Yamaki's Plan

Fighting For Love, Loyalty, And All The Wrong Reasons

Takato and Henry rushed down the street, digivice in hand. Both had silently agreed over the phone that the constant bleeping of their digivices, coupled with a news report that a "terrorist group" was being apprehended in Shinjuku Park, meant that Terriermon and Guilmon were in serious trouble. Both children had left home despite warnings from their parents, and had met up on the way to the park.

"It has to be..." Takato puffed as he ran, "that creepy... cigarette lighter guy!"

"Agreed! I learned the other day that he runs the telecommunications tower," Henry wasn't having as much trouble breathing as Takato. He was slightly fitter than his friend due to all his Kung-Fu training. "He sees every text message, every phone call, and every e-mail that goes in and out of Japan!" Henry added. It was a number of minutes before the two kids arrived at the park, panting. Both noticed that yellow police tape and a number of crowd barriers had been erected at all the entrances to the park. Police and security guards patrolled the area. Gunfire could be heard coming from inside the park. Henry noticed a lone security man standing next to a garden wall, sucking on a cigarette. After making sure no one was watching, Henry motioned for Takato to follow him.

"Follow my lead," he whispered. Takato nodded in understanding. Both of the boys casually approached the security man as if passing by on an evening stroll.

"What's going on in there?" Henry asked as nonchalantly as possible. The security guard scrutinized the children with suspicion for a few seconds then spoke.

"The cops are taking care of a couple of criminals. They're pretty dangerous, so you'd better stay away from here," the man said in the gravely tone of a life-long smoker.

"Oh. Okay," said Henry plainly. The man returned to his cigarette and gave them a stare that told them to 'get out of here'. As both of the boys turned to leave, the guard went into a fit of coughing that fractured his concentration. Henry took the chance. Quick as a flash, the Chinese boy spun on the spot and round-house kicked the security man on the side of the neck. Takato watched in amazement as the grown man fell like a sack of potatoes.

"Always knew smoking was hazardous to your health," Henry grinned at his own joke, and began to climb the garden wall. Takato ignored the cliché and said:

"You've got to teach me how to do that," and then followed his friend over the wall and into the darkness in the direction of the gunfire.

1010101

Yamaki ran through the forest, guns up, with the night-vision goggles reversing the endless black of night. He was searching for either the children or the Wild Ones. If he found the kids first, he planned to dart them with the tranquiliser pistol and drag them the hell out of here. If he found the Digimon first… he checked that his Ingalis was properly loaded.

1010101

Lieutenant Sotomai and his squad had been trained for extremely high intensity warfare against both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial enemies. But nothing had prepared him for the sheer power of these creatures, especially the red one. It had already completely destroyed two of his squad's mechs, but had let the men get away. Handheld gunfire did nothing to either of these creatures, only the super-heated minigun cannon seemed to hurt them.

Sweat dripped down the Lieutenant's chin, his eyes were constantly scanning for any sign of movement. The scanner display inside his holo-goggles told him that one of the animals was close, but he couldn't see it. A branch snapped somewhere behind him. He manoeuvred his mech around but it was too slow, there was no creature before him, it had gone.

"Damn it!" he screamed in frustration. Those things are so fast, he thought. And this goddamned mech is so slow!

He heard an explosion somewhere to his left, and his radio crackled in his ear.

"Sir! My mech has been destroyed! My weapons are dry; they're no use against those things! I have to leave the area!" one of his men cried over the radio.

"Affirmative," he replied. Now he was the only one left.

Suddenly, the rabbit eared thing jumped from behind a tree, firing its wrist machine guns straight at him! Sotomai sidestepped and returned fire, but missed. The thing disappeared into the darkness once again.

