Last time, Willis and his son attempted to destroy their arch-enemy Diaboromon, but a strange being teleported them, leaving Willis in a very weird place. Meanwhile, at Cody's wedding, Daemon and his Hunters appeared, kidnapping Kari, and attempted to capture Noriko, but she was saved. Kari was brought to a strange cell, where she was approached by a evil being, whom she knew.
Chapter 2: Fan the Flame
Kari sat inside of her glass cell, looking around the hallway. The other person in the room, Rumi, was lying on the floor, sleeping. Kari didn't understand how she could be sleeping like this. They were prisoners, and she had no idea what their captor was going to do to them.
Kari sighed as she leaned against the cell. "Someone," she thought,"Someone, help us, please? Oh, who am I kidding? This place somehow dampers my psychic powers! No one can hear me. It's hopeless."
But she was wrong, someone did hear her, someone she had not seen for fifteen years, and it was far from hopeless.
The Digidestined were assembled in the large conference room of their headquarters. All of the main members were seated around the large table, awaiting a report from their acting leader Davis.
The Digidestined Regent stood at the front of the table, looking slightly at everyone, but he choose to address the man at the end. "Cody, how are you feeling?"
The new husband sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll be okay, if that's what you mean."
Davis nodded,"What about Yume?"
"She's fine," Cody said, smiling slightly.
Davis returned the smile, and nodded. "Okay," he said, addressing everyone,"At eight o'clock last evening, while we were trying to piece together how Daemon and his Hunters got past our defensis, I received a call from Mina. One of her Digidestined, a psychic, was captured by Diaboromon, before he disappeared into a portal much like the one that Daemon vanished into."
"When my father and I were fighting Diaboromon in his pyramid," Chris said,"They both disappeared in a portal also."
"Are you saying that there is a connection?" Izzy. asked.
"Yes," Davis said,"I am."
"It would appear that Diaboromon and Daemon are working together," Matt said,"but to do what?"
"I don't know," Davis said,"But they went after Kari, Noriko, and now Rumi. My guess is that they're searching for Digidestined with psychic powers...."
"And we can use our directory to look for other psychic Digidestineds!" T.K. said.
"You're not seriously thinking of using them as bait, do you?" Yolei asked.
"There is no other way," T.K. said, staring at her.
"Davis," Yolei said, turning to the Regent,"We're not seriously going to use innocent humans as bait, right?"
"Informing them might alert Daemon and Diaboromon," T.K. said.
"Hey," Gommamon said, jumping onto Joe's shoulder,"If they're psychic, then they already know, right?"
"That is not funny," Joe barked at his Digimon.
Yolei just shook her head,"You can't use human bait just to find Kari!"
"This isn't about Kari!" T.K. shouted, jumping up and slamming his fist into the table, "Whatever there was between us, died a long time ago!"
"That's enough!" Davis shouted. T.K. took a deep breath and sat back down. Davis turned to Yolei. "I'm sorry Yolei, but this is the best way. Noriko will list all the Digidestined with psychic powers, and give you a person to stake out. Dismissed."
"Hey guys," Hyouriki said, getting up from her chair as her parents walked into their family's quarters,"How did it go?"
"Not good!" Yolei said, storming past her daughter, "What has this world come to, when we use the very people we're trying to save as bait?!" She ran into her room and slammed the door.
"What happened?" Sam asked, turning to his father.
Ken sighed as he sat down,"It looks like Daemon and Diaboromon are working together, and they're after psychic Digidestined. He wants us to use other psychic Digidestined as bait to try and get the Hunters and Diaboromon. Your mother is, of course, opposed to it, but there is no other way."
Sam just nodded. Hyouriki walked past her younger brother and stood before her father. "So, what do we do?"
"Noriko is going to give us a list of psychic Digidestined on our roster, then we'll be paired off to stake out each one, but.." He leaned down and stared his daughter right in the eye,"I don't want you to use your powers, got it?"
"But, dad," she said,"Using my abilities, we can cover a lot of ground, really quickly..."
"Hyouriki," Ken said, sternly,"I am well aware of your ability to open any gate from the Dark Ocean, but we've only used that on drastic occasions! It's too dangerous! Besides, I wasn't even talking about that.."
