Brandon was hemorrhaging heavily from his back. He lost all muscles in his arms and his legs. And he fell into the hands of Josh who caught him. Josh tried holding his tears as he didn't want to look weak, but watching Brandon look so weak was hard for him to bear.

" Josh, look alive!" Chip shouted inside Josh's arm. " That man has a Digimon like you."

" Is he a Digidestined like me?"

" No. I should have told you this sooner, but the person we fought, the one who killed my partner, he is sending Digimon after me."

" I-I don't understand. Who is this person?"

" I don't know. He wasn't in our last war. But his essence must be compatible with his Digimon partner. Ergo, the more vile his soul is, the stronger the Digimon he has obtained."

" Come out and play, little bee," the man said with a croaky voice. " I'm going to enjoy slurping your blood. Tongue Attack!"

The attack, the attack that Josh couldn't see before, it turned out to be the person's tongue. On the tip of his tongue was a small serrated knife that was sharp enough to cut through steel. The man's tongue elongated, zigzagged horizontally, and nearly cut Josh's neck off if he hadn't jumped down before it happened.

" Chip, I need you!" Josh shouted to his arm. " How can you help me?"

" Just repeat after me. Dorimon, come forth."

" That's it?"

" Were you expecting something more dramatic?"

" No, that phrase will do just fine. Ahem." Josh took a deep breath in through his mouth and he quickly breathed out. " Dorimon, come forth!"

Josh's hand that had Chip inside of it glowed bright yellow. The light emitted out a small glowing ball. Once the ball fell out of Josh's arm and landed on the floor Chip came straight out of it. He breathed air out of his nostrils like a bowl and spun his tail around.

" Chip, your back!" Josh shouted with joy at the sight of his purple furred friend. Josh took Chip by surprise by jumping up behind him and hugging him. " I missed you so much."

" Agggghhhhh!" Chip cried at the sound of Josh's voice. " Get off me!" Chip flicked his tail again. This time his tail pushed on Josh and pushed him away from his body. " I still have my pride to think of. Do not ruin that for me."

" Okay, I understand." Josh got back up. Across his face was the same smile Brandon gave him not too long ago. " Let's work together like last time, Chip. For Brandon."

" Hahahaha!" The serial killer laughed at Josh. " Do you really think you can stop me? I haven't even shown you my Digimon yet. Oh Gekomon, come out here. Gekomon, come forth!"

The serial killers hand with his Digimon inside of it glowed bright green. From his hand a ball of green light emitted. Once the ball fell out of the serial killer's arm and landed on the floor... something scary looking came out. It was a green frog half the killers' size with a white underbelly, webbed hands and feet, a golden trumpet wrapped around its neck, giant white eyes with iris's the color of dark gold, and a long tongue with three suction cups on the tip of them.

" I have a message for you Dorimon from our master," the scary green frog said. " He says..." The size of the frogs eyes widened. They became one giant pair of dark gold eyes that scared Josh right through his soul. " He will bring bloodshed to your partner and every Digidestined. He counts the day until they all die by his hands."

YYY

Josh didn't know where he could run. Here he was inside a museum, fighting for his life, against a smell, greasy looking man and a frog-like Digimon named Gekomon. The man and Gekomon were here to kill Josh and Chip because they were Digidestined. Josh didn't know how it was possible but the man had powers like Gekomon-he could stretch his tongue out nearly five feet away from his body. Josh however couldn't do anything but run, scream, and keep his head low.

" Josh, stay by me!" Chip shouted.

" I'm trying!" Josh shouted, running away from the scary looking man who stretched his tongue out at him. " But it's so hard!Chip, save me!"

" Just hold on for a second, partner. I'll save you when I'm done with the toad. Just don't die on me, okay."

It was a one way battle between Chip and Gekomon. Chip scratched his feet against the museum floor, glared at Gekomon, and prepared to ram the frog-like Digimon.

" Are you sure you really want to do that, pig-face?" Gekomon laughed with his scary voice. " A weak little Digimon like you doesn't stand a chance."

" Like your one to talk, chuckles," Chip replied as he continued scraping his legs against the museum's floor. " I may be weak now, but the moment I Digivolve into my Mega form there won't be a Digimon like you alive that will be able to stop me."

" Hoho! That's an interesting theory. But your partner will have to be alive for you to progress, and my partner is going to make sure that never happens."

