Another chapter done and I can't believe how fast I blow through them. A few things... I made up a few OCs last chapter to fill in space. Also I'm being a little loose with attack names, going for brevity. As always, enjoy and review.

A Second Chance
Chapter 12

"Mimi, get Palmon out of there!" Willis yelled.

"Okay!" Mimi scrambled to reach her partner, who was being targeted by a large yellow digimon that looked like it belonged in a construction site. The variation of digimon often amazed Takeru, especially if there was uncanny similarities to objects in the real world. However, he barely bad time to reflect on it as he blocked the claws of an animal digimon with a stick.

It was a fairly large child level, a bear-like digimon with restraints on its paws and wore clothing, notably a baseball cap. It growed at Takeru, taking another swipe at him. He fell to the ground.

"Air Shot!" Bearmon was tossed back at the force of Patamon's attack. Takeru could see Wilis fighting off a small pack of Gizamon out of the corner of his eye, and Mimi was desperately trying to keep the machine digimon Kenkimon away from the flowers and trees. The Floramon were by her side, but compare to the adult level, they were hardly a match. The Flamon that hung around jumped onto it's back, and was subsequently swung around on the ball crane sticking out of it's back. It desperately hung on, if only barely.

Taichi and Koushiro also had their hands full with Gazimon and Kokuwamon, the former in a pair against Tentomon and the latter was electrocuting Agumon.

"I've had about enough of this." Taichi growled as he kicked a Gazimon away from his leg. "Agumon!"

The digivice pinned up to Taichi's belt started to glow, and the now familiar beeping started. Agumon himself began to glow and in an instant he grew. "Agumon digivolve to..."

"Greymon." As Greymon, he easily stomped Kokuwamon into submission. He swung around, using his tail to smack the Gazimon away from Tentomon and Koushiro. More of these hoards were joining, and Koushiro was tackled to the ground, and held down by large claws of more Gazimon hiding in wait behind the brush.

"Koushiro!" Tentomon called, as Koushiro's own digivice glowed. "Tentomon digivolve to..."

"Kabuterimon!"

"Whoa, now my digivice activated." Koushiro said, bracing himself as Kabuterimon swooped in, grabbing the Gazimon off of his partner. He stood up, dusting himself off. "Looks like the other duplicated digivices will work just fine if Tentomon was able to digivolve."

"He got really big! Ick!" Takeru heard Mimi's shrill cry as Kabuterimon flew past her and Palmon, throwing the Gazimon far into the distance.

"That seems to be the trend." Willis said. "Adults seem to get a lot larger in comparison to their child forms."

"You act like you've never seen Champions before." Koushiro said. It took a moment for Takeru to realize the terms were still yet interchangeable. Likely he'd start doing it too once he became more familiar with the military team.

"I've seen a few. Not all of them are large. Terriermon and Lopmon also have never digivolved past child." Willis said. He seemed to not mind the switch.

"You might get your chance." Koushiro said. He dove into the dirt as a large red humanoid with bat wings and a pitchfork dove at them, spearing at the air near them, attempting to skewer their flesh. This digimon had black markings all over its body. None of them looked familiar, not even similar to digicode.

"What the heck kind of digimon is that?" Taichi said.

"Looks like Boogiemon to me." Kabuterimon said, having returned from dumping the Gazimon. "I'll take care of him!"

Boogiemon dodged Kabuterimon's grasp and let out a sharp, high pitched chuckle. "You think you can catch me so easily you slow oaf?"

Both Greymon and Kabuterimon doubleteamed Boogiemon, grabbing at him from both the ground and the air. Boogiemon darted between them and giggled nasally.

"Double Typhoon!" The twin digimon unleashed their double attack, a massive whirlwind. It caught the smaller child digimon and even Boogiemon struggled to keep from being sucked into the vortex. Greymon and Kabuterimon escaped simply from their sheer mass.

"Ugh. I didn't expect these idiots to have the power to forcefully digivolve their toys." Boogiemon said. "Looks like I'll have to call for reinforcements."

