Enter Benjamon
Scene: Ferry dock outside Myotismon's fogbank. T.K. and Joe have left the dock on Ikkakumon, shouting assurances at T.K.'s mother. As Joe and T.K. enter the fog bank, this story begins.
"Pardon me!" says a figure, struggling through the crowd at the ferry docks, "I have to get through! Excuse me!" He checks his watch, and looks quite frayed and impatient, just like those around him. Looking around, no one is paying attention to him; he shrugs, tightens the straps on his backpack, and jumps. Somersaulting over the heads of the crowd, he lands facing the end of the dock, and begins to run. "Hey! Wait!!" he calls to the kids disappearing into the fog on the back of a Digimon. His legs blur as he runs faster and faster, nearly knocking T.K.'s mother off her feet from the extreme low pressure created in his passing. "Sorrryy..." a voice echos back to her as the stranger also disappears into the fog, running across the water.
Ikkakumon's ears twitch. "Hey, do you hear something strange?" he asks.
"No, why do ask?" Joe replied, his fingers fidgeting with the white hair of his partner. TK shakes his head, saying "Nope!"
Patamon, however, stopped flying, landing on Ikkakumon's back. "I think I do," he said, in his chirpy little voice. "Like someone stomping in a puddle, or something..."
Just then, the fog swirls in a small area alongside Ikkakumon, accompanied by a rush of air and spray.
"Excuse me! I've got to help the Digi-destinedddd!" ghosts back to them as a fog-muted blueish blur speeds by. "What was that?!" all gasp as the waves of its passage radiate outwards. They have no time to ponder this before they come across a bridge and Megaseadramon!
Meanwhile...
Kari walked out of the warehouse to face Phantomon. "I'm the eighth Digi-Destined. It's me you want, so if you let my friends go, I'll come with you quietly."
Matt, with the chain of Phantomon's shadow scythe wrapped around his neck, managed to get enough breath to yell "KARI! NO!"
Sora, threatened by Snimon and Tuskomon, added her voice to Matt's. "DON'T GIVE IN, KARI!"
Kari bowed her head, "There has been too much pain. I'll go with you to Myotismon if you leave my friends alone." She spoke softly, barely more than a whisper.
Phantomon laughed darkly, and in his cornily spooky voice, "ReallY? ThaT WoulD Be A WisE MovE FoR YoU. MyotismoN WilL Be PleaseD YoU GavE In So EasilY!" Phantomon creates a translucent gray transport bubble around Kari, and the chain around Matt's neck unravels.
"KARI! NO!" Matt shouted again, as the bubble lifted the eighth child off the ground.
Behind Phantomon is an empty overpass. Empty, that is, except for a lone figure moving rapidly out of the shadows and fog. "Hey, Photomat!" it taunts, leaping from the railing towards Phantomon's hovering shape.
"WhaT?!" Phantomon exclaimed as he turned around, only to be nailed in the face with two well-worn sneakers. The boy bursts through the fog into view for Matt, Sora, Garudamon and Garurumon. The falling figure pushes off against Phantomon, hitting the bubble containing Kari. In an explosion of glimmering dust, the bubble pops, and Kari began to fall. The interloper catches her deftly, and lands safely on the ground, crouching down as he dissipates the force of the fall by slowing down his impact.
"Who is that, Matt?" growled Garurumon, struggling to rise.
"Don't ask me!" Matt fired back.
"Benjamon." Says the kneeling form, setting Kari down gently and standing up. Light flashes of a pair of glasses. "A friend to the Digi-Destined, if you want to get specific." Benjamon carefully pushes Kari towards Matt. "I'll take care of Phantomon, you get Garurumon and Garudamon ready to fight." He turns back to Phantomon. "Give me your scythe, Boris Karloffmon, and I won't destroy you." he stated calmly, staring straight into Phantomon's glowing eyes.
"YoU? DestroY Me? Don'T MakE Me LaugH!" Phantomon said, drifting down to just above ground level, his scythe ready to puree this intruder.
"I don't want to make you laugh. Your laugh is incredibly cheesy. Your shadow scythe, however, is quite interesting..."
"WhaT InsolencE! YoU LikE My ScythE, Do YoU? TakE A GooD LooK, TheN!!" Phantomon drew back his scythe, and attacked! "ShadoW ScythE!" he cried, swinging the black blade towards Benjamon. Phantomon's red eyes widened as he realized he has been stopped in his action, his scythe now held by an additional pair of hands, human hands, human hands with strangely inscribed metal hand guards covering the back and palm.
"Not so easy to get me, Fattyman." Benjamon says, and tries to wrest the scythe away.
"HurG!" Phantomon grunts, tearing his scythe away from his adversary. "HoW AbouT ThiS?!?" Phantomon yells, hurling the chain towards Benjamon's throat.
Benjamon stands absolutely still as the weighted chain hurtles past his right ear, starts to curve to wrap around his throat an choke him...
"Can you get up, Garurumon?" Kari asked, rubbing the digimon's blue paw.
