Guess who's back from the dead? Yep, it's me! I just got so fed up with my writer's block, that I decided to stop for a while until I knew I could keep updating again. So, I hope you like this new addition and, yes, I will update my other stories. The stories that have been put on hold are active again! Also, I did update a new chapter on Digimon: The Lost Episodes, so if you haven't checked it out yet, please do so. So please, R&R away and happy reading to ya!

Chapter 10:

Source of My Pain

The tamers were all in the park, enjoying the peace while it lasted. Plans were being made on how to execute the city before the D-Reaper came and started its destruction. Yet, deep down, everyone knew that sooner or later, the D-Reaper would spread around the world and create chaos everywhere. But they knew that it was better to get people away from the danger that they knew was coming, instead of just let it happen. Most of the digimon were playing in the water and some of the tamers joined in. Mako sat alone under a tree, enjoying the weather. Suzie looked over at him and then quietly made her way over.

"Mako?" she asked quietly. "Is it all right….if I sit with you?"

Without looking at her, he nodded. Sitting down with him, she looked in his direction at the setting sun. Both of them sat there awhile, not talking or looking at each other.

Finally Suzie turned toward him. "Mako?"

He looked at her with a curious look in his eyes. "What is it?"

"I…I…" Her face started to turn red as she managed to get the words out. "I'm…sorry."

Puzzled, he asked, "What are you sorry for?"

"For being an idiot. I never should have thought badly of you, even though you were acting strange. Could you forgive me? If not……I'll understand…"

Mako placed his hand over hers, causing her to look up into his eyes. "I forgive you, Suzie. If you'll forgive me for being an idiot as well."

For some reason unknown, not controlling her actions, she suddenly embraced him in a hug as drips of tears moved down her face. Mako was surprised by the sudden emotion and just froze, staring at her.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

After a few seconds, realizing what she was doing, she let go of him quickly and started to wipe her eyes. Mako kept staring at her, wondering what else she was going to do.

"Sorry…for doing that…" she said.

"It's ok."

Suzie looked at him, wondering if it really was ok. But Mako just stared at her with a blank expression on his face. She couldn't tell what he was feeling or if he just didn't care. Sighing, she got up and went back to the others. He watched her the whole time until she sat down again and then averted his attention back to the dipping sun.

One Month Later

The city streets of Shinjuku and some other regions nearby were all deserted. No sounds were made except the wind picking up pieces of trash…and the rumbling of the D-Reaper. It didn't take long for the huge mass to bio-emerge into the Real World, but they had enough time to execute the people of Shinjuku. Some places near Shinjuku also got executed, just for their safety. Right now, the D-Reaper had stayed in that part of Tokyo and hadn't moved. But everyone was ready for it to start spreading itself.

"How's everything going?" Takato asked Henry, who was watching the news on the D-Reaper.

"Not much. Just saying the same things over and over again. Nothing's new happened yet."

The tamers all stayed with their families in a nice hotel in Shibuya. Since the D-Reaper was only affecting certain parts of Shinjuku, Shibuya seemed like a good enough place to stay until they had to move again because of the D-Reaper. Mako was the only one who wasn't staying with his family. Yamaki had managed to get a hold of them and told them of what was happening, so they wouldn't suddenly come home. It wasn't likely, though. His parents were both on extensive business trips, so they wouldn't be coming home anytime soon.

"Why don't we just go attack it before it evolves or gets even stronger?" Kazu asked.

"We don't have a battle plan, so it would be useless to just leap into battle," Henry said.

"But we fought it the last time without a plan."

"That's because we didn't know anything about it," Rika said. "Now we have an idea of what it's capable of."

"Yeah, but what happens if we lose everything? We have to fight it before it gets to us!"

Even though Kazu was determined, the others were still unsure. They didn't know what it was doing or what could happen. Sure, it would cause a lot of damage but they didn't want to put anyone's lives in danger.

"I think Kazu's right."

Everyone turned and looked at Mako in disbelief.

"What are you saying?" Takato said.

