Resurrection 3, Part 1

(A/N: This story is the third and final installment of the "Resurrection" trilogy. This won't be like the Alien movies, with there being a fourth one called… uh… "Resurrection: Resurrection." That'd just be excessive. Anyway, this is based on the first two, but it is not necessary to read them to understand this one. The first two were part of my A.D. series, and the second was written by the very talented Ryan Berke, who I thank for sparking my interest in this story and for being a heck of an apprentice to boot.)

Resurrection 3, Part 1

"One More Time"

The cool night wind blew all around him as he stared at the city in the distance. Tokyo glowed brightly, like a million gleaming jewels floating upon a black sea on the horizon. Although his business was in that place, he had no reason to be there. He could accomplish all he needed to from anywhere he chose.

He sighed regretfully. It was so beautiful and so bright, even from where he stood, miles away in the mountains. All he wanted was some peace of mind, to appreciate beauty and enjoy life. Unfortunately, that could never be as long as this was all here. Death haunted him wherever he went, haunted him even now as the chorus of a thousand voices refused to leave him alone.

Soon, he told himself. Soon, the pain will leave me. No more death to plague me. All that is required is the death of a few humans. No matter what, this will end soon. I just have to do this one more time…

The next morning, six children walked amid the crowd in the park. There was a festival going on and many performers lined the sidewalks, showing off their various talents. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining overhead. The air had the slight chill of autumn and they all knew it wouldn't be long before it would be too cold to venture outside without jackets. They walked in a close-knit group as they went from one performer to the next.

They were, unbeknownst to the average person, six very special children with lives far removed from those of normal children their age. To some, they were just a group of friends. But to those who knew better, they were the Digidestined.

Davis, who was normally at the head of the group, was keeping close to Kari, who was accompanied by TK on her right. Nearby, Yolei was energetically looking around for something interesting, which left Cody and Ken following the rest, keeping to themselves, looking around without much interest. In their arms, they carried several small creatures, which most supposed were stuffed animals, but were in fact nothing of the kind.

"Hey, Kari, a caricature artist!" Davis exclaimed. "You should have her draw your picture! After all," he beamed, turning on as much charm as he could muster, "there's no way it could turn out badly."

Kari smiled. "Good idea!" she agreed. "They've got a two-for-one deal. Let's go, TK!"

"Huh?" Davis asked, slack-jawed as TK was dragged, not entirely unwillingly, over to the artist.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Davis," Yolei soothed, pulling him in a different direction. "There's a clown juggling pins over there. I think he's going to try for six of them at a time!"

"I don't wanna see some stupid clown!" he protested in vain, as the bespectacled girl hauled him towards the clown, Ken and Cody following closely behind.

"Just out of curiosity, has he always acted like this?" Ken asked Cody.

"As long as I've known him," Cody replied, cracking a smile in spite of himself.

The clown was up to four pins and a significant number of people had gathered around to watch, obviously impressed with his skill. Davis was sulking and kept glancing over his shoulder, constantly noticing the way TK and Kari laughed so easily around each other.

"Aw, don't be sad, Davis," DemiVeemon comforted quietly from his arms. "This clown guy is pretty good!"

Davis looked down at his little blue companion. "Remember how we talked and you agreed to keep quiet?"

DemiVeemon nodded sullenly.

"Okay, and… here's…. five!" the clown proclaimed, snatching up the fifth pin and juggling them all with surprising ease. The crowd applauded, save for Davis, as the clown began to eye the sixth.

"Well, this next part's really difficult, folks," the clown told them, smiling with painted red lips and wiggling his red nose. "But, if I can do it, prepare to be stunned."

The crowd waited with anticipation, especially Yolei, who seemed particularly enthralled with his performance.

"And one… two—"

Then, quite suddenly, the clown seemed to shift, to melt and reform, changing into a new, yet not wholly different form.

The floppy shoes and baggy pants were gone, as was the colorful makeup and bright painted smile. In their place were yellow boots and a tall man wearing a red suit and a mask which was half-white, half-black. He let the pins drop to the ground before the astonished crowd. His black lips curled up into a cruel grin.

"Well, wasn't that a good trick, boys and girls?" the clown asked in a high, lilting voice. Some members of the crowd clapped uncertainly.

Davis, Yolei, Ken and Cody all stood in wide-eyed wonder. "That… can't be…" Cody breathed.

"Isn't that… the older kids said that… but… it can't be!" Yolei stammered.

"Well, for my next trick," the clown went on, "I will make a young boy disappear. Permanently!"

The clown muscled his way through the crowd, but Yolei found her self standing fast before him. "Hold it right there, mister! You—oof!" she grunted as the clown shoved her roughly out of the way.

