I do not own anything.


Chapter Forty-Four-See Your Fear

Someone at security was going to get chewed out for this; that was if anyone was able to find the time for it. Given what was playing on the monitor they might have had a few weeks until the commanders and higher-ups got around to punishing them for such a massive breach of security. Then again given who it was and what he was saying they might just be able to make it off scot-free because it was looking very much like it was going to be a long week.

Everything anyone was doing came to a sudden stop the second the screens and radios went silent only to buzz back. That brief window of time saw a lot of cups, glasses, and phones clatter to the ground creating a chorus of glass and plastic breaking. It was truly a frightful thing, but soon it would be eclipsed by the message delivered by the hijacker. Beneath his violet veil his lips were curled into a sick grin and a maniacal chuckle could be heard through the veil. As if he could see everything through the monitors the demon's red eyes cackled with devil glee.

"Greetings Digi-brats and enemy trash of the Digital World. I've come to interrupt whatever cowering or futile planning you were in the middle of to deliver a warning of utmost proportions." Daemon said completely capturing the attention of everyone and everything in listening distance of his voice. "Within the next few hours there will be simultaneous attacks on the human settlements known as Kochi, Osaka, and Asahikawa. DigiPorts will open near the heart of all three cities allowing hundreds of thousands of wild Digimon through, not to mention Deep One forces as well as my legions. Each portal will be somewhere between two hundred and three hundred yards across, large enough for some very nasty and dangerous things to come through." Directly below his face three images of the named cities appeared showing them in a semi-peaceful state that according to the Demon Lord wasn't going to last long. As the images shifted showing hundreds of people trying to go about their daily lives Daemon's monotone voice rumbled in the background. "In three hours these three cities will become battlegrounds, rather or not you lot choose to join the fray is you decision. I only ask that you choose wisely-this isn't a game where you get a do over. Thank you for your time and good evening."

As quickly as it came the transmission went dead returning all the TVs and radios to their normal channels.

And then absolute chaos erupted like a volcano.

Voices barked and yelled at each other and feet heavily pounded against the floor carrying countless bodies in five different directions. Demands to get connect other branches were met by fierce bebutials stating there wasn't any manpower left to defend three cities at once. Regardless messengers and operators did as ordered and went on the airwaves opening up communications across the globe and the dimensional barriers. Frantic voices spoke to each other and more than a few hate-filled howls escaped from human lips and animalistic fangs. In several areas large dents in the wall and floor were made when the rage felt by human and Digimon were too great to express in words or sounds. When the damage began to go beyond that was there any sort of intervention; what followed were a few harsh words and calls to be productive. While some reacted in anger others went the opposite direction and collapsed in outright shock, those were the ones who had to be wheeled into the med bay.

In the command rooms anyone who might have been dead on their feet was reanimated. Immediately old plans and documents were swept to the side or floor and holographic displays were reconfigured to show one of the three cities. Calls for city scans and layouts were made and followed through within seconds of each other. Hungry hands grabbed at loose sheets of paper, pens and pencils furiously scribbled down information as it was broadcasted. Numerous sheets of paper were torn due to frantic and unsteady hands leading to calls for more. Amongst the storm of actions and orders a few of the commanders slipped away with weary expressions on their faces, their disappearances didn't go unnoticed, but there were more pressing matters to attend to. If they needed a moment they would have it, all that mattered was that when they returned they were ready to go.

Izzy was one of the ones who needed a moment to himself. He felt like a piece of cloth that had been untied from its mast and followed allowed to flow free in the wind. It was both a relaxing and somewhat horrifying feeling. Everything around him seemed to fade and blur together into a disgusting cell or prison he navigated with barely half a working brain. The moderate voices turned into steel hammers pounding against his ears nearly bringing him to his knees with the invisible weights tied to his body failed to do the task. Izzy knew he was going to fall, and when he did it would be a scene that would bring the machine to a halt. The room was already spinning meaning all his body had to do was let gravity take its proper course. Inside his chest his heart was going like an overworked engine that had just reached its breaking point; he'd be a gurney being wheeled into med bay taking up space while the others racked their brains around a plan of action.

Eventually Izzy did fall, except he never hit the ground because there was someone there to catch him. A pair of strong arms hoisted him to his feet and guided him out of the command center. Being a breath away from a heart attack he couldn't make out who it was, but what remained of his working mind had an idea. A warm hand fell over his chest and relaxing voice told him to breathe slow and steady so he didn't have a heart attack or stroke. "Breathe Izzy, breathe." She continued as she guided him to an empty seat where he was able to rest.

