Chapter 19 – Doc Kato Azuma

Everyone rushed to the port. The digimon themselves ran close to their partners. Apart from Wanyamon, DemiVeemon, Poromon, Upamon and Minomon, which were carried by their partners. Dark Gennai himself also ran with the DigiDestined.

None of them could say what this action was supposed to do, and rather what he intended. Did King Drasil really wanted to cooperate to destroy the gigantic gizmon, or did he want to destroy the DigiDestined and their partner digimon after the fight? None of them could say it.

Suddenly Kari slowed down until she came to a halt.

"Stop," she said, causing everyone to stop.

"Kari?" asked Davis, astonished that the brown-haired woman suddenly sounded so different.

"This is the Homeostasis," Tai said.

"What do you want?" Wanyamon raved: "You know we're just trying to prevent the gizmon from getting into the digital world."

"We know that," the Homeostasis said.

"And why are you stopping us?" asked Matt, irritated.

"Rethink your actions," said the god.

"Rethink our actions?" Joe repeated.

"We do it for the digimon!" exclaimed Mimi.

"That should be your intention," Sora said.

"Our intention is to preserve the harmony of both worlds," the Homeostasis replied, to which Gennai had to laugh.

"Harmony?" he scoffed: "Your harmony has only caused this mess."

"Our harmony did not cause the emergence of gizmon, Alphamon," the god replied coolly.

"Your harmony has chosen the DigiDestined. And now see what has become of them. One of them created the gizmon. Another has been actively working with King Drasil. So let me ask you something. How can you claim that your harmony did not create the gizmon?"

"Harmony? Homeostasis? Please explain," Ken interjected.

"The Homeostasis is the god of the digital world," Izzy explained, "it strives for the harmony and stability of both worlds."

"And why are you stopping us now, homeostasis?" asked Yolei.

"We don't want you to lose your partners, or as you call it "friends." We always strive to maintain harmony. You and your "friends" are the pillars of harmony, which is why you must not fail," said The God.

"But there are other DigiDestined on this planet!" exclaimed Cody.

"They can't have their digimon digivolve to the perfect-level, let alone the ultimate-level. You are the only ones who can do that," the Homeostasis said.

"The only ones?" repeated T.K.: "Why don't you give the other DigiDestined crest like we once owned or how Meiko and Cody own them?"

"It takes a very long time to create a crest. The Sovereigns have chosen you four.", the god pointed with the hand of Kari to Davis, Yolei, Cody and Ken: "What was not our intention. You should not become DigiDestined, but you have been chosen to be one. That's why I only started to create the crest Ken Ichijouji. Only later should Cody Hida and Yolei Inoue get some so that you can withstand the dangers."

"But what about me?" asked Meiko: "I also have a crest, the crest of strength."

"You, Meiko Mochizuki, are another case."

"Another case?" she repeated: "What do you mean by that? Why did I become Meicoomon's partner? Why did I become a DigiDestined again?!"

"This will be explained... But not today."

"Why? I had to constantly wonder why I was Meicoomon's partner! Tell me, Homeostasis, why was I Meicoomon's partner? And why am I a DigiDestined again?!"

"Hey!" Akira shouted, "Shouldn't we worry about the gizmon instead of standing around here arguing with a supposed god?!"

"Right... We're wasting our time here," Gennai agreed: "I don't agree with you humans... But it is in King Drasil's interest to destroy the gizmon."

"Good... If that's your answer, we're not going to stop you," the Homeostasis said, leaving Kisi's body.

She would have hit the ground if T.K. hadn't catched her. But the blonde-haired man noticed that she had lost consciousness.

"I'll stay with her," T.K. decided, "You're going and destroying the gizmon."

"We need everyone," Matt said of his brother: "The gizmon is probably very strong."

"But I can't leave Kari alone here, you understand that, don't you?"

"Okay," he nodded to him before rushing with the group to the port.

Once there, they saw the gizmon, as well as many cameramen who had surrounded Dr. Azuma and his team.

"Damn! There is hardly any time left!" raged Tai.

"Then we should digivolve!" exclaimed Agumon.

"Yes!" replied all the partner digimon of the older DigiDestined present.

"Agumon warp-digivolve to... WarGreymon!"

