I do not own Digimon.

Chapter 6: The Interview

When Takato awoke he really didn't want to get out of bed, he knew that questions would be asked the moment he entered school and he really didn't want to deal with them yet. He knew that he would be unable to tell them most of the information they wanted as much of it was still rather hush, hush by the League. As the thought of the League crossed his mind he suddenly remembered that the news was going to leak the FANG information today. This further cemented the fact that he needed to get up so slowly he opened his eyes.

He had apparently dreamed of his father's death again last night as his clothes were covered in his sweat. The fight yesterday had made him remember in detail the events of last year and now he couldn't forget it again. He had spent six months in the Digital World fighting for his life every day to forget last time but if he needed to again he would. Though in all honesty he was a little glad he had not dreamed of the other worst day of his life, no need to review that experience again. Living through it once was enough.

Looking down he saw BlackGatomon lying curled against his chest, she had one eye open and was currently looking up at him. Takato could see the concern in her gaze and he mentally asked himself again how he had been lucky enough to get a partner as caring as her. Not speaking he sat up in bed after BlackGatomon stretched and jumped off his chest and onto the floor. Climbing out of his bed he made his way toward the bathroom so he could think and thankfully his Digimon picked up on it.

They just kept silent as he made his way into the bathroom to wash, they were all worried about him and watched him closely. BlackGatomon had seen the damage done by the death of his father and she knew what he had been through. She had seen him at his worst when all he cared about was the next battle and threw himself at any opponent that had got in his way. She remembered clearly his state of mind upon entering the Digital World, she had thought he had a death wish the way he had acted and it worried her that he might end up like it again. Takato had taken it upon himself to guard and protect any virus Digimon he had encountered, he hadn't wanted anyone to go through what he had, even if they were Digimon. A fact that was cemented 3 months later as he encountered an event that would change the way himself and many others outlook on Digimon and human relations.

Still, despite all the hard times she had never regretted being one of his partner. It had been his kindness that had first made her wish to be his partner, seeing that kindness while his whole world fell apart around him though had made her admire the boy. The cat like Digimon had learnt over time that Takato always had a reason for doing something, all actions he took held a purpose for the boy or it wouldn't happen. The day he had returned to the Real World and walked into his parent's bakery his mother had not even recognized him, it hadn't been until she had noticed the Digimon behind him that she had stared into his eyes in shock asking his name.

He had changed over the six months in the Digital World, he had lost his nervous stuttering around girls and learnt to trust himself more. It had also changed the way he thought of others, he had kept the kindness that BlackGatomon loved about him but he now only showed that side of himself to those he respected. The tamers where he used to live had learnt of the change the hard way, they were so used to him respecting other tamers no matter how they acted that him breaking the noses of three of the group had scared them all. Their actions the night his father died had shown him that they needed help training but when they didn't thank him for saving their partners and then started on virus types in front of him he had lost control of his anger at them. It had been his new serious and diligent attitude that had caught the eye of the League.

After taking a shower and then slowly getting dressed he made his way downstairs for breakfast, like with his Digimon he could see the worry in his mother's eyes and he knew what she must be thinking. She still remembered losing her only child for six months last time and she didn't want to have to go through all that again. They didn't speak over breakfast, the Digimon had explained last night most of what happened and she knew he didn't need the questions right now. Suddenly his attention was caught by the TV in the living room that was currently showing the news. The title of the news segment was "The Digimon League You Don't Know".

"Hey mom could you turn the TV up?" Takato asked his mother who also saw the title and nodded before grabbing the remote next to her and raising the volume.

"Hello viewers this is reporter Mizaki being here to give you all a very special news interview about the stunning secret dealings of the organization that has established itself as a major player in the world. I am talking of course of the Digimon League. That's right the famous group that oversees the many tamers throughout the world and their Digimon is apparently not as benevolent as everyone including many of their employees believe. Here with me is the head of the League itself Mr. Mitsuo Yamaki."

"Here we go" Takato thought as he watched the news segment that was being broadcasted across the world and would likely shake it to its core.

