Krell- I'm back, and with the next part of this digital tale. I just hope it can live up to the situation the first chapter set it up for...well, here it goes. Enjoy, mes copains.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, or any other source I may parody in my story. I forgot to put this in the first chapter, and probably the prologue as well, so...this one counts for all three.
Chapter 2: It Begins Again
The dull room remained silent, except for the snores coming from a small bed at its right-hand side. Though the room should've been bathed in sunlight, the curtains were drawn so no light could penetrate the room's layer of darkness. Nothing changed from this dark and frozen scene, until the large hand on the small clock lying on the desk pointed to six, and the figure in the bed suddenly stirred.
"Uhh...what time is it..." he muttered, glancing at the clock. "Oh...I should be going now then," he said, untangling himself from his sheets. Gage walked over to his large wardrobe, opened it, and then began to pull on a blue tee-shirt and a pair of black jeans. He was about to close the doors, but paused, then reached inside his shirt and pulled out a silver key attached to a chain hanging around his neck. With it, he reached up toward a closed cupboard and unlocked it. It was an unexpected assortment of items: something that looked like a set of spangled black robes displayed in the back, a thin rapier whose hilt was hanging on two hooks, and on the bottom, a set of hardcover books, and a small, engraved, metal box.
Gage lightly took the sword from its hooks and carefully held it in his right hand. A few seconds later, he was swinging the rapier around, leaving two shallow scratches in the side of his wardrobe. This continued for a few moments, until Gage tripped over his own feet, and slamming the center of the sword against the corner of the wood, causing it to snap in half. He got back up to his feet, gaping at the broken metal.
"That son of a bitch shafted me!" he growled, still staring at the sword. He crouched down to pick up the other half of the rapier then walked to the other side of the room. "No holster, breaks apart just by coming in contact with wood," he muttered angrily as he tossed the metal into a small wastebasket, "'This is a great bargain Gage, price has been slashed repeatedly!', yeah right. It's not a good sale, just a piece of cheap crap." Taking his eyes away from the sword in the trash, he looked at the calendar hanging above his bed.
"Saturday November 22..." he said in a low voice, "his place should be open today." He walked back over to the open cupboard on took out the piece of clothing hanging in the back. After pulling it out, he locked up the cupboard, then dropped his key on the wardrobe floor. He pulled on the black jacket, which ended up covering most of his shirt, and reaching up to his hands.
"Well, at least I know that this wasn't a waste of money," he said, feeling the material on his arm, "I'm pretty snazzy in this." And with that, he walked out through the doorway, leaving the room motionless once more.
"Okay, okay, I'll admit it, the thing I sold you was worthless, but you just seemed so easy to pawn it off on!"
Gage was in a shop called "Winshol's Antiquities", a place known for selling rare or foreign weapons and valuables. He was inside with both his hands gripping the counter in anger, having just shouted down the owner and salesman, Ben Winshol, for the past minute about the poor quality of the rapier.
"Pawn off on?" Gage yelled, "I want another sword, Ben, and it has to be able to cut something that isn't just paper-thin!"
"Fine, fine," Winshol said, reaching underneath the glass counter, "I have something that'd be perfect for what you want." He put a silver-patterned holster on the glass, in which he unsheathed a shining, straight steel sword. "Made of dense steel," the salesman began to explain as Gage looked at the weapon with an interested expression, "it's basically a cross-design between the swords of European knights and Japanese katana, so it would have a very sturdy yet powerful build. Watch..."
He then walked over to a tall wooden post covered in marks and cuts, and swung the blade full-force into its side, leaving a deep gash in the wood. Seeing how Gage's expression quickly shot from curious to awed, Winshol pulled the sword out of the post, smiling.
"I'd thought you'd like it," he said, putting the sword back into its hilt and laying it on the glass counter. "Now here's the price...and I'll tell you, this is a great cut, so don't be coming in here shouting at me because it's the wrong color, or something like that." He handed a small piece of paper that was attached to the hilt to Gage, whose eyes widened upon reading it."
"This is a good price..." he said, fumbling around in his pockets for his wallet, "Thank God I have enough." As the owner inserted the many bills given to him into the cash register, Gage pulled out and carefully scrutinized the sword. "It seems perfect for me," he said, inserting the sword back into its holder, "it's been good doing decent business with you, Ben."
