The Failed Pygmalion
-by Ajora Fravashi
-Disclaimer - I do not own Digimon, nor am I in any way linked to Bandai or Toei.
-Note: I've had this idea in the back of my mind ever since first playing Brave Tamer. Thought I might as well indulge. Takes place during the Dark Tamers part of Brave Tamer.
To say that Phantomon had misgivings about this whole thing was an understatement. He'd joined ZiydMillenniumon's forces because the alternative was too dire to consider. Join or be consumed in the evil god's lust for power. That he got the chance to play executioner was only a bonus, and he was good at it. But then there were changes in his master's behavior that became rampant when the Akiyama came along and started repelling their invasion into the past. ZiydMillenniumon soon became distracted from his plot to change the past and build a new Digital World, and took a peculiar sort of delight in watching his troops fall to the Akiyama. Lampmon, in his infinite foolishness, asked aloud what they all thought and was sent to the Akiyama to be killed as punishment. Yet the question remained: what was the nature of the connection between their master and the Akiyama? What was so important that it made ZiydMillenniumon eschew his plan for what amounted to playing with the Akiyama? After the examples made of Lampmon and Zambamon, he joined the others in keeping his mouth shut and head down. He thought it would be enough to save him.
Then, when he was gliding along to deliver a report concerning the rebel forces to one Skull Satamon, another told him to speak directly to their master. A cold dread washed over him, but he made his way to the throne room nonetheless. At either side of the red carpet walkway were rows of massive cylindrical tanks with pulsing, living things sleeping inside them. Many had been digimon who were now gone, victim to their creator's desire to test the Akiyama's defenses. Then there were the human clones, some more organic than others. These he would sneer at when he was sure no one was looking, because their world had no use for humans. As the human clones matured, it became increasingly obvious just how ZiydMillenniumon regarded them. According to a chatty Skull Satamon, their master's human clones were spoken to with more respect than he'd ever used for any digimon. It was... disconcerting, and Phantomon again wondered if he'd chosen the right side.
"Ah. You have arrived." The evil god's voice was cold, and still there was a touch of condescension in it. ZiydMillenniumon hovered above a golden ring, within which was the glow of all the data he had direct access to.
Phantomon bobbed in a respectful bow. "How may I serve, my lord?"
"Come." Without looking to see if Phantomon would obey, ZiydMillenniumon turned and glided off his throne and past the midnight blue curtains that hid what was beyond from view. He shrank effortlessly along the way, as if physical presence was merely a nicety, until he was barely six feet tall.
The room beyond the curtains threatened to turn Phantomon's stomach, or at least what passed as one. Dim blue light limned the smooth, reflective surfaces of glass and steel cloning tanks, and barely highlighted the tiny streams of bubbles in each tank. One tank was apart from the others and held the body of an adult human male. But the others...
Six tanks in all, excluding the one with the man, four of which were still occupied by clones of a single human boy. Phantomon did not recognize them immediately, for their genetic donor was not of the rebel forces he was working to destroy. But there were two out of their tanks, dressed in robes and chained to the back wall for what Phantomon assumed was for their own good. There was no life behind their eyes, or nothing that he recognized as life. They looked for all the world like mannequins sitting on comfortable pillows. ZiydMillenniumon drifted to the one who looked slightly more alive, his claw reaching down to brush the ridiculous-looking forelock from the boy's forehead in a gesture that Phantomon could only define as gentle.
"I did everything I could think of," ZiydMillenniumon began, his voice so distant that Phantomon was sure that he was thinking aloud. "Programmed them with his personality, with his... our history. Tweaked and tinkered to the best of my ability, and still... nothing." The claw stroked the boy's cheek lovingly, making Phantomon's stomach twist as he recognized exactly what ZiydMillenniumon had done. Six clones of the Akiyama! Lampmon had been right all along, there was a deep bond between human and evil god, and Phantomon certainly didn't want to think too deeply about it. Then, to his surprise, the claw rested at the clone's neck, loosely wrapped as if in preparation to strangle it. But no squeeze followed. The great, dreadful, evil god couldn't bring himself to kill his misbegotten experiments himself. "This was a travesty. Ryo deserves better than to be dishonored this way. Destroy them, Phantomon."
Phantomon, being very good at his job, dispatched of them all with quick slices of Soul Chopper. Blood soon coated his scythe and puddled on the floor, where wet glass shards and broken clones fell. Messy, but what did one expect from humans? Phantomon silently shook what he could from the scythe. "I will take this secret to the grave with me, my lord," he stated, as he was not one for gossip. It was better this way, for their master's predilections were none of his business.
The chill coiled and settled heavily within him again as two sets of burning eyes narrowed at him. He inched away as slowly and carefully as he could. "So you will," ZiydMillenniumon said, and the chains that bound his power glowed with a sickly green. Phantomon fled quickly, as fast as he could, but the space closed around him, constricting him, and-
The space around Phantomon squeezed closed, deleting him from existence. ZiydMillenniumon swallowed the data to add it to his own, then looked over the mess left behind. This he eliminated in much the same way that he removed Phantomon. Though it was a great loss, the experiment only confirmed that he could not escape his partnership with Ryo. No roughly-made golem would ever have the soul of the original. It was a sobering thought.