Guest IG: I checked and still couldn't find it, but you're right. I'll just go with my speculations. Hope you're doing well in college and your chem homework.
Alright, everyone. It's time for the next chapter. Chapter 6: Endearing Darkness, Loweemon.
Before and during the battle between Lobomon and Dobermon...
The JR Tokyo General Hospital was located in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, and around a 15-20 minute walking distance from Yogogi park. The building had 10-12 floors and was your typical hospital with operation, ER, and check-up rooms. People with mild to severe injuries come here daily to get treated. Doctors and nurses were always moving about assisting their patients in any way they could.
Walking on the 6th floor of the building was a pale-skinned boy with short black hair that parted to the sides of his face. He appeared to be around 17 years old and had dark blue eyes. He wore a red long-sleeved shirt under a white lab coat, white pants, and green sneakers with yellow streaks. Judging from his age and nametag on the lab coat, the teenage boy looked to be an intern or volunteer to help out in the hospital. He was currently really engrossed with reading the clipboard in his hand while writing notes.
"Koichi!" Someone yelled breaking the boy's thoughts. Looking up, he could see a man around his forties walking up to him. He wore a similar lab coat, but his coat was much longer.
"Dr. Nakimura hello," The boy named Koichi said sending greetings. "What can I do for you?"
"I heard from the nurse that you visited one of my patients recently with her and talked with him." Dr. Nakimura replied. "Did you learn anything new?"
"His symptoms are fever, sore throat, and coughing. Signs point to the common flu."
"I concur, but he's been having these symptoms for weeks and the fevers keep fluctuating from severe to mild erratically. His immune system should've adapted to this. There must be something more."
"Well..." The boy started to say but stopped himself.
"Koichi, if there is something you know, say something." Dr. Nakimura said noticing the boy's indecisiveness. "I wouldn't have come to you if you didn't have sound advice."
"Okay, when talking with him earlier," Koichi continued. "He tensed up a lot when his wife and gaslighting was mentioned. I think the cause of the increasing symptoms could be stress."
"Wife's issue and stress?" Dr. Nakimura was confused but understood the boy's point of view. "Stress can be a factor for a weakened immune system, but it has to be long-term for it to cause an effect."
"True, but he's been married to her for 3 years. With how extremely tense he was from talking about her, it's enough time for stress to accumulate and cause some real lasting effects." Koichi continued his analysis. "Plus, he's also worked a construction job with a lot of heavy lifting. Being physically and mentally exhausted can destroy one's health. I recommend stress relief pills for the short term. A long-term solution is therapy, preferably couples therapy. It will be hard, but this is the best option if he wants to get better. I've listed other small solutions that could..."
Dr. Nakimura looked at the boy with a smile as he kept rambling about his analysis. When Koichi didn't hear a response, he saw the smile and asked. "Doctor, why are you smiling like that?"
"It took me around 12 years to become a real, professional doctor," Dr. Nakimura answered. "But with you, it will probably take less time than that. I'll probably be calling you Dr. Kimura in a few years."
"Sir, it's just a basic analysis, and not that serious," Koichi said modestly. "Besides, I haven't gone to college and studied for my medical license yet."
"I've worked with college interns in their fifth year before and never seen anyone who analyzes as well as you. You've only been here for a few weeks and your diagnostics skills are far beyond theirs." The doctor praised. "If you keep up this hard work, I've got a feeling your name is going to be very well known in the medical world, Koichi Kimura."
"Thank you," Koichi said bowing slightly at the praise. "I'll keep up the hard work."
That's right. The boy in the short lab coat was Koichi Kimura. He was otherwise known as the Bearer of the Legendary Warrior of Darkness.
Before entering the Digital World, he was raised by a single mother and his grandmother. His childhood, unfortunately, wasn't that happy. Don't get him wrong, his grandmother and his mother loved him dearly. The problem was that his mother worked a lot of jobs causing her a lot of physical stress on her body while his grandmother fell ill. Although they never said anything, Koichi could feel the sad and negative atmosphere.
