Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Digital Manifest
Keepers
Chapter: 26/ The Shadow Descends
Impmon paced around on the roof, his hands held behind his head as he looked up towards the darkening sky and a look of supreme irritation painted on his face. He knew that he shouldn't have a reason to feel this way, but his dark mood refused to leave him. It was rather unfair that the negative feelings that he was presently experiencing were caused by Leomon's presence, after all his return all but completely erased the crime that he had done against the lion digimon, Jeri, and the rest of the Tamers. Jeri was happy and his slate was wiped clean.
Except it wasn't.
Impmon had a strange feeling that something was up. Strange headaches, missing memories, and flashes of images in his brain aside, Impmon knew that something was very definitely rotten in the state of Denmark, or in this case Shinjuku. He had plenty of reason to believe that this was the case, one of which being this. He still held Leomon's data within his body. Closing his eyes, Impmon brought one red gloved fist to his heart, feeling a familiar tingle of energy trace its way through his body, causing his hand to give off a soft, orange glow. He was still there, still in his body. There was no denying that. Impmon had absorbed the lion's data himself, had called upon his power and, on rare occasions, had even felt as though the proud warrior was standing by his side, lending him his strength that he had even when it wasn't being called upon. And now this new Leomon…whatever he was, he knew the Tamers and acted just as they expected him too. Impmon hadn't known the mighty Champion except during his two encounters with the Tamers in the digital world so he couldn't make an estimate as to how genuine he was. According to Renamon, Guilmon said that he smelled the same as Leomon, and Jeri certainly believed that it was him. If it weren't for Guilmon's incredible sense of smell Impmon's doubts would be even greater, because even though he hated to see the puppet loving girl in this way, he did have to wonder if she wanted Leomon to be back among the living so badly that she was willing to take in anything that this other one said at face value.
As it had been noted however, Guilmon's nose usually knows all, and with the exception of the data that he carried within him, Impmon had nothing to go on that could disprove that this Leomon wasn't the Leomon that everyone thought he was.
Except…
There was this little detail. Some time ago he had promised Renamon after confiding in her about his suspicions that he would get to the bottom of this mystery, and he had set off with the intention of having a little chat with him on the matter. He remembered bounding from rooftop to rooftop, and then he thought that his eyes had caught sight of him…
…And that was where his memories became questionable, for the next thing that he knew he woke up on the top of a roof in a completely different area from where he remembered being, feeling incredibly sore and hungry on top of that. Lacking any idea as to what had happened Impmon had gone home to see about getting something to eat so that at least one of his discomforts could be taken care of. After that, all thought of Leomon and solving his mystery evaporated from his mind until Jeri had informed him of her party. Most unusual, and then there was the peculiar headache followed by the hallucination that he had experienced when Renamon began questioning him about what he had found out concerning Leomon.
Impmon shook his head, wondering about that strange incident, feeling that maybe it would be best to let Renamon know about it. She tended to have a pretty good head on her shoulders, but then there also stood a pretty good chance that she wouldn't believe him about his lack of memories. After all, he didn't believe it himself, but there it was, as plain as the daylight that was beginning to fade. Impmon frowned as he turned his emerald eyes to see Henry beginning to take his leave from the party so that he could take Suzie and Lopmon home. Tamer or not, Suzie was still young and would need her rest. She was a growing girl. Come to think of it, he was going to need to take Ai and Mako home soon as well…
Impmon stiffened as he felt a familiar presence appear next to him, and a purple-gloved hand was placed on his tiny shoulder.
"A penny for your thoughts?" Asked Renamon as she sat down next to him. Impmon raised an eyebrow at the vulpine digimon.
"Takin' up more of dose human sayin's, fox-face? You know dey don't do much for makin' you sound smart…"
"Only from your perspective," said Renamon as she removed her paw from the imp's shoulder and gave him a cool, amused, but also concerned look with her deep, azure colored eyes. "But I for one happen to like them. Now I came to check up on you after what happened back at the party, but if you don't feel that you're ready to talk just yet…"
Renamon got up to leave, but Impmon's voice prevented her from doing that.
