章 195: Chapter 195
Eri and Nejire landed close by to Tai and the others, though they frowned when they saw them standing behind a crowd, no one noticed them dropping from the sky, thanks to Eri's magic but the DigiDestined did and they all immediately walked over to them.
Nejire waved at everyone to greet them and then asked "What's wrong everyone?".
Matt frowned and shook his head "We couldn't reach the area where the infected Digimon appeared, the police and the JSDF blocked the area, plus we couldn't go through this crowd".
Nejire sighed and nodded "I see, we'll have to think of a way to deal with situations like these".
Eri suddenly spoke up "Daddy, Big Sister Mimi, and Big Sister Meiko are coming this way, I can't sense the infected Digimon anymore, so, either it got away or they took it down".
Izzy shook his head "It was Ogremon, an old friend of ours, so I know they didn't take him down, more than likely Ogremon got away".
Everyone nodded understanding the situation, Tai sighed and then decided that standing here wasn't going to solve anything "Let's go meet up with Harry, Mimi, and Meiko, I'm sure they have things to tell us".
Everyone agreed and together they walked over to where Eri told them to go since she can sense Harry and the girls with him.
-----
~Some minutes later~
Everyone met up and decided to speak in a kiosk nearby, everyone took a seat and Harry told them about the battle with Ogremon and how Leomon was the one who had appeared and took Ogremon back to the Digital World through another portal.
Everyone frowned and looked worried for both Ogremon and Leomon, while Meiko sighed and looked down "That was scary... and we almost hit that helicopter too".
Sora smiled and shook her head "It's all right Meiko, it isn't your fault".
TK nodded "Yeah, that helicopter just got too close to the fight, luckily, Harry was there, so it's not your fault".
Harry nodded "Yeah, if they're stupid enough to see two big monsters fighting and think 'Oooh! Let's get closer!' then it's their fault they almost got shot down, still, we have to be more careful guys, and pay attention to our surroundings.
I don't really want to deal with people finding out I can bring the dead back to life, or heal grievous wounds, they would annoy me none stop".
Mimi nodded "Yeah... sorry Harry, I should have been more careful".
Izzy sighed "Yeah, people already have a bad opinion about Digimon, things like this would just make things more difficult for their image, we have to be careful guys".
Everyone nodded, Mimi looked down and frowned "I'm tired of people saying Digimon are bad... aren't you guys?".
Everyone nodded in agreement, Harry sighed and shook his head "Unfortunately, people will only fear what they don't understand, it doesn't help that it's too dangerous for us to give information about the Digital World or Digimon.
So, everyone will continue to assume the worst, the only thing we can do now, is minimize the damage and show them, that all Digimon aren't bad, but that's why we have to be careful".
Izzy looked up and sighed "At least, Harry took care of the damage that occurred in the battle with Alphamon, the news would have had a field day if all that damage would have been left alone".
Everyone sighed and then smiled at Harry, glad that he was there to help, the dragon god just smiled back at his friends and shrugged, suddenly Matt decided to ask a question "What happened with Joe?".
Izzy frowned and shrugged "I sent him a text, but...".
Sora looked down and sadly frowned "He didn't answer me either".
Matt huffed in frustration "With everything that's going on lately, how can he think studying is more important ".
Tai shook his head at Matt "Come on man".
But Matt just sighed "Look, Joe was always cautious but he always knew what mattered, he knew that sometimes, you had to do things you don't want to because they are important, but now!...".
But Matt was cut off when Harry slapped the back of his head, causing Matt to grunt in pain and glare at Harry, but the dragon god gave him an unimpressed gaze and began to speak "I'm glad you take all of this seriously Matt.
That's a good way to go about it, sure, but everyone here has a life besides being a DigiDestined, you're not always going to be doing this after all, so building a future is something you should take very seriously.
As you said, Joe knows what's at stake, have some faith in him and get off his ass, he'll come and talk to us in time"
Tai crossed his arms and nodded in agreement "I'm sure he knew he needed to come, he just couldn't, I'm sure he had his reasons".
