Author's Notes: CC here-wow, has it really been over two years since the last update? Boy, did I ever drop the ball on this one! I would like to take a moment to apologize to everybody who cares about this fanfic, particularly my co-author, CyberChaoX. Hopefully, I'll be doing bettter by you guys in the future...

Chapter 8: An Officer & A Gentleman

The reports were bad, no doubt about it. Reports indicated over 3 million fatalities in Grreater Tokyo alone, with untold millions more orphaned, displaced, or crippled. Closer to home, civilization on the Eastern seaboard had been wiped out by the invasion-New York City was a smoking ruin, having suffered a civilian casualty rate of over 90, and D.C. didn't look too good, either-the core population was essentially wiped out, except for a few resourceful Pentagon types and the odd hostage, and the surrounding metropolitan area was in a state of anarchy. News was scanty concerning other areas of the world, but Col. Ratherton would bet dollars to donuts that Greater Beijing was a mess and that the Pearl River Delta had been hit hard, as well. These reports were too much for him-he cast them aside in anger, rising with a SMASH! as he smacked both hands down on the desk in front of him, completely unaware of his observer...

A moderately handsome but otherwise nondescript man dressed in tan robes observed from the shadows of Ratheron's office. Physically, Ratherton hadn't changed a bit: he still towered over the observer and had clearly not le the comforts the other side had to offer get to him, if his massive biceps and barrel-chested physique were are indication. He still played the part of a military man, too, dressed in his black combat boots, camo pants, muscle shirt, Ray-Ban aviators, and green beret. He also sported that full face of black hair that had been his trademark for years, but the oberver had never seen it so neatly trimmed before. Ratherton's senses were also as sharp as ever, apparently; he turned around and stared the observer right in the eyes. "God damn it, Gennai, how many times did I tell you never to do that to me?" Ratherton growled in his Bluegrass State twang.

"Sorry, Jimbo, but things are pretty urgent, as you can no doubt see. I'm sure you're wondering why waves of Digimon have been attacking major metropolitan areas the world over, given that they were previously conifed to the Odaiba area of Greater Tokyo..." Gennai began, prior to being cut off by Col. Ratherton.

"There ain't no why to it, Gennai-I know that wily bastard Myotismon pretty damn well, and he wouldn't make a move of this magnitude unless he had somethin' up his sleeve that I done missed. It prolly ain't gon' be no trick to find out what it is, either-Myotismon never did run a tight organization, as far as counterintel goes..."

"You're exactly right that Myotismon made some major gains recently. You might want to sit down for what I'm about to tell you..." Gennai motioned towards the chair in front of Ratherton; Ratherton, not wanting to be rude, seated himself, but behind his Ray-Bans, he was rolling his eyes.

"So here's what happened: a few days ago, Myotismon engaged the Digi-Destined in combat, but here's the thing-the Eighth Child participated in said conflict," Gennai said, clearly trying to be as stoic about what he was saying as humanly possible.

"The Eighth Child was found after all?! That's bad news f'r mah bosses, but if I were you, I'd be a-hootin' and a-hollerin' right now, not passin' the news on to an agent of the enemy," Ratherton interrupted.

"It isn't what you think, Jimbo. Yagami Hikari, the Eighth Child, was fighting on Myotismon's side!" Gennai exclaimed.

"What in the...but WHY?! What on Earth could Myotismon have offered her or threatened her with to make her do that?"

"I don't know, but here's where things get even stranger: biometrics readouts from the battle indicate that the Eighth Child is now biologically eighteen, but she had previously been observed to be eight years old. What's more, she mysteriously went missing for about 24 hours before the battle."

"Wow, that is strange. What it looks like from my perspective is that Myotismon decided to take advantage of the time dilation betweeen our world and the Digital World by kidnappin' Hikari, takin' her to the Digital World to brainwash her for 10 years of local time, and bring her back to the real world as his number-one girl."

"You've actually hit on a good deal of the truth...but it gets worse. You see, the battle did not end with the death of one side or the other, but rather, most of the other Digi-Destined were turned."

"As in to Myotismon's side? That is both strange and disturbin'-I can see Myotismon subvertin' one Digi-Destined, but a whole pack of 'em?"

"Here's how he did it: it seems that, at some point before the battle, Myotismon sired Hikari as a vampire. During the course of the battle, five of the remaining seven Digi-Destined were turned, either by Hikari or Myotismon." Gennai felt tears welling up in his eyes now, but he blinked them back and straigntened his posture.

