Previously on Vengeance: The DigiDestined win the battle against Omnimon, but the worst has yet to come as they discovered when Milleniumon reveals his plan to invade their world in three days time. Meanwhile, it's another win for the good guys when Ryo too, has successfully rescued the four sovereign Digimon, although the four guardians are no longer what they used to be. In three days, a titanic battle will ensue, but in the meantime, it's time for the DigiDestined to unwind, and discuss of things that need to be done, and reinforcements that they shall need to acquire.
As Ryo was about to enter the Asuka Laboratory, a pink pillar of light materialized before him. From the pillar, the forms of Kari and Gatomon appeared, and as it happened all of a sudden, had Ryo not been alert enough he would have collided into Kari.
"Woah!" Kari cried in surprise, eye widened. Gatomon, having more keen sense of reflex, made a backward flip instantaneously. "Ryo!" Kari exclaimed, blushing furiously as she took in Ryo's profile. "Uh…Ryo where's your shirt….uh…I mean, when did you get back?" she stammered, and blushed again and cast a glance aside. Not waiting for Ryo's answer she quickly turned away from the older boy and walked into the laboratory.
Ryo followed her. "I used it to bandage Monodramon's wound after a battle." He shrugged indifferently and wondered why the girl was so flustered.
"Oh…I see…" Kari said distractedly as she looked around, noticing its usual occupant, and the one she was looking for, missing. "Where is Gennai?"
Ryo stood beside her and scanned around. "I have no idea. I went off to save the Harmonious Ones before you go to fight Milleniumon. Speaking of which," Ryo said and faced Kari with an interested look in his eyes, "how did the battle go? Is it over now?"
"Kind of," Kari answered hurriedly and went towards one of the Piximon working inside the laboratory. It was watching a small computer screen, showing the desert and the other DigiDestined and allies. "Piximon, I need you to transport all of them back here. The others without the Diginizers cannot make it back here with our teleportation function.
"Sure thing," the small Ultimate said and quickly worked on the coordinates. "Just give me a minute to key in the coordinates."
"Thanks. And…do you know where Gennai is?"
"Gennai and HolyAngemon have stepped out shortly after all of you," another Piximon quipped. "The coordinates recorded by the computers shows that they've gone off to the same place you had gone to."
"That's weird," Kari frowned. "We didn't see them. What were they doing there?"
"I'm sorry, but I am not informed of their intentions of going there," the Piximon said apologetically.
"That's alright," Kari assured it. "Maybe they'll be back soon."
Kari turned around once again and was greeted with Ryo's taller stature. She started slightly, not noticing when Ryo had come towards her at all. She was about to move aside when Ryo caught his wrist. Surprised, she let out a yelp.
"Why are you this flustered, Kari?" Ryo asked, leaning slightly towards the girl.
"Uh…in case you haven't noticed, the situation is rather awkward, with you not dressed wholly," Kari pointed out, blushing again. Silently she cursed herself for not being able to stop blushing.
Ryo crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a marbled pillar inside the lab. "I doubt that's the reason. Surely you…ahh," he said, his face lit up as he snapped his fingers, grinning. "Surely, this hasn't something to do with…uh, back then has it?"
"Of course not," the DigiDestined of Light mumbled irritably, and a little bit too quickly. She glanced out towards the garden and saw Monodramon with four very strange Digimon. Quickly, she diverted away from the current topic they were talking. "Who are those Digimon? I thought you were supposed to save Azulongmon and the other three Harmonious Ones? Where are they anyway…how did your mission go?"
"Ooh, lots of questions there," Ryo smirked slightly when the pink shades on Kari's cheeks grew darker, and gestured with one hand outside. "The mission is a success," he grinned. "And you are looking at the Harmonious Ones."
Kari's mouth hung open slightly, all pink shades on her cheeks evaporated at once. "That's them? But…what happened?"
"They've de-Digivolved," Ryo said simply. "Apparently their powers were drained by a strange kind of prison this Chaos Specter guy placed them in. Baihumon…now Mikemon, the Gatomon look-alike, was still Baihumon when I first saw her, but she devolved right after I've freed the others."
"I've never imagined they could de-Digivolve like normal Digimon," Kari said. "Aren't they supposed to be the guardians of the Digital World?"
"That doesn't make them immune to devolutions," Ryo answered, before a brilliant white flash of light erupted from the garden. "That must be the others. Come on."
Both of them quickly made way out, and was greeted with confused stares from the other DigiDestined (conscious ones, the older DigiDestined were still knocked out) and Digimon. Davis whistled, while TK's eyes widened slightly. Cody and Ken both merely raised an eyebrow. The angels and the other Digimon however had their attentions focused more on the four newcomers, who were lounging around the garden; human affairs did not really interest them for the time being. They were looking at them curiously; something was definitely different about the four, that they were not just Champion and Armor Digimon.
"Wow…what happened between you two?" Yolei remarked with a sly smile. "Kari…?"
Kari glared at the lavender-haired girl and stepped down the stairs of the lab. "It's not what you think," she said. Seeing Yolei gave her a curious look at her, expecting more answers from her seemingly, she sighed and mouthed, "I'll tell you later."
