New Soul Reborn
Chapter 1: Requiem
Chapter 5: Repercussions
Rob McCoy was busy working on dinner. It wasn't anything exceptionally fancy, just simple ramen noodles. But he had to say that his particular recipe for ramen noodles was exceptionally tasty. When the noodles were in the final simmering stage, he opened a window and called out, "Alice, it's time for supper!"
"Ok, Grandpa, but can I bring a friend in?"
Rob was briefly surprised. He didn't know that Alice had any friends in Japan. But then again, it was nice to see that Alice was making friends, especially since she has been depressed for so long. "Of course you can," called Rob, "I'll set out an extra bowl." Fortunately, Rob always prepared ramen with leftovers in mind. As he put equal portions of the soup in each bowl and put them on the table, he heard the door open. "Just in time," said Rob as he turned around, "Just have your friend…"
His voice trailed off when he saw that Alice had brought in a Digimon with her, one that resembled a large black lizard with yellow eyes. "Yeah, I know he's a Digimon," said Alice, "But he's actually quite nice."
Most people would freak out at the sight of BlackAgumon, but due to his experience with Digimon, Rob remained quite calm, but cautious. "Are you sure, Alice?" he said, "Not all Digimon are friendly, you know. Remember that giant pig that went on the rampage?"
"BlackAgumon's nothing like Vikaralamon," said Alice, "He's kept me company for the last few hours. And he didn't harm me once."
Rob adjusted his glasses as he looked at BlackAgumon. This one certainly looked like a Virus Attribute, and he was aware that most Virus Digimon tended to be bad. But then again, you can't paint everyone with the strange brush. "Ok," he said, "I suppose if he's ok with you, he'll be fine here."
BlackAgumon bowed his head and said, "I'll try not to be a burden."
Seeing how polite this Digimon was, Rob's suspicions lightened considerably. "Oh, no need to worry about that. Burden's something I'm used to. Dinner's on the table."
The three of them sat down at the table in front of different bowls of ramen. "Let's dig in!" said Alice as she stared eating. Presently, she became aware of an odd clacking noise. She looked to see that BlackAgumon was having considerable difficulties with managing his chopsticks. "Do you need some help?" she asked.
"I should be able to get this," said BlackAgumon. He tried to flex his claws so that the chopsticks would pinch together, but they slipped out of his hands. "But I must admit, this requires more dexterity than flinging balls of energy."
"Let me help," said Alice as she picked up the chopsticks. BlackAgumon gave her an offended look. "Well, if you'd rather slurp your noodles, you'll never be able to eat."
BlackAgumon growled a tiny bit and said, "Fine."
Alice picked up the chopsticks and placed one between BlackAgumon's thumb and index finger and one on the other side of the index finger. "Now, try to squeeze them together, like this," said Alice as she moved BlackAgumon's fingers to show him how.
Then BlackAgumon reached into the bowl of noodles with his chopsticks and managed to grab several strands of noodles. Gingerly, he lifted them out and into his waiting mouth. He immediately liked the taste so he quickly fished out more. Before anyone knew it, the bowl was empty. "Erm, would it be possible if I had more?" asked BlackAgumon.
"Uh, sure," said Rob, "But next time, try to savor the flavor a bit."
BlackAgumon ended up finishing up four bowls of ramen. But he took Rob's advice and ate them more slowly. During the meal time, he told them about his adventures in both his old world and the new one. Rob and Alice listened with interest as they ate their dinners. Pretty soon, all of the ramen was gone and it was time for bed.
"Well, I guess I better get the couch ready for you," said Rob.
"Yes, the hour does grow late," said BlackAgumon, "It would be nice to rest in a comfortable place."
"He doesn't have to sleep on the couch," said Alice. Both Rob and BlackAgumon gave her curious glances. "Well, there's the guest room, right?"
Rob rubbed his chin and said, "Yes, I suppose there is. And BlackAgumon's a guest so I guess he can go in there."
"There is no need for that," said BlackAgumon, "I would be quite happy on the couch."
