Seductive Shadows
BlackTailmon
XxXXxX
"Puppy Howling!" Takato ordered.
Plotmon complied, releasing a high-pitched scream. Even through his covered ears, it hurt listening to that.
Gabumon X apparently agreed as it replied with a howl of its own; a howl of pain.
"Sledge Dash!" Plotmon cried, following up by plowing right into the larger Digimon. She hit him with enough force to knock him over, leaving her on top of him.
"Petit Punch!" She didn't miss a beat, hitting the Gabumon an instant later.
She immediately bounded away; she didn't want to risk taking a counter attack. Something they'd learnt; Plotmon was weaker then pretty much everyone they would meet in this new world. She could make up for it with Puppy Howling and surprise attacks, but head-on 'fair' fights are impossible.
But they'd had time to perfect this style over the last few weeks. She couldn't do much against Adults, but she could defeat any Child they came across if she played her cards right.
Sure enough, Gabumon finally fell. It had taken a few minutes to wear down the X Digimon, but she'd done it.
Takato walked up behind her after he was sure Gabumon wasn't getting back up.
"Good job, Plotmon." He said with a casual smile, as if they did this every day.
Which, granted, they did.
Plotmon smiled at him, but her smile turned nervous when she glanced at the fallen Gabumon.
"Should I…kill him?" She asked.
It was an issue that made her uncomfortable.
Takato was significantly less uncomfortable with killing people that tried to do the same to him, but he could understand her feelings. He looked closely at Gabumon X.
"He's not going anywhere for now. There's no need to kill a fallen opponent."
It just made more sense than leaving them alive, he didn't say. Besides, if there was one thing he'd noticed, it was that Yggdrasil and his servants were really merciless when it came to X Digimon. If they left the fallen Gabumon here, odds were he wouldn't be getting up.
Takato knew that. And Plotmon did too.
He looked into her eyes, suppressed a sigh, and approached the fallen Gabumon. He picked him up and moved him out of sight.
It was better than nothing.
He moved back to Plotmon's side and looked at her. She smiled beautifully at him and he felt a bit guilty over how much he wanted to tell her to just kill him and take his X-Antibody so she'd be safer.
He tried to change the subject.
"This Gabumon was running from something." He said. "Before he attacked us."
"Yeah." Plotmon said. "I noticed. I smelt something burning, too."
"He came from that direction." Takato said, nodding his head towards the Northeast. "Should we move towards it or away from it?"
Plotmon was silent for a moment, before swallowing.
She began moving forward.
Takato smiled at her, though she couldn't see it.
He followed.
XxXXxX
When he saw what Gabumon was running from, he was significantly less happy.
No, scratch that; he was flat-out pissed off.
It was a village. Emphasis on was.
It was burst, broken, and crushed. There was no one in sight, probably because Digimon don't leave behind corpses.
Takato's hands clinched into fists.
Why?
Suddenly, he felt really grateful towards Plotmon for keeping him from killing Gabumon.
He must have been running from a massacre and thought them servants of Yggdrasil.
After all, Plotmon wasn't an X Digimon.
Takato closed his eyes as his teeth pulled away from his teeth.
But why? Why was Yggdrasil doing this? Takato understood killing those that tried to kill you, but why did Yggdrasil destroy this village?
Takato was well aware that Yggdrasil was a monster, but he'd considered him a calm, logical monster. The Digital World was overpopulated, so he lowered the population. A horrible act, but it was at least logical.
But Takato was well aware that there were no gatherings of X Digimon large enough to populate an entire village. They were hunted down constantly and they had to be on the move at all times.
And even if it was, this wasn't a military base. There were no fortifications, this was not a strategic position, this was…this was…
Takato moved forward, seeing something in the rubble. He shifted through the broken wood and glass as carefully as he could, wincing several times when he cut his hands anyway.
But it was worth it to reveal what was underneath.
A small stuffed doll, the kind owned by a child. One of its arms was torn most of the way off, releasing stuffing. He took it in his hands after a moment.
"Yggdrasil, you bastard." Takato whispered, his hands clenching around it, drops of blood staining the fabric.
Why? Had he destroyed this village just to get at Gabumon or a few other X Digimon? Was that reason enough to kill so many innocents?
