Are you all ready for this monster? I was not ready. I swear I meant to have this chapter up like a week ago, but it just… kept… going. More and more big plot things started showing their face as I wrote. In a 'hey, what if this were to happen too?' sort of way. And most of them fit, so I just let them happen… But I also didn't want to skimp on the detail or character focus points just because I felt it getting longer. (I love Henry's character, and it feels like I've been waiting to write his personal chapter for forever. And his personal struggles just didn't really fit into any of the earlier chapters, so you got it all at once.) Even with some of my longer chapters, this was the first one that I started to seriously consider cutting off before it was done and telling it in two parts, but… By the time I hit a point where that would have felt natural, it was already more than half done, so I just pushed ahead to get the whole thing out. So thank you for sticking with me!
Thank you for reviewing chapter twenty-one: Fruitloop Trooper, Sweet Cari, ReaperOfShadows125, Berry Doyle, and dnofsunshine!
Chapter Twenty-Two: Reliability
"…Are you still awake, Henry?"
The boy brought a slow finger up to his lips without saying a word or opening his eyes. He stood with his back pressed up to the wall of his bedroom, Terriermon watching from his bed. All the lights were off, and from the outside, it would appear that the whole house was asleep.
Henry would settle for just everyone else being asleep. He'd finally heard his dad abandon his office for the night and taken up his current position. He'd waited until he heard his father's familiar snores fill the silence. He stayed put for a while longer; Henry himself had been woken by Janyu's snoring before. But it was a familiar nighttime sound—it never took long for him to drift back off. He gave his siblings plenty of time to do the same.
At last, the only sounds apart from the snoring were the usual creakings of the apartment. Henry straightened up silently and gestured to his partner, who leapt from the bed to latch onto Henry's shoulder—a comfortable position by now. The boy slipped out of his room and down the hall, only relaxing once he was out the front door and into the main hallway. Their building didn't have a doorman, so he didn't have to worry about getting caught that way.
Henry tried to breathe deeply, wondering if he was imagining the chill to the summer night air. He knew he probably should have held off on this little excursion until morning—until both his mind and body had been given a chance to rest—but he doubted he would have gotten much sleep anyway.
He started down the street, knowing it would be a bit of a journey. There were no trains running at this time of night. He was kind of looking forward to having the time with his thoughts… He should have known better.
"This is kinda cool, huh, Henry? It's been a while since we were out on a mission like this." Terriermon's voice cut through the quiet nighttime sounds, and he had to smile, even if it was a little bittersweet. "You were like a ninja, sensing when everyone was asleep. Did you learn that in your kung fu lessons?"
Henry laughed. "It's Tai Chi, and I was just listening for the right sounds. But… kind of. Sensei always starts out our lessons with exercises to promote awareness of your position and surroundings."
Henry fell back into silence. Terriermon wasn't wrong—about any of it. And he supposed it did all connect back.
Life as a Tamer had begun very abruptly for him. He'd been sitting at his computer one night when his Digivice and partner had fragmented out of the screen without warning. One moment everything was normal. The next, he had a bizarre being in his arms—and a message scrolling across the screen before him.
At first he'd been excited, being tasked with a 'mission,' as Terriermon had called it. It sure sounded like they were on the right side, at least. Protecting the city from untamed, unruly creatures… It was a worthy cause. He should have known it wouldn't be that easy.
Henry still had nightmares about the parking garage collapse. Getting Terriermon to Digivolve had been effortless. They'd cornered the wild Digimon and the needed power-up had flowed through Henry, reacting to his Digivice, before he'd even tried to call upon it. It had been a spectacular sight… at first. Adrenaline had coursed through him as he watched his partner take down their first target. It felt like they'd accomplished something grand… Like they were on the path to greatness.
But then things had quickly spiraled out of control. The upgrade to Gargomon had been too much for his partner to handle. He'd kept shooting, blasting everything in the vicinity—but most importantly, the support beams—until he'd run out of energy and downsized back to his Rookie form. Henry had scooped him up and gotten them both out of there, just in the nick of time.