Winshol chuckled as Gage exited the store. "You too, kid, you too," he said. As Gage walked into the crowded street, another streak of lightning flashed across the sky. What's up with this weather, Gage thought as he joined the thinning throng, and not just the lightning either, the entire atmosphere just has this weird, thick vibe to it...
He stopped at an intersection a few minutes later, and used the time to think over what could be causing this freak conditions. It barely took one step on the road's pavement before his train of thought was cut short. In one extremely quick movement, the air seemed to pulse, and lightning struck hard at the opposite end of the intersection, sending many people flying through the air and causing cars to curve into buildings. By the time Gage lifted up his head, people were screaming in fear, parents were clinging to their children, and police were attempting to contact the any other member of the L.A.P.D.
"What the hell just happened?" Gage asked nobody in particular as he pulled himself off the ground. Looking at the spot where the bolt made contact, he saw the pavement charred and shattered, and the remains of a car left pulsing with static. Having no idea what to do, he ran down the street to his left, closer to the bigger sections of the city in hopes of finding out what could've caused this. That was no normal lightning, he said to himself as he sprinted down the sidewalk, something big is going on right now...
"...We have been reported that this storm damaged many building all across the Los Angeles area, and there have been calls of twelve dead persons due to these incidents."
Gage stopped in his tracks upon hearing the voice of this announcer's statement. He joined the few people grouped around a nearby glass wall of an electronics store, which behind lay sixteen televisions, all showing the same news broadcast.
"Scientists are befuddled by the origin of these storms," the news reporter continued, "Even the use of Doppler radar is impossible, as it seems mass amounts of data have been unknowingly inputted into the machines..." The crowd did not get to hear the rest, as each TV suddenly cut off from the channel's signal. At the same time, although he could've been imagining it, Gage felt a rush of energy surge through the air, and he could not help but be reminded of the lightning that struck only a few moments ago. He turned to continue his run to the main section of the city when his cell phone suddenly rang. Gage looked shocked at this. Though he kept paying for the bill, it was just an action to give him false hope; he had no friends or family who would call him. Taking a few steps away from the crowd, Gage put the hone to his right ear and said, "Yes?"
"Gage Drasovick...your help is needed here...so if you wish to come to our aid, or to improve your life, then will you come..."
He didn't know how to respond to this. But feeling as if he had to answer, he slowly said into the phone: "Y-yes..." But the voice didn't say anything else. Having no idea what to do, Gage put his phone back into his pocket and started to run once again. Who...who was that?! he asked himself. He had no idea what was going on...static in the air, lightning ripping up streets, and that voice...you could imagine that it confused him even more when he walked by an alleyway to find a silvery-blue portal halfway through it.
"What the..." was all Gage could muster as he stared at the wormhole. He could not help but remember what the message said to him: "to improve your life...". He began to walk towards the portal his hand reached out to touch it, but Gage was a few feet from the opening when it happened. The wormhole suddenly surged, just as the air has many times before today, and Gage felt his body get thrown into the opening.
"Nasumi? Akiru?"
Tomoki was in a compartment of a bullet train heading towards the west side of the city after his meeting with Kouichi. When he opened the handle to the emptiest room he could find, he was shocked to find those two, sitting on the right bench.
"Tomoki?" Akiru said, looking at his friend in an equal amount of surprise, "You're on this train too?"
"Yeah, I was meeting up with Kouichi," he replied, his eyes darting back and forth from Akiru to Nasumi. Akiru nodded his head in understanding, but Nasumi looked confused.
"Who's Kouichi?" she asked Tomoki.
"He's an old friend of mine," Tomoki told her, as he sat down on the bench opposite of Nasumi. "What are you doing here, though, Nasumi?" he asked, "if you're covering all of your brother's old jobs, shouldn't you be at the store now?"
Nasumi grimaced then lowered her head so Tomoki could see a large backpack that she was carrying. "I had to pick up supplies," she informed him, "my parents are busy with customers so..." She shrugged as if to say "and that's why".
Tomoki looked at Akiru for his explanation, who said, "Had to get a new phone, man. There's really only one place in the city that had what I was looking for." He then pulled out a sleek, red cell phone that looked like it cost more than any phone Tomoki would ever have; it was definitely something that Akiru would want to buy. He looked from Tomoki to Nasumi, as if expecting them to be awed at this purchase, but seeing their nonplused expressions, stowed the phone away.