What the hell was Yggdrasil doing?
He suddenly noticed Plotmon wasn't by his side and quickly stood up, not releasing the doll.
He suddenly didn't want to let her out of his sight.
He quickly found her sniffing the ground.
"Plotmon, what's wrong?"
"They went that way." She said.
It was the way they'd come.
In the direction they'd left Gabumon.
Takato narrowed his eyes.
"Let's go."
He knew what Yggdrasil was doing. He'd known for awhile, but the knowledge that he was partner-less and powerless always calmed him before he could get worked up.
But after this, he couldn't suppress his anger anymore.
Even if it was stupid…he couldn't change who he was.
He was a Knight. A Protector of the Innocent. A Defender of the Real and Digital Worlds. He was a Tamer. And though he may be a fool, he wasn't a coward.
Yggdrasil was killing innocents.
Nobody got away with that on his watch.
XxXXxX
They arrived just in time.
Yggdrasil's servant, a Mechanorimon, was attacking Gabumon X, who seemed to have woken up. It was obvious who was going to win; Gabumon was fighting a higher level Digimon while still exhausted from his previous fight.
Added to the mechanical nature of his opponent and its mindless loyalty to a being that seemed intent to butcher everything, it was also obvious what would happen after the fight was over.
Takato wasn't going to let that happen.
"Plotmon! The red thing on its chest!"
"Sledge Dash!" The small Digimon faced the larger one down without fear. She slammed her entire body into its red optic circle without a trace of hesitation.
It cracked and the force was enough to make the larger Digimon step back.
"Get out of here if you want to live!" She shouted to the Gabumon without taking her eyes off her opponent.
The other Child hesitated for a moment but began to run.
Mechanorimon moved to stop him and Plotmon moved even faster to prevent that.
"Puppy Howling!"
The incredibly high pitched noise made the Adult Digimon pause and Plotmon took advantage of it as she had trained for weeks to do.
"Sledge Dash!" She exploded forward, slamming into the optic circle again, forcing the cracks on it to widen.
She attempted to back away as she normally did, but Mechanorimon was still an Adult Digimon. As she tried to do so, he struck at her with lightning speed, tearing a pained yelp from her throat and tossing her away.
"Plotmon!" Takato cried, rushing to his friend's side.
He was well aware what would happen if his friend lied there prone for even a moment while fighting a higher level Digimon.
"Gyro Break!" The Machine Digimon launched a number of disk-like bombs at his target.
Takato pitched himself forward, grabbed Plotmon, forced himself to ignore her pained whimper, turned the dive into a roll, clutched Plotmon to his chest, and curled his body in to less the inevitable impact.
The bombs exploded less than five feet away.
It hurt. A lot.
Takato gasped at the heat that came first; it probably lasted only a second, but it felt like so much longer as it scorched the skin on his back.
The force of the explosion came next. Well, realistically, it probably came together with the heat, but the horrible burning of his back drowned out the pain of the impact. As it was, he only became aware of it when he realized he was in the air.
Finally, he hit the ground. To Takato's credit, he was able to think despite the pain, curling around Plotmon as he landed.
On the Brightside, he succeeded in both keeping Plotmon from hitting the ground and trapping her under his own weight, which would have been even worse, as it would have kept her from moving.
In this case, that could be fatal.
On the downside, he ended up taking most of the impact to his wounded back.
He gasped at the pain, contorting reflexively in an attempt to make it hurt less.
It didn't work.
"Takato!" Plotmon cried. He could tell because of her voice, not because he could see her; his vision was sort of going black right now.
He blinked quickly. He needed to see, damn it! Where was Mechanorimon?
His vision came back just enough for him to see something that sort of resembled a strange ink blob, whose location seemed to be the same as the weight on his chest.
Plotmon?
"Twinkle Beam!" His ears were working fine though, so he could hear Mechanorimon just fine.
He wrapped his arms around the thing, hoped to God that it was Plotmon, and rolled over, putting himself between the two Digimon.
It would have been more impressive if he wasn't well aware that Mechanorimon's attack would just cut through him and hit Plotmon anyway.
"Takato? Takato! What are you doing! Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God, please be okay!" Plotmon's voice came to him a moment later.
