Chapter Eleven: Truth about Darkness
Hiroaki wasn't required to see the transport of the wild one back to HYPNOS. Yamaki had him finish up, leaving directly for home. Had he known his boss would have given him the rest of the evening, he would have asked Takuya to wait around, maybe get to know the girl he was with little more, even tease him about her. He couldn't help but smile. His boy was growing up and maturing quickly. He was too caught up in his thoughts that he ran into something.
A paper bag hit the ground, cans and foodstuffs spilling out.
"Oh dear." A pale, frail and tired looking woman gathered up the contents. Hiroaki helping her.
"I'm sorry." Hiroaki apologised.
"It's quite alright." The woman assured him. "Nothing seems broken." The woman looked up at Hiroaki as he picked up the bag and her smile vanished. "You're Takuya's father. Aren't you."
He stepped back in shock, not expecting the woman to know his son, let alone his relation to him. He examined the woman closely, her black hair ties back in a lose tail, her bright blue eyes that seemed to contradict her current condition. It then struck Hiroaki who this woman reminded him of, or rather two boys.
"Your Koichi and Koji's mother." Hiroaki said finally. "It's nice to meet you Mis Minamoto."
Tomoko was then taken aback by the man's confusion. "It's Kimura actually. I divorced from Kosei some time ago." She informed the Kanbara Patriarch as she pushed back some stay strains of hair, just as the train pulled into the station, and Tomoko took the bag back. They boarded the train and continued their conversation. "I've been meaning to ask Takuya how he, Koji and Koichi meet. He and Koji attend the same school correct?"
Hiroaki nodded, just as his phone rang. "Hello?" He answered, hoping it wasn't Yamaki changing his mind.
"Mr. Kanbara?" A woman asked. "It's Satomi Minamoto. Koji's Mother. We meet at the Jiyugoka School Fair." Hiroaki scolded himself for not remembering the woman. "I'm sorry but Koji isn't answering and I'm having trouble reaching anyone at your home, but I need Koji to make sure Koji locked up the house before he left."
"He's staying with my son tonight?" Hiroaki asked confused.
"That's what I've been told. Takuya said it wasn't a problem. It seemed quite regular."
"This is the first I've heard about Koji staying the night. And what do you mean regular?"
"He's been staying with your son regularly for the past year Mr. Kanbara." There was concern rising in Satomi's voice. "Hasn't he?"
Tomoko looked at the man confusingly. She knew that Koji was staying with her and Koichi tonight. Something about his parents taking a romantic weekend in Fijiyoshida.
On the train car ahead of them, it had surprised Takuya to find that his father told him to go home, while he remained in Koto. But, however it surprised him, Takuya found himself escorting Kari home. But there was also something else on his mind.
"Define familiar." Clair asked of the goggle wearing brunette. "How did he feel familiar to you?"
"Like…" Takuya paused for a moment to find the words. JP, TK and Marcus waited for his response. They had been concerned since hearing about another digimon showing up, JP more so, aware that this was the digimon that appeared earlier. "Like a relative you never really see, the last time you saw them, you were too young to remember, but you still knew who they were."
Kari nodded in agreement. Clair persed her lips in thought for a moment, her thoughts drawing the same conclusion. But how it was possible was beyond her. She was lost in her thoughts that she nearly missed her phone ringing. Her HUD had flashed twice, and told her it was from Blake's branch of the Terranet. She answered the device quickly. "Yeah?"
"It's Duskmon. He's after Koji." Blake told the scienctist.
"We're passing though Odabia now. I'll rally the troops." She hung up the phone and turned to Takuya. "Duskmon is after Koji. You remember how he looked when he came back though."
"Yeah. We need to get to Koji first." Takuya said.
"Who's Duskmon?" Marcus asked JP.
"Bad news." He answered. "He used to be the warrior of Darkness before the sprits were purified. Now, and I don't know how, he's after Koichi."
"Isn't Koichi the warrior of Darkness?" Henry asked from behind them. The question went unanswered. TK, Davis, Kari and Sora missed the Odabia station, not by accident either. They were joining Takuya, JP, Marcus, Henry and Clair to help Koji.
Problem was that Hiroaki Kanbara and Tomoko Kimora got off on the same platform. They walked four blocks, while the children ran ahead.
"Key's in the flower pot by the door!" Takuya yelled to Davis, who found a bronze key easy. But it was unnecessary when Sora pushed the door open.
"Go in. We'll run interference." Clair told Takuya, as Henry and Kari nodded.
"Becareful." Kari whispered as the others as they called their digimon from their digi-vices. With them by their side, they entered the apartment, not bothering to leave their shoes at the door. Marcus was stopped by Clair.
