Heroes No More, Chapter Thirty-Four: Server Crash
--------------------------------
Kiriban Server:
All the Chosen and Digimon stared at Kevin's computer as he desperately searched for a way to stop the Server from crashing.
"Argh! It's useless! Nothing works!", shouted Kevin, hurling his laptop across the ground. "It's completely out of our power to fix everything the Shadow has done."
"So... we just sit here and wait for death?", asked Alex. Kevin regrettably nodded.
"If there was anything I could do, I would... I really would...", sighed Kevin. Lee put his hand on Kevin's shoulder.
"You've done enough.", said Lee. "We all have."
Lee was trying to sound motivational. "We still have an hour, people... let's not waste it."
"Right.", said Earnest. "I'm going to go back to my cabin... I bid you all a fond farewell. It's been fun working with you."
Lee and the others waved off Earnest as he turned and walked in the direction of the mountains. Ace and Arik began walking away with DemiTyrannomon and Bouncemon.
"We're going to head to Arik's house and chill.", said Ace.
"Yeah...", added Arik. "Have a fun hour."
The lot of them left. Kevin looked up at Lee.
"I'm going to search through my laptop and see if there is anything I can do. I never usually give up... I was just angry.", said Kevin.
"Alright, I guess I'll go walk around with Alex and the Digimon.", said Lee. "Maybe visit the school."
"Okay... I'll know where to find you.", said Kevin. He and Jijimon went to get the laptop. Lee, Alex, Kokuwamon, Octopimon and Mikemon went walking in the direction of the school. Kevin picked up the laptop, but it was broken.
"Well, at least you have something to do fixing it.", said Jijimon. Kevin sighed and threw it on the ground.
"Nah, I'm tired of computers. Let's take a walk..."
"Okay.", said Jijimon. The two of them began walking down the street. Kevin put his arms behind his head, and was obviously thinking about something.
After a while, Jijimon decided to find out what. "Kevin, what's up? I know you're mad about not being able to do anything... but... that's what we signed up for. Our responsibility sometimes can't be filled..."
"I didn't sign up. I was drafted. It was rather amazing to actually get a partner though...", said Kevin.
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
"You may have defeated my disciple, but I am a Mega Digimon! Your chances against me are slim to nil!", said Jijimon. He did a flip in the air and slashed TecKuwagamon again.
"...quite agile for an old guy, isn't he?", asked Kevin. Lee just watched in awe as Jijimon did more and more flips.
"He's making me dizzy.", muttered Lee.
Jijimon slashed TecKuwagamon once more and continued talking. Not necessarily to TecKuwagamon, but just for the sake of hearing himself speak.
"I was once respected. Now I am nothing. I curse that day I was downgraded from a guard--", he began, but suddenly, his staff was snatched from his hands! He turned to see Kevin holding it.
"Kevin! No!", shouted Lee.
"Look... we don't want to fight you, we're just here to save our friends...", pleaded Kevin.
"You're a brave lad!", shouted Jijimon, excitedly. "I like that!"
Suddenly, a glowing device appeared in Kevin's hand too. When he was un- blinded and looked down, he saw a shining D-Volver in it. He was amazed at the sight. As was Nathan, who received one of his own. They looked at each other.
"We have PARTNERS!!", they squealed, running over and giving each other a big hug. Jijimon and Musyamon appeared satisfied.
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
"Haha, yeah, that was sure a day!", laughed Jijimon. "Remember when we kicked Matt and TK's asses?"
"Yup.", said Kevin. "We're quite a team..."
"Yup..."
--------------------------------
Ace and Arik reached Arik's house and opened the door. The place was still in pretty good shape, considering Desiree's rampage destroyed most of the town. But when they opened the door they found a huge surprise!
"... dad?!", shouted Arik, aghast at the site of his father sitting on the couch, downing a beer. His father looked up at him.
"Oh, it's you, you little shit.", muttered his dad. His dad was obviously drunk. "Go get me another beer, or I'll knock your brains out."
"I... I... how...", said Arik. "The last time we came here... you weren't here... I thought you were dead..."
"Yeah, well does it look like I'm frickin' dead?", asked his father. Not the most attractive man, he had quite a gut and was going bald. He was hunched over and didn't looked very friendly either. Arik glared at his father.
"I wish you WERE dead!!!", yelled Arik. Arik turned and ran down the hallway.
"Aw, Arik... don't do this!", shouted his father. "You. Arik's little friend. Go get him back here."
Ace looked at Arik's dad.
"Well, maybe if you weren't such an asshole to him, he wouldn't be like this.", said Ace. Ace had never met Arik's dad before and now he wished he hadn't. He turned and ran after Arik, with Bouncemon and DemiTyrannomon following him.
"Did I just see a bouncing soccer ball?", asked Arik's dad. He looked at the beer bottle. "I think I've had one too many..."
- - -
Ace finally caught up with Arik, who was sitting on the stairs outside the apartment building. Ace hopped down next to him.
"Arik... your dad was drunk...", said Ace. Arik didn't look at Ace and just held his head between his knees, looking at the pavement.
"No, not just drunk. He was wasted.", said DemiTyrannomon. "I could smell his breath from the other side of the room."
"But... you have enhanced senses.", said Bouncemon.
"Oh yeah..."
"No, you're all wrong.", said Arik. "Even if he was drunk, he's always like... that."
Ace and the two Digimon just looked at Arik, wondering what to say.
"Ace... do you remember when we first met?", asked Arik. Ace raised his eyebrow and began to think to himself.
"Uh... not really. Why?", asked Ace.
"Well... when we did first meet... you did see how my father was..."
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
Show Arik, no older than 10 years old, walking down the street in the pouring rain. He looked really sad, and his clothes were completely drenched. He looked at a street light and stopped walking, waiting for it to change. Little Arik was somewhat impatient and wanted to get out of the rain so he went to cross the street.
A car almost hit him. It stopped a few inches short of where Arik was walking. The driver got out of the car and began to yell at him, so he ran. After he got about a block away, he tripped and landed in a puddle and began to cry.
Someone helped him up and put an umbrella over him. It was Ace and Lee, also 10 years of age.
"Hey... are you okay, kid?", asked Lee. "Why are you running around without an umbrella?"
"Yeah, you could get wet... or soaked like you are.", said Ace. "Then there'd be no reason to splash each other!"
"Yeah!", added Lee.
Arik looked at the two of them and smiled. This was the first time anyone had done anything nice for him.
"Thank you so much!", exclaimed Arik. "I think I was going to turn into a prune if I stayed out there any longer... who are you?"
"I'm Lee Trainer! My daddy is the mayor, so I get free ice cream!", giggled Lee.
"And I'm Sam Chambers... but you can call me Ace, like it says on my hat!", said Ace, pointing to his hat. "His daddy's the mayor, so when I'm with him, I get free ice cream!"
"Wow. My name is Arik Pearson... I just moved here after my mommy died. My dad is real angry... and if I'm not back in two minutes with some milk, he's gonna be even more angry!"
Lee and Ace looked at each other, then smiled.
"Alright, we'll come with you. And then tomorrow we can show you around school!", said Ace. "There's this girl named Allison, and she's real cute..."
"No way, she's mine!", shouted Lee.
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yuh-huh!"
"...don't make me spit in your eye."
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
"Oh...!", gasped Ace. "I remember that now. Good times. But... what does that have to do with your dad?"
"I'm not finished yet."
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
Arik and his new friends Ace and Lee were just leaving the corner store with some milk, when suddenly, a car pulls up. It's Arik's dad.
"Who's that?", asked Ace.
"That's my daddy...", said Arik, sadly. His dad got out of the car and walked over to Arik. He looked really pissed.
"Arik! What the hell is the matter with you, kid?!", shouted his dad. "I get a call saying that you ran out into the middle of the street! We could've been sued for Christ's sakes, you little shit!"
Arik looked ashamed, and his dad grabbed him by the arm, dragging him over to the car.
"And the next time you're late, I'll bash your skull in! And who the hell are those kids, I told you I don't want you making any friends!"
Arik's dad was cut of as the two of them got into the car and drove away, leaving Lee and Ace baffled.
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
"Oh god... now I remember...", sighed Ace. "Hah... that's not very smart of me not to remember. But I'm not the brightest."
"Yeah, that's why you have the pink mask!", shouted DemiTyrannomon, shoving it backwards over Ace's face.
"I can't see! ...or breathe!", shouted Ace. Arik laughed at Ace struggling to get the mask off. Ace got it off and shoved it over DemiTyrannomon's head and then looked at Arik.
"Okay, Arik... your dad is up there... and you're not a little kid anymore!", shouted Ace. "You're going to go tell him how you feel and make him apologize!"
"I am?"
"Yeah, and I'm coming with you!", said Ace.
"Alright..."
Arik and Ace got up and began to walk back inside, while Bouncemon and DemiTyrannomon struggled with the mask.
"Does your dad ever smile?", asked Ace.
"If he does. Run. Far away."
-----------------------------------
Elsewhere:
Alex and Lee were strolling down the streets, while the three Digimon played around behind them. The two of them were being really quiet as they approached the school.
"Yeah... I'm sure gonna miss... everything...", said Lee.
"Yeah...", replied Alex. "Though somehow I don't think it will matter much to us..."
"Hmmm... yeah. Well, at least we'll go out together.", added Lee. Alex smiled.
"I know what you would probably like to do before the Server explodes...", said Alex, grinning. She looked and saw that the Digimon weren't paying attention to them. She took Lee's hand and planted it on her breast. Lee gasped and took his hand off. Alex looked at him, confusedly.
"Look, Alex... I can't do this...", said Lee. "My memories of Allison are still... there."
"Lee, you can't hold onto that forever.", said Alex. Lee nodded.
"I know... I just need more time."
"But... we don't have time...", sighed Alex.
"Kevin will think of something, I hope.", replied Lee. Suddenly, something opened up underneath him... a Shadow portal! A tentacle of darkness snared his leg and dragged him in before Alex could react! She turned to the Digimon and saw Kokuwamon was gone too!
"Oh no... Lee..."
-----------------------------------
Lee and Kokuwamon looked around, trying to figure out where they were. It was another dark void, like the one the Chosen entered last chapter. Except in this one, there was no ground, no walls, no indication of anything other than the fact that you were floating in total nothingness.
"How... can this exist?!", asked Lee, shocked. "The Guardians ensured all the Shadow were destroyed!"
"Yes... they did.", said a booming voice that Lee nor Kokuwamon could tell where it was coming from. "They used their power to destroy the Shadow. But I am above the Shadow."
"What are you?!", asked Kokuwamon.
