Hey, Takato here, Jenrya and I found this stone building in the more remote area of the park. There we found an old computer and when we activated it, a girl with a Plotmon came out! It was Hikari Yagami, one of the original Chosen! She had to fight an Evilmon and her old Digivice turned into a D-Arc, like mine. Meanwhile, Yudai found Ruki and wanted a rematch. Instead, Ruki sent him to fight me and Guilmon!

The Legacy of Courage

Chapter 4

Betwixt and Between-Takato and Hikari

Jenrya followed Takato down the hall where he knocked on the apartment door. "This is it?" he asked.

Takato nodded. "Yeah, she gave me directions after class today."

The door opened and Hikari poked out her head. "Oh, hello. I…" Her eyes focused on Jenrya's overstuffed backpack and then on the squat trench coat figure next to Takato. She opened the door and waved them inside. "Hurry!"

Terriermon pushed his head through the flap on the backpack. "Finally, I couldn't breathe!"

Takato pulled the hat off Guilmon and the dinosaur began sniffing the air. Takato just managed to wiggle off the trench coat before he ran to the living room. "Plotmon!"

The puppy dog digimon hopped off the couch and nuzzled her head into Guilmon's nose. "Guilmon! Terriermon! I'm so happy to see you!"

"Don't get out of control, Guilmon," said Takato, "Remember how big you are."

"Keep an eye on him, Terriermon," Jenrya said.

"Yeah, yeah," his partner said with a wave of his paw.

Hikari smiled at Jenrya. "I wasn't expecting you."

"Takato texted me earlier," he explained, "And I met him outside the building.

"Would you like something to drink? I don't have much yet. I need to do some serious shopping…"

"I'm fine, thank you," Jenrya said.

"I'm good too," Takato nodded, examining the apartment, "How were you able to afford this?"

"When me and the other Chosen were hunted by the government, Koshiro Izumi was able to set up a secret bank account for us. There was still a lot of money in there, so I guess the other Chosen didn't use it when they woke up. I was able to rent an apartment and since I have a lot to learn about the last fifty years, I enrolled in school as a transfer student."

Takato nodded and walked to a small table in the corner of the living room. "You're learning the card game?"

Hikari blushed slightly and walked to the cards on the table. "Yeah. I figured I should."

"If you need help, I can teach you," said Takato.

"Me too," said Jenrya.

She said her thanks and then looked at her D-Arc. "I've been practicing with Plotmon using the Modify program that you told me the other night," she said, nodding at Takato, "But this digivice is so different than my old one. I can't evolve Plotmon or open a gate to the Digital World like I used to." She frowned, "Different device, different functions, I guess."

She glanced at the cards. "It's still so weird. These are digimon that we fought." Her eyes lingered on an Agumon card, "Or digimon that were our friends. Where did the game come from?"

"A company called Bandai," Jenrya explained, "But as to who created it, well…"

"Well, what?" asked Takato.

"No one's really sure."

"I never heard that," said Takato, "Who told you that?"

Jenrya hesitated as a memory played in his mind.

Jenrya knelt on the padded mats and bowed his head. "Thank you, sensei. I-" He spared a glance to where Terriermon stood behind him. He gently pushed his partner into a similarly kneeled position. "We are ready.."

The old man nodded. "Then let the lessons begin."

"Just…someone," he said.

Takato grinned at Hikari."So, um, are we ready to head out?"

A thump shook the walls, rattling the light fixtures. The three humans ran into the living room area. Guilmon was on top of the overturned couch, while Terriermon stood off to the side.

"Terriermon!" Jenrya cried, "Didn't I tell you to watch him?"

"I did. I watched the whole thing."

Jenrya sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Um, I didn't know you were going anywhere."

"Oh, right," Takato blushed, "Sorry about that. We're going on patrol."

Jenrya blinked. "Patrol? Takato, didn't I tell you that you need to keep a low profile with your partner? Going out like that is like posting a picture on a website."

Hikari stared and Takato's mouth flapped. "Jenrya, I…"

He hissed. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice."