"I did go looking for Leomon," said Impmon. Renamon paused and gazed at him, one of her ears cocking to one side as she listened carefully to him. "It was around da same time that you guys had that run-in with that weird Sakuyamon t'ing dat Jeri told me about. Da reason why da party was delayed for so long?"
Renamon nodded carefully before sitting back down next to her viral friend.
"And why did you say instead that you haven't found the time when I first asked you about it? If it was because we were in a public setting we could easily have been out here sooner instead of you sulking out here alone? Did you actually discover something?"
Impmon bit his lip and scowled.
"Forget I said anyt'ing…"
Renamon's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Impmon…if you're hiding something, something that might have importance in regards to Jeri's safety…"
"I don't!" Impmon grated, turning on the vulpine digimon with a furious gaze, his gloved hands clenched into fists. The two friends met each other, glare for glare for a few moments before Impmon relented, turning away from Renamon as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Dat is…I…I don't know…"
Renamon waited for him to continue.
"I don't know…dis just seems so weird. Just t'inkin' about it makes my head hurt…" Impmon blinked at that and chuckled harshly. "I'm sure you've noticed dat already…"
"Impmon, what are you trying to say?"
Impmon fidgeted with his hands for a few seconds, debating whether or not he should tell her about…what he no longer knew or remembered knowing. He should, but he was still uncertain about it. No…there was something wrong here. Something didn't sit right, and it was made even more so after that headache that he had when Renamon brought up the subject of Leomon with him. He had to tell someone. Otherwise this was going to eat away at him unless he confronted Leomon directly, and if his missing memories were any indication, he wasn't sure if it would be a smart idea to do something like that a second time without someone else aware of the situation.
"Da t'ing is…I remember going out to look for Leomon, and then I thought I saw him…" Impmon shook his head. "…After dat the next t'ing I know I'm waking up on a rooftop on a different roof from where I was, feeling like I had da stuffin' knocked outta me. And den, earlier, when you t'ought dat you saw me in pain…I was. I saw somet'ing in my head. It looked like I was fightin' somet'ing, but…"
Impmon groaned as he felt his temples beginning to throb. He didn't even notice when Renamon grabbed hold of him by his shoulders.
"Impmon! Are you all right?"
"Nnnng…you mean besides da fact dat my head feels like someone's tryin' to drive a spike through my head? I'm dandy. I hope dat dis really is somet'ing dat I ate…"
"Be serious Impmon," said Renamon, her eyes frowning, recalling that the symptoms of Impmon's headache happened the last time that they tried talking about Leomon. The timing couldn't be a coincidence…could it? Unless Impmon had resorted to lying to help get Renamon to pay closer attention to what he was saying, which she highly doubted he'd do. True, Impmon had tried to trick her in the past, but after they had become friends he had never gone out of his way to deceive her, as he knew full well after the last time he had tried to do something like that, she in turn had tricked him into being defeated in a fight with Terriermon (an experience that he had so far only described as unpleasant), but that was besides the point. What was, was that Impmon was in pain for some unexplained reason that may or may not have something to do with his attempts to learn something about Leomon. And with his story of memory loss…
Renamon frowned mentally as she recalled some of the things that had come up concerning Leomon when the Tamers had that meeting with Yamaki at the hospital. She was starting to hope that there was something else going on, and that Leomon was not some kind of Trojan horse. However, given some of the things that they had all experienced since their adventures had began, one of which being the D-Reaper actually taking on Jeri's form in order to learn more about the human world, Renamon wouldn't put anything past the real or digital worlds in how they conducted their affairs.
If something is wrong, and Leomon isn't who we think he is, how would Jeri react? And the other Tamers, Ryan and Chris, what do they know about this? Could they be a part of some kind of invasion force? A deception of some sort so that they could accurately gauge our strengths and weaknesses? They certainly have had enough time for it, and enough access.
Renamon felt a flash of anger surge through her before she swiftly, and brutally, crushed it. She had no proof of wrongdoing on Ryan and Chris's part any more then Impmon did with Leomon (though with what he had just revealed to her that was starting to become doubtful). Right now, her first priority was to do what she could for Impmon and keep an eye out for any trouble.
