Disclaimer: Wow, it's been a while since my last update. Don't worry though, I'll make it up to all of you somehow! It isn't easy making a digimon story with original characters you know. It sure would be easier if I had a muse, hmmm... (Pinmon comes out of the closet, since he had to hide from that evil lawyer that was here last time) "I thought I was your muse?" he says with a sad, sad look. "No, you're just my OC, friend, and bodyguard. Hey wait a minute, where were you when that evil lawyer showed up!" Pinmon sweatdrops "Well I, I, was, ummm... sleeping! Yeah that's it I was sleeping!" (He then runs back into the closet) "Okay that was weird, might as well get this over with before that lawyer comes back and tries to find where I hid my digimon tapes."
"I DON'T OWN DIGIMON!!!"
"There, I said it, now read the next chapter, and don't forget to review, you insignificant mortals you!!!"
"BOO HA HA!!!!"
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My hands stop their shaking as I sit in front of my computer, staring at the screen. I slowly unclench them as the intense feeling of remorse and regret slowly pass, just like they always do. Writing about my past has caused memories to resurface, memories that I would have rather kept buried. I couldn't stop now though, I had already started and there was much more for me to tell. "Ben?" called a voice from outside my study. I couldn't help but smile as I said "What is it Pinmon?" The door to my study opened, and in walked my best friend, my brother. "Are you okay Ben?" he asked, giving me a concerned look, while holding a tray in front of him. "Yea, I'm fine, why do you ask?" Pinmon set the tray of food on the desk next to me, "I heard a crash...", he then noticed the mug that had broken upon hitting the floor. I sighed, "I'm okay, I was just...remembering old times is all." Pinmon looked at the computer screen to see what I had written. "I see," he said, "Ben that's in the past you need to let it go. Besides, you know what Angemon told us." "Yes, I know, but some things can never be forgotten, or undone, no matter how much one wishes it. You and I know that better then anyone." Pinmon closed his eyes and said, "I know...I know, well, I brought you some lunch, she made it especially for you." He then smiled and opened his baby blue eyes, "She was very insistent that you eat it all." I looked at what he had brought, "Figures it'd be something she likes," I said as I looked at the tuna sandwich and glass of milk, with an apple on the side, "tell her that I said it looks delicious." Pinmon laughed and started to leave, "Don't forget Ben, that no matter what has happened in the past, all that matters now is the present, you, me, and her." I smiled to myself as I heard the door shut behind him. "I won't Pinmon, I couldn't, and I wouldn't." I then took a bite of the sandwich, as I resumed my work, "Crap, there's relish in this!"
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I awoke to find myself in bed. For a second I didn't know where I was, and then I recognized the jacket that Beelzemon had given me, lying on a chair next to my bed. "Why am I in bed?" I thought, and then the memories started pouring in. "NO!, it didn't happen, it was a DREAM!" I screamed inside my head as I rocked back and forth. I heard a knock, and looked up to see my door open. Pinmon came inside bearing a tray of food and his bag that he had when I first met him. He saw what I was doing, set everything down, and rushed to my side. "Ben, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned for me. I stopped rocking back and forth, and looked up at him, with tears running down my face. "Wh...what have I done Pinmon?" Pinmon sat down next to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. "Ben, you had no choice, you had to do it." I couldn't help it, all the pain and sorrow that I had been feeling suddenly rushed into me. I leaned forward, encircled my arms around him, and just cried into his shoulder. Pinmon stayed with me, just holding me, supporting me when I needed him. He had no idea how grateful I was at that moment, how much I needed someone to hold onto while the grief wracked my body, shaking me violently.
O
I don't know how long it was until he stopped. I was surprised when he hugged me, but I just took it as a sign that he needed someone to help him. I sat there for what seemed hours, holding my brother in my arms, as he sobbed into my shoulder. I didn't really know what to say, I mean he was a grown man, almost 20 years old, and I was holding him as though he were a scared little child. I felt sorry for him though, and could not even imagine what he must be thinking. I have never killed anyone, and yet, my brother here did. He did it to save my life. I can never repay him for that. I felt our bond growing stronger day by day, even if he hasn't shown any indication that he has felt it. I do know one thing for certain though, Ben is my best friend, partner, and brother, all rolled into one person. I am connected to him, and I wouldn't want it any other way. If I had to choose between him living or me dieing, I'd gladly sacrifice myself for him. I opened my eyes and leaned back, finding that Ben has fallen asleep, exhausted. I laid him back down onto the bed and quietly sat in the chair next to him. Then I too, soon fell asleep.