"Eyes open. Mouth shut." She whispered to Marcus. "This is not an arena. Honorer holds no merit here." Marcus nodded. He knew that he couldn't be an ultimate fighter here.
"Takuya?" Sora asked when the hybrids stopped in the middle of the dinning room.
"What is it?" Davis asked.
"He's here." Takuya hissed.
"Luner Plasma!"
Outside, Clair could hear two pairs of footsteps, both quick, one with a limp, and the other falling behind. Kari and Henry saw two adults arrive, one Kari recognised as Takuya's father, the other both guessed was Koichi and Koji's biological mother. Clair on the other hand produced a wallet and flashed it at the two.
"Building Standards Committee. I'm sorry, but this apartment is…" Clair was interrupted by Duskmon calling out his attack, a loud crash, and a pained yell. And in that moment, they were plunged into darkness.
It was Takuya's.
"Hand of Fate!"
"Thunder Fist!"
Hiroaki ran pass the girl. Tomoko followed, ignoring Clair's protests, and several flashes of lights. Inside, both adults stiffened as a battle took place in the Kimora Dinning Room. Just as they were entering, a tall, long haired man in an armour of red eyes was punched square in the chest by two others, one looked like an angel, the other, a bulky blue and yellow beetle. The result was the man being pushed though the wall and out into the street. There was a sound of tires screeching, as if a driver of a car tired to avoid something at the very last minute.
There were three other monsters, one was a pink bird, the other, a blue lizard, and the third, a tall young man in a suit of orange and silver armour. That was until a cocoon of blue ribbons encased him and left a young brunette boy, passed out in his place. Hiroaki Kanbara stumbled back at the sight of his son. Tomoko Kimora gasped and then noticed the other children in her apartment, including Koichi's long time friend TK, who rushed out of the apartment, not even noticing either of the adults, while the angel and beetle flew out of the hole left in the wall.
As when things couldn't get weirder, the stuffed animal that hung around a young boy's neck talked.
"Hit the Road Duskmon!"
"Terriormon."
"Henry. Momenti."
"Seriously! You want to talk about it now!?" Blake demanded as he turned into another street, tires screeching as he didn't bother to slow down. He knew that traffic in Tokyo was bad, but as they got further east, the worse it got, forcing him to make dangerous and reckless choices he only ever made in an emergency. Joe, Tai and Izzy were in the back seat with Koichi in front, his concern for his brother's wellbeing overriding any concern for his own. Joe had his eyes closed since he started the car. Tai was a little braver, but flinched every time the car seemed to veer out of control, or lean just a little too close towards the road for comfort. Izzy was so engrossed about his line of questioning, and his laptop that he seemed to be obvious to how many traffic laws were being bluntly ignored and violated. He was now free to question Blake about resent events. "I'm kinda busy driving into oncoming traffic!"
"Among other things." Tai muttered under his breath "How fast are you going any…"
He was interrupted by a screech of his tires when Koichi grabbed the wheel, causing the car to avoid the falling digimon. Blake didn't think to serve, only grab the hand brake and stop the car before they passed the apartment building. Inside, no one felt the force of all four wheels locking, and the jeep coming to a sudden stop. Their inner ears tingled slightly but that was it. It was as if the force was dampened by another of the car's futuristic features. Izzy wouldn't dismiss that theory right away yet, considering how possible it might be. Koichi left the car in a hurry, followed by Tai and Izzy.
"The idiot needs to watch were he's going." Blake muttered as he unbuckled the seat belt and exited the car. "He better not have done any damage." It took Joe a moment to consider opening his eyes, not sure if they were still moving or not.
Outside, Blake inspected the fender of the vehicle, showing no concern for who they might have hit, while Tai had called Agumon out of his digi-vice, Koichi had quickly sprite evolved as soon as he was out, Loweemon standing firm once he emerged from the cocoon of fractal code, and Izzy observed from behind the car, Tentomon beside him in reserve for any reason he needed to fight. They were joined by Beetlemon, and Angeamon who had flown down from the hole left in the Kimora apartment, standing between their friends and the crater left by Duskmon's fall.
There was an uneasy quite as both sides stood ready to attack, the tension in the air thick.
From above, Tomoko was surprised to see her eldest son arrive with three older boys, and even more surprised to watch the same cocoon of light encase him, and emerge a tall man dressed in black and gold armour with a lion head theme.
"Mum?"
She heard Koji call out to her as he emerged from the living room. His blue eyes fell onto Takuya as he was crowded by Kari, Sora, Davis, Biyomon and Veemon. He helped his mum to a chair before rushing over to them. "What happened?!" He demanded.
"Duskmon just came out of nowhere and rushed us." Davis explained. "Takuya sprit evolved just in time but… I think his attack did more then just physical damage."