But his legs had failed him across the street, trembling too hard to hold him up. He'd collapsed at the same time as the parking garage, an unconscious Terriermon in his arms. He'd watched the destruction, heart hammering strongly enough to shake his whole frame, until he heard the sirens drawing closer. Finally, Henry had forced himself to his feet, getting them out of there before they could be discovered. But the experience still haunted him.
"Henry?" Terriermon's prodding broke through the haze once more. "You're thinking again."
He managed a smile. "I'm always thinking."
"You know what I mean." Terriermon's voice was soft and unusually solemn. "You're thinking about our first fight again." Henry made a somewhat reluctant confirmative noise. "I told you I was sorry."
"I'm not mad at you," Henry answered guiltily.
"But you don't trust me anymore," his partner rebutted quietly.
These words tugged at his heart, and Henry reached up to lift Terriermon off his shoulder and hold him to his chest, tucking the creature's head under his chin. He couldn't bear to meet his eyes just yet, but he hoped his feelings were getting across to his partner.
"It's not you," Henry told him sincerely. "It's… us. There's something we just haven't… connected yet. We'll get there."
Terriermon remained silent. This time. This was not the first time they'd had this conversation—or, struggled to have it. He could hear his partner's unspoken comeback: How are we ever supposed to make that connection hiding out in your room?
And it wasn't a comeback he really had an answer to. It was true. He'd put a stop to their role as a Tamer-Digimon pair immediately. There had been so much destruction the first time—that had ultimately been blamed on a minor, extremely localized earthquake—that he just couldn't get himself into the mindset that would justify trying again. He had to wonder if maybe he just wasn't meant to possess this sort of power. Tai Chi was about meditation… awareness of the self… and defense. It wasn't an offensive martial art. Every time Henry had found himself in a position to attack, things has quickly spiraled out of his control. There was the incident with the bully, of course… But it had been weighing on his mind a lot more since he'd been handed a literal monster with unimaginable powers.
This wasn't something he'd discussed with anyone else, not even Takato. He hated to say it, but it was almost something of a relief to realize this other boy was even less prepared for the life of a Tamer than he was. Even if that did leave the whole job on Rika's shoulders. (She seemed to prefer it that way anyway.) He held back a self-deprecating laugh. There were certainly no 'Chosen Ones' to be found on this side of things. The Tamers set-up reeked of human error.
He stopped at a red light—despite the total absence of any traffic—and took a deep breath to clear his head. They weren't far from the hospital now. At least with the other kids' arrival, he felt like the was doing something useful again.
Henry's pace slowed when he reached the hospital doors. Now came the tricky part. It was well past visiting hours. He stood at the entrance for a few minutes, searching out a way in. He could see the doors to the ER from here, but it didn't look like a particularly busy night—no more business that he would expect to see from a city hospital at 2 AM. He was sure the nurses were handling the current crowd with no trouble, so he ruled out that path. And then, very suddenly, he saw his opening. Raised voices in the lobby. He peeked through the front doors and saw a frazzled-looking woman around his mom's age having a heated argument with the equally frazzled-looking woman at the front desk. The one security guard on duty that night had already drifted over towards the confrontation.
It was almost laughably easy to slip past them and onto the elevator. Henry had become quite familiar with this hospital after his grandfather's stroke two years ago. He pressed the button to be taken to the floor where the long-term patients were housed. There were a few nurses patrolling this floor, but Henry didn't run into any trouble. He'd found that so long as you walked with purpose, you were unlikely to be stopped and made to explain yourself.
He'd come armed with old photos—some of Shibumi in his college days and a few he'd tracked down of the man as an adult. Even so, he would have been hopelessly lost without the name cards outside the rooms. Because when he crept up to the bedside of the room designated as Gorou Mizuno's, he knew he never would have recognized this man from any of his old pictures.
He looked… old. Aged by years of being bedridden in a hospital. This Shibumi was unnaturally thin—surviving on an entirely IV-diet—and his hair was lank and longer than it had ever been. (Henry wondered if there was some sort of protocol for how long it was allowed to get.) There were a few monitors showcasing his vital signs around the bed but surprisingly few tubes linking them to their patient. The man's chest rose and fell steadily… If he didn't look too closely, it really did look like the man could just be sleeping.
