CHAPTER 4 - The Necromancers

Veemon sat in solitude for a while again. How was he supposed to get respect with his pathetic lisping? He thought about each of his allies and the amount of respect they get. Gatomon's a champion in a world of rookies. Of course she would get respect, she could take their heads off with one attack. Elecmon was wise, and always gave the right answer from his archives of experience, but Veemon didn't have much experience at all. Biyomon was easy-going and had some witty come-backs up her sleeve, Gomamon was a pest, but Gatomon and Biyomon both thought he was a tool. Armadillomon was always generous, even if he did eat like an elephant, he always would ask the others if they wanted some of his food first. Gabumon was strong and silent. Veemon pinpointed the problem that faced him, he was too loud. Maybe if he acted more silent, and gave others less chance to tease his lisp if he didn't talk as much. He returned to the field, and found a note on the place where they were talking.

Veemon

We've gone ahead this time, sorry about earlier. We've left a trail behind so you can catch up (Give me the word and I'll wire Gomamon's mouth shut)

Gatomon

Veemon ran along the many footprints that the others left behind. It was dusk before he caught up to them, but as he walked through the crowd he heard mutters of "Sandy sold sea shells". Veemon just took a deep breath when he had the urge to chuck it, and soon reached his seven friends sitting around one of the many fires. He joined them,
"You okay?" asked Elecmon,
"Yeah"
The others looked surprised at Veemon's one word response.
"Um, Eemon..." began Gomamon, but Gabumon nudged him
"It's Veemon" he whispered,
"Yeah... Veamon" continued Gomamon, "Are you still angry at me?"
"Yesh" said Veemon firmly, Gomamon sighed.
"We're trying to lure Kilhamon's brothers and sisters here, do you want to hear the plan?" asked Elecmon,
"Okay"
Elecmon said several volunteers were spying around the cities looking for fishy stuff. They were camping in this field because it was very central, and they could move to another place very quickly.
"Nishe plan" exclaimed Veemon, "What'sh for dinner?"
Gatomon was about to answer when Palmon appeared.
"Floramon's seen them in Megrhea" she told them, "What do we do?"
"Eat firshte, then go to Megrhea" answered Veemon,
"Why is eating so important?" asked Biyomon,
"Nothin's more important than eating" said Dillomon, "We'll need to hurry though, I'll have your leftovers"
They had one of Gatomon's energy-rich recipes for dinner, and then got everyone ready for the dangerous trip to Megrhea.
"Any words, Veemon?" asked Elecmon,
"This should be good" muttered one digimon to another,
Veemon opened his mouth, and saw most of the crowd were getting ready for a laugh.
"Good luck, and fight hard" called Veemon to the crowd, and turned to go. The crowd stared, open-mouthed.
"What a waste of money" commented one of them,
"Um, all we have to do, is to get them out of Megrhea, that's all" added Agumon, "Keep behind Armadillomon if you're wounded and try not to keep in a group, they might be able to wipe out twenty square feet in one go"
They traveled all night to get to Megrhea. They heard yawning from Agumon's friends, but it couldn't be helped. If they slept, they would just leave Kilhamon's family free to wreak havoc all over the place. Agumon's briefing worried a lot of them, and they had second thoughts about going to Megrhea. Half of them left overnight, making their allies in battle look much less strong.
"It's their choice" sighed Gabumon,
Gatomon tapped Veemon's shoulder, and she took him away from the crowd slightly,
"Why are you acting all silent?" she asked,
"Becaushe I'm trying to gain their reshpect" answered Veemon, "I'm shick of them teashing my lishp"
"Well, I don't like it when you're all silent" said Gatomon, "You're better when you're loud, and when you voice your feelings, because it's, well..." she broke off,
"What?"
"It's what I like about you" finished Gatomon, and she walked quickly back to the crowd.

