It has been decided that this will be a Mimato. Also as confusing as this story might sound at first, it'll all come together piece by piece. It's a little different than what my stories usually are; not a lot of fluff or romantic/dramatic climax… but a bit more action, mystery, and the Ishida family are focused on more sometimes than Yamato and Mimi.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, or these characters I have used. I only take credit for the character, Kaiba Kyoto.

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"How much more time?"

"Two more minutes, Mr. Kyoto."

"And the defense weaponry, Ishida?"

"Just putting finishing touches, sir."

"Karachi! Are you done yet, I swear I'll be growing older than you already are before you're done."

"Yes, sir."

"How about the defense—"

"Already done, sir."

"You have better done it right this time, Tachikawa, or you'll be fixing molecules in the garbage."

"I get it, Mr. Kyoto, don't worry," Mishiru Tachikawa replied and went on typing furiously on his computer, as did every other scientist in this underground laboratory. He paused to wipe the back of his hand across his forehead and looked around. In all his years of scientific researching this had to be the most intense, time-consuming, and not to mention top-secret and illegal project he has ever found himself a part of. There were only two other scientists directing the project with Mishiru, but the man behind it all was Kaiba Kyoto. If it were Pandora's Box that they were opening, Kyoto would be the key.

"Time."

"1.23 minutes, standing by," Tachikawa said as he slightly lifted his head, his brown eyes glimmering against the green-lit screen and his brown hair lighting yellow. He tossed a nod to a man who passed by him and took one last glance at Kyoto for caution before returning his gaze to his work. "59 seconds until launching."

Masaharu Ishida, typical blonde-haired and blue-eyed he was, not to mention another puzzle piece to this. Excelling in weaponry he was hired especially by Kyoto, just like Tachikawa was—and just like Yosho Karachi was, too.

"Karachi!" yelled Kyoto. "Are you done yet? We don't have much time."

An old, plump man replied by stumbling among the wires for the poor coward he was of Kyoto. "Yes, sir, I-I've just finished adding on her arm attachments."

"Good…" Kyoto muttered as he slowly stepped closer to the fiber glass tube. Looming over him, the tube was twice his height and contained colored liquid; wires and thin tubes floated from the bottom and to different parts of the human body that the tube also contained. The body was bare and pale, curled to itself as if it were a child resting at its mothers' stomach; long brown hair flowed from its scalp and curled around the face and shoulders.

Kyoto's eyes clouded over, thinking deeply, "Beautiful…"

"46 seconds," Tachikawa looked up again and met Ishida's stern eyes; he quickly shook his head while Ishida nodded. "Not now, my friend, please don't…" His fingers tensed, he began calculating different courses of action in his mind if Masaharu fumbled their original plan. He couldn't think of anything, and was forced to watch wordlessly as Masaharu walked towards Kyoto.

Kyoto flipped his silver lighter close and open and kept his eyes on inside the tube, "A few more seconds, Emily, Mimi…and we'll all be together. A few more and you both shall help me conquer this feeble city—and then, the planet. To make them all pay for all they—"he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to find Ishida standing behind him. "What is it?"

Ishida cleared his throat, "Ahem, Kaiba, we don't have much time and I just want to ask you again—are you really willing to go through this? We still have time to stop this, millions of people's lives will be destroyed and the government—"

"Masaharu," Kyoto shouted. "We've been over this several times now. Call me crazy, no, insane if you want, I've waited a long time for this and no one's going to stop me. You're either with me or not, Ishida."

There was a gun in Kyoto's coat, Ishida knew the paranoia he had about the success of his experiment and knew better to challenge a man as crazy as Kaiba Kyoto. But the thought of the disastrous outcome, the regret Ishida would have to live with if Kyoto succeeds, and thinking of the people that will be killed, it made Masaharu's blood boil. "All the way," Ishida muttered and went back to his computers as Kyoto turned back around. Ishida walked towards his computer but didn't exactly stop there and kept going, he tossed Tachikawa a glance before walking into the darkness.

Patience, Masaharu, "Precisely 20 seconds," Tachikawa announced and took one worried glance around as he got up, and followed Ishida's direction only taking one final eye on Karachi who felt his eyes, looked up and stared at him through those goggles, and bashfully looked away to fiddle with his gadgets.

"Not much longer," Kyoto anticipated and flicked his lighter around his fingers. "You shall walk among the earth as my own, do my biddings, and help me gain the power I deserve…and then, we shall we together once more," he whispered when an electronic voice echoed.

"Process is now complete."

Gasps and whispers echoed as the whole room stopped to look at the young body in the tube began to move. It first turned sideways as the tube turned to its side before slowly descending on a narrow platform on the floor. Kyoto proceeded towards it and watched the liquid began to drain out.

"Finally," he said and stepped closer to it, reaching down and turning a thick knob around which unlocked the glass. It opened. Kyoto ran his hand on top and was just about to open it when a small pinecone-like object fell in front of him. Before Kyoto could say anything he was forced to cover half his face for, the moment it fell a thick gray smoke sprouted out of it and began engulfing the whole room.

"What's going on!"

"Ishida, where are you!"

While these calls and screams went on, no one noticed the furtive shadows creeping amongst the ceilings. Out of the blue, a man in black darted down and dropped just in front of the tube. It was a man whose arms swiftly opened the hatch and snatched the body off its sleeping place and was then pulled back onto the ceiling rails.

"Mishiru!" he yelled.

"Almost there!" Tachikawa yelled back as he disconnected all the wires.

"We have to go now!" the other yelled.

"Done," he replied and then looked around once more before following his companion's direction.

"Blast it! Masaharu! Mishiru! Get them!" Jumping to his feet, Kyoto wildly searched the ceiling until he heard a sound of windows breaking and knew they had run out from the rooftop. "I swear I'll make you pay—" Kyoto was so caught up with everything that he suddenly dropped the object in his hand. Nothing more was heard in that building but the sirens and the crackling of the fire that engulfed the building.

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Not to far away, just a few rooftops from that inferno—were Masaharu and Mishiru. They stood in silence for that while and just kept their eyes on the burning building, the body lying inside Masaharu's arms and a gun at Mishiru's hands.

"Karachi," Mishiru finally breathed, "we left Karachi."

"It was his choice to be with us or not. He made his decision," Masaharu replied. "And Kyoto…"

"He'll be back. Of course, after what we have done he's bound to want our heads!" a chuckle escaped his lips and Mishiru turned to face his friend. "So, what are we going to do now? Kyoto's going to take at least several years to recover and weasel his way out of court."

"And we'll be ready," Masaharu replied and gently thrust the body in Mishiru's arms. "Don't give me that look, we have planned this already and you know I can't take another child, I already have two toddlers to take care of."

"Yes, I understand," He nodded and looked down at the slumbering body he held. He slicked back the few strands of hair that covered the girl's eyes and smiled fondly when he looked at her face. "I shall love this child as my own—it'll be the closest I'll have to the one I lost," Mishiru said with a slight smile. He looked up to Masaharu and extended his hand. "Well, I guess, this is goodbye, my friend."

"Yes," Masaharu replied with clasping his hand to Mishiru's, "for now…Project Shattered Mirror, has been put to a pause."