10
Part 10, The Loving Sector
Joe's body shook with the force of the steps Automomon was taking towards him. Well, actually towards everyone of the DigiDestined. "So this is the way my life ends" He wondered miserably. "Well…at least I'll be here, with my friends…"
Automomon took another lethal step towards them. Joe shook his head. "…and at least I wont be turned into a pumpkin and eaten." He thought sarcastically. "That'd be a brutal way to go."
Joe's thoughts were interrupted, as a high-pitched voice called to them from behind. "Hey you! Over here!" It called. The kids turned around and saw a little Digimon, completely green, with great green eyes. It had several tendrils for legs, and small flippers for arms. It waved at the kids frantically.
"What are you waiting for?! Do you want to get squished." Using its tendrils, it cleared off a pile of debris that was covering a massive metal tunnel-opening.
Tai jumped in place. "That's it!" He yelled. "Everyone get to that opening!" The others rushed by him and clustered around the little green Digimon and the opening.
Sora glanced behind her as Automomon took another thunderous step. She looked over to the others. "Can we get it open?" she asked. Yamato was already struggling to open the massive door. Gabumon and Palmon joined him in helping, and soon everyone was pulling on it.
The door opened, but just a little. "We need time!" Matt panted. Tai looked at Agumon, who nodded back at him and ran towards Automomon.
"What're you doing?" Sora yelled back. Tai turned around and gave her a 'thumbs up.'
"Get that door open! We'll keep this guy busy!" He turned towards Agumon. "Ready buddy?"
Agumon grinned and replied "Do you have to ask?", and with that an intense light exploded from his being. At warp-speed he developed through the stages…Champion…Ultimate…and then Mega. The light flashed away, and standing in Agumon's place was the knight-like WarGreymon.
He looked up at Automomon and blasted into the air. Automomon attacked with a wicked forearm. WarGreymon blocked and countered, delivering a sharp blow to Automomon's elbow, and sheering it's arm clear off.
Automomon looked disdainfully as his enormous arm fell to the ground, creating a huge crater in the Factory floor. It whipped it's head at WarGreymon and head-butted it, sending the Mega crashing into the opposite wall.
The Factory shook with the impact, and Tai turned to watch the effort of the others with the opening. They had gotten it halfway open, and the little green Digimon was leading them in.
Tai turned towards WarGreymon. "Just a little more time!" He encouraged.
WarGreymon shook his head. "Easy for you to say." He said quietly. Then he spread his arms apart, and a massive ball of energy coalesced between them. The Factory began to vibrate with the power of the miniature sun the Mega had in his grip. Automomon paused, then quickly reached for him.
"Terra Force!" WarGreymon blasted, and flung the attack straight into Automomon's outstretched hand. A terrific light flashed and Automomon was pushed back a couple of meters, his feet digging into the Factory ground. The Terra Force spun around, trying to drill it's way through Automomon's hand.
"Tai!" Matt yelled. "Come on! We're outta here!" And with that he ducked into the dark tunnel.
Taichi looked at his Mega frantically. Automomon was still struggling with the Terra Force. Without warning, it burst out a roar and flung the attack straight back at WarGreymon. "Watch out!!!" Tai warned.
WarGreymon brought his metal-plated arms up to block the attack. An explosion boomed through the Factory, blasting out windows and bursting lights. Tai coughed in the dust and looked around the debris for his friend. "Is he…" he thought woefully.
Then Koromon came screaming out of the dust cloud. Taichi ran, slid, and caught the In-Training before he touched the ground. "@_@" Koromon tried to say. Tai grinned and ran towards the opening.
Automomon whipped around and saw him running. It took two booming steps towards him. Taichi turned towards the metal opening, just as Automomon's massive foot came crushing down on him.
************
"Why do you follow her?" Fallen asked the smaller Digimon. It was evening in the city of Sector, and they stood together in the courtyard, just adjacent to the hallway that led to the chambers. Celamon looked up at him in surprise. She hadn't been paying attention, and the question startled her. That and FallenAngemon usually never spoke first.
"Follow who?" she asked.
"Dawoemon."
Celamon frowned. "I owe her." She explained silently. "She saved my life. She told me that she saved my egg from a group of evil Digimon. She watched me hatch and raised me up until now." She looked up at the dark angel, waiting for a reaction.
Fallen glanced at her for a moment, then turned away. "I see." He sighed.
Celamon gazed down again, then looked straight ahead. "You shouldn't judge her. She's been through a lot, at least that's what I understand."
"I'm not judging her." Fallen replied. He gazed down at her and smiled. " I just don't trust her."
Celamon huffed angrily. "Trust her or not, it's your problem, not mine."
"Don't be angry again."