"Not yet..." growls the wolf digimon, and glows as he devolves back into Gabumon, his blue coat hanging loosely over his body. "Matt, are you all right?" Gabumon asks, trodding over to Matt, who is still rubbing his throat.
"Yeah, I am fine...Just give me a few moments..." he coughs, looking towards the rescuer.
Benjamon's left hand shoots up between the chain and his neck, and he grabs the chain leading back to Phantomon in his right, wrapping it around his forearm and wrist. "How about this?" he asks, still able to breathe. "Not bad, but you just made a major mistake."
"WhaT Do YoU Mea...HRRRK!" Phantomon gasps as Benjamon yanked the chain suddenly, viciously, getting more slack to work with.
"I mean, you're digi-dust." Benjamon smiles, leaning to his right, then suddenly snapping his arm and body to the left in a fluid motion. A large curve forms in the chain and moves toward Phantomon, who shakes horribly as the chain yanks him about. Benjamon snaps back to the right, creating another large curve, and dragging Phantomon along.
"HeY! StoP! I'M GettinG SicK!" Phantomon shouts, shortening the chain to keep the chain's waving from being able to build up so much.
"You never studied physics, did you?" Benjamon asks, still jerking the chain from one side to the other.
"WhaT?? OoF! OW! StoP! StoP!" Phantomon yells, now getting swung into the ground as the chain arcs to the left, then right, carrying the stubborn digi-mon along like the weight on the end of a metronome.
"Why didn't you do that, Matt?" Gabumon asks, helping Matt to his feet. "I didn't think of it... Anyway, this Benjamon character is taller than me, and looks stronger, too..." Matt says, looking round for Sora.
Benjamon stops, and smiles... "Ready to give up that scythe, yet?" he asks, gazing up at the battered Digimon.
"No!" Phantomon screeches. "SnimoN! TuskomoN! DestroY HiM!" Phantomon shouts to the two hench digimon. The mantis-like Snimon leaps toward Benjamon, ready to disembowel this troublemaker.
"Should have called them sooner, Ed Woodmon." Benjamon taunts, swinging Phantomon into Snimon's path, and grinning in satisfaction when they collide. The sharp blade of the shadow scythe cuts through the exoskeleton of the bug-like digimon, and it screams shrilly as the edge passes completely through it. "Good job, Fatfreemon."
Garudamon gets up out of the wreckage of the building she was knocked into, and looks around. "Where is Snimon?" she booms.
Sora hugged Garudamon's leg tightly, and yelled up, "Snimon's defeated! You have to take out Tuskomon, though! That Digimon's still attacking!" Garudamon blinked, and nods, gently taking Sora into her hands. "I will defeat Tuskomon. I won't underestimate these evil Digimon again." Garudamon stands up and faces the battle...
The ground shakes as Tuskomon charges Benjamon. "No problem... Just swing Phantomon again and... Huh?" Benjamon is yanked off his feet when he tries to pull the chain again. The scythe has lodged in Snimon, and the chain is still wrapped around Benjamon's neck and arm! Phantomon laughs, deep and evilly, as the rampaging Tuskomon rushes at Benjamon.
The bizarre green reptile with enormous horns bore down, each step a pounding death knell for this upstart. Light flashing from his glasses, he sweats, mouth agape as he fails to get away...
"NoW YoU WilL Beee SorrY!" Phantomon gloats...
"WING BLADE!" Garudamon shouts as she attacks, a bird of radiant fire bursting forth from her body and speeding towards the attacking Tuskomon.
Garudamon's attack plows into Tuskomon, hitting the undefended rear of the horned digimon, and knocking it aside as well as defeating it, the hulk of the digimon hurtling past mere inches from Benjamon's arm... Benjamon starts breathing again...
"Thank you!" he shouts, then turns back to Phantomon, who seems to be the one sweating heavily. "Well, It's just you and me again... Got any other tricks?" he asks, steadily pulling on the chain, letting the blade slowly slice its way out of Snimon's corpse, then pulling Phantomon towards him.
"UhhhH... What'S ThaT BehinD YoU?" the ghostly Digimon stammers, looking wildly about for a way to escape with his scythe.
"Don't know, let's have a ...LOOK!" Benjamon shouts, spinning suddenly and sending Phantomon through a wall. When Phantomon stops, Benjamon charges in after the ghostly digimon.
"Who is that guy?" Sora asked, holding Biyomon close as she sits next to Matt, Gabumon, and Kari.
"Not sure." Matt said, looking at the corpse of Snimon.
"He said he was a friend of the Digidestined, and what he's doing proves it." Gabumon adds, watching the building where Phantomon and Benjamon continue to fight. A long series of windows are broken in a straight line where Phantomon smashed through, and tatters of rags are caught on the sharp edges.
"He said his name is Benjamon, sort of like a Digimon,..." Kari finished.
Inside the building, Phantomon found himself caught in a tangle of office furniture, water pipes, glass and his own chain. "I MusT TelL MyotismoN!" he gasps, struggling to remove a cubical wall from his lower body. A soft crunch, and Benjamon stares Phantomon in the face.
