Finally I am putting up a new chapter to this story and I have to to say that this is going to be the final chapter to this particular story of the overall series. Consider it a early Chrismas gift to all those who have reviewed this story. Hopefully you readers feel like this is a good way to end it. Not wanting to waste anymore of your time, I'll end this with a I don't own digimon disclaimer.

A man should not leave this earth with unfinished business. He should live each day as if it was a pre-flight check. He should ask each morning, am I prepared to lift-off?
Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure, All is Vanity, 1991

Chapter 6:
Noble Sacrifice

"Okay now, clench your fist a bit more and as you are coming forward with it remember to put your weight into the hit." instructed Daisuke. Lifting an arm up he readied to continue. "Now, let's try it one more time and put all your strength into it." Doing as instructed the trainee reared back and threw the punch but instead of hitting the open palm, they hit Daisuke right in the face.

"Oh gees, I'm so sorry Daisuke. I didn't mean to do that. Are you hurt?" Turning around he had a serious look on his face only for it to be replaced by a satisfied smirk. "Hey, I'm fine. Don't worry about it Hikari. Remember, I'm a vampire so the punch shouldn't hurt all that much." That wasn't the case however as he turned away and grabbed his hurt cheek. "You've progressed well in your training Hikari. It's only a matter of time until you'll be able to handle yourself against anything that gets in your way."

That bit of news really made Hikari happy. "I certainly hope so. I don't always want to depend on you and the others to protect me. Now with us currently having nothing else to preoccupy us there's nothing else for us to do but to get ready for whatever comes our way." Bringing her fists up Hikari got herself into a fighting position. "So, are we going to continue with my training or what?" Daisuke just smirk and went into a similar fighting pose.

-/-/-/-/-

While that was going on downstairs both Takeru and ken were basically sitting around doing whatever they could do to occupy themselves. "How much longer are they going to be down there?"

"Who knows Ken." replied Takeru with a bored tone. "A hour, maybe two. It all depends on how much they get done. Just be fortunate that we're not down there with them."

"Oh come on. What could possible happen if we were down there?" Before another word could be said both Daisuke and Hikari came walking up from the basement but for some reason Daisuke was walking awfully gingerly. "Dude, what's wrong with you? Did you get hurt?" Daisuke just gave Ken a look that was saying, 'I don't want to talk about.'

"Come on, I said that I was sorry." Spoke Hikari with a sympathetic tone. "I mean, it was an accident. It's not like I try to do it on purpose." Daisuke's only reply was casting a irritated stare her way.

"Could one of you please tell us what happen?" asked Ken who was started to become fed up with what was going on. With Daisuke apparently not wanting to discuss what happen, Hikari had no choice but to enlighten the others.

"Daisuke was teaching me some kicks and as I was trying a spinning back kick I didn't raise my leg high enough. To make a long story short, my foot made contact with his, um…" It didn't take long for Takeru and Ken to get what she was trying to say and both of them couldn't help but express their sympathy.

Patting his friend's back, Ken tried to comfort him. "Damn, man that sucks. I feel your pain man."

"I agree with Ken on that." added Takeru. That must've hurt like hell." Despite their best efforts, it was obvious that they were trying to contain their laughter.

"You have no idea how badly it hurt." exclaimed Daisuke with a slightly higher pitch in his voice. That was the last straw that broke the resistance that his friends had as they started to bust up in laughter. Even Hikari couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

Things calmed down when a man and woman both carrying some kind of bundle in their arms entered. "Pardon us for intruding but is the home of Daisuke Motomiya?"

"It is." answered Daisuke with his voice still a little tweaked. Letting out some small coughs his voice returned to normal then he started to talk again. "I mean, yes it is and I'm Daisuke. What seems to be the trouble?"

"My name is Koushiro Izumi, my wife Sara and these two bundles are our children." Moving from her seat, Hikari went over to the visitors.

"Ah, is it okay if I take a peak at the little tikes?" Getting the okay she began to remove the blanket from the child's face and when she did she stepped back in shock as the child didn't appear like any normal child. Allowing the others to see what the commotion was all about they saw that the child had blue scaly skin with the exception of his mouth and stomach. He had ruby eyes; a small horn on his nose and on the center of his forehead was a small yellow V. Seeing no reason to hide it, Sara revealed the other child who like the other one wasn't your usual kid.