Things were silent for a few minutes, so Tomoki took the time to observe the other passengers in the compartment. There were about ten other people with them...but none were of any real interest. Tomoki took to staring at the laptop the man beside him was typing on, before the train suddenly slowed down. Most of the passengers began to pick up their bags and briefcases, but Nasumi carried a slightly worried expression on her face. He knew why; the train was still surrounded by the dirt under the city. Though all the passengers soon began to worry after what happened next.
Instead of stopping after the train began to slow, it unexpectedly shuddered, then lunged across the rail at normal speed. During this odd moment the lights flickered on and off, and the laptop of the man sitting next to Tomoki suddenly shut down. Tomoki could've sworn that he felt a feeling of static course through the air as well...
Akiru was staring back and forth at the other two, mouthing the words What the hell was that? Both Nasumi and Tomoki shrugged, although Tomoki had an odd feeling that he knew what it could be. It was only when they began to reach the station when the final "sign" began to happen, something that caused Tomoki to be stricken with excitement and worry. As the passengers began to file out of the train into Shibuya station, eager to report what just occurred, Nasumi's cell phone rang.
She slowly reached into her bag, pulled it to her ear, and said in a clear voice, "Hello?"
"Nasumi Takete...your help is needed here...so if you wish to come to our aid, or to improve your life, then will you come..."
Nasumi's visage turned to shock after hearing this message. Though the call came out of Nasumi's cell, both Tomoki and Akiru heard it as if they received the message themselves. The latter simply looked confused, and turned to Tomoki as if he could somehow explain it, but Tomoki was speechless.
That...that call, his mind stuttered, it's just like the one Ophanimon sent six years ago, it even sounds like her voice! But something doesn't feel right about it this time...when she contacted us during our adventure, Ophanimon always gave off a feeling of trust and hope...but this one...
Tomoki was brought back to Earth by Nasumi's voice. "Who is this? Hello?" she kept asking the phone, although it remained silent. Tomoki looked around to see if anyone else heard the voice; though nobody seemed to notice the call from her phone, two other people were staring at theirs, just like Nasumi was. One, a boy with dark brown hair around their age had his eyes darting between the ends of the phone as if trying to read it, and the other was looking at his phone with the same confused expression as Akiru while he walked up the stairs.
Nasumi finally gave up trying to get the voice to respond, and instead turned to her two companions. "Who-who do you think that was?" she asked them.
Akiru shrugged. "Why do you think I would know?" he asked her back.
"I-I was just thinking that..."
"Guys," Tomoki interrupted, an unidentifiable expression on his face, "I think we should leave, now." Neither Akiru nor Nasumi argued with this. The three of them began to run towards the stairs, only pausing to allow a man coming out of a nearby elevator to pass them by. When they suddenly halted, Tomoki's phone flew out of his pocket and slid towards the elevator's opening. He ran over to pick it up, but as he reached down for it, the ground shook once again. Though Tomoki retained his posture, a person who tried to sprint by the three lost his balance, falling into Tomoki and sending them into the open shaft.
As Tomoki stood back up, he saw Nasumi attempt to run towards the elevator door, but they closed before she could reach them. Tomoki looked at the person who got him into this situation, and was surprised to see the same dark-haired boy he saw earlier. Both of them managed to get back on their feet, but nearly fell back to the ground, as the lift shuddered and shot downward at an amazing speed.
"Wh-what's going on?" the boy asked nervously. Tomoki didn't answer, but had a terrible feeling that he knew where they were going. A few seconds later, when the elevator passed by all floors built into the station, the floor began to glow a bluish-white light. The two teenagers shut their eyes to shield against this light, which kept growing until it consumed the entire shaft.
A bird's call rang through the vast, dark forest. In a light-scattered clearing, two boys lay unconscious. The scene remained like this, not a single sign of sentient life, until one of the two teenagers began to stir.
"Uhhhh..." he muttered, slowly pushing himself off the ground. "That was a lot worse than the last time..."
Tomoki kneeled on the forest's ground, expecting to see the familiar sight of Trailmon waiting for passengers to board. But instead, he pulled a confused look as he saw the many trees stretching out beyond his vision.
"Wh-wh-wha..." he stuttered, "We can't have...we're here already?" Tomoki didn't understand; last time humans arrived at the Digital World, they had to ride Trailmon just to cross whatever barriers separated the two planets. But the fact that they were thrown so randomly into the planet worried Tomoki. Why did this happen, he thought, his mind racing, I would've thought that after Lucemon was defeated, Ophanimon, Seraphimon, and Cherubimon would be able to handle whatever came across...or at least give us a warning. I don't care what that thing sounded like on Nasumi's phone, it was not Ophanimon.
