Apocalypse: Chapter 3 December 23, 2015

The city of Tokyo was under attack. This enemy was destroying everything within the boundaries. It smashed through buildings, it tore through streets and sidewalks, and most importantly, it killed hope. This enemy was not an unfriendly nation, nor was it a terrorist organization, it was a rouge computer program given physical form; the D- Reaper. This information destroyer had successfully assimilated the Hypnos mainframe, and used it to breach out into other areas of the city. Inside of the assimilated government building, a small bubble contained the only human that the D-Reaper needed.
Calumon looked up at the hunched form he knew was his missing friend, Jeri. She was sitting down with her knees pressed firmly against her chest and her head buried deep in her arms. "Jeri!" the small digimon called,"Jeri! I found you! The others are going to be so proud of me when I tell them..." He trailed off as he stared at her. "Jeri, a..are you okay?"
She did not answer him.
He hovered up to try and pull the teenage girl's arms away. "Jeri, don't you remember me?"

Again, she did not answer.

Calumon sighed and he sat down beside her. "Jeri..."

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Yamaki sighed as he stood atop a small balcony. He watched as the Monster Makers, the remaining Hypnos staff, and the Tamers assembled computers, projectors, and other classified pieces of technological equipment. He knew that the Monster Makers and Tamers should not even be holding the technological wonders, but he would worry about the red tape later. The fate of the city, no-the entire world was at stake. If those pig- headed government officials wanted to challenge his judgment, he would gladly fight back.
"Commander."

He nodded as Tally approached him. "Sir, all of the equipment is inside. We're ready to set up our base."

He nodded again. "Good. The sooner we get up and running, the sooner we can start to understand this D-Reaper."