"Stop him!" Takeru yelled, and ran toward Boogiemon. His legs gave way and he fell into the mud. Pain shot through his body. Boogiemon flew away and within minutes, another wave of digimon flew in the form of Flymon and Roachmon. There were several of them each.

"Ick! Gross!" Mimi cried. "We're not going to be beaten by all these gross digimon are we?"

"Not if I can help it. I'll protect you, Mimi." Palmon said, managing to roll out of the way of Kenkimon's wheels. "Palmon digivolve to..."

"Togemon!"

"Wow. A cactus." Mimi said. "From a little plant like that?"

Togemon turned to Kenkimon, who since threw Flamon off. Flamon luckily made a soft landing in the brush. She wound up her arm, punching Kenkimon in the side before it could land a blow. Kenkimon flew a few centimetres into the air, and landed on it's side, completely immobile.

Togemon ran toward the fast approaching small army, joined now by Greymon and Kabuterimon. The smaller Gazimon and Gizamon gave up on fighting the stronger adult levels and were focusing on Patamon, Terriermon and Lopmon.

Takeru struggled to get up, his spent muscles straining. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a Gizamon creeping up behind him for an attack. Takeru swung his arm much like Daisuke the other day, hitting Gizamon in the nose. With a noise of pain, Gizamon hopped away.

"Takeru, are you alright?" Patamon asked, flying over to his partner.

"I'm alright." Takeru said, panting and wiping away muddy sweat from his brow. "Daisuke's been working me too hard. All my muscles feel fragile."

"You don't have to fight." Patamon said. "The others have stronger bodies right now."

"Don't say that! If I go and rest I'll feel like I haven't done anything! What's the point of all this training if it leaves me too weak?"

"But Takeru..."

In the distance Takeru could hear another digivice chime. There was only one person left.

"Terriermon digivolve to... Gargomon!"

"Lopmon digivolve to... Tururiemon!"

"They're wearing pants now." Willis said, his tone both impressed and amused.

"Is this really the time to crack jokes?" Taichi asked, though he was smiling seeing Willis so light hearted for the first time in a long time.

"Well, I'm liking the odds. I think we're in a position to be at least a little cocky." Willis said as his digimon sprang into the chaos.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Ninja Claw!"

"Needle Spray!"

"Electro Shocker!"

"Nova Blast!"

Their combined attacks easily sent the Flymon and Roachmon fleeing. Boogiemon didn't escape the blasts either, managing to dodge the more physical attacks, but eventually succumb to Kabuterimon's attack. It stumbled in the air, and with a mangled cry of frustration and anger, followed it's underlings in retreat.

The group cheered, hugging their digimon and each other in celebration. By this time, Takeru gained enough energy to stand up, and with mild joy, hugged the rest of his friends.

"Why were they even attacking us?" Mimi asked, sipping her drink from a straw. They moved back across the barrier to recuperate. Takeru was laying on the couch with ice packs strewn over his body to combat the swelling in various places. The boys were sitting at the table. "I mean, we aren't really doing anything other than trying to help."

"I don't know." Willis said. "Maybe they don't want the Digital World healed because that means they can stop fighting humans? But that wouldn't make sense."

"What about the reason the Digital World is in it's current state in the first place?" Koushiro asked.

"That's probably the case." Palmon said sadly. "It was a really long time ago, but I hear that most of the destruction of the Digital World was at the hands of a powerful, evil digimon. Maybe those were some of his underlings."

"Really? A dgimon that would ruin it's world on purpose?" Taichi asked.

"Sure." Tentomon said. "There are digimon out there who will stop at nothing to conquer everything and reshape the Digital World as it sees fit. Usually there are champions who rise up to combat them. But no such champions have this time around. So efforts could have been made to relocate everyone to a different world."

"Is that really the reason?" Takeru asked. "Then how did everything go so wrong? If digimon were looking for a refuge, why were there so many human deaths at the start?"

"I just don't know..." Tentomon said. He bowed his head in shame.

"Oh-OW!" Takeru curled up into a fetal position after sitting up suddenly. It shot stabs of pain through his abdomen.

"Hey, careful. What's the big rush to get up?" Taichi asked.

