Chapter 12: Division
"Ninjamon. What is the status?"
"Wreckmon managed to hold off the corrupted enough. They have made some distance, and are headed towards Access City. Still, they are being chased, and there are advanced scouts. The Corrupted are clearly going after them. Its possible they have become aware of what we are up to as well".
"I see...problematic. We cant let any of them fall into the hands of the Corrupted. Kill or Capture, anything is better then the alternative".
She looked up at all the screens. Six of them. Six DigiDestined. Six Digimon partners. All of their data was available to her. Their fears, their desires, their dreams, their nightmares. Where they grew up, where they went to school, even their favorite colors. The only ones whose data was fragmented was the twins, who had somehow arrived without her knowledge.
A mystery for sure. Who had secured their arrival? How much did they know? And why had it been them?
"I suppose I will have to start making my own preparations now, in Access City".
"Exactly how is this a shortcut?" Kobayashi yelled as they kept running. They couldn't see anything behind them, but at the same time they did not want to risk stopping.
"Well, instead of having to climb up the mountain, we are running directly through it!" Izumi explained.
"Well, couldn't it have been like, a subway or a bus?!"
"Since when has anything been so convienent for us? We dont even have spare clothes to change into when ours get wet, or even when we just wash them!"
"And food has not fallen out of the sky either!"
"Everyone, quit talking! If you have the time to talk, spend it breathing and running instead!"
The group went on like that. They felt like they had been running for over an hour, but...well, it felt like their lives depended on it. Still, they were all reaching their limits. Even Yuyan and the twins.
"...what is that sound?"
"It sounds like wooshing..."
"Please...please dont tell me..."
""...it sounds like a waterfall""
"...I am just going to use my power to waterproof my bag as much as possible".
The group kept running, and in the dark cave...they did not even realize it when they ran right off a cliff and into an underground waterfall and river with plenty of force and power.
"This was the shortcut he mentioned?!" they all cried out as they fall down into the water. To make matters worse, the river seemed to split up into three different tunnels. And for a moment, they all wondered which one would lead to Access City...
Then they saw the sign.
"All paths eventually will lead to Access City if you follow the paths and roads!"
And they all secretly wanted to go back and thrash Wreckmon.
"Vaccine Type my butt!"
"That jerk! What about hi mis a hero of justice?!"
"I should have realized from before, he likes to piss people off!"
The group tried to grab each other's hands and stay together, but the rapids were too strong. The twins were washed down the center path, Yuyan and Rula were washed down the right path, and Kobayashi and Izumi were washed down the left.
Needless to say, if any of them saw Wreckmon again, he would be in for a world of hurt. Six worlds of hurt actually.
The first thing that Yuyan felt was light hitting his face. His entire body felt heavy as his consciousness began to wake. Everything about him felt painful, as a voice rang out in his head.
"Temporary Neural Distortion. Emergency Connection Made".
"Hey! This one is showing activity!" a voice called out, but Yuyan was too tired to open his eyes.
"A spike in activity? Quickly, get the doctor! Look, his heartrate is spiking!"
"Someone, quickly give him medicine! He has a high fever!"
"Distortion Solved. Returning to Normal Function" the voice in his head said again, as he lulled back to sleep.
"Hmm...what the..." Yuyan started to mumble, as he woke up to a cold breeze. That was when he remembered what had happened, about getting swallowed up by the underground river and...
"Wha?!" he said as he gasped for air, sitting up. His body was entirely soaked still, but it appeared a heat lamp was placed over him. Furthermore, he felt unusually weak and tired despite having woken up just now.
"Doctor! He is awake again!" a young boy called out. Even though he was around Yuyan's age, he was wearing a labcoat and glasses as if he was a doctor.
"Fufufu" a female voice called out, as a strange and non-human being entered. It looked almost like Wizardmon, but instead dressed as a doctor. "I told you. As Docmon, you can just call me that instead of Doctor, Teiko-sensei".
"Sorry, Docmon-sensei, but Doctor just seems easier" he replied, before looking back at Yuyan and the bed next to him. He looked over, and Rula was there, also wet, naked, and under a hot lamp.
Yuyan wanted to comment about something getting annoying, but kept it to himself. He was more curious on why the boy in front of them seemed totally unphased...and what was going on.
"Umm..." Yuyan said, when he ended up nearly collapsing in his attempt to sit up. "...what is going on with us?"
"You are suffering from hypothermia. Too much time in cold water, wearing soaking wet clothes. We found you washed up on the riverside and rescued you and your Digimon. Your Digimon are fine, they are used to colder temperatures then us humans. But you two...ah yes. I hope you dont mind, but to make sure your condition did not get worse, we had to remove your clothes. We have used a few towels to dry your bodies, and are finishing it with heat lamps to also keep you warm".
"So then, this whole situation..."
"I am used to it. You would not believe how many people wash down this river. Some even report that there is a photo flash near the end or something as if it was a water ride..."
I am going to kill Wreckmon when I see him!
"...but we think its probably just some hallucinations".
