[Authors Notes] Alright here it is, finally. I admit I was lazy and didn't work on this when I should have but I hope you can forgive me. This chapter is longer than any of my other ones mainly because I couldn't stop it anywhere else. Also there maybe some things that are confusing so if there are feel free to leave a review with your question or just email them to me and I'll try to get back to you on them. So here's chapter 9 and please remember to Read & Review! Thanks.
Dark Mirror
Chapter 9
Tokyo, Japan
Guardian Base, Above the Digi Corps Parking Lot
"Erin what are we going to do? Those Devidramon will be on us in minutes." asked Ken
"We're going to hold them off as long as we can Ken. Jen, get me Kari." ordered Erin
"Right" responded Jen from the Ops console.
Kari was out in the Digi Corps parking lot directing Angewomon who was destroying the dark digimon in the sky when her comm. began beeping. She quickly pulled it off her belt and answered the call. Unlike most communicators this one was one of the more advanced designed by the guardians, it included the comm. unit, full access to the V-Net threw the Genis control system, and a built in site-to-site transporter.
"Kari here." said Kari into her communicator.
"Kari this is Erin, I know your busy down there but I need you to do me a favor." came Erin's voice out of the communicator.
"Name it." said Kari back.
"I need you to go check out our house and see if Nathan got back yet." said Erin
"Should I take Angewomon?" asked Kari
"Negative. We got more digimon inbound and we're going to need her here." said Erin
"Okay, Kari out." she said as she turned of the communicator function. "Angewomon stay here, I've got to go do something."
"You can count on me Kari" said Angewomon from the sky as she shot down another dark digimon.
At her digimon's reassurance Kari disappeared in a flash of light. When she reappeared she was standing in the middle of the Guardians library. As she stepped out of the room into the hallway, the first thing she notices is that all the lights were flashing red.
"What's going on?" Kari asked herself. "Nathan! Nathan where are youuuu!" she yelled as she fell threw a hole in the hallway floor. Kari found herself falling and falling and kept falling till she hit a sharp curve at the bottom and was sent flying out of a hole in a wall and landed in a large pile of cushions. As soon as her head cleared Kari's ears were immediately assaulted will sounds. As Kari finally stands up she gets her first good look of were she now was. She was standing next to the wall of what appeared to be a large underground warehouse of some sort, there were humans running all over the place, as well as animals?
What in the world is this place? Kari asked herself as she turned around and got her biggest shock yet. What she saw looked to be some sort of space ship; it had to be at least two hundred meters long and close to seventy-five meters wide. The top of the front section looked to be a sort of upside down bowl with a smaller circular section on top. The bottom was attached about half way under the top and was curved towards the back where it joined in with the back of the top which tapered towards the back to what looked to have a sort of large door on it. The long engines were held away from the main hull and attached with long curving struts joined into the main hull giving it a streamlined appearance.
"What is this place?" Kari gasped as she stared up at the large ship.
She hadn't expected an answer but she got one if the form of one of the animals, a small red fox, stopping right in front of her and giving her a shocked look. "Kari?" came the words from the fox's mouth. Needless to say Kari was in shock, but even more so when the fox suddenly began transforming into a short female humanoid fox, and from that into a full human, with long red and white hair, medium build, and piercing and calm yellow eyes.
"Rasclet?" Kari said after she found her voice again. She had met Rasclet a few times because she was an employee of Guardian Forces. She was pretty outgoing, or so she had been told, but ever time Kari had talked with her she had seemed shy. And now Kari was looking her right in the eyes after she had just transformed from being a fox, and instead of her normal clothing, which usually consisted of something with a fox, she was wearing a full black jumpsuit complete with boots. The jumpsuit wasn't fully black; it had a white trim that ran up the sides of the legs and arms, a white belt around her waist with a strange fox head outline in front. She also had a red jacket with black sleeves on and attached to where a breast pocket would be on a normal shirt was a strange metal piece. It was flat at the top and fanned out at the bottom, it reminded her somewhat of the bottom half of the crest of hope, but what was strange was that in the center was a sideways eight.
"Kari what are you doing here?" demanded Rasclet suddenly.
"I was looking for Nathan, I fell down a hole and I ended up here." Kari said quickly, still confused by everything happening around her.
Rasclet gave a small-frustrated growl before she tapped that strange metal piece that gave off a small chirp before she started speaking. "Rasclet to the Commander."
"What is it Rasclet?" came a voice out of the metal piece which had suddenly become a communicator.
If Kari hadn't still been in so much shock she would have recognized the voice.
"We've got a problem sir, Kari's here." replied Rasclet
"Bring her with you and report to the Unity's bridge." said the Commander.
"Acknowledged, Rasclet out." She finished and then turned her attention back to Kari. "Come on Kari, your coming with me." Rasclet said as she grabbed Kari's arm and began pulling her to the larger ship.
"Wait a minute, I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers." demanded Kari pulling her arm free.
"Kari, we don't have time for this. I'm sure the Commander would be glad to explain it all to you but right now we have a crisis on our hands." pleaded Rasclet
"Who's this Commander you keep talking about?" asked Kari
"You mean you haven't figured it out?" asked Rasclet with a quizzical look.
Kari thought about it for a second and realization finally dawned on her. "Where do we go?"
"Follow me." said Rasclet as the two began walking towards the large ship again.
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"Oh this is too easy." mocked the Overlord from his thrown at which he was watching the countless numbers of his forces pounding away at the Guardians base on his screens. "What's the matter Tai, your precious little Guardians can't protect you? That's just to bad." he mocked as he watched Tai and WarGreymon being beat down by his forces. "That's odd, where's Kari?" The Overlord began pressing several buttons on his thrown that changed the views of his screens. "Hmm, nowhere to be found. Oh well it doesn't matter, I can still get rid of Angewomon and then she won't be a threat." He said smiling evilly when suddenly the image on the screen showing the Digi Corps parking lot showed the ground splitting open. "What!"