"Lunar Plasma?" Veemon chirped up. Koji nodded, well aware of what that attack can do. It inflated Koji's anger towards Cherubimon into pain. It occurred to him that Takuya wasn't one to hold grudges or anger, but the guilt with being unable to protect his own brother might be enough. He looked up to see the Kanbara Patriarch standing over the boy, still in stunned disbelief. Koji's tongue twisted in his mouth as he considered on how he was going to explain this to Takuya's father. And his biological mother.
Takuya began to stir from unconsciousness. Sora eased him up as he tried to get up.
"Are you okay?" She asked concerned.
"Get away from my son!" Came the angered voice of Hiroaki Kanbara as he pulled Sora away and thrown her uncermously into a corner with Biyomon.
"Hey!" Davis yelled. "There's no need for that!" He found himself angry that Sora was abused in such a fashion. Sora was only trying to help Takuya, and he was pushing her way.
"What have you done to him!?" Hiroaki yelled. "You turned him into a monster!"
From the doorway, Clair observed the whole thing. Her anger was boiling over but it was drowned out by the scientist in her, questioning Hiroaki Kanbara's actions. She concluded that he wasn't accepting Takuya's half digimon status, but refused to reject him for being one. Her anger was then suppressed by the idea that he was just ignorant and doing what any father would do.
"Mr. Kanbara. Please clam down." Kari pleaded, only to get back handed by the man. Kari tumbled to the ground. Takuya, despite feeling weakened and drained, got to his feet and tackled the man, restraining him against the wall. He resisted Takuya's augmented strength that came from his digimon side until a blade of cold stainless steel was placed against his neck. Clair Weli'sol had placed one of her throwing knives against his neck.
Takuya stepped away from his father, adrenaline fading and the weakness setting in. Davis and Koji, after making sure Kari was okay and leaving her in Sora's care, had caught Takuya before he fell to the floor again.
"What have they done to you Takuya?" Hiroaki questioned, struggling against the younger girl's rigid position, and the sliver knife that was pressed to his neck. Only Takuya heard. His eyes turned to the still quite Tomoko Kimora who was processing what she saw. Hiroaki wondered if she had any idea what kind of a monster her son was turned into.
"You should leave now." Clair told him.
"Not without…" Hiroaki started.
"You're not position to argue." Clair hissed as Marcus and Henry entered the apartment.
"We've managed to clam everyone down." Henry told her. "Everyone just thought it was a traffic incident with the black out."
"Marcus. Would you show Mr. Kanbara out please." She asked. "Handcuff him to a train if you have to. And word of advice sir, the word monster should not be used around Shinya." She lifted the knife and returned it to it's holster strapped to her ankle and Marcus pulled the man out of the apartment as she turned to the other occupants. There was a loud painful yell from outside, everyone feared for the worse.
"Thunder Fist!"
"Deadly Glaze!"
Before Beetlemon could land a punch, Duskmon's attack hit him first. The fractal code cocooned the warrior and left him as the thirteen year old boy before Tai's feet. Joe had jumped out of the car to help treat the boy for any possible injuries. Then the twin red blades came for them.
"Hand of Fate!"
"Shadow Meteor!"
The two attacked combined into a double helix of holy light and pure darkness, both hitting the warrior, and throwing him back into a parked car, glass shattering and the metal fender denting.
And still, he laughed.
TK ran up from behind Tai and Blake. "Why his he laughing?!" He called out.
"What's so funny?" Tai demanded as he helped JP up.
"You really think that a warrior of darkness can side with the light?" Deskman asked. "You think Koichi won't be consumed by the powers of darkness? That's all darkness does. It consumes everything until there's nothing left but darkness. Koichi didn't come back from corruption easy. Do you really think he's so pure that he can't be corrupted again? He will find himself lost in darkness, and I will become his sprit again." Deskman glared at Koichi as if to fight back and say different.
"I can prove you wrong right now." Blake muttered, almost to quite for everyone to hear. "It's such a lovely night. Dark and peaceful. Why not spend it stargazing? If darkness consumed all, then why can you see stars twinkle. Their light taken years to get here. Decades. Centuries. Light is aggressive. Darkness is passive. You're not darkness. You're just a nightmare that lingers after the dreamer has long stop dreaming. Fear is the only reason you're still here."
TK looked up at the night sky. He was right. Dotting the darkness were thousands and thousands of stars, each one twinkling in an void of darkness, and among them was a full moon. In a city like Tokyo, it was difficult to find a night sky like this. He hadn't noticed that the city's lights had gone out, and yet the moon and stars gave them enough light to see by. There was a strange comfort in this night, a warm, spring night.
