Digital
Chapter 18
There goes the neighborhood
Part1
Thanks to: hisokauzumaki , Taeniaea , code R.R , Hanzo of the Salamander , Hannah123Rules, god of stuff , BlackRoseFire , Zyber Elthone , Gallantmon228 , Alex Ultra , Azure Neko , annethepyro , sum 1, Player3 , Sorakage Sama , Sora Matasuki , god of all , Magician Girl Mirani , harrypotterlover4ever , firelordeg and Der Ritter des Mondes and everybody else who reviewed the last chapter. Indeed, a big thank you to every reviewer I have had so far for every chapter they reviewed. It's Greatly appreciated!
Authors response corner: (two only per chapter)
(1) Zyber Elthone: In chapter six, I got the idea that Harry would end up partnered with Hermione, but I also pictured that she'd be a fan of the show. It would be funny to picture that. Hermione, the bookworm, into a cartoon. Harry would be mindblowned. Anyways, interesting story so far. Obviously, Harry (and possibly Hermione by proxy of bio-merge) is going to become Sovereignmon. Am I correct that you put the characters down as Harry and Renamon due to Ego and Kitsunimon's resemblance to Renamon?
Authors reply: Hmm interesting Idea...I think it's a little late for that now, but one of her friends could yet be it. If I do get Hermione interested in the show it will be from watching the digi-destined, not the tamers, which she would start doing sometime once she reaches Japan.
Yes...the Renamon/Harry pairing is indeed due to the fact that both are kitsune/fox type digimon. As for H and H becoming Sovereignmon...hmm...I'll think about it.
Update: I have changed the name of his Mega level to Sovereignmon. (It's going to be both his title. Every king is automatically given the name)
(2) Alex Ultra: Very good, I'm going to have to look forward to the continuation/completion of this tale, as it's very interesting. I especially like Sirius' actions, as they seem to be among the very few sensible things any wizard has done in this story, as drastic as they are. Other than Hermione, of course, Harry not-with-standing. If not for the elder Grangers, I'd say he's the only adult to show a lick of sense so far.
I mean seriously, send a pair of Aurors to act like Death Eaters? What kind of reception was Dumbledore expecting? How can he expect anyone to trust him with such heavy-handed tactics as to break in, stun everyone, and Veritaserum innocent bystanders, just to forcibly capture a boy whose trust he's trying to keep/recover. I'm personally glad he lost his precious wand, let alone gotten himself arrested; it probably would have been for the best if he hadn't been able to get away, but oh well, se la vie and all that. (I probably misspelled that, but meh.)
Looking forward to more!
Alex Ultra: Distributed Dementia
LATER
Authors reply: Sirius is going to be increasingly important in this tale...I won't say much now but …well… read this chapter first and make up your own mind. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
As for Dumbledore…well, in this story he isn't the benign 'light' figure that he is portrayed to be in some other stories. My Dumby is a dark-ish lord in his own right who hides and manipulates from the shadows like a puppet master with his puppets.
He hides behind the title of ' lights champion' and his other titles to get people to believe in him blindly and to follow him with little or no questions. Nobody ever questioned him in the past and if they did now he could have simply accused them of some false charges.
He has become so used to having his way that he expects others to bend to his will. And the wizarding world allows it. Well, some of them do ...the minister and his followers, Voldemort and his followers and Sirius and Harry's future and present followers obviously do not, but the vast majority of the magical world still do.
And now on with the story:
Disclaimers apply!
Chapter edited on:
Previously in Digital:
Gennai sighed again. It was beginning to become a habit. "Do you remember what I once told you about a human who I wanted you to keep an eye out for and who I asked you to aid when the time was right?" Gennai asked solemnly.
All three Sovereigns paled and nodded, their eyes widening with immediate understanding. "It's him, isn't it? Azulongmon asked shaken.
Gennai nodded. "The time to choose has come...will you stand with Fanglongmon and the old order and bring around what will most likely be our doom...or will you stand with the heir and new king to be and have a chance to pave the way for a better future? The choice is yours, but choose fast, time is not on our side.
"I will help to my deleting breath!" Ebonwumon answered first.
"So will I!"Azulongmon agreed.
"As will I!"Baihumon answered last.
Everybody looked at the Rookie.
"Hey! don't look at me, I'm only a Rookie," she answered with wide eyes.
"What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be out gathering reinforcements by now" Gennai asked.
"Well... em..."
"GO! Gennai roared causing the Rookie to squeak and run off.
Turning back to the sovereigns Gennai gave his last orders: "GO! Gather your forces and go to the southern desert plain. Protect the female human with the name of Hermione Granger, and above all else protect her digimon Kitsunimon, at all costs...and I mean ALL costs. If you must, sacrifice yourselves. If you absolutely must and ONLY if you have absolutely no choice and you absolutely must choose between the two, sacrifice the girl, but whatever you do, DO NOT fail in protecting the digimon. If Kitsunimon is lost, all is lost. May Digimo be with you. GO!"
With those last few words Gennai left with a run. The race against time had begun.
And now the continuation:
A muggle hospital, somewhere in Japan,
Sirius groaned pitifully as he slowly opened his eyes, only to close them again mere seconds later. All around him strong bright lights stung him like a thousand needles, blinding him mercilessly like an interrogation chamber full of flashlights. His head was throbbing, it was as if he had just been out on a long night of heavy booze with the devil himself. Finally, to make matters even worse, there was that strong smell of antiseptic usually found only in hospitals which was practically killing him. In short he felt like shit!
Caught by surprise, his brain; now human, and still adapting to the sudden change over from dog to human, completely overwhelmed after several weeks as a dog, suddenly went into an acute case of shock which then promptly turned into a severe case of panic. Panic then caused more shock, until finally, unable to breath and completely overwhelmed, Sirius's body simply refused to co-operate and promptly decided to go on strike.
Mere seconds later orderly pandaemonium pursued as men and women dressed in bright white coats rushed into his room to resuscitate him with several intense electric shocks as his body had gone into sudden cardiac arrest. The last thing he remembered was the rather uncomfortable sensation of a needle being pushed rather forcefully into his rear end before the merciful darkness of sleep claimed him once more.
Several hours later
Am I dead yet? he asked himself again several hours later, this time in a different room, incidentally one clearly lacking the smell of antiseptic, or any other hospital smells of any kind for that matter.
'Wouldn't be surprised if I am,' he thought sullenly only to wince as he suddenly felt a new headache of epic proportions, worse than the last one.
'Nope, not that lucky...'
"Oh god...please be merciful and kill me now," he mumbled, doing his best to ignore the ever increasing pain in his head.
He didn't know how long he had been out cold for, nor did he really care. The last thing he could remember was feeling overwhelming pain of several of his bones breaking then a sudden shocking sensation of what felt like several lightning bolts passing through his body right after being assaulted by an overwhelming smell of...hospital smells...worst of all 'MUGGLE' hospital smells...he HATED muggle hospitals.
