I do not own anything.
Chapter 4: Washed Away
Izzy stared in wide-eyed horror and surreal awe at the black and white screen on his computer. It wasn't possible. It couldn't have been possible. It simply couldn't have been what he thought it was.
Someone had hacked into both the school's computers and his own, cutting off all access to the Digital World.
He probably would have remained frozen in shock had he not heard the sound of thunder and rain pounding on his widow. Sitting himself down he began furiously working to get his computer back up and running.
Earlier on…
"Digiport open!" T.K. commanded pointing his Digivice at the computer screen. When nothing happened he tried again. Still nothing. "What the…"
The monitor froze for several seconds then it turned total blue with one line of white lettering.
"What in the…" Izzy started shocked at what he was seeing. "This can't be possible."
"Izzy what is it?" Cody asked looking concerned.
"The computer has a virus that's infected the Digiport. I…I'd have to stay here all night trying to fix it."
"What!?" was everyone's immediate response.
"Come one Izzy can't you fix it faster than that?" Davis demanded.
Taking a seat Izzy began furiously typing. To his shock he even some of the core programs were malfunctioning and odds were the entire computer would have to be given a major overhaul.
"Judging by your silence I'm sure that's a no." Gatomon remarked examining the desktop.
"Does anyone else find this a little strange?" Yolei questioned.
Kari nodded her head in agreement. "Yolei's right. I hate to say this but it looks like sabotage."
"But who could do this?" Davis asked turning to face her. "We're the only ones who know about the Digiport and Izzy's the only one who could pull something like this off."
A new sense of dread and failure weighed down on the DigiDestined once again as they realized they were one step behind their unknown enemy. It was both infuriating and humiliating. Davis angrily slammed his fist into a desk earning him a scowl from Izzy. Cody fell back into himself trying to formulate a new plan of action while Yolei, Kari, and T.K. all slumped in their chairs.
"So now what do we do?" Yolei asked her friends.
"We can try the computer at my home." Izzy stated sitting up. It'll take some time to get this one back up and working but the one I have at my home should be just fine."
Immediately everyone's faces lit up at the thought. Quickly making their way over to Izzy's house they were stunned to find the exact same problem.
This brought Izzy back to his current situation. "How the hell did this happen?" The question ran through his mind like a broken record. "Who could have done this and in so no less than a few hours."
After everyone had left Izzy had practically locked himself inside his room trying to exterminate the virus. The only time he was dragged out of his room was when his parents came in telling him he hadn't eaten anything or gotten up in five hours. Somewhat reluctantly he did get up, eat dinner, shower, and then got right back to work. Everything else faded out of existence for Izzy, the rain pounding on his window and the lightning splitting the sky.
"Kari," Tai said stopping his sister before she left to her room.
"Wh-What is it Tai?" Kari said visibly shaking.
Rather than answer Tai stepped over and enveloped her in a warm hug. "Whatever's bothering you, you know you can tell me right?" Tai hadn't been blind to Kari's suppressed fear. In fact when he saw his sister after school he could see something was troubling her. For her sake he kept quiet until they got home however he also noticed Kari's anxiety seemed to worsen when it started raining. "Does it have anything to do with the Dark Ocean?"
Kari seemed like she was going to start hyperventilate but somehow she got it under control. "Yes it is. I've been having dreams and this bad feeling in my stomach. When I heard about what happened with Ken I just…" When they sat down together on the couch she couldn't look him in the eye. "I know all this stuff is connected but I don't understand how anything from the Dark Ocean could be appearing here." The truth was she didn't want anything from the Dark Ocean appearing anywhere near her or her friends.
"I wish I could give you an answer but I can't, not yet at least." Tai admitted. When the Kari and T.K. told him of the dark world he was faintly reminded of all the evil Digimon they'd fought over the years. Once or twice he wondered if it was some kind of breeding ground for evil. "What I can tell you is that you don't have to worry." He flashed her a smile that made Kari instantly feel better. "You've got me, T.K., Davis, and all the others watching you so don't act so gloomy. Even if something does happen we'll all be there for you."
Kari smiled and returned her brother's hug. "Thanks Tai, I kind of needed that."
"Hey that's what big brothers are for."
