My name is Noriko Kawada, and why can't I ever be happy? I remember when I had my first crush, on Hiroshi Shibya, when we were being trained by the Odaiba Chosen. I don't know if it was really love, but, hey I was 12 years old, I thought my life was over every time I was embarrassed in school.
Anyway, after Hiroshi started going out with Keiko, I kind of felt depressed, and never really got into a serious relationship, but then I met Yamato. I mean, I knew Yamato from before, but after we fought Miayag for the first time, Yamato let me move in with him until I could find a place of my own. That's when we started to move closer and we fell in love. We were going to get married at some point, but then the Fallen Chosen, Tatsuo Juro, appeared. That…that bastard took Yamato away from me! He took Taichi from my best friend Sora, too.
But, something weird happened when they died, from their data or something, came a group of people that kind of looked like them. Two of them, Miach and Yamag left the group and Takuya and Koji fought them, and the Katana of Hidokoro and the Shotguns of Lucien appeared in their hands. Meanwhile, two more, Tanna and Yariko contacted Hikari.
Digimon Gog
Dissociation of the Soul
Chapter 3
Black Agumon limped as he attempted to keep up with his partner. The human was walking too fast, and after a few city blocks, Miach finally glanced over his shoulder and when he saw his dark-skinned dinosaur limbering forward, he ran to his side.
"How are you holding up?"
"Fine!" the dinosaur growled, "But when I see that fucking RiseGreymon again, I'm going to rip out his throat!"
Miach knelt down to lightly pat his shoulder. "Don't worry, buddy, just try to heal right now."
The other human crossed his arms as he stood impatiently on the sidewalk. His BlackGabumon partner was equally as annoyed. "Any time you two lovers are ready."
"Fuck you," Miach snapped back.
"Where are we going, anyway?" Black Gabumon asked before a fight could start.
Miach rose back to his feet and he stared up at the setting sun. "Those other two, Takuya and Koji, they were able to summon the Katana and the Shotguns, and I want to know why we can't."
Yamag raised his eyebrow. "And where would that be? Sora? Noriko?"
He glared. "No, try to think, why the hell would they know?"
Yamag tried to keep his temper under control. "Miayag?"
"Good, now you're thinking, but where is she?"
"How the hell should I know?"
"That's the point, we don't know where she is, after GranDracmon, she just disappeared." He was, of course, unaware that the Priestess was only a few miles from his location.
"Then where are we going?" Black Agumon asked.
"The place where we escaped."
"That lab?" Yamag shouted, "Are you insane?"
"I think that scientist guy might know what's going on, he studied us, remember?"
"Yeah, and I also remember that he kept us in those cages!"
"Well, I think it's the best we've got so far, and we've got something he needs."
"Oh yeah, and what's that?"
"Remember what his boss told him? He wanted us exterminated, if we can bring him the others, I don't think he'll be so quick to get rid of us."
Yamag crossed his arms and sighed. "Sure, what the hell? Let's go for it!"
111
Takuya kicked open the door to the partly-constructed building where he and the other duplicates had spent the previous night. It took him a moment to remember the names of the others. "Tanna? Yariko?" he asked.
There was no response. "Are you guys here?" he shouted.
"Where'd they go?" Agumon asked.
Koji stepped inside and began to search through the construction site. "Yeah, they're not here."
"Well, where the hell did they go?" Takuya grumbled, crossing his arms.
Koji thought for a moment. "Did they go back to that Kurata guy?"
"I doubt it," Takuya muttered, "So where else?"
The other young man shrugged slightly. "Noriko and Sora?"
Takuya sighed, "That's what I'm thinking, but damn it, why'd they go alone?"
"Why don't you two want to go to them?" Gaomon asked.
"That's not it," Koji explained, "It's just...what were we going to say to them?"
"I guess it doesn't matter now, right?" Agumon asked, "If they're there, then, you won't have to say anything, right? So let's go!"
"Now?" Koji asked.
"I don't know about you," Takuya yawned, "But I'm pretty tired. Let's wait until tomorrow."
111
Miayag held tightly to Witchmon's broom as the digimon flew through the afternoon sky over Tokyo. The Priestess kept her eyes focused on the sea of people below her, yet she could not find the person for which she had been searching. Finally, she sighed in defeat. "It is no use, Juro has vanished."
"Just blended in, you mean," Witchmon muttered.
"Yes," Miayag muttered, "And we do not have any leads whatsoever." She frowned, "Now what shall we do?"
"We could go see your cousin, right?" Witchmon suggested, hopeful.
"Not yet," she frowned, "I do not wish to see her without a definite answer."
Her partner pouted. "So much for a rest," she muttered.
Miayag smiled slightly. "Come, if we have lost Juro, then it is time we search for our other prey, Yamaki."
"Back to Hypnos?" Witchmon asked.
The Priestess thought for a moment, then glanced to the setting sun. "He has probably gone home by now. We will continue tomorrow."
111
Hikari, Sora and Noriko were staring across the kitchen table at the two other young women that had appeared only an hour ago. The mysterious visitors were feeding the two young babies that they arrived with; their digimon partners were eating as well. Once the two babies were fed, the two young women placed the food dishes into the sink. They then turned back to the others.
"Sorry," the girl with the goggles said, "They were getting hungry."
Sora nodded. "Yeah, sure…um, who are you again?"
The girl chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I know you're probably pretty freaked out about this."
"Probably?" Noriko chuckled, "That's an understatement."
"Please," Hikari said, "Can you explain again?"
"As best we can," the other girl said, "You can call me Yariko.
"And I'm Tanna," the other girl smiled, "And we're missing two more, Takuya and Koji, who went after Miach and Yamag."
Hikari nodded, "Yes, but…what you said when you came here…you said you were my brother."
She fidgeted, "Well, kinda…I mean, sort of…I…I'm not making sense, am I? Well, the first thing I really remember is waking up in a weird laboratory."
"And we weren't alone," Yariko added, "Like we said, Takuya, Koji, Miach and Yamag were there, but there were more, and those others died."
