Spoiler Alert! Read Book 1 First!
You have been warned fairly!
-A Message-
He peeked from behind trees, and saw exactly what he needed.
Nothing that'd happened in the pass year could probably delight him more than the sight of the giant concrete walls, with large letters that stated "KEEP OUT" in a fading red paint. The gray concrete was one of his concerns, though, having yet to find a means to get through those doors.
"It feels like I only took off yesterday," said the boy, "looks like some water source can really drive me mad."
The tiny white Digimon, having a body size so small that he could just be on his shoulders, replied. "Then what are we waiting for?"
"We're waiting for me to get ready to walk." Said him, rising up slowly from the small water pod that had relieved him for the last couple of days. As he did so the Digimon on his shoulder disappeared.
Kaoru Ishiguro, born 3012-5-12AD, died 3026-3-20
Yuzuki looked at the tomb, like she'd done for the pass year. Exactly a year had passed, and yet everything seemed to be so different that it felt like a decade had passed already. Ever since the Digi-Destined returned from the Digital World, everything changed all in a sudden. The first and foremost of them had been the acceptance to Digimon of the citizens. Everything they'd known about the raid one year ago had just been that some Digimon had used some means to try to take over the city, and two certain teenagers, along with their Digimon partners, had tried hard to protect the only country left. It had only been since the return of the Digi-Destined from the other side could they realize that the entire Digital World was still there, and that someone had fought so hard behind them.
Then came the more decisive part. Someone, from the officials, had claimed the technology that had allowed Piedmon to travel between the two worlds, and had successfully utilized it to allow the travel between the Digital World and the Human World. Despite that, normal civilians had yet to be allowed to get into the Digital World. It had only been the privilege of the Destined that all thirteen of them were able to go through the two worlds.
And last but not least, there had been the rediscovery of an ancient career know as Tamers, in which a human partners himself or herself with a Digimon, with which most of them being teenagers. There had first been tones of them appearing on the streets all in a sudden, without any restrictions, alas, illegal. Therefore another thing appeared –the officials, for better control and supervision, had set up a registration system, and that had led to one of the most recent and disturbing concern of Yuzuki.
That wasn't too much of a big deal, to be honest, but that just triggered the black-haired girl's weak point that she had done very hard to oppose to that idea –they had been proposing to build an institute, used to train the Tamers for future "usage". In fact, all that happened just within the first month of the Digi-Destined's return, and now they hadn't only built the institute, but had also gained quite a fame, and had held a tournament for young Tamers in memorial of the setting up of it.
11 months ago…
Yuzuki and Jesmon, walking beside Katashi and GrapLeomon, entered the room where they had been told. Within were the Digi-Destined, all nine of them, with the addition of Elsa and LadyDevimon. Despite not having seen the girl and the ultimate together in person, the black-haired girl had heard of them from Katashi, and wasn't quite surprised to see them. They all sat on either sides of an oval table, in which the far end sat Smith himself.
"I shouldn't be surprised," uttered Katashi. As one of the few who'd had more contact with the flame-eyed man, he'd known that the man had attended the position of a kind of special defense force, or to be simple, he'd become the official manager of the Digi-Destined, as well as any Tamer in the streets. "Would you mind telling me what do you have in mind this time?" asked the brown-haired boy, knowing that the man had always not been fully honest even to the Destined.
"Pleas take your seats first," offered Smith politely. As soon as every single one of them was in the room, he started to announce, "As you all know, there has been a number of humans partnering with Digimon lately, who call themselves Tamers,"
The Destined listened engagingly.
"There has been too many of them, in fact, that it has become quite a problem for someone above my position, who insisted that their presences need to be monitored."
"And how are you suggesting to do so, and how are we all apart involved, Mr. Chancellor?" questioned Amy sarcastically.
TigerVespamon, who'd been with Amy since his partner had died, said, "And why should we listen to you?"
Smith, ignoring all the questions and doubts, proceeded, "They asked me for a solution to control the situation, and I have come up with one." Said him as he paused, and stared at each of the Destined with a powerful gaze. "I proposed to set up an institute, a bit like a school, specialized for Tamers, so as to make them all a part of the legal society as well as to give them a chance to learn what it actually takes to be a Tamer, like you did."
