Kari's heart was beating out of her chest as she ran home. She had finally
tracked down the girl at the race and had gone home only to find that the
girl had disappeared in the middle of the night. Her parents didn't seem
too worried, but they had said that she had been in her room and now she
wasn't. Kari had a feeling where she was. I've got to get home and tell the
others, she thought.
~
Alex looked around at the group of children and what she now knew as Digimon. They sat around a large table, Piedmon sitting at the head. She watched him out of the corner of her eye; he looked like a king, sipping his wine and looking down on his followers. Next to her was a young girl with long white hair, who wore sunglasses despite the fact it was night. She was talking with the only boy there, Blue. Across the table, Demona and Teena were discussing horror movies. They stopped momentarily to laugh at Puppetmon and Etemon picking a fight. Piedmon seemed annoyed at the display of childishness. Everyone was talking amongst themselves and enjoying the food that had been prepared for them.
Alex jumped as her Digimon yelled to silence them. All grew quiet and waited for him to speak.
"Well, now that we are all here, it is time to discuss the business at hand. In a few minutes I shall hand out your crests. We will then completely retake the Digital World, and cover it in an endless night," he said, smiling. "But first, the battle plan."
"It's about time," Teena muttered; Piedmon ignored her and continued.
"First we shall take this world, transform it once again. We will make the Digimon who oppose us our slaves. Devimon and Devidramon shall be in charge of that, since they have created the most delightful inventions: the Black Gears and Dark Rings. I want you to cover the land with Control Spires. I want them everywhere, understood? Etemon, I wish for you to go with them; however, while they are doing their job, you will use the Digimon slaves to help set up the Dark Network. With this done, all the Digimon who pose a threat will be our slaves, the land will be filled with towers, and this will prevent the DigiDestined, once they arrive, from evolving right away. This gives us an advantage-it will throw them off. With Etemon's Dark Network in place, we can know their moves at all times, giving us yet another advantage."
"That's great, but what do the rest of us do?" Talia asked.
"That's what I'm getting to next. Other than the DigiDestined, there are four more enemies we will have to deal with: the four guardians of the Digital World. We will take them out one by one."
"That's great, but aren't those guys really strong?" Blue asked. He, like most of the others, had heard Machinedramon's story of how they first took over the Digiworld.
"They are; that's why I will need half of you to create a diversion. In doing so, I will be able to get close enough to begin to drain there energy when the second group attacks. The DigiGods shall not be killed, just weakened so much that they can't even de-digivolve. I have plans for them," Piedmon said, dreaming about the power he would draw from them.
"That's great, Clown Boy, take all the power you want, but what about us and the DigiDestined?" Demona asked. Piedmon frowned; it seemed that Teena's attitude towards him had spread throughout the group. He tried to remind himself it didn't matter; as long as they obeyed, their comments didn't matter. After all, he was the most powerful Digimon in the world, what could a few nasty words do to him, right?
"After we have aired our victory, it will be time to let our little friends come and play," he said with an evil smirk. "Again the fights shall be one on one. I will tell you which DigiDestined you shall fight." He heard the group rise up in anger.
"I do this because I know their strength and yours. I want to make sure you are fighting someone you can beat...You will all have your chance for revenge, I promise. All we have to do is beat them down enough so that we can easily capture them. Anyways, I will explain more about this later; I am sure that runt Gennai is helping them find a way in here as we speak, and the four DigiGods will be preparing for an attack. They will know something is wrong by now, so it is time to act!" he yelled dramatically.
In a flash a small, glowing object appeared in front of each child. One by one, the kids picked them up and examined them with curiosity.
"Hey Piedmon.these crests...they're black! There's nothing there!" Ericka said in frustration.
"Yeah.Devidramon told me our crests would have the mark of our most powerful trait on them." Jenny added. Piedmon rubbed his head as once again the room became loud with angry children.
"I am aware of the crests...however, I do not understand why they still remain black. They will most likely be activated when you portray your most powerful trait. Anyways, you needn't worry about that, your Digimon will evolve without them. Speaking of which, let's head outside; it is time to begin the first part of the plan." Piedmon watched happily as his DigiDestined followed his orders. His smiled disappeared as he looked at the small girl who glanced back at him. How annoying, he thought as he followed.
~
Piedmon led them about a mile's walk to an old ruin. The children were told to stand in a circle, their Digimon behind them.
"This is the very middle of the Digital World, and the place where the first Digimon were born."
"Oh really? And how do you know that?" Teena questioned, thinking that Piedmon was full of it. He glared at her.
"Because I was one of them.." The venom in his voice was so thick that for the first time, Teena felt a shiver go down her spine as he glared at her.
"We will take the world from here. Hold up your Digivices.and concentrate.."
~
"TAI!" Kari cried out as she burst through the door. As she ran in, she noticed that almost all of her friends were there, gathered around the computer.
"Something's happening..." Sora said softly. Kari walked over and peered into the computer. On the screen was a map of the Digital World. Kari thought she would fall over and die: Right before their eyes, the land was reshaping itself, to something Kari remembered all too well.
"Spiral Mountain.." Tai whispered.
"Damn it! We've got to do something!" Matt said, getting angry. "But they've sealed up all the gates; we can't get in."
