Whew! The Sabinemon sagas are SO over! But wait, I'm not done yet! We still have a whole barrage of problems to go thru yet! So…let's go!
Next Generation:…And So It Begins (Again)
CHAPTER TWELVE: REQUIEM ON CORONA ISLAND
They trudged along the highway, the Kai sun beating relentlessly down on their backs. They were all badly sunburned, their water and food supplies were running low, and they were still nursing their injuries that Sabinemon afflicted on them. Mike and Kiko were suffering the worst; they may have been bleeding internally for all the others knew. At their sides, their partners plodded or hopped along, whichever was more convenient for them.
"How…much…farther?" Kim gasped as Lee studied the map.
She looked up. "Not long," she assured her friend. "Just a kilometer or so. Thank God, the map is still working, or else we'd have no idea where the hell we are."
"Question—just exactly where the hell are we?" Kinaka puffed. "I'd sure like to know! Are we in Server yet, or are we going to blister to death any longer in this crappy continent any longer than we have to?"
Suddenly, the scrubby trees lining the road began to grow thicker. Pine trees were now the main foliage. As they continued on the highway, they came closer and closer until…
"The forest!" Deanna trilled, running ahead. "Oh my God, I never thought I'd ever see it again!"
"Careful!" Cleo called after her. "Are there any unfriendly Digimon in there that we need to know about?"
"Uh…as far as I know, no."
The highway suddenly ended. They were now on a carpet of emerald green grass, in front of a shimmering lake. Fish jumped up occasionally, telling them that they'd be having a real feast pretty soon.
"Gourmet chef, coming through!" Chris grinned. "Let's get those suckers caught, cleaned and cooked so we can eat! Hikaru, you get some sticks, and Kinaka…you can sharpen them."
"I want to help!" Lauren piped up. "C'mon, Chris, can't I help you?"
Tina snorted. "Laur, you can't cook worth a bean! What makes you think we're gonna let you cook?"
Lauren pouted. "Mom and Dad seemed to like my green Jello marmalade."
"Yeah, well, remember Mom telling us about how Grandma Naoko once made shrimp-fried rice with strawberries and whipped cream? I think you took after her, sis."
"Whatever," Kinaka said. "Just as long as we don't have to chew on chunks of charcoal."
Mike grinned impishly. "If you let Lauren cook, that's what we'll end up eating!"
Soon, Chris had made another great feast. They sat around, greedily guzzling all the food they could grab.
"Y'know," Kim said thoughtfully after her seventeenth fillet, "I'd kill for some of my dad's ramen right about now. Or my mom's Canadian bacon breakfast with poached eggs and ham. Mmm…" She sighed and gazed at the pile of fish. "I can almost smell it!"
Lee grinned. "My mom and dad don't cook much, and when they do cook, it's nothing fancy," she told Kim. "But the one thing I'd like to have is two Big Macs with onion rings, French fries covered in ketchup and vinegar, chicken nuggets and a extra large strawberry milkshake."
Kim looked awed. "You can eat all that?"
"Yup, she can. With plenty of room to spare," Holly said.
Tina laughed. "What about you?"
"Me?" Holly thought hard. "Um…well, Lee's right, my parents aren't so good at cooking. My fave foods are udon and sashimi, so yeah, I guess I could go for some of that right now."
"A big chocolate cake!" Mike called out excitedly. "With extra-thick icing and cherries on top!"
Kiko followed with, "Strawberry shortcake!"
"My dad's prizewinning fruit salad!" Tina cried.
"Shrimp scampi in saffron sauce," Lauren offered.
Chris laughed. "Ew! Give me a steak covered in mushrooms and onions any day!"
"I'm a vegetarian," Deanna put in. "Any of you guys ever tried broccoli salad? I swear, it's good," she added when everyone gagged. "Really! There's Caesar dressing in it, and croutons, and cheese, and broccoli…"
"Broccoli? Get real!" Hikaru giggled. "What I want is an ice cream sundae with extra whipping cream, and extra cherries, and extra nuts, and extra chocolate sauce…"
Cleo got this distant look on her face. "Mmm…chocolate. Chocolate covered rice balls," she sighed. "Or Morinaga chocolate bars. I'll settle for both."
