A/N: Hi guys, I'm back! I actually had this chapter finished a few weeks ago, but didn't have time to post it. Anyway, this is not only the longest chapter yet in this fanfic, but it is also one of the most important ones plot-wise. The events of this chapter will have a profound effect on our main characters going forward. Having said all that, enjoy!
2008 February 9, Vancouver, Canada
You are cordially invited to
Alexander Worthington Academy's 50th Anniversary Concert Celebration
on the
9th of February, 2008
at 7pm
The Orpheum, 601 Smithe Street.
Doors open 6:30pm. Formal attire required.
A black van slowly backed into an empty parking space on Seymour Street. A moment later, the doors slid open and the occupants climbed out.
"So why are we here again?" Masaru grumbled for the umpteenth time as he tugged at the collar of his white dress shirt. He scowled, glaring down at the pair of black loafers on his feet: they were half a size too small for him and were pinching his toes. "And why are we dressed up like penguins?! I want a good explanation, Touma!"
Touma sighed as he finished soothing out the wrinkles on his white jacket. "In Europe, this is the proper way to dress for a concert," the blond explained. "It's all about respect."
"But this isn't Europe!" Masaru snapped, but his teammate's attention was already elsewhere.
"Professor Klein, why did you decide to come as well?" Touma asked his superior.
"The school's choir teacher and I are old friends," Eric Klein replied as he fixed his tie. "She invited me. Also…" The professor adjusted his glasses and gave Touma a knowing look.
The older man said nothing more, but Touma knew. Today was the deadline that the professor had set for Amy, Roscoe, and their friends regarding their decisions to join DATS or not. Touma realized that the professor was planning to confront them at the concert tonight.
"Look, the doors are already open!" Yoshino exclaimed as she pointed at the brick building across the street. "Let's go in; it's freezing out here!" She shivered as she wrapped the pink shawl closer around her bare shoulders.
"I agree! Let's go, Yoshino!" Masaru exclaimed as he grabbed Yoshino's freezing hand. Together, they blindly ran across the busy street towards the entrance of the theatre. Cars and trucks angrily honked at their jaywalking.
"Both of you! Watch out for traffic!" Touma shouted after his teammates to no avail.
Masaru and Yoshino, upon reaching their destination, stopped to catch their breath. A large crowd was blocking the entrance to the Orpheum. Masaru huffed. "Excuse-!" he began, but was interrupted as someone bumped into him. "Oof! Watch it!" the brunette snapped.
"Hamasaki-san?"
Yoshino's surprised voice startled Masaru. The brunette looked up and came face to face with Andy Hamasaki. The blue-haired boy was dressed in a navy blue suit and looked just as uncomfortable as Masaru was.
Andy merely nodded to them in greeting.
"Why are you here?" Yoshino asked him.
The blue-haired boy stared at the ground. "That's none of your business," he said quietly.
Masaru opened his mouth to yell at the boy. However, the sight of an elderly couple coming up to them caused him to close it again. The brunette blinked in surprise as the couple stopped behind Andy.
The elderly couple glanced at Masaru and Yoshino before turning their attention to Andy. "Andy?" the man spoke first. "Are these your friends?"
In reply, Andy chose to continue staring at the ground.
Yoshino cleared her throat. "You are…Andy's…friends, too?" she asked hesitantly.
The old woman smiled wearily at her. "Forgive us for not introducing ourselves," she apologized. "I'm Lilly Hunter, and this is my brother Michael. We are Andy's guardians."
"Guardians?" Yoshino repeated. "I do not understand… where-"
"Hey!" Masaru yelped as Andy suddenly barged past him. However, the brunette did not chase after him.
Michael Hunter shook his head sadly. "Andy's father is a distant relative of mine," was all he said.
"There you are!" Touma exclaimed as he came up to them. The elderly couple turned at the sound of his voice. "Have you ever heard of a crosswalk…" Touma's voice trailed off when he noticed the two strangers with his teammates. The old man and woman were staring right past him, at…
"Eric Klein?" Lilly Hunter whispered in disbelief.
