Chapter Twenty-Five

Challenge 4: Forest of Demise

            The next day…

            "I'M HUNGRY!" Compass yelled irritably, slouching against a tree and scowling.

            "We all are," Riku shot back. "So shut up!"

            "Why don't you, ya freakin' bi—"

            "STOPPIT!" cried Petalmon and Morglormon. They jumped between their Tamers to separate them.

            Compass stuck her nose in the air. "Well, I didn't start it."

            Riku glared at her. "Yes you did!"

            "Did not!"

            "Did too!"

            "Did not!"

            "Shut up!"

            "Why don't you?"

            Everyone except the arguing pair sighed heavily. To pass the time until Riku and Compass stopped, Riki got Vipomon to fly up into the canopy of trees and see how far the nearest castle was. Vipomon returned a moment later.

            "What did you see?" asked Josh.

            "Nothing much except forest and more forest," the winged Digimon replied, curling up on a patch of moss. "There was a break in the forest, though, like a circular clearing. It's over that way." He pointed with his tail.

            Compass, who had returned from her argument with the still sour Riku, overheard Vipomon's report. "That's northwest. How far northwest, Vipomon?"

            "It didn't look too far; maybe a day or two from here."

            Lina abruptly stood up. "Right! Let's go!"

            Compass pouted. "But I'm hungry!"

            "Then eat." Everyone stared as Vipomon produced ten small, red apples, carefully folded in a broad leaf and tucked under one arm.

            "Apples!" Patamon and Tetramon exclaimed.

            "Where'd you get them, Vipomon?" asked Riki.

            "They were near the top boughs of this tree." Vipomon looked up at the foliage above them. "It's really high up though, where the branches start to get thinner."

            "Well, let's get some more," said Riley.

            Vipomon rose from his seat. "I'll get them. Don't worry—I won't eat any when you're not looking." He flew up again, and before long, miniature apples showered everything below the tree's branches.

            "Ahhh!" cried Sytamon as one bonked her on the snout.

            "Sorry!" came Vipomon's voice from above.

            Daiki picked up a plump red apple, polished it, and was about to bite into it when a voice cried, "No, don't eat those!"

            Everyone on the ground stared as a Floramon emerged from the underbrush, looking very pale.

            "What? Why?" asked Lina.

            "Those are poisonous apples," the Floramon explained. "If you eat those, then your mouth and stomach will go numb and you'll feel like worms are eating at you. I had a friend who died because he ate those apples."

            The Tamers weren't sure whether it was the Floramon's look or the urgency in her voice, but they dropped their apples immediately and stepped back.

            Vipomon suddenly flew down to the ground. He noticed no one was eating. "Hey, what's wrong?" He turned and noticed Floramon. "Huh? What're you doing here?"

            "I was talking my daily walk through the forest when I heard shouting. I came to investigate, and that black-haired human was about it bite into one of these poisonous apples!"

            Vipomon visibly wilted. His color paled and his wings drooped. "Did you say…they were…poisonous!!!?"

            "Yes…" Floramon gasped. "No! You didn't eat one, did you!?"

            "Uhn…"

            Riki rushed forward and knelt beside his partner. "Vipomon! Vipomon, say you didn't!"

            "I feel queasy…"

            Floramon was quick to issue orders. "You there—the Sytamon. Carry Vipomon on your back to my hut, because he won't be able to walk with that numb feeling. I have an antidote in my house, so everyone must hurry before he gets really sick!"

            Everyone obliged, and they ran through the forest, following Floramon until they reached a quaint little sod house by a babbling stream. Floramon ushered everyone inside and searched her cupboards frantically. She pulled out a small glass bottle and popped the lid open. She then poured it into a bowl of fruit sauce, and she and Riki helped Vipomon to eat it.

            "The fruit sauce will give the antidote a taste so he won't feel like spitting it out," Floramon explained.

            "Like how Mom puts my vitamins in my applesauce?" Josh asked Mikara.

            "Something like that, I guess," his sister replied, hugging Nekomon.

            Vipomon was put on a moss-bed, and he soon dozed off. Floramon assured everyone that the antidote makes one sleepy, and Vipomon's shock helped lull him to sleep.

            "Let him rest," said the Floramon. "Meanwhile, I made some fruitcake earlier. Would you all like a slice?"

            There was a chorus of 'yeah's, and after Floramon neatly cut and distributed the cake, the Tamers and their Digimon attacked their snack like no tomorrow. They were too busy eating and talking amongst themselves that no one noticed Floramon hadn't touch her slice. Nor did they notice the devious light in her eyes.

            Before long, everyone fell asleep. Floramon sat at her table, unmoving, until she was certain they were all unconscious. She carefully picked her way to the back of her house. She twisted the top half of an egg-shaped bookend, and the books all shimmered and disappeared. In their place was a small holo-screen that was the same length and width of the bookshelf.

            Floramon tapped a few buttons on the holo-screen's side panel, and an image of a young girl appeared. "Yes, what is it?" said the human irritably.

