Digimon: Digital Monsters
Mirror, Mirror—Part V
By 7 of 11
Kana crouched behind a luggage cart that had tipped over on its side and looked at the huge crowd of slaves working scarcely thirty feet away. "Are you SURE this is going to work?" she asked for the second time, pulling the oversized cap she wore down to further conceal her face.
Also for the second time, Marshmon poked his head from the large duffel bag that he and Sikamon were concealed in. "Yes! I'm positive! Trust me on this one, okay? Those guards are Robomon! They're great guards and shock troops—they are what accompanied Taichi when he attacked your apartment." Kana visibly flinched. "But they aren't exactly the smartest Digimon around."
"I sure hope so." Aphroditemon grumbled. "This outfit is killing my wings! I don't know how you humans can do this!" She was wearing a loose sweatshirt to hide her angel's wings, but if it were needed, she could break free in a matter of seconds.
Jun silenced them all. "Be quiet! It's almost time for the shift change!" Everyone fell quiet.
A whistle blast pierced through the grunts of the slaves and the sound of metal scraping against pavement. "All right, everyone inside!" The lead Robomon bellowed. As the throng put down their tools and shuffled inside, no one noticed the quartet, Masayoshi carrying the duffel bag, slip into the group.
Everyone held their breath, not daring to make a sound, until they were through the guard checkpoint. Not wasting a second, they split from the slaves going back to their quarters and ducked behind another abandoned luggage cart. "Did we make it?" Masayoshi squeaked.
Sikamon struggled his way free of the bag. "Well there haven't been any alarms set off, so I guess they didn't notice us!"
Aphroditemon, still crouched, began crawling to the main building in the airport complex. "This is their HQ. Our parents would be in here…come on!"
High above, Alt-Taichi stroked the skull brooch that held his cape together, watching the children pick their way across the asphalt of the airfield. "Do you want us to go get them, sir?" A Robomon asked.
Alt-Taichi shook his head. "No, let them come. I have something special planned for them…"
"There's the main entrance!" Jun said. "Doesn't look like there are any guards…that's odd…"
Sikamon shook his head. "I have a bad feeling about this, you guys!"
"Oh come on, Sikamon! You have a bad feeling about everything!" Aphroditemon let down her shirt's hood, and shook her head, allowing her long blond hair to come free.
Making her way around the cars that had been abandoned when the Alt-Destined had invaded, Kana looked around. "Okay, the coast looks like its clear, guys!"
Without warning, a gruff voice shouted, "TETRA SHOCKER!" Artificial lightning flashed, and a huge explosion lit the sky, throwing everyone to the ground. When the smoke cleared, there was a gigantic beetle-like creature hovering in the air. It gnashed its mouthpieces together wickedly. And standing on its back…was Alt-Koushiro.
Aphroditemon ripped free of the tattered fabric, and stretched her wings. She leapt into the air. Her staff shone a bright red, and she looked at the creature. "Hello, Scarabmon. I never thought I'd see you in this world. Tentomon was much too nice to ever Digivolve into you…LOVE TAP!" She brought her rod down, striking Scarabmon's shoulder, yet the attack barely fazed him.
As Aphroditemon brought her staff back again, a shout cut her off. "No! Let me handle him!" To her surprise, it was the small, meek, Sikamon who had yelled. "You guys should go on, find your parents! That might be our only hope to defeat these guys!"
"I'm staying with you then, Sikamon," Jun smiled weakly. "After all, we're partners. NOW GO!" He turned and shouted at the others.
"Good luck, you guys!" Masayoshi cried back, as Aphroditemon shattered the glass pane door and they entered.
Jun put his hand on his little Digimon's shoulder. "Come on, Sikamon! We can do this!"
When Alt-Koushiro and Scarabmon saw who was opposing them, they started rolling in laughter. "That little, puny, ROOKIE stage is going to fight us?" Scarabmon gasped for air. "Oh, that's priceless!"
Sikamon grew red. "Shut up!" He said, indignantly. "I bet I can beat you! Psychic Shock!" A bolt of blue energy tore through the air and smacked right into Scarabmon's armored carapace, doing nothing whatsoever.
Alt-Koushiro shrugged. "Fine, if that's how you want to play. Get him, Scarabmon!"
