I do, however, own Hoshi, as well as a few others here, so please don't take them without permission. Ask and I will likely say yes.
Please review!!! PLEASE?!!
The Visions of the End
By: Gem Star
Chapter 1: Rejection
The darkness was all consuming, all enveloping. Yet somehow the two orbs of pure gold shone feebly into the darkness. But they wavered, they quivered, as they always did when she went to see her master. The great golden eyes closed: this was not how it was supposed to be. Things had been wrong for so long. She had given up on teaching him the right way. Now she simply tried to hinder his plans. Her partner was blinded by power. All he saw was the prize, not the price at which it would come.
Slowly her awkwardly built, tiny body made its way along the twisted corridors. She had been down here so long she no longer needed to feel the walls as she had to at first. Now they came to her by the wonderful willing of memories. Thoughts of when it had been bright and cheerful down here; days so long passed she no longer mourned for them. She simply lamented the fact that the light had died out down here… and in his heart.
The chamber always frightened her, with its vast echoing emptiness… Master never required anything unnecessary in here. So all there was was his seat and two guttering torches that filled the cavern with inky, choking smoke. Her golden eyes watered but she ignored the sting and continued forward. Up until she stood at the foot of the dais on which her partner sat in his plain, old chair.
The man had once been handsome, had once been youthful and vibrant. But now he simply looked old and bitter. Years in the darkness had taken their toll, but it was self-inflicted. She still remembered him as a child of Hope and Light; his brown hair had been short in those days, his green eyes so full of life. It was hard for her to associate him with the man he had become. His hair was long and stringy now. Unkempt from years of neglect. His face sported a grizzled, stubby beard. His green eyes had grayed as well as the rest of him. They seemed as dull and lifeless as this place in which he dwelt. She was the only youth here… the only everlasting. The only color in his drab world of darkness… and for that he resented her terribly.
"The time has come again, my pet." His gravely voice creaked from years of disuse. "We will have to collect him again."
"Must we really tear him away this time?… He seems so happy…" She shuffled her pale blue paws. Years in the darkness had taken their toll on her as well. She had once had vibrant colors... but so long without the light of the sun had dulled her. All but those huge golden eyes.
"Why do you ask questions you already know the answers to, my pet?" His gray-green eyes fell on her and she shuddered violently. "You know what to do this time… This time… he will be ready for his task."
"But Master! Can't you see what this pursuit has done to you? Please! Give it up! Move on! Lea-" She was suddenly sent rolling, ears over tail against the wall as the man had stood and kicked her viciously.
"You're as flawed as I am. This pursuit is a good one... for both of us. You will do as you're told or I will delete you." The threat was empty. But she did not chance his anger today. "Go and do as your told..."
She retreated quickly, her large paws slapping the stone floors as she ran and stumbled up the hallways again to a dark storeroom where they kept it. Something so dangerous even a little of it would kill a digimon. The bottle was old, and taller then she was so she had trouble dragging it carefully to where her master's catacombs met the surface. For the first time in eons the sun suddenly blinded her and she threw up her tiny paws to cover huge amber-hued eyes. It was pointless, but more a knee-jerk reaction anyway.
For a moment she simply stood there, admiring all the digital world was. Lush grasses and endless forests, snowcapped peaks and arid deserts. It really was a world upon itself. As she stared out she felt a twang of guilt at what she was about to do. But had no choice; she could do nothing but obey her programmer. So she carefully removed the stopper on the bottle and watched the dark cloud raise towards the sky. A little like the Pandora of the Digital World, though she knew quite well the misery she was inflicting on her fellow Digimon. The point was there was nothing she could do about it. After all, she had a part in this prophecy too.
"Oh, guardians forgive me for what I have done," she moaned and watched the dark form rise higher and higher, blocking the sun and brewing into storm clouds.
The Digidestined had not a care in the world as they lay back near the forest, appropriately named "The Woods of Inaccurate Road Signs". Seeing as there were road-signs all over though absolutely none of them held any value to help one's location.
Most of the humans laid or sat in the tall grasses while the Digimon slept. They had not yet fully recovered from the battle with Malomyotismon, and were taking the well-deserved rest with vigor. From the sunlit sky to the gentle breeze it seemed not a thing could go wrong that day.
