Try

The streets of Odaiba were forced to a halt once again. The commuters had no idea why until they spotted a large, eight winged angel flying though the sky. What they hadn't noticed was that the digital angle was chasing a boy swerving though the traffic on a bike. He felt his phone vibrate again but paid it no mind. Now wasn't the time to worry about the others. His grip on the handle bars tightened as pain ran through is left arm. He readjusted the belt around his shoulder and kept pedaling.

The boy quickly got off the main road and went down a side path. He didn't know when the monster would attack and being surrounded by cars was obviously a bad idea. As if on cue an energy blast came right at him. He leaned out of the way and though of where he could take the destruction. The image of the bay came to mind and he knew of the perfect place to go.

Even though he was panting, he managed to make his way to Daiba Park. It was the place they had met up at before they went around the world. Noting but grass and water. The land next to him exploded with light that sent him flying into a group of trees. He managed to get to his feet as he held his bandaged left arm. Losing sight of the angel digimon made him nervous. It was only when he saw another flash did he make a break from the bush.

The fallowing explosion pushed him to the ground. He managed to lift himself up just enough to see the angelic digimon floating above. He couldn't help but grit his teeth. The infection had completely spread and his partner had lost his mind.

The past week had been a nightmare. When he went to meet Patamon and the other digimon, the symptoms started to show up. He was bitten and he had to make up an excuse to take Patamon home with him. With each passing day, it just kept getting worse with is partner becoming more violent. It didn't help when Yamato came to visit and he had to hide his wounds.

Yet all of that didn't compare to the other infected digimon that kept showing up. It was as if Patamon's infection was attracting them and they were all mindless monsters looking to destroy anything around them. If an infected Patamon was enough to trash his room without him there to intervene then a rampaging Angemon was much worse. Somehow he was able to deal with both but each encounter ended the same way; with a digimon permanently dying in the real world. It kept reminding him of his partner's inevitable fate.

The boy watched the Perfect level angel fiercely. He tugged the belt around his shoulder swung the weapon he was holding to his hands. It was a special electromagnetic gun created by the secret digital organization that was monitoring him and the others. They had found him last night after a pretty bad fight and while HolyAngemon went berserk in their building he managed to snag a weapon for himself.

It looked like some sort of rife. The closest he had ever gotten to a gun was in a video game or a movie so he hoped that all he had to do was pull the trigger. He lifted the heavy weapon and took aim. He didn't know if he was tired or if the pain was getting to him but he couldn't keep his hand steady. While he hesitated with the gun his partner dive bombed him. It took everything he had to hold the weapon up in defense as the angel's arm mounted sword sliced at him.

The blonds' back was forced to the ground. He saw the angel raise his sword once more. This time the gun was cleaved straight through. The only reason the boy was still in one piece was because he had propped the gun up with his left arm. The one that was bandaged with Angemon's blue wrapping. They managed to protect the boy but they weren't enough to keep him for denting the earth beneath him.

Again, the angel's blade pointed skyward. The boy could only choke at his demise. As he watched the digimon's falling arm, his eyes twitched at an even faster movement. The angel was being pelted a bunch of flickers of light. He turned to his right to find a bunch of men in suits with the same gun he had.

They ceased their fire when someone raised their hand. That same person rushed out to him to make sure he was okay.

"Takaishi!" Maki Himekawa bent down to the blonds' side. "Are you alright?" The boy in her hands nodded back. "What you did was stupid. You don't think you can fight off a digimon by yourself, do you?"

"I didn't have a choice," the blond sat up. "HolyAngemon went crazy and he was fallowing me. I had to get out of the building no matter what."

The two remembered what had happened at the agency building. The boy and his partner had gotten in a heated argument when they were contacted about the reappearance of Meicoomon. The blond had denied his partner from going and that heated moment of anger must have set off the infection within him. Chaos ensued after that.

"Still, what would the news think of a boy riding through the city with a gun on his back? Furthermore, these weapons can't take down an Adult level, let alone a Perfect one." The two watched the Perfect level digimon push his way through the second round of suppression fire.

"But I still have to do something about it, he's my partner," the boy grunted as he stood up. "Give me another weapon."

The woman looked at the boy with disbelief. How could he demand to keep fighting? He was covered in dirt and scratches from running around and not taking proper care of himself for the past few days. Dark circles formed around his eyes from a lack of sleep. He sported an assortment of bruises. Worst of all was his bandaged left arm that shook as if it couldn't be raised anymore.

"Just leave the fighting to us," she stressed again. "We just need to hold out for a few minutes until the reboot starts and then we'll be home free."