She nodded. "I hope so." She turned around and returned to overseeing the construction of the military base. Yamaki watched her walk back to the floor, then turned around to observe Riley walking towards him.
"Is everything all right, sir?" she asked.
He sighed. "Well, let's see: the city is under attack by a rouge program that used the information defense organization that I oversaw to assimilate most of this city."
"Sir, no one said protecting the entire network would be easy."
He smiled slightly. "I have no intention of being the first among a long line of failures."
"Sir, I didn't mean..."
"We will defeat the D-Reaper and save this city. Then we'll rebuild Hypnos, we'll make it better then before. You, Tally, Orion, Miki, me.." He smiled slightly,"Maybe Kamiya and the Tamers will even join us."
Riley smiled warmly. "Sounds like a plan to me."
They turned back to watch the Monster Makers assemble their new computer toys. This makeshift base had to be up and running within the next few hours or the D-Reaper would have taken too much of the city. Hope was running low, but he could not give up. They had to keep moving, everyone was depending on them.
Down below, Wong lifted a computer monitor onto a CPU unit. Jenrya quickly connected the two via an insulated wire. "The monitor is attached, Dad."
Wong smiled slightly. "We make a pretty good team, don't we?"
"Yeah..." He turned away.
"What's wrong, son?"
Jenrya tried to form the words, but he kept stuttering. Finally he was able to speak, "Dad, are you mad at me?"
Wong gasped. "W..what for?"
"Because you told me to stay away, yet here I am."
"Oh, that..." He turned away. "Well, I..." He turned back around and Jenrya could see that his father was smiling slightly. "Truth is, with all the excitement I sort of forgot."
"But...?"
"But I am glad that you are here," he sighed,"I don't like the idea of you being in danger, but here I am, right in the middle of it too. I can't exactly tell you to stay away, while I do the opposite." He walked over and hugged his son,"Sometimes there are orders that you can't follow. Part of growing up is learning to follow what your heart tells you to do. I'm proud that you made this choice."
"Really?"
"Yeah, just don't make a habit of it or anything."
Takato sat on the floor with his back up against the wall. He watched as Guilmon carried a large computer CPU unit over to Tally, who pointed to Babel. The red dinosaur huffed, then walked over to the Monster Maker. Guilmon place it down and breathed heavily. Agumon ran over and told him that there was more to sort out. Takato's partner groaned, then followed the smaller orange dinosaur.
"Is everything all right, Takato?"
He turned around as Tai sat down next to him. He had a small cup in his hand, which he offered to the teenager. Takato shook his head. "No thank you."
Tai shrugged. "You're probably too young for coffee anyway. So, what's on your mind?"
"Everything," he sighed,"How did all of this happen? I mean, all I did was draw a picture of Guilmon, and the next thing I know, I'm a Tamer. I mean, it was kind of interesting to fight evil digimon and all that. Then..." he sighed,"Then Kenta's father was killed, and now D- Reaper's destroying the city. And Jeri's inside of it, and I don't know if she's even still alive! I was alone with the D-Reaper's clone of Jeri, why couldn't I see that it wasn't her? We might have been able to stop all of this! I'm just a big failure!"
Tai sighed. "Takato, being a hero isn't easy, you know. We're only human, we make mistakes. You were depressed, and after what happened in the Digital World, it's only natural that you wouldn't have noticed the little things."
"Yeah, but..."
Tai put his arm around Takato's shoulder. "Listen, you're not a failure. I couldn't be more proud of you then if you were my own son."
"Really?"
He nodded. "Yeah, you remind me of myself when I was your age."
"Wow, does that mean I'm going to turn out like you when I grow up?"
"Hey, it could be worse."
The two started laughing slightly. They were not aware that Kasumi had been silently listening from the balcony above. She turned around and slowly walked off. "So, Dad always wanted a boy. I guess that's why he sent me to live with Mom, because he never really wanted me."
As she ran off, she passed by Alice and Lopmon. "Hey, Kasumi!" the blond called,"Are you okay?" Tai's daughter did not answer. "She seemed upset about something."
Lopmon looked to the blond girl. "She was? Why do you say that?"
"I think she was crying. I wonder what happened?"
Lopmon surveyed the digimon, "I don't see Snow Agumon anywhere. I guess she doesn't know."
Alice sighed. "She should feel lucky that she even has a partner." She looked to the ground, "I wish I had a partner."
The small dog/bunny placed her paw on Alice's hand. "We may not officially be partners, but I will fight for you."
Alice smiled. "I just don't understand how you were able to digivolve without a digivice."
"I'm a Deva, remember? I don't need one."
Alice lightly rubbed her head.
A few hours later, the group had finally assembled the technological devices. They knew they needed to discover how far the D- Reaper had moved since they last checked, so Babel called up a satellite image of the city on his computer. The others quickly glanced over his shoulder.
"I don't believe this!" Daisy gasped.
"How could it've moved so fast?" Kazu asked.
Yamaki studied the image for a few minutes. "The D-Reaper's covering the city faster than we thought. It seems the first thing we need to do is prevent it from spreading to other areas. Janyu, do you think you could create some kind of shield or something to keep it from spreading outside of the city?"
Wong glanced at the other Monster Makers. "Yeah, I think so, but D-Reaper hasn't shown any weaknesses so far."
"Wait!" Ryo gasped, "Before the Jeri clone infected Hypnos, I tried to attack her with an electro-magnetic gun. She was hurt, but it wasn't enough to stop her."
Takato spoke next. "And when I met the J-Reaper, she told me that the park couldn't be assimilated because of the trees!"
Wong nodded. "Okay, if we combined a 'bubble' of electromagnetic fields with certain energy waves emitted by trees, we might be able to stop it."
"How long?" Tai asked.
"We'll get started right away."
The Master Digidestined smiled, then glanced around ."Has anyone seen Kasumi?"
"I saw her run off before," Alice said,"It looked like she was crying."
"Really? I wonder what's wrong?"
"Master Kamiya," Yamaki appraoched him, "Just to be on the safe side, I'm going to order the evacuation of the city."
Tai nodded. "That's a good idea. We should be able to concentrate more on fighting the D-Reaper if we don't have to worry about everyone's safety."
"Glad you agree."
"Sorry, I'm just worried about Kasumi, I hope she's all right."