"Chocolate freak," Jenna teased her. "I'd rather pig out on an extra large pizza with everything on it! That includes, but sure as hell isn't limited to pineapple, octopus, anchovies, tomatoes, pickles, bacon, shrimp, ham, all the fixings."
Leon stuck his finger down his throat. "PICKLES? Gag me!" he laughed. "All I really wanna pig out on right now is a foot-long sub."
Kinaka sighed. "My dad makes the best Greek salad in the universe," she said. "He puts extra black olives and extra feta cheese in. He doesn't make it often, but when he does, he always makes Greek stuff to go with it, like gyros and pastitsio."
Everyone looked at eachother and sighed.
"Damn nostalgia," Cleo muttered. "We don't have to do this to ourselves. Why are we fantasizing about food when we can't even get a half-decent meal? Sorry, Chris," she added hastily. "But think about it. Why are we torturing ourselves?"
Jenna patted her sister on the back. "Because we know we're going home," she said. "And speaking of which, maybe we oughta try to find our way outta this freaky-ass parallel universe. All in favor?"
"Wait," Deanna said. "Before we do anything, I propose that we go back to Gennai's house and recharge the laptop. We need to contact our parents, and we can't do that unless we have our one main means of communication down."
"Good point," Lee mused. "All right then. Let's go, troops!"
It didn't take very long to get to Gennai's abandoned home. It looked no better than it had the last time they'd been there, and even worse. It looked as though someone had had a tantrum and ripped the place apart. The couch was slashed, with the stuffing coming out of it. There was a hole the size of a full-grown man in the drywall, and a hole almost as big was in on the ceiling. There was also a pool of blood on the floor, reminiscent of the struggle that Gennai had put up when he was taken.
"Gawd, what a mess!" Deanna cried out. "I always told Gennai he oughta hire a maid service."
"Not that it would have done any good," Cleo added. "Hey, any chance I can recharge the batteries in my penlight?"
Lauren quickly found an outlet to charge the laptop on. After it was plugged in, she threw herself on the couch and stretched out. "All I need now is a bowl of popcorn and 'Practical Magic' on DVD," she said lazily.
Kinaka crossed the room and sat on her. "Don't hog the couch!" she laughed, tickling Lauren until she started to squirm.
"Get offa me!" she squeaked, grabbing one of the torn pillows and flinging it. It missed and hit Hikaru, who walloped Lauren right back. In no time at all, everyone was attempting to hit eachother with the couch pillows and tickle the crap outta eachother at the same time. Their Digimon were bouncing around all over the place, playfully nipping at eachother and bouncing onto people's heads. It ended when Leon put a headlock on Holly and she judo-kicked him where it matters.
"Now that we're all done screwing around," Holly said coolly while her brother scowled at her from the floor, "we might as well see if the laptop is charged up enough."
It had only taken the forty-five minutes they'd been playing around for the computer to be fully charged. Lauren whistled and commented, "He must be getting a great electrical service!"
In no time at all, they had the laptop booted up and online. They quickly got into comm2.exe and there were their parents, looking agitated and worried.
"Oh my God!" Sora sobbed when she saw her kids. "I thought…I thought…"
"Never mind what you thought, Mom," Lee told her. "The laptop just ran out of batteries, that's all. We're at Gennai's old place now, so we were able to charge it up again."
Tania began to wail. Kari rocked her baby gently and smiled at her children. "I'm just so glad to see you're all right," she said in a weary voice.
Hikaru surveyed her mother. She didn't look too good. She was pale, and there were shadows under her eyes. "Mom, you look sick again," she said worriedly. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Kari assured her. "It's just that I was so worried about you, and Tania's got colic…Well, she'll be fine. And so will I, now that you're safe."
Mike was bouncing on his toes. "Mommy, we beat that mean old Sabinemon!" he cried excitedly. "Our Digimon digivolved to the ultimate level! It was soooo cool, Daddy, you shoulda seen it…"
"I wish I could have," Izzy said wistfully. "It's been many a year since I was in the Digital World."
"Cleo, Jenna, I hope you haven't been fighting eachother," Yolei said sharply.
Jenna and Cleo burst out laughing. "Do pillow fights count?" Jenna giggled.
"Anyhoo, it's good that you kids contacted us again," Davis said. "I was starting to wonder, you know…"
"Dad, we can take care of ourselves," Kim said indignantly.
