Dislcaimer: It ain't mine. Don't sue me or anything.
I'm back. The gang is back. TBDM is back. Hopefully, you are back too.
Chapter 18 - Separation Anxiety
It was getting late when the ranks of digidestined finally embarked on what would hopefully be the last stage of their journey. After the defeat of Kappamon there were many stories to tell; indeed it seemed like they had been fighting the accursed monster for much longer than one day. Plesiomon had headed straight for the mountain side of the lake to deposit his passengers and immediately dropped all the way back to Bukamon, exhausted. Birdramon and her cargo quickly joined the gang, and there was plenty of discussion as well as a very late lunch - some cold food from the Gekomon warmed over the fire.
Taichi felt a flicker of annoyance as she munched on a half-cooked sausage. The clock was ticking. Two days, and then they'd be in trouble. And nobody had any idea how long it would take to climb this mountain, although Izzy had assured everyone it wouldn't take too long. After all, Birdramon could just carry them all to the top.
There was still Banemon to be reckoned with, though.
But on the other hand, everyone was exhausted. Okay, he and Sora weren't, but he was an athlete and she hadn't been underwater or anything. Yamato and Mimi hadn't either, but then Yamato had been going through all that stuff with Gabumon's amnesia, and Mimi... well, she just wasn't a camper.
"So, do you think it'd be okay if we stayed here for the night?" Yamato asked the circle of faces around the fire. "I'm stuffed and I reckon a lot of you are too, right?"
"I can just fly you all up tomorrow morning." offered Biyomon. "Won't take any time at all. We can all rest up until then."
"What about Banemon?" Taichi asked, quietly. "We can't write him out of the equation."
"There'll be a way," said Koushiro. "Every digimon has a weakness, surely. And the Digital World has never given us anything we couldn't handle before. I doubt that Banemon will be any different."
"The main problem with him will be that Wolfbane thing." Agumon reminded them. "No matter what level we digivolve to, he'll be able to send us right back to Rookies, or maybe even further."
"That was nasty," Gabumon shuddered at the memory.
"We'll try not to let it happen again." Yamato assured him.
"Yeah, this Ishida is cranky enough already," Sora teased. She still hadn't forgotten the tongue-lashing he'd given her a few days ago.
The conversation proceeded slowly, as did the daylight hours. No-one really knew how a power such as Banemon's could be counteracted upon. He could eliminate the digimon's fighting abilities without even touching them. Jyou suggested that their monsters could try just fighting in their rookie forms, but was quickly reminded of what had happened when they tried that against Kuwagamon the very first time they entered the Digiworld. Koushiro and his computer discovered that the Wolfbane attack reprogrammed a digimon (sending it to a lower stage) by using red light, but none of the destined digimon seemed to have anything that would counteract it.
The conversation drifted, though, from digimon attacks to old adventures, to the Dark Seed kids, to what was going on back home, to the Teenage Wolves' declining popularity, to American music, to Mimi's move, to family holidays, to air travel, to motion sickness, to Joe's allergies, to Hikari's pneumonia episode, to hospital food. All the time the sun dropped lower and lower in the sky. By the time the group had gotten around to dinner it was almost time for bed. From where Sora was seated on the eastern side of the circle, her shadow stretched from the tiny campsite to the edge of a scrubby group of bushes several metres away, where a very quiet audience was waiting patiently.
******
Banemon's plan had been reasonably simple - ambush the digidestined, try to split them up, cause as much havoc as he could. There was no trouble making up his mind, for although he had three heads they shared the one mind, functioning as parts of a whole. He'd made his way right down to the foot of the mountain pretty quickly, concealing himself in the sparse scrub, just as Plesiomon waddled up the shore and de-digivolved. The idea was that as soon as all six had met up, he'd spring right into the middle of them, scattering the group and, if he was lucky, separating some of the humans from their digimon. But all these plans came down around his ears when the head on his left - the almost childish tracker, with his heightened senses - picked up the disturbance that Birdramon created in the air.
The wolf had always hated birds, ever since he had hatched. Though he was, to his knowledge, the only member of his species, all the digimon that were most like him had feared water over all things. His fears, on the other hand, were of death in the skies.
It was part of the reason for his gruff relationship with Cronomon, that he feared her airborne power. The Hawkmon down in the dungeons didn't worry him so much, but he still shuddered silently when he had first seen the creature.
Yet it was nothing compared to what he felt when he saw Birdramon flying in to land so close. The fur on his back rose slightly and he bared all three sets of teeth. Even when she went back to being Biyomon he only relaxed a few hairs. There was an overwhelming sense of dread as he watched that giggling pink bird, as if some unseen hand was dragging him forward by the scruff of his necks whilst the pathway of his life was closing up behind him, so that he could never turn back. It was useless to struggle against his fate now, whatever it may be, because he was locked into a fight that may be his last, just like it was for the other three.