"If you say so," Yolei smirked.
"I knew there's a good explanation," TK said assuringly to his best friend. Kari gave him a grateful look.
The four devolved sovereign Digimon watched the whole commotion with mild interest. Out of the four, only Quetzalmon, formerly Azulongmon, had seen the DigiDestined, back when Black Wargreymon attempted to destroy the last of the Destiny Stones. The others had only heard about them; this was the first time the DigiDestined were in their audience.
"Greetings, DigiDestined," Quetzalmon began, getting their attention. The DigiDestined turned to face a rather queer white serpentine Digimon, whose size was the largest among the newcomers. "We have corresponded before, in the previous year, while I was Azulongmon."
That shocked the DigiDestined and Digimon, save for Kari and Gatomon who had gotten the knowledge beforehand.
"You're Azulongmon?" Davis asked incredulously. His eyes darted from the serpent to the winged unicorn, to the Gatomon look-alike and finally onto a brown-furred Digimon that he could not notice any resemblance to any other creature he knew. "The four of you are the Harmonious Ones?" Davis had imagined, after seeing Azulongmon's impressive figure, that the other three would be not as diminutive as the ones he was seeing right now. "But…but…what happened to you?"
"Chaos Specter is what happened," the winged unicorn beside Quetzalmon snapped angrily. Davis was immediately taken aback from the harsh tone of Unimon. "Blasted human," Unimon muttered, ignoring Davis. "Using that blasted Digiranium to reduce us into such feeble states! Just wait until I am Zhuqiaomon once again, I shall make sure that he will burn with the hottest flames I could muster!"
"Forgive Unimon's temper, child," the brown-furred mammal Digimon said with a calm, wizened voice. "Formerly the old turtle of the north, Ebonwumon, I am now only Prairiemon, a form I had been several millennia ago. It is an honor to finally meet you, chosen children of our ancestors."
Prairiemon then cast an amused glance to Doumon, who upon hearing his introduction, had immediately leaped towards him and knelt before him. "Rise, child… there's no need for formalities now," he said gently towards the Ultimate-level priestess. "Had I still in my peak form, your action is definitely understandable…but as I'm now in a lower level than you…"
"Respect is earned, lord Ebonwumon," Doumon said evenly as she stood up. "But now, I am afraid I have a bad news for you. The Zeed Crystal has been taken away while you were captured."
"I am aware of that, Doumon," Prairiemon said, "as I am aware of our current predicament. While in captive we Harmonious Ones maintained our sight for the Digital World we are trusted to govern from our ancients. However events of recent occurrence escaped our knowledge, ever since we have devolved into our current forms. Tell me, then, what have we all missed in what I believe to be a short duration of time?"
The DigiDestined then took turn to explain Milleniumon's threat to the four Harmonious Ones, up until the ultimatum given by Milleniumon.
"The situation is very grave, children," Mikemon, formerly Baihumon, said, "not only to your world but to ours as well. If he ravages the Digital World then your world will cease to function; all digital appliances in your home world will not work. If he destroys your home world then he will also destroy the Digital World along with it…one world now cannot live without the other. It's a severe crisis for both worlds."
Everyone present was immediately alarmed by the shocking revelation.
"We will need all the help we can get," TK said distressingly. "But what should we do?"
"First thing first, I must return to the Blue Dragon Island, where the last of my DigiCore is safely guarded by Wizardmon," Quetzalmon said. "I do not know for sure whether he has given the DigiCore to Gennai or not; I have instructed him to do so should I am captured by Chaos Specter."
"We can establish contact from Asuka lab to the island," Kari suggested.
"Excellent," Quetzalmon replied. "Now, DigiDestined, you have three days before Milleniumon's arrival to your world. For now, you must go home and rest. Your strength is vital for you and your Digimon. We will gather what resources we have from all the Digital World, but we shall also need your help, children."
"Just tell us what to do," Davis said.
"You must do whatever you can to rally all the DigiDestined. Milleniumon is not an enemy to be trifled with. You will need all the help you can get."
VENGEANCE
Chapter 39: The Calm before the Storm
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…..
"Cody! Over here!"
Cody Hida looked over the mass crowd of people of the Shinjuku district subway, and saw two familiar figures waving at him. Though they had met only recently, Cody could easily recognize a fellow kendoka. These two particular kendokas were the one he had met during the kendo tournament three days back, a light-brown-eyed girl with her long brown hair tied back into a rather stylish ponytail, and with her was a thin boy with messy black hair.
"Setsuna! Yugure!" he waved back, and approached the two of them.
"Hey, Cody, wait up!" from behind, Cody could hear Yolei and TK calling him, but their voices were drowned considerably by the screeching sound made by the subway trains. They however managed to squeeze themselves in between the rushing people. It was lucky that neither of them decided to bring over their Digimon; they could easily get themselves lost in the huge mass of people. Both Yolei and TK had left Hawkmon and Patamon at Cody's place, where they would stay with Armadillomon for the whole day.