"Are you crazy?" asked Yuzuki furiously, "Your plan is to set up a, say, military school, and let those kids be a part of your army? Is that supposed to get the situation better?"
"You have to calm down," advised Katashi, whispering to the girl.
"It is an undeniable fact that Tamers had started to show up, like it or not," corrected Smith, "and it is my duty to keep them as safe as possible. I knew there would be oppositions, like you, that's why I called this meeting."
"Why us?" asked Ryosuke, "Aren't you supposed to ask your Tamers out there?"
"You are the face of all Tamers around the world," said Smith, "they appeared because of what you did to safe the world, and that's why you're the most influential among them. I called you all here to vote, whether to set up the institute or not. So please value your opportunity."
"I say no," declared Yuzuki immediately, "you're putting them in a dangerous situation, trying to get them to fight like we did. They're just kids!"
"So are we." Argued Elsa.
"And look what have become of us." Uttered the black haired girl grievously.
"I go with Yuzuki," stated Jesmon.
"So do we." Said Katashi and GrapLeomon.
"I think you're taking this a bit too emotionally," muttered Elsa, "Whether you like it or not, I have no intention of being chased by a mob of crazy robots, with no one else to help me, again. Yes, I agree with Smith that we should set up the institute, at least that way some more backups can be provided."
LadyDevimon said the same.
"I'm out of this." Uttered Amy, getting out of her seat.
"What do you mean 'out of this'?"
"I choose neither side, get it? And so did Meramon." As she said so both she and Meramon left the room. "We'll be waiting outside. Happy arguing."
"What about you?"
"You know, I'm really against training young kids like so," said Eiji, "But, we do need more. We are not enough. Had there been more then just six of us, there wouldn't have been tragedies like Renias and Hepia. I say yes."
"I really don't think we should do this." Said MetalPhantomon, "No."
"I say yes, same reason with Eiji." Said Ryosuke.
"So do I."Declared Lillymon X and Pteramon.
"I don't think Kaoru would want this." Uttered TigerVespamon.
"Well, he's not here, and guess why? There could've another way had there been more of you." Said Elsa.
"I choose no.," insisted TigerVespamon.
"Then it's up to you, Mr. Saikachi." Announced Smith.
Takumi held up both hands, resting his head on them. It was really a hard decision for him to make. Not only was he not used to be the decision-maker, but also because he was placed in the middle between two parties that had all once been his friends. Judging from Yuzuki's emotional over-reaction, he could say for certain that he'd lose her as a friend forever if he said yes, but objectively he couldn't say it better to not set up the institute.
"Just give me a second," murmured him, closing his eyes, apparently troubled by the decision-making. For a second he fell completely silent, but then he said, "Eiji was right. I'm sorry, but this, I mustn't be emotional, if there had been more like us, less would've died. I'm sorry."
"Then it's settled." Announced Smith.
Yuzuki kept staring at the grave, completely lost in thoughts as someone placed a bunch of Gladiolus in front of the gravestone. Yuzuki turned around, and saw Katashi standing next to her.
"I don't really know what flower to use." Said the brown-haired boy, kneeling before the grave next to Yuzuki. "I'm sorry, I can't say any more but that." Said him. "I should have been with you." He'd been doing so since he'd left Rn on his last birthday, when his parents had moved their entire family to Vetiro, which they thought would be the best choice to allow them to spend more time with Katashi. It was about the same time when the Digi-Destined had returned. Upon learning the devastating fact that Yuzuki had fallen in love with Kaoru, and that the latter had died during their task in the Digital World, Katashi had been trying his best to comfort the black-haired girl. Almost every weekend he would go to Rn, and spend his time with Yuzuki, mainly to stop her from crying.
Yuzuki, on the other hand, hadn't known how to deal with the brown-haired boy's care. She knew why he'd been doing all that, and she felt guilty for accepting his aid, having known that Katashi had had some feelings toward her, and that she had chosen Kaoru instead of him, while the brown-haired boy would still care for her so much when he should be mad with her, or be glad that his competition was gone. The thought was another part that sickened the black-haired girl. Ever since her return from the Digital World she hadn't been able to be herself again, always being alert and judging people with their worst intention without seeing their good side.
"It's almost time for us to go," said her distractedly. "Jesmon and GrapLeomon should be waiting for us."