: At the news studio:

"Well Mr. Yamaki myself and many of our viewers have many questions for you and frankly I believe the world demands answers. I have painstakingly done some thorough research into the League and have found some rather disturbing evidence of League activities that have been kept from the public." Mrs. Mizaki stated in a smug tone. This was going to be her biggest scope ever even better than her coverage of the D-reaper incident. She was going to roast Yamaki in front of the entire human race and likely go down in history as the reporter who exposed the League.

"Well, to kick this off, Mr. Yamaki, why don't we start off with the most obvious allegation? It is public knowledge that the league has many branches. DART, GDTTA, DTRADE, AND DIALED, for instance. However according to reliable eye witnesses and photographic evidence, there is another SECRET branch of the League performing dangerous MILITARY operations under the radar. Can you confirm this? And what is this rouge branch of the League called?"

If Yamaki was alarmed by the reporter's question he didn't show it as he simply crossed his legs and gave his answer. "Well Mrs. Mizaki as you know the league has many branches. DART our reconnaissance unit, GDTTA the Global Digimon Tamers Tournament Association, DTRADE or the Digital Technology Research and Development Echelon, and DIALED the Digital Investigations and Affairs: Law Enforcement Division. To answer your question I have to touch up on the DIALED branch. DIALED is a collection of law enforcement agencies that collaborate with the League but are not necessarily a part of it. Because of this the League needed its own military branch to respond to global threats. This branch is called FANG."

Mizaki was somewhat put out by Yamaki's composure but she pressed on. "I see... FANG, is it? Since everything else in the league is an acronym, what would that stand for? And you mentioned this being global. What countries have you been operating in and aren't you concerned that having a military branch would threaten the governments of these countries? Would they not be up in arms if they knew about your force operating in their country? They at least deserve to know where and when this private military operated inside their borders."

"FANG is also known as the Fast Assault and Neutralization Group and are only sent to situations that are critical and out of control. I'm afraid the locations of the numerous operation sites are classified. As for you concern about the countries being worried you have to understand that there are two parts that make up the FANG branch. One part of FANG is composed of Special Forces from all across the globe making FANG more of a Global Task Force than just a League branch. FANG is only controlled by the League because we specialize in Anti-digimon operations or in any other cases where digimon are somehow involved." Yamaki answered again in a calm tone that further annoyed the female reporter.

Mizaki felt that she could push a little further when she heard Yamaki's response so leaning forward she dug deeper. "As a reporter, you understand my need to attack 'classified' labels. Could you perhaps share a single instance where this Militarized task force has done something to benefit the common people? Otherwise how are we to know that you simply aren't building an army to seize world power or remove all digimon?" she ended in an accusatory tone. "He'll have to answer now. No way can he let people think the League is anti-Digimon."

Yamaki shifted in his seat slightly but answered in a sympathetic tone. "Yes I understand your need to dig into 'classified' items of news but understand that there are many factions and groups that could use said information against humanity or digimon kind and make many innocents suffer… As for something I can share, other than the reason for FANG's creation, I can say that they have responded to incidents where humans kidnap digimon for nefarious purposes. However, I'm afraid I cannot state a specific incident for security reasons. I will state however that FANG does not wish for world power or the removal of digimon. In fact FANG oversees many pro-digimon agendas like aiding in colonizing efforts and protection services for bio-merged digimon with peaceful intentions. As for world power well you could say we already have that in a way."

Mizaki was slightly deterred by the collected response to her line of questioning and also a little surprised to hear of anything like digimon colonization efforts or humans kidnapping digimon but decided to change focus and avoid Yamaki's likely prepared response to her inquiries toward the two.
"Speaking of your military actions, there has also been reliable photographic evidence of your Militia using unidentified, and if I may say so, frightening weaponry. Any comment?"

Behind the two a TV screen showed an image of a man decked out in black combat gear and wielding a large silver weapon with a drum magazine and a forward grip on the end (Looks like the Halo 4 SAW but with a forward grip).

Yamaki looked over at the displayed image and gained a look of recognition before nodding his head. "Ah, yes that is a product of our weapons research. As many of our viewers will remember during the D-reaper attack all forms of conventional weapons where ineffective as they were when the giant pig appeared in Shinjuku. Since then we have used what we have learned to make weapons that where effective against digimon. Unfortunately these weapons are very hard to make and thus only a small number of them exist currently. This means that the League is the only group with a significant number of these weapons for them to be effective as a response to any incident."