One day had passed since the battle with Milleniumon, and the DigiDestined had done some successful recruiting. The whole previous day, all the DigiDestined were rallying some of the former Dark Spore kids for help. Keiko, Noriko and Hiroshi agreed instantly, if not overzealously, and they in turn, helped them to trace some more DigiDestined around the city of Tokyo. After gathering nearly fifteen out of twenty former Dark Spore kids, with five shifted to other provinces, Tai decided that it was time that they go international.
TK had emailed Catherine asking for her assistance, and the French girl replied almost instantly, saying that the French DigiDestined team would be ready to lend a helping hand. She was ready to repay for TK and Tai's help during the Mamemon brothers' invasion on France. Mimi too, had easily gotten the agreement from the American DigiDestined team, since she herself was part of the group whenever she was there. Both French and American teams however, were the easiest they could acquire since two of the Odaiba members had links through them. Reaching out for the others would require more effort.
The senior six DigiDestined however, had maintained contacts between their fellow chosen all over the world. Sora corresponded often with the Russian team, despite their language barrier, both knowing next to none of the other's language. Yet, both Sora and the Russian team were now improving on their second language; English. Ken had received a few e-mails from Rosa Rodriguez of Mexico; to his relief the girl's interest of him had waned a little…the girl seemed to like Stingmon better now. He had sent out replies every now and then, but not to all of her letters. However, he had sent an email back to her telling about his request, and he had yet to get a reply. Reaching their fellow Asian counterparts – Mina Subramanian of India, Yong Yuehon of China, Dien Trang of Vietnam or the Poi brothers of Hong Kong – were possible thanks to Izzy's insight back during the invasion time to obtain some of their emails. He had gotten Mina and Yuehon's and he had sent emails to them, but none had replied just as yet. In the meantime, both Cody and Joe received affirmative replies from Derek McKnight of Australia, saying that the Australian team would be ready anytime they were needed, and that it was getting dull anyway during the winter time there.
Gennai and HolyAngemon's disappearance was still a mystery to any of them; nobody knew what had happened to them. The three angels of Asuka Temple tried to contact their teacher with some other means, but failed as well. However Quetzalmon had discovered that Gennai had obtained the DigiCore from Wizardmon not too long ago, told to him by the Sorcerymon safeguarding the Seiryuu Laboratory as Wizardmon was absent at his post at the moment.
After two long and rather fruitful days, Cody then received a reminder from Setsuna, about the invitation to her kendo teacher's birthday party. After the battles and their task to acquire help worldwide, Cody was encouraged by the others to attend the party. TK and Yolei both agreed to accompany Cody to Shinjuku. While the three of them went to Shinjuku, the other DigiDestined would resume with their task.
"Hey, Cody…glad that you could make it as well," Yugure Seito said as he shook Cody's hand. In his other hand was a green fancy paper-bag. "I was afraid that I'd be the only who showed up. Heck, I don't even know what to buy for Jonathan-san."
"He will be glad to see you two…four," Setsuna Meiji said warmly, as TK and Yolei came up from Cody's back. "Hello…you are Cody's friends, right? Takeru…and Yolei? Cody has told me that you two would be accompanying him this day."
"Likewise," TK said, smiling. "And just call me TK…everyone does."
"Hi!" Yolei said cheerfully and shook Setsuna's hand. "So you're Setsuna. Cody's spoken quite fondly about you." She grinned, and noticed Cody's cheeks colored a bit.
"Really? That's nice of you, Cody," Setsuna said unblushingly. "Well? Shall we get going then? Jonathan-san's apartment is only a few blocks from here; we can make it there by walking."
"Oh, could we make a stop at any magazine store in our way here?" Yolei requested. "I need to get that mag me and my sisters read; it comes out every two weeks. That Teen Icon magazine…you know?"
"Yeah, please," TK added, rolling his eyes. "She's been dying to stop by at any bookstore to get that magazine ever since we board the train."
Setsuna just nodded and smiled. "There's a bookstore just outside the station; we can make a stop there."
The fivesome then made their way out of the station, with Yolei marching up the front, seemingly eager of locating the bookstore, with Setsuna following her closely, as if fearing that the lavender-haired girl would get lost amidst the crowd. Yugure and Cody were chatting about kendo, something that TK did not grasp fully, though he understood completely how the two young boys could easily get engrossed with the topic. They were walking behind him, and as TK walked, humming a song softly, he then noticed Setsuna standing just outside the station's entrance, shaking her head slightly. Following the girl's gaze, TK could see Yolei made a quick dash towards a rather packed bookstore, for some reason filled with many girls about Yolei's age and older.
"Is Matt on the cover or something?" he pondered, amused, thinking of the publicity his brother had gotten. "Couldn't be though; Matt would have told me…and Yolei was never really that interested in Matt." He approached the bemused Setsuna and greeted her.
"Sometimes I wonder what's so interesting about that kind of magazine…it's never really informative, except if you count some pop stars' favorite colors and foods," Setsuna said to TK, much to boy's amusement. This girl was definitely a female-Cody.