"Ah... little one. Your desire for knowledge will be your doom. You wish to see me, but upon doing so, you will die."
"We aren't afraid! We've defeated Desiree, Nathan, the Shadow, and we can defeat you too!", yelled Lee. "Whatever you are..."
"I am the Shadow's overmind. You may call me the Emperor Shadow... the highest Shadow evolutionary step."
"You're still a Shadow! You should have been destroyed!", shouted Lee.
"While it is true that the Guardians completed their ritual... you don't know what really happened... I will tell you."
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
"And let the powers of the Servers hold the Darkness in forever. Desolate.", chanted Leila. She deleted too. Earnest held back a few tears. Kevin put his hand on Earnest's shoulder.
"It'll be okay..."
"I know..."
Their data swirled around and became a huge beam of light, blasting it's way through the door into the Shadow Core! The whole area began to rumble, nearly knocking Earnest and Kevin over!
"Let's get out of here!", shouted Kevin.
Kevin and Earnest made tracks, as the beam of light blasted through the door and penetrated the darkness. Rows upon rows of Shadows were destroyed. The Shadow generators, which created each type, were annihilated one by one as the light forced its way through. It approached the core, which was a huge physical mass of goo, resembling a gigantic brain.
The light embedded itself in the core, driving it's way through! The core literally melted and faded away, leaving the void empty, without a single Shadow left. Anywhere. Except one.
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
"But I... while like a Shadow... am much more powerful than the other units... I could not be destroyed by the beam. And am here to exact my revenge on the one responsible for our downfall, you, Lee Trainer!"
"Why not the others? They participated too...", said Lee.
"They are all useless. Your friends have no potential power whatsoever. Without you, they would have fallen like bugs. Your friend Ace would've been killed by Nathan if you didn't save him. You saved Alex dozens of times throughout your charade. And the others are no better. They're pathetic."
Lee was getting angry, but not angry enough to say anything.
"Oh, well then again... they weren't all safe. James and Allison died despite your attempts..."
"Shut up!", shouted Lee. "If you want a fight, you got one! Bio-Merge, Activate!!!"
"Not so fast!", yelled the voice.
Lee and Kokuwamon began to glow, and fuse, but a blast of dark energy struck them and sent them sprawling across the void.
"This is not my revenge.", said the voice. "I say we play a game."
"...a game?"
"Your partner will Digivolve to the Mega Level. If he can protect you, then you're lucky. I will be attacking only you. So he had better be on the ball."
"What?!", asked Kokuwamon. Suddenly, he Digivolved to TecKuwagamon against his will. "This is sick!"
"Is it?", asked the voice. Lee grinded his teeth together.
"What is the point of all this?! The server will crash soon and we'll all die anyway!", yelled Lee.
"This is true. That is why I must exact my revenge quickly! Allow me to reveal myself..."
A warrior-like creature appeared a few feet away from Lee and TecKuwagamon. He was around 7-feet tall, and had a flowing red cape coming out of his back. He held a big shield and a joust. Lee recognized this Digimon.
"What the... you're a Gallantmon! The fusion of Takato and Guilmon!", gasped Lee. "...Takato!?"
"Wrong. I just look like him! I can take on any form I wish! And now you'd better run... for the game begins!", yelled Gallantmon. "Lightning Joust!"
He fired the lightning joust at Lee, who jumped and flew alot higher than he would if he had normally jumped. The rules of gravity are weak in the void... that gives me a tiny edge...
Lee looked down to see Gallantmon flying at him! Before Gallantmon could reach him, TecKuwagamon clawed him! Gallantmon flew downwards in the void and regained his head, then he looked at TecKuwagamon... then charged at Lee again!
"Ah!", shouted Lee, trying to get out of the way. TecKuwagamon flew in again.
"Techno Scissor Claw!!!", he yelled. He bashed Gallantmon away, then pounced on him! "I'll never let you hurt Lee!"
"You don't have a choice.", said Gallantmon. He took the shield and slammed it into TecKuwagamon's gut, knocking the wind out of him! "And now... SHIELD OF THE JUST!!!"
A huge blast of energy emerged from the shield, blasting TecKuwagamon into the air! Gallantmon looked over at Lee, who was running away. Lee had gained quite some distance from him.
"How'd he get so far? Ah... the anti-gravity... well, I have dozens of skills at my disposal!", smirked Gallantmon. He morphed into the smaller form of Racermon, Arik's partner and blasted into speed after Lee. Lee looked back and saw Racermon heading at him at nearly 200 kph! He smashed Lee in the legs, sending him stumbling forward. He then morphed into another form... Titanmon!!!
"Ah! Titanmon!?", asked Lee.
"Prepare for your ultimate doom!", yelled Titanmon. He grabbed Lee and hurled him through the void, then began charging up the Titan Cannon! Right as he was about to fire it... missiles hit him!!!
"What the... Gigadramon!?", asked Lee. He looked at Gigadramon, who had evolved again. Gigadramon was really pissed and flew in, grabbing Titanmon in his metallic claws. He hurled Titanmon upwards and smashed him with his tail! Titanmon crashed down against the "floor" and lay still.
"Did... you... get him...?", wondered Lee, backing away still. Gigadramon flew in close.
"I'm not sure... I think so..."
Titanmon's eyes popped open. "Well, you're mistaken!"
Titanmon slugged Gigadramon across the face, sending him crashing into the floor. Gigadramon fired off more missiles, but Emperor Shadow shape shifted into Arik and ducked down since he was so small. The missiles flew right over.
"What!? He can become humans?!", gasped Lee. Arik grinned.
"Yes... and I still retain my strength!", he yelled. Arik leapt up and kicked Gigadramon, knocking Gigadramon backwards. It was awful for Lee to see one of his friends attacking his partner, even though he knew it wasn't really Arik.
"Arik, stop!", shouted Lee. But then he got control of himself. Arik gave him a funny look on his face and leapt over to him.
"Oh, so it pulls your heartstrings to see me beating him up, does it?", asked Arik. "Well... what if I do it like... THIS?!"
Arik shape shifted and became a female this time. Lee gasped. "How do you like this form, Trainer?!"
"...Allison?!"
-------------------------------------
Back in Arik's apartment:
Arik and Ace swung open the door and went to confront Arik's miserable dad. But then they noticed the house was empty. The place was still trashed, but empty.
"What the hell... where did he go...?", asked Arik. Bouncemon and DemiTyrannomon hopped in. DemiTyrannomon went and sniffed the area on the couch where Arik's dad was sleeping.
"That's weird... it doesn't even smell like he was here anymore...", said DemiTyrannomon. "I don't think he ever was..."
"What?! But we saw him!", shouted Ace.
"No... you saw something that the Shadow must have put here to torture Arik. Making him believe it was his father...", said Bouncemon.
"...but shouldn't it have been destroyed then when the Shadow went boom?", asked Arik, most upset at this.
"Unless... there's still a Shadow out there somewhere!", shouted Ace.
The four of them looked at each other.
"Nah!"
---------------------------------
Back in the void:
'Allison' looked at Lee and grinned. She grabbed Lee by the collar of his shirt and hurled him backwards with incredible power!
"Oh Lee, I love you!", shouted Allison. "In fact, I'll love to kill you!"
Lee looked up, his eyes full of tears, but none of them fell.
"No way, bitch!", yelled Gigadramon, leaping at Allison. Allison grabbed Gigadramon's hand and swung him around, throwing him across the void! Gigadramon pushed himself up so he was standing on his tail.
Allison leapt over to Lee and kicked him square in the face! He flew backwards, blood trickling off his face. He refused to fight back or even run.
"Your emotions are what makes you weak!", yelled Allison. "You wouldn't fight any of your friends!"
Allison morphed into Ace, who punched Lee, and then into Kevin, who punched Lee again! Then he morphed into Earnest, who threw Lee into the floor. After that, he morphed into Alex, and kicked Lee in the ribs! Lee screamed out in pain. He morphed into Nathan and grabbed Lee by his neck.
"And when your friends like me betray you... it hurts even more, doesn't it!?", yelled Nathan. Nathan kneed Lee in the gut! Lee fell to the floor, in too much physical and emotional pain to say and do anything.
"That's enough!!!", yelled Gigadramon, evolving into Machinedramon! Machinedramon leapt in front of Nathan, who looked up at the big metal Digimon.
"Alright... I'm going to finish you for good!", shouted Nathan. He morphed into WarTyrannomon, Ace's mega-level partner. WarTyrannomon was nowhere near the size of Machinedramon, but he had equal strength.
Machinedramon attempted to stomp on WarTyrannomon, but the Mega-level Digimon flew up into the air!
"Ice Dragon Claw!!!", yelled WarTyrannomon, slashing Machinedramon across the face! Machinedramon roared out in pain and looked at WarTyrannomon angrily.
"Rrragh!", he screamed, he smashed WarTyrannomon with his arm, hurling WarTyrannomon through the void so far that he was out of sight! Suddenly, he heard WarTyrannomon shifting again...
"That can't be good, he's shifted again!", yelled Machinedramon. He looked down at Lee, still laying there. "Lee, get up!"
"I... I can't...", groaned Lee. "It all feels so useless..."
"That's because you ARE useless!!!", yelled Emperor Shadow. He leapt out of the darkness, now in the form of Omnimon... and stabbed Lee through the stomach with his sword!
"LEE! NO!!!", yelled Machinedramon. Omnimon withdrew the sword from Lee, as Lee struggled to breathe. But he was alive.
"I'm... gakk... still... alive...?", asked Lee. Omnimon nodded.
"Surprised? You should be.", said Omnimon. "The rules of death won't apply to you here... that way I may torture you more... until I decide you should die."
---------------------------------
Back on the surface:
Kevin and Jijimon continued walking down the street, talking about old times when Alex, Mikemon and Octopimon came running up to them.
"Alex? What's wrong?!", asked Kevin, seeing the worried expression on her face.
"Lee was swallowed by a Shadow hole! There was one left!", shouted Alex.
"Why does it matter? We only have 20 minutes of life left...", muttered Kevin.
"What? You didn't come up with anything?", asked Alex.
"I gave up... it was too hard...", muttered Kevin. Alex gave him a surprised look.
"You gave up? How pitiful is that?! You don't have any ideas at all?", exclaimed Alex. "But you always have good ideas!"
"Not this time..."
"There has to be something you can do, Kevin! Believe in yourself!", pleaded Alex. Kevin stopped and entered a train of thought... then came up with something.
"Oh my god, I've got an idea.", said Kevin. "Quick, we have to find a computer, there's not much time left!"