Was darkness fighting to extinguish all light from the sky? Or was darkness trying to fill a void that's left by an absence of light? Or was there such a thing as absence of light? He never considered light to be aggressive. But then again, why were stars only visible in darkness? It was beginning to put TK's beliefs into prospective. He had already believed the powers of darkness might be a force for good in Koichi's hands. He was unlike any of the evil digimon he had faced.
"And the answer is no." Blake went on. "No I don't think he's above corruption. None of us are. I know the burden Koichi will face in this fight. I know what living in darkness, fighting in shadows can do to someone. The important thing is to strive for the light. Never lose sight of it. My convictions have lead me out of the darkness far too many times then I can count. And my friends have followed me in to pull me back from those dark places. And there is no doubt in my mind that Koichi's convictions are strong enough to keep him from your hands, and his friends and family will pull him from the black when he is lost. Isn't that right TK?"
The blonde haired boy hesitated for a moment. Then, he straightened up and nodded. "Yes." He whispered. Blake sensed the conviction, even if the voice was weak. He knew that even if he still questioned darkness' role in the world, he wasn't going to let it take Koichi from him. "No matter what."
"We shall see about that." Duskmon growled before rushing at Angeamon. He blocked both swords with his rod. Then again and again. Loweemon rushed him with his spear, only to be blocked by another sword. The single digimon held up well against both opponents. Then a slash across Loweemon's armour caused him to revert. Koichi fell to the ground in his human form as Loweemon's weapon rolled across the road. Angeamon didn't last too long either, as a slash caused him to revert to Patamon. Blake's Katana appeared in his hand and split into two blades as he began to take up the fight. The digimon watched in awe as a human matched blows with a champion level digimon, amazed that he could even keep his swords in his hands. A rush of air seemed to burst from the ground as Blake leapt over the digimon and landed behind him. Duskmon foresaw the attack just in time to meet his blades with his own. A kick to the diminution jumper's chest forced him to the ground, and the swords to slip from his hands. Agumon didn't wait around and rushed the warrior of darkness but was done away with quickly.
"Agumon!" Tai yelled and froze when he saw Duskmon place a blade to Blake's neck.
"Sinka ta'ir. Astara kaira wia nemom teua." Blake hissed. He was smiling. Tai's head quickly question what Blake was doing. Wasn't he the least bit concerned with losing his head.
"What does that mean?" Duskmon demanded.
"It's contemporary Sun Elven for 'This Path has Ended, your Fate Sealed' Often said to criminals after they've been sentenced to death. To bad you hesitated, we could have gone out together. Not that I don't mind. Dying isn't exactly painless, not to mention the awkward explanations. But also, I get to enjoy this. Besides, your not my nightmare."
Duskmon then screamed in pure agony as a length of metal pierced his chest. TK, with Patamon on his head had picked up the spear, after it failed to disappear when Koichi de-sprit evolved and stabbed Duskmon from behind. Blake got up quickly and face Duskmon.
"You're his." He finished as he exploded into a cloud of data, and the spear faded out of existence, leaving a small black metal egg behind. "Cutting it rather close weren't you kid?"
TK shrugged then picked up the egg. "Duskmon's essence? Does this mean he's going to hatch from…" He found something on the egg. The crest of hope.
"That's another digi-metal." Izzy concluded. "Prodigious."
"If it represents hope then why is it black?" TK asked.
"It isn't." Koichi pointed out, walking up with a hand over his chest. "Look on the base." TK turned it over. It was loosely the Kanji for Darkness, in bronze.
"I see. That's what he meant." Blake muttered. "Darkness corrupted hope, but truth of darkness now purifies hope."
"What do you mean?" JP asked as he, Joe and Tai, with a tired Agumon, came up to them.
"Think about it." Blake told them, leading them towards the apartment building. As they started towards the doors, the street lights came back on. "Ah. That's fortunate. I was beginning to think Parker was having trouble with the city's power grid again."
"You planed that black out?" Tai asked, putting two and two together.
"Why not? A few minutes of darkness never hurt anyone."
Koichi pushed the button on the elevator to his floor, and they now followed him to the apartment. Koji and Sora were sitting at the table with Tomoko, trying his best to comfort her and explain what was going on. Based on a glance, they were probably doing well with a lot of colour returning to the woman's face. Kari was on the floor wrapping Takuya in an embrace and a bruise forming on her cheek. Tai was about to snap at Takuya but only noticing the boy's depressed state made him hold back. Davis, Henry and Clair were talking animatedly, and were the first to notice the new arrivals.
"So Takuya's dad did this to you?" Tai demanded as he placed a bag of ice on his sister's purple check. "I was concerned that you wouldn't make a good first impression on his parents, not the other way around." He tried to joke, but Kari's smile made him feel a little better, but there was still anger from how he treated her like that.