"Oh," she said,"My digivice..."
"Yes," Ken said,"All the jewels are almost lit, and it fills me with such fear what might happen. I've allowed you to use it so far, because I thought that by using it, we might get a clue as to what will happen, but, now, with all the jewels almost light....I forbid you to use it, understand? Your Digimon can fight at the champion level, alright?"
"Alright," Hyourki said,"But, what if my friends need help?"
"No!" Ken said,"You call for backup, okay?"
"Okay..."
"Alright," Ken said, standing back up,"I'm going to try and convince your mother about the importance of this mission. Don't go anywhere, Davis'll call for us soon." His two children nodded. "Alright," Ken said, turning to walk away.
As he walked towards his room, he couldn't help but worry about his daughter, the one that he feared was the Child of Darkness.
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA
The stars shown brightly down on the large mansion nestled snugly in the base of the mountain. Along the perimeter of the building, was a large stone wall, with an electrified fence along the top, in an attempt to keep out intruders.
Two intruders, however, weren't going to let that stand in their way. One had the figure of a young woman, completely dressed in a black skin tight suit. The other was a small green creature, with two large eyes, who huffed as the duo charged around the outside of the building.
"How much further do we have to go, Heather?" the smaller figure asked.
"We're here, Numemon," Heather said, stopping in front of a large metal gate. She reached inside her small backback and threw a rope with a grappling hook over it. The hook caught on the top as Heather pulled it tight.
She turned to her Digimon. "Okay, let's go."
Her Numemon jumped onto her back as Heather climbed up the rope and over the brick wall. Her feet slammed into the grass on the other side. Numemon chung tightly to Hearther's back as she quickly ran across across the open yard to the mansion.
As she ran towards the grass, a figure watched her moments from the roof of the mansion. He watched as she entered the building, then turned around and ran back inside.
Heather threw open the window and climbed inside. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she carefully walked along the edges of the room, her hands running along the walls until they ran into a small switch. She flipped it up, and the room was filled with light.
"Huh! I..I don't believe this!" she said, looking around. The room was filled with paintings and statues of incredible wealth and rarity. Gold carvings lined a small shelf, complimenting the multicolored frescoes that adorned the wall. "This must be how Howard Carver felt," she smiled wickedly to herself,"and now it's time to excavate King Tut's tomb!"
Her Numemon started to pack smaller stone carvings into his bag, while Heather moved towards a bronze statue in the corner. "Is that Donatello's David?" she asked, running her hands over it.
"Yes, and it cost me a fortune!"
Heather quickly spun around and saw a young blond man standing in the doorway. "Did I startle you?" he asked,"I'm..."
She touched her head for a second, then said,"You're Micheal Smith, Producer, Director, and owner and C.E.O. of one of the largest movie studios in the world."
"Ahh, you've heard of me?" Micheal asked, as Betamon moved around behind his feet,"I see that the tabloids at least keep some things true."
"I didn't need them," Heather said, tapping against her forehead,"I can read your thoughts."
"A psychic Digidestined," Micheal said,"I'll need to..owf!" Heather's foot slammed into his stomach, cutting him off in mid-sentence. He stumbled backwards, landing on top of Betamon. He was about to get back up, when Heather pounded his skull with a colorful vase, which shattered on impact. Micheal's eyes rolled back into his head as his body went limp.
Heather felt a surge of panic wash over her. She quickly dropped to her knees and placed her fingers against Michael's neck. "Good," she breathed a sigh of relif,"He's still alive, but he's going to wake up with one hell of a headache!" She turned to her Digimon partner,"Let's hurry."
"How much further until we reach that castle?" Terriermon asked.
Willis ran a hand across his wet brow. "I have no idea," he said, letting a sigh escape from his throat. He glanced around at his surroundings. He was somewhere in what looked like outer space, with stars shinning brightly. He was lying on a glowing white path with other identical paths arranged in a circle around what appeared to be an ancient European Castle, very far away.
"Great," Terriermon said,"I don't think I have any heels on my feet left."
Willis stared at the castle,"Our answers have to be there. Let's keep going."
