Disclaimer: I do not own digimon!

Hey everyone! So this is a new series that I'm going to be starting up and for right now I'm going to be calling it the Wild Card Series. There are going to be three stories making up this series and it's going to cover Adventure 01, 02, and after 02. This is the first installment called Tainted Hope. I won't go into too much explanation because I wanna let you guys figure out what's going on by yourself. Yes, I am going to finish Hope's Sacrifice, but since no one has reviewed that in a while I figured I'd take a break from it and try starting up something new. If you hate this chapter, love this chapter, can't wait to find out what's going to happen, find any grammar errors, or just wanna say hi then leave a review! You don't even have to sign in to review so you have no excuse not to leave a little blurb or something in a review. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this chapter and are eager to read into the Wild Card Series!

Chapter 1:

(Unknown's Point of View)

He sighed heavily as he woke up. At times he wished he and his brother never would have discovered the Digital World; at least then he would be able to sleep in a real bed. Once they had found the Digital World and travelled there they had been stuck without any chance of escaping. It now had become their fate, which it must have been their fate all along since no one can change their destiny. Nevertheless, today was the day and there was a lot to do.

He sat up out of bed feeling like an old man. Well, in the form he was in right now he really was an old man. The white strip of hair in the middle of his balding head flung down onto his face. The tip of the strip rubbed his nose causing him to let out a mighty sneeze. Doing this caused the six others surrounding him to stir. As he pushed himself off the ground, with surprising strength for someone his age- he wasn't really as old as he looked, the data just seemed to like changing his appearance every so often- one of the six said, "Is it time, my lord?"

It was probably Benjamin. He was always eager to get up and get at 'em.

He nodded, though he wasn't sure Benjamin could see him, so he stated, "Everyone get up. It's time to go."

If they weren't awake by now, they were awake when he made that statement. The six others got to their feet and stood up awaiting orders.

Right now they were on File Island on top of Infinity Mountain. The morning was dark and quiet and everything was still. Black gears from underneath the surface of the mountain could be heard as they rotated endlessly. He smiled; the dark gears had been his first creation that wasn't a digimon. Yes, he created digimon. It was he and his brother that had restored the Digital World re-creating all the digimon and hatching them at Primary Village after all.

His lip curled into a snarl. That had been so long ago. How long, he wasn't certain, but it had to have been many hundreds of years ago. That was when he was blind, thinking that he and his brother could rule the Digital World in peace and harmony. They should have known better. Digimon, despite being just data, were smart, clever, and alive. And, just like humans- which he and his brother had once been though by now they must be pure data- digimon are both good and evil. They had created three types of digimon: vaccine, data, and virus. Although all types could have good and evil, vaccine digimon were typically good, virus were typically evil, and data digimon were a sort of bridge between the two. It only took so long before the virus and other evil type digimon decided they didn't want two humans ruling their world, even if these humans were the reason they were alive. The fools had no respect for their creators. He wanted to punish those digimon and throw them into the Dark Area they had created. His brother, however, respected the digimon's wishes. Instead of destroying the evil digimon, he decided to let them live and try to take over the Digital World. That was when he and his brother made many copies of themselves to help keep the evil in balance and keep peace in the Digital World. They had called themselves The Resistance. How pathetic. He now saw what needed to be done. That was why he revolted against his brother along with six other members of The Resistance. No longer would he put up for maintaining peace in the Digital World. When he finally gained the throne, there would be no peace at all; fear would take peace's place. Wasn't fear how all the effective rulers ruled anyway? Stir fear into the people and they will never turn against you. As long as you have the power to back the fear up, you could destroy any revolution that takes place and remain in charge for forever. That was the dream. And that was what led him to where he and the six others were right now.

By now the six of them were standing up and looking over the side of the mountain. He had to admit the place was beautiful. He and his brother sure did a damn good job of rebirthing the Digital World from the chaos it once was. The sun was about to rise over the sea that led to the continent of Server, but right where the sun was going to appear a dark shadow took its place. 'Good,' he thought to himself, 'he is right on time.

The shadow was a ways away, but it was moving swiftly and the distance between them was quickly closing in. He turned his vision from the sea to the rest of the island below.

Right now he was in the center of the island on top Infinity Mountain. To the north was Freezeland, which led on one side to the Misty Trees and on the other to Great Canyon. Next to Great Canyon was the ruins of the Overdell Mansion, which had once housed Myotismon and his servants but he and his brother had destroyed the place many years ago. Great Canyon also led to the Tropical Jungle and eventually Unwavering Forest, but to get from the Jungle to the Forest you had to cross a bridge where a river flowed down to Dragon Eye Lake. Unwavering Forest led to and Drill Tunnel. From there Gear Savannah came into view. Factorial Town was next along with Gecko Swamp and Toy Town. And that pretty much circled the entire island. The island may be small compared to the rest of the Digital World, but it was really a vast place. It was his favorite of the entire Digital World, and when he finally defeated his brother it would be here where he placed his castle.