"If you don't want, you don't need to force yourself." Advised Katashi. The two of them had been given the mission of giving speeches as guests at the Institute, the very place where Yuzuki had refused to build. Still, she'd taken the offer, considering that as a step for her getting over her psychological trauma. Katashi, on the other hand, could tell clearly that she wasn't ready, and that she was forcing herself to be what she needed to be.
"I have to," replied the black-haired girl, "I can't just hide for my entire life. It's time for me to face it, once and for all."
"Glad to hear that from you," said Katashi, forcing a smile, "just want to make sure that you're completely fine doing this."
"It's getting late while we're talking like this." Said Yuzuki, standing up and turning away from Kaoru's grave."
As expected, there were literally tones of students there, in which every single one of them had a Digimon partner by their sides, sitting in the hall that could be enough for two football courts, listening engagingly to the stage before the four of them were even there.
Just when she walked out of the backstage, there was a surge of nervousness that came over her, telling her that she'd made the wrong decision. She allowed her sight to escaped the audience for a while, but then felt gradually finer and ascended her gaze upon the audience that had waited eagerly downstage. Needless to say, since the time of their return, she'd automatically become one of the many role models of these teenagers.
As she scanned through the audience, however, one strange feeling occurred to her. Next to the far right corner she saw a young girl with long pink hair, approximately a few years older than her, staring at her. For a moment she thought of her a special kind of feeling, like she knew this pink-haired lady somehow, yet within seconds she couldn't help but get her sight off the girl, like her mind was telling her not to focus on her. She tried for once to look at her again, but somehow her eyes just wouldn't focus upon seeing the girl, and so she gave up.
"Everything all right?" whispered Katashi.
"I'm fine," replied Yuzuki.
"Remember, just to make ourselves easier, stick to the script."
"Stick to the script."
And so things went on rather smoothly, both the Destined and the Non-Destined shared their experiences as the first Tamers of the time and, much to Katashi's relief, Yuzuki didn't undergo any mental breakdown, at least not visible ones. Their Digimon partners proceeded in sharing their roles, attracting every attention of the audience as they spoke. Digimon, previously discriminated by many a human, had now earned their rightful place on the stage.
The true problem didn't come before the MC said, "And now for the question and answer section. Would anyone of you there like to ask our guests for some comments? Remember, this is a rare chance and might not come again any time sooner."
Despite having known the coming of this part, it still made Katashi nervous. They'd prepared almost every single question they thought the Tamers could come up with, and had drafted the answers rather thoroughly. The first question was asked, concerning how the two balance their lives as Tamers and normal persons. Katashi managed to get that over, by simply saying that troubles don't come everyday, and that their friends, families would understand their duty.
Them came a second one, asking the Destined whether or not did she think Tamers could once again be a trend again and could they be the same as those years ago and protect the world. That was an easy one, too, until the third one came.
"I want to ask Ms. Satonaka." A girl stood up, "We all know that your team have suffered lots of losses. I want to know how you deal with all that, especially concerning the death of one of your teammates?"
That hit the girl hard and precisely. Before she even noticed, her legs had already started shivering, followed by her arms. She stared at the audience without a blink; her jaws half opened; her expression blank. The girl that had asked the question might be a foolish one, for there were clear instructions that these kind of emotion-evoking questions were not recommended. Yet, what was done was done, and there was no turning back. Jesmon first noticed his partner's breakdown, followed with Katashi. Without hesitation he walked and grabbed a microphone, saying. "I'm afraid this is the end of our sharing today. We are very honored to be here." And with that he helped Yuzuki return to the backstage.
Yuzuki leaned back against a wall in the backstage, sitting on the floor with both her hands supporting her heavy head. For a moment she thought she was going to cry, but she didn't feel like it. It was more horrible, to be asked the question she'd been evading. To be totally honest she would say that she had yet to find a way to deal with these losses, and that she had had the worst idea with these things, having even asked Amy if she could erase her memory, to make her forget everything that hurt so much, only to be replied with that. "Even if I can, I won't do it. It is your experience that makes you who you are. All the good and the bad, they are part of you, and you can't just throw them away at will. All you can do is to accept them and go on."
"You've done well," said Katashi in a failed attempt to comfort her.
