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Chapter 4:

Undercover Work

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           Rukan woke from his unconscious stupor in a gasp expecting to find himself in the grasp of the spider queen but finding himself in his room. It was already dark outside and Renamon was resting next to him peacefully. He had no memory of what happened after hitting the wall and figured that Renamon must have taken on the Arukenimon and won.

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           He shook Renamon softly to rouse her and she let out a moan rubbing her eyes and sitting up slowly, "Renamon what happened?"

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           Renamon turned to look at Rukan and smiled warmly hugging him gently, "It doesn't matter right now... Are you alright?"

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           Rukan looked himself over and found he was still in his clothing but the web was gone, "I guess so. Nothing's broken. I think I just got the wind knocked out of me... How did you beat that thing?"

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           Renamon frowned a little and shook her head, "I didn't..."

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           Rukan looked at her serious now, "So it's wandering about the city unchecked now?"

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           The fox digimon shook her head again, "No... I didn't say that. I just said I wasn't the one that took care of it."

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           Rukan quirked a brow obviously confused now, "There is another trainer and digimon out there?"

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           "I think you had better see for yourself. I want to head back to the warehouse and find out exactly what happened myself." Said Renamon slowly getting to her feet and stretching. She turned to Rukan and offered her paw. Rukan took it and Renamon helped him to his feet patting him off a bit as he was covered in dust and grime.

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           Rukan nodded quickly and started to dig through his closet until he found a flashlight and flicked it on to make sure it was working. Getting to his feet once more he turned back to Renamon and picked up his sunglasses, which had been set on the computer desk. They had decided that even if Renamon wasn't the one spotted it would be best that Rukan not be identifiable, which is why he wore the jacket and the glasses.

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           "Alright... We'll search for any information at the warehouse on the new corrupt digimon and whatever happened to them. Will you explain on the way?" Said Rukan softly as he headed to the back door and opened it letting the cool night air in.

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           Renamon nodded and slipped through the door waiting outside as Rukan followed and shut it behind him.

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           "We should take the back ways. It's not late enough yet for the prying eyes to be sleeping." Said Renamon.

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           Rukan nodded in agreement and pointed to the fence at the back of the garden. He was making his way to it already crossing the small bridge over the koi pond. Renamon ducked down at the fence putting her paws together for Rukan to use as a step. He stepped up and she lifted him up high enough to hop the structure and Renamon was quick to follow jumping over it with ease.

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           "Show off." Said Rukan with a smirk

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           Renamon giggled and shrugged a bit guiding Rukan through the darkness so he wouldn't have to use the flashlight until they were in the confines of the warehouse. It would help in preventing them from being spotted.

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           Rukan held to Renamon's paw as they walked through a dark alley, "What happened Rena?"

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           Renamon didn't look back and continued to guide Rukan through the darkness, "I woke up after getting slammed into one of the storage containers. It was a trap from the very beginning. When I woke I found myself caught up in a cocoon of spider silk and had to chew and claw my way out. That stuff tastes nasty by the way."

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           Rukan chuckled a little and nodded, "I don't doubt it. What happened after that?"

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           Renamon paused for a moment peeking out of the alley to make sure the street was clear and seeing that it was rushed across to another alley with Rukan in tow, "I hid and when she found I wasn't bound anymore she sent her servants to look for me in a frenzy."

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           Rukan interrupted quickly at the mention of the spider digimon's servants, "There were more of those dokukumon around? I thought I killed the only one..."

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           Renamon stopped and turned to look at Rukan seriously, "You fought a digimon without me there?"

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           Rukan nodded a bit and shrugged, "It was either fight or be spider food. It was before I knew about their master though. I killed the dokukumon and then she showed up and slammed me into a wall."

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           Renamon nodded and smirked a bit, "I guess you don't need to be protected as much as I thought you did."

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           Rukan shrugged and blushed a little, "It's not like I'm defenseless or anything."

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           Renamon smiled warmly, "Fair enough."

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           They started walking again and remained silent until they reached the last stretch to the warehouse, "I found out that the spider couldn't see well enough to find me and was relying on her hearing and the vibrations from her web lay lines. I used that to my advantage and cut you free from the cocoon but wasn't fast enough to get out of the room."