O
I awoke again to the smell of something good. I blinked wearily, and rubbed my tired eyes. I heard a soft sound and looked to my right, only to find Pinmon halfway off a chair, fast asleep. I smiled and noticed that it was kind of cold. I sat up, pulled the blanket off, and looked for the jacket Beelzemon had given me. I found it under the chair that Pinmon was in. I grabbed it and put it on, still not used to its size, it hung off me like a short robe. I looked at Pinmon who seemed to shiver in his sleep. I smiled again, as I realized that the chair was probably not the most comfortable place in the world. I gently lifted him up, but not without some effort on my part, "Gee, he's heavy." I thought, as I placed him on the bed. I then covered him with the blanket that had been covering me. I smiled as he let out a sigh of comfort, and started to softly snore. I then walked over to the table where he had placed the food.
I lifted the lid off the tray, and was glad to find that it had kept the food warm. It must've only been an hour or two since he came with the food. I sat down in the only other wooden chair and proceeded to eat. I noticed that there was enough for two, and saved half for Pinmon. I smiled as I ate, for the food consisted of a thick stew, and half a loaf of dark, brown bread. "Well it's better then hot dogs, and mac & cheese." I thought to myself as I ate. When I finished, I replaced the cover and got a drink from the pitcher of water by the built in sink. I thought Pinmon had called it a wash basin or something. While I sat there, with my cup of water, I started to think about what had happened.
"What have I done?, I've killed someone. What happened to me, why did I do it? I didn't have to, I could have just knocked that Fridgimon down again, although I'm not quite sure how I did it in the first place. When I saw Pinmon being choked to death, something inside me snapped. The scary thing is, that... that I...I liked it. I liked the sense of power that washed over me. I'm not ashamed to say that I'd do it again in a heartbeat, if it meant protecting Pinmon. I can't let this keep me down though, I have to get through it. I was just defending myself, and my friend. It was justifiable, but was it right? I just don't know." I snapped out of my thoughts, since thinking about it was giving me a headache. I got up and walked back over to the chair next to the bed. I sat down, and watched as Pinmon slept. I smiled and had one last thought before sleep overcame me, "Well, he's sure made life...interesting, hasn't he?"
O
I rolled over, and promptly fell out of...the bed? Why was I in the bed? I stood up and looked for Ben, only to find him in the chair next to the bed. The odd thing though, was that he was lying halfway on and off the chair, and at any second it seemed he would fall off. I grinned and rolled over the bed, to wind up sitting in front of him. I leaned forward as close as I could without touching him. Then, when I was looking directly into his closed eyes, I shouted "Hey Ben!"
O
I immediately awoke to a loud yelling, only to yell even louder when I had sat up quickly and smashed my forehead into Pinmons'. "Owww" I moaned as I rubbed my bruised scalp. "Owww" came the response from Pinmon, who was sitting on the bed rubbing his head. "What was that for Pinmon?" I said as the pain subsided. Pinmon grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, I was just trying to wake you up." "Oh," I said as I stood up and yawned, "well, next time try doing it without giving me a concussion, hmmm?" Pinmon just laughed and stood up to stretch. He then walked over to a closed shutter and opened it, to reveal the bright sunlight streaming in.
"Looks like we've slept in a little late" said Pinmon. He then turned to me and laughed as I tried to straighten out my hair. "Don't worry about it Ben, you can take a shower, and use the mirror to fix yourself up. Better hurry though, we've got another meeting with the head knight." I was stunned, but not at the mention of the head knight, "There's a bathroom in here, where?" Pinmon laughed and turned around, I followed him to a tapestry, "This was just for looks...," he said as he pulled it back to reveal another door. He didn't get a chance to finish explaining though as I raced forward, knocked the door open, and slammed it shut behind me. I looked at the modern bathroom setup before me, "Oh thank god" I muttered as I finally was able to use the facilities in what must have been a couple days. I heard Pinmon outside the door laughing, and muttering something about "When you gotta go, you gotta go."
A half-hour later I came out of the bathroom, fresh out of the shower, and feeling refreshed. Good thing I had found a cabinet of dry towels in there, or putting my clothes back on would have been awkward. Pinmon was lying on the bed, but sat up when I came out. "Feeling better?" he asked with a smile. "Actually, a lot better." I replied. Pinmon got up and walked over to the table where he had set his bag. "Good then take this, and put it on" he said, and tossed me what appeared to be a piece of black leather. I looked at it, trying to decide what it was. It appeared to be a long leather arm covering of some sort, almost like a glove. It was long enough to cover my forearm, and it was fingerless. I slipped it onto my right arm, noticing that it seemed to tighten afterwards. "Pinmon, what's this?" I said as I moved my arm around, finding that the glove didn't constrict my movements in the lightest. I also noticed how the jacket covered up most of it. "It's your reward for passing the initiation, congratulations Ben, you are now a DigiKnight."
