Chapter Fourteen: The Dawn of
Quasi-Gulag
Reboot Island, Digital World
7:02 A.M: January 30th, 2010
Takato, Jeri, and their Digimon crash landed in complete darkness. It was in stark contrast to the intense bright light and ringing sound that had overwhelmed them a moment before. Takato forced himself to get off of the floor and adjust his eyes to the darkness. Once he could see again, he was able to make out the silhouettes of his three allies.
"Ugh, our arrival in the digital world is almost as bad as our last exit was." Takato groaned as he rubbed his temple. "And why is it so dark?"
"This is a concrete floor." Lunamon noted, tapping the ground. "I think we're inside a small room."
"Question is where?" Takato added. "This place feels familiar."
"It smells familiar, too." Guilmon noted. "It smells like… dog- no! Lizard…
"Does he smell who's been here before?" Jeri asked inquisitively.
"Yeah, he does that." Takato answered.
"And human… and- uh oh." Guilmon gulped.
"What is it Guilmon?" Takato asked his partner.
"Takato, I smell a Gaomon, a Monodramon, and three humans with dark needles up their butts. They've been hanging out here a lot."
"Oh, don't tell me." Takato moaned. He turned around, searching for a light source, and found a faint rectangle of light revealing the location of a door. He walked over to and opened the door, revealing the hallway outside and illuminating the room within. Takato turned his head and winced as he saw the features of the room, illuminated by the light from the hallway. The room was barren, except for a stone block in the middle of the floor, a sink in the corner near them, and a large shield hanging on the far wall. "We're back here."
"This doesn't look like File Island." Guilmon said warily. "Takato, I think Izzy messed something up."
"Yeah, no kidding."
"Is this where we rescued you guys when you were captured by Henry and the others?" Jeri inquired.
"Yeah, it is." Takato answered. "And I have no idea how to get out of here. And worse, it's really, really far from File Island."
"At least somehow, though," Lunamon began, sticking her head out of the door to examine the hallway, "we've arrived while nobody is around. I suggest we make our way out of here while we are still under this facility's radar." Takato and Jeri nodded in agreement, and the four then piled out of the dark room and into a stone hallway with unnaturally bright walls, as if they had been bleached to clean off some unwanted stain.
"Hey, you!" Something yelled from the end of the hallway. The four looked to see a large bull, coated in blue and gold armor from hooves to horns, and wearing a short red cape with an out-of-view symbol, standing at the corner of the corridor. "Intruders!"
"So much for that plan!" Lunamon sighed, and then lunged towards the Bullmon. "Tear Shot!"
Shiokaze Park
Two Weeks Ago
Gomamon swatted the attack away. The watery blast that had shot out of Lunamon's antenna exploded uselessly onto the ground, leaving Lunamon stunned. She stumbled a little, Gomamon's defensive tactic surprising her, allowing Gomamon to make his move. He sidestepped the off-balance rabbit and then swept his paw low, tripping his opponent so that she stumbled onto her face. Lunamon, not one to be stunned for very long, quickly rolled back onto her feet, but by that time Gomamon had already launched himself at her back. Lunamon quickly spun around and threw a punch towards her adversary, but Gomamon new better. With his back paw, he pushed himself up, changing his trajectory so that he flew above Lunamon, then grabbed her antenna and swung her over his body and into the ground.
"You're not learning!" Gomamon complained as he skidded to the ground beside Lunamon. His trainee quickly jumped up and tried to kick the seal-Digimon in the face, but he pulled back and rolled away before he could take any damage. "Your opponent is watching your movements, waiting to see what you'll do next. You need to do the same!" Lunamon, frustrated, rushed at him again and extended her arms. Her claws then began to glow a dark purple, a forewarning of one of her specialty attacks. Gomamon shook his head, and then countered. "Marching Fishes!" Out of nowhere, a stream of bony fishes then shot towards Lunamon from above, intent on knocking her out of her current path. Lunamon darted left the second they appeared, however, a different plan of attack in mind.
So you are learning, Gomamon thought: just not enough. He then jumped into the stream of fish and vanished from Lunamon's sight. She gasped, not expecting this move, and stopped her charge. She jumped backward, holding her glowing claws in a defensive position. Then the stream of fish exploded. Gaping fish scattered into different directions, too many for Lunamon to keep track of. Her attention diverted and overwhelmed, the rabbit didn't notice as Gomamon fell down towards her from above. He pounced on her and kicked the girl away. Coronamon, who had been sitting on the sidelines, caught her before she could roll into Hawkmon, Kudamon, and Guilmon's training session.
"You're too obvious with your ruse." Gomamon shook his head. "You rush at me, leaving yourself wide open to attack. Any rational opponent would deduce that you were just completely inexperienced or you were trying to fool them into defending against a frontal attack that would never arrive. Your opponent needs to believe that they know what you're doing, and that's when you change your attack. These are basics, guys."
"Basic to you," Lunamon responded, "you've a hundred and six years on me. Battle instincts come more naturally to you."
"And in time, they'll come more naturally to you too. Now try again." Gomamon instructed. Lunamon took a deep breath, and then ran at him again.
