"I don't want to let you go
But in my heart, now I know
That's it's only the beginning of the end."
BBMak—"The Beginning"

Echoes of Angels Who Won't Return
Chapter Two, February: "Only the Beginning"

It was nearly dawn in the Digital World when the three sat in conference: two humans and one Digimon. Never before had all three been in the same area at once, and never before had this question been posed.

"I know this is hard for you to accept, but there are things that just can't be done," commented the older human, a man appearing to be in his late twenties or early thirties.

"Hard to accept?" the second human, a boy of about eleven, repeated. Though he only looked like a child, he was in actuality much older. His true age was fourteen--nearly fifteen--if not for an unforeseen accident. "A child's life is at stake! He's the same age I was when I made my sacrifice, and the same age the Chosen Children are now. If it was Ken or any of the others, you wouldn't hesitate for a minute¡ªadmit it."

"You have to understand Gennai's reasoning," the Digimon explained. "You have done all you can to help this boy, but there is no way for you to keep him out of danger altogether. He must do this for himself."

"But he can't¡­" the boy began, but Gennai cut him off.

"You must listen to Qinglongmon. You believe in this boy's capabilities, don't you?"

"I do, but¡­"

"So if you do, you must believe in him to be able to win this on his own."

The boy looked down as the sunlight reflected off his glasses. He knew that this sun wasn't entirely real, but was data taken shape. Everything around him was not real¡ªeven he himself was. He no longer existed in this realm of existence, but he took it as his personal duty to protect the ones he most cared about. Right now, they were in good condition, but someone else--a complete stranger--was not.

"All I'm asking for is a little help," he continued, taking a sigh. "I know that I've broken all sorts of dimensional laws by crossing over into that world to help defend him, but he needs it. Every single one of his injuries is fatal! Just yesterday, his brother slit open his wrists! He could have bled to death, and I couldn't do anything. The most I could do was wake him up early enough so he could keep from dying, but even that wasn't enough. He nearly passed out on the night shift." He knew he was getting too emotional. Qinglongmon and Gennai would use it against him. Calmly, he recollected himself and went on. "All I want is the ability to take a solid form. That's all I'm asking. I just want to be able to help him."

"You're doing a lot of that already," Gennai reasoned.

"But it's not enough."

"Osamu, listen to reason," Qinglongmon urged. "What would happen if the new Kaiser caught you? Because you are dead, you are in no danger, but the boy you are protecting will be. How will you compensate for that?" The boy was silent. "Are your actions to make up for your brother's mistakes, or are they for your own sake?"

Got me that time, he thought. "It's mostly for me. I'll never forget what I saw when I tried to wake Ken from that Mind Illusion. Six other kids and I were forced to kill the Kaiser. Two of us shared him as a brother! And each of the others fell. I couldn't do anything. I would gladly have taken their sacrifices, but I couldn't."

"You do realize that it was a reality that didn't exist?" Gennai questioned.

"I know," he replied, "but that boy is now bleeding from his wrists¡ªthe first injury he sustained in there. Those sacrifices were real, and I don't want to stand around and be as helpless as before."

Gennai and Qinglongmon exchanged a long glance. Osamu Ichijouji was more than mature enough to be trusted with this, they knew, but was it right to do this? After his brother had taken the Dark Seed? Would history repeat itself indefinitely?

"Osamu, you do agree that the gift we will give you must be used with extreme caution," Gennai stated. He nodded in reply. "Do not, under any circumstances, use it to stop their sacrifices. Ease their pain, but do not stop it."

"If necessary, may I use it to help them?" he asked. "For example, if he's close to death again, can I keep him alive with it?"

"Yes," Qinglongmon answered, "as long as you do not attack the Kaiser with it." A tiny shimmering object sprung from the great dragon's body and implanted itself into Osamu's left wrist. "The Light Seed offers many powers, as does its brother, the Dark; but this embodies life rather than death." Osamu's transparent form suddenly became solid. He flexed his fingers and placed his hand in the grass he knelt in. He could feel it. "Along with it, you have the ability to conceal objects or persons, just as the Kaiser does. But your powers obstruct others' vision with the light, rather than eclipsing it in the dark."

"All smoke and mirrors," Osamu commented.

"With that, you can also take on that boy's appearance if need be," Qinglongmon continued. "A single drop of his blood would initiate it, as the power of Light is drawn to its source."

"I understand, Qinglongmon," Osamu replied. "And thank you." In the blink of an eye, he was gone from that world and back into the other. He smiled. His job would now be a little easier.


Hikari woke up suddenly, dripping with a cold sweat. Quickly, she turned on a light, being sure not to disturb her partner, Tailmon, who was sleeping peacefully nearby. Hikari envied how soundly the Digimon could sleep. How was it that the nearly twelve-year-old was the only one ever disturbed by visions?

That dream, she thought, cursing her gift. It had been the fourth time that week the dream had plagued her, only it now seemed even closer to reality. A boy her age was drowning in a sea of blood while a nearly identical boy laughed in the distance. Worse, the boy appeared to be the Digimon Kaiser. And the music always echoed in her mind afterward.

Carefully, she climbed out of bed and went to her desk. Though her passion was photography, she was also skilled at drawing, so she grabbed some colored pencils and got to work at bringing this mysterious character to life. While she was at it, she wrote down the lyrics to the song on the back of the score sheet Yamato gave her. She knew this could help her somehow.

Finally, the drawing was completed, as was the song. The boy had blue eyes and formerly long dark hair that had been recently cut with a knife or some kind of blade. He was a prisoner in the darkness, with only his song to comfort his pain. The song itself seemed sad and mournful¡ªin fact, he even mentioned that he was mourning some words. But with the way he sang, it was as though he was forcing himself to look to those stars, and to the blue moon that seemed to inspire him. They were the only consolation to his sorrow. Because of that, she knew he was truly a child of the Light.

Who are you, brother in the Light? she wondered. A strange type of pain overtook her mind, mirroring his. Brother. That's the word you mourn. What happened that was so terrible that you mourn this word? She could not feel an answer. He didn't seem to be able to feel her prying. She sighed. Keep looking to that blue moon, and to those stars. I'll be the one that's guided to find you.

