DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).
And now for the final chapter. There are to be a few big surprises in this chapter, but I won't spoil them. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 10
The Cataclysm and the End
REAL WORLD, SOUTHERN QUADRANT
Shinjuku Park
22:06 JST
The fire roared ferociously as it consumed the trees of the park. The remains of the hideout were a safe haven, away from the all-consuming fire, but no-one used it. Further flames hurtled towards the park, and its fallen defenders.
'I..have…to…move…' Takato thought, struggling to move his limbs. 'I have to help my friends…'
'Then we will…' Chaos encouraged. 'Daemon is not getting away with this!'
'Good to know you're on my side…'
'Yeah, if anyone destroys the universe and controls the worlds, it's going to be me!'
Takato mentally sighed. He began to feel energy flowing through his limbs, and the pain receded. His sword appeared in his hand, and he stood up, assisted by his wings which flew out of his back. Rika looked up weakly in surprise.
'I have to help him…' Rika thought.
'Then let's do it!'
Rika felt her veins burning with energy, and she stood up, sword and wings appearing from her hand and back. Takato nodded to her, and turned back to Daemon, holding up his sword in front of him in preparation. He turned the sword to point directly at Daemon. The blade glowed.
"DISRUPTION!" he yelled, the sword firing a blast of corrupting energy which dissipitated the flames. Daemon frowned.
"You are incredibly persistent…I would praise you for it, but I am too busy destroying you!" he taunted.
"Shut it…" Rika shouted. She was sick of the talking, the lack of attacks by their group, and the all pervading fear. She leapt into the air, and flew towards Daemon, sword outstretched. "HARMONY'S BLADE!" she yelled, slashing the blade across Daemon, who roared in pain. Rika backflipped over his head with the assistance of her wings and gracefully kicked him in the back of his head.
The Digidestined and Tamers' eyes widened as the foot once again met Daemon's form, kicking him to the ground. Rika held out her sword, pointing it to Daemon.
"You will pay for your crimes Daemon! Harmony will be restored!" she declared. Her confident expression vanished as Daemon began to chuckle. "Hey, why are you laughing?" Rika asked angrily.
"You speak of Harmony being restored…" Daemon replied. "Look around you…what is there to restore?" he taunted. Rika frowned.
"Harmony has returned from worse than this!"
"There is no such thing as Harmony…there is always Chaos..."
Rika frowned. "Shut it…" she told Daemon, as she slashed her blade across him. "HARMONY'S BLADE!"
Daemon roared in pain. Takato watched in shock, and began to fly over to assist his ally.
"Harmony may be impossible, but Chaos cannot rule! Both compliment each other…" Rika explained angrily.
"…and both will continue!" Takato finished, drawing his own blade out. "CHAOS DESTROYER!" he roared, as his red-glowing blade fired a blast of energy at Daemon, who winced in pain. "Daemon, you have hurt my friends, and you didn't even care for what you did! You could never be sorry, and for that reason…I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Takato declared, as a ball of Chaos energy accumulated in his hands. He spun backwards out of range of the forthcoming explosion, a similar move carried out by Rika next to him, and held the humongous ball of energy above his head.
"Go get him!" Tai cheered, from below. Takato nodded.
"CHAOTIC FORCE!" he yelled, flinging the blast at Daemon in a mirror of WarGreymon's signature move. The blast collided with Daemon, and he roared in pain. His screams resounded throughout the park, and the Digidestined and Tamers cheered. "Your end is nigh Daemon!"
Daemon clenched his fist. Energy surged through his hand and he glowed black. He turned back to Takato and Rika, floating in the air. "APOCALYPTIC DARKNESS!" he roared, as a flow of extremely concentrated dark energy struck both of his enemies in the stomach. Rika and Takato screamed in pain, and Tai's eyes widened.
"No…this can't happen!" His voice held a worried tone, and Sora looked across to him, frowning. She put her hand on top of his.
"Whatever happens…" she said solemnly. Tai nodded sadly. Rika and Takato fell to the ground weakly.
"And now the Daemon Empire shall rise, started by the death of its greatest enemy!" Daemon proclaimed, hands glowing.
REAL WORLD, EASTERN QUADRANT
Shinjuku
22:14 JST
"This is Shinjuku…" Izzy noted glumly. With nothing else to do until morning broke, they had walked across the town. Shinjuku had fared better than the now non-existent Odaiba, but buildings had still been attacked. The towers of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building crumbled away, the south tower having collapsed and the north tower sliced through the top. Some lights could be seen in a few of the lower floors, but they flickered on and off. A few other buildings still stood, but they paled in comparison to the general destruction. One survivor of the destruction, oddly, was a small hut with a kicked in fence, which they promptly sat down in for shelter.