--------------------------------
Back in the void:
Machinedramon launched a mighty Giga Cannon at Omnimon, but the fusion warrior reflected it and it nailed Machinedramon, knocking him out. Lee groaned and twitched a little bit, trying to stop the pain.
"Wh-why... am I so important to get revenge on...?", asked Lee. Omnimon crossed his arms.
"Fine, I will start from the very beginning...", said Omnimon.
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
(Not long ago, when we Shadow were still in our infant stages, the seven Servers were protected by seven Guardians.)
Show seven warriors standing in a black void. They are each color coded, but aside from that, all look like powerful robots of the same design.
(They were Asuka, the purple one. Amaterasu, the green one. Kiriban, the red one. Yamato I, the light blue one. Yamato II, the dark blue one. Megabyte, the pink one. And lastly Trinity, the yellow one.)
The seven warriors are shown to be overwhelmed by a legion of Shadow. The seven of them put up considerable resistance, but are eventually destroyed, one by one.
(We converged on Trinity Server first and annihilated the Digimon there, and eventually desolated the Server itself. It earned the new name: Desolate Server.)
Show legions of Flame Shadow and Sword Shadow burning forests and destroying cities in Trinity Server. Digimon of all kinds try and stop them, but are either killed, turned into Shadow, or left to die. Two of the Digimon are Jijimon and Musyamon, who were left to die.
(But... we didn't expect the spirits of the Guardians to live! The were powerful enough to survive our attack, and took on host bodies to preserve themselves!)
Show the Tamers Takato, Henry, Suzie and Rika facing off against Zhuquiaomon in Amaterasu Server. A green spirit inhabits Suzie.
Show IceDevimon attacking JJ and Tom in Asuka Server. A purple spirit inhabits him.
Show Mummymon and Arukenimon running out of the Giga House away from Paildramon. A dark blue spirit goes into Mummymon.
Show Myotismon scolding DemiDevimon on not killing the Digidestened. He is taken over by a light blue spirit.
Show Desiree buying a laptop from an electronics store in Megabyte Server. The pink spirit goes into it.
Show all the DTE members facing off against Milleniumon in his Star Tower. As they fight, a red spirit goes into Chris, unnoticed.
Finally, a Renamon participating in the battle against the Shadow in Trinity Server is taken by the yellow spirit. It leaps away from the fight.
(Trinity, the yellow Guardian was the only one to retain her guardian memory! She knew that we had already put tabs on the Chosen of other worlds and were poised to strike, so she came up with a different plan... she managed to get into Megabyte Server, with untapped Chosen resources! She brought with her the 10 Chosen bands. A Chosen band is a special DNA strand that once it's part of your system, you become a Chosen.)
Show the 10 Chosen strands shooting out randomly. One hits Lee, who is sleeping. Three hit Ace, Arik and Nathan, who are playing video games in Ace's bedroom. Two hit Kevin and Allison, who were walking over to Lee's house. One hits James, who is pouring new holy water at the church. One hits Alex, who is relaxing and sun tanning in her hometown of Tamur. Finally, one hits Desiree, who just discovered she has a talking laptop.
Trinity, or Leila, as the name she adopts, appears in the real world and sees a boy the same age as her. Earnest. Another Chosen strand hits him and she decides to stick with him, and they form a good friendship.
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
Omnimon went on. "She then began setting up the rest of you. Getting you your partners, despite us controlling Desiree to try and stop her. But throughout our attempts to annihilate you Chosen, one of you stood above the rest in performance, taking initiative... always thwarting us..."
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
"Let go of me! You don't have the right to touch me!", shouted Ken.
"I have a right to figure out why you were a pacifist this morning and why you aren't now! And I think this has something to do with it!", retorted Lee. He grabbed the black necklace around Ken, and ripped it off the boy's neck!
- - - "It looks like it's all up to me. And there's only one way to win this...", he said. His eyes darted past Denimon and Allison to Carrie. "I've got to get that necklace..."
Lee dashed through the path and practically tackled Carrie. They tumbled over a log and fell down a small cliff. The newly formed Leila in Renamon stage and Kokuwamon looked over the cliff after them.
"He tackles things alot, doesn't he?", asked Leila.
"Yup."
- - - "You'll what? Hit a girl?", asked Amy.
"I'd never hit a girl..."
Amy grinned.
"...but I have no restrictions to throwing them into the lake.", finished Lee. He grabbed Amy by her shirt and tossed her into the water. She brought her head up and spat out water.
"Now bring TecKuwagamon back, or I'll be forced to rethink my rule.", said Lee, threateningly. Amy pulled herself out and shook herself dry.
"Please. I've had years of combat in my Digital World against some of the toughest Digimon around. You don't scare me.", replied Amy, squeezing her clothes dry.
"Well, I will!", shouted Lee.
- - - "Lying... you're LYING!", screamed James, "Diaboromon will kill him! Him or you, choose!"
Lee continued stepping towards James, "Oh, so now it's me, eh? I thought you wanted the laptop! Or is it that you really just want revenge on me and not to follow Desiree's orders! Are you too scared to fight without her Dark powers controlling you and making all your decisions for you!"
"Y- yes...!", muttered James.
"You were scared when we were going to report Flannigan too. You can't be scared! You can't be controlled! I know that we have had our differences in the past...but I'd be willing to give friendship a chance...if you are..."
James appeared shaken up. "Become... friends... with you?", he asked. "I've never had any real friends..."
"Well, now is your chance... fight the dark flower...", offered Lee. He extended his hand to James. James stared at it.
"You had better know what you're doing, Lee...", muttered Nathan.
"I believe in you... we all believe in you...", groaned Alex, still semi- conscious.
James' insane face slowly changed into a smile. "Friends with Lee... I'm friends with Lee."
He shook Lee's hand. Diaboromon put Nathan down and he ran over next to Lee. James and Diaboromon started to glow with an orange light.
"Lee, what's going on now?!", asked Nathan, scared out of his mind.
"Something awesome...", said Lee.
- - - Machinedramon stood almost as tall as the buildings that surrounded the area. Everyone, including Seth and Kari were staring in awe, temporarily forgetting about their current problems.
"Is... this... possible...?", asked Seth.
"If it's not, then what the hell am I looking at?", asked Kari, equally frightened.
Arik, Nathan, Allison and Alex stared on in surprise.
"Way to go Lee, I knew you'd save us...", whispered Alex.
- - - "Live through this, Trainer!", yelled Desiree. She flew upwards and prepared to plunge the sword into Milleniumon's chest, but he grabbed it before she could. "H-how?!"
Milleniumon threw Desiree by the sword into the street. She pulled her face out of the cement and looked up... as a Dimension Destroyer hit her with full force.
Milleniumon landed beside her body and split back into Lee and Kokuwamon. Desiree groaned a bit and suddenly her Shadow self disappeared. She rolled over and looked up at Lee. She was covering in blood, obviously very weak.
"Bravo Lee...", she said. "You finally got rid of me... I hope you're happy with yourself..."
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
"So... that's it huh?", asked Lee, struggling to stand up. "It's all my fault, poor Shadow foiled by little Lee..."
"That is correct, and now I will let you die.", said Omnimon. He raised his sword.
"Now, now YOU die!", yelled Lee. "Bio-Merge activate!!!"
The light emitted by Lee blinded Omnimon and took him by surprise! The mighty warrior Milleniumon was now standing in front of him. He looked up at him.
"Damn! I was trying to stop you from attaining this level!", yelled Omnimon.
"Tough.", said Milleniumon. He punched Omnimon, sending Omnimon sprawling across the floor. Omnimon got up and glared at Milleniumon, who stood above him.
"You want big? I'll give you big...", growled Omnimon. He turned into a Queen Shadow! The Queen Shadow slashed Milleniumon repeatedly, but Milleniumon kicked her off!
"Millennium Cannon!!!", shouted Milleniumon, blasting the Queen Shadow across the void.
"Any more tricks you'd like to try?!", asked Milleniumon. The Queen Shadow hauled herself up.
"One.", she said. She morphed back into Allison. "Will you fight me like this!?"
Milleniumon stared at Allison. "You aren't real... and you don't belong here!!! Millennium Cannon!!!"
Milleniumon blasted 'Allison' with full force, completely destroying Emperor Shadow! The void shattered, and Lee and Kokuwamon found themselves back in front of the school.
"Whoo... that was pretty rough...", said Lee. He looked at his stomach, and noticed the stab wound was healed completely. He checked his watch.
"What time is it... Lee...?", asked Kokuwamon, curiously. Lee looked at Kokuwamon sadly.
"It's time... look...", gasped Lee, pointing to the distance. The street was disintegrating before them! Buildings shattered into a big black void. Lee looked over as even Takaishi High school began to disintegrate.
"Lee, should we run?", asked Kokuwamon. Lee shook his head.
"It's over.", said Lee, before the street he and Kokuwamon were standing on, along with them, disintegrated.
- - -
Arik and Ace went out on Arik's balcony to see the city disintegrating. The two of them screamed and ran inside Arik's house. It didn't help much, as the entire district Arik's house was in was soon gone.
- - -
Earnest ran outside and looked up at the mountain his cabin was located on. The mighty rock of the mountain itself was being annihilated! Earnest screamed, but it was too late. The cabin and eventually the entire mountain itself were gone.
- - -
Kevin finished typing up something on the laptop, and Alex noticed the Server Crash heading toward them. Kevin finished it up quickly and shut the computer.
"Pray this works...", said Kevin. Alex nodded and eventually they were swallowed by the Server Crash as well.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Somewhere...
{ENTIRE NETWORK HAS CRASHED.}
...
...
...
{UPLOADING HACKED CODE...}
...
...
...
{REBOOTING NETWORK. SYSTEM SAVED. ABORTING SERVER CRASH.}
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In system inter-space...
The entire system was black. Suddenly, a little light representing a server came on. Followed by a second. Then two more. And finally the rest of them! The system was alive!!!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Megabyte Server:
Everything began to rebuild itself as if it was good as new! The entire planet earth reformed, followed by every little detail on it!
In the city, the sky turned from darkness back to the beautiful blue it once was. Mountains rose out of the ground! Trees and plant life followed them! Then in the town, all the streets returned, and the buildings and skyscrapers reformed! All the residential areas, the church, the school, central park! Stores and parks and sidewalks!
"This is... amazing!!!", shouted Lee, excitedly. Lee had reformed on the street in front of city hall. He looked around, watching his entire life rebuild itself in front of his eyes. The buildings were no longer smashed, and looked brand shining new. The streets weren't cracked, the cars weren't flaming!
