"The Circle of the Digidestined," written by Freedom Fighter Disclaimer: None of the characters, human or Digimon, belong to me, the writer. Author's Warning: The following fanfic features gruesome character death, both of the human and Digimon kind, violence of varying levels, some profane language, and some suggestive situations. Please do not read this fanfic if you're underage or feel that you cannot handle any of said features. ====== On the eleventh floor of an office building in downtown Tokyo, accountants type away at computers and other computing devices as they are in the middle of putting together the company's financial report. Among the group of eight is a beautiful brown-haired woman with glasses. Just like the female co-workers among them, she wears a dark-colored blouse and a black knee-length skirt, as well as a pair of creamy white high heels. Suddenly, the group hears their boss call out to them from the other side of the room. "Kido, you've got a call!" yells the mild-mannered, slightly rotund, 52-year old man. "It's urgent." "I'll take it in my office," the aforementioned woman replies. "Trust me," the boss shouts back. "You'll want to take this in my office." She shruggs her shoulders and walks over to her boss's office. Once she is inside and on the phone, he closes the door. A few seconds later, through the closed blinds, the woman's shadow can be seen falling to her knees. Sobbing can be heard from inside -- she has learned about the terrible news. Jean Kido has found out that her husband is dead. ***** Episode Five - Support Your Own Kind (12.03.02) ***** West to Osaka, Japan, to the Digital World Research Laboratory... Ten Digimon conversed amongst themselves outside the staff lounge, keeping out of the way so that the lab technicians could pass freely through the halls. Chiharu, Izzy's daughter, was also among them, discussing the correct use of digital data. All of the talking ceased when Chiharu noticed that Gomamon was standing a few feet away from them. "Where's Joe?" Gomamon asked slowly, slightly in a panic. All of the Digimon looked at each other and lowered their heads. None of them were willing to tell Gomamon the terrible news. But Chiharu wasn't afraid to tell him at all. "Uncle Joe kinda had an accident," she told him, trying to ease into it. But Gomamon lowered his head as if he had already gotten the picture. "It's too late, isn't it?" "My dad tried to save him, but... but he was too late." Gomamon slumped down onto the floor, sighing sadly over hearing the news. "I should've been there for him," he said to no one in particular. "He's my partner. I'm supposed to be by his side!" "Cheer up, Gomamon!" Tentomon said kindly. "Yeah!" Agumon added. "You can't blame yourself for what happened today." "I should've been there!" Gomamon cried, sniffling. "At least then, I would have protected him. Or gone down with him..." "Don't say that!" Agumon interjected. "But it's true! Without Joe, I've got no purpose in this world." "You're part of the team," Biyomon said, flying over to Gomamon's side. "Everyone on the team has a purpose." "What would Joe think if you left us right now?" Hawkmon asked. "I doubt he'd approve of that." "Besides," Agumon jumped back in, "we won't let you drop out just when we need all the help we can get against these Digiworld invaders." "We're a team and we'll succeed as long as we stay as one," preached Patamon. Gomamon began to get all teary-eyed. "Thanks guys. I don't know what I'd do without you." All of the Digimon shared a group hug as Chiharu looked on. She still looked a bit worried, even though the others had managed to temporarily lift Gomamon's spirits up. "Poor Gomamon," she thought to herself. "What will happen to him now? I wish that thing my dad said -- about what happens to Digimon who've lost their partners -- isn't true." ====== In the Digiworld, the peace between neighboring villages of Koromon and Tsunomon was about to come to an end, thanks to five Digimon instigators. "When I give the signal, go!" yelled the leader, a Gazimon. Sounds of the other Digimon were heard off-screen, but none of their identities were revealed. Suddenly, a group of five Tsunomon appeared, hopping along happily towards the border between the two Digimon villages. Playing right by the border, but on their side, were three unsuspecting Koromon, who were playing