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"Kari, come in. Repeat Kari come in." said Erin frustrated as she held down the communication button. Tunskmon was now at the helm and Erin had been walking around the Command deck frustrated for the past ten minutes.
"I don't understand it. It's as if her communicators being blocked." stated Jen from the Ops station.
"Well where ever she is she better get back here with Nathan quick. With out him Tunskmon can't warp digivolve, and we could sure use TransMammothmon right now." said Ken from tactical doing everything he could to keep the Guardian Base intact.
"Don't I know it." Erin mumbles to herself, she may be angry with Nathan but in battle all those angers took a back seat to the current situation.
"Erin, look at the view screen." yelled Tunskmon suddenly from the helm. She turned around in time to see the Digi Corps parking lot split open down the middle.
"What in the world?" Erin said as she saw the sight being played out on the view screen. "What now?"
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As the doors opened in front of Kari she found herself stepping into a semi-spacious round room. She had just been riding with Rasclet in a small round elevator to the bridge of the large ship, which she heard called the Unity. So she assumed this was the ships bridge. It had two levels, the lower level had a wide counsel at the front, there were two smaller consoles off to the side set just into the walls, at approximately the middle of the bridge, just short of the end of the lower section were two seats with a small console in between. The upper section had two main stations at the sides, there were two elevators here, one of which she had come out of, the other next to the main station on the other side. In between the two elevators there were countless other instruments and stations with seats at them. The two sections were divided by a railing that went around the middle and stopped at the sides where the floors of the two levels sloped together. Kari followed Rasclet to the right side of the bridge where she stopped just at the end of the rail.
"Stay here." Rasclet said as she then went to the front counsel.
Kari did what she was told; while she was waiting she looked around the bridge again noticing there couldn't be anymore than ten people. She also noticed that there was now a type of screen at the front of the bridge, figuring it must be able to look like a normal wall when it wasn't in use. She was so engrossed in everything around her she didn't notice one of the elevator's at the back of the bridge open and the Commander that stepped out of it and walk up to her.
"Kari." said the Commander
"Ahh," Kari shrieked startled. As she turned around she saw the Commander was exactly who she guessed, "Nathan."
"Glad to see you didn't forget about me." Nathan said with a smirk as he stepped past her and headed too the lower section of the bridge. He was dressed in a uniform nearly identical to that of Rasclet, for that matter it was identical to the uniform all the people on the bridge were wearing. The differences where that where Rasclet's uniform was trimmed in white his was trimmed in gold, instead of the red and black jacket his was gold and black and he wore a simple black belt around his waist. As he went to the front he sat down in the right chair in the center of the bridge, he waived Kari to sit in the other.
"Now I'm sure you have a lot of questions, don't you Kari?" asked Nathan as he tapped several keys on the console between them.
"Well yeah, like first of all what is all of this?" Kari asked raising her voice slightly as she spread her arms out indicating the bridge.
"This was my contingency plan, if all else fail to stop the looming threat that we first saw in the digital world then this was our last chance." explained Nathan as he looked up at her.
"You mean the Guardians back up plan." said Kari
"No. Erin, Jen, and Ken have no knowledge of this. This was strictly my own endeavor." said Nathan
"Sir, all ship systems are online and ready." came a voice from the left side of the bridge.
"Very good Ginger, tell me when the Coyotes are ready." said Nathan to the speaker as he turned to a small computer pad in his hand.
Kari on the other hand was in shock again. The speaker looked like a three foot tall version of Gatomon, except, she wore no gloves, had no tail ring, her fur was a light brown, and her face had a more human look to it. While she had been studying the strange creature, she had been walking up to her and was now quite close to her when she asked the question. "Are you a digimon?"
"What?" asked the cat creature as she turned to look at Kari. "No I'm not a digimon, now come on I've got work to do." said Ginger as she turned back to her station while also going from cat creature to a full blown human standing about six inches taller.
Kari stumbled back to the chair she had previously occupied and sat down shakily. All that she had seen was impossible from what she knew and yet here it was. She knew she had come here with a reason but it was completely gone from her mind with everything she was seeing.
"Kari, are you all right?" Nathan asked her as he turned to face her and saw her shook up face.
"What...were...how?" was all she could get out threw her stumbling to find the right words.
"Let me explain, Ginger, Rasclet and most of the people here are Shifters. They were created five years ago when the mass amounts of Digi-ports opened. You see every time a Digi-port or gateway is opened a small amount of digital radiation is released into the real world. Normally it's nothing to worry about because the amount is so small and disperses nearly immediately, however, when all of the paths between the two worlds opened five years ago it released a massive amount of digital radiation. The only gate exempt from this is the World Gate but that's another story. Anyway, because the amount of radiation was so great it did not dissipate as quickly as it should have, the result was that it bonded with many of the animals on the planet causing them to become more than they once were. Because the radiation was digital in nature it gifted these animals with a special intelligence, it also allowed them to be able to shift between several forms. Since this was Earth the most logical form was human. You see I met my first Shifter not long after the Digi-port incident. He was a snake shifter who had taken the name Slick, believe me he was to, while he did help me organize some of the first Shifters he had other motives in mind. To be blunt he was looking forward to a Shifter take over of the world." said Nathan as Kari's face showed she was still stunned as she absorbed all of this. "Anyway, of most of the Shifters he had helped me gather were loyal to him. You see I had thought that Shifters could live along side of regular humans and a lot of them had already been doing that, but he disagreed. It happened one night three years ago, he had finally decided that he was sick of taking orders from a humans so when we were discussing the plans for gathering the Shifters on the other continents he and those loyal to him attacked me. Luckily they didn't realize who they were messing with."
"You got that right, and it was a pleasure putting him out of his misery." said Ginger who had appeared next to them so quietly that it made Kari nearly jump out of her seat.
"In not so brutal of words, Ginger is correct though in that we were able to defeat him eventually. After that we finished our work at collecting the Shifters from the different continents and eventually created everything you see around you." Nathan said before he turned his attention back to Ginger, she was dressed exactly like Rasclet except that instead of a fox head at the front of her belt there was a cathead. "Report."