To make matters worse before his grandmother passed away, she told him that he had a younger twin brother. Koichi was shocked. He had a younger brother, and he didn't even know about it.
To confirm this, he followed the address his grandmother provided before passing. When he neared his destination, a dog suddenly came out of the road causing him to hide in the corner. Following the dog came a boy with longer hair and two middle-aged adults who looked exactly like him. They were probably Koichi's biological father and his brother's new mother.
It was true! Koichi felt excitement when seeing his brother. He wanted to come and greet him but stopped. His brother looked happy with his current life, and couldn't help but feel envious. If he appeared, wouldn't he mess it up? This made him keep his distance from him.
His grandmother's passing, his mother's physical pains from working too hard, and not being able to truly get to know his unknown brother made Koichi sad and lonely. He felt everyone was starting to leave him in some way, but he wasn't giving up. He wanted to, at least, meet his brother face-to-face.
When the mass messages came telling everyone to go to Shibuya Station, Koichi followed his brother to the elevators. Unfortunately, he fell down the stairs trying to get to him. The fall caused him to black out.
For some unknown reason, his soul left his body and wandered into the Digital World. While wandering, he fell into his dark thoughts about his family drifting away from him. It was then Cherubimon appeared.
Feeling the child's inner darkness, the evil archangel decided to corrupt him. Using the Spirits of Darkness, Koichi turned into a mindless, emotionless Digimon who wreaked havoc in the Digital World. The other Digi-Destined had a really tough time fighting him. Fortunately thanks to their efforts, they were able to free him and have another powerful ally by their side.
As Koichi joined the team, he finally had time to spend time with his brother, Kouji. It was awkward at first, but as time passed by, they were able to properly talk and bond. It was touch and go there thanks to the Royal Knights and Lucemon, but the two finally met and saw each other in the Real World.
After coming back from the Digital World, Koichi and Kouji spent a lot of time together. They were inseparable. Throughout the seven years, they met and kept in contact the most compared to the others. They went to the same school and even played pranks on each other from time to time. Nothing could separate them apart. They finally became true siblings while finding their paths.
While Kouji became a backpacker, Koichi decided to be a doctor which is why he was at the hospital. He was in an internship learning the basic ropes. Usually, the interns would just be helping out with the patients' necessities and listening to how doctors communicate with their patients. Since most interns haven't even entered college yet, there wasn't much meaning in teaching them abundant medical knowledge yet. Talking about diagnostics on patients was rare between doctors and interns.
Koichi, though, was an exception.
Maybe it was due to being the Legendary Warrior of Darkness or the fact that his soul left his body spending a long time in the Digital World before returning, but Koichi developed some sort of weird ability. He could see the darkness in people. To be more specific, he saw a type of black aura on them.
After waking up at the hospital from his fall, he was surrounded by his friends. They were happy to see him which made things normal. It was when his mother came by that things became weird.
She entered the hospital and was relieved her son was alright, but Koichi felt something completely different seeing her. Around her back in specific areas, black auras were emitting out of her body. At first, Koichi was scared that something happened but seeing the normal look on her, he relaxed. She didn't seem to notice the black aura. Things then got even weirder.
When Koichi brought up about knowing and meeting his brother, the black aura in her spiked up considerably. The boy had to back away slightly seeing it. After calming her and letting her know that he just wanted her to meet Kouji the black aura faded, but there was a new area where it occupied: around her heart. And it stayed there.
It wasn't just Ms. Kimura. After being discharged, he saw many of these black auras in the people around him. Some were big. Some were small, but they were there on specific parts of people's bodies. Koichi was freaking out a little bit. What was going on with him?!
Although he was worried about himself, he was mostly concerned about his mother. Even after returning home, the black auras in her body didn't leave for days. He was especially worried about the recent one in her heart. The others on her back were bad, but it was nothing compared to the darkness in her heart. What kind of horrible things would this dark aura do?