The second child mostly resembled a white cat except that it was a bit bigger than any normal cat. Some of the other differences about it were that she had purple tips at the end of each ear as well as the end of her tail which also had purple strips going down the entire length of it and bright blue eyes.

"I believe it's easy to assume that you guys aren't those kids' biological parents. Am I right?" questioned Hikari in a non insulting manner.

"You'd be right." informed Koushiro. "My wife and I have been studying different demon clans and species in hopes that from what we learn we'll someday help humans to better understand the demon world."

"That sounds like a noble goal you have set for yourself. But do tell, what does that have to do with me?" asked Daisuke with a trace of interest.

"Well, during our most recent journey, who were at truce with one another? Everything was fine until two weeks ago when they came, the Scourge." When that name was spoken both Daisuke and Takeru had the expression of worry on their faces.

"They came like locus and slaughtered everything that they came across. We were fortunate enough to get away alive. The next day we came back and saw that everything was killed. Thinking that there was nothing left for us to stay for we were going to leave until we started to hear the sound a baby cry. Following the sound we discovered these two little ones. Not being able to just leave them, we took them as our own. Unfortunately, it seems as though the Scourge found out about it and has been coming after us. Then we heard about someone that could possibly help us."

Not fully understanding everything that was going on, Hikari asked the question that was going through her and Ken's head. "Excuse those less informative but who is the Scourge?"

"They're an army of pure bloodied demons." replied Daisuke with absolutely seriousness in his voice. "Their main goal in life is to completely wipe out the existence of demons that have any trace of human in them. They believe that it's a disgrace for a demon to have any kind of connection with the human race."

From where he left off Takeru continued the explanation. "From what was said by those that my parents were able to treat they kill anything or anyone that they're after or those who oppose them."

"Good God." muttered Ken.

""There's something not right about this." declared Daisuke. "Why would the Scourge, who has only gone after 'impure' demons be after those two kids?" It was then that the couple started to squirm. "There's something that you're not telling us is there?" Seeing no point in hiding it anymore, Sara decided to tell them everything.

"Not many know about this but ten years ago a company of the Takenaka Corporation began a genetics project. They wanted the DNA of two extinct demon species and it should be obvious what those two pieces were. Anyways, when they tried to clone by using the DNA that they had acquired it was unable to stay stable since there were many gaps in it. They were able to give up on the project when they realize that they could use traces of human blood to keep it from breaking apart. In the end it proved to be a success but when they tried to use them for destruction and mayhem, the species revolted and destroyed all the data that was gathered before going into seclusion. We though that no one else knew about the addition of human blood"

"Well apparently the Scourge knows about it and want to get rid of the whole bloodline as to make sure that the species won't live on." stated Daisuke.

"Please help us Motomiya." pleaded Sara Marshall. "Help us protect our children."

"Call me Daisuke and don't you worry. My and my friends will do everything in our power to keep you and your kids safe." Getting up from his seat he went to grab his jacket. "Hikari, I want you and Takeru to stay here and watch over them. In the meantime, me and Ken are going to do some digging."

Obviously Takeru knew what his friend was up to. "You mean that you're going to go out and see if you can find where the Scourge could be hiding out. Don't you think it would wiser for me to go with you instead of Ken? I mean, my contacts might be able to help us out."

"I don't think so." replied Daisuke as he was getting everything that he probably would need. "In the case that something happens I want you to get them somewhere safe. Besides, this is just going to be a scouting mission and hopefully we won't have to get involved in any fighting." "Unfortunately it'll most likely that we'll be involved in one." thought Daisuke as he and Ken headed on out.

-/-/-/-/-

"I don't think this is a smart thing to do Daisuke."

"What do you mean Ken? I said this'll be just a scouting mission, nothing more and I meant it. We're just going to see if we can get any information and get out. That's all." Thanks to a trusting source, Daisuke and Ken were able to find out that the group that they were looking for were staying at some shipping boat that was stationed at the harbor. Moving around cautiously about the boat they happen to come across a opening to the boat's haul where a light was coming out form it.