Under the fear, though, there also rose a grim determination. His back wasn't against the wall yet, and if this was to be his last fight then he was going to go out with a bang. The plan had changed, though. Banemon would worry about scattering the digidestined later. First he had to take care of that bird.
So even as the smell of sausages tickled his three noses, he settled down to wait.
******
Packs were opened, a tarp spread out, sleeping bags unrolled. The Gekomon were nauseating in their worship of Mimi, but they knew how to prepare for the worst. The group had more than enough to last them until they reached the castle. As Sora retreated and settled down to sleep, Yamato turned his back to the fire, ready for his shift on lookout. He hadn't been too keen, but Gabumon insisted that something was going to happen. Yamato disagreed, although he usually trusted his digimon. He was grumpy with weariness, though, and didn't feel much like sitting out in the cold and dark for a few hours.
Sora, on the other hand, had eagerly taken first watch and although nothing had happened she was still uneasy. She'd felt strange all day, an air of foreboding hanging about. It had seemed like a good idea to take the first watch, since she doubted she'd be able to sleep anyway, and she had deliberately stayed on watch for several hours longer than she should have. It was past midnight when Gabumon finally realised what she was doing and insisted that he and Yamato take a turn. And yet, she couldn't sleep.
The fire crackled merrily as Gabumon added a bit more fuel to it. He flopped down casually, yawning for effect. He felt at home in the mountains, but he was also wary. He had almost total faith in his ability to beat down Banemon if need be, but in frustrated him that the menace was there at all. Being among the gigantic stone peaks was deeply comforting and he felt as though he knew it, as though nothing could surprise him. It was just frustrating that this happiness was to be so short-lived and that it could be disrupted by Banemon at any moment.
While Yamato felt weary, Sora was wide awake. Gabumon noted every detail of what was around him, daring anything to intrude on the campsite. Banemon waited in the bushes, every muscle tensed, ready to spring when the right moment came.
Biyomon slept, nestled near Sora, unaware of what was about to befall her.
A breeze rustled the leaves on the scraggly trees to the west of the camp, and Gabumon wrenched his relentless guard away from Banemon's scrub for just a moment. Sora barely had time to yell when her eyes flicked towards Biyomon and saw the three-headed monster leap forward, a pair of jaws closing firmly around the little bird.
Biyomon did plenty of yelling, though.
"What are you... help! Sora, help mee!"
The camp immediately came alive, bleary-eyed children and digimon scrambling about as Banemon skittered through their ranks. Sora, who had slept in her clothes, was out of her sleeping bag and heading after the wolf in a flash, not even pausing to put her shoes on. She ran straight for what seemed to be a rough mountain path, following the sound of Biyomon's voice. Branches slapped her face as she struggled ahead, her feet scratched and soiled within moments. The sounds of the chaotic campsite scene seemed to be straightening out, organising themselves.
The girl tripped suddenly and skewed to the side, almost slipping off the edge of the track that mightn't even have existed. In a flash she was aware of how stupid this idea was, how hopeless things were. Biyomon's voice was getting further and further away and somehow Sora lost all heart when the voice stopped abruptly. Lying in the dirt, in the dark, she almost considered rolling right over the side and down to her death when there was a snort from from Garurumon right beside her.
"Need a hand?" a voice asked her, sounding almost amused.
Sora could dimly see Yamato straddled atop the blue digimon. She clumsily pulled herself to her feet and grabbed at Garurumon's fur. Matt reached down to grab her and hauled her upwards, barely stopping to let her get comfortable before he slapped the blue wolf and they got moving again. He shoved a pair of shoes at her, muttering something about how she'd forgotten them. Sora mumbled something too.
It wasn't un unpleasant ride, exactly. Garurumon moved quickly and quietly, although Sora had no way of knowing how close they were to Banemon. There was a strange sort of joy about the ride, really. Night wasn't all dark, but the colours were subtle, subdued. It seemed quiet, too, despite the fading sounds of chaos behind them and the occasional, very faint outbursts from Biyomon that they could hear when the wind went the right way. Beneath every little sound there lay a silence that defied it all, as though it knew that eventually any sound, just like any life, would die out.
At the same time, though, it was a hard ride. Yamato was perched right behind Garurumon's head, shielded from wind and stuff, gripping onto the long fur around his ears. Sora, on the other hand, was up near the wolf's shoulders, between two weird... things... that just stuck out there. She was unsteady; it was rough terrain, so there were jumps and stumbles, and she could feel Garurumon's forelegs working away beneath her.
