Okay, so I was not expecting the first few weeks of college to be so rough though it is a lot of fun. I packed my things and moved one state over and my new laptop isn't the best but it works. Nothing is late but I'm just telling you guys this as fair warning. Don't expect super speedy updates. Anyway, here is the prologue to Future and I hope you guys enjoy! As a reminder...
Azulongmon Sector: TK, Takato, Jeri, Ai, Tommy, Shinya, Kristy, Taiki
Zhuqiaomon Sector: Davis, Kari, Rika, Ryo, Kenta, Kouji, JP, Nene
Ebonwumon Sector: Yolei, Ken, Henry, Mako, Zoey, Kouichi, Relena, Kiriha
Baihumon Sector: Cody, Suzie, Kazu, Risa, Takuya, Yutaka, Keenan, Yuu
-X-
December 21: Hypnos Rooftop - 9:18 AM
Tai opened the door leading to the roof and saw Rinchei seated near the edge, eyes trained on the horizon as if there was something important to find there. The Chosen Child could make a good guess on what his former senpai was thinking of. Tai approached the older boy and lightly tapped Rinchei's shoulder.
"Tai?" Rinchei flinched.
"Sorry if I surprised you," Tai chuckled, sitting himself down beside the older teen. "I noticed that you had disappeared while Bokomon was reading those Demon Lord origin stories to us. So I thought I'd look for you."
A small smile graced Rinchei's lips. "Thanks, but I'm okay. You don't have to worry about me, those stories were just so sad to me." He looked down to the streets. "Many of the Demon Lords didn't deserve their fates and Angewomon… I wonder if she had jumped from a height this high."
"Rinchei…"
"Don't worry, I don't plan on doing anything stupid."
The two of them sat in silence as they wandered off somewhere in their memories, back to their days in high school. They never had to worry about an apocalypse of a digital nature back then despite being aware of the grim possibilities. No, they dealt with normal teenage things, frivolous means to gain popularity, attempts to be invisible, vicious rumors, the occasional bully, tough teachers, and complaining about schoolwork.
"I've been thinking…," Tai mumbled, bringing them both back. "Back then, you were pushed around a lot, right?"
Rinchei grimaced but he nodded. "Yeah, that's how I met you and Matt. You two were walking home from your respective clubs when you saw a couple of jerks from my class harassing me. You guys protected me even though you didn't know me."
"It was the right thing to do," Tai chuckled. "But to be honest, that wasn't the first time we had met."
"It wasn't?"
Tai shook his head as he leaned back. "It was the first time we talked to each other, sure. But the first time we met was during your first year. I was still in ninth grade but I decided to drop a surprise visit on Joe just to mess with him. You two were in the same class and friends so when I scared Joe, I ended up scaring you too." He laughed a little out of nostalgia. "I never actually apologized to you for that so I want to do it now."
Rinchei felt like cracking up, Tai was taking the time during such a dire situation to apologize for a trivial incident from years ago. But it was nice, kind of pleasant to talk about something remotely normal when everything else was on a downward spiral.
"It's fine, I'd forgotten all about that," Rinchei laughed.
"Yeah, I guess so," Tai shrugged. "After all, it's such a minor thing in the scope of everything else."
Once the laughter settled down, Rinchei remembered something that had been weighing on his mind. The eldest Wong sibling gave his former kohai a serious look. "Tai, when we were still high school students, do you remember Kurosaki-sensei?"
"Now that I think about it," Tai frowned. "I don't think so."
"I wonder… Just who is Masamune Kurosaki? And what role does he play?" Rinchei mused.
Tai knew this was a serious subject but he wanted to take a chance to talk about something else, something that had been bothering him ever since Rinchei left the room. "Hey, you, uh, don't have to answer if you're uncomfortable with this but I wanted to know, what did your bullies do to you?"
"Where's this coming from?" Rinchei smiled. Tai noted how it didn't reach his eyes.
"A couple of days ago… I was delivering bread in Shinjuku when I noticed a guy that looked familiar to me. As it turned out, he was one of the guys who had assaulted you during that time I first stepped in," Tai explained. "He was… holding up an issue of your manga and he had written something pretty derogatory on it."
"Tai… You said I didn't have to answer if I wasn't comfortable, right?"