She really believed Tai's speech to her would give her the strength ward off the nightmares, sadly Kari was wrong. She was back at the shoreline watching helpless as some kind of digital monster rose out of the water. It was the same figure, the "undersea master" she'd heard the not-Scubamon talking about.
What was horrifying was it wasn't Kari it was focused on, it was another girl who lay helpless before the gigantic abomination. Immediately Kari broke into a sprint shouting at the top of her lungs. The digimon roared fiercely raising its tentacle arm high into the air then brought it down. Waves slammed Kari into the sand leaving her dazed and confused. When her eyes refocused there was violet colored lightning dancing in the sky. The aquatic digimon seemed to be screaming in anger at the sky, as if calling it out to strike him down.
From above the clouds a gigantic fireball sailed towards the beach, the mysterious digimon drawing in all the sea water and Kari to form some kind of shield. Kari couldn't scream or think straight, she was helpless against the tide, helpless to save the girl, and helpless to save herself.
"Don't freight child. That is the destiny of light; to be swallowed by darkness."
"No!" Kari cried in her head. "That's not true!"
"Really? Then tell me where's your precious light now?"
Kari woke up screaming so loud she was sure she had woken up everyone in their apartment building. Gatomon and Tai where on her in an instant with their parents practically breaking the door down not second later. Even as they tried coming her she couldn't keep that voice out of her head because it was familiar.
It was Daemon's. As for the sea monster…she didn't want to know but she had a feeling she was going to be finding out.
"Make sure be careful on your back from school." Mrs. Motomiya called as her children left their apartment.
"Well they're defiantly canceling soccer practice today." Davis muttered staring at all the puddles.
"But not rehearsal for the Rock N' Royal." Jun thought silently. "That goes for probably the entire week Davis." There was a mischievous smile on her face. "Maybe without soccer you can use it to go hang out with Chiyo."
For a full minute Davis's body went so still Jun thought she'd finally found the off-switch to her younger brother. Ever since their freak-meeting Davis had been unable to shake the brunette out of his mind even with all the problems popping up around him. At first he thought it was because he simply wanted to repay her almost like he did Kari but has time dragged he began placing more thought on her. "It'd be nice if I knew where she lived."
"Oh just ask around I'm sure someone knows her." Jun encouraged happily.
Davis, for once honestly thought about taking his sister's advice. Izzy was still working on getting the Digiport working, DigiDestined around the world were managing to destroy most of the Control Spires, and word was Ken was coming back. All in all there was simply little he could do besides wait. "I hate waiting." He grumbled.
"Hm, that might explain so, so many problems you tend to run into." Jun joked just as water splashed all over Davis.
"Yeah, yeah, but don't forget Jun you can be impatient too." Davis snarled kicking an empty can across the street. "If I run into Matt I can tell him about that-"
The old saying was try; practice makes perfect. As Davis had much practice dodging his sister's mad lunges, if he hadn't he would have ended up going to school with mud all over his clothes.
Out of all the DigiDestined Matt had probably taken the recent events the best out of everyone. He didn't like it but he used the spare time for band practice, after all he needed it. Even if he was sharing a warehouse with at least half a dozen other bands they hand their own space giving him just enough room to relax. Well he wished he did.
Weeks ago when he rented out a part of the warehouse for practice he found he would be sharing Warehouse Eight with two other bands. They'd go in rotations First there was Kinoshita's band; Penalty and then there was All Night Long, a heavy-metal band. By this point Matt had gotten used to practicing with his arch rivals within arm's reach.
Then the day came when it all fell apart .
They were right in the middle of rehearsal when Jun came through the door looking more flustered than Matt had ever seen her. She was carrying a large guitar-shaped bag that Matt couldn't help but smile at. Calling a five minute break he jumped down off stage tossing her a bottle of fruit juice on the way.
"First time at a band rehearsal?" He joked taking a seat next to her.
"Pretty much. Is it always this loud? Can't you get a private place or something?"
"Tried that but all the other places were booked. So what's in the bag?"
Jun's face was as red as a tomato and her heart was pounding nearly a mile a minute. The moment of truth had arrived. "It's for you. I heard you've been looking for a new guitar to show off at the concert so I…I made this for you!"
