Alright! Here's the third part!

Duke: Took you long enough!

Oy, cut a guy some slack, huh! I have a college bio class that fits an entire semester's worth week of education into 6 WEEKS!

Duke:...What's that mean?

It meeeans...I'M GOING THROUGH A CHAPTER A DAY WHILE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND A TEACHER WHO CAN'T HELP BUT DIGRESS FROM THE SUBJECT EVERY OTHER SENTENCE!

Duke: Ok, Ok, calm done. Remember, I don't go to this... 'school' of which you speak.

Mutter, mutter, gripe... Anyway, I apologize for that, haha...

Duke: He lieeeees...

SMACK!

So, on with the story. Seeing as I just dislocated my partners jaw, I will do the honors.

- I do not hold the rights or wish to hold the rights...ok that's a lie, I do... to Digimon or any of their creations. I also give thanks to my Beta reader, Ragnorok Emissary (who is epicly epic in writing and editing. ^^) and to any and all readers-

Duke: ...paaaain

That'll teach you to mouth off...

Prologue Part 3: Re-deem

The sound of thick-soled business shoes against the tiled floor and small metal pieces continually tapping each other sounded throughout the hallway.

Tap, slink, tap, zhcit, tap, clink, tap, slink, tap, zhcit, tap, clink… The blonde haired man in black walked briskly down the darkly lit passage, his upset eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. But they didn't hide the grimace he wore on his face. He was wondering what exactly had caused those three to think that he could do anything for them. After the D-Reaper crisis and Shinjuku nearly being destroyed, he was lucky that he even got to continue the Hypnos program, let alone lead it. Of course, leading that program wasn't much. There were only two actual employees, and he only followed the directions of the higher ups. If there was so much of a digital bug, he could do nothing unless those ranked higher told him to. And that number of people had grown steadily larger with that near Armageddon occurring in their front yard.

"Hmmph…next time their city, no… country is in danger, I'll just make sure they don't get any help. They complained about it like kids do with spinach leaves, but completely over looked the fact that Hypnos, Janyu, Mizuno-sama (Shibumi by most), the rest of the Monster Makers, and especially the children had done all they could just to get rid of that catastrophic program and come out of it with their lives." He paused his walking and lighter flicking, and then removed his shades and rubbed his forehead.

"Mitsuo…you bastard you…" Mr. Yamaki muttered to himself. So the children had done the most out of everyone. They had fought off Hell itself. How were they thanked? Their truest solace, their best friends and partners were forcibly taken from them, like ripping up a piece of their souls. And when they came to him and said they found a possible way into the digital world, what was his response? No, and a promise that the small zone in the park bunker would be destroyed and the bunker itself sealed shut with concrete. His only hope of still having a soul himself was the fact that to destroy the portal was not truly his idea but just another order.

Yamaki took in a deep breath before sighing it out and putting his shades back on. His neutral composure restored, he reached the end of the hallway with his previous thoughts sealed to the back of his mind. There in front of him stood a heavy metal door and a fingerprint scanner on the side. He brought his thumb up and placed it on the scanner. After the pad glowed green, he took his thumb away, revealing an hourglass pixel on the pad. It then changed to a smiley face. "PRINT RECOGNIZED AS… YAMAKI, MITSUO," a digital voice said. The doors opened. "MOSHI-MOSHI YAMAKI-SAN."

"Moshi-Moshi indeed, Yamaki-sama." Yamaki jumped when he heard the unexpected voice call his name. He brought his gaze forward to reveal Janyu Wong leaning up against the wall. His face looked anything but pleasant; a disturbed gaze that penetrated Yamaki's thinking and made him wonder why the man looked so. "Anyone pay a visit to you today?" Janyu asked the man. Yamaki grumbled and gritted his teeth. So Henry had told his father what happened?

…No, Henry was too honorable to do such a thing. More likely, Janyu noticed a disturbance in his son's emotions and queried why he looked so down, or something on those lines. Yamaki knew he wasn't an expert on the children, but he did know each individuals morals of life. For example, Henry's willingness to sacrifice himself and put everyone before him, Rika's desire to protect what was right and even more so her friends, and Takato's never give up and keep dreaming personality. Again, Yamaki questioned the consequences of his recent actions towards the Tamers in his mind. Had he damaged them, scarred them? They would never be the same because of his choices. Yamaki snapped back to reality with Janyu clearing his throat. "I asked you a question, Mitsuo. It deserves an answer," the man demanded of him, a roaring flame of anger being bottled inside Janyu that was just trickling out with those words. Yamaki spat and began flicking his lighter again. "Don't treat me like a child, Janyu. Why are you here? Better yet, how did you get in here?"

