Game Over

Chapter 3

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The following morning, several Digidestined had gathered at a park. Present company included Tai, TK, Izzy, Sora, Cody, Davis, Yolie, and Ken. Mrs. Kamiya couldn't get an appointment for the day so Kari was able to come anyway. Mimi and Matt were both oversea and couldn't come. Or rather, wouldn't come in Matt's case. Joe was having a test as usual.

Tai groaned and buried his head in his hand. His little sister's description of Tai without head was a bit graphic. He tried to joke about it "Sora, do you have those fifty dollars?"

"Yeah why?"

"You'll get your wish about getting my hair off." Tai smiled feebly but instead, he got whapped the upside of his head with Sora's fully loaded purse.

"Not funny!" she shouted back. She then turned to Izzy, who was busy at his laptop. "Any luck?"

Izzy had been searching the entire database for a creature matching the one in Kari's dream. "No. Even the Apocalymon, MaloMyotismon, and Deltamon all looked like a beauty queen compared to your description." He tried to refine his search by excluding all Digimon whose name ended with 'mon'. It returned a few hits. The first few were of Gennai and his associate. A couple other simply didn't look like they belonged to Digiworld but weren't even ugly. And then there's Okinawa.

His eyebrow raised in puzzlement. "Odd, Mimi is listed." Everyone did a double take as Izzy continued "Mimi has only one attack listed: Sludge Slinging." He looked up to the group. TK started laughing "She did that? I can't believe she did it!" Tai, Sora, Kari, and Izzy joined in the laughter. The newer Digidestined didn't get the joke but it was probably for the best that they never knew.

Davis said to TK "Hey TJ! What's so funny about that?" TK stopped laughing and then frowned at Davis.

"Twenty-six letters in the alphabet and you can't even find the letter 'K'. Is it really that hard for you to remember a simple letter?"

Davis chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, TG." TK could only shake his head is disdain. "What TE?" Davis asked.

Then Izzy's eye glanced to the very last entry. It was a blank. No name, no description, no picture. Just an empty entry. "How odd. I have something." He tried to load the full details but his screen went black. The Digivice plugged into the laptop glowed brightly at first, and then shifted to black and was giving off weird black glow. Almost as if it were giving off anti-light. The screen finally showed something. It showed in green lettering "Game over" and the words were uttered over the speaker.

"That's it!" Kari yelled. "That's the same voice." Izzy tried to press a key to get something out of the laptop. But the green text on black background didn't change for some minutes. Then the screen died and the acrid odor of hot electricity and melted plastic quickly filled the air, and Izzy became aware of searing hot sensation on his legs. He yelped and quickly got up, knocking the computer off. Scorch mark were visible on Izzy's pant. "That hurts" he moaned.

The laptop on the ground continued to sizzle and melt until it was nothing more than a puddle of orange and white plastic before it finally burst in flames. Only his Digivice came through intact, and it had returned to normal color.

"I heard overclocking can be dangerous to the computer but this is ridiculous!" Yolie commented. "Are you OK Izzy?"

"I'll live. Whoever or whatever it was sure doesn't want us nosing around."

"How can you over clock a computer?" Tai quizzed. His computer knowledge hasn't changed much at all, still the same old bash the computer if all else fails type of person. "Is that when you add one clock too many?" It sounded like Tai was trying to make a funny.

"That's two, Mister Taichi Kamiya" Sora warned Tai. "One more and you are sleeping in the doghouse."

TK decided it was time to take action "Some of us should go and see if Gennai knows anything." The group agreed unanimously

Sora said "I'll stay, for Kari. I think Kari should stay as well since we don't know what may happen."

Tai, Izzy and TK all offered to go. Cody wanted to go but he had lessons. Joe decided to stay behind in case Kari got another episode and needed tranquilizer or something. Ken and Yolie also offered to go but would stay unless they were needed. And naturally Davis was staying behind because Kari was staying.

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Tai, TK, and Izzy were all standing near a TV monitor in the Digiworld. Tentomon just joined with them.

"Sorry to cut the reunion short" Izzy said. "We have a matter that requires urgent attention. I need you to show me the quickest way to Gennai's place."