"And what, pray tell, happened to the other two?" Ratherton enquired.

"Kido Jyou and Izumi Koushiro were killed in action, along with Gomamon, Tentomon, Agumon, Gabumon, and Biyomon. Angemon and Lillymon were sired by their respective Digi-Destined. It's all so terrible-how could this have happened?"

"I don't rightly know, Gennai, I don't rightly know. This is horrible, though-with the Digi-Destined either dead or sired, what do we have that can fight back?"

"It still gets worse-we have reason to believe that the Dark Masters are being targetted by Myotismon and his new allies. Normally, Myotismon wouldn't pose any sort of threat to Apocalymon, but with the Digi-Destined on his side, there's no telling what sort of damage he could do-to Apocalymon, the Dark Maters, or the two worlds. Thankfully, we did have a backup plan for disasters like this," Gennai whispered, hanging his head. He turned around, spoke a few words in Japanese (Ratherton wondered what exactly he was saying), and then turned back around again as if he were expecting something to happen. A moment later, two young boys and a young girl stepped out of the shadows. The older boy-Ratherton estimated he was around 8-had his brown hair up in spikes (which must have taken a gallon of hair gel) and was wearing a blue-and-red jacket over an off-white T-shirt, yellow gloves, tan shorts, and yellow-and-white Velcro sneakers. The younger boy-Ratherton guessed he couldn't be older than 4-had his hair in a bowl cut and wore a long tan gi, plum pants, and brown hi-tops. The girl-who looked to be about 8-wore her hair long and was wearing an orange helmet, large glasses, a blue shirt with a tan vest over it, white gloves, red pants, and tan-and-white boots. The three of them just stared at nothing in particular, with the girl and the older boy fighting back tears; clearly, they were in a state of shock. "What happened to 'em, Gennai?" Ratherton asked.

"They've seen things no person should have to see. Odaiba...doesn't exist anymore..." Gennai responded, forcing himself to talk from behind his tears.

"Wow...that's awful. They probably had normal lives just a day or two ago..."

"Yeah, they did, but they have absolutely nothing to return to. Listen, you've probably been too in shock to have thought about this, but I think you might be wondering: Why did I bring you these particular three children out of everyone in Greater Tokyo? Well, you see, thse three children are all future Digi-Destined," Gennai said softly.

"WHAT?!? Do you know how badly my bosses are gon' want these three dead if they ever fin' out about 'em?" Ratherton protested.

"Yes, I do, but that just means that you'll have to keep their existence a secret from Apocalymon and his cronies, now, won't you?" Gennai replied.

"I s'pose, but I still have two more questions: How long will it be before these three become Digi-Destined? Secondly, how the Sam Hill am I s'posed to talk to 'em if I can't speak their language?"

"I'd say that it's going to be about four years before these three children are activated as Digi-Destined. As for how you'll talk to them, that's easy: I will stay here with you and help you raise them and teach them English."

"Thank you kindly, Gennai. Now, we gotta give these young'uns new names-I'd bet that there are plenty of folks that'd love to off these three, and they'll find it pretty easy if they already know their names. Any suggestions?"

"Sorry, Jimbo, but you're the expert in American culture-I think you should re-name them," Gennai replied, somewhat distantly.

"OK, then." Ratherton sat down and thought for a minute-this would probably be easier if he knew their real names. "What did you say their given names were?"

"The girl is Inoue Miyako, the older boy is Motomiya Daisuke, and the younger boy is Hida Iori."

"Thank you kindly," Ratherton replied, sinking back into thought. A few moments later, Ratherton looked up and smiled. "I assume you're going to tell me the names you thought of, Jimbo," Gennai chuckled.

"Yes, I am, sho' 'nuff. The older boy'll most likely end up bein' their leader, so he'll need a leader-like name. How 'bout Davis?" Ratherton suggested.

"Davis? Oh, I see what you're going for. What about for the others?"

"Well, the other boy seems really stoic for someone who's been through the loss of everything he's ever known. He'll need a solid, serious, dependable name-how's Cody sound to you?" Ratherton continued.

"Oh, that sounds great. And how about Miyako?"

"Her? Well, I'm at a loss, really. Really, now, I may as well pick a name out of a hat...how's Kelly sound to you?"

"Kelly? It sounds a little off, but I can't think of much better. Listen, I think you should take a look at what's going on at Infinity Mountain-I think Myotismon's arrived, Digi-Destined and company in tow."

"Why don't you put that on. Gennai? This should make for int'restin' viewin' indeed...