Eighth Wonder

Disclaimer: Digimon, its characters, plots and themes are not mine. I'm just borrowing them and will try to bring them back as they were, honest! They're belonged to such people like Toei, Bandai and Saban. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. The only thing mine is this fic.

Note: This is now for Cynthia's 'Really Weird Couples', as she let me change contests. Also, I am extremely, extremely sorry for taking so long. I feel so ashamed! I got so, so blocked with this story and it was only tonight I managed to finish Part 2. Hopefully the future parts won't be so slow in coming out. Seeing as the deadline is only a little over two months away, they better not! ^^;; Thank you so much to all the people who emailed me to get this part out and who made sure I never forgot about this story! You guys are fabulous and I hope you enjoy this part!

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Part Two: Hunt for the Child

Evening was rapidly deepening when the Digidestined finally met in the park. It had been intensely difficult for them to get away, as family duties had seemed to pop up in their hundreds that day. It had also resulted in not much searching for the eighth child. But it didn't seem to matter anymore, as there was hope! Izzy and Tai's news had been spread to the other Digidestined like wildfire, and all were full of excitement and renewed hope. They had the eighth digivice! They had something Myotismon did not! Their search wasn't so hopeless after all!

The five Digidestined crowded around Taichi to see the famed object, while Izzy stood slightly apart, full of the knowledge that he had found it. Tentomon was fit to burst with pride, and had been seen telling the other digimon of how they had fought at least twenty savage wildcats to get the digivice. Izzy had decided not to break up his fun.

"Oh my gosh, you really did find it!" Mimi gasped, staring wide-eyed at the digivice Tai held in his palm. "This is so totally cool!" She beamed and hugged Palmon in complete happiness. Palmon, on the other hand, fought to breathe as she was whirled around in glee.

"So what do we do now?" Matt asked, settling down on the grass. Gabumon came to sit beside him and the blonde absently scratched his digimon's head. "We have the digivice but will it lead us to the eighth child or what?" He still seemed dubious, but this time Tai knew he wasn't going to go flying off the handle. He also knew something none of the others did.

"That's not going to be a problem Matt!" he said grinning, and at once everyone looked at him in surprise. "I already know who it is!"

"WHAT?!" everyone, even the digimon, chorused in flat out astonishment.

"You mean I made all those phone calls for nothing?!" Joe asked in dismay. Everyone ignored him, focusing on Tai instead.

"It's my sister Hikari!" Tai told them. He had been thinking about the issue of Kari and Ken for the whole afternoon and had finally decided it had to have been her the digivice had reacted to. It made more sense, as she had been in Heighton View Terrace with them and hadn't been surprised at the sight of Koromon at all when she had met him upon Tai's return.

Everyone stared at him. "Are you sure Tai?" Matt finally managed to get out, hardly able to believe this was happening. It was just too easy for his liking...

"Positive!" the leader of the Digidestined replied. "After Izzy gave me the digivice I went home and Kari and her friend Ken were eating ice-cream in the kitchen. They told me they had met some funny people today who had been Myotismon's henchmen and when I put the digivice on the table near them, it reacted! It totally went crackers!"

Everyone was in totally shock, except for Matt, who still remained sceptical. "Are you sure it was Hikari?" he asked him, looking serious. "Was it right beside her? It could have been her friend -- what's his name? -- Ken, just as easily." Tai scowled at him and Matt guessed the truth. "You're not sure at all are you?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Tai snapped, but it was obvious from his expression he wasn't. "It just makes more sense!" he said, completely convinced.

"Since when has the Digital World ever been logical?" Matt pointed out, determined that they wouldn't be making just one gigantic mistake. Tai had no answer for him, just as he had suspected he wouldn't. However their leader did look very angry.

"Guys! Guys!" Sora interrupted. "Calm down! The thing is we now have two kids who the digivice reacted to. It's simply what we do now -- we find them and put the digivice near them. Whoever it reacts to is the eighth child." The solution made sense and everyone agreed with it, eager to stop Matt and Tai from having another fight.

