Chapter 7: The Truth Hurts

"Well," Jack said, "that would be nice."

"Where do we start?" Zurumon asked, as much to himself as to anyone else.

"The beginning might be nice," Lisa suggested.

"Okay," Choromon said. "Sit down and we'll tell you a little story."

Jack, Lisa, and Megan sat down on the bed, listening intently as the digimon spun there tale in front of them. Choromon began.

"It all started several years ago. The Digital World was at peace. Digimon of all levels and types were living and working together as equals. However, there were those who were not happy with merely being equals. They saw themselves as above the others and refused to live with those beneath them. Wanting to avoid conflict, the Four Guardians allowed them to settle a previously inhabited island far off the coast of Server. In the following years, they were forgotten about, everyone assumed that they had ended up killing each other in some petty squabble. We soon found out how wrong we were."

Zurumon continued.

"The rumors started to spread throughout Server, that the ones living on the Forgotten Island had sent emissaries trying to recruit new digimon to their way of life, promising untold riches and power. Secretly, their numbers and strength grew to overwhelming proportions. Approximately one year ago, it happened. A mysterious digimon appeared in Capital City, cloaked in red with a pentagram necklace. He claimed that all he surveyed rightfully belonged to him. I was one of the High Guard on patrol at the time. The crowd dismissed him as a nutjob, and continued about their business. That was, until he flung his cloak open and released a tremendous gout of flame from his body in all directions. The streets around him were full of digimon, the screams of death and pain were terrible."

Zurumon's voice began to break up, and Mokumon took up the story.

"There was a massive panic. Digimon trampled one another in a desperate rush to get away from the fire. The guards were summoned to deal with the threat, but the strange digimon vanquished them all out of hand. The digimon took to the air, wings tearing the cloak from his body. He shot like an arrow towards the Congress Building, where he was met by the most powerful defenders we could muster: Holy Dramon, Magnamon, Golden Rapidmon, Holy Angemon, Heracles Kabuterimon, Crossmon. They all took to the skies in a massive battle, the defenders slowly turning the tide of the battle in their favor. Although we lost Magnamon and Crossmon early, it looked like Holy Angemon's Heaven's Gate would suck up the evil digimon and the battle would be over. Unfortunately, a giant ball of energy struck Holy Angemon and exploded, catching Golden Rapidmon in the blast. The gate vanished, and the strange digimon was joined by a mighty black dragon digimon. He engaged Holy Dramon in battle, leaving Heracles Kabuterimon to deal with the stranger. With the sides now even, the superior strength of the evil digimon won out. Holy Dramon was vaporized by a blast from a cannon on the black dragon's back, and Heracles Kabuterimon was toasted by another massive gout of flame."

Mokumon paused, and Choromon continued the tale.

"With the defenders gone, the strange digimon was able to easily take complete control of the city. 'All hail your new master!' the black dragon digimon's voice boomed. 'All hail the master of all, DAEMON!' As his words spread all through the city, the skies darkened as large swarms of digimon arrived at the city en masse. They subjugated the populace, reducing the inhabitants of the city to secondary citizens. What was left of the guards fled the city to the wilderness. We three were among those survivors. We met with other survivors and attempted to mount a resistance. We built our strength up, finding and training whoever came among us. The leader of the High Guard stepped up and assumed the leadership position, a veteran warrior, Kuzuhamon. Under her lead, we soon grew strong, and began to fight to retake our city over the following year. We won mostly minor battles, recovering small sections of the city. We received word from an enemy defector that they were planning a massive push that would wipe us out for good. The defectors were unable to give us details on when, where, and how large the strike would be."

"It was decided that we three would be part of a small strike force. Our mission was simple: get in to the main enemy compound, find the plans, and make it back alive. We spent weeks planning the strike, planning for every eventuality. We made our way to the base under the cover of darkness, and found the air duct the deserter had told us about. We had just secured the plans, when we were detected. We attempted to make our way back to HQ, but were caught in the process. We spent several weeks in the dungeons below the enemy base."

"And that's when you made your daring escape?" Jack asked, interrupting.

The others stared daggers at him.

"Well, that's how it always happens in the movies," he said, sheepishly.

"Would that the movies reflected real life. It didn't go that way for us," Mokumon told him.

"Well," Megan said, "something had to have happened. After all, you're here now."

"There was no daring escape, no heroic rescue by a band of friends," Zurumon said.

"They caught us, jailed us, and then they executed us," Choromon said, matter-of-factly.

The humans' jaws dropped.

"Umm, excuse me?" Lisa asked, recovering first. "What did you say?"

"They executed us," Mokumon said. "Firing squad. Not a pretty sight."

"Then, uhh," Jack puzzled, "how are you here now?"

"It was. strange," Zurumon said. "Though our bodies were deleted, our data refused to fade away. We spent the following weeks in a sort of limbo, none of us knowing that the others had shared a similar fate.

"We would have floated between life and death for perhaps an eternity, had it not been for an odd power source we detected. We willed ourselves towards it, and found ourselves inside the strange devices you call cell phones."

"So, what you're saying is." Megan prompted.

"What were saying is that had it not been for you three, we would have suffered a fate worse than death forever," Choromon summarized.

"We owe you three a debt which we can never repay," Zurumon told the humans.

"Although I have a feeling that before all this is over, we'll come awfully close," Mokumon muttered.

"So," Jack said. "What exactly did that plan say?"

"The plans were for a massive, full-scale invasion, set to begin in two weeks from today."

"That was the plan? Seems a little basic to me," Megan said, thinking. "All that, just to crush the resistance?"

Zurumon chuckled.

"Actually, crushing the resistance was part one of the plan. The invasion was part two."

"That makes so sense," Lisa said. "Once the resistance was crushed, there would be nothing left to invade."

"Oh, but there is one thing left to invade," Mokumon told them, a serious look coming over his 'face'.

"And that would be?"

"The Real World."