"Reboot?" He noticed Himekawa's eyes widening at his question. He was quickly informed of the details of the event that was soon to come. He was told about how the digimon would return to the digital world and would forget everything about them. "Can we stop it?"

"No." she lied. There was one way to stop the reboot, but right now there was no way the children would do it. There was no way for this boy in front of her to do anything about it.

The thought of HolyAngemon forgetting him caused his body to shudder. It was almost as bad as when Patamon had asked him to kill him when he found out about his infection. The reboot wouldn't just affect Patamon but all of the other digimon he had fought. They would come back to life; however, his friends' partners would forget them for no reason at all. So many results and consequences played through the blonds' head. Yet, even if he thought everything out what choice did he have? What could he do about any of it? He couldn't help but remember everything that had brought him to this one moment.

Remember? It was as if a switch in his head suddenly flipped on. His eyes looked towards the incoming HolyAngemon. He slipped into his partner's shoes for just a moment. Wondering what his partner would want. That was all he needed for his resolve to harden once again.

Maki saw the Perfect level angel finally break through their attack. It rushed, shield first at the two. She reached out and tried to push Takaishi to the ground but he wouldn't budge. She watched as the angel hit with a loud crash.

The angel digimon did land a hit, however it wasn't with the blond in front of him. It was as if he hit an invisible wall blocking the two. It watched the boy glare at him. It roared and started slashing at the wall with its Excalibur arm blade.

Maki was left speechless as the rest of the onlookers cheered. Had Takaishi, done this? She looked to him and noticed the bandaged on his arm started to change colors. It went from blue to purple and finally yellow. She also noticed him pull up another rifle. It was the one she had carried with her. A small smile graced his lips as he pointed it at the digimon. When he fired, a bullet didn't fly out but a yellow beam blasted straight through the digimon. The angel was blasted away from them and landed into a patch of trees.

"Stay here." Takeru spoke as he dashed towards the shrubs.

Maki tried fallowing, but she too hit the invisible wall. As she watched the boy pass through, the wall suddenly took a light shade of yellow. Its wall domed around the entire squad she had brought with her. Was this the power of the crests that those children possessed? That was the only difference between her and them. Her mind quickly went to his bandages that were from Angemon. If Angemon represented blue, and HolyAngemon represented purple; then was that yellow suppose to represent the level after Perfect?

The digimon in question rose to give the woman her answer. A fully armored blue and silver angel with ten golden wings rose to the skies. Even with its eyes hidden, anyone could tell that it was watching the boy. It started to dive once more but it soon lost its trajectory as its wings started coming off, one by one.

Once again, Maki was drawn to the boy's hands. His right held a handgun that looked a bit too familiar. She checked the inside of her blazer and realized that her second weapon had also been taken. She watched as the angel crash landed in front of his partner.

The blond pointed the rifle once more only for it to be slashed to the side. He raised the handgun but it quickly disappeared from his sight when red obscured his vision. The blood hid the Mega level digimon calling down his next attack.

Maki and the onlookers watched the boy's body be encompassed by a bolt of lightning. It dragged the boy across the ground towards them. Even the force field couldn't hold it back. The yellow shield shattered like glass as the lighting blot kept going until it hit one of the cars that had carried them to the park. They were silenced by the extreme violence they had just witnessed. All were unable to take their eyes away from the boy lying in front of them or the monster slowly moving towards them.

Maki's eyes couldn't be dragged away from the motionless boy. The barrier had stopped him, and dropped him right at her feet. Seeing his missing hand caused visions of her childhood to flash before her. She thought she was preventing life from being unjustly stolen. She shouldn't be the one helping it to be taken away. She felt like she hadn't cried in years but this familiar scene caused her eyes to well up. This wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want this at all.

Before anyone could move to get to their shaking superior, the angel digimon was already standing above her. They were all too intimidated to make a noise, let alone make a move. They could do nothing as they watched the angel rise its hand once again to call forth lighting.

The sky flashed with light as the electricity came raining down but it did not hit is target. Above the two humans rested a red figure. As soon as the shocking element died down, it revealed itself as a white, bladed monster. It dived down and forced back the angel digimon once more.

Maki's eyes managed to wander up once more. She had no clue of who the new digimon was. Its red cape and bone white body were lost to her. The next thing to catch her attention was the three orange spirits floating around her. Orb shaped balls of flames with v-shaped visors and spear like arms. They started spinning faster around her and the child. She watched as the boy's body started to glow in the same orange light.

