Unmei Force: Encoded Memory (Arc 2.5)
Chapter 25: Confronting Ryuji
In the real world, at Tokyo's Central Hospital...
Erika was returned to her ward, as she looked at the group silently, blinking a few times, as everyone didn't say anything since the moment she woke up from the treatment, and their restoration of her memory.
"Erika? Do you know who I am?" Wormmon asked gently.
"Wormmon. Although a little clumsy and hyper-active, you're still my partner." Erika stated, as she turned to everyone. "And I remember you, Keisuke Amazama and Richard Liu, the ones who have been the greatest contributors in solving cases for Hudie. And the rest of you are Richard's friends. Gus, Antonio, Reimu, Sanae and Elma, right?"
"Yay! Your memory's back!" Wormmon whooped in joy. "And now we can go and see Chitose together!"
"Yeah... Let's take the Digimon to Chitose? I wonder where he is? Go and ask, you two!" Wormmon bossed around Richard and Keisuke with a false strict tone and a matching expression.
"Hey, that's not the right way to say such things, Wormmon." Richard spoke in a amused tone, as he lightly chopped Wormmon on the head. "But still, since you asked, we'll go and look for him. Everyone stay here, while Keisuke and I head out to find where Chitose is. He might be out of the ward."
They both left the room, before they saw a nurse coming up to them.
"Excuse me, you're Erika's friends, aren't you? Do you know where her brother is? He's her only family." The nurse asked them politely.
"Sorry, we don't know where he is. We've been looking for him ourselves." Keisuke responded back. "It's worrying us as well, since we want him to help take care of Erika."
"I see. Erika's condtion doesn't look good recently. So please notify us if you found him." The nurse responded back, before she bowed and left.
Hearing the nurse's words, Keisuke paled a little, as he felt like that Erika is getting more and more sick because of current events.
"Wait, is she implying...!?' Keisuke asked Richard in a frantic tone.
"Calm down, Keisuke. The nurse might be misunderstanding the situation. Perhaps Erika is being a little too sick at the moment, but we'll eventually fix that in time." Richard assured Keisuke, before he then sighed. "Too bad we didn't get to ask her where Chtiose is. Let's look around."
They explored the hospital, as they asked around with many doctors and nurses, only to finally find the location where Chitose was in, the Intensive Card ward, as they found him walking around, as they immediately rushed to him. Seeing two of his companions, Chitose smiled, as he was glad to meet them again.
"Hey." Chitose blurted out, as he rubbed the back of his head, ruffling his hair slightly. "Been a long time, eh?"
"Chitose..." Richard spoke with relief and happiness, as he came closer, and gave Chitose a soft hug to avoid hurting him. "You're finally back. Everyone been doing their best to help wake you up. We found the method, and we succeeded perfectly, as you're all awake and healthy now. I can't believe that I have to say this, but I damn well miss you, Chitose. I truly do."
Keisuke then walked over, as he joined in the hug. "Welcome back, Chitose." He told his hacker buddy with a smile. "We've managed to keep Hudie alive and well in your absence."
"I see... Somehow, I get the feeling that I've put you all through a lot of trouble?" Chitose asked them both, patting their backs gently in consolation, before he sighed deeply. "Ryuji going to kill me when he finds out that I have. But where is he, by the way? Shouldn't he be around here, coming over to give me a earful for what I have done?"
"About that..." Richard stated in a worried tone, releasing the hug, and looking away from Chitose. "It's best we explain with Erika. I'll take you there. You should be fine after you've been reunited with your mental data, or your mind? Nothing jumbled or messed up in your head?"
"Not that I know of. I took a walk, and I'm pretty fit and well." Chitose responded back. "Come, I have to see the little lady."
The duo then led Chitose into Erika's ward, as Gus gasped in surprise as Chitose was standing up all well, Reimu placed a hand on her chest in relief, and Sanae almost screamed in pure elation, before she covered her mouth to stop it from going out. Elma, who didn't know Chitose, merely smiled, as did Erika.
"Welcome back, Chitose!" Erika enthusiastically greeted Chitose, who blushed a little at her smile, before she then silently pumped her fist up to mutter to herself, "Yes! It worked!"
