Disclaimer: By the light that is the Copyright Law, I must say I don't own Digimon! Can someone give me a Disclaim-er? Oh- ye-es!
The Four Seasons: Chapter 36
Fourth Arc: Symphony of thirteen/01
The Shadow's Divergence and Tai's Journey: Part 2
A giant cylinder sped across the vast desert of the continent of Server, its speed limited only to that of the Monochromon that it was lashed to. To an outsider, such as a human who wasn't used to the oddities of the digital world, this would have cause for curiousity, and perhaps even alarm while those who were used to the digital world's strangeness but not of its politics would only give it a passing glance. For those that did know of the politics of the continent of Server however, they would have made sure to try and stay hidden or at least become less noticeable in this forsaken wasteland. After all, this unique vehicle of transportation belonged to a great and terrible overlord that reigned over Server; one of the great enemies that the digital guardian Gennai had referred to (however vaguely), and as such he was justly feared for his power.
Suddenly with a screeching sound, the Monochromon came to a stop as it encountered an obstruction.
Actually, an obstruction didn't quite describe what stood in front of the Monochromon. Not exactly. Space warped and twisted in such a way that made it certain that it wasn't just the heat that shimmered upon the air. The sand that made up the land slowly rotated as though it were the center of a dimensional vortex, and an eerie darkness spilled forth from within the center of the strange occurrence. Fear pervaded the air around it, and even the light from the sun seemed to darken in its presence.
With a hiss, the side of the cylinder began to open up, revealing its hidden interior, and its one and only occupant who had been blissfully enjoying the air-conditioned coolness that was his trailer. A bare, orange colored foot descended onto the sun-heated sand. A low, but audible growl emanated from within the creatures throat, and light reflected off his sunglasses as he fingers curled into one, massive fist, veins popping and bulging upon its surface. All Server, from the highest to the lowest, from all corners of this vast, sandy beach right up to the land of the vampire, bent knee to this being of power, whose name had caused many to tremble in fear down the years; his form having taken on the stuff of nightmares…
A monkey.
…
…
Hold on a minute here. A monkey?!
Well, an ape to be more specific. All large, vaguely human with stitches in various places on his body, presumably from battle scars (or maybe he just likes how they look. I don't know), with a Monzaemon beanie strapped to his waist. A pair of sunglasses adorned his face, and a look of irritation was hidden behind them. In one hand he held a microphone, which was but one of his many and varied means of waging battle upon an enemy, and when he spoke, his voice took on a sound remarkably similar to that famous human singer known as Elvis. In fact, you could say that this lord of Server, known as Etemon, was more than just a passing fan of that long dead celebrity, and had incorporated the King into his appearance and personality.
Yes. Quite the earth-shaking denizen of evil if ever there was one.
Well, don't let his appearance fool you. As with anything in the digital world, anything that moves is potentially dangerous. Of course, being the digital world, the same thing applies for anything that doesn't move either, but Etemon was more so. He is an Ultimate level digimon of the virus type, fully evolved and, most importantly (and has been stated before), he is the overlord of this section of the continent of Server. He is not to be taken lightly, no matter how ridiculous he might look.
"Now what's the holdup?" Demanded Etemon hotly as he took a step forward, eyeing first the Monochromon and then the spatial warp in the sand.
"Ahhh… so this is what my Dark Network picked up, huh? Well baby, I think it's time that y'all introduced yourselves. It's not polite to barge in on someone's home without so much as knocking, ya get what I mean?"
Although Etemon had been joking around when he said all that, a voice spoke from within the warp nonetheless, catching the monkey by surprise.
"Heh, heh, heh… sorry, but these are desperate times Lord of the Song… we couldn't waste time with knocking when we didn't know how long it would take for you to answer. The Digidestined are coming, and there's no time to waste…"
Etemon blinked behind his dark shades.
"Well, I gotta say that this was the last thing that I expected. Uh-huh. C'mon out and show yourself!"
