Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. Not one little bit of it. DON'T YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT BY NOW???
Sorry.
This chapter jumps around a lot, from the kitchens of Mordremon's castle to Primary Village. The first half was written on various plane trips to, from and around the USA so please forgive the randomness.
Chapter 17 – There and back again
A metallic grating noise tore through the kitchen's heavy silence as Phantomon dragged open the cumbersome iron door. Inside the cupboard, Veemon paused, his cheeks stuffed with banana muffins. The little blue digimon spun around and scanned the darkened shelves for his companion.
"Wormmon!" he hissed, "The chef's on the way. Get out of there!"
"I'm sorry, my friend," the insect sighed, "but I don't think that's going to be very easy."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... I think I may have been enjoying my food a little too much." Wormmon definitely sounded guilty now.
Squinting upwards, Veemon finally managed to spot his little green friend. Wormmon's head and first pair of legs were protruding from a hole he'd chewed in a large box of breadcrumbs. The soft-spoken one had a worried look on his face, but smiled apologetically when he met Veemon's eyes.
"I'm very sorry, Veemon," he repeated, but I've eaten more than my share. I didn't know breadcrumbs could be so fattening."
"Meaning..." Veemon raised an eyebrow sceptically.
"I'm stuck."
Cocking his head to one side, Veemon listened carefully to the sounds outside. Judging by the puffing, grunting and swearing, Phantomon was now attempting to shut the door again. Heavy as it was, he figured that they didn't have a lot of time left. With a sigh on resignation he swallowed the last of the muffing and grabbed at the shelf above him, determined to assist his engorged friend.
"I don't know why you couldn't just eat your way out." he grumbled, tugging at the box.
Wormmon said nothing, straining to free himself from his cardboard confines.
"I mean, that's how you got in, isn't it?" Veemon continued. "Eating? And you ate plenty while you were burrowing away in there..."
"You could be a little more encouraging." Wormmon snapped. He had now managed to squeeze another segment of his creepy-crawly body from the box and his third pair of legs was scrabbling at the edges.
"Okay then, I encourage you never to do this again." The little blue guy shrugged. "Honestly, I though that you of all digimon would know better than to-"
"Quiet!" Wormmon hissed, as another stubby leg popped out.
The two digimon listened intently and to their horror they heard the kitchen door finally dropping into its frame. A panicky Veemon gripped the edge of the hole and pulled hard just as Wormmon heaved himself forward. With a loud tearing noise, the side panel of the troublesome box came away completely. A rather plump green caterpillar tumbled out amidst a shower of crumbs, which poured out onto the shelf, a few fragments dropping to the floor.
Wormmon swore quietly under his breath. For a few moments Veemon glared at him, but then he smiled.
"And a pile of pink poop to you too." he muttered, still listening carefully. He relaxed as he heard a squeaking noise, followed by the sound of running water filling up Phantomon's sink.
"What'd you go ripping up the box for? We could have been caught!"
"This from the 'mon who was cursing us into digi-dust." Veemon snorted. "Relax, we'll be fine."
It was unfortunate for the two digimon that they had forgotten about Phantomon's peculiar physiology. Veemon had so far done very well by relying on his hearing to warn him of his enemy's movements. But though the little blue monster was a bringer of luck, that gift would to nothing to help him now.
For though he could heft doors, lock bolts and turn taps, Phantomon hovered above the ground rather than walking or standing on it. He made no footsteps, and a gliding monster makes no more sound than a ghost. So when he left the tap running and crossed the room to access his food store, Veemon and Wormmon know nothing of his approach until a crack of light appeared at the edge of the creaky sliding door.
The entrance to the escape tunnel was well beyond the reach of the two rookies. In one lighting fast action, Veemon grabbed Wormmon around the middle, dragging his friend over the edge of the shelf. The pair landed heavily next to a crate of raisins and quickly scurried behind it just as Phantomon lost all patience with the door and turned the whole thing to matchsticks.
