LOVE AND HATE
By milesprower06
A/N: Once again, I apologize profusely for the delay in updates. I have been almost entirely focused on the fast-approaching Halo 3 ODST, as I am a die-hard Halo fan. I hope to have the rest of Love and Hate written, typed up, proofread, and submitted before the game drops on September 22nd. Please enjoy, and I'm sorry for making you wait.
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Chapter 10 - Love and Hate, Part II
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MATSUKI BAKERY / RESIDENCE
1 HOUR LATER
When the lunch rush was over, Takato went downstairs and got himself something to eat and a glass of milk. When he returned to his room, he decided to try and put his partner's mind at ease.
"I'm......I'm sorry for what I did down in the subway. It's just that, I mean, what's the point of the fighting? Will there ever be peace between our two worlds?"
"No one can answer that, Takato. Action must be taken on that front."
"So what we need, I guess, is just a little luck."
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HYPNOS TOWERS
CONTROL DOME
Riley ran her hands over multicolored panel, and performed another sweep scan of downtown Shinjuku.
Being a frontline systems analyst wasn't the most glamorous job available, but she took pride in being Shinjuku's first line of defense against Wild Ones. It was almost as if her console was a natural extension of her body.
When a breach warning came through, she threw down firewalls to try and hinder the digital intruder. Granted, it didn't usually stop it entirely - something far enough along to trigger a breach warning usually came all the way through. But it slowed them down, which gave Hypnos time to alert the Tamers - the main defense against hostile Wild Ones.
But in recent months, Shinjuku's force of Tamers had been dwindled; more than cut in half, with several of them too young to be useful in a serious crisis.
Hypnos probably would've scrambled to implement different procedures to aid the remaining Tamers, but after what was referred to as the Cairo Emergence, breaches stopped by 95%. BlackWarGreymon had done something to weaken the connections between the worlds. Since Takato and Henry had defeated him, however, the connections began to heal, and the bio-emergences began to pick back up. That, combined with Takato's concern of not all Wild Ones having hostile intentions, that pushed Yamaki to task the R&D branch to design an alternate method to dealing with Wild Ones, since the Tamers also had educations to manage.
What also concerned Riley was one of the bio-emergences earlier today. Takato and Henry detected it, but it had defied detection by Hypnos' systems. It seemed some were getting better at avoiding being caught.
A warning sound bleeped on her console. She quickly tapped the keys.
"Sir, another breach is imminent."
"Another one? Already?" Yamaki replied.
"Yes sir, and it's big."
"Where?"
Riley performed a more detailed scan, and narrowed down a location.
"Right above us, sir. I estimate 15 minutes to breach."
Silence filled her headset, if only for a few moments.
"Get a hold of Takato and Henry."
"Sir, with what happened earlier today, do you think that's the wisest-"
"I don't think we have much of a choice."
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Below the central sphere among the dozens of consoles, Yamaki scrambled to a phone and dialed an extension number.
"Shibumi - how many of those devices are ready to deploy for testing?"
"Um, six, sir. Each with a handful of shells."
"Get a security squad fitted, double-time."
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MATSUKI BAKERY / RESIDENCE
Mei hung up the phone and came to the back door just in time to see Takato running down the stairs with Renamon and Guilmon.
"Stay right where you are, Takato."
"Mom, there's no time."
"I know - I just got off the phone with Riley. I don't want you to go."
A look of disbelief adorned Takato's face.
"I'm tired of worrying. I'm sick of fearing for my son's life every time another Digimon causes havoc."
Takato's expression changed from surprise to anger.
"I thought you understood; understood that I have a duty to this city and this world. You and dad raised me better than to neglect my responsibilities just because someone worries about me."
Mei took a step back, half-surprised, half admiring her son's aggressiveness in his words.
Tears pricking the corners of her eyes, Mei closed her eyes and stepped aside. After a moment's hesitation, Takato passed his mother and left the bakery, his partners hot on his heels.
Takahiro came back from the front to see what the commotion was about, and found his wife at the stairs, shoulders heaving. He put his arms around her, and she leaned into him.