Thrusting the bag towards him Matt shakily took it in hand. "Okay she made this herself, even if it sounds like cats screeching on a couch don't say anything." He preempted himself. Opening the bag Matt found himself awe-struck at what he saw. The guitar was a master piece; colored blue, gray and white, all in a stylish mix. The wood and metal were smooth he knew from being shined over multiple times. Looking closer Matt could make out swirl patterns shaped like wolves. For lack of a better word, Matt was dumbfounded.
All around them some of the rockers had stopped playing to stare in amazement at the guitar. It didn't take an expert on instruments to realize it was a beautifully crafted work of art.
"So…do you like it? You don't have to use it, just keep it as a keepsake from me." The maroon haired girl stated getting up to leave.
"No, wait," Matt shouted grabbing Jun's arm before she could leave. "This is…it's amazing, the best guitar I've ever seen." Matt said with his eyes shining with delight. In a quick flash Matt had his arms wrapped around Jun sending her mind to the moon and beyond. When he let go of her he watched as she practically sashayed out the door.
"So new girlfriend huh?" one of his band mates asked with a shared grin.
Matt took a second look at the guitar before responding. "Not a girlfriend, but a friend."
Just as Matt hoped the guitar played as well as it looked. He was always comfortable when practicing music, away from all the monsters and pressure of saving the world. The more he played the more he lost himself in total bliss. How much time passed he wasn't sure, all he knew was that Jun had given him what he'd been looking for.
"Enjoying your new toy Yamato?" a cackling voice broke Matt form his dream state. "Mind letting me burrow it? See if your girlfriend's little toy is as good as it looks?"
The owner of that voice was a person Matt hated more than he did Kinoshita. Opening his eyes to the wild black hair and malicious brown eyes Matt groaned. Worse than an asshole was an asshole with a track record of drinking, smoking, and a possible trip to juvenile detention. Standing a few inches taller than Matt, with more muscle, and a much gruffer expression Matt refused to let any fear or doubt show.
"How about after you've stopped smoking and drinking Hachiro." Matt growled. "If not then can you let us get back to rehearsal?"
Hachiro's grin made Matt's blood boil with the way he was looking at him. Ever since they met the two had never even remotely been able to get along, he was rock and roll while Hachiro was borderline death metal. Hell, even Kinoshita only put up with the bastard because he had no choice sometimes.
"Always thinking you're better than the rest of us." Hachiro sneered.
"Maybe because we actually are." One of Matt's band mates offered earning a series of snide laughs and a smirk form Matt.
Sadly the comment didn't amuse Hachiro, his band mates, or the other bands in the room. A small crowd had now formed around the stage with various bands casting glares at each other. Matt desperately searched for a way to diffuse the situation but all he kept coming up with was the idea of wiping the sneers off of Hachiro and Kinoshita's faces.
He probably shouldn't have thrown more fuel on the fire but he couldn't resist. "Whatever man, at least I've got more, hotter, fans than you do."
With that the fuse was lit and the entire place erupted into a brawl. Matt lost track of what happened or who hit first, all he knew was that Hachiro had gave him a good right hook he gladly returned. Every time he stopped to up he saw someone was fighting someone else including his own band mates. He pushed them to the back of his mind to focus on prying Hachiro off him, from the smell on his breathe Matt knew he must have had a beer or two.
"Showing up at rehearsal drunk, can you fall any lower Hachiro?" Matt wondered in his head when he finally managed to kick older boy off him. Instead of backing off he grabbed a chair and came at Matt again. "Shit!" Desperately he searched for the nearest thing he could to fend off the attack. His hand felt something solid and that was all Matt needed to know before he swung said object.
As strange as it was Matt could have sworn he saw Hachiro glowing orange, in fact he felt something hot and bitter running up his spine. His thoughts began to turn to all the times Hachiro and Kinoshita had annoyed him or intentionally sabotaged him and his band.
"Why not make them pay? Take care of them now and you'll never have to either about them or else for that matter trying to up-stage you."
At first Matt considering doing that, just one hit on the head or knee that would leave both his rivals in casts for a few weeks. He was about to swing at Kinoshita's shoulder when he stumbled in front of Matt then he realized what he was about to do. With horror filled eyes he lowered his weapon, Kinoshita however didn't and came at him. Luckily he brought his make shift weapon back up just in time to parry the blow. A random fist came out of Matt's left and hit him before he could move out of the way. At first Matt wanted to bash the guy's head in however he forced the urge down.
