Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ New Gennai Order ❯ NGO -- Prologue II: "If Only..." ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

"If Only


Richard Berke
Normal
Richard Berke
11
78
2001-07-27T01:33:00Z
2001-07-27T02:14:00Z
2 5
15560
88693
RB
739
177
108921
9.3821











"New Gennai Order --
Prologue II of II: "If Only…"

(C) March 2001, Ryan Berke

http://ryanberke.cjb.net/



This entire story is dedicated to my loyal friend and beta
reader, Thinker. I know I probably still
could have done this without him, but I honestly can't see how! Much as I'm sure we all missed your
fanfiction, buddy, I know everyone'll love your book.



((DISCLAIMER: I do not own, nor do I claim to own, any of
the Digimon characters (heck, I refuse to claim even the ones I made up! Feel
free to steal them!) They are all property of FoxKids, Toei, and Bandai. I
haven't received any permission ahead of time, but then this wouldn't be a
Fanfic, would it? Likewise, I do not own the song "What If?" by Creed))

((ADDITIONAL DISCLAIMER: This story is not Copywritten, as
implied by the heading. (c) stands for "completed," allowing me to
know when I wrote it.))



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



"Huh?" Daisuke exclaimed, "What do you mean,
Everything just got worse? Tai and Matt
are dead, Angemon's dead, Kari's dead; what else could go wrong?"



"Patience." Joe ordered. "I'll let you know tomorrow. It's late, and I'm sure we'll all want to break camp."



"Yeah," Hikari agreed, "Ken can wait; this
story has us tired out. Let's go back
home, and get a fresh start tomorrow."



"You can come and go as you please?" Joe asked,
dumbstruck.



"You couldn't?" Miyako laughed. Joe's silent affirmation quieted her.



"Come with us." Hikari offered. "You can stay with Tai and me."



"That's awful nice of you and all," Joe hesitated,
"But--"



"That's an order, Joe." Hikari added, somehow
keeping a straight face.



Joe smiled.
"Hell, why not? It'll give
me a chance to catch up with the past leaders of the digidestined. Count me in."



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



Joe's arrival at the Kamiya residence was surprising, at
best. Thanks to his traveling
companions, the digimon among them helped him to fly in the back way, avoiding the
trouble of Hikari's parents.
Thankfully, with sundown on the horizon, if anyone saw their entrance,
they paid it little attention. Taichi
was out, but that didn't mean they couldn't get ready.



"Any chance Tai keeps a razor around here
somewhere?" Joe asked, "I
haven't shaved since...well, ever."



"I don't think he does," Hikari replied, "but
Dad should have one in the bathroom."



"Thanks."



That was a troubling thought, one she had to admit she'd not
thought about. Jyou with a beard,
albeit one comprised mostly of stubble.
The Jyou she was used to was always clean, and wouldn't be caught dead
saying anything that suggested otherwise.
She was dealing with an outside force here, and despite the wild story,
perhaps one too wild to discount immediately, it was definitely not the Jyou
she was used to. Which, knowing this
was an alternative Jyou only further cemented his story of being from another
world, which made her feel all that much sorrier for him. But if he _was_ an outsider, and if he _was_
planning on betraying them, he'd be going for all the sympathy he could
get. But if--



She shook her head to clear the chaos. Trans-universal Metaphysics were confusing!



Without warning, the smell of warm food invaded her
nostrils, and she knew it to be almost time for dinner. Raised to be polite, she turned to her
remaining guests as any good host would, "I'm sorry. You must be hungry."



"I don't eat." the girl replied. If Hikari noticed the interesting choice of
words, she didn't ask.



"I'm fine too." the digimon added.



Hikari shrugged before carrying on.



The front door squeaked open, as the apartment's other
inhabitant shouted, "Hey everyone, I'm home!"



Taichi was back.
She'd have an awful lot of explaining to do.



"Hi, Taichi." she greeted, somewhat more forced
than usual. Not that he'd notice the
subtleties involved. "Mind if I
introduce you to a few friends I met today?"



"They're over here now?" he asked. She nodded.
"Do Mom and Dad know?"



"No." she admitted. "I thought you should know first."



"Oh, _those_ kind of friends..." he realized. "Fine, but if it's Gotsumon's again,
out they go."



"Not, exactly..." she stumbled.



"Who is it then, Hikari?" he asked, urgently.



By accident or design, Joe chose just that moment to peer
out of the bathroom. Shirtless, no
less. Taichi's eyes went wide at the
sight of the half-naked boy he'd called friend. Every protective instinct in his body flipped on, and he vowed to
make this guy pay if he'd done anything.
Not that Joe hadn't faced worse, but Taichi couldn't possibly know
that. "Hey, Tai, welcome
home!" Joe called, maintaining friendliness, "You got any shaving gel
around here anywhere?"



Taichi knew what his instincts said, and they said to ignore
Joe for the moment. He turned to face
Hikari, and get the story from her first.
"Hikari? Have you and Joe
been--"



Hikari's eye's bugged out at the implication, and
immediately spoke to cut him off.
"Nothing like that. It's a
bit more complicated than that."



If Taichi's eyes went any wider then they were, they'd pop
out of their sockets. "Then
you're--"



"Jeez, Taichi.
Let me finish!" Hikari
replied. "The Joe that's here now
isn't from our world, but from an alternate representation of it."



"I dunno," Taichi said, skeptical, "Sounds
kinda fishy to me." An
understatement. He didn't much like the
thought that Hikari was keeping things from him, especially things so unlikely. Sounded like a bald-faced lie, if ever he'd
heard one.



"It's a long story, one I'd rather have wait until we
let the poor man get some dinner in him." she added. "Besides, could our Joe have grown hair
that long so fast?"



Taichi turned to face the intruder, who still maintained
vigil in the doorway, waiting for response.
His hair had, in fact, grown quite far in the past few years; he
currently sported a thick knot of beyond shoulder-length hair, neatly brushed
into place by the hospitality of the local residence. He'd taken the liberty of pulling it back into a
ponytail--clearer, more efficient, and out from getting in the way.



Taichi sighed.
Hikari was right; it was almost dinner time, and if this story was as
long as he imagined it was, there wasn't the time for it now. "It's in the medicine cabinet, top
shelf." he offered, hospitably.
"Anything else I can do to help?"



He wished the grin pasted on is face didn't look as fake as
it felt.



"I'll let you know if there is." Joe replied. "Hikari, do you know if Kami and
WarAgumon need anything?"



Taichi got the impression he was missing a lot here.



"Taichi, Hikari!" mother called, with a thankful
interruption. "Dinner time!"



Whatever it was, he'd find out in the morning.



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



"Alright." Daisuke declared, "Is everybody
back yet?"



"Ready and waiting." Koushiro replied. They'd come to him for help in entering
through the digiport again, and ended up bringing him along. Yamato was here too, courtesy of Takeru Joe had recapped the previous day's
retelling, and was ready to begin anew.



He took a deep breath, clearing his mind, collecting his
thoughts. "Okay. Here we go."





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



"If Only…"

PART ONE

Release Date: 11.07.00



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



"Huh?"
T.K. asked. "Everything's gone wacko!"

"And _that's_ an understatement." Izzy added.

"How could all this happen?" Sora asked?

They were back. In the digiworld. Sort of.

VenomMyotismon was gone. Destroyed. For good.

Finally.

It'd cost them dearly. Tai, Matt, Kari, and Angemon were dead. Gatomon was
reduced to Salamon, and couldn't digivolve anymore. And worst of all, morale
had reached an all-time low.

Not one of Joe's best days.

"So, what now?" he asked. "How're we gonna save the day this
time, Izzy?"

"Don't look at me!" the younger boy protested. "I had my chance
to lead. Kari's dead. I guess that means I don't have what it takes."

"Fair enough." Joe reasoned, turning. "Sora?"

"You're asking the person who killed Kari?"

"Mimi? T.K.?" Both shook their heads.

What're we going to do? he panicked, We need leadership!

Desperately, he asked, "Agumon? Gabumon?" Still no.
"Anyone?"

This is not good. Not good at all.

Well, your crest _is_ Reliability. Give them something to rely on.

"I guess it's up to me." he concluded. "Let's go visit
Gennai."

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

For a general plan, it seemed sound. The prophecy wasn't Gennai's fault, and
he'd otherwise been helpful in the past. He made the perfect advisor--and if
there was one thing they needed, it was advice.

Then why did the idea make the hair on the back of Joe's neck stand on end?

Somehow, almost magically, Gennai's house had escaped assimilation into Spiral
Mountain. The pond drained, taken by MetalSeadramon, bones of dead fish
littered the ground. The earth was cracked, one-time mud dried and shattered
from the lack of growth. The valley sported an eerie, gray fog. The air reeked
of death and despair.

Desolate. Foreboding. Short and simple: Creepy.

Or, as Mimi preferred: Icky.

"Eww!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"

"We we're only gone a week." Sora reasoned, agreeing.

"But remember when we all split up to look for Tai?" Izzy asked.
"Months passed, but he said he was only gone a few hours."

"What're you getting at?" Joe asked, intrigued.

"I believe there is a time difference between our world and the digital
world." he explained. "Based on a conversion rate of a day a minute,
I'd say we were gone at least 10,000 days, or about 30 years!"

"I guess that means we can't say it looks just the same as we left
it." Gomamon piqued.

"Guess not." Sora agreed.

"Might I suggest we go ahead and _enter_ the house?" Tentomon advise.

"Yes, let's." Izzy agreed. "After all: Gennai's waiting."

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

"Come in." an ancient voice rasped.

They stood in a foyer; Gennai's taste in decor had _really_ changed in 30
years. The walls were painted in Imperial Grays; the windows, accented harshly
by steel-framed panes. Royal Crimson and Violet tapestries hung on the walls,
making a bold statement of the room in general. Once-empty doorways now sported
vault-like doors. One could scarcely avoid feeling humbled visiting such an
environment.

"Come in!" the voice echoed, booming off the cold, lifeless walls.
Still raspy, but bold enough to demand respect.

Not exactly the Gennai Izzy remembered.

He brought up the rear, following the others all the way into the foyer, taking
Joe's lead. The door slammed shut, metal-on-metal rings filling the room. A
crank turned, a deadbolt fell into place. It was obvious the digidestined
wouldn't be leading the way they came in.

Ahead of them, the other vault door remained closed. Above it, speakers pumped,
"Who dares to visit me?"

"Gennai?" Joe asked. "It's us: the Digidestined."

The voice softened. "My apologies for my rudeness. It's a harsh time,
these days. One must appear strong in the face of opposition."

"We understand." Joe replied. "We'd do the same in your
shoes."

He could just imagine the head shaking in disbelief behind the door. "The
digidestined. Boy, that's a big one. We'd given you up for dead."

"Some of us are." Sora observed, bluntly. "Tai's gone. So are
Matt, Kari, and Angemon.

Gennai sighed, without acknowledging, "You've been gone a long time."

"We were delayed, somewhat." Izzy explained. "There appears to
be a time difference between out world and yours."

"Indeed?" Gennai asked. "Well, we'll just have to do something
about that, won't we?"

To their left, the wall lit up, revealing a giant screen.

"Ooh! A big screen T.V.!" Mimi exclaimed, "I hope we get
HBO!"

"Dibs on MTV!" Palmon added.

"I want Comedy Central!" Gomamon.

A mechanical voice cut in. "Scanning complete. Displaying results."

The screen timed out. An almost comical "Please Wait..." kicked in.

Joe opened his mouth to remark, but found he couldn't. Not the way his jaw
ended up dropping. Dropping at the image on the screen.

Apocalymon.

He panicked, "Oh, no _way_ can we handle this!"

The computer ignored him. "Apocalymon." it agreed, profiling the
beast. "Digimon, Virus Type. The Essence of Evil. Believed to be the
source of all Virus Digimon. Created by everything lost in the Digivolving
process. Special Attacks: Reverse Digivolve and Total Annihilation, among
others."

Joe composed himself. Barely. "This is the big one, guys. We're a little
short on firepower, but we can stop him."

"Indeed." Gennai boomed. "Apocalymon shall be no more."

In a flash of light, he was right. Out of no-where, Apocalymon exploded into
Digi-dust.