"And Coronamon, try helping out a little bit. What rule says that Lunamon has to fight alone?" Coronamon, surprised, took a deep breath as well, and then ran to join in on the fray.
Surprised at Gomamon's statement (she could have used the help before), Lunamon rushed forward again, directing a newfound rage towards her instructor.
Quasi-Gulag
7:04 A.M
Lunamon ducked low, aiming for Bullmon's feet. Bullmon responded, bending his ankles and lowering his head to protect his upper limbs. Lunamon's foot grazed the ground, enough to give her some leverage. She pushed upwards, rolled into a ball, and passed over Bullmon's head. The Digimon turned his head back in surprise to follow her movement, a foolish move.
"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon shot a fireball that collided with the monster's neck. Bullmon snapped his head back in pain and anger, his sights now fixed on the Guilmon. A primal emotion took over him, and his mind became consumed with rage. Bullmon galloped towards the red dragon as it took a defensive position between Bullmon and the two humans, who realized it was time to slide back into the room they had arrived in.
Unfortunately for Bullmon, a grip on his horns jerked his head back, forcing him to stop running so that he didn't snap his neck. The Lunamon that had jumped over him before was back, attached to Bullmon's horns so that he had minimal control of his neck movements. Ahead, the Guilmon smiled at him as he ran forward to attack. The fire blast had been a ruse to distract Bullmon so that Lunamon could get atop the armor Digimon's head.
"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon launched another attack, now confident in where he was shooting. Bullmon tried to jerk his head away, but Lunamon wouldn't let him. The blast hit his upper neck, and Bullmon cried out in pain. His knees buckled and he dropped to the ground, shaking Lunamon as they fell. Lunamon eased up on her grip, believing they had taken down their opponent, but was mistaken. Bullmon quickly jumped up and threw his head forward. Lunamon didn't have time to tighten her grip before she was thrown forward into Guilmon, knocking the both of them past the doorway.
Bullmon then charged towards them with his head lowered, intent on ramming his disoriented opponents. As he passed the doorway, however, a wooden bat swung outwards and collided with his knee. An immense pain shot up and down his leg, and the Bullmon tumbled over onto his left side as his leg gave way from under him. Unfortunately for Bullmon his horns smashed into the ground first, acting as a lever and vaulting his body over his head. Bullmon's horns than slipped out of their place and his body crashed down upon his skull, knocking the Digimon unconscious.
"Walking digivice my butt," Takato said coolly as he walked out of the room, twirling the bat in his left hand with a triumphant look upon his face.
"Good job Takato," Lunamon congratulated the boy as she and Guilmon crawled over the fallen monster, "though somebody might have heard that. We should get out of here before somebody comes to investigate the commotion."
"Maybe we should hide him though," Jeri suggested, pointing to the Bullmon, "in case somebody walks by here." Agreeing, the others then cooperated to push the Bullmon into the room they had arrived in. Lunamon then led the way down the hall where Bullmon had originated, and the others followed.
Shadowtech Island,
7:08 A.M
"Intruders!" The Yasyamon screamed as he ran, scrambling back towards the settlement on the island.
"Everyone's going to know we're here!" Iori squealed.
"Give me a second." Hawkmon sighed, and then jumped forward. In mid-air, he became enveloped in a bright light and changed form into the ninja Shurimon. Shurimon then dashed with incredible speed up the hill and within range of the Yasyamon. "Forgive me friend," Shurimon whispered to himself, and then pulled his arm back to strike.
He thrust his arm forward, and his shuriken palm spun forward rapidly, propelled by the spiral arm extending from Shurimon's shoulder. The shuriken's blades jabbed into the center of Yasyamon's back, knocking the fleeing Digimon onto his stomach. The Yasyamon twitched for a few seconds before exploding in a shower of data.
Shurimon retracted his arm as he landed in the sand. A series of soft crunches from behind directed Shurimon's attention to Coronamon, Kudamon, and their partners, who were running up the hill to meet him.
"That was quick thinking." Sora congratulated Shurimon as she and the others joined him.
"I only hope that it was quick enough." Shurimon lamented. "If anybody heard him, then we will soon have the full force of Shadowtech Island's inhabitants upon us." As he said this, he looked to the buildings beyond: a group of warehouses, used to store the cargo brought to the island, were straight ahead. A landing field with a few Brimpmon stationed was situated next to the warehouses, along with a string of buildings used for maintaining the Brimpmon. Beyond, the islands barracks, where all the workers lived, could be seen in the distance. The airport, warehouses, and barracks were all tan and grey, matching the bleak, vegetation-lacking landscape of the island. Shadowtech was basically a barren and sandy rock in the middle of the ocean.
"It looks like we're safe- for the moment at least." Iori sighed with relief.
"Yasyamon 224, come in." A voice sprang from the sand in front of them. The group jumped in surprise at the sound. Coronamon then spotted a small black object on the ground and procured it: a small, shortwave radio, left behind as it wasn't a part of Yasyamon's data.
