Demon Hunters
Chapter 2: A Secret Uncovered
Some secrets are best left undiscovered. Others aren't.
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Digimon, or any of its characters. Now, the plot is another story. Ha ha, I made a pun. Not funny.
Authors Notes: After a long sleep, I have returned. I'm sorry to all who I made wait. I got a visit from some not so friendly man-eating snakes, but they caught me writing this, so no harm no foul. Like I told you, you can be expecting a lot more action in this chapter. Without further ado, here it is chapter two. *Yawn*
"Why the hell did they have to make this backpack so heavy?" demanded Slash, to no one in particular.
Indeed, the sack slung across his shoulder weighed at least fifty pounds more than it should have. He took it off and readjusted the strap. As he did so, he looked around. Lockers lined the walls, all of which were blue and about a foot wide. He'd never been in this building, as he had been warped to Scar, a wayward planet where he met the Demon Hunters, when he was in 8th grade. This building held classes for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. Although he was disappointed that he hadn't been here for the three years he should have, he was glad that he was still alive to see it in his senior year.
He would always remember that day, when he, Red, and Mend found themselves surrounded by Demons. They were just about to kill the three, when the Demon Hunters arrived and slaughtered their captors. They were taken prisoner, until it was made sure that they weren't Demons. When Earth was described to them, The Demon Hunters had never heard of it, so they explained to them about their job as Demon Hunters. And the debt that Davis, TK, and Sora all owed them. It was a debt of service, to fight until it was paid off. And even though that Slash, Red, and Mend had all paid it off, they were still Demon Hunters. There was a certain loyalty they felt to the group that saved them. And they would help them, even if they were just staying on Earth.
"Oh well", he though, "what are ya gonna do?"
This was one of the first times Slash had ever been on time for school. Red had made sure he got up on time. He checked his watch; the bell would ring in a minute, so he hurried up to classroom 114.
"It's really lucky we have Fizzle as a mage," thought Slash, "he always has some kind of spell in reserve."
He remembered when the little mage had come into this school with them, and cast a charm spell on the Principal to let them into school the next day, just like with the hotel manager. As much as Slash didn't like school, it was necessary to adopt a normal identity for the planet.
Slash walked into class seconds before the bell rang. Switch was in there at the front of the room, talking to the teacher. She was young, probably just graduated from college a few years ago, and conversing happily with the black haired teen. When he walked in, Switch turned around and greeted him.
"We leave at the same time, and you barely show up before the bell rings. I suppose Red and Mend weren't lying," he snorted.
"Well, you know, I got caught up with everything," he explained. The other surveyed him thoroughly and nodded. They didn't have any more time to converse as the teacher brought a silence to the class.
"Calm down everyone, calm down. Now, today we have two new students," she gestured to Slash and Switch, who both smiled. Slash stepped forward and smiled.
"Hi, my name's…uh I forgot!" He cursed. Everyone in the class laughed, except for him and Switch, who kicked him. He hissed, "You're Sphen, remember?" The other smiled lightly. Fizzle would be making fake IDs with his magic, and wanted to know what everyone wanted to be called. Slash had always liked the name Sphen.
"Heh, I'm Sphen," he explained.
"Nice to meet you," the class replied in unison.
"I'm Jack," Switch said as he glared evilly at Slash.
"Nice to meet you too," again the class greeted.
"Thank you, you may take your seats anywhere that's open," said the teacher. Both looked around, and lavender hair caught Slash's eye. He looked and saw a much older Yolei Inoue. And sitting next to her was
"Kari," he whispered in awe. She was ten times more beautiful then he remembered, and he remembered quite a bit. Both of them were staring at him with disbelief etched all over their faces, and Slash saw an open seat next to Yolei. He made for it, with his friend trailing close behind. He sat down in the seat next to her, while Switch took the seat behind him, dark eyes glancing all over the room. Slash looked at Yolei, as she stared at him with mouth open. He winked at her, which caused her to stare even more. He grinned as he turned back to the teacher, who told them all to open their books to page one hundred and twenty three and to read along.
Throughout most of the class Slash sat in a torpor, barely aware of what was going on. When you understand the properties of a dimensional warp and how several theories and formulas are applied to make one, advanced calculus doesn't seem too difficult. Instead he spent most of his time thinking about the world he had finally returned to, and his friends. Occasionally he would glance over at Kari, who he could tell was greatly troubled by his presence. She kept looking over at him, and quickly looking away. He even saw tears in her eyes once. After the teacher finished talking, she gave the entire class homework and told them to complete it. After a few minutes the bell rang, and all the students stood up and left. Switch caught up with Slash grinning.