"Ten of you?" Sora asked.
"Twelve," Yariko clarified, mentioning to the two babies.
Tanna nodded. "Yeah and we were freed when Miayag invaded."
Hikari's ears perked. "My cousin was there?"
"Yeah, and she started fighting against the soldiers, and it shorted out the power or something, and we were able to escape."
Hikari frowned. "Why was my cousin there?"
"I think she was trying to help us," Yariko said.
Hikari looked over at Tanna. "But what you said about being my brother," she pressed.
"Well," Tanna said, "I…I can remember things about him, I mean, it's like I have some of his memories."
"Don't forget the other thing too," Yariko added.
Tanna smiled slightly. "You think that's important?"
"It probably is, we should tell them everything. We might be able to figure out what we are."
"What other thing?" Noriko asked.
Tanna shrugged. "I don't know, it's like…like you know yesterday? How windy it was? Well, I could feel every breeze."
Sora and Noriko glanced at one another. "Wind?" Noriko asked.
"And you?" Hikari asked Yariko.
"I have some of Yamato's memories," she explained, "But during the night, I kind of felt the same way that Tanna did when the wind was blowing."
"Darkness," Noriko muttered in shock.
The three young women glanced at each other, then turned back to Tanna and Yariko. "Excuse us for a moment," Hikari smiled apologetically. She, Noriko and Sora walked into the living room, where their conversations could not be heard.
"So, what do you guys think?" Sora asked.
"I don't know," Noriko said, "If it's a trap, it's pretty confusing story, I mean, who else even knows about our powers like that? I mean, besides Miayag, Hiroshi and the others, and they wouldn't do something like this. GranDracmon and the Demon Lords are dead."
"Juro knows," Sora frowned, "He killed Taichi and Yamato, is this why? So he could…could trick us like this?"
Hikari frowned. "I don't know, I just feel like they're telling the truth."
"Your too trusting," Sora frowned, "But…I think you're right. It just seems too complicated for a trap."
Noriko sighed. "So what are we going to do with them?"
"I don't know," Sora frowned, "They might not be here to hurt us, but we still don't really know what they are. And what…what Tanna said about her wind-connection…she looks like Taichi, but, doesn't she kind of look like Anna too?"
Hikari nodded. "Yeah, and Yariko looks kind of like…like Yamato and Noriko."
The third woman glanced to Yariko, who was seated at the table, her arms crossed and an impatient expression on her face. "She doesn't look anything like me!"
Hikari and Sora rolled their eyes. "Anyway," the redhead said, "Could they be clones or something? And if they are, who…created them?"
"One thing at a time," Hikari said, "First of all, it's getting late, and they need a place to spend the night. Why don't you all stay here tonight?"
"Oh no," Sora said, "We don't want to impose, right Noriko?"
The other woman nodded. "Yeah, it was a nice offer, but…"
"Oh please," she said, "Please."
The glanced at one another. "What about our partners?" Noriko asked.
"I guess they'll be fine," Sora said.
Hikari grinned. "Great, me and Plotmon will get the other rooms ready."
111
Deep within the Hypnos building, Kurata sat within his laboratory, peering into his computer screen. He glanced over his shoulder at the large metal table in the center of the room, which contained the remains of one of the deceased duplicates of Taichi, a young man dressed in a blue t-shirt and a baggy pair of brown shorts. The corpse had been dissected, and the internal organs were laid in a smaller table to the side, but it was the sample of blood that was lying on the base of a microscope which was connected to his computer that kept his attention. As he stared at the lines of data being displayed, he rubbed his chin in puzzlement.
"This doesn't make any sense at all," he mumbled, "How can this be? DNA doesn't just…just merge, not like this!"
He jerked his head up when he heard his laboratory door slide open. He glanced over at the dissected body, then spun to the door entrance. The Hypnos Commander, Yamaki, had told him to discontinue this project after the escaping of the others, but he could not pass up this opportunity, so he had hope to continue this experiment in secret. He thought he would be safe late at night, but if anyone should see him, he would not only be fired, but possibly incarcerated. He anticipated the beginning of the end of his career, but when he saw two of the escapees that he had previously kept imprisoned within his cages, he anticipated the beginning of the end of his life.
His eyes were wide and he could not speak. Yamag was standing in the rear, his arms crossed, while Black Agumon and Black Gabumon were standing at his side; Miach chuckled. "Hello, Dr. Kurata."
The middle-age man glanced around his laboratory, wondering how quickly he could get to the gun in the desk drawer. Unfortunately, that was on the other side of the room, right past the door. He would never make it.
He swallowed and stared at the intruders. "H…how did you get in here without anyone seeing you?"
"It's after hours, doctor," Miach responded, "The halls were practically empty."
"W…what shall I call you?"
"I am Miach, and my partner, Black Agumon."
"I'm Yamag, and this is Black Gabumon."
Kurata nodded and placed his hands together. "Well, what can I do for you?"
"We've got questions," Yamag said, "And we think you've got answers."
"And…and what questions would those be?"
Miach chuckled again. "Well, why don't we start with, who are we?"
Kurata felt his rapidly beating heart start to calm. "I…I was just beginning to try to figure that out, but, I…I think I have a theory…"
"Which is?"
"Well, before I can give a conclusion, I'd like some more data, namely, a sample of your DNA."
"What would that tell you?" Yamag asked.
"Nothing, or everything."
Miach glanced at Yamag, then nodded. The two humans held out their arms. Kurata nodded, and began to smile. "Allow me to gather a sample."
After extracting samples of their blood, he placed them under his microscope and examined his findings on the computer monitor. The others stared over his shoulder at the lines of numbers and words being displayed: the letters A, T, G, and C along with a number behind them. "What exactly are we looking at?" Yamag asked.
"Your DNA sequence," he said, "Here." He pressed a few keys and the lines of text changed to a familiar DNA helix. He pointed to the sequence on the left, "This is Miach's, and the other one is Yamag's. Now, watch this.