"You should be fine after a good night's rest." Joe pointed out after examining Takuya. "Just take it easy for a while." Takuya nodded, half listening to Joe, half listening to Blake who was now on the phone with his mum, explaining to her how his father reacted to finding out Takuya was…
"Ministry of Defence?" Blake repeated. "Which branch?" The conversation had taken a turn towards his father's work history, which Takuya could have told him was government related. "Government Research. Project HYPNOS. Based out of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Thanks." He hung up Takuya's phone and handed it back to the boy. "You okay?"
Takuya nodded. Blake took it to be an okay sign. Henry had set up a camera and Izzy was typing away, ready to take down any observations. Koji and Koichi had taken Tomoko into the Living Room away from the excitement, and explaining how they came to meet. A rather complicated explanation for all involved. Clair held the digi-metal of courage in her hand, waiting.
It was time.
"Start from the beginning again." Marcus asked.
"Okay. In our first adventure in the digital world, we had these crests that represented a virtue. Hope. Friendship. Light. Love. Reliability. Knowledge. Courage. We used them to help our digimon digi-volve past champion and to their ultimate level." TK explained. "But we had to give them up, and our digimon can't digivolve to their ultimate forms."
"If Blake's theory holds, then the sprit of flame can rebuild the crest of courage from the digi-metal." Izzy went on. "But it's up to Takuya."
"But why Takuya?" Marcus asked.
"It seemed obvious." JP pointed out. "I mean, the digi-metal courage looks like it's on fire. Agumon's champion form is descended from Agunimon's ancient form. I mean, come on. It's really obvious."
They watched as Joe and Tai helped Takuya to his feet, and walk over to Clair who reluctantly took the metal. They waited, Takuya unsure of what to do, he wondered if Agunimon was going to tell him what to do. Then Tai stepped up.
"Let's have a look at… ahhh!"
Flames burst from the metal itself. Tai jumped back from the memory of being burnt by the metal, but his hand remained around the metal that was in Takuya's palms. The metal glowed as the flames began to take the shape of a tall, dragon. One that Takuya and JP remember all to well.
BurningGreymon.
The creature leapt towards Takuya and it was like he was inhaling the flames. He stumbled backwards, hitting the wall, this hands clutching his head. Joe stepped forward.
"You okay Taku…"
"Ow! Not so loud! I can hear you okay! I'm not deaf!" Takuya yelled, eyes squeezed closed. Everyone looked on with worried looks. Joe wasn't talking that loudly, but Takuya made it sound like he was yelling in his ear.
"Takuya?" Henry whispered.
"That's better. Can someone turn down the lights please. Why are they so bright? And… can anyone else smell that?" Takuya asked.
"Smell what?" Blake asked, following Henry's idea of whispering. He sniffed the air thoughtfully, trying to pick up what Takuya was talking about. Joe couldn't mistake the grimace of pain that flashed over the younger boy's face as he did. Then pain turned to disgust before becoming realisation. He turned to Joe. "Sensory overload. Sight, hearing and smell have just been dialled up to eleven and Takuya has no control over it. He can smell Tomoko's panic. Or…"
He had the decency not to finish his thought out loud, but neither Tai, nor Kari missed him glancing in their direction. He was aware, better then anyone else that the fear wasn't directed at them, but rather for them. Tomoko was about to see a world of wonder and be powerless to stop the danger that her sons would face on a daily basis.
Hirokai Kanbara on the other hand will be lashing at angrily at everything and anything he can direct blame at. Denial was going to be a problem for him. It was likely that the man would drown reality out with liquor. A short term solution that will cause long term problems. He bit down on his lip, aware that of all the enemies these chosen children would have to face, the possibility that their own parents would be one of them is a daunting, of not, devastating prospect.
"I think it's from having his beast sprit back." JP pointed out forgetting to whisper, earning a grunt from Takuya. "Sorry Takky."
"We better get you home. And some ear muffs." Blake told him.
"Hey." Tai opened his head, showing them a necklace. It was in the shape of an orange sun, with nothing between the points, but some invisible force held the points in place. It sat in the palm of Tai's hand, the size of an american quarter. On both sides of the crest, an amber tear shaped crystal hung from the thin, crystal thread.
"Looks like it worked." Marcus cheered, forgetting Takuya's predicament.
"Ow." Takuya moaned.
"Okay. I think we've had enough excitement for one night." Tomoko annouched, the struggle of her mind clearly showing in her voice. "I think it's time that you get home. We could all use a good night's rest."
"Izzy!" JP and Clair opened the bedroom door to find that the boy in question was passed out in front of a desktop computer. JP recognised the image the screen was frozen on, having witnessed it last night. The moment that Takuya's beast spirt returned to the warrior of flame. He moved closer to the red head, finding a notebook under his hand.