"So what do we do?" Mimi asked finally, breaking the silence.
"I'm not sure…someone will come to see why the digimon have vanished…but…" Matt began, before looking around at the rare lights of buildings flickering, and the occasional fire still burning. "Tokyo will take a lot to rebuild…"
Mimi frowned. A wind suddenly ripped through the area.
REAL WORLD, SOUTHERN QUADRANT
Tokyo
22:14 JST
"What's happening?" Jeri asked Kazu, holding a pair of binoculars they had found in the ruins of a house. They stood, about two miles from the centre of the battle.
"Daemon has taken them all down…" Kazu panicked, handing the binoculars to Jeri.
"Will Henry be okay?" Suzie asked fearfully.
"What about Impmon?" Ai asked.
"We can't be sure…we just have to hope for the best guys, and hope that Chumley and co. pull through…" Kazu told the others. Kenta nodded.
"Very inspirational…" Elecmon joked. Jeri smiled and held him close.
"Jeri!" came a voice, as headlights illuminated the group. Jeri turned to see her father, step-mother and a minibus. Other parents looked out of the van, and those whose kids were there ran across to hug them.
"I'm so glad you're okay…" Jeri's step-mother told her.
"Yamaki contacted us…" Janyuu told the group.
"Are Takato and the others okay?" Mie asked fearfully. Jeri frowned.
"We're not sure…" she replied. Mie frowned, eyes watering.
"They'll be okay…" Kazu reassured, seeing the emotional nature of the group. "Takato always finds a silly way to pull through!" Mie nodded, not really reassured but entertaining the possibility to pull herself back from tears. The wind suddenly picked up and swept through the area.
Shinjuku Park
21:14 JST
'What can I do?' Takato thought, feeling pain in his body. 'Kazu would probably tell me to come up with some silly idea that would inevitably save the day…Rika probably would too…probably involving the Orb of Chaos…' he thought, recalling the Orb sitting in his pocket. 'And knowing my plans, it would probably destroy half the universe…hold on…that's it!'
"EVIL…"
"WAIT!" Takato yelled, standing up.
"…INF…" Daemon continued.
"We'll give you the Orbs!" Takato yelled. Daemon's eyes narrowed, and the orange tinge vanished from his hands.
"Takato, what are you playing at?" Rika whispered to him fearfully as she moved into a crouch from her lying position on the ground.
"Just trust me…" he replied, before turning back to Daemon. "We'll give you them, so long as you agree to let us all live out our lives in peace…"
Daemon pondered the idea. The others looked on in surprise. 'Is he…bartering our lives?' Tai thought.
"Agreed…now…" Daemon approved, putting his hand out to his front. "…give me the Orbs…"
"Here…catch…" Takato joked, chucking the red orb through the air. Daemon grabbed it.
"Good…now, the other one if you please…" he prompted. Takato looked to Rika.
"Rika…please…trust me…just do it…"
Rika frowned. 'I have to trust him…' she thought, standing up. "Fine…catch!" she yelled, throwing the Orb up to Daemon, who caught it.
"Thank you…" he thanked. "Your lives are spared…" he added, holding the orbs in each hand. He looked at them for a short while.
"What's wrong?" Takato asked.
"Um…how do you activate them?" Daemon asked.
"Oh, you just touch them together…"
'No...way…' Rika thought, realising Takato's plan. Takato turned to her and flashed a cheesy grin, before turning back to see Daemon. Takato put his arm around Rika.
"Good eh?" he whispered.
"Yeah, I have to give you some credit for this one…" she replied quietly.
Daemon put the orbs together. Suddenly, he screamed at the top of his voice in pain, as the orbs reacted. Red and blue energy grew up his hands, and his data corrupted. A great wind swept through the park.
"What have you done?" he asked, voice high in pain.
"Nothing…" Takato replied. "Never mess with the powers of Chaos and Harmony!" Chaos added.
Daemon was ripped in two, as his data split down the middle and vaporised.
"We did it!" Davis cheered.
All happiness faded quickly. The earth shook, as the orbs continued to clash.
"What's going on?" Tai asked fearfully.
The sky ripped open, as a huge red and blue gorge appeared, and ripped across the sky. Takato and Rika's eyes widened.
"No!" Takato yelled in fear. The orbs eliminated each other, and a huge release of energy shot out of the two, encompassing the whole city. The sky broke open, and the ground shook far stronger than any earthquake.