It finally disappeared when Kouji and Ms. Kimura met and had a nice heart-to-heart. Koichi let out a sigh of relief. It looked like this black aura didn't seem to be harmful to people, but it got him thinking. What was it, and why did it disappear now? Her mother's back still had those black aura spots as well.
Koichi decided to tell Kouji and their friends to see if they could help. At first, they were shocked but helped him out. They surmised that his ability came from his body returning to the Digital World.
When something entered the Digital World, human or object, it would become data and Koichi didn't go to the Digital World through normal means. Unlike the other Digi-destined, only his soul entered the world. It was the reason why fractal code didn't appear on him when the Royal Knights attacked them and why he was always uninjured. His body never became data, but his soul did.
His friends figured when his soul returned to his body, something must've mutated within him causing this weird new sight. They couldn't go to a doctor about it. Who would believe them? Hello, my friend can see some black auras in people due to going to a place where there are intelligent Digital Monsters called Digimon and time moves much faster there. No one would believe them, so they decided to do their research and investigation.
Through their observations, they figured out Koichi's new ability wasn't harmful to him in any way. The black auras, he was seeing on people's bodies, were what they were feeling about that area. They divided it into two categories. The first category was injuries.
If Koichi recalled the dark spots on his mother's back, they were probably from the back pain due to overworking a manual job. Those weren't very dark because his mother already knew about the pain and pushed through it. Over time, these types of darkness would disappear naturally with normal healing. It was the other category that was interesting.
The second category was emotional pain. These auras were much darker compared to injuries and would take a longer time to disappear. These auras were caused by bad events in people's lives causing them negative, emotional pain. Injuries can also be a part of that, but it would have to be a big emotional circumstance for it to happen. An example would be a professional player quitting football due to an irreparable injury. The darker the aura, the worse the thoughts are.
When Koichi brought up Kouji to his mother, it must've opened up an old emotional scar darkening her heart. She must have been very scared and nervous to meet her other son, possibly having to communicate with her ex-husband too. It was only through actually meeting and Kouji assuring her that no communication needed to be made from his father did the darkness in her heart was dispelled.
In summary, the boy could see the darkness in people. If anyone had mid-to-high negative emotions on them, he would be able to tell on their bodies. He wasn't a mind reader, but he could tell the emotions like sadness and anger in people. He was kind of like an Empath, but only with negative emotions.
At first, this new ability took some getting used to. Seeing and knowing someone's darkness and emotions wasn't always a good thing. But with the help of his brother and friends, Koichi learned to adapt. Now, he could turn the ability on or off, and if focused, he could pinpoint someone and figure out their negative emotion.
Even though Koichi could only sense emotions related to darkness, it was still a pretty useful ability to have, and that was why Dr. Nakimura asked him his opinion on his patient.
Sometimes, patients and the people related don't share everything with the doctor about their injuries. Either they don't know or want to keep it a secret. Withholding such information could cause doctors to give the wrong prescription or surgery causing a worse injury. Some people even blame doctors for their new situation. This was where Koichi came in.
Whenever a patient or someone related to them lies or withholds information, Koichi would see the darkness in them and tell the doctors in private.
At first, the doctors didn't believe him. The boy was only an intern, but after one of them finally took his advice due to not finding the root cause of an illness, the patient fessed up when confronted and told his secret causing his sickness. After some days of treatment, the person was correctly treated and cured. The doctor was shocked. Koichi's advice worked!
Soon, more doctors started taking the boy's advice and found their rate of saving patients increased. It was insane. Was their intern a whisperer or something?
When they inquired about how Koichi knew the secrets and injuries, he told them he could read body language well since he couldn't tell them about his special power. It would probably land him in a mental institute and be experimented.
Now, doctors and nurses would often bring the boy into their consultations to help with procedures. Conversations like with Dr. Nakimura were a regular thing for Koichi and also caused him to stay later than usual. Although he was staying in more, he wasn't getting anything out of it.
Doctors, in turn, would share their experiences with the boy. They couldn't let him attend big surgeries or operations, since he was still too young for them, but they would explain what kind of symptoms to look out for in diseases and let him watch doctors do simple procedures like stitching.