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After what seemed like hours of trying to reach Jeri, Calumon finally decided to give himself a rest. The small digimon sighed deeply as he sat down beside her. For the first time, he noticed that the small bubble they were inside of was actually floating inside of another, larger, red bubble. However, it was the figure, bound and unconscious, hovering in front of them.
"Sakuyamon!" Calumon screamed, "Sakuyamon! Are you alright?"
There was no response. The white digimon turned to the unmoving Jeri, then at the floor. "Oh, I guess I'm all alone."

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Mrs. Matsuki stood firmly in the kitchen of her bakery. Her arms were crossed as she stared the armed soldier straight in the face. "I'm not leaving!"
The soldier sighed. "Mrs. Matsuki, please. Everyone needs to be evacuated from..."
"What about my son?" she asked,"Will he be waiting for us outside?"
"I..I'm afraid that I..."
"Then I'm not leaving," she said,"My son is here, he needs me."
Mr. Matsuki walked up beside his wife and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Honey, you..neither of us, can help Takato right now. He has a chance to beat this thing..."
"But he's my baby!"
Mr. Matsuki sighed. "No, he's not. Not anymore. It's time we started realizing that."
His wife started sobbing in his chest. "But...I don't want him to fight that thing!"
"He's the only one that can!" He hugged his wife back,"Now, come on. The Nonakas and the Wongs will be waiting for us."
Mrs. Matsuki sniffed. "Okay. Just give me a minute."
The soldier bowed. "Take your time."

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Around the out limits of the city, The Hypnos crew had already attached hundreds of small cylinder shaped devices around the boundaries of Tokyo. Once the shield was activated, they would act like poles on a fence, connected by an impassible electromagnetic field. Time was running out, however, as the D-Reaper was sending hordes of its Searchers out to discover what the humans were doing.
Earth's forces had split into groups so they would be able to assemble the shield generators before their invading enemy destroyed the entire city and moved beyond. Wong's group was in charge of placing the small generators on the south eastern side of the city. Most importantly, he would also have to attach the main generator. The Monster Maker, Ryo and Cyberdramon worked feverously to place the small electrical devices along the predetermined lines. As they did, they noticed the hovering agents above them.
"Great," Ryo sighed,"Searches."
"I don't know," Wong said,"I don't think they've noticed us yet."
Cybderdramon growled. "Think again." The agents of the D- Reaper had stopped above the trio to stare at them. They seemed to be examining the shield generators. After a few minutes of staring at them, the agents shot back towards the red bubble surrounding the assimilated city blocks. Almost instantly, a group of green skinned creatures appeared at the base of the bubble and charged towards them.
Wong grabbed his cell phone. "Master Kamiya!" he shouted into the transmitter,"This is Wong! You had better get over here!"

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"They're fighting."
Calumon moved up from where he was sitting to look at the brown haired girl who had been silent so far. "Jeri?"
"They're fighting again."
Calumon's ears grew out of his head. "Jeri!" he said with a smile,"You talked! Wait, what do you mean? Who's fighting?"
"The Tamers," she said. She was still hugging her knees tightly and had her face buried in her arms. "They are trying to fight against the D-Reaper's agents. It's useless."
"Why?" he asked,"Why is it useless."
"The D-Reaper told me. It makes perfect sense."
"What?"
"Sadness is a person's true state. There is no such thing as happiness, it's all just an illusion."
"That's not true!" he protested,"Jeri!"
She did not answer.
"Oh, Jeri, I've got to help you, but how?"