Rika threw out her hands, and a great blue shield enveloped all of the Tamers, Digidestined and Humans in the park.
Tokyo
21:16 JST
The wind grew strong, and threatened to pull the Tamers from the ground. Jeri quickly grabbed onto a street sign, and put her hand out to Kazu. "Grab my hand!" she yelled, and Kazu quickly did as she said, before putting his own hand out, to be grabbed by Kenta, who grabbed Suzie, who grabbed Ai and Mako, who Guardromon, Reppamon, Lopmon, MarineAngemon, Calumon and Elecmon grabbed onto. The strong wind pulled on them till they were practically hanging horizontally.
"Don't let go!" Suzie called to Jeri. A flash of light quickly enveloped them, starting at Jeri and flowing down the group until it vanished once again. Jeri's eyes widened as she noticed their parents had vanished into thin air.
Shinjuku Park
21:17 JST
A great burst of light enveloped the area. Winds and energy swept through it, as the universe was ripped in two.
Suddenly, figures began to materialise in the light. Tai squinted, as he stood up.
"Matt?" Tai asked confused, seeing the shape of Matt and his partner Gabumon appear in the light, sitting on the edge of the hideout, which had suddenly returned from destruction out of the blue.
"What's going on?" Matt replied confused, standing up in surprise. Tai began to be able to see the others next to him, as did the rest of those watching.
"Prodigious!" Izzy said amazed.
"You would say that…" Sora joked.
"What's happening?" Cody asked confused.
"How are we meant to know?" Yolei replied.
The light suddenly began to die down, and the shield died away.
Eyes widened as they looked out on Tokyo, perfect as always, the morning sun rising out of the sky, giving a crisp taste to the air. "What?!" came a resounding remark as the sounds of cars, people and helicopters reached their ears.
"But…it was destroyed!" Takato said shocked.
"What the hell is going on?" Rika added, as the calm morning air ruffled through the trees and swept some leaves up into the air.
"It's…morning…" Kari noted. She looked at the clock on her D-Arc. "It's 11 o'clock in the morning!"
"But how?" Davis asked confused.
Renamon's ears ruffled. "The world…is different…"
"Huh…how?" Takato asked.
"The universes have collapsed…"
"What?" Takato asked confused.
"I didn't notice it at first. All the quadrants…they've collapsed somehow…maybe the energy from the orbs reached the other Quadrants somehow…"
Impmon stood up. "Daemon…he said that they were making a portal in order to connect all four Real and Digital Worlds and conquer them…geez, what a cliché…"
"But that's a paradox?" Henry questioned. "I mean, we've seen it, people exist in two worlds simultaneously, living different lives…"
"And yet we're all standing here…" Sora added.
"Henry!" a voice called. Henry turned to see his sister, followed by Jeri, Ai, Mako, Kazu, Kenta and their partners, along with Reppamon.
"I'm so glad you're safe!" Henry cheered, pulling his sister into a hug.
"I was so worried…" she replied.
"They vanished…" Jeri said fearfully.
"Who did?" Takato asked.
"Our parents…they…vanished…into thin air…what's going on?"
"The universes have collapsed…all four quadrants have combined into one!"
"What?" Kazu blurted in surprise. "You can't be serious…"
"We are…" Tai replied. "Look at the city…I mean, an hour ago it was a destroyed wasteland in the middle of the night…now it's the morning and Tokyo looks as if nothing ever happened!"
"Look…I think we should just go home and find out if everything is as it should be…" Henry suggested. The others nodded.
"Meet back here soon, okay?" Davis told them. They nodded, and each went their separate ways, as a calm settled on the park. Reppamon looked around at Takato and Rika, standing around. Rika had hesitated.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Takato asked. Rika nodded, hand shaking. He knew what she was fearful of.
"May I come?" Reppamon asked.
"Sure…" Rika replied, and Takato and her set off, hand in hand, along one of the paths out of the park.
Tokyo Metropolitan Building
11:07 JST
11th January 2010
Yamaki looked around, bemused. "Hmm…" he pondered.
"What's up?" asked Riley behind him.
"Well, I'm wondering why we're standing near a fire escape next to the Hypnos towers for starters…" he pondered.
"Yeah, it is strange."
"And oddly, I recall that I am due to have a date with you…"
"Well, let's go ahead then…" Riley replied smiling, putting out her hand.
'Well, I'm not sure why I remember that or anything, can't remember when I agreed to it but…' "Sure…" Yamaki replied, putting his hand in hers. She smiled.
