Masahiko - little half-brother of Juri.
Onee-chan literally 'dear sister' or older sister
Translation of the Card Captor Sakura song 'Catch You Catch Me' song can be found at www.animelyrics.com
And yes it is a very sugary sweet song. You have to listen to it.
Pacta sunt servanda Pacts should be respected
Note that this chapter is slightly dark. I actually made a few sneaky villains.
Mein Gott - German. Literally 'My God'
In all wars
The innocent suffer.
Some more than others.
Janyuu was less than happy. He normally regarded himself as a relatively nice person; competent computer programmer and a good father but the fact his wife had thrown his things out of their bedroom and into the living room was something that irked him. His son and daughters weren't exactly helping with their whining as their pregnant and slightly insane mother began reorganizing their rooms to make room for their future siblings. Shuichon was taking everything in as exciting while Rinchei and Jaarin just groaned.
"I'm going to pick up dinner at Paolin," Janyuu said after he piled his clothing in a corner of the living room. It looked like he would sleep on the coach until Mayumi calmed down. The living room was all ready spacious to begin with but now looked rather cramped and crowded. Lopmon was in a corner shuddering uncontrollably at the thought of more young children in the apartment. It was stark contrast to Shuichon's enthusiasm for her younger brothers or sisters.
"Then go all ready!!!" Mayumi shouted from Rinchei's room. Rinchei looked at his father with pleading eyes.
"Why does Jen get to keep his room and I have to get the alcove?" Rinchei asked annoyed. His mouth was formed into a thin line, unimpressed and rather angry.
"Do really want to shack up in the same bedroom with Terriermon?" Janyuu asked his eldest son. Rinchei seemed to take the words to heart and made a thoughtful face.
"No... I guess not," Rinchei slowly answered. He sighed and went into his room to transfer more of his stuff into the alcove. Janyuu got on his coat and looked out the window from where he was standing. It was raining hard and he saw lightning flashing occasionally. Without missing a beat he got out the door of the apartment and headed downstairs to his car. He got in and drove out to Paolin restaurant to pick up dinner for the entire family.
It was short drive and Janyuu arrived at Paolin without difficulty. Entering the restaurant he was greeted by the familiar sight of the lobby. Janyuu was mildly surprised to notice Yamaki standing in the lobby picking up a few bags of Chinese food with Reika and his young son, Katsuyo in her arms.
"I'm telling you Reika he hates carrots!" Yamaki argued with his wife. Katsuyo, as if understanding what his father was saying, vigorously nodded to try and convince his mother.
"Just because you hate carrots, does not mean our son hates carrots," Reika argued back, clearly not believing her husband Yamaki. Her son seemed to look defeated at that moment and gave his mother a piteous look. If Janyuu hadn't have known that Katsuyo was only three months old, he would have sworn that the boy was understanding what his parents were talking about. The brown haired, blue eye boy looked a lot like Yamaki but had rather tame and manageable hair compared to the father.
"That's what you said last time when he threw the carrot mush in my face," Yamaki growled lightly annoyed. Reika smirked and nuzzled her son lightly.
"That's because he knows you keep on forgetting to tell him his bedtime story," Reika said teasingly.
"Then why don't you feed him the carrots next time?" Yamaki muttered. Yamaki rolled his eyes and noticed Janyuu standing in the lobby looking at them.
"Janyuu? I didn't notice you there. How are you doing?" Yamaki asked in a relieved voice.
"I'm doing fine. How are you doing?" Janyuu asked as he approached the newly made family. He stopped at the desk and let the man behind the counter reach back for some bags of Chinese food. The name Lee was neatly written on some of the bags.
"I'm doing fine. Reika's father has finally put away the shotguns," Yamaki said. He sounded very relieved as if the sword hanging over his head was completely gone. Reika could giggle slightly at the memory of it all.
"Well at least you can say that you literally did have 'shotgun' marriage," Janyuu said trying to keep a straight face.
"What are you talking about? You pointed the damn shotgun at me as well," Yamaki said annoyed. Yamaki sighed internally and remembered all to well what happened on that day when Reika dropped the bomb about her being pregnant, three months after the D-Reaper incident. Apparently her father was not very happy to learn about this and came to his apartment with a loaded shotgun and forced Yamaki to marry Reika. It wasn't really forced, since Yamaki did want to marry Reika but having a maniac wave a shotgun at you tends to put off the mood.
"Well her father did threaten to force the best man to marry Reika if you ran away and I did give you a choice in the matter," Janyuu said helpfully.
"What kind of choice did I have there? You, the best man, pulled a shotgun out and threatened to shatter my kneecaps if I tried to runaway! It was that or marry in perfect health, which choice would you think I would choose?" Yamaki said indignantly.
"Well you did try to get out the window and leave her standing at the altar," Janyuu pointed out.
"What! You were actually going to do that to me?!" Reika said in a shocked voice. Janyuu felt like smacking his head, he forgot entirely that he promised Yamaki never to mention it. Yamaki made a strangled noise, which Katsuyo imitated with glee and giggled at the sight of his father's frustration. Janyuu picked up the bags of Chinese food and paid the cashier for it.
"You were actually planning to leave me at the altar?" Reika asked in a now neutral voice demanding an answer. She gave a look to Yamaki that Janyuu wondered if only wives learned upon marriage. Yamaki was flustered and tried to think of a way out of the situation.
'Looks like I better go and save the day,' Janyuu thought.
"Um... Say why don't you come home and have dinner with my family? There's enough food for everyone to share," Janyuu said diverting the impending argument. Not one to miss the train, Yamaki jumped at the change of subject.
"Of course. Are you sure your wife won't mind?" Yamaki asked while Reika glared at him.
"Actually that's why I'm inviting you to dinner... My wife's pregnant again and blames me for it," Janyuu explained with a nervous laugh. Reika and Yamaki looked at Janyuu with shock.
"Pregnant again?... But Janyuu you have four children all ready," Yamaki said, there was a sort of look of disbelief on Yamaki's face. And after a moment's thought Yamaki shuddered at the idea of having so many children. Katsuyo seemed to have caught his father's reaction and seemed to be attempting to glare at him. Janyuu blinked and looked at Reika.
"Just how smart is this kid? He looks like he can understand what we're saying," Janyuu asked Reika. Reika smiled and shrug.
"I have no idea but he's smarter than his father is sometimes. Congratulations on your future additions to your family... You know Mitsuo I wouldn't mind having another child one of these days," Reika said teasingly. The undisguised look of horror on Yamaki's face was something to remember. Janyuu felt like laughing, apparently the younger man was still completely uncomfortable with the idea of children and taking care of them.
"Let's just have one child. I can deal with Katsuyo but I think I'd go insane if I have to deal with more children," Yamaki explained soothingly to Reika. He was trying to convince her that having more children was not a desirable thing and glared back at his son Katsuyo. The boy had not yet mastered the finer art of the Yamaki death glare and had to surrender to his father's superior usage and knowledge. The boy became somewhat sulky and looked down at the ground. Apparently Reika's father thought having more children was a wonderful thing.
"If you have a girl, I'll give you the shotgun to protect her," Mr. Ootori promised when he heard his daughter thought about having another child. Yamaki couldn't help but wonder if he could get Mr. Ootori arrested for improper storage of firearms and uttering death threats or any multitude of firearm offences. He quickly gave up on the idea; Reika would kill him if she ever found out that Yamaki sent her father to jail.