Tai knew it at this point, what happened. Rinchei had left during the story about Angewomon, the beautiful Digimon whose purity had been defiled. "No, you don't have to say anything you don't want to right now."
"I…," Rinchei sniffed. Was he starting to cry? "I can't talk about these things, not now…"
"I know…"
They heard the sound of a door creaking open and when they turned to see who it was, they noticed that pretty much all the Chosen Children were approaching them. For a moment, Tai wondered if something happened, like another evil Digimon invasion but none of them seemed tense or battle ready, just fatigued. It was likely that they just came here for some fresh air after trying to calm down hysterical parents and trying to stay in contact with the teams in the Digital World.
"Apparently, Rumiko had no idea that Risa and Rika were in contact with each other," Yoshino huffed in frustration. "She was so calm at first but when she heard that her non-Tamer daughter was in the other world too, the woman nearly passed out!"
"She's just worried about Risa," said Sora. "I mean… Even the ones with partners… Our parents are still worried."
Matt looked over at Tai and noticed Rinchei furiously wiping at his eyes. "Hey, you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Rinchei tried to brush off with a chuckle. He slowly stood back up and almost stumbled forward, thankfully, he got caught by Tai who started leading him back inside, saying something about helping the older boy get some rest.
"Guys, I'm really worried," Airu muttered, placing her chin on her knees. "I mean, the Demon Lords can resurrect any enemy Digimon we've ever faced in our lifetime, it's not just limited to our foes either. Bad guys that had fought against Mr. McCoy and his team decades ago are even returning to enact revenge. But what if some serious evil comes back? What if…" She hesitated, glancing over to Ryouma and they all knew what Digimon she was worried about.
"Quartzmon," Ryouma finished for her. "That thing can multiply and Kuroku had to bring together heroes from other dimensions, from when they were at their peak to help fight. If Quartzmon comes back and stronger than ever…"
"Hey!" Marcus snapped. "We're stronger than we were at our peaks too!"
Izzy nodded as he opened up his laptop and quickly pulled up a world map, showing blinking lights all over the place. "Not to mention, this time, we have Chosen Children, Tamers, DATS members, and Hunters from all across the globe to help us if something of that nature does occur."
"But it's not the Digimon enemies I'm worried about," Yoshino bit the inside of her thumb.
"Yggdrasil," Thomas nodded. "Known as a God, if they can bring that monster back from the dead…"
The door leading to the roof opened up again and Tai stepped out, followed closely behind by Robert McCoy who did not look very happy, he seemed to have heard their glum conversation up to this point and wanted to add his own contributions.
"You should all be prepared in case a fight breaks out," Robert warned them, closing the door behind him. "There is one in particular you should be wary of, the D-Reaper." They all stiffened as they thought about the red blob that nearly swallowed the world and by all technical means, it was never destroyed, not by the Tamers at least. "It deletes everything that it comes into contact with and I'm ashamed to have been one of the programmers of it. But Shibumi must feel worse…"
"Why?" inquired Ren.
"Shibumi has made a lot of mistakes in his past. One of them… He created Apocalymon."
Tai and his group gaped at the old man when those words hit them like a freight train. The others, who had seen the Digimon show, were all aware of the Digimon that the Monster Maker spoke of, a creature of sorrow who wanted to destroy all humanity.
"Manufacturing your own digital manifestation has always been dangerous work," Izzy mused. "Kimeramon, the D-Reaper, Diaboromon, and now we can add Apocalymon to that list of abominations. Guilmon seems to be the only one that didn't lose control, could it be because of Takato and their bond?"
"I think it's more than that," Mimi shook her head. She wasn't one to theorize but she felt like this fell into her forte rather than in someone who thought scientifically. "I think it all depends on the emotion you put into your creation. The D-Reaper was created without much thought, a deletion program. Kimeramon was made for destruction and Diaboromon was created out of the desire for more than was given. But Guilmon, he was created by a wish to be real and to have an adventure like we did. I think something like that has a positive effect on the creation."
"But it's not like Wallace created Diaboromon with ill intentions in mind," Sora pointed out.
"I suppose…"
Robert cleared his throat to regain their attention once more. "Either way, I came to tell you all to be careful. Without the stronger Tamers, if we were to be attacked by the D-Reaper, we would have no means of sending any of you into it to destroy the core like we had Takato do years ago."
