Hello again! Here with the next chapter! Let's see what Keisuke is up to nowadays!
Case 2: Lingering
It wasn't a pleasant job, but Keisuke knew it never would be.
"Leave me alone!" screeched the Birdramon, the massive orange bird spitting fire. The stray fire deleted some loose data floating in Kowloon. "I just want my family to be with me!"
"Yeah, by gassing them to death," Keisuke growled. The black-haired boy was so glad he had caught the malfunction in the apartment in time, thanks to a stray digital memory fragment he found in the system. Angewomon hovered over him, ready to shoot her light arrows. The angel Digimon was the only one of his Vanguard that could be with him today, but she should be more than enough.
"Please pass on peacefully to the next world," Lily added, her priest-like Taomon and two fox-like Kyubimon growling beside her. The brown-haired girl already had some talismans ready. "Your family will eventually join you, but they don't want to join you now."
"What are you talking about? Of course they want to be with me!" shouted the Birdramon, eyes wild. "They're my children! They love me! They miss me! If they're always with me, I can always protect them! Protect them from people like you! Meteor Wing!" The orange avian flapped its wings rapidly, sending fireballs flying anywhere.
Angewoman, Taomon, and Kyubimon all dodged the fireballs.
Keisuke didn't. He cried out as he fell backward. His body flickered a little.
"Keisuke!" cried out Angewomon and Lily. Taomon couldn't talk, but still shot him a concerned look. The Kyubimon stayed focused on their target.
"I'm fine," said Keisuke, as he sat up with a grunt. "Remember, this isn't my real body, just an avatar. Worst case scenario I just have to make another account. Now get that Birdramon!"
"Of course," said Angewomon, as she drew back her bow one more. "Celestial Arrow!"
The projectile of light struck the Birdramon's wing, and it fell to the ground with a shriek. Before it could even try to get up, Angewoman shot the other wing too.
Angewomon's ruthlessness never failed to unsettle Keisuke a little. He swore she was never the same after that DNA digivolution to Silphymon, even if he made her de-digivolve right away...
"Now Taomon! Kyubimon!" shouted Lily.
While the Birdramon was down, Taomon painted a symbol in the air. The symbol crashed down on the Birdramon, and it screeched in pain. Then it grew quiet and limp, shrinking down to a middle-aged woman.
The spirit now subdued, Lily walked over and began chanting. Taomon and Kyubimon stayed beside her, just in case.
But it was fine. The woman spirit pushed herself to her hands and knees, and start crying. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." She began to glow gently as Lily's chanting continued. before fading away altogether.
Keisuke breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. Another lingering spirit put to rest.
As Lily finished her chanting, Keisuke turned to Angewomon. "Say, how's Erika doing?"
"Hudiemon," said Angewomon.
"...Oh, right," said Keisuke. "How's Hudiemon doing?"
"She's doing well," said Angewomon. "As is the rest of the Vanguard. She cannot come see you, but she wishes you good fortune."
"...I see..." said Keisuke. "Tell her that I...well...I miss her, but..."
"You shouldn't disturb the peaceful dead," said Lily with a stern frown. When had she walked over?
"Ah...right..." said Keisuke. He knew better of course, but he couldn't help but wonder about her. How was she doing as the leader of his Vanguard? Was she happier as a Digimon? Was there anything he could have done differently? These thoughts repeated over and over...
"There are enough restless spirits here in EDEN as it is," said Lily, frowning. "It's almost like a magnet for them..."
"...Maybe because it's a digital space?" said Keisuke. "And digital spaces can be kind of a link between the real and spiritual worlds?"
"Mirei says the Digital World is its own space though," said Lily. "So I still don't get how spirits, who are supposed to be in the spiritual world, are ending up here instead. It's not like anyone can even die in cyberspace. You're still in the real world somewhere."
"Well, a lot of people are getting really attached to EDEN...glitchy as it is." Keisuke knew that EDEN would only get bigger. Before the world reset, it was the biggest thing ever. But of course Lily wouldn't remember that. No one would, besides him.
Lily sighed. "Getting so attached to EDEN that you haunt cyberspace instead of the real world? I certainly hope EDEN never gets that big..."
"...Yeah same," said Keisuke. For that reason, and so many more.
Side note: I don't know how canon this story is, since the endings of Cyber Sleuth and Hacker's Memory's endings seem to be contradictory, so having both of them in the same world might automatically make things not canon? Idk, but I try to do the best to compromise between the endings. It won't be the weirdest thing this story does anyway.