"I really loved how you paid absolutely no attention to the teacher that entire class. It made me behind you less obvious. I was almost completely asleep," he laughed.
"All of that stuff we learned in Demon Hunting Academy makes this seem like child's play," the other replied smiling.
As they went out the door, Slash saw Yolei and Kari talking quietly, but not looking at him. Both seemed very disturbed. He frowned at them, and walked out the door not saying anything.
"I'm sorry Kari," he whispered.
"I don't believe it. He looked exactly like Davis. How is that possible?" Kari was speaking very fast and hysterically.
"When he winked at me, I could tell it was him. Just something inside me told me that it was him," Yolei whispered.
Both had hung after class until the rest had left and then slowly walked down the halls to their next period.
"But how did he get here. I was positive that he, TK, and Sora were all dead. Why did he just show up now?" the other asked.
"I don't know, but next time I see him I'm definitely going to talk to him about it. This is just too weird," she agreed.
After a moment Kari was at her next class. She bade goodbye to Yolei and set her books down in her usual seat. Then she took to staring out the window.
"Oh Davis, what's going on?" She thought while watching the Digimon play in front of the school.
"So, who were those two?" Switch asked. "Don't think I didn't see you staring at them the whole class."
Slash grinned, "Old friends, who I haven't seen for four years."
"Oh really, and are either of those friends special friends?" his dark haired companion asked jokingly.
"One of them was, even though I never told her that she was special," the other replied brusquely.
They both continued walking to the end of the hall. At the end Slash would turn left, while Switch would turn right. Both waved goodbye to each other and continued in the direction of their next class.
That's when it happened. Both heard a faint sound, very quiet but growing in strength. It was a heartbeat echoing in their eardrums… their heartbeats. Both froze in place to listen to the sound. The heartbeat continued to get louder and louder. There was a tingling on the back of their necks. Slash and Switch whirled around to look. Coming down the hall was a small group of people, led by a tall teen in jeans and a black t-shirt. A strange aura surrounded him. When both of them looked at him, rage built up within them. As he drew closer and closer the urge to leap at him and spill his blood all over the floor engulfed them. Slash was barely holding himself back from charging and strangling the teen. Their heartbeats were pounding in their ears, making them deaf to all other sounds. He passed them and walked down the hall ahead of Switch. As continued away from them, the symptoms slowly disappeared. Once he was out of sight, the feeling was gone except for a lingering sensation of disgust that he hadn't been killed. Both knew what had just happened. Demon Hunters had the ability to detect all Demons. Any demon that came within a certain distance of a Demon Hunter would immediately set off an alarm. This alarm gave the Demon Hunter the immediate urge to kill the intruding evil.
Slash looked at Switch in total bewilderment. They both knew what this meant. There were Demons, here on Earth. Dully, through the haze of disbelief, Slash heard an announcement through the loudspeaker that all students should report to the Auditorium for an assembly and noted that the surrounding students seemed surprised at the announcement. They complied dully, in complete disbelief with what was going on.
"How is this possible?" Switch whispered to Slash as they filed along with the curious students.
"I don't know Switch, I don't know," the other replied.
Red walked down the hall continuing on to his next class, when he heard the announcement.
"Will all faculty members and students please report to the auditorium for today's assembly," called the principal.
Red took a moment to remember where the auditorium was, when he realized that he had left his philosophy book in his last class. He turned around and walked back down the hall. When he got there he went in and found his book on the floor. Red picked it up and put it back in his bag. Right when he was about to head to the auditorium, something broke the silence around him. A heartbeat. Red jumped a foot in the air. Again the heartbeat sounded. Louder and louder it grew, until finally all other sound was blocked out by it. Red could feel where the Demons were. They were drawing closer and closer with every step.
"How the hell could this happen?" he wondered to himself. They were coming down the hall.
"This is impossible." He thought out loud, the philosophy book sliding down and hitting the floor. They were outside the door.
"Oh no," he whispered. A second later, five people walked in, all with a dark aura surrounding them. A dark aura that only he could see. They were all Demons. With a sudden snap the last one closed the door.