"But we have to try!" Izzy asserted, pounding frantically on the keyboard.
~
Hours passed and it was now ten at night. In the last few hours the children were horrified to see the familiar Control Spire signs appear everywhere in the new world. The darkness seemed to grow, covering everything, and at 10:15 the map was completely blackened out. Now they couldn't even monitor anything happening within the Digital World. They were completely shut out; nothing they tried worked. The group sat on the floor feeling defeated, and waited and prayed for Gennai to wake. They were all hoping he might be able to do something to help them.
~
Little did they know they weren't the only ones worried. The Dark DigiDestined sat quietly together in what would be the main living room in Piedmon's castle, their Digimon watching over them. One of the first things Piedmon had done was create an enormous castle, at the top of what they now called Dark Mountain. It was appropriately named, because if you looked out the window you could see Control Spires everywhere, and the sky was pitch black. The fact that the whole world was covered in a thick fog didn't help. The once bight and beautiful world the children had come to now had the feeling of a horror movie. It was cold, and had the feeling that something horrible would happen at any minute. Even the toughest of them felt uncomfortable in their new surroundings. After today they all were a little on edge.
All of the children were worried, because today they saw what their Digimon were truly capable of. It sent chills down their spines just thinking about it. Jenny and Erika couldn't stop thinking about the brutal ways Devimon and Devidramon had hunted down and captured the free Digimon. How they played with them, hurt them and killed some of them like it was a game. Erika couldn't stand the thought of her own Digimon, Etemon, polluting the land with that mess of wires. It was like an infection, bleeding throughout the whole Digital World, leaving places barren and gray. Even Teena was afraid. For the first time she wished to be nowhere near Devimon, and had been avoiding him. But being the stubborn person she was, she pretended that nothing was wrong, and that the things she watched him do didn't bother her.
The other group was even more disturbed. Jane was shaken by her Digimon. The way he fought, and laughed at the DigiGods' pain. MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon were relentless in their attack, beating each god down till they looked like trembling children, begging and pleading for mercy. Both the children were trying to not show how shaken they were. Demona didn't seem to be bothered by anything that had happened; however, she hid a deep fear that BlackGatomon would become as ruthless and bloodthirsty as the others.
Alex hadn't really talked to her Digimon all day. Not because of what happened-She wasn't even there. He had kept her as far away from him as possible. Unlike the others, she had spent the day doing slave work, preparing the castle for their return. He seemed different when he came back; his body had grown to almost twenty feet, his muscles were much larger, and his eyes glowed insanely with power. Blue had told her how Piedmon had drained each DigiGod of most of their power. She told herself that what he did didn't bother her and tried to look happy to see him, even after she had nearly thrown up at the sight of the four crippled Digimon. However, Piedmon didn't seem pleased to see her, and immediately sent her away.
Unlike the others who were concerned for their safety, and wondered if what they were doing was right, Alex was pondering more selfish thoughts. She wondered if maybe she had done something wrong. She had barely spoken to her Digimon, and whenever he spoke to her, it was ether an insult or an order. What was making things worse.every time she looked at him, she felt more and more drawn to him, and a greater longing to please him. She tried not to let him catch her looking at him, while she tried to figure things out.
"I'm sure you're all tired, so I believe that it is time for us to rest. You will all need your strength; tonight we shall summon our enemies to the Digital World, and the battle will begin," Piedmon said, feeling his own body grow tired.
"Shall we?" Devimon whispered in his partner's ear as he wrapped his long arms around her. Teena shivered, unaware her partner was right behind her. She nodded, not really sure of what to say, as the evil Digimon took her hand and lead her to his chambers.
As the group left the room, Piedmon noticed he wasn't alone. He glared down at the small girl.
"And what do you thing you're doing?" he asked. Alex wasn't exactly sure what to say; was she not supposed to stay with her Digimon partner like the others? Everyone else would be sharing a room with there Digimon; where was she to go? Piedmon realized she was a little confused.
"So I guess you want to stay with me, then?" he asked, looking away from her as he thought the question over. She had begun to realize she didn't really have any choice in what happened. Piedmon would decide whether she stayed with him or not.
"Hah.Very well, I suppose you may stay with me tonight." he said, getting up and motioning for her to follow him to his room.
~
Blue sat quietly on the window ledge of his partner's room. There was a bed, a dresser, computers, and other room-like things. But he didn't feel much like sleeping. After earlier today, he was seriously worried about his relationship with Machinedramon. Was he just a tool? Would he even matter when their mission was done? Everything seemed so great when they first met. The little Hagurumon and he were becoming the best of friends, and suddenly it seemed like everything changed. He watched his Digimon sleeping. He had to admit it was strange that a machine Digimon could sleep.
"Hello?" A voice whispered. Blue snapped to attention. He tried to make out the figure in the dark.
"It's just me." Jane whispered. "I can't sleep.and I just need someone to talk to."
"I don't think anyone will be sleeping tonight." Blue said softly. "I can't get the image of what our Digimon did today; it was horrible." he expressed, looking out the window.
"I'm afraid to stay with Puppetmon.." Jane admitted. "When we first met, it was like we had a connection, so strong we didn't even have to talk; we just understood. Now I feel like I'm losing him. I mean, I know we haven't known our Digimon for very long, but when I first meet Mushroomon I felt like we had never been separated.and now."
