14) Shaggai
"He did what?", Koichi asked.
"That guy, Yamaki, he and some of his assistants took this digimon we were fighting", Takato was explaining. "Anyway, we did just like you suggested, we disabled it, and it said its name was DarkLizardmon, and that it wanted to live here. Then Yamaki came... like they knew and were waiting".
"They had him in some sort of tank, culu?", Calumon was telling what he had witnessed. "They were running some sort of test, culu? Then it disappeared, and Yamaki told these other people to get rid of it, culu? He said Wild Ones don't deserve to live, culu, and he was going to find a way to destroy all digimon, culu?"
"And you know this, how?"
"I saw everything, culu? For whatever reason, they can't detect me, culu?"
"This isn't looking good", Koichi said. "Obviously has some connection to the government. It also looks like he enjoys his work a little too much, if you know what I mean..."
"So we have to deal with some freaky asshole as well as Ruki?", Jen asked.
"The news just keeps getting better and better", Takato added sarcastically.
"A freaky, but well connected, possibly official, asshole, let's not forget. I don't think our partners are in any immediate danger", Koichi said.
"What makes you think so?", Takato asked.
"Consider it: Yamaki could take Guilmon any time he wants. He knows about Takato, Jenyra, and your partners. He knows where you live, go to school, and when you're there, and when you're not. However, he didn't come after Guilmon or Terriermon, did he? He didn't come after Renamon"
"I wonder why not?", Jen asked.
"Who knows? General bureaucratic ineptitude? To avoid publicity? Or possibly because he needed a digimon who hasn't had human contact yet?"
"So what do we do?"
"I'd suggest just keep an eye out. Try to avoid situations where they can separate you from your partners. Keep any communications about anything having to do with your partners, digimon in general, your plans, off the 'Net, and avoid cellies as much as you can. No sense in giving away too much information, and you know that Hypnos can trace you that way, especially now, that Yamaki knows. Other than that, we'll just have to wait and see. Hope for the best, and all that".
The Pedestrian Overpass
Takato and Guilmon, being the closest, were the first to arrive. By the time they did, it looked as though, whatever it was, was doing considerable damage. Directly above the Hypnos building, the sky and clouds were glowing bright red. He had no idea as to what was causing this, or for what purpose. It was this sight that made Impmon forget all about loading Calumon's data.
He was startled to see a large form fly past, followed by another.
"Goodbye, scum of the 'Net", Yamaki was gloating over his apparent victory.
"Takato!", Guilmon called out. He turned in time to see his partner momentarily "phase out".
"Something doesn't feel right", he complained.
"What?"
"I... don't know..."
Takato looked up, by now, digimon, by the dozens, were being pulled into that disturbance. Some even burst into data before reaching it. All of them screaming in terror and agony.
Guilmon "phased out" a second time: "Takato!" ...
"No! What... what is this? I... I'm scared!", one of the Hypnos techs admitted.
"Eighty seconds until Shaggai completes deletion of all Wild Ones", the other announced. ...
"We must eliminate all foreign elements that have appeared in this world", this Yamaki was explaining as if he were discussing the latest weather report, or baseball scores. This was his euphemism for what Takato could take as nothing less than wholesale genocide. What made it worse was that he was the obvious pleasure watching them being tortured to death. He didn't even bother to hide it.
"Eliminate? That hole is deleting digimon?", Takato asked, even though he already knew the answer.
Yamaki reached towards Guilmon, who snarled back at him: "Your playmate isn't exactly friendly, is he?"
"Just towards assholes like yourself", but he kept that thought to himself.
"It's not like that!", he said.
"It's a disturbing bit of artificial life".
"Digimon are... digimon are...", Takato tried to defend. "Digimon are friends to us humans, but you won't even try to understand!"
"Takato!", Guilmon called out, "it's coming!"
As he said this, it looked like some blue beam of light was attacking that red hole in the sky. The digimon were deploying a countermeasure from their side of the Frontier. Yamaki's cell phone went off.
