Reviews:

Elgv: Sorry I missed your review last week. The site was being weird. You'll love what's coming. Trust me.

Music Chick: Glad to hear that.

Clefeifei: They deserved better than what they got in the story.

Greymon Leader Batx flashpoint: I think you liked it :P You'll find out in the conclusion here.

Sweet Cari: I'm glad you think I've done them justice. I'm not done doing that just yet. Wait until Kizuna ;-) You are absolutely right about all of that.

Ackbarfan5556: It's a good movie XD

ReR0547: You'll find out soon.

jacquelinemueller53: We'll see if you're right ;-)


Hey guys. Hope you all had a good week. I am proud to report that I have written all of ROTI officially. It's all done. You guys are going to love the conclusion to the story, but now we have a final battle to get through. Be prepared for major sadness. I am going to say it right here.

Enjoy ;-)


Daigo knew he couldn't keep this up for long. His lungs burned and his legs strained from the amount of jumping he had done. Himekawa was right on his tail, and the best thing he could do for the time being was give the kids time to figure out a plan.

Settling onto another rooftop, he found a shed that he could hide behind to try and recover his strength. Taking big gulping breaths, he deactivated his lightsaber while bent over. It finally hit him just how out of shape he was.

'I'm getting too old for this stuff,' he chuckled to himself.

"Come back here and fight!" he heard Himekawa yell, but stayed put. "I want to see the light leave your eyes when I kill you, Daigo!"

Daigo closed his eyes to try and balance himself, hearing the humming of her lightsaber as she stalked around the rooftop.

"It's over, Daigo," Himekawa sneered. "Game's up. Stop running."

Her voice was getting closer with each passing second. Daigo could hear her breathing the closer she got to his position.

"Give yourself over to me. It is the only way that you can save the kids."

He clutched his lightsaber in his hand, ready to make a run for it, but his body stayed put. With a big inhale through his nose, he stepped from behind the shed and revealed himself to her.

"There you are," she said with mock surprise before raising her saber. "Prepare to die!"

Once again, the two resumed their dance, not noticing that all around them buildings burned and collapsed to the ground below.


The Destined Jedi were collectively exhausted as they continued their standoff with Dark Meiko. This time, the fight took them near the Venus Fort shopping district. They had been fighting on and off all night, which was starting to take its toll. Nevertheless, they had to keep going. So much depended on them.

The five Jedi circled Dark Meiko to cut off any escape route she could possibly find. Despite their tiredness, the group summoned the last ounce of their strength to end the fight. Matt hoped that Ken was okay, wherever their adversary had thrown him.

Dark Meiko lashed out at them, attacking Izzy first. He blocked her attacks before she moved on to everyone else individually. All her attacks were stopped dead, but at a cost. It took more energy to defend than attack, so it was wearing the Destined Jedi down even more.

"Time's up, Jedi," Meiko sneered as she knocked Joe's lightsaber out of his hand and used the Force to push him into the water. Matt came up to attack with her back turned, but she heel-kicked him in the stomach, followed by a backhand across the face to send him to the ground. Mimi, Sora, and Izzy were picked up like rag dolls and sent back a few feet.

Dark Meiko kicked Matt's lightsaber away and stepped on his neck, holding him down.

"It's over, Matty," she hissed. "This time I am going to kill you, like I should have done the first time."

Matt felt so helpless. There was nothing he could do to get out of his predicament. He was so tired that he couldn't find the strength to get her off him. He closed his eyes and waited for his life to end.

Another lightsaber activating sounded off through the air. Matt tried to look up and see who it was, but couldn't move his head with Dark Meiko's foot still pressing down on him. Without explanation, he felt her foot leave his neck. Then, he heard Dark Meiko let out an almost inhuman shriek.

"LET ME GO!" she screeched.

Matt didn't know what happened because his eyes were still closed, anticipating the searing pain of the lightsaber entering his back. Once he felt Meiko's foot leave his neck, he felt a familiar presence looming over him. It was reassuring, rather than menacing.

"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere."

That voice. Matt looked up. His eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"Tai?"

The brown-haired leader ended his glare at Dark Meiko and glanced down at him. His mouth curved into a smile.

