I do not own InuYasha or Digimon Adventure in any way!
Speech Key:
"The" – Oral/Normal Speech
'The' – Thoughts
AN: Oh, before I forget to mention, the outfit Kagome was wearing in the previous chapter will be usually what she wears until I specify something different. And if I say pajamas, then you'll know what she's wearing as well. If not, refer back to the previous chapter and the second chapter.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Review, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all!
-The Ninth Child-
xX-Revealed-Xx
"Why has the Eighth Child not been found yet?!" Myotismon roared at his assembly of Digimon. "Those children have defeated Mammothmon, SkullMermamon, Gesomon, Raremon, and now even Locomon is gone!"
"Milord," a Digimon spoke, kneeling. "If I may?"
"Speak," the undead Digimon sneered.
"Lord Myotismon," the Digimon spoke from the shadows, "you gave us information on each of the known DigiDestined and their Digimon. However, the Digimon that had defeated Locomon was never mentioned. I believe that there is another Child besides the Eighth to be found, Milord."
Myotismon's eyes narrowed. "Is this true?" he asked to all the other Digimon before him.
"Yes Lord Myotismon," they all answered.
"Tch," Myotismon's jaw clenched. "You are dismissed. Continue with your mission."
"How could I have forgotten?" the undead Digimon hissed. "I gave Gatomon and DemiDevimon nine crests to find nine children. It would only make sense for there to be nine DigiDestined. But this complicates things…an extra player into the game that has already begun…"
-Izumi Residence-
Izzy yawned as he crawled out of bed and powered on his laptop, intending on checking the DigiRadar Gennai had installed.
The familiar nebula desktop came into view and Izzy clicked on the file labeled "Digital World" and brought up the familiar icons he'd browsed through the first time he'd gone through whatever Gennai had inserted into his computer. However, unlike last time, this time there was a new icon of Gennai's head with a red number one wiggling back and forth; this particular icon being labeled "Com-Link".
"Hm," Izzy hummed as he clicked on the icon and began to watch the video message Gennai had sent him.
With each passing moment, the intelligent boy's eye grew wider and wider, and by the end, his eyes were completely devoid of sleep. Tentomon who'd woken up by the middle of Gennai's message watched as Izzy dressed hurriedly, packed up and made his way to the phone.
Getting the idea, the insectoid Digimon put on his disguise consisting of a green hoodie and a yellow cap. He watched as Izzy called each of his friends, asking to set up a meeting with everyone and that it was of the utmost importance. Tentomon watched as Izzy gave him the signal before following him out the door.
The~Ninth~Child
-Shiokaze Park-
"Sorry I'm late!" Tai shouted as he and Agumon joined the rest of their group in a secluded part of the part, surrounded by tree to keep them from prying eyes. "I had a little trouble getting away from my mom this morning."
"Just sit down will ya?" Matt told the brown-haired boy. He turned to Izzy. "So what was this about?"
"This morning I was just oing to check the DigiRadar to see if anymore of Myotismon's henchmen were attacking," Izzy explained. "But instead, I found a message from Gennai."
The group gasped.
"What was it about?" Mimi asked.
"Well," Izzy said. "Maybe I should show you, instead." He clicked a few things and pressed a few buttons before turning his laptop so the screen faced them.
(AN: Now for my sanity's sake, I'm going to have the message put in italics just as I'd put the television report of Garudamon's fight with Mammothmon.)
"Hello, children," Gennai greeted, "I hope you are all well and are well on your way to finding the Eighth Child."
"Not exactly," Tai muttered.
"However, this isn't the time for pleasantries," Gennai said seriously. "Tonight Centarumon came to my home with urgent news. As you know, he is the Guardian of the Temple of Destiny."
(AN: I couldn't remember the name of the temple so I made one up.)
"This morning Cetarumon discovered something that even I never knew about the DigiDestined and their crests," the Data-Human continued. "It seems as though the crests you have weren't the only ones in existence. There was another set."