Davis's wife, Danica (or Dean, as he called her) started laughing. "That's my girl!" she crowed.
"I think we'll be home soon," Chris said to his dad. "I can't say I'm looking forward to it. We're going to have a lot of stupid crap to catch up on when we get back to school!"
Cody started. "Damn!" he cried out. "Why didn't we think of that? We're gonna have to think up some pretty good excuses for them! Chris can't exactly afford to forfeit his credit, if you know what I mean."
"Dad, we know I suck in school, but that's no reason to say that!" Chris argued.
"OK…before this turns into a screaming match, I guess we should go," Kinaka said quickly. "Been peachy keen to see ya, Dad."
"But Kina—" Matt started before something cut them off.
"What's happening?" Jenna asked.
Lauren peered at the screen. "I'm not so sure," she muttered, hitting the side of the laptop. "Stupid piece of crap!"
"Lauren, don't do that!" Mike admonished her.
"Look!" Holly said suddenly in a hushed tone. She pointed to a new window on the screen that was slowly getting bigger. Inside the window on the screen was…
"Gennai!" Lee cried out. "Hey!"
"I've found a way to transport you children near to the place where I am being held," he wheezed. He looked sick and pale, and his voice was coming out in shallow wheezes. "It's on Corona Island, in the village near Fire Cloud. But I warn you…there's been a death in the royal family. Sabinemon's parents have just died, leaving their last child Wrathmon heir to their dark legacy. Beware of their supporters."
"How are we supposed to get to that whack place anyway?" Tina asked.
In reply, a blast of white light shot out of the laptop and swallowed them up. When the light went away, they were being outside the gates to a hatching ground like Primary Village.
"Where…the bloody hell…are we?" Lee gasped out. She'd landed rather painfully on her chest.
Holly looked around. "If I knew, I would tell you," she said. "It looks pretty weird. Do you think Gennai actually managed to get us to Corona Island?"
A sudden blare of bagpipes in the distance answered her question. There was obviously a funeral procession coming toward them.
"Where do we go?" Kinaka hissed.
"Umm…" Suddenly, Lauren spied a building inside the gates of the hatching ground. It looked almost like a mausoleum. "Over there!"
They pushed the gates open and ran full tilt to the building. They got to the door just as the funeral procession began to come into view.
"Who wants to bet they'll come in here?" Tina asked. "I don't like this idea, guys."
"Who cares?" Lauren scoffed. "It may be a freaking mausoleum or something, but who knows? Maybe we can hide in here until they go away. Look around you, sis. Does it look like there's anywhere else to hide?"
Tina surveyed the barren plain, dotted with grey and black Digi-eggs. "No."
"Then come on, you scaredy-cat!"
Cleo whipped out her newly-charged penlight, and Rubymon spat a ball of flames into the air for backup. They ran into the left corridor, hoping to find some place to hide themselves. After about five minutes, they heard the wailing bagpipes cease the mournful song and the sound of pounding footsteps beginning.
"This way!" Lauren mouthed, leading them all into a dark antechamber. They heard the footsteps go right over their heads, and breathed easier.
Kinaka looked a little edgy. "What if they find us?" she asked in a whispered hush. "I mean, come on, those guys are gonna be more than a little pissed that the granddaughter of those dead Digimon was involved with the ones who killed the Dark Princess. Not that I mind being in your company, guys," she added hurriedly. "But I'm worried. They'll kill us all if they—"
"Shut up!" Lauren hissed. "I think they're leaving now. What say we go now?"
Quietly, they crept out of the antechamber. The thud of footsteps overhead was seemingly in front of them now, heading away. It looked like they were going to be all right.
"Which way?" Leon asked Lauren. "You brought us in here, after all."
Lauren stopped in her tracks. "Don't you guys want to explore this nuthouse?" she asked, hands on hips. "If this really is a tomb for some of Kinaka's ancestors, maybe we could learn something about those evil royals and find out enough about them to defeat the last dark descendant. What do you think?"
Kinaka grimaced. "I'd rather not, but what the hell. Let's go."
They crept along the corridors, following the lit torches that the mourners had forgotten to extinguish. At the very end of a twisting hallway was a door with a plaque bearing a picture of a crown on it. Around the crown, in Digi-code, were written the words, "Dominatio Per Malum."
