Episode 7: Venomous; Villainous; Virus

"Ah! Sahib Linkmon, Sahib Furijin! What a pleasant surprise!" Bazaarmon's wings made a light clapping sound as he brought them together with exaggerated elation. "What can I do for my favorite customers?"

"We're you're favorites?" Kurohi's visage was floating next to Linkmon who had just perched himself on a large 3D bar graph. "How badly do your other customers bad mouth you if you prefer us?"

"Oh, no, you two are by far the worst in that regard." He paused a moment to allow his customers to exchange looks of mild shock at his honesty before giving another muffled clap. "But you bring me so much joyously juicy information, that it skyrockets you straight to the top. Now then..." He pulled out several text file icons. "I know why the two of you are here." He fanned himself with his handful of files. "And I just happen to have a few reports here that I know you'll find interesting, but I must wonder..." He pressed a claw to his beak and gave the pair a teasing smile. "What do you have for me?"

Linkmon was squirming in place, obviously fighting back the torrent of insults he wanted to hurl at the foul fowl before him.

Ignoring his partner, Kurohi manifested two icons, both .bat files, below him. "General specs and information on two new class 3 Illegals. That good enough for ya?"

"T-t-two!?" The bird's business-like attitude went up in smoke, forcing him to comically slap himself across the face to regain his composure. "Ahem. Two Illegal Digimon, you say? Well, I would say that sounds like adequate payment."

"Good, because we also want all similar information you obtain for the next three months."

The hawk frowned. "Two. And you have a deal."

The icons exchanged themselves in mid-air in front of them. Bazaarmon opened them, examined the images of the Digimon, and browsed their summaries. "Everything seems in order." He gave a small nod to his traded items. "Those are reports that have accumulated over the past week. Seems a strange, yet familiar, beast resembling both a Kuwagamon and a Kabuterimon has been sighted moving from servers in Africa through Asia, leaving an awful mess in its wake. I would be careful, Sahib Furijin."

Kurohi looked up from the file he was reading. "Why would you say that?"

"Because if you connect the dots, it looks like he's headed here."

"Aaaaand...sent." With a click, Kurohi had sent the e-mails off to their recipients.

"They're not going to help, you know." Linkmon had somewhat of a sober look on his face. "You have their confidence and approval, but not their loyalty. They will not rush headlong into the fray just because you send a plea for their assistance. The dangers we face are very grave. Very grave indeed."

"I know." Kurohi was somber, too. "It's not like I'm expecting them to lay their partners' lives down for us, but this is a matter than affects all of us. Even if they will not join in the fight, it is still their right to know. And I can always hope that they'll help us."

Linkmon could feel the palpable heaviness of his words."Are you alright, Kurohi?"

"I don't want to do this."

"The righteous path is often the most difficult."

"But are we right?" The words hung in the air like an odor.

"Digimon are dying, Kurohi. Tamer's are experiencing a pain that you are all to familiar with. Our intentions are just, and for the greater good. There is no need to doubt."

"Well, obviously." Most of Kurohi's dark mood faded instantly. "I can't even trick you into thinking about not doing this, can I?"

"Nope."

After a considerable amount of thinking, planning, and arguing, the two decided that their best plan of action would be to pursue no action at all. "The only reason this thing would be coming back to japan would be us. As far as we know, we're the only people that have dealt significant damage to it. If it's been consuming data all this time, then it probably thinks its strong enough to defeat us."

"Don't you think you're giving it a little too much credit Kurohi? You're talking about this thing like it's intelligent."

"It's an amalgamation of data feeding off other intelligent data beings. If it can copy their bodies, it can most likely copy their brains as well. It's probably been growing smarter, as well as stronger, with each prey it takes down. When we fought it before, it was probably newly created; hunting for food with all the grace of a starving animal. Now it's smart, and has more experience fighting Digimon. It's not surprising that it thinks it can beat us."

Linkmon was silently sitting, not saying a word.

