Title: Latent Epidemic
Rating: PG-13 - R
Pairings: Yamachi/Taito (Matt/Tai, Tai/Matt), Miora/Sorami (Mimi/Sora, Sora/Mimi), Kensuke/Daiken (Ken/Davis, Davis/Ken), Takari (TK/Kari), Yolei is single, Joe and Izzy are single, and Cody is married to a woman called Allison (Original Character).
Warnings: Yaoi, slash, het, basically male/male, and female/female relationships. If this isn't your cup of tea then it's best that you press the little button at the top of your screen that says 'back' and read something else.
Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. That honour belongs to someone else, and is something I can only dream of achieving. I am only borrowing the characters for a while with the promise to return them in one piece. Erm... well, I'll try and keep them in one piece anyway. uu
Well, this is the first digimon story that I've attempted.
I did post this before but one of my friends (and a few reviewers) mentioned that this was long and thought that I should split it up.
That said, Latent Epidemic has been split into chapters.
If you've already read this before then fine, but if you haven't I hope that this version is easier to read.
Thanks for reading this story, or at least getting to the bottom of the notes.
Sailor G
Latent Epidemic by Sailor Gaia
Chapter 3: Explanations
"It doesn't look like there is anything wrong."
Ken was right. The digital world looked exactly as they had last seen it. Even the mass of rampaging Digimon was the same.
Wait a minute... rewind... Mass of rampaging digimon!
The five digidestined stood still at the sight of the digimon about 1/2 a mile away.
"What's up with them?" Yamato asked the silent group.
The four other digidestined shook their heads and found hard to tear their gaze away from the sight in front of them. Wormon, Gatomon and Patamon were already here, and Demi-Veemon was in Daisuke and Ken's apartment while Poromon was in Matt's apartment. Let's just say that the food supply in Matt's apartment was seriously dented and falling fast.
"Mimi!" Mimi spun around when her name was shouted out. It was Palmon and she had brought a friend with her. Namely Gabumon.
"Alright, now that all the digimon are here let's go and see what's up with those digimon." said Yamato.
Things were not looking good.
They had four sick friends and no idea as to what was wrong with them, and they seemed to be getting worse.
Of course with no way to tell how ill they were, it is difficult to say that they are getting worse.
Izzy sighed and tried another programme on his computer. None of the 20, or was it thirty (he had lost count) programmes had worked and he was running out of choices.
"I just got an email from Kari on the D-terminal. They said that there is a lot of digimon there who look like have gone bezerk. And as for the scanner... I only have about 10 more programmes I can try but I don't know if they will work. All I can tell is that something is being attacked in their body, I think it is their power within them but I can't be sure."
Joe reappeared in the room with a cup of green tea and placed it next to Izzy.
"You'll figure it out. You always do."
"I hope you're right Jyou, I hope you're right." he looked over to their fallen friends. "Too much is riding on this to fail."
He sits down next to Izzy and looks at the computer screen.
"Just what are you trying to do exactly?"
"Since the scanner isn't picking up anything on its own I can only deduce that whatever has afflicted our friends is abnormal in nature. And so I am trying to implement a programme that will let us know exactly what is wrong with our friends."
Izzy sighed for the umpteenth time that day and tried another programme. "At the rate I've been going this morning I doubt that any of these..." Izzy trailed off as several patches of colour started appearing on the monitor. "...it worked. Prodigious!" Izzy grinned and started analysing the information on screen.
"So what does that mean Izzy?"
"I'm not sure... it's weird though. The colour I expected to be on here was black... yet the colour on Tai's body is orange."
"Well... the orange is fading to black in places." said Joe. "Well," he said as he stood up. "I'll go make us something to eat." he paused in the door to the kitchen. "Well, I don't know about black but that colour on your monitor kinda looks like the colour of Tai's crest."
Izzy froze as Joe's words reached him. He slowly moved his gaze to the monitor. Joe was right, the colour on the screen was the colour of Tai's crest. The crest of courage.
He grabbed the scanner and moved it over Daisuke's body. The colour on that screen was the same orange as Tai's, only with not so many black spots.
Sora and Yolei's were the same colour, a dull red. The black patches were more prominent in Sora's than Miyako's.
The colour of their crests were fading as each second passed, and as the black grew bigger.
Whatever was inside them was attacking the power of their crests.
"I know what's wrong with them!"
Joe came running out of the kitchen with a bowl in hand and a frantic Poromon in tow.
"Have you figured out what is wrong with Yolei!" Poromon started bouncing around Izzy's feet and nearly knocked over the scanner. Izzy grabbed it at the last second and glared at Poromon.
"Could you please express your concern without destroying my equipment!"
Poromon ignored the comment and bounced around Joe instead. Joe sighed and picked up Poromon.
"What's wrong with them Izzy."