"Iori, from now on, don't talk." Sora growled.
"Oh dear," Shurimon murmured, and then took the radio from Coronamon's hand as the radio emitted another message.
"224 come in. What was your last communication? Over." The radio buzzed once again. Shurimon cleared his throat, indicating he was about to try and resolve the situation, and then spoke into the radio.
"Uh, this is Yasyamon 224. Please scratch that last communication, over." Shurimon spoke with a raspy and unusual voice.
"It sounded like you said intruders, 224. What did you find? Over."
"Uh, nothing sir. Thought I saw an incoming vessel, but it was just a large piece of scrap board riding a particularly large wave. Nothing to worry about sir, over."
"What's wrong with your voice, 224? You sound like you just swallowed a mouthful of sand or something, over."
"Uh, yes sir. I took a nasty tumble just a second ago: breathed in a mouthful of it" –Shurimon faked a cough- "and I'm still trying to cough it out, over." The response came a few suspicious seconds later.
"What's the pass-key 224? Over." A suspicious voice asked from the other line. Shurimon froze up for a second. He knew the pass-key, used to distinguish Soldiers of the Glorious Revolution from impersonators, from three weeks ago, but he had no idea if they'd changed it since he left.
"Uh, 1138, over." Shurimon answered, hoping that would suffice. Nobody answered for the next few seconds, making Shurimon tense up.
"Just checking, 224: that'll be all, over and out." The voice finally spoke. The conversation was then terminated, and Shurimon dropped the radio from his face.
"Do you think he bought it?" Sora asked hopefully.
"Unless they neglected to change the pass-key after my 'betrayal'," Shurimon answered, "I doubt it."
St. Luke's International Hospital
7:20 A.M
Tai walked rapidly through the hallways of the intensive care unit, steering through the maze of hallways towards Joe's room. Izzy had stayed behind to deal with the problems that had arisen after the portal activated, while Kari had remained to act as his sounding board. Yolei had dropped Tai off at the front doors and had then gone to park the car.
He arrived in an enclosed hallway with multiple beds lined on each wall, each holding a comatose patient attached to machines and an I.V. line: all except one. In the bed farthest from Tai's point of entry, Joe Kido sat up in his bed, feasting on a cup of Jell-O. A tall man with combed blue hair stood next to him, chatting with the patient quietly.
"Joe…!" Tai whispered in cheer, alerting the two men to his presence. Joe waved him over, and Tai strode over to the Digidestined of reliability with relief. "Joe, I'm so glad you're okay. I talked to the doctors just last week and they said that your condition wasn't improving."
"The doctors said that's when he started to get better," the unknown man addressed Tai, "about a week ago."
"Hey Tai," Joe spoke, "This is my brother Jim. Jim," He turned to his brother, "This is Tai, Taichi Kamiya." The two shook hands, now acquainted.
"The doctors couldn't get in touch with you all this time," Tai said to Jim, "we searched all over the city for a Kido household missing this guy." He pointed to Joe with his thumb in a relieved manner.
"My brother's last name is Hitachi," Joe once again answered for Jim, "it's a family thing." He explained. "You'd never find him looking for Kido."
"My brother lives with me in Tokyo for school," Jim explained, "But our parents live up north. Around the time Joe disappeared, I got a call from our mother saying my Dad had just had a heart attack. I had already checked many of the hospitals multiple times-"
"I'm guessing this one before I got here," Joe interrupted. Jim ignored him, continuing.
"And I had filed a missing persons report with the police, so I had to go check on my Dad." Jim finished.
"Hey Jim, want to get me some more Jell-O?" Joe asked, handing his brother an empty canister. Jim happily obliged, running off to get his hospitalized brother more nourishment, and left Joe and Tai alone.
"We were worried sick about you Joe, I'm so glad you're okay." Tai sighed. Joe nodded, not really answering. "I guess we caught a really lucky break there. Not being able to find your family while you were in such a critical condition was not a pleasant experience." Tai said with a half smile. A look in Joe's eye suggested that he wanted to talk about more serious matters. Tai understood. "So, do you remember what happened?"
"You mean do I remember Henry appearing out of the blue after 104 years and sucking the life out of me with his hand? Yeah, I remember. What did you tell them happened to me?"
"I told them I got a call from you on a payphone: said somebody had mugged you, but when I found you, you were too beat up to tell me anything else. They didn't sound very convinced. You were really bad off Joe. Henry's got some crazy powers now."
"Yeah, I noticed," Joe replied sarcastically, "have you done anything about that in the two weeks I've been in here?"
"Yeah, there's a lot you missed out on, but for a multitude of reasons we haven't been able to go back until now. We were actually heading out into the digital world just a few minutes ago, before the doctors called. Takato, Sora, Iori and Jeri- they're also new Digidestined- are there right now. I was about to go with them, but there were… complications."
"What kind of complications?"
"It's a really long story, and Izzy's better at it than I am. We should get you out of here first, and then we can fill you in on everything that's happened. First though, we should find some way to get you away from your brother."
"Why's that?" Joe asked sincerely.