"Whoa…" Terriermon's whisper sounded awfully loud against the backdrop of soft beeping. "This is just… sad."
Henry had to agree. He wondered after Shibumi's family. Did he have any? He didn't know if the man was officially brain dead, but the thought made him shudder. Imagine being stuck in this state indefinitely, just because there was no one in your life to make that decision…
Terriermon shifted uncomfortably in his arms. "Uh, Henry? I don't think this guy's gonna be much help."
Henry hummed solemnly and took a few steps closer. But as he did, the beeping began to get more frantic. He stopped abruptly, feeling a little frantic himself as he searched the monitors, trying to pinpoint the change. But none of the screens gave anything away, and they weren't interrupted by any concerned nurses… With a start, Henry realized where the beeping was sourced.
He pulled his Digivice from his pocket and was immediately met with a blinding light. His last thought before his surroundings disappeared… was that they were sure to be caught now.
…
When he came to, he was in a place so dim that it took him a moment to confirm that he had, in fact, opened his eyes. He was lying on his back in an inch of water, Terriermon slumped over on his chest. He brought a hand up to his partner's head slowly, but he didn't register any pain. He slowly rose to his feet, bracing himself with one hand and using the other to keep Terriermon anchored to his chest. Just being in this place gave him to oddest sensation. It did not feel like he'd instantly dried out, exactly. More like everything—from the air to his skin and clothes and somehow even the water below—was just equally damp. And there was a dreariness that permeated absolutely everything, bringing a chill to settle in his core.
The realization of where they were sank in even before his partner woke up, took a look around, and shuddered. "The Dark Ocean. Oh, boy… You don't want to hear the tales I've heard about this place."
His partner was uncharacteristically solemn as he started forward. He didn't know where they were headed, but the atmosphere down here was making him… jumpy. He felt like something was pulling him forward, and it wasn't long before a strange sound pierced through the gloom. Henry had never done much gardening or yardwork, living in the city, but he recognized it as the clacking of stone against stone.
He hastened forward and soon began to encounter discarded piles of stone and brick, half-built structures. Until at last, another figure came into view. His heart rate sped up a few notches. Another human, here? That could only mean one thing—because he doubted the Digimon Emperor would be down here building bridges. He'd deduced that that's what this was. Henry glanced overhead and saw what was definitely the start of a bridge, though where it was meant to lead, he wasn't sure.
"Uh, hello?" Terriermon spoke up, trying to get the attention of the boy before them, to no effect. He raised his voice even more. "Hey! Can you hear me?!"
Henry winced, but the boy before them continued his work, moving bricks from one place to another, as if he was still alone. As Henry watched, tiny flashes of light would shoot out from the Digivice clipped to his waist and bind the debris together. Indeed, he waited and watched for a few minutes and saw the bridge steadily getting longer, as if a proper crew had come to his aid.
…So why didn't the bridge appear even half-finished yet? For it was clear that the boy before them had been down here for quite some time, possibly even the full three years since the original team had split up. He would have been a full head taller than Henry if he hadn't been slouched over as he was. Henry had yet to see his face, but he'd seen the old pictures of the first crew, and none of the boys had had hair down to their shoulders before.
A sigh drew their attention to the far periphery of the gloom as a small creature crawled into their line of sight. He supposed many Digimon were rather… oddly proportioned, (thinking of Terriermon's ears) but this one's front paws were at least twice the size of its back ones. The tuft of orange hair adorning its head was so bright in these settings it was almost garish. But its downcast eyes were all too fitting.
"Good luck," he told them disparagingly. "I haven't been able to talk to Joe for weeks. That's what it feels like anyway. Time gets a little weird here."
Terriermon shuddered again. "I've never heard anything good about the Dark Ocean. It's a place that seeks out a person's deepest fears and insecurities, and latches onto them. Most Digimon who find their way into the Dark Ocean never find their way back out. Some say they're eventually eaten away at until they cease to be Digimon at all…"
A part of Henry wanted to chide his partner for being overdramatic, but this was hardly a baseless ghost story. It was a lot harder to muster up that calming tone when they were standing in the midst of the place that had spawned those horrors.