The spatial warp receded, drawing the darkness in after it until it coalesced into two separate beings. One was easily recognizable as a Devimon, though why it was all the way out here, in Etemon's kingdom was beyond him. The other was a rather small, thin figure, dressed in rags and loose fitting clothing that concealed his face. A deep darkness lay behind the rags of his face, and the only light that broke its hold was that of twin crimson eyes. When he spoke, he sounded like a child, but his voice was had all the emotion of a graveyard.
"Greetings Ruler of the Never-Ending-Song, King of the Digimon, and Master of the desert of Server. I bring you news that the Digidestined should be arriving here shortly, just outside of the Koromon village."
"I already know that they're on their way!" Exclaimed Etemon angrily. "What I want to know is who you are and what makes you think that you can just waltz in here like you own the place?"
"Because," spoke the child sounding being. "I know that without Devimon's help you won't be able to beat them. They're here for the crests, and if they find them you'll be destroyed. You could say that I've seen it happen…"
"Shut up," said Etemon. "There's no way that a bunch of snot nosed brats are going to be able to defeat me!"
The dark child shrugged. "Fine. Once they're done with you I can go see Myotismon. I'm sure that the Vampire Lord will be more than willing to hear my case. After all, I hear that he's got his own agenda set in motion. You'll just be one less overlord in his way…"
Etemon twitched at this.
"Now hold on there, sonny! I never said that I wasn't interested…"
"Good. You've made the right choice. Now, my esteemed colleague here has learned of a powerful secret that few digimon even know about. This secret of his will be able to give you the power to defeat the Digidestined before they can even find their crests! Care for a demonstration?"
Etemon debated this for a moment. This kid knew far too much then was for his own good. His timing and appearance was too good to be a coincidence, but for some reason he didn't feel like arguing with him. It was almost as if he had some kind of power that made him more… susceptible to his suggestions. Something was wrong about this. Very wrong.
Or maybe he should stop thinking about it and go with the flow. After all, if what he said was true, then maybe the Digidestined were capable of defeating him. If that were the case, then he'd need any advantage he could get. Etemon nodded.
Suddenly, the vortex that had disappeared earlier reformed in the air in front of him, and six dark colored, gear shaped objects shot out of it, imbedding themselves in Etemon's body. Screaming in pain, Etemon fell to his knees as his skin took on a distinctly darker coloring and his body grew in size. When the transformation ceased, Etemon got back to his feet. There was an eerie red glow behind his sunglasses. The dark child nodded.
"Those Black Gears will increase your power exponentially, beyond your previous levels. This will enable you to destroy the Digidestined before they can complete their destiny. Devimon will remain here to provide you with any further assistance that you might require."
And with that said, the dark child disappeared into the dark vortex. Devimon and Etemon exchanged glances.
"Well then," said Etemon as he leapt towards his trailer. His voice had a darker, more sinister sound to it than earlier. "C'mon! Let's get this show on the road! If the Digidestined are going to be showing up at the Koromon village then I want to be there to greet 'em!"
Devimon floated to the top of Etemon's trailer while the Monochromon looked on nervously. Within seconds, the trailer was moving once again.
What fools, thought the dark child as he watched Etemon and Devimon take off. They have no idea that I can manipulate them through the use of the scripts that they are bound by. Being only minor characters of a higher grade I have limited control over the decisions that they make, but they are simple enough that I can determine their movements. The Devimon though is going to prove to be more difficult to control. He may not have appeared in as many episodes as Etemon, but he's craftier. Wiser. Etemon can be easily controlled through ego stroking. Not that it matters. Devimon has pledged his service to me, for however long that might be, and soon I will claim the character information of the Digidestined for myself, and recreate their story as it should be. I must really thank Milleniummon for bringing me back, even if it was unintentional. But that's what you get for being a disturbance to the time-space continuum.
And then… I will have my revenge on the trinity for betraying me; on the FanFic Domain for casting me out; and on those OC's who disrupted my plans in the first place. After that, I will construct my own website, and then remake the world of Digimon to the way it should be. As it was meant to be…
A dark wind swept across the landscape, and a laughter was carried along it.