"You tried well, but in vain. I'd like to convince you to help me, instead, but that obviously wouldn't work." He says, softly, the markings on his hand guards and glasses beginning to glow... "Good night, Phantomon. My your next recompilation be more successful." Benjamon held Phantomon down with his knee, drew back his fist, the hand guard shining like the sun, and punched straight through Phantomon's cloaked head, watching the former servant of Myotismon dissolve into bits of code as the chain around his arm and neck vanished with it's owner.
Benjamon exited the building, and strode softly over to the group. "Phantomon has been destroyed..." he said softly. "Not bad for a Rookie Digimon, Eh?" he says with a smile, and for the first time, Matt, Sora, Kari, Gabumon and Biyomon notice that behind the glasses, Benjamon's eyes are golden yellow, and have vertical slits for pupils... Benjamon looks at the stunned group, running a hand through his brown hair. "We have to get to the fog generator. Especially you... Kari, was it? Anyway, Myotismon is likely to be there, along with your Digimon..."
To be continued...
The Next Step
(I'd like to apologize for attempting to write "Benjamon Enters" in the present tense. I was tired when I wrote it, and I thought it made sense then... obviously, it does not.)
Scene: Immediately after Phantomon's defeat, outside a warehouse and damaged buildings. Matt is sitting next to Gabumon, Sora is holding Biyomon, and Kari sits between the two other Digi-Destined. All are staring at Benjamon.
"What do you mean, 'Get Kari to Myotismon'?!" Sora asked, incredulously.
"Tai told us to keep her AWAY from that maniac! I thought we fought just now to keep Phantomon from taking her!" shouted Matt, glaring at Benjamon.
Benjamon took off his glasses, and blinked his large, golden eyes owlishly as he sat down in front of the group. "I understand your confusion..." he began, cleaning the spectacles on his shirt before putting them back on. "So I'll explain. You do know what 'destiny' means, don't you?" he paused, and continued. "Don't answer that. It was a rhetorical question. In your current situation, I think destiny means that Myotismon will be beaten, but only with the help of the eighth child. Now, mere humans don't stand much of a chance against Ol' Blue Eyes, (Myotismon has strikingly blue eyes. This is also a reference to Frank Sinatra. I enjoy puns, look for them) so I assume that Kari's Digimon is already here, and is a unique Digimon." He pauses, looking around at the slightly bored faces. "Any guesses on who it is? I really have no idea."
"That's easy!" said Biyomon, piping up from Sora's lap.
"Gatomon." Kari murmured. "It's Gatomon."
Benjamon hmmed to himself, and spoke again. "Well, since Gatomon came through with Myotismon, it's probably likely that she is in his clutches. So, we have to go find Myotismon, rescue Gatomon, and then stop Myotismon's reign of terror. Does that make more sense?" he finished, and stood up, adjusting the straps on his backpack.
Sora and Biyomon nodded, Kari nodded slowly, but she had known that she would have ended up going to Myotismon no matter what happened.
Matt hrumphed and looked away from Benjamon. "What a pompous Digimon!" he said under his breath. "He does seem to know what he's talking about, Matt." Gabumon replied, regarding Matt with his red eyes. "So? He's arrogant! And we can't tell what he is! The Digivices don't record anything on him!" Matt said, voice rising in volume slightly.
Benjamon turned. "I don't think you'll find anything on me," he said, eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at Matt, "Because I had to corrupt my data severely to change my image to a humanoid form. I couldn't even show you what I looked like before. But I do know that I would have been killed, deleted, spun, folded, and mutilated years ago had I not altered to my present form. And it was painful. VERY painful. Imagine every nerve on fire, constantly screaming, for an entire year." He continued in a voice of ice. "But even that was better than destruction at the hands of curious and frightened humans. No Digivice, not even mine," he said as he pulled a silver Digivice from his backpack, "will get anything but line noise." Benjamon checked the time, while the three Digi-Destined gaped at him.
"YOU have a Digivice?!!" they all exclaimed. "How...!?"
Benjamon shrugged, "I really don't know. I've always had it, as well as these glasses and hand guards." he put the Digivice back into his pack, and looked at Matt again. "So if I am arrogant and pompous, at least respect what I've done to survive. Let's get going, Kari." He said, looking over at the eighth child. "I think that I should get her to Myotismon, while Sora and Biyomon find the others. I'd also recommend that you and Gabumon stay here and wait for Tai, and tell him what has happened, and where to go. That way, we could get everyone together faster."
"And why should we listen to you?" snapped Matt, "You just show up and think you can boss us around?"
"Matt, please..." said Sora, standing next to Biyomon, "Can't you see he's trying to help us?"
"I'm open to suggestions. If you can think of a better way to go about saving your world, I'll follow you until we succeed... If I survive all this, my loyalty to the Digi-Destined will hold true." Benjamon said as he walked over to Kari, and asked "Well, what should we do?"