Mizaki was again slightly startled by Yamaki's forthright answer to what she had assumed would be a highly guarded secret. "Are these weapons any threat to humans? And if possible, would you demonstrate the firing of one of these weapons? This way, fellow viewers who recognize the weapons can very well stay out of the way of a potential digimon conflict. I have no doubt you have several of your FANG personnel with you or near you at all times, in case of emergencies."

"This particular new weapon system we have developed work in the same way normal fire arms do so yes they still are deadly to humans but not more so than a regular gun would. They just have special properties that allow them to be effective against digimon. I'm afraid I cannot demonstrate at this time as I do not have one on me and there are no members of FANG in my personal detail. My body guards are all members of DIALED. As for the escaping of civilians from a combat zone by the time FANG arrives on scene it should be apparent to everyone that they need to leave the area. FANG usually only arrives on scene after DART or DIALED personnel have surrounded the area or if there are no civilians in the AO. I can count the number of times FANG has arrived first on the scene with one hand and have fingers to spare." Yamaki replied with a playful smirk.

"That's strange why does he seem unconcerned about an attack on his person… he's hiding something" Mizaki thought "Ah, I see. Are these modifies guns all that you have in the name of... Should I say, EXPERIMENTAL weaponry? Is there any other weapon the public should know about? Aerial, ground, guns, tanks, anything? And are there more weapons like these being developed?"

Yamaki's smirk disappeared as he again turned to an authoritative tone. "We are still in the middle of experiments for a number of weapons systems however I can say that the League helped develop the Rail gun used by numerous navies across the world. Other than that some improved vehicles like tanks, cars, motorcycles, boats, helicopters, jets you name it we've modified it. We of coarse are partnered with many of the world's governments like the US, Germany, France, Britain, China, Japan, India, Russia, Australia, and Canada. Along with organizations like the UN and NASA. I must stress however that all of these weapons are geared toward anti-digimon combat and many have already been deployed to the field so I don't think 'Experimental' is an apt word to describe them."

"Damn they are further along than I thought they would be if they are already fielding this stuff. If the UN already knows about this and other militaries have access to it than there is no point trying to pursue this topic any longer. It's ok, I'll nail him with this next one." Mizaki didn't let her frustration show and continued with the interview. "Ah, thank you for that clarification. Now, while we are on experimentation, there have been disturbing reports coming in from several ex-FANG employees that there have not only been weapon experimentation, but HUMAN experiments done on unwilling participants as well! The sources were unclear as to the nature of the experiments, they seemed frightened by just mentioning it. Can you confirm this?" "Time to call him out. Hopefully he doesn't know I'm bluffing on this one I only have hearsay as evidence. This could be a big nail in the proverbial coffin of Mr. Yamaki, and I want to hit it hard."

Yamaki gained a confused expression on his face before leaning forward slightly. "Hmm I don't know where these members heard about these rumors but with an organization as large as the League I find it no surprise that some wild stories have cropped up. I can state for the recorded however that the League has never and will never approve of any form of unwilling experimentation on human beings and innocent digimon by League members or others."

Mizaki gained an ecstatic look in her eye at Yamaki's response. "YES! I CAUGHT HIM! You think I didn't catch your wording there Mr. Yamaki well tough luck! You have to try a lot harder than that to fool an ace reporter like me." "Unwilling? Are you to say that there is some experimentation going on within the League with willing participants? Where they have previously agreed to said experiments with accurate information on what they were getting into and have willingly signed a contract without coercion. Is this truly legal, and you are free to continue these experiments, am I right?" Mizaki pressed now positive she was now on the eve of ending Yamaki.

Around the world people were watching and suddenly discussing in whispers or shouts of outrage against the League and Yamaki in particular. In the Nonaka house hold Rika and her mother Rumiko where looking at each other worriedly. After all both where high profile backers of the League with Rika being one of the world's star Tamers and model for their Digimon merchandise, a position she took hesitantly after she was promised she never had to wear a dress, and Rumiko being the spokesperson for their advertising unit. Seiko for her part just continued to sip her tea with a pleasant smile on her face. Renamon however was deep in thought as her mind flashed to a particular individual with a cold aura. The scene that only she seemed to catch of Seth PHASING at the stadium flashing through her mind.

