Good Things Come in Threes
By: SilvorMoon
p The Digidestined and their companions stared in horror at the scene before them: someone
who should have been a friend who was now transformed into a monster, and their companion
hanging helpless in the creature's hands. Gatomon wasn't even resisting as she dangled there. She
was very still and very silent, shocked to deeply to even react anymore.
p "Gatomon, get away!" Kari screamed desperately. "Move or he'll kill you!"
p The little cat's ears didn't even twitch. She wasn't seeing or hearing anything anymore, and
the sight of her paralysis scared Kari even more than the impending peril. It was as if she had
already died and was just waiting for the rest of the world to realize it.
P "We've got to get her away from him!" said Tai.
p "Not a chance, Digidestined," Asuramon snarled. "If any of you make a move, your little
friend gets it. Surrender your Digivices and maybe I'll let the rest of you live."
P "Don't you dare hurt Gatomon!" Kari shouted. "If you hurt her, I'll - I'll..."
p "You'll what?" the monster sneered. "Face it! You all are helpless against the power of the
Black Lens!"
P "But I'm not!" boomed a voice from the darkness. "I didn't want to intervene in this battle,
but you've pushed me too far! I won't let you break an innocent Digimon's heart and use her love
for her friends against her!"
p All heads were turning in confusion as they searched for the source of the voice. Hearing
it even made Gatomon seem to revive a little. Asuramon looked uneasy.
p "Who are you?" he demanded. "Come out and show yourself!"
p "As you wish," the voice replied.
p There was a burst of green light, and then a dazzling shape dropped out of the sky. In
form, it was very like Angemon and Angewomon, a winged humanoid partly covered in green
armor. Its face was hidden by a mask, but green light could be seen through a veiwslit. It held a
silver sword in one hand.
p "Another angel!" said TK in awe.
p "Where did Ihe/I come from?" asked Tai.
p "That must be the helper Gennai promised us!" said Izzy. "I must say, I'm rather
impressed."
P "I didn't know we had another one of those," said Joe.
p The newcomer eyed Asuramon with an expression of utter disgust.
p "You are a disgrace to Digimon everywhere," he said. "It is my duty to avenge the wrongs
you have done, starting by releasing your captive. Let her go before I'm forced to hurt you."
p "You couldn't," said Asuramon.
p "Want to bet?" the stranger replied. "Digimon of deception, be what you are! ISword
of Truth!/I"
p The angel Digimon lunged at Asuramon, swinging his sword in a burning arc. Asuramon
threw his dark fires at the approaching enemy, but the instant they touched the gleaming sword,
they melted into nothingness. The blade struck, and there was an explosion of light that made
everyone cover their eyes...
p When their sight cleared, Asuramon was gone. In his place was a groggy-looking
Wizardmon, still clutching the impotent Black Lens. Gatomon lay a few feet away, her shining
eyes riveted on the creature that hovered above her. Wizardmon shook himself, and shot a
malevolent glare at the angel Digimon.
p "You're going to pay for that," he hissed.
p "I think not," the angel replied. "Or do you really want to make me do that again?"
p "Well, perhaps you're not going to pay inow,/i Wizardmon replied, backing away a
bit, "but the time will come when you will be punished!"
p "Don't make me angry," said the angel. "You know I'm only refraining from destroying
you to spare Gatomon any more suffering. She's hurt enough in her lifetime to have to suffer
because of you. Return to your master, and tell him you've seen the Seraphmon."
P Wizardmon's eyes widened as he heard the name, but he said nothing. Leaping to his feet,
he swirled his cloak around him and vanished into the shadows of an alley. Seraphmon dropped
out of the sky to kneel by Gatomon's side.
p "Are you all right, Gatomon?" he asked gently.
p "I... I think so..." she managed.
p "I am sorry that had to happen," Seraphmon said. "More sorry than you can imagine."
p Very carefully, he picked her up and carried her to Kari, depositing her gently in the young
Digidestined's arms.
p "Take good care of her," he instructed. "And don't worry, everything will be all right.
You have my word on it. Now I must go, before my power runs out. Farewell, Digidestined!"
P Before anyone could return the parting words, Seraphmon sprang into the air and
vanished in a burst of green light. Everyone stared up at the sky, still dumbstruck with
amazement.
p "Okay," said Tai, "could someone explain that dude to me? What in the Digiworld is a
Seraphmon?"
P "I don't know," Tentomon admitted. "I've never seen a Digimon like that before!"
p "I know what it is! I know what it is!" Gomamon piped up, bouncing around excitedly.
p "Well, do enlighten us," said Tentomon, miffed that Gomamon knew something he didn't.
p "It's an old legend," Gomamon explained. "Unimon told me all about it when I was just a
baby Pitchmon. Once upon a time, terrible, evil Digimon swept across the Digiworld and
destroyed a lot of the good Digimon who lived there. Some Digimon tried to fight the monsters,
but nobody could stop them. Some of the Digimon got so angry at having their friends killed that
they digivolved into Seraphmon, the avenger Digimon, and destroyed the monsters. They say that
if anything really bad happens, Seraphmon will sometimes appear to make things right. They're
powerful warriors who hate any kind of cruelty or deception... but nobody's seen one for
thousands of years!"
p "Well, we've seen one now, haven't we?" said Matt. "And not too soon, either!"
p "You can say that again," said Kari, snuggling her still-trembling companion. "Gatomon
almost got squished!"
p "That was weird," said Izzy. The tell-tale tapping was back again as his fingers pattered
across the keys of his laptop. "Absolutely none of that last battle made any sense at all."
P Sora rolled her eyes. "What was your first hint?"
p "Well, Vilemon's powers, for one thing," answered Izzy, missing the sarcasm entirely.
"According to my readings, Vilemon is supposed to be a very weak Digimon, certainly nothing
that could bash our Champions around like that. And Asuramon is a Vaccine type Digimon. He's
usually peaceful and shy, and he's not in Wizardmon's family tree at all. In other words, in all the
natural laws of the Digiworld, Wizardmon should inot/i have been able to become
Asuramon, and even if he could, he shouldn't have acted like that."
p "He shouldn't have acted like that at iall/i!" Gatomon wailed. "He tried to kill me!
Why would he do something like that? Do you think he's angry at me, Kari? When Myotismon
attacked him, I just stood there. I didn't do anything to defend him or anything, and when he
disappeared, I didn't go looking for him. Do you think he's mad at me for that? Maybe he thinks I
don't like him anymore..."
P "Gatomon, don't think things like that!" Surprisingly, Joe was the one who was arguing
with her. "I may not know your Wizardmon friend very well, but I do remember how devoted he
was to you. He was a nice guy. He would never do anything like this unless something really
weird had happened. No matter what, none of this is your fault. All right?"
P Gatomon nodded, albeit somewhat uncertainly. Mimi looked at Joe with admiration.
p "Wow, Joe, I didn't know you were such a great speechmaker," she said.
p Joe shrugged and blushed a little. "Well, you know, I just can't stand to see a grown
kittycat cry."
P "I guess we should all be getting home now," said Tai, staring up at the sky uneasily. The
day that had started out sunny was turning overcast, hinting that more unpleasant things were still
waiting for them. "It's better than waiting around for Myotismon to launch anything else nasty at
us."
P The others agreed, and they split up to begin wandering dazedly back to their homes to
mull over this new, disastrous turn of events. Gatomon rode limply in Kari's arms, her eyes wide
and frightened.
P "Don't worry," Kari soothed. "I'm going to look after you. Things are going to be all
right."
p "I don't know," said Gatomon. "I don't know if they can be, anymore...."
pcenter~*~/center
p It was a rather disheveled and annoyed Wizardmon who returned to Myotismon's lair. He
paused at the threshold to brush off his cloak and shake the dents out of his hat, and the faint
noises caught the attention of a certain sharp-eared bat who opened his glittering golden eyes to
investigate.
P "Well, well, well!" he rasped. "If it isn't the failure come back at last! How does it feel to
know your stupid Black Lens doesn't work?"
p "It idid/i work," Wizardmon snapped. "It's not my fault that you couldn't make use
of the powers you were given."
p "Hey, I did a perfectly good job!" said DemiDevimon. "It's not my fault I was
outnumbered. Those kids don't play fair. Anyway, I did a lot better than you could have done...
what ihave/i you been doing, anyway? I thought Lord Myotismon told you to stay behind!"
P "Lord Myotismon also told me to take care of Gatomon, and that's what I've been
doing," Wizardmon replied. "I don't think she'll be giving us any more trouble. Now, if you'll
excuse me, I have an urgent message to deliver."
p With that, he whacked the bat Digimon out of the way with his staff and swept into the
shadows of Myotismon's lair.
p "Message? What message?" asked DemiDevimon, instantly curious. "Hey, wait for me!"
p Wizardmon was surprised to find Myotismon standing in the main chamber, looking
remarkably calm and unruffled considering the fact that he'd just recently returned from being
knocked about by Angemon. A circle of light hung in the air, composed of a ring of flittering bats
channeling Myotismon's power. Wizardmon couldn't make out anything more than wavering
green-yellow light, but Myotismon seemed to be seeing something that pleased him, and his fangs
glinted in the circle's luminance. Deciding that the merits of going ahead and talking now while
Myotismon was in a good mood outweighed the possible disadvantages of interrupting him,
Wizardmon cleared his throat. Myotismon turned his head to give the wizard Digimon an icy
stare.
P "Well," he said, "I was wondering when you'd decide to come home. Would you like to
explain what you've been up to?"
P "I just decided to tag along and watch the fight," said Wizardmon. That was more or less
the truth. "That, and to keep an eye on my Black Lens. I've brought it back, by the way."
p "Fine. That saves me some trouble," said Myotismon. "I don't suppose you were at all
tempted to try it out?"
P "Um... well, actually..."
p "I thought so," Myotismon replied. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist playing with
your new toy."
p "You're gonna get it now!" DemiDevimon snickered. Wizardmon gave him a look of
death, but the little bat monster just grinned insolently.
P "Silence!" Myotismon snapped. "Your opinion was not asked for, DemiDevimon. I am
speaking to Wizardmon, if you don't mind."
p "All right, all right, sheesh!" muttered DemiDevimon.
P "Now, then, Wizardmon," the dark lord continued, "I should be very annoyed with you.
You've disobeyed your orders and made use of powers that you were not given permission to
use. Nor did I permit you to do battle with the Digidestined. iHowever-/i" He barked the
word at DemiDevimon, who had been grinning with fiendish delight at the harangue and leaning
forward to catch every word. "-since the experiment was so successful, I'm going to let you off
the hook this time."
P Wizardmon tried to hide a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Lord Myotismon."
P "Your Black Lens proved remarkably effective," Myotismon continued. "If it can make a
Digimon as pathetic as DemiDevimon powerful enough to give the Digidestined a run for their
money, the results produced by using it on a truly impressive Digimon should be enough to
trounce them once and for all! ...By the way, how did iyou/i fare against those annoying
human children? Some strange force prevented me from watching the battle. I thought it might be
some kind of side effect of the Black Lens's power."
P "I... am not quite so sure that is the case," said Wizardmon slowly. "There were other
powers afoot in this battle besides ours and the Digidestined's. You see, they had help."
P "Help?" Myotismon was instantly alert. "What kind of help?"
P "Just as I was about to destroy the Digidestined, a very unusual Digimon appeared out of
nowhere and attacked me, and nothing I did had any effect on him. He... told me to give you a
message."
P "Well? Out with it already!" growled Myotismon. "What kind of message could some
wretched, interfering mystery Digimon have for me?"
