DemiDevimon had been watching the Children for a while now, ever since Courage had vanished. He'd managed to stay out of sight, barely escaping the suspicious eye of Love and her Biyomon. In fact, he was certain that was the reason she'd split away, sneaking off in the middle of the night and almost walking on top of him if he hadn't found a cactus with rubber spikes to land on.
It was when she was gone, possibly looking for him in all the wrong places, that he was able to finally notice. The way Knowledge pined, well, spent more time on his laptop pretending to do something, usually writing letters to Courage that were quickly deleted. The way Sincerity huddled closer to Friendship, sparking the jealous ire of Hope. And especially the way Reliability suddenly began to refuse to make eye contact with Friendship, the way he suddenly blushed at every interaction they shared.
So he continued to watch, intrigued by the way these Children, children like himself he began to realize, buried themselves under their own fears of each other.
One night, as he huddled into a desert flower to hide from the scout-bat that flew terrifyingly close above him, he listened more than he watched the conversation between Reliability and Sincerity.
"All this walking is killing my feet," came the voice he'd come to associate with Sincerity, the whine sounding much like his own when he was told to feed the bats. "I wish Matt wasn't being such a butt about this 'leader' thing."
"He's doing the best he can, Mimi," Reliability reassured, sounding exhausted himself. "None of us are sure what happened to Tai."
"I know but..." The sound of Sincerity flopping back on sand and the noise she made when she realized what she'd done. "Can't we walk around, like, a mall or something? Anything but a desert for the tenth time?"
"There are no malls in the Digital World," Reliability sighed. "Besides, for all we know, Server is nothing but desert."
"Noo..." Sincerity whined. "I can't take this anymore!" She started pounding her fists in the sand. "Palmon is wilting! There's no water for her, and I'm worried..."
"Oh, you're... you're worried about Palmon's health?"
"Of course!" Sincerity's voice took on a dreamy tone. "If we were in a mall, Palmon could play in the fountains and we could go to the food court and get her ice cream and slushies! I wouldn't have to reach over and feel her petals crinkle and see her plant-feelers droop..."
"Look, uh... Sora already left, you know... I'm not suggesting anything but, if you wanted to take Palmon and find her some shade... I mean, Matt's not going to stop looking no matter where he takes us."
"I don't want everyone to think I've abandoned them, though..." Sincerity was sniffling.
"Once we find Tai and Sora, we'll find you, too. Don't worry, Mimi, it'll be fine."
"If you're sure..."
Reliability made an odd squeak of a noise, and then Sincerity whispered, "Palmon? Wakey, Palmon, we're going to find you something cool to drink."
The next day, Friendship was, understandably, furious.
"You just let her walk away?!"
"Matt, calm down, you're upsetting TK!"
"Damnit, Joe, we're already looking for two people, we can't be split up looking for Mimi, too!"
"Mimi's intelligent, despite her spoiled nature," Knowledge cut in uncomfortably as Hope was sniffling into his side. "She won't wander far, and she'll stay put once she finds a safe place."
"Whatever, let's just go. Mimi can wander off and die like Tai did, for all I care!"
All that accomplished, really, was making Hope sob harder.
"Matt, you're being... insufferable!" Knowledge said sharply, and DemiDevimon watched as he shrunk back under Friendship's glare.
"I'm doing the best I can, Izzy, but it's kind of hard when our night watch lets everyone just up and wader off!"
DemiDevimon watched the hurt flash in Reliability's eyes, and he felt a pain in his chest. He'd carried that own look around for so long, it seemed unfair, almost. He bundled his wings close to his sides and pouted, already plotting and scheming. He wouldn't fail to bring Friendship and Reliability together like he was sure they were destined to be!
It took a few days, and there were several times when Love almost caught him, but DemiDevimon was certain he had succeeded. Sincerity was being taken care of by the Gekomon and Otamamon, and he was sure she would be safe enough. He'd corralled Knowledge into Vademon's dimension, and DemiDevimon was almost completely positive he'd be able to find enough ransom to get him back soon. Reliability seemed more prone to walking off a cliff than into Friendship's arms, so he found his old friend Digitamamon and set to convincing him.
"Why should I hire another cook?" Digitamamon asked, not looking up from his sales log. "Vegiemon is the best I've ever seen. Do you know how hard I had to fight for him? If I fire him, Hades' Kitchen will snap him up in a heartbeat!"
"Don't think of it as hiring another cook, think of it as helping out an old pal," DemiDevimon said. "And if that doesn't do it, think of it as keeping those pictures from reaching the newspapers."
DemiDevimon didn't have any pictures, not of anything to do with the egg monster at least, but saying things like that usually made Digitamamon do whatever he wanted.
"All right, fine. Fine! But you're going to pay me whatever losses I incur over this little 'project' of yours."
"Of course. All I need is for you to find a way to keep him from leaving until I get everything set up."
All that left, now, was to split up Hope and Friendship.
And what a chore that was proving to be...
"But, Matt... I'm tired," Hope was whining. Like he'd whined that morning. Like he'd whined the night before. Like he'd wined since DemiDevimon had first seen the brat!
Even Friendship seemed to be regretting being Hope's "brother", whatever that was. Obviously it was some kind of bond that meant he had to deal with being crawled on and cried at all hours of the day.
DemiDevimon was flying ahead, looking around desperately. They weren't heading anywhere near where Digitamamon's restaurant was, and it was starting to become a pain in his fuzzy little butt. He could see the cold, dark lights of an old amusement park, long since abandoned by the ToyAgumon that used to run it. Something about Monzaemon leaving to run some Toyland on File Island? Whatever had happened, an idea bloomed in his mind, and DemiDevimon flew on as fast as he could.
The area was kind of creepy, completely empty and devoid of any music or noises of happy patrons. He landed on the cobblestone walkways, clicking his talons on the ground as he thought. There should have been a large building somewhere nearby, one that contained the main power supply. His sensitive ear tendrils twitched, trying to make sure everything was in place before the two Children showed up.
"If I was a control room, where would... I... be... Aha!" DemiDevimon leapt into the air with a flurry of wingflaps. There was a large carousel in the dead center of the park and next to that was a large building about the size of an outhouse that constantly made humming and buzzing noises.
The door was heavy, but the lock had almost rusted off in the salty air, so it swung open easily with a Butt Smasher attack. He fluttered, settling on the control panel, and looked at all the brightly colored buttons and levers. He reached out, experimentally tapping each one to see what would happen.
The music started, the carousel whirled, but there were still no lights. And with the sun setting, if they didn't come on soon, Friendship might lead Hope away and ruin his brilliant plan!
"Lights... Lights... Lights..." he hummed to himself, watching as a lever brought up the security cameras to life, black and white screens blinking on one by one. DemiDevimon pouted, jumping to hover above the panel angrily. "I can't let them get away! I... Uh, ew."
There, still attached to a lever, was the bright red of a ToyAgumon's hand. Carefully, he tapped at it with his claws, just in case it was going to leap at him like some horror film. Instead it just jerked, releasing the lever in surprise, and it scurried off into the approaching darkness of the amusement park. DemiDevimon shuddered, but grabbed the lever and pulled.
With great, thunderous bangs, the light came on, one by one, illuminating the park with a glittery, neon glow. Along with the light, lilting music, and the steady hum of machinery, DemiDevimon knew his plan was going to work!