"Gabumon warp-digivolve to... MetalGarurumon!"

"Biyomon warp-digivolve to... Phoenixmon!"

"Tentomon warp-digivolve to... HerculesKabuterimon!"

"Gomamon warp-digivolve to... Vikemon!"

"Palmon warp-digivolve to... Rosemon!"

"Wanyamon warp-digivolve to... Dynasmon!"

"Hackmon warp-digivolve to... SaviorHackmon!"

Everyone then flew to the gizmon and surrounded it.

"Remember! The laser will kill you!" shouted WarGreymon to the others.

"So dodge him!" decided MetalGarurumon.

"Good!" nodded Rosemon.

"Nothing easier than that!" said Vikemon.

"Don't be overbearing," HerculesKabuterimon warned him.

"One wrong move and it's your end," Phoenixmon said.

"Despite this, we will destroy it!", Dynasmon growled.

"Exactly! We will... Don't let it go to the digital world!" shouted SaviorHackmon: "By the way. Where are Veemon, Wormmon, Hawkmon and Armadillomon?"

Meiko's partner looked around a bit and recognized the four digimon, who were still at their partners' side.

"Why aren't you digitized?" asked Davis.

"Because it doesn't make sense," Veemon replied.

"We can only digitize to our champion level... That's why we can forget to fight," Wormmon said.

"But you two can fuse," Cody said.

"Exactly!" agreed Armadillomon.

"We can't do this anymore!" shouted the blue dragon and the insect.

"Why not?" was Yolei's question.

"We just can't do it anymore," Wormmon replied.

"You used to do it," Hawkmon said.

"But now we just can't do it anymore," Veemon said, sighing heavily.

Sure, he wanted to fight, but he knew he couldn't do anything. So they remained silent and watched the fight together with the other DigiDestined and Gennai.

Gizmon himself acted alone and sent several flashes.

"What?!" Phoenixmon dodged in horror, but was struck by lightning a short time later.

The other partner digimon were also hit. Only Dynasmon, WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon and SaviorHackmon were able to dodge the attack. After the lightning struck, the affected partners returned to their in-training level and threatened to plunge into the sea. Meiko's partner chased after them and caught them before he flew to the DigiDestined and put all the digimon on the ground. He also landed on the ground and digivolve back to Hackmon.

"Hackmon?" his partner asked, "Why are you back?"

"Because I can't help Meiko..." he explained, leaning his head down in shame: "I'm too weak for this thing."

Gennai laughed.

"Really?" he scoffed, "Then I'll help you."

"Wouldn't you want to help us from the beginning?" was the question of the four-footed dragon.

"I just said that I am cooperating with you. I have not said that I will support you in the fight."

"What exactly do you mean by cooperating?" asked Izzy.

"If your partners are defeated as easily as they were when I last fought against you before the Homeostasis had shut down King Drasil, then I will help you. And as I see it, it's just the case," the man in the dark robe said, smiling, before snapping his fingers.

His figure was shrouded in a light that grew ever larger and eventually revealed Alphamon. He then flew to the rest of the partner digimon, who dodged the lightning of the Gizmon. During the attack, Dynasmon tried to reach out to the enemy and attack him with a punch. But the wings of the machine repelled him and hurled him away. He was able to catch himself by flapping his purple wings, but the next moment a lightning bolt struck him. Alphamon took the chance and fired a green laser at the Gizmon, interrupting it during its attack.

"Don't leave your guard drop, Dynasmon," the black knight warned him.

"Don't give me any orders, Alphamon!" Akira's partner growled.

"I'm not going to do that. I don't care what becomes of you. I just want to defeat the Gizmon, so I'm cooperating with you."

"And if we fight, we can't beat it," MetalGarurumon interjected.

"So pull yourselves together. We have a common goal and we have to destroy it," WarGreymon raged, creating a yellow sphere between his claws: "Terra Force!"

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon fired an icy wave of energy out of his mouth.

Combined with the attack of Tai's partner, the Gizmon was supposed to be destroyed as they did one with Apocalymon. But after the plane was hit by the attack, it sent out an energy laser. Dynasmon held his claws in front of him and blocked the attack with his jewels. These had created a small, invisible energy shield. With a powerful movement, Akira's partner was able to split the laser into two, causing it to smash into buildings.