"Well, Joe, I mean you could take a break if you need it, but we're kind of under the gun here. Those complications are a little more important than I initially hinted at, and on top of that Takato and the other new Digidestined are out in the digital world alone, without our help."
"Well," Joe replied, "I was thinking that we'd just tell him."
Quasi-Gulag
7:25 A.M
Guilmon led the way down the curved corridor. The blanched walls had given way to dark stone bricks, and empty, closed prison cells now lined the right wall. The four were now out of the administrative section of the floor and into the epitome of the building's likeness to a Soviet era prison. The layout of the hallway was not shared with any rational prison system, however; it was taking a very peculiar direction. After turning the corner from the hall that they had arrived in, the corridor had initially gone straight. However, once the bleached walls disappeared and the prison cells began, the corridor had begun to curve: slightly at first and now very sharply.
The group knew that the prison hallway was curling inwards, but they could not turn back. Voices from the behind suggested that more Digimon were behind them, following their path yet oblivious to their presence. The Digidestined could only hope that once they got to the end of the path that they'd find a staircase to continue onwards. If not, then they'd have to face these new opponents once they got to the end.
"Hey!" A voice yelled from behind. Takato, who was positioned in the back of the herd, flinched and then turned his head to see if the Digimon behind them had accelerated and spotted them. He gave a quiet sigh of relief when nobody was there, and continued walking.
"What is it Prariemon?" Another Digimon asked, this voice slightly closer to Takato than the previous one.
"I found Bullmon unconscious in the execution room." The word Bullmon made the hairs on Takato's back stand up. "I woke him up, and he said he was attacked by a Guilmon, a Lunamon, and two human children."
"Uh-oh." Takato grunted.
"What?" Another Digimon gasped. The monsters behind Takato had all stopped to have their conversation.
"We should run now." Takato whispered to Jeri, who nodded nervously in agreement. The four then shared a glance, and started down the hallway as quickly and quietly as they could.
"Yeah, and I just came from the other hallway. They must have come down this one."
"Damn it, they're probably right ahead of us!"
"Wait, I hear them, they're running for it!"
"Time to move faster!" Guilmon commanded, their presence discovered. Guilmon then backed up behind Takato and shoved his head in between Takato's legs, throwing Takato onto his back, and increased his speed. Lunamon, unable to carry Jeri, grabbed her hand and started running faster as well, to the great displeasure of her partner, who was now forced to run/be dragged far faster than she was comfortable with.
"Get them!"
Guilmon and Lunamon ran as fast as they could with the weights they were carrying, but they felt themselves slow. And it didn't take long for the Prairiemon that had reported the disturbance with Bullmon to catch up with them. The Prariemon, a tall rabbit with metal ears and metal gloves on his hands, each tipped with three long red claws, was now closing the small distance he had left between himself and the closest human child: Jeri. His arms were widened as he prepared to slash at Jeri's heels.
"Turn!" Guilmon suddenly commanded, and then vanished around a hallway that suddenly appeared amidst the bland brick wall. Lunamon, careful of the girl she had in tow, followed the turn, almost smashing Jeri into the wall, but made it nonetheless. Prairiemon wasn't expecting the turn and, being last in line, had to scramble to a stop in order to stop himself from smashing into the wall. He gathered his bearings as the two Digimon and children widened the gap in between them, and then took off after them again.
"Argh! He's still gaining on us!" Guilmon grumbled as they ran. They were now passing hallway after hallway of what appeared to be the main prison corridor. They were now in some sort of access route from the outer corridor to the inner. It wouldn't take them long to reach the center though. Before long, Guilmon could see the hallway spilling out into a large open circle.
"Ayah!" Jeri squealed from behind. Guilmon turned his head to see Prairiemon, now literally at their heels once again, slashing at Jeri's feet. Guilmon turned his head back and tried to run faster, encouraging Lunamon to do the same. But the rabbit was hindered by Jeri, who was slower on foot and now was beginning to stumble thanks to the high speed and the assault on her feet.
As they reached the center, Guilmon noticed that there was a rail a ways inside the circle. A cage sat in the middle of the room, suspended from a large chain and connected to the two sides parallel to him by bridges. Only then did Guilmon realize that the center of the room had no floor; it was a drop off. Guilmon slowed down as he approached. Since Takato was on his back and not being dragged behind him, he was faster than Lunamon and had room to slow down. He stopped, dropped Takato off of his back, and turned around, preparing a Pyro Sphere to launch at Prairiemon when he got a clear shot. But Lunamon, not realizing that Guilmon had stopped (she was too focused on Prairiemon) kept running.
"Lunamon slow down!" Takato called to the rabbit.
"What?" Lunamon cried back, turning her head. But she didn't have time. As soon as she saw Guilmon and Takato standing still she tried to slow down, but Jeri, not paying attention to her forward, kept running to keep her feet safe from Prairiemon's attacks. The two stumbled over each other and crashed into Guilmon and Takato, knocking all four of them over the railing.
St. Luke's International Hospital
7:25 A.M
"Tell who?" Tai asked Joe in disbelief.
