Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it's Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.
A/N – Here is the sequel I promised. This is not a standalone you need to have read Guardian Angel to understand what is going on. You can try reading this without Guardian Angel since I have explained things that happened in the previous story to help refresh the memories of those who read the first one but I don't explain everything. I've taken a bit of a different approach while writing this one.
Edited – July 8, 2014 For word flow, errors, and other such things missed when I first posted this.
Chapter One Lets play some More
A small brown and tan Digimon with bat like wings for ears lay asleep on a couch in an apartment located in Odaiba, a sector of Tokyo. The small Digimon had been watching the television and had fallen asleep not to long after the news had come on since he had no real interest in it most of the time. A woman was on the screen reporting what was happening around the world the date that appeared below her read April 2007, " … There have been people who have gone to various hospitals around the world in order to have their injuries attended to have been making some very remarkable claims about the causes of those injuries. Doctors and nurses both have reported that the people are claiming to have been injured in their dreams, yes their dreams, only to find that once they have woken up that, much to their shock, their injuries are indeed real. Experts claim that it is, of course, impossible for one to be injured because of things that have occurred in ones dreams. They have stated that most likely the people who have been injured where sleep walking and that while sleep walking they have somehow managed to injure themselves and this influenced their dreams not the other way around. The people who have been injured argue against these claims saying that they have awoken in their beds while several others state that there is nothing in their home that could have caused the injuries that they have sustained…"
Within the kitchen of the apartment, a teenage boy stood at the counter chopping vegetables on a cutting board. His sapphire blue eyes were intently focus on what he was doing in order to keep from cutting himself with the knife. The tops of his knuckles on both hands as well as his fingers below the middle knuckle had white scars caused from the burns he had received over five months ago. The sides of his hands that faced away from his body also had such scars, but the teenage boy had grown use to them and only really noticed them now when they where pointed out by others. He shifted his stance slightly as he set the knife down to add the vegetables to the beef stew he was currently cooking. His mother was running late, which occurred far more often than the teen liked, so he had taken it upon himself to make dinner tonight.
With the vegetables added he put the lid on the pot turning it down slightly so it wouldn't over boil. He then untied the white apron he wore over his green t-shirt and jean pants and laid it on the counter away from the stove so he could put it on quickly if needed. The teen was then heading for the living room to sit while he waited for it to finish cooking when he heard pounding on the door. His eyes narrowed slightly as he walked towards the door not knowing anyone who would pound on the door instead of ringing the doorbell. He glanced over his shoulder to see if the small Digimon had awoken and indeed he had. The Digimon had moved into the hallway his ocean blue eyes focused on the door with his head tilted to the side out of habit.
Reassured that he had back up if needed the teen walked the rest of the way to the door unlocking it and opened it up. A young boy stood in the front of the apartment door his face covered by the crook of one of his arms as he cried. "Lee?" The older boy asked and the small boy removed his arm looking up at the older teen with his royal blue eyes.
"Takeru!" The boy cried dashing over to Takeru burying his face into the older boy's shirt as he hugged onto him tightly. Takeru glanced down at the boy wrapping one of his arms around him as he then glanced outside wondering what had Lee so upset. A bear like Digimon stood there with charcoal colored fur and sky blue eyes. He wore an indigo baseball cap backwards on his head while he had a royal blue belt that went over his left shoulder and down to his right hip as well as several matching ones on his paws. Behind him lay a teen older then Takeru who was unconscious with a fiery dog like Digimon lying beside him who, was also unconscious. The teen appeared to have several injuries on him that had hastily been treated while it was always impossible to see if the German Sheppard colored fiery dog like Digimon had any on him.
"Lee what happened?" he asked looking down at the boy only able to really see his shoulder length wavy black hair as well as the dark green sweater he wore.
The boy looked up sniffing. "I don't know!" Lee told him and Takeru untangled the younger boy from around him then he gently pushed him into the apartment as he walked out of it to the older teen. He turned his attention to the bear like Digimon.
"Can you help me carry him in?" he asked. The Digimon slowly nodded his head and Takeru walked to the head of the older teen pushing him up into a sitting position so he could get his arms under his and link his hands across his chest. The bear Digimon then took the teen's legs and between the two of them they were able to carry him inside setting him down on the couch. Takeru walked out again looking at the dog like Digimon. The Digimon was about the size of an adult male wolf and while he had no doubt his partner, the older teen, who was taller than Takeru could carry him Takeru highly doubted that he could. It made Takeru wonder just how Lee and the other Digimon had gotten them here in the first place.
Takeru turned to look back into the apartment. "Patamon can you evolve in to Angemon and carry Rascmon inside?" he asked. The only reason he had not asked the small Digimon to also evolve to Angemon to carry the older teen inside was because he didn't like having Patamon evolve if he didn't have to.