"WarGreymon!" the wolf shouted.

"Okay!" he replied: "WarGreymon..."

"MetalGarurumon..."

"DNA digivolution too..." they both shouted, before merging: "Omnimon! Grey Sword!"

The fused digimon pulled his Grey blade and swung it to the side, creating a wave of energy that should have defeated the Gizmon. But this one was unharmed.

"Tch... You can't do anything.", Alphamon stretched out his right arm to the side: "Kyuukyokusenjin OwRyuken"

A ball formed in front of his hand, which then turned into a round disc. Then this disc dipped almost his entire arm into a bright light before it manifested itself in a blade. The metal parts on Alphamon's back are rear-fitting and gold wings formed by flames. Eventually, the black knight jumped in front of the Gizmon and slammed the OwRyuken blade down to split the machine. But something prevented the blade from touching the Gizmon at all.

"What the?!" said Alphamon, before he got himself to safety as the machine tried to attack him with his straps.

Omnimon observed this and considered why they could not attack the enemy. But he came up with no solution.

"Why can't we hurt it?!" Dynasmon growled angrily.

"Somehow it has to protect itself," said the fused digimon, observing the opponent's lens sparkling: "Caution. It will shoot a laser again!"

Already a laser raced towards the three digimon. Alphamon tried to fend it off with one of his lasers, but it ended in a gigantic explosion that threw the three digimon in different directions. All of them, however, collided with buildings and were left lying.

"Dynasmon!" cried Akira, and rushed to him.

When she reached him, he straightened up, but collapsed to his knees.

"Is everything okay?" she asked him.

"Tch. I was just careless," he raved, flapping his wings vigorously.

"Wait... It... makes no sense... You can't hurt it."

"Should I give up?!"

"Yes..." she looked to the ground: "I don't want to lose you."

"You know me! I will not allow this Gizmon to kill thousands of digimon!"

"But you can't do anything! Neither you, nor Omnimon or Alphamon!"

"I know," he sighed, "But I have to keep going."

"Dynasmon!" she said, terrified: "It. Brings. Nothing."

He closed his eyes briefly, but flapped again with his wings.

"I'm sorry, Akira... I'm going to keep fighting!" he flew into the air and to the Gizmon.

"Dynasmon!," she shouted after him: "Stay here!"

She tried to rush after him, but stumbled over a wooden beam, causing her to fall.

"Ow..." she moaned with a closed eye and covered her ankle with a hand.

She must have cracked it.

Meanwhile, Izzy had opened several programs to better analyse the Gizmon. But the more he analysed it, the more inconclusive he became. This "digimon" was far more complicated than he had imagined.

"Do you have anything now?" asked Matt impatiently.

"No... This Gizmon consists of many different programs... One program for absorbing data, one for creating distortions, another for fighting... The list is long," the redhead explained.

"What do you mean by long?" was Davis's question.

"I mean that it's at least a hundred programs that make up this Gizmon," Izzy said, biting his lower lip.

"And what are we doing now? Omnimon, Dynasmon and Alphamon can't hurt the Gizmon," Sora said desperately.

"I... don't know.", the redhead folded his laptop and sighed hard: "I can't. There are too many programs for my computer to analyse..."

"Get a hold of yourself, Izzy," Tai said, "You're the only one who can do it."

"That's why you have to calm down. Take a deep breath and try!" replied Joe.

"You can do it, Izzy. I believe in you!" exclaimed Mimi, causing Izzy's cheeks to turn slightly reddish.

"Exactly!" Yolei agreed: "You can do that! Believe in you!"

"And besides. We're there for you," Ken encouraged him, "So, focus on yourself and find out how Omnimon, Dynasmon, and Alphamon defeat this Gizmon."

"You're the computer genius after all," Cody said.

"You analysed Ordinemon. So you're going to analyse it now," Meiko said.

"Thank you," he closed his eyes briefly and opened the laptop again.

Then he looked through the programs. While Izzy was busy, Dynasmon flew to the Gizmon. Shortly before he reached it, he created a wyvern that flew towards the machine. However, this was not the purpose of anything. Omnimon himself eventually fired a laser at the opponent, but again it was not injured.