He wanted to tell her he was trying to do the rest, but that was a little difficult since he barely had air in his lungs. Air seemed to have a tough time deciding if it wanted to spend a moment inside him or not, and if it did why make the visit last. If Tentomon were here he would have given him a rousing electric shock; those always worked to snap him out of this near panic attacks. Tentomon wasn't here to do that, he was off in the Digital World attempting to muster mire support among their allies. Given what they'd just heard they'd be needing all the help they could get, but Izzy knew whatever he could muster would probably come too late to make a difference. Uncontrolled the redhead's mind went into overdrive imaging the countless scenarios that would play out over the next five hours, the destruction and the lives lost. It was too much for him to bear.

"Izzy!"

It wasn't a slap, but it did the job in bringing his whirlwind mind to a screeching halt. Farah had brought both of her hands against his cheek with some force, but not enough to qualify as a full-on slap. The Japanese teen froze and his eyes locked with the cool dark chocolate orbs that belonged to the African DigiDestined. For the first time he looked into those eyes that had remained firm and saw beyond the strength and determination something else was there: fear. Unlike some of the others the fear wasn't running wild, it was being controlled and focused alongside the determination Farah possessed. Izzy had seen such a thing before, in Tai's eyes, and in Davis' from time to time. "Must be a leader thing." That was the first whimsical thought in his recovering head. Interestingly the moment Farah placed her hands on his skin he could feel all the tension and fear drown out like a leak in a water tank; his breathing began to return to a steady pace and the shaking of his body at last came to a stop.

Farah never wavered, in that instant to the redhead she seemed to become less a human being and more a personification of iron will. As Izzy's peace of mind returned Farah felt her own become reinforced, he might not have noticed it but in a bid to calm his breathing Farah's had slightly intensified. In a strange way the two of them came off the mountain of fear together, she was leading of course. Slowly Izzy's hands fell on top of hers' creating a mixing of warmth that both needed. She watched Izzy stare at her with uncertain eyes, eventually she deciphered his message and nodded her approval. Wordlessly his head fell into the crux of her left shoulder. Her hands went from his cheeks to his shoulders to steady him just as his hands gently pressed against her chest. They leaned into each other, supporting each other amongst a storm of bodies and voices.

Eventually Izzy found the strength to pull himself away from the dark-skinned girl. "I…Farah…I…thanks." He finally settled.

"Don't mention it." She laughed.

"How do you do this? Is it a leader thing or is it…"

"When you grow up in a constant warzone you tend to learn fast how to keep a cool head or go crazy." She stated helping him up. "You ever feel like you're about to fall face first just let me know, trust me, I've been down that road before. It can be pretty scary."

Wiping his eyes Izzy turned to the hallway Farah had guided him down. "Yeah, but now's not the time to be scared. We've got a job we have to do."

"Yeah, glade to see you're back with us. We're gonna need all the brain power we can get." The dark-haired female chuckled. How she managed to laugh in a situation like this was an miracle onto itself, and Izzy was grateful for that.


Jun knew this was going to be a break for her and Harper, not so much for Onimon. Oh no, rather he liked it or not the Ultimate was going to be answering some questions she had. As soon as she had caught her breath she'd do that.

Clooloo had become nothing more than a distant memory in terms of sight, but the after effects of the fortress' destruction could still be seen all over the landscape. Minor tremors and rumbles continuously shook the ground, and then there were the towering eruptions of fire and magma that seemed to be reaching towards the sky. The temperature change throughout the forest was a clear indication the geography of the land had been altered, and in a way not at all pleasant for the Deep Ones. The moisture in the air had begun to steadily evaporate due to the sudden heat increase; if Jun had to guess in some areas where wildfires were raging entire bodies of water had probably been incinerated. They'd traded the damp and cold watery ocean for what was going to become a burnt out wasteland, while some would have said it was a raw deal Jun welcomed the change. The less water she saw the better.

Above their head a squadron of demonic flyers flew across the skies leaving red trails of light in their wake. Jun wasn't sure what the air game was, but she knew for a fact Dagomon had lost some major ground that Daemon was all too eager to seize. Nothing short of a strategic miracle would be enough to undo the damage the Battle of Clooloo had wrought. Jun doubted the Mutant Digimon had that much intelligence, and by the time he mustered it the war would be all but over for him. Until that time came she needed to survive, which meant getting the hell out of the Dark Ocean as was their original goal. Peering into the deep darkness of the forest she was reminded of one glaring problem stopping them from doing that. Said problem was massive, powerful, and if she'd learned anything from playing video games and watching TV it was probably nigh invulnerable to physical harm.

