Wira Digital

by Alforce Zero

The story of the Malaysian Digidestined, chosen by an ancient warrior to wield his mystical DigiSpheres to combat the forces of evil that transpired in the Digital World.

38. DigiWira in Distress, Part I

Salutations, Liu Ying,

It has been a while since our last e-mail, but it's alright because I trust that you have been kept busy lately. I've heard from the news and from Gennai that Malaysia has been under the attack of wild Digimon twice, but both times the wild Digimon were thwarted by a group of Digimon who called themselves the Wira Digital. Now, I trust that you and your team of DigiWira will have things under control, but should you ever need our help, remember, the Japanese DigiDestined are always happy to lend a helping hand.

It has also come to my attention that the five new Digimon, the Wira Digital, are all one-of-a-kind Digimon whom have never made any appearance elsewhere, both the Earth and the Digital World. Are they your Digivolved partners? The last time I've heard from you, there were only three of you, with Sagittarimon, Fairymon and Youkomon being the highest level of Digivolution achieved by your Digimon partners. Since then, apparently your team has acquired two more additions. How are Adam and Gayathri, by the way? I hope they are also in perfect state of health. Do send our regards to them and for the newer members too.

If it's alright with you, I would like to request some updated details about your team and your Digimon partners, and their achieved Digivolution stages and names. It's for database purposes for future identifications, and should you require that your identities are kept as secret for the time being, I will do so. I know for once how feisty reporters can be; we were hounded by reporters constantly after the incident with Armageddomon in 2003, but luckily all the hype has simmered down following the peace we are enjoying nowadays. But apparently in your country, the threat has just begun. I wish you luck for your future endeavors, and don't hesitate to ask for our help if things get out of hand.

Best regards,

Koushirou Izumi a.k.a. Izzy

Liu Ying smiled and began typing out a reply for the email she had received from her online pen-pal and also fellow DigiDestined. They had corresponded to each other since the first week after Liu Ying was chosen to become a DigiWira. As she had been alone then, Izzy had been instrumental in guiding her online of various stuffs about Digimon and the Digital World. Through Izzy, Liu Ying had acquired many other DigiDestined pen-pals whom she still kept in touch every now and then. The last time she had sent out e-mails to them was before JD and Manny entered the picture as the evil ShadoWira.

She spent the next half an hour outlining briefly about the team's newest members and their partners, and explained about the new Digital Access Digivolution ability, wondering whether this kind of ability had existed before or a totally new discovery. She had no qualms in telling the details to Izzy – the Japanese boy was renowned for his ability to figure out baffling facts pertaining to Digimon, and he was the one with the Crest of Knowledge. Then, after putting in details about their latest threat, she hit the send button and closed all the programs before shutting down the computer.

Her eyes trailed to the clock, noticing that it was late. Her grandfather, mother and Liu Meng had all gone to bed. Labramon too was already sleeping in Liu Ying's room. Liu Ying was the one who was still up, as she had wanted to do an online browsing to check whether the news about the Digimon attack at Sunway Lagoon and their town made the news or not. The attacks were on the front pages of every newspaper for two days after the attack on the school. She grimaced slightly as she thought of the repercussions of the Digimon attack had caused at their town.

While there were fortunately no casualties, the injuries toll and damages were high. The townspeople were in a constant state of anxiety, fearing that the Digimon would attack again. Aldiyamon's brief words, which was broadcasted live on TV and printed on newspapers, had given a miniscule amount of relief for some, but many still feared that the Digimon would again invade the town. Some houses were damaged but not totally destroyed, but the roads leading to the intersection between Taipan Commercial Center and the Municipal Council had to be closed for extensive repair. The media, thankfully, had given mostly good portrayal about the Wira Digital, alleviating the worries of many.

Mostly, because some had criticized them for not being able to prevent the attacks and damages from happening in the first place.

But these opinions were quickly slammed by those who knew what was going on, basically from exposures to other countries that had fell prey to Digimon attacks as well.

All in all, the Wira Digital had instantly achieved celebrity status, and the mystery surrounding the identities of the Wira Digital's 'human partners' further caused speculations and gossips to rise. Nobody knew that the Wira Digital were both Digimon and DigiDestined. Fan sites and blogs sprouted like mushrooms after a rainfall following the revelation of the five Wira Digital.

Liu Ying shook her head. "I better go to bed. Tomorrow, school's starting back."

Following the brief holiday the principal had issued, Liu Ying had constantly seen construction workers working on the damages at the school. The canteen was almost done in repair works, while the Block A had minimal damages on the rooftops and the classrooms on the fourth floor. The library on the third floor only suffered broken windows, and the teaching staffs' offices were intact apart from some broken windows. The classrooms on the ground floor were undamaged.

Before calling it a night, Liu Ying decided to check the door and the windows, to make sure that they were locked. She peered out of the sliding door, noticing that at midnight it was relatively a quiet night outside. The street lamp illuminated the street adequately. The park across the street was deserted, the trees casting dark shadows over the ground. A car was parked under a tree, and Liu Ying thought that it looked familiar. Hadn't she seen it before, parked at the exact same spot for the past few days?