They reached Megrhea at midnight. They saw four flying digimon rampaging around, and they looked a lot like Kilhamon. One wore rusted armour, one had a pointed hat with ornamental wings attached, one had a very weird head ornament and wore a long flashy dress, and one wore a jester's hat with clothing that clashed terribly.
"FIRE!" yelled Armadillomon when they were in suitable range.
"Pyro Circle!" Veemon used a very spectacular fire spell on one of them,
"Holy Providence!" Gatomon summoned the orbs of light that rotated like electrons, then assaulted with a pillar of light
"Taiga Dust!" Gabumon summoned a strong breeze that carried with it shards of ice
"Amper Flash!" Elecmon clapped and flashed lightning
"Pepper Breath!" Agumon breathed a ball of fire
"Kraken Shot!" Gomamon shot one large sphere of water
"Autumn Runner!" Biyomon used a slightly stronger wind spell that stripped the trees in the avenue of their orange leaves.
Kilhamon's family were surprised by the attacks, but they retaliated equally strong, leaving the seven of them either on the ground or winded. Armadillomon was the only one left standing. The digimon behind him began to attack, but the evil one with the jester uniform used a spell, and they all disappeared with the same teleport spell Kilhamon had used.
"Ah, finally we have some good guys to oppose us" he sighed, waving around a stick with a puppet on the end. Shall we introduce ourselves? I am Bardmon, master of trickery". The one with the rusted armour was next,
"I am Lorheasmon" he roared, swishing his sword, "Knight of shadows"
"I am Shamonesmon" said the female with the ornamental wings, "Mistress of beasts"
"And I am Zyndromon, Sorceress of Darkness" announced the one with the extremely weird head ornament that looked like a beady fan with banners, "We are the strongest digimages in the world, and we will crush anyone who opposes for our objective. We are the Necromancers. So, armoured... traveler. Are you with us or against us?"
"That depends" called Armadillomon, "What do you want?"
"Pizza" answered Bardmon,
"That's alright then" called Armadillomon, but Bardmon laughed madly,
"No, we don't want Pizza, you fool" he yelled, "We want control not only over the digital and real worlds, but over life and death itself!"
The other three agreed, laughing demonically.
"Do these fellas practice in front of the mirror or something?" asked Armadillomon to himself.
"Now, to get rid of you" said Bardmon cruelly, and his jester baton glowed black. He waved it, and sent a dark beam at Armadillomon, but he knew what to do.
"Glow Curtain!" He set up the mirror shield and sent the dark spell back at Bardmon, who dodged it.
"Alright, we'll just help ourselves to the others then" sighed Bardmon, and zoomed down to the seven out allies. Armadillomon couldn't do anything about it, his attacks were Earth based, and the evil digimon hovered above the ground. He could shake it all he liked, but it wouldn't do anything. Bardmon kidnapped Biyomon, Shamonesmon took Elecmon, Zyndromon picked up Gomamon and Lorheasmon grabbed Gatomon, and left.
"Oh, and here's a little gift we send" called Bardmon, and launched a glowing orb over his shoulder. Armadillomon reacted just in time, the orb touched his barrier and exploded immensely, destroying the entire block.