"I'll ask Kari if she's bringing Ken over tomorrow," Tai decided. "I'll get them separated and I'll check 'em out with the digivice by themselves." The other nodded, agreeing with him, even Yamato.

"One question," Joe said suddenly. "What do we do when we have the eighth child? How are we going to get the crest and still keep the kid safe?" Everyone looked at him in dismay. He had just voiced the question none of them knew how to answer.

Tai was still thinking about it when he made his way home. How were they going to keep the eighth child safe from Myotismon and still get the crest? It was an awkward situation... it would have been easier if the crest had been with the digivice, but he knew things were never that easy. Koromon was also deep in thought, not bothering to be his usual bouncy self. The meeting had ended on too much of a sombre note for him to be.

Tai was still worried when he went into his room and found Kari on her bunk, reading something. She looked up and smiled when she saw him come in. "Hi Tai!" she greeted him cheerfully.

"Hi Kari," he said tiredly, flopping down on the bottom bunk and nearly flattening Koromon in the process. "Are you ready to go to sleep yet?" He yanked off his goggles and placed them on the floor in a safe place, so he could settle more comfortably on the pillow. Placing his arms under his head, he stared up at the bottom of Kari's mattress.

"Why would I want to go to sleep yet Tai?" his sister demanded, outraged. "It's not even eight yet!"

"Oh yeah," Tai replied absently, glancing at the clock and realising she was right. It felt like it was much later though... or maybe it was just him. Probably was too.

"Besides, I'm too excited to sleep!" his sister continued in a rush. "I can't believe Ken's going to get his own digimon like you!"

To say Tai was surprised was not funny. "Ken's going to get what?!" he cried, sitting up straight on his bed and whacking his head off the bottom of Kari's bunk. "Ow!" he yelled, rubbing his throbbing head hard. "That hurt."

Kari looked down at him over the side of her bunk. "Are you okay Tai?" she asked in concern, looking at him with worried eyes.

"I'm fine," Tai grumped, still rubbing his head. He stared up at his sister in disbelief. "What did you say about Ken?" This couldn't be happening...

Kari blinked at him. "He's going to get a digimon isn't he, now that he's like you?" she asked, looking genuinely puzzled. "The digivice reacted to him, and besides, I had this feeling about him, you know? Like something was telling me he was the person you were looking for." Her eyes were calm and serene as she looked down at her brother. The brother in question felt like he was going to fall off his bed in shock.

Digivice? She knew? What on earth was going on?! Tai dimly felt something drop and realised it was his jaw. "How... how do you know all this?" he managed to get out at last, when he had finally remembered how to talk again. "I never really told you about the digivice... and what feeling?!"

If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn Kari looked vaguely uncomfortable. "I don't know," she confessed. "I just do, that's all I can tell you, because that's all I know!" Her voice had rise slightly as she said this, and Tai recognised the panicked sound to it and the frantic look in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," he said quickly, not wanting Kari to panic or anything. He hadn't meant to make her uncomfortable. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, you just really surprised me, that's all," he said in a bid to pacify her. A pause and then: "Are you sure it's Ken?"

Kari's eyes were serious as she replied, "I'm sure. I told you Tai, I'm not going to be called until later. It's Ken, it has to be."

One last test. With trembling fingers he pulled out the digivice and held it up to Kari. She even touched it with him to help. Nothing happened. The digivice remained silent, looking like any other dormant digivice. Tai stared at it, his heart thumping, as he realised what had just happened. Kari and Matt had been right -- Ken was the eighth child. It wasn't his sister. It was then he realised Ken was completely unprotected in Tamachi. His parents hadn't a clue of what he was, and none of the other Digidestined lived close enough to help. Kari herself had only become friends with him by pure chance, meeting him at the park one day.

