Natsuko Ishida sat in her chair, gently rocking her infant son back and forth in her arms. "My little Yamato…my beautiful baby boy…"

She kissed him on the top of his forehead, before squeezing him tightly again. He was staring up at her with his wide blue eyes, giggling slightly. He began to reach for the sky with his tiny hands. "I think someone's hungry," she giggled along with him.

She glanced around the hospital room quickly. This was her first child, and she was slightly embarrassed about exposing her breasts. She opened her robe and cradled her son close to her chest. She suddenly felt an odd sensation and twisted around, only to see the door closed behind her.

Hiroaki Ishida stepped out of the elevator and began to walk down the hall. He had just returned from his shift at the television studio, and he was exhausted. Between his 12-hour shifts and spending time at the hospital, he was almost dead on his feet. Yet, he was not about to miss any time from his wife and child.

As he sipped his coffee and approached his wife's hospital room, he noticed that a man was standing outside the closed door. "Hey!" he called.

The man spun back and smiled slightly. "Oh, hello."

"What do you want?" he asked, very defensive of his family.

"Sorry, a child was born here just a few months ago…the same room, in fact."

"And?"

He gave a slight bow, "I was just interested." He turned and walked towards the elevator at the opposite end of the hall. As he stepped inside and the doors closed, he said, "I was just interested…in seeing the second hero."

My name is Lino Silvano, otherwise known as Mixcoatl, the Digital Hunter. My older half-sister was Maria Silvano, the Daughter of Earth, who fought with the X-Chosen against GranDracmon. I loved her more then anything, I looked up to her more than anything, and then, just like that, she was gone. One of the X-Chosen-I don't even remember who it was-came to my home and told my father what had happened to her. I couldn't believe it, she was gone.

Then, one day, I got my digimon partner, Patamon. I had no idea what to do, how to be a partner. My little brother, Adan, received a Gotsumon. But, unlike my sister, no one trained us, no one taught us, the Chosen had abandoned us, they took Maria from me, then just left me to fend for myself! But Lord Sentry came, he gave me a purpose. I met Bolades and Ines, both of them lost siblings in the war against GranDracmon. We were going to have our revenge against the X-Chosen.

But, that didn't happen like I thought, too many times I had to join forces with DATS in order to save myself, or to make sure that they would be around to destroy one day. I fought with them against the Ancients, and then after Patamon and I evolved to Craniummon, we were taken over by Dagomon and Yddrisil, and forced to attack Mexico City. Masahiko, my own-time fellow Hunter, destroyed Dagomon and freed us.

-----

Twilight of the Heroes:

Chapter I

-----------

Dagomon had been defeated, but Masa and Dorumon had almost lost their lives to do so. Once they had returned to the DATS building, they were quickly examined by Kiku Kido. He sat patiently (as he could) in the examination chair while Kiku bandaged his shoulder and most of his ribcage, "You're very lucky that they got you here as fast as they did. You could have very well bled to death."

He looked over to Bolades and her Bearmon, who were seated in a chair against the wall. The African girl gave a slight smile, "I am happy to see that you have recovered."

"Yeah, thanks."

Miayag, who was standing right next to her son, doting over his injuries, gave him a stern expression, "Masahiko! This girl practically carried you back here within her arms, is that all you have to say to her?"

He flinched slightly and began to blush at the thought of being in her arms, "Um, y…yeah. T…thank you very much."

Bolades began to blush as well, "Well, it was the very least that I could do."

Dorumon lifted his head, "Masa's embarrassed, ha, ha-ouch!" He winced in pain as his laughter caused a sharp pain in his chest.

"Serves you right!" Masa snickered, only to his have a sharp headache erupt through his head. "Oh…" He began to rub his forehead. "How are the others?"

"I believe they are starting to wake up," his mother answered.

---

Sora and Piyomon were pacing the floor, occasionally glancing over at the beds which contained the unconscious forms of Taichi, Kasumi and their partners. "Why won't they just wake up?" Piyomon asked.

"I don't know," the redhead replied, "I don't…."

Her partner smiled slightly, "H…hey, I didn't mean….um…I mean they're okay now since Masa beat Dagomon, so….they'll be fine…"

"I just hope so," she said, "I haven't gotten so many gray hairs like I did in the past year."

Piyomon smiled slightly. Sora knelt down and hugged her partner tightly. "Oh, if it wasn't for you, I would have gone insane a long time ago from the way Taichi drives me crazy sometimes…"

A loud voice suddenly called out, "I heard that…."