Koichi absorbed everything like a sponge. The staff in the building were impressed by how much information the boy retained. It's only been about three weeks since the start of his internship, and the boy already could stitch flesh wounds, name common to some rare sicknesses on patients, and immediately provide treatment for it. This isn't just from listening to doctors either. He must've been studying hard about medicine even before starting the internship. It was really rare to find someone this hardworking in the field of medicine and have a talent in reading body language and people.
And he was still only a high schooler! Imagine what would happen when he officially becomes a certified doctor. After finding out how he made a perfect score on his mock exam, the upper management of the hospital was already considering funding the boy for his college tuition and hiring him full-time right after. This was how much the staff here highly thought of their intern and expressed their sincerity.
With his current performance, Koichi was on the road to becoming an amazing doctor. Everyone couldn't wait to see what kind of waves this boy would make in the future. They were looking forward to it.
After saying his goodbyes to Dr. Nakimura, Koichi checked the time on his phone and walked to the elevators wanting to exit the building. It was getting around the time to meet up with his brother, Kouji.
Ever since coming back to the Digital World, the brothers spent a lot of time together in school and their free time. They wanted to make up for the time lost from being apart for years, especially since both were going to be far away from each other in a few weeks.
With Kouji's dream of being a backpacker, he was going to leave Tokyo after graduating high school. There was only a little time to spend together, so they wanted to make the best of it and set up multiple meet-ups. Today was one of them.
Unfortunately, those plans had to be temporarily put on hold.
As Koichi walked toward the elevators, the hallway suddenly transformed into fractal code. It covered the whole hospital and the recipients. The boy looked around in surprise. This wasn't new to him, but this was Japan, not the Digital World. Fractal code shouldn't even exist here! What was going on?
The fractal code disappeared as soon as it appeared. The hospital returned to its normal appearance with one difference. There were no people! The staff and patients were nowhere to be found. There was only silence in the halls. Not even a pen drop could be heard.
Koichi quickly walked through the halls and activated his ability. He wanted to confirm if there was anyone still here. Although his ability could only find people with darkness and negative emotions, this was a hospital. There were always high emotions here, good or bad.
After moments of looking, he couldn't sense anything. He even extended his senses outside the building, but nothing. It looked like he was the only person in this weird world.
Just as Koichi was about to stop his ability, it detected something. It was a darkness, a big one. The boy quickly focused and studied it. Whoever it was had darkness filled with anger and hatred.
It was currently on the move. Heading straight to where the boy was. It was actually around the end of the hallway. A few moments later, the figure stepped in and appeared in Koichi's line of sight. His eyes widened in shock.
He had a human-like figure covered worn down rags, furs, and armor. In his hands was a big sword that looked like it had gone through countless clashes. He looked like a samurai in the Edo period. It was a Digimon!
Musyamon: A champion, wizard-type Digimon. The main attacks are Shogun Sword and Ninja Blade. According to the records, he was created from a virus-infected foreign game software. The reason why his armor is worn out is due to endless battles. Be careful of his sword. It can absorb the opponent's life when slain.
"Finally," Musyamon said as looked at Koichi and pointed his sword at him. "I have found the Warrior of Evil. Prepared to be killed like countless others from this blade."
"Wait," Koichi putting his hands up in surrender. He backed away a little very slowly. "Why are trying to kill me? I've done nothing wrong."
"I do not need to waste my breath with you." Musyamon readied his sword. "Now die!"
[Ninja Blade] The samurai slashed down with his sword creating a vertical wave of the light. It was heading straight toward the boy cutting through anything in its way.
Before the blade light touched him, Koichi quickly moved back and jumped into another corner of the hallway barely dodging the attack. The blade light continued its course until it hit the wall at the end of the hall shattering the glass on the window and creating a deep, clean cut. The building's material did little to stop this. It was as easy as cutting butter.
Koichi inwardly shuddered at the blade mark. He could see the floor below him through it. Half his body would have probably been gone if he got hit by that. The boy kept running.