All viewers' attention however was grabbed by Yamaki however as he gave his answer. "There was a case that a year ago where four individuals volunteered to partake in an experimental procedure lead by a former League science head. However after the procedure was over the League decided that we did not wish to continue the project and halted it. The scientist later resigned and since then all four participants have shown no draw backs from the procedure. Unfortunately exact details and the names of the individuals involved is still considered classified."

"No way! He can't have a potential out for this! Come on girl Think!" Thought Mizaki grasping at straws. "If there were no drawbacks from the experiments, why did the League discontinue them? And could you give us at least the gist of the experiments purpose? I don't have to guess, the person who performed the experiments name is probably classified, but would you consider him dangerous, and would he be at risk to continuing his experiments without public knowledge?"

Yamaki however was quick to snatch those straws from her and throw them into the wind. "The experiments, from what I understand, where geared toward seeing if the League could create more tamers. As you know many young children and teenagers are tamers but almost nobody older than 18 are tamers. The League was hoping to have adult tamers that could instruct younger tamer about the responsibilities of being a tamer. We discontinued the experiment because it was a failure though thankfully there were no drawbacks to the recipients. As for the scientist in question I'm sorry to say he died in a house fire last year from a gas leak in his apartment block. He will be sorely missed as his research helped the Leagues research division immensely and helped the League become the organization it is today."

Mizaki was now visibly put out. The experimental research would have been all she needed to make this a huge news story and make her a legacy as a reporter but that dream was looking more and more distant as the interview progressed. "Ah, I see. Will there be any future experimentation in this regard?"

Yamaki gave a small shake of his head "No, for now the League is focusing mainly on integrating Digimon and Humanity into a peaceful co-existence. However there are many opposed to this change and we are endeavoring to make sure that none of these elements try any more direct methods of protest. However lately I will admit that the League and many countries are now focused primarily on military power in response to recent events."

Mizaki was now very hesitant to try and jump on Yamaki statement but at this point her journalist obligations forced her hand. "Do you find this disturbing, to have more of a Military response to digimon threats? A more of a shoot now, ask questions later mentality can be dangerous, especially as a few of these so called 'hostiles' are actually honest digimon looking for a home and partner."

Yamaki leaned forward as if to stress a point. "While it may seem that way at first you have to understand again, that the League is almost never the first to the scene. Our manpower and response time is good but almost always the local tamers will be the first to respond to a bio-emergence. Unfortunately the tamers themselves have in a way caused the buildup of military forces. As for if I find it disturbing to react to digital threats with the military... no. In fact in light of recent trends among the tamers I find that the deployment of armed but level headed operators to the field is paramount to a more peaceful resolution."

Mizaki internally sighed as yet another one of her questions was exhausted but quickly collected herself and pushed on. "Very well moving on. According to an ex-operative of the league, perhaps in an effort to mitigate the growing number of children tamers rushing into a bio-emergence, he reports that the league is assimilating these kids into this MILITARY branch of yours and are being trained in a militarily like fashion, as SOLDIERS, in the name of supposedly peace. How would the league justify this conscription?"

"I feel this is a very important topic so I would like to give my response to all our viewers right now."
Yamaki began in a very serious voice that surprised Mizaki before he looked into the camera. Around the world people felt as if Yamaki was looking directly into their eyes.

"Yes... the other half of the FANG branch is made up of tamers between the ages of 15-18. They are often deployed to crisis sites when ultimate or mega level digimon are needed to combat a group of hostile digimon." Yamaki began but his gave kept many viewers riveted to the religion despite being angered and shocked.

"You all may ask why this is. How can I justify the use of children as soldiers? My answer is simple... because they already are, even if they don't realize it." Yamaki stated solemnly. In their homes many tamers and their families where suddenly alarmed and worried.

"The D-reaper incident showed that our militaries where powerless against digimon, whereas those children called tamers with digimon partners where not. Even afterward tamers showed that they were the best answer to a digital threat, as their digimon wielded power that invalidated the military's existence. Suddenly the greatest military power in the world where children." Mizaki like many around the world where now thinking back at the time since digimon appeared in the world and how they fought the D-reaper while the military could do nothing to oppose it. Suddenly they realized Yamaki was right so far in his statement.