"Hey, Matt," he greeted, his eyes glittering nonchalantly. He too wore a black tank top and pants. "Glad I got here just in time."

Looking around, Matt saw the others were stunned at Tai's appearance. This whole time, they thought he was dead and yet here he was in front of them. Alive. Matt saw Sora had tears falling from her eyes.

When Matt turned back to Tai, he saw that the Jedi of Courage had held his hand out. He touched the goggles around his neck, knowing that he was asking for them.

"I'll take those goggles from you if you don't mind, Matt," he said, gesturing for the blonde to throw them to him.

Without hesitation, Matt pulled the goggles up from his neck and over his head before tossing them to him.

"It's about damn time!" he said. "You're late!"

Tai accepted the goggles and put them back on his brow––their rightful place––as a smile swept across his face.

"Yeah, but I'm here now."

Matt rolled over to his feet and watched as Dark Meiko still thrashed and twisted herself into positions that he could not believe the human body could twist into. Thoughts rushed through his head on what to do. Dark Meiko couldn't harm any of them in this position, but he didn't want to take the risk of her breaking out. He took a deep breath.

"Kill her," he said, feeling a small crack form in his heart. "She's too dangerous to be kept alive."


Daigo blocked a powerful strike from Himekawa, but he was so tired that he stepped back from the force behind it. She quickly took advantage. The back of her fist slammed across his face before kicking him in the chest. He fell to the roof just inches from the edge.

"This is the end of the line," Himekawa sneered as she pointed her lightsaber at Daigo's throat. "What a pity that it has to end this way. Now you will be joining our fallen comrades, Daigo. Say hello to them for me, will you? Tell them that Hime has avenged them."

Blood oozed from Daigo's nostrils. As much as he didn't want to admit it, it was truly the end. He had nowhere else left to run, and he had almost no energy left.

Just as Himekawa was about to bring her saber down and end his life, his hand grabbed her wrist and tried to force the blade up. She had been surprised by this turn of events, but not enough to lose her grip.

"I. Won't. Let. You. Win." Daigo grunted with the last bit of strength that he had to try and keep the purple lightsaber away from his body. The heat of the blade near his face was almost searing, like it was already touching him.

The struggle continued for several moments until a single twist of her wrist sent Himekawa's deactivated lightsaber tumbling to the ground below. Grabbing her other wrist, Daigo pulled the two of them down from the edge of the roof to the ground below. Himekawa used the Force to push Daigo away from her before leaping for the side of the nearest building to repel herself down safely. The dark-haired man stayed calm, despite his situation, and found an awning to bounce off of. The force of the bounce was great, but after maneuvering his body, he landed on his feet successfully. He turned just as Himekawa zip lined towards him, blocking her attack.

They continued to trade attacks until their sabers came together in one last burst of energy. Drawing upon the last of his strength, Daigo kicked her in the stomach. As she stumbled back, he sliced her lightsaber into two pieces, sending them scattering across the ground.

It was over.

With the ball now in his court, Daigo steeled up as much nerve as he could to point his lightsaber at Himekawa. Hackmon's words echoing through him.

"For balance to be maintained, hard decisions must be made. Sometimes, it means sacrificing that which we desire in order to help the greater good."

As much as he didn't want to, he knew that it had to be done. Himekawa looked at him with the same sneering grin that had never left her face the entire duel. The dark side had consumed her so much that she stared defiantly at Daigo, seemingly not fearing her imminent death.

"Are you going to kill me?" she taunted, her maniacal laughter echoing across the street.

"It's what needs to happen," he replied with conviction. "To save everyone, either you or Meiko must die. I won't let it be Meiko. She has so much to live for."

"You're better off killing her. I know you, Daigo. You won't kill me."

With a deep inhale, Daigo raised his saber bayonet-style to run it through her chest and end her life.

But something stopped him from doing it. Looking into the cold yellow and red eyes of the woman that he had known since childhood, all the memories of their time together flashed through his mind. Their first meeting while in kindergarten; surviving the Dark Masters and escaping with their lives at the cost of their friends when they were eleven; high school; college; and so many others that held a special place in his heart. Almost all of them contained the image of her smiling and happy.