'Tai-Courage/MetalGreymon. Takuya-Flame/BurningGreymon. Both from the Dragon's Roar family. Both leaders of their respective groups. Does this mean that beast warrior sprits are hidden in the digi-metals?'
The notebook had a range of symbols, some JP recognised. One was the crest of knowledge, and the other was the crest of love. A sun shaped symbol had an arrow pointing to it from the Kanji representing flame with a note saying 'Tai mentioned that his hands were burnt by the metal.'
There were two arrows, both pointed to two different crests from the same kanji, light. 'Same name.' written under one of them and 'Nature Spirt family digimon, similar personalities and histories' under the other.
Clair placed a hand on Izzy's shoulder, gently rocking him awake while JP noticed Bokomon had fallen asleep with a rather large book on greek mythology as a rather uncomfortable pillow.
"Izzy!" Matt's voice called over the boy's digivice. He stirred from his sleep. "This is important Izzy!"
At the mention of his name, Izzy shot up. "Yeah Matt." He grabbed the device, surprised to find both Clair and JP in his room.
"Dad just rushed in saying he was harassed by a man on the street. Tai just called saying that he and his sister got a rude awaking by Mr. Kanbara this morning, pounding on the door, demanding to see them before being chased off by a stray cat." Izzy nodded before opening an email.
"Did Sora mention that her dad got an email from a government agency this morning?" He asked. Over his shoulder, Clair read the email, discovering that part of it was from another email which was forwarded. The forwarded body read like a poison pen letter, accusing the man's daughter of turing his son into a monster.
"No. She didn't." Matt growled before another voice rang though the room calling for another occupant. This time, it was Zoe's, and JP answered it without hesitation.
"Hey Z." JP chipped happily.
"Oh. Right. I forgot you guys were going to DATS today." Matt sighed, now aware that Izzy wasn't alone. "You guys going to be right?"
"Yeah. Yoshi will drive us there with her cruiser." Clair answered, as JP's conversation devolved into a panic. "And we'll be back by party time. Did Zoe mention anything?"
"Sora give me the heads up. TK and I are heading to Shi…" Matt was interrupted by a yell on his end. "Sorry Izzy. I've gotta go.
"What!? You mean… Oh man! What did your parents do?" JP asked.
"They demanded that he leave then made me promise I would go to Takuya's house alone ever again." She heard Zoe say. "They must have thought his father was crazy. And the fact that he was drunk didn't help. But what happens if they start asking questions? Yukata we could handle, but Takuya's dad? And I still haven't heard anything from the twins."
"We stay with our story." JP told her. "I've gotta go Z. Where are you now?"
"Takuya's place. I slept over at Miss Kanbara's request. I think something about our sprits help suppress Grumblemon's influence over Shinya. Takuya's more then anyone else."
"I guess that's a good thing." JP huffed. "Becareful Z."
"Ciao" Zoe said shaky as her symbol vanished.
"Zoe says that Takuya's dad paid her parents a visit this morning." JP told the others.
"But not before venting his anger against…" Izzy started as he hung up with Matt. "How did he know about Sora's father. He's a university professor in Kyoto?"
"Something we can ask at DATS." Clair pointed out.
Despite having enhanced hearing, Takuya found it rather easy to sleep though the night. Shinya had taken up residence in his room for the night, not wanting to sleep alone. He hadn't had any nightmares that night. As Takuya woke up that morning, he found that the over sensitive ears and eyes didn't hurt as much. The colours where now much more vivid, and he could hear and smell breakfast being made down stairs, along with every oder in his room, including his soccer kit that was long over due for a wash. Though his hearing couldn't pick up Shinya's breathing.
The warmth was now amplified too. It felt like his blood was super heated, and every time he exhaled hard, steam would rise from his throat. And now that he was awake, he felt like he had energy to burn. But for some reason, he didn't feel entirely optimistic with having his beast sprit back. Something inside of him felt angered. He imagined that it was BurningGreymon not liking the idea of being back. He hoped he wouldn't go on a rampage, especially now in the middle of Jiyugoka. Last time BurningGreymon went on a rampage, he nearly burn down half the Forest Kingdom. He could only dread to think at what he could do to Tokyo.
There was a bang out side, and a loud yelp. "Neemon!" That sounded like Takato.
"Takatomon. My tail hurts." Takuya managed to climb out of bed, noticing that the bedroll Shinya should have been sleeping in was empty, and that he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, he grabbed his hat and googles and made his way down stairs. Shinya was trying hard not to let his sides split. Neemon had tripped over Guilmon's tail and had ended up with a plate of green scrambled eggs on his head.
"Great. Now I'm going to have to use chicken eggs instead." Blake moaned. "They're not as well flavoured, and they're boring. Who uses plain old chicken eggs with triceratops bacon?"
