Digimon: Soldiers: Ark 1

skies grows gray part 1

This is the beginning of a brand new saga of the digimon series I called Digital Soldiers.

This is a really bad summary. this part of the story is called the agent of hypnos.

Takato

"Four months since we said goodbye to our friends. Four months . . . and it feels like forever. "

I don't want to move on with my life, because of the promise I made to Guilmon. "We'll play again soon Takato, won't we?" If only I could.

As much as I thought nothing was going to be the same, everything started going back to normal. Kazu was still pulling silly pranks, Kenta following Kazu like a puppy on their missions of chaos, Jeri was still plays with the hand puppet, Mrs. Asagi still gave out too much homework, Henry just accepted what his dad had done, even though he seems to not want to show it, Ryo went back to Tokyo -trying to adapt to his old life again- And sadly Rika dethroned herself of the name Digimon Queen- saying that she wants some other player better than her to have the title.

I tried really hard to keep in contact with the rest of the tamers, especially the younger tamers Ai, Mako and Susie. However it's really difficult to explain where their digimon went, or at least talk about digimon, because I don't really know them - or in Susie's she always refers to me as the "Angwy kid". It's really hard for me to try to get to know them, especially when they're so young.

I kept on coming to Guilmon's old home but, why bother? All it did was just bring me sad memories. Not a sign of hope of keeping that promise. There was a moment at that second where I thought, "I just wish you would come back to me, Guilmon." But I guess that won't happen.

Walking towards home, I hear a slight giggle. A familiar giggle, from a gnome-like creature. I turn back to the hideout. "I could have sworn I had heard something!" I said, as I peered into the cave and . . . there it was! A Digital Portal! It glows in a white bliss that dances on my eyes and warms my spirit. 'Scratch that, maybe I could keep that promise after all' I thought. I went in a little closer. Considering the size of portal, I crouch down my knees, and begin to crawl towards the gate. The hard ground scrapes the skin of my knee, the skin slipping on pebbles, pebbles rolled on the dirt. It hurts but I don't care. I'm going to find my friend. I'm going to bring him back. I'll bring all of them back. So close. Just a few inches more.

"Get away from that portal Takato!"

The tone of that voice stops me. In a short second as the stiffness disappears, I turn around. There he was. Mitsuo Yamaki, head of Hypnos with his navy blue suit and black-shade glasses. His expression is angry, like a dragon staring at gold no one should have.

Two agents of his are behind him, and with a snap they rush to me . They grab me and hurl me to the side. "Easy. He's just a boy." One of the agents looks at me then at Yamaki. "Sorry sir, not very fond with delinquents."

"Let's, just make this easy and let me do what has to be done." Yamaki said to me.

"Yamaki? What are you doing here? What do you mean, by what has to be done?" I said looking confuse.

"I've been given orders from the Department of Defense to eliminate any possible path from the digital world to this world." Yamaki said coldly to me.

"You seem to be liking to just stay the way-" I paused. "Wait. The Department of Defense? Why would you work with the government, I thought you worked for nobody?" I asked.

"After the incident with the D-Reaper, it was decided by the Prime Minister that the government would take over. Someone else has taken my position as the head of Hypnos and is now giving me orders, and I can't disregard them so, I'm only going to say this once: stay away from the portal." Yamaki said. At that moment, I notice two other agents standing in the distant trees. The other pair of goons that dragged me are standing right behind me, like a couple of wolves ready to pounce on me.

I just sprint towards the portal trying to get to my friends. I knew the other agents were going to stop me, so I kick one of them in the shins. The moment I nearly made my way to the portal, a red, gate-like firewall blocking my path. I stop, took a look at that ugly red wall, then look back to Yamaki, holding a hi-tech cell phone.

"The wonders you can do with a cell phone." he joked.

"No. No, no! " I couldn't believe it. He took away my only chance. My chance of reuniting with my best friend was taken, by him. I try to touch it but one of the agents grabs my arm. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Yamaki taunts me saying that the firewall will burn anything that touches it. Tears rivers down my face, "Why! Why did you do that?" I shout at him. I couldn't believe it. He helped us save Shinjuku. He helped us find our friends. And now he's taking my chances of being with my friends away.

"I'm sorry Takato, this is the way it has to be." The way he said those words, like a knife to my heart: slow painful and if it doesn't kill you, leaves an internal scar. I start to notice the tears on my face, it wasn't from devastation. It was from anger.