Impmon's breathing was just starting to return to normal when Renamon felt something tugging at the edge of her senses. Almost against her will, Renamon's head snapped over in the direction of the horizon, her blue and black eyes narrowing down to slits as she saw dark clouds begin to gather in the sky, circling around each other in a way that reminded the vulpine digimon of the digital zone that had appeared during the Locomon and Parasimon incident during Rika's birthday.
"Something's coming," Renamon whispered unknowingly to herself.
"That's an understatement," growled a gruff voice from behind the two digimon. Eyes widening in surprise, Impmon and Renamon both looked over their shoulders to find Leomon placing Jeri on the rooftop carefully, making sure that she wasn't going to fall before continuing. "I have seen this phenomenon before when in the digital world. It has never meant good things."
Renamon looked at the lion digimon, wondering why it was that he and Jeri were here before quickly pushing the thought aside. As much as she was beginning to distrust Leomon now, he hadn't proven himself false in any way that she could see as he had fought by their side with the same determination and zeal as he always had before he had died, and he had information that could prove useful in the upcoming situation. Next to her, Impmon stiffened as he put himself on guard around the lion digimon, but as yet, like herself, chose not to do anything until Leomon revealed himself to be something more then what he appeared.
"And what can you tell us about this phenomenon?" Prompted Renamon cautiously. Jeri gave the kitsune digimon a strange look before looking back over to Leomon to see what his reaction was going to be. Leomon simply crossed his arms across his broad chest and frowned.
"Not much I'm afraid," he said with a tone of frustration. "What I have seen was only its aftereffects; the devastation that it leaves behind in its wake. I had at first attributed it to some kind of energy disruption in the digital world much like what we had seen when we had first encountered Beelzemon." Leomon gave a nod towards the impish digimon, and he met Leomon's gaze with a scrutinizing look before nodding himself. He remembered that day when he had first went after the Tamers in his new Mega form. A strange storm had started up and forced him to withdraw. Renamon likewise nodded, remembering that day as well, and that Takato, Henry, and Terriermon had been separated from them shortly afterwards. For a moment, Renamon's doubts were assuaged by this recollection. There were very, very few outside of their own group who actually knew about their adventures with that kind of detail. Even so, Impmon's words from their interrupted conversation rang within the depths of her mind, reminding her to be on her guard until she knew for certain just what was going on with the newcomers that had crash landed in Shinjuku.
"But?" Asked Renamon, feeling as though Leomon had more to say on the mysterious energy configuration that was developing in Shinjuku.
Leomon's frown deepened as he looked at the rotating clouds of digital energy in the evening sky.
"Yes. But. As I made my way through the digital world, I began to encounter beings that were very much like the Apemon that we had fought the day after Ryan, Chris, and I bio-emerged. In addition, I began to hear the name Ahuramon's Shadow more and more frequently from digimon who were striving to either flee from the occurrence or do battle with it, and more and more it seemed as though its movements had an actual intelligence driving it. It targeted areas filled with digimon frequently, sending multitudes of digimon on a great migration towards wherever they could find safety. I remember hearing rumors of a great army of Parasimon that had been uprooted from its home after one such incident…"
Jeri's eyes suddenly widened at that and a light gasp escaped her mouth.
"Leomon…you…you never said anything about that when I mentioned the Parasimon incident to you…"
Leomon grimaced.
"You remember what we talked about after we visited Ryan at the hospital?" Leomon asked his Tamer.
Renamon and Impmon turned their gaze to the brown haired girl with curious expressions on their faces. Jeri began to look nervous but she pressed onwards.
"Yes," she answered softly.
"The case is very much the same here." Leomon turned to face his comrades. "I'm sure that you two have many questions. Particularly you Impmon." Impmon blinked at that, and truth be told, so did Leomon. He didn't know where that had come from. "I will do my best to answer your questions, but right now we have to do whatever we can to put a stop to what's coming. If we do not, there stands a strong likelihood that Shinjuku will be destroyed!"
As if his words had been some kind of signal, the digital zone off in the distance sparked and thunder rumbled through the air like some kind of monstrosity that was being let loose upon the unsuspecting citizenry of the city.
"What's going on?!" Demanded Yamaki as he dashed into the control room where his two network operators, Riley and Talley were busily typing away on their computer councils, strain clearly evident on their faces as they tried to keep up with the sudden and unexpected influx of data that had appeared on the surrounding monitors.