"Because it deletes everything it touches," Thomas mumbled.
Sora shuddered at the prospect of having to fight such an enemy. Five years ago, she and her friends had to helplessly watch the world get eaten alive because they had no access to their own partners at the time but when they watched buildings getting deleted from existence just from contact, she worried that even if their partners' power had been available to them, they wouldn't have stood a chance against something like that.
"Hopefully, it won't come to that," the redhead said.
Tagiru stood up suddenly, he never liked talk that bummed him out. "Come on guys! Even if this D-Reaper comes to attack us, we're more than capable of taking it on because no matter what, we'll figure out a way."
"That's easy to say but it's a heck of a lot harder to do," Zenjirou sighed.
Akari nodded in agreement. "It's like Mr. McCoy said, we have no means of going into the red blob like the Tamers did."
"But if it came to it, if the D-Reaper really did return and start an assault on our world, you guys are saying that you would give up without even trying?" Tagiru continued, a fire raging in his heart though he didn't sound angered; he was more excited if anything. "Taiki left us behind to protect this world. Not just him, Davis, Takato, Takuya, and everyone else is depending on us to defend the Earth. We'll figure it out and even if we can't, we can still keep fighting!"
Tai chuckled, fully amused as Marcus was grinning widely nearby, spoken like a true leader of the Chosen Children.
"The young just seem to grow faster and faster," Matt grinned. "Tagiru, what you just said is probably exactly what Tai would've said once upon a time if we were feeling unmotivated or defeated about a seemingly impossible fight to win."
"Marcus would've said something similar too," Yoshino added.
The Hunters seemed surprised by what the older kids were saying and how bemused they all looked. Even the two members of the Xros Heart Army had to admit that they weren't experienced enough to believe in the impossibility of impossible, not like these guys.
Sora looked at each of their smiling faces in turn and she didn't want to say what was on her mind, that she was afraid. This wasn't like any of their battles in the past, the Demon Lords have declared war on them and there were so many enemies of the past they had to face. Sora loved everyone here, no matter how long she had known them, she also loved all the kids that had left earlier that morning and she just couldn't stand the thought of a loss of any one of them. Wars are not without casualties, after all.
There was no need to say anything she didn't want to though as an alarm started blaring from inside the building. The door swung open and Daisy yelled at everyone to get back inside to see what was happening with their world.
They ran inside, automatically gaining an air of professionalism, as if fighting Digimon was a serious part of their career which in its own way was exactly what it had become. They got into the room that was surrounded by a grid, rapidly blinking lights showing all over Japan, though according to Riley, none were as powerful as the Demon Lords.
"They're still off the charts!" Megumi gasped.
"There are three particular clusters to be checked out!" Miki informed their superiors.
Yamaki and Samson noticed the DigiDestined marching towards them so they quickly briefed them on the three gates that suddenly opened in their country. Each one had a powerhouse Digimon pass through and then their own individual armies.
"There's a pirate ship in Tokyo bay," Riley reported. "The Digimon on board are all chanting something really weird but it's having a hypnotizing effects on people in the vicinity, as if they're going into some sort of trance!"
"There are several powerful signals near the base of Mount Fuji, in Aokigahara Forest," Tally added before shuddering, that place was known for a multitude of suicides, creepy. "There's also one in Hokkaido's capital, Sapporo."
Zenjirou's X-Loader blinked and Ballistamon's voice came out of it. "That first one has to be Olegmon! Please, Zenjirou, we have to go there, Olegmon is supposed to be our friend! I can't stand the thought of the Demon Lords making him fight for evil again!"
"Uh, right, of course," Zenjirou nodded.
"If he's fighting in the water, let me come with you," Joe offered.
"I'll go too," Izzy added. "Taiki had his suspicions that these Dark Generals would come back and he warned me about this chant of Olegmon's. I was able to rig a sound frequency on my laptop that should be able to interfere with it so we don't get hypnotized as well."
Thomas offered to join them as well and the group of four set off immediately, leaving the rest to wonder about the other Digimon.
"The Digimon showing up in Aokigahara are all dragon Digimon," Marcus noticed. He punched his open palm and it was clear that he was fired up. "Agumon and I will go there!"
