Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. The concept of The Tamer v3.0 - Bold New Frontier is a fanfiction idea. Please support the official properties.
The Tamer v3.0 - Bold New Frontier
Chapter 25: Headache in the Fog
"You summoned?" Mercurymon asked as he and the other Legendary Warriors convened at their usual meeting place with Crusadermon and Dynasmon deep beneath the Digital World. Dynasmon was unusually quiet, letting Crusadermon stand in front with her arms crossed. That was the first sign something was wrong - normally Dynasmon was the one in front.
"Where's Arbormon?" Crusadermon asked.
"He was killed by the digidestined," Mercurymon answered sheepishly.
"He tried to challenge the digidestined by himself even though we agreed it was better to fight them as a group. You think he would've learned from Ranamon but apparently not," Grumblemon added smugly, shooting a judging look at Ranamon. She answered with a stuck out tongue, angering Grumblemon who readied to jump at her. The two only stopped when Duskmon let out a violent roar that shook the cave.
"What's with him?" Crusadermon asked.
"I wIlL kIlL tAmEr!" Duskmon grumbled just under his breath.
"He's still angry about our bout with the Digimon Tamer," Mercurymon answered for their most violent member of their group although that was an understatement given how angry he was. In truth, Duskmon spent quite a bit of time destroying sections of the Digital World without actually acquiring any of the fractal code they had been busy gathering. "He's mad that we lost and wants to go back for another fight."
"KiLl," Duskmon added at a low growl, so loud that he shook the entire room with his voice. The other Legendary Warriors slid away from him but Crusadermon and Dynasmon were unfazed by his anger. If anything, they seemed stiff and anxious although it was obviously not due to Duskmon. No, there was something else wrong but Mercurymon was having a hard time placing it. But he didn't have to wait long for his answer to appear as another digimon entered the room. A small child like angel with flowing white robes and wings as bright as the sun. The digimon glided his way towards Duskmon and rested a hand upon his head, acting as a calming presence for the black armored digimon. Not that he would complain, it was frankly nice to see him calm down for once.
At least, it would've been nice if the angelic Digimon didn't immediately flick his fingers Duskmon across the face, "Calm down!"
He didn't raise his voice, instead speaking like a disappointed parent towards Duskmon. And, if nothing else, he definitely had Duskmon's attention now. But instead of responding with anger, Duskmon calmed down and became still. The angel then crossed his arms. "Don't worry, Duskmon. The Digimon Tamer will die when the time comes. It just isn't now. Salvation awaits if you do as I say!"
Duskmon just stared dumbstruck - Mercurymon could only guess at what he was thinking. If he had to guess, it seemed Duskmon wanted to strike back but was hesitating to do so. But the longer Mercurymon was able to take in the angel's magnificence, the more he came to understand why. And a suspicion came to his mind.
"Lord Lu-" Mercurymon began to say, stopping only when the angel shot him a dirty look. Despite how calm the angel had been and how gently he spoke, his expression carried all the same anger as his slap.
"Yeah, he doesn't like it when people call him that," Crusadermon said quietly. "Everyone, this is Lucemon."
Indeed it was Lucemon. Mercurymon wasn't sure how to take that in since he barely recognized the angel. Lucemon definitely looked the same but he seemed different - something about how he carried himself and how he moved. Then again, Mercurymon could only imagine what Lucemon had been through in the time since he'd been away. Hundreds of thousands of years could do anything to a digimon who'd been away for that long.
"Hello," the angel said with a dismissive wave. "So! First things first. I understand you have been gathering the Digital World's fractal code. Give them to me."
"To you!? That power is supposed to be ours!" Grumblemon protested.
"Oh? And what have you done with that power since you first acquired it? Because it doesn't seem to me like you've done all that much with it," Lucemon pointed out. "In fact it seems to me like all the real work has been handled by Crusadermon and Dynasmon here. They kept the Digital World in a perpetual state of conflict, fanning the flames where they needed to. That way, you four could go around unnoticed as you tore this world apart to acquire the fractal code. So explain to me carefully why you think that power is yours."