catch with a beach ball by using their long ears to do so. As the Tsunomon approached the Koromon, the shadows of five rookie level Digimon prepared to initiate their attack. "Bubble Blow!" a Digimon yelled, sending bubbles from the Tsunomon area towards the Koromon. "The Tsunomon are attacking us!" one of the Koromon exclaimed as those creatures hopped ever closer. "We must strike back!" "Bubble Blow?" the second Koromon suggested. "Bubble Blow," the third agreed. The trio of Koromon turned and fired, unaware that they were getting help from behind them. "Bubble Blow!" the Koromon shouted, and dozens of bubbles appeared. The number of bubbles in the immediate area quickly grew to nearly a hundred in mere seconds, as both the Koromon and the Tsunomon felt the sting of bubbles popping against their faces. "Ow, that hurt!" one of the Tsunomon exclaimed as a bubble hit him. "Tsunomon, attack!" About forty or fifty Tsunomon hopped onto the scene. Working together, they fired wave after wave of bubbles at the opposing Koromon. "Aaaaahhhh!" the three Koromon yelled, trapped by the barrage of bubbles. The overwhelming cries of pain from the Koromon trio prompted the arrival of reinforcements of their own. Soon enough, the chaos broke out into an all-out war for survival, as Koromon and Tsunomon alike blew bubbles, tackled each other painfully, or a combination of both. In fact, all of them were so wrapped up in their fight that not one noticed five Digimon sneaking away from the two villages. None of which were Koromon or Tsunomon. "It worked like a charm," a Betamon shouted, ecstatic. "I still say my plan was better," stated a jealous Mushroomon. "Oh yeah... making them laugh themselves to deletion is ingenious, Mushroomon!" a Gizamon remarked sarcastically. "Gazimon's plan was the greatest ever!" praised a Hagurumon. "Quiet!" the Gazimon shushed. "Haven't you four ever heard of sneaking away QUIETLY?" "Oh yeah," the other four Digimon replied, noticing that they weren't far enough from the village to talk openly. As the five Digimon escaped from the village, their human counterparts were watching nearby, using binoculars to spy on the action. "Now that the Digimon have done their work," the leader told the others, "we'll just sit back and let all the fireworks go off." ====== Back at the research facility, the rest of the Digidestined listened as Mimi told them about her encounter at the oasis. "And that's it," Mimi finished. "I don't remember much about what they looked like because they weren't there for very long." "Hopefully long enough to get a peek," Yolei smiled lecherously. "Don't spare the details, girl!" "Yolei!" Ken shouted, surprised at her actions. "You're happily married to me, remember?" "I think we should change the subject," TK suggested. Izzy nodded in agreement. "TK's right. We need to stay focused on the task at hand." "Great!" Mimi exclaimed. "Why don't we start by discussing how much of a jerk Tai is!" "I was talking about the Digiworld invaders." "Maybe we should talk about Tai," Kari suggested, taking Mimi's side. "I don't think Mimi's sane enough to worry about anything other than my brother right now." "Sane enough?" Mimi asked defensively, in disbelief that Kari would question her state of mind. "I'm perfectly in control of my emotions, Kari!" "Mimi's just upset because she's not getting her beauty sleep," Sora quickly concluded. "I guess we haven't take into account the time differential between New York and Osaka," Izzy said. "It's about two a.m. there now, if my calculations are right." "Which is why I want to get out of here!" Mimi shouted impatiently. "And I think you're right. You should go home and rest." Mimi's mood instantly brightened up. "You really mean it?" "Yep," Izzy nodded before pulling out a notepad and a pen. "As soon as you give me the descriptions of those five guys again." Just as quickly as she had cheered up, Mimi was filled with rage once again. She leaned over with both hands to try and strangle Izzy, and probably would have succeeded had Sora not reacted quickly and held her back. "Daddy, daddy!" Everyone turned to face the lounge door, which had just been opened to reveal Chiharu and the woman who had carried her off to safety when everything first unfolded. The interruption was enough to calm Mimi down sufficiently for Sora to get her seated again. "Miss Yagami