She didn't answer the boy. All she could think of at the moment was the battle at the secret chamber of Piedmon. "How many more shall die in your name?" and she remembered well how she'd answered the diabolical villain. "You'll be the last one."
"I couldn't save him," mumbled Yuzuki, trembling, "Only if I have been more focused, he wouldn't have died."
"He died to protect you!" said Katashi, a bit out of control. "How would he think if he saw you behaving like this? You can't waste his life!"
"That's exactly the point," murmured Yuzuki, "I should've been the one instead of him. He was trying to save me…"
"Maybe we should just give her more time," said Jesmon softly, stepping up. Despite saying that, he knew exactly that his partner might very well not be able to fully recover. After all, he'd been with her all the year, and had seen her not being able to shake the matter off her head. Still, he had to be on the positive side when things seemed worst. Even if his partner was to go down, he couldn't very well do the same with her.
"I'm sorry, I was a bit harsh on that," apologized the brown-haired boy. When the tension between them worsened, a call came, giving a turn in the matter.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
"If I am correct you should be in Vertiro, at the Institute right now?" came the voice of Smith. From that moment on Katashi already knew that something wrong was up again, seeing that Smith, who was now in charge of the actions of the Digi-Destined, hadn't called them for a long while. "I need you two to get to Xe right now."
"What happened there?" asked Katashi, "and can you send someone else there? We're having some conditions here."
"What's it?" asked Yuzuki.
"It's Smith. He wants us at Xe." Answered GrapLeomon before his partner could stop him.
"I've asked him to send someone else." Replied Katashi. "I…"
"Fine, I'll go." Uttered Yuzuki. "Just in time for some distraction. Come on, Jesmon." Without waiting for the brown-haired boy, she'd already gone, leaving Katashi no choice but to follow. After all, if the mission Smith gave them contained potential threat, which was usually true, she'd need backup under that kind of state.
"Keep a close eye on her, can you?" he asked GrapLeomon.
"I've always been."
He looked behind, noticing something swarming behind him. This wasn't the first time he'd seen something like that. Out there, there's always something running after random targets, and most of the time he could just hide behind something and wait until the wild Digimon ran out of their strength and went elsewhere, but not this time. He was so close to his destination that he decided to take the risk, try to outrun the swarm that had, for unknown reason, made him the target.
"Might need your help, Kudamon." Uttered the boy. The Digimon that was resting on his shoulder jumped swiftly onto the ground and started to glow, turning into a horse-like Digimon that was covered in green scales and had a pair of wings with silvery white feathers.
"Let's hope I'm fast enough." Uttered the horse-like Digimon as the boy got on his back, taking a riding pose. The Digimon was, though not shown, worried for his partner's health condition. Still, he pretended to be normal and said, "Ready?"
"Ready when you are."
"So, what makes you want us to check the walls of Xe?" asked Katashi, "I don't think anything's wrong here."
"Our tech here reads something unusual." Answered Smith. "I think is best to have a check."
"With two of us?" asked Katashi. "I meant four."
"Please get to the walls first, and I'll let you know if there's any necessity of taking action."
The four of them, within half an hour, had reached the walls. There everything seemed just fine, with the same old dusty and rusty surface of the weathered concrete walls that stood high enough to block the sight of half of the sky above horizon. Next to it were guards who didn't seem to be enjoying their duty of standing there all day without doing much. Usually, it'd be quite an entertainment to watch murderous Digimon being banished outside the only living city in the world. Yet the number of it had decreased drastically since the rise of the Tamers, probably due to more and more dangerous Digimon being taken care of before the officials could find out.
"Sometimes I wonder," mumbled Yuzuki, "If Digimon can become an egg and rebirth after death, why aren't those Digimon given a chance to live a new life?"
"I don't know," uttered GrapLeomon, "but maybe –just maybe –before the Tamers show up, the police can't do much damage to a Digimon."
"Whatever the case is, it seems that the walls are useless now." Commented Jesmon.
"I still don't see much odd things going on." Muttered Katashi, giving another phone call. "Are you sure there's something wrong here, Mr. Smith?"
"Our readings show that a large number of Digimon is outside the wall, and they are moving towards the wall." Instructed their superior.
"The last time you say that, it ended up thousands of Chaosdramon X landing into the Human World."
"It's just a check."