"He just had to go and turn this into Resident Evil 3, only trade in a zombie-infested city for a damn jungle." Jun cursed sliding against a tree. Her lungs were still burning from the intense sprint her group had to do in order to put some distance between them and the burning fortress. Looking around her she saw both the Digimon and Revenant had to take a moment or two to collect themselves. For all she knew they must have cleared at least five solid miles in God knows how short a window of time. If they tried to move now it would be a disaster that would nullify everything they accomplished at Clooloo. The mere thought of such a thing happening made Jun grit her teeth in controlled anger. "If anything all Dagomon is going to do is fortify it even more since it's the only stronghold he has left. As if this little road trip wasn't dangerous enough already." Jun's eyes flicked over to the Onimon who'd practically turned his back to the others not being able to look at them. "There's no way we'll be able to make it to Innsmouth with him acting like this, and with that thing coming after us every step if the way. If I don't do something about either of those two then…" Rather she liked it or not those two problems were jointly linked meaning their solution was no doubt one in the same; that meant it would be all the harder to get to.

Reaching into one of her pouches she withdrew a bottle of water and eagerly downed it. There were too many matters she had to deal with and she was too exhausted to give any of them serious thought. Placing a tired hand over her eyes she allowed her lungs to take in handfuls of much needed air while her other hand limply fell to the side. She'd plan out their next move, but only after she actually had the strength to stand.

Exhaustion wasn't a feeling Harper was used to, not since losing his physical body, memories, and most of his sanity. To be fair he couldn't remember anything that had ever pushed him this hard before. The ethereal exhaustion that came from overexerting himself and the quick intakes of breath he had to take, all of it seemed alien yet at the same time strangely familiar. "Oh…yeah, now I remember." He started glancing down at his trembling hand. "This…this is what being human used to feel like." A strange mixture of awe and fear sweep through him bringing him closer to the ground he floated off of. Instead of fighting the feeling he let it overtake him, the changes to his physical form were immediate. The thin white trails that composed his lower half solidified into legs that bent at the knees as he kneeled over making his forehead almost touch the ground. Mustering what little strength he had left he pushed himself up ending up lying flat on his back. "I've…done this before…somewhere…only the sky was blue and the sun was trying to cook us alive."

Another memory exploded into his mind, this one was not too different from the cooldown his group was currently experiencing. His chest was hurting so much every intake of breath seemed a struggle and all of his limbs seemed to have magically transformed into steel weights. With the sun over head the pain was actually intensified, especially the portions of his body that had been touched by fire. It was positively nauseating what his own cooking flesh smelled like, and yet, he couldn't find the strength to turn over or have someone treat it. Was that how he died? From an infection?

No, not that' wasn't it, he remembered he was in pain for a few days but he'd been alive when he entered this colorless hellhole.

They had just survived a firefight, an intense one that had left him and his squad shaking in their boots and rattled. There wasn't a man whose hands weren't shaking or breathing heavily. Harper wasn't the only one who'd spread himself out on the jungle floor, there were at least two others. Elsewhere others were cursing everything from the locals to command to the sun itself. Really, everything that made that moment miserable was to be cursed as if it were evil incarnate. A few of them were asking if anyone had a smoke leading to shocked reactions as to why anyone would want a smoke when no one could breathe without some sort of difficulty. Harper didn't care for a smoke, all he wanted was a river or some little pond where he could wash his face.

Harper watched a sudden burst of red light up the clouds above him revealing several shadowy figures engaged in some sort of midair battle. Red beams split the clouds and anything they touched, death cries faded into nothingness almost as quickly as they went up. Once the light faded so too did the shadows returning all to a dark canvas. It was interesting that there was no rain, usually it always rained in the Dark Ocean. The downpour normally went hand-in-hand with cold waves that didn't freeze, just chilled one to the bone without any ice forming. Now there wasn't any of that, in its place was a sudden heat wave that again tugged at the strings of Harper's memories. Strangely this made Harper feel a little happy, for as long as he'd known the Dark Ocean had been an unchanging cesspool, but now it had changed a great deal. Recognizing these changes he realized the human and Digimon had set all these changes into motion-a human and a Digimon-had completely and utterly upset the balance of the Dark Ocean.

Sitting up he looked back down the path they'd taken to get to this little rest stop and chuckled. "The greater this gets the more it feels like this is my last gamble…maybe it is."

