Heroes No More, Chapter Twenty-Four:
Shadow War, Part 1: Enter The Shadow
========================
Enter a dark void. There is nothing anywhere... only darkness. Lee opens his eyes and in shock looks around, in Desperation.
"Guys! Where are you!?"
Lee stumbled around, looking for his friends... or a way out. He found neither.
"Alex! Are you out there!?"
Nothing.
"Earnest! Ace! Allison! Anyone!?"
Nothing.
"Where are they!? Argh, how could I have lost them?"
"You didn't lose us. We lost you. You were lost to us from the beginning.", said a female voice from behind Lee. It was Alex.
"Alex?! What do you mean?"
"You're weak. You know that. Any of us would've made a much better leader than you."
"I'm... weak?"
"Because it's all YOUR fault we were killed!"
Alex cast a finger at Lee, who, feeling hurt, ashamed and afraid, put a hand to his hard to see if it was still beating. It wasn't.
"What is THIS!?", screamed Lee. "Alex, can't we--"
Lee ran towards Alex, but she deleted right before his eyes. He screamed and punched the wall (Or what appeared to be the wall).
"Murderer!", shouted Arik, pointing at him. "You killed Alex!!!"
"I say we destroy him!", said Ace. "A life for a life!"
"No... torture would be much more fun!", shouted Earnest. "And so much more amusing for us!"
"Yes...! Activate the torture chamber!", said Nathan.
A huge pit of spikes appeared in the center of the void, and Kevin strapped Lee onto it. Kevin began to lower him down into the pit.
"Don't worry, this will only hurt infinitely!!!", laughed Kevin, almost maniacally.
"Someone! Someone help!", shouted Lee, struggling to get free. He looked up at the site of his best friends laughing at him. He looked over and saw James looking over the pit.
"James! Help me!!!", shouted Lee.
"...negative.", replied James. "You didn't help me! So why would I help you!? YOU LET ME DIE!!!"
"I didn't mean too! I didn't... it wasn't... ARGH! Get me out of this f*cking thing!!!", screamed Lee. Suddenly, the torture chamber, James, Nathan, Kevin, Earnest, Arik and Ace all deleted. Lee fell to the bottom of the void gasping and crying. Their voices echoed "murderer" across the void.
"Get off the floor.", said a female voice. Lee looked up to see Allison standing there. He wiped away his tears and leapt to his feet, facing her.
"Allison! Oh my god, I'm glad to see you!"
"Oh?", asked Allison. "Is this before or after you screwed me over for Alex!?"
"Allison... no... don't do this to me... I have no idea what's going on..."
"I loved you Lee! I LOVED YOU! And after what you've done... the only thing you deserve is THE PIT!", shouted Allison. She flung Lee backwards and he was hanging over the spike pit again. Images flashed through his head of James dying, Alex deleting, all his friends deleting and Desiree getting hit by the Possess Shadow and flying lifeless to the floor. He screamed in mental anguish.
"Kokuwamon! Where's Kokuwamon?!", asked Lee, desperately. Kokuwamon leapt onto Allison's shoulder.
"Finish him.", said Kokuwamon. Kokuwamon blasted Lee and he fell into the spike pit, getting impaled as their laughter echoed into the air.
---------------------------------
"I-- ahhh!", screamed Lee, coming to. He looked around, seeing nothing but alot of sand. He groaned and tried to stand up, but fell over.
"Easy there. We all hit pretty hard when we landed here...", said Alex, lifting him up. Lee looked at her.
"Alex! Oh my god, you're alive!", shouted Lee, locking her in a tight hug.
"Uhh... yeah.", she said, hugging back. "You must've had one crazy-ass dream, you were shouting the whole time."
"I do that.", replied Lee.
"So I've heard.", said Alex. "Come on, the others have set up camp not far away from here."
Alex and a staggering Lee walked over to a small place with a bunch of sleeping bags and a fire. Arik, Nathan, Ace and Allison were asleep already. Kevin and Earnest were having a conversation about something by the fire. The laptop was set near Kevin's sleeping bag. There were alot of empty food cans, indicating they had ate, but Lee didn't care. He was still shaken up from his dream.
