Introduction: I'd first like to take a moment to assure any of my regular readers who might be seeing this that I am still alive. I know it's been months since I posted anything new. This past winter has been kind of a rough one for me (as I'm sure it's been for most people given these times), and it's only recently that I've been able to start work on a new story of any kind. I haven't been totally inactive on this site though. Back in December I ended up doing some edits to my old Digimon stories; minor changes mostly. During that same time period I also got pretty wrapped up in a couple of the more recent Digimon video games, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth and its "sequel", Hacker's Memory.
Once I finished the edits to the Child of Hope and Light story, I decided to make some rather drastic changes in regards to the rest of the series. I ended up deleting the Sakura Knight and Twilight Empress stories and plan to rewrite the former. When I looked at Sakura Knight again I felt there were some things in it that really could've been done a lot better. In the meantime though, I have a completely new story that I've decided to go ahead with. Last month in an effort to keep the inspiration to continue with this Digimon series of mine, I ended up watching the Digimon Adventure Tri film series and the Last Evolution Kizuna movie. I regret watching the latter movie, and while the Tri films did some pretty good stuff they also screwed up in a lot of ways (like with the ending).
As flawed as Digimon Adventure Tri was though, it did inspire this story, which pretty much picks up almost right where Child of Hope and Light left off. So submitted for your approval, I present a new tale that puts a new spin on certain things from Tri (and even Last Evolution Kizuna) and mixes in a few new things as well.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.
Chapter 1: Changing Times
It was late in the afternoon as Tai Kamiya and his Digimon partner Agumon walked the streets of Shinjuku. The day was one of those rare days where Tai had no afternoon college classes and the day off from his job, so he had decided to treat Agumon to a trip to one of their favorite restaurants in that part of the city. Agumon's favorite restaurant in Shinjuku had been a place with an all you can eat buffet, but the establishment had been forced to close down after the first and only time Tai had taken the little yellow dinosaur there for a meal; Agumon had essentially eaten out the restaurant's entire pantry in the space of only three hours. Therefore Tai had decided to take Agumon to their second favorite place to eat in Shinjuku, a rather classy burger joint with an open bar. As Tai and Agumon headed down the sidewalk, they came towards an old man with a cane walking in the same direction.
The old man stopped and eyed Agumon with suspicion as they came near. "Excuse me, young man."
"Um, yes sir?" Tai responded.
"That's one of those Digimon creatures I see around the city every now and then, isn't it? What sort of pets you keep is your business of course, but I'd think you'd have enough sense to keep that thing on a leash to keep it from biting people."
"My name's Agumon, sir," the yellow dinosaur spoke. "It's nice to meet you. And don't worry; I don't go around biting people. Humans don't taste very good in my opinion."
The old man looked down at Agumon in surprise. "My! I…I didn't think these Digimon could be so intelligent and well mannered. Maybe I don't know as much about these critters as I thought. Sorry to bother you young man."
With those words, the old man continued on his way. Tai couldn't help but scowl a bit as he and Agumon continued walking.
"Don't let it get to you, Tai," Agumon told him. "Like that guy said, he didn't really know much about Digimon."
"Yeah…but the problem is there are too many guys like him around," Tai pointed out. "People who don't know what Digimon are really like. That has to change."
It was a problem that had been bothering Tai a great deal during the past few years. While Digimon had become fairly commonplace in the human world since the defeat of MaloMyotismon so many years ago, there were still far too many people around who misunderstood Digimon and saw them as dangerous animals. This attitude was made worse by the occasional wild Digimon that would stray in from the Digital World and end up going on a rampage, and the fact was a lot of these rampages happened most of the time because the Digimon in question was only confused and afraid. Unfortunately the authorities would view these wild Digimon as mad beasts that needed to be put down. If it weren't for the intervention of Digidestined around the world, the casualty list for these unfortunate wild Digimon would be extremely high.