He entered commands into the keyboard. Yamag's sequence vanished and Miach's moved to a smaller area on the bottom. Two more sets of DNA information appeared on the monitor. After entering more commands, half of the DNA on the right and half of the DNA on the left merged together into the center of the screen, creating an exact duplicate of Miach's sequence.
"What does it mean?" Miach demanded.
"The sequence that was on the left was from Taichi Yagami, and the other sequence was from Chihi Miayag."
"Miayag?" Yamag asked.
"Yes, I was able to get her DNA when she broke in here the other day and fought one of our operatives. I think she cut her lower leg, but it doesn't really matter. Miach, your DNA sequence is a perfect merging of Yagami and Miayag's sequence, and Yamag, your DNA is from Yamato Ishida and Miayag's as well."
The two Chosen glanced at each other. "Go on," Yamag said.
Kurata nodded. "Right, there is more. As you know, four of the other didn't survive. After doing more testing, I've determined that one contained the combined DNA of Yagami and Maria Silvano, another Yagami and Keeya Genet, while the other two were Ishida's, one with his DNA and Lynna Jeffry and another with Iduia Ramiro; and with your DNA being combined with Miayag's, I think I can surmise that the others have the DNA of Yagami and Ishida combined with: Sora Takenouchi, Anna Danika, Catherine Rupert and Noriko Kawada."
"Very interesting," Yagami said, "But what does that really mean?"
"I'm not sure," he said, "But, DNA does not combined like that, I think it occurred when each of the Daughters of the First gave their power to Yagami and Ishida when they defeated GranDracmon, but when the Fallen Chosen killed them, that DNA somehow was combined."
"How do you know this?" Miach asked.
"Hypnos was created to oversee this digital phenomenon, we've been monitoring the Chosen for a long time now, but that's beside the point right now. I believe that the reason that the DNA combined, is because it was data, which was easier to form together."
"Because they were fused with their partners, into Omegamon X?" Black Agumon askd.
Kurata nodded. "Precisely. If we could find a way to change DNA into data, then it could be combined together perfectly. The implications to genetic engineering are astounding, but we need a way to turn DNA into data, the Digital Gate is the key."
"Where do we find one?" Yamag asked.
"That, unfortunately is the problem. Finding one existing in nature could take ages, we need to build one."
Miach smirked. "When do we start?"
111
The guests in Hikari's apartment had spent a restless night. Sora and Noriko had decided to spend the night in Taichi's room, which Hikari had not yet begun to clean. Just being in that room had proved to be too much for Sora, and she had to move to the living room to sleep on the couch. Noriko had joined her. Tanna, Yariko and the infants spent the night in the guest room, which had previously been Maria's room, while Hikari was, of course, in her own room. Each of the females had not sleep well, as their minds flooded with the questions of the mysterious guests. When dawn finally arrived, they were all eager to stop pretending to sleep.
While Hikari, Sora and Noriko were friends, they were not so comfortable around Tanna and Noriko, so breakfast was a quiet, uncomfortable time. Hikari was hesitant about leaving her guests in her apartment while she was at work, even though she would never say so; Sora offered to stay, and Noriko even offered to bring Yariko with her back to her apartment. She felt more relaxed, and finally left for work. Noriko and Yariko left a few minutes later. Sora had to go back to her apartment to gather her art supplies, and she even brought Piyomon back with her.
Tanna was busy taking care of one of the infants; Yariko had taken the other. Sora watched the other young woman rocking the crying baby in her arms, and the redhead could not help it, but she saw Taichi holding his child, which only made her sad.
Tanna noticed the redheaded woman as she sat at the kitchen table, staring at her large sketch pad. She walked over and glanced over her shoulder at the design, which was a pair of low rider jeans that was flared near the ankles. "That looks really beautiful."
Sora blinked. "Oh, thanks."
Tanna smiled. "You're a really good artist, you know? I know that one day everyone'll be wearing clothes that you design."
Sora began to blush. "R…really?"
She nodded. "Sure." She stared at the image for another moment. "Wow, I really can't believe how good you are! I can't believe I never noticed it before, even when you used to draw back in school."
She chuckle. "Well, that was just in my notebook because I was bored in cl…" She trailed off as she realized just what Tanna had said. "Y…you remember?"
"Well, yeah, we were friends before we…" Her eyes opened in shock and she gasped. "Oh Sora, I…I'm sorry, I…it's like…."
"You have Taichi's memories, yeah, I understand," she said.
Tanna sighed. "I'm sorry if this is…weird for you, but I don't even know what I really am!"
The redhead shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, I'm just…so confused…"
"Yeah, I understand, but…I just want you to know that I…really…really, loved you. Er, I mean Taichi, or, the Taichi part of me, but that means I'm part of him…" She smiled sheepishly, "I'm not making a lot of sense, am I?"
Sora chuckled, then glanced at the baby. She smiled. "We don't even know what his name is, do we?"
Taana shrugged slightly. "I was just gonna call him Jr."
"Taichi Jr? Nice name, not very original, but nice."
111
Miayag had spent the night in her hotel room, but had awakened shortly before dawn to give herself plenty of time to reach the building overlooking the Hypnos main building. She and Plotmon had taken up their position on the roof, and watched with careful caution. They had seen Yamaki enter the building at the begging of the day, and were now watching to make certain that he did not escape their watch.
Plotmon yawned in boredom. "This is taking fore-ever!"
"I will not leave until he has," Miayag responded, slightly annoyed.
The Mammal digimon sighed as she stared at the building. "How can they not know that we're here?"
"I would assume that their surveillance does not extend to neighboring buildings," she replied.
Plotmon felt her stomach grumble and she was about to ask about lunch, when she saw her partner rise to her feet. "We're finally leaving?"
Miayag nodded. "Yamaki is on the move. Come!"
Once again, the Priestess and her partner jumped across building roofs as they followed Yamaki on the street below. They once again traveled via the subway system to the section of Tokyo known as Shinbashi. "This is where he went the other day," Plotmon said, "Doesn't that seem weird?"