"Sometimes, I wonder about that too," he replied, smiling while thinking of Jun Motomiya, Davis's sister who was such a fan of Matt that she had gotten both Matt and TK to sign her shirt when she got to meet both of them sometime ago. He then decided to change the topic. "So, Setsuna…are you the only child?"
Setsuna was visibly surprised by the sudden change of topic. "Well…no, not really. I have an older stepbrother who is studying law at Shinjuku University now. My father remarried after my mom…passed away. I was an only child before."
"Oh…I'm sorry," TK said sincerely.
"It's quite alright. That was a long time ago and I was still very young," Setsuna assured him. "Oh look, here comes Yolei."
True enough, they could see Yolei running back towards them, holding a rolled up magazine and with a triumphed expression on her face.
"Yes! Yes! I did it!" she said happily and showed them the magazine. "I was lucky! This is the last one that bookstore has. Lucky I managed to snatch it before one rude girl could get her hands on it. She actually cursed at me for taking this mag before her…" Yolei's words trailed off as she unrolled the magazine. "A special edition…a special edition of Teen Icon, featuring him!" she squealed and displayed it towards TK and Setsuna. Cody and Yugure too stopped from their conversation to take a look at the magazine.
The magazine had a glaringly orange heading of the word Teen Icon in Japanese kanji, and below was a picture of a sideway profile of a very good-looking young man with his arms crossed over his chest. His dark brown hair was styled nicely, framing his chiseled face. The man was wearing only a pair of black jeans, and looked like a very athletic person judging by his tanned skin and toned muscles. He was grinning, displaying a row of white teeth. All around the profile of the man was captions about him, colored in vibrant yellow against the dark grey background.
TK raised an eyebrow. "This is what the fuss was all about?" he asked. "If you ask me…he kinda looks like an older Davis…sans the afro-spiky hair."
"Humph. What do you know? You're a boy," Yolei snorted, and showed the magazine to Setsuna, who, to TK's surprise, was wide-eyed, seemingly genuinely surprised with what she was saying. "Aha! See, Setsuna likes him too, don't you?" She turned to face the younger girl with pleading eyes. "Uh…don't you?"
"Huh? Uh…" Setsuna stammered, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "Oh…you mean…him? Oh, uh…do you like him?"
"Darien Kanemuchi? Who doesn't?" Yolei laughed airily. "He's like, more famous than TK's brother, Matt Ishida. My sisters and I are his fans. We visit his website almost regularly. I think whoever maintaining the website must be a close pal of his; the webmaster really seems to know a lot about Darien. Oh, don't get any idea, TK, Cody…I still like Ken best, but I don't think Ken minds if I'm a fan of someone I won't bound to meet."
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch…" Setsuna said slowly and looked at TK, who shrugged, smiling sheepishly towards her. She did not seem to be surprised upon hearing the revelation that Matt was TK's brother, probably after seeing Matt in the tournament as well. And she had calmed down once again. "Well, shall we get going?"
The five children resumed walking until they reached a pleasant apartment complex. It was like the apartment complex where TK, Yolei and Cody were staying, with small groceries store located at the ground floor. Walking up, Setsuna beckoned that she and her family stayed at the second floor, while Jonathan Lee's apartment was at the fourth floor. After reaching the fourth floor, they walked towards the apartment unit at the end of the corridor, coming finally at the door labeled 408.
Setsuna pressed on the doorbell, and almost a second later, the door was opened by a very familiar blond man in a light green shirt and black pants.
"Setsuna!" Jonathan Lee said with a smile. "And…Yugure and Cody, glad that you two can make it. And…I don't think we've been introduced before?" he asked towards TK and Yolei, slightly puzzled but friendly nonetheless.
"Oh, I'm TK and she's Yolei," TK said quickly. "We're with Cody. I hope we're not intruding."
"Oh, no, no…I've told Cody he could bring anybody he wanted. Welcome. Now, come in, come in…" Jonathan Lee immediately ushered them in.
"Thank you, Jonathan-san. Here's something from me," Cody said and handed out a package he had been carrying with him. Yugure too, held out the green paper bag he was holding.
"Thanks, boys, but you shouldn't have," Jonathan Lee said, as he took the gifts. "I'm actually glad that you are here. It's not much of a party anyway, as I'm not really a fan of big parties and loud noises. A small gathering of friends was more like it."
"Actually, if it weren't for me, maybe there won't even be a birthday party," a feminine voice said. Out from the kitchen, a young woman, seemingly the same age as Jon, emerged. She was stunning, with light brown eyes and long light brown hair pushed to the back. She was wearing a pink blouse and a pair of blue jeans. "Hey, I see we have more guests." She waved at Setsuna cheerfully. "Hey, Setsuna." She approached the children. "Hi…I'm Kira. It's very nice to meet you."
"Hello, Kira," Setsuna greeted back warmly. "Do you need any help in the kitchen?"
"Oh no, no…I got it. Why don't you bring your friends into the living room, and I'll bring you some drinks. And Setsuna, where's your brother? He should be here by now. Please don't tell me he's still at his university dorm? He was here last night cooking all those dishes."
"Oh…I think he needs to get something back from his dorm," Setsuna said thoughtfully. "He told me it would just be a quick stop; he needed to submit his assignment by the afternoon. He spent the whole night working on it."