"Take me to Myotismon..." Kari said in a soft voice. "We need to stop all this."
Benjamon nodded, and picked Kari up in his arms. "I'll run her over to the Television tower...I think that's where the mathematical center of the fog bank is, and therefore, Myotismon and Gatomon... Unless someone objects, that is." Benjamon looked pointedly at Matt.
"No..." Matt said at last, sitting down heavily. "I can't think of a better way to make this end."
Benjamon nodded again. "I shall see you soon, then. And I swear on my coding that I won't let Kari come to harm." And with that, he dashed off into the fog, vaulting over totaled automobiles and building wreckage.
"What do we do now, Matt?" Gabumon asked after a few moments.
Matt sighed, putting his head on his arms. "We wait for Tai, Gabumon..."
Biyomon, meanwhile, Digivolved into Birdramon, and flew off carrying Sora to find the others.
Benjamon ran onwards through the swirling mists, the blocks of the city flashing by. He gently held Kari to his chest, running so smoothly that she couldn't tell, save for the air rushing past them, that they were moving at all.
"Kari?" Benjamon said softly, dodging a van.
"Yes?" came her reply. "What is it?"
"I am sorry about this, but I'll have to set you down at the tower, and hide. You have to make it seem as if you've come of your own free will... I think it's the only way you'll get close enough to Gatomon. If I am seen, we could be in serious trouble. Don't get me wrong, I'll be following you and trying to keep you safe, but if I'm found too soon, I'll be destroyed before the other Digi-Destined could reach us." He murmured, slowing down as they approached the spherical television tower. "You do understand, don't you?"
Kari sighed softly, rocking forward in his arms as he came to a complete stop. "I know. I'd like to thank you for taking all this trouble to help us." She said as he gently set her on the cement.
Benjamon smiled sadly, and nodded once. "Off you go now... hmm. With any luck, that blue bowling ball with the wings and skull motif over there by the entrance will be more than happy to show you the way..." he said, pointing out a small dim figure in the fog.
"That's DemiDevimon. He'll do whatever it takes to get me to Myotismon." Kari said sadly, turning toward the television tower, steeling herself, and walked up to the small flying Digimon, who began to fly in crazy, joyous patterns, as he herded Kari through the doors.
Benjamon took out his Digivice, looked at his reflection in the silvered device sadly, seeing his golden, catlike, even reptilian, eyes. He removed his backpack, set it under a pile of rubble, and placed his Digivice in his hip pocket. Benjamon disappeared into the building before the doors had a chance to close behind Demi-Devimon.
"MATT! Where's Kari?!" Tai shouted, running up to the warehouse, Agumon close behind, his orange color strangely muted in Myotismon's magical fogbank.
"She's gone, Tai," Matt sighed, looking at the ground.
"WHAT?!" Tai shouted, eyes wide. "WHAT HAPPENED!?"
"Calm down! It wasn't Matt's fault!" Gabumon interceded.
"WHAT HAPPENED?" Tai shouted again.
"Phantomon showed up. We tried to fight, but he summoned Snimon and Tuskomon, but Garudamon and Garurumon couldn't defeat them. Kari told Phantomon she'd go with him to Myotismon if he stopped hurting us." Matt said, standing up and looking Tai in the eye.
"What happened to this one, then?" asked Agumon, looking at the corpse of Snimon.
"Matt was just getting to that..." Gabumon said, "And just as Phantomon was about to leave with Kari trapped in a gray bubble, this human-looking Digimon, calling himself 'Benjamon' shows up, and defeats Snimon and Phantomon."
"Sora and Garudamon took care of Tuskomon." Matt said, "This 'Benjamon' clown starts acting like a grownup, and bossing us around."
"Well, not really, Matt." Gabumon said, looking up with his round crimson eyes.
"Let me talk, okay, Gabumon?" Matt continued, looking at the ground briefly with a sigh, then back at Tai. "He convinced Kari to go find Gatomon and Myotismon at the television tower, and told Sora to go look for the others, and for Gabumon and I to wait for you here." He finished.
"Wait! He defeated Snimon and Phantomon? What level was he?" asked Agumon, prodding the giant green insect with his claws.
"He said he was a rookie, like us." Gabumon answered.
"A rookie beat up two of Myotismon's hench-Digimon? Good thing he's on our side, then! Come on, Matt, Let's get to that television tower and rescue Kari!" Tai exclaimed, running off.
"Tai! You're running the wrong way!" Matt yelled.
"I've got an idea, Matt." Said Gabumon, Digivolving into Garurumon.
"Get on my back, and I'll carry you there much faster than you could run." Garurumon rumbled.
"Garurumon, you are brilliant!" Matt cried, mounting the large blue wolf, and helping Tai and Agumon aboard.
/////
Author's note:
This is a rough story, but it improves dramatically.
The next fanfic is "Myotismon's Endgame, which seems quite popular, if only because it features Myotismon.
Send your comments to Drowzee1@hotmail .com
(The space is intentional, to keep my silly word processor from printing a large hyperlink.)