"I know how you feel," Blue agreed quietly.
"Hey, you guys awake in here?"
Jane and Blue looked to see Jenny and Erika coming in the room.
"We heard voices.." Jenny whispered, as the walked over to join Blue and Jane. Blue hopped down from the window ledge.
"C'mon, let's go to the main room. I don't want to wake him up," Blue informed them as they crept out of the room.
As they entered the large living room, they saw Talia and Demona wrapped in blankets, sitting next to the large fireplace. The group walked in quietly and joined them. They sat silently for a few minutes before they heard something that made them turn around.
"What?" Teena asked.
"Geez, didn't expect you to have problems sleeping.after all, you and Devimon looked quit snug tonight." Demona said.
"Bite your tongue!" Teena snapped. "You didn't look too worried about what happened either." she accused angrily. Demona smiled.
"You too, huh? I guess we're just good at hiding those things." Demona said gently, gazing into the fire. Teena's angry face changed to surprise, then became blank.
"Hey, don't put me in the same group as you guys...things are fine, I just needed some air." she half-muttered, trying to convince herself that was all it was.
"Well then, since you're up, why don't you join us.?" Blue offered, smiling. Teena just mumbled something and walked over, sitting down quietly.
"Wow, everyone's up." Alex noted, stealing into the room. Her blank expression and noiseless movements matched the feeling in the air.
"What's the matter, did clown boy get to friendly.?" Teena questioned, staring into the fire; her voice was dull and thoughtful.
"No...I can't sleep," she whispered, walking over. "And he wanted me to get him something to eat.why?"
"Never mind..." Teena said softly.
"Come join us..." Jenny suggested. "You can serve all high and mighty later."
"He asked you to make him something to eat? Don't we have servants for that?" Talia wondered; Alex didn't say anything. They were all quiet for a while, huddling close together in front of the fire.
"So I guess.everyone's upset about today?" Demona queried slowly, breaking the silence.
"What makes you say that?" Teena asked. Demona just glared.
"Well then, why are you here? If you aren't mad at Devimon?"
"What makes you think I'm mad at Devimon?! He didn't do anything!" Teena snarled, jumping up in anger.
"She didn't say he did anything." Talia reminded her suspiciously. Teena bit her tongue.
"Never mind!" the girl snapped, sitting back down.
"You know, I think we can say we're all upset about what happened today, and I think we're all a little afraid. We have to stick together if we want to get through this." Talia commented. The others nodded in agreement.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I think we should be careful, and we've got to trust each other," Jenny stated matter-of-factly, looking around at everyone.
"I agree!" Talia affirmed. "Let's play a little game, okay? We'll go around in a circle, and I want everyone to tell us about themselves and what they felt today, and how they feel about their Digimon. I want the truth! I think that that's the best way we can get to know each other and trust each other."
"Great.you start!" Teena said sarcastically; Talia simply glared in return.
"Fine." She said. "Well.let's see...I'm a California girl, and I just moved to Japan a few weeks ago. So far I've made no friends here whatsoever. Everyone I meet here seems to think I'm stupid because I am blond, and have a tan." she added dryly.
"Cry me a river, what about today?" Teena interjected, pretending she wasn't interested.
"Well, when I first came here, things were strange and all but they seemed right. Then today..." Talia grew quiet as she tried not to get emotional. "I couldn't watch.." she trailed off softly. Blue could see Talia was now deep in thought, and for the sake of keeping this chance to bond alive, he continued the conversation.
"Well, I'm from Japan. However I don't have a lot of friends; I spend most of my time alone, hiking and stuff. I've just always wanted an adventure, and to get away," he said. "And now I'm here with seven beautiful women. It all started out great.but now...Well, I guess I feel like Talia."
"I don't remember having any real friends. And I was always getting picked on; I even got in a few fights, thankfully I had some help with the last one," Erika said, smiling at Demona.
"Hey, those Barbie girls had it coming." was the response.
"I wasn't really looking for a way out of my world, but I got it and I was happy.now I'm starting to think I'd be better off at home." Jane admitted.
"I was looking for a way here, so I guess I brought this upon myself," Jenny said thoughtfully. "Way back a few years ago there was a Digimon that attacked Odaiba. Myotismon. He captured me and a whole bunch of kids. I really don't know why, but when I ran into him, I felt like we belonged together. Then a few days ago I ran away from home, and to my surprise, I found him. My Digimon was Myotismon, well he's Devidramon now. The point is I was always looking for him all those years, whether I knew it or not. Today, however, I wish I hadn't found him. Those poor little Digimon, those rings are disgusting.and whenever I talk to him about what happened before, he won't tell me anything. I feel like there are things he doesn't want to tell. Worst of all he's becoming somewhat possessive."
"Possessive? Ha! You know nothing." Teena said flatly. Jenny glared at her.
"Well I guess it's your turn." she said smugly.
"Fine." Teena replied. "Okay, let's see.Since we're all spilling our guts and singing our sad tunes, here's mine. I have no friends, my mother and I don't get along, and everyone thinks I'm gothic so they are afraid of me," she said proudly.