"A massive data stream is emanating from the core of the digital world," exclaimed Riley as she analyzed the incoming data. "This is…beyond anything that we've ever seen, and it's disrupting our systems. Not even the D-Reaper was like this when it first appeared! We're in danger of suffering widespread system damage!"
"There's just too much information for our processors to handle," said Talley. "I'm adjusting the servers to compensate but it's only a temporary fix sir. Initiating emergency counter measures and sending tracers…" Talley suddenly gasped as the readings on her screen suddenly began to go wild. "Wha…? What is this…? This data…I've never seen anything like this!"
"What's happening?" Yamaki gritted his lighter harshly between his right hand, his grip straining against its open top. Something bad was coming…he could feel it in his bones.
"The tracers are picking up an abnormality in the digital zone. Something's attempting to bio-emerge. Whatever it is, it has data patterns that I've never seen before! It's preparing to breach! I can't stop it!"
The sound of the top of Yamaki's lighter clattering noisily upon the ground as it broke off under the pressure that the head of Hypnos placed upon it echoed within the room.
No…
"Rika? Are you okay?" Asked Takato as he looked at the red headed Tamer with a worried expression on his face. She had been staring out the window with a fierce expression for some time now, but when he looked he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.
Maybe if I checked another window… thought Takato as he began to get worried about his friend, wondering what it was that was making her be like this. Was it something that he said? As far as he could tell he hadn't said anything that could have made her upset or anything, unless he had goofed up more then usual. Takato did a quick mental check of what he had previously said when Rika didn't answer his question, but he couldn't come up with anything. She had actually been in a rather good mood and hadn't given him any indication that he had said anything that he shouldn't have. The sudden change in attitude had just come about when she looked out the window.
Maybe I'm missing something, thought Takato feeling that maybe it would be a good idea to check the scenery out more thoroughly if Rika didn't respond to him soon.
"Rika?" Takato placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to get her attention, and withdrew said appendage quickly when Rika's face darkened even more, her gaze never once breaking away from the window.
Oookay…better not do that again…
"Um…Rika…is everything al…?"
"Something's wrong," Rika said flatly, causing Takato to breathe a sigh of relief, grateful that she was now talking to him again. Now if only she would let him know just what it was that was bugging her like this…
"What is?" Asked Takato, feeling a little creeped out by the way Rika was acting. For some reason she was reminding him of how Guilmon would act whenever a wild digimon bio-emerged into the real world.
Instead of answering with words Rika simply grabbed Takato by the wrist and began to drag him out of the kitchen. Takato sputtered in surprise and his feet nearly tripped up before quickly remembering their balance and matched Rika's pace before he abruptly pulled the two of them to a stop.
"Rika!" Exclaimed Takato, the worry that he had been feeling towards his friend suddenly taking on a razors edge to it. "What's going on?"
Rika's eyes narrowed for a moment, and for a brief moment Takato could have sworn that he was looking at someone completely different from the Rika that he knew before the red headed girl blinked. Slight confusion graced her features before settling into a firm gaze once more.
"I…don't know Takato," said Rika, puzzlement clear in her voice, but accompanied with a steely certainty in what she said next. "I've just…got a weird feeling. Something's coming…"
"Something is," said Renamon as she phased into view behind Rika, causing Takato to jump slightly at her sudden appearance. He had been so focused on what Rika was saying and what was wrong with her that he hadn't made room for any other occurrences to interrupt them. "There appears to be a digital field forming in Shinjuku similar to what occurred when the Parasimon invaded. Leomon has reason to believe that it is dangerous."
Takato's expression suddenly became hard.
"Then we have to take care of it! Henry probably already knows about it so he might be heading down there now! He's going to need backup! What else did Leomon say about this digital field?"
"I'll explain as we go…" began Renamon but she was swiftly interrupted by sounds coming from the dining room where the party was being held. It was Kazu, and he was jogging towards the kitchen at a brisk pace.
"Hey! Chumley! Ryan and Chris's digivices are going bonkers, and Leomon's outside with Jeri saying that we all gotta get in gea…whoa!"