Scene: Ferry dock outside Myotismon's fogbank. T.K. and Joe have left the dock on Ikkakumon, shouting assurances at T.K.'s mother. As Joe and T.K. enter the fog bank, this story begins.
"Pardon me!" says a figure, struggling through the crowd at the ferry docks, "I have to get through! Excuse me!" He checks his watch, and looks quite frayed and impatient, just like those around him. Looking around, no one is paying attention to him; he shrugs, tightens the straps on his backpack, and jumps. Somersaulting over the heads of the crowd, he lands facing the end of the dock, and begins to run. "Hey! Wait!!" he calls to the kids disappearing into the fog on the back of a Digimon. His legs blur as he runs faster and faster, nearly knocking T.K.'s mother off her feet from the extreme low pressure created in his passing. "Sorrryy..." a voice echos back to her as the stranger also disappears into the fog, running across the water.
Ikkakumon's ears twitch. "Hey, do you hear something strange?" he asks.
"No, why do ask?" Joe replied, his fingers fidgeting with the white hair of his partner. TK shakes his head, saying "Nope!"
Patamon, however, stopped flying, landing on Ikkakumon's back. "I think I do," he said, in his chirpy little voice. "Like someone stomping in a puddle, or something..."
Just then, the fog swirls in a small area alongside Ikkakumon, accompanied by a rush of air and spray.
"Excuse me! I've got to help the Digi-destinedddd!" ghosts back to them as a fog-muted blueish blur speeds by. "What was that?!" all gasp as the waves of its passage radiate outwards. They have no time to ponder this before they come across a bridge and Megaseadramon!
Meanwhile...
Kari walked out of the warehouse to face Phantomon. "I'm the eighth Digi-Destined. It's me you want, so if you let my friends go, I'll come with you quietly."
Matt, with the chain of Phantomon's shadow scythe wrapped around his neck, managed to get enough breath to yell "KARI! NO!"
Sora, threatened by Snimon and Tuskomon, added her voice to Matt's. "DON'T GIVE IN, KARI!"
Kari bowed her head, "There has been too much pain. I'll go with you to Myotismon if you leave my friends alone." She spoke softly, barely more than a whisper.
Phantomon laughed darkly, and in his cornily spooky voice, "ReallY? ThaT WoulD Be A WisE MovE FoR YoU. MyotismoN WilL Be PleaseD YoU GavE In So EasilY!" Phantomon creates a translucent gray transport bubble around Kari, and the chain around Matt's neck unravels.
"KARI! NO!" Matt shouted again, as the bubble lifted the eighth child off the ground.
Behind Phantomon is an empty overpass. Empty, that is, except for a lone figure moving rapidly out of the shadows and fog. "Hey, Photomat!" it taunts, leaping from the railing towards Phantomon's hovering shape.
"WhaT?!" Phantomon exclaimed as he turned around, only to be nailed in the face with two well-worn sneakers. The boy bursts through the fog into view for Matt, Sora, Garudamon and Garurumon. The falling figure pushes off against Phantomon, hitting the bubble containing Kari. In an explosion of glimmering dust, the bubble pops, and Kari began to fall. The interloper catches her deftly, and lands safely on the ground, crouching down as he dissipates the force of the fall by slowing down his impact.
"Who is that, Matt?" growled Garurumon, struggling to rise.
"Don't ask me!" Matt fired back.
"Benjamon." Says the kneeling form, setting Kari down gently and standing up. Light flashes of a pair of glasses. "A friend to the Digi-Destined, if you want to get specific." Benjamon carefully pushes Kari towards Matt. "I'll take care of Phantomon, you get Garurumon and Garudamon ready to fight." He turns back to Phantomon. "Give me your scythe, Boris Karloffmon, and I won't destroy you." he stated calmly, staring straight into Phantomon's glowing eyes.
"YoU? DestroY Me? Don'T MakE Me LaugH!" Phantomon said, drifting down to just above ground level, his scythe ready to puree this intruder.
"I don't want to make you laugh. Your laugh is incredibly cheesy. Your shadow scythe, however, is quite interesting..."
"WhaT InsolencE! YoU LikE My ScythE, Do YoU? TakE A GooD LooK, TheN!!" Phantomon drew back his scythe, and attacked! "ShadoW ScythE!" he cried, swinging the black blade towards Benjamon. Phantomon's red eyes widened as he realized he has been stopped in his action, his scythe now held by an additional pair of hands, human hands, human hands with strangely inscribed metal hand guards covering the back and palm.
"Not so easy to get me, Fattyman." Benjamon says, and tries to wrest the scythe away.
"HurG!" Phantomon grunts, tearing his scythe away from his adversary. "HoW AbouT ThiS?!?" Phantomon yells, hurling the chain towards Benjamon's throat.
Benjamon stands absolutely still as the weighted chain hurtles past his right ear, starts to curve to wrap around his throat an choke him...
"Can you get up, Garurumon?" Kari asked, rubbing the digimon's blue paw.
