Disclaimer: I make no money out of writing this. Digimon belongs to Toei and Bandai, not to me. This disclaimer doesn't contain any typos, unlike the one in the previous chapter.

Notes: This chapter was also beta read by Stained in Negativity.
I'm not used to writing action sequences, but without this one it would be difficult to advance the plot. Apologies if the pacing seems a bit off in places.
I haven't played any of the Digimon Wonderswan games, and I don't know anyone who has, so the Millenniummon depicted here is not related to Ryou's nemesis in any way.

Chapter 2: Revenge

A couple of hours later, Iori, Takeru and Koushirou were wandering aimlessly down yet another deserted street.

The plan had sounded fine when Koushirou first mapped it out. He'd already contacted the rest of the older Chosen; while Jou was busy with upper high school work as usual, and Mimi could only offer her concern for their safety, the others had risen to the occasion with varying degrees of confidence. Even now, Taichi, Yamato and Sora had all taken separate trains to different districts of Tokyo, just in case Chimeramon decided to drop by. On the other hand, the younger team had stuck to Odaiba, searching the skies for the first trace of the rogue Digimon.

Iori's main problem was that Armadimon could neither fly nor evolve into anything which was even remotely capable of flying. All right, his jogress evolution could at least float, but there was no point in draining both his and Patamon's energy before their opponent had even shown itself.

Since Koushirou had stayed in Odaiba to remain in charge of communication, Iori had suggested that - obviously, after he'd gone back home to drop his carrier bag off and pick up his D-Terminal - the two of them search the town while the others had the sky covered. And, for some reason Iori couldn't remember, Takeru had come along as well.

Iori turned to him now. "Um, Takeru..." he said tentatively."

Takeru looked at him, Patamon still on top of his head. "Iori? What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I mean, I was wondering... uh, that is..." Iori struggled to find the best phrasing, and gave up. "Do you mind me asking you something?"

"Why not? Shoot."

Iori glanced down at Armadimon, angling for support, but his partner remained silent.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but... why are you here, again?"

"Eh?" Takeru blinked with apparent confusion. "What do you mean?"

Iori shrugged. "I just thought... you know, because Pegasmon can fly, and -"

"You mean, why didn't I join the others instead of tagging along with you and Koushirou, right?" Takeru laughed. "Are you worried about me again or something, Iori? I told everyone earlier, I just thought there were enough of us in the air. And, besides -" he dropped his voice a little, "- you don't want to be around Koushirou by yourself for that long, he used to act pretty strange sometimes..."

Iori had to stifle his own laugh, despite himself.

"You two!" Koushirou called. He was leaning against a nearby lamp post, trying to balance his battered laptop on one knee. "Miyako's sent a message!"

Both of them ran over. Iori peered at the laptop's screen. "What does it say?" he asked.

"'With Hikari now'," Takeru read slowly. "'Saw, tried to follow, lost sight of it. Will keep looking. Take care.'" He frowned. "So they've seen Chimeramon, but... 'take care'? What's she on about?"

"It probably doesn't mean anything," Koushirou said dismissively, still not looking up. "But I think that both of you ought to - argh!"

The laptop slipped and clattered to the floor. Koushirou swore loudly and knelt down.

"Hey, Koushirou, be careful with that thing!" Takeru stepped forwards and picked up the laptop for him. "What were you doing, anyway?"

Koushirou took it out of Takeru's hands. "Thanks - oh, what I'm doing? Here..." He tried to point at the screen without letting go of the laptop again. "I wrote this program a few months ago, but I never got to test it out. It tracks the presence of a D3, so we can tell where you all are... I know it's already built into the Digivices themselves, but I thought it might come in useful for the rest of us who don't have them. Look, these two dots are Hikari and Miyako... you two are round about here... I think that one is Daisuke, which means the other one must be Ken -" He broke off, and stared at the screen. "Wait a minute! They're all closing in on something... Didn't we decide to stay spread out? Unless... Takeru, Iori, I think they might have caught up with Chimeramon!"

"So, what do we do now?" Iori asked him. "Do you think they'll need our -"

But he never finished his question. At that exact moment, a wide, shimmering beam of green fire smashed into the pavement a few yards away.

Chimeramon rose above them, beating all four of its mismatched wings in rhythm. It turned one huge, baleful eye towards the three Chosen Children below, roared, and shot another fireball at them. This one missed them entirely, but the resulting shockwave hit the lamp post they were standing underneath. Takeru and Iori each grabbed one of Koushirou's arms and hauled him out of the way before it fell to the ground.

"This isn't good," Takeru muttered. He let go of Koushirou, who was still holding on to the laptop. Iori did the same. "Koushirou... you should get out of here. Go and find Daisuke - Miyako - whoever -"

Koushirou nodded breathlessly. He tucked his computer under one arm and hurried out of sight.

Patamon had jumped down onto the floor. "Let me at him, Takeru!" he squeaked. "I can take him!"

