Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Legacy ❯ Quest: Chapter 2 ( Chapter 8 )

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."

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?"

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!"

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.

December 18, 2015

Quest:

Chapter 2:

The dog Deva, Chatsuramon, appeared on the morning news again. "Attention citizens of Tokyo, by now you know who I am. Nevertheless, I am Chatsuramon, a messenger from the Sovereign of the Digital World. Hand over Alice McCoy now! Do not hide her, she is not worth the destruction of this city. You have disregarded by warning for far too long! A group of my fellow Devas are descending towards the city as we speak! If you do not hand Alice McCoy over before eight o'clock this evening, you will have a much more powerful threat to deal with. This is your last chance, hand over Alice McCoy and hand over the Catalyst now!"

This message was seen on all of the televisions in the city, including the small portable one being held by a human monkey while he rode atop a thirty foot flying dragon. "That fool!" the monkey growled,"He would announce our presence to the entire world to find a helpless little girl! He would destroy the city along with the girl!" The monkey stood up,"I, Makuramon, will find Alice McCoy and will deliver her to the Sovereign! Come Migiramon."

The dragon launched off of the building's roof and too to the sky.

Down below, a blond teenage girl wearing an odd black dress ran down the sidewalk. She quickly dove into an alley and hid behind a large green dumpster. She sat down and brought her legs to her chest. She burred her face in her knees and started to sob. "Oh, what's going on? Why are those..those monsters after me? I didn't do anything to them! Why is this happening to me?"

She took a few deep breaths, her tears dripping onto her black tights. "I can't even go back home, they're waiting for me there! This isn't fair! I don't believe this! This can't be happening!"

She heard a loud noise boom from the street and quickly shot her head to the alley's entrance, a fire engine rolled by. She took a deep breath, then got to her feet. "I've got to keep moving. I can't be captured. I don't know what they want me for, but it can't be good."

She took a deep breath, then Alice McCoy ran out of the alley.

Rika frowned as she leaned back in the cushy chair of the waiting room, her injured ankle was resting on a pile of magazines on the small table in front of her. She glanced down at the outfit her mother had forced her into, a short sleeve pink and white dress that she was sure Little Bo Peep wore. Her frown turned into a growl when she spied her mother talking to her agent or photographer or something, she never really paid attention.

Her mother was so busy talking to the man, that she did not even notice Rika's disapproval. "I'm so grateful that you agreed to this camera test for my little Rika. I'm telling you, she's the girl next door, well, that is if you live next to a gas station." She chuckled slightly.

"That's no problem, Rumiko. I'd be happy to do a favor for the most beautiful model in the city."

The blond woman smiled,"Well, that goes without saying." She sighed. "I apologize for her ankle, it seems she hurt it doing something or other."

"No that's fine," the man smiled,"It'll be perfect, we need to add more diversity in our models, and with her on her crutches, she'll look just perfect!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Rika finally snapped. She jumped onto her feet, and winced slightly at the pain she felt in her inured ankle. "I'm not going to be some pin-up in some teenage boy locker! This whole thing is stupid, and frankly, I'd rather eat worms! And this dress itches!"

"That is a designer dress, young lady!" Rumiko snapped,"and frankly, you are acting like a baby!"

Mother and daughter stared at each other for a few minutes before the man stepped between them. "Now now," he chuckled slightly. He addressed the teenager,"Now Rika, I'm sure that with your good looks you must be the most popular kid in your class, and if not, they're all jealous!"

Rika smiled slightly. "Well, of course they're jealous of me, I am the best after all."

The man returned the smile, then handed Rika a pair of crutches that matched her dress. "Now come on, why don't you just give it a try?"

Rika smiled and she took the crutches. "There's your pretty smile," the man said, leading her into the studio.

While Rika was at her photo shoot, the rest of the Tamers were at school, enjoying their lunch period. Tai had left Miss Isage in charge of the class room, and, despite the fact that she was only a student teacher, the class remained under control. Takato, Kazu and Jeri were trying to convince Miki and Kenta of their experiences with the Digital World.