"...Am I boring you?"

"No, no. I quite enjoy it when you take things seriously. If only you put that much effort into your schoolwork." His remark plastered a sour face on his human counterpart. "So, we wait for it to find us?"

"That's the plan."

Five days. Five days of waiting, constantly on edge, prepared for an attack on a moment's notice. Nothing. According to their calculations it should have arrived back in Japan three days prior, so what was taking it so long to attack?

Kurohi could not focus on what the teacher in front of him was saying. He was so jittery from anticipation that everything he said went in one ear and out the other. A sudden tap on his shoulder shocked him back to his senses. He jerked around to see the red-haired boy next to him wearing his concern on his sleeves.

"Hey, Furijin-san, you don't look so good. You ok?"

For the life of him, Kurohi could not remember the guy's name. "Uh, yea. My mind's just all over the place today, is all." Was it Kibayoshi? Kintabayuki? He knew there were a K and a Y in there somewhere.

"Furijin-san, Kobayashi-san?" Oh, that's right, it's Kobayashi. "Could the two of you please explain what is so important that you can't wait until after class finishes to discuss it?"

Kurohi stood up. Seeing as he couldn't focus anyways, he might as well take a chance. "I apologize, Sensei. I'm not feeling well, and Kobayashi-kun was just making sure I was alright. If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to leave early today." He gave a small bow.

The teacher raised an eyebrow, but nothing more. "Alright, Furijin-san, if you're leaving early I suggest you do a little studying at home then. Goodness knows, you're grades need it."

"Th-thank you for the advice sir." Several members of the class were giggling under their breaths at him. "I'll be sure to do that." As he was gathering his things, there was a sharp vibrating sensation in his pocket. He pulled out his DP and opened the e-mail.

Kurohi grabbed his stuff and bolted out the door, startling several of the students sitting near there. As he ran down the building toward the exit, he read through Bazaarmon's e-mail again.

Your quarry is currently engaged with company forces. I suggest you hurry.

"Have you got all your things packed, Melor?"

Melor didn't look his father in the face, but nodded in consent, all the same.

He placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "You're going to have a good time at your Mom's place. I know your mom can be a bit...ditzy, but she still loves you. She even said she'd get you a new computer this weekend, right? You've got to be excited about that, right?"

Again, Melor nodded.

"Alright. I'm gonna go warm up the car, then."

As his father turned away, Melor felt a shaking in his pocket. "W-wait." His father spun back around, looking surprised, while his son read the e-mail he'd just received. "M-my friend..."

"Gaah! Not again. Ow ow ow ow." Pop had managed to get a spec of toothpaste in her eye again. She wet the end of her towel and dabbed at her teary eye for a bit to try and clean it out. "Of all dhe-Whah-Ow!" Her DP, which was sitting on top of the toilet next to her, began violently shaking, causing her to poke herself in the eye. Fuming, she grabbed her DP and flipped it open. "Who dhe hell's texting me?" She expected it was a friend from school who didn't finish their homework or something, but wasn't expecting the txt to actually be an e-mail from... "Kurohi?"

Ricker read through the e-mail a few times, not quite sure what to make of it. "I don't know, Rollermon. The whole thing sounds kind of crazy."

Rollermon beeped a few times while swirling his arms and beating his chest with his tiny fists.

"You're right. Considering that you're just a glitch in the system, it's not surprising that something like that could exsist, is there? And he's going to fight it all by himself, huh?" He shot Rollermon a raised eyebrow, to which he responded with a nod.