*******
Down at the other end of the line, life wasn't nearly so exciting. Davis seemed quite reluctant to recover from his stomach ache, although he still managed to lick his plate clean at every meal. Ken and TK had taken to playing hockey with a couple of brooms and a bar of soap, finding that cabbages did not make very good basketballs. This was causing quite a few problems as the goals seemed to change every five minutes and they tended to get pretty rough. Yolei didn't mind, though; she was too busy redecorating the bathroom to be injured by the boys with brooms. Cody had no complaints, either, as he had devoted all his time to carving his life story into the wall with a fork. What with the digimon constantly either invading the kitchen or 'livening up' the hockey field, Kari was beginning to feel as though she was the only sane one in the dungeon.
"Watch where you're waving that thing!" she yelled, exasperated, as Ken's broomstick went sailing past her head. She had taken up her usual perch on one of the beds, having been exiled from the bathroom the day before for criticizing Yolei's choice of fluffy shower heads.
Ken paused for a moment, opening his mouth to apologise, but TK swept past him and made off with the soap. The reformed Kaiser ducked a dangerous dive from Patamon and managed to hassle TK for a full five minutes before tripping on Armadillomon and giving away a goal.
"This is madness." Kari muttered, vaulting to another bed as the previous one was sent spinning across the room by a racing Gatomon.
"It's not that bad," Davis told her, with a huge yawn. "Why don't you go join the fun?"
"Why don't you get off your lazy backside?"
"Well jeez, I was just asking!" he arranged an almost superior look on his face. "You know, for someone who's supposed to be the 'Child of Light' you've got a lot to learn about lightening up."
This piece of wisdom was rewarded with a withering glare from Kari as she stormed off to talk to Cody - which was an adventure in itself, what with all the kamikaze digimon and boys with brooms.
"So..." she was never really sure how to talk to this kid, "How's the bestseller coming along?"
"This story isn't going to be leaving the dungeon." Cody replied, his eyes never leaving his work.
"Why not?" Kari asked, "I didn't think you'd be the sort to have such deep, dark secrets."
Cody just shrugged and kept chipping away at the wall with his fork. "It probably wouldn't be the best idea if everyone knew Yukio's story."
"You're writing about Oikawa?" Kari took another look at Cody's writing and realised it seemed to be written in some bizarre foreign alphabet.
"It's in digi-code," Cody said, responding to the unasked question, "The script that makes up the Digital World's programming."
"Oh. Okay."
There was a long silence (punctured by the ongoing racket of the hockey match).
"Is it Japanese?"
"It's universal." Cody replied. He gave a small smile at the comical confusion on Kari's face. "Here, come and see. Just read along the lines like you would normally."
Feeling quite silly, Kari followed the flow of the writing with her eyes. It was still as meaningless as before, but she suddenly found thought running through her head, a story of sorts. She gasped as she realised that this was Oikawa's story, the tale of all the pain and loss in his life.
"Cody, I... this is incredible!" Kari exclaimed. "Could anyone read this stuff?"
"Of course," nodded, "no matter what a person's native language is, they can understand it. It's the language spoken in the digital world, too. All digimon speak in digi-code too, so logically anybody can understand them."
"This is wonderful!" the girl cried. "Do you know what this means? It would be a huge leap in communications. Imagine if all the world's books were written in digi-code."
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but it wouldn't work." Cody shook his head. "Imagine the hundreds of interpreters that would be put out of work. People would stop learning foreign languages. And I don't think it works in the real world."
"Oh. Bummer."
"Hey, no-one will be any worse off."
"How did you learn how to write it?" Kari asked, still a little stunned.
"Watching. Listening. Taking things in."
"It's so weird. I mean, when I think of the hours Izzy used to spend trying to decode that stuff..." she trailed off, amazed at the youngster's ingenuity.
"Izzy would have been trying to read the characters, not their meaning, right?" Cody raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I guess so." Kari had never imagined Cody could be so insightful.
"I'm nowhere near Izzy's IQ level," the boy admitted, picking up his fork again, "but I guess I can see things he can't. It's all a matter of perspective, really." He jerked his head towards TK, Ken and the crazed digimon. "These guys may want to do something constructive, but they can't right now. The fact is, Hikari, that this is a battle we may very well lose."
"But that doesn't mean we can all go mad!" she protested.
"Why not?" Cody's voice became suddenly intense. "My dear Kamiya, have you ever stopped to think about what's at stake here? If Mordremon succeeds and something happens to one of us, there'll be no second chances."
"So? What does that have to do with them?"