Although the situation wasn't looking good, Koichi still kept his cool. Like his doctors always tell him: Always maintain your composure when facing something unexpected. During surgical operations, there is always going to be an unpredictable factor that could affect the whole procedure.
It was never a good idea to panic and freak out. It would be a waste of time and lead to mistakes in a life-threatening situation. The best thing doctors could do was to keep calm, think through the problem, then create a plan. Only by thinking through with a calm mind could an effective solution be made.
This lesson wasn't just important in the medical world, but also everyday life. It's always good to maintain your composure in stressful situations.
Koichi did just that. He kept calm and thought about how to deal with his current problem. Soon, a plan started to form, and the boy ran to the nearest ER room.
Once inside, he locked the door and shut off the lights. The whole room instantly turned pitch black. Koichi then walked deeper into the room blending with the darkness.
A few moments later, slash marks were heard and the door fell to pieces. Musyamon stepped through the broken wood, looked at the dark room, and scoffed. "Do you think you can hide from me just because it's a little dark?"
"What a foolish thought," Musyamon walked deeper into the room and raised his sword. The blade emitted a ghostly glow and slowly illuminated the whole room until everything was visible to the naked eye.
"Who said anything about hiding?"
A few feet away from the samurai was Koichi, and he seemed to be holding something. In his hands were metallic pads that were brimming with power. Right next to him was a machine that connected to the pads and looked like it was set to the highest output. They were manual defibrillators.
Defibrillators are devices that send an electric pulse or shock to the heart and restore a normal heartbeat. If a person's heart suddenly stops, defibrillators would help it beat again. There were 2 main types of defibrillators.
The first were the automated external defibrillators or AEDs for short. They could be found in many public spaces. The machine could automatically calculate the shock so that inexperienced bystanders could use these devices in the event of an emergency.
The second was manual defibrillators. Unlike AEDs, manual defibrillator's settings could be changed. Only professionals should use these kinds of devices. This was what was currently in Koichi's hands.
These weren't just any regular manual defibrillators. These were the latest state-of-the-art defibrillators that dish out 3,000 volts of electrical shocks. Manual defibrillators in their regular settings can send a healthy adult into cardiac arrest. What would happen if it was used on its highest setting? Koichi was about to find out.
The boy wasn't hiding from Musyamon. He was setting up the machine and positioning himself close to the samurai, so he wouldn't notice him. Now, it was the time to strike.
Before Musyamon could do anything, Koichi ran up to the samurai, rubbed the metal pads together, and rammed them into Digimon's chest. "Clear!"
At first, Musyamon only felt a little tingle, then the electrical pain came causing him to grunt. It felt like he just got kicked hard.
Koichi, seeing the defibrillators taking effect, rubbed the pads again and gave Musyamon another electrical shock. "Clear!"
The first one was bad enough. The second one was even worse. The samurai had to take a few steps back. This one felt like a donkey came by and kicked him while he was down.
"Enough!" Before Koichi could him the third dose. Musyamon powered through the pain and waved his arm knocking the boy to the floor. He then set his sights on the machine and unleashed blade lights on it turning it into pieces.
Don't underestimate the biology of Digimon. Their bodies were more robust and adaptable than humans. Although the defibrillators were powerful, Musyamon would be able to adapt to them after one or two shocks.
"Now with that demonic device taken care of, it's your turn," Using both his hands, Musyamon raised his sword. He wasn't going to give this boy any more chances. Although the defibrillators were harmful to him, they still hurt like crazy. He had to finish him off now and slashed down.
There was nothing else Koichi could do. The defibrillators were the only plan he could come up with on such short notice. He didn't have a backup. All he could do was close his eyes and wait to be cut in two.
A quick swish sound was made as the sword made contact. The force was so strong that the edge of the blade punctured through to the lower floor. Anything in its way would've been easily sliced apart, but there was one weird thing.
Koichi wasn't there anymore!