Fizzle removed his goggles and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He had been working all day on making fake IDs for the entire group. He was just finishing the last one, his own, when there was a knock on the door.
"Come on in," he called examining his ID. Mend walked in yawning and stretching.
"Hey Fizzle," she said blearily.
"Hi Mend, have a good sleep?" he asked.
"It was great," she replied. "What're those?"
"They're our IDs," he said showing Mend hers. She picked it up and examined it.
"Wow, it's really accurate," she smiled.
"Thanks," Fizzle blushed in pride as he replaced his goggles and picked up a metal pen.
He held it up and pointed it down at his ID. A blue beam of energy shot out of the pen and onto the card. A few seconds later the beam disappeared and he examined it. Fizzles smile had become a little bigger. Feeling satisfied he put down the ID and removed his goggles, and gloves. Before he even got up there was a loud beeping from his watch. Fizzle held it up to his face and checked it. The little screen was flashing red and orange, with a little message on it. There was only one word on it: Slash. Both he and Mend knew what it was. Their watches were programmed to allow transmissions such as instant messages or voice mail. Another function was the distress signal. It meant that anyone who received the message should immediately aid the comrade's name who was displayed on the watch. Mend and Fizzle looked at each other.
"What the hell?" they whispered in unison.
Slash strained his neck to get a look at everything that was happening around him. Dark energy was holding him in place, binding him to the chair he was sitting in. The auditorium he was in was massive; with one big balcony the entire thing seated about one thousand people. There were four doors lining the walls on the bottom floor, and only one door on the balcony.
He vaguely recalled what had just happened to him. He and Switch had walked into the auditorium and sat down together. When everyone was seated, the principal stood up and said a few words about the upcoming mid-terms. After about five minutes, the chaos erupted. About one hundred Demons burst through all the entry ways and used some kind of dark energy to bind all of the students. Within seconds the entire student body was being held captive. Try as he might, Slash and Switch could do nothing about it. They had left their weapons at home, considering that they'd be arrested if they were found with them. The thing that mostly perplexed them was the question of why this had happened. What did they want with a bunch of high school students? More importantly, how did the Demons get here?
The heartbeat had stopped in his head. It seemed to have a mind of his own, and it knew that continuing to sound would just aggravate Slash. At that precise moment a demon walked down the aisle dividing one section of seats from another past him. Like most Demons, he was humanoid and muscular. His skin was sickly grayish. Two cruel looking horns protruded out of his head. His eyes were blood red, and had very sharp, savage teeth. The demon continued walking right past them, then suddenly stopped. He sniffed the air frantically as if he were a blood hound. Slash and Switch watched apprehensively. They had forgotten that Demons could detect Demon Hunters just as well as the other could detect them.
After a moment of sniffing he continued on, shrugging. They turned back breathing a sigh of relief. Then what they saw made them freeze in terror. Another demon, bigger and much deadlier looking, was standing right in front of them. The grin he was wearing was not a pleasant one.
"Shit," they cursed, failing to stop the word from slipping.
Red was smashed to the floor, bleeding profusely from his nose. He looked up to see the man who had punched him in the first place. He hadn't even bothered to change out of his human disguise. None of them had, even though they had been interrogating him for the last fifteen minutes. Red was badly beaten and bruised, with blood coming out of his mouth and nose.
The Demon bent down and asked once again, "What do you know about the Demon Hunter invasion of the Epsilon-Major Sector of the Universe? I want answers, and I want them now!"
Red glared at him, although his arms and legs were pinned down by the other Demons. He struggled against them, and when he found it was to no avail, he spat blood at the one leaning down to him. The man blinked a little, and then punched him as hard as possible in the face. Reds head cracked off the hard ground, which opened another wound there.
"This one's not giving us anything. Let's just kill him and go," one of the Demons suggested. The rest nodded in agreement. All of them got off, but Red didn't get up. He was still dazed from that hit he took.
"I suppose this is the end," he thought. "There's nothing I can do. Heh, that's ironic for the Digidestined of Hope."