Having been forced to spend time in them before for several occasions, for instance; after a run in with an angry farmer while in his dog form - while 'borrowing' a chicken or two - he had managed to acquire a firm scene of familiarity with the (in his opinion) evil muggle building. Muggle healers used needles and other muggle implements of torture… he HATED needles. Evil things! 'Barbarians, the lot of them,' he thought shivering, half expecting another muggle healer, or doctors as they were called, to come in brandishing another, like a miniature blunt sword, ready to plunge it into him with sadistic glee.
Sirius didn't know whether to be happy or annoyed with his current predicament.
On one hand he had somehow miraculously survived a 30 meter high fall with... most of his bones intact. Only his left arm seemed to be broken and that was quickly healing due to his advanced wziarding healing abilities. Even for a wizard an impressive feat. On the other hand he was currently stuck, once again, in a muggle hospital with all its unpleasantness. He would now have to wait several months for his bone to heal... or... he could simply take one of his skelgrow potions which he always carried around with him for emergency situations... if he still had them that is. If only he could somehow convince one of the muggles to allow him to have one. The last time he had been forced to use a confundus charm on them. For that matter, where was his wand?
Deciding to 'escape' from the 'prison of health' as soon as possible, Sirius began to get out of bed; or rather he tried to get out of bed. He soon found that he couldn't as several straps, that effectively had him tied to the bed, restricting his movements, were holding him back.
'Hey...' he thought surprised as he was held back.
"What the hell," he said out loud, annoyed. This had never happened before. He couldn't get up at all. Was he really that badly damaged that they had to restrict his movements?
"Anybody here?" he called out hoping that somebody would hear him and hopefully help him.
For the first few minutes nobody came, then, just when Sirius thought nobody would come the door to his room opened and two men in white coats walked in followed closely by two other people dressed in camouflaged BDU's who were both carrying all too frighteningly familiar muggle contraptions in their hands. These were in turn followed by one other man dressed in a black suit and who was holding a medium sized briefcase, also black with a strange symbol on it. A high bureaucrat if ever he saw one. More importantly: a dangerous bureaucrat. One that could decide his life if he so wished.
Sirius gulped involuntarily as he suddenly realised just who had just entered. He had been warned about this group, everybody in the magical world had been warned about this particular group. This was going to be really troublesome.
"This is the subject?" the man in black asked facing one of the men in white. It was more of a declaration than a question.
"Yes that's him," said a white coat.
The man in black nodded then turned to face Sirius who groaned. He really didn't need this shit.
After studying Sirius for a brief minute, the man then proceeded to open his briefcase and take out a rather thick file, which he then started to read. After a minute or two he shook his head, sighed, then, still looking at the file he began to speak: "We have multiple witnesses saying that they saw you firing some sort of...laser beam at ... an overgrown goat...a goat which according to several witnesses destroyed multiple houses using an as of yet unknown power. To be frank, I have heard some bad shit in my life but this one just happens to be one of the worst."
He stopped reading the file, carefully he placed the file onto a near by desk, then looked at Sirius.
"Care to explain? he asked with a sneer which clearly showed just what he thought of the whole situation.
Sirius simply grunted in reply and turned away.
"What was that? I don't think I heard you?" said the man loudly. Too loudly for Sirius who would have covered his head and ears if he had been able to move his arms and hands effectively enough to manage the feat.
Sirius groaned, turned, then tried to force his head deeper into his pillow, but failed, which only made him groan again.
"Listen...I have plenty of time and we can be here all day if we have to," said the man, who then proceeded to rip the pillow away from under him and threw it across the room. "Either way, you are not leaving this place until I have the answers I seek."
Sirius groaned again and closed his eyes, then mumbled incoherently.
"What was that? Speak up I didn't hear you!" said the man again.
"I said...I'm not saying anything until I get something for this splitting headache," Sirius answered angrily.
For a second the man raised his eyebrows, wondering if Sirius was just being difficult and it looked like he would refuse but then he shrugged. With a wave of his hand he motioned one of the white coats over.
Whispering into the person's ear the man nodded then left the room. Several minutes later he returned with a glass full with some brownish liquid, which he then held up to Sirius's mouth for him to drink.
"What's that?" Sirius mumbled taking a sniff of the concoction, opening his eyes again to take a look. It smelt rather sweet.
"That's medicine for your headache," the white-coated man answered.
Shrugging, not caring at that moment what it was, as long as it helped against his ever-growing barely bearable headache, Sirius opened his mouth and drank the liquid. After all, he thought, It was not like it was poison...right? They wanted to question him not kill him...
Had he been there Mad Eye Moody would have punched him in the face then proceeded to give him an hour-long lecture on why not to thrust the enemy. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, depending on whose side you looked at it from, he was not.
For several seconds nothing happened, then his headache disappeared, only to be replaced by a sudden carefree feeling. It was as if he didn't have a care in the world.
"Now then," the black-coated man said. "Shall we begin?"
"Name?..."
Meanwhile Back in dear old Britain
Deloris Jane Umbridge, newly promoted director of the 'CoDC' (Control of Dark Creatures) department ...was in a very happy mood. 'Finally,' she thought 'Finally after many years of waiting I can finally start on getting my revenge.'
She had just been given free reign to do that which she enjoyed doing most, her dream since she was very young: exterminating Dark Creatures.
At that very moment she was sitting in her new office, deep in the Department of Mysteries (DOM) allowing herself a few minutes to think back to how it had all begun all those years ago. Ever since her best friend had been bitten by a werewolf. She still remembered it clearly in her mind as if it had happened only yesterday:
Flashback 20 or so years ago:
In had been a late summer evening, one of the nicest actually in several months. She and her best friend, lovers at the time in fact, had just finished a fancy dinner at a fairly posh restaurant and they were on their walk home. They had decided to walk along a riverbank and her hand was in his. She clearly remembered that she had been laughing at his newest werewolf joke when he suddenly stopped walking and let go of her hand. Surprised and momentarily confused she had turned around only to gasp when she saw him on one knee.
It was the day her best friend and lover had finally managed to gather enough courage to propose to her.
It would have been one of the best days of her life, probably even the best. But, just like in a tragic horror movie it had not meant to be.
Even now, many years later, she still wondered, she still asks herself how it could have happened. Why did it happen?... Why them?...Why him?…Why her?
It had happened so fast: Just as she had put on the...her ring, a werewolf had jumped out of a near by bush and before she had even been able to blink her 'husband to be' had been bitten.
He never had had a chance...
The Werewolf had bitten him, leaving a large hole in his neck.
Sure, she had cried for help and they had managed to get him to St. Mungos. However...
...It had been too late.
End Flashback
A tear suddenly fell down her cheek, slightly ruining her happy feelings of the night, as she remembered that evening.
She remembered how she had held on to his hand even after the healers had all but given up on him.
How she didn't believe it, wouldn't believe it...but had to in the end.
She clearly remembered how she had cried herself to sleep that night...she remembered the hate she had felt, the hate she still felt every night towards werewolves and dark creatures in general...
...how she had refused all and any help from her friends and family afterwards because she had wanted to be left alone to wallow away in her misery..
She never forgot the triumphant look on the ware's face as it licked itt lips after the deed.
It was the night her life changed forever.
