A Cleansing [Yana, Sebastion]

[Hamelin Herriot]

Tecton City. Gepetto remembered this place. Where he had managed to coerce Oceanis onto his side. And it was here that his service to the possessed Tamer would end. That is, if he could find who he was looking for.

Walking down one of the more quiet avenues of the 'city', Gepetto checked his digivice in irritation. Just where were they? They were all the more willing to pop up when it was inconvenient, and now they were nowhere to be seen. On his way here, he had even gone ahead to send a message to them, hoping to bring them here.

Meanwhile, Oceanis, in his Snow Agumon form, was by his side. "Who are we waiting for?" he said, clearly not happy to be here. He hated having to do Gepetto's bidding, especially in a place like this. Gepetto smiled. "Like I said, we're here to see some old friend, provided that they actually turn up."

Yana Sekigawa
Sebastian Devaroux

[Yana Sekigawa]

Yana had been spending a lot of time in Tecton City and the surrounding areas... It helped that she was trying to found a

team centered in just those areas, owing to how remote they were and how easy it would be to set up a secret base there. The

Marked ones would have to be a secret society one way or another. But this time, something different had happened when they logged in. She had yet to even take 10 steps in the desert town When Ari tugged her sock and pointed away, "Hey, Nana-chan...! Look over there!"

And Yana did, the sight before her catching her attention immediately. It was Oceanis!! Not just Oceanis, he accompanied by his tamer, Hamelin, who as far as they knew was still posessed by Gepetto. But unlike last time, Ari had enough power to purify him, "Let's see where he goes...!", Yana urged, with Ari nodding and following suit. They always had people between theselves and the pair they were following. Maybe Oceanis could pick up their smell if he tried, but he would likely not alert Gepetto in that case, or at least they hoped he wouldn't.

Hamelin Herriot

[Hamelin Herriot]

Gepetto was starting to get a little annoyed. Where the hell were they? He had practically all but yelled out "Come and get me!" and yet they were taking their sweet time. Probably off doing their nails or something.

Meanwhile, OCeanis was sitting beside him, bored. Just what were they doing out here? Then, he picked up something. A scent he was more than familiar with.

Wait? Is that?

He glanced over in the direction the scent came from, but tried to hide it when Gepetto looked over in his direction. "Something wrong?" Gepetto asked. The Snow Agumon shook his head, trying to hide it. Of course, Gepetto could see right through him. Pulling his digivice out of his pocket, he could hear the telltale beep that said someone was nearby. A small smirk spread across Gepetto's lips.

Someone's here.

Silently, Gepetto gestured for Oceanis to follow, as he started walking towards somewhere more secluded. Confused, Oceanis followed.

Yana Sekigawa

[Yana Sekigawa]

Ari aside, Yana was far from being a good detective/stalker/whatever... It didn't help that she carried a digivice with a

function for detecting others like it. Once her own digivice started beeping, she gasped, realizing her mistake. Ari was a

natural huntress, but Yana was just in her way. She was just about to urge Ari to go on ahead while she stayed behind, when

once again the Gatomon tugged her thights, getting her attention with a serious look: "Nana-chan, Digivolution!", she called out

That's it...! Her Angewomon form should be capable of purifying Hamelin of his dastardly Gepetto posession, and if by any

chance that didn't work, there was always Ophanimon. They could play a game of cat and mouse, but that was harly a good idea. They had to take advantage of actually having this guy alone, here and now, without Giygas. Wasting not a moment, Yana held her digivice and pointed it at her partner, "Gatomon Shinka... Angewomon!", she digivolved in a sudden burst of light, and before Yana could even see it, her partner beat her wings and blitzed over to where Gepetto and Oceanis were, not letting them out of their sight.

"It's over, Gepetto.", Angewomon would say, hovering a meter in the air, blocking his passage, while Yana remained out of sight, for now...

Hamelin Herriot

[Hamelin Herriot]

It seemed Gepetto wouldn't have to wait long at all before something happened. As he and Oceanis walked through an alleyway (if shuch a thing exists in Tecton), Angewoman of all digimon would appear before them, cutting off his route. Furthermore, the Angewomen recognized Gepetto. That alone gave Oceanis pause when he recognized the digimon.

"Ari?" He had seen her take that form before, when they were seeking out the Shamamon. Gepetto on the other hand smiled. "Well well, look what we have here. About time one of you showed up." He didn't seem the least bit worried as he looked around. "Tell me, where are the others? No doubt that Yana girl's with you. You wouldn't be here otherwise? What about Sebastion? Or has he once again proven to be a big disappointment." he chuckled coldly. Oceanis looked back and forth between the two, confused. Gepetto had expected Ari to be here? Why? Even if Oceanis wanted to (which he really didn't), there was no way he could take her on.