Hikari glanced at the two boys. "Um, are you going to come with us?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, sorry, I can't." He bowed. "I'm sorry, but I must be going."

He walked towards the door. "Terrerimon, time to go."

"What was wrong with Jenrya?" asked Hikari.

Takato shrugged as they walked deeper into the forest. "I don't know. I really just met him." He frowned, "I don't know anything about him."

"We'll have to invite him out to eat or something," she said, nodding as if she just agreed to a debate with herself. Then she blinked and shifted on her feet. "D-do kids still do that?"

Takato stared at her. "Yeah, of course."

Hikari blushed and Plotmon laughed, "Don't be so silly."

The brown-haired girl frowned. "The Digital World doesn't really change that much, but the human world…" She squeezed her fists together and stared at the ground. Her shoulders twitched with each heaved breath.

Takato's heart seized. She was crying! Hikari'd lost her family, her world, everything. How would he handle that?

Hikari sniffled. Damn, what should Takato do? He reached for her shoulder but pulled back when she lifted her head again.

"Hikari?" Plotmon asked.

She breathed deep and exhaled. "I'm okay." She flashed a weak smile. "Sorry."

Guillmon suddenly hissed from beneath his trench coat. "What's wrong?" asked Takato.

"A digimon!"

Plotmon blinked. "You can sense digimon?" Her eyes drooped upon seeing the dinosaur sniffing the air. "Oh, you've got a nose just like Agumon."

Takato whipped around his head, scanning the trees. "Where?"

"Getting closer!" the digimon cried. He twisted around. "There!"

A Yuki Agumon pushed through the brushes. "I told you we should have just rushed out."

A boy with slicked-back hair emerged a second later. "Well, how was I supposed to know that he could smell you?"

Takato waited while the two bickered before he snapped. "Hey!"

The boy turned to him. "Oh, right. The name's Yudai and we're here to challenge you."

Hikari blinked. "Challenge? Why?"

Yudai turned to her. "A duel."

Takato whispered to Hikari, "Tamers duel each other. It's how we get stronger."

The brown-haired girl gasped. "What? I thought you only dueled in the card game!"

Takato thought of Ruki and Renamon, thought of their strength. "No, this is how we level up. Tamers duel, it's what we do."

Hikari paled. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"N…no," she admitted, rubbing her forehead, "We fought and battled and risked our lives and…and trapped ourselves for fifty years just so they can fight for sport?"

Yudai raised an eyebrow. "What's with her?"

"Oh, she's…"

"No one," Hikari said, a slight edge in her voice, "Just a girl named Hikari."

Yudai shrugged. "Whatever. Are we doing this or not?"

"Don't," Hikari said to Takato, that slight edge in her voice growing sharper, "This isn't what having a partner is about."

"Come on," taunted Yuki Agumon, "If you're too scared, I'll gladly take on that puny Plotmon over there."

Plotmon narrowed her eyes but Guilmon hissed. "You leave her alone!"

Guilmon hissed while Yuki Agumon unleashed her claws.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Takato said, pulling out his digivice.

Yudai gapped. "You've got the same digivice as-"

Takato blinked. "As who?"

The other boy shook his head. "Never mind." He whipped his cards from his pocket, "Yuki Agumon, go!"

The white dinosaur snarled and ran towards them, claws ready. Takato grunted. "Guilmon-"

His partner roared and charged past him. He dove at Yuki Agumon, teeth bared but the white dinosaur blasted out a stream of white air. "Little Blizzard!"

Guilmon grunted as Yuki Agumon's attack struck his chest, spreading a thick coating of ice over his body.

"Guilmon!" Takato cried. He needed a card! He flipped through his deck; going through numerous cards until a card caught his eye. Yes! This would work, this had to work!

His partner fell to the ground, his body a frozen chunk of ice. Yuki Agumon snickered while Yudai slid a card through the slot on his digivice. "Card Slash! Golden Drill!"

Drills appeared on Yuki Agumon's nose and claws. With a laugh, he launched himself at the frozen Guilmon.

"No!" Takato shouted. He jammed the card through the slot on his digivice. "Card Slash! Meramon!"