Professor Klein adjusted his glasses. Light from the lamps above the doorway bounced off them. "Lilly, Michael," he greeted the two elders, "It has been a while."
Once the professor and elderly couple were out of earshot, Yoshino, Masaru and Touma glanced at each other.
"What do you think?" Yoshino asked as the three of them made their way towards the auditorium.
"You know, it was pretty weird that DATS let Hamasaki keep his memories," Masaru pointed out. "Hamasaki was pretty calm about it too."
"I'm going to do a background check on Hamasaki-san as soon as possible," Touma decided, "specifically on his biological parents." He sighed. "Does anyone in this school even have a normal family?" he wondered aloud.
"Who are we to judge what 'normal' families are?" Yoshino asked quietly.
Both of her teammates replied with silence.
Phoebe bit her lips as she pressed the wrong notes again. Anna frowned at her from across the room.
"Phoebe," Judy sat down next to her on the narrow piano seat. "Don't worry; I know that you'll do great when it really counts. You always do. Remember the Easter concert last year?" Judy lowered her voice. "Even Anna's father was impressed with the way you played that version of 'Amazing Grace', remember?"
Phoebe smiled wearily. "Are you sure he wasn't just impressed with his daughter?" she giggled. "Anna did such a fine job on her solo that no one noticed that I made a small mistake," she added quietly.
Judy grinned. "Oh please, she only sounded good because you played that piece beautifully," she insisted. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll sing a bit louder during my solo so that no one will notice your mistakes. Not that I think you will make a mist-"
"Thank you."
Judy blinked. "What?"
Phoebe shook her head. "Thank you," she repeated. "Just…thank you."
"Fifteen minutes left!" Amy suddenly squealed. Behind her, Roscoe nearly dropped his oboe. "I'm so nervous! Are you nervous, too, Roscoe?!"
"Everyone is," Roscoe replied as he put his instrument back into its case. The two of them were currently practicing with a few of their classmates in one of the dressing rooms backstage at the theatre. "Besides our parents, there will be a lot of famous people in the audience tonight. We will have to perform our best for them."
Amy frowned. "Geez, thanks Roscoe," she said sarcastically. "I feel so much better now."
"Amy, Roscoe! Guess what?!" Amy and Roscoe turned as their classmate Andrew ran up to them.
"What, what?" Amy asked.
"Bill Worthington showed up after all!" Andrew told her. "Owens tried to make him go home, but Bill nearly bit his head off! He's going to play that trumpet solo tonight, bandaged face and all!"
"That's great!" Amy exclaimed.
"That's crap!" Roscoe snapped at the same time.
Amy and Andrew's eyes widened in shock as they stared at the older boy: Roscoe rarely lost his temper, let alone swore.
The uncomfortable silence was broken by Roscoe. He sighed. "Sorry," he apologized. "I guess…I'm nervous about the concert after all…" he explained.
Amy only nodded meekly.
"Amy, Roscoe!" a familiar voice shouted from the doorway.
Amy whirled around at the voice. "Christina, you made it!" she screamed with delight as she rushed over to her best friend. "Are your hands better?"
Andrew looked at the two girls, and then at Roscoe. "Uh…I'll see you guys later!" he said quickly as he dashed off.
Christina's face was paler than usual, but her dark brown eyes were as bright as ever. "Yes," she replied as she held up her hands. "See? No more bandages! The doctor said that I can return to school on Monday."
"Yay!" Amy jumped up and down on the spot. "Christina can eat lunch with us again! Isn't that great news, Roscoe?"
Roscoe looked past Christina at Allen, who was standing right behind his girlfriend. Allen rolled his eyes at the two girls. Roscoe smirked at his friend's carefree attitude. "Yeah, it's great," he finally answered. "By the way…where's Robert?" the older boy asked, noticing that someone was missing. "Is he not here yet?"
Before Allen could reply, Touma Norstein appeared behind him.
A deadly silence fell over the Green room the moment Katherine Price entered. Everyone still remembered what had happened during rehearsal yesterday.