"That's Dorbickmon, it's got to be!" Gumdramon piped up from Tagiru's X-Loader. "I was in Dragon Land while he was ruling, I always wanted to give that big jerk a piece of my mind but at the time, he was too powerful for me. Let's take him on, Tag!"
"Yeah, let's do it!" Tagiru grinned.
"Let Matt and I come with you guys," Tai quickly cut in before the hotheads could run off.
"You guys can't be expected to fight an army alone," Matt nodded in agreement.
"That last one is probably a Dark General too," Akari muttered, worry set on her brow. It was strange that all the others had come with armies backing them up and while the camera feed in Sapporo was showing all kinds of Digimon running around, none of them were giving off a digital signal.
"Splashmon," Dorulumon grimaced. "I am sure of it. Somehow, each of these Dark Generals are marked upon one of us. Somehow, we are connected to them. I would call it fate but I believe it has to do with the Demon Lords' planning. Ballistamon was a machine created by Olegmon, Gumdramon was once a resident living under Dorbickmon's tyranny; there is no doubt in my mind that Splashmon is the one who I am connected to."
"I see…," said Akari.
Mimi suddenly jumped forward and hugged her underclassman. "Don't worry! You'll have us girls to back you up if you get into trouble!"
"Right," Sora nodded. "Garudamon can get us to Sapporo quickly."
"No matter what, we'll take them down," Yoshino added.
It was right after they had all left the building that another alarm started ringing, showing three more Digimon signals, all rather powerful, blinking in the ruins that were once Shibuya. Ryouma, Ren, and Airu were glad that they had chosen to stay behind.
Alice stopped the Hunters from running out of the room. "Are you three sure you'll be okay by yourself? The others all have more experienced and powerful Chosen Children with them, you guys have only been with your partners for three years. Are you all certain that you can win by yourselves?"
The trio of best friends glanced at each other and as Tagiru's rooftop speech came ringing in their ears, they all nodded, determination etched into their faces. "Even if it seems impossible, we can't stop fighting," they replied simultaneously.
"We can't stop them," Yamaki stated. "And if we leave those three Digimon threats alone, they can do a lot of damage."
"Go," Samson added. "If you get into trouble, we'll send in auxiliary DigiDestined to help you."
"Right!"
December 21: File Island - 9:27 AM
It took forever for them to convince Ai and Shinya to stay behind with Elecmon but eventually, the two humans without partners were persuaded to be babysitters. Jeri even made a slight implication towards Shinya that if he bonded with one of the Digimon, he might get a D-Power and become a Tamer which instantly had him running around the cradles and speaking baby language.
The group that was about to climb the mountain joined up with Tommy who had his hands pressed to the ground and his eyes closed. The island was huge but being in the Digital World made the young boy feel closer to home so his heightened senses felt stronger than ever before. He soon opened his eyes and turned to the others.
"I feel a lot of Digimon to the east of the mountain, most likely it's the Sun-Wheel army," the Warrior told them. "To the southwest, I felt some sort of wispy shadow. If I had to guess, that would be NeoDevimon. There's a forest to the northwest so I would assume that would be where my target is."
"And Devimon?" inquired TK.
Tommy pointed upwards. "The summit."
"Creepy but impressive," Kristy nodded.
Taiki quickly took up the leadership position. "Okay, we all have our assignments but keep in mind that if things get too dangerous, go back to Primary Village." TK took note of how the brunet was looking in his direction, since this statement was especially made towards him. "No matter what sort of affiliation you have with the enemy, you've got to take them down for the sake of File Island. But this doesn't mean you can take any risk necessary to win, the important thing is to stay alive."
"Got it," they all nodded before splitting up.
Taiki and Takato got started on their trek to fight an army led by a member of the Olympos XII with a large group of Digimon following behind them as their backup. Jeri and Kristy took off on the back of Aquilamon, flying right for NeoDevimon's location. Tommy evolved into Korikakumon before heading to his destination and TK took flight on the back of Pegsasusmon.
"TK…," Pegasusmon whinnied.
The blond boy placed a reassuring hand on the equestrian's neck. "Don't worry. After last time, I don't plan on taking any dangerous risks. This time, we'll take down Devimon but without the price of your life or anyone else's for that matter."
Pegasusmon nodded. "Right."
