Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.
Chapter 3: Apprentice
It was early morning as thirteen-year-old Toya Mikihara finished changing into his school uniform. As soon as he put on his square-framed glasses, he went over to his mirror to check his appearance. His short brown hair was neatly combed without a hair out of place, and the red tie of his school uniform was perfectly straight. Everything was completely in order. After double-checking to make sure he had everything he needed in his school bag, Toya headed out to the kitchen for breakfast.
Toya reached the kitchen to find two individuals already seated at the table eating. One of them was another thirteen-year-old boy with slightly long black hair that grew down to cover one of his blue eyes. He had on the same middle school uniform as Toya, only the light blue blazer he wore was totally unbuttoned and his red tie was more than a little lose; both violations of their school's dress code, but this young man hardly cared about such things. This boy was in fact Toya's stepbrother, Kotaro Mikihara. The two of them had become brothers at the age of eight when Kotaro's mother married Toya's father.
In many ways the two boys were opposites. Toya had always been the model student at school, diligent in his studies and always following the rules. Meanwhile many considered Kotaro to be something of a delinquent. In fact many of Toya's teachers had been worried that Kotaro would end up being a negative influence on him, but in the end it often seemed like the opposite had been the case; Kotaro had become a somewhat better student thanks to Toya's help. Plus the simple fact was Kotaro was hardly a bad kid, just a bit rebellious, and that was something Toya had always admired about his stepbrother.
The other individual sitting at the breakfast table was not a human, but a small teal and white humanoid creature resembling a dragon. It had a yellow V on its forehead and wore a pair of black fingerless gloves on his hands. This creature was Kotaro's Digimon partner, a Veemon that went by the nickname, Vic. Vic had been Kotaro's partner for years, and Vic was another thing Toya envied Kotaro for. After all, Toya didn't have a Digimon of his own.
Toya had long ago realized he was something of a minority in the current day and age. It seemed like more and more children were becoming partners to these strange and wondrous creatures that had somehow emerged from cyberspace and into the physical world. At least eighty-five percent of the kids at Toya and Kotaro's school had a Digimon, and even more kids all over the world had become partners to these creatures. Even Kotaro's older sister, Himeko had a Digimon. For whatever reason, Toya had been one of the few not paired up with a Digimon.
"Yo! About time you got out here!" Vic told Toya as he came over to the table. "Kotaro and I have been waiting."
"Take it easy on him, Vic," Kotaro responded. "You know how Toya likes to take time with his school prep."
"It wouldn't hurt you to do the same every now and then," Toya remarked as he sat down.
Kotaro simply rolled his eyes, which was his usual response to such statements. "By the way, I got a text from Kenji a few minutes ago. There's a rumor our class is getting a new student starting today."
"Is that right? Well, this should make for an interesting day then. I'm sure there are already rumors flying around about this person."
"I wonder what kind of Digimon this transfer student has?" Vic remarked.
"What makes you so sure this person will have a Digimon?" Toya asked.
"Hey, it's unlikely the kid will end up being a weirdo like you."
"Not cool, Vic," Kotaro scolded. "It's not Toya's fault he doesn't have a Digimon."
"…Sorry," Vic responded, looking ashamed.
Kotaro sighed. "Anyway, we better finish up breakfast or else we'll be late."
Toya nodded and the three of them finished eating mostly in silence. In another few minutes they were out the door to school.
As soon as Kotaro and Toya had arrived at school, Vic went off to the spot on the school ground where most of the partner Digimon of the students hung out when classes were in session. When the brothers went into their classroom they found their fellow students gossiping about the new transfer student they were supposed to be getting. There were of course several wild stories about the new student flying around the room. Some were saying that the newcomer was a child celebrity attending the school under and assumed identity; others even had the wild theory that the new student was the child of someone in the Yakuza. All of the theorizing quickly came to an end though as soon as the bell rang and everyone sat down. The class's homeroom teacher, Mrs. Yoshimori came in and stood behind her desk.
"Okay everyone, before we get started I have an announcement to make," Mrs. Yoshimori began. "Starting today we have a new student joining us. Please give a warm welcome to Norn Takaishi."
Walking into the room as Mrs. Yoshimori wrote the new student's name on the white board was a girl with long blonde hair and fair skin. Immediately all of the students seemed to be in awe of the new girl. She had a quality about her that was quite captivating. Both Toya and Kotaro were especially affected by this quality. Each of them thought Norn was the cutest girl they had ever seen.
"Norn, would you like to introduce yourself to the class?" Mrs. Yoshimori asked.
The blond girl nodded and bowed to the other students. "How do you do? My name is Norn Takaishi. I hope we can all become good friends."
"Alright Norn, if you'll just take a seat we can get started for the day. I believe there's an empty desk towards the back between the Mikihara brothers."