says we've got another code blue situation," Chiharu announced. Miss Yagami, who was the woman standing with Chiharu, had a manila folder tucked under her left armpit. She removed it from there, placed it on the table, and slid it over to Izzy without losing a single paper. "What's the damage?" Izzy asked as he picked up the folder. "The signal's coming from the East Quadrant this time, sir. Sector three point ten." "That's where there's a pair of Koromon and Tsunomon villages," Izzy stated, as he opened the folder and looked at the piece of paper on top." "Right." "Don't they usually live in peace? This says that they're fighting with each other." "That's the problem, sir. No one knows how it started, but suddenly the Koromon and the Tsunomon are at war with each other. Some of the weaker Digimon have already been deleted in the battles." Izzy shook his head in dismay. He then turned towards Davis and the younger Digidestined. "Davis, I want you, Yolei, Cody, and Ken to take care of this." "You want US to stop the fighting?" Davis asked. "Without any further injuries or deletions, if possible." "Don't worry," Ken said to Davis. "We'll be fine." "Yeah!" Yolei shouted cheerfully. "It's time to go! And in the name of peace, we shall punish those responsible!" "Yolei, that's so corny," Cody commented. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Yolei muttered, just loud enough for the two of them to hear. "I should go too," Kari said, standing up. Davis was instantly smitten. "You mean it, Kari? You want to come with me... uh, us?" "As much as it'd please you if I was coming just for you, Davis, that's not why I'm tagging along." "Agumon!" Chiharu shouted; she had already deduced Kari's plan. "I agree," Izzy added, also catching on. "Agumon might be able to talk some sense into the Koromon. Too bad we don't have Gabumon here with us." "I'm going too," TK jumped out of his seat. But Izzy shook his head. "Sorry TK, but I need you here with me." "Wha?" TK blinked in confusion. "I need you to help me get in contact with the other Digidestined of the world. It's going to take at least two of us to get through it as fast as possible." "Why can't Sora do it?" TK asked as he glanced over at Sora, who responded by glaring back at him. "I don't suppose you know about how to console an emotionally distraught woman, do you?" TK scratched the back of his head nervously. "Not a clue. I guess I'm stuck helping Izzy." "Good," Izzy flashed a smile. "It's important that we have the rest of the 'destined on standby, just in case." He then turned to look at Miss Yagami, who was still waiting by the door. "Rena, could you take them to the Digiport room?" "Right away, sir," Miss Yagami saluted. With that, she led the five Digidestined out of the room, as their Digimon followed behind them. Agumon was also with them, bringing up the rear. ====== In just minutes, Davis, Kari, Yolei, Cody, and Ken, along with their six accompanying Digimon, had arrived at the trouble spot in the Digiworld. Right in the middle, actually, as Koromon and Tsunomon battled all around them. In fact, a Koromon bounced past Hawkmon, and he watched in horror as a Tsunomon bubble blowed the Koromon to deletion. "This is horrible," Kari cried, as she watched the Koromon and Tsunomon tussle. "What would cause them to fight like this?" Yolei wondered aloud as she glanced at the scene. A Tsunomon was sent flying right through one of the Koromon village's huts, landing flat on his face. On the other side, two Tsunomon ganged up on a Koromon and started to bounce on his head. "We gotta stop this!" Cody shouted. "We'll need to separate the two sides as quickly as possible," Ken told the others, who nodded in agreement. "Right. Stop the fighting without hurting the Digimon," Davis said, restating what Izzy had told them. "We'll take care of it, Davish!" Veemon shouted. "Let's go, gang!" Veemon led Hawkmon, Armadillomon, and Wormmon towards the spot where most of the Koromon and Tsunomon were fighting. Agumon and Gatomon stood in front of Kari as she gave them instructions. "You two need to find the village leaders and get them to cease their fighting." "I'll look for the one in the Koromon village," Agumon said. "And I'll look for the Tsunomon leader," Gatomon said. The two of them then went their separate ways to begin their search through the two villages. ====== "Who