As if sensing his troubled thoughts, Kari reached down and touched his hand gently, reassuring him with a smile. "Don't worry, it'll all work out, I'm sure of it." Tai knew he could believe her, after everything that had happened he knew he could. "Now, go get Koromon before Mom realises he's on the couch watching TV."

Tai turned pale.

* * *

Night fell like a shadowed cloak over Odaiba once again, and like always the light surrendered to the advancing legions of blackness. There were no stars that night, but the moon still resided in her seat of power amid the night, watching the land below like a guardian. But even she could not help, not even when the land was awash with blood.

Gatomon and Wizardmon made their way through the quieter streets of Tokyo, where there were no clubs, no lights and no laughter. Quietness hung like a blanket over them, broken only by their soft movements and their low breathing. Shadows clung in the alleys and in deep pools in corners. Gatomon watched around her, blue eyes darting carefully. Although Wizardmon was beside her, in didn't mean she couldn't trust her own instincts also and she definitely couldn't let down her guard. At times like these, it seemed like it was every 'mon for themselves. When it came down to it, they were survivors for themselves.

That's what makes us different to those Digidestined digimon, Gatomon thought. They actually look out for each other. She sneered. Fools. But deep down, far below the mask of faithful minion to Myotismon she wore, she knew all of her didn't agree. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she and Wizardmon nearly always looked out for each other. There had always been a part of her that was different. That didn't agree with Myotismon, that hated being his slave. She had the sneaking suspicion it had been all of her in the days before she had met Myotismon. He could have killed her then, when he had found her as Salamon. He hadn't... but he had tortured her because of her eyes from then on.

Was it my fault I have blue eyes?! Gatomon thought bitterly, the aforementioned eyes narrowing angrily. He still hurt me anyway. But she also knew that not many virus digimon would have spared such a creature like her. Most would have destroyed her on sight. She shuddered. I hate him... but I still owe him! A low hiss made its way up from deep in her throat before she could help it. She felt Wizardmon's eyes on her, but said nothing, instead continuing to reside in her painful journey through her memories -- or lack of memories to be precise.

Before Myotismon, she could remember hardly anything. She dimly recalled coming to being surrounded by whiteness -- snow -- with a cold wind blowing. She remembered feeling so alone, not understand why she was alone. She had been so sure she shouldn't have been alone... she should have had others... but who? And there had been someone -- she got a flash of brown hair and kind eyes -- a special someone, whom she was to wait for and protect. So she waited. And waited.

That special someone had never come, and at last she had given up on waiting and decided she would find that special someone herself.

She searched for a long time, so long in fact, that she changed into her rookie form Salamon. She had been wandering through a forest, she remembered, when she had first met Myotismon -- or rather he had found her.

She had been afraid, she remembered, so, so afraid! Myotismon had been an ultimate digimon after all, and a virus to top it all. Being blonde-haired and blue-eyed did not hide an evil nature. He looked down at her and laughed as she cowered in fear. She had been only a rookie after all, no match for him at all.

"Well, well," he had said, leaning down and grabbing her by the scruff of her neck before she could flee. "Look what I found." He sneered at her, fangs glinting as he squeezed the back of her neck. She squeaked in pain and he grinned. He enjoyed her pain.

Somehow, despite the fact the odds were stacked hopelessly against her, she found a thread of courage inside her. "Let me go!" she howled, eyes narrowed. She tried to nip his arm but his glove was too thick. It turned out to be a dire mistake.

He growled, his hand moving lightning-quick to hold her by the throat. "Such brave words for a little thing," he said in a dangerously low voice. He squeezed -- just a little -- and Salamon was left gasping for breath, eyes wide. Being brave was suddenly not such a good thing. "Too brave in fact," he hissed, before casually tossing her against a tree.

She went flying through the air to strike heavily against the trunk, all air knocked out of her. Her little body was no match for the weathered tree, and she screamed at the impact. Pain jarred her bones and blossomed inside her, leaking through her until she was a whimpering, crumpled heap. Why had she been so foolish? To think she could have ever thought of standing up against a virus, an ultimate! She cracked open a swollen eye and to her dismay, saw Myotismon looming above her. She shut the eye again. Should she play dead? No -- Myotismon was a vampire. He would be able to sense if she was alive or dead. If she pretended, she knew he would really lose his temper. Viris' liked to vent, she remembered.