December 21: Frozen Palace - 9:28 PM
As soon as they entered the building, Kouji made a face. "There's a stench in the air," he muttered. "I recognize it…"
Ryo was impatient as it was so he didn't really hear what the younger boy had said as he continued marching forward, calling Rika's name and for IceDevimon to show up and fight like a man. The Legendary Warrior of Light realized what he was smelling soon enough as he shot forward and pulled Ryo back, just as a blur came down from the ceiling crashing into the spot where the Tamer had just been standing.
JP took out his D-Tector as he realized who it was as well. "Grumblemon!"
"Warrior of Thunder, me get revenge for what you did to Grumblemon!" the Warrior of Earth glowered.
"I see you're still as illiterate as ever," Kouji scoffed.
Mervamon quickly grabbed Kouji and pulled him out of the way of a frozen claw reaching out from the floor, ready to grab onto the boy's ankle. The Warrior thanked Nene's partner before glaring at the cackling IceDevimon rising from the frozen floor.
"You!" Ryo snapped.
JP stopped his classmate from running forward. "This isn't the same IceDevimon that took Rika. This is the one that we know."
The two Warriors enveloped themselves in data cocoons and reappeared as Beetlemon and Lobomon.
"We'll take care of things on this floor, you guys keep heading upstairs," Lobomon told them. "I can smell Rika's scent though it's a little faint, she's on the top floor! Better hurry, I smell someone else with her and there's something not right about his scent."
"Right," the others nodded as they started up the stairs.
Grumblemon tried to stop them by crushing them with his hammer but Beetlemon protected them from getting hit and absorbing the blow in his own palms. He still sunk downwards though, creating a web-like crack in the ice.
"Be careful!" Kari called back.
"No problem!" Beetlemon grunted. "Just save Rika!"
December 21: Bokomon's Mansion - 9:29 AM
Relena wasn't comfortable, not after hearing the origin stories of the Demon Lords. Her eyes were fixated on the bookshelf where Bokomon had just returned the book and she wondered about the credibility of those stories.
"Most of the Demon Lords used to be good Digimon," Relena shook her head. "They were corrupted by worse Digimon than them…" She turned to the others and noticed that none of them were nearly as sympathetic as she was towards their enemies, probably because they had been doing this much longer than she had.
Ken did understand to some extent though. "Relena… The Demon Lords have done terrible things. It's true that they were once good, but that's been several millennia ago, and we don't even know if those stories are true."
"Well, maybe we can be bring them back!" Relena tried.
Kiriha shook his head. "As much as we'd like to believe that there is goodness in every Digimon, sometimes, the only choice we have is to fight them."
"It's the truth, Relena," Henry nodded. "When I first became a Tamer, I refused to let Terriermon to fight at all. It wasn't long before I realized just how dangerous some Digimon can be and that the only way to stop them from causing that destruction, is by fighting them. You saw what the Demon Lords are capable of. Barbamon, by himself, destroyed such a huge part of Shibuya… Imagine what would happen if all seven attacked the human world together."
Zoey placed a comforting hand on the other girl's shoulder just when her D-Tector started beeping erratically. The symbol for the Warrior of Darkness was on the screen which meant that it was Kouichi who was trying to contact them. She quickly picked up but instead of hearing her teammate's voice, Yolei's scream for help filled the air.
"K-Kouichi! Stay… I'm trying… there… Dusk… Help!"
One word struck a chord in Zoey, even Bokomon and Neemon caught it and they were all up, ready to go. The others didn't know that they were all thinking about Duskmon, the corrupted Warrior of Darkness that almost took their lives but they did know that this was urgent and they had to drop everything to save them, quick.
"Ranamon," Zoey suddenly gasped.
"What?" the others blinked.
Zoey's eyes darted to the window and they noticed that rain was hitting the glass pretty hard. That was when everyone heard the terrified screams of the citizens in town, running from the acidic downpour that was practically burning their skin off.
They rushed out the door and Zoey immediately took the form of Kazemon, manipulating the air around them to make an umbrella made out of the air itself. The fairy listened closely to the annoying laugh of the Warrior of Water and was able to find her fairly quickly. "You guys follow the signals and save Kouichi and Yolei! Bokomon and Neemon, you guys stay inside and stay safe! I'll take care of Ranamon and try to join you guys as soon as I can."