Kevin, Ace, Alex, Arik and Earnest reformed behind Lee and took in the sight for themselves.
"Oh my god... it worked!!!", yelled Kevin, just as excited. Lee looked at him.
"Kevin, what did you do?", asked Lee. Kevin opened his mouth to talk, but Alex shoved him out of the way to speak for him.
"Kevin hijacked it so when our server lost enough power, it would activate an entire System rebirth! He's a genius!", said Alex, excitedly. She gave Kevin a big hug.
"Heh heh... it was nothing...", said Kevin, grinning.
"Wow Kev... that's awesome...", gasped Ace. Earnest looked around and pointed out that all the people were beginning to reappear! Everywhere, people were being reborn!
"Phenomenal...", gasped Earnest. "The lives that Desiree took are being brought back!"
"So, everything went according to plan.", said Kevin. "But something seems amiss here..."
"Where's Bouncemon?!", shouted Arik, noticing his little partner wasn't next to him. Lee, Alex, Kevin and Ace looked around, not seeing their partners either.
"What gives?", asked Alex.
{I CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION!}, shouted the laptop, reappearing in Kevin's arms. He almost screamed, since it took him by surprise.
"Well, answer it then! I want to see Kokuwamon!", shouted Lee.
{I'M SORRY, BUT KEVIN'S CODE SET ALL THE SERVERS TO RETURN TO THEIR NATURAL STATES. KIRIBAN, AMATERASU AND ALL THOSE SERVERS ARE BACK TO NORMAL, AS IS TRINITY SERVER. THAT IS WHERE YOUR PARTNERS ARE FROM, SO THEY WERE ALL LIKELY REBORN THERE...}
"Oh...", sighed Alex, sadly.
{DON'T WORRY THOUGH. WITH ME AROUND, YOU CAN TALK TO THEM ANY TIME!}
"Really?! Wow!", shouted Ace. "I'm glad to hear that!"
"Me too... I can speak to Leila again...", said Earnest, happily.
"Not right now though, guys.", said Kevin. Everyone agreed.
Lee looked about the people reappearing, he had to rub his eyes to make sure he saw what he saw.
"Oh my god... mom! dad!", yelled Lee. Lee ran over to see his mother, Jenna and Mayor Trainer being reborn. He gave his mom a gigantic hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay!", shouted Lee.
"We're glad you are, son.", said his mom, hugging him back. His dad picked up Jenna and sat her on his shoulders, she giggled.
"And we're really proud of you. You knew you were doing the right thing.", said his father. "I'm glad I never got rid of your partner."
"I'm glad for that too...", said Lee.
- - -
"Dad! Mom!", shouted Ace. He walked over to his parents. "...how are you?"
"We're fine, Sam.", said his mom. Ace nodded, but then his mom held open her arms. "Aren't you going to give your mother a hug?"
Ace looked at her confusedly and gave his mom a hug. His dad put his hand on Ace's shoulder.
"Don't worry Sam... we'll try and pay more attention to you from now on.", said his dad. His dad was almost crying because he was so happy.
"You promise?", asked Ace.
"We promise!", agreed both his parents.
- - -
Kevin ran off to see his parents, and Ace looked over to see his dad. His dad looked back at him and motioned for Arik to go over to him. Arik was reluctant, but Alex shoved him in that direction.
"Sorry sir, he's just stupid.", said Alex, grinning and walking off.
"Hi... dad.", said Arik, looking at the ground.
"Arik, look at me.", said his dad. Arik looked up at his father, and saw a very serious look in his father's eyes. But not an angry one.
"Son... I'm really... really sorry about everything. It's just that I loved your mother so much... and ever since she died... I haven't been able to conduct myself properly... what with the drinking and the violence.", confessed his father.
Arik didn't say anything.
"I swear I will try to change that. I'll go into help classes... and everything will be okay... alright...?"
"... alright dad.", said Arik. "I trust you."
- - -
Earnest and Alex watched everyone reunite with their families.
"Where are your parents?", asked Earnest. Alex shrugged.
"They live in Tamur, so they were probably reformed there.", said Alex. "I'll head back home in a while. What about you?"
"I don't really have parents, not as far as I can remember, anyway.", said Earnest. He seemed rather sad.
"Oh cheer up, you bum.", said Alex, putting her hands on her hips disapprovingly. "You've still got all of us! We're more family than you'll ever need!"
"Yeah... yeah!", exclaimed Earnest. "You're so right about that..."
"And I--", began Alex, but she was cut off as she saw something else. "Oh my god... James! You're alive!"
Alex and Earnest looked, and sure enough, Lee's old rival, James Willington, was standing there.
"Of course I am...", said James. "Though I don't deserve it... I failed you guys in stopping Desiree..."
"Oh, shut up, you moron!", shouted Lee, running over to James. "You did your best, it's all we could expect of you! And now you have a second chance!"
"Yeah... yeah I do!", replied James, happily. "And I won't let HIM ruin it."
James pointed at Father Flannigan, who looked a little distressed by him.
"Ah... James my boy... how are ye?", asked Father Flannigan. "Doing good, I hope."
Father Flannigan looked at James, Lee, Alex and Earnest glaring at him disapprovingly. He turned to walk away, but Mayor Trainer and two policemen were standing there.
"My son filled me in on what you did to them.", said Mayor Trainer. "And I'm going to see to it that you're locked up for a good, long time, you sick freak."
Father Flannigan gulped, and the policemen handcuffed him and took him away.
"Good riddance.", said Alex, putting her arms around Lee and James. "Come on boys, be happy!"
Mayor Trainer looked at Lee. "Spend the day with your friends Lee... we'll talk tonight."
"Alright dad.", replied Lee.
Mayor Trainer walked off. Lee, James and Alex began talking with Earnest about everything.
- - -
Nathan reformed as well. He looked around and saw Arik, Ace and Kevin walk over to him.
"Hey Nathan!", shouted Ace. "Glad you're back!"
"Yeah, me too.", said Nathan. "I can't believe it..."
"You don't feel evil anymore... do you?", asked Arik, curiously. Nathan stared at Arik liked he just ran over his cat.
"What the hell are you talking about?", asked Nathan, confused.
"Is he serious?", whispered Ace.
"He doesn't remember, he was possessed.", whispered Kevin back. Arik and Ace grinned widely.
"Heh heh... like when we were playing Smash Bros and you beat us up with Ganondorf! He's EVIL! That's what we meant! Ahahahaha!", said Ace, lying convincingly.
"Yeah, you all suck at that game.", chuckled Nathan.
"I'm gonna hold you to that...", said Arik, as the group of them walked over to see Nathan's parents.
- - -
James walked off to see his parents, and Earnest went to go talk to a few of his other friends. Alex took this moment to talk to Lee.
"Okay Lee... now we have a new chance.", said Alex. "Everything is back! Everything is perfect! We can go out, and we can be happy!"
"Hmmm, Alex... you may be right...", thought Lee. Alex smiled. Lee was about to take her hand when he saw someone else reform. "...Allison!!!"
Lee instantly forgot about Alex and ran towards Allison. Allison looked around confusedly, wondering where she was, and then she saw Lee and smiled.
"Lee!!!", she shouted. Lee ran up and hugged her, lifting her up into the air!
"I am so glad you're... I mean, it's so amazing that... I mean, wow, you look--", stuttered Lee, but Allison put her finger to his lip.
"Lee... here is something that we should have done a long time ago...", she said. Lee looked at her, and then the two of them shared their long-awaited first kiss.
Alex looked at them, and her heart melted. "Aww... well, maybe it's better off that he's with her... I'll never forget the good times we had, Lee. And I know you won't either."
Ace and Arik walked up next to Alex and saw this too. Ace let out a huge groan.
"And of course... Lee gets the girl and gets a kiss!", pouted Ace. Alex looked at him.
"Eh, you only live once.", said Alex, shrugging. She grabbed Ace and gave him a huge kiss. When she let go, Ace was amazed and surprised... and overjoyed.
"Hey! What about me!?", asked Arik. "I got beat up for you against Shadow Lee!"
"You're right...", said Alex. She gave Arik a kiss too.
"Hey, she's mine!", shouted Ace, tackling Arik.
"The hell she is!", yelled Arik, as the two of them began rolling around on the ground, arguing over who would get Alex. Alex laughed.
"Well, this will be entertainment for me now.", giggled Alex.
Lee and Allison finally came out of their embrace. "I love you Allison. I have ever since we were little.", said Lee.
"I feel the same.", said Allison.
"And I hope nothing ever takes you away from me again...", said Lee. Allison blushed as Lee took her hand and walked over to where Arik and Ace were fighting.
"What's this?", asked Allison.
"Hormone wars.", replied Alex.
"AHEM! Aren't you two glad to see me!?", shouted Allison. Ace and Arik looked at her and began bowing to her. Everyone had a good laugh.
"Alright, everyone!!!", yelled Kevin. "It's picture time!!! Alex, Lee, Allison, Ace, Arik, over here!"
The five of them ran over to where Kevin, Earnest and Nathan were standing. Everyone except Kevin got together so a picture could be taken.
"Hey, wait a second.", said Lee. "James! Get your rich ass over here!"
"Do I have too?"
"Yes!!!"
James slumped over and stood in the picture as well. Kevin handed the camera to Arik's dad and gave him the instructions. When Kevin walked over, Earnest leaned in to ask him something.
"Kevin... can I keep the laptop guardian?", asked Earnest. "Leila was all I had, and it would mean alot to me if I could speak to her whenever I wanted..."
"Sure thing.", replied Kevin. Allison smiled.
"It's so good to see everyone back together!", squealed Allison. Then she leaned over and whispered something in Lee's ear. "And when we get home, you're gonna have to tell me if I'm better than Alex..."
"Can do.", replied Lee.
"Oh boy. I heard that.", muttered Ace. Allison smacked him in the face. "Ah, just like old times..."
Arik's dad finished setting up the camera.
"Everyone say pepperoni!", he shouted.
"Pepperoni!", they all shouted back. The picture was taken. It had Earnest stand on the top left, holding the laptop. Beside him were Kevin, Ace, James and Lee. Lee's hands were on Allison's shoulders, who was kneeling in the front row with Alex, Nathan and Arik. Everyone was smiling. It was a day... and an adventure... they would never forget.
-------------------------------- Up on a rooftop, overlooking the entire scene:
"Ah, Lee... justice comes to you. The girl comes to you. Your friends come to you. Everything that's good comes to you...", said Desiree, looking down scornfully upon the sight. "Well, you know what...?"
Desiree turned away and began to walk off.
"...I'm happy for you."