Linkmon zoomed from connection to connection, flying at max speed with his wings unfurled. He exited into a large connective zone, a massive sphere that appears where many different connections cross, and stopped to admire in amazement the scene below him. It was there, surrounded by an army of the corporation's foot soldiers, the Sealsdramon. He and many other Digimon looked on as the Sealsdramon charged in in droves, attacking the monster with their combat knives. Sadly, it didn't seem to affect it at all. Every time they hit it their attacks seemed to bounce off, like it was immune to them. An unlucky few that got too close to its head were even bitten into and destroyed. The Sealsdramon, seeing that their attacks were ineffective, backed away to form a bubble around. In unison, a hundred voices called out saying, "Perfect Evolution!". The entire connection was filled with a blinding green light, and the Sealsdramon were all replaced with their evolutions. "Tankdramon!" All of their guns focused themselves on their solitary objective, and the air was filled with shouts of, "Striver Cannon!". The air seemed to be on fire as the sound of their combined blasts finally dimmed from Linkmon's ears. The silhouette of the sphere of Tankdramon could be seen through the smoke that hung over the area. Surely it couldn't have survived an attack like that.

The bubble of tanks began to wobble within the smoke. As it cleared, the onlookers were treated to a terrible sight. The giant insect was unharmed, and, worse, was going on the attack. It flew in and out of the Tankdramon, carving chunks off their bodies with every pass. In mere moments, over half their forces were unable to continue fighting.

The more Linkmon witnessed, the angrier he became at the creature. Any composure he had coming into this fight had evaporated like steam in front of the force of his rage. He took in as much energy as he could, and let it all out at once. "Disconnect Grenade!"

The ball of energy smacked the bug beast across the 'nose' mid-charge, causing it to both tumble over himself and howl in pain. After correcting itself, it caught sight of Linkmon and roared loudly in his direction.

"I'm the one you want right? So come and get me!"

Program Activated – Evolution

"Linkmon, evolve to Jackmon!" The hulking Dino-dragon pounded his fist into his open palm. "We've got a score to settle, and this time you're not running away."

On the other side of the screen, Kurohi watched as Jackmon and the monster began fighting. He could not talk to him or show himself with so many company drones buzzing about, so he'd just have to bide his time and give his partner support when he needed it.

Jackmon and the beast both charged at each other. Using his enhanced speed, Jackmon was able to slip under its attack and hit it with a powerful uppercut. But the air was not filled with the same cracking sound as the last time they fought; on the contrary, a red fist struck him across the side of the head in retaliation. He backed away, and it copied his movements.

"Partner! I need more firepower!"

Program Activated – DNA Backtrack
Program Activated – Breath Attack Consolidation

"Mega Flame!" A wave of fire engulfed the bug. It flew out of the blaze and shot around the area erratically until it shook off every last spark. Still in mid-flight, it created four balls of purple energy in its outstretched hands, and shoved them all together. It threw the combined ball of electricity at Jackmon, who managed to dodge the initial hit, but could not escape the radius of the explosion. He bounced a few times before righting himself on all fours. The monster charged again, its jaws and one pincer, ready to bite and slice at him. Jackmon pivoted on his arm and fired as many System Downs as he could. Though many of them missed, enough managed to hit it to make it careen off target and slam into the ground a ways away. It quickly straightened itself, and the two stared each other down again.

It made the first move, or rather the last. It tore open a hole in the ground and escaped again. Jackmon tried to chase after it, but the hole sealed up before he could follow it.

"Damnit!" He punched the ground where it disappeared. "It got away!" He stood up and rubbed his forehead, angry at himself for letting it slip away again. He surveyed the area around him. The other Digimon who were originally watching the Tankdramons' fight were now watching him. The Tankdramon in turn, or at least the ones that were undamaged, were seeing to the injured members of their platoon. More and more Digimon seemed to be appearing by the minute, curious as to what was going on. Just as Jackmon thought it was about time to leave, the ground beneath him opened up and the creature attacked again, catching him off guard. It grabbed his leg in its jaws and yanked him up through the scattering crowds. It sunk its teeth deeper and deeper into his leg until...

"Heavy Lariat!"

A giant monkey fist impacted into the blue side of its head. It opened its mouth to scream, releasing Jackmon. As the bug clutched its head, a familiar mismatched Digimon grabbed Jackmon's arm and towed him away a safe distance.