"Not yet..." growls the wolf digimon, and glows as he devolves back into Gabumon, his blue coat hanging loosely over his body. "Matt, are you all right?" Gabumon asks, trodding over to Matt, who is still rubbing his throat.
"Yeah, I am fine...Just give me a few moments..." he coughs, looking towards the rescuer.
Benjamon's left hand shoots up between the chain and his neck, and he grabs the chain leading back to Phantomon in his right, wrapping it around his forearm and wrist. "How about this?" he asks, still able to breathe. "Not bad, but you just made a major mistake."
"WhaT Do YoU Mea...HRRRK!" Phantomon gasps as Benjamon yanked the chain suddenly, viciously, getting more slack to work with.
"I mean, you're digi-dust." Benjamon smiles, leaning to his right, then suddenly snapping his arm and body to the left in a fluid motion. A large curve forms in the chain and moves toward Phantomon, who shakes horribly as the chain yanks him about. Benjamon snaps back to the right, creating another large curve, and dragging Phantomon along.
"HeY! StoP! I'M GettinG SicK!" Phantomon shouts, shortening the chain to keep the chain's waving from being able to build up so much.
"You never studied physics, did you?" Benjamon asks, still jerking the chain from one side to the other.
"WhaT?? OoF! OW! StoP! StoP!" Phantomon yells, now getting swung into the ground as the chain arcs to the left, then right, carrying the stubborn digi-mon along like the weight on the end of a metronome.
"Why didn't you do that, Matt?" Gabumon asks, helping Matt to his feet. "I didn't think of it... Anyway, this Benjamon character is taller than me, and looks stronger, too..." Matt says, looking round for Sora.
Benjamon stops, and smiles... "Ready to give up that scythe, yet?" he asks, gazing up at the battered Digimon.
"No!" Phantomon screeches. "SnimoN! TuskomoN! DestroY HiM!" Phantomon shouts to the two hench digimon. The mantis-like Snimon leaps toward Benjamon, ready to disembowel this troublemaker.
"Should have called them sooner, Ed Woodmon." Benjamon taunts, swinging Phantomon into Snimon's path, and grinning in satisfaction when they collide. The sharp blade of the shadow scythe cuts through the exoskeleton of the bug-like digimon, and it screams shrilly as the edge passes completely through it. "Good job, Fatfreemon."
Garudamon gets up out of the wreckage of the building she was knocked into, and looks around. "Where is Snimon?" she booms.
Sora hugged Garudamon's leg tightly, and yelled up, "Snimon's defeated! You have to take out Tuskomon, though! That Digimon's still attacking!" Garudamon blinked, and nods, gently taking Sora into her hands. "I will defeat Tuskomon. I won't underestimate these evil Digimon again." Garudamon stands up and faces the battle...
The ground shakes as Tuskomon charges Benjamon. "No problem... Just swing Phantomon again and... Huh?" Benjamon is yanked off his feet when he tries to pull the chain again. The scythe has lodged in Snimon, and the chain is still wrapped around Benjamon's neck and arm! Phantomon laughs, deep and evilly, as the rampaging Tuskomon rushes at Benjamon.
The bizarre green reptile with enormous horns bore down, each step a pounding death knell for this upstart. Light flashing from his glasses, he sweats, mouth agape as he fails to get away...
"NoW YoU WilL Beee SorrY!" Phantomon gloats...
"WING BLADE!" Garudamon shouts as she attacks, a bird of radiant fire bursting forth from her body and speeding towards the attacking Tuskomon.
Garudamon's attack plows into Tuskomon, hitting the undefended rear of the horned digimon, and knocking it aside as well as defeating it, the hulk of the digimon hurtling past mere inches from Benjamon's arm... Benjamon starts breathing again...
"Thank you!" he shouts, then turns back to Phantomon, who seems to be the one sweating heavily. "Well, It's just you and me again... Got any other tricks?" he asks, steadily pulling on the chain, letting the blade slowly slice its way out of Snimon's corpse, then pulling Phantomon towards him.
"UhhhH... What'S ThaT BehinD YoU?" the ghostly Digimon stammers, looking wildly about for a way to escape with his scythe.
"Don't know, let's have a ...LOOK!" Benjamon shouts, spinning suddenly and sending Phantomon through a wall. When Phantomon stops, Benjamon charges in after the ghostly digimon.
"Who is that guy?" Sora asked, holding Biyomon close as she sits next to Matt, Gabumon, and Kari.
"Not sure." Matt said, looking at the corpse of Snimon.
"He said he was a friend of the Digidestined, and what he's doing proves it." Gabumon adds, watching the building where Phantomon and Benjamon continue to fight. A long series of windows are broken in a straight line where Phantomon smashed through, and tatters of rags are caught on the sharp edges.
"He said his name is Benjamon, sort of like a Digimon,..." Kari finished.
Inside the building, Phantomon found himself caught in a tangle of office furniture, water pipes, glass and his own chain. "I MusT TelL MyotismoN!" he gasps, struggling to remove a cubical wall from his lower body. A soft crunch, and Benjamon stares Phantomon in the face.