Phoebe looked up from the piano. Katherine looked deathly ill; her face was grey and her blue eyes were hollow. Phoebe bit her lips as she recalled how her classmate's eyes looked like yesterday:
"Die…" Katherine laughed as her eyes briefly flashed red…
Phoebe could not help but notice that Anna retreated to the other side of the room as soon as Katherine appeared.
Judy stood up. "Katherine, are you feeling alright?" she asked her classmate in a concerned voice. "Do you want some water?"
The blonde girl in question put a hand on the wall to steady herself. She took several deep breaths as everyone watched her nervously.
"I…I need to go," Katherine finally gasped. "The restrooms…where…?"
"Just down the hall," Judy replied. "You can't miss it. Do you want me to come with-?"
"No," Katherine interrupted. She was already halfway to the door. "I…I need to be alone."
Judy's eyes narrowed in understanding. "I understand," she replied softly. "Come back soon, okay?"
Katherine nodded briefly and left. No one else shouted after her.
"Hamasaki, is that you?" Andy caught a glimpse of Mr. Scott as he tore past the school's vice-principal.
The blue-haired boy huffed in annoyance as he stormed into the men's restroom, slamming the doors behind him. Why was everyone on his case today?!
Unfortunately, the room was not empty. A pudgy man in a suit was standing in front of the mirrors, checking himself out. Andy gasped loudly. "You!" the boy yelped. He recognized that obnoxious fat face anywhere!
The man scowled at Andy. "Watch your manners, boy!" he barked. "I don't care if you know my Anna; a rude peasant like you will never get anywhere in life if-!"
"I don't care what you and Anna think!" Andy interrupted loudly. "You're both a bunch of stuck up wannabes! Just because-!"
"Don't you dare insult my daughter!" the pudgy man shot back. "You would never understand-!"
"Mr. Li, please…" Andy finally noticed the tall and thin man standing off to the fat man's side. Andy remembered him: he was Frank, the pudgy man's valet and confidant.
"You stay out of this!" Mr. Li, Anna's father, snapped at his man servant. Turning his attention back to Andy, the latter could see that the man's face was all sweaty and red. "Just because your own father disowned you doesn't mean I treat Anna-!"
The restroom's doors opened and Mr. Scott stepped in. "What's all the commotion about?" he asked sternly.
"Arrghhh!" Andy yelled as ran out of the room, nearly pushing the vice-principal over as he did so.
"Sheesh! Where did that idiot run off to?!" Masaru huffed in annoyance as he and Yoshino made their way to their seats.
Yoshino shrugged her shoulders, but she knew. She had seen Touma follow that girl Christina and her boyfriend to the back of the building, where their other friends probably were. 'Is he going to confront them first?' the young woman wondered as she sneaked a glance at Professor Klein, who was conversing with a woman who was probably the school's choir teacher.
A girl wearing the academy's uniform walked past Yoshino and the latter recognized her immediately. "Katherine-san!" she exclaimed. "Are you feeling better?"
The girl, Katherine, stopped and gave them a blank stare. As the girl turned around to face them, Yoshino nearly yelped: the girl's complexion was a deathly grey colour.
"Hey, she doesn't remember anything, remember?" Masaru reminded his teammate in a low voice.
Yoshino sighed. 'Of course…' the young woman thought miserably. 'Unlike Hamasaki-san, Professor Klein and the police used the Memory-Erasure Device on her. But at what costs…?'
"Katherine!" Andy Hamasaki shouted to his friend from halfway across the auditorium. "There you- Hey! Wait, Katherine! Where are you going?!" the boy yelped.
"What the…" Masaru muttered as the blonde girl dashed out of the room.
Bill Worthington's slender fingers were steady as they pressed down on the shiny valves.
…fa, sol, la, ti…
Patrick Owens, the band teacher at Alexander Worthington Academy, cleared his throat. "Bill, while I appreciate your dedication to the school, I think you should reconsi-" he began.
…Do!... The last note echoed off the walls of the dressing room.
As the echoes died down, Mr. Owens sighed. "Suit yourself," he said as he stood up. "Do your best out there. Make your great-grandfather proud."