"I might consider just having one child if you tell me why you were going to leave me at the altar," Reika said smiling. She gave a sort of look that said, 'if it's a stupid reason I'm going to make you eat carrots for the entire month and I know how much you despise carrots'. Yamaki didn't want to consider what other tortures Reika might inflict and answered truthfully.
"You're father had a shotgun at the wedding for god's sake! I happen to like being alive and whole," Yamaki explained.
"Well let's go to my apartment and have dinner together," Janyuu said and began walking out of Paolin's lobby. He didn't want to wait up for the three. He had to get home and feed his children. Besides egg fuumai in spicy black bean sauce was best served hot rather than cold.
"And to deflect any anger your wife has on getting her pregnant," Yamaki smirked. He carried the Chinese food he bought and Reika carrying Katsuyo followed him.
"... Yes that too."
Further away from thoughts of a happy dinner plan and close by to the hustle and bustle of an industrious mother and children. Outside where the wind howled and the rain fell; a hooded figure looked up at the large apartment building in front of him. The tall building that housed the Lee family in one of its many apartments, unsuspecting and, most of all, inadequately protected. It was going to be an easy job for him. The child Tamer and her family would not live past this night. So vowed the 'Faithful'.
*****
It was cold. It was wet. So why the hell did he decide that walking in the rain was a good idea? Sen wandered around in the rain going who knows where because he wanted some time to himself. Visiting his mother had caused a significant amount depression and Sen found that he was forcing himself to listen to bright happy music or suffer the consequences of too much angst. He was currently listening 'Catch you, Catch me' from some sappy shoujo magical girl show whose name he didn't bother to remember. On the bright side it was the type of music that reminded him of slightly happier things, unfortunately the song bordered on something called 'diabetically unhealthy' if listened to for too long. It was just that sugary and sweet.
(translated from Japanese and found at www.animelyrics.com)
I want to see you, but I can't... How sad, these feelings...
I can't say it, but I want to.
I just keep letting my chance slip by.
But still (But still) But still (But still)
Together, let's spread our wings and
marathon across the sky; I want our dreams to be in unison
Hey look!
Catch You Catch You Catch Me Catch Me Wait up!
Look this way and say you like me.
Yeah! Nice to Meet You Good to See You Surely!
My thoughts will
fly, fly, fly into your heart!
They - will - not - get - lost!
Sometimes, my batteries just run dry.
But with your smile,
they're always fully charged, ready to explode
"Gah!... Mein Gott! Why am I listening to this crap?!" Sen said as he walked in the rain. He turned off the CD player, removed his earphones and let blessed silence fill the air. The rain should have been soaking his clothes wet but using a minor spell he knew no raindrops landed on him and wreck his CD player as he walked. He was completely dry and very depressed.
'Why the hell should I care? Ruksasha has all ready gone to see Yllas and offer our services. How ironic, I'm helping the murderer of my mother and brother achieve what he was always wanted,' Sen thought bitterly to himself. He had forced himself to remember that there was a reason for it all, Yllas had to 'die' and that was what he was trying to achieve. It was becoming quite apparent that Yllas had no idea the amount of trouble that it was going to get itself into when it tried to devour Ruki's essence. He noted with a twisted smile that Yllas was going to be in for the fight of its life when it did finally capture Ruki. It was not a matter of if it did; it was a matter of when. No one could run from Yllas forever but they can sure as hell try.
Sen looked around to see where he was. He saw in the distance the Katou family bar. The street was empty and so no one noticed him standing in the rain. If anyone had been observing him, they would notice that despite standing in the rain with no visible protection against the elements, he was completely dry and warm. Sen sensed something innately wrong in the entire place. Something was amiss and he spread his senses around to pin point what it exactly was. It seemed to be originating from the Katou family's bar. Sen melded into the shadows and approached carefully. It seemed that Ruksasha's negotiation for a contract had proved successful, or Yllas killed him and used the information provided to do a pre-emptive strike. In either case, this was a good opportunity to try and acquire some 'favors'.
It seemed like it was going to be one of those nights for Juri. The rain was pouring like a tempest and the bar was unusually empty as many people opted to stay home rather than visit bars. Culumon played with Masahiko as they ran around the conspicuously empty bar. Their laughter was jarring in the silence and Juri sighed. There were only two old male customers who huddled in one corner with their drinks. They were regulars and they didn't seem to be in the mood to order anything. Juri's father was busy with skillet and cooking some dinner for Masahiko and Juri. All in all a nice rainy, if perhaps boring night. No slurred talks of drunks, strange tales or claims about UFO's in the skies or anything marginally interesting. Just silence and a song that Juri was getting sick and tired of. She idly picked up a cleaned glass and towel to dry it. Hoping that it would get her mind off the song but it didn't really work.
High, higher than the sun
You shoot me from a gun
I need you to elevate me here
As corner of your lips
Is the orbit of your hips
Eclipse, you elevate my soul
I've lost all self-control
Been living like a mole
Now going down, excavation
I and I in the sky
You make me feel like I can fly
So high, elevation
A star lit up like a cigar
Strung out like a guitar
Maybe you could educate my mind
Explain all these controls
I can't sing but I've got soul
The goal is elevation
She just couldn't get that song out of her head. She didn't understand any of the words, though she knew it was English, and it kept on repeating over and over again. It was the type of catchy song that doesn't leave your head until something else happens.
"Juri! Juri!" Culumon cutely said and smiled. He jumped up and landed on Juri's shoulder comfortably leaving Masahiko on the ground looking up. Nothing really changed much about Culumon, still fun loving and kind.
"What is it?" Juri asked smiling lightly. Masahiko looked up at Culumon waiting patiently for him to start playing with him again.
"Are there any cream puffs? Culu?" Culumon asked. His eyes widened with expectation and tried to look even cuter, if that was physically possible. Juri laughed and shook her head.
"Sorry Culumon. We don't have any cream puffs left over. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for some and besides it's almost dinner soon," Juri explained. Culumon's ears seemed to droop in disappointment for a moment before perking up with a smile.
"Okay, culu. Remember you promised!" Culumon said and jumped off Juri's shoulder. Masahiko gave chase after Culumon with glee and started laughing. They ran upstairs to their room without a care in the world and closed the door. The sounds of pounding feet could be heard and then silence.
Juri blinked for a moment at the silence above. One moment they were running around like maniacs making so much noise, now they were silent as the dead. Juri put down a glass she was drying and approached the stair well baffled. She wondered what could have possible made the two become so quiet.
"Hey can we have another sake over here?" A male customer called out to Juri. Juri did as she told and went behind the bar to get another bottle out but the silence upstairs began to stretch a bit too long. She walked over the table and set the bottle of sake down for the two customers. The silence still stretched and nothing could be heard from upstairs.
Juri's father stopped cooking and listened. His brow knitted with curiosity and momentarily forgot his cooking. Looking at the ceiling as if trying to look through the walls with miraculous powers of x-ray vision, he wondered what had happen. The silence dragged on for a few more seconds until even the two regular customers despite their lack of sobriety noticed the sudden departure noise of Masahiko and Culumon. They all started to get worried.
"What happened?" The patron asked confused. He stopped and strained his ears to hear something. Juri's father got out of the cooking area, forgetting everything about the skillet. The music in Juri's head still kept on playing over and over again.