Unfortunately the general ignorance of much of the public regarding Digimon was not the only problem that bothered Tai. Recently he and his friends had become aware of a much bigger threat to the safety of Digimon in the human world, the exploitation of Digimon by the military industrial complex. About half a month ago, Tai and his fellow Digidestined had dealt with an organization known as the Saiba Corporation. The company's president and top genius, Neo Saiba had been studying the Digital World for years and had figured out a way to create his own Digimon armies. Neo had also used these same techniques to create an artificial human known as Norn, a little girl made using the digitized DNA of Tai's sister, Kari and her husband, T.K., along with a core fragment from the dead god of the Digital World, Yggdrasil.
The creation of Norn and her two Digimon partners had been part of a misguided attempt by Neo to try and remake the world into one free of the "glitches" known as part of the general misfortune of life, and the whole incident had turned out for the better. Neo eventually saw the error of his ways and Tai ended up getting a darling little niece out of the whole incident. After it was all over though, Tai had the genius of his Digidestined group, Izzy look further into the matter and ended up confirming his own fears. Saiba Corp was not the only company seeking to exploit Digimon for military use. The ugly truth was because Digimon came from a world existing beyond the veil of cyberspace, many people viewed Digimon as not real life forms but as artificial beings that could be reprogrammed.
"Don't worry Tai. We'll change the way people see Digimon," Agumon declared, shaking Tai from his thoughts. "Together, you and me."
Tai smiled and nodded. "You got it buddy."
Suddenly the two of them heard and explosion just up ahead. Immediately Tai and Agumon rushed towards the sound. They soon arrived at the center of Shinjuku to discover a battle between two large Digimon had broken out. One of them was a large green serpentine dragon with a green body and red wings. It had a white skull-like head with red eyes and a mane of yellow hair. Tai recognized this Digimon as an Airdramon. He also noticed that Airdramon's body was crackling every now and then with sparks of black electricity, and its eyes flashed occasionally with strange lines of purple digital code.
The other Digimon meanwhile was a giant dark-green and black humanoid insect with red eyes and a mane of dark-brown hair growing from the back of his head. A pair of grey stingers protruded from the top of the insect creature's wrists, and on its back he had two pairs of transparent wings. Tai and Agumon knew this creature as Stingmon, the champion form of their friend, Ken Ichijoji's partner, Wormmon. The duo scanned the area and sure enough found Ken standing just behind Stingmon.
"Tai, we should get in there and help!" Agumon told him.
Tai nodded. "Right. It's only an Airdramon though, so we shouldn't have to use much power."
"Just let me at 'em!" Agumon responded as the ends of his mouth curved up into a smile.
Tai grabbed onto the Digivice attached to his belt, and suddenly Agumon began to glow with a brilliant orange light.
"Agumon digivolve to…Greymon!" the little dinosaur called out as he began to transform, his voice deepening at the utterance of his other name.
In a matter of seconds the light cleared to reveal Tai's Digimon as a large orange T-Rex like dinosaur with blue stripes. Covering the top half of the dinosaur's face was a dark-brown carapace resembling a mask, with two large horns on the sides and a third smaller horn growing from the snout. As soon as his transformation finished, Greymon charged onto the battlefield and rammed into Airdramon with his horns. The dragon was knocked into the side of a parked car.
Tai meanwhile ran over to Ken's side. "Looked like you could use some help."
"Glad you showed up," Ken responded. "I should warn you though, this isn't just some ordinary battle against some random wild Digimon."
Before Tai could ask Ken what he meant by that, the conversation was interrupted by the sound of insane laughter. Tai looked, and standing at the opposite end of the battlefield was a young man with wild dark hair, wearing a dirty grey t-shirt with faded jeans. The young man's eyes seemed to flash briefly with a strange purple light, though Tai thought it might've just been a trick of the light. He also saw a Digivice clipped to the young man's belt.
"Ken…is this guy…?" Tai began.
Ken nodded. "I'm not sure I'd call him a Digidestined. He was probably just one of the many tamer kids that popped up after MaloMyotismon's defeat, but that Airdramon is his. Earlier I saw him use his Airdramon's pre-evolved form to rob a nearby convenience store. Stingmon and I chased after him and well…here we are."
"A human…using his Digimon…to commit crimes?"
The dark-haired Tamer let out another mad laugh. "So, both you guys think you can take me down? Fat chance! My Digimon and I are invincible! Airdramon! Kill these posers and paint the pavement with their blood!"