Toya quickly became flustered when he learned Norn was going to be sitting between him and Kotaro. Kotaro's face also turned a bit red when he heard this news, though he was far more composed than his brother. Norn meanwhile was completely oblivious to how the two boys reacted as she came over.
"Um…h-h-hello," Toya spoke once Norn had sat down. "I'm, uh…I'm…"
Kotaro rolled his eyes. "Hi. I'm Kotaro Mikihara. The tongue-tied dude trying to speak is my brother, Toya."
Norn gave them both the cutest smile either of them had ever seen. "It's a pleasure to meet you both."
Afterwards, Norn turned her attention to the lecture Mrs. Yoshimori had started. Both Toya and Kotaro however kept their eyes fixed on the angel that had descended from heaven to sit between them.
Tai had gotten a phone call from Izzy to meet him at the Central Hospital, specifically in the room of Yuji Yoshina. He had come alone, as he thought the hospital patrons might be wary of Agumon's presence. Agumon meanwhile had gone to wait in Izzy's digital grid until Tai's business at the hospital was done. Izzy had set it up so the Digimon could text their human partners while within the grid, and every few seconds Agumon had been blasting Tai's phone with messages of how amazing the mansion Norn had built within the grid was. Tai could help but be impressed by his niece's skill at building digital structures.
It didn't take long for Tai to find Yuji Yoshina's hospital room. By the time he reached it, he found Detective Matayoshi waiting beside the door.
"Looks like you and I got the same invitation," Matayoshi remarked as Tai walked up. "Where's your little yellow friend?"
"He's nearby," Tai answered. "I didn't know Izzy called you here too."
"Well, I was the one who asked him to look into this in the first place. Shall we go in?"
Tai nodded and the two of them entered the hospital room. They found Izzy sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed with his laptop open and a silver briefcase on the floor next to him. Meanwhile the unconscious Yuji Yoshina was lying in the hospital bed with no shirt and a blanket covering him up to his waist. On the unconscious young man's bear chest were three large purple scars resembling scratch marks made by a set of giant claws. Tei felt certain the scars had been made by a certain feline Digimon he had the misfortune of encountering in his apartment a couple of nights ago.
Upon looking around the room, Tai also noticed Yuji's Digimon, Betamon inside a glass box in a corner of the room not far from the head of the unconscious Tamer's bed. The creature was totally unconscious.
"Thank you both for coming," Izzy told Tai and Matayoshi.
"I'm guessing you found something," Tai spoke.
"Indeed I did. I'll start with Mr. Yoshina's Digivice. I did a thorough examination of it and found it contained some sort of strange programing code I had never seen before. Needless to say, this code isn't supposed to be there."
"So it's like some sort of computer virus?"
Izzy nodded. "That's the best way to describe it. This malware has of course also infected Mr. Yoshina's Digimon."
"I knew there was something weird about it when Ken and I fought it."
"So you're saying Yoshina loaded some kind of malicious programming onto his Digivice gizmo?" Matayoshi asked.
"I'm afraid not, detective," Izzy answered. "You see Mr. Yoshina has also been infected by this virus." He then opened up the case on the floor next to his chair. "Tai, I'd like you to try something out for me."
Izzy then handed a pair of goggles to Tai. They were a lot like the ones he wore in his younger days adventuring in the Digital World, only silver.
"I'm guessing these aren't regular goggles," Tai remarked as he examined them.
Izzy nodded. "They have a set of special lenses I developed. I'd like you to put them on and look at both Mr. Yoshina and his Digimon."
Tai put the goggles on over his eyes and found that the lenses gave everything a reddish tint. When he looked at Yuji however, he saw several glowing purple lines running all over his body. The scratch marks on his chest were also glowing like a beacon. Tai saw the same lines running all over Betamon.
"That's definitely not right," Tai declared as he raised the goggles. "Are those glowing lines I saw supposed to be the virus?"
"Precisely," Izzy confirmed. "Mr. Yoshina himself was infected by the virus, and from him it spread to his Digivice and then to his Digimon."
"How is that even possible?" Matayoshi asked.
"The only explanation was that he was infected by another Digimon, the same one which left those scars on his chest. Those wounds seem to be the source of the infection."
"So it's possible this poor guy wasn't responsible for his actions when he went on that rampage before," Tai realized.
"That would track with what I've found out about Yoshina so far," Matayoshi spoke as he put a hand to his chin. "I've been digging into his background and found he was a model citizen with no past criminal record. It made no sense for him to suddenly rob a store and start rampaging through Shinjuku."
"Izzy, is there a way for you to remove the virus?"
"I'm afraid not," Izzy answered. "At least not right now. And it's very possible for other Tamers and Digidestined to become infected, which is part of the reason I gave you those goggles. They'll let you identify other Tamers and Digidestined that become infected."
"So what you're saying young man, is there's a real possibility more attacks from Tamers could happen in the near future," Matayoshi deduced.
"Until we can find and contain the source of the infections, I'm afraid so."