The battle between two Ultimate digimon quickly took to the air. No matter how much the white digimon attacked it couldn't land a decisive hit on the angel. The best he could do was making sure that its attacks landed in the bay. He parried the incoming attack but was caught unaware by seven orbs suddenly surrounding him. With his focus split between the humans below and the current threat, he couldn't overcome the sudden attack.

Smoke filled the air as the attack landed on target. The capped digimon fell into the bay as the angel once again charged towards the humans with its beam saber.

The female agent could no longer move. The stress, fear, and sorrow had sapped away her energy. She closed her eyes, prepared for the attack. However, the impact didn't come. Her eyes cracked open to witness the blond once again standing up to his partner.

This time his shield was much smaller and focused. It was as if a single glass wall separated the two. It didn't take long for cracks to start running down the boy's shield.

"What are you doing," words left her mouth without a thought.

"I remembered," the blond coughed, "I remembered Patamon asking me to kill him." The shield shattered to pieces but the boy still managed to hold the colossal hand back. "I remembered the deaths of the infected digimon." He was starting to be pushed back. "I remember lying to my brother when he asked if I was alright." He was forced to his knee. "I remembered Angemon dying." Blood started to seep from in-between the layers of his bandaging.

"What are you talking about?" The woman couldn't understand the boy's ramblings.

"No matter how much I don't want to, my mind keeps reminding me of these awful feelings," Takeru struggled. "I'll always remember this moment, and I don't want to remember me being useless or running away anymore. I don't want to remember Patamon hurting innocent people." The ground around him started to give way.

She couldn't understand him. How could he manage to keep pushing back? She could clearly see it was eating away at him, but he still pushed forward. The ground beneath him soon crumbled and he was forced to his back. His pained yells echoed through her body.

It was almost pitch black. The angel's large hands kept out most of the sunlight. He cursed his own inability. It didn't matter how strong his body or heart had become. His feelings weren't worth fighting for. His vision started to darken even more. He couldn't help his friends. He couldn't protect Himekawa. He couldn't keep his promise to Patamon. The only thing he could do was apologize under the pressure.

*BANG*

The loud noise managed to return the blond to his senses. He leaned his head back and caught a glimpse of Himekawa holding a glowing handgun. Two of the three spirits were floating behind her.

"Stop, damn it," the secret agent yelled. "He's your partner. Even if you're infected, you can't kill him." One of the two spirits flowed into the weapon and it started to glow brighter. She fired off another shot, and while it wasn't ineffective, the monster still didn't lift its hand. The last spirit also entered the gun. She pulled the trigger one last time as the final bullet shattered the gun in her hands.

The shot tore straight through the angel's arm, holding Takeru down. It shattered into digital pieces that rained down onto the boy. The digimon paused only for a moment before diverting its attention to the woman who attacked it. It reached out with its other arm only to feel a tug on its midsection.

"I said…" the Takeru pushed back as hard as he could with is arms, "I wouldn't let you hurt her!" His head rammed against the metal armor as he started to rise back up. His wrappings started to shine in a brilliant green color. And explosion of energy forced the two apart. He quickly regained his footing and clenched his left fist. With a shout and a thrust of his arm, a large beam of green shot forth, enveloping the infected digimon.

Maki and the others were blinded by the intense light. It was only when she felt the drip of water falling on her did she try to open her eyes. The sun shined through the mirrored crest of the parted waves. Standing perfectly in front of the flowing background of the water, was the blond who had caused it.

Why? How? Her mind was spinning. Feelings of relief and guilt mixed into confusion. Why would Takaishi go so far to protect her? How could Takeru find the inner strength to kill his own partner?

"I remembered…" Takeru almost whispered, "I remembered the first time we went to Primary Village. Everyone was laughing."

Her eyes widened as the boy turned towards her. The blood, sweat and tears were expected but not the smile.

"That feeling of our hearts connecting; I still remember it. When you saved me, I could feel yours and it reminded me of that." He looked towards the white digimon that had emerged from the bay and its spirits, "when I felt theirs, and when I felt his," he looked at the bloody bandaged that had turned back to yellow. "So…" he looked up at her and managed to give a wide smile through his tears, "thank you."

Maki couldn't help but tear up as well. Feelings she thought she had suppressed starting to bubble to the surface. She too was reminded of the digimon she knew. Reminded of the sacrifices that were made and the ones she couldn't make herself. That ones she wasn't allowed to make herself.