-------
Not one of the Teenage Wolves could miss the sadness in Yamato's voice as he sang. But the audience had; they were mindlessly applauding the band and the last song of the night, "Hitoribotchi no Shiso­." The four young men took a bow and headed off-stage.

"So what was that all about?" Takashi Aoyama asked.

"What do you mean?" Yamato questioned.

"Teary eyes, cracking voice," Akira Kawagami listed. "It was Sora again, wasn't it?"

"I told you; I'm over her."

"Don't like to us," Akira instructed.

"Yeah, tell the love god over there all your troubles," Yutaka Kiyosaki joked.

"Shut up," Yamato replied. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not grieving over Sora anymore? Sure, when we broke up, I was upset, but it was the best decision. Right now, we're in the middle of something big, something you wouldn't understand."

"How wouldn't we?" Takashi asked.

"You weren't there, so you wouldn't know."

Saying no more, Yamato walked off toward his apartment building, only to see Taichi trying to break up a fight¡ªbetween little sister Hikari and boy genius Ken Ichijouji.

"Taichi, what happened?" Yamato questioned.

"Ken was just walking down the street and Hikari jumped him," he answered.

"What? That's not like her."

"I know. Now help me!"

Frantically, they pulled the two children away from each other, but Hikari threatened to burst out of her brother's grip to give Ken another good punch.

"Hikari, stop it!" Taichi ordered.

"You may have forgotten about the Darkness, but I haven't!" she cried, trying to tear herself free.

"But what does this have to do with me?" Ken demanded.

"You tried to kill that boy," she spat, her words like acidy venom. "I saw you!"

"What do you mean?" Ken shouted.

"You know! He was drowning in a sea of blood while you laughed. You let him die!"

"Does this have to do with that blues singer?" Yamato interrupted. Taichi stared at him. "When I wrote those notes down, I didn't mean for you to attack your friends!"

"What are you talking about?" Taichi asked.

"Hikari asked me to write down the notes to a blues song a friend of hers had come up with. I didn't think much of it until now."

"Hikari, you'd better explain!" Taichi ordered in a voice he'd never used with her.

"The blues singer is a boy who's a prisoner," she replied. "Ken, dressed as the Kaiser, laughed as he drowned in a sea of his own blood."

"Did you ever stop and consider the fact that the Kaiser could have been that other boy?" Ken responded. "The one that looked like me? The one on the other side? Have you forgotten what we saw that day, Hikari?"

"Ken, not now," Yamato reasoned. "Look, come with me, and I'll get you some ice for your jaw. Taichi, deal with Hikari in any way you want."

"Got it."

While Tai gruffly dragged Hikari back home, Yamato led Ken to his apartment. The sun was setting on the first day of vacation for Mr. Ishida, and he was spending it resting on the couch. He sat up immediately once his son and the Ichijouji boy entered.

"Hello, Yamato. Hello, Ken¡ªisn't it?"

"Yes," the prodigy answered. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Ishida."

"Ken got into a fight outside," Yamato explained. "Is it okay if I get him some ice?"

"Who did he get in a fight with?"

"Hikari Yagami," Ken muttered.

"Hikari? That sweet girl?" Mr. Ishida checked. "Why would she fight you?"

"I honestly have no clue," Ken admitted.

"Dad, the ice?" Yamato reminded.

"Sure. Go right ahead."

Yamato went to the freezer and filled a small bag with ice. He placed a paper towel around it and handed it to Ken.

"Thanks," the younger boy answered, placing it on his jaw. "Ouch! Hikari's got a stronger right hook than I thought."

"You may need to get it checked out¡­"

"No, Yamato, I'm okay. I'll be heading home now. Thanks again."

"Welcome."

At the sound of the door's closing, Yamato sighed and pressed his head against the fridge. He needed a drink. He didn't care that he was five or six years underage; he needed a drink. But just as he pulled a beer out of the fridge, his father replaced it with a soda.

"You're not even fifteen, Yamato. I won't have you starting a drinking problem. That's how your mother and I got divorced, remember?"

Yamato twisted off the cap from the bottle and sat down. "It seems like I've got an everything problem, Dad. Things have just been too hectic lately."

"Your break-up with Sora?"

"Not just that, but Ken and Hikari's fight, Iori's admittance to the hospital¡­ Wallace recently broke up with Miyako, so she's refusing to even hear his name. Jyou's buried himself in his studies while Koushiro has legally married his computer¡ªI'm debating whether to buy them a toaster or a blender. Daisuke's trying his hardest to keep everyone together, but even now he's taking an escape in the form of Yutaka's sister. Taichi, Takeru, and Mimi are the only ones without a problem¡ªscratch that. Taichi now has to deal with Hikari, so it's only Takeru and Mimi."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Koushiro and Wallace have been working with Gennai to reach the other world, the one where the Darkness went. If that works, maybe some of these pressures can be relieved." Yamato sighed and took a long swig of his soda. Never before had the responsibilities of being a Chosen Child been this taxing.


Koushiro Izumi and Wallace Ford sat in Gennai's study in the Digital World, trying to finish the algorithms to the other world. Tentomon, Koushiro's partner Digimon, was outside playing tag with Wallace's partners Gumimon and Chocomon (actually, a Terriermon and Lopmon respectively, but the concept of evolution had never completely sunk in for Wallace). Gennai watched the two humans attentively, occasionally altering Wallace's mathematical equations to match them to Koushiro's. The younger boy of eleven was no genius like the older boy of fourteen, but after his mother's death and his break-up of the long-distance relationship with Miyako, he needed some kind of diversion to keep him from losing his mind the way Iori had.

"How's this, Gennai?" Wallace questioned. The digital man came over to check.

"Well, your pre-algebra is still shaky, but you do have the correct settings for the key," he determined. "Koushiro, how's your part coming along?"

"I just need to add in Wallace's settings, if they're right, and it'll be done," the redhead declared confidently, never once looking up from his yellow laptop. "And have you managed to establish contact with Ryo's world yet?"

"Not yet," Gennai admitted. "There are too many inconsistencies and too many interferences with the signal. But I am getting there. If I can figure out some way to surpass this tracking program in that world, I'll be able to contact him."

"What's this tracking system doing?" Koushiro asked.

"It's almost as if it's deleting my signal. Someone in that world is trying to block out any digital discrepancies that come from the outside. With Ryo being part-data, it surprises me that he would be able to survive there at all."