To say that I was surprised would be the least you could say. I was stunned, I was speechless, and I was confused. "Wh...what did you say?" I asked him, thinking I might have heard wrong. Pinmon smiled and leaned on the table, "I said you're a DigiKnight." "But...but I don't understand," I stammered, "you mean I passed the initiation?" Pinmon frowned and said "What, you thought you failed?" I nodded, and sat down on the bed. Pinmon walked over and sat down next to me. "Ben, if you had failed, you would have woken up back in your world. Everyone who fails is sent back where they came from almost immediately." I looked him in the eyes and said, "But, what I did..." Pinmon sighed and said "The test you took, that we took, was created by you Ben." "What?" I asked disbelievingly. Pinmon nodded and continued, "Look, all I know is that the doorway leads to some kind of testing grounds, where your sub consciousness creates a challenge for you to overcome." "But why did I have to go through...through that?"
Pinmon looked at the ground and said "I'm afraid that's my fault, you see, all partnered DigiKnights supposedly have to take that test together." I got angry for a second, "So, what was this test trying to prove exactly?" Pinmon spoke the next words softly, "It was to test each of us in an area that we were lacking. So, two things were being tested in there. The first being that I could rely on you when I needed you the most, and the second, well, that was to prove that you could do what you had to, even if you hated it." I grabbed Pinmons' arm, "So that whole thing, the test, it wasn't real?" Pinmon shook his head and said, "No, it was real alright, there have been incidents where nobody returns from the test."
I let Pinmon go and stared at my hands, "So, that Fridgimon, I...I really killed it?" Pinmon didn't say anything, he just placed his hand on my shoulder. I sighed, because I knew what I had to do. "Okay then," I said standing up, "that's it, no more feeling sorry for myself, what's done is done, and I just have to live with it." Pinmon smiled and jumped up from where he was sitting, "That's right Ben, now come on, we still have to go see Beelzemon." I nodded and followed him out into the hall. As we walked through the passages, I asked Pinmon a question, "Hey Pinmon, how did we get out of that testing place anyways? I mean the last thing I remember about it was you saying that the door had appeared."
Pinmon looked at me with a grin, "You can thank Beelzemon for getting us out. You had passed out, and the doorway was starting to close. It's only designed to stay open for 10 minutes at a time. I could have gone through to get help, but the doorway would have sensed a presence leaving, and closed behind me, leaving you trapped, so I couldn't do that. I dragged you to the doorway and was about to go through when exhaustion from fighting the Fridgimon overcame me. I fell to my knees, to tired to move a muscle. Then Beelzemon stuck his head through the doorway, saw us, and pulled us on through. You know I think he likes us."
"Pinmon, why does Beelzemon want to see us anyway?" I asked. Pinmon laughed and said, "What, you didn't think the initiation was over already did you? The worst is yet to come." "Wait a minute," I said, as Pinmon stopped in front of a pair of doors, apparently our destination, "I thought I already passed, and that I was a DigiKnight?" Pinmon turned toward me with an evil grin, "True, but now comes the fun part." "What do you mean?" Pinmon laughed again and grabbed the handles to the doors. "You must take the oath of the DigiKnight." "Okay," I said confusedly, "what's so bad about that?" Pinmon grinned and said; "You must say it in front of witnesses." He then pushed both handles down, and yanked the doors open wide. I stood there and gulped, "Awww nuts!" I thought as I saw what was before me.
O
I had to force myself not to laugh aloud at the look of horror on Bens' face. He was stone still, and he seemed to be barely breathing. "Pinmon?" he whispered so low, that only I could hear, since I stood next to him. "What?" I whispered back. "Who are they?" he said, as he looked upon the assembly. I glanced over the crowd that had turned to look at us. We were located inside one of the main assembly halls, so even tall digimon could attend. The ones that were too large could look in through the open windows. The crowd was a mixture of humans and digimon, all who were turned towards us. There must have been at least 30-40 of them there. I whispered to Ben, "These are the DigiKnights for this region, come to witness your oath taking." Ben looked toward me and said, "All the knights are here?" "Of course not Ben, there had to be at least two left at each post." The crowd in front of us started to part, forming a kind of empty path for us. "Pinmon, did you have this many people at your initiation?" I laughed aloud at that, "Of course not, I was just a regular DigiKnight, not one of the 10, unlike now. Now come on, we can't keep everyone waiting." I then grabbed his arm and started to pull him along the aisle.
O
After the first five steps, I shook off Pinmon and walked on my own. Now, I don't know how, but somehow Pinmon knew that I didn't like crowds. They make me nervous, and I get easily embarrassed. Of course, it didn't help anything that the crowd around us kept staring. They didn't even make a sound, just stared. I swear that I must've looked like a ripe tomato, I was blushing so much. It seemed to take forever as Pinmon and I walked down that empty aisle. At the end of it was Beelzemon, and it seemed like he was trying not to laugh at my discomfort.