================= FIN.
Kiriban Server:
All the Chosen and Digimon stared at Kevin's computer as he desperately searched for a way to stop the Server from crashing.
"Argh! It's useless! Nothing works!", shouted Kevin, hurling his laptop across the ground. "It's completely out of our power to fix everything the Shadow has done."
"So... we just sit here and wait for death?", asked Alex. Kevin regrettably nodded.
"If there was anything I could do, I would... I really would...", sighed Kevin. Lee put his hand on Kevin's shoulder.
"You've done enough.", said Lee. "We all have."
Lee was trying to sound motivational. "We still have an hour, people... let's not waste it."
"Right.", said Earnest. "I'm going to go back to my cabin... I bid you all a fond farewell. It's been fun working with you."
Lee and the others waved off Earnest as he turned and walked in the direction of the mountains. Ace and Arik began walking away with DemiTyrannomon and Bouncemon.
"We're going to head to Arik's house and chill.", said Ace.
"Yeah...", added Arik. "Have a fun hour."
The lot of them left. Kevin looked up at Lee.
"I'm going to search through my laptop and see if there is anything I can do. I never usually give up... I was just angry.", said Kevin.
"Alright, I guess I'll go walk around with Alex and the Digimon.", said Lee. "Maybe visit the school."
"Okay... I'll know where to find you.", said Kevin. He and Jijimon went to get the laptop. Lee, Alex, Kokuwamon, Octopimon and Mikemon went walking in the direction of the school. Kevin picked up the laptop, but it was broken.
"Well, at least you have something to do fixing it.", said Jijimon. Kevin sighed and threw it on the ground.
"Nah, I'm tired of computers. Let's take a walk..."
"Okay.", said Jijimon. The two of them began walking down the street. Kevin put his arms behind his head, and was obviously thinking about something.
After a while, Jijimon decided to find out what. "Kevin, what's up? I know you're mad about not being able to do anything... but... that's what we signed up for. Our responsibility sometimes can't be filled..."
"I didn't sign up. I was drafted. It was rather amazing to actually get a partner though...", said Kevin.
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
"You may have defeated my disciple, but I am a Mega Digimon! Your chances against me are slim to nil!", said Jijimon. He did a flip in the air and slashed TecKuwagamon again.
"...quite agile for an old guy, isn't he?", asked Kevin. Lee just watched in awe as Jijimon did more and more flips.
"He's making me dizzy.", muttered Lee.
Jijimon slashed TecKuwagamon once more and continued talking. Not necessarily to TecKuwagamon, but just for the sake of hearing himself speak.
"I was once respected. Now I am nothing. I curse that day I was downgraded from a guard--", he began, but suddenly, his staff was snatched from his hands! He turned to see Kevin holding it.
"Kevin! No!", shouted Lee.
"Look... we don't want to fight you, we're just here to save our friends...", pleaded Kevin.
"You're a brave lad!", shouted Jijimon, excitedly. "I like that!"
Suddenly, a glowing device appeared in Kevin's hand too. When he was un- blinded and looked down, he saw a shining D-Volver in it. He was amazed at the sight. As was Nathan, who received one of his own. They looked at each other.
"We have PARTNERS!!", they squealed, running over and giving each other a big hug. Jijimon and Musyamon appeared satisfied.
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
"Haha, yeah, that was sure a day!", laughed Jijimon. "Remember when we kicked Matt and TK's asses?"
"Yup.", said Kevin. "We're quite a team..."
"Yup..."
--------------------------------
Ace and Arik reached Arik's house and opened the door. The place was still in pretty good shape, considering Desiree's rampage destroyed most of the town. But when they opened the door they found a huge surprise!
"... dad?!", shouted Arik, aghast at the site of his father sitting on the couch, downing a beer. His father looked up at him.
"Oh, it's you, you little shit.", muttered his dad. His dad was obviously drunk. "Go get me another beer, or I'll knock your brains out."
"I... I... how...", said Arik. "The last time we came here... you weren't here... I thought you were dead..."
"Yeah, well does it look like I'm frickin' dead?", asked his father. Not the most attractive man, he had quite a gut and was going bald. He was hunched over and didn't looked very friendly either. Arik glared at his father.
"I wish you WERE dead!!!", yelled Arik. Arik turned and ran down the hallway.
"Aw, Arik... don't do this!", shouted his father. "You. Arik's little friend. Go get him back here."
Ace looked at Arik's dad.
"Well, maybe if you weren't such an asshole to him, he wouldn't be like this.", said Ace. Ace had never met Arik's dad before and now he wished he hadn't. He turned and ran after Arik, with Bouncemon and DemiTyrannomon following him.
"Did I just see a bouncing soccer ball?", asked Arik's dad. He looked at the beer bottle. "I think I've had one too many..."
- - -
Ace finally caught up with Arik, who was sitting on the stairs outside the apartment building. Ace hopped down next to him.
"Arik... your dad was drunk...", said Ace. Arik didn't look at Ace and just held his head between his knees, looking at the pavement.
"No, not just drunk. He was wasted.", said DemiTyrannomon. "I could smell his breath from the other side of the room."
"But... you have enhanced senses.", said Bouncemon.
"Oh yeah..."
"No, you're all wrong.", said Arik. "Even if he was drunk, he's always like... that."
Ace and the two Digimon just looked at Arik, wondering what to say.
"Ace... do you remember when we first met?", asked Arik. Ace raised his eyebrow and began to think to himself.
"Uh... not really. Why?", asked Ace.
"Well... when we did first meet... you did see how my father was..."
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
Show Arik, no older than 10 years old, walking down the street in the pouring rain. He looked really sad, and his clothes were completely drenched. He looked at a street light and stopped walking, waiting for it to change. Little Arik was somewhat impatient and wanted to get out of the rain so he went to cross the street.
A car almost hit him. It stopped a few inches short of where Arik was walking. The driver got out of the car and began to yell at him, so he ran. After he got about a block away, he tripped and landed in a puddle and began to cry.
Someone helped him up and put an umbrella over him. It was Ace and Lee, also 10 years of age.
"Hey... are you okay, kid?", asked Lee. "Why are you running around without an umbrella?"
"Yeah, you could get wet... or soaked like you are.", said Ace. "Then there'd be no reason to splash each other!"
"Yeah!", added Lee.
Arik looked at the two of them and smiled. This was the first time anyone had done anything nice for him.
"Thank you so much!", exclaimed Arik. "I think I was going to turn into a prune if I stayed out there any longer... who are you?"
"I'm Lee Trainer! My daddy is the mayor, so I get free ice cream!", giggled Lee.
"And I'm Sam Chambers... but you can call me Ace, like it says on my hat!", said Ace, pointing to his hat. "His daddy's the mayor, so when I'm with him, I get free ice cream!"
"Wow. My name is Arik Pearson... I just moved here after my mommy died. My dad is real angry... and if I'm not back in two minutes with some milk, he's gonna be even more angry!"
Lee and Ace looked at each other, then smiled.
"Alright, we'll come with you. And then tomorrow we can show you around school!", said Ace. "There's this girl named Allison, and she's real cute..."
"No way, she's mine!", shouted Lee.
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yuh-huh!"
"...don't make me spit in your eye."
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
"Oh...!", gasped Ace. "I remember that now. Good times. But... what does that have to do with your dad?"
"I'm not finished yet."
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
Arik and his new friends Ace and Lee were just leaving the corner store with some milk, when suddenly, a car pulls up. It's Arik's dad.
"Who's that?", asked Ace.
"That's my daddy...", said Arik, sadly. His dad got out of the car and walked over to Arik. He looked really pissed.
"Arik! What the hell is the matter with you, kid?!", shouted his dad. "I get a call saying that you ran out into the middle of the street! We could've been sued for Christ's sakes, you little shit!"
Arik looked ashamed, and his dad grabbed him by the arm, dragging him over to the car.
"And the next time you're late, I'll bash your skull in! And who the hell are those kids, I told you I don't want you making any friends!"
Arik's dad was cut of as the two of them got into the car and drove away, leaving Lee and Ace baffled.
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
"Oh god... now I remember...", sighed Ace. "Hah... that's not very smart of me not to remember. But I'm not the brightest."
"Yeah, that's why you have the pink mask!", shouted DemiTyrannomon, shoving it backwards over Ace's face.
"I can't see! ...or breathe!", shouted Ace. Arik laughed at Ace struggling to get the mask off. Ace got it off and shoved it over DemiTyrannomon's head and then looked at Arik.
"Okay, Arik... your dad is up there... and you're not a little kid anymore!", shouted Ace. "You're going to go tell him how you feel and make him apologize!"
"I am?"
"Yeah, and I'm coming with you!", said Ace.
"Alright..."
Arik and Ace got up and began to walk back inside, while Bouncemon and DemiTyrannomon struggled with the mask.
"Does your dad ever smile?", asked Ace.
"If he does. Run. Far away."
-----------------------------------
Elsewhere:
Alex and Lee were strolling down the streets, while the three Digimon played around behind them. The two of them were being really quiet as they approached the school.
"Yeah... I'm sure gonna miss... everything...", said Lee.
"Yeah...", replied Alex. "Though somehow I don't think it will matter much to us..."
"Hmmm... yeah. Well, at least we'll go out together.", added Lee. Alex smiled.
"I know what you would probably like to do before the Server explodes...", said Alex, grinning. She looked and saw that the Digimon weren't paying attention to them. She took Lee's hand and planted it on her breast. Lee gasped and took his hand off. Alex looked at him, confusedly.
"Look, Alex... I can't do this...", said Lee. "My memories of Allison are still... there."
"Lee, you can't hold onto that forever.", said Alex. Lee nodded.
"I know... I just need more time."
"But... we don't have time...", sighed Alex.
"Kevin will think of something, I hope.", replied Lee. Suddenly, something opened up underneath him... a Shadow portal! A tentacle of darkness snared his leg and dragged him in before Alex could react! She turned to the Digimon and saw Kokuwamon was gone too!
"Oh no... Lee..."
-----------------------------------
Lee and Kokuwamon looked around, trying to figure out where they were. It was another dark void, like the one the Chosen entered last chapter. Except in this one, there was no ground, no walls, no indication of anything other than the fact that you were floating in total nothingness.
"How... can this exist?!", asked Lee, shocked. "The Guardians ensured all the Shadow were destroyed!"
"Yes... they did.", said a booming voice that Lee nor Kokuwamon could tell where it was coming from. "They used their power to destroy the Shadow. But I am above the Shadow."
"What are you?!", asked Kokuwamon.
"Ah... little one. Your desire for knowledge will be your doom. You wish to see me, but upon doing so, you will die."