Sora jumped back to his feet and saw that Taichi was slowly sitting up in his bed. She tackled him back to the bed, hugging him tightly. "Taichi! Oh Taichi…."

"S…sora," he said, "I…it's okay….I'm okay…."

"Mom? Dad?"

Sora felt tears in her eyes when she saw that Kasumi was awake as well. She dropped Taichi back onto the bed and squeezed her daughter tightly. "Mom…I can't breathe…."

"Kasumi, Kasumi…" she cried.

The girl managed to push her away, "M…mom! I'm fine! Really…." She glanced around the room, "Where's Akira?"

Sora dried her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, "He's with Adan and Ines, watching over Mixcoatl."

Her ears perked, "He's here?"

Her mother nodded quickly, "Y…yes, but…"

She jumped out of bed and ran into the hall. "Kasumi!" Sora shouted.

Taichi chuckled, "That's our daughter..heh…."

Sora gave him a glance, then looked back at the door.

--------------

As Kasumi ran down the hall, she did peer into the other rooms: Yamato, Gabe, Shiro, Mitsuo, and Kenji had all awoken and were being embraced by their families. She smiled to herself before jumping into the last room where Mixcoatl and his Patamon were lying in the hospital bed; Ines, Adan and Akira were standing around him.

"Oneechan!" the redhead gasped, "You're awake!"

"Yeah, thanks for waiting with Mom and Dad!"

He blushed slightly, "I…um…"

The girl sighed and mentioned to the unconscious Hunter, "How's he doing?"

"He's still asleep," Adan answered, staring at his brother, "I hope he wakes up soon."

Ines placed a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, no worries, right? I mean, nothing's gonna stop your brother."

He smiled slightly, "Yeah."

As if on cue, Mixcoatl and Patamon began to stir. The Hunter slowly opened his eyes, but when he saw Akira and Kasumi he twisted his head from side to side before addressing Ines and Adan. "What happened?"

"Brother!" Adan cried, "You're awake!"

Ines smiled as well, "I'm glad to see that you're back with us, boss."

He looked back to Kasumi and Akira. Before the Yagami children could speak, the Hunter narrowed his eyes, "Are we your prisoners?"

"What?" Akira gasped, "We were just worried about you!"

"Well, we're fine, so we'll be leaving now…"

"Where?" Kasumi asked, "Back to the Hunters? Don't you know that they were the ones that woke up Dagomon? Not to mention that they created the Demons and didn't tell you about it! And worse of all, he's gonna bring GranDracmon back!"

He twirled quickly to stare at her, "What?"

"GranDracmon?" Patamon asked, "They're going to bring back GranDracmon?"

"You're lying!" Mixcoatl snapped.

"No, we're not!" the girl shouted back, "My Dad heard it from your boss himself!"

The Hunter snorted, "Right, like I'm going to trust him, he's the worst out of all of you! He sold out to the government, and the rest of you followed!"

Kasumi was beginning to lose her temper, "Say one more bad thing about my Dad, and I'll knock your lights out!"

Mixcoatl jumped out of bed and his Patamon fluttered beside him. "Lino?" his partner asked.

Mixcoatl ignored him and spoke to Ines, "Where is Bolades?"

"She's visiting Masa, he saved us, you know."

"I don't care what that traitor did, we're leaving, now!"

Adan hesitated, "But…"

"But what?" he snapped.

"Hey," Akira said, "Why don't you just let him talk?"

"Stay out of this, you piece of scum!"

"Hey!" Kasumi screamed, "Don't talk to my little brother like that!"

"You are nothing but DATS scum that I'm going to destroy!"

"We're trying to help you, you thick head!" Kasumi shouted back, "I've given you so many chances, we've all tried to convince you, why won't you listen? Why are you so stubborn?"

"I am a Hunter, not a DATS agent!" He turned and walked towards the window, "Now come on Adan! Ines, get Bolades and meet us…."

He stopped and glanced over his shoulder: Adan and Ines were standing in place. "What are you two doing?"

Adan hesitated for a moment before speaking, "W…we're not going…"

"What?" he exclaimed.

Adan took a deep breath, "We're not going. DATS isn't evil, they helped to save you…"

Mixcoatl simply could not believe his ears. He looked to Ines, but he saw by the expression in her eyes that she stood with Adan. "Traitors! You are all traitors!"

He summoned the Spear of Earth in a burst of brown light. Akira gasped loudly and Kasumi was about to summon her Claymore, but Mixcoatl swung his weapon into the window, shattering the glass. He leapt through the window, followed shortly by Patamon. They ran to the window, but he had already dropped down the fire escape and vanished.