"Tell Jim," Joe answered as if it were completely rational.
"Tell Jim what?" Tai asked; his brain was unable to comprehend what Joe was saying.
"Come on Tai," Joe sighed, exasperated, "About Digimon, the digital world, what we did there, everything."
"And why on earth would you do that?"
"Well why not? Are you telling me you haven't told anyone else about the digital world since its come back into our lives?"
"No I haven't."
"Why not?"
"Because it sounds crazy to any rational human being."
"Yeah, if we had no proof. Which would be the case any other time, but we've been there and back again this time, and according to what you just said, there again. Gomamon's here right? I mean, I'm imagining you didn't just leave him there and only rescue me, Takato, and Sora."
"Yeah, he's here. I guess we do have some proof but, only of the existence of a talking clawed seal: not of an entire world of anthropo-" he stopped himself, as if Izzy were watching him- "humanoid creatures connected to our world by the internet. Besides, even if we did have a ton of proof, what's the likelihood that he'd believe us?"
"I think you lack a certain faith in people that I have Tai." Joe smiled. "Besides, I know my brother a lot better than you do, and trust me: if we provide him with enough information and evidence, he will believe us. Yolei!" His attention was redirected to the girl with long purple hair that had just walked up from behind Tai.
"Joe!" Yolei cheered with relief, and then gave Joe a semi-hug as she was standing and he sitting. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot lately."
"Has Tai filled you in on everything?" Yolei inquired.
"More or less," Joe shrugged, "apparently Izzy's supposed to fill in the blanks. I'm pretty anxious to learn what you guys have figured out since I've been in here."
"Good: when do you think you'll be able to get out of here to do that?"
"My brother's a shrewd negotiator. He'll have me out of here in the next hour."
"Your brother?" Yolei asked with an inquisitive look on her face.
"Joe has a brother," Tai addressed Yolei, "name's Jim. He wants to tell Jim about the Digimon and the digital world."
"Ooh, that's a good idea." Yolei exclaimed.
"Excuse me?" Tai dropped his jaw in disbelief. "Am I the only one who thinks that broadcasting the existence of the digital world might land us in a mental institution?"
"Oh, please Tai," Yolei scoffed, "you should be more trusting in people."
"Here you go Joe." Jim announced as he returned to the bed, holding a fresh cup of Jell-O in his hand, which he preceded to hand to Joe. "Oh look, more friends of Joe's who I've never met or heard of before."
"Hi, I'm Yolei." Yolei introduced herself, brushing her hair behind her ear before holding out her hand to shake Jim's.
"Hi, Jim Hitachi," Jim introduced himself.
"Hey Jim, you think you could get me out of here in the next hour or so?" Joe asked his brother.
"I could try, but the doctors will probably want to keep you overnight for a day or two for observation." Jim answered. "Why, what's the rush?"
"Well, you know the story Tai and I told the doctors, about me getting mugged?" Joe asked, prompting a grunt of irritation from Tai.
"Yeah, the one that doesn't fit with the fact that you came into the hospital looking like you just spent a week locked in a damp basement with no food or water?"
"Yeah, about that…"
Quasi-Gulag
7:28 A.M
Jeri held her dress down as she fell, so it would not fall over her head. Eyes shut tight, Jeri tried not to think about her impending doom. The thought brought tears to her eyes. But as she continued to fall and continued to not die, she regained the courage to open her eyes. The four of them had been falling for over ten seconds and had not hit the ground, a good sign. But as they continued to fall, the more momentum they would gain, and the harder they would it the ground. Self preservation then kicked into Jeri.
She looked around, trying to determine any way to stop her descent. She flew past a steel cage hanging next to her, suspended from a chain that was held up by a steel cage above it. She looked down and saw a string of steel cages below her. She reached out for the next one, but her speed was too great and the edge just struck her palm and caused her to reel back her hand and coddle it. Not a good idea. She then noticed that the last steel cage was only two levels down, and below that the chain continued below the last floor.
"There," she screamed to gain the attention of her comrades, and pointed to the chain hanging from the last steel cage. She passed the metal structure, and then reached out for the chain hanging from it. It was too rough at first, throwing her hand off due to the friction, but she grabbed again, and gained just enough pull to drag her feet over to it. The then wrapped her legs and arms around it, and began to slow down. The others followed her example.
They slid down for a while, longer than they had been falling freely, until the series of metal rings suddenly ended into nothingness. Jeri slipped off unintentionally, not knowing that the chain suddenly stopped in the middle of the air.
"Agh!" She cried, thinking her plan had failed, and that she was now about to fall to her death once again. Fortunately she hit the ground quick. She fell about ten feet down and hit something solid. Reacting quickly, she bent her knees and rolled the rest of the way onto the ground, protecting her legs from injury. "The floors a short way down!" She yelled quickly. "Roll when you hit the ground!" She warned her unsuspecting companions. A series of grunts followed, indicating that the others had arrived.
"Is everybody okay?" Takato groaned a second later.
"Takato, that wasn't any fun." Guilmon whined.
