Disclaimer: I don't own the Digimon, but the characters belong to the moderators and members of the Digital Connections forum – found here forum/ Digital-Connections/ 22352/ and under the "So you want to be a Digidestined?" topic

A/N: Another chapter, another delay so sorry!

Special thank you to Miss Anonymous hp for her amazing notes and background that have really assisted in piecing together this chapter, so thank you

Without much more waiting, I give you, the next chapter!

Chapter 04

Charles, Heather, Sonja, Chris and Akiza were stuck in a cave after a rock collapsed on the opening…

Jake and Kat were in Datamon's lair, hidden deep within the Circuit Labyrinth – oh, and they were about to fight Minotarumon without any weapons to hand.

Then there was Marie.

Marie was alone and shivering. She was in the middle of nowhere – she had no idea where she was. There was a large grey building behind her and dark purple skies surrounding her. The landscape was home to nothing but the odd dead tree or leafless bush.

Walking towards the building, she scanned the large concrete walls that went up as high as a two storey house, and as she walked around it, she discovered that the building was completely cube like. Not a ridge was in sight to even attempt to climb inside. There was a square on one of the walls that made Marie think it was a door into the building.

Her hands traced the edges of the square that she could reach. It was a smooth cut line, but no indication of how to open it.

"That's weird…" she mumbled.

When thrown into a strange and unusual situation, it's normal for anyone to just panic and get upset. It took maybe a couple of hours of trying to work out how to open the door until Marie was on the verge of giving up. She leant into the door square and looked up at top of the wall.

Marie couldn't explain how it happened, but the door slid to one side, disappearing as it moved. She looked inside the building – well, there wasn't actually that much to look at. It was pretty dark inside. You could barely see what was ten feet in front of you it was that dark.

"It's… it is okay… I am fine…" Marie tried to speak to herself in a calm voice, but there was no mistaking that fear was reaching out for her.

She could hear a voice, it sounded like a child with a raspy lisp. Her heart lurched and caused her to freeze. All that Marie could hear was the pulsating beats as her hear pounded her ribcage.

Until the lisp ridden voice called out, at a more audible volume.

"Don't worry- the boss will be soon reward us for finding the boy!"

"Yeah- but I don't get why the boss would call him Villarama- what's a Villarama?"

As Marie listened to what sounded like a group of children plotting and devising some sort of plan that would cross their boss, she didn't know whether they would be friendly or not. Her body was pressed up against the wall as she stayed rooted to the spot.

Then she saw the pair of creatures. The two of them looked like evil and nasty rabbits that walking on two legs. Their fur was matted and crusted with mud. Two piercing eyes caught Marie standing frozen to the spot.

"Another one – quick, let's get it!" one spat, stumbling towards Marie.

Caught off guard, she sidled away from them and in the hasty effort to get away, she tripped over her own feet.

"We got you now…" the second one called out, grabbing onto Marie's bright white clean shoes.

"No!" Marie squeaked, wriggling her foot and trying to free herself.

All she could feel was the cold tiles on the ground that reminded her of her bathroom floor back home. There was no way she was going to let these rabbit things take her away. She fought the urge to cry, knowing it would only make her look weak.

"Let me go, please!" Marie yelped, feeling the sharp claws around her ankles as each creature had a hold of one leg, dragging her into the darkness. "No!"

A bright light lit up the way and everything was white. So white that it took Marie's eyes to adjust. Her hair was thrown across her face from fighting to free herself.

"Hey look!" the creature shouted, pointing at Marie. "It's not like the other one, it's different!"

Marie shivered as the creatures leaned in close to investigate her. For something that looked so horrible she couldn't place what she thought they smelt like – if they really had a definitive smell.

"But it's got a Digivice around its neck!" The creature reached out for Marie.

Her hand shot up to the device that she had found on her when she woke up. "No! It's mine!"

"Oooo- very precious of her…" it cackled, laughing in Marie's face. "The boss will want to see you now." The creature opened its mouth wide, as did Marie! "Electric Stun Blast!"

To Marie's complete and total disbelief, a black cloud of gas crawled its way out of the creature's mouth. It wafted towards her, but she couldn't fight the fear and froze up. The cloud shot into her mouth and nose, disappearing until her body felt rigid and paralysed. Not even her eyes could move. More gas came at Marie and clouded her vision, knocking her out cold.