The disgust on his face made part of her so ashamed, it was disgraceful. "Pathetic," he snapped, punctuating the word with a kick. "Spineless. Useless." Each kick was worse then the last. Within moments she was sobbing. He shook his head, eyes burning. "I thought you were stronger than this." That, she realised later, had been a hint. Unfortunately, at the time she had nearly been unconscious.

It had taken several moments for the meaning of his sentence to sink in, but by then it was nearly too late. Myotismon had turned and had been walking away. Dizzy with agony, she had slowly and painfully got to her paws, her head ringing. Balancing herself precariously, she had staggered a few paces after him, before it became obvious she could not follow him at his pace. She uttered one word: "Wait!" before her strength finally failed her and she collapsed.

Myotismon had heard her and he turned, ice-blue eyes landing on the small bundle that was her. He stared at her for several long moments before the ghost of a smile had flickered across his face and triumph flared in his eyes. He began to walk back to that pathetic bundle, the hem of his clock lightly brushing the grass. He watched as Salamon sensed his presence and quickly struggled to get to her paws. Yes, she is already learning quickly. She will do. He picked her up, ignoring her whimpers and proceeded to take her to her new life...

"Gatomon?" a low voice said. "Gatomon!"

She jerked from the sea of memories that had been dragging her down and found herself looking into the concerned eyes of Wizardmon. Her...friend? She looked around and realised he was holding her. "What? Why are you holding me?"

"You were about to walk into the lamp post," the wizard digimon replied calmly. "You hadn't the faintest idea where you were going. You were a thousand digi-worlds away!" His green eyes searched her blue ones.

She looked away, furious with herself. "There's nothing wrong!" she snapped irritably, answering his unspoken question. She had seen it in his eyes. "I was just thinking, that's all." She was not going to tell him what she had been remembering. There were just some things you didn't tell anyone. Well, maybe someone...

He watched her carefully and she stared sullenly back at him. Finally he let go of her and stared up at the darkened sky, the moonlight causing deep shadows to pool on his face hidden by the brim of his hat. "We better hurry," he said at last. "Myotismon will be waiting for us." Their master did not like to be kept waiting.

Myotismon chose me because I did not give up, Gatomon thought as she two began walking again. This time she kept enough of her senses awake so she wouldn't be in any danger of walking into lamp posts again. It wasn't like her to stay so deep in thought, but she felt she had to sort this out. Does this mean I'm as evil as he intended me to be? He didn't torture me as Salamon for fun -- he wanted to see if I had any backbone in me. But if it was for my own good why do I hate it so much? The answer was simple -- no one, not even her, liked being tortured for anything. But then, she supposed she could sympathise -- a little maybe -- seeing as Myotismon had been tortured himself. There was a very good reason he hated the Digidestined and human kind in general. She didn't fully understand it, but she knew enough.

But if I'm as evil as I'm supposed to be, why don't I always agree with everything like that bowling ball DemiDevimon does? she wondered. That was easy -- she simply had far more class than DemiDevimon and always would. Why do I wish for things I'll never have? It didn't make sense.

There was the problem of that girl as well. That girl in the park, one of the two candidates for the eighth child. Gatmon saw an image of brown hair and kind eyes flash before her eyes and gasped. That was her! But... that meant... she stared at the ground in shock. Was that the girl she had been waiting for, the one she was mean to protect? It explained the strange fascination she had for her, the girl's kind innocence and how naive she was, reminded Gatomon dimly of how she had been, before she had met Myotismon. It seemed too surreal to be real.

She had no more time to think about it, because they reached the bridge where they had met the night before. None of the other followers were there -- it was then Gatomon realised they really were late -- except for one. And she betted he was wishing he wasn't there, judging by the abuse Myotismon was giving him.