"Well then, I think that's all I need to hear for now," Matayoshi responded as he tugged on his hat. "Let me know if you come up with anything else."
"Detective," Tai spoke as Matayoshi headed for the door. "Did you find out anything about that girl I asked you to look into?"
Matayoshi turned back to look at Tai. "I have done a little checking into Meiko Mochizuki. There's an open missing persons case on her, one that's gone ice cold. Seems Ms. Mochizuki vanished without a trace when she was sixteen. I'm still doing some digging though. I'll let you know when I have more info."
With that, Detective Matayoshi finally left the hospital room.
Tai breathed a sigh of relief when the detective left. "That guy always makes me nervous."
"I know what you mean," Izzy agreed. "Still, I think it's best we cooperate with him, especially since he's helping us look into Meiko."
"Yeah. Plus us working with the police should ultimately help how the public looks at us Digidestined and Digimon in general."
"In any case Tai, there's no question that Meiko and Meicoomon are the source of the virus.
Tai looked back at the unconscious Yuji and sighed. "I know. We have to find them and stop them before anyone else gets hurt."
The lunch hour had arrived at Norn's school, and she had already made it through the line in the cafeteria. So far Norn had been enjoying school life. Most of her classes had so far been fairly boring due to the massive amount of knowledge she possessed as the reincarnation of Yggdrasil, but Norn found she liked interacting with other human children. Practically every student in the school had been so nice to her, particularly the boys for some reason. For instance when she got in line in the cafeteria, practically every boy in line let her cut in front of them.
By the time Norn had gotten her lunch though, she found that almost every table in the cafeteria seemed to be full. After a little searching though, she found a table by one of the windows that was completely unoccupied. Norn immediately sat down at the table to eat. She had barely dug into her meal though when a group of five girls suddenly advanced on her and practically surrounded her.
"Hey!" called the lead girl, who had tan skin and long bleached hair. "What do you think you're doing, new girl?"
"Is there something wrong?" Norn asked.
"You're damn right there's something wrong! Do you know who I am?"
"I'm afraid not, no. This is only my first day here."
"The name's Aya Tomoe!" the bleached girl responded, pointing a thumb at herself. "I happen to be queen bee around here, and this table is the usual spot for me and my crew."
"Oh! I'm terribly sorry. I had no idea I was intruding. Perhaps you would be kind enough to let me join you and your friends."
"You really are dense, aren't ya new girl? Normally I'd only let you off with a warning since you don't know how things work around here yet, but after that gross display in the lunch line I really need to be taught a lesson."
"Whatever do you mean?" Norn asked with a tilt of her head.
"Oh don't play dumb with me! I'm talking about the way you seem to have all the boys in this school falling all over you. You got some nerve doing that kinda thing around here! So before I boot you away from my table I think my girls and I are gonna make you a little less pretty."
"Knock it off, Tomoe!" ordered a familiar voice just as Aya and her gang started advancing on Norn. Norn and the others looked and saw Kotaro coming up with Toya. "Leave her alone!"
"Mind your own damn business, Mikihara!" Aya shot back. "This doesn't concern you or that wimpy goodie two-shoes brother of yours."
"No way," Kotaro responded as he advanced on her. "Now I'll say this one more time, leave Norn alone."
Aya smirked. "Or what? You'll hit me? Didn't your parents ever teach you not to hit a lady?"
"They did. But in your case, that's not a problem."
Aya's smirk turned into an expression of utter rage as she swung her hand up to slap Kotaro in the face. Kotaro easily dodged the attack and used his leg to knock Aya off her feet. Aya fell to the floor on all fours. She quickly got back to her feet though and was about to deliver a punch to Kotaro's face when she saw a couple of teachers heading towards their location.
"This isn't over," Aya declared before quickly leaving with her gang.
Toya let out a heavy sigh of relief. "That sure got out of control fast."
Kotaro nodded and turned his attention to Norn. "You okay?"
Norn nodded. "I thank you for your assistance, but feel I should apologize for causing you so much trouble. I didn't know it was forbidden for me to sit at this table."
"Don't listen to Tomoe. She may think she and her gang own this table, but you can sit wherever you want."
"Still, it'd probably be best to avoid this table in the future," Toya suggested. "As you just witnessed, Aya and her gang of mean girls can be pretty nasty. Most of us stay away from their favorite table to avoid trouble."
"I see. Thank you for the warning," Norn told him.
Toya's face turned a bit red as he rubbed the back of his head. "So, um…do you mind to much if, uh…if I joined you Norn? For lunch, I mean. If not, that's fine. I'll just find some place to eat outside."
"Don't be silly. I'd love for both you and Kotaro to join me."
"Great!" Toya responded as a big grin came to his face. "I'm honored that, wait…me and Kotaro?"
"Don't mind if I do," Kotaro spoke as he sat down across the table from Norn.
