42) Into the Belly of the Beast
"Then who?", Cherubimon asked.
"I could go", Hououmon volunteered.
"I think it should be Saint Galgomon", Cuchulamon explained. "He's got all the fire power, and those Giant Bazookas just might be the thing for getting back out".
There would be no more debating the matter. Something came flying towards them from the roof of a nearby building.
"D-reaper!", Cherubimon called out, "it's trailing a cable".
The color was puke green, but different. The D-reaper seemed to be getting more adept at making anthroform agents. It had orange markings, a black face outlined in orange, and this face was more detailed, and expressive. The look on its face was unmistakable: rage and malevolence.
Even though it was at a size disadvantage, it flew at Saint Galgomon, knocking him to the ground with a single punch. It was as strong as the well muscled physique implied.
Its next intended victim was Sakuyamon. Cherubimon flew in with a kick to its face that drove it off.
"Thousand Lightening Arrows!", he fired at it to drive it back. "Over here! Over here!", he taunted, as he stood on a pile of smashed pavement.
"You're trying to divert its attention?", Sakuyamon asked.
The new agent took a swing at Cherubimon, but succeeded in just pulverizing the pavement, as he leaped out of the way.
"Leave this to us! Go help Dukemon!", he called out.
Cherubimon tackled the agent, and both went flying away from the others.
"Let's go!", Sakuyamon called out.
"OK!", Saint Galgomon agreed. "Shuichon, be careful", he said.
"Moumentai!", Terriermon reassured. "Lopmon won't let any harm come to her", he encouraged.
Saint Galgomon fired his rocket packs, as Sakuyamon led the way towards the Chaos Mass.
Hypnos Temporary HQ
Megumi was watching through binoculars at the old Hypnos building with Yamaki beside her. So far there was not much to see. The Chaos Mass had increased in size, and they were still wondering about the mysterious sphere that had appeared suddenly.
Janyu was replaying the scenes the Ark sent from the Digital World, trying to make sense of why the Digital World D-reaper had attached itself to the Material World Sphere.
"I wonder if it came here?", Janyu asked.
"What?", Shibumi asked.
"The core of its artificial intelligence".
"I suppose it would have a copy in both worlds", Shibumi theorized, "if one were to be destroyed, then it would have a back-up".
"Or would it be more worried about the resistance it would encounter from the digimon? Figure humans wouldn't have the means to threaten it? Conventional arms were ineffective", Janyu disagreed. "I'm going to run a scan of that Chaos Mass... maybe this'll tell us something. I just wonder which way the information's going through that connection"
He began the infrared scan...
"Here, take a look at this", he called Shibumi over. "The temperature is quite consistent, except for this area where it's considerably cooler".
"Why is its effect weaker here?"
"It corresponds to the area around the Hypnos building... That has to be it: that sphere, that has to be the kernel".
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
The latest D-reaper agent returned, this time, much larger.
"Hero's...": Cuchulamon didn't get the chance, as he was struck with a massive fist. This Agent was going to stomp him out of existence.
"Crimson Flare!", Hououmon attacked from above. The D-reaper agent took a fierce swing, but missed, as Hououmon was too nimble.
"Storm of Judgment!", Cherubimon struck. At first, it looked as though these attacks had done the job. The agent disappeared amidst the explosions and lightening strikes. Their relief didn't last very long...
"Look out!", Hououmon called out, as it reappeared.
"Lightening Spear!", Cherubimon sent it into the side of a building. This hardly dazed it at all, and it leaped, aiming for Hououmon. This time, knocking the avian to the ground.
"Ruki!", Cherubimon called out.
"I'll be alright in a sec", Hououmon called back.
Inside the Chaos Mass
Takato and Guilmon were hiding in the woods. Juri's laughter seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.
"Where's Juri!", Takato demanded again.
As if in answer, Juri's hand puppet appeared from behind a tree.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!", it called to them. "D-reaper has retrieved memories of Takato from Juri", the puppet said.
"Wh... what?"
"I forgot my recorder", the puppet said.
Takato recalled. Once again, he was denied recess, having to stay in the classroom, to write another letter of apology. It was that day, when he was late after delaying to examine that strange Blue Card he'd found. He was day dreaming when Juri returned to the classroom to fetch her recorder.
"Woof! Woof!", the puppet appeared around the door frame: "If you don't get busy on that apology, you'll be stuck here forever", it had warned him.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!", the hand puppet was saying just as three sharp claws attached to three blue-gray fingers ripped it to shreds. The laughter continued. The Juri impostor appeared, looking like Juri.
