Chapter 11

Confrontation under Streetlights

Takuya had been looking out over the city for a few hours now. Down below him, he watched what few people there were in the streets as they rushed home to be with their families, hoping to squeeze a little more family time out of what remained of Christmas. He watched as the Sun sunk behind the skyline and darkness spread across the city, causing the towering buildings to fill, room by room, with warm inviting light and the streetlights flickered to life.

"It's time to go," Takuya stated as he rose to his feet. He turned and walked towards his companions waiting for him in the shadow. As he walked across the roof he pulled the hood over his head once more and removed his Runners Phone from his pocket and selected the Jump function.

"Everyone remembers what to do, right?" He asked not really wanting an answer. He just felt like it was something he had to do, so he didn't bother to wait for an answer. Then, with a press of a button and a flash of light the roof was empty. The small team was already underway.

"What do you want from me?" Ken yelled at Oikawa. The pale man in the purple trench coat just gave the boy a sadistic smile as Arukenimon and Mummymon hung behind him in their human forms.

"I only want you to come with me, Ken," Oikawa responded.

"Do you really think we're going to let you take him?" Davis yelled, stepping in front of Ken before he could answer for himself.

"That's right!" Yolei added taking a step forward as well.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm sure they'll also be sorry to hear that," Oikawa teased.

"What do you mean by, they?" Ken angrily asked, not liking the way Oikawa had said what he had.

"I'll show you. Maybe they can convince you to comply," Oikawa again teased as he motioned towards a van parked in the distance. Without hesitation Arukenimon and Mummymon walked over to the van and took hold of the back door handles. Each giving a tug the doors swung open revealing the contents of the vehicle.

"…"

"How is an empty van supposed to convince us…?" Davis voiced what they were all thinking after a period of uncomfortable silence. The situation had been so tense a second ago, as if Oikawa really had the upper hand, but now the strange turn of events had moved things in an awkward direction.

"WHAT!?" Oikawa and his two digimon accomplices yelped, turning their attention to the vans open doors. The Digidestined were right; where there should have been a group of young children there were only shadows now.

"What did you two fools do?!" Oikawa screamed at the two who cringed in fear at his words. "It's empty!" He added with another angry cry. The two evil digimon cowered against the open doors trying to come up with a reason why the van was empty when a voice from the shadows of the van spoke.

"Well… not completely empty," the voice sung playfully as a streetlight above the van flickered to life. The pale yellow light pushed back the shadows in the van, revealing a pair of legs. One was extended outward while the other was bent; both were covered in a pair of dark blue pants.

"Who…!?" Oikawa and his two accomplices spoke in unison once again.

"Is that what you really want to ask me?" The voice answered as its owner leaned forward and rested an arm on top of the bent knee before bringing their head into the light. Those within the Digidestined instantly pulled back in shock upon seeing the reappearance of the hooded figure in black.

"YOU!?" Davis and TK yelled in unison, preparing themselves for a new battle, while frantically scanning the area of any sign for his partner digimon.

"Like I said before, I'm really getting tired of that greeting…" the figure in black sighed with a slight twitch, before pushing off of the floor of the van and launching himself forwards, landing just outside of the van opening. On either side of him, Arukenimon and Mummymon stood stiffly, too shocked by his actions to react.

"What did you say earlier!?" Oikawa interrupted still trying to get over the shock of the mysterious figures appearance.

"I said that's not the question you want to ask me," Takuya teased as he waved a finger at Oikawa. "What you really want to know, is how I got those kids out without anyone noticing despite how close you've all been to the van this whole time," he playfully added.

"He's got a point. How did he do that?" Mummymon spoke as he peered inside the back of the van, looking for a clue as to how he had done what he did. A short distance away Oikawa just stared at his minions in an utter state of shock.

"What are you two doing!? Grab him!" Oikawa screamed at the two, shaking them from their surprise.

After recovering, the two lunged at the figure, who only sighed and shrugged his shoulders in disappointment.

The two quickly closed the short distance between themselves and him, but the moment they got close enough Takuya went into action. He took a step back dodging Arukenimon's attempt to wrap her arms around him as he raised one of his arms into the air, and in the next instant he brought his elbow down hard on the back of her neck. Her body instantly went limp and fell to the asphalt at his feet. Next, he turned his attention to the distracted Mummymon, too worried about his crush hitting to street to notice anything else. He slid to the side using a foot to knock Mummymon off balance, causing him fall forward against the bumper of the truck. Mummymon quickly tried to recover, but was a second too slow as Takuya took hold of one of the van doors and slammed it shut, smashing it against the evil digimons head and knocking him out as well. With both digimon incapacitated, he just shrugged again, and stepped over their still forms as Oikawa and the Digidestined just stared at him in amazement.