"But how..." Sora asked, in disbelief.

"It's not possible!" Izzy agreed.

"Step inside." Gennai boomed, the door opening. "All will be
explained."

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

Joe reached to his chest, grabbing for his crest. For good luck. After all, how
could a symbol of the cross _not_ be lucky? He felt the familiar shape of the
tag in his hand. Familiar shape, but not familiar _feel_.

He stole a glance at it. The Crest of Light.

Part of the new leadership plan: he'd gotten all the excess crests. Light,
Courage, and Hope. Best to leave them in one person's hands then split them up.
He'd gotten Agumon and Salamon too.

The last members of the team stepped in, and the door shut behind them. The
room was crafted with one intent: to accent the elevated podium,
front-and-center. It reminded one of a church sanctuary, university lecture
hall, or even a throne room.

At the podium, a hooded figure sat, bathed in shadows. He face wasn't visible,
but if it matched his disposition, one wouldn't want it to be.

"Welcome." it greeted, voice louder and harsher than before. It
greedily sucked in air, as if having great difficulty breathing.

"How'd you do that?" Izzy rudely asked, tactless and direct,
curiosity getting the best of him, "How'd you defeat Apocalymon?"

"He may of been powerful," Gennai agreed, "But he was nothing
when compared to the power of the Force."

"The Force?" laughed Joe, "What is this, Star Wars?"

"Behold!" Gennai replied, rising, "I am...Darth Gennai!"

"Darth Gennai," the computer kicked in, displaying a 3-D image in
mid-air. "Digimon, Virus Type. Possibly--"

"Silence!" Darth Gennai wailed. T.K.'s hat suddenly took flight,
smashing into random machinery in a shower of sparks.

"Hey!" T.K. protested.

"Not now, little brother." Joe shushed.

"Stupid machine! You ruined my entrance!" Darth Gennai sulked,
oblivious. He sighed, "I guess I'll have to get that fixed..."

Izzy was fascinated, "How did this happen? I thought you had no
attributes."

"So did I." Darth Gennai agreed. "I guess we were wrong. It took
your absences to bring it out in me."

"Our being gone made you this?" Sora asked. "How awful."

"Not really," Darth Gennai argued, "I've embraced the dark
energies, and saved the digital world."

"_Saved_ it?"

"How else?" he reasoned, "I've just defeated the source of all
evil, brought tyrants like the Dark Masters to their knees, and converted
die-hard virii into my own Gennai Knights."

"Those powers can only corrupt," Izzy reasoned, "If you embrace
them, it can only lead to no good."

"A necessary risk." Darth Gennai dismissed, "The Digiworld is
safe now. I've destroyed everything that opposed me." he explained,
"And I'm afraid, if you're not with me, you're against me."

Defensive instincts kicked on within Joe. He had to protect his people; had to
give them someone to rely on. Had to get out of here.

"Agumon, Biyomon: target the walls. Get those tapestries burning. Gabumon,
Tentomon: the machinery. Palmon, Salamon: anything else. Gomamon,
digivolve."

The digimon, confused as they were, followed his orders. Within moments,
Gennai's throne room was in shambles.

"You'll pay for this, digidestined!" he roared, "You'll
pay!"

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

Safely outside, the team regrouped. Through the cover of chaos, and an exit via
a Vulcan's Hammer, the made for a pretty good escape.

"Okay." Joe began, calling for their attentions. "Gennai's the
bad guy this time. All bad guys work for him, he holds all the cards. We'll
have to lie low for a while, and poke at him with hit-and-run tactics." He
was ahead of himself, he realized, as an occurrence took root.

"Everyone here?" he checked.

"T.K.'s gone!" Sora exclaimed.

"Tentomon!" Izzy added.

Great, Joe. Just great. Back in the digiworld for 2 hours, and already
you're a few men down. Not good.

Not good at all.





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





"I guess you were right." Takeru sighed.



"Huh?" Daisuke asked. He didn't mind the victory--he just wished he knew what it
was. "What do you mean?"



"Yesterday," Takeru reminded him. "You said I'd be next. And I was."



"What?" Daisuke exclaimed. "I didn't mean it like that! I just...er...that is..."



"It's okay, Daisuke." Hikari replied. "We know you didn't mean it. You were just joking; you'd never really
_try_ to hurt Takeru, would you?"



Daisuke mulled that one over as much as he ever did: a few
split-seconds, at best. Hikari was
siding with him; should he cut his losses, or take the opportunity to one-up
Takeru? He opened his mouth to reply,
but was interrupted by a familiar voice.



"Unfortunately for you," the voice laughed from
above, "I have no reservations against inflicting damage."



The local digidestined all resounded their realizations in
unison, "The Digimon Kaizer!"



"The one and only!" Ken laughed. "Not only do you dare to intrude upon
my land, but you bring guests with you.
Well, I've always thought of myself as a considerate host; I'll spare their
lives until I'm finished bringing an end to yours!"



"You'll have to find us first!" Armadillomon
replied. He armor digivolved, and
drilled out a home-made cavern. Rock
split under foot, and the Digidestined and their bizarre companions fell
in. Once everyone had been secured,
Digmon secured the entrance.



"You don't seriously believe this will stop me, do you?" Ken
sneered, yelling from above. "I hold
the power over all Digimon; there's nowhere you can go in this world that'll
keep you safe from me!"



"Geez, this guy sure loves to hear himself talk."
Joe coughed, as dust still had yet to finish clearing.



"Don't underestimate him." Miyako cautioned,
"He can stop digimon from evolving on a whim."



"We've faced worse." Joe's jaded reply.



"Well, seeing as we've got nothing but time on our
hands," Yamato observed.
"Tell us."





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



"If Only…"

PART TWO

Release Date: 11.18.00



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



Reliability. That's your crest, that's your skill. You're
doing this because someone has to. The team needs a leader, and they need
someone to rely on.

But how can they rely on someone who lost T.K.?

It was for the good of the team. His sacrifice meant the rest of us made it.

You called him your brother.

He needed a brother. Matt was gone, and I was there. It made sense.

They needed a leader. Tai and Kari are gone. You're here. That makes sense too.

Exactly.

How many of _them_ are you willing to sacrifice?

Oh, be quiet!

Why? 'Cause you know I'm right?

SHUT UP!!!

"Joe?" Mimi asked, concerned.

Joe snapped forward, almost at random, wailing, "Make the voices
stop!!!"

"It's okay." Mimi soothed, "You're safe, now."

"No, it's not okay." he countered, "T.K. is dead."

"Nobody blames you."

"_I_ blame me."

"There was nothing you could've done."

Joe stuttered, "I should've been more careful. Should've watched out for
him."

"There was no way you could've know what'd happen." She replied,
"Gennai's changed; no one knew what he'd do. We've all changed."

"But-"

"And I, for one, think you've changed for the better."

He paused, looking her in the eye. A tear froze in place. A tear, just like her
own crest of sincerity.

"You really think so?"

She smiled, taking his hand comfortingly, "I know so."

"Alright." he stood, "Let's move. We've only got a few hours
until dark."

"Move?" Mimi asked, "Move where?"

Joe explained, "If I'm going to lead, I'll need to be someone y'all can
rely on. And for that I'll need to plan ahead."

"Sounds logical." she mocked.

"To plan, we'll need information; that means getting some recon. For land,
I'll use Agumon, and for water, Gomamon. I'd use Angewomon for air, but Salamon
can't digivolve."

"So who'll you use?" Mimi asked, intrigued.

"Lillymon." he replied bluntly.

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

"Alrighty, gang." Joe began. The team had broken for camp, and
everyone sat around him listening, save Agumon, who tended to the flickering
campfire. "The results of our reconnaissance are in. Here's where we
stand:

"Back in the real world, the spirit showed us an alternate world, where
the digi-world was taken over by four super-beings who called themselves the
dark masters. They were Mega digimon, like WarGreymon or MetalGarurmon, and
each were powerful in their own way. In our world, they're still here, but
Gennai overwhelmed them. Now they serve him as his 'Gennai Knights'."

Izzy snorted with laughter, but caught a glare from Joe. He glanced at Palmon
and Gomamon, and each nodded their confirmations.

"When Gennai digivolved, he kept his sense of humor, hence the names he's
chosen." Joe explained, "But we've got to remember, he _is_ powerful,
and even managed to overthrow the very essence of all evil on a whim. If we
thought VenomMyotismon was tough, Darth Gennai'll be even tougher.

"When the Dark Masters took over, they warped the digiworld into Spiral
Mountain to make it easier to conquer. He'd change it back if he could, but
force of nature he is not. Each of them control their own sectors, and he
controls them.

"The sector we're in right now belongs to the Gennai Knight called
'Puppetmon'. He's not too powerful, a pushover really. All his power comes from
his manipulative nature, and his dominance over weak flunkies."

"So, in other words," Sora asked, "We can beat him if we can get
to him, but we can't."

"Pretty much." Joe agreed, "But we've got a trump card.

"When Etemon died, he didn't reconfigure like the other digimon we've
fought. He warped through a portal. We hadn't thought much of it at the time,
but now he's back, bigger and badder than ever, as MetalEtemon.

"He fell in a meteor into this sector, and has been fighting with
Puppetmon for control ever since. He's Mega too, but not very powerful. He's
built up his own little resistance, using flunkies of his own to fight those of
Puppetmon. It's a losing battle, but a prolonged one at that. With his help,
we'll be able to get past the flunkies, and stop Puppetmon."

"What?" Sora protested, "Help Etemon?"

"He's one of our biggest enemies ever!" Biyomon agreed.

"I know it doesn't look good, but we need him." Joe defended.
"With Puppetmon gone, he'll be in control of this sector. That'll keep
Gennai busy, and we'll have a little more breathing room to work with."

Sora and Biyomon grumbled, but resentfully submitted.

"One last thing." Joe added. "The spirit showed us how this
needs to work out. We need MetalGarurumon to beat Puppetmon. For that, we'll
need the Crest of Friendship. T.K. has that crest."

He didn't need to finish the thought; everyone understood the implications. He
chose to anyway.

"And DarthGennai has T.K."

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

"You want _what?_" MetalEtemon bellowed. It was bright and early, as
early as Joe could manage--and he barely managed to get this far past the
sentries.

Joe winced at the tone, but held his position. "We want you to help us
against Darth Gennai."

"Do I look stupid, kid?" Etemon asked. "I want him gone much as
the next guy, but you're talkin' suicide!"

"You know it's the right thing to do."

"Since when have I ever done the right thing?" Etemon refused.
"Suppose I decide to kill you right where you stand."

"A lot has happened. I've got friends in high places; I may die, but
you'll live to wish you had."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Do you really want to find out?"

Etemon bit his Metal lip. "And if I _do_ agree to help you, what do I get
out of this--not saying I will."

"Puppetmon's kingdom," Joe grinned, "Not saying you will."

Etemon thought for a moment. "Well, then." he began, "There've
been some pretty good suicide songs before. What've I got to lose?"

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

The team re-assembled outside Gennai's house, moving in secret to hide their
numbers from Etemon. He may be an ally, but they didn't trust him not to take
advantage of the situation. Especially if he knew they were down six members.

"Now what?" he whispered to Joe. The monkey-mon stood at the door the
Gennai's house, newly repaired, while the boy crouched behind a low rift in the
ground.

"Knock on the door." Joe replied. "Get his attention."

"If you say so." Etemon submitted. "Metal Punch!"

Wood splintered around the fist, and Gennai's House was suddenly minus one
door. Etemon glanced back for further instructions, and Joe waved him away,
urging non-verbally "Move! Move!"

Etemon retreated, moving to the center of the cracked earth. Heavy as his metal
body was, he still maintained the finesse of his previous body. And that would
prove useful; God only knew what he'd do if he actually _took_ a hit from Darth
Gennai.

"What?" the commanding voice bellowed. "Who dares?"

"I do, you un-Grateful Dead-mon!"

"You attack the lord of all Digimon, and decide to throw _jokes_ at
me?"

"You ain't nothin' but a hound dog!" Etemon replied, "I'm the
true king of swing!"

