Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Sometimes I wonder whether or not I even own my own ideas. I mean, don't I just synthesize what I see, hear, and read into something else? Food for thought. Oh, and for this chapter, I definitely don't own the defense mechanism that Teppei uses. I totally took that from Naruto. Think of it as how I thought Gaara should have been defeated in the Chunin Exams. Also, the science in here may not be entirely accurate. If there are glaring problems, let's just pretend that physics works differently in this world, okay? :p

Chapter 7: The Butterfly Effect

J.P. opened his eyes to find himself pressed against his partner's back. When the explosion first began, Zoe had rushed to erect a defensive shield of air around them. Her Mon-made winds staved off chunks of bloody flesh and debris while protecting them from the force of the blast.

The other people in the immediate vicinity were not as fortunate. Corpses laid strewn across the ravaged landscape. Shining bits of Kode scattered into the heavens after their vessels perished in the searing heat.

The Warrior's gaze fell upon two figures standing where Heisuke had previously been. Both children seemed to be about Tommy's age. One was a girl with reddish brown braids and an ocean blue sailor uniform. The other was a boy with glasses and muddy brown hair. He wore a purple t-shirt with jeans ripped above his knees.

"My, my. The blast radius was just as those Mame brothers claimed," the girl observed as she tapped an aquamarine umbrella on the ground.

"Master will be pleased," the male commented while stroking the handle of a hammer.

Ignoring her companion's comment, she remarked, "Though they'll have to work on its power. We seem to have some survivors." The girl turned to wink at the two Warriors. Her silky voice dripped with murderous intent.

"Not for long!" The boy brought his weapon crashing into the earth, splitting the street in half.

Xxx

"Ugh! They're still alive!" Chiaki groaned. Staring at the two figures hovering in midair, she noted, "From their skill level, I'd say that they're probably from Fractal. A European Wind user paired with a Japanese Thunder user…"

"Izumi Orimoto and Junpei Shibiyama," Teppei supplied.

"Hmm…we weren't supposed to engage Fractal until all of the pieces were in place. But I don't think Master K will mind us speeding things up a bit," the pig-tailed girl thought. Addressing her companion, "Teppei, you take the boy. Goldilocks is mine."

Teppei grunted in assent as the two landbound children dodged a crack of lightning from the sky. With a swing of his hammer, the circle of earth surrounding him rose and propelled him towards his quarry.

"Who does that simpleton think he is?! Trying to steal the show from yours truly," Chiaki scoffed. "I'll have to reprimand him later. But first," she narrowed her eyes at Zoe, "I have to even the playing field." Snapping her fingers, she screamed, "Draining Rain!"

At Chiaki's call, storm clouds swirled overhead, shrouding the fighters in darkness. Freezing rain fell from above, leeching the Warriors' energy as the liquid seeped through their clothes and skin. The girl concentrated her powers around Zoe, weakening the blonde so much that she could no longer maintain her altitude. The Wind user dropped to the ground like a rock.

Xxx

"ZOE!" J.P. dove to catch his friend only to be stopped by a granite slab aimed his head. Expertly, maneuvering around the projectile, he scowled at Teppei.

"Your fight is with me," the Earth user stated, shooting several boulders at him with each word.

Irritated that this child was keeping him from saving his partner, J.P. punched through Teppei's rocks, reducing them to smithereens. The Warrior panted from the effort. The rain had sapped much of his power as well. He needed to finish this battle quickly before he lost all of strength. Thus, J.P. raised his hand and summoned lightning from above. A bolt of electricity came crashing down on his foe. To his dismay, Teppei emerged from the attack completely unscathed.

Teppei sniggered. "Surprised? You seemed to forget that I'm an Earth user." Realization dawned on the male agent as his opponent continued, "Lightning generally searches for the quickest route to the ground in order to dissipate the instability caused by a buildup of negative charge. So I simply protected my body with a barrier of sand and transferred the energy into the ground. Your attacks barely tickled me. And..." Teppei vanished and appeared in front of J.P. "If I continue using my sand as a shield, you can't touch me!" He slammed his hammer into the agent's side.

The force of the blow sent J.P. careening into the ruins of a cement sidewalk. The teen spat out a mouthful of blood. "Damn. It's as if this guy was made to be my opponent. How can I possibly help Zoe now?"

Xxx

Wind howled past Zoe's ears as she plummeted downwards. Never before had she felt so at the mercy of gravity. Her contract with Kaze made her a creature of the skies. Even on land, she usually levitated, stepping on the ground now and then to give off the appearance of walking. She would NOT die from a stupid fall. It was absolutely unacceptable.