"Damn it!" Kasumi exclaimed, "He's driving me insane!" She sighed deeply, "I was just trying to help him, why wouldn't he let me?"

Adan stood at the window and stared outside, "Brother…"

-------------

In the Hunter's base, Lord Sentry and Araki examined the large orb that contained an unholy concoction of a mysterious substance. It bubbled and swirled, churned and spun. Araki sat down at the machinery and examined the display. "Dagomon's data has been successfully uploaded and integrated."

"Good," Sentry replied, "But we still have two memory slots left."

"Any thoughts on whom?"

"No, but we have run out of time, Yddrisi has opened to us, we have to move forward now. Download the program into my circuits."

She gasped, "A…are you certain?"

"Yes, and do not question me again."

"R…right," she nodded quickly. Sentry sat down and opened his jacket, followed by his shirt. His chest was mostly human, but a large metal plat was covering most of his left side and shoulder. Araki attached an Ethernet cable to the machine, then to a port on Sentry's metal chest. She entered a few commands onto the machine, "Download commencing."

------------

As Mixcoatl and Patamon ran through the streets, the digimon could not help but ask, "Why did we have to leave like that?"

"We don't belong there!" he shouted, "We are Hunters, not DATS!"

"But…Adan and Ines and Bolades…"

"Traitors! All of them, traitors!"

Patamon could only stare at his partner; he had instantly condemned his brother and his two friends…what happened to the boy he met so long ago? This could not be the same person, could it?

What the digimon did not know was that the human's mind was flooded with conflicting emotions and questions. Why did Lord Sentry want Dagomon freed? Did he know that the squid-digimon would make a slave out of all Royal Knights? Was DATS right, was Sentry just using him? Could it be…that everything he had believed it, was just a lie?

Mixcoatl stopped in front of an electronics store, where a computer was on display in the store-front window. "I guess this is a good place." He grabbed his cell phone from his belt, "This is Mixcoatl, I need a gate."

A moment later, a glowing circle appeared in front of them. They both jumped inside to arrive in a dark room where Rudra was standing in front of some sort of computer terminal. "Well, look who comes crawling back."

He glared at his fellow Hunter, "Shut up, I'm not in the mood."

He walked to exit the room, but Rudra stepped in front of him, "And where do you think you're going?"

Mixcoatl glared at him, "To see Lord Sentry?"

Rudra crossed his arms and snickered, "I wouldn't be too worried about speaking to him right now."

"Oh really? And why's that?"

"First of all, he's in a secret meeting with Artemis and Orion, and second, he's pretty pissed at you for joining with DATS against that Ancient."

"Ancient Sphinxmon was too dangerous, I had to! Now get out of my way!"

The other Hunter was still chuckling as he stepped aside, allowing Mixcoatl to pass. "Um, Lino," Patamon said, flying beside him, "Are you sure this is a good idea? If Lord Sentry's mad at us…"

"I'm going to see him," he simply replied.

"Why? What's so important that….?"

"I was made a slave of Dagomon, why was he freed?"

Patamon tried to think of something to say, but could only just nod. He floated after his partner as they approached the closed door to Lord Sentry's office. Patamon was about to tell his partner to wait, but Mixcoatl kicked the door open and marched inside. Lord Sentry was indeed speaking to Artemis and Orion. All three Hunters turned to him. "Mixcoatl," Sentry smiled, "You're back-I see that you did not bring the traitors with you."

"Traitors?" he asked.

"Yes, your brother and the two girls, we know they were working with DATS while you were under Dagomon's influence."

"Well, sir, that's why I'm here. Why was Dagomon freed to begin with? I know that it was the Demon Master, but why didn't you tell us that the Demons were our allies? And why did Dagomon have to be freed?"

"Ya little punk!" Artemis shouted.

Orion glared at him. "How dare you come in here and…"

"That's all right," Sentry said, "I suppose he should know." He mentioned to the other Hunters, "We were just discussing that. Dagomon was freed, because he will lead us to Yddrisil, the host computer of the Digital World, and with the host computer of the Digital World in our hands, we will have control over all electronic and digital equipment in this world."

Mixcoatl blinked, "W…world domination? I…I thought our goal was the extermination of DATS….t….the ones that lead to my sister's death….b…because they sold out to the governments of Earth…."

"That was our goal, yes, but world domination is so much more…rewarding."

" But what about the Chosen of the world?" he questioned, "They're not just going to let us…"

"That is why we must revive our master."

"Your master?" Patamon exclaimed.