Kari suddenly found herself forced to fall back on her hands as Cody shoved his face into hers. She realised, distractedly, how shockingly green his eyes were.
"Hikari Kamiya," he whispered, fiercely, "do you have any idea what it's like to lose your digimon?"
"Well... no..." Kari babbled, "but it doesn't matter, does it? They come back."
Cody held the fork up in front of her eyes. "I could gouge your arm with this fork. You know that eventually the would heal, but that wouldn't stop it hurting, would it?"
"N-no."
"And isn't it true that you don't really know what something's like until you've lived through it yourself?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Then there you have it." Cody sat back on his heels and Kari started breathing again. "Digimon don't die forever, but that doesn't change the fact that losing one is incredibly painful."
"How would you know?" Kari asked. "Nothing's ever happened to Armadillomon."
"True, true." Cody agreed. "But you saw how Ken was when Wormmon died, and TK's told me more about it than I could ever be comfortable with."
Kari nodded in agreement, but her eyes widened as she realised what Cody had just said.
"You mean TK... Patamon... Patamon's died before?"
"Yes, didn't you know?" the boy look mildly surprised.
"No, I didn't," said Kari, darkly, getting to her feet. The younger one pulled her back down.
"Don't bring it up. Not with TK. It's... it's very painful." Kari was surprised at the amount of emotion etched on Cody's usually blank face. "But to you understand what this means to them now? TK and Ken know a pain that the rest of us can hardly imagine. They both got their digimon back, but right now they're facing the prospect of losing that insurance."
"I never thought about what would happen if I lost Gatomon." Kari admitted. "To live the rest of my life without her... I just can't imagine it."
"Well, those two fools with broomsticks can," Cody said, "But I'll be damned if I let either of them go through that again."
"Thank you." said Kari, quietly. She stood up and started walking back to the beds. Gatomon wove around her legs, giggling, and once again Kari tried to imagine living without her. She had known about Wormmon's death and resurrection, of course, but she couldn't believe she had never been told of Patamon's. Or that Cody had. Cody, that strange, quiet, but unusually sensitive little guy, was wiser than anyone had ever given credit for.
Davis was right. She needed to take a break.
Hikari cautiously made her way to the bathroom, skirting around Hawkmon, who was chasing Ken. Fortunately Yolei was painting a mural on the inside of the toilet door right then, and didn't notice Kari poking around in the pile of shower curtains she'd taken down that morning. It was a blessing that Phantomon had given her the paints - although it may just be because he was sick of Yolei whinging about the colour co-ordination.
Despite Hawkmon's relentless attack, Ken had managed to break away and take possession of the soap. He was just about to score what he thought would be an easy goal when a pink blot ploughed into him and he suddenly found himself flat on the floor, the battered soap nowhere in sight.
Armed only with the rod from the shower curtain, Kari sped towards the other side of the dungeon with the makeshift puck skidding in front of her. She ducked the heroic dive from Patamon and made a rather magnificent swerve to avoid TK. With Gatomon cheering her on, Kari gave the soap a resounding whack to send it soaring in a beautiful arc to hit Davis right between the eyes.
Not a bad shot, she thought, although that wasn't quite what she was aiming for. Still, maybe now the lazy old Motomiya would have a reason to get out of bed!
******
Though not a noisy or chaotic place, Primary Village was usually alive with small, happy noises as Elecmon went about tending to the baby digimon. Right now, however, there was a different sort of calm: the cold, empty, oppressive silence that defies anyone to disturb its frigid serenity. The bright landscape, normally a cheering sight, seemed forbidding in the absence of life, like a fairground that had long ago been abandoned and left to slowly fall apart.
Fortunately, like most bad things in the digital world, it didn't last for long.
With a rush of joyful squealing, a rabble of baby monsters tumbled out of one of the village's buildings and into the street. Another stream of babies rounded a corner as the digiports returned them from their short-lived sojourn in the human's world. Their home was not in the best of shape - everything gets a little ragged at the edges when there's an impending disaster - but the children rarely noticed such trifling details. They were happy to be back.
When the tide of little digimon had slowed to a trickle and finally tapered off, a stooped figure emerged from behind a tree, chuckling to himself. Hands tucked into his sleeves and folded behind his back, he appeared to just wander aimlessly about the village. A smile and a nod to Elecmon, already back to work; a stern word to Ogremon and Leomon, who looked as though they were about to break out into another fight. The man stopped as he looked past the big digimon at three humans grouped together behind him.