He looked up, as he thought. What he saw was his bag, and in his bag sticking out of one of the pockets was something very interesting. A pair of gloves was poking out of one of the pockets. In fact, he recognized those gloves, he recognized them very well. They were the gloves he used to fight, the ones with the energy blades that came out of the end. Summoning up the tattered ruins of his strength, Red reached out and seized the gloves. He worked quickly to put them on as he attempted to stand up. None of the Demons had noticed him; they were talking about what they were planning to do. When he finished putting the gloves on, he turned towards his captors and raised his fists. They looked at him mockingly and turned towards him, as if to finish him quickly. Suddenly three huge, glowing green claws emerged out of the gloves. The looks on the Demons faces turned from annoyance to terror. Red roared with rage and charged, his heartbeat beating deafeningly in his ears.
In the streets, total anarchy reigned. It was made quite clear when Mend and Fizzle sprinted out into the street what the problem was. Demons were everywhere, chasing down pedestrians and smashing them to the ground. Then they'd use dark energy to bind the people like with the students.
Mend cursed loudly when they saw what was transpiring.
"Okay, let me see here. Fizzle, you have to alert Sergeant Redeyes, no, all Demon Hunters, about this. Take this," she took out a device that looked like a mini Tele-Vision screen and handed it to him, "and get to the highest point you possibly can. From there, contact Redeyes and tell him to send whatever he can to earth right away!" Fizzle took the device and nodded.
"I need to find Slash, Red, Sharp, and Switch. Come and find me when you've done what you need," she continued very fast. Again, Fizzle nodded and sprinted off into the suburbs of the city. Mend also sprinted off, but in the opposite direction, towards Odaiba Senior High.
Fizzle was running very fast. The shapes along side of him were blurred, but he thought he could make out Demons and humans. He looked up, and saw a fairly tall building just ahead of him. He stopped and glanced around. Directly to his left, a demon was harassing a pretty looking woman, trying to grab her shirt. He was not binding her like the rest. Fizzle concentrated on his fingers, and a little golden light appeared there. He pointed it at the Demon, and a blinding beam of energy shot out. Blood spattered the wall as the beam pierced his head. The beast fell to the ground, dead. Fizzle did not stop to help the woman. Instead, he sprinted straight at the wall of the building, without stopping. However, he did not crash into the wall, but continued up the side, only slipping on the Demon's blood. He kept running until he reached the top. When he finally got there, he quickly pressed a button on the device, and stared anxiously at the cackling screen.
Sergeant Redeyes sat back in his chair and sipped on his coffee. He was still extremely disappointed in his privates, but he knew their absence wouldn't last. It'd only be a matter of time before they got bored of that planet, "Earth".
Once a Demon Hunter, always a Demon Hunter!
He repeated the phrase in his head, and decided that he would devote more time to getting his prized privates back later. He had more important things to do, like giving his report about the invasion of Darkside City to General Brushburn. Suddenly there was a loud beeping from the screen on the far side of his office. His secretary's anxious face appeared in it.
"Excuse me Sergeant, but I have an urgent message from one of your privates named" she checked a paper, "Fizzle."
"Put him though!" he exclaimed. It seemed odd to him that one of his privates had already reported in. He hadn't been expecting one for at least a week, and it was far too early for Fizzle to get bored of peace. After a few moments Fizzle's face appeared on the screen. There were beads of sweat running down his face, and he looked terrified.
"Sergeant!" the boy yelled quickly, not bothering to salute, "We need help right away! Demons are attacking Earth! Send what you can right away! This is a Level 3 Emergency, I repeat, a Level 3 Emergency."
Sergeant Redeyes stared, completely nonplussed. "What?" he said in disbelief. In his blank mind, it registered that this might be some kind of feeble joke. But then it also occurred to him that Fizzle, and indeed no Demon Hunter would ever joke about such a thing.
A streak of annoyance flashed across Fizzle's face. Suddenly the screen was moving, and was suddenly pointing down at the street below. Sergeant Redeyes saw just in time, a demon go charging down the street after a man, who tripped. The screen moved back to Fizzle's face. "You see?" he roared. Sergeant Redeyes only looked stunned for a second.
Then he sprung into action.
"I'll be sending as many troops as I can spare, they'll be there in minutes. As for you, get the others and do what you can. I will inform my superiors, yes, including the Grand Admirals. This is extremely important, and it could lead to some explanation about recent demonic activities. Over and out!" he bellowed, and the other nodded.
The screen disappeared into the wall as he slammed the door to his office. He walked down the hall, and burst right in to General Brushburn's meeting.
"I apologize sir, but this is extremely urgent," he said without faltering.