"Stupid thing!" he raged, kicking the green worm so hard he hit the opposite wall of the bridge with a dull smack. Gatomon watched as the worm slid painfully slow down to the ground, landing awkwardly in a heap. "How you're a virus if beyond me! You can't fight and your attack is useless!" he spat, glaring at the shaking digimon. If looks could kill, Wormmon would be long dead by now. "The fact you were accepted to be one of my troops is unthinkable!" He growled angrily and in a fit of anger, launched his attack at the worm. "Grisly Wing!" The flurry of bats hit the green worm so hard he screamed, as he tumbled over and over, causing partly-healed cuts -- that had resulted from other sessions with Myotismon -- to split open. New bruises formed over fading ones. Altogether it wasn't a very pretty sight.

Gatomon and Wizardmon stood a little ways off, staring at the scene in stunned silence. Somehow the worm had angered their master so much he had gone beyond rational thinking. They could hardly remember the last time that had happened. Despite the fact Myotismon was evil, he used rational thinking a great deal and planned his attacks on his enemies with intense care. He very rarely lost his temper like he was doing now.

At last Wizardmon could stand it no longer. "We have to stop him," he hissed to her. "At the rate he's going, Myotismon will have killed Wormmon without realising it." He looked over and saw Wormmon attempting to rise. One of his antenna was at an odd angle and one of his blue eyes was only half-open, already swelling. The battered worm did not make a good sight.

Gatomon gave him a disgruntled look. The wizard digimon had always been more sympathetic than she. "Why?" she asked. "He must have done something incredibly stupid to get our master this mad at him, and now he's paying for it. He'll live." She shrugged, trying not to remember all the times Myotismon had abused and tortured her so she would change into her champion form, which she was at now. And because of her eyes...

Wizardmon only shook his head, already walking forward. With a sigh, Gatomon followed him wearily. They approached the angry scene, close enough to hear Myotismon's next assault.

"...not important anyway, are you?" the vampire sneered, looking furious. "Why anyone would want a thing like you is beyond me! Oh, pardon me, no one did want you, did they? After all, if what my general said about you is correct, you were forgotten about to begin with!" He laughed, the sound more like a cackle than anything else. Gatomon shivered and Wizardmon was close enough to see the tears sliding down Wormmon's face. The wizard 'mon felt his eyes narrow, as he strode forward faster, his boots making soft taps on the ground.

To Wizardmon's relief, Myotismon saw then and abruptly turned away from Wormmon to face them. The little worm gave them a grateful look with his eyes and scurried off into the shadows.

"I trust you two have better news for me than all of the others had!" Myotismon snapped, looking extremely annoyed with how the night's events had been going so far. He stood before them, and Gatomon hoped he didn't see her gulp. She may have served Myotismon and she may even have been loyal to him, but that didn't mean she wasn't afraid of him.

"We do Lord Myotismon," she said, her voice clear and loud, using the same strength that she had when she had been Salamon. "We have found two children that could be the eighth. The crest glowed around them, but we hadn't the chance to separate them to see which one truly was the eighth. But," she added hastily, seeing an unpleasant glint flickering in Myotismon's eyes beneath the generally pleased look he wore, "we trailed them and found out where they live. One lives in a section called Odaiba and the other in Tamachi." They had been hoping they would be alone so they would get test the crest again, but both had been surrounded by people and so had been impossible to get to. They had stuck around for as long as they could, until they had to get back to report.

"Good," Myotismon said, approval evident in his voice. Gatomon and Wizardmon let themselves feel proud at this statement. It wasn't very often that Myotismon was satisfied with their efforts as he was now.

"Will we continue to trail them tomorrow my lord?" Gatomon asked him. Wizardmon usually let her do the talking, since she was able to explain things like this better than he was.

