But that's why we're here!" a voice shouted from below. The group looked down and saw an older teenage man on one of the building roofs. "I am Greg Baker, a Tamer here on behalf of the Dark Master Digidestined. That is my partner, Skull Satanmon."

Artemis shouted at Skull Satanmon. "You're the one who is killing all those people! And you nearly killed my f...nearly killed Yamaki!"

Barker grinned."We are searching for Alice as well." He pointed at Tai,"And we're going to make you tell us where she is!"

Artemis glanced at Tai. "Do you know where the girl is?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't!"

"You're lying!" Skull Satanmon shouted,"And I'm going to make you tell me!" He turned to Sinduramon do you say we team up to take these guys down?"

Sinduramon laughed in a crowing voice,"Yes, I'd enjoy that!"

Tai turned to Artemis. "I know we didn't really get along the last time we met, but since we're both trying to save this girl..."

The Digital Hunter nodded. "Yes, choose your digimon fighter."

"Nefertimon, take us down, then change into Angewomon."

The flying cat hovered to a rooftop. Agumon turned to Tai. "What about me?"

"You lost your ability to evolve into a mega when you gave your powers to Imperial Dramon, remember?" he asked as both of them jumped onto the roof,"Azulongmon gave us the power to go mega, nothing else. I'd prefer to keep my trump card hidden until absolutely necessary."

Agumon sighed, "All right."

Tai held up the pink digivice, and Nefertimon changed back into Gatomon. As the cat fell to the ground, she quickly digivolved to Angewomon, then shot back to hover by Artemis. "Let's go!"

Back in the subway, the snake, Santiramon, was enjoying batting the two digimon around. Kyuubimon launched forward for an attack, but the snake flicked his tail and the fox went sailing backwards, where she crashed into a abandoned ticket booth. Gargomon took notice of what happened to her, so decided to keep his distance. He positioned his feet firmly on the ground and began firing. "Gargo Pellets!"

Santiramon quickly drew backwards and dodged the projectiles. He slithered forward and wrapped his body around the two digimon, squeezing them tightly. both Kyuubimon and Gargomon tried to fight it, but they soon found themselves screaming.

"Gargomon!" Henry shouted.

"Kyuubimon, hang on!" Rika screamed. She grabbed one of her cards and held it between her fingers. "Okay, this one will have to do."

On the sidelines, Calamon's watched with horror as his two friends where being squashed. "Oh, I wish I could help!" he thought. Suddenly, the triangle shaped mark on his head began to glow slightly.

Rika instantly noticed that the card she was holding had changed, it was now completely blue. "The blue card!" she shouted.

"Rika!" Henry gasped,"How..where did that come from?"

Rika grinned,"I don't know, but that snake is about to fry! Digimodify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!"

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION

"Kyuubimon matrix digivolve to Taomon!"

The new Ultimate digimon had enough power to break free of the snake's grip. Gargomon fell to the ground, panting heavily, but Taomon stood her ground, not even flinching.

Santiramon gasped, then grinned. "So, you human digimon do have the power to evolve. Well, it will not do you any good!"

Taomon grinned slightly,"We'll just have to see about that!" She flung backwards and held her long sleeved arms out. "Thousand Spells!" A thousand Japanese characters flew from her sleeves and tore through Santiramon's body. He was injured, but not enough to keep him from attacking. He quickly coiled his body around, then stared at Taomon,"You're finished!"

He shot forward, his fangs dripping with saliva. He was inches from the group, whe he suddenly stop. The group was stunned as the snake fell to the ground, a sword slammed in his back. "Where did that come from?" Henry gasped. Then, to his amazement, the sword flew from the snake's back and was caught by a man wearing a suit of metal armor.

"Orion," Henry growled,"What are you doing here?"

"Saving your lives," he said, placing his sword back into his holder.

"I could have handled him!" Toamon protested.

Orion chuckled,"I wasn't going to take that chance. But, I am impressed with your abilities. Very impressed indeed. I will see you again." He ran up the stairs and was gone.

Angewomon grabbed her scarf and pulled it as tight as she could, to block Skull Satanmon's staff. She kicked him in the stomach and spun around in the air to kick in the face with her other foot. His head twisted around. "How's that?" the angel asked.

Skull Satanmon brought his head back around. He grinned. "I don't know, how's this, doll?"

He slammed his fist into Angewomon's face, twisting her around in the air. The devil slammed his knee into the angel's stomach. Angewomon twirled around again, this time wrapping her scarf around the demon's neck. She growled with anger,"Don't call me doll!"

Artemis swung her daggers into Sinduramon's side, but the rooster swung his clawed foot around and grabbed her arm. He flung her into a building below them, but she twisted around and shot back into the sky. She held her daggers out in front of her, heading straight towards the rooster. Her face was firm and determined as she slammed through Sinduramon's stomach, shattering him apart.

The Digital Hunter turned and faced Skull Satanmon. The demon glanced at his opponents, then at his Tamer. Barker cleared his throat. "You know, perhaps we were a bit hasty in assuming you knew where the McCoy girl is. But make no mistake, we will find her. Skull Satanmon!"

The demon said goodbye, then quickly flew to pick up his Tamer. The two then flew out of sight.

The group met back at the warehouse, Takato and Kasumi had brought Jeri, Kazu and Guardromon with them. The two new teenagers were totally in awe. "I don't believe that my own teacher is the Master Digidestined!" Kazu gasped,"You're like the strongest guy in the entire city!"

Tai smiled slightly,"Just remember that the next time that you don't do your homework."

Kazu gulped, but Jeri was still grinning. "Do you know that Takato almost died trying to save you a few days ago?"

"What?"

Takato quickly placed his palm over Jeri's mouth. "Oh, nothing."

Tai just sighed slightly. "You are going to tell later."

Takato sighed. "Yes, sir."

Rika chuckled. "By the way, Goggle-head, guess who's got a new Ultimate?"

Takato stared at her, then crossed his arms. "Well, that's great for you!"

"Everyone, I need your attention up here!" Tai called,"You've all done very well today, and I am very impressed with all of you." He turned to Takato and Rika,"Espically you two. I expect great things for all of you." He looked at his watch,"Well, we've got a few more hours before it gets dark." He grinned,"Let's get started, shall we?"

Rika turned to Takato. "I wouldn't worry too much about trying to reach the Mega level, Renamon is the only one who is powerful enough to do it." She grinned,"And once she does, I'll be reclaiming my title."

Takato growled at her. "Yeah, well, don't think that I'll give it up that easily. I'm the strongest now, and don't forget it."

Rika stared at him, then smashed her foot into a wooden crate.

to be continued....