I don't own digimon.

Session 88

Papermoon: Alice's Side

Alice Zwingli didn't know what to do at this moment.

Gone was Suiko Tanaka, taken away to parts unknown. Her partners were a similar story, having been blasted-off to different places. And while

Yet as she sat at this circular dinner table with her parents, there was a much bigger question lingering in her mind at the moment.

"If you're thinking about that girl, forget it honey." Verena Tanaka remarked in the sort of cheerful tone that made one want to punch the person's lights out. "Even if you did care for her, you were probably just using her as a tool. If you truly love her as much as you believe that you do, go steal yourself a ring and leave this place."

Alice didn't answer, choosing to push her plate away and got up from her chair.

"Sit down, young lady." her 'father', Gabe Tanaka snarled as Alice chose to look away. "You are nowhere near finished with your meal."

"I ate earlier." the gambler whispered and picked her plate up, flinging it towards Gabe's face. She had expected him to just dodge it, but instead watched him take today's dinner (spaghetti) to the face. "Are you happy now?"

"What do you think, 'Suiko'?" Gabe accused as he watched his 'daughter' walk out of the room. "Good riddance. I can't wait for the moment that bitch dies."

"Agreed." Verena added as the sound of footsteps suddenly stopped and their daughter now faced them. "Oh, were your feeling hurt, little baby? Grow the fuck up and then kill yourself for all we care."

Alice continued her vow of silence, choosing instead to turn around and walk down the hallway. Like the one walked by Chacha and Olrumon so long ago, it had the bright fluorescent white walls and floor with little to actually separate the two. But eventually, that gave way to an intersection, which was marked by a pair of gray fluorescent strips to mark out one's options.

"It'll be alright." she whispered and took a deep breath. "I can do this."

Yet, she felt hollow and empty within this place. Maybe it was the feeling of being on her own at the moment, away from everyone who legitimately seemed to care about her. Or it was just isolation, masked as 'bonding' with one's family.

After standing at this crossroad for a couple of minutes, the lucky gambler took a step forward and examined her options.

If her memory had served her correctly, the left hallway would take her back to the living quarters. There, she would probably sulk and debate things in her head, seemingly stuck in her head with no way of escaping this hellhole. The right hallway was an enigma to her, teasing her with the possibility of a different fate. But for all she knew, it could be some sort of elaborate trap set up by her parents to break her.

Yet, the lucky gambler chose the one less traveled as a slight weight seemed to dissipate from her body. But at the same time, a sense of unease swooped right in to take it's place. She took a deep breath and headed onwards, debating whether or not she should switch to her infusion form. While it probably would provide her with additional mobility just in case things go horribly wrong, card of fate could just as easily screw her over.

Alice probably would have pondered it more, if a paper airplane hadn't landed at her feet from an unknown destination. She picked the toy up and unfolded it, only for a smile to form on her face.

Deer Alice,

Currently, I am stuck in a oversized bird cage with a yelow mouse creature dressed in some sort of pink outfit. I writie this letter in the hopes that it gets to u. How are u doing? Where are u? Is there somewhere that you want to meet once we get out of here?

With lots of love and a kiss,

-Elena

Alice took a deep breath and opened up her bag, slipping the letter in. She then pulled some paper and a pencil out, quickly penning up a letter for her 'fiancee'.

Dear Miss Elena,

I'm alright at the moment. While I currently don't know exactly where I am, Suiko and my digimon are currently missing and my parents having decided 'taunting' is the best way to have a chat. Though, there is one thing that I would like to ask you. If you somehow get out of that birdcage before me, make some sort of marking that I'll be able to recognize and wait there. No matter what happens, I'll come find you. But should I be the one who gets out before you, I'll make a mark and wait for you. That way, we'll be able to find each other no matter what the destination is.

Lots of love and a kiss back,

-Alice

The lucky gambler then folded the letter up into airplane, focusing in the place that the original paper airplane seemed to have come through. She gave it a slight toss and watched it slip through a crack in the wall. Alice then headed onward as the hallway curved, dropping her off into a large cylindrical room. Unlike the room she had just left,

"Why hello there, Miss Zwingli." a woman in a labcoat greeted as she stood before a door. "I am Verena Tanaka, head of this department. It is my recommendation that you just turn around and head to your room, maybe be the good girl for once."

Alice didn't answer and chose to make her way towards the woman, pulling her pistols out in the process.

"I'm sorry." she whispered and fired a shot off, watching the woman slump over as she holstered her guns. After, she focused her attention to the door."It'll be alright. It probably won't be that bad…"

The lucky gambler laughed to herself, feeling even more unease as she reached for the doorknob. Dread traveled through her body, yet she turned the knob to the left and pulled the pulled the door open. Inside, it looked a lot like a bigger version of the hallway she had just left, with the only difference being all the glass tubes containing young girls dressed in what appeared to be a copy of Suiko's school uniform. Heck, they were even made up to look like her 'other half'.