"Glad to see the team's all here. And another little lady to the group!" Chitose remarked, as he turned to Elma, as he knelt down, and smiled. "What's your name, little lady?"
"It's... um... Elma!" Elma replied back in a shy tone.
"Well, now I guess I can't just use little lady now, since there are two of them now." Chitose chuckled. "Little lady Elma, and Little lady Erika. Seems quite adorable come to think of it. Now... What were going to say?"
Keisuke merely stifled a deep breath, as he knew that Chitose won't take what he missed lightly. He remarked on how they exposed K as Yu, found out Ryuji has been controlled by a data-consuming Digimon named Arcadiamon, and were only in time to witness the merging of the real world with the Digital World, resulting in the digitisation of the world, and lots of Digimon appearing. He then told Chitose about how they retrieved the mental data of himself from the Eater Network with the help of his partner Ankylomon, while omitting the fact that Erika temporarily lost her memories in doing so.
"That's a lot to take in after just waking up." Chitose stated his opinion on the events. "I developed EDEN Syndrome in Under Zero? Ryuji used this 'Arcadiamon' against ZAXON. Digimon are appearing Tokyo because of one of Kishibe's plans, and now Ryuji is running amok with that Digimon of his? On top of that, he went after Fei and destroyed Hudie? Which is why you've moved the bases of operation into Erika's ward? You can't be serious, right? Everything you said... is the truth?'
"You can't be serious!" Wormmon cried, as it startled Chitose who turned around to face the worm Digimon. "Erika seemed much better after seeing your face. She fell asleep in no time."
Elma looked back to see what Wormmon meant, as Erika tucked herself back into bed, as she was sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face.
"Are you that Wormmon? The one that Erika found in Kowloon?" Chitose asked back. "A Digimon in the real world? Is this really happening?"
"Yep. Everything is true, Chitose." Gus responded back solemnly. "Both good and bad things have happened. With you back, we need your help in keeping Hudie together and assisting in dealing with Ryuji's rampage."
"So much has happened. But I see where your line of reasoning is going. You and Erika believe that Ryuji might be able to listen to reason as long as I come to help you, right?" Chitose sighed, after which he shook his head. "I don't think that's very likely. I couldn't get through to him in Under Zero. There's no way he'll listen to me."
"Even so... We have to try!" Sanae cried back. "Perhaps we need to use some force to beat some sense into him, so that he'll listen to you."
"Wow, you look like you've just woken up." Someone said, as they turned to the doorway, as they saw Fei come in, as her arm-sling was still on her.
"Fei!" Chitose exclaimed. ""I guess your injuries haven't healed completely yet?"
"I'm very much better than I look, if I could actually have my arm well enough to lose the sling." Fei responded back, lifting her slinged arm slightly. "But that's far from the point. The doctors are saying it's a miracle. They've never seen anyone cured of EDEN Syndrome. Yuuko would be glad. But how did you guys do it?"
"It's best we don't divulge it. Abusing the passage through the Eater Network would be bound to cause troubles sooner or later." Gus answered back.
"Keisuke and the others told me about what Ryuji did, and how you protected the little lady Erika." Chitose answered back. "Sorry about all of this."
"Heh. You pretty much died because of our carelessness, and the fact that we were manipulated without any knowledge of it." Fei answered back, before she smiled a little. "So I say we're even now."
"Hehe... I never thought that I'd hear you say that." Chitose replied back with a chuckle.
"There's still a problem that needs to be fixed. Your leader, Ryuji." Fei told everyone in the room.
"I take it you want us to deal with it?" Antonio asked. "Makes sense. Your hackers aren't capable enough to fight his superpowered demon Digimon, and Yuugo is busy, while you're still too injured to fight. But we would ask for you to let us take care of it ourselves even if it weren't the case. I mean, it's our fault for failing to take care of him back then, so we'll make sure he's stopped."
"I'm coming too! We'll keep trying to get through to Ryuji until Chitose is better!" Wormmon added.
"Heh, I guess you guys have your pride. Sorry, but I have to leave Ryuji to you guys." Chitose sighed, as he left the room. "I better get back to my own ward. After all, I struck myself fairly well, with one beautiful nurse to tend to my health and take care of me."