"Jou was supposed to come over today." Takeru said, laying back down. "I was supposed to go meet him at the station."

"When was he supposed to arrive?" Willis asked, frowning.

"A little after class ended. But I had training and then that battle. He's probably long gone by now. I'm so thoughtless."

"Calm down." Mimi said. "How about we go and meet your friend? Or at least see if he's there? Maybe you can call his work place to find his personal number?"

The boys all looked at Mimi. She was the only one to not participate in battle that day. She looked around, confused. "What?"

"It's nothing, Mimi. It's just... Jou works for your father. How often do you go to the facilities?" Willis asked.

"Not very often." Mimi frowned. "I guess I should leave if I don't want him telling father about me."

"N-No, I don't think he'll tell on you." Takeru grunted as he struggled to sit up. Mimi came over and helped him to stand. He quietly thanked her. "Jou met me when my dad took me to the facility where I'm training. He didn't say anything or he could have easily said I was a rebel and I'd have been arrested there. I trust him. He's just still on the fence about everything."

Mimi smiled. "Then let's go."

"Are you sure you're up for walking all that way in your condition?" Willis asked. "You're pretty stiff."

"I'll be fine. The ice packs helped." Takeru grunted as he tenderly tested his flexibility. He and Mimi walked out of the building, leaving the others behind to rest. Mimi seemed only too happy to go for a walk. She was nearly skipping, her steps bouncing her almost weightlessly and she was humming to herself.

"You're in a really good mood, Mimi." Takeru said, almost wishing he could join in if he weren't feeling so bad. Her attitude was contagious.

"I am." Mimi said. "None of our hard work was destroyed and Palmon was able to digivolve. I feel like we made some good progress today. Maybe we'll even be able to do double the work if we can employ a digimon like Kenkimon. I wonder if there are non-evil Kenkimon somewhere nearby."

Takeru chuckled. "You like gardening, huh?"

"Well, I guess I do. I don't particularly like getting dirty or getting my clothes filthy. I could wear something old, but it also still has to be cute. But that's a challenge. Then again, I kind of like the challenge. Don't you think what I'm wearing is cute?"

She was wearing a faded pink dress with ruffles at the ends. She had stockings underneath and wore worn knee-high socks and sneakers. Everything was covered in dirt and grass stains, however.

Takeru smiled. "I think it's cute."

They arrived at the station and Takeru sat on a bench with slight difficulty. "How about I get us some bubble tea and you can rest for a bit?"

"Sounds good." Takeru sighed, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. He wondered if he'd ever feel right again. He felt awful and yet tomorrow there was going to be another intense training regimen. Would he be able to survive?

Mimi came back with the bubble tea, both taro flavoured. She forgot to ask him what he wanted, and said she hoped he liked taro. Takeru accepted it graciously. He was only halfway done his drink when Jou's shrill cry came through the crowd, and the rather sweaty medical doctor ran up to them.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Jou said through heavy panting. "There was a workshop to brush up on skills and there was also a fight that broke out so I spent an hour patching up soldiers. Also... I didn't know how to get through all the barriers with... you know."

Takeru looked down at his bag, which began to wriggle. He looked up at Jou. "You didn't... Really?"

"I thought he'd want to see, too." Jou said. "I have to admit it was really awkward going to see him when I don-"

Takeru blinked, wondering why Jou stopped. He followed his gaze to Mimi. Jou seemed to have only noticed she was there at that moment. Mimi gave a nervous smile and waved.

"M-Miss Tachikawa! What are you doing here?" Jou stuttered.

"Surprise?" Mimi said, glancing around. "I'm a bit of a rebel after all?"

"So you... you weren't kidnapped then?" Jou asked softly. Mimi sighed, turning toward Takeru and set her drink on the bench, helping to pull him up. With a grunt, Takeru managed to get to his feet.

"Let's get back. I'm sure the others are waiting for us." Mimi said.

"Is something wrong Takeru?" Jou asked. Takeru turned his head away.

"Takeru's not feeling well from all that training going on at dad's work." Mimi said. "They're pushing him too hard too fast, if you ask me."

