Episode 21: Two Down, One to Go
They found Lady Lillymon and the other digimon of Flower Haven settled down in a large grove of trees. Everyone looked to be fine, but they all seemed a little frightened when Loaño and Nikolai appeared from the trees. Lady Lillymon, a somber look on her face, stood up from amidst her people to greet them, a red Digiegg in her hands. She smiled faintly at them and fluttered to meet them.
"How did it go?" she asked, concern plain on her face.
"We drove them off," Nikolai explained. "Flower Haven is safe… but for a few things that might need to be rebuilt."
Lady Lillymon shook her head and said, "There's no reason for you to apologize for that. Buildings can be rebuilt and repaired. No reason to fret too much over them."
"We lost Kabuterimon," Loaño added. She looked up at Lady Lillymon, sadness in her eyes, and said, "We tried, we really did, but… Aws got to him before we could defeat Apemon and Dobermon. I'm really sorry, Lady Lillymon."
Lady Lillymon frowned and said, "Oh, Your Highness… you've no reason to apologize to me. Kabuterimon tried to lead Aws away from us; to protect us."
"We could have stopped them if…"
"Don't beat yourselves up over it," Lady Lillymon told her. "It will all work out in the end."
Loaño shook her head, obviously frustrated with this turn of events. She kicked at the ground and crossed her arms, her eyes closed. Lady Lillymon cradled the Digiegg in her arms and looked at the Princess with concern, though she said nothing about it.
"Did Aws do that?" Nikolai wondered, pointing at the Digiegg.
Lady Lillymon looked between him and the egg and remarked, "Well, yes." Sounding sad, she explained, "Kuwagamon went to help Kabuterimon lure Aws away after we found this place… but by the time that Kuwagamon got to him, Aws must have already taken Kabuterimon. He used some power – either his own or Kabuterimon's – to turn Kuwagamon into an Digiegg."
"Oh, man," Nikolai breathed. "That bloody bastard…"
Loaño clenched her fists together and growled, "How in the hell does he seem to think he can get away with this? Digimon may not be humans, but they have lives and families too! This is uncalled for!"
"Obviously they have some motive," Strabimon assured her. "Or, at least, the one pulling their strings does."
"Whoever that is," Nikolai said, sighing. Though, I did hear that voice again, he thought. It sounded the same as the one I heard when I Purified Golemon. It seems really possible that the owner of that voice is the one who is behind all of this. It was taunting Yukio, too…
Loaño looked at Lady Lillymon and sighed. She said, "We're heading back to the castle to see how everyone else is doing. Will you guys be all right?"
Lady Lillymon smiled at her and said confidently, "Of course we will, Your Highness. We'll begin reconstructing what was broken of Flower Haven as soon as we return. We're very grateful for your assistance."
Even if we did fail, Nikolai thought. Looking at the Princess, he guessed that was what she was thinking as well.
Loaño looked at the egg in Lady Lillymon's hands and sighed, shaking her head. She closed her eyes and placed a hand on the egg's shell. What Nikolai assumed was her DigiPower poured from her hand and surrounded the egg. Lady Lillymon, though shocked, didn't let go of the egg, lest it fall. The black-and-white data flickered over the Digiegg like flame until Nikolai saw a small crack appear in it. Silver light seeped through, like a little ray of sunshine hidden in the palm of someone's hand.
He and Strabimon leaned in close for a look at what was happening. Some of the other digimon nearby turned to look at the light as well, vocally curious. More cracks appeared, and more light seeped out of them. Finally, when the egg was nothing but a mass of cracks, the silver light faded into white and the egg's shell dissolved into data, revealing the digimon inside.
Lady Lillymon looked down at the little digimon in her arms, shocked. It was a tiny green blob that seemed to be emitting little green bubbles from its body. Two tiny black eyes opened to observe the world and it suckled on what looked like a yellow pacifier.