Daisuke "Davis" Motomiya adjusted his goggles on his head with a smile. He watched the other destined and realized just how lucky he was to have friends like them. There was Kari; Gatomon curled in her lap. Davis could look at Kari for ages and never get bored with her face, but he knew better. It was TK she wanted, not him. He had come to the conclusion it was better to be her friend than a disvalued pursuant so he now backed off. Speaking of TK, the blond boy was sitting leaning back on his hands staring at the sky beside Yolei. The latter of the two was trying to convince him there was a hippo shaped in clouds above them... to which he replied it looked like his Great Aunt Freda, not a hippo. Ken sat back and laughed lightly at the two, Wormmon, Patamon, and Hawkmon lay in a heap of heads, feet and tails too contented and comfortable to be bothered by what their human partners were arguing about. Cody appeared to be asleep, though one could never tell. Whereas his partner, Armadillomon was definitely asleep. He snored slightly every few moments. And last but not least was himself. Davis sat quickly against a tree. Veemon curled beside him in an almost cat like manner. Davis smiled fondly at his Digimon partner and ran his fingers down the shorter creature's spine. Feeling warm scaly skin beneath his fingers. He was still amazed it was he who had been tapped. Chosen to share in the great gift it was to have a Digital partner. An unconditional friend and, though they had their rough points, Davis wouldn't trade Veemon' s trust and friendship for anything.
As Davis ran his fingers over the bumpy spine again Veemon shivered and look up groggily, obviously woken by the action. "Davish…. That ticklesh."
Davis smiled and chuckled. "Sorry, big guy… just you're always warm."
Veemon smiled and slowly sat up. His crimson eyes half closed as he stretched and yawned. "It'sh alright… I was having a weird dream." His lisp-laden words were quiet. He seemed to still be mostly asleep.
"Oh?" Davis asked as he watched TK point out another cloud to Yolei, who frowned and informed TK that one looked like a tree.
"Yeah… I dreamed that I wash in a really big field… Bigger then anything in the Digital World… and another Veemon stood right across from me. But from behind it came thish really big black cloud. In the wake of the cloud the world sheemed empty, dishtroyed, the ground wash black and none of the grash wash there anymore. Then the other Veemon reached out for me… It wash crying… Shaying it didn't want to do thish." Veemon shuddered violently.
"Veemon, you gotta stop staying up with Jun and watching scary movies. I think they're starting to affect your brain." Davis smiled good naturedly at his partner. But felt it fade when he saw the odd look on his partner's face.
Veemon sat staring into the distance, his eyes still half-closed but intent on something Davis couldn't see. Davis could suddenly feel a tension in their bond, like something was pulling Veemon away from him. He reaches out and set a hand on Veemon's shoulder and slowly those crimson eyes turned to him. But still their connection felt pulled at, strained slightly.
"You okay, big guy?" Davis asked suddenly, very unnerved by the way that Veemon was behaving.
"Yeah…just…" the Digimon trailed off and shrugged, turning his eyes back towards the horizon of the field. "Shomething'sh coming."
Davis turned his eyes back towards the field, following Veemon's gaze and saw a dark smudge on the horizon. He slowly stood up. "What is that?"
Azulongmon sighed deeply as he watched the destruction and havoc in his orb. His long glowing body twisted slowly to position him for a better look. He hated to do it but he saw no choice. He would have to inform Gennai to pull the destined from their vacations. Something was eating the Digital World… and what it left behind turned the guardian's stomach.
Digimon lay in the aftermath, unable to be reborn because the virus that was quickly sweeping over the Digital World infected them. Spread by touch, it used their energy slowly then left them there, too weak to move, but wouldn't let them move on to be reborn. The virus even had them attacking one another. Some selected Digimon began to grow. Digivolving too fast to their top levels and causing even more suffering. And there she was, in the center of it again. Not infected but finally topside again. He began to curse the fact he had saved her from the data stream all those years ago. But flawed as she was she had been one of the first. And he couldn't deny any creature its right to live.
"You're brooding again. The time has come to take action. Not ponder over past problems." The warm, but grating voice interrupted Azulongmon's thoughts.
"I am going to take action… Ebonwumon, I am beginning to think I should have left you to your imprisonment."
"Would that be anyway to treat one's brother?" The fiery wings folded at his sides "And what form of action are you planning?"
"The destined… We have to pull them back… and-" Azulongmon sighed. "We'll have to call the last one."
Ebonwumon hissed at the dragon his fiery wings spread again. "She is too unstable, she and her partner both. She would unbalance it all…"
Azulongmon turned to face the Firebird of the south. "Do we have any choice? Look at what the world is becoming, then answer me."
Ebonwumon looked into the orb then sighed. "You win, but you must remember... not all of your creations is perfect." He jabbed an accusing wing at the orb where the little digimon with the golden eyes stood amongst the chaos. "She is flawed!"
"Yes, and that is why I created the other. I fixed the flaws in him." Azulongmon wwisted as the view in the orb came to rest on the digidestined where they lay in the field.
"Yes, but you let her live…Beta versions always have flaws, yet you saved her for him. And look what it has brought… You should have deleted her years ago."