-o-

When Marie finally came around, she was in a cage. Not an ordinary metal barred cage – this one was made up of luminous blue light strips. The blue light made her feel weary. As she stood up, her elbow caught one of the light strips and there was a crack sound.

"Ow!" she squealed as she felt an electric shock snap at her elbow like a dog snapping at it.

The device she had around her neck was gone.

"They took it," a voice whispered.

"Who said that?" Marie asked, squinting past the light strips, but she couldn't see anything.

"I guess an introduction would be only the right thing to do… I'm Ryan."

It was a male voice – Marie could hear his voice, but not see anyone there. It was just dark outside of the cage, which only made her more cautious. Even though the voice belonged to someone called Ryan – she couldn't just believe that they were a human. Not in this strange world she had come to find herself in where weird rabbit creatures can talk.

"Who are you?" Marie stammered, trying to back away from the darkness, but not so close that she would touch the light bars of the cage.

"Erm… As I said, I'm Ryan. Normally people say their name first."

"I'm Marie, where am I?" she asked, there was a part of her that thought she should press this guy for information about everything.

Not even twenty four hours earlier, she had been walking home from school in the hot sun that was beating down on her face in Phoenix, Arizona. Whilst everyone would say that they loved the heat, it was something that Marie would not miss. But now, now it was cold and she was left in the darkness. What she did know, was that she was not on Earth any more. Marie had a strong feeling of this.

"You're in the Digital World."

Digital World – what? Marie thought that it was absurd and didn't make any sense. There was no reasonable explanation as to how Marie had ended up in this Digital World.

"How? Wh-what? The- di-" She couldn't even put a sentence together, her brain was whizzing about with lots of thoughts and questions that she had.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but I have to apologise first…" the voice belonging to Ryan responded in a slightly shaky voice. "I'm sorry Marie. I never wanted this to happen."

"What? What do you mean, Ryan?"

"You're Datamon's now… In return for my freedom. I never thought there were any other people in this world so I agreed to Datamon's offer. I negotiated with him so that if another people happened to come here, that he would let me go… Then you came here and got caught – they took your necklace and I panicked. I would have never accepted if I had known that you would take my place. I'm sorry, I have to go now… All I've got is a headstart over Datamon and his Gazimon army." Ryan continued what he was saying as if he was saying exactly what was on his mind, without thinking it through. "But if you're here, then there must be other people here. I'll find them and then we'll get you out of here."

Marie was still trying to piece together what he had just said, but by the time she had figured out what to say, Ryan was gone.

Marie was alone again.

-o-

Ryan was pushed out of the cube building by the Gazimon. He wondered whether he should go back into Datamon's lair below and free the girl he had switched with.

"Oh, and the boss wanted you to have this…" The lead Gazimon threw the necklace through the air.

It landed on the floor in front of Ryan and he leant down to pick it up. Worried about how quickly the Gazimon would come after him, he turned away. He may have seemed to know more about the Digital World than the girl Marie, but that was only because of what Datamon had told him.

What happened to Ryan happened only too quickly.

He was lying in bed back on Earth, just trying to go to sleep. It was always something that Ryan struggled to do. That would be when he would play on his games console for an hour or so to help sort of tire him out.

As he climbed out of bed, his feet hit the random clothes that had missed the laundry basket. Kicking them aside, he staggered towards his desk, hoping that his family wouldn't wake up.

That's when he saw the bright white light shining through the gap between the blinds and the wall. Something was blasting a bright beam out from the other side of the window, peaking Ryan's interest.

"What the-" he mumbled, taking a large stride to get to the window.

As the bright light hit his eyes, something happened.

That's when he woke up in the Digital World, captured by Datamon. The evil Digimon had kept him in a cage, visiting him occasionally. When Datamon wanted to earn about the humans. To Digimon, humans were thought of as much as a myth. So Datamon would probe Ryan for any and every bit of information that could be passed on. On seeing Datamon exposing the weakness, Ryan wanted to expose this and use it to his advantage by one of his favourite methods ever.

Negotiating.

The negotiation went back and forth between Datamon and Ryan – Datamon offered up the necklace device, of which was called the Digivice, in return for information about the humans. For Ryan, it was a simple biology lesson. To Datamon, it was the key to an exposé on humans. Something that the Dark Beasts of the Digital World might find of great importance.