Bill nodded as Owens left the room. For the first time in half an hour, Bill was alone.
The tall boy winced as he pressed a hand to his bandaged face. Despite telling himself and everyone else otherwise, his face was still throbbing with pain.
'But I have to do this…' Bill reminded himself as he raised the trumpet to his lips again. 'This was the first song that Serena composed. I have to play the solo; I just have to. No one else will get it right, because they won't understand. No one will…' Bill's hands were trembling. 'What this song really means to her… to us…'
Bill sighed. Then, he began playing again.
"...to me…"
Backstage, the Green room was in chaos.
"We're on in ten minutes!" a girl realized.
"Why we do we have go first?!" another wailed.
Phoebe was still practicing on the piano in the corner of the room. Discordant music came from it.
"Phoebe Yang, don't tell me you still haven't perfected that piece?!" Anna's cruel voice cut through the noise.
"Is Katherine back yet? I have to use the restroom too!" another girl complained.
"What's taking her so long?" Judy wondered aloud.
"What's up?" a male voice asked. All noise in the room immediately ceased as all twenty girls turned towards the figure standing at the doorway.
Anna walked to the front of the room. "Andy," she greeted the boy coldly.
Andy didn't flinch as he stared back at her with equally cold eyes. "Anna," he replied.
The silence continued. Seconds passed.
Judy finally broke the silence. "Andy Hamasaki, what are you doing here?" she asked. "You know that the Green room is off-limits to non-performers."
Andy broke off eye contact with Anna long enough to answer Judy's question. "I was looking for Katherine," he replied.
"She went to the restroom," Judy replied. "You'll see her soon, so get back to your seat."
Andy nodded, but he and Anna were still glaring at each other.
Anna narrowed her eyes at the boy. "I won't forgive you," she said quietly.
Andy turned to leave. "I know," he said as he departed.
Phoebe stood up from the piano just as Anna stormed out of the room.
"What's with her?" Phoebe heard a girl whispered.
"Andy is Anna's ex," the girl's friend whispered back. "They broke up because Anna was a bitch to Katherine, Andy's childhood friend. It's all very messed up…"
"I'm going to look for Anna and Katherine," Judy announced to the other girls in the room.
"But Miss Haley will be back any moment now!" one of her classmates protested.
"Don't worry," Judy replied. "We'll be back before you know it."
Masaru was looking for his seat by himself. As luck would have had it, Yoshino had also run off without any explanation to him.
"When I get my hands on those two…" the brunette muttered under his breath as he walked down the aisle. "18, 17, 16…15! Here it is! And my seat is number 27, right next to…" Masaru looked up and his eyes opened wide in surprise. "…this guy…"
Robert Pan nodded to the Japanese in greeting. "Hi," he muttered. He saw that the brunette was staring at the seat next to him.
"Is this your seat?" he inquired. "Sorry." He stood up to let Masaru pass.
"Thank you for muffin yesterday," Masaru told his seatmate as soon as they were both seated. "Very good. Agumon… he like it very much!"
Robert smiled wearily. Masaru's English was improving, and now the two of them could have short conversations without using a translator. "You're welcome," Robert replied. "But I think you should find Amy and thank her too. After all, she did make them."
Masaru nodded in reply. Robert didn't know how much the brunette understood him, but there was no point in asking him about it.
The two of them sat in silence for exactly twenty seconds before Masaru spoke up again. "Where are your friends? They no come?"
Robert sighed. "Allen and Christina went backstage to visit Amy, Roscoe, and Bill. Did you know? The three of them are playing in the band tonight, and Bill has a solo!"
Masaru blinked. "Why you no go with them?"
Robert shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't want to bother them," he muttered.
However, that was a lie. Initially, Robert had followed quietly after Allen and Christina. He had been planning to sneak up on them to surprise them. However, as soon as he had caught sight of Touma H. Norstein heading in the same direction, Robert turned around and hightailed back to his seat in the auditorium.