Crouching down they peered over the side to see what was going on. "I think we found our problem." How right Ken was as they saw what seemed to be dozens of disfigured people walking about. They were like a army as all of them marching around like one unit. "Man, look at them. With that many down there how do you expect us to fight them, Daisuke?"

"If we play our cards right we won't have to." Of course Daisuke was being hopeful if anything.

"And if we have to fight?" asked Ken.

"Let's just prey that it doesn't come to that."

-/-/-/-/-

"My, aren't you a cuite." Back at Daisuke place, both Takeru and Koushiro were doing surveillance to make sure things were okay and in the meantime, Hikari and Sara were taking care of the kids. As Hikari was playing with the blue skin child, he reached up and grabbed her finger. "I was wonder. Do these two have names yet?"

"As a matter of fact, they do. This little guy's name is Vee and as for our female child, her name is Gato." They continued to play around until another question came to Hikari.

"After Daisuke and the rest of us deal with this problem where do you plan on going?"

"My husband's side of the family has this farm in Montana. It's small but it's secluded so we can gradually introduce these kids to the world. Hopefully in time we can come up with a way so they can go into the world without being stared at as freaks." Looking down she tickled the chin of Gato, which made the little furred creature giggle. "Getting away from the topic, is there anyone special in your life that you may consider in having children with?"

That question completely caught Hikari by surprise. "W-What? No. I mean, there is someone that I'm somewhat interested in but I'm not sure anything serious could happen between us." "No matter how much I would like for there something to happen."

"What a shame. But don't give up hope. It may happen one day. So, don't give up hope."

-/-/-/-/-

"What are we going to do now Daisuke?" questioned Ken. "There's no way we can't go down there and confront them."

"I know that. We just have to grab one of them and get the information from them. Being careful they search for someone so they can gather information and they finally saw two in one of the observation rooms. Using the old divide and conquer technique they knocked on the door which cause the one who was guarding the door to come out to see who it was. When he did he was quickly knocked out by Daisuke. Hiding the body they entered the room where the second man was working on a computer.

Much like with the previous one, the second man was quickly taken cared of with a simple blow to the head by Ken. "Why in the hell did you knock him out as well Ken?" asked a bewildered Daisuke. "We needed him conscious to ask him what we needed."

"Not necessarily. There is another way to get the information that we need and it's right there." Pointing over to the table he showed him to the computer that was still on. "Maybe I can get into their system and find out what they're planning."

"Do you think you can

Going immediately to work, Ken began to hack into the system. "I'm in." True to his word he got in and had full access to everything. "Now let's see what they got planned." Searching each file quickly he apparently found what they were looking for. "Daisuke, you may want to take a look at this."

Leaning over Daisuke read what was on the screen and when he saw what was in the file a very worried look went across his face. "We've got to get back to the others. And I mean now."

-/-/-/-/-

"What's taking Daisuke and Ken so long to get back?" asked Hikari mostly to herself. It had been over two hours since the two of them left and tension was starting to get to them. Returning from another surveillance sweep, Takeru went over to her.

"Relax. The two of them are on a very dangerous mission that has to be handled carefully." Thankfully those words seem to help calm Hikari a bit. Suddenly, the phone ran which Takeru went to answer. "Hello. Oh, hey Daisuke, how's the mission going?" For a while nothing was said until Takeru slammed the phone down. "Everyone get up. We're leaving."

Being taken back by the sudden outburst all of them simply followed behind him. "What's the deal Takeru?" Grabbing a two gage shotgun from the cabinet he turned to them. "That was Daisuke. He and Ken found the Scourge's hideout and they happen to find out what they're planning on doing. Trust me, the news isn't good. So I recommend that we get the hell out of here." Not waiting a second more, everyone hurried out the front door. Unfortunately, they wouldn't get far.

No sooner had they stepped outside, a swarm of hummers came barreling in with numerous of disfigured face soldiers coming out and stood in front of them in straight lines. Stepping forward the apparent leader of the group stared down at the group. "At last, we meet again Mr. and Mrs. Marshall. I must say that it was mighty difficult tracking you down and I see that you've found some company. Now hand over the children and we may let you live."