"Wait? This is dinosaur meat?" Zoe questioned as she put her phone away, Takuya could tell that there was something rattling her. "Where do you even get dinosaur meat?"
"Take a wild guess." Takato deadpanned. "Why were those eggs green anyway? Don't tell me they were extraterrestrial."
"Fine. I won't then." Blake shot back.
"Were they even safe to eat?" Zoe questioned. "It looked weird."
"And how is that any different from Casu Marzu Cheese?" Blake asked as Takuya appeared at the bottom of the stars. "Ah. The sleeping dragon has awoken. And just in time to. I think the chocolate croissants are ready."
"Morning Takuya." Zoe chirped with a forced, but genuine smile. "We cocked breakfast."
"Look Takuya. Dinosaur Bacon." Shinya cheered as he showed him a plate of oversized bacon.
"You sure you can eat all that little buddy?" Takuya asked.
"If he can. Lets hope he saves room for Dessert." Blake said as he placed a try of pastries on the dinning room table. Takuya went for one immedality, only for Blake to slap away his hand. "Hey! They're still hot."
"Okay." Takaya moaned, leaning back in his chair. His ear twitched as he picked up the sound of something outside. Guilmon did the same, looking up from his meal of day old bread, and growling.
"What's going on?" Zoe asked.
"Someone's outside." Blake answered.
"It's Yutaka." Takuya pointed out frowning, before his eyes widened. He made a dash for the door with Guilmon following.
"Something tells me a girl is involved." Blake joked as they followed.
"Ow." Tai moaned, not sure what happened. One moment, he was protecting his sister from a brown haired teenager. Then, his fist came out of nowhere. And to top it off, his digivice fell from his belt, and Agumon was released. The digital reptile did not take kindly to the younger boy harassing his partner, or Kari. Before he could do anything however, he ran off.
"Are you okay Tai?" Agumon asked.
"Nothing an ice pack and a few days can't fix." Tai answered, his brush already appearing.
"If I ever see that boy again, I'll scratch him into fish sticks." Gatomon said, giving the direction the boy ran down a dirty look like any association with the boy made it the enemy.
"Kari! Tai!" They heard Takuya call out. The boy was running down the sidewalk, franticly, Guilmon, Blake, Zoe and Takato following. "What happened? Where's Yutaka?"
"How did you know it was Yutaka?" Kari asked.
"He heard you." Blake answered as he approached the Kamyia siblings. "And yeah, two blocks away. You guys weren't exactly quite."
"What happened?" Zoe asked, directing the question to Kari.
"Gatomon was out of her digivice, walking beside us out of sight." Kari explained.
"I thought I saw a digimon, but when I jumped into the garden to flush it out, I found that guy." Gatomon continued. "In the open, he began to yell at Kari, demanding who she was. Personally, he's lucky he ran off before I could teach him a lesson for ruffling my fur. But the wired thing is, he took one look at Agumon and ran off. Screaming."
"Something about aliens." Agumon added, much to the amusement to the others. "What's so funny?"
"Lots of things. Anyway. Don't we need to get to school? On a Saturday?"
"At least no one else will be there." Takato deadpanned.
"So why did Sampson need those reports anyway?" Clair asked, no longer finding anything of interest in her scientific journal.
"Because of Thomas." Yoshi answered. "He's a resent recruit to DATS Japan, but for the last six months, he was in Europe, assisting with the Austrian Devision of DATS."
"I see." Clair turned back to see the boys hadn't been paying attention. Marcus had fallen asleep, but the snoring gave that away. Izzy had his laptop out, she assumed he was working on a project of some description, either for school, himself, or more likely Digimon related. JP was deep in thought, his phone completely ignored, but still in his hand.
"A far along is she?" Clair asked JP, watching him yawn.
"Wha…" JP asked.
"Someone in your family is expecting. Correct?" She pressed on again.
"My Aunt. six months" JP said confused. "How did you… Did Zoe say something? Takuya?"
"Ice cream and pickles." She answered smugly. "And caramel topping if I'm not mistaking the stain on your jumpsuit sleeve."
"Tai!" Davis called out as his hero walked up to the school gates.
"Takuya!" Tommy followed suit as the group approached them. Sora smiled at the sight of Tai, and almost chuckled at the sight of a soccer ball under his arm, and gasped at the purple bruise forming on his face.
"Gee, something smells good." Armadillomon called out, smelling something in the air.
"Chocolate croissants!" Shinya cheered, showing the blue digimon the box filled with pastries.
"What happened?" Sora asked as Takato slipped away unnoticed.
"Tommy's older brother left a bad first impression." Tai answered, looking past the gates of the elementary school. Yolei was talking to Kristy, while off to one side, Koji was away from everyone else. Cody, Henry and Koichi were talking animatedly among themselves while most of the rookie digimon were playing among themselves.
