Chapter 2:------------------------------------------------------------Jack
Beckett
I woke up in a cold sweat. The dream had been so real. I could still see Billie, looking helpless as Beelzemon flung her away. The anger coming from each Hunter had fed my D-Cell way too much power. Katia screaming for me to do something, Dr. Schneider doing everything he could to prevent his anger from over taking him. I hadn't been so lucky. With the rage coming from the others and myself I had been able to Bio-Warp to Warmonger for the first time. And even though I had been able to stop Beelzemon then, I was still unable to bring Billie Cannon back. She had paid the ultimate price. She was the youngest of us at the time, being only 16 in a group of 20-30 year olds. And it had been my best friend, Damien Fox, who had done it.
"Relax, Beckett. It's only a dream now. You did what you could."
The dream had been reoccurring ever since we had faced of against Demon for the final time. Few people witnessed it, and those who did had a fading recollection of it. I gazed over to the calendar on the wall. What I saw shocked me.
"It's been 5 years already!"
Five years…and I still had the D-Cell. It hadn't worked since the fight, yet I still kept it with me. Some part of my subconscious told me I may still need it someday. I silently wondered if the other Hunters had kept theirs as well. Damien vanished immediately after the fight, Katia and I had slowly grown apart, and Dr. Schneider left to continue his research on the Digithropes in a secretive location.
Digithropes… hadn't used that word in a long time. There were five off us that we knew of, people with the ability to become Digimon. It had originally been Katia, Billie, Doc, and me fighting outbreaks of wild ones attempting to bring the Digi-World and our world together. After we wiped out Infermon, the original cause of the infestation, we were lead into a battle against Beelzemon, and agent of the real evil. He had killed Billie, but before she died she had used her power to give him back the ability to Bio-Warp, and with that he began to battle alongside us. So as it had been before, four Digithropes teamed up, and together we overthrew Demon.
"What time is it? Should I even bother going to sleep?"
I looked at the clock. It was five in the morning and time to get going. I rolled out of bed and climbed into the shower. Just because I wasn't fighting evil anymore didn't mean I was out of work. Shortly after the ordeal I took a small office job for an accounting firm. My fame wouldn't spread to the area, protecting my reputation. One wouldn't normally leave for work at such an early time, but with my recent rash of nightmares, I had decided it would be best to work the early shift seeing as how I would be up at that time anyway.
"Can't believe I can still sleep after all the crap I've gone through. I wonder if the others have these kinds of dreams too. You're a real mess, Jack."
As I gathered my gear and prepared to leave, I suddenly remembered something. Quickly I walked over to my bedside table and unlocked the small drawer. Inside was the D-Cell. I couldn't leave it unguarded, not ever. I slid it on my wrist and left for work. The recent rash of cold weather was wrecking havoc on my car; hopefully it would start today. Turning the key, I was relieved to hear the engine come to life.
"Well Jack, it's another long day. Let's roll."
"Beckett. We need you to bring up those files from the Johnson account from '99. Can you get those ready and have them on my desk by three?"
"Shouldn't be a problem, Mr. Robins. Let me just finish up these last few loan applications."
I shuffled the papers on my desk. I know they had been there earlier, but now they were nowhere in site. Giving up on finding a carbon copy, I booted up my computer and went to the files.
"Thank god. I'm not going crazy. They're right th… what the?"
My work was interrupted when my email program automatically opened. Looking at the now white screen, I was able to recognize a faint red glow reflecting on the screen. My D-Cell had turned on again. Was it the email? I checked, no new messages had come through, but something was on the screen of the D-Cell. I peeked my head out of the cubicle and glanced around. Nobody would notice if I made a quick trip to the bathroom.
I left my cubicle and dashed into the bathroom. Locking the door to the stall, I pressed the small message button on the D-Cell. A faint green light rose out and projected itself onto the wall.
"It's a map. Why does that location look so familiar?"
I pulled off a piece off toilet paper and jotted down the map. I would have to get out of work without much fuss. I left the bathroom and went straight for Mr. Robins' office.
It hadn't taken much convincing. I told Robins some story about a disagreeable lunch, and combined with the trip to the bathroom he readily believed me. So now I was on the road, heading to a destination that as I approached became more and more familiar. As I turned the last corner, it suddenly came to me.
"Brookside Universtiy!"