A mole, Living in a hole
Digging up my soul
Going down, excavation
I and I in the sky
You make me feel like I can fly
So high, elevation
Love, lift me out of these blues
Won't you tell me something true
I believe in you
A mole, living in a hole
Digging up my soul
Going down, excavation
I and I in the sky
You make me feel like I can fly
So high, elevation
"AHHHHH!!!!" Masahiko screamed from up the stairs. The crashing of glass upstairs could be heard and Juri's mother ran out from the back storage area. Juri and her father jumped up in surprise at the sound. Juri stood in shock and her widened. The two customers knocked over their sake cups on the floor with a crash and Juri's father jumped up. He turned around and grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter without a second thought.
"Juri stay right here!" He barked and ran up the stairs. Juri ran and waited at the stairwell as her father ran up.
"Be careful! Juri come over here," Juri's mother pleaded. Juri didn't listen to her mother and looked up the darken stairs where her father ran up. Masahiko's cries could still be heard and the heavy footfalls of her father could still be heard as he ran up. Juri couldn't take it anymore and ran upstairs to the bedroom. She ignored her mother's pleas to stay downstairs.
"ARGGHH!!" A scream of pain crashed through the air and Juri was almost knocked over by the body of her father who went flying backwards after he threw open the bedroom door where Juri and Masahiko shared. Her father had deep gashes in his arm where she could see three deep separate claw marks that bleed freely with red blood. He tumbled down the stairs, all the way to the bottom and she could hear her mother scream in horror.
"I'm calling the police and ambulance! Hold still dear," Juri's mother said. The two male customers downstairs moved to help Mr. Katou. Juri continued upstairs to her room as quietly as possible.
Juri looked into her room and saw that there were cobwebs with strands as thick as her fist all over the room. Masahiko was stuck in one of the webs and Culumon was running all over the place, narrowly escaping the claws of something. Juri took out her D-ark and tried to scan the creature. Her hand gripped the D-ark tightly and waited. The window was completely broken and rain and wind was getting into the room, soaking the bed and things.
"What? Child? This is the child? Where is D-ark? Where is Leomon? This not child? Where Tamer?" The digimon hissed as he chased down Culumon into a corner. Masahiko looked completely fine but was tangled in the webbing, a few strands had been cut and the knife her father brought up was on a wall with it's blade stuck. The D-ark came to life and went into digi-analyzer mode.
'Kumon... Child...Viral... Attack: Sticky Net...' Juri read it off in her head. She almost gasped when she saw it grab Culumon and bring up face to face with it.
"Where is Tamer?!" The Kumon hissed viciously at Culumon.
"What are you talking about, culu?" Culumon asked in a tight frightened voice. He sneaked a peek behind and saw Juri who was watching in silence. Taking her time she began to enter the room and bent down to grab the knife, hoping that the digimon was distracted enough not to notice her. She raised her and put her index finger on Masahiko's finger to silence him with but an action. Masahiko was weeping uncontrollably but understood the situation enough to remain silence and still to let Juri do her work.
"Do not lie to me, pathetic worm. Where is Tamer? Where Katou Juri?" Kumon hissed and gripped Culumon tightly around the throat. Juri noticed and realized if she didn't do anything Culumon would get deleted. Her hand shook as she let the familiar feel of the knife in her hand. How did this digimon know her name? How much did it know about her? The questions in head swirled as she considered her options. She could stab Kumon in the back while it was distracted but it might delete Kumon. On the other hand if she let Kumon continue to hurt Culumon, Culumon would get deleted. She aimed the knife and closed her eyes.
"AHHH!!!" Juri screamed as she ran forward with the knife outstretched. She didn't want to see what she was going to do. She couldn't bear to lose another friend because she was acting weak. Kumon had not paid attention to its surrounding as it tried to extract information from Culumon. Humans were so pathetically weak in its mind that it had underestimated them completely. Caught off guard it accidentally loosened its grip on Culumon, who squirmed out and ran away, it felt the knife cut into its back.
"GAH!" Kumon screamed in pain and backhanded Juri into the wall behind her. The knife pulled out of Kumon's back easily and black data coated the blade and Juri's hands. Juri's hands shook when she was the black swirling data on her hands like blood and tried to keep calm. She looked up and saw Kumon charge straight ahead to Masahiko who was completely unprotected.
"NO!" Juri screamed. She couldn't move and hysterically thought that Kumon meant to kill her defenceless little brother. Fortunately Kumon had a completely different idea, it would kidnap this human child and ransom him for the Tamer Katou Juri. He had no idea what the human he was supposed to capture looked like but it wasn't willing to fail. It's sharp claws went through the webbing easily and roughly grabbed Masahiko before jumping out the broken glass of the window it first came through.
"Onee-chan!!!" Masahiko screamed out in terror. The digimon leapt onto the neighbouring roof and began running away via the rooftops. Juri ran to the window, dropping the data splattered knife in her hands onto the floor. She peered out the window and saw Masahiko struggle in Kumon's grasp. It stood on a roof trying to grip Masahiko better.
"Well... That was amusing," a light bored voice made itself known. Juri quickly turned around to see who it was. Sen sat on a chair in one of the darker corners of the room with his arms crossed. His blue and green eyes glowed in the darkness like a fey being and Juri felt her blood run cold. She had no idea how he got in and below she could hear her father shouting.
"Juri! What happened? Get down here!" Juri's father called up in a pained voice.
"Hold still! You're bleeding badly!" The frantic voice of her mother could be heard.
Juri looked back out the window and saw Kumon lift her little brother up by the throat.
"What are you going to do?" Sen asked curiously. He sat on the chair and began calculating the situation. Culumon managed to crawl out of his hiding place and went up to the window where Juri was. A part of Culumon's ear had been clipped by Kumon's sharp claw and a small bit of data bleed out but other than that Culumon looked completely fine. The rain obscured their vision but the could clearly see Kumon and Masahiko on the other roof.
"What can I do?" Juri said in a quiet voice. Sen managed to hear it quite fine with his sensitive hearing and simply laid back further into the chair. Kumon outside roared out his demands to Juri.
"Hear me human! I demand a trade off! This human child for another human child by the name of Katou Juri! I demand her immediate surrender or the boy dies!!!" Kumon shouted over the wind. Juri's blood went cold and debated what to do.
"Let me go!!!" Masahiko screamed in terror.
"You know I can save your little brother... For a price," Sen explained idly. He got up from his chair and stood behind Juri. He was not smiling, this was business after all.
"Price?..." Juri asked. Her hand trembled and her grasp on her D-ark was tighter now. She whirled around and faced Sen. Her face was angry at the casual way Sen offered his services.
"How can you put a price on life?" Juri almost screamed at Sen. Sen simply shrugged and look evenly back. Juri's reaction didn't faze him, at least she did slap him or try to hurt him. Not that it mattered, he could of easily avoided such blows.
"It's easy after you get used to it," Sen responded. Juri was stunned by the revelation. Outside in the rain Masahiko was still screaming and Kumon shouted out again.
"I demand the Tamer Katou Juri!" Kumon proclaimed once more. To emphasize his demand he let one of his claws dig into Masahiko's arm and drew blood. Juri turned around when she heard her little brother scream with pain and saw that blood had been drawn.
"Onee-chan!!!" Masahiko called out plaintively. His tears mixed in with the rain but Kumon was unmerciful.
"Masahiko! I'm coming, stay right there!" Juri shouted. She went out her window carefully and shivered in the cold wind. Calculating her distance from the other roof, she gritted her teeth and climbed onto her roof. Sen was baffled at what Juri was planning and followed her out. Culumon followed after Juri and landed on her shoulder and held on. Kumon noticed the three individuals on the other roof and prepared for anything.