Whamon lay in the water, nearby a Cliffside that belonged to the continent of Server. Most of the Digidestined had already departed from Whamon's back and gratefully put their feet on dry ground. Soon they would be on the move to locate the crests, battle Etemon again, deal with the Koromon village problem and move on relatively unmolested once Tai used his crest to make Agumon digivolve to Ultimate. There was however one small snag to this plan. One that was currently delaying the group from thanking Whamon and going on their merry way.
"Come on, Mimi!" Called out Sora. "Do we have to go through this again? You know that Whamon is just going to dump you off himself if you don't hurry!"
"Yeah, Mimi!" Chipped in Joe. "Come on already! It's not that hard, it's as easy as falling off a log! Just put one foot in front of the other, and gravity will take care of the rest!"
"That sounds a little too extreme sports for me," said Mimi. "I've fallen off of plenty of logs before…"
"Yeah, we know," said Reno. "But we're not airlifting you! Now get down here!"
"Oooh…"
"Sorry," said Izzy. "But we just can't move the continent for you, Mimi. Now, according to Jane's map this is the best beach to come ashore."
"Do we really need to keep recycling all the old lines?" Asked Dagmon.
"Certainly seems that way," said Reno.
Suddenly, as though he had gotten tired of the whole converation, Whamon decided to take the initiative. Heaving his massive bulk upwards, Whamon managed to upset Mimi's balance to the point where she toppled off the giant digimon, and fell towards the group of children, and landing right on Izzy.
Mimi lay on top of the computer genius, her face blushing. After a moment the pink colored girl smiled and playfully tapped his nose with one gloved finger, causing Izzy to blush as well.
"I guess you remember the scene that's coming up soon, huh?" Asked Mimi.
"Uhhh…" Izzy's blush deepened visibly and Mimi leaned in to give the boy a quick kiss on the lips. Around them, the other Digidestined sighed and shifted uncomfortably.
"Sheesh. Remember, you're only kids at this point in time. Try to keep this at an 'under thirteen' rating will ya?" Asked Reno. Next to him, Dagmon snickered.
Mimi just ignored that comment and got up, helping Izzy get to his feet at the same time. Tai looked at the pair.
"We're not having a repeat of the last time we went through this episode, alright? Remember that this time we know that the Pagumon are in control of the village, so we have to rescue the Koromon. And let's not forget that we have to retrieve my crest as well so that when Etemon shows up we can cream him."
Izzy tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"Yes, about that. Although it would be nice to not have to deal with Etemon on a regular basis, shouldn't we still keep him alive so that we can use the spatial warp that he creates in episode twenty? We may be able to use it to find us a way home."
"It would be a better solution," said Reno. "Izzy's been working on a program that can be used in conjunction with our digivices so we may be able to get out of here."
"Yeah, but there's no guarantee that we'll wind up back at the FanFic Domain or in the middle of Internet space," said Izzy. "If we could just find Gennai and restore his memories like you guys did with us he can help."
"Oh, come on!" Exclaimed Tai. "We should be focusing more on what's in front of us right now…"
"Sorry to interrupt you kids," said Whamon. "But I'll be on my merry way now. Good luck finding the crests!"
The children waved good-bye to the whale digimon before returning to their conversation.
"What do you mean Tai?" Asked Joe. "About focusing on what's in front of us?"
"Look. I don't want to have to jump through all the same hoops as last time just to get home. Etemon's going to be coming after us, and it's a sure bet that things are going to be different this time around. Remember how events changed when Jane and Reno showed up? And then there's the fact that Devimon wasn't destroyed, so we don't know what happened to him. I'd rather not take any chances with that guy. You all know how crazy he is!"
"He does have a point," said Sora.
"Yeah," said Matt. "But if Izzy's confident that he can get us home with just a computer and our digivices…"
"Which I'm not," said Izzy. "Internet space is a tricky thing, and I'm sure that this site has lots of defenses built into it. If I could just find a way to hack into the main server and not be detected, and believe me, I've tried, then I'd be confident that I'd get us home in one piece."