"These children had control of digital partners that could wipe out entire militaries with impunity. Children with all their new found arrogance, their swinging emotions, and their need for drama and foolish tendencies now had access to virtual WMD's without any guidance or foresight." Mizaki was enraptured by Yamaki's story but also came to realize that indeed she had never viewed the Tamers like that before.

Yamaki turned back to Mizaki but didn't stop his speech "What was even more shocking was that the world's people just accepted it. Digimon battles occur in the middle of cities and in close proximity to citizens and tamers treat it like a game, they rush in and throw highly destructive attacks around with no regard to collateral damage. So yes the League took in some tamers and after screening their mentality and morality saw fit to employ them as FANG units. These Tamers come from mixed back grounds, many not pleasant, and comparing them to children or even the other non-FANG tamers, I find is an insult to them. The important thing to remember however is that they volunteered."

At Mizaki's bewildered look Yamaki continued "Why, you may ask? Because like myself and many individuals in both military and government positions, they have realized two sobering facts about the world today. The first is we, as in humanity and all peaceful digimon, are at War a fact that most people refuse to acknowledge. Second, we are LOSING!" Yamaki shouted angrily and for the first time losing his composure in the interview. "We've been at war for a upwards of a year and the public refuses to acknowledge it preferring to believe that everything is ok and that the tamers will take care of any issues. Well this is to all the tamers out there as well as the public in general. The Tamers are FAILING!" Yamaki shouted directly into the camera shocking the world with his bold statement and audacity at blemishing the golden children that where the tamers.

Mizaki was taken aback by this sudden and powerful outburst from the normally calm and collected Yamaki. "If he's this upset then the situation must be far worse than I or anyone thought. Maybe... Maybe grilling him over broadcast wasn't a good idea. If it is as bad as he claims... Or even half as bad...I need to dig deeper here. Forget trying to make him look bad this story is becoming too serious for me to be trying to slander him." So the reporter cleared her throat and started anew. She had a few more questions and topics to discuss, but she decided a more positive light would be better. Get facts, not trip him up." Mizaki thought before she cleared her throat."Well, it certainly would seem the public needs a wakeup call. I don't know about sending kids into the military, at least not all of these Tamers, but it seems like more needs to be done. Does the league have any information who or what is coordinating these larger, seemingly planned bio-emergences, and if so, are they taking any action to prevent them?"

Yamaki sighed before leaning back seeming to relax and taking off his glasses showing a pair of rather tired eyes. "You don't even know the half of it... Did you know that a year and a half ago eight to nine tamers died weekly because they didn't take a fight seriously?" At Mizaki's alarmed look Yamaki gave a depressed chuckle. "Of course you didn't. Nobody ever bothered to even look into such a thing. When the League actually did look into it on a whim we were alarmed when we discovered the truth. So we created DART, a support network or reliable tamers that could coordinate with the other tamers and decrease casualties while at the same time alerting us of any trouble brewing in their area. After that the number of Tamers we lost dropped to 3 a week. When we decided to dig deeper after our DART operatives reported unusual causes of death for these Tamers we found that some tamers where killed by anti-digimon extremists."

Yamaki gave a disgusted look at the memory of those extremists and what the League/UN led investigation uncovered but shook his head before continuing. "So then we created DIALED a police force in every city that reacted to conflicts between humans and digimon and then the number of Tamers we lost drooped to maybe one or two every three months. We thought we had it all figured out. Then one day we started having instances where digimon would bio-emerge in groups, these bio-emergences suddenly started popping up all over the world and only in areas where we there where concentrated numbers of Tamers. We were suddenly losing entire Tamer teams to seemingly coordinated assaults. It was obvious something had changed and a new kind of battle was now taking place. We were no longer dealing with violent digimon attacking at random but planed out attacks that where targeting tamers and civilian centers. In response to this, we created FANG that back then only composed of human Special Forces operators given the best anti-digimon weaponry we could afford."

Yamaki sighed before looking off to the side. "It was difficult and we didn't have much funding then but we were trying... and then six months ago IT happened."