"Come any closer and the boy dies! I want Katou Juri!!!" Kumon ordered. He held one his claws in front of Masahiko's face and waited for their response. Sen stood in the rain, not getting wet, while Juri and Culumon was getting soaked.
"I can end this easily, you know that of course," Sen said in a cold voice. He noted that Kumon was panicking and might harm Masahiko permanently if something was not done soon. Juri outstretched her arms to make her seen more easily by Kumon and acted like a target.
"I am Katou Juri! Leave him alone! I'm right here come and get me!!" Juri shouted at Kumon. Sen sighed and rolled his eyes. He hated saints, they were all so naive and Juri was quite frankly stupid. Did she really expect Kumon to keep his promise and let her little brother go? A twisted grim smile came on the face of Kumon who dropped Masahiko on the ground.
"Finally," Kumon muttered and raised his claws in the air above Masahiko with exultation. He made it deliberately slow to show Juri what he was about to do to Masahiko. Juri's jaw drop and she screamed.
"NO!!! Abaddon save him!" Juri screamed. She knew she wouldn't make it in time but she jumped to the next roof next to her house. Culumon tightly gripped her shoulder so he wouldn't fall off and took a look around. The strange blond haired boy was no longer standing anywhere near Juri. One second he was standing right beside Juri, now he seemed to have disappeared in thin air.
Sen found time slowing down and he materialized right beside Kumon and caught his arm. With a deliberate twist, a sickening cracking sound could be heard in Kumon's arm before Sen ripped it out of Kumon's arm socket. Data spewed out and mixed into the rain, spraying Masahiko who was completely terrified. The green and blue eye was glowing in the darkness. Kumon face looked bewildered and tried to raise his other arm to slash Sen but to Sen's mind everything was in slow motion. He could see every fleck of data in the air from the wound he had inflicted on Kumon. He was moving so fast and Kumon so slow that it was unnerving at times. By the time Kumon finished making a single blink of an eye, Sen knew he had won.
Juri saw everything as she was in mid-air and roughly landed on the other roof with a crash. Culumon fell off her shoulder and landed a few meters in front of her from the force of the landing. Juri got up slowly with her eyes widen, she didn't even see Abaddon move to where Kumon was standing. He seemed to materialize out of thin air and rip Kumon's arm out.
"You owe me one," Sen said, loud enough for Juri to hear, as he grabbed Kumon's head with both hands and literally tore apart the head without any visible effort. The other claw missed Sen completely and caught only air.
The ripping sound echoed in Masahiko's head as he watched everything transpire. More data spewed out from Kumon's body like blood, mixing with the rain, but Sen was completely dry while Masahiko was covered in data. The young boy's eyes were wide open and stared up at the dark figure who handily defeated the monster that was going to kill him. It only took three seconds for him to defeat the digimon and Masahiko found himself unable to cry out or move.
This Abaddon looked so impervious and powerful when a flash of lightening light up his features. The black trench coat was dry and meticulous, even Abaddon's hands were completely clean though he had killed Kumon with his bare hands, Masahiko noted.
"... Well... That was easy... Remember Ms. Katou, you're in my debt. I'll collect one day and don't tell anyone that you owe me one," Sen said in a business like voice, acting as if ripping Kumon's head apart was a walk in the park. Juri ran to Masahiko and hugged him. In the distance the sirens of police and ambulances could be heard but Juri noticed none of this. Masahiko trembled and hugged his sister back.
"It's all right Masahiko... You're safe now... I can't lose you as well," Juri said in a soothing voice. Her hands were still white with shock and Culumon came up to the two siblings, no longer laughing or smiling but looking sad. Juri's voice was calm but inwardly she was shuddering at the realization of how close she was to losing another person precious to her.
"Juri... Masahiko... culu..."Culumon said in a sad voice. Culumon nursed his clipped ear and waited in the rain. The dried data that once bled from his ear was splattered on his white fur on top of his head.
Masahiko could only hug back in shock. He was covered in data and he no longer trembled. All he could think about was how utterly weak he was and how powerful his mysterious saviour was. So powerful that he had defeated the monster that attacked him.
Sen reached into his trench coat and pulled a piece of paper out and a pen.
"Sign this," Sen said as he gave Juri the pen. She looked blankly at the contract in front of her.
"What?" Juri asked and stared at the pen in her hand.
"I did you a service and now you must sign... or do you want me to end the life of whom I saved?" Sen asked and pointed contemptuously at Masahiko. Juri closed her eyes and signed her name on the contract without thinking. Sen took the pen and contract away from Juri and put it away in his trench coat.
"Remember Ms. Katou that if you tell anyone that I was involved in this, your brother's life is forfeited to me," Sen explained.
"I know Abaddon... I understand completely, just go," Juri said in a cracked voice. Masahiko could only look up at Sen as he faded into the night. It was as if he was never there to begin with and rain still fell from the sky.
Abaddon was a name that Masahiko was going to remember for a very long time. Most of all, the show of power was something he would remember for the rest of his life.
For Juri however the only thing she could note about the entire thing was that the song she had stuck in her head was finally gone.
*****(A few moments before)*****
"Yllas's servants have been sent forth and shall do Yllas's will," the blue flame proclaimed. Ruksasha could only wonder at times if the blue flame really was the true body of Yllas. Wasn't the true form of Yllas supposed to be a grand blob of some sort with hundreds of eye stalks that made people go insane with but a gaze? At least that was what Ruksasha saw in a carvings in the digital world somewhere. In any case the deed was done and flame twitched.
"I see that you didn't know much about the children until now," Ruksasha said out loud noting Yllas's reaction to the information.
"It matters not." Yllas proclaimed and flared up a bit as if waiting in anticipation. Ruksasha felt infinitely glad that he didn't give Yllas all the information on the Tamers. What was the fun of telling your client everything there was to know? It would make the jobs of too many power-hungry beings too easy. Yes, it was far more profitable and entertaining for your client to stumble around looking for what was wrong, not realizing that a single piece information was missing.
"So Makino Katoru's brood is strong. Good, she may be the one," Yllas began to mutter to himself and ponder on the predicament of the Tamers. There were too few faithful of his to make the capture of Ruki and more over he lacked the strength to personally hunt her down. Yllas was all ready spreading his forces thin by attacking the Tamers and eliminating them before they could reach Ruki and interfere with his plans. The sacrifice had to be soon or else he could not devour the 'essence'. Ruksasha waited patiently for Yllas to stop rambling and attend to the business at hand, but it seemed apparent that Yllas was off in lala-land.
Ruksasha coughed lightly and laid back on a wall for a moment. The sound interrupted Yllas thoughts and the blue flame raged upwards to the roof in anger.
"What is that you want of Yllas, heathen?" The blue flame demanded. Ruksasha dropped his spent cigar on the ground and put it out with his foot.
"Oh nothing. But I was wondering how you are going to capture Makino Ruki when so many of you're faithful are now gone and dead," Ruksasha idly observed. He smiled ever so secretly, enjoying the fact that a year ago under the employ of Zhuqiaomon, Ruksasha and Sen together helped eliminated twelve cult cells of Yllas and plunged it into chaos. It was so much fun and Yllas was completely clueless as to who had done it.
"Why should Yllas be concerned about that?" Yllas demanded. Ruksasha rolled his eyes in disbelief, one would think that a crazy immortality obsessed with an 'I am God' syndrome would have a better grasp of tactics. Then again Yllas was a pretty arrogant bastard.
"I'm just pointing out the fact that you don't have so many of your faithful left to try and capture Makino. You'll be spending a lot of effort trying to eliminate the potential threat of the Tamers and have barely anyone left to capture her."