"I'm telling you man!" Kazu said,"Takato and I are Tamers! We're not kidding!"

"Yeah right," Kenta snorted,"Takato and Kazu are just trying to fool me, that do it all the time, but I didn't think you would do something like that, Jeri."

"But they are telling the truth!" the brunette sighed,"We're not making it up!"

"You guys are just trying to fool us!" Miki protested,"Why would Digimon choose you two losers as partners?"

"Hey!" Takato snapped,"If you don't believe us, then why don't you come with us when we train later?"

"Sorry," Miki said,"I've got too much work to do."

"Well, if she won't go, then I will," Kenta said."

"You will?"

"That's right. You're going to prove this to me!"

The classroom door opened and Tai walked inside. "Mr. Matsuki," he called, passing Takato's desk,"I need to speak with you."

The young Tamer ignored the laughs that Kenta and Kazu were giving him, and he followed Tai into the hall again. "Yes, sir?"

"Rika left me an e-mail. She's at a photo shoot with her mother. She wants us to pick her up before we head over to the training site."

"Photo shoot?" Takato asked, confused.

Tai sighed. "Yeah, you know, what models do?"

Takato could not help but laugh. "Rika's a model? Ha!"

"That's enough," Tai snapped,"She's your team mate, and you need to treat her with respect, understand?"

Takato gulped. "Yes sir," he sighed.

Rika limped out of the building rather then use the crutches that the stupid photographer had given her. She had never felt so humiliated in all of her life. She hoped those pictures never came out.

"Rika!" her mother called, running through the doors after her,"Rika, come back here this instant!"

Rika stopped in front of the building, staring at the street. "I'm not going back in there Mother!"

"Rika Nonaka!" Rumiko stared, but stopped when she saw a group of teenagers walking down the sidewalk. She was going to wait until they passed, but she was surprised when they stopped next to Rika. They must be the friends Rika was going to spend the afternoon with.

"Rika?" Takato gasped,"Is that you?"

The Digimon Queen began to turn red with embarrassment. "Stop laughing, it isn't funny!"

Jeri was the only one that was not laughing. "Rika, I like your dress."

"You would," she mumbled.

"Rika!" Rumiko snapped, running over to her,"Be polite!"

The group of Tamers all stared at the older woman. Rika sighed,"Guys, this is my mother."

"Rumiko Makino, pleasure to met you," she bowed.

"Wow!" Kazu gasped,"Rumiko Makino!"

Rika's mother smiled slightly."Oh, you've heard of me?"

"Yeah!" Kazu exclaimed. "I've got a few of your magazines under my..ah..never mind."

"Kazu!" Takato snapped. He looked Rika over. "What are you suppose to be, Little Bo Peep?"

"Takato, that wasn't nice!" Jeri said,"I brought some spare clothes Rika, if you want to change into them."

Rika stared at Jeri's face, and could not help but smile back. "No, that's okay. I've got some spare clothes inside."

"Well come on then," Rumiko said, grabbing Rika's hand,"Let's get you changed."

Rika was shocked as her mother lead her back inside,"Mom, are you okay? You're actually not going to put up a fuss about me going?"

"Well, the photo shoot is over, and besides, its nice to see you making friends."

"Friends?" the Digimon Queen thought,"A..are they my friends? I..I don't need any friends, I'm just in this for the training that's all! I don't need or want friends....do I?"

"But, Yamaki," Hakkado protested, as he followed the Hypnos commander into the conference room," Surely these Devas are far more dangerous than a young man and a digimon. They're ready to destroy this entire city, simply to get their hands on a girl."

"That Barker and his Skull Satanmon were eager to acquire McCoy as well," Yamaki pointed out.

"But he has not destroyed large sections of this city! That rooster was ready to plunge this city into a blackout!"

"Skull Satanmon has been responsible for every murder committed thus far, including this one!" Yamaki slammed a folder into Hakkado's hands. The other man began reading.