Micheal slowly opened his eyes. "Oh," he said, rubbing his head,"What hit me?" He looked around the now bare room,"And who cleared me out!?!"
"I think it was her,"Betamon said, pointing his hand out the window. Micheal ran over. Outside Heather was loading all of his art valuables into a large SUV.
"She's taking my 40,000 dollar car?!" Micheal shouted, his face turning red,"My 40,000 dollar car?!"
"Micheal," Betamon said,"Let's follow her, maybe she has more stolen items."
"Good idea," Micheal said, calming down,"Digivolve into Seadramon, then follow that car."
Shiro Ishida ran a hand through his red hair as raised the other hand, placing the binoculars against his eyes. He scanned all the buildings in the city below, before focusing on a warehouse building a few blocks from the building he was on. "I haven't seen anything yet," he said.
"I'm sure the psychic Digidestined will show up," his Gabumon said.
"Who are we looking for anyway?" Shiro asked.
Seiji Kamiya leaned his back against the ledge of the roof. "Heather Johnson, age 25 partner, Numemon. Her address is right across the street."
"Alright," Shiro said, continuing to look through his binoculars,"I haven't seen anyone yet, but I'll keep....wait, someone's coming."
Seiji sat straight up and looked over the edge of the roof. He saw a car zooming towards the building. "That's got to be her,"his Salamon said.
"Wait," Shiro said, looking to the sky,"Is that a Seadramon?"
"What?" Seiji asked, standing up. He grabbed the binoculars and focused on the flying Digimon,"That's Mr. Smith, our former head of security! What's he doing here?"
"I don't know," Shiro said,"Let's go find out." He turned around and ran back inside the building.
Seiji followed him, but, as he did, he pulled out a small cell-phone. He pressed the auto-dial. "Noriko," he said,"We've got a...situation here. Micheal Smith is with Heather Johnson."
"What?" Noriko asked,"Okay, go after her, I'll pull Hyouriki and Sam to help you."
Heather pulled to a stop slightly before the far wall. She jumped out of the car and ran across the warehouse floor. As her Numemon started to pull their stolen items out of the vehicle, she slid the door closed. She was about to help her Digimon partner, when the skylight above them shattered. Heather quickly jumped to the side as the falling glass crashed into the ground. A second later Micheal and Seadramon landed on the ground.
"Surprised to see me?" Micheal asked, getting on the floor.
"You followed me!" Heather shouted.
"And you robbed me!" he said, pointing his finger at her,"If you return everything now, I won't press charges. It's the least I can do for a fellow Digidestined."
"What would you know about fellowship?" Heather said,"You are one of the richest men in America, and you could use your wealth to help those less fortunate! Instead, you buy useless art pieces that just sit inside your mansion like a museum!"
"And what's all this for?" Micheal asked, mentioning to the shelves full of artifacts.
"I sell these pieces and use to money to help the homeless, sick, and impaired!" Heather shouted.
"A thief with a cause is still a thief!" Micheal said.
"Hey, " Heather's Numemon said, jumping forward,"You don't know us!"
Seadramon started to fight back, when they heard a loud pounding. Everyone turned their heads to the metal door. Circles were beginning to appear, as if someone was hitting the other side with a hammer. "Zudomon?" Micheal asked.
Suddenly, the metal doors flew open and a smaller figure walked in. "Guess again! My name is Puppetmon!"
"And I am Arukennimon," a second figure said, following Puppetmon inside,"And we've come for Heather Johnson."
"W-what?" she asked,"You guys are Digimon, but, are your human partners police officers?"
"Enough talk!" Puppetmon said, holding up his hammer,"Puppet Pummel!"
Numemon jumped in front of Heather, when Seadramon wrapped his tail around both of them, and pulled them aside. Puppetmon's attack blasted the ground where they were only a second ago.
"What did you do that for?" Numemon asked.
"Puppetmon is a Mega Digimon, "Seadramon explained,"His attack would have fried you."
"You take care of getting the psychic," Puppetmon said to Arukennimon,"I'll handle the Metalseadramon wanabe!"
"Roger," Arukennimon said. She started to walk towards Heather. The psychic Digidestined almost screamed as Arukennimon's body slowly twisted and turned, changing her into a giant spider. The evil Digimon lifted her head and smiled at Heather.