Toya frowned a bit as he sat down next to his stepbrother. Norn was completely oblivious to Toya's disappointment of course. The three of them began to eat in silence for a few moments.
"So Norn, you doing anything after school?" Kotaro finally asked.
"Actually my Uncle Matt is coming to escort me home," Norn answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh. Well…I just thought you and me could do something later, but since you got plans or whatever…"
"I see. Perhaps another time."
"Yeah…" Kotaro fell silent for several more moments, taking several sips from his juice carton before finally speaking again. "So, um…hey. Maybe I could at least hang out with you until your uncle shows up? You know, just in case Tomoe and her mean girl squad try to make trouble for you."
"Um, perhaps I could hang out with you as well for the same reason!" Toya quickly suggested. "That is, if that's okay with you of course. I mean two bodyguards would be better than one."
Norn smiled at them both. "Thank you. I would enjoy both of your company after school."
The school day was winding down and Aya had gone out behind the building to cool her head and meet with her Digimon partner. Her day hadn't improved much since her encounter with Norn and Kotaro in the cafeteria. Aya swore that she was going to make them both pay for humiliating her.
"Hey! Gazimon!" Aya called as she stormed over to the tree she and her Digimon usually hung out under after school. "Get your furry butt out here!"
Emerging from the nearby bushes was a bipedal mammalian creature covered in grey fur. It had long ears like a rabbit, and each of its forearms ended with a set of three long black claws.
"About time you got out here, Aya," the creature known as Gazimon spoke as he approached. "Have a good day at school."
"No! It sucked way more than usual!" Aya declared. "There's some new girl at school who thinks she's the new queen bee. Tomorrow I'm gonna make her life hell."
"Why wait until tomorrow?" a voice suddenly interrupted. Aya and Gazimon turned to see Meiko walking towards them. "Haven't you heard the old saying, why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?"
"Who the hell are you?" Aya asked.
"Just someone passing through. But the girl you're talking about, it's Norn Takaishi, right?"
"How the hell did you know that?"
"You hate her, don't you?"
"Well…I guess so, yeah. I hate her guts at least."
"You want to kill her," Meiko continued as a mad grin formed on her face. "You want to see the walls of this school painted with her blood. I know I'd get a kick out of seeing that."
Aya backed away a couple of steps. "What the hell's your problem, lady? Look, I may hate the little bitch, but I don't wanna kill her."
"Oh come now! You don't need to pretend," Meiko declared as she came up and put her hands on Aya's shoulders. "To hate someone is to want to kill them, or even better, to make them totally miserable so that they wish they were dead. And Norn's death will make the one I hate most suffer. You and I are the same!"
"Get away from me!" Aya told Meiko as she pushed her away.
Gazimon quickly jumped in between Meiko and his partner. "You leave Aya alone right now, or else!"
Meiko chuckled. "Mei dear. It's time for you to go to work."
Suddenly Aya and Gazimon heard a sound like a growling cat coming from behind. Aya looked back and saw a pair of red glowing eyes glaring at her through the bushes. In the next instant a large creature burst from the shrubbery, and Aya screamed as it came and slashed her across the stomach.
Norn passed through the front gates of the school with Kotaro and Toya walking at her right and left respectively. As soon as the three were outside, Agu and Gao ran up to Norn from around the corner.
"Norn! Finally!" Agu called out as he ran up. "It feels like we've been waiting forever for you to get out!"
"I'm terrible sorry," Norn told her two Digimon. "I hope you two weren't bored waiting for me."
"Nah, it wasn't too bad," Gao responded. "Agu and I passed the time hanging out with the other partner Digimon of the kids going to this school."
"Norn, are both of these Digimon yours?" Toya asked.
"Why yes," Norn confirmed with her usual dazzling smile.
"I've read online that there are a few kids who end up with two Digimon, but it's pretty rare," Kotaro interjected. "You certainly are something, Norn."
"Thank you," Norn replied before turning back to her two partners. "So, did either of you make any friends with the other Digimon brought here?"
"We did make friends with one of 'em," Gao answered. "In fact he insisted on tagging along with us."
On cue, Vic came out from around the corner. "Yo!"
"Oh! There you are Vic," Kotaro responded. "I was worried I'd have to go and hunt you down again. You been hanging out with these guys this whole time?"
"Pretty much. Agu and Gao here are pretty interesting. To hear them talk, you'd think they've never been to the Digital World before. We should take 'em on a tour sometime."
"So Kotaro, I take it this Veemon is your partner?" Norn deduced.
Kotaro nodded. "I met him about five years ago. One day he just popped out of my laptop as a DemiVeemon as I was surfing the web. The Digivice I got sort of appeared with him. He evolved into a Veemon the next morning. At the time I couldn't keep track of how a Digimon's name changes as it evolves, so I just decided to give him a nickname. Well, actually Vic picked it out."