Guilmon's body glowed from within the block of ice, shattering the frozen prison. Yuki Agumon covered his face as shards of ice flew past.

"Now!" Takato shouted, "Do it, Guilmon!"

Guilmon breathed in, drawing the flames covering his body into his mouth, before exhaling with a blast of fire. "Fireball!"

"Yuki Agumon!" Yudai shouted, "Get out of the way!"

The white dinosaur couldn't move in time. He was frozen as the massive ball of fire ripped across his body. When the flames dissipated, the dinosaur fell to the ground, a singed and smoldering carcass. Flecks of data started to dissolve into the air.

"No!" Yudai cried, "Not again! You just evolved back from a Digi-egg."

"Load his data!" Takato ordered.

Guilmon leaped into the stream of floating data, the shimmering flecks merging with his body. He landed next to Takato and threw his head back, unleashing a triumphant growl.

What was left of Yuki Agumon began to glow before shrinking back into a Digi-egg. Yudai ran for his partner and hoisted the egg into his arms. "Yuki Agumon, thank the Digital Gods you're still here." He glared at Takato before turning on his heels and escaping.

"Don't challenge others if you can't handle it!" Takato shouted. He turned back to Hikari with a grin on his face. "That was pretty cool, right? I…"

Hikari put her a hand over her mouth and twisted away. Plotmon's face shared an equally shocked expression. "Loading data? That hadn't happened since ancient times."

Takato's heart dropped. "Hikari, I-"

She turned back, her eyes a mixture of sadness and disappointment. "How could you do that? You almost deleted another Chosen's partner!"

He rested his hand on his cheek. "B-but, he's not a…"

Hikari blinked and then nodded. "Right! Right, I keep forgetting, you're all Tamers now! The Chosen are gone. Well, if this is the world we left you, I don't want any part of it!"

Hikari twisted on her feet and marched away. Plotmon gave Takato an unreadable expression before trotting after her partner.

Guilmon turned to his partner. "What's wrong?"

Takato wished he could answer.

Yudai kicked the stone and watched it bounce down the sidewalk. "Damn it!" he said between his tears, holding the Digi-tama close to his chest, "We've been training so hard!"

He studied his oblong digivice. "That boy's digivice was the same as Makino's. That's got to be it…"

He smiled at the egg. "And I'm talking like you can hear me." He cradled it closer. "Will you even remember me this time?"

"He might," a voice answered, "As to your digivice, I might be able to help."

Yudai and his partner twirled around; a teenage boy stood behind them with a pair of goggles pushing down scraggly brown hair. "You with that other guy?"

"Other guy?" the boy asked.

Yudai motioned to the goggles. "I just fought someone with that weird fashion statement."

"Oh really?" the boy asked, "Well, we can talk about that later."

"What do you want?"

"I can help you gain more power. Are you interested?"

"Yo!" Hirokazu said, "Takato!"

When the boy did not answer, Hirokazu threw a fried chip into his face. He whipped his head to him. "What? What?"

"Something on your mind?"

"No, why would you say that?"

Hirokazu smirked and pointed at Takato's lunch box with his chopsticks, "When you don't scarf down your lunch like usual, I know something's going on."

He opened his mouth to protest but Kenta cut in. "Who are you looking at?"

Takato blushed. "N-no one."

Hirokazu laughed. "Right, you're checking out that tree?"

He winced and looked back to where the girls were eating their lunch beneath the tree in the schoolyard. Hikari was laughing and chatting along with Juri and the others. At least she was talking to someone, even though it wasn't him. He tried to greet her that morning, but she only gave him a quick, "Good morning," before heading to homeroom. During their first break, he tried to talk to her, but she walked past him to chat with Juri.

He started to munch on his fried shrimp. Why was Hikari so angry at him? Tamers dueled each other to get stronger so they could fight the evil digimon. They dueled with the card game, so what was the difference with a real partner?

"Hey guys," he asked, "How do you try to convince a girl that she's wrong?"

Hirokazu snorted, "A girl admit she's wrong? The sun would freeze over first. Trust me, it'll never happen."