"Got it!"
December 21: Wicked Tower - 9:30 AM
Takuya led them right into the tower but as soon as they entered, they realized something very wrong in there. The Warrior of Fire knew instantly where they were and he swore under his breath for ending up in the same exact situation as he had three years ago.
"Sakkakumon…," he muttered.
A hearty laughter filled their ears and it was confirmed to be the Legendary Warrior of Steel. "It has been such a long time, hasn't it Warrior of Fire? I don't suppose you've forgotten about me, have you? I would hope not, because I most certainly did not forget what you did to me."
"Friend of yours?" Yuu huffed.
"Yeah… He and I go way back," Takuya replied spitefully.
The Warrior of Fire explained to them what had happened to his team the last time they were trapped inside this monster, about how they had been separated and their moves were copied by the Warrior of Steel depending on which ones they used inside. So if they weren't careful in here, they would give the beast some powerful ammo to use against them.
"I won't be falling for the same tricks as last time, either," Sakkakumon laughed.
"So long as we don't get separated, there shouldn't be a problem," Keenan shrugged.
Risa was scared out of her mind in this unfamiliar place and she ended up trying to stay as close to possible to Takuya when a spongy hand shot down from the ceiling and snatched Yuu up. Cody noticed and tried to grab onto the older boy's leg with Armadillomon hanging on to his own but they were just both taken up.
Takuya gave Keenan a pointed look. "You were saying?"
Keenan couldn't say more though as he was yanked through a wall. Risa screamed and grabbed onto Takuya's arm. The Warrior was worried now, it was never good to be separated in a group but now he had to make sure that Risa was safe. Not just because Rika would kill him if he let anything happen to her sister either.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine," he muttered. Though he had to admit, he wasn't so sure about the validity of his statement either.
December 21: Primary Village - 9:31 AM
"I'm worried," Ai sighed.
Shinya slowly stood up, four baby Digimon cuddled up in his arms, as he looked over at the younger child. "I am too, but these guys are tough. Besides, they've beaten those bad Digimon once before, they can totally do it again."
"I know," Ai nodded but it didn't make her feel any better.
Elecmon suddenly started running up to them, being trailed by a human-like figure and as they got closer, the two children realized that the person really was a human. A boy, most likely around Takato's age, unkempt brown hair, cracked goggles hanging around his neck, red leather jacket, and a black t-shirt underneath with a golden emblem resembling Seraphimon's face on it. Neither Shinya nor Ai recognized him at all.
"There you guys are!" Elecmon huffed. "I found this guy on the outskirts of the village, he one of your friends?"
Shinya shook his head and Ai crossed her arms. She couldn't pull off the skeptical look as well as Suzie or Rika could but she tried her best on it.
The stranger decided to speak. "I'm Koh and when Elecmon told me that there were other humans here, I thought that one of you guys were a friend of mine who had been missing for a while. Judging from your clothes and lack of a Data Burst Digivice, I can presume that neither of you are from Digital City, right?"
"Digital City?" Ai frowned.
Elecmon made a weird face too though it bordered along amazed. "I heard of that place! It's far more technologically advanced than any other place in the entire Digital World and it floats high above the clouds! I always thought it was a myth!"
Koh smiled a little and shook his head. "It's very much real, or at least, it was." His smile dropped. "A couple weeks ago, Belphemon demolished the City and hundreds of lives, human and digital, were taken. My own partners were all destroyed, except two who I saw were taken away. My digivice shows that they're still alive and on this island, that's why I came here."
"There are other humans here, in the Digital World?" Shinya inquired.
"Yes," Koh nodded. "A few decades ago, hundreds of humans found themselves taken away from the human world and wound up in this one. Once they found each other, they built civilizations to live in and survive. I'm an offspring of a pair of humans that arrived here."
Ai took this revelation in stride and was able to put the pieces together quick. "Commander Samson told us that a few decades ago, there were police reports of missing humans from all over the world but it was theorized that they were all passing through a weak spot in the firewall and into the Digital World. Keenan was one of those humans as well but he found his way back. This is an incredible discovery though, hundreds of humans living right in the Digital World and we never even knew!"
"You're sounding like Izzy," Shinya chuckled.