"Yes," Patamon told him s he flew outside landing near Rascmon. A flash of light later, he had evolved into Angemon and was easily able to pick up the fiery Digimon. Takeru followed Angemon inside the house closing the door behind him while the angelic Digimon walked into the living room. He carefully sat the dog Digimon next to the side of the couch then devolved back to Patamon.
Takeru looked at Lee who sat in a recliner the bear like Digimon standing beside him his large paw on the small boys arm trying to offer the boy some comfort. There were several questions going through Takeru's mind at the moment, but first he needed to treat the older teen's injuries better. Takeru left the room heading for the bathroom to fetch a first aid kit. When Takeru came back, he knelt beside the couch setting the first aid kit in front of him. While Takeru wasn't as good as his friend Jou when it came to treating injuries the teenage boy had taken a few first aid classes after his hands had been burned. As long as the injuries weren't too serious he could treat them on his own without having to call Jou or seeking higher medical aid.
Takeru looked at the older teen having a bad feeling with the amount of bandages Lee had used on his older brothers stomach Jou would have to be called. He stayed there for a moment and shook his head as he stood back up to walk over to the phone. Once there he picked it up and headed into the kitchen to check on the stew he was cooking while he called. The teen had decided not to take the chance and that it would be better to call Jou. He just hoped that he was at his apartment…
A teenage girl sat at a desk in her room her homework spread out in front of her. She leaned forward to write an answer on it only to have some of her waist length brown hair fall over her shoulder. With a sigh she finished writing the answer then picked a hair tie up to tie her hair back with before she continued at her task. The teen was about to write down another answer when she heard singing that made her stop her movements completely;
I've got a lock
A little lock on my mind
Rusted open the Key long gone
Oh sweet sanity where have you fled?
Oh sweet sanity where have you fled?
When the person signing had stopped the teen took a deep breath and turned to look at the only window in her room. There in the larger then normal window sill sat a Digimon that looked very much like a young boy of nine starring out the window. The easiest way to tell he was a Digimon was the six pure white angelic wings that came from his back. Takeru had once described what this particular Digimon had once looked like and both she and he had to admit his appearance had changed greatly. There was a time his wings had been black instead of white and the blond shoulder length hair that was pulled back into a ponytail had also been black. Instead of the black Tai Chi uniform he had once worn he now had a grey tunic that had bell sleeves while the tunic itself fell just to the middle of his thigh. Around his waist was a plain leather belt with an iron buckle. The angelic Digimon also wore tan breeches and his feet where bare. The only thing that had really remained the same about the child stage Digimon were his lavender eyes.
"Tsumon, where did you hear that song?" the teen girl asked. The last time she had heard that song was over five months ago when Tsumon had been in his Ultimate stage attacking Takeru and Patamon with the intent to kill them. Granted it wasn't Tsumon himself that was attacking, but something that had taken over his body. When Patamon had finally beaten him, he had reverted back to his egg stage. After words, when he had hatched ten days later the Digimon had no memory of what had happened before. The fact that he was singing a song he shouldn't even remember had put her on edge.
Tsumon continued to look out the window as he answered her, "I heard it in dream once…" The angelic Digimon turned to look at her and noticed how pale her face was. He hopped out of the window sill and walked over to her. "What's wrong?" he asked.
She smiled telling herself to calm down before she answered him, "Nothing's wrong Tsumon."
Half an hour later had Jou instead kneeling beside the couch treating Trace's injuries. Upon Jou's very wise suggestion Takeru had moved Lee as well as the two conscious Digimon into his room. He now sat at his desk while Lee shared Takeru's bed with the bear Digimon and Patamon. Once again there were several things he wanted to ask Lee, but he decided to go with the more simple questions for now. Such as how did Lee get here? Both Lee and his older brother where special in the sense that they were not from this world. Each had their own little world that they called realms that they watched over with a specific job they were supposed to do. Lee, for example, had the job of guarding memories. He had told Takeru the first time they had met that he guarded humans, animals, Digimon and other living creature's memories. It had also been made quite clear to Takeru that coming to the human world was beyond his ability so it made Takeru wonder how he had gotten here. It was most likely a better question at the moment then trying to find out what had happened to Lee's older brother.
"Lee how did you get to the human world?" he asked.
Lee turned his attention to him. "Through a Digital Portal," Lee told him pulling a Digivice out of his jean pocket. Takeru had already figured he had become a Chosen Child with the appearance of the bear like Digimon. He had seen his type before so he knew unlike Lee's older brother whose Digimon had been created by their sister as a gift and only recently became a real one, he was a real one from the start. Takeru also had a feeling Lee was avoiding answering his question because the boy was smart and most likely knew what he was asking from the start.
Sighing, Takeru reworded the question, "How did you get out of your own realm Lee?"
Lee stuffed the Digivice back into his pocket. "I just did… I copied my brother and made a door appear when I unlocked it and walked through it I was in the Digital world," Lee told him pulling a key out of his pocket that was a brighter green then what Takeru had on his D-3. The key from what Takeru understood was how they controlled their realm and how they traveled between the different worlds. Lee's older brother, Trace, had been left stuck in a world known as the World of Illusions when his had been stolen. He had only been able to leave with the help of Patamon and another Digimon, named Calilimon. Just thinking about the other Digimon made Takeru feel sad.