Mend met her own fair share of trouble on her way to the school. She was ambushed by a party of four of Demons, and had to fight her way through them. They came at her grinning, and each pulled out a deadly looking weapons. One had a scimitar, one had an axe, one had a whip, and the last one just had huge claws. Mend frowned as her light brown eyes contracted, very aware of how long and pointy those claws were.
He considered her options as one of the Demons, the one with the sword, stepped forward and said, "Well, well, well, what have we here?"
She would have to fight them, that was obvious, but what weapon should she use? Hmm, decisions, decisions. Suddenly Mend's right hand shot forward, and she held the palm up, as if she was waiting for the Demons to give her something. With a flash of blinding white light and a loud cracking sound, a long flail appeared in her hand, its spiked points glinting deadly in the sun. She brought it quickly back over her left shoulder, and swung with all her might. There was a sickening crunch, and the Demon fell to the ground, bleeding from a hole in his head.
"WHAT THE?" Screamed the one with the whip, but Mend was not done.
There was another flash of white light, and another end had appeared on the flail. She swiftly began spinning it above her head, and when it gained enough momentum, let fly. The Demons barely had time to move before hurtling death was speeding towards them. The ones in front, the ones with the claws and whip managed to get out of the way. The last one was not so lucky. He caught a full blast of it across his neck, and with a loud snapping sound, the Demon Fell, his throat bent at an odd angle. The double-flail went spinning off, then came around in a curve and went right back towards Mend, who caught it with ease. The Demon with the whip struck out, and hit her just above her left eyebrow. She recoiled, wincing in pain, and then turned back to her opponents in rage. They stared at her, and then slowly began to back away. Mend charged, looking furious.
Red smashed open the door with his foot, and stalked down the hall, green claws still emanating from his gloves. He was striding off towards the auditorium, when he passed the front door. He was surprised, to say the least, to see Mend coming up the front walkway. There were two Demons in front of her, both of whom which fled through the front door, into the school. Red had been ready, and leapt out from behind a potted plant to attack. With one swipe of his claws the first fell to the ground, three huge claw marks across his chest, clearly dead. With the second, Red thrust forward, and stabbed it right through the neck, killing him instantly.
Mend walked casually through the front door and said, "Hello Red." As if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"Morning Mend," he replied, equally as casually.
"Where are the others?" she asked checking her injuries in a nearby window. She tapped a cut across her cheek, and winced. Then she rubbed her finger across it, and the cut shone golden. After a second, it disappeared.
"I dunno, probably in the Auditorium. There was an announcement calling the entire school there," he admitted shrugging. Mend turned him, and stared at him. Red was suddenly very much aware that blood all across his face and clothes. She seemed to be thinking along the same lines, and reached out towards him. With a wave of her hand in a circular motion, and a snap of her fingers, the blood disappeared and his white face turned pink again, as if the blood that had spattered his clothes had suddenly returned back to his face.
"Let's check it out then," she said smoothly and began to walk down the hall, Red swinging in at her side.
Switch stared around, terror creeping up to him as slowly and as sickeningly as was the Demon in front of him. He was a lot bigger a fiercer looking than all the others, and a huge sword was in his hand. He stared down at him, a nasty look playing around his face. His foot shot out, and smashed down on Switch's neck, who tried to scream out in pain, and instead spluttered and choked from the loss of air.
The demon was shouting above him, "All you humans, do you not see? You are ours now! You exist only to do the bidding of us, your Demon Masters! This weakling," at this the demon pushed even harder down on his neck, "and the group he represents attempted to stop us! Their efforts were in vain, for with the slaves we will gather from the planet, and the resources we can put to use on this planet, we will win this war, and destroy the so called 'Demon Hunters'!"
He roared, and the rest of the Demons roared with him. Switch tried to get a view of Slash, and saw him struggling valiantly against his captors, but was unable to get loose. He felt the foot lift off of his neck, and took a huge gasp for air. Over a minor coughing fit he was having he heard the demon above him yell out, "Now, let this pitiful figure become a sacrifice, for the new age of darkness!"