"Jeri, are you intact?" Lunamon asked from somewhere in the darkness. The only light came from the hallways above, and it didn't reach down to the ground.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Luckily I remembered what Yolei told me about hitting the ground from really high; otherwise all our legs might be broken."
"Well the important thing is, we escaped that Digimon." Takato remarked. "And I doubt if he thinks we're alive, after the fall we took."
"They'll still be looking for our bodies though." Jeri countered.
"That is all the more reason to hatch our escape plan as quickly as possible, before they find us alive and then proceed to maim and kill us." Lunamon said cheerily, as if oblivious to her own words.
The docks, Shadowtech Island
7:32 A.M
"What's going on here?" Submarimon arrived at the dock of Shadowtech Island to find Digimon scrambling about the island, going in and out of buildings and marching across the rock and sand of the bare parts of the island, not monitoring computer equipment, stationed at guard posts, or carrying boxes between warehouses and Brimpmons. This wasn't part of their job description.
"Sir," A Togemon noted the general's presence and ceased whatever activity he was previously participating in, "what are you doing here?"
"Answer the question." Submarimon barked.
"There's an intruder on the island sir. They assassinated one of the Yasyamons. We're trying to find him now."
"What? Get me a radio and put me in contact with MadLeomon."
"That's not the best idea sir," the Togemon replied, "He has access to one of our radios, and he knew an obsolete pass-key. The boss wants to keep the radios clear of any indication that we're looking for the intruder."
"Agh!" Submarimon thrashed in the water. "Take me to him!"
"Sir?" In response Submarimon then threw himself out of the water, over the dock.
"Slide Evolution!"
A warehouse, Shadowtech Island
7:34 A.M
Iori peered over the top of the crate, a direct line of sight to the doorway from their elevated position on top of a stack of boxes. Behind the crates, within the warehouse closest to their point-of-arrival, the group was relatively safe from discovery. Iori was cautious, however, and constantly checked the door ahead of them, wary of the few Digimon that had walked in and out of the building.
"Iori," Shurimon whispered from his side, pulling the boy back into concealment, "Nagging over their comings and goings is not going to do anything for us. Calm your nerves."
"Sorry," Iori whispered, "I've just never been in this situation before."
"And under any circumstance your nervousness would be not only warranted but encouraged. But I assure you, we are well hidden in this position. These warehouses are a maze of crates and boxes that would take weeks to properly comb over."
"There hasn't been any chatter on the radio," Sora noted, holding Yasyamon's communication device in her hands, "Are you sure they're looking for us?"
"It's because they want us to think that everything is status quo." Shurimon answered. "Our presence here has been alerted by word of mouth. The Digimon will search for us as quietly as they can, so we believe nothing has changed. But they're not following normal procedures, doing any real work, so it's obvious that something is up.""
"Yeah, we'll be okay here." Sora tried to reassure Iori. "We just have to hide here until they pass over this area, then we can find a boat and head on over to Reboot."
"Yeah, sure," Iori nodded, I hope you're right.
Administrative office, Shadowtech Island
7:38 A.M
Digmon stood outside MadLeomon's office, tapping his foot. Submarimon's alternate armor evolution was akin to a semi-humanoid beetle, with yellow curved armor covering his body and two large drills for fingers. A drill also sat on top of his snout, and purple markings covered his hard yellow shell, which covered and protected Digmon's insect-thin wings.
A tall door opened, and MadLeomon finally stepped out to meet his associate. Unlike his Leomon counterparts, MadLeomon was decrepit and crooked. His skin was purple, his main a long and ragged mess hanging over his hunchback. His arms were long and disproportionate. His knuckles dragged along the ground and his forearms were bound by black belts.
"It's about time you got out here." Digmon barked at MadLeomon's arrival.
"Calm yourself Digmon," MadLeomon shook his head, "what is it you want?"
"What's happening here; who's the intruder?"
"We don't know. But it's a big complex, and those warehouses take a while to search. But whoever it is killed Yasyamon, and tried to use an outdated pass-key."
"What was the pass-key?"
"1138." The answer made Digmon glare.
"That pass-key is only two weeks old."
"Yes, but it was replaced recently due to-" MadLeomon stopped, homing in on what Digmon was getting at. "You don't think Shurimon-?"
"I think it's just like a traitor to return to finish off his sabotage." Digmon snapped. "Do you have a speaker system anywhere?"
"Yeah, in there," MadLeomon nodded to his office, "why?"
"And you have a man here for each building, correct?"
"A 1:1 ratio, like always. Except for the loss of Yasyamon. But you're here now."
"Good. Position every soldier you have in the barracks, warehouses, and hangars. Use the radio; we won't need secrecy for most of this. Then give me the radio."
"What are you going to do?" MadLeomon asked.
"The intruder will have the radio on so he can listen to our activity. That's how we'll find him."