As they walked, following the flying beetle, TK asked "Have you seen or heard anything strange since the last time any of us visited?"

Tentomon scratched his head. "Aside from fewer than usual number of Digi- eggs at the Primary Village, all had been quiet and well for as long as I can remember."

"You must have a short memory. It wasn't quiet and well two years ago." Izzy joked. Tentomon may be a walking encyclopedia but he doesn't always remember small details. "As I recall, we had the help from a million Digidestined to put an end to Malo Myotismon."

"Oh yeah. Were you expecting some problem?"

TK nodded "According to Kari, yes. Do you want the full story or one line summary?"

"Ummm... One line please."

"We all lose the battle against an unknown evil force. All life on both Earth and Digiworld would be destroyed. 'Game over' it said."

"Game over? As in video games? Who's it?"

Izzy chimed "Digimon were originally created as game. So that must be what the message means, the end of Digimon. But I don't understand why Earth would be destroyed." Since Tentomon was clueless about the situation, the unknown evil force must have not begun its reign of terror as of yet. "The 'it' was called as the One-With-No-Name in Kari's dream."

They finally reached Gennai's hidden place. Gennai was surprised to see the Digidestined. "What brings you here?" he asked them as they entered his place.

"Kari has been having nightmare for a week now. In her nightmare, both Digiworld and Earth were destroyed and there was an entity that has no name." Izzy sat on a comfortable chair. "She said it was called the One- With-No-Name and it uttered only one phrase: Game over." Tai and TK also found a place to sit as well. Gennai didn't. Instead, his face went ghastly white and he quickly turned away.

Tentomon, Izzy, Tai, and TK were exchanging glances. It appeared that Gennai knew about the entity and seemed very scared of it. Several minutes had passed in silence before Gennai would ever turn back around. "This changes everything" he said. "Not good." He then looked to the kids "I'm sorry to cut your visit short but I need you to leave for a while. If you stay in this world, I can call you back when I am ready to talk." Then the kids and the red bug were practically thrown out.

"For some nightmare, he sure got really spooked." TK said.

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In the meanwhile, in the real world the kids in the other group were passing around ideas on what they could do.

"Maybe if we didn't try to bother it, it won't bother us. Like leaving the bees alone? Let the sleeping dog lie?" Davis said.

"We don't even know what or how it comes about in the first place. It could be triggered just by letting Kari go to the Digiworld."

Kari sighed. "It's there. And it's already working its evil. There is nothing we can do now but to fight back when we find it."

"Maybe we should try to get in touch with every Digidestined we can find and tell them to be prepared." Joe suggested.

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An hour passed after Gennai heard of the news, he finally reached Azulongmon. The giant dragon was the first to speak. "I got your message. What troubles you?"

"They know" he said. "Game over." Blunt and straight to the point since there was no sense in beating around the bushes.

The giant dragon winced and roared. "How did they find out?" he demanded.

"The child of light had visions." He sighed and paused for a minute. "Since they know now, One-With-No-Name obviously has awakened and is loose. This changes everything and I fear for the Digidestened's lives."

Azulongmon thought for a bit. "They have opened a can of worms, so to speak. They will need all the help they can get to defeat this entity."

Gennai nodded. "Some of the kids are still here on this world. I will go and break them the bad news."

"I will check on this entity. It may not be where we left anymore. If the entity is gone I will inform the other." Then they parted but Azulongmon kept his eyes on Gennai until he was no longer visible.

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Near Gennai's house the kids hung around waiting for the answers. TK and Tai passed time by playing Tic-Tac-Toe in the ground. Izzy and Tentomon were lost in their train of thoughts. None of them had noticed Gennai had returned or that he had been standing nearby for several minutes. He was holding what looked like a small wooden chest, and his mind was turning and churning, trying to find a way to explain.

TK was the first to finally notice Gennai. "How long have you been there?" he asked, feeling a bit guilty for ignoring Gennai for so long. Izzy and Tentomon joined with them.

Gennai sat on a log while the kids sat on the ground around him. Gennai opened and closed his mouth a few times but no word came out. Finally he managed to spit it out "Sorry for keeping you in the dark for so long."