"If your attacks are as painful as your sense of humor," Gennai
reasoned, stepping towards his opponent, "Perhaps you are someone to be
reckoned with."

"Now." Joe whispered, motioning the others onward, "While they're
busy talking."

"You'll live to regret that!" Etemon stalled, angered by the slur
against his comedic efforts.

"Unfortunately for you, you won't." Gennai replied. "Now,
prepare to face the true power of the dark side."

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

"No!" Joe protested, "He's gotta be here somewhere!"

"Calm down." Mimi soothed. "There's nothing we can do."

"There has to be!" he panicked. "You don't understand--we NEED
him!"

"Joe..." she warned.

"T.K.!" Joe screamed, tearing at everything in sight.
"T.K.!"

"He's gone, Joe." Mimi said. "We've got to get Etemon and leave.
Somehow, we'll need to manage without him."

"LITTLE BROTHER!!!" Joe screamed, oblivious.

"JOE! Snap Out Of It!" she matched. No effect. "Okay, gang.
We're outta here. Palmon, get our 'fearless leader', Agumon, digivolve and help
Etemon retreat."

"Yes, WarGreymon! That's it!" Joe babbled, delirious. "Tear this
place apart; T.K.'s bound to be around here somewhere!"

The team left under Mimi's direction, as Joe continued his meaningless speech,
dragged away in Palmon's vines.

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

"What do you mean, you didn't find the crest?" MetalEtemon fumed,
enraged.

Hours had passed, and it was almost morning. They'd been running all night,
trying to put as much space between them and Darth Gennai as possible.

"It wasn't there." Mimi replied.

"I almost killed myself for nothing?" he returned, "This is
unforgivable!"

"Hey, do you think we _tried_ to put ourselves in needless danger?"
Salamon retorted.

"And you!" Metal Etemon replied, "You're useless! You can't even
digivolve anymore; only God knows why they still keep you around. I oughta kill
you right here!"

"Go ahead and try!" she taunted.

"Okay," he agreed, "Banana Slip!"

Salamon's face slid from triumph to shock as she felt her very Data being
deleted.

Joe stood rigid, jaw agape, speechless.

Metal Etemon looked him in the face. "That's for dragging me into this.
Pray that we don't have any more trouble."





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





"You had to team up with Metal Etemon?" Koushiro
asked, "What a detestable scenario!"



"Yeah!" V-Mon agreed. "What's a 'Metal Etemon'?"



"A chrome-plated, Elvis wanna-be, monkey-man with an
attitude." Yamato explained.
"He puts honest, hardworking musicians to shame. Why, if my band were here with us, we'd show
him just how good good music can sound!"



"Not to mention if he were here too." Iori
observed.



"Uh...right." Yamato agreed, embarrassed. "I just got all caught up in the story,
and...well..."



"We understand." Hikari calmed. "You want to know about the battle
between Etemon and Puppetmon."



"Yeah."



"The actual battle didn't come around for a
while." Joe corrected.
"Though the events leading to it are mostly trivial. Perhaps I can speed this along a
little."



"Whatever you say." Daisuke shrugged. "This is your story. Don't feel too rushed."



"Believe me," Joe replied. "Although I pace myself in the telling,
I'd be glad to see it over with as soon as possible."





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



"If Only…"

PART THREE

Release Date: 11.23.00



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



Months passed. The digidestined were stuck in an impossible
battle, and losing badly. Tension between their forces and those of Metal
Etemon grew rapidly. Not a day went by when Gomamon didn't take a stab at a
lowly Pagumon, nor a Gazimon a swipe at "nerd-boy" Izzy.

Despite the conflict, the Digidestined had adapted well to their new roles in
the resistance. Izzy spent more and more time at the computer, analyzing data
and formulating strategies. Joe headed the medical facilities, aided by the two
most beautiful nurses the digiworld had ever seen; a good week meant Palmon and
Biyomon only had to repel three Numemon, instead of the many more. Agumon
desperately abhorred the infantry training and drills he and Gabumon were
forced through, insisting they were even more cruel and unusual than training
by Nanimon or Piximon. Gomamon was quickly put to work on reconnaissance; the
resistance was scarce on swimming digimon.

Morale was low, lower than rock-bottom. The digidestined had gone from their
sixteen against Myotismon to their current nine; almost half of their forces
gone. The rebels couldn't remember winning a battle since before the resistance
even began, not even the few who tried to pick fights with their digivolving
allies. No one was happy, least of all Metal Etemon.

Not one of the digidestined's finest moments.

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

"Izzy, get off the computer. That's an order."

"I can't." the red-haired boy protested, "I have to finish
this."

"No, you need to sleep." Joe corrected, "I can't have my men
caught off guard. We've been lucky none of the patients I've treated had to be
one of us."

"But--"

"And I'm not about to let that happen. Besides, Veggiemon's been
complaining about you staying up late at his dining area."

"So? I haven't disturbed anything."

"You're invading his personal space." Joe pointed out, "This is
his domain, and he doesn't want you taking it over."

"But no one else lets me stay up on the computer." Izzy whined.

"And I'm not going to let you either," Joe added, strictly,
"Anywhere."

"You don't understand!"

"Try me."

"I--" Izzy choked, sobbing with his confession, "The computer
keeps me busy. It lets me direct my thoughts, gives me focus. It keeps me from
thinking about Tentomon. Ever since we lost him, I've missed him. The pain
wouldn't go away, it was too much. Working gave me something to do, so I could
hopefully forget about the pain."

"You've been like this since Tentomon disappeared?" Joe exclaimed,
"No wonder you're a wreck! You haven't had a good night's sleep in well
over three months!"

"Three months, two weeks, and four days."

"Enough is enough, Izz'." Joe replied, "For the next forty-eight
hours, you are on mandatory sick-leave; I'll sign the doctor's note myself.
Sleep, rest, do what you need. Just try to get over Tentomon, and back into
some shape we can work with. Beyond that, take as long as you want."

"How can you understand?" Izzy sobbed, "You don't know what it's
like to lose someone!"

"I've got you people now." Joe reasoned, "I lost T.K., but I'm
not about to lose any more of you."

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

"I'm no Gene Simmons fan," Etemon bellowed, weeks later, "But if
y'all don't get here on the double, you can Kiss your butts goodbye!"

Joe groaned. When Etemon called everyone together, something was definitely up.
The groan was more for the horrible pun.

"Okay, you no-good amateurs!" he greeted, "In a few days, we're
going for the big one: we're gonna take on Puppetmon. The Izumi kid has the
plans."

Catcalls of "nerd-boy" ensued, but were quickly silenced when
one-such offender found himself face to face with a Banana Slip.

"The attack pattern is simple. Puppetmon's forces seem to be comprised
mostly of flunkies--Mushroomon, Floramon, Deramon, and the like. Especially Red
Veggiemon. You are to mix it up with them for as long as you can, working just
as you've been training in the recent weeks. Gomamon, Palmon, Biyomon, Joe,
Mimi, Sora, and myself will join you."

The disorganized rabble issued more hoots and whistles at the mention of their
two favorite nurses.

"I'm not sure Puppetmon even knows we're on your side; other than Gomamon,
none of us have ever ventured into the field, and Gomamon was under heavy
cover. We'll be the trump card; no way can Puppetmon stand up to WarGreymon's
Terra Force or any of our Ultimate level digimon. He'll have to venture out
eventually, and when he does, we'll get him.

"Trouble is brewing in the Digi-world, guys. And today, Puppetmon's going
to die."

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

Mimi brushed her way past her would-be admirers, and into the officer's area.
It was constructed solely for the use of the Digidestined, including a private
bath-house, free of interruption by the underlings outside. Much to Mimi's
delight.

She stripped and entered the water, feeling its warmth soak her skin and relax
her muscles. Izzy had said it was heated but an underground source, or
something, but all that mattered to her was that there were hot baths, and she
could use them.

She shook her head, flipping her wet hair over one shoulder. It stuck there,
leaving her free to bask in the comfort of the water.

The door opened. Oh, were those Numemon going to get it!

"Huh?" she asked, "Joe!"

"Mimi?" he asked, stunned. He tried to cover his eyes, sparing her
some dignity, panicking, "I'm-so-sorry,
I-didn't-think-you'd-be-here!"

"Joe!" she repeated, equally shocked, "I thought you'd still be
in the Sick Bay."

"I am. Was." he stumbled, "I was tired, and Sora offered to
close up if I wanted to turn in early, and..."

"...and you came here for a good soak before nodding off." she
concluded.

He nodded.

"Well, as long as you're here, you might as well go ahead."

"But--"

"We can't have our fearless leader not get the sleep he needs, can
we?"

"Don't call me that." he replied, in all seriousness. "Because
of me, we've lost TK, Tentomon, and now Salamon."

"We've been over this." Mimi sighed, "They weren't you're fault.
We all got into this knowing we'd do what it took to save the Digi-world, and
by God, we're still going to do that."

"But what next?" he argued, "How do we know Metal Etemon will
hold up his end of the deal? What if he decides to side _with_ Darth Gennai
rather than fight him?"

"Then we'll have more of an edge than we do now." Mimi replied,
"Better the Enemy we know than the one we don't."

"That works both ways, y'know." he frowned. "Besides, what if we
lose someone else?"

Mimi rose to her full height, looking Joe in the eye. "Joe Kido, don't
talk like that. No one wants to lose anyone here, but that's just something
we'll have to face if and when it happens. You've stepped in as leader for your
Responsibility, but there's no way we can Rely on you if you're a nervous
wreck."

"Thanks, Mimi." he sighed. "I needed that."

"Anytime. It's great to be able to help the one you love." her hands
flew to her mouth the moment the words escaped her lips.

"L-love?" Joe stuttered.

"Yeah." she blushed, "I love you, Joe."

Joe could only _try_ to compose himself. "Are-are you sure?"

"Please, Joe. Sincerity, remember?"

"OhmyGod." he breathed, "Uh...okay, uh...look, uh, There's no
time for this now. We've got Gennai and his followers to worry about.
Um...maybe, after all that..."

"Maybe then..." she agreed, "Maybe then we can be
together..."

"Yeah." Joe sighed, forcing a weak smile.

"Promise me."

"Huh?" he asked.

"Promise me." she repeated, "That once this is all over, we'll
still be together."

Joe gulped. This wasn't easy.

C'mon, "fearless leader!" Are you fearless, or aren't you?

"I promise." he slurred, nervously.

"Great." she smiled. "Any other problems you need worked
out?"

"Actually, uh, yeah." Joe added, wincing at the sudden shift of
atmosphere.

"What?" she asked, eager to help.

"Wouldya put some clothes on, please?"

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

"Alright, you loser-mons! Today's our last day; we've got a new drill to
try. Nerd-boy will explain."

Izzy cringed at Metal Etemon's insult, but didn't dare protest. The other
digimon dismissed the "loser" comment, snickering at Izzy's abuse.

"According to my latest intelligence," Izzy began, "Puppetmon
controls at least three times as many soldiers as we do, with an unknown
quantity in reserve to back them up. We're out-numbered, and we need to accept
that, and triumph over that."

Joe added, "Tomorrow, no one stays behind. It's do or die; everyone
fights, no one quits. If--"

"If any of y'all try to get off with 'sick leave', I'll put you in the
front line!" Etemon cut in, "Maybe you'll infect the enemy before you
die."

"In the next drill, you will experiment with fighting three-on-one."
Izzy resumed, "We've got our full medical team here, hopefully we won't
need them, but more than likely we will. I'll be here to, but to observe, not
to interfere. Palmon, Gomamon, and Biyomon, on the other hand, actually _will_
be fighting today.

"Now, for our first match, we've got... Agumon, versus two Gazimon and a
Numemon."

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

Three hours and thirty bruises later, Agumon sat on the side, rubbing his tail.
And his leg. And the other ninety percent of him experiencing the agonizing
pain.

Twenty-seven fights in a row. All because he'd won the first twenty-six as the
one-man.

He'd've saved himself the trouble and gotten knocked out of the fight, but
losing, he decided, hurt more.

After the first five, Etemon had decided to kick it up a notch: battles ranged
from five-on-one handicaps, three-way tag teams, and free-for-all elimination
style matches. There were five rings, countless casualties (none of which
fatal), leaving the medics hard pressed. Too hard pressed to spare an ice pack.