She shrugged and drew the curtains close. Maybe her neighbor had gotten a new car. No need to get paranoid over it.

Unbeknownst to Liu Ying, her house had been under constant surveillance for the past few days. Someone was watching the house occupants' every movement, memorizing every details of it. That person slinked lower from the driver seat when he saw Liu Ying peering out through the glass door, and returned to his original position when the girl drew the curtain close. He saw with satisfaction as the light was put out and started up the car, careful to turn off the lights in order not to attract unwanted attention. Some of the neighbors of the houses around the one he was watching were not asleep yet, and he didn't want to risk anyone knowing what he was up too. He had been planning this for a long time. He had waited long enough before finally the window of opportunity had opened itself upon him. He would make sure that this plan would be set to action very soon.

With that in mind, he chuckled silently as the car steered onto the street and drove away, already looking forward for tomorrow morning.

xxx

xxx

WIRA DIGITAL

Chapter 38 – DigiWira in Distress, Part I

xxx

xxx

"These new brutes you have developed are indeed amazing," Doumon praised, studying the lines of humanoid, black-armored humanoid Digimon. They all looked formidable.

"Indeed they are," Persiamon said haughtily, running her dark crimson claws against her silky red hair. "I'm the beauty and the brains around here, if I may say so myself. Even Lucemon is downright pleased with them…they are even more dependable than those wild Velgemon that Shawujinmon and Astamon had come up with, or those Vilemon the two Puaka Generals used. I have to admit, it baffles me of why Mephistomon and Phelesmon decided to use such annoying weak critters as their brutes. They are just Champions! Truly, I don't see…"

"Ahem," Doumon interrupted, knowing only too well that if let be, the Virago General could ramble for long. The feline woman stopped, and Doumon gave her an apologetic smile. "Apologies for the interruption, Persiamon, but I simply must know the names of these amazing brutes you have for us."

"Impatient, aren't we?" Persiamon laughed, not the least offended at all of the interruption. After all, the Shaman General and she were long friends, and the priest fox was always so cordial and polite to her as compared to Shawujinmon or Astamon. "Well, I suppose I can tell you, seeing that we will have shared control over them…they are called Duskmon."

"Duskmon," Doumon repeated. "I like the sound of that. Are they ready for battle?"

Persiamon nodded. "They are hatched ready. Why…do you need them now?"

"If it's possible," Doumon said. "I have just thought of a way to attack the DigiWira and I thought these Duskmon are perfect. I will just have to look for a decent Ultimate Digimon or two to seal the deal."

"Oh, tell me about it," Persiamon said, her emerald eyes sparkling with glee upon meeting Doumon's ice-blue sharp eyes. Doumon leaned in and told her, and with every second passed Persiamon's eyes grew wide with surprise and excitation that she could barely control her giggle. Doumon returned to his stoic position and looked satisfied at Persiamon's reaction. "Oh Doumon, your plan is simply perfect and excellent! Simply rotten, evil and nasty! I like it! If only I can clear my timetables of some long-due schedules, I might just stick around with you to help. But alas, Lucemon needs…"

Doumon shook his head. "Have no worries, Persiamon. I will take care of the Wira Digital in a manner that Shawujinmon and Astamon could never think off."

"That's why I like your plan," Persiamon said with a snide tone. "Here's hoping that you would be successful so that not only our dear Kappa and Majin Generals could learn from you, but also I won't have to damage my beautiful claws. It's a perfectly win-win situation for all of us."

xxx

xxx

Mondays were the days where Liu Ying would head to school earlier than usual, for it was the day when she would know her prefect duty for the rest of the week. Outside, the sky was barely lit with the early morning sun. Her mother was preparing breakfast and her grandfather was listening to the radio. Her brother was still asleep.

"I can drive you to school if you want," Evelyn Chang, Liu Ying's mother, said as she placed a plate of toasted breads on the table. The mid-thirties woman grimaced as she cast a look outside the door. "It's still too dark outside. I don't really like it if you walk to school at this time of morning."

"Don't worry, mama," Liu Ying chuckled as she spread the strawberry jam on her toasted bread. "Nothing has gone wrong for the past two years."

Labramon trotted towards the dining table, sniffing slightly before turning away with a dejected look on her face. "No banana fritters?" she said and slouched on the floor where a saucer of milk was placed. She eyed the milk for a moment before drinking it.

"And besides, I have Labramon to keep me safe," Liu Ying continued before eating her toast. Then she took one long look at her dejected partner. "Don't worry Labramon; we'll get you your banana fritters at the school canteen later. I'll digitize them for you so that you can them inside your pocket dimension."

Evelyn Chang knew that she didn't have to worry about her daughter's well-being. After all, Liu Ying was a DigiWira, and one of the five now-famous Wira Digital of the country. But still she found that hard to believe as she gazed at her going to be fifteen-years-old daughter. The fame didn't seem to get over her head at all – never mind the fact that their identities were kept as a close-guarded secret. The hairdresser couldn't help but to feel a swell of pride in her heart for her daughter's accomplishment. 'Kang…if only you're still here. You must be really proud of our little girl. Keep her safe always,' she thought silently, and smiled.