"No digimon who would sacrifice himself for a friend deserves to forget them in such a way," Loaño decided, her voice sounding a little strange. The baby digimon cooed and snuggled close to Lady Lillymon, bubbles floating up from its body.
The digimon around them murmured in hushed tones, astonished and awed by what Loaño had done. She patted the digimon on the head gently, gave him a smile, and then bowed to Lady Lillymon.
"We'll be leaving now. Good luck," she said.
Lady Lillymon seemed hesitant to speak, as if she had found that something was stuck in her throat. She presumably swallowed it to say, "T-Thank you, Your Highness."
Loaño shrugged it off and the group kept on walking as if nothing had happened. KiddGarurumon was in front, plowing through the digimon before them. Loaño and Nikolai, who was thoroughly stunned, followed behind him. Strabimon took up the rear, walking calmly and quietly, though Nikolai could sense that the lithe digimon was just as confused as he was.
He threw the Princess a sideways glance and thought, Wow… I wonder… why does she act like that?
What is her story?
Yukio found that, though they were surrounded by ice and snow, it was actually quite warm. He slipped off of Garurumon's back, Breezemon following him. He landed on the hard-packed ground and realized that the castle in Avalanche Village was more like a more massive version of the igloos that dotted the down at the foot of the mountain. Garurumon shook his fur of snow and sat on his haunches.
Dusting himself off, Yukio commented, "This place seems deserted."
"Most of the sick digimon took shelter here," Garurumon explained. "Lord Zudomon lives here – this fortress of his is practically impenetrable. It's the safest place in the Zone."
"Where's Lord Zudomon?" Yukio asked.
"Yeah," Breezemon added, "we should help him before we help the others."
Garurumon tipped his nose in a direction. He got up and offered, "Follow me."
Garurumon led the way through the foyer of the massive igloo until they came to its very end. There stood a massive stone throne of sorts, encrusted with ice. Laying atop the throne was a massive digimon that, to Yukio, explained the enormity of the room they were in.
He was large and powerful-looking, though he seemed weaker than he was normally. Fur from some digimon covered his face like a mask, and he wore it as his gloves and shoes as well. A huge shell covered his back, with three horns going down the center, each one decreasing in size. A horn that reminded Yukio both of a harpoon and the horn of a narwhal was centered in the beast's forehead. Two huge tusks came from his seal-like mouth. A tail the color of flames came from his back. His eyes were huge and, though frightening, seemed baleful in their blue glare. A huge steel hammer lay by his side, just within his arm's reach.
Upon looking at him, Yukio could sense the sickness within this great digimon. Breezemon took a breath, sensing it as well. Garurumon dipped his head to the great digimon and said, "Lord Zudomon… the Boss has sent this Digidestined to help us."
"I am Yukio," Yukio told him.
"I'm Breezemon," Breezemon offered. "We can help you, Lord Zudomon… don't worry – you'll be better in no time!"
Lord Zudomon huffed at that. He rumbled, "Don't worry about me… help the littler ones."
"But, my Lord," Yukio began.
Lord Zudomon waved a massive hand at him. It landed limply by his side when he was done. "Do not worry for me. I am more concerned with the welfare of the digimon of my Zone than myself -" he paused to let out a great cough, "— I know you're not the one who did this. I trust you to help the digimon."
"But, Yukio…" Breezemon pleaded, looking at Yukio. "We can't just leave him like this – if we do, he might not make it by the time we're done!"
"It's what he wants, Twinkle Toes," Yukio reasoned. "I can't make his see any differently…" I wouldn't want to challenge him, anyway. Even when he's sick he looks like a terrifying opponent… I don't think Twinkle Toes and I can handle strength like that.
"Those who are sick are there," Lord Zudomon told them. He gestured with his hand towards an icy corridor. "Go to them… I am remaining here – if the witch who did this to my people returns, she will not find me a weakling!"
"My Lord!" Garurumon offered, "In your state, you can't fight!"
"Silence!" Lord Zudomon rasped. "I was entrusted with the safety of this Zone… I will not allow some interloper to destroy what is my responsibility."