"And what about Devimon.?" Jenny asked inquisitively.
"What about Devimon? Okay, I admit it, I was a little disturbed by those Black Gears and what happened to the Digimon he infected with them.and the way he tortured them.and killed some." Teena said, forgetting to act tough and show no feelings. "And then tonight.the way he acted like nothing was wrong, like everything was fine. And in our room he kept looking at me, and wanting to be close to me, and when I asked him about today, it was like it didn't matter. He didn't seem to care that I was upset, he was too busy trying to cuddle." She stopped her sentence, realizing she had said too much. Jenny just smiled.
"Cuddle? That's good enough.what about you, Jane?" she asked. In a way Teena was angry at her for tricking her into spilling her guts, but grateful that she changed the person of focus before Teena had embarrassed herself.
"I think you guys are the first people I have met that I feel close to. I know that probably sounds strange and all, seeing how we've only known each other for a short time. Everyone in my school thinks I weird, just because of how I look."
"Well I don't know what their problem is-I think you cute," Blue flattered, flirting; Jane just blushed.
"Thanks..." she said softly, slightly embarrassed. "What about you, Alex?" she added, trying to change the subject.
"Well."Alex began thoughtfully. "My parents died a long time ago, so I was adopted. Then my adopted parents had a baby boy, and...they forgot about me." She trailed off quietly; like everyone else, she was afraid to tell too much. "I tried everything to get them to notice me.nothing worked, so now I'm here, with Piedmon."
"And what about Piedmon? He sure acts like a jerk around you," Erika said bluntly. Alex looked a little shocked, then her face saddened.
"I don't know.I think I did something wrong," she said contemplatively. "It's strange; all of you seem to say that when you first got here you had a strong bond with your Digimon, but to be honest I don't think Piedmon and I have anything like that. It seems everyone here knows him better then me.I don't think he likes me very much."
"Well don't worry about it; Piedmon's a freak show," Demona reassured, then added, "Well, I guess I'm a reject like the rest of you; you can probably guess why people don't like me. The black and all.anyways, like you Alex, I haven't been here very long; things are still new to me. I wonder if we have any other purpose here, other then to make them strong.what will they do with us when they are done killing and hurting? Will we be next?" The circle of kids cringed at the fact that she had cut right to what was on everyone's minds. What would happen to them?
"I don't want to talk about this anymore.." Teena testified. Demona raised an eyebrow.
"Me neither." Jane agreed slowly. The room became silent again. Suddenly Blue jumped up.
"Well, let's talk about Piedmon! Was he hit repeatedly with a truck or something, man?!" The group burst out laughing. Of course, this made Blue go on.
"This is my Piedmon impression," he proclaimed, and put on as must of a Piedmon accent as he could muster. "Hello boys and girls, my name is Piedmon and I think I'm so smart. I enjoy shoving large sticks up my ass, and swapping make up tips with Marilyn Manson."
"No that's not him, he's more like this," Erika argued playfully, adopting her own interpretation of Piedmon's voice. "Hello Kiddies, I am the great and almighty Piedmon! In my spare time I enjoy spying on little girls, and play with myself, because I have no friends and nobody likes me."
"Come on guys, leave him alone, I like him." Alex urged.
"Except Alex, but because I'm such a stupid jerk I think I'm above her.in fact I'm above everyone, I am so great, and so perfect. And I am the world's best dresser. Just look at me, I am sooooo sexy!" Erika continued, trying not to laugh.
"That's great! Piedmon reminds me of a cross dresser." Jenny teased.
"Oh, I'm not done yet.presenting Teena's worst nightmare!" Erika said dramatically. "Oh Teena, I, Piedmon, am deeply in love with you."
"OH GOD!" Teena screeched, jumping away. The rest of the group started laughing as Erika chased Teena around the room.
"I love the way you insult me, and I love the way you glare at me, come be my clown queen, and we will be ugly clowns together...Hug me!" Erika hollered, flying forward and knocking Teena over. Both girls burst out laughing.
"That is so wrong! Don't ever do that again!" Teena said, laughing so hard her chest hurt.
"Yes...don't EVER do that again." All of them snapped shut. Piedmon glared at them. "Do you think that's funny?" Jenny covered her mouth, trying not to laugh as she shook her head no.
"Play time is over! All of you get back to bed." The group quietly got up and each child made their way to their room. Piedmon reached down and grabbed Alex by the back of here shirt and carried her back to his room.
"I ask you a simple thing, and I find you here mocking me? Do I mean so little to you? I come all the way to the human world to find you, take you away from your unloving parents, bring you here to my castle and away from your miserable life. I keep you safe here while I fight a dangerous battle, I feed you, let you sleep in my bed and what do you do? You disobey me, and make fun of me?" Alex didn't know what to say. He opened the door to his room and threw her on the floor. He grabbed a pillow and sheet off the bed, and threw them down to her.
"You can sleep on the floor if you're going to act like that." Of course Piedmon knew he was going to make her sleep on the floor anyway. Normally he wouldn't have been so angry, but he had walked in just when Blue had started to make fun of him, and he heard Alex's small attempt to defend him.and he didn't like it. As he turned off the lights and crawled into his regal bed, he couldn't help but look at her as she slept and he hated it. Stupid girl.what makes you think I need you to defend me? he thought, now knowing that he would be thinking about that all night. I can't wait until this is over and I can get rid of you.