Alphamon flew behind the Gizmon and tried to attack it again with his OwRyuken blade. However, this did not work either. Immediately, the fused digimon rushed towards the opponent and hit him with the Garuru nuzzle. He hadn't hoped it would bring anything until he realized a small crack. But he was thrown away by the carriers and he collided with Alphamon. The latter, strangely enough, caught him, but the next moment he let go of it as if he had thought differently.

"A small crack formed when I attacked it directly," Omnimon said.

"But we can't hurt it with our attacks or weapons," Dynasmon growled.

"I guess the crack was there before. So if we chase a pointed weapon into it, the Gizmon is likely to be badly hurt," Alphamon said.

"The three of us are not so agile, so the risk of being hit by a laser is very high..." said the fused digimon.

"Neither I nor Alphamon have pointed weapons..." continued Akira's partner.

"But SaviorHackmon. He has two pointed arm blades..." said the black knight.

"Good. I'm informing my friends," Omnimon said, "You two distract the Gizmon."

"As if we had another choice..." raved Alphamon.

Tai and Matt's partner flew back to the DigiDestined in a hurry.

"Omnimon?" said Joe, terrified.

"There's a little crack at that Gizmon. We want to attack it there," the fused Digimon said.

"But none of our digimon are able to digivolve anymore," Mimi said.

"None?" asked Omnimon, looking at Hackmon.

He hid behind his partner, hoping that the fused digimon would not refer to him.

"He still has enough strength," Tai and Matt's partner continued.

"But... what can I do?" was the question of the four-footed dragon.

"Just expand the crack as SaviorHackmon."

"But isn't that dangerous?" asked Cody, terrified.

"It is... but we will cover him," Omnimon said.

"Will you do it, Hackmon?" was Meiko's anxious question.

"Y-yes..." his insecure voice rang out: "I'm scared... but I will try."

"Don't try, Hackmon," the fused digimon replied: "Do it. Believe that you can do it."

"Okay..." he closed his eyes and breathed deeply: "Hackmon warp-digivolve to... SaviorHackmon!"

SaviorHackmon then flew back to the Gizmon with Omnimon.


Shin paced through the room. He was agitated and angry. His hands were clenched behind his back while he bit his lower lip.

"Shin, calm yourself." Sera said.

"She is right." Falcomon continued.

"Damn. If we had our partners then…" the man interrupted himself and thought.

"We have only Falcomon."

"But he is one of the Sovereigns!", he shouted angrily: "He can defeat that Gizmon."

"But I don't want to fight Kato.", the bird replied while looking at the ground.

"Falcomon…" she said.

"What happened to him?", Falcomon asked: "It's like he just died."

Shin quietly repeated the words before clenching his teeth. Should he tell him? The man looked to his girlfriend who shook her head slowly.

"We kept a secret." Shin began.

"Shin! We promised him that we don't tell anyone about it!", Sere interjected.

"What secret?" was Falcomon's question.

"Kato, whom we know, has died! There was a car accident after we came back from the digital world..."

Sera bit her lower lip and swallowed. She didn't like to break that promise.

"I still don't understand," the bird said.

"Kato had a younger brother... His name was Azuma... He looked surprisingly similar to him, so Kato sometimes joked they were twins... They were also really close. Probably Kato had told Azuma everything about his adventures in the digital world," the man explained.

"And Azuma had visited us shortly after the car accident, where he had told us that his younger brother had died, and he burst into tears," Sera continued: "Oddly enough. He wanted that the made a promise to him."

"We would never tell anyone that Kato died.", Shin said: "It was foolish to promise this. But we were just kids back then."

"That means that Kato..." began Falcomon, but he couldn't speak further.

"He's been dead a long time... Azuma was so traumatized by the death of his older brother that he began to pretend to be him. Now Azuma believes he's Kato."

"I see... So that's the truth about Kato... No, Azuma... Kato is dead. I will never see him again," said the bird: "Then I have nothing to regret. I will stop Azuma..."

"We'll come along!" decided Shin, standing up.

"Good... You can ride on me," Falcomon said before going to the balcony.

Shin and Sera followed him before the bird warp-digivolve to his ultimate-level.


"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon fired an energy beam at the Gizmon, preventing it from attacking.