The other Digimon nodded. "We've been separated from the others for a while, but I figure that's what happened—the darkness from this place started seeping into the Digiworld somehow and affecting all the kids. Soon they all started doubting each other… and themselves. Matt went off on his own first… and it was all downhill from there."
Terriermon dropped down so they were on the same level as the Digimon slumped in on himself again. In his usual blunt way (making Henry sigh inwardly) he replied, "That sucks. But what's he doing down here? And who are you anyway?"
"I'm Gomamon, and that's my partner Joe," he answered, eyes drifting over to the boy whose movements had not ceased through all of this. "When everyone started going off on their own, Joe tried not to worry. (Which was kind of pointless, really. Worrying is what Joe does best, you see.) He was convinced that if we could just find the way out and connect the two worlds, everything else would fall into place. I tried to tell him it wouldn't be that simple—that the Dark Ocean doesn't run on logic like he does, but he wouldn't listen. …We argued a lot at first. I'd never leave him, of course. He's my partner, and I'd be lost without him, but I refused to help him keep building. He hasn't said a word since. I'm not sure he even knows I'm still here…"
Terriermon looked back at Henry with a worried expression. Gomamon was so beaten down, not even he could joke about it. But Henry's mind was still working. "So… have you been unbuilding everything he's put together?"
For the first time, Gomamon perked up with signs of energy—and indignance. "What?! I'd never do that! I may not agree with his methods, but Joe's my partner! It's my duty to protect him and help him however I can!"
"By slinking around and watching?" Terriermon started, but Henry cut off his mutter with a sharp nudge with his foot.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that," he amended quickly. "But something is undoing his work. He's been working steadily for as long as we've been here, and he hasn't made any progress."
Henry pointed to the bridge above them. Though he was positive he'd seen that strange light adding to it as Joe worked, the bridge had not grown any longer. In fact, he may have been reading too much into things, but he could have sworn it had been purposefully unbuilt. Like it had gone back in time to just a few minutes before. He wondered just how long Joe had been stuck in this loop. Even Gomamon looked up as if he'd never really considered the bridge before. He quickly decided that the sooner they got out of this place, the better, worried that it might already be messing with their heads.
Joe still had not stopped, and Henry was starting to be concerned for his health. The older boy had clearly aged during this undertaking, so time was passing, even if they'd stopped feeling it. He exchanged another glance with Terriermon, who shrugged, and took a few steps closer. Even if they did figure out what was going on here, it wouldn't matter if they couldn't wake Joe up. Might as well get the obvious answer out of the way first.
Experimentally, he reached out a hand and placed it on Joe's shoulder. The older boy's movements did stall… but Henry barely had time to notice as a jolt went through him, accompanied by another flash of light from each Digivice. At once, Henry knew that the flood of emotions that coursed through him belonged to the boy before him.
It was mostly desperation—a staggering amount. His movements may have slowed to a steady rhythm, but his mind had not. Those movements were spurred on by a crushing weight of responsibility. He suddenly found his mind privy to thoughts he shouldn't have had access to. They had yet to share two words with each other, but Henry found… that he knew Joe. He felt his need to protect all the other Digidestined, as the oldest. The panic he felt as the comradery amongst the other kids broke down and fell apart.
Honestly, it… it reminded him of himself. After meeting Takato, Rika, and lately Davis too, Henry had been struck by a similar sense of responsibility. They all seemed so… young, rushing into danger without a thought towards the consequences. They didn't understand what they were getting into… not like he did. Images of that wrecked parking garage flashed before his eyes again, a tremble from residual fear shuddering up through his body. And all the horror and guilt that went along with it. No. If there was any way he could spare the others from the darker side of this adventure, he would.
He could feel himself falling into that dark hole… the haze encroaching on his mind… just as Terriermon and Gomamon slammed into him, knocking him back and dislodging his hand from Joe's shoulder. A gasp forced its way out of his throat, and his eyes flew open. He flexed his fingers experimentally, shocked to find that his hand was already stiff from being in one position for too long. He raised his eyes to see both Digimon watching him with concern and, in Terriermon's case, fear.