Armadimon shuffled forwards. "Leave some of him to me, okay?"

Iori fished his D3 out of his pocket and clasped it to his chest. "So, should we...?"

"We're as ready as we're going to get," said Takeru. He wasn't looking at Iori, but instead up at Chimeramon with a hardened expression. Iori remembered what had happened to him all those months ago, when the evil Digimon had first made its appearance. It must have come as a real shock when he realised Chimeramon was alive and well... I know I was surprised, and I'm not even - I mean, I hope he doesn't explode again...

They held their Digivices out. For a brief moment, the street was bathed in a brilliant white light. Then it passed, and both adult-level Digimon stood before them.

Chimeramon screeched and swooped down. It made a grab for Iori with one blackened arm, only to be met by a heavy tail hammer coming in the opposite direction. It reeled back, and hesitated.

"Get behind something, Iori!" shouted Ankylomon. "We'll handle this!"

Angemon nodded towards his partner. "You too," he said.

As Iori and Takeru scrambled for cover, Ankylomon charged headfirst into their enemy. It slid back several yards, its purple claws leaving tracks in the concrete.

At the same time, Angemon leapt into the air, holding a glowing fist in front of him. A blinding ray of light shone from it, hitting Chimeramon square between its wings and sending it toppling forcefully onto the ground.

Crouched behind the fallen lamp post, Iori watched the scene. It looked like their Digimon were winning... but they couldn't underestimate Chimeramon. "How long do you think they can hold out for, Takeru?" he asked, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

"Relax, Iori, they'll be fine! Besides, they can always evolve again if things start looking bad." Takeru looked back at Chimeramon, which was struggling to its feet. "I hope Daisuke and the others show up soon, though..."

On the other side of town, Daisuke ducked abruptly and almost lost his balance on Paildramon's shoulder.

"Damn it..." he muttered, pulling himself upright. The torpedo screeched past him and exploded, taking a good deal of the road out with it. "There's still some of them left..." He looked over at Ken, sitting on the opposite side of their partner's head. "Hey, Ichijouji!" he yelled, trying to make himself heard over the persistent sound of gunfire from below them. "Where the hell are these things coming from?"

"I don't know!" Ken shouted back. "But the police did do us the favour of blocking this area off, so it's the least we can -" He looked behind him. His eyes widened. "Paildramon, look out!"

The hybrid Digimon turned. A lone Hangyoumon had managed to sneak up on them. It leapt at Paildramon with a triumphant cry... but before Paildramon could react, a ball of pink energy had slammed into the Hangyoumon's back and knocked it out of the air. It landed on top of another of the unconscious Hangyoumon which now filled the road. Silphymon landed on the ground nearby.

Miyako and Hikari appeared at the other side of the street. "Ken, Daisuke!" Miyako called. "We've come to help!"

Paildramon landed as well, and Ken slid off his shoulder. "You got Daisuke's email too?" he asked.

Hikari nodded. "We would have arrived sooner, only... well, we managed to find Chimeramon, but..."

"You know where he is?" Daisuke said quickly.

"Not any more," Miyako said flatly. "Our Digimon weren't fast enough." She brightened up. "On the other hand, we couldn't ignore a plea for help from our brave and fearless leader, could we?"

Daisuke didn't rise to the taunt. He looked away, still sitting on Paildramon, and surveyed the scene critically. "We're up to about ten now, maybe fifteen... there are probably going to be more coming along in a minute, and we should've been going after Chimeramon all this time..." He sighed. "Guys, give me one good reason why we don't get Imperialdramon Fighter Mode to wipe out all of these guys right now and save us the trouble."

"It's just that, isn't it?" Ken said. "We haven't found Chimeramon yet, and we don't want to wear our Digimon out before we find him. To be honest, I thought even normal jogress evolution was pushing it -"

"Yeah?" Daisuke retorted. "And how were you expecting us to fight off all these -" he gestured at the Hangyoumon scattered around on the floor, "- with just our Adult-levels, if you're such a kid genius?"

Ken opened his mouth to retaliate, but a fight was averted when Koushirou pushed his way past the red tape at the end of the street. He ran up to them, panting, clutching his laptop to his chest.

"Koushirou?" Hikari looked worried. "What's happened? Weren't you with Iori?"

He shook his head breathlessly. "I -"

"Koushirou! Perfect timing!" Daisuke finally jumped down from his perch on top of Paildramon, his argument forgotten. "Listen, can we borrow your laptop for just a moment?"

Koushirou was taken by surprise. "H-Huh?"

"We need something to send all the Hangyoumon home like normal, don't we?" Daisuke pressed. "Come on, we don't want to have to drag each of these creeps to the nearest computer lab!"

For the first time, Koushirou noticed the unconscious Digimon lying in heaps nearby. He blinked. "Oh... uh, I suppose..."

"Great!" Before Koushirou could react, Daisuke grabbed the laptop out of his arms and had it open on the ground. He pointed his D3 at it. "Digital Gate, open!"