The last member of the trio had his own thoughts to contend with, and these thoughts were doing a damn good job of tearing him apart emotionally. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the monstrous thing that only vaguely resembled his rival. No matter how hard he tried to he couldn't wipe the grotesque image of the undead beast from his mind any more than his ears could block out the horrific roar it let out when its jaws opened. "Leomon…Azulongmon's beard…what happened to you? Don't tell me… Dagomon got a hold of your data….not your DigiCore…please."

"Onimon."

The Ultimate-level Digimon froze at the sound of his name being called by his partner. He knew that tone of voice, and it did not bode well.

"Onimon," She repeated again a little more forcefully.

"Jun, now's not the time." He growled.

"Bullshit, if we don't have this talk now then we won't have the chance to next time." Came her hot response. "I need to know the full story."

"There is no full story, Leomon gave his life protecting me, Joe, Mimi, Palmon, and Gomamon."

"Did how come I'm having a tough time believing that?"

"Then that's your problem!" In a quick breath he spun around standing up to his full nine-feet of imposing height drastically dwarfing her. Befitting his name his expression was one of fury that would have sent any lesser creature into a corner cowering in fear. Unfortunately the human before him had faced things far worse than an emotionally vulnerable Oni trying to act tough.

With narrowed eyes and a cold voice Jun said, "If it's not such a big deal then how come you're reacting this way?"

"Damn, kind of painted yourself into a corner there eh big guy?"

"Can it Harper!" The Digimon bellowed. "Look! It's private! Personal!"

"I know that! But in case you haven't noticed our lives are on the line so we need to know!"

"No you don't!"

"So I can expect you to freeze up when MadLeomon finds us again!? Good to know, I'll need to be even more careful than usual! And if I die I can rest assured knowing you'll be following me since obviously you won't do jack shit to fight for your own life!"

His temper flaring Onimon raising his left fist in a way that gave no illusion about what he was ready to do. Jun didn't move an inch or say a word, her gaze only hardened into a defiant flare that dared her partner to follow through.

Off to the side Harper watched the standoff with baited breath and twitching fingers. While he was sure Onimon wouldn't dare consciously harm his partner his current mental state told a different story. If the Nightmare Soldier made a move he'd react in an instant, either to disarm him or stun him so Jun didn't end up lying in a pool of her own blood…and so Onimon wouldn't spent a day crying over it. Neither of them looked like they were ready to back down so he kept himself ready to move at a moment's notice. "I'm pretty sure I've seen this too somewhere before."

The darker side of Onimon screamed at him to bring his fist down, to turn this human girl into nothing but a stain on the jungle floor. He might have done so if it weren't for the unwavering look in Jun's eyes, they reminded him too much of Leomon.

His fist fell limply too his side and an aggravated roar left his lips reaching high into the clouds.

Jun's iron mask softened into a frown as she placed a hand on Onimon's arm. "I want to help you Onimon, but I can't do that if you don't tell me what the problem is. I need to know what really happened."

When Onimon looked up at her she saw the fear and shame he'd been hiding. His face fell as that shame overrode any lingering doubt or pride he might have put up as a defense. "I…I…it's my fault he…Jun, I hadn't been such an idiot…Leomon wouldn't have been…"

Grrrrrrr…

The lion-shaped blast of poisonous energy shot a path across the air directly towards Jun and Onimon, both pushed themselves away just as the blast homed in on them. The tree line they'd been adjacent to disappear in a flash of venomous light and horrific shrieking.

MadLeomon burst through the line of trees barely a heartbeat latter swinging his claws at Jun who skillfully ducked the blow and counterattacked with her knife leaving a small trail of data in her wake. As the Undead Digimon raised its arms to attack a number of smaller objects slammed into its back immobilizing it with an electrical field. Fierce roars went up as Onimon moved in step by step unsure of how to proceed.

"Leomon! Leomon! Leomon it's me! I Digivolved to my Ultimate form just like you did!" Onimon cried keeping the immobilization spell up so the lion couldn't escape. "Damn it Leomon look at me!" It took a good deal of his concentration but he was able to turn him around so the Oni and undead lion-man were face to face. Pleading eyes locking with savage red orbs that burned with animalistic fury. "L-Leomon…"

"Damn it Onimon that's not him! There's nothing left of Leomon in there!" Jun cried readying her weapons. It wasn't a question of if MadLeomon broke free but when, and Onimon's wasn't in any position to evade or block the possibly fatal blow.