do these guys think they are?" one of the men asked aloud. The fearsome fivesome were still in the area, looking over the Koromon and Tsunomon villages as they fell apart. But they were not happy with the arrival of these other humans, trying to undo their dirty work. "We can cream these guys," another man shouted. "Let's just go down and take care of them!" "We don't know what they're capable of!" the leader of the group snapped. "What did I say before?" The other humans sighed as they repeated his earlier statement in a monotone. "No imbecile would try to attack someone stronger than them." "Good. Now, let's just sit back and watch so we can find out just what these guys can do." ====== "Vee Headbutt!" "Feather Strike!" "Diamond Shell!" "Sticky Net!" Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, and Wormmon fired off their respective attacks, with all but the last deleting their targets accidentally. "Aren't we supposed to be keeping them from deleting each other, instead of deleting them ourselves?" Wormmon asked. "We can't help it," Armadillomon defended himself. "Our attacks are just too strong for them." "We've got to think of another way," Hawkmon said. "I've got an idea," Veemon shouted as he walked over to a Tsunomon and picked it up off the ground. "See? We can just lift them off the ground and carry them to a safer place!" "Um... you might wanna look down," Armadillomon said. Veemon looked and saw that a bunch of Tsunomon were gathering around him... and preparing to attack. "Let go of him!" one Tsunomon shouted. "You Koromon lover!" another screamed. The Tsunomon attacked Veemon with enough force that he lost his grip on the creature above his head. It landed right in the midst of a circle of Koromon. "Incoming!" Hawkmon yelled as he flew into the circle and air lifted the Tsunomon out of danger. "That Digimon's with the Tsunomon!" one of the Koromon pointed out. "Get him!" a second yelled as he led the charge. "Oh my," Hawkmon gasped in worry as he dropped the Tsunomon on top of a hut before flying out of target range. "Sticky Net!" Wormmon yelled, wrapping a Koromon and a Tsunomon in the same web. "Oh dear... that's not going to work at all." As the Koromon and Tsunomon continued to tussle, the Digidestined were thinking of interfering themselves. "We've got to do something!" Yolei yelled. "We can't have our Digimon digivolve to ultimate because then they'll be too powerful," Cody said. "They'll just end up deleting all the Digimon that way." "Then we'll carry them all out, like Veemon suggested!" Davis decided. But Ken disagreed. "No way. That would take too long, and besides, there's no way we could keep them from hopping back into the fight. Plus, they might all decide to turn on us." The four of them turned to Kari, who didn't appear to be too worried about the grim situation. "Kari?" Yolei snapped her fingers, bringing the zoned out Kari back to her senses. "Huh?" Kari blinked. "How can you be daydreaming at a time like this? We've got Digimon being deleted right before our very eyes here!" "Aren't you worried at all?" Ken asked, astonished. Kari shook her head and smiled. "I know the situation looks grim, but Agumon and Gatomon are going to help bring peace here again. In fact, it looks like they've succeeded." She pointed ahead of them, and the other 'destined followed her line of sight. And there, they saw that the fighting had temporarily stopped because Agumon and Gatomon were standing in the middle... with the Koromon and Tsunomon leaders, respectively. "Fellow Koromon and Tsunomon," Gatomon shouted, "all of this fighting is uncalled for. You've been tricked by a deceitful group of Digimon whose only purpose is to watch you tear each other apart." "Listen to this wise Gatomon," the lead Tsunomon told his fellow Digimon. "She speaks the truth." "Agumon," Gatomon whispered, "lend me a paw already!" But to her surprise, Agumon refused. "I'm sorry, Gatomon, but I can't." The Digidestined and their Digimon gasped in disbelief. "I have talked with the Koromon village elder," Agumon stated, giving said leader a glance, "and they've been wanting to wage this war with the Tsunomon for ages now. This wasn't spawned by some bad humans. Besides, the Tsunomon deliberately attacked the Koromon!" "What?" a Tsunomon cried. "The Koromon attacked us!" "That's untrue!" a Koromon