Yana Sekigawa

[Yana Sekigawa]

"Don't talk to him... Ari...", Yana would whisper from her hiding place, fully aware of what kind of data Gepetto was

Once Angewomon stood in his path, Gepetto did the only thing he knew how: Talk and act cocky. He was a weakling who needed other's bodies to do anything, but even through his wannabe menacing words, she knew exactly what he wanted. To provoke her, to goad her into engaging in conversation, anything he could to buy time, hoping Giygas would come in and save him. But Ari knew better than to play his game:

"As much as I'd love to chit chat with you... I'd rather your new friend didn't crash our reunion, wouldn't you agree~?", Ari would point out with an almost mocking smirk, she had obviously waited very long for the chance to cleanse the innocent tamer of the parasite using his body like a meat suit.

Even now she still hadn't forgotten. Her hands were soaked with innocent blood, that of the Digimon beside this corrupted tamer. She had taken his life, with both Ari and Yana believing the Digimon to be evil, not once considering there might be a third party pulling the strings from within. Without warning, she'd beat her wings and manouver to Gepetto's back with the full extent of her ultimate level speed, grabbing him by the nape of teh neck, flooding him with holy, purifying light.

SPOILER: Click to show

The process would be excruciatingly painful for Gepetto's data - since it was effectively killing him - but harmless for his host, who would likely just fall unconscious for a while before waking up. Ari would crouch beside the boy and smile, hoisting him up in her loving arms:

"You're free now.", she'd whispered, gently petting his hair, "Sorry we made you wait so long."


Hamelin Herriot

[Hamelin Herriot]

Gepetto let out a small, sinister chuckle when Ari mentioned Giygas. Oh, she didn't have to worry about him. He wasn't going to turn up to this little party. It was amusing, seeing how confident they were, thinking they had gotten the drop on him. The thing was, he INVITED them here. He didn't need this pitiful body anymore. They could have it. He just couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when his plans came to fruition.

And yes, he would be there to see it.

"I couldn't agree more," he said with a cruel smirk, watching as Angewomon suddenly shot around to behind him. As her hand gripped the back of his neck, he could feel that holy energy surging through him, burning through his data. It hurt like one wouldn't believe. But one thought kept the pain back.

The thought that despite all this, he had still won.

At first it sounded like Gepetto was screaming. But a second would prove to instead be maniacal laughter. Gepetto's twisted laughter echoed out around the place, before slowly dying with the light from Angewomon's purification. Hamelin slumped to the floor, like a puppet with his strings cut. Oceanis looked on in shock. "Hamelin!"

Hamelin just laid there, almost lifeless for a moment. However, he would eventually begin to stir, and as Yana tried to pull him into her arms, the frail boy curled up into a tight ball.

"Why..." he whimpered, "Why...did you do that?"

Yana Sekigawa

[Yana Sekigawa]

It was over... In a flash of light Angewomon's purifying power cleansed the evil being known as Gepetto from within his host's body, finally putting an end to his menace and allowing tamer and digimon to be peacefully reuinited. At that point, both Yana and Ari alike felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off their chests, rectifying one of the gravest mistakes they had commited ever since entering the digital world.

Yana finally approached from her hiding place, certain there was now no danger of her getting in the way of Ari's fight and allowing Gepetto to escape again. She walked over besides Oceanis, who like Ari loomed over the tamer as he slowly regained conscience. But she was visibly startled by the first words he spoke: "W-what...? I'm sorry we let you be posessed, b-but... We still had to save you...!""

"Calm down Hamelin...", Ari urged, petting the boy's hair with a slightly better idea what he was talking about, "What did he do?"

Gepetto had gotten way too careless for a paranoid little weakling. Ari would still have cleansed this boy regardless, not willing to risk him baiting Giygas to that place. But assuming he had nothing planned would be stupid. He planned to take that secret with him to his grave, but maybe this poor tamer would know something.

Hamelin Herriot

[Hamelin Herriot]

Oceanis looked the two women and his tamer. So this was his true tamer? The boy remained curled up in a ball as Ari and Yana tried to comfort him. He had heard the guy was on the meek side, and who knows what the hell Gepetto had put him through. But then Hamelin's next words shocked him, and would no doubt shock Yana and Ari too.

"I didn't ask to be saved..."

Oceanis' eyes widened as Hamelin curled up tighter, trembling. "I...I had a reason. A purpose. I was useless as a tamer. I couldn't even protect my own digimon. At least when Gepetto was using my body, I was of use to someone..." He then seemed to relax, or rather, fall limp. "But I guess I wasn't any good at that either...that's why he gave me up. That's why he called you two here..."

Oceanis slowly stepped toward Hamelin. "Hamelin...In the Dark Area...What was Gepetto doing?"

Hamelin slowly turned his head, allowing his partner to see his eyes. "He...he infused his own essence into the water. He plans...he plans to turn himself into a living plague. Infect other digimon, multiple digimon..." He curled up tighter, [color[blue]"You didn't stop anything. He's pretty much won. He handed me over to you as some sort of consolation prize. I'm sorry you got cheated..."[/color]

Yana Sekigawa