'Hime, you're a fine girl. What a good wife you would be. Yeah, your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea.'

His arm fell to his side as he deactivated his lightsaber. He couldn't do it. Daigo bit his lip and sighed with defeat. Himekawa exploded into full-blown cackling, the sound of it stabbing into Daigo's very soul.

"I knew it!" she gasped between laughs. "You couldn't kill me even if you wanted to, Daigo! You're pathetic!"

Something strange happened to her. She cried out in pain as she grabbed her head. Daigo watched with concern. What was happening?

"Daigo…" she grunted out, sounding more like her true self rather than the person in front of him. "Help…me."

Her evil side came back.

"No! You will never break through! I am you, and you are me!"

"Save me! Please! I love you!"

Seeing he had no other choice, Daigo reactivated his lightsaber. Tears already were pooling in his eyes. It was better to save Himekawa from herself and give her the peace she deserved than to let her keep living like this. His hand shook as he wrapped it around the grip of the saber tightly.

"I'm sorry, Hime," he said, his lip trembling as he raised his saber bayonet-style once again. He let a shaky exhale out from his nose. It had to be done. "I love you."

Those were the last words said before his lightsaber plunged into her chest. One last dying gasp escaped her mouth. A burst of black energy erupted from her mouth and eyes into the sky. Her eyes closed and her body became limp after withdrawing his blade.

Daigo cradled her body before it hit the ground.

It was finished.


Dark Meiko continued to thrash and struggle in Tai's grip, desperate to break the hold he had on her. She was not going to fail in her mission if it was the last thing that she did.

Suddenly, a black energy erupted from her mouth and eyes and launched into the sky, joining three other streams. She gasped and lost the will to stay up. Her eyes closed as her body went limp in Tai's Force hold.


TK couldn't believe this was the end. Dark Kari stood over him with that killer look in her eyes that looked just like Meiko's when she was infected. Even so, he was happy that he did everything he could to help her.

"Any last words, Takeru?" Dark Kari sneered at him as her foot rested on his stomach.

TK swallowed a lump that grew in his throat. He did have something he wanted to say before he died; something he had wanted to say for so many years now.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I love you, Kari. I know this isn't the real you, but the Kari I've always known was the one person I could never live without. You're pretty, funny, kind, and you light up a room when you walk into it. I always thought you only saw me as the little boy you knew from our first adventures, so I was afraid to tell you anything.

"I guess the fear of letting someone else get close to me, only to let me down is what stopped me from saying anything to you. You're the most important person in the world to me, Kari. You're the light of my life. I just wanted you to know that." TK sighed as a tear went down his cheek. "So, if you want to kill me, go ahead."

He closed his eyes and awaited his fate happily. Now that he finally got the words he so desperately wanted to say off of his chest, he was ready to die with no regrets.

"Oh, that's so lovely," Dark Kari spat sarcastically. "But it won't save you!"

A moment later, TK felt her step off his stomach, screaming like a banshee. He opened his eyes and looked up. Dark Kari grabbed her head, screaming wildly as if in pain. Then, a stream of black energy erupted from her mouth and eyes and went into the sky. It merged with three other streams and hung there in the sky. Through the murky darkness of the ball, he saw an army of Digimon swirling around inside of it.

He looked back at Kari and saw her eyes had gone from the deranged yellow and red back to her normal soft crimson ones––the ones he got lost in every time he looked at her. They filled with tears as she sobbed. The blonde acted on instinct and rushed up to pull her into him. Kari gripped his tank top tightly in her fist as she accepted the embrace. He held her there for several moments before he slackened his grip.

"Don't let me go," Kari sobbed into his chest. "Please, TK. Don't leave me. Promise."

TK smiled. He hugged her tighter, running his left hand through her hair behind her head.

"Never," he said.

He was never going to let her go again.


"Meiko?"

To Matt's relief, he heard a moan rumble through her throat before her eyes slowly opened. They were their natural brown color once again.

"M-Matt?" she groaned hoarsely.

Matt breathed a relieved sigh as a smile crawled up his face. The real Meiko never disappeared after all. She was merely suppressed inside of her dark counterpart. Meiko exploded into tears and sat up from her spot on his lap to embrace him. The blonde's face went absolutely red, but he was so happy she was okay that it didn't matter if the others were watching them. He wrapped his arms around her. Tears formed in his eyes and one dripped down his cheek.