Matt rubbed the back of his head and sighed "Yeah... I bet".
-----
~Later that day~
Joe was back in his room with Gomamon, however, he was glaring at his mock test results, which weren't good at all, Gomamon sighed and then decided to speak "Joe, listen, I really think we should've gone, everyone else did".
Joe sighed and shook his head "I know what would have happened if we went, someone would be angry with me for not being more involved, then someone else would defend me and no matter what I said, I wouldn't be able to stop another pointless argument... Harry could do that... not me...".
Joe looked down and frowned in frustration, while Gomamon stared at his partner with concern.
-----
The next day, the news reporter that was inside the helicopter during the battle against Ogremon, was being interviewed and ranted about how the helicopter was attacked, however, there was no damage on the helicopter and no footage, so no one really gave her ranting any attention.
The DigiDestined were glad for this and were able to relax quite a bit since the Digimon weren't being spoken of badly, Joe's parents were watching the news this morning though, they weren't too concerned about the Digimon, Joe's father shook his head "Well, that could have been messy...".
Joe's mother nodded "Yeah, it's a good thing that nothing bad came out of it".
Joe's father looked over to his wife and asked about his son "How's Joe anyway? He seems stressed lately".
Joe's mom looked down a bit "He's been studying non-stop".
Joe's dad sighed and closed his eyes "I want him to do well but... man...".
Joe, had been listening to his parents' conversation and looked down feeling bad for making them worry, he quietly walked back to his room a few seconds later.
-----
That evening, Matt, Sora, Meiko, Harry, and Eri got together inside Izzy's office, Eri was playing with the Digimon, while everyone else was sitting around and drinking some tea, Tentomon brought a cup of Tea to Meiko and put it on the table in front of her.
Meiko smiled at Tentomon "Thank you".
Tentomon nodded "You're very welcome! It's the least I can do and the most I will do".
Meiko giggled, suddenly, Tai arrived with someone he had found on his way back home, someone everyone recognized, Matt looked very surprised at the new arrival "Leomon?".
Sora smiled and couldn't help but show her surprise "No way!?".
Harry smiled and walked over to Leomon, he then raised his fist towards his old friend and Leomon immediately fistbumps with the dragon god "It's been a while Leomon".
Leomon nodded "Yes, you've grown a lot, Harry, your eyes look old and tired, you must have gone through a lot after you left".
Harry smiled and nodded "You don't even know half of it, but we can talk about it later, I'm sure you came here to let us know about something important, right?".
Leomon nodded, soon after, Leomon was seated on a couch in Izzy's office while everyone else sat around him, Eri chose to sit on Sora's lap, which made her very happy, evident by how she was smiling, Leomon then began to explain "Something weird is happening in the Digital World, so I've come here to talk to you about it.
We first noticed when Ogremon started acting oddly, we don't understand what's causing these mutations, but he's not the only one".
Izzy frowned and looked down "Precisely... we've been calling them infected Digimon, do you think that the Digital World's mutation and the electrical distortions that connect our world are related?".
Leomon nodded "I do believe there is a connection, I was trying to keep a close eye on Ogremon, but I was just too late".
Harry sighed "And then Ogremon made it to the real world via a portal created by those electrical distortions".
Leomon nodded, the DigiDestined frowned understanding how Ogremon had suddenly arrived in the real world, Tai suddenly asked a question "Then how come you're not infected?".
But Leomon shook his head "I'm not really sure, although I remember when Ogremon became sick, it was like something inside him short-circuited or something and he went highwire".
Izzy nodded and then said "Harry was telling me about something he noticed when he scanned Ogremon yesterday, so I have a question for you Leomon, which appeared first in the Digital World? Was it the electrical distortions or was it the infected Digimon?".
Leomon frowned but answered the question right away "The infected Digimon came first".
Izzy nodded and then began to work on his office's computer "Then that means my assumption was wrong, I thought the distortions came first, maybe... something like bad data is corrupting the Digimon or else, some kind of program containing a virus, or another creature of some kind? It may be that the distortions are a side effect of the infection?".