The other children nodded. Jane and Reno included. During the journey to Server they had heard about the Digidestined's adventures. The episode involving Andromon being the one where Izzy had tried to find a way into the websites main server and got detected. He was lucky that all it did was kick him out at the time, as they had no idea what sort of protection that their new website had built into it.
"Ohhh… I'm sure that you'll find a way, Izzy," said Mimi happily. "Besides, we still have to rescue Tai's sister anyway, so work your magic honey! YAAY!"
Massive sweatdrops all around.
Tai's face became grim set.
"Did you have to remind him of that?" Asked Sora.
"Oops. Sorry."
"No," said Tai. "It's okay. It's been on my mind a lot lately. Maybe we should let Etemon live so that we can use that portal. At the very least we know that it will deposit us in Odaiba back in the real world, so we can work from there where we won't have to worry as much about digimon attacks. And then there's the portal in Highton View Terrace that we can use…"
"Yeah, but can we really leave the digimon here to take on all the evil that's here?" Asked Joe.
"Joe," said Matt. "In case you forgot, Myotismon ends up heading to the real world anyway, and we followed him there. There was nothing that we could do about the Dark Masters anyway, and besides we're no longer in the show. Our first priority is to get back home. To the FanFic Domain."
"I know, but I just can't help but wonder if our family is back in the real world, and if they are, are they the ones that came from the FanFic Domain? Do we just leave them here?"
That thought was actually one that none of the Digidestined had thought of, and the mood became rather sullen. Jane decided to break it and return their thoughts to the present.
"One thing at a time here, everyone. Like Matt said. Our first priority is to get back to the FanFic Domain so that we can get in touch with the network authorities and the authors, so that they can do something about the situation. I'm sure that everything will be solved once we get back."
TK looked up at Jane and Tai.
"We'll be able to rescue Kari, right?"
"Of course we will," said Jane confidently, and Tai and Reno both nodded.
The other children nodded as well, and with Tai, Reno, and Jane in the lead, the group of children began walking in the direction of the Koromon village, following the map that was currently being displayed above the screen of Jane's digivice. Reno shook his head.
"Tai, all I can say is that you'll never get a prize for map making."
"I can read it just fine," said Tai.
"Me too," said Jane with a small, secretive smile on her face. "Just go with it. Trust me, we'll find the cave where the Koromon are located."
Reno just sighed.
Some time later, the group stood in front of the waterfall that held the captive Koromon.
"Okay," said Reno. "I don't know how you do it, but you can actually read Tai's maps. Man, I gotta say, that's really freaky."
"What's so weird about being able to read Tai's maps? It's not that hard."
"Sure. Rub it in why don't ya?"
"Save your argument for later," said Tai. "Let's get a move on."
The children cautiously made their way towards the waterfall, making sure to keep an eye out for any Gazimon who might be in the area. At present, there were none to be seen. If any were around, they probably didn't want to get into a fight with a large group of digimon and humans. If that were the case, it was a wise choice, but the children were expecting a trap.
Tai went in first, and found that all the Koromon were still where they were the last time he had been in this episode.
"All right," said Tai as he and Agumon ran towards the cages. "Don't worry. We'll have you out in no time at all. C'mon guys! It's all right!"
As the other children began to pour into the cave to help out, the Koromon began to pour out their story about how a group of Pagumon had entered their village and taken it over, locking them in the cages. The children tried to reassure them that everything was going to be all right.
And that was when a familiar laugh reached their ears.
"MYAH! HA! HA! HA!"
"It's Etemon!"
See?
"Is that Etemon?" Asked Reno, his eyes narrowing. "He sounds different."
"It's him," said Palmon. "There's no mistaking that laugh, but you're right. He does sound different. That, and he's early. We first encountered him the day after we arrived in Server."
"Sounds like someone gave him a heads up," growled Reno as he raised the arm that held his D-Comp.
