Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I do own Phloem and Rime. Pixie Sugienna belongs to yamatos.girl, while Brian O'Conner and Magnus Dean belong to Fallen Angel. AlanAlectai owns Alan Aramyr Gerai. ChibiSora and SteelKnight own their respective characters, Relaina Michet and Sho Kania. PrincessKitty-Chan and I made Kurai Happatai a while ago. Tatsu Aquarius and Sakura Hikari belong to Tatsu-no-Houou. Takeru and Hikari owns Vahn til' Galendros.
Warnings: Violence, I guess…
Note: In case you didn't notice, Chapter 6 was edited to cut out the yaoi between Rime and Phloem. Don't worry; there will be plenty more shounen ai action! I just didn't like it there (and it was my first time writing shounen ai or yaoi).
And for the Digimon that appear in this chapter, I mostly got my information from Sora's Digimon Palace Digidex at: http://boesv061.speed.planet.nl/ It's a pretty good website.
Curse words are starred out, except for the first letter.
Italics are thoughts, except for the following cases:
~*~Italics~*~ marks flashbacks.
--Italics-- marks dream sequences.
//Italics// marks telepathy.
"Italics" mark disembodied voices
Chapter 7: Sting of Corruption
"OW!" yelped Phloem as Sakura cleaned out the various wounds he had gotten in the fight with Rime. It was the morning after the fight with the Ultimate Digimon, and Sakura was in the neko-girl form right now.
She smacked him lightly on the head, and he winced in pain. "Sit still, you big baby. Aren't you supposed to be a soldier?" she said as she bandaged an arms that was covered in gashes. "How did you manage to get this injured in the fight with Rime in the first place?"
"Um…" he thought about how the pain seemed to get worse when Tapirmon-as-Apemon was hit by an Energetic Bomb from MetalMamemon, "I think it wasn't that bad, but there were a lot of rocks. I must've gotten injured in the fight with MetalMamemon."
Kurai, who had been listening nearby, butted into the conversation. "And how did you get injured when you weren't even close to the fight?"
He tried to shrug, but it hurt too much. "I don't know, but our lives have changed a lot since getting the D-Seeds."
That won a snort – somehow elegant – from the thief. "D-Seeds. What a stupid name."
Phloem tried to think of the best reply to that statement. The thief was always radiating a feeling of hatred that was as fiery as Relaina's was cold. "Why do you hate everyone so much?" Instead of answering, the thief sniffed as he turned away. You wouldn't understand, his attitude seemed to say. Of course I will, Phloem wanted to reply, but it seemed best just to let him go for now.
The thief walked on for a while until he saw Rime trying to clean his own wounds and bandage them. The first he did a bit awkwardly, albeit successfully, and the second… he wasn't having as much luck with the second. Rime had his shirt off, showing off a body with nicely formed muscles, and was fruitlessly trying to wrap a particularly nasty gash on his upper arm. D*** rocks, he thought quietly. Phloem could've found a better place to pick a fight.
"Need some help?" Kurai asked politely.
Rime shot him a glare, but then he nodded. "If you would," he replied coldly. Tapirmon, to Rime's right, looked between worry and relief. With an evil grin, the lone thief sat down to "help."
He did bandage the wound, but he also made it as painful as possible. "I wonder why no one else wanted to help," the thief asked with a tinge of sarcasm.
The prince gritted teeth as Kurai continued the painful process. "Let me explain. Relaina couldn't care less, Tapirmon can't hold a bandage correctly, Sho likes being by himself so much that it'd be almost pointless to ask him, Tatsu hardly wants to be around anybody but Sakura, and Sakura is bandaging Phloem for around the same reasons. Magnus, Pixie and Brian aren't sure if they trust me yet, and Alan is too nervous around me." As Kurai finished, he gingerly tried to move his arm. The prince was surprised when it still felt fine. He threw Kurai a suspicious glance.
"Just because I want to kill you doesn't mean I will – yet," the dark one replied to the other's unspoken message.
Rime's Tapirmon was the one to answer, "You could've fooled me. Did you have to make it that painful?"
As the thief sat silent, the prince was the one to reply, "He did, because he blames me for everything bad that has ever happened to him. I am, in his opinion, the highest point of evil, and I must be gotten rid of. But he is confused now, because of my encounter with what was apparently Cherubimon and my rapid change. The only reason he agreed to help me was that he wanted to make it as painful for me as possible."
Tsukaimon flew in lazily from his position in a tree. "You certainly know how to read people well, you Highness," the Digimon said.
"It's in the job requirements."