Izzy turned his head towards Harry to ask him a few questions "So, what exactly did you see in Ogremon again?".
Harry sighed "I don't know who did this, and I'm pretty sure someone is behind this, but the virus overwrites the digital data of Digimon from binary language to ternary, which is causing a massive error in both the Digital World and Digimon.
I'm sure the very same overwrite is affecting electronic devices in the real world, I bet that's what's causing the electrical distortions".
Sora tilted her head in confusion "Err... Binary? Ternary? What's that?".
Izzy was about to explain, but surprisingly, it was Eri who beat him to the punch "Oh! I remember Morgan telling me about that once! Binary language is composed of ones and zeros! Ternary uses ones, zeros, and twos but you can't use that in programming cause it causes a lot of errors!".
Izzy sweatdropped "Well.. yes, that's right Eri, thank you, Morgan must be a very intelligent girl if she taught you about that".
Eri nodded and gave Izzy a big happy smile "Yup! Morgan is super smart! She can do all kinds of neat things on her computer and program all sorts of things!".
Harry chuckled "Well, Morgan is a Stark, she was always meant to be a genius and she's younger than Kari, well if you don't count time dilations though".
Everyone smiled at Harry and Eri, Sora even gave her a head pat "You're so smart for remembering all of that Eri, I practically forgot most of it already".
Eri giggled and enjoyed the affection, while Izzy leaned back on his chair "It all makes sense now... I agree with you Harry, someone must be behind all of this, this virus is not natural, it was made".
Everyone frowned and was now tense, the Digital World is under attack and that confirmation made everyone worry about the situation as a whole since it's both the Digital World and the real world that are been affected.
Harry then turned his head towards Meicoomon "and to think Meicoomon was the source of the infection, the ternary overwrite, the strand of the virus I pulled out from her was too volatile and aggressive, far more than the one inside of Ogremon".
Meiko gasped and looked worried, but Harry smiled at Meiko "Don't worry, the virus is gone from her, but since she was the source, that means, that all we have to do is capture the infected Digimon and cure them.
Without Meicoomon being the source anymore, we don't have to worry about her infecting others so if we cure everyone else we can then stop the electrical distortions and the infection, though we have to find and catch the culprit too, otherwise he might start all of this all over again".
Meiko sighed in relief and then smiled at Meicoomon who seemed happy, the other Digimon were also happy that they didn't have to worry about the infection with Harry around
Izzy smiled "Well, now that we know what we're dealing with, I think Harry and I can create a program to protect you guys from the ternary overwrite".
Harry nodded "We can download it to our smartphones and since our Digimon are connected to them via their digital data, they'll be protected even when outside the smartphones".
The DigiDestined and Digimon smiled happy that there will be a way to protect the Digimon, Tai suddenly hummed for a second and then said "If the infected Digimon came first... hm?".
Sora knew that Tai must have figured something out, so she decided to ask "Did something ring a bell?".
Suddenly, Leomon, Eri, and Harry tensed up, and all three ran towards the window and opened it, the three stepped outside and then looked around, Leomon and Eri didn't see anything or anyone, however, Harry walked over to the veranda and looked down.
He saw a small Digimon looking up towards Izzy's office from the street below, Harry narrowed his eyes and watched the small Digimon jump away and disappear in the darkness of the night "... Great... another fucking Digimon Holy Knight".
Everyone stared in confusion towards Harry but knew that he just saw something serious, the Dragon God sighed and shook his head, he then went back inside with Leomon and Eri and decided to warn everyone about the Digimin he just saw outside.
-----
~The next day~
Harry went with everyone back to their school, to talk and explain everything that was talked about with Leomon to everyone else who wasn't there, Harry even went to class, not that anyone could see or hear him, but he did have a lot of fun making his friends laugh and messing with them in the middle of classes.
During lunch, everyone got together, Harry and Izzy then explained what they figured out about the virus, the electrical distortions, and what Leomon spoke with them about, all the new information surprised and shocked the DigiDestined, and everyone was rightfully worried about the Digital World and the Digimon, luckily, Harry also explained the plan and how with the source of the virus gone, all they needed to do is capture the infected Digimon and cure them.
