Eep…I've had such a horrible case of WRITER'S BLOCK this Easter weekend! Fortunately I've had the proper stimulation (chocolate!) and I am now ready to scintillate you all with Chapter 3! One thing I can tell you right off the bat, the D-X is going to have a lot of new and interesting functions. Heh heh. I think I've had too much chocolate…
Predestined
Chapter Three: Now You See Them…
"Dee? Are you still there?" Cleo shouted into the phone. "Hello?"
A familiar evil cackle broke onto the line once again. "Hello, Cleo," it snickered. "I figured this would be a good way to get your attention. You never speak to me between classes, or anytime, come to that."
That's when she realized who the creep was.
"Mikko Salminen!" she groaned. "Look, if I have to tell you one more time that I'm not interested, I'm going to go ballistic! And that call was important too, dammit! My best friend called me all the way from America. Do you realize how expensive long-distance calls are, or does that even penetrate that thick skull of yours?"
Mikko, who was a totally hideous slimeball who had taken to tailing Cleo, didn't sound even the slightest bit ruffled. "How about I meet you at the mixer Delta Kappa Omicron is holding tonight?" he asked, a note of seduction in his greasy voice. Cleo wanted to barf at the sound of it.
"No, no, no. A thousand times no. Goodbye, Mikko!" Cleo slammed the receiver down, feeling incredibly angry. It was about seven-thirty in the evening now, making it about two-thirty in the afternoon in Maine. (I'm going by what a penpal of mine in Finland told me.) Which meant that Deanna was probably already driving to her sister Rachael's middle school to pick her up, as was her habit. And since Deanna's computer was out of order, she couldn't email her and ask her what else she had learned.
I guess I'll just have to call her later, Cleo thought, before remembering her D-X.
Holly's cell phone rang, just as she and Tina were about to buy their tickets to get on the subway. She flipped it open quickly. "Hello?" she said, handing the money to the attendant as she spoke.
"Holly? It's Leon."
"Hey, Bubby, what's up?" she said brightly. "I'd really love to chat, but you know how cell phones get once you're in the subway station."
He sounded frustrated. "Look, you need to come to the hospital right away, all right? Lee's been attacked, and Kim's been kidnapped."
Her heart plummeted into her stomach. "What?!"
"It's…it's kind of hard to explain over the phone. I can't say everything that I have to tell you. Just…just come, OK? I'll meet you in the waiting room."
Click.
Tina looked startled. "What did Leon want?" she asked. "Is everything—"
"My sister's been attacked." Holly dropped her phone into her bag. "I don't know what happened. Leon sounded kind of all…I don't know…worked up over something. But he also said that Kim's been kidnapped, and I don't know whether or not she's all right. Tina, we should probably go, all right?"
Her friend nodded. "To hell with the rain, the hospital's only four blocks away."
They fought their way out of the subway and ran onto the sidewalk. The rain was pelting them in the face once again.
"I should have taken an umbrella," Tina grumbled.
At that moment, they were thrown off their feet as the subway station behind them exploded.
"How is my daughter doing?" Sora Kamiya demanded the nurse. "You people won't tell me a damn thing. Why? Is she okay?"
The nurse looked briefly at the chart she had just taken from Lee's room. "Witaki is completely fine," she said in a bored monotone. She was tapping a pencil on the clipboard as she spoke. "Luckily, the wound was not very deep, and we were able to stem the blood flow. If it had been any nearer to her lung, she would be doing a lot worse."
Tai looked relieved. "When can we take her home?" he asked.
"We want to keep her overnight for observation. I'd say she'll be ready to take home by tomorrow morning."
Just then, Leon arrived. "Look what the cat dragged in," he declared, gesturing toward Holly and Tina. They were both dripping wet, and their faces were flushed.
"The subway we were about to take exploded," Holly gasped. "We were lucky that Leon called us in time…how's Lee? Is she okay, or what?"
Her parents stared at her. "The subway exploded? What happened?" Sora asked.
Darcey Motomiya, who had remained silent until then, spoke now. "I don't give a flying fiddler's fart how the station blew up. What I want to know is, what happened to MY daughter? Where's Kim? I swear to God, if anything has happened to her, I'll…"
David threw his arms around his wife. "Hey, it's going to be all right," he soothed her. "Kim will be all right, don't worry."
"But look what happened to Lee!" Darcey wailed into his shoulder. "If those people who did that to Lee took our daughter, they're probably perfectly capable of doing terrible things to her! Oh my God, my baby!"