" Shut up!"

Chip stopped scratching his feet against the floor and ran straight towards Gekomon. Gekomon however didn't do anything; it seemed. The moment Chip was about to ram straight into him, he shouted an attack:

" Symphony Crusher!"

A bubble blew out of Gekomon's trumpet. The bubble was a vibration of high shrieking voices. The moment the sound touched Chip's ears he stopped running and held his ears with his small paws, crying. Gekomon took joy in watching people suffer and laughed with his tongue sticking out.

" What was that about getting stronger? You'll never be able to get stronger if you can't even beat a wacky Digimon like me.

Tongue Attack!" Gekomon stretched out its long tongue and smacked Chip with it. Chip was pushed back and landed on a statue that hurt the great Dorumon's lets. Gekomon took joy in watching Chip fall and laughed through his mouth. " You know you really should be more careful. Something's in this exhibit are priceless."

" Shut up! Metal Cannon!"

Chip got back up and fired a iron sphere at Gekomon. Gekomon however jumped up and down frantically at the sight of the sphere, and

then he blew a bubble of sound that dispersed the sphere on contact. The sound echoed inside the museum. Chip had to hold his paws over his ears or else he feared his ears would start to bleed. And while he held his hands over his ears he left himself defenceless.

" Tongue Attack!"

Gekomon stuck his tongue out. It elongated from its mouth and fired straight at Chip. Gekomon smacked Chip with its tongue. Gekomon smacked Chip to the left, smacked him to the right, then he wrapped his tongue around Chip's neck. Gekomon raised Chip above the ground as he choked him tight. Gekomon took great joy in choking him and laughed.

" Is this really the best you got, Dorumon? Because if it is there's no way you'll survive against me."

" Josh, where are you? I need you right now. Please be safe, Josh."

YYY

Josh was running up stairs made of black granite away from the homicidal serial killer. The serial killer slashed his long tongue at him with a sharp knife on the tip of it. Josh witnessed the man cut one man's body into five pieces. Josh was able to evade being slashed into pieces, but he feared he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

" Please, stay away from me!" Josh cried. When he screamed the killer thrashed his tongue at him and he jumped out of the way before he was cut in half. " What did I ever do to you?"

" Hahaha! Oh, it's not what you did to me. It's what I want to do to you. Hahaha!"

The killer slashed his tongue at Josh. This time he twisted it around until it became a spiral. The tongue moved much faster then before. Josh was able to avoid having his life ended by the spiral, but his left arm was cut in the process. Josh quickly held his hand over his arm to stop the clotting. As Josh was trying his hardest to add pressure on his arm, the serial killer laughed at the top of his lungs.

" W-Why are you doing this?"

" Why? Why am I doing this?" The serial killer looked into Josh's eyes and smirked. " Because I want to that's why. Do you have any idea how much power I have? I was once a poor man who ran a mediocre life, doing mediocre work, hearing nothing but the rants of my girlfriend. My life was so drab. Then one day I met a man. He promised me power. At first I thought it was a telemarketer scam. After that faithful day I lost everything. I lost my mediocre job, I lost my house, and I found out my girlfriend was cheating on me."

" That sounds terrible. But who is this guy who offered him this power? Something about him doesn't feel right. "

" I had nothing left for me. Even my mediocre life was starting to sound good. Just when I thought I was going to hit the bucket, that man came to me again. He made the same offer to me just like he did before. Without anything to lose I accepted his offer. The moment I agreed to his terms he gave me an egg. After two days of watching over it my little wiry devil Geko hatched. Not only did he hatch but I started to gain some of his powers. With those powers I threatened my old boss for all his savings. And as for my cheating, lying girlfriend, well, let's just say the bitch got what was coming to her!"

" He's insane. Can it be he lost his mind when he got a Digimon from this man. Who is this man? Why do I feel like him and I are connected somehow?"

" Now that you know everything about my past, I have no choice but to kill you. After I'm done killing you I'll kill everyone! They all need to feel my pain!"

Josh continued to hold his hand on his blood clotted arm as he ran up the stairs away from the psychotic serial killer. Behind him he could still feel his psychotic laughter echoing through the stairs. Josh reached the top. There he saw a set of marble stairs. But besides the stairs he could see a glass railing. Below the railing was Chip, having his neck squeezed by a long tongue, and being strangled to death.