"I'll give you a massage when we get there, then." Jou said. "You'll seriously hurt yourself if you don't look after your body."

"I don't-"

"Everyone else got massages and proper care for their muscles when they go through straining exercises.' Jou said calmly. "You'll be no different. Especially since you're doing double the work."

"By the way, I was kidnapped." Mimi said. "I just didn't want to say anything around the station. But that was how my involvement got started."

"Oh, so kind of like me, then." Jou chuckled. "Takeru and his friends make a habit of kidnapping people at gunpoint then?"

"Gunpoint?" Mimi said, shocked. She glared in the direction of the hideout. "No, I was just thrown over Taichi's shoulder like a sack and brought against my will."

"We didn't have much of a choice. If Daisuke caught up to us we'd be arrested. We panicked and brought her along."

"Jou I can't breathe!" Gomamon's voice was muffled in the bag. Jou opened the bag slightly and Gomamon took the oportunity to poke his head out. "Owah! I'm alive!"

Jou stuffed Gomamon's head back inside the bag. "Idiot! What if you're seen!"

They arrived back at the hideout, and Jou quickly instructed Mimi to set Takeru down on a soft surface. There wasn't much in a way of a soft surface, so Willis and Taichi brought down a mattress from upstairs. Takeru laid down and allowed Jou to work on his sore muscles.

"It's nice to see you again, Jou." Taichi said. "No hard feelings about the gun thing, right?"

Jou glanced at Taichi for a second before resuming his concentration. "I'll forgive it considering the circumstances. Plus you did give it back to me after. I explained the situation to my superior officer and I didn't get into trouble."

"Well, that's good, anyway." Taichi said. "It's also nice that you and Gomamon keep in touch."

"Actually, we kind of didn't." Jou said. "The battle I went to was out on the ocean, and it was against a Seadramon. The boat we were in capsized and Gomamon rescued me despite how many humans were around. He stuck around until I was finished."

"Wow, Gomamon. Despite your size you really are strong." Taichi grinned.

"Aw, it was nothing." Gomamon said, though his small tail wagged.

"I guess you and Gomamon are really good friends now." Mimi said.

"Yes." Jou said, pressing on a very tender spot on Takeru's back that made him yelp. "Sorry. I think I am friends with Gomamon. But being friends with a digimon and another perspective on the war as a whole are two different matters. So I came to see what your perspective is."

"Our little patch of paradise is a little roughed up." Koushiro said. "Digimon attacked us earlier while we worked."

"Really?" Jou adjusted his glasses and resumed working. "I take it your presence isn't welcome then."

"There aren't a lot of digimon around the area." Willis said. "But the digimon that do live in the area I've been in contact with for a long time, and they fully support us. But today was different. We think there's a third party at work, or rather a fourth party."

"Fourth party, you say." Jou murmured.

"The Digital World wasn't always as desolate as it is now." Palmon said. "But no one has really seen the digimon who's been behind everything. But if it's true those digimon worked for him he hasn't gone dormant. It could be he just hasn't made it quite this far yet."

"Of course he has, Palmon." Agumon said. "Why else would the land look so dead?"

"Well, hang on, Agumon." Koushiro said. "It might be true that this digimon's actual reach hasn't come this far, but the effects of his destruction could still be felt. Broken code can still affect how other code works, after all. What we're doing may be terraforming on the surface, but we are trying to repair the broken code in our immediate area of operations."

"So what are we going to do?" Mimi asked. "If we're going to be fighting people as well, how will we talk to each other freely?"

"What do you mean, Mimi?" Koushiro asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that my father or anyone who worked under him would recognize if one of you said my name when we're fighting. If we all get found out and captured, we won't be able to find out the mystery."

"Well hang on, that's not a guarantee." Taichi said. "There are lots of people out there, and I'm sure you're not the only Mimi."

"Regardless, it is a problem if we shout out each other's names all the time. I'm sure it's fine if a few of us use our real names if others use obvious fake names." Willis said. "That's pretty much what our group did before the others were arrested."

"Even you, Taichi?" Mimi asked.

Taichi smiled. "I shortened my name to Tai."