"Oh... right. You got me thinking Joe when you said the colour on the screen looked like the colour of their crests. Tai and Davis both have the colour of the crest of courage, and Sora and Yolei both have the colour of the crest of love. What is clear is that the colour of their crests is fading, and fading fast. If we don't figure out how to stop it then the power of their crests will be lost forever. It won't be so bad for Yolei and Davis. They will have the crests of Sincerity and Friendship to fall back on... but Tai and Sora..." Izzy looked up to Joe and Poromon with a horrified look on his face.
"So their digimon won't be able to digivolve to ultimate any more, that's not that bad right?" Joe grew nervous at the look on Koushiro's face.
"If we don't figure out a way to stop it... they could die."
"So Izzy said that the power of their crests is being attacked huh." Commented Matt at Kari read out Koushiro's latest email.
He may have looked like he was cool, calm and collected but inside he was terrified. The gripping worry he had for Taichi and their friends had refused to leave, and it was all he could do to remain calm. He wasn't about to let the others see just how worried he was. His train of thought was interrupted by his ickle, or not so ickle, brother Takeru Takaishi.
"I still can't figure out how someone would have been able to attack the very power within a human being." said TK as they walked across the fields.
"You've been saying that for the past five minutes." Mimi complained.
Kari smiled at the playful banter between the two. It had been so long since they had done this and, despite the reasons for coming here, it was good for them.
"There they are." Kari looked to where Matt was pointing. Sure enough the digimon were close enough to be seen clearly, it was a large group of digimon (all different types as well). "Well, what now?"
It looked as though the digimon heard them and they turned to look at them. The group collectively tensed and didn't move.
Now what happened next was extremely strange. And if Davis was here he would have made some flippant comment about it.
The digimon gave them one look as if to say 'why are you here?' and turned back to what they were doing.
"Now that was weird." commented Matt. "think we should round them up? we can't leave them fighting like this."
The group nodded slowly, seeing that sight was quite a shock for them it seemed.
Kari, Ken, TK, Matt and Mimi held out their digivices.
"Gatomon armour digivolve to... Nefertimon, the Angel of Light!"
"Wormon digivolve to... Stingmon!"
"Patamon armour digivolve to... Pegasusmon, Flying Hope!"
"Gabumon digivolve to... Garurumon!"
"Palmon digivolve to... Togemon!"
Nefertimon and Pegasusmon flew up into the sky and their feet seemed to glow a golden colour.
"Golden Noose!"
A chain of what looked like gold light appeared and about five of the feuding digimon (two Meramon, one Monochromon and two Gatzumon) were caught.
"Remember Stingmon, just knock them out until we can figure out what is going on." Ken shouted up to his partner. Stingmon nodded and raced towards a Guardromon.
"Spiking Strike!" The Guardromon fell under the attack and was soon unconscious.
"This is taking too long," Yamato Ishida muttered under his breath. "Okay let's finish this!" he shouted to the rest of the team. They all looked to him and nodded. "Let's do this Garurumon."
"I'm with you Matt, Howling Blaster!"
"Get ready for some Needle Spray!"
"Let's see them deal with this! Aqueous Beam!"
"Let's put these puppies to sleep! Rosetta Stone!"
"It's time to end this! Spiking Strike!"
The attacks hit home and soon all the digimon were unconscious in front of them.
"Well that was easy," Mimi said from the back where she was examining Togemon for injuries.
"That seemed a bit too easy," Yamato said to Ken and kept looking for trouble. "I don't like this, something feels off." Ken took Yamato's warning at face value. He knew better than to dispute what Yamato was saying, Yamato did have more experience than he did after all.
Suddenly the sound of laughter reached their ears and the digidestined started looking for trouble.
"Where's the laughter coming from?" he heard TK mutter from his place on top of Pegasusmon.
"Show yourself!" Matt shouted, an expression of anger written over his pale face.
The laughter sounded from above them this time and the digidestined looked up to see a woman floating in the air. It wasn't so much the fact that she, a human being, was here in the digital world but the fact that she was floating that really surprised them.
She didn't have a digivice so how could she be here?
Matt narrowed his eyes in suspicion as the laughter stopped.
"Are you always this suspicious... Yamato Ishida?"
Matt froze as she used his full name. He didn't even know her so how could she...
"How do you know my name? Tell me!"
The woman smiled, or rather smirked, and floated down to the ground. Something shimmered by her side and a tall, rabbit like digimon appeared.
So that was how she could float.
While she reached the ground the digidestined took the time to evaluate this new individual.
She was rather slender, was of average height, had long dark brown hair with a streak of red down the front, and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing dark green (almost black) skin-tight trousers and a dark blue tank top that matched her eyes. Over this was a long black duster and a deadly looking sword sat on her hip.
Her digimon was even worse in retrospect. And it seemed to be the exact opposite to her. They did nothing but contrast each other. She was dark, and her digimon was light. Of course, their colourings didn't mean that their personalities would follow the same track.
Kerpymon was a rabbit type digimon. Its face and body were a dull grey/pearl. There were two yellow stripes going down its face passing through each eye. There was a yellow and dull grey jesters collar around its neck, with two yellow stripes falling down its body. The area inside the yellow stripes was a dull grey while the area outside the stripes was a dark grey. All in all not a good thing to fight.
