The chosen children stared at the spot where Leomon disappeared behind the firewall. They stared at it for a second and then Taichi broke the silence.
"Ladies first."
"That means you Yamato," Takeru laughed.
Mimi grabbed Takeru by the collar and spun him around. She pulled his collar down so their eyes met. She glared at him. "Two of our friends are badly hurt, and one of our friends turned out to be an evil maniac. This is hardly the time for jokes."
"Jeez, calm down, I was just kidding around," Takeru pushed himself out of Mimi's grasp. He leaned to Yamato and whispered, "It must be that time of the month."
Mimi stepped forward and slammed her fist into Takeru. Takeru fell back against the wall, blood pouring out from his nose. Takeru leapt up while wiping the blood from his nose. He leapt toward Mimi, but Taichi and Yamato restrained him.
"Why the hell did you do that Mimi?" Takeru screamed.
Mimi turned her head away from Takeru. "I did It because you were being an immature little brat and making jokes when two of our friends our in the hospital."
"You wouldn't be calling me a brat if I wasn't restrained," Takeru spat at her.
"I'm sure I would," Mimi said smugly.
"We'll see," said Takeru. Immediately after he spoke he slammed his foot onto to Taichi's. He smashed his elbow up into Yamato's face. They both staggered backwards, releasing Takeru. Takeru stepped forward toward Mimi with his fist raised.
"No Takeru don't!" Hikari screamed as she threw herself between Mimi and Takeru. Takeru's fist flew down towards Mimi. Instead of hitting Mimi as he had planned, Takeru's fist slammed straight into Hikari. Her head whipped back, passing under Mimi's arm and slamming into a wall. Blood was dripping down the back of her head and down her cheek. Takeru's punch had opened a wound right next to Hikari's eye and a gash in the back of her head had been opened when she slammed against the wall.
"What the hell did you just do?" Mimi screeched. She grabbed Hikari and gently set her down. "She's unconscious."
"Takeru, what have you done," Taichi said slowly.
Takeru stared at Hikari's unconscious form. His eyes grew wide. Yamato started forward to grab him, but Takeru spun out of his grasp. Takeru sprinted forward and through the firewall. Yamato turned angrily to the two Commandramon that had been standing guard.
"Why didn't you help us you worthless reptiles?"
"We are here to guard, not intervene. You posed no threat to the security of this hospital so we didn't have to intervene." Then the Commandramon who was speaking smiled at Yamato. "Also, if you call us worthless reptiles again I'll take this gun and shove it up your-"
"I'd like to see you try," said Gabumon as he angrily stepped forward.
"You couldn't do squat. Everyone knows that you can't digivolve anymore. Face it, the chosen children are just a bunch of washed up drop outs," The Commandramon said confrontationally.
"Have some friggin faith. You're probably too stupid to remember that we defeated the dark masters, because if you had any ounce of intelligence you would remember all the times that we have saved your world at the risk of our own lives," Yamato said angrily.
"I dare you to call me stupid again," The Commandramon said as he glared at Yamato.
Yamato leaned in close to the Commandramon's face. "You're a big stupid, ugly, and worthless reptile that doesn't deserve to stand guard over a used Kleenex."
The Commandramon stepped back from Yamato and raised his gun up. "You worthless little human." He squeezed the trigger.
There was a blinding flash, and standing in Gabumon's place was Garurumon. Gabumon had digivolved into Garurumon. The bullets from the Commandramon's m16 Assassin attack bounced harmlessly off Garurumon's hide. Garurumon opened his mouth wide and shot a huge cone of blue flames at both the Commandramon. One of the Commandramon was hit, but the other rolled out of the way. The remaining one began to strafe around Garurumon spraying him with bullets. Garurumon turned, and leapt toward him. His front paws slammed down on the Commandramon. Garurumon howled in victory.
"What is going on here?" The chosen children turned to the sound of the voice. Standing head and shoulders above everyone was Leomon, who had come back from behind the firewall. "The only one that followed me was Takeru, but he just sprinted past me." Leomon glanced down at the unconscious Hikari. His eyes swept around the room, observing the one Commandramon who had been torched by Garurumon's flames, and the other who was currently pinned under Garurumon.
"There was a… disagreement," Yamato said slowly.
"You mean a fight," Leomon said sternly.
"Well it was more like a brief exchange of-" Yamato began before Leomon angrily cut him off.
"A disagreement should not end with two of my guards on the floor and one of your friends unconscious." Leomon walked over to the burnt Commandramon and lifted him up so he was eye level with Leomon. "I want a straight answer right now soldier. What happened here?"
The Commandramon snapped to attention even though his feet were dangling a few feet in the air. "Me and the spiky haired kid got into an argument. I opened fire on him, and the small blue one digivolved into what you see before you. The digivolved one beat me and my partner in combat."