The green wyvern rose back into the air and breathed out a barrage of needles at both Greymon and Stingmon. Both Digimon endured the assault, but several of the nearby cars and buildings had their windows broken.
"Ken, we had better finish this quick!" Stingmon declared.
"Greymon and I will give you guys an opening!" Tai decided. "As soon as he's vulnerable, take him out!"
"Got it!" Ken responded.
"Greymon! You know what to do!" Tai called.
"Nova Blast!" Greymon called out before spewing out a massive ball of flames at the enemy Digimon.
The fireball struck Airdramon in the chest, causing it to cry out in pain. With the green wyvern stunned, Stingmon flew in close and extended a long stinger from his right forearm. The stinger pierced Airdramon's left wing, and suddenly the dragon screeched and its body began to glow with a purple light. The light turned into small particles that rose into the air, and in seconds the enemy Digimon had been reduced to a much smaller form.
The Digimon Airdramon had become was a fairly small green and white amphibian-like creature with blue stripes and a large red fin on its back. It had four stubby legs, each one ending with a large white claw. This was a Digimon known as Betamon, and Stingmon's attack had rendered it unconscious. As soon as Betamon fell to the ground, his partner had also suddenly and inexplicably passed out. With the battle at an end, Greymon reverted to his usual form of Agumon.
Stingmon meanwhile had transformed into a much smaller green caterpillar-like creature with large eyes, two large feelers, and a red marking in the center of its forehead. This of course was Stingmon's usual form, Wormmon.
"Glad we were able to stop that fight before things got too out of control," Ken remarked as Wormmon and Agumon came over.
"Yeah, but…what the hell was that?" Tai asked. "I mean I can't believe someone with a Digimon could do stuff like this."
"Freeze!" a voice suddenly called out.
Tai and Ken looked and suddenly found a legion of uniformed police officers surrounding them. Each of the officers had their guns trained on the two Digidestined and their partners, and Tai and Ken both realized they would open fire if any of them made the slightest move.
"Lower your weapons! All of you!" ordered another voice.
The officers hesitantly lowered their guns, and walking in between two of them was a middle-aged man with greying hair, wearing a long green hooded coat over a black suit. He also had on a black hat with grey stripes.
"Sargent Tanaka, I'll deal with these two young men," the older man told one of the nearby officers. "You and the others secure the scene take the real perp and his Digimon into custody."
"You got it, lieutenant," the officer known as Tanaka responded.
The older gentleman nodded and walked up to Tai and Ken. "Detective Gorou Matayoshi of the Tokyo Police. I hope you gentleman don't mind if I take up a little of your time."
Realizing they had no other choice, Tai and Ken followed Detective Matayoshi into a nearby alley where they could talk in private.
Matayoshi looked at the two young men and their Digimon and chuckled. "Relax, I'm not going to arrest you. In fact I'd like to thank you both for assisting with the arrest. If you hadn't shown up, that kid could've done a lot more damage."
"We're glad we could help," Tai responded.
Here the detective's expression became serious. "That being said though, you should be a little more careful about how you act in the future. The truth is a lot of people, my superiors in particular, see you Digidestined or whatever you kids call yourselves as potentially dangerous. After all, you aren't part of the police force and don't answer to any governing body. So far the higher-ups all look the other way because right now we don't have any way of fighting these Digimon ourselves."
"But that could all change in the near future, right?" Tai assumed.
"You catch on quick. And this incident won't do you any good. This is the first known incident of someone with a Digimon committing crimes. Depending on how this plays in the media, the public could easily start to see all of you Digidestined as potential criminals."
"So what do you expect us to do? Turn a blind eye the next time another rogue Digimon goes on a rampage?" Ken asked.
"I didn't say that. All I'm saying is be careful the next time you act. The world will be watching you all closely from now on." Matayoshi then looked Ken in the eye and smiled. "Of course one thing that might help is if we had someone with a Digimon of their own on the police force. I saw you chase after that perp when he pulled the robbery. I think you might have the makings of a good cop, maybe even a detective. Think it over. In the meantime, I'll be in touch. We'll probably need your statements later."