"Darcey, calm down!" Sora told her friend firmly. "Kim's probably fine. Right now, we just need to focus, and…"
Leon turned to his sister and Tina, who were still waiting to talk about what happened to them. "So, it just exploded?" he asked. "Do you know how it happened?"
"I wish I did," Holly said anxiously. "If you hadn't have called us just then, I don't know what could have happened. Bubby, what exactly happened with you? As far as I heard from you, Lee was hurt and Kim got kidnapped, right?"
He paced back and forth, concern written on his face. "Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. Lee was knocked out when I got in there, but she came to long enough to tell me that Kim was gone, and that they'd been attacked by some Digimon and a lady she didn't know." Seeing their jaws drop, he added hastily, "I probably should have told mom and dad, but they're a bit preoccupied with Lee's condition, and Mrs. Motomiya's freaking out."
Tina's brow was furrowed, and her brain seemed to be working triple-speed behind her set face. "Guys," she said slowly, "it doesn't seem like these attacks on us were accidental. I mean, first there's what happened to Lee and Kim. And don't you think it's odd that like, half an hour later, the subway that Holl and me happened to be in was attacked? I think somebody's targeting the Digidestined. But…who?"
Leon leaned against the wall. "That's what we should probably try to find out. Look, I'm going to Jenna's to see if she's all right, and then I'm calling Chris at work. I want you guys to go and contact as many of the Digidestined that you can, all right? Even Cleo and Deanna if you have to. Got it?"
Holly saluted. "Aye, aye, General!"
"Do you two gorgeous young ladies need a ride?"
Hikaru, who was huddled under the awning of a shop with Tania, looked over at the silver car that had just rolled up to the curb. Chris sat inside, beaming, with the passenger side door open.
"Chris!" she cried, running up to the car with Tania. "You don't know how glad I am to see you! Hey…you're off work early."
He shrugged. "I got into a spot of bother with the boss. Told him I'd had enough of his condescending 'college boy' crap. But that doesn't matter. At the moment, I'm focused on getting you and your sister home. Hop in!"
Hikaru helped Tania into the backseat, buckled her seatbelt, and got into the front. "You don't mind us getting your upholstery all wet, do you?" she asked.
"Nah, I don't mind. Besides, my car hasn't had anything quite as beautiful as you in it before," he grinned, kissing her on the cheek.
"Eww…" Tania piped from the backseat.
Deanna was parked in front of her sister Rachael's school, waiting for her to come out. She had the radio cranked, and was drumming her fingers on the steering wheel to AC/DC when a sudden beeping noise filled the car. She was confused for a second, before she remembered her black and grey D-X clipped securely to her belt loop.
"E-mail?" she said in wonderment when she noticed a little e-mail icon pop up onto the screen. "This thing can do that?" She was wondering how to open it when the message itself popped up onto the screen.
Dee: I haven't got much time before I have to go to my night class. But I was just wondering if there was anything else to that prophecy. If there is, you've got to send me back a reply somehow. Use a computer if you can't work the e-mail function on the D-X. (It's a total bitch, but I somehow managed it.) But don't call me, some jerk disconnected us today to try and ask me out. ~Cleo.
"Great," she muttered. "How the hell am I supposed to reply on this thing when I don't even know how?"
As though the device had been listening to her, a tiny keypad no bigger than her thumb popped out of the side, while the screen suddenly flashed "Reply?"
Oh joy. Now I suppose I need a needle or something to work the keypad, Dee thought dismally, as her sister ran up to the car.
"Are you two squirts almost done?" Lauren asked, coming into Mike's room with a tray of veggies for them.
Mike looked up from the screen. "The program's taking time to load," he said. "In another minute or so, it'll be ready to test."
"Well, hurry up," she huffed. "You know I have to leave soon."
"We know, we know."
At that moment, the green light on the Digi-Port started to blink furiously.
"Hey, it's working!" Mike cried out triumphantly. "It's working! All right, Kiko! We did it, man!" The two high-fived eachother, looking ecstatic. Lauren stood in wonder, watching the Port begin to open after four long years.
Suddenly, the green light was on. In a flash, Kiko had out his silver D-X and was pushing buttons on it.
"It's good to go. I'm gonna try it now," he said. He held up the device to the screen and said in a clear voice, "Digi-Port, OPEN!"