"Something is materializing in Shaggai's hole!", a very disturbed tech was telling Yamaki. The data on the screen of his hand-held showed exactly what they were seeing back in the control room.
"What is this?! This isn't supposed to happen! IT CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" There was no denying the facts. The digimons' countermeasures were forcing Shaggai to do the opposite of what it was designed for.
There was a large explosion, like an ariel bomb. It looked like the sky was tearing itself apart. Takato and Yamaki were looking at the Frontier, beyond which lay the Digital World.
Inside the control room, klaxons were blaring, and warning signs flashing. Shaggai's safety features kicked in, and went into emergency auto-shutdown. The beams faded. However, it was too little, and too late. The Frontier was still exposed for all to see.
All over Tokyo, cell phones chirped, buzzed, played ring tones. Every TV channel, every radio station, anything dependent on any digital connection, played the same message:
"Attention! Attention! To the humans who created us:
We follow our own God now. We do not need you anymore, and from now on, your only justification for your continuing existence is to serve us, and our eternal evolution. The proof what we are telling you is visible in the skies above you. One very arrogant, and very foolish, human has just opened the gateway between our worlds".
"So the Material World and the Digital World are connected?!", Takato asked Yamaki.
"Fuck!", he said. "They made me work for them! They made me open a gateway so they can come and go as they please!" He said this as he punched the wall.
The biggest digital field he'd ever seen was forming, surrounding the Hypnos building, reaching street level, and was coming their way. Takato had to pull his goggles over his eyes against the glare.
Yamaki slinked off, in the opposite direction. Jen and Terriermon were coming towards him, but Jen seemed to not notice right away, as he was preoccupied with planning what he was going to do about this.
"You...", he said. Just then, Yamaki grabbed him by the throat.
Another hand grabbed Yamaki's wrist, gave a slight twist that sent waves of pain shooting up his arm. Koichi had learned a move or two from Jen
"You really are a total piece of shit", Koichi told him, "in addition to being utterly incompetent. Why don't you pick on someone your own size? You lay a finger on any of these kids, and I'll see to it that you won't be able to use that hand to wipe your ass", he threatened.
"It's you kids... It's you GOD DAMN kids! You're FUCKING with the natural order of the world!", he called after them and their partners.
"You want to see who's to blame, look in a mirror", Koichi called back.
"What an asshole", Terriermon observed.
"What digimon is it?", Takato asked Guilmon.
"Takato!", Jen called out.
"Jen, Koichi", he greeted.
"I'm goin' in", Guilmon announced. Takato took out his digivice:
"White Wings; digimodify!"
Guilmon flew to the top of one of the twin towers. Koichi and Jen tried to get an ident on whatever it was, but both received no data.
"There's no digimon, even with the digital field?", Koichi asked.
Guilmon looked all around the roof, but saw nothing that looked even a bit out of the ordinary.
"There's something", Jen said, "but I'm getting no data at all. What kind of digimon is it?"
"Let me go", Terriermon said.
"Guilmon can handle it", Takato replied, as he pulled out another card:
"Super Evolution Plug-In S: digimodify!"
Guilmon Evolve! ...
... GROWLMOM!
It finally put in its appearance. They ran at each other, the dinosaurian and a very large tiger with shields attached to its shoulders and flanks. Neither attacked. They were sizing each other up.
Growlmon suddenly stopped, and whirled around: "Exhaust Flame!", he opened up with his main attack. The attack that had instantly incinerated Devidramon didn't even singe a single strand of fur. The "tiger" struck him with his tail, lifting him off his feet, and over the side.
Growlmon devolved as he dropped.
"No way!", Takato called out. He wasn't expecting this. All he could do was watch, helpless, as Guilmon plummeted to the concrete, hit with a sickening squelching sound, and lay there. Takato feared the worst. That fall should have killed any Material World being instantly. He ran to his partner, and placed a hand on Guilmon's shoulder. A yellow, mammalian eye opened. He was only stunned.
"Takato", Guilmon warned. "He's a powerful one: he must be an Ultimate. No, he might even be a Mega".
"Mega?", Takato asked.