"Yes, with Yddrisil in our control, we can access the underworld of the Digital World, the place where all deleted files have collected, so we can bring back GranDracmon, the Demon Lords, and my grandfather, Juro!"

Mixcoatl felt his heart come to a strop. "G…grandracmon? Grandracmon?! You're bringing back that…that monster! He killed my sister!"

Sentry smirked as he rubbed his chin, "Yes, I suppose he did…"

The Hunter could not believe what he was hearing, "We were supposed to destroy DATS because they were forcing Chosen to…to…to…, b….but GranDracmon will destroy everything!" He summoned the Spear of Earth, "I won't let you do this! Patamon, evolve!"

"Right!" his partner grinned. "Patamon evolve to…"

Lord Sentry smirked as he simply waved his hand, sending out a pulse of energy that canceled out Patamon's evolution. "Very bad," he chuckled, "You forgot about my ability to cancel out all evolution except by digimon possessing the X-Antibody, and you do not posses it."

Mixcoatl looked to his partner, then back at Sentry. He held his weapon tightly, "I still possess a weapon of the First Chosen, something you don't!" He swung the spear at the Hunter's leader, but Sentry easily grabbed it, squeezing it tightly in his hand.

"I think you forgot who you are speaking to, and since you have failed to destroy the DATS children-instead joining with them, your usefulness is over." He easily threw the former Hunter back into the ground, spear and all. Mixcoatl jumped back to his feet and charged again. Sentry smirked and pointed his fingers forward, "3D Laser!"

A massive blast of energy exploded forth, enveloping the human. He screamed; it was more pain then he had every experienced before-he felt like his skin was peeling from his bones, his cybernetic implants melting, his entire body shaking with energy. He fell to the ground, too weak to even move his arms. Sentry stepped closer to the fallen Hunter.

"Leave him alone!" his Patamon shouted, "Air Shot!"

Lord Sentry easily batted aside the attack, then with a simple flick of his finger, sent the digimon crashing into the ground. "Let us be clear of one thing," he said, leaning closer to the fallen partners, "You were only important because you had the Spear of Earth, it was a perfect psychological weapon against DATS, it was like fighting their dead friends. But, for what its worth, you were a good servant, but now you're nothing but a failure."

Mixcoatl whipped his arm around, slashing at Sentry's face with his spear. The Hunters leader threw his head back, yelling out in pain. As he stumbled backwards, he fell into Artemis and Orion. By the time they untangled themselves, Mixcoatl and Patamon were gone.

"Damn him!" Sentry exclaimed.

Artemis snorted, "He's a walkin' corpse."

"The point is, he's still walking."

"Oh please, allow me to go after him," a cloaked figure asked, stepping out of the shadows, "I have been ever so bored since coming here."

Lord Sentry smiled, "Yes, go ahead, Sakumi, have fun."

The Demoness grinned a wicked smile.

--------

Mixcoatl and Patamon had managed to escape the Hunter's base and were now wandering through a vacant metallic city in NeoDigital. Once they were a safe distance away, they collapsed in an alley.

Patamon attempted to fly, but his ear was too damaged to act as a wing. He instead trotted along the ground to peer around the corner; the city streets were completely deserted. "I think we're okay…for now, at least." He turned to his partner, who had his back against the wall of the decaying building, starting blankly at the ground. Patamon trotted over to him. "Lino, h…how are you….?"

He did not answer. He could not find the words, how could he explain how he was feeling, what he was experiencing? He had believed that Lord Sentry was his future, his 'master.' He gave him a purpose when he had none, but that purpose was nothing but a lie.

Or was it? He missed Maria more than anything, but he felt that DATS had betrayed the things that Maria died for, and Sentry used that grief, made him hate DATS, in time, he wanted revenge, he wanted DATS to pay, to feel the same way that he did. The Hunters wanted to destroy DATS, and…and that was what he wanted to. Part of him knew that the Hunters had a goal beyond simply destroying DATS, but he did not care. He wanted DATS to go away, he could not blame Lord Sentry or the Hunters, this was his own doing.

Part of him knew that what he was doing was not right, is that why he continued to join with DATS time and again? Did that part of him force him to return to the Hunters this time, so he could finally see, finally realize what exactly the Hunters were. They were not freedom-inspired vigilantes striving to take down the 'evil' DATS, they were the evil ones.

"I'm sorry," he finally said.

"What?" Patamon asked, turning to face him.

"I'm sorry, this is my fault…I'm sorry for getting you involved in my personal problems."

"Personal problems?" he gasped, "What are you talking about?"