"Editusmon?"

The asymmetrical Digimon gave him a wide smile. "Never been so glad to be late to a party. You alright, comrade?"

"I can still fight."

He sighed. "That eesn't what I meant."

"It's coming again."

With a shake of its head, the beast reorientated itself. It gave another roar before grabbing its upper arms with its lower ones, and tearing them from its sockets. It lurched its head back and howled in agony as its previously attached arms faded into the digital either. A stream of data spewed out of its sockets, forming into a pair of green sickle arms. It swung its new arms, shooting archs of projectile pink energy at its pair of opponents. Jackmon and Editusmon, who were temporarily dumbstruck by the grotesqueity of the scene, barely managed to dodge the incoming strike. It shot wave after wave of attacks at them. Jackmon, with his enhanced speed, was able to avoid them, but Editusmon took managed to take three consecutive hits to the gut. Seeing this, the monster kept one arm firing at Jackmon, while charging at Editusmon, maw wide with hunger. Jackmon looked on as...a giant green cannonball collided with its head, forcing it to spiral into the floor.

Chargermon popped out of his ball form and addressed the others. "Beep bibibibeep bweep bawoo?"

Rubbing his pained stomach, Editusmon turned to Jackmon. "Friend of yours?"

"...Yes."

"What did he say?"

"I don't know. I don't speak Italian."

Chargermon put his hands on his hips and started beeping angrily and Jackmon until a barrage of yellow and black missiles assaulted the two of them, Editusmon barely avoiding the attack. The missiles that did miss them flew throughout the area, causing those that had gathered to watch to flee in terror. Even the Tankdramon left, carrying their wounded with them. Editusmon observed that the bug's wings were gone, now replaced with an array of honeycomb shaped missile pods.

"A CannonBeemon, now? What's with thees theeng and bug Digimon?"

"Probably just likes the taste."

The missile pods on its back opened again and spewed another volley of missiles at the three of them. A small black Digimon intersected itself between the group and the rockets. "Crescendo Tone!" The wall of sound neutralized the threat. "I apologize for my tardiness, sir Jackmon."

"Eyes forward, Sopranomon. Don't let your guard down around this guy."

"Duly noted, sir, but...I am Mezzomon."

Editusmon patted the small Digimon on the back. "Comrade, you look exactly the same."

"Beep beep babababa badeep ba beebada."

Jackmon nodded in agreement. "Chargermon's right. Even if it's not a fair fight, with the four of us together we can surely defeat this abomination." Editusmon and Mezzomon shot him a look of 'you understood that?'. Jackmon, in response, shot Chargermon a look. "That is what you said, right?"

"Bebabe."

"I'll take that as 'more or less'."

Below them, the creature started whaling again. It banged its fists against the ground over and over, like it was throwing a tantrum. Then it spoke. "More..." It stared up at them with its eyeless face. "More power!" It banged its fists one more time before standing up again. "I need more power!" It floated into the air. "I need to...Evolve!"

A sickening green light formed around the beast like a mist. Inside, it's silhouette was violently shaking, as if it was having a seizure. It seemed to tear out of its old body, spewing glittering fragments of blue and red data from within the emerald sphere.

The remaining four Digimon could only watch in horror as the fog dissipated to reveal the form of their new foe. It was a hulking light-blue Kuwagata, with enormous up-turned pincers. Each of its four three-fingered hands had a long, curved spike protruding from its wrist. Its wings, which numbered the same as its hands, were one-and-a-half its height, and had a gnarled and tattered appearance. It raised its head to the sky and howled its new name, as if announcing it to the world itself.

"GiraffaKuwarus!"

It looked up at the shocked quartet and gave an evil smirk. "Impressed? I had to eat quite a lot of you Digimon to accumulate enough data for that little show, but it was all worth it. After all..." He stuck out his long tongue and licked one of his fingers. "They were all so incredibly tasty."

