Father and Son Destiny

Marcus' flashback

It was on the evening before the expedition as Spencer headed out. The then four-year-old Marcus was fingering the metal pendant his father had given him. As Spencer's back went further and further, Marcus ran after his father, only to stop after a few meters.

"Bye dad!" He called to his father, waving farewell. "See you soon! Take care!"

Marcus awoke on the ground.

"Yoshi." Lalamon tried to shake her partner awake. "Yoshi, wake up! Oh Yoshi, please speak to me!"

"Ugh." Yoshi shook her head clear.

"Looks like we're back in the Human World again." Marcus noted, after he got to his feet.

"Were we saved?" Yoshi inquired as she got back up.

"What happened?" Agumon moaned as he got up.

Then, Marcus heard feet stomping behind him and turned around to see a weakened Kentaurosmon behind them.

"Now I remember." Lalamon remarked. "He's the one who saved us. Who are you?"

"My name is Kentaurosmon." Kudamon's Mega replied. "One of the Royal Knights."

"There's no cause for worry." Sampson told the teens. "Kentaurosmon is on our side."

"Commander Sampson!" Thomas exclaimed.

"We thought we lost you." Yoshi added.

"So then, Kentaurosmon must be…" Thomas noted as Kentaurosmon devolved.

"Kudamon!" Falcomon finished his sentence.

"He never told us he could digivolve to the Mega level." Gaomon remarked.

"I'm sorry that I kept it a secret." Kudamon replied weakly.

"Kudamon." Sampson hurried over to his injured partner.

"We'd better take him back to Angel's." Yoshi suggested.

"She's right, Boss." Agumon turned to his partner. "Let's get out of here now."

"What's wrong?" he asked his silent partner.

"Oh Boss." He muttered at his upset partner.

Sometime later in Angel's Bath House…

"All these years, Kudamon has been the Digimon ambassador to the Human World." Sampson explained. "Long ago, King Drasil asked him to observe and gather evidence to decide whether the human race was beneficial or detrimental to the Digital World."

"So that means this whole time, Kudamon had been a spy for King Drasil?" Megumi exclaimed in shock.

"Calm down, Megumi." Miki chided.

"I don't think that what Sampson meant, babe." Duke soothed his panicky girlfriend.

"It's true that I am one of the Royal Knights." Kudamon admitted as he struggled to get up from the handkerchief he was placed on. "But, over the long course of my stay with you, I've found a real place in my heart for the human race. Therefore, even though I swore an oath to King Drasil and I understand his decision is meant to save Digimon, I cannot agree with his orders to destroy the Human World."

Marcus, who had been silent the entire time, was recalling what Spencer had told him.

Flashback

"Silence." King Drasil demanded. "My decision has been made. The humans eroded the Digital barrier, bringing our worlds to the brink of disaster. There is no point in allowing them to exist. Humans must go. It is the only way."

"This King Drasil." Marcus suddenly put in. "Is the King of the Digital World, right?"

"Marcus." Yoshi looked at the teen worriedly.

"Then why?" The hotheaded teen demanded. "Why is my dad telling the Digimon he is their King? If he's human, why has he become our enemy? Tell me!"

"The man once known as Doctor Spencer Damon no longer exists." Sampson told him. "After Kudamon and I have escaped, we landed in the Digital World where we were granted an audience with Doctor Damon."

Flashback

"The Human World destroyed?" Sampson echoed in shock.

"As King of the Digital World, I have made my decision." King Drasil replied. "It is the only way to save us."

"But, you're not the King!" Sampson protested. "You're Spencer Damon. What about your wife and daughter? What about your son who's fighting as hard trying to save both worlds from destruction?"

"These matters are of no concern to me." King Drasil remarked.

"Be gone!" He barked, firing an energy beam from his palm at Sampson.

"The man you once knew as your father changed." Sampson continued. "It's true. Spencer Damon has become King Drasil."

A crash was heard from the door as Marcus turned to see his shocked sister, the tray she was carrying fallen to the floor, the teapot on the tray smashed to pieces.

"Kristy." Marcus blinked at his sister.

"No! No! No! No!" Kristy shook her head in denial.

"What's the..." Charlie was interrupted by his younger sister.

"They're lies!" She screamed. "Nothing but lies!"

"I wish they were." Marcus replied.

After everyone had eaten…

"Family huh?" Yoshi mused out loud.

"One thing that you can't pick." Keenan noted, swallowing his last piece of fried egg.

"That's true." Yoshi agreed. "And deep. You know you language skills are getting better."

"Yeah? Me thank you." Keenan beamed as Falcomon and Gaomon slept against each other.