"Right," interjected the irritated burglar, "and being a highly officious jerk-in-a-box must be in the job description, too!" A pissed-off pickpocket took another section of bandage and quickly gagged Rime before he could react, and then he got up and left.
Rime looked at Tsukaimon questioningly as he began to remove the gag. "Don't ask me! I've only know her for a day or two," protested the Digimon before following his partner. Tsukaimon accidentally bumped into Alan as he tried to find Kurai. "Hey, kid, have you seen Kurai?"
"Yes," he said dryly as Veemon picked up his glasses from the forest floor. "He just bumped into me, cursed me out, and vanished." Tsukaimon shook his head sadly and continued on his search while Alan stuck on his glasses and walked off again.
The brain of the group was trying to think of where they could go from where they were. He realized that there must have been some reason that the news report only blamed Phloem, and not the others, for kidnapping Rime. He found the clearing where the campfire had been last night, and he saw Magnus, Brian, Tatsu, and Pixie sitting around it. He found a smooth rock and also sat down, not noticing that Sakura, Salamon, Tapirmon, and Phloem entered a few seconds later.
Taking a stick from the ground nearby, he started drawing in the sandy ground. He took his mini-computer out and used it to find out their location. "This is where we are," he muttered as he marked the place on the map he had sketched, "if the positioning system is correct." I knew I should've installed that map module. He marked three spots in the surrounding are. These are the three nearest large cities.
As he continued to sketch, he imagined that a map was really there. It seemed to shimmer on top of the sand in his imagination. The names of the cities even appeared on it. The voice of Veemon interrupted his thoughts. "Nice map," he commented. Alan's head shot up quickly, and the map that had been on the ground disappeared. "How did you make it appear and disappear like that?"
"It was actually there?" he asked with surprise.
"Yep."
"It was actually there?"
"I thought I was the stupid one… Yes, it was."
The happy voice of Guilmon put in, "I saw it, too! It was neat, but I thought that it was coming out of his computer."
The one in question shook his head, "No, I don't have a map on my computer."
"Then what was the map?" the general in the group asked.
Tatsu murmured something to Sakura, and she nodded. "We think he's an illusionist," she informed them. "Maybe every one of the Digidestined has a special power," Salamon added on.
"An illusionist? That would be interesting," Alan said as he concentrated on making a different image appear. A completely still bluebird appeared in the air. With a touch more effort, the bird began to move. It was very simple for him to control the small illusion. After a few moments, Patamon flew up to it to investigate.
"It's definitely not real," he said as he flew right through the bird. His curiosity satisfied, he returned to sit on Brian's shoulder. "What was the map for in the first place?"
Because having the bird illusion was beginning to get tiring – using illusions felt similar to moving a limb that had never been exercised before – Alan canceled it out as he answered, "I was wondering where we were going to go next. The three closest cities to us – if my positioning system is right – are Justice Lake, Lumière, and Haven."
"Somehow, it just doesn't make sense to have a global positioning system, but not a map," commented Otamamon.
He turned red. "I was going to install it, but I never had the time," he mumbled.
"Brian, we should go to your winter house," Magnus said. "I told all of the servants that we were going there; that's why we weren't suspected in Rime's so-called 'kidnapping.'" The general nodded in agreement.
"That's about two day's walk upriver," Tatsu made one of his rare comments.
Monodramon corrected him, "It's four; we have to pass around Haven and Justice Lake if we don't want trouble."
"It might take longer," Phloem ventured to add on, "Because there are some members in this group who aren't used to walking for that long, we might have to rest often."
Sakura suggested, "If anyone really needs to rest, Hoshi or Kage could carry them. We still won't travel quite as fast as Tatsu and I usually do, but it won't be that much slower."
Phloem nodded in agreement. "That's a good plan. But we still need to tell it to the people that aren't here right now." He considered who would probably get the message across best. "Magnus, why don't you go tell Relaina while Guilmon tells Sho?" Relaina won't listen to Magnus as much as she would to someone higher ranked like Brian, but there's less of a personality clash, and I have a feeling that Gabumon will make sure that she listens. And Sho and SnowAgumon will get along well with Guilmon. People with dinosaur type Digimon tend to trust other dinosaur Digimon. "And Pixie, why don't you tell Rime? He might listen to you because you are the High Princess." And she's been dying to talk to Rime for some reason that I think is mixed up with Brian. It seems to me like they're beginning to like each other. I wonder where that relationship will go?
Conveniently, Tsukaimon flew in right then. "Have any of you seen Kurai?"
"No, but if you see her, can you tell her that we plan to leave soon?"
"Sure, sure. I just need to find her first."