~
Alex looked around at the group of children and what she now knew as Digimon. They sat around a large table, Piedmon sitting at the head. She watched him out of the corner of her eye; he looked like a king, sipping his wine and looking down on his followers. Next to her was a young girl with long white hair, who wore sunglasses despite the fact it was night. She was talking with the only boy there, Blue. Across the table, Demona and Teena were discussing horror movies. They stopped momentarily to laugh at Puppetmon and Etemon picking a fight. Piedmon seemed annoyed at the display of childishness. Everyone was talking amongst themselves and enjoying the food that had been prepared for them.
Alex jumped as her Digimon yelled to silence them. All grew quiet and waited for him to speak.
"Well, now that we are all here, it is time to discuss the business at hand. In a few minutes I shall hand out your crests. We will then completely retake the Digital World, and cover it in an endless night," he said, smiling. "But first, the battle plan."
"It's about time," Teena muttered; Piedmon ignored her and continued.
"First we shall take this world, transform it once again. We will make the Digimon who oppose us our slaves. Devimon and Devidramon shall be in charge of that, since they have created the most delightful inventions: the Black Gears and Dark Rings. I want you to cover the land with Control Spires. I want them everywhere, understood? Etemon, I wish for you to go with them; however, while they are doing their job, you will use the Digimon slaves to help set up the Dark Network. With this done, all the Digimon who pose a threat will be our slaves, the land will be filled with towers, and this will prevent the DigiDestined, once they arrive, from evolving right away. This gives us an advantage-it will throw them off. With Etemon's Dark Network in place, we can know their moves at all times, giving us yet another advantage."
"That's great, but what do the rest of us do?" Talia asked.
"That's what I'm getting to next. Other than the DigiDestined, there are four more enemies we will have to deal with: the four guardians of the Digital World. We will take them out one by one."
"That's great, but aren't those guys really strong?" Blue asked. He, like most of the others, had heard Machinedramon's story of how they first took over the Digiworld.
"They are; that's why I will need half of you to create a diversion. In doing so, I will be able to get close enough to begin to drain there energy when the second group attacks. The DigiGods shall not be killed, just weakened so much that they can't even de-digivolve. I have plans for them," Piedmon said, dreaming about the power he would draw from them.
"That's great, Clown Boy, take all the power you want, but what about us and the DigiDestined?" Demona asked. Piedmon frowned; it seemed that Teena's attitude towards him had spread throughout the group. He tried to remind himself it didn't matter; as long as they obeyed, their comments didn't matter. After all, he was the most powerful Digimon in the world, what could a few nasty words do to him, right?
"After we have aired our victory, it will be time to let our little friends come and play," he said with an evil smirk. "Again the fights shall be one on one. I will tell you which DigiDestined you shall fight." He heard the group rise up in anger.
"I do this because I know their strength and yours. I want to make sure you are fighting someone you can beat...You will all have your chance for revenge, I promise. All we have to do is beat them down enough so that we can easily capture them. Anyways, I will explain more about this later; I am sure that runt Gennai is helping them find a way in here as we speak, and the four DigiGods will be preparing for an attack. They will know something is wrong by now, so it is time to act!" he yelled dramatically.
In a flash a small, glowing object appeared in front of each child. One by one, the kids picked them up and examined them with curiosity.
"Hey Piedmon.these crests...they're black! There's nothing there!" Ericka said in frustration.
"Yeah.Devidramon told me our crests would have the mark of our most powerful trait on them." Jenny added. Piedmon rubbed his head as once again the room became loud with angry children.
"I am aware of the crests...however, I do not understand why they still remain black. They will most likely be activated when you portray your most powerful trait. Anyways, you needn't worry about that, your Digimon will evolve without them. Speaking of which, let's head outside; it is time to begin the first part of the plan." Piedmon watched happily as his DigiDestined followed his orders. His smiled disappeared as he looked at the small girl who glanced back at him. How annoying, he thought as he followed.
~
Piedmon led them about a mile's walk to an old ruin. The children were told to stand in a circle, their Digimon behind them.
"This is the very middle of the Digital World, and the place where the first Digimon were born."
"Oh really? And how do you know that?" Teena questioned, thinking that Piedmon was full of it. He glared at her.
"Because I was one of them.." The venom in his voice was so thick that for the first time, Teena felt a shiver go down her spine as he glared at her.
"We will take the world from here. Hold up your Digivices.and concentrate.."
~
"TAI!" Kari cried out as she burst through the door. As she ran in, she noticed that almost all of her friends were there, gathered around the computer.
"Something's happening..." Sora said softly. Kari walked over and peered into the computer. On the screen was a map of the Digital World. Kari thought she would fall over and die: Right before their eyes, the land was reshaping itself, to something Kari remembered all too well.
"Spiral Mountain.." Tai whispered.
"Damn it! We've got to do something!" Matt said, getting angry. "But they've sealed up all the gates; we can't get in."
"But we have to try!" Izzy asserted, pounding frantically on the keyboard.