"I was shocked when a door suddenly appeared in front of me and a human kid came walking out. He got one look around the place before he fainted," the bear like Digimon told Takeru as he looked at Lee who was wishing his Digimon had kept the part about him fainting to himself even if it was true.
Takeru looked at Lee. "Why did you faint?" he asked.
"Took more power than I thought it would," he mumbled as he avoided looking at Takeru.
Takeru nodded and pulled his dark green razor cell phone out of his back pocket. It had Trace's cell phone number on it and since he had last seen the older teen in November he had called him several times worried about his sudden disappearance. With him appearing injured like he was with his little brother Takeru regretted that he had only gone searching a few times for the older teen. He had checked both this world and the Digital world having never found him. Takeru had hoped that Trace had just managed to return home making it impossible for Takeru's everyday cell phone to contact him…
"Lee what happened?" he asked looking at the younger boy knowing that delaying asking the question was chancing putting others and themselves in danger.
Lee shook his head. "I don't know… My three sisters left sometime in the beginning of December to look for Trace because he should have returned home by then… I haven't seen them since, but by checking their memories I knew that they were looking for Trace… I kept trying to look at his and Rascmon's memories, but all I ever got was complete blackness. Then about two days ago I got something from Rascmon. He had an unconscious Trace in front of them and I could tell that both of them where in the Digital World. I couldn't get in contact with my older sisters so I thought it would be best to go on my own and like Bearmon told you I fainted almost as soon as I arrived," Lee explained then turned his attention to the charcoal furred Digimon.
Bearmon nodded. "I took him back to my place and when he woke up a day later he told me why he had come to the Digital World. I didn't like the idea of letting him walk around on his own so I decided to go with him. When I told him so the Digivice appeared shocking us both. After words we went searching and after several hours we found some Digimon who had seen his brother. They led us to him and we found one of the TV's that serve as a portal between here and the Digital World," he explained.
That still left how they had managed to get to Takeru's apartment but at the moment that didn't really seem to matter. "You three stay in here," Takeru told them as he stood up opening the door. Gomamon, who sat beside it, looked up at him as he walked out and nodded. He had no doubt he was there to make sure Lee stayed in Takeru's room. The last thing the young boy needed to see at the moment was Jou treating his older brother's injuries. Takeru closed the door behind him and walked into the living room as he stopped in the archway. "How is he?" he asked looking at Jou.
Jou looked up from what he was doing to Takeru for a moment then back to Trace. "He'll be okay. I just got to finish bandaging the rest of his wounds," Jou told him as he glanced at Rascmon. "He's going to be harder to figure out how badly he's injured with the way his fur is made of fire… I'm not sure if there is actually any real body below the fur," Jou told him.
Takeru glanced at Rascmon. The teen had often wondered if he was completely made out of flames or not. "I have a bad feeling Trace hasn't found his key," Takeru told Jou.
"Then you saw tonight's news?" Jou asked as he kept his focus on what he was doing.
"The news?" Takeru asked turning his attention to Jou. It had, of course, been on because Patamon hadn't turned the television off but he had been too busy with making dinner to really pay attention to it. Besides if something big did happen he usually heard about it from his mother over dinner since she was a journalist.
"I'll take that as a no… The news said people have been reporting to hospitals that the injuries they have sustained happened during their nightmares and they had awoken to find them real," Jou explained causing Takeru to look down at his hands. The burns that had caused his hands to scar had been inflected in a nightmare and like the people on the news he had awoken to find out his hands had really been burned.
"That… That isn't good," Takeru said looking at Jou again stuffing his hands into his jean pockets to stop himself from starring at them. The particular nightmare that had caused them had been a variance of one he had since Angemon had sacrificed himself to erase Devimon. The scars where a nasty reminder when he looked at him that he was truly helpless to help his small Digimon friend in such cases… His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the front door of the apartment open and his mother, Natsuko, walked in. Like her son her almost shoulder length hair was blonde though hers was darker in color then her sons and she also shared the same blue eyes with him.
"Takeru, Patamon, I'm home," she called into the house as she set her purse down to switch her shoes for slippers.
Takeru glanced at Jou before heading into the hallway and towards the door. "Welcome home, Mom," he greeted her
About an hour later had his mother caught up on what was going on including just who Trace and Lee where since his mother had never meet them before. By then Jou had finished treating Trace's injuries so Takeru and him had carefully moved Trace from the couch into Takeru's room laying him down on Takeru's bed. Jou had also checked Rascmon for injuries, but had been unable to find any. They had left him where he was but had Angemon lift him long enough to place a spare futon under the Digimon. Lee had moved into the living room and now sat on the couch with Patamon on his head and Bearmon sitting beside him. Natsuko, having changed out of her work cloths, sat beside Bearmon looking at Lee. "Lee is there any way I can get in contact with your parents?" she asked.