"I'm not angry." She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "Why the heck would I be angry? You're not all that to get me upset." She lied.
Fallen chuckled and looked ahead. "You've always had this attitude, ever since Takeru-san got you to join us." He looked down at her again, examining her pretty digital face. " I think I know why too."
"Why?"
"Because…" Fallen crossed his arms and sighed. "You're jealous."
"WHAT?"
"You're mad because I could take you down without lifting an arm." He faced the now enraged Digimon and smiled. Even with her face a thundercloud of rage, she still looked pretty.
"You….WISH!" she grated. Fallen could have sworn there was steam coming out of the sides of her head. " I'm a fighter! I can't be downed easily, not by anyone!" She stubbed an angry finger into Fallen's chest. ", and certainly NOT by you!"
"Sure I can." Fallen smiled. "Easily."
"Try it!" Celamon hissed angrily.
So he did. Quicker than thought, FallenAngemon bent down and kissed the small Digimon right on her small mouth. Celamon's eyes widened, her pupils grew also. Electricity was shooting up and down her spine. "What is this?" she wondered magically. Fallen continued to kiss her, pushing his lips slightly against hers. Celamon felt all the tension she had in her body melt away. She arched her neck up to meet his kiss more evenly, and closed her eyes. "What is…this?"
The kiss seemed to last forever. Celamon's tiny gossamer wings fluttered momentarily. She couldn't believe what was happening. For the first time in her life, she was completely at someone else's mercy. She was completely at FallenAngemon's mercy.
Which is exactly what he wanted. Abruptly he pulled away from her mouth and smiled. " Ha! See, got you. I could have killed you 100 times during that and you wouldn't have done anything." He boasted. Stupidly I might add.
It felt like a bucket of ice cold water spilled over her body. Her face had still been arched towards the tall angel, and now straightened forcefully. Her eyes widened, and she saw nothing but blood. Quicker than Fallen could anticipate, Celamon blasted her knee deep in his midsection. Fallen gasped in acute pain.
"YOU…." Celamon couldn't finish. She brought her arms together and double-fisted the incapacitated Angel to the ground. Fallen hit the floor with a large crack and lay there dazed. "How dare you…" Celamon whispered. Tears filled her eyes. She was more than embarrassed. Her entire soul had been laid out to bear and Fallen had basically made fun of it. To say she was enraged would be a gross understatement.
Fallen groaned and got up on his elbows. Celamon delivered a devastating kick to his ribs, knocking the angel back a couple of feet, gasping for air. Then she turned an ran into the Hallway of Chambers.
Fallen got up groggily. He shook his head and looked at the direction the little Digimon had ran. "Well" he thought ruefully, "…I guessed I goofed. I'm not used to this."
He flared his wings, and started after the distressed Celamon, questioning the intelligence of what he was doing.
************
The DigiDestined walked through the vine-filled murky tunnel. Automomon's foot was still visible way down the tunnel, stuck when it tried to squish Taichi like so much …umm….dog poop. ( Whew…saved that one didn't I? ) Now they followed the seemingly endless tunnel through whatever path it offered.
Sora looked at the small green Digimon that was walking beside her. "Hey," she started "we didn't get to thank you. Thanks." She smiled. "Who are you anyway?"
The little Digimon looked up at her in shock…as if she didn't expect the question. She looked at Hikari, threading silently beside Biyomon and said, "Edemon." She looked back at Sora. " What's with her? There seems to be an uneven number of Digimon for you guy-"
"Forget about it." Tai hissed. "You're in good standing with us. Don't spoil it by being nosy!"
"It's OK Tai." Kari said quietly. She looked at Edemon solemnly. " My Digimon, my friend, she died."
"Oh." Edemon nodded. "That sucks."
Joe scrambled to change the subject. "Hey, where's this tunnel headed?" he asked, looking at the tiny Digimon.
She hesitated. "Depends." Edemon responded eventually. " There's a weird symbol on a wall up ahead. I heard if you do something around it, another path will open."
"How'd you get here anyway?" Mimi asked. "This doesn't seem to be a place a little guy like you would hang out."
"I was just goofing around." Edemon explained. " I live in the forest around this Factory, but I got bored and came here." She looked at each DigiDestined in turn. "Good thing I did too, or that giant Automomon would've used you as a rug."
"Yeah." Koushiro sighed. "Imagine that." Then he stopped and peered ahead. "Guys check this out!" he exclaimed as he ran into the dark tunnel, Tentomon buzzing beside him.
They reached a dead end, with a wall decimated by vines and weeds. Izzy pushed them away and revealed what looked like a symbol.
Koushiro looked at the tiny Edemon. " Is that the symbol you were talking about?" he asked.