"Yolei!" Ken cried, rushing to catch her before she fell.

"Wait your turn, kiddies, this is personal," the clown told them haughtily. Then they saw who they were walking towards.

"TK! Kari! Look out!" Cody called to them.

The two looked up from where they were and saw the one approaching them in horror.

"Piedmon!" Kari screamed.

TK got up from the chair he sat in as the artist drew and looked at their enemy with determination. Patamon, sensing the danger and becoming animated, took to the air.

"What do you want with us, Piedmon?" TK demanded.

"Oh, you silly boy, this doesn't concern the rest right now," Piedmon laughed, leaping into the air. "It was you who destroyed me, and I've come to return the favor! Trump sword!"

TK leapt to the side as several swords embedded themselves in the ground where he'd stood moments ago. "Boom bubble!" attacked Patamon protectively.

Piedmon was unfazed by the weak attack and, with astonishing speed, rushed over to Patamon and swatted him from the air, almost indifferently. "Not even you," he growled, "are worth what little time I have. I want the boy's life."

TK, realizing the severity of the situation, turned and bolted from the clown, who drew a sword and chased him furiously.

"We've got to help him!" Kari yelled, drawing her D3 from her waist. "Digi-armor energize!"

Gatomon began to glow as she changed in size and shape. "Gatomon armor digivolve to… Nefertimon!"

The winged, angelic feline bowed slightly as Kari climbed upon her back and the two flew off in pursuit of their foe.

Taking their cue, the four in-training digimon leapt from their partners' arms and digivolved as well. In less time than it takes to speak of it, Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, and Wormmon stood in place of their diminutive forms.

"Why's that reject from a deck of cards chasing TK?" Davis asked aloud as he and the others ran to their friend's aid.

"We'll ask him after we save him!" Cody shouted.

TK, meanwhile, was running as fast as he could, his heart thudding in his chest as his legs pounded the ground furiously. It was not fast enough, however, and he suddenly found himself clutched about the neck by the demented clown.

"You've gotten a bit bigger since the last time I saw you, little boy," Piedmon remarked. "You were so much cuter then. I think I'll take a few inches off you!" He laughed and reached for a sword as TK struggled futilely.

"Rosetta stone!" Following the cry, a large stone tablet cracked Piedmon in the back of his head, causing him to stumble forward, releasing TK, who dropped to the ground gasping for breath.

Unperturbed and almost as an afterthought, he raised one hand, yelling out "Clown trick!" sending a ball of energy into Nefertimon, knocking her and Kari out of the air and to the ground as well.

"Kari!" Davis exclaimed, rushing to the girl's side.

While the others were temporarily busied with checking on Kari and Gatomon, Piedmon raised his sword and stood over his quarry.

"No more interruptions," he growled. "Let's see how tall you stand without a head!"

TK raised his arms defensively, scrunching his eyes shut and gritting his teeth in preparation for what he knew was coming. Then, he felt the weight of his adversary as he fell on him and screamed in terror.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself unscathed. Piedmon was gone. In his place, the juggling clown was unconsciously collapsed on top of him. Grunting and shifting the clown off him, he stood and went to his relieved friends.

"Was that…?" Cody asked.

"Piedmon," TK answered.

"I thought he was one of the Dark Master's you and the other original Digidestined defeated," Yolei remarked.

"He was," Kari replied, checking TK's neck for wounds. "He was destroyed when Patamon digivolved to MagnaAngemon.

"That's impossible," Ken declared. "If you'd defeated him he would be gone. This must have been something else. An illusion, or—"

"No," TK denied, shaking his head. "It was him."

"Oh, and what makes you so sure it was the same guy, TF?" Davis demanded.

He and Kari looked at each other, then back to the group. "Because this has happened before," Kari answered finally.

The majority of the crowd at the festival had dissipated as soon as Piedmon had appeared. Taking advantage of the apparent lack of people, the six children and digimon sat at a nearby picnic table. TK and Kari sat on one side of the table as the others sat across from them. Once everyone was comfortable, they told their story.

"It happened about this same time two years ago," Kari began. "A digimon named Demidevimon flew into my apartment through the window. He used to be an evil digimon that worked for Myotismon. At first, I thought he had amnesia, so I took care of him. It turned out he didn't and he was working with three other digimon we'd defeated: Numemon, Gazimon, and Metal Etemon. He took Tai's digivice and… attacked him."

She grew silent at the recollection. TK picked up the story for her.

"They were trying to digivolve one of them, but we somehow managed to defeat them without help from our digimon." He scratched Patamon's head, causing the chubby little creature coo appreciatively. "Then, a few months later, Gazimon came back and tried the same thing, using Tai and Kari's cousin, Yami. We got together and defeated them again, but we never did find out what was resurrecting them in the first place."