His concerns heightened even more when he heard voices heading in their direction. Tomoki looked over at the boy who sent him here in the first place, who was still knocked out.
"Hey, kid," he whispered, trying to shake his companion awake, "Come on, wake up!"
"Get a move on!" said a cool, feminine voice from the shadows of the trees, "They could get here at any minute!"
A second voice replied, but in a much shaper and worn out tone. "Why would they come here of all places?" it asked, "It's in the middle of a forest!"
"This forest surrounds the shrine, and I swear that I saw a light..."
"What do you know, you're a floating icicle!" the second voice interrupted loudly. Tomoki leaped to his feet, as if expecting a fight (though he had very little he could do against a Digimon, at the moment), right when two Digimon rushed out of the dark curtain of trees. The first was something Tomoki has never seen before in his life. It looked as if it was a snow-colored pointed bulb with large blue eyes plastered near its top end. But what made it seem so foreign from the Digimon he was normally used to were the three small crystals symmetrically hovering below it, as if they were holding the rest of the Digimon a foot above the ground. The second, however, Tomoki recognized immediately.
"Candlemon?" Tomoki said, lowering his readied fists. The Digimon in question had its "hands" on the ground, whose owner was panting heavily.
"Do...I...know...you?" Candlemon asked between breaths, staring at Tomoki.
"Yeah! Well, not personally, probably, but me and my friends visited your village once!" he exclaimed.
"I've...never...met a human...before..." the Candlemon gasped, before collapsing on the ground. "I'm going...to kill...you for...this, Diamon."
"This isn't the time Candlemon!" the Digimon called Diamon scolded in its cool voice, "Now listen, human..."
"My name's Tomoki," the teenager interrupted, slightly insulted at being called "human".
"Right, right, Tomo..." Diamon began, but suddenly paused. "Did you just say 'Tomoki'?" It asked. Candlemon suddenly raised his head, no longer panting.
"Uhhh, yes, why?" Tomoki responded, slightly put off by this sudden interest in him. Diamon continued to stare at him for a few moments, but shook its head before speaking again.
"Anyway, Tomoki," it continued, "You need to wake up the other human. We need to get you two out of here, and fast."
"Why?" he asked, but Diamon just shook its head.
"We don't have the time to explain," it said, "We just need to wake him up!"
"I don't think I can," Tomoki replied, pushing the other boy with his foot, "I'm pretty sure that he's knocked out."
A grunt came from behind them. "Let me handle it," Candlemon spoke from behind them, finally recovered from his constant panting. He walked over to the sprawled teenager's side and pushed his hands against the ground to lift his base into the air. And with slight ease, as if he did this every day, Candlemon brought his base down like a pendulum and swung it into the young man's left arm. After this "wake-up call", the brown-haired kid finally began to stir.
"Ohhh...my head," the boy muttered as he lifted himself off the ground, "What was the deal with that elevator..." At that moment he noticed Tomoki observing him, a frown on his face. "Hey, aren't you the guy that I ran..." he began to ask, but suddenly stopped, an ashamed look appearing on his face.
"Into and knocked headfirst into the elevator shaft?" Tomoki finished for him, looking slightly annoyed, "Yeah, I am. The name's Tomoki."
"Uh, Zazuki," the scrawny teenager replied, rising to his feet and examining the forest surrounding, "I think I'm hallucinating, Tomoki...weren't we just in..." he suddenly was cut off as he saw Diamon. Zazuki stared mindlessly at the Digimon.
"Why are you staring?" Candlemon asked him, causing Zazuki to shift his focus to his questioner. The boy turned to Tomoki, a pained look on his face.
"Did that candle just talk?" he asked quietly. Candlemon did not seem to appreciate this comment.
"Well I don't see the spirits exactly patting themselves on the back for your ability of speech, asshole," he said angrily.
"Hey, I can talk because the human brain is designed so," Zazuki replied waspishly, "a candle doesn't even have a..."
"If you two will shut up for a moment," Diamon said in a ferocious whisper, "I'd like to remind you that we should be getting the hell out of here!"