"Because we seized it with our own two hands! We're the ones who used our powers to destroy the Digital World and tear it apart! That's why it's ours!" Grumblemon answered.
"Ah! So it's a matter of 'might makes right'! So if I defeat you, you will give the power to me?" Lucemon asked, his tone shifting to becoming more sinister. Grumblemon paused, hesitating to answer Lucemon's request but knowing full well what he wanted to say.
Mercurymon shook his head at him, mouthing at the digimon not to do it. But he should've known better than to even try. Grumblemon was always very hard headed and likely had already decided on what he was going to do before he'd even thought about it.
"If you can even try! I bet you're all washed up after being gone for so long!" Grumblemon roared at Lucemon. Mercurymon thought now a prudent time to commit to memory how Grumblemon looked since this was probably the last he was going to see of the digimon. Lucemon glided his way over to Grumblemon with his middle finger pressed against his thumb. Grumblemon took a defensive stance, but was too slow to actually stop Lucemon from flicking him across the forehead. That simple strike sent Grumblemon flying backwards through a cavernous stone wall.
Grumblemon groaned briefly from the other side before a steady stream of illuminated ones and zeroes appeared. It glided its way from the hole in the wall to Lucemon, who stood there with his arm outstretched absorbing the data. Once the stream of light vanished, Lucemon breathed a heavy sigh, "That should be more than enough for now. The rest of you can hold onto the fractal code you've acquired. Until then, there's going to be a slight change of plans."
"Yes, Lucemon," Mercurymon said quietly, trying not to glance backwards at the hole that Grumblemon was sent flying through.
"Should we really do this?" Ranamon whispered. "He just sent Grumblemon through a hole in the wall!"
"Only if you don't want to end up like Grumblemon," Mercurymon answered quietly.
"Are you two done because I am talking and it is rude to interrupt," Lucemon said with folded arms.
"Sorry," Mercurymon said nervously, trying his best not to tremble in fear. "Please go on."
Lucemon narrowed his eyes angrily at the two of them but nodded once he was sure he had their attention and began to focus his attention elsewhere, "Truth be told, I wanted to spend more time being subtle but we're entering the end game faster than I anticipated. So…we'll be getting rid of Cherubimon's army and the human children under her protection."
Duskmon growled approvingly, but Mercurymon had to look up in shock. "Really?"
"Is that wise?" Dynasmon asked.
Lucemon spread his arms out as if he were gesturing at something. "You may not be able to see it but I can. The Digital World and this corner of reality itself is falling apart - barely held together. The past has even started to bleed into the present! How do I know this? Because for a brief moment, there was a second Digimon Tamer running around."
"There was?" Mercurymon looked at Dynasmon and Crusadermon for an explanation but they both looked just as confused as Mercurymon felt.
"It's time for us to move into the end game! Take Cherubimon's forces off the board as it were," Lucemon said cheerily. "Plus, doing that will definitely give the Digimon Tamer a splitting headache that he'll never recover from."
Mercurymon and Ranamon looked at each other again as they heard Duskmon continue to growl approvingly.
Lopmon followed behind Renamon and Terriermon as the army marched through the open field towards the Hollow Bastion - the last refuge of the Ancient Guardians. Although to call it an open field was a joke since the fog was too thick to see clearly past arm's length. It was once a magnificent castle over a lush green landscape of exotic plant life. But now the castle crumbling, halls empty and abandoned, and the fields were baron save for a thick deep fog that surrounded. Fog that was what remained of the countless digimon who'd died in endless war so long ago. Lopmon recalled the stories of the war she'd learned from the digimon of the other world. Just going off the stories, this war they were involved in now was more accurately described as a foot note compared to that one.
"Something on your mind? You're being awfully quiet," Terriermon asked her.
"Just thinking," Lopmon answered quietly, looking ahead towards the castle in the distance. There was still so much she barely understood, even after all this time. How she wished she had the Sovereigns here to help her understand. Or to lead the other digimon in her stead. She didn't have a mind for war or how to wage it. All she knew was how to follow orders and protect. And the pain of her failures in that regard weighed heavily on her as she thought on every digimon she'd failed to save up to that point.
