Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Once, when I was smaller, I took a personality test on the internet. It said I had a tendency to be rash, impulsive. I didn't take it seriously though. I mean, come on, it was from the internet, and you know parents. "Don't trust the internet!" and "The internet can't tell you what to do!" and all that stuff.
Besides, it was just one quiz, and I took a whole bunch more that told me different things. Still…who knew the internet could be right?
My name is Shuichon Lee, and I've just done the stupidest thing in my entire life.
Chosen Empire:
The Consequences
All I could see were Shuichi's eyes.
Even as Empire officials swarmed us, each blathering his or her head off about what to do, if I was lying or not, his dark brown eyes bore into mine. And the worst part was there was no hint of betrayal in them.
Only hurt.
He was hurt.
I had hurt him.
Because I was being stupid.
Because he believed me.
And that hurt most of all.
Dimly, I heard someone call for Sadao. Fion approached, looking thunderstruck, looking shocked, but most of all, murderous. When he looked at me, I could feel the anger blazing off him, directed at me. Because I'd betrayed his friend. Because I'd hurt his friend.
"What should we do?" a Fighter was asking. "Is she telling the truth?"
"I don't know," Fion said icily, glaring at me. I felt like I was frozen; my arm hadn't budged one bit; it was still pointed straight at Shuichi.
"Then what should we do now?" the Fighter asked. "Sadao? Sadao?" He waved a hand in Fion's eyes. "Hello?"
Fion knocked his hand away. "Shut up," he said. "Have her"—he spat on the ground—"locked up. I don't believe her."
"But what if she's telling the truth?" The Fighter apparently, like me, didn't know when to shut up. "Shouldn't we lock up him too?"
And Fion turned on him, and the ice momentarily left my body. My hand dropped, and Lopmon caught it. "Shuichon," he whispered, "what are you doing?" And when I looked at him, and saw the horror in his eyes, it hurt to realize that he, Lopmon, my partner, believed my lie too.
"It's a lie," I whispered desperately. "I—I was trying to distract them—"
But the look Lopmon gave me stopped my words.
What had I done?
"Shuichon Lee!"
I looked up. A Fighter folded his arms, scowling at me. "As of now," he said, "we are unable to decide whether or not you are telling the truth. For the time being, we will imprison both you and your friends until we reach a decision. Am I understood?"
"Yes," I said, because I was hoping Iori and everyone would have found the Hunters by then.
"Good." And the Fighter turned to lead Shuichi away.
He was still looking at me.
He was still looking hurt.
Desperately, I flicked my hand. Exactly the same as Nasagi always used to do. When he was joking. That had to work, right?
But instead of calming Shuichi down, his face molded into one of pure outrage. All the hurt in his eyes disappeared, burned away by a fiery hate, a passionate fury. It was mirrored in the expression of Fion Frösén.
"Shuichi—"
"Don't talk to me."
"Shuichi, just listen—"
"Just shut up."
"Shuichi, look, I—"
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!"
I had never heard Shuichi scream like that before.
He stood in the corner of the cell, fists clenched. When he spoke again, his voice was tight, carefully controlled. "Why are you here?"
"I just…wanted to say I was sorry."
Shuichi laughed. It was a deranged laugh. And it scared me. "For what? For betraying me? For lying to me?"
"NO!" I clutched at the cell bars, trying to breach the distance between us. He was far away, so far away. "No! I'm not a traitor; it was just something I said so everyone else could get a chance to find the Hunters—"
Another laugh. A bitter one.
"Why should I believe you?" said Shuichi quietly. "A few days ago, maybe. But now? No, I don't think so."
Pain welled up in my chest. "But why?" I begged. "Why? What did I do?"
"What did you do?" Shuichi barely spoke above a whisper, but his voice was filled with a certain coldness that I couldn't bear; it would have been better if he had yelled. "I'll tell you what you did. You ran off without warning any of us, and when I went to support you, you declared yourself a traitor and said you'd brought me along as proof."
"I was being stupid!" I pleaded. "I wasn't thinking, Shuichi you have to understand—"
"There is nothing to understand," Shuichi said bitterly. "And you know what's worse? You used Nasagi's gesture to say you were just joking. Nasagi. My friend. They very person who you can't decide if you hate him or not."
"I was trying to tell you I was lying!"
"Then why do it in the first place?"
I couldn't answer.