"Is he alright?", Koichi asked.
"I'm not looking forward to doing that again any time soon", he said, as he pushed himself to his feet.
"Let me go!", Terriermon requested.
"Super Evolution Plug-In S: digimodify!"
Terriermon Evolve! ...
GALGOMON!
"Dum dum upper!", he fired. Used in reverse, this attack worked to propel him, rocket-like, to the roof.
"I'm still not getting any information on the damn thing", Koichi announced.
"Then what cards do I use?", Jen asked no one in particular.
Galgomon stood there, mouth hanging slack. It had one helluva size advantage. He could only hope he had the firepower advantage. He opened up with his twin 0.50s.
From the ground, they heard the gunfire, saw the muzzle flares.
From ten feet away, the twin 0.50s that reduced a cars to scrap metal in seconds, had no effect. He continued firing, following the tiger-like digimon, keeping the lead on target. It didn't even seem to be very concerned. This wasn't looking good at all.
The tiger leaped across, landing on the other tower, as Galgomon continued firing. Jen saw the tiger try to sneak around, to get behind Galgomon. He had no way to warn his partner, but his worry was needless: Galgomon wasn't fooled. He swung around, firing until he was clicking.
As with Growlmon, he whacked Galgomon with his tail, sending him flying from the roof. Galgomon devolved on his way down, but, being lighter, Terriermon didn't hit as hard, and wasn't knocked out. His Tamer ran to him, picked him up, to see if he was OK. Terriermon said something Koichi didn't hear.
"He said that that tiger hesitates before striking. Maybe that'll help"
"Onnit", Renamon said, as she climbed the side of the building, then leaped to the roof.
"Super Evolution Plug-In S: digimodify!"
Renamon Evolve! ...
... KYUUBIMON!
Kyuubimon and the "tiger" faced off. The kitsune the size of a draft horse, and the one opponent who wasn't at a size disadvantage, lowered her head, closed her eyes, and spread her tails like a peacock.
"Demon Spirit Fireballs!", she attacked. The nine bluish fireballs drove the "tiger" back.
"Foxfire Dragon!", she attacked again, as she leaped at the "tiger", as she began to spin head over heels, faster and faster until she "dissolved" into a uniform mass of bluish foxfire. A dragon-like head appeared with a roar clearly heard from the ground.
The next thing Kyuubimon knew, she was trapped in the tiger's jaws, as she was being torn apart. She began shedding data.
Koichi dropped his digivice, and dropped to his knees to keep from planting his face into the concrete. With the last of his consciousness, he uttered a single word: "Mihirimon".
"What's wrong?!", Takato called out.
"Koichi!", Jen said, as he ran to see what had happened.
A crowd was beginning to gather, as there was no hiding a digital field of this size. Kazu, Kenta, and Juri were among those who'd come to see what was happening. They were the few there who knew what was going on...
Koichi found himself in some weird place: "What the fuck?!", he asked himself. It looked like being trapped in some elaborate clockwork. "That bite: it hurt me as much as Kyuubimon"
"Tamer", he heard someone call. He looked around. Kyuubimon was off in the distance, laying on her side.
"Kyuubimon!"
"Tamer... I did my best" (Why is she calling me "Tamer", she never did that before now.)
"But... we lost, didn't we?"
"Tamer: let me try again. I haven't given up yet. Let me try again; I want to try again... Koichi, you're my Tamer, aren't you..."
Koichi recalled the defeat of Guilmon and Terriermon.
"I'm your Tamer", he called out, and began to fly towards Kyuubimon. "And you're my LOVE! Kyuubimon!"
Just as he reached out to Kyuubimon, he found himself holding Calumon's hands instead.
"Cal... Calumon?"
"Feeling better, culu?", he asked.
"What a relief".
"You had us worried".
They heard gunfire coming from three helicopter gunships.
"I doubt conventional weapons are going to work", Jen observed.
"But now, with Kyuubimon defeated..."
"She hasn't lost yet!", Koichi declared. "I refuse to give up on her! Not now! Not ever!"