After examining the island he turned back to see how far the shadow had progressed only to see that the shadow was only a hundred or so feet away and closing in quickly. The shadow was actually a rather tall, dark digimon. Devimon was his name, and he was one of the strongest champion digimon in the entire Digital World. Darkness was this virus type's specialty, and if there was ever any light around you could trust on him to extinguish it. He was one of the higher-ranking members of the evil digimon that had turned against him and his brother. There were others as well, such as the Dark Masters and Etemon, and ever since he had turned on his brother he had joined these digimon's leagues and gained their trust. Well, he was sure they didn't trust him, but if they knew what was best for them they would act like they trusted him and worked with him as they tried to overthrow his brother and the other members of the Resistance.

Devimon was now slowing his flight and descending onto the rocky ground that was the peak of Infinity Mountain. The evil digimon showed no expression as he landed and stood up at least ten feet tall and looked down at him with his dark, blood colored eyes.

"Is it time?" Devimon asked with his low, asserting voice.

He nodded. "You know you're job. Rule this island. Unleash the power of the dark gears I have created as well as the powers of darkness you possess to destroy the digidestineds. They arrive here today and they need to be destroyed. Do you understand?"

"Yes," the digimon replied almost annoyingly.

"Good, and do remember, Devimon, that the smallest of the digidestineds is the only one who has the power to defeat you, so don't take the digidestined lightly. Even then I don't think you have the power to defeat the young one, but I predict he will lose his partner and it is then that hope will be tainted and eventually become no more."

"I will not lose to some pathetic child," Devimon shot back angrily.

He laughed. "Sure you won't." The others chuckled as well. "Now, we have some unfinished business to take care of. Once we hide these tags in the bottom of the ocean we will come back to watch over you're work and spectate the final battle against them. Don't fail us Devimon."

Devimon looked like he wanted to jump him and send his demon claw right through his stomach, but the digimon didn't move a muscle. He smirked. The digimon hated working alongside him and the others, but he had shown them his hidden power, a power not even his brother knew of, and they realized what power he had over them. He was superior to them. He possessed more power than any digimon in the Digital World. He was going to be successful in taking over his creations.

"Let's go," he ordered, and he and the six others all entered the holes on top of the Mekanorimon behind them and flew off towards the ocean to hide the tags. Yes, today was the day the digidestineds, the one weapon his brother had to battle the seven of them and the evil digimon, entered the Digital World, and he was beyond ready. His brother didn't stand a chance, and he would soon be sitting on top his throne as supreme ruler of the Digital World.

(Takeru's Point of View)

A blonde child stands on the sidewalk facing and looking up at what must unmistakably be his parents. What must be the boy's older brother is standing next to him. The mother is holding back tears as she smiles at her two children. The dad is smiling, his mouth moving, but he wasn't able to make out the words. Then the little boy, who is no more than eight and wearing a green ball cap on his head backwards, hugs the mother, squeezing her tightly. The older brother moves to pick up two duffel bags. As the young boy and his mother end their embrace, the father puts one hand on the little squirt's hat and another on the older brother's shoulder. He utters a few more words before removing his hands. The two boys turn to the bus and board. He watches the pair take a seat a couple of rows in front of where he was sitting. The parents look at the window as the little boy pounds on the window waving frantically. The doors shut and the bus starts progressing forward slowly. Blowing one last kiss and waving one last goodbye, the couple outside turn to walk home, the father holding his wife close with an arm around her shoulder.

He wished he was that little boy.

His name's Takeru, otherwise known as TK. He is eight years old and in the second grade. He had a mom, dad, and brother just like the family he had just observed, but his family wasn't close like they were. His mom and dad didn't even live in the same house, and he only got to see his brother Yamato, or Matt for short, when he went to live with his dad. You see, when he was only two years old his parents had divorced. He couldn't remember much of what had happened causing them to end their marriage, but he did remember one night perfectly.

"But I really did see monsters mommy," he told his mother while picking his nose. He was, of course, referring to the epic fight that had just happened between some huge green parrot and an even bigger orange dinosaur. He and Matt watched the entirety of the battle from Matt's bedroom window. They had alternated between who would use the binoculars and both had gotten a close-up view of the match. When it had all ended, with the dinosaur winning and both the parrot and the dinosaur being sucked up into the sky, he had decided to go tell his momma what he and Matt had just seen. Matt had told him not to do it, but he ignored his older brother.