"Go," Shuichi said at last. "Go. I don't want to see you." And as I turned to leave, feeling the pain and disbelief Shuichi must've been feeling, he added, "Lopmon may be on your side, but no one else is."
And as I walked by the other cells to where Fion was waiting, my footsteps thudding in the suffocating silence, I knew he was right.
None of my friends even looked at me.
When Fion led me back to my cell, all the way on the other side of the headquarters he sat down with me.
I stared at him, not in the mood to talk.
"Why did you do it?" he said.
"Do what?" I snapped.
But I knew, and he knew. So he said nothing as I stared at a block of stone as if it held all of my answers. "I don't know," I finally said. "I guess…I was…hoping everything would go okay, and we'd find the Hunters and get rid of their brainwash…and…" I rubbed my eyes. This was the longest day ever.
"Why are you so desperate to find the Hunters?"
I let my hands drop. Tears prickled at the corners of my eyes but I ignored them. "Why wouldn't I?" I snapped. "They disappeared three years ago. Three stupid years ago. Why shouldn't I look for them? We're more than friends. We're a dysfunctional family."
A cough from Fion. It might've been a laugh. "You never gave up?" he said quietly.
I glared at him, then turned away. "Would you?"
"You believe her?" Lopmon asked and I jerked around to look at Fion. I'd just remembered…his voice from the Dark Room before, the look in his eyes…. There was none of that left now. And Fion, eyes locked on mine, nodded just once. It was a tiny nod.
But he still nodded.
"Why?" I whispered.
Fion looked away, shrugged. "I don't know myself," he said. "All things considered…I probably shouldn't. But somehow…when I saw you…it just reminded me…." He stopped, started again. "I was in your position once…and no one believed me but AeroV-Dramon."
"Oh," I muttered.
And then something happened inside me.
Maybe I snapped.
Maybe I went mad.
But for whatever reason, I jumped up and kicked the wall so hard and so many times I thought I broke my toes. As it was, I overexerted myself again and my wound was suddenly on fire. I dropped to the ground clutching, tears of pain blurring my vision.
Shuichi hated me.
Everyone hated me.
I was the stupidest person in the entire world.
A person stupid enough to go telling stupid lies.
A person stupid enough to let her brother go back into the very place that had held him prisoner for three years.
A person stupid enough to let her emotions get to her.
I don't know how long I lay there curled up on the ground, letting the pain subside. But it felt like hours.
And then something touched my head.
I instinctively jerked away. But it was only Fion. There was something unreadable in his eyes. He was frowning. "A decision will be reached within a couple of hours," he said slowly. "Maybe…"
"Maybe what?"
"Maybe…I can…" Fion stood up suddenly. "I have an idea."
"What?"
"I need to go." Fion turned for the door, but I stopped.
"Wait," I said, trying to get up without stretching my wound. "Why are you helping me?"
Fion gave me a small smile. "Because it's about time that I stood up for myself," he said, "and stopped hiding behind other people. Just like that girl said. And besides…" He crossed over to me and knelt down. "You helped me once, although I can see you no longer remember."
He brushed his lips over my hair once, and was gone.
"Shuichon." Lopmon handed me my cap. I stared at it. "You dropped it when you went to see…when you left."
I wordlessly took the cap and scooped up Lopmon into a crushing hug. "Thank you," I muttered.
"For what?" Lopmon gasped for air, and I loosened my grip.
"For trusting me."
"Are you ready to complete your trial?"
I scowled. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I thought you were going to decide whether I was lying or not." Lopmon shot me a warning look, and I adopted a blank face again. Inside though, my stomach was churning. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea earlier to stuff myself full of bread.
The Fighter shrugged. "Well, we couldn't really decide. But, the point is, you're going to have to fight someone."
"Why?" Lopmon asked.
The Fighter smirked. Not a good sign. Never a good sign. "To prove yourself." Turning to the other Fighter on the other side of the arena, he shouted, "Let them out!" before leaving the stage. He only paused to throw over his shoulder, "Have fun!"
Violence. It was the only way anyone in the Empire could ever solve anything.
As Lopmon and I squinted across the stage, hearing the murmurs of excitement from the audience, two figures stumbled out. And when they stepped forward, I stumbled backwards.
Shuichi.
Dracomon.
They were our opponents.
And worse, neither looked particularly bothered.