"A bed would be much more comfortable," said Alice, "Besides, what kind of hosts would we be if we let you sleep on the couch when there's a bed available."
BlackAgumon considered this and said, "Very well, if you insist."
"Ok then, follow me," said Alice. She led BlackAgumon to the guest room. It had a two-person bed as well as an empty wardrobe. A painting of a full moon over a wooden bridge crossing a firefly-lit stream hung on the wall. BlackAgumon studied the painting a bit before he noticed Alice preparing the bed. "Should be nice and comfy for you," she said. She headed for the door and said, "I hope you have a good night's sleep." She shut the door behind her.
"A good night's sleep," said BlackAgumon, "I don't think I've ever had one of those." While his old body didn't need to eat, it did need to sleep. But the dreams he had were always filled with longing and hopelessness, a constant reaching for whatever it was he was missing. "Well, maybe it will be different this time," he said to himself. He climbed into the bed and got comfortable. Eventually, his eyelids grew heavy and he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
Meanwhile, a pair of dark figures were watching the McCoy house from another roof. "Tomorrow, we strike," said Daemon.
"Why not now?" asked SkullSatamon.
"Calumon will be more heavily guarded by his own power when he sleeps," said Daemon, "In the daytime, it is merely a matter of diverting his friends' attention to something that appears more crucial."
"I shall be honored to play that diversion," said SkullSatamon.
"I know," said Daemon, "In fact, I know you will be pleased."
The next morning, Alice was woken up by the sunlight stream across her face. She slowly sat up and yawned. Eventually, her brain recollected what had happened last night. Then she remembered that BlackAgumon was in the guest's room. "I better go check on him," she said. She went to her closet and pulled out a black dress similar to what she wore yesterday. Her grandfather never could understand why she always wore the same outfit. But then again, he was from an older generation and couldn't understand the new one so well. As soon as she was dressed, she hurried downstairs.
She went to the guest room and knocked on the door, "BlackAgumon? Are you awake yet?" When she didn't hear any reply, she opened the door a crack. She looked inside to see if he was still in bed. But not only was he there, but the bed was made as if it had never been slept in.
Alice began to wonder slightly if she had imagined him when she heard something in the backyard. She quickly went to the back porch's door and opened it. She saw BlackAgumon, fully digivolved into BlackWarGreymon and looking ready to leave. "BlackWarGreymon!" she called.
The Mega Digimon looked over his shoulder and spotted Alice. "Ah, good morning, Alice," said BlackWarGreymon, "I trusted you slept well."
"Yes, and I can see you have too," said Alice.
"It was a restful night," said BlackWarGreymon, "and I thank you for your hospitality. But now I must be off. Somewhere in this world is the reason I was brought here and I must find it. I bid you good day."
BlackWarGreymon was about to jump upwards when Alice cried, "Wait!" BlackWarGreymon paused and looked at her. "Um, listen, I know we've only met the other night and you've got important things to do, but do you think you could be my new partner?"
"Partner?" asked BlackWarGreymon.
"Yes, you know, my Digimon partner," said Alice as she held out her Digivice, "and I could be your Tamer, or Digidestined if you prefer that."
BlackWarGreymon was silent for several minutes. He appeared to be deep in thought. Alice began to think that his answer was going to be 'no'. Then BlackWarGreymon spoke, "Your offer is… generous. And a great deal to contemplate. I shall need to consider it before I can make my answer." He then leapt into the air and flew off.
Alice watched him disappear into the city and said to herself, "I understand."
BlackWarGreymon didn't really choose any specific direction. But he was use to aimless wandering so he decided to explore this city, making sure that he wasn't spotted by, and thus startle, passing humans. Eventually, he came upon a small bridge that stretched over a street. The construction of the bridge seemed to be primarily steel and concrete, with glass panels on the side. BlackWarGreymon paused at this spot. "This place has known battle," he said as he sensed the air. Yes, he could sense the memories here. They were so thick, they were almost tangible. No humans were nearby at the time, so he stepped onto the bridge. Now he felt like he was virtually surrounded by memories. He could almost see them swarm around him.