Zazuki shook his head and began to pace around. "Forget hallucinating, I must be dreaming," he said, massaging his scalp with his hands. Tomoki gave him one last look of disdain before turning back to Diamon.
"You're still not telling us why would should be leaving," Tomoki once again asked, "Are we in danger, or something? Is someone after..." But his words were cut off as Diamon pulled both him and Zazuki down by their collars. Tomoki lifted his head up to see Candlemon ducking a foot away, though had an air of wanting to protect the other three. Wanting to find the reason for this sudden reaction, Tomoki looked behind him, to see many small knifes implanted in the trees surrounding them. At the other side of this small clearing stood a short, masked creature whose eyes darted from Candlemon to Diamon then to the two humans lying in the dirt.
"Well well," the mysterious Digimon said, his hand grasping the branch he was standing on, "an enemy rebel, a Rakaih nut, and..." the newcomer grinned widely, "...two humans! My my, this is a wonderful bounty! My employer will surely..."
"Rakaih nut?" Candlemon yelled, cutting off their attacker from his monologue, "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?!" The masked Digimon laughed softly.
"I think you know well what it means, Candlemon," he said, "But my master seems to be of one himself, so I shouldn't really talk. I'll just kill you instead, as are my orders."
Candlemon made the smallest of movements towards the group behind him, and whispered to them just one word: "Run". Diamon looked at him incredulously before shooting back, "Don't tell me you're expecting to take him on by yourself?"
Candlemon nodded slightly. "The mask, the weapons, the constant reference to an 'employer'...this is apparently Ninjamon," he explained, "If just the two of us try to take him on, then we'll be killed. Even more important, he'll get his hands on these humans here, and by the way he describes his current master, that would be extraordinarily bad. Just take these two and find something that could help us, while I deal with knifey here." Diamon stared at him for a minute, then nodded. The frozen Digimon pulled Zazuki and Tomoki once again by their shirts, his time into the woods behind them. Candlemon flipped backwards on the branch behind them to mirror his opponent, who simply laughed at this action.
"You're expecting to take me on?" he asked between breaths, "Foolish rookie, all you're going to achieve is your data being scattered by my blade!"
"Well let's find out, shall we?" Candlemon replied, the flame at the end of his wick growing immensely. Ninjamon didn't hesitate with his attack.
"Ninja Knife Throwing!" he yelled, three giant shuriken leaving his hands and flying at Candlemon. Despite his stubby appearance, the rookie managed to launch himself high into the air, right above the center of the now-abandoned clearing. And with the flame above him at the largest it's ever been, he cried out: "Flame Bomber!" sending three large fireballs towards each shuriken. At contact, the weapons burst, causing smoke to obscure all sight within the battlefield. Not wanting his opponent to gain the upper-hand, Ninjamon quickly unsheathed his sword and shot into the cloud of dust, only to stop midair and slash at another fireball sent his way.
"Is that the best you've got?" Ninjamon yelled, only to hear Candlemon yell in response: "Brass Pendulum". And even harder than with Zazuki, Candlemon brought his based spinning down towards Ninjamon, hitting him squarely in the head. Apparently he wasn't expecting this; the force of Candlemon's attack sent him soaring towards the tree he first appeared on. He pulled his blade against the force of the wind, hoping as if already planning to return that blow to his enemy.
If he thinks that's going to do anything, then he is sorely...GAH! Ninjamon's train of thought suddenly ended when his body slamming into the same tree he leaped from. His eyes widened with shock, small droplets of spittle flying from his open mouth, as he tumbled through the air, landing on the hard ground beneath him. Candlemon landed in the clearing as well, panting even harder than he was when he arrived.
I should leave before he wakes up, he thought, stumbling towards the direction in which Diamon and the two boys fled. A minor concussion like that isn't going to last long for someone as strong as him.
Tomoki, Diamon, and Zazuki were running between the trees, not looking back at the area where they left Candlemon. "Who pant was pant that?" Zazuki asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"It's not important who he is," Diamon scolded, "all that's important is that we get you out of here before Ninjamon gets you."
"Listen Zazuki," Tomoki piped up, noticing that his companion wasn't going to stop his flow of questions, "I...have this feeling that I've seen something like this before. And by the looks of that guy who was following us, we should probably do whatever Diamon tells us." This didn't convince Zazuki at all. In fact, he stopped in his tracks completely.