Garurumon opened his jaws to say something, but obviously thought better of it. He looked down at Yukio and Breezemon and said, "You guys go take care of the sick digimon – I'll stay here and make sure that Lord Zudomon stays alive until you get back. Hurry, though – I don't know how much time he's got left!"
Yukio nodded and said to Breezemon, "Let's hurry. I just hope we have the strength to do this…"
"We do," Breezemon said determinedly. She nodded her head and added, "Don't think any different, all right Yukio?"
Yukio gave her a smile and agreed, "All right."
Sin bundled herself up from the cold. She pulled her hood further over her face – if the wind blew it off, then her whole disguise would be ruined. She didn't want the Digidestined to know who she was – the Master said that revealing their identities to them here would allow them to find them in the Human World, and that it would be very, very counter intuitive.
They are a bit smarter than I'd expected, Sin thought. At least, from what Aws and Zen told me. It seems that they've already organized themselves enough to have made Namekura their leader – she's clearly the brains of the outfit.
Sin smirked at that thought. Even though she's my enemy, she thought, it's nice to see women being given important roles around here. The Digital World seems to be capable of recognizing the importance of a woman's mind…
She waved her hand. DigiPower flowed from her fingertips and gathered before her feet, creating a circular platform for her to step on. There was no way she was walking all the way to Avalanche Village – she would surely freeze before then.
I've only got to deal with the quiet one, she thought. That shouldn't be too hard. Her breath puffed out before her face. She frowned at the thought of facing Yukio. It would be her first time facing a Digidestined. He really did a number on those Kokatorimon I bribed… I thought for sure that those two would be able to overwhelm anyone who tried to stop my efforts in the Plains Zone. But, well, I guess I'll just have to take care of this myself…
She reached into her cloak and pulled out a purple crystal. It glowed with black-and-purple data, filled with Aws's DigiPower. It was a temporary piece of his ability to control the minds of digimon and fill them with hatred and obedience towards their masters. She had one shot with it, and she figured she'd have to find a good time to take it, since Aws wasn't here.
I'm not worried about failing, she thought, I'm more worried about those boys messing up… She figured that Aws would do his best not to fail – he thoroughly despised failure. Still, since he had failed before to upend Wild and Nikolai, she was skeptical. Zen was a strange fellow, but Sin had confidence in him nonetheless. She was slightly more worried about Zen than she was about Aws, simply because Zen tended to become… well, a loose cannon when he was upset.
I'll just have to trust them! She decided, putting the crystal back into her robes. She willed the platform she was standing on to move forward, and it did, transporting her quickly across the Taiga Zone. She followed the tracks of the Garurumon she was hunting.
She would have her prey soon.
Yukio leaned against a wall that didn't seem to be there. A cold sweat broke out on his skin, making his body sickeningly warm. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, and it was amplified to sound like a hundred other hearts beating at the same time as his, but at a different pace. He shook and shivered, trying to gain control of himself as a spiraling feeling took hold of him and dizziness clouded his vision.
He could feel all their sicknesses as if they had combined into one great monster. He saw the sickness as a formless mass of misty shadows, with two glaring red eyes that stared directly into his soul. It had gathered up all the sick digimon's Cores and was devouring them slowly, one by one, until none were left.
Yukio tried to stand, but the creature was too powerful – the sickness had infected too many digimon for his DigiPower to handle on his own. Had he bitten off more than he could chew? He had tried to tackle the sick digimon one at a time, but with them in such close proximity it seemed like the sickness had combined its strength and pulled him into… wherever he was now.
During his week off from the Digital World, Yukio had tried to think of how he cured the digimon's sickness with his DigiPower. It wasn't handled like a doctor suturing a patient's wound, or giving them painkillers or drugs – it was something different. He theorized that he took the digimon's sickness into himself and allowed it to infect his own body, so that his immune system, combined with his DigiPower, could destroy it. It explained why he was pulled into this strange world whenever he reached out to the disease.