Koushiro nodded in understanding. "I have to admit, it would be easier if Michael, Catherine, and all those others had any way of helping more. Sure, Chichos is too young, but even she might know a way to work out the settings for the key."

"Wallace!" Chocomon called. "We have to go home now!"

"Don't make Aunt Rebecca mad again," Gumimon pleaded. "She's worse than Mama."

"Hold on, Gumimon, Chocomon," he replied, hitting save. "Sorry, Koushiro, Gennai. I have to go."

"Don't worry," Gennai assured. "You've done a lot already."

"Sorry I have to go so soon," the boy answered, exiting through a television portal. "Goodbye!"

Summer Memory, Colorado was exactly as it had always been: a lazy farm known to locals for it hospitality to travelers and passers-by. Following his mother's passing, Wallace had moved into the home he now inherited, taking with him the distant relatives that had taken him in: Aunt Rebecca¡ªa kind-hearted but tough woman who had been Mrs. Ford's only cousin, Uncle Greg¡ªa reserve soldier from the Fort Carson military base near Colorado Springs, who was often absent from the family due to duties at base, and Jaimie¡ªtheir two-year-old daughter who had an insatiable sweet tooth. Though his new family was kind to him, he could not deny that there were problems. First, Uncle Greg had not taken kindly to Gumimon and Chocomon, and was even more distressed by them when he learned that Mrs. Ford had given her young son their egg when before he even was old enough to go to school. And that only led to number two: when Uncle Greg and Aunt Rebecca determined that, judging by the evidence of the said egg and the phone bills they'd discovered from the many times Wallace had called his mother collect while he trekked from New York to Colorado as well as said adventure across the country, that the boy was incredibly spoiled and harbored a habit that he needed to break. Once his altruism had finally been revealed, they'd caused problem numero tres: a suffocating sense of closeness as they tried to relieve the pain of his tragedies. It was enough to make him sick.

Jaimie was playing in the freshly fallen snow with Aunt Rebecca. Seeing an opportunity for fun, Gumimon and Chocomon used their long, floppy ears to catch the breeze and glide over to them.

"Aunt Rebecca, I'm going to be on the Internet for a bit," Wallace informed. "I want to e-mail Mimi."

"All right," she answered.

Once upon a time in New York, Wallace and Mimi had dated. This was prior to her affection to the Chosen Child Michael and after the apparent crush Jyou Kido had on her and long before Wallace's brief romance with Miyako Inoue. The two had joined forces with each other and many other Chosen Children to clear out Ground Zero nearly two years earlier. From then on, the two had become close friends, eventually dating and schooling each other in the ways of the other's world. In fact, Mimi had been the one to teach Wallace the Japanese that aided him on his cross-country adventure with Daisuke and the others, and Wallace had taught her English. When he'd learned that she was one of the children Chocomon had abducted, he'd only apologized about a hundred times before she'd told him to stop. Wallace's family never worried about his relationship with her; their age difference was only two years. And though they had grown apart, Mimi had never harbored any resentment toward him when he sought a relationship with Miyako, and he never held any when she grew closer to Michael. But a single event that no one had foreseen was known only to the Ford boy: Mimi and Michael's seemingly perfect relationship had gone up in smoke. After their dating disasters, the two former lovers had been relying on each other more and more.

There was one bad effect Mimi had on him, Wallace realized as he sat before the computer, drawing a blank in front of the screen. She always managed to leave him speechless. Groaning, he checked his instant messenger before attempting to type a letter to her. Was it possible he was falling back in love with her?


Daisuke Motomiya and Natsu Kiyosaki sat under a tree at Odaiba Elementary during their lunch period. Daisuke's Baby II partner Chibimon sat on Natsu's lap, happily nibbling at a rice ball.

Natsu was the younger sister of one of Yamato's band members, Yutaka. She and Daisuke met on rather unusual circumstances during the battles against Oikawa. She had been in one of the cars that XV-mon and Stingmon had been forced to pull over to the side of the road, and had recognized Daisuke as a friend of Yamato and Takeru's. Had it not been for her testimony, the entire Kiyosaki family could have been injured in the car chase.

The tree was a shady evergreen, and sheltered the ground from the snow that would otherwise have ruined their clothes. And Daisuke did not want to spoil Natsu's pale golden dress and sky blue jacket any more than he wanted to destroy his red-and-black jacket, blue T-shirt, and jeans.

"So you're still avoiding them?" Natsu observed, seeing the other Chosen (sans Ken and Iori) scattered across the playground.

"Can you blame me?" Daisuke questioned. "After Hikari's fight with Ken, I can't take it. It was bad enough with Iori and Miyako and Wallace, but this is pathetic! What happened to the team?"

"Daisuke, are you still mad?" Chibimon asked, his infectious happiness suddenly gone.

"Not anymore, Chibimon. But¡­ I just want to know how our friendship ended!"

"Just because you're going through some bad times, it doesn't mean your friendship is over," Natsu reasoned. "Watch. This whole thing will blow over in a week."

Daisuke was silent for a while, contemplating this. Was everything really that simple? And if it was, how was it that something so simple could happen now of all times?

Out of the corner of his eye, he observed a blonde boy in a green turtleneck, a white vest, and khakis walking toward a girl in a pink dress, red scarf, and white beret. "Somehow, I don't think so," Daisuke commented.

The former bearer of the Crest of Light picked at her food while looking at her drawing of the mysterious singer. Beside her were the notes and lyrics to the song.

Did your brother do something terrible? she silently questioned. What could he do that was so wrong?

"Hikari?" Takeru addressed, his voice cold. "We need to talk."

"What?" she asked, roughly, uninterestedly. He snatched the drawing from her. "Hey!"

"This is your singer?" he demanded. "This is the person you wasted a hard-fought friendship with Ken for? He's not even real!"

"Takeru, you've known me for almost four years now. You know about my gift."

"I don't care about your stupid gift!" he declared, throwing the paper to the ground. "You're chasing a dream; for all you know, this singer could have died years ago. You're throwing too much away on a chance!"

"And what exactly am I throwing away?"