"All of this, it's my fault…" he sighed deeply, "And now because of me, we're completely fucked, we don't even have anyone to turn to….the Hunters will find us…and then its over….Adan I just wish I could see you again…tell you I'm sorry for making you join me on my…stupid revenge…" He chuckled, "Adan…I just hope you're happy…"

-------

"He left?" Shiro gasped, jumping out of the bed, "I don't believe it!"

"Easy, Oniichan," Yasu said, "You're still hurt."

"I can't believe it!" he exclaimed, "Doesn't he realize what the Hunters are doing?"

"Maybe he just can't," Psychemon suggested, "Maybe he needs to see it for himself."

"He did see it for himself," the boy sighed, "When he was taken over by Dagomon."

Yasu munched on a brownie from her plate of treats, "Well, why are you worrying about it anyway? Good riddance!"

Labramon looked to her, "Yeah, but what about Adan? I thought you liked him."

She flinched, "Um..uh….y…yeah, he's cool…"

"So why don't you like his brother?"

"Shut up, all right?" she snapped.

"Yasu!" Shiro scolded her.

In addition to Shiro, Yasu and their partners, the hospital room also contained Bolades, Eliane and their partners. "Where iz Ines?" the French girl asked.

"I do not know," Bolades said, "But she enjoys spending time by herself."

"Oh." She fidgeted in her seat.

"Is something bothering you?" she asked the younger girl.

"W…well, I…I was just wondering, why did you become a Hunter?"

The African woman sighed, a serious expression on her face. "Oh, I…I apologize if it iz zomet'ing zat you do not want to tell…"

"No…no, it is okay," she said, "I suppose you have a right to know." She took a deep breath, "When I received Bearmon, I had no one to explain to me how to be a Chosen, I was alone." She took another breath, "Unfortunately, my homeland can be very…dangerous for females. While walking home one night, I was abducted by men who were…" She struggled to speak, "…who were s-sex-traffickers. Bearmon tried to protected me, but he was not strong enough to withstand their weapons. They opened fire on him, he would have died, if the Hunters had not come to our rescue."

"So, zat is why you joined zem?"

"Yes," she hung her head low, "I am ashamed to say, but yes. It was then that I met Mixcoatl and Adan. We were soon joined by Ines, who was escaping from a…an abusive family. We were trained by the Hunters, but it was Mixcoatl who embraced it. He was escaping from the pain he felt from his older sister's death, and Lord Sentry made us believe that DATS was betraying the ideals of the Digital World, by joining with the governments of this world. It was not long before Adan, Ines and I realized that we did not truly believe the same as Lord Sentry, yet we could not forsake the Hunters, who saved us, nor could we simply leave Mixcoatl, we decided that it would be all of us, or none."

She frowned, staring at the floor, "And yet, it seems we have broken that promise, as Mixcoatl has returned to the Hunters."

Eliane smiled slightly, "I do not think that any explanation would convince him."

"Yes, maybe, but…" She sighed, "I only hope he realizes it himself before it is too late."

------------

In another room of the hospital, Taichi, Yamato and Mitsuo were seated with Miayag. "I hope that you three are feeling well," she said with a smile.

"Yeah," Taichi grumbled, rubbing his shoulder, "I hope we feel better soon."

"A little sore?" Yamato said with a chuckle.

Taichi glared at him, "And what about your leg? You're limping."

"Getting back on topic…." Mitsuo said in a loud voice.

"Yes," Miayag nodded, "We need to discuss the two remaining Ancients."

Taichi frowned, "Ancient Greymon and Ancient Garurumon."

"Correct. They were on a rampage across Europe, there is a good possibility that they could have killed every Chosen across the planet if they were not stopped."

Yamato nodded, "Yeah, I noticed that there weren't any news reports about them, what happened."

She hesitated, "I…I am sorry, b…but I did only what I could think of…"

"What?" Taichi gasped, expecting the worse.

"I…I promised that you and Yamato would personally battle them….within one day."

Taichi and Yamato stared at one another. "And when was this promise made?" Yamato questioned.

"Yesterday," she frowned, "Fifteen hours ago, to be precise."

Taichi sighed, "So, in ten hours…?"

"Nine," Agumon X clarified.

"Fine, in nine hours…?"

His cousin nodded, "Yes, I am sorry…It was all I could do, the Chosen population is at one fourth of what it was only days ago."

Taichi looked to Yamato again. The blond man shrugged slightly, "Let's just hope we're back to normal enough to stand a chance."

------------

Hikari and Asami were in the hospital's cafeteria, feasting on miso soup. The middle-aged woman was grinning, "You're really happy," her daughter stated.