Wait a minute. There really was something swarming around. Red and blue speckles in the air were floating around BlackWarGreymon. It only took a small bit of observation for BlackWarGreymon to recognize it as data. But it was hardly an attack that could hurt him, or anyone. It looked much more like discarded data.
This seemed very unusual to BlackWarGreymon. From what he's seen and heard, Digimon here normally absorb the data of the Digimon they defeat or it will float back to the Digital World to be reborn in Primary Village. Why would it remain in the Digital World, and here of all places? Then BlackWarGreymon recalled Agumon once telling him of a Digimon named Wizardmon, whose data remained in the Real World like a ghost in order to warn Gatomon of approaching danger. Could this be a similar scenario? Then BlackWarGreymon recognized the bridge from Alice's tale. She had also mentioned red and blue streams of data coming from a particular Digimon. Then BlackWarGreymon felt that he knew who this data used to belong to. "Dobermon?" he asked.
Suddenly, the data particles came together to form a small cloud. The cloud slowly floated towards the ground, taking shape and color as it descended. When it finally reached the ground, it was in the shape of a Digimon that resembled a large Doberman with a spiked color. However, it was a few shades paler than a normal Dobermon and it was translucent. "I was hoping you would come here," said the ghost of Dobermon.
"I have heard much about you," said BlackWarGreymon, "But how do you know about me?"
"Because I have been watching over you ever since you came to this world," said Dobermon's ghost.
"You have?" said BlackWarGreymon, "But that means you've been watching me at Alice's house too."
"Yes, it's true," said Dobermon.
"Then why haven't you returned to her?" demanded BlackWarGreymon, "Can you not see how much she missed you?"
Dobermon sighed and said, "I'm afraid that can never be. This is the most solid I can become. I am a literal shadow of the Digimon I once was. I cannot return to Alice. Being beside but not being able to actually be with her will only make her sad. That is why you must take my place as her partner."
BlackWarGreymon was taken aback. "Me? Her partner?" he said.
"She did ask if you would," said Dobermon.
"But, I've never worked with a human before," said BlackWarGreymon, "I don't know if it could work."
"I believe otherwise. I think you two were meant to be together," said Dobermon.
"But isn't there some way to restore you?" asked BlackWarGreymon, "Perhaps if we took you to Primary Village, you can be reborn again."
Dobermon sighed and said, "It won't work. I've given up too much of my data for me to be able to reborn. I am only a spirit and will only ever remain a spirit. But Alice lives on and you must live with her."
"I, I don't think I'm worthy," said BlackWarGreymon.
"I believe that you are and soon you will believe that too," said Dobermon. Before BlackWarGreymon could question Dobermon further, he faded away. BlackWarGreymon did not feel any anger, only confusion. His walk to determine Alice's offer had just gotten longer.
Meanwhile, Alice was trying to find some way to pass the time. She tried reading a book or watching TV, but her thoughts kept traveling back to BlackWarGreymon. He may have been a Digimon she had just met, but she sensed that he had a good heart in him and he just needed someone to bring it out. She wasn't sure if she was the one to do it, but she felt like she had to at least try.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on the front door. Alice quickly got off the couch and headed for the door. "Oh, BlackWarGreymon," she said as she opened the door, "I was hoping you would come-"
Her sentence broke off in a gasp as the person on the doorstep was revealed to be a Digimon. But not BlackWarGreymon, a skeletal Digimon with a staff in its hand. "Sorry, girlie," said SkullSatamon, "Wrong Virus type."
BlackWarGreymon was wandering the alleys. His mind was a blur of thoughts. Was his purpose in this world to be Alice's new partner? He wasn't sure if he should accept the position. He had always fought alone. He wasn't sure if he would be able to work together with Alice. Not to mention, he might cause her to be ostracized by her human friends. Then again, Alice didn't mention having any friends besides Dobermon. The other Digidestined might try to contact her, but she would still remain an outsider. Unless he agreed and then…
BlackWarGreymon shook his head. This was just too much for him. It wasn't as though he didn't like Alice, he was just unsure about their compatibility. This could take a long time for him to decide.