"You better take care. We've already had problems with you gone for a while, and I don't want to see you end up hurt again." Richard told Chitose, as he left with Fei.
Erika then woke up after a while, as she sat herself back up.
"Was Chitose okay?" Erika asked the group.
"Not so much. He won't be helping us deal with Ryuji any time soon. And we need to bring down Ryuji right now. With that Digimon of his, who evolves by cannibal methods involving Digimon and their data... The longer we wait, the worse things get." Richard answered back in a sincere manner. "We'll make sure that we at least delay him if we can find him."
"Before we go, Erika... Mind if I ask you something?" Keisuke questioned Erika back. "I felt like that when I touched those virtual AIs in your memory server, I felt like that it was somehow attached to the real world, as if it existed..."
"...I see. I remember places I've never actually been to. I have dreams of looking at sights I've never seen." Erika explained. "Maybe my memories have started leaking out into cyberspace and roaming around it. I mean to say what you saw might have been, well... 'me'. Look what has happened to Tokyo. The line between the virtual and real worlds is practically a blur. Whatever 'I' am was vague to begin with, and now it's losing even more clarity."
She then looked down at herself, with her hands out. "My body may exist in reality, but the memories driving it has been... digitised. What I am feeling now, my memories with everyone, it's all part of an accumulation of data. A dream that data shows me." Erika continued in a more solemn tone. "I think the real me may not even exist in reality anymore. I mean, which was 'real' for me to begin with? EDEN or this world here?"
Richard and Keisuke walked over, as they gripped each of her hands with their own.
"You're right here with us, Erika. And that's what matters." Keisuke said. "It doesn't matter if you are a avatar or a human right now, they're both real now."
"We won't abandon you no matter what, Erika." Richard also comforted her. "As long as you continue to exist and think, you are 'you', and nothing changes that for us."
"...Thank you... the both of you." Erika answered back, before she laid her head back on the bed, as the two of them released her hands. "I'll just rest for a little longer. Wormmon is coming with you, right?"
Richard nodded back, as Erika smiled. "I see... Take care of him for me out there." Erika answered back, before she then closed her eyes and fell to sleep quite quickly.
Keisuke then walked up his desktop, as he entered the Hudie site, checked the Bulletin Board for any signs of a attack from Ryuji recently, where they can find him at. However, there was no results.
"We haven't got any requests asking about where Ryuji is." Keisuke said. "Perhaps it's because the people are scared that as we are under his command, they think we'll do the same thing to them?"
"Reasonable thoughts, but stupid at this time." Richard sighed in frustration. "Let's check Akihabara. It's where the ruins of what used to be the internet cafe, Hudie has been."
The group then left the hospital, as they made their way to Akihabara quickly, where they found Ryuji in a road junction, having beaten a group of hackers, as their Digimon lay defeated nearby, while Arcadiamon was absorbing the data of one of them, as the victim faded into red pixels of data that flowed into Arcadiamon.
"There! It's Ryuji-" Wormmon was about to shout, before Reimu covered his mouth. "Mmph!"
"Quiet... We don't want to surprise him too early." Reimu told Wormmon in a hushed voice.
"Where's Yuugo?" Ryuji asked, as he lifted a scared hacker by the collar, glaring into their eyes with his own soulless ones. "If I can kill Yuugo, I'll avenge Chitose. What happened to Chitose is all his fault!"
Keisuke took the moment to walk to him, as Ryuji heard him come.
"Chitose is awake. We recently cured him of EDEN Syndrome." Keisuke told Ryuji calmly. "Now there's no reason for vengeance anymore. Everyone is back together, and you don't have to go around destroying lives of hackers anymore. Come back, Ryuji... We understand that you're hurting inside, but please, remember that we're Hudie! We're a team that's supposed to be together as a family!"
"He's awake?" Ryuji asked back softly, as he dropped the hacker, who immediately scurried as far away from the possessed hacker. Ryuji then chuckled. "Hahaha... You think that you can trick me that easily? No one's ever recovered from EDEN Syndrome. Everyone knows that. But he's the first in the history of the world? You must think I'm a fool, Keisuke!"