Ahead of me sat the campus I had gone to that faithful year. Schneider was one of the leading professors there, we had met in one of those weird circumstances. As I recalled the campus, the map began to make sense. I was being lead to the Science Labs. I opened the doors to the lab. It was quiet. Being late Friday, many of the students and teachers had already left. Was I late?
"Dr. Schneider? You around? It's me, Jack Beckett!"
A voice from the back of the lab called out.
"Beckett. Stay quiet and come this way."
It was a woman. Suspiciously I approached. As I drew closer, the woman came into view. She was about my age, brunette with green eyes. She had on a lab coat, which hopefully meant she worked here. She had a small device in her hand. I recognized it as soon as she showed it to me. It was a Bio-Scanner. It was one the few things that could identify if a Digithrope were who they said they were.
"I don't like the looks of this. You working for Schneider?"
"Yes. He'll explain everything. Quickly now."
The woman led me through a hallway that ended in a fork. Instead of turning left or right, she walked straight. The wall slid open, and the two of us entered a dark room with a small flight of stairs.
"Dr. Schneider has found it necessary to be much more quiet about his research than the previous time he studied here. You and I are now the only people who know about it besides him."
At the bottom of the stairs was another door. The woman opened it, revealing a massive lab with numerous computers and scanners. It reminded me of Schneider's old lab. The doc himself was sitting at the end of lab, hunched over a massive console. Upon hearing me enter, he turned. A large smile ran across his face.
"Jack Beckett! Long time no see!"
We hugged each other, shook hands, and took a seat by the console.
"Beckett. What have you been up to?"
"Well I got a job. I'm…uh…still single," I shot a look over to the assistant. "If it matters."
She returned with a glance that could curdle milk. I quickly turned back to Schneider.
"That's Jeanine Ross. I hired her two years ago. She's been helping me in my research."
"Is she a…"
"Digithrope? No. I assure you that was the first thing I checked out."
"Dr. Schneider was very persistent that I take those tests. They were the first things he did during the interview. I must say this whole Digithrope gene is very exciting. We have been making huge steps in determining how it is passed through the populace."
Throughout the interview I noticed Doc repeatedly glancing over at something. A quick peak at his wrist revealed he was minus a D-Cell.
"Doc. Do you still have your D-Cell?"
"Why yes I do. Sorry if it surprised you that I wasn't wearing it. Dang thing hasn't worked since…well you know."
"Yeah. Mine has been turned off. When I got your message, it was the first time it had done anything in 5 years."
"What do you mean? Mine has been glowing, beeping, doing all sorts of weird stuff. I just can't Digiform."
Doc rose from his seat and led Jeanine and I to a small set next to the console. Doc's D-Cell was plugged to a data port. Information could be seen running across the screen of the D-Cell.
"I've been trying to determine what makes it activate. Its odd that yours hasn't been working at all, while mines been feeding very interesting Digimon data to me for years."
Something wasn't right. Doc and I hadn't been in contact since the battle with Demon. Why would Doc just up and call me out of the blue.
"Doc. What's up? Something tells me there's more to this than you're letting on."
The Doc's smile slowly faded. He pulled up an extra seat in front of the monitor. I sat next to Doc while Jeanine stood over us.
"Ever since the fight with Demon, the portals to the Digi-World were supposedly closed. Well most of them were, but a large one was missed. After about a year of being open, something came through. I didn't know until now that it was free, which has made it extremely difficult to track. It's a Digimon though. What kind and how strong I don't know."
"C'mon Doc. We've taken Digimon out like it was nothing. Sure Demon gave us some trouble, but there can't be anything that tough right?"
"I don't know, Jack. This one I've been tracking has been giving off some strange energy waves. That's not all. I've been keeping tabs on the area. There are many weaker Digimon around. I don't know why I haven't seen them, but they are out there. This thing, whatever it is, it's building an army."
Something was out there? I couldn't believe it. I thought I had ended my Digithrope career after Demon, but it looked like I was getting sucked back into it once again.
"So when are the others getting here?"
"That's the problem. I've been trying to track them down, but no luck. As hard as I've looked, I can't track down Katia or Damien. And they would be helpful to us assuming they still have their D-Cells."
"I know both of them, neither would leave that behind. You and I didn't, why would they."
"Okay. That would be four, but that still leaves one unaccounted for…"
Before he could finish his thought, a tremendous blast from above shook the lab. The lights began to fade; Jeanine and Doc ran for cover. Alarms and pings went off from all walls of the chamber.
"Doc, what is it!"