Takato, Rika, and Renamon all looked at Kazu with quizzical expressions as the visor-wearing boy came to an abrupt halt in front of them, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise as he looked at them and a queer grin tugging at the edges of his mouth.
"Something you…ah…want to tell me Chumley?"
Takato raised an eyebrow in confusion. Kazu's grin only grew wider and he pointed with one hand at the goggle-wearing boy. Following the direction of Kazu's finger, Takato found Rika's hand was still wrapped around his wrist in a vice-like grip. All of a sudden warmth and embarrassment became the dominating emotions in his mind and his urgency towards the situation was almost completely forgotten in light of Kazu's observation.
"Ah! I-It's not like that!"
"You sure? 'Cause…"
"Oh for goodness sake!" Exclaimed Rika angrily as she let go of Takato's wrist and stormed forwards, her face taking on a red discoloration. "We don't have time for your warped and twisted mind imagining things Kazu! We have to take care of that digital field!"
"You got it," chuckled Kazu as he cautiously stepped away from the fuming red headed Tamer, all but wilting under the heavy glare that she was giving him as she passed by him. Renamon shook her head in exasperation, wondering just how it was that human children could change gears so quickly even with the threat of battle ahead of them before vanishing from sight. Takato and Kazu exchanged glances. No words were exchanged between them right away. Instead Kazu merely snickered and winked at Takato, giving him the thumbs up. Takato in his turn glowered at the boy.
"You really can be demented sometimes you know that, Kazu?"
"Yeah, I know. Keeps things interesting though, doesn't it?"
Takato groaned.
The Tamers made their way out the front door of Jeri's home, each of them scanning the horizon for their quarry before finally sighting on it. Or rather, Rika did first and the rest simply followed her direction.
"There!"
"Sheesh," said Kazu, placing his hands on his hips and giving a rather disgusted look at the digital field. "Why do things like that always have to interrupt stuff like this?"
"Who cares?" Said Rika as she brought out her D-Arc and held it above her head. Renamon appeared next to her, preparing for the oncoming biomerge. "Let's just go and take care of this thing already!"
The others nodded in agreement. Takato prepared to follow his friend's example while Ryan and Chris raised their digivices to digivolve their partners. Kazu was already climbing on top of Guardromon's shoulder and Jeri did likewise.
"Biomerge Activate!" Shouted Rika as a familiar blue aura surrounded her digivice and burst outwards. A comforting warmth followed by a feeling of incredible strength flowed through her limbs, making her body tingle as she felt herself being merged with Renamon…
Suddenly Rika's digivice sparked and the light died down, startling the girl and interrupting Takato just as soon as the word biomerge was leaving his lips. Blinking in surprise Takato turned to Rika, getting ready to ask her if everything was all right when light once more flared on the screen of Rika's D-Arc, this time a much darker blue then what Takato and the others remembered. A cold, computer voice spoke from Rika's digivice as the light surrounded the Tamer and her partner.
B-I-O-M-E-R-G-E D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N M-A-N-I-F-E-S-T-A-T-I-O-N P-R-O-G-R-A-M A-C-T-I-V-A-T-E-DThe next thing that Takato and the others heard was Rika's scream of surprise as the light enveloped her and Renamon. The light intensified, forcing everyone to look away lest they be blinded.
"RENAMON! BIOMERGE TOOO…!"
The light flared once and began to die down. Takato cracked open his eyes, risking a look to see what it was that had just happened. A cold feeling made its way into his heart. Something had just gone wrong. Very wrong. Digivices didn't normally act like that during a biomerge.
Manifest Program Activated? What's that? Wondered Takato as the light continued to die down well past tolerable levels, revealing a form that was quite familiar to him. At least Sakuyamon looks all righ…hold on. Takato frowned and he looked closer. That's not Sakuyamon…who, or what is that?
The new figure turned towards them, and the Tamers backed up cautiously. It looked like Sakuyamon. It was almost identical in appearance in fact. The only major differences being was the coloring of her armor, outfit, and staff. Silver where gold should be, and deep blue in place of purple.
The cold feeling that Takato had experienced earlier suddenly intensified as the figure announced its name to them, completing its digivolution.
"…Kuzuhamon."
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