"Right." Sighed Katashi. He then turned to Yuzuki and said. "Stay here, I'll go check if everything's okay. It's quite quick really, just a peek outside the bullet-proof window."
Yuzuki, on the other hand, felt like she was treated differently, which was partially true in this case, and said. "I can handle this. I have more experience than you, after all."
"Just let him do this," uttered GrapLeomon, "he'll blame himself if you are to join in. you know, he really cares about you, just pretend you need his protection, maybe? That way he'll feel better."
"Finished, Leomon?" asked Katashi, already at the window. The guards didn't really care much about their appearance there, partially because they're VIPs, partially because they just didn't care much if anybody's around there. Thinking that everything's fine, and that nothing could possibly happen with a little check, the brown-haired boy leaned forward, sticking his eye to the glass, with the thought that he would see only the sand and the shady sky, as taught in the lessons.
What he saw, however, surprised him more than anything could. So surprised was he that he jerked back immediately, not believing his own eyes. GrapLeomon just arrived when he did that, and asked if anything weird was out there. Katashi didn't answer immediately; peeking out of the window one more time to ensure that what he'd just seen wasn't just a mirage. So startled was he that he didn't even realize how dramatic his widely opened eyes and hugely dropped jaws were.
"Open the gate," mumbled him to Smith as he once again gained the vision out there.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're right. There's a bunch of Digimon out there, probably Flymon, chasing another Digimon, a green one. And, there's a human on top of the green one. Did I mention how close to the gate are the human and the green one? It seems that they're escaping the Flymon, and the Flymon are trying hard to get them, firing all the way." He didn't realize that he said all that in within ten seconds.
"What's the matter?" asked Yuzuki, arriving at Katashi's spot.
Katashi then explained in a much simpler manner that, outside the walls, he saw a wild chase between two parties in which one of them, the ones being chased, consisted of a Digimon and, much to the girl's surprise as well, a human being, apparently not much older than they were, who seemed to be barely conscious, being held on the Digimon's back without much motion. The other party, being a wild wave of Flymon, was attacking constantly, without much hesitation to withhold any of their strength.
"Mr. Smith?" asked Katashi again, much more anxiously, "there's someone out there being chased, open the gate or I'll make the guards do it!"
"You do understand what you'll have to face if I do?" questioned the middle-aged man.
"Just do it," uttered Katashi impatiently, "I think we can handle a bunch of Champions."
There weren't any further responses, at least not in words. The giant, dull gray wall started to move, with a thin yet tall gap appearing between the mid points of it. The gap then became wider and wider gradually, with noises indicating that giant gears, probably rusted, were functioning to satisfy the Tamers. The next incoming noise was way more annoying, being a buzzing sound so loud that it sounded almost like it was coming from within the Tamers' head, vibrating frequently, so frequently that it probably could've made its way to the ears of a handicapped.
"Bees," muttered GrapLeomon, "They just don't stop making that noise."
"That's very insulting to one of my friends." Commented Jesmon.
Before they could even decide what to do, Katashi said, "Yuzuki, go look after that man there. GrapLeomon and I will hold anyone that tries to come in. Jesmon can be there in case any of them gets through us."
It never really worked, however, at least not as he had expected. The green Digimon, identified as Chirinmon, an Ultimate with a Vaccine attribute, rushed in as soon as the walls were opened wide enough. Not too far behind were the Flymon, all appearing mad, jetting towards the opening.
"Take care of them for now." Half-demanded Katashi as he and GrapLeomon rushed to the opening of the walls. Soon after he'd informed Smith to get the walls closed back up, they were ready to face whatever that was coming in their way.
"Brown Stingers!" roared the swarm of the wasp-like Digimon. So unified were the cries that it was a bit of a hard time withstanding the nosiness as the Flymon started to drop the pointed, yet a bit irregular stings, all flying at the same direction towards GrapLeomon.
"Let's see if it works," muttered GrapLeomon before he raised both his fists into the air and yelled, "The King of Fist!" the turbines on his forearms started rotating, reaching their maximum speed in no time. just before the stings could reach him and his partner, the Ultimate pulled his two forearms together, hitting each other hard, unleashing an energy wave that shocked through the air particles, causing the needles to went into different directions to either poles of the walls and fell gradually.