"Henderson, Saffron..American?"

"British."

"Ah, Henderson, Saffron, 47, Chief Executive of Production at...Sony? Well, they certain are moving up in the world, but what does the Master Digidestined want with all these deaths?"

"That brings up another point," Yamaki said,"Artemis said that Barker was ready to kill both her and the Master Digidestined. Why would one of his own Tamers do that?"

Hakkado thought for a moment. "Maybe he was disappointed with him?"

Yamaki ignored him. "Barker called himself a 'Dark Tamer.' Could that possibly mean that there is a Dark Master Digidestined? Have we..have we spent all this time, trying to apprehended an ally?"

Hakkado was about to protest, but Yamaki cut him off. "Henderson's death makes four. One more and, as Ice Devimon put it, 'Armageddon begins.'

The intercom on the wall beeped. "Yamaki here, what is it?"

"Sir, Dr. Wong is here to see you."

"Send him in." The Hypnos Commander faced Hakkado,"We will have to continue this later."

"Right," he frowned, then exited. A second later, a man with a tint of blue hair and glasses appeared.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Wong, I presume?" Yamaki asked.

The older man nodded,"Yes, who are you?"

"I am Commander Mitso Yamaki, welcome to Hypnos."

"What is this place?"

"This is entire para-military organization was created to fix the mistakes that you and your fellow Monster Makers unleashed upon the world."

Wong was shocked. "What are you talking about?"

"Your 'digimon' have evolved."

"What?"

Yamaki quickly gave Wong a brief history of what had already occurred. After he was done, Wong felt his knees go weak, and he had to sit down. "By now you've heard of the reports on the morning news?" Yamaki asked.

"Yes," Wong said,"But I had no idea it was my fault."

"It may not entirely be your cause," he said,"It seems that the Digimon have an omnipotent master, they call it 'Sovereign.' He is the one who is to blame for everything that has happened thus far. But tell me, Rob McCoy was a fellow Monster Maker, wasn't he?"

Wong nodded. "Yes, we called him Dolphin."

"Tell me, is there any reason that the Digimon would be after his granddaughter?"

Wong stared him straight in the eyes. "Alice McCoy is Dolphin's granddaughter?"

The Hypnos commander frowned. "I see, you didn't even know he had one, did you?"

"No..."

Yamaki frowned. "Both the Devas and these..Dark Tamers want Alice McCoy, we must find out why."

The two men suddenly heard Riley's voice over the loud speaker in the room. "Yamaki, we're registering a massive bio-merg!"

"Massive?"

"Yes, sir. Something larger than anything we have ever seen before!"

"I'm on my way!" Yamaki cried. He turned to Wong. "Do you want to join me?"

Wong hesitated, the nodded. "Sure."

Inside of the abandoned building on the intersection of 23th and 5th in Shinjuku, Tai's training continued. The Tamers were balancing on one leg atop tall ladders, arranged in two lines down the floor's center. Tai paced the floor between the two lines. "Keep it up you guys, you're doing great."

"Mr. Kamiya!" Kazu whined as he struggled to keep from falling off of the ladder,"Why do we have to do this?"

Tai stopped in the center and crossed his arms. He glanced at Takato, Kasumi and Henry, then at Rika. "Miss Nonaka, can you enlighten him?"

Rika balanced on the ladder with her good ankle and kept her arms stretched out as she spoke,"A digimon's strength comes from his or her partner. If the partner becomes stronger, then the digimon is able to take more energy from him or her."

Tai nodded. "Very good."

Takato huffed,"Teacher's pet!" he mumbled.

On the other side of the warehouse, the Tamer's digimon were busy with their own training. Agumon was currently in battle with Guillmon. The two dinosaurs tore into each other with such ferocity that it would have been life and death if it was not a practice match.

Watching from the sidelines were Jeri and Kenta-who was watching wide-eyed. "You guys really are telling the truth!"