P "He said to tell you... I am to report that I have seen the Seraphmon."
p Wizardmon cringed as the tension in the room became almost palpable, hitting him like a
slap in the face. Myotismon's eyes went wide for an instant, and even DemiDevimon looked
nervous. Then Myotismon's look of shock - it couldn't be fear, could it? - shifted to an expression
of desperate skepticism.
p "Say that again," he said. "The whole thing. What exactly did you see?"
P "I saw an angel Digimon, similar to Angemon or Angewomon, wielding a silver sword and
dressed in green armor. He told me he had come to right the wrongs I had done and struck me
down, and when I had fallen, he landed next to me and told me I was to tell you that I had seen
the Seraphmon... What iis/i a Seraphmon, anyway?"
P "It is a legend," said Myotismon. "The lives of all great Digimon, good and evil, are ruled
by legends and prophecies. Seraphmon is one such legend. He comes into being when a Digimon
is wronged so greatly that sheer anger allows him to digivolve. Once in the form of Seraphmon,
he lives only to fight injustice." He paused, staring worriedly into space. "Just as Devimon knew it
was to be his fate that he would be destroyed by the smallest of the Digidestined humans, it was
foretold that I would be overcome by the powers of a Seraphmon. This creature you fought has
sent me a death threat!"
p "No way!" DemiDevimon cried. "No way some overgrown Tooth Fairy is going to
destroy you, boss!"
p "Stop your mindless babbling," Myotismon barked. "The legends predicted the come of
the Digidestined, and the Digidestined have come. The legends told of how Devimon would be
destroyed, and he met his end as predicted. It would be unwise to tempt fate by ignoring the
prophecy. I will simply have to devise a way of being rid of this Seraphmon before he can get me
into any more trouble."
p "Lord Myotismon, I have a small suggestion to make," said Wizardmon timidly. "Or...
perhaps I should call it a request?"
p "Do you dare make requests at a time like this?" asked Myotismon dangerously.
p "Oh, no, my lord! I simply meat to point something out," Wizardmon answered hastily. "I
was thinking that, if what you say is true, it would might be best if I were to avoid doing battle
with Seraphmon... or Gatomon, for a while."
P "What's the matter, Wizardmon? Afraid of being beaten again?" DemiDevimon sneered.
P "How many times do I have to tell you to be quiet?" Myotismon snarled. He turned back
to his other servant. "Well, Wizardmon? Answer the bat's question. Why don't you want to fight
Seraphmon again?"
p "It's not so much that I don't want to," said Wizardmon carefully. "Certainly I would fight
him again if your lordship wished. I simply wanted to say that I don't think it would be wise. You
say that Seraphmon are avengers, righters of wrongs. What wrong could we have possibly done
to bring down the wrath of a Seraphmon except for our plot against Gatomon? After all, he has
never appeared until just now, when we set our plan in motion, and when he appeared, he seemed
to be more concerned with her welfare than destroying me."
P *iOtherwise, I might not be here,/i* he thought, but he didn't dare say that aloud.
p Myotismon smiled a bit, showing the tips of his fangs. "Yes, that is a particularly vile plot.
Perhaps it iis/i devious enough to awaken the slayer of deceivers."
P "Then why are you smiling?" Wizardmon wanted to know.
P "Because he is already too late," Myotismon chuckled. "Behold!"
P The vampire Digimon raised his hands, calling forth his bats to form the circle of light
once again. Wizardmon peered into it curiously. This time, he was able to discern a picture, blurry
but still recognizable the young female Digidestined - what was her name? Kari? - and her
treacherous Digimon friend, Gatomon. The sounds that came through the viewing circle were too
distorted to be understood, but the pain in Gatomon's voice was clearly audible.
p "You see?" asked Myotismon. "Already our feline friend is losing herself to fear and
confusion. She has lost the will to fight. At the very least, she will be unable to help her
Digidestined friends. At best, she will drag them down and cause them to make mistakes as well.
We will use your Black Lens to beat them by superior strength alone, and not even the
Seraphmon will be able to stop me!"
p "An excellent plan, Lord Myotismon," Wizardmon replied. "I am honored to have been of
service to you."
P "Indeed, you've proven yourself most valuable," Myotismon agreed. "Come! I wish to
discuss the properties of this Black Lens of yours without having to put up with any annoying
interruptions." He shot a dark look at DemiDevimon. "iYou/i stay here and keep an eye on
things. Come back when you learn to keep your mouth muted."
p With that, Myotismon turned and swept grandly out of the room, with Wizardmon
following at a respectful distance. DemiDevimon stuck his tongue out at the retreating wizard.
P "Wizardmon, Schmizardmon," he muttered. "All the time, it's Wizardmon this and
Wizardmon that and Wizardmon whatever. After all these years of loyal service, too! I'm a better
servant to Lord Myotismon than that pointy-hatted wand-waver could ever be, and he still gets all
the attention! It makes me sick. If only there was a way..."
p He broke off in mid-tirade as his eye was caught by the flickering light of Myotismon's
veiwing circle. It still hung in midair, patiently waiting for the vampire lord to order its dispersal.
DemiDevimon stared at it for a long time, watching Gatomon stare out into space with that
stricken look in her eyes, and in the dark corners of his devious little mind, a plan began to hatch.
pcenter~*~/center
P "Are you sure you're feeling okay, Gatomon?" Kari asked, for just about the tenth time
that afternoon. However, the cat Digimon was still too dazed to take much notice.
P "I'll be fine," she said. "I just need to think a while, that's all."
p "Oh. I guess I can understand that," said Kari. She set a dish down next to her friend.
"Here. I talked Mom into making us some fish for lunch, and I brought you some. You should eat
it."
p "Thanks," Gatomon replied. "That was nice of you."
p There was an awkward silence. Gatomon stayed where she was, perched on the arm of a
sofa and staring out the window at the glittering cityscape.
p "Do you want me to leave?" asked Kari. "I really want to be able to help you, Gatomon
but-"
P "I know you want to help, Kari," said Gatomon, "and I really appreciate it, but... I need
some time to myself, okay?"
P "All right," Kari sighed. "Take care of yourself, Gatomon."
p Kari padded silently out of the living room, leaving her friend alone... well, not
icompletely/i alone. There was one other living thing in the room. Attracted by the scent of
food, Kari's pet cat had slipped through the door and come to investigate. He pounced on the
sofa with a scrabbling of claws that made the nervous Gatomon jump. Then she realized that it
was just her non-digital cousin paying a visit, and she managed a small smile.
P "Hi, Miko," she said. "Did you want some fish? It's pretty good - almost as good as
digital fish."
P "Mew," Miko agreed.
P "Well, I guess real-world cats aren't very good conversationalists," said Gatomon, "but I
guess that's okay. I just need someone to listen for a while, and I don't know if Kari
understands."
p That was sad, too, she reflected. Kari was her companion, the one who had been waiting
for her since the day she had been programmed. She had always known instinctively that there
was someone out there she belonged to and with, and she had believed that finally joining with the
human who was destined to be the other half of her soul would be the end of her dark days of
abuse and loneliness. And now... now everything was falling apart. She sighed and offered a
chunk of fish to the cat, who accepted it with a grateful purr.
P "You're one lucky cat, Miko," Gatomon said. "You don't have to worry about fighting
evil or having bad things happen to your friends. For all you know, everything is perfect. I guess it
is, if you're just a housepet. But I've got to look after Kari... and now I have to worry about
Wizardmon, too. I can't hurt him - he's the best friend I ever had until I met the Digidestined. He
was the first person to ever show me any kindness, and now he wants to hurt me. I don't
understand it! What happened to him to make him go back to Myotismon? I thought he didn't
even ilike/i Myotismon! Something really awful must have happened to him."
P "Absolutely right. You were always too clever for your own good, Gatomon."
P At the sound of the raspy voice, Miko glanced up from the fish he'd been eating, took one
look at the speaker, and leaped to the top of the sofa with wide eyes and a bushed tail. Gatomon
simply glared and flexed her sharp claws.
P "DemiDevimon," she growled, "what are you doing here? You get away from my friend's
house!"
P Sure enough, the little bat-creature was perched on the windowsill, watching both cats
with his slit-pupiled golden eyes.
P "You're not happy to see me? I'm hurt," said DemiDevimon in mock-offense. "I just
heard you'd had a hard day, and I thought you might need some support from an old friend."
p "You were never my friend," Gatomon replied. "We were enemies even when we were on
the same side."
p "Humph. Well, let's say I've had a change of heart, then," answered the bat, undeterred.
"Maybe I'm tired of being bashed around by you and your Digidestined friends, and I want to
make amends."
p "From what I remember, my friends never fought you that often. You always fought by
trickery, because you knew you couldn't win a fair fight," said Gatomon. "I know you too well,
DemiDevimon. You're nothing but a trickster. What could you possibly want to do for me?"
P "I could tell you what's been done to Wizardmon," DemiDevimon answered. "I know,
believe me. After all, who would know better? You know I'm always hanging around near where
Myotismon is. I always know what he's planning."
P "True," Gatomon replied, "but why would you want to tell me? What would you get out
of helping me save Wizardmon?"
P "Hey, I never said anything about helping to save him," said DemiDevimon, fluttering his
wings in agitation. "I just said I'd tell you what's been done to him, that's all. It's up to you to
decide what you want to do about it. And as for why I'd want to tell you, well... to tell the truth,
I'm not that wild about your Wizardmon. He's getting to be a real pain in the patookas. Him and
that Black Lens have made such a big hit with the boss that I'm not getting any respect at all
anymore! It ain't fair. I spend my whole life slaving away for Myotismon, and as soon as someone
else comes along who has a little bit of a lucky streak and gets in the boss's good graces - BAM!
Exit DemiDevimon. It's like I don't even exist anymore, unless one of them wants to pick on me.
I tell ya, iit ain't fair!/i" The little bat Digimon fluttered his wings again in such violent
agitation that it looked like he was going to fall off the window ledge.
P *iThat's more like the DemiDevimon I know,/i* thought Gatomon. *iHe admits
he's not here to help me - he's here because he wants me to help him. He might just do that, if
everything he says is true. I know how loyal he is to Myotismon, and he bwould/b be jealous
if Myotismon started to favor someone else. He might, just bmight/b be telling the
truth!/i*
P "All right, DemiDevimon," she said. "Tell me what's been done to Wizardmon - and no
tricks!"
p "I wouldn't! This is too important for playing games," said DeviDevimon, offended. "It
was like this - after that last battle, Myotismon was totally ticked with you guys, so he sent out a
bunch of Bakemon scouts - they're good at hiding, you know - to hunt you down and try to keep
an eye on you. One of them found your friend Wizardmon wandering around in an alley, all beat
up and wandering around in a daze, not even sure where he was going. The Bakemon knew he
used to work for Myotismon and didn't realize he had changed sides, so he brought him back to
Myotismon's lair to get him doctored up. Well, Myotismon wasn't too happy about ithat/i at
all - not until he found out that Wizardmon had lost his memories. Myotismon convinced
Wizardmon that it was you who hurt him, pretending to be his friend and then attacking him when
he didn't expect it and leaving him for dead. Now all he can think about is getting back at you for
hurting him and making him forget who he is. And just to be sure he never gets his memories
back, Myotismon set up a magical charm in the lowest basement of the complex. As long as the
spell is working, Wizardmon will believe anything Myotismon tells him."
P "Magic, of course!" Gatomon exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of that! That's why his eyes
are the wrong color."
P "Exactly!" said DemiDevimon. "On the other hand, if you could break the spell, you'll
have your wizard back, and I'll have my job back, and we'll both be happy. Get it?"