"Oh-- hey Lee. How ya doing?", asked Kevin.
"Fine. My head really hurts...", groaned Lee. "Did Allison bring any Tylenol?"
"Knowing her, probably.", said Kevin. "I'll check her bag."
"I'll come with. There are certain pockets you shouldn't go into...", said Alex.
"What?", asked Kevin.
"Private girl stuff.", replied Alex.
Lee went and sat down by Earnest, who smiled at Lee.
"So Lee... we're finally here. Ready to rescue all of them...", said Earnest.
"Yeah... this will be a task."
"Mmm-hmm."
"Earnest, can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Am I a bad leader? Like, you don't think I'd get you all killed, do you?", asked Lee.
"I think you're a great leader, Lee. You've pulled us out of every scrape so far, haven't you?", asked Earnest. Lee nodded.
"Still... wouldn't you rather be the leader?"
"Uhm... no... I'm happy with the way things are. Just glad to be part of the force.", replied Earnest.
"I don't think everyone feels that way...", sighed Lee.
"What's with all the questions?", asked Earnest.
"I just... don't want to be the leader anymore...", sighed Lee. "I don't want anything else to happen like..."
"James?", asked Earnest. "That was beyond your control."
"Still... I was right there! I feel like I should've done something!", shouted Lee.
"You've done enough...", said Alex, walking up behind them. "Now what you gotta do is take this Tylenol and hit the sack."
"With you?"
"You know it."
(Well... this ain't all bad...) Thought Lee. (But why doesn't Earnest acknowledge how pathetic I am? What's with him...?)
----------------------------------
The next morning:
Lee woke up to find his sleeping bag Alex-less. Most of the others had already awoken, with the exception of Ace, who was sleeping like a log. They were in the process of packing everything up. Lee got up and went over and started lightly kicking Ace.
"No Allison... I don't want anymore foot massages...", mumbled Ace in his sleep. Lee glared at him and kicked him really hard. Ace snorted and his eyes popped open.
"Huh-- ow, Lee! What was that for?", asked Ace, half-asleep.
"Uh... you were snoring.", lied Lee. "But it's time to get up. So get up."
Lee turned away and walked over to the others. (Please tell me I didn't just get jealous when he muttered Allison's name...)
"Good morning, Lee.", said Allison, walking by. Lee almost screamed.
(I'm just going to go find Alex...)
----------------------------------
Later, they were trudging through the dirt, heading in the direction of Containment Camp B. Lee was walking along with Ace, Arik and Nathan, while the other four walked ahead, as they were more awake. Both Ace and Nathan went up on opposite sides of Lee and put their elbows on his shoulders.
"So.... Lee... what exactly was going on in that blanket last night?", asked Nathan.
"More than was going on in yours.", said Lee. Nathan glared at him, that not being the answer he expected.
"I was watching them... it was pretty hot.", said Ace, slowing down to walk with Nathan. Lee cast a sideways glance at Ace. Ace, Arik and Nathan all whistled and pretended they weren't talking about anything.
"Oh, I can't take this!", shouted Lee, storming ahead to the other group. Kevin was holding out the Guardian as she gave him directions to the Containment Camp. Lee walked up and started to set pace alongside Alex. Alex smiled and grabbed his hand. Lee felt guilty.
"There it is!", shouted Kevin. Everyone looked up for the first time and saw what they had all expected. A huge, metallic spire, which was probably bigger than their entire city! Everyone was speechless.
"THAT'S where the other Chosen are being held!?", asked Ace. "It's huge! It's almost as big as my grandma!"
"I-- shut up Ace.", said Alex. "We have to find the entrance, right?"
{AFFIRMATIVE. IT'S LOCATED EAST FROM HERE, I HAVE THE ACCESS CODES.}
"Alrighty then.", said Kevin. They all turned to head east, when suddenly, they heard two shouts of joy. Everyone looked to see two Digimon running at them.