Of course, she could always sit forward, closer to Yamato. She could hang onto him when the big leaps came. It wouldn't feel so much falling. She felt suddenly shy, though. No, she couldn't move up there, touching him. Even though it might be nice...
But as it turned out, she didn't have much of a choice.
With a sudden turn, Garurumon leapt straight up a rock wall, catching a brief glimpse of Banemon at the top of it. Though Yamato had a good grip on the digimon's longer fur, Sora was thrown backwards, clinging desperately to what fur she could reach, threatening to fall at any moment as Garurumon strained to pull himself upwards. Cursing to himself, Yamato swivelled around and grabbed Sora's wrist roughly in one hand.
"What do you think you're doing?" he muttered, angrily, pulling her towards him so fast that she choked in pain. "Don't be stupid. You'll be no use to Biyomon if you get yourself killed."
Garurumon righted himself and moved off again, but Yamato held Sora's arm for moment longer, forcing her to sit right behind him, guiding her hands to him. Reluctant and somehow eager, she gingerly wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled as she leaned towards him, relaxing suddenly in this little comfort. It wouldn't last long; Garurumon's fortuitous shortcut had drawn them even closer to Banemon and it couldn't be much longer before they overtook. But for a few precious moments she was there with Yamato, her arms around him, her head brushing his shoulder as she leaned forwards. Even in the darkness, Sora could see the tiniest of smiles on his face, too.
******
As soon as he heard Biyomon's cry for help, Taichi was scrambling out of his sleeping bag. For someone who could take three hours to get out of bed in the morning, he was surprisingly fast when there was danger about. As quick as his reflexes were, though, his mind was still going to take a while to wake up.
It was too dark to see anything clearly enough to be helpful. Banemon had already made his escape by the time Tai got to his feet and he only caught a brief glimpse of Sora as she rushed off into the blackness. Instinctively he tried to grab her and find out what was going on, but accidentally kicked Agumon and then fell on top of Koushiro. Izzy was only halfway out of his sleeping bag and yelped in surprise, shoving a hand in Tai's face. The leader tried to scuffle backwards but just got even more tangled. Distantly Tai heard Gabumon digivolving and saw Matt jumping on Garurumon's back.
"I'm going after Sora! Get yourselves organised!" were his parting words.
Mimi was the only one who heard them, though. After all the yelling Mr. Izumi had been doing, a groggy Tentomon thought that his human friend was being attacked and started hurling Electro Shockers at Taichi. Joe made a courageous leap over the smouldering campfire (which Agumon was trying to stir up again) and grabbed Tentomon in a magnificent tackle, bringing him to the ground where he began to thrash about. Bukamon immediately digivolved to Gomamon and leaped into the fray.
The fire flared up, thanks to Agumon, just as Palmon used her Poison Ivy to grab Jyou, Tentomon and Gomamon. Mimi couldn't help smiling a little when she saw Jyou suspended upside down and Tentomon's face when he realised who he'd been attacking. Not to mention the tangle that Taichi and Koushiro were in...
The brown-haired boy coughed and blushed slightly as he got to his feet, his hair even messier than usual, if that was possible. "Well, I suppose... er, getting up in the middle of the night is... well, it's not the best..."
"Put me down!" Gomamon demanded, glaring at Palmon.
"Yes, yes, let's get ourselves organised," Taichi blabbered, as Palmon released her indignant captives. "So, did anyone see what happened?"
"Biyomon's gone." said Koushiro. "Sora went after her, and then Matt and Garurumon went after the both of them."
"Maybe she just wanted to do a bit of flying," Tentomon suggested.
"No way! Not in the middle of the night." Gomamon said. "She hates flying when it's dark. She says it's too hard to see anything. I think Biyomon's a bit scared of the dark, actually."
"And how would you know?" Palmon gave him a suspicious look and the furry digimon sniffed and turned his head, partly from embarrassment and partly because he was still annoyed after having been hung up in the air.
"At any rate, I doubt she'd be screaming for help if she just wanted to stretch her wings." Mimi said, raising an eyebrow. "Something took her away. Sora immediately starts chasing, then Matt and Garurumon go too. I suppose they'll have caught up with her by now; you can't get far on foot."
"I suppose we should follow too, shouldn't we, Taichi?" Agumon asked.
There was a long pause as Taichi stared into the fire, thinking the situation over. Garurumon was the fastest of the digimon so there probably wasn't much point in them trying to follow. On the other hand, all of their Mega digimon, with the exception of Plesiomon, could fly, so that could turn out to be a faster option. If it was Banemon, though, which was more than likely, sheer firepower wouldn't be much use. Then again, why on earth would he just run up and grab Biyomon?