"Hello there," he said, smiling warmly. "My name is Gennai and I've come to give you a hand. Welcome to the digital world."
"Jim Kido," the boy grinned, shaking Gennai's hand. "Well, the name's Shuu, really, but I much prefer Jim. Trouble is, then my brother Shin wanted to be called Jim too, so..."
"Yes, yes, I see your problem," Gennai nodded in agreement. "My counterparts and I once had the exact same problem, but..." his voice trailed off as he noticed the two girls staring t him.
"Oh, this is Jun and Momoe." Jim informed the old man. "They have younger siblings that are digidestined, too, like my little brother Joe, so we've heard all about this place."
"Far too much for comfort, in fact." Jun grumbled.
"Yeah, why are we here?" asked Momoe.
"Who cares?" Jim laughed, almost deliriously. "It's a pleasure to be here, a privilege, even. I've always wanted to -"
"Jim?" Jun said, sweetly.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
"Yes, yes, quite so." Gennai nodded, patting Jim's shoulder absently. "It's wonderful to meet you all, but you're here for a far more serious purpose, I'm afraid. Please come with me." He gestured to the humans and to Leomon and Ogremon.
Bemused, curious and slightly worried, the three five of them obediently followed Gennai to a grassy, tree-lined field that was filled with eggs. Elecmon dashed back and forth, tending to his tiny charges.
"Tell me, Jim, has Joe ever said anything to you about the way digimon live?" Gennai asked him.
"No, never." Jim shook his head.
"What about you, girls? Do your siblings tell you about the digital world?"
"Yolei doesn't like to talk about it too much." said Momoe.
"I don't think Davis knows much himself," Jun snorted.
"Yeah, well, I guess I'll have to enlighten you, then," Elecmon grinned, waddling up with a Leafmon on his head. "Digimon aren't born the way the flesh-and-blood creatures of your world are. They're created out of information from the computers and TVs and stuff that you guys have."
"So we created digimon?" Jim asked."
"Humans created the digital world itself," Gennai added, "It came into existence when the first computer was built."
"But that was back in the thirties!" Jun exclaimed. Momoe looked at her friend with mild surprise and she blushed slightly. "Hey, Yamato Ishida hasn't taken up every moment in the last six months of my life. I listen in school too!"
"Um.... yeah," Elecmon seemed put off, "But anyway, the digimon -"
"Have there always been digimon here?" Momoe interrupted.
"Later, later." Gennai shook his head. "Anyway, data from computers is interpreted by the digital world itself, which is like a master computer. It's processed and sorted and finally -"
"It becomes one of these." Elecmon held up an egg. "Then I hatch 'em and raise 'em until they're ready to look after themselves."
"There's one other thing." Leomon spoke up. "When a digimon dies its data is still left over. On rare occasions it is stored somewhere and the digimon becomes extinct, but usually it is reassembled and the digimon is reborn here."
"So you guys live forever?" asked Jun.
"I guess so." Ogremon nodded.
"Cool!"
"Maybe." Leomon looked doubtful; he and Ogremon shared a significant Look. "We'll tell you guys more bout that later."
"So... what does all this have to do with us?" Jim wondered aloud.
"We'll, I'd think the three of you would have noticed that your siblings are missing."
"Yeah. We know." Momoe sighed.
"We figured it had something to do with the digital world." added Momoe. "We weren't sure whether we should be worried or not, though."
"Oh, you can worry, alright." Leomon growled, his face curling into an expression of contempt. "There's a powerful digimon holding Davis and Yolei - and their friends - captive."
"It's okay!" Ogremon assured them, seeing the horrified looks on Jun and Momoe's faces. "Joe and his team are working really hard to get there and free everyone."
"And doing very well, too." Gennai nodded. "Joe and Gomamon are doing exceedingly well against Kappamon right now."
Though the enemy digimon's name meant nothing to him, Jim was more comfortable in that knowledge. The girls still weren't satisfied, though.
"Why has this digimon taken my brother?" Jun demanded.
Elecomon heaved an enormous sigh and looked mournfully at Gennai. The wizened man nodded at him and the little striped digimon began to talk once more, looking as though he'd just been banished to Infinity Mountain.