Masaru was still staring at Robert. The latter squirmed in his seat as the brunette's intense gaze. Robert could not help but feel that the Japanese was trying to look through him at his inner thoughts.
"You remember?"
Robert blinked. "What?" he asked.
"You remember?" Masaru repeated. "Today is Saturday."
"Of course I know today is Saturday!" Robert exclaimed, aghast. "What do you take me for, an idiot? Even though I do suck when it comes to math and algebra, I'm not-!"
"Saturday," Masaru repeated. "Today you tell Eric Klein, remember? About DATS…and you."
Suddenly, Robert remembered all too well.
Robert stared at his lap. "I know," he said quietly. "I know I have to tell him, but I…" his voice trailed off.
Masaru sighed and shook his head. "Don't know?" he asked in a voice that was almost gentle.
The other boy blinked. "I don't know…" he whispered as images of Dinohumon, fire, blood, Eric Klein's merciless gaze, angry brunettes, math questions, muffins and cookies all flashed through his mind.
Masaru sighed once more as he turned to face the front of the auditorium. "Okay," he said in defeat.
"Can I ask you something?" Robert suddenly asked. The brunette gave him a confused look. "If I say yes…or if I said no, and forget everything…Either way, do you…do you think that the two of us can be friends?" he asked timidly. "Tomodachi?"
To Robert's surprise, the Japanese's response was almost instantaneous. "We already are," Masaru smirked.
It was then that Robert knew what his answer to Professor Klein would be.
The door to the dressing room swung open. Bill raised an eyebrow as Judy Taylor appeared in the doorway. "Judy, Robert's not here," he said lazily.
"Bill! That's- that's not what I mea- Oh, forget it!" Judy stammered. Her pale face was now bright pink. She took a deep breath to steady herself. "I heard you were playing," she said calmly. "Despite your injury. Are you sure-?"
"I'm fine," Bill glared at her. "Anyway, you never explained yourself: Why. Are. You. Here?" he asked slowly.
Judy frowned. "I was looking for Katherine or Anna," she explained. "Have you seen them?"
"No, I haven't seen them," Bill snapped. "For your information, I've been inside this room for the last thirty minutes, so there!"
Judy snorted. "It was only a question. You didn't have to be so rude about it," she muttered.
Bill raised the trumpet to his lips again as Judy slammed the door behind her. Coat hangers and other objects clanged against each other as the room shook, but Bill ignored them.
"Girls…" he muttered. "What Robert sees in her… I have no idea."
A thick red curtain separated the audience from the stage. It was also the only thing that separated the light of the auditorium from the darkness of the stage.
A girl with short blonde hair groped her way through the darkness. Her bare hands touched the soft fabric of the curtain.
"I can't see…" she whispered. "Why? Why can't I see?" she gasped. She could hear voices all around her in the darkness. "What's going on? What's going on?!" she wailed. The mysterious voices drowned out her cries. "Stop it! Tell me! Tell me who you are!"
"Don't you remember anything?" A cruel voice chuckled.
Bright flashing lights. The black rain. The cold wind. A wall of pink light. Blue hair…and even pink hair…
"Are you feeling better?" The pink-haired woman asked her. Who was she, and how did she know?!
"Are you afraid?" the voice laughed.
Lights, rain, wind, blue hair, rain, wind, lights, blue and pink hair, lights, wind, rain, blue-
"You really can't remember?" the voice asked.
The girl fell to her knees.
Lights, blue hair, an arrogant smile, a cruel smile, and a pair of sad eyes. For a moment, the girl's heart fluttered as she recalled that arrogant but handsome smile…Who did that smile belong to?
"Oh, but you do…you do."
The faces of Annabel Li and Phoebe Yang suddenly burned themselves into the girl's mind. She screamed.
"So those two are behind your memory loss," the voice snickered. "There's only one thing left for you to do now."
The girl banged her head against the wooden floor of the stage. A cell phone dropped to the ground with a clatter. "Stop…stop…I don't want this…" she gasped. But…
Anna, bright lights, rain, wind, blue hair, Phoebe, blue hair…blue hair…?
