Ugh! FINALLY! I had this ready to go DAYS ago, but I had a power outage. We got the electricity back in a few hours but our internet was down for FOUR DAYS! I'm sure you know how hard THAT can be nowadays...I felt like I was in 'Summer Wars'...
Anyway, we've finally entered the Digital Core, and it is here that the question that has been lingering since the beginning of this story shall be answered: Where the hell are the seven missing nations?
BTW if you've seen 'Lucario and the Mystery of Mew' prepare to find a reference.
The group was sure to stay close to one another as they ventured into the entrance of the Digital Core. The path went downward for a while but eventually became flat. The nations thought it would be pitch black, but multiple crystal-like objects stuck in the wall illuminating their path.
"Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this place?" Austria asked softly.
France nodded, "Oui, something doesn't feel right."
Romano crossed his arms hoping to keep himself from shaking and looked behind him, hoping it would reassure him. But of course, the long narrow path gaping behind them didn't help matters.
"How deep does this place go exactly?" Britain asked.
Amerimon shrugged, "Well, like we said, it's kinda like the Earth's core in the human world so it may be a long way down."
"So, every Digitalia in this world was created here, da?" Russia said, "That must mean you all must have had to climb out of this place."
Belamon nodded confirming his statement.
"But how does data get from our world to this world?" Germany asked.
"We have no idea!" Prussiamon answered, folding his hands behind his head and not explaining anything more. They walked for a while longer and everyone could feel pressure all around them due from being so deep underground. It was also beginning to get quite stuffy and a little on the hard side to breathe. Luckily, the crystals in the tunnel stayed as numerous and bright as ever, so sight wasn't an issue.
The Digitalia were beginning to think that they would be able to get to the core without any problem, hoping that the pressure and breathless atmosphere would let up once they got there. At this point, everyone began to relax seeing as how they hadn't run into any enemies or troubles, but irony was a cruel bastard, as Romano would call it.
The sound of movement caused the Italian nation to freeze and turn around. Itamon noticed and turned towards him, "What's wrong Romano?" he asked with concern.
"I heard something," Romano muttered, "From back there."
Austria scowled, "This isn't the time for jokes." He scolded, causing Romano to turn on him.
"I'm serious you piano bastard, I heard something move back there!"
"Both of you shut up!" Germany hissed.
Everyone waited until they heard something coming from where they had come; they couldn't quite place it, but something was definitely moving back there.
"What is that?" China asked.
The Digitalia all stepped in front of the nations, ready for an attack. Amerimon took a step forward and squinted through the dim light. Among the shadows on the walls, something big and burly could be seen making their way towards them. "Run, run!" Amerimon exclaimed.
No one had to be told again as they took off down the tunnel as fast as they could. The Digitalia glanced behind them as they were running to see that the figures had drastically picked up their speed. The nations looked behind them as well just in time to see what appeared to be a large mass of goo floating after them.
"What the hell is that?" Romano yelled.
"I don't know but I wouldn't stop to ask it!" Prussiamon retorted.
"I would think it's the one guarding this place!" Britain suggested, "I don't think the most sacred place in the Digital World would be left unguarded!"
The Digitalia all looked at each other with fearful look; something deep inside them was screaming that they couldn't fight these things, but that didn't mean they couldn't try!
Prussiamon slowed down a bit as he faced the goo monsters and held his palms up, "Take this!" he yelled as the black and white beam was shot from his palm. The attack hit the monster dead on.
"Nice shot!" Canamon commented.
"Not really!" Hungamon warned, pointing. Prussiamon's attack had blasted a hole through the monster, but its gooey body simply rematerialized like nothing had hit it at all.
"Not awesome…" Prussiamon muttered as they continued to run.
The tunnel seemed to go on forever and the pressure was only succeeding in helping the nations lose their breath faster. China, being the oldest, was the first to begin falling behind. "I can't go on…" he whined as he slowed to a stop. He placed his hand on the wall and another on his chest as he tried to catch his breath.
"This is no time for resting!" Germany snapped as everyone stopped to wait for the Asian nation.
"China, watch out!" Britain yelled as the goo advanced on him. China looked behind him just as the goo lunged towards him.
"CHINA-SAN!"
The small rabbit Digitalia jumped up in the nick of time and pushed China in the chest, effectively pushing him away a few feet from the monster. But as a result, the goo attacked the Digitalia instead.
"Japamon!" Chna cried as everyone watched in horror as the goo absorbed the small child completely. The goo seemed to freeze for a second before lowering to the ground. Once it touched, it melted into the ground leaving a small shivering Japamon behind.
Japamon slowly opened his eyes and looked around, "What happened?" he asked before he was scooped up by China.
"Don't ever scare me like that again!" he scolded.
"What the heck happened?" Hungamon asked.
"Yeah, we thought that thing turned you into Digi-juice!" Amerimon added.
"I don't know," Japamon answered, "I was absorbed by that thing, and the next thing I knew, I was here."
"Maybe…Digitalia aren't considered a threat," Canamon said softly causing everyone to look at him, "I mean the Digital Core created all Digitalia. It would make sense if it doesn't see its creations as dangerous."