"All our Coyotes are reporting ready and I got the signal that all other ships are standing by as well." reported Ginger as she stood in front of them.
"All right, stations everyone." ordered Nathan as everyone on the bridge quickly went to his or her posts and all non-essential personnel left the bridge, except Kari. "Ginger, inform all Coves to begin launch procedures. Rasclet, initiate our own." Nathan said and then sat back down in his seat.
"Right." chorused the two.
"Wait a minute, how many of these places do you have?" asked Kari as she began coming out of her shock.
"We have fifty Coves placed strategically world wide. Each cove holds one Unity class airship and three Coyote class airships. This is a Unity class and was the prototype for all the rest; it's our primary defense and attack ship. Coyote classes are much smaller, they're used to corner a target and strike together or split off and attack individual targets on their own. All in all they're mainly high powered attack ships." Nathan said as the view suddenly switched to outside of the ship.
"All personnel to launch stations. All personnel to launch stations." echoed a monotonous female voice around the Cove. "Unity to the launching platform." The Unity is seen moving across a track to a circular platform. The platform begins rotating until the front of the Unity is facing a large opening in the Cove wall that leads to a long tunnel. "Launch in ten seconds." came the automated voice again, as the beginning of the launch was stated the parts of the engines that were visible on the end of the struts began glowing a bluish-gold color. "Launch in eight seconds." The struts holding the ship off of the platform began retracting as the ship began hovering under it's own power. "Launch in five seconds..." The glow of the engines began to brighten. "four ... three ... two ... one. Unity launch." At the final words the Unity shot forward down the tunnel. "Coyotes to the launching platform." As the automated voice spoke three small ships were moved to the launching platform. These were not as large as the Unity, only about thirty meters in length and ten meters in width and height. Instead of the separated design of the Unity these ships were more compacted for quick maneuvering. They were squared off in the back where a large door was located, in the front they curved down to the bottom with a large windshield in the middle. Instead of the up and out design of the Unity's engines, these ships engines were attached to the bottom and stretched about half of the ships length. "Coyote, Fox Runner, and Fire Chaser prepare for launch in ten seconds." Their engines came to life in much the same manner as they began giving off a bluish-gold light. "Launch in eight seconds." Spoke the voice as the three ships began hovering just off the launching platform. "Launch in five seconds ... four ... three ... two ... one. Coyote launch. Fox Runner launch. Fire Chaser launch." The three ships launched down the tunnel as their names were called.
"You may want to hold onto that seat Kari. It will most likely get some what rough once we exit the launch tunnel." Nathan said from his seat on the right.
"Y-yeah s-sure." said Kari as she struggled to stay in the seat as it was. Her attempts were made even worse as she stared forward at the screen, which was showing their incredible speed threw the tunnel.
"Sir, one minute to exit point." said Rasclet from the helm.
"Understood," Nathan said as he stood up from his seat which gained him an amazed look from Kari in that he could stand at all, "raise shields and arm all weapons. Prepared to engage."
A round of 'Yes Sir' was heard around the bridge as they continued to their destination.
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"Erin, the Base sensors show that it's connected to a tunnel that seems to stretch several miles to the West, but I can't get an exact finishing point." reported Jen from the Ops station.
"More bad news, Base shields are down to ten percent and there are more hostiles incoming." stated Ken from tactical.
"Great. Tunskmon, initiate evasive maneuvers PointHead 12." Erin ordered quickly.
"Right." Tunskmon said as he quickly began inputting the correct commands.
"Huh!" exclaimed Jen from her station.
"What is it Jen?" asked Erin as she turned to face her fellow Guardian.
"I'm detecting something coming out of the tunnel, correction, one larger object and three smaller ones following it. They look like some kind of airships." Explained Jen as another explosion rocked the Base.
"Shields down. Armor strength at seventy-five percent and dropping." reported Ken
"Let's see the parking lot." ordered Erin as the forward screen switched from a tactical display to the picture of the split open parking lot.
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"Alright everyone this is it. Time to see if our preparation has paid off." said Nathan as he sat back down in his seat.
"You mean you've never tested this thing?" asked Kari more steadily now that she found the seat belt function on the seat.
"Don't you think it might have been a little obvious if we had?" asked Nathan as he faced her.
"Oh." said Kari
"Sir, five seconds to exit point." reported Rasclet
"All right, all hands prepare to engage the enemy." ordered Nathan
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"Tai, what's that noise?" asked WarGreymon referring to the roaring sound that had been steadily getting louder.
"I don't know, but I think it's coming from that hole that opened up." said Tai as they both looked over towards the hole in the ground. Suddenly several large energy bursts erupted out of the hole destroying three dark digimon that had been directly over it, following the energy bursts the Unity shot out of the hole followed closely by the Coyotes.
"Wow." exclaimed Tai as the four ships began engaging the dark digimon. The three smaller ones had split up and were weaving in and out of the more spread up flying enemies and destroying them in the process. The larger one was heading to the latest incoming group and preparing to fire its weapons.
"Woo hoo, looks like the Calvary's here." exclaimed Davis from ExVeemon's shoulder.
"Yes, but who are they?" asked Angewomon from her place in the sky.
"If it's anyone it would most likely be Nathan." came Michael's voice.
"What do you mean?" asked WarGreymon
"It's simple," said Michael from his place on MegaSeadramon's head as they floated up to WarGreymon's level, "Nathan always had a habit of being overly prepared for anything and I certainly doubt that would have changed even with ten years in the real world. Besides, he always has been a vivid Star Trek fan and those ships look like they could have come right out of it."
"He wouldn't!" exclaimed Erin as she was bent over Jen's shoulder at the Ops station examining the new ships. "He couldn't!"
"I wouldn't be so sure, if anyone could pull off building ships like this in the real world and under our noses it would be Nathan. And not only that, but in these numbers. According to sensor posts world wide there are fifty of these small groups out there destroying the invading digimon, including this one." explained Jen.