"And now it's happening again," Ken finished.

TK and Kari nodded.

"Actually, this sounds different," Cody remarked. "Last time, the evil digimon came to life and tried to digivolve. I remember Izzy telling me that Demidevimon was weak, and so are Numemon and Gazimon, so they could really benefit from digivolving. But this time, a powerful Mega digimon like Piedmon attacked. Not only that, he took the place of a real clown and then disappeared."

Kari nodded. "That's true," she agreed. "But what does it mean?"

"I bet this is what Azulongmon was telling us about!" Davis exclaimed. "That other evil force out there must be doing this!"

"I don't know," Ken murmured unsurely. "If whatever is doing this could do it all along, why would it rely on Arukenimon and Mummymon for help? I think this is someone else."

"Yeah, this is a lot worse than just having an enemy hiding out there somewhere," Yolei added. "If whoever is doing this can turn people into digimon, then they could attack us without warning."

Suddenly, everyone realized the severity of what she'd said. "So, that means they can get to us at any time…" TK breathed.

Kari stood up, suddenly, grasped by a sudden thought: "Tai!"

The others also got to their feet. "And the rest of the older kids!" Yolei gasped. "They don't have their digimon around to protect them! We've got to get to them first!"

"Worse," Cody said, drawing a glance from everyone, "first we have to find all of them."

Yamato "Matt" Ishida was sitting in a hard, uncomfortable plastic seat in a baseball stadium, watching his favorite team get its collective butt kicked. His fellow musicians had bailed on him, finding other things to do at the last minute, leaving him to go alone. If the ticket hadn't cost so much, he would have gotten up and gone home. Needless to say, he was not having a good time.

"Matt?" asked a familiar voice over his shoulder.

He turned his head and was surprised to see Sora standing there.

"Hey, Sora, what are you doing here?" the blonde boy asked.

"I won a radio contest that was offering a prize," she replied. "Who would have guessed it would have been only one ticket to a baseball game?"

He laughed as she rolled her eyes and sat down in the vacant seat next to him. "So, how'd you win?"

"The contest had a question about flower arrangement of all things," she answered. "They figured no one would be able to figure it out, but my mother and I were listening to the radio in the shop when they asked it. Just luck, I guess."

"Don't sell yourself short," he told her. "You're a smart person, Sora. I'm sure that had to count for something."

She grinned and then looked to the game, where the pitcher had just accidentally hit the batter. The crowd booed as the batter made his way to first base.

She turned to Matt amid the jeering crowd.

"I hate baseball," she chuckled, looking him straight in his blue eyes.

"Me too," he sighed, smiling. "Let's get some hotdogs."

The airport terminal buzzed with life. Couples reunited and business partners shook hands. Amid it all, a pink-haired girl walked confidently ahead of her parents. She yawned, stretching her arms tiredly.

"Jet lag, sweetie?" he father asked.

"I get it every time," she giggled. "But I'll be fine as soon as I get some tea and find my friends."

Mimi Tachikawa, former holder of the Crest of Sincerity made her way through the crowd, a smile on her face. She was excited about seeing her old friends and was glad to be doing it without having monsters trying to kill them at the same time.

Tai Kamiya was looking up and down the aisle of the library, trying to figure out if he was in the right section or, for that matter, if he was even looking for the right thing. He hated doing research and was especially annoyed that he had to get at least five sources. "How do kids in advanced courses do this all the time?" he asked in exasperation. Then, looking further down the aisle, he saw a familiar face. "Speak of the devil," he muttered.

Izzy grunted as he reached for a book perched high up at the top of a shelf. As he was stretching on his toes, trying to keep his balance, a hand swiftly grabbed it from his view.

"Hey! That's—" he stopped short, seeing his good friend holding the book with a smile on his face. "Oh, hello, Tai," he greeted warmly. "Do you need that book?"

"Nah, I just thought I'd help you get it," he laughed, and handed it to the shorter boy. "Come here often?"

Izzy frowned. "No, actually," he replied. "I prefer to limit my research to Internet resources. Unfortunately, my science teacher insists that I find at least three sources that came out of books. When will people learn that the information one needs can always be found online if one only knows where to look?"

He gave a sigh of exhaustion and noticed the knowing grin on Tai's face.

"I'm sorry, is there something you want, Tai?" he asked.

"Well, you at least knew where to look for your stuff," he remarked. "I can't find anything around here. Maybe you could help me find some stuff for my project."

"Uh-huh," Izzy said noncommittally. "And what do I get for it?"

"I'll help you reach the books on the high shelves," Tai offered.

