DISCLAIMER: We don't own Digimon, we're fans and decided to write this, it's not for profit, just for fun and lulz. Though it is very dark. Check this link for exposition, trivia, teasers, exclusive info and concept art: .?showtopic=128277&st=0 this story won't make sense without it.
Also Hikari isn't ours, but a friend's, so credit to Psyshock for her, and to Bandai/Toei for Digimon.

"Kaoru, Kaoru," a young girl was running, her stubby legs tripping over each other. "Onii-Chan," she ran down the corridor, thumping on his door. "Play Digimon with me!"

"Go away, Reiko," her brother's cold voice replied.

"No, Kaoru, you're so mean," the girl pouted. "I hate you sometimes! I hate you, I hate you…"

"Okay," Kaoru said slowly. "You hate me. You don't bug people you hate,"

"Onii-Chan!" the young eleven-year-old started to cry, leaning against his door. "Why do you hate me, Onii-Chan?"

"I don't…" the door was opened behind Reiko and she was caught by Kaoru as she fell back. Reiko hardly ever got to look into Kaoru's room, so she took a moment to savour her view. Behind her tall, thin brother was a regular, tidy room. A bit empty, but Reiko had expected as much; he was never bought anything and he didn't own much, but their parents always bought him really expensive essentials like his iPhone and iPad. Both were sitting on his tidy desk, with a curios gem.

"It's so tidy…" Reiko whistled. Kaoru just didn't care, so she'd expected that his room was a cluttered mess… But it wasn't.

"Yes, and what?" Kaoru said irritably. "Listen, Reiko, I don't hate you. Never have. Leave me alone, though, okay? I have a lot to deal with."

"Onii-Chan…"

Episode Three: Lone Ronin of Kyoto, Kaoru!

Chase carefully guided his phone around, occasionally glancing at the small girl beside him. She was frowning at him like he was monstrous, face twisted a little. Chase smiled, seeming ignorant of her detest, clicking something on his phone and smiling.

"Alright, all in," Chase nodded towards the tall, ominous library ahead of them and stood aside politely. "Ladies first,"

"Ladies first…" muttered Hikari darkly, taking his invitation with a begrudging 'Thank you'.

"We're in a Digital Field now," Chase brushed his hand around in a circle. The desks were now the base for tall, hanging trees, the ground's carpet was torn away, replaced with dark, rotting wood and the walls were home to dense forest life.

"We should leave," Hikari said fearfully. "The digimon here could get us, too…"

"Don't be so worried," Chase said lightly, "I created it."

"You… You… How?" Hikari felt a bit dumb asking. She wasn't dumb, she was quite intelligent and had learnt English fairly quickly… Or, well, she had. When she'd been trying to pick it up.

"You use your D-Spacer," Chase said, off-hand. Hikari wondered if she'd heard correctly. She'd never heard that term… "You don't know? C'mon, Hikari! Okay, okay; D-Spacers are modified from whatever digital apparatus the human has when they contract, like an iPod, a Lap-Top or a Mobile Phone. It is used to remain in contact with their Digimon partner and to detect Digital Fields. You can also connect to the Digimon Hunters Network and, well, open your own Digital fields using computers nearby. And trust me; it took me ages to find a place where we'd not be hurting anyone by having this here."

"Right… Hunters Network?" Hikari said suspiciously.

"Uh… You saw me using it earlier… That green site on my phone? I was chatting with some friends before you pulled me off." Chase remembered the chat earlier, smiling slightly. "Alright, training time," he delved toward his back, removing the strap across his chest and lifting a collapsed longbow to her eyes. "See?"

"Yeah…" Hikari thought about her own weapon (which she'd hidden at home), a reverse-grip sword. She held it strangely, but knew how it worked. She didn't really want to have to use it.

Chase opened up his longbow, waving Hikari over and pointing it at a tree. He muttered something about where someone was and then fired an arrow. Hikari flew back in shock and fear, but was shocked at the elegance, speed and accuracy of the arrow as it soared straight through one of the trees and into a wall. The tree dissipated into data and Chase stood, watching it fill into a small chip that formed in Chase's hand.

"What's that?" Hikari questioned, drawing closer and fingering the chip.

"It's a DigiMemory," Chase said. "And don't even ask, I'll tell you. A DigiMemory is formed from data and allows you to 'digivolve' your creature-"

"I know what that means," Hikari snapped, frowning slightly. Chase was making her show her worst side. "I did watch the TV show…"

"Ah, but this isn't like that pack of lies. DigiMemories only digivolve a digimon for a single battle. It won't last because the Digimon is now linked with you. If you're not strong, they're not, and humans can never be that strong, not permanently. So we use the memories."

"So they're like drugs?" Hikari questioned slowly.

"No." Was Chase's only reply as he walked forwards, searching for something.

"You're looking for me… Chase…?" A deep, wild voice said, sharp and cold. Hikari turned, fearfully, feeling the demon puppy freeze at her feet.

"Apemon," Chase sighed, turning to look at the tanned ape thing.

"We'll look after you, girl," Apemon said, his voice slow and lumbering, "Until you're able to stand on your own. Then, you better watch out you don't steal our hunts,"

"That… and I that will match you!" Hikari said, though her words lacked strength or backing.