Palms outstretched, Zoe shot twin bursts of air in front of her. The winds collected into a cushion which slowed her descent and prevented her from staining the pavement. Gracefully, she flipped and landed on the street. "That's hardly enough to finish me off. You have to try better than that," the Japanese-Italian goaded.

"Why you little-" Chiaki shrieked. She brandished her umbrella like a sword, thrusting the sharpened end at her quarry's vital points. Zoe countered her erratic movements by trapping the weapon between the blades of her fan and landed a spinning kick to Chiaki's back. Consequently, the Water user was sent hurtling into the charred remains of a blue sedan.

Acidic mist melted through rusted metal as Chiaki leapt back to her feet. "You'll pay for that!" she growled. With her umbrella, she furiously sliced through a several concentrated blades of wind. Before Zoe could react, Chiaki raised her weapon...and stabbed herself in the neck. Suddenly, Chiaki's eyes glowed bright scarlet and her fair skin took on a turquoise tinge. Blue webbing developed between the spaces of her fingers. And her brunette hair became hidden beneath a teardrop-shaped swim cap.

"Shit! She accelerated her own Mon possession to increase her strength! How'd she do that?" Zoe thought to herself. Looking closely at the other girl's weapon, she could have sworn that she saw black liquid dripping from the metal tip. Unfortunately, she did not have the luxury of further contemplation for Chiaki was poised for her next move.

Fueled by Chiaki's blind rage, the falling rain converged and spun to form a massive cyclone that headed straight for the agent. Despite her best efforts to outrun it, Zoe was drawn into the vortex and trapped by its powerful currents. Ice-cold liquid bombarded the Warrior, further depleting Zoe's scant energy reserves.

However, the blonde was not so easily outdone. First, Zoe formed a bubble of air around her head in order to breathe. Then, she started to twirl in the opposite direction of the roaring water. Faster and faster she turned until her deadly gusts cancelled out Chiaki's ferocious attack. Free of her watery prison, Zoe crumbled to the ground. The energy-zapping attacks were taking a toll on her. She knew that she had to end the battle swiftly.

Mustering the last dredges of her remaining strength, Zoe jumped into another pirouette with her fan outstretched. Strong winds collected around her, forming a devastating twister with ten times the destructive force of Chiaki's previous attack. "Tempest Twist!" Zoe cried as she sent her creation towards her foe.

Chiaki lashed out with attacks of her own but to no avail. The water simply glanced off of the maelstrom, not slowing it down in the least. The tornado swallowed the Mon Contractor, slamming her with relentless 500-mph gales. When the winds finally faded away, the blue-skinned child lied gasping on the cracked asphalt.

Within seconds, Zoe had her foot pressed against Chiaki's throat. Gesturing at the devastation around them, she asked, "Why did you do this? Who sent you? Answer me!"

Her demands were met with a hoarse cackle. "Wouldn't you love to know, sugar? Fractal scum would never understand our Master's genius!"

The Fractal agent increased the amount of pressure on Chiaki's windpipe. "What do you mean? Who is this 'Master' of yours?"

"Why don't you ask your little friend? You know, the one with the bandanna? I bet he'd know far more about my Master than I do," Chiaki rasped. She cocked her head slightly to the side. "On second thought, you probably won't get the chance."

"Wait! What does this have to do with Kou—"

Zoe was never able to finish her sentence.

"Took you long enough, Katsuharu," Chiaki gurgled. The silver pool shimmered in response as Death claimed them for his own.

Xxx

"Damn it all!" Metal-coated fingers sank into golden grains of sand for the umpteenth time. Ripping his fist out of Teppei's earthen shield, J.P. swore again. Brute strength was getting him nowhere. On the other hand, Teppei had landed several debilitating strikes with his sledgehammer.

The Warrior growled in frustration. There had to be a way to get through the Earth user's defenses. "It's just sand for goddamn's sake!" he thought. "Wait, it's just sand…" An image of a beach trip with Zoe and the children resurfaced in his mind. "Worth a shot."

The sound of shattering Kode interrupted his brainstorming session. Noting that the rain had stopped, J.P. smirked, "At least Zoe got that blue bitch." However, a single glance sent ice shooting through his veins.

A blonde figure stood impaled by eight steel blades protruding from the ground. Silver liquid oozed from the projections, mixing with the blood seeping from the Wind user. Below her laid Chiaki's lifeless form, a single javelin piercing through her torso.

"No. NOOOOO!" J.P. screamed. Not Zoe, anybody but Zoe. She was his partner, his friend, his confidante in this cruel, unforgiving world. She couldn't be gone. She just…couldn't.

"Don't forget about me!" Teppei laughed, swinging his weapon at the trembling teen.

