"It was my pleasure," the Baalmon said as he tucked the orb back into his robe. "It is time you all left this world. We will distract Vamdemon and his minions for as long as we can. But do not think this war is won. Vamdemon is not one to give up so easily."
"You sound like you know him," Taichi said, a small frown on his features.
"A very long time ago, my young friends. The Vamdemon that was like my brother, my best friend, is not the Vamdemon today. He is beyond saving." He shook his head sadly before returning his attention to the problem in front of them. "The Gate of Passage is your only ticket home currently. We can not open a portal from within the castle."
"How do we turn this thing on?" She asked, noticing the cards on the counter-top. The Chosen walked over to the cards and the mechanism to put them on. Each card had the image of a different Digimon, but there was just one problem. There were nine slots, but they had ten cards. One of the cards didn't belong. Furthermore, what order were they supposed to be in?
"To open the gate, you must find the right order assigned to your world. However, placed in the wrong order could very well send you to a different world without any way of coming back."
A cold chill ran down her spine at the prospect of being trapped in another world. As much as she hated her uncle, she could abandon her father and siblings. What are we going to do?
As Miyuki bit her lower lip in uncertainty, Hikaru and Koushiro studied the cards. The two talked to each and theorized a possible order before Hikaru got an idea.
"Koushiro-kun, what if the cards are divided in two different ways, not just one?" Koushiro pondered that question for a moment. "Like by level and type? And not by species and location."
"I think you may be right," Koushiro finally said as he picked up one of the cards. He examined the Agumon and began placing it into a pile with other Digimon of the same level. It was not long before the two separated the cards, finding an order that satisfied the conditions of evolution level over type.
"Hmmm?" Hikaru gazed at the two cards that remained in Koushiro's hands, an Agumon card and a Gomamon card. Both were of the Child level and a Vaccine. But only one could be the card they need to open the gate to their world. "I'm not sure," he said, glancing at Koushiro and the others. Koushiro frowned, unsure as well.
"It's alright guys, you did amazing." Taichi said as he examined the card. Miyuki wasn't sure how long they stayed there, debating on what card to place down. Taichi had a feeling it was the Agumon card. He could be right. The card could be their ticket home, then again it could lead them to another world entirely.
"We'll take a chance." Hikaru commented, quietly taking the Gomamon card from Taichi's hand and placing it down in order on the counter-top. He looked up and grinned as a rumble was heard. The Gate was starting to open.
Before Miyuki and Hikaru could make a move towards the Gate, though, Taichi placed a hand on Hikaru's arm. Miyuki observed Hikaru look at the other boy.
"Is everything okay?" He asked the older child.
Taichi nodded, hesitating for a second. Then he bowed and Miyuki noticed it was out of respect. "Thank you so much for helping us escape Vamdemon's castle with Wizarmon. It feels like forever since we got trapped in here, with no hope of getting out. I'm glad to see that wasn't the case."
Hikaru smiled and patted Taichi's shoulder in return. "It's my pleasure. I think Miyuki was more keen when she learned Wizarmon was also trapped…" He gave a sneaky little grin to Miyuki who huffed with amusement. "But yeah, we're Chosen too, even if we were the backup team. Glad to help either way. Now we can get out of here together."
The children headed towards the door.
Back at Heighton View Terrace, the kids made arrangements to board the train and head back to Odaiba. While most of them relaxed, a couple of them decided they wanted to thank Miyuki and Hikaru as well.
"I'm Sora Takenouchi. I appreciate the two of you freeing our team."
The boy who introduced himself as Jyou Kido backed up Sora's comment. "Yes, thank you. It means a great deal. I honestly thought we would never get out of there."
Miyuki smiled, though it was thinning and looked forced. "You're welcome. Chosen Children need to stick together, I guess. Anytime, okay?"
Wizarmon straightened up in the train seat a bit and coughed in pain from his injuries. He pardoned himself and then looked at Hikaru and Miyuki. "The two of you have done exceptionally well, but you need to remember your other teammates. How are they faring?"
They shared a glance.
"Last I knew they were called away to deal with some problems, so I guess they had to fight other Digimon?" Hikaru guessed. "We kind of lost contact with them after Miyuki's hospitalization. Sorry about that."
Wizarmon turned his head to Miyuki. "Who attacked you?"
Miyuki looked down. It was still a sore point for her. "I was attacked by a Musyamon. He was working under Phantomon."
She watched the mage's eyes widen in horror as he realized what had happened. "That's how you lost your eye? I'm so sorry."
"Thank you for the concern, but I've moved past it." Miyuki replied, quiet, humble. She didn't want to make a big deal out of it anymore. It was in the past and that was where it was going to stay.
Wizarmon nodded. "I understand. I apologize, I didn't mean to dredge up any bad memories. But yes, you do need to get in touch with your teammates."
Miyuki and Hikaru nodded. They both knew they would have to reconnect with their other team members. They were stronger together than apart. Now that she thought about it, the rescue could have gone a lot smoother if the others had been with them.
As the hours went by, the two Chosen got to know the Virtue Chosen a little bit better. With the exception of a few, they were all strangers to one another. They were all different personality wise and had different motivations. At first glance, she couldn't believe that they were a team, let alone friends. Yet they somehow made it work.
Miyuki began to ponder her life up until now. Some things would have to change, she realized. She couldn't keep running away from her problems, nor ignore what was important.
There were those who needed her, those who wanted to look up to her for guidance, but the wall she surrounded herself in was preventing them from doing so. She had to be better. She had to do better, if not for her friends, then for her mother, her sisters, herself.
It was not long before she closed her eye, feeling mentally and physically exhausted. Little did she know she would be forced to change her outlook so soon.
The very next day, no one expected the fog that surrounded the city. It was very nerve-wracking to say the least. The war was far from over and she wasn't even sure if they were ready for what Vamdemon had planned for them.