"WHAT?!" the group, bar Izzy shouted.
"The crests you have are known as the Crests of Harmony that help to maintain and restore the balance of the Digital World if it is ever in peril," Gennai explained. "The other set are known as the Crests of Discord, destined to bring nothing but chaos and destruction."
"Those sound like real bad news," Matt murmured.
"The Crests of Harmony consist of the crests of Courage, Friendship, Love, Sincerity, Knowledge, Reliability, Hope, Light, and Compassion. The Crests of Discord consist of the crests of Rage, Hostility, Greed, Jealousy, Betrayal, Despair, Desire, Darkness, and Apathy."
Eighteen images were shown lined up. The nine Crests of Harmony on top over the nine Crests of Discord.
"Wait, I'm pretty sure he just named nine crests for each type," Sora said, alarmed.
"I'm sure that you've noticed by now that there weren't eight crests named, but nine. That is because there are nine DigiDestined. When I sent you to search for the last child, I should have told you to look for the last children, but like I said, I never knew that there was a Ninth Child until now or I'd have said something.
"The Crests of Harmony were created for the seven of you and the last two DigiDestined. But as you know, there can never be darkness without light or there will never be any balance. The Crests of Discord were created of the dark energies the Crests of Harmony broke away from. I've just gotten word that those Crests have been stolen from within the Temple, where they should have been sealed for eternity and I assume that it was Myotismon who'd done it.
"Now, I'm afraid that your original mission has only grown more difficult. You must find the last two DigiDestined Children and the Crests of Discord. If those crests are given to children that they choose, then that child will become what is called a De-DigiDestined, those who will fight to spread chaos under the control of Myotismon. And then, the only way to stop them will be to destroy the crests and defeat the Digimon those children are granted. I wish you luck and have hopes that you will prevail."
The screened went black as the message ended.
"Man oh man if our original mission wasn't hard enough!" Joe panicked. "How are we supposed to find the last two DigiDestined and the Crests of Discord, assuming that they haven't been given to children yet, which I think is highly unlikely since the amount of time we've been here so far could've given Myotismon enough time to find those kids and—"
"Chill, Joe," Tai said, stopping his friend's nervous rambling. "Right now, we really need to focus on finding the last two DigiDestined."
"But what about those other crests?" T.K asked. "Didn't Gennai jus say that we need to find 'em before kids get 'em?"
"Yeah," Tai nodded, "but we don't even know how to find them, let alone where to start. So for the time being, we're just going to stick to our original mission: Find the last DigiDestined before Myotismon. That'll be our priority."
"Except I don't know just how much time we even have left," Matt said worriedly. "Last night when I was taking T.K home, we ran into a couple Digimon that came on Myotismon's orders, except they weren't exactly interested in finding the Eighth Child."
"Say what?" Biyomon cocked her head slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"They just liked having fun," T.K clarified.
Matt nodded. "Yeah, anyway, when Myotismon found out, boy did he get mad. He took Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon out in the blink of an eye. And judging from what I heard on the news about that 'sudden anemia epidemic', he's definitely on a warpath…"
"And before I forget," Joe spoke up, "I called everyone in your address books, but not a single one of them remembered what happened at Highton View Terrace. And when I say that, none of them ever saw the fight we did."
"That's impossible!" Izzy exclaimed. "Out of everyone in those books, at last a couple should've remembered something!"
"Think what you want," Joe shook his head. "But everyone I asked said that they didn't know what I was talking about."
They sat in silence, contemplating what they should do now that they had no leads on who the last DigiDestined were.
Suddenly Tai stood up. "We're not going to anything done if we just sit here, so let's go!"
And with that said, they all paired off and spread out over the city, doing their best to locate the last two children before Myotismon and his Digimon did.
-Fuji TV Station; That Night-
Myotismon stood atop the ball-structure of the TV station, waving his arms to summon fog with every motion. The fog continued to grow denser and denser until it practically clouded the entire city from the rest of the world and its country.