"He may live here for all we know," Miayag responded as they continued to leap across rooftops, "Of course, it is lunchtime, he may be meeting someone. His wife perhaps? His lover?"
Plotmon nodded and watched Yamaki as he maneuvered through the crowded city streets. Eventually he arrived at a large building nestled on a side street. Young children were running through a playground, bouncing on the swings and jungle gym while an older woman watched. "What the heck kind of place is this?"
"It is a school," Miayag replied, "I am having a foreboding feeling…"
They stood on an adjacent roof and stared at him carefully. He was standing on the street, glancing at his watch. "He's just standing there," the Mammal digimon said.
"He's waiting for someone," Miayag said, narrowing her eyes, "And…and I think I know who…"
Plotmon noticed the young woman as well as she ran from the building. She met Yamaki in the street, and the two hugged each other. The Mammal digimon had to blink to make certain that she had seen correctly, but she had. She turned to Miayag. "Megumi…?"
The Priestess could only stare at the embracing couple. "Yamaki's lover…is Hikari."
"I don't believe this!" Plotmon gasped, "She sold us out!"
"How dare you!" Miayag gasped, "Juushi wouldn't have ever done anything like that!"
"Then why is she with Yamaki?" Plotmon demanded.
The Priestess sighed. "I would believe that she does not realize what he truly is. We will wait until she had left work, then we will speak to her."
"Finally," the Mammal digimon sighed, "Hikari's a pretty good cook, and I really want a home cooked meal."
111
Inside of Kurata's laboratory, the Hypnos scientist was once again studying lines of text and data that was displayed on his computer screen. Behind him, Miach was seated in an office chair, lazily tossing a plastic beaker into the air and catching it in his hands, Yamag was seated atop a metal table, back leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Black Agumon and Black Gabumon were sleeping on the floor.
Miach caught the beaker one more time before growling. "Hey, Poindexter, are you done yet?"
"I'm still examining the data…."
"Data? What fucking data?"
The middle-aged man remained calm. "I am trying to determine how your partners are able to use the energy from the Daughters of the First that you absorbed to evolve. I need actual battle data."
Miach blinked. "What does that mean?"
"I need you to go and fight with someone, anyone."
He grinned maliciously. "And I know exactly who…"
111
Noriko, Sora and their digimon were once again walking on the sidewalks of Shinbashi. They had become accustomed to the stares they received from others, not from their digimon partners, as Piyomon was pretending to be Sora's backpack, and Plotmon was in Noriko's arms as a stuffed animal. No, it was the stares they received from their infection of the Second Black Death. Sora had lost her left eye and her left leg. She was now walking with her crutches again, but the two young women had just come from a sculptor's, who had taken the first mold to create a glass eye. Noriko's skin, however, was still missing large sections across her body, and while she was usually able to hide them with a form of body make-up that Jyou had given her, which she used during her shift at work, she had chosen today not to wear it.
They kept their gaze straight forward, as their mysterious guests were walking in front of them. Tanna was holding Taichi Jr. in her arms, while Yariko was carrying the other baby, which she had, oddly enough, named Yamato Jr. Their two partners, Yuki Agumon and Psychemon were too large to pretend to be stuffed animals, especially with the two young women having their hands full with the babies, so they walked at their side, disguised in trench coats, and they were feeling the rays of the hot sun.
Noriko sighed. "I don't know about them."
Sora stared at her. "I mean, come on, you spent the entire day with Yariko, do you still think they're trying to trick us?"
She grumbled. "I guess not…but…are we really sure that Tanna's Taichi with Anna's wind power and Yariko is Yamato with my darkness power?"
"Didn't you feel Tanna? Didn't she feel like Anna? And didn't Yariko feel like…well you?"
"Just a little…and I felt something from Yariko, but I don't know how you feel darkness, I've never had to feel my own power outside of my body before. But how are we going to prove this?"
Sora shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they're someone's mad science experiment. Remember the Demon Lords? They were just like me, Taichi and the others. Maybe we can do genetic testing or something."
"Jyou?"
"He'd be our best bet." She sighed, "Man, I really miss Koushiro and Miyako. They could figure out anything."
"You sound like Taichi," she muttered, then frowned, "I sorry Sora."
Before the redhead could respond, the two young women arrived at the main doors of Hikari's apartment building, and they saw a shocking sight, two young men standing before the glass portal. Even though they knew that what they saw could not be true, deep down, they still hoped.
"Taichi?" Sora gasped/
"Yamto?" Noriko screamed.
"It can't be!" Piyomon warned, "Sora, that can't be real!"
"Noriko!" Plotmon called, "Noriko!"
The two young men stepped forward, grinning as they did. "Hello Sora," the brown-haired male said.
The redhead was almost in a trance, "Taichi," she said, limping forward.
"Sora!" Tanna suddenly screamed, "That's not Taichi!"
She heard her screams, and blinked her remaining eye a few times, and she was able to regain her senses. She stared at the man before her, and her overwhelming hope and happiness was quickly replaced with rage. "You…who are you?! Why do you look like Taichi?"
Before he could answer, Yariko interrupted him. "Those are the others ones that escaped with us."
The Taichi-duplicate bowed. "I am Miach, this is Yamag, I believe you can guess what our partners are called."
The two dark-skinned digimon bowed as well.
Sora and Noriko both smiled, but their partners were still wary. "Well," Noriko said, "I guess you guys don't have any answers about…what you are, do you?"
Yamag shook his head. "Sorry, no."
Yariko stared at them. "Takuya and Koji left right after you, did you see them?"
Yamag chuckled. "We may have had a…run in with them."
"What does that mean?"
They both chuckled. "Uh oh," Noriko said, her eyes narrowing, "I've got a bad feeling about this…"
Both young men whipped out their gold-colored digivices. "Now, evolve!"
"Black Agumon evolve to Metal Tyrannomon!"
"Black Gabumon evolve to Cerberumon!"
"They skipped the Adult level!" Piyomon gasped, "How could they do that?"
"I don't recognize them," Plotmon said, "Are they Megas?"