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Back outside, Jenrya's group responded to Wong's call. They had completed their section of the city and were eager to make sure that their plan was successful. "Horn Strikers!" he shouted.
"Two of them!" Artemis called.
Jenrya saw his father staring at Ryo and Cyberdramon as they fought alone against the two Horn Strikers. "Dad!" he shouted,"We're coming!"
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his D-Ark and his blue card. "Digi-modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!"
"Terriermon matrix digivolve to Rapidmon!"
The newly digivolved Ultimate leapt to the ground. He was soon joined by Artemis. Rapidmon slammed his feet into the back of one of the Horn Strikers, sending it to the ground. Artemis then jumped on top of the fallen agent and attempted to severe its connection to the main D- Reaper, but the other Horn Striker rammed its horn into her back. She slammed into Ryo and the two of them became tangled on the ground. The other Horn Striker jumped back onto its feet and stood besides its partner. Cyberdramon quickly flew behind them and attempted to attack, but they both spun around and pounded the dragon digimon into the ground. They were about to finish him off, but Rapidmon and Artemis came to his rescue.
Wong stood on the side and stared in awe at the digimon fighters only a few feet in front of him. "Dad!"
He turned to the right and saw his son calling to him. "Jenrya?"
"Dad, finish putting the sheilds down! We'll distract them!"
The Monster Maker nodded. "Right." He spun around and continued to place the small shield generators on the ground. He tried to ignore the sounds of battle behind him as he concentrated on his task. The others were counting on him, he had to finish. He attached all of his small devices except for the last one. This was the most important shield generator as it contained the activation device. He was about to press the black rectangular button, when he suddenly felt a presence behind him. He twirled around and saw one of the Horn Strikers standing behind him. He gasped and fell over backwards. "Ahh!"
"Hang on!" Cyberdramon shouted. He slammed his shoulder into the Horn Striker's side and sent him flying into the other agent. The dragon digimon held his hands out. "Desolation Claw!"
A shooting stream of white light tore through the two Agents. They exploded apart, leaving only the cord and areas of red slime. Ryo stood beside his partner. "Nice job."
"Don't celebrate yet!" Rapidmon shouted,"Look at what's left of those two agents!"
Everyone watched in horror as the red slime started to moved and slither into a large puddle. "They're starting to regenerate!" Jenrya gasped.
One of the red blobs slid towards Ryo and Cyberdramon. The slime of the agent suddenly exploded into a giant red net. "Guys, watch out!" Artemis called. She tried to push them out of the way, but she, too was covered by the sheet of red. It instantly enveloped them. The cord quickly retracted and pulled the red covered trio into the main bubble of the D-Reaper.
"Ryo!" Jenrya shouted,"Miki! Oh no! Dad, what did it do to them!"
Wong could only point to the newly regenerated Horn Striker. Rapidmon leapt in front of the D-Reaper agent in an attempt to stop it from attacking Wong or Jenrya, but the agent fired a stream of white light from his palms. At such close range, Rapidmon did not have any chance to escape, he was hit so badly, that he regressed to Terriermon.
Jenrya ran to his digimon's side. "Are you okay?"
"That was Cyberdramon's attack!" he gasped.
"Jenrya!" his father shouted,"Look out!"
The black-haired boy spun around just in time to watch as the Horn Striker exploded into another sheet of red. It covered Jenrya and Terriermon and pulled them back to the main D-Reaper bubble.
"No!" Wong shouted,"Jenrya! Jenrya..." He fell to his knees. "No, my son..I..." He shook his head,"No, I've got to activate the shield!" He ran towards the main generator, when he suddenly fell onto his face. He turned around and saw that one of the D-Reaper's Searchers hand wrapped itself around his leg. It was trying to absorb him as well.
"No!" he screamed. Despite the amount of strength that the D-Reaper's agent had, Wong still managed to pull himself close enough to the main generator. He took a deep breath and pulled his arm as far as it could go. Thankfully, it was long enough to press the activation button.
"Yes!" he said to himself as his arm fell to the ground, exhausted. The Searcher yanked him into the D-Reaper bubble.
The main generator hummed for a few seconds before firing a beam of silver light into the next cylinder shaped device. That device fired the beam into the next one, then the next, then the next until the light had traveled through all the generators attached around the city and back to the main generator. These beams of silver light extend upward until they met directly over the city, forming a silver shaped dome. The shield was in place.