P Gatomon narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "If you know so much, why don't you break the
spell? Why involve me at all, especially since you know I don't trust you?"
P "Hey, I don't like having your buddy hanging around all the time, but I'm not going to put
my life on the line to get rid of him!" DemiDevimon protested. "If Myotismon caught me
anywhere inear/i his laboratory, he'd turn me into a feather pillow before you can say
'scratching post'! You, on the other hand, are already a traitor. You can't get in any more trouble
than you're already in, and you ilike/i Wizardmon. I'm perfectly happy to let you take all the
risks... I will, however, tell the Gazimon guards that I went out spying on you Digidestined folks
and heard that you plan to attack the east side of the complex. Get it?"
p "So I can sneak into the west side? I get it," Gatomon agreed. "You know,
DemiDevimon, for once I'm glad you're such a scheming little sneak."
p "Think nothing of it," said DemiDevimon. "iAnything/i to get that pesky
prestidigitator out of my feathers! Can I expect you to show up at the west side at sunset?"
P "You've got it!" Gatomon agreed. "Shake?"
p She offered her gloved paw, and DemiDevimon took it in his birdlike talons to shake it. he
grinned at her, showing off his pointy teeth.
P "Pleasure doing business with you, Gatomon!" he said. "Now I'd better get out of here
before Myotismon starts wondering where I've gone... unless he's too busy talking to Wizardmon
to care," he added bitterly. "See ya!"
P "So long!" Gatomon replied, for once feeling almost friendly to the little bat creature. He
did, apparently, have a few uses after all. Smiling and purring to herself, she sat down on the sofa
again to finish her fish.
pcenter~*~/center
P "Izzy, dinner time!" called a distant voice. Tentomon's antennae twitched with interest,
and he turned his bulbous eyes toward his companion. Izzy, as usual, seemed to have his hands
irreversibly fixed to his keyboard, his whole world taken up by the shimmering screen of his
laptop.
P "Izzy, did you hear that?" asked Tentomon. "It's time to eat! How about taking a break
from that computer business and going to get a bite to eat, huh? I'm so hungry I could eat a
whole kilobyte!"
p "Hmm? Did you say something?" Izzy's eyes barely shifted toward Tentomon before
turning his attention back to what he was doing.
P Tentomon sighed, shaking his head sadly as he watched his chances of being fed anytime
soon rapidly diminishing. Unfolding his wings, he took off and hovered next to Izzy's ear, trying
to catch a glimpse of what had his friend's attention ithis/i time.
P "Dare I ask what you're up to now?" he asked.
P "Just research, as usual," Izzy replied. "I'm brushing up on what we know about
Myotismon, trying to find something we might be able to use against him. So far, I haven't been
able to come up with anything, but it can't hurt to keep looking."
P "It can if you starve to death," Tentomon muttered. "And I can't digivolve if you don't
feed me every once in a while."
P "I guess that's true enough," Izzy allowed. "Now that you mention it, I could go for a
nutritional supplement myself. Maybe we should go ask mom if dinner's ready."
p Tentomon sighed again. "Izzy, as much as I like you, I have to say that sometimes you can
be totally oblivious."
P "Oblivious to what?" asked Izzy. "I didn't notice anything."
p "Never mind!"
p "Oh," Izzy replied. "Well, just let me finish this one little thing, and we'll go get something
to eat. I'll just close out this program, and... hey what's this? I never noticed this little icon
before!"
P "Won't it be there after dinner?" asked Tentomon.
p "Well, I guess so... but it won't take but a minute to look," Izzy replied. "I'll tell you what
- if you're so hungry, go downstairs and beg mom for something. I'll be down as soon as I check
this out."
p "Oh, all right," said Tentomon. "I hope your mom doesn't faint or something. I still don't
think anyone's parents are very used to having Digimon around the house."
p "She'll get used to it," said Izzy. "Go on. This won't take long. I'll be done before you
know it."
p Reluctantly, Tentomon nodded and buzzed out of the room. Izzy turned back to his
computer.
p "Where was I?" he muttered. "Oh, yeah, here we go. I wonder why I never saw this
before."
p Burning with the curiosity that was his trademark, he moved the pointer around to click
on a star-shaped icon labeled iMyths and Legends/i in the corner of the screen. The profile
of Myotismon he'd been looking at vanished and was replaced by a plainer screen full of text in a
peculiar font. Izzy had to stare a moment before he could finally make out what it said.
p "Greetings, Izzy!" said the writing cheerfully. "I knew you'd find this sooner or later, even
without me telling you about it. I just uploaded this information last night. Hopefully you'll be
able to put it to good use."
P "Gennai," Izzy sighed. "You could have at least told me you did this! What if Myotismon
stole my computer again, huh? Then what would I have done?"
p "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner," the text went on, "but communication has
been difficult for me lately. I suppose you've met the Seraphmon by now. He is a very powerful
adversary when he is angered, but if Myotismon ever found him, he'd stop at nothing to destroy
him. Because of that, he cannot stay in your world for very long, so he has to constantly cross
back and forth between worlds. It is using up a lot of our power and putting a strain on the lines
of power. As a result, this may be the last message I can send you until your battle is over, so you
must pay attention!
p "I'm sure your Digimon have told you the legends about Seraphmon - how they appear
when great injustice has been done and how they exist to preserve truth and fight deception. Your
Digimon probably do not know, however, that there is another legend concerning the Seraphmon.
I have found a copy of an old text from one of the ancient DigiTemples, such as the one
Centarumon guards. It reads, iAt the time when the worlds cross, the Lord of the Undead will
bring forth a shadow to fall upon the Light. A beam of darkness will turn power upon itself,
revealing the true form of the Beast. Then the Seraphmon will be born again, and the power from
his sword will prevail against evil./i Part of this prophecy has already come true! Myotismon
has known of this prediction for eons, and he will do all in his power to stop it from coming true.
He fears the coming of the Seraphmon more than anything. Once he knows he has arrived, he will
do anything to destroy him. Be very careful, Izzy! As soon as the Seraphmon comes into play,
you can expect anything to happen!"
P That was all there was. Izzy read the cryptic prediction a few times, pondering its
meaning. The world-crossing bit was fairly obvious, but what did the rest of it mean? Perhaps the
beam of darkness referred to the Black Lens. A shadow to fall upon the Light... why was light
capitalized and not shadow? Izzy scratched his head for a while as he pondered that for a while,
unable to resist his fascination with puzzled. Finally, he remembered the Crests, and Kari's in
particular. Her Crest was the Crest of Light, and her full name, Hikari, actually meant "light." So
perhaps that part of the verse referred to her brush with Myotismon as he sought to find and
destroy her before she could join the Digidestined. On the other hand, Gatomon also shared the
Crest's power, and Myotismon seemed a lot more interested in her than he did in Kari.
p "Maybe I'd better check up on all three of them," Izzy decided.
p He closed out the information page and pulled up his tracking grid. He could clearly see
all the different colored lights as they moved around on the grid. The red dot there was
Tentomon, downstairs enjoying dinner, no doubt. He could see the symbol he'd put in for himself,
an image of the Crest of Knowledge nearby. All too evident were a number of skull-and-
crossbones shapes that designated Myotismon's monsters, but they were hanging close to the
park. Even Myotismon's bat-shape was fairly still - even though he was doubtlessly plotting
mischief, he at least wasn't getting into it at the moment. The other Crest-pictures were also
staying near their own homes, and their colored-dot Digimon were all within a few feet of them...
all except the white dot that symbolized Gatomon. It was scurrying across the screen, moving
steadily away from Kari and Tai's apartment and closer to the park... and Myotismon.
p "Where does she think she's going?" asked Izzy. "She can't be trying to get to
Wizardmon... or can she? She's awfully emotional where he's concerned. I'd better call Kari and
ask her."
p He tapped a few buttons on the computer to open a communications channel and ran into
a wall of static. Gennai was right - the lines of power really were starting to get frayed.
Fortunately, he wasn't asking his Digivice to do anything itoo/i terribly difficult, and he was
finally able to reroute the signal enough that he could get through.
P "Kari, come in! Kari, do you read me?" he called.
p "Sure, Izzy," chirped Kari's cheerful voice. "What's up?"
P "Where's Gatomon?"
p There was an ominous pause, and then, "I don't know. Gee, she was here just a minute
ago. I wonder where she went?"
p "I was afraid you'd say that," Izzy sighed. "I thought maybe you'd sent her to scout or
something, but if she's run off without telling anyone... Kari, Gatomon's on her way to
Myotismon's hideout. I'm afraid she's going to try to look for Wizardmon!"
p "But that's crazy! Myotismon will eat her!" Kari exclaimed.
p "I know. That's why we've got to get ourselves down there inow/I," said Izzy.
"We'll stop her if we can. If we can't, we'd better be there to bail her out. You get Tai, and I'll
round up the others."
P "Right," Kari agreed. "Meet you at the park!"
p Izzy sighed and let the communication channel shut with a click. Tentomon, he decided,
was not going to like this one bit. Well, he might as well let his companion enjoy himself a few
minutes longer - he'd need the energy for the fight that was sure to come next. Realigning the
lines of contact, he opened the communications port again.
p "Calling all Digidestined," he said. "Gang, we've got an emergency on our hands... again."
Pcenter~*~/center
P Gatomon all but flew as she hurried down the streets to the park. She almost felt like she
really iwas/i flying, borne up by the same drive to destroy the evil Myotismon and protect
the ones she cared for as she had when she had transformed into Angewomon.
P *II'm going to get him back,/i* she told herself. *iThis time, I'm not going to lose
him. Nothing can stop me, not when Myotismon's own henchmon are working against him!/i*
P Evening was falling in shades of blue, dusted with a few pale stars, and Myotismon's fog
hovered thinly over the park. It's whiteness was good camouflage for a pale-furred cat, and she
glided through the cloudy landscape as if she were part of the fog herself. As she neared the door
to Myotismon's lair, she scurried up a tree and out on a limb, taking advantage of the mist's
obscuring properties and the shadows of the leaves to let her look down on the beast that was
guarding the secret hatch. At first, she couldn't see a thing, and she wondered why Myotismon
would leave his lair unguarded. Then her sharp eyes spotted a movement in the fog, and she was
gradually able to make out the caterpillar-like shape of a yellow bug called a Kunemon. Gatomon
blinked in surprise. It seemed DemiDevimon had come through for her after all! Myotismon
would never leave such a slow, weak creature as Kunemon standing guard if he didn't think he
needed his other warriors elsewhere, which must mean that all the important monsters were busy
guarding the east wing of the complex. The most impressive attack Kunemon could pull off was
Electro Thread, which wouldn't do much more than stun an opponent until help could arrive.
Gatomon whispered thanks to her helper and leapt from the tree.
P The Kunemon's antennae pricked up at the sound of rustling leaves, and it turned its slit
eyes toward the sound, staring vainly for its source. By the time it realized that a clawed animal
was about to fall on it, it was too late to do anything about it. The Kunemon program terminated
in a burst of random bits of data. Gatomon polished her claws on her fur before proceeding
towards the entrance. Within moments, she was back inside the underground complex.
p Cautiously, the cat padded through the shadows, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for
trouble. It wasn't long before she found it, as a fluttering noise alerted her, and she twitched her
ears and whiskers as she identified the sound. In the next instant, there was a iwhoosh,/i and
something landed in front of her. It was too dark in the cavern for even her cat's eyes to see, but
she knew the sound and scent of this creature well enough to recognize him even without seeing
him.
p "DemiDevimon?" she said uncertainly.
P "Yup, it's me," chortled the little bat. "Nice to see you again, Gatomon."
p "What are you doing here?" Gatomon asked.