"Yes," she said, "Everyone is okay, they all came back, we didn't lose anyone."

"Yes," Asami said with a grin, "Because of Masa."

Hikari nodded, "Yes, Megumi's son is certainly powerful."

Her daughter nodded quickly, "Yeah, b…but Mom, I helped him!"

"What?"

"He was going to lose, Dagomon was about to k…kill him, but….but I used my Chance power, and….and I'm not even really sure what I did, but Mom, I blocked Dagomon from contacting Yddrisil! He couldn't heal himself and Masa won!"

Hikari stared at her daughter, "And…you're sure it was Chance? Your power, is Chance?"

Asami blinked, "I…I am pretty sure, Dagomon said it was Chance." She stared at her mother, "So, that means that Juro is really my great-grandfather, right?"

Hikari smiled, "Yes, and your other great-grandfather is Yuushi. Asami, you are the perfect fusion of Fate and Chance, and it was made with the love from your father and I. When Lord Sentry tried to create life like that, he failed, Masa and Masanori are twins, but with different powers, but the greatest power came from love."

Asami began to blush, "M…Mom!"

Hikari walked over and hugged her tightly, "I just want you to know, I love you."

-------

Adan was seated in the hospital room of Kasumi Yagami, along with Akira and their digimon partners. The teenage girl was seated cross-legged in the bed, playing on her Playstation PSP3, engaging in a desperate struggle for supremacy against Yuki Agumon, who was playing on her own PSP3.

"I got you now!" Kasumi grinned, rapidly pushing the button.

"Don't even bet on it!" her partner shouted back, smashing the button on her own device so hard it threatened to crack.

Akira was lazily watching television, flipping through the channel every so often. Falcomon and Gotsumon were playing cards.

The bird studied the cards in his hand carefully. He glanced at Gotsumon, then back at his cards. "I raise you…one cookie." He threw the treat into a pile of other candies and pastries.

Gotsumon narrowed his eyes at his opponent. "I'll raise you a sticky bun."

They both threw down their cards. "Damn it!" Falcomon grumbled, watching as Gotsumon shoveled the pot onto his side.

Adan was staring out the window, watching the sun in the sky. "Brother…." Suddenly a strange feeling washed over him. He gasped loudly. "Something wrong?" Akira asked.

"My brother…

"Huh?" Kasumi asked, turning to him.

"My brother's calling me!" he gasped, jumping up from his chair.

"Your brother's calling you?" Gotsumon asked him.

He nodded quickly, "Yes! He needs me, he's in trouble!"

"How you do know?" Yuki Agumon questioned.

"I…I don't know, maybe it's because he has the Spear of Earth, b…but I can't talk, he needs me!"

He ran towards the door, when Kasumi called out to him. "Wait!"

Adan twirled to face her, "I have to go, please don't try to stop me."

The girl smiled, "Stop you? Heh, we're gonna go with you."

--------

Sakumi, the Demon Princess, walked through the abandoned city that encircled the Hunter's base. Her cloak was billowing behind her, as she scanned the buildings and alleys. She knew that he was here; he was too injured to escape very far. She would find him, he would not escape.

A small explosion of light caught her eye; it was in the distance, but clearly visible in the blue sky-a Digital Gate had opened! Sakumi smiled slyly, it seemed that Mixcoalt had managed to call for help, but it did not matter, her Orochimon was hungry.

---------

Akira cautiously looked around the metal city. "This is where the Hunter's base is?"

"One of them, yes," Adan answered and he hurried through the streets, "My brother is here somewhere."

Kasumi examined the collapsing buildings and decaying streets, "Let's just hurry up and find him so we can get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

"We're too out in the open," Akira added, "I don't like it either.

Adan did not appear to be listening, as he was running through the streets, peering in each alley as he past. "Brother!" he called, "Brother!"

Akira charged him and planted his palm around his mouth, "Are you trying to get us caught?"

He pushed out of his grip and continued running through the streets. "Adan!" Akira shouted, running after him.

"You don't understand," the other boy said, "You have a mother and father, I don't have anyone except for my brother!"

"Yeah, I understand, but what good's it going to him, or us, if we get caught too!"

"Would you guys shut up?" Kasumi hissed, "The way they'll find us is because you two don't whisper!"

She looked around again, "How are we going to find him?"

Falcomon hovered into the air, "I'll look from above."

"No!" Kasumi said, grabbing his leg, "They'll see you, we need to stay on the ground."

"How are we going to find them?" the bird asked.