Musyamon looked at the floor in confusion. What used to be a boy lying on the ground now only had an empty, dark floor. His sword only cut the ground. Where was his enemy? It was like he disappeared into thin air.
After sensing the sword never coming, Koichi opened his eyes and looked around confusingly. Musyamon was nowhere to be seen, but he wasn't in the hospital anymore. He wasn't even sure he was still in Japan.
All around him was just darkness. Even when someone was stuck in a dark room, their eyes would adjust and see the outlines of the things inside. But here, nothing could be seen but the pitch, black endless void. It felt like a person could walk here for days but still never see the end of it.
Koichi should've been afraid, but he wasn't. For some reason, this darkness felt familiar and endearing to him. He got a feeling that someone used the darkness to save his life, so he had no reason to be afraid and silently thanked it.
"Koichi..." A voice in the void suddenly said. Something started to warp in the darkness. It kept bending and changing until a figure appeared.
He was intangible like a ghost and wore black armor that looked like a lion. The being looked at Koichi with kind eyes. "It's been a long time. Being a doctor suits you." It was the human spirit of darkness, Koichi's partner in the Digital World.
"Low-" Koichi started to say but froze when he saw his spirit fade in and out. "What's wrong?"
"To save you, I grabbed and took you into the world of shadows," The Spirit of Darkness explained. "It's one of the worlds closely related to darkness, but it used up the last of my power."
"Meaning?"
"It won't be long before I revert into my weakest form, and you will be ejected out of this world." The Spirit of Darkness was starting to become more transparent. "We don't have much time."
"But there are so many things I want to tell you," Koichi looked deeply at his partner. Unlike the others Digi-Destined, he didn't get the chance to talk to his spirit face-to-face. Although they were always connected, it wasn't the same. Seeing his spirit now, Koichi understood what his friends meant when they talked about the amazing sensation of seeing their partners. He could feel it right now with his. There was a lot he wanted to say to him.
"And we will," The Spirit of Darkness said, understanding his partner's thoughts. "But we need to take care of Musyamon right now. The longer he is in your world, the more danger it will be in. This will be another perilous battle. Will you take on the powers of darkness once again and fight with me?"
Koichi didn't even need to say anything. The answer was obvious. He pulled out his cell phone and pointed in front of his spirit. The cellular device emitted a bright light and morphed into a black, gray Digivice.
The Spirit of Darkness couldn't hold his form anymore, but he didn't need to. He found his partner and that was all the power he needed. His intangible body completely faded turning into his relic form and he flew into the Digivice. The symbol of darkness appeared on the screen.
It was time.
[Execute! Spirit Evolution] Inside the hospital, a wall broke apart as Musyamon stepped out of the ER room. He was not looking too happy.
"Where are you, Warrior of Evil!" Musyamon roared in the empty halls. "Show yourself and face me!"
"I'm right here..." Someone said.
Following the voice, Musyamon saw a humanoid figure across the hallway. He wore black armor with gold highlights that resembled a lion statue. The lion's head was attached to his chest. He held a black and silver spear that looked powerful, and darkness always seemed to be enshrouding him. This was Loweemon.
Loweemon: The Human Legendary Warrior of Darkness whose special attacks are Shadow Lance and Shadow Meteor. He is descended from the Ancient Warrior: AncientSphinxmon and is known to be called the Jet-black Warrior. Although he utilizes the powers of Darkness, he uses them for justice.
"So you've transformed into your unholy form," Musyamon said, looking at Loweemon. "This is good. My sword will taste the life force of a Legendary Warrior.
[Shogun Sword] Musymon's blade started to glow in an eerie light, and the samurai launched himself at Loweemon. His sword aimed at the opponent's neck.
[Shadow Lance] Loweemon parried back with his spear. A loud rang sounded, and the foes flew back a little. The Warrior of Darkness stood guarded. He could feel his soul being pulled toward the sword. This attack must've been how Musyamon drained the life force of his opponents. He had to be careful touching the blade and avoid lethal blows.
And so, both Digimon clashed with their sword and spear. Neither of them backed down. Unfortunately, Musyamon had the advantage in their bouts.