"I'm not complaining, they've taken all the fire away from the base and they're hardly hurt. I'm not surprised though; the metal making up their hulls is unlike anything I've ever seen. It looks like it's even stronger then Chrome Digizoid." explained Ken from tactical.
"That's impossible, Chrome Digizoid is the strongest metal in the two worlds." stated Jen in disbelief as she looked over at her companion.
"I know, but the Base's sensors don't lie. One thing I can tell you, is that it seems to be a derivative of titanium." said Ken
"Digital Titanium?" asked Tunskmon from the Helm.
"Nathan what have you been up to?" asked Erin to herself as the forward screen showed the new ships decimating the Overlords forces.
"Sir, the Coyotes have completed with their airborne targets and are moving on to the ground forces." reported Ginger
"Commander, the Overlords forces are retreating." stated a large man from the rear starboard tactical station, he was nearly six and a half feet tall with a large build, a green uniform and had an elephant head on his belt.
"Thank-you Truck, order the ships to allow them to go." said Nathan
"Yes Sir." replied Truck
"Ginger, please escort Miss Kamiya to the transporter room." said Nathan with Ginger standing up in compliance.
"What!? I want to stay here Nathan." protested Kari
"I know you do, but I need you to explain everything I've told you to Erin and the others. You think you can do that?" asked Nathan
"I guess so." said Kari as she stood up.
"Good." said Nathan also standing up. "After that I need you to go back to HQ and find out how the Overlord managed this large scale of an attack. Oh, one more thing. This disk contains the information we needed of the other first digidestined. I need you to give this to Ken and Yolie and have them begin going over the information." Nathan said as he handed her the disk and she began following Ginger off the bridge.
"Sir, the Guardian Base is hailing us." reported a slim man from the rear port Ops station.
"Now I'm in for it. All right, lets get this over with. Open the channel Virnil." said Nathan as he straitened his uniform and faced the view screen which now had the view of the Command deck of the Guardian Base and an extremely peeved looking Erin in the center chair. "Erin, don't you look..."
"Don't start that on me Nathan, you've got a lot of explaining to do and I want answers now." fumed Erin as she left her chair and moved closer to the screen on her side.
"I'm sure you do Erin but you're going to have to wait until Kari gets there. I have told her everything I can as of now and I will gladly tell you everything but now is not the time." said Nathan in his calmest voice.
"Bull, this is exactly the time. If you don't give me some answers now I'm going to..." said Erin
"Um, Sir? I hate to interrupt but there's something on IBC I think you may want to see." reported Virnil
"What ever it is it can wait. I..." said Erin
"Uh, Erin. I don't think it can. It's the Overlord and it's directed at us." reported Jen
"What?" exclaimed Erin finally at a loss for words.
"Initiate split screen." ordered Nathan as the image of the command deck shifted to the left taking up half the screen as the image of the shadowed figure of the Overlord was shown.
"Once again you Guardians have ruined my plans, but you continue to hide yourselves in the real world. I demand that you face me in battle instead of always sending in your lackeys..." rambled the Overlord.
"Lock onto that signal and block it out from the rest of the planet. Then let me talk with him." Nathan ordered as Virnil went to work at his station.
"You're not leaving us out of this." said Erin
"Fine, lock the Guardian Base into this too." ordered Nathan
"Yes Sir." responded Virnil
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"... And further more." the Overlord said when suddenly he lost his transmission. "What the ... Ah, the Guardians I presume. How nice of you to finally grace me with your presence." Stated the Overlord with a sneer as two of his screens came back to life showing the scenes of the Guardian Base Command deck and the Unity's Bridge.
"I wouldn't grace you with anything more than a pile of manure." replied Nathan to the Overlords comment.
"Why you insolent little ... I'll ignore that this once but only because I believe we can be of help to each other." said the Overlord
"We wouldn't help you if it was the end of both worlds." retorted Erin still quite peeved.
"I can easily arrange that!" exclaimed the Overlord raising from his seat and pounding his fist into the arm of his thrown.
"We would never let you get that far." commented Jen
"I'd like to see you prove that." demanded the Overlord.
"Name the place and we'll be there." said Erin making her way closer to the screen.
"Settle down Erin." commented Nathan
"The Algerin Plains, I assume you know where they are?" asked the Overlord
"We do." responded Nathan
"Good, tomorrow when the sun is at its peak. And make sure Tai's with you." finished the Overlord
"We'll be there." exclaimed Erin
"I look forward to it, that is if you have enough strength left to face me." said the Overlord with a small chuckle.
"What do you mean?" asked Nathan
"You'll find out soon enough." the Overlord finished with a wicked smile on his face as he turned off his screens.
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"I don't like the sound of that." said Ken as he looked over towards Erin as the forward screen now only showed Nathan and the Unity's bridge.
"Neither do I." said Nathan
'"Aw crap." exclaimed Jen suddenly.
"What is it Jen?" asked Erin
'"The Overlords forces weren't retreating, they were regrouping." explained Jen as her fingers danced across her station.
"She's right Sir. Sensors indicate the masses are regathering to attack, the primary V-Net servers." Virnil said gravely. "Also, another group is apparently gathering near Cheyenne mountain in Colorado."
"Cheyenne?" asked Nathan
"Yes Sir." confirmed Virnil
"What's wrong Nathan?" asked Ken as he saw his expression on the screen.
"The presidents at Cheyenne." Nathan said worriedly. "Erin, we'll settle all our problems after this is taken care of, agreed?"
"Agreed." replied Erin
"Good, I'm transferring the Coyotes to your command. Don't worry they'll respect your orders. I need you to continue to protect this area. I'll have the rest of my people intercept the Overlords forces before they get to far." said Nathan
"What about you?" asked Tunskmon
"We'll head off to take care of the threat at Cheyenne and your coming with us Tunskmon." Nathan said as he turned to face someone behind him after which Tunskmon immediately disappeared in a flash and reappeared right next to Nathan.
"That was weird." commented Tunskmon
"Kari should already be over there and she'll fill you in as much as possible. Nathan out." he said as the forward screen went blank.