But she was pulled from her thoughts when Terriermon flicked a finger across her forehead. He smiled at her, "Moumantai!"
She rubbed her forehead and stuck her tongue out at him, "Not helping."
Terriermon chuckled in response and turned away. Although she didn't say it, Terriermon had helped her a little by pulling her out of that downward spiral of thoughts. She wasn't entirely sure how he knew when she was falling down that path, but he always snapped her out of it before she fell too far. Plus his moments of lightheartedness were able to put the smallest smile on her face.
"This fog of data is affecting my sensors. I can't detect anything," Guardromon grumbled.
"Not that you would want to," Renamon said quietly. "Remember, this fog is supposed to be the data of digimon destroyed by Ancients, trapped in a perpetual state of reformatting. And who knows if they're even conscious for it."
"You're all barrels of sunshine, y'know that?" Terriermon stated grimly, annoyed after having to listen to more of these stories. "This place is creepy enough as it is. We don't need any of you adding to the creep factor."
"HeLp Me!" a voice called out from deep within the fog, causing the entire column to stop in its tracks. The voice was barely audible but it was clear enough to be a cry for help. But who was still left alive in the fog to actually call out for help? The voice sounded again, and this time the children they were protecting huddled together. A few were more hesitant, putting up a brave front to challenge the voice until it called out again. "KiL-kIlL!"
"When I said this place doesn't need to be any more creepy, I didn't mean that to be a challenge," Terriermon frowned, ears twitching as he honed in on the source of the sound. It almost sounded like it was coming from every direction and the thick fog was just disorienting enough to make it hard to tell which way that was.
"Be on your guard. It could be a trap," Renamon said quietly.
"Then let's set it off!" Terriermon said confidently. "We do have the numbers on our side."
"Bad idea. We don't know what we're up against. We may have numbers, but that means nothing if they have more that we can't see. Or worse, they have skill we can't match," Renamon reasoned, thumbing towards the children behind them who needed protection. They at least had a small number of digimon surrounding them for protection, but none of them were the experienced fighters that Renamon, Terriermon, Guardromon, or MarineAngemon were. And if a fight did break out, there was no reason to think the children wouldn't scatter in a panic.
"So then what is the game plan?" Terriermon asked, looking to Lopmon to settle the dispute. She sighed and gestured towards Guardromon and Renamon.
"You two, go check it out," Lopmon ordered, gesturing out towards the fog. Then she pointed at Terriermon. "You stay here with me to protect the humans. If things go south, we get them to safety."
Renamon and Guardromon nodded, disappeared into the fog as they headed slowly towards whatever the noise was. Lopmon and Terriermon remained on their guard as they listened intently to the low sound of whatever digimon was calling out. It called out again but grew quieter with each call until eventually it was barely audible. Then they heard a loud bang and a small glow of red light that illuminated the fog enough to outline Renamon and Guardromon. It was Guardromon's arm cannon, and it silenced whatever had been calling out through the fog. Then there was nothing.
Lopmon and Terriermon entered a defensive stance, prepared to react to whatever was about to come at them. Both ultimately breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Guardromon emerge from the fog with Renamon.
"What was it?" Terriermon asked the two.
"Another digimon left alive from the war…for who knows how long," Renamon said quietly, her voice low and at a near whisper.
"What did you do?" Lopmon asked.
"Put it out of it's misery," Guardromon added euphemistically, perhaps not realizing how worse that sounded. Lopmon wanted to relax but she couldn't shake the feeling that there were far from safe. Which made it all the more important to keep everyone moving until they were safely out of harm's way.
"Move out! We're almost there," she ordered, gesturing her arm out for them to continue marching. She really wished things wouldn't have to come to this but she knew there was no way around it either. For better or for worse, they would have to keep moving. Until they were at the Hollow Bastion, they were not in the clear.
Then a shriek from behind them caught her attention. She looked back to see the many children under her protection running forward in a panic, scrambling to put themselves behind her and the other digimon. She could hear her shoulders shouting out, followed by flashes of light that briefly illuminated them fighting…something. But it was hard to make out with all the fog. Still, she needed to act.