The Flymon –though affected in a large number –managed to have a few of them left hovering midair to continue the raid. Those that remained escaped the energy wave and soared through the air at top speed, rushing towards the gap between the walls. In no time the Flymon had already gone within the reach of GrapLeomon.
"Cyclonic Kick!" jumping high up in the air, using the two sides of the enclosing walls as leaping platforms, the Ultimate reached the height of the Flymon, with his leg rising above his own head as the turbine on his leg rotated. Accurately aiming he got one Flymon down, sending it plugging towards the sandy ground out there. While still airborne GrapLeomon managed to kick a few more out, but he couldn't be as accurate every time, leaving some of them, which were actually around a dozen, flying into the city unharmed.
Those that managed to get through GrapLeomon, however, had thrown themselves into a much greater adversity. Jesmon stood behind the gates prepared, with his blades extended all the way to the ground. He waited, for the Flymon to come, and when they reached just right above him, he jumped vertically upward, knocking one out of his way and directing it to hit another while slashing another one on his right. In the meantime, he did a three-sixty rotation in the air, allowing his blade on his tail to reach out as far a possible and hit as many targets as he could. With some chain reaction in which the Flymon crashed into one an other and fall spontaneously, the fight was over.
Yuzuki, though wanting to be battling more than the job she was assigned to, reached Chirinmon, who didn't seem to be noticing her approaching until she was a within a few inch of his reach.
"I mean no harm," stated the black-haired girl, reaching out for the emerald-scaled Digimon while putting her hands in the air, "I just want to help."
Chirinmon, being amazing and unexpectedly cooperative, stopped and turned his head slightly round to the girl. The human being on his back could now be seen more clearly, as he struggled to get off the Ultimate's back. His landing was an unsuccessful one as he landed with his stomach facing the ground.
It was astonishment when Yuzuki saw that the boy was literally not much older than her in appearance. But what struck her was the boy's totally unbelievable physical appearance. He was –estimated by the girl, imagining that he were standing –roughly a bit taller than most boy's of that age, with middle-length, messy black hair and a hint of black eyes coming out from the small gap of his closing eyes. His entire upper torso was exposed, showing that he was a bit muscular in terms of body build. It also gave Yuzuki the impression that this boy had –as hard as it was to believe –been strayed out there for quite some time. around his waist was a piece of grayish-green cloth that could've once been his shirt, and on his lower torso was a pair of tan trousers, with about five holes placed randomly on it, and untidy ends that ended when the cloth reached the boy's ankle. His shoes, though not as damaged, were considered by civilian standard as "not usable".
"What happened to him?" asked the black-haired girl. Before she could get any answers, however, Chirinmon started to glow, Degenerating back into a small white Digimon with a long, scarf-like body that wrapped around a roll of some scroll-like material. Without giving out any answers, the Digimon, as identified as Kudamon, disappeared.
"Wait, what about him?" she didn't have much time to still thinking, however, as the others came by. The boy was in clear need for medical attention, and she didn't want to waste much time delaying it.
"What the hell?" uttered Katashi in disbelief as he arrived.
"Can you help me lift him up?" Yuzuki asked her partner. "We need to get him to a hospital, or somewhere like that."
Without a word Jesmon obeyed, and as he got the unconscious boy lifted, something fell off him. It was a strange little metallic object that looked completely opposite to what its supposed owner dressed like. It felt like a device, with a shape that bore the appearance of the Digi-Destined's Digivices, only it didn't have any screens or buttons.
"I know what to do," mumbled Katashi as he got his phone next to his ears again, "Mr., Smith, we're in great need of backups right now. There's a boy who just got here from outside the walls with the need for medical attention, and a strange device carried by him." This time, he gave no time for Smith to say another word by cutting the line right off.
It feels so good to be back with these super long author note! Well, it took me longer than I thought, but I had to make sure I have at least ten chapters in stock to do a regular update.
For those who'd read book 1 and found it disappointing that I changed the protagonist into Katashi, just live with it. I know he didn't feel important in the first book, because I initially intended that he only be a regular friendly-neightboorhood character. I didn't even plan to give him a Digimon partner. But as the story progressed, and his relationship with Yuzuki getting complex, I saw more potential in him than in Yuzuki, so she had to give away her role as the protagoinst.
Anyway, be sure to follow and give reviews to the story. It really helps me achieve a sense of satisfaction.