The field hung in the middle of the park, obscuring whatever was inside it from view. Suddenly, a thin line appeared in the middle of the field as it was suddenly cut in half. The field disappeared, returning to the digital world. A ghostly figure hung in the middle of where it had parted the field. A gleaming scythe was held in one hand as it glinted in the moonlight. “I smell fear,” he intoned as he floated off into the night. <><><> “Oow!” Lee’s grandfather, Tseng Chin, lowered his hand as Lee rubbed his head in pain. “You are not focusing, Lee,” his grandfather admonished. “It’s a hard technique, grandfather,” Lee said in a pathetic reply. “The technique is special, handed down throughout our family for generations. You MUST learn it.” Tseng sighed. “It is not simply a fighting technique.” “Then what is it?” Sharmamon asked curiously. Tseng’s glasses seemed to catch in the moonlight as he straightened up. “The Swallow Dance is a technique of harmonization between body, mind and soul. If you do not realize what it’s power is for, or if one part of your whole being is not in synchronization with the rest, then how will you be able to perform the technique?” “I... see.” Lee said slowly, not understanding the point of the exercise. Tseng’s eyes dilated. “Lee!” He suddenly knocked Lee to the side as a spray of blood erupted from his grandfather’s chest. “GRANDPA!” Lee shouted in horror, spinning around. “My, that was refreshing.” The Phantomon stood over his grandfather. “Hmm... still breathing. I’ll remedy that.” “Sharmamon evolve!” his skin ripped off and he reformed into the short ninja digimon. “Ninjamon!” He leapt up and several stars appeared in his hands. “Iga Style Shurinken Throw!” Phantomon deflected the stars with a spin of his scythe. He raised it and slashed at the pair, the weapon biting into the ground, creating a huge trench with the massive slash. “You are more trouble than it is worth. Prepare to die.” <><><> Digital Diaries : Adventures 2003 written by Shaun Garin everything applies here. I don’t own digimon but I do own most of the characters in this series. <><><> File 15 : Dark Messenger “Hell Fire!” The shower of fireballs forced the Phantomon back as Raine and Cerberumon ran up. Raine knelt down beside Lee’s grandfather as she rolled him over and began to run her Tricorder over him. “He needs medical attention or he won’t last the night.” “Too bad. All of you won’t last long enough to call.” Phantomon raised his scythe and created a large gash across Cerberumon’s leg. “Ninjamon! Get him!” Raine shouted as she took off her shirt to staunch the blood from the large gash on Mr. Chin’s chest. “Iga Style Shurinken Throw!” The stars actually bit into Phantomon’s weapon. The phantom digimon looked at it and seemed to smirk, despite the lack of facial characteristics. “I’ll be back.” With that, he disappeared. “An ambulance is on its way,” Raine said as she lowered her cell phone. “Lee? Are you okay?” Lee was white, trembling as he stared at the blood pooling around his grandfathers torso. “No.... grandpa.....” <><><> “How is Mr. Chin?” Raine asked, standing up as the doctor walked into the room. “He’s lost a lot of blood, and we had to restart his heart a couple of times during surgery. He’ll be in the recovery ward for at least several months.” The doctor shook his head. “No normal mugger could have done this to him. The gash is too clean, too deep to be a simple knife.” “And Lee?” The doctor checked his clipboard. “He refused to leave his grandfather, even during surgery. He’s in the recovery room. Mr. Chin will be receiving visitors after an hour or so. Now, if you will excuse me, I have other patients to take care of.” As the doctor left, Raine sat down heavily as she buried her face in her hands. Labramon sat at her side, pretending to be a stuffed animal, as with Ninjamon. Labramon was nursing her leg, Raine’s handkerchief tied around it. The doors flew open, revealing a worried Mrs. Chin. “Raine!” she called as Raine looked up. “Where’s my son and father in law?” “Mr. Chin is recovering from emergency surgery and Lee is at his bedside. They’re admitting family only.” She motioned to Ninjamon who was sitting at her side. “Take him with you.” The woman nodded as she picked up Ninjamon, checked in with the front desk and ran down the hall as fast as she could. <><><> “Lee? Lee! Damnit Lee, look at me!” Lee kept staring at his grandfather. He was still dressed in the clothes he had worn for two days straight. His hair was unwashed and his eyes wore a dull expression. Raine sighed. “Lee, I know you can hear me so don’t play dumb. What happened to your grandfather was not your fault.” Silence greeted her as she scowled and sat down beside him. “Lee, he risked his life for you. And I know that you would do the same. Don’t worry, your grandpa will recover.” Ninjamon and Labramon exchanged glances as Raine cast