This child, Takeru, was able to choose how to end things with his own two hands. He had fought for that choice. It made her question what she had been doing in the shadows all along. It made her question her relationship with the children that she had faked all along. She knew that the world wasn't fair and that it would lie and cheat you, but that didn't mean she had to be a part of that.

She watched Takeru's face tighten more and his smile slowly turned into a frown. The boy broke down to his knees, finally taking on all of his exhaustion and started to fully cry out his sorrow. As if answering the boy's wails, her tears also started to flow. The only ones to move were the orange spirits of the capped digimon watching over them.

After connecting with the spirits of the still present Ultimate, she started to get a sense of who it was. If that digimon was truly who she thought it was then that meant the fight with Meicoomon wasn't over yet. Why had it come here instead of over there? Was it like her and worried about Takeru? Speaking of the boy, he started to get back onto his feet. The orange spirits seemed to be circling around him once again.

Takeru huff and puffed as he got to his feet. He noticed that he wasn't in as much pain as a person who had lost a limb should be. Was it the effects of the orange spirits? "The reboot hasn't happened yet, right?" he asked Himekawa.

The woman looked at him with surprise. She had forgotten the time and called for one of her men to give her the estimated time before the digital world reset itself. It was thirty minutes away and that time would fluctuate on the whims on the one who judged the balance of the digital world, Homeostasis.

"Then the convention center is the next stop," the blond started to make his move until Himekawa held his shoulders in place.

"Your fight is over, the others can take care of themselves," the adult asserted. "The only stop you're making is to the hospital."

"No it isn't," the boy fought back. "They can't fight Meicoomon by themselves. They'll freeze up, just like I did."

"And won't they overcome it, just like you did?" she questioned back.

"I didn't…" before he could get the words out, the air vibrated with energy as the sky started to turn dark. The once blue sky was replaced with the land of the digital world. It was a repeat of what had happen six years ago. "We don't have time for this, if we don't hurry then reboot or not, something awful will happen."

Maki looked to the nostalgic landscape above her. The world above her was filled with purple blotches and dark spots. Had the digital world become that damaged over time? "Fine," she conceded to the boy. "Hurry up and get over here so we can treat your wounds. I don't know what you can do, but if you can pull off another miracle again then you'll need all the help you can get."

The blond held up his arms for the woman to inspect. He wondered if he would really be able to do anything about the distortions. He'd have to kill more digimon. His whole body almost shut down at that thought. He didn't want to do that again but he knew he would have to. Just like he did with his partner, he would kill any monster that got in his way.

AN: This time I worked within Adventure Tri. To be honest, I really didn't care for Tri, so writing for it was a bit cathartic.

In Takeru's case, his story was one of inaction and forgiveness. That's a fine theme and all but it's really hard to write for and I don't think it was done well. Its emotional core was dependent on nostalgia and it was further used to affect all of the other characters who also lost their partners. Forgiveness comes forgiving Meiko and if you want, you could see as a form or him forgiving himself but it comes after he decided to go meet Patamon again. It just felt he was the one chosen to be put into a similar situation as Meiko so it wouldn't feel weird for the group to forgive her because there was no way any of them were going to hold a grudge over her. Basically, Takeru didn't have a plot element fully reflect solely on his character and was more of a torch bearer for everyone else.

That's really weak considering Tri is all about how the children are growing and changing. The thing I love about Takeru's character is that out of all of the children, his experiences in the digital world would have changed him the most. So to see a whole movie where his main focus is a story that could have been told with almost any other character and is only extra effective with him is disappointing. I didn't learn anything more about Takeru; he didn't make any personal choices that changed him in that movie.

That's why this story focused so hard on Takeru dealing with actually having to kill his partner. It's not that the original plot point wasn't dark enough or bad, it was that it wasn't dynamic. Takeru was just sad the whole time until the end. I wanted to show some sort of thought process, some other emotion to the whole situation.

Another think that bothered me was the use of all of the side characters like Maki and Hackmon. What's the point of Maki and Daigo being chosen if it doesn't really affect their relationship with the children? Theme being there doesn't even affect the plot. Who cares if Maki knew about the reboot? Who cares that she lied to the children, when all of these events would have happened anyway.

So that's why I wrote about a how she felt about what she was doing. I had her actually witness firsthand the things she was doing. In Tri she felt too distant and I know that was the point but her actions and character don't relate back to the plot at all.

This just turned into a rant but it's that Tri disappointed me so much. The actual plot wasn't what bothered be but its execution was frustrating

Complaining aside, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I might come back to some of these one-shots and continue them so it might not be the last you see of this story. Be sure to leave a comment if you want to and look forward to more chapters.