"Of course we were," Jeri sighed.

The two teenagers turned their attention back to the digimon's training session. Agumon landed on top of Guillmon's head, which brought the red dinosaur's head to the ground. Agumon jumped back off and was about to attack again, when Guillmon's eyes suddenly dilated. "Guillmon?" Agumon asked,"What's wrong?"

"It's a digimon!" Terrerimon gasped as his ears stood straight up,"A very powerful one. Henry!"

The digimon ran over to their Tamers. "Digimon are appearing!"

The Tamers started to wobble, then fell off of their ladders. Rika was gracefully caught by Renamon, but everyone else slammed into the ground. Luckily, Tai had placed gymnastic mats along the ground.

"Come on guys," their teacher said,"We've got a job to do."

By the time Guillmon and Terriermon had lead the group to the point of the bio-merge, a thick fog had already fallen over the soccer stadium. "The Digital Feild is still here," Henry said,"That means the digimon are too."

"Excuse me, but you're Tamers, aren't you?"

The group turned around and saw that the question had been asked by a young girl who was standing behind them. There was a boy standing next to her, and they both appeared to be around six or seven. Most surprisingly, however, was the small devil-dog creature that was standing at the feet. "You are Tamers, right?" the boy asked.

"Yes," Tai said,"I am the Master Digidestined of Tokyo. Who are you?"

The girl bowed. "I am Ai, this is my brother Marko, and this is our digimon partner, Impmon."

The small digimon waved his hand. "Pleased ta meet'cha!"

"We've been looking for you for a long time," Marko said.

"More Tamers?" Kazu asked,"They're popping up all over the place."

"Is your digimon able to evolve?" Tai asked. The two young children grinned.

"Yes, he can."

Tai thought for a moment, then said,"Okay, I want you three to stay by my digimon and myself, okay?"

All three nodded.

"What about us, Mr. Kamiya?" Takato asked.

"You guys are going to fight. I'll monitor the battle, and if necessary, we'll jump in, but I want to see how well you fight."

"Works for me," Renamon said.

The inside of the stadium was quiet, so quiet that the Tamers had thought they had made a mistake. They slowly walked onto the grassy field. "What's going on?" Terriermon asked,"This place is cleaner then your bedroom, Henry."

"Hah hah, very funny."

The group heard a banging noise from the bleachers. When they turned to investigate, they saw that Orion was standing with his arms crossed. "Greetings."

"What are you doing here?" Takato demanded,"If you want a rematch.."

"I am here because we have detected a bio-merge. Although, I don't see anyone."

"Neither do we," Tai said,"Maybe we were wrong?"

Orion just chuckled and jumped onto the field. He unknowingly passed over a figure hiding beneath one of the bleechers-Alice McCoy.

"What are they doing here?" she thought,"Wait, they're not the ones that were at Grandpa's apartment. They're...different." She heard the familiar sound when someone walked down the bleachers. She saw a small white digimon hopping down the stairs. "Is that..Calamon?"

A loud, threatening voice suddenly echoed from all around.. "Greetings, Tamers, it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Who are you?" Tai demanded.

"Ah, the Master Digidestined is with you. Very interesting."

"I'm not talking to a voice!" Tai shouted,"Show yourself!"

"Very well, look in front of you."

The group watched as three figures appeared from one of the tunnels: a bull and sheep that resembled centaurs and a massive blue skinned dog. "Chatsuramon, I presume?" Tai asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes, and allow me to introduce Vajramon and Panjamon. They will be your executioners."

"No way!" Takato said,"Ready guys?"

Takato, Henry, Rika, and Kasumi grabbed their Evolution cards and slashed them through. "Digi-Modify! Digivolution Activate!"

DIGIVOLUTION

"Guillmon digivolve to Growlmon!"

"Renamon digivolve to Kyuubimon!"

"Terriermon digivolve to Gargomon!"

"Snow Agumon digivolve to Veedramon!"