"This is bad, Henry," his partner put forth—unnecessarily, for sure, but the way his voice shook made this easy to overlook. "We need to figure out what's going on and get out of here, before we get sucked into this murk too!"
"I'm not going anywhere without Joe," Gomamon said firmly, his renewed fire still going strong.
Terriermon gave him a look that Henry recognized as a typical precursor to one of his partner's saucy comebacks, so he quickly cut in. "That's why we're here. And something tells me we wouldn't be finding our way out of here on our own anyway."
Cautiously, he brought his own Digivice—its purple plating barely noticeable in the gloom—closer to Joe's older model. Sure enough, the two lit up in unison, and finally, Joe slowed until his methodic movements halted altogether. He heard Gomamon gasp as his partner straightened up and blinked, looking around in confusion.
The haze only seemed to clear completely when Gomamon launched himself at Joe, tears in his eyes, shouting, "Joe!" in an elated tone.
Joe caught him—just barely—staggering back. "Gomamon, what—" He cut himself off, looking around more thoroughly, dismay filling his eyes as he took in the lack of progress he'd made. But finally being wiped away by surprise and more confusion when he caught sight of Henry. "Who are you?"
Before he could answer, Terriermon strode forward. "Your rescue crew, here to save the day. I don't suppose you could have picked someplace a little less… evil?"
Joe looked back and forth from one to the other until Henry sighed and told him, "I'm Henry, and this is Terriermon. It's kind of a long story, but we are here to get you out."
Joe finally seemed to regain some of his ability to think clearly, because he replied, "Well, I don't know how you're going to do that, unless you can help me finish this bridge. Given that someone around here is allergic to hard work."
Gomamon sniffed, the fire in his eyes flaring up again. "Only because you wouldn't listen to reason! And here you're supposed to be the one all about logic."
This too, was terribly familiar. Even while they were snapping at each other, he could see the affection underneath their frustration. These two may have seemed impossibly different, but they'd been through a lot together. Henry was just turning to his own partner, to see if he had also picked up on the familiar dynamic playing out before them, when a new voice—eerily shrill—joined them.
"What do we have here? Someone else has come to play?"
A shudder ran through him even before he locked eyes with the creature perched on the unfinished bridge above. He'd gotten used to Digimon resembling animals. By contrast, this one felt like some creepy, possessed doll out of a horror film. The entire thing was made from wood and metal, bound together with thick red thread. The way its wooden legs swung back and forth over the edge—in a strikingly childlike fashion—felt like a direct mockery of the predatory look in his eyes.
Henry tried to keep his hand from shaking as he brought up his Digivice and pointed it at the Digimon before them. The Tamer version had come with a few extra features absent from the first model. It allowed them to identify the creatures they were up against. Everything was still as an image of the Digimon formed from his Digivice.
Puppetmon. A virus type. And… a Mega. All of his building apprehension hit its peak just then. Gargomon—with all his uncontrollable power—had only been Champion level. They were incomprehensibly out of their league here.
Terriermon didn't seem to share the cold sweat he'd broken out in. His fierce little partner stepped forward, waving his little fist at their adversary. "If you think we're playing, then this is some sick game, buddy! We're the reinforcements; now let our friends go!"
"Terriermon!" Henry hissed, but the damage was already done. Puppetmon's joints twitched with an eerie creaking sound.
"Friends?" he repeated in an odd tone. Then he recovered with a vengeance. "Reinforcements are against the rules!" He got to his feet menacingly, as if he was not already towering over them. "So let's play a new game—if you can get through my maze before the time runs out, I'll let you stay here and help him build this bridge."
"Hey, wait!" Terriermon called, but Puppetmon had already pulled out an oversized hourglass and set it down on the bridge, the sand already spilling through to the bottom section. Puppetmon himself leapt away into the darkness before Henry could ask him any of the dozens of questions running through his mind… until he took a mental step back and reminded himself that the rules to this new 'game' didn't matter anyway. They were fighting for a spot next to Joe in his endless bricklaying. What they really needed was to find some way to defeat Puppetmon altogether and escape his grasp. And frankly, that's where the plan ended, because Henry had no idea how they were going to do that.
