Beware the Eastern Sun

Beware the Eastern Sun

Chapter 23

"All hail the mountain king,

Beware the wrath of the mountain king;

In that deep, deep lair beneath the earth,

What goes in does not return."

-The Mountain King, by Yamato Ishida

Feel. Set your thoughts aside.

T.K. grimaced in his meditation. He knew there was something he was missing. He also knew that whatever it was, there was nothing he could do about it. No, it was all in the hands of the Fated others now. As he sat in his isolated chamber, he knew somewhere down below, Leomon would be leading the others through the catacombs.

Yet still, that edgy feeling remained. There was still one more task for him left, but all he could do now was wait.

The sound of dripping water echoed throughout the dank cavern. Around them, the walls were uncomfortably out of view as the path sloped ever deeper into the ground. As they played their lanterns out ahead of them, they could see only some ten feet in front of them. Beyond that, all was darkness. Joe, at the back, constantly cast nervous glances over his shoulder.

Occasionally, the skittering of cave dwellers was heard, the scrape of claw on rock here, a clattering of pebbles there. They entered a glowing room, where a strange blue-green phosphorescent light oozed out of a pool of water, perhaps some refraction of sunlight from a chance skylight of nature deeper along the path of the underground river. The light created flowing ripples on the stones around it, almost like the glistening of scales on some magnificent beast.

Gatomon gasped lightly and looked around the cave. A flitting in the shadows? Perhaps. But what makes this one so different from the others? she thought to herself. She began to sweat, glancing nervously at the shadows. Her breathing quickened. Suddenly, she felt a cold touch on her shoulder. She jumped and almost brought her claws down in a strike when she saw Kari's face. "Kari! You scared me!" she barely managed.

"What's wrong Gatomon?" Kari asked, looking pallid.

"Oh," Gatomon replied, gasping for breath. "No, its nothing. Nothing. I'm fine." She smiled.

Gatomon heaved a sigh of relief, but she knew somewhere in those shadows, It lurked.

"Mimi, my sweet," Matt began, in another of his dreamy soliloquies. "Have you ever dreamt of absolute power?" On cue, Mimi shook her head. Matt turned to her. "Well it's a wondrous thing," he continued, his voice rising excitedly. "Imagine! Entire empires bowing before you; gifts presented by the thousands; and…and people cheering for you. Don't you find it enchanting?"

Mimi did not respond. Though she did find some of his thoughts intriguing, she did not exactly like his means of rising to power. He deftly avoided the topic whenever she asked subtle questions like, "But how could one attain such a thing?"

Well, let him dream, she thoughts. He was his own person, it seemed, which was his purpose in this excursion all along. Or was it? Why had he gone on this whole crusade anyway? There was some unseen struggle going on inside that boy, and she intended to see to it that the right side won. There was only one problem: what sides were there, if there were any at all? In the battle for the self, it is hard to discern the differences between good and evil. For now, though, all she could do was just wait. It is true when they say the anticipation is much worse than the confrontation.

"Mimi, my dreams would be complete but one thing—you. I can't imagine a future without you. You must be my bride. No, you will be my bride…"

He began to ramble. Mimi feigned attentiveness, but it was a wasted effort—Matt paid her no heed. So deep was he in his delusions that the real world ceased to matter. All senses save those fed to him by his imagination were void and dead. He saw what he wished; he heard only what his mind spoke; he felt not the merest tingling.

"C'mon, then! Let's have it!"

Joe stood, sword drawn and pointed forward at the darkness. In his left hand he held a lantern and played it against the cave wall. The others sat on the earthen floor, taking a brief break. Joe's eyes darted back and forth like a hawk. When the skittering came again, he struck out with a reflexive twist of his wrist and arm. A squeak sounded, then silence.

"Victory is mine!" he shouted triumphantly.

Tai sighed. "Leomon, what was it you were saying about noxious fumes?"

Leomon responded, "Oftentimes in caves there are pockets of strange gasses that have developed over the years. Many are odorless, but they usually result in queasiness, faintness, and have other strange effect."

Tai looked at Joe and back at Leomon. Tilting his head towards Joe, he began, "Do you think…"

"No," Leomon interrupted flatly.

Tai took one more look at Joe, who was now chasing Gomamon and waving his sword wildly above his head, before rising with a sigh. "All right, troop. Let's get going."

"Roll call?" Izzy asked. He began calling off names and listening to the monotonous responses of "here."

"Kari?"

"Here."

"Gatomon?"

Silence.

"Gatomon?"

Kari jumped up, grabbed the lantern from Joe, and began looking around frantically. Tai clamped her down with a strong grip and shook her. "Calm down! We'll find her."

Tai looked to the group. "Volunteers? I'm going."

Izzy stepped forward. "I'll go."

Sora raised her hand. "Me too."

"No," Leomon said. "You two stay. I'll go with Tai and Kari." They would've protested but for the look on his face.

Tai said, "I think Kari should stay. It could be dangerous."

Leomon said staunchly, "No. We may need her."

Tai nodded in understanding.

Joe spoke, "I'll stay here and keep camp. Here." He passed his lantern to Tai. "Gatomon took one and we'll be needing one, so that leaves you with one. Good luck!"

This way.

The voice whispered to Gatomon. She moved forward rapidly, looking left and right for the source of the voice. Fight it, she kept thinking to herself, but to no avail. She seemingly automatically crept forward into the darkness. Biting her teeth hard, she stumbled along hardly looking at the path ahead of her. Come, come, the voice entreated soothingly. She could not resist.

After the first fifteen minutes of this, she stopped all efforts of resistance. At almost the same time, her mentality became quite frantic as she receded to the more uncivilized portions of her personality. She suspiciously glanced around every corner, ready to strike. In fact she was hardly even conscious of the passing of time. All that she was sure of was that there was the voice and that the voice was guiding her.