The girl looked to her partner, "Do you have anything?"

Yuki Agumon sniffed the air, "I wish Psychemon was here, even Agumon, I'm not really good at this."

"Better then us," Falcomon said.

The white dinosaur smiled slightly, then began to sniff the air. The others followed her as she walked through the streets. After a few minutes, she began to slow, but she continued to sniff the air.

"Do you smell something?" Kasumi asked.

"M…maybe," she answered, "Y….yeah…something…" She began to run through the streets with the others following her. She rounded a turn and stopped, lying before her was Mixcoatl and Patamon. The others arrived a moment later, and Adan pushed past them.

"Brother!" he cried, dropping on top of him, hugging him tightly, "Brother…"

Akira stood over them, "Let's at least help him up, okay?"

The other boy nodded quickly and they helped Mixcoatl to his feet. He was still too injured and would have smashed into the ground if the two boys did not catch him. They shifted their weight so they could support him on their backs.

"What happened?" Kasumi demanded.

He gave a short laugh, "Had a little…argument with Lord Sentry."

"You tried to fight Lord Sentry?" Adan gasped, "You're lucky you're still alive!"

"Idiot!" Kasumi growled.

"Kasumi!" Akira snapped.

"Well, why are we even here saying him if he's just going to go back to the Hunters anyway?"

"I'm not going back to the Hunters," he replied.

"What?"

"Lord Sentry, he's going to revive GranDracmon…."

Kasumi crossed her arms and glared at him with narrowed eyes, "Yeah, we told you that!"

He looked away from her gaze, "I guess…I needed to see that for myself…"

Kasumi stared at him for another moment before sighing and smiling slightly, "All right, let's get out of here."

A shrill, female voice echoed through the empty streets, "I'm sorry, but you're not going anywhere!"

"Oh no!" Akira gasped, "It's…it's her!"

"Her?" Yuki Agumon asked, "Who?"

"Me!" the same voice shouted, as a figure leapt down from the roof, a figure draped in a dark cloak.

Kasumi stared at her, "Y….you're….you're….m….me…."

"In a sense, yes," she answered, removing her hood to reveal her face, the face of Kasumi Yagami, "You were not awake the last time, so let me introduce myself, I am Sakumi, and yes, I am the embodiment of the darkness within you." She looked over her double's shoulder to Mixcoatl, "I didn't think we would be hanging around with someone like him."

Kasumi glared.

"What do you want?" Akira snapped.

"Well, little brother," she chuckled, "I've got my orders, to kill the traitor, Mixcoatl."

Adan gasped, but Kasumi shouted out, "Well, you're not getting him!"

Sakumi raised an eyebrow, "Really? How cute." She grinned, "Well, then let's get this started, okay?" She swung open her arm and suddenly rose into the air as Orochimon appeared beneath her.

"Yuki!" Kasumi shouted, grabbing her digivice. The white dinosaur quickly evolved to Aero V-dramon.

"Falcomon!" cried Akira. The bird evolved to Diatrymon.

"You too, Gotsumon!" Adan ordered. The stone digimon evolved to Monocromon. The land digimon and the air digimon then evolved together to reach their Jogressed form of Rizegreymon.

The armored digimon loaded his shot-gun arm and pointed it at Orochimon, while Aero V-dramon cracked her knuckles. "Leave right now," Akira said, "And you won't get hurt."

Sakumi roared with laughter, "We won't get hurt, heh…I think you've got this mixed up!" Orochimon's heads suddenly shot forward, knocking into the two digimon. Aero V-dramon grabbed the snake's head with her massive fists, but two more appeared and bashed into her sides. Rizegreymon was going to fire from his shot gun arm, but another head knocked the gun upwards, and the bullet exploded harmlessly in the air.

"I've got to help them," Patamon declared. He attempted to hover into the air, but his wing was too damaged and he fell back into the ground.

"Let them…handle this," Mixcoatl said, numbly. His partner reluctantly nodded.

Orochimon's tail whipped around from behind, "Gathering Clouds of Heaven!"

"Watch out!" Kasumi shouted.

Aero V-dramon jumped backwards, but the tail continued forward. It would have struck her, if Rizegreymon had not grabbed it. The Wind Guardian jumped into the air and blasted a V-breath Arrow, but Orochimon's multiple heads batted it aside as they shot into Aero V-dramon. She batted them aside, but there were too many, and they tore through her legs.

"Hang on!" Rizegreymon shouted, "Rising Destroyer!" All his gun turrets fired at once, showering the snake demon with pellets of light. Her heads darted back, then exhaled a blast of pungent air.