Matayohsi then pulled out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Ken. Afterwards he said his farewells and headed back out to what was now a crime scene.
Tai let out a heavy sigh. "That got a little intense."
"Yeah…" Ken responded as he looked at the business card.
"Hey Ken, Agumon and I were on our way for a bite to eat. You and Wormmon wanna join us?"
"I could go for a bite," Wormmon interjected.
Ken put the business card in his pocked and smiled. "Sure. Why not?"
Tai, Ken and their Digimon arrived at the restaurant without incident. It wasn't until they were about half way through the meal when they finally started to talk about the earlier battle.
"I still can't wrap my head around someone with a Digimon committing crimes and going on a rampage," Tai spoke.
"It's not impossible though," Ken pointed out. "I mean…look at what I did as the Digimon Emperor."
Tai sighed. "Okay, you have a point there. Still, the whole thing just seems unreal."
"You know Tai, I noticed something weird about that Airdramon when we fought," Agumon interjected. "I don't know what it was, but there was just something not right about him."
Wormmon nodded. "Call me crazy, but I noticed something weird about his tamer too."
"Wait, are you saying they might've been under some sort of mind control or something?" Tai asked.
"Who knows?" Agumon responded before eating his seventh hamburger. "We should probably tell Izzy about this later and have him look into it."
"Not a bad idea. Of course…after our little talk with that detective I'm a little worried that we'll get arrested if we dig too deeply into this."
"Things just aren't as simple as they used to be, are they?" Ken observed.
"Nope," Tai agreed as he leaned back in his chair. "And honestly…I've been wondering just how much longer we can keep up fighting as we have been."
"Just what exactly are you saying?"
"Let's face it Ken, we can't just swing into battle like we used to when we were kids. A lot of us aren't able to anymore. Take a look at what's happening with us. Matt and Sora have a kid on the way, Joe's busy with medical school, Izzy just started his own company…"
"I get it, believe me. None of us can put our lives on hold to stamp out evil in the Digital World."
Tai nodded. "Plus the simple truth is…I don't think a lot of us have the energy to keep on fighting anymore. I know Kari doesn't. After being trapped in the Dark Ocean and having to face Lucemon, all she wants to do is raise Norn and become a teacher. I'm sure T.K. pretty much feels the same way."
"I know Yolei doesn't want to keep fighting," Ken admitted. "She's told me she feels like she's just not strong enough to make a real difference in battle. Guess maybe we've reached the end of an era."
"I'm not saying we've retired for good though. I mean we all vowed to band together if and when CountMyotismon returns."
Here Ken chuckled a little. "You know, when we all made that little pact, I felt a bit like one of those kids from that Stephen King story with the evil clown."
Tai laughed in response. "I know what you mean."
Ken took another sip from his soda and became serious again. "Anyway Tai, I'd like to know…are you tired of fighting."
Tai leaned forward. "It's not that I'm tired of fighting, it's just I feel like it's not the best answer anymore. Agumon and I have both talked it over, and we both feel like the best way we can help the human and Digital Worlds is through diplomacy."
"Tai and I both want to eventually become ambassadors to the human and Digital Worlds," Agumon interjected. "We want to help humans and Digimon learn to understand each other."
Ken looked at the duo in disbelief. "You two…are going to become diplomats?"
"Yeah. Is that really so hard to belief?" Tai asked, sound a little offended.
"Kind of."
"Well…well at least it's not as crazy as what Matt and Gabumon what to do! They're going to try and get into the space program!"
"Matt and Gabumon are going to try and become astronauts?" Ken asked.
"That's so cool!" Wormmon declared.
"It really is," Ken agreed. "And honestly way easier to picture."
Tai let out an exasperated sigh. "Yeah well…it is kind of impressive I guess."
"Well…after today's incident, I think I may have decided what I'm going to do going forward. I think I'm going to join the police force."
"Ken, are you serious?"
"Well, I haven't completely made up my mind yet, but I feel like this could be a good path for me."
Tai looked Ken in the eye. "This isn't some crazy way for you to try and atone for some of the stuff you did as the Digimon Emperor, is it?"