Which didn't make any sense, since it would require him to be alive to hear it.
He tried to reply, to reassure her and tell her he was fine. It came out as a twisted choking sound that wouldn't reassure anyone.
As his vision cleared enough to make out definite shapes, he tried to figure out why he was still alive.
What he saw just pissed him off even more.
Mechanorimon was facing away from them.
Specifically, he was facing the direction Gabumon had been running in.
And as for Gabumon…
There was nothing but a cloud of data.
Takato's strange choking increased and got louder.
"Why?" Plotmon asked, attracted to the sight by Takato's expression and choking. "Why are you doing this? Why? Why are you killing everyone?"
She started squirming underneath him. Takato tried to keep her from escaping and drawing attention to herself, but he wasn't in much of a position to do anything.
She escaped his grasp.
"Why? What did we do? Was the old Digital World really that bad? What did we ever do? We were just living our lives and…and you…and you tore down our entire World!" Tears were beginning to emerge from her eyes. "Was that not enough for you? Do you have to burn down this world, too? Is that it?"
Takato hated seeing her cry. And for than that, he hated himself for not being able to do anything about it.
But he couldn't do anything. So instead, he looked at her, tortured by what he was feeling. Anger, sadness, fear, shame, and…
Something else.
"I hate you!" Plotmon continued through her sobs, even as Mechanorimon turn towards her. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! Why did you do this to us? Why did you do this to me? W-why did you hurt Takato!"
Mechanorimon's optic circle began to glow. Takato wanted to scream for her to run. He wanted to pick her up and carry her far away from this place. He wanted to pick up the shattered pieces of her innocence and her life and put them back together.
But he couldn't do anything. So he watched helplessly as that strange feeling he couldn't identify grew stronger.
Mechanorimon prepared to fire, but not before Plotmon got off a few last words.
"I wish…I wish you would just…I wish all of you would just disappear!"
And everything changed in an instant.
For Mechanorimon, it was an explosion of light and an eruption of data that disrupted his sensors. He fired his Twinkle Beam anyway, but it failed to hit anything. In his defense, he wouldn't have been able to hit if he hadn't been blinded, either.
For Takato, it was like the strange feeling reached its limit and erupted, He was blinded by the light that came from Plotmon, but he was also blinded by the light that he, himself, emited. The last thing he felt before losing consciousness was something in his hands.
And for Plotmon, it was so much more.
"Plotmon, shinka…"
Her body grew, especially her ears and tail. Her collar like ring disappeared as she grew whiskers. Her paws grew as her coloration vastly changed. The gloves that formed around her forepaws. And to complete the transformation, her beautiful blue eyes changed.
The yellow eyes of a predator stared out of a new face.
"BlackTailmon!"
The new born Demon Beast strode forward calmly, the tail that was its namesake swaying behind her.
She glanced at her unconscious friend, looking at his horribly wounded back. She cast her eyes back at her opponent and narrowed them.
"Twinkle Be-" Mechanorimon began but could not finish.
BlackTailmon tore her right hand out of his body, where it had pierced his optic circle. It had broken through it like it was made of paper and pierced deep into the gears and machines within.
One in particular she tore out. The source of his Twinkle Beam.
She looked at it, seeming a bit bored, before lifting it up to him.
She crushed it with her bare hand.
"Shut the hell up." She said.
Mechanorimon tried to attack her. He swept one of his arms at her as he had with Plotmon.
But she wasn't Plotmon. Not anymore.
She blurred out of the way, moving so fast he thought he'd actually hit her.
But he didn't.
She stood, holding one of the claw-like extensions that passed as his fingers, standing in the same spot she had been before he'd attacked.
But his claw had passed through that space. She held it now with its back facing her.
He hadn't even seen her move.
She blinked those yellow eyes at him lazily before twisting her wrist.
The metal finger she held bent backwards until it touched the back of his hand.
"Tell me…can you feel pain?" She asked, curiously. "I hope so."
She was on his shoulder so quickly she might have teleported there. She grabbed his arm where it connected to his body and-
And she tore it off.
She looked at his then, glee shining in those yellow eyes, hefting his stolen appendage like a weapon.