Jackmon burst from the ranks, fist pulled back, but GiraffaKuwarus was ready, swinging one of his arms around and redirecting the speeding Digimon into the ground. It slammed its foot down on top of his head and cackled. "I may not need to eat you anymore, but I certainly will enjoy tearing your to pieces."

"Heavy Lariat!" Editusmon caught Chargermon in the crook of his elbow and propelled him at the blue beetle. A simple jump was enough to dodge it, with Chargermon impacting just in front of Jackmon's snout.

Program Activated – Heavy Impactor

Mezzomon pulled out his large cannon and scattered as many shots as his trigger finger would allow at GiraffaKuwarus. It weaved between the shots without too much difficulty before chucking the still ball-formed Chargermon at the tiny musician, who was not as lucky as the insect was at avoiding it. As Editusmon went to assist the two, he felt a tug at his leg and was thrown down on top of Jackmon.

"Ed...get off...you're heavy."

"I don't think thees ees the time for jokes, Jack."

"We're about to die. I think I'd rather go out joking than wollowing in despair."

GiraffaKuwarus' shadow loomed over them. "Well, if that's how you want to go out, then I'll be happy to oblige you." He raised one of his menacing wrist blades up, but the smile on his face suddenly shifted to one of confusion and anger. "But he...I don't care about..." He seemed to be talking to someone they couldn't see. "...I understand." He lowered his arm. "Sadly, it looks like I won't get the satisfaction of killing you today." He kicked Jackmon in the head. "But be sure that I'll be there cheering when someone makes a meal of you." He nonchalantly walked off. "Now if you'll excuse me..." He looked back over his shoulder. "I've got a whale to catch." He sunk into the ground and disappeared.

It was the next day, and Kurohi was heading home from work. Link and the other Digimon had been very quiet when they'd returned home. Pop and Melor were both astonished and upset about Kuwarus' ability to evolve, and Ricker...was Ricker. He was just upset about losing, but glad everyone was alright. "Trouble is..." Kurohi couldn't help pondering to himself. "We were a match for him before he evolved. Unless we manage to figure out how to evolve to Perfect, we may not stand a chance of defeating him."

"Yes, Kurohi, but you've been working on that evolution program for the last five months, and it's never worked in testing. Besides, that's not the thing that worries me most."

"You're talking about what he said at the end of the fight. That there may be more creatures like him out there?"

Linkmon grunted a yes. "Even if there's an army of them out there, I will not be defeated until every last creature that feeds on Digimon is deleted. Besides, his evolution is far from perfect. With the right programs we could easily defeat him."

Kurohi stopped dead, mid-stride. The gears in his brain were cranking so hard that passersbys could hear them. "Say that again."

"What?" Linkmon seemed somewhat confused. "Um...With the right programs we could easily defeat him?"

"No, before that."

"His...evolution is far from perfect?"

"His evolution is far from perfect." Kurohi muttered this to himself. "His evolution is far from perfect. Far from perfect. Far from Perfect..." There was a minute or so of pause before he continued. "Did he ever say that he evolved to Perfect?"

"No. I never thought he did. It was just...I don't know what to call it."

"A new...Link, I've got it!" Kurohi was jumping up and down. "I've got it! I've done it!"

"Done what? As far as I can tell you've just been standing here mumbling to yourself."

"You'll see. Let's get home. I need to boot up that override program again." He started to run in the direction of their apartment. "I think you've just given me my second win-"

A dark car came screeching to a halt on the sidewalk in front of him. A woman, about his height, with short black hair stepped out of the driver's seat. "Furijin Kurohi, right?" She spoke with enough authority to make a Prime Minister shake in his loafers.

Kurohi was too stunned by the absurd nature of the situation to respond right away. "Y-yes. How can I-"

"I'm Erika Haugen from the Illegal monitoring department of Digicorps.." She held up her ID like it was a police badge. "I'd like you to come with me."