When the machine wanted to attack Meiko's partner with his straps, Dynasmon parried them and dug his claws into the carriers so that Gizmon could no longer use them.

Meanwhile, SaviorHackmon and Alphamon flew close together and approached the enemy. When he tried to attack them with a laser, the black knight held his OwRyuken blade in front of his body and thus fended off the laser.

"Now, SaviorHackmon!" he shouted to him.

He approached the Gizmon and immediately recognized the crack that the fused digimon meant. He pushed his left arm blade into the crack and was able to extend it a little. Suddenly, the Gizmon emanated a pointed scream. Dynasmon narrowed his eyes in pain.

"Grah! What is that? I can barely hold my level because of it!" he growled, freeing his claws from the opponent before flying several meters away.

The other fighting digimon also flew away.

"Definitely it seems to be in pain," Omnimon said.

"I don't think so, Omnimon..." said Alphamon: "This is not a digimon."

"But it seems like it's annoying him that we've attacked a sore spot," Meiko's partner said.

Suddenly, several lightning bolts struck the four. SaviorHackmon screamed in pain and digivolving back to his rookie-level before the lightning subsided and he crashed into the sea. Meiko immediately ran into the sea and swam to him. Then she grabbed him by the stomach and swam back to shore. There she laid him on the ground and tried to wake him up.

"Hackmon... Hackmon..." she repeatedly called for him until suddenly Dynasmon crashed on the floor next to her.

The Gizmon had hurled him and his straps to the shore, where he was now lying there and breathing heavily. Akira ran to him and knelt down. Her partner tried to get up, but he hadn't enough strength and collapsed to the ground. Then he digivolved back to Wanyamon. Meanwhile, the other DigiDestined and digimon also joined the four.

"I... can't… do… it… anymore…" groaned Wanyamon, who was lifted by Akira a short time later.

"You idiot!" she yelled at him: "I told you it was pointless! Man... I'm glad you're still alive. I was very worried."

"Don't worry... to me... I don't like it..." he quipped.

"But I'm worried about you... Don't be so selfish!"

"Well... Then worry about me, Akira... It's your right."

"Only Omnimon and Alphamon can still fight," Tai said, looking at the two knight-digimon.

Omnimon himself also took a quick look at his friends before inhaling heavily. He could not sustain the fusion any longer. He's been in this form for longer than usual. If he did not fight, he would certainly be able to maintain this level for hours, but because he was just fighting and using up all his energies, he was now almost at the end of his powers.

"Can't you hold your level anymore, Omnimon?" Alphamon mocked him.

The fused digimon decided not to answer him. Instead, he flew to the shore. Even before he could reach it, he separated and became Koromon and Tsunomon, which fell into the shallow water. Luckily, Tai and Matt were there and were able to get them out.

Alphamon also felt that he was at the end of his powers, and so he did the same to Omnimon and rushed to the DigiDestined and their digimon before turning back into the Dark Gennai.

"Our digimon are completely exhausted," Sora said.

"Well... What do you expect?" a voice asked the DigiDestined: "Gizmon is way too strong for you."

Everyone turned around and recognized Doc Kato Azuma. He smiled and clapped his hands.

"My Gizmon can defeat your digimon," he laughed, looking at Gennai: "I'm going to completely destroy the digimon, starting with this one."

Suddenly, a huge phoenix roared past and landed on the ground a few meters away. Shin and Sera climbed from his back before the phoenix rose again into the air.

The head, his body, the tail and partly the legs and wings were held in a red-orange colour, while four stinging red eyes briefly looked at Kato. Then the phoenix looked at the Gizmon. The golden hair glistened in the sun. The underside of the beak and the entire neck were covered with grey feathers. Six bright red balls hovered around the neck and around the tail. There was a cannon on the back, but the phoenix never used it to attack.

Two short wings perched on his chest, while the other four wings alternately struck up and down. No matter how big the wings were, they had the same pattern. Light yellow feathers occupied the front part of the wings and legs. This was followed by a series of yellow feathers before ending with red-orange. The tail itself was extremely long and had several small tufts of hair on the top, which had the shape of flames. Below these "flames" was a triangle consisting of two colours. The edge of the triangles was yellow, while the inside was light yellow. The phoenix itself had three grey, pointed claws on its two feet. In general, this digimon seemed very majestic.