Mako looked at them and sighed. "I'm saying that we should be out there fighting it instead of sitting here waiting for something to happen. Kazu's right. It's time for action, even if our enemy isn't attacking us. We know what it can do and what to expect, so let's just go. Besides, we'll be together for the most part and if things get too bad we'll get out of there."

Everyone wasn't sure about what they should do. Fighting was a necessity in order to save two worlds, but they didn't want to do anything to hasty.

"I'm with ya, Mako," Impmon said, breaking the silence.

Kazu walked over and stood beside him with Gaurdramon following. "I am too, dude. Thanks for backing me."

"No problem," he said.

The rest of them just stood there, deciding what to do. Then, Suzie walked up and stood on Mako's other side with Lopmon on her shoulder.

"Count me in."

"But Suzie…this is dangerous!" Henry told his sister.

"I know that! But I think Mako and Kazu are right. It's time to fight and stop the D-Reaper before it stops us!"

"And no matter what, I'm with Suzie! It's my job to protect her!" Lopmon said.

Henry just stared in disbelief at his sister. He didn't want her to get hurt and it was his duty as a big brother to protect her.

"Well…" Kenta said. "I guess I'll go too."

He walked over to the small forming group and stood beside Kazu.

"All right Kenta!" Kazu said.

"Hey, I wouldn't do anything cool without you around. Besides we know that the D-Reaper didn't like MarineAngemon's bubbles the last time, so that's an advantage."

"Yeah!" MarineAngemon squeaked.

Jeri and Leomon then went beside them after Kenta.

"Jeri…" Takato started.

"It's ok. I know the D-Reaper won't get me again because I'm past all of that now. I have something new in me that wasn't there before and I know I can help in defeating the D-Reaper."

"I'm going too," Ryo said. "Someone's gotta stop it before it's too late and I agree that this is the perfect time to do it."

As he stood by them, Kazu and Kenta grinned at him. "He's so awesome."

"You're all crazy!" Rika yelled. Then she walked to them. "But I guess a little action wouldn't hurt. Besides, I'm the only one who can keep all of you from getting mauled by our enemies."

"Whatever!" exclaimed Kazu and Kenta.

"OK!" said Takato, walking over to them. "After all, we're a team. We do this together."

Henry sighed, but walked over to them. "You've convinced me. Besides, I need to protect Suzie and even though I don't like it, Mako and Kazu are right. We have to stop it."

"Wow, Kazu actually convinced all of us that he's right! Then the world must be ending!"

"Can it, Rika!" Kazu yelled as everyone else laughed at what she said.

"Takato…" a soft voice said.

They all turned around to see their parents standing in the room with them. From their worried looks, they had heard of their plan.

"Mom…" Takato knew they would be worried, but they had gotten out of this mess before. "I know you're worried, but we can do this. We're a lot older now and we have a lot more experience. And besides, we know what to expect."

"It doesn't matter how old you get," his mom said. "You're still my little boy, Takato. I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"And besides, this thing, D-Reaper or whatever, caused a lot of damage the last time. How do we know we won't lose you?" Mr. Akiyama asked.

Mako then stepped forward in front of all the worried parents. "We know the risk, but we're not just doing this for us or for both worlds…we're also doing it to protect our families and loved ones. If we don't start now, will there be a chance to stop it when it gets out of hand? We want you to trust that we know what we're doing…and that we can stop this. I should know……I've felt the pain of loss before. That's why…I'm determined to not let anyone fall behind or get into things way too deep. I'd rather risk my own life than theirs……but I need their help too. After all…" Mako looked back at the others. "…we are a team."

"Just be careful, ok?" Mr. Matsuki said.

Takato nodded. "Don't worry. We will be."

Then all of them ran out the door, ready to face whatever the D-Reaper had up its sleeve.

Darkness…sadness…revenge…the dark parts of these humans' hearts are undeniable. I can sense it in their souls. All of them must be deleted…for good…

All of them arrived in their mega forms towards the D-Reaper. MegaGargomon had Beelzemon and Mako on its shoulder, since Beelzemon couldn't fly and they didn't merge together like the others did. Kenta and Kazu rode on Gaurdramon on the way here with MarineAngemon in Kenta's pocket. The huge blob rumbled and the heat was powerful from it.