It was also the night she swore revenge against all werewolves and all of those other filthy good for nothing beasts of the dark. The night she swore she would eradicate all of them, ALL of them, to the last, no prisoners, no survivors, if it was the last thing she ever did.
'Revenge is a dish best served cold indeed,' she thought to herself before she picked up the newest report on 'dark creatures'
Scowling as she read the first few pages, she practically growled like a mad wolf herself as she suddenly saw a new article arguing that werewolves were treated unfairly, and just misunderstood.
Crumpling it up and setting it on fire with a spell from her wand, she banished it across the room. Her rage fueled with a sudden boost, she then picking up a spare piece of parchment and began to write:
By order of Deloris Jane Umbridge, director of the 'Control of Dark Creatures' Department:
All Dark Creatures are herewith ordered to report into the nearest ministry for 'tagging', 'conditioning' and 'weekly questioning'.
All Dark creatures, with the exception of the goblin and the house elf, are herewith forbidden to pursue and keep a public job.
All Dark Creatures, no exceptions, must wear a visible collar while in public.
Failure to comply with any of the above by the dark creature will result in immediate termination of said dark creature.
The following is the new and updated official list of dark creatures:
Werewolves
Vampires
Centaurs
Merfolk
House elves
Goblins
A few days later Hogwarts castle, Dumbledores office.
Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry was staring into space. After a week of constant defeats he was nearly ready to throw in the towel.
"How could things have gone so wrong?" he asked out loud to an empty room. Nobody answered, even the portraits of the past headmasters and headmistresses didn't seem to make any effort to do more than listen. That is if they even listened at all. Most of them simply slept, or pretended to.
"As if Harry and Sirius weren't enough, now this!"
"I only wanted what was best for the greater good of the wizarding world. That's all I ever wanted, is that really too much to ask for?" he mumbled to himself.
"And I still can't get that damn smell out of my robes, damn you Sirius, damn you and that fowler," he added angrily, ignoring a small giggle which seemed to come from one of the portraits and a small chirp from his familiar, which also seemed like laughter.
On his perch in the corner of the room, Fawkes glanced up at his bond mate. He really wasn't the same man he once knew. Too bad he couldn't leave the old man or else he would have done so ages ago, for that Potter boy. In the past Albus had been different... a worthy companion...but now. Alas, once bound, as was unfortunate in this case, it was for life. Well, at least for the life of the human partner. Phoenixes were immortal after all.
Briefly he shook his head in disappointment before putting it back under it's wing to go back to sleep.
He'd just have to wait.
With another sigh Albus glanced back down at his desk. Resting as a crumpled heap, were the past editions of the Daily prophet. The headlines of the past week seemed to be smugly smiling up at him, taunting him, reminding him of his failures. In fact, Dumbledore was sure that, had they been able to speak, they would have been mocking him.
-Vampires and Werewolves flock to he-who-must-not-be named!
-Gringgots doors close & goblins revolt, goblin spokes-goblin expresses outrage towards newest ministry laws!
-Wizarding world in financial chaos, a harsh winter prophesied for all! Blacks revenge...Yes or No?
-Allied Wizarding nations suspend ALL relations with Britain until further notice!
-"British international relations worth less than dragon dung," says international spokes-wizard!
-Dumbledore, former Surpreme Mugwump of the ICW forced to resign after British mass ICW brawl!
-Minster for Magic Cornelius Fudge instates Martial Law. Wizengamot suspended until further notice!
-New ministry department for the Extermination of Dark Monsters created!
-Harsher rules implemented to deal with rising Dark Creature threats, Director of Control of Dark Creatures decrees: Ware's and Vampires to be exterminated on sight!
-Avada Kadavra now legalized for aurors and members of high Society, to be used in self defense only, Purebloods rejoice!
-Wizarding worshipers of the Godess of Doom, gloom and despair declare first public meeting in three hundred years, all welcome!
-Where is Harry Potter? Has the 'light' fallen?
"I fear it may already have," Dumbledore whispered quietly, sadly, shoving away the newest report in disgust.
"I fear it won't be long now... any moment now and Tom could be at our doorstep...and I don't even think people will care," he added almost brokenly.
Releasing another sigh he was just about to turn to deal with a few new order reports when he suddenly heard the sound of another post owl tapping at his window.
Opening the window with his wand to allow the bird into the room he sees it carry another copy of the Prophet.
Not really in the mood for it at the moment, but knowing that the information in the paper could be important, no matter how bad it may be, Dumbledore half heartedly gave the owl the usual 2 knuts for the paper then opened it up.
At the other end of the school, Transfiguration classroom, that very moment.
Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts deputy headmistress and transfiguration Professor was busy marking a few 6th year Syltherin test papers, always a bad omen, when the castle suddenly seemed to shake.
Alarmed, thinking that the school might be under attack, she quickly got to her feet and was about to run to aid whomever she could against the dark threat, when a load cry suddenly echoed through the whole school. This loud, angry and dismayed cry of 'NOOOO!' was soon followed by several loud curses (all of the vocal type which I shall not utter here) echoing throughout the schools corridors.
"Good gracious me!" she uttered in alarm. Those cries came from the Headmasters office.
Quickly running to the nearest fireplace to use the inter school floo network, she quickly threw in the required powder, uttered the required password for the headmasters office and quickly stepped into the fire. Mere seconds later she materialized into the headmaster office.
With a gasp she just barely managed to dodge a stray spell as she emerged. Wand out ready to hex on sight she froze, her eyes widening in disbelief.
In front of her, Albus Dumbledore esteemed headmaster of Hogwarts, was demolishing his own office.
"ALBUS!" she screamed at the crazed man. All around him items lay broken on the floor. Curtains were on fire, his desk was overturned and what looked like a weeks supply of Daily Prophet Newspapers lay scattered all across the room.
Several of the portraits of past Headmaster and Headmistresses had already fled from their portraits, while in the corner of the room, Peeves the Poltergeist was cackling madly, obviously greatly enjoying the show.
"ALBUS, STOP THIS THIS MINUTE! What would the students think if they saw you like this?" she screamed again, dodging another stray spell. Surprisingly he did.
Breathing heavily, Albus turned to face her, then turning around he walked over to his now broken chair. A quick wave of his wand later it was good as new and he sat down.
Minerva watched in shocked dismay as her once proud, strong mentor put his face into his hands and wept.
"Albus," she said again, this time in a whisper.
She could hardly believe what was happening. "Albus," "Dear me...what happened?" She asked completely shocked.
Dumbledore simply handed her the copy of the Daily Prophet he had received mere moments before. "To be frank... at this point I couldn't care less what the students think, Minerva... at this point what they think is the least of my worries," he said wearily, almost brokenly.
Shocked even more Minerva took the newspaper. "What do you mea...Oh!" was all she could say as she saw the headlines.
Former Headmaster abused students, Percival Ignatius Weatherby new Head of Hogwarts!
In a surprising announcement made earlier today, Minster for magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge, the minister for magic, stated that Albus Dumbledore, now former headmaster of Hogwarts, would henceforth not be allowed to continue his role as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
According to several reliable sources, sources that wish to remain unknown for obvious reasons; incriminating evidence was found clearly stating that the now former headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, has continuously stolen from and abused several students under his care. While the evidence supplied is not strong enough to put Dumbledore into prison, the evidence received is never the less enough to see the once hero of the light, now turned child abuser sacked from the position of Hogwarts Headmaster.