The Demon screamed with a steely glint shining in his eyes. He had had the sword resting between his legs, blocking Switch's view of what was behind him. But now he saw that, while Slash had been struggling against his captor, he had knocked a sword loose. The sword in question was now lying directly in front of him, behind the demon. An idea suddenly occurred to him, and he began summoning up what remained of his energy. As the Demon began to plunge the sword downward, Switch took a huge breath and held it. Several things happened at the same time. He felt the floor beneath his body disappear, and then come back under his feet. Quickly he reached down and snatched up the sword, all the while there was a loud whistling sound and a scream of pain. Switch unsheathed the sword and sprinted up the Demon, whose sword was stuck in the ground. He turned, just in time to see a sword come down onto his head, killing him instantly.
There were screams from the humans in the crowd, but also from surrounding Demons. Switch looked around and saw an arrow embedded into the forehead of the Demon that was holding Slash. He also saw another arrow come out of nowhere and hit one that was standing a few feet away. The Demons in the auditorium were yelling and looking around at the balcony, apparently under the impression that whoever shot the arrows would suddenly jump out and yell "BOO!" Switch looked at Slash and nodded. Slash leapt forward and seized the sword that the Demon had had. Switch crouched down and gripped a ring on his left hand. He muttered a command word. His appearance began to change, becoming scaly gray and muscular. Horns sprouted from his head, and his teeth grew into fangs. He was the image of most of the Demons standing around. He stepped forward, to stand directly behind the closest demon to his, a rather fat one. Slash suddenly yelled from behind him, and he and all of the Demons turned to look. None of them noticed that Switch had gone, replaced by a Demon none of them recognized.
Sharp was crouched next to some girl with light brown hair, the bow and arrows loosely held in her hands.
"Where are they coming from?" asked one of the Demons.
"Send for reinforcements!" shouted another. There was a thumping as one ran for help.
"Search everywhere!" yelled a third, "and kill that crazy human!" Sharp sniggered as she watched Slash take off the head of the closest Demon.
"Slash, you're crazy," she said to no one in particular.
"What are those things?" whispered the girl next to her. Sharp glanced at her, and saw a very attractive young woman with shoulder length light brown hair and taupe eyes.
"Demons," replied Sharp, "they've come from galaxies away to kill or enslave us. I'm sure you heard enough from their leader to be getting along with. We, that is to say a few others and I, represent a group called the Demon Hunters who fight the Demons, and try to stop them from taking over the universe. Think I can hit him? From the back of his head, through his right eye," she referred to a demon a few rows away, who was sniffing the air heartily.
The girl gave her an odd look, the demon was staring straight ahead, facing not directly at them, but at an angle in which she could not hit the back of his head. However, Sharp was already pulling back the bow-string and notching an arrow in. She took careful aim, and let fly. The arrow was not aimed directly at the demon, but a pillar just to the right of him. The arrow glanced off the pillar and glanced off the side, imbedding itself deep in the back of the demon's head. His right eye shot out, revealing a sharp arrowhead. The girl stared, first at the demon, and then at Sharp, who was laughing silently next to her.
"Bloodknock is dead too!" shouted another Demon.
"Look, the arrow must have come from over there!" cried another, pointing first at the arrow and then in the opposite direction of which Sharp was in. This caused the archer to start laughing even harder, although maintaining silence while doing so.
"Idiots," she chuckled.
"It doesn't," the girl seemed to be teetering on the edge of a question she thought was dangerous, "bother you to kill them at all?"
"Of course not!" replied Sharp, mortified. "These things are the incarnate of evil, pure darkness in all of its forms. Not only does it not bother me, it actually gives me a kick to see them get a taste of their own medicine. Whatever were you thinking, uh, I didn't get your name?"
"Kari," she said softly, completely surprised, "Kari Kamiya." The name stirred something in her memory.
"THE Kari Kamiya? The one and only? Wow, I had no idea. Slash always used to talk a lot about you. That's him right there," she gasped and pointed to Slash, who looked at just in time to see him plunge his sword through another enemy's stomach.
"Davis? Slash? What the?" but as Kari was about to ask about him, there was a sudden bursting sound, and they saw a door fling open and ten more Demons come in.
Unlike the others, these were pure red, and had wings that were rapped around their bodies. They were a lot bigger and more muscular, and fire was trailing from their eyes. Their teeth and claws were even more jagged and sharp, and when Sharp saw them, she suddenly stiffened and notched an arrow in her bow.
The leader barked at the others, "Kill him, and find the other!"