P "Guarding the door, to make sure you don't get in, heh heh heh," DemiDevimon
chuckled. "After that last battle with you Digidestined people, the boss doesn't trust me as a
fighter anymore, so they left me here to help Kunemon guard the door... what'd you do to him,
anyway?"
p "Sliced and diced him. What else?"
P There was a rustling noise as DemiDevimon shrugged his wings. "Oh, well, no big loss.
We can always get another Kunemon. No Digimon you can't get another one of somewhere, if
you want to take the time to raise it. Anyway, I'm supposed to be hanging out here and raising
the roof if I see any of you folks, so they'll expect to know if you're coming. Even if you run into
any trouble, they'll be totally unprepared for you. Just another neat little twist to the plan."
p "You've thought of everything, haven't you?" said Gatomon. "Thanks, DemiDevimon. I
owe you another one."
p "If you want to thank me, get moving before someone comes to check on me or
something!" DemiDevimon replied. "If the boss catches us standing here talking, it's curtains for
both of us!"
p "I guess you're right," said Gatomon. "Better get moving, then. Thanks for all your help!"
p Gatomon bounded straight up into the air, over DemiDevimon's head, and landed on the
floor ten feet away, where she quickly took to all fours and darted out of sight. DemiDevimon
listened to her scrabbling paws as they scurried away. As soon as he was sure she had a
reasonable head start, he fluttered his wings and took off after her.
p Meanwhile, the Digidestined and their digital companions were picking their way through
the park, keeping their senses peeled for trouble. Izzy carried his computer, monitoring the
movements of the monsters in the area, while the Digimon put their sharp noses to work for the
same purpose.
p "Do you see her anywhere?" asked Kari, peering at the computer screen worriedly.
p "She's nearby," Izzy assured her. "It's just a little hard to tell exactly where. This program
is only set up to show me two-dimensional readouts. It won't show if she's inside Myotismon's
lair or not."
p "I smell her nearby," Gabumon offered. "She's not far ahead of us now."
p "Do you smell any nasty guard monsters?" asked Mimi nervously.
p "It's hard to tell," said Gabumon. "There have been so many monsters in this place, it's
going to reek of them for a month after they're gone."
p "There's the entrance up ahead!" said Tai excitedly. "No Gatomon, though. No monsters
either. Looks like there used to be one, though." He pointed at a small scorched spot in the earth
left by the disintegrating Kunemon.
p "She must have fought a guard to get inside," sighed Matt. "Great. I really didn't want to
spend any time wandering around Myotismon's lair."
p "Neither did I," said Izzy. "Without Gatomon to guide us, we're going to get totally lost!"
P "Hey, it's iyour/i job to help us find our way around," said Tai. "Put that computer
of yours to good use!"
p "I may be brilliant, but I'm not a miracle worker!" Izzy protested. "The best I can do is
give us a point in the general direction."
p "If that's the best we can do, that's the best we can do," said Sora philosophically. "Right
now, we don't have any other choice but to go in and try to save Gatomon, and the longer we
hang around and argue, the harder it's going to be to find her."
P "Sora's right," Tai agreed. "We're going in there to find Gatomon, and we're not coming
out until we do!"
p "Why do I not find that idea encouraging?" Joe muttered.
p "Relax, Joe," said Gomamon calmly. "Izzy and Tentomon have been in there before, and
they came out all right. With all of us working together, there's no way we can lose!"
p "I hate to have to correct you, Gomamon," said Izzy, "but I think you might be wrong
about that."
P "What do you mean?" asked Gomamon.
P "Well, I'm hoping this isn't what it looks like it is, but, well... see for yourself."
P Izzy waved a hand at the screen of his computer, and everyone gathered around to look.
Gatomon's moving white dot could clearly be seen against the black screen. So could a ring of
monsters, sitting perfectly still and waiting... and Gatomon was running straight into the center of
them.
pcenter~*~/center
P Gatomon felt her confidence surge as she neared the great bronze door that marked the
entrance to Myotismon's private laboratory. The last leg of her journey was at hand! Now all she
had to do was get the door open so she could disrupt whatever spell Myotismon had cast. Then
she could go find Wizardmon and get him far away from this awful place - hopefully far enough
that Myotismon would never find him again.
p The door was locked, but that was no problem for a clever cat like her. The lock was
nothing special, just a simple, antiquated device that was meant to keep foolish monsters out of
the vampire lord's work. It was nothing for Gatomon to slip one of her claws into the keyhole and
press the latch, and then the door swung smoothly open. A wan shaft of light from the flickering
torches fell onto the workroom's floor, but otherwise, there was no illumination. Gatomon's eyes
widened as she padded inside. It was one thing for Myotismon, as comfortable in shadows as fish
were in the oceans, to work in pitch blackness, but even cats needed a little bit of light to see by.
Here, though, the blackness was so complete that all she could see was opaque darkness. Then, as
her vision began to adjust, she was able to make out something else, a faint reddish glow. The
spell?
p Suddenly, there was a hoarse shout, and the lights in the room came on at full brilliance,
momentarily blinding the hapless cat. At the same time, something heavy and clawed leapt at her,
pinning her to the floor, and she could hear it growling deep in its chest. As her sight returned to
her, she was able to make out the long, muscular limbs, the black skin, and the six red glowing
eyes of a Devidramon. Beyond that, she saw a familiar fluttering shape, fanged mouth wide in an
insane laugh.
p "Sucker!" DemiDevimon jeered. "Man, you are iso/i gullible! I can't believe you fell
for this!"
p "DemiDevimon!" Gatomon snarled in fury. "You tricked me! I can't believe you would be
so wicked!"
p "As the snake said, you knew what I was when you picked me up," DemiDevimon replied.
"You should have known better to trust me, and now it's too late! The boss is going to be so
proud when he sees what I've done, he'll forget all about that dumb Wizardmon. Maybe if you
ask him real nice, he'll destroy you both at the same time!"
p "You won't get away with this, DemiDevimon!" Gatomon cried, struggling to free herself
from the Devidramon's claws. She kept her eyes tightly closed - if she opened them, she would be
prey the Devidramon's hypnotic powers, and then she'd be in as bad a mess as poor Wizardmon.
p "And who's going to stop me, hmm?" DemiDevimon chuckled. "Not you! Not your
Digidestined friends, either. Seeing as how I knew exactly when you were coming and where you
were going, I made sure there would be all kinds of nasty critters waiting for them. By the time
they're done, there won't be enough of them left to fill a soda can!"
P "You little monster!" Gatomon cried. "I'll get you for this if it's the last thing I ever-"
p "What is going on here?" interrupted a commanding voice. Reflexively, DemiDevimon,
Devidramon, and Gatomon all turned to watch as the magnificently cloaked figure of Myotismon
swept into the room.
p "Hey, boss, look what I caught!" DemiDevimon called exultantly. "It's that traitor,
Gatomon! Pretty cool, huh?"
p Remarkably, Myotismon showed no sign of approval - if anything, he looked worried.
p "What is she doing down here?" he demanded. "Why would Gatomon come here alone?"
p "That's the best part!" DemiDevimon laughed. "I fooled her into coming here! I told her
there was a spell down here that was keeping Wizardmon under control, and I'd draw the guards
off so she could break it! She actually thought she could trust me! Isn't that a riot?"
P "You itricked/i her?" Myotismon repeated. "You told her those lies?"
p "Well... sure! Why not?" asked DeviDevimon.
p "You shouldn't have done that," said Myotismon. He bowed his head a moment, frowning
thoughtfully. Then he turned and shot a decisive glance at DemiDevimon. "Let her go!"
P "What!?" the little bat repeated, shocked. "But - but boss..."
p "No buts! Do as I command!" Myotismon ordered. "Haven't you been paying attention to
ianything/i that's been going on today? There's a Seraphmon on the loose - the one being
with the power to destroy me, and it appears only when deception has been wrought! You and
your foolish games may have already brought my doom down on me, and it iwill/i come if
we don't set her free! Now, ilet her go!/i"
p The fury in his voice was so strong that the fearless Devidramon cringed, raising its paw
so that Gatomon could escape. When she only lay there, too stunned to move, Myotismon
actually walked across the room to pick her up and toss her toward the door.
p "What are you waiting for? Get out of here, you treacherous feline!" he snarled. "Blasted
Seraphmon! If it weren't for him, you'd be dying a slow death right now, so don't think you're
going to get off this easy next time!"
p Gatomon needed no second bidding. She shot out of the room as fast as her paws could
carry her. DemiDevimon watched her with a look of blank confusion.
p "What was that all about?" he asked. "I thought you wanted to kill her!"
p "Idiot!" Myotismon growled. "Of all the unmitigated idiocy I have ever chanced to find...
Argh! I dare you to find anything - anything at all - that will convince me that I shouldn't torture
you to death here and now."
p "Um... if tricks and lies and stuff are what get this Seraphmon you're talking about riled
up, then laying a trap for the Digidestined wouldn't be a very good idea, would it?" asked
DemiDevimon nervously.
p "It would be an iextremely/I bad idea," said Myotismon dangerously. "You
ididn't/I take it upon yourself to do such a thing, did you?"
p "Well, now that you mention it..."
p "Moron! Imbecile! I should roast you like the turkey you are!" shouted Myotismon,
throwing up his hands in frustration. "Lucky for you, someone is going to have to go call off the
guards before they cause any more trouble. You're not worth the time and effort it would take to
destroy you. Still, if I were you, I would go far, far away from here, because if I ever see your
face again..." He let the threat hang in the air, and DemiDevmimon cringed. Still fuming,
Myotismon. After taking a moment to collect his wits (something that didn't take very long, since
he had so few), DemiDevimon left the room as well.
pcenter~*~/center
p "I don't like this, I don't like this, I don't like iany/i of this..."
p "Aw, quit your moaning, Joe," Tai complained. "You're gonna wake the monsters up!"
p "Actually, I don't like it either," said Izzy. "We've gone a long way, and we haven't run
into so much as a single Bakemon. None of the monsters on my computer screen has moved an
inch since we got here. It's like they're waiting for something."
p "Perhaps that something would be me?" said a voice.
p The Digidestined and their Digimon spun around and saw Wizardmon standing behind
them, leaning casually on his staff and watching them with his weird magenta eyes. Izzy looked
from Wizardmon to his computer, then back to Wizardmon again, his eyes wide in disbelief.
p "But - but - but-" he stammered. "But that's impossible! You're standing right there, but
the computer says you're over here! What gives?"
p "Foolish Digidestined," Wizardmon answered. "I was the one who was using your
computer. I saw your little tracking program and figured out how to counteract it... at least
enough to keep you from finding me when I don't want to be found. I disapprove of spying."
p "You're a traitor!" Kari shouted. "How can you fight against us and Gatomon! She loves
you!"
p Wizardmon threw back his head and laughed. "You're as foolish as your cat friend is. I tell
you the truth - I'm not a traitor. I've never been loyal to anyone but Myotismon, and if Gatomon
has any misguided notions about me, that's her problem."
p "I don't get it!" Joe cried. "I knew you! Zudomon and I pulled you out of the harbor! You
saved Lillymon when Myotismon put that spell on her! You fought on our side! How can you be
against us now?"
p "The explanation is so simple," Wizardmon replied. "I'm surprised none of you have
caught on by now."
p "Very simple," an unexpected voice agreed. "And it's about time the truth came out!"
p There was a communal gasp as a rectangular patch of the wall suddenly began to glow. It
opened up into a door, and out of the door stepped...
p ...another Wizardmon, one whose eyes blazed a furious shade of green.