"I let him in, sir," Riley said as she approached the two from the shadows of the dark round room. Since she was not currently on the look out for digital anomalies, she was in a normal outfit of clothing. Her long flowing red hair complimented the peach skirt and blouse she was wearing, and she proved to be a very dashing spectacle. "I figured an old friend and comrade couldn't do too much harm. Nice having some company during the late shift." Yamaki saw where this was headed. "Riley, this is restricted ground for unauthorized personnel. You know that doing this could get you fired and your life ruined possibly by some…stuck up official on a bad day." Riley simply shrugged her shoulders. "As I said; not too much harm. Now, are you going to answer Janyu's question?"

"Thanks Riley, but it's best he doesn't answer," Janyu interjected "We need to talk urgently about this, so it's best we just move forward." Janyu stared at Yamaki's eyes right through the conspiracy agent's shades. "You know why I'm here Yamaki. Why? Why won't you even attempt to help the kids? Takato, Rika, and my son and daughter may have 'moved on' as they constantly tell me…" Janyu breathed heavily "But I can see in them, in their hearts, that they're lying. And not just them, but Ryo, Jeri, Kazu, Kenta, all of them!" Yamaki paused the flicking of his lighter and took off his shades. They wouldn't block anything more than the sun. "It's not like I don't want to, Janyu!" Yamaki yelled at the man. "Dammnit, why can't you see that I would be willing to do something for those kids but I don't have that kind of power anymore! Hypnos can't truly be called mine anymore, and without authority to use our programs to their fullest potential without "adult supervision" we may as well just kiss all chances of helping them good bye."

Janyu shook his head in doubt. "That's not true Mitsuo. And you know it. There is always a way, there always has been a way. The kids proved that even more than any of us ever had!" Yamaki began shaking his head as well, a dark and out of place laugh now rising from him. "Janyu, Janyu… when will you stop believing in fairy tales…?" He flipped his Zippo out again and began his habitual stress relieving motion. It wasn't long however until Janyu grabbed it out of his hand and threw it across the room, the lighter clanking every time it hit something metal. Janyu then proceeded to grab Yamaki by the lapels and forced him up against a wall. Riley burst forward. "Mitsuo, Janyu! Stop th-"

"NO!" Yamaki yelled at the red head "This is between him and I!" The head of Hypnos returned his eyes to the man putting him into submission. Only he didn't meet his opponent's eyes, merely the top of his head; Janyu's head was leaned forward. Sobs could be heard coming from him as his entire body shook violently. Yamaki stared in slight amazement at the man's reaction until he realized finally why he was crying. "You still blame yourself…don't you…?" Janyu wiped his eyes before looking at Yamaki again. Though still very watery, his eyes were fierce; almost threatening to do something horrible if the look's recipient didn't do what they were told next. "Please…" Janyu mumbled. "You have to help them… somehow, please help them…" Yamaki couldn't decide about this man and his thoughts. Why did he wish to help the Tamers recover their partners; because he wanted to make them feel better, or himself? The weight of blame and regret must have been suffocating the Wong father by now. But…Yamaki really wanted to lean towards the better of the choices.

"Heh. I guess I'll take that as 'I still believe in Santa Clause'." Yamaki chuckled. As Janyu's grip on Yamaki's jacket loosened, he slowly got out of the grapple and proceeded to put his hand on his friend's shoulder. Janyu smiled, and Yamaki did his best to grin back. "Janyu…what can we do? I myself don't even know. We don't even have the resources we used to. The higher officials of the secret service cut off the power supply to this room after hours anyway. So," Yamaki inhaled a big gulp of air. "Even if we were to come up with a working solution for not only linking ourselves to the digital world again but also for doing so under the government's nose, we'd have to wait until tomorrow." Yamaki really did smile this time "So why don't you just go and get a good night's rest…and then I'll see if I over looked anything that might help the kids out in the slightest."