"Protect the children!" she barked at the others, but they were already running ahead to help with the defense. Without a second's hesitation, she charged ahead as well to help with the rescue. She didn't know what was happening, but she wasn't going to sit idly while the others were in danger.
"Look out!" Terriermon shouted just ahead of her but she couldn't see what he was warning against. Then she felt something strike her from behind, and all was darkness.
"ARGH!" Tamer suddenly jolted awake from the ground, massaging his forehead. He was so loud that he awoke the others as well.
"Hey, keep it down will ya? We're trying to sleep," JP grumbled, rubbing his eyes as he barely got up off the grass.
"What's wrong? Have a bad dream?" Tomoki asked sleepily. He'd never known Tamer to sleep in the entire time they'd travelled together, and was in fact surprised that he chose to sleep at all as soon as they got back from the trip with his past self. Well, besides the time he passed out during the fight with the Legendary Warriors although that had more to do with the fight than anything else. Tamer didn't even say he was tired, instead preferring to just lay down and closing his eyes. Tomoki thought that the whole trip just tired him out mentally, but now he wasn't so sure.
"No…just…a really bad headache," Tamer answered quietly, before he doubled over in pain. He clutched at his forehead as he rolled over on to his side, his pained expression betraying the silence he was maintaining.
"Is this about that whole reality thing again? I thought you said things were fine," Zoe asked.
"No…this is different. Something really bad is happening but I don't know what," he answered, massaging the bridge of his nose as he stood up. "Whatever it is, it's giving me a splitting headache."
He began pacing as he tried to keep himself from collapsing, "I need to take a walk. I'll be back."
"Something's not right and I don't like it," Kumamon's voice echoed inside Tomoki's head.
"Yeah, this all seems shifty," Korikakumon agreed quietly inside of Tomoki's head. Tomoki massaged his own temple, trying his best to handle both his own thoughts and the thoughts of the Guardian Spirits that resided inside his head. He certainly agreed that something was wrong, but they'd also just battled a digimon from another time with a Tamer who was a past version of himself. There were a lot of things that didn't seem right at the moment.
"Do you think he'll be fine?" Tomoki asked the others.
"He just spent a day interacting with a past version of himself. If he's fine after that, he'll be fine after this," JP said, laying back down on the grass.
"You don't have to be so heartless about it," Zoe frowned at him.
JP raised a pointed finger, "I'm not being heartless, I'm just stating a fact. He's older than our parents. I'm not saying he doesn't have feelings, just that he's definitely not going to want sympathy from a bunch of kids like us."
JP paused to rub his own forehead, "Beetlemon and MetalKabuterimon both agree with me on that. I bet you're all hearing the same thing too."
He wasn't wrong. Kumamon and Korikakumon were saying something similar but with slightly less friendly language.
"Because we're right," Kumamon said sarcastically.
Were they though? And with how much animosity Kumamon and Korikakumon seemed to have for Tamer, Tomoki wondered how much anger Tamer was personally hearing from his own Guardian Spirits. And that was before he considered the D-Reaper. It was a serious wonder that Tamer was as calm and collected as he was. Then again, could Tomoki be considered calm and collected when he had the same voices inside his own head?
He looked down at his own hands, wondering what his past self would think of himself now? Would they even recognize each other? Tomoki felt like such a cry baby so long ago. And yet, he didn't feel better about himself now - quicker to anger and to find violent solutions to all of his problems.
"Believe us, kid. You're not that bad. We've known Tamer longer than you have by a lot. He's acting weird. Well, weirder than usual," Korikakumon added. "If nothing else, keep an eye on him. He's up to something. I mean, he has misled you before."
That was true, he had misled them before. And maybe Tomoki should be keeping a better eye on him or at the least be wary of him. But…wait? How did Korikakumon know that?