Someone was shouting after her...But who…?
A pair of red eyes appeared on the screen of the cell phone.
"What are you waiting for?!" the voice demanded. "It's too late for you to turn back now."
The girl's eyes snapped wide open.
Pain and tears. Laughter and guilt. Fear and hatred. Death and blood.
Death and blood on her hands.
It was too late.
Dark energy oozed from the cell phone and surrounded the girl in a blanket of evil. Red electricity bounced around the room.
"Katherine? Is that you?" a familiar voice cut through all the darkness and the noise.
"Judy?" another familiar voice replied from the other side of the stage.
The girl saw Anna's smirking face in her mind. A new but intense feeling began to swell up inside the girl as the red electricity faded away.
"It doesn't matter…These hands are already stained…" A voice said hopelessly. Who…?
"Katherine!" a bossy voice screamed, and then the girl knew no more.
Judy reached for the light switch. To her surprise, the lights did not turn on. The stage was still in darkness.
Yet, even in the darkness, Judy could see that Katherine was in trouble; she had heard the cries and screams for help.
Judy shivered as she slowly made her way towards Katherine. For some reason, the stage felt colder than usual. Judy glanced up at the catwalks above the stage, expecting to see at least one technician up there; after all, the show was due to start any minute now!
However, the area above the stage was even darker than the stage itself.
Judy gulped nervously.
"Judy! Turn on the lights!" Judy had almost forgotten about Anna. However, she was definitely here in this darkness as well. "I can't see!"
"Just a minute!" Judy shouted as she approached Katherine. "Just let me check on-!"
What happened next…no one would ever know for sure. Even in the darkness, Judy felt her eyes widen as something sinister towered over her. However, before fear had a chance to register in her mind, she heard a sickening slicing sound.
Someone screamed as the darkness in Judy's world was replaced with red.
The floor gave way underneath her, and she fell into an abyss of darkness. As she fell, she heard a familiar voice singing in the distance…
"The shadows are freely embracing my cheeks;
Unfamiliar wings guide me through the skies…"
Her song. Her last song.
"…I return to that place,
High above the clouds…
Where shadows wait to dance…to dance…"
She fell, but there was no pain waiting for her at the end.
Phoebe was finally able to play the piece perfectly.
However, instead of feeling happy and thrilled, Phoebe was feeling even more anxious.
The girl stood up. Anna, Katherine, and Judy had been gone for far too long. Something was wrong; she just knew it!
"Don't!" Plotmon hissed to her from inside the Digivice, but it was too late. Phoebe was already halfway to the door.
Unfortunately, Miss Haley chose to return to her choir at that moment. Phoebe almost fell over as she skidded to a stop in front of her teacher.
"Phoebe! What's wrong?!" Haley demanded.
"Judy! She's not back yet!" Phoebe blurted out. "Anna and Katherine too!"
"Calm down," Miss Haley put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "You stay here. I go get-"
"No!" Phoebe screamed.
Miss Haley and everyone in the room jumped in surprise. Then, they jumped again…
…as a blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the building.
By the time Miss Haley calmed down enough to think, Phoebe Yang was already gone.
"Touma, it's been awhile," Christina greeted the DATS member curtly.
"Yes, it has," Touma replied. He glanced at the girl's bare hands. "I see that your injury has healed considerably; that's very good."
Roscoe stood up. "Just cut to the chase," he said bitterly. "You're here about that professor's proposal, right?"
Amy flinched nervously. Touma's blue eyes were stern and showed no humour at all.
"Lucy Tran has already agreed to join DATS," Touma informed them.
"Why?!" Allen demanded as his friends gasped in surprise. He narrowed his eyes as a horrible thought hit him. "Did you…did you threaten her?"
Touma shook her head. "She agreed to join DATS under her free will," he said.
"But why?" Christina repeated her boyfriend's question.
"Because she wanted to protect someone close to her from a dangerous foe," Touma answered quietly. "And DATS can provide her with that security."
