Wira Digital

by Alforce Zero

The story of the Malaysian Digidestined, chosen by an ancient warrior to wield his mystical DigiSpheres to combat the forces of evil that transpired in the Digital World.

25. Nightmares Come Alive

It was almost nine o'clock when JD arrived at the driveway of his house. He cocked his eyebrow in mild interest upon seeing two familiar cars being parked right across the road in front of his house. The street light gave enough illumination for JD to easily identify those cars – one a sporty metallic silver three-door hatchback Proton Satria GTI and the other a black two-door coupe Proton Putra. They belonged to his older siblings. Inside the driveway were a dark blue BMW and a black Honda Accord – his parents' cars.

"All of them are home at the same time?" JD mused. "This doesn't happen too often." He pulled his schoolbag close, and pressed the house bell by the gate while trying to think of a reason of his two-day absence. Noticing that the gate was unlocked, he opened it and sauntered inside steadily.

The house's handsome wooden door opened, and out stepped an elderly woman wearing a plain baju kurung over a batik sarong, and a headscarf covering her hair. She was the house maid. And upon noticing JD, she gasped loudly.

"Hi, bibik," JD addressed the elderly woman by the Javanese term which meant 'aunt'. The maid was from Indonesia, and had been with JD's family for as long as JD could remember.

"Josh! Oh, oh…you're back!" the house maid said, looking around frantically. Quickly she went to JD and made a gesture to take JD's bag, a gesture which JD resisted with a slight smile.

"Oh, no, no…it's ok. I'll hold it." He eyed Bibik knowingly. Catching his eyes, Bibik instantly nodded.

"Josh, where have you been? Your parents thought that you're kidnapped!" Bibik said in a loud whisper as she whisked JD's right hand and pulled him towards the doorway. "Look at you…have you eaten? You look famished." She then paused and eyed JD more critically. "Have you even showered?" she asked.

JD grinned weakly. "I am a little bit hungry…and no," he admitted, allowing the elderly woman to pull him into the house.

"You poor boy." Bibik shook her head. "Come along; I'll cook your favorite meal soon."

Two figures suddenly appeared at the doorway. JD looked up, and saw the profiles of his older brother and sister. His brother was tall, and had well-groomed blonde hair a lighter shade than JD's own dishwater blonde hair. The front bangs were long, sweeping down his face by the sides but barely concealing his green-brown eyes. He wore an un-tucked white work shirt with a loosened blue tie, and a pair of brown khakis. Over his white shirt was an unbuttoned green vest. This was Jaden Daniel Kamarulhafiz, JD's 22-year old brother.

Beside his older brother was his 19-year-old sister, Jasmine Danielle Kamillah, who looked considerably dwarfed as she stood no higher than her brother's shoulder. She had a bob-cut strawberry-blonde hair styled nicely around her pretty face, and complimented her green eyes well. She wore a dark pink top underneath an unbuttoned denim jacket which extended a couple of inches above her waist. The denim jacket seemed to come along with the short denim skirt that she was currently wearing – they were the same color and pattern, and JD had no doubt that it was the same expensive brand as well.

JD smirked. "Hey Jade, Jas… nice to see that you remembered to come home every now and then."

His sister, Jas, scowled. "Same goes to you, I suppose. If it weren't for your disappearing act, Mom and Dad wouldn't drag our butts home!" she said crossly.

"An explanation now would be nice, Josh," Jade said, sounding equally annoyed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Jade, Jas, dears, please, not right now," Bibik said soothingly, and pulled JD inside. JD's older siblings merely harrumphed and step aside to allow them to enter.

"Don't you know that I have assignments due tomorrow?" she demanded as she followed her younger brother and the house maid towards the dinner table.

JD looked over his shoulder. "If you didn't spend all your free nights club-hopping, you'd complete them quicker," he replied smartly.

Jas groaned and slinked away towards the living room. Jade stopped her midway.

"Why don't you go up and inform Mom and Dad that our renegade little brother's home?" he said, the acid in his voice clear despite the polite way he was addressing his younger sister.

"Fine. Then I'm going back to UM right after." She stomped towards the stairs, as JD took a seat at the dinner table.

Jade turned to look at his younger brother, eyeing him for a moment before taking a seat right opposite JD. For a moment he watched as JD began gobbling down the foods Bibik served him. Then he cleared his throat, and JD looked up from his plate.

"What?" the sixteen-year-old demanded, food still full in his mouth.

Jade clicked his tongue in displeasure. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Humph. Excuse me for not having your refined table etiquette, Jade." JD then ignored his older brother and proceeded by eating his meal.

Several minutes passed by in silence before several chattering could be heard coming from the stairs. Three people appeared, one being Jas and the other was a couple who looked around their mid-forties. The man was of tall and broad stature – a trait his sons seemed to both inherit. He had dark brown hair, with some gray hair evident by the temples. He wore a white Hard Rock Café London T-shirt and a pair of dark brown khakis. Beside him was a slim woman, who looked almost out of place with her flashy orange kebaya. Her long brown-blonde hair was cut in layers, which reminded JD of the actress Jennifer Aniston from the sitcom Friends. Kenny, Megat and Samy had all mentioned the semblances his mother had with the famous actress, to which JD always replied with an unimpressed snort.

At the sight of his parents, JD paused and looked up, holding his breath. He eyed his mother first – apparently she would be going out for another supper with her friends, probably over one of the posh restaurants or hotels around Subang Jaya. He then moved his attention to his father – he was dressed casually, but judging by the way he was holding his car keys, he too was stepping out. Both of his parents' facial expressions were kept neutral – JD immediately guessed that they had one of their fights again. 'Probably to be continued,' JD thought snidely.

"Josh!" Mrs. Leeanna Abdullah exclaimed; her blue eyes sparkled upon the sight her youngest son. She hurried from the stairs and towards the dinner table and sat down beside him. She looked as if she was about to hug him, but suddenly thought against it as she looked down at her elaborate outfit. "Where were you? We were so worried! I hope you do have a good explanation for your absence!" Her voice was kept calm and collected, which almost caused JD to roll his eyes. Sometimes, he thought that his mother cared more about her image than her children.

"Answer your mother, Josh," Mr. Johan Awaludin said as he sat down at the chair adjacent to JD's – the place where the head of the family usually sat down.

'Here goes. Hope Adam and Manny's ideas worked.' JD took a deep breath. "I got bored when I was at school, so I skipped out and took a cab to KL to a friend's house. I got down somewhere close to his house, by the playground…and suddenly I got mugged. That bast…uh…blasted muggers got my wallet and cell phone, and beat me up a bit. But, but, I put up a fight…but there were three of them, cowards if you ask me, ganging up on me. They got what they wanted and left me by. I waited for my friend to come back, and stayed over the night. I was planning to call but I guess I overslept and when I woke up it was already morning. I waited for him to come back, and then he sent me back here."

He held his breath in anticipation, and cursed himself for not rehearsing the story earlier. It sounded almost ridiculous. He wondered whether his parents and siblings would buy it.

Jas snickered. "I guess all those Capoiera trainings you had weren't good enough," she commented.

JD blinked. His sister might have just insulted him, but that meant she bought his story completely. He resisted the urge to snap back, and observed his brother. If Jade believed his story, then his parents would, too.

Jade sighed. "You shouldn't have skipped school. Look at all the trouble you've got. Hope you'll learn your lesson." His brother's tone was cool; it was as if he was more concerned about the fact that JD had skipped school rather than the 'mugged' and 'got-beaten-up' part.

'Bingo. Now to see whether Mom and Dad would follow Jade's lead…as they usually would.'

"Your brother's right. What are we going to do with you? I thought you were kidnapped!" his mother finally said, shaking her head. "And the school has informed us that you're currently suspended, for beating up a boy and skipping school…amongst other things. So there's no need for you to go anywhere. You're grounded, young man. And your allowance will be halved."

JD's eyes widened and he was about to protest, but thought the better of it.

"Grounded is enough, there's no need to cut his allowance," his father interrupted.

"But…"

"End of discussion." Mr. Johan got up and looked at his wife. "I'm going out now."

Mrs. Leeanna looked clearly abashed, but that look was immediately wiped clean with a strained smile. "Alright…grounded it is." She got up as well. "I'm late for my dinner appointment with my friends. Bibik…" she called the house maid. "Would you be so kind and make sure that Josh remains at home always. He will not be going to school until next week, so make sure that he doesn't step out from the house compound, except for Friday, for Friday prayer only."

Jas snorted. "That's if he's going."

"Shut up," JD snapped. 'Sheesh, what a tattle-tale,' he thought. 'I bet mom and dad don't know about your club-hopping being the reason of your slipping grades, eh Jas? Hard assignments, not enough time, stupid teachers, my ass!' But he knew better than to aggravate the conversation. His family had bought his explanation – his mission was accomplished.

As the tire screeches of his parents' cars gradually diminished, JD looked at Jade and Jas and cocked his eyebrows. "What's keeping you two?"

"There's no need for that tone, Josh," Jade replied shrewdly. He looked at his watch. "But I suppose you've got a point. I better get going now; it's an hour drive from here to Seremban hospital." His brother was a medical student at the International Medical University. He was now in his clinical years, which meant that he had classes at the university's teaching hospital located at the state of Negeri Sembilan, which was adjacent to the state of Selangor where they lived. His sister however, was an economics student of the University of Malaya, which was closer to home. How she had managed to enter the prestigious local university was a mystery to JD, but he knew that his sister was naturally as smart as his brother was hardworking.