"I thought I had lost you forever," he whimpered.

The sun slowly rose on the horizon, outlining the buildings of Tokyo across the bay and making the Rainbow Bridge glow with sunlight. The dawn had finally arrived after the darkest night they had ever experienced.

"The infection has been destroyed."

Matt looked up from his embrace with Meiko and saw Hackmon standing nearby.

"The parasite has been slain, so the infection has been destroyed as well," it said. A small smile graced his lips. "Congratulations, Destined Jedi. You have saved both worlds once again."

The group exploded into cheers and joyfully celebrated their victory. Matt hugged Meiko again. Sora embraced Tai with tears streaming down her face while the rest of the Jedi high-fived and embraced. TK and Kari had joined them just moments before and also celebrated with everyone.

"However," Hackmon added. "The one destined to bring balance has yet to fulfill his destiny. We'll meet when evil decides to come back again."

The group's happy moment was squashed by that news. Matt knew that when Ken was sent off to wherever he was that he had failed. To make matters worse, the sound of agonized cries came just a few blocks down the road. The entire island was deserted, so there was nothing to absorb the sound.

"NOOOOOOOO!"


Looking at the dead woman in his arms, it finally occurred to Daigo what he had just done. As tears cascaded down his face, he finally let his emotions loose and sobbed into Himekawa's chest.

"NOOOOOOOO!" he cried.

His fingers trembled as they slid across her cheek. Tears blinded Daigo's vision as he silently begged for there to be a way she would wake up and be her old self again. The Himekawa he fell in love with so long ago.

"Hime," he whimpered. "Come back. Come back."

But it was useless. She would not wake up anymore. The grief overwhelmed Daigo as he buried his face back into her body and sobbed noisily. He then heard something hit the ground beside him. Through his tears Daigo looked down and saw what looked like the hilt of a katana, but had no blade at the end of it. What struck him was how black it was. It must have come out of Himekawa's yukata.

Hesitantly, he took it and stuck it on his waist. He'd find out more about it later as he continued to mourn.

Without him noticing, the Destined Jedi gathered behind him.

xXx

The Jedi all watched sorrowfully as Daigo mourned the woman he loved. While they were all thankful to see that he was alive, it hurt them to see him in such a state of anguish. Himekawa had done terrible things to them, and planned to do even more, but the group couldn't find the words that would bring comfort to a man who just lost the woman he loved so dearly.

Tai finally let a hand rest on his teacher's shoulder, alerting him to their presence. Daigo turned to look at them with puffy red eyes that still had tears falling from them, holding the limp body in his arms close to him.

"I'm sorry for your loss, sir," he said softly, his eyes softening upon the peaceful sight of Himekawa's dead body. "I know how important she was to you."

"I gave her everything," Daigo sniffled. He spoke in such a soft tone that the kids wondered if he was either speaking to them or himself. "I loved her with all I had, and it still wasn't enough. For a second, I thought she would come back and things could go back to the way they were. The evil was just too strong for her."

"But look around," said Sora. "We're all alive, the world is saved, and Meiko and Kari were saved too. We did the job that we needed to do. You're a hero."

"I'm no hero. I'm a murderer."

Mimi walked straight up and gently touched the man's shoulder.

"You are not a murderer, Mr. Nishijima," she said in a calm, motherly voice. "Murderers kill without any emotion or regard for human life. Himekawa wanted all of us dead, including you. You stopped her from doing that. You saved us. Stop feeling sorry for yourself."

Daigo ignored her, studying every detail of Himekawa's peaceful face. He had lost the woman he loved forever.

xXx

"I know this probably isn't the time to say this, but I saw four streams merged together after the infection was expelled from Kari," said TK, pointing to a large black cloud hovering over the bay. The entire army of Digimon was still circling around like in a washer. "One was from her, and two others I assume were from Meiko and Himekawa. That only leaves the identity of the fourth."

"It was Ken," Tai answered quickly.

Kari's eyes widened as she looked at her brother in shock. "How do you know that, Tai?" she asked.