Lee shook his head before he answered her, "No, my parents died not to long after I was born… The only other family that I know where they're at is my uncle who lives in Australia but only Trace knows how to get in contact with him."
Natsuko nodded and leaned forward brushing some of Lee's long bangs out of his eyes. "Well until you can get in contact with your sisters you're more than welcome to stay here," she told him smiling softly.
Takeru, who was still in his room, leaned against his desk Jou sitting in the chair at it. "Lee tried to warn me that it wouldn't end with beating Shaitanmon, but with over four months and nothing happening I thought it was over…" Takeru told Jou as he glanced over at Trace. It was quite obvious he had been wrong, dead wrong.
Jou sighed looking up at Takeru. "We need to find his key before more people are hurt," Jou told him. Trace guarded Nightmares and almost half a year ago his key had been stolen by the Digimon known as Shaitanmon. He was the one who had tried to kill Takeru and Patamon using Trace's key to enter Takeru's nightmares and harm him there. Of course Takeru hadn't been the only one he had done this to, Kohana his partner, had also been dragged into one such nightmare though she was only harmed after she had woken up. Since he had not used it to try and get to anyone else Takeru had believed that the entity that had taken over the gentle Tsumon known as Red had not been able to do it to anyone else, but once again he was wrong.
"With where Lee found him its obvious Trace's key is somewhere in the Digital World. I'll get the others who aren't in college to help me look for it after school tomorrow," Takeru stated looking at Jou.
"Speaking of school what are you going to do with Lee tomorrow? You have school and your mother has to work. I doubt it would be a good idea to leave him and his brother here alone," Jou pointed out and Takeru had to agree with him. He doubted that Bearmon could evolve higher than his adult stage and if whoever had injured Trace decided to attack again then there would be no one here to stop them.
Sighing, Takeru thought a moment before he finally came up with an answer. "Sora doesn't have any classes tomorrow. I'll ask if she and Piyomon can watch them for me," Takeru told him taking his cell phone out of his back pocket. He flipped it open then went through his address book until he found her number and selected it. He held the cell phone up to his ear and listened to it ring.
"Hello, Takeru," Sora greeted when she answered the phone.
"Hello Sora, how are you?" Takeru asked and was not at all surprised when he heard his brother's voice in the background.
"I'm doing well how about you?"she asked and he once again heard his brother in the background though he couldn't hear exactly what he was saying.
"I'm fine but something happened. I was wondering if you could help me with something if you're not busy doing anything tomorrow," he told her.
There was a slight pause as he heard both his brother and Sora talk for a moment. He was beginning to wonder if he should have said it in another way when Sora began speaking to him again, "Sure Takeru, but what happened?" she asked.
Takeru sighed and glanced at Trace for a moment before looking out the window and answering, "Lee showed up at my house. I don't remember if I told you about him or not but he's Trace's younger brother. With him was Trace who is injured and unconscious at the moment along with an unconscious Rascmon and Bearmon who is Lee's Digimon," Takeru explained.
Another pause in the conversation as Sora most likely explained to Yamato what was going on. "Do you know what happened to Trace and Rascmon?" Sora asked.
"No, Lee managed to find him by chance. The only way we'll find out what's happened to them is when they wake up," Takeru told her.
"What is it that you need me to do Takeru?" Sora asked.
"I was wondering if you could come over tomorrow and keep an eye on the four of them with Piyomon. There is no telling if whatever attacked them might come again or not," Takeru told her
Once more he heard the two talking to each other before Sora answered him, "Yes of course Takeru. Yamato said he'll come by as well once his classes are over. Until then I can borrow his copy of the apartments key to get in," Sora told him.
Takeru smiled. "Thank you Sora," he told her.
"You're welcome Takeru. Oh Yamato wants to speak with you," Sora told him and he could hear as the phone was passed to his brother.
"How badly injured is he?" Yamato asked.
"Enough for me to have Jou come over… I wasn't even going to chance trying to treat him," Takeru told him glancing at Jou.
"Can I speak with him?" Yamato asked him.
"Sure just a minute," Takeru said looking at Jou. "Yamato wants to speak to you," Takeru told him as he handed the cell phone over to him.
"Yes?" Jou asked when he placed it near his ear.
"How bad is he Jou?"
Jou sighed pinching the bridge of his nose before answering, "If he was anyone else I would have taken him to the hospital instead of treating him myself. He's pale… More so then normal so he's lost a lot of blood and there is one wound on his stomach that I had to stitch." The only thing that had prevented Jou from taking Trace to the hospital was because there was a very good chance that Tracy Lance Star had no records in this world. Jou would have to do a lot of explaining when it came time to check him out.
"Any idea what might have caused the wounds?" Yamato asked.