"HEY!" a booming broke through the fighting.
Instantly everyone froze, dropping whatever it was that they were holding. Their heads snapped to the door to see the warehouse manager, a few police officers, and an absolutely horrified Jun. A sickly feeling began to fill Matt's gut. He knew what she was staring at and it was painful to turn his head. The object he'd used as a makeshift weapon was Jun's guitar, well looking at it now Matt had to admit it looked unrecognizable.
Her cries were like bullets to his heart.
"…If you didn't like it all you had to do was say!" she screamed turning on her heels and running out the door.
How long she ran she wasn't sure, all she knew was she had to get as far away from Matt and rock bands as possible. She knew it was a stupid idea but she still went through with it. Now here she was paying the price. Stopping at the water she dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands. "Was what I was asking for really did much? Does he hate me that much?"
If Jun had looked up from her hands she would have seen the sky was darkening and the waves were beginning to crash against the harbor with more force. She was angry, heart-broken, and confused. If anyone was around they would have seen an orange and green aura beginning to encase the crying girl. Suddenly a cold chill ran through Jun shocking her back to reality. She could feel there was something wrong in the air.
Not too far off Jun saw a black spire rise up out of the water casting a shadow over the entire harbor. It was as black as night with no scratches or visible designs like a traditional obelisk, it was both amazing and terrifying to gaze at. Jun felt like she was frozen in her gaze, if evil could take on a physically form or held some sort of monument she felt she was looking at it, there was no explanation, just a gut feeling that she knew was right.
Trembling, she stood up and started back towards the warehouses when she saw a trail of neon-like gas moving through the air. They were orange, green, and blue and Jun could see they were flowing in from the warehouse. An itch rose on Jun's shoulder then it became a tingling sensation like she was being given a medical shot. In shock she realized the same odd substance was being drained out of her body. Gasping in horror she examined herself to find orange and blue but only a little blue flowing out of her body. All the streams seemed to flow into the black obelisk which glowed with an eerie purple light.
Jun knew she had to find Matt who probably knew what was going on. She was about to move when the waves slammed into Jun like a freight train knocking her to the ground. Everything was out of focus when she opened her eyes. She was in the water and worse she could feel something was there with her. The maroon-haired girl had never been a good swimmer but at that moment she began swimming with all her might towards the shore.
"Jun!" a voice shouted over the now fierce waves pounding against the concrete. "Hang on I'm coming!"
Through the water Jun could see Matt and what she assumed was his partner Digimon running towards the water. "Matt!" Seeing him brought new strength to her arms allowing her to fight against the waves.
Alas, Jun found it was in vain as a miniature earthquake began rocking the area. Turning towards the obelisk a large crack filled with red light appeared on its surface. A few seconds later two marine dDgimon came tumbling out of it locked in a fierce battle. Jun couldn't get a good look at them save for one looked like a sea serpent and the other looked like some kind of demonic, humanoid octopus. More seemed to flow out of the crack turning the seas into a violet mixing bowl with Jun struggling to stay afloat. One minute the world was all darkness and the next it was monstrous howling and flashes of blue.
Something cold and slimy wrapped itself around Jun's whole body earning the loudest scream she'd ever produced. Without warning she was lifted from the water into the air, terrified beyond all reasoning. For a minute she saw Matt standing on the shore, his eyes met hers in a frightened deadlock. She called out to him but doubted he'd heard her over the chaos. The tentacle pulled her back giving her a look at the monster, red eyes behind black mask that filled her with fear. Looking into those eyes Jun knew her life was over, this thing was going to kill her or eat her, whichever it preferred.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a missile slam into the monster's eye yet it still didn't release her. Instead she saw a shadow moving beyond the crack in the obelisk. A set of jaws clamped down on the squid monster's head and pulled it back. Jun kicked and screamed but to no avail. The last thing she saw was the red light before everything she knew went cold and dark like someone had splashed ice-cold water into her face.
"Jun! JUN!" Matt shouted watching the MarineDevimon drag her through the Digiport. "MetalGarurumon!"