"See, that's what happens when you don't get bonded henchmen. You should really look into getting some Mega level minions at least," the hooded figure teased as he brushed imaginary dust off of his hands.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" Oikawa screamed, releasing his verbal fury upon the new arrival, while on the inside he thought about how it could be possible that one person could ruin all his years of planning in a single night.

"That's not really what's important right now," the hooded figure suddenly spoke very seriously as he continued to walk forward, only coming to a stop when a noise from behind caught his attention. Looking over his shoulder he watched Arukenimon and Mummymon rise to their feet and transform to their digimon forms.

"You'll pay for that!" Arukenimon hissed, rubbing her sore neck as she and Mummymon prepared to move in on the figure in black once more. This time in their much stronger digimon forms.

"Just couldn't sleep through this, could you?" Takuya sighed. "I'll just have to let my new friend… entertain… you," he quickly added with a playful tone.

"New friend…? He doesn't mean any of us, does he?" Davis asked, still slightly confused by what was happening.

"Davis, is there any universe in which we could ever be friends with him?" TK inquired, giving the goggle wearing boy an angry stare.

"I don't know… Maybe…?" Davis answered as he cringed from his friend's angry glare.

"New friend…?" Arukenimon and Mummymon asked as they looked to each other and then back to the figure in black. When they turned back to him his arm was raised with a finger pointing skyward. Their gaze traveled up along his arm and up into the black sky until their eyes locked onto something that paralyzed them with fear. Seeing the horrified looks on the two digimons faces Oikawa and Digidestined followed their eyes to the point they were staring at, and they too were gripped with shock and fear.

"BlackWargreymon!" Yolei yelped in surprise.

Only about fifty feet, just out of the line of sight for those on the ground, the powerful mega created from control spires hovered in the air, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at Arukenimon and Mummymon, whose stomachs sunk to the floor as they were overcome with fear.

"This guy's teamed up BlackWargreymon!?" Cody added feeling that this situation was starting to get out of control. It had already been out of control, so now it was moving into some all new messed up territory.

"You got this?" The figure in black asked his back-up.

"Yeah," BlackWargreymon turned his head and slyly smiled at Takuya. With a return nod from the human he returned his glare to the cowering digimon below.

"HELP US!" The two evil digimon cried out as they ran off into the night with BlackWargreymon in hot pursuit, leaving many of the spectators in a mental stupor as they tried to process what had just happening over the last few minutes.

"Okay, now that we finished that bit of business, we can focus on the real issue," the figure in black said, easily brushing off the situation.

"The real issue…?" Kari whispered as the rest of the Digidestined looked at each other trying to make sense of everything. As they tried to figure it out the hooded boy quickly extended his arm and pointed towards a spot off to the side of the street.

"You better come out!" He shouted still pointing and focusing his gaze on a single spot in the asphalt. Silence quickly followed. After nothing happened an awkward feeling began to develop as the Digidestined and Oikawa stared at him and the spot, now thinking he was somewhat insane.

"Who is he talking too?" Cody asked after some time passed and the hooded figure continued to point at the spot.

"I don't know… I'm starting to think he might not be all there…" TK noted staring at the person in question.

"Something's wrong…" Kari quietly added, drawing some attention to herself. She had been planning to elaborate on her though, but a sudden deep raspy voice began to speak from out of nowhere.

"Interesting… but who are you to call me out, boy…" A nasty voice echo forth. As soon as the voice stopped talking a dark purple energy rippled across the ground from the exact point the figure was pointing at, as a set of red spikes arose from the black surface. They continued to rise giving way to a pair of large bat like wings and a crimson hooded head with horns and a dark slit where a pair of thin blue eyes stared out . Soon the torso was visible, revealing broad pointed shoulders and black vestments over the crimson robes. The arms were long with white grotesque fingers and crimson nails, while a strange medallion hung from his neck. After a few more seconds the entirety of the digimons form was out, revealing a pair of purple curved slippers and black fringe at the bottom of the robes with gold eyes sown into it.

"There was actually someone there…?" Davis commented in disbelief as the dark digimon finished exiting the street and set its feet down upon the asphalt.

"But who is it?" Yolei questioned taking a step back, away from the new arrival. Just by looking at the dark digimon the Digidestined could tell that it was powerful. How powerful, they couldn't be sure.

"Daemon, you're so lame. Sneaking around in the dark like some stalker," the figure sarcastically greeted the digimon.

"How did you…!?" Daemon inquired in a surprised tone before quickly regaining his composure. How could the human before him, know of him? Let alone find him while he was hiding? Daemon thought to himself as he stared at the hooded boy in black.

"Let's just say, I was expecting you big guy," he responded with a playful tone.

"If you were expecting me boy, you should have come better prepared," Daemon growled. He really didn't like the idea that this boy wasn't taking him seriously.

"I don't know about that. I wasn't any better prepared when I took down your subordinate the other day," Takuya teased with a wicked smile.