"You know," their leader said, slowly, "I could really use a coffee right now. Did anyone bring the -"
He trailed off as a howl rent the air in beautiful three-part harmony. Banemon was somewhere above them on the mountainside. If he was the one who had taken Biyomon, he must have dropped her at some point to raise all three muzzles in song. The eight stood by the fire and scoured the blackness above them, trying to find the source of the sound. It was Gomamon who brought them all around when he realised what the howl was for.
"Everybody, duck!" he yelped, pressing himself flat to the ground.
The children knew not to ask questions at a time like this and immediately did the same. No sooner had they dropped their heads when there was a huge rushing sound and an enormous draft of air swept over the camp from down the mountain, stretching the flame from the fire back towards the water. Everyone instinctively turned their heads and saw two serpentine digimon shooting over the lake and slowly wheeling around to come back.
"Megadramon and Gigadramon." Koushiro muttered to his leader. "They're flying dragon snake sort of things."
"Well that's a great help!" Taichi said, "How do we beat 'em?"
Gigadramon turned his blunt head at the sound of Taichi's voice and launched himself towards the sound. The boy froze as he saw the fierce creature looming in his vision, growing closer at an alarming rate despite the distance it had to cover after overshooting the camp by so much. He watching in horrified fascination as the jaws opened and barely noticed the words 'Giga Byte Wing' before the blue flame leaped from the depths of his throat. But he only had a split second to enjoy the view before Greymon stood up and took the blast full in the chest.
With some quick digivolutions, the other three digimon were in the thick of the battle. Greymon stumbled back a little when he copped Gigadramon's attack and nearly crushed Taichi and Koushiro when the Ultimate ploughed into him. Togemon was there immediately, jumping on the serpent's back and wrenching on his wings while Greymon got up and locked hands with the grounded monster.
Kabuterimon and Ikkakumon were trying to pull off a team effort against Megadramon, with Kabuterimon attacking from the air and Ikkakumon from the ground. Unfortunately Ikkakumon was a sitting duck on the ground and despite Kabuterimon's electric attacks, the serpent was unloading plenty of his Dark Side Attacks on him.
Jyou stood by his digimon's side, tightening his fingers around the thick fur as another attack hit home. The boy saw an opening as Kabuterimon clamped his arms around Megadramon's neck, distracting him for a moment. He pulled himself up Ikkakumon's side to yell in the exhausted digimon's ear.
"Ikkakumon, you have to digivolve!" he said, urgently. "You can't sit here and take much more of it."
"I just don't think I can, Jyou," the monster replied, panting. "I'm still tired out after fighting Kappamon yesterday. I'm surprised I could get this far."
The human cursed under his breath before another Dark Side Attack only just missed its mark. He looked around for help and saw Mimi yelling encouragement to Togemon, who was still seated on Gigadramon's back.
"Hey, Mimi!" he cried. "Give us a hand, will you? Get Togemon to digivolve and take a bit of heat of Kabuterimon."
"But Greymon's -"
"Don't worry!" Taichi cut in. "Greymon'll go Ultimate too, won't you?"
Greymon demonstrated immediately and started to wrestle anew in his guise as MetalGreymon. With only a moment's hesitation Lillymon followed suit, striking Megadramon a hefty blow and sending his latest attack way off target to hit Gigadramon's tail.
Unfortunately, this distracted Gigadramon, with disastrous effects. Shocked by the sudden pain in his tail, he launched himself away from MetalGreymon and into the air. His tail was thrashing out of control and just happened to sweep Taichi off his feet as the monster rose higher and higher into the air. Taichi could do nothing more than hold on as the maddened creature writhed about.
Ikkakumon still had worse things to come, too; the last insult came just as Jyou slid down to the ground so that he could de-digivolve.
Enraged at being caught off-guard by Lillymon, Megadramon suddenly doubled back in an arc over the lake and came down near the surface, zooming towards the shore. He tackled Ikkakumon full on, just as Jyou had done to Tentomon only minutes ago, and smashed the furry giant against a cliff with a nauseating crunching sound. Ikkakumon let out one last pain-filled bellow before he shrunk back to Gomamon and instinctively latched onto the nearest thing - Megadramon
Tinges of grey were now appearing in the dark sky. The sun was returning at last, to a group of digidestined that were far worse off that they had been when it left them the evening before. Megadramon and Gigadramon flew away up the mountain and disappeared into some hidden crevice, unaware as yet that they carried with them two very mismatched passengers.