"I suppose I'm just being a mother. I've been so busy lately at the salon that I'm always home late. We've just got a couple of women who are really impressed with the way I cut their hair the other day, and now they just come in every other day to get their hair fixed for events and gatherings they are holding," Evelyn said, changing the topic. "But it's good for the business so I'm not complaining. In fact…I'm going to work earlier today because one of them has fixed an appointment for me to do her hair for a morning function she's attending…"

It was a normal breakfast for her family. After fifteen minutes, Liu Ying stood up and digitized Labramon in her Juara Digivice before taking her schoolbag.

"Bye Mama, Grandpa," she said and exited the house.

Walking out from the gate, Liu Ying began walking towards the school, noticing that it was still rather dark. No one was around – it was the time where those who attended the mosque for the morning prayers to still remain there and the time before the elderly people who would usually gather at the park for a Tai-Chi exercise to step out. And it was too early for students who walked and cycled to school. She eyed the car which she had seen the night before, wondering about the car's owner. She supposed that she would find out about it sooner or later.

A rustle was heard as Liu Ying passed the trees. Curious, she stopped and was about to turn around…

…when a cloth-covered hand shot up beside her and clamped her mouth tight. She attempted to struggle but her nostrils were invaded by a foul-smelling chemical, and her head started spinning. Against her wishes, her eyelids drooped down and her limbs gave way. She heard a chuckle and felt her body being lifted off before everything became so eerily dark and quiet.

xxx

xxx

"I wonder why Liu Ying is absent today," Manny said as he met up with the other DigiWira in front of the school library. Being also his classmate, Manny couldn't help but wonder of his teammate's absence today. The last time he had heard from her, which was the previous night when they discussed via online of the homework they would need to pass up that day, she had sounded well and had been looking forward to come to school after a few days off.

"Maybe she's sick?" Gayathri suggested. "It could happen overnight, you know."

"Or maybe she decides to have an extra one day off for the heck of it," JD said with a crooked grin. "If it were me, I'd do just that."

"But this is Liu Ying we're talking about, not you," Adam said, poking at his cousin's arm. "She won't just skip school for the heck of it, as you've so nicely put in. I think Gayathri's right; she must be sick." The youngest of three boys there rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe Josh and I can stop by her house today while on our way back." He cast a fleeting look at JD and had to suppress his grin of the sudden interested look his cousin had on his face.

"You'll do that," Gayathri nodded. "I think Anding's already here so I better get going. How about you, Manny? Is your mom coming today or do you want to tag along with me?"

Manny smiled and shook his head. "I have library prefect duty now…and it looks like there are a lot of things to be cleaned up. We need to reorganize the books after the mess last week's fight had caused. Luckily we manage to end that fight quickly."

JD flashed his crooked grin and jerked up his eyebrows. "Thanks to me and my brilliance…"

"Oh no, you don't. We all contributed fairly in the battle," Adam protested, glaring up at the tall blonde. "Don't take all the credit."

"Uh, oh…here we go," Gayathri whispered to Manny. "This could be interesting."

"How long do you think this will last this time?" Manny whispered back.

Gayathri shrugged. "Probably a minute or two." The two of them then watched amusedly at the arguing cousins.

"But I delivered the finishing blow," JD said, leaning at his cousin, apparently trying to use his bigger stature to intimidate him.

"With our help," Adam returned, unimpressed. He held a hand up. "And if I weren't quick enough to teleport you away from Ardhamon's flaming sphere that time, who knows what would happen to you!"

"Satriamon's a fire Digimon," JD pointed out with a triumphant smirk. "Nothing would happen if the flaming ball hit me."

"Fine. The next time I see a flaming sphere heading your way, I'll keep that in mind," Adam grumbled. He looked at the other two DigiWira and noticed that they both looked so hard not to laugh. "What are you two looking at?" he muttered. "I'll see you two later, or tomorrow, or whenever…" he said, before turning around and stalked off without looking back at all.

"I swear, JD, you really have rubbed off on him," Gayathri laughed as soon as Adam was out of sight. "He's never acted like that before."

"Is that a good thing or bad?" JD asked, grinning himself.

"As long as he doesn't swear like you do when you're angry, it's a good thing," Manny said with a small smile. JD blinked, and the two younger DigiWira chuckled.

"Fine, I get it. I'll try not to corrupt him too much," the blonde DigiWira grinned. The three DigiWira laughed again.

"Adam looks happier though," Gayathri mused. "After all that has happened to him, he certainly looks happier now."

JD nodded. "It was rather hard at first. He could be as shy as you, Manny!" At this, he looked at Manny who smiled back at the comment. "Then I figured out that maybe I can get him to loosen up a little by teasing him around…and I present you now the end product…which has run off…" he added, rubbing the back of his head.