"Takeru would need to shorten his name. It was fine when he could be mistaken for me, but with his blond hair, Takeru would be too recognizable if we were to call out his name." Willis said. "What about T.K.?"

"T.K.?" Takeru tested it out. It felt so foreign. "It's not something we'd normally say in Japanese. They could think I'm another foreigner."

"All the better, wouldn't it?" Wilis said.

"Yeah, actually. I felt a lot better when people would mistake me for you."

"Thanks, I guess." Willis muttered.

"What about Koushiro? It's a slightly more traditional name. We could use the kanji for kodai." Taichi suggested.

"Or use katakana." Takeru said.

"Oh not this again. Yeah, but you're forgetting it will still sound like Koushiro when spoken." Willis said. "If you were going to give him a different name, it would be something like Shiro. Or better yet, give a more foreign name like yours and Takeru's."

"While I would prefer to be called Koushiro, I do agree with Willis that a foreign name would also be preferable."

"What about Izzy?" Willis said. Koushiro gave him a look. "Well, instead of taking from your first name, we'd take from Izumi and make a nickname out of that."

"It works." Koushiro said. He returned to what he was doing on his computer.

"What about us, Jou?" Gomamon said. "I wanna fight with these guys too! And having a secret name sounds fun!"

"I'll stick to Joe, with a Western spelling." Jou said. "If I ever do fight with you it will be pronounced differently anyways."

"My name would be difficult to change. I think Mimi is already used all around the world as it is." Mimi sighed. "My last name wouldn't do much good either. Plus if I am going to have a nickname I want something elegant or cute. Like Hime."

"Hime works, but it's a bit..." Taichi looked to Willis, trying to keep a giggle in.

"What about Usagi?" Takeru suggested. "It's cute, and rabbits have long ears. It would be a perfect code for Mimi. Besides, I heard Keisuke Tachikawa is very attached to his family."

"That is true." Mimi sighed. "Daddy calls me Hime at home. Usagi is still a cute name."

"Looks like we've got trouble." Koushiro said. He stood up. "There's three breaches and it looks like there's one really close to us."

"Man, the digimon are really going at it." Taichi said, standing up. He stretched.

"It doesn't look like it. I think the breach came from this side. The military is attacking instead of defence!"

"What? Willis ran over to the computer. "Since when has the military made outright assaults on the Digital World?"

"I don't know what they're up to. Do you want to intervene? It's going to be intense."

"It depends on the digimon. They're the ones that have to do most of the fighting." Taichi looked at the group. The digimon all hopped to attention.

"Just give us some food and we'll be ready to go!" Agumon said.

"Good." Willis looked over at Jou and Takeru. Jou finished the massaging of Takeru's calf muscles.

"How are you feeling Takeru?"

"A lot better, actually. Nothing hurts anymore." Takeru flexed his body to test it. There was a little bit of throbbing, but it was something easily ignored.

"Jou, you don't have to come with us." Willis said. "As for you, Takeru, don't overdo it. You're still gaining muscle and that's going to take time. It will only put you in a worse position if you injure yourself trying to force your body to do too much."

"I know, I know." Takeru said. "I'm fine. Let's go."

"I'll come. But I don't know how much help I'll be since I'll be aiding the military personnel with their injuries. Plus, Gomamon, I don't know how much you can do."

"I can do enough." Gomamon said.

"Well, here." Koushiro tossed Jou a digivice. Jou inspected it.

"A deletion device? How did you get one of these?" He cast a wary glance at Mimi, who nervously laughed and waved.

"It's called a digivice. I modified it so that it helps make our digimon stronger instead. Funny enough, it was actually really easy to do once I figured it out. I think the properties of digivolution is something the digivice is somehow naturally able to mediate in one form or another."

Jou looked down at Gomamon. "With that thing I can digivolve?"

"Yes. Though to what I can't say."

"Good enough for me!" Gomamon said. "Let's go!"

Food was quickly gathered for the digimon to give them strength for the battle. They took the route through the Digital World, bypassing the barrier gates. Koushiro was right, the military was taking an active stance, as tanks rolled through the crusty dirt from the pavement of the Real World. Soldiers walked around the tanks. Already there were a few digimon in combat, trying to push the military personnel back through the forced gate they made.