Azulongmon sighed and turned back towards the guardian of the south. "What is done I cannot undo. But I can help the future just as you can. Gennai..."
"Yes?" The human walked in a bowed, youthful again.
"Get the destined… and… Get the last one and her partner. It is time we put them into action."
Gennai nodded and moved to leave.
"And Gennai?"
"Yes, Azulongmon?" Gennai paused and turned his blue eyes back on the mythical dragon.
"If they see the beta version… tell them to kill it." It seemed to hurt Azulongmon to say that.
Gennai winced but nodded. "Yes sir." Then disappeared from the chamber.
"Now…" Azulongmon turned back to where the destined sat in the field. "And now… he will be alone."
The dark smudge turned out to be something far worse then they could have ever imagined as the storm gradually blew nearer a wave of Digimon fleeing it's path rushed past them. Many of the panicked creatures not caring if they trampled the poor humans in their mad dash towards what they considered safety. The Digidestined Digimon raised a form to protect their more vulnerable human partners, but still with the storm blowing ever closer tensions began to rise.
"We should get out of here…" Kari muttered. Nefertimon nodded in agreement, watching the approaching storm with apprehension from seemingly sightless eyes.
"What is it, though?" As usual Davis was reluctant to leave something unfinished, though he could be rather ignorant sometimes his heart was in the right place.
"Do we really need to know? That thing is radiating darkness." Pegususmon stomped his armored hooves in disgust and began backing up.
"But looks what it's doing… There has to be a way to stop it!" Davis suddenly moved to run forward but Flamedramon grabbed the human about the waist and bodily slung the teen over his shoulder. His voice authoritative as he spoke. "Let's get a move on. Those other Digimon had the right idea. Get out of this thing's way." Flamedramon deposited Davis with Kari. "You all fly, it will be faster. I can keep up on the ground."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Halsemon turned to look at the dragon type who shrugged non-chalantly with an odd smile beneath his mask.
"Since when have I been prone to good ideas?" With that he was off, tearing up turf as he ran. Kari sighed as they began to rise into the air.
"Honestly, Davis, he's as hard headed and stubborn as you."
Davis simply smiled. "Thanks, Kari!"
From the air is was easy to see the fire type below them keeping pace with the flying Digimon, His bright armor flashing as he hopped up and sometimes right over trees as he dashed on. Gradually picking up more and more speed But as the flying types began to move faster to avoid the storm, Flamedramon was no longer able to keep up as he was. He began to slide back. From their view, Davis constantly was watching his partner with worry. Where flying was easy for this type and didn't take as much energy. But running so much and having to avoid things Flamedramon had to be starting to get tired. Davis's fears were confirmed when he began to see Flamedramon tripping and stumbling; unable to keep up the great speeds anymore. It was one thing to fight and be agile, but he was not built for long distance running.
Abruptly Flamedramon was tripped but a low tree branch and he groaned slightly as his chin hit hard against the ground. Panting for breath the Digimon tried to get up but was too slow. Or so he thought until he suddenly felt himself yanked hard along behind something around his same size. Finding his feet he hung on as the thing sprinted ahead, still pulling him with its momentum. However, running too much further was not a problem.
The storm suddenly slowed and stopped, hovering near the edge of the Great Server Desert. The destined stopped and landing in the sand as the thing that had drug Flamedramon came to a skidding haul, letting go of him. What they saw surprised them most of all.
Standing before them was another Flamedramon. A bit shorter then theirs, also a bit leaner. And when it spoke they were most certain it was female.
"You really should be more careful. The storm will swallow you next time." Her voice was even and quiet, she shifted lightly on her armored feet and stared at them through the facemask with golden eyes.
"Thanks, but it's not like we could help it." Davis had slid off Nerferimon's shoulder and walked over slowly, looking the creature up and down while she simply stood.
"Got a problem, kid?" she snarled. Showing briefly rows of Sharp white teeth and Davis backed away again.
"Er no, sorry. I've just never seen another Flamedramon… period." Davis scratched the back of his head nervously.
"Oh? Well, deal with it and stop staring. Or I will give you a reason to not want to look at me." Her eyes narrowed and she growled deeply. Davis backed up against Nefertimon as the male Flamedramon stood up, his eyes on his counterpart. His jaw hung down slightly as if in shock.
"Beta?" He asked his eyes on her.
Her ears went back expressively and she turned lightly on her feet to look at him. "You stop staring too. I am not something to be gawked at." Abruptly her ears went down flat against her head her eyes shutting a moment then she spun away from them. "I must go. Be more careful; I won't be able to save you from the storm next time." With that said, she was off, sprinting through the desert till a sudden wind and the sands swallowed her colorful form.
As she left the Digimon disappeared to their Rookie levels. Veemon rubbed his head dropping to his knees. "Oww… It hurtsh..."