"I'm in your head. I can see your memories," Korikakumon answered. Was that a way two way street? Tomoki closed his eyes and tried to see into Korikakumon's memories, trying to recall something from the Guardian Spirit's past.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Our lives have been pretty boring for the last few millennia," Kumamon said. Despite that, Tomoki could briefly see a memory that he knew wasn't his. Tomoki was a digimon, but he couldn't tell who. It certainly wasn't Korikakumon or Kumamon. Whoever it was, they were having a very nice picnic with another digimon and a figure in a white robe. But the memory was hazy, and he couldn't quite make out who the other two were. Whatever the memory was, it seemed nice.
But that memory didn't last as the scene changed to a burning field filled with thick fog. He could hear screams in the distance. Lightning flashed and thunder roared. The earth shook as digimon Tomoki had never seen before fought in a way that could only be called animalistic. The whiplash was enough to snap Tomoki out of the trip down memory lane, leaving him concerned as to what memory he'd found.
"We told you not to do that. The parts that aren't boring aren't very nice," Kumamon's voce echoed inside of his head. "Now stop worrying about us and worry more about Tamer."
Even though Kumamon said that, Tomoki couldn't help but dwell on the last memory he saw. Who's memory was that and what had he seen? In fact, neither Kumamon nor Korikakumon claimed that memory was theirs even though it was all Tomoki as thinking about. And it continued to bother him as he tried to go back to sleep, all the while Kumamon and Korikakumon kept urging him to be wary of Tamer. It didn't help that Tamer would be gone for the rest of the night and wouldn't be back until the next morning.
Tamer looked more sickly and pale when he came back, tired even. He continued massaging his forehead as he rejoined them and silently sat down beside them, "I hope you all slept well."
"Where'd you go?" Zoe asked groggily.
Tamer gestured vaguely out into the wilderness behind them, "To throw up. I haven't felt like this in a while. Remember when that crack in reality showed up? It kinda felt like that only this time it's my head."
"So does that mean that there's something reality breaking happening right now?" Koji asked. "Because last time, all I did was walk up to Lopmon. And it definitely didn't last as long as this. So what could be happening?"
"I don't know but it's wrong. Very wrong," he answered, wincing in pain as he tried to carry on as if nothing was wrong. Tamer sat down and produced some apples that he tossed out to the others. "Eat up. Whatever is happening, it's going to hit us soon."
"Man, I am so sick of fruit. What I wouldn't give for some bacon and eggs in the morning," JP grumbled quietly, still eating the apple greedily.
"If all we eat is fruit, we're probably going to end up short. Not that you need to do much more growing JP," Koji joked.
JP rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure. Fat joke. Very funny. Come up with something original."
Koji grunted and proceeded to eat the apple, examining the others quietly. Tomoki could see plain on his face that he was struggling to hold back the pain of the powerful headache that he could only have if all the Guardian Spirits in his head were talking.
"Are you alright?" Tomoki asked.
"Lobomon has been a little loud today," Koji grumbled, closing one eye as if to relieve himself of the pain.
"Beetlemon is too! I thought it was just me," JP added quickly, running a hand through his hair. "I'm guessing they're all nervous about Tamer?"
"Yeah," Koji nodded quietly, glancing up in Tamer's direction. The boy had kept his head tucked in his hand as he tried to massage his head to ease whatever pain he was having. "I gotta ask: are Agunimon and BurningGreymon talking crap about you in your head too?"
"Hm?" Tamer perked his head up out of his hands. He stared blankly for a moment at Koji, processing what the boy'd said before finally nodding. "No, they're usually pretty quiet. They don't like the D-Reaper and want a reason to not have to interact with it."
"I sometimes forget you have an omnicidal maniac in your head," Zoe said quietly.
"Omnicidal? Yes. Maniac? No," Tamer stated, pausing to massage his head before going on. "The D-Reaper only sounds extreme…when you don't look at the world from its perspective. It's ultimately just following its base nature. A volcanic eruption is, by nature, destructive. That doesn't make it maniacal."
"Yeah, okay, but a volcano can't choose to not erupt," JP said matter of factly.
"No, but you can choose to not eat," Tamer answered back.
JP's eyes narrowed at that remark, "Really? Another fat joke?"