He gave a sinister laugh. "Just a little more and this world will be mine. Neither by fire or ice, but by fog instead! No one will escape; no one will be able to escape!"
Suddenly, he felt four jolts pass through his body and smirked maliciously. "Well, well, it seems as though they've succeeded," the undead Digimon chuckled darkly. "I wonder: Should I summon them now or save them as a wonderful surprise for those pathetic DigiDestined?"
-Kaiya Residence-
"Oh man," Tai sighed as he slumped onto the couch beside Kari and Kagome who had Kudamon wrapped around her neck like a scarf again. "I'm bushed. We searched all day, but we still haven't found those kids…"
Kagome and Kari exchanged glances with one another, but didn't say a word as Agumon devoured piece after piece of watermelon that Kagome had cut for them all.
The phone rang and Tai ran to get it, thinking it might be one of his friends.
True to his thought, it was Izzy that had called. Not wanting his sisters to hear anything to make them worry, Tai took the cordless landline and took it into their room.
"Hey, where's Meeko?" Kari asked, looking around for the cat.
"Wasn't she here just a minute ago?" Kagome asked, looking around the living room for hide or hair of the bi-coloured cat.
Kari nodded, standing up to look for the feline. "I wonder…"
Knowing that Kari would be safe so long as she was in the house, Kagome let her look for Meeko on her own while she watched the news.
"Myotismon seems to be picking up the pace," Kagome muttered. "Do you think he's getting desperate?"
"Who knows?" Kudamon asked. "But with the increasing number of women suffering from this 'anemia' epidemic, I'd say that Myotismon isn't getting desperate, but angry."
Kari, then came close to the sliding doors to the terrace and placed Meeko back inside the house before closing it behind her, running out to the terrace to look at something or another that had caught her attention.
"Because he wants to find Kari as soon as he can?" Kagome looked at her partner out of the corner of her eye.
"Most likely," Kudamon nodded. Suddenly, he lifted his head a little higher and his eyes narrowed slightly as he ticked his ears slightly. "Go out to the terrace! Someone is out there with Kari and Tai!"
"What?" Kagome all but shouted, running to the sliding doors and pulling them open. She came out to see a small feline Digimon with a Digimon dressed as a mage in a violet cloak in front of Kari. The feline had placed her hand over Kari's which held her digivice. Tai was standing across from the sliding doors to the terrace from their room, Agumon at his side, bother their stances screaming that they were ready to protect the young girl.
Kagome looked at Kudamon and he nodded. This Digimon must have been the 'kitty' Kari had spoken of before. And judging from the way the feline Digimon and Kari were standing, it was clear that that small Digimon was Kari's partner.
"Kari get away from them!" Tai called. "Those are evil Digimon!"
"No," Kari tried reasoning, "you don't understand! Gatomon's been searching for—"
"Pepper Breath!" Agumon let loose a fireball in their direction. However, the one thing they didn't notice was that where the fireball was aimed at was also where Kari was.
'It's now or never,' Kagome thought, sticking her arm out as Gatomon stood before Kari to protect her. "Kudamon!"
"What?" Tai whispered, watching as a long thin Digimon unwrapped itself from around Kagome's neck and across her arm into the fireball's path.
'I knew it…' Agumon thought.
"Glorious Whirlwind!" Kudamon spun his entire body in a wide circular spiral aimed in the fireball's direction. Gold-hued wind with tiny gold particles emerged in a twister that was shot at the fireball, cancelling out the attack.
"How the—why—WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Tai sputtered.
"Hello, I'm the ninth DigiDestined, my name is Kagome Kamiya and you're welcome," Kagome said dryly.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Tai asked.
"Actually," Kagome corrected. "You only asked if I had a digivice and I only said 'who knows?', I never really answered you that one time when you asked. As for why, Kudamon told me I shouldn't tell until the time was right and Kari said she wouldn't say anything about her until I revealed myself."