Usually, a spear would have the high ground over a sword due to its longer range and strong momentum of power. The problem was the location. It was an enclosed hallway. A spear couldn't exert its full strength within a limited space compared to a sword. Loweemon was starting to lose ground, and Musyamon knew it too.
With a strong swing of his sword, the samurai deflected the spear to the side causing the long weapon to be lodged in a wall. It would take a few seconds for the weapon to be pulled out, but a few seconds was all Musyamon needed. He smiled and japped out his sword aiming at Loweemon's head with all his might.
Musyamon did it! He was going to take the life of the Legendary Warrior of Darkness.
It was that moment. Loweemon's eyes lit up. Just as Musyamon basked in his post-victory, Loweemon was waiting for this moment. He knew his weapon had a big disadvantage in an enclosed hallway, so he needed to find a good opportunity and let his opponent's guard down. Although his spear was currently stuck to the wall temporarily, he still had another weapon.
With a small wave of his hand, Loweemon conjured up a shield in the shape of a sphinx head and slanted it at a 45-degree angle. The blade made a ringing sound as it connected to the shield. The trajectory changed and barely missed Loweemon's face passing through the left side of his face.
By missing the target, it caused Musyamon's attack to be overshot pulling his body with him. He couldn't change his movements on such short notice. The samurai was wide open.
Pulling out his spear, Loweemon tackled Musyamon and pushed him down the hallway until the samurai hit the wall. The shaft of his spear pinned the samurai's neck and arms trapping him. He wouldn't be moving anytime soon.
"Haaaaahh!" Loweemon roared, and his body started bulking up. The energy was being channeled and concentrated inside of his arms and torso.
[Shadow Meteor] The lion's head on his chest opened its mouth and released a golden energy wave. The attack hit Musyamon at point-blank range. The wall behind cracked and crumbled as the Shadow Meteor blasted right through the concrete to the outside.
Musyamon's ragged body slowly fell out of the building and landed on the grass. The samurai couldn't move a single finger or toe on his body. He couldn't fight anymore and fractal code started to appear around him.
Corrupted, wicked heart," Loweemon jumped out of the building and landed in front of the fractal code. He had his Digivice in his hand. "Sleep in the Darkness you were born from. This Digivice will purify you!" He swiped on the code. "Fractal Code, Digitize!"
"Hmph! Me? Wicked?" Knowing his demise was near, Musyamon decided to say his last words. "If anyone should be called wicked, it's you! I may have been defeated, but there will be others. Mark my words, you will pay for your sins!"
The last of the fractal code entered the Digivice causing Musyamon to disappear. What appeared in his place was an action figure that looked like a samurai. Fractal code then surrounded Loweemon, and Koichi reappeared. He looked at the action figure deep in thought.
Although he was confused about why there was a figurine instead of a Digi-egg, he was thinking more about the samurai's words.
'Mark my words, You will pay for your sins!'
What did he mean by that? Koichi didn't have any sins. When the boy used his powers on Musyamon, he saw hatred and anger but didn't know they were directed at him. Musyamon must've had some serious issues with him, but why though? This was the first time the boy had ever seen or met the samurai.
"Koichi!" Before Koichi could think further about the words, someone yelled his name in the distance. Turning around, he saw his brother, Kouji, running frantically toward him.
Kouji kept running until he was face-to-face with Koichi. He stopped for a moment to take in a breath and took a glance at his brother.
"You're okay," Kouji said in relief. "When I heard the explosion, I thought something bad might've happened."
"I'm okay," Koichi replied smiling at his brother. Although they've grown much closer over the years, it always made Koichi happy to see the concern from Kouji. His smile then froze, and he asked worriedly. "Are you okay though?"
Kouji's current appearance didn't look good. His navy jacket and signature bandana were missing. Twigs and leaves appeared on parts of his body smelling like a Japanese Maple tree. He looked like the guy who ran badly through a forest getting away from a predator.