"W..what do you want?" Heather asked.
"Weren't you listening?" Arukennimon asked,"I've come for you!" She reached out with her large hands to grab Heather, when something pounded her in the side of the head, throwing her across the room, and into Puppetmon. The two of them crashed into a large stone statue of Octavian, Emperor of Rome.
"More Digimon?" Heather asked, eying the giant centaur that was standing in front of her, and the black cat on his back.
"We're the good guys," Seiji said, running into the warehouse, followed by Shiro.
"Good guys?" Heather asked.
"Now I'm mad!" Puppetmon shouted, as he got up from the floor, but Arukennimon was out cold. Heather looked at them, then back at Sam and Seiji, then at Micheal.
"Look," she said, as she and Numemon started to walk towards an opening that lead to a ship dock,"I don't know how any of you know me, but I'm leaving, right now!"
"Allow me to aid you!" a sinister voice said from behind her. She spun around and saw a human man walking towards her, with another figure covered in bandages.
"How many more of you are coming?" Heather asked.
"Oikawa......?" Micheal asked, dumbfounded.
"That's right."
"B-But you're dead!" Micheal said,"I was there, I saw it! D-Digimon can be reconfigured, but humans die! You can't be here!"
Oikawa's face turned into a sneer,"Reports of my demise were greatly exaggerated. Enough talk! Mummymon and I have come for the girl, come with me now, and you will not be harmed."
"I didn't need your help," Puppetmon protested.
"Our master thought otherwise," Oikawa said, walking towards the group of Digidestined.
"We're not going to let you get her!" Seiji's Black Gatomon shouted, as she and Centaurmon jumped in front of Heather and her Numemon.
"You're...Matt's son," Micheal asked,"And, you're Kari's son, right?"
"Yeah," Shiro said,"Listen, we can't let them get Heather, I'll explain later, you'll just have to trust us."
"Did Davis send you?" Micheal asked.
"Yeah," Seiji said.'
"Then there is nothing to explain, Seadramon, don't let Heather get taken! She's still got to give me my art pieces back!"
"Right," Seadramon said, landing next to Black Gatomon,"If you want her, you'll have to go through us!"
"What am I, chopped liver?" Numemon asked,"I tell you, I get no respect, no respect at all!"
Mummymon laughed slightly, throwing his head back. When he did, he caught a glimpse of Arukennimon lying on the floor. "Oh no!" he shouted,"My beloved is injured! I'll make you pay for that!" He pulled out his gun and fired.
"I'm with you!" Puppetmon shouted, firing his own weapon. The two attacks proved too much, as all three Champion Digimon flew backwards over Heather's head and crashed into the wall.
"Too strong," Centaurmon mumbled as he got to his feet,"Mega level attack, too strong for us. Shiro, I need to Digivolve.."
"You got it," Matt's son said, raising his Digivice.
"I'm not going to let you have the chance!" Puppetmon said, rising into the air. He held his mallet over his head,"You're about to be flattened! Ha!" He was about to slam it on top of the three Digimon, when he noticed something in the corner of his eye. He turned around, just in time to watch a spinning tornado ram through his chest, shattering him into a million pieces. The tornado slowly stopped twisting, revealing a familiar figure.
"Wargreymon?" Seadramon asked, lifting his head off of the ground.
"Then, that means... Micheal said, turning his head just in time to see a figure rush by him and tackle Oikawa, throwing him off the dock and into the water. "Tai?" Micheal asked.
"Way to go, Wargreymon!" a young man said, running into the warehouse,"Now, let Cyberdramon have a turn!"
A large humanoid creature wearing metal armor and large black wings flew into the warehouse. "What is the problem, Akira?" he asked.
The young man pointed towards Mummymon,"Stop him!"
"Right," Cyberdramon said. He shot towards Mummymon, but stopped right in front of him, He then zoomed up, and over the evil Digimon. He slammed his long nails into Mummymon's back,"Erase Claw!"