"This enemy has taken the digivices - the things that make their partners evolve - from Davis, Yolei, TK, Kari, Cody and Ken. In only a few days the time will come for her to put that plan into action. If she succeeds, then... there'll never be... I won't..." he lapsed into silence, crumpling into a miserable heap at Jim's feet.
"Then digimon will no longer be reborn when they die." Leomon finished.
Elecmon howled and buried his face in Jim's shirt, his whole body shaking with sobs. The boy patted him awkwardly on the head.
"We don't really know yet what your purpose in this whole business is," Gennai told them, over Elecmon's racket, "But you'll have to discover your mission for yourselves. At any rate, you're not desperately needed right now. You should go home for now and come back on Friday, when we reach the real crisis."
"How are we meant to get back?" Momoe blurted out.
"Look in your pocket." Gennai advised her.
"But there's nothing there, just my... oh!" Momoe had emptied her pockets to demonstrate, but among the house keys and gum wrappers lay an item that she definitely hadn't shoved in there that morning - a perfect miniature bronze-coloured D3.
Jun quickly started going through her pockets, too, pouring out all sorts of junk, photos and movie tickets and about ¥3500 in loose change. She sorted through and found a matching silver digivice there, whilst Jim had a gold one on his belt. All three stared at their new digivices in amazement, hardly believing what the gifts meant. Elecmon stopped moping and looked up in surprise. Leomon and Ogremon jumped to their feet. Gennai just smiled knowingly.
"There's a screen over there you can use." he informed the dumbstruck group. "Just hold the devices our towards the screen and you'll head back home. When you want to come back, do the same with a computer and say 'digiport open'."
"Okay. Got it." Jim nodded and headed towards the port, Jun and Momoe close behind. "Thanks for everything."
"Hang on!" the ancient one protested, looking perplexed. "Aren't you taking your digimon?"
"Our digimon?" Jun repeated, a blank expression on her face.
"Ogremon and Leomon stared at each in amazement and the distraught Elecmon looked as though he was about to faint. Gennai shook his head.
"Of course. All six of you are clearly supposed to be a team. Otherwise you wouldn't have met up and come here together. Now head on home, all of you."
"But... but... the babies..." Elecmon protested, feebly.
"I can look after them for a few days." Gennai assured the little digimon. "You need a break. Get to know Jim, and for goodness' sake try to relax."
"You're on." Jim nodded, picking up Elecmon under one arm. Ogremon went to stand next to Jun and Leomon grudgingly picked up Momoe, reluctant to surrender his independent lifestyle.
"We'll be back on Friday!" Momoe yelled, just before she and her new teammates hurtled through the digiport, back to the real world - a whole adventure in itself.
***
For the second time that day, chaos erupted in the little computer shop at the end of town. From the digiport in the back room, six beings emerged: three humans, Elecmon, and two small digimon they hadn't seen before.
"What the... what happened to me?" the green one cried, his eyes bulging.
"We got smaller, stupid." his fuzzy grey friend told him. "Don't you remember what it's like to be a Rookie?"
"Shut up!" Jun grabbed the ugly green creature and glanced frantically around the room at two dumbstruck workers.
"Don't worry, it's just a... um..." Momoe clutched the grey digimon to her as she fumbled for an explanation.
"It's a routine operation!" Jim yelled. He grabbed Elecmon in one hand and Momoe's hand in the other, barrelling through the crowd that had gathered around the office door, Jun close behind. They staggered through the shop and finally out into the street.
"We'll I guess we'll be busy for the next few days." Jun puffed as they dropped onto a bench not far from the cafe where the adventure had begun.
"Who are the new guys?" Jim asked.
"I'm Goblimon," announced Jun's companion, "But I used to be Ogremon."
"And I was Leomon - but now I'm Gazimon." said the fuzzy grey rabbit-like digimon.
"See, digimon all have different forms. I guess Ogremon and Leomon went back to their rookie stages when we came back to the real world." Elecmon stopped and looked at Jim. "I'll tell you more later. Why don't we all get something to eat?"
"Yeah, I'm starved!" Goblimon cried.
"Excellent idea." agreed Gazimon.
"Do you guys really eat as much as Yolei says?" Momoe asked, alarmed.