A silence fell as the Yllas considered the tactical flaw of his plans. He all ready knew of it but he needed to eliminate the Tamers. The flame flickered evenly and then addressed Ruksasha.
"How did you know that?"
"Jeez, it's not that hard to see that you're hard up when it comes to finding more faithful among humans. The faithful in the digital world are going to find it next to impossible to crossover to the real world without notice in large numbers because of Hypnos and not to mention Zhuqiaomon is opposed to you." Ruksasha needed to light a small fire under Yllas's feet but then again seeing that Yllas was all ready a flame, it may not matter.
"Zhuqiaomon is nothing to Yllas! Let the pathetic bird try and stop me! As for those pathetic heathen humans, Yllas spits upon their efforts."
"That's all well and good but what are you going to do about it?"
"...What do you suggest? Speak heathen or leave my presence."
"The Devil's Advocate Unlimited can try and satisfy your innermost desires. You want Makino Ruki. We can give you Makino Ruki. For a price of course."
"A price? You are not so eager to discuss the price of your services usually."
"Yes, usually but I have to tell you the price before you decide. You might not like it and I would like to avoid making unnecessary enemies."
"Name your price."
"I want the essence of Kimatori Ayahiko. An 'ascended' Ruksasha essence you captured."
"What kind of request is that?"
"I want her essence to make me a true Ruksasha."
Yllas paused to consider it's option. Ruksasha wondered why he bothered naming a price. It was not profitable and the essence of Kimatori Ayahiko, mother of Sen, was completely useless to him. The essence, the soul, couldn't help him in his quest to become a true 'Ruksasha' of the spiritual world but the melancholy of his partner was becoming a bit unbearable. It made Ruksasha sad to a certain extent that Sen could not seem to move away from the past. The pieces had fallen and Sen hadn't bothered to pick them up.
"An essence for an essence? I want a 'Devil's Contract' if we are going to go into such a deal. Yllas only uses your services because you are always faithful fulfill your end of the bargain," Yllas said. The loss of a weak and useless essence in exchange for a strong and vibrant one was too much of a good deal for Yllas but it had to wonder what Ruksasha was up to. Perhaps he was trying to extract the essence in a vain attempt to become a real Ruksasha rather than a data one. Or perhaps it was for an entirely different reason but that hardly mattered. The trade off was to Yllas's benefit.
"If you wish," Ruksasha had expected this and obliged. A simple trade-off and he could still fulfill their other client's contract without problem.
"Devil's Contract!" Ruksasha said in a low voice. In a brief burst of light, a glowing piece of paper appeared out of nowhere and writing began scrawl itself all over the service. Clauses, penalties and various legal jargon was being etched as was the perimeters of the task was being written out and acknowledged. Under Ruksasha's and Yllas's watchful eyes the words were read off and the finished contract floated in the air. Without a thought Ruksasha grasped the paper and felt energy surge through him. It tingled through his hand with the binding strength of the contract rippled in through the air. It didn't matter how often Ruksasha summoned these contracts up, he could never get used to them. He may of called them up with his power but what exactly enforced or created these binding agreements was a complete mystery to him. Not even the Four Guardian Gods of the Digital World, even knew what exactly gave Ruksashamons in the realities to call upon the power to spiritually, and occasionally physically, bind two parties under the agreement of the Devil's Contract.
Apparently some half-wit out there thought it amusing to call the agreement, the Devil's Contract to add the mystique to it. It was now standard fare to summon the power under that name, it seemed the provider of contract didn't care what the agreement was called as long it was fulfilled. It did not matter if the other party fulfilled it as it was expected for the client or unexpectedly. If any of the parties broke the contract there were serious repercussions, or so everyone claimed but no one really was stupid to try and find out on purpose. Ruksasha however knew exactly what happened to those who broke the contract and it wasn't pretty.
Ruksasha looked over the contract and it's legal language over again before committing his signature to it with one of his claws. The information had been given and Yllas had tendered for a service from Devil's Advocate Unlimited. All that was left was for Yllas to sign the agreement and they could begin their job. The blue flame twitched and Ruksasha approached the flame without hesitation. With a single thrust Ruksasha plunged the contract into the blue flame and saw the signature writ on the surface. He pulled out from the flame after the signing and rolled the contract before pulling it apart. A flash of light could be seen as Ruksasha pulled the contract apart to reveal two perfect copies of the same signed contracts.
"It is done. Pacta sunt servanda," Ruksasha uttered in Latin. Another useless little odd custom that all signers said but no one really bothered to ignore. He threw one of the contracts into the blue flame and kept the other one in his hand.
"Remember! Yllas want Makino Ruki! That's all you need to do. Bring her to Yllas and Yllas shall pay your price," Yllas said. Ruksasha looked at the agreement in hand and turned his back on Yllas.
"Yes... I know... The Devil's Advocate Unlimited shall bring Makino Ruki to you," Ruksasha promised.
*****
Shuichon was completely and utterly bored as she sat around in her room. Well actually it was her sister Jaarin's room as well but that was moot point at the moment. The room was in disarray with Jaarin's things and clothing strewn all over the room. Shuichon noted how crowded the room felt and began looking for Lopmon. She soon found the diminutive digimon shuddering in a corner in the living room where her mother had thrown all of Janyuu's things. Rinchei, Jaarin and her mother were busy moving out Jaarin's things. An argument could be heard, as they argued about the amount of Jaarin had somehow accumulated over the years.
"You can't throw that away! I'd die if you got rid of any of my cool stuff!" Jaarin protested.
"Give me a break! This is junk! Tell me why you have a poster of SMAP! That band sucks!" Rinchei argued back. He sounded disgusted by some of the things that his sister kept in her room.
"I don't care! You are not throwing it away!" Jaarin argued back.
"But there's not enough space in Shuichon's room to hold even half the stuff you have in this room. I don't know how you stored all these things but some of it has to go," Mayumi explained to her daughter. It was an uphill battle. Shuichon ignored the loud arguments and approached Lopmon quietly.
"Lopmon? What's wrong? Are you cold?" Shuichon asked concerned. The digimon looked rather pale and was still shuddering.
"I am fine Shuichon. I am merely trying to calm myself down with the expectation of your future younger siblings," Lopmon explained. The idea of more young vibrant children hugging him was a horrible nightmare for Lopmon but he didn't show his own personal terror in front of Shuichon.
"... Do you want a hug?" Shuichon asked softly. Lopmon blinked and slowly nodded. Shuichon wrapped her arms around Lopmon gently and just hugged him. This greatly surprised Lopmon, he expected a crushing energetic hug rather than a gentle one. He found his stress leave him and found it oddly lacking in some sort of sense.
'Dear Zhuqiaomon above... Don't tell me I actually like being smothered to death!' Lopmon thought to himself. He didn't pursue any further thoughts and heard something scratching on the door. Lopmon thought he heard the footfalls of someone outside the apartment door and the fumbling of an item.
"Shuichon... There's someone outside the door," Lopmon whispered to Shuichon and extracted himself from her grasp. He went straight up to the apartment door avoiding the junk strewn across the room in silence. He listened even more intently and heard someone fumbling with some sort of item. The presence didn't feel human, it felt oddly like a digimon but it was trying it's best not be detected.
"Rinchei! Help me get your sister off that box! We're throwing it out!" Mayumi ordered and the sounds of struggling could be heard.
"Get off sis!" Rinchei shouted.