The door to command opened as Kari stepped in.
"What now?" asked Jen
"We protect the V-Net servers. Kari lets talk." Erin said as she escorted her back out of the room.
"Virnil, contact the Columbian and Alamo task groups and have them rendezvous with us at Cheyenne." ordered Nathan
"Aye Sir." replied Virnil
"Rasclet, set course for Cheyenne Mach 12." said Nathan
"Yes Sir." said Rasclet
"Report Rasclet." ordered Nathan
"We'll be arriving at Cheyenne in two minutes." said Rasclet
"And the other task groups?" asked Nathan
"They're already there engaging the enemy." reported Rasclet
"Sir, we're receiving a transmission from the mountain." stated Virnil
"On screen." ordered Nathan
"About time you got here." were the Presidents first words as his image appeared on the screen.
"I'm sorry Mr. President, but there is a little distance between here and Japan." said Nathan
"Alright, well at least you were prepared for this. We weren't." commented the President with a sad look on his face.
"How's the compound holding up?" asked Nathan
"As well as can be expected. At least now most of the enemy fire's being diverted." replied the President
"Sir, we'll be in weapons range in thirty seconds." reported Truck
"Commander, the Washington task group is requesting assistance." reported Ginger from the Ops station.
"Go, we have inbound fighters to provide assistance." said the President form the view screen.
"Thank you Mr. President. Pepper Out." said Nathan as the link was cut. "Rasclet, alter course for Washington, maximum velocity."
"Aye, sir." replied Rasclet
"Captain, our shields are beginning to fail. The Ross has already had to retreat for repairs and the Lincoln and Jefferson's shields are nearly as bad as our own." reported the Tactical officer, unlike Truck she was around five feet tall with a wolf head on her belt. Next to her station, on the wall just before the starboard lift, on a name plate and written in gold letters was the name G.S.A. George Washington.
"Has the distress signal been sent?" asked the Captain, a tall man with a decent build, a golden uniform like Nathan and with a lion head on his belt.
"Aye sir, the Commander and the Unity are in route." reported the Ops officer, a short man with a red uniform and the same cat head on his belt as Ginger.
"Sir, the Jefferson's just had her engines hit. They've had to fall back." reported the Helm officer, he was tall and muscular but he was still thin, he wore a red uniform with a horse head on his belt.
"Initiate tactical maneuver Clockwork 6." ordered the Captain.
"What's the status of the Washington and her group?" asked Nathan
"The Betsy Ross and the Thomas Jefferson have already had to retreat for repairs. The Washington and the Abraham Lincoln have nearly lost their shields." reported Virnil
"Are there any spare fighters in the area?" asked Nathan
"Three." replied Ginger
"Send them in." ordered Nathan
"Thirty seconds to weapons range." reported Rasclet
"As soon as we drop out of Mach transport Tunskmon and myself directly to the fighting." said Nathan
"Aye, sir." said Virnil
"Don't I get a say in this?" asked Tunskmon
"No." said Nathan
Three children are standing on the streets of Washington with three champion digimon in front of them, a Leomon, Meramon, and a Gekomon. And in front of them was a MarineDevimon. "Don't worry, we'll protect you." said the Leomon, motioning to the children.
"Not after I deal with you." laughed the MarineDevimon as he began reaching out towards the digimon but was halted by a strong flash of light in front of them. When the light faded Nathan was standing there looking at him with his arms crossed and Tunskmon was at his side.
"More play things." MarineDevimon grinned evilly.
"I don't think so." said Nathan as he held his digivice up high with it glowing brightly. "Tunskmon now!"
"Tunskmon digivolve to ... Munskmon!" said the now more grown up looking version of Tunskmon as Nathan's crest glew brightly now and he digivolved again. "Munskmon digivolve to ... Tammothmon!"
In Munskmon's place now stood a fifteen-foot mammoth. Unlike Mammothmon, Tammothmon had no cybernetic parts on him; he also had more Elephant/Mammoth like ears.
"What's this!" exclaimed the MarineDevimon in shock.
"It's simple, your evil and I'm going to take care of you. Like this, Breath of the Arctic!" said Tammothmon as he raised his trunk and a ball of icy energy gathered at its end. He then moved his trunk forward sending an icy beam strait at the evil watery digimon causing him to start freezing. "And now to finish the job, Avalanche Charge!"
Tammothmon shot forward smashing into the MarineDevimon and causing the frozen demon to begin cracking.
"Nooooo!" screamed the MarineDevimon as he was shattered into a million pieces and was collected by the Data Crystal that Nathan had thrown.
"Are you three digidestined?" Nathan asked the three children who could only nod. "How long?"
"We were just united today." spoke the Leomon.
"You must have been able to get threw because of the Overlords own forces coming here." Nathan said to himself. "Alright, you three try to help out as much as you can, but try not to pick on anything higher than your own level. Tammothmon you do the same thing, and no goofing off either."
"Right." replied all the digimon.
"What about you?" asked one of the children.
"I have to help out just as they do." said Nathan as he then summoned his board from the Unity and flew off into another direction while the children and the other digimon were left somewhat shocked.
"Alright, lets go." said Tammothmon leading them away.
"Energy Blade!" exclaimed Nathan as he came down on his board with his sword glowing golden and sliced at the Ultimate level crow digimon, Karatenmon.
"A fellow swordsman huh? I assure you, your efforts against me will be futile." said Karatenmon
"This from someone who has no idea who their messing with." replied Nathan as he circled Karatenmon.
"I know exactly who I'm messing with, a pathetic human trying to be a hero. And after I take care of you, I'll take care of that woman over there that tried to do the same." commented Karatenmon trying to catch Nathan off guard, but not succeeding as he didn't take his eyes off the virus digimon. That was when the wizard digimon caught sight of the digivice on his belt. "A digidestined. How interesting that your digimon is not here to protect you." he said with his face gaining an amused grin.