I run towards him and tried to punch Yamaki, but the agents came and held me, as if they were trying to take me away. "Yamaki, your wrong! They belong with us! I will bring them back!" I yell out. The agents drag me about thirty feet away from where Yamaki was and soon just throw me out of the park.

I walk to the bakery, stumbling my way to my room. I let my hand swing the door shut, I let the weight of my head drop to the beaded pillow, and have the sheets of the pad soaking from my eyes.

I couldn't be strong for once. I feel weak. My parents were at the market so I just let that be my opportunity to bawl up a storm. I was useless. There was a once and a lifetime opportunity to get them back, such a reach of something special; gone. Then I had a moment. I looked up and saw the thing that gave me courage hanging on the side of my wall. My goggles: to anyone else they're just another piece of plastic goggles, only to be used for swimming or when it rains or snows, but to me they were for a different goggles were the first recognition aside from that I became a tamer. Like a soldier, the goggles was my badge of honor, letting me know that I was part of a team of tamers that did extraordinary things. I wipe my tears, "I can't give up! I shouldn't give up! I must break that firewall go through the portal and get our Digimon back!"

The next day I went over to Henry's house to tell him the situation. I knocked on the door and Suzie greeted me with the same face she always gives me. "Henwy the angry kid is here!" That made me chuckle a bit. "Hey! I'm not angry." Henry greets me. Suzie then went back playing whatever she's doing, as we walked past his parent's room and head straight to his room.

"So what brings you to her-" Henry began before being cut off.

"I've found it!" I know I caught him off guard with those words. Henry rushes to close the door hoping that his father didn't hear. He and Mr. Wong were having trouble trying to see eye to eye a little more but after what he did to Terriermon, Henry wouldn't ever forget what he did to him. So I began to whisper the whole story, trying not to lose him on anything or be loud enough for his dad to hear. "So what you're saying is that the portal to the digital world is back, Hypnos is now working with the Ministry of Defence, Yamaki is doing whatever he can to keep us away from the portal, and you want to break into the Hypnos building? that's crazy!" Henry said skeptical of the whole thing.

"I know it's crazy!"

"Shh." He shushed me. I begin to whisper again. "I know it's crazy. Maybe there might be a way to hack into the computers there without even going inside the building."

"There can be, but now that Hypnos are now with the ministry of defence not only would it be impossible, but it would also be a deathwish." Henry started to rant. "If we try to do something that'll get their attention, we can end up in prison or worse!"

"I don't think they throw twelve-year-old kids in prison."

"No, but they do a lot of worse things."

"Like what."

"You know like harsh labor . . . Bordom and Stuff."

"I don't think you know what sort of thing they do to kids."

"OK yeah. But that's the point. We shouldn't even do this or we will be in a worse situation!"

"Shh." I shushed him. "I know! I know that already but . . ." I began to think of all the times Guilmon, Terriermon, Renamon and the rest of the digimon were here. "Don't you miss them?" I asked Henry. He gasp a little when I asked him that; he missed Terriermon and that look tells me so. He look blankly downwards to his feet knowing that the things that he would say are going to disappoint me.

"I do miss them," he said.

"Then help me go look for them. Please, I need someone who knows how to get around computer programs. Please, help me." I begged him to help me.

"I'm sorry Takato, maybe it better like this."

"Better like this?" I was starting to lose faith in my friend. "How could it be better like this? They could be in danger or not even alive! We have to go and find them-"

"It's too dangerous now!" He abruptly yelled to me. He realized that he stun me with his thunder-mouth shriek and soon calmly said, "They have their own life, we have ours. Maybe this was how it was meant to be."

The pain I felt when someone told me that. I know that Henry was a very logical person, who would always consider thinking before doing, but this was Terriermon we were talking about saving. This was Guilmon. It's Renamon, Calumon, Guardromon, MarineAngemon, Cyberdramon, Lopmon and Impmon we were talking about. There is a chance to get them all back, but he seem just to pull the plug- like we've lost them from the start.

"So you won't help me."

"I'm sorry Takato."

"Then I'm sorry too." Henry looked at me funny. "Why are you sorry." I stood up "If you're not going to help me, that's fine. I won't bother you right now. Bye." I said to my friend.