"No. This is my stuff! I want get rid of it! All my childhood memories are in that box!" Jaarin argued back.
"There's nothing but sappy romance manga in there!" Rinchei shouted back.
Shuichon stood in the hallway, a little away from the door out of the apartment and behind Lopmon. She listened intently and heard the sound of something putting something on the door. Shuichon and Lopmon thought they heard the beeping of buttons. Lopmon got a terrible gut feeling about the entire strange situation. They had no idea of the terrible and destructive plan that the individual behind the door was planning.
Ekamon came up with a simple plan. To eliminate the Tamers, one just had to blow up the building that they were living in. A single bomb can kill them where a powerful digimon could not. Besides Ekamon was just a simple child digimon, there was not a chance in hell it could defeat a digimon that had human Tamer to help provide it power ups. No a more mundane touch of technology and explosives would do the job. C4 was a very powerful and useful little human invention. He would have to tell his master the benefits of having modern weapons.
"BLAZING ICE!!!" Lopmon shouted and attacked. Five solid pieces of ice formed and smashed right through the door, splintering it into little kindling. Ekamon didn't even have time to look up, the attack ripped right through his body like paper. The gaping holes that the attack left revealed that hit its target dead on. At first Lopmon thought it was a human but began to see pieces of data float upwards into the air and smear itself all over the floor. The arguing of the Lee family had stopped and they all charged out of Jaarin's room to see what had happened. Shuichon had never seen her partner kill anyone or anything before numbly opened the door to reveal more of the slain individual behind it. It was a vaguely human looking but had a misshapen body and stick thin arms. It's full articulated hands lay limply by it side as the floor began to soak with data. The holes in its body from Lopmon's Blazing Ice attack had gone right through its body and data spewed from it. In the hands of the steadily fading body was a small block of some sort with wires sticking out and a timer that blinked 1:21 and counting downwards.
"Lopmon... Is he dead?" Shuichon asked in a tearful voice. She unsteadily pointed her D-ark at the deleting digimon and let it scan. Lopmon felt immediately guilty but he sensed that Shuichon and everyone was in danger so he attacked. He still felt that the danger was still there and eventually the body disappeared completely, leaving only data splattered on the wall and floor in the hallway of the apartment.
"What happened?!" Mayumi asked as she ran towards Shuichon and hugged her. The D-ark finished its scan before the body faded away and revealed its data.
Ekamon... Child... Viral... Attack: Retribution Strike...
"Lopmon..." Shuichon said as she stepped back a bit. She stared at the small little block that now read 2 minutes and counting. Mayumi's eyes widened at the small block and counter.
"Oh my god... It's a bomb!" Mayumi said her jaw dropping. Lopmon sprung into action and went out into the hallway to pick up the block. The sound of the attack had gotten everyone's attention on the entire apartment floor. People immediately peeked their head out the door and saw Lopmon in the hallway standing in a pool of black data with a fusion block in his hands.
"That crazy digimon has a bomb! Damn it I knew I should have moved out when I heard there was digimon next door!" One of the neighbours said in a loud enough voice and ran back into his apartment to drag out his family. Another neighbour saw what had happened and backed away from Lopmon.
"That thing's dangerous! I'm out of here!" The woman screamed. People on the entire floor began to stream out of their apartment and run down the stairs to escape. Lopmon on the other hand had no idea what a bomb looked like and simply stared at the counter, which was still steadily counting down.
"Oh $%^#, it really is a bomb!" Rinchei swore, forgetting the fact that his youngest sister was right next to him. Shuichon wasted no time and got out of her mother's grasp. She had an idea to safely dispose of the bomb.
"Lopmon, follow me!" Shuichon said as she ran back into the Lee family apartment and began opening a window. Lopmon with the bomb quickly followed after his Tamer and looked expectantly at her.
"What do you want me to do Shuichon?" Lopmon asked quickly. He looked at the timer and saw 1:31 minutes left on the counter. The window was now fully opened and the rain and wind got into the apartment.
"You have to digivolve! Then go outside, get on the roof and throw the bomb as far as you can into the water before the time runs out!" Shuichon explained. She began fumbling around for her evolution card and realized she didn't have any cards on her. She raced back into her room and frantically looked for a card. The room was in disarray however since Jaarin's things were all over the place.
"You two! Get out of the apartment! The bombs going to go off soon!" Mayumi ordered her two remaining children who were still hanging around.
"But what about you?" Jaarin said as Rinchei grabbed her by the arm to drag her out the apartment.
"I'm going to get Shuichon!" Mayumi said as she ran back into the apartment for her youngest daughter who was still looking for an evolution card. Shuichon pushed off a box of her sister's things, ignoring the mess it made and grabbed her personal Digimon playing cards and began looking for an Evolution card.
"I got it!!!" Shuichon shouted with joy. Mayumi entered the room and made a mad dash to Shuichon.
"We have to get out of here! Forget about your plan!" Mayumi shouted as she tried to grab Shuichon. She missed Shuichon who made a sudden move to the right, barely avoiding her mother.
"Don't worry Mama! I got everything under control," Shuichon proclaimed as she ran out the room with the card. Lopmon looked at the timer and saw it read 1 minute. Shuichon took the card and her D-ark out.
"Card slash!... Evolution!" Shuichon cried out as she slashed the card. Lopmon jumped out the window of the Lee apartment and began to glow. Data streamed towards his body, making it grow larger and stronger. In a brilliant flash of light Lopmon became Antylamon who landed dug his feet into the side of the apartment building and began climbing up to the roof with the bomb in hand. The rain and wind still pelted down.
"GO ANTYLAMON!!!" Shuichon shouted with encouragement. Mayumi came out of the bedroom and grabbed Shuichon. She dragged her reluctant daughter out of the apartment and headed downstairs to get out.
Janyuu looked up at his home for a moment as he drove back to his apartment and came to a screeching halt in his car. Like King Kong climbed the Empire States Building, Antylamon seemed to imitate. Janyuu had absolutely no idea what was going on and failed to take into account that there were other drivers behind him who had not stopped as abruptly. A car rammed into Janyuu's van and jolted Janyuu forward into the dashboard. The only thoughts that ran through his head were his family but he wasn't in any condition to say or think anything. The collision with the dashboard knocked Janyuu out cold. The screeching of wheels could be heard all over the place as drivers stopped to take a better look of what was happening.
Yamaki, in his car, was more fortunate than Janyuu but no less shocked by the sight he saw. Immediately his cell phone began beep insistently and Reika reached over and answered it. With a simple push of a button Reika turned the phone on.
"It's Hypnos... They're reporting a huge data spike..." Reika deadpanned. Yamaki sighed and took the phone away from her. He spoke into the phone.
"This is Yamaki. I can see what's causing it... Make sure the military doesn't go crazy on us. Try to slow them down, I'm hanging up right now." With that Yamaki hung up and unbuckled his seatbelt. Reika looked surprised and shook her head.
"That was rather abrupt," Reika commented. She got off her seatbelt and reached over to her son Katsuyo to see if he was all right. The boy looked at around in wonder why everyone seemed to be panicking.
"I'm going to check on Janyuu," Yamaki said and got out of the car. He narrowly avoided being run over by a careless driver who crashed into the car that crashed into Janyuu's van. Yamaki was completely soaked by the rain in ten seconds flat, a new record. He ran over to the van and saw the older man knocked unconscious and hanging over the driver's wheel. Narrowing his eyes, Yamaki tried opening the car door and finding it locked. Snarling Yamaki pounded on the glass but Janyuu didn't react, finally Yamaki smashed the glass with a rock. With the window gone Yamaki opened the door from the inside and got the unconscious Janyuu out. A bit of blood streamed from a head wound that Janyuu had and people around Yamaki began panicking. The infernal rain still poured.