Mummymon stumbled forward, then turned around, pointing his gun up. He fired a beam of energy at Cyberdramon. The new Digimon breathed it for a second, then slammed his fist into Mummymon, where he crashed into the ground, but quickly got back on his feet. Cyberdramon then flew over and behind him again, but Mummymon was ready for him. Before he could attack, Mummymon blasted him with his gun, crashing Cyberdramon into Centarumon, sending him back into the floor. Both Digimon were covered by a bright light, then shrunk back to their Rookie forms.
"Great job!" Shiro yelled,"Now we can't stop him!"
The young man glared at him. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to? I am.."
"What's happening to the water?" Heather asked, cutting him off.
Everyone turned towards the dock, where they saw the water explode, and Oikawa rising into the air, with his opponent in his hands. "Mummymon," Oikawa said,"Take care of this." He threw the opponent into the air.
"Right," Mummymon said, throwing his bandages at the figure, tying him to the wall, suspending him near the roof.
"The portal," Oikawa said, turning around to find a glowing circle floating slightly above the dock,"Grab her, and let's go!"
"Right." Mummymon threw a bandage lasso as Heather and Numemon, wrapping them tightly. He then pulled them towards him, despite her protests. Mummymon followed Oikawa into the portal, seconds before it disappeared.
A second later a dark portal appeared, and Hyouriki, Sam, and their Digimon jumped out. "I thought your father didn't want you using your Dark Gate powers," Seiji said.
"I thought you were in trouble!" Hyouriki snapped back,"What happened?"
"Johnson's gone," Shiro said, looking at the young man,"And if it wasn't for him, Centaurmon might have gotten her back!"
"Your Digimon was only at the Champion level," the young man snapped,"What was he going to do?"
"Akria! What happened?"
The young man turned back to the entreance of the warehouse and saw a man and a woman walk in. "We failed, Aunt Serena," he said, looking at the ground.
"Where's your father?" the man asked.
"Up there, Uncle Sam, Mummymon strung him to the top of the wall."
Micheal was staring up at Oikawa's opponent. "Tai," he said,"It is you! Why didn't you keep in touch?" a thin smile appeared on his face,"Were you all hung up?"
"Just get me down from here!" Tai shouted through clenched teeth,"Oh, how humiliating!"
As Micheal and Seadramon were helping Tai down, Seiji walked over to Akira. "So, you're my cousin, huh?"
"Uh, I guess so," Akira said, turning his head so that he wouldn't look him in the face,"What's your name?"
"I'm Seiji Kamiya, but, I guess you knew about the Kamiya part, right?"
Akira laughed slightly.
"Mr. Smith," Serena said, bowing,"It is nice to see you again."
"And you too," Micheal said,"You've become a very attractive young woman."
Serena blushed, as Sam stepped closer to his sister. "Hey, back off there."
Tai walked beside Micheal. "I have to say, you've changed," Micheal said,"What happened to that mop of hair that we all came to love?"
Tai laughed slightly as he ran his hand over his crew cut."I haven't had that hair cut in about eight years, heh!" He mentioned to the kids,"Who are they?"
Micheal walked over to them. "This is, Shiro Ishida and Seiji Kamiya..."
Tai's ears perked."Seiji? My nephew?"
Seiji bowed,"It is nice to finally meet you."
"You look like my sister," Tai said. He then turned to the other boy. "Shiro Ishida?" The boy nodded. Tai smiled slightly. "You look like your mother, she was my....best friend once. Who are these two?"
"Sam and Hyouriki Ichijoji," Seiji said.
"Ken's son and..daughter?" Tai asked. "Ken's daughter! The one that was born in the Dark Ocean, the one that Dragomon wanted as his bride, the one that I fear is the prophesied Child of Darkness."
"Um, excuse me, Uncle Tai," Seiji said,"But we should get back to Digidestined Headquarters and report to Mr. Motomiya."
"Alright," Tai said,"I'm eager to see the others anyway."
"Hey, look," Betamon said,"They left Arukennimon behind, maybe she knows what's going on?"
"That's a good thought," Shiro said,"Let's take her back with us."
"And since we can't use portals," Sam said, eying Hyoruiki,"Because we're not allowed, we need to find another way."
"No problem," Micheal said,"We can take one of my planes."
"Wait," Akira said,"If we can just teleport like they did, why don't we?"