"Maybe it is a little, but today's battle has made me realize there are probably a lot more people out there who'll use Digimon to commit crimes. Like Detective Matayoshi said, the police force doesn't have any good way of stopping such crimes beyond relying on us Digidestined. This way I could help them and still act within the law."
"Well…if it's what you really want, I say go for it. Not sure how much Yolei is going to like the idea of you becoming a cop."
"Yeah…that's going to be a rough conversation," Ken agreed before taking another long drink of his soda. "So, have you told Rei about your big plans to become a diplomat."
"Oh…yeah. Rei…doesn't really care either way." Tai answered before taking another long drink from his glass.
"What's that mean?"
"Rei dumped Tai about a week ago," Agumon revealed.
Tai practically spit his soda onto the table. "Agumon!"
"What? He would've found out eventually."
"Sorry Tai," Ken told him. "What happened?"
"She fell for her physical therapist," Tai answered. "Some jerk with long blonde hair and the body of a Greek god."
"That's rough."
"Well, it's not like what Rei and I had was real serious. I'll bounce back."
"I'm sure," Ken responded before getting up from his chair. "Well, Wormmon and I should probably be going. Thanks for the meal."
"Later Ken. And think hard about this whole police thing."
"Don't worry. I will," Ken assured him as he gave him a thumbs-up.
As the day finally turned to night, Tai had gone to a bar near his apartment alone to think and drown his sorrows a bit. It wasn't just the current situation with human/Digimon relations that troubled Tai at the moment. Agumon telling Ken about Tai's recent breakup with Rei Saiba had rubbed salt into a still open wound. The truth was Tai had been more hurt by Rei dumping him than he had let on. Tai was now starting to wonder if he was destined to live the rest of his life alone, with the exception of having Agumon of course.
Tai had gotten about half way through his second glass of beer when he decided to head back to his apartment. He decided if he really were going to get drunk, it'd be better if he got drunk at home. As he placed a few bills down on the bar counter, Tai glanced at the T.V. above the bar and saw news footage of his and Ken's battle against the criminal tamer. To his dismay, the screen also showed photos of him and Ken along with their names. Tai realized he had just become something of a celebrity, and not in the good way; already Tai could see people in the bar staring at him.
"Excuse me," a voice spoke from behind.
Tai turned around, and standing before him was a young woman with fair skin and long straight raven hair. She had on a pair of glasses with square red frames and a long black coat.
"You're Tai Kamiya, right?" the young woman asked. "I just saw you on the news."
"Oh…well, it's not what you think," Tai responded as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I think it was rather brave of you to step in and take on such a dangerous criminal like that," the young woman responded as she came closer to him. "Weren't you scared at all?"
"Well…not really. I've sort of been in a lot of situations like that before."
"Really? I'd love to hear all about them."
Tai couldn't help but blush, as the young woman was now almost pressing against him. "Um, who are you again?"
The young woman chuckled. "Sorry. Forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? I'm Meiko Mochizuki."
"It's nice to meet you Meiko. Look, I was actually just about to head home for the night, so…"
"Oh! Then why don't I join you then?" Meiko asked as she suddenly grabbed Tai's arm. "I'd love to see your place. Besides…I really don't want to be alone right now."
Between the pouting look Meiko was now giving him and all the booze swimming around in his brain, Tai found that he couldn't help but give in to the young woman's request. The truth was Tai had been feeling a bit lonely, and he couldn't help but find Meiko to be very attractive. At the same time though, Tai found that there was something a bit strange about the way Meiko acted. He couldn't help but notice something in her eyes that seemed a bit off. Unfortunately the alcohol in his system and the bulge that was starting to rise in his pants was overriding his better judgment.
In another few minutes, Tai arrived back in his apartment with Meiko. The two of them found Agumon sound asleep on the couch, surrounded by a bunch of discarded sandwich wrappers. Meiko paid little attention to the sleeping dinosaur though and grabbed Tai's hand, taking him back to his bedroom. Once they were standing next to his bed, Meiko planted a very firm kiss on Tai's lips.
Tai pushed Meiko away. "Uh, look. Don't you think we might be moving a little too…?"
Before Tai could finish that sentence, Meiko suddenly removed her coat to reveal she had absolutely nothing on underneath. Immediately Tai had completely forgotten what he was going to say.