"No," Piymon said, "They're Fully Evolved."
"Yeah, well, you were wrong before, remember Raptrodramon? You said he was Fully Evolved!"
Piymon would have smacked her wing into the Mammal's head, if she had not lost it due to the Second Black Death.
Noriko and Sora both glanced at each other. "You felt that too, right?"
"Felt what?" Tanna asked.
"Something we haven't felt in over five months," Noriko said, "The powers of the other Daughters of the First."
"What?" Plotmon gasped, "Who?"
"We can't really say, it's all jumbled together, but its definitely from the others."
"But how can that be?"
"Enough talk!" Metal Tyrannomon growled, "If you don't want to be torn to shreds, then prepare to fight!"
Tanna and Yariko shifted the crying babies in their arms in order to grab their digivices, which began to glow in light of dark blue and black.
"Yuki Agumon evolve to Allomon!"
"Psychemon evolve to Butterflymon!"
Noriko raised her eyebrow. "Butterflymon? If Yariko's power is mine, where the hell did Butterflymon come from?"
"Shut up and evolve me, quick!" Plotmon shouted, "They need help!"
"Yeah yeah," she muttered, grabbing her dark-colored digivce. Once the device was in her hand, Plotmon was able to evolve through her Adult form of Black Tailmon to her Fully Evolved form of Ladydevimon.
Noriko was grinning, but then noticed that Piyomon had not yet evolved. She twisted her head and saw that Sora was only staring at the two young men. "Why are we fighting?" she asked, "I don't understand."
"Sora!" Noriko shouted, "Piyomon needs to evolve!"
The redhead nodded slowly and reached for her red-colored digivice. Piyomon quickly evolved to her Fully Evolved form of Garudamon and joined Ladydevimon in the sky.
Yamag paled. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."
"I don't care!" Miach shouted, "If we kill them, we'll be our own beings! No 'other selves' no memories, we'll be free! Metal Tyrannomon, kill them now!"
The Cyborg charged forward, roaring with rage. Allomon jumped in front and caught MetalTyranomon's hands within her own. The two dinosaurs became locked in a power struggle, each attempting to overpower the other, yet, the simple Dinosaur was easily overpowered by the cybernetic might of Metal Tyrannomon. He threw her into the ground, and was about to continue his assault, when Garudamon fired her Shadow Wing into Metal Tyranomon's side. He was not harmed, but he grabbed the fallen Allomon and flung her into Garudamon, knocking them both into the ground. He stomped over, ready to attack, but Allomon screamed, "Dino Burst!" A blast of fiery heat erupted from her mouth and struck the Cyborg digimon in the face, knocking him back.
Unfortunately, as soon as Allomon and Garudamon jumped back into the air, Metal Tyrannomon pointed his right hand forward and fired a massive missile from the palm. "Giga Destroyer II!"
They opened their eyes fright, and Garudamon attempted to fly out of the way, but the projectile struck Allomon directly in the chest, causing enough of an explosion to throw Garudamon into a tailspin, and she crashed into the ground. Allomon was completely down, but the bird man rose to her feet to continue the battle, but before she could do anything, Metal Tyrannomon shot over and grabbed her throat with his left hand and began to pound her face with her right fist. Despite Sora's screams of protest, Metal Tyrannomon continued his assault until Garudamon's face was bloodied and bruise, even her beak was cracked. The Cyborg digimon growled in delight and threw her into the ground.
Meanwhile, Cerberumon's three heads were snapping and growling, snarling and drooling as they stared at Butterflymon and Ladydevimon. The two females however in the air, simply waiting, when Cerberumon leapt forward, his right mouth snapping at Ladydevimon, while the right most mouth attacked Bufferflymon. She pointed her claws directly at the head's eyes and fired a sticky substance from the tips. "Sweet Honey Straw!" she shouted, firing honey directly into his eyes. The right head began to whiter in pain, swinging from side to side. While he was temporarily blinded, the Nature Spirit shoved her claws into his eyes, completely blinding him. With one head removed, now only two remained.
"Nice job," Ladydevimon grinned, "I'm really impressed."
"Thanks," Butterflymon buzzed.
The right most head hung limply while the middle head and the left head growled. "That strategy isn't going to work twice! And with two heads left, I'm more then a match for you! Hell Fire!"
From his two remaining heads, he spewed out streams of green flames, enveloping the two female digimon. "Hell Fire!"
"Ladydevimon!" Noriko shouted.
"Butterflymon!" Yariko screamed.
The two females had completely vanished, and their partners feared the worse. They both breathed a sigh of relief when Ladydevimon's Darkness Wave dissolved the flame and also flapped around Cerberumon's two heads, blocking his vision. Ladydevimon's hand twisted into a sharp spear, and she shot forward, aiming for the eye on the middle head, but the left head whipped around and grabbed her by the leg and flung her into Butterflymon. While the two females became tangled, Cerberumon leapt into the air and tackled them to the ground.
"I don't get this!" Tanna shrieked, "How are they so strong?"
Noriko glanced over at Sora, who nodded. "Yeah, I feel it too…"
"Feel what?" Yariko shouted, "What?"
Before Sora could answer, she then suddenly felt something that caused her entire body to shiver as a massive chill ran up her spine. She turned to her best friend. "Noriko, you felt that…right? Please tell me you felt that!"
Noriko nodded, her voice was quivering. "Y…yeah, I felt that all right." The feeling she was experiencing was indeed that same feeling that Sora had felt: the feeling of the sun shining down upon your face on a bright sunny day, the power of Light.
"What's going on?" Taana shouted.
"Catherine," Sora answered.
"Catherine? But isn't she dead?"
"Then what are we feeling?" Sora snapped, "And what's that other one?"
Noriko focused on the second feeling, the sensation of heat across her entire body. "Sora…I don't know how to say this but, that's you."
"Me?!"
"Yeah, that's how your power, the power of Fire, feels to me."