"They're all straight, clean cut wounds. Add with the fact Lee found him in the Digital World I would guess some type of knife or sword wielding Digimon attacked him," Jou told him.
"Alright… Can you hand the cell phone back to Takeru, please?"
"Yes," Jou told him and handed the cell phone over to Takeru.
"Are you going to head to the Digital World tomorrow?" Yamato asked Takeru.
"Yeah, I'm going to get Daisuke and the others to go with me which I was going to tell Sora that before we started switching phones around," Takeru told him.
"Even Kohana?" Yamato asked and Takeru paused as he thought for a moment. There was no doubt that what they would be trying to find would be the other identity that had been inside Shaitanmon. Takeru figured Yamato was worried what would happen if they brought Tsumon along.
"I'll let her decided that. With how we helped Tsumon there shouldn't be any way for him to be taken over again…" Takeru told his brother.
"Alright just be careful," Yamato told him.
"I will Yamato tell Sora I said thank you and I'll talk to you both later," Takeru said.
"I will. See you tomorrow Takeru," Yamato said then hung Sora's cell phone up.
Takeru hung his up as well as he closed it then set it down on top of his desk. "I take it Sora will be coming over tomorrow?" Jou asked looking at him.
"Yes she'll most likely be here sometime after I leave for school," Takeru told him.
Natsuko walked into the bedroom glancing at Trace before looking at Jou. "Jou will you be staying for dinner?" she asked.
Jou shook his head. "No I need to be heading home now. I still have some research I need to finish before tomorrow," Jou told her as he stood up.
"Alright thank you for coming over and helping," Natsuko told him as she headed towards the kitchen.
Jou picked up his messenger bag that held his medical supplies then Gomamon up walking towards the door Takeru following behind him. "Thank you Jou," Takeru said as Jou sat to trade the slippers he was wearing for his shoes temporarily setting Gomamon back down.
"You're welcome Takeru. If he does happen to wake up anytime soon make sure he stays in bed and rests. Don't hesitate to call me if you need me," Jou told him as he stood up opening the door.
"Alright Jou and thanks again," Takeru told him. Jou nodded and walked out closing the door behind him.
Takeru turned and began to head towards the living room again as Lee walked out of it. "Will my brother be alright?" Lee asked looking up at him.
Takeru patted him on the head. "He'll be fine. We just need to make sure he gets plenty of rest," he told Lee. Lee smiled and went back into the living room Takeru right behind him. Patamon looked up at him from where he was on the floor near Rascmon.
"If he's not injured Takeru how come he doesn't wake up?" Patamon asked and this caused both Bearmon and Lee to look at Takeru.
Takeru looked at the fiery dog Digimon thinking on how to answer him. "With the type of body he has Patamon injuries may not show up on him," Takeru answered walking over and kneeling beside Patamon to look at Rascmon. He had always found it interesting how the Digimon's coloring didn't stay in one place but moved with the flames along his body.
Natsuko walked into the living room looking at them before speaking, "Dinner's ready."
Takeru glanced at his mother then back down at the dog like Digimon before he stood up picking Patamon up before he was standing straight up. He then followed his mother, Lee and Bearmon into the dining area.
After dinner Takeru had set up another futon in his bedroom for Lee and Bearmon to share at their request. Takeru had set one up for him as well and had asked his mother to wake him up instead of setting his alarm clock like usual. His mother had dug out some of Takeru's older cloths for the young boy to wear to bed as well as to change into after he bathed, but they were still slightly big on him. Lee had almost instantly fallen asleep when he had lain down and Bearmon wasn't too far behind him. It took longer for Patamon, but after awhile he too fell asleep. Takeru however, he was still awake lying on his back staring at the ceiling. He was worried and a tad bit scared at the same time….
He knew that most likely what had attacked Trace was Red. Red's main target had been himself and Patamon when they had first faced him, but from what Takeru had understood it was because of the game coding that had corrupted Tsumon when he was still in his egg the first time he was born. This had resulted in the birth of twin Digimon Tsumon and Calilimon and what eventually allowed Red to hide himself within Tsumon's body.
Later on, he would take it over completely when Tsumon had evolved into his adult stage. The data that had been meant for one Digimon had been split between the twins leaving openings in their coding for something like Red to make use of. Red had been forced for the most part to play out the role of the game character his and Tsumon's appearance was based after. Takeru was the best fit in Red's opinion of the boy character in the game that he was supposed to attack. They had only been able to stop and save Tsumon because Calilimon had willing sacrificed herself so her data could be given to her brother which forced him to convert back to a digital egg forcing Red out of his body.
There were things though… Things that Red has said while he was attacking Takeru and Patamon that Takeru had at the time just brushed to the side believing Red was insane. At the time, however, he didn't know Red existed so he really thought Shaitanmon was insane. After what Lee had shown him when they first meet he should have thought on it more instead he had just thought Lee was trying to warn him that there was a chance the battle wasn't going to be over with the defeat of Shaitanmon. Takeru was however wrong. It had been a warning that the fight would continue. What had Takeru worried was there was a good chance him and Patamon would be targeted once again.
