Hello there. Okay, thank you for the amazing reviews on the first chapter. I really appreciate the reviews I've gotten and hope you lovely amazing people keep reading with how hard I'm trying for this story. This chapter focuses on the digimon and I've tried to give them all their individual personalities which was not easy, given the show didn't give them all that much.
Chapter 02: Loss of Spirit
Agumon couldn't believe they had all gotten separated from one another as he ran from a dark digimon. None of them knew who this enemy was and where he had come from but he had struck terror within the digital world as had never been seen before and many digimon had been captured under it already. It called itself The Hollow and looked neither human nor digimon in appearance. Word was going around that it wanted Omnimon and Imperialdramon under it's control, so the twelve chosen digimon had tried to keep Agumon, Gabumon, Veemon and Wormmon well-hidden although that idea quickly went down the drain when a willing minion of The Hollow, HiMachineDramon levelled the whole city leading them to scatter.
Agumon was currently being chased by Chrysalimon and Dracmon although he knew he stood no chance against Chrysalimon without digivolving. Tai where are you? Things had gone downhill in the digital world and were worse than they had ever been. Even their former allies had turned against them in fear of going against The Hollow so all the twelve Chosen digimon had was each other and now even they had been separated. However, the yellow dinosaur could no longer run, his legs giving away as he collapsed to the ground. Even if he had the strength, was there any point in continuing to fight? Without his human partner, he was an easy target.
I have to get up. I have to get up or I'll be captured by them and if Gabumon and I are captured...then the Digital World is doomed. With these thoughts in mind, Agumon tried to force his legs to work and to stand up and fight but before he could, fangs sunk into the side of his neck and he cried out, trying to throw Dracmon off but didn't have the strength as he felt digital blood seeping from his wound. His vision swam before his eyes before everything went black.
"Gabumon help me!" Biyomon cried as she was grabbed by BlackGrowlmon and squirmed but soon fell limp due to another digimon that had come forward. Gabumon and Biyomon had been together but they had somewhat scattered. When Biyomon was captured though, Gabumon had heard her cries but not gone out to help. He was hidden in a small cave and it was only a matter of time before he knew he would be found. Biyomon's screams hurt and he knew as her friend, he should go and help her but there was nothing he could do.
If he went out there to help and he got caught, it would be worse than Biyomon getting caught. Even with this logical explanation, his heart wavered but he pushed it aside. His friend would forgive him and understand. He moved deeper into the cave, his heart still trembling at the thought that he had been there and he should have helped but he hadn't.
So much for being the Digimon of Friendship A voice taunted in his head that sounded way too much like Matt for his liking. His heart sunk even more. What would Matt have said if he knew that he had abandoned one of his dear friends and the partner of Matt's girlfriend, just so he wouldn't be hurt or captured as well?
He knew it was wrong but he had been scared - he hadn't wanted to be captured and used against his own home? He didn't want to be used like a toy because if this Hollow got its hands on him, there would be no mercy. Biyomon and the others may survive but he knew he definitely would not and that was a fact that even Matt wouldn't deny if he ever came to this world.
Biyomon sunk to her knees in a dark, dim-lit dungeon with only one candle lighting up the entire room. Tears fell down her cheeks. Gabumon hadn't gotten that far from her had he? She wished he had come to save her because she had been terrified when BlackGrowlmon had gotten a hold of her. They had all gotten separated but they all still cared about each other right? She didn't know anymore because back then, she had a feeling Gabumon wasn't too far and still he hadn't saved her and what she didn't understand was why?
I thought we all loved each other...but first we split up and now we're not even helping each other...I don't understand...have we drifted that far apart? Her eyes welled up with tears and for not the first time, she found herself missing Sora more than anything because she knew if her partner was here, there was no way she'd ever abandon her, no matter how scared of the consequences she was.
Her heart hurt at the thought that she was all alone. None of the other digimon cared - there was nothing she had left now and it hurt. Burying her head in her feathers, she silently began to cry, weary not to make too much noise because she knew she would not be shown mercy, none so at all.
Gomamon pulled his head out of the water, shivering a small bit. He knew he should have lead the others to this and he might have if this much chaos hadn't broken out but right now, going and looking for them was suicide and besides, once he reached Joe, he'd be able to work things out. He always had come through for him before even when things appeared to be too hopeless and he hoped it would be the same now. He wasn't the Digimon of Hope but he had to believe right now. He couldn't help the others if he didn't survive first. Slowly, he swam deeper and deeper until he found it. It was a small glowing object which had the symbol of Miracles on it. Somehow, he had a feeling that this would lead him to his friend.