"That? I'm a she," Salamon cried. "I'm Salamon! And you bet we'll beat you! How many humans have you killed in cold data?"

"Shut up and know your place, small fry," Apemon smiled dangerously, smacking one of his large fists into a desk tree, splintering it in half, leaving sprinkles of shining data. He did this a few more times, while Chase collected the chips- 'DigiMemories'- before Chase carefully put his arm around Hikari.

"Let's go for pizza," he offered softly, and Hikari agreed, only because she was hungry, though. Of course.

x x x

"Kaoru," Tsukaimon squealed through the phone that Kaoru was holding to his ear. "I'm so bored, Kaoru. Do walks really relax humans?"

"They do," Kaoru replied slowly. "But not all of them. For instance; I hate them… but there's nothing better to do. All's been calm. Have I scared them away?" he scoffed at the thought.

"Hey, I feel a frequency!" Tsukaimon's soft, childish tone piped up.

"Digital?" Kaoru's grip on the phone intensified. His power was that of teleportation; he could vanish to wherever the field was as long as he was out of sight.

"No… Look, the screens!" Kaoru did as instructed, though his temper was pricking at being ordered. On the large screen hanging above the busy Kyoto, Kaoru noted that there was an emergency news broadcast.
"This is Kyoto News Anchorwoman, Ami Nagato. The latest victim of the world-wide disappearance has been local teenage boy, Megane Michihiko. His parents are shocked and horrified… They want their son back. Here they are now, with a plea to the kidnapper;" the screen flashed to a pair of shuddering people, their eyes read and their faces pale.

"We're the parents of Michihiko-Kun… And we're not going to poke fingers. We just want our son back more than anything. We love him and he was a good person, we don't know why he'd be targeted. Everyone loved him… He was good at soccer, an excellent goalie and striker… We just…" the woman broke down into tears. "Please, I want my boy back…"

"Please, if anyone has seen Megane Michihiko, call the following number;" and the news followed with some other stories. Kaoru blinked at the large screen for a second before turning and weaving through the crowd.

"Disappearances happen all the time," Kaoru shrugged. "And what?"

"You're an excellent hunter, Kao~ru!" Tsukaimon purred. "I can't believe I hated you when you contracted!"

"Yeah," Kaoru sighed. "I wonder when Reiko's flute practice ends…

"You're supposed to pick her up?" Tsukaimon didn't think much of little Reiko. She was small, annoying and yelled at Kaoru for what Tsukaimon thought were some of his best qualities.

"I am," Kaoru didn't seem too happy about it either. But then there was a loud buzzing in Kaoru's ear and he pulled the phone away, shuddering. His D-Spacer was announcing Digital Field. "It's in a park," Kaoru noted. "And close. Let's go!"

Kaoru skidded to a halt outside of the park. It was dark and the park's geometries had become alien and distorted…

Bang

Kaoru and Tsukaimon were thrown away suddenly, Tsukaimon vanishing as the blast, luckily of only energy, knocked the blonde boy into the road. He pulled himself out of it, waving his hand at the angered drivers and sighing slowly. He turned to the park, checking that all of his limbs still worked and then decided to check the digimon using his D-Spacer.

He brought up the Digimon Reference App, using the three fields as "Mega" (that blast was definitely Mega-level powered), "Lives in Darkness" and "Strikes without Warning." The app loaded only one match, likely due to many Mega levels striking more strategically; 'Gulfmon'.

"I think it's a Gulfmon," Kaoru said to the phone.

"Yeah, that fits, Kaoru! Good job," teased the young Digimon.

"Don't act like I'm five you flying rat," Kaoru replied snottily.

"Hey! I'm not a rat," complained Tsukaimon. Kaoru ignored him, searching on the network for any kind of info on Gulfmon. Not many people met Mega Digimon and lived to tell the tale, but there were some tips on a Hunter named Robin's file, noting how Darkness Digimon hated Holy Digimon.

"Can you see this?" Kaoru asked quietly. "We need to waste some memories, but only ten. Ten should do it."

"Champion?" Tsukaimon said doubtfully.

"Yup," Kaoru said shortly. "I don't really care if you disagree. This guy's a Mega level. I'll get a lot of Memories from it to trade with Him."

"Okay, okay, let's do it," Tsukaimon replied bitterly, and the pair entered the field a second time.

The bright light from Tsukaimon's champion subsided and Kaoru was left standing in an empty park. All of the children and parents were gone. Swing sets, Jungle Gyms and other equipment destroyed.

"They only get easier," Kaoru smiled. "Fifteen memories. Wasting ten was definitely worth it. Is that the time? Damn. Let's go get Reiko…"

Next time: My territory is gonna be made much smaller by this, but here goes! Training the feisty Hikari is getting harder and she's getting stronger, pushing forwards toward a goal that I don't quite know. Meanwhile, Deep struggles with himself on what to do with Alison. How can he tell her about Digital Fields and allow her to keep her innocence?

A fierce digimon takes Hikari while we're training, too, and Salamon can't get her back alone! Apemon and I won't stand for it! Next episode: "Flurry of Leaves, Spirit of the Forest, Apemon!" Hang on Hikari, I'm coming!