"Okay…" Kira said. She looked at the wall clock just as the door flung open, and piles of grocery bags were placed on the entrance before a rugged, strapping young man walked in. This man had striking strawberry-blond hair, contrasting greatly with his black jeans and white T-shirt. "You're a bit late, Kanto, but never mind," Kira said smilingly. She went towards him and gave him a small peck on the cheek.
"It'd be quicker if Darien got off his butt and followed me to the grocery store to get all these," the man, Kanto, complained. "But yeah…I know, he's been working until late at night, again…the price you pay for being a teen sensation," he said with a laugh. "I'd hate to be him this day…did you know that the interview that whatever-its-name mag conducted with him is published this morning? He'd be mobbed by those rabid fan-girls if he steps out on the streets anytime soon."
Kira laughed. "Poor Darien…but hey, he's the one who chose it. Now he has to juggle studies and modeling and acting…I think he's sleeping on the couch in the living room right now. Why don't Jon and I handle these bags, and you go and wake Darien up? These kids are going to need a place to sit."
"Kids? What kids?" Kanto said, finally noticing Setsuna and the four children. "Oh…hey, Setsuna. I see you have friends over. Hang on, lemme get these snickers off and I'll go wake Darien." He took off his snickers and walked past Setsuna towards the corridor leading to the living room.
"Seems like a busy day," Cody commented, and looked up at Yolei. "Right Yolei? Uh…Yolei?"
The tall girl had a dazed look, her mouth forming an O. "Did you say Darien? As in, Darien Kanemuchi? He's here?"
Kira suddenly looked at Yolei suspiciously. "Yes, I did and yes, he's here. Uh…you're not a fan-girl now, aren't you? Not the rabid ones, at least? Please say no. He's so tired right now."
"Uh…no, no, I'm not. I'm just a normal fan, yes I am…" Yolei said with a falsely cheery tone, which made TK, Cody, Yugure and Setsuna sweatdrop. Yolei was being plainly obvious.
Kira apparently noticed it too, and sighed. "Well, I suppose if you want his autograph, you can ask him later…and, what's that you're holding?"
"Huh? This? Uh…just a teen mag I bought on my way here?"
"Is it the one featuring Darien's interview? The supposedly to-die-for Teen Icon summer special edition? Can I see it?"
Yolei sweatdropped and grudgingly gave Kira the magazine. The young woman unrolled the magazine…and she face-faulted instantly.
"Summer special edition indeed! Jon, Kanto…you really have to see this!" Kira said, straining so hard not to laugh. Jonathan Lee came out from the kitchen and Kira showed him the magazine. The blonde's eyes widened instantly and unlike Kira, he did not bother to restrain his chuckle. When Kanto came towards the foyer, Kira tossed him the magazine. Kanto's laugh however echoed all over the apartment unit.
"So this is why he's so afraid of coming out to public today?" Kanto said finally, his face reddened considerably from all the laughing.
"Hey…what's the commotion?" suddenly asked a groggy voice coming from the living room. Everyone looked over the direction of the living room, and saw, leaning on the wall near the other end of the short corridor, was a tall man wearing a red, rather wrinkled T-shirt and a pair of black jeans. He was rubbing his eyes with one hand while trying to fix his disheveled hair with the other.
"AIEEIEEIEIEIEE!" Yolei screamed suddenly. "It's him! Darien Kanemuchi! WAAAAH…. I'm so lucky!"
"Hey, Izzy, do you mind if I check my email here?" Sora asked. "I'm waiting for Anna to reply to my email."
Izzy looked away from the monitor. "Sure, Sora…you can use my laptop. It's there on the bed. And you're waiting for…whose email?"
"Anna…Borisovna Glazova," Sora said thoughtfully, "One of the Russian DigiDestined. I've sent her an email yesterday…I think maybe she has sent a reply by now."
"Oh, ok then. The Internet's working on that laptop too; help yourself," Izzy said while continuing to scan the monitor. "I'm also waiting for any news from Mina or Yuehon. Oh wait, here's an email from Mina.
I will be very glad to assist the Japanese DigiDestined in the battle against this…Milleniumon. Do you want me to alert the other Indian DigiDestined? There are four of us currently, one of them being my younger brother Ganesh. And how shall we travel to Japan? I am under the impression that we will be traveling to Japan via the Digital World, am I wrong? Please send my regards to Hikari, Gatomon and Tentomon. I shall see you all soon.
"There is already more of the Indian DigiDestined? Last time it was only Mina," Izzy said thoughtfully. He began typing a reply. "Why not? The more the merrier."
"Izzy, I've gotten a reply from Anna. She, Yuri and Sonya will be able to assist us as well," Sora said happily.
"So we now have the French, Australian, Russian, American, Rosa from Mexico, and all of us from Odaiba," Mimi said, looking up from the magazine she was reading, while sprawled on the floor in Izzy's room. "Uh…should we alert the community? If Milleniumon's coming here, don't you think we should evacuate the community to someplace safe?"