"I wanted to go with Victorious, but Kotaro decided to call me Vic for short," the Veemon explained.
Norn nodded. "And where's your Digimon partner, Toya?"
"Oh, well…I actually don't have a Digimon," Toya admitted. "I'm one of those rare kids who never got one."
"Oh…I'm terribly sorry to hear that."
Toya shrugged. "It is what it is."
"So Norn, how long do you think before that uncle of yours shows up?" Kotaro asked in an effort to change the subject.
"It shouldn't be long I imagine," Norn answered.
"Hey! New girl!" a familiar voice interrupted.
Norn and the others looked and saw Aya and Gazimon coming towards them from the school. All six noticed that Gazimon's eyes were glowing with an unnatural purple light. The fresh scratch marks on Aya's stomach were glowing purple as well through her torn shirt, and in her right hand she clutched a black Digivice.
"Dammit!" Kotaro cursed. "We've had enough of your crap for one day Tomoe, so just buzz off!"
"Kotaro, something's not right," Toya observed. "Look at them."
"So the Mikihara brothers are here too, huh?" Aya observed. "Awesome. Now all three of you will get what's coming to you! Gazimon!"
Gazimon let out an animalistic screech before being enveloped in a pillar of black energy that expanded outward.
"Gazimon digivolve to…Devidramon!" Gazimon called out from within the pillar, his voice deepening with the utterance of his other name.
The energy soon subsided to reveal a large dragon, covered in a black skin-tight bodysuit. It had four red glowing eyes and a snout with chalk-white skin. On its head was a pair of horns shaped like two small bat wings.
"What the heck?" Kotaro exclaimed. "Has Tomoe gone completely nuts?"
"Devidramon, tear them to pieces!" Aya commanded.
Devidramon roared and raised a claw to strike at Norn and the others. Before he could land an attack though, a small object suddenly rammed into the evil dragon's snout from above and landed on the ground in front of Norn and her friends. The object turned out to be a small dragon with pointed ears, covered in what looked like white and black armor. It had a pronounced black jaw and a small dark-grey horn on the end of its white snout. On its back the dragon wore a tattered red cape, which included a hood with goggles embedded in it.
"Human children! I ask you and your Digimon companions to leave this area before you get hurt," the little dragon told Norn and the others. "I shall handle these corrupted ones!"
"What the hell are you supposed to be?" Aya demanded to know.
"I am Hackmon! A knight in training!" the little dragon answered. "In the name of the harmony of the Digital World, I shall put an end to your terror!"
With that, Hackmon leapt at Devidramon and attempted to slash the beast with his claws. Devidramon merely swatted Hackmon away into the wall around the school as if he were a bug. The little caped dragon hit the wall with enough force to leave several large cracks.
"The little guy's got some guts," Kotaro commented. "Gotta admire that."
"Yeah, but I don't think he stands a chance," Vic interjected. "I've never seen a Digimon like him before, but I can tell he's only a Rookie-level. Against a Champion Digimon like Devidramon, he doesn't stand a chance."
"This is terrible!" Norn declared. "Agu! Gao! We have to…"
Before Norn could finish her sentence, Toya dropped his school bag and rushed onto the battlefield. He got in front of Hackmon and raised his arms to the sides just as Devidramon was about to launch another attack.
"Human! What're you doing?" Hackmon asked as he got back up.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Toya admitted. "But you can't fight something like this on your own, and I'm tired of standing on the sidelines against bullies like Tomoe while guys like Kotaro step in to fight. That's why I'm stepping in! I don't know how, but we'll fight this thing together!"
Suddenly a blinding orange light sparked to life in front of Toya. A few seconds later the light cleared to reveal a dark-grey D-3 model Digivice with fiery orange-red grips. The device floated in the air in front of Toya, allowing him to take it into his hand. Soon after, Hackmon began to glow with a fiery red aura.
"I…feel strange," Hackmon spoke. "Like some sort of power is welling up inside me!"
Hackmon roared and suddenly became enveloped by a blinding red light. The intensity of the light was so strong it caused both Aya and Devidramon to shield their eyes.
"Hackmon digivolve to…BaoHuckmon!" the little dragon called out, his voice deepening with the utterance of his other name.
The light faded to reveal that Hackmon had grown much larger. The caped dragon's armor had grown thicker. His tail had also developed a red sword-like blade on the end. With his transformation finished, BaoHuckmon blasted Devidramon in the face with a stream of flames from his mouth.
"Hey Kotaro, let me fight too," Vic spoke. "BaoHuckmon may have gotten tougher, but I still don't think he can take down Devidramon on his own."
Kotaro nodded. "Fine with me. Besides, I've never been one to just stand on the sidelines. Get in there and show him what you're made of, Vic!"
Vic charged through the gate, and suddenly his body became enveloped by a blinding blue light.
"Veemon digivolve to…Veedramon!" Vic called out, his voice deepening with the utterance of his other name.