Takeru stared at her coldly, his blue eyes connecting to her scarlet-brown. Where there once would have been friendship, there was now malice. From the sidelines, anyone could see that whatever had kept them friends for so long was forever gone and would never return. "Until you can answer that yourself, consider our friendship over." He stormed past Daisuke, Natsu, and Chibimon. "Tell Ken that he finally succeeded, without being the Kaiser: The Chosen are no more!"

Daisuke sighed and shook his head while Natsu and Chibimon tried to comfort him. All good things were said to come to an end. Perhaps their friendship was too good.


Iori sat in a playroom of sorts in the hospital's psychiatric ward. The doctors had approved of his friendship with Akemi, deciding it would do both boys some good and hopefully alleviate the symptoms of their conditions. While Upamon played around with several toys on the ground, his human partner sat in patient waiting.

I hope nothing's wrong, he thought, glancing at the clock for the fifth time. Though he was doing a lot better than before, he was now slipping into a slight depression out of concern. Akemi should have been here by now.

"No! No!" the young boy protested outside, fighting out of his doctor's grip before running into the room. He ducked away from the window on the door and ran toward Iori. "Iori, you have to run! Someone's out to kill you!"

"Who is?" Upamon demanded, more than ready to evolve.

"I don't know, but I think it's a Digimon," he replied. "It was covered by a hood, and had black wings. I've seen it near the hospital before."

Iori turned deathly pale. "Demon."

"Iori, what are we going to do?" Upamon asked.

"We can't risk a fight here," he realized, "so we'll have to confront him ourselves. Akemi, you hide before he can find you."

"All right," the other boy agreed.

Iori held out his D-3, allowing it to flare to life. A bright light surrounded Upamon, spurring forth changes in his height and physical build.

"Upamon evolve! Armadimon!"

Both Armadimon and Iori ran out of the room, desperately searching for the villain that sought them. Patients, doctors, and nurses alike ducked out of the way as they saw the Chosen Child and Digimon dashing about the hospital, racing against time to find Demon before he could locate them. Finally, after disrupting the entire psychiatric ward, they returned to the playroom to inform Akemi.

"I couldn't find him," Iori explained. "I don't know where he could be."

"He's out there," Akemi informed, looking directly out the window. Iori came up to him.

"No, he's not. I don't see anyone."

"He's there! I'm telling you! He's there!"

A memory of their first encounter returned to Iori. Akemi had first mentioned his diagnoses and the significance of them. "Akemi, did you take the medicine for your schizophrenia?" he questioned.

"Of course I did."

There had been more to their conversation on that first day. This talk had been about complications that arose from the medication. "Did you take anything for your bipolar condition?"

"Yes. I was given an antidepressant this morning."

"Akemi, you're manic now," Iori reasoned. "It's interfering with your schizophrenia. What you're seeing isn't real."

"Trust me, it is!" He turned to his friend, his blue eyes sparkling with fearful tears. "Iori, Upamon, you're the only friends I've got, and I have to protect you. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?"

Before Iori finished his question, Akemi leapt out of the window, breaking the glass and metal screening. Iori watched helplessly as his friend hit the cement below in a bloody heap. His mangled, broken body was sprawled out, dead, but his eyes stared out with the same life they'd always held.

The doctors that had abandoned Akemi, as well as those that wished to rebuke Iori, ran in, only to see one brown-haired boy with terrified emerald eyes staring out of the window to his dead friend. Everything that had occurred finally fell into place, and they tried to pull the traumatized boy away from the room as they called for someone to clean up the body on the sidewalk. But Iori wouldn't leave. Instead, the former bearer of the Digimentals of Knowledge and Sincerity broke down on the floor.


Daisuke, Natsu, and Chibimon stared directly at the other five older Chosen that remained in Japan. They were gathered in the park, exactly where Takeru and Hikari had decided to meet to discuss the beginning of the new Chosen Children. It was ironic now that they were here to discuss the end of the same group. Though Natsu was far from being a Chosen Child, she attended because she didn't want Daisuke to go through this alone.

Taichi sat in the center, with Agumon right next to him. On his right side were Yamato and Gabumon, and on his left were Jyou and Gomamon. Beside Yamato and Gabumon were Sora and Piyomon, and beside Jyou and Gomamon were Koushiro and Tentomon. They were a ruling group of five, and Daisuke felt nervous under their gaze. Never before had he dreaded anything like he did now.

"So, Daisuke, what was it you wanted to tell us?" Taichi questioned benevolently.

"Well..­." He stumbled, and Natsu comfortingly placed her hand on his shoulder. "These are words I never imagined I'd have to say."

"Whatever it is, it can't be worse than what we've already experienced," Yamato commented. Daisuke looked down.

"What exactly is it that you're so upset about?" Jyou asked.

"It all started this afternoon in school¡­" Daisuke began, but he never got much further than that. A low rumble of laughter sounded from outside, piercing the sky like thunder. The digivices beeped wildly in reaction to the coming threat while Daisuke muttered, "This is a really bad time."

A dark figure in a reddish burnoose crept up from a pool of darkness in the floor. The Digimon automatically jumped in front of their respective partners, and Daisuke stood defensively in front of Natsu.

"Koushiro Izumi," Demon addressed, "you have the program for the key to the other world. Give it to me."

"If you want Koushiro so badly, you'll have to go through me to get him," Tentomon informed. "Petit Thunder!"

Demon tossed it aside easily. "Now, Chosen of Knowledge, I trust that you'll do the smart thing and hand the key over." He placed out his hand, preparing a fireball of his Flame Inferno.

"What is this key anyway?" Natsu demanded.

"Ah, a new face in the crowd," Demon observed. "Well, young one, do you know of the worldwide darkness on the fourth of January?"

"Yes. It was caused by one of you Digimon, wasn't it?"

"Yes, but you don't know the rest of the story. After the battle between these children and BelialVamdemon was over, a being called the Digimon Kaiser broke free from this world and infected someone in another. As he tore through the vortex, he opened a rift in the Dark World."

"And that's how you escaped!" Taichi realized.

"Taichi," Agumon called, "if Demon goes to that world, he'll be able to conquer it easily. Its defenses will be weakened because of the Kaiser."

"We can't let that happen!" Chibimon declared.

"Exactly, Chibimon," Daisuke agreed. "Get ready to evolve!"

With a bright flash of light from Daisuke's D-3, Chibimon's form changed and grew. Though his body itself was glowing too brightly to see more than his outline, his partner knew what was about to come.