"Well…see you guys later, then." JD waved both of them goodbye and continued eating his meal. His siblings looked at each other for a moment before they too left.

Bibik appeared from the kitchen later with a plate of her homemade banana cake before going to lock the gates and door. JD eyed the plate with a grin; they were a bit too much for JD alone. He reached down to his schoolbag and took out the cramped-looking Koromon. The elderly woman took a sit where his mother had sat before, and touched his arm gently.

"Your parents and siblings might have accepted your story, but I know that you weren't telling the truth," Bibik said, wise to JD's ways. After all, she was with the family several months before JD was born, and had practically raised him, along with Jade and Jas. But, it was with JD that she was the closest with.

"You can always tell, can't you?" JD said, and pushed the plate of banana cake to Koromon. He then began telling the whole story to Bibik.

xxx

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As the other DigiWira settled down for the night, that was not the case with Adam. As soon as he'd arrived at the hospital, he quickly tore through the corridors to go to the emergency department and nearly collided with one of the attending doctors.

"Sorry," Adam said with a panicky tone, and tried to go past the doctor.

"Wait," the doctor said. "You're Gayathri Nadarajah's friend, right?"

Adam looked up, and saw a familiar face. A somewhat tired-looking doctor with short, somewhat wavy black hair, dark brown eyes and a small trimmed stub of beard was staring at him. It was the doctor who had attended to Gayathri's accident – Dr. Abu Ubaidah.

He nodded. "I am."

"I didn't get your name, actually," Dr. Abu said.

"I'm Adam Ariff."

"Oh! So you're Adam! Alisha's brother?" Dr. Abu said knowingly. Seeing Adam nodding and the panicked look on the boy's face, he turned around, placed a hand on Adam's shoulder and beckoned for the boy to walk along with him. "I was the one who called your house."

"How's my sister, doctor?" Adam asked breathlessly.

Dr. Abu's face looked slightly grim. "According to the police, it was an honest-to-goodness accident. The other driver was trying to evade a young child who was crossing the road unaided. He managed to evade the child, but suddenly lost control of his car and went against the passenger side of your sister's car. It was lucky that he didn't veer at the driver side, but still…" Dr. Abu looked at Adam's face seriously. "I'm not going to lie to you, Alisha's condition is quite bad." There was a faraway look on the young doctor's face.

"How bad was it?" Adam choked.

"We're waiting for a family member to come by to approve for a surgery to be done," Dr. Abu said, and looked around. "You're here alone? It's listed in Alisha's contact details that you're the only direct family member…but surely your parents…?"

Adam shook his head. "We're orphans. Kak Lisha's the only one I got." His vision blurred a little and Adam quickly ran his shirt sleeve over his eyes. He then looked up at the doctor with a heartbroken expression – and was momentarily surprised to see that the doctor too looked somewhat sad. Instantly he thought of the worse.

"Oh…I didn't know that..." the doctor looked visibly shocked upon hearing that, but composed himself quickly. "I'm sorry to hear that, Adam." The doctor then increased his pace, pulling Adam along. "But if that's the case, then come. You need to sign some papers. I'll explain what we will be doing and what surgical procedures your sister has to undergo, as well as her injuries, but trust me – surgery is the only way now, and we need your approval right away. After getting your approval we'll immediately operate, and God-willing, she will be alright."

Adam nodded weakly and allowed the doctor to take him to his office, where another doctor presented him a document which he could barely understand. Trusting the doctor, and praying for the best, Adam signed his approval.

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WIRA DIGITAL

Chapter 25 – Nightmares Come Alive

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"Have you brought what we've asked you to bring?" a silky voice inquired, amidst the darkness.

"Yes, General," Shutumon said, placing a television set in front of the shrouded figure. She then scooted back to where Sorcerymon was standing.

"And what of the Tapirmon we've requested for you to free?" another voice, somewhat crotchety, asked.

"All done," Sorcerymon said, and a small tapir-like Digimon with smokes as its rear legs entered the wide, dome-shaped darkened hall.

"Excellent," the silky voice said. "Now…to business! It's quite surprising to hear that both the Mage and the Dryad Generals have fallen, but no matter. Apparently these…DigiWira children…are exceptionally strong." Silky-voice laughed lightly, and beckoned for Sorcerymon to step forward. "Show me the DigiWira in action; I believe that magical staff of yours has the ability to do so as well? Place the lower end of the staff on that hole at that small podium…yes, yes, that's it. Alright, now explain to us of what…threats…are we about to encounter as we watch along."

Sorcerymon did as he was told, and stepped back as his staff began to glow brightly as he watched Silky-voice, still shrouded in darkness, tinkered around with it for a moment. He wondered why the said Puaka General was hiding within the darkness, but refrained from asking.

The staff let out a pillar of faint crystalline blue light, and an image of Satriamon was projected. It showed Satriamon's first battle with the DigiWira, and proceeded with the final battle he had with the DigiWira and Karatenmon.

"Satriamon, Ultimate level, virus-type dragon man Digimon. The fused form of a human known as Joshua Daniel Kamaruzaman and an Agumon. Satriamon has the power of fire and darkness bestowed by the Red DigiSphere. His attacks are: Dragonforce Striker, Flaming Torch, Dark Rage, and Shadow Flame Helix."

As Sorcerymon explained the basic facts, the staff corresponded by displaying the attacks for the Puaka Generals to see. Sorcerymon panicked a little, afraid that the staff would show them being the one who'd deleted Karatenmon, but thankfully the staff only displayed the battle up to the point where Satriamon and Karatenmon exchanged blows, followed by an explosion, before it changed into an image of Samudramon.

"Samudramon, Ultimate level, vaccine-type dragon man Digimon. The fused form of a human known as Emmanuel Abah and a Penguinmon. Samudramon controls the power of water and thunder, given to him by the Blue DigiSphere. His attacks are: Divine Rain, Deep Ocean Submerge, Cosmic Thunderstrike and Double-Edged Thunderblades."

"These two Digimon are dangerous," the gruffer of the Puaka Generals said. "You say that they are the ones who first served Karatenmon, only to betray on him by joining the DigiWira?"

"Yes." Sorcerymon nodded, and saw the image of Samudramon changing into Xianamon.

"Xianamon, Ultimate level, data-type sorceress Digimon. The fused form of a human known as Chang Liu Ying and a Labramon. Xianamon has the power of magic and earth at her disposal and is the wielder of the Yellow DigiSphere. Her attacks are: Diamond World Mandala, Magical Stasis, Jade Needles and Gaia Retaliation."

"Puspamon, Ultimate level, data-type fairy Digimon. The fused form of a human known as Gayathri Nadarajah and a Floramon. Puspamon, keeper of the Pink DigiSphere, wields the power of wind and nature. Her attacks are: Dream Rose Mirage, Hibiscus Hurricane and Sprite Scream. If she has a fourth attack, it has not been revealed yet." A hiss was heard coming from Shutumon, but it was barely conspicuous. That or the Puaka Generals merely chose to ignore her.

"They certainly are not just mere pretty faces," the Puaka General with the silky voice noted. "Now…the moment the both of us are waiting for. The four Digimon with Grademon's Red, Blue, Yellow and Pink DigiSpheres are strong, but we're not that concerned with their powers. What we want to know is of the wielder of the White DigiSphere, said to hold the purest power of all – the power of that disgusting diva Ophanimon's light! Show me him, or her!"

Puspamon's image disappeared and is replaced by a projection of Adam on Sagittarimon Radiant Mode's back. "The White DigiSphere belongs to Adam Ariff and his partner Patamon. They haven't been able to fuse into an Ultimate-level Digimon as of yet, but Patamon, originally able to digivolve into Centarumon only, is given the ability to shift into a stronger Champion form – Sagittarimon. During the battle with Karatenmon, Sagittarimon had unlocked a much more powerful Radiant Mode. But, Patamon also has a corrupted Ultimate form – Black Knightmon. This Dark Digivolution is believed to come into being due to Patamon's rage upon seeing his human partner in grave danger."

The Puaka Generals whistled. "Interesting," the gruff-voiced general said. "And this will make our task a lot easier."

"Now, now…perhaps the boy's just a late bloomer. I have no doubt that should he be able to unlock the power to fuse, his Ultimate form will be a bane to us creatures of darkness," the silky-voiced general said. "But no worries. We'll just have to stop them so that they'll not be late bloomers, but un-bloomed instead!"

"Agreed," gruff-voice said with a deep chortle. "Wiping them out would be a menial job for someone our rank."

"Yes, yes…" silky-voice agreed. "Where's the fun to that? It's been three hundred years of long imprisonment – boring, cold, and emotionless. Too bad Grademon's not around for us to get revenge, but his heirs are here. They'll do. We'll mess around with them for a while before delivering our coup-de-grace, what do you say?"

"I like the sound of that. Since we can't control the DigiSpheres – that blasted Grademon had made sure of that – we'll just have to mess around with the DigiWira instead, before we kill them."