"Be quick about it, Daisuke," Paildramon's voices said from above them. "There's more of them heading this way..."

Koushirou looked up at Paildramon, around at the other kids, and down at his feet.

"Koushirou, what's with you?" Ken asked, concerned. "Is something wrong?"

He swallowed and shook his head. "No... It's nothing. Nothing important."

The battle had taken to the skies, where two Perfect-level Digimon seemed to have reached a stalemate. Shakkoumon whirled round in mid-air to avoid the fireballs being sent in his direction, almost as if he was performing an elegant dance. A flap opened near his waist, and several clay discs flew at Chimeramon, only to be batted away harmlessly before they could explode.

Below them, Iori was still having doubts. The two of them were still standing behind the lamp post Chimeramon had knocked down earlier. Simple logic told Iori that this was the most sensible thing to do when the alternative was running into the middle of a Digimon battle. It didn't make him feel any better, though.

Surely they should be doing something... he didn't know what either of them could do except run for help, and Koushirou had already covered that, but he knew he didn't like the idea of just sitting around while their partners were in trouble.

"Takeru, how much longer do you think it'll take Koushirou to find the others?"

Takeru didn't answer him. He was looking fixedly ahead of them.

"What's -" Iori began to ask, but broke off. His eyes widened.

Chimeramon had landed on the road. Before their eyes, it... changed. Its wings folded up and disappeared, as its arms lengthened and turned black. Two gleaming metal cannons emerged from its back and locked into position. It reared up, and suddenly there was another, ghostly, dragon-like figure standing behind it - translucent, shimmering, and not particularly friendly.

Iori stared in disbelief. It couldn't have evolved! How could it have evolved? And yet, standing right in front of them was all the evidence he needed, pointing to the contrary.

Shakkoumon swooped down, preparing to attack again. In a fraction of a second, one of the Ultimate-level's arms blurred. There was a sickening crunch, a brief yellow glow, and an exhausted Tokomon and Tsubumon dropped to the floor.

"Tokomon!" Abandoning his caution, Takeru ran over to his partner and picked him up. "Tokomon, are you okay? Come on, say something... you're all right, you're not going to die on me again..."

Iori hadn't moved. "Takeru, we can't just stand around here any more!" he yelled. "We need to go and fetch Daisuke... Miyako... someone..."

Takeru stood up, the unconscious Tokomon still in his arms, an uncharacteristically angry look on his face. "And leave that thing wandering around doing whatever the hell it feels like?"

"I don't see what you -"

"Isn't it obvious? We can't just sit back while a mad Digimon trashes half of the city! Don't you have any idea what happened last time? They'll just have to evolve back up to Perfect again..."

"You don't understand!" Iori snapped, losing his own temper. "They're tired! Even if they could evolve, there's no way we can hold him off without help! We have to -"

"Iori!" squeaked a voice from the ground; it took Iori a few moments to register it as Tsubumon's. "Look out!"

Iori was never sure exactly what happened afterwards. He remembered turning his head - seeing both of the guns glow white and fire - the crackling beam speeding towards him as he stood rooted to the spot - at the last moment, his partner leaping almost gracefully into the air - the attack exploding into a million black fragments of data - the wind suddenly howling past his ears where it had been perfectly calm a few seconds before...

And then, nothing.

Iori remained frozen to the spot. The wind had died down, just as unexpectedly as it had started. There was no sign of Chimeramon, evolved or not. Iori didn't care; his mind had gone almost completely blank. There was only one thought racing through his head: he hadn't just seen that. He hadn't just seen Tsubumon throwing himself in front of the Ultimate-level Digimon, bearing the full brunt of the attack, and...

"...Iori?"

He felt a hand on his shoulder, but didn't respond.

"Iori, I..."

After a few minutes, Takeru gave up. He briefly considered sending an email to everyone letting them know Chimeramon was gone, but was spared the trouble when he heard footsteps approaching nearby.

"Hey! You two!" That was Daisuke, with V-mon running at his side. The others were following close behind him.

Takeru turned around and waved. "Took you long enough!"

Daisuke hesitated after running up to them. "Uh..." he said, confused, "wasn't Chimeramon supposed to be around here somewhere?"

"Long story short? It kind of... disappeared. What were you doing, anyway?"

He expected Daisuke to either tell him it was none of his business, or that they'd just wasted his time - but to his surprise, the goggle boy actually looked thoughtful. "Disappeared, huh?"

V-mon snorted and folded his arms. "I'm guessing it's like Daisuke said. He saw us and ran off, because we were just too much for him!"

Hikari turned to look at Iori, who hadn't moved. "What's wrong with him? Where's Armadimon?" she asked. She looked from Takeru, to the bruised Tokomon, back to Iori, and gave a small gasp. "He couldn't have..."

"He could," said Takeru. "Chimeramon went and -"

Without a word, Iori turned and began to walk away. Nobody stopped him.