"Because Hyouriki isn't allowed," Sam repeated, staring at his older sister.
"You control them?" Tai asked,"Why can't you use them?"
Hyouriki sighed. "Okay, you know how the Dark Ocean only has two unlocked gates, and entreance, and one exit. Well, since I was born in the Dark Ocean, I am somehow able to control all the other 'locked' portals. I can opened a gate to the Dark Ocean anywhere, then find a hidden portal, and open it. I can use the Dark Ocean to travel almost anywhere on Earth and the Digital World."
"You can do that?" Tai asked. "More and more I am convinced that she is the Child of Darkness, I can almost feel it, there is a dark part of her soul, waiting to awaken. I've got to talk to Davis."
"Tai Kamiya, is it really you?!"
Tai smiled as he walked into the reception hall of the Digidestined Headquarters. All of the Japan Digidestined were there, as well as a few younger Digidestined that they were training. Tai warmly returned Davis's handshake, gripping it tightly. "Oh man Davis," Tai said, his eyes slightly starting to water,"You don't know how good it is to see you. How long has it been?"
"Too long," Davis said, smiling,"But, if you want specifics, it's been fifteen years. What brings you home?"
"Let's save business for later," Tai said,"We've got a lot of catching up to do. " He looked over Davis's shoulder and saw and even older frined,"Izzy!" he shouted, running over to him,"Izzy, I've missed you."
Izzy disregarded Tai's handshake and pulled him into a hug. "Hey man," Tai said,"I didn't think you missed me that much!"
"It hasn't been the same around here without you," Izzy said,"It's so good to see you again."
"Hello Tai."
"Sora," Tai said, his smile fading slightly,"How are you doing?"
"Okay, I guess," she said, softly and slowly.
Tai swallowed. "Come on Tai, get it together! I can't believe I'm still in love with her, it's been fifteen years, a normal person would have gotten over it by now! I'm not in love with her, I can' be!"
"So," he asked, slowly,"How are you and Matt?"
"We're both perfect!" Matt said, with a hug smile, lightly slapping Tai on the back,"So, how have you been?"
As his father began to talk to his friends, Akira stood nervously by the door. He saw Sam and Serena go off and talk to some of the friends that hadn't seen in a long time, but he didn't know what to do. He was just about to look for Seiji and Hyouriki, the only ones he knew, when he felt something slap onto his shoulder. He turned around and saw a young man about his age smiling at him. There was a red headed girl behind him. "How are you doing?" the young man asked,"The name's Dan Motomiya. This is Erika Izumi, its a pleasure to meet you!"
"Uh, yeah, I..I'm Akira Kamiya," he said, a little uneasy. He had spent most of his life with just his father, and Sam and Serena, he really didn't know how to act around others. He looked over Dan's shoulder to Erika,"Uh, hi."
Erika smiled slightly and nodded. "Nice to meet you."
"So," Dan said,"You're Tai Kamiya's son, huh?"
"That's right."
While the two of them started to talk, Erika's eyes were locked on Akira. "Wow," she thought,"He's really cute."
Akira nodded at Dan's statement, when he noticed someone walking into the room. A girl his age, with golden hair that glistened in the light, and a face that surely came from an angel. "Who is that?!" he whispered.
"Hmm?" Dan asked. He turned around,"Oh, that is Leyu.."
"Leyu," Akira said, rolling the name on his tounge,"She's a real looker."
"Well, good luck," Dan said, patting Akira's back,"She's not an easy girl to please."
"What do you mean?"
"She's a spoiled brat!" Erika said, crossing her arms.
"As you can probably tell," Dan said,"She and Erika don't get along at all, but, she's right. Leyu is a bit spoiled, but, it's her brother that you really have to worry about..."
"Her brother?"
"Shiro," Dan said, crossing his arms also.
"Oh great!" Akira said,"You mean that redheaded kid with the Centarumon?"
Dan nodded, "Yup."
"Well, we already hate each other," Akira sighed,"But I've got to at least talk to her. Leyu...."
Next: Akira tries to get Leyu to notice him, while Tai and the other attempt to discover the motives of the kidnapping. What are they after, who is behind it? Find out, in Night of Destiny Part 3: Darkness Revealed!