Takato narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, how would you know?"

He beamed and leaned back in his seat. "I've had plenty of experience."

"Your grandmother doesn't count," laughed Kenta.

Hirokazu smacked his head with his empty lunch box.

Takato glanced at Hikari again. He should talk to Jenrya.

Plotmon watched Hikari drop the shopping bags onto the floor. "Jeeze, did you buy enough?"

"I only have my school uniform and this." She waved at her slightly oversized green sweatpants and t-shirt, "I was getting tired of washing it."

Plotmon watched her partner put away her new clothes methodically and carefully, before pulling on a pair of blue jeans and a light pink blouse. "At least fashion hasn't changed that much." She admired herself in the mirror. "I'm going to have to do some serious shopping tomorrow, but for now, let's grab something to eat."

Plotmon grinned and hopped into her oversized bag. "Great! I'm starving."

They bought okonomiyaki from a street vendor across the street from the apartment. Hikari broke off a piece and slipped it to Plotmon while she walked the sidewalk. "Last night, you said that digimon used to load data?"

Plotmon nodded. "Yeah, it was a really long time ago. I wonder why the Tamers started doing it again."

Hikari sighed. "Yeah, I wonder. Um, but it's not unnatural for digimon?"

"Oh no," Plotmon replied, "Lots of digimon used to do it."

"Oh. Why did you stop?"

The puppy-dog Digimon shrugged. "Don't know."

Hikari studied her partner before smiling slightly and rubbing her head. "I keep forgetting how child-like you are in your Child form. We need to figure out why you're stuck in that form." She pulled her D-Arc from her pocket. "I guess this digivice doesn't work the same as my old one."

Plotmon pouted. "What's wrong with this form?"

"Nothing! I'm just not used to it." She exhaled and muttered. "I'm not used to a lot of things."

"You're thinking about Takato and Guilmon, aren't you?"

Hikari winced. "Y-yeah. I shouldn't have acted like that last night, huh?" She slouched, "This isn't our world anymore and I need to accept that."

Plotmon opened her mouth but then gasped as a shape flew overhead. "A digimon!"

Hikari twisted her head at her partner's warning but was too late as a large roach dropped from the sky. The people froze as the digimon sniffed the air. "Ah!" he grinned, "Food!"

He launched at the food vendors and people fled. "Gokimon," Hikari whispered.

"I've got this!" Plotmon declared, leaping out of Hikari's bag, "Puppy Howling!"

Gokimon turned from the cart, bits of food still clinging to his mouth. "What the? What's a Plotmon doing out here?"

Hikari pulled out her digivice but stopped herself from ordering Plotmon to evolve. This digivice, this D-Arc, didn't work like that. She fished the stack of Digimon cards from her bag. Was there an evolution card or something?

Gokimon whacked Plotmon aside with the back of his hand. "Ha!" he laughed, "A roach is doing the swatting this time!"

Hikari fished out a card that she thought would work. Remembering how Takato used it, she positioned her D-Arc but her other hand, the one holding the card, froze.

"Hikari!" Plotmon cried as she ducked to avoid Gokimon's swing.

Hikari's hand still wouldn't move while she stared at the digivice, no, the D-Arc. A digivice belonged to a Chosen but the Chosen were gone now. She was the only one left, and she wasn't even a Chosen anymore.

She slid the card through the D-Arc's slot. "Card Slash! Sonic!"

Plotmon gasped and screamed, "Puppy Howling!"

Gokimon smirked, unaware that Plotmon's power-up increased her sound waves and they ripped him apart, scattering his data into the air.

Hikari stared at the D-Arc again.

"Hikari," Plotmon asked, "His data's still here."

She knew what her partner was asking. That boy, Yudai's Yuki Agumon lost his data but still reformed into a Digi-Tama, the same hadn't happened to Gokimon. Did that mean partner digimon survived somehow? Why was their data not returning to the Digital World, to the Village of Beginnings? Was that place still there? Was the Digital World even still there?

"Hikari?" Plotmon asked.