Drip! Drip! Drip! Drip! Drip! Drip!

"Oh no…"

"Shit! Not know!"

There was no thunder, just a sudden gale that nearly knocked everyone off their feet followed by what could only described as an eruption. Jun and Harper were able to catch one look at the ground break apart beneath their feet then see the gushing streams of water before everything went dark for both of them, at least temporarily. During the brief moments Jun was able to open her eyes she found they were trapped in a gigantic waterspout, rising higher and higher and spinning without any sort of control. Though she tried to find Onimon the current was too strong for her to fight. Before everything went dark again all she could do was pray Onimon would find the strength to stand against the monster that was wearing the skin of his old rival, for all of their sakes.


Onimon knew he was back on soil based on the awful taste in his mouth. He hated the taste of dirt.

Of course he had water in his eyes, only natural given the fact he'd been at the heart of a sudden water spout that had thrown him who knows how far from his original position. His head felt as if it'd been run over by a tank over and over again while his limps seemed to be only half-willing to do what he told them to do. He coughed out inky black water that made him want to vomit by looking at it.

Once his sight returned and he got a handle of his surroundings suddenly the ground seemed so much more appealing. He recognized the endless spray of ruined buildings, he'd seen the town in his nightmares too many times not to recognize it in a single glance.

It was raining.

"How many times am I going to have to walk this road?" He mumbled as he started on the dirt path.

Since Dagomon had lifted the place from his memories everything was exactly as he remembered it, much to his disappointment. Everything was the same dreary gray and black as they were that day, and the rain wasn't helping much. The ground was so moisty he felt his feet sink deeper and deeper with every step he took. Or perhaps that was metaphorical. He already the destination his feet were taking him, yet he was powerless to change course. The silent dread he carried grew by the second and that's what probably made each step feel as if his feet were being weighed down by cinder blocks. Try as he might he couldn't muster up anything even resembling courage for the inevitable showdown he knew as waiting for him at the end of his walk. When he reached the end of the path…well, at that point either Jun had predicted their future or Onimon would find out what he was really made of. Either way the next hour or so was most definitely not going to be fun in the slightest.

The rain further added to the gloom and depressed atmosphere the town originally had. Looking back Onimon considered it a blessing that day it wasn't raining, it would have made an already bad day even worse. When he wasn't crushing wet soil he was making little splashes in the countless puddles and streams that had begun to overrun the ground. Combine that with the constant rain and Onimon very much felt like finding some quiet little corner and waiting for his data to fade away.

And yet he still kept walking until he was standing in front of that damn rundown restaurant where his life had changed.

Stopping he sized up the old place finding every detail was spot on. Quieting and focusing his senses he felt a single occupant waiting for him behind the wooden doors. Onimon already knew who it was; he could practically see the figure waiting for him behind the battered doors. Ever so gently he pushed them open finding himself back in the worn and torn restaurant, and as he predicted he wasn't alone. The other occupant was sitting at a table in the far right corner patiently waiting for him.

"You took your sweet time." His gruff voice sounded. "Did you enjoy your little walk through the rain or were you too afraid to show your face? Based on that look I'm guessing it's the second option, you always had a tough time owning up to your mistakes."

"I've been…working on that."

"And you've been failing at it."

"L-Leomon…"

"What? What could you possibly have to say to me at this point?" The Beast Man Digimon snarled. "What can you possible say to make up for all that you've stolen from me? Well? Answer me!"

Onimon didn't answer him, he couldn't. It was strangely ironic, he'd dreamt of all the things he'd say to Leomon if he ever saw him again, and now he couldn't think of any of those things with him sitting before him. Just the simply act of breathing seemed to take all his strength let alone actually speaking.

"Tell me something Orgemon…why is it between the two of us you're the one who got to live?"

Onimon didn't respond as he felt a lump develop in his throat.

"If I remember correctly I was the hero and you were the villain, usually the hero lives while the villain dies for his crimes. Am I wrong?"

"…"

"AM I WRONG!?"

"…You…you…"

"Gave my life? Would I have had to if you hadn't been grandstanding as you usually do? You knew you were in no condition to fight MetalEtemon, yet you challenged him anyway. You forced my hand! You got me deleted! You stole what should have been mine!"

"I…I…I was hotheaded back then! I-"

"Enough excuses!" Barked the Beast Man Digimon as he slammed one of his fists against the table nearly breaking it in half. "Why is it you were allowed to continue to live while I was not? Why were you given a partner yet I was denied one? Why were you given not just access to your Ultimate form, but control of it as well!? Why Orgemon? Why?!"

