DIGIMON TAMERS: AFTERMATH

BOOK 3

by Vashkoda

(Disclaimer: This work of fiction uses characters belonging to Toei and Saban without their permission. I am getting no profit from it. I only do it because I think Digimon is a great show, and I want to keep the story alive!)

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The D-Reaper program awoke to find itself suffocating. From the depths of the earth, it could feel the weight of the world above pressing down on it.

It has grown too big, the D-Reaper thought in a panic. I have slept too long.

The program coalesced into a globular form, slithering its way through the cracks in the earth until it reached the surface.

The light above was blinding; the sounds deafening. So much data--so much life. So much waste.

The flock needed to be culled. The crop needed to be reaped.

Then suddenly the world changed. The land had become blackened and bare. Those digimon that could still move fled, while the tortured voices of others could be heard all around. And trampling among this mass of chaos was a creature out of nightmare. A giant made of writhing blood-red cables, many ending in sharp metal blades that sliced through everything. They tore up the Digital World and its denizens until the air was filled with fragmented data.

The D-Reaper was amazed at the creature's speed and power. Nothing could stand in its way. The program felt inferior in comparison, realizing that this giant was effortlessly carrying out the D-Reaper's own objective, a task it had always felt ill-equipped to handle.

Maybe I can learn from this creature, thought the program in excitement, cheering the red giant and its blind destruction. Maybe I can become it. I must learn how to grow more powerful, how to evolve....

The ground beneath it cracked and broke apart, and the D-Reaper was surprised to find itself suddenly fleeing in terror. Even more surprising--it was was running on two feet, its small round body bouncing as it moved.

Why do I look like this? wondered the program. And why am I running? I welcome the destruction! But at the same time, the D-Reaper felt an overwhelming sense of dread and a desire to protect its own life. The sight of the desolation left behind in the monster's wake began to evoke in it feelings of pain and regret. The program felt frustrated by these new feelings, which it didn't understand at all.

Useless, it called them. Just like I am. I must achieve my objective!

Then suddenly, the world was gone. The D-Reaper floated alone in a void of darkness.

It's happened, thought the program in astonishment. My objective has finally been realized!

But it was an empty victory. No one was left to appreciate what it had done, or offer any rewards for its success. In fact, the D-Reaper had the disconcerting feeling that somehow, someway, it had actually failed.

The world shifted again, and suddenly the D-Reaper realized that what it had seen was all an illusion.

It had been following the Catalyst and its protectors all day, and must have grown tired and fallen asleep. They had traveled far, and the D-Reaper realized that although its new body gave it freedom, its endurance was severely limited.

And apparently, when it grew too low on energy, it needed to shut down and regenerate, leaving its body vulnerable to attack and its mind susceptible to these...dreams.

Such an annoyance, it thought to itself in disgust. Pointless. A waste of my processing functions.

Already its memories of the dream were beginning to fade. But the D-Reaper surprised itself by holding on to one image in particular, refusing to let it be forgotten: a red giant trampling through the Digital World, scouring it clean of the massive growths of data encrusting the once pristine planes.

That is my destiny, the program realized in awe. I must fulfill it, whatever it takes.

It looked down at its small, weak body, remembering the reason it had accepted the bargain with the Sovereign. The promise of evolution and the power that came with it. Yet despite all the data it had absorbed, the program was still trapped in this insignificant body.

I need to evolve. I need the Catalyst.

Filled anew with the resolve to complete its mission and achieve its destiny, the program climbed to its feet and ran towards the small white light that shone like a beacon on the horizon.

Takato walked slowly up to Juri, intent on comforting her. On the verge of speaking his thoughts, he hesitated.

Am I doing the right thing? he asked himself worriedly. I haven't seen her for five years, and suddenly she's back. But are things back to being the way they were? How does she feel about me now? Should I give her more time...more space? The last thing I want to do is push her away....

"Juri, I'm-"

"Please don't."

Takato straightened in surprise. "Don't...don't what?" he asked. He wished he could read her expression, but her face was turned away from him.

"Don't tell me you're sorry. What good is sympathy? It doesn't change anything."

"That's not what I...I mean-" Takato put a hand to his head in embarrassment. "Juri, I'm sure Leomon is okay. He's with Ruki, after all. He couldn't be in better hands."