Mick Foley would've been put to shame.

"Alright!" Etemon bellowed again. "On the battlefield, you guys
are gonna get to fight Puppetmon; he's a Mega level digimon. You guys are going
to need to be able to dish out what he can take, and more."

Joe stepped forward, holding crest and digivice. "Agumon," he said,
"Time to digivolve."

Agumon, Warp Digivolve to ... WarGreymon!

"Good job, buddy." Joe praised, patting the warrior on the shoulder,
avoiding the spike in the armor. "I'm here for ya."

This rules! WarGreymon thought. Now I get to be the big guy, and no
way can they hurt me. Five on one battles, bring 'em on!


What was that Joe said? I'm here for you?

His eyes went wide, but it was too late to back out now.

Joe was the medic.

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

Stupid Agumon! Gabumon grumbled
silently. If only TK were here; then we'd see who the strongest Mega Digimon
was.

No contest. Darth Gennai.

He doesn't count! Besides, is he even Mega, or something even above that?

What's it matter? It still won't bring back Matt.

That hurt. Struck home, no mercy.

Yeah, but I can carry on just like he was here.

You tried that. When you tried to protect TK.

Hmph! I can find other ways to live up to his memory.

Prove it.

I could if TK were here.

Ah, yes. TK. And what happened to him?

Shut up.

He's dead, Gabumon. Because you couldn't protect him.

Shut up!

Why? 'Cause you know I'm right?

Tomorrow, Puppetmon's going down. 'Cause I know it's what Matt would've
wanted. I'll be the best digimon there is, try my hardest, and just maybe I'll
be deserving of him.

The best? Better than WarGreymon?

We'll just have to see about that.

"Okay, loser-mons!" Etemon bellowed, repeating the collective
nickname, "Go for it!"

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

Agumon lay strapped to a stretcher, arms pinned to his sides. He was completely
restrained, to prevent any movement.

"Jeez," he wheezed, "I feel like I've been hit by a
digi-bus!"

"You took a few big hits." Joe agreed, examining his patient.
"But you'll be in passable shape to fight tomorrow."

"I still have to fight?" Agumon whined.

"No sick leaves, remember?"

Agumon face-faulted.

"Don't worry about it." Joe dismissed. "After a hearty meal and
a good rest, a digivolve'll solve all your problems."

"You sure?"

"No," he admitted, "But what other choice do we have? Puppetmon
needs to die."

This is all Puppetmon's fault. If he wasn't around, they wouldn't have done
this to me. He'll pay for this.

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

And thus, the battle commenced. Metal Etemon's forces stormed ahead, not
bothering to stay hidden, for there were far too many of them to even try. Mon
against mon, the hordes clashed in a ferocious melee. Battle cries of
"Puppetmon!" and "Etemon!" struggled for supremacy, both
beaten down by the clash of close-range combat. Biyomon broke the pattern,
screaming "Spiral Twister!". Mon's who had previously, caught up in
the moment, forgotten their attacks now remembered.

It was total chaos.

Then, of course, came the next forgotten item, louder than the whole lot of
them:

Biyomon, Digivolve into ... Birdramon!
Birdramon, Digivolve into ... Garudamon!
Gomamon, Digivolve into ... Ikkakumon!
Ikkakumon, Digivolve into ... Zudomon!
Palmon, Digivolve into ... Togemon!
Togemon, Digivolve into ... Lillymon!
Agumon, Warp Digivolve into ... WAR-GREYMON!

And thus, the chaos ensued.

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

Puppetmon's forces never stood a chance. Yes, they'd won all their battles
before. Yes, they had a merciless master who kept them on their toes. Yes, they
had superior numbers. But they lacked the training, determination, and power of
Etemon's side.

Not to say the struggle was without it's losses. Still numbering to quite an
amount, remaining soldiers were hard pressed to fight, roughly even in number,
everyone was tired, and many dead.

"You're finished, Puppetmon!" WarGreymon exclaimed. "No where
left t run, no one to hide, and no one to fall back on.

"Aww, but we've just started!" Puppetmon whined. "I'm sure we've
got other games we can play. I know! Let's play house!"

"House?" Zudomon asked, skeptical.

"Yeah. House." Puppetmon confirmed. Suddenly, his mansion sprouted arms
and legs, and went to work on it's adversaries.

The house may not have been impressive in appearance, but more than made up for
it in power. It duked it out with Zudomon, Garudamon, Lillymon, WarGreymon, and
Metal Etemon, all at once and showed no sign of tiring.

Puppetmon stood behind it, laughing.

Here's my chance! Gabumon realized, Puppetmon's back exposed to him. He
took a running start, an leaped!

He landed right on Puppetmon's back, hanging for dear life. Puppetmon's strings
were literally his lifelines.

"Gabumon!" Joe exclaimed, concerned. "No!"

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

No one knew how it happened, no one asked why. In the end, it didn't really
matter. All they knew was one moment, the wolf-mon was Rookie, the next, he was
Mega again. Steel jaws snapped the fragile wooden frame, and Puppetmon was
gone.

And with him, the forest. It began to recede, pulling away from it's location
on Spiral Mountain. The Digidestined fund themselves unceremoniously dumped out
at the bottom.

"This is unforgivable!" Metal Etemon bellowed. "My
kingdom--gone!"

"That was intriguing..." Izzy agreed, oblivious to the anger in his
ally's gaze.

"Intriguing? Is that what you call this?" Etemon screamed, "You
_knew_ about this, didn't you? And you knew that little Gabumon of yours could
digivolve too."

"How could I--"

"Well, you're sadly mistaken if you think you'll get away with this. Metal
Punch!"

Much like Salamon months before, Gabumon was gone in the blink of an eye.

"You monster!" Joe yelled, face contorted by rage. Another loss,
another failure. He'd be damned before things stayed this way. Mind clouded by
hate, he raced forward, pounding away at Etemon for all his flesh hands were
worth.

"Try all you want!" Metal Etemon laughed, "I'm made of
Digi-chromazoid, the strongest metal there is!"

Joe's ears perked, "Digi-chromazoid, eh?"

Zudomon took the hint. He threw his hammer, it's expert course catching its
target in the chest, cracking the surface.

"What? How could you?"

"My hammer is also made of Digi-chomazoid metal!" he explained,
triumphantly.

WarGreymon leapt forward, enlarging the wound in the metallic monkey's frame.
The virus digimon couldn't take the damage, exclaiming in disbelief, "You
made me die!"

Joe's knees went weak, as his two slowly de-digivolving partners tried there
best to support him. He collapsed to a kneeling position, eyes watering up.

"Joe," Mimi asked in concern, "Are you okay?"

"That's four." he gasped between sobs. "I've lost four,
now..."





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





"Four dead?"
Taichi asked. If he hadn't been
listening for himself, he would've doubted.
Even now, it was a hard piece of information to swallow.



"Eight, actually." Joe corrected. "But you, Matt, Angemon, and Kari were
already dead by the time I'd stepped in."



"How can you stand it?" Yamato asked. "Losing all your friends, living with
their lives on your conscience?"



"I almost couldn't." Joe admitted. "I've always seen myself as responsible
for making sure everyone made it out of there okay. With each loss, I grew more and more unstable. Under normal circumstances, there's only so
much of that a guy can take. Words
can't begin to describe the pain behind it all."



"Under normal circumstances?" Takeru asked. "Meaning there were abnormal
ones?"



"Damn straight." Joe grinned. "Wait'll you hear what's next."





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



"If Only…"

PART FOUR

Release Date: 12.15.00



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



Tai Kamiya. Dead, a charred corpse. Matt Ishida, likewise.
Angemon, a meal for VenomMyotismon; digidust long by now. Kari Kamiya,
incinerated, vanished without a trace. Correction: body missing, tag, crest and
digivice present. A lifetime ago, none of his business.

T.K. Takaishi. Tentomon. Both missing in action, presumed dead. Gatomon and
Gabumon, digidust.

Eight down, only eight left. Himself included.

And it was all his fault. His, Joe Kido. Leader of the digidestined, holder of
four crests.

The digidestined would need all of their crests together to win this. The
crests were no good without their respective traits. Joe could only pray he
could live up to the responsibility.

Courage: Tai's Crest. It'd gotten them all through some tough scrapes. His
ability to put aside fear, without completely ignoring it, had made him the
obvious leader. He'd lead them through the thickest of it, taking on Shellmon,
Etemon, SkullMeramon, and countless others. Joe thought he had courage, at
least, enough to scrape by.

Hope: T.K.'s crest. T.K. could be naive at times, but that only enhanced his
trait. His blind belief that the Digidestined would succeed had spurred them
all along. Whatever hope Joe had was fading by the minute, and unlikely to
return any time soon.

Light: Kari. She was new to the group; they'd only had her for a week, if even.
Still, her light and goodness had helped Tsunomon and Koromon to digivolve
again, at her own expense. Light was about sacrificing for the greater good,
and doing whatever it took to see it through.

Reliability. Now _this_ was something Joe was used to. It was why he was here
now, leading. Because someone had to, so he'd stepped in. He stared at his
crest. His damnation. Ironic, how it resembled a cross, the very symbol of all
that was good.

All that was good. All that was the light. It almost made sense, how his Crest
and that of Light fit together. It was like the crests all meant part of a
greater whole. A whole that as leader, he was responsible for
maintaining.

Light was about sacrifice, much like his cross. Kari had sacrificed herself,
and her gain had gotten them the victory they'd needed. Maybe it was time for
him to do the same. Before he ended up with any more corpses on his hands.

Careful not to wake those around him, he carefully made his retreat into the
night.

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

Sora yawned and stretched. The first morning rays of sunlight kissed her
forehead, playing burning images in her eyes at the slightest tilt of her head.
Why did she even bother getting up? Dreams felt so much better than reality,
anyways.

She supposed she was lucky; she still had Biyomon. Izzy was all alone. Joe, on
the other hand...well, Joe had Gomamon and Agumon, and he and Mimi seemed
pretty cozy lately.

She supposed she was jealous. A little. But if anyone deserved a break, it was
Joe. He'd always been there for them, and no matter how tough times got, he
always lived up to his responsibilities.

He'd been in his role longer than anyone else, too. Yeah, Tai had been the
leader for months, but most of them he wasn't even there, and they'd passed in
mere hours for him. Kari had only been with the team a week, but she sure made
the most of it.

Joe, on the other hand, had seen battle. He'd returned to the digiworld, only
to see the people he loved taken away from him. Months later, finally
destroying Puppetmon, he'd made a few more sacrifices, losing first Gatomon,
then Gabumon. Months had passed again, with no more losses. They'd bided their
time, waiting for an opportunity.

Puppetmon was a weakling. He got all his power from manipulating others. The
other Gennai Knights were stronger, and the Digidestined were slimming in the
ranks by comparison.

She stood, realizing she was the only one awake. It was the perfect time for
some privacy; if she was careful, MetalSeadramon had a whole kingdom of water
perfect for a nice bath--practically right next door. Maybe it wasn't the
safest thing in the world, but it'd feel great.

She tiptoed silently out of the cave they'd camped in for the night. It sat in
the side of a rocky cliff, conveniently located right by the beach. It almost
reminded her of those times as a little girl, when her mom and her would draw
pictures in the sand. Grinning, she dropped to one knee, eager to re-experience
the juvenile activity.

Then she noticed that someone had already beaten her to it.

Going on my own to fight the Gennai Knights. Maybe I can find a way to stop
them without getting all of you involved. At least then, I won't have any more
blood on my hands.
--Kido Joe

Sora's face paled. This wasn't the first time he'd done this; there was
that time back on File Island. He'd tried to climb Infinity Mountain on his
own, and almost been slain at the hands of Unimon. But that time, he'd had
Gomamon with him; this time, the little aquatic digimon was snoozing away,
oblivious to the potential danger his friend could be in.


This was serious. Much as she'd otherwise have hated the thought, she just _had_
to wake the others.

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

Joe coughed up water. He never was too big on swimming; the whole thing with
T.K. in the Harbor had been pretty good, by his standards. But he was
determined he'd do this, and he couldn't take on MetalSeadramon if he was
afraid of a little water.