The two young women stopped and began to glance around, almost in a panic state. Once the battle had started, the citizens had instantly vacated, screaming in terror, the battlefield was empty except for them, yet they could not focus on the two other powers that should only belong to the Daughters of the First. The Power of Fire was Sora's, and the Power of Light belonged to Catherine Rupert, the Chosen from France, but she had died battling the Horsemen of GranDracmon. They both cautiously glanced from side to side, nervously scanning the people as they past. Suddenly, a bolt of feeling exploded from behind. They twisted around and saw two young men standing before them, one wearing a bandana wrapped around his head, and another with a pair of goggles. Before they could even speak, a giant orange dinosaur and a large, bipedal canine digimon leapt over them and tackled MetalTyrannomon and Cerberumon to the ground.
"What the hell?" Noriko gasped.
Tanna and Yariko both smiled as the two young men ran to join their partners. "Don't worry," Taana grinned, "That's Takuya and Koji, they're with us."
Sora stared at the goggle-wearer. "And he's got the Katana of Hidokoro."
"And the Shotguns of Lucien," Noriko said, "That would explain why we felt Fire and Light."
Once Risegreymon had kicked Metal Tyrannomon off of Allomon and Garudamon, he pointed his large revolver arm and quickly fired three bursts of metal bullets that struck him directly in the chest. At such close range, he stumbled backwards and fell onto his rear, causing a large tremor that nearly knocked the others to the ground. Sora, having been using her crutches, was easily thrown-off balance and began to fall. Takuya charged to her side and caught her.
"Are you all right, Sora?" he asked.
The redhead stared into his eyes. "Y…yeah…"
The tremor also caused Cerberumon to stumble. MachGoagoamon pointed his cannons directly at the massive canine's two heads and screamed. "Howling Cannon!" He began to scream as loud as he could, sending the sound waves through the large weapons on his back and directly into Cerberumon's heads. The sound disoriented him and he began to stumble, MachGaogamon finished his attack with his Winning Knuckle technique, knocking the large digimon into the ground.
"Hell yeah!" Takuya laughed, "You've got nothing on us, yeah!"
Miach stared at his mysterious 'other,' but instead of screaming with rage, he simply smiled. "Well, I guess it's about time to head out, I think the boss's got all he needs."
"Boss?" Koji gasped, "What boss?"
"You think we're that stupid?" Yamag asked, "We're not telling you anything!"
"You think you're leaving?" Takuya shouted.
Miach shrugged. "We can continue if you want, but we're in a pretty populated area, you never know if one of these buildings could get attacked by accident…"
Takuya narrowed his eyes. "You bastard."
"Your choice."
He sighed. "Fine."
Miach grinned and nodded to Yamag. "Let's get out of here." Their two partners regressed to their Child forms, and the foursome quickly ran from the battlefield.
Takuya sighed again. "Come on, let's get out of here before that organization finds us."
111
A few hours later, Jyou was waiting outside of Hikari's apartment. The apartment's owner opened the door a moment later, and the young man walked inside. He was greeted by Sora and Noriko, who were waiting in the hall. "Hey guys, I came as soon as I got your message, but who needs a paternity test?" He glanced at Sora.
The redhead shook her head. "I know who…I mean, I don't need one."
Jyou nodded, then looked over at Noriko, who shook her head. "It can't be Hikari, right?"
"Jyou!" the younger woman sighed, "It's not for any of us, and we don't need a paternity test, just a DNA test."
"All right, who needs a DNA test?"
Noriko mentioned over her shoulder to the living room, where Jyou noticed a group of familiar-looking young adults in the living room: two young men, two girls with two babies in their arms. They were seated on the couch, watching television, so they could not hear them speaking in the hallway. "Who are they?" he asked.
Sora limped into the room on her crutches. "This is Takuya, Koji, Tanna, Yariko, Taichi Jr. and Yamato Jr."
Jyou gasped. "What?"
Noriko gave a slight grin. "Oh, it gets weirder, Tanna and Takuya think they're Taichi, and Koji and Yariko think they're Yamato."
The young man had to squeeze his eyes for a moment. "Okay, but…"
"It's a long story," Sora said, "But just trust us."
He nodded. "All right, what do you need?"
"Can you give them a DNA test or something to see if they're really Taichi and Yamato?" Hikari asked.
He thought for a moment. "I can take samples of their DNA, no problem, but unless we have a sample of Taichi and Yamato's DNA, there'll be nothing to compare it with."
Hikari thought for a moment. "Well, I'm his sister, can you use my DNA as a comparison?"
"Normally, yes. Your DNA is probably the closet anyone's DNA is going to be to Taichi's, since you both got your DNA from the same place, your parents."
"What do you mean, normally?"
He gave a slight smile. "That kind of genetic testing is…well…pretty much beyond me. I'm not a geneticist; that kind of test would need to be sent to a special lab."
"And probably coast a fortune, right?" Noriko asked.
Jyou nodded. "And it could be forever before they even get to it."
Sora frowned. "Great." She blinked. "Wait, suppose…suppose you had a person's DNA, and you wanted to find out who their father was, but you didn't have the father's DNA, but you had the mother's, could you just…I don't know, eliminate the mother's DNA and then have the father's?"
Jyou blinked for a moment. "Uh, that's…." He shook his head, "I don't know. We'd need to ask a geneticist."
Hikari stared at the redhead. "Sora, where would you get a child with my brother as the father?"
Sora gasped for a moment and placed a hand over her mouth. Noriko looked anxious as well. "Sora," Hikari said, "Are you…?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm pregnant."
The younger woman was silent for a moment; she found that she could not ask the question she wanted, so she instead asked another. "Am…am I going to be an…an…"
"An aunt?" she asked, "Yeah. Your brother was the only one that I…."
Despite the sadness that clouded their minds, Hikari hugged Sora tightly. "Wow," she said, "I…I don't know what to say."
The silence was broken by a female voice. "I'm gonna be a father? That's so great!"
They turned and saw that Tanna was standing before them. When she saw the expression on Sora's face, she frowned. "Oh, sorry, Sora, I…I'm…"
The redhead nodded, closing her eyes. "I know…I know…"
Hikari frowned. "What about those other two? Miach and Yamag? They looked…well, they looked almost exactly like Taichi and Yamato."