"Oh My," Minerva said in shock before she continued to read on.
...The most prominent amongst these victims were students like: Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy, a prominent and well liked Pureblood of our society and the infamous Harry James Potter, The-Boy-who-Lived-to-turn-villain, as well as others...
At this point Minerva stopped reading. She couldn't believe ... no, she didn't want to believe what she was reading.
"Albus...is this true?" she whispered, utterly shocked by what she had just read.
"Minerva, please, you know me, I would never do anything like this... Ok!...I agree that I could have handled certain things better, and there are indeed a few things which I wish I hadn't done at all, but everything, everything I did and always will do has and will always be for the greater good of all. I...
"What about Harry and the situation with his relatives. I told you they were the worst sort of...," Minerva started to say.
"I know Minerva..," Dumbledore interrupted loudly before continuing quietly ..."I know, and I wasn't happy about it myself. It wasn't an easy decision, believe me, but as I told you before Minerva, Harry has to stay with his relatives because of the blood wards. I realize it may not have always been the best place for him, but surely his safety is worth a bit of discomfort..."
"A 'BIT' of discomfort! she nearly screamed. "Albus those... muggles, have been abusing him since he wa..."
"Would you rather he were killed?" Dumbledore said interrupting again.
"NO!...of course not, but surely there must have been a better solution...surely there would have been somebody with protection good enough... he could have stayed with...," she started to say, but stopped.
"Yes?" Dumbledore prompted. "Go on?"
"Somebody like the Diggorys or the Bones," Minvera finished somewhat weakly.
Dumbledore shock his head. " No, I already thought of that myself. Yes, they would have gladly taken him into their families, Yes, I'm sure they would have protected him with their very lives if need be, for a short while at least. Of course they would have, we all would have. The fact still remains however that; the Potters had some of the best protection available, only second to Hogwarts and the Ministry itself. He couldn't stay at the Ministry and well... Hogwarts isn't really an ideal place for somebody like Harry to grow up in. As much as it pains me to have to say this, nobody, and I mean nobody, would have been able to protect him better than his aunt. Just look at the Longbottoms. They had some of the best protection money could buy, yet...," he trailed off. "I'm sorry Minerva, but my decision stands."
"I still wish it could have been different," Minerva said with a sigh, a defeated look on her face.
"Don't we all," Dumbledore said. "Don't we all," he mumbled, before remembering the situation he was currently in.
"But enough of that, none of this will do us any good either way as long as we have no idea where Harry is," Dumbledore said trying to get the conversation back on the right track, and away from Potters home-life.
Remembering the news article Minerva gasped. "Oh Albus, I'm sorry! What are we going to do?" she asked worried.
"Well...seeing as I have just been... unfairly removed, and seeing that our all so wise Minister in his no doubt unlimited wisdom has already decided on my replacement, I think my time would from now on be best spent by concentrating on finding a certain student of ours," Dumbledore said with a small smile, a twinkle reappearing into his eyes.
Minerva simply nodded.
"Now, please excuse me... I suddenly find myself with a lot of spare time and an ever increasing need to prepare for a long journey, and I have no doubt that I have limited time to do so as,...ah yes...yes, I believe my replacement is already here. Yes, here they come," he said, already feeling the first few aurors pass through Hogwarts many wards.
"Please, be so kind as to delay them for a few minutes will you?" he asked, another twinkle forming in his eyes.
"What?... Oh!... yes, of course," Minerva answered and she headed for the door. Just before she left the office she turned around once more. "Oh and Albus!"
"Yes Minerva?"
"Good luck!'
"Thanks, same to you! Remember, this is only a minor set back... Please, do look after the school for me please while I'm gone. I'll be back soon," Albus said smiling slightly.
Minerva nodded and then she was gone.
Suddenly the smile left Dumbledores face and then he smirked. "Yes, go and do that for me my little gullible puppet,...in the mean time I have a little brat to find."
"Now! Where would I hide if I were a little brat and I didn't want to be found?...hmm...I wonder..." he asked himself quietly, his smirk turning back into a frown, before he turned around to gather a few of his things, completely ignoring an enraged phoenix familiar who was glaring at him from the corner of the room.
Meanwhile back in another part of the world.
Several days had passed since Sirius Black first became an unwilling 'guest' of the 'Men In Black', a secret muggle agency created specifically to deal with worldwide abnormal circumstances, i.e. Magic and those who use it.
Several long and troublesome days of questions and persuasions, some gentle, others not so gentle, some absolutely horrible.
Needless the say he hadn't liked them one single bit.
Flashback:
The first day was fine...well, as fine as one could be when being questioned under truth serum. Thankfully, the serums the muggles used were fairly weak, at least for Wizards. An average Magical person had a natural defense against most muggle truth serums and definitely when comparing muggle truth serums to a magical on like Veritaserum.
But that had all started to change fairly quickly after they swapped over to torture.
First they used the old fashioned approach of the fist...not pleasant to say the least, but bearable, and it was nothing when compared to the cruciatus or the treatment he had had to accept during his stay in Azkaban.
He told them nothing.
Then, they started to used electric shocks...
Ok, now that was worse... a lot worse, especially when wet. Still, he stayed strong and still he didn't tell them a word, though he did scream a lot. That lasted for several hours before they became sick of his cries, which they claimed were giving them headaches.
In truth, what they really meant was that they had a few other techniques to use and didn't feel like waiting any longer to try them out. So it was that they started with water torture. Chinese water torture to be exact.
Now, that had been a new experience for Sirius. It was here that he first began to show the first signs of real strain and where he first began to question why, just why, he didn't just tell them what they wanted to know. Was this really worth not telling them?
Sirius never knew just what a few million drops of water on the same area of your forehead could do to you. How it could break even the strongest mans will if given enough time.
First they strapped him down onto a table, then they shaved his head, after which they put him under a tap. Yes a tap. A tap which dripped drops of icy cold water...one drop about every few seconds or so.
At first Sirius had laughed. What could a few drops of water possibly do to him? Compared to the electric shocks this was surely nothing... right?
WRONG! Oh how wrong he was.
Only later did he fully understand what they were doing... Why they had grinned as they left the room, not to come back for the next few days (besides the guard which was left in the room and which was changed every few hours)
Unable to do anything but wait and watch the drops as they hit his forehead on the same spot each time, mentally drilling a hole into his head, Sirius finally began to show the first signs of real strain.
Several long and extremely boring days later, with nothing but the water drops ( and the lone guard who never talked or never even twitched his little finger) he was just about ready to tell the magical ministry to go and do the F word to themselves.
Miraculously he still held on, even if only just. He was now really beginning to wonder why he didn't just tell them everything.
A normal man would have gone stark crazy, but not Mr. I am serious, Sirius Black.
His suburb occlumency training and extreme self-control courtesy to his time dealing with the dementors for so many years helped him deal with the ever-increasing stress. Even then they were only just enough, barely enough, for him to keep his sanity intact.