"It's a digimon! When's the government going to destroy it?" A person in the masses asked. His umbrella lost among others.
"I thought they destroyed all of them!" Another shouted.
The end result was the same however. People started to get as far away from the digimon who was climbing the apartment building. Antylamon could see that the timer now had reached 33 seconds when he finally arrived on the roof. He took a good look around and saw the bay a little ways off. He jumped up into the air and landed on the roof another building lightly and began to a sort colossal hopscotch game while he counted the seconds he had left.
'Almost to the Bay, almost to the Bay,' Antylamon repeated over and over again in his head. The wind howled and he almost lost his footing due to the slickness of the rain. There was now only 13 seconds left and he wound his arm back for a long throw into the Bay. He launched into the air, long and low across the water until it went into the water with a distant plop. Then when the timer reached zero.
BOOM!!!!
A massive explosion was let lose. Water was thrown up into the air at a height of three stories before coming back down to earth. Luckily there were no ships or land close by where the bomb had been thrown too. The water sprayed all over the place and Antylamon sensed his body shrinking. Excess data used to make him digivolve immediately dissipated into the air. He became Lopmon again and then realized a few things. First off, he had no idea where he was. Second, it was freezing cold. Third, a lot of people were panicking around him and avoiding.
Sighing Lopmon looked around and saw the terrified faces of people staring at him. The rain had soaked his fur and people were backing off. It was time to disappear; perhaps he could hitch a ride and find a way back. It was going to be a long and wet night.
'And I thought the worst that could happen to me was being smothered by Shuichon.'
*****
Impmon lazed about in the TV room. It was raining out and he was catching up on his reading. Okay he wasn't reading a complicated book but it was nonetheless an interesting read.
"Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" Impmon read off. The story Treasure Island was tedious after seventeen reads but it was an easy story. After finding out how crippling illiteracy was in the Real World a year ago, Impmon had been dedicating his energies into becoming literate. He could even write in Japanese, something that he was very proud of seeing how hard it was to write with a pen. He stopped reading and put down the book for a break. Impmon noted proudly that he had read halfway through the story and would probably done in a day or more. Impmon flicked on the TV with the remote to catch up on the news.
The rain outside and wind was kicking up again. Ai and Makoto were eating in the kitchen with their parents and the familiar sound of eating could be heard. Impmon had all ready eaten and relaxed slightly. It was nice to discover that Ai and Makoto's parents were nice enough to let him stay with their children rather than running him out of the house. They were really far too kind to let him stay. The house was warm, cheery and well light. Outside it was miserable and wet.
"Impmon do you want anything eat?" Ai asked as she walked into the TV room. She smiled slightly as she watched Impmon turn around after turning on the TV.
"Huh? Oh... No thanks. I'm not hungry, if I get hungry I'll just eat an apple," Impmon answered and smiled. Makoto peeked out his head from the kitchen.
"Are you reading again?" Makoto asked suspiciously. Impmon felt like laughing, he remembered Makato's reaction when Impmon asked for his books and school textbooks.
******
"Why would you want to do 'school work'?" Makoto asked in an unbelieving voice.
"Because I want to learn how to read and write!" Impmon had answered.
"You're crazy!" Makoto retorted.
******
"Yes I'm reading again but I'm taking a break," Impmon answered. He smiled and looked at the news, he smile fell off his face immediately. The news anchor began to show footage of Antylamon jumping across the city at top speed towards the bay. Though the footage was a bit grainy, Impmon could read the little live tag on the lower right hand corner of the TV.
"Digimon have once more made an appearance in Shinjuku. People are shown panicking in the street and have clogged traffic causing severe disruption..." The news anchor said in a critical voice as if blaming Antylamon for all the problems in the world. Impmon frowned and wondered what was going on. Ai and Makoto watched the TV intently and listened. The footage kept on Antylamon and showed him drawing his arm back to throw something into the Bay. Impmon could barely see a small package of some sort being thrown into the Bay.
"What the..." Impmon muttered and got on his feet baffled. Why would Lopmon digivolve to Antylamon? Was there some danger that Impmon didn't know about?
The answer came a few seconds latter when a huge explosion in the Bay was revealed. The explosion threw up more water in the air and Impmon eyes widened. Did Antylamon go berserk and launch an attack on the Bay? Was there a rogue digimon in the waters?
"The digimon seems to be attacking vessels in the Bay area!... Wait... Now it's fading away... No it's shrinking! Why hasn't the army launch any of its units to handle the digimon threat? Is there some sort of government conspiracy at work here? We may never know," the news anchor continued in his critical voice.
Impmon watched on the TV as Antylamon return to his original Child form Lopmon. The news camera took that very opportunity to blank out and end it's live feed. The entire family entered the TV room when the explosion happened and there was silence.
"I don't understand. Is there an attack?" The mother asked Impmon in a curious voice.
"I don't know. If there was why didn't the other Tamers tell me?" Impmon answered. He turned around to face Ai and Makoto and their parents. They seemed concerned and Impmon couldn't provide any answers.
"I'm going to give Lee's a call to see what's going on," the father said out loud and headed towards the kitchen to make a phone call.
That was when the family dog, Kesa, began to whine and growl. His fur stood up on its end and snarled at something down the hallway. Everyone froze for a moment and waited.
"And so the government claims of having the digimon situation under nominal control can now be..." The anchor man continued and probably would have continued his tirade if the power of the house hadn't of gone out at that moment. The entire house was plunged into darkness and Kesa still growled.
"What the, power is out? Phone's dead as well..." The father said out loud and put down the dead phone. Impmon summoned up a ball of his flames to light up the room a bit. Bringing Ai and Makoto into the middle of the room the mother had a troubled look on her face.
"Come on children, gather around the fire okay?" The mother said soothingly. Kesa still growled and made a few tentative steps down the hallway.
"Kesa! Come here," Makoto exclaimed agitated. He went to the dog and grabbed it by the collar. The dog continued to whine and Makoto tried to discern what Kesa was growling and snapping at. His father came out of the kitchen and looked down the ominous hallway as well. Impmon approached with one of his balls of flame and listened. A quiet scratching noise could be heard, like claws on hardwood floors but with a more tat-tat sort of sound. Kesa bolted and managed to get out of Makoto's grasp.
"Kesa!" Makoto called out and followed after the dog. Impmon saw his young Tamer chase after the dog and gave pursuit.
"Makoto stop! There's something down there!" Impmon shouted. Kesa turned a corner in the hall and a loud yelp and sickening cutting sound could be heard. It echoed down the hall and Makoto stopped halfway between the corner and the other end. Impmon came right next to his Tamer and waited.
Thump... thump... hiss...
That was all that everyone could hear.
Plop... Plop...
Two pieces were thrown down the hall and landed by Impmon's feet. It was the two bloody pieces of what was left Kesa. Makoto mouth opened wide with terror and Impmon felt mildly sick. The blood of the unfortunate dog stained Makoto's socks and the boy began to tremble.