"That's because you don't want to believe it!" Elma cried out. "Chitose is really alive! Please, stop! There's no need to hurt any more people! We can help you! Erika did this for your sake, as your little sister."
"DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT ERIKA!" Ryuji roared back, frightened Elam, who fell to her knees, trembling in fear.
"HEY! Don't you talk to my friend like that! Even if you were once my pal, you don't deserve to say that to her!" Richard shouted back.
"Is that the best lie you come come up with to stop me, all of you? Did Yuugo put you all up for this? Have you... betrayed me?" Ryuji hissed.
"That's if there was anything to betray in the first place! You're the traitor, Ryuji! You fucking abandoned us when we were barely holding ourselves together!" Richard shouted back in anger. "Don't talk to me about loyalty when you're the one who fucked us all over!"
"Silence. I'll destroy anyone who takes my friends away, whoever they are! And that includes any friends who betray me!" Ryuji growled back, as Arcadiamon turned to them. "Are you just like Sanada? Do you want to take away the place I belong to? Then you will be the first to die then, Richard!"
"Try me!" Richard screamed back, as he summoned Kuro to fight. "You'll find that while you have been on your tantrum, I have been sharpening Kuro's experience for the battle! And that's not the only ones you're facing!"
Gus and Antonio summoned Sun and Bolt, who looked at Ryuji with pity.
"Ryuji...Never thought that I would have to fight the guy that helped me..." Kuro said. "But even if I owe you for giving me help back in the first battle I had as Richard's partner, I cannot defy his wishes. You have to be stopped, for the sake of what remains of your sanity."
"Ryuji... I'm sorry. Forgive us for what we will do." Sun apologised to the controlled hacker.
Arcadiamon opened up the battle, as he cast Texture Field, as it released a wave of black and white energy that was aimed at the group. Sun and Bolt managed to dodge it, while Kuro merely stood his ground and blocked it, confident that he would be able to withstand the attack. However, instead of damaging him, Kuro was suddenly turned into a pixelated version of himself, shocking Richard.
"Ah fuck, I forgot that Arcadiamon had that." Richard cursed, slapping his forehead in frustration, as Kuro could only let out a few digital cries in response. "Hold on, I'll get you back up soon."
Richard then activated his user interface, which Sun and Bolt engaged Arcadiamon, as Sun slashed at the large Digimon, and Bolt was firing off small missiles from afar in a attempt to weaken it. Arcadiamon retaliated quickly, by using Mach Rush, which it increased its own speed, as it tackled Sun with enough speed and force that Sun was sent flying into a building, as the impact caused a large crater to appear on the wall of the building. It then used Hell Crusher to blast Bolt with dark energy, as Bolt managed to dodge it, while Kuro was hit by its splash damage, being knocked back a little. He tried to attack back, but his attack merely caused Arcadiamon to only move a little from the attack.
"You forget that a hacker is always prepared for a situation, Ryuji." Richard said, as he used a Sprite Recover on Kuro, who immediately transformed back into his original form.
"Damn... I never thought that I would be so happy to be like this. Being all small and cramped is not a happy experience." Kuro swore, before he turned to Arcadiamon. "Ah, that's right. It's time for the actual payback. Have some of this. Supreme Cannon."
Kuro then aimed his wolf gauntlet at Arcadiamon, as a large blue beam fired from it, as it pierced through Arcadiamon's body, causing it to screech in pain. Taking the opportunity, Sun and Bolt both immediately use their special moves
"Firedrake Strike!" Sun called out, as he pointed his blade at Arcadiamon, who was stunned by Kuro's attack, as the golden frames of the sword parted away from the blade, which glowed golden, before he placed both of his hands on it, as a large wave of fire energy ran through the entire length of the blade, before it coalesced into a large beam of fire that seared Arcadiamon.
"Machinegun Destroyer!" Bolt cried, as he followed up the attack, as he fired off his weapons at a rate that paled in comparison to his Magna Missiles, as he fired off a dense curtains of missiles that struck at Arcadiamon, before he then charged up the cannons on the side of his body, as it fired off a large beam of ice that damaged Arcadiamon further, due to the biting cold being more painful and harmful from the burning heat it was suffering from before.