To Be Continued
By: SilvorMoon
p The Digidestined and their companions stared in horror at the scene before them: someone
who should have been a friend who was now transformed into a monster, and their companion
hanging helpless in the creature's hands. Gatomon wasn't even resisting as she dangled there. She
was very still and very silent, shocked to deeply to even react anymore.
p "Gatomon, get away!" Kari screamed desperately. "Move or he'll kill you!"
p The little cat's ears didn't even twitch. She wasn't seeing or hearing anything anymore, and
the sight of her paralysis scared Kari even more than the impending peril. It was as if she had
already died and was just waiting for the rest of the world to realize it.
P "We've got to get her away from him!" said Tai.
p "Not a chance, Digidestined," Asuramon snarled. "If any of you make a move, your little
friend gets it. Surrender your Digivices and maybe I'll let the rest of you live."
P "Don't you dare hurt Gatomon!" Kari shouted. "If you hurt her, I'll - I'll..."
p "You'll what?" the monster sneered. "Face it! You all are helpless against the power of the
Black Lens!"
P "But I'm not!" boomed a voice from the darkness. "I didn't want to intervene in this battle,
but you've pushed me too far! I won't let you break an innocent Digimon's heart and use her love
for her friends against her!"
p All heads were turning in confusion as they searched for the source of the voice. Hearing
it even made Gatomon seem to revive a little. Asuramon looked uneasy.
p "Who are you?" he demanded. "Come out and show yourself!"
p "As you wish," the voice replied.
p There was a burst of green light, and then a dazzling shape dropped out of the sky. In
form, it was very like Angemon and Angewomon, a winged humanoid partly covered in green
armor. Its face was hidden by a mask, but green light could be seen through a veiwslit. It held a
silver sword in one hand.
p "Another angel!" said TK in awe.
p "Where did Ihe/I come from?" asked Tai.
p "That must be the helper Gennai promised us!" said Izzy. "I must say, I'm rather
impressed."
P "I didn't know we had another one of those," said Joe.
p The newcomer eyed Asuramon with an expression of utter disgust.
p "You are a disgrace to Digimon everywhere," he said. "It is my duty to avenge the wrongs
you have done, starting by releasing your captive. Let her go before I'm forced to hurt you."
p "You couldn't," said Asuramon.
p "Want to bet?" the stranger replied. "Digimon of deception, be what you are! ISword
of Truth!/I"
p The angel Digimon lunged at Asuramon, swinging his sword in a burning arc. Asuramon
threw his dark fires at the approaching enemy, but the instant they touched the gleaming sword,
they melted into nothingness. The blade struck, and there was an explosion of light that made
everyone cover their eyes...
p When their sight cleared, Asuramon was gone. In his place was a groggy-looking
Wizardmon, still clutching the impotent Black Lens. Gatomon lay a few feet away, her shining
eyes riveted on the creature that hovered above her. Wizardmon shook himself, and shot a
malevolent glare at the angel Digimon.
p "You're going to pay for that," he hissed.
p "I think not," the angel replied. "Or do you really want to make me do that again?"
p "Well, perhaps you're not going to pay inow,/i Wizardmon replied, backing away a
bit, "but the time will come when you will be punished!"
p "Don't make me angry," said the angel. "You know I'm only refraining from destroying
you to spare Gatomon any more suffering. She's hurt enough in her lifetime to have to suffer
because of you. Return to your master, and tell him you've seen the Seraphmon."
P Wizardmon's eyes widened as he heard the name, but he said nothing. Leaping to his feet,
he swirled his cloak around him and vanished into the shadows of an alley. Seraphmon dropped
out of the sky to kneel by Gatomon's side.
p "Are you all right, Gatomon?" he asked gently.
p "I... I think so..." she managed.
p "I am sorry that had to happen," Seraphmon said. "More sorry than you can imagine."
p Very carefully, he picked her up and carried her to Kari, depositing her gently in the young
Digidestined's arms.
p "Take good care of her," he instructed. "And don't worry, everything will be all right.
You have my word on it. Now I must go, before my power runs out. Farewell, Digidestined!"
P Before anyone could return the parting words, Seraphmon sprang into the air and
vanished in a burst of green light. Everyone stared up at the sky, still dumbstruck with
amazement.
p "Okay," said Tai, "could someone explain that dude to me? What in the Digiworld is a
Seraphmon?"
P "I don't know," Tentomon admitted. "I've never seen a Digimon like that before!"
p "I know what it is! I know what it is!" Gomamon piped up, bouncing around excitedly.
p "Well, do enlighten us," said Tentomon, miffed that Gomamon knew something he didn't.
p "It's an old legend," Gomamon explained. "Unimon told me all about it when I was just a
baby Pitchmon. Once upon a time, terrible, evil Digimon swept across the Digiworld and
destroyed a lot of the good Digimon who lived there. Some Digimon tried to fight the monsters,
but nobody could stop them. Some of the Digimon got so angry at having their friends killed that
they digivolved into Seraphmon, the avenger Digimon, and destroyed the monsters. They say that
if anything really bad happens, Seraphmon will sometimes appear to make things right. They're
powerful warriors who hate any kind of cruelty or deception... but nobody's seen one for
thousands of years!"
p "Well, we've seen one now, haven't we?" said Matt. "And not too soon, either!"
p "You can say that again," said Kari, snuggling her still-trembling companion. "Gatomon
almost got squished!"
p "That was weird," said Izzy. The tell-tale tapping was back again as his fingers pattered
across the keys of his laptop. "Absolutely none of that last battle made any sense at all."
P Sora rolled her eyes. "What was your first hint?"
p "Well, Vilemon's powers, for one thing," answered Izzy, missing the sarcasm entirely.
"According to my readings, Vilemon is supposed to be a very weak Digimon, certainly nothing
that could bash our Champions around like that. And Asuramon is a Vaccine type Digimon. He's
usually peaceful and shy, and he's not in Wizardmon's family tree at all. In other words, in all the
natural laws of the Digiworld, Wizardmon should inot/i have been able to become
Asuramon, and even if he could, he shouldn't have acted like that."
p "He shouldn't have acted like that at iall/i!" Gatomon wailed. "He tried to kill me!
Why would he do something like that? Do you think he's angry at me, Kari? When Myotismon
attacked him, I just stood there. I didn't do anything to defend him or anything, and when he
disappeared, I didn't go looking for him. Do you think he's mad at me for that? Maybe he thinks I
don't like him anymore..."
P "Gatomon, don't think things like that!" Surprisingly, Joe was the one who was arguing
with her. "I may not know your Wizardmon friend very well, but I do remember how devoted he
was to you. He was a nice guy. He would never do anything like this unless something really
weird had happened. No matter what, none of this is your fault. All right?"
P Gatomon nodded, albeit somewhat uncertainly. Mimi looked at Joe with admiration.
p "Wow, Joe, I didn't know you were such a great speechmaker," she said.
p Joe shrugged and blushed a little. "Well, you know, I just can't stand to see a grown
kittycat cry."
P "I guess we should all be getting home now," said Tai, staring up at the sky uneasily. The
day that had started out sunny was turning overcast, hinting that more unpleasant things were still
waiting for them. "It's better than waiting around for Myotismon to launch anything else nasty at
us."
P The others agreed, and they split up to begin wandering dazedly back to their homes to
mull over this new, disastrous turn of events. Gatomon rode limply in Kari's arms, her eyes wide
and frightened.
P "Don't worry," Kari soothed. "I'm going to look after you. Things are going to be all
right."
p "I don't know," said Gatomon. "I don't know if they can be, anymore...."
pcenter~*~/center
p It was a rather disheveled and annoyed Wizardmon who returned to Myotismon's lair. He
paused at the threshold to brush off his cloak and shake the dents out of his hat, and the faint
noises caught the attention of a certain sharp-eared bat who opened his glittering golden eyes to
investigate.
P "Well, well, well!" he rasped. "If it isn't the failure come back at last! How does it feel to
know your stupid Black Lens doesn't work?"
p "It idid/i work," Wizardmon snapped. "It's not my fault that you couldn't make use
of the powers you were given."
p "Hey, I did a perfectly good job!" said DemiDevimon. "It's not my fault I was
outnumbered. Those kids don't play fair. Anyway, I did a lot better than you could have done...
what ihave/i you been doing, anyway? I thought Lord Myotismon told you to stay behind!"
P "Lord Myotismon also told me to take care of Gatomon, and that's what I've been
doing," Wizardmon replied. "I don't think she'll be giving us any more trouble. Now, if you'll
excuse me, I have an urgent message to deliver."
p With that, he whacked the bat Digimon out of the way with his staff and swept into the
shadows of Myotismon's lair.
p "Message? What message?" asked DemiDevimon, instantly curious. "Hey, wait for me!"
p Wizardmon was surprised to find Myotismon standing in the main chamber, looking
remarkably calm and unruffled considering the fact that he'd just recently returned from being
knocked about by Angemon. A circle of light hung in the air, composed of a ring of flittering bats
channeling Myotismon's power. Wizardmon couldn't make out anything more than wavering
green-yellow light, but Myotismon seemed to be seeing something that pleased him, and his fangs
glinted in the circle's luminance. Deciding that the merits of going ahead and talking now while
Myotismon was in a good mood outweighed the possible disadvantages of interrupting him,
Wizardmon cleared his throat. Myotismon turned his head to give the wizard Digimon an icy
stare.
P "Well," he said, "I was wondering when you'd decide to come home. Would you like to
explain what you've been up to?"
P "I just decided to tag along and watch the fight," said Wizardmon. That was more or less
the truth. "That, and to keep an eye on my Black Lens. I've brought it back, by the way."
p "Fine. That saves me some trouble," said Myotismon. "I don't suppose you were at all
tempted to try it out?"
P "Um... well, actually..."
p "I thought so," Myotismon replied. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist playing with
your new toy."
p "You're gonna get it now!" DemiDevimon snickered. Wizardmon gave him a look of
death, but the little bat monster just grinned insolently.
P "Silence!" Myotismon snapped. "Your opinion was not asked for, DemiDevimon. I am
speaking to Wizardmon, if you don't mind."
p "All right, all right, sheesh!" muttered DemiDevimon.
P "Now, then, Wizardmon," the dark lord continued, "I should be very annoyed with you.
You've disobeyed your orders and made use of powers that you were not given permission to
use. Nor did I permit you to do battle with the Digidestined. iHowever-/i" He barked the
word at DemiDevimon, who had been grinning with fiendish delight at the harangue and leaning
forward to catch every word. "-since the experiment was so successful, I'm going to let you off
the hook this time."
P Wizardmon tried to hide a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Lord Myotismon."
P "Your Black Lens proved remarkably effective," Myotismon continued. "If it can make a
Digimon as pathetic as DemiDevimon powerful enough to give the Digidestined a run for their
money, the results produced by using it on a truly impressive Digimon should be enough to
trounce them once and for all! ...By the way, how did iyou/i fare against those annoying
human children? Some strange force prevented me from watching the battle. I thought it might be
some kind of side effect of the Black Lens's power."
P "I... am not quite so sure that is the case," said Wizardmon slowly. "There were other
powers afoot in this battle besides ours and the Digidestined's. You see, they had help."
P "Help?" Myotismon was instantly alert. "What kind of help?"
P "Just as I was about to destroy the Digidestined, a very unusual Digimon appeared out of
nowhere and attacked me, and nothing I did had any effect on him. He... told me to give you a
message."
P "Well? Out with it already!" growled Myotismon. "What kind of message could some
wretched, interfering mystery Digimon have for me?"