"Chibimon evolve! V-mon!"

"Everybody, get ready!" Taichi ordered.

Agumon released a small fireball from his mouth. "Baby Flame!"

Gabumon sent out a spew of blue flames to assist. "Petit Fire!"

Along with this, Piyomon unleashed a spiral of green flames. "Magical Fire!"

"Daisuke, call the others," Jyou instructed. "We'll need their help."

"I don't think they'll answer my message," he protested.

"V-mon Head!" V-mon rammed his head into Demon's abdomen, causing him to stagger.

"Petit Thunder!" Tentomon once again released electricity from his wings, assisting V-mon.

"Sharp Claws!" Just as his attack stated, Gomamon slashed at the Ultimate, desperately trying to gain an edge.

"You have to try!" Sora insisted. "If you don't, we don't have a chance!"

"Daisuke...­" V-mon stared at him with large, sad brown eyes. Daisuke let out a pained breath and grabbed his D-terminal. What did he have to lose that he hadn't lost already?


Izumi looked up at her first aid instructors, banishing the tears from her eyes. Her test was finally over, but it seemed too little too late. Though she had successfully performed rescue breathing on a dummy, she couldn't help but wish she'd had this training before the fateful day of January 4, 2003.

"Congratulations," Kae commented. "You passed." The girl let out a sigh of relief and accepted a black bag from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, filled with the equipment and license that signified that she was first aid certified. The hours of schooling had paid off, even if it had been too late to change the past.

She cautiously made her way down Mt. Fuji, noting a path where the last rays of the setting sun were visible. The view was breathtaking, with an appropriate silence that accented the beauty.

Kouji would have loved this place, she realized. But there was no point in thinking of that now.

Somberly, she made her way down the mountain, eventually reaching the forest that hid their home. Rather than enter the tunnels, she walked about a quarter kilometer west to a small camouflaged tent where three boys and a dog waited. The dog came up and rubbed against her, offering support. She gently petted him and walked over to the others.

"I passed," she informed.

"That's great," Takuya replied, forcing a lighter tone.

"Yeah," she answered, sitting down. Success was meaningless when one was too upset to celebrate.

They ate dinner and grabbed blankets to sleep around the fire. Himi and Kae would soon come by to act as guards to see to it that all was well.

As the fire crackled behind her and Himi and Kae arrived, Izumi let her mind drift back to the days when all was well. Things may not have been good necessarily, but they were well--and people could be trusted. The last thought on her mind was seeing Kouji on his bed, playing his guitar the previous May.

Kouji, I'm so sorry I couldn't save you, she apologized. But now I can make up for it by helping others.


"Flame Inferno!" Demon attacked, sending forth flames toward the Chosen Children. WarGreymon placed his shield in front of them to break it as best he could, but it was evident that he was beginning to weaken.

"WarGreymon, let's attack together," WereGarurumon suggested, preparing to slash with his sharp red claws. "Kaiser Nail!"

"Gaia Force!"

The sinister creature ignored their attacks as if they weren't even there. Taichi and Yamato gritted their teeth at this sight, knowing that they would need more assistance.

"Hammer Spark!" Zudomon attacked, trying to slam his weapon down on Demon, or at least shock him with the lightning emitted.

"Horn Buster!" assisted AtlurKabuterimon, releasing a shockwave of electricity from his horn.

"Shadow Wing!" Garudamon added, sending in a firebird to attack.

By this time, the entire park was ablaze, and the Chosen were in deep trouble. No help had come, and none appeared to be arriving.

"Why won't Hikari answer?" Taichi demanded. "Or Takeru, or anyone?"

"It seems you children aren't as close as you'd like to believe," Demon mocked. "Chaos Flare!"

The dangerous flames rushed toward the Chosen, freezing them in their tracks. Suddenly, out of nowhere, XV-mon flew into the brunt of the attack.

"No, XV-mon!" Daisuke shouted.

"Daisuke, this is a sacrifice I must make," he informed, somehow managing to retain his strength from the force of the fire. "Are you with me or not?"

Defiance blazed in Daisuke's brown eyes as he gripped his digivice even more tightly. "I'm with you!"

Natsu placed her hand on his. "And so am I."

"No, Natsu, help get the others to safety," he warned. "And don't look back."

"But, Daisuke...­"

He turned and placed his hands on her shoulders, shaking his head. "It's not your sacrifice to make. This is something only XV-mon and I can do, understand?" She nodded, her orange-gold hair bouncing as she did. "Good. Now go."

"What a noble thing to do," Demon observed. "Your sacrifice is brave, just as that one boy's was for your other friend--I believe their names were Akemi and Iori." Immediately, a terrified silence overtook the children. Could their friend have died?

"What do you know about Iori?" Taichi demanded.

"I know that he should have listened to his companion when he said that I was at the hospital, looking for him." Daisuke gritted his teeth angrily.

"Run!" he ordered.

"Flame Inferno!"

"Now, XV-mon!" Daisuke shouted.

"X Laser!"

The blazing fire collided with the laser, creating a titanic explosion. Not heeding Daisuke's words, Natsu turned to see what had happened, burning her lavender eyes with the brightness. The Chosen and their Digimon all felt the effects of the blast as they were thrown several meters, sustaining various injuries. All around them were the Baby II levels of the Digimon, except for the one of XV-mon, who lay as a still and dying Chicomon. Near him was Daisuke, whose knee appeared to be completely shattered.

"Daisuke," Taichi addressed, pulling himself over to his protege. "Why didn't they come?"

Daisuke cracked open his eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry, Taichi, but the Chosen are over."


Mrs. Yagami impatiently glared at the clock as she tapped her foot. Her husband and daughter sat at the table in front of twice-microwaved dinner while they were all in waiting for the fourth family member. Tailmon was at a small table beside theirs, waiting for Agumon to arrive to dine with her.

"That's it," Mrs. Yagami decided. "We're not waiting anymore. Taichi and Agumon will just have to starve."

As if on cue, the door opened, and a fourteen-year-old boy practically fell in, clutching an unconscious pink Digimon against his body.

"Taichi!" His entire family got up and carefully helped him to the couch.

"Be careful," he warned. "Koromon was hurt too."