"I sent my partner off to deal with some of your other cronies, and as for being a digidestined, I am no ordinary one as you should be able to tell from the color of my digivice." Nathan said still level headed, never taking his eyes off of Karatenmon, and still keeping his sword ready to strike or defend. What was the most interesting was when Karatenmon recognized Nathan's digivice from the sacred records of his people.
"Impossible, your only a myth." the Ultimate said with his eyes nearly popping out.
"I am much more than a myth Karatenmon, I realize you're a virus but even in ancient times your people defend the correct uses of the digital magic's. So why would you be fighting for the Overlord?" asked Nathan to his now shaken opponent.
"I have my reasons. And none of them are relevant to you. Enough talk, now we fight. Crow Swords!" cried out Karatenmon as he leapt forward at Nathan who countered by rolling forward and meeting his sword with his own.
"It doesn't have to be this way Karatenmon, you don't have to serve someone like the Overlord." pleaded Nathan as he held the two swords at bay.
"That's where you're wrong, I have to." responded Karatenmon as he jumped back to prepare his second attack. "CawCaw!" he said as his eyes glew golden and he shot a golden beam out of his mouth right at Nathan.
"Oh no you don't. Thunder sword!" Nathan said as he pulled back his sword and then threw it back forward releasing lighting out of the end to meet with the other attack.
"Huh!" came a gasp from the girl in the background but Nathan had yet to see her.
"What could the Overlord possibly have over you to make you serve him?" demanded Nathan
"My family." he replied as they both ceased their attacks.
"Your family?" said Nathan shocked. "But how, the Karaten Shrine was one of the most protected areas of the digital world."
"What you speak is true, but when the Overlord began his conquest he not only had the element of surprise on his side, but also of numbers. His dark armies swept across the digital world like a plague, he attacked all sacred and holy sights in the digital world. Even the Karaten Defenders were no match to his armies. I should know, I was one of them; we fought off his forces for as long as possible, Defenders fell all around us but still we fought on. But we eventually had to give in, he told those of us that survived that if we served him he would spare our families deletion or mindless enslavement by the dark spirals." finished Karatenmon
"That's horrible, but why have you and your surviving Defenders not revolted?" asked Nathan
"Because, he said that if we tried even the slightest thing against him he would destroy all of them." explained Karatenmon
"I'm sorry, let me help you. I can get your families free and you won't have to serve the Overlord." said Nathan
"You can't, he has some of his most powerful and trusted soldiers guarding them." said Karatenmon
"And I'm friends with one of the most important digidestined on this world. I can help you Karatenmon, just let me." stated Nathan
"I..." started Karatenmon
"Karatenmon! Why are you not finished yet." came a sneering voice from the sky. It was a very strange creature, short with black skin, long metal claws on his hands and feet, a short and thin black tail, two small torn up red bat wings, and a very nasty looking single eye.
"I will finish when I am ready Ghoulmon." replied Karatenmon
"You will finish him now or you know the consequences." replied Ghoulmon as he floated there waiting.
"I'm sorry. Crow Swords!" Karatenmon said again shooting forward with Nathan holding his sword defensively. "You can find my people at the shrine, if you can save them then myself and my fellow Defenders will turn against the Overlord." whispered Karatenmon as he was struggling with Nathan, Nathan nodded and then lowered his guard and let the attack over take him and send him flying backwards. Karatenmon nodded, put his swords away and flew off with Ghoulmon.
Nathan got up dusting himself off, the attack did little damage but it wasn't meant to. Just look that way for Ghoulmon. I promise you Karatenmon, I will save you. "Now, are you all ... right." Nathan said nearly stopping as he turned and saw the person he had saved for the first time. She stood just a few inches shorter than him, thin but not to thin, had long blond hair, and deep blue eyes.
"Um...um. Yes, I um I'm fine." she said in nearly the same shocked expression as Nathan. "H-how did you do that?"
"Oh, well...I ah. Wait, what's that?" Nathan said finally coming out of his shock as he sees a strange device hanging off her belt.
"What?" she asked still somewhat shocked.
"That thing hanging off of your belt, it looks like a digivice. Which means you're a digidestined." said Nathan as he put the pieces together.
"I don't know what you mean." she said, her shock now worn off and her putting a hand over the device to cover it.
"And if you're a digidestined that would mean that you have a digimon, but if you have a digimon then where is it." Nathan said as he rambled to himself.
"Look, I'm not who you think." she said as she tried to stop Nathan's thinking.
"But that device, wait.." Nathan said as he suddenly remembered something. It was back in Hawaii, hanging on a wall in Kaui's house, it was a device nearly identical to the one the girl had. "That's the same thing I saw at Kaui's house."
That caught her attention. "You know Kaui?"
"I met him earlier today, before these attacks started." Nathan explained "And if you know Kaui, than that means. Your a first digidestined!"
"A what?" she asked somewhat confused.
"Oh, right, you wouldn't understand the terming. You were one of the group that defeated Gulfmon." Nathan said trying to clarify it.
"How did you know that?" she demanded
"I have friends in high places, now what's your name?" Nathan said trying to finish this up quickly.
"I'm not telling you anything until I know how you knew about Gulfmon, and what's your name anyway?" she asked, still not trusting the person that just saved her life.
"I don't have time for this. Look, my name is Nathan Pepper, and my friends and I were going to look for you and the others that fought against Gulfmon to ask for your help in defeating the Overlord, of course we would have to get you to the core so you could revive your digimon but unfortunately we got side tracked when these attacks began." Nathan said as he tried to appeal to her.
"You really want to help us see our digimon again?" she asked, her attitude much more hopeful now.
"Of course." replied Nathan
She bowed her head thinking, trying to decide on whether or not to trust Nathan. But the thought of seeing her digimon again made her decision for her.
"My name is Sara Miller." she said starting to cry. "I .. I just want to see Gatomon again."
"You will, I promise. But right now there are other things that need to be taken care of." said Nathan as he tried to calm her down by resting his hand on her shoulder. "Do you have some where that I can take you?"
"I did, but my house was destroyed in this latest attack." Sara said as her tears stopped some.
"Is there anywhere else I can take you, a parents, a friends?" Nathan said still trying to calm her.