Arcadiamon, having been too severely injured to continue fighting, immediately rushed for Ryuji, swoopng him up with a hand, before ascending into the skies.
"Crap...! He's going to restore himself somewhere else!" Antonio said. "We have to chase after him!"
"But still... Ryuji... Did he really threaten to kill you, Richard?" Keisuke asked.
"It doesn't matter. It only means that Ryuji is falling deeper and deeper into Arcadiamon's influence. If we don't hurry, it's going to be near impossible to separate its mind from him." Richard responded back.
"I don't think so." A familiar voice, although a little strangely different, was heard behind them. "Digimon and humans affect each other, through all kinds of emotions. The distorted feelings plague the Digimon, making their power twisted, which in turn affects the avatar itself. It is a vicious cycle that I have seen many times."
Everyone turns around, as they come face-to-face with a red-eyed Arata, whose right arm seemed to look like it has been fused with Eater Data, as the black and white-patterned pulsated under the metal gauntlet that it was attached to.
"Oh, good god, what happened to you, dude!?" Antonio shrieked at the sight of Arata, especially his Eater arm. "You look like that you suddenly went a few notches up with the 'red-eyes villainy'!"
"Arata? I never thought I would see you again so soon..." Keisuke said. "But what happened to your arm?"
"Oh, this?" Arata said, as he raised his Eater arm for everyone to see, as he smirked. "I'll spare you the details, but I thought it was time for a slight enhancement. Which reminds me. I was warming up and 'ate' an Eater, then I saw you."
"Ate an Eater!? Arata, you're..." Gus was about to say, concerned if Arata is still okay as he is. "...Well, we've seen something impossible today, so it's fair that you would have one of your own."
"I see. Then I appreciate your trust." Arata nodded. "I see that you need some help dealing with Ryuji. May as well work out the kinks with my new powers in an actual battle. I'll be fine to fight as I am. I heard what he had say before, as he refuses to come to terms with his past like me. So I'll help in ending this right now for all of us."
"Then we're counting on your help, Arata." Richard answered back. "We'll cover your back as well."
"I guess you're still trying to help me at this point." Arata said. "Don't worry about me. I only eat Eaters, not humans. But Digimon however... I can' promise the same."
Wormmon was frightened by the words, as he immediately hid behind Keisuke's back, as Arata laughed heartily. "Haha... Just kidding. Let's go. I think that we know where he headed."
Arata then went on ahead of them, as Wormmon poked his head out carefully.
"Are you sure we can trust him? I never even saw anything like that in the Digital World." Wormmon asked Keisuke.
"It's the only choice. Best not to get on his bad side." Keisuke answered back. "He did EAT an Eater, so I'm worried that he might actually make it hard on us if we antagonised him all the sudden."
The group then chased after Ryuji, as they were forced to navigate a maze of Digimon, having to disable a trap that was forcing them to wind around the same place all the time no matter which path they took, only for Arata to dispel it with a wave of his arm.
Eventually, they found Ryuji again, as Arcadiamon was devouring a pile of Champion Digimon, turning them into its data one by one.
"That looks tasty." Arata joked. "How about sharing it with me, Ryuji?"
Ryuji then turned to Arata with a dark expression. "Sanada. So you were working with Sanada then." He growled.
"Don't try to play the big man. I made up my own mind to come." Arata responded back. "After all, I'm the one you want to destroy. Isn't that right, Ryuji?"
"Hmph. If you hadn't run away, Jude wouldn't be disbanded." Ryuji retorted back. "Chitose and I wouldn't have lost the only place where we really belonged! All this started when you betrayed US!"
"There's no changing what has happened. What do you want me to do!?" Arata spoke back, with his voice raised with anger. "
"EVERYONE LOOKED UP AT YOU!" Ryuji shouted back. "If you had stayed as the leader of Jude, we'd all still be together!"
"You've got it all wrong! Was I the only one responsible for Jude!?" Arata yelled. "Any team that would break up without me was never a team in the first place! If you valued the team that much, you could have kept it together! DON'T BLAME ME FOR SOMETHING YOU COULDN'T DO!"'