P "He said to tell you... I am to report that I have seen the Seraphmon."
p Wizardmon cringed as the tension in the room became almost palpable, hitting him like a
slap in the face. Myotismon's eyes went wide for an instant, and even DemiDevimon looked
nervous. Then Myotismon's look of shock - it couldn't be fear, could it? - shifted to an expression
of desperate skepticism.
p "Say that again," he said. "The whole thing. What exactly did you see?"
P "I saw an angel Digimon, similar to Angemon or Angewomon, wielding a silver sword and
dressed in green armor. He told me he had come to right the wrongs I had done and struck me
down, and when I had fallen, he landed next to me and told me I was to tell you that I had seen
the Seraphmon... What iis/i a Seraphmon, anyway?"
P "It is a legend," said Myotismon. "The lives of all great Digimon, good and evil, are ruled
by legends and prophecies. Seraphmon is one such legend. He comes into being when a Digimon
is wronged so greatly that sheer anger allows him to digivolve. Once in the form of Seraphmon,
he lives only to fight injustice." He paused, staring worriedly into space. "Just as Devimon knew it
was to be his fate that he would be destroyed by the smallest of the Digidestined humans, it was
foretold that I would be overcome by the powers of a Seraphmon. This creature you fought has
sent me a death threat!"
p "No way!" DemiDevimon cried. "No way some overgrown Tooth Fairy is going to
destroy you, boss!"
p "Stop your mindless babbling," Myotismon barked. "The legends predicted the come of
the Digidestined, and the Digidestined have come. The legends told of how Devimon would be
destroyed, and he met his end as predicted. It would be unwise to tempt fate by ignoring the
prophecy. I will simply have to devise a way of being rid of this Seraphmon before he can get me
into any more trouble."
p "Lord Myotismon, I have a small suggestion to make," said Wizardmon timidly. "Or...
perhaps I should call it a request?"
p "Do you dare make requests at a time like this?" asked Myotismon dangerously.
p "Oh, no, my lord! I simply meat to point something out," Wizardmon answered hastily. "I
was thinking that, if what you say is true, it would might be best if I were to avoid doing battle
with Seraphmon... or Gatomon, for a while."
P "What's the matter, Wizardmon? Afraid of being beaten again?" DemiDevimon sneered.
P "How many times do I have to tell you to be quiet?" Myotismon snarled. He turned back
to his other servant. "Well, Wizardmon? Answer the bat's question. Why don't you want to fight
Seraphmon again?"
p "It's not so much that I don't want to," said Wizardmon carefully. "Certainly I would fight
him again if your lordship wished. I simply wanted to say that I don't think it would be wise. You
say that Seraphmon are avengers, righters of wrongs. What wrong could we have possibly done
to bring down the wrath of a Seraphmon except for our plot against Gatomon? After all, he has
never appeared until just now, when we set our plan in motion, and when he appeared, he seemed
to be more concerned with her welfare than destroying me."
P *iOtherwise, I might not be here,/i* he thought, but he didn't dare say that aloud.
p Myotismon smiled a bit, showing the tips of his fangs. "Yes, that is a particularly vile plot.
Perhaps it iis/i devious enough to awaken the slayer of deceivers."
P "Then why are you smiling?" Wizardmon wanted to know.
P "Because he is already too late," Myotismon chuckled. "Behold!"
P The vampire Digimon raised his hands, calling forth his bats to form the circle of light
once again. Wizardmon peered into it curiously. This time, he was able to discern a picture, blurry
but still recognizable the young female Digidestined - what was her name? Kari? - and her
treacherous Digimon friend, Gatomon. The sounds that came through the viewing circle were too
distorted to be understood, but the pain in Gatomon's voice was clearly audible.
p "You see?" asked Myotismon. "Already our feline friend is losing herself to fear and
confusion. She has lost the will to fight. At the very least, she will be unable to help her
Digidestined friends. At best, she will drag them down and cause them to make mistakes as well.
We will use your Black Lens to beat them by superior strength alone, and not even the
Seraphmon will be able to stop me!"
p "An excellent plan, Lord Myotismon," Wizardmon replied. "I am honored to have been of
service to you."
P "Indeed, you've proven yourself most valuable," Myotismon agreed. "Come! I wish to
discuss the properties of this Black Lens of yours without having to put up with any annoying
interruptions." He shot a dark look at DemiDevimon. "iYou/i stay here and keep an eye on
things. Come back when you learn to keep your mouth muted."
p With that, Myotismon turned and swept grandly out of the room, with Wizardmon
following at a respectful distance. DemiDevimon stuck his tongue out at the retreating wizard.
P "Wizardmon, Schmizardmon," he muttered. "All the time, it's Wizardmon this and
Wizardmon that and Wizardmon whatever. After all these years of loyal service, too! I'm a better
servant to Lord Myotismon than that pointy-hatted wand-waver could ever be, and he still gets all
the attention! It makes me sick. If only there was a way..."
p He broke off in mid-tirade as his eye was caught by the flickering light of Myotismon's
veiwing circle. It still hung in midair, patiently waiting for the vampire lord to order its dispersal.
DemiDevimon stared at it for a long time, watching Gatomon stare out into space with that
stricken look in her eyes, and in the dark corners of his devious little mind, a plan began to hatch.
pcenter~*~/center
P "Are you sure you're feeling okay, Gatomon?" Kari asked, for just about the tenth time
that afternoon. However, the cat Digimon was still too dazed to take much notice.
P "I'll be fine," she said. "I just need to think a while, that's all."
p "Oh. I guess I can understand that," said Kari. She set a dish down next to her friend.
"Here. I talked Mom into making us some fish for lunch, and I brought you some. You should eat
it."
p "Thanks," Gatomon replied. "That was nice of you."
p There was an awkward silence. Gatomon stayed where she was, perched on the arm of a
sofa and staring out the window at the glittering cityscape.
p "Do you want me to leave?" asked Kari. "I really want to be able to help you, Gatomon
but-"
P "I know you want to help, Kari," said Gatomon, "and I really appreciate it, but... I need
some time to myself, okay?"
P "All right," Kari sighed. "Take care of yourself, Gatomon."
p Kari padded silently out of the living room, leaving her friend alone... well, not
icompletely/i alone. There was one other living thing in the room. Attracted by the scent of
food, Kari's pet cat had slipped through the door and come to investigate. He pounced on the
sofa with a scrabbling of claws that made the nervous Gatomon jump. Then she realized that it
was just her non-digital cousin paying a visit, and she managed a small smile.
P "Hi, Miko," she said. "Did you want some fish? It's pretty good - almost as good as
digital fish."
P "Mew," Miko agreed.
P "Well, I guess real-world cats aren't very good conversationalists," said Gatomon, "but I
guess that's okay. I just need someone to listen for a while, and I don't know if Kari
understands."
p That was sad, too, she reflected. Kari was her companion, the one who had been waiting
for her since the day she had been programmed. She had always known instinctively that there
was someone out there she belonged to and with, and she had believed that finally joining with the
human who was destined to be the other half of her soul would be the end of her dark days of
abuse and loneliness. And now... now everything was falling apart. She sighed and offered a
chunk of fish to the cat, who accepted it with a grateful purr.
P "You're one lucky cat, Miko," Gatomon said. "You don't have to worry about fighting
evil or having bad things happen to your friends. For all you know, everything is perfect. I guess it
is, if you're just a housepet. But I've got to look after Kari... and now I have to worry about
Wizardmon, too. I can't hurt him - he's the best friend I ever had until I met the Digidestined. He
was the first person to ever show me any kindness, and now he wants to hurt me. I don't
understand it! What happened to him to make him go back to Myotismon? I thought he didn't
even ilike/i Myotismon! Something really awful must have happened to him."
P "Absolutely right. You were always too clever for your own good, Gatomon."
P At the sound of the raspy voice, Miko glanced up from the fish he'd been eating, took one
look at the speaker, and leaped to the top of the sofa with wide eyes and a bushed tail. Gatomon
simply glared and flexed her sharp claws.
P "DemiDevimon," she growled, "what are you doing here? You get away from my friend's
house!"
P Sure enough, the little bat-creature was perched on the windowsill, watching both cats
with his slit-pupiled golden eyes.
P "You're not happy to see me? I'm hurt," said DemiDevimon in mock-offense. "I just
heard you'd had a hard day, and I thought you might need some support from an old friend."
p "You were never my friend," Gatomon replied. "We were enemies even when we were on
the same side."
p "Humph. Well, let's say I've had a change of heart, then," answered the bat, undeterred.
"Maybe I'm tired of being bashed around by you and your Digidestined friends, and I want to
make amends."
p "From what I remember, my friends never fought you that often. You always fought by
trickery, because you knew you couldn't win a fair fight," said Gatomon. "I know you too well,
DemiDevimon. You're nothing but a trickster. What could you possibly want to do for me?"
P "I could tell you what's been done to Wizardmon," DemiDevimon answered. "I know,
believe me. After all, who would know better? You know I'm always hanging around near where
Myotismon is. I always know what he's planning."
P "True," Gatomon replied, "but why would you want to tell me? What would you get out
of helping me save Wizardmon?"
P "Hey, I never said anything about helping to save him," said DemiDevimon, fluttering his
wings in agitation. "I just said I'd tell you what's been done to him, that's all. It's up to you to
decide what you want to do about it. And as for why I'd want to tell you, well... to tell the truth,
I'm not that wild about your Wizardmon. He's getting to be a real pain in the patookas. Him and
that Black Lens have made such a big hit with the boss that I'm not getting any respect at all
anymore! It ain't fair. I spend my whole life slaving away for Myotismon, and as soon as someone
else comes along who has a little bit of a lucky streak and gets in the boss's good graces - BAM!
Exit DemiDevimon. It's like I don't even exist anymore, unless one of them wants to pick on me.
I tell ya, iit ain't fair!/i" The little bat Digimon fluttered his wings again in such violent
agitation that it looked like he was going to fall off the window ledge.
P *iThat's more like the DemiDevimon I know,/i* thought Gatomon. *iHe admits
he's not here to help me - he's here because he wants me to help him. He might just do that, if
everything he says is true. I know how loyal he is to Myotismon, and he bwould/b be jealous
if Myotismon started to favor someone else. He might, just bmight/b be telling the
truth!/i*
P "All right, DemiDevimon," she said. "Tell me what's been done to Wizardmon - and no
tricks!"
p "I wouldn't! This is too important for playing games," said DeviDevimon, offended. "It
was like this - after that last battle, Myotismon was totally ticked with you guys, so he sent out a
bunch of Bakemon scouts - they're good at hiding, you know - to hunt you down and try to keep
an eye on you. One of them found your friend Wizardmon wandering around in an alley, all beat
up and wandering around in a daze, not even sure where he was going. The Bakemon knew he
used to work for Myotismon and didn't realize he had changed sides, so he brought him back to
Myotismon's lair to get him doctored up. Well, Myotismon wasn't too happy about ithat/i at
all - not until he found out that Wizardmon had lost his memories. Myotismon convinced
Wizardmon that it was you who hurt him, pretending to be his friend and then attacking him when
he didn't expect it and leaving him for dead. Now all he can think about is getting back at you for
hurting him and making him forget who he is. And just to be sure he never gets his memories
back, Myotismon set up a magical charm in the lowest basement of the complex. As long as the
spell is working, Wizardmon will believe anything Myotismon tells him."
P "Magic, of course!" Gatomon exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of that! That's why his eyes
are the wrong color."
P "Exactly!" said DemiDevimon. "On the other hand, if you could break the spell, you'll
have your wizard back, and I'll have my job back, and we'll both be happy. Get it?"