Taichi suffered a split upper lip, a cut in his ear, and several cracked ribs. It was obvious he would need to be sent to the hospital sooner or later to determine if he had any worse injuries, but he was just too tired to make the trip at the moment. Koromon was badly injured as well, just minutes away from deletion.

"Onii-chan, what happened?" Hikari asked.

"We got off easy," he explained. "Yamato may need stitches on his forehead, and Tsunomon isn't better off. Sora has a twisted or sprained ankle while Pyocomon has several bad burns. Jyou is pretty badly bruised, as is Pukamon. Koushiro hit his elbow pretty hard in the explosion, so he needs to have it checked out; and the last I heard, Motimon was still unconscious. But Daisuke, Natsu, and Chicomon are even worse." Tailmon looked up at Hikari, both having noted the use of the name of Chibimon's Baby I stage. "Natsu broke her wrist and is blind from flash burn. No one's sure if the blindness is permanent or not. Daisuke completely destroyed his knee, so it'll be a miracle if he can ever play soccer, let alone walk again. Chicomon has a slim chance of surviving till tomorrow so long as he remains in that form. He saved our lives; if not for his X Laser as XV-mon, we wouldn't have survived Demon's flames." Hikari stared at him in shock while Tailmon narrowed her eyes in response to the name. Painfully, Taichi turned his head to look at his sister with hurt brown eyes. "Hikari, why didn't you answer your D-terminal? Why would you let us die?"


Ken lay awake in bed, deeply thinking about the phone call he'd just gotten from Koushiro. Apparently, half of the Chosen Children had ended up in the emergency room because no one answered their distress calls. Guilt flooded his brain, poisoning him with insomnia--and not for the first time in his life. He knew this feeling all too well from his days after being the Digimon Kaiser.

"Ken?" questioned the small larva-like Digimon lying next to him.

"Yes, Minomon?"

"Are you worried about Daisuke and the others?"

"Yes." There was no point in lying to him.

"Then why don't you talk to them?"

Ken rolled to his side. "And say what? 'Sorry for nearly killing Chibimon'? 'Sorry you almost died'? Minomon, this is something that I just can't do."

"If you keep saying you can't, then you will only keep yourself form succeeding." Why was it that Osamu niisan's voice always entered his mind at times like this? In an instant, Ken's concentration was hurled into the desert of the Mind Illusion, shimmering bubbles floating around him. In front of him was Osamu, who looked exactly as he had the day he'd died.

"Osamu, I can't." He refrained from calling him "niisan" as he usually did, clearly trying to state that their relationship as brothers could not and would not sway him.

The deceased boy sighed. "Do you remember what I always said about destiny?"

"It's only an excuse for those who don't try," Ken quoted.

"Yes, ototo-chan. It's merely an excuse. If you don't do something now, you're giving in to destiny."

"But, Osamu, wait!" Ken's call was unheard. His mind drifted back to the present, and the effects of the Mind Illusion were nonexistent. He growled angrily.

"Ken?"

"Nothing, Minomon. Osamu niisan's memory was masturbating my psyche again." He sighed and slammed his head against the pillow. "I just can't win. Minomon, if you want to help, evolve now."

The Baby II began jumping up and down with excitement. Ken held out his black-and-gray D-3, hoping his parents wouldn't see the flash given off.

"Minomon evolve! Wormmon!"

They waited several minutes before opening the balcony window, just in case his parents did decide to check on him. When no one came, Ken opened the window and Wormmon sat on the terrace wall.

"How could are you at climbing, Ken?"

The young man leaned over the side to see the dizzying altitude. For a moment, he felt nauseous, but he forced the feeling to subside.

"Good enough, Wormmon, but aim a Sticky Net just in case."

Wormmon made a careful estimate of where a net would be of the most use. "Sticky Net!" Between the second floor of their building and the top of a tree, a white hammock spread out. Next, he got to work on a rope. "Silk Thread!"

Ken tugged on it a few times to ensure it was stable before he quickly climbed down and got to the street. Once he and Wormmon were on solid ground, they made their way to Odaiba.

Daisuke lay half-asleep in bed, a mortally injured Chicomon beside him. Part of his mind was exhausted and needed rest, but the other was angry and felt betrayed. How could the others abandon them like this? But after an hour of deliberation, the exhausted side won out, and he closed his eyes.

It felt like only a few minutes later when a knock at the window woke him up. At first, he told himself it was just some bird, but common sense kicked in when he realized no birds would be flying at this hour. Annoyed, he grabbed his crutches and hobbled to the window.

"Ken?" he recognized, rapidly opening it. "How did you get here?"

"Silk Thread, Sticky Net, bus," he answered. "How's Chicomon?"

Daisuke's now somber eyes strayed to his partner. "Still pretty much the same. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to handle death with humans, much less Digimon."

The comment hit home for Ken, who had dealt with both kinds of death. When he finally did speak again, his voice was low. "And how are you doing?"

"My knee was almost completely destroyed. They had to rebuild it, but it'll never be the same. Also, my kneecap had to be replaced. I'll have one really nasty scar when everything heals."

"How about sports?"

"I might be able to play soccer again, but not competitively. That means a rematch with you is out of the question."

"Oh." Guilt swamped him, though not for his best friend's injury. Why had he given him such a hard time at the soccer game nearly a year before? Why couldn't he have let the boy have some glory? But no, he was too wrapped up in being the Kaiser to let a Chosen Child win, and now Daisuke was the one paying for it.

"Well, I'd better get back to sleep," he decided, interrupting Ken's train of thought. "I'm still sedated and everything. I'm not even supposed to be on my feet. See you later."

"Yeah. Later."

Daisuke slowly hobbled back to bed while Ken slipped out the window to meet Wormmon. They still had one place left to visit before going home. There was still one last piece of unfinished business to settle.


Though it was nearing midnight, twenty-seven-year-old Reika Ootori and twenty-four-year-old Megumi Onodera were still doing their job as system operators for Hypnos. Their boss, thirty-three-year-old Mitsuo Yamaki, was tackling other business elsewhere. All the lights were on in the Metropolitan Government Building, but it was as dark as ever in the war room.

A small red blip appeared on the monitor, and the two women observed the disturbance in their goggles.

"Another emergence," Reika observed. "This time in the lower half of the district."

"Think we should alert Yamaki of it?" Megumi checked.