With that plan in mind, everyone then went back to their classes after lunch, Harry was about to leave, but Mimi dragged him back to class and at the end of the day, he ended up going with Meiko to help her with the cheerleader uniforms she designed for the festival.
So, after school Harry was helping make the uniforms, while Meiko helped with some details until she dropped something and bent down to pick it up, only to slam her head against the table when she tried to stand up again.
Harry winced and grimace when he saw the entire table shake from the impact "Meiko! Are you okay?".
Meiko groaned from under the table in pain, but before she could say anything, somebody suddenly opened the door to the room they were using to make the uniforms, Sora stepped inside in a hurry and asked "Hey? Is everyone okay? That sounded painful".
Meiko lifted her head from under the table and rubbed it "Ouch...".
Sora saw her and immediately ran to her side "Be careful, there's a ton of sharp objects around here".
Meiko blushed and nodded "I know, I have some experience sewing in this room".
Meiko then raised her hands and showed her fingers to Sora, which were covered by needles guards, Sora laughed a bit at what she was shown "or trying to at least".
Harry chuckled and piped in "She's actually pretty good with sewing, just a bit clumsy".
Meiko blushed at the compliment and then at the teasing from Harry "Ah... Harry is so much better at sewing though and so fast too! I've never seen someone sew so fast before!".
Sora smiled and then gave Meiko a nod "Yeah, I know, Harry used to repair our clothes back in the day, he was really good and fast back then, I'm sure he's even better now.
I can't even count how many times he patched up our clothes".
Harry smiled and continued sewing, Meiko just awed at Harry, while Sora looked around "Where is Mimi?".
Meiko quickly answered Sora's questions "Oh! She's going to a meeting with the festival committee or something like that, she'll come by later".
-----
~Sometime later~
Mimi was texting with Nejire, who was flying around with Eri since Harry was busy helping her and Meiko, she had been relaxing for a bit after the meeting, inwardly she just wanted it to end so she could go hang out with Harry and Meiko, who were working on the cheerleader uniforms, but she was also pretty tired so she was resting a bit.
Suddenly, three female students walked up to the front of her desk, one of them called out to Mimi "Mimi, we need to talk".
Mimi stopped texting and looked up in surprise "Huh?".
One of the girls took out one of the drawings of the cheerleader design she had passed to the festival committee so they can see it "About this uniform".
One of the other girls quickly said, "There's no way we're going to wear something like this".
The third girl nodded and said, "Not while we're in school".
Mimi looked surprised at what the girls were saying "What?".
One of the girls glared at Mimi and then complained "You didn't even ask, you just decided on your own, so we're not going to put up with it".
The girl holding the drawing scowled and then said "You narcissist".
Mimi raised an eyebrow at that "Narcissist?".
The other girl then said, "Don't know that one? It's someone very self-centered and annoying".
Mimi stared at the girls in silence for a few seconds, until she suddenly giggled and then stood up "Right, narcissist, it's nice that you have such a big vocabulary.
If you don't want to wear the uniform, you don't have to, I'm not forcing you after all, you can do what you want, I'm going to wear mine because it's going to look nice".
With that said, Mimi turned around and left the three female students behind, to stew in anger, she really couldn't care about what they were complaining about or what they thought about her.
She didn't know them after all and they didn't know her, so she didn't need to listen to their insults and attitude, she had far more fun things to do than to stay there and listen to their complaints.
-----
~Back with Harry, Sora, and Meiko~
Harry and Sora were teaching Meiko how to sew by hand and with a sewing machine, Meiko was very much awed and seemed so very interested in everything she was being taught, Sora finished sewing a blouse for the cheerleader uniform and showed it to Meiko "Here we are!".
Sora then handed the blouse to Meiko who grabbed it with an excited smile on her face "Ah! It's perfect!".
Sora smiled and then said, "And if you want to use any other scraps there's a ton more in the back".