Twinkle Toes fights the enemies on the outside, he thought, pain lancing through his body from all angles, but I guess I need to fight these enemies on the inside…
A tendril of shadow reached for him, but Yukio waved his hand. His green-and-white DigiPower flowed from his hand and blocked the attack, gripping the shadows like vines. His DigiPower crawled up the shadowy arm about halfway before its power faded and it stopped. The parts of the shadow that it touched turned white and exploded into bits of white data. The shadow moaned in pain and seemed to bristle at him.
I can do this, he thought as he stood up. If I don't… well, I don't want to think about that.
Something laughed at him. "Silly boy; you think you can stop me all on your own?" a voice hissed.
You! Yukio thought. You're the same voice from before!
"How observant," the voice purred. "Very good… but still – boy; you are on your own here. What a foolish notion – you cannot defeat me all on your own."
The shadow cackled and shot a dozen arms at him. Yukio dodged about half of them, but the other half struck him in six different places. He fell to his knees and cried out in pain as the sickness attacked his body, spreading like fire across his skin.
Yukio heard a voice from the outside shout, "He's not alone!"
T-Twinkle Toes… Yukio thought weakly.
"I've got your back, Yukio!" she assured him. Yukio looked up, finding an image of Breezemon standing before him. She was nothing but an outline of pink light, her wings still as she apparently stood on the ground for once. Her fists were clenched and she insisted, "I'm going to help you any way I can!"
Wind rustled the world around him and he felt it pick him up. It touched his wounds and he felt them close. He felt the sickness leave him. The shadow monster reared back and snarled, and the voice seemed to be pondering his actions – Yukio could feel it sitting at the edge of this place, as if it were watching him.
Gust, he thought, Spirit Evolution!
He watched as the wind took up the image of Breezemon before him. Her pink shape changed shape and she announced, "Kazemon!"
Strength flooded Yukio's body as a powerful wind blew through him. He could feel its air filling his lungs and limbs, and he clenched his fists. His DigiPower blazed forth and he took a step towards the shadow. It cringed and hissed at him.
The pink outline of Kazemon stood beside him. She said, "You have my strength, Yukio – I'm right beside you!"
Yukio lifted his hands and Kazemon emulated him. He focused his power, feeling Kazemon lending her strength to him. When it had built up, he unleashed it – a huge tornado came from his palms, green and white and pink in color.
It struck the shadowy sickness like a bat strikes a baseball, piercing straight through it. The tornado spread out from within the monster and everywhere the wind touched turned white and shattered like glass. Yukio let go of the tornado as it swept through the sickness, cleaning it up like a feather duster cleans cobwebs. When it was all gone, the inner world turned a pretty white color.
Kazemon's image disappeared, and Yukio fell to his knees, exhausted. Every limb her had was aching terribly, and he could hardly move.
A touch brought him back to the present. Yukio blinked his eyes and found himself on his back in the infirmary of the icy castle. Breezemon was sitting near him, looking pale and exhausted. She had a hand over his.
"We… we did it…" she panted.
"Shit…" Yukio gasped. "We did…"
He tried sitting up. He was capable of it, but it sent his head spiraling into dizziness. He touched his head with his hands and commented, "I… I think we bit off… a bit more than we could chew… with that…"
"Maybe," Breezemon breathed.
"But if you weren't there…" he realized, "I'd probably… be dead, or something…"
"Probably," she agreed.
"So… thanks," he admitted.
"You're welcome…"
They were silent for a moment, listening to the sounds of the formerly sick digimon rustling in their beds. Some got up and screeched with excitement, others seemed more subdued about their being cured. Others shouting their gratitude to Yukio and Breezemon as loud as they could.
I realize that you all thought you were going to die, he thought to himself, but can't you all be quiet about it?
Breezemon threw him a sympathetic look. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted as the entirety of the castle shook on its foundations. Yukio nearly fell onto his back again, but Breezemon was up on her wings immediately to help him stay still. The rumbling of the castle faded, leaving the digimon inside the icy infirmary to mutter about in confusion.