With Yamaki's last statement, loud but slow and distinct clapping resounded from the shadows of the Hypnos base. Yamaki turned to see Shibumi there applauding and next to him were others. To Yamaki's pleasure and horror Henry, Rika, and Takato were also standing there with him. They were all looking at Yamaki; Shibumi was smiling slightly, but the Tamer's faces didn't display much. Maybe…anticipation, as if they were expecting something? Maybe it was wonderment since they just heard Yamaki contradict himself on not helping them. Nevertheless, he definitely felt insecure with all their stares focusing in on him only. And that's when Yamaki's mind began working again.

"He-Hey! How did you all get in here! I thought Janyu was the onl-" Yamaki groaned as he cut himself off. He slowly turned his gaze to rest on Riley, who was now doing her best to keep her gaze fixated on seemingly interesting specimens of technology. But, her eyes kept flitting back to her blonde haired boss. "Alright, alright! So Janyu wasn't the only one I let in, geez!" she confessed throwing her arms in the air as if the cops had caught her red-handed. Shibumi laughed. "It appears that you might have to apologize to Yamaki on our part for our intrusion. Sorry Riley." Shibumi said on account of him and the children. He laughed nervously as Riley glared at his position. And yet, the tamer's eyes were all still trained on Yamaki.

Shibumi looked towards Yamaki, maintaining a small smile. "Yamaki, will you really reconsider and try to help us?" Yamaki was currently busy with trying to find his Zippo lighter in the dark. "Shibumi, I'll do what I can to help you all out," Yamaki replied without looking at the Monster Maker. "However, we don't know how it will all turn out. The digimon had to leave before, who says there might be another…phenomenon in a manner of speaking that will force them to leave again," he replied, avoiding any sensitive facts that might invoke more grief in Janyu. Yamaki silenced himself as he heard light, slow treading footsteps approach him. He looked away from his lighter to see Takato staring at him intensely. "Do you promise?" he asked the blonde agent, his fierce eyes now beginning to tear a little "Do you promise you'll help us?" Yamaki's mouth was gaping as he was speechless in front of the former Tamer. Yamaki saw that Takato was really soft because of this; a possibility to bring back his partner, his creation, his best friend. But his eyes also reflected an all too familiar determination that Yamaki had grown to trust.

Yamaki thought back to when he asked himself if he had broken the Tamer's spirits. Now… he had no doubt that he hadn't. Not Takato's at least. Yamaki couldn't help but smile now, which at first surprised Takato into losing his piercing gaze. "Y-Yamaki?" Yamaki chuckled some. "Takato, I will do all within my power to bring your partners back, especially…oh…" Yamaki looked back to the other Tamers near Shibumi "What did you call that crazy red lizard Rika? Dino-boy?" Yamaki could see Rika's attitude lighten slightly and Henry trying to keep a stern face over a rising case of laughing. And then quite to Yamaki's surprise, he staggered back some as Takato tackled him with a surprisingly tight hug. "Thank you, Yamaki! Thank you so much!" he exclaimed in great gratitude, no longer holding back the tears. Henry finally broke out into laughter, though Yamaki could tell there were tears on his face as well being as he could hear both he and Rika sniffling. Henry breathed deeply. "H-Hey, Takato, c'mon. You trying to suffocate the guy before he can do anything he promised?" Rika, so very silently, muttered, "…Gogglehead…"

"Yes, please Takato! This is…" Yamaki looked up to the snickering form of Riley as she tried to hide her face "This is very informal Matsuki! Now, if you don't…mind!" he exclaimed as he pulled Takato from him and put the Tamer on his own two feet. He straightened his jacket before patting the boy on the shoulders, causing Takato to look back up after rubbing his face dry. "S-sorry about that Mr. Yamaki…" Takato sniffed, Yamaki merely smiled. "Now don't think it's going to be that easy. You might right now, but we still have to seal up that zone in the park bunker, which kills off lead number one." Takato frowned. "But…why? It could be helpful, y'know?" Yamaki grimaced. "Yes, but there are others who think that it is more harm than help…and those who don't think of it as help at all. However…I'm sure we can find another way to do this." Yamaki looked up to his cohorts. "Riley, call Tally! Tell her to come back to base stat! She's working overtime with us tonight. We don't need electricity, let's use a pad of paper and pencil for once." Riley said nothing, just merely nodded her head before running back to the control desk and picking up a phone. "Shibumi! Janyu!" Yamaki addressed the Monster Makers, who shot to attention. "Get the rest of the Wild Bunch. Whatever plan we are going to formulate, we will need their help. Most likely, we'll probably also need another base of operations." Yamaki looked up at a now inactive camera on the ceiling "We don't know what prying eyes may not appreciate our little idea, so we shouldn't do the bulk of our work here."