"It'll be alright. He always pulls through. He's a Matsuki."
Mei released herself from the embrace.
"Close it down."
"What?"
"I won't let him do it alone. I'm going with him. I may not like it, but I have to show him that I still believe in him."
Mei took off her hairnet, grabbed her jacket, and exited the bakery, on her son's trail. Takahiro rushed to the front, locked the door, shut off the lights, and likewise went after his son.
OUTSIDE HYPNOS TOWERSENTRANCE PLAZA
Henry had been home from school about 5 minutes when Hypnos had called. He hurried over to the plaza, and saw a generating portal up between the two towers. His cell phone rang. He answered, keeping a watchful gaze on the portal above.
"Henry, we're not going to be able to close the portal. When it comes through, you need to hold it off until the squad is read with the test weapons."
"What about Takato?"
"I'm not sure if he's coming. According to Riley, Mei didn't seem happy."
"Alright, I'll do what I can."
Henry folded his cell phone closed. He knew Mei, just like his own parents, weren't always comfortable with their Taming duties. Still, he hoped Takato would come through. There was a shriek, and the portal exploded in fog.
The spreading fog was dissipated by a pair of enormous purple wings, and seconds later, the winged creature was in full view. Henry's D-Arc triggered it's analyzer function.
"Megadramon, Cybernetic Dragon Digimon. His Dark Shot and Double Dark Shot missile attacks are some of the most destructive techniques around."
He turned to Terriermon on his shoulder.
"Ready?" he asked, drawing a card, and it morphed to the metallic blue card.
M-A-T-R-I-X
D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N_
"Terriermon Matrix Digivolve to..."
"Rapidmon!"
The green-armored Ultimate immediately primed his weapons and took off towards Megadramon, who roared in defiance and rushed down to meet his opposition. He brought his two metallic launchers that served as his hands forward, the flaps opened, and the launch tubes began to glow.
"Double Dark Shot!"
A pair of cruise missiles burst out of his launchers towards Rapidmon, who was anticipating the attack.
"Rapid Fire!"
The two pairs of missiles tracked each other and impacted - exploding between the two airborne combatants. The gap closed between them increasingly fast. Moments before the inevitable collision, Rapidmon fired off a single missile near-point-blank range, and rolled to the side, missing Megadramon by mere inches. The dragon turned and pursued him.
Rapidmon made it a point to stay above Megadramon, so nothing was at risk when he had to avoid his missiles.
"Henry!"
The blue-haired Tamer looked behind him, and was relieved to see Takato running into the plaza.
"I was wondering if you were gonna make it."
"It's my responsibility."
Henry nodded, admiring his friend's determination.
"Yamaki says the weapon is ready for testing. We just have to keep him busy for a few minutes while the squad gets ready."
Takato nodded.
"Guilmon, Renamon - ready?"
His partners acknowledged, and Takato raised his Digivice.
"DNA Biomerge Activate!"
D-N-A
B-I-O-M-E-R-G-E
D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N_
As the egg of white light wrapped around him, he heard Henry yell.
"Takato look out!!!"
He heard a deafening bang, instantly followed by black smoke. Takato brought his arms up to shield his eyes. There was a strong gust of wind as Megadramon swooped down across the plaza, which began to clear the area of the smoke.
Takato's surroundings became visible again, and as he began to see further and further, he became shocked.
Renamon was 30 feet away, collapsed against one of the numerous planter boxes in the plaza. His parents were leaning next to her. She phased in and out of cohesion once, and then fell unconscious.
Takato was overcome with dread. Everyone he loved was in danger; his family, friends, and partners.
Megadramon hadn't been provoked at all - all he wanted to do was cause destruction.
Takato snapped out of his shock and anger washed over him.
"Guilmon, let's take him out before he hurts anyone else!"
He raised his Digivice to the sky once more.
"Biomerge Activate!"
B-I-O-M-E-R-G-E
D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N_
warning...
...
...
system anomaly present..._