As it was, they walked steadily forward among the cheering while Lopmon and I steadily backed away. But then we reached the wall and there was no other place to run to. Shuichi and Dracomon stopped a few feet in front of us.
"Well?" Shuichi said softly. "Why are you running, Shuichon? Aren't you here to defeat us?" Slowly, his hand reached for his digivice. Slowly, Dracomon sank into a crouch. Lopmon gripped my shoulder.
"N-no," I managed to say, closing my eyes and shaking my head. "No. No. NO!"
I spun around to face any person, anyone other than Shuichi. "NO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs for them to hear, for Shuichi to hear, for any damn person to hear. "NO! I won't fight them. Do you understand me? I won't fight them!"
The cheering stopped. And the jeering began.
I ignored it all, clutching my digivice so hard my hand was going numb. "I lied!" I screamed, and tears of anger began to flow. "I'm not a traitor to the A.F. and I never will be! I hate the Empire, I hate all of you but most of all, I—hate—you!"
I spun around to Shuichi, jabbing a finger at him, the same finger that just a few hours before had caused all this mess. And this time, his shocked expression didn't hurt me one bit. At this point, I was beyond caring.
"I hate you," I said softly, my tears trickling into my mouth. "I hate the fact that you can turn against your friends so easily. You can forgive Fion. Why can't you forgive me? I thought we were closer than that. I thought we were fighting for the same goal. Why can't you forgive me?"
Shuichi opened his mouth, then closed it again. He shook his head once and backed away. Dracomon watched him, then turned back to me, something flickering in his eyes. Remorse? Guilt? Anger? The audience had gone completely silent, listening, always listening, always judging.
"I made a mistake," I said. "I never should have done what I did. But everyone makes mistakes, don't they? Nasagi makes them. Fion makes them. And I make them."
Still, Shuichi said nothing.
"I'm sorry, Shuichi," I said. "I really am. I'm sorry for all I've done. I'm sorry for everything that's happened. I'm sorry I couldn't be a better friend. And I'm sorry that you're involved in all of this."
And I turned away, walking for the exit.
Lopmon's grip on me tightened. "Shuichon."
BOOM.
An explosion.
Something crashed into my back.
It all happened in less than a second.
I hit the ground, yanking Lopmon off my shoulders and cradling him beneath me, waiting for the pain to come. But it didn't. All I could feel was someone's breath on my neck, someone's arms wrapped tightly around me. "Who?" I mouthed at Lopmon. I couldn't see the person protecting me, but he could.
"Shuichi," he said.
I was so surprised, I was about to turn around when the second explosion happened. And another. And another.
"Hang on," whispered Shuichi, his voice tight, and my heart stuttered as hope sparked to life. And then Coredramon was there, covering us from the top, and Shuichi jumped up, a card at the ready. "Stay down," he ordered, pivoting.
"Why?"
Shuichi knew what I meant. He gave me a strange look, a smile, as if nothing bad had ever happened between us. "You were right," he said. "Friends make mistakes. And I'm sorry."
I was on my feet in an instant. "You? What did you do?"
"I was a bad friend," Shuichi said simply.
"I was worse!"
"Now's not the time," interrupted Lopmon. "Shuichon—"
BOOM.
Another blast hit the ground, and by the time the smoke had cleared, Turuiemon stood in Lopmon's place, fists up.
"Ladies, gentlemen, and Digimon!" a voice boomed over all the chaos, "Please return to your seats. Since the traitors Shuichon Lee and Lopmon have decided to disobey the rules of the trial, a new opponent will be issued. Enjoy."
Turuiemon and I shared a look. "What do you think it means?" I asked.
"Nothing good," he said grimly.
And it wasn't.
Because the instant the smoke cleared, and our new opponents appeared in the entrance, Turuiemon inhaled sharply, my knees went weak and I fell, Shuichi gripping my shoulder so tight I was afraid he'd break my bones.
Our new opponents were none other than Takato Matsuda and Guilmon.
I fell to the floor and puked.
Everything was just too much at that moment.
I was still retching up the last of the bread when Shuichi grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the way. A split second later, Guilmon's Fireball thundered past and smashed against the arena wall, sending chunks of rock flying.
"Oh no," I said, my heart thudding and my mind reeling. "Oh no, oh no, oh no."
As Takato and Guilmon advanced, we retreated, circling around and around the arena. They didn't seem to be in any hurry to attack. On about the third circle Shuichi whispered, "What the heck do we do?"