"It's just a little exciting for me," Ai admitted.
"I see," Koh nodded, finishing up his own mental jigsaw puzzle. "You two must be Chosen Children, then."
"Close," Shinya replied.
"I'm a Tamer," Ai told Koh. "Shinya doesn't haven't a partner but he followed us into the Digital World on our mission to fight the Demon Lords and retrieve some friends of ours. But knowing that there are other humans here, doesn't this mean you guys can help us?"
Koh had a solemn expression on his face once again. "Belphemon destroyed most of our partners, she was too lazy to kill all the humans but she figured that if all of the Digimon were gone, we wouldn't be able to fight back." He pulled out his digivice and it looked like he was starting to tear up as he looked at the empty screen. "Agumon and Patamon are both gone because of that monster and now I have to find Coronamon while he's still alive."
"Coronamon?" Shinya repeated. "Why does that sound familiar?"
Elecmon answered for him. "When Takato pulled up the information on Apollomon on his digivice, it mentioned that its Rookie form is Coronamon."
Ai and Shinya shot each other look, both of them coming to the same conclusion.
December 21: Barren Desert - 9:32 AM
Kenta felt the sand blowing into his eyes and they were irritating him like crazy, he really wished he had some goggles. Takato had the right idea. Even so, no matter how much sand was getting into his eyes, nothing could blind him from what he was seeing right in front of him. He glanced over at his partner and wondered how the little guy knew that this thing was here.
"A Control Spire," he muttered.
"Pu, pua, pura… Here?"
"Yeah… I don't know why it's here either."
Kenta had to think about this, as far as he was concerned, he had never seen one of these black towers in real life but being an avid fan of the Digimon show, he knew all about them. But they shouldn't even exist anymore, not without someone mass producing them like Ken had when he was the Digimon Emperor or Arukenimon and Mummymon. Then again, if destroyed Digimon from their pasts can be reborn, there's nothing saying those two Digimon couldn't come back and start manufacturing Control Spires again.
"But if Arukenimon is back and the bad guys are mass producing these things…," Kenta realized with an ominous sense of foreboding. "Then she could start making fake Digimon all over again! Ones that are just as strong as BlackWarGreymon was and with the Demon Lords' help, she might actually have the power to control them too!"
"Pu! Pua!" MarineAngemon suddenly yelled.
"Danger?" Kenta repeated.
"Terra Destroyer!"
Kenta was lifted off the ground and if he looked down below, he could see a dark orb of energy exploding and that it had been the force of the explosion that had blown him away, knocking him into a jagged rock and causing the bubble he was inside to pop.
"Oomph!" He quickly pushed himself up and put on his glasses, adjusting them so that he could see BlackWarGreymon glaring down athim with his lifeless eyes. "Not good!"
The Tamer and his partner started looking around and they realized that they were surrounded from all sides by Cherrymon, each one sporting a shiny new Dark Spiral around their trunks. And near the Control Spire stood two oddly dressed humans, though Kenta knew better.
"You're pretty smart and perceptive, I must say I am impressed," Arukenimon grinned maliciously.
"Oh yes," Mummymon agreed beside her. "To think that you would find this place and put the pieces together all on your own!"
"It's not something to be proud of if I'm going up against all of you on my own," Kenta muttered.
MarineAngemon was no fighter, no matter what Modify cards the boy could use, the angelic Digimon just wasn't equipped with the kind of firepower to take on all of these enemies; Kenta knew this. The best plan of attack would be destroying the Control Spire to free the Cherrymon orchard and then hightailing it back to the Frozen Palace where the others could help him out. But what were the chances of them destroying that solid tower?
"Let's see how strong you are," Arukenimon cackled as she and her male counterpart changed into their Digimon forms.
"That is way creepier in real life."
December 21: Ruins of Light - 9:33 AM
They saw the entrance to the ruins, the place where Kouji first found his spirit but it wasn't going to be easy to get inside. There was an army of Digimon glaring at them, blocking their entry point. As they each pulled out their digivices, they felt gravity acting against them as they were all suddenly pushed to the ground, unable to stand back up.
"G-Gravimon!" Kiriha grunted. "That's the only Digimon I know that's capable of manipulating gravity like this!"