"Do you remember the battle you had with Apocalymon?" The three nodded. "After you had to leave for Earth, we set out to do some cleanup and to restore order. That is when I found out Apocalymon did not emerge on its own. Rather, an evil force gave spark that ignited all that remained of failed Digimon and ultimately formed Apocalymon. This force had no body or physical features. It was just a cloud of black, evil energy. And it was still there."

"I was able to imprison it. Since its power were limited and could only control nearby weak willed Digimon that falls to its energy, I choose to have it tucked away in a quiet corner of the Digiworld where no Digimon ever travels. It was supposed to be completely inactive and unable to extend its evil reach. But something must have happened to it if Kari is getting these visions.

Gennai shifted the chest onto his lap, and chanted something. The chest clicked softly. "This was the only one item that was found with the evil energy. Alone and in the hand of one with good spirit, it remains inactive and useless. But should it join with the evil..." He finally opened the chest, which revealed a black crest. The crest had no image at all, no symbol or anything. "This crest is of the emptiness that which the evil thrives on. Should the evil manage to activate the crest, everything will be destroyed. All consumed by the emptiness."

He put the tag back in and closed the chest. It clicked as if the magic lock had engaged. "I suspect Earth is involved because of the connection between Digiworld and Earth." He was finally quiet long enough for the Digidestined to ask questions.

"Why didn't you tell us of this when we returned to this place a few years ago? We could have been able to do something when it was still inactive."

"It was better to leave it forgotten. No one knew how to destroy something that has no physical features. I have thought of ways to destroy it for good. Even Azulongmon does not have the power to defeat this." He rubbed his chin "If it wasn't so hard, I would have gotten to you long ago.

TK's jaw was practically hanging. He had seen Azulongmon up close once before and knew its power far exceeded most other Digimon.

Everything started getting dark rather suddenly. Everyone looked up to see Azulongmon had arrived and blocked the sun. "It is gone" it said. "The prison that was created for the entity had been destroyed from the inside." That was all they needed to know. Somehow something had awakened the entity. A lost or rogue Digimon may have stayed too close to the prison. Or worse, someone with evil intent somehow knew of the entity and deliberately helped it out.

Izzy had been unusually quiet through all this. But TK spoke "What about us? We have special inner strength hat has allowed us to defeat other evil Digimon." TK was talking about the crest that all Digidestined have. "Kari herself might be able to defeat this since she has the power of Light on her side."

Gennai only had a worried look. "Child of Hope, it will take far more than that to defeat it. Try to fight them, and you are likely to be destroyed. Do nothing and it will still destroy you." TK was taken aback at his word. "In both cases, only a miracle can save us."

Tai was also surprised. It's not every day someone like Gennai spoke only in hopeless words, and to say it right in front of TK could mean only one thing.

Tai turned and got Izzy's attention. Izzy hadn't realized he was silent for so long. "When we get back, I want you to do some serious research on one Digimon: Omnimon. I need to know if we could summon Omnimon for this battle. Also find any Digimon whose special abilities that may give us any advantage."

He turned to TK and told him "TK, I want you to go home and tell the rest what Gennai have told us. See if you can get other Digidestined to come in as well. Threaten your brother with a shotgun marriage to June if he refuses."

TK smiled weakly at Tai's order. "I'll personally fly both June and a priest if I have to. What about you?"

"Obviously we'd need more Digimon so I'll try to round up as many willing Digimon as possible." Tai rubbed his chin "I wonder if I should try to get Agumon to Digivolve to SkullGreymon..."

He was cut off when Gennai snapped "You will do no such thing! This evil force can control any weak minded Digimon, and SkullGreymon is not exactly a bright mon. The entity will turn SkullGreymon against you."

Gennai then got up and walked away, toward his house.

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Behind Gennai's house he was deep in his thought. There was another possibility but it's far more dangerous if things didn't go right. He was stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. If he let the Digidestined fight the nameless beings, they all were certainly to die. If they didn't do anything, they would still die. And if Gennai tried the last resort plan and anything went wrong no matter how insignificant it would seems it would still have the same consequences.

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To be continued...