"Matt and his mom and dad are on it," Sora answered. "Since his dad works for the TV, and his mom's a newspaper reporter, they could spread the message for quickly. Hey, Mimi…did you buy any newspaper along with that Teen Icon magazine you've bought this morning?"
"Uh…no," Mimi said sheepishly. "But, let's check out the news on TV. Anything of this significance will surely be on today's afternoon news."
"Hmm…maybe…" Izzy mused. "There's no sign of any panicked commotion yet. Maybe…"
However, before Izzy could finish the sentence, Mrs. Izumi, Izzy's adopted mother, came rushing in with a very concerned expression on her face.
"Izzy, is it true that a Digimon invasion is coming the day after tomorrow?" she asked fearfully. "I just saw the news…"
Mimi glanced towards Izzy. "You were saying?"
"So, where are you from, Ryo?" Mrs. Kamiya asked, during a lunch between her, her children, her children's Digimon partners, and Ryo Akiyama and Monodramon.
"Shinjuku, Mrs. Kamiya," Ryo said with a smile. This was true; Ryo just left out the part that he came from another world.
Ryo had spent one day staying at Asuka Laboratory, until Tai's insisted that he had to spend at least a couple of days at his home. Ryo finally relented; the main reason of his declining the offer was mainly because Kari did not seem to be happy with the decision.
The problem actually was rather silly. Back when Ryo met the eight DigiDestined for their first battle against Milleniumon, the young nine-year-old Kari had harbored a crush on the older boy. Ryo too had taken a liking onto the girl, but more of a brotherly type. Kari, innocent as she was, had thought otherwise, and said rather naively that she was too little to start dating, especially with someone almost as old as her brother. Ryo was surprised beyond belief of Kari's misinterpretation of his caring over her, and Mimi and Sora had to explain to the little Kari Kamiya about the situation. The girl grasped the whole situation only barely back then, and almost had forgotten about it…until she saw Ryo again. While the crush was long gone, the awkwardness still remained.
Tai however, was oblivious of the whole situation. Hence his ignorance when he invited Ryo to stay over at his room. Kari could not blame him, and certainly not Ryo too. She would have to live with it, or take action to solve it. But for now, she would just try to adapt.
"And, I see that you're also a DigiDestined, like Tai and Kari," Mrs. Kamiya continued as she handed Ryo a bowl of rice. Ryo thanked her politely. She then looked at Monodramon, sitting at the place usually occupied by the man of the house, Mr. Kamiya, who was currently at work. "What brings you to Odaiba, Ryo?"
"Oh..." he glanced towards Tai and Kari, asking silently whether they had told their mother the truth. Both Kamiya children nodded. "I'm helping Tai and Kari with some Digimon business. I suppose they have told you about it?"
"Yes, during dinner last night," the mid-30s woman sighed. "It's been a while since Odaiba receive any Digimon. Sometimes I wonder why this place seems to be a target for evil Digimon. Last time it was that creepy Dracula, then last year a whole bunch of them just appeared from out of nowhere. I heard that the same situation happened worldwide. But now…it will be only one Digimon, right?"
"Yes," Ryo nodded, seemingly impressed of Mrs. Kamiya knowledge of Digimon. "At least, that's what we're currently led to believe."
The woman beckoned for him to help himself with the side dishes, and Ryo noticed that both Tai and Kari looked rather hesitant. Shrugging it off, he took some chicken with soup and some fried vegetables.
"Is this…Milleniumon, a very powerful Digimon?" Mrs. Kamiya asked worriedly.
"Yes, I'm afraid he is, but we're gathering all the DigiDestined around to combat him," Ryo said, and began eating. His eyes shot out wide upon chewing the food, and he noticed both Kari and Tai shook their head. Not wanting to be rude to Mrs. Kamiya, Ryo resisted his desire to choke out the food, forcing himself to swallow it instead.
As impressed as he was of Mrs. Kamiya's knowledge of Digimon, Ryo could not say the same for her cooking.
"The party will start any minute now," Kira announced, and frowned. "We'll just have to wait for our guest of honor."
"Do you want me to call his cell phone?" Setsuna offered.
"No, there's no need…he's probably on his way now. Or at least, he better…he's not the only one with assignments to be done. I still need to finish one chapter of Anatomy, and to make some notes for it," Kira sighed.
While waiting for Setsuna's stepbrother to arrive, and after Darien Kanemuchi took a short shower and readied himself for the birthday party, the DigiDestined and Yugure learned more about the adults. Kira Kanemuchi, Darien's younger sister, had taken a career path none of them had thought; she was currently a premedical student studying in the medical faculty at Shinjuku state university. She and Kanto Shigumi were dating, ever since high school; and the kids thought that they were really made for each other.
"I really should introduce you to a good friend of mine, Kira," Cody said. "He really wants to be a doctor, and strives hard to achieve it. Sometimes too hard."
"I hope he'll make it," Kira said sincerely. "Believe me, it wasn't exactly easy…nobody even believed me at first when I told them I wanted to do medicine."
"What do you mean? I believed you," Kanto said quickly. Kira raised an eyebrow. "Ok…so I've said before that you should go for modeling…but isn't that supposed to be a compliment? And that was when we were still in high school."