"It doesn't look any different than the last time," Gallantmon said.

"I don't see any agents or anything. Do you?" Henry questioned.

"No, I don't. I thought there would be some around, though," Rika said.

"Then we better be ready for anything," Takato said.

Beelzemon hopped down from MegaGargomon with Mako in his arms and set him down once on the ground. Mako looked at the D-Reaper, watching it.

Mako…

Mako turned around suddenly, his eyes wide. He thought he heard his name being called…and he could almost swear he had recognized the voice.

"What is it?" Beelzemon wondered.

Mako turned back around. "Nothing. I thought I heard something."

"So what should we do?" Kazu asked.

"Should we split up and check around the area?" Jeri asked.

"I think that'll work. We'll each go in pairs, ok?" Henry suggested.

They all agreed on it. The pairs were divided and they were Kazu and Kenta, Mako and Takato, Rika and Jeri, and since it was an odd number, Henry, Suzie, and Ryo all went together. They started going around in different areas but they weren't too far away from each other.

"What do you think it's planning?" Mako asked.

"I'm not sure. I thought there would be something more to it," Gallantmon responded.

A blob of the D-Reaper rolled out and stopped by Mako's foot, jiggling like a piece of Jell-O. Beelzemon stared at the D-Reaper, wondering what it was going to do next.

Mako…

Mako flinched at the sound of his name being called again. It sounded closer this time and he couldn't tell if it was coming from the D-Reaper, or somewhere else. Both Gallantmon and Beelzemon noticed his change in behavior.

"Mako? What is it? Did you…hear something…?" Gallantmon asked.

Mako turned to look at them. "No…but I thought I did…"

Suddenly a red chord sprang out from the D-Reaper and wrapped itself around Mako, causing him to shout out in surprise. Before they could do anything, the chord lifted Mako into the air and pulled him into the D-Reaper.

"Mako!" Beelzemon yelled, running towards the D-Reaper. As he ran to it, a slimy looking tube poked out of it and blasted Beelzemon with an energy blast. He flew back and landed on the pavement.

"Oh no!" Gallantmon gasped. "The D-Reaper……it's coming alive!"

Hundreds of red chords suddenly wiggled out from the blob all over the place. They looked like streamers blowing in the wind, only these streamers could attack. So far, that's all the D-Reaper sprouted out of it.

Mako groaned as he opened his eyes. He found himself lying on the sidewalk and wondered if it was all a dream. A look around, though, proved that to be false. The D-Reaper was everywhere and it looked like he was in the park from the looks of the trees and grass. Standing up, he started to walk down the sidewalk so he could find a way to get out of here.

Mako…

He stopped suddenly, aware that whatever had been calling his name, was here. He knew it was close by, yet it sent shivers up his spine because a sixth sense told him that something about the voice was not human. When he didn't hear it again, he started to walk down the sidewalk. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw something run past behind the trees. He turned towards where he heard it and searched for it.

"Come out! Show yourself!" he yelled.

"Mako…Mako…I…need you…Please…"

Mako froze, his eyes wide and sweat starting to trickle down his neck. The voice was familiar, too familiar, that he thought he mistaken it for someone else. A face popped in his mind and as he slowly turned around, he hoped to not see that face. He turned around fully and gasped at what he saw.

"Please…help me…Mako…"

A little girl with red-brown hair was behind him, her dress tattered and torn around the edges, but it was her eyes that caught his attention. Those dark eyes that were pulling him in, sucking out his soul.

"No…" he whispered.

The little girl started to walk toward him, her right arm outstretched. Mako couldn't move as he stared at her coming closer. Her right arm started to crack and break apart like fine china, turning into a red claw.

"Mako…"

Mako backed up but tripped and fell over as she got closer and closer. Tears started to trickle down his cheek as he stared into her eyes.

"No…no…NO! This…isn't real!" he screamed.

"Mako…please…won't you play with me?"

The girl got closer, her right arm that turned into a red claw getting even closer to his body.

"NO! Please stop!" he screamed in terror. "Please…Ai…stop!"