Mizaki leaned forward "IT? What was that?" she wanted to know everything. It was now clear to her she had stumbled onto something huge. Internally she realized she was witnessing the reawakening of the general population to their own world, and that world was suddenly much more dangerous than any of them had realized.

Yamaki looked hesitant about answering but then gained a determined look. "São Paulo, Brazil is what happened."

Mizaki was somewhat surprised to hear that city mentioned. Sao Paulo was famous in the general news industry because of the mystery surrounding it. Supposedly a stain of a deadly virus, a form of bubonic plague, spread throughout the city in less than 24 hours killing almost all the population. The Brazilian government had quarantined a large area around the city but mysteriously did not release any details on the event causing many to become skeptical of the virus story. However the Brazilian government had a strict shoot on sight policy for any trespassers in the quarantine zone citing they had to stop the spread of the virus and refused to give any additional details on the incident to this day, much to the outrage of the world's populace. "According to current reports, São Paulo was hit by a deadly virus that wiped out everyone that lived there, and the whole area has been quarantined. Anyone or anything so much as gets close to the area to investigate are shoot on sight. The Brazilian government to this day has refused to release details about the event causing many conspiracy theory's ranging from government experimental weapons to a zombie outbreak. Are you telling me that this incident was in fact someway related to digimon?"

Yamaki nodded solemnly the look in his eyes seeming like he was a million miles away. "It had everything to do with digimon. The story the Brazilian government has fabricated around the incident is frankly idiotic and an insult to the world. Other countries know what happened their but believed that the Brazilian's should be the ones to tell the tail. Since they have not it falls to me... Congratulations Mrs. Mizaki you're going to be the reporter to break the mystery of Sao Paulo or as many FANG members know it 'The City of Blood'." Mrs. Mizaki for her part didn't look too thrilled at the thought of what she was about to be told.

"It all started three weeks before the city went dark. The League detected an unusual number of bio-emergences outside the city. However our DART affiliate reported that local Tamers could not find the digimon that bio-emerged. This was slightly concerning so we alerted the Brazilian government to the potential threat. The Brazilian government in response mobilized a division of their army to the region to be on the safe side. However, three weeks later the League detected the largest digital portal ever recorded in the heart of the city and all contact was lost with the city and its neighboring suburbs shortly afterward. The only exception was a hasty message sent across all League Channels from the DART affiliate in Sao Paulo. The message was an urgent SOS. The League headquarters used a satellite to give us a picture of the situation only to see a nightmare." Yamaki grimaced at the memory but continued on.
"Our screens showed that over one hundred forty-five digimon simultaneously bio-emerged into the heart of Sao Paulo. Of those sixty-five where Rookies, forty were Champions, twenty-five Ultimate's, and fifteen Mega's. Those digimon where soon joined by thirty or so digimon that where the source of the earlier bio-emergences the weeks prior. The thirty digimon apparently had cutoff highways and roads effectively neutralizing any route in or out of the city and neighboring suburbs. Meanwhile the large group in town where able to use the EMP often created by a bio-emergence to begin their attack on the city with impunity. With communications down around the entire city nobody could call out for help or alert others to the problem. Only the high powered transmitter our DART operative had allowed her to send the distress message we had received in the first place."

Yamaki took a moment of silence in respect for the fallen DART operative before continuing. "In short it was a massacre, the numerous schools full of tamers in the city where overwhelmed in minutes and the division of Brazilian military personnel that where there were being ripped apart, local DIALED forces where fighting back but where getting pushed back and couldn't do anything to stop an Ultimate level digimon much less Mega's at the time. Anyway the digimon soon turned and started to attack the civilian population killing thousands by leveling skyscrapers and destroying entire blocks. It was absolute pandemonium as people where slaughtered in the streets while attempting to futilely fleeing the area."

