Chapter 29:- Torture
"Another day or two, and your hand will be completely healed." Cutemon informed with a smile."How's the pain?"
Thomas looked at his left hand. It was still bandaged but it hurt a lot less than the first day. He shook his head and bowed."Thank you, Cutemon. I am indebted to you."
The said Digimon blushed."It-It's fine really." She said, stretching her arms forward and shaking them dismissively.
Thomas straightened up from his kneeling position."Then I will go join the others." He turned around and was about to walk away when Cutemon stopped him by grabbing his pants. Thomas turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised."Yes?"
"Listen." The small digimon said in a slightly stern voice."You have been doing a lot of reckless things for the past few days. I would like for you to stop it. Not only are you hurting yourself, but, do you realize how much you are making the others worry about you?"
When no reply came from Thomas, Cutemon pressed him."Well?"
The blonde shook his head."Sorry." He said."But there is little you can do someone suddenly attacks you out of nowhere. And the same goes for when you can rely on no one but yourself."
"Excuse me?"
"Ah...That came out the wrong way. I meant that there was no one at the time for me to reveal the enemy's true intentions to." He let out a sigh."So you see...I had no other choices in both the cases. I assure you, I don't plan on doing reckless things unless compelled to."
Cutemon's grip on his pants slackened."Fine."
"Miki and Megumi,huh? I wonder how those guys will react."
Patamon watched as the Baromon strapped Megumi's wrists to the arms of the steel chair."Who?" He inquired.
"These two girls, of course." Yumi replied.
"You really need to ask?"
"Well...It has been five years, you know? Maybe they just moved on."
Patamon sighed and shook his head."You really are dense, you know that?"
"Really? You must be the first one to say that. Everyone says that I am too soft and compassionate."
She gestured at the Baromon, who was done with tying Megumi to the chair, signalling him that he could leave. The Baromon nodded and left. As if on queue, another Baromon came, this one was carrying Miki over his shoulder.
"I bet it was Akira" Patamon stated, starting Yumi."I heard a lot of things about you from her. She always said that you were too soft."
"Really? I thought you two didn't get along very well."
Patamon snorted."We didn't. I hated her. And I don't know why but, Master always put her up with me. She was the most annoying person ever. Especially the first few weeks after her recruitment. Always blabbering about you and her city."
Yumi sighed."I guess...She really wanted to save us, huh?"
"From the bottom of her heart. She didn't show it, but she really was heartbroken when she was given the order to kill you."
"I can guess." A sad smile formed on Yumi's face."She had to choose between me and her whole city."
"Would you have done the same thing?"
The smile dropped and the Gatomon looked at Patamon from the corner of her eyes."That's a rather stupid question to ask. I already killed Akira. And she was my best friend. Don't you think I can kill others?"
"Oh...Yeah..."
A long silence pursued. Both watched quietly as Miki too was tied to a steel chair. Yumi broke the silence after the Baromon left.
"So...What about you?"
"What do you mean."
"Well, you know almost everything about me. So wouldn't it be fair for you to tell me something about yourself?"
"What about me?" Patamon shook his head."I don't have anything to say, really.
"One of my first memory is me escaping from a forest fire. I was a Poyomon then. A few years after that, I joined Master's side."
"You didn't belong to any village?"
"No. But I remember living with a Frigimon once. Although the memory is very vague."
"A forest fire..."Yumi cradled her chin as she thought."Could it be...That you used to live in the forest that was burned down when that human-Kurata-attacked?"
"Yeah. You guessed right."The digimon answered with little enthusiasm."My past...Is not as eventful as yours."
"Well...That's not really what I want to know."
"Then what is it? I have to go and inform Master as well, so make it quick."Patamon replied bluntly.
Yumi cringed. Why was it so hard just to get along with this guy? It was obvious that he disliked her, and it wasn't that she particularly liked him either. But was it so hard just to have a normal conversation?
"Fine, then I will be direct. Why are you so loyal to Master?"
Patamon hesitated."Why am I loyal?" His gaze turned towards the floor."Why shouldn't I be?"
"Well, it's obvious that Master mistreats you." Her statement made Patamon start, but she ignored it."From what I gather, you are one of Master's oldest subjects. But you are still the weakest. Heck, you can't even digi-"
"Enough!" Patamon exclaimed, making Yumi jump. He then shook his head and composed himself."I may not be strong...But I am still his right-hand digimon."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Sure?"Patamon chuckled."For your information, I am not one of the oldest, I am the oldest. I am the one who showed Master where he could build his lairs. And I was the one who helped him mobilize his own army!"
Yumi raised her eyebrow's in surprise."Seriously?"
"What? You think I am lying?"
"N-no...It just..."The Gatomon was at a loss for words. She couldn't believe that the small, weak rookie digimon in front of her was actually behind all this.