"Always with your 'Digimon, Digimon'", she said.
Takato recalled: that day on the play ground at recess when Juri and her friend Miki had given them a hard time for their interest. "Never get tired of it, do you?", Juri asked. "How childish", she'd accused. This, as she concealed her own interest, just a day or two before she asked Takato to show her Guilmon.
"This is bad", Takato announced, "I'm feeling all fuzzy in the head". He didn't know if this was D-reaper activity, or disbelief that the D-reaper could somehow read minds and memories.
"Takato! Hang in there!", Guilmon said as he supported his partner as it looked like he was on the verge of fainting. "Takato! Takato!"
Fake Juri looked around, still laughing as though there was nothing wrong.
"I'm not a nice girl", she was saying. "When my real mother died, I stopped crying after a few days..."
Takato recalled that conversation as well. It had happened on Qinglongmon's "cloud car": "Stop it, Juri!", he ordered her.
"My step-mother is a good person and I tried to like her... But..."
"Juri!", Takato called out.
"Takato!", Guilmon ordered, "it's not Juri! Don't go to her! It's using your feelings for Juri against you!"
"It's all because of destiny"
This time, any pretense was dropped. "Juri's" face shattered, revealing what was underneath. This agent was anthro, female in appearance with light, blue-gray skin. The eyes reptilian. It was wearing a dark red body suit with gray, knee-length trousers. Its outfit decorated with yellow piping. The hair unruly. Its size increased again, doubling its height.
"Nothingness is beautiful", she announced. "Everything goes back to nothingness".
"Where's the real Juri?!", Takato demanded of her.
This agent was improving: it destroyed entire trees. As it touched them, they burst into data. Takato and Guilmon were running, hoping to outdistance it.
East Shinjuku
"How will we catch up?", Kenta asked. He expected no coherent answer from his partner who was the only digimon who hadn't learned Japanese.
"Saint Galgomon!", he called out as the anthrocat cyborg soared overhead. He hadn't heard.
"That way!", Kenta called out, as he began running.
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Sakuyamon landed on the guardrail of an overpass. "I think it was just about here", she informed Saint Galgomon as he pulled up.
"Do you think we can get in?", he asked.
"Leave that to me", she said, as she struck the rail with her staff. The jingly rings gave off an unusual tone. She swung the staff, tracing out overlapping circles of pink light: "Crystal Sphere!"
The sphere formed from those overlapping pink circles: "Let's go!", as she propelled the Crystal Sphere towards the Chaos Mass. Chaos Mass splashed outwards as the leading edge of the sphere made contact.
"This is...", she began as soon as the Sphere was through.
"...Horrible", Saint Galgomon completed the thought.
Buildings were strewn about at random, as though they were toys some children had neglected to pick up and put away after playing "War".
"Over there!", Sakuyamon had noticed the disturbance in the wooded area not too far off.
More observation drones appeared. These flew right beside Sakuyamon. They had some strange effect...
"You OK?", Saint Galgomon asked, concerned. He'd seen Sakuyamon nearly double over in considerable distress.
"Dammit!", Koichi cursed from inside his Data Sphere.
"There's something wrong here", Renamon told him. "We're losing power much too fast. I don't know if I can hold this form for much longer".
"We have to keep it together, Takato and Guilmon will probably be needing us if this happened to them too".
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
The fake Juri agent was closing in, too close for comfort. Takato and Guilmon were backing away, but Takato tripped himself and Guilmon over broken concrete that shouldn't have been there. The paths had always been better maintained than that. The thing was coming on fast when something small and pink intervened.
"Poo! Poo! Poo!", Marineangemon fired off a barrage of Ocean Love bursts. These burst against the Juri impostor, causing her considerable distress. She finally turned and fled the scene.
"Marineangemon drove it off", Guilmon announced.
"If Marineangemon's here", Takato said, "then..."
"You two, sitting around, screwing off at a time like this?"
"Kenta!", Takato called out.
"What a relief", Kenta said, "We didn't know what we'd do if we couldn't meet up with you"
"Another one", Kenta pointed out the red bubble that emerged from a crack in the sidewalk.
"Poo!", Marineangemon disintegrated it.
"You walk all this way?", Takato asked.
"Yeah"
"Amazing", Guilmon added.
Something caught Marineangemon's attention. Sakuyamon landed, was on one knee, using her staff to keep herself steady. Marinenagemon fired off a series of Ocean Love bursts, which she absorbed.