"Keep retreating?" Coredramon suggested.
"That won't last forever," I said.
"It'll have to," Turuiemon said grimly.
Naturally, it didn't.
We were just about to finish our fifth circle when Guilmon attacked. He sprang across the length of the arena with his jaws open wide, and shouted, "FIREBALL!"
Coredramon spread his wings, and snapped them together, and with a bang! a giant puff of wind collided with the fireball, which dissolved in wisps of smoke. "Blue Flare Breath!" Coredramon shouted.
Guilmon easily dodged it, but he didn't see Turuiemon coming up from behind him. "Gantoretto!" Turuiemon shouted, slashing with his silver blades. Guilmon, too late to get out of the way, roared.
And then he evolved.
No, that's not right.
They evolved.
In a flash of light, two had become one, and Dukemon stood in front of us, wielding his holy lance Gram.
Shuichi gave a strangled gulp. "This just went from bad to worse, didn't it?"
"Oh yeah." I mentally added it was a good thing that it was just Dukemon and not Dukemon Crimson Mode.
Dukemon raised Gram and aimed it, not at Coredramon and Turuiemon, but at us. At Shuichi, and at me. "Royal Saber!"
"MOVE!" Coredramon and Turuiemon shrieked.
To say that we got out in the nick of time would be an understatement. Shuichi and I had only just thrown ourselves in opposite directions when a gigantic bolt of lightning-charged energy skidded along the tiled floor, coming to crash with the opposite wall.
The aftershock of the blast sent me flying into the wall, where I slid down and huddled, desperate to protect myself from flying rubble. Screams that weren't mine, but those of the Empire filled the air. When the smoke disappeared, I could only stare in shock at the huge crack in the ground. All around the stands above, people and Digimon were trampling over each other to get out, but there was no way out. Instead, they could only huddle in groups.
Turuiemon spotted me. "Shuichon!"
I looked up and my stomach dropped. "Behind you!" I screamed.
"Final Elysium!" This time, the beam came not from Gram, but from Aegis the shield. The energy slammed into Turuiemon's back, illuminating the arena in an eerie light. But all I could see was the expression on Turuiemon's face.
"TURUIEMON!" I screamed. "NO!" I got to my feet and ran without thinking about where I was going, what I was doing.
He couldn't, not for me.
"Takato!" I yelled, but Turuiemon was so far away, and I was so helpless, powerless. "Takato! Guilmon! I know you're in there! Stop it, stop it!"
Dukemon seemed to hesitate and Turuiemon crashed to the ground. I finally reached him, and my arms went around him, holding him close, because no one—no one—was ever going to hurt him again. He wasn't going to be taken away from me.
Not like everyone else.
"Are you okay?"
Turuiemon groaned. He was bathed in light, and when he reverted back to Lopmon and didn't stop, for one horrible second, I thought he was going to turn into a data and disappear. But then he stopped at Chocomon and the light faded away.
"SHUICHON!"
I looked up to see Dukemon bearing down on us.
And I got up and ran.
"Shield Attack!"
Damn.
CRACK.
I whirled around.
A Draconic Digimon, covered with chrome Digizoid, stood in front of us, a chain-sword wrapped tightly around Aegis. Shuichi and Dracomon were no where to be seen.
"Shuichi…?" I whispered. "Dracomon…?"
"Get out of here." And the Digimon threw Dukemon to the ground. Aegis bounced harmlessly away. I hurriedly obeyed. I didn't want to be a coward, but there was nothing I could do.
When I was as far away as I could get, I pulled out my digivice. "Slayerdramon," I read. "An Ultimate level Digimon. Vaccine Type. Wields the chain sword Fragarach."
Shuichi had told me, in what seemed like ages ago, that he and Dracomon had managed to evolve.
I had to admit, I felt kind of jealous.
But now wasn't the time.
Chocomon groaned and stirred. I instantly looked down at him. "Are you okay?"
"I've been better," he mumbled. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."
"What are you talking about? I'm the one who should be sorry!"
"NOT THE TIME, SHUICHON!" Slayerdramon bellowed, running past me. "Do us a favor, would you, and try to talk some sense into your friends?"
My friends.
Takato.
Guilmon.
I stood up.
"Shuichon…"
I scowled at Chocomon. "What, are you going to try and stop me?"
"No." Chocomon glanced at Dukemon, who was once again using Royal Saber. "I was just wondering…what are you going to say to him?"