As he gathered his digivice, and began to collect his cards...
"A Blue Card", Jen and Takato announced at once.
"So this is the famous Blue Card I've been hearing so much about", he thought, as he scanned it.
Kyuubimon Matrix Digivolve To ...
... TAOMON!
"Why?!", demanded Mihirimon.
"She evolved..."
"...to Ultimate"
"On!", Taomon created a force field that Mihirimon couldn't penetrate, as he slammed his tail at it.
"Why have you evolved?! You're nothing but some human's pet! How do you evolve?! You don't worship our God! How does an infidel like you evolve!"
Taomon dropped the force field, and soared above Mihirimon.
"I'd explain it to you, but you wouldn't understand", she said, as she produced a large calligraphy brush and "painted" a symbol: "Bonhitsusen!"
The symbol appeared on Mihirimon's side, burnt its way through his body just before he exploded into particles of data.
Yamaki saw the whole thing: "I brought that critter into this world, and a bunch of kids who think it's some elaborate game sent it back. If the damn politicians figure out how cost effective they are, I'm through".
Taomon, though she didn't look like it, was a flighted digimon. Getting off the roof was simply a matter of stepping off, and drifting to the ground.
"That is so fucking cool!", Kazu said.
"A real digimon", Kenta said.
"Is that Renamon?", Juri asked.
"No, that's Renamon after digivolving to Ultimate", Kazu said.
Taomon and Koichi embraced. "Thank you for this", she said. "You are so going to get laid tonight"
"Who's that?", Kenta asked.
"Takato's and Jenyra's friend?", Juri speculated.
"Did she just say what I think she just said?", Kazu asked.
"He's gonna yiff all her digivolutions".
"Terriermon!"
"Moumentai!"
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
"These are your new friends?!", Doyle Lonnegan asked his son. "Aren't they..."
"Yes, they're almost half my age, and I can't explain how that happened. Renamon isn't the only digimon, and these are the partners of the other digimon. Takato, here, received his partner after creating that character. You don't think he's unique in that regard? Deviant Art, Fur Affinity, and God knows how many other sites are full of fanart and fanfic. Why don't their characters come to life?
How about Jenyra? You don't think he's the only one who chose Terriermon to play 'Digital Monsters'? So why him? These kids are the ones with partners, and they are the ones I have to work with. Especially since they've been at this a lot longer, and they know more than just about anyone else when it comes to everything Digimon".
Koichi convinced the other Tamers to meet at his home, rather than the park. Less chance of being overheard, especially with what Koichi was proposing.
"We're gonna need information, considering these recent events. That means we need to get inside Hypnos, and that means we need Calumon. I have to discuss this with him..."
"We don't know where he lives - he refuses to tell us. As for how, he just sort of shows up".
"As soon as you see him, get him to me. Even if you have to bring him bound and gagged".
"I don't think..."
"Never mind. It is critical, as he's the only one who can do this".
"What about this Shaggai?"
"I doubt it'll present any more problems any time soon. That was quite a cock-up, and not even Yamaki and the sum total of Hypnos can make that go away. If it was supposed to be some secret project, well, it's not a secret anymore, now is it?"
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
"You wanted to see me, culu?", Calumon asked. Renamon had tracked the elusive cream puff down.
"Let's get a few things straight, I know enough..."
"You don't know me, culu?"
"I know three things: One: you're not as stupid as you want everyone to believe, so you can drop the act. I'm not buying it. Secondly, you're not a digimon..."
"I am a digimon! Culu?"
"Oh really, then show me a 'Calumon' card. Let's see your profile come up on any one of our digivices. We both know you can't. Secondly, you admitted to Impmon that you don't digivolve, and you had no attacks against him. And Impmon is just about the weakest Rookie in existence. Even Terriermon kicked his little purple ass. That's why Hypnos can't detect you as anything other than an unknown anomaly on the 'Net. That's why we need you: you can get in there..."
"I'm not going back there, culu?!"
"I understand that seeing what happened to Darklizardmon was upsetting. Still, we need you as there is no one else who can. We need to know what Yamaki is up to before he pulls another stunt like that last one. You just might be saving your own life. Think about that".