"I don't think so," Reika determined. "It doesn't seem to be too bad."

"And Ruki will be there soon anyway," Megumi joked.

It was an inside joke for anyone who knew the Tamers, the eleven-year-old heroes of Shinjuku. Whenever there was a disturbance, Ruki Makino was always the first to arrive, ready to fight the being that emerged. And now, over a year after she was forced to bid farewell to her Digimon, Renamon, she was still at it, determined to find her. Though many of the Digimon had returned during the lapse of time between the aftermath of the D-Reaper and now, Renamon and Lopmon had yet to return.

And sure enough, a young redheaded girl dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with a violet-blue heart embroidered on it was racing toward a column of light and smoke.

Renamon, she hoped.

"Young lady, just where do you think you're going?"

Ruki groaned and turned at the sound of Hirokazu Shiota's voice. He stood grinning with his partner, Guardromon.

"Hirokazu, wait up!" called a more timid voice. Soon, Kenta Kitagawa, Hirokazu's partner-in-crime, appeared with his partner, MarineAngemon, in tow.

Ruki groaned once more. "And what are you doing here?"

"Takato, here they are!" alerted the voice of Guilmon. From the woods appeared his Tamer and creator, Takato Matsuda.

"Oh, uh, Ruki, um¡­oh boy," the goggle-headed boy stumbled.

"Ruki!" The girl was not surprised to see Takato's apparent love interest, Juri Katou, emerging from the foliage, carrying her unofficial partner, Culumon.

"Ruki!" Culumon cried, nearly tackling her. "I missed you, culu!"

"I missed you too, Culumon," she admitted. "Sorry I haven't been around as much as I used to."

"...Moumantai, we'll find them soon..."

"Finally," Ruki muttered, "someone who has a legitimate reason for being here."

Terriermon continued assuring the two children he led that Ruki and the others were nearby. His Tamer, on the other hand, wasn't so sure.

"Here they are!" eight-year-old Shaochung "Shiuchon" Lee declared. Her nearly twelve-year-old brother Jianliang/Jenrya and his partner Terriermon soon followed.

"See?" Terriermon asked. "I told you!"

"Terriermon, I'm not kidding this time," Jenrya threatened.

"You're never kidding!"

"All right, is that everyone?" an impatient Ruki demanded. "Or are Ryo, Cyberdramon, Ai, Makoto, and Impmon going to pop up somewhere?" She turned to Shiuchon as they both slipped on a pair of sunglasses to protect their eyes from the fog and glare. "Come on. Let's find our partners."

"Lopmon, wait up!" the small girl called out. "We're coming!"


Hikari wasn't too worried about anyone discovering she'd snuck out. She had stuffed enough pillows under her sheets to fool even Tailmon into thinking she was still in bed. And her parents were still worried about Taichi's condition anyway, wondering whether he should be taken to the hospital now or in the morning.

There he was, Hikari observed once she reached Shibuya. Demon, the most dangerous foe they'd encountered was playing right into her hands, lingering around a district that attracted almost all of Odaiba's trouble. He was enough to make Vamdemon quiver in fear, and here he was in her clutches!

"Angewomon," she voiced.

"Holy Arrow!"

A single shining arrow lodged itself in Demon's left wing. Angered, he turned to see the archer hovering in the glow of the streetlights.

"One more move and she'll hit you again," Hikari threatened.

Just as she said that, a shout of "Heaven's Knuckle" interrupted whatever reply Demon was about to say. Lit by only the artificial lights of Shibuya was Angemon, a Digimon that was usually always by Angewomon's side. Running after him (and ignoring Hikari's presence for the most part) was Takeru.

"I can handle this myself," she informed Takeru.

"And you're doing such a good job at it," he replied sarcastically.

"Ah, taking revenge for your brothers and so-called friends?" Demon observed. "How noble."

"Blast Laser!"

A sudden blowing wind accompanied the rose-colored rings, signaling Aquilamon's flight. He took a quick swoop past them, dropping off Miyako.

"Get him, Aquilamon!" she cheered.

"Miyako, what are you doing here?" Takeru asked while Hikari's temper slowly worsened.

"I have a right to be here too, you know. They're my friends too."

"Spiking Finish!"

Stingmon's attack of choice alerted them all to Ken, who stood in the shadows as Stingmon flew over to him. The expression on his face was serious, and not at all unlike that of his post-Kaiser days. When Hikari saw him, all of her emotions boiled over.

"I don't see what's so hard for you to understand!" she shouted. "My brother, my fight--end of story!"

"Save it," Ken interrupted. "I have a little unfinished business of my own to take care of. Remember, Daisuke was the only one that believed in me, so I have more than just my usual vendetta here."

"This just makes things a whole lot easier," Demon decided. "Rather than hunt you down individually, I can just kill you all at once. Flame Inferno!"

The flames missed them, but just barely. The Digimon swooped in, taking the blows more for the sake of the worlds than for their partners. Never before had anything like this been done by any Digimon partnered to a human, and it never should have. The disharmonized Chosen didn't notice, however, and just angrily shouted out orders to their Digimon:

"Angewomon, that was pathetic! You call that fighting?"

"Stingmon, strike again! Harder!"

"Angemon, get him before they can! I don't care if they're your allies!"

"Aquilamon, faster! Don't let another flame come near you!"

The Digimon tried their hardest to follow orders, but it reminded them all too much of the orders the Kaiser used to give to his slaves. It was often said that people could become those they fought against, and it was certainly proven true in this case.

"Listen to them," Angewomon instructed. "I'd think I was following Vamdemon's orders again."

"Ken's acting no different than he did as the Kaiser," Stingmon observed.

"What's gotten into them?" Angemon questioned. "What's wrong with them?"

"I have no idea, but it's the worst possible time for it," Aquilamon commented.

"Chaos Flare!" Demon attacked, sending more flames to the children. With a Heaven's Knuckle, Angemon deflected it, only to be devolved into Patamon. Another rush of flames was sent forth, sliced apart by a Holy Arrow. Angewomon felt the consequences once the fire licked her and returned her to Tailmon's form. Similar fates awaited Aquilamon and Stingmon--or rather, Poromon and Minomon--as their efforts to protect their partners proved disastrous.