"You want my body, don't you?" Meiko asked. "Well tonight it's all yours."
After another few seconds of hesitation, Tai took Meiko into his arms and gave her a firm kiss on the lips. Meiko returned the embrace and soon their tongue began to explore one another's mouths. Once they finally broke apart again for air, Meiko suddenly ripped open the front of the white t-shirt Tai was wearing and pulled it off him, tossing it carelessly to a far corner of the room. Before Tai could respond, the raven-haired girl pushed Tai onto the bed. With amazing speed, Meiko undid Tai's belt and pulled off his jeans and underwear with one move.
Meiko immediately mounted Tai, moaning as his hardened rod slid into her. She then began to buck her hips, slowly at first, but she quickly picked up speed. Her movements became wilder as time went on. All Tai could do was lie back and enjoy the ride. He gazed at the bouncing of Meiko's breasts and the way her long raven hair whipped around with the frenzy of her movements. Tai also couldn't help but notice the strange look he had seen in Meiko's eyes earlier at the bar, a look that seemed far more pronounced than before. He paid little attention to it though, especially when he climaxed inside Meiko and his orgasm blotted out all form of rational thought.
Before Tai could fully come down from his high though, he suddenly felt a pair of hands wrap tightly around his throat. He saw a huge Cheshire cat grin on Meiko's face as he gasped for air, and had noticed that the strange look he had seen in the raven-haired girl's eyes had returned with full force. In that moment as the life was literally being choked out of him, Tai finally realized just what that look in Meiko's eyes was. It was the look of pure madness.
"Now you must die!" Meiko declared. "Die so the light can fall into darkness!"
Tai struggled to free himself from Meiko's grip but her strength was practically super human. It wasn't long before his strength started to give out completely. Just as Tai's vision started to fade to darkness along with his consciousness, a fast-moving object suddenly rammed into Meiko's side and knocked her off the bed. Tai gasped for air and sat up. Once he had gotten enough oxygen, Tai saw that it was Agumon who had rammed into Meiko. The little dinosaur was standing on the corner of the bed and glaring down at Tai's would-be killer.
"You okay Tai?" Agumon asked, not once taking his green eyes off Meiko.
"I am now," Tai answered as he rubbed his neck. "Another few seconds and I would've been a goner."
"Lucky for both of us I got up for another snack."
Meiko finally recovered from Agumon's attack and glared up at the little dinosaur. "You will pay for your interference with your blood, lizard!"
"Just who the heck are you?" Agumon asked. "And why're you trying to hurt Tai?"
Meiko's response was to lift her hand, and suddenly a small black object flew from the pocket of her discarded coat and into her open palm. Both Tai and Agumon were stunned to discover that the object was in fact a Digivice. It was essentially the same model of Digivice Tai had, only it was pitch-black and had two red crisscrossing helix-like lines over the screen like an X.
"No way!" Tai exclaimed. "Is she…a Digidestined?"
Suddenly the window of Tai's bedroom broke inward, and flying through the window was a fairly large cat-like Digimon covered in very shaggy orange and white fur. The feline's fur also bore black stripes, with a prominent stripe on its forehead in the shape of an M. It had a large fluffy tail, and two more long tail-like appendages growing from the back of its neck. Each of the pupils of the cat's yellow-green eyes was shaped like an X, and it had long red claws growing from its paws. The cat hissed and bared its fangs at Tai and Agumon.
"Any idea what kind of Digimon that is?" Tai asked.
"Afraid not," Agumon answered. "But I can tell it won't be easy to take down."
Before a battle between Agumon and the feline could break out though, the screen of the desktop computer in Tai's room suddenly lit up. Two balls of white light emerged from the screen and took the form of a pair of young women dressed somewhat like nuns. One of them was dressed in a pink and white nun costume with white knee-high boots. The habit she wore bore a cute stuffed animal face and a pair of long rabbit ears, and in her hand she held a long gold trident. The other girl wore a black nun costume; the habit of which bore a pair of cat ears and a cat-like face. In each hand, the nun in black carried a silver handgun. Both nuns immediately pointed their weapons at Meiko's feline Digimon.