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           Rukan nodded and frowned a bit, "So what did you do?"

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           Renamon pointed with her free paw at the piece of metal that was bent out of the frame and smirked, "I jumped."

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           Rukan's eyes went wide for a moment, "You did that? Please never jump like that while I'm still conscious... I'll probably faint."

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           Renamon giggled and pulled Rukan down into a crouch behind a trashcan whispering now, "That's when the black cars showed up and the men in suits... They stormed the place and eradicated the digimon inside faster than you or I could have ever hoped to."

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           Rukan frowned deeply at this information, "There are other humans that know about the digimon entering this world and fighting them without partner digimon?"

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           Renamon nodded and furrowed her brow, "I think one of them saw me but I didn't let them have a second look. I ran after that all the way home and that's what happened."

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           Rukan nodded and sighed softly, "And I thought things were complicated already. I have a bad feeling about these men. For now I don't think we can trust them."

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           "I agree. I think we should stay off of their radar screen as I might end up like the digimon in that warehouse." Said Renamon with a frown.

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           They both got up when they were convinced that the coast was clear and made a mad dash for the warehouse but found the door was locked. Rukan turned to Renamon and quirked a brow, "I don't think they want us snooping."

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           Renamon gripped the lock and stuck one of he claws up inside the mechanism trying to pick it. After a few minutes of this Rukan just kicked the rusty metal door busting the hinge and knocking it in.

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           The fox digimon cringed at the loud noise and frowned, "Ya... and now they know we are coming."

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           Rukan shrugged and flicked on his flashlight making the beam point up at his face, "Then lets go say hi."

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           Renamon shook her head and sighed smiling nonetheless. She walked in after Rukan following him closely as they investigated the scene. The warehouse was even more ominous in the dark. No trace of the spider digimon ever being here was left and strange red marks were everywhere. It looked like someone had paintballed the place.

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About halfway through searching the entire ground floor Rukan stopped and shook his head, "What did you say they used to kill the digimon?"

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           Renamon frowned and shook her head, "Guns... I heard silenced guns. But there are no bullet holes anywhere. Just these red dots."

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           Rukan nodded and shined his flashlight on one of the red dots getting a closer look. He touched it and found that it was some sort of powder. He rubbed a bit of it away and found a computer chip with its teeth stuck into the crate, "Renamon check this out."

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           The vulpine crouched down to get a closer look and knew that their worst fears were just confirmed. Not only did the men know about digimon and that they were pouring into this world but they knew how to fight them efficiently, "My guess is a digimon destructive program is on those chips."

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           Rukan nodded and furrowed his brow taking one of his tontos out and pried the chip out of the crate holding it in his palm, "I have a friend that might be able to help on this one. He's a computer wiz and I'm sure he could tell us exactly what's on this thing. For now I think the sound you heard wasn't silenced guns. I think it was compressed gas powered weapons. These things are encased in something with that red powder as cushioning and probably has anti static qualities so they don't end up with a dud... Whoever is doing this knows their stuff and has a lot of money to spend."

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           Renamon nodded backing away from the chip and feeling rather uncomfortable now that they found out what the red marks were, "You think this has anything to do with the corrupt data digimon that have been coming through lately?"

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           Rukan shook his head and put the chip into his pocket grabbing a few more of the chips just in case one of them didn't work, "I'm not sure... But it's possible that the men that did this know something about it. We might be able to find something out about all of this from the coding on these microchips. I'll have Taka look at these on Monday... I think we should get out of here though. Someone surely heard me kick in that door."

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           Renamon nodded and folded her arms in front of herself very uncomfortable to be surrounded by so many little things that could kill her if she was hit with only one. She turned wanting to leave this place as soon as possible when she heard movement and men talking to each other.

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           Rukan heard it to and dropped into a crouch motioning Renamon to follow him and he snuck around one of the containers ducking down behind a stack of boxes. He quickly turned the top of his metal flashlight to turn it off and began to hold it like a club in case they were found.

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           "Are you sure you saw another digimon here earlier Mr. Sano?" Said one of the men.