"Tetra Shocker!" The beetle's attack narrowly missed the small fox, which sped out of the way just in time.
"Yeah, Sikamon! That's how we can beat him! Keep on moving and he won't be able to hit you!" Jun encouraged.
Sikamon hurled another Psychic Shock at Scarabmon, and again it did no damage. "Yes, but my attacks can't hurt him either! It looks like stalemate!"
Alt-Koushiro threw his hand into the air. "You mean Checkmate! Scarabmon!"
A thunderous war cry shattered Jun's eardrums as Scarabmon tackled Sikamon, sending the tiny Rookie skidding. "No! Sikamon!"
Masayoshi, Marshmon, and Kana ran down the deserted airport hallways, Aphroditemon flying overhead. "Which way is it?" Panted the seal, trying to keep up.
The angel Digimon pointed her staff down a junction. "They converted the security offices into a full scale prison, the adults should be there." She opened a door, and the following room they stepped in to was definitely not part of the original building plan.
It was a circular chamber, almost pitch dark. In the center however, a pedestal was raised up above the floor, bathed in the glow of light from a blaring spotlight. And lying on that platform was a very familiar figure, draped in a pink shroud. "Mom!" Masayoshi cried, running up to Mimi's comatose form. "Are you okay?"
She stirred, and opened her eyes slowly. "Masayoshi…" she smiled. "Oh, thank goodness you're here."
Marshmon bounded over to the two. "What happened? Where's Lillymon?!"
With this, Kana sensed a dark shape moving somewhere beyond the shine of light. And then she knew, with a dreadful finality, what was going on. "Masa, no! That's not Mimi!"
As she was saying this, another voice answered Marshmon's question. "Right here!" The lights flashed on, and a flower—or was it a woman?—floated down from the ceiling. Everything about her was a dark black, and she possessed long fingernails that reached fully six inches. "Only the name is BlackRosemon now!" Alt-Mimi laughed in delight.
BlackRosemon looked at Kana and Aphroditemon. "Petal Blast!" She held her hands together, and the flower there unfolded, much like her alter ego's Flower Cannon attack. But there the similarity ended. Several flower petals, each a midnight black in color, and shaped like stars, sliced through the air, erupting in a shower of smoke and energy when they collided with the ground. The two were thrown back into the hallway, and the door slammed shut.
"No! Masayoshi! Marshmon!" Aphroditemon hammered on the door, but it wouldn't budge. "The Alt-Destined are splitting us up, making us easier to defeat!"
"Oh, I would agree with thy assumption, angel. However, thou shouldst not be worrying about the fate of thy friends. Instead, thou shouldst be worrying about thy own fate." A cold, resounding hiss sounded from behind them.
Kana turned, and ice water replaced the blood flowing through her veins. Standing there was the same man who had attacked the Digidestined, and subsequently defeated them without laying a hand on them. Up close he was even more terrifying, spikes covering his entire body. "Who are you?"
"My name is Shade. But that shouldst not be thy concern, child. Instead, thou should see to it that thou do not suffer the same fate as thy friends shortly will."
This touched a nerve, and Aphroditemon swung her staff forwards. "Love Tap!" Before she could get a shot off, however, a blur knocked her off balance, and her attack went wide.
The two crashed into a wall, and Kana caught a glimpse of Aphroditemon's opponent. He looked curiously like her, an angel, to be sure. But he wore a mask like Angewomon, and his staff was a dark obsidian instead of pure silver. Also, instead of fluffy, feathered, angel wings, he possessed those of a bat. "Meet DarkAngemon!" Shade crowed. "And thy doom!"
Kana could take no more. She charged, knocking into Shade with her shoulder forward. Although he was at least half again as big as she was, the adrenaline coursing through her body, combined with the force she had gathered, knocked him down. His helmet bounced off, and clattered down the hallway, the sound resonating throughout what seemed to be the entire airport.
"Get off, insolent child!" A gauntleted hand smashed into her chest, and she was thrown back, the spikes having cut through her skin.
As Kana fought the pain and opened her eyes, she saw Shade—without his helmet on. And she knew who he was. She gasped, and managed to stutter out one word. "D…Daddy?"
To be continued…