"Let's check it out," said Matt, and both he and Tai ran to the cave entrance and peered past the water.
Both of them gasped as they saw the last thing that they expected.
It was Etemon all right, but he looked different. His muscular structure was reminiscent of when he had gotten sucked into his own Dark Network in episode twenty courtesy of Datamon's virus, and his coloring was gray and black instead of the orange, white, and tan that was his usual appearance. That and there was a strange red glow hidden behind his sunglasses.
"What the…?" Said Matt in shock. Tai couldn't help but feel the same shock settle in as well.
"That's… Etemon?" The Digidestined of Courage breathed.
"He's been taking steroids," Matt finished up.
"Hey there y'all," said the new version of Etemon. "I met up with an old friend of yours from File Island, who I'm sure that you all know. He's told me a lot about you that's for sure and he's pretty big on seeing you destroyed, just like I am. Now I know that you're looking for crests, but I have to say that I can't allow that, and neither can he. But just in case you have any other tricks up your sleeves Devimon here has powered me up with those interesting Black Gears of his, so you can bet that whatever you were expecting from me before ain't going to happen. So tell me, what do you think about my look? I don't normally like black but I think that I just might make an exception in this case."
"Devimon…" whispered Matt before turning to Tai. "We've got to get the crest of Courage. NOW!"
"I second that motion," said Tai and the two ran back into the cave just as soon as Etemon activated his attack.
"Dark Network, Concert Crush!"
Black electricity tore through the landscape, wrecking havoc with the former Koromon village, and causing its new residents to panic as the world came apart around them. If Etemon knew that they were there, he didn't care as he continued his number one hit, dubbed Wrecking the Whole Place!
Not available in any stores.
The Digidestined and the Koromon ran further into the cave and Tai removed his tag from his shirt. As soon as they reached the cavern containing the crest that he needed, his tag reacted and a section of the wall shrunk, revealing in its place an exit miles away from their current location.
"All right," said Joe, recapping the same line that he used last time as Tai's crest found its way to his tag and inserted itself into its place. "Frequent flyer miles!"
"Sorry about your homes," said Matt to the Koromon. "But I don't think that you'll be wanting to go back there any time soon."
"That's okay," said one of the Koromon. "We were thinking about redecorating. Besides, life hasn't been easy for us since Etemon came to power."
Tai stared at his crest with a determined look on his face, not really listening to the conversation that was going on. Agumon looked at him worriedly.
"Tai?" Asked the little orange dinosaur.
Tai looked at the others.
"You guys go on ahead," said Tai. "Me and Etemon have some unfinished business to attend to."
The Digidestined looked at Tai incredulously.
"Are you crazy?" Asked Sora. "I thought that we were going to let him go so that we could use the portal that he makes to get back to the real world!"
"Well, this is Tai we're talking about," piped in Mimi, but no one paid any attention to her.
"Yeah," said Matt. "And in case you didn't notice, he's also got a complete makeover courtesy of Devimon. We don't know how strong he is now…"
"Devimon?" Gasped TK in surprise.
"Later TK."
"That's precisely the reason why I'm going out there," said Tai. "If he's allied himself with Devimon then we've got to take him out now before he becomes too much of a problem. We could barely handle him before we got our crests, and now that he's combined with Devimon's powers we can't afford to have him running around like this. And now that I've got my crest, Agumon can digivolve to Ultimate again! We have to take this chance now while we still can!"
With that Tai turned and ran back down the passage, with Agumon right behind him shouting at him to slow down and wait for him.
"That idiot…" growled Jane and she turned to the others. "You guys get the Koromon to safety. Reno? You come with me! We've got to keep Tai from doing anything stupid!"
"Gotcha!" Said Reno.
"Hang on," said Joe. "Why is it just you two who're going into the battle? What about us?"