Wong Residence
11:18 JST
Henry turned the key in the lock, and the door unlatched. 'Well, that worked…' he thought, looking up to Terriermon on his head and around to Suzie nearby, with Lopmon on her head as well. The door opened.
"Hey Kids…" Janyuu greeted them from the sofa. Henry nodded.
"Hey Dad…"
"Have a good day at the park Suzie?"
"Um…yeah…" she replied nervously, as she sat on the sofa next to her dad. She hugged him.
"Whoa, what's with all the compassion?" Janyuu asked.
"Just…happy…that's all…" Suzie replied, smiling. Henry smiled at the sight.
Katou Residence
11:19 JST
Jeri's step mother looked up from her work to see Jeri enter the restaurant, followed by Calumon. "Hey Jeri, Hey Calumon…"
"Hey Mum…" Jeri replied.
"Hey Kiddo…" her father greeted her. "Who's that?" he asked, pointing to the digimon in Jeri's arms.
"It's Leomon…he dedigivolved to Elecmon…" she replied. Elecmon leapt onto the kitchen surface.
"Pleased to meet you…" he greeted.
Kamiya Residence
11:25 JST
"Hey kids…" Mrs Kamiya greeted her children, who had entered the flat along
"Hey Mum…" Tai greeted her. Kari nodded.
"Perfect timing, I've made scones!" Mrs Kamiya added, placing a tray on the table. Tai and Kari sweatdropped, and agitatedly took their seats.
"You first Tai…" Kari whispered. Tai worriedly picked up the scone, and bit into it carefully. His eyes widened and watered.
"It's so…good…" he complimented.
"Really?" Kari asked. Tai nodded, as Kari took a taste.
"Maybe this collapsing of the worlds isn't so bad…" he joked.
Nonaka Residence
11:26 JST
Rika paused uneasily at the door to the walls her home, putting her hand on the door handle. Takato put his hand on hers to reassure her, and she nodded, turning the handle. She walked in, and opened the sliding door to their home. She smiled as she saw her Grandmother and Mother sitting on the sofa.
"Hello Rika…" Seiko greeted her. "Home from school early?"
"Um…yeah…" Rika answered. Rumiko nodded.
"Understandable…that evacuation order from those DACS guys was ridiculous, nothing at all happened…although they were quite handsome…" Rumiko commented, recalling the events of that day.
"Mum!" Rika complained. Rumiko chuckled. Rika stormed away down the hallway, followed by Takato and their partners.
"Evacuation? So is that all they think happened?" Takato asked Rika when they were out of earshot.
"I suppose so…meh, gets us out of trouble…" Rika replied.
Seiko noticed Reppamon following them. "Hello? I don't recall seeing you before…" she greeted him.
"My name is Reppamon…I…bioemerged today, I am looking for my partner…"
"I wish you good luck…" Seiko replied, nodding.
"Thank you…" Reppamon replied, nodding his head.
Rika slid aside the door to her bedroom. She walked over to her futon, and lay down on it. Takato stood near the door, before sitting at the chair in her room.
"Not really anything major, is there?" Takato noted. Rika shook her head. Takato suddenly noticed a second futon in the room.
"It's good really, I don't know how we'd deal with…"
The door slid to the side, and a girl entered. She was short, and was about 10 years old. She wore a pink shirt and a blue dress, along with pink sandals. Her brown-red hair was tightened into a pair of pigtails either side of her face.
"Who are you?" she asked. Takato noticed that her voice was oddly familiar, almost like a more childish Rika, without the odd tint of sadness that Rika's voice carried.
"Huh…who are you?" Rika asked in reply.
"Kristy Nonaka…"
Rika's jaw dropped.
"What's wrong?" Kristy asked.
"But…you…who…" Rika spluttered.
"Who are you?" Kristy asked.
"I'm Rika Nonaka…"
"Nonaka? But that's my name…where did you come from?"
"I've always lived here…"
"I've always lived here…"
"Right, this is just going to go on forever…" Takato interrupted. Kristy turned to look at him.
"Who are you?" she asked. "Huh…what are those things?" she added, pointing to Guilmon and Renamon.
"Huh?" Guilmon replied, confused.
"Aw…he's so cute…" Kristy commented.
"I'm Takato Matsuki, and this is my partner, Guilmon…and that over there is Renamon, Rika's digimon partner…" Takato introduced.
"Wow…I've seen them on TV…never in real life…so are you Digidestined?" she asked.
"No…we're Tamers…" Takato replied.