Orion was about to jump in, but Tai stepped in front of him. "I would like the Tamers to handle this themselves. I want to see how powerful they really are."

Orion stared at him, then chuckled slightly. "All right, why not?"

With five against two, the odds should have been in the Tamer's favor, but the two Devas were Ultimates, and so the odds were evened out. The girls battled against Panjamon, while the three boys took on Vajramon.

"Go Veedramon!" Kasumi cheered, hoping up and down on her feet. Rika stared at her in disgust.

"What're you? A cheerleader?"

Tai's daughter sneered back at her. "It's better then being an ice queen, isn't it?"

The two girls sneered at each other, but their own enmity was broken apart when they heard their digimon being battered against by the massive sheep. Kyuubimon was already being pinned down by Panjamon's hoofs, while Veedramon was pounding her fists into the Deva's face.

"Kyuubimon!" Rika shouted,"Get up! You're embarrassing me!"

"Sorry Rika," the fox said. She managed to get her foot into the ground and propelled herself out of the sheep's grip. She rebounded off the ground and charged back at the sheep. "Veedramon, get out of the way!"

The dragon dinosaur did as she was told. Kyuubimon jumped into the air and started to spin around. "Dragon's Wheel!"

Instead of running to avoid the attack, Panjamon charged forward. She dove under Kyuubimon's attack and whacked her crossbow into Kyuubimon's face. She was sent flying backwards into Veedramon. Both Digimon were knocked into the ground.

Vajramon was more powerful then Panjamon, and had already disposed of Guardromon. Growlmon and Gargomon were engaged in a two-on-one attack. Vajramon whipped out his swords and smacked the blunt edge of his sword into the dinosaur's chin. He stumbled backwards but Vajramon did not stop his attack. He jumped into the air and landed on top of Growlmon, crushing him to the ground.

"Gargomon!" Henry shouted,"You're the only one left!"

Gargomon began firing his from his gun barrels at Vajramon's back. The bull turned around and glared at him. "Ha! That's not going to stop me!" He charged forward.

"Gargomon!" Henry shouted. He grabbed one of his cards. "Digi-modify: Recharge activate!"

All of Gargomon's gun barrels were reloaded and he began firing again. All of his bullets bounced harmlessly off of the bull's body. "You're doomed!"

Henry held up another card, but when he turned it, the card changed completely blue. "The blue card!" he gasped. He quickly slid it through his D-Arc. "Digi-modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!"

Takato suddenly saw a beam of red light fire into the sky. When he turned to investigate, he saw Calamon lying on the ground. "What the?"

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION

"Gargomon matrix digivole to Rapidmon!"

Henry gasped. "R..rapidmon?"

The new digimon zoomed in front of Vajramon "Hello, here I am!" He slammed his foot into the bull, then shot in front of Panjamon. He threw her into the fallen Vajramon.

"You two are real losers!" he laughed.

The two Devas climbed to their feet. "I'll kill you!" Panjamon shouted.

"Not a chance!" Rapidmon laughed. He flew into the air and quickly formed a triangle with his body. "Tri-beam!"

A beam of light in the shape of a triangle shot from his body and vaporized the two digimon. Henry breathed a sigh of relief.

Chatsuramon was in complete shock. "You destroyed two of the most powerful Devas! You will be punish for this sacrilege!"

"Bring it on!" Rapidmon shouted,"You're no match for us!"

"Hah!" the dog laughed,"I will not be the one to destroy you."

"What?"

Inside of the Hypnos control room, the doomed ceiling was glowing a bright red. "What's going on here?" Wong asked.

"We're registering a bio-merge," Taily reporter,"An incredible powerful one. This is like nothing we have seen before!"

The fog surrounding the stadium suddenly started to become much thicker. "What's going on?" Kasumi asked.

"Another bio-merge," Orion said, tapping the side of his helmet,"Something's really big is coming through."

The group watched in the sky as a massive figure began to shimmer into view, a gigantic phoenix that covered the entire stadium in shadow. "The Sovereign!" Chatsuramon cried.