It was with a touch of surprise that Phloem noticed that they listened to him without argument. Magnus, Guilmon, Tsukaimon, and Pixie and Otamamon left to find the other members of the Digidestined without arguing that someone else should do the job. He was not used to people listening to him. //I hope I'm not the goggle boy of this group,// he thought glumly to Tapirmon as he thought of the legends that surrounded them. //Being a leader to the Digidestined sounds hard.//
//Don't worry,// came the reply, //it's not that bad.//
I wonder how Tapirmon knows that? It's like he was actually there. But that's impossible, even for Digimon, right?
********
"Magnus is coming over here," Gabumon informed Relaina. They were sitting on a rocky bank of the River that was five feet above the white data that swirled on the top of the water.
"I heard him," she replied calmly. "I just didn't know who it was. I wonder what he wants?"
"Maybe he wants to compliment you on that fabulous job you did with the telekinesis on the MetalMamemon yesterday."
"Right," she said sarcastically, "and there's a democracy on the moon guarded by little green Digimon."
"You never know. But can't you try being even slightly friendly to Magnus or any of the others?"
She shook her head. "Gabumon, I don't need friends," she almost snapped back. "In this world, there's no point in it because they could be taken away from you at any time."
"And that's why you have the Digivice!" he exclaimed. "You wouldn't have received a Digivice with the Crest of Love is Zhuqiaomon thought that you couldn't handle it. And I know that you can handle it, Relaina. Why don't you try to get into a position where you can change the very things about this country that make you unhappy?"
Before she could reply, Magnus arrived and crouched down. "It's a nice view," he commented.
"What do you want?" she retorted sharply.
"Phloem just asked me to tell you that we're going to start traveling soon. We're going to Brian's manor above Justice Lake."
She didn't even bother to look at him. Instead, she casually flicked a rock into the River, at the same time giving the impression that that was what she thought of being told by Magnus. "Why did you listen to Phloem? He's probably not as highly ranked as you."
She's talkative today. She must get along better in very small groups. With a sigh of annoyance, Magnus straightened. "He understands people better," was his reply. "I think that it's his empathy, but he knows who is competent at what, and how they feel about what they do."
"Emotional manipulation," was her opinion.
"No. He didn't blackmail me with my own emotions. He just suggested the best course of action, and I took it. Why bother to argue?"
"I still don't like it." She began to get up. He offered her a hand to help, but she ignored it and began to walk away.
"Who ever said that you had to?"
She paused and took in the implications of that. "I guess that I don't have to," she admitted grudgingly before beginning to walk away. No orders from anyone… just suggestions and help. Can a group like ours really change anything?
"You know, Relaina," Magnus said as he kept pace with her, "you did a really good job with that telekinesis last night. We definitely couldn't of won without your help."
She was surprised and a bit pleased to receive a compliment, but, as always, she hid those emotions. "You're welcome," was all she said.
********
Minutes later, everyone was walking away from the now-abandoned campsite. Tsukaimon had found Kurai, Pixie looked happy because Rime had broken off the engagement with no arguments, and the whole group was just ready to go. Tatsu and Sakura had packed up their things, and now Tatsu had a quarterstaff strapped on his back.
By the forth day of walking, including all of the stops to rest, setting up camp at sunset, and then continuing their hike in the morning, the Digidestined again had to set up camp, but this time they were only two miles from the city of Justice Lake.
As usual, everyone had helped with one chore or another, and at least one person was always up to watch for any wild Digimon that might attack. But when Kurai woke up for her watch and Rime wasn't there, he immediately knew that something was wrong and went to wake up Phloem.
"Phloem!" he hissed when he gave him a good shaking to wake him up. "Rime's disappeared!"
He shot awake. "He's gone?" Tapirmon also stirred groggily.
"That's right, idiot. I knew that we couldn't trust him."
"Don't make assumptions," he said calmly. "He might have a reason for doing this, and if you use your teleportation to get us to Justice Lake, I'm sure that we can catch up to him."
"Whatever," the thief replied rudely. "Just let me get Tsukaimon and we can go and retrieve the prince," he sneered. "It's almost dawn, and Rime should be at the city by now. If we run into trouble, even Tsukaimon will come in handy."
********
"This isn't a smart thing to do," Sorcerymon told Rime, "and I have a bad feeling about this." That's why I Digivolved to Champion. Rime might have become a better person, but every person messes up sometimes.
Rime sighed. "Sorcerymon, I just want to get back to the Palace so that Phloem and the others don't get in trouble. The sooner I get to the Palace, the sooner I can end this whole mess and start changing things the way I can – and the only way that an Emperor can. The others may want to change it another way, but none of them have a plan yet."