"Then…what does this place consider a threat?" Prussiamon asked slowly.
The answer was given to them when Romano let out a yelp, "Hey! What the hell?! Let me go!"
Everyone turned and gasped to see that another one of those goo monsters had appeared out of nowhere and had begun wrapping itself around the Italian nation. It moved fast as in a matter of seconds, Romano was already waist deep in the creature.
"Romano!" Itamon cried in horror. The small Digitalia bounded towards his partner and latched onto his hand.
"Itamon! Get me out of here!" Romano yelled as he tried to break free from the monster's gooey hold. Germany and Austria rushed forward to help while everyone else could just watch in horror.
"Just hold on!" Germany yelled as he had an iron grip on Romano's arm. The two nations strength made no difference as the goo continued to absorb Romano into its depths.
"Please, help me!" Romano screamed, tears of fright pricking at his eyes. The goo seemed to increase in size as Romano was now neck deep in the monster. Everyone was so focused on Romano and the monster that they failed to notice a few other duplicates approaching from both directions.
Multiple cries of horror were heard throughout the tunnel as each nation was grabbed by a mass of goo that quickly began absorbing them, causing the Digitalia to latch onto them in a desperate attempt to save them.
This caused Germany and Austria to let go of Romano, leaving only Itamon as his anchor to survival. Itamon held on and pulled with all his might, as he heard the struggles of his digital companions around him as they tried desperately to pull their partners out of the gooey monsters.
The Digitalia screamed and cried as they held onto their panicking partners with all their strength.
"Hang on Britain! The hero always wins and I'm not gonna lose here!"
"Damn it West, don't you dare even think about letting go!"
"I'll never let go fratello, I promise!"
"Please China-san, try to hold on!"
"If you dare let go of me Russia, you will suffer my wrath, do you hear me?!"
"I'll get you out of there France, just don't let go!"
"Please Austria, don't give up here!"
However, the monster holding Romano seemed to have had enough of the delays. With a sharp yank, Romano was pulled from Itamon's small hands and with one final scream that eventually became muffled, Romano disappeared into the goo before it dissolved into the floor.
"ROMANO!" Itamon screamed, reaching towards where he was. "Romano? Romano!" He scrambled around on the ground where his partner just was, looking for any sign of him.
The same pained screams could be heard from six other Digitalia as their partners were pulled from their grasp and completely absorbed by the goo.
The Digitalia copied Itamon as they kneeled on the floor where the nations once stood. No matter how hard they listened, no matter how much they scanned the area, there was no trace of the seven nations.
They were gone.
Lumps formed in the children's throats as the gravity of what had just taken place began to slowly and painfully crash down on them.
"No…Britain…"
"Romano…fratello…where are you?"
"China-san…? Ch-China-san?"
"France…don't…don't leave me…"
"C'mon West…quit screwing around and come out!"
"Austria…? Please come out Austria!"
"No…Russia…don't you dare leave me Russia!"
The seven children repeated these phrases with only silence answering them. Finally, the tears began to fall as the Digitalia broke down, sobbing and crying for their partners…their best friends.
As tears clouded their vision, all the Digitalia's cries abruptly stopped, their eyes growing wide.
Everything around them began to whiten as images and voices flashed through their heads…voices and images that sounded and looked particularly like themselves.
"Oww…man, that's gonna leave a mark…"
"Is everyone alright eh?"
"Man, Alfred…that un-awesome machine of yours needs some serious work."
"Don't diss my technology Gil!"
"Um…Alfred-san, where are we?"
"Ve…Kiku I'm scared!"
"Prussia! What did you do?!"
"How is this my fault?! Hey! Watch where you swing that metal thing, crazy bitch!"
"Shut up! Just tell us how to get out of this forest so I can get back to my Russia!"
"This is going to be a long day…"
CRASH!
"Veeeeeee!"
"Holy shit! Run dudes!"
"What the holy hell is that thing?!"
"Do you really want to stop and find out?!"
"Stop pointing that metal rod of death at me!"
"Just keep running if you want to live."
"You're surprisingly calm about this eh?"
"You see anything up ahead Belarus?"
"Just a small village."
"Ve~! A village! We can get some food and pasta~!"
"Or we could ask for help Italy-kun…"
"Ve~! That too!"
"Dudes, what's with this creepy-ass tunnel?"
"I don't know Alfred-san, but it seems rather sinister."
"Ve… it's scary…"
"Well, we won't be getting anywhere by standing here! Go my awesome army!"
BONG!
"Who made you the leader?!"
"Damn Liz, not awesome…"
"Could you perhaps hit him harder next time?"
"Belarus, you're not helping eh…"
The Digitalia's visions became completely blank, as they were thrust into a memory. A memory that they didn't even know they had.
And thus the mystery begins to unravel!
Yeah, those goo monsters? If you're a Pokemon fan then you KNOW where I got those from...don't kill me, it serves the plot well, trust me.
Oh yeah, I just dropped another cliffhanger where the nations are possibly dead again...oops? Don't worry, I'm just hoping the ending of this will be easy to write...
Review please!