They found it amusing to play some sort of game on a squiggly line that was drawn on the soccer field.
"Another one?!" Takato said shocked. "What does it even mean?"
"Obviously, that's the out of bounds line." Blake pointed to one of the squiggly lines. "And if you cross that line, you have to hop like a frog for the… rest of the game?"
"Your just making that up." Zoe accused.
"But I do it so well." Blake defended.
"Hey!" Zoe nearly slapped who ever was behind her over the head when she felt something tug on her trousers, only to find it was Gatomon. Anger gave was to sympathy as the digimon looked like she was minding his own business.
Takato's scream shattered the stillness in the air.
"What happened to the animals?" Cody managed to ask. Everyone was in a state of shock, looking at the scene of blood and fur. Shinya turned away from the cages, and Guilmon made every attempt to comfort his partner. The older kids tried to keep the younger children from the spectacle, but they wouldn't take no for an answer.
"It's like they tore each other apart." Henry noted. "But these animals aren't violent. If they were, the school wouldn't have them here."
Koichi made a valiant effort to enter the cages and retrieve one of the rabbits. When his hand touched the bloodied white fur, it woke up with a screech. Blake and Koji pulled him out before something could happen. Tai, Sora, Takuya, Koji, Zoe, Henry and Blake watched on as the surviving rabbit struggled, as if it was in the jaws of something. Everyone else did their best not to look.
"It's like it's running from something." Biyomon pointed out.
"From what exactly?" Agumon asked as the bunny became still, it's rapid breathing stopped.
Guilmon began sniffing the air.
"What is it?" Shinya asked the red dinosaur.
"A Digimon." Guilmon told the boy, looking over towards a large roller.
"Do you think an evil digimon might have done something to the rabbits?" Yolei asked. "Or the emperor sent some controlled digimon?"
"I wouldn't put it past him." Tai answered as Guilmon walked closer with Agumon and Veemon close behind. The three digimon sneaked around the thing, ready to attack. They were about to jump it, but they stopped themselves.
"It's a little guy." Veemon whispered. "And he's asleep."
"Look at this place." Marcus said what was on all of the boy's minds, as all three of them marvelled at the command centre, Agumon and Tentomon by their sides, equality amazed. It remanded Clair of the Bullpen back at the Commonwealth Building, displays showing feeds of data from multiple locations, bulky terminals instead of digital desktops and streamlined LED displays, small armour wearing digimon wondered around as opposed to taller androids that had a reputation of being dull conversation makers. And a giant glass tube on the far end of the wall. Clair approached it curiously.
"Fujiata, Reporting back." Yoshi said to her superior, a man in a blue suit with red shoulder pads. If she recalled, his name was Sampson, commander of the Yokohama Devision of DATS. Around his shoulders was a white lizard with gold markings. The man nodded and regarded his visitors with curiosity. Clair had dismissed her holographic veil in order to get a read of the man, but he seemed to regard the alien features with disinterest.
"So, your Marcus Damon." He said to brown haired boy. "I'm Commander Sampson."
"Interesting that this is the boy that fought Agumon because nothing about him indicates that he's able to fight at that level." The lizard said. Clair chuckled.
"Looks can be deceptive." Clair muttered under her breath, loud enough for the lizard to her.
"What's with the talking scarf?" Marcus demanded, not liking what he said at all. The scarf seemed to take offence to the question. Sampson however rubbed the creature's head.
"This is Kudamon. He's my digimon partner." Sampson stated then turning his attention to the boys. "Koushiro Izumi and Junpei Shibayma. Your reputations proceed you both your efforts saving both worlds." His attention was turned to Clair.
"Careful sweetheart." One of the girls told her, a black haired woman with dark makeup.
"You don't want to accidentally end up in the digital world." The blond haired counterpart informed her. "Not that we'd let that happen."
"You don't even know what it is either."
"It's a quantum tunnel energy extrapolator." Clair told the women.
"Okay. Maybe you do."
"You basically use quantum teleportation, create a controlled digital field convert the occupants into data and open a bridge to the digital world. And they use the digital gate on the other end to reverse the process."
"And you must be Clair Wells." Sampson stated.
She nodded, accepting the shortened name. "I would very much love to meet the man who designed this. I mean, its obsolete already, but it's still cutting edge. The calculations alone…"
"Mission Complete." Came another voice, interrupting her ramble. "Digimon secured."
Clair and Marcus regarded another newcomer, a blonde haired boy no older then she was, carrying an egg with a flame like theme on it's shell. The young man was followed by a blue dog like creature with boxing gloves. Sampson addressed them as he placed next to one of the terminals.
"Thomas. Perfect Timing."