P Gatomon narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "If you know so much, why don't you break the
spell? Why involve me at all, especially since you know I don't trust you?"
P "Hey, I don't like having your buddy hanging around all the time, but I'm not going to put
my life on the line to get rid of him!" DemiDevimon protested. "If Myotismon caught me
anywhere inear/i his laboratory, he'd turn me into a feather pillow before you can say
'scratching post'! You, on the other hand, are already a traitor. You can't get in any more trouble
than you're already in, and you ilike/i Wizardmon. I'm perfectly happy to let you take all the
risks... I will, however, tell the Gazimon guards that I went out spying on you Digidestined folks
and heard that you plan to attack the east side of the complex. Get it?"
p "So I can sneak into the west side? I get it," Gatomon agreed. "You know,
DemiDevimon, for once I'm glad you're such a scheming little sneak."
p "Think nothing of it," said DemiDevimon. "iAnything/i to get that pesky
prestidigitator out of my feathers! Can I expect you to show up at the west side at sunset?"
P "You've got it!" Gatomon agreed. "Shake?"
p She offered her gloved paw, and DemiDevimon took it in his birdlike talons to shake it. he
grinned at her, showing off his pointy teeth.
P "Pleasure doing business with you, Gatomon!" he said. "Now I'd better get out of here
before Myotismon starts wondering where I've gone... unless he's too busy talking to Wizardmon
to care," he added bitterly. "See ya!"
P "So long!" Gatomon replied, for once feeling almost friendly to the little bat creature. He
did, apparently, have a few uses after all. Smiling and purring to herself, she sat down on the sofa
again to finish her fish.
pcenter~*~/center
P "Izzy, dinner time!" called a distant voice. Tentomon's antennae twitched with interest,
and he turned his bulbous eyes toward his companion. Izzy, as usual, seemed to have his hands
irreversibly fixed to his keyboard, his whole world taken up by the shimmering screen of his
laptop.
P "Izzy, did you hear that?" asked Tentomon. "It's time to eat! How about taking a break
from that computer business and going to get a bite to eat, huh? I'm so hungry I could eat a
whole kilobyte!"
p "Hmm? Did you say something?" Izzy's eyes barely shifted toward Tentomon before
turning his attention back to what he was doing.
P Tentomon sighed, shaking his head sadly as he watched his chances of being fed anytime
soon rapidly diminishing. Unfolding his wings, he took off and hovered next to Izzy's ear, trying
to catch a glimpse of what had his friend's attention ithis/i time.
P "Dare I ask what you're up to now?" he asked.
P "Just research, as usual," Izzy replied. "I'm brushing up on what we know about
Myotismon, trying to find something we might be able to use against him. So far, I haven't been
able to come up with anything, but it can't hurt to keep looking."
P "It can if you starve to death," Tentomon muttered. "And I can't digivolve if you don't
feed me every once in a while."
P "I guess that's true enough," Izzy allowed. "Now that you mention it, I could go for a
nutritional supplement myself. Maybe we should go ask mom if dinner's ready."
p Tentomon sighed again. "Izzy, as much as I like you, I have to say that sometimes you can
be totally oblivious."
P "Oblivious to what?" asked Izzy. "I didn't notice anything."
p "Never mind!"
p "Oh," Izzy replied. "Well, just let me finish this one little thing, and we'll go get something
to eat. I'll just close out this program, and... hey what's this? I never noticed this little icon
before!"
P "Won't it be there after dinner?" asked Tentomon.
p "Well, I guess so... but it won't take but a minute to look," Izzy replied. "I'll tell you what
- if you're so hungry, go downstairs and beg mom for something. I'll be down as soon as I check
this out."
p "Oh, all right," said Tentomon. "I hope your mom doesn't faint or something. I still don't
think anyone's parents are very used to having Digimon around the house."
p "She'll get used to it," said Izzy. "Go on. This won't take long. I'll be done before you
know it."
p Reluctantly, Tentomon nodded and buzzed out of the room. Izzy turned back to his
computer.
p "Where was I?" he muttered. "Oh, yeah, here we go. I wonder why I never saw this
before."
p Burning with the curiosity that was his trademark, he moved the pointer around to click
on a star-shaped icon labeled iMyths and Legends/i in the corner of the screen. The profile
of Myotismon he'd been looking at vanished and was replaced by a plainer screen full of text in a
peculiar font. Izzy had to stare a moment before he could finally make out what it said.
p "Greetings, Izzy!" said the writing cheerfully. "I knew you'd find this sooner or later, even
without me telling you about it. I just uploaded this information last night. Hopefully you'll be
able to put it to good use."
P "Gennai," Izzy sighed. "You could have at least told me you did this! What if Myotismon
stole my computer again, huh? Then what would I have done?"
p "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner," the text went on, "but communication has
been difficult for me lately. I suppose you've met the Seraphmon by now. He is a very powerful
adversary when he is angered, but if Myotismon ever found him, he'd stop at nothing to destroy
him. Because of that, he cannot stay in your world for very long, so he has to constantly cross
back and forth between worlds. It is using up a lot of our power and putting a strain on the lines
of power. As a result, this may be the last message I can send you until your battle is over, so you
must pay attention!
p "I'm sure your Digimon have told you the legends about Seraphmon - how they appear
when great injustice has been done and how they exist to preserve truth and fight deception. Your
Digimon probably do not know, however, that there is another legend concerning the Seraphmon.
I have found a copy of an old text from one of the ancient DigiTemples, such as the one
Centarumon guards. It reads, iAt the time when the worlds cross, the Lord of the Undead will
bring forth a shadow to fall upon the Light. A beam of darkness will turn power upon itself,
revealing the true form of the Beast. Then the Seraphmon will be born again, and the power from
his sword will prevail against evil./i Part of this prophecy has already come true! Myotismon
has known of this prediction for eons, and he will do all in his power to stop it from coming true.
He fears the coming of the Seraphmon more than anything. Once he knows he has arrived, he will
do anything to destroy him. Be very careful, Izzy! As soon as the Seraphmon comes into play,
you can expect anything to happen!"
P That was all there was. Izzy read the cryptic prediction a few times, pondering its
meaning. The world-crossing bit was fairly obvious, but what did the rest of it mean? Perhaps the
beam of darkness referred to the Black Lens. A shadow to fall upon the Light... why was light
capitalized and not shadow? Izzy scratched his head for a while as he pondered that for a while,
unable to resist his fascination with puzzled. Finally, he remembered the Crests, and Kari's in
particular. Her Crest was the Crest of Light, and her full name, Hikari, actually meant "light." So
perhaps that part of the verse referred to her brush with Myotismon as he sought to find and
destroy her before she could join the Digidestined. On the other hand, Gatomon also shared the
Crest's power, and Myotismon seemed a lot more interested in her than he did in Kari.
p "Maybe I'd better check up on all three of them," Izzy decided.
p He closed out the information page and pulled up his tracking grid. He could clearly see
all the different colored lights as they moved around on the grid. The red dot there was
Tentomon, downstairs enjoying dinner, no doubt. He could see the symbol he'd put in for himself,
an image of the Crest of Knowledge nearby. All too evident were a number of skull-and-
crossbones shapes that designated Myotismon's monsters, but they were hanging close to the
park. Even Myotismon's bat-shape was fairly still - even though he was doubtlessly plotting
mischief, he at least wasn't getting into it at the moment. The other Crest-pictures were also
staying near their own homes, and their colored-dot Digimon were all within a few feet of them...
all except the white dot that symbolized Gatomon. It was scurrying across the screen, moving
steadily away from Kari and Tai's apartment and closer to the park... and Myotismon.
p "Where does she think she's going?" asked Izzy. "She can't be trying to get to
Wizardmon... or can she? She's awfully emotional where he's concerned. I'd better call Kari and
ask her."
p He tapped a few buttons on the computer to open a communications channel and ran into
a wall of static. Gennai was right - the lines of power really were starting to get frayed.
Fortunately, he wasn't asking his Digivice to do anything itoo/i terribly difficult, and he was
finally able to reroute the signal enough that he could get through.
P "Kari, come in! Kari, do you read me?" he called.
p "Sure, Izzy," chirped Kari's cheerful voice. "What's up?"
P "Where's Gatomon?"
p There was an ominous pause, and then, "I don't know. Gee, she was here just a minute
ago. I wonder where she went?"
p "I was afraid you'd say that," Izzy sighed. "I thought maybe you'd sent her to scout or
something, but if she's run off without telling anyone... Kari, Gatomon's on her way to
Myotismon's hideout. I'm afraid she's going to try to look for Wizardmon!"
p "But that's crazy! Myotismon will eat her!" Kari exclaimed.
p "I know. That's why we've got to get ourselves down there inow/I," said Izzy.
"We'll stop her if we can. If we can't, we'd better be there to bail her out. You get Tai, and I'll
round up the others."
P "Right," Kari agreed. "Meet you at the park!"
p Izzy sighed and let the communication channel shut with a click. Tentomon, he decided,
was not going to like this one bit. Well, he might as well let his companion enjoy himself a few
minutes longer - he'd need the energy for the fight that was sure to come next. Realigning the
lines of contact, he opened the communications port again.
p "Calling all Digidestined," he said. "Gang, we've got an emergency on our hands... again."
Pcenter~*~/center
P Gatomon all but flew as she hurried down the streets to the park. She almost felt like she
really iwas/i flying, borne up by the same drive to destroy the evil Myotismon and protect
the ones she cared for as she had when she had transformed into Angewomon.
P *II'm going to get him back,/i* she told herself. *iThis time, I'm not going to lose
him. Nothing can stop me, not when Myotismon's own henchmon are working against him!/i*
P Evening was falling in shades of blue, dusted with a few pale stars, and Myotismon's fog
hovered thinly over the park. It's whiteness was good camouflage for a pale-furred cat, and she
glided through the cloudy landscape as if she were part of the fog herself. As she neared the door
to Myotismon's lair, she scurried up a tree and out on a limb, taking advantage of the mist's
obscuring properties and the shadows of the leaves to let her look down on the beast that was
guarding the secret hatch. At first, she couldn't see a thing, and she wondered why Myotismon
would leave his lair unguarded. Then her sharp eyes spotted a movement in the fog, and she was
gradually able to make out the caterpillar-like shape of a yellow bug called a Kunemon. Gatomon
blinked in surprise. It seemed DemiDevimon had come through for her after all! Myotismon
would never leave such a slow, weak creature as Kunemon standing guard if he didn't think he
needed his other warriors elsewhere, which must mean that all the important monsters were busy
guarding the east wing of the complex. The most impressive attack Kunemon could pull off was
Electro Thread, which wouldn't do much more than stun an opponent until help could arrive.
Gatomon whispered thanks to her helper and leapt from the tree.
P The Kunemon's antennae pricked up at the sound of rustling leaves, and it turned its slit
eyes toward the sound, staring vainly for its source. By the time it realized that a clawed animal
was about to fall on it, it was too late to do anything about it. The Kunemon program terminated
in a burst of random bits of data. Gatomon polished her claws on her fur before proceeding
towards the entrance. Within moments, she was back inside the underground complex.
p Cautiously, the cat padded through the shadows, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for
trouble. It wasn't long before she found it, as a fluttering noise alerted her, and she twitched her
ears and whiskers as she identified the sound. In the next instant, there was a iwhoosh,/i and
something landed in front of her. It was too dark in the cavern for even her cat's eyes to see, but
she knew the sound and scent of this creature well enough to recognize him even without seeing
him.
p "DemiDevimon?" she said uncertainly.
P "Yup, it's me," chortled the little bat. "Nice to see you again, Gatomon."
p "What are you doing here?" Gatomon asked.