Placing himself in-between the soldier and the parents, Takeru pointed his shotgun right at the lead soldier's head. "Take another step forward and we'll be able to see that back of your head through the front."

Even though Takeru was serious about the threat, the lead soldier didn't seem the lease bit fazed. "That wouldn't be a wise move on your part. Seeing as how my men would shoot you and your friends the second you pull the trigger." Knowing that was telling the truth, Takeru reluctantly lowered the shotgun. "That's a very smart move on your part. Now, is there anything that you wish to say before we take the children?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." responded Takeru in a somewhat mocking tone. "And that is: heads up football head."

From literally out of nowhere Daisuke's car came charging in and took out many of the Scourge troops that were in the way. With that distraction going on, Takeru knocked the Scourge leader down with the blunt end of the shotgun. During the commotion the backdoor of the car opened. "Get in you guys." Hurrying, everyone got insid and as soon as they were all in, the car went speeding off. "Is everyone all right?" asked Daisuke as he drove.

"A little shaken but we're fine. Thankfully you showed up when you did." Looking through the back window, Hikari could see anyone following him. "Thankfully it seems as though we're in the clear."

Just as she said those words, the car was hit from the back. Looking back they saw that it was one of the Scourge's hummers that rammed them. It got worse when two more hummers came driving beside the first one. "Daisuke, do something."

"What do you think I'm trying to do Hikari? I guess I have to bring out the heavy guns." Knowing what he was talking about, Hikari and the others put on their seat belts in prepaeration of what was to come.

Putting the pedal to the metal they sped ahead with the hummers following close behind. The whole thing resembled a car case as they raced across the town. However, when they reached the deserted business destrict Daisuke and the others were barely staying in front. It wasn't that Daisuke noticed a narrow alleyway. Seeing what he was planning on doing Ken turned to him. "Don't tell me you're going to do what I think you're doing."

"You'll see. Now hang on everyone." Going at top speed he drove the car straight to the alleyway and fortunately it was just big enough that it barely through with the car scraping against the walls. Being taken back by the sudden move, the two other hummers made sharp turns to avoid the buildings but the third one was less fortunate as it collided into the building causing it to explode in a ball of fire. Escaping the alley, Daisuke drove off. "It seems as though we lost them." That would change as the two remaining hummers returned.

Coming up with another plan, Daisuke drove the car into a four story parking garage with their poseurs following close behind. Driving all the way to the top floor he spun the car completely around just as the hummers arrived. Getting out, the Scourge started to unload a large object to do something. Knowing what it was, Daisuke and Ken looked at one another and they immediately understood what had to be done. "Ken, take the wheel." Opening the door, Daisuke stepped out.

"Daisuke, what do you think you're doing?" asked Hikari with a question that was on nearly everyone wanted to ask.

"I'm staying here to keep them occupied so you guys can get out of here."

"Are you nuts! If you do that you'll most certainly be killed" exclaimed Koushiro Izumi.

"That most likely will be the case. But I don't care. As long as those kids get out of this safely then I'll be worth it."

"Not without me you won't." Following Daisuke's example, Takeru stepped out to join his friend.

"Oh, no you're not. This is something that I will do on my own." Even with the outright demanding of Daisuke, Takeru still stood his ground.

"And just how do you plan on doing that? Unlike you, I have a weapon." He lifted his shotgun as proof.

"I don't care what you have. Besides, who says that I need a weapon when I got this?" In an instant, Daisuke's face went vamp. "I'm doing this alone. Now get back in the car."

Becoming fed up with her two friends bickering, Hikari stepped in. "Will the two of you stop acting like a couple three year olds and get back inside the car. If we hurry we might be able to get away."

"Sorry but we can't do that Hikari. Get a move on Ken." Moving to the driver's seat, Ken shifted the car into drive and drove it back down the parking garage with Hikari yelling not to leave the two of them behind.