Harry hummed as he was sewing a skirt by hand "If you need something more specific, or a type of fabric, let me know, I'm sure I can get it right away, or I might even have some in my inventory".
Meiko nodded and happily smiled "Thank you so much!".
Sora and Harry nodded with a smile on their faces, suddenly, Mimi stepped into the room, Meiko and Sora smiled at her, and Sora quickly asked her a question "Hey, how did the meeting go?".
Meanwhile, Meiko walked over to Mimi to show her the blouse "Just look! Sora and Harry did a great job putting this one together! I might even wear it!".
Mimi smiled and nodded "Well, I will wear one as well, though we might be the only ones wearing one at the festival".
Meiko and Sora looked confused, while Harry stopped sewing and looked up at Mimi "What happened?".
Mimi sighed and shook her head "A few girls complained, so they might convince the committee to change the uniforms".
Meiko and Sora looked confused, while, Harry huffed and shook his head "Teenagers, always adding drama over the silliest things".
Sora stood up "But you even asked us to work on them".
Meiko looked worried "What's wrong with the uniforms?".
Mimi shrugged and then smiled at Meiko "There's nothing wrong with the uniforms Meimei, some people just don't want to wear them, but I will, because it's something we're working together for".
Meiko looked down, but nodded "Okay".
Sora looked worried, but Mimi just grinned at her "It's fine, we'll figure something out".
Sora and Meiko looked up at Mimi and saw her grin, so they smiled back and nodded, they were a bit sad that some didn't like the uniforms, but they were still quite happy with them, so they'll keep working with them.
Harry just smiled and continued to work, Mimi seemed determined to get these uniforms ready, so he'll make sure to continue to help.
-----
Harry, Meiko, Mimi, and Sora stay in school late working on the cheerleader uniforms until it was time to go home, Harry decided to go look for Nejire and Eri so they could go to the Kamiya's home and rest, while Sora, Mimi and Meiko went home by themselves.
Along the way, the girls went their own way, Mimi was walking down a bridge when she noticed someone familiar standing by the river and staring towards the water "Huh? Joe? What is he doing?".
Curious, Mimi decided to go and talk to him, Joe quickly noticed Mimi when she stood beside him, but he was surprised to see her there, Mimi smiled at him and then asked "You playing hooky or something?".
Joe didn't answer and just turned his gaze back to the river, Mimi gazed at him from her side and then continued on "Can you really afford to do that? With your test coming up?".
Joe sighed and looked up at the sky "What about you? I thought I saw a text about you being busy planning the school festival".
Mimi nodded "Well, I have some help, so I can relax a bit".
Joe nodded and then both he and Mimi looked up at the sky and silently watched the clouds move away, up at the bridge to their side, Kari was walking back home and she noticed both Mimi and Joe down by the river bank "Huh? it's Mimi... and she's with Joe".
Curious about what was going on, Kari quickly ran down towards the river bank, meanwhile, Mimi decided to ask Joe a question "Do you think I'm a narcissist?".
Joe looked surprised at the question Mimi just dropped on him "What? Oh um...".
Mimi smiled "Couldn't even say no huh?".
Joe sighed and shook his head "Sorry".
Mimi just continued to smile but accepted the apology "It's okay, I guess I have always thought I was a bit self-centered, deep down, I guess being called a narcissist today made it obvious to me... its just, when I get excited about something I just jump in with my gut instincts.
I assume that's what everyone else wants too, but sometimes I don't see that it might actually affect the people around me... I used to get so tired and sick of the way I am, but Harry showed me that it was okay to be selfish".
Joe sighed and then tiredly smiled "You might be self-centered, but at least you're doing something".
Mimi turned her head towards Joe in confusion "Huh?".
Joe looked down and shook his head "I feel so disgusted with myself because I'm such a coward".
Mimi stared at Joe in surprise and shock about the way he just called himself, she had never seen or heard him like this and she was beginning to get worried about her friend "Joe...".