Tai looked down at Himekawa. "Because she told me," he replied. "Himekawa kept Ken and the others in a cryogenic state inside these pods. While they were, she infected him too. She wanted you, Meiko, and Ken all together with her to take over both worlds. Them due to their power, and you because of your connection to Homeostasis."

"Why didn't you tell us this from the beginning?" Matt asked.

"There were more important matters to deal with. Anyway, it's over now."

Kari looked up at the sky and saw from the corner of her eyes a knight Digimon she had never seen before fly up towards the cloud. With one of its lancer arms, it prepared to destroy it. Before the lance could knife through, the black substance flew away from the knight Digimon like it knew what it was there to do. A blast of green energy suddenly came through and hit the knight Digimon in the chest. The blast was so powerful that it blew it into Tokyo Bay with a large splash. A second later, the black cloud moved violently up into the sky toward where the energy blast came from as if a great wind had taken it and vanished within five seconds. It was now gone.

Something in the sky caught Kari's attention. She thought it was a trick of the sunrise for a second, but what looked like a large body floated in the sky where the cloud vanished. Kari felt it look right down at them, even though she couldn't see its eyes. She shielded her own eyes as beams of sunlight reflected off of its metal body.

"Hey, guys," she said, pointing up to the figure. "What is that?"

The rest of the group snapped out of their awed expressions to follow her finger. The brightness caused them to shield their faces, but they could make out the figure. It went nowhere, only eyeing them dangerously.

"I don't know," Izzy said. "My memory is a little fuzzy, but I believe I caught a glimpse of it when we defeated Oikawa."

"Weird," said Joe. "It's just floating there. Watching us."

Tai grunted. "King Drasil."

The floating piece of metal watched them for a few moments. A distortion opened behind it before it flew into the portal, which then closed after the creature. Kari was stunned, her eyes lingering on where it disappeared for almost a minute.

"What did you call it, Tai?" Izzy asked.

"King Drasil," the Jedi of Courage replied. "Himekawa mentioned that name when she cornered me and Mr. Nishijima in the control room we fell into."

Izzy pulled out his trusty computer. Kari saw him go through his files of Digimon to check if King Drasil was in the system.

"Kabuterimon, Kiwimon," he muttered to himself, scrolling through the list of names starting with 'K' on his files, "Kuwagamon. There's no King Drasil in here, Tai. Are you sure that's what she said?"

Tai nodded. "Positive. It was unmistakable. She said that she and this King Drasil were working together to 'reset the Digital World' and then destroy the real world too."

Matt squeezed Meiko's shoulder, staring at Tai with no emotion. The Jedi of Friendship's face was as cold and unmoving as one would expect from Matt Ishida.

"Then we need to find King Drasil and destroy it," he said coldly. "It's going to cause more trouble if we don't do something. This is going to happen again because we all know Ken couldn't finish the prophecy. Since this is the second time we're seeing that Digimon, I bet we're going to see it again."

"I agree, Matt, but that's a fight for another day," replied the leader. He looked off in the distance towards where the Big Sight was. From where they were standing, they had a clear, unobstructed view of the magnificent structure. "The world is safe for now. Let's go. I'm sure our families are worried about us."


It is finished. What reception awaits the Destined Jedi at the Big Sight? Find out next time on Revenge of the Infected.

What a way to finish that battle. The main basis for the Daigo/Himekawa scenes were a mix of Goblet of Fire and when Wolverine killed Jean/Phoenix in X-Men: The Last Stand. The way the cloud of infection formed was inspired by the scene in The Mummy Returns where Rick and company destroyed the Scorpion King and the shadow rushed out of the pyramid to form in the shape of its face. See if you guys can guess who the knight Digimon was ;-)

Hope you guys all enjoyed that. You're going to love what is coming over these last three chapters. Also, I have an announcement to make: Due to events going on the weekend of March 20 where I cannot post, I am pushing back the publication of my version of Kizuna to March 27 from March 13 in order to avoid starting, stopping, then starting back up again at the beginning of a story. You guys deserve better than that. I'm really excited to start that.

As always, leave a review and subscribe if you can. We're on the homestretch ladies and gents. You'll love what's coming. See you next weekend.

Tootles.