"Right. To business. Tapirmon, step forward," silky-voice ordered.

"I hear and I obey, Generals," Tapirmon, clearly female from her voice, said reverently.

Silky-voice chuckled darkly. "Go to the Human World via this television's DigiPort – and seek out the DigiWira's greatest fears. Induce their worst nightmares while they are sleeping, and take those nightmares back to us! It's always best to know our enemies' weakest spots. Then…it's show time!"

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Tapirmon wondered around the darkened town of Subang Jaya, looking around the housing area with rapt interest. It wasn't often that a Digimon able to enter the fabled Human World, but Tapirmon was here on business. And so, she began to fine tune to her senses, and searched for a Digimon sense. It would be easier if she were at her Champion or Ultimate level…but she supposed that she'd have to make do with her Rookie form for the time being. Should she be successful the Puaka Generals had promised to replenish her power.

"Aha, two signals! Coming from…those two big houses located nearby. This job is so easy!" Tapirmon glided to a street of bungalow houses. She veered towards a closed window of the house nearest to her, peering inside it. Gleefully she turned her whole body into smokes, and went through the glass, reappearing back in her original form inside the dark room. She then eyed the bed – recognizing the snoring Tsunomon, which made her sweatdrop. Then she stared at the burly boy sleeping beside Tsunomon, and underneath a cover. He was sleeping silently.

"Nice dream, huh?" Tapirmon said as her eyes glazed with purple aura. "Well…not for long! Let's increase the show's rating for a while…"

Tapirmon watched as the boy began to toss and turn, and soon a wisp of smoke erupted from the boy's head. The Rookie Digimon inhaled the smokes, and decided to go to the house with the other Digimon signal via the short way – by passing through the walls. She looked at the time, deciding that it was safe to do so – everyone should already be sleeping by now.

She glided through one house to another, enjoying her moment. She soon realized that her deduction was clearly a mistake – some humans were still up and about after midnight. She encountered one room where a baby inside a cradle was wide awake, crying his lungs out, and quickly went away before she could be seen by the baby's parents…only to stumble into a room where a rather aggressive activity seemed to be taking place under the covers of the bed. Tapirmon resisted the urge to vomit upon hearing the sounds induced – the room's occupants were not being exactly discreet. She further ignored a yelp coming from one of them when they got hold on her passing through the wall to another house. She then entered a room where a boy was sitting over the computer, transfixed over the computer screen while his hands were moving about the keyboard at a speed Tapirmon couldn't comprehend. She shook her head and went past to another house, where an old man with a large belly was sitting alone, watching the television. Another room showed a sleeping pair of sisters; Tapirmon decided not to interrupt their dreams when she discovered that the Digimon signal she was sensing was getting stronger. She slipped past the room, sailed towards the house next to it, went through a closed window with pink curtains, and instantly arrived on a lavishly-decorated bedroom with four-poster bed in the middle. On the bed were a girl and a Tanemon.

"There you are!" Tapirmon peeked through the girl's mind and turned her dream into a nightmare. Swallowing the wisp of smoke coming from the girl's head, Tapirmon burped silently and soared through the roof and the sky. She looked around, and detected three signals immediately. The nightmares she had fed on gave her strength, and her senses were heightened.

"Three signals! Which to pick? Oh well…" Tapirmon glided randomly towards the direction where two signals seemed to originate. She entered one house, and saw another boy, sleeping. She clicked her tongue disapprovingly over the boy's choice of clothes – he was barely clothed to her opinion, but she decided to let it past. Doing the same thing she'd been doing to the other two DigiWira, she fed off the boy's nightmare and slinked away. The other Digimon signal was close by.

Tapirmon saw a complex of buildings, somewhat different from the houses she'd encountered. She fine-tuned her sense and managed to seek out the right place. Entering the house, she nearly balked upon seeing a Patamon flying about the living room, mumbling with apparent worry. The Patamon didn't seem to notice her, but Tapirmon was surprised to see another Rookie Digimon – the other Digimon she'd seen were all In-Trainings. She listened for a moment, and realized that the Patamon's human partner was not at home – the Patamon was saying something about a hospital, older sister and several other things. Sighing, Tapirmon realized that she would have to come back to this particular house later.

The Rookie Digimon then decided to go after the last signal. From the rooftop of the house behind the one she detected the Digimon signal, she could see a room, while dark, was somewhat lit minimally by a smaller light source. She went closer to the windows and saw a Shaomon sleeping on the bed…but a girl with long black hair was at her study table – writing something on a book while referring to a bigger book.

"Still awake?" Tapirmon groaned to herself. "Why can't you be a slacker like any other kids?"

Tapirmon had to wait for one hour before the girl finally retreated to bed, and for another hour to make sure that she was asleep. Then she went into the room, did her business and got what she'd wanted. Now there was only the partner of that Patamon left.

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"Adam? Adam…" a voice invaded Adam's sleeping mind. Someone was squeezing his shoulder gently.

Slowly, the boy opened his eyes. He saw Dr. Abu Ubaidah looking at him with concern. "Doctor?" he asked, trying to orientate himself. Then, everything came back crashing to him and he was instantly alert. "How did the operation go? How's Kak Lisha?"

The doctor gave him a brief tired smile. "Thank God the operation was successful. Your sister's condition is stable, but she hasn't waked up yet, and it's not because of the anesthetic drugs we gave her. She suffered several broken bones, on her ribs and legs mainly. The injuries on her arms were the most minimal. The X-Rays show that she's suffered a concussion on her head; I suspect that's part of the reason why she's unconscious, aside from the loss of blood."

Adam couldn't stop a tear trickling down his face, nor did he bother to wipe it up. "When…when's she going to wake up?"

"I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that, Adam. I'm sorry," Dr. Abu said. "But she is alive. It's a good thing she was wearing her seat belt – the police told me so – should she neglected to do that her injuries might be fatal. But since she did...it's the main reason why she's still alive."

"But there's a chance that she won't wake up?" Adam asked with a small voice.

The doctor hesitated, but knew that there was no way he could avoid the question or hide in long, winded explanations. "Yes," he said. The truth was brutal, but Adam needed to know his facts. "There is. We've done all we could. All we can do now is pray and hope for the best." The doctor's calm façade wavered as he watched Adam buried his face in his palms, his ears pained upon hearing the escaped sobs – he'd always hated the time when he had to break the news to the victim's family members.

Not having anything else to be done at three in the morning, the young doctor accompanied the anguished teen until the lasts of his sobs were subdued.

"It's getting real late," he started saying; the time was already reaching four in the morning. Adam looked at the clock silently, his eyes were red but he was no longer crying.

"Can I see her?" Adam asked. "Now?"

Dr. Abu nodded. "I'll take you there. But you really need to go home as well, Adam, and get some rest. It's still too early to call a cab home, but tell you what. My shift's over at five, so if you're willing to wait an hour…I'll drive you home." He eyed Adam, and saw the boy nodding wordlessly. Not knowing what else to say, he guided the boy to his sister's ward and left him there while he made his final rounds before his shift ended.

After the crack of dawn the doctor took Adam back to his apartment complex, offering some advices and insights of Alisha's condition in order to lift up the boy's hope. Adam then asked the doctor to inform him of whatever changes his sister might show, on which the doctor promised that he would.

Adam dragged his feet along the staircases to reach his apartment, and opened the door quietly. Instantly, Patamon – who'd been sleeping on the couch – sprang awake and rushed to ask him about Alisha's condition. Adam briefed the Rookie Digimon about Alisha before excusing himself to get some sleep. He had no desire to go to school; he just wanted to get some sleep and go visit his sister when he woke up.

Patamon sensed that Adam needed some support, and slept close to him, allowing the boy to pull him closer and felt the fine furs on his back dampened considerably.

Several minutes passed, and then nobody noticed a wisp of smoke that appeared in the room.

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"Please, Bibik?" JD asked the house maid pleadingly. "I've promised my friends I'd be there."

"I can't, Josh. Your parents will scold me if I allow you to go out. You're grounded, remember?" Bibik reasoned.

"But, I promised them. They're my new friends," JD said again. "Remember? I told you about them last night. Adam, Manny, Liu Ying and Gayathri?"

Bibik sighed, and snorted slightly upon seeing JD looking at him with wide, puppy-dog eyes. "Don't look at me like that!" she snapped, but there was no anger in it. JD was the youngest in the family she had cared for almost eighteen years – and the boy knew too well that she'd thought of him and his siblings as her own children. "Really, Josh, I can't allow you…"

"Who says you have to allow me? How about…" JD grinned devilishly. "You go to the toilet, do your business there…and when you come out, voila! I'm not here anymore. No way Mom and Dad could blame you, after all nature calls you."

"You silly boy," Bibik admonished. "Well, I suppose I could…but make sure you come back home before your parents do. They'll cut my head off."

"You? No way. If they do that, the house will be one hell of a mess and become a roach infestation. Blech…" JD made a face.

"Language, boy…watch your language." Bibik however, was smiling, obviously flattered at the hidden compliment that came with JD's snide remark.

"Sorry, bibik. Now…how about it?"

"Fine. I suppose I'm having stomachache right now…"

"You're the best, bibik." He leaned down to give the elderly house maid a quick peck on the cheek before sauntering off with his backpack (with Koromon stowed in it) and made way with his bike to Taipan, where he'd meet the other DigiWira at the modernized Mamak Café there. It was already twelve thirty; school would let out in forty minutes.