"Shouldn't you go after him? He might leave to Liu Ying's house without you," Gayathri said.

"Nah, he won't. Especially since…" JD took out a set of keys from his trousers pocket and smirked.

"Now you're really going to get it from him," Manny shook his head.

"No worries. I know how to deal with him," JD shrugged. He then eyed his watch and looked at Gayathri. "I'm going now. Wanna walk along with me?" he asked in a teasing suggestive manner.

Gayathri shook her head and gave JD a dry look. "Not interested, sorry. Anyway I need to borrow a book at the library. You go ahead."

"You don't know what you're missing," JD said easily and waved goodbye to his two friends. He walked with a leisure pace towards the stairs, not seemed to be in a hurry at all.

"I didn't want to mention this to JD while he was around…" Manny said to Gayathri as they made their way towards the library. "But I don't think Adam is the only one who's benefiting from their recent familial discovery. It seems to me that it works both ways." He was briefly reminded of the conversation he and JD had once before the trouble with Zudomon and MarineDevimon.

"Definitely. He turns out to be a quite a cool guy," Gayathri said, and frowned slightly when she realized to whom she was speaking too. "Umm…in a big-brotherish sort of way," she added as an afterthought.

Manny smiled inwardly upon seeing his friend flustering a little, noticing the hasty amendment Gayathri had made to her sentence. After a brief awkward pause the two of them changed the topic and entered the library.

In the meantime, JD saw a rather sulky-looking Adam standing inside the bicycle shed. "Haha…what's with the long face? Surely you didn't forget that I hold the keys to our bikes' locks?" Without waiting for a reply the blonde teen began unlocking the locks as Adam looked on. After a minute and still no reply, he looked up and saw that Adam was looking away from him. Grinning devilishly he reached up and laid a hand on Adam's right shoulder, and made a mock-hissing sound. "Oooh, cold. No wonder you're giving me the cold shoulder, eh? Maybe some fire would do you good?" His teasing questions were returned with a glower and JD removed his hand. "Oookay, so you're not talking to me. Its fine, I'll talk to you still. Anyway I was thinking. How about after we visit Liu Ying, we make a stop at Baskin Robbins and get that ice-cream you liked so much the other day? What was that flavor again?" He observed his cousin – who had looked away again – intently, waiting for the expected reaction.

"Bribing me with ice-cream now?" Adam asked, turning back to look at JD. The sulkiness had somehow evaporated. "And it's Pralines and Creams."

"Just because I know you'd cave in quickly at the thought of that ice-cream," JD smirked as they took their bikes out from the shed.

Adam shook his head and rode on his bike. He looked over his shoulder at his cousin; a smirk worthy of JD began to appear on his boyish feature. "Nah…I caved because I know you just can't wait to see Liu Ying!" He laughed at the astonished look on JD's face and quickly took off. When he was at a rather safe distance, he turned back and held up to fingers. "That's two for Adam, and for you, zilch! Ha ha ha…" The younger of the cousins immediately took off again towards the gate.

"Come back here, you!" JD roared after the surprise had ran off, quickly giving chase to his cousin. His cheeks burned a little, and it wasn't because of his affinity to the fire element.

The cousins had just arrived at the street where Liu Ying's house was at before Adam stopped his bike abruptly. Seeing that, JD halted as well. "Hey…what's wrong? Why did you…" he stopped when Adam pointed forward. JD followed the direction and saw a police car parked outside of a house. "Don't tell me…"

"That's Liu Ying's house," Adam said, their early playful rivalry forgotten. "We better go and see what's going on…"

The two boys approached Liu Ying's house with anticipation and parked their bikes by the gates. They could hear the sound of a woman crying. Adam tentatively pressed the bell switch on the gate which alerted the policeman and the policewoman, as well as the house occupants. An elderly man peered through the window, and upon seeing them he went outside.

"Come in, boys." Grandpa Chang's voice was grim. He shook the boys' hands, and the boys could see that the old man's hands were trembling. They went inside and saw three sets of eyes staring at them. "They are my granddaughter's friends, it's alright. They should know what has happened to Ying." Then, noticing Adam and JD's confusion, he explained, "Liu Ying has been kidnapped."

The revelation shocked the cousins. "Kidnapped?" Adam repeated, astounded. JD could be heard swearing under his breath. "When?"

"This morning, while on her way to school. It seems that it has happened right at this street, when no one is around," Grandpa Chang clarified.

"Mr. Chang, is it wise to let them know of this?" one policeman asked sternly.

"These two boys are good friends of my granddaughter. They have the right to know," Grandpa Chang said, and gave the DigiWira a meaningful stare.

Both Adam and JD caught the look, which could easily meant that Grandpa Chang wanted them to stay longer to ask them more, but the questions couldn't be asked when there were other people around. They had a look around – Liu Ying's little brother was sleeping on a large cushion in front of the TV, while Liu Ying's mother was being comforted by a policewoman. She was clutching a paper.