Am I being selfish going on my own? I should find the others...make sure they're safe...but is there a point? I can't really save them anymore not on my own...gosh I sound as pessimistic as Joe. But with the situation...man I don't even know what I want. I'm tired of running though and I just want to sleep. Joe and the others can figure something out.
With that thought last in his mind, he grabbed hold of the crest or at least that was what it looked like and the whole ocean lit up. Gomamon could hear the sound of a voice singing...a female voice that almost sounded soothing. That was the last thing he heard before the ocean disappeared from his sight and he fell through, landing on something hard.
"Gomamon?!" Joe's panicked voice instantly put the little rookie at ease and relaxed that he was in safe hands now, he passed out.
Palmon didn't know whether she was lucky or unlucky although she did know one thing and that was the fact that she was definitely doing a lot better than her friends were. She had seen Biyomon and Agumon being dragged in and while her heart bled for her friends, she knew if she spoke up, she'd meet the same fate and then she would be useless to them. She didn't like this at all though.
Whilst she had managed to gather a perfect disguise with help from Monzaemon that made her hard to be recognised because she looked like her evil counterpart Aruraumon, who was known to be follower of evil digimon before them such as Daemon so she fit in perfectly. The plant digimon had managed to get in on a good note with The Hollow, no matter how much her entire body trembled anytime she was in the same room with him. The darkness in that creature made her feel as if she were being crushed and she could no longer find a way out of it.
However, as she saw Agumon being beaten by other digimon that were much bigger and stronger, she wanted to rush out and save him but held herself back, turning her head away. Her friend's screams were painful to hear and it was hard not to tremble at his pain but there was nothing she could do. Her wants would have to wait because her dying would not help anyone. Her eyes welled up with tears but she quickly pushed them aside as she was called inside the main room by The Hollow. A black cloak around his shoulders, purple claw-like hands and two round yellow eyes were all that could be seen of the creature.
"Yes Master?" Palmon said, attempting to keep her voice chipper which admittedly took a lot of effort.
"Bring me Agumon," A cold voice spoke. "I may not have Gabumon but I can start experimenting on the first half of what makes Omnimon. He'll be broken enough by now."
A chill ran down Palmon's spine but she managed a nod. "Consider it done." Forgive me, Agumon.
Tentomon coughed as he was thrown roughly into the cage next to Biyomon and did not struggle at first. He knew he had taken a leaf out of Agumon's book and been impulsive but how could he not? Saving your friends was logical wasn't it? He didn't know anymore but all he had done was rush at the enemy without thinking of the consequences. He knew it wasn't smart but what was the smart thing to do? Let your friends get captured? He didn't know what to believe anymore.
Izzy what would you have done? Would you have saved yourself so you could come up with a smarter plan to help all your friends? Or would you have acted in the same manner as me?
Even though he had been caught, what worried him more was Agumon being caught especially when one of The Hollow's minions Aruraumon appeared carrying an obviously weakened Agumon back outside somewhere. This worried him. What were they going to do with Agumon? He forced himself up, sending his attack at the bars of the cage but it had no effect and just fizzled out into the floor, causing him to sigh. He should have expected it. What had happened to his brain? It was as if something was blocking his ability and he had no idea what to do about that. He hoped those of them who hadn't been caught wouldn't be because otherwise they may never get out of this...
"Patamon!" Gatomon cried, kneeling besides her hamster like friend as he suddenly collapsed, beginning to let out whimpering noises. Unsure of what to do without getting them caught, she simply pulled her friend into her arms. "Pata? Pata, what is it?"
Patamon coughed, whimpering. "I feel like someone is shredding my heart...it hurts Gatomon, I want TK..."
Shredding his heart? That made no sense...
A painful scream left Patamon as he thrashed around, as if something invisible were choking him. He gasped, struggling to breath even as evil digimon surrounded them. Gatomon's eyes widened and she picked Patamon up, beginning to run so they both wouldn't be captured but a laser attack shot at them causing the orange hamster to go flying out of her arms. The feline digimon let out a sound of frustration, wishing she could just become Angewomon and push all these evil digimon away.
"Give up, Gatomon," A very familiar voice said and Gatomon froze. No way, it couldn't be - why was he attacking them? She turned, her eyes beginning to narrow as she realised it was. In a blue robe that was much different to the white one he usually wore, standing before her was Gennai. The look in his eyes was not his warm, friendly one that they had seen before.
"I-I don't understand," Gatomon stammered even as Patamon let out another moan of pain. "I thought we were allies." Her eyes drifted to the Centarumon next to Gennai and realised he did not look like his normal friendly self either.
"Not anymore, Gatomon," Gennai said somberly. "I'm afraid Hope has turned into Despair and the Chosen digimon right now are the biggest threat to The Hollow. Thus, your journey ends here." Before Gatomon could even move to defend herself, Gennai threw disc-like objects at the ground, which exploded.