"Who was that?" Joe asked at last.
"You've never seen him before? He wasn't keeping you imprisoned here?" Henry asked.
"No… When Gomamon and I made it down to the Dark Ocean, the bridge was already started. The next step seemed pretty clear."
"Well, we believe Puppetmon's been undoing all your hard work. And something about this place has been messing with your head so you didn't notice."
He really hated to watch Joe's face fall. He had to avert his eyes when the older boy brought a hand up to his lengthened hair, trying to gauge just how much time had passed. Henry considered breaking that news to him… but they had more pressing concerns right now.
"Well, anyway, we should focus on this maze he talked about first."
Gomamon gave them a look. "I know you guys haven't been here very long, but this whole place is a maze!"
Henry held up his Digivice. "I don't doubt it, but we have it on pretty good authority that these have the power to guide us from one side to the other. I can't promise we'll end up back in the real world, but I'd rather be stuck in the Digital World than the Dark Ocean. Besides, I've got a few friends on both sides. We'll have a better chance of getting everyone back if we're together to start with."
Joe nodded. "I know you're right… I did feel bad when we all started going our separate ways. I just got so focused on fixing the connection between the worlds that I lost track of everything else."
"Well, great. Then let's stop standing around and yapping and get out of here!"
With small, tentative smiles and Terriermon at their helm, the group started forward. Clear, concrete walls began to form out of the fog around them, giving the place a more institutional feel. The further they went, the more surveillance cameras Henry spotted hanging from the ceiling. It didn't seem like much of a maze so far, but it was clear that Puppetmon was watching their progress.
His dread returned full-force with the fog. Their jailer was vamping up to something, for sure.
It happened so quickly. A second later the fog was gone, and the concrete all around them had turned to wood. Within the space of another second, more walls had slammed down from the ceiling, separating the two pairs. Terriermon and Henry both let out exclamations of surprise, but if the other two were shouting back, no sound could penetrate these new walls. And with their path narrowed, there was literally only the way forward, without anything to investigate further.
Henry could immediately see the shift in his partner. Terriermon took this as a challenge and rushed forward before Henry could stop him.
"Wait!" he called anyway, knowing it was kind of pointless. Indeed, Terriermon didn't stop, only calling back, "The others could be in danger, Henry! We don't have time to stand around overthinking things!"
He sighed exasperatedly as he ran after him. How typical. After all his detective work, trying to puzzle this mystery out with logic, they'd walked right into some chaotic manipulation game. He couldn't help flashing back to their enemy's status as a Mega. Didn't Terriermon understand how in over their heads they were now?
This first tunnel opened up to a much bigger room, and its components gave them both pause. It felt almost like a cave… There were still cameras pointed in every direction, but combined with multiple levels of further tunnels and staircases leading up to them. And yet the entire place was still crafted from wood. It reminded him oddly of the parking garage—as if he needed any more reminders—only a lot more fragile.
Terriermon turned back to him, a familiar fire in his eyes. "This is ridiculous! We can't play his game, Henry. We need to draw him out."
The little Digimon eyed the cameras all around them, and Henry knew immediately what he was thinking. "No."
Terriermon huffed. "Well, what do you propose then?" His voice had gotten thin and a bit haughty, his enunciation just a little too strict. It would be a more annoying anger habit… if Henry didn't know exactly where he'd picked it up.
He worked not to let his own voice fall into the same patterns. "Don't be like that. Why can't you stop and think for a minute?"
"Why can't you trust me?" Terriermon shot back, and Henry froze as something more vulnerable took root in his partner's eyes. "It was one mistake, Henry. You don't have to always do everything on your own."
There were no more arguments to be had. He knew his partner was right. From day one he'd been hesitant to work with any of the other kids caught up in this mess, afraid to take on any more responsibilities when his own flaws were showing through. He kept Takato close, but encouraged him to stay out of danger. He took what he could from Kari, Davis, and Cody, but went off on his own as soon as he'd ironed out a plan. But they were supposed to be a team, and Terriermon was his partner, created specially for him, if that part of the 'legend' still held true. So finally he gave in and pulled out his Digivice. "Okay."