"Well, sort of." Yoshi shrugged.

"They are certainly wiped out." Angel smiled, looking at the two dozing rookie Digimon as she placed a tea cup in front of Thomas.

"Thank you." Thomas turned to the blond woman with red highlights in her hair.

"Worried?" Angel smiled at the younger blond.

"I would be lying if I said no." Thomas admitted.

Angel assured him, "She knows what her responsibility is and she will fulfill it, or die trying."

"That's what I'm afraid of!" Thomas almost shouted.

"I'm not finished." Angel smiled at his flustered expression. "But she's too stubborn to die."

"That, I know." Thomas sighed.

Angel's next question caught his attention.

"Are your intentions towards my niece honorable?" Angel inquired sternly.

Thomas blinked in surprise as he blurted out, "What?"

"A bit of an old fashioned question," Angel's eyes were intense as she looked at Thomas, "but I think it gets the point across. I'm not entirely comfortable about asking this, but I know I must."

Giving Thomas a dangerous look, she added, "Ami had been hurt, wounded in both body and soul. If it lies in my power I will not let her be hurt again."

"I would never hurt her," Thomas said softly, a blush to his cheeks.

"Not intentionally so," Angel agreed before continuing on gravely, "but you broke her heart once, and I don't want you breaking her heart again."

Thomas gulped down his tea, took a deep breath and said the words that he had buried within his heart, "Miss Angel, I love your niece."

"Good," Angel flashed a happy smile at that piece of news, surprising Thomas once again. "The interrogation has ended."

Thomas blinked.

"You passed, with flying colors." Angel gave him a satisfied smile, answering his unasked question.

"Take care of her." She reminded him and left.

"I will." Thomas nodded.

"Those fried eggs sure look good." Lalamon remarked as she floated above the plate Agumon set aside him.

"Those are for the Boss!' Agumon retorted, scaring the plant Digimon.

"Take it easy, Agumon." Lalamon chided. "It's not as if I'm asking for them. You don't have to be so testy cos Marcus is sad. I'm sure he'd be back to his old self soon enough. Don't worry."

"Who said I was worried." Agumon snorted. "The Boss doesn't get freaked out over little things like this." before growling at the drooling Lalamon.

"Enough!" Sampson barked. "Pay attention. As we all know, both the Human and Digital Worlds are heading for a collision course that will end in destruction. People have been instructed to seek shelter underground but these measures are in vain. When BanchoLeomon runs out of life-force energy and the 'Light of Hope' has expanded the last of her Cosmo, both worlds will come crashing down on each other. Therefore, if these are indeed our last moments, I'll understand if you'd like to give up the fight and spend this time with your loved ones."

"What about you?" Yoshi asked. "Are you leaving, Commander?"

"Kudamon and I will spend every waking moment, searching for a solution to save both our worlds." Sampson replied.

"Then, that's what we'll do too." Thomas agreed.

"Sampson." Duke turned to his friend.

"There's a Digimon signal coming from the northwest harbor." Miki reported.

"Let me see." Sampson requested.

"That signature is huge!" Kudamon gasped.

Outside…

The Damon family was having a family meeting on the banks of a river.

"So our dad is the King of the Digital World which is now falling from the sky?" Kristy asked. "And he wants to wipe out the Human World so his world can be saved by not crashing into us? But why? Has dad forgotten about me? Doesn't he love us anymore? Did you ever fight with him, mom?"

"I just don't understand why." She sobbed. "Doesn't he realize we've been waiting for him to come back home. I always believed that I get to see him again. No matter what bad things happened, I always thought he'd come back. So why?"

"I honestly don't know why he's saying this kind of stuff Kristy." Charlie told his younger sister.

"It can't be true!" Marcus snapped. "There's no way dad will turn his back on his family. I'm sure; this has to be a mistake. Dad must have some sort of plan."

"Marcus, I don't know what happened between you and your father in the Digital World." Sarah replied. "But no matter what he called himself or what he said or did, somewhere inside he's still your father. I didn't marry any King Drasil. I married Spencer Damon and I believe in the man I married."

"And we'll all going to stick together as a family." She smiled at her son.

"Family." Kristy echoed.

"Believe in your family no matter what is what being a family is all about." Sarah told her.

"I want to believe in him too." Marcus retorted. "So much that it hurts. But after the way he looked at me when we met, I can't believe that man is my dad!"

"NO!" he screamed.

Back above the harbor…

Gallantmon was destroying the city with his attack.

"Wait Gallantmon." Kudamon stopped his comrade.

"So, you're still alive, Kudamon." Gallantmon remarked, looking at the rookie Digimon around Sampson's neck, along with the rest of the Data Squad. "Just as I suspected."