She slammed into, no, through, the glass hemisphere that protected his cockpit. She slammed it in so hard that it penetrated the delicate circuitry and controls within.
The Machine Digimon lost control of its body.
BlackTailmon hopped down and looked at him silently for a moment.
"You did all this…you killed so many innocent people…and for what? Did Yggdrasil promise you a reward?" She asked.
He couldn't have replied if he'd wanted to.
"Tell me…was it enough? What did all this murder gain you?"
She clinched one of her paws into a fist.
"Not even one more day of life." She hissed.
She pulled her fist back and brought it back down like and executioners axe.
And so ended Mechanorimon.
XxXXxX
She gestured towards the data that used to be her opponent and it stilled its random movements. She motioned towards Takato's prone body and it gravitated towards him.
It quickly began to heal him. The charred skin on his back healed and mended, quickly becoming the health pink of new skin before slowly beginning to match his normal tone. Minor cuts and bruises, likely caused by his fall, healed next. After that, the spare data began to fix his clothes as well.
In seconds, he was in pristine condition.
She walked towards him slowly and sat down by his head. He'd wake soon.
Sure enough, after a minute, he groaned and began to move.
He opened his eyes and looked at her for a moment of incomprehension.
Then he lifted his hand. BlackTailmon noted interestedly that he held a black and purple device in it.
She hadn't seen that before.
Takato sat up and looked at her again.
"Plotmon?" He asked.
She gave him a catlike smile.
He looked around.
"Where's Mechanorimon?" He wondered.
"I killed him." She said simply. "I don't regret it."
He turned back to her, looking into her eyes while she looked into his.
There was no judgment there. Only a bit of sadness.
He reached out towards her and she didn't flinch. He slowly began to scratch her behind the ears. After a moment, she leaned into his touch.
"It's okay. I'm not going to judge you for something like that." He told her, picking up on her worry.
"I hate them." She told him. "I wish they would all die."
"I hate them, too. It's okay to hate, sometimes. To feel powerful emotions, for them to compel you to act…that's called passion, and by itself, it's not wrong. Just don't let it control you. If you lose your grip on it, it'll be torn from your grasp. But if you don't keep it sharpened and focused, it's useless." He lifted her chin and smiled at her. "It's for that reason, that our hearts can be like blades."
She smiled wider.
"Words of wisdom from a Knight?"
He laughed.
After a moment, she did, too.
Their moment of happiness was interrupted by a sound from Takato's new device.
BlackTailmon nodded towards it as he lifted it.
"What is that?" She asked.
"This?" He smiled. "It's a Digivice. It's proof of the bond between a human and a Digimon."
"What's that mean?" She wondered, frowning.
"Isn't it obvious?" He tilted his head to the side in faux confusion before smiling even wider. "…It means we're partners."
She did her best not to show how happy it made her to hear him say that.
He looked at their Digivice and frowned, and expression she quickly took note of.
"What's wrong?"
"There is a group of Digimon heading in our direction. A big one."
He looked thoughtful for a moment.
"A single Mechanorimon probably couldn't destroy an entire village." He said after a moment.
"You think this is the rest of the group?"
"Probably."
"…Good." She said, standing up.
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not running anymore." She told him. "Will you stand with me, partner?"
He touched her face gently.
"I ran up 'til now. I told myself there was nothing I could do. I told myself I couldn't help them without Guilmon. I told myself I needed to protect you. Maybe that was true." He looked away. "But maybe it wasn't. Maybe I would have died if I'd stood against the first servant of Yggdrasil I saw. I probably would have."
He looked back towards her.
"But that's what you did. That's what I think Guilmon would have done. And even if it was stupid, maybe it's what I should have done. But it wasn't and I can't change the past. But I believe I can change the future. And if my future involved running from Yggdrasil, it changed right now." He stood as well. "I'm with you all the way, BlackTailmon."
They didn't look at each other.
But they didn't need to.
The smiles on their faces were enough.
The stared steadily onwards as the first of the Mechanorimon came into view. One by one they came, landing one after another.
Lined up in neat little rows like little toy soldiers, Takato thought and the thought made him chuckle.
"You ready, partner?" He asked.
"I was born ready."