"What was that?" Yukio wondered.
"I don't know," Breezemon replied. "But we've got to check."
"You don't have the strength to digivolve," Yukio reminded her. "And I can't do much, either…"
"I know," Breezemon said. "But we can't just sit here."
She helped him to stand on his feet and led the way to the source of the quake. Wobbling, Yukio followed, using the walls to help keep him from falling.
They entered the foyer of the castle to find that some of it had crumbled. A few pillars lay on the ground in an icy, snowy mess. Some were melted and were steaming with hot hair. Drips of water touched the ground and Yukio's head. He shook them off, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he looked out to the middle of the foyer.
Garurumon stood there, his limbs shaking and his fur bristling. His tail lashed here and there, and growls escaped his throat. He shook his great head and howled, backing up a few paces before jumping forwards, as if he were trying to buck someone off of his back.
"Stay still, will you?" someone complained.
Yukio looked closer and saw that there was indeed someone on Garurumon's back. They were cloaked from head to toe, and only their mouth was visible. They had a hand raised up in the air, and clenched between their fingers was a purple crystal that seemed to be emanating an evil aura.
Garurumon let out a baleful howl as his struggling began to lessen. He spat blue fire and tried his best, but his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed.
"Garurumon!" Breezemon shouted.
"What the hell is going on?!" Yukio demanded.
"Stay back," the figure warned. They tapped Garurumon on the head and said, "I'm just here to take what I need. I'll be out of your hair in a minute… you must be Yukio! I've heard a lot about you…"
"Sin," Yukio realized.
"Yeah, that's me," Sin replied. She ruffled Garurumon's fur and said, "He put up quite the fight… he's perfect!"
"Let him go!" Breezemon demanded. She looked to Yukio, her pink eyes pleading.
We can't do anything, he thought. Not after fighting that sickness… I'm surprised I can even stand here right now! I definitely can't help Breezemon digivolve… and she doesn't have the strength to fight even if she did…
Garurumon let out a pained moan and opened his eyes. They were redder than before, emanating malice. He stood up and growled at Yukio and Breezemon, baring his teeth. Sin patted his head again and said, "Oh, let them go – they're too weak to stop us anyway. We should be going, anyway – we need to head back and get you where you belong!"
"Let him go!" Lord Zudomon roared. His voice sounded stronger than before, though he still seemed very weak. He took up his hammer and roared, "Hammer Boomerang!"
Lord Zudomon tossed his massive iron hammer and it spun round and round towards Sin and Garurumon. Sin, panicking slightly, decided, "Let's make our exit!" She slapped Garurumon hard on the head and directed him out of the hammer's range. His long strides quickly placed him out of the hammer's range, though it missed by a fraction of an inch. The hammer spun back to Lord Zudomon, who caught it and roared with fury as Garurumon and Sin made their exit.
"Lord Zudomon!" Breezemon called.
Yukio looked to see Lord Zudomon stumble from his throne and land on his side. His whole body made the castle shake, and digimon of all kinds began pouring out of the halls to see what was happening. Lord Zudmon pushed himself up as best he could, shaking snow from his pelt. Yukio and Breezemon pushed through the digimon to meet him.
"Relax," Yukio told him, pressing a hand into his arm. He was still infected with the sickness, though not as badly as before. When Yukio had defeated the sickness in the other digimon, some of it must have belonged to Lord Zudomon as well.
"He tried defending me…" Lord Zudomon rumbled. "Sin…"
"She won't get away with this," Yukio promised. "But we need to help you before we go after her."
"Please… sit down…" Breezemon pleaded.
Lord Zudomon obeyed. The digimon gathered all around them, muttering and murmuring in concerned voices about what had just happened. Breezemon fretted over Lord Zudomon, checking his temperature and his pulse.
Yukio looked out the door to the Taiga Zone. He frowned and thought, So she got what she wanted in the end… but why was she after Garurumon in the first place?