From the Darkness

by

Quill-and-Parchment

Chapter 1: Wounded Hunter

The city below was flocked with humans. Lights, noises and poisonous gas rose into the air, nearly making her pass out from its burning smell, but she did not allow herself such luxury. As it was, she quickly shook the thought out of her head and scoffed herself. Her job was not to daydream; her job was to observe.

Nothing was new that she could report to her master, the Digimon thought as she returned her attention back to the busy streets. Her built-in radar warned her of nothing. No Digimons were close by. She was alone. And she preferred it that way – crowds made her uncomfortable, making her feel like she was exposed, somehow, the target of eyes, and she despised it.

It was just fine the way it is. She was alone in her starless night. Nothing was better.

"Doumon."

Her respond to the call of her name was a mere tilt of her head. She'd not sensed its owner's coming, but she would not admit that to anyone. That would be admitting a weakness. Instead, she said in an even tone, "Greetings, Devimon. I have no news."

Doumon could feel something shift behind her, but she did not stiffen. This one means her no harm, that she knew. He was most likely just trying to get into a more comfortable position. "Same here," the Devimon grumbled sourly, coming to stand next to her. "This is getting rather boring, isn't it?"

"The Master insists," Doumon answered.

"Yes, the Master insisted," her companion agreed. He glared down at the city with more annoyance than hatred. "Seriously, though, I don't know why it's necessary. We had a guard at all the possible portals in this world, right? So if the thing arrives, we would be able to catch it anyway."

But Doumon shook her head. "M.A.I.D.E.N. might assist our target," she said. "You know how she is. She would try anything and everything to tick our Master. It is a shame we cannot destroy her." It would solve many things, Doumon reflected. For one, they would rid themselves of a powerful, annoying deity of the Digital World who continuously guide their enemies to freedom and thwart the Master's plans. She was a great setback, but deleting her was impossible, since her program was ingrained into the Digital World's Bio-code itself.

Devimon nodded in agreement. "You're right. I wonder if there's a way to get rid of that annoying pest once and for all," he mused, idly waved his hand and sent a dark zap from his finger that fried the pigeon flying past with little sound. Doumon watched the charred remains obey the law of gravity as it fell down on the city below dispassionately.

"That might cause alarms," she said, not caring very much.

Devimon snorted. "Right. And you will get caught?"

Well, that is true. She never got caught. It was one of the reasons why the Master valued her so much. Although she was not one to seek violent or to fight (many called her lazy), her stalking, concealed movement skills and constant vigilance were legendary, making her the perfect watchdog and sometimes assassin. The fact that he'd sent her to the human world, away from her watchtower, was the indication that this was very important indeed.

So here she was, watching the world, waiting for their target to arrive, seeing if there were assistances on this side of the gate or not, ready to pounce. The other Digimons had started complaining about being bored, and Doumon could understand them. She was itching for action, too. It had, after all, been three months. Three months of a repeated, unexciting cycle. Doumon had never been this bored, even back in the Digital World. There were always some foolish resistances rising up against her Master that she had to take care of.

Unfortunately, their target remained elusive. There had been threats flying around about Digimons asking to give the target a piece of their minds, and Doumon understood that if it shows up, there would be a bloodbath. Her comrades would kill each other to get to the action first, along with the reward that will accompany it.

Oh, yes, the Master is going to be very generous with the one who captures his little runaway.

But first, the target had to be found, wouldn't it?

"The idiots back in the Digital World had better have better luck than us," Devimon growled in frustration, glaring at the streets below. "I can't wait to get back to my original duty – or at least get transferred back there." Well, yes, that was true, Doumon reflected. The dorks back in their world actually had active duties, not pretending to be statues atop skyscrapers dodging bird poops for fun. It was distracting, but it was anything but fun. Either that or shoot birds – but seeing as the last idiot who did that got caught by the D.C. (Digimon Cops), they'd quickly stopped that hobby.

So yes, the guards on this side were reduced to watching dodging bird poops as a mean of entertainment. And the bombard didn't even come hourly.