"How flattering to know you still remember me," the Dark General laughed as he floated down. "It's so good to see you again, Kiriha! This time, I don't plan on losing to you and to make sure of that, I won't let you or your friends move. I'll be sure to torture you all until you beg for death!"
Henry shook his head as he pulled out a card. "Not going to happen… Digi-Modiy! Field Effect Cancel!" They felt light again immediately. "I wasn't sure that was going to work, looks like the upgrades Mr. Mizuno made were perfect."
Kiriha raised his X-Loader and MailBirdramon and Greymon automatically jumped out, battle ready. "Wait, both of you are out at the same time? I thought I could only have one Digimon out at a time because of the rules?"
"We're in the Digital World, Kiriha," MailBirdramon reminded him.
"The rules of the Hunt don't apply here," Greymon grinned.
"H-How did you…?" Gravimon stammered.
"You guys go save Kouichi and Yolei," Henry told the other two. "I'll stay behind to help Kiriha if Gravimon decides to pull that underhanded gravity trick again." Ken pushed Relena forward and the two of them disappeared inside the cave.
"Do you two pretty boys really think you can defeat me?" Gravimon inquired, insulted. "I am the second strongest of the Dark Generals, no matter how strong you are, you won't stand a ghost of a chance against the likes of me!"
"We'll see about that," Kiriha and Henry shot back.
December 21: Sakkakumon - 9:34 AM
When Suzie came to, she found herself in a dark room with a coffin in the center of it. The only light source in there were a couple of candles lining the top of the walls and as she tried to move, she realized that her wrists were cuffed and she was stuck to the concrete wall behind her. That's when she noticed Kazu and Yutaka nearby, both of them out cold.
"Suzie? You're awake!"
The Tamer looked up and noticed a giant bird cage hanging above the coffin. "Lopmon? Is that you?"
"And me, Guardromon," Kazu's partner added.
"Can't you break those bars?" she hissed.
The lid of the coffin moved suddenly, surprising Suzie and causing the two teenage boys to stir. As the coffin opened, NeoMyostismon made himself known, he grinned maliciously as he looked to his three human captives, like living decorative ornaments on his brick wall.
"I would not advise upon such a foolish act while I am in the room, little girl," the undead Digimon chuckled. He held his hand out to them and, now that they were all awake, they watched as a small screen appeared in the palm of his hand. "It's a little reminder…" They watched as they saw their friends moving across the screen, many of them were in some pretty tight situations. "None of you can escape our wrath."
"Takuya will save us," Yutaka spat in the vampire's face.
"Will he?" NeoMyotismon laughed. "You put so much faith in the Warrior of Flame but remember, he was unable to keep you three from getting kidnapped by me. In truth, I should kill you all now but I want Yuu to see your deaths. I want him to know that his betrayal has slowly led up to this moment and I want him to see it with his own eyes."
He threw the little projection in his hand to the wall and it became a large screen split like a grid, each one showing a different group or individual. TK flying to the summit of Infinity Mountain, Taiki and Takato marching towards the Sun-Wheel Army, Korikakumon rampaging through a thicket, Kristy and Jeri soaring through the skies, Rika unconscious on an icy floor, Davis and a few others climbing up a frozen staircase, Beetlemon and Lobomon locked in combat, Kenta taking cover in the desert, Kouichi numbly staring at Duskmon with Yolei and Mako by his side, Ken and Relena turning on a flashlight in a dark passageway, Henry and Kiriha up against the Earth Spirit Army, Kazemon zipping through burning rain, Risa fearfully hiding behind Takuya, Cody helping Yuu to his feet, and Keenan lost in a snowy landscape.
"Everyone…," Suzie quivered.
NeoMyotismon relished the fear and worry in the faces of his captives as he laughed. "They will all perish one by one."
-X-
Everyone in both the human and Digital World are getting into trouble as it would seem. They all expected to be together through all the challenges they faced but now they've been divided smaller and smaller, how will they handle their own obstacles? And who exactly is Koh? Find out on the next Digimon: Children of the Future!
Okay, just so you're all aware, I won't be jumping around from group to group like I was here, that would just be overwhelming and way too confusing. So I'm going to be focusing on a couple of fights per chapter which will likely be in world order. The first official chapter is likely going to focus on our team on File Island. Hope you all enjoyed and do not hesitate to drop a review down below! See you!