If there was the chance of that then with Red still in possession of Trace's key there was also a chance Red would once again appear in Takeru's dreams, well really more a nightmare, and try to harm him. It had only happened once last time because Takeru had stopped sleeping once he figured out it could happen again. He was afraid of falling asleep and finding himself once again caught in one of those nightmares. The reason he was worried, however, was because they had only been able to beat Red because of Calilimon's sacrifice. He knew his worry was unreasonable, though, because Omegamon, Imperialdramon Fighter Mode, and Ofanimon had almost beaten Shaitanmon, but had been called back because of something that had happened at the time that had made Taichi and several of the other Chosen Children involved uneasy about beating him. Then again Red would not be Shaitanmon this time so there was always the chance that they couldn't beat him.
Sighing, Takeru rolled onto his side and closed his eyes deciding that risking sleep at the moment would probably be the best. It was a slim chance if anything that his nightmares would be invaded again and having just started his first year of high school he didn't want to somehow get in trouble. However, Takeru's body seemed to disagree with him for he found it impossible to fall asleep. The teen gave up completely when the sun began to rise and he kicked the blanket of himself and slowly climbed off the futon not wanting to wake Patamon up. Takeru carefully walked around his room to retrieve his black high school uniform from the closet. With uniform in hand he walked to the bathroom to change into it.
Takeru glanced up in the mirror as he straightened the arms of the jacket out leaving it unbuttoned. He was happy to see that it wasn't easy to tell by looking at him that he had missed a night's sleep. The thought made him paused in what he was doing as he realizes something. Eyes narrowing, he quickly finished putting his uniform on then ran a comb through his hair before leaving the bathroom heading for his room again. Once again he carefully walked through his room grabbing a flashlight from his desk drawer before heading over to his bed. Once there he clicked the flashlight on shining the light at Trace's face.
Takeru knew for a fact that Trace avoided sleep like the plague because the older teen never had normal dreams like anyone else all he ever had was nightmares. It had resulted in black circles under his eyes that would take more than a day's rest to get them to vanish. When the light hit Trace's face, however, the dark circles where completely gone. He knew Trace would only have slept if he had been forced to by the injuries he had sustained, but they couldn't be very old or Trace most likely would have bled to death. Something is off here, Takeru thought to himself as he took as step back.
Takeru walked back over to the futon he had shared with Patamon and kneeled down next to the small Digimon. Carefully he shook the small Digimon and when Patamon awoke he put a finger to his mouth telling him to remain quite. Patamon nodded as Takeru picked him up but it was plain that was he was confused as to why Takeru had done this. The teen headed for the living room closing the bed room door behind him. Once in the living room he sat down on the couch. "Takeru, what's wrong?" Patamon asked believing he had only been told to be quiet to prevent him from waking Lee up.
"Something is bugging me… Can you evolve into Holy Angemon for me?" he asked.
Patamon blinked and looked around him. He had never evolved into Holy Angemon in the apartment before, but he had evolved into Angemon and there wasn't a big difference in size between the two so it should be fine. "Alright," Patamon said moving to stand on the floor in front of Takeru before evolving into his Perfect from instantly noticing the one difference between the two forms that mattered. He could easily move his wings as either Angemon or Holy Angemon to where they weren't touching the ceiling of the apartment, but he found he had to bend slightly as his waist and knees to keep the larger helmet of Holy Angemon from scraping the ceiling. "This might have not been a very good idea…" Holy Angemon commented standing still for a moment.
"You'll be able to devolve soon I just need you to try Holy Disinfection on Rascmon," Takeru told him.
Holy Angemon glanced at Rascmon before turning his attention back to Takeru. "You do not think he's asleep by natural caused do you?" he asked.
Takeru shook his head. "No I don't think so… Thinking back on what Lee had said about trying for awhile to look into both Trace and Rascmon's memories and unable to see anything makes it seem strange that he suddenly can see Rascmon's. It's almost too convenient," Takeru explained and Holy Angemon nodded in agreement.
"Then why not try Trace first?" Holy Angemon asked.
"Jou says he needs rest and he won't once he wakes up. Rascmon also appears to be uninjured so the best one to try it out on would be him," Takeru told him.
Once again Holy Angemon nodded and turned his attention to Rascmon stating, "Holy Disinfection." A soft light appeared around Rascmon and after awhile the light disappeared. Slowly the fiery dogs eyelids began to move as if having a dream, but then he opened them looking around him until he spotted Holy Angemon and Takeru lifting his head up.
"Child of Hope…" Rascmon almost questioned quite confused and disoriented at the moment. The fiery Digimon shook his head and looked at them again. When they had not vanished he believed them to be real. "How did I get here?" he asked them.
"Lee found you and Trace in the Digital World and brought you here, "Takeru explained as Holy Angemon took the opportunity to devolve back to Patamon.