Dais supported his partner. "Veemon, you okay?"
Veemon's crimson eyes ran over the other Digimon coming to rest briefly on Patamon and Gatomon, both of whom avoided his look. Then he looked to Davis. "Yeah.. I'm all right, jusht a little head rush from coming down too fasht."
"Azulongmon can check you when you see him," came a mystery voice out of the sands
"Gennai!" the children all exclaimed as the blue eyed, spike haired man walked through the veil of blowing sand to them.
However, the man was not smiling. He appeared worn and sad. "Hello, destined, you all right?" As they all nodded Gennai continued, "I have come because there is a great darkness swallowing the Digital World."
"We can kinda see that." Davis remarked dryly, glancing back at the hovering storm.
Gennai smiled ruefully. Yep, Davis was irrepressible. You just couldn't seem to hold the boy's spirits down.
"Well, aside from that I have news from Azulongmon for all of you. I am afraid I must pull you all from your vacations. You're needed again, And you will add yet another to your number."
"A new destined?" Yolei asked, in her mind a picture of a hot guy appeared and she sighed expressively.
"Well, as you know, most of the world will be receiving digital partners in the coming years. But this one is a bit... different. You will know when you see her."
"Her?" Yolei whined, then sighed. "Darn."
Gennai smiled softly and shook his head. Now he remembered why he helped the first ones, all those years ago. Children were just amazing beings, there was no other way to put it. "You'd all best get back to the real world and rest for a bit. The storm has run out of energy for now." Gennai pointed to the television near by that could be used as a digital gateway. He pointedly mentioned nothing to the children about the beta version. Let them worry about one thing at a time. He thought.
Kari walked over and opened the port, soon all the children and their partners had been yanked through but one. Gennai stopped Davis a moment and looked to Veemon. The small blue digimon blinked expressively up at Gennai, recognizing what appeared to be sympathy in the tall man's blue eyes.
"The next bit of time is not going to be easy for you Veemon, You may have to do things on your own. You may learn things you didn't want to know. But always know we, your friends, are behind you and you'll be fine."
"Er… Thanksh?" Veemon looked just as confused as Davis, then turned and the two disappeared in a flash of white light form the Television screen. After they left Gennai sighed and looked back at the hovering storm.
"I hope he can learn to harness what we're unleashing."
****
The girl slowly looked up at the noise of her Digivice beeping quite frantically. She groaned and tried to pull the covers from her bed higher, not liking the idea of having to get up and walk across the cold wooden floor to look at the blasted thing. Nearby her Digital partner yawned widely and spoke sleepily.
"Are you going to get that or let it go 'til it drives us both insane?"
"I am getting up…. Eesh," The girl sat up and rubbed her dark eyes before getting up entirely and walking to her Digivice where it sat on a table across the room. "Oh, I got mail… but why would that set the Digi-vice off?"
"Maybe it's malfunctioning again," her partner said from a point buried under the blankets herself.
The girl looked down and read the e-mail.
"To: Digigryfgal@digi-mail.com
From: Wiseonemon@digi-mail.com
Subject: Meeting.
Hoshi,
The time has come for you to join the others and to fight with them. Look for them, but be careful about it.
Gennai"
Hoshiko Aiharue frowned deeply. Gennai was always so cryptic and mysterious in his e-mails. Why couldn't he just come right out and tell her what was going on? With a deep sigh the girl began to get dressed.
"Come on, Kanemon, we got work to do."
The yellow Digimon slowly extracted herself from the blankets. Looking slightly like a cross between a canary and a cat, her wide blue eyes regarded her partner with an annoyance of the latter of those aforementioned two, woken from a nap.
"Why?! I thought we were gonna rest today..."
The girl turned as she pulled on her jacket with a smile. "Aw, come on Kanemon, quit being lazy and let's get a move on. If you do I promise some of those fish noodles you like so much..."
Food must be the universal incentive of all Digimon, for the bird-like-cat-like creature was up quickly and moving to help her partner finish getting things cleaned up around the small apartment. Hoshi's foster mother had already left for the day, so it fell to Hoshi to finish cleaning up before she could go.
At last she shoved the D-terminal in her pocket and clipped her Digivice to her belt, then lead the way out the door as Kanemon chattered on about something. Their voices receded as the door closed.
***
"You made contact?" The male voice echoed around her creepily. The little blue digimon nodded fearfully.
"Excellent, then we are that much closer to getting him back."
"Sir, I have to make my protests one last time… you have me..."
"Yes, and you are flawed and will never reach his level. So shut up and do as your told."
The golden eyes closed slowly in a hurt look at her partner as she turned and walked away. "Yes sir, I will work on phase two."