"You tried well, but in vain. I'd like to convince you to help me, instead, but that obviously wouldn't work." He says, softly, the markings on his hand guards and glasses beginning to glow... "Good night, Phantomon. My your next recompilation be more successful." Benjamon held Phantomon down with his knee, drew back his fist, the hand guard shining like the sun, and punched straight through Phantomon's cloaked head, watching the former servant of Myotismon dissolve into bits of code as the chain around his arm and neck vanished with it's owner.
Benjamon exited the building, and strode softly over to the group. "Phantomon has been destroyed..." he said softly. "Not bad for a Rookie Digimon, Eh?" he says with a smile, and for the first time, Matt, Sora, Kari, Gabumon and Biyomon notice that behind the glasses, Benjamon's eyes are golden yellow, and have vertical slits for pupils... Benjamon looks at the stunned group, running a hand through his brown hair. "We have to get to the fog generator. Especially you... Kari, was it? Anyway, Myotismon is likely to be there, along with your Digimon..."
To be continued...
The Next Step
(I'd like to apologize for attempting to write "Benjamon Enters" in the present tense. I was tired when I wrote it, and I thought it made sense then... obviously, it does not.)
Scene: Immediately after Phantomon's defeat, outside a warehouse and damaged buildings. Matt is sitting next to Gabumon, Sora is holding Biyomon, and Kari sits between the two other Digi-Destined. All are staring at Benjamon.
"What do you mean, 'Get Kari to Myotismon'?!" Sora asked, incredulously.
"Tai told us to keep her AWAY from that maniac! I thought we fought just now to keep Phantomon from taking her!" shouted Matt, glaring at Benjamon.
Benjamon took off his glasses, and blinked his large, golden eyes owlishly as he sat down in front of the group. "I understand your confusion..." he began, cleaning the spectacles on his shirt before putting them back on. "So I'll explain. You do know what 'destiny' means, don't you?" he paused, and continued. "Don't answer that. It was a rhetorical question. In your current situation, I think destiny means that Myotismon will be beaten, but only with the help of the eighth child. Now, mere humans don't stand much of a chance against Ol' Blue Eyes, (Myotismon has strikingly blue eyes. This is also a reference to Frank Sinatra. I enjoy puns, look for them) so I assume that Kari's Digimon is already here, and is a unique Digimon." He pauses, looking around at the slightly bored faces. "Any guesses on who it is? I really have no idea."
"That's easy!" said Biyomon, piping up from Sora's lap.
"Gatomon." Kari murmured. "It's Gatomon."
Benjamon hmmed to himself, and spoke again. "Well, since Gatomon came through with Myotismon, it's probably likely that she is in his clutches. So, we have to go find Myotismon, rescue Gatomon, and then stop Myotismon's reign of terror. Does that make more sense?" he finished, and stood up, adjusting the straps on his backpack.
Sora and Biyomon nodded, Kari nodded slowly, but she had known that she would have ended up going to Myotismon no matter what happened.
Matt hrumphed and looked away from Benjamon. "What a pompous Digimon!" he said under his breath. "He does seem to know what he's talking about, Matt." Gabumon replied, regarding Matt with his red eyes. "So? He's arrogant! And we can't tell what he is! The Digivices don't record anything on him!" Matt said, voice rising in volume slightly.
Benjamon turned. "I don't think you'll find anything on me," he said, eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at Matt, "Because I had to corrupt my data severely to change my image to a humanoid form. I couldn't even show you what I looked like before. But I do know that I would have been killed, deleted, spun, folded, and mutilated years ago had I not altered to my present form. And it was painful. VERY painful. Imagine every nerve on fire, constantly screaming, for an entire year." He continued in a voice of ice. "But even that was better than destruction at the hands of curious and frightened humans. No Digivice, not even mine," he said as he pulled a silver Digivice from his backpack, "will get anything but line noise." Benjamon checked the time, while the three Digi-Destined gaped at him.
"YOU have a Digivice?!!" they all exclaimed. "How...!?"
Benjamon shrugged, "I really don't know. I've always had it, as well as these glasses and hand guards." he put the Digivice back into his pack, and looked at Matt again. "So if I am arrogant and pompous, at least respect what I've done to survive. Let's get going, Kari." He said, looking over at the eighth child. "I think that I should get her to Myotismon, while Sora and Biyomon find the others. I'd also recommend that you and Gabumon stay here and wait for Tai, and tell him what has happened, and where to go. That way, we could get everyone together faster."
"And why should we listen to you?" snapped Matt, "You just show up and think you can boss us around?"
"Matt, please..." said Sora, standing next to Biyomon, "Can't you see he's trying to help us?"
"I'm open to suggestions. If you can think of a better way to go about saving your world, I'll follow you until we succeed... If I survive all this, my loyalty to the Digi-Destined will hold true." Benjamon said as he walked over to Kari, and asked "Well, what should we do?"