He took one step back, a cowardly action that was quickly complimented by him turning his head away in shame. His fingers closed and stretched in some attempt to relieve the mounting pain. Forming a solid fist became an impossible fit as did looking Leomon in the eye. Onimon could feel his legs shaking under the lion's imposing glare as well as hear his grunt of dissatisfaction.

"Utterly pathetic. All this time and all that struggle, and you still haven't changed. From the both of my heart…I regret giving my life that day, especially since it allowed such a sniveling little worm such as yourself to continue living."

"I'm…I'm sorry!"

"SORRY?! THAT'S ALL YOU CAN SAY TO ME AFTER ALL THIS TIME!?" The lion thundered shaking the entire building with his voice. He'd rarely if ever heard Leomon sound this angry before, then again Onimon remembered he'd never truly angered him to this extent. "Is sorry going to change the past!? Is sorry going to give me my life back!? Is sorry going to fix this!?"

Onimon didn't want to look up but he did so anyway knowing he couldn't run from this. Leomon had carved open his own chest revealing his DigiCore. To say it had been corrupted would have been an understatement, it had been warped and corrupted to the point the simple sight of it made him want to vomit. The way it constantly pulsated with corrupt data painfully reminded Onimon of viral Digimon he'd hunted before, creatures so far gone they were barely recognizable. Somewhere inside Onimon had always felt pity for them seconds before putting them out of their misery. To know Leomon had fallen to the same fate…

"I…didn't mean for any of this to happen. I swear."

"I find that hard to believe given your past behavior. We both know you've never cared about anyone other than yourself, why should that have changed now? You were mere seconds away from killing your partner just a few minutes ago." Seeing him wince the humanoid animal sneered. "Can't take the truth can you? I suppose not even a human's soft touch could temper that savage temper of yours. I doubt anything save for deletion will which means you're still little more than the same wild animal you were the day I met you."

"N…no…no. I'm…I've changed. I've changed from how I-"

CHUNK!

His punches were as hard as he remembered, maybe even a little harder. The pain Leomon's fist lift him in definitely left him feeling like he'd been on the wrong side of a Monochromon stampede. His vision was blurry so he could only barely make out the image of Leomon approaching him. Based on the torrent of raindrops hitting his face he guessed he'd been punched straight through the doors, it certainly felt he had been.

With less than half his normal strength he attempted to push himself off the ground only to falter and give Leomon time to close in the distance. Roughly grabbing him by the throat he lifted him up so they were eye-level. Hate, that one word was enough to sum up the look in Leomon's normally calm and steely eyes. He squeezed cutting off the oxygen supply to Onimon's brain resulting in him clawing at the Beast Man's arm in a desperate attempt to escape; Leomon scoffed at his efforts knowing they were wasted.

There was a snarl then Onimon was flying across the ground through some stone and finally he skid across the earth. It hadn't hurt as much as the punch but he was even more disconcerted than he was before. He wheezed and gasped for breath as Leomon watched him with uncaring eyes.

"Such a pathetic creature, how you've managed to survive this long is beyond me. You should have been deleted long ago, before you caused any more damage." He huffed taking the first steps towards the downed Ultimate. "Do you have any idea how much more could have been accomplished if it was you who died here instead of me? Do you?!"

"Of course I do! Not a day goes by where I don't think about!" Onimon roared pushing himself to his knees as Leomon stood before him in the cold rain. Looking into those cold eyes he felt was he Goblimon again: weak, helpless, and above all else a living stain on the world.

"If you know this then why do you resist? Let me correct that mistake now." Reaching behind him he drew his signature blade and held it high in his reverse grip.


"So since I'm off the menu he decided to go after Onimon. I'm not gonna have to worry about you am I?"

"I hope not. I'm just a nameless specter, a little guppy compared to you and the big man."

Jun deeply hoped that was true because she was truly getting tired of these constant walks down memory lane. Her own memories had been painful enough, and seeing those of her partner weren't what she needed. While he'd been open about a few details of his past there were certain portions he'd left out, those would have to wait until their relationship had developed that far, or at least that's what she hoped for. The ruined town they were in only barely jived with the memories of a story Mimi told her. Remembering what Orgemon had told her she'd put all the pieces together concluding this was the place where Leomon had been deleted. Naturally it held an immense amount of guilt for him, and that's exactly what Dagomon wanted. If she had guess some phantom Leomon was probably stalking her partner through the alleys and buildings like a lion stalking its prey; if a confrontation broke out she doubted Onimon would have the strength to fight back.