And just like Ryan had said, Marie stumbled upon Datamon's lair, unaware that she was about to fall victim to his previously agreed deal.

Recalling the last day's events, Ryan shivered and started to put some distance between himself and the cube building that was home to Datamon's lair.

His feet were aching after a quick run that turned into a slow jog. The rhythm of his feet was a beat to go to, but something was playing on Ryan's mind. There was a part of him that didn't know if it was worth going back to free Marie, but there was another part that owed her as much. He got closer and closer to a small forest.

But like the sky, the trees were tinted purple. The bark on the trunks, the leaves on the branches – even the roots that delved into the ground had a purple hue to them.

"What?" Ryan murmured, stumbling towards the edge of the forest.

Realising that he had a moment to himself, he checked his Digivice.

"No!" he shouted, clenching his fist around the device.

The screen was blank and it just didn't feel right… Ryan's heart raced at the thought of having to run back to Datamon's lair because the device in his hands was not real.

It was a fake…

"Da-ta-mon!" Ryan screamed, hitting the ground and collapsing against a nearby tree. His hand covered his eyes as he began to rub his temples.

Two steps forwards, one step back… he thought to himself, completely unaware what to do.

-o-

"Are you crazy?!" Kate squealed, squeezing Jake's arm. When she realised how tightly she was gripping his arm, she let go. "Sorry."

"It's fine. I'll be fine…" Jake walked towards Datamon and held out his hand. "I'll battle Minotarumon in return for the device and safe passage for all of us." He squinted at the mechanical Digimon, making sure that there was no space for some loopholes that Datamon could take advantage of.

"I believe you have a deal." Datamon shook Jake's hand.

Kate started to knot her fingers around the blue pinafore that she was wearing, pulling the shorts down that were underneath it. This was something that she did whenever she was nervous. She would fiddle with her clothes, or her hands to try to distract herself.

"I'll be okay, Kate," Jake said, smiling softly so that his dimples came out. "Hasta luego…"

See you later Jake. Kate wondered where Jake was being dragged to and she shivered at the thought of Jake having to fight a minotaur Digimon – at least, that's what she thought Minotarumon must have been.

She closed her eyes and thought hard. Her hands cupped the Digivice that was hanging around her neck.

Heather, can you hear me?

The voice that responded was not Heather's. The voice sounded like a tiny child – as if a little girl from a fairytale movie had stepped out and climbed into Kate's mind.

"I can hear you…"

Wait, you're not Heather! Kate couldn't believe her ears – she was having a conversation with herself… and someone else…

"No silly, I'm Bellemon… I'm your friend, Kate."

Kate shook her head swiftly and found that Datamon was watching her.

"Interesting…" Datamon murmured. "Grab her, Gazimon."

The young girl was startled by the treachery that was unfolding before her. Before she even had time to run away, there was a Gazimon on either side of her. "Hey! Let me go… Jake!" Kate screamed at the top of her voice, hoping that it would give Jake some kind of warning.

But he didn't hear.

Jake was pushed into a grey, metallic room, a square arena you could say. He looked up and saw Datamon with his Gazimon watching him, but he couldn't see Kate at all. That's when he knew something wasn't right – Datamon was trying to cross him. Now he had to really defeat this Minotarumon, and the odds were definitely stacking up against him. A part of him wondered if there was a completely rational explanation for his new friend's disappearance. Maybe she was the double agent all along, even if there was never a mentioning of one in the first place.

"Release the Minotarumon!" Datamon's voice boomed overhead on a speaker.

A metal panel rose at the other end of the arena and Jake watched in anticipation as he waited to lay eyes on the Digimon he was about to fight. A thunderous footstep made the floor shake. It was sure to be one hell of a big Digimon. With two more steps, Jake saw Minotarumon and swore profusely under his breath.

To Jake, the Digimon looked more like a beast man cross – it had the head of the bull, it was exactly like it was in Greek mythology, but the rest of its body was a giant human. Apart from what looked like a cannon attached to one of its hand.

"What are you waiting for Jake? An open invitation?" taunted Datamon with a metallic cackle.

Jake wasn't sure what to do – he was sort of waiting for the Digimon to make the first move, because that would force him to do something.

Minotarumon roared and started to sprint towards Jake – it was almost twice the height of Jake, and many times heavier… It laughed as it then dropped into a sliding tackle, despite Jake turning to run.

