Chapter 5: Elements of Disaster

"You're pretty cute for a little bug thing." Haruki chuckled as he gently tickled the large brown pinecone on his bed. It wriggled and shook, the pines rustling in small waves. On top of the pinecone was a smooth green top, soft and squishy to the touch. Haruki poked him, a large green head rolling out. His black eyes stared at Haruki, his vertical mouth closed tightly. Haruki smiled at him warmly. "So how are you today?" he asked. "You just hatched last night but then you went right to sleep."

"…hungry." The little bug squeaked out.

"Well what does a guy like you eat?" Haruki wondered aloud.

"Leaves. I'd like leaves." He answered. Haruki picked him up, the green head withdrawing into the pinecone again. Haruki took the large bug downstairs and out into the backyard. "Like this?" he asked as he set the digimon down next to a bush. He slid out of his pinecone and began to munch on the foliage of the bush. Haruki smiled and took his cell phone out. "Hey Haseo." He greeted.

"Oh. Hello Haruki. Can I help you?"

"Minomon hatched." Haruki answered excitedly. "He hatched last night before bed. He ate the remaining bits of his shell and then fell asleep. He's like this bug looking guy and,"

"I know what Minomon looks like. I've seen one before."

"Oh, right. Anyway, I woke him up this morning and we talked for a little bit. He doesn't remember anything about what happened. It's like you guessed. He can't remember anything about his past life except one or two trace memories."

"I see. We won't be getting any leads there then." Haseo fell silent for a moment, presumably thinking Minomon over.

"It kinda sucks." Haruki sighed. "Having everything stolen away from you like that. What if I wasn't around? What would happen to him?"

"It's not that bad." Haseo answered softly. "He's alive after all right? It's better than just not being there anymore. I heard what he said too you know. He didn't exactly sound happy with his lot in life either. A lot of times, when a digimon reincarnates its a second chance for them. They can live a new, better life. Ideally anyway. You're right in what you implied though. A lot of the time when a digimon hatches it will be all alone to fend for itself."

"How awful!" Haruki cried in horror. "You mean there are little kids just wandering around the digital world, waiting to get gobbled up by the bigger guys!"

"Well, bluntly put yes." Haseo admitted. "But not everybody is out to hurt everyone else. That's how families are made in the digital world. A stronger digimon adopts a younger one, training and caring for him. Eventually when the stronger one dies and reincarnates, the child will look after the new digimon."

"Weird." Haruki grunted. "How do you know so much about all this Haseo?"

Haseo fell silent for a good minute. Haruki frowned, wondering if he had somehow struck a nerve. Finally, Haseo spoke. "We're meeting at Celena's house today. We agreed it would be easier since I live the furthest away from you guys. I'll fill you in there. You deserve to know what happened to you and Minomon."

"Do you know something?" Haruki frowned as the call went dead. "Man he's annoying. Trying to act all tough. Of course if you can fight a digimon on your own I guess you kind of deserve that honor. Are you all done Minomon?" Haruki looked up and paused, his eyes widening in awe.

"I finished your bush."

Hey Haseo?

Yeah Kurobane?

When we get back to the human world, you'll come with us right?

Yeah of course! It sounds so cool there! I want to see all the kinds of foods there are and cakes to eat.

You're terrible! And you say Dorumon has a one-track mind!

Heh, but it's not for me.

Oh?

Of course! When we get back to your world, I'll make a big feast for everyone with Yukio's help! There'll be lots of cakes and sweets, but other stuff too. It'll be a big party for the whole team! We'll all go over to Tamaki's house and have a big party!

That sounds awesome!

Uh-huh! I really want to do it because I really like cooking for you Kurobane. For a long time I only cooked for my brother and I so we wouldn't starve, but since I met you I've been enjoying it more. I don't just want to cook to live; I want to cook to see everyone smile.

…thank you Haseo. Really. Let's end this, okay? We're almost done and then we can all go back home. So let's just keep pushing forward.

Yeah!

"I brought a cake." Haseo said when Celena opened her front door.

"We haven't even known each other for a week and this doesn't surprise me in the least." Celena laughed. "Thanks Haseo, I appreciate it. Haruki and Minomon are already here, so come on in and make yourself at home. We're all in the living room." Celena walked back into the kitchen to retrieve some plates and forks. Haseo moved out to the living room and smiled at Haruki, Minomon, and BlackGuilmon.

"Hey." He greeted.

"Hey." Haruki said, looking up from the sofa. He helped Haseo set the cake on the small coffee table and pulled the plastic lid off. He let out a low whistle when he saw Haseo's handiwork. "When did you make this?" he asked.