She swallowed. "His data's not leaving, it's not returning to the Digital World. He's not going to reformat, is he?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Do it, Plotmon."

Her partner jumped into the mess of particles. They swirled and flowed into Plotmon. "That's it?" Hikari asked.

Plotmon nodded. "That's it." She paused, "Are you okay?"

Hikari tried to suppress the chill she felt up her arms. "Y-yeah," she said, "I'm a Tamer now. I'm a Tamer now."

Plotmon suddenly hissed and twisted around. Hikari narrowed her eyes as a Renamon stepped out of the shadows cast but the buildings. There was an orange-haired at her side. Hikari felt her heart skip. "Sora?"

The hair was close to the same color, but Sora never wore her hair in such a tight, pineapple style, and Sora never had such an angry, hateful expression on her face.

No, definitely not Sora.

"You're a Tamer?" Hikari asked, before forcing herself to add, "Also? Are you a Tamer also? My name's Hikari and…"

"Why did you hesitate before?" the girl asked, "Loading the data?"

"I…um…"

She shrugged. "Whatever, that'll just make this easier. Prepare yourself."

"You want to duel?" Hikari asked, "Now?"

"Of course," she sneered.

"But why? Aren't we both on the same side?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Oh please, another one of these naïve pacifists! Tamers fight to get stronger, it's what we do."

Hikari's eyes narrowed. "Are you Ruki Makino? Takato-."

"Who?" she asked and then smirked. "Oh, that baby with the red dinosaur. I would have thought he'd have been permanently deleted by now."

Renamon gasped. "Ruki!"

The girl grunted. "Damn. Let's go."

The fox vanished while Ruki leaped back into the shadows. "What the?" Hikari asked, "Why is she leaving?"

Air whooshed behind her. She turned as a boy in a red and white uniform dropped from the sky. "Well, isn't this my lucky day?" he laughed, "Just a routine patrol and I find one of you freak Tamers?"

Plotmon ran behind Hikari while the human took a step back. The boy lifted his arm, upon which sat a run of some kind. "Na ah."

Sweat ran down Hikari's back. "Y-you're a Hunter, aren't you?"

"That's right, cutie," he snickered, "Name's Nimrod. Sorry 'bout this, nothing personal."

Hikari wondered how she could hoist up Plotmon and run before Nimrod fired whatever was on his arm. Nimrod stepped forward but then stopped. He grunted and pulled a cellphone-shaped object from his pocket. "Yeah, what is it?"

A woman's voice answered over the speaker. "Major incident. Three digimon destroyed a section of the forest. Report at once. High priority."

Nimrod glanced at Hikari and then groaned. "Fine! On my way." He dropped the device back into his pocket and laughed. "You just lucked out, cutie."

Air whooshed again and he shot into the sky.

Hikari wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Hikari," Plotmon said, "He mentioned digimon in the park!"

Hikari's heart froze. "Oh no, Takato!"

Jenrya pushed open the rusty gate and poked his head into the small concrete building. "Takato?"

A voice shouted from the hole in the wall. "Down here!"

Jenrya and Terriermon made their way down the stairs into the room with the old computer, the one that had kept Hikari for the last fifty years. Takato was in the corner watching Guilmon as he devoured a mountain of bread. "Hey," he waved to them. He motioned to his head to his partner. "He's lucky I live at a bakery."

As Guilmon chased a giggled Terriermon around the room, Jenrya asked, "So, what's up? Your text said you needed to talk?"

Takato sighed and explained the events of the previous night. Jenrya took a moment to sort it out. "Okay."

The other boy continued, "So I was hoping that you could help me explain to her that this is what humans with digimon partners do now? We duel each other in the card game and we duel each other in real life."

Jenrya shook his head. "I can't do that."

Takato blinked. "What? Why?"

"Because Terriermon and I don't duel and we don't fight."

Takato stared. "You don't?"

He shook his head. "If you want advice, don't make Guilmon duel."

Takato blinked. "B…but what about the evil digimon? The ones that just cause problems and hurt people?"

Jenrya shook his head. "Violence is never the answer. Guilmon isn't a slave or a soldier, he's your friend."