Two more days later they finally came back. Sirius noticed grudging respect and even a certain amount of awe in the muggles eyes. It was fairly clear from the way they looked at him that he had severely impressed them.
Alas that didn't stop them from trying again.
End Flash Back
That was why he was currently tied down on to a table and why a muggle was currently baring his feet.
It didn't take a genius to realize what was about to happen next and Sirius groaned pitifully. At this point he was just about ready to say to hell with the consequences and to simply tell them what he knew and to tell those of the ministry to go to hell once he saw them again...that is IF he ever saw them again.
With increasing trepidation Sirius watched as they put a sticky liquid all over his feet. Then his eyes widened as two goats were led into his room.
'What the bloody hell?' he thought and was about to question the nearest muggle when said muggle started to speak.
"Well, I must say I am impressed. Very impressed. Nobody has ever held out that long before. It's a darn shame you are who you are. If it wasn't for the fact that you are one of... 'them,' I'd have offered you job by now. Alas, unfortunately that is not the case."
"Now, Mr Black, I will give you one last chance to co-operate with us at your own free will. Co-operate with us now and we will not only forgo what is about to happen next, but I will even give you back some of your freedom and allow you have a nice meal, a shower and a nice change of clothes. I am sure your hungry; in fact I know your hungry. I can practically see it in your eyes. So why not make it easy for yourself...Co-op-er-ate with us! If you do not well...see those goats... yes...well... tell me, do you know what happens when a goat licks the souls of someone's feet?" the muggle asked with a smile.
Sirius's eyes widened. 'OH NO!'
"Yes...I see you do... the tongue of a goat as you may know will cause an incredible itchy and ticklish sensation, especially on the sole of your feet...so ticklish in fact that very few have ever lasted for long when faced with this extremely effective way of torture. So!...I ask you again? will you co-operate with us?...or do I have to go so far as to let the old goat hump you too" the muggle asked smirking.
Sirius's eyes widened to enormous proportions. Gaping at the man in disbelief it was at that moment he thought: 'To hell with this... there is no way am I going to go through with THAT!'
He quickly re-considered his options:
On one hand he could continue to stay silent, on the other he could tell them what they wanted to know.
If he stayed silent they would continue to torture him mercilessly and he honestly didn't know how long he could last anymore before he broke. There was nobody coming to rescue him so they had all the time in the world. It was only a matter of time until they would finally break him.
On the other hand, if he told them what they wanted to know, he would be betraying everything and everyone he ever knew, something, which he had sworn to himself to never ever do, even if it killed him. He would be betraying 'his world' and he would most likely never be able to ever return home if they ever found out what he had done.
Aurors in the Magical world were given intensive training to resist torture and the urge to give information to the other side, especially to muggles, under pain of death. That's the reason why the obliviate spell and to a partial extent why the Imperius had been created.
The only muggles who were ever told about the magical world were the muggle prime minister and the muggle queen...and that was only because it had to be done due to an old wow which the medieval magicals had sworn to their muggle overlords at the time when magicals were still on friendlier terms with the muggle monarchy. Failure to do so would have violated the vow and would have caused the wizard or witch to loose their magic. Even then they left out a lot of information.
The more Sirius thought about his situation the unsure he became whether he even wanted to return to 'his world' ever again.
They had betrayed him after all, and sent him to Askaban without a trial. In fact he had been framed by one of those who he had once trusted the most.
If it hadn't been for Harry and Remus he probably would have left the moment he had escaped from prison... after he had killed the rat of course.
And then there was the bloody old coot; I am the biggest manipulative wanker of them all, Albus Bloody Dumbledore. Why he ever followed or even listened to that man he would never know.
So why was he so stubborn? Why didn't he just tell the muggle what he wanted to know.
Was the Wizarding world even worth saving? Most of them were after all corrupt and extremely bigoted. It would do them a world of good to be forced kicking and screaming into reality.
It was then that Sirius made up his mind.
"I'll tell you what, " he said slowly, in a low but clear voice, a plan beginning to form into his mind. He might just be able to save them, not destroy them after all.
"Yes?...I'm listening!" the muggle answered.
"Let's make a deal... How about I tell you exactly what you want to know and in return I get to act as your adviser and you do something for me in return," Sirius said, trying his best to make himself sound as calm and serious as possible but failing completely. This decision was taking a lot out of him as years of beliefs were about to be thrown...well... out of the proverbial window. What he was about to do would change the world as he knew it. He only hoped it would be for the better and not for the worse.
The muggle frowned. This was not what he had expected. No, this was not what he had expected at all. However, he would take what he could get. Truth be told he was getting sick of the man in front of him and wanted nothing more than to be done with him and if possible to never see him again, which was one of the reasons why he had agreed to give him some leeway and some of his freedom back, to a certain extent, if he agreed to answer him. However if he was serious about joining them... They could use a magical in their side. But how to be sure he was serious about this?
"Oh!...and what would that be?" he asked in return, deciding to at least hear him out, before he made his choice. If anything the man had earned that right after what he had survived in the past few days. He just couldn't help but respect the man.
Happy that the muggle hadn't denied him straight away, Sirius continued to speak: "In return for my complete co-operation and everything you want to know...well, at least that which I know, all I want in return is...well... your help."
'What?" the muggle said, now completely taken by surprise.
"I said, In return for my complete co..."
"I heard what you said..." the muggle interrupted. 'Though I find it somewhat unbelievable,' he thought.
"Ok...let's just say I believe you, that I believe that you will tell me what we need to know, what do you get out of this?" he asked, concentrating deeply on Sirius's face to see if he could detect any trace of him lying, even just the slightest. He could not, which only unnerved him more. This man was serious. Either that, or a damn good liar. Why would he tell everything now? Why now after so many hours of torture and not earlier? Something just didn't seem right.
"I... well first of all I get my freedom back. In return I agree to help you in any way I can. I tell you what you want to know to the best of my ability and by doing so I... we... will hopefully be able to avoid further misunderstanding between our respective peoples. I am one of...'them'... as you called us...magicals. I can give you an almost unparalleled understanding of the Wizarding world and together we can make it a better place for all. There are a lot of bad people out there who would like nothing more than to destroy or to enslave you, but not everybody is like that. In fact, only a small percentage is like that, most of them are normal everyday hardworking people who only want to get along with their lives. It's the bad ones I will help you to destroy if need be. All I want in return is your help… to help me see it done... that and your help to help me find and protect some people very close to me. I will also do my best to ...convert...a few of my friends, at least those who are left, or rather those who will be left after they find out that I'm offering to help you. All I ask of you in return is that you give the 'good' ones a chance to... prove themselves to you. I think it's time the wizarding world were modernized or at least brought into the present. We have been stuck in the past for so long. At the very least it will do them some good."
Shrugging, thinking he had nothing to loose, only to gain, the muggle took a chair and sat down beside his 'captive'.
"Tell me more..."
Back in the digital world
The time had finally come!
He had finally come to do that which he had been created for, his main purpose, for all those many thousand years. It was time to finally fulfill his destiny, the reason why he even existed.