"Who knows?"
But that didn't stop me from walking to the center of the arena.
"Lightning Charge!" Dukemon yelled.
Slayerdramon barely managed to get out of the way. "Rising Dragon Slay Wave!" An enormous dragon-shaped energy wave erupted from Fragarach. Dukemon spotted us making our way across and froze.
The attack slammed into him and carried him off his feet, and he crashed into the ceiling before dropping. He landed with a sickening crunch.
I took my chance. "DUKEMON!" I shouted. "Stop fighting!"
Dukemon shook himself, snorted, and got to his feet. "Why?" he said, in the same raspy voice Jen had spoken in. "Why? I like fighting. I like this. And who are you to tell me what to do?" He raised Aegis. "Shield Attack!"
Slayerdramon materialized in front of me, spinning like crazy. "Sky Dragon Slay Off!" he roared, and for one second, all movement stopped after Fragarach collided with Aegis. And then, as everyone watched, a crack appeared in Dukemon's shield.
Dukemon stared at Aegis. "You cracked my shield."
Slayerdramon backed away. "I can see that."
"TAKATO!" I shouted. "Guilmon!"
Dukemon jerked. It looked involuntary. Because right afterwards, he gave a shake of his head and turned his attention back to Slayerdramon and hefted Gram up. "Now…" he said, but I ran in front of Slayerdramon.
"Shuichon…" Slayerdramon warned.
"Hang on," I muttered, then raised my voice. "I KNOW YOU TWO ARE IN THERE!" I could hear the talking going on about me again. Apparently everyone wasn't as mute as I thought.
"What are you talking about?" Dukemon said at last.
"I'm talking about you, Takato, and you Guilmon," I said, clenching my hands into fists. "What happened to the boy who was our leader? The kind-hearted boy who lead his friends into the Digital World just to get Culumon back? What happened to him? And what happened to Guilmon? What happened to the Digimon who loved bread?"
"We're right here," Dukemon said, but he sounded uncertain.
"No, you're not," I said. "As you two are now, you should've evolved into Megidramon, not Dukemon."
The mention of the name Megidramon caused Dukemon to jump, and Gram slipped through his fingers. He hastily snatched it back up again. "You don't know what you're saying," he snapped. "Royal SLASH!"
In an instant, Slayerdramon scooped me up and flew up into the sky. "Are you crazy?" he yelled.
"You told me to talk to him!"
"I didn't mean it literally!"
"You know as well as I do that I've got to do this." When Slayerdramon didn't say anything, I begged, "Please."
Slayerdramon hesitated. Then he dropped back down to the ground and let me go. My arms were still wrapped around Chocomon, who struggled around to face Dukemon, who was starting to run forward. I frowned. "Chocomon…."
"Let me say something," he insisted. "Dukemon!"
Dukemon stopped advancing on us, and a brief look of confusion passed over his face.
"Duke—no, Takato and Guilmon," Chocomon said. "You accepted me as a friend even when you knew I had been one of the Devas. You trusted me. And that meant a lot."
"Because you protected Shuichon," Dukemon mumbled. His eyes widened, and he panicked. "No, wait—" And then his eyes were blank again. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Encouraged, I called, "Yes, you do! Takato, you always put your friends before yourself. You always protected us. You treated Digimon like you would anyone else. Takato, you've got to listen to me!"
Dukemon took a step back, and hesitated.
"And Guilmon," I said, "I thought you just wanted to have fun."
"I do." Again, Dukemon's eyes flashed to normal, and then to blank again.
"Do you think this is fun? That hurting your friends is fun?"
"No. I mean yes. I mean—"
"Don't you remember all that you've been through?" I shouted. "All that you've been through with Jen-niichan, and Terriermon, and Ruki-oneechan, and Renamon, and everyone else! Don't you remember?"
Dukemon was shaking his head now, backing steadily away. But I barely noticed.
"You defeated the Devas together!" I yelled. "You went to the Digital World together! You fought together, you laughed together, you saved the world together! How can you possibly not remember that?"
"I…" Dukemon dropped to his knees, clenching his head. "I…"
"You saved Juri from the D-Reaper together!" I screamed. "Doesn't that mean anything to you, Takato-oniichan? DOESN'T IT?"
"IT DOES!" Dukemon roared. "IT DOES, IT DOES, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!"