"I don't know… I feel like there is something evil at the Palace. We shouldn't go back there until we are stronger."
"If there's something evil at the Palace, then I will defeat it. I am now, unofficially, the Emperor of the Angel's Domain."
The ice wizard Digimon changed the subject. "I'm glad that you weren't upset when Pixie asked you to end the engagement."
"I didn't want to marry her. I don't think that I want to get into a relationship yet."
A smile was apparent on the wizard's face. "When Kurai helps you with your bandages that's not what you think. Why do you keep asking him to help when it ends up hurting every time?"
Rime blushed slightly. "Don't be sarcastic, Sorcerymon. You know very well why."
"Nothing's wrong with being bi, Rime – or homosexual, for that matter. And three years isn't too bad of an age gap, right?"
He shook his head. "It'll never happen. Kurai hates my guts so much that if I asked him out on a date, I would have to get someone else's help to bandage brand-new injuries. But look – there's the gate to Justice Lake." Over a hill, they finally were able to see the white curtain wall that kept wild Digimon out of the city as the sun finally peeked over the horizon. Near the large gate were a Tankmon and a Tyrannomon with their human partners.
The humans stopped Rime at the gate. "Who are you?"
"I'm High Prince Rime," he told them coldly. Being around non-Digidestined made him want to act like he used to before receiving his D-Seed.
They looked speculative. "Really. Wait right here, and we'll open the gate for you." The one who had spoken went into a gatehouse and the gate did open fully. But behind it there was a rumbling, and then there were five more Tankmon and another five Tyrannomon filing out the gate. At the head of the group was a MetalTyrranomon.
"What's this about?" he demanded.
"We are the Tankmon and Tyrannomon Troops," the partner of the Triceramon informed him, "and we give you greetings from Lord and Lady Haven. Triceramon, destroy him!"
"Tri-Horn Attack!" roared the Ultimate level dinosaur Digimon. Sorcerymon pulled Rime out of the way before the attack could hit.
The erupting battle was interrupted by two calls.
"Tsukaimon Digivolve to… BlackGatomon!"
"Tapirmon Digivolve to… Apemon!" One part of Rime's mind thought, Oh, he can speak.
Kurai and Phloem appeared next to Rime. "Idiot," the thief told him, "you really need to work on your people skills."
"You're one to talk," he argued even as their Digimon fought. A blast from Triceramon came dangerously close to Sorcerymon. "And I didn't do anything. The Havens betrayed me."
"Brian must have sensed something like this would happen," Phloem told them while keeping a careful eye on Apemon, "or he would've suggested going to the capital. Apemon! You're too close to Triceramon!"
Triceramon used a Mega Dash, and when Apemon dodged the tackle, he almost ran into a Hyper Cannon attack from a Tankmon. //I can't fight them like this!// Apemon said desperately. //We're not strong enough!//
Determined to not lose this, Phloem concentrated on his D-Seed. I need to give power to Apemon. If I… A Fire Blast from one of the six Tyrannomon hit Apemon, and Phloem fell to his knees, gasping in pain, as he felt a bad burn appear on his right leg – exactly where Apemon had been hit. If I don't, we'll both be killed. He continued to concentrate on the D-Seed, and used it and his link to Apemon to give his power to the Digimon. We're more than partners; we're best friends. I wouldn't want to keep on living if he died!
The Digivice began to glow with a bright blue light. It seemed to reflect a hundredfold off Apemon as he resonated with the power.
"Apemon Digivolve to… Mammothmon!" The enemy was stunned; suddenly, an Ultimate was on the prince's side, too. But the sides were still uneven: as Ultimate went against Ultimate, the Tankmon ganged up on Sorcerymon as the Tyrannomon did the same for BlackGatomon. BlackGatomon was able to take out two, and then Sorcerymon took down one with an Aquarius Fill. As the Digimon were taken out, the humans fainted or went into shock. Then the remaining opponent humans also became involved in the fight, and Rime, Kurai, and Phloem had to sit duck behind rocks to keep away from the bullets.
"Freezing Breath!" roared the large, wooly Digimon as he breathed out. One arm of Triceramon and one Tyrannomon froze. The Tyrannomon burst into dust, and one soldier went into shock as his bond disappeared.
"Good job with the Digivolving," Rime called to Phloem, "but I don't think it will be enough!"