Edemon nodded. "Yep. Any of you guys know it?" Mimi stepped up and wore a great grin.
"Know it? I wear it everyday!" She went under her blouse and pulled out her crest. "It's the symbol for the Crest of Sincerity." She walked up to the wall and waved the crest in front of it.
The symbol shone, and an intense light flashed. At once, it was gone, and the group was standing in the middle of a forest.
"Oh great." Matt sighed. "Another forest." Gabumon looked up at his charge, then perked his ears. He sniffed in the air.
"Do you smell that Yamato-san?" He asked. Matt stared at him, then sniffed for himself. His eyes popped open.
"Yeah! Yeah I smell that!" He exclaimed. The others began sniffing the air like bloodhounds. Tai hopped in elation.
"Yeah! Food! Come on guys, make like Toucan Sam and 'Follow your Nose!'" and with that, ran towards the source of the smell.
The other DigiDestined and their Digimon ran alongside him, with Edemon included. They reached a small little wooden cottage, with one window and a red roof. Smoke was coming out of it's small chimney.
Tai started towards the door. "Wait Tai." Matt warned. "You think it's okay to just enter?"
"Uhh…" Taichi hesitated, then Mimi bustled by him, opening the door swiftly.
"I don't care if it's okay or not, I'm tired and hungry, and I'm going in." Palmon followed her as she entered the house. The others shrugged and followed her in. Inside they saw a small warm room, with a delicious smelling soup heating up on an iron stove.
Well, how could the resist? They found bowls and utensils in the cupboards of the house, and chowed down. There was more than enough soup for them and the Digimon, and the ate like it was going out of style.
Finally, the took a rest from the meal. Tai sighed, patting his stomach. "Man…it felt like I haven't eaten in, like, years."
Yamato relaxed next to a fireplace and mused. " I sure hope that food wasn't poisoned." He thought aloud.
"Stop worrying!" Tai cajoled. Izzy stood up and looked around the small house.
"There has to be some way to find out who owns this place." He said to himself. Tentomon buzzed around him, searching for the same sign.
"Maybe however it was left a message" Tentomon wondered. Abruptly, a thin veil of light pierced the air and expanded into a fuzzy rectangle. The image of a familiar face appeared on it, and the DigiDestined and their Digimon smiled in relief.
"So.." the image of Gennai said. " You did smell what the 'mon was cookin'."
************
Celamon would not cry over such a jerk. She wouldn't cry over such an immense idiot. It took all of her strength not to. She was so completely embarrassed and ashamed of her weakness. "How could he do that to me?" she cried silently.
She was sitting on the bed of her room, her knees bunched up to her chest. The window was opened, and wind was tossing her short cut digi-hair around her face. Celamon closed her eyes in thought. "He admires strength." She thought. " That's why he doesn't feel like I do. If I were as strong as he was, I'd admire strength too." She sighed. There had to be some way to prove her strength to him. Then maybe…
Fallen opened the door silently and stepped in. "I'm sorry!" he said quickly, before Celamon had a chance to object.
"Do you even realize yet how much I like you?" Celamon told him angrily. She turned away and stared at the open window. There had to be some way…
FallenAngemon looked down dejectedly. "I …really didn't think about it…" he stammered. " I never thought about it that much when I was with the others." He faced the small Digimon. "But, I appreciate that you do…and, you know…" Fallen scratched the back of his head and continued " I like you too, you know."
"No you don't." Celamon sighed silently. Suddenly she stood up and bounded to the open window. She opened it wide, and the wind rushed into the room, blowing her hair and Fallen's all over the place.
"What are you doing?" Fallen stammered. Celamon glanced back at him and smiled.
"A mission. I'll be back." And with that, she flipped out of the window and into the night. FallenAngemon stared after her. It was too dark for him to see where she went. He slumped his shoulders and frowned.
"Well…she's strong." He concluded. "She should be OK. Whatever your mission is, keep safe." Fallen thought towards her. He left the room silently and closed the door behind him.
************
Celamon rushed through the night, using the stems on the top of her head for direction. She had it set in her mind now that FallenAngemon admired strength, and he didn't think she was strong. She smiled ruefully.
"But I'll prove that I'm strong." She thought silently. " I'll prove it by completing this mission. Then…maybe…"
Celamon trailed off and bounded quickly towards her prey. She rushed off to prove her strength, by taking down the most powerful prey she could think of.
She rushed to kill the DigiDestined.
TO BE CONTINUED….
-Aww crazy little Digimon. Anyhow…that's all for this segment. What's gonna happen next? There's only one way to find out. If you care, read and review this installment, and then read and review the NEXT installment. Woohoo. Thanks , later. -Incognito.