"Just earlier today." Haseo said with a shrug. "It's not that impressive. I've made better."

BlackGuilmon sniffed at the large, double-decker pastry. It was a moist, chocolate cake with chocolate chips and cherry juice swirled into the batter before cooking. It was surrounded by thick creamy icing, and the top had eight cherries, each sitting on little flowers of chocolate cream. Chocolate syrup has been driveled over the top of the cake and the sides had been garnished with spare cake crumbs. "Cake." The dragon said as he eyed it. "I love cherries."

"When did you make the cake exactly?" Haruki asked again. "I called you before school, and it just let out a little while ago."

"I'm not enrolled in any school." The albino boy answered with a shrug.

"Oh." Celena said as she set the plates out. "Maybe you are a delinquent."

"Wh-what! No way!" Haseo insisted. "I just don't have time for school! I'm normally doing jobs for the Boss or some other employer."

BlackGuilmon eyed the boy suspiciously. "What sort of jobs?"

Dorumon grunted. "Oh y'know. Item retrieval, bounty hunting, procuring items of specific value from those who do not rightfully deserve them, the cessation of one's existence who has begun to irk our employer a little too much."

"Wait, you guys are hitmen!" Celena cried in horror.

"N-n-n-n-no!" Haseo stammered in a panic. "Well, okay maybe once or twice but only after really making sure they deserved it."

"Oh calm down, both of you." Dorumon grunted. "You act like it's a big deal. Yeah, we've killed before. It happens in the digital world. A lot. But we always make sure that who we target really deserves it and their digimon anyway. Killing them just lets them reincarnate so it usually makes things better in the long run."

"Calm down, all of you." BlackGuilmon sighed. "It's a different kind of morality Celena. Don't think about it too hard okay? Stuff like this is different for digimon."

"…that doesn't make it right."

"Yeah, but it doesn't make it wrong either. Look, Minomon wouldn't be here now if Haseo and Dorumon didn't fight to kill. The other day when we were fighting Ghoulmon, did you ever once think about holding back?" Celena winced but said nothing. "Exactly. When you're a digimon you fight as hard as you can, or die. It's that simple."

"I get it…" Celena sighed. "Right, okay, sure, whatever. Haseo why did you call us all here? You said you wanted to fill us in but you didn't say much beyond that last night when you called."

"Right." Haseo said as he sat down between BlackGuilmon and Dorumon. "The truth is, Aniki and I know what happened with Haruki and Minomon. Kind of."

"Either of you ever hear of a guy named Vulcanusmon?" Dorumon questioned.

"No." Minomon answered, currently withdrawn into his pinecone.

"Rings a bell but no." BlackGuilmon admitted.

"He was a member of the Twelve Olympians. The Twelve Olympians were ocne a powerful group of digimon that helped protect the digital world, but over the years the vast majority of them ended up with a very fatal case of dead."

"Oh yeah!" BlackGuilmon said, clicking his claws. "They say the Boss used to be one of them, but nobody knows for sure."

"I've heard those rumors too." Haseo agreed. "Anyway, Vulcanusmon and the Boss were very good friends. Vulcanusmon as a member was rather weak, but he had amazing ability when it came to crafting weapons. Digimon would travel the world over just to get a letter opener made by him. His works include Vulcan's Hammer, Berenjena, Zanahoria, and Oro Salmon."

Haruki smirked. "Why am I suddenly hungry?"

"Yeah…" Dorumon sighed. "He had a habit of working when he was hungry. Or so I'm told. Anyway, regardless of the names they were all very powerful weapons in their own right. But Vulcanusmon was very fickle and would only work for those who he thought could bring out the full potential of his art. The downside was that he had a habit of making weapons for anyone, good or bad. Keep that in mind."

Haseo continued. "Eventually the Olympus Twelve disbanded because…well mostly because by that time they were more like the Olympus Six. Vulcanusmon left the group and started working on his own. He wanted to create weapons stronger enough to bring peace to the digital world. He had heard a legend about a great power known as the Digimentals. Each Digimental, of which there were supposedly 10, was said to empower the bond between human and digimon. It allowed the digimon to become a frighteningly powerful form, beyond that of even normal evolution."

"Wait, do you mean"

"Hush Haruki, we're getting to it." Dorumon snapped.

"Man you've been pushy today." BlackGuilmon grunted.

"Oh. Sorry. There uh…there was a cat outside who kept crying. Anyway, Vulcanusmon wanted to use the Digimentals but had no idea where they were. They're ancient super weapons, so of course nobody could bother to keep tabs on them! Anyway, Vulcanusmon set out to create his own copies of the Digimentals with…mixed results."