Suddenly a loud scream pierced the air. BlackWarGreymon jerked in surprise. He wasn't the kind to tumble over in shock, but that scream did startle him. Suddenly, BlackWarGreymon recognized the voice that the scream belonged to. "Alice!" he cried and quickly jumped into the air.
BlackWarGreymon quickly flew back to Alice's house. He landed in front of it and immediately noticed the front door hanging open. He went inside, not bothering to knock or announce his presence. "Alice? Alice!" he called. The living room had seen much struggle. The couch and chairs were all on their sides and backs and the books on the bookshelves were empty with the books on another side of the room, as if someone had threw them. BlackWarGreymon began to grow very worried about Alice's safety. He needed to contact her grandfather, alert the authorities.
Suddenly, BlackWarGreymon noticed the computer. It had a new email in the inbox. "I wonder if that has anything to do with it?" wondered BlackWarGreymon. He approached the desk it was on. With very careful precision, he lifted one of his claws and placed it on the mouse. He slowly moved it towards the new email and clicked on it.
A message popped up onto the screen. It read: "BlackWarGreymon, if you're reading this, I've have taken your dear little friend, Alice. Don't worry, she is safe… for a little while. If you wish to see her again, I suggest you try to stop me before I get too bored waiting for you. SkullSatamon."
When BlackWarGreymon read the message, he was practically besides himself with anger. How dare SkullSatamon kidnap Alice? She had done nothing to him. This was only between him and BlackWarGreymon. BlackWarGreymon nearly let out a Terra Destroyer out of anger, but he managed to control himself. Nevertheless, SkullSatamon will pay for his underhandedness, he will see to that.
He ran back outside and took to the air. As he was flying, he noticed a familiar shape on the rooftop. It was Impmon, apparently catching a mid-morning nap. BlackWarGreymon hovered over him and cried, "Impmon!"
Impmon woke with a start and gave a yelp of fright. He glared up at BlackWarGreymon and said, "There are better ways to wake a guy, ya know."
"There's no time for that," said BlackWarGreymon, "Alice has been kidnapped."
This immediately got Impmon's attention. He stood up and said, "Why didn't you say so? What can I do to help?"
"I need the assistance of the other Tamers to find her," said BlackWarGreymon, "She's in the captivity of a Digimon named SkullSatamon."
"I'll go find them right away," said Impmon and he quickly ran off. Meanwhile, BlackWarGreymon flew off to search the city for them.
Very soon, all the Tamers were patrolling the city. They each had their Digivices on alert in case SkullSatamon was nearby. They hadn't known Alice very long, but even if they didn't know her at all, they wouldn't leave someone in the clutches of a Digimon like SkullSatamon. The group has spread out everywhere over Tokyo, hoping to eventually stumble across SkullSatamon.
However, no one was as determined to find SkullSatamon as BlackWarGreymon. He zoomed all over the city, not bothering to stay out of human sight. This quite a bit of disturbance, seeing as his mostly-black color scheme gave him a look of great evil. But BlackWarGreymon didn't care. If he had been the original him, he would have blasted a couple of buildings to see if that would draw him out. But that temptation had no affect on BlackWarGreymon. He was not like SkullSatamon, he did not wish to inflict pain upon innocents to achieve his own desires. But that will not stop him from seeking out vengeance on SkullSatamon as soon as he found him.
Then BlackWarGreymon spotted two Digimon up ahead on a rooftop. It was Beelzemon and Leomon, apparently discussing the search. Though previously, BlackWarGreymon had worked alone, he was willing to make exceptions today. He landed on the rooftop and asked, "Any sign of them?"
"Not yet," said Leomon, "But we've methodically searched through most of the city. He shall turn up soon."
"You know," said Beelzemon, "I think instead of looking in every random place, we need to think of where he would most likely be."