"No!" Gatomon attempted to run to Patamon and barely managed to push him out of the way, otherwise that disk would have turned them both into bits of data. I can't believe it. Gennai...betraying us? Betraying the DigiDestined? If Gennai can betray us, does that mean our human partners can as well? She didn't want to believe it - but she couldn't believe a dear friend such as Gennai who had always tried to help them so much had just tried to kill them. She didn't know - she didn't understand - was anything real? Before she could ponder on this too much though, Gennai seemed to have realised her and Patamon were alive. That was when she realised.
In order to survive, she couldn't stop holding herself back. Patamon was in pain and their partners weren't going to come to their rescue this time - they were on their own, no she was on her own. Patamon was useless in this condition - if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. That was the principal she had lived by before she had met Kari and it seemed she would have to go back to that again if she wanted to survive. Pushing back all emotions, her gaze hardened, a dark aura beginning to flicker as she lunged with claws out, slicing through Centarumon's data as if it were nothing. Centarumon's data flickered out and Gatomon turned to glower at Gennai.
"Do you want to be next?" A cold, almost foreign voice left Gatomon's lips that even she, herself didn't recognise. It seemed as if Gennai got the message though and vanished from there.
Veemon winced as the cold, hard whip bore down his back and could feel the digital blood seeping through and he coughed. He and Wormmon had been captured by some unfriendly digimon who wanted to gain a good name with The Hollow and right now, pain surged through him and he was screaming as if he never had before. He wanted to dedigivolve and be in Davis's warm embrace, protected from the cruelties of these evil digimon who only wanted to break them before sending them to The Hollow to gain their rewards in return.
When had the digital world become so selfish? Digimon that were meant to be their friends had even turned their back on them. The Hollow was gaining more and more support day by day with the fear it was inflicting in the hearts of the digimon. Had courage completely died from this world? The meaning of loyalty to a friend, was it really completely shattered? It had been so easy to shatter. If Davis was in this world and he saw the condition, would he have switched sides too?
No, never. Davis would never abandon me, no matter what.
He felt bad for even doubting his friend as he breathed raggedly but wished the torture would stop because he wanted to check on Wormmon. While he had been treated horribly and his normally blue body right now was so red with digital blood that his form was hardly recognisable, Wormmon had it much worse because he was considered a 'traitor' who had helped bring the Digimon Emperor down and was punished much worse for that.
His own eyes closed as he was thrown back roughly to the ground and managed to grab his small crate of water which wasn't much and took a tiny sip from it before shifting over to Wormmon, whose data was flickering and his eyes were opening and closing.
"Wormmon," Veemon managed, his own voice hoarse and tired from the beating he had endured. "Please...have this water."
Wormmon lay on the cold dungeon grounds, digital blood coating his tiny body as he let out shaky breaths. He had never before cared if the digital world - or at the very least dark digimon considered him a 'traitor' amongst them and never regretted helping Ken find his way back to the light through his sacrifice. But being thrown around now by these dark digimon made him wonder how much longer he would survive. He had accepted being pushed around by Ken because in order to guide him, he needed to be by his side. But...being pushed around constantly like this seemed to be a part of his life now.
Ken had been cruel but he hadn't starved him or taken away his main needs. He would provide him with food and water...despite constantly beating on him. How these digimon could be so heartless was beyond him just because he was labeled as the traitor. They feed on your helplessness because they know you won't go anywhere. Ken did as well. He knew he could hurt you and you would never leave. Kindness is only an illusion...Ken still knows, even if he goes back to being the Digimon Emperor, he can treat you however he wants.
No! That wasn't true. Ken wasn't that person anymore and he had never meant to hurt him. He knew that. Ken was very kind and considerate to him but if he is, then why hasn't he felt anything? Why hadn't he felt that Wormmon was in danger and come to save him? If he cared so much, where was he? Why wasn't he here? If he cared enough, he should have found a way to open the portal and see the hell that the digital world had become. He should have gathered him in his arms and stood tall against The Hollow who had made all their lives miserable.
His thoughts were distracted as a very weak Veemon only took a tiny sip from his own crate of water and handed the rest to him. He didn't understand...why was Veemon being so kind? Was this kindness an illusion as well? He didn't know but he drank down all the water, because it would give him the strength to go on just a little longer.
Armadillomon whimpered, burying himself further under the ground. He couldn't dig as well as Digmon could but he just wanted these evil digimon to stay away. He wasn't as brave as Veemon, or as hopeful as Patamon, or as resourceful as Gatomon. He didn't even have Hawkmon's ability to remain calm in harsh situations or Wormmon's opinion that kindness would get them through even the darkest of times. He wasn't like his friends - he wasn't good enough to stand tall against the enemy, without Cody at least.