"I'm fine," Kouji said brushing off some of the leaves on his body. "I just had a run-in with a dangerous Digimon."
"You too?"
"Yeah, you must've had a battle too then," Kouji said, noticing the samurai action figure and hole in the hospital wall. "It looks like you got your spirit and won. That's good, but we're still stuck in this weird place. Any ideas on how to get out of here?"
Just as the words were said, fractal code once again appeared and blanketed the area. It covered everything, except for Kouji and Koichi. The brothers quickly held their Digivice preparing to Digivolve at any moment. They were ready for any threat, but it wasn't necessary.
The fractal code disappeared, and everything returned to normal. Doctors, nurses, and patients reappeared at the hospital doing their daily routines. Damages due to the battle were gone. The most surprising thing was what happened to Kouji.
He was wearing his navy jacket and bandana again. There were no twigs or leaves on his body, and he didn't smell like a maple tree anymore. The boy looked clean and neat.
"How in the world-" Kouji said surprised inspecting his new appearance. This was what he looked like before fractal code appeared. This was unreal. It was like what happened a few moments ago didn't happen.
"Koichi," Kouji looked questionely at his brother. He wanted verification from him that he wasn't dreaming or losing it.
"I witness everything too. You're not going mad." Koichi said. " Besides, look at this."
Koichi showed Kouji his Digivice which turned back into his cellphone. The symbol of darkness appeared on the screen followed by Loweemon. This meant that what they did was real and not a hallucination.
Just then, Koichi and Kouji's cell phones started ringing. Looking at the caller ID, it was from Takuya and Izumi. The brothers' eyes lit up. If anyone could understand the current situation, it would be their other comrades of the Legendary Warriors. They answered the call.
"FINALLY! ARE YOU GUYS ALRIGHT!? YOU'RE NOT HURT, ARE YOU? WE WERE SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU GUYS AND WANTED TO WARN YOU," Koichi and Kouji were both bombarded with loud, urgent questions filled with worry.
Guys Guys, slow down. We're fine," Kouji said using one hand to cover his cell phone blocking some of the sound. "Start from the beginning and say it quietly. What happened?"
Takuya and Izumi told the brothers about their battles. They also told them about Tomoki & Junpei's recent encounters, and an emergency meet-up needed to happen.
Koichi and Kouji listened to every detail without interruption. After their friends finished, the brothers also told their experiences and agreed to the meeting. With all the details out of the way, they ended the call.
"It looks like something is about to happen once again," Kouji said, looking at his cell phone. The symbol of light appeared on the screen along with Lobomon. "But this time, we are going to start it together." The boy looked at his brother.
Last time when he first entered the Digital World, Kouji didn't even know he had a brother. Now, he was going to start on a new adventure with him. It couldn't have made him any happier. "It'll be good to see everyone again after a while. Hope you're in the mood for soba noodles."
"I don't think I have much of an appetite at the moment." Koichi smiled. He saw his brother's joyful mood and knew the reason why. "I'm happy we can start on a new journey together too." He then stared deeply at the ground. "Because we're going to need all the help we can get."
"Koichi?" Kouji knew that all-knowing look. "Is there something more?"
"It's just a feeling, but it's better to tell you when everyone else is present," Koichi replied, turning his attention away from the ground. "We should get going."
Koichi and Kouji then walked in the direction of the Shibuya Station to meet up with their friends. It looked like there was another adventure in store for them.
As for that feeling, Koichi always had an affinity toward the darkness. Now that his spirit returned to him, the connection was even stronger. Somewhere deep inside the Earth was a barrier. Behind it was a passageway that led to another world.
The boy couldn't confirm it, but he could feel something evil near the barrier. It wasn't just one either. There were multiple presences, and the pressure they each gave off was close to that of Lucemon. It made Koichi inwardly shudder.
Whatever was happening to Earth, it was only just the beginning.
Finally, everyone has reunited with their spirits. What awaits them next? Tune in next time on Digimon Frontier 2: Fractal Fusion. Keep your phones on at all times. Some friends might call you.
