Chapter 3: Old Friends and New Threats
Wisemon's voice bore no hint of exaggeration; he was dead serious. He and Magimon had sent out the signal to the children's Digivices in order to get them to gather together again. However; their reason for needing help was not apparent in the least to the children. When they had first gone to the Digital World three years prior, they had defeated the Demon Lords; the most powerful evil Digimon to ever exist. With them gone, the children couldn't think of anyone who might be threatening the safety of the Digital World.
Seiichi was the one to ask what all of the children were thinking. "What sort of crisis is the Digital World facing? We thought that with the Demon Lords gone, your world would become peaceful."
"For a great time after the Demon Lords defeat, the Digital World was peaceful," replied Wisemon. "There was the occasional conflict, but nothing as terrible as what the Demon Lords brought about."
"However; eight years ago by our time, a new power appeared," continued Magimon. "This power was unlike anything we had ever encountered before. It took the form of a Digimon; one that had never been seen before in the history of the Digital World. This Digimon eventually became known as Queenmon."
"At first it seemed as though she was simply an anomalous Digimon, since her data could not be recognized as belonging to any of the major groups. She traveled through the Digital World, seemingly harmless and merely curious about the world around her."
"Then, for reasons we are not fully aware of, she decided to conquer the Digital World. Unfortunately she was able to accomplish this, and single handedly at that."
"Didn't anyone try to stop her?" asked Daichi.
"There was no one who was capable of doing so. It was not by force that she conquered the Digital World; it was laid before her without a hint of struggle."
"Queenmon carries with her a mystical presence; other Digimon are completely overtaken by it. Once influenced by it, Digimon are utterly incapable of disobeying her, even though they still seem to possess free will. To them what she says is law, and they will follow any order she gives without hesitation."
"Are there any Digimon that aren't being controlled by her?" inquired Kioko.
"There are some Digimon who seem immune to her control; but they are virtually non-existent."
"So why have you called for help from us then?"
"We have called upon you, the Children of Virtue, because you are the only ones who may be able to stop Queenmon. As we said, the Digimon immune to Queenmon's control are very few in number. Aside from my brother and I, the only Digimon who seem to be immune…are your partners."
At the mention of 'partners', the children's faces lit up. When they had gone to the Digital World for the first time, each of the children had been assigned a Digimon as a partner. These partners had been their companions and protectors as they traveled through the Digital World, and had become irreplaceable friends. They were quite pleased to hear that their partners were doing well. Takeshi was not quite as excited as the other children, as he no longer had a partner. Instead, he chose this time to inquire about his sister.
"Pardon me for interrupting, but have either of you heard anything about another human coming to the Digital World?"
Magimon looked to Wisemon briefly, and then shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Why do you ask though?"
"Well; my sister disappeared a couple days ago. Yesterday I discovered that my Digivice was gone as well, and we believe she may have accidentally been pulled into the Digital World."
Wisemon pondered the though briefly before responding. "As I said, I have heard nothing about a human. However; that doesn't mean she isn't there. The Digivice you possessed is different from the others, is it not?"
"Um yeah, but why does that matter?"
"That Digivice was the original; created by Shakkoumon. As such, it has a greater connection to the Digital World, and perhaps even a will of its own. It is possible that this Digivice sensed the turmoil in our world and called out to your sister, seeking someone who might be able to help save our world."
"Is there any way to bring her back to this world?"
"Not unless we find her first. However; I wouldn't worry too much. If your sister was indeed called to the Digital World, then she has likely found or been given a partner. That being the case, she should be doing well."
For the first time in the past two days, a look of relief came over Takeshi's face. Wisemon's words had done much to reassure him. Daichi gave him a pat on the back and a smirk.
"It looks like everything is going to be alright." He then turned to the two wizards. "If the Digital World is in trouble, then we'd best get going."
The other children voiced their agreement and gathered closer to the wizards. They nodded to the children and stepped a short distance away from them. They held out their hands, which became wrapped in magical light. This same light appeared on the ground, forming another large magic seal. The children and the two wizards stepped on to the seal, and were enveloped by a column of light. When the column faded, they had all disappeared.
When the children felt solid ground beneath their feet once more, they were no longer in central park. Instead, they were in the midst of a forest, surrounded by massive trees. The trees were varied in nature, and did not all seem to come from the same climate regions. Such was the way of the Digital World; things here didn't work the same way as they did in the Human World.
Wisemon and Magimon took a few moments to get their bearings, before leading the children through the forest. They had to rely on the two wizards, as they were much more accustomed to traveling in this world. Eventually the children were led to a break in the tree line, which opened into a wide clearing. In the middle of this clearing was a moderately sized lake.