Dillomon looked behind him, and saw that Veemon, Agumon and Gabumon were still alright.
"Where did they go?" asked Veemon angrily,
"They took them" sighed Dillomon, "I couldn't do anything"
"That'sh caushe you can't do anything!" yelled Veemon, beginning to turn red,
"Veemon, stop it!" said Agumon, "Yelling won't get them back, just calm down and think"
"All we can do is find them" sighed Gabumon, "But where to look?"
"Perhaps I can be of assistance?" said a merry voice. They turned about, and saw Tentomon,
"What are you doin' here?" asked Armadillomon, "The gate's closed"
"Not anymore" said Tentomon, "Izzy was finding a way through, when it opened suddenly. He said he opened it with his computer genius, but we was getting a hot pocket when it opened. The others are coming, and sorry, Veemon, Davis can't make it"
"What'sh wrong?" he asked,
"Family business" sighed Tentomon. Davis was about to go with them when his parents told him they were visiting their grandmother, and they would tie him up in the car if they had to, because he was too busy in the digital world to do any visiting before, "And we won't see him for a long while because the digital world's time is different to the real world. But, he did want you to have this"
Tentomon gave Veemon a sort of leather book. Veemon opened it, it was blank with plain lines, and there was also straps on it, that Veemon used to keep it on his back. The leather felt quite comfortable,
"It's a journal" explained Tentomon, "You write what happened each day in it. Davis is not such a bean-brain after all"
"Why do I need it?" asked Veemon,
"Most captains have journals" shrugged Palmon, who just appeared out of a nearby gate. Mimi was following, and every other digidestined followed,
"Hey guys!" called Matt, "Gabumon!" he nookied Gabumon's hair,
The other humans and digimon ran to them.
"Where's Gatomon?" asked Kari,
Veemon tried to explain to her about Bardmon's gang, but he dropped his attempt when Kari asked, "What do shells have to do with Gatomon?" Dillomon took over explaining, and Kari looked frightened.
"We've got to find them" she said urgently,
There was a big scuffle as all the able digimon digivolved.
"You'll get around a lot faster with us" called TK, and helped Kari up on Pegasusmon,
"Easy, I'm not a bus" objected Pegasusmon,
"It's just for now" said TK,
Sora was helped on Aquilamon with Yolei and Matt rode on Greymon with Tai. Gabumon and Dillomon rode on Kabuterimon,
"Fine and I'll walk shall I?" yelled Veemon,
"That'll do nicely" called Pegasusmon,
"We'd better take him, he's the best digimage we have" said Gabumon,
"Oh, you're a digimage now?" teased Aquilamon, "Could have fooled me"
"Come on, fellas, leave him alone" said Armadillomon, "He did save our behinds a few times now"
"Or should you say shave?" asked Stingmon, the other champions sniggered.
"I'll give you a shave to remember, Shtingmon!" retorted Veemon, folding his arms,
"Well, I hope you're enjoying this reunion" said a cold female voice. They looked up, and saw Shamonesmon.
"You... (Veemon called Shamonesmon something so nasty that the others all stared. His lisp reduced the impact though)... Where ish Gatomon?"
"Language like that won't get them back" sneered Shamonesmon, "Now, co-operate, or they die"
"Digimon don't die" stated Izzy, "They only get reconfigured"
"That's what you think" said Shamonesmon, "You see, my dear brother Kilhamon used a curse on seven of you, did he not? That curse stops you from digivolving, and from being reconfigured. Once you die, that's it, all over, your data will be lost forever"

The humans and digimon looked alarmed at Veemon, Dillomon and Gabumon. They were very vulnerable, and they all regretted teasing Veemon.
"To business" continued Shamonesmon, "You probably won't agree, so it looks like they will die after all, but here it goes. We'll release your four friends, if..." she grinned evilly, "If you give us your digivices"
"What?" asked all the humans,
"Why do you want our digivices?" asked Tai angrily,
"Mind your business" snapped Shamonesmon, she turned back to them, "Well?"
"If it gets Gatomon back, I'll do it" sighed Kari, "I promise I'll give you my D-3, if you give Gatomon back first"
"But Kari, If you give it to her, you won't be able to use the gate to the real world" called Cody,
"I don't care, I don't want anything to happen to Gatomon, even if I get trapped here" said Kari
"Very well" sighed Shamonesmon, "Do you others agree?"
Joe and Sora nodded. Veemon looked anxious.
"What about Elecmon?" he asked Kari, "What do we do about him?"
"One last thing" called Kari, "What we have to do to get Elecmon?"
"What do you care about him?" asked Shamonesmon, "He's not a partner to anyone"
"He'sh a great friend and he'sh a member of our team" said Veemon firmly,
"Fine, then where's your friend's D-3?" asked Shamonesmon,
"He'sh not here" said Veemon,
"Then I guess he stays" sighed Shamonesmon.
"Vee La..." Veemon started to attack, but Kari stopped him,
"Don't she's going to get the others" said Kari,
Veemon stopped struggling and glared at Shamonesmon. She flew off into the horizon. Veemon was very depressed,
"You tried your best" said Kari, "That was very great, sticking up for him like that. Don't worry, we'll find a way"