Upon arriving, JD – not really hungry as Bibik had forced him to have a hefty breakfast, obviously relieved from his 'disappearing act' – ordered only a glass of iced Milo and a plate of sliced chocolate cakes – remembering that he and Adam had been here a couple of days after his birthday. The boy clearly liked the cakes, so JD figured that he'd order them first.

An hour went by and JD was glad that he'd stopped by the comics shop first. Then he saw a familiar girl coming, and frowned to see that she was alone.

"Hey, Gayathri!" he waved. Gayathri caught his sight and came to him. "Alone? Where are the others?"

Gayathri looked slightly troubled as she took a seat. "Liu Ying and Manny have an extra make-up test for the Science class they have missed earlier – they got Mrs. Heng, and she's adamant that everyone should sit for her topic-by-topic tests, so they told me to go ahead first. And Adam…he didn't show up at school at all, and Hakim and I have been trying his cell and house numbers…no one picked up the phones. No replies either from his D-Terminal." She eyed the cakes with interest, no longer bothering with her crazed crash diet scheme after a helpful advice from Dr. Abu when she was warded.

"Go ahead," JD said. "Adam didn't show up at school? It's not like him to skip school unnecessarily, right?"

"Yes; our class teacher commented that Adam seems to be sick quite often this year. It's only mid March, and Adam has already set a record in our class for being the one with most absences. Granted, they were all because of DigiWira business…after the whole Shadow Realm fiasco," she finished, pausing to eat a slice of cake. She caught JD's troubled look upon the mention of Shadow Realm and clasped her mouth. "Oops. Sorry! I didn't mean to bring that up."

"Nah, it's fine," JD muttered. He looked at Gayathri. "Think he could be sick or something?"

"He looked fine yesterday," the girl said, finishing her cake. "He seems not to be at home at all, but that doesn't explain why he's not picking up his cell or replying to the D-Terminal messages. And I can't think of a reason why he wants to avoid us."

"Maybe we should go and pay him a visit. I know where he lives," JD suggested. "We'll wait for Liu Ying and Manny, and…"

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP-BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

"Great, perfect timing," Gayathri muttered. She sighed and picked up the plate of cake. "I'll get these packed for take-away, and then we can go to the Digital World. I think Adam told me that you have a nifty phone that could open a DigiPort?"

"Not anymore. I lost it." JD clicked his table impatiently. "Wish I have it now; it'll be easier."

"It'll be time consuming if we were to go back to our own houses," Gayathri said.

JD gestured towards somewhere behind Gayathri's back. "We can go to Adam's. Turn around. See that apartment complex over there…yeah, that one. His apartment is the closest from Taipan. Let's just hope he's home. If not, we'll have to swing by my house instead to use my computer."

"My house's not that far off either, but the apartments do look a lot closer," Gayathri agreed. "Just…one problem. How do you suppose we're going there? I see you have a bike…but that leaves me at a disadvantage and I don't exactly have my super speed now."

JD looked at his bike, chained to the rails close to the table where they were seating. His hazel eyes then darted at Gayathri, as if sizing her up. Gayathri looked at him questioningly, and JD grinned as an idea popped up in his mind.

Several minutes later, screams could be heard as JD cycled his bike as quick as lightning, with Gayathri sitting sideways in front of him, screaming her lungs off as JD laughed at her reaction, while being thankful that he was strong enough to support their combined weights. He however struggled every now and then to maintain balance. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the Arcadia Apartments – Adam's apartment complex – closing in.

"Shhh!" he hissed.

"Shhh back at you!" Gayathri wailed. "You and your crazy ideas! No wonder people at school avoid you! What if we were hit by cars? I've just recovered…no…AM RECOVERING from a previous accident, and I don't like the idea of spending my days at hospitals again. And my butt hurts! Let me down!"

"Alright, princess. Sheesh." JD slowed down and went to the grassy sides of the road. However he lost his balance control and the bike fell sideways…bringing them along with it. JD howled with laughter, finding all of these amusing, while Gayathri screamed in terror. They were not hurt, so JD quickly got up and pulled Gayathri up with him. He shook his head towards the curly-haired girl. "No wonder you get that super scream thingy. You're worse than a Harpymon! What's your fused form called, huh? Bansheemon, I bet."

Gayathri grunted and slapped JD's arm in annoyance. JD chuckled again and they marched towards the guardhouse. The guard eyed JD, and apparently recognizing him – JD had visited the apartment before, saying that he was Adam's friend, and Adam at the time had approved of it – so he didn't bother to ask JD where he was going, merely eyeing the pair with rapt interest before resuming with his work.

The two of them marched towards Adam's apartment and knocked the door while calling out his name.

The door creaked open, and instead of Adam, it was Patamon, peaking carefully. He'd recognized their voices and had seen them via the peek hole.

"Patamon, open up! There's an emergency at the Digital World. We need to use Adam's computer!" Gayathri said.

Patamon let the two teenagers in before closing the door. "Adam's not here," he supplied, watching as the teens looked around the apartment. It was the first time they had been here.

"Huh?" both DigiWira asked. "Where is he then?"

"At the hospital," Patamon said sadly, as he went to the couch and plopped on the seat. His bat wings drooped down and his blue eyes shimmered. "Kak Lisha's involved in an accident, and it was rather serious. She hasn't waked up yet, but Adam told me the doctor said that her condition's stable. He's at the hospital right now; he said he wants to be by her side."

"Oh God," JD said, horrified.

"Poor Adam," Gayathri said, her eyes beginning to glisten. "No wonder he didn't pick up my calls. He must be terribly sad. Poor Kak Lisha."

"When did it happen?" JD asked, looking around Adam's apartment. His eyes fell on a picture hung on a wall – a picture of Adam and a beautiful young woman. His face paled slightly – he recognized the woman's face, remembering that he'd once winked at that woman when she appeared at the school. He'd thought that she looked stunning, hence the wink. He didn't know that that woman was Adam's sister.

"Last night," Patamon said. He shook his head. "You should get going. I can't go with you, Adam's not here. I'll explain everything once you deal with the current threat."

"Right," JD said. "Gayathri, send a message to Liu Ying and Manny. Tell them we're going to the Digital World, and they'd better be there too once they've finished with their make-up tests." He bent down and took out Koromon from his back, and watched Gayathri doing the same with Tanemon. She then typed a message to the other DigiWira as JD switched on Adam's computer. They then DigiPorted to the Digital World.

xxx

xxx

TobuCatmon briefed them of their current threat – a village of Digimon was in bizarre danger. Something had caused the villagers to begin attacking each other, and TobuCatmon noticed from the sun staff that they all seemed to be in a trance, or sleepwalking. Nevertheless, the younger Digimon villagers there were in danger of their stronger fellow villagers, who were more than able to delete them with an attack.

"The Perdana Village is not far from here," TobuCatmon noted. "It's along the way towards south, about three kilometers from here."

"On foot it's probably going to take up some time," JD said. "But if we digivolve into our Ultimate forms, we'll have that distance covered in no time."

"I have my super speed here," Gayathri said. "I can reach there in no time. But now, the problem's you…"

"Hey, watch it. As Satriamon I can cover great distances if I launch myself as a meteorite with my Flaming Torch technique," JD said smugly.

An explosion could be seen from inside the staff. TobuCatmon looked at the two arguing DigiWira exasperatedly. "You need to hurry."

"Ok, ok," JD said and took out his Digivice. Gayathri did the same. Together, they called:

"Digital Access Digivolution! HAAA!!"

Satriamon and Puspamon went out of the sanctum, and searched for their bearings first. Satriamon pointed towards a direction. "South's that way. Come on!" He leaped to the air and turned himself into a magma-human with flames blazing wildly from his body. Then he propelled himself towards south in lightning speed. Puspamon shook her head and employed the power of wind and her super speed, eventually catching up with the comet-like Satriamon. They reached Perdana Village in less than five minutes, and were greeted with an explosion from one of the thatched rooftops. The chimney had combusted, and a maniacally giggling Goblimon emerged. His eyes glazed unnaturally.

"Hmm…" Puspamon wondered. She inhaled and looked at the Goblimon. "Sprite Scream! AAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!"

The blast of supersonic sound wave had been toned down a little, and was blasted towards the red-skinned Goblimon. Goblimon didn't make an effort to evade the shriek at all, and was slammed with the supersonic wave full force. He staggered and his eyes blinked twice. Then, he looked around in confusion.

"What…what's going on?" Goblimon then looked down, and shrieked in fear upon seeing that he was on top of the roof. "How did I get up here? HELP!!"

"Don't worry…help's here," Puspamon said soothingly and picked up Goblimon, cradling him. She flew past Satriamon, who smirked at her.

"Crude, but effective."

Puspamon didn't reply; she'd left to place the frightened Goblimon on the ground. Goblimon thanked her, and was about to saunter away when they saw a horde of Rookie and Champion Digimon marching towards her, emerging from the entrance. They all demonstrated the same symptom as Goblimon did. They however didn't look threatening enough for the Ultimate-level Puspamon and Satriamon, but it was evident that they were doing this unwillingly.

