Jun gave Ophanimon a stern look. "If I'm right, these future people know more than they're saying."
A few cries, all differently phrased, froze the whole gang in their tracks. Jun, like Mina and Aldamon, spun around. They all looked to Yolei, who was enveloped by the visual effect that had claimed TK and Seraphimon. No particular surprise showed on Jun's face, nor on the Examon's above them.
Ophanimon's lips were set in a thin frown. Davis's hands balled into fists. Sora watched uneasily, at a loss for words.
Ken smiled reassuringly at his girlfriend, keeping his calm as best he could. "Do I even need to say anything?"
Yolei smiled back. "No. See you later." She vanished seconds after she said that. Radically different surroundings filled her visual field - a mountainous region.
"Okay, now I'm sure," Examon sternly called out to the group. Quite a few of them gave them his attention. He looked to Imperialdramon. "Okay, future people. I'm one-hundred-percent sure I know who's doing this now, and it's not these Deep Ones or Dagomon."
Ophanimon watched him knowingly. It didn't surprise Kari that someone had caught on. Most of the others looked with mixed surprise and anxiousness. Jun frowned, seeing where he was going.
"What I want to hear you tell me is if you future people knew," Examon finished. Imperialdramon and UlforceVeedramon shared a look. Confusion broke out among the crew, the air abuzz with questions either to their partner or to Examon.
"What are you saying?" Mina shouted over them, openly nervous. "If it's not them, then who?" Examon didn't answer, not sure how to. Rika rolled her eyes, wondering if she was stupid or just in denial. Izzy looked around, clueless for a change. Valkyrimon warping out went mostly unnoticed.
"He's saying that it's Kari," Rika said back. A deep silence washed over the area. A few of them gaped like Cody did, unable to process that idea. "We got here too late, and now she's working with them."
Plesiomon didn't know what to say. Looking across the area, he could see that nobody seemed to, either. Ken inhaled sharply, seeing a grinning face in his mind, his own laughter ringing in his mind.
UlforceVeedramon let a scoff out. Examon certainly seemed on top of things, Rina joked mentally to her other half. "Guess we're just muscle here. Suits me fine."
"I don't believe it," Cody said promptly, the statement meeting agreement from the others of the first and second Digidestined groups, as well as Shuu.
"I get why you don't want to," Examon said softly, "but think about it. The only ones taken so far are some of Kari's closest friends. If it's Dagomon or one of these other things, why would they bother with that specific order?" Examon couldn't see any other answer. The pieces fit together too well.
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Ken said. "It could just be Dagomon, and he took them in order to torture her." Cody voiced his agreement.
"But in that case, why would Dagomon take the Digimon too?" Examon questioned. "Granted, that part doesn't make sense for Kari to do, either."
"They must want both partners for something," Future Davis speculated from within the dragon. "But seeing as we don't know anything for sure, let's not waste time and brainpower on detailed speculation." Examon couldn't fault that argument. "If we assume this is Kari's handiwork, then it does help us a little bit." The present-day Davis looked quizzically at him, alongside a few others. "We don't have to hurry and save her now. The clock's stopped."
"Okay, fine, let's say Kari's doing this," Davis said, resolutely. "This is nothing we can't come back from. We just get her, fix this, happy ending." He spread his arms out, looking back and forth between both sides. "I mean, look at this team. What can't we do?" Davis asked, a wide smirk on him.
Ken smiled. "You make it sound so simple." Jun smiled as well. Actually, a good number of people around were cheering up as they processed that. Cody smiled and straightened up, for instance. Keiko punched the air, BlitzGreymon hurrying to repeat that gesture
"It's always simple, Ken," Davis said back. "People just like to over-complicate it." Moments like these were why Future Davis missed being that age.
"Agreed," Future Davis said from Imperialdramon. "To answer your question, Examon, no. I didn't know, but I suspected." Examon supposed that was good enough.
"Anyway, people," BlitzGreymon cut in. "What's the plan for dealing with this teleporting crap? Are we just gonna stand around and look stupid?" Keiko looked apologetically back to her.
"Right now, we don't have any effective means to prevent it, so let's use it to our advantage," Imperialdramon said eventually, in both voices. A few faces scrunched over in confusion. "After next time, I want us to try and send a signal flare out with whatever attacks we have for that. If we see it, we head for it." The suggestion was met with widespread nodding and affirmative shrugs.
Aldamon frowned, faintly hearing footsteps. His wings flapped, legs tensing in preparation. He took flight in a leap, surprising Mina and the rest. What met his eyes was the sea of houses. They were fenced off in bunches and laid in no particular arrangement.
His attention was drawn to a different sight, a pair out on the beach. A golden-scaled quadruped with three pairs of spikes from its back and a handful of orbs floating there.
A human walked leisurely on its right side, a woman with messy brown hair who wore only a black skirt and a grey shirt under a blazer that matched her skirt.