Kanto was an animator-in-training, currently taking a course in animation and engineering, also at Shinjuku state university. He said that he would like to work for Disney one day. Kanto and Jon were housemates; they rented the apartment unit together, with some strings pulled by Setsuna's father in order to get the rent cheap. In exchange for getting cheaper rents, they struck a deal with the tenant to make some odd jobs for the elderly people who were also staying at the same complex. Fixing and painting were their main tasks, and they had no problem with it.
"I won't say that it is not a problem, Kanto," Jon pointed out smilingly. "Who was the one who grumbled all morning when old grandma Shinji came knocking at our door at 2 a.m. saying that she has a broken pipe?"
"Ok, ok, you've caught me," Kanto said, and laughed. "But really, it's good that you start being independent early; ready for the real world, those kinds of thing…"
"Wow," TK said, impressed.
Jonathan, or Jon by short, wanted to become a teacher. He was currently teaching kendo to local kids, Setsuna included, though both Setsuna and he himself were disciples of a kendo master who was currently ill. At first Jon did not think that he would want to become a teacher, but after getting the hang of teaching kendo for the children, and somehow having the knack of dealing with them, Jon decided that it was his calling. He however, pursued a double-degree in Science and Education, wanting a challenge for himself. He was also attending Shinjuku state university.
"Believe me, Jon is gonna be the best and coolest teacher ever," Kira said affectionately. "I should know; he was the one who tutored me for my entrance exam, and way before that, tutoring me and Kanto with school subjects. I don't think any of us could have gotten this far without Jon. You know, when I have kids, I'm gonna make sure to send them to him." With this, the others laughed, though Kanto turned a little shade of scarlet.
"And Darien, I don't think any of us could say it any better than the interview inside that Teen Icon magazine," Kanto then said, smirking. "A teen sensation, and also a student of IT of Shinjuku state, set to inherit the Kanemuchi Digital Enterprise."
Darien merely smiled as he humored Yolei, who was quizzing him with a wide range of questions, ranging from his favorite movie, song, hobby to his favorite animal.
"Bear," he said simply. "Little bear cub especially. I used to be friends with a bear cub once…" he said thoughtfully.
"Oh…" Yolei said, thinking that it was rather weird for a celebrity to like bears when the usual default answer would be either cats or dogs. "Oh well, I myself like a hawk. Not the big screeching ones, but a polite one…" Yolei suddenly realized that she had divulged more than she should, and stopped immediately.
"A polite hawk?" Darien asked back, amused, but did not actually look too surprised. "Well, everyone has their own taste, right?"
Yolei sighed back in relief.
They then proceeded to discuss the interviews, with Darien pointed out some things which were plainly rubbish and untrue. Finally, Yolei asked whether it was true whether Darien was dating a beautiful supermodel ten years older than him, which Darien replied with a resounding 'no' while the others laughed.
"Can I have your autograph?" Yolei finally requested. "And can I take a picture with you, please?"
"Sure. Do you have a camera?" Darien asked back, grinning.
"Oh darn it…if I know I would be meeting you, in person, I'd have borrowed my friend's digital camera," Yolei sighed.
"That's ok, I have a Polaroid camera," Kanto announced. "It's in my room; I'll get it for you. It's rather old, but dead useful for my assignments."
Kanto returned a while, and Yolei and Darien immediately took a picture. Kanto gave Darien the picture, and the teen sensation signed it.
"I think I'll take another picture of you two," Kanto smirked. "And send it to Teen Icon…they could use with a new, fresh gossip instead of the craps they usually publish, I could imagine a headline there. Teen sensation Darien Kanemuchi sets his eyes on a middle school girl…" Yolei blushed, while Darien threw a cushion towards the laughing strawberry blonde.
"Yolei really seems to be having a time of her life, eh?" TK nudged Cody.
The young boy merely smiled, somewhat distractedly as he observed some beautifully drawn pictures decorating the walls at a corner of the living room. There were five separate drawings, lined in a row. From left to right, it depicted a colorful Lego-version of what looked suspiciously like Agumon. Beside it was a bear cub wearing a blue hat, followed by an elegant yellow-furred bipedal fox. Beside the picture of the fox was a picture of a rather peculiar looking being, with kendo attire and wielding a wooden sword. TK gasped silently upon seeing the fifth picture…there was no mistaking that it was a picture of a DemiDevimon.
Above them was a framed picture of seven people, four of them children while three other looked like teenagers. It was easy to recognize that this was a picture of Darien, Kira, Jon and Kanto when they were younger. There was a redhead teen which they did not recognize. Another taller figure in black attire was standing at the corner, with black hair, pale skin and green eyes that looked quite familiar to them, but for the moment they could not remember who. The third unfamiliar person was a boy bearing striking resemblance to…
"Oh, I see you've seen some drawings of mine," Kanto interrupted. "What do you think about it?"
"They're very beautifully drawn," Cody commented quickly, looking at the strawberry blonde. "What are they?"