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Inside of their bubble, Calumon and Jeri knew something was wrong. The small digimon felt overcome by a feeling of rage and hate. The D- Reaper was mad at something; that much he knew. He turned to his companion, hoping that she would feel like talking. "Jeri, do you feel that? Jeri.Jeri?" She did not feel like talking.
He sighed as he leaned on the ground again. "Poor Jeri,"
"The D-Reaper is angry."
Calumon turned to her, "What do you mean?"
"The Tamers did something," she continued, almost in a trance, "They trapped the D-Reaper here, and now it wants revenge. It is going to try and form a more powerful Agent, made of the same substance as itself. It had created weaker agents out of the substances that it assimilated, but now it has assimilated digimon and humans. This should give its newest agent more stability."
Calumon just stared at her. "I don't know what you're saying, or how you know it, but will Takato and the others get hurt?"
She did not answer.

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On the Eastern section of the city, the other Tamers had met up with Tai and Yamaki. They were about to journey to aid Wong and Jenrya, but they had to stop as the shield was erected around them. "The sheild's up!" Kazu shouted.
Yamaki nodded. "Yes, it extends sea-level and cuts of all outside communication lines. The D-Reaper can't get out. Unfortunately, neither can we."
The Tamers felt the color drain from their faces. "What do you mean?" Takato asked.
Yamaki held up a small metallic rectangle. "This is the only way that the shield can be de-activated. This key will turn an electronic lock in the main generator." He smiled slightly, "We'd better not lose it."
"That wasn't funny," Tai sighed.
Yamaki's communicator began to beep. "Yamaki here."
"Sir, we're no longer reading the signal from Wong, Jenrya, Artemis or Orion."
He frowned. "Great."
"There's something else. We're reading an abnormal amount of energy from the D-Reaper. I think something's coming your way."
Yamaki glanced towards the massive ball of the D-Reaper. Something had caught his eye, like a rocket being fired from the top. It soared across the sky and slammed into the ground directly in front of the group. "Wh..what is that thing?"
"It's got to be one of the D-Reaper's agents!" Takato gasped.
"That thing is hideous!" Kazu exclaimed, "I mean, the others weren't that pretty either, but this thing is just disgusting! Oh man, it's making my skin crawl!"
The new agent was in the shape of a giant humanoid creature. Its head contained no eyes, nose or ears, but a head of red tentacles and was covered in mouths. It torso also contained a number of the same heads as well as its arms. Each of its palms contained one smaller mouth.
Tai stared at it. "Well, Kazu, got a name for this one?" Surprisingly, the creature answered instead!
"D-Reaper agent ADR-07 experimentation complete. Result of head formation.satisfactory for this level of agent. Uploading to Mother.."
Takato could not contain his surprise. "It's talking in Jeri's voice!"
"Probably because Jeri's part of it," Yamaki explained.
"What was all that other stuff it was talking about?" Kazu asked "It sounded like it was practicing making heads. And who's 'Mother'?"
"That's got to be the main D-Reaper," Tai said, "And if Jeri really is a part of it, I'll bet she's merged with that..Mother D- Reaper."
"Why Mother?" Ai asked, "Is D-Reaper a girl? When we fought it in the Digital World, it looked like a boy."
"Probably when it merged with Jeri, it took on feminine characteristics," Yamaki said.
"What about Practice Heads?" Impmon asked, "Did she forget about us, or what?"
"What about Jeri?" Takato shouted, "If she's inside of the D-Reaper, how are we supposed to find her?"
Yamaki began talking into his communicator again. "Riley, began a search of the D-Reaper. Try to find its Central Processor or whatever it has. I think Jeri Katou may be there."
"We'll get right on it. Riley out. Good luck sir"
Yamaki stared up at Practice Heads. "Thanks, I think we're going to need it."

To be continued..

Author's note: I apologize for this chapter being so short, but I'm trying to draw the story out into two more chapters for dramatic effect. I hope it works.
Next chapter: The beginning of the end! And you guys are going to hate me when you read the end of this story!