Rascmon changed into a sitting position. "Lee? He shouldn't even be able to leave his own realm without the help of Trace or one of his sisters how did he managed to get to the Digital World?" he questioned glancing around in attempt to find the boy.
"According to him he just copied what Trace always does and managed to do it. He did end up fainting because of it, though," Takeru told him.
Rascmon slowly nodded his head turning his attention to Takeru again. "You said Lee found Trace as well?" he asked.
Takeru nodded. "Yeah, he's in my room right now… Why do you ask?" Takeru wondered as he looked at his bed room door.
"That's because the last time I lay eyes on Trace he was forcibly being dragged away from me by a Wendimon," Rascmon answered and Takeru stood at that heading for his bedroom door opening it up. Carefully he walked into the room and over to the bed. Patamon followed Takeru into the room though Rascmon, who was slightly unstable on his legs at the moment, followed at a slower pace. Takeru was almost to the bed by the time Rascmon had stepped into the room and as soon as the Digimon did Trace's eyes shot open as he quickly sat up.
Takeru looked at him and noticed right away that it wasn't really Trace for his eyes were red instead of the emerald green and ocean blue they normally were. Takeru began to back away but stopped when he felt the hairs on the back of his head and neck began to stand up on end warning him to the electrical barrier that was behind him. Both Patamon and Rascmon dashed towards the bed and before Takeru could warn them they crashed in the barrier being shocked by black electricity. The two Digimon cried out in surprise more than pain and backed up a few steps. Their cries caused both Lee and Bearmon to wake up. Bearmon took one glance around the room before placing himself in front of Lee.
"Trace" laughed leaning back against the wall the head of the bed was pushed against. "I thought this was going to easy," he commented bending one of his legs to rest an arm on it.
"What have you done to Trace?" Rascmon shouted shifting into a pouncing position as he growled and bared his teeth at the fake Trace.
"Calm down, I can't exactly harm him without this losing its power," he deadpanned as he held a black skeleton key in the palm of his hand to show the others. Upon seeing it Takeru quickly lunged at the bed trying to grab the key but he collided into another barrier that was in front of him getting electrocuted much like what had happened to the two Digimon earlier. Unlike them he cried out in pain as he fell to the floor thankfully away from the barrier to where he was no longer touching it.
"Takeru!" Patamon shouted and a flash of light from Takeru's D-3, which was sitting on Takeru's desk, caused him to evolve into Holy Angemon. When they had faced such a barrier before he had been able to break it with Excalibur so he allowed the energy sword to extend out and he slashed at the barrier. However, much like what had happened when he had tried once as Angemon the sword hit the barrier and the black electricity tried to travel up the sword to get to Holy Angemon, but the purple gem in the hilt of the sword glowed and the sword shattered before the electricity could touch him.
"Trace" laughed at Holy Angemon and Takeru's efforts turning to look at the teen who was still lying on the floor. "Did you really think it would be that easy?" he asked.
Takeru glared at him. "It was worth a shot!" he said through gritted teeth as he shifted into a sitting position.
"I thought you wouldn't even take the chance after how badly your hands where burned the last time you attempted to get past one of my barriers," he said shrugging. Humans were really confusing creatures in his opinion.
Takeru turned his head when he heard footsteps and spotted his mother in the doorway of his bedroom. She glanced around the room and would have tried to get to Takeru except Rascmon stepped in front of her. "Don't it is not safe," Rascmon told her.
"Takeru, are you okay?" she asked as she looked at him.
"Don't worry I'm fine," he told her as he stood up. The teen really was fine he hadn't gotten burned this time, but his body was slightly numb. He turned his attention to the person sitting on his bed. "Why are you here?"
"Do I really have to explain?" he questioned his eyes narrowing slightly.
"So it wasn't just the game coding that made you want to kill Patamon and me," Takeru said glaring at him.
The red eyed teen laughed. "I told you I wanted to see what happened once 'hope' was gone," he stated as his form began shifting. The long black hair went short and spiked in several different directions while a white fox masked appeared of his face making his red eyes barely visible. As for his cloths the pants changed into a black hakama while the shirt changed into a red kimono that wasn't tied shut nor was it tucked into the hakama pants. The piercings in the ears as well as the gloves vanished while long white claw like nails appeared instead of normal ones. As for his skin it was covered in fine black fur all except a nasty looking scar that was in the middle of his chest. At his waist was a black scabbard katana as well as a matching shorter sword called a wakizashi.
He moved to the edge of the bed that was near Takeru and stood up showing he was around the same size as Holy Angemon. When he stood up it made his black tail very visible opposed to when he was on the bed. Takeru once again moved as far back as he could without hitting the barrier behind him. The Digimon glanced at Holy Angemon before walking past the barrier that had separated him and Takeru before slowly walking towards the teen.