They all began to move out and try to carry out the instructions, but a sudden thumping noise made them all stop and stare. From the main door to the auditorium on the ground floor, there was a loud banging and screaming noise. Then it stopped, and the door rattled a bit, and that stopped too. Three green claws burst through the door on the top right corner, and slashed down to the opposite one. Then three more of the same ones came from the top left, and went down to the bottom right. After another second the door was suddenly smashed off its hinges and went spinning out to hit a Gray demon. Standing in the doorway, framed by light, was Red. His hair was floating delicately, as if it was caught in a wind, and a look of pure wrath was etched in every line of his face.
He roared and charged, taking swipes at random Demons, who would fall in a bloody pile. The look of nervousness on Sharp's face suddenly turned to a grin, as she watched Red swinging at every enemy he set his eyes on, and Mend trailing in his wake. She had a mace in her left hand, and was firing golden lights with her right hand, which would slice though the dark bonds with ease. A Gray demon came up to her and began swinging his sword at her. She blocked it with ease, still freeing as many students as she possibly could. When she finally got annoyed, she grabbed the mace in her right hand and cracked it over the Demon's head, instantly killing him. The freed students would jump up and run away, out through the door, away from the ensuing battle. Sharp grinned even wider, the battle's tide had suddenly been turned in their favor. She leapt up and began firing arrows at any Demon she saw. Most of the Gray ones fell quickly before her, but the red ones were much more difficult to kill. The first one she killed was by luck. She leveled an arrow at him and released. It soared down at him, but right as it was about to hit, the Demon tripped over a body of a Gray Demon, exposing his throat. The arrow plunged deep into his jugular vein, and he fell to the ground, forcing the head further in.
While it was true that all of the Demon hunter present were doing tons of damage to the ranks of the enemy, indeed even Switch was sneaking around in Demon form, stealing his enemy's weapons, and stabbing them in the back before they could turn around, none were more destructive than Red. He would charge head first into his enemies swinging, and would soon be in the middle of a pool of bodies. This changed however, when Fizzle showed up. The Demons decided that the fight was not going their way, so instead of redoubling their efforts, they decided to run away.
"Retreat!" shouted one of the Red Demons.
The Demon Hunters on the ground floor immediately moved to defend the exits, raising weapons to prevent escape. Meanwhile, Sharp was busy sawing off the dark bonds binding Kari with the edge of her arrow. When she finished she noticed that the Demons were climbing up onto the balcony to escape. She quickly grabbed her bow and arrow, but couldn't start firing before a Red Demon knocked her aside. She fell, and watched the remaining Demons charge towards the door. Before they even reached it, however, it exploded and the door sent them flying back.
Standing there was Fizzle, surrounded in flames, his eyes pure white. He was in what was called his Battle Mode: Fire. Fizzle could cast offensive magic just fine in normal mode but when he wanted an extra burst of power, he could choose an element, and go into the element's battle mode. This heightened his power in that element, while slightly decreasing the other eight.
The Demons all stood up just in time to see Fizzle gather fire on his right had, pull back, and release the fireball while yelling "FIREBALL!" The one in front, the Red Demon, dodged to the side. The rest behind him failed to get out of the way though, and were caught up in the fire. The ball flew out past the balcony, and exploded, sending ash everywhere. Sharp looked around. The remaining four elites were on the ground floor, and the fifth was right in front of them.
Fizzle suddenly pointed a finger at him and screamed, "YOU PICKED THE WRONG DEMON HUNTER TO MESS WITH! PYROTECHNICS!" A mix of fire and lightning coursed through the air and connected with the Demon. The fire stopped, but the lightning began running through his body, making him writhe and scream. Sharp stood, and notched two arrows in her bow. Then she let fly, aimed directly at its heart. They plunged through, and he fell, bleeding and dying.
It seemed like the remaining Gray Demons might actually get away. Although there were only a dozen left, they still had a chance of escaping. Two that had come from the streets, at the loud explosions coming from the auditorium, went to investigate. When they saw what was going on, they went and got some rope. Then they went back to the auditorium and climbed into the ceiling. Seeing their comrades in trouble, they lowered the rope down to the others, who struggled to get up it, away from the Demon Hunters massacring them. The first one up the rope was about ten feet away from the ceiling, when a huge figure flew by, grabbing the rope in her mouth and pulling hard. All the remaining Gray Demons fell down, including the two holding the rope. They collapsed in a heap, and the great figure of Nefertimon landed, Kari riding on her back.
"Nefertimon, it's been a while," Red cried in joy.