Mom was washing dishes and looked rather annoyed at the moment. He almost could feel anger and frustration radiating from his mother's body. Had she and his father yelled at each other again?

"TK, there is no such thing as monsters!" his mother snapped back at him, "You were just imagining it, or maybe it was just a dream."

But it wasn't a dream. He had really seen the monsters; he wasn't making it up. Matt saw them too!

"But mommy…!" he tried, but he was cut off.

"Now TK, that is enough. I don't want to hear any more of these crazy stories.

Being rejected, he put his head down and started walking back to his room, almost on the verge of turning on the sprinklers in his eyes.

While he walked away he heard footsteps approach his mother.

"Nancy! Why are you yelling at TK?" his father asked, his anger not hidden from his voice.

He turned around to see his parents standing face to face. 'Not again,' he thought.

"Because he's rambling on about some nonsense. Do you have a problem with that Hiroaki?"

"I just think you need to be a little kinder towards our children!"

"Oh that's a glorious statement seeing as you are always 'at work' and are never home to spend anytime with me or the kids!"

"I work because I don't want to come home to a devil like you!"

Silence. He was almost rounding the corner and walking into the hallway that led towards his bedroom when he heard his mother say quietly but not timidly in the slightest, "Get out."

"What did you just say?"

This time his mother didn't refrain from upping the volume. The sudden outburst caused him to freeze in panic.

"I said get out! I never want to see you again… ever again!"

There were footsteps as his father walked towards the door, put his shoes and jacket on, and left their apartment, slamming the door as he did so. This time he couldn't keep back the tears and they flowed out of his eyes like a running faucet. He didn't realize it but he also was whimpering.

He decided he wanted to be alone so he turned the corner and started walking towards his room. He was stopped, however, as he ran into someone else, someone much taller than he was. It was Matt.

Tears were running down his brother's face, but there was something else that was clear for him to see. Whether it was the balled up fist or the intense shaking, he could tell his brother was mad, very mad.

Matt loosed his fist and stretched his arm out towards his little brother, index finger pointing straight at TK.

"You!" is all Matt said, but it was all that needed to be said to convey the message. Matt was telling him that it was his fault. Why did his dad leave? Because of him. Why were his parents fighting all the time? Because of him. And although it didn't happen for another couple of weeks, it also told him that he was also the reason his parents divorced.

That one night had changed his life forever. Well, the divorce had changed his life too, but he was getting used to the lifestyle a divorce required. What didn't leave him was what he learned from that night. It was his fault his parents divorced. It was his fault that he didn't get to see Matt or his dad everyday. It was his fault that he and his family were no longer… family.

He did his best to act like it didn't bother him as much as it had because he really did enjoy his life. His mommy was really nice and loving to him. When he lived with his dad he was always happy to see him even though his dad worked most of the time. He also loved Matt, even though he didn't get to see his brother too often. Matt had helped when the divorce was over and he even apologized for the night he just recounted. That didn't help him, but he acted like he was all right and was doing much better. Six years had now passed since the divorce, so everyone was mostly over all the drama the divorce caused anyways, and since he was so young none of his family expected him to be affected as much as he had.

What he learned from the divorce, though, was that he couldn't trust anyone. He didn't have many friends in his life, and the few that he did usually would turn around the next week or so and make fun of him. He couldn't trust his dad because he was working all the time. Matt, although Matt said he was sorry, he thought Matt still blamed him for the divorce so he couldn't trust him. And it was because of him he had made his mommy so angry that night and why she would sometimes come home some nights hugging a big bottle of booze and crying herself to sleep. He loved his family, but he was the reason they all were upset. Who knew how long it would be before they finally left him for good and he was all alone with himself; a poor, pathetic excuse of a child who did wrong to everyone in his life.

He had been so lost in thought that he didn't even realize the bus had stopped and people were already getting off. He felt someone tap the top of his hat and he looked up to see the little boy he had watched boarding the bus earlier looking down at him with a worried expression.

"Hey, are you getting off the bus?" the boy asked.

He then realized that a few tears had escaped his eyes. He quickly wiped them away and put on a weak smile.

"I'm coming," he said as he stood up and grabbed his green backpack that was packed with all kinds of delicious candy bars and a couple changes of clothes of course. Matt was supposed to have the rest of the clothes he needed for the week already in his cabin.

Once he had thrown the backpack over his shoulders the boy smiled back at him and ran off the bus, probably to catch up with his brother. TK followed behind and once he jumped off the bus the engine roared back to life and the bus driver drove away. Staring off in the distance, he saw a bunch of cabins, a swimming pool, and lots of trees that surrounded the campground. He didn't know what to expect from this summer camp, but he had an expectant feeling that his life was going to change for forever while he was here, and he couldn't help but allow a smile, a real smile, sneak onto his face.

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