The children had been to this lake before, and Evan was the first to remember it. He had vivid memories of this lake, as it was the first place that his partner, Betamon, had evolved to fight off a feral Digimon. He had also suffered a grievous injury, which in turn had led them to their first encounter with Wizardmon. Hanae remembered this as well, since it was her partner, Labramon, who had saved him from a servant of the Demon Lords. The children all felt it hard to believe they hadn't seen this place in three years, considering how vivid their memories were.
Daichi walked up to the two wizards to ask them a question that was on everyone's minds. "You said that our partners were unaffected by Queenmon right? Do you know where they are right now?"
"Yes," he replied, "they should be somewhere close by. After Queenmon's takeover, they had gone into hiding. Once we managed to get a hold of you, we gathered them together again."
"Oi!" called a voice from nearby.
Looking to the source of the voice, Daichi saw another Digimon approaching the group. This Digimon was a small, teal coloured dragon with a white underbelly. He had three sharp claws on each hand and foot, and a mouth full of sharp fangs. He had red horns and small, orange wings on his back. Daichi immediately recognized this Digimon as Dracomon; his partner.
"Dracomon," he called excitedly, running over to his partner.
"Daichi!" called the dragon upon seeing his partner. The two shared a brief hug and gave each other a pat on the back. "It's great to see you again, I really missed you."
"I missed you too buddy."
Dracomon took a moment to look Daichi over. "You're taller than when I last saw you."
"No offence, but you're shorter than the last time I saw you."
Dracomon grunted in irritation, but then the two of them burst out laughing. When they finished laughing, they looked around to the other children. The other partner Digimon had arrived, and were being greeted warmly by the children. Wisemon and Magimon stood aside, allowing the children and Digimon to get reacquainted.
Ren was conversing with a three foot tall dinosaur, whose skin looked like pixilated green camouflage. His name was Commandramon, and he was decorated in militaristic body armour. There was also a rocket launcher strapped to his back. He seemed very interested in hearing about Ren's desire to study medicine.
Ayame and Seiichi were sharing details of their sparring matches with their respective partners; Lunamon and Coronamon. Lunamon was shaped like a plush bunny rabbit. She had light pink fur with a few patches of purple mixed in. She also had a small yellow patch on her forehead in the shape of a crescent. Coronamon's features were feline, but he walked upright. He had fiery red fur cumulating at his tail, which was actually on fire. He had an amulet mounted on each wrist with another in his forehead. He was attempting to convince the twins to have a match right in front of them while Lunamon protested.
Hanae was currently patting Labramon on the head and smiling contently. She had always liked animals, but the apartment she and her mother lived in didn't allow pets. Labramon himself was enjoying the attention, pleased to see that Hanae was happy. He was a small dog with soft, white fur. The fur on his ears and tail was a pale red colour, as was a small patch on his face.
Kioko was taking the meeting with her partner, Elecmon, as an opportunity to let off some steam. She listed off all of her complaints about the high school setting, as well as the fact that most of her classmates put no seriousness into their studies. Elecmon had rabbit like features, but her tail looked more like that of a bird. She had purple fur with a few red streaks running through it. Although she didn't quite understand everything Kioko was complaining about, she was willing to be sympathetic.
Evan had traveled down to the shallows of the lake, where Betamon was taking a dip. He was an amphibian creature with claws in place of hands and feet. He also had a tall, orange coloured fin running down his back. Evan was dipping his feet into the water, around which Betamon splashed playfully.
Takeshi looked forlornly at the other children, who were happily reacquainting themselves with their partners. His partner had died in the aftermath of the final battle with the Demon Lords, after which he had given his data to Takeshi in order to help heal Chie. Although he had not spent as much time with his partner as the other children, he still owed him a great deal, and missed him.
Daichi noticed Takeshi's glumness and walked over to him with Dracomon, patting him on the back. "What's wrong Takeshi?"
"I'm worried, that's all. Seeing your partners made me wonder about Chie. If she did come here, how can we be sure she has a partner to protect her? After all, I don't."
"You had Dracmon, remember? He was your partner."
"Yes, but he's gone now. Being without a partner makes me wonder why I came here; since I won't be of any help to you guys. Plus, the fact that I don't have a partner means that Chie might not either."
Daichi was about to make an attempt to cheer Takeshi up, when something caught the attention of both of them. Several small streams of sparkling particles had gathered near them. They both knew that these particles were bits of data, the basic material that Digimon were composed of. However, they were somewhat confused, as these streams of data usually only appeared when a Digimon died and its body decompiled.