~
Hours passed and it was now ten at night. In the last few hours the children were horrified to see the familiar Control Spire signs appear everywhere in the new world. The darkness seemed to grow, covering everything, and at 10:15 the map was completely blackened out. Now they couldn't even monitor anything happening within the Digital World. They were completely shut out; nothing they tried worked. The group sat on the floor feeling defeated, and waited and prayed for Gennai to wake. They were all hoping he might be able to do something to help them.
~
Little did they know they weren't the only ones worried. The Dark DigiDestined sat quietly together in what would be the main living room in Piedmon's castle, their Digimon watching over them. One of the first things Piedmon had done was create an enormous castle, at the top of what they now called Dark Mountain. It was appropriately named, because if you looked out the window you could see Control Spires everywhere, and the sky was pitch black. The fact that the whole world was covered in a thick fog didn't help. The once bight and beautiful world the children had come to now had the feeling of a horror movie. It was cold, and had the feeling that something horrible would happen at any minute. Even the toughest of them felt uncomfortable in their new surroundings. After today they all were a little on edge.
All of the children were worried, because today they saw what their Digimon were truly capable of. It sent chills down their spines just thinking about it. Jenny and Erika couldn't stop thinking about the brutal ways Devimon and Devidramon had hunted down and captured the free Digimon. How they played with them, hurt them and killed some of them like it was a game. Erika couldn't stand the thought of her own Digimon, Etemon, polluting the land with that mess of wires. It was like an infection, bleeding throughout the whole Digital World, leaving places barren and gray. Even Teena was afraid. For the first time she wished to be nowhere near Devimon, and had been avoiding him. But being the stubborn person she was, she pretended that nothing was wrong, and that the things she watched him do didn't bother her.
The other group was even more disturbed. Jane was shaken by her Digimon. The way he fought, and laughed at the DigiGods' pain. MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon were relentless in their attack, beating each god down till they looked like trembling children, begging and pleading for mercy. Both the children were trying to not show how shaken they were. Demona didn't seem to be bothered by anything that had happened; however, she hid a deep fear that BlackGatomon would become as ruthless and bloodthirsty as the others.
Alex hadn't really talked to her Digimon all day. Not because of what happened-She wasn't even there. He had kept her as far away from him as possible. Unlike the others, she had spent the day doing slave work, preparing the castle for their return. He seemed different when he came back; his body had grown to almost twenty feet, his muscles were much larger, and his eyes glowed insanely with power. Blue had told her how Piedmon had drained each DigiGod of most of their power. She told herself that what he did didn't bother her and tried to look happy to see him, even after she had nearly thrown up at the sight of the four crippled Digimon. However, Piedmon didn't seem pleased to see her, and immediately sent her away.
Unlike the others who were concerned for their safety, and wondered if what they were doing was right, Alex was pondering more selfish thoughts. She wondered if maybe she had done something wrong. She had barely spoken to her Digimon, and whenever he spoke to her, it was ether an insult or an order. What was making things worse.every time she looked at him, she felt more and more drawn to him, and a greater longing to please him. She tried not to let him catch her looking at him, while she tried to figure things out.
"I'm sure you're all tired, so I believe that it is time for us to rest. You will all need your strength; tonight we shall summon our enemies to the Digital World, and the battle will begin," Piedmon said, feeling his own body grow tired.
"Shall we?" Devimon whispered in his partner's ear as he wrapped his long arms around her. Teena shivered, unaware her partner was right behind her. She nodded, not really sure of what to say, as the evil Digimon took her hand and lead her to his chambers.
As the group left the room, Piedmon noticed he wasn't alone. He glared down at the small girl.
"And what do you thing you're doing?" he asked. Alex wasn't exactly sure what to say; was she not supposed to stay with her Digimon partner like the others? Everyone else would be sharing a room with there Digimon; where was she to go? Piedmon realized she was a little confused.
"So I guess you want to stay with me, then?" he asked, looking away from her as he thought the question over. She had begun to realize she didn't really have any choice in what happened. Piedmon would decide whether she stayed with him or not.
"Hah.Very well, I suppose you may stay with me tonight." he said, getting up and motioning for her to follow him to his room.
~
Blue sat quietly on the window ledge of his partner's room. There was a bed, a dresser, computers, and other room-like things. But he didn't feel much like sleeping. After earlier today, he was seriously worried about his relationship with Machinedramon. Was he just a tool? Would he even matter when their mission was done? Everything seemed so great when they first met. The little Hagurumon and he were becoming the best of friends, and suddenly it seemed like everything changed. He watched his Digimon sleeping. He had to admit it was strange that a machine Digimon could sleep.
"Hello?" A voice whispered. Blue snapped to attention. He tried to make out the figure in the dark.
"It's just me." Jane whispered. "I can't sleep.and I just need someone to talk to."
"I don't think anyone will be sleeping tonight." Blue said softly. "I can't get the image of what our Digimon did today; it was horrible." he expressed, looking out the window.
"I'm afraid to stay with Puppetmon.." Jane admitted. "When we first met, it was like we had a connection, so strong we didn't even have to talk; we just understood. Now I feel like I'm losing him. I mean, I know we haven't known our Digimon for very long, but when I first meet Mushroomon I felt like we had never been separated.and now."
"I know how you feel," Blue agreed quietly.