"Take me to Myotismon..." Kari said in a soft voice. "We need to stop all this."
Benjamon nodded, and picked Kari up in his arms. "I'll run her over to the Television tower...I think that's where the mathematical center of the fog bank is, and therefore, Myotismon and Gatomon... Unless someone objects, that is." Benjamon looked pointedly at Matt.
"No..." Matt said at last, sitting down heavily. "I can't think of a better way to make this end."
Benjamon nodded again. "I shall see you soon, then. And I swear on my coding that I won't let Kari come to harm." And with that, he dashed off into the fog, vaulting over totaled automobiles and building wreckage.
"What do we do now, Matt?" Gabumon asked after a few moments.
Matt sighed, putting his head on his arms. "We wait for Tai, Gabumon..."
Biyomon, meanwhile, Digivolved into Birdramon, and flew off carrying Sora to find the others.
Benjamon ran onwards through the swirling mists, the blocks of the city flashing by. He gently held Kari to his chest, running so smoothly that she couldn't tell, save for the air rushing past them, that they were moving at all.
"Kari?" Benjamon said softly, dodging a van.
"Yes?" came her reply. "What is it?"
"I am sorry about this, but I'll have to set you down at the tower, and hide. You have to make it seem as if you've come of your own free will... I think it's the only way you'll get close enough to Gatomon. If I am seen, we could be in serious trouble. Don't get me wrong, I'll be following you and trying to keep you safe, but if I'm found too soon, I'll be destroyed before the other Digi-Destined could reach us." He murmured, slowing down as they approached the spherical television tower. "You do understand, don't you?"
Kari sighed softly, rocking forward in his arms as he came to a complete stop. "I know. I'd like to thank you for taking all this trouble to help us." She said as he gently set her on the cement.
Benjamon smiled sadly, and nodded once. "Off you go now... hmm. With any luck, that blue bowling ball with the wings and skull motif over there by the entrance will be more than happy to show you the way..." he said, pointing out a small dim figure in the fog.
"That's DemiDevimon. He'll do whatever it takes to get me to Myotismon." Kari said sadly, turning toward the television tower, steeling herself, and walked up to the small flying Digimon, who began to fly in crazy, joyous patterns, as he herded Kari through the doors.
Benjamon took out his Digivice, looked at his reflection in the silvered device sadly, seeing his golden, catlike, even reptilian, eyes. He removed his backpack, set it under a pile of rubble, and placed his Digivice in his hip pocket. Benjamon disappeared into the building before the doors had a chance to close behind Demi-Devimon.
"MATT! Where's Kari?!" Tai shouted, running up to the warehouse, Agumon close behind, his orange color strangely muted in Myotismon's magical fogbank.
"She's gone, Tai," Matt sighed, looking at the ground.
"WHAT?!" Tai shouted, eyes wide. "WHAT HAPPENED!?"
"Calm down! It wasn't Matt's fault!" Gabumon interceded.
"WHAT HAPPENED?" Tai shouted again.
"Phantomon showed up. We tried to fight, but he summoned Snimon and Tuskomon, but Garudamon and Garurumon couldn't defeat them. Kari told Phantomon she'd go with him to Myotismon if he stopped hurting us." Matt said, standing up and looking Tai in the eye.
"What happened to this one, then?" asked Agumon, looking at the corpse of Snimon.
"Matt was just getting to that..." Gabumon said, "And just as Phantomon was about to leave with Kari trapped in a gray bubble, this human-looking Digimon, calling himself 'Benjamon' shows up, and defeats Snimon and Phantomon."
"Sora and Garudamon took care of Tuskomon." Matt said, "This 'Benjamon' clown starts acting like a grownup, and bossing us around."
"Well, not really, Matt." Gabumon said, looking up with his round crimson eyes.
"Let me talk, okay, Gabumon?" Matt continued, looking at the ground briefly with a sigh, then back at Tai. "He convinced Kari to go find Gatomon and Myotismon at the television tower, and told Sora to go look for the others, and for Gabumon and I to wait for you here." He finished.
"Wait! He defeated Snimon and Phantomon? What level was he?" asked Agumon, prodding the giant green insect with his claws.
"He said he was a rookie, like us." Gabumon answered.
"A rookie beat up two of Myotismon's hench-Digimon? Good thing he's on our side, then! Come on, Matt, Let's get to that television tower and rescue Kari!" Tai exclaimed, running off.
"Tai! You're running the wrong way!" Matt yelled.
"I've got an idea, Matt." Said Gabumon, Digivolving into Garurumon.
"Get on my back, and I'll carry you there much faster than you could run." Garurumon rumbled.
"Garurumon, you are brilliant!" Matt cried, mounting the large blue wolf, and helping Tai and Agumon aboard.
/////
Author's note:
This is a rough story, but it improves dramatically.
The next fanfic is "Myotismon's Endgame, which seems quite popular, if only because it features Myotismon.
Send your comments to Drowzee1@hotmail .com
(The space is intentional, to keep my silly word processor from printing a large hyperlink.)