"We will begin our investigation immediately," the policewoman assured Mrs. Evelyn Chang. "We'll need the paper too so that we could run a test to look for any fingerprint." Evelyn gave the policewoman the paper, and the policewoman passed it to her male colleague.

"Please inform us if the kidnappers call you," the policeman said. "I will return shortly with the technician and several more officers to wire the phone line in this house. Mei, continue questioning Mrs. Chang. And these two boys too," the policeman instructed, sizing up Adam and JD once before stepping out of the house.

As soon as the policeman had left the house, the policewoman sighed in relief and turned to the still-sniffling Evelyn. "Evelyn, pardon Jason. He's a good guy but he tends to get too serious whenever we have a case."

"It's alright, Mei," Evelyn said.

"May I use the toilet?" Mei the policewoman requested. "I wasn't going to ask when Jason was around, since he doesn't think…"

"Mei, you're our family's friend. You used to work with Kang…" Evelyn said, and pointed towards the kitchen. "The toilet is at the back of the kitchen."

The policewoman excused herself and the DigiWira waited for her to leave the living room. As soon as they heard the sound of the toilet door being closed, Adam quickly took out his Juara Digivice and pressed a button. Faint light burst from the device's screen and they saw a black rectangular with green grid lines. Two dots of white and red appeared almost overlapping each other, and dots of pink and blue were there, not too far from the white and red dots.

"What are you doing?" Evelyn choked out amidst her soft sobs.

"I'm trying to locate the signal from Liu Ying's Juara Digivice," Adam said, noticing that Liu Ying was not around the nearby vicinity. He increased the scanning range to include the whole town, and still was left with no signal. Increasing the range again to now include the whole of Klang Valley, once again they were led with nothing. The rectangular flickered before finally, when the four dots of white, red, blue and pink looked almost overlapping each other at the lower left side of the rectangle, a yellow dot was present, at the farthest upper right corner of the rectangle.

"There!" JD exclaimed, pointing at the yellow dot. "That's Liu Ying's Juara Digivice's signal!"

"That's almost the whole state scanning range," Adam murmured. "She could be anywhere in Selangor or KL."

"You mean…" Grandpa Chang said with a disbelieved tone.

"It looks like wherever she is now, she is somewhere at the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur," Adam analyzed.

"How do you know that?" Evelyn asked.

"Our Digivices come with the ability to detect the signal of other Digivices," Adam clarified. "If Liu Ying is carrying her Digivice with her right now, that's the place where the kidnappers have taken her. It's hard to determine but at least we now have a lead…" Adam hit a button and the digital locator vanished when they heard the sound of the toilet being flushed.

"Should we tell the police about it?" Evelyn asked with a wavering voice. She looked greatly worried of the well-being of her daughter. She shook her head once and gave the two boys a very meaningful, tear-stricken look. "Can you save Ying? Can you…as the Wira Digital…save her? I know she is one as well, but…"

"We'll do what we can," JD said quickly.

"Why do you think Liu Ying has been kidnapped, aunty?" Adam asked.

"We've received a note inside our mailbox," Evelyn explained. "There, stamped with letters cut out from newspapers, and I quote, 'Your daughter is in our possession. Do not inform the police. Wait for our call for further instructions. If you inform the police, we can not guarantee the safety of your precious daughter.'"

"Playing detectives, boys?" asked the policewoman as soon as she reappeared from the kitchen. She looked mildly amused.

"Mei, it's alright. Adam and Joshua are Ying's friends from school," Evelyn said quickly, seemingly regained a small grain of calmness after the revelation that her daughter was somewhere around Kuala Lumpur. She turned to look at the two boys with a meaningful gaze. "Now, boys…didn't you say that you have something to do?"

"Um…yeah, we did," JD said and tugged Adam's hands. "C'mon, Adam."

"We're really sorry of what had happened, and if there's anything we can do…" Adam said politely.

"Thank you, boys," Evelyn nodded. The boys had given her hope even more than the police force could do. In times like this, she was thankful that Liu Ying was one of the DigiWira, for that had enabled her to be located swiftly by her fellow teammates. If they were an ordinary group of kids, Evelyn would have her doubts in trusting them to search for her daughter. But the two boys who stood in front of her now were nowhere near ordinary – they were the ones who had saved the town, the school and Sunway Lagoon from the invasion of the evil Digimon. Liu Ying had told her much about the Wira Digital – Evelyn had no doubt that they were powerful. If they could handle a bunch of evil Digimon, a bunch of kidnappers wouldn't be a problem, right?

But it was only natural for her as a mother to gravely worry about her kidnapped daughter's well-being, until she was returned to her safe and sound. 'Kang…' she thought of her late husband. 'Please look out for our daughter. Please make sure that she is safe…'

xxx

xxx

"We'll do whatever we can to save Liu Ying, Grandpa Chang," Adam said as they walked out to the gate.

"I know, Adam, Joshua," Grandpa Chang said. "It is the reason why I am not in a nervous wreck right now. Liu Ying has told much about you all, and I have no doubt that you will do your best to rescue her from these kidnappers." His eyes glinted with anger upon the mention of the kidnappers.