Myotismon gave this request some thought. "I have a better idea," he decided. "I will see them myself. You!" he said, gesturing at Wizardmon, "show me where they are!" Wizardmon gave Gatomon a glance, before leaping into the air to follow Myotismon through the night, no doubt going in the general direction of one of the children's homes. Gatomon watched them go, worried despite herself, before a faint movement near her made her turn.

Wormmon was creeping towards her. In the moonlight, she could see the intense pain in his light blue eyes and for a brief moment she felt pity for him. Then the walls slammed down and she looked at him as one of Myotismon's most loyal followers. He stopped near her and looked up at her. "Hello," he said. "You must be Gatomon." It occurred to her then that she had never actually spoken to the green worm before. As she usually wasn't sympathetic, she had seen no need to.

"Hello yourself," she replied roughly, knowing she was being rude and not really caring. This worm wasn't worth any of her time, and besides, she had more important things to worry about. Like what Myotismon will do if he finds that girl. She was intensely worried about her. There was no way to guarantee what he would do. She remembered how he had let her live when he had met her, but she highly doubted he would do the same for the girl. If she really was the eighth child, then she was the only thing standing between Myotismon and his ambition. And everyone who was anyone knew how important Myotismon's ambitions were, and how serious he was about them. And besides, the prejudice he felt for the Digidestined in general was so large, it was frightening sometimes. Like nearly every powerful virus in the Digital World, he was afraid he would be destroyed if the Digidestined brought the Data and Vaccines back up to power again. When Myotismon had heard this, he had vowed there and then to destroy them.

But she didn't want the girl to be destroyed. Gatomon stared at the ground miserably. She hated feeling like this! If Myotismon ever got wind of her feelings she was putting both herself and the girl in danger. But there was a slim chance that the girl wasn't the eighth child and she was going to starting hoping it was true. She couldn't do anything else. If she was the eighth child then Myotismon would destroy her on sight. She would be the virus' downfall if she would live, and he would never let that downfall happen.

"Are you all right?" Wormmon asked. When Gatomon looked at him, she realised he had been watching her carefully all along. She frowned. She certainly wasn't going to tell a useless little worm her fears!

"Nothing's wrong!" she snapped at him, eyes narrowed and ears flattened. These were her warning signs to back away before she hurt them. "Leave me alone!" Wormmon stared at her with wide eyes and began backing away rapidly, obviously not wanting to be ripped apart by her Lightning Paw. Everyone knew to stay away from Gatomon, particularly when she was in a temper. Wizardmon was her only friend.

At that moment Wizardmon arrived back and this was what probably saved Wormmon from Gatomon's temper. The wizard digimon landed smoothly on his feet and sighed. "I showed him," he told her wearily. "He's seen them both. We're to keep an eye on them tomorrow. He's gone off somewhere to brood or feed now." Gatomon opened her mouth to ask him could they leave now and find something to eat, when he turned and addressed Wormmon. "Are you all right? Did Myotismon hurt you badly?"

It was then Gatomon saw what she had failed to see earlier: how battered and bruised the green worm was. Damn Wizardmon and his need to care about others, she thought childishly, listening to Wormmon's answer with boredom.

"I'm all right," Wormmon told him, sounding pleased that someone would care about him. It seemed that no one had before, and you didn't go to Myotismon if you expected him to care about you. "I've learned to deal with what he tosses at me." This was said very matter-of-factly and to Gatomon and Wizardmon, it did seem that he had learned to deal with it. Myotismon had never liked him from the very start.

"What did you say to him?" Wizardmon asked, watching the worm carefully. Apart from the bruises and stiffness, the Grisly Wing attack didn't seem to have done much damage other than that. Perhaps Myotismon had been really slightly kind when he had launched it. "It must have been bad that Myotismon would lose his temper like that."

Wormmon rolled his eyes. "I told him I had nothing to report. That, added to my general show of uselessness since I entered here, was the last straw." The worm gave them a sad look. "He's never liked me anyway."