"Hey, you guys awake in here?"
Jane and Blue looked to see Jenny and Erika coming in the room.
"We heard voices.." Jenny whispered, as the walked over to join Blue and Jane. Blue hopped down from the window ledge.
"C'mon, let's go to the main room. I don't want to wake him up," Blue informed them as they crept out of the room.
As they entered the large living room, they saw Talia and Demona wrapped in blankets, sitting next to the large fireplace. The group walked in quietly and joined them. They sat silently for a few minutes before they heard something that made them turn around.
"What?" Teena asked.
"Geez, didn't expect you to have problems sleeping.after all, you and Devimon looked quit snug tonight." Demona said.
"Bite your tongue!" Teena snapped. "You didn't look too worried about what happened either." she accused angrily. Demona smiled.
"You too, huh? I guess we're just good at hiding those things." Demona said gently, gazing into the fire. Teena's angry face changed to surprise, then became blank.
"Hey, don't put me in the same group as you guys...things are fine, I just needed some air." she half-muttered, trying to convince herself that was all it was.
"Well then, since you're up, why don't you join us.?" Blue offered, smiling. Teena just mumbled something and walked over, sitting down quietly.
"Wow, everyone's up." Alex noted, stealing into the room. Her blank expression and noiseless movements matched the feeling in the air.
"What's the matter, did clown boy get to friendly.?" Teena questioned, staring into the fire; her voice was dull and thoughtful.
"No...I can't sleep," she whispered, walking over. "And he wanted me to get him something to eat.why?"
"Never mind..." Teena said softly.
"Come join us..." Jenny suggested. "You can serve all high and mighty later."
"He asked you to make him something to eat? Don't we have servants for that?" Talia wondered; Alex didn't say anything. They were all quiet for a while, huddling close together in front of the fire.
"So I guess.everyone's upset about today?" Demona queried slowly, breaking the silence.
"What makes you say that?" Teena asked. Demona just glared.
"Well then, why are you here? If you aren't mad at Devimon?"
"What makes you think I'm mad at Devimon?! He didn't do anything!" Teena snarled, jumping up in anger.
"She didn't say he did anything." Talia reminded her suspiciously. Teena bit her tongue.
"Never mind!" the girl snapped, sitting back down.
"You know, I think we can say we're all upset about what happened today, and I think we're all a little afraid. We have to stick together if we want to get through this." Talia commented. The others nodded in agreement.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I think we should be careful, and we've got to trust each other," Jenny stated matter-of-factly, looking around at everyone.
"I agree!" Talia affirmed. "Let's play a little game, okay? We'll go around in a circle, and I want everyone to tell us about themselves and what they felt today, and how they feel about their Digimon. I want the truth! I think that that's the best way we can get to know each other and trust each other."
"Great.you start!" Teena said sarcastically; Talia simply glared in return.
"Fine." She said. "Well.let's see...I'm a California girl, and I just moved to Japan a few weeks ago. So far I've made no friends here whatsoever. Everyone I meet here seems to think I'm stupid because I am blond, and have a tan." she added dryly.
"Cry me a river, what about today?" Teena interjected, pretending she wasn't interested.
"Well, when I first came here, things were strange and all but they seemed right. Then today..." Talia grew quiet as she tried not to get emotional. "I couldn't watch.." she trailed off softly. Blue could see Talia was now deep in thought, and for the sake of keeping this chance to bond alive, he continued the conversation.
"Well, I'm from Japan. However I don't have a lot of friends; I spend most of my time alone, hiking and stuff. I've just always wanted an adventure, and to get away," he said. "And now I'm here with seven beautiful women. It all started out great.but now...Well, I guess I feel like Talia."
"I don't remember having any real friends. And I was always getting picked on; I even got in a few fights, thankfully I had some help with the last one," Erika said, smiling at Demona.
"Hey, those Barbie girls had it coming." was the response.
"I wasn't really looking for a way out of my world, but I got it and I was happy.now I'm starting to think I'd be better off at home." Jane admitted.
"I was looking for a way here, so I guess I brought this upon myself," Jenny said thoughtfully. "Way back a few years ago there was a Digimon that attacked Odaiba. Myotismon. He captured me and a whole bunch of kids. I really don't know why, but when I ran into him, I felt like we belonged together. Then a few days ago I ran away from home, and to my surprise, I found him. My Digimon was Myotismon, well he's Devidramon now. The point is I was always looking for him all those years, whether I knew it or not. Today, however, I wish I hadn't found him. Those poor little Digimon, those rings are disgusting.and whenever I talk to him about what happened before, he won't tell me anything. I feel like there are things he doesn't want to tell. Worst of all he's becoming somewhat possessive."
"Possessive? Ha! You know nothing." Teena said flatly. Jenny glared at her.
"Well I guess it's your turn." she said smugly.
"Fine." Teena replied. "Okay, let's see.Since we're all spilling our guts and singing our sad tunes, here's mine. I have no friends, my mother and I don't get along, and everyone thinks I'm gothic so they are afraid of me," she said proudly.
"And what about Devimon.?" Jenny asked inquisitively.