"If only!" Ryuji grit his teeth in sheer frustration. "I couldn't take your place! Jude revolved around you! Sanada, do you know the pain of being helpless!?"
"QUIT WHINING, YOU LOSER!" Arata screamed back.
"SANADA! SANADAAAAAAAAA!" Ryuji shouted his head off, as Arcadiamon transformed behind him.
It then turned itself into a even more bulkier humanoid monster, as its body was armoured with dark-grey armour, as its hands and feet had purple straight claws, as its wings duplicated into four, and the span of the wings being purple frayed digital boards. Its head also looked a lot more human, as the only thing not covered by its helmet is its mouth.
"Stay back. This is between me and him." Arata told everyone, as he brandished his Eater arm.
"No way! We're going to help save Ryuji as well!" Keisuke determinedly retorted back, as he summoned HerculesKabuterimon.
"You need our help as much as we need yours, Arata. Let us help, please!" Richard said, as he summoned Kuro to the battlefield.
"Heh, you're strange ones. You remind me of somebody." Arata smiled. "Alright then, let's end this."
Kuro immediately went forward, as he attacked by swinging his gauntlet-linked blade, as he slashed at Arcadiamon, who managed to take little damage from it, before HerculesKabuterimon followed up with a tackle, which knocked it back a little more.
"You're mine!" Arata cried, as he reached his Eater arm back, as it grew in size. "BEGONE!"
He then threw it forward, as the large fingers twisted themselves into Eater Tentacles, as they penetrated Arcadiamon's defence, weakening it greatly.
The Arcadiamon responds by gathering its hands in front of it, as a large shining orb of energy appeared in front of it, before it then slowly dissolved into binary data digits, before it then let out a massive shot with white binary numbers flowing from it, as it hit Arata, flooring him, as he could barely stand up.
"Crap... That attacks looks like it's not going to leave you with anything but a scratch, Kuro..." Richard cursed, seeing the effects of the special move, Dot Matrix, on Arata. "Don't overextend your attacks. Make sure you're fast enough to dodge that attack when it comes for you. Same goes for you, Keisuke! It won't make this fight as easy it was before!"
"Got it!" Keisuke cried, as he relayed the orders to his partner Digimon as well.
Kuro and HerculesKabuterimon lessened their offensive efforts, as they were focused on dodging the attacks from Arcadiamon, especially when it unleashes Dot Matrix, as Arata managed to knock off its aim on the other two Digimon with attacks of his own. Eventually, through a battle that was the very definition of a 'death of a thousand cuts', due to how the group were forced to use basic attacks to keep their vulnerability at the minimum, Arcadiamon was forced to land on the ground, defeated and exhausted. At his Digimon's defeat, Ryuji fell to a knee, as everyone withdrew their Digimon into their Digivices, the battle over and done with.
"Sanada..." Ryuji growled. "Why did you abandon Jude? If you had stayed, the team would still be together. Everyone was drawn to you. I was no good. You were the only one who could do it. Why did you just leave without saying why? Answer me!"
"It wasn't that I didn't say why. It was that I couldn't." Arata answered back, shaking his head in regret. "At that time, I couldn't explain why I didn't want to carry on with the team anymore. But I can say now... because I've remembered everything. The truth is, when I was a kid, I wasn't able to protect my friend. Under Zero wasn't the first time I have lost someone. I was never qualified to lead anyone. But I would have forgotten what happened. That's what got our Jude friends killed. What I went through when you lost our friends in Under Zero all came flooding back. Not the memory, but the feeling, the feeling of loss. That's why I left Jude, before I could make the same mistake again. I had to get away, otherwise you would try to make me leader again. That's why I left Jude. Are you satisfied now?"
Ryuji was left looking at the ground, as he was struck with emotion from Arata's concerns. "Sanada..." He whispered.
"You say you couldn't have done it. But you would make an excellent leader. Isn't Hudie a great team?" Arata asked back with a smile, before he then raised his Eater arm. "From now on, I'm going to help all the friends I failed so long ago. Otherwise I'm nothing. I can't even face you."
"...You think you can do this, after running away for so long!?" Ryuji hissed back, as tears leaked from his eyes. "Jude is long gone."