"Could I come with you, to see Gatomon?" she asked very pleadingly.
"I don't see why not, now stay calm. This could feel somewhat strange." Nathan said as he let go of her and tapped the metal piece on his uniform. "Pepper to the Unity."
"Unity here sir." came Gingers voice out of nowhere.
"Two for transport. Engage." Nathan said as both he and Sara disappeared in a flash of light.
"Are you three okay?" asked Tammothmon as he came over to the Leomon, Meramon, and the Gekomon who had just been blown back by Ghoulmon's latest Explosion Eye.
"We are fine." said the Leomon as he and the others got up.
"That won't last for long." stated Ghoulmon as he hovered in front of the four digimon. "I'll show you what happens to digimon trying to be hero's. Death..." he started but was stopped when several blasts of energy hit him.
"Ghoulmon! Stop your actions now or you will be destroyed." came Nathan's voice from the Unity as it held position just behind Tammothmon and the other digimon.
"You expect me to be afraid of a human?" questioned Ghoulmon almost laughing.
"You should be. Tammothmon." came Nathan's voice over the non-visible speakers as Tammothmon dedigivolved back to Tunskmon.
"Ghoulmon, now you're in trouble." Tunskmon said as he began glowing brightly. "Tunskmon, warp digivolve to ... TransMammothmon!"
Ghoulmon was now staring at the Mega level of Tunskmon; he now stood nearly twenty feet tall. He now had armor all across his body and in many ways he looked like a Mammoth version of WarGreymon with the exception of the claws and horn.
"Am I suppose to be afraid of a newly digivolved digimon?" asked Ghoulmon
"You should be, and here's why. Tusk Missiles!" said TransMammothmon as he sent out wave after wave of missiles from his tusks turned missile launchers. A large cloud of smoke gathered around Ghoulmon covering him from view as TransMammothmon prepared for his second attack. "I hope you like the cold. Blizzard Blast!" He said as he raised his trunk and shot out a cold and snowy blast at the dust cloud.
As the cloud of dust cleared Ghoulmon was still there, but he was no longer in good condition. His body was battered and bruised and large sections of his body were frozen solid.
"Leave now or you will be finished." came Nathan's voice again.
"Curse you humans, very well I'll leave but I will not be taken so easily next time." said Ghoulmon as he faded black and disappeared.
As TransMammothmon returned to Tunskmon he turned to look at the other three digimon.
"You guys should probably try to meet up with some of the older digidestined. They should be able to help you get ready for any more attacks." said Tunskmon as the other digimon and their partners nodded in agreement.
"Tunskmon are you ready?" asked Nathan
"Ready." said Tunskmon as he then disappeared in a flash of light.
Guardian Base, Now Parked above Grace Hill
Main Conference Room - 5:00 P.M. Tokyo Time
"Nathan I can't believe you brought her here. Are you insane?" asked Erin quiet angrily as she stood up at the table. At the moment only Nathan and the other Guardians were in the room. Sara had been settled into a guest quarters on the base and was currently resting due to the time difference. Gennai, Tai, and Michael were waiting outside of the room, which luckily was very sound proof because of Erin's outbursts.
"Erin, she had nowhere else to go, and she is one of the first digidestined that we were looking for. And with her here we may be able to get more answer than if we have to always go to them." said Nathan
"He has a point Erin." said Jen earning her a cold look.
"Erin we don't have time for this. We have to plan what we're going to do when we face the Overlord tomorrow." said Ken as Erin still had an angry look on her face.
"Erin as much as you hate to admit it, there's nothing being hurt by Sara being here. Now if you don't mind we really should get this meeting started." said Nathan as Erin sat down reluctantly and Nathan signaled for the others to come in.
As Tai and the others sat down Nathan got up and went over to the screen at the end of table and brought up several maps.
"As you already know we are to face the Overlord tomorrow in the Algerin Plains. What you don't know is that we have to pull off a rescue operation at the same time." said Nathan
"Ah no offense, but not even you guys can be in two places at once." said Tai as he looked around the table. "Can you?"
"No Tai we can't, but since we're not alone in this we can easily pull this off." said Nathan
"Nathan, perhaps you should tell us what is happening first." said Michael
"Earlier today I was fighting against a Karatenmon, apparently the Overlord over took the Karaten Shrine. He's force the Karaten Defenders to fight for him by threatening the rest of their kind, which he has imprisoned at the shrine. Michael, I want you to take a group of digidestined and go free the prisoners while we keep the Overlord busy." said Nathan
"No offence but if the Overlords using them as leverage he's going to make sure they wouldn't be able to get free so he won't have guarded them lightly. We're talking Mega levels at least. And there are very few digimon that can get to that level. Not even Betamon can get that high." pointed out Michael
"I realize that, that's why you're going to be taking Davis and Ken with you. The data on this disk should allow them to DNA digivolve once it's downloaded into their digivices." said Nathan as he slid a disk across the table.
"Shouldn't I go to? I mean WarGreymon is a Mega after all." said Tai as he looked at them.
"Unfortunately the Overlord wants you to come with us to the Algerin Plains. Otherwise you would be going there to." said Ken from his seat.
"And what about me? I assume I would not be a here if there was not something you needed me to do." asked Gennai
"There is. We need you to go talk with Azulongmon. We need you to get us either access to the Core so that we can get the first digidestined's digimon released or have the crystals brought out." explained Jen
"I understand." said Gennai
"Final plans will be discussed before we head out tomorrow. This meetings adjourned." said Nathan as they all left the room.
The Algerin Plains, North Western Continent
Digital World - 11:50 A.M. Local Time
"Looks like we're early, or maybe he's late." said Tai as he and the others stepped out of the Streakers rear hatch.
"This is no time for joking Tai." said Sora as she stepped up beside him.
"Why did you come Sora?" asked Tai with a worried and somewhat annoyed tone in his voice.