Most of Phloem's energy had been given up to help Apemon Digivolve. He was almost completely worn out. "I hope it is," he said tiredly. The burn on his leg was sending waves of agonizing pain throughout his whole leg. "I don't think I can do anything else…"
"Then I'll try. We can't give up yet," Rime said. He concentrated, as he had seen Phloem do, on his D-Seed. Sorcerymon, we can do this. You've always been my best friend, kind even when I was cruel. If I can't help you out of this mess, then my change would have been for nothing. Please accept my power… so that I can cleanse my conscience of the years of cruelness that I put you through… The D-Seed responded with a purple light, and perhaps Sorcerymon had heard his partner's thoughts, for he also began to glow purple.
"Sorcerymon Digivolve to… Shakkoumon!" The large, metal angel Digimon powered up to attack. "Kachina Bomb!" With one blow, he took out all of the Tyrannomon that were still surrounding him. Another blast, and the three Tankmon were also gone.
Mammothmon, who finally did not have to worry about dodging attacks from other Digimon, was able to seriously fight with Triceramon. Triceramon was able to use Mega Dash to leave a gash in the back of Mammothmon, and Phloem let out a strangled cry of pain as a new wound formed on his back and left a red stain visible through his brown shirt. As Rime threw him a worried glance, Shakkoumon fired his red Justice Beams from his eyes. Triceramon was completely destroyed, and his partner fell into unconsciousness.
All of the Digimon returned, exhausted, to their Rookie forms. The badly injured Phloem smiled gratefully at Tapirmon as the Digimon came over to support him. "Thanks," he panted before blacked out. The wounds were too painful for him to take any longer.
~TBC~
Akugi: Why Phloem got stuck as the goggle boy…
Chibigreen: Okay, everyone! We need to decide who's the goggle boy in this group!
Cast: Why?
Chibigreen: The leader of the Digidestined is always a guy and usually has a name that starts with "T." The only exception to that rule was Daisuke, but in that group, I wonder if he was actually a co-leader with Takeru…
Rime: Write a thesis on it some other day. Now, what are these "goggles" that the leader has to wear?
Chibigreen: *Pulls out a pair of goggles that would look nice… if they weren't a horrible shade of orange-brown.* These are them!
Magnus: I am not wearing them.
Rime, Sho, Alan, Brian, and Tatsu: Same here! *All of them back away nervously.*
Chibigreen: Come on! I need someone to wear them! *Looks around until she sees Phloem reading a book. He didn't hear her ask, so he didn't say no. She gets an evil grin and walks over to Phloem. Before he knows what's happening, the goggles are stuck on his head.*
Phloem: What…? *Notices goggles.* Ah! Goggles…cutting…off…blood…circulation…to…head… Can't…think…
Chibigreen: Shut up. You know they're not doing anything like that.
Phloem: *Grins.* I know, but they're such an ugly color.
Chibigreen: And the goggles turn green… *Exercises her Authoress Powers, and the goggles do turn a nice shade of green.* That's the nicest color I could think of.
Phloem: Thanks! ^__^ I'll put them in storage for now. *The goggles vanish.*
Chibigreen: Ah, a case of Character Powers. He stuck them away in a space where he'll suddenly be able to take them out of thin air at any time. That's how Heero Yuy carries a gun in his spandex shorts. *Holds up a sign: "Chibigreen does not own Gundam Wing."*
Cast: Huh? What's Gundam Wing?
Chibigreen: Never mind that! Now get back to your places! We're going to run through the "Tankmon and Tyrannomon Attack!" scene once more.
Cast: Awwwww…
Chibigreen's Notes: Hmm… With the way this is going, maybe I should make the rating PG-13…
My friend, Fox Girl Aisha, came up with the idea that goggle boys act stupid occasionally because the goggles keep oxygen from reaching their brains. The credit for the latter idea that I used in the akugi goes to her.
This will be my last chapter out for about a week or more because I am taking a vacation! When I come back, I will probably be suffering from FanFiction.net Deprivation. And my muse hasn't been helping with writing; he claim's that I'm wrong about the pairings in the story.
Chibi Rime: You are!
Chibigreen: What's the problem?
Chibi Rime: You cut out that nice yaoi bit with Phloem and me in it! What about all of the emotional turmoil for Phloem that was supposed to happen?
Chibigreen: He was too chibi to torture.
Chibi Phloem: She says that, and then she makes me get injured when Tapirmon is wounded…?
Chibigreen: And I didn't like the pairing one bit.-+
Chibi Phloem: Thank you, Miss Chibigreen! Can I be your temporary muse again while Rime is out?
Chibigreen: Sure! I need a muse to help me write, and you were actually pretty good. *The two shake hands while Rime sulks.*
Chibi Phloem: Yes! If I'm her muse, I can make sure I don't get killed! ^_^
Chibigreen: Darn…
I am not accepting any more characters! So please do not submit one…
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