******
Even as the two flying digimon headed for the darkness of their cave, Sora, Yamato and Garurumon were blessing the coming of day as they finally caught up with Banemon on a narrow path. Sora gasped at the sight of Biyomon's limp form hanging from the middle set of his jaws. She was so transfixed by the unconscious bird that she didn't notice Yamato tugging at her sleeve.
"Sora, we have to get down. Garurumon's going to fight him."
"But... but I... what?" the hours without sleep had started to catch up with Sora when she was riding and she blinked at her friend in confusion.
"Get off!" he grabbed her roughly around the waist and dragged her off Garurumon's back just as the wolf surged forward.
The girl wearily struggled to her feet and tried to make sense of what was going on. The sun was peeping tentatively over the horizon so she could see better, but she wasn't thinking too clearly. From a distant part of her mind she noticed that she was on the ground, in the dirt, with Yamato; Garurumon was running at Banemon; Biyomon was squealing...
What?
She snapped to attention again and looked up at the digimon. Garurumon had stopped in front of Banemon, who was wearing a smug smile on one of his faces. The jaws holding Biyomon in them had squeezed just a little tighter as Garurumon approached and she had gasped and stirred a little as the pain increased. Without thinking, Sora started to get up and move towards her digimon, but Yamato grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. A flicker of annoyance shot through the back of Sora's mind, but she pushed it back and tried to focus her sleep-deprived thoughts on the scene at hand.
"Put the bird down," Garurumon told Banemon, who had backed up to where the path grew too narrow for him to pass through.
"You can't make me," the head on the right growled. "Come any closer and I'll finish her off."
"No you won't."
"How would you know?"
"If you were going to kill her, you would have done it already." said Garurumon. "You've kept her alive, though, so you must need her for something. What is it, I wonder?"
"She's a danger to me," Banemon replied. "I don't know how or why, but she is."
"Then why didn't you kill her?"
"I was going to, but..."
"But what?"
"I figured that it would be better to have her with me than against me. That I might be able to use her." the right head went on. "If she wouldn't fight for me, I could use her to protect me. I know what you saps are like; you won't attack me if one of your own is in my jaws."
"And you chose her because she was a danger to you?" The faintest trace of a smile was playing across Garurumon's muzzle.
"Yes."
The striped wolf laughed derisively. "Yeah, right. You're just afraid. You can make up excuses about why you're not killing her, but in the end you don't know yourself. Or maybe your master has told you not to. Your words sound clever and strategic, but you're nothing of the sort."
"You're pretty smart, then, aren't you?" Banemon sneered. "Are you sure you know what you mean?"
"I can use my head," Garurumon agreed, "but in the end I'm a wild beast, a slave to my instincts. Just like you."
With that, Garurumon hurled himself at Banemon and locked his jaws around the throat of the head that held Biyomon captive in its jaws. It yelped and dropped its prey as the other two heads snapped at the attacker's neck and shoulders. Beneath their feet, Biyomon was slowly crawling away.
Sora struggled away from Yamato towards the two beasts; he was too slow to stop her this time. She was determined to save that helpless little ball of feathers from the monsters' battle. Banemon seemed to have gained the upper hand, the extra teeth giving him something of an advantage, especially after he managed to wrench free the middle head, the most vicious one.
Biyomon was almost out of danger and in Sora's arms again when Garurumon was sent a hefty blow and went flying towards them. Yamato held out his digivice, yelling at Garurumon to digivolve, but Banemon was too fast for him. Before Garurumon's head could hit the ground the six eyes were glowing again and the ominous howl of 'Wolfbane' filled everyone's ears.
The three-headed one reeled with shock for a moment when he realised what he had done. He had fought tooth to tooth, claw to claw - something that had nothing to do with his plans. He hadn't thought at all while he was fighting, really, just reacted. Bowed to his instincts.
Like Garurumon said.
Once again he had a sense of some unimaginable force swallowing up the path behind him. He didn't have to be dragged along it; running was the only way to keep from being swallowed up himself. But he knew. Oh, he knew. He was doomed. He was watching his last sunrise. He was made in the image of Cerberus, guard-dog at the gates of Hell, but soon he would be running through those gates himself. And he knew, with strange clarity, that when he was forced through those gates it was because he succumbed to instinct.
With a shudder of revulsion for what lay ahead, the three-headed one plunged away from the humans and from the accursed bird and out into his wild, mountain home.
~~~~~~
Look! I finished it, I did! And don't tell me, I'm leaning into Sorato too much, right? Well... um... that's just what happened, okay? OKAY?! Just don't come flaming me for it.