A burly hand shot out to grab the hammer by its metallic head. Almost mechanically, J.P. kicked his opponent's legs from under him and flung the boy into the air. Once Teppei's connection with the ground was broken, the Warrior used all of his strength to fry the boy with his lightning, using the hammer as a conductor. The energy from the relentless onslaught converted the sand barrier into glass, which was promptly obliterated.

Teppei suddenly found himself in a chokehold. "Who did this?" J.P. demanded in a cold tone. The arm around his neck tightened. "He's a dead man."

Xxx

Back in Fractal HQ...

"That bad, huh?" Mimi whispered. She carefully wrapped the blue-haired man in a gentle embrace.

Tears filled the doctor's eyes as he fell into his girlfriend's warmth. Speaking through her rose tresses, Joe sobbed, "I checked on her the night before and she seemed completely normal. But when the nurse came to pick up her breakfast tray, there was a butter knife in her neck. Her neck!" Joe's cries bordered on hysteria.

"Honey, you know it's not your fault," Mimi reasoned. "Mon possession warps the mind. Once the Kode damage reaches a certain point, some people completely lose it. They end up hurting others or themselves." Rubbing soothing circles in his back, she whispered, "You did what you could."

"But it's not enough! It's never enough! I know that I would be able to do so much more if Supervisor Yagami cared about something other than just data. Mon contractors are humans too. They deserve so much better."

She sighed. "Maybe you're the only one who believes that."

Joe grabbed her hand. "Don't you dare think that way! You are more than a test subject! You're living, breathing, and you matter!

His words were met with a wistful smile. "You're far too good for me." Strawberry-flavored lips pressed firmly against his, effectively silencing any hope of rebuttal.

Xxx

Weak light illuminated the dark hallway of the Digitizer division. Returning from a greenhouse date with his girlfriend, a certain blue-haired doctor paused outside the door of his office. The telltale tapping of keys could be heard from within.

"Oh my god! Did I forget to lock my door? What if someone is accessing our organization's secret files? What if I compromised the whole integrity of Fractal? What am I going to do?!" Joe Kido mentally shrieked.

Scrutinizing the steel frame, he took a deep breath. "I need to stay calm. I have to stop this no matter what!" With one hand, he pushed his glasses back up his nose. With the other, he drew his grappling stun gun. "Don't underestimate a doctor!" Joe cried as he burst into the office.

Aiming his weapon at his target, the worrywart commanded, "Freeze, or I'll shoot!"

The person sitting at his computer chuckled. "From what I understand about your personality, I find that truly hard to believe, Kido." The man spun around so that redwood eyes met sapphire.

Xxx

"W-what are you doing here, Supervisor Yagami?" Joe stammered. His arms fell to his side.

His chestnut-haired superior smirked. "Naturally, I am collecting data on our test subjects. I don't need to receive your consent for something so trivial, correct?" Yagami's favorite digital camera rested on the table.

"Why of course not-wait. What do you mean by 'test subjects?'" the doctor backpedaled. Joe glanced at the expanded folders on his screen. Astonished, he asked, "Are you talking about my patients?"

"I am referring to the Mon contractors under your surveillance." The head Digitizer continued to flip through the files on the computer until he reached one marked KM001. "The notes that you submitted to the Department were quite well-written. However, there was absolutely no information on this individual."

Joe peered over Hikaru's shoulder at the photo on the page. In a single instant, all emotion drained from the doctor's face. "With all due respect, you're not authorized to view that information…sir."

"Excuse me?" If looks could kill, Joe would have been six feet under already.

"Lady Fan Ting entrusted Kouji's case to me and me alone. All details about him are to be kept completely classified. I shall not reveal anything unless personally instructed by the Celestial Angel herself," the man firmly replied.

"You dare defy your commanding officer? And for a few bytes of data?"" Hikaru's voice rose a several octaves.

"They are more than just data, sir. They are my patients. And as a doctor, I have a duty to protect my patients." Maintaining a neutral expression, Joe gestured to the door. "You are not welcome here. Please leave or I shall remove you by force."

"You'll regret this, Kido," the supervisor ground out, the door slamming behind him.

Quaking, Joe sank to the cold linoleum floor. "Just great. Now I need to change my pants."

Xxx

A/N: It's been quite a while hasn't it? Med school has been taking up most of my time (I know, shocker). Anyways, A LOT happens in this chapter. Many questions are asked, and not many are answered. Oh, and a major character death. I wasn't actually planning on killing her off this soon, but Zoe was just screaming at me to do it. I think she was suicidal to be completely honest. I also snuck in some Jyoumi and another character from Digimon Adventure.

Sooo…what do you guys think? Who's this mystery Master? What does he have planned for our heroes? What's the deal with Kouji? Will this author's note ever end? I would love to know your predictions and thoughts. If anyone is still reading, please review!