"Please, leave the Human World be!" Kudamon argued as Miki and Megumi rushed to the scene.

"I've received my orders from King Drasil and I will follow them out to the latter. As it's my sworn duty as a Royal Knight, just as it used to be yours." Gallantmon told him.

"I understand you're trying to save the Digital World." Kudamon continued his argument. "But in doing so, you'll be sacrificing billions of innocent human lives."

"What an ironic thing to say, since it was the humans who first attacked the most innocent of Digimon!" Gallantmon shot back.

"No!" Keenan objected. "It just one man! Not all humans evil like him!"

"You may be right, but unfortunately King Drasil doesn't see it that way." Gallantmon replied. "Now step aside. If not, I shall destroy you here and now on the very ground you stand on."

"We're not going to let you get away with this." Yoshi retorted.

"We'll protect our world from you and King Drasil." Thomas agreed.

"D.N.A Charge, Overdrive!" the three teens chorused.

"Falcomon double warp digivolve to Ravemon!" Falcomon declared as he evolved.

"Lalamon double warp digivolve to Rosemon!" Lalamon announced as she evolved.

"Gaomon double warp digivolve to Miragegaogamon!" Gaomon declared as he evolved.

"Veemon double warp digivolve to Valkyrimon!"

"Renamon double warp digivolve to Phoenixmon!"

"Gabumon double warp digivolve to MagnaGarurmon!"

"Gomamon double warp digivolve to Plesiomon!"

"Veemon double warp digivolve to Imperialdramon!"

"D.N.A Full Charge!" Miki and Megumi chorused. "Pawnchessmon warp digivolve to…"

"Bishopchessmon!" Megumi announced.

"Rockchessmon!" Miki declared.

"All of your powers combined cannot possibly match the skills of a Royal Knight like myself." Gallantmon remarked.

"We're not afraid of losing for a just cause." Ravemon told him.

"We'll protect those we love with everything we have." Rosemon added.

"Fine." Gallantmon noted. "You've been warned."

Meanwhile…

Agumon was rushing to find his partner.

"Boss!" he hollered. "We're in big trouble! Boss!"

Alone now, Marcus looked at his tag as he recalled his last memories of his father.

Flashback

"See ya! Bye dad!" he called to his father, waving farewell. "See you soon! Take care!"

"Bye dad." Marcus wondered outloud.

"What's that?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing." Marcus looked away.

"Mom." He started.

"Yes?" Sarah inquired.

"Do you remember the day dad left for the Digital World?" Marcus asked.

"Of course." Sarah replied. "I'll never forget it. It was on an evening very much like this one."

"Yeah." Marcus agreed. "Of course, we didn't have a gigantic Digital Gate hanging over our heads."

"No." Sarah chuckled.

Flashback

Spencer was playing baseball with Marcus before he left.

"Fast ball!" Marcus requested, tossing the ball to his father.

"There, there, there." Sarah rocked the wailing Kristy.

"Dad." Marcus started. "Throw it at me with all you've got!"

Spencer blinked in confusion.

"I'll show you what I'm made of." Marcus promised.

Spencer then turned to his wife.

"Sure." Sarah smiled.

"Okay." Spencer remarked as Marcus stood poised to catch the ball.

"Well, ready?" he asked, noticing his son's determined look.

"Yeah!" Marcus replied.

"Keep your eye on the ball!" Spencer warned as he prepared to toss.

Then, he threw, with Marcus catching the ball with his baseball glove moments later, the aftershock knocking him down on his backside.

"Got it!" Marcus beamed.

"Oh right! Great catch, Marcus!" Spencer cheered as he ran to his son.

"He threw everything he had into that pitch." Marcus recalled. "And I handled it like an all-star catcher."

Flashback

"Marcus." Spencer knelt before his son.

"This is for you." He handed the boy his pendant.

"Woah!" Marcus blinked in awe admiring the pendant his father had placed around his neck. "You're giving this to me!? Oh right!"

"Marcus." Spencer ruffled his son's hair. "This pendant is a symbol that says you're all grown up."

"You mean I'm strong like you?" Marcus blinked.

"That's right, I remember." Sarah replied. "Spencer looked so happy that day. I think your father must have felt that even if he never returned from the Digital World, Kristy and I would always have you to protect us. He trusted that you can handle it, Marcus."

"Yeah." Marcus replied.

"That's right, my dad really did believe in me." He added, looking at the pendent. "That's why I have to believe in him too."

"What's that?" He demanded as the ground shook.

"Take cover." Charlie ordered as the two shielded their family from the dust cloud.

"Imperialdramon FM RookChessmon!"