I still do not own digimon.

Character: TK

Universe: 02, 25 years later

Series: Secret Series 1

Notes:

Let's celebrate, shall we?

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World 1R

Seconds

TK stared out from the balcony.

Earlier, he had been talking to a publisher. It had been a book deal for the latest entry in the Adventure series of novels. After, he had hopped into his car, leaving the radio off for this particular occasion. Traffic had been heavier than usual, but the digidestined couldn't quite figure out why. It was only when he finally reached their apartment and settled down for the night that he realized something was wrong.

This feeling was echoed through the news, with the newscaster seeming ready to just throw in the towel.

"We bring you continued coverage of the incident that occurred at a local park in Odia-"

Maybe it was out of instinct or perhaps dread, TK ran out onto the balcony. Which coincidentally, brings us to our current situation. He muttered something to himself, letting his gaze hang for a brief second more.

"She will be down there, I just know it." he thought, making his way towards the door.

Down below, the charred remnants of a park casually waited. This had once been Kari's favorite park. Heck, it had been a favorite among many humans and their digimon companions. Now, all that remained were some charred ashes and a few corpses. The area surrounding the park was just the same, charred and burned. Only hours before, that area had probably been a forest where many digimon and humans had played hide and seek and maybe made little forts in the brush.

From the whispers he seemed to hear as he exited the apartment, this whole kerfuffle was started over an orange. It wasn't that special, just a normal piece of fruit one could easily buy from a supermarket. Yet, that was all it took. In a matter of seconds, a beautiful park, was now just a burnt piece of earth in the middle of a seemingly untouched city.

"God, please let some trace of her be there." He whispered as he climbed down the stairs, taking them two at a time. His heartbeat intensified as the destination got closer and closer. Somehow, multiple digimon managed to reach ultimate, even mega level. Images flooded into his mind and he began to hyperventilate. At first it was just an assortment of rookie digimon. The only notable ones were some weird turtle thing and a scorpion covered in green feathers.

But, the images quickly morphed into something far more scarier. He found himself facing down WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, LadyDevimon, Piedmon, even some really overdressed woman with long black hair he was seeing for the first time. He stopped halfway down the steps. They were just images, nothing to fear at all. The rest of the stairs were far more peaceful, thankfully.

"She'll be all right, there is still a chance." TK thought, turning and heading towards the door.

He took the door out, taking a second to let his breathing return to normal. Afterwards, he headed straight towards the former park. It was there this whole conflict had boiled over. All around, fighting among the humans and digimon of the area broke out, only to cease in a matter of seconds after a massive explosion. Said explosion, could supposedly be seen from outside of town.

"No, she can't be dead..."

The chosen of hope fell to his knees. Any trace of Kari or even Gatomon had been destroyed in the resulting blast. He quickly got back up, brushing any tears he had off his face. Any evidence that the area in question even was a park, probably no longer existed. It was almost as if the world was trying to mock him, laughing at him for expecting a different result this time.

"Who did this! Show yourselves!" He slammed his fist into the tree, only for it to disintegrate into a pile of ash of sludge. Maybe, if he had been seconds faster, none of this would have happened. Kari, along with everyone else there, would still be alive. His gaze focused on a nearby bush. Unlike everything else here, it had managed to remain unscathed among the burnt area, somehow "dodging" the blast. As he stared at it, the bush began to 'morph'. Instead of it being a bush, it was now Kari. In his head, there was still a chance.

So he ran over to 'her', only to find himself hugging a bush. Once he realized that, the chosen let go.

After the dust settled, the fighting had come to an unceremonious conclusion. After that, no one cared. No one came to mourn those lost in the blood. No. They were more interested in themselves than the world around them to do such a thing.

"What did I do deserve this?"

He waited, hoping for an answer to come down from the heavens. So, he stood there, looking around the park. They had brought peace to two worlds, multiple times. On multiple occasions, they had made sure the city wasn't destroyed. And this was how they were repaid.

"What did Kari, no all these people deserve to receive the faith you have given upon them today?!"

He threw his D-3 to the ground and walked away, not giving the device any more focus than it needed.

Notes:

Three years.

It seems like yesterday that I started this. A huge thanks goes to KumoFuzei, who helped with the editing of the original 'Seconds'. You were a lifesaver.

And to answer the question that's been on. The whole thing about the orange is a reference to the Godfather. At certain points in the first movie, oranges or something that's the color orange would appear in the background right as something violent happens. I made an effort to continue this through the rest of this 'series'.

And before you ask, I won't be doing any remixed of past chapters. With one exception.