Gennai stood before the one place, or rather the one thing, he never wanted to see himself near to and stared at it with great trepidation, even fear.
It was an enormous pillar! A huge pillar hidden away in a small cave on the highest digital plain, surrounded by several high level force fields. Engraved into the pillar was a small key like hole. A hole made only for one key and one key only.
Could he really do it? he asked himself? Should he do it?
He always knew that the day would come. He always knew the real reason why he has here:
Three parts of an old prophesy:
1 - To guide the digital world through it's existence while it was without a king to rule it.
2 - To protect the heir-to-be with his own life, if necessary, until the moment of his 'full' return...
He knew that time was now close.
It was the last part of the prophecy however which was something even he didn't know what to think about...yet:
-The guide shall make a terrible choice,
To release one best forgot.
To return those dearly needed,
else all may be for naught.
-In one hand he holds the world,
In the other; a hand of lives!
To choose to sacrifice one with honour,
For none can survive the power of the one unless combined with two other.
-One choice leads to failure,
One choice to hope,
One choice returns the old,
The other, the end for all to behold.
-The choice rests in the one with power,
To choose the faith of hope.
One to fight two, two to fight one and become three.
Two as one shall lose, while three made one yet still two, may yet prevail.
Three to balance out the other.
The faith of all rests in the hands of the guide"
He hoped he would understand it in time.
With a sigh Gennai stepped forward. One thing he was certain If the prophecy was true, he, for he was fairly sure that he was the guide, would have to choose to sacrifice someone..or a few... before the end. Not a nice choice to have to make. Yet, even so, even knowing what he was about to release...and have to do, he couldn't afford to wait any longer. The king-to-be was in extreme danger. Even the smallest delay could cause disaster. 'What will come will come,' he thought. 'If my sacrifice ensures the survival of the rest I'll gladly accept it.' He only hoped he would make the right choice when the time came.
Standing up straight, conquering his fear, he reached up to his neck and slowly removed a small necklace which had been hidden around his neck. On the necklace, was a small key.
The key!
Looking at the key he gave himself one last moment to reconsider and shuddered. Once used there would be no turning back. Once used it would set free two things... and he knew what they were:
One was the ancient guard - those now indeed dearly needed- the Royal Guard, the kings personal body guards: The legendary Olympians. Those he would happily greet with open arms.
The other however - the one best forgot - the one thing they had kept locked away for so many many years! Locked away ever since the last king left….
The one thing he feared above all else... The one thing with the power to challenge even the king himself!
It was indeed a terrible choice. Once used both would be freed, as it was only the Royal guards combined power, which had kept it at bay for millennia. Once returned that power would also fall and this time they would not be able to imprison it again.
Last time they had needed all twelve of the royal guards to imprison... 'it'. Yet, without the guards, the world as he knew it, would surely fall.
Of the original twelve, six of them had sacrificed themselves simply to buy the other six enough time to do the deed.
The other six, while they did not die, sacrificed themselves in turn to become the lock and bars to keep 'it' under control.
With the other six gone, the remaining six, once returned, would not be able to do so again.
Gennai knew, if he or they failed...all would fail, as only the king could ever have hoped to stand up against the might of...'it', the dark one, the kings dark counterpart, the one who could end them all.
Taking one last deep breath Gennai, Eyes wide open, knowing directly what he was about to do, Gennai stepped forward, then placed the key into the hole.
'Damn the creator! Damn him for insisting to create an ultimate evil to balance out the kings power.' What was he thinking all those many years ago when he created the digital world? thought Gennai furiously as he stood there, key in hole.
'All things need balance Gennai…he told me, even balance needs balance…that was what he had said all those many years ago,' thought Gennai furiously, thinking back to what the digital worlds creator had once said as he had created the foundation for the digital world, the world which they knew today.
"Ya right…balance needs balance my ass, thought Gennai sarcastically.
'By Digimo, I really hope I don't regret this,' he thought.
"Well…then... balance this!" he said, and with a massive leap of faith he turned the key.
Far away on another digital plain, covered by darkness, surrounded by six different force fields.
At that very moment, far away from where Gennai was currently deciding the very faith of the digital world (and that of all other worlds), in a dark remote area covered by six different force fields 'something' best left undisturbed was in a deep slumber.
It had been many eons...many millennia, since this particular great being had last been awake. Ever since 'it' had been imprisoned by the kings guard.
So strong it had been that it had taken all twelve of them to bring it down. Even then they couldn't destroy it, for so mighty was its power that only one other could even hope to do such a deed; one other known as the king.
However, for some unknown reason, lost in the annals of time, the king had not been present that day. Indeed, he had not even been in the digital world...and it was on that day that 'it' had attacked.
And so, in a desperate attempt to save themselves from definite deletion, the digimon of the time had implemented a daring gambit. One which had, against all odds, somehow paid of. Much to 'its' dismay.
They trapped it into a mystical cage of force fields made of pure undiluted power, powered by the pure combined essence of six of the kings personal bodyguards. The other six; to buy their companions enough time, had sacrificed themselves to keep it at bay long enough for the remaining six to use their daring plan.
And there it had stayed ever since, trapped far away in a remote dark place, in this cage of energy, far away from prying eyes, waiting for the day it would finally be free once again, when it could finally emerge once more. Right to this very day.
Suddenly one of the force fields started to weaken, then collapse, followed a few minutes later by another force field, which started to weaken, before it too collapsed.
With each weakened and destroyed force field 'it' regained a portion of its' awareness. Little by little, force field by force field 'it' was waking up. Soon it would be back.
It would need some time to regain it's power first, weakened as it now was,...that would take a while, many years to be exact. But it would wait, patiently. Slowly but surely it would regain that which was lost so long ago, and then, once ready, it would seek them out, it would attack them, each and very one of them, and then it would destroy them all, once and for all. It would achieve its purpose...the creator had seen to that.
Soon...soon it would be able to move once again and then the race against the time would begin.
Back with Gennai
While the being known only as 'it' was waking up and slowly regaining it's long forgotten energy, Gennai was, in turn, eagerly anticipating the return of the remains of the last kings, and hopefully future kings, royal guard.
The moment he turned the key, the area started to shake as if a massive earthquake was happening right beneath him. For the next few minutes he waited, then suddenly in a white flash of light; millions upon billions upon trillions of data bits began to literally pour out of the pillar and start to float in the air all around him.
These data bits then began to move around and join up with other data. Slowly they began to grow. Bit after bit joined up and became bytes, bytes became kilobytes, kilobytes became megabytes, then gigabytes, Terrabytes, Petabytes, Etabytes, Zettabytes, Yottabytes,... soon there were six seperate piles of digital bits and bytes, until finally several minutes later, six tall imposing and very powerful figures stood before him. Figures of digimon not seen for many millennia, six arch-mega type digimon; the strongest of the strongest, equal in power to the royal knights and second only to the sovereigns, the king , and 'it' itself; the kings royal guard, known collectively by their official name: 'The Olympus Twelve' (now Olympus six).
For the first few minutes Gennai just stood there. Even though he knew time was not on his side, he couldn't help it. In front of him stood some of his oldest friends from so long ago, friends which he hadn't seen for eons. He was so emotional that for a while he couldn't even stop a few tears fall from his digital eyes.