Patamon sighed, calming down."After the forest fire...I traveled a lot, never staying at one place for too long. I joined various groups of digimon who were travelling. I didn't have anything else to do anyways." He went on to explain."By the time I had evolved into a Tokomon, I had already traveled through the entire continent."
"Entire Continent!" Yumi exclaimed.
"Yeah...As you can see, I evolve late. And by the time the whole "war" with the humans was over, I had already traveled a small part of another continent and also a few islands. But I was a Patamon by the time I reached the second continent though."
"And you met the Master...When?"
"A few months after the whole conflict was over." The uneasiness between them was fading away as Patamon went on."I saw him standing there, in the middle of a ring of collapsed Leomon."
"Huh? Leomon?" Yumi couldn't resist a chuckle."No offense to Master but he doesn't look...Strong enough to beat a bunch of Leomon."
To her surprise, Patamon smirked."I know. At first, I too thought that he wasn't responsible for that."
"Tch! And you told me that your life was uneventful."
"It was. Even though I traveled so much, nothing amazing happened. Nothing. That was, until I met Master."
Yumi opened her mouth to ask a question, but hesitated. She glanced at the two girls and sighed."I guess we should really call Master. He'll be pissed otherwise."
Patamon nodded."Yeah."
"Marcus, you insensitive idiot! You are the worst!"
"Calm down, Yoshi! I was just trying to lighten the mood!" Marcus replied sheepishly.
"Trying to lighten the-Ugh! How can you even suggest such a thing?! A party?! For God's sake! Do you have any idea how many casualties and injuries we have suffered? You should be crying right now!"
Marcus sighed as Yoshi went on scolding him."Damn, I am glad you are not my Mom. And over these past five years, you have become even more cranky."
Yoshi turned red and punched Marcus in the stomach with her left hand."You-You dumbass!"
Thomas walked up to them at that moment."What happened?" He asked as he watched a red-faced Yoshi yelling at Marcus's ear.
"Don't ask." Came the reply from an exasperated Lolomon.
"Sir, the blonde is awake as well!"
Megumi slowly opened her eyes."Where...Am I...?" She looked down, only to find herself tied to a steel chair." What the-" She stated fully awake and tried to free her hands, but to no avail. She looked to her right and saw a familiar figure."Miki?"
The girl didn't reply, she was staring forward, a shocked expression on her face. Megumi followed her gaze, and to her shock, she saw the being who was believed to be dead.
"You!"
The said being chuckled."Oh, so you recognize me as well? That's a surprise. I don't believe we have actually ever met."
Miki bit her lower lip."You...You were supposed to be dead."
"Oh? Dead? That was quite the assumption you made. I mean, did you actually ever find my body?"
Miki dropped her gaze, unable to answer the last question. Megumi spoke up."But we searched for you! Thomas searched for you! He searched day and night, without taking a single break!"
Yumi, who was standing beside her master smiled.'So there was a connection between Master and Thomas.'
Her master waved dismissively at Megumi's statement."He did? Well, he is always like that. Always realizing his mistakes too late." He brought the palm of left hand near his face so that his scar could be seen by the two girls. As expected, the girls gasped in shock."You see now, this all is Thomas's fault. But not only his, it's your fault as well. You used to call your group DATS, right. So in other words..."He clenched his fist."It's DATS fault!"
Patamon and Yumi flinched. Their master was emitting his infamous cold aura again. Miki and Megumi too winced."L-Look...We are s-sorry!" Miki stuttered.
"Sorry won't change anything. SORRY WON'T BRING THEM BACK!" The Master screamed. Scared out of their wits, tears welled up in the girls's eyes.
Looking at their scared expressions, A sense of satisfaction welled up inside him. He smirked."Yes! Yes! Cover in fear! Cover in fear just like I did then!" He gripped his face with his left hand and laughed. This was fun! This was so fun!
The girls had no idea who 'they' were, but were too scared to ask. The person in front of them looked so unstable that the wrong words could get them killed."We are sorry! We promise that we didn't do it on purpose!" Miki sobbed."Please! Just let us go home!"
The laughing stopped and the cold aura returned. He let go of his face and placed his hand on his lap."So...You are saying that I should just...Let you go?" He asked tilting his head to a side. Miki bit her tongue. Those were the wrong choice of words."Tell me...Why should I do that?"
He raised his right hand above his shoulder and waved it slightly, as if beckoning someone. Gatomon understood the signal and went to go pick up a laptop from a nearby table. Meanwhile, her master continued to talk.
"I guess you already figured out that this is the digital world."
"Y-Yes." Megumi replied.
"Hasn't it been nearly five years since you saw your partners? Don't you want to see them again?"
The two girls started."Wait...Don't Tell Me..."Miki said with a feeling of dread.