Yamaki sighed at the memory while Mizaki was paling at the story she was being told. "Upon seeing this, our response was immediate. For the first time in history a code black was initiated to FANG, DART, DIALED, and United Nations Personnel as well as numerous military and national leaders. You have to remember this was early on when we barely had anti-digimon weaponry and very little experience and planning so we were basically going in hoping our contingency plans would work. Much to our relief it seemed to go smoothly. Brazil mobilized all of its military assets and quickly moved to quarantine everything in a 40 mile radius of the area so as to stop any citizen from unknowingly entering the war zone. Argentina mobilized its air force to help in the quarantine while preparing its ground forces for emergency deployment. The United States thankfully had a Carrier Task Force that was passing fairly close to Brazil at the time and dispatched a quick response force or QRF that set up a forward command center and began to engage digimon in the outer suburb area. However even after other country's military forces arrived there they could not push into the city due to the high numbers of Ultimate's and Mega's. At this point our FANG units where gathering onboard the French carrier Charles de Gaulle however we knew that our FANG operatives where not equipped well enough to stop an attack of this magnitude making us look into our records for any potential weapon or operation that could help give us an edge."
"As it turns out, few weeks before we were using our DART operatives to keep an eye out for any reliable and level headed Tamers we thought could potentially be recruited into the League as a response team. We had then approached the screened tamers and asked if they were willing to lend their assistance to the League should a serious situation ever turn up to which they all replied with yes. We decided with events how they were now at Sao Paulo we needed digimon that could digivolve to Ultimate or Mega to have a hope of retaking the city. So then the call went out to DART and DIALED personnel to round up these individuals and their digimon partners and get them to the Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras. It took about twenty-five hours but all thirty-two tamers where there and given a full brief on the situation. Naturally we wanted them to be aware of the dangers they were going into but they were all adamant that they wanted to help. So five hours later all thirty-two tamers and their partners found themselves alongside FANG operatives and military personnel battling in the hell scape that was what was left of Sao Paulo. It took three and a half more days before the last of the enemy digimon where finally deleted and we reclaimed the city. In the end the excellent response time of various militaries and deployment of FANG units supported by Ultimate and Mega level partner digimon turned the tide and saved about 10,000 people. The rest however died in Sao Paulo thus the name "The City of Blood".
Yamaki looked wearily at Mizaki who collected herself after a few minutes before continuing "For those that knew about it and where there, Sao Paulo was the wakeup call telling us that we were severely outgunned. Since then the League has been given all the needed resources for research and armament by the UN and changes have been made to policy from the lessons learned in San Paulo."
Mizaki was trying to recover from the shock of what she had just heard. For the longest time many had still viewed the tamers and wild digimon as a kind of entertainment, a real life action and drama show they could all watch with relatively little risk. However to now have the frightening new reality shoved into the populace's face was a truly frightening revelation. 'Oh my god. All this time... And we never knew. He's right though these people need all the support they can get. Maybe if I were to help... Yes. This will be my legacy!"

Finally collecting herself Mizaki sat straight before speaking "If everyone feels as I do about the events of São Paulo and what you people have been doing to protect us from similar future events, they will be sure to heed the call to take action, Mr. Yamaki. Now, you mentioned this attack seemed planned. Do you have any idea what may be behind these attacks?"

Yamaki gave a thankful nod to Mizaki before answering. "I can only hope they do... As for who attacked us we still do not know much about the group itself or their command structure. However since Sao Paulo substantial gains have been made into our intelligence and reactionary capabilities. The problem is that we have no way of finding these perpetrators until they attack, again this is why FANG and military leaders are growing increasingly angry toward the Tamers. Like it or not, in all likelihood the Tamers are going to be the first, and for a period of time the only, defense against another San Paulo incident. The League have been using our FANG Tamers as a means of scouting and reporting on the combat effectiveness of the various cities Tamer groups in case of another incident and suffice to say we don't believe ANY group is ready for anything like that, even the first tamers would likely be overwhelmed by that number of hostiles Mega's."

"Hmmm... Sounds like a serious problem. Is the league doing anything to help prepare the Tamers? It seems like viewers and parents need to be encouraging their children to think first before charging into a bio-emergences, as well as coordinate with other tamers and in extreme cases consider joining FANG as it may save their lives. And on another topic, according to the previous source, the League has DIRECT access to the digital world. I assume as a countermeasure against attacks or as a means to perform a preemptive strike?" Mizaki asked while also trying to get her viewers to consider the options by pointing them out.
Yamaki frowned before answering "One thing I want to make clear is that FANG is a military unit and I have no wish to influence all the world's children to suddenly enlist. Instead I plain to make them more aware of their responsibilities as Tamers and bring their level of combat effectiveness up. To do this the League has put in motion a series of initiatives that we hope will motivate the Tamers into improving their abilities. In other words we are hoping to show them how powerful they could be and thus inspire and enable them to achieve more. This also goes to the public in general who I believe also need to be made aware of what level they need their beloved Tamers to be at. This leads to a few announcements I would like to make toward this endeavor at the end of the interview. In regards to the question of our access to the digital world I indeed can confirm that we do have such access and use it only for coordinating our investigation with the sovereigns and as a means to receive friendly digimon."