The cybernetic wolf Digimon had been watching the event unfold while fighting off the WaruSeadramon and MarineDevimon. He cursed himself for focusing more on them than Jun. Deploying both his wing thrusters he seemed to fly through the air towards the portal hoping he'd make it in time. Warning lights and a timer flashed through his cybernetic vision revealing one horrible truth; he wasn't going to make it. As if to hammer it home a MarineDevimon smacked it with its tentacle sending him back to the ground.
Growling in frustration MetalGarurumon readied all its armaments. "Grace Cross Freezer!" Every weapon in his arsenal was launched in a fierce display of blue and silver, first the ice beam slammed into two fighting WaruSeadramon and MarineDevimon then the missiles rained down freezing the entire lot. "Matt go, I'll keep you covered!"
The blond-haired rocker needed no advice, he simply moved as fast as he could over the ice. He slipped and fell numerous times yet he continued running towards the Control Spire. By the time he was within reach of the portal he heard the ice cracking and breaking. Just like a rag doll Matt was thrown into the air due to the evil marine Digimon breaking free and resuming their struggle. Even helpless Matt kept his eyes on the portal until MetalGarurumon flew over then ordered him to fly through the crack. The metal wolf made no argument knowing they couldn't afford to win for back up. A WaruSeadramon caught sight of them, blasting lightning from its horn in rapid succession.
SWOOSH!
The horn, along with the entire head fell back into the water as bits of data. Matt could have sworn he was able to touch the portal when yet again he was interrupted, this time by a blast of red energy coming from the other end. Luckily MetalGarurumon saw the attack coming and was able to dodge it. "Matt there's something wrong here, look at the sky."
"Why? What more could be wrong besides a Control Spire…" His blue eyes widened at the sight of trails of light racing through the sky into the Control Spire. When his partner went silent Matt looked down to find he was giving off an orange aura that was being drawn into the Control Spire as well. "Now what? I can't destroy that thing because Jun's inside but I can't let this thing keep doing whatever it's doing."
CRACK!
A WaruSeadramon had managed to slip through the battle and wrap itself around the Control Spire. Any MarineDevimon that wasn't fighting tried desperately to remove it only to be met with more sea serpent resistance, even MetalGarurumon couldn't get through them all without risking harm to Matt. When the final crack came the Control Spire began to crumble into the sea, the portal disappearing only moments before it was nothing but rubble in the sea.
"NO!"
As a person who listened to his gut one would say Davis was good at guessing, especially when certain things were involved. He'd been searching for Chiyo all over the city with T.K., Kari, and Yolei when Kari suddenly froze like a statue. Reading the look on her face he knew it had to have involved the Dark Ocean. Then all the DigiDestined felt a wave of malicious air roll blow through the city. Their Digimon all popped out of their respective hiding places with dead serious expressions on their faces.
Gatomon pointed them in the right direction and they all took off, meeting up with some of the others like Cody and Tai on the way there. Coming up on the pier they saw police had blocked off the entire area. Despite still being so far away from the water they could all see the Control Spire looming over the water.
"Everyone please stay back! Please stay back for your own-what!" a police officer screamed into a bull-horn as wave of Digimon rushed past him. "Call for reinforcements! Call for the military! Call anyone!"
MetalGreymon, Garudamon, Pegasusmon, Aquilamon, Stingmon, and Nefertimon flew over the darkened skies while Raidramon and Digmon followed closely behind them on the ground. They'd found a battle raging between a lone MetalGarurumon and a horde of evil MarineDevimon. Whole buildings were either frozen or destroyed as fallout. Many more fell with lightning, earthquakes, rockets, meteors, and laser beams tearing through them. What probably set off the biggest explosion was when Davis saw Jun's blood stained purse lying in the rubble.
"N-No way." Davis started transfixed on the bag. "S-She couldn't be…"
Raidramon followed his line of sight and froze as well. "Davis…"
"Davis get out of the way!" Ken called from above when he saw a WaruSeadramon lunge at the duo from above.
To everyone's surprise they saw Raidramon all but teleport out of the way with the speed of lightning then ram its horn directly into the virus digimon's eye. A current of electricity ran through the WaruSeadramon, frying it spot while Raidramon jumped back.
"You guys I have a plan," Davis started in an angry tone everyone noticed. "All of you lure them back into the water than me and Raidramon will handle the rest." His words were trembling with anger that made everyone just a little fearful of what he had in mind. From his place on Stingmon Davis's eyes locked with Ken's and he knew what his best friend was planning.