His chuckle became a laugh as he bared his teeth at the assembled machines.
"Come at us all at once, you fuckers!"
XxXXxX
Dukemon of the Royal Knights stood at attention among his fellows.
Well, not all of them, of course. As Yggdrasil's strongest and most loyal, they were almost never all together in one place.
There was always something going on, after all.
This time there were only four of them, which was still a surprisingly large number.
Dynasmon and LordKnightmon were here. That was a pair he'd never understood, but they worked very well together. Dukemon couldn't say he knew how they'd managed to work out their differences, but they had.
And considering just how different they were, that was something. When they'd first been put together, the other Knights, or, at least, the ones that had been recruited before those two had been partnered, had created a betting pool on how long it would take them to kill each other.
Omegamon had one, being the only one that had faith in Yggdrasil's decision at the time.
The other two were Sleipmon and himself. Honestly, Dukemon liked Sleipmon as a person and he was a reliable ally.
But he'd been shoved into the position of his partner.
And that was a position he had no business trying to take.
Even so, Dukemon was aware that he was being unfair and had only ever once voiced his opinion. He also did his best to think of Sleipmon as being like Renamon and Terriermon; as an ally, an equal, and a very close friend.
But not his partner.
After that, they had gotten along well enough.
Besides, it was like having Grani back.
The door opened, drawing Dukemon's attention.
Omegamon entered and Dukemon stiffened at the sight of him.
Among all the Royal Knights, Omegamon was the one he was closest with. Originally, he'd been disappointed to find that they wouldn't be teammates. If he'd had a choice in who to partner with, it would have been a list like this: Takato, Omegamon, Nobody, and Everyone Else.
Having said that, Omegamon pretty much never brought good news when he called meetings like this. Though, granted, that was probably because he just sent them a message if it was good news.
Dukemon glanced at the doorway and was surprised when Omegamon closed it behind him. His partner wasn't here.
Craniummon and Omegamon had the highest success rate of any team in the Royal Knights, having never failed a mission they performed together. This was probably because they had the highest success rates individually, too; Omegamon had never failed a single mission, and he'd performed the most out of all the Royal Knights. Craniummon had failed one once, supposedly.
They generally stuck together though, as their success and completion rate together was higher than either of their separate scores.
If they'd split up, things must be really bad.
Dukemon didn't have much time to wonder about it though, because, if nothing else, Omegamon was good at getting things done.
That was why he was the leader while Alphamon was gone.
And Alphamon was always gone.
"Two things of importance have happened recently that you might not be aware of. First of all, the Crest of Lust has been detected, meaning Lilithmon has made it into the new Digital World. Her current location is unknown and there have not been any eye witness reports."
Dukemon closed his eyes. A Great Demon Lord. Those guys were always a pain and people always got hurt when they showed up.
They were also some of the strongest Digimon in existence.
What to do? Would all four of us be getting sent after her? That might be for the best; finish this as quickly as possible.
But if Craniummon and Omegamon were already aware of it and on the job, what was the point. Omegamon alone…
"Second of all, there have been reports of a Plotmon traveling the Digital World."
Dukemon put his previous thoughts on hold to take a moment to think about that.
He was surprised and confused.
A Plotmon? Not even a Plotmon X?
A Child level Digimon was in the Digital World.
Who cares?
"She's is neither an X Digimon nor a Digimon chosen by Yggdrasil, yet she seems to have survived the X-Virus."
That was slightly more interesting, but Dukemon still didn't see the point. Couldn't he have just ordered some Adults to deal with it? What was the point in telling that to four Ultimates?
Unless this was Omegamon's strange way of giving them time off and the Plotmon in question was currently heading towards the most beautiful beaches in the world, Dukemon was going to have to ask if there was a point to all this.
Omegamon turned towards him and looked into his eyes. Dukemon briefly worried about him being able to read his mind.
That happens sometimes when you live in the Digital World…
"She was last seen traveling in the company of a human." Omegamon said slowly. "A brown-haired, red-eyed, goggle-wearing human male, who seems to have some degree of familiarity with the Digital World in general."
Dukemon's thought processes skid to a halt as he understood what Omegamon was saying.
Takato?
XxXXxX
"Give me a minute." Dukemon told Sleipmon.