"Do these kidnappers have any motive to take Liu Ying?" JD asked. "Is it just random that they've picked Liu Ying out of all kids from the school?"

Grandpa Chang seemed to hesitate in answering. He looked to be in deep thought, as if trying to determine what exactly to tell the DigiWira. "I don't think that the kidnappers have randomly picked their target. They posted the note to our mailbox, which means that they know where Ying is staying. It takes place on this very street…" The elder man suddenly looked at a large tree at the park across the street. "I wonder… come with me, boys."

They crossed the street and the boys followed Grandpa Chang towards a large tree. Grandpa Chang seemed to be looking for something…and no sooner than that everyone saw what was peculiar about the location they were now at.

There were tyre marks on the ground, and several cigarette butts scattered, partially buried by the earth.

The boys saw Grandpa Chang frowning. "Ying has mentioned about a car parked here these past few days. She wondered whether any of our neighbors has bought a new car. What if… we were being watched the whole time?" the old man said.

"So the kidnappers did target Liu Ying," Adam concluded. "That leaves us with the motive of kidnapping."

"Ransom or revenge," JD promptly said. "In the movies, those are the usual reasons."

Grandpa Chang smiled grimly. "Perhaps you are right. Nevertheless, we will know when the kidnappers make their call." He paused, seeing two police cars driving along the street. "The police have returned. Maybe it's best if you two take your leave now before they decided to question you…after all, your Wira Digital identities are supposed to be kept as a secret."

"We'll do what we can," Adam said. "I promise. I owed Liu Ying that much," he added with an intensity that surprised JD and Grandpa Chang.

"Thank you, boys. I hope, for our sake, you will be successful. But whatever you do, don't endanger yourself," Grandpa Chang cautioned. The boys shook his hands and followed him back to the house to retrieve their bikes. Then the elderly man welcomed the policemen who had come and bid the DigiWira farewell.

"Adam…" JD began, placing a hand on his cousin's shoulder. "What did you mean when you said you've owed Liu Ying that much?" he asked carefully.

Adam lowered his eyes, avoiding JD's gaze on him. "You don't want to know."

"Then why am I asking you?"

Adam looked up; the hesitation was clearly reflected by his expression. "Remember when you kidnapped me…back when you were evil? The girls came to me, despite the danger, they came to rescue me." He saw JD's face darkening. "I'm sorry, Josh. I didn't want to bring it up…you did ask…" Adam mumbled, looking grim as well.

JD quickly put on a poker face, despite the remorse he was feeling. He wasn't going to let Adam feeling guilty because for one, it wasn't even Adam's fault. "I did ask, Adam. And I really wanted to know. Don't worry about it."

"Really?" Adam asked.

"Hey, you know me. I'm tough," JD assured. He decided to change the topic. "We really need to tell Manny and Gayathri about this."

"You're right," Adam said, and took out his cell phone, as JD still hadn't bothered to get a new one following the loss of his old, modern one at the Digital World. He handed the phone to JD. He told his other teammates and had them meet at JD's house in an hour – this was something that must be told face to face, not via the phone. Adam just indicated that it was important to Gayathri, who had left the school, and sent an SMS to Manny as he was on duty at the library.

"Hey, you still want that ice-cream?" JD asked after Adam put the phone away.

Adam made a face. "You're still thinking about ice-cream when Liu Ying is kidnapped?"

"No, but I think we could use some major stress-reliever, and ice-cream is just what the doctor's ordered."

xxx

xxx

"KIDNAPPED?!" Gayathri and Manny gasped at the same time, one and half hours later. They were now at JD's house and the cousins had just finished telling them the unfortunate news which had befallen their teammate and friend.

"Oh, poor Liu Ying," Gayathri said, her eyes began to water. "It must be horrible for her. Do you know where she is now?"

"That's why all of us are here," Adam said. "We've talked to her mom and grandfather – they and the police still don't have a clue of where Liu Ying is currently being held at. But, fortunately, Liu Ying is a DigiWira and being a DigiWira means that she has a Digivice." Adam then displayed the location of Liu Ying based on their Digivice signal. "It looks like she's currently somewhere at the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, but I'm not too sure."

"Do you have a map? Maybe we can narrow down the location," Manny said, gazing at the holographic image from Adam's Juara Digivice. They could hear Bibik gasped in awe upon the sight of the hologram as she served the kids and the Digimon drinks and some snacks. Their Digimon partners, as well as Salamon and Gatomon, peered at the hologram with interest while munching away the snacks.

"I think we have a city map lying around somewhere," JD said, promptly getting up from his seat to look for the said map. He returned later from the store room with a folded map. They opened the map and laid it on the table, gazing at the hologram while trying to figure out the exact location of Liu Ying's Digivice signal.

Manny held up the map against the hologram and looked back and forth between the two. He took note of the scale and knitted his brows together, examining the map and hologram intently, trying to ignore the burning gazes that were fixed on him as he made some mental calculations of the scales involved in the map and the scale. It was lucky that his favorite subjects were Geography and Math – they were both put in good use now. "I think…Liu Ying is being held somewhere around Batu Caves."