"Wait, how can we be so sure to trust that floating snowball at all?" he asked. Diamon stopped too, just for the sole purpose of glaring viciously at Zazuki.
"Don't trust...floating..." it stuttered incomprehensibly, "I'm just trying to keep you from being captured!"
"Seriously Zazuki, by the looks of it, we have to choose whether to go with Diamon here or that masked freak," Tomoki told him. Zazuki looked as if he still wanted to argue about it, but his face suddenly lit up, as if he found the answer to any question he had to ask.
"Wait a minute, I still have my cell phone with me!" he said, his hands groping inside his pockets. Tomoki stared at him.
"YOU THINK YOU'LL BE ABLE TO REACH ANYONE FROM HERE?!" he yelled.
"Well it's more reasonable than following a piece of talking ice around!" he called back.
"I can hear, you know!" Diamon added, angered by these constant referrals. Zazuki ignored these two.
"Ah, here it is," he said, pulling out the device in question, "Now I wonder how many…" Zazuki suddenly trailed off, now staring at the cell phone he had in his palm.
Or should I say, he was staring at what was his cell phone.
Instead, he was holding a machine not like any from Earth. It was as if white, metallic plastic was molded into a thick, curved, blade-edged triangle. In the middle of the device was what seemed to be a miniature television screen, surrounded by a yellow rectangle, which together jutted out through one side of the machine, deforming its shape. A thick strap was attached to the end of this obstruction, completing the device's odd appearance. Though Zazuki and Diamon were speechless at the sight of this, Tomoki managed to mutter:
"D-Tector?" This caused the other two to turn their sights onto him.
"What did you say, Tomoki?" Diamon asked quietly, without taking its eyes off the object in Zazuki's hand.
"Nothing, nothing," he waved off quickly, rummaging in his bag for his own cell phone. As expected, his phone transformed just as Zazuki's had, though his was green where his companion's was yellow. Huh….it looks a little like my D-Tector, he told himself, but it's obviously not the same thing.
"What the hell is this thing?" Zazuki snapped, halting the flow of old memories that entered Tomoki's mind. Apparently it also had the same effect on Diamon, who shook its head.
"We don't have time to just stand around and stare at some device, we need to get going!" the Digimon scolded.
"Why do we need to rush?" Zazuki asked, pulling a more relaxed expression, "It's not like anything bad is going to happ…"
BOOM!!
A loud explosion rang through the trees, causing Tomoki to fumble, Diamon to stare in the direction that they came from, and Zazuki to shake violently and nearly drop the device. "Yeah…" Tomoki began after he regained his balance, "I think we should do whatever Diamon says now, Zazuki." For once, the latter nodded in agreement. The three then continued their sprint through the woods, not stopping until they reached another clearing...where they crashed into around four other figures running about as fast as they were.
"Ouch…"
"Who the…"
"SON OF A BITCH!"
The mess of runners turned to look at the source of the largest yell, a sturdy teenager around Tomoki's age with jet-black hair. Tomoki's eyes widened in surprise. He then turned his head left to take a look at the boy's companion, and his mouth dropped with as much shock as with his eyes.
"Nasumi? Akiru?" Tomoki felt himself say once again. And just as on the train, the two he addressed looked up and stared at him.
"Tomoki?" the former breathed, getting up from her feet. Nasumi ran to the boy and began to stutter wildly. "You're here…this is so unexpected….how….you fell through the elevator…"
"Woah, woah, Nasumi," Tomoki interrupted, "I….I can't understand a single thing you're saying."
"I think she's trying to say," Akiru explained, getting up from the ground, "is how did you end up here, Himi-boy?" He glanced at Zazuki. "Who are you?" he asked. Zazuki stood up to face Akiru, but he barely reached his shoulders.
"Zazuki Kenta," he replied, slightly intimidated by how much smaller he was than the other three, "And I don't like the attitude you're giving me!" Tomoki wanted to speak up, as Akiru looked as if Zazuki's words were reason for a fight, but he didn't need to.
"Stratamon!" Diamon cried, hovering over to Nasumi's group. This caused Tomoki to look at his friends' companions, both of whom resembled walking spheres. One seemed to be covered in dark green scales, and had a small tail protruding out its backside. The other, who Diamon was currently hovering to, simply looked like a moving ball of light red armor.
"Diamon, I'm glad to have run into you," the Digimon called Stratamon said. "But I thought the elders had you traveling with Candlemon?" Diamon nodded….or at least what Tomoki thought was nodding, it was a little hard to tell.
