Chapter 3: Wayvern and the Webmaster

Tense silence was all that could be heard aboard the Private Jet as it carried the allied retrieval group to Salt Lake. The Brawlers in the group were more than willing to have Hikaru and Renamon along. They were also willing to tolerate Riku and his Elecmon since they were at least willing to give Kai a chance after the Hotel attack in Kyoto. Yolie and Hawkmon on the other hand-

"I'll admit that TK and Kari could've been more tactful and I'll agree on the point that the Infinity Core should be returned to Vestroia, but why should any of us trust Kai with anything?" Yolie asked

"Says the woman willing to fall in love with the former Digimon Emperor" Shun shot back

"For real" Julie scoffed "It's funny how you can fall in love with an enemy that tried to murder you and your partners but not trust Kai because of a prophecy that may not even be accurate."

"Of course you wouldn't get it" Yolie hissed "Ken was redeemable, Kai is an enemy to all just like Impmon was"

"Then why does he have the patience to work with you to avoid the end of the world in spite of the fact that you and the majority of your team are nothing but a scourge to him?" Shun challenged

"Face it, there is not one shred of physical evidence supporting your judgment" Marucho added with a glare. As all of this was happening, Riku, Hikaru and their partners were seated on the other side of the room and had a conversation between themselves.

"You see what I mean?" Hikaru asked

"Yep, things aren't looking good" Riku acknowledged with a sigh

"Hopefully, Wayvern can help us get along at least until the crisis has passed" Elecmon said

"She'll certainly try" Renamon commented "but I have a feeling that we won't be so lucky". All conversations were brought to a halt as Kato's voice resonated over the intercom.

"We will be landing shortly in Salt Lake City, please prepare for departure and good luck" Kato said as the plane began to descend.

Half an hour and a 20 minute limo ride later, the group walked into the hospital ready to search for the Infinity Core. After the simple task of confirming their identities with the staff, the group was given leave to conduct their search. Hikaru took a minute to focus her connection to the Crest of Light before getting a faint trail of the Infinity Core's energy.

"This way" Hikaru pointed as she led the group up two flights of stairs (the elevators were out of order) and down a hallway. They were coming up on Room 312 of Hallway B when the door opened and a nurse stepped out. "This is the place" Hikaru said

"May I help you?" the nurse asked noticing the fact that they weren't ordinary visitors immediately.

"We need to see whats inside this room" Yolie said in a commanding tone causing the Brawlers to bristle with annoyance.

"I'm sorry" the nurse said "This is an occupied room of a-"

"Let them in" a woman from inside the room said

"Are you sure, ma'am?" the nurse asked

"Yes, Joe and his friend figured that people would come sooner or later. Best to hear them out"

"Okay then" the nurse stepped out of the way allowing the group to enter the room. They found a woman in her mid-thirties sporting brunette hair and a semi-formal dress as though she had just arrived from work and a boy about thirteen years old in a hospital bed wearing white pajamas with a head full of sandy blonde hair.

"Oh, a few battle brawlers how interesting." the boy chuckled

"Where is the core?" Yolie demanded in a harsh tone

"Huh" the boy began "aggressive, self-righteous, over dramatic, you must be one of the Original Digidestined, no wonder Kai can't stand most of you."

"Excuse me?!" Yolie seethed

"Oh shut up" Shun sighed

"You know my brother?" Hikaru asked

"In a sense, we've never met face to face, but he did help me put the Bakugan website together."

"Wait" Marucho gasped "that means your-"

"Yep" the boy smiled "my name is Joe, and I am the webmaster of the Bakugan online community."

Meanwhile in a nearby hotel, the Bates trio were planning an operation to gain the Infinity Core, they knew they couldn't attack the hospital because it would be too obvious, especially with high profile brawlers and digidestined inside of it, which meant that they would just have to do the next best thing.

Back in the hospital, Wayvern had revealed herself and was negotiating with the 'allies'.

"I will not go anywhere without Joe." Wayvern stated

"Well we need to do something otherwise the Fiend Guard will strike and you both will be virtually defenseless." Shun pointed out while placing a hand over Yolie's mouth to keep her from yelling again.

"Marucho" Julie thought aloud "since your house has literally everything else, do you happen to have a medical wing we can transfer Joe to?"

"That could work" Marucho smiled "we transfer Joe, play defense, and wait for the Fiend Guard to get desperate and come to us on home territory."

"Home advantage didn't help the people at HQ" Riku reminded them solemnly

"HQ was neither prepared for an infiltration nor staffed with both high-level Brawlers and Digidestined with enough knowledge of the enemy to weather an assault" Shun replied

"And we are" Hikaru realized

"Yup" Marucho nodded

"I say we take Wayvern and go, all this kid will do is get in the way" Yolie huffed

"Betraying Joe just like Kai?" Julie mused "With friends like you, who needs enemies?"

"I'm being realistic" Yolie shot back "it's obvious Wayvern can't protect the core on her own and I doubt that this sick kid will hold his own."

"You know both he and I are in the room, right bitch?" Joe's mom narrowed her eyes at the adult digidestined.