"Who is that?" asked Cody, though he believed the phoenix was in some way related to Azulongmon.

"This is Zhuqiaomon... One of the Sovereigns," Sera said.

"And besides, he was Kato's partner," Shin continued.

"Exactly! And that's why I hate him. He is destroying my research!" cried Doc Kato Azuma, clenching his fists.

"How strong are these Sovereigns?" was Akira's question.

"Very strong... They once defeated the Dark Masters with us," her sister replied.

"Yes... With me, Daigo, Maki, Sera and Kato. We fought against the Dark Masters in the digital world. Then we returned and Kato had a car accident," Shin said.

Doc Azuma's eyes widened with horror before he screamed out loud:

"No! I'm Kato! I am Doc Kato Azuma!"

"What's going on with him?" asked Gennai contemptuously.

'He's not Kato... He is his younger brother Azuma," Sera said: "Kato died in a car accident."

"No!" Azuma shouted: "I'm Kato! I am Kato Azuma! I was with you in the digital world. I have defeated with you the Dark Masters. I'm Kato!"

"Azuma," Shin knelt down to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't touch me, Shin!" he slapped his hand away and looked at the man angrily: "I'm Kato... I am Kato... Kato... Kato..."

He closed his eyes and grabbed his head before screaming loudly and agonisingly.

"No... I'm Kato! Kato! KATO!," Azuma repeated his older brother's name over and over again.

Meanwhile, Zhuqiaomon fought the Gizmon alone. As it turned out, this was a simple game for the phoenix. With an energy charge, the Sovereign destroyed the "digimon" and flew back to the shore.

"Azuma,"" Zhuqiaomon said: "Think... Would Kato have wanted you to attack and kill innocent digimon?"

The person in question looked up and looked into the four eyes of the phoenix. Then he shook his head.

"No... Kato wouldn't have wanted that... He wouldn't have wanted me to hate digimon. Kato..." Azuma quietly admitted: "I always wished that I was the one who died in this car accident, not my brother... It even went so far that I believed and dreamed that I was in the digital world..."

"What happened has happened, Azuma... Farewell, Kato's brother. I'm going back to the digital world," the phoenix replied.

"And how do you want to go back to the digital world?" asked Izzy.

"I can create distortions..." declared the sovereign and flapped with his four wings.

Behind him appeared a distortion, into which he then dived.

"Shin, Sera!" he cried: "I will greet Azulongmon and Ebonwumon for you. You will certainly be happy!"

Then the distortion closed and swallowed the sovereign. Everyone was still looking at the spot where the phoenix was flying recently. Dark Gennai finally laughed out loud, so the others shrugged.

"Who would have thought that you would get support from a sovereign," he said.

"Gennai!" raged Tai: "What are you going to do now?"

"Me? I am far too exhausted to fight against you. Actually I had wanted to kill you after the fight, but that has to be postponed.", behind him appeared a distortion: "But we will see each other again, DigiDestend. See you later. Sayonara!"

Gennai disappeared as well. Everyone was silent again. They were speechless and they had to digest what had happened. Kato was not Kato but his younger brother Azuma. Falcomon was a sovereign who then destroyed the Gizmon. Alphamon had helped them, although he worked for King Drasil, because he saw the Gizmon as such a strong threat that the god wanted to cooperate with the DigiDestined.

"We... should go back to Izzy's study room," Ken suggested.

"And what about T.K., Patamon, Kari and Gatomon?" Davis said after swallowing heavily.

"Right! We completely forgot about them!" exclaimed Mimi.

The group started walking while Shin and Sera stayed. They looked at each other than to Azuma.

"Can you get up, Azuma?" he asked him.

He nodded and was supported by his older brother's friend.


Author's note: And done! The first arc is and the last chapter have some changes from the German version of this fanfic. First Dorumon does not accompany Matt and Co. to get the plans from Doc Azuma. It was Shin Kawa who was with them. The distraction itself was caused by Guilmon.

In this chapter Shin and Sera didn't know that Kato was Azuma. Instead they forgot that Kato died during a car accident.

In the end I think the changes are justified because they make more sense.

Did you like it? The next two chapters will deal with characters who are not protagonists. So look forward to two character chapters!