            "They're all unconscious, Mistress," the Floramon informed her. "Apparently, they believed the poisonous apples story, and one of them was foolish enough to 'eat' one." Floramon laughed maniacally. "What fools they are, Mistress! They were ready and willing to eat my fruitcake, even!"

            The human on the holo-screen showed no sign of emotion except for slightly narrowed eyes. "You are also foolish if you underestimate them."

            Floramon's laughter immediately subsided, and she bowed apologetically. "I am sorry, Mistress. At least let me make up for my wrong thinking by being there when Sandiramon eats them."

            The Mistress stared at the Floramon for a moment before nodding once. "So be it. Make sure they die screaming." The screen turned black, and the holographic books shimmered and hid the screen.

            Floramon bowed again, a crafty smile on her face. "As you wish, Mistress."

*          *          *

            David groaned. He had a long, dreamless sleep after eating Floramon's delicious fruitcake, and he was just waking up. But his head was throbbing, and he felt dizzy. Slowly, he opened his eyes, but quickly shut them again.

            "I must be hallucinating," he muttered.

            "No, you're not," came Jessie's voice from nearby. "Open your eyes, dumbass."

            David opened his eyes again, and he did all he could to stop from screaming. He stared frightfully at Jessie, who hung upside-down between him and an unconscious Terriermon. The girl looked surprisingly calm despite their predicament.

            "Why are you so composed?" asked David.

            "Because this isn't what it seems to be."

            "What? How!?"

            "Well, the Sandiramon would've attacked already," came Josh's voice from his other side.

            David turned his head to see that everyone else but Terriermon, Gabumon, Vipomon, and Riki were already awake. They were all hanging upside-down from a tree above a deep pit with a huge Sandiramon in it.

            "How long have we been suspended here?" asked David.

            "Long enough," Lina grumbled. "I'm all dizzy and my limbs are numb."

            Riki was next to wake up. He screamed. "HOLY SHIT!"

            The scream woke those who were still asleep like a bolt of lightning. They stared wide-eyed at the huge snake below them.

            "AHHHHHHH!!!" screeched Terriermon. "I HATE SNAKES!!!"

            "Calm down, buddy," Jessie told her Digimon. "It's an illusion."

            "HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT!!!? I LOOKS REAL ENOUGH TO ME!"

            Jessie glared at Terriermon. "Can't you see? You'd be dead by now if it wasn't an illusion!"

            Then a voice: "How do you know it's just awaiting orders?"

            Everyone stared as the Floramon from earlier emerged from the bushes, an evil grin plastered on her colorful face. She skipped towards the edge of Sandiramon's pit and looked down. "Why, he's hungry! Are you hungry, Sandiramon? I have food for you!"

            The white-and-gold snake hissed loudly, staring hungrily at the Tamers and their Digimon.

            "You!" Daiki grated, eyes widening. "You put sleeping potion in our food and in Vipomon's fruit sauce! You did that to hang us here and watch us pee in our pants! You…you…bitch!"

            Riki shot a glare at his brother. "What did I tell you about that language!?"

            Daiki said nothing.

            Floramon ignored Daiki's insult. She turned to Sandiramon. "You're hungry. Then eat them, or you'll die."

            The Sandiramon knew what she was talking about even though the Tamers and their Digimon did not. The huge serpentine Digimon reared up to its full height, hissing and eyeing its victims.

            Everyone but Jessie stared at it in fright. The girl took a deep breath and yelled, "IT'S AN ILLUSION!!!"

            Then everything went black. The Tamers fell from whatever they were hanging from and landed softly on black nothingness. There was no Sandiramon, no Floramon…no jungle. But there was an odd monotonous clapping that seemed to come from directly in front of them.

            "Who's there?" Compass called out. "Show yourself!"

            Out of the gloom, the dragon-ish Digimon from the hologram appeared. Tetramon snarled and was about to attack when he put up his gloved hands. "Just try to attack me," said the Digimon, his voice like ice. "You'll regret it."

            Tetramon snarled some more, but he sat beside Daiki like an obedient dog, ears twitching.

            Riku stepped forward. "Who are you, and what do you want?" she demanded.

            "I merely want to congratulate you for getting this far." He looked right at Jessie. "You saw through the hologram at the blackness underneath it." Jessie nodded slowly, and the Digimon turned back to the others. "It was all an illusion—the Digimon, the trees, the sky…the food…"

            Mikara sighed. "No wonder I'm still hungry."

            The blackness shimmered and became a large clearing in a forest with the ruins of a castle at its center. The dragon-like Digimon continued, "So, Tamers, if you'll follow me, I'll bring you to your destination." He turned and walked towards the ruins.

            "You never answered our first question," said Morglormon. "Who are you?"

            The Digimon stopped and turned his head so he could see the group out of the corner of his eye. "She calls me Strikemon."

*          *          *

Author's Note: Only five more chapters to go! *sniff* I'm going to miss writing this…