"Gen...is that you?" asked the first digimon, Merkurimon.
"Of course it's him Merkurimon, who else did we give the power to bring us back!" Dianamon stated, taking a moment to look around her for the first time in ages. "Well this place has changed a lot," she said, hardly recognizing the area from what it had been so many many years ago.
"Hey Gen, how are ya doing? Years catching up to you yet?" said a third voice jokingly, the voice this time belonging to a large red flaming digimon known as Apollomon.
"Good to see you Gen!" said two other digimon known collectively as Marsmon and Minervamon.
"Um Gen, is there a bit of water near by? You know that, while I can walk on it if I have to, I'm that good on land, but give me a lake and I'm your mon. Last time I was here there was lake near by but...well it seems to have disappeared since," said Neptunemon looking around for the nearest lake but finding none.
Gennai smiled, but then, remembering the current situation, he quickly turned serious.
"Hi guys, It's nice to see you too, but, I'm afraid pleasantries have to wait for a while... we are currently in a bit of a situation," he said, immediately gaining the group of Arch-megas attention.
"Right..of course...," said Minervamon..."We have to take care of 'it' don't we?... I take it the king has returned...so just tell us where he... Gen?...Gen?... I really don't like the look your giving me here Gen...please tell me you didn't wake us without a king!" she asked frightened.
The other quickly turned and looked at him in alarm.
"Er...well... em...er...," Gen said then stopped. "You see... that's what I have to tell you about."
"OUT WITH IT" Marsmon roared. "Is he here or not?" he asked frantically, making Gennai jump back a bit in alarm.
"Gen...you know we can't defeat 'it' on our own...why?..." Neptunemon started to say but stopped when Gennai put up his hand.
"Now completely serious Gennai held up his hand and went straight into command mode:
"My lords...the situation is dire. The King is MIA and presumed deleted,...' he said ignoring the 6 mega digimon flinch. "...Several eons have passed since you all left us. I reawakened you early because we have a code black situation. I recently discovered a new heir for the throne. Problem is he is currently under attack by two of our own, two Sovereign type digimon by the names of Fanglongmon and Zhuqiaomon..."
"WHAT!...Fanglongmon, Little Fang-less a sovereign? He was only at Champion level when we left... OW!" said Marsmon stopping as he was hit across the head by Apollomon.
"Shut up Mars, please continue Gennai...Where are they...and more importantly where is the heir? Apollomon asked, looking at Gennai with a meaningful gaze while glaring at Marsmon.
"Sorry," Marsmon said quietly, turning a bit red at the annoyed stares he was receiving.
"As I was saying, "Gennai said before continuing: "...They are both Sovereign type digimon now so please proceed with caution. While you have been missing for the last few millenia, they have been getting stronger, while you have not. You may be strong but they are stronger. Do not engage them unnecessarily. If you must, fight first, then retreat to fight some more later, but above all make sure that the heir is kept safe at ALL costs. If he's lost were all fucked, and if that happens then we might as well delete ourselves now to spare 'it' the effort. Also please be advised that the heir has only recently reached his champion stage and that he is with tamer. If you can save her too do it, but, and while I hate to say this; while it is preferable you rescue both, she is expendable. There are many potential tamers out there but only one heir. Your main concern should first and foremost be the heir. Your primary objective is simple: Find the heir and protect him at ALL (besides the mother that is, in which case they are fucked anyway) costs until I can open up a portal to the human world. It is not currently safe for them to stay here...so I have no choice in this matter. At the moment they are in the desert level, direct location unknown, but presumed in the south section. Once you have him, bring them to the border, to the village... and before you ask; there is only one village left in the desert," Gennai answered, seeing the questioning looks.
"Any questions?" he asked.
"I never did like Fanglong, I knew we should have gotten rid of him when we had the chance" Minervamon grumbled.
"I'll take that as a no...very well...good luck and may Tern have mercy on our digital souls," Said Gennai before stepping back.
"Alright... you heard him, let's get out there and find him before it's too late," Minervamon said loudly.
A few 'yes Ma'am' s' and one 'yes dear' later the Olympians were gone, only Neptunemon was left behind.
"Your not joining them?" Gennai asked, looking at the water digimon with a questioning look.
"What? Does it look like there is much water in a desert? Against a Sovereign I'd be a sitting duck. I'm a fish not a groundhog!" Neptunemon said back grumpily.
Gennai sighed. "Very well, see you soon..." he said before rushing off himself. 'I hope,' he thought. For now he had a portal to set up.
Somewhere in the desert, with our favorite wizard 'turned digital' and his tamer.
Another week of intense training under the strict tutelage of EGO had come and gone. Harry and Hermione, completely unaware of the extreme danger they were in, had become a lot stronger and much more confident when fighting rogue digimon.
Many hard days of tiresome training were finally paying off and Harry - while he still favored his rookie form in battles - was now well able to turn into his champion form at will. When asked why he didn't simply stay in his champion form all the time - which was usually the case in the digital world since there were (usually) no human around to worry about, so no risk of giving yourselves away due to your larger size - he simply answered that he preferred his rookie form since it gave him an extra bit of speed against his opponents. Speed and maneuverability which he just didn't have in his champion form. True, his champion form was a lot more powerful and could take a fair amount of hits, many more than his rookie form, but it was still better if they couldn't hit you at all in the first place.
Besides, his Rookie form was nothing to sneeze at. Even now, fighting against a high champion level Birdramon he was still able to easily hold his own.
"FIRE STORM" came the voice of the Birdramon. Harry, in his rookie form Kitmon (kitsunimon) never had any problems dodging the attack before it hit the ground where he had once stood, leaving the area scorched and on fire.
'I love it how they call out the attacks,' Harry thought, as he quickly teleported himself to the large bird digimons side and gave it a kick up the rear end, much to the annoyance of the bird digimon.
'True...but don't forget so do you,' EGO said with a mental smirk.
Harry rolled his eyes at the comment from his personal trainer and advisor but mentally bowed to the truth. After all, when he was right...he was right.
Once again he teleported to the big fiery bird, but this time he had to dodge a wing.
'Hmm, he's learning, and I'm not doing enough damage anymore, at least not enough to do any lasting harm,' Harry thought, his digital calculating eyes scanning the fire bird.
'Well you could always digivolve,' EGO mentally said. 'I have been wanting you do get more experience in that form anyway,' he added.
Dodging another attack and firing a FIRFOX STORM at the digimon which would have hit it if the bird hadn't managed to dodge in the last mili-second, Harry mentally went over his options. It didn't look like his rookie form was strong enough to defeat it. Annoy it? Yes. Hurt it? Somewhat. But defeat it? No!...not really.
'Listen Harry...there is no shame in digivolving. I mean...everybody does it once strong enough. Sometimes a Rookie just isn't strong enough...digimon do digivolve for a reason after all,' EGO advised, patiently.
Harry mentally sighed. 'Oh very well,' he said, giving in reluctantly.
Giving the large bird one last kick into the side and a punch to the head, momentarily disorienting the champion level digimon, Harry retreated a few meters away from the digimon and went into a mental stance.