"Gatomon!" a voice echoed from afar.

Faster, faster, the voice called.

She began jogging. They're catching up, the voice said urgently. She began running. Behind her a few exclamations were heard followed by the clattering of rocks as her pursuers picked up the pace. She turned her head back behind her and caught eye of her pursuers. Then suddenly, a flash of pain.

"Gotcha!"

Tai was standing in the middle of the path. The cave had double backed upon itself. Tai struggled to hold her down. They are your enemies, the voice called. She broke free and slashed furiously at Tai, who barely dodged the attack in time. She backed up against the cave wall as the others caught up. She was cornered.

Kari looked at her. It was almost rabid the way she hissed at them and held up her claws in defense. Kari tried approaching slowly. "Gatomon, it's me," she coaxed.

For a moment there was a look of recognition,. then the beast. She is your enemy, the voice called to Gatomon. "She is my enemy," Gatomon whispered aloud. You must destroy her. "I must destroy her." On her neck the chain began to glow.

Leomon put a hand on Kari and drew her back, pointing at Gatomon's neck. "She is wearing a slave chain. Whoever placed that upon her has control of her now. She will not recognize you. Be cautious. It is up to Gatomon now."

Kari struggled half-heartedly, then ceased. They all backed to a safe distance, but kept her cornered. Kari crossed her fingers and hoped for the best.

Where am I?
Gatomon drifted about in an empty white void, her voice echoing in her head. A glint caught her eye. She approached a floating plane, much like a viewscreen, where she saw herself hissing frantically. Is that me? she asked herself.

"Why, quite, it is," a voice came from behind.

Gatomon whipped around to see Matt standing there on the same plane as she. He was wearing that annoying evil smile which never seemed to wear down. Oh, I'll clean his clock, she thought to herself. "Ah, ah, ah," he said, wagging a finger at her. "Let's not have violent thoughts now."

She gasped. He must be able to read my thoughts.

"Very perceptive of you, but I suppose you would prefer to have a normal conversation?"

She bared her teeth. "Don't tell me what I want."

"Hate is a wonderful emotion isn't it?"

Gatomon became pacified. Matt pointed to the screen. "Would you like to see yourself do embarrassing things? Or simply to kill those you love?"

"Is that…really me?"

"Of course it is."

"But how…"

"Oh don't be so dense now," Matt scoffed. "The charm, remember? Why else do you think you weren't able to take it off when Kari asked for it? Why I suppose you just didn't feel like it. Disposing of you would have been easier, but using you as a spy has proven to be much more valuable. I've been watching for a long time now, knowing your every thoughts and desires."

Gatomon began to quail. She looked at the screen. She saw herself wrestling with Leomon, and she was doing rather well, which was a bad thing. As she watched, she felt her fear and anger rising, each feeding upon the other. Finally, she turned in an outrage and lunged at Matt. Matt just held up his hand and she seemed to hit an invisible wall.

"I see you will make a fine warrior. Yes, I find you very suitable as a servant."

Gatomon began to panic, but then she saw that Matt was playing mind games with her. She must not let him win. No, she thought. He wants me to be angry, to be distracted with negative thoughts. I must calm myself. It was a long shot, but worth trying. Anything was at this point. She tried to calm herself, and to feel her sense to very tips of her body. It was a battle for control, and she would make no progress idly chatting with Matt.

"Gatomon…" an echo of a familiar voice sounded.

She was getting closer; she could feel it. Matt, who had created a couch out of thin air, sat watching the monitor and having fun like he was playing some video game. Feel. Set your thoughts aside. She blindly reached out with her mind, following her instincts. She felt a tingling in her arm, and found she could move it. Matt frowned. Fighting quickly, she sent her thoughts out to the other parts of her body. Clear your mind and close out all outside influences, she thought to herself. Matt got up, a look of concern on her face. Racing to Gatomon, he began to create all sorts of distractions, consisting of sounds, images, and all sorts of displays. Gatomon closed her eyes and let them all pass her by like the wind.

Almost there, she thought. She had gained control of the upper half of her body, but then Matt struck true. "Gatomon, how could you!" It was an image of Kari scolding her. "Stop this right now! You're being absurd. Matt is your true master." To make things worse, the image of Kari then kissed Matt. That was a little too much for her, and her focus began to fade.

There can be no fear…

"Gatomon…" the echo sounded again.

This brought her back. She strained with all of her sill power, shutting out Matt and that hideous imaginary world behind. When she opened her eyes Kari was standing above her. "Gatomon?"

"Kari…" she said weakly before passing out.

Leomon, Tai, Kari , and Gatomon returned to the group to find Joe was sparring with Sora and Izzy sat hunched over his computer. Mimi was lying on the floor taking a nap and looking like her old self again. There were a few suspicious bloodstains on the floor. "Hey everyone. Look whose back," Tai announced.

Sora turned to them and waved, then gave a huge grunt as Joe struck her with the flat of his sword. She reached forward and gave Joe a smart rap on the head. Rubbing his head, Joe disengaged. "Where were you," she asked.

"Looking for something," Gatomon's cryptic response was.

Leomon turned to Kari. "She has mastered the power in the charm. Now that the spell over her is broken, she can wield its powers. I myself do not know the extent of its power, but I know it has the great potential."

Kari smiled and hugged Gatomon.

"Hey Tai!" Joe called excitedly. "You missed the action!"

"Oh?"

"They were everywhere!"

"Tell me more," Tai said, picking up the lantern and moving along. The others followed.

"There we were, minding our own business when bang! Swarms of these weird furry monsters come out of nowhere with vicious teeth and sharp claws! I whipped out my sword and took a big swing…"