"What happened to them?" Satriamon wondered.

"It all started this morning. Our Dinohumon elder went on a rampage all of a sudden – he was always a kind Digimon, but after today I wasn't so sure. He'd been attacking everyone senseless. He had that weird look on his eyes. I think he got infected with something, probably a mean virus. Witchmon, our healer, tried to stop him when he invaded the nursery, but she too somehow got infected. The babies…they all…" Goblimon cried in sorrow, his voice became incoherent, "reverted back to DigiEggs after being destroyed by Dinohumon. The village's fisherman – Hookmon – tried to stop Dinohumon and Witchmon, but he too got infected. Then all became chaotic."

"Damn…" Satriamon whispered. "Who could've done such a thing?"

"Satriamon, Goblimon, close your ears right now. I'm gonna scream again, much louder than before," Puspamon cautioned. She inhaled, and let out a supercharged Sprite Scream which sent the infected villagers trampling about. Puspamon's scream soon died out, and whispers were heard. The villagers looked confused, as Goblimon had been, but they were no longer attempting to attack Puspamon and Satriamon.

"DIGIWIRA! You're here!" a female voice boomed from the sky gleefully. Puspamon and Satriamon looked up, and sweatdropped upon seeing a small brown tapir-like Digimon. The small Digimon looked at them, and was visibly surprised. "What? Only TWO of you? I've prepared for FIVE!"

"Who the hell are you?" Satriamon demanded.

"Me? I'm Tapirmon," the Digimon said. Her eyes glinted. "Your worst nightmare."

"Tapirmon?" Satriamon said, and laughed. "You've got to be kidding me!" He laughed, and looked at Puspamon. "Get it? A tapir? Ha ha ha…."

Puspamon looked at him blankly, missing out whatever joke or funny fact that Satriamon was trying to prove.

And Tapirmon didn't exactly appreciate being laughed at. She fumed, and swept down from the sky. "I'll teach you for laughing at me, DigiWira, although I don't understand WHY! Have a taste of your own nightmares, and then we'll see who'll be having the last laugh! Nightmare Syndrome!!"

Satriamon was still laughing, but Puspamon saw a purplish-black ball of concentrated smoke being fired towards Satriamon at rapid speed. "Look out!" She pushed Satriamon aside, and was hit by the black ball of smoke on the back. Puspamon went into a spasm and dropped to her knees.

Satriamon realized his folly; his carelessness had caused Puspamon to be hit by an attack that was meant for him. He knelt down towards Puspamon. "Hey, Puspamon…you alright?"

Puspamon looked at him, shivered in fear and screamed. "Get away, you ugly bug! Sprite Scream!!"

Satriamon was hit by Puspamon's scream attack full-force, and was sent flying towards the gathering villagers. He was about to get up, furious, when he saw that Puspamon was acting peculiarly. She was swatting away something that was not visible, shivering in the process. The beautiful fairy looked down, yelping towards something that wasn't there, and took flight while firing a wind-based attack towards the ground. "Gross, gross, gross….bugs spiders, worms…."

Satriamon got it, and his face paled slightly. He looked up at the laughing Tapirmon. "What did you do to her?"

"Apparently, she was reliving your nightmare, Satriamon!" Tapirmon replied. "It didn't work as I hoped it would be, but it still worked up just fine. You're deathly afraid of bugs, aren't you Satriamon? A warrior of your stature…afraid of measly bugs? How pathetic."

"Damned tapir," Satriamon muttered. He launched himself towards the sky, launching his gauntlet forward. "Dragonforce…"

"Ahh…have a taste of your friend's nightmare, Satriamon. Nightmare Syndrome!!"

Satriamon was hit with Tapirmon's attack, and suddenly found himself back as JD. He was standing in the middle of the school hall. Students were walking about, occasionally passing by him giving him a strange look. JD noticed those looks as being disgusted looks, and wanted to strangle them for daring to insult him, despite silently. He attempted to move forward, but found his body too heavy to do so. Confused, he looked down, and saw a rotund belly…his belly. He went towards the canteen, albeit slowly, and saw his reflection at the mirror. He gasped in shock.

Staring back at him was a grossly obese teen with JD's face...JD didn't even remember when he got like this. The hands and legs were fatty, and somewhat yellowish. His cheeks and neck were swollen with fat. His stomach was round, like a beer-belly. His chest…well, it could be mistaken to something else located on that same region; it caused JD to quiver at the mere thought of it. The last time he checked, he had a lean, muscular body. His arms and legs were toned. He worked out every alternate day. He played basketball, and almost any other sport. Soccer, badminton, name it and he'd probably played it at least once. He practiced his Capoiera skills whenever he didn't feel like working out – the results were the same anyway. He cycled around the neighborhood almost every evening.

'Is this Gayathri's nightmare? Becoming obese?' JD wondered, and the scene around him dissolved instantly. He was back as Satriamon, at the courtyard of Perdana Village.

"How…how did you?" Tapirmon was flabbergasted. "Nightmare Syndrome!!"

Feeling his cockiness rising, Satriamon didn't budge. Now would be the good time for him to get to know his teammates. He allowed the ball of smoke to hit him on the chest, and felt his surroundings changing.

He was back being JD, and…he couldn't breathe. He was underwater, flailing his arms and legs about. Was he drowning?

"Oh come on! I've learned how to swim since I was five!" he shouted, and the scene shifted back to normal. 'Manny's nightmare? I thought he's a champion swimmer?'

Tapirmon blinked, shocked, and fired again. Satriamon merely smirked as he received the blow.

The scene shifted to a classroom, and he was JD, sitting in a single table. In fact, everyone was sitting on a single table. "Exam time?" he muttered. He looked down at his test paper, realizing that he hadn't written anything on it. He looked sideways, noticing that the other students had written a lot. He sweatdropped. 'Looks like Liu Ying's nightmare to me…not being able to answer in exams?' He then laughed lightly and leaned towards the table beside him and began copying the answers…

…And the scene shifted back to normal. He stared at Tapirmon fiercely. "Is that the best you can do?"

"I still have one more nightmare left!" Tapirmon shouted, but her voice was laced with worry. She fired her last nightmare towards Satriamon, who defiantly received it heads-on.

Satriamon found himself, as JD, staring at faces he didn't recognize. A man, a woman and a male teen that resembled Adam. They were inside a wooden kampong house. JD found himself staring at the couple and the male teen went inside the car. JD didn't know how to react, so he merely watched on. He saw his hands closing the door. Then the scene blinked; JD was still staring at the door, but there was a knock. He saw his hands opening the door…and realized that it was raining heavily outside. A man in a raincoat stood in front of him.

"Adam…your parents and brother…there was an accident. I'm so sorry Adam; all of them didn't survive…"

JD gasped, and the scene shifted to a hospital room. An unconscious woman – Alisha – was lying on the bed, heavily bandaged and wired to a device – JD remembered Jade mentioning it being something that monitored the patient's heart rate and blood pressure, amongst other things, but he'd forgotten its name. But JD got a bad feeling when he saw the digitalized green line, straight and horizontal, and letting out that dreaded sound JD had so often heard in some of the TV shows he'd watched. It wouldn't take a medical student or a doctor to figure out that that dreaded sound indicated that the patient was no longer alive.

'Adam's nightmare…' JD realized. He was back being Satriamon, staring at Tapirmon's appalled expression.

"How did you? How…"

Satriamon gritted his teeth. "You have one sick hobby, you know?" He flexed his gauntlet, but was distracted by Puspamon's incessant screaming. He looked over his shoulder; Puspamon was still warding off invisible insects, flying about in circles as if she was chased by something. Groaning, Satriamon looked back at Tapirmon. "I'll get back to you once I clean up your mess, you miserable little tapir."

Satriamon approached Puspamon carefully. "Hey! Puspamon! Get a grip of yourself, it's not real. Stop attacking, you're endangering the villagers!"

Puspamon halted, and stared down at Satriamon incredulously. "What villagers? All I see around here are you, you gross Roachmon. You and the other Roachmon friends of yours over there!" she shrieked. "I hate cockroaches…" she said, preparing to blast a Sprite Scream once again towards Satriamon.

Satriamon sweatdropped; JD hated bugs in general, but had a slight phobia over cockroaches. He didn't know exactly why, but it was a secret he kept closely guarded to himself. "Roachmon? Me? Hey…I'm crushed you've mistaken someone as good-looking as me for a disgusting Roachmon. I'm Satriamon, Puspamon. Your friend, remember? Now come on, snap out of it. We've got one tapir to finish off."

Puspamon blinked. She was seeing Roachmon everywhere, but why in the world did this Roachmon sounded like Satriamon? She stared at the talking Roachmon closer, and slowly the Roachmon shifted into a familiar red-armored Digimon. "Satriamon?"

"That's me. How you're feeling?"

"Odd, I think. Confused. I was seeing Roachmon everywhere…then suddenly one of them became you, and the others became…the villagers," Puspamon said.

"You got hit by Tapirmon's Nightmare Syndrome attack. It brings out your deepest phobia, and manifests it to life," Satriamon explained.

"But I wasn't afraid of cockroaches, or bugs," Puspamon said, confused.

Satriamon hesitated. "I know. That's my fear," he admitted slowly.