The huge cat Digimon started at him, then spoke, in a confused voice, "who are you?"
All of the Demon Hunters looked up, including Sharp and Fizzle, who had climbed down from the balcony. Mend even stopped in the middle of tying up a Demon in gold bonds to listen. S
lash stole an almost annoyed look at Red, and then sighed exasperatedly, "We've got a lot of explaining to do."
Red had just opened his mouth to say something, when the main door burst open, and everyone present whirled around to look. Two tall, sharply dressed Demon Hunters walked in. Everything about them was official, from their severe buzz-cut hair, to their neat red, white, and black military uniforms. When they entered, all six Demon Hunters snapped to attention, and saluted quickly.
"At ease!" barked one of them, a man with high cheekbones and a large chin.
"YES SIR!" shouted the rest, and even the one on his side fell into the "at ease" stance, with their arms behind their backs and their feet at shoulder width.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to save your reunions for later, we have an emergency!" stated the one that was still standing stiff and tall. The privates remained silent.
"It appears that the enemy has invaded not only this city, but the entire planet. I want this group to lead the attacks on several major cities where the enemy has invaded."
A shadow of a grin flicked across the face of the man standing on the right of the first man, who was only distinguishable by his somewhat eerie, glowing red eyes.
"This company moves out in an hour. Dismissed," he shouted one last time. The privates again shouted, "YES SIR," but they were unable to hide the air of disappointment that was so prominent in their voices. The man stiffened, but only for a second.
Then he said, in a much more informal tone of voice, "I have been informed that, on this planet, there appears to be some kind of, 'digital interface' and that this 'world' harbors creatures of considerable power," his eyes roved across Slash, Red, Mend, Kari, and finally the huge cat in the center of the room.
"The number one priority of this mission is to use all resources available on this planet to the Demon Hunters. As it is officially undiscovered, it will require the knowledge of those who have been here to fight against the enemy. With this knowledge, the key to victory on Earth is in our hands. You have your orders, dismissed!" He was suddenly formal again.
"YES SIR!" the privates shouted again, snapping into attention as he walked out the way they came, rather briskly.
The man with red eyes remained, and said, "Soldiers, you will contact me in one hour, and I will give you the positions that you will attack. If we move quickly, we should be able to stop the Demons plans."
The whole time he had been flicking glances between Nefertimon and Kari. He suddenly strode forwards and held out his hand.
"You must be Kari. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you and the rest of your, uh, team from Davis, TK, and Sora," he smiled gently. Kari stared at him, a look of stunned confusion on her face. No one looked more confused than Red, Slash, and Mend though.
"We never told you our names," said Red in awe. He ignored them, and continued, "My name is Sergeant Redeyes, and I am their commanding officer in the group they serve, the Demon Hunters. In about an hour, they're going to have to fight for us again, but they will return. I have full confidence in them."
He shot a proud look at the surrounding Demon Hunters, and continued, "Basically, what you need to know right now is that most of these people really are your old friends, at that they have returned. However, what better way to ensure their safety, than to accompany them, and help against the enemy."
He smiled, turned and strode from the auditorium. At the door he stopped, whiled around, and yelled, "one hour!" Then he was gone. The Demon Hunters, Kari, and Nefertimon stared around at each other. Then Kari broke the silence.
"Is it really you?" she asked softly.
In unison, Red, Mend, and Slash all nodded, and smiled. She stared around at them all again, and Red distinctly saw her reach down and pinch her leg.
When she had confirmed that this was not a dream, again she asked, "What he said, is it true?"
Again they nodded, but the smile faded. Kari's stunned face was replaced by one with determination on it.
"Then, we have to fight them!" She said, in a surprisingly strong voice.
"Well said," commented Switch, who Kari looked at, studied for a minute, and then decided it was better not to ask. Switch suddenly realized he was still in his demon disguise, and transformed back.
"So what's the plan then? What do we do?" Fizzle asked, out of Battle Mode: Fire, and sweating slightly.
"I suggest," said Slash in a voice that made everyone look at him with rapt attention,
"That we call out the old team. It's about time the DD's reunited again." Red and Mend nodded, with grins spread across their faces. Kari nodded as well, and said, "That's an excellent idea."
Authors notes: Well, what do ya think? It's a lot different than most of my other chapters that I've ever written, that's for sure. Let me know if it's an improvement. Have fun. Cheers.