"Why did you join his army then?" Gatomon asked before she could stop herself. Only digimon who could fight ever joined Myotismon's fighting legions -- the tests one was put through were intense, rigorous and painful. She still had the scars from hers. How a worm whose attack didn't even damage had survived these tests, she couldn't imagine.

Wormmon gave a sheepish look. "I was waiting for someone, when other followers came and found me. They never stopped to see if I could fight, they just told me I was in." Then the worm's broken antenna visibly drooped. "The boy I was waiting for never came." The pain in his voice made even the hardened Gatomon momentarily sad. It was also alarmingly like what she herself had experienced.

"You were waiting for a boy?" she asked curiously. "Why?" This couldn't be happening...

"I was created for him," the worm answered practically. "I was meant to wait for him and when he came I was meant to protect him and be his friend, because we were destined for life." Again, the sad look entered the worm's clear blue eyes. "But he never came..." Wizardmon quickly stepped up to comfort him, while Gatomon's wrestled with her conflicting thoughts. It was practically identical to what had happened to her. She frowned. Was there a connection?

She knew she would find out. Perhaps the answer lay with the girl?

She didn't know how close to the truth she was.

* * *

The moon crawled up the black sky, its journey almost to an end for the time being. The glow spread across the city, highlighting certain buildings and plunging smaller ones into deep shadow. Silver flowed across the dark river that flowed through the Odaiba section of Tokyo and Myotismon's reflection wavered on the slow-moving water. He stared down at it for a moment without speaking or moving, simply looking. What he saw made him angry inside. What he saw was a pale-skinned vampire digimon, an ultimate, with long blonde hair and a mask that hid his upper face. Pale blue eyes stared up at him from the mask. One who mightn't have known him might have said those were the eyes belonging to an angel. At this thought Myotismon's eyes hardened. He was no angel and never would be. He was a Virus. A Virus digimon was rarely good. There were the unfortunate exceptions, such as that useless Wormmon, but they were far and few between. Thankfully.

It wasn't just his reflection that made him angry, it was the river, the moon, this entire place. He hated this world, but that did not make his desire to conquer it any less. Indeed, it fuelled that desire. When it was under his control, things would be far, far different. Crowded cities like this would be torn down and smaller prisons for the humans would be set up. It was literally unhealthy for them to live in such crowded conditions as these. Mix them with the dire stenches that clung to these cities and it was simply abhorrent.

I will change it, he swore, glaring down at the river and his reflection that floated on it. Briefly he held up one gloved hand to lightly touch his pale, cold cheek. The scars hadn't stayed when he came his ultimate form. At least then he'd had enough power to banish them for good. He had no intentions to revert down to his lower forms anytime soon. In fact, he wanted to go higher. But the scars weren't there now and that was a good thing. Not even a hint. But the pain and anger that had come with them was still in there, inside him. That would never truly go away, no matter how many new forms he took on. Myotismon felt the roaring anger and rage take hold inside him and for one brief moment he submitted to it. I will make them pay for what was done to me. I will make them all pay.

He knew what they saw when the gazes of other digimon landed on him, before they quickly averted their eyes, for fear he had seen them watching him. Myotismon. A Virus digimon. Lord of the Undead. The Vampire King. One of the most powerful Ultimate digimon in the Digital World. Someone never to be crossed. Yes, he knew what they said, that blabbermouth DemiDevimon always ensured his master was up to date on foolish gossip. Myotismon felt a sneer curl his lips. He hated to admit it, but at one time he too had been a bumbling bowling ball with wings. It was not a comfortable memory, least of all because of the events associated with it. His times as a Rookie and Champion had not been pleasant ones, and as a Rookie he had been so small and prey to more powerful digimon. And sometimes prey to things that weren't digimon at all.