Roscoe snorted. "Right," he muttered. "In my opinion, your organization is more dan-"
"Be quiet, Roscoe!" Amy snapped. "Wait until Touma finishes explaining!"
"Amy…" Roscoe muttered.
"You shouldn't judge people until you hear their side of the story, right?" Amy glanced at Touma. To her surprise, Touma smiled wearily at her. She blushed.
However, Touma didn't notice the change in the girl's complexion as he had already closed his eyes. "Like Lucy, I want each of you to freely come to a decision regarding DATS," he continued slowly. "Professor Klein is here tonight as well; I'm afraid that he will confront you after the concert and force you to make a decision. I don't want it to come to that, and I think my teammates Yoshino and Masaru agree with me as well."
"So, there are disagreements within DATS as well," Christina realized.
"DATS have had their share of internal conflicts," Touma explained. "A few of them…were caused by members with evil intentions…" Touma grimaced as he seemed to remember something. However, he quickly recovered. "However, the source of most of these conflicts stemmed from a lack of trust between members. There are many brilliant people in our organization but they do not always work well together. Do you remember the Memory-Erasure device I showed you from our first encounter? Professor Klein invented that."
"Seriously?!" Allen balked.
The DATS member nodded. "Most senior officials at DATS have made a major contribution to the organization, be it a powerful invention such as the Memory-Erasure device or their vast knowledge. However, the reason that I brought up the professor and the Memory-Erasure device is because I don't want any of you to misunderstand him. Although he did threaten you all with the Memory-Erasure device, he only did so because… because…"
Christina, Allen, Roscoe, and Amy stared at Touma as he suddenly hesitated.
"What?" Roscoe asked suspiciously. "Do you know-?"
The sound of death and pain interrupted the boy.
"What was that?!" Allen was the first to return to his senses as she blood-curdling scream subsided. "It sounded…it sounded…Phoebe!" The boy yelped as Phoebe ran past the dressing room.
Touma's eyes widened in surprise as the girl passed her. Phoebe was crying, as if she already knew what had caused that horrible scream…
The audience was becoming restless.
Robert checked his watch. It was five minutes past seven. The concert was supposed to start five minutes ago, but-
Suddenly, a scream echoed throughout the building.
"What the…?" Masaru muttered as he leapt to his feet. He stared at the stage's curtains in front of him. "It came from behind there!" the brunette realized as he turned to his seatmate…
Robert was already gone.
"Robert Pan!" Masaru recognized Professor Klein's voice; the man was somewhere in the audience. "Don't go any closer!"
Masaru leapt onto the stage just as Robert disappeared behind the curtains. A second later, the Japanese joined him as the curtains were drawn aside.
Masaru would remember what he saw on the other side of the curtains that night for the rest of his life.
The first thing that the brunette saw was the unconscious girl on the ground. He had seen her earlier: she was Katherine, the girl whose memories DATS had erased. She was so pale that Masaru thought she was dead, but he didn't have time to affirm those suspicions as his attention had already been drawn to another girl on the stage.
"Anna…" Masaru turned and saw Touma, Roscoe, Amy, Christina and Allen rush onto the stage. Christina put a shaking hand to her mouth as she stared at Anna's trembling figure on the ground. Anna's eyes were wide open, so she was probably conscious.
Conscious and in shock.
Masaru shook his head, trying to get the image of the terrified girl out of his head. He looked around and finally saw Robert kneeling over something. "Robert!" the brunette yelled as he rushed over to his friend. "Are you-!" The Japanese gasped as he saw the large hole in front of Robert. However, that was not the only thing that he saw:
Blood. Blood was everywhere at the bottom of the hole. Masaru thought he was going to be sick, but then his eyes fell on a piece of purple fabric. His school's uniform was the same purple colour. The brunette felt his heart sinking as his eyes slowly trailed down the cloth…
"Judy!" someone screamed hysterically behind him.
Masaru threw up his dinner when he saw the bloody hand attached to the end of the fabric. By this time, a large crowd had gathered around the hole in the middle of the stage. Those who were still conscious stared down at the mutilated and bloody corpse of Judy Taylor with terror in their eyes and body.