"Probably more." said Elecmon, with a grin. "So how about it?"
"We never did finish our lunch... or pay the bill, now that I think about it." said Jim, looking right at Jun.
"Okay, we might as well." Jun sighed, standing up. She smiled as Goblimon scrambled up onto her shoulders.
After a day of surprises, the three newest, but oldest digidestined and their digimon tried to return to what passed for normal in Odaiba. The little monsters caused something of a stir in the cafe, but everyone figured they'd have to get used to that. Despite all the complaints about their unusually long bill, Jun, Jim and Momoe where truly delighted to be able to call themselves Chosen Children, called upon to aid the digital world during the plot that was unfolding in a tower on top of a mountain, a whole world away.
******
"No way," whispered Mordremon, staring out one of the windows. She gripped the stone ledge and clenched her teeth, her whole body trembling with emotion. "Not Kappamon too. This just can't be happening."
Cronomon cautiously sidled up to her friend. Not that she was scared; Mordremon wasn't the sort of master to punish her servants. When she was in one of her moods, though, one could never be sure how she would react to anything.
"Kappamon fought well," the bird said, quietly. "She died with honour."
"Yes, she did." Mordremon sighed. "I just hadn't expected her to go so quickly. I hadn't expected any of them to go at all. Otherwise I would never have sent them off to..."
"I know," Cronomon waddled up onto her mistress' shoulder and nudged her affectionately. "I know you'd never send anyone away to die."
"Do you miss them?" Mordremon asked, suddenly.
The crow sucked in a breath sharply, making an effort not to remind the girl that Tauromon, Serpentmon and Kappamon would someday return. Any mention of the digimon's rebirth tended to upset her.
"I do, a bit." Cronomon admitted. "I never liked any of those digimon the way you did, but we were friends. Besides, I still have you and that fool, Phantomon."
Mordremon managed to smile a little. "Yes, I suppose you do. We do. Not to mention Banemon. Oh, stars, he'll be the next! I hope he, at least, comes out of it alive."
"He's a powerful digimon." the bird assured her.
"So were the first three."
"They couldn't force Mega digimon back to Rookies, could they?"
"True, true." Mordremon agreed, turning to head down the stairs with the crow still perched on her shoulder.
"Mordred?" piped Cronomon.
The mistress rolled her eyes at the new nickname, but let it go. "Yeah?"
"Why do you need to send the four out to fight?"
"Those six older children must be delayed or my plot will become impossible. Our friends should be able to delay them for just the right amount of time," she stopped short, as if trying to cut out of the conversation right then and there.
"But ours have been killed this way!" Cronomon protested. "Couldn't you have the digidestined destroyed instead? It's what any other villain would do..."
"Well, I'm not any other villain." Mordremon whispered, in her I-love-you-dearly-but-you-shouldn't-have-said-that tone of voice.
She would have gone on, but there was a bark from Banemon down at the bottom of the stairs. His mistress bolted down the staircase, leaving Cronomon flapping crazily in her wake. They found the three headed digimon standing by the front door, every inch of his blue-grey fur just itching to go. The head on the left, in charge of tracking, was alert, its tongue lolling out. The centre head, the fighter, was sleeping and on the right the intellectual head turned towards Mordremon and began talking.
"I believe, mistress, that it is time for me to fulfil my duties," he began, stiffly. He was always very formal with Mordremon; she had long ago given up trying to stop him.
"You have no duty to me at all, Bane." the girl replied.
"After you took me in, as you did all of us? I owe my life to you." Banemon shook his two conscious heads, which looked rather strange if you weren't used to it.
"I would never force you to repay a debt," Mordremon argued, "and even so, you have paid with your friendship ten times over already."
"You flatter me," the dog grumbled, "but I must fight these humans and their digimon. After all," he cocked his right head to the side, "don't you want me to help you anyway?"
Mordremon ducked her head, ashamed. Banemon just twitched his whiskers; the head on the left sniffled a bit.
"When you firs come up with this plan, we all agreed to help," he reminded her. "Nothing has changed that."
"I didn't know back then," she muttered, "I'd never ask you to do it now, after what happened to the others."
"You don't have to," Banemon said, gently, "I would go anyway. Maybe I will be killed, like my companions, but I will not fail you."