The flash of green light that followed nearly blinded the two boys for a moment. They expected to feel the rush they had felt when they had first gone through the Port, but they felt nothing. Instead, they heard a loud shriek from Lauren, and dead silence.
The light ebbed away. The two boys found themselves still standing in Mike's room, staring at the screen.
"Damn it!" Kiko yelled. "Just when we thought we had it, the stupid program didn't even work!"
Mike went pale. His vivid green eyes were wide with shock. "No, Kiko," he managed to say finally. "It worked, but on the wrong person."
And he pointed to the spot where Lauren had been moments before.
Lee's eyes opened slowly. She was feeling rather groggy, and her chest felt numb where her wound had been stitched up. Other than that, she was perfectly fine.
A pretty young nurse walked into her room then, carrying a file and a clipboard. "How are you feeling, Witaki?" she asked kindly. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah," Lee replied thickly. Her mouth felt like she'd been chewing on sandpaper.
"That's nice," the nurse said, all smiles. "But you know what? You're going to have another nice, long nap." With that, she took out the syringe she had in her pocket and filled it with a clear fluid.
Lee goggled at the needle. "What is that? What are you going to do?" she asked, trying to move. Her body felt heavy and leaden.
My God…they must have me drugged! she thought wildly.
"Now, hold nice and still…" the nurse said soothingly, jabbing the needle into Lee's arm. The effects of the drug were almost instantaneous, knocking Lee out like a professional boxer. The nurse caught her as she slumped over the edge of her cot and grinned.
I don't think you're much of a threat to me now, Bearer of Independence.
She dug in her pocket again and took out a small device. It looked almost like a remote control, but on each of its buttons, the name of a different dimension was labelled. She found the button for the Digital World and pressed it. The remote emitted a blast of green light that ripped open a portal between Earth and the Digital World.
Still smirking, the nurse dragged Lee though the portal and sealed it shut behind her.
"Here we are, my fair ladies," Chris said about fifteen minutes later. He parked in front of Odaiba Mansion and went around to let Tania and Hikaru out of the car.
"Let's just hope my parents don't come out," Hikaru said. "Hey, Tania, go wait inside the lobby for a minute, OK?"
The little girl smiled. "OK." She scampered into the building, and Hikaru turned to Chris.
"I'm not giving you up without a fight," she murmured, wrapping her arms around him. "I promise you that. Nobody has any right to dictate who I fall in love with. Especially not my parents."
His heart almost brimmed over with joy at that. "You mean that?"
"Yeah. I do." To prove she wasn't kidding, she held him closer and kissed him warmly.
When she pulled away, he buried his face into her long hair. "We'll find a way," he vowed, not noticing the two menacing figures behind them.
Tania watched silently through the glass doors as the two figures crept up behind her sister and the man she loved. Turn away! Leave them! she silently begged. She could feel their evil intents even from that far away.
The little girl tried to wrench open the door. To her dismay, it was stuck. She tugged on the handle, sobbing in frustration as she did. Finally, she managed to pull it open and burst through.
"Hikaru!" she cried. "Behind you! Look!"
The pair broke apart, too late to see their pursuers. In less than the time it would have taken Tania to run across the street to them, the two dark figures jumped Hikaru and Chris. They held them fast, and jumped through the hedges lining the side of the street.
Tania ran, not caring if a car hit her. She ran as fast as her little legs would take her, across the street, and into the hedges. She came just in time to see the dark figures pull her sister and Chris through a rip between the dimensions. Tania, who had never seen anything like that before, didn't know what to do. All she knew was that if she didn't act on this, her sister might be gone forever.
Kari Takaishi was setting the table for dinner when her youngest daughter burst into the apartment. "Momma!" she cried. "Momma! Something bad happened! Hikaru's gone!"
Her mother nearly dropped the china plates. "What did you say, Tania?" she gasped. "Hikaru's gone?"
"Yeah, and that Chris guy is gone too," Tania puffed. "Something took them, Momma, some big, bad dark guys. They pulled them through to another place, I think."
"What was Chris doing with you?"
"He drove us home. If Hikaru woulda listened to me when I said it was gonna rain, he wouldn't have drove us home, and she wouldn't be gone! Momma, it's all my fault!" the little girl cried, throwing her arms around her mother's legs and sobbing.
Kari stood stock still, utterly shocked. When she had her wits about her again, she screamed out, "TK! Call my brother and tell him to get over here! Hikaru's missing!"