"That's right. I'm going to retake the place where I belong. Goodbye, Ryuji." Arata responded back, as he walked away. "I've done my part. Now do what you want."
With those words, Arata continued to walk, as he left the group with a silent Ryuji.
"Ryuji... Everyone has been waiting for you." Keisuke told his fallen leader. "It's all over now."
"How can I go back... after everything I have done? To all of you?" Ryuji answered back in a guilt-filled tone. "Either as the leader of Hudie, or as Erika's brother... I've..."
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself." Chitose said, as he appeared being held up by Matayoshi.
"Chitose!" Ryuji cried.
"I asked Matayoshi to get me out of the hospital. I bet it's chaos over there right now, hehe." Chitose chuckled.
"Kidnapped by the police. Unbelievable." Matayoshi sighed.
"Chitose, you're... really okay.' Ryuji replied back. "So what Keisuke said... was true?"
"Ryuji... You..." Chitose softly said, as he walked towards Wormmon.
He then grabbed Wormmon by the head, as the Digimon immediately began to struggle from Chitose's strong grip, as the hacker's expression changed completely into one of fury.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU'VE CAUSED FOR HOW MANY PEOPLE!?" Chitose screamed in pure fury, as he then reeled back into a pitcher's position, before he threw the crying Wormmon at Ryuji at the speed of a fastball, right at Ryuji's head.
Ryuji was immediately floored by the flying Digimon, as their heads collided, as Ryuji was knocked to the ground with a loud grunt of pain, as yellow stars shone into existence from the comical force of the impact, as Richard and Sanae's jaws dropped open seeing the strange visual effect, as Keisue was fairly surprised by it as well.
"That was one hell of a ball..." Sanae blurted out in awe.
"No shit, Agatha...!" Richard exclaimed.
Wormmon screamed, as he flew back into the sky, as Keisuke managed to catch him in time, as the frightened Wormmon immediately clung back onto the safety of his back.
Ryuji, who was trying to get back up from the massive hit on the head, was clutching his head with hisses of pain under his breath.
"Running amok in EDEN and then Tokyo!? What were you thinking!? You IDIOT! Hackers are outlaws, but surely they have limits! And attacking ZAXON!? How do you expect us to deal with Hudie now!?" Chitose rambled on, as he was getting faster and angrier with each word."In hacking, reputation is everything! Don't you understand that!? You had a internet cafe to run! What did you expect to gain by destroying everything!? And how much will the repairs cost, if there is anything to fix!? Damage caused by a Digimon!? Do you expect the insurance company to accept that!? And because of you, the waitress I like lost her job! And as for using Digimon in Tokyo! Come on! You really are a MORON! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Chitose then stopped screaming, as everyone was surprised that Chitose said all that in one breath, and he held that scream for so long.
"Woah... Big lungs you have there..." Antonio spoke with some envy in his voice. "I wish I had them..."
"Phew! I think that's all for now." Chitose huffed, before he calmed down. "Ryuji, you're okay now, so get it together. No need to say anything. Just come back. There are people who are waiting for you, like us here. Just look at Richard. By the sounds of what I heard, he literally went ballistic when you did all of this, and was after you. He even slugged you hard on the face, if I recall. So come on, before he has to slug you again to get your senses back."
"Chtiose... you guys..." Ryuji said, before he then bowed his head. "I..."
Before they could do anything, Arcadiamon suddenly got up, as it grabbed Ryuji forcefully, as everyone was shocked.
"Arcadiamon!?" Wormmon cried.
"It's still up!" Richard said. "Ryuji, hang on!"
"Chitose! Keisuke! Richard! All of you!" Ryuji cried, as he was squirming in the Digimon's grasp. "I... AARRRGGGHHHH!"
Ryuji then was absorbed into Arcadiamon, but in a blue light instead of a red stream of data, before the Digimon immediately flew away.
"No... This can't be..." Chitose spoke in despair, as he fell on his knees, before Reimu went over to him, and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Reimu...?"
"Get yourself together!" Reimu shouted at him. "There's no time to be mourning the events! We might still have a chance to save him. But for now, we need to head back to the Central Hospital, before you end up hurt more than before!"