"Uh" Yolie groaned "fine, let's put it to a vote"

"We just did" Riku deadpanned "You are literally the only one who isn't okay with this, so you've been outvoted."

"Of course, we'll need your permission ma'am" Shun addressed the woman

"If it keeps Joe safe, it's worth it. You have my support" she nodded

"Okay" Julie nodded "Hikaru and I can use the secure phone that Ambassador Kamiya gave us to call Marucho's house so they can get the medical wing ready."

"I'll go and let the doctor in charge of Joe know what's happening" Joe's mom volunteered as she exited the room leaving the others to stay with Joe and Wayvern while preparations began.

About half an hour later, preparations had been completed and Joe was wheeled out to the private jet which had been given permission to land on the roof of the hospital. As soon as everyone had boarded, the jet took off and was on its way back to Wardington.

"Well, this went about as well as it could've gone." Shun sighed while glancing at Yolie who was angrily staring outside of the window.

"She needs to cool off" Julie grumbled thinking about how cold the older Digidestined had been when they first met with Wayvern and Joe.

"The problem isn't just with her" Hikaru sighed "The Brawlers and Digidestined might be working together, but they still aren't you know, working together."

"How do the strongest bonds break?" Shun rhetorically asked "A trusted source of information has come forth with a questionable claim and because of the reputation of said digi-world prophecies it is immediately taken as fact without scrutiny. As a result, divisions and paranoia occur. It's how wars get started, families become broken and tensions are established."

"Ok, you lost me" Julie sheepishly admitted

"He means that as noble as the Digidestined can be and as they have been in the past, they are just as fallible as anyone else. They're scared of what they don't know so they take things like the prophecy at face value and everyone against it as either naive or corrupt. Just like I used to" Riku said in a quiet tone

"What changed for you?" Hikaru wondered

"I guess it is out of the blue" Riku chuckled as leaned back in the chair he sat on. "Kai and I never really got along when we were younger"

Flashback

"Come on Riku, why can't I play too?" a five year old Kai asked with a frown. They were in the Digital World and had just received their crests a few hours beforehand

"Don't you get it?" Riku shot back "You're dark, you're evil, just like the enemies our parents faced. I can't believe I'm related to a monster like you.`` At the age of ten Riku was quite intelligent and seemed to grasp things faster than the other children of the original Digidestined did. At least until Kai came around at the age of three Kai had developed a photographic memory and a genius level IQ. Soon he began surpassing his older cousin in areas such as arts and math which caused the older brunette to dislike him a feeling that had just grown stronger within him

"I'm not evil" Kai glared defiantly with tears brimming in his eyes as Riku and his other friends were about to leave him out of a game of soccer.

"Not yet" Riku smirked

Flashback end

"I was pretty awful to him, for quite a selfish reason too. I never believed in him like Hikaru always did, and I despised his old partner as well. I remember the day Impmon was killed and the prophecy was delivered. I actually laughed because I thought it was all funny." Riku grimaced at the memory "I was actually the one that coined the term disgrace, which everyone else was quick to adopt as a slur against him. I felt happy after he left Japan, and then the attack at the Marakura Tokyo hotel occured. If it wasn't for Kai then, me, Elecmon, and who knows how many civilians would've died. He and Shun saved a lot of lives together that night." tears began to stream down Riku's cheeks "I treated him like garbage, I took every opportunity to belittle him, and he saved my life anyway. I was so wrong about him, he's not evil even with the excuses he has. He's a much better person than I am." Riku shook with a silent sob as he tried to wipe the tears off of his cheeks. He was shocked as Hikaru moved next to him and hugged him. "I'm sorry" Riku managed before he continued to weep with regret.

"Just focus on being better now" Hikaru advised her older cousin "that's all you can do, and that's all we need from you."

"Yeah" Shun sighed "You're already doing much better, just keep going" Marucho and Julie also voiced encouragement as the flight continued.

About an hour later the private jet violently shook, grabbing everyone off guard.

"The turbines aren't responding, we're going to crash!" Kato alerted over the jet's intercom

"I'll grab Joe" Shun stated "Riku, grab Kato and get off the plane."

"There's no parachutes and Elecmon doesn't evolve into a flying Digimon" Riku said

"Take this" Shun placed a Ventus Monarus Bakugan in his hands "Get Kato, Elecmon and yourself to the ground safely, I trust you"

"Thanks" Riku nodded in determination before rushing to the cockpit.

"The rest of you, use whatever Bakugan or Digimon are at your disposal and get to the ground safely." Shun commanded before rushing to where Joe and Wayvern were.

"You can't order me ar-"

"Just do it, Yolie" Hikaru snapped as she, Renamon and Julie used a Subterra Falconeer to fly out of the plane.

"Stop being so prideful, and help us all survive" Marucho said as he used an Aquos Gargonoid to get to safety.

"Ugh, whatever" Yolie groaned as Hawkmon Armor Digivolved into Halsemon and they left the plane as it crashed into a Nevadan desert.

Sorry it's been taking so long for me to update, I'll do my best to post on a more regular basis. Hope you enjoy.