"No…" Alice whispered as she took a cautious step inside, propping the dead scientist in the doorframe. "This can't be true."

Yet, deep down inside of her, she knew it was the truth. For so long, she had attempted to break free from the shackles that her parents seeked to use upon her. But she was never in 'control' to begin with, for all paths would've eventually have led her and co. back to the tanaka's.

Reluctantly, she let out a sigh and pulled her

Alice made her way further in, examining the tubes. Each one was exactly the same, with only the destination and time till 'insertion' being the only thing used to really identify one 'Suiko' from another. Yet, that wasn't what the lucky gambler was focusing on at the moment. No, her focus was currently on the large console towards the back.

"Are you sure you want to mess with that?" a voice taunted and Alice turned around, finding Gabe Tanaka and his minigun standing at the entrance. "After all, you're parents worked so hard to get to this point."

Alice only rolled her eyes and fired both of her guns, watching both bullets pierce through the plastic skin of the device and render it unusable.

"Now what… Gabe?" Alice taunted as she made her way towards her 'father'.

"You are nothing, bitch." the minigun-wielding man screamed as Alice continued to walk forward, switching to her infusion form. "You are just a defective Suiko who thought that she could beat the system. Newsflash

"No," she remarked and took a deep breath, pulling her pistols back out in the process. Her mind wandered back to her arrival in the digital world and meeting Elena and the ensuing memories that followed. Some of these were good, like the meal that the gale corsair had brought her and their first kiss. Other were not so great, reminding her of the events that transpired in her visit to Despair High and of her time as a corrupted GamblerNekomon. Yet, she was fine with that. No matter what, Elena and their teammates would be there for her. "I am someone. Break me, beat me, hurt me, kill me. You will never be able to change that fact."

Card of Chance!

Alice pulled a deck of cards off her thigh and flipped the top card up, revealing the jack of diamonds which proudly displayed dark blades in all her glory.

"You little…" Gabe screamed and could only watch as a copy of everyone's favorite gang of rogues appeared, only for Alice to jump over both parties. "My children, kill her!"

The tubes then opened up and the Suiko clones charged out, which was the signal for the dark blades copy to disappear. Yet, Alice chose to continue onward and took a deep breath. For the moment, she would just need to find a way out of here.

Card of Chance!

The lucky gambler took a deep breath and pulled a card from the top of her deck, revealing the black joker. Yet unlike the other cards she had seen in the past, this one had a portal on the top with the word 'reshuffle'.

"Well, no going back." she whispered and watched a circular tear appear. She stepped through, finding herself within some sort of cityscape and in her human form. "Phew."

Of course, the sound of glass breaking seemed to leave little time for the silence to even get a chance to even get applied. Yet, Alice was fine with it and pulled out a ring box that she didn't remember having. Though, it could be result of the timeline changing while no one was looking.

"Uh… sure. Let's just go with that."

She took one more deep breath and looked down at the ring on her left hand, slipping it off with a sense of satisfaction and fitted it into the box. Afterwards, the lucky gambler made her way towards the sound of broken glass and found a familiar girl standing in front of the 'destruction'.

"There you are!" Alice shouted as she made her way over, dropping down one knee and holding out the now open ring box. "Elena Yuliana, will you marry me?"

The whole world seemed to slow down as the sun began to set, cascading twilight light upon the two. Yet, it seemed to bring a sense of sweetness that the two could savor for the moment.

"Yes, I'll be your wife." Elena finally responded and watched her 'wife' slip the ring onto her left hand, becoming Elena Zwingli in the process.

Right after, the bell rang seven times.

"Goddamit Devi!"

"Okay…" both girls remarked and embraced each other with a kiss…

Notes:

And with that, we have reached the half-way point of this arc. While not my original plan for this chapter, I really like how this turned out. Fun Fact: I actually wrote up a marriage proposal for both Elena and Alice.

Elena's:

I chose to spare you because you're my friend. While you probably don't think of me that way, I do. Maybe you do and I don't know it. No matter what though, I will be there for you. For that, I ask you one thing. Do you accept me as your wife?

And here is Alice's, which was written after the fact just for fun:

Always, it seemed we were running together on this journey. When I fell down, you were there to treat my wounds and help pull myself up. When I messed up, you were there to provide support I needed to keep going. You are my light, shining within the dark. Ever since we met in that canyon, you haven't left my mind. Elena Yuliana, will you take my hand in holy matrimony?

.

Next Time: Vague philosophical questions with a tea-loving angel.