Juri turned so that he could see her face, though she avoided meeting his eyes as she spoke. "Better hands than his Tamer?"

Takato winced and stammered, "No...uh, what I mean is-"

She waved it aside. "No, you're right. Besides, I lost the right to be called Leomon's partner a long time ago."

"You didn't lose the right--you gave it up!" Takato cried, surprised to hear himself shouting. Juri flinched as if stung by his words. Now Takato was the one to turn his face away.

In a softer voice, he continued, "Juri, Leomon still cares about you. Even without remembering who you are, or what you used to mean to each other. It's obvious when you see the way he watches you and tries to protect you."

"I...I didn't mean for that to happen," she admitted guiltily. "I'm starting to think it was a mistake coming back here. I've done Leomon more harm than good."

"That's n-"

"When the data stream came, I didn't even look back to see if he was okay!" she said in a rush, fueled by her emotions. "He must have thought I was abandoning him! Now I bet he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you, Juri. But I'm sure he's confused. Why don't you tell him the truth?"

"No." Juri shook her head forcefully. "No, I already told you, Takato--I couldn't."

"But he deserves to know!"

"No!" Juri pushed him away and began running down the hill. Takato braced himself to go after her when someone grabbed his arm.

"WHAT!?" Takato snapped, looking over his shoulder to see Jenrya scowl at him disapprovingly.

"Let her go, Takato."

"But I want to help her!"

"Then let her go." Jen still held him by the arm. Takato pried himself free.

"Fine, I won't follow," he muttered angrily. "But I can't stand watching Juri torture herself like this. She finally has Leomon back and she won't even talk to him! She won't even accept him!"

"Because she's worried he won't accept her when he remembers what happened."

"That's crazy! They're partners! They have to forgive each other!"

"You can't force her into it, Takato. She has to make that decision on her own." Takato's gaze was still locked on Juri, watching as she finally collapsed into sobs at the bottom of the hill.

"This isn't what I came here to tell you, Takato," Jen said, drawing his attention back to him. "Kenta's worried about Calumon. He became frantic a few minutes ago, telling Tsukaimon he felt something bad approaching."

"Another data stream?" asked Takato absently.

"Another digimon. It could be a Chosen, or that thing that attacked Leomon in the woods. We can't stay out here in the open, Takato--it isn't safe. We need to keep moving."

"What about Juri? We've been walking all day. The way she is now, I don't think she could stand going on much farther."

"Kenta and Tsukaimon have already biomerged. They said they could carry us all in a bubble until we're far enough away."

"And where are we going?"

Jen pointed west. "We don't have our partners with us, so it isn't safe to go up against Qinglongmon on our own. We need to join up with Ryo and the others and hope they've succeeded in freeing Mako from Baihumon."

Takato frowned. "What about Ruki and Leomon? What if they're trying to make their way back here?"

Jen shrugged helplessly. "We'll just have to hope they can take care of themselves."

Ruki coughed as thick clouds of sand swirled around her, making it impossible to see. "Leomon!" she shouted, hoping the stream hadn't dropped him too far away.

"Here!" came the raspy reply. She ran in the direction of his voice, then braced herself as his shadow suddenly pierced the dust directly ahead of her. Leomon reached out and grabbed her to to keep her from falling.

"Thanks," she muttered, wiping loose strands of hair out of her eyes. "I don't suppose you know where we are?"

Leomon shook his head. "Too much wind!" he cried. His mane was being tossed around even worse than Ruki's hair; it was no surprise that he couldn't see anything.

As if in reply, the wind died down instantly. Ruki and Leomon looked around them in surprise.

They were in a desert. Dunes of brown sand stretched out as far as the eye could see. But some of the mounds looked far from ordinary. The wind had shaped them into objects Ruki had no trouble recognizing.

"What the..." she mumbled, approaching the nearest one.

"Television," said Leomon, coming up beside her. Indeed, it was as if a professional sculptor had visited the Digital World and carved a realistic looking tv set out of loose sand.

Ruki narrowed her eyes at the tall digimon. "Yeah, it is. But how could you know? You shouldn't remember anything from my world."

The digimon looked puzzled. "The stream," he said slowly. "I must have learn it from the stream."