"We aren't afraid! We've defeated Desiree, Nathan, the Shadow, and we can defeat you too!", yelled Lee. "Whatever you are..."
"I am the Shadow's overmind. You may call me the Emperor Shadow... the highest Shadow evolutionary step."
"You're still a Shadow! You should have been destroyed!", shouted Lee.
"While it is true that the Guardians completed their ritual... you don't know what really happened... I will tell you."
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
"And let the powers of the Servers hold the Darkness in forever. Desolate.", chanted Leila. She deleted too. Earnest held back a few tears. Kevin put his hand on Earnest's shoulder.
"It'll be okay..."
"I know..."
Their data swirled around and became a huge beam of light, blasting it's way through the door into the Shadow Core! The whole area began to rumble, nearly knocking Earnest and Kevin over!
"Let's get out of here!", shouted Kevin.
Kevin and Earnest made tracks, as the beam of light blasted through the door and penetrated the darkness. Rows upon rows of Shadows were destroyed. The Shadow generators, which created each type, were annihilated one by one as the light forced its way through. It approached the core, which was a huge physical mass of goo, resembling a gigantic brain.
The light embedded itself in the core, driving it's way through! The core literally melted and faded away, leaving the void empty, without a single Shadow left. Anywhere. Except one.
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
"But I... while like a Shadow... am much more powerful than the other units... I could not be destroyed by the beam. And am here to exact my revenge on the one responsible for our downfall, you, Lee Trainer!"
"Why not the others? They participated too...", said Lee.
"They are all useless. Your friends have no potential power whatsoever. Without you, they would have fallen like bugs. Your friend Ace would've been killed by Nathan if you didn't save him. You saved Alex dozens of times throughout your charade. And the others are no better. They're pathetic."
Lee was getting angry, but not angry enough to say anything.
"Oh, well then again... they weren't all safe. James and Allison died despite your attempts..."
"Shut up!", shouted Lee. "If you want a fight, you got one! Bio-Merge, Activate!!!"
"Not so fast!", yelled the voice.
Lee and Kokuwamon began to glow, and fuse, but a blast of dark energy struck them and sent them sprawling across the void.
"This is not my revenge.", said the voice. "I say we play a game."
"...a game?"
"Your partner will Digivolve to the Mega Level. If he can protect you, then you're lucky. I will be attacking only you. So he had better be on the ball."
"What?!", asked Kokuwamon. Suddenly, he Digivolved to TecKuwagamon against his will. "This is sick!"
"Is it?", asked the voice. Lee grinded his teeth together.
"What is the point of all this?! The server will crash soon and we'll all die anyway!", yelled Lee.
"This is true. That is why I must exact my revenge quickly! Allow me to reveal myself..."
A warrior-like creature appeared a few feet away from Lee and TecKuwagamon. He was around 7-feet tall, and had a flowing red cape coming out of his back. He held a big shield and a joust. Lee recognized this Digimon.
"What the... you're a Gallantmon! The fusion of Takato and Guilmon!", gasped Lee. "...Takato!?"
"Wrong. I just look like him! I can take on any form I wish! And now you'd better run... for the game begins!", yelled Gallantmon. "Lightning Joust!"
He fired the lightning joust at Lee, who jumped and flew alot higher than he would if he had normally jumped. The rules of gravity are weak in the void... that gives me a tiny edge...
Lee looked down to see Gallantmon flying at him! Before Gallantmon could reach him, TecKuwagamon clawed him! Gallantmon flew downwards in the void and regained his head, then he looked at TecKuwagamon... then charged at Lee again!
"Ah!", shouted Lee, trying to get out of the way. TecKuwagamon flew in again.
"Techno Scissor Claw!!!", he yelled. He bashed Gallantmon away, then pounced on him! "I'll never let you hurt Lee!"
"You don't have a choice.", said Gallantmon. He took the shield and slammed it into TecKuwagamon's gut, knocking the wind out of him! "And now... SHIELD OF THE JUST!!!"
A huge blast of energy emerged from the shield, blasting TecKuwagamon into the air! Gallantmon looked over at Lee, who was running away. Lee had gained quite some distance from him.
"How'd he get so far? Ah... the anti-gravity... well, I have dozens of skills at my disposal!", smirked Gallantmon. He morphed into the smaller form of Racermon, Arik's partner and blasted into speed after Lee. Lee looked back and saw Racermon heading at him at nearly 200 kph! He smashed Lee in the legs, sending him stumbling forward. He then morphed into another form... Titanmon!!!
"Ah! Titanmon!?", asked Lee.
"Prepare for your ultimate doom!", yelled Titanmon. He grabbed Lee and hurled him through the void, then began charging up the Titan Cannon! Right as he was about to fire it... missiles hit him!!!
"What the... Gigadramon!?", asked Lee. He looked at Gigadramon, who had evolved again. Gigadramon was really pissed and flew in, grabbing Titanmon in his metallic claws. He hurled Titanmon upwards and smashed him with his tail! Titanmon crashed down against the "floor" and lay still.
"Did... you... get him...?", wondered Lee, backing away still. Gigadramon flew in close.
"I'm not sure... I think so..."
Titanmon's eyes popped open. "Well, you're mistaken!"
Titanmon slugged Gigadramon across the face, sending him crashing into the floor. Gigadramon fired off more missiles, but Emperor Shadow shape shifted into Arik and ducked down since he was so small. The missiles flew right over.
"What!? He can become humans?!", gasped Lee. Arik grinned.
"Yes... and I still retain my strength!", he yelled. Arik leapt up and kicked Gigadramon, knocking Gigadramon backwards. It was awful for Lee to see one of his friends attacking his partner, even though he knew it wasn't really Arik.
"Arik, stop!", shouted Lee. But then he got control of himself. Arik gave him a funny look on his face and leapt over to him.
"Oh, so it pulls your heartstrings to see me beating him up, does it?", asked Arik. "Well... what if I do it like... THIS?!"
Arik shape shifted and became a female this time. Lee gasped. "How do you like this form, Trainer?!"
"...Allison?!"
-------------------------------------
Back in Arik's apartment:
Arik and Ace swung open the door and went to confront Arik's miserable dad. But then they noticed the house was empty. The place was still trashed, but empty.
"What the hell... where did he go...?", asked Arik. Bouncemon and DemiTyrannomon hopped in. DemiTyrannomon went and sniffed the area on the couch where Arik's dad was sleeping.
"That's weird... it doesn't even smell like he was here anymore...", said DemiTyrannomon. "I don't think he ever was..."
"What?! But we saw him!", shouted Ace.
"No... you saw something that the Shadow must have put here to torture Arik. Making him believe it was his father...", said Bouncemon.
"...but shouldn't it have been destroyed then when the Shadow went boom?", asked Arik, most upset at this.
"Unless... there's still a Shadow out there somewhere!", shouted Ace.
The four of them looked at each other.
"Nah!"
---------------------------------
Back in the void:
'Allison' looked at Lee and grinned. She grabbed Lee by the collar of his shirt and hurled him backwards with incredible power!
"Oh Lee, I love you!", shouted Allison. "In fact, I'll love to kill you!"
Lee looked up, his eyes full of tears, but none of them fell.
"No way, bitch!", yelled Gigadramon, leaping at Allison. Allison grabbed Gigadramon's hand and swung him around, throwing him across the void! Gigadramon pushed himself up so he was standing on his tail.
Allison leapt over to Lee and kicked him square in the face! He flew backwards, blood trickling off his face. He refused to fight back or even run.
"Your emotions are what makes you weak!", yelled Allison. "You wouldn't fight any of your friends!"
Allison morphed into Ace, who punched Lee, and then into Kevin, who punched Lee again! Then he morphed into Earnest, who threw Lee into the floor. After that, he morphed into Alex, and kicked Lee in the ribs! Lee screamed out in pain. He morphed into Nathan and grabbed Lee by his neck.
"And when your friends like me betray you... it hurts even more, doesn't it!?", yelled Nathan. Nathan kneed Lee in the gut! Lee fell to the floor, in too much physical and emotional pain to say and do anything.
"That's enough!!!", yelled Gigadramon, evolving into Machinedramon! Machinedramon leapt in front of Nathan, who looked up at the big metal Digimon.
"Alright... I'm going to finish you for good!", shouted Nathan. He morphed into WarTyrannomon, Ace's mega-level partner. WarTyrannomon was nowhere near the size of Machinedramon, but he had equal strength.
Machinedramon attempted to stomp on WarTyrannomon, but the Mega-level Digimon flew up into the air!
"Ice Dragon Claw!!!", yelled WarTyrannomon, slashing Machinedramon across the face! Machinedramon roared out in pain and looked at WarTyrannomon angrily.
"Rrragh!", he screamed, he smashed WarTyrannomon with his arm, hurling WarTyrannomon through the void so far that he was out of sight! Suddenly, he heard WarTyrannomon shifting again...
"That can't be good, he's shifted again!", yelled Machinedramon. He looked down at Lee, still laying there. "Lee, get up!"
"I... I can't...", groaned Lee. "It all feels so useless..."
"That's because you ARE useless!!!", yelled Emperor Shadow. He leapt out of the darkness, now in the form of Omnimon... and stabbed Lee through the stomach with his sword!
"LEE! NO!!!", yelled Machinedramon. Omnimon withdrew the sword from Lee, as Lee struggled to breathe. But he was alive.
"I'm... gakk... still... alive...?", asked Lee. Omnimon nodded.
"Surprised? You should be.", said Omnimon. "The rules of death won't apply to you here... that way I may torture you more... until I decide you should die."
---------------------------------
Back on the surface:
Kevin and Jijimon continued walking down the street, talking about old times when Alex, Mikemon and Octopimon came running up to them.
"Alex? What's wrong?!", asked Kevin, seeing the worried expression on her face.
"Lee was swallowed by a Shadow hole! There was one left!", shouted Alex.
"Why does it matter? We only have 20 minutes of life left...", muttered Kevin.
"What? You didn't come up with anything?", asked Alex.
"I gave up... it was too hard...", muttered Kevin. Alex gave him a surprised look.
"You gave up? How pitiful is that?! You don't have any ideas at all?", exclaimed Alex. "But you always have good ideas!"
"Not this time..."
"There has to be something you can do, Kevin! Believe in yourself!", pleaded Alex. Kevin stopped and entered a train of thought... then came up with something.
"Oh my god, I've got an idea.", said Kevin. "Quick, we have to find a computer, there's not much time left!"