P "Guarding the door, to make sure you don't get in, heh heh heh," DemiDevimon
chuckled. "After that last battle with you Digidestined people, the boss doesn't trust me as a
fighter anymore, so they left me here to help Kunemon guard the door... what'd you do to him,
anyway?"
p "Sliced and diced him. What else?"
P There was a rustling noise as DemiDevimon shrugged his wings. "Oh, well, no big loss.
We can always get another Kunemon. No Digimon you can't get another one of somewhere, if
you want to take the time to raise it. Anyway, I'm supposed to be hanging out here and raising
the roof if I see any of you folks, so they'll expect to know if you're coming. Even if you run into
any trouble, they'll be totally unprepared for you. Just another neat little twist to the plan."
p "You've thought of everything, haven't you?" said Gatomon. "Thanks, DemiDevimon. I
owe you another one."
p "If you want to thank me, get moving before someone comes to check on me or
something!" DemiDevimon replied. "If the boss catches us standing here talking, it's curtains for
both of us!"
p "I guess you're right," said Gatomon. "Better get moving, then. Thanks for all your help!"
p Gatomon bounded straight up into the air, over DemiDevimon's head, and landed on the
floor ten feet away, where she quickly took to all fours and darted out of sight. DemiDevimon
listened to her scrabbling paws as they scurried away. As soon as he was sure she had a
reasonable head start, he fluttered his wings and took off after her.
p Meanwhile, the Digidestined and their digital companions were picking their way through
the park, keeping their senses peeled for trouble. Izzy carried his computer, monitoring the
movements of the monsters in the area, while the Digimon put their sharp noses to work for the
same purpose.
p "Do you see her anywhere?" asked Kari, peering at the computer screen worriedly.
p "She's nearby," Izzy assured her. "It's just a little hard to tell exactly where. This program
is only set up to show me two-dimensional readouts. It won't show if she's inside Myotismon's
lair or not."
p "I smell her nearby," Gabumon offered. "She's not far ahead of us now."
p "Do you smell any nasty guard monsters?" asked Mimi nervously.
p "It's hard to tell," said Gabumon. "There have been so many monsters in this place, it's
going to reek of them for a month after they're gone."
p "There's the entrance up ahead!" said Tai excitedly. "No Gatomon, though. No monsters
either. Looks like there used to be one, though." He pointed at a small scorched spot in the earth
left by the disintegrating Kunemon.
p "She must have fought a guard to get inside," sighed Matt. "Great. I really didn't want to
spend any time wandering around Myotismon's lair."
p "Neither did I," said Izzy. "Without Gatomon to guide us, we're going to get totally lost!"
P "Hey, it's iyour/i job to help us find our way around," said Tai. "Put that computer
of yours to good use!"
p "I may be brilliant, but I'm not a miracle worker!" Izzy protested. "The best I can do is
give us a point in the general direction."
p "If that's the best we can do, that's the best we can do," said Sora philosophically. "Right
now, we don't have any other choice but to go in and try to save Gatomon, and the longer we
hang around and argue, the harder it's going to be to find her."
P "Sora's right," Tai agreed. "We're going in there to find Gatomon, and we're not coming
out until we do!"
p "Why do I not find that idea encouraging?" Joe muttered.
p "Relax, Joe," said Gomamon calmly. "Izzy and Tentomon have been in there before, and
they came out all right. With all of us working together, there's no way we can lose!"
p "I hate to have to correct you, Gomamon," said Izzy, "but I think you might be wrong
about that."
P "What do you mean?" asked Gomamon.
P "Well, I'm hoping this isn't what it looks like it is, but, well... see for yourself."
P Izzy waved a hand at the screen of his computer, and everyone gathered around to look.
Gatomon's moving white dot could clearly be seen against the black screen. So could a ring of
monsters, sitting perfectly still and waiting... and Gatomon was running straight into the center of
them.
pcenter~*~/center
P Gatomon felt her confidence surge as she neared the great bronze door that marked the
entrance to Myotismon's private laboratory. The last leg of her journey was at hand! Now all she
had to do was get the door open so she could disrupt whatever spell Myotismon had cast. Then
she could go find Wizardmon and get him far away from this awful place - hopefully far enough
that Myotismon would never find him again.
p The door was locked, but that was no problem for a clever cat like her. The lock was
nothing special, just a simple, antiquated device that was meant to keep foolish monsters out of
the vampire lord's work. It was nothing for Gatomon to slip one of her claws into the keyhole and
press the latch, and then the door swung smoothly open. A wan shaft of light from the flickering
torches fell onto the workroom's floor, but otherwise, there was no illumination. Gatomon's eyes
widened as she padded inside. It was one thing for Myotismon, as comfortable in shadows as fish
were in the oceans, to work in pitch blackness, but even cats needed a little bit of light to see by.
Here, though, the blackness was so complete that all she could see was opaque darkness. Then, as
her vision began to adjust, she was able to make out something else, a faint reddish glow. The
spell?
p Suddenly, there was a hoarse shout, and the lights in the room came on at full brilliance,
momentarily blinding the hapless cat. At the same time, something heavy and clawed leapt at her,
pinning her to the floor, and she could hear it growling deep in its chest. As her sight returned to
her, she was able to make out the long, muscular limbs, the black skin, and the six red glowing
eyes of a Devidramon. Beyond that, she saw a familiar fluttering shape, fanged mouth wide in an
insane laugh.
p "Sucker!" DemiDevimon jeered. "Man, you are iso/i gullible! I can't believe you fell
for this!"
p "DemiDevimon!" Gatomon snarled in fury. "You tricked me! I can't believe you would be
so wicked!"
p "As the snake said, you knew what I was when you picked me up," DemiDevimon replied.
"You should have known better to trust me, and now it's too late! The boss is going to be so
proud when he sees what I've done, he'll forget all about that dumb Wizardmon. Maybe if you
ask him real nice, he'll destroy you both at the same time!"
p "You won't get away with this, DemiDevimon!" Gatomon cried, struggling to free herself
from the Devidramon's claws. She kept her eyes tightly closed - if she opened them, she would be
prey the Devidramon's hypnotic powers, and then she'd be in as bad a mess as poor Wizardmon.
p "And who's going to stop me, hmm?" DemiDevimon chuckled. "Not you! Not your
Digidestined friends, either. Seeing as how I knew exactly when you were coming and where you
were going, I made sure there would be all kinds of nasty critters waiting for them. By the time
they're done, there won't be enough of them left to fill a soda can!"
P "You little monster!" Gatomon cried. "I'll get you for this if it's the last thing I ever-"
p "What is going on here?" interrupted a commanding voice. Reflexively, DemiDevimon,
Devidramon, and Gatomon all turned to watch as the magnificently cloaked figure of Myotismon
swept into the room.
p "Hey, boss, look what I caught!" DemiDevimon called exultantly. "It's that traitor,
Gatomon! Pretty cool, huh?"
p Remarkably, Myotismon showed no sign of approval - if anything, he looked worried.
p "What is she doing down here?" he demanded. "Why would Gatomon come here alone?"
p "That's the best part!" DemiDevimon laughed. "I fooled her into coming here! I told her
there was a spell down here that was keeping Wizardmon under control, and I'd draw the guards
off so she could break it! She actually thought she could trust me! Isn't that a riot?"
P "You itricked/i her?" Myotismon repeated. "You told her those lies?"
p "Well... sure! Why not?" asked DeviDevimon.
p "You shouldn't have done that," said Myotismon. He bowed his head a moment, frowning
thoughtfully. Then he turned and shot a decisive glance at DemiDevimon. "Let her go!"
P "What!?" the little bat repeated, shocked. "But - but boss..."
p "No buts! Do as I command!" Myotismon ordered. "Haven't you been paying attention to
ianything/i that's been going on today? There's a Seraphmon on the loose - the one being
with the power to destroy me, and it appears only when deception has been wrought! You and
your foolish games may have already brought my doom down on me, and it iwill/i come if
we don't set her free! Now, ilet her go!/i"
p The fury in his voice was so strong that the fearless Devidramon cringed, raising its paw
so that Gatomon could escape. When she only lay there, too stunned to move, Myotismon
actually walked across the room to pick her up and toss her toward the door.
p "What are you waiting for? Get out of here, you treacherous feline!" he snarled. "Blasted
Seraphmon! If it weren't for him, you'd be dying a slow death right now, so don't think you're
going to get off this easy next time!"
p Gatomon needed no second bidding. She shot out of the room as fast as her paws could
carry her. DemiDevimon watched her with a look of blank confusion.
p "What was that all about?" he asked. "I thought you wanted to kill her!"
p "Idiot!" Myotismon growled. "Of all the unmitigated idiocy I have ever chanced to find...
Argh! I dare you to find anything - anything at all - that will convince me that I shouldn't torture
you to death here and now."
p "Um... if tricks and lies and stuff are what get this Seraphmon you're talking about riled
up, then laying a trap for the Digidestined wouldn't be a very good idea, would it?" asked
DemiDevimon nervously.
p "It would be an iextremely/I bad idea," said Myotismon dangerously. "You
ididn't/I take it upon yourself to do such a thing, did you?"
p "Well, now that you mention it..."
p "Moron! Imbecile! I should roast you like the turkey you are!" shouted Myotismon,
throwing up his hands in frustration. "Lucky for you, someone is going to have to go call off the
guards before they cause any more trouble. You're not worth the time and effort it would take to
destroy you. Still, if I were you, I would go far, far away from here, because if I ever see your
face again..." He let the threat hang in the air, and DemiDevmimon cringed. Still fuming,
Myotismon. After taking a moment to collect his wits (something that didn't take very long, since
he had so few), DemiDevimon left the room as well.
pcenter~*~/center
p "I don't like this, I don't like this, I don't like iany/i of this..."
p "Aw, quit your moaning, Joe," Tai complained. "You're gonna wake the monsters up!"
p "Actually, I don't like it either," said Izzy. "We've gone a long way, and we haven't run
into so much as a single Bakemon. None of the monsters on my computer screen has moved an
inch since we got here. It's like they're waiting for something."
p "Perhaps that something would be me?" said a voice.
p The Digidestined and their Digimon spun around and saw Wizardmon standing behind
them, leaning casually on his staff and watching them with his weird magenta eyes. Izzy looked
from Wizardmon to his computer, then back to Wizardmon again, his eyes wide in disbelief.
p "But - but - but-" he stammered. "But that's impossible! You're standing right there, but
the computer says you're over here! What gives?"
p "Foolish Digidestined," Wizardmon answered. "I was the one who was using your
computer. I saw your little tracking program and figured out how to counteract it... at least
enough to keep you from finding me when I don't want to be found. I disapprove of spying."
p "You're a traitor!" Kari shouted. "How can you fight against us and Gatomon! She loves
you!"
p Wizardmon threw back his head and laughed. "You're as foolish as your cat friend is. I tell
you the truth - I'm not a traitor. I've never been loyal to anyone but Myotismon, and if Gatomon
has any misguided notions about me, that's her problem."
p "I don't get it!" Joe cried. "I knew you! Zudomon and I pulled you out of the harbor! You
saved Lillymon when Myotismon put that spell on her! You fought on our side! How can you be
against us now?"
p "The explanation is so simple," Wizardmon replied. "I'm surprised none of you have
caught on by now."
p "Very simple," an unexpected voice agreed. "And it's about time the truth came out!"
p There was a communal gasp as a rectangular patch of the wall suddenly began to glow. It
opened up into a door, and out of the door stepped...
p ...another Wizardmon, one whose eyes blazed a furious shade of green.
To Be Continued