"How so?" Celena asked.

"Well they weren't as strong as the legends for one." Dorumon grunted.

"And they were corrupted." Haseo continued quietly. "Though Vulcanusmon had tried to create a miracle, instead he created a curse. He sealed the Digimentals away in his vault, along with the other weapons he deemed too dangerous and his unfinished projects."

"The man was good at what he did, but he jumped around projects like crazy." Dorumon chuckled. "It's a miracle he even finished working on…never mind. Anyway, he locked them up tight so that they wouldn't corrupt anyone."

"What happened then?" Haruki wondered. "Obviously one of them got out."

Dorumon let out a heavy sigh, his eyes falling. "Vulcanusmon died, and the two sons who had been guarding his vault were quickly taken away. Over the following years the vault was raided by various thieves. The Boss has been attempting to collect the weapons and keep them out of harm's reach with mixed results."

BlackGuilmon paused, his jaw dropping. "Oh. Crap."

"Yeah." Dorumon grunted. "Chances are pretty high that the package Gomamon stole was one of the Digimentals."

BlackGuilmon let out an anguished cry, burying his face in his claws. "I'm horrible! Terrible! A failure among failures! He was counting on me and I failed him and oh God, he made me stay in this world as punishment and because he doesn't trust me and I'm a horrible person and," At this point BlackGuilmon just broke down sobbing. "He trusted his top rookie with such an important assignment and I failed him!"

Celena was silent for a moment, letting her partner cry out his insecurities. "How many people know about these corrupted elements?"

"I don't know." Haseo answered. "Vulcanusmon was very secretive of his projects so it's entirely possible the thieves picked up something without realizing how powerful or how useless it really was."

"Okay, BlackGuilmon calm down." Celena said calmly, gently petting his head. The lizard sniffled and rubbed his eyes, but nodded slowly to her. "Let's think about this logically. How did the corrupted element get to Haruki and Minomon?"

"It's possible that he found it." Dorumon answered.

"Or someone used it on him specifically." Haruki added.

"I can't remember…"

"We know of at least one other person besides the Boss who wants these things and knows what they do." Celena said, seemingly more to herself than the others. "They sent Gomamon to retrieve the corrupted element and succeeded. Please don't cry anymore."

"Sniff, okay."

"However, I don't think they're the one behind attacking Haruki.' Celena continued. "It seems too dumb for them. They implanted Gomamon specifically to get the corrupted elemental, so why would they go to all that trouble and then just throw the darn thing away? It doesn't make any sense for them to use a limited resource in such a wasteful way."

"Unless they have a lot more than just one." Haruki pointed out solemnly.

"Maybe, but even then. If there's only ten then why bother wasting it on you guys?" Celena wondered. "Why not use it on one of your own men to maximize your chance of retrieving it should they fail. This whole thing feels rather sloppy and unplanned. Maybe it was an accident. Maybe Minomon used it on accident after finding it or stealing it or whatever. What if…what if Haseo and Dorumon were the targets?"

"Wh-what?" Haseo gasped. "Why us?"

Celena looked to the boy and grabbed his hands. His pale face turned cherry red, but Celena ignored him. "Haseo, please tell us the truth. Why are you here? How do you know about these corrupted elements? Is this about the mission the Boss has you on?"

"Yeah." Haseo admitted. "He wanted Aniki and I to keep an eye on the human world in case something bad happens. He's got other people stationed in other places, but he said he was confident that something would happen here. So he sent Aniki and I as damage control."

"And you've worked for the Boss before right? He trusts you?"

"Yeah a good couple of times."

"Then maybe this attack was a hit on your lives."

"A hit on us?" Haseo asked.

"Heh, I feel a little flattered." Dorumon grunted.

"Well, it's only a possibility." Celena corrected. "Truthfully, we're at a standstill. We can theorize all we want but there's not much point. We don't have enough information, or even the corrupted element!"

Haruki motioned to Minomon. "He ate his left over shells after hatching."

"I was hungry." Minomon cooed.

BlackGuilmon let out an irritated growl. "The hell do we do then? Just wait and see what happens?"

"For now, yes." Celena answered quietly. "As much as it might hurt, our best course of action is to just sit back and wait for the enemy to make the next move. Maybe we'll be able to discern some motive or plan from that. Until then, we're out of luck."

BlackGuilmon slumped forward on the coffee table, letting out a prolonged sigh. "Well that's depressing."

"It's not all bad." Haruki said with a smile. "I mean at least we're all okay right? Come on, no more frowns you guys! Let's eat cake and smile like regular teens should. Y'know, but with 50 percent more monsters."