"...Alright. I'll got back." Chitose said, as he stood back up, as he slung himself over Matayoshi's shoulders.
They then returned to Erika's ward, as Keisuke was the one to tell Erika about what has happened.
"I see. So my brother was absorbed into Arcadiamon, just after he finally come back to his senses." Erika recounted what Keisuke told Richard. "And you met Arata who helped you, right?"
"Sorry, we didn't make it in time." Chitose spoke in a apologetic tone.
"It wasn't your fault, nor the others." Erika stated. "No one could have stopped the Arcadiamon. At least defeating it allowed Ryuji to shake free of its influence. I'll go with you all next time. We'll save my brother together."
"But we don't know where the Arcadiamon is, and it hasn't showed up on Fei's intelligence network." Chitose said.
"It doesn't matter. I have this." Erika stated, before she then conjured up a few small spherical drones with white cracked armour, and a large red iris.
"Those... What are those!?" Keisuke asked.
"It won't attack us. These are my Eater Bits." Erika answered back. "When I hacked into that Eater for its permissions back in the Eater Network, I made sure to extract as much information inside of it as possible. This is a new type of Eater that I programmed based on that information. If I can deploy them in Tokyo, they will find Arcadiamon for us."
"You should be sleeping! I can't believe you've been doing that! You need to rest, with your body like this!" Chitose scolded Erika.
"It's the only way to save my brother. Give me some time. I'll be ready soon." Erika responded back, unfazed by Chitose's words.
"I'm worried about you too, Erika." Wormmon also complained. "You need treatment."
"No! I need to find my brother first. I still need to adjust the bits, and only I can do-" Erika tried to say, before Richard performed a nerve-pinch on Erika's neck, which caused her to slip into unconsciousness. "...Unnnh..."
"There, that should keep her asleep for a while, until her treatment is done for this period." Richard sighed, turning to Chitose. "This is the best way to keep her asleep. She won't be waking up until her body says she's ready to keep working. In that case, it will be a while with her fragile health."
"I'll deploy the Eater bits. With her memories, they should listen to me as well." Wormmon said, as he immediately took control of the Eater spheres, as they flew out of the hospital through the ward's window.
"I know now might not be the best time..." Chitose said, turning to the group. "But I want to ask if you guys can check the Bulletin Boards for any recent cases to complete. We need to keep Hudie in good shape by keeping our services open, before Ryuji comes back after we defeated Arcadiamon... hopefully."
"Got that. We'll get to it right away-" Richard was about to say, before Richard's digivice let out a message alert chime.
Richard was surprised, as the only message he received that were only his own, and not sent to anyone else as well, were from Mirei, from the situation involving Kuro's Digivolution.
"Give me a moment." Richard said, as he headed out, before he went to a private place to read the message addressed to him. When he read the sender's name, he was surprised, to say the least.
'Hey, this is Richard, right? If you're wondering how I got this Digivice, I got the address from Mirei. She seems to be interested in the two of us meeting again. Anyway, can you and Hudie meet me in Galacta Park in Kowloon? There's something that I want to talk to you guys about. Bring Chitose as well, if you could -David' The message read.
Richard was tempted to erase the message, since a part of his mind did not appreciate meeting with the hero again, since he swore last time that both of them are to stay their separate ways, as his finger hovered above the delete message button. However, before he could move it down, he was countered by another of his emotions, his pride, who believed that David was going to challenge Richard again, and with Kuro as a Ultra, the battle is as good as won, and it'll wipe the stain of defeat from the last time they battled, making it a even score between them. Besides, if he had matters with Chitose, who's to deny him? Perhaps... He might be able to see something interesting.
Richard shelved the message, as he headed back into the ward.
"Well, I got some good news. We have something to take our minds off." Richard said to everyone. "Someone is interested in meeting us in Galacta Park. It's from a certain someone that we're very acquainted with, Keisuke."
Gus knew who Richard was talking about, as he merely remained silent, as Richard got everyone to come over where he was, as Keisuke sat down onto his desktop, as they all logged into EDEN, heading for Kowloon's Galacta Park, to meet David and his group once again.