When he had been in his rookie form, when he had been DemiDevimon, times had been violent in the Digital World. At the time darkness had been making their steady plans to come to power in the Digital World -- plans that were beginning to come to fruit now. But the Ones of Good had been quite adamant that darkness would not win without a fight. They had revolted and many Virus digimon had perished along with ones of Data and Vaccine. Digimon Myotismon himself had known back then were long since deleted and hadn't come back yet. And they had been gone for a long, long time now. He did not miss them. To have emotions such as those were costly and he had known other digimon who had fallen because of those emotions.

The city was just as revolting as the last time he had been here. His lips curled at the memories; they weren't ones he particularly wanted to remember but they were part of this world for him now. And this was the world the Digidestined belonged to. It was not a good mix for anyone concerned. Only it was quieter now -- it had been late afternoon when he had come the last time and it was night now. Of course it would be quieter now. With a sigh escaping through his frozen lips, Myotismon unconsciously reached up to his face, when the scars had once been. And he remembered.

When the Powers of Darkness and Good had been battling, times had been very unstable in the Digital World. The very fabric of the world had been in jeopardy and everything had just been so fragile. There had been rumours that strange portals had been opening up to different worlds but he hadn't believed them. Of course, he had been only a Rookie then and hadn't known any better.

Even now he couldn't really remember what he had been doing when the portal had appeared. All he could remember was that he had been flying along (or attempting to at least) when it had appeared before him. He had been unable to stop in time and had flown straight in, only realising the potential danger he was putting himself in when it was too late and he was falling, with colours swirling and flying around him; the very being of the dimension rift he had somehow fallen into. He had found himself participating in a dizzying ride as he felt himself being tossed around, torn apart into tiny data particles and arranged again before landing in a dazed heap in a place he didn't know.

Fear had gripped him in a icy claw as he staggered to a standing position, looking around in fear and a certain amount of fascination. The first thing that popped into his head was, Where am I? The fear had grown larger then. The place looked remotely like the Digital World but there were many differences. In the distance he could dimly see what looked to be trees but there were so little of them! And what surrounded them... what in the Digi-World were they? He knew they weren't trees but they didn't resemble anything else! Huge towers of strange material that looked dull in some places and glittered in others, surrounding square spaces that looked like there was nothing there only air. He regarded the spaces for a moment and then decided he had to take shelter. He didn't know if digimon were here or not, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Rookies were the usual level that were picked on by stronger digimon. Taking a deep breath, he flung himself into the air and with unsteady wings hauled himself upwards.

This world was so different, like nothing he had ever seen before! He was almost certain it wasn't the Digital World now. As he flew in haphazard directions, he looked down below him. It was so strange! Huge dark serpents lay below him, like rivers, but at the same time didn't move. And things travelled on it, things that weren't any sort of fish or boat! People that could have been the few humanoid digimon hurried below him in crowds, but at the same time they couldn't be digimon, for they had no markings and no wings.

Huge buildings filled the remaining, limited space, but they looked nothing like the temples back in the Digital World. The question that forever stayed on his mind was, Where am I? The answer was still unknown to him. With a heavy sigh, he flew towards the space that he would hide in until it was safe to explore...

...and crashed into something that sent pain coursing through him, pain that simply crashed through him. With a startled yelp, he plummeted downwards. He landed heavily on the hard ground with blackness tingeing his vision. Dimly he could see he had landed in a small street full of shadows and darkness. That was the last thing he remembered, before the darkness filled him...

He had no idea how vulnerable he had been at that moment.

But he had soon learnt.

Myotismon came hurtling back into reality with a snarl. Clenching his hands into tight fists, he had to use every bit of self-control he possessed not to hit the nearest thing. Breathing hard, he felt his breathing calm and his tensed body gradually ebb into relaxation. But the memories remained. They always remained.

His hands drifted up to lightly brush his face, the invisible scars that had once been there. They will pay. I will make certain they will pay for the horrors they bestowed on me then. And if it means destroying the Eighth Child, then so be it! His eyes narrowed in anger and his heart full of ice, Myotismon launched himself into the night sky. Night would soon be over and day would reign once more -- but only temporarily.

Soon night would reign forever. He would make sure of that.

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