Janyu nodded. "I'll call the team tonight." He turned to Shibumi "Gorou, if you don't have anything planned, why don't you stay with Yamaki tonight while I get the gang together. He could use your insight, I'm sure." Shibumi nodded his head in approval. "Right. Tell everyone I said hi, 'Tao.'" The man replied, referring to Janyu's nickname, Janyu rolled his eyes. "Oh please, don't start the codenames again…Henry! Let's go home son, I'm sure everyone would like to hear the news, hm?" Henry, who had managed to stop crying, walked over to his dad. Janyu turned his head to the other Tamers. "Takato, Rika, would you two like a ride home? You live a bit farther than we do from here, so it must be quite a walk."

Rika blinked as she considered the offer. "Umm…that's ok. I'm sure I can get home on my own, and I need to thi-"

"Sure, thank you Mr. Wong!" Takato said, his attitude had greatly improved since he arrived at Hypnos "It's been a while since I hung out with Henry anyway!" Henry was smiling now too. "Yeah, definitely."

Rika moaned. "Ohhhh…why the heck not? Thanks Mr. Wong, I'd appreciate the ride." She walked over to the other kids and Janyu. Shibumi quickly walked over to them before they got out the door. "Janyu, I've been thinking…" he started as Janyu and the Tamers turned to look at him. "I've been thinking, maybe there could be a way to contact the digimon before we link back to them. I mean, this could give them a heads up on what's going on as well as give a little hope to you three and the rest of the Tamers," he finished while gesturing to Henry, Rika, and Takato "And truth be told, this operation is not going to be quickly administered. It could take months…even years to complete. So you might get a little impatient to talk with them."

Takato blinked. "You mean…like an e-mail?" Shibumi grinned. "Well, in simpler terms, you could say that. Only we can't present a way to reply for them." Despite the small con of the idea, Takato and the rest were now all smiles. "We could really do that!" Henry asked hopefully. Shibumi nodded happily. "Sure. In fact, seeing as you are following in your father's footsteps, would you like to learn how and create the system with me?" "Yes, definitely!" he replied "When can I meet you?" Shibumi looked at his father in a way of asking the same question. Janyu simply shrugged his shoulders. Shibumi looked back down. "How about we meet at the park tomorrow and we'll discuss what we will attempt before heading over to my lab?"

Yamaki watched all of this in utter amazement. Just moments ago, everyone seemed so…tense. The feeling in the air was dark and heavy, unpleasant for everyone. And in just moments, it changed. Everyone was filled with hope and aspiration now. And Yamaki knew that, in truth, it was because he just said yes instead of giving up before the struggle started. His only worry was how the officials would handle this. Given another moment to think, Yamaki shook his head. 'Who says the officials need to know?' he thought to himself as he watched the Tamers. Especially a certain kid who wouldn't give up on his biggest dreams.

Duke: Look! Yamaki smiled! That's like Gin opening his eyes!

O c'mon. Yamaki isn't that negative. He's actually quite nice, just a little dark.

Duke: -.-

...Ok maybe really dark. But he got teh luvs!

Duke: Yay! Arby and Chief referance!

As well as one to the Japanese opening. Props if you caught that :3. So, this concludes the prologue (Duke: The reaaaaaly big prologue) and I will now enter into the time warp.

Duke: Yay, actual story wri-...wait... Time Warp?

Yes. My story is going to take place a few years into the future.

Duke: But waitwaitwaitwait WAIT! This just screams continuity errors! What about the Parasimon crisis!

Ah yes, about that. Well, I learned that that happens only a few months later after my gears started cranking.

Duke: So because you are somewhat lazy, you didn't just rethink your story.

No, it was because since this is fanfic and you are allowed some originallity...which I like, I decided to keep it a good story instead of butchering it in my opinion. To all who are pissed at this, I am sorry, but I am going to do my best to resolve it.

Duke:...I see where this is going...I know what you're eeeevil scheme is...

Oh do you now...o.e

Both: Thanks again for reading everyone!

BTW, sorry bout the whole jaw thing.

Duke: Eh, don't worry bout it, I burned your entire wardrobe at a whim when we met, so it's cool.