A warehouse, Shadowtech Island
7:50 A.M
Shurimon sat with the radio in his hand. His shuriken was set on the ground, and the three appendages he used to hold the shuriken were now acting as fingers so he could hold the radio close to his ear. He had just heard the command from MadLeomon for every inhabitant of the island to position themselves inside one of the buildings. He sat impatiently, listening to every Digimon check in, ticking down the seconds until whatever MadLeomon's plan was came into action. He knew the details of Shadowtech Island: one Digimon for each building, fifty buildings. Eventually, fifty Digimon would sign off, and MadLeomon would be set up to find them. He just didn't know how.
"What's going on?" Kudamon asked the armored warrior. "Why are they having every Digimon on the island go into every building and do nothing?"
"I'm not sure," Shurimon replied, "But MadLeomon, the leader of this base, is nothing short of sadistic. Whatever his plan is, we're not going to like it."
"Ha!" Coronamon scoffed. "Likely a faulty attempt to try and locate us. This MadLeomon will have no such luck pinpointing our location within this sea of boxes." A bang sounded, startling the overconfident lion.
"The Digimon assigned to this room is here." Shurimon whispered. "Be quiet." He then peaked over the edge to get a look at the Vilemon that was now walking down the corridor or crates. He reached the center, and then reported his placement.
"Warehouse three ready." He spoke.
45 Digimon reported.
"Warehouse seventeen ready." A voice spoke over the radio. Shurimon turned down his radio to keep from being detected.
"Barracks four ready."
"Hangar two ready."
"Boathouse ready."
49 Digimon reported. That concluded all of the Digimon on the island. There were only 49 Digimon thanks to Shurimon's actions.
"Administrative office ready," A raspy voice sounded over the radio, surprising Shurimon. There was a fiftieth inhabitant of the island once again. "When I give the signal, you know what to do." The voice had also passed along instructions on the next step, off the radio waves. Shurimon was now at the mercy of fate. He could only hope that whatever they were about to attempt, it wouldn't be effective.
"Now." The voice commanded. Shurimon watched the Vilemon with anticipation, but he only lifted up his radio and turned it off.
"What…?" Shurimon mumbled. Then MadLeomon's trap sprung. A horrible screeching sound burst from Shurimon's radio, alerting the Vilemon to Shurimon's location. Shurimon realized what had just happened: MadLeomon had placed the radio receiver next to a speaker, creating feedback that would reverberate through all the handheld radio units. The Digimon had been ordered to turn their radios off, so that Shurimon's would be the only one to emit the noise.
And it had worked.
Shurimon reacted quickly. He smashed the radio with his bare hand, and jumped up to get a good view of the Vilemon, who had spotted him as soon as the feedback had sounded. Vilemon raised his radio and turned it back on.
"They're in warehouse three-!" Vilemon yelled just before Shurimon's blade slammed into Vilemon's skull.
"Damn it!" Shurimon swore as he retracted his arm. "We need to get out of here now!" He pulled the other four out of the hole, and led them down the pile of boxes.
"What did they do?" Coronamon asked as they descended.
"MadLeomon positioned his men in every building of this base, and then had them turn their radios off. Then he started a loop between the radio and a speaker, causing feedback that broadcasted through our radio, giving away our position."
"Clever bastard," Sora grumbled.
"I don't think it was MadLeomon." Shurimon replied. "A different voice gave the instructions to turn off the radios from the administrator's office."
"A different voice?" Iori asked.
"Yeah, a familiar one." Shurimon answered as he finally dropped to the floor. He helped everyone else get down, and then led them towards the back, where a less conspicuous exit was. Then a loud bang near the front alerted them that they had just run out of time. "Blast it all to hell, they're here." Shurimon stopped and led the way down a corridor of boxes, and stuffed the other four into a hidden corner, opting to hang out into the hallway for space.
"Shurimon!" A voice boomed from afar. Not only did they know that he was here, they knew who he was. "Come out now!" Shurimon didn't respond. He did, however, finally make out the voice that was talking to him.
"Digmon…" Shurimon whispered.
"Listen," Digmon yelled, "If you don't come out now, you're going to force our hand. If you won't come out, then we'll burn this warehouse down."
"What did you just say?" Another voice, which Shurimon identified as MadLeomon, yelled at Digmon. A series of whispers followed.
"This Digmon sounds a lot more sadistic than MadLeomon was made out to be." Iori commented.
"MadLeomon's sadistic, but he's also practical." Shurimon answered quietly. "He'll burn down this warehouse, laughing while he does it, but only if the benefit outweighs the cost. Right now Digmon is just focusing on finding me and making me pay for my 'betrayal'. He acts on pride, while MadLeomon thinks things out first."
"Who is this Digmon?" Sora asked.
"You might know him better in his other armored form, Submarimon." Shurimon answered to Sora's surprise. Iori was unaffected.
"Listen Shurimon!" Digmon continued, his conversation with MadLeomon over. "You can come out now, and we can handle this like gentlemen. But if you make me flush you out by burning down all of this merchandise, then when I eventually do find you- and you know I will- it will be far less pleasant!" Shurimon turned to his comrades with a dreadful look on his face. They shared the expression. Nobody knew what to do.
"This is your last chance Shurimon!" MadLeomon yelled, now in agreement with Digmon's plan. "We'll give you till the count of ten to reveal yourself to us, or this place catches fire!"