Mizaki nodded as she thought about Yamaki's response. "Okay! This brings me to the last item on the list, and perhaps a bit strange considering there was already one secret military branch in the form of FANG, but there has been a statement made by someone working under the League that there is yet
another military branch to the League, even more secretive than FANG. Can you give us any details on this?"

Yamaki looked nervous about this question but gave the best answer he could. "Well there is another group called SWORD but their technically not fully under league control so I am not authorized to say release any details about them."

Mizaki was slightly surprised by Yamaki's reluctance to answer so she pushed a little harder. "So, nothing? What does the acronym stand for at least?"

Yamaki sighed before answering in an apologetic voice "I'm afraid not. SWORD is not constrained to any individual authority and can only be 'advised' by myself and the Sovereigns."

"Looks like another story lurks just around the corner." Mizaki thought before looking at the studios clock and seeing they were almost out of time. "Looks like I have some more research to do, but for now…" "Very well then. This brings our interview to a close, you said you had some announcements?"

Yamaki gained a smirk before nodding and facing the camera. "Yes I do. As I mentioned earlier the League is endeavoring to increase the Tamer's combat effectiveness. To this effect the League is proud to announce that two months from now we will be hosting the Master's Tournament. It will be the largest Tamer and Digimon sporting event in history and will include digimon solo battles, digimon/tamer battles, and Digimon card battles. The tournament will also host a challenge mode where Tamers can challenge a specific individual to battle in whatever agreed upon terms both agreed to as well as a special events simply called 'Survival' and 'Conflict'. The tournament will be hosted at the League Head Quarters at Midway Atoll. The entire event will be the most important tournament in history as for the first time I will be allowing FANG and DART operatives to not only compete but also hold nothing back and thus announce their identities. The entire event will be broadcasted by the media and to that effect I wish to extend an invitation to you Mrs. Mizaki to cover the event."

Mizaki was rather surprised and at the same time thrilled about the invitation but couldn't help but think to herself "No one has even seen the inside of the League headquarters before. This must be big."
I'm flattered! Thank you for speaking with us Mr. Yamaki and you can be sure of my full and complete coverage of the event. Although you better up security around the 'classified' areas, you know I can't resist." The reporter replied with a chuckle that was shared by Yamaki before she turned to the camera.

"Thank you for tuning in, please stay tuned to see our next story, 'Legend VS Virus, where a strange challenger with a virus type obliterated the legendary Ryo in a less than epic battle. More after this!"

And with that the most important news segment in recent years ended.

And Done! Wow sorry that one took so long but hey it was longer than usual. So I just wanted to take a minute to thank RenamonRoxx who played the part of Mizaki for the interview. I know some of you may be disappointed that this chapter was mostly the interview but don't worry it was a necessary part of the story.

Here is some announcements about the poll:

Firstly as a number of you guys have recommended I not outright bash someone I will try to mitigate the bashing to a form that puts them as temporary antagonists instead of outright idiots and they will eventually mellow out. However they will not be as powerful or influential as the ones who get the badass boost.

Here is the poll results so far.

Badass: Davis (confirmed), TK (Confirmed) Sora (looking good so far), Ken (so close).

Davis- 8 (In for Sure)

Tai- 1

Matt- 1

Izzy- 5 (In for Sure)

Ken- 4

Sora- 3

Ryo- 2

Kenta- 2

TK- 1

Bash:

Cody- 2

Matt- 1

TK- 4

Yolee- 2

Kenta- 4

Kazu- 3

Ryo- 5 (Will be an antagonist for a little longer before mellowing out)

Well that's it for now so until next time Stay Frosty and Don't Forget to Review!