The light enveloped the little Digimon at once, as if it had only been waiting for an invitation. Henry tried to keep his apprehension at bay as he watched the transformation take over his friend for the second time, leaving Gargomon standing in his place. They locked eyes once before the Champion started shooting. One by one, the cameras went down, until Gargomon came to stop in front of him, his attacks ceasing as well. The last time his bullets had started, he'd been unable to stop until he'd run out of energy completely. Henry didn't realize how tense he'd been until his shoulders relaxed.
They snapped back to attention at the sound of footsteps rushing their way, prepared for guards or something. But it was Joe and Gomamon who came careening out of one of the tunnels opposite them, drawn by the sounds of the destruction. "What happened?! Is everyone okay?!"
They didn't get a chance to answer him before on unfortunately familiar figure dropped down and wrapped a wooden arm around Joe's neck. When Gomamon lunged for him in a panic, thick red threads bound him up, leaving him in a heap on the floor. Gargomon turned one of his cannons on Puppetmon, but Henry darted forward to put a restraining hand on his arm. "No, don't!"
"Let him go, you bully!" Gargomon commanded but made no further moves.
"Bully?" Puppetmon repeated darkly. "All you had to do was play along… but you've broken your last rule!"
"Let's not do anything drastic!" Joe cut in suddenly, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face. "It was me you wanted, right? Fine. Let Henry and Terriermon go, and I'll stay here as long as you want."
"It's too late now!" Puppetmon replied, but he seemed agitated as well. "You couldn't just let things be… The Emperor gave me a place to belong. All I had to do was watch over one of the Digidestined and keep the crest of Reliability contained. But then everything started going wrong… New kids started interfering and reactivating the crests. Why couldn't you have just left us alone?!"
Once again, Henry was struck by how childlike this monster seemed, but there was nothing reassuring about it. He'd seen enough of Suzi's tantrums to know he could snap at a moment's notice. But how to defuse the situation?
Joe seemed to deflate at this news, but he didn't stay down for long. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I never really did live up to the crest of 'reliability,' did I?" Gomamon protested loudly from where he was still tied up, but they couldn't make out any words. "Well, maybe it just wasn't to be. Henry, if passing on my crest is the way to keep my friends safe, then you can have it. Maybe that's part of being reliable too. Knowing when to delegate, when something is out of your power, so you can keep up with the things that are under your control."
"Stop your blabbering!" Puppetmon shrieked, turning back to the other two. "No more warnings! You had your chance to play by the rules. Now get ready to face the consequences!"
With one sudden movement, Puppetmon released his hold on Joe, sending him to the ground, and pulled out a giant hammer. Henry didn't even notice the little holes facing them until the spray of bullets came flying their way. Gargomon brought up his own guns to counter and quickly found himself outmatched, as Henry had feared.
There was another muffled shout from Gomamon and a barrage of rainbow fish appeared seemingly out of thin air and flew up to cover them. For once, Henry asked no questions. He and Gargomon just scrambled out of the way. The fish were no match for Puppetmon, of course, being blown to pieces immediately, but it gave them enough cover to duck into one of the adjacent tunnels, where at least they'd be harder targets to hit.
Puppetmon cut off his attack and jumped back to get into a better position. Joe recovered from his fall just at the right moment. He got to his feet and pulled something out from under his shirt, yanking it off the chain around his neck with a startling burst of strength. And then, arcing his arm back before their attacker could react, he threw the tiny item their way, shouting, "Henry!"
He darted out of the tunnel just in time to catch Joe's crest—and recognize it for what it was—before Gargomon yanked him back. There was a single moment when his mind blanked—now that he had it, what was he supposed to do with it? But before his eyes, the little square lit up, growing brighter and brighter until he couldn't even make out the little cross etched onto it. In tandem, his partner beside him began to glow as well, bursting out from the cover of the tunnel before he could outgrow it.