(A/N: I got that from a Fear Street book.)
"Izzat Latin or something?" Chris asked, his brow furrowed.
"It means 'Power through evil,' and I guess that's my family's motto," Kinaka said disdainfully.
"Some motto," Lauren quipped as she pulled the door to the tomb open.
The tomb was fairly dark, with tall, black candles for light. There were twelve smaller biers encased in glass, surrounding two larger ones. The smaller biers formed a half circle.
"Well, let's see who we got here," Kinaka said, stepping up to the first bier. There was a Black Gear under the glass, and nothing more.
"Devimon, born 4000 B.C. Vanquished 2027 A.D.," Lauren read. "Must be MetalDevimon or something, with the name he was born with."
There were eleven others to go.
The bier next to it held a pair of sunglasses. On the plaque was written, "Etemon, born 3981 B.C. Vanquished 1998 A.D."
With the plaque that read, "Myotismon. Born 4502 B.C. Vanquished 1998 A.D.", was a red mask in the shape of a vampire bat.
"MetalSeadramon. Born 3850 B.C. Vanquished 1998 A.D. That fish scale thing is really pretty, but it's as big as a dinner plate," Lee said about MetalSeadramon's relics.
"I like this hammer," Mike said at the place that read: "Puppetmon. Born 3850 B.C. Vanquished 1998 A.D."
"Cool cannon!" Kiko said at: "Machinedramon. Born 3850 B.C. Vanquished 1998 A.D."
The bier for "Piedmon. Born 3850 B.C. Vanquished 1998 A.D." held a large white handkerchief.
"Apocalymon. Born 5438 B.C. Vanquished 1998 A.D." contained the eight broken Crests belonging to the original Digidestined.
"Arukenimon. Born 832 B.C. Vanquished 2002 A.D." and "Mummymon. Born 832 B.C. Vanquished 2002 A.D." both contained sparkling dust.
Kinaka was silent as she approached her mother's bier. "Sabinemon, or Sabrina O'Reilley Ishida. Born 4000 B.C. Vanquished 2027 A.D.," she read. Then she gazed inside the glass, and saw a picture of her mother in her human form, relaxing on the beach with her and her dad. Kinaka was only six in the photo.
The last family vacation we had, before Dad was called for the Jupiter Project and Mom had to take me to Kobe for a year to stay with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Malcolm,
she thought sadly. I remember being mad at Dad because I thought he wouldn't be back for my birthday…but he came home the day before, ten months later, with a musical jewelry box he'd gotten in Houston for my birthday present. I remember I kept Mom's pendant and my flame earrings in there after she disappeared…and after they found her body, I started wearing them…Her thoughts were interrupted by Lauren, who bumped into her in an attempt to see the largest biers.
"Kildramon and Sibylmon," she read. "Co-rulers of Corona Island. Born in the Cataclysm, when the Digital World was formed. Vanquished 2027 A.D."
"One hell of a long life," Kinaka said. "I can't even imagine living that long!"
From out of the shadows, a wizened little Digimon came out of the corner. He held a mop in one hand, and a lantern in the other. "Hey, can't you people be quiet? This is a tomb, not a stadium!"
Then he took a good look at Kinaka's bewildered face.
"It's YOU!" he shouted, pointing his mop at her. "You're the girl in the picture! The girl that our Princess Sabinemon almost gave everything up for! You and your friends are Digidestined, aren't you?"
"Um, yeah," Kinaka replied. "Pleased to meet you. Sorry we disturbed this crypt, but we were wondering about who's all in my lineage, and—"
"GUARDS!" the Digimon cried out, waving him mop and splashing them all. "GUARDS! THERE ARE DIGIDESTINED IN THE ROYAL CRYPT! DISPOSE OF THEM, I SAY!"
From out of nowhere, fourteen black-garbed soldier Digimon appeared and grabbed hold of them.
"Hey!" Kim squeaked in protest as one of them roughly grabbed her hair. "That's attached, ya know!"
"TAKE THEM AWAY!" the little Digimon yelled. He was sloshing soapy water everywhere by now.
"We'll take them to the Fire Cloud priestess," one of the soldiers droned. "She will determine whether or not these infidels will be sacrificed."
"Sacrificed?" Lee shrieked.
"Oh shit, we're in for it now!" Cleo yelled.