"But so do we," Koji pointed out, "But we can't let those two run lose, right?"
"Then it would be best if we found them at once."
The congregation spun around and saw a young woman standing in the doorway. Hikari grinned and embraced the other woman tightly. "Megumi!"
Megumi Seisou, better known Chihi Miayag, smiled as she returned the embrace. "Hello Juushi, it is good to see you once more."
Hikari pulled back, then frowned. "You know about Taichi, right?"
She sighed. "Yes, unfortunately."
The other woman forced herself to smile once more, then mentioned to the living room. "Come on, let's all at least sit down."
As the group moved into the living room, Hikari began to ask her cousin questions. "Where have you been all this time?"
"I had returned to America," the Priestess responded, "To continue my education, philosophy."
"That would really suit you," she smiled, "I can see you as a philosopher, but why didn't you ever try to at least let us know you were okay?"
She frowned. "I felt…I felt that perhaps, it would have been best if we parted ways, so you would not feel obligated to…to put the past behind us."
The slightly older woman frowned. "You are my cousin, no matter what you did in your past, we're still family, and I still care for you."
She smiled and nodded. "Maybe we should discuss this…situation that has arisen."
"Let me ask you something," Noriko said, pointing to the mysterious duplicates, "Did you free them?"
"In a way," she responded, smiling slightly, "It was my intention, but during a battle I had inside of Hypnos, I may have set them free entirely by accident."
"But they were there, right?"
She nodded. "Yes."
Noriko shrugged slightly and glanced at the mysterious women. "I guess that validates your story, no offense."
"No problem," Yariko smiled, "I would have been just as cautious."
Miayag nodded. "From what Kurata was saying to Y…" She glanced at Hikari, "…was saying to the Hypnos commander, these two, and the others, were formed from the data of Taichi and Yamato after they were ki…after they were defeated by Juro."
"But do you know what they are?" Jyou asked.
She shook her head. "No."
"Actually," Sora said, "Maybe we have an idea."
The others were staring intently, so she continued. "Um…Tanna said she felt some kind of connection to wind, and Yariko felt a connection to the night, to darkness."
Miayag raised her eyebrow. "Go on please."
Sora took a deep breath, "Well, this is what Noriko and me think, but…um…we think that maybe Tanna is some kind of…clone or something, of Taichi and Anna, and Yariko is Yamato and Noriko."
The others, including the two young women in question, blinked in surprise. "That's what you think we are?" Tanna asked, "But…how?"
Miayag began to lightly rub her chin. "If that were true…then perhaps it was when we Daughters of the First gave them our energy to form Omegamon X, and since they were merged with their partners when they were killed, their data could have separated."
"But…why?" Hikari asked.
She shrugged. "That we may never discover."
Tanna began to pace the floor. "Okay…okay…if…if I'm Taichi and Anna, and Yariko is Yamato and Noriko….then…then what about the others?"
Noriko spoke up. "Takuya's Taichi and Sora, and Koji is Yamato and Catherine."
"And there's more," Sora said, "Noriko and me both felt more powers from Miach and Yamag."
"What powers?" Jyou asked.
The two young women glanced at each other. "Well," Noriko said, "Miach felt like Keeya and Maria and Yamag felt like Iduia and Lynna."
"Yeah," Tanna said, looking at the others, "Remember what that Kurata guy said? That when those others died, he thinks their power, or energy or whatever, was trying to be absorbed by the two Digitamas, what if Miach and Yamag absorbed them instead?"
Takuya chuckled slightly. "That would explain how they evolved to the Fully Evolved level, when they fought us the first time."
"Wait a second," Yariko said, "That still doesn't tell us who Miach and Yamag are."
Miayag sighed. "I fear they may have come from me. Remember, I gave energy to form Omegamon X as well."
"That seems probable," Noriko rolled her eyes.
"What about the babies?" Hikari asked.
The room fell silent for a full minute before Miayag gave a suggestion. "What if they represent Taichi and Yamato, at their most innocent? Before all…life experiences, before all external power?"
"What?" Sora gasped.
"Suppose we look at this situation like this: not only do these duplicates posses a Daughter of the First merged with Taichi or Yamato, what if they also posses a different aspect of their personality? Tanna may be Taichi and Anna, but also Taichi's feminine, compassionate side? And the same would hold true for Yariko. Takuya and Koji would represent their heroic side, and…" she frowned, "Miach and Yamag may represent greed, pride or anger, which I certainly possessed."
Hikari reached over and lightly patted her cousin on the shoulder. Miayag took a deep breath. "However, that is only one aspect of this new…conflict. The other being Tatsuo Juro."
The others all nodded in agreement.
"He is far stronger then all of us put together," she continued, "I feel that Taichi and Yamato could have defeated him, had they had the chance to form Omegamon X."
"That makes sense," Jyou said, "Omegamon X was probably the strongest digimon that was ever formed."
"That we are aware of," Miayag added, "There is still many mysterious of the Digital World that have yet to be explained…even if it is gone. But, we may be able to defeat him if the rest of you possessed Holy Weapons as well. Takuya, Koji, and myself possess the Katana of Fire, Shotguns of Lucien, and the Staff of Yuushi. If we could acquire the other weapons, if the rest of you were able to evolve to the Mega level, then we may have a chance."
"But we don't know where the other weapons are," Jyou protested.
"That is not entirely accurate," she said, "Remember when the Flail of Chance fell from the remains of the Digital World? It was thought to be an earthquake? There was two other environmental phenomenons that occurred that day: Hokkaido and Shikoku Island. I believe that two more weapons have fallen there."
"That's a great idea!" Hikari smiled, "If we had more weapons, if we were stronger, then we could beat him!"
"What about…about them?" Noriko asked, mentioning to the duplicates, "Can we…I don't know…refuse them or something?"