"Ten!" Digmon yelled.
Shurimon stood clueless.
"Nine."
He turned to Sora and Iori, huddled with their partners. There was no way the three of them could fight their way out of the situation.
"Eight!"
Even if both Coronamon and Kudamon could learn to Digivolve, they'd still be outnumbered over 16 to 1.
"Seven!"
He at least had to keep the two children safe.
"Six!"
He would reconfigure. Sora and Iori would not.
"Five!"
A plan formed in his head.
"Four!"
Though it wasn't a very good plan.
"Three!"
It might result in his escape, or it might result in his death, but either way he had to take a chance.
"Two!"
"Stay here. Don't reveal your presence." Shurimon ordered Iori, Sora, and their partners.
"What?" They asked in shock.
"One!"
"Just do what I say. Don't reveal your position." He ordered.
"Okay, if that's what you want!" Digmon taunted. "Let it burn!" He ordered.
"Wait!" Shurimon yelled. "I'm coming out!" Iori, Jeri, and the Digimon watched in horror as Shurimon slowly walked out of the alley and into the open, in view of Digmon and MadLeomon.
"Shurimon, now how did I know it was you?" Digmon asked triumphantly as Shurimon slowly walked over to them.
"No funny business now Shurimon," MadLeomon commanded, "This entire building is surrounded by all of our forces."
"I wouldn't dream of it MadLeomon." Shurimon scoffed.
"Now, what in the name of Yggdrasil are you doing here?" Digmon asked cockily.
"Well in my defense, it wasn't exactly my plan to come to this island of all places, it just sort of worked out that way."
"Planning more sabotage of our military now, 'traitor'?"
"I'll admit to the sabotage part, but I was never a part of your army. I was being controlled. I didn't have any control over my own actions, unlike you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Digmon growled.
"I mean, at the end of the day, how do you look yourself in the mirror, knowing what you're doing, and that you're doing it willingly?"
"Don't you dare judge me, Shurimon. You've no idea of my reasoning."
"I've heard enough of this." MadLeomon barked. "This traitor has nothing to offer us. He hasn't had enough time to conduct any sort of effective sabotage. I say we kill him right now."
"I'm sorely tempted to agree with you MadLeomon." Digmon grinned. "Don't worry Shurimon," he addressed his former ally, "I promise you it will be quick and extraordinarily painful."
"Oh, that's so comforting." Shurimon retorted.
"They're going to kill him." Iori whined as he watched the events unfold from behind his crate.
"I know," Sora sighed, "But there's nothing we can do."
"But we can't just leave him out there to die for us. He's doing this to protect our lives. I can't just sit back and not help."
"But Shurimon can get reconfigured. We can't. If they-" Sora gulped- "kill us, then we're gone forever. Shurimon won't be."
"I just…" Iori watched with a rising fear. "No, I can't. Tai said that the original Digidestined were in the heat of things, and that was the only way that their partners evolved and they made any progress. We've got to do the same." He turned to his partner. "Are you with me Coronamon?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Coronamon nodded. "Let us mop the proverbial floor with their faces of a poor quality."
"I'm not even going to ask what that means." Iori shook his head. "Let's just go." He led the way, not down the main corridor but through a smaller path to their left, parallel to where Digmon, MadLeomon, and Shurimon were.
"But, Iori…" Sora tried to stop them, but the pair raced off before she could do anything.
"He's right you know." Kudamon whispered to his partner.
Iori used the small pathways in between the high stacks of boxes to flank Digmon. He finally arrived at the box just behind the insect. Unsheathing his baseball bat, he prepared to attack. "Now." He whispered to Coronamon, and then sprang out, jumping forward with the baseball bat raised over his head, ready to crack it against Digmon's. Coronamon raced close behind, aiming for the back of his knees. Neither one of them unleashed a battle cry. That was the first thing that Gomamon had drilled into their heads. Never reveal your presence to your enemy until it is absolutely necessary.
Unfortunately, Digmon heard their footsteps, and whipped around to smack both of them in the gut and knock them across the floor. Coronamon scattered behind another box, out of sight, while Iori crashed into a nearby crate.
"Well, it looks like Shurimon brought some help with him." Digmon scoffed, walking slowly over to the boy.
"No!" Shurimon tried to intervene, but MadLeomon grabbed his arm and slung him against a wall of crates.
"You should have stayed hidden child." Digmon growled, not giving any thought to the fact that Iori was human, "your life expectancy just went way down."
"Iori…?" Coronamon dragged himself out from behind the crate, disoriented.
"You'll be the first to die!" Digmon raised his arm and started his drills.
"Digmon wait!" MadLeomon warned, seeing the lion Digimon and correlating him with the human child. But Digmon didn't listen. He jabbed his drills down towards Iori's soft, fleshy stomach.
"Iori!" Coronamon cried out upon seeing his partner's impending doom. He lunged forward, not believing he would make it in time. Then the digivice clipped to Iori's pocket exploded with a bright light, realizing MadLeomon's fears.
"Coronamon Digivolve to… Firamon!"