"Subordinate…?" Daemon questioned, but in the back of his mind he already knew who he was talking about. It had been over twenty-four hours since BlackMetalGarurumon had been in contact with him, and now he might have found the reason way.

"Yeah, you know. The one with four metals paws and likes to shot missiles at people… or maybe I should say, liked to. You know, the whole past tense thing," the figure continued to taunt Daemon.

"Do you really think that just because you defeated BlackMetalGarurumon, you stand a chance against me boy! He was nothing compared to me!" Daemon roared. He wasn't one to get angry, but so far, at every turn this boy was getting the better of him.

"What digimon did he just say!?" TK asked out of surprise. Hearing that there had actually been a dark version of his brother's partner had caught the entire team by surprise, and even more surprising was that the boy in black claimed to have taken it out.

"Considering how easily he went down. I do," Takuya answered with a confident smile.

"You little…!" Daemon began to curse before Takuya raised his voice and interrupted him.

"But that's not what's important right now. What I want to know about now is how you sealed the Digital World," the boy in black suddenly stated, cutting off the fuming demon lord.

"How he what…!?" Davis voiced what the rest were thinking. The strange news kept coming with this guy. But could it be possible? Could the Digital World really be sealed on one side? Could he actually be telling the truth? Ever since their world tour there hadn't been any contact from the Digital World. They had just assumed it because their allies were giving them a break for the holiday.

"I think it has something to do with…!" The figure in black stated loudly as he quickly raising his arm and pointing straight at Daemon. The demon lord instantly reached for his own chest before a smile spread across the hooded boys face and he stopped all movement. Something was wrong. Had he, Daemon, made a mistake just now?

"Thanks for the answer," Takuya smiled slyly before continuing. "But I still have some more questions for you."

"What makes you think I'll tell you anything?" Daemon angrily yelled at him in response.

"Because the threat of death can be a pretty powerful motivator," he mused in response.

"I don't know whether this guy is really that good, or just crazy," TK stated as he gripped his D-3. This guy might have been their enemy, but he was still human and they would save him if it came down to it.

"I don't think he's crazy," Kari noted taking a step forward and gripping her D-3 as well, but deep down she knew she wasn't going to need it. It was strange, but she felt safe when this guy was around. Not once did she fear him or the situations that seem to develop around him.

"Who do you think you are to threaten me?" Daemon roared, growing more and more infuriated by the second.

"…" The human in black gave no answer. He only put his hands in his jacket pockets and stared at Daemon.

"Do you fall so silent now because your big talk has failed you?" Daemon began to laugh feeling more confident due to the boy's silence. However, on the inside he was still seething with anger. How dare this human make him, a demon lord, doubt himself.

"No," Takuya responded calmly, sending Daemons anger rushing to the surface once again.

"Then how do you intend to put the fear of death into me, boy?" Daemon snarled.

"With my big talk," he smiled back.

"What…!?" Daemon went livid with anger.

"Allow me to explain it to you. While I've been keeping all of your attention on me with all my big talk…" Takuya took a dramatic pause in his explanation to make sure Daemon was paying attention before he finished. "…my partner's been getting into position to attack you from behind," he finished with a smile.

Daemon blood ran cold with those words. He hadn't been paying attention to anything else but the boy for a while now. His anger and surprise had cloud everything else but the target of his rage. When he switched his focus to behind him he could already hear the whoosh of the wind kicked up by something moving quickly towards him. As fast as he could Daemon whipped around, but not in enough time to do anything. The first thing that greeted him after turning was an armored fist and a two pronged golden blaster. The two prongs flew past him on each side before crashing into the asphalt and exploding in a cloud of dust and debris.

A good distance from the impact the Digidestined stepped back in shock at the sudden and violent appearance of the large digimon. This form wasn't one they had seen before. It was bigger than the dragon one and had a lot of the features of the human one Yolei and Sora had described, mixed in.

"Great job, Aldamon!" Takuya cheered to his partner who gave him a smile, but continued to use all of his power to drive his arm downward.

With a powerful flap of his fiery colored wings Aldamon blew away the dust cloud, revealing the stunned demon lord pinned between the golden prongs of the blaster. Daemon could only look up at the searing heat of the blasting mechanism with utter disbelief. How could things have turned out this way, was all he could think as the large digimon continued to push down on him, keeping him held fast against the shattered asphalt.

"Anymore questions before we begin?" Takuya asked with a victories smile. In his jacket pocket he released his D-tector, which he had used to increase his partners speed for the quick attack, and then, switched to max out strength for the pin. Across from him the younger generation of Digidestined stared on in awe at how impressively he had controlled the situation. Every part of his plan had been perfectly executed and without even giving the slightest hint that it was a trap. Though, now that the figure in black had his target, what possible questions could he want to ask?

To be continued…