Momentarily strengthening his mental connection with that of his tamer, he quickly asked her for help.
"Hermione...time to transform!"
Hermione who had been watching the battle closely and who already held the desired card in her hand, nodded and immediately complied.
Opening up his power to that of the card, Harry, willing it to activate the change from his Rookie form to his Champion form, stood ready. A second later, the offered energy accepted, he began to glow.
DIGIMONIFY! SELF DIGIVOLUTION ACTIVATE!
POWER SACRIFICE ACCEPTED
KITSUNIMON DIGIVOLVE TO...
Just like in the past few times when he changed from Kitmon to Phoenixmon, Harry glowed bright white, then he became larger, his skin started to tear itself off his body before reconstructing itself back together again once more, he felt his arms change into legs. His body's shape changed so that he had to run on all fours. His body still retained the red fur it had had before, but his tail started to turn black, grow longer then split into eleven separate tails, covering the back of his whole body in a wide arc. Three of the top most tails continued to grow slightly larger, coming to a stop just above the rest. After that his two huge white feathered phoenix wings started to become larger, change colour from their former white to silver and red with black stripes, then grow out until they hovered around his larger body in a majestic arc. His head grew to twice its size with his green eyes glowing out from his face. Finally the middle of his forehead started to glow a bit and a golden lightening bolt extended out of his forehead, to be prominently displayed for the whole world to see.
PHOENIXMON!
Reveling in his sudden power, now ready to continue the battle, Harry glanced up at the champion bird digimon which, now sensing a larger and much more dangerous opponent, seemed to be somewhat nervous.
"Come here birdie birdie birdie, come to papa!" said Harry, his foxy lips turning into a somewhat sadistic smirk.
The other digimon however, realizing it was now severely outclassed, had other ideas. Seeing that 'it' was now the one with the shorter straw and the lower life expectancy, it quickly turned tail and started to flee, causing Harry to frown.
"Hey...that's the wrong way you overgrown stuffed turkey," he called out, annoyed that the bird was leaving and doing a classical 'Rule 3' in reverse (Rule3: Never start fights which you are absolutely sure you can not win). The only difference here was that the fight had already started and that he was about to finish it. Hoping that it might become enraged and continue to fight, Harry taunted it some more but with no effect. If anything it caused the bird to fly higher instead.
Not happy that his prey was getting away, Harry quickly spread his own phoenix wings and followed it into the air.
Hermione who had been standing lazily on a sand dune near by, watching the battle, looked at him in surprise. "But why attack it, its already flying away?" she asked somewhat surprised.
Harry hearing her voice through the digital connection which every digimon had with their tamer (if trained to use it) frowned and answered "That's why, I want to catch it," Harry answered, annoyed that his prey slowly getting away. It was somewhat faster than him.
"But why? It's no treat anymore," she asked, not happy where this was going.
"Hermione, remember, Rule 5: When winning a battle against an unfriendly digimon always delete it and absorb its data. Not doing so is just plain stupid. An enemy digimon which is kept alive may return one day to finish you off instead," he said, getting even more annoyed.
"Speaking of which...a card would be nice right about now, "EGO added mentally, knowing that the only way Harry could catch the digital bird now was with some help from his tamer.
"But...Oh, Ok," Hermione said before taking out a few cards. 'When in Rome...do as the romans...or in this case the digimon do,' she thought somewhat saddened by the situation, but understanding why she had to do it. Harsh, but understandable, Digimon were known to have very long memories after all, and even longer grudges.
Looking through her cards Hermione quickly choose one and swiped them through her digivice.
DIGIMODIFY! SPEED BOOST ACTIVATE!
Almost immediately Harry felt his speed triple and with a flash he soon caught up to the fiery bird, which, seeing how close he was, started to panic. In a last futile attempt to somehow score a lucky hit it tired to attack him, but just like before Harry dodged it with relative ease.
"My turn," Harry said and immediately launched his attack.
FIREFOXINFERNO
The moment Harry announced his attack Harry's three, top, slightly larger tails glowed blue, then three phoenix shaped balls of fire flew from them, straight towards the digimon.
The digimon, seeing the attacks come, made one last desperate attempt to dodge, but couldn't due to Harrys ability to control the movement of his fiery missiles.
The digimon let out one last shriek of despair before the three balls of concentrated fire hit into it and completely tore it apart turning the once majestic bird into a cloud of data.
Seeing that he had won Harry slowed down and canceled the cards effects. Coming to a complete stop Harry hovered in the air and let the data flow into him. Letting it automatically repair any damage he had received during the battle Harry waited until he had absorbed the last bit of data, then turned around to head back to his tamer. A minute later he was back on the ground once more.
Hermione, seeing him return victoriously, sighed quietly to herself and started to move towards him.
She still didn't fully understand why all of this killing was absolutely necessary, but she had learned to accept it, slowly.
Harry, realizing what she was thinking, shook his head slightly. "I know Hermione, it doesn't seem right, but that's is the way it is here. You'll get used to it, you'll see."
"I know... Doesn't mean I have to like it though," she answered quietly, sadly.
"I know, but it's necessary," Harry answered.
"Is it really?" she asked looking up at him, her eyes studying his..
Harry sighed. Sometimes he wished life really could be that easy.
"Sometimes we just have to do things which we may not always agree with, no matter how much we might dislike doing them. It's the reasons why we do them..."
"...Which decide who we really are and if we are just simply misguided or evil," Hermione said, finishing his sentence for him.
"Doesn't mean I have to like it," she repeated.
"I know," Harry answered, quietly.
For the next few minutes digimon and tamer simply stood where they were, simply staring into space.
Finally, for what seemed like hours, they decided to head back to a little sand cave they had seen a few days ago during their travels through the vastness that is the digital desert.
Hermione thought she had seen what looked like a village not too far away the other day, but had not been near enough to be sure.
Tomorrow they would head towards it to check it out, for tonight though they would head back to their cave and get some well earned rest.
Starting to walk away, Harry with Hermione at this side, they took their first few steps when Harry's advanced digital senses suddenly began to literally scream out in terrified warning to him.
Reacting completely on instinct, not taking even a second to decide what to do, Harry grabbed Hermione, who screamed out in alarm, and began to sprint and blur as if there was no tomorrow. Just before he sensed, whatever it was that had been flying right at him, hit the ground, he threw himself and Hermione headfirst into the sand and flattened their bodies right on to the ground, the sand effectively muffling Hermione's scream of fear as her face met the hot evening sand of the nearest dune.
A split second later a loud boom of massive proportions erupted all around them, temporarily deafening them. Sand flew all around them as the ground started to shake and both screamed as they were blown away from each other, like little rag dolls, into different directions, by the shockwave of the explosion.
Harry, shaking his head, was the first to recover from the explosion and slowly, dizzily, he tried to get up, just barely managing it. All around them small fires where burning the few cacti in the area.
A few feet away from him Hermione lay moaning in pain from her fall, but still alive.
Slowly Harry moved towards her, but stopped as he noticed a large, massive shadow covering them.
"Oh...shit!" he said and slowly began to look up.