In seconds the light cleared to reveal Vic in the form of a large blue and white wingless bipedal dragon. He had a pronounced white snout with a grey horn at the end, and two large grey horns growing from the back of his head. A blue V decorated the dragon's chest, and he had small cross-shaped scars on parts of his body. Kotaro was stunned upon seeing the new form of his partner.
Vic glanced back at Kotaro and flashed him a fanged grin. "Haven't I always said I was awesome?"
Kotaro smirked. "Never doubted it. Now let's teach Tomoe and her Digimon never to mess with us!"
Vic continued his charge onto the battlefield and opened his mouth wide. "V-Nova Blast!"
The blue dragon fired a cluster of three blue fireballs from his jaws, striking Devidramon on his chest and shoulders. Before the wicked dragon could recover, BaoHuckmon flipped through the air and slashed Devidramon with the blade on the end of his tail.
"I told you to leave the battlefield as well," BaoHuckmon told Vic. "It seems none of you are very good at listening."
"You'd think I'd let you have all the fun to yourself?" Vic responded. "C'mon. If we work together, we can take this guy down in no time!"
BaoHuckmon looked at the fallen Devidramon and nodded. "It would be better not to let this battle drag on for too long. Very well! Let's end this!"
Kotaro meanwhile ran over to Toya's side. "C'mon bro. Let's take these guys down!"
Toya smiled and nodded. "Okay!"
"Hey Norn, shouldn't we help too?" Agu asked.
"…No," Norn answered after a moment. "I think we should let Kotaro and Toya handle this themselves. I'm interested in seeing what they're capable of."
Matt sped down the road towards Norn's school on the back of his motorcycle, with Gabumon riding behind him. There was a sidecar attached to the motorcycle big enough to fit Norn, Agu and Gao. The sidecar was also big enough to fit several bags of groceries, which Sora had found to be a plus for the vehicle. By the time Norn's school came into view, Matt saw a large explosion come from within his gates.
"What the hell?" Matt exclaimed. "Something's going on, and I'm betting it has to do with that Meiko girl Tai warned us about."
"Matt, I can go on ahead," Gabumon offered. "Your motorcycle's fast, but I'm a lot faster."
"You read my mind. Go get 'em!"
Gabumon leapt off the back of the motorcycle and suddenly glowed with a blue light.
"Gabumon warp digivolve to…MetalGarurumon!" Gabumon called out as he transformed, his voice changing with the utterance of his other name.
In seconds Gabumon had transformed into a large mechanical wolf covered in silver and yellow armor. He had a pair of blades on his back like wings and a long blade for a tail. MetalGarurumon sped down the road ahead of Matt's motorcycle towards the school. Matt followed his partner close behind, hoping they would both get to the school before Norn or anyone else got hurt.
Devidramon swatted at BaoHuckmon with his tail, only for the caped dragon to knock the tail away and slash the wicked dragon in the chest with his claws. This gave Vic the opening he needed to charge in and deliver the finishing blow.
"Magnum Punch!" Vic called out as he delivered a glowing blue punch to the side of Devidramon's jaw.
The wicked dragon fell to the ground unconscious and reverted to his original form of Gazimon. At the same time, Aya suddenly passed out and the scratch marks on her stomach stopped glowing. With the battle at an end, Vic and BaoHuckmon reverted to their original forms.
"Nailed 'em!" Vic exclaimed as he moved his right arm to work the kinks out of his shoulder. "That was quite the workout."
"I don't understand," Hackmon spoke. "How was I able to evolve like that?"
"I think…I was the reason," Toya spoke as he and Kotaro stepped forward. "I don't know how, but I think you and I are partners now."
"That's exactly the case," Norn spoke as she came over with Agu and Gao. "The digivice you now hold is proof of your bond. I believe Hackmon was always meant to be your partner, Toya."
"Me? Partners with a human?" Hackmon asked.
"Makes sense to me," Kotaro spoke as he looked at his own Digivice. "I'm happy for ya bro. Gotta admit though, it bugs me a little that your Digivice seems to be a nicer model than the one I have."
"Kotaro. Toya. May I see both of your Digivices for a moment?" Norn requested.
Both boys shrugged and handed Norn their respective Digivices. Norn held the one device in each hand and suddenly her eyes began to glow green. A stream of green ones and zeros began to flow from Toya's D-3 into Kotaro's classic model Digivice, and in a few seconds Kotaro's Digivice changed into a sky blue D-3 with white grips. As soon as the stream of ones and zeros ended, Norn handed the boys back their respective devices.
"Uh…what did you just do and how did you do it?" Kotaro asked.
"I upgraded your Digivice with the same features Toya's has," Norn explained. "As for how I did it, that's…complicated."
"Uh, Norn? Was doing that in front of these guys a good idea?" Agu asked.
"You were supposed to keep your powers a secret, right?" Gao reminded her.