"Huh? You?"

"Hey, everyone's got their own fears. I got hit with yours, and guess what I saw? Myself, fat as a sumo wrestler."

Puspamon brought her hands over her mouth, horrified of learning that Satriamon had discovered her inner secret. "You didn't! Oh no! Please don't think of me as vain or anything…I just…I don't think of obese people lowly, I'm just deathly afraid of becoming one myself."

Satriamon waved his hand airily. "Don't worry. I understand. You keep my secret and I keep yours?"

"It's a deal. Now come on…we've got a tapir to take care…uh…"

The two DigiWira saw Tapirmon's body shining with dark purple lights. She was enveloped in a cocoon of lights and data particles, and the cocoon grew bigger. Then, it exploded and a massive quadrupled black creature with three canine heads leaped out from it, landing on the ground with an earthquake. The three-headed dog was fearsome, standing at eight feet high. Snarls escaped its three snouts, with acid drools dripping onto the ground. The dog flexed its three heads back and let out a howl.

"Great. From a tapir she evolves into a full-fledged, three-headed bitch," Satriamon muttered.

"Satriamon!" Puspamon exclaimed.

"What? It's a female dog! Technically, she is a bitch."

Puspamon merely groaned in return, and cast her sight upon the newly-digivolved Digimon. "Well, at least she's a Champion. This won't take long."

"A Champion?" the three-headed Digimon barked, spraying drools all over. Satriamon and Puspamon managed to evade from coming into contact with drools, out of disgust more than the actual danger the drools possessed. "I'm Cerberumon, an Ultimate Digimon! I'll send you to the deepest depth of digital hell with my flames! Emerald Blaze!!"

"Flaming Torch!!" Satriamon transformed into his magma form and let Cerberumon's attack hit him. Cerberumon's hot green flames engulfed him, but as Satriamon was a Digimon of fire himself, the fire barely harmed him. The heat was slightly irritable though, so Satriamon was forced to jump up and rammed against Cerberumon's body, sending the canine Digimon tumbling on her back.

Puspamon flew up and held her wooden staff towards Cerberumon. "So you like to use other people's nightmares against them, huh? How about a taste of your own medicine in return? Dream Rose Mirage!!"

Cerberumon howled loudly upon seeing a gigantic red rose suddenly erupted from Puspamon. Thorny vines snaked from the roses' leaves and snaked towards her, coiling around her body and crushing her with sheer force that rendered her breathless. The thorns pricked through her shell-hard body and the pain she was feeling right now was excruciating.

Satriamon whistled. "Freaky. Whatever Puspamon's doing to that bitch, it must've been brutal." He smiled. "Lucky she's on my side. I think I'll join in the fun." He flexed both his arms forward. One arm erupted with orange flames, the other with black fire. "Shadow Flame Helix!!"

A roaring flaming dragon and a hissing fiery black serpent coiled out from Satriamon's outstretched arms, engulfing Cerberumon in flames even hotter than her own. The combined efforts of Puspamon and Satriamon's attacks were deadly; Cerberumon knew right there and then that she had messed with the wrong people. With a loud howl she combusted into thousand bits of black data particles.

"Heh, that wasn't so hard," Satriamon said. "We totally owned that bit…uhh…she-dog, whatever," he amended, upon meeting Puspamon's glare. He waved his gauntlet arm and shifted back to his composite selves.

Puspamon smiled and regressed back to her original dual forms. "We sure did. That was nice teamwork, JD," Gayathri said. "I was right; you are a big help to us. And…thanks for helping me snap out from my nightmare…or rather, your nightmare." Gayathri then noticed JD's thoughtful expression. "JD? What's on your mind?"

"Huh? No…I was just…thinking," JD said, thinking about Adam's nightmare. "We should get back. Liu Ying and Manny probably are on their way here; we'd save them the journey here if we're quick enough to go back to Adam's apartment before they come here."

"Quick enough?" Gayathri said. She picked up Tanemon and handed her to JD. JD took the little vegetation Digimon as Gayathri bent down and took Koromon, placing him on the hand where JD was holding Tanemon. She had a weird smile fixed on her face. "Hold them as tight as you can. Or rather…" she eyed JD's jacket critically. "Unbutton your jacket, please."

"Uh…what?" JD asked incredulously, looking at Gayathri as if she were nuts. Then, he smirked. "Didn't think that you have the hots for me too, princess."

"Just do it. And stop calling me princess, it's annoying," Gayathri snapped, tugging at one of the top buttons of JD's black uniform jacket. JD hesitantly complied, and as soon as the buttons were let loose up till the belt, Gayathri took Koromon and stuffed him inside JD's jacket. Before Koromon could protest, she smiled apologetically at Tanemon and stuffed her inside JD's jacket as well before buttoning the jacket back up till JD's chest level. She stood back and eyed her effort.

"What the hell are you doing?" JD demanded. He looked down his body, and sweatdropped upon noting that the right side of his torso was swelling unnaturally.

"I'm thinking payback." Before JD could react, Gayathri zipped towards him and took him along her run. Her super-speed, high-powered run.

JD's protesting howl could be heard echoing their whole journey back to the Forest Sanctum.

xxx

xxx

"Look at that," the gruff-voiced Puaka General beckoned towards the image projected from the column of light inside the domed hallway. "It didn't take much out of the DigiWira to defeat Cerberumon. She was an Ultimate Digimon. Ultimate Digimon are always difficult to beat, yet that Satriamon and that Puspamon deleted Cerberumon with seemingly not much effort."

"But still...we have to admit that Cerberumon had done her purposes," the silky-voiced Puaka General pointed out. "We now know the DigiWira's weakness. Cerberumon's plan failed because she'd been overconfident, and used up the other DigiWira's nightmares on that Satriamon after hitting Puspamon with the wrong nightmare. Of course that didn't work; you don't get frightened of something that doesn't scare you in the first place."

"So what do you propose we do?" gruff-voice asked.

Silky-voice laughed with glee. "The DigiWira team has a weak spot. And we shall manipulate that weakness."

xxx

xxx

One hour later, the four DigiWira found themselves gathering inside Adam's apartment anxiously. They were waiting in anticipation for Adam to return; the boy hadn't picked up his cell phone at all, nor did he reply to any of their messages. They grew increasingly worried when the clock's shorter pointer went past the number four and still there was no sign of Adam. For several minutes they sat around in silence, with JD and Gayathri having run out of stories to tell of their latest battle with Cerberumon. They kept off the part where they'd experienced each other's nightmares from Liu Ying and Manny.

"You think he could be staying at the hospital till nightfall?" JD asked restlessly.

"Maybe…" Liu Ying said. "I don't know for sure. Maybe his and Kak Lisha's parents are at the hospital as well right now."

JD looked at Liu Ying oddly. "Huh? His parents?"

"I think so too; come to think of it, that's probably what Adam would've done in times like this," Gayathri agreed.

JD whipped his head towards the darker-skinned girl, looking at her incredulously. 'These two…they don't even have any idea that Adam's parents…'

"Yeah," Manny nodded. He noticed JD looking troubled. "JD?"

He looked at the other DigiWira carefully. "Umm, you three don't have the slightest clue, do you?"

"What about?" Gayathri asked back.

"Uhh…." he looked at Patamon, who shrugged. "Adam's parents…well, they've passed away. Two years ago."

Liu Ying, Gayathri and Manny looked positively stunned upon the revelation.

"What?" Gayathri whispered hoarsely. "Adam never told us that."

Liu Ying frowned. "And we didn't even ask him. I thought the reason why Adam lives with Kak Lisha was because his parents are unwilling to move into town, but want him to have the chance to do so…I mean, a classmate of mine last year; she's living with her brother's family here because her parents are staying all the way up north at Kelantan. I thought it was the same case…"

"We should've asked him," Gayathri murmured sadly. "Oh…I couldn't imagine losing one parent…" Her eyes widened when she realized what she'd said, and looked sideways towards Liu Ying.

"I can…" Liu Ying said softly. "But both? It must be really tough for Adam now if Kak Lisha's his only living family right now..." Her shoulders slumped as she leaned her back against the sofa. "At least I still have my mama, grandpa and Liu Ming," she murmured, her voice melancholic.

"How did you know about this?" Gayathri asked JD. "Surely Adam didn't tell you first hand if he didn't tell us."

"He didn't. I pried the info from his best friend, Hakim…who's probably the only one whom Adam had told this about," JD explained. "I was…uh…doing some background research about you guys, seeing any weak points that I could…uh…manipulate." Upon meeting the girls' dangerous glares, he raised his hands defensively. "Hey, I was under influence that time. I already told him I was sorry. He forgave me." JD didn't look happy too; he was reminded of Adam's nightmare, which made him understand the boy's current situation even more. It made him feel even worse despite the forgiveness Adam had extended the previous day.

Gayathri too was reminded of something Dina had mentioned several weeks ago, during one of their morning get-together times. Her two best friends had been teasing her about Anding, her driver, but the conversation gradually steered towards Adam, whom Dina had been watching during their conversation. When asked, Dina had revealed a little of Adam's demeanor when he was still new in the school.

"I don't know whether you two remember, but Adam was my classmate last year," Dina began. "He came in around July."

"I remember," Gayathri said, recalling Adam mentioning once that he was from Form One Gamma, the same class Dina was in.