And then, with a flash of blinding light that filled the entire room, Dukemon reverted to Takato and Guilmon, sobbing on the ground.
I froze.
Everyone froze.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Takato pounded his fist on the ground. "DAMMIT!" He looked up at me, and I could see that his eyes were no longer blank, but filled with tears. "Dammit, Shuichon," he whispered weakly. "What have we done?"
And then I was running towards them, screaming wordlessly, and I was crying but didn't notice until I tasted the salt, but I didn't care. And then I was there, hugging Takato, hugging Guilmon, and Chocomon was there too, smiling as only Chocomon could smile.
We've done something right, Shuichon.
Only the ground rumbling caused us to break apart.
"What was that?" Takato asked, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "Oh wait, it stopped—" And it started again. This time, it didn't stop.
"Uh…" Slayerdramon hurried over to us. "Look, I hate to break up your reunion and all, but we've got to get out of here. Now."
And before he even finished speaking, the ceiling began to cave in.
What was happening? Why was everything falling apart?
Screams and shouts as everyone bolted for the door. Digimon were furiously attacking the walls in order to break free. One pair burst through the crumbling ceiling, escaping to the sky beyond.
I hurriedly clambered on to Slayerdramon's back, Chocomon in my arms. Guilmon evolved into MegaloGrowmon and Takato hoisted himself up. "Let's get out of here."
And Slayerdramon and MegaloGrowmon flew up, blasting apart bits of falling debris, to the outside night air.
We landed on a hill—the same hill that I'd found myself on when I'd gone searching for Jen—among others who didn't even spare us a second glance in an attempt to get away from the Chosen Empire headquarters. The headquarters that had once been called the Impregnable Fortress.
The headquarters that was now collapsing into ruin.
I desperately turned to Slayerdramon, only to find he was Shuichi and Dracomon again. "The others, are they okay?"
Shuichi paled. "Romainu—!"
And he would've run back down the hill if I didn't grab him. "Look, the Hunters!" They were on the opposite side of the valley, recognizable only by their mottled cloak.
Takato's head swiveled over to look. And he almost charged down too, but I grabbed hold of his cloak in time. "Juri!" he gasped. "And Jen! Ruki!"
My stomach dropped. "What? You see my brother?" Now that I thought about it, I didn't see any other Hunter cloaks in any other parts of the crowd. They were all in one spot. Then were were Takeru and Patamon? Or had they simply just taken off their cloaks? I scanned the crowd as fast as I could. No Terriermon...as far as I could tell. But he was so short...how could I know for sure?
"No, but he's got to be there, right?" Takato looked at me desperately. "Right?"
Guilmon, not even waiting for my answer, said, "Takato, let's go!"
"NO, you can't!" I ran in front of them. "Shuichi, help me!"
And thankfully, Shuichi did. "Look," he said, "we can't do anything right now, it's too dangerous—"
BOOM.
All heads turned to look.
With that one final explosion, the Impregnable Fortress was no more. All that was left was a standing pile of a mess of stone.
"I...think I went overboard," someone said uncertainly from behind us.
We turned around. "Fion?" Shuichi's mouth was wide open. "You did this? What about everyone inside? What if someone got hurt?"
"Both of us did it," AeroV-Dramon said gruffly. "Took a while too. We made sure everyone was out or near an entrance too, stop worrying. Well, except the arena. People there have an easy exit." He glanced at me, ignoring Shuichi's indignant splutters and Dracomon gnashing his teeth. "Tell your loud friend Fion isn't a coward. I'm the coward. All right?"
"Uh…sure," I muttered.
"What's going on?" Takato demanded. His eyes still strayed to where the rest of the Hunters were.
"I have no clue."
But it wasn't me, or Shuichi, or anyone I recognized who answered. It was an unfamiliar voice, and I wouldn't have turned around, but the speaker continued. "In fact," the person said, "the last time I checked, you were supposed to be locked up with all the other Hunters. But things change."
I slowly turned around.
A young man, with reddish bronze hair and the grayest eyes I'd ever seen stood behind us, hands in his pockets. Beside him was a Digimon with a black teardrop head and red and green eyes. Everyone else around them was cowering. Fion and AeroV-Dramon were pale.
"Who are you?" Dracomon asked warily.
"Me?" The young man smirked. It was a sad, arrogant sort of smirk. "I'm Ruiseart McCaweis, the leader of the Revolution, and the very first leader of the Chosen Empire."