"Batu Caves?" Gayathri repeated, dumbstruck. "But it can't be at the sacred grounds of the cavern and temples, right?"

"Batu Caves is a large area…it might not be at the temple," Adam reasoned. "The town near the temple is called Batu Caves too."

"Oh…ok, that's a relief," Gayathri said. "So how are we going there?"

"According to this map, we should take the Putra LRT train to the Batu Caves station…" Manny said, before JD snorted derisively. "What?"

"I can't believe you're thinking about taking the LRT when we have a better and quicker option," the blonde said.

Gayathri brightened as Manny grinned sheepishly. "Oh, yeah! You're right…I nearly forgot."

Adam sweatdropped upon feeling three pairs of eyes being locked on him.

xxx

xxx

Feeling her head spinning, Liu Ying groaned as she began to come around. Her hands and legs felt sore. She was sitting on a wooden chair, and her arms were drawn back and tied to the chair. Her legs were bound to the wooden furniture as well – she couldn't even move. And to make matters worse, her mouth was taped. The smallest fraction of luck she was now having was the fact that her eyesight was not compromised – she could at least take in her surroundings.

Looking around in wonder, she noticed that she was in a very dark and wide warm place. Judging from the rectangular size of it, plus some piles of broken furniture and the cobwebbed walls, she was inside an abandoned warehouse. Sweat beads formed on her forehead, tickling her nose and the sides of her face as they trickled down. 'Where am I?' she thought, not able to speak. 'I'm kidnapped…but why?'

"Ah, good. Sleeping beauty has awakened," said a sly male voice. Liu Ying turned her head sideways and saw, somewhat obscured by the shadow, the visage of a moderate-sized man sitting on a worn one-sitter sofa. A stand fan was placed near him, cooling him from the warm, stale air of the warehouse. The man stood up, giving Liu Ying a good look of his profile. He was dressed in a tight pair of black jeans which looked like it hadn't been washed for a long time. He wore a loose blue tank top, showing off a pair of muscled tattooed arms from shoulders down to the wrists. He had black hair with the sides shaved but the back kept grown down his nape. His right ear was studded with an earring. But she couldn't see the face.

"Umm…umm…" she said.

"What? Oh, I forgot. Erik, remove the tape from the girl's mouth," the man instructed, and Liu Ying realized that they were not alone.

A tall, thin bald man in black leather jacket and blue jeans approached her from the other side, seemingly appeared from the shadows. He gripped Liu Ying's right shoulder with strength that nearly caused her to recoil before ripping away the tape from her face, not caring that it had caused her yelp in pain. The man known as Erik merely sneered and slinked back.

"Careful there, Erik. We don't want to ruin her," the man that lurked under the shadows chastised.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" Liu Ying quickly demanded, despite feeling scared.

"Straight to the point," the man laughed and stepped into the light where Liu Ying could see his face. He was a rather good-looking man but with a hardened expression that bore a mixture of a sneer and a scowl, if that was possible. Those expressions made him look like a classic villain, and a man not to be trifled with. "Just like your late father, Miss Chang."

'What's Papa got to do with this? Papa has passed away…'

"I see that you're confused, Miss Chang. Allow me to introduce myself, but before that, let me recollect you of a certain someone your dead father has put behind bars for life now, shall we?" The man chuckled again and stared at Liu Ying. "Does the name Raymond Lau ring a bell, Miss Chang?" he asked softly.

Liu Ying thought that the name was familiar. She thought hard about it before a very painful memory resurfaced. The name this man had spoken was the reason why she was without a father now. Raymond Lau was the criminal who had shot her father, who had jumped in line of a very important and influential person targeted for the shot.

"Of course you'd remember my older brother," the man said with a light laugh. Liu Ying gasped in shock, and the man chuckled again. "That's right, Miss Chang. I'm Raymond Lau's brother…Riley Lau. And as for why you are here…why do you think kidnappers kidnap people, I have to ask? From what I've heard you're a very brilliant girl. Come now, it's not so hard. Oh what the hell, you should know already. Let me just clarify it for you now, yes?

"You're here because I plan on using you to demand the government to set my brother free, and to demand two million ringgit as ransom!" Riley Lau declared with a cackle.

Liu Ying gulped in shock. "We…we don't have that much of money!"

Riley Lau shook his head, apparently amused. "Don't worry, Miss Chang. I'm sure a particular Deputy Prime Minister will be more than willing to pay the ransom in exchange for your safety," he chuckled softly as he slinked towards Liu Ying. He placed a hand underneath Liu Ying's chin and raised it up. "After all…that much he could do for the daughter of the man who had jumped in front of the bullet for him three years ago. And couple that with the fact that our beloved DPM is also heading the ministry of defense, it shouldn't be too hard for him to work things out for my brother to be set free now won't it."

Liu Ying heaved her breath in shock of the revelation. She had heard that her father had died protecting a very important person – she had no idea that the person was currently the country's Deputy Prime Minister.