"So you are saying that you opened fire on Yamato, a chosen child." Leomon said slowly.
"If that's his name, then yes sir," the Commandramon replied.
"Can you tell me why you opened fire on the hope for this world's salvation," Leomon leaned in close to Commandramon's face.
The Commandramon squirmed nervously. "He insulted my abilities as a soldier."
Leomon sighed and set the Commandramon down. "Now can you tell me how that young girl became unconscious?"
The Commandramon nodded and replied. "She was hit accidentally while the younger boy was fighting with an older one."
Leomon turned to Taichi for clarification. "Mimi and Takeru were fighting, and Takeru swung at Mimi. Hikari got in the way and was punched."
Leomon sighed. "You chosen children are a wreck. I'm going to go through the firewall, and you will all follow. And Garurumon, congratulations on being able to digivolve, but will you please release my soldier?"
"I apologize," said Garurumon as he digivolved back into Gabumon and released the Commandramon.
"As for you two, I will be reporting you to your commanding officer," Leomon said to the Commandramon.
"Understood sir," the Commandramon replied.
"As for now, go to the med room, and get two more Commandramon to take your place." Leomon ordered.
"Yes sir," The Commandramon. They turned and limped through a side door.
Leomon pressed the talk button on an intercom that rested on the wall. "There was an accident in the lobby, can you send a gurney down here?"
"Yes sir," a voice said from the other side of the intercom. A door on the left slid open and a pair of Floramon came out rolling a gurney. They loaded Hikari onto it and wheeled her out the same room they had come from.
Leomon turned to the remaining chosen children, who consisted only of Yamato, Taichi, and Mimi. Jou and Sora were in surgery, Hikari was being wheeled off for examination, and Takeru had disappeared. Koushiro obviously wasn't there because he had turned evil.
"Let's go you three. I will take you to your rooms, no point in giving you the grand tour while most of your team is gone. Once they recover I'll show you around." Leomon walked through the firewall, and this time the three chosen children and their digimon followed close behind.
When viewing the firewall from the lobby, the part behind the firewall looked like a long, white, and door less corridor. What was really behind the firewall was quite the contrary. It was a beehive of activity. Human doctors rushed back and forth, followed by Floramon, most who were wheeling gurneys around which contained some digimon who was bruised or bloody.
"The casualties of war," Leomon said sadly. "Most of them are injured the rush to escape."
"Why are there humans here, I thought we were the only humans," Mimi asked.
"Those are medical programs," Leomon explained. "Humans are the best models, they have the perfect amount of dexterity and intelligence for the job."
Leomon continued talking. "This is the current headquarters of the Digimon Reservation Squad. Vaccine and Virus alike have come together to try to fight the virus. The digital world is more united than it has ever been, unfortunately for the wrong reasons. This hospital in Full Metal Cities has become a refugee camp for the digimon who have been displaced by the Syndrome. Us in the Digimon Reservation Squad have made it our job to see to the refugees well being."
The group had walked down many hallways now, and the number of people there had thinned. Leomon stopped at a door. He took out a key and opened it. "This is where you are going to have to sleep. I apologize it's so small, but it is all we can spare."
"It's okay," Taichi said, "I'm sure that us and our digimon will fit." The group stepped into the room. "You know Leomon, I still have some questions about this whole thing-" Taichi started.
"I will answer them later, I have business now," Leomon said as he turned and walked off. Taichi closed the door to their room and peered around. It had been a hospital room in the past. It was all white, and a few pieces of broken machinery littered the ground. Three mats were on the ground in the middle of the room. There were no windows, no chairs, and no tables. Taichi groaned. The room was about half the size of his room back home.
"I've seen closets bigger than this," Yamato said.
Mimi sighed, "We will make due somehow."
"Yeah," said Taichi with a grin. "And anyways, we have a small bright spot. We can digivolve with out the digivices, there is a way we can power up now."
"I don't know if it will help," Mimi said sadly.
…
Sora stared around her room, completely terrified. She was in an isolation room, as the doctor had called it. She knew it was odd that there was another human, but she didn't care. She had been here for hours, and she had been separated from Biyomon who was also in isolation. They had put them both because they had both had somehow been infected with the Syndrome, and they needed to be quarantined so it wouldn't spread. She wanted to scream at the unjustness. They could be together, it didn't matter if they were both infected. Gomamon had got to stay with Jou. It just wasn't fair she had been separated with her friend.
Sora glanced around her isolation room for the hundredth time. It was white, and dimly lit. The only light was coming from a single light bulb, which gave the room an eerie feel. She was lying on a bed, hooked to various types of equipment that she had no idea what they were did. Her leg was heavily bandaged. The Doctor had said that she would be fine eventually, but recovery would be painful. She glared at the ceiling. She wanted to kill Koushiro, for everything he did.