--------------------------------
Back in the void:
Machinedramon launched a mighty Giga Cannon at Omnimon, but the fusion warrior reflected it and it nailed Machinedramon, knocking him out. Lee groaned and twitched a little bit, trying to stop the pain.
"Wh-why... am I so important to get revenge on...?", asked Lee. Omnimon crossed his arms.
"Fine, I will start from the very beginning...", said Omnimon.
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
(Not long ago, when we Shadow were still in our infant stages, the seven Servers were protected by seven Guardians.)
Show seven warriors standing in a black void. They are each color coded, but aside from that, all look like powerful robots of the same design.
(They were Asuka, the purple one. Amaterasu, the green one. Kiriban, the red one. Yamato I, the light blue one. Yamato II, the dark blue one. Megabyte, the pink one. And lastly Trinity, the yellow one.)
The seven warriors are shown to be overwhelmed by a legion of Shadow. The seven of them put up considerable resistance, but are eventually destroyed, one by one.
(We converged on Trinity Server first and annihilated the Digimon there, and eventually desolated the Server itself. It earned the new name: Desolate Server.)
Show legions of Flame Shadow and Sword Shadow burning forests and destroying cities in Trinity Server. Digimon of all kinds try and stop them, but are either killed, turned into Shadow, or left to die. Two of the Digimon are Jijimon and Musyamon, who were left to die.
(But... we didn't expect the spirits of the Guardians to live! The were powerful enough to survive our attack, and took on host bodies to preserve themselves!)
Show the Tamers Takato, Henry, Suzie and Rika facing off against Zhuquiaomon in Amaterasu Server. A green spirit inhabits Suzie.
Show IceDevimon attacking JJ and Tom in Asuka Server. A purple spirit inhabits him.
Show Mummymon and Arukenimon running out of the Giga House away from Paildramon. A dark blue spirit goes into Mummymon.
Show Myotismon scolding DemiDevimon on not killing the Digidestened. He is taken over by a light blue spirit.
Show Desiree buying a laptop from an electronics store in Megabyte Server. The pink spirit goes into it.
Show all the DTE members facing off against Milleniumon in his Star Tower. As they fight, a red spirit goes into Chris, unnoticed.
Finally, a Renamon participating in the battle against the Shadow in Trinity Server is taken by the yellow spirit. It leaps away from the fight.
(Trinity, the yellow Guardian was the only one to retain her guardian memory! She knew that we had already put tabs on the Chosen of other worlds and were poised to strike, so she came up with a different plan... she managed to get into Megabyte Server, with untapped Chosen resources! She brought with her the 10 Chosen bands. A Chosen band is a special DNA strand that once it's part of your system, you become a Chosen.)
Show the 10 Chosen strands shooting out randomly. One hits Lee, who is sleeping. Three hit Ace, Arik and Nathan, who are playing video games in Ace's bedroom. Two hit Kevin and Allison, who were walking over to Lee's house. One hits James, who is pouring new holy water at the church. One hits Alex, who is relaxing and sun tanning in her hometown of Tamur. Finally, one hits Desiree, who just discovered she has a talking laptop.
Trinity, or Leila, as the name she adopts, appears in the real world and sees a boy the same age as her. Earnest. Another Chosen strand hits him and she decides to stick with him, and they form a good friendship.
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
Omnimon went on. "She then began setting up the rest of you. Getting you your partners, despite us controlling Desiree to try and stop her. But throughout our attempts to annihilate you Chosen, one of you stood above the rest in performance, taking initiative... always thwarting us..."
{{{FLASHBACK}}}
"Let go of me! You don't have the right to touch me!", shouted Ken.
"I have a right to figure out why you were a pacifist this morning and why you aren't now! And I think this has something to do with it!", retorted Lee. He grabbed the black necklace around Ken, and ripped it off the boy's neck!
- - - "It looks like it's all up to me. And there's only one way to win this...", he said. His eyes darted past Denimon and Allison to Carrie. "I've got to get that necklace..."
Lee dashed through the path and practically tackled Carrie. They tumbled over a log and fell down a small cliff. The newly formed Leila in Renamon stage and Kokuwamon looked over the cliff after them.
"He tackles things alot, doesn't he?", asked Leila.
"Yup."
- - - "You'll what? Hit a girl?", asked Amy.
"I'd never hit a girl..."
Amy grinned.
"...but I have no restrictions to throwing them into the lake.", finished Lee. He grabbed Amy by her shirt and tossed her into the water. She brought her head up and spat out water.
"Now bring TecKuwagamon back, or I'll be forced to rethink my rule.", said Lee, threateningly. Amy pulled herself out and shook herself dry.
"Please. I've had years of combat in my Digital World against some of the toughest Digimon around. You don't scare me.", replied Amy, squeezing her clothes dry.
"Well, I will!", shouted Lee.
- - - "Lying... you're LYING!", screamed James, "Diaboromon will kill him! Him or you, choose!"
Lee continued stepping towards James, "Oh, so now it's me, eh? I thought you wanted the laptop! Or is it that you really just want revenge on me and not to follow Desiree's orders! Are you too scared to fight without her Dark powers controlling you and making all your decisions for you!"
"Y- yes...!", muttered James.
"You were scared when we were going to report Flannigan too. You can't be scared! You can't be controlled! I know that we have had our differences in the past...but I'd be willing to give friendship a chance...if you are..."
James appeared shaken up. "Become... friends... with you?", he asked. "I've never had any real friends..."
"Well, now is your chance... fight the dark flower...", offered Lee. He extended his hand to James. James stared at it.
"You had better know what you're doing, Lee...", muttered Nathan.
"I believe in you... we all believe in you...", groaned Alex, still semi- conscious.
James' insane face slowly changed into a smile. "Friends with Lee... I'm friends with Lee."
He shook Lee's hand. Diaboromon put Nathan down and he ran over next to Lee. James and Diaboromon started to glow with an orange light.
"Lee, what's going on now?!", asked Nathan, scared out of his mind.
"Something awesome...", said Lee.
- - - Machinedramon stood almost as tall as the buildings that surrounded the area. Everyone, including Seth and Kari were staring in awe, temporarily forgetting about their current problems.
"Is... this... possible...?", asked Seth.
"If it's not, then what the hell am I looking at?", asked Kari, equally frightened.
Arik, Nathan, Allison and Alex stared on in surprise.
"Way to go Lee, I knew you'd save us...", whispered Alex.
- - - "Live through this, Trainer!", yelled Desiree. She flew upwards and prepared to plunge the sword into Milleniumon's chest, but he grabbed it before she could. "H-how?!"
Milleniumon threw Desiree by the sword into the street. She pulled her face out of the cement and looked up... as a Dimension Destroyer hit her with full force.
Milleniumon landed beside her body and split back into Lee and Kokuwamon. Desiree groaned a bit and suddenly her Shadow self disappeared. She rolled over and looked up at Lee. She was covering in blood, obviously very weak.
"Bravo Lee...", she said. "You finally got rid of me... I hope you're happy with yourself..."
{{{END FLASHBACK}}}
"So... that's it huh?", asked Lee, struggling to stand up. "It's all my fault, poor Shadow foiled by little Lee..."
"That is correct, and now I will let you die.", said Omnimon. He raised his sword.
"Now, now YOU die!", yelled Lee. "Bio-Merge activate!!!"
The light emitted by Lee blinded Omnimon and took him by surprise! The mighty warrior Milleniumon was now standing in front of him. He looked up at him.
"Damn! I was trying to stop you from attaining this level!", yelled Omnimon.
"Tough.", said Milleniumon. He punched Omnimon, sending Omnimon sprawling across the floor. Omnimon got up and glared at Milleniumon, who stood above him.
"You want big? I'll give you big...", growled Omnimon. He turned into a Queen Shadow! The Queen Shadow slashed Milleniumon repeatedly, but Milleniumon kicked her off!
"Millennium Cannon!!!", shouted Milleniumon, blasting the Queen Shadow across the void.
"Any more tricks you'd like to try?!", asked Milleniumon. The Queen Shadow hauled herself up.
"One.", she said. She morphed back into Allison. "Will you fight me like this!?"
Milleniumon stared at Allison. "You aren't real... and you don't belong here!!! Millennium Cannon!!!"
Milleniumon blasted 'Allison' with full force, completely destroying Emperor Shadow! The void shattered, and Lee and Kokuwamon found themselves back in front of the school.
"Whoo... that was pretty rough...", said Lee. He looked at his stomach, and noticed the stab wound was healed completely. He checked his watch.
"What time is it... Lee...?", asked Kokuwamon, curiously. Lee looked at Kokuwamon sadly.
"It's time... look...", gasped Lee, pointing to the distance. The street was disintegrating before them! Buildings shattered into a big black void. Lee looked over as even Takaishi High school began to disintegrate.
"Lee, should we run?", asked Kokuwamon. Lee shook his head.
"It's over.", said Lee, before the street he and Kokuwamon were standing on, along with them, disintegrated.
- - -
Arik and Ace went out on Arik's balcony to see the city disintegrating. The two of them screamed and ran inside Arik's house. It didn't help much, as the entire district Arik's house was in was soon gone.
- - -
Earnest ran outside and looked up at the mountain his cabin was located on. The mighty rock of the mountain itself was being annihilated! Earnest screamed, but it was too late. The cabin and eventually the entire mountain itself were gone.
- - -
Kevin finished typing up something on the laptop, and Alex noticed the Server Crash heading toward them. Kevin finished it up quickly and shut the computer.
"Pray this works...", said Kevin. Alex nodded and eventually they were swallowed by the Server Crash as well.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Somewhere...
{ENTIRE NETWORK HAS CRASHED.}
...
...
...
{UPLOADING HACKED CODE...}
...
...
...
{REBOOTING NETWORK. SYSTEM SAVED. ABORTING SERVER CRASH.}
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In system inter-space...
The entire system was black. Suddenly, a little light representing a server came on. Followed by a second. Then two more. And finally the rest of them! The system was alive!!!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Megabyte Server:
Everything began to rebuild itself as if it was good as new! The entire planet earth reformed, followed by every little detail on it!
In the city, the sky turned from darkness back to the beautiful blue it once was. Mountains rose out of the ground! Trees and plant life followed them! Then in the town, all the streets returned, and the buildings and skyscrapers reformed! All the residential areas, the church, the school, central park! Stores and parks and sidewalks!
"This is... amazing!!!", shouted Lee, excitedly. Lee had reformed on the street in front of city hall. He looked around, watching his entire life rebuild itself in front of his eyes. The buildings were no longer smashed, and looked brand shining new. The streets weren't cracked, the cars weren't flaming!