"Turn around Ken; we can still get them if we hurry." Hikari's pleas were apparently going on death's ears as Ken continued to drive and seem to have no intention on turning around. "God damn it Ken. Don't you care what happens to Daisuke and Takeru? If we don't go back they could die."

"I know that!" Ken practically screamed. "Believe me Hikari, I hate doing this as much as you do. But we have to make sure that the Marshall family gets to a safe place. We can only prey that Daisuke and Takeru make it out safely. That's all we can do for them now."

She hated to admit it but Hikari knew what Ken was saying was right. As they now entered the street and were driving away, she looked back at the roof of the parking garage. "Daisuke, Takeru. Please be careful. The two of you are like my family and I don't know how I'd take it if you guys didn't comeback."

-/-/-/-/-

"You do know Takeru that this is basically a suicide mission right?" stated Daisuke as he and Takeru readied themselves for the upcoming battle.

"I know that and I don't care." Takeru answered with hardly any trace of fear in his voice. "I've got everything that needed in place, so I can go without regret." Before Daisuke could ask what he meant by what his friend meant by that, the Scourge soldiers came after them.

Moving into action the two fought and was able to handle themselves against their opposition. "This is getting us nowhere." stated Daisuke as he broke the neck of a soldier. "No matter how hard we fight them, they keep on coming."

"We need to take out the leader." spoke Takeru as he fired at a soldier's head and quickly hitting another with the blunt end of the shotgun. "Go get the leader while I deal with the others."

Taking the advice of his friend, Daisuke fought his way through the soldiers to become face to face with the Scourge leader. "Now it's time that I deal with you." Despite thing not turning out like he wanted the Scourge leader retained a calm attitude.

"You actually think you did something today vampire?" Just saying the word 'vampire' made the leader sick as he literally spit the word out. "You're the absolute lowest of the impure. Someone that has demon in them and living inside what was once a lousy human."

"Well, I much prefer to be an 'impure' than some psychopathic demon that has a face that looks as though it went through a meat shredder."

"Do you actually think by allowing your friends to get away that you saved them? All you did was to delay their demise because when I activate our device it'll cover the entire city, killing anything that has any dreadful human blood in them."

"Now we can't allow that to happen." exclaimed Takeru who was pointing his shotgun behind the leader's head. "Why don't you be a good psycho and tell us how to shut this device off?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely let me think about it. …No." Pushing a button the device immediately began to start up. "It's going to be a glorious world once those who're not worthy of it are gone."

"Sounds like an interesting vision. Why don't we start with you?" Showing no sign of remorse, Takeru pulled the trigger, shooting the brains out of the Scourge's leader, killing him instantly. Going over he tried to shut down the device but it was pointless as the device continued on.

"We can't shut this thing off. No matter what I do it won't stop." Stepping beside him, Daisuke went on to explain what was going on. "That's because it's the way that they've designed it. This thing is called the Beckon and whatever has even the smallest trace of human blood will be killed almost instantly. It's powerful enough to cover the entire city and once activated it won't stop until it completes its job. Getting to the point, if we want to stop it before it does any real damage we must shut it off manually. Unfortunately neither of us will survive when we do this. In other words, we'll die."

"That's where you're wrong." Out of nowhere Takeru hit Daisuke in the head with his shotgun. "When this is done, look inside your desk. You'll find a video tape address to you and the others. Hopefully it'll explain why I'm doing this." Grabbing his friend's jacket he tossed Daisuke over the edge of the parking garage. Thankfully with him being a vampire he would survive the fall but would be out of action for the time being.

"I'm sorry Daisuke. In time I hope you'll understand why I'm doing this." Turing back to the matter at hand, Takeru went towards the Beckon and despite knowing that he wouldn't survive this ordeal he started to disconnect all the cables.

-/-/-/-/-

"Damn. That hurt like hell." Forcing himself back to his feet, Daisuke looked up and saw that the light of the Beckon was starting to flicker. Seeing this Daisuke knew what it meant for his friend. "Takeru, how could use do this? It was suppose to be me, not you. You're a fool. But you're also a courageous one." Moving as fast as his shaky legs could take him, Daisuke tried to hurry up to join his friend."