"I meant you can choose to not eat. For example…you were talking about bacon and eggs a second ago? How many chickens do you suppose…never got to be born so you could have those eggs?" Tamer asked. "That's before we talk about the pig used for the bacon."
"Hey! Don't put me on the level of that D-Reaper thing just because I like bacon!" JP protested, throwing his arms down in frustration.
Tamer began massaging his temple, "I wasn't. I'm just saying that…from another perspective, the D-Reaper isn't doing anything wr-"
FLASH!
Tamer was interrupted mid-sentence by the appearance of another crack in the air. Like a broken window floating in the air with no connection to anything around them. Koji dropped his half eaten apple in surprise as the cracks started to seep a dim white light through its growing gaps. Then it grew brighter as everyone held up their hands to block off the light.
"I'm guessing that's from whatever isn't supposed to happen?" JP gestured towards it.
"Yeah," Tamer said, adjusting his goggles over his eyes. Then he lifted them back up. "I was hoping those would actually do something. I guess not."
"Shouldn't we get away from it?" Zoe asked, stepping backwards.
"I don't think that's an option," Kumamon's voice echoed inside Tomoki's head as the crack suddenly grew larger, separating the group as it stretched outwards between them - Koji and Tamer on one side, and Tomoki with Zoe and JP. Tomoki and Zoe tried stepping backwards but the crack grew again to surround them.
"Oh come on! Is this thing after us?" JP groaned in surprise. In a fit of frustration, he threw his apple at the crack and it vanished into smoke. Before it flew out of the crack behind them and smacked JP in the back of the head. "Ow! Really?"
"Everyone…stick together," Tamer said wearily. "I don't…don't think-"
He was cut off again as the crack grew even larger, spreading so wide that it swallowed them whole. The world around them appeared to fall apart to nothing, leaving only a dark black void reminiscent of the gaping whole on the surface of the Digital World when Grumblemon took the fractal code of a region of the Digital World. Only this wasn't the Digital World breaking…
"Reality is being sundered," Kumamon's voice echoed inside Tomoki's head. Then they fell, at least it felt like falling. More like they were being pulled. In a panic, Tomoki reached out for something, anything to hold. And his hands wrapped around Zoe. The girl held him back as they both screamed until eventually they hit something hard.
"Is everyone alright?" Tamer asked.
"I'd like it if that stopped happening," Koji said quietly.
"Same," Zoe said quietly, pushing Tomoki back and inspecting him carefully. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah," Tomoki answered. He looked around their surroundings to make sense of where they were but could only make out barren open fields and fog. Fog so thick and dense that it was impossible to clearly see anything further than an arm's length away.
"What is this place?" JP asked, reaching out into the fog. "This isn't some kind of pocket outside of reality or something is it?"
"No…don't be ridiculous. We're…still in the Digital World…which is lucky since we could've ended up anywhere in reality," Tamer answered slowly, still massaging his head. "I think…I think we just ended up at the center of whatever was causing my headache."
"How do you figure that?" JP asked.
"Because my headache just got…worse," Tamer answered, clutching at his head as he was barely standing upright. As he began to wobble and fall over, Tomoki scrambled over to catch him before he hit the ground. "Thanks."
"Well, let's not waste any time trying to figure out where we are and just get out of here," Koji stated, pressing forward into the fog with his hand out stretched in front of him. Tamer reached out for him and weakly mouthed something but was barely audible as he said it.
"Koji! Hey! Wait!" Tomoki called out after Koji. If Koji could hear him, he wasn't responding and he simply continued onwards into the fog. Then they heard a yelp followed by a thud. Tomoki looked at Tamer and could see the worry plain on his face. Tomoki didn't want to think about what he could've encountered in the middle of all of this. Zoe hurried after Koji and called out to him again but was met only with silence. Followed by a shriek.
"ZOE!" JP said, finally running after her.
"Dammit," Tamer cursed, stumbling forward with Tomoki's help to catch up to the two kids who'd run ahead. They ran blindly into the fog, all the while Tomoki looked around nervously for any sign of the others. Or whatever else was out there. Eventually, they did manage to catch up to the others. JP had his hand over his mouth as he tried to hold back a wretch. Zoe was looking away with her hands over her eyes. And sitting on the ground was Koji looking in shock at his arm which was bloody and deformed - dripping with blood on to his sleeves and pants.