If it wasn't for their fear of the Master, his hall would've been chucked full of complaints by now.

"Let us wait patiently and see," Doumon said, still not looking at Devimon. How many options do we have left?

"Well, if I have to wait another week, I'm going to –" Devimon was cut short, and both their heads snapped up as a voice blasted through their minds like a speaker that had been turned up as loud as it could go. Being veterans, however, both braced themselves rather than yelp and fall.

We got him! Master's voice announced. Southern Tokyo, now!

"Oh, Master be blessed!" Devimon howled with joy, spreading his wings. Even Doumon could not fight off a smirk on her usually emotionless face as she tensed before jumping into the air, heading south. Her companion's wing beats soon caught up with her.

"Rookies coming," Doumon said simply, her keen eyes detecting the shadowy figures of newbies flying toward them. A bunch of morons, of course. The rookies these days (those who were new to the job, not rookie as their age) were so full of themselves. They challenged the veterans, thinking they could take their elders on. Results to those fights had always been more eggs sent back to the Primary Village.

As it should be, Doumon thought.

"Tch," Devimon growled. "Annoying little things, them. Now if you would excuse me…" He turned around, and two seconds later, Doumon heard the shout of "Razor Wings!" Screams followed shortly. It was done. A few more useless ass-kissers destroyed and sent back to the nearest human-built Primary Garden.

Doumon spoke as Devimon once again caught up to her, "You could've saved your power for the big events and leave them to the others, you know. They would probably have wiped each other out."

Her companion laughed. "I just wanted a warm-up, that's all." He turned to her, growing serious. "I know we're as close to buds as we can get, Doumon, but if you get in my way –"

"I'll stand guard," the other Digimon interrupted smoothly. "You deal with the hunt. Just let me have some fun; that's all I ask of you. I won't even care about the rewards."

Devimon laughed again. "You're so agreeable." He tilted his wings as Doumon's inner radar detected a strange bio-code moving right below them. They exchanged one look before diving, falling past the monsters who were good enough to look through the concealment and started to cloud around the area, along with those that tagged along.

Immediately, some of the Digimons were forced to hang back. The target had moved into a narrow alley, and some of the dragons and larger beast-types couldn't squeeze into. It was easy, though, for Doumon, Devimon and man-type to follow it, zigzagging in the dark and dodging the occasion trash cans along with attacks from their fellow comrades.

Quit killing each other and focus on the runaway, you fools! Master roared in their minds, making them falter slightly. Doumon shook her head to clear the warning and increased her speed, sweeping the darkness with her eyes, looking for what she wanted. Where is it? Where is it? Where is –?

"Devimon!" the Digimon shouted. She could just see the blurry blue shape that was running right in front of them. Her radar confirmed her suspicion quickly.

"Got it!" her companion growled. He pushed ahead while she suddenly turned around and faced the twenty-something Champions throwing themselves at her. She raised her hands. This should be easy enough.

Red paper talismans flew through the air, past the Digimons in front of her to their puzzlement, past the rest, and attached themselves into the cars of the Digimon Cops behind them. Explosions ripped through the air, along with screams and lights of destroyed Digimons. Satisfaction filling her, Doumon turned to the rest. "Get back there and stop those pests from interfering," she ordered, then pointed to three Ogremons. "You three, come with me. We'll cut the target off."

Protests started to rise, but one glare from Doumon silenced them. Her ruthless kills of invaders were heard across the Master's kingdom, and nobody would dare cross the fox when she was in a bad mood. As it was, she wasn't exactly all cheers and smiles either. Whirling around, she started flying eastward, not caring if the ones she'd chosen would be able to follow her or not.

The night might as well have been bright day for her. In the air, she had a clear view of everything, and absently Doumon flicked her hand, sending an approaching Peckmon back to its egg for getting into her way. She glanced around, finding her target along with Devimon. He was alone, but six other Digimons were closing in. The target was also about to intercept with the crowded streets. That would make businesses messier.