His plan seemed simple: since he was the new bearer of the crest of Light, he
must be able to use it; he was following it's true intent, and
sacrificing for the greater good. Once that happened, a miracle would
occur, and the giant water-snake would die. Wizardmon's sacrifice had
spawned Angewomon, and Kari's had brought on WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.

Okay, so technically Wizardmon wasn't the bearer of Light; but he'd had it for
a while, and acted in the spirit of it.

With MetalSeadramon gone, the waters would recede, like the forest had. They'd
end up at Gennai's house, and flood it, or maybe even carry it off in a
typhoon. With Darth Gennai out of the picture, it'd be easy for the others to
deal with Piedmon and Machinedramon; they still had Agumon to work with, after
all.

His crest shone with white brilliance. He wasn't sure which crest; maybe it was
all of them, but it was at least one.

Maybe they were agreeing with his decision to sacrifice himself. Or
disagreeing, for that matter.

Waita minute--crests couldn't agree or disagree; they were just carvings on
little pieces of... whatever. Something was definitely going wrong here.

Before long, the light consumed him. Moments later it was gone. And so was Joe.

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

"Guys, look!" Sora called, perched on Birdramon's back. "Down
there!"

The others, floating along courtesy of the Marching Fishes, looked ahead to
where she pointed. It was Joe, coughing and sputtering along as he paddled.

They tried to get close, but a fierce light stabbed out in a huge burst. No
matter what, there was just too much light...

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

Joe opened his eyes, and blinked. Wherever he was, it wasn't in
MetalSeadramon's domain.

He sat up from his horizontal position, trying for a better glimpse of his
surroundings. It revealed nothing. As far as the eye could see, there was only
oblivion.

Am I dead? Did the Crest kill me, to stop me from making a mistake? And if I
am dead...

Then where's T.K.?

He looked around, hoping to see his "brother". He didn't see
anything. ANYTHING. He was floating in an empty void, an endless expanse of
nothingness.


No, not empty. Sora was there. And Izzy, and Mimi, and all the Digimon. The
digidestined: Earth's last hope.

But if we are dead...

He didn't want to think about it. He tucked his knees, unmoving, and waited.

For some reason, this all felt very familiar.

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

Mimi stirred. She wasn't ready to wake up, but it was cold. She reached to pull
the blanket around her more tightly, but couldn't find it. She reached again;
nothing. She opened her eyes.

Nothing.

She saw the others lying around, likewise sleeping.

"Hey, guys!" She called, "Wake up!"

Everyone rose, groggily. Well, everyone but Joe. His body lie still,
unmoving.

Why wasn't he getting up? Of course! Hadn't he gone looking for a miracle?
Wasn't he planning on sacrificing himself for it? Oh god, let it not be
true. Not Joe. Let Joe have failed. If
he'd succeeded...

Then the Digidestined were down yet another leader.

She heard someone, Sora, speak, "Where are we?"

"It's the Spirit World, again!" Izzy declared, standing. "She
must've
brought us back, somehow."

"You are correct." an ominous voice announced. It echoed
off...something...almost masking the weakened edge in itself.

Almost.

"You're hurt!" Mimi declared, running to help, but having no where to
run to. "Can we help you?"

"I'll be all right." the spirit replied, "I'm just a little
weak. It took a lot of my strength to bring you here; I don't think I could
ever manage to
another time."

"Then we'll make the most of this one chance we have." Joe declared,
rising and joining the group. His sudden reappearance prompted a gasp from the
collective, and a hug from Mimi.

"I'm sorry, spirit." Izzy politely asked, once the rejoicing had
calmed, "But last time we were here you took the form of Kari. It's a
little
unsettling not having some focus to talk to."

Misty tendrils extended from the light, spiraling and condensing as they took
form. When they finished, a young girl appeared, though not Kari. She must've
been about 12 in appearance, with scarlet eyes glowing in intensity. Her black
hair flowed back from her scalp, ending just below her shoulders. Joe was at a
loss--until Mimi poked him in the ribs.

"Is this better?" she asked.

"Yeah." Izzy choked. "Much better."

"Good." the spirit agreed, in a no-nonsense tone. "I'm sure you
all want to know what's been happening, so I won't bother asking. Our time is
short. As you know, I am one of a group of spiritual beings who control the
balance of darkness and light in the digital world. Gennai used to be one of
us, but he was corrupted. My only way of repairing the imbalance was to ally
myself with you, much to his displeasure. I've been safe so far; his recent
digivolution prevents him from accessing my world, so he taunts me from behind
the sidelines by making the Digiworld dark and morbid. It's working; the light
is suffering badly.


"We do not know what brought about Gennai's conversion, but we have our
theories. Predominant among them, takes us back to Piedmon's unexpected
intrusion into our physical lab, where we raised the digi eggs."

She gestured, and the attack replayed itself before their eyes. Mecha's
attacked Ancients, and Piedmon shattered the glass casing for the digieggs. A
young Gennai leaped into action, reclaiming the eggs to take to safety. The
image froze.

"Here, is what we believe may have brought about the change." the
spirit explained, "When Gennai saved the digi eggs, Piedmon inserted a device
into Gennai. We thought nothing of it at the time, since it revealed no
purpose. We believe the device may have been a tool of Piedmon's, with which he
hoped to tap Gennai's spirit energy for his own purposes.

"Gennai aged. We spirits cannot age, be he did. His power was being drawn
away, taken by Piedmon. Piedmon stored up his powerhouse, until he finally had
enough to construct Spiral Mountain. At it's foot, Gennai provided all the
energy the Dark Masters could ever need. They conquered, and they prevailed.

"In other universes, Gennai met with you, and was reinforced by it. But
given the incidents in this one, his excommunication from you prevented that
from happening any more. Between that and the increased time difference, he
began to warp, until he began to take on characteristics of the very digital
world he was powering. He was dying, and taking on a mortal form to do so.


"Then, he made one last desperate grab for life. Taking advantage of his
newfound body, he tapped the digivolution energy, hoping to replenish the
natural energies within himself. He failed, and the results are as you have
seen."

"How can we defeat him?" Joe asked, grimly looking for a solution.

"The answers are unknown." the spirit replied. "In any number of
worlds, this never happened. This is the only one where it did. I have no
knowledge of his defeat to tap; only the knowledge of myself."

"Surely, you must have some ideas." Izzy prompted. "Anything
would be a start."

"I have none." she conceded, "And if I get any later, I have no
way of
getting you back here to hear them."

"Then come with us." Mimi blurted. "You'd be more than
welcome."

"Unfortunately, we spirits cannot take sides in this war."

"Darth Gennai did." Sora reasoned. "And if you're supposed to
maintain a balance, shouldn't someone commit themself to balancing the
instability?"

The spirit mulled that one over. Break the time-honored codes of the spirits to
help out a mortal? It was practically unheard of; hell, it _was_ unheard of.
But corrupted digivolutions of spirits were heard of even less, and it'd
happened. Something _did_ have to be done.

"Alright." she agreed. "I'll do it."

Everyone gave a loud cheer of joy. "Look out Gennai!" Gomamon
declared, "'Cause here we come!"





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





"The spirit taking a mortal form?" Koushiro asked,
intrigued. "I must honestly admit,
the very idea of such occurrences hadn't crossed my mind."



"You talk too much, Koushiro." Daisuke
intruded. "What I wanna know is,
how's this gonna affect the Digidestined as a whole?"



"Isn't it obvious?" Joe asked. "The girl you see traveling with me is
the result of such a transformation.
She is the Kami, the spirit."



"And we're all thrilled to hear it." Digmon added,
ear to the ground. "But the
cave-ins won't hold of the Kaizer forever; he's already set a tunneling team to
work trying to find us. I don't know
how long I can keep them guessing."



"Then I'll make haste." Joe agreed. "After all, we can't have him dropping
in and getting in our way, can we?"





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



"If Only…"

PART FIVE

Release Date: 12.24.00



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



"Any last questions?" the spirit asked. "Once
I leave the spirit world, I
won't be coming back. I'll be exiled in your world, stuck in mortal form.
Much like Gennai."

"If that's the case," Izzy noted, "It would be to our advantage
to
assimilate as much information as we can before we depart."

"Not too much." Joe cautioned, "The more time we spend in here,
the less
time we spend out there, doing what we need to."

"Is that true?" Sora asked. The spirit nodded.

"But you can control the flow of time!" Mimi protested, "You
brought us here
out of no where! Don't those kind of powers amount to anything?"

"I have the capabilities you've just mentioned, yes." the spirit
agreed,
"But they require an enormous amount of strength. Were there any more of
you in your group, I would not have been able to bring you here this time.
I mourn your losses, but it would seem that fate is not without a sense of
irony."

There was a brief pause, where no one dared speak. They all had loved ones
they missed, but it'd never occurred to any of them that anything good could
be salvaged from those deaths. Even such a minor victory was perplexing.

"So, ask me anything of which you desire." the spirit prompted,
"Once we're
gone, I will have only my own memories with which to inform us."

"How do we beat the remaining Gennai Knights?" Joe asked,
straightforwardly.

"In other worlds," the spirit confessed, "Metal Seadramon and
Machinedramon
were both slain by WarGreymon. His arsenal are classified as 'Dra-mon
Destroyers,' and can tear through either of them like a hot knife through
butter. Puppetmon, whom you've already defeated, died at the hands of
MetalGarurumon. Piedmon, on the other hand, was destroyed by one of the
resources you no longer possess."

"That brings up another question." Izzy realized, "How did
Gabumon
digivolve? We didn't have a child or a crest that he'd been linked to."

"Joe's light fueled the transformation, much as it helped in my bringing
you
here." the spirit revealed. "When he felt concern over Gabumon's
well-being, his light shone so brilliantly that it manifested itself in
digivolving energy."

"What're we missing that we'd need against Piedmon? Is there anyone we
could substitute out instead?" Joe asked.

"Angemon is long gone, and even a Mega Digimon is nothing when compared to

his Ultimate form. It was Magna Angemon that vanquished Piedmon, and none
of the other digimon in your possession would be able to accomplish that."

"So, what you're saying is," Sora confirmed, "there's no way we
can win?"

"No." the spirit amended. "What I'm saying is, despite the
extreme
resources at my disposal, I can't figure out _how_ you could win."

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

"Have you Do you have a name?" Joe asked, unexpectedly. They were
back in the
Digi-world again, walking along a beach in MetalSeadramon's territory.
Gomamon splashed in the water, causing mischief for those he knew would
never follow him less they themselves be soaked. Joe had hung behind,
making sure he could keep an eye on his myriad charges. He'd been so
attentive, the question caught the one-time spirit off guard.

"Pardon?" she asked. Brushing a strand of stray hair from her eyes.

"Do you have a name?" Joe repeated. "I mean, it seems kinda
silly to keep
calling you 'spirit,' seeing as you're a human now."

"I am _not_ a human." she protested, her eyes flickering from red to
a glowing-red,
as if to emphasize her point. The resulting glow reflected off her porcelain
cheeks,
spreading the flow of agitation. Even her long black hair seemed a little on
the
crimson side.

"Really?" Joe pondered, "Then what are you?"

She paused. What indeed? She wasn't a spirit; she had a few minor powers
left, but she was bound to this mortal body. She could never rejoin her
people; she'd be exiled for all eternity for her sacrifice.

"I'm not sure, exactly." she admitted, "And no, I don't have a
name."

"Then what should we call you?" Joe pressed.

"I don't know." she declared, "Why don't you tell me?"

"Let me think for a moment." Joe replied. After a brief pause, he had
his
answer: "Kami Kamiya. Kami for spirit, because that's really what you are.

Kamiya in honor of the leaders that've passed before me, Kari and Tai."

Kami smiled. "I like it."

"I thought you might." Joe agreed.

"Uh, guys?" Gomamon asked. "I hate to cut in like this, but
we've got
company."

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

Side by side, five human and four digimon shapes stood defiantly by the
crashing waves. Metal Seadramon surged towards them, his wake increasing
the movements of the tide. When he was close enough, Joe gave the order.

"Agumon, Gomamon. Digivolve."