"You…you're wasting your time," she said in a whisper. "The Deputy Prime Minister has never stayed in contact with our family."

"Oh, is that so?" Riley Lau asked with a snort. "That's not what I've been informed about." He returned to his couch and took a photograph from it before returning to Liu Ying. "Then how would you explain this, Miss Chang?"

Liu Ying looked at the picture, and gasped softly, recognizing her mother and grandfather and also the Deputy Prime Minister, apparently discussing something inside an office. She didn't even know that her family knew the Deputy Prime Minister.

"I've planned out on rescuing my brother for a long time now, Miss Chang," Riley Lau said with a triumphant grin. "For three years, I've had it all planned out. I planted a man to infiltrate Mr. DPM's office – he became one of his bodyguards and he managed to snap this photo. Apparently the DPM has been so kind in offering his support for your family, feeling eternally grateful for your father's heroic sacrifice. Both your mother and grandfather had declined his offer, but when the goings got tough for your family with its sole breadwinner gone, some help had to be gained. Your family reached an agreement with the DPM – and your mom's hair salon is born…the shop lot at that bloody expensive Taipan Commercial Center is fully paid by the DPM, and it was the only time your family would accept the DPM's offer. But I'm sure now that they'll have nowhere else to turn to again but the DPM, and I'm positively certain that the DPM will willingly pay the ransom. After all, life is priceless, and out of all people, the DPM should know that better," Riley Lau cackled maniacally.

"You…you monster!" Liu Ying shouted, and at that time her eyes twitched. Riley Lau gasped as he was suddenly flung against the wall.

Seeing this, the man known as Erik and another man whom had been unnoticed by Liu Ying both came up to her, but they too were flung to a distance by Liu Ying's telekinetic power. But this time around they didn't get thrown as far as Riley had been…and Liu Ying was panting really hard now as a severe throbbing was felt on her temples. Both Erik and the unknown man got back up on their feet and snarled angrily as they made way towards Liu Ying.

"Don't touch her!" Riley's commanding voice echoed, and the other two men froze. He looked at Liu Ying and gave her a grin as he wiggled his two fingers in a naughty-naughty manner. "Miss Chang, you have quite a talent there. Telekinesis, huh? Now that's something you don't see everyday…"

Liu Ying blinked at Riley's statement. Shouldn't he be surprised at her display of power? Instead, he merely looked amused and miffed at the same time. How in the world did this man get to display two opposing emotions at one time? She wished she could just throw him off his feet again but TobuCatmon had warned them that in their home world their digital abilities would be severely limited.

If only she could call upon Labramon. Which reminded her…her Juara Digivice! Where was it?

"Looking for this?" Riley Lau sneered and held up something shining in yellow and gold. He laughed upon seeing Liu Ying's astonished expression. "You're quite a gem now, Miss Chang. Your late father would have been very proud of knowing that his daughter is one of the famous Wira Digital, Malaysia's only line of defense against evil Digimon. Oh yeah, you certainly didn't expect that I'd know about that now would you? How could I have known about this, you must wonder?

"I've forgotten to mention one more reason why I have kidnapped you, Miss Chang. You see, simply said, I've struck a deal with the devil to ensure that I'd get what I want, and then more!" Riley laughed once again and didn't stop for a while. When he finally regained his composure, his expression was now set back to its former scowling and sneering combo features. "You're also here as a bait for the other DigiWira friends of yours to come here and rescue you. Don't think that I don't know that this shiny thing you have here also serves as a tracking device for your friends to trail you. They'll be here in no time flat. And then, when all of you are here…" Riley raised his thumb up and his index finger erect, forming a finger-gun. "Bang! It's bye-bye Wira Digital…"

"You evil man! What did we ever do to you?" Liu Ying said, horrified of the new revelation.

Riley Lau chuckled and held up his hands in a surrendering position, a gesture defeated by the mocking expression he now had on his face. "Hey, I'm only in for the money and for my bro's freedom. You're gonna have to talk to the higher boss about that. He's right behind you. Turn her around, boys."

The two men obliged and turned the chair she was sitting on around, bringing her along with it. She was now staring at a darker part of the warehouse, void totally of light. Several figures shifted within the shadows. Two pairs of crimson eyes could be seen flanking a taller figure with ice-blue eyes. Liu Ying's heart nearly stopped when a priest-like humanoid fox appeared, flanked by two black-armored warriors with red blades extended from each of their arms. The fox's expression was calm, cold and calculating, showing no expression at all.

"I present to you the big boss," Riley chuckled. "Doumon, the Shaman General."

xxx

xxx

Author's Notes:

I'm trying out the mystery/thriller/detective like genres here…I've tried angst, humor, some romance before, but not thriller. I did try this concept once when Adam was kidnapped by JD, during the ShadoWira saga, but this takes place in the real world, with a twist! The Deputy Prime Minister which is mentioned and portrayed here is fictional, nowhere related to the real one. I include him here for the plot. All the people in this story are purely fictional although some may have names based on real people.