Changing her course, Doumon flew west, giving any Digimon who tried to get in her way a vehement glare so they could wisely keep back from interfering. She deleted another idiot in her way and increased her speed as much as she could, making the world around her melt together in a blur. Closer, closer, closer…

With enough force to crack the pavement, Doumon landed in front of their target, blocking it off from the crowded streets. A small tokomon standing nearby cowered back, but Doumon didn't give it a single glance. If it didn't trip her, she could care less about it.

"You have nowhere to run," Doumon informed the slumped figure in front of her matter-of-factly. "Surrender, and maybe the Master will be merciful to you."

Harsh breaths were all that were heard for a few seconds before the figure laughed harshly. "So…what? Am I suppose to say something cliché like 'I will never give in!' or something? And you are not a convincing liar, either." He growled at Doumon. "Step aside, fox cub, or I'll be forced to make you."

Doumon didn't move. "You are in no position to threaten," she told him in the same even tone she'd used before. "And yes, maybe I lie. Maybe the Master has no mercy, but that is the way it is and I shall not question it. It is his orders that you be recaptured, and it is his order that I shall follow." She stepped forward, thinking she would just have to share the reward with Devimon if he didn't get his data here in time.

Suddenly, the dark shape of her companion appeared out of the shadows, grinning. "I see you've got him cornered, Doumon," he snarled, clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Speaking of the devil," Doumon commented, stepping back and returning to her previous position. "He's all yours."

"With pleasure!" Devimon dove at the figure, but with a movement that belied its petite and gasping self, the thing moved with lightning speed, dashing out of the way and attempting to throw itself at Doumon. Out of reflex, she raised her hand and a single red talisman shot out of her sleeve, nailing the target in his face.

She realized it was a mistake as soon as she saw the thing's eyes brightened, but it was already too late.

With a triumphant cry, the Digimon before them swallowed the talisman like it was a tasty treat. It started glowing a bright red light that changed to blue, so bright Doumon was forced to shield her eyes from it even though she knew it was a mistake to take them off of the target. She heard Devimon's scream of pain, but was unaware to do anything about it.

Then it hit.

Doumon screamed, doubling over as agony shot through her body. She felt like her data – every bit of them – were trying to rip her apart, trying to escape her body and scatter as violently as they could. And perhaps that was what was happening. She could feel it: her limbs were fading away, and it hurt worse than that time she'd been seriously injured by the Master for letting the invaders escape.

It did not stop, and had Doumon been able to speak, she would've begged for it to stop its attack on her body. But she couldn't speak, and all she could do was collapse onto her knees, hugging herself as she faded away, losing data rapidly. Her body started to glow a yellow light as the Digimon thought she might pass out, shrinking more and more until she was nothing more than an in-training Digimon, her second-to-earliest form, weak and pathetic.

After what seemed like ages later, she could hear something walking past her, and with all that was left of her rapidly fading strength, she opened her eyes to look up at the one who made the noises. Instead, a hand found itself on her head, rubbing roughly.

"Find a better life, Viximon," the target told her in a soft voice. "I hope you will understand my plight someday."

The hand vanished, and all the little Digimon could do was close her eyes. Her strength was spent. She had nothing left. Some cops would probably come later and delete her completely, sending her back to her egg stage. Then when she was reborn again, she would have no memory of this life, instead starting a new one – and maybe even grow to be a Digimon who works with humans.

It was over.

Master is going to kill me, she thought groggily before the darkness claimed her.

So I probably have you people confused about the settings and circumstances the story was set in. This is somewhere far in the future (think 2215), where humans and Digimons have grown to accept each other. All portals to the Digital World and back are guarded by both species on each side and security was tightened, thus making the possibility of creating a completely new portal a fantasy - but not all of them are guarded, and some are used by smuggling gangs or other criminals from both worlds to sneak to and back.

The Digimon Cops are in fact the same organization in Digimon: Data Squad, except with a lot more members and they work like normal cops, just with Digimon partners. Digimons roam our world as often as we roam theirs on their side. To put it simply, the two worlds were open to their neighbor's inhabitants. As Digimons discover ours, we discover more of theirs.

And the rest - well, it will all be explained in the course of the story.

~Quill