" Chip!" Josh ran up to the glass and squeezed his hands on the railing. Josh stared down at the catastrophe happening below him, stuttered. Josh wanted to jump down and save Chip. The only problem was...he couldn't. His legs felt like rubber, his hands were too sweaty, as well as the way down was so high up if he fell down he could very well as die. " C-Chip. What's wrong with me? Chip is down there and he's hurt. Why can't I do anything to help him. I guess it's because...I'm just so worthless. All those things Mitchell said about me...they were all true. "

Josh's heart stopped at the sound of footsteps walking up the stairs. The way the heart stopped was the same as heart failure. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance, all of which Josh felt. The serial killer walked to the top of the stairs, gazed into Josh's eyes, then he smiled.

" I'm glad I caught up with you. I was starting to feel lonely. But I never feel lonely when I have one of my victims severed parts with me. Now, which one should I keep from you after I cut you into five pieces?"

" No, please, leave me alone! I don't want to fight you! Just leave me alone!"

" Can't. Even if I wanted to spare your life, which I don't, I'm afraid I have no choice in the matter. This person I told you about, the one who game me Geko, he contacts me with a name and picture of a target; you and your snot-nosed pig. If I can't do as he wishes he'll send one of his high major operatives after me. As much as you might fear me, nothing is scarier than the company he keeps."

" Wait. Does it have to be both of us? Can't one of us live?"

" Sure, he doesn't care if one of you lives as long as one of you dies. If a Digimon doesn't have its partner it can't Digivolve, as well as if a partner doesn't have a Digimon he can't use any of his special powers. "

" Then take my life, but let my partner go. Leave Chip alone."

" Chip? Is that what you called him? How drab."

" Please just call your partner off. Stop hurting him. I'll do anything you ask me too, I swear. Please..." A single tear dripped down Josh's right eye thinking about Chip being tortured in any way. " Listen to your heart. What does it tell you?"

" My heart?" The serial killer was curious. He held his hands over his chest, then pat it. " Do you really want to know what my heart is telling me?" The killer started shaking. He clenched both his hands, then he smiled. He started chuckling through his teeth and soon started laughing maniacally. " It's telling me to kill both of you! Why would I listen to the plea's of a little brat like you? Once I'm done cutting off every part of your body, kid, I'm going to enjoy seeing what a Digimon's insides look like! Tongue Attack!"

The pain inside Josh's heart slowed his reflexes. He was stabbed in his clavicle- or at least he would have been if he didn't raise both his arms to his clavicle and was stabbed through them instead. Josh started clotting through his hands just like with his arm. The pain was too much to overbear. Tony tripped on the glass and fell towards the ground, stopping when his foot got caught on the top. Tony dangled above Chip fearing whether or not he was going to fall. He watched in horror as he saw Chip still being strangled, only still alive by his paws pushing against the tongue.

" Chip is so strong. Why can't I be strong like him? Why am I so useless. I'm not even in the slightest bit courageous. I'm not Alexander the Great. I'm a nobody."

" So this is where our journey comes to an end," the serial killer laughed above Josh. " It's a pity. Out of all the people I've killed in the past I felt our time to be the most enjoyable. But unlike all movies created by Pixar, there is no happy ending to this little tale." The killer took out his tongue and stabbed it towards Josh. Everything seemed to be moving slow as Josh could only think before he was slaughtered.

" No, I don't want to die. If I'm useless to most people at least I know I'm not useless to Chip. I'm his partner. I need to protect him. I will have courage. I will find courage." Josh raised his clotted right hand the killer's tongue and with little hope of survival he hoped to catch the tongue before he was cut in half. With his last moments, Josh shouted, " I will find the courage to survive!"

Something powerful stirred inside Josh's right hand. An iron sphere emerged from his hand. The sphere that came out of his hand was fired at the serial killer. It hit the killer right in his face and pushed him into the marble stairs. Josh sobered enough from his adrenaline rush to see the iron sphere, shuddered.

" No, this can't be. What is this? Why is all this happening to me-"

Josh heard the noise once again-words of a woman's voice rang out of nowhere:

DIGIEVOLUTION!

Chip's body glowed bright white just like before. The light illuminated from Chip's body and he roared into the sky. Josh could see everything dangling from the glass. And he knew when the light faded...he would be in for a surprise.