It seemed no matter what she just couldn't catch a break today.

Luckily Onimon was close enough to still register as a dot on her Digivice, the only silver lining to this whole situation. She was grateful how no matter how bad it was she could always fall back on the handheld device to provide a glimmer of hope. As she and Harper navigated the maze of gray buildings she begun to wonder what exactly what Digivice was made of. She didn't remember asking Izzy about it nor did she question any of the others on it. As far as they were concerned it was something of an enigmatic device that pick and chose when it operated as it was supposed to. Jun chuckled a little realizing if hers' didn't then she no doubt would have smashed it into the ground or thrown it away.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

"Seems we have company." Harper noted arching a brow at the annoying boisterous laughter that came from the rooftops.

"Ignore him." Was her curt response.

"Interesting how you bunch of kiddies are so willing to put ya' lives on the line for a Digimon like that nasty piece of work! I haven't had a good laugh like this in a while!"

"Now that you've had your laugh can you do us a favor and piss off?" Jun said.

Five feet in front of them a masculine figure shimmered into existence. It was a metallic monkey-like creature with sunglasses for eyes, kanji written across the chest, and lastly a stupidly cheesy grin. Jun didn't need her Digivice to tell her who this was, Onimon's description of him had been more than enough, and it had done MetalEtemon justice. He was every bit as repulsive as her partner had made him out to be.

Flashing her another stupid grin the phantom began, "Y'know…there are tons of Digimon ya' could have partnered up with, but you got stuck with ole' sour face. Talk about a real run of bad luck girlie. Ya' do know what his story is don't ya'?"

"Yeah, he wasn't a nice person, and that's just fine because I wasn't such a nice girl myself back in the day." The redhead stopped in her tracks to face the cocky phantom whose grin was beginning to piss her off more and more. Rather than snarl in fury she channeled the anger she felt and tempered it with something else, something warmer. "If you're going to give me some long monologue about how my partner's a piece of shit, skip it. There's nothing you can say that's going to change my mind about what I'm going to do." Jun inhaled through her noise and exhaled through her mouth clearing her mind of all distractions. When her eyes fell on MetalEtemon what she saw wasn't a Digimon as she suspected but a shady puppet that had been molded to look like the metallic Ultimate. "Dagomon, I know you can hear me, and I know you're running out of tricks and so do you. You've thrown everything you've got at me, and none of it has worked. Not the torture, not the floods, not the dreams, and certainly not your fishman flunkies. If none of that worked on me then there's no way in hell it's going to work on my partner's who's faced worse than anything you could throw at him."

Half of the monkey's face distorted into a swirling mass of tentacles and its grin turned absolutely murderous. "I wouldn't be too sure of that. You give that overgrown idiot too much credit."

"Or maybe you're just underestimating him like you do everyone else." Jun chuckled. "You have bad, bad habit of underestimating your opponents, that's actually how you landed yourself in this mess. It's actually pretty funny because you don't have much power of your own." She paused to let the grin melt into a deep frown which she deeply enjoyed seeing. "All your power relies on fear, always has and always will. Once people lose their ability to fear you that's it, you don't have any power over them. You're not a god, you're just an overgrown bully who never learned how to deal with his problems and move on with life. I'll admit there was a time I was scared of you, but not anymore. You couldn't kill me or Onimon before when we were, and you're sure as hell not going to be able to kill us not."

"You wanna bet on that girl?!" The phantom roared getting into a battle-ready position. "I'll-"

BANG! BANG!

Cracks spread through MetalEtemon's body from the two bullet holes in his chest. Oddly enough the sound wasn't that of metal but of rocks cracking and being broken under the strain. The phantom's face remained a mix of horror and shock as its body began to crumble away into what Jun believe to be coral and sea rock.

"Holy shit girl," Harper noted as Jun put away her pistol and took up her assault rifle in hand. "Somehow I get the feeling you could face down Hitler, Stalin, and Mao without batting an eye."

"After this mess I don't think anything in my world could scare me, not the way this place has." She responded rounding a corner feeling her heart beat against her chest.

"Such a pathetic creature, how you've managed to survive this long is beyond me. You should have been deleted long ago, before you caused any more damage."

"Do you have any idea how much more could have been accomplished if it was you who died here instead of me? Do you?!"

"Of course I do! Not a day goes by where I don't think about!"

"If you know this then why do you resist? Let me correct that mistake now."