Time seemed to stop as his partner reached his Ultimate form for the first time. He watched Gargomon's stature grow even taller, a sheen of armor remaining when the light faded back down. Indeed, everything from those familiar ears to his toes was now made of metal. A peek at his Digivice revealed this to be Rapidmon.
The Digimon raised one of his new guns, still getting used to this new form, but Puppetmon didn't seem fazed. With a sinking feeling, Henry realized they were still outmatched. An Ultimate versus a Mega? Digimon were based on computer data and cold, hard numbers. And as long as Puppetmon had taken next to no damage, there was no way those numbers would stack up in their favor. They would need a miracle.
And, before the despair could completely overtake him, they got one.
Just seconds after Rapidmon's Digivolution was complete, the crest of Reliability began shining again. The beam of light that shot out from it flew right to Joe where he was now crouched over his captive partner. An imprint of the Reliability symbol lit up Joe's chest just in time for the beam of light to ricochet off… and head straight for Puppetmon.
It all happened too quickly for the Mega to counter. The light from the crest connected and spread to fill every crack and joint of the puppet's body. They were all frozen until the scream of agony started up, and it sank in that their foe was being weakened.
He had contorted into a position that left him wide open. Seeing his opportunity, Rapidmon launched himself up and shot a single blast at the monster. It connected as well… and reacted as if it had hit a ball of pure energy, exploding back out in the most horrifying fireworks display Henry had ever seen.
Henry remembered to breathe when the blast began to die down… and he saw Terriermon plummeting to the ground. He sprinted forward and caught his friend just in time, ending up on his knees. He ducked over protectively when something slammed to the ground just inches away. He caught sight of a mostly intact, dismembered wooden arm just before it dissolved into ones and zeroes.
He only uncurled to take a better look at his partner when things finally quieted down. His heart caught for a second when he saw how beat up he looked. But Terriermon stirred a second later, and he sounded dazed but not grievously injured. "Henry… Did you see that?"
Henry choked out a laugh, tears of relief or stress or maybe just plain or hysteria pricking at his eyes. "I did. You were awesome."
"I know." Terriermon faded back into unconsciousness and Henry held him closer, letting his friend have his well-earned rest.
At last, Joe broke the silence with an awed, "What was that?"
He'd finally gotten Gomamon's mouth freed and now he added, "You guys didn't start feeling all prickly when it happened? Well, I guess you wouldn't; you're humans. It felt to me like someone was hacking into the system around here. Probably through your crest if I could feel it."
This gave Joe pause for a moment. When the realization dawned on him, Henry could see it on his face. "Izzy… Maybe the others are okay after all."
"Which crest was Izzy's?" Henry asked.
"Knowledge."
He smiled to himself. While he'd never met Yolei, he was sure the crest of Knowledge would have sought out Cody the same way Reliability had connected to him. He didn't get an opportunity to share this, though, before both Digivices lit up again, beams of light shooting out and targeting one of the tunnels. Slowly, the two boys got to their feet, holding their respective partners in their arms.
"You said the Digivices have the power to guide us through the Dark Ocean, right?" Joe asked tentatively.
Henry nodded. As one they moved forward, following the thin beam of light through more twists and turns than either could count. At last, there were no more turns to take and they were faced with a single door at the end of a hallway.
The two boys only paused for a second before moving forward again. They shot through the doorway, as if expecting to find another enemy awaiting them… but found themselves coming out of a rather ordinary looking house and into a rather ordinary seeming forest.
But Henry was starting to think nothing in his life would ever be ordinary again.
Review please!
I don't own Digimon.
Well. That was a journey. It was really important to me that Joe play an active role in his recovery, in order to get across the message I was going for: that half of reliability is knowing when to rely on others too. If I have any lasting insecurities at the end of this chapter, it's that it feels like it probably wasn't… funny enough. Terriermon and Gomamon are both very jokey characters, and Puppetmon is meant to have this fun, childlike air about him too… And I kind of just took that in the other direction and tried to make everything super creepy. I just don't seem able to write Digimon in a way that comes across as fun and whimsical. ^^' I start writing and all I can think about is how terrifying all this would be in real life. Anyway, I'd love to hear what you thought!