The horse-like Royal Knight glanced at Omegamon's back and nodded once.
Dukemon increased his speed until he could match Omegamon's stride.
The older and more powerful Knight glanced his way inquisitively.
"Thank you." Dukemon said. "You called this meeting so you'd be able to tell me about the human wandering the Digital World, didn't you?"
Omegamon nodded.
"You've always spoken very highly of the boy, Dukemon, and I think you a good judge of character. I believe that if there is a possibility of being able to meet your friend again, you should take advantage of it. You and Sleipmon are to look for the Plotmon and the human. The rest of us will scour the Digital World for signs of Lilithmon."
Dukemon felt a bit guilty at that.
"You doing this in addition to your normal duties, aren't you Omegamon? To give me a chance to look for him?" He asked.
When he spoke in singular, he meant it. He didn't care about Plotmon.
Omegamon chuckled.
"What are friends for?" He asked. He then looked down at his junior thoughtfully. "I know how hard it is to have lost your partner and I know that you feel that Sleipmon is trying to take something from you be filling the roll, but…Sleipmon is a good person. That's why I approved of your partnership in the first place. Give him a chance; I'm sure you'll find his aid quite helpful in tracking down your friend. He tries his best, you know. I explained things to him; he's not trying to violate your memory of your Tamer."
Dukemon looked down at that, feeling even guiltier.
"You're right, of course. I'll try." He said, before pausing for a moment. "It's just hard sometimes."
Omegamon nodded understandably.
"I know, Dukemon. I have lost friends as well. But even so, you should not let the past interfere with attempts to make new friends. Do you think your Tamer would wish for you to keep from making friends?"
Dukemon didn't lift his eyes. He wanted to be upset over his senior using his Tamers memory against him like this, but he was well aware that he was right. He'd told himself as much before.
"Speaking of which…" Omegamon's eyes narrowed.
Uh-oh.
"You should tell them." He said.
Damn.
"What do you mean?" He asked, hoping Omegamon would see his reluctance and let it go.
"Your old friends. The other partnered Digimon. I think you've been neglecting them."
It hurt because it was true.
"I'm not neglecting them." He tried to justify anyway. "I've just been busy."
"You're not busy right now. I know, because I cleared your schedule so you can look for your partner."
"Then shouldn't I be doing that so that I can return to work?" He tried.
Omegamon wasn't buying any of it.
"Yes; you can start by asking the others what they think a Tamer would do in this situation. They do, I believe, have experience in that regard." The stronger Digimon said in a voice that might as well have said 'I am the Law.'
Dukemon sighed.
"I'll go see them." He said at last. "Come on, Sleipmon."
The Red Knight looked up from a computer screen he was examining.
Dukemon glanced at it. It displayed the available information concerning Plotmon and the Human. Sleipmon was already on the job.
He'd probably realized this was important to him and was trying to help out his friend.
Damn, again. He felt like an asshole now.
"We are we going?"
"To visit my old friends from way back in my Tamer days."
XxXXxX
To be completely honest, he was nervous. He was secure enough to except and acknowledge that.
Even so, he wasn't going to show it.
Scratch that, he wasn't going to show it in front of his fellow Knight.
God damn peer pressure.
With that in mind, Dukemon strode through the gate with a confidence he did not feel.
"Ah, Dukemon. What do I owe the pleasure?"
Dukemon very deliberately did not wince at Renamon's voice. It wasn't harsh. It wasn't accusing. It was her normal, calm voice. It was only thanks to his history that he was even able to understand what she meant.
And thankfully, she meant exactly what she was asking. It was nothing but a question to a friend that hadn't been around recently.
Probably. Almost definitely. He thought he was pretty good at understanding Renamon.
But never completely sure.
And that always made him just a little bit uncomfortable these days.
"Renamon." He nodded to her. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit recently. It's been hectic."
"I can imagine." She said, and once again there was nothing accusing in her voice.
Dukemon hoped that was because she didn't feel anything accusing. Some of his old friends were…weary of his new job. Upset, even. Not towards him, thankfully; they remained his close friends. But towards Yggdrasil, they weren't so sure.
There had been rumors. About Yggdrasil.