shouted. Suddenly, the arguing quickly swelled into another huge battle, with only the village elders and the Digidestined's Digimon not getting involved. The hits were more fearsome as bubbles flew everywhere and Digimon bounced off each other and their village's huts. But when the elders started mixing it up, Gatomon decided to take out her frustration of failing the mission on Agumon. "Who's side are you on anyway? Lightning Paw!" Agumon barely dodged Gatomon's attack, sidestepping it. "You tell me! You're the one who's attacking me!" As hopes to bring peace to the two neighboring villages dwindled away, the Digidestined looked on with worry. "What are we going to do now?" Cody asked, not really expecting an answer. And he wouldn't get one, for they were all too appalled to respond. Except for Kari, who pulled out her D-3 and raised it to the sky. "Um, Kari..." Davis butted in, "what are you doing?" "Power of Light!" Kari shouted, completely ignoring Davis. "Stop this fight NOW!" A beam of shining light was emitted from the D-3, blinding everyone and everything within a one-mile radius... including the villains, who were diving for cover. Suddenly, in the center of all of the fighting, Gatomon appeared, preparing to digivolve to the ultimate level. "Gatomon digivolve to... Angewomon!" The angel of light appeared, hovering over the two villages as the light from the D-3 finally died down. Koromon and Tsunomon glanced up to look at the angel and immediately ceased their fighting. "It's the legendary Angel of Light!" the Koromon leader exclaimed. "She must be one of the Digidestined," the Tsunomon leader deduced, turning to face Kari. All of the Digimon turned to face Kari, who didn't seem freaked out about it in the least. But Davis sure was, as evidenced by him hiding behind Ken with arms wrapped around his waist. "Remind me never to get Kari mad," Davis said as Yolei pried him off of her husband. "Return to your homes at once!" the two village elders yelled, sending all of their fellow Digimon scrambling back into their respective villages. "It looks like we've settled things down here," Angewomon said before turning her attention to Agumon, who was already being surrounded by Veemon and the others. "What's wrong with you, Agumon?" Veemon asked. "You were supposed to stop the fighting," Hawkmon stated, "not encourage them to continue." ====== As things began to settle, the bad guys were gathering themselves. "Who the hell is that woman?" one of them asked. "I intend to find out," the leader muttered. "But for now, we'd better get out of here." He pulled out his D-3 and opened up a portal back to the real world, through which the whole gang made their escape. Additional Author's Notes for this Episode: Yet another family member revealed, this one an unmentioned one from the '25 years later' ending. Jean Kido, Joe's wife, has finally gotten the bad news. As for their kid's name... you'll find that out soon, as well as most, if not all, of the other Digidestined's family members. Speaking of things being revealed, the bad guys' Digimon have been identified! As for the guys behind the Digimon... tune in next episode to see who they are! Who's this Miss Rena Yagami? It's an original character created for this fanfic. After all, Izzy does need co-workers. And to answer two questions that someone might ask... no, she's not Izzy's wife, and no, she's not related to Tai or Kari or anyone in their family. (For the unlightened, which should be very few, Yagami is the Japanese last name of their family.) According to my memory, and Chris McFeely's 'The Digimon Encyclopedia' website, Hawkmon's main attack has been called three different names in the dub. Beak Buzzsaw, the first one used, Hawk Beam, which is the one Bandai uses for the Hawkmon action figure, and Feather Strike. Personally, I think the third fits the attack best, so that's the one I'll use for Hawkmon in this and subsequent battle scenes in which he's involved. ***** Next Episode - Have the Courage to be Sincere with Me! ***** Wanting to test the opposition, the villainous leader splits his forces up in hopes of weakening the Digidestined. Each of the four lackeys are to ravage a different part of the Digiworld to lure our heroes out. Tai and Catherine must join Mimi to take care of the first, but first they'll have to take care of matters between the former couple.