However, before he was able to reach Takeru, a wooden door that was rounded at the top appeared behind Takeru. When the door opened up it revealed Bearmon and Lee to be on the other side of it. The two each grabbed one of Takeru's arms and pulled him through the door. The red eye Digimon quickly rushed at it only to have Bearmon slam it close in his face causing the door to vanish.
Holy Angemon and Rascmon both look to where Lee was a minute ago, but the three don't reappear there. The red eye Digimon eyes narrowed as another wooden door appeared this one completely black. "I'll come play later," he told them as he opened the door with the skeleton key and walked through it.
Holy Angemon turned around looking at Takeru's desk and opened up the green lap top sitting on it. "Hopefully they just went to the Digital World," he commented as he woke the lap top up.
"I doubt Lee would chance going anywhere else," Rascmon stated.
Natsuko shook her head slightly. Takeru had explained the ability of Lee and Trace to her so she wasn't completely shocked at what had happened, but she was still surprised. She turned her attention to Holy Angemon. "Who was that?" she asked.
Holy Angemon devolved down to Tokamon now that Takeru's laptop was up and running so Takeru could come back that way. "It's the personality of Shaitanmon's that wanted to kill Takeru and me," he answered as he looked at her.
"I thought you beat him already," Natsuko said.
"We thought he had as well…. Lee tried to warn Takeru before the last battle that it wouldn't end there, but we thought with how long it had been it really was over," Tokamon told her as he sat beside the laptop. This was one mistake the small Digimon would be sure never to repeat.
:: Digital World ::
Takeru fell back onto his butt having been pulled quite forcibly by Lee and Bearmon. He watched as the red eye Digimon tried to reach the door only to have Bearmon slam it shut causing it to vanish. The teen looked at the younger teen and smiled slightly. "Thanks, Lee," Takeru said as he stood up. Lee slowly nodded and began to fall over as he lost consciousness. He was caught by Takeru before he could hit the ground.
"It's the same as last time," Bearmon explained.
Takeru shook his head slightly. "No he opened two doors this time instead of just one… Any way we need to find one of the portals and get back," Takeru told him as he picked Lee up carrying him bridal style. He didn't know if it meant anything that the boy had managed to open two doors up this time instead of one, but he found it strange that he could when he had fainted before after only opening one. "Do you have any idea where we are at?"
Bearmon glanced around at the small forest they were in and nodded. "Yeah, this is near where he appeared the first time so we're close to where I was living at. I know where the closest portal from here is," Bearmon explained and began to walk as Takeru followed after him. Bearmon looked over at him as they walked. "How did you guy know something was wrong?"
"I didn't know things where as bad as what they turned out to be… I just thought that their sleep was unnatural was all. I had Holy Angemon use his Holy Disinfection on Rascmon and when he woke up I knew I was right. As for how I knew the sleep wasn't natural its because Trace hates to sleep and would only sleep if forced to so when the black rings under his eyes were missing I was assuming that he had been asleep longer then what it seemed he had. It was Rascmon who informed us that the last time he had seen Trace he had been pulled away from him. We went to see if it really was Trace, but I guess since Rascmon was awake he knew he couldn't trick us any longer," Takeru explained.
Bearmon nodded. "I'm even more glad now that Lee instantly went to your place instead of doing what I suggested which was bringing the two to my home," Bearmon stated.
"How did you guys manage to get to my apartment any way?" Takeru asked keeping his attention to where he was going so he didn't trip.
"When we opened the portal to a random computer the people that lived in the house and their Digimon where more than willing to help us get here… They weren't, however, willing to make sure that the person who lived in the apartment was willing to take us in or not," Bearmon explained and Takeru nodded. "How are you guys going to find the real Trace?"
"Well since I have a feeling Lee's ability to find anything lost isn't working because his sisters didn't use it to find Trace and Rascmon in the first place we'll just have to search the entire Digital World until we find him," Takeru deadpanned knowing full well that could take weeks even months to do so with how big the Digital World was and it had a tendency of growing larger every once in awhile. Takeru still hadn't even seen the entire Digital World so he hoped they would be able to find some type of clue to help them out.
"Uh-huh… Has that worked for you guys in the past?" Bearmon asked.
"No when we wanted to find one another we usually just use our D-3's… we'll try this time as well, but it only works if you're within a certain distance of each other," Takeru sighed already imaging spending most of his afternoons within the Digital World as well as his weekends. He knew the Digimon had a tendency of not waiting to be found. He would seek out his opponents himself, but Takeru highly doubted that he would bring Trace along with him. The teen was also worried about what Rascmon had told him how Trace had been dragged away by a Wendimon. It seemed this time the fox-masked Digimon wasn't working alone…
A/N – Yeah so I mislead you with the ending of GA's epilogue and the preview of this chapter. I couldn't help it : 3. No really I couldn't, I didn't think of Trace not being the real one until literally when Rascmon woke up ^-^;. I hope you like the continuation of Guardian Angel. Any questions, comments, grammar or spelling corrections are much luv'ed.