"Oh and Kari is the eighth DigiDestined Child with Gatomon as her partner," Kagome added.
Tai just stared with a dropped jaw.
"I think we found more than we came for," the mage-like Digimon commented.
"Oh and who are you?" Kagome asked said Digimon.
"Wizardmon," he bowed, "a friend of Gatomon. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Likewise," Kagome nodded with a smile. She looked back at her brother and went over to physically clamp his jaw shut. "Seriously? Is it really that surprising?"
"I just didn't expect it, that's all," Tai shook his head.
"But Kagome's right," Agumon pointed out. "She never said that she never had a digivice, and neither did Kari, actually. Kagome didn't directly answer and Kari seemed unsure. Plus, Gatomon really must be her Digimon if she tried protecting Kari at her own risk."
"Now all that's left is to get the real crest," Wizardmon said.
"The real crest?" Tai asked.
"The crests we were given were copies made to locate the digivice," Gatomon explained, holding up one of the false crests. "Myotismon is the only one with access to the real crest."
"But for the time being," Wizardmon gently took Kari's digivice and held it out to Tai and Kagome, "One of you must hold on to this. Kari can't be seen with it or who knows what may happen to Gatomon."
"I'll do it," Kagome said, taking the Digivice.
"We'll be back with the crest," Wizardmon told them, taking Gatomon and pushing off the terrace.
"Wait, where's Myotismon's hideout?" Tai asked. "We can help you!"
"It's too dangerous," Gatomon called back to them. "Don't worry, we'll be back with two sakes of a cat's tail!"
"Be careful, Gatomon!" Kari called out.
"Can we trust them?" Agumon asked.
"We can," Kagome said firmly. "We can definitely trust them."
"Besides," Tai added to his partner, "we don't have any other choice at this point."
The~Ninth~Child
-Some time Later-
Kari, Kagome, Tai, and Agumon stood looking over the terrace, Kudamon hanging around Kagome's shoulders.
"I still can't believe it," Tai said. "You two are DigiDestined."
"What's so surprising about that?" Kudamon asked. "They are destined to be as such."
"I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that," Tai backpedaled. "But I just didn't want to get Kagome and Kari caught up in all of this. I didn't want them to get hurt."
"Tai," Kagome said softly. "As much as you didn't want to draw us in, just by being related to you, we were already in danger. And technically, even if we weren't DigiDestined, being by your side would still be a lot safer than anywhere else at this point."
"Mhm," Kari nodded in agreement, though worry for her Digimon still shone on her face.
"How did you meet Kudamon, anyway?" Tai asked.
"Actually he found me," Kagome answered. "Like Gatomon found Kari." And with that, she began to tell Tai how Kudamon had found her and what he'd told her about himself and how he'd gotten to the Human World and what they'd done since then.
"You mean that was you?" Tai looked at his sister and Kudamon in surprise and awe. "You guys took down Locomon?!"
"Well, it was more Kudamon than me, but yeah," Kagome giggled.
"Look!" Kari suddenly shouted, pointing to the sky.
The two preteens and their Digimon looked up and found themselves looking at a large patch of dark clouds over the No. 6 Battery Island just a little while away from them. The clouds lit up as lightning struck and thunder crashed.
"That can't be good," Agumon commented.
'Maybe Wizardmon and Gatomon are going up against Myotismon!" Tai shouted. "C'mon, Agumon, we've got to go and help!"
"Oh please let me come with you!" Kari begged.
"No, you stay here with Kagome, where you'll be safe," Tai told his youngest sister.
"Then take Kudamon," Kagome told him, "He can get you there faster than you can go on foot."
Kudamon launched himself off the side of the terrace. "Kudamon Digivolve to: Reppamon!"
Reppamon landed safely on the ground and waited for Tai an Agumon to arrive.
"Thanks," Tai grinned at his sister as he and his partner rushed out of the house.