"Oh my god, I don't believe it...", gasped Kevin.
"Jijimon and Musyamon!", shouted Nathan. Kevin gave the laptop to Allison and ran over to greet his partner, Nathan ran over there too.
"Wait wait wait. THEY have partners?", asked Alex, in surprise.
"Yup! And this is going to be a big help!", shouted Lee. "Whoa, hey, Allison... what's wrong?"
Allison looked like she was about to cry. She looked up at Lee.
"Oh, Lee! After seeing this... I... I just miss Octopimon so much!", shouted Allison. She buried herself in Lee. Lee, unsure what to do, looked at Alex, who nodded.
"There, there.", said Lee, trying to comfort her. "We'll find Octopimon, and all the others!"
(I hope.)
"Yes... I am beginning to feel... er... distressed without Leila. I haven't been away from her for so long since I was little.", said Earnest. Lee cocked an eyebrow at him.
(The way he talks about Leila, it sorta sounds like they're more than friends. But that's just wrong. So I'll just keep on playing carnival music in my head.)
"What about the other Chosen? Aren't they going to hate us for sending them here?", asked Arik.
"They shouldn't. After all, we were only defending ourselves.", said Earnest.
"Still... I can't help but get a bad feeling...", muttered Arik.
"You always have a bad feeling.", said Ace.
"And I'm usually right too.", replied Arik.
The group of them walked over to see Jijimon and Musyamon, who looked alot more worn-out than when they had last seen them.
"You guys look like hell!", shouted Nathan. "What happened?"
"Nathan! The Shadow are here!", said Musyamon. Nathan's jaw dropped.
"Wha-at?! The Shadow? Like that nutso thing that attacked Desiree?", asked Nathan.
"The one and the same.", said Lee. "Where are they?"
"We don't know. The Shadow are very whimsical, they can melt through ground and travel miles. They can also run themselves through electric circuitry.", said Jijimon. "Basically, they go where they like and appear when they want."
"Oh yeah?", asked Ace. "Well I think that's one RIGHT THERE!!!"
Everyone looked in the direction Ace pointed and they saw a creature with almost no limbs at all. Just a torso and a head.
"What the heck is it gonna do?", asked Allison. Her question was answered as suddenly, two feet and two arms appeared out of the sand. They weren't attached to the body, but floating in the air next to where they should be attached. And the arms had two large swords on them. It looked (or what it appeared to be doing was looking, since it had no eyes) at the kid and charged at them!
"It's head straight for me!", screamed Allison.
"They hate humans!", announced Jijimon. "Especially pretty ones. They get envious."
"Envious!?", asked Allison. "Damn my good looks."
"Oh, then Arik is safe!", said Ace.
"Well, you're double safe!", retorted Arik.
"Well you're triple-"
"Guys, this is not the time! MOVE!", yelled Lee. Lee grabbed Ace and Arik by the back of their shirts and pulled them both to the ground, a sword just narrowly missing the three of them. The Shadow threw another sword at Allison...
...but Musyamon leapt in the way and deflected it with his own sword!
"Go, run!", shouted Musyamon. Lee looked Musyamon in the eye, and he could see Musyamon's determination to hold the creature off. Lee nodded.
"Come on, guys! Let's crack open that Containment Camp!", shouted Lee. Earnest, Kevin, Jijimon and Alex turned and ran for the doors.
"Ace, Arik, protect Allison!", commanded Lee.
"But I don't want to... I'm more worried about my own ass!", shouted Ace, turning and running.
"Ace! That's an order! ...Ace!", yelled Lee. Ace didn't listen.
(Damnit Ace...) Thought Lee. "Come on, Arik!"
Arik and Lee ran in and grabbed Allison, who was pretty much in shock and they began to carry her off. Lee looked at Nathan.
"Come on, Nathan!", shouted Lee.
"No, Musyamon needs me!", protested Nathan.
"I-- fine. But if something happens to him, you get the hell outta there! Good luck!", shouted Lee. He and Arik picked up Allison