"Thank you." Mordremon whispered. She dashed forward and hugged each of Bane's three heads, waking the vicious one. But even it just licked her ear and grumbled.
"Cronomon fluttered around a corner and helped Banemon to drag open the door. All six eyes blinked in the bright sunlight. the head on the left sniffed at the air, weaving back and forth in search of a scent. It stopped suddenly, the fur on the digimon's shoulders pricking up. A new expression spread over the three faces, the wild instincts that run deep in all canines: the urge to hunt and to kill. The beast snarled for a moment before leaping out of the castle and out of sight.
"Goodbye, Bane!" said Cronomon.
"And good luck!" Mordremon added.
They waited for a moment before closing he door. Cronomon settled back down onto Mordremon's shoulder, ready to resume her inquisition. But this time it was the mistress who asked the first question.
"Do you think Banemon will kill the humans if he gets the chance?"
Cronomon blinked in surprise. "Probably. He is a wolf, after all."
The girl sighed and plodded back to the stairs. "I didn't want to kill any of them."
"But I thought -"
"I already told you, I'm not like the digimon villains of old." she snapped. "And not just because of my species. I... I mean... it's bad enough, what I'm doing. I wouldn't want anything to happen to the digidestined until this place goes into motion. I don't even want anything to happen to them then." Her voice dropped as she flopped down on one of the steps. "I don't want anyone to have to live the way I do."
"So that's why you're putting them off? So they don't' have to suffer?!"
"Yeah. That's about the size of it."
Mordremon waited with dread for the question that was sure to come next, the question of shy she didn't just send them away. The one she couldn't answer.
But it never came. The feathers around Cronomon's beak crinkled into a wry smile and she shook her head in disbelief.
"You are one in a million, Darcy." she grinned.
"Don't call me that!" the girl snapped, automatically. "But ain't that the truth."
The dark bird hopped her friend's lap and nestled down, suddenly sleepy. Mordremon stroked the glossy black feathers and smiled sadly to herself. She knew that this whole plan was selfish and she should have told everyone her real intentions. But after living with these digimon for so long, she didn't have the heart to tell them, not even Cronomon. Especially Cronomon. She didn't know if she'd be able to go through with it while her feathered friend was still around.
Perhaps that's why I've let the digidestined come. They won't hesitate to do the job, even if I can't bear to do it myself.
******
Veemon and Wormmon huddled together behind the crate as light from the kitchen washed over them. They cringed as Phantomon made an alarmed noise when he discovered the mess they had left behind in their hasty retreat. He floated forward and began turning over all the things on the shelf with the breadcrumbs, muttering about rats.
A tiny squeak escaped from Wormmon as the edge of Phantomon's cape floated past their escape route. He was clearly working his way through the whole pantry, intent on seeking out and punishing the filthy vermon that had invaded his kitchen. A chain that dangled from his shoulders clunked against the crate, making both digimon jump. They'd have to get him out of there somehow.
Shooting a warning look at Veemon to silence him, Wormmon cautiously peeped over the rim of the crate and snagged a few raisins, stuffing them into his mouth. He handed a few to Veemon and scurried back down as quietly as he could. Not that the noise level really mattered - Phantomon was so busy overturning soup cans that he was deaf to any sound but that of invading rats. Well then, perhaps that sound could be used to sway him from his search.
Wormmon crept around to the side of the crate, his body pressed against the ground. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the door, waiting for the right moment. When and opening appeared, Wormmon quickly popped a raisin in his mouth and spat it right at the doorway, deliberately brushing Phantomon's cloak.
The edgy cook felt the slight movement and stopped what he was doing immediately.
Veemon caught on and handed him another raisin, which he disposed of speedily. The next few fruits were sent on their way even faster, right past Phantomon into the huge cracks in the kitchen floor. They made the tiniest of scratching noises as the landed among the stones. Phantomon turned for a moment to look outside and Veemon made a dash for the tunnel.
But he had moved too soon and too carelessly. His tail thumped loudly against the crate that had sheltered him and Phantomon whipped his head around and caught sight of the reason he'd been going through supplies so fast lately.
Basically, Veemon was stuffed.
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Is your hunger satisfied now? Your curiosity awakened? I can't promise when the next chapter will be here, but I'll try to make it soon. Please, just don't forget about me.