" Dorumon Digivolve too..." The light glowing around Chip's body finally faded. Chip had another new ap pearance. He was taller, his body was now made out of scrap metal; blue metal wings and silver alloy claws, red claws, a long tail with wires sticking out, and orange eyes. " DexDorugamon!"

Josh didn't like what he saw. Chip looked eerie in his eyes. He was hanging upside down on the second floor of the museum looking at Chip's eerie eyes. Chip unleashed an attack he didn't even know was possible on the serial, the one who had a senile frog for a Digimon Partner, and he was a hefty amount of paranoia weighing down on him.

" Chip..."

" Ha, so what if you Digivolved!" Gekomon laughed. " You're still a Champion level like me. Only I've been a Champion far longer than you've been a Rookie. A Rookie like you stands no chance against me! Tongue Attack!"

Gekomon's tongue elongated out of its mouth. The tongue wrapped around a statue of The Thinker-a forgery though because the real one was shipped too the Smithsonian Museum-and was spinning the statue over his head preparing to whip lash it at Chip. Gekomon finally found his opportune moment and threw the statue at Chip.

" Chip!" Josh shouted overhead. " Chip, move!"

Chip didn't move a muscle. His body felt like iron. The moment the statue touched Chip's body, The Thinker,a bronze sculpture on marble pedestal by Auguste Rodin, but was nothing more than a replica, broke in half when it touched Chip's metal body. Chip was undaunted by the statue and rubbed the rubble over him with his claws.

" I'm afraid this is where you take your last breath, you silly frog. Metal Cast!"

Chip moved with the speed of light. One moment he was standing in front of Chip and the next moment he disappeared in front of his big, crazy eyes. Gekomon was scared. Not by Chip's appearance but his voice. His voice sounded malevolent. Gekomon just knew that Champion level Digimon was hunting for blood.

Stab!

Gekomon was impaled. Right through his DigiCore. A DigiCore was a nucleus that contained all of the Digimon's important data. If it was destroyed, the Digimon would be deleted.

Chip removed his claws from Gekomon's stomach. Even though there was a big hole through the frog-like Digimon's chest he didn't bleed. In his last moments before he was deleted he held his webbed hands over his chest and walked. Gekomon couldn't cry, his heart was impaled by the claws of a dangerous Digimon, but there was much sorrow in his voice.

" Am I going to die? I don't wanna die. Please...someone save me. Someone!"

Gekomon, like every Digimon that was deleted, exploded into blue data. Every piece of data contained fragments of Gekomon's memories. In one memory Chip could see the day he first met his partner, another showing him and his partner murdering a business woman, and there was one that showed a face. Josh, hanging upside down saw the face. It was the face of his brother, Carter.

" Carter?" Josh said out loud as he watched the memory fly by him. " Carter, what's this? Did they do something to you, Carter? Carter...why am I seeing your face now?"

The image was the least of Josh's worries. Chip, his Digimon Partner, went berserk. Chip could see it in his voice. He roared. His voice sounded demonic and it froze Josh's blood hearing him scream. If what Josh feared was true, his partner, Chip, the only person he ever deemed to be a friend, would become something that Josh hated the most.

A bully.

" I don't know why, but I feel good. As ludicrous as it might seem I feel like I can concur all Digimon to follow me. Why would I need a partner? With this power I could even rule the Digimon World-"

" Chip!'

Josh lost control of his legs and fell from above. He would soon be falling to what could be his death. Chip, his partner, the one who seemed cold and barbaric at the moment saw Josh and gasped when he saw him falling. No matter how corrupt the Digimon seemed he just couldn't let his only friend die.

" Josh!"

Chip dashed towards Josh. Josh being in trouble helped Chip clear up his insanity. Chip could Josh with both his claws. The moment Josh touched Chip the Beast-Type Digimon glowed in a faint bright light and then turned back into his prior form, Dorumon. Chip, Dorumon, was angry with Josh.

" Are you stupid? What was that? You could've died!"

" I-I...I..." Josh yammered not having the thought to talk properly.

" What if something bad happened to you? What would you expect me to do, huh? Please, don't ever scare me like that again. I need you more than you need me, you get it?"

" Chip..." Josh smiled at the Beast-Type Digimon, then he reached his hands around the back of his furry neck as he hugged him. " Thank you for coming to save me, Chip. I-I don't know what I'd ever do without you. Let's be friends forever."