"Why do you want to kill me? I was only trying to help."
The voice echoed in the nearly empty room. Sora's heart skipped a beat. Standing over her bed was Koushiro.
"How…" Sora managed to say despite her shock."
The Syndrome infected Koushiro smiled. He was dressed in all black now, and his normally brown hair was also black. The only thing about him that wasn't black was his skin, which was a very pale white color. "I just walked right in."
"You can't, the firewalls-" Sora began.
Koushiro smiled. "Firewalls are meaningless to me now."
It was now Sora's turn to smile. "That may be so, but you shouldn't have come. You see those security cameras monitoring me? Well, they have already spotted you and are sending an army down to kill you."
Koushiro laughed. "If God didn't want to be photographed, do you think he could?"
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.
"In this world there is a central computer," Koushiro began. "A central processor so to speak, a server, the motherboard. I found that and infected it with the latest version of the Syndrome, which lets me control the infected. I now control the central computer to the digital world. In short, I am god here. If I wanted to I could unleash the Syndrome from this room. I could rain meteorites down all over the world. If I don't want to be seen, it is a simple task. If some one came in right now, they would just see you talking to air."
"If your so powerful, why don't you just infect the hospital now?" Sora asked angrily.
"Oh I will, but not while you chosen children are in danger. You see me as a madman, but I do have humanity left. I know how the Syndrome works on digimon, not humans. I don't want to put you at risk." Koushiro replied.
"How nice of you," said Sora sarcastically. "You cared so much you tired extra hard to not infect me huh?"
Koushiro smiled. "I didn't infect you at all."
"If you didn't then why am I here?" Sora said angrily. "And why did the firewall sensor say I was infected?"
"It said you were infected because I told it to say it was infected. I can make anything do anything I want. Remember, I'm god. For example, Gabumon digivolved earlier today to protect Yamato. I made him digivolve, I gave him the strength to do it. You may see me as a demon, but I feel more like a guardian angel. "
"You didn't answer why," said Sora.
"Would you believe me if I said it was just so I could see your face again," Koushiro said softly.
"No," Sora replied quickly. "You are an immoral crazed psychopath, incapable of emotions."
Koushiro put his hand over his heart, "Oh how you sting. But, in all truth, you are right, I came here for a different reason, talking to you is just a bonus."
"You're so sweet," Sora said sarcastically. "Now mister madman, why are you here, why did you make it seem like I was infected, and why did you show us all those memories?"
Koushiro smiled. "It looks like I'm not in charge anymore. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a pretty face. Anyways, to answer your last question, that was for your own protection. Those memories are there to splinter the group. If you guys aren't united, then you won't fight. If you don't fight, you won't lose and get hurt. I control the Syndrome, so you aren't at risk for becoming infected. But you might decide to go and try fighting some crazed fanatics who want to embrace the Syndrome. You might get hurt, I don't want that to happen. I can answer your other two questions at once. I knew if it seemed like you were infected, you would be alone. I needed you to be alone, so I could give you these."
Koushiro held out a stack of small gray discs, similar in shape and size to CDs. "These discs emit a shield that will protect you from the Syndrome, just in case I lose control. The Syndrome is dangerous, and as it spreads it will get harder and harder for me to control. I wanted to give these to you, because I knew that you would be rational, and listen to me."
"Who says I'm listening," Sora said hotly.
"You haven't attempted to attack me, and that is what matters. Anyways, you will all go home in a few days." Koushiro said.
"What does that mean?" asked Sora.
"The army comes, as does my friend Frank, who I intend to extract a very special amount of payback. They will be here as conquerors in mere days, and I want to have an army to fight them." Koushiro replied.
"Why don't you just use your so called godly powers," Sora inquired sarcastically.
"I don't want to manipulate the central computer too much." Koushiro began. "I don't want to do anything irreversible. When I leave, the virus will be gone and everything will go back to normal. Even those that are killed will be reborn eventually."
"I see. So you have some magical antidote to make the virus just disappear," Sora replied sarcastically.
"Yes," Koushiro said, smiling. "It is a little complicated, so I will explain later. I wouldn't want to overload your pretty little brain."
"Oh boy, you're going to bother me more later," Sora said sarcastically.
Koushiro leaned down close to Sora. He said in a serious voice. "You may think I'm crazy but I promise, I will never ever let anything bad happen to you here. I'm not your devil, I'm your angel. This isn't sarcasm, this isn't a trick. It is the truth. I will protect you, even if you hate me."
Koushiro leaned down further, and kissed Sora on the cheek.
Sora's hand involuntarily went to the spot where Koushiro had kissed her. She opened his mouth to reply, but before she could say anything, he was gone.
…
Sorry about the wait, I've been really busy with school.
I will try to post more often, and thanks for reading and reviewing