But as they got closer, Tomoki realized that wasn't Koji's arm. It was someone else's arm that he was holding in his hand. Tomoki gasped and the sound seemed to finally snap Koji out of his stupor as he threw the severed arm into the fog, "FUCK! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?"
He started wiping his hand on his pants, as if it would clean whatever blood he'd gotten on himself, "I tripped on that! Where did that arm even come from? Who's arm was that?"
"Why was there an arm!?" JP gasped.
"Ew! Ew!" Zoe flailed her arms in disgust, shaking her head in horror.
"Oh…that's…bad," Tamer said, clutching his head in his hands. Tomoki was just as freaked out…the only others humans in the Digital World were the kids called on the train by Ophanimon. And they were all with…Lopmon. As that thought came to mind, Tomoki's mind turned to panic. Who's arm had that been? Was it someone he knew? Where were they? Were they even alive?
"Calm down. Panic won't do you any good," Kumamon's voice said. But how could he not panic when he had seen the arm just in front of him? How could anybody not panic? Tamer was probably the only one not panicking and that was probably because of the massive headache he was dealing with.
"It's you…"
Tomoki and Tamer looked behind them to see Lopmon emerging from the fog. She appeared tired, but angry and she trembled as she stepped towards them. "I thought we'd find you here. It's why we came here…but why? Why did you do it?"
"Do what?" Tomoki asked nervously, alarmed by how her tiny arms began to shake with greater intensity.
Lopmon closed her eyes and snapped back, "Don't play dumb! We came here to find you! We wanted your help! I wanted your help! And we were attacked!"
"Who attacked?" Zoe asked hesitantly.
"You did! Who else is here?" Lopmon declared, gesturing into the fog around them. Tomoki looked at Tamer for some kind of explanation but he could only look back with one eye open as he tried not to collapse. Lopmon's voice began shook as she went on. "Guardromon! Renamon! Terriermon! All of them fought to protect the kids. We wanted to keep them safe. To end this war. We thought that's what you were going to do. You're the Digimon Tamer and they're the digidestined! And what did you do? You attacked us!"
"Hold on! We didn't do this! We literally just got here!" JP said quickly, trying to reason with her. "We don't even know what's going on!"
Lopmon stopped for a moment to consider this. "Okay, then who else killed them all?"
"It wasn't us!" Koji said quietly, still trying to wipe the blood on his hands off.
Lopmon's eyes narrowed, "The blood is literally on your hands!"
"I tripped over an arm!" Koji said quickly, pointing in the direction that he'd thrown it. Not that it mattered to Lopmon. The sight of blood on his arm was already pretty damning. Even if it had been an accident.
Lopmon just threw her arms up in anger, "No. I…I wanted to believe you would help us. I was wrong. So I'm going to end this now…Lopmon! Warp Digivolve to!"
The little brown digimon began to glow with white light, which stretched out and wrapped itself around her body. Then it stretched out, growing in size and intensity that split the fog apart to reveal the open and dead plain around them. A plain littered with the bodies of the other kids - mangled and broken in ways to disturbing to describe. Not among them were the other digimon - the ones she'd named or the army that she'd had. And with the sight of her loss laid bare, there was no denying her anger. Anger that came into full view as the light faded away and left behind a large floating pink digimon with long arms and ears that angled back to look like wings. With a loud voice she declared her name to them, "CHERUBIMON!"
Author's Notes: Things are accelerating faster than expected! Will the digidestined be able to talk Cherubimon down? Would Cherubimon even listen to reason? And what is the end game? Find out all of this and more in the next chapter of The Tamer v3.0 - Bold New Frontier, due out in three weeks on Friday October 28th at 8 PM CDT! Let me know what you think in the reviews section! And don't forget to follow the story to keep up with all the latest updates and to favorite to show support! That's all for now, this is leonardo1123581321!