On its right was a human, a brown-haired one dressed in dark colors, on a leisurely walk with it. Examon and Imperialdramon looked towards them, seeing them at once.
"Other Digidestined? Here?" Examon wondered while Aldamon took off and Ophanimon flew up to see. Mina watched him anxiously. The archangel gasped, in recognition of the two strangers, and flew off. Deciding to indulge his curiosity, Examon followed her, as did UlforceVeedramon.
Aldamon caught up to them fast and landed. The pair turned around when the sound of that registered, the human more easily than the dragon. They both scrutinized him, impatience palpable.
"Sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for a girl named Kari," Aldamon said. "Have you seen her?" Ophanimon, Examon, and Ulforce descended right behind him, unseen by Aldamon.
Maki looked not particularly interested. "Not in years." A long moment after she finished the sentence, Mina and Noriko caught up. Mina looked taken aback when she saw her, while Noriko gasped. Both looked squarely at her swollen stomach.
"Maki," Kari said. "I've wondered what happened to you."
Mina looked quizzical. "You know this lady?"
"Fifteen years ago, we were dealing with a mess," Gatomon summarized, without turning their head to them. "While it was going on, Maki here disappeared. So this is where you've been?"
Maki's expression remained stony. "Fifteen years, huh? It feels more like a hundred. But yes, I have."
Noriko watched her uneasily, no doubt in her mind. "Did the Deep Ones do this to you?" She couldn't bring herself to say it. Ophanimon looked to Noriko, unsure how she would take the truth of that.
Maki's expression darkened slightly, then she turned away. Fanglongmon followed her silently.
"Wait," she called out, neither of them stopping. "You can come back with us!" Maki stopped at that, letting out a scoff, sharing a grin with her partner.
"Noriko, I don't think they care," Examon said softly. Noriko looked at her dragon, lost for words. Ophanimon looked apologetically at her.
A frown snapped onto Examon's face, and he looked past his human to where Maki was going. The others followed his gaze, shock filling Noriko's face, a scream rising in her throat.
A bunch of humanoid things with a hide that seemed like oil, some kind of vapor or gas shifting around just beneath the surface, were walking out from another entrance. Their bodies were so dark that it took Mina a moment to see them properly among the fences. Pale-yellow beady pairs of eyes upon solid-black irides watched them. They were curious, Examon could tell. A couple of human men were among them.
"That's what these people are having sex with!?" Aldamon asked Ophanimon, with open disgust. One of the women among the Deep One school glared at him.
"Yeah," Ophanimon affirmed. "I get why it grosses you out, but this is just a fact of life here in Innsmouth." Ophanimon looked over to them. "If any of you are worried about our presence, don't be," she called out. "We're simply searching for a missing friend, nothing more." The biggest Deep One relaxed visibly at that.
A frown broke out on Noriko's face, recalling what they said back at the office. "Look, I just refuse to believe that these people are doing this of their own free will. Are you sure it's not brainwashing or Stockholm syndrome or something?"
"Yeah, we are," Rina said from Ulforce. "This ain't Goblin Slayer." At the confusion that met the remark, she felt keenly reminded that this was 2005, and elaborated, "The Deep Ones aren't a bunch of evil rape monsters. We'd have gotten people together to wipe them out years ago if they were." Noriko still couldn't wrap her head around it.
Yolei smiled when she saw Valkyrimon appear. The swordsman smiled back. Then he looked past her, taken aback at it all.
A range of small mountains laid left, under dark and empty skies. On the other side laid a vast pit, uncountable rocks of varying size hanging in the void. A few among the ones on the surface were coated in darkness, shadows that seemed restless. They stared curiously back with a swarm of blood-red eyes. He thought about making a joke, how cliched red eyes on bad guys were, while walking closer to it.
Three layers down, about twenty meters straight ahead, he saw a trio of LadyDevimon busy with a sparring match. Four layers down and ten meters left of them, a MaloMyotismon sat alone, seemingly meditating. The fifth level was a swarm of boulders covered in many-eyed darkness, as far as Valkyrimon could see.
Eight levels down, he saw an Arukenimon make a jump toward a higher rock. On the ninth level, hundreds of demons were scattered about - many of them were species that Valkyrimon had never seen before. Some were dogs, some were cats, some were SkullSatamon, one was a lion's head on goat's legs, one was a SkullGreymon.
Yolei looked to him with a determined glare. "Ready, Valkyrimon? Now we're facing this Dagomon creep." She punctuated the statement with a crack of her fist.
"Yes," Valkyrimon agreed succinctly and made himself look away. Silence descended after that, the partners contemplating what to do. Upon a nearby cliff, two beings that neither of them had noticed watched them.
"I'm not touching that," Mephistomon voiced. LadyDevimon inclined her head. Phelesmon mirrored her curiosity. "People we know nothing about just popped in from who-knows-where," the demon goat paraphrased. LadyDevimon gave a 'yeah'. Looking back down, she spotted a certain something leisurely crawling out of the ground.