a glance at the beeping monitors and the clock. “I have to go. I’ll bring your books from school.” Lee didn’t reply as Raine picked up Labramon and left the room. “That was rude, Lee,” Ninjamon admonished. As usual, the still silence greeted him. “Damnit Lee, stop blaming yourself!” Ninjamon snapped. “Master Chin is strong, he’ll pull through. You need to focus, there are people out there who are in trouble because of that Phantomon. You have to get up and fight!” “Shut up,” Lee said softly. “You know I’m right,” Ninjamon said, folding his arms. “Shut up. I never wanted to be a digi-destined. This digivice has given me nothing but trouble since I got it.” He threw down the digivice, the wires inert. “Leave me alone.” Ninjamon slid off the chair and said, “Fine. I’ll leave you alone for a while.” He left through the window as Lee resumed his silent vigil. <><><> Ninjamon walked along the telephone wire as he thought to himself. ‘Lee’s taking this too hard.... way too hard.... I wish he would open up a bit more when we’re at home.’ Ninjamon hopped to the nearby building as he looked down on the city. It was growing dark, a perfect time for Phantomon to strike again. The phantom digimon had been quiet for most of the week, almost overdue to strike again. Ninjamon did a triangle jump off of a building and hopped to the top of a skyscraper. “I know you’re out there somewhere,” he said to the air. “I’ll find you and make you pay.” His fist clenched as a faint scream split the air. “Speak of the devil...” <><><> “... Lee....” Lee snapped to alertness as he found his grandfather looking at him. “Grandpa! Don’t move, you’re still injured.” “Ha, takes more than a minor cut to take down your grandpa.” To Lee’s surprise, his grandpa sat up in the bed. “You seem surprised.” “How.... no one can heal that fast!” Lee sputtered. “Au contraire. One CAN.” Lee looked at his grandfather as he said, “Lee. Our family has a technique, passed down through the centuries to exploit one’s Chi. With it, one can do many things. Chi is the life-force of all creatures, even the smallest insects have it. With training, you can do what I do.” “Will I be able to help Sharmamon defeat Phantomon?” Lee asked. “Yes, but only with training. You know the first step already.” his grandfather answered. “I do?” Lee asked, astounded. “Yes. You care for people. That is the first step. Now go, your partner may need you.” His grandfather turned over and fell asleep. Lee nodded and rushed away while pulling out his Digi-locator. <><><> Ninjamon held a gash on his side with one hand as Phantomon hovered before him. The squat ninja was guarding a girl and a wounded guy. “I smell fear,” the Phantomon intoned. “it is a pleasant smell. And tastes delicious.” “You are not going to kill anyone tonight. I will take you down.” Ninjamon’s eyes narrowed. “And I will do that.” “You?” Phantomon mocked. “You don’t even have your pathetic partner with you. Will you even be able to stop me?” “We will,” Lee said, skidding into view. “Lee?” Ninjamon asked. “What happened? Why aren’t you with your grandfather?” “He’s all right,” Lee assured his partner. His eyes narrowed. “Now lets take down floating and ugly before he kills anyone else.” “I doubt it. You can try though. Soul Chopper!” The scythe came down as Ninjamon dodged it. “Ninjamon, go!” Lee shouted. “Try the other side!” Ninjamon leapt to the other side as he threw a few Shurinken. The metal blades clashed against the weapon Phantomon held. Lee frowned. “No good, he’s blocking every shot we take.” “I wonder,” Raine said from behind him. Lee nearly jumped out his skin. “Can he block two attacks at once?” “Where did you... oh never mind.” Lee returned his full attention to the battle as Ninjamon faded in and out of a whirling tornado of leaves. “You can run but you can’t hide,” Phantomon said, slashing at movement behind him. Ninjamon reappeared, crying out in pain as he landed with a painful thud. “Ninjamon!” Lee rushed over. “Are you okay?” “Damn, that hurt,” Ninjamon groaned. “Lee, you have to get away.” A yelp of pain and Phantomon rose up behind Lee and smirked. “So dies a legacy before it begins.” His weapon raised up and came down. Lee clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the blow that would finish him. Suddenly, a bright glow flared out from his D3 as Phantomon stopped in mid strike, cursing and floating backwards from the light. “Ninjamon super-evolve!” The squat ninja reformed in a flash of light. “Piximon!” Piximon flew out from Lee as he smirked at Phantomon who was just regaining his eyesight. “Lights out ugly. Fairytale!” Phantomon had no time to cry out as a safe crashed down on him, spilling data everywhere. Piximon floated over to Lee as he asked, “Are you okay?” “Yeah.... thanks for saving me,” Lee said. “Thanks for evolving me,” Piximon replied as he helped his partner up. “Anytime,” Lee said warmly.