"Oh…oh dear!" Norn exclaimed, realizing her mistake. "Please, don't tell anyone what you just saw me do."
"Um…sure! My lips are sealed," Kotaro replied.
Toya nodded. "Your secret is safe with us, we promise. But…how exactly did you do that?"
"You naughty children!" a voice interrupted. Norn and the others looked and saw Meiko standing in the gate with Meicrackmon. "You weren't supposed to get involved. LITTLE NORN WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE!" she shouted as she slammed the side of her fist into the gate. It took Meiko a few moments to compose herself. "Guess Mei and I will have to do this ourselves."
"Ice Wolf Claw!" a voice suddenly called out.
Several missiles came down from the sky towards Meiko and Meicrackmon. Meicrackmon grabbed her partner and leapt onto the top of the wall surrounding the school before the missiles could hit. The projectiles struck the empty ground where the two had been standing and left a thick patch of ice. Meiko looked down and saw MetalGarurumon positioned at the end of the street. Matt arrived on the scene a few seconds later and pulled up next to MetalGarurumon.
Matt removed his helmet and looked up at Meiko and Meicrackmon. "You must be that Child of Darkness I was told about. I don't know what the hell your deal is, but I'm not letting you hurt my niece!"
"So you're going to get in my way too, huh?" Meiko responded. "Then I guess you'll also have to die!"
"You will not have the chance!" another voice cut in. Meiko and the others looked in time to see Gankoomon jump onto the corner of the school wall. "Your reign of destruction ends here!"
Meiko scowled. "Guess we'll have to try again another time. Mei!"
Meicrackmon slashed the air and created another hole in space. As Gankoomon charged towards the dark duo, Meicrackmon picked up Meiko bridal style and leapt through the hole. The strange portal closed before Gankoomon could get to it. Grumbling something under his breath, Gankoomon leapt down into the schoolyard where Norn and the others still were. Matt dismounted his vehicle to join him as MetalGarurumon reverted to his usual form of Gabumon.
In another few moments, Matt entered the schoolyard and ran up to his niece. "Norn! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Uncle Matt," Norn assured him. "But who was that woman?"
"I'll explain later." Matt at last noticed Kotaro, Toya and their Digimon. "Looks like you made some interesting new friends."
"Hackmon!" Gankoomon called as he approached the group.
"Master Gankoomon!" the little caped dragon responded. "I'm sorry I rushed off on my own before, but…"
Before Hackmon could finish, Gankoomon punched him with enough force to hurl him into the wall. "You fool! Do you have any idea how reckless it was to charge off after such an enemy on your own? You're still not strong enough to stand against such an enemy alone!"
"Excuse me sir," Toya interrupted. "You know Hackmon?"
Gankoomon nodded. "He is my apprentice. I've been searching for him for days."
Blanc and Noir suddenly jumped onto the wall and into the schoolyard as Hackmon got up.
"HACKMOOOON!" Blanc called out as she ran up and pulled the little dragon into a bone-crushing hug. "We were so-so-so-so worried about you!"
"What were you thinking, you dumb gecko?" Noir scolded. "Charging off on your own like that? I outta pistol-whip you for doing something so stupid!"
"Never make us worry like that again!" Blanc cried as she continued to squeeze Hackmon like a vice.
"Blanc…can't…breath!" Hackmon croaked.
"Oh! Sorry!" Blanc responded as she let go.
Toya came over and kneeled down next to Hackmon. "You okay?"
"I…will be fine," Hackmon answered as he caught his breath.
Gankoomon stepped up to Toya and crossed his arms. "I witnessed that whole battle with the corrupted human child and her partner. What is your name, boy?"
Toya got to his feet and looked Gankoomon in the eye. "Toya Mikihara. I don't know how, but I'm now Hackmon's partner. I don't know what you're relationship with him is, but I don't like you roughing Hackmon up like that. If you're gonna punch him again, you'll have to punch me first."
Gankoomon looked Toya over for a few moments and smirked. "You may seem meek, but you have a strong will. It seems Gennai chose well."
"Did you really doubt me that much?" a familiar voice interrupted. Matt and the others looked and saw Gennai walking through the gate. "I have a knack for identifying Digidestined you know."
"Indeed." Gankoomon turned back to his apprentice. "Hackmon! You've come as far as you can in your training on your own. In order to gain true strength, you and this boy must work together. With his help, you will find the power to become a true knight!"
Hackmon looked at Toya for a few moments and nodded. "I think I understand, Master. Toya, my lifelong dream has been to become a true knight like Master Gankoomon. Will you help me achieve that dream?"
After a moment, Toya smiled and nodded. "I'll do my best!"
"I'm starting to get a little lost here," Kotaro remarked as he scratched his head.
"You're not the only one, kid," Matt agreed. "Norn, I want you to take Agu and Gao and wait out front by my motorcycle. I'd like to talk with some of these guys alone."