Stopping her foot into the ground she took aim and emptied the entire clip into the fake-Leomon's body. "THE ONLY MISTAKE IS ME LEAVING YOU ALONE FOR FIVE MINUTES!"

His body reacted to her voice just as he predicted. Opposite of that Leomon's face contort into an expression of pure rage before he brought his sword down.

THUNK!

When Onimon looked up he saw what he had blocked wasn't a sword but a claw swipe. Without looking into the eyes of his adversary he caught MadLeomon's next punch with ease leaving them locked in a struggle. Their eyes locked, the Undead Digimon breathed out a stream of toxic air in frustration that the ruse had been dispelled. Onimon grunted in disgust.

"Sorry I made you worry like that partner." The Nightmare Soldier chuckled.

"Just don't do it again, I'm only willing to put up with so much of your crap." She laughed in return.

Onimon brought his head forwards in a vicious head-butt that sent the undead creature skidding across the dirt.

"I'm not gonna have to do this again am I?" Jun asked stepping beside her partner ready for battle.

"Hopefully not, promise you won't tell anyone about this. I have a reputation I have to uphold."

In the shadows Harper cackled like a madman while MadLeomon slowly rose to its feet looking utterly enraged. In stark contrast Jun and Onimon were as calm and cool as ice cubes. "Still the big game hunter you were back in the day?"

"Heh, this isn't hunting Harper." Onimon hoisted Tetsuhono onto his shoulder as he always did before a battle. "What this is, I call extermination."


"You can't be serious Tai!"

"Izzy, do I look like I'm joking?"

Actually Tai looked like something of a mummy still half-wrapped in bandages and with his right arm still in a sling. Agumon wasn't much better as he was partially covered in bandages as well though he was sure he was much more physically fit than Tai was at the moment. Besides that what they both had in common was the burning determination in their eyes, Izzy knew that look all too well.

"Izzy!" Liam called catching his attention. The Canadian's eyes were almost as firm as Tai's were meaning he'd already come to the same conclusion. "We need every man and mon we can get so if he wants to go let him."

"Izzy, me and Gomamon are going with him." Joe added stepping up beside the group's leader. While Joe's recovery had gone better than Tai's he and his partner were still sore in some places. All they could do was hope that soreness didn't slow them down too much.

Daemon had proved to be a man of his word; that much everyone could agree on. When he said Kochi, Osaka, and Asahikawa would become warzones he hadn't been joking or trying to mislead them. Three cities, hundreds of thousands of Digimon running wild trying to destroy each other, it was too much for the DigiDestined to handle. The spark Daemon had created with his announcement had become a roaring inferno that had consumed the entire base and was growing hotter by the minute. Everyone who was able had been dispatched to one of the three cities to provide aid; those in the Digital World had offered what help they could, but it wasn't much considering the situation on that side of the dimensional gate.

For the residents of Shinjuku they could only send one more team to aid Kochi, which was repeatedly deteriorating faster than the other two.

And it just so happened Tai had chosen to make himself the leader of that team. Izzy looked at the clock and monitors then back to the determined glare Tai was shooting him.

With sigh he threw his hands up, "Evacuation only, nothing more than that. You get yourself killed Sora and Kari are going to have all of our heads."

"More like yours Gingerboard." Someone snickered.

Tai looked interested in the new nickname Izzy had been given but brushed it off with a smile. "Aren't I always careful?"

Izzy did his best to return his friend's grin. Out of all of them Tai and Agumon were one of the best pairs, if anyone could pull a miracle out of this mess everyone was betting on it being him. With a firm shake he stepped aside and allowed Tai's group of fourteen humans and Digimon to take the platform. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie, a giant teleportation machine they'd been gifted with from the Metal Empire. It was thanks to these gifts they'd even been able to keep fighting this war for as long as they had. Once the group was assembled the technicians sounded off.

"Alright! Fire it up! Good luck guys!"

The crystal-like platform lit up with luminous light completely engulfing everyone regardless of shape and size. The light seemingly began rotating at high speeds become a whitish-blue dome of energy, and then it was gone. The twenty-four occupants on the pad had vanished completely, transported across half a continent to confront yet another threat.

"You better come back Tai, for all our sakes."


Tai-I'm not gonna like what I'm gonna found in India am I?

Cosmic-What makes you say that? *innocent smile*

Tai- Don't play coy with me, what do you have planned for me?

Cosmic-Oh nothing, just a few surprises and appearances I've been waiting to write for a while. *cue evil laugh* I think I'm having too much fun writing about the caste being continuously put through the meat grinder.