By this time, Gatomon had already placed the laptop in her master's lap.
"Just give me a minute." He said with a tone had suddenly changed and he was now acting as if the two girls in front of him were childhood friends.
"I have saved the video from that time." His smile grew wider as he looked up at them."Sometimes...Watching that video soothes me."
The two girls looked at him confused. There was no doubt about it. This man was mentally unstable.
As if reading their mind, the Master spoke up."I know. I know. You think I am mentally unstable or something."
"N-No." Megumi stuttered.
"Don't Lie!" There was again a sudden change in the tone of his voice which made all the people and girls in the room flinch.
"Well then."His friendly tone returned as he turned the laptop so that the screen faced the girls. The image on the screen showed a white digimon tied up to a cross that the girls recognized immediately.
"PawnChessmon!" Megumi cried out.
The Master nodded."Yes Yes. He indeed is your precious PawnChessmon.
He pressed the space bar and the video resumed. It zoomed out to reveal that even the black PawnChessmon was tied to a cross beside the white one."Alright! I have started the video, you can begin now." A high-pitched voice stated in the video. Yumi recognized the voice as Devimon's.
A lump formed in Miki's throat. Why was her PawnChessmon tied to a cross? What did he mean by soothing? Why was the digimon who was shooting the video talking as if he was shooting a scene for a movie?
She was hoping against hope that they were just going to threaten her to work for them. Considering the situation they were in, that would be the best possible scenario.
But the next sentence in the video was told by the Master. And it completely wiped away the hope that was building up in Miki's heart.
"Killing you will be so much fun!"
"Don't!" Megumi cried out, starting those in front of her.
"Oh. You reacted faster than I expected." The Master said in an astonished voice."But if this is your reaction now," a smirk formed on his face."I wonder how much you are going to yell and cry as this video goes on."
As he said that, two IceLeomon appeared in the video and drew out their swords."Remember guys." The high-pitched voice spoke up."Sloooowly!"
The girls's eyes widened in horror. Even Patamon winced. He was there at the time, and he remembered throwing up after it was all over.
In the video, the grip of the IceLeomons on their respective swords tightened. And they simultaneously pierced the Pawanchessmon's right arms. The two girls screamed and tears flowed down their faces as they saw their partner digimon writhing in pain. The IceLeomons drew their swords out of the PawnChessmons's arms and the two Pawnchessmon shook their heads violently in pain, and so did the girls, as if they were the ones being stabbed.
The next target was the other hand, and when they were stabbed, Megumi cried out."Stop it!" She tried to pull free of the ropes but couldn't. She wriggled violently in her chair, desperately trying to free herself."Please!" She screamed. The chair toppled over and fell. Her chin hit the stone floor with a thus and for a moment, the world swayed around her. Her chin began to bleed, but she could hardly feel the pain. She was that much worried about her partner.
The Master signaled Gatomon and she picked up Megumi and set the chair straight."Why?!" Megumi screamed and glared at Yumi."Why are you following him?! Why are you doing this to us, you witch?!"
Gatomon started and looked at the screen. Pawnchessmon couldn't scream, so she couldn't guess what was happening from behind the screen. But now, looking at the video filled her up with horror.
'This...' She thought to herself as she saw the beaten-up state of the Pawnchessmon. Even before shooting the video, they were made to go through hell. And the stab wounds added to her dread.'This is just...Plain Cruel.'
Suddenly Miki, who was too shocked to do anything but cry and yell, cried out."NO! NO! STOP IT! STOP! PLEASE!" Megumi's terrified gaze returned to the screen. The IceLeomon were already done with the Pawnchessmons's legs and were now about to draw their finishing blow. Megumi's jaw began to quiver and she started pleading Gatomon's master to stop, while Miki started repeating "sorry" again and again.
Unable to continue watching the video, Gatomon rushed back to Patamon's side. And while passing Master, their eyes met. His grin grew wider as he saw her horrified expression. 'It's terrible, right?' he mouthed at her. As she perceived what he was saying, her pupils narrowed in shock.
And the IceLeomon dealt the finishing blow, by stabbing the PawnChessmon in the face, right through their helmets. The Pawnchessmon wriggled one last time before bursting into data. The girls screamed their partner's name, and it echoed throughout the corridor. Gatomon broke into cold sweat and her entire body began to tremble.
And to add to her horror, her Master threw back his head with and started to laugh. A blood-curling, psychotic laugh. And it was in sync with his laughing in the video before it was over.
The room was now filled with cries and laugh, scaring the two digimon in the room. But Gatomon was the most affected and she covered her ears and slumped to the ground, trembling."I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for this." She mumbled to herself."This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong!"
A/N:- I hope I portrayed the emotions right. R&R. Seriously, I am on the 29th Chapter with only 11 reviews.