"Heh, heh… some ideas for characters for cartoons..." Kanto answered, somewhat nervously. "I drew them back in school…when the inspiration came."
TK and Cody looked at each other in silent, agreeing on one same fact. Those were no cartoon characters; it was clearly plain that the pictures were of Digimon. The drawing of DemiDevimon pretty much confirmed it. But before they could inquire even further, they heard someone coming in through the door. Seconds later, a man, wearing a rather formal light red shirt and black pants, appeared. He was not as tall as Darien or Kanto, but surpassed Jon in height. But what was striking about the man was his red hair, pulled back into a short ponytail. He was holding a newspaper. Both Cody and TK could see obviously that this man, who looked quite cool with his short ponytail, was the same redhead inside the picture they had seen.
"Sorry I'm late…but there's something you should see," the man said with a mature, rushed voice. He quickly took the remote control, lying on a wooden table between the sofas, and switched on the TV.
"And hello to you too, Max," Kira grumbled. "It's about time you show up."
"Hi, Max!" Setsuna greeted.
"Hey, little sis, Kira…" the redhead, Max, answered distractedly. "Look, it's even in the news."
"We have received a tip off from a reliable source that an event similar to what happened in 2002's Christmas Day is going to repeat in one day time, maybe less. A Digimon identified as Milleniumon is said to be appearing in Odaiba on said moment. Sources have said that Milleniumon is not to be taken lightly; he is classified as being extremely dangerous. The civilians of Odaiba are advised to remain calm, as the DigiDestined – chosen children partnered with Digimon – are currently doing what they could to stop Milleniumon from wrecking havoc in our world. They are said to be gathering their allies, DigiDestined of various other countries, to join forces with them. The civilians are advised to evacuate to the city hall when alerted of the threat. This is Hiroaki Ishida, reporting for Fuji TV Breaking News."
"What do you think?" he said, switching off the TV after the normal show resumed.
"Oh, dear," Kira said softly.
"Hey, TK…that was your dad in the news," Yolei pointed out.
It was then Max realized that they had visitors. "Oh…are you Setsuna's friends?" he asked. TK, Yolei, Cody and Yugure all nodded, and Max smiled slightly. "Sorry I'm late…I was caught up at the subway station; people were flooding the bookstore, wanting to get hold on the news of a possible Digimon invasion. I managed to grab one of the newspaper sold…yes?"
Cody had raised his hand to catch Max's, and everybody else's attentions. "Pardon me for asking this…but do you know anything about Digimon?" Cody asked.
The adults were visibly taken aback by the inquiry, but Jon seemed to be the calmest. "That's ok, guys…Cody, TK and Yolei are DigiDestined too… I saw them with their Digimon partners, devolved all the way in their In-training forms, during the Kendo tournament. All of them were there, though only six were with partners."
"Huh? DigiDestined too?" Yolei asked curiously. "And…how did you know such detailed information about us?"
The adults, sans Jon, cast each other contemplating looks. Kira sighed and leaned her head on Kanto's shoulder.
"I really don't expect this today," she said, pressing her head.
"I'll handle this," Darien said, smiling slightly. He turned to Yolei, the one he had been conversing the most. "Well Yolei, I guess you'll be getting more than unofficial interviews today," he winked. "But this is off the records, ok? We really have a lot to talk about, and this is no Teen Icon materials."
"I don't understand," Yolei said, scratching her un-itchy head.
"You said that you like a little, polite hawk," Darien continued. "Let me hazard a guess…your Digimon partner is a Hawkmon?"
The young DigiDestined were shocked. "How…how did you know that?" Yolei demanded. A horrible suspicion crossed her mind. "Are you guys…spies, or some government agents sent to learn about Digimon from us? Oh darn it, I knew I should have brought over Hawkmon with me…he'd be…"
"Yolei, relax, we're not agents or spies," Darien said assuringly. His expression became almost forlorn all of a sudden. "You see…we were once, like you. All five of us."
"Like us?" Yolei asked. She raised an eyebrow. "Like what, exactly?"
Cody and TK held their breaths, their eyes drawn towards the pictures they had seen before once again.
Darien sighed and looked at the other four adults before turning back to face the bespectacled girl. "Sorry Yolei. I should've been more direct – the five of us, we were once DigiDestined, too. Like you."
…..
…..
Author's Note:
A relatively short chapter with many explanations and no battle; I've been wanting to write this chapter for a long time. The truth is I have only plans on making up this whole chapter solely of Cody, TK and Yolei going to Jonathan Lee's party, up till the revelation, but while typing this I guess I'd add the beginning of public reaction of Milleniumon's upcoming 'visit' to Odaiba, and the whole Ryo-Kari thing hinted in previous chapters. Hopefully this is not an information-dump chapter, as some might say. Boy, the next few chapters are going to be even harder to write, with the DigiDestined around the world making an appearance all at the same time. Not ALL will make it, some of the more familiar faces will appear, and of course, some that are vital for the sequel.
And of course, the appearances of the adults DigiDestined…what do you think? I hope it's not too rushed.
Anyway, here's me wishing you a Happy New Year 2006. May this year brings you good luck and happiness.