"Everything'll be fine," Kagome told her sister, hugging the little girl, though they both could hear that the raven-haired girl didn't believe a word she'd spoken.
And with that said, the sister watched the thundering clouds in silence, waiting for their brother to come home safely with Gatomon and Wizardmon.
The~Ninth~Child
"So?" Kari asked when Tai came back with Agumon and Kudamon. "Where's Gatomon? What happened? Where's Wizardmon?"
Tai just shook his head. "I don't know what happened to Wizardmon," he said, "but Gatomon was taken away by Myotismon. He's going to use her to draw you out."
'Not if I can do anything about that,' Kagome thought with narrowed eyes, a plan formulating in her head.
The~Ninth~Child
"I hope Gatomon's okay…" Kari whispered.
"She'll be fine, Kari," Tai told her gently. "She's a fighter, you know that. She'll never give up."
"I guess so," Kari nodded, but hesitated going up her ladder.
Kagome's eyes softened. "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?"
"Can I?" Kari asked with pleading eyes.
"Come on," Kagome stepped out and pulled the covers back, allowing Kari to get in first before following after and pulling the covers over them both. "Go to sleep now, everything's going to be all right."
"You just leave everything to me," Tai told his sister.
And with that said, they were all soon lulled to sleep by Kagome's humming.
-The Next Morning-
Airi Kamiya moved about the kitchen as she did every morning, getting everyone's breakfast dishes washed and dried. "I hope your father's not stuck in the subway, what with all this fog around…"
"The phone's still out," Kagome said worriedly, holding the receiver to her ear before placing it back where it went.
"It's been like that since last night!" Tai muttered. "I wonder what's going on…"
DING DONG! The doorbell rang.
"I'll be right there!" Airi called, wiping her hands before making her way to the door.
A shiver ran up Kagome's spine. 'What was that?'
"Hello—" Airi Kamiya greeted before a scream of fear took its place.
"Mama!"
"Mom!"
Instead of the strange looking men at her door, a small cluster of Bakemon stormed into the house.
Agumon came out of the siblings' bedroom while Kudamon detached himself from Kagome.
"Pepper Breath!"
"Glorious Whirlwind!"
The fireball and sparkling twister hit the Bakemon, knocking them out of the way, but even more just stormed into the house after dragging their mother away.
"That's it," Agumon huffed. "Agumon Digivolve to: Greymon!"
The familiar white glow overtook Agumon as he digivolved to the very Greymon Kagome and Kari had seen in that fight four years before. Unfortunately, as he grew the now giant dinosaur Digimon burst through three floors worth of apartments below theirs.
"Kudamon, hide!" Kagome said quickly as she, Kari, and Tai climbed up onto Greymon's shoulders, Kagome holding onto Kari on one shoulder and Tai on the other, all of them keeping a hold on Greymon's mask to steady themselves while the fox-like Digimon did as he was told and rewrapped himself around Kagome's neck.
Once Greymon had bust through the side of the apartment complex with his human companions, they all found themselves being bombarded with screams of fear and terror.
"Oh no!"
"There's another one!"
"Where are my babies?!"
"What's happening?!"
"Why are all these monster suddenly appearing like this!"
"This Digimon isn't bad like a lot of the others you've been seeing around!" Tai shouted to the crowd that was being herded away from them all. "He's actually on our side!"
"Tai!" Airi shouted. "You and your sisters get down from that thing right now!"
"You don't understand, Mama," Kagome called out desperately as Greymon tried catching up to the crowd, dodging attacks from the Bakemon and Phantomon. "Not all of the Digimon are bad! This one is a good one!"
"We have to go my Mom, Greymon!" Tai shouted.
"Shadow Scythe!" Phantomon released a shadowy blade at Greymon, the attack knocking the Champion-level Digimon to the ground, but somehow managing to keep the children on him safe.