The devil king towered above the young warriors, spreading an aura of fear and despair. Nostalgia struck them all as they remembered what they had faced one cold January. And as they looked into the blue eyes of the devil, they wondered how it all could have come down to this. The fellowship had completely broken apart, just as in Tolkien's book. Only this time, there was no ring, but a single key. Even though the true item was not the literary One Ring, it was just as desired, and it too could bring about the end of all they knew. But as they looked up into the terrifying cerulean eyes of the demon king, it was suddenly apparent to them that the breaking of their friendship was meaningless. A friendship reaching out for over three years had been wasted for nothing. And over what? A single vision--that was what. One vision of destruction broke apart a friendship that had survived the forges of Hell. And it seemed they were at that summit again. The brunette girl from which the light originated held a small device close to her heart, refusing to give up. If they were going to pass through the Gates of Hell, they were not going to give Satan such an easy time.

"Gumimon! Chocomon!"

"Palmon, help them!"

The children turned to see two familiar figures: Wallace Ford and Mimi Tachikawa. Miyako scowled in disgust at the sight of them, but even she had to admit she was glad they came. For once, there was hope.


It was Saturday when the disbanded Chosen gathered in Gennai's study in the Digital World. Koushiro booted up the computer while Wallace uploaded into Yamato's and Taichi's digivices the key to open the gates. It was time to say goodbye to Taichi, Yamato, and Mimi, who would be venturing into the new world filled with the unknown in search of the mysterious new Kaiser. The only one not there was Daisuke, who rested at home.

As it had been decided that discretion was best, the three donned outfits that were not only practical for the Digital World--if there was one--but practical for the Real World as well. All three wore camouflage pants and black boots of U.S. Army regulations--compliments of Wallace and his uncle Greg, but their personal outfits differed. Yamato wore a black T-shirt supplied from his own wardrobe, Jyou's tan coat, and black gloves from Koushiro. Taichi had one of his long-sleeved T-shirts (brown--a change from his usual blue) and Takeru's green backpack. Mimi was supposed to be dressed in a white shirt of hers, Sora's old blue hat, and a denim jacket of Hikari's, but no one could find her.

"Where is she?" Taichi asked impatiently.

"Actually, I'm not coming," Mimi informed, walking out in her normal clothes. "Sora's taking my place."

"Sora?" her two partners repeated.

"That's right," she replied, limping in on crutches. Some of the others looked as though they'd been in on the plan changes, as Miyako handed her a first aid kit from I-mart, and Jyou placed it in his old blue duffel bag.

"I cut out the tag with my surname on it in case this ends up in the wrong hands," he informed.

"Thank you, Jyou." She then handed her digivice to Koushiro so he could make the necessary modifications.

"Oh, I just remembered!" Hikari declared, removing a large scrap of reddish-brown material from her pocket. "Here you go, Iori. It's Demon's hood. It's a gift, so you can feel like you were part of the fight."

"Who defeated him?"

Hikari's expression grew more serious. "Wallace and Mimi. Lilymon, Gumimon, and Chocomon saved us."

The young boy looked up at her with sad green eyes, and spoke almost as though ignoring her comment: "I don't want to feel like part of it, especially when I know there's death involved."

"That's why you're really here," Yamato realized. "It's because of your friend's death." They had refused to reveal that Demon had actually been there, knowing that the guilt would have been too overwhelming for the young boy.

Iori nodded. "After what happened to Akemi, the doctors wanted me to have positive stimulation because the medicine stopped working. I'm still expected to stay there for the remainder of the year." He handed the hood to Yamato, the person who had first clued him in on the problems back when Takeru's obsession with defeating the powers of Darkness had nearly destroyed their partnership during BlackWarGreymon's rampage. "Here. Sew it on your coat or something."

"Jyou, would you mind?" Yamato checked.

"No, go right ahead."

"Hey, Taichi," Takeru called, removing his white fisherman's hat. "Your hair. It's too noticeable."

"Yeah," Taichi agreed with a laugh. He took his blue headband and used it to tie back his mess of brown hair before placing the hat on his head. "So, are we ready to go?"

"Yeah," Yamato replied.

"Let's get to it," Taichi decided. "Come on, Sora."

"Wait," Ken interrupted. "You'll need names. If this new Kaiser knows what I do, he'll recognize the names Taichi, Sora, and Yamato. Sora, use Ai. Taichi is Yuuki."

"Our crests," Sora recognized.

"And Yamato, you're Amistad," he added. "It's Spanish for friendship."

"Thanks, Ken."

"Please take these," Hikari begged, giving Taichi the lyrics and drawing. "I know he's in trouble there."

"All right, Hikari."

"Well, that's everyone," Yamato observed, looking around.

"Not quite," Daisuke alerted, entering on crutches. On his shoulder was a tired, but otherwise fine, Chibimon. "I'm glad that in the Digital World, I can at least limp." He momentarily abandoned his crutches and limped over to them with a smile for the three travelers. "Good luck, okay?"

"Thanks," Taichi answered.

It was a strange gift, they realized as they passed through a gate of glowing blue and white energy. This was the last collaboration of the Chosen Children. And somehow, it was the most wonderful gift they'd ever been given.

And this is where the story splits away from the actual show, considering the Tamers should have already had their Digimon by then. Other tears from the regular universe include the movie Diablomon Strikes Back, which doesn't happen and the fact that Wallace exists. However, I did keep to one thing in canon: the OSCD translations by KarenSedai/Kibou no Tenshi, in which Mimi mentions helping out at Ground Zero with a bunch of other Chosen. I'll never scoff at another "Mimi helps on 9/11" fic again.

The beer scene came from a similar scene in X-2: X-Men United, where Logan asks Bobby if there's any beer, and Bobby replies no, that they're in a school and hands him a soda. And for Taichi and everybody knowing about Ryo: Anode Tamers, Tag Tamers, D-1 Tamers (probably at the rate this is going)and Brave Tamer are all in canon for this fic, despite continuity glitches in the show. But Daisuke and the others don't know Ryo because according to Ajora, the timeline in which they met was completely wiped out, so only Ryo and Cyberdramon will remember. The scene with Akemi's death was inspired by both the movie A Beautiful Mind and Nic's upcoming fic, "Gone," featuring schizophrenia. The mental masturbation line was from Miss Parker in The Pretender.