"Both of you…wow…"
"But…who are you? How old are you? Who is your mother?" Rika asked, still stumped.
"I'm Kristy Nonaka, ten and a half years old!" Kristy replied, smiling and skipping. "And my mother is Rumiko Nonaka…"
"But…that's impossible…" Rika replied shocked.
"So that makes you…sisters…" Takato noted.
"No, there must be an explanation…who is your father?" Rika asked.
"Kiyoyuki Nonaka…he left when I was one though…"
"Same…" Rika replied frowning.
"Mother always said that their relationship was going well until it all went wrong when I was one…"
Rika frowned. "Look…we must be sisters…" she replied.
"Maybe we should ask Mum…" Kristy replied. Rika nodded, and they walked down the corridor.
Reppamon watched Kristy pass, and he looked at her oddly. 'Hmm…' he pondered.
"Mum, are me and Rika sisters?" Kristy asked bluntly and cheerfully.
"Of course…" Rumiko replied. "Why wouldn't you be?"
"No reason…" Kristy abruptly replied. They returned down the corridor, passing Reppamon again, who followed them this time.
"So…what do we do…as sisters?" Rika asked, confused. She looked to Takato for guidance.
"Don't ask me, I'm an only child!" he replied. Rika smiled.
"Fine…" Rika replied. She paused for a short while. "I bugsy this room!" she abruptly said. Kristy groaned.
"Hey, I wanted it!"
Rika and Kristy were suddenly at each others' throats. Rika, surprisingly, suddenly pulled Kristy into a hug. "Remember, we have to get along…"
"You're just saying that to get the room…"
"Hey, I won it fair and square…"
"I have a strange feeling about you…" said a new voice. Rika, Kristy, Takato, Renamon and Guilmon turned to see Reppamon at the doorway.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Takato asked.
"Kristy…I'm not sure…but I think…something…something connects us…" Reppamon spoke to Kristy.
"Who are you?" Kristy asked.
"My name is Reppamon…"
Kristy nodded. Suddenly, Reppamon began to glow brightly.
"What's going on?" Takato asked in surprise. Reppamon was enveloped by light, which separated and concentrated on a point in front of Kristy.
"Wow…pretty…" Kristy said, putting out her hand to grab the light. She grabbed something solid. Rika, Takato and their partner's eyes widened as a D-Arc appeared. "What is this thing?" Kristy asked, holding out a pale blue D-Arc, lighter in colour than Rika's.
"A Digivice!" Takato said in shock. The light around Reppamon faded, and a smaller Digimon replaced him. The digimon was white, with gold rings on his white skin, and resembled a ferret. He had long ears tipped with black ends.
"A…partner…?" Kristy asked, eyes widening. "Wow!"
"Kudamon, Vaccine Type, Rookie Level, attacks Crystal Aura and Shining Blast" Rika quoted from her D-Arc. Kudamon leapt onto Kristy's shoulder, and then hesitated.
"Sorry, I did not ask first…" Kudamon apologised.
"Don't worry…I don't mind…" Kristy replied cheerfully. "This is so cool, a real digimon partner!" she cheered.
"Rika, I'm going to my house...I'll see you at the park later…" Takato told Rika, who nodded.
"Okay Honey, see you later…" she told him, kissing him. Kristy's eyes widened, and she grinned. After Takato and Guilmon had left, Kristy turned to Rika.
"Is he your boyfriend?" she asked, stressing the boyfriend part.
"Yeah, why?" Rika replied. Kristy giggled.
"No reason…"
"Hmm…"
"It's odd to think about it, but that was the start of the changes of 2010. We later called the worlds collapsing in on each other the 'Cataclysm'. Me getting a sister was very odd…the whole universe thing still confuses me. Thankfully, Kristy was the biggest noticeable change, but no-one but us, the Digidestined and other Tamers knew about the Demon Lord events.
Of course, that was only the start of the changes. Reflecting on how the year went…I guess that the next major change wasn't that long after…a few months actually…it was a week or two after Takato's 16th birthday, and we got a call from Yamaki."
THE END
And so this book ends. I'm not actually planning to do any diary entries this time round; the time between the books is far too short. I'm planning for an Extra-Dimensions story called 'Sister Act' that will basically be about Rika and Kristy, and how they get on (or not, as the case may be…).
And then of course, we've got Dimensions Book Four: Gods, to look forward to, which includes several new characters, and a huge event that will only be revealed toward the end, if not in the next book, as well as another revelation that will change your view of the whole Chaos and Harmony thing.
Until then…