All he was and all he had always been was the comic relief, the one to crack a joke when things became dark, the one to lighten the mood when fights broke out between members. But now when they were all separated, he was at a loss of what he could do so he had dug a hole and buried himself underground, covering it from the top so no one would ever find him. It was cowardice but he had no idea where his friends had gone off to and even if he did, he probably would get himself and them into more trouble.
Cody please come soon...I'm useless without you.
Lunamon was not one of the DigiDestined digimon, at least not one of the main twelve. However, being the digivolved partner of Noriko Kawada, she felt it her duty to do her best to help them as much as she could. Not having much experience with fighting herself, she had the skill of being able to blend within crowds without creating too much chaos. It was how she had survived this far and how she had managed to bring an ill Hawkmon to her hideout within the bushes.
Being a natural caretaker, she tended to him as he seemed to have caught a common cold possibly from running around in this scorching heat. She didn't know if Noriko would ever find her way to the digital world but even if she didn't, she herself wanted to be of some help to the Chosen digimon. Laying Hawkmon by the fire, she silently ate some fruits as he coughed in his sleep and wondered if she would wake him so he could eat something, take some herbs to make him feel better and then go back to resting. Thinking this was a good idea, she moved to his side and gently shook him.
"Hey, wake up," Lunamon said gently and Hawkmon opened his eyes, cheeks flushed and coughing weakly.
"H-hey...where am I?" Hawkmon asked, trying to sit up but was unable to due to limited strength.
"I found you in the dessert," Lunamon admitted. "You're one of the chosen digimon aren't you? Yolei Inoue's partner if I remember correctly?"
Hawkmon's eyes seemed to dull a bit. "I guess...I used to be back then...I'm not sure what I am anymore, other than a target to be used..."
Lunamon's heart clenched seeing the helplessness in his eyes and wished there was something she could do but she pushed the thought aside. It wasn't right for him to lose faith in his human partner like this. She may have barely known Noriko but she believed her partner would come and she knew they weren't as close as Yolei and Hawkmon were, because those two had shared an adventure together. If he wasn't sick, she might have hit him for sounding so hopeless but even now, her eyes narrowed sternly.
"How can you lose faith in your partner like that?" Lunamon said harshly, ignoring the voice in her head that said she was coming on too strong for a digimon that was sick and probably very tired. Sometimes, a little tough love was needed. "Has Yolei ever abandoned you before? If she hasn't, why do you think she would now?"
"What else am I supposed to think?" Hawkmon said, looking away so Lunamon wouldn't see his eyes water slightly. "Whenever I was in trouble before, she'd come to my aid right away...now it's been four whole months since The Hollow started wreaking havoc and there's no sign of Yolei. There's no sign of anyone of them...why? How am I supposed to believe in anything anymore?"
Lunamon sighed, rolling her eyes at the bird digimon missing the obvious. "Have you ever thought maybe she can't get here? Maybe she wants to more than anything but the person who guided them to the digital world or at least assisted them there is no longer on their side. Have you and the chosen digimon been sleeping this entire time?!" Her voice had raised without meaning to but she hated a defeatist attitude. Heck, she hadn't even fought a real battle with Noriko yet and still she believed if they worked together, they would stand somewhat of a chance against this creep. But not alone. Her and Noriko weren't nearly experienced enough to be able to even survive a battle alone but working with the other twelve DigiDestined, she felt they stood a chance.
Hawkmon winced at her tone, holding his head. "W-what are you talking about? I-I really have no idea."
This did surprise Lunamon and she sighed. No wonder he felt so hopeless.
"Sorry..." Lunamon murmured. "I thought you of all digimon would know that Gennai and his counterparts are no longer our allies. They're working with The Hollow." She had been devastated when she had found this out but if the Chosen Twelve didn't know about this, it's no wonder they felt helpless against whatever was happening.
"W-what?!" Hawkmon cried. "Are you sure about this Lunamon? Why would Gennai betray us?"
Lunamon shook her head sadly. "I'm not sure. That's a question even I can't answer. Either way, you need to restore your energy." She passed him a crate of fruits. "Have some of these so I can give you some herbal medicine to help you recover from your cold...I'm sorry I was so harsh. I thought you guys already knew." Guilt seeped inside her but she pushed it aside, passing over the crate to Hawkmon who managed a nod, slowly beginning to nibble on the fruit. After a few minutes of nibbling, Hawkmon sent Lunamon a grateful smile.
"Thank you," Hawkmon said softly.
Lunamon smiled. "My pleasure."