Kevin, Ace, Alex, Arik and Earnest reformed behind Lee and took in the sight for themselves.
"Oh my god... it worked!!!", yelled Kevin, just as excited. Lee looked at him.
"Kevin, what did you do?", asked Lee. Kevin opened his mouth to talk, but Alex shoved him out of the way to speak for him.
"Kevin hijacked it so when our server lost enough power, it would activate an entire System rebirth! He's a genius!", said Alex, excitedly. She gave Kevin a big hug.
"Heh heh... it was nothing...", said Kevin, grinning.
"Wow Kev... that's awesome...", gasped Ace. Earnest looked around and pointed out that all the people were beginning to reappear! Everywhere, people were being reborn!
"Phenomenal...", gasped Earnest. "The lives that Desiree took are being brought back!"
"So, everything went according to plan.", said Kevin. "But something seems amiss here..."
"Where's Bouncemon?!", shouted Arik, noticing his little partner wasn't next to him. Lee, Alex, Kevin and Ace looked around, not seeing their partners either.
"What gives?", asked Alex.
{I CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION!}, shouted the laptop, reappearing in Kevin's arms. He almost screamed, since it took him by surprise.
"Well, answer it then! I want to see Kokuwamon!", shouted Lee.
{I'M SORRY, BUT KEVIN'S CODE SET ALL THE SERVERS TO RETURN TO THEIR NATURAL STATES. KIRIBAN, AMATERASU AND ALL THOSE SERVERS ARE BACK TO NORMAL, AS IS TRINITY SERVER. THAT IS WHERE YOUR PARTNERS ARE FROM, SO THEY WERE ALL LIKELY REBORN THERE...}
"Oh...", sighed Alex, sadly.
{DON'T WORRY THOUGH. WITH ME AROUND, YOU CAN TALK TO THEM ANY TIME!}
"Really?! Wow!", shouted Ace. "I'm glad to hear that!"
"Me too... I can speak to Leila again...", said Earnest, happily.
"Not right now though, guys.", said Kevin. Everyone agreed.
Lee looked about the people reappearing, he had to rub his eyes to make sure he saw what he saw.
"Oh my god... mom! dad!", yelled Lee. Lee ran over to see his mother, Jenna and Mayor Trainer being reborn. He gave his mom a gigantic hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay!", shouted Lee.
"We're glad you are, son.", said his mom, hugging him back. His dad picked up Jenna and sat her on his shoulders, she giggled.
"And we're really proud of you. You knew you were doing the right thing.", said his father. "I'm glad I never got rid of your partner."
"I'm glad for that too...", said Lee.
- - -
"Dad! Mom!", shouted Ace. He walked over to his parents. "...how are you?"
"We're fine, Sam.", said his mom. Ace nodded, but then his mom held open her arms. "Aren't you going to give your mother a hug?"
Ace looked at her confusedly and gave his mom a hug. His dad put his hand on Ace's shoulder.
"Don't worry Sam... we'll try and pay more attention to you from now on.", said his dad. His dad was almost crying because he was so happy.
"You promise?", asked Ace.
"We promise!", agreed both his parents.
- - -
Kevin ran off to see his parents, and Ace looked over to see his dad. His dad looked back at him and motioned for Arik to go over to him. Arik was reluctant, but Alex shoved him in that direction.
"Sorry sir, he's just stupid.", said Alex, grinning and walking off.
"Hi... dad.", said Arik, looking at the ground.
"Arik, look at me.", said his dad. Arik looked up at his father, and saw a very serious look in his father's eyes. But not an angry one.
"Son... I'm really... really sorry about everything. It's just that I loved your mother so much... and ever since she died... I haven't been able to conduct myself properly... what with the drinking and the violence.", confessed his father.
Arik didn't say anything.
"I swear I will try to change that. I'll go into help classes... and everything will be okay... alright...?"
"... alright dad.", said Arik. "I trust you."
- - -
Earnest and Alex watched everyone reunite with their families.
"Where are your parents?", asked Earnest. Alex shrugged.
"They live in Tamur, so they were probably reformed there.", said Alex. "I'll head back home in a while. What about you?"
"I don't really have parents, not as far as I can remember, anyway.", said Earnest. He seemed rather sad.
"Oh cheer up, you bum.", said Alex, putting her hands on her hips disapprovingly. "You've still got all of us! We're more family than you'll ever need!"
"Yeah... yeah!", exclaimed Earnest. "You're so right about that..."
"And I--", began Alex, but she was cut off as she saw something else. "Oh my god... James! You're alive!"
Alex and Earnest looked, and sure enough, Lee's old rival, James Willington, was standing there.
"Of course I am...", said James. "Though I don't deserve it... I failed you guys in stopping Desiree..."
"Oh, shut up, you moron!", shouted Lee, running over to James. "You did your best, it's all we could expect of you! And now you have a second chance!"
"Yeah... yeah I do!", replied James, happily. "And I won't let HIM ruin it."
James pointed at Father Flannigan, who looked a little distressed by him.
"Ah... James my boy... how are ye?", asked Father Flannigan. "Doing good, I hope."
Father Flannigan looked at James, Lee, Alex and Earnest glaring at him disapprovingly. He turned to walk away, but Mayor Trainer and two policemen were standing there.
"My son filled me in on what you did to them.", said Mayor Trainer. "And I'm going to see to it that you're locked up for a good, long time, you sick freak."
Father Flannigan gulped, and the policemen handcuffed him and took him away.
"Good riddance.", said Alex, putting her arms around Lee and James. "Come on boys, be happy!"
Mayor Trainer looked at Lee. "Spend the day with your friends Lee... we'll talk tonight."
"Alright dad.", replied Lee.
Mayor Trainer walked off. Lee, James and Alex began talking with Earnest about everything.
- - -
Nathan reformed as well. He looked around and saw Arik, Ace and Kevin walk over to him.
"Hey Nathan!", shouted Ace. "Glad you're back!"
"Yeah, me too.", said Nathan. "I can't believe it..."
"You don't feel evil anymore... do you?", asked Arik, curiously. Nathan stared at Arik liked he just ran over his cat.
"What the hell are you talking about?", asked Nathan, confused.
"Is he serious?", whispered Ace.
"He doesn't remember, he was possessed.", whispered Kevin back. Arik and Ace grinned widely.
"Heh heh... like when we were playing Smash Bros and you beat us up with Ganondorf! He's EVIL! That's what we meant! Ahahahaha!", said Ace, lying convincingly.
"Yeah, you all suck at that game.", chuckled Nathan.
"I'm gonna hold you to that...", said Arik, as the group of them walked over to see Nathan's parents.
- - -
James walked off to see his parents, and Earnest went to go talk to a few of his other friends. Alex took this moment to talk to Lee.
"Okay Lee... now we have a new chance.", said Alex. "Everything is back! Everything is perfect! We can go out, and we can be happy!"
"Hmmm, Alex... you may be right...", thought Lee. Alex smiled. Lee was about to take her hand when he saw someone else reform. "...Allison!!!"
Lee instantly forgot about Alex and ran towards Allison. Allison looked around confusedly, wondering where she was, and then she saw Lee and smiled.
"Lee!!!", she shouted. Lee ran up and hugged her, lifting her up into the air!
"I am so glad you're... I mean, it's so amazing that... I mean, wow, you look--", stuttered Lee, but Allison put her finger to his lip.
"Lee... here is something that we should have done a long time ago...", she said. Lee looked at her, and then the two of them shared their long-awaited first kiss.
Alex looked at them, and her heart melted. "Aww... well, maybe it's better off that he's with her... I'll never forget the good times we had, Lee. And I know you won't either."
Ace and Arik walked up next to Alex and saw this too. Ace let out a huge groan.
"And of course... Lee gets the girl and gets a kiss!", pouted Ace. Alex looked at him.
"Eh, you only live once.", said Alex, shrugging. She grabbed Ace and gave him a huge kiss. When she let go, Ace was amazed and surprised... and overjoyed.
"Hey! What about me!?", asked Arik. "I got beat up for you against Shadow Lee!"
"You're right...", said Alex. She gave Arik a kiss too.
"Hey, she's mine!", shouted Ace, tackling Arik.
"The hell she is!", yelled Arik, as the two of them began rolling around on the ground, arguing over who would get Alex. Alex laughed.
"Well, this will be entertainment for me now.", giggled Alex.
Lee and Allison finally came out of their embrace. "I love you Allison. I have ever since we were little.", said Lee.
"I feel the same.", said Allison.
"And I hope nothing ever takes you away from me again...", said Lee. Allison blushed as Lee took her hand and walked over to where Arik and Ace were fighting.
"What's this?", asked Allison.
"Hormone wars.", replied Alex.
"AHEM! Aren't you two glad to see me!?", shouted Allison. Ace and Arik looked at her and began bowing to her. Everyone had a good laugh.
"Alright, everyone!!!", yelled Kevin. "It's picture time!!! Alex, Lee, Allison, Ace, Arik, over here!"
The five of them ran over to where Kevin, Earnest and Nathan were standing. Everyone except Kevin got together so a picture could be taken.
"Hey, wait a second.", said Lee. "James! Get your rich ass over here!"
"Do I have too?"
"Yes!!!"
James slumped over and stood in the picture as well. Kevin handed the camera to Arik's dad and gave him the instructions. When Kevin walked over, Earnest leaned in to ask him something.
"Kevin... can I keep the laptop guardian?", asked Earnest. "Leila was all I had, and it would mean alot to me if I could speak to her whenever I wanted..."
"Sure thing.", replied Kevin. Allison smiled.
"It's so good to see everyone back together!", squealed Allison. Then she leaned over and whispered something in Lee's ear. "And when we get home, you're gonna have to tell me if I'm better than Alex..."
"Can do.", replied Lee.
"Oh boy. I heard that.", muttered Ace. Allison smacked him in the face. "Ah, just like old times..."
Arik's dad finished setting up the camera.
"Everyone say pepperoni!", he shouted.
"Pepperoni!", they all shouted back. The picture was taken. It had Earnest stand on the top left, holding the laptop. Beside him were Kevin, Ace, James and Lee. Lee's hands were on Allison's shoulders, who was kneeling in the front row with Alex, Nathan and Arik. Everyone was smiling. It was a day... and an adventure... they would never forget.
-------------------------------- Up on a rooftop, overlooking the entire scene:
"Ah, Lee... justice comes to you. The girl comes to you. Your friends come to you. Everything that's good comes to you...", said Desiree, looking down scornfully upon the sight. "Well, you know what...?"
Desiree turned away and began to walk off.
"...I'm happy for you."
================= FIN.