"We're just temporarily separated right now," it said, "but he knows that the important thing is to get the humans to safety." Diamon glanced at Akiru and Nasumi. "I see you've found some as well," it told Stratamon. Diamon then noticed the other Digimon in the vicinity. "Where did you find this one?" it asked.
"Who's DemiRepomon?" Stratamon replied flatly, "I found him in the forest a few minutes before these humans arrived. He seemed eager to help with my cause."
Tomoki shot a look at the Digimon in question. Eager? he told himself, That Digimon looks like it doesn't even want to be here. This seemed pretty true. DemiRepomon didn't look like he had any emotion at all for this situation, except for what resembled a slight shudder of nervousness.
"Though the motives are noble, Stratamon, we don't have the time to pick up every Digimon we meet, it just slows down our mission! You do know what'll happen if the humans are caught, don't you?" Diamon asked.
"The elders made it perfectly clear that any being who wishes to join our cause should be given a chance. I take every order given as serious as the next," he replied in a sturdy voice. Diamon shook its head.
"Look, never mind that," it said quickly, "I've already came into contact with one of the enemies after us, and we have no time to spare." Realizing the seriousness Diamon was implying, Startamon nodded (at least Tomoki assumed it was what it did), and then turned to Akiru and Nasumi.
"Humans," it began to say, "I need you to keep up the speed you were at before now. Even a single falter can lead to our destruction." Akiru and Nasumi didn't know how to respond to this order.
The latter leaned her head over towards Tomoki and asked, "Why do they keep referring to us as 'humans'? We told them our names." Tomoki shrugged.
"I don't know, but it's starting to make me feel pretty damn insignificant," he whispered back. Nasumi made a gesture as if she was going to reply, but she was cut short when Diamon suddenly shouted at them.
"Are you two listening?" it asked, "I said to head across the clearing!" Tomoki and Nasumi realized that apparently the rest of the group has started their run towards the woods on the other side. Not wanting to get left behind, they followed the hovering Diamon through the empty plain. When the three finally caught up with the rest of the group, an ominous breeze blew through Tomoki's hair. Though it could've been his imagination, he sworn the wind just said to him: "He's coming". Tomoki didn't need to wonder who it was talking about.
"Being knocked unconscious by that little bastard…it's too shameful to even think about."
Ninjamon was pushing himself up from the ground, while rubbing the spot where Candlemon attacked him. "Ugh," he groaned, "I was too cocky. Thinking that I could take them head-on…." The Digimon stumbled over to a few feet to his right and picked his sword off the ground.
"Right," he told himself confidently, as he sheathed his weapon back in its holster, "I'll just have to take each of these Digimon down the way I would against a worthy opponent: swiftly and silently."
Normally, this desolate valley is….well….desolate. But it wasn't the same case today, as a young man covered in black was proving at the moment.
"Hello?" Gage yelled, looking around as he walked down the deserted path for any signs of life, "Is anybody there?" He turned on the spot as if expecting somebody to pop out from behind one of the few trees that littered the sides of the road. "ANYONE?" he called again, to no response. Gage studied the surrounding area as he continued his pace.
"Good God, this place is barren," he thought out loud. "Where am I, the Sierra Nevada?" It was a few minutes before Gage noticed a rustling from a nearby tree. He scratched his head out of confusion. W-why would anything even be in that tree? he thought, there's barely any leaves on it. His head turned from the tree to the cliff to his left, and then the short black figures on the horizon. A better question would be why any living creature would even consider being here, he asked himself, It looks like even touching the ground will kill you. And the sun just seems to stay in the same spot all day, so it feels like…
His rant was cut off when he noticed that the amount of sun hitting him was growing smaller…and smaller…and smaller…until he decided to look up. Once he saw the cause of this newfound shade, Gage only had a slight moment to dive on the ground and avoid the katana that was brought down on him. Lying on his back and breathing heavily, he looked up to see the same sword pointed straight at his nose, and its owner standing dominantly in front of him.
-reads the chapter-
Krell- Ugh, that chapter was no good at all. I didn't get to mention Jate's group, I had to push the original title back again….on the other hand, writing Candlemon's lines were just fun. Well, no writer's happy with every piece of their creation, I guess. Once again, here's Krell saying I hope you enjoyed this thread…and please, be honest with your reviews. Thank y'all.