"Shit," he swore. Then, out of nowhere, something slammed him from the side, sending him and his mechanical armour reeling on the forest floor. Sotomai was now really, really, pissed off. The mech automatically pulled itself to its feet, while the soldier levelled his minigun at the dinosaur that stood ten metres away. With his strict military training out the window, it was pure rage that told him to pull the trigger. It was due to that rage that the lieutenant failed to notice that the red thing wasn't moving, its focus was elsewhere. It was also due to that rage that Matsuka Sotomai did not see the child standing right next to his target.

1010101

"Growlmon!" Takato called. He had found his friend partly through the use of his digivice, but mostly by following the sound of destruction. He rushed toward his big friend as fast his legs would carry him. But then he noticed the short-barrelled minigun attached to a robot pointed at the Digimon. Then he realised his mistake. When Takato had called his friends name, Growlmon had turned his focus onto his tamer, and was now oblivious to what the Japanese soldier in the mech was doing. If Growlmon didn't move soon, he was going to get hit with a fatal blast from the minigun. Takato's expression turned to horror as he took this all in.

"Growlmon! Move!" He kept running and pulled the mysterious blue card from his card pouch.

"Get down, damn it!" someone yelled. Takato turned and saw Yamaki sprinting towards him with two guns raised. Takato halted next to his partner, and then swiped the card.

1010101

Yamaki could see the entire scene unfolding before him. Through the night-vision, he saw Lieutenant Sotomai getting tackled by the red Digimon. He saw the boy, Takato, running toward the Digimon, and the other child and Digimon also heading for the dinosaur. Finally, he saw Sotomai aim his minigun at the Wild One that had tackled him. Yamaki knew enough about the spread patterns of the mech's weapon to know that both the Digimon and the child would die under a barrage of bullets at that range. He ran faster and flicked the safety of his Ingalis pistol.

"Get down, damn it!" He had to ensure the children's safety. He began firing the automatic wildly into the sky, trying to attract the soldier's attention.

"Cease fire! For God's sake, cease fire!" he screamed. Then something amazing happened. Yamaki never saw Takato swipe the card. He only saw the bright light that began to surround the giant, red Digimon. He could feel the ground shake slightly, causing him to lose his balance and trip, landing awkwardly on the soft ground. And then a sound; a deep, heavy vibration that caught his mind, heart, and soul. It grew louder, entering the four humans' heads and capturing them in wonder. They all stared at the shining figure in amazement as it began to grow; lengthening and widening, drawing raw power from the environment around them. But Yamaki's trance was broken as he realised what was happening.

"It's updating," he whispered. Then he quickly pulled a communication device from his jacket breast pocket. "Activate the program!" he yelled into the mike. "Activate the update rejection program!" The order that burst into the Lieutenants ear seemed to bring his focus back to reality. No longer the raging psychopath, the calm and collected soldier withdrew his weapon from firing position and instead extended the clawed left arm of his mech. After tapping a few keys, a wave of red light burst from the metallic limb and struck the continually growing statue of light that was Growlmon, as well as Gargomon who was standing with Henry a little way behind Takato and his Digimon. Before anyone could blink, Guilmon and Terriermon now stood where the Champions had only seconds before. Yamaki laughed at the wild confusion on everybody's face.

"What the heck just happened, and what the hell is that?" Henry pointed at the mech standing metres in front of him. Terriermon found himself holding his arms out in front of his body.

"Uh, where are my guns?" he said feeling slightly stupid. Yamaki walked forward and replaced the night-vision goggles with his signature sunglasses.

"Like a mutating virus, your Digimons' little update has been successfully prevented from causing anymore damage," Yamaki sneered.

"What are you talking about?" demanded Takato. Yamaki ignored him.

"Lieutenant Sotomai, you are dismissed," he said to the soldier. Sotomai was still trying to figure out exactly just what had happened and stood slightly stunned before he registered his superiors order.