"Let's try and get the military back. Then we can concentrate on breaking up the digimon from the soldiers." Willis said. He glanced around. "Looks like it might be time to implement our new nicknames."

"Right. Izzy, you take the digimon attacking from the air. Usagi, I want you and Togemon to keep a barrier between the military and the digimon. But make sure the tanks don't get you." Taichi said. "T.K., Joe, if you guys can get your digimon to digivolve, then great. If not, do the best you can as you are."

"I'm going to leave you here, Gomamon. I'll slip around back and see if I can sneak into the ranks unnoticed." Jou said.

"Fine." Gomamon sighed. The group split up, with Patamon and the newly digivolved Kabuterimon going to fight the Airdramon attacking the soldiers. Takeru adjusted his mask. Everyone by now had their partners digivolve and were wedging themselves between the battle. Patamon in contrast was doing his best, but his attacks bounced harmlessly off of Airdramon's tough skin.

A feeling of frustration filled Takeru as he glanced down at his digivice. Silent. Patamon would have to deal with the battle as he was until Takeru could find some way to activate it. Was it broken?

Togemon used her Needle Spray attack to stop the soldiers where they stood. And Greymon shot fireballs at the tanks. He watched as one of the tanks aimed at him, barely dodging the blast. He rammed himself against the tank, pushing it. With effort, he rolled it onto its side.

Gargomon and Turuiemon were using more direct attacks against the soldiers, pushing them back toward the breach. They'd alternate between pushing the soldiers and keeping the digimon that wished to attack at bay. They seemed to be in perfect harmony.

A Minotarumon managed to blunder his way clumsily through the resistance, bowling over some soldiers as he went. He aimed for the real world, around where Jou was treating a woman with a head injury.

Gomamon leaped onto his head, biting him. The adult level screamed, flailing his head about. There was a beeping from Joe's direction. He put his hand over the hidden digivice, and made a quick reference to his cell phone. Gomamon began to glow.

"Gomamon digivolve to... Ikkakumon!" The massive hairy walrus easily flattened the Minotarumon to the ground, and pushed the remaining soldiers out of it's path. Ikkakumon got off of the other digimon, headbutting it away. The soldiers attacked, and Ikkakumon quickly retreated away from their midst.

Confused yells of anger and frustration filled the area as the battle continued. Togemon would send a flurry of punches at any digimon that dared come too close to the soldiers. Kabuterimon managed to render Airdramon immobile with a series of electrical shocks, and was scanning the area for any more flying digimon. Galgomon and Turuiemon were having a more successful time, now physically throwing the soldiers out through the barrier.

"This is actually going a lot smoother than I thought." Willis said, inspecting the scene. He ducked as one soldier being picked up by Turuiemon fired rounds from his gun. "Just what a difference the element of surprise makes."

"Having Champion level digimon also helps. Wow, what a difference." Taichi said. "We barely had to get involved ourselves at all."

"That's just fine by me." Mimi said. "I'd rather not get shot at."

"None of us do, Mi-Usagi. But that's just the risk we take." Koushiro said. "Though I'd rather avoid it myself."

The soldiers finally retreated from the gateway, and soon it was closed. Jou went with them, leaving Gomamon with the others. He de-digivolved soon after the barrier was closed. The digimon that were left still looked highly agitated for the interference. Greymon let out a loud roar, stamping his feet, daring any of them to come close. A few of the digimon retreated, and seeing their numbers dwindle, the rest were forced to leave as well.

The digimon returned to their child forms, and they along with their human partners slumped to the ground. Takeru looked down at Patamon, who was curled up on his lap. He fought hard, and the battle wore him down. He fell asleep not long after landing.

Taichi and Agumon managed to evolve. Mimi and Palmon, Koushiro and Tentomon and even Willis and his two digimon all also digivolved their digimon with ease. Even Jou, who only received his digivice moments before the battle had a connection with Gomamon strong enough for him to digivolve. He gently stroked Patamon's back.

He exhaled sharply. "That leaves just us."