"Back then he was…well, rather withdrawn. Aloof too. I sometimes saw him having faraway looks while in class."

"Maybe he just missed his old friends back then," Gayathri said. "Transferring can do that to you."

"Yes, but…Adam was different. I mean, he was perfectly civil and all but unless talked to, he usually would stay silent and preferred to watch everybody in class. Everyone thought he was…well, a little weird. He didn't laugh at any jokes anybody made in class. It was hard actually to know what he was thinking back then, his face was always neutral. Nobody really knew whether he was happy or sad, he was always…well…unnaturally calm."

"Unnaturally calm?" Gayathri repeated.

"Back then, we didn't even know he was capable of laughing…at least until Hakim from Form One Delta approached him during one of our shared Islamic Studies class. It had been more than a month after Adam first came in, and somehow the two became fast friends. Since then however, Adam became friendlier to others…almost like how he is now. I think almost everyone had forgotten about the old him…it was like two different persons sharing the same body."

"Dina did mention something about Adam a while back," Gayathri admitted, and shared some bits of it with the other DigiWira. If they were brainstorming about Adam, it would help if they have all the facts. And they weren't badmouthing him; they all felt sorry for their leader and wanted to help in any way they could. Having all the facts would be a great way to start.

"Who's Dina?" JD asked.

Under different circumstances, Gayathri would say jokingly that Dina was a girl whom Adam seemed to like, and vice-versa, but she felt that this wasn't the best time for it. "She's one of my two best friends since primary school."

"And our classmate," Liu Ying added, beckoning to Manny. Manny nodded.

"Oh. I think I know her. You three hang out with each other often right?" JD asked Gayathri. The girl affirmed it with a nod.

The door creaked open, nearly causing everyone to jump in surprise. In walked a tired-looking Adam, who started upon seeing his friends there.

"Adam!" the other DigiWira chorused. "You're back."

"Uhh…hi," Adam said, giving them a strained smile. It looked like it had taken a great deal out of him to do so. The DigiWira saw how pale and haggard Adam was and the prominent bags around his eyes hinted that Adam hadn't been sleeping enough, if at all. His face was evidently sad.

"Adam…we've heard about Kak Lisha," Gayathri said, standing up quickly. She was followed quickly by Liu Ying, Manny and JD.

Adam nodded wordlessly. He looked down at the floor for a while, avoiding their gazes. When he looked up, the sadness was gone…or rather, cleverly masked. "The doctor…it's the same doctor you had before, Gayathri…he told me that Kak Lisha's condition is stable, but no one knows when she's going to wake up." The sentence was uttered almost like a calm whisper. "I was with her all day…there was no sign of any improvement."

The DigiWira saw how Adam was attempting to conceal his sadness, and his attempt was remarkably good – totally void of any emotion.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Liu Ying asked.

"Just name it…anything," JD said.

"I appreciate that, guys…thanks." Adam thought about something, and looked at Gayathri. "Gayathri…I…I don't think I'm up for school anytime soon. Can you…?"

"Of course. Of course, Adam. I'll tell our teachers, and I'll keep you up to date with your homework," Gayathri said quickly. "Count on it." She then remembered something else. "Adam…tomorrow's Friday. Hakim's farewell kenduriwill take place after dusk. Will you be coming?"

Adam considered it. "I promised him I would. I'll come."

Gayathri looked absolutely relieved for being able to help Adam in some way. However, the other DigiWira were still relentless.

"And…" Adam began. "I…I really would like to be by Kak Lisha's side…in times like this…please excuse me if I don't turn up if there's something going on at the Digital World. I noticed the messages, and the missed calls, but…I didn't know how to respond."

"It's alright," Liu Ying said quickly. "You're having a tough time now…we'll call you only if it's really necessary, alright?"

"Alright." Adam looked grateful, and yawned. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," JD dismissed it. He looked at the younger boy with concern. "You look like you need some sleep."

"Actually, that's why I came back home…" Adam admitted.

The DigiWira looked at each other. Adam had indicated that he'd like to get some sleep – which meant that the DigiWira would have to leave.

"We'll take our leave for now…but if you ever need our help…" Manny began.

"I'll call," Adam promised with a not-so-reassuring smile. "And if you need my help at the Digital World…"

"We'll know who to ask help from," JD said.

With that, the four DigiWira hesitantly left Adam's apartment, not utterly convinced that Adam would ask them for help. Adam didn't show any emotion at all; the vitality that was accustomed to the boy had gone completely. The DigiWira had concluded that, from Gayathri's recollections, that Adam was able to hide his emotion with a happy mood that was perfectly executed…but now, even that was gone. It was worrying.

Nevertheless, they wouldn't leave Adam alone with his trouble. They'd find a way to help, one way or another. None talked about this as they parted ways, but they were all basically thinking about the same thing as they made way back to their homes.

xxx

xxx

Back at the apartment, Adam sighed as he leaned against the door.

"They really want to help you, you know…and not just by passing homework assignments and covering you for any battle at the Digital World," Patamon said gently. "Why won't you let them? They were here for quite a while, waiting for you to come back. I heard them as they tried to figure out a way to help you…but they couldn't do that if you won't let them. Don't cut them off."

"I don't want to be a burden," Adam said softly. "Everyone I care about…they always leave. My parents, Abang Zad…and now Kak Lisha's still not waking up. And at the same time, Hakim's moving to a country so far away…" He looked at Patamon meaningfully.

"I'm not going to leave you," Patamon promised. "We're partners. By becoming DigiWira, we're bonded for life. I don't know how I can help, but I'll do what I can."

"Thanks, Patamon."

"And…the others – Liu Ying, Gayathri, JD and Manny – they'll be there when you need them. You and the girls have been teammates, the three of you pulled through the whole time when JD and Manny were ShadoWira, and you brought them back to the right side. Didn't you remember how each of them had contributed in some ways to rescue you? Liu Ying and Gayathri came to your aid when you were captured by the ShadoWira, despite knowing the grave danger of being at the Shadow Realm. Manny retrieved back your White DigiSphere which was under Karatenmon's possession. And JD…in order to prove himself to you he risked his life to rescue you from Dragomon's clutch. I'll have to be frank here, there's no way I could rescue you alone should he accepted Dragomon's offer and went back to the Digital World without you. And I won't sugarcoat this: He nearly got himself killed by Dragomon yesterday, and I suspect that he did all that because you didn't seem to believe him yesterday." Patamon gazed intently towards Adam. "Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

"I do," Adam said. "I owed each of them already. That's why I don't want to burden them anymore."

Patamon wanted to protest, but Adam already walked past him towards his bedroom to get some sleep. The Rookie Digimon sighed, and wondered whether he should follow Adam or not. He got his answer when he heard the bedroom door being closed.

'Adam,' Patamon thought sadly. 'Don't push me away too.'

xxx

xxx

Several hours later, Adam woke up from a particularly horrible nightmare. It was the same nightmare he had earlier that day, after he returned from the hospital. His whole face and body was sweaty, and his breath was ragged. He heaved his breath slowly, and looked around the darkened room. Frowning, he looked at the time – and saw that it was already midnight.

'Midnight? Great…no way can I go to the hospital now…'

Looking around the dark bedroom, Adam realized that Patamon was not there. He opened the door slowly and walked out towards the hallway, before reaching the living room and kitchen. There, he immediately saw Patamon snoozing peacefully on the sofa. He glanced sideways and saw a plate of somewhat-burnt toast, and a few chicken nuggets and some broccolis and carrot waiting on the dinner table. It looked like Patamon had managed to scour all the instant foods they had and heat them with the microwave. Feeling a soft rumble in his stomach, Adam quickly sat down and ate his meal.

He then wondered around the apartment, not knowing what else to do. Dr. Abu hadn't called him yet; but several messages were there on his D-Terminal and cell phone, from the other DigiWira, all offering words of encouragements for him. That elicited a small smile from him.

Adam's attention paused on his computer. 'Maybe some Digital World fresh air would be good for me…'

Deciding not to wake Patamon up, Adam retrieved his Digivice and DigiPorted to the Digital World. He was led to a quiet, dark Forest Sanctum. TobuCatmon could be seen sleeping on the table, undisturbed. Quietly Adam headed out from the sanctum, intending to head towards the lake just outside at the Green Meadow to enjoy the night air. The air of the Digital World was always cleaner than Earth's.

He sat down on the stone, and idly spent his time looking at the moons of the Digital World. The Green Meadow was beautiful, but empty. Digimon all around had wisely chosen to avoid the paddock, knowing that it was a favorite place for villains to launch their attack on the DigiWira. The Green Meadow Village had been demolished by a pack of Harpymon completely, which made the area around there a danger zone for Digimon.

He then thought of his life so far. One by one, fate seemed to have determined for him to be alone. Deep in his heart, Adam resented all that was happening to him, but he calmed down instantly, thinking immediately about Alisha – who was still alive, although in coma. Frustrated, he picked up a pebble and threw it towards the lake, disrupting its tranquil surface when the pebble plopped into the depth of the lake. The ripple that was generated from the drop radiated to all sides, before gradually vanishing, and the lake was calm again.

"A human boy, alone?" A simpering voice said, followed by a wheezing, asthmatic-like laugh.