"Whatever got loose, I think its here!"
I woke up in a cold sweat. The dream had been so real. I could still see Billie, looking helpless as Beelzemon flung her away. The anger coming from each Hunter had fed my D-Cell way too much power. Katia screaming for me to do something, Dr. Schneider doing everything he could to prevent his anger from over taking him. I hadn't been so lucky. With the rage coming from the others and myself I had been able to Bio-Warp to Warmonger for the first time. And even though I had been able to stop Beelzemon then, I was still unable to bring Billie Cannon back. She had paid the ultimate price. She was the youngest of us at the time, being only 16 in a group of 20-30 year olds. And it had been my best friend, Damien Fox, who had done it.
"Relax, Beckett. It's only a dream now. You did what you could."
The dream had been reoccurring ever since we had faced of against Demon for the final time. Few people witnessed it, and those who did had a fading recollection of it. I gazed over to the calendar on the wall. What I saw shocked me.
"It's been 5 years already!"
Five years…and I still had the D-Cell. It hadn't worked since the fight, yet I still kept it with me. Some part of my subconscious told me I may still need it someday. I silently wondered if the other Hunters had kept theirs as well. Damien vanished immediately after the fight, Katia and I had slowly grown apart, and Dr. Schneider left to continue his research on the Digithropes in a secretive location.
Digithropes… hadn't used that word in a long time. There were five off us that we knew of, people with the ability to become Digimon. It had originally been Katia, Billie, Doc, and me fighting outbreaks of wild ones attempting to bring the Digi-World and our world together. After we wiped out Infermon, the original cause of the infestation, we were lead into a battle against Beelzemon, and agent of the real evil. He had killed Billie, but before she died she had used her power to give him back the ability to Bio-Warp, and with that he began to battle alongside us. So as it had been before, four Digithropes teamed up, and together we overthrew Demon.
"What time is it? Should I even bother going to sleep?"
I looked at the clock. It was five in the morning and time to get going. I rolled out of bed and climbed into the shower. Just because I wasn't fighting evil anymore didn't mean I was out of work. Shortly after the ordeal I took a small office job for an accounting firm. My fame wouldn't spread to the area, protecting my reputation. One wouldn't normally leave for work at such an early time, but with my recent rash of nightmares, I had decided it would be best to work the early shift seeing as how I would be up at that time anyway.
"Can't believe I can still sleep after all the crap I've gone through. I wonder if the others have these kinds of dreams too. You're a real mess, Jack."
As I gathered my gear and prepared to leave, I suddenly remembered something. Quickly I walked over to my bedside table and unlocked the small drawer. Inside was the D-Cell. I couldn't leave it unguarded, not ever. I slid it on my wrist and left for work. The recent rash of cold weather was wrecking havoc on my car; hopefully it would start today. Turning the key, I was relieved to hear the engine come to life.
"Well Jack, it's another long day. Let's roll."
"Beckett. We need you to bring up those files from the Johnson account from '99. Can you get those ready and have them on my desk by three?"
"Shouldn't be a problem, Mr. Robins. Let me just finish up these last few loan applications."
I shuffled the papers on my desk. I know they had been there earlier, but now they were nowhere in site. Giving up on finding a carbon copy, I booted up my computer and went to the files.
"Thank god. I'm not going crazy. They're right th… what the?"
My work was interrupted when my email program automatically opened. Looking at the now white screen, I was able to recognize a faint red glow reflecting on the screen. My D-Cell had turned on again. Was it the email? I checked, no new messages had come through, but something was on the screen of the D-Cell. I peeked my head out of the cubicle and glanced around. Nobody would notice if I made a quick trip to the bathroom.
I left my cubicle and dashed into the bathroom. Locking the door to the stall, I pressed the small message button on the D-Cell. A faint green light rose out and projected itself onto the wall.
"It's a map. Why does that location look so familiar?"
I pulled off a piece off toilet paper and jotted down the map. I would have to get out of work without much fuss. I left the bathroom and went straight for Mr. Robins' office.
It hadn't taken much convincing. I told Robins some story about a disagreeable lunch, and combined with the trip to the bathroom he readily believed me. So now I was on the road, heading to a destination that as I approached became more and more familiar. As I turned the last corner, it suddenly came to me.
"Brookside Universtiy!"