Miayag stared at Noriko. "I know that what I have done to you is beyond forgiveness, but I swear to you, I will do whatever it takes, to bring Yamato back to you."
"Sounds great to me," Takuya grinned, "Let's do it!"
Miayag placed her hand on Hikari's hand. "There is something I would like to speak to you about in private."
The other young woman blinked. "Uh…sure…Um, we can speak in my room."
They walked into her room and shut the door. Plotmon X was on the bed, sleeping. She raised her head and her eyes lit open. "M…Miayag?"
She bowed. "Hello, Plotmon X, it is good to see you once more." She stepped aside to reveal her own Plotmon, who had been behind her legs. She jumped onto the bed and the two Plotmons began to tackle each other in playfulness.
Miayag smiled at the displayed, then turned to her cousin. "Juushi, tell me, your…boyfriend…"
Hikari smiled. "Mitsuo."
"Yes, Mitsuo. W…what does he do? What is his…profession?"
"Oh, he's just a computer technician for the government."
She raised her eyebrow. "Really? Government agencies?"
"Yeah, I guess."
She began to think. "Maybe the man speaking to Kurata wasn't Hikari's lover, but Mitsuo could have been there to repair computers, and that was who we saw leaving Hypnos. Yet, I must be certain."
She took a deep breath. Hikari stared at her. "What is it?"
"Juushi, what I say to you now, please believe that I am only trying to help you."
Hikari nodded slowly. "Yes…"
"As you know, Hypnos took the remains of Taichi and Yamato, and I entered that building, so I believe I know of what I speak...Plotmon and I both observed the Hypnos commander in Hypnos, and we followed him to…to the school at which you work."
Hikari began to feel her heart beat faster. "And…and you're telling me that…"
"What is Mitsuo's family name?"
"Y…yamaki…"
Miayag sighed deeply. "The Commander of Hypnos…is named Yamaki."
Hikari felt her the floor cave away beneath her. "This….this can't be! This can't be!"
"I am sorry," Miayag said, "Truly sorry."
Hikari was silent for a moment, but then she ran from her room. She passed the confused expressions of the others as she ran from the apartment.
111
Once Miach and Yamag reached the Hypnos building, the Yamato-dissociation turned to the other. "Why the hell did we have to leave? We could have won!"
Miach tapped the speaker that was in his ear. "Kurata said he had enough data. Once Takuya and Koji arrived, he said he got the data he needed about the weapons. He said he figured out how we might be able to use other weapons."
Yamag frowned. "Why are we doing what he says anyway?"
"Because right now we need him." He sighed, "But where are we gonna find those Holy Weapons anyway?"
"Maybe I can help in that regards."
The twisted around to the dark alley that was across the street…the same alley that was to the side of the same building that Miayag had used to spy on the government building. From the dark shadows came an elderly man wearing a trench jacket. He bowed. "My name is Tatsuo Juro, and I am a Chosen that has Fallen. I think we have much to discuss."
111
Mitsuo Yamaki glanced up when he heard knocking on his apartment door. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" he called. He had been eating dinner while watching television, so he needed to place his bowl on the coffee table before he was even able to stand. That extra ten seconds proved to be too long, because the knocking continued.
He ran to the door and flung it open. He was truly surprised when he saw his girlfriend standing on the other side. She was panting, and her cheeks were red. "H…Hikari!" he gasped, standing aside to let her enter, but she stood in place. He was taken back slightly, but he continued, "Did…did you run over here? What's wrong?"
She stared at him. "Are you in charge of Hypnos?"
He blinked. "W…what are you talking about?"
"My c…" She hesitated for a moment, "Miayag told me you were in command."
"Miayag?" he gasped.
Her eyes narrowed. "How do you know that name?"
"How do you?" he asked, "She is a criminal!"
"She's my cousin!" she shouted, "You are in charge of Hypnos, aren't you?"
He was silent. She had caught him, she had tricked him, and he had walked right into it. He took a deep breath. "Yes, I am."
"You've lied to me all this time!" she shouted, "How…how could you?"
"It's….it was classified…"
"I told you all about the Digital World! And you used all that information against me and my friends!"
"No, that's not true!"
"You stole my brother's remains for some….some fucking experiment!"
Yamaki dropped the television remote, which he had still been holding. He had never heard Hikari ever swear before, but to use quite possibly the worse single swear word, told him that she was very upset, and that simple words were not going to make this better. Yet, he was going to try.
"Hikari, I'm sorry…"
He went to embrace her, but she twisted away. "And what about me?" she asked. He could tell that she was beginning to cry, "What about our relationship? Were you lying about that?"
"No!" he said, "Hikari, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me!"
She twisted back around, tears streaming down her cheek. "How can I believe you? How can I trust you?"
She sniffled. "I can't do this…I won't do this! I'm not going to give into my feelings and forgive you, I'm not going to fold this time! Every other time that someone hurt me, no matter what, I always forgave them, except for Myotismon. What he did to Tailmon, what he did to Wizardmon, what he did to my family and friends, all because of me!"
She stared directly into his eyes, "This is the same. I endangered, I exposed, my family and friends, all of my secrets, all of their secrets, to you because I thought I could trust you, but you used all of that for some secret government agency! I won't forgive, not this time!"
He reached for her, but she began to run. "Hikari…"
"Don't ever come near me again!" she shouted, running towards the elevator, but then stopped. She turned back around and ran back to him. She pointed her finger at him. "And you listen to me, if you come after any of my friends because of this…" She stared at him directly in the eyes, "I…will…kill…you…" She twisted back and ran, tears pouring from her eyes like a torrent.
She dove into the elevator and collapsed to the floor, sobbing loudly.
Dissociation of the Soul hath ended, The Weapons of the Gods now begin…
Author's note: I apologize if this chapter is sort of confusing, but sometimes it's hard to explain something if all the characters don't know what's going on.
Hikari's behavior at the end, especially her last line to Yamaki, are definitely out of character for her, but she feels that she just gave away her friends to the government. Because of her, they know who the Chosen really are, so she's…well, freaking out, to put it lightly.
Until next time.