They had all hoped Vamdemon would get bored with them and would just disappear back to his world. That was very naïve thinking on her part. She should have known something was up when a Tailmon suddenly appeared out of the blue after attacking them several hours earlier.
It was so annoying how the Virtue Chosen had been so quick to forgive her, to believe her after it was revealed that she was Hikari's partner. She had been the enemy. She had tried to kill them! Yet that small detail didn't seem to matter to them.
"How could a Chosen Digimon possibly be evil? Tailmon is one of us," was their reasoning, but she couldn't shake the foreboding feeling that had been nagging at her all day. That something bad was going to happen.
A sigh left her lips as she and Wingdramon flew over the clouds in hopes of finding any of the Virtue Chosen, Tailmon or Wizarmon. While Miyuki wasn't too concerned about the former two, she was very worried about the latter. Wizarmon was still pretty injured and shouldn't be out and about where he could get hurt even more. With Vamdemon out and about in their world, he could be anywhere in Odaiba.
Vamdemon is going to kill him . That wasn't the first time she found herself fearing for the injured mage. It was true that Wizarmon had betrayed Vamdemon and had never truly been his agent, but that didn't mean the self-proclaimed King of the Undead would show mercy of any kind. That was a very terrifying thought.
"Do you see them?" Her voice sounded very far away over the rushing winds.
"Not yet," Wingdramon said, his gaze focused on the ground. "Wait a minute…" He began just as a mixture of electricity and lightning collided with each other. The blue dragon didn't waste any time as he dived down, not concerned if any of the humans caught sight of him. "Hang on, Miyuki!" was the only warning she got before all she saw was a blur of blue and red.
"Bloody Stream!"
Tailmon, watch out . Wizarmon held up his hand, negating the Vampire's attack with a ball of light and electricity. Vamdemon sneered at him as he stood in front of Tailmon and the other Chosen. In the distance, he sensed the other Chosen Digimon getting up, wanting to return to the battle at hand. None of them were ready to face Vamdemon. The other had gotten too strong.
"Blaze Sonic Breath!" Wizarmon looked up just in time to see Wingdramon and Miyuki diving from the sky. The moment the attack hit the ground, a blanket of thick smoke mixed with dust, blinding everyone. Wizarmon summoned a clone of himself to stay and fight the threat while they made their escape, not noticing that one of them was missing.
"Hey, are you okay?" Hikari had noticed her classmate, Motomiya Daisuke, trying to comfort a sobbing violet haired boy.
"Hi, Hikari-chan," Daisuke greeted with a smile, before turning to the boy. "This is Ken. He's Osamu's younger brother." Hikari blinked for a minute.
"Do you mean that boy from Tamachi Elementary School?" she asked. "The one that Jun ran into at the mall?"
Daisuke nodded, frowning as he noticed some monsters beginning to round up the children.
Oniichan, where are you?
Vamdemon stared down at the three children. He held Tailmon in his hand, knowing she would reveal her partner with the right motivation. But the two boys caught his attention. While they were not the Eighth Child that he sought, he could sense they would one day become a threat to him.
The boy with brown hair stood in front of the other two, glaring at him. Yes, he would be a threat in the future. His gaze turned to the navy haired boy. He seemed lost, weak, afraid. He smirked. He would make a nice addition to his Dark Chosen.
He smirked at Tailmon who seemed horrified to fall prey to his tricks. He tossed her to the ground in front of the children. He would need to get rid of them before they got the strength to go against him.
"Night R-"
"Magic Game!"
"Final Crest!"
Miyuki and Hikaru let out a sigh of relief. It was finally over. For the first time in a while, she smiled. She wasn't sure why, but it felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. She silently watched as the Chosen laughed with smiles on their faces as they hugged their parents.
With a smile of her own, she turned to leave with her team when she was suddenly stopped by Wizarmon.
"Well done, Miyuki, Hikaru. You too have come a long way since we first met." The two nodded. "I understand you two must be tired, but there is someone I would like you to meet."
"Oh?" Miyuki asked as she turned her gaze to who Wizarmon was pointing at. Among the children, who Vamdemon had rounded up to test for the possibility of being the Eighth Child, were two young boys with violet hair and maroon coloured hair. The first of whom looked forlorn.
Miyuki glanced at Wizarmon, confusion on her features. He straightened. "I need to gauge the power of your other team members," he said. "In the meantime, I would like you to talk to Ichijouji Ken and Motomiya Daisuke. They are destined to be Wormmon and V-mon's partners.
Hikaru's eyes widened, remembering the story of Lady Devimon's childhood friends. Miyuki, on the other hand, looked nervous. She didn't have a good reputation talking to others, especially if they were boys.
"I don't know." She said, gaining a frown from her friend and partner.
"It'll be okay, Miyuki. I'll go with you." It took a bit more encouragement on Hikaru's part, but eventually the two Chosen made their way over to Ken and Daisuke, who were quietly talking to each other. Talking to Ken was actually a lot easier than she first thought. He was a very gentle and kind soul who just wanted to have friends of his own. It had become obvious that he was feeling very lonely and unloved. She knew how that felt.
"Where is Osamu?" Daisuke asked, hoping to spot the spiky-haired boy.
Ken had grown quiet again, his eyes turning to gaze at the ground. Miyuki found herself bending down to his level to gaze into his pretty violet eyes. "What happened?"
His bottom lips trembled. "I don't know," he finally said. "The monsters took him away."
"Why don't we go find him then?" She offered, much to Hikaru's surprise.
"Really?" Her heart skipped a beat as hopeful eyes gazed up at her.
"Yeah." Miyuki replied with a bright smile. Her heart skipped a beat once more as Ken smiled up at her. What is this feeling?