"But sir, don't you-"

"No, I do not need further assistance," Yamaki interrupted the military officer, practically reading his mind, "I can handle it from here." The lieutenant and his mech lumbered off. Yamaki waited until he was out of earshot before turning back to the Digimon and their kids.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," the government man grinned evilly as he spoke. "Do you know that you two kids and your pets have caused me more trouble than any other scum-sucking hacker that I have ever had to deal with?" He holstered his weapons and started to pace slowly in front of the two Digimon and humans. They just stared back at him, helpless.

"I would rather have to worry about America or the UK trying to screw this country out of our technology. But no, I have to baby-sit instead," his eyes narrowed, and he quickly pulled out his Ingalis and aimed it at Guilmon. "It ends here!" Yamaki snarled.

"You are evil. Pure evil," Henry breathed. He tried not to shake, but couldn't help it.

"I'm not evil, I'm just doing my job," he drawled.

"Your job? How is this a job?" Henry spluttered, "Hunting down creatures that have done nothing to harm you. The only crime they have committed is wanting to exist!"

"Do you really know the harm they have caused?" the adults voice easily rose above and smothered Henry's. "Do you? Four people have died this year alone because of Digimon running amuck. Twenty-five have ended up in hospital. But that list was a lot longer before they brought me along," Yamaki's voice became soft once more, and as cold as ice.

"Only a few are like that, most are just looking for a better life," Henry retorted.

"Oh, you are just like your father," Yamaki said sounding as if he had heard that phrase before. But Henry stiffened at his dad's mention.

"How do you know my dad? How do-?" Henry never finished his question, because at that moment Yamaki pulled out his dart gun and fired. The Chinese boy fell swiftly and ungracefully, immediately unconscious. Takato and Guilmon both screamed. Terriermon stared in horror at his fallen companion, then turned his gaze to the head of Hypnos, the fires of hatred burnt in the Digimon's eyes.

"How could you?" the small creature snarled. Yamaki casually holstered the pistol.

"Relax, it's a tranquilliser. He'll wake up tomorrow," he chuckled briefly as a thought passed his mind. "Interesting," he said more to himself than to the group in front of him. "If I shoot the kids then I get called a murderer. But if I shoot the monsters," he pointed his ingalis at the digimon, "I get called a hero, then get a nice cheque at the end of the day."

"We're not monsters!" cried Guilmon, feeling offended.

"Of course not," Yamaki's voice was layered in sarcasm, "You invade our world and destroy our homes…"

"Not all of them are like that!" screamed Takato, "Most just want to be cared for, to have friends and live in peace." Yamaki began to laugh at the child's outburst.

"How just like a kid. You believe that everything is dusted in sugar and has a happy ending. Well, welcome to the real world; where there are no happy endings!"

"You're the monster," Takato's voice began to crack. "All you care about is your job. You don't care about anyone else except yourself and money."

Yamaki's face split at the remark. Years of painful memories; of anguish, loneliness, and regret; came flooding back to him. They danced in front of his eyes, taunting him. It was all he could do to stop himself from hitting the boy in front of him. Instead, he aimed not the harmless dart gun, but the very deadly automatic right at Takato's face. The three companions froze; their eyes fixed on the infinite blackness of the weapons barrel.

"Don't you dare tell me what I do and don't care for!" Yamaki snarled through clenched teeth. A memory passed through his brain; a face from long ago. It was young, innocent, and sweet face. A face that he loved. A face that he had hurt. A single tear rolled down his cheek. He still held the pistol steady at the human, but his left hand began to shake.

"I have a beautiful wife and daughter that I am not allowed to see because of a mistake I made. It's been six years since I last saw them, but I still love them. I have always loved them, and I will always love them. So don't you ever say that I don't care. Because I wouldn't just die for them, I would kill for them." To every ones horror, he aimed his Ingalis at Guilmon and squeezed the trigger. There was a bright flash, and a stream of lead raced from the barrel. Guilmon closed his eyes and waited for the end.

Now is that a cliff-hanger, or is that a cliff-hanger! What's going to happen next? You are just going to have to wait. Patience is a virtue. R&R guys, R&R!