Norn nodded. "Very well."
"Um, Vic and I will make sure she gets there safely," Kotaro interrupted.
Matt shrugged. "Whatever."
With that, Norn and her two Digimon left the schoolyard with Kotaro and Vic. Matt meanwhile went over to look at the still unconscious Aya and Gazimon.
"This girl…she's like the guy Tai and Ken fought the other day, isn't she?" Matt realized.
"I'm afraid so," Gennai confirmed. "This child and her Digimon have been corrupted by Meiko, infected with a virus that made them into her puppets. Now that the two of them are no longer useful to her, they've been doomed to this state of living death."
"Can't you help them?"
Gennai shook his head. "I'm afraid not. There's no way to undo what's been done to them."
"Which is why we must stop the Child of Darkness as soon as possible!" Gankoomon declared. "The longer she remains at large, the more lives will be lost."
"Meiko must've used this girl to try and get Norn," Matt realized. "Looks like she's in more danger than any of us realized."
"Sir?" Toya spoke as he stepped forward. "I'd be lying if I said I knew everything that was going on, but I promise to do my best to protect Norn."
"I will help," Hackmon agreed. "If I've understood everything correctly, the Child of Darkness will likely come after Toya's friend again. Therefore it is also my duty to protect her."
"Very good, Hackmon!" Gankoomon praised. "You are behaving like a true knight. From this point on, you shall remain on standby with young Toya in case the Child of Darkness comes after the girl again. Leave the task of hunting our enemy down to me."
Hackmon nodded. "I understand."
"Master, perhaps Blanc and I should stick close to Hackmon and make sure she doesn't mess up again," Noir suggested.
"Very good!" Gankoomon praised. "From this point on, the two of you will stick close to Hackmon as though you were his shadow."
Noir smirked and looked at Toya. "Well kid, looks like Blanc and I are going to be your new roommates."
"Wow! I've never been to a human's home before. This is so exciting!" Blanc declared.
"Uh, hold on! I'm not sure if this'll work okay," Toya declared. "I mean my parents will probably be fine with me brining home just Hackmon, but you two as well?"
"I will also be joining you!" Gankoomon declared. "From this point on, your home shall become my base here in the human world as I search for the Child of Darkness."
"WHAT?" a freaked out Toya exclaimed. "Is that really necessary?"
"Oh boy," Matt spoke as he scratched his head. "Don't worry kid, I think I can help you with this. Better call Izzy to set you up with access to that gird of his."
Meiko and her Digimon had retreated to an abandoned house in the human world they had been using as their hideout. As soon as they arrived, Meiko had started tearing up the already broken pieces of furniture in the living room in a rage while Meicoomon watched from a corner. She was furious about being unable to kill Norn, one of the three best ways she had of hurting Kari. So far every attempt Meiko made to make Kari's life a living hell had failed miserably. Eventually Meiko's tantrum subsided and she sat down in a corner of the room with her knees to her chest as she caught her breath.
Suddenly the room became filled with the sound of evil laughter. "Having problems, are we?"
Meiko immediately got to her feet the moment she heard the voice. "Go away! I don't need you mocking me!"
"Calm yourself, my dear. The Elder One sent me to help you."
A swirling black vortex suddenly appeared in the center of the floor. Rising from the vortex was a well-muscled humanoid creature with abnormally long forearms ending with large clawed hands. The creature had on a black bodysuit that clung tightly to its form, which included an attached horned mask that revealed only chalk-white skin around its mouth and a pair of fearsome red eyes. On its back was a pair of gigantic bat-like wings filled with holes and a red bat-like symbol was emblazoned on its chest. A series of black belts were wrapped around the creature's abdomen, left forearm, right upper arm, and left upper leg. A sort of brown leather bandage was also wrapped almost completely around the creature's right forearm.
"I don't need your help, Devimon!" Meiko told the demon.
"Are you sure?" Devimon responded as he hovered towards her. "So far every one of your assassination attempts has met with failure. Face it, girl! As strong as you and Meicoomon have become, you cannot do this alone. That is why the Elder One deemed to revive me, so that I may help you. And I have a plan to eliminate the Child of Hope, and perhaps even the Child of Courage as well depending on how things work out."
"…How good is this plan of yours?"
"It's near perfection. There is one potential problem though. It may fall apart if the Child of Light interferes. Past events have shown that she and the Child of Hope make a nearly unstoppable duo. You may need to keep her occupied."
A mad grin formed on Meiko's face. "Okay then. That could be fun. It's about time Kari and I finally got to know each other a little."
Author's Note: This chapter ended up being longer than expected because I used it to introduce a couple of major characters to this story. In fact I'm also using this story to further my master plan regarding Norn later in this series. The full name of the character from the Digimon Next manga that Norn is based upon is Norn Mikihara, right? The same last name I chose for Kotaro and Toya. See where I'm going with this?
Please review and let me know what you think.