Finally, we reached him, and he stood there mockingly, his tail moving back and forth. I looked to Pinmon and saw that he had knelt, so I followed his example. Beelzemon simply leaned back upon the motorcycle that was behind him and said, "Oy, it's 'bout time you two showed up." I looked up at him, just to see him smile and laugh, "Well, I s'poze betta late than never. Let's get on with it, whaddaya say?" I nodded and that seemed to suit him. "Ben, Pinmon, you two 'ave had a great honor bestowed upon you. You two are both DigiKnights!" The crowd behind us burst into applause. I was glad my back was too them, so they couldn't see me blushing even harder.
Beelzemon waited until the clapping died down. "Yes, that in itself is a great accomplishment, but you two are partnas'. I know you know what that means Pinmon, but what 'bout you Ben, do ya know what it means to be a partnered DigiKnight?" I shook my head, for although I had heard Pinmon talking about it, I still didn't have a clear idea. "Ben, out of all the hundreds of DigiKnights in this world, there have only ever been ten at a time that have partners. Those ten have been the key to our maintaining the peace in this world. You Ben, are the 10th DigiKnight, the last of the ten. Now that you're here, da circle of 10 is complete. Do ya understand?" I was too stunned by what I had just heard to answer. "I'm the 10th DigiKnight?, is that what Pinmon meant by the reason for the crowd of witnesses?" So I just nodded, since I now understood why I had a partner. Beelzemon smiled and motioned towards the crowd. A human, a woman, walked up to him and bowed, "Sheesh, how many timed 'ave I told ya people not to do that?" The woman handed him a rolled up parchment, bowed again, and walked back to her spot among the crowd.
"Let's get on with the show, uh-huh!" yelled a familiar voice from behind me and Pinmon. I turned and sure enough, there they were. Angemon, Andromon, and Etemon were standing in the front of the crowd watching us. Each one had a smile of his face, Etemon even gave me a thumbs up. "Shut yer yap monkey-boy! I'm gettin to the best part." yelled Beelzemon, and the crowd laughed. After the laughter calmed down, Beelzemon unrolled the parchment. "It's now my duty to read this here oath. Ben, Pinmon, you twos are to repeat what I says, thereby swearin yourselves in as DigiKnights. Do you both understand?"
I looked at Pinmon, and he smiled at me and nodded. "Well, here I go." I thought. I turned toward Beelzemon and nodded in agreement. Then Beelzemon read the oath of the DigiKnight. Since it would take too long to tell what he said, and what we repeated, I'll just tell you the oath that Pinmon and I swore too.
"By body, mind, heart, and soul, these things I swear. To protect the weak, to give aid to those in need. To uphold the values of truth and honor in all things. To defend against those who would cause harm. To help the helpless, and care for my fellow mon. By body, mind, heart, and soul, these things I swear."
Beelzemon rolled up the parchment and put it inside his jacket. He then held out both hands for us to grab. Pinmon and I both did, and then found ourselves in a very tight hug from the mega demon lord. "Congratulations, and welcome to our liddle family!" shouted Beelzemon, causing the assembled DigiKnights behind us to clap, whistle, shout, and pretty much do anything to say congratulations. Before he let us go though, Beelzemon leaned down and whispered so that only we could hear. "I'll be keepin my eye on the two of you, especially you Ben. Don't know why, but I likes ya for some reason. I'll be seein you both later tonight, count on it. By the way, glad ya like the jacket." He then let us both go, and turned us toward the crowd. My face must have seemed on fire, I was blushing from all the attention being given to us. Pinmon just smiled and waved at all of them. We then were led by Angemon, Andromon, and Etemon to a banquet hall that held the biggest buffet tables I had ever seen. Behind us, smirking as he sat on his bike, Beelzemon shook his head and said to the now emptied room "Wonder what kind of fun those two will stir up."
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Well that's all for now you insignificant mortals! Next time, Ben and Pinmon get to party! There'll be Food, Fun, and Fighting? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and once again sorry about the length between updates. I do have a fan though, who reviews every time I write. I'd like to thank that person, and say that out of all the mortals, you are not so insignificant. Until next time you cowering peasants, remember this, (eyes turn a glowing red, grow to over 7 ft. tall, and suit of armor covers body, complete with dark blue cape) I am Lord of all I see and purvey, now bow before me you insignificant specs of dirt. Except those who review, they may dine with me in the Imperial Palace, and I shall have my Jugglers and Fools entertain us with flaming knives and tumbling tricks. There will also be a wench for all of you, and plenty of drink! I will destroy all those who stand against me in my conquest for total domination.... Ooops, sorry, got carried away again, I'll stop now. Goodbye, and remember, BOO HA HA!