Ken grimace at the brutality of the plan but knew it would have to be done. Everyone did as they were told to, it took effort but eventually the last three WaruSeadramon and MarineDevimon fell back into the water. Raidramon stood on the shore, lightning arcing around its bound in unbelievable amounts. Overhead the clapping of thunder and flashing of lightning could be heard for miles on end.
"Ready Raidramon?" Davis asked.
"All set." The armored digimon answered back. When Davis nodded Raidramon released an ear-piercing howl. "Thunder Blast!"
Natural lightning from the skies split the skies, was absorbed by Raidramon then fired directly at the marine Digimon. The attack lasted for three minutes at most but when it ended the water was boiling and there was no trace of the digital life left.
"A little extreme but nice work Davis." T.K. commented walking up beside him. "Davis? Hey Davis are you okay?"
The goggle head ignored T.K. and snapped his head at Matt who had silently walked towards the group holding something in his arms. MetalGarurumon was with him with a similar sullen expression on his face. The thunder had ended but the rain continued to fall soaking the children however none of them seemed to care.
"Matt, where's Jun?" Sora asked recognizing the book bag in his arm as the same one she'd worn the day before.
Davis held up his sister's purse shocking the others, there was a blood stain on it. "Matt, seriously where's my sister?"
An eternity seemed to have passed before Matt spoke. "Davis…I'm…I'm sorry." He clenched the bag tightly. "A Control Spire appeared Gabumon and I tried to get to it first but I was…different."
"What do you mean different?" Cody asked sensing he wasn't going to like the answer.
"You guys, a Digiport opened inside of the Control Spire." Matt answered shocking everyone. "It was like a crack in a stone or something. It's how the digimon got here and how," Matt paused knowing full well what was going to happen to Davis. "Davis, I'm so sorry, one digimon grabbed Jun and….it dragged her through the portal. I…couldn't save her!"
The bad feeling in Davis's gut exploded. He launched himself at Matt, yelling in fury. "What do you mean you couldn't save her? What was she even doing here in the first place!? She should have been back home!"
"She probably came back when she realized she forgot her purse." Matt theorized when he spotted the pale violet bag in Davis's hands.
T.K., Tai, and Ken had to hold Davis back albeit their exhaustion hampered all of them. A deathly silence descended over the group leaving only the sound of rain and waves pounding against the shore. Finally Davis stopped fighting and fell to the ground, punching it over and over in fury. The others and Veemon where around him instantly to comfort him.
Davis knew he should have acted faster. Now he was going to have to make up a story on where Jun was and hope she was okay. "I'm going to find you Jun. Just hang on and don't do anything stupid!" Davis begged staring into the ground in frustration.
Jun was thankful for the fight or flight instinct she had as a human being when she felt the digimon's grip loosen. With whatever might was left in her body she managed to worm her way out of the Digimon's tentacles however she was still underwater. She didn't know how much air she had left but whatever she had would have to be enough as she swam towards the surface. The sound of thrashing and wailing filled the waters behind her encouraging her to swim faster. Her legs and arms were burning and her eyesight was beginning to darken.
"I am not going to die like this! I'm way too young!"
She thought of the faces of her family and friends, even Matt and his loathed but still handsome face. All of them were waiting for her on the surface, her life was waiting for her. Her head practically rocketed out of the water, her ears ringing so loud Jun thought they were going to explode. Black and white danced in her vision along with salt water she tried to wipe out of her eyes. Darting from right to left she looked for land, however far away it was she would swim it. Once her eyes found a line of trees in the distance she bolted through the water. Time seemed to speed up as one minute she was in the water and the next she was sprinting through the trees. The howls of the two digimon were still within audible range forcing Jun to go faster until she couldn't hear them anymore.
Her chest hurt like hell, her lungs were burning, her clothes were soaked, and she was shivering like a cat outside in a snowstorm. As soon as her adrenaline rush died down she was able to take in her surrounding; she was in some kind of forest. Things seemed normal until she realized everything, herself included were in black and white like a negative photograph. Huddling against a tree Jun let all her tears out.
"Can this day get any worse?" She whimpered.