The wind was knocked out of him as the beast's boot cracked into his back. Jake was sent tumbling across the ground. Feeling a tightness in his chest, Jake weakly lifted a hand to apply pressure to the place he felt pain. His fingers traced the edge of the Digivice.

"Bull Fighting Attack!" Minotarumon bellowed, raising his mechanical arm.

Jake pushed himself off the floor and impulsively ran towards Minotarumon, aiming to run through the gap between his legs. Then he stopped when he was standing directly under Minotarumon.

The beast Digimon was confused and released the cannon at the wall. "Huh? Where'd you go?"

Jake tried to calm his breathing- he knew that Minotarumon would be listening for where Jake was and would eventually realise where he was. When Minotarumon faced one way, Jake darted the other and made a break for it.

"Hey! I see you!" Minotarumon chuckled maniacally.

"Wait…" Jake murmured, yanking the Digivice and holding it up in front of him. "No!"

Minotarumon stopped and squinted its large dark brown eyes at the Digivice. "A Digivice? But that's just a legend…" he said with deep, shallow breaths.

"It's real," Jake whispered, completely out of breath.

What happened next was unexpected, it was to Jake. The beast was standing before him, dropping onto one knee. Like Jake was some kind of saviour. The Digimon's head bowed down.

"Bull Fighting Attack!" Minotarumon suddenly fire a ball of energy in Datamon's direction.

"No!" Jake screamed.

The viewing gallery exploded, making Jake fall back. The building shook and the foundation of the room started to crack.

"Come on!" Minotarumon lifted Jake up onto its shoulder.

Startled, Jake held onto one of the bull's horns as the beast sped towards the exit. He hoped that they would be able to find Kate and this 'Villarama' Datamon mentioned. The speed that the Digimon ran at made it almost impossible to hold on. They were quickly tearing through the circuit labyrinth.

"Wait- we have to find Kate!" Jake shouted over the collapsing building. "Minotarumon!"

"Kid – they're gone. That viewing deck exploded. Nothing would survive that. My priority is getting you out of here and to the safety of the rebellion."

Rebellion? This is sounding more and more like I'm caught in the new Star Wars film. Jake thought everything was sounding more and more like a dream every day.

"Brace yourself kid!" Minotarumon yelled, picking up speed to break through the final wall of the circuit labyrinth.

The boy and the Digimon tumbled through the collapsing wall. Jake was thrown from Minotarumon's shoulder and lay crumpled in the dirt. One more beating he could have done without that day.

"Oh man…" Jake hissed, gripping the arm he had landed on. It didn't feel broken, but there was no way of knowing in this place. As he rolled over to sit up, he caught a glimpse of Datamon creeping up to Minotarumon with a smirk across his face. "Minotarumon!" he screeched, trying to warn the Digimon.

"Digital Bomb!" Datamon's hand opened and a string of bombs fired at Minotarumon who roared in pain.

Jake's mouth dropped as he saw Minotarumon go opaque and fuzzy – like the static you used to get on an old television when you didn't have access to the channel. Then the beast faded into nothing.

"You're next!" Datamon lifted his other arm to reveal that he had his grip firmly around Kate's waist. "You've lost."

"Hawkmon flyers, attack!"

Out of the sky dropped a V formation of birds who swooped in and pecked and pulled at Datamon. Datamon released Kate and tried to fight off the Hawkmon who were now regrouping. Kate rushed away from Jake, into the barely standing building.

"Come with us," a bird tugged on Jake's sleeve. "Whilst there's still time…"

"But my friend, she's in there-" Jake's mouth trembled as the cube crumbled into nothing. "No…"

"Please, there's no time!" the bird snapped aggressively.

Then he heard Kate's voice "Jake, I'm okay…"

Jake looked up to see Kate holding up another girl who was hopping on one foot.

"Let's get out of here," Kate said, smiling weakly as she helped the girl over to him.

"Hawkmon flyers! Execute emergency extraction!"

The Hawkmon fleet reformed and each grabbed one of the three children's arms, lifting them off the ground. Each child had a different approach to what was happening.

"Hawkmon flyers! Descend to the base!"

Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Another chapter finally completed, I don't really know whether this chapter worked or not! I hope it does, but let me know what your thoughts are of the story so far!