BlackGuilmon smiled. "The cake does smell awesome. Oddly familiar."

"Otouto's cooking is topnotch." Dorumon said with a proud smile. "Cut it up Otouto, its snack time!"

"Sure." Haseo agreed with a small smile. He sliced the cake into either even pieces and gave everybody one. "There, two left over for your parents since they let us use their house as a meeting place."

"Right." Celena said with a confident nod. "From this point onward, this will be our official base."

"Sounds good to me." Haruki cheered.

"Yay." Minomon cooed.

"Cake." BlackGuilmon sighed as he ate the delicious pastry.

Dorumon and Haseo exchanged a glance. "Don't bother Otouto. We both know no amount of arguing will get them to stop."

"Yeah…" Haseo said, smiling despite himself. "This is kind of nice though. Watching out for anything unusual will be a lot easier with more people. Just be sure to call us if you find anything."

"Got it!"

"Yes sir!"

"Cake." BlackGuilmon licked at his plate, his eyes wide. "Oh Haseo that was delicious! Please promise to make cake every time we meet up! Please! You don't have school anyway, so please?"

"Oh that reminds me." Celena said thoughtfully, pushing her cherry around the plate. "Where did Minomon go while you were at school today?"

"He hid in my backyard and ate some leaves. I'll have to take him to the park or something though; it looks like a swarm of locusts blew through."

"That should stop after he evolves again." Haseo said with a nod. "Baby digimon eat a lot, regardless of species. You're just lucky you're not stuck with a Dorimon."

"Hm?" BlackGuilmon chuckled. "Dorumon's Baby form eh? What's that like?"

"A tiny little furball." Haseo answered with a shrug. "But he loves eating metal. I remember one time a Knightmon attacked Aniki when he was a Dorimon and he ate the Knightmon's sword and shield! Baby digimon aren't quite as harmless as they look."

"Yeah, I think I'll be taking that warning to heart." Haruki chuckled. "Like a little garbage disposal."

"What were you like as a Baby?" Celena asked, looking at her own partner.

"I don't know." BlackGuilmon answered slowly. "I can't really remember. Doesn't matter much though. Not like humans can remember either right? I'm happy either way. No use in bothering with the past right? It's already happened, so no use crying over spilled milk."

Haseo smiled a little. "An old friend of mine used to say that your past doesn't make you who you are, it's how you look at it that makes you who you are."

"Yeah exactly." BlackGuilmon grunted. "If something bad happens, don't fall apart. Use that as a reason to get stronger! Sounds like your friend is pretty smart Haseo."

"Yeah." Haseo chuckled. "Yeah he really was."

"Well I think it's time to go." Haruki said as he stood up, stretching. He picked Minomon up, who snuggled into his arms happily. "Thanks for the cake Haseo, and thanks for letting us use your House Celena. You guys both have my number, so call me when the next meeting is. Make sure it's soon okay? I don't have school as an excuse to see Haseo like I do you Celena."

"Sure." Celena said. "If nothing else we can all go see a movie or something this weekend."

"I'll be leaving too." Haseo said as he stood up. "Again, thank you for inviting us over. I appreciate it Celena."

"Any time." She answered with a smile. "Oh, and I'm not exactly happy with some of the stuff you guys might have done in the past but, how should I put this? I think talking about the corrupted elements sort of put in perspective for me. It's about survival right? Directly or indirectly. So while I might not like it, I can at least accept it."

"Thank you!" Haseo cried. "That means so much! I really didn't want you to be upset with me!" He gasped as Celena pulled him into a hug, but made no effort to resist.

"Good, still friends then." Celena said with a nod. She walked the four boys to her door and opened it for them. "Bye guys, see you later."

"Bye!" Haruki said as he stepped out.

Haseo returned Dorumon to the Xros Loader and bowed to Celena. "Thank you very much for having us."

"Thank you for the cake." Celena answered. Haseo smiled and walked out, Celena closing the door behind him. She smiled to herself and walked back towards the living room. They hadn't really answered much, but at least everyone was up to speed now for the most part. "I do wonder though." Celena mused. "If Vulcanusmon was so tightlipped about his projects then how does Haseo know so much? He had said something about two sons…" Celena stepped back into the living room, her eyes widening in horror. "BlackGuilmon!' she roared as she saw him devouring the last two pieces of cake face first. "Really! Again!"

BlackGuilmon licked his nose sheepishly and looked away. "Heh. Sorry."

Next Chapter:

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Is this who you've been spending all your time with!"

"My life is none of your business!"

"You're both disasters waiting to happen."

Chapter 5: I wanna be your GUY