"What about Devimon? Okay, I admit it, I was a little disturbed by those Black Gears and what happened to the Digimon he infected with them.and the way he tortured them.and killed some." Teena said, forgetting to act tough and show no feelings. "And then tonight.the way he acted like nothing was wrong, like everything was fine. And in our room he kept looking at me, and wanting to be close to me, and when I asked him about today, it was like it didn't matter. He didn't seem to care that I was upset, he was too busy trying to cuddle." She stopped her sentence, realizing she had said too much. Jenny just smiled.
"Cuddle? That's good enough.what about you, Jane?" she asked. In a way Teena was angry at her for tricking her into spilling her guts, but grateful that she changed the person of focus before Teena had embarrassed herself.
"I think you guys are the first people I have met that I feel close to. I know that probably sounds strange and all, seeing how we've only known each other for a short time. Everyone in my school thinks I weird, just because of how I look."
"Well I don't know what their problem is-I think you cute," Blue flattered, flirting; Jane just blushed.
"Thanks..." she said softly, slightly embarrassed. "What about you, Alex?" she added, trying to change the subject.
"Well."Alex began thoughtfully. "My parents died a long time ago, so I was adopted. Then my adopted parents had a baby boy, and...they forgot about me." She trailed off quietly; like everyone else, she was afraid to tell too much. "I tried everything to get them to notice me.nothing worked, so now I'm here, with Piedmon."
"And what about Piedmon? He sure acts like a jerk around you," Erika said bluntly. Alex looked a little shocked, then her face saddened.
"I don't know.I think I did something wrong," she said contemplatively. "It's strange; all of you seem to say that when you first got here you had a strong bond with your Digimon, but to be honest I don't think Piedmon and I have anything like that. It seems everyone here knows him better then me.I don't think he likes me very much."
"Well don't worry about it; Piedmon's a freak show," Demona reassured, then added, "Well, I guess I'm a reject like the rest of you; you can probably guess why people don't like me. The black and all.anyways, like you Alex, I haven't been here very long; things are still new to me. I wonder if we have any other purpose here, other then to make them strong.what will they do with us when they are done killing and hurting? Will we be next?" The circle of kids cringed at the fact that she had cut right to what was on everyone's minds. What would happen to them?
"I don't want to talk about this anymore.." Teena testified. Demona raised an eyebrow.
"Me neither." Jane agreed slowly. The room became silent again. Suddenly Blue jumped up.
"Well, let's talk about Piedmon! Was he hit repeatedly with a truck or something, man?!" The group burst out laughing. Of course, this made Blue go on.
"This is my Piedmon impression," he proclaimed, and put on as must of a Piedmon accent as he could muster. "Hello boys and girls, my name is Piedmon and I think I'm so smart. I enjoy shoving large sticks up my ass, and swapping make up tips with Marilyn Manson."
"No that's not him, he's more like this," Erika argued playfully, adopting her own interpretation of Piedmon's voice. "Hello Kiddies, I am the great and almighty Piedmon! In my spare time I enjoy spying on little girls, and play with myself, because I have no friends and nobody likes me."
"Come on guys, leave him alone, I like him." Alex urged.
"Except Alex, but because I'm such a stupid jerk I think I'm above her.in fact I'm above everyone, I am so great, and so perfect. And I am the world's best dresser. Just look at me, I am sooooo sexy!" Erika continued, trying not to laugh.
"That's great! Piedmon reminds me of a cross dresser." Jenny teased.
"Oh, I'm not done yet.presenting Teena's worst nightmare!" Erika said dramatically. "Oh Teena, I, Piedmon, am deeply in love with you."
"OH GOD!" Teena screeched, jumping away. The rest of the group started laughing as Erika chased Teena around the room.
"I love the way you insult me, and I love the way you glare at me, come be my clown queen, and we will be ugly clowns together...Hug me!" Erika hollered, flying forward and knocking Teena over. Both girls burst out laughing.
"That is so wrong! Don't ever do that again!" Teena said, laughing so hard her chest hurt.
"Yes...don't EVER do that again." All of them snapped shut. Piedmon glared at them. "Do you think that's funny?" Jenny covered her mouth, trying not to laugh as she shook her head no.
"Play time is over! All of you get back to bed." The group quietly got up and each child made their way to their room. Piedmon reached down and grabbed Alex by the back of here shirt and carried her back to his room.
"I ask you a simple thing, and I find you here mocking me? Do I mean so little to you? I come all the way to the human world to find you, take you away from your unloving parents, bring you here to my castle and away from your miserable life. I keep you safe here while I fight a dangerous battle, I feed you, let you sleep in my bed and what do you do? You disobey me, and make fun of me?" Alex didn't know what to say. He opened the door to his room and threw her on the floor. He grabbed a pillow and sheet off the bed, and threw them down to her.
"You can sleep on the floor if you're going to act like that." Of course Piedmon knew he was going to make her sleep on the floor anyway. Normally he wouldn't have been so angry, but he had walked in just when Blue had started to make fun of him, and he heard Alex's small attempt to defend him.and he didn't like it. As he turned off the lights and crawled into his regal bed, he couldn't help but look at her as she slept and he hated it. Stupid girl.what makes you think I need you to defend me? he thought, now knowing that he would be thinking about that all night. I can't wait until this is over and I can get rid of you.