"Nathan asked me to, so that I could keep you in line when you saw Matt. Believe me Tai, he's much different than what he use to be, and much more powerful in person than when you met him on the Internet." said Sora
"How did you.." he started
"Izzy explained it to me. He also told me what happened when you first saw TK, I'm here to make sure you don't kill yourself trying something like that on Matt." said Sora as she tried to keep her own emotions in check.
"Come on guys, I landed us here so that our ship wouldn't be damaged in any fighting. Our host is this way." said Nathan as he began walking North and the others followed shortly.
As they walked they saw the pain and destruction of the Overlord that Sora had known only to well. Everything around them was either dead or dying, the digimon were so few and far between that you could count them on one hand, and the sky was covered with an ever-looming blanket of dark gray clouds. They walked for about ten minutes until they finally got to where the Overlord was waiting. He was standing there in the middle of the field dressed in his most regal black robes, and with an army of digimon standing and awaiting commands behind him, including a great number of Karatenmon.
"I thought this was between you and us Overlord. Why the army?" asked Nathan as he and the others stopped about thirty yards away form him.
"Just to make sure you didn't try anything." said the Overlord with an evil smirk on his face.
"Or to make sure we're finished off if you can't handle us." remarked Jen, causing the Overlord to sneer momentarily before regaining his composure.
"I must say I'm not impressed. I thought that at least one of your digimon would be an Ultimate level, but it seems that you only have a Champion." He said smiling
"Our digimon can digivolve." retorted Erin as the digimon got ready to digivolve on a moments notice, including Agumon and Biyomon.
"I would hope so. Now tell me, Nathan right, I've heard you're an excellent swords man. Now I know that I'm the best there is but I've been told otherwise by a, a friend of yours." he said smiling to himself.
"Why that argent little." muttered Erin
"Let me guess, BlackKnightmon. Oh, and I'm so sorry about the outcome of that little sneak attack you tried yesterday." said Nathan with a smile, which only caused the Overlord to become even angrier.
"Enough." said the Overlord as his dark aura flared up around him. "I challenge you to a duel, and you will loose it."
"I accept your challenge." said Nathan as he pulled his digivice off of his belt.
"You will die." sneered the Overlord.
"I think not, and this is why." said Nathan as he held his digivice out in front of him with his left hand. "Guardian Blade!" said Nathan as a beam of light shot out of his digivice which he hung back on his belt and as the beam came back down he caught it with his right hand as hit took the shape of his sword. "Crest Armor Activate!" His crest suddenly flared up with energy as it's glow spread across his body and solidified into golden armor with his crest symbol right on his chest.
"Is that suppose to impress me?" asked the Overlord as he prepared to strike.
"No, this is." said Nathan as the blade of his sword began glowing. "Energy Blade!" he called out, as he became nothing but a golden blur heading strait for the Overlord. He quickly covered the distance but due to the time it took the Overlord was able to block his attack.
"How did you do that, no human is that fast." said the Overlord as he struck at Nathan with his own blade glowing with dark energy.
"Who ever said I was human?" asked Nathan as he dodged another lunge by the Overlord.
"Your a Digimon?" the Overlord asked somewhat shocked.
"Of course not, lets just say I'm a human blessed with many gifts. Like this one, Lightspeed Arrow!" said Nathan as a glowing card formed in his hand which he then threw at the Overlord as it transformed into a glowing arrow.
"Ah," said the Overlord as the arrow skinned his left arm, "so you want to play tricks ay, Dark Energy!" he said as he shot out a beam of dark energy at Nathan from his hand.
"Oh yeah, Spiritual Crystal!" said Nathan as he threw another glowing card that transformed into a blue sphere which absorbed the Overlords attack.
"Quit hiding behind those cards!" screamed the Overlord
"Who said I was hiding?" said Nathan as he was suddenly over top of the Overlord with electricity cascading across his sword. "Thunder Sword!" he said as he moved his sword forward sending lightning out at the Overlord.
The Overlord jumped out of the way barely in time. He got up and sent a dark beam of his own out of his sword right back at Nathan who also barely managed to get away.
"Gennai told me that you guys were strong, but I didn't think you were this strong." said Sora as she and the others watched the battle between Nathan and Matt.
"Yes we're strong Sora, but we're also weak in many ways." said Jen as she didn't take her eyes off the battle.
"What do you mean?" asked Sora
"You'll understand in time." said Erin as she finished the discussion for now.
"How are you this strong, which God gave you this power?" demanded the Overlord.
"None of the Digimon Guardians gave me this power. It was given to me by beings far more ancient than them." replied Nathan as he pushed away from the Overlord.
"Liar, I will destroy them all." said the Overlord
"I doubt it, they're far more powerful than even me. But I think it's time to finish this fight. And I know just the card." Nathan said as another glowing card appeared in his hand. "Celestial Light!" as he threw it forward the Overlord tried to move away but could not for some reason. As the card hit him he screamed in agony as the holy energy of the card attacked the dark power of his soul.
"What's happening?" asked Sora as the screams from Matt reached them.
"The holy energy of the Celestial Light card reacts to the dark energy within individuals and thus causes pain." explained Erin
"In this case though, it looks like its trying to drive something out of him." said Jen as she looked at the shadow that looked like it was being pushed out of him.
"Nathan, what's happening to Matt?" asked Tai as Nathan came and landed back over next to them.
"I don't really know, I know what it looks like but I've never seen this happen when I've used it before." said Nathan as he looked on.
"Ahh!" came the final scream as the Overlords body fell to the ground. The black aura around his body began rising up from him, the cloud of darkness slowly began to shift and change. Then it began taking form, a humanoid form, as it finished forming Tai gasped at what he saw.
"It can't be." said Tai in shock.
[Authors Notes] I said this was a long chapter, and like I said if you have any questions just leave them in a review or email them to me. I know you guys probably hate me for the cliffhanger ending but this gives you one more chapter to guess who the force controlling Matt is. Remember I gave you a hint back in chapter 4 and I said that who ever could guess correctly would get mentioned in the chapter where he's revealed. And that's the next chapter. So I guess you guys better start thinking. As always, please R&R.