"That's the Sovereign?!" Renamon gasped. The fox woman was always so calm and in control. Seeing her lose her composure like that filled the others with less then confidence. The Tamers, their digimon, and even Orion were cowering against the walls of the field. Calamon had journeyed to the ground, and was hiding beside them. Only Tai, Gatomon and Agumon stared straight at the Sovereign.

"So, you're the Devas's leader?"

"Ah, the Master Digidestined," the phoenix said,"I am surprised to see you here. I believe we had an agreement...."

Tai crossed his arms. "My agreement is with Azulongmon, not you! Besides which, I know you are the Guardian of the North, but I don't believe I've had the pleasure."

"I am Zhuqioamon," the phoenix said,"And I am the protector of the Digital World! I am here to locate the Catalyst and Alice McCoy, where are they?"

"I don't know," Tai said, flatly,"Why are you after her?"

"If you must know, she possess a journal of a traveler that accidentally fell into our world..."

"Journal?" Alice thought, peering at the digimon from her hiding place beneath the bleachers.

"What about this Catalyst?"

"That is a closely guarded secret of the Digital World," the phoenix said,"Where is Alice McCoy?"

"I told you, I don't know."

"Then die! Phoenix Fire!" Zhuqioamon spit a stream of fire balls from his beak. Each one shot towards the Master Digidestined of Tokyo.

"Master Kamiya!" Rika shouted.

"Daddy!" Kasumi screamed.

"Mr. Kamiya! Look out!" Takato shouted. He ran up behind his teacher and pushed him out of the way. Unfortunately, he instead was hit with the blasts of fire and thrown onto the ground.

"Takato!" Tai screamed. He and Agumon charged forward. Tai knelt down next to the young teenager, but Agumon was covered in a white light and Wargreymon shot towards Zhuqioamon.

"You honestly think you can challenge me?" the phoenix laughed,"Very well, let's see what you can do."

Wargreymon did not answer him as he slammed his claw into Zhuqioamon's beak. His head was thrown back, but Wargreymon did not stop his assault. He kicked the other side of the phoenix's beak and thrown to the other side. He twisted in the air and knocked both of his feet into Zhuqioamon's neck.

Hiding in the shadows of the night, Makuramon and Migiramon watched the battle between Wargreymon and their Sovereign. "I don't believe it!" the monkey gasped,"He's actually fighting back Zhuqioamon!"

Wargreymon finished his assault by creating a massive ball of energy in his hands. "Terra Force!" He flung it forward, where it exploded on contact against Zhuqioamon's face. When the smoke cleared, the phoenix god still remained, but bruised and injured slightly.

"Do not think you have defeated me," he growled,"You could never hope to defeat me in battle! But, now is neither the time nor the place. The Digital World needs me, I can not remain here any longer. Come Chatsuramon." Both the phoenix and the dog were covered once again in white fog, then vanished.

Back on the ground, Tai examined Takato. He was severely burned across all of his body, and he was not moving. "Takato! Takato!" he screamed.

The other Tamers were at his side. "Dad," Kasumi asked, her voice quivering,"Is he...?"

Tai nodded."Y..yeah."

"Takato-mon!" Guillmon howled,"Takato-mon!"

"He's..he's gone?" Orion asked, in awe,"I..I don't believe it."

"He's gone," Rika said with disbelief,"He..he can't be."

Tai took a few deep breaths, holding back his tears. He was about to reach down and lift up Takato's body, when Orion stepped in front of him. "I'll take him. Hypnos can arrange everything." Before Tai could protest the Digital Hunter grabbed Takato's body and flew off.

"Come back here!" Tai shouted. He turned to the Tamers. "You guys, go home! I'm going after Takato...Takato's body." Gatomon digivolved to Nefertimon, and they flew off. The Tamers slowly walked out of the stadium.