The streams of data gathered near Takeshi, and began to form together. They eventually built up to the size of a soccer ball, but the object was shaped like an egg. It was a Digiegg; the object from which new Digimon were born. This egg was mostly purple in colour, but bore a few brown spots. Once it was completely formed, the egg drifted down softly into Takeshi's arms.
The other children, who had been watching the scene unfold, ran up to Takeshi to congratulate him.
Daichi clapped him hard on the back; "Why were you worried exactly? You don't even have your Digivice with you, but you got a new partner. There's no way that Chie could have come here and not gotten one as well."
Takeshi stared at the Digiegg intently; "A new partner…"
Dracomon tapped the egg's shell softly with a claw. "I wonder what Digimon will be born from it."
"We'll just have to wait and see."
"Speaking of waiting," cut in Seiichi, "I'm curious as to what you guys have been doing while we've been away."
Dracomon was the one to answer his question. "Well; after you guys left, we took to protecting the Digital World on our own. Fortunately, we had lots of friends willing to help; otherwise it would have been a lot more difficult than it was."
Commandramon continued the story; "Things went pretty well for a long time, but that all changed when Queenmon showed up. I'm sure Wisemon and Magimon have told you about her already."
The children nodded and continued to listen, as Betamon picked up. "At first, Queenmon didn't seem all that bad. We first noticed something was up when Queenmon traveled through the area we had been protecting at the time. All the other Digimon seemed to be at her beck and call, and began to give us strange looks when we hesitated to do what she asked."
"When Queenmon started a deliberate takeover, we found that none of our friends were willing to oppose her. They all seemed pleased at the idea of her ruling the Digital World, and we didn't understand."
"However; we didn't want to end up fighting against our friends, let alone the entire Digital World, in an attempt to stop her. Instead we decided to lay low until such time as we could bring you guys back here to help."
"It was in this action that we found out they were also not being controlled by Queenmon," stated Wisemon, as he and Magimon rejoined the group.
"We were quite relieved to discover this, and were more than willing to help on both fronts. We hid the sacred weapons, and reverted them to their rookie forms. That way, they would be able to attract as little attention as possible while we attempted to contact you."
"Now that you're here, we can finally do something about Queenmon."
"Got that right," exclaimed Daichi.
"Don't be so hasty," cut in Seiichi. "We don't know how strong Queenmon is, or anything else about her really. We need to find out what we're up against in order to deal with it properly."
"How do you propose we do that?"
Before Seiichi could respond, the group's attention was caught by a rustling in the nearby bushes. The children and their Digimon looked towards the source in unison, and were met with yet another Digimon. This Digimon was around the same height as the children, but her features were those of a fox. She had bright yellow fur with a few patches of white. She also had purple sleeves over her arms, each of which was marked with a yin-yang symbol.
Daichi pulled out his Digivice and pointed it at the newcomer. He pressed the center button, which caused an image of her to appear on the screen. She was listed as 'Renamon', a 'Rookie' level, 'Data' type Digimon, with 'Diamond Storm' as her special attack. The children eyed her warily, and she did the same to them. She approached them slowly, and did not seem to be making any hostile moves. The Digimon tensed up, just in case she became aggressive.
"Are you the ones responsible for the great pillar of light that appeared in the forest a short while ago?"
"What if we are?" responded Daichi.
Renamon seemed somewhat taken aback. "I meant no offence, I was just curious. I was patrolling this part of the forest when the light appeared and I felt compelled to investigate. However; another thing now has seized my curiosities."
"What would that be?" asked Dracomon.
"I have never seen beings like you before in the Digital World, but you resemble something I have seen in books and stories. Are you perhaps human beings?"
"Um, yeah we are." Daichi then turned to Ayame and nudged her; "Looks like it finally caught on that we aren't mythical creatures."
Ayame chuckled and then addressed Renamon. "Have we placated your curiosity now?"
"Alas no; you still seem more familiar to me than a chance meeting would normally dictate." She paused for a moment, before a look of sudden realization came over her face. "Are you… perhaps… the Children of Virtue?"
"I take it you've heard of us."
"That is truly an understatement! The stories of your conquest of the Demon Lords have become a thing of legends. There are few in this world who do not know of you."
"Finally; some recognition," muttered Dracomon. Daichi snickered, but Hanae shushed them.
"Of course; I could not leave out your noble partners," said Renamon, giving a nod to each of the Digimon in turn. "This is indeed a wonderful turn of events. You must come with me; she will be thrilled to meet you."
"Who will?"
"Her Majesty Queenmon of course."
Author's Notes: When I first came up with the concept for this villain, I chose Queenmon originally as a standby name until I could think of something else. However, as I used it more it kind of stuck, and she's been Queenmon ever since.