Izzy huffed disgustedly. "While I appreciate the offer, it is definitely unnecessary," he retorted, going for a footstool and standing atop it. "I can reach this book just…"

Tai laughed as Izzy reached and still found the book out of his grasp, even with the added height of the footstool. After a few frustrated grunts, the boy-genius conceded defeat and let Tai fetch the book, promising to help him locate some sources in return.

Joe Kido reclined on a bench near the beach, at ease after a long, long week of tests and studying and lectures. He was happy to finally be away from the pressures of studying and his parents breathing down his neck, making things worse. For now, he was happy to sit back and sip from an orange smoothie, enjoying the seasonably warm weather before the chillier wind returned. He saw some activity at the bridge near Tokyo Bay and pushed his glasses up on his nose to see better.

It looked like another group of idiots were going to bungee jump from the bridge. He watched with mild interest, knowing full well that the jumpers would be promptly arrested, like they always were. He sighed, deciding that he'd still rather watch this than dissect another pig fetus for class.

After all, this wouldn't make him throw up.

Davis led the others up the stairs to his apartment. Apparently, he had a plan for finding the elder Digidestined.

"Would you mind telling us what the plan is?" Yolei demanded.

"Did I forget to do that?" he puffed, hurrying up another flight.

"You just shouted, 'Hey, I've got a plan!' and ran off, you dope!" Cody yelled, trying to keep up. "We had no choice except to follow you!"

"Oh," Davis said. "Well, my plan is to ask my sister for help."

"Jun?" Ken asked. "Why her?"

"She's got her learner's permit!" As they rounded the bend and walked to his front door, he flashed a grin to the group. "She can drive us!"

"And what if we run into evil digimon?" TK asked, concerned.

"That's the beauty of my plan," he said slyly. "If we do run into any giant monsters or something, we'll just feed them Jun and escape."

"That's mean!" Patamon squealed.

"Yeah, well you don't have to live with her," Veemon grumbled defensively. "She's louder than Davis when she's on the phone!"

"Yeah, she's louder than—hey, Veemon!" he growled defensively, realizing what his partner had just said.

The others just rolled their eyes as Davis opened the door and the digimon went back to acting like toys.

"Jun!" Davis called. "Jun, are you home?"

The girl stormed out of her room, wearing a pink shirt and long khakis. "What is it?" she hissed. "I was just about to sit down to read the review of the Teenage Wolves concert last Thursday and if they didn't give Matt's band a good review I am going to absolutely kill them!"

The group all looked at each other nervously. Davis finally spoke up to his sister, who was tapping her foot impatiently. "Say, Jun, we were wondering if you would take us in the car to pick up some friends of ours."

"Hmm, let me think about it NO!" she shrieked, stomping back to her room. "Take the bus!"

Looking at each other again, the Digidestined were at a loss for words. Until the proverbial light bulb lit up in TK's head.

"Well, that's too bad, guys," he said, raising his voice purposefully. "I guess we'll have to find some other way to pick up MATT."

At that last annunciated word, a pink-colored blur zipped past them, leaving them all standing in stunned silence. They looked out in the hallway and saw Jun at the end of it, once again tapping her foot, waving them over to her.

"Come on! Come on! That cutie isn't picking himself up!" she shouted emphatically.

The others shrugged and went over to her. She was about to descend the stairs when she saw the creatures in their arms. "Uh, Davis, wasn't that stuffed animal smaller and cuter before?"

Veemon stifled an angry growl as Davis pushed Jun aside, going down the stairs. "I dunno, maybe!" he replied. "Come on, less yap, more Matt!"

"Oh, right!" she exclaimed, hurrying as well.

All these things he could sense. He heard their voices, saw their faces, smelled the air that they inhaled. But he could enjoy none of it. Tortured and desperately alone, he needed them to understand. He would send them a message, tell them of this power he'd discovered. Once he had their attention, once they knew what he was capable of, then he would show himself. Only then would they have to listen. Only then would they be able to understand.

This was the beginning of the end. This was how his pain would end. So much would have to be destroyed, but he could no longer stand his own miserable existence. If it required him to shed the blood of a dozen children, then so be it.

He opened his blood red eyes and spoke to the swirling darkness that surrounded him and pervaded every aspect of his being. He spoke only one word and it was all that was needed: "Go."

And with that, four dark shadowy forms flew out from around him and soared off to their targets. The four were gone now, but he was not alone. He would never alone.

"Go," he sighed ruefully. "Perhaps their screams will be the last ones I have to hear."

To be continued…

(In the next chapter: the young Digidestined must rescue the old as everyone around them is in danger of becoming a potentially deadly foe as their unknown enemy takes steps that will have dire consequences…)