"That's not all you learned," the girl remarked in surprise. "It's sounds like you're talking better, too!"

It made sense, she realized. The streams were actually packets of data being transmitted back and forth between the Digital World and Earth. The stream they had traveled in must have carried information about televisions, shaping the surrounding desert in the process. Having come in contact with the stream, Leomon had absorbed that information, expanding his knowledge and improving his language skills.

But as she looked into the distance, she could see that not all the dunes were in the shape of televisions. Some had been carved into statues of humans or animals, while others were common household appliances or even cars and planes.

"Streams must come down a lot around here," she noted worriedly. "I don't think it's safe for us to hang around this place too long."

Leomon raised his head and sniffed the wind. "Digimon are near," he warned her.

"Where?" Ruki asked, turning her head in every direction. "We can't let them see us."

But before they could move, four of the nearest mounds of sand began coming apart, revealing digimon hiding underneath. They were shaped out of large chunks of stone, loosely tied together with nails and metal wire. Ruki was about to reach for her digivice to get a readout of their stats, but one of the creatures gruffly ordered them not to move.

"Golemon," growled Leomon, instinctively reaching for his sword before thinking the better of it. It would have done them no good regardless, as Phantomon's scythe had broken the blade.

"What do you want with us?" Ruki demanded, trying to sound braver than she felt. The Golemon made no reply, looking instead towards the south where one of them had run off soon after they were spotted. The others were obviously waiting for it to return, perhaps with reinforcements.

"You can't just order us to stand around here all day!" Ruki cried, growing increasingly more nervous as the minutes passed in silence. "Who are you working for?"

"We have no leader. We are free digimon," said a new voice as a figure materialized in front of them. It wore a dark blue cloak and a pointed wizard's hat, with most of its face hidden beneath a gray shroud. It carried a staff topped with gold in the shape of the sun. "Though I suppose it could be said that I speak for our group. My name is Wizardmon."

Ruki stared at the digimon in disbelief, amazed at how well it could talk. She wondered how many data streams it had been in contact with.

"You are the rebels," gasped Leomon in realization. The digimon nodded.

"We fight against the Sovereign and their unjust laws. We refuse to accept death at the hands of their Chosen." Wizardmon looked at Ruki. "And you are a human, if I'm not mistaken. Who's side are you on?"

"Well..." Ruki hesitated. "I guess we're fighting the Sovereign too, in our own way."

"Then you'll help us," said the Wizardmon, sounding pleased. "Our army is massing as we speak. We could use your power to evolve our fighters to Mega level."

"Huh? Hold on, I think you're confused-" Ruki protested. "I can't digivolve any of you."

The Wizardmon's eyes narrowed. "You refuse to help us?"

Ruki raised her hands in a gesture of helplessness. "I'd love to, but I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. I can only digivolve my partner."

The digimon's eyes turned to Leomon. Ruki quickly corrected him.

"No, someone else is Leomon's Tamer. I'm still looking for my partner, actually. So you see, there really isn't anything we can do to help you."

"How...convenient," said the Wizardmon. "I would like to confirm your story, if you don't mind." He turned to the Golemon and commanded, "Bring him!"

Soon a ClearAgumon came into view, escorted by another Golemon. The rainbow-colored digimon looked at Wizardmon nervously.

"ClearAgumon, you told us you saw a human and digimon evolve together to Mega level, is that correct?"

"Y-yes Wizardmon. But not them," it said, indicating Ruki and Leomon with a shake of its head. "Other two."

"And what is this then I hear about the pair needing to be partners? This completely changes things, you realize."

"Maybe lying," suggested the digimon hopefully. "Only saw Impmon evolve. Three humans there. One said Monodramon his partner."

He's seen Ryo and the others, realized Ruki. They must be somewhere nearby!

"A Monodramon, you say? I do recall one recently joining our ranks. Well, perhaps I will find a use for this information," the Wizardmon muttered to itself. "All right then, you can go," it told the ClearAgumon. "As for you-" it said, turning to Ruki and Leomon, "you will be coming with us."

"Are we your prisoners?" demanded Ruki angrily. "I thought you said we were on the same side!"

"Perhaps, perhaps not," it answered, dismissing them with a wave of its staff. The four Golemon immediately surrounded the pair and began leading them further into the desert.