When her black booted feet touched the ground she started walking towards the digidestined. They tensed up and looked at her with trepidation. It was one thing to fight a digimon but they didn't think that they could fight a human being!
She stopped about two yards in front and smirked. "So this is the famous digidestined. You really don't look like much."
Mimi bristled at this comment and strode up to the front of the group.
"How dare you say that! You don't look like much either!"
TK sighed. If this continued it would be the cat fight of the century.
The woman sighed, as if she got this a lot, and shifted her hips slightly. It was enough to accent the sword on her hips and Mimi gulped. As brave as she may be... not even she can stand up to a sword.
"Who are you anyway?"
"Me?" she looked mildly put out by the question... as if they should have known who she was. "I'm Shiatar Takanawa. And you are the famous digidestined. Oh look, this isn't a complete group. Oh wait... aren't some of your 'pals' sick. Oh geez, how inconsiderate of me." She didn't look sorry in the slightest as she continued speaking, oblivious to the growing anger of the digidestined and their digimon in front of her. "Well, I guess I'll just have to finish you off first and then get rid of your friends. Or may be I'll wait for my master to defeat you all."
"What do you mean!" Kari shouted out angrily. How dare this woman insult their fallen friends.
Nefertimon tensed by her side and glared at the woman in front of her.
"Well... I guess I could tell you seeing as you won't be alive for very long." She ran her hands through her dark brown hair and placed her hands in her duster pockets. "It's like this... you and your annoying friends were in the way and it was decided that they had to be gotten rid of. You don't realise it but, you digidestined are a virus... one that I intend to get rid of, one way or another."
The group tensed and grew angry.
"You mean you-" started Pegasusmon
"-poisoned our friends." Finished Nefertimon and was seconds away from using her Queen Paw attack, human or not.
"Ah ah ah," she shook her finger mockingly at the people and digimon in front of her. "What makes you think I did this?"
"But you just said..." Ken was confused, hadn't she just said...
She laughed and cut him off.
"I know I said I wanted to get rid of you saps, but this wasn't my idea. Almost wish it was though." She added, almost as an afterthought.
"So why did you just attack Tai, Sora, Davis and Yolei?" shouted Matt. He clenched his hands by his side and fought to control his anger, it wouldn't do him any good to lose his temper now.
"Well, you see, it was clear that the only thing that held the digidestined together. Those two were the backbone of the group. They had to go. The virus was the perfect way to do it... didn't count on there being two holder's of the crests. Not that it matters though, you'll all be dead eventually." She shook her head and smiled.
Kari stopped and reigned in her anger. Something wasn't right about this girl, and she didn't know what. She just had the feeling that there was more to her than met the eye. Her eyes widened as she came to a realisation. She was just like Ken! Ever since she had first laid eyes on her she had sensed a deep sadness that emanated from her soul. One that had worked its way in deep and stemmed from her past Hikari was sure of it. Maybe there was a way to reach her...
"So if it wasn't your idea then whose was it?" TK asked with barely suppressed anger at her side.
"Oh, you've heard of him." She paused for dramatic effect and the lighting around her seemed to make her look even more sinister. "Apocolymon."
It only took one word to make Mimi, Matt, TK and Kari gasp while Ken looked on in confusion. He presumed that Apocolymon was a digimon but why did his name cause that reaction in the older digidestined?
"It... it can't be..." Kari whispered and looked stricken.
"We killed him." Mimi whispered, her face extremely pale. Even their digimon seemed to have gone into shock and had the same blank look on their faces.
"Even if he could... how could he get to the power of our crests?" Takeru said quietly.
Meanwhile Shiatar seemed pleased at their reactions and smirked. "You're right you did kill him. But did you forget that digimon cannot die, they are all reborn in the Primary Village. Even the dark digimon. I first came into the Digital World when I was five, a weird woman came and told me that I would be strong in the digital world. That was all I wanted, the ability to be able to show everyone that I would take crap from no-one! Ever since then I have lived in the digital world, moving from place to place when it got too dangerous. Apocolymon came to me when I was 14. I happened upon the Primary Village and I heard his voice calling out to me. He told me with his help I could become powerful, more powerful than I could have ever dreamed of. It was that day that I met my digimon partner. Kerpymon." Takanawa swung her arm out and gestured to the silent digimon at her side. "That was the best day of my life and from that moment on I served Apocolymon to the best of my ability. And I return I got this." She reached into her duster pocket and pulled something out. The group saw that it was an indigo D3. "Oh and in case you're wondering, the virus can't be stopped. It works by attacking the power of a persons crest. Without the power of their crest they will die, it's as simple as that."
"They're getting worse Izzy, isn't there anything we can do to stop this?"
Izzy looked over to Jyou Kido with an expression of deep sadness and underlying anger on his face.
"There isn't really a lot we can do Jyou. We can only hope that they are strong enough to beat it."