It was when Josh said everything on his mind he lost the will to stay awake and lost consciousness in Chip's paws. Chip got all antsy at the sight of Josh asleep in his paws. Without any knowledge of his condition Chip got all frantic and jumped around hoping it would wake Josh up.

" No! Don't die, Josh! Wake up! Wake up! Josh!"

" All units standby!" Someone shouted outside the museum. " This is the police! If anyone is in there, please come out with your hands up. We're coming in."

YYY

When Josh came to he was lying on a hospital bed. He didn't know how he passed out, who brought him here, but above him was a shady looking figure wearing a brown detective suit with a black necktie, fuzzy brown hair, and a mustache. It occurred to him someone must've called for domestic disturbance and he was being interrogated to see if he knew anything.

" You're one lucky son of a bitch, you know that," the detective said to Josh.

" W-What?" Josh replied. Being asleep for so long he wasn't functioning at his full brainpower.

" We found you passed out. If we, the police, didn't get a call reporting that the serial killer we've been looking for wasn't spotted you would have been his-what? Seventh or eighth victim? I really lost count. "

" Hehe. I guess you're wondering what I was doing in the museum. I was-"

" Say no more. We looked over the security feed. It showed how you and your alleged guardian were escaping the killer and decided to run into the museum. The windows on the doors were smashed, you ran in, the guard saw you and tried to stop him, ended up getting stabbed to death, you guys' hide near that statue, guardian took the slash for you, you started blubbering, then the killer lost consciousness from a heart attack. Pretty messed up what happened, right?"

" Yeah. Since it didn't happen that way. I wonder, did Chip use his powers to change it? Who could have changed the footage."

" I guess you're wondering what we're going to do with the killer now. I hate to say it but we're letting him recover her. He did have a heart attack. Well, even killers need medical treatment. I think what would be sufficient enough for his medical bills would be some prison time. At least in prison you get free health care."

" Yeah. I guess prison is the place for him. I don't know if there's any place for me."

" Look, kid, I know you're going through some emotional shit right now, but the most important thing you can do is think about everything you have."

" Huh? Like what?"

" Well, there's him for an example. Bring him in."

Josh couldn't believe his eyes. The person who walked in his room was Brandon. Most people would say Brandon looked terrible. He looked terrible to most people. His right eye was bandaged, he had bandage around his torso and needed a cane to walk, yet on his face he had a bright smile. In Josh's eyes he never looked so majestic. The sight of him made him cry tears of joy.

" Brandon..." Josh held his hands over his eyes and cried in them. " Wahhhhhhhh! I'm so happy to see you. Wahhhhhhhh!"

Brandon didn't say a word. He allowed Brandon to use his shoulders to cry on. Brandon was happy, the detective was happy, even Josh was happy. For once in Josh's life...he never felt so good to be alive."

YYY

The serial killer was alone. His heart was being pumped by some unknown medicine. The killer couldn't feel any pain. And yet, he had the uncanny suspicion something bad was going to happen to him. That's when he saw a mask, like the one in masquerade parties, watching him in the shadows.

" You lost," the man said in the shadows. The killer couldn't speak with chemicals being pumped inside of him. " Maybe I should've attacked him by myself. Wouldn't that be quite the cliché. The master however says he no longer has any use for you. And I'm sure you of all people know what that means, don't you?"

From the shadows a long hand reached for the killers medical equipment and he unplugged the cord. Without the cord hooked up to him, he was going to die.

" In these last few moments you have still alive let me tell you what I regret. I regret having to work with a dirty, fuzz head, piece of shit person like you. Your target, the one with Dorumon, was a weakling. And you couldn't even beat him. Our mission was to eliminate each and every one of the DigiDestined before they united together. Now that he's under observation it would be impossible to do this in secret. So you've no choice but to revoke your contract and get someone who actually completes his mission. This one is an assassin."

The serial killer finally lost all the air in his blood stream, all muscles in his body stopped moving and his jaw cracked open, dead. The sound of beeping could be heard as his pulse died on him. The shadowed man took out a piece of paper and a notepad and wrote on it.

" Marcus Reed. Died at the age of-who the fuck cares? Now that your gone I'm going to send someone else on our next target. A little girl named Sandy."