"Thanks, little dude, not a moment too soon", she was able to stand, as the rings of her staff jingled. "I'm glad I found all of you intact... Kenta, what are you doing here?"
"I'm a Tamer too, yannow"
"Talk later", Saint Galgomon announced. "Let's get the hell out of here!"
He carried the ones who couldn't fly, and headed for the nearest wall of Chaos Mass.
"Giant Bazooka!", he fired off both rockets. They struck, blowing a hole big enough to escape through.
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
The D-reaper agent picked up a huge section of broken pavement, lifted it high above his head. He threw it at Hououmon.
"Hero's Light!", Cuchulamon blasted it to rubble before it could hit her.
"Thanks, Cuchulamon", Hououmon called back.
"We can't get this done?", Cherubimon asked.
"We have to sever that cable", Cuchulamon said. "That's how it powers up, and the frontal assault method is getting the shit beat out of us".
Cuchulamon leaped atop a second story balcony: "Hey! You ugly bastard! Up here!"
As it threw itself at Cuchulamon, Cherubimon slipped behind, grabbed the cable with both hands and pulled mightily, using a highway sign for extra leverage.
"Now! Let him have it!", he called out.
"Crimson Flare!", Hououmon sliced through the cable (Cherubimon dropped to the street unharmed).
The creature roared in agony, as it began to shed Chaos Mass, almost looking like it was on fire. It burst apart into splatters of Chaos Mass.
Saint Galgomon, Sakuyamon, Takato, Guilmon, Kenta and Marineangemon arrived just in time to see its demise.
"Glad to see all of you made it out", Cuchulamon said. "Kenta, Marineangemon?"
"Oh yeah", Kenta explained. "We saw it on the news, and we knew we had to come. Would have been here sooner..."
"You did have to come quite a ways", Sakuyamon replied. "We - me especially - are thankful you arrived when you did. That space, it drains our energy".
"That's what happened to Dukemon", Takato confirmed.
"What I don't get", Guilmon said, "is why that effect ended after I returned to Rookie. It didn't seem to affect me then".
"It's only the higher level digimon", Saint Galgomon theorized. "I felt it too, but didn't come as close to those observation drones, so it didn't affect me as badly as Sakuyamon".
"Juri...", Takato said.
"We know where she is", Sakuyamon told him. "Renamon and Calumon found her. She's inside that sphere that's stuck between the twin towers. She broke through, and at least she isn't alone, she has Calumon with her".
"Then we can get her!"
"It's not gonna be easy by any means", Sakuyamon explained. "That outer shpere is very tough. We'll have to be careful, breaking it without harming Juri. Not so sure how easily it'll give her up".
"Srill...", Takato began.
"Patience, my friend", Sakuyamon reminded. "Let's see what Yamaki's come up with? Maybe he's figured something out?"
Ruki's House
"That is just too weird", Kazu said as they broke their biomerges just outside the front gate. "Guys becoming girls... girls becoming guys", he said as he looked to Shuichon and Lopmon.
"You have to understand that gender isn't fixed", Renamon told him. "In our virtual lives, gender is only by personality and disposition. The biological aspects don't exist there. It sometimes changes with changes in levels".
"We got some idea how the other half lives", Shuichon told him.
"Yes, we do", Renamon and Koichi agreed.
"We made good", Jen told his mother, "back safe and sound, just as we promised".
"It was tough, seeing it live... We said we'd get through it, and we meant it. You did good out there".
"When we stick together, we have each other's backs", Koichi explained.
"We saw", Doyle said, "I shouldn't've underestimated your new friends despite the age difference".
"That is too awesome", his sister said.
"Takato!", Guilmon ran around the back. Takato had detached himself from the gathering in the main room.
"We never got the chance to thank her", Ruki said.
"Who?", Lutramon asked.
"That Alice girl".
"I'm sure she understands".
"Still, it would be nice to know more about her, where she came from".
"Takato, you alright?", Guilmon asked. Takato was standing at the edge of the back yard, just looking off into the distance.
"If you let yourself get all depressed, you might demoralize everyone".
"I know", he sighed.
"We're all worried about Juri"
"I just wonder how she's doing", he explained. "I want to rescue her, get her out of there".
"We all do, and we will rescue her".
Inside the Kernel Sphere
"Culululu? Juri?"
Juri was sitting there, knees pulled to her chest, arms resting on her knees. Even though her eyes were open, she had not moved from that position since Calumon arrived. She said nothing, didn't even give him a glance. Calumon had no idea as what he could do for her.