Joe huffed and looked towards the water in the river and just watch the river in silence for a few seconds before speaking again "Why do we always have to take care of things? Because we're the DigiDestined? Why do we have to drop everything?".
Mimi sadly smiled at Joe and softly said "That again? Really? After all we've been through?".
Joe sighed and went on "Okay, I thought it was over, but it keeps coming back like a bad dream, how much longer are we supposed to be the DigiDestined?".
Mimi sighed and stared at Joe as he looked down, suddenly it began to rain filling the area with the sound of rain hitting the ground and the water of the river, Joe shook his head in frustration and then kept talking "This is a big turning point in my life, I want to grow up and contribute to society, figure out how I'm supposed to fit it in, in all of it... without having to always worry about being one of the DigiDestined...
I don't want to be selfish, but I want my life to actually be mine, that's why I've been hitting the books so hard".
Mimi suddenly smiled and asked a question "Is that why your playing hooky?".
Joe sadly smiled, shook his head and then tiredly sighed "Yeah okay, you got me there...".
Joe turned around and began to slowly walk away, Mimi sadly frowned seeing him so down and tired "Joe, hold on".
Joe stopped for a second and then said "Being self-centered, is way better than being a coward..." after saying his piece, Joe began to slowly walk away.
Mimi sadly watched him walk away not knowing what to say or do to help him right now, while Kari who heard the entire conversation looked down not knowing what to do or say in this situation either, Joe was battling with his sense of duty and what he wants, and it was obviously affecting him hard.
Joe just continued to walk through the rain feeling angry and frustrated with himself, he suddenly stooped in the middle of the sidewalk and growled "Using growing up as an excuse... it's just pathetic...".
-----
Unbeknownst to Kari, Mimi, and Joe, Harry was flying above them with Nejire and Eri, he had heard the entire conversation and was now looking towards Joe as he walked away, Nejire had heard everything as well, thanks to a spell Eri had cast to project sound at long distances.
Nejire looked over to Harry and tilted her head towards him with a curious look on her face "You're not going to speak with Joe?".
Harry shook his head as rain fell down around him "There's no need, Joe, despite being flimsy at times, he has always done the right thing, he, like everyone in the group is aware of the situation.
So he already knows what to do, he just needs to push through and find his way, honestly, he's growing up, just like everyone else, I have faith he'll find the answers he needs soon enough".
Nejire smiled "I see, you sure act like a big brother to them".
Harry chuckled "Someone had to take care of them, Joe might complain a lot, but being a DigiDestined isn't easy, it's a whole ass job, a dangerous one and everyone expects them to do it without complaining or hesitation.
The fate of two worlds was placed on their shoulders at a very young age, it was bound to become to much of a burden to some at some point, in some way or the other, everyone will find their way when the time comes, I know it".
Nejire smiled, while Eri looked down towards Joe and fist pumped "You can do it Big Bro Joe! So don't cry and believe in yourself!".
Harry smiled at his daughter and then chuckled, Joe might not know it yet, but he has the support of an adorable little girl, one cheering for him, Eri is sure to bring good fortune to Joe, Harry knows so "We'll be waiting for you Joe, so take your time and figure things out as long as you need".
With that last thing said, Harry nodded to Eri and Nejire, the trio then took off flying through the air towards the Kamiya's home, Eri and Harry were wondering what would they do when they get back to Tai's and Kari's home, perhaps have some dinner or something, while Nejire just wanted to sleep.
A lot is going on and the Digidestined are going through some stuff, but as always, Harry believes in them and has faith that they'll come up with the answers they need, after all, he had seen it happen a lot of times before.
Throughout their entire adventure in the Digital World and later, in the real world, Harry watched each and every one of the DigiDestined grow and become stronger, all he did is help and take care of them when they needed it, the rest was all them.
So he knew, that soon enough, all the DigiDestined will get together and solve this new problem together, and he will be ready when that time came, and the bastard that was the cause of all of this will pay for causing this much trouble for his friends.
That's a vow Harry made and nothing will stop him from doing so, for now though, he'll just enjoy spending some more time with his friends and helping them as much as possible.
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