-/-/-/-/-

Slowly but surely Takeru was succeeding in taking down the Beckon. However, as he was doing this, his skin was beginning to melt away layer by layer. In spite of the extreme pain that he was experiencing, Takeru continued on.

"Farwell Daisuke, Hikari and Ken. Hopefully you all have the bests that life can offer. I'll be watching you from the other side." With one loud scream he pulled the last cable which resulted in the Beckon turning off. Unfortunately, when the light completely disappeared there was no trace of Takeru anywhere.

-/-/-/-/-

Later that Night.

After almost an hour, Ken and the others drove back to the parking garage to see Daisuke on the top floor with a broken lead pipe in hand and was standing in front of a now demolished Beckon. When asked about what happened he told them first off that the remaining Scourge soldiers left and most likely would never return after threaten to kill all of them if they ever were to comeback.

But when they asked about what happen to Takeru it took a while for Daisuke to come up with the best way to explain. When he was finally able to tell them what had transpired, his took the news pretty hard. Hikari fell to her knees crying a river of tears while between sobs saying that it couldn't be true. As for Ken, he too was stunned by the news but was able to hold back the tears as he let out a stream of cruses over the lost of a friend that he had recently come to know.

Not wanting to say another second in the dreadful place, they drove back silently to Daisuke's place. Shortly after getting there, the Marshalls said their goodbyes as well as their condolences for their lost comrade. Sometime later, Daisuke went to the back side of his place and was thinking back to what he and the others saw in the video tape that Takeru left for them.


Flashback to an Hour Ago.

Placing the tape into the VCR, Daisuke, Hikari and Ken waited to see what was on it. When an image appeared it was revealed to be Takeru. "Hello my friends, if you're watching this video then I have unfortunately passed away. Please don't be sad about my passing. I have no regrets in my life. Well, maybe perhaps not going ahead and laying a big old kiss on Hikari." That last part was mostly an attempt to lighten the mood of the situation. Fortunately it seemed as though it would, if only a little.

"You maybe wondering why I did this video and the answer to that question is a simply one. When we helped Ken with those children that could foresee parts of the future they showed me a vision of what would be my last fight. When I saw what was to come I chose to face it head on instead of running from it. I think you know the rest of the story."

It was then that Takeru's face turned to one of sadness. "Before I end this I have a few things that I wish to say. Ken, we may not have known each other for long but I still considered you a close friend. Hikari, I enjoyed all those times that we shared, both the good and the bad. Plus, you had a body that made me hot under the collar, just kidding. Last but not lease, Daisuke. I considered you almost like a brother after all the things we've went through. In a folder in your desk you'll find all the contacts and resources I had at my disposal. In closing, it was a pleasure knowing all of you. You were like a second family to me and I hope we don't meet again anytime soon." With that, the video ended.

End of Flashback.

-/-/-/-/-

"You're going to miss him aren't you?" Turning around he saw Hikari and Ken walking over to join him.

"I think we'll all miss him. He was definitely one of a kind. It reminds me of something I once heard. I don't know why but it just pops in my head. All ling things, every being that walks and breathes each has its own star…and when a life ends the star falls and disappears." Glancing up to the stars all of them spotted a star dimming away to nothingness.

"Even though I say that I believe that Takeru is up there somewhere watching us." Looking one more time to the sky, Daisuke lightly pounded his fist against his heart. "Goodbye Takeru. We'll see each other again someday."

First off, you readers may notice that this chapter is similar to Angel's season one episode, 'Hero' (which is one of my all time favorite episodes of the series). The reason why I did this is because one, I was unable to think of anything overly original and two, I believed that this was a good way to send off Takeru from the series.

As for the reason why I killed off Takeru. I did it to show that not even the main characters could be killed and just in case some of you are wonder, I'm not going to bring him back like I did with Hikari in the chapter, 'Remember'. I'm afraid that this death is permenant.

Now, before I end this I wish to say thanks to all those who have read this series and leaving their kinds words with their reviews. In the not too distant future I'll have the third story of my series which at the moment is being called 'The Reasons for Heroes'. I hope that you check it out. Until then, see ya and once again thanks for the support and have happy holidays.