"But we don't even know him," said Leomon.
"I do," said BlackWarGreymon, "albeit briefly. He was the one who placed that Dark Ring on me and sent me to the Real World. He wanted me to destroy the Tamers here, but I never intended to. I believe that's why she kidnapped Alice."
"It's not your fault," said Leomon, "Evildoers know that they can exploit the bonds between companions. Even if we weren't after you, he would have kidnapped Alice to draw out the rest of us."
"But don't worry about it," said Beelzemon, "We're gonna put that pile of bones into his grave where he belongs."
"Grave. That's it!" cried BlackWarGreymon, "Tell the others to concentrate their search to the cemeteries in this city. That would be just the place where a Digimon like SkullSatamon would choose to dwell." BlackWarGreymon quickly flew off to find a graveyard.
Fortunately, BlackWarGreymon's intuition was correct. When he flew over one cemetery, he notice an exceptionally thick fog covering it. Knowing that Digimon created fog banks when they come in the Real World, BlackWarGreymon was sure he found SkullSatamon's hideout. Without waiting for any of the others to show up, BlackWarGreymon dived into the fogbank.
He pulled up before he hit the ground. He landed softly on his feet and looked around. This cemetery was particularly old. Several headstones had cracks or moss on them. There were even a few dead trees. But there was also SkullSatamon, sitting cross-legged on a rather large headstone. "Well, you certainly took your time," said SkullSatamon, "I was wondering if you'd ever find this place."
"A rather cliché setting you've picked, isn't it?" said BlackWarGreymon.
"It suits me," said the Ghost Digimon as he stood up, "So, I assume you're here for the brat."
"Where is she?" demanded BlackWarGreymon.
"Oh, she's just fine," said SkullSatamon, "at least for a little while." He snapped his fingers and part of the fog dissipated. It revealed Alice, her torso and arms wrapped up in chains. She was hanging from a pulley system on a dead tree. Beneath her was a coffin, lying open and glowing a bright red color. There was a clock that was part of the pulley system and it seemed that its ticking was causing the chains to descend lower.
"Tell you what," said SkullSatamon, "Let's make this interesting. You have five minutes to defeat me before Alice is sent to her grave."
"That's more than enough time," said BlackWarGreymon as he sliced at him with his claws.
But the skeletal Digimon was faster than he looked. He practically teleported away from where BlackWarGreymon was swinging and appeared beside him. "SKULL HAMMER!" cried SkullSatamon as he whacked BlackWarGreymon with his staff. BlackWarGreymon was buffeted back several feet, but was hardly damaged. "You know, you should have gone along with my offer. I followed through on my part of the bargain" said SkullSatamon.
"A favor that's forced upon someone does not need to be repaid," said BlackWarGreymon as he tried to slash him again.
This time, he managed to cause a crack on one of SkullSatamon's ribs. He cried out in pain and glared at BlackWarGreymon. "That's it. No more fooling around. Let's end this."
"Gladly," said BlackWarGreymon as the two of them lunged at each other.
The battle was quite fierce, but there was no clear winner. Both Digimon were very fast and any blows didn't miss were parried. This could have gone on for quite some time if the other Tamers showed up. It only took one glance to recognize the situation. "BlackWarGreymon, keep him busy," called Takato, "We'll free Alice."
"Oh, no you don't, brat," said SkullSatamon, "BONE BLASTER!" He fired a bolt of lightning from his staff and it hit WarGrowlmon, on whom Takato was sitting. SkullSatamon quickly administered the same treatment to all the other Digimon and Tamers, leaving them completely paralyzed. "There now," he said, "No more interrupters." He turned to BlackWarGreymon and said, "Now, let's do the same to you."
"Are you sure that will work?" said BlackWarGreymon, "I could easily dodge that attack. It seems too sporadic to hit the intended target. Of course, that's exactly what I'd expect from a cowardly Digimon like yourself."