Ahead of me sat the campus I had gone to that faithful year. Schneider was one of the leading professors there, we had met in one of those weird circumstances. As I recalled the campus, the map began to make sense. I was being lead to the Science Labs. I opened the doors to the lab. It was quiet. Being late Friday, many of the students and teachers had already left. Was I late?
"Dr. Schneider? You around? It's me, Jack Beckett!"
A voice from the back of the lab called out.
"Beckett. Stay quiet and come this way."
It was a woman. Suspiciously I approached. As I drew closer, the woman came into view. She was about my age, brunette with green eyes. She had on a lab coat, which hopefully meant she worked here. She had a small device in her hand. I recognized it as soon as she showed it to me. It was a Bio-Scanner. It was one the few things that could identify if a Digithrope were who they said they were.
"I don't like the looks of this. You working for Schneider?"
"Yes. He'll explain everything. Quickly now."
The woman led me through a hallway that ended in a fork. Instead of turning left or right, she walked straight. The wall slid open, and the two of us entered a dark room with a small flight of stairs.
"Dr. Schneider has found it necessary to be much more quiet about his research than the previous time he studied here. You and I are now the only people who know about it besides him."
At the bottom of the stairs was another door. The woman opened it, revealing a massive lab with numerous computers and scanners. It reminded me of Schneider's old lab. The doc himself was sitting at the end of lab, hunched over a massive console. Upon hearing me enter, he turned. A large smile ran across his face.
"Jack Beckett! Long time no see!"
We hugged each other, shook hands, and took a seat by the console.
"Beckett. What have you been up to?"
"Well I got a job. I'm…uh…still single," I shot a look over to the assistant. "If it matters."
She returned with a glance that could curdle milk. I quickly turned back to Schneider.
"That's Jeanine Ross. I hired her two years ago. She's been helping me in my research."
"Is she a…"
"Digithrope? No. I assure you that was the first thing I checked out."
"Dr. Schneider was very persistent that I take those tests. They were the first things he did during the interview. I must say this whole Digithrope gene is very exciting. We have been making huge steps in determining how it is passed through the populace."
Throughout the interview I noticed Doc repeatedly glancing over at something. A quick peak at his wrist revealed he was minus a D-Cell.
"Doc. Do you still have your D-Cell?"
"Why yes I do. Sorry if it surprised you that I wasn't wearing it. Dang thing hasn't worked since…well you know."
"Yeah. Mine has been turned off. When I got your message, it was the first time it had done anything in 5 years."
"What do you mean? Mine has been glowing, beeping, doing all sorts of weird stuff. I just can't Digiform."
Doc rose from his seat and led Jeanine and I to a small set next to the console. Doc's D-Cell was plugged to a data port. Information could be seen running across the screen of the D-Cell.
"I've been trying to determine what makes it activate. Its odd that yours hasn't been working at all, while mines been feeding very interesting Digimon data to me for years."
Something wasn't right. Doc and I hadn't been in contact since the battle with Demon. Why would Doc just up and call me out of the blue.
"Doc. What's up? Something tells me there's more to this than you're letting on."
The Doc's smile slowly faded. He pulled up an extra seat in front of the monitor. I sat next to Doc while Jeanine stood over us.
"Ever since the fight with Demon, the portals to the Digi-World were supposedly closed. Well most of them were, but a large one was missed. After about a year of being open, something came through. I didn't know until now that it was free, which has made it extremely difficult to track. It's a Digimon though. What kind and how strong I don't know."
"C'mon Doc. We've taken Digimon out like it was nothing. Sure Demon gave us some trouble, but there can't be anything that tough right?"
"I don't know, Jack. This one I've been tracking has been giving off some strange energy waves. That's not all. I've been keeping tabs on the area. There are many weaker Digimon around. I don't know why I haven't seen them, but they are out there. This thing, whatever it is, it's building an army."
Something was out there? I couldn't believe it. I thought I had ended my Digithrope career after Demon, but it looked like I was getting sucked back into it once again.
"So when are the others getting here?"
"That's the problem. I've been trying to track them down, but no luck. As hard as I've looked, I can't track down Katia or Damien. And they would be helpful to us assuming they still have their D-Cells."
"I know both of them, neither would leave that behind. You and I didn't, why would they."
"Okay. That would be four, but that still leaves one unaccounted for…"
Before he could finish his thought, a tremendous blast from above shook the lab. The lights began to fade; Jeanine and Doc ran for cover. Alarms and pings went off from all walls of the chamber.
"Doc, what is it!"
"Whatever got loose, I think its here!"