After an hour, Shamonesmon returned with the three stolen digimon, and she took their partner's now useless digivices.
"Shumthing'sh wrong" said Veemon immediately, he noticed Gatomon was different, and so did Gomamon and Biyomon. They were all unconscious, but also they looked skinnier and had shadows beneath their closed eye lids. Gatomon's and Gomamon's fur was all ruffled, and Biyomon's feathers were very uneven.
"What have you done to them?" yelled Kari, Joe, Sora and Veemon at the same time. Shamonesmon didn't answer, she just laughed demonically and disappeared. As she did, the three stolen digimages stirred.
"Are you okay?" asked Kari to Gatomon. She opened her eyes, but they weren't the eyes that Kari remembered, they were narrow and evil looking.
"Gomamon?" asked Joe, Gomamon's gaze was different too. His once jayde and confident eyes were now with vertical slits. Biyomon had a similar case.
"Get lost" snarled Gatomon to Kari. Kari was shocked,
"What's wrong?"
"Mind your business" barked Gatomon,
"It is my business" insisted Kari,
"I said get lost!" Gatomon scratched Kari's face.
"Now that's enough!" said TK, "Gatomon, what's with you?"
"Shut up" ordered Gatomon,
"What do you want?" asked Kari, nursing her face,
"I want you to step aside and let them get on with it" answered Gatomon,
"Who?" asked Kari,
"The Necromancers" said Gomamon,
"Not you too?" asked Joe,
"Yes, me too!" snarled Gomamon,
"You're not yourselves! Wake up!" wailed Sora,
"Maybe not, but there's nothing you can do to stop us" said Biyomon, nastily,
"Should we knock them out?" asked Greymon, quietly to Tai,
"No" answered Tai, "Let them work it out first, and if they can't we'll have to"
"Thish ish shtupid" said Veemon, frustrated, "Pull yourshelves together"
"Shelves need to be apart, you bint!" said Gatomon, nastily. Veemon was shocked, Gatomon hadn't teased his lisp before,
"Will you step aside, or do we have to force you?" asked Gomamon to the silent group, "Well?"
Nobody answered, then Gomamon said "Fine! Kraken Shot!" and summoned a tornado of water that spun Greymon around before shooting him, soaked away. He de-digivolved. A mighty battle broke out, and Gatomon, Biyomon and Gomamon had defeated all their champion opponents. Gabumon regretted it, but he froze Biyomon solid. Armadillomon pinned Gomamon down on the ground, leaving Veemon and Gatomon facing each other.
"Gatomon, pleashe"
"Shut up!" yelled Gatomon, "Light Column!"

That spell did indeed hurt. Veemon was almost blinded and burned by the light. He just couldn't attack Gatomon, even if she was being brainwashed. He just stood, hoping Gatomon would come through.
"Lightning Claw!" Gatomon slashed Veemon across the face. He still didn't attack.
"Why don't you fight back?" asked Gatomon, fiercely, "Are you afraid? Or are you just weak?"
"I couldn't let anything happen to you, Gatomon" said Veemon. All the humans watched, open-mouthed. The slash on Veemon's face began to bleed, which had never happened to a digimon before. And also, Veemon was just standing there, enduring champion level attacks. The humans and able digimon never thought they would feel so bad watching Veemon take a beating from Gatomon.
"Attack! It's the only way!" called Armadillomon.
Kari didn't say anything, she just knelt there, holding her shirt to her face. Gatomon attacked again, but Veemon caught her arm, and threw her back, breathing heavily, blood from Gatomon's slash seeping down his face.
"So you're not weak" said Gatomon, "You'll have to fight if you want me back"
Gatomon raised her paws, and used the Holy spell again,
"No? Well, goodbye"
"Ziedrich Force!"
Veemon had set up a barrier with triangular patterns in front of him. Gatomon's attack was diminished, and the barrier still stayed strong.
"Lightning Claw!"
Gatomon's next attack also failed. She just stood still, staring at the barrier. The scene seemed as frozen as Biyomon, everyone watching with suspended breath. Veemon's barrier faded, and Gatomon attacked immediately, but Veemon avoided it.
"Stop holding back!" shouted Gatomon. She attacked again, but Veemon blocked it. Gatomon's paws shone with pink light, and seemed to be absorbing energy. This would be an attack to remember.
"Athena Strike!" Veemon tried to block it, but she bashed his arm, the attack was so strong. Gatomon turned for a second attack, aiming for his head this time. If he didn't want his brain blown apart, Veemon had to act now.

Will Veemon survive the deadly Athena Strike? What other tricks do the Necromancers have up their sleeves? Will the digimages be alright again after the battle? Find out in Chapter 5! R&R