The two followed the command wordlessly, save for the obligatory annunciation
of names. In almost no time at all, their forms were replaced by Zudomon
and WarGreymon.

"Now, Zudomon, attack, and keep Metal Seadramon busy. That armor's Chrome
digizoid, but Metal Etemon showed us that's no match for your hammer.
WarGreymon, get ready for an attack on your own, but don't move unless you
know you can do some damage."

"Some damage?" WarGreymon laughed. "With these Dra-mon
Destroyers, he'll be
lucky to get away with only _some_ damage."

"Let's hope so. But don't get cocky."

"You pitiful digidestined think you can defeat me?" Metal Seadramon
taunted.
"I'll save you the humiliation and kill you all now--a very merciful
decision after your insult against me and my Master."

"Go ahead and try, Tin-Worm." Zudomon jeered. "But first, you'll
have to
get through me."

"Gladly." 'Tin-Worm' obliged. "River of Power!"

A Mega Digimon versus an Ultimate Digimon. Metal Seadramon had the power to
rip nearly any opponent apart, and Zudomon was no exception. Should the
blast have hit the War Turtle head-on, he'd not be standing there anymore;
at least not in the same form. Zudomon never had a chance.

Which is why, perhaps, he dodged.

The blast seared by harmlessly, impacting on the coastline. Sprays of sand
and gravel flew everywhere, hammering the beach-side occupants.

Joe coughed, "Everyone okay?"

"No!" Biyomon exclaimed. "Sora!"

Joe followed the gesturing wings, and saw that the helmet-headed girl had
been dragged into the water, and forced along by the current. Biyomon
followed for all she was worth, but could not find it within herself to
digivolve.

"Palmon," Joe ordered, "Digivolve and help Biyomon."

"No," Kami overrode countermanded. "Everyone must focus on the
battle. Let
Biyomon help her friend, but should all of our reserves leave, we may find
ourselves powerless against our foe."

"But Sora--"

"Sacrifices must be made," Kami declared. "In everything you've
done, it's
not been without price. This is no different. Biyomon must follow the
child because she is useless without her. Palmon must stay because she is
of help."

"How can you say that?" Mimi argued. "Sora would've risked her
life for any
of us."

"Yes, and you'd all mourn her loss," Kami replied. "But the fact
of the
matter is, Palmon is needed here, and without Sora present, Biyomon
isn't."

"Then let me go." Izzy said, squinting to still see the girl rapidly
retreating
from visible range. "I might be able to help."

"Do, and you'll just be throwing your own life away."

"Joe," Mimi asked, "you're not just going to let her break us
apart, are
you?"

Joe sighed. What could he do? He hated losing his people; it'd been all
that haunted him since that first night when he'd lost T.K. But the thought
of leaving the evil that was responsible for the disappearances was
unthinkable.

And what of the retreat? They were sure to lose someone there. Didn't
Angemon and Salamon both die because of retreats? Weren't T.K. and
Tentomon missing after another such encounter? No, Metal Seadramon wouldn't
back off, and either way there'd be casualties.

If only he could live with his decision.

"We stay." he forced out, much to the others' discomfort. "Metal
Seadramon
_has_ to go. Kami's right; we have our path, and they have theirs. God
help us all if they're the wrong ones."

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

Night, Palmon decided, was the worst time of all.

They'd all grudgingly followed Kami's plan, and it was now hours later.
Metal Seadramon took a few too many hits from a hammer, and WarGreymon found
the opening he needed to blast the worm into Digi-dust. It was now later,
in Full Metal City, that they'd all taken the time to rest.

They'd searched for hours. Everyone had hoped to find Sora, but none did.
Had the waters remained, they'd at least have had some idea, but with the
reconfigurations of Spiral Mountain, Sora was lost, without a trace. And
Biyomon with her.

And she hadn't been able to go; that's what really bugged her. Joe had kept
her on hand as a back-up, but she'd never been put to use. All that time she'd
wasted at the sidelines, she could've spent saving Sora's life. Instead, Sora
was gone forever.

They'd been sitting in the dark, in an empty garage, ever since their
haphazard discovery of it. Slinking around the alleys of Machinedramon's
territory for what seemed forever, it'd seemed like the perfect place to stop
and break camp.

There was no light in the garage. The windows were boarded up, admitting
nothing light within, but no one dared turn any on, for fear of attracting
attention. Agumon and Gomamon snoozed exhausted away, Izzy joining them,
as his computer might've also gotten some unwanted company. Kami stayed
alone, unsleeping, but unmoving.

Creepy little kid. Did spirit-children even need any sleep at all?

Looking up, Palmon noted the other two members of the party. Joe and Mimi
stood at odds, locked in debate.

"You had no right to make that decision!" Mimi declared. "Sora
is gone,
thanks to our inactions."

"And who would've gone after her?" Joe snapped back. "We're
underhanded as
it is, and what personnel we _did_ have were needed. Kami was right, and you
just won't admit it."

"No, Joe," Mimi disagreed. "What I refuse to admit, is complete
loyalty to
a ruthless commander. Whatever happened to the boy who cried after he
watched the boy he called 'brother' be taken from him?"

"I'm still me." Joe replied. "But this past year has been
hectic. We've
been on the run non-stop, with danger at every turn. Who's to say Metal
Seadramon wouldn't have gotten the rest of us if we didn't destroy him when
we had the chance?"

"Who's to say he would?"

"We can't be sure," Joe pointed out. "Which is exactly why
someone had to
make a call. I did, and we've suffered the consequences. I don't like
Sora's being gone any more than you do, but I like even less the idea of any
other needless losses."

"Sora's dead, and all because we didn't do anything. You don't call that a

needless loss?" Mimi exclaimed. "Well, Mr. Kido, I hope you can live
with
yourself for this."

Yes, Mimi. Joe thought, wordlessly. I hope I can too. But even
though I don't like Sora's loss in any way, I'd hate it even more if I had
to lose you…





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





"Aww, how sweet." Hikari sighed, longingly. "You mean you really loved her that
much?"



"I thought I did." Joe corrected, rather
abruptly. "It was obviously just a
psychological reaction under extreme circumstances, which lead to--"



"Joe, you're rationalizing." Miyako observed. "It's okay for you to love someone,
even natural."



"Yeah." Hikari agreed. "Just because you're the leader, doesn't mean you have to
cut yourself off from the others."



"Just look at Hikari and me!" Daisuke inserted
eagerly, receiving more than a few stares.



"Really?" Takeru chuckled. "And who loves who there? Or, for that matter, which one of you is the
leader? Last I'd heard, we hadn't
decided on one."



"Well, I...er...that is to say..."



"I thought so."



"We're getting off topic." Joe urged. "I'll cut out parts where I can; I'm
pretty sure Digmon doesn't want us holed up down here forever."





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



"If Only…"

PART SIX

Release Date: 1.03.01



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



Two years. It's been two years, and we're just as close to
beating Darth Gennai
as we ever were.

No, not just as close. After the first four months, we managed to destroy
Puppetmon, and after the first year, Metal Seadramon. But it's been another
year, and we're no closer to a solution.

I don't cry over T.K. much anymore, although it still comes back to haunt me
now
and again. Agumon doesn't much like losing Tai, but he's been with me much
longer than he'd been with his long-haired counterpart. I think Sora's
disappearance cut him deeper; she'd been there for him when Tai died, and she
seemed to be a major part of his stability. Izzy's actually pretty calm about
Tentomon, but it's gotta be hard on him to be the only human here without a
Digimon of his own.

Kami's a puzzle though, that's for sure. She's cold, indifferent, and ruthless,

yet she claims to be on our side. She's told me the whole story, back to Tai's
death, and let me see a few more perspectives. I'm glad for the extra help,
even if the source seems a little out of it. Together, she and Izzy helped us
put our finger down on a few theories.

Darth Gennai's Digi-world is divided into the sectors of Spiral Mountain. We've

already defeated Puppetmon, whose forest symbolized Gennai's dominance over
life, and Metal Seadramon, whose oceans symbolize isolation and control.
Piedmon governs a barren plain, representing darkness, and the source of
Gennai's power. Right now, we were in Machinedramon's cities, representing
technology and progress--towards Gennai's iron fist, no less.

Izzy decided, correctly as it turned out, that we couldn't be the only ones
left
fighting. There had to be someone else out there, whether they were actively
rebelling or just lying in wait. Metal Etemon's insurrectionists were proof
enough of that. Kami searched her internal database of other worlds, and
revealed to us the potential for a few allies in this realm. Andromon turned
out to be a dead end; he'd been caught, tortured, and disassembled while we
were
still in Etemon's boot camp.

The other lead turned out more fruitful. We took to the sewers, and managed to
find a little cavern ruled by the late Warumonzaemon. Metal Greymon dispatched
him, and we eagerly accepted the pledges of loyalty from the now-freed Numemon.

It was almost Etemon's camp all over again, except this time we were in charge,

we made the decisions, and our personnel were eager, as opposed to the lazy
rookies who'd found disappointment in the way Puppetmon had bossed them around.
Before long, we'd gone back into organized duty rosters. Except Machinedramon
didn't use as many flunkies, so fight training became null and void. Mostly.

Of course, with Mimi around, the Numemon fought over her a lot anyways. Some
things never change.

We didn't really need the Numemon to fight our battles. Thanks to Kami, we knew

WarGreymon was enough to take on Machinedramon. Of course, thanks to her,
Gennai knew we knew.

He'd've had to realize it at some point. He controlled, blocked, or had
eliminated all portals to this world. Therefore, the only way anyone could get
in was the same way he'd gotten in. And Kami's mysterious appearance must've
qualified in that category; after all, he was right.

Machinedramon was in danger, but Piedmon was not. As long as the latter could
give aid to the former, Gennai didn't need to worry about losing either.
Piedmon was assigned guard detail to Machinedramon; even if we did manage to
kill one, we'd die at the hands of the other. Preparations were being made to
merge the two realms, but we'd been working our hardest to delay them. We were
fighting a losing battle, but a battle nonetheless.

There are seven of us now. Three humans, three digimon, and one adolescent
spirit-woman. We've had four confirmed deaths among our ranks, with eight more
missing in action, and they presumed dead. No way could they have survived, but

we didn't have the heart to count them out completely until we'd seen their
remains personally. Since dead digimon do not leave corpses, three of them may
never be confirmed.

Whatever the number, sixteen or seven, we'll fight on as we always have. We'll
fight, because we must. And because we can't afford not to.

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

With a thunderous crash, Machinedramon broke through the base's perimeter. The
newly-developed doorway crumbled around him, strewing rubble about. The Numemon

swarmed him, but were unable to destroy him. They shattered into digidust,
joining their reformatted brethren from years past.

"Agumon, Digivolve!" Joe ordered. "We've gotta get everyone out
of here!"

"No, don't!" Izzy argued. "I'll take care of things here; you
guys leave."

"Take care of things?" Joe asked. "I hate to sound rude, but you
don't even
have a digimon anymore. What can you do?"

"Please, Joe, don't insult my intelligence." Izzy replied. "Such
an occurrence
has not gone unanticipated. I've set up a few countermeasures of my own in case

of emergency, and I'd like to be able to know they worked."

"But--"

"Please, Joe." Izzy begged. "We've been found out, and we'll be
on the run from
now on. This is the only chance I'll ever have to be of use. Don't take that
away from me."

Joe scratched his chin in thought, making light note of the stubble he was
beginning to bear. He hated to see a year without losses be interrupted this
way, but it was either Izzy now, or WarGreymon at the hands of Piedmon; with
Machinedramon here, the Mega-level clown couldn't be too far off.

He sighed. "Do what you want, Izzy." he surrendered. "It's been
great knowing
you the past few years."

"Thank you." Izzy replied. "The honor was mine, as well."

Joe lead the others in a retreat, keeping an eye on the others, he and Agumon
guarding the flank. He didn't know what Izzy had prepared back there, but if
the metal door that fell closed behind them was any indication, he knew that
his
computer-hacking friend had been busy.

He'd sure miss the guy. Things wouldn't be the same without him.