Adam sweatdropped upon hearing the comical laugh and turned around. His eyes widened upon seeing a scarlet winged demon standing a hundred meter away behind him.

The demon looked like a caricature version of Satan, and with its round beer-belly and a comic expression, Adam could have laughed off the demon as being something from the Looney Tunes, coupled with that comical asthmatic laugh. However, the glinting red eyes of the demon, and its black pitchfork, made it looked dangerous as well - especially when the pitchfork was aimed towards Adam. "Good. Peek-a-boo, little boy! Peek-a-boo! Boogeymon's coming to get you! Death Clash!!"

A blast of black lightning bolt erupted from the demon's pitchfork, but Adam quickly teleported away before the bolt could hit him. However the teleportation was done in haste and Adam didn't manage to even think about a place to teleport to – it was done purely on reflex to save his life. Thus, he reappeared back at exactly the same spot – but the stone that lined the edge of the lake had been reduced to rubbles. He stared at the demon, who was laughing, as if finding all of these amusing.

'Great…as if I don't have enough problems in my hand already. Now a crazed Digimon with a Muttley-laugh is after me.' Adam thought. 'And it has to be when Patamon's not with me…'

"Heh, heh, the boy can run. The boy can run! Good, good. Boogeymon loves a challenge! Especially little boys who know how to run. Go on, go ahead, run…"

Adam sweatdropped. 'Boogeymon? As in…the boogeyman that loves to terrorize children?' He frowned in annoyance. "I'm not little!" he shot back indignantly. "I'm almost fourteen!"

The Digimon known as Boogeymon simpered again. "Nah, nah…no difference." He eyed Adam intently. "You know…you're right! You're not little. So maybe I won't delete you…maybe I'll just eat you instead! Hi hi hi hi hi!" He cackled that asthmatic wheezing laugh again and rubbed his round belly for dramatic effect, before approaching Adam albeit so slowly. He didn't seem to be in a rush. In fact, he didn't just walk towards Adam…Boogeymon was even skipping, jumping and tap-dancing in the process.

Adam didn't know what to make of Boogeymon. Should he feel threatened, or was Boogeymon merely playing around with him? His attack had been real, though. Perhaps the demonic Digimon wanted to play around first before deleting him, or eating him. Adam shuddered to think of any consequence that would befall him if he hung around any longer.

However, before he could teleport to safety a shadow passed over him. Fearing the worst, Adam looked up, and gaped upon the regal sight that greeted him. It was totally the exact opposite of Boogeymon – an antithesis to demonic Digimon.

Floating above him was someone who looked clearly human, except for the fact that he had a pair of pristine white wings which were glowing with red aura. The aura illuminated his whole figure in the midst of the moonlit night, enabling Adam to study him in detail. The winged human was lightly armored in white, beginning from the sides of his face, extending down to his neck, his whole muscular torso and upper extremities before finally his pair of legs, right until his soles where the light armor ended up shaping his boots. A deep crimson tunic extended from the crescent-plated metallic belt around his waist to a couple of inches down his knees. Crimson sash draped around his left arm, and spiraled around his right leg. His torso was studded with four metallic orbs, two over his chest and the other two over the left side of his abdomen. Metallic shoulder plate protected his left shoulder, but left the right side bare. A golden bracelet clasped around his right wrist tight, while his left knuckle was protected by a black knuckle-armor. Several dark gray belts clasped around his left foreleg, serving an unknown purpose other than for purely decorative purpose. The winged human's face was obscured by a metallic helmet, covering the upper side of his face. Sleek, orange hair went down to the small of his back. On his right hand was a staff, with the upper end finished with a golden crescent. He spun the staff impressively and stared down towards Boogeymon.

Boogeymon looked upwards, the color on his scarlet face seemingly drained, although it was hard to tell. "Rassin' frassin'! An angel Digimon! What a nuisance! Can't a Boogeymon have some fun around here?" He pointed his black pitchfork towards the said angel Digimon, who didn't look the least ruffled.

"Wow…" Adam said, his eyes widening. "Angel Digimon?" He remembered Dragomon mentioning about Ophanimon – the one who gave his DigiSphere the power of light, according to TobuCatmon – being an angelic Digimon. But still, the knowledge didn't stop him from being so surprised of coming face to face with one. He backed away to a safe distance, and with him doing so the angel Digimon moved closer to Boogeymon.

"Piddo Speed," the angel spoke up with a clear voice. The angel then streaked forward with a speed that only could be rivaled by Gayathri's super speed ability, in Adam's opinion. Boogeymon's anguished yell could be heard as the unidentified angel Digimon sped all around him, kicking and punching him, or whacking the demon with his staff while easily avoiding Boogeymon's poorly-aimed attack with great dexterity and nimbleness. He then spun around and delivered a forceful kick on Boogeymon's face, sending him flying. The angel Digimon then soared to the sky and his white wings blazed with orange flames. "Fire Feathers!" He summoned, and flapped his wings furiously.

Fiery feather projectiles zoomed towards the fallen Boogeymon, blistering his body and wings. Boogeymon yelped and tried to quench the flaming feathers by rolling over the ground, but the feathers kept on coming at him mercilessly. Anguished cries were heard coming from the comical devilish Digimon as the feathers engulfed him completely, sending him falling on his back.

The angel Digimon kept on attacking relentlessly, ignoring the pleading cry of Boogeymon. Then, when he saw Boogeymon being completely helpless, he finally stopped flapping his wings. The flames on his wings died down, but the crimson aura remained. For a while, the angel Digimon stared at Boogeymon with a serious expression, before speeding down with his staff thrust forward. A solemn, serious cry from the angel was heard as the sharp, crescent-tipped staff was pushed directly into Boogeymon's chest, at the side where his heart would be located.

There was a standstill, before Boogeymon's head limped down and his whole body burst into data particles. The angel Digimon retreated, staring as the scarlet data particles were whisked away by the gentle winds of the night.

"Good work, Piddomon!" a loud male voice exclaimed, coming somewhere from Adam's back, and to the right.

Adam turned sideways, intending to get a look at the owner of the voice. He saw a tall figure wearing a black V-necked sleeveless T-shirt and a pair of army-patterned cargo pants. The newcomer had dark hair, slightly wavy, which ended right over his broad shoulders. He didn't look at Adam just yet, so Adam couldn't get a close look at his face. But Adam thought that the newcomer's voice sounded strangely, impossibly, familiar…

The Digimon who was identified as Piddomon nodded and was enveloped with a purple glow, before to Adam's surprise, regressing into a Digimon whom he knew only too well. The Digimon whom Piddomon turned back into was Patamon…or rather, a purple-furred Patamon. The purple Patamon flew towards the stranger and landed on his right shoulder, as the stranger turned towards Adam. His face slightly obscured by the darkness, the stranger walked steadily towards Adam.

"Adam, you alright?" he asked, and his face became visible under the moonlight. Adam's eyes widened and he let out an involuntary gasp. His body began to shake uncontrollably.

The stranger bore a remarkable likeness to Adam – except being older and more matured. His skin was tanned, and his eyes dark brown, but the facial textures were nearly identical to Adam's. In a few years to come, it could be said that Adam would grow to become the young man who was now gazing at him attentively.

"Who...who are you?" Adam backed away as the stranger approached him. 'It can't be him…it's just not possible…what's going on here? He looks just like…'

The stranger chuckled. "Why, two years and you've forgotten all about me?"

"It can't be...I thought...no, I know...the accident...it's impossible!" Adam blinked rapidly, his breaths became slightly ragged as he looked at the stranger's face again more intently. There was no mistaking it – the resemblances were uncannily striking. "Who are you?"

The stranger shook his head. "Well Adam...the last time I checked, I'm your brother."

xxx

xxx

Author's Notes:

A new arc has begun. I don't have a proper name for the arc yet, but this chapter marks the beginning of it. Other than the heavy revelation of Adam's history in this chapter, there's also the interaction between JD and Gayathri which I find amusing and hilarious as I write about it, compared to the emotional parts where Adam is concerned. JD's family members are also introduced in this chapter; they will be recurring characters from time to time, like the other DigiWira's family members. JD is also being focused quite amply here; we get to see a different side of his personality when he interacts with Bibik; the same characterizations are evident when he's with Adam, and Gayathri as shown in this chapter. The other DigiWira will get their moments in due time.

As for Satriamon's reaction for Tapirmon – it's something from my school days, when tapirs were often made fun of. The word tapir was abused, giving it another meaning such as silly or stupid. I don't know whether it's the same right now…but I was feeling nostalgic as I was writing the battle scene between the DigiWira and Tapirmon. :D

The Puaka Generals' identities will be revealed in later chapters.

Gayathri's flashback came from Chapter 3: Fairymon's Vice Versa.

Proton Satria GTI and Proton Putra are two of Malaysian cars from the Proton line. Baju kebaya is another traditional garment for Malaysian women – a form-fitting version as compared to the loose baju kurung. I've got e-mails requesting more references of Malaysia, and an inquiry whether an 'Invasion' arc will take place as all Digimon seasons have them. There will be an Invasion saga, which I will use to showcase more of Malaysia. Until then, stay tuned.

And the cliffhanger at the end shall remain a cliffhanger until next chapter.