"Looks like we've got someone for the meet and greet," LadyDevimon joked, pointing the Sabnockmon out to him.
"Looks like," Mephistomon agreed.
A gasp from Yolei got Valkyrimon's full attention, and concern. The list of things that could startle Yolei after all this time was short, he knew. Turning around, he saw it immediately - a worm with an emerald-green hide, seeming twelve meters tall. The beast watched them with raised head, two maws curled up in grins. Eight blood-colored eyes, each bigger than a human's head, fixed on them.
"Stop me if you've heard this one, but that worm needs a serious diet," Yolei joked. Valkyrimon could only agree.
"What manner of prey have I found?" Sabnockmon said, mock-gravely. Valkyrimon broke into a run, unsheathing his sword with a sure hand, catching up before the demon worm could react. With a swing of the blade, Valkyrimon cut into it, eliciting a scream. Silently, relentlessly, he slashed the beast again and again.
Behind them, Hikari walked from behind the mountain, going unseen by the two. Her arms were folded behind her. Arkadimon walked beside her.
When the beast began to glow white, he paused. The demon shrank down, into the form of a solid-black egg. Yolei scrunched a bit in confusion, at the unfamiliar aesthetic of the rebirth.
Valkyrimon turned, spotting another figure to their left - a SkullSatamon that sprinted at him. Unfazed, Valkyrimon tightened his grip on his sword. When SkullSatamon had gotten less than ten meters away from him, he pounced, hands on the staff. Valkyrimon swung with a snarl, snapping the staff, slashing the demon apart.
"Awesome, Valkyrimon," Yolei cheered. The swordsman smiled, only happy to accept the compliment.
"Well, I am a Mega, and an experienced one to boot," Valkyrimon pointed out.
A cry of "DOT MATRIX" rang out, a voice that they both recognized - Angewomon's. Valkyrimon tensed, an unfamiliar sensation coming over him. Yolei gasped, suddenly not seeing Valkyrimon anymore.
"An impressive show indeed," said another voice that was oh-so-familiar.
Yolei spun around, seeing Hikari a bit away. Beside her, she saw a humanoid with a gray hide. Two pairs of wings adorned with purple skin extruded from its back. Bundles of tentacles formed its arms, the tips of five extended like claws. Her eyes met Hikari's gleaming red ones. She gulped, mentally noting her outfit change, feeling reminded of Ken's Emperor outfit.
"Kari, what is..." Yolei trailed off, seeing a single conclusion, rejecting it as quickly as it was reached. Hikari smirked, studying her expectantly. "No, this can't..." Yolei murmured, stepping back. A memory flashed before her, of them in her room and Kari confessing how terrified she was of the Dark Ocean and its intentions for her.
"Is it not obvious?" Hikari asked, dryly. "In moments after I was taken, the darkness consumed me. It flooded the depths of my soul, and made me into this." Hikari's smile grew into a smirk. "And I like how it feels, Yolei Inoue."
Yolei's eyes almost went wider at that. She silently prayed to the Harmonious Ones, to whatever other powers there were, that this was a bad dream.
"I am certain that my partner also likes it," Hikari went on. Yolei wanted to scream but knew she couldn't. Kari needed her.
"Alright, fine," Yolei said, eventually. "You want me to believe that you've turned evil? I believe you. But I promise we'll get you back, both of you."
"You are welcome to try." Hikari's smile turned into a smirk when a thought occurred to her. "But, I advise you not to think highly of your chances," she said, pointing her thumb behind her. "Takeru's corpse currently lies in a pool of his blood just beyond that mountain."
Yolei gasped, fists uncurling. Arkadimon looked to Hikari, as impatiently as she could manage. Hikari folded her arms, a smug smirk on her face.
"If you doubt my word, you are welcome to see it for yourself," Hikari elaborated, watching her expectantly. "And of course, defeating WarGreymon and killing my brother took even less time."
Eventually, a resolute frown formed on Yolei's face. "I can't let her provoke me. If that's actually true, well, we'll see when we get there." She hoped not. Yolei couldn't imagine how Kari could live with having killed one of her own.
"Before you die, I would like both your opinions," Hikari said. "What do you think about the Vortex of Shadows?" She gestured to the pit.
"She really is just playing with us." She was loath to admit it, but she understood - without Valkyrimon, she was almost defenseless. "I don't care." Arkadimon agreed with her.
Hikari closed her eyes. "No fear, I see. Very well. BlackGatomon, please take the form of Botismon." Arkadimon complied, form flashing dark. A wide growth rocketed from her back, across the wasteland.
When the dark radiance faded, a red snake stood revealed. Eight pairs of dirty-white horns adorned its head like a crown, and four dark-blue eyes watched her. The beast dwarfed her human severalfold - Hikari's full height seemed barely a twelfth the size of its head alone.
Yolei gaped, speechless at that sight. Smirking, Botismon lunged for her.