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

The digidestined trekked together through the myriad streets of the dark
city-streets of Gennai's domain. They'd escaped Machinedramon's clutches, but
lost all their allies in the process. Three kids and three mons, they'd been
unable to stop the inevitable merge of the two regions, and now found
themselves
in the uncomfortable position of trying to stop an impossible menace.

Just your average day in the life of the digidestined.

It'd been another two months, and no word had been heard of Izzy. They'd all
hoped he'd managed to escape, but if it'd happened, they hadn't seen any
evidence of such.

The old Joe would have cried. He'd've collapsed under his own sorrows, and
become inept. And he'd've remained so, until his undying sense of
responsibility forced him to retake his role as the leader of the digidestined.
The old Joe would rather die than forgive the sacrifice of one of his charges.
But the old Joe no longer remained.

The new Joe, warped by the extended responsibilities thrust upon him, had
learned to cope. He found himself ruthless; reducing decisions from
humanitarian decisions to strategic value. His mission was to save the
Digi-world, no matter what the cost, and he'd be damned before he let anything
stand in his way.

And the new Joe had decided that waiting any longer meant something more in the

way.

"Guys." he declared, breaking the silence. The old Joe would've
paused to note
that the term wasn't entirely appropriate; there were no other 'guys' in his
company, only girls and 'mons. "We've got to do something. We've been
running
long enough. Now it's time to take care of Machinedramon, and with any luck,
Piedmon. Any ideas?"

There were none. Such a decision did not come by much surprise to any of them,
but the timing did.

Joe sighed. In absence of their resident genius-and-strategist, he'd forced
himself into another role by making a few observations. Hopefully one of them
would prompt some sort of response.

"When we killed Metal Seadramon and Puppetmon, their sectors receded from
Spiral Mountain, although where to is anyone's best guess. Machinedramon was
linked to the cities and Piedmon to the wastelands. They've merged now, and who

knows what might happen when one of them takes the fall."

Nothing.

"We have the means to destroy Machinedramon with us, and we know it'll
work,
courtesy of Kami. Unfortunately, we have no idea how to handle Piedmon. Both
are still out there, and just maybe killing one of them doesn't mean being
killed by the other."

Still nothing.

"Maybe we can get Machinedramon yet. If we plan things right, we just
might be
able to hit-and-run, do some carnage, and get out before his clown-buddy
decides
to show up."

If Joe planned to say more, he wasn't given the opportunity to. A building
nearby shattered into pieces, sending burning rubble everywhere. Joe turned
unwavering, and looked the towering instigator in the eye.

Speak of the devil.

Machinedramon laughed at the utter defiance of the moment. Then, as if
insisting on tormenting the poor man before him, he began targeting his arsenal

at the adversary's digimon.

Gomamon gulped nervously, but didn't move. If Joe could stand tough, he could
too; he had every faith in his partner's judgment and capabilities.

"Agumon," Joe announced, repeating the now-ambiguous phrase,
"Digivolve."

Machinedramon laughed again, with a sound that made Joe's blood run cold.

But even colder was Agumon's reply: "I can't, Joe! Something's stopping
me!"

And stone-faced Joe adopted a look of pure horror as he swiveled his neck to
warn Gomamon. The seal-like digimon wore an equally shocked expression, even
after the inevitable words were called from above.

"Giga Cannon!"





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





"He couldn't digivolve?" Iori asked. "Does that mean there were Dark Rings
and Control Spires in your world too?"



"I'm not sure." Joe admitted. "That was, variably, one of the factors
we'd considered in choosing your world to travel to. You'd dealt with similar forces, and might be able to offer
advice in similar respects."



"One of the factors?" Koushiro asked, raising an eyebrow. If Joe had meant to keep something, his
bluff had been called.



"Well, yeah."
Joe stumbled, blushing.
"Admittedly, this was also the only world we had any idea's
about."



"Going back on track," Iori added, "You're
not sure your world had spires and rings?"



"I don't remember anything about rings," Joe
admitted, "Although I've come to understand those spires are a means of
powering and supporting the will of the Black Digivice."



Iori nodded.



"Well, we, or at least I, believe," Joe explained,
"That the forces that corrupted Gennai and those that forged the Black
Digivice are one and the same. Your
Kaizer here needed the Control Spires to extend his domain, but Gennai didn't. Instead, he had the immeasurable power that
comes from digivolution the equivalent of beyond-Mega."



Everyone gulped that one down, realizing what a severe
situation this Joe was in. Lives were
lives, numbers were numbers, and neither would affect them personally. But a being stronger than anything they'd
faced before, living in a world from where it'd been proven possible to
traverse into others; this was severe indeed.



Game faces on, everyone shut up, no one joked. Koushiro, ever the eternal strategist,
observed the scenario. "You're
down to five members, including Kami, and only two of them are digimon. Somehow, you've managed to conjure up this
other digimon you've got with you, and somehow, you've left your world to visit
ours. How'd all this happen?"



"The story shall unfold as it will." Kami
cautioned. "It is almost over, and
would be to your best advantage to hear it out."



"We're here to ask for your help." Joe added. "True, we've got a few more tricks left
to be revealed, but they're not enough.
With you by our sides, there would be any more sacrifices. I won't have to worry about losing anyone
else, like I've already lost Gomamon..."





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



"If Only…"

PART SEVEN

Release Date: 1.08.01



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



For quite easily the first time in over a year, Joe Kido let
himself cry. He
didn't care about anything anymore--didn't care about the digiworld, didn't
care
about putting on a brave face for the others, didn't care about being a strong
leader. He'd made a lot of sacrifices the past two years, and somehow he'd
gotten over each of them. But dammit, this was _Gomamon_.

Hot, salty tears stung his cheeks, tracing damp trails to his chin. What was
he? Who had he become? Had he condemned himself, reducing himself to a
ruthless monster? A betrayer of friends?

He'd lost Sora that way. Her and Biyomon. Izzy too. They'd all been
sacrificed for the greater good. But who was he to say what the greater good
was? He'd even gambled with Gomamon's life, planning on WarGreymon to swoop in
for the rescue.

It was all because of Kami. Who was she to waltz right on in and start warping
him like this? Claiming to fight for goodness; for light. "The light
represents the good in the world," she'd said.

Light was about sacrificing for the greater good. If he was really so noble,
he'd be the one that'd died, not them. It would've been the honorable thing to
do. But he hadn't, and Gomamon was gone.

He'd lost eight of his men; four since Kami had joined and he'd taken up his
new
philosophy. Four lives needlessly wasted, and only five left to go. Five
defenders, three human two digimon, against everything Darth Gennai had to throw

against them.

Joe never remembered feeling so helpless in his life.

He surveyed the group. Kami, his betrayer, yet in such dire circumstances, a
vital component towards any possible victory. Agumon, the digimon who'd been
helplessly thrust into this situation, passed from one master to another, only
to be used solely as a weapon, and not a living being. Palmon, the little
leaf-girl who couldn't, forced to stand by uselessly by while the first of the
sacrifices washed right by.

And Mimi, the girl to which you had confessed, perhaps immaturely, his love.

Even as it was now, nearly two years later, he remembered that one night at
Etemon's camp. How they'd shared their little heart-to-heart, how she'd blurted
out her own feelings towards him, and how he'd eagerly accepted them.

He could see things now, looking back, more clearly than they'd ever been. He'd

matured a lot during his stay here; thankfully, that maturity had finally
ceased
to arrive at the expense of compassion. But he also knew being Reliable meant
taking responsibility for his thoughts, actions, and emotions. And if that
meant
taking responsibility for a few premature notions between two scared, young
children trying to hide it all in the grown-up game of love, he'd gladly accept

the decision, no regrets.

Funny how losing your best friend can change how you look at the world around
you.

Maybe when this was all over, he'd find it in his heart to admit it to her. He
couldn't now; couldn't risk half his active forces incapacitated by a broken
heart.

Not that they weren't incapacitated as it was now. Agumon's inability to
digivolve was no accident, and he had every intention to find out why.

"Kami," he asked. "Can you think of any reason for Agumon's
trouble back there?
Anything that might've been in the works back when you were still in your
world?"

"Nothing from back then," the girl admitted, searching memories of a
year
passed. "But I think I know how to find out now. Could you please give me
a
digivice--either yours or Kari's, if it's not trouble."

He handed her the latter, and the spirit-woman smiled at being reunited with
the
Digivice of the girl of Light.

Taking the machine between two fingers, she inspected it briefly. Then, wasting

no time, she closed her palm. When it re-opened, the digivice was gone.

"Hey!" Mimi protested, but Joe silenced her.

Kami seemed to glow with an energy not native to that of her own. The glow
spread, filling her with a warmth beyond anything Joe would ever know.
"I'm
absorbing the digivolving energy from the defunct machinery. Channeled
correctly, it could give us the intelligence we need." she explained. Joe
didn't even pretend to understand.

Kami's eyes closed, and an aura of intense blue brilliance lifted her from the
ground, crackling with energy as it flowed. When a high enough concentration of

the stuff had gathered, it transferred itself next to the girl, lowering her
back to ground level. The energy took form, revealing a display similar to they

one they'd used to watch Apocalymon's defeat in the other world.

A lifetime ago.

"I've used what I've got of my powers." she revealed. "I needed
the energy to
apply it first. Sadly, as much power as the Digivice holds, I could only put it

to use on one spell outside my natural world. In this case, we're watching a
far-seeing spell, looking at that same world you saw when I last used this
spell."

"Are you going to show us how to beat the dark masters, again?"
Palmon asked.

"That'd be pretty pointless, wouldn't it?" Kami chuckled. "No,
I'm showing you
what happened afterwards."

"How will that help us?" Agumon queried. "We're in no position
to worry about
any more worries, considering the worries we still have." he paused,
scratching
his head. "I'm confused!"

"Under all normal conditions, I'd be obliged to agree with you." Kami
granted,
"But as we've witnessed, this world by no means conforms to normal
conditions.
The fact of the matter is, we need information from other worlds, and I've only

the power to search one. This particular world was chosen because the spell's
familiarity with it allows for a longer duration of surveillance."

"Huh?" Agumon asked.

"We need to know something, and this way, we get to know the most."

"Oh..."

"Anyways, the world we see now, is plagued by a condition similar to that
of our
recent discoveries. The original digidestined have long-since left that world,
returning instead to their homes in their world. Another child, calling himself

the Digimon Kaizer, has risen to power, crushing all opposition under his iron
fist. He uses a Black Digivice, in conjunction with Dark Rings and Control
Spires, to enslave innocent digimon and prevent unauthorized
digivolution."

"So you think a similar device is preventing the digivolutions in our
world
too?" Joe queried.

"Exactly." Kami agreed, "The aforementioned devices are pure
darkness, much like
Piedmon's one-time domain and Darth Gennai himself. If they've managed to
harness their own darknesses, they could easilly duplicate the effect. As is,
it would appear they have."

"But how can we stand up to this anti-digivolving effect?" Mimi
asked. "If
Gennai wants us to fight with rookies, is there anything we can do to prove him

wrong?"

"There is indeed. In the other world, three Digi-eggs were just discovered
in
the past couple days. Once picked up by their digidestined owners, they
revealed three new digimon, each capable of a new form of digivolving known as
'Armor' Digivolving. These new evolutions circumvent the effects of the Black
Digivice, bypassing its suppression techniques it brings to bear. I believe
that, given the proper resources, I could do the same."

"What resources would you need?" Joe asked. "Ask, and it's
yours. We'll get
you the digimon, the raw materials, whatever."

"Actually, we have the only digimon I can imagine capable right here with
us."

"What?"

"Hear me out. In digivolution, there are two styles of transformation. The

first, an Upgrade, involved removing an entire program to make room for
another.
This is demonstrated in the shift from Palmon to Togemon, Togemon to Lillymon,
Agumon to Greymon--"

"Greymon to Metal Greymon, Agumon to War Greymon." Joe completed.

"No." Kami replied. "Those transformations are entirely
different. They are of
the second form, an Attribute. Attribute digivolutions involve adding a
secondary trait to a primary, such as Greymon's transformation to 'Metal' or
'War.' The block on digivolution blocks Upgrades, but not Attributes. The more
sophisticated 'Armor' digivolutions use Attribute digivolution as a means of
bringing about an Upgrade, but those had three years to be perfected. Given the

time constraints, I believe I could manage a 'Bypass' digivolution, tapping the

Attributes to bring about a shift in Agumon's rookie form."