The next few hours were a blur to the Tamers. After wandering the streets, they found themselves at Tai's apartment.Kasumi invited everyone inside and they sat around the living room, staring at each other. Takato was dead, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"I feel so useless," Henry finally said,"I should have been able to save him!"

Kazu sighed. "I know, Takato was my best friend, and now he's dead."

"Takato's dead?!"

The Tamers spun around and saw Jeri and Kenta standing in the doorway. Kenta was shaken, and Jeri had tears forming in her eyes. "What did you just say?"

"What are you two doing here?" Rika asked.

"Oh, I told them where Dad and I lived," Kasumi shrugged slightly.

"Yeah," Kenta said,"You guys just left us at the warehouse.."

Henry jumped up and walked over to the light brown haired girl. "Jeri, I'm sorry, but.."

"No!" she sobbed,"No, it can't be! He can't be gone!"

Henry stared at the floor,"I'm....I'm sorry."

"Takato," Jeri sobbed, falling to her knees,"Takato.."

Calamon frowned as he saw with the other digimon inside of Guillmon's hideout in the park. The small digimon's ears shrunk into his head. "Why did Takato have to leave?"

"It is the way of this world," Renamon said, leaning against the wall,"It is something that we do not have any control over."

"It's still not fair," Snow Agumon said.

Impmon was standing slightly away from the others, and saw that Guillmon was slouched on the floor. "Hey, are you okay?"

"No," Guillmon sighed,"I don't have a Tamer anymore. Takato-mon was my friend, now he's gone."

Impmon put his hand on the large dinosaur's back. "Don't worry, we'll get that bird brain!"

"Impmon's right!" Terriermon said,"We'll bash that Sovereign! He's not gonna get away with this!"

The surge of excitement did not do anything to change Guillmon's depression. "Takato-mon..."

Inside of the Hypnos building, Yamaki and Hakkado watched as Takato's body was scanned through a machine resembling a MRI. The Hypnos commander examined the information that appeared on the computer screen. He frowned. "Didn't find what you were looking for?" Hakkado asked.

Yamaki pointed to a line of information that had appeared on the screen. "Just as I thought, his body is exhibiting strong signs of digital energy."

"So?"

Yamaki crossed his arms,"Digimon are able to be reborn. I thought that there might have been a chance we could resuscitate him, but it's no use, he's gone." He glanced at his watch,"I'll arrange for a funeral survive tomorrow. It's the least I can do."

"You'd better be careful," Hakkado grinned slightly,"You're starting to become soft."

"Very funny."

The two men left and shut the door behind them. If they had kept it open, they would have heard the computer beep. More then that, they would have seen Takato's fingers twitch slightly.

At the bottom of the Hypnos building was the massive storage facility. Hidden within the far wall was the doorway to another storage facility off limits to everyone except those with the highest security level, such as Orion.

The Digital Hunter moved past the various boxes and metal containers until he reached a large cylinder shaped one attached to the far wall. He moved over to a small control box near the center and moved his finger over a large red button.

"How could this have happened?" he asked himself,"Why did this happen? That Tamer was just a kid, hmm, since when did I become such an old man? Heh." He shook his head,"No, this isn't the time to laugh. I should have prevented this, but I was too cocky. I thought I could do anything, this metal suit gave me so much power, but it took everything from my memory and my heart. I forgot who I truly was, where I came from. Well, no more!"

He pressed the red button on the console. The cylinder on the far wall began to hum slightly as it slid open. A dark figure stood inside; when it spied Orion, it growled angrily. "You!"

"Listen up!" Orion order,"I am here to let you free."

"Really? Tell me, what for?"

"Good behavior," Orion grinned,"I'm going to offer you a deal. Things are quickly getting out of hand, and I need my digimon partner. If you agree to do things my way from now on, I'll never imprison you again. But if you disobey me even once..."

"Yes, I understand," the digimon said, then chuckled. "Sure, why not? I think I can deal with taking orders if it means freedom!"

Orion nodded. "Good. Please to be working with you again, Cyberdramon."

to be continued...