"I know that!" Takato protested, "But those bad digimon hurt people."

"If you're really fighting just to help people, then why duel other Tamers?"

"Because it makes us stronger."

Jenrya stared and sighed. "Sorry, Takato, I can't help you." He glanced at his digital watch. "I'd better be going. Terriermon!"

His partner frowned as he bounced up and down on Guilmon's stomach. "Oh man, time to leave already?"

Jenrya and Terriermon walked up the stairs. "I guess we lost another Tamer friend, huh?" the digimon asked.

The human shook his head. "I'm sorry, Terriermon, but I can't go against my beliefs."

His partner frowned. "I know you don't want to hear it, but sensei trained us to-"

He fell silent while Jenrya tensed. The boy standing in the stone doorway narrowed his eyes. "This is where that Takato guy hangs out, right?"

Takato watched Guilmon study the butterfly on the stone wall. Just when the Tamer thought he'd figured it out, now he was just as confused as ever. Why was he a Tamer? What was his purpose?

"Takato!" Jenrya shouted from up the stairs, "You and Guilmon had better come up here!"

"Is there trouble?" asked Guilmon.

Takato didn't answer as they raced up the stairs and out the rusty gate. Jenrya and Terriermon were staring down a boy with messy brown hair, hair that was pushed down by a pair of blue goggles. He subconsciously checked to make sure his own goggles were still on his head. "Who are…" He blinked, "Yudai?"

"You know him after all, huh?" Jenrya asked.

Takato nodded. "Yeah. This is the guy from last night."

The other boy laughed. "I'm glad you remembered me."

"How'd you know that me and Guilmon were here?"

He shrugged. "Followed your scent."

"Your partner can follow scents now?" he asked, "Hey, wait, where is your partner?"

Yudai chuckled and looked over his shoulder. "Time to come out."

Takato, Jenrya, and Terriermon gasped while Guilmon hissed. An Allomon stomped out of the tree line. "What the hell?" Takato gasped, "I-is that Yuki Agumon? How'd he evolve to Adult?"

Jenrya hissed. "Those cards aren't available-"

Takato twirled to his friend. "What cards?"

The other boy shook his head. "Nothing, never mind."

Yudai narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, what cards? What do you know about them?"

Jenrya shook his head. Yudai grunted. "We're gonna have a chat after Allomon destroys your friend here." He turned back and Takato felt a chill up his spine. The other boy's eyes were fierce, hard. "I'm going to destroy you!"

Guilmon only had time to snarl before Allomon roared. "Dino Burst!"

A blast of air struck the red dinosaur, sending him tumbling over backward. He jumped back to his feet and gathered flames in his mouth. "Fire-"

Allomon twirled, smashing his tail into Guilmon and batting him into one of the trees in the park. "Sharp Claws!" the red dinosaur shouted, digging his claws into the Adult digimon's tail.

Takato fumbled with his cards. "Guilmon! Just hang on!"

Allomon grunted and twirled again, flinging Guilmon into another tree. The red dinosaur wobbled on his feet and shook the dizziness from his head. He threw his arms to the side and roared.

Takato flipped through his deck. What card should he use?

"Dynamite Head!"

The Tamer lifted his head in time to watch Allomon head-butt Guilmon, slamming the red dinosaur into the ground, with enough force to crack the decaying pavement.

Takato's mouth dropped open and his cards fell to the ground. "No! Guilmon!"

Allomon towered over the moaning Guilmon. Yudai laughed, "Do it, Allomon! Finish him and steal his data!"

Allomon roared but then froze. He gasped, hissed, and heaved, almost like he was in pain! He stumbled backward and fell onto his side. He gave another roar before shrinking with a glow, turning back into Yuki Agumon. Yudai hissed and scooped the digmon into his arm before running from the area.

Next

The Legacy of Courage

Chapter 5

Dilemma-Jenrya Li

Did you enjoy it? Any criticisms or suggestions?

Author's note: I'm pleased to announce that I have a book scheduled to be published. If you're a fan of my fics here, please consider following my facebook page BCCharles46/