Some of his friends weren't sure if they were true or not.
Thankfully, they seemed to trust his judgment, by and large. But from time to time, the issue always came up.
Renamon had never lifted the issue herself, though.
And maybe that was the problem.
Even after all these years…
Even after all the fights they've stood by each other…
He still didn't know what was going on behind those blue eyes of hers.
Renamon, what are you thinking?
He wanted to ask, he opened his mouth to ask, but he faltered at the last second, changing his mind.
"I brought company." He said instead, gesturing to Sleipmon.
"So I see." Renamon tilted her head to the side in order to get a better look at his companion. "Hello, Sleipmon."
The red, horse-like Knight nodded at Renamon.
Dukemon realized something suddenly and it embarrassed him.
He was nervous to bring the other Knights around his old friends.
Especially Renamon.
He wasn't sure why. The other Knights had accepted his friends when he vouched for them; even Beelzebumon. And he was sure that his older friends wouldn't mind the Knights if he brought them around. They might question Yggdrasil, but the Royal Knights were not above criticism.
They were used to it.
Did he just not want to share?
Dukemon frowned. He should really try to be less…possessive.
But even then, Renamon was different.
"I came to ask for your opinion on something unusual." He asked, not letting his thoughts show.
"Oh? Is something wrong?" Renamon asked, showing emotion for the first time in the conversation.
Dukemon winced as he recognized it.
"Nothing dangerous." He assured her.
When he and the others were thrown back into the Digital World, Renamon took the role of…what? Their parent, perhaps? Or maybe just their leader. They'd all been to the Digital World…
But only with their Tamers.
Without the ability to evolve and in the aftermath of the D-Reaper…
The Digital World had been a very different place.
Without evolution, Guilmon may have still been the strongest, but he'd always had Takato there. Without him, he wasn't completely sure how to survive in a world that was nothing like what he'd remembered.
Renamon had taken it all in stride.
They'd all learnt, of course; what it took to survive in this world. But Renamon had given them the time they'd needed to do that. Impmon had eventually regained his ability to evolve into and Ultimate and at that point they hadn't needed to worry about danger, especially with another Ultimate backing him up, even if MarinAngemon's offensive power was limited. But until he did that, Renamon had organized a group of weak Digimon into a group that could survive this world.
Dukemon would never forget that.
It was one of the reasons he accepted Yggdrasil's offer.
"There's a human wandering the Digital World with a Plotmon." He said before pausing. "His description matches Takato's."
Renamon's eyes widened and Dukemon recognized shock when he saw it.
But it faded quickly, calm overtaking surprise.
"And you want to know how to find him?"
"Well, it's more like Omegamon wanted him to visit you all, used that as an excuse to blackmail him emotionally, and sent him here. And now Dukemon's not sure what to say, so he's reverting to business to ward away any awkward silences." Sleipmon noted casually.
Dukemon threw him a shocked look, but he swerved to turn it towards Renamon at the sound of her soft laughter.
"That sounds like Omegamon." She noted with amusement. "He comes by her quite a bit."
That was news to him.
"He does? Why?"
"He stops by to make sure we're all safe and comfortable, though he says he's just stopping by in your place because you're so busy. He complains you work too hard, Dukemon. He says you should visit more often, too." She looked at him silently for a minute. "I agree with him on both counts."
Dukemon wanted to complain about not being a child, but that would make him look like a child.
"That…sounds like Omegamon." He said instead, sighing. The fact that he was well aware that his friends were just trying to make him feel guilty did not keep it from working.
"About finding Takato, though…I imagine he's looking for you, too." She said.
"Probably…" He said, before mustering up his courage and plowing forward. "How have the others been, Renamon? Is everything okay here? Are you okay?"
Renamon smiled.
"Of course, Dukemon. After all…this is the world you gave your service to give us, isn't it?" She said. "It's because of you that all of us are still alive. Dukemon…there's no reason to feel nervous."
Dukemon nearly jumped when Sleipmon laid a hand on his shoulder.
"The lady's right, Dukemon. Relax. Remember, you're among friends here. And…when you're among the Knights, too."
He looked at the ground for a moment before looking at his companion again.
"Yes. You're right. I'm sorry."
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