Fat chance! Wreckmon is totally doing that to screw with us! When I get my hands on him, I will give him a good thrashing!
That jerk...he knows this is how it would end up too! He has to if he put so many through this! I am going to kill him!
Yuyan and Rula had various murderous thoughts towards Wreckmon, but at the moment, neither of them could act on it. However, it let them forget about their current situation for a bit.
"I see...how long till we are good to go?"
"Hmmm. Once you warm up, you should be fine, but...I would say you should stay a day. Oh, and also...Dorumon, Hackmon, you can come in and see them now!"
With those words, Dorumon and Hackmon rushed in to make sure they were okay.
"Are you okay?" "We were so worried!" "Humans need to be more durable!" "Should I hack your code and make you feel better?" "Let us give you a sponge bath to help out!" "Here, let us replace the bins under you for you to do your business in!"
""Guys, calm it! And dont do anything without our permission!""
""Kaaaayyy".
"Anyways, just rest up for now. Just a guess, but you are in a hurry to reach Access City right?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"Well, thats why most people take the river. That river flows the right way that its a fast way to take, although people usually dont realize they have to spend a whole day afterwards drying off, or they get incredibly sick. And maybe die".
"Die?!"
"At least, thats the theory".
"Anyways...exactly how much time gets saved?"
"Well, tell me...how many mountains did you cross before you got in the river?"
"How many? Wasn't it just the one?"
"Nope. That river goes under five treacherous mountains full of sharp fulls, thin and unstable cliffs, and dangerous Digimon".
Both of them felt a bit of shock...five?
""HOLD ON! WE WENT UNDER FIVE MOUNTAINS AND DIDN'T DROWN?!""
"Ah. The river is special in that its data doesnt allow it to drown people. Sure, you can lose consciousness, but thats more of a psychological aspect of thinking you lost breath...I think..."
"...the Digital World is amazing..."
"...water that cant drown people...thats interesting..."
""That would be great for a water park!""
"Anyways...its probably safe to give you some patient robes in the meantime..."
""You had those?! Why didn't you give us them already?!""
"We needed you to be directly under the heat lamps? Anyways, just hang tight!"
The two of them left, while Yuyan and Rula just sighed.
"I wonder how the others are doing?"
"You get the fire going?"
"Yeah. With this, us and our clothes will get dry in no time".
"I really dont see the issue though..."
"Me neither...but maybe we are just more laidback then the others?"
"Or maybe its because we are siblings" Luka mentioned as she scooted next to Ruka for warmth. "Where are we anyways?"
Ruka held up the Digivice, and a map appeared.
"According to this, it seems that we made an entire months worth of progress. Worth a little chill and wetness I would say. If all three paths really do lead to Access City, then we will meet the others there or on the way".
"So instead of like a two month journey, its one month now? That really was a shortcut".
The twins notably frowned and scowled though when they thought of it.
"But that Wreckmon...that was a terrible experience. Rapids, drenching, nearly drowning. I am amazed we didn't drown".
"...I think a photo was even taken at the end. Someone is going to pay later".
""Namely Wreckmon"".
And so, the twins seemed to be faring better then Yuyan and Rula.
Kobayashi and Izumi were in the same situation as the others, but because they had been friends for so long, they were also good.
Well, they were out in the woods as night was falling, so not totally comfortable, but they were talking about other things to get over it and pass the time.
"So, lets just be clear. What do you think the Corrupted are?"
"Do you know, Patamon? Gabumon?"
"Not a clue".
"I heard a rumor about scary people attacking, but nothing specific".
"Hmmm...if the Digital World is made of data, then maybe its like a virus? Like, not a Virus Type Digimon, but an actual Virus?"
"Like some form of sentient Malware?"
"Whatever it is, its trouble. But yeah, something like that. Wreckmon seemed concerned about it getting its hands on us...more then usual I think".
"Do we really know what is usual for that guy? I mean, his shortcut involved underground rivers, waterfalls, and getting us soaked".
"True...still, he seemed shaken. I wonder...how terrible are The Corrupted really?"
As they sat around the fire, Izumi looked up at the stars.
"...Kobayashi, did you have any strange dreams when we passed out in that underground river?"
"Yeah...for a moment, this voice spoke in my head, and told me something about some connection, or...a corruption of it...or somehting like that".
"Same...not sure what that was about, but...I got the feeling it was trouble. ANd that beeping sound..."
The two turned their heads and looked at each other. They had finally come up with the main question that had been bothering them, the thing that they were pretty sure was part of the mystery the enemy did not want them to solve. It was time to say it, out loud.
""How did we get here in the first place? Why us, specifically?"" they said, though it felt as if their voices echoed across entire worlds at the significance.
AN: A short chapter, but couldn't be helped. Not every chapter can be long. Anyways, finally got them divided! A critical part of any Digimon story is when they get seperated and have to keep going while hoping they meet up again! But they sure did cut off a lot of travel time! Still, that question...it is rather significant. No one knows how they got their after all, and I think its worth thinking about and theorizing! Stay tuned!