"Sake Breath!"

The humans all had to cover their mouths as the stench overwhelmed them, even Rizegreymon and Aero V-dramon had tears blurring their vision. "My eyes are on fire!" the Cyborg shouted.

Through blurred vision, the Wind Guardian was able to make out Orochimon's form. She gathered energy into her wings, "V-Wing Blade!" Two v-shaped blasts of energy exploded from the appendages, blasting into the heads. Sakumi had to grip her partner tightly to avoid being thrown off.

"Damn you!" she shouted, "Orochimon, I'm getting tired of this, finish them off now!"

The snake demon roared from all of her heads. Her tail once again whipped around, "Gathering Clouds of Heaven!"

"Oh, not again!" Aero V-dramon shouted, shooting higher into the air, "Try something original."

"Don't taunt her, Aero," Kasumi shouted, "Remember, she kinda is you!"

"Yeah yeah," the dragon muttered, flexing her muscles. Orochimon smirked and fired her heads once again. The Wind Guardian rolled through the air, avoiding the snarling heads, but she simply was not fast enough. One of the heads knocked into her stomach, then another slashed across her side. Another head grabbed her tightly around the leg and threw her into the ground.

"Aero!" Kasumi shouted, "Come on, get up!"

Orochimon was on top of the dragon in an instant. All eight heads readied themselves for the kill. Sakumi was laughing manically, but her laughter quickly ceased when she heard the sound of a large gun being cocked. She turned and saw Rizegreymon's gun barrel arm pointed directly at Orochimon's body, "Try dodging this, bitch!" the cyborg dinosaur cried, "Trident Revolver!"

The first bullet threw the dragon demon back, the second bullet threw her back further and faster, and the last augmented upon the first two and sent her crashing through building after building before coming to a halt beneath a steel wall.

"All right!" Akira cheered, "Nice job."

Adan nodded quickly, "Let's just get out of here before she wakes up."

----------

Once the group had made it back to the hospital, Mixcoatl was quickly deposited into another bed. Yamato was present as the Hunter was placed within his new hospital room. "We should charge you for that window."

"Dad!" Shiro snapped. He turned to Jyou, and asked in a whisper, "Can't you remove his cybernetics?"

Jyou shook his head, "No, I can't," he responded in a whisper, "The Hunters knew what they were doing, I can't remove them without causing serious problems to his nervous system."

"He's not going to be any more trouble," Adan said, turning to his brother, "Right?"

The blond man sighed, "Well, I'm putting guards outside the room, just in case you try leaving again."

Mixcoatl said nothing as he stared at the ceiling. Yamato sighed and walked out of the room, followed by Jyou, Shiro and Akira. Adan and Kasumi remained. "Brother," the boy said, looking at him hopefully, "You're not going to leave again, right?"

He still said nothing. Kasumi sighed, "Adan, why don't you let me and him talk, all right?"

The boy looked at his brother, then at the girl, then back. He slowly backed away from his brother, then ran from the room. Kasumi shut the door and glared at him. "What the hell is wrong with you, huh? You help us fight Ancient Sphinxmon, then get controlled by Dagomon, but you still run off, and then what, huh? You fight Lord Sentry yourself, and we have to rescue you again! What is your problem?"

To her surprise, he answered, "Sentry…h…he made me believe that…."

He trailed off. "What?" Kasumi asked.

He turned to her, "…that revenge was the way to make my pain go away. I missed Maria so much, I was only 4 years old, but I remember everything about her. I wanted to destroy you because….because I missed my sister. She died to protect the freedom of the Digital World against GranDracmon, but…wasn't DATS the same thing as GranDracmon?"

"No!" Kasumi shouted, "We're not trying to rule the Digimon or anything like that!"

"But you're such a powerful presence to them, its like, you're either part of DATS, or you're not, there's nothing else. They shouldn't have to live like that…"

"That's not true either!" she protested.

He smiled slightly and turned away from her, but after a moment he turned back, "J…just answer me something."

"What?" she snapped, annoyed.

"Why did you come for me? You could have just let me died there."

The girl sighed deeply, "You just don't get it at all, Mixcoatl, you always had a place with us."

He was silent for a moment, then smiled slightly, "Well…I'm not joining you or anything like that, I still think your organization is going to turn into nothing but an overbearing government…but for right now, we've got to stop the Hunters, I don't want any more kids to have to lose their older sisters…."

Kasumi could not help but smile. She turned to leave, when he called out to her, "By the way…my name is Lino."

The girl's smile grew even more and she nodded.

to be continued......