"... Kesa..." Makoto whispered. The two were both so busy looking at the halved corpse that when they looked down the hallway again they saw an ugly creature with wicked claws. Blood dribbled down its claws and mouth, the white eyes bored down on the two and it seemed to smile. Makoto's parents came down the hallway with Ai and saw what had happened to Kesa. Trying in vain, the mother tried to cover Ai's eyes from the corpse of the family dog but it was all ready too late. Ai also saw the bloody remains of Kesa and chocked back a sob. Impmon kept his eye on the creature down the hall and realized something. The other creature was digimon but more than that it did this on purpose. It had cut the phone lines, it cut the power and it deliberately threw Kesa's wrecked corpse at them for a purpose. Impmon realized that this was all planned and he needed to get the family out of here.
"Run! We need to get out!" Impmon shouted and began to push the family back down the hall while keeping his eye on the sadistic digimon. Ai lifted her D-ark to analyze the creature.
"Kumon... Child... Viral.... Attack: Sticky Net..." Ai read off from the D-ark. The parents had grabbed Makoto and Ai up and would have followed Impmon's advice but couldn't.
"STICKY NET!" Another Kumon made a pincer attack on the unsuspecting family. It blocked the other end of the hallway and trapped the human family. Impmon was distracted by it and turned around for an instant to see that the family had been caught in the net. The distraction proved deadly and the Kumon in front of Impmon rushed forward with claws splayed.
"Impmon!" Makoto shouted out pointing behind Impmon the charging Kumon.
"Night of Fire!"Impmon attacked while whirling around to meet Kumon's attack. The flames hit Kumon on the face but the claws dug into Impmon's leg and data began bleed out from the cut. The two digimon were now in close combat and Impmon was at a disadvantage. Close combat was not a specialty that Impmon excelled at in his diminutive Child form. Now if he were Beelzemon, he'd kick his enemies butt but as it stood now he was screwed. It was a completely unfair fight, close combat fight and four humans that he could not effectively protect to add on. There was still the issue of the other digimon down the hall behind him who trapped the family but right now Impmon could only concentrate on the one in front of him.
"How'd you like that! Cause I got lots more where that came from!" Impmon shouted as he grimaced in pain. He summoned more mini flames from his finger and threw them at Kumon. Kumon dodged most of the attacks but got hammered by one or two of them. It was enough to blind Kumon for a moment and cause him to miss Impmon. The claws only hit the walls of the hall and make a deep gouge.
'Oh crap I'm in trouble,' Impmon realized.
Meanwhile during this time the other digimon that had attacked Impmon and the family from behind was moving forward slowly letting the family fully view it. It extended its claws and debated which human to eliminate first, the little ones or the big ones? Lightning flashed again and light up its body. The white glowing eyes menacingly in the dark and it now a little past the double door to the living room.
"Impmon! There's another one behind us! It's coming to attack!" Makoto shouted. He tried to struggle out of the web but only ended up tangling everyone up even more. The entire family was helpless and under the mercy of the other Kumon. Impmon was far too busy fighting the other to help.
"ARGH!" Impmon screamed with frustration and punched Kumon who easily dodged Impmon's attack. A single claw attack hit Impmon on the shoulder and made a shallow wound. They circled each other warily looking for a slip in concentration, anything really to signal for an attack.
Then a loud sound of crashing glass and three banging sounds echoed through the air. They were gunshots and hit the Kumon who was approaching the family from behind. Its body was fully exposed to the glass doors in the TV room giving any shooter a perfect view of the Kumon. The bullets hit dead center on Kumon's head causing it to explode under the force of the bullets. The body of Kumon immediately exploded in data and left a huge puddle of inky black data on the floor and wall of the hall. Impmon and his opponent were too busy fighting to pay attention to the gunshot sounds. They were locked in mortal combat and didn't have the benefit of stopping to investigate. The sound of rain and the fresh smell of it could be sensed. Ai fumbled with the D-ark and tried to reach for a digimon card for the entire time but couldn't reach her pocket. The web prevented her from moving too much but she was desperate to help Impmon. Makoto seeing what his sister was trying to do reached for the pocket and picked out a card.
"I got it sis!" Makoto said as he gave Ai the card that took it to slash.
"Impmon! Card Slash! Offense Plug-In A!" Ai slashed the card through the D-ark and Impmon received much needed power to strengthen his attacks.
"Night of Fire!" Impmon attacked once more, jumping into the air above Kumon who extended his claws to try and gut Impmon. The mini flames however blew off both of Kumon's arms and head. The attack reduced Kumon to a husk and the body deleted. Data floated briefly in the air, staining the hall before fading away.
"Impmon are you all right?" The father asked as he tried moving his head to see what had happened. Impmon collapsed to his knees for a moment and winced in pain from the wounds he received. Though admittedly negligible, it was still nonetheless painful and distracting.
"Yeah, I'm all right. I'm going to get you down from there. Hold still," Impmon announced and cut the webbing off the family. Ai and Makoto surrounded Impmon while their mother went off into the kitchen to get a first aid kit to tend to Impmon's wounds. Impmon summoned a few floating flames to light up the house.
"You did it!" Makoto said and hugged Impmon. Ai was less than enthused and looked at the two data puddles where there were two digimons and what was left of Kesa which their father had hastily covered up with a coat. Blood seeped through the coat and under it to reveal an increasingly sticky red pool. The glow of the flame was enough to reveal the mess that hall was in.
"Ouch... Makoto let go it hurts!" Impmon protested and Makoto reluctantly let go. Makoto became sombre and went up to his sister. Standing by her side, he became very quiet and waited for Ai to say something.
"He was brave wasn't he..." Ai said to no one in particularly as her father hustled her and Makoto away from the body of Kesa. Impmon quietly looked at the covered up corpse of Kesa and then faced Ai.
"He was brave, worthy of the highest praise," Impmon said quietly to comfort Ai. He gripped his bleeding shoulder and let the mother bandage his wounds. The father took the two children out of the battle area and into another room leaving Impmon with Ai and Makoto's mother. It was rather uncomfortable.
"Thank you... For all that you've done," the mother said to Impmon as she bound the last bandage around Impmon's wounds.
"It's me that should be thanking you... I didn't do anything," Impmon said and went up to where the Kumon had been shot and then looked into the TV room. The glass sliding door was completely shattered; rain and wind easily entered the room and soaked the floor. Turning his attention to the place where the Kumon had died, Impmon could see the casing of three bullets on the ground.
"You fought to save our lives..." The mother pointed out.
"But I didn't save your life... Someone or something else did and it carries a mean gun," Impmon noted and picked up a bullet. Though blackened with data Impmon could see the brass casing and lifted it up to look at it better. It was about half an inch in length. He summoned another flame for more light and entered the TV room. The room was cold and glass and water were every where. Impmon looked out into the yard and tried to look for clues for the mysterious saviour but found nothing. The rain had washed away all the evidence and Impmon felt mildly unsettled by it all.
"Whoever or whatever you are, I'm in your debt," Impmon said to himself. Hidden on the roof where Impmon could not see and in the rain close to the shattered glass doors Sen smiled. The rain poured but did not get his clothing wet. His hearing picked up Impmon's words perfectly.
'That's all I need to hear... but damn is this thing a heavy sucker...,' Sen noted to himself and put the safety on his 'Desert Eagle'. He quickly put the gun into it's holster inside his trench coat. A last resort weapon just in case things got a bit too hot. It was of course highly illegal in Japan but as far Sen was concerned it was a risk he was all too willing to take. He wished however the barrel wasn't so long, eight inches was a bit much. Next time he would have to purchase a 'Baby Eagle' instead.
Sen took out his ear plugs and put them in his pockets. He looked out into the city from the roof while the rain fell and began to fade out. They were calling him and he would serve.