"No way…" Roscoe managed to squeak. Amy was crying hysterically on his shoulder. Beside them, Christina and Allen were trying to find comfort in each other's arms.
"Judy!" Phoebe screamed again. "Judy!"
Miss Haley and Mr. Scott stopped the girl before she could rush over to her deceased friend.
Touma walked up to Professor Klein, who was standing right behind a kneeling Robert. "Professor…" Despite his best efforts, Touma's voice was slightly trembling. "Did…did a Digimon do this?" he asked quietly.
Up to now, Robert had been very quiet and still. However, now he flinched at the sound of Touma's question.
"Yes," Klein replied just as quietly.
"A Digimon did this…" Robert realized…
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Robert's scream was even more intense and hysteric than Phoebe's had been.
Professor Klein grabbed Robert's arm as the latter attempted to jump into the hole where Judy's corpse was. "Stop this," the man ordered in a firm voice.
"NO, NO, NO!" Robert shook his head in denial. "This can't be…Judy! Let me go! LET ME GO!"
"Calm down!" Klein raised his voice at the horrified boy. Robert was hyperventilating now.
"Bring her back! Bring Judy back!" Robert pleaded with the professor. "You…YOU KILLED HER!" He roared. "Judy… JUDY DIED BECAUSE OF YOUR MONSTERS! YOUR DIGIMON DID THIS! THOSE DIGIMON THEY-!"
"Enough," Klein said firmly as he pulled Robert to his feet. "Come with me."
"Professor!" Touma shouted after his superior, but Eric Klein was already dragging a screaming and crying Robert off the stage.
"Robert!" Masaru had finally finished throwing up and was now concerned about the wellbeing of his friend. The brunette turned to Touma. "Where is he taking him?!" he demanded.
As on cue, both boys saw Professor Klein pull out the Memory-Erasure device from his pocket…
Robert saw the familiar device as well. "NO!" he screamed as he thrashed madly, trying to get the man's grip off him. "LET ME GO! HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME! HEEEELLLLPPPP!"
"Robert!" Masaru rushed towards his friend, only to be stopped by several police officers. "Move it!" the brunette demanded, before unleashing a torrent of swear words in both English and Japanese at the police.
Yoshino stood up. The sight of Judy's bloody corpse had made her legs weak, but she had not fainted. Now, the young woman looked at her teammates with large and frightened eyes.
"Move, move…" The police were already ushering everyone off the stage…and out the building. "We'll get to the bottom of this," they promised as even more police burst into the auditorium.
"Anna! Where is she?! Where is my daughter?!" a man hollered at the police. "I need to see her! I need to know if she is alright!"
"Please…" At the sound of Robert's helpless voice from behind the wall of police officers, Masaru stopped cursing. "Please stop…"
"PHOEBE!" Mr. Scott hollered in surprise as he and Miss Haley suddenly lost their grips on Phoebe Yang.
To everyone's surprise, instead of rushing towards Judy, Phoebe headed in the direction of Eric Klein and Robert Pan.
"Phoebe, stop it right now!" Touma shouted at the girl.
Phoebe pushed her way past the surprised police officers. The only thought that ran through her head as she did so was:
'Just this once… Just this once...Just this once!'
But she was too late. And it was too late for everyone else as well.
A/N: A lot of action happened in this chapter. The death count of humans directly killed by a Digimon is now up to two. Although Blue Scorpion's death had a major impact on Masaru's way of thinking and actions, Judy's death will have an even bigger impact on not only her friends and classmates, but on everyone else who witness her corpse as well. In a way, everything that happens from now on can be trace back to this girl's death. Sometimes, death, or the thought of it, is the only way to change people, to change entire communities.
Anyway, the next chapter will be much shorter. In the next chapter, we will take a break and check in on how the other members of DATS are doing back in Japan. After all, I did promise that this fanfiction would also be about DATS, and that includes not only the senior officials Satsuma and Yushima, but also our favourite DATS' computer operators, Megumi and Miki, and the silent but still-loveable-somehow PawnChessmon!