"I'm sorry, Tai," Greymon apologized as he ran from the apartment complex, "But we'll have to save your mother another time. Right now your safety and your sisters' is most important."
Tai's fist clenched but nodded in agreement. "Let's go."
The~Ninth~Child
-Aqua City; A While Later-
But the time they'd gotten out of the apartment complex's vicinity, Greymon was already weakening. Running for a distance after having taken that hit from Phantomon took a bit out of the dinosaur-like Digimon and it wasn't long before he de-digivolved back to Agumon.
"Come on," Tai told Agumon, kneeling down before him, "We can't stick around for long or we'll be the ones captured next!"
Agumon nodded as he clambered onto Tai's back, the boy automatically shifting slightly to hold Agumon's legs.
"C'mon, Kari," Kagome told her sister, kneeling before the little girl as Tai did for Agumon. Like Agumon, Kari nodded and carefully climbed up onto Kagome's back, minding Kudamon, who only shifted a bit to make room for the young girl.
When they were all situated, the two preteens broke into a run.
They'd ran for quite some time before they reached the Fuji TV Station.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Tai asked his partner.
"I've been better," Agumon said wearily.
Suddenly, they all stopped when they heard a voice. "Hey, Tai! Up here!"
"What the—Matt?" Tai asked, backpedaling to the opening of a warehouse a little bit away from the Fuji TV Station to see a blonde boy with a blue and white horned Digimon. "Hey we need to talk!"
And so Tai came in with Agumon followed by Kagome, Kari, and Kudamon. Once inside, the two preteens let their passengers off, though Kudamon preferred staying around his partner's neck his head popping out for all to see him.
"Okay, first: Introductions," Tai sighed. "Matt, these are my sisters, Kari and Kagome." He turned to his siblings. "Kagome, Kari, this is Matt Ishida and his partner, Gabumon." Tai glanced at Kagome and nodded at Kari.
Kagome understanding the message, turned to Kari. "Kari, why don't you go over there and see if Agumon's all right? If you want, I'm sure Gabumon would be happy to keep you company as well." She looked pleadingly at the said Digimon and received a nod in return as he guided the little girl and the other Digimon a little bit away from the preteens.
"All right, you can talk now," Kagome told her brother.
"Okay Kagome and Kari and the last DigiDestined," Tai blurted out.
"What?!" Matt stood up from his seat on the staircase. "You've got to be kidding me?!"
"Nope," Kagome shook her head. "This is my partner, Kudamon. And Kari's partner is Gatomon." She showed him her digivice.
"Pleased to meet you," Kudamon nodded.
"You too…" Matt returned slowly.
That said, Tai began to tell Matt what he found out and how, with Kagome interjecting to tell her side of the story.
-Convention Centre-
"Those brats are growing to become a great thorn in my side," Myotismon growled. "I suppose I'll need to summon them earlier than planned…"
The undead Digimon stood atop the convention centre and stuck his arms out in front of him, plams facing outward. He closed his eyes just as a dark-red glow surrounded his hands.
"Come to me," he said, "come to your master…" his eyes snapped open, the bi-coloured irisies no longer present, instead the same dark-red his hands glowed covered the entirety of his eyes.
The~Ninth~Child
Within the Convention Centre, nine children separated from their parents, standing up suddenly. Not noticed by anyone, their eyes were outlined very lightly in dark-red. They began to walk away from the group of captured people, not paying heed to anyone's calls for them to come back.
It was then that the people saw them. Nine Digimon crawled out from nine different hiding places and took their places at the sides of the child they belonged to, their eye's too glowing a deep red.
The~Ninth~Child
Mytoismon gave a sinister laugh when the nine children chosen by the Crests of Discord came to stand before him with their Digimon at their side, their minds as blank as their eyes.
"Go find the DigiDestined," he commanded, "And destroy them, once and for all…"
"Yes, Lord Myotismon," The children and digimon partners chorused with monotone voices.
Ciao,
TsukiyoTenshi