I found my way out of his apartment, trying to think of someone else who would want to help me. I know Kazu and Kenta are a bit busy with everything going on, I can't get to Ryo with him being that he's far away, and Jeri... well I can't bring Jeri into anything that has to do with Digimon right now - that's what her therapist tells me. That pretty much leaves one person, but I doubt that she would want to talk to me. Don't get me wrong, Rika and I are getting along like friends should and she is up for anything rebellious - especially with Hypnos- but Rika has been really distant to the group after the digimon went away. Without Renamon, Rika has isolated herself from us.

Oh well, at least I'll give it a shot. I reached for my pocket for quarters to go to a pay phone. Only four coins. Only two calls. When I reached for a pay phone inserted two coins and dialed Rika's number. I waited for a while until I heard an elderly voice. "Hello?"

"Hello, I'd like to speak to Rika please." I said.

"Oh, may I ask who's calling?" I know from the sound of it must have been Rika's grandmother. I know for a fact that this wasn't Rika's mother for she was always pursuing her modeling Career.

"This is Takato," I said.

"Oh Takato I didn't recognize your voice, I'm Rika's grandmother." I knew it.

"Oh. Hi Mrs. Hata." I over heard her calling Rika and I could hear Rika grunt "What does he want now?"

"Hey, Rika." I greet my old friend.

"What do you want goggle head." said Rika

"I was wondering if you want to talk-"

"We're talking now! You need to hurry I'm a bit busy." Rika blurted out.

"Doing what?" I asked.

"Nothing of your concern." Replied Rika. "I'm in the middle of something that's just eating me up."

"Me too."

"What's on your mind, Gogglehead?"

"Okay," I took a deep breath, "I've found a digital portal." There was a long pause. I hear on the phone sounds, as if Rika rushes rapidly and suddenly slams the slide-door shut. She said "what?"

"I found a portal in Guilmon's hideout, Hypnos are now working with the Department of Defense and Yamaki created a firewall to block anyone or that of an digimon to come in; I told Henry about this and he refuses to help, saying that it's dangerous. All I am asking is if you can help me with getting -". This might have been a bad idea to tell her what's going on. What if she doesn't want to help me? Or even if she did what if we got to a whole lot of trouble. The idea of her going to prison, would be catastrophic- or just plain terrible.

"Hey! Gogglehead! What gives? First you were saying that a digital portal came back and then you stopped talking. Is this a joke? Did those dimwitted duo put you up to this?" Rika ranted over the phone

"Rika, please!" I shrugged to the phone. "I thought that maybe you could help me, by meeting at the park-"

"The park, but I thought you said that the portal was blocked?"

"I know I said that, but I need someone who can tell me if the firewall is down." I said interrupting her.

"So that's what you need me for? being a lookout?" Questioned Rika.

"Well yes kind of; it's just that-"

"No way. I am more of a part of this than you are."

"And that's why I need you to be there first-"

"If you think you can have my help only to use it for something useless just because I'm not the Ice Queen any-" Rika just keeps interrupting me and it got me upset.

"I don't care if you're the digimon queen!" I yell. My voice raged with fear, anxiety, and frustration as I stopped her train of speech. There was a long pause. Rika probably couldn't believe that I would abruptly scream like that. I needed to calm down and just flat out told her. "I don't want you hurt for what I did. I don't want to make the mistake like Meg-, I care about you Rika." Ok, I stepped too far. I think that Rika knows how I feel for Defence but I didn't mean to say that I care about her like that. With that said I had to finish it. "That's why I'm going to need your help. I'm going to bring them back, even if I have to go alone. I am only telling you this because I want you to know that I care about them. I just hope that you care too."

After that I just waited for her to respond. Rika didn't say a word for a time that felt like forever. Unfortunately her pause was broken. "Ok."

"Thank you Rika," I said in relief.

"Just to be clear, I am more than a look out."

"I know."

"And I want you to promise me something."

"What is it?"

"Don't go alone."

"Who says I'm doing it alone. I have you." I smiled but then I realized what I just did. There was a silence in the two lines. "Okay, I know that came out wrong-"

"Listen I have to go. I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay. Bye." the sound of the white noise came after. Now I have to fulfill two promises. I didn't want to have her distrust. She should know that I'm the type of person that keeps promises. Once I keep promises I'm committed to them, and I know that this one, as difficult. We will become tamers once more. I made a promise to Guilmon. I'm going to keep that promise.