"Looks like we showed up just in time, eh Blanc?" the nun in black asked her companion.
"I don't know about this, Noir," the other nun responded. "Shouldn't we wait for the master?"
"We can't risk letting the Child of Darkness get away. Otherwise the balance of our world and this one will crumble. The master isn't here, so the duty falls to us."
Blanc tightened the grip on her trident. "I'm…I'm scared Noir."
Noir looked at her and smiled. "Don't worry. Just stick close to your big sis and everything will be okay."
Meiko's cat meanwhile growled at the two nuns.
Noir looked back at the feline and smirked as she aimed her right gun at the cat's forehead. "Here kitty-kitty."
The nun in black fired a glowing white bullet from her gun that sailed straight for the cat's forehead. Before the projectile could hit its target through, the feline became enveloped in a crackling pillar of purple light.
"Meicoomon digivolve to…Meicrackmon!" the feline called out as it began to transform.
In moments the light faded to reveal Meiko's cat in a new form. Not only had the feline grown larger, it had taken on a more humanoid and distinctly feminine appearance. Tai thought the creature looked like a monster that had escaped from that weird musical, Cats. There were thin glowing purple lines like cracks running down the sides of the feline's hips. Attached to each of the creature's wrists was a set of three long red claw-like blades. The two tails that grew from the back of the feline's neck had become more whip-like while the tail that grew from her rear had become larger and more like a scorpion's tail, complete with stinger.
"Damn!" Noir cursed. "Guess this'll be a little harder than I thought."
Meicrackmon suddenly grabbed Meiko and dove out the window. Tai hastily covered himself with a bed sheet and went over to the window to look with Agumon. They saw Meiko and Meicrackmon down on the street below.
"Out of the way, you dumbass!" Noir shouted as she attempted to push Tai out of the way.
"Hey!" Tai responded as he pushed back. "I don't know who the hell you are, but you owe me an explanation!"
"We don't have the time! Now move it before the Child of Darkness gets away!"
"Child of Darkness?" a confused Tai repeated.
"Not another step, wretched one!" a deep commanding voice shouted down on the street.
Tai, Agumon and the two nuns looked out the window and saw another figure step into the light from one of the street lamps near Meiko and Meicrackmon. The person in question was a man with red hair styled in the shape of a flame and a mustache. He had on a black skin-tight bodysuit with white armor covering his chest, and covering his eyes was a white visor with two small horn-like protrusions near the top. A white jacket was draped over his shoulders like a cape, and on his feet was a pair of wooden sandals.
Blanc smiled as soon as she saw the mysterious redhead appear. "Master Gankoomon! He's here!"
Gankoomon looked at Meiko and Meicrackmon and crossed his arms. "It is a shame things have come to this young lady, but my duty is clear. By the will of Homeostasis, I must destroy you!"
At this point Tai was at a complete loss. "Just what the hell is going on?"
Author's Note: Any really hardcore Digimon fans who might be reading might've noticed I took a small liberty by using Betamon as Airdramon's pre-evolved form. In the Cyber Sleuth games it is possible to evolve Betamon into Airdramon, but it's apparently not a cannon evolution line according to the Digimon Wiki when I finally checked later on. I had thought about changing the enemy Digimon in this chapter completely, but in the end I decided to leave things as is because I really didn't want to rewrite an entire battle scene from scratch. Besides, I hadn't exactly followed the cannon evolution line for one of the Team Excalibur Digimon when I wrote the fourth Demon Crisis book, but then of course the Digimon Wiki had changed that evolution line at some point without me knowing about it anyway.
In the end, Betamon's evolution into Airdramon is at least cannon in the Cyber Sleuth games, and I felt like that's good enough. Speaking of Cyber Sleuth and Hacker's Memory, some of you reading probably recognize Detective Matayoshi as a supporting character from those games. I can tell you all now that a few more things from those games will show up in this story as it goes on.
As for Meiko, I don't think I need to say that the Meiko in this story is very different from the version that appeared in Tri. This version of Meiko has a very different backstory from her anime counterpart, and that's all I'll say at the moment.
Please review and let me know what you think.