"Tell me how." Joe commanded.

"For that, I will require your crests."

"All of them?" he asked, cautiously.

"All of then." she echoed. "Please, it's the only way."

He grudgingly surrendered the necklace-bound devices, and she accepted them.
She placed then together in one palm, closed it, and the palm began to glow.

She's trying to destroy us! Joe realized. She's draining our power
to enhance her own. Killing us off wasn't enough for her, and now she wants all

of our power too.

Before he could voice his fears, she re-opened her hand, and the tags were
still
there. Sort of.

"It's our very own Digi-egg." she explained. "Forged from the
four traits of
leadership you possess, it should be able to bring about a change in Agumon.
The added strength will allow us to defeat the remaining Knights, but it's
still
not enough against Gennai. I have one last trick left in me though: at the
expense of another Digivice, I believe I'll be able to take us _to_ that other
world, from which we can summon help."

"Will it really work?" Joe asked.

"If it doesn't, we can easily take another Digivice from one of that
world's
Digidestined and repeat the procedure to find another world." she said.
She
looked into Joe's skeptical eyes, and explained, "We really have no other
choice."

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

We can summon help, she says. We can go to another world, she says. We can
even continue our way onward if that doesn't work out, she says. All we have to

do is access the exit point of this world, located at the top of Spiral
Mountain.

All we have to do.

Machinedramon and Piedmon will no doubt be waiting for us up there, watching
from their telescope as we make our way upwards. We'll have the combat
advantage, but no element of surprise.

Which is why we'd better make this count.

They reached the top, and as expected, their foes were waiting. Joe gripped
the home-made Digi-egg in one hand, his knuckles white, praying that this work.

Nervously, he managed to squeak out, "Agumon, Digivolve."

Agumon glowed bright orange, and entered his way into the new Digivolution
sequence.


"Agumon, Bypass-Digivolve to..."

"Light!" Agumon's foot smoothed and unsmoothed, transferring from the
stubby
dinosaur legs to other still-stubby dinosaur legs. The new set sported shin
guards, strongly reminiscent of those he'd worn as WarGreymon. He realized the
other leg had reacted similarly.

"Hope!" Agumon's arm disappeared, scattering out into oblivion. He
was a little
concerned, but before he could react, a new one appeared, snapping into place.
The new one had metallic wrist-bands, shimmering with a polished appearance.
Gripped in his claws, he held a larger set of claws, but still smaller than
those of WarGreymon. He smiled; this new form sported Dra-mon destroyers too.

"Courage!" his chest shimmered, and faint outlines of breast-plating
armor came
into view. Outlines gave way to the real thing, and the plates were soon bound
together by the red cords WarGreymon had had. They weighed down on his
shoulders, but did not drag him down. What a sight that'd be, defeated by his
own defenses.

He could sense the transformation was almost complete. Save for his head, he
was the spitting image of a pint-sized WarGreymon. And speaking of which...

"Reliability!" he couldn't see what happened. All he knew was that
once his
eyes were there, then they still were. But everything changed; he viewed the
world through a green tint, tactical data streaming forth in red lettering,
highlighting everything he saw. Short of an Identify Friend/Foe system, he was
a one-man army. No wait, there it was...

He struck a dramatic pose, expecting the procedure to be complete. The emblems
of the traits he'd declared spiraled around him, glowing brilliantly. They
brightened, and he found himself squinting to stop himself from going blind.
The emblems seemed to mesh, until the light was so bright he couldn't keep his
eyes open any longer.

"HONOR!" he declared, though not by conscious thought. It was like
everything
so far was a prelude to this comment. Finally, he opened his eyes, to find the
metallic gloss of his armor gone. This final phase had served his purpose,
coloring him to fade into shadows, and provide stealthier design. It has served
it well.

The process was complete, for real this time. He needed only to declare his new

name.

"WAR AGUMON!!!"

"WarAgumon!" Joe called, "Are you ready?"

He grinned ear-to-ear. It wasn't easy; his face felt like lead; but then,
Digi-chomizoid usually did. He replied to his partner and friend.

"Let's do it."

Piedmon snickered at the mini-mecha before him, but Machinedramon eyed those
claws warily. Greymon or Agumon, Dra-mon Destroyers were still Dra-mon
Destroyers. After a slow, analytical approach, he deemed it safe and charged.

His loss.

Without warning, WarAgumon raised one claw, pointed it forward, and _fired_.
The weapon left his arm, blasting forwards with tremendous speed. The metal paw

pierced Machinedramon's torso, punching entirely through. The mecha was gone in

an instant.

"Hey, Joe!" he called, excitedly. "I can use my attacks without
saying
anything!" he realized. His hand returned to his wrist, and Piedmon took a
step
back as WarAgumon raised it again, threateningly.

"Then say something to this!" Piedmon challenged. "Trump
Sword!"

The daggers flew forth, maneuvering directly towards WarAgumon. Without so much

as a flinch, WarAgumon returned fire, a Terra Force-esque burst of blue
lightning catching the blades mid-air and eradicating them.

"Give it up, Piedmon." he ordered, cocky, "You days of
terrorizing the Digiworld
are over. No way can you defeat me."

"Defeat you?" a familiar, sinister voice asked. "Don't mind if I
do."

Darth Gennai; there was no one else it could be. No one else had the power to
get here so fast, nor the ego to make such a claim in the face of such
adversity. At least, if there was anyone else, WarAgumon would've hated to meet

them.

"Joe!" Mimi yelled. "Take WarAgumon and Kami and get out of
here."

"What?" Joe asked. "Are you crazy?!?"

"The mission!" she insisted. "It's the only way. Please, Joe.
Let me do this."

"No!" he refused. "We're all gonna make it out of this; you were
right. I had
no business giving up on Sora, and I'm not giving up on you."

"Joe, you baka!" she replied. "You don't even get it. You were
right all
along. Sacrifices had to be made. Everyone knew what they were getting into
when we first came back to the digiworld. They'd've all told you themselves if
they could: they all made sacrifices they were willing to make. Maybe they
weren't the smartest decisions on your part, but they were steps in the right
direction, and they were steps we were willing to take. They made their
sacrifices, so please, let me make mine."

"But Mimi--"

"Kami, prep the portal." Mimi interrupted, ignoring him.

"Mimi, just listen!" Joe replied. "I'm not leaving without you,
or anyone.
Not this time."

"Then no one's leaving, and the mission has already failed." Mimi
said.

Joe opened his mouth in rebuttal, but found the words ripped from his lungs as
WarAgumon was flung through the air, landing next to him, and de-digivolving
back to Agumon. A crater remained where the combatant had once stood.

"Agumon!" he cried, concerned.

Piedmon let loose a volley of daggers in response to Gennai's attack, but
Palmon
batted them away with Ivy vines. Barely.

"Go, Joe!" Mimi ordered to the one-time commander, who lay cradling
his
digimon. He nodded wordlessly, and rose to a crouch.

"The portal is open." Kami added, completing the task. Joe stood the
rest of
the way, standing next to the spirit-girl. He looked at his friend in his arms,

who in turn groaned.

"You think you can manage another digivolve, buddy?" he queried.
"We've got no
idea what we'll see on the other side."

"I'll try." he moaned. Without warning, orange faded to black, and he
was
WarAgumon again. He coughed, "I guess I can digivolve without talking
too." A
weak grin.

"Get outta here!" Mimi echoed once more. "Please, whatever you
do, make it out
of here. Come back, and bring help. Save this world."

"I will." Joe replied, confidently. He stepped into the vortex.

"I love you!" Mimi called, as he left.

Poor girl. Joe thought. She still doesn't know...

He had no time to think of anything else. His skin tingled with the flow of
spirit-energy, as the warp pulled him in.





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





"...and here I am now." Joe concluded.



"And not a moment too soon!" Digmon added. "Because here Ken is too!"



The cavern ceiling gave way, as the Digimon Kaizer made his
grand entrance. He himself merely
circled the skies overhead, riding his trademarked Airdramon. In the earth, however, a Drimogenmon lead
the way, as Dark Tyrannomon lined the crater mouth. It was an impressive display of force, and obviously not all
cards had been revealed as of yet.



Perhaps by chance, perhaps by intent, the Drimogenmon made
his move. A brief Iron Drill Spin
later, and the fury of his attacking might surged forwards.



And perhaps by chance, or perhaps something more, Joe took
the full force of the blow. Shatterred
earth flew in all directions, sending a dirt cloud to shield his demise from
the eyes of his newfound friends. They
couldn't see as the drill entered Joe's chest, shattering bone and piercing
organs as it passed through. The
resistance only encouraged the attack, gaining strength and energy as it went,
burning hotter than anything Joe had ever felt before. He knew he didn't stand a chance; there's be
no recovery. Ironic for a would-be
doctor.



He resisted the urge to wince, ignoring if not embracing the
pain. He finally knew how it felt; what
it was like to be one of the others he'd let down. What it was like to feel his very nervous system turned
inside-out by the strain it withstood.
The drill made a final exit wound, extracting itself from Joe's body
through his backside, fully impaling him.
It continued spinning, searing over Joe's body, even as Joe's eyes were
still glossing over in permanent defeat.
When the corpse was sufficiently mangled to suit the Kaizer's needs,
Drimogenmon allowed his drill to slow to a stop.



When the dust settled, all that remained was a charred
corpse. The late digidestined of
another world had lost their leader again.
Taichi, Hikari, and now Joe.



"JOE!" WarAgumon screamed, all discipline leaving
his body. Veins bulged in fury; here
was a Bypassed-Mega digimon, and he was pissed. Quite the force to be reckoned with.



"It would seem you interlopers aren't as invulnerable as you
may have thought." Ken sneered. He
ordered his servant, "Now dispose of the rest of them."



"Maybe in this world, Taichi and I were meant to
be." WarAgumon said to himself, as Drimogenmon readied himself for another
round, "But not in ours. We've
been through too much; three long years fighting the worst the digiworld had to
offer. We were alive, we survived, and
we thrived. But YOU had to end
that. YOU had to end THREE YEARS of
friendship!



"I did NOT come here to be beaten by some half-hearted,
mindless fool who can't even maintain his own freedom from a tyrant. And I did
NOT come here to watch the best friend I've ever had die."



"Woah there, Agumon." Taichi cautioned. "Let's not get excited here."



"Oh, this isn't me being excited, Taichi."
WarAgumon replied. "This is me
cutting loose!"



WarAgumon relentlessly hurled his silent attacks, no
interest in aim, or preservation of life.
He'd lost his friend, his partner, and this was the third time it'd
happened. And this time, he was not
about to let it slide.



Drimogenmon never knew what hit him, drill still spinning as
he was overtaken and scattered into bits of data. Nor did the Dark Tyrannomon outside the cavern. In fact, it was only their initial deaths
that allowed fair warning for Ken to make an escape of his own, retreating into
the digital skyline.



"You may think you've won," Ken sneered as he left, "But
this is only the beginning! It won't be
long until I'm able to add that new friend of yours to my growing army of
slaves!"



The dark form of WarAgumon de-digivolved back into
Koromon. Completely spent, he couldn't
remember feeling this small and insecure.
It definitely hadn't been very recently.



"Why?" he sobbed, to no one in particular. "Why did he have to die?"



"It just sort of...happened." Kami soothed,
displaying possibly the most human emotion yet in the whole year she'd been
mortal. "No one means for these to
happen."



"If Only I'd done something sooner! If Only I hadn't left him to die!"
Koromon wailed.



"Yes, If Only..." Kami agreed. "It would appear Darth Gennai's legacy
has been fulfilled. The last of the
Digidestined have been defeated. Never
again will he face opposition from his world, for none remains.



"Perhaps we could've prevented it, perhaps not. You say "If Only...", but truly
the root lies earlier. If Only Gennai
had remained good, If Only the Digidestined were able to return to the
Digiworld in time to prevent his corruption.
If Only they'd not been occupied by Venom Myotismon in the first place.



"If Only..."



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

To Be Continued…

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

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