"What do you want me to do, culu?"
Koichi handed him several pen drives: "Download anything that looks interesting".
A few days later, the Tamers were gathered around Koichi and his computer.
"Most of what Calumon downloaded was total bullshit. However, this is interesting...", he clicked on a file.
"Takato Matsuda
Partner: Guilmon
DOB, Place of Residence, yada, yada, yada..."
Despite his happy-go-lucky demeanor and the occasional displays of childish immaturity, he is quite intelligent, even if he is an underachiever in school, and the occasional discipline problem. This makes it easy to underestimate him. He is also quite determined, and has definite leadership qualities. His greatest weaknesses are a certain sentimentality towards his partner, with a reluctance to put him in danger. He is susceptible to depressive episodes that can lead to his giving up too easily.
Threat level: High"
He clicked on another file:
"Jenyra Lee.
Henry fits the stereotype of the on-line gamer and 'geek'. He does not make friends easily, and is somewhat socially awkward. However, his friendships are steadfast. His technical proficiency rivals that of his father, Janyu Lee, and is years beyond that expected of a fifth grade student. Major weakness is his extremely sentimental view of digimon, and pacifist tendencies and beliefs. When faced with a decision, he tends to suffer 'paralysis from analysis'.
Update: Disregard the above. He has demonstrated he is willing to commit his partner to battle.
Threat level: Moderate"
"Anything on you?", Takato asked.
"Oh yeah..."
Unknown Tamer
Partner: Renamon
Update: This new Tamer has been identified as Koichi Lonnegan. Nationality: American
Being much older, Koichi is the most mature of the Tamers. He has a nasty temper, and is very protective of the other Tamers and their partners. There is no doubt that he will resort to violence, and would kill without remorse in defense of his associates. Reputed to be having a...", he scrolled the screen.
"Let's skip that part, shall we?"
"...It may become necessary to eliminate him by finding a pretext, or manufacturing one, for deportation.
Threat Level: Extreme"
"It would seem our Mr. Yamaki has been a busy little bee. I think you'll find this fascinating:
"Ruki Makino and her partner, Icedevimon, have proved themselves most useful for the elimination of Wild Ones materializing for the purpose of partnering with children. Ruki disdains friendship, and avoids relationships. Her main motivation is the seeking of power and recognition, as she believes this to be the means by which she can earn the love of others. Has a very uneasy relationship with her mother, and seems to prefer the grandmother. These tendencies make her unusually easy to manipulate for our purposes of keeping these digimon away from kids, and their tendencies to see the Wild Ones, not as threats to our world, but as pets to domesticate".
"I knew it!", Takato said. "That day, when Yamaki captured Darklizardmon, he called me a 'cowardly kid'. I couldn't understand it at the time, because I didn't do anything cowardly. I didn't run away, or anything like that, and I challenged this guy about what he was doing. The only one who called me a 'cowardly kid' was Ruki. He must've heard it from her".
"Yamaki is a real piece of work, using a disturbed young girl like that", Koichi said. "Oh, and he has further ambitions for Shaggai. Before, he just wanted to eliminate digimon who'd crossed over. Bad as that was, and because the digimon have embarrassed him by defeating Yuggoth, and deployed an effective countermeasure against Shaggai, he wants ultimately to destroy the whole Digital World..."
"He can't do that?", Takato asked.
"Not at the moment, but he's alluding to something different, but didn't go into details".
"What can we do about it?"
"I also have the names of his sponsors and superiors. It's illegal to have sex with kids in this country?"
"Well, yeah, what else did you think?", Jen pointed out.
"Based on some stuff I've seen on-line, and Anime, Yaoi, and Yuri, I had my doubts. How about e-mailing these superiors with the suggestion he's banging Ruki? If we conceal where they're coming from. He was already caught hanging around Takato's school like a child molesting perv".
"If he isn't..."
"Doesn't matter, a suspicion's good enough. Besides, it'll give him something else to worry about besides Shaggai".