"In case you didn't notice," said Reno, catching on to what Jane had in mind. "We're OC's, so technically, we're not important. Not like you guys at any rate. If something goes wrong, and I'm thinking that it will, Tai's going to need a couple people to take the lumps for him. And last I checked, Jane and I aren't integral to how this story is going to get played out."
"That's debatable," began Izzy but Jane cut him off.
"Just get the Koromon out of here while we bring back Tai. If we don't come back in twenty minutes then move on. If we're still alive then it means that we just ran into a complication and we'll find you using our digivices later."
"That's not much of a comfort…" began Sora.
"Then it's decided," said Reno, talking over her. "Let's go Dagmon!"
The two OC's and their digimon partners ran after the Digidestined of Courage
Tai and Agumon stopped at the waterfall, crest and digivice ready and waiting. Agumon turned to Tai.
"Tai? I don't think that this is a good idea…"
"We have to bring him down, Agumon," said Tai fiercely. "This isn't like it was last time."
As if to emphasize the point, a bolt of black lightning slammed into the ground outside the cave, causing the ground to shake.
"All right," said Agumon. "I'm willing to take him on if you are."
"All right!" Exclaimed Tai. "Digivolve!"
A glow erupted from within the cave, surrounding Agumon with all its glory while Tai took a step backwards to give his partner some room.
"AGUMON! DIGIVOLVE TOOO… GREYMON!"
Agumon's form expanded to fit the inside of the cave, his body gaining blue stripes and a bone like armor covering his face with three horns protruding from it. With a roar, Greymon exited the cave to do battle with his revived foe.
Okay, thought Tai as he gripped his tag that held his crest. We can do this. I know we can…
"TAI!"
Turning Tai saw Jane, Munnimon, Reno, and Dagmon running towards him.
"What the heck do you think you're doing? We've got to get out of here!"
"Nova Blast!"
Jane's face paled as she heard the mighty saurian begin his battle with the powered up Ultimate.
"GREYMON!" Shouted Reno. "GET OUT OF THERE! NOW!!!"
"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM, GREYMON!" Shouted Tai. "WE'VE GOT TO TAKE OUT ETEMON WHILE WE CAN! DO IT! DIGIVOLVE!!!"
"NO!!"
Jane's shout went unheeded as Tai's crest glowed with an eerie black light, and Greymon's cry of evolution froze the blood of everyone that was in that cave.
"GREYMON! DARK DIGIVOLVE TOOO…"
"SKULLGREYMON!"
"Oh, shit…" said Reno softly.
He stood at the edge of Etemon's attack, near the Koromon village, watching the destruction play out. He had to say, this was turning out not at all as he expected, but then no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy. He certainly hadn't expected Greymon to dark digivolve like that. Not at all.
Oh well. Guess we'll see what sort of metal Etemon is really made of, but perhaps I should have them pull back so that he and Devimon don't get destroyed. I still need them.
His eyes glowing crimson, the dark youth that Etemon had encountered earlier tapped into the character profiles of Etemon and Devimon, and suggested the idea that they should withdraw. It was like child's play to him.
Jane couldn't believe their luck as she and Reno helped haul an exhausted Agumon back into the cave, where a stunned and shaking Tai Kamiya greeted them. Not surprising given that his partner had just suddenly, and unexpectedly dark digivolved on him. Behind them straggled Munnimon and Dagmon, having received more than a few unkind blows from the raging skeleton lizard before getting caught in Etemon's Dark Network, draining them of their energy. Their only saving grace was that SkullGreymon had been snagged by the same attack, and while it didn't de-digivolve him as it did the two champions, it did sap enough of his energy where he did shortly after Etemon let up on his attack. They didn't know why Etemon had stopped attacking (might have had something to do with SkullGreymon sending a missile in his direction) but they were just glad that he did, and it gave them a chance to get the heck out of Dodge.
Jane and Reno stopped in front of Tai, who stood there, unmoving as he stared at Agumon with sorrow filled eyes.
"C'mon Tai," said Jane. "Let's get out of here."
The sound of rushing water continued to fill the cave as Tai stepped forward to give them a hand with his partner.
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