Digimon: The Year of Reckoning
Chapter 3
"Jungle of Illusions"
Narrated by Brandon
"Nothing but pennies in my pocket. Nothing but faith to keep me warm."
"Brandon, shut up," Nick said flatly.
"Sorry, just trying to pass the time."
"Well please, pass it with your mouth closed."
I playfully punched his arm and he faked being hurt badly.
"Would you guys stop clowning around?" Mya asked. We abruptly stopped not wanting to upset this angelic girl. "We should be trying to find a way out of this jungle and make our digimon stronger."
"You're right," I said apologetically. "Let's go."
We all walked through the jungle. It was hard though, because there were lots of fallen trees and vines everywhere. There was no path to walk on.
"We're never gonna get out of this jungle!" JT yelled.
"Maybe we should split up. We can use the communicators on our digivices to keep in touch," I offered.
They agreed. Faith, Mya, and I went one way and Nick and JT went the other.
After about ten minutes of wandering…
"What is that noise?" Faith asked.
"I don't hear anything."
"Me either," said Catermon.
"It's like a buzzing noise," she continued. "It's getting louder."
I tried to listen hard but I still didn't hear anything. Mya had a puzzled look on her face.
"Oh my God!" Faith screamed. "Get them away from me! Help! Ahhhh!"
She began waving her arms around, smacking at the air.
"What are you talking about?" I asked getting scared. "What is it?"
"BEES!!" she cried. "They're stinging me! Ow!!!"
Her face was bright red with waterfalls of tears running down them. She was now smacking herself as if to kill the "bees". I still didn't see anything.
"Brandon what's wrong with her?" Spikemon asked.
"I don't know. She's going insane!"
She was now sinking to the ground still crying and swatting.
"They're killing me!"
She pulled herself into a ball and stopped moving.
"FAITH!!"
I knelt down by her and tried to wake her up. Mya pushed me out of the way.
"She still has a pulse. She just needs some air. Go get some water to splash her face."
I obeyed Mya's orders and cupped some water from a nearby stream into my hands. Then I walked back to Faith and tossed it in her face. She awoke with a start.
"Where'd they go?" she shrieked. "Are they gone?"
"Faith, you were imagining it. There weren't any bees. It was all in your head."
She didn't seem to buy Mya's words.
"No, they were real, so very real. I could feel them stinging me, and hear their wings beating so fast."
"Look, either way, we still need to find a way out of this jungle," I said. "Let me see if Nick and JT have found anything."
I pushed the communication button on my digivice.
"Nick. Nick, come in. Nick where are you?"
"Brandon, its me JT. Nick's gone crazy."
"Crazy? How so?"
"He thought he walked off a cliff. He was just standing there flapping his arms screaming, 'Help! I'm falling'. He even started to cry. But he seems okay now."
"That's so weird. Faith was doing the same thing. Except she thought there was a swarm of bees that were attacking her."
"Really? That's strange. What do you thinks wrong with them?"
"I don't know. Well, we better keep looking. I'll check in later."
I disconnected the link.
"Faith, are you okay now? Can we keep moving?"
"Yeah, Brandon, I'm fine. Let's go."
We continued. I kept my eye on Faith just in case anything else happened. But I wasn't prepared for…
"AHHHH!"
It was Mya. I turned around and saw her standing very still with her arms very close to her body and her legs squeezed together.
"What's wrong?" asked Catermon.
"Snake!"
"Where?" I asked looking around.
"It's wrapped around me! It's squeezing me!"
"Mya there's nothing there," Faith said.
"Faith this is the same thing that happened to you and Nick," I said. "She's imagining it."
"I can't breathe!"
I slowly crept towards her. And suddenly I saw it. This huge anaconda wrapped firmly around her petite body.
"I see it!"
"See what?" Spikemon, Catermon, and Faith asked simultaneously.
"Don't worry Mya, I'm gonna help you."
Her face began to turn purplish-blue. I was the only one who noticed though. I slowly reached my trembling hand out towards her.
Suddenly the snake saw me. It loosened it's upper half and shot at me at the speed of light. I shut my eyes and I felt the firm jaw close over my hand, I felt the fangs sink into my skin, I felt the venom pump into my arm.
I screamed bloody murder. But when I opened my eyes. There was no snake. Mya was standing there looking freaked. And my hand was out towards her, but there were no bite marks on it and I felt no more pain.
"Whoa, what just happened?"
"It was another illusion. Just like Faith had," Mya said figuring it out.
"Illusion? Why would we all be having different illusions?" Faith asked.
"Because of me!"
It was an evil, but comical voice. It let out a devious laugh. And then I saw it. It was nothing more than a clown. Kind of like Tim Curry in "It". Creepy beyond all measures.
"I'm Clownmon, the king of this jungle! Now leave it. Or suffer the consequences."
"We're not afraid of you!" I yelled.
"Oh, not afraid, huh? Like you weren't afraid when you thought a snake was killing your lover? Or when you thought it bit your hand?"
"Fuck you."
"I've had better offers. And now you have overstayed your welcome in my 'jungle of illusions'. Now you will die!! Hee-hee-hee-hee!!!!"
He threw two pies that landed in front of the kids. Out of them popped four Bakemon.
"KILL THEM!"
"Digimon go!" Mya and I yelled.
"Thunder Horn!"
One Bakemon exploded.
"Absorbing Thread!"
The other three evaded the attack.
"Have some more pie!" Clownmon crowed launching ten more pies.
There were now twenty-three Bakemon.
"Thunder Horn!"
It knocked a few out of the air, but they quickly got back in the air.
"It's no use! We need the others!" Mya yelled.
"Dark Claw!"
Spikemon and Catermon flew back into a tree. They were now near unconsciousness.
The Bakemon now turned on us.
"Hold it!" Clownmon ordered. "I would like the pleasure."
He came nearer and unsheathed a dagger.
"This is going to be fun. I'll gut you like fish! Hee-hee-hee-hee!!"
"Any plans, Brandon?"
"I'm thinking."
And that's when he struck. He lunged forward with the dagger just as I held out my digivice. Yellow light shot from the device knocking the dagger out of Clownmon's hand. Even Clownmon himself slowly backed off.
"Mya help me out!"
She stuck out her digivice too, engulfing my yellow light with her pink. Clownmon staggered. And then I heard a beeping sound.
"Spikemon digivolve to…Rhinomon!"
A huge rhinoceros appeared behind me. He had two horns jutting out of his forehead and two cannons on the sides of his head.
"Catermon digivolve to…Buttramon!"
She was just as beautiful as her partner. She was basically just a humanoid woman with big butterfly wings that had large spores on them.
"I'm shutting down this circus!" Rhinomon bellowed. "Spike Missiles!"
Two spike tips poked out of each of his cannons. The four of them blasted off along with the two horns on his forehead.
Clownmon was hit but recovered and quickly ran back into the jungle.
"You'll never escape my jungle! NEVER!!! I'll be back!!"
"I'll take care of the peanut gallery!" Buttramon yelled. "Suffocating Spore!"
She beat her wings creating a cloud of blood red sparkling dust that surrounded the Bakemon. They tried to escape its unbreathable fumes but quickly fell to the ground and disintegrated.
The digimon returned to their rookie forms.
"You guys were awesome!" I yelled.
"Way to go," Mya said.
"Guys, we should find Nick and JT and get out of here before that clown comes back," Faith urged.
"You're right. Come on, let's go."
Will they find Nick and JT? Or will Clownmon find them first? Will they ever escape this jungle? Or will they die just as Clownmon predicts?