"Who are you calling cowardly?" yelled SkullSatamon, "I'll make you regret those words!" He flew up close to BlackWarGreymon until he was mere feet from him. Then he pointed his staff for a point-blank attack. "BONE-"
"BLACK TORNADO!" shouted BlackWarGreymon. His body spun quickly around, forming a whirling black tornado. Before SkullSatamon could move out of the way, he was hit by the attack. He screamed loudly as BlackWarGreymon's claws slashed at every part of his body. Eventually, BlackWarGreymon stopped spinning and SkullSatamon fell to the ground in several pieces.
His power quickly weakened on his victims, allowing them to move again. But then BlackWarGreymon noticed that Alice was nearly in the coffin and he leapt over to her. He grabbed her and tore the chains apart. She looked up at him and said, "You came back for me."
"I had to," said BlackWarGreymon, "It was not right for SkullSatamon to harm someone just because they were kind to me."
"Well, it was nothing really…" started Alice but was cut off when SkullSatamon started laughing loudly.
BlackWarGreymon walked over to the shattered skeleton. "What are you laughing about?" asked BlackWarGreymon, "You're dying. Your body has taken on too much damage for any healing."
"Oh, I expected that," said SkullSatamon, "I had hoped I'd be able to kill the girl, but it doesn't matter now. The plan was a success."
"What's he talking about?" said Henry, "His kidnapping was a complete disaster for him."
"Fools," said SkullSatamon, "Don't you know a decoy when you see one? Of course you don't, because you fell for it!"
"Decoy?" said Rika, "You mean this whole thing was a distraction? For what?"
"Oh, you'll know soon enough," said SkullSatamon, "Or didn't you notice one of your friends missing?" Before they could get any more out of him, he dissipated into data and disappeared.
"What was that bone guy talking about?" asked WarGrowlmon.
"Who cares? He was nuts," said Rapidmon.
"Perhaps," said Taomon, "But I do believe he was telling the truth at that moment."
BlackWarGreymon thought so too. But what was SkullSatamon talking about. He looked around at the others. He noticed that all the Tamers and Digimon who were there when he was freed from the Dark Ring was there. Except for one. "Where's the small white one?" he asked.
"Who? Calumon?" asked Jeri, "He was feeling sleepy today so I let him sleep…" Her voice trailed off as she realized what BlackWarGreymon was implying. "You don't think-"
"If we are to know, we must get to Jeri's house right now," said BlackWarGreymon as he picked up Alice. "Show us the way.
Meanwhile, Calumon had woken up from his long nap. "Oh boy," he said, "I need to stop eating so much cake late at night. It really keeps me up." He wandered around the house. Apparently, Jeri's parents had gone out shopping or something. He remembered Jeri and Leomon leaving because of something, but he couldn't remember what. "I'll go out and find them," said Calumon, "Maybe they're doing something fun." He headed for a window that had been opened to allow fresh air to come. He extended his ears and jumped outside, his ears catching the breeze.
Suddenly, a bolt of red energy nearly hit Calumon. This caused Calumon to lose control of where he was going and crashed to the ground. "Ow, what was that?" he asked. Suddenly, black vines came out of the ground and wrapped themselves around Calumon. "Hey! What is this? Is somebody playing a trick? Because if they are, it's not nice."
Then a very creepy-looking Digimon wearing a cloak appeared in front of Calumon. "You're right, it is a nasty trick," said Daemon, "Being 'nice' isn't my thing." He grabbed the ensnared Calumon and disappeared into a shadowy portal in the ground, laughing evilly all the way.
There's another chapter. I apologize for the long delay in updating, but I haven't felt much insperation for this chapter for a while. I appreciate those who have added this story to their favs and alert lists in between. As you can see, this chapter features a cameo appearance of Dobermon, albeit as his ghost. You can be assured that he will appear again. And we've seen the last of SkullSatamon, which I assume no one will miss. But it looks like Daemon has big nasty plans in store. Hopefully the Tamers will be able to stop him. Find out in the next chapter, which I hope will be up before the end of the month. Please review.