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           "Yes I'm sure. I saw it on the roof next door. I think it jumped through the hole on the second floor." Replied a second voice.

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           "Mr. Yamaki look at this!" shouted a third voice.

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           Rukan frowned deeply at the fact that he now knew they were outnumbered and the excitement in the third man's voice was not promising.

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           "Footprints. One looks like a boy and the other looks... well it looks like a large bipedal animal. Kind of like a fox." Said the voice they now knew as Mr. Sano.

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           "Find them! I want them both alive!" Shouted Yamaki.

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           "I don't know sir. What if this is kitsune magic? Maybe we should get out of here." Said the third voice.

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           "Get a grip on yourself Hatori! This is no time for your stupid superstitions! Find them now before they get away with anything!" Shouted Yamaki in response.

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           Rukan turned to Renamon and looked her in the eyes with a frown. He peeked around the boxes and saw one of the three men making his way to the stack of boxes with a small handgun. He looked closer and saw a compressed gas chamber attached to the grip and found that his suspicions were correct. They were using compressed gas powered weapons to deliver the chips. The man himself was dressed in a black suit and was wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes. It looked exactly like Renamon's description of the men that stormed the building earlier that day.

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           Renamon used her link to Rukan to speak directly to his mind, "How are we going to get out of here?"

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           Rukan turned to look at her and lifted the flashlight pointing to the stack of boxes across a gap where anyone crossing could be seen easily. Then offered the flashlight to Renamon after taping himself on the head so she got the picture. She nodded and took the flashlight as Rukan got into position for the dash. He peeked once more through a crack in the boxes to make sure he was within sight range before running across the gap quickly making his jacket flare out to confuse the man as to what and how big Rukan was in the dim light.

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           The man ran with his gun out in front of him quickly turning the corner and pointing his gun and flashlight at Rukan who waved and winked behind his glasses as Renamon clubbed him over the head with the flashlight knocking him out quickly.

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           The noise of the running and the man hitting the ground would bring the other two men quickly so Rukan ran to the fallen man and took his weapon thinking that it might be helpful later. The chips he had were badly damaged from their impacts with solid things and the ones still in their packaging would work a lot better.

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           Rukan looked quickly for a place to run to and found a ladder to the second floor nearby. He pointed to it so Renamon could see and carefully made his way silently to the thing and began to climb it with Renamon in tow.

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They had just reached the second floor as Yamaki started shouting again, "They knocked him out and took his weapon Sano! I'm sure I don't have to explain to you how bad it would be if they got away with that gun do I!? FIND THEM NOW AND BE CAREFUL!"

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Rukan heard the man running below and his heart sunk as he heard the reply, "They are still leaving footprints sir! They are on the second floor!"

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"Then go get them Sano! We don't have time for this!" shouted Yamaki in return.

Rukan looked to Renamon and frowned a bit nodding his head to the opening in the wall and whispered, "Get out of here. They can kill you while they can't do anything to me."

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Renamon frowned and shook her head replying in his mind, "I can't leave you behind with them Rukan. You're coming with me."

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Rukan sighed and shook his head, "I'll be right behind you. Get out of here now."

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Renamon bit her lip and nodded heading to the opening but paused for a moment and looked back at Rukan. He looked back and waved her through turning back around as she leapt from the building.

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Rukan cocked the gun to make sure it was ready to fire and crouched low getting into a position where he could see the two men scramble up the ladder and run to the opening in the wall. Rukan didn't hear any shots so he figured Renamon was already out of the area and probably back home by now.

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The young Hisashi closed his eyes and started taking deep breaths to calm his racing heart. Renamon had left with the flashlight so he would have to use the men's light as his guide to their position.

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"I think they got away..." Said Sano.

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"One of them did... Look at the footprints. It was the digimon. These two are smart. They know we can kill the creature with the guns but not the human. Find the kid and bring him to me! Lose him and I swear your job is gone Mr. Sano!" Screamed Yamaki in a shrill voice, which made Rukan smirk. He now knew he was wearing on them and an angry opponent made mistakes.

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"Switch to night vision and keep quiet from now on..." Added Yamaki and Rukan's heart sank. Those glasses apparently were more high tech than Rukan thought. Now the only way to find out where the men were was by sound and if he saw the red light on the glasses he knew he was spotted.

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Rukan began to make his way across the catwalk his eyes adjusting to the darkness still. On the other side the men could be heard even though they tried to quiet their steps their shoes were hard soled and the catwalk was metal. Rukan had the advantage with the rubber sole.

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Once reaching the other side he held his breath for a moment pushing his back up against a console still keeping himself hidden. One of them men had gone back down to the first floor while the other was rounding the corner and crossing the section Rukan had just crossed. Rukan took a deep breath and peeked quickly around the corner seeing the man was heading his way and a crane hook dangled from a chain attached to the ceiling tracks.

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Rukan peeked up at the console and realized that it was the crane controls and it still had power. He quickly hit a few buttons hoping that it would make the crane knock the man off the bridge. The sound of a machine groaning to life after years of dormancy filled the warehouse as the crane moved along the tracks and Sano yelped in surprise. The heavy chain and hook hit him squarely and knocked him from the second floor onto a crate where he lay motionless.

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"Damnit!" Shouted Yamaki and Rukan froze, as the voice was right below him, "Whoever you are kid I'm going to find you and your parents aren't ever going to see you again! Helping that digital parasite already shows that you know far too much for me to let you go."

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Rukan frowned at the man's attempts to scare him and he didn't reply. He knew the man was trying to flush him out with fear or hoping that Rukan would call out like an arrogant child. Instead he remained where he was sweating and desperately trying to hold his deep, even breaths.

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"Make it easier on yourself kid and just show yourself. That way I won't have to use this tazer on you." Shouted Yamaki again now appearing to be halfway across the warehouse.

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Rukan doubted that Yamaki actually had a tazer but to play things safe he figured he would rather not find out. Yamaki was actually giving him important information. His attitude towards Renamon confirmed that they were definitely not the good guys in this case and they weren't helping with the elimination of the rouge digimon, they were simply eliminating all digimon.

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Yamaki went silent and Rukan couldn't hear footsteps anymore because the crane was so loud. He had to take a chance now and run for it. Stuffing the gun into one of his pockets he got to his feet, ran for the nearest ladder and slid down quickly. The moonlight was pouring through the open warehouse door and it seemed he was home free but as he burst through to the brighter street he hear the pang of one of the gas powered weapons and yelped as a chip stuck into his neck.

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Rukan spun away from the shot and fell back to see the blond haired man standing over him. He reached down and picked Rukan up by the collar lifting him up so he was eye level, "Somehow you managed to take out two of my best agents, one of them by yourself."

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Rukan reached up and pulled the chip out of his neck quickly and smirked, "Those clowns were the best you could do? I guess good help really is hard to find these days."

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Yamaki frowned and dropped Rukan giving him a kick to the side of the face that actually knocked a tooth out and knocked his sunglasses from his face.

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Rukan turned with the kick so Yamaki couldn't see his face and scrambled to grab the glasses and put them back on while he spit the molar out with a frown, "You got a temper problem there mister..." Rukan started to get to his feet but Yamaki pushed him down with the heel of his shoe on Rukan's chest.

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"You're not going anywhere without me kid. Lie down and rest a bit. My men will be here to pick us up real soon." Said Yamaki with a smirk.

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Rukan didn't have time to wait and see if Yamaki was bluffing. He quickly reached into his pocket and drew the gun firing three shots at Yamaki's crotch and thighs. Yamaki yelped as the chips embedded themselves in the sensitive areas and he collapsed. Rukan leapt to his feet and started to run away but stopped and turned back.

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He walked up to the man now in the fetal position and kicked him in the face with a frown, "That's for knocking out my tooth." Yamaki stopped moving after the kick and went limp. He was still breathing so Rukan guessed he was knocked out from the cumulative pain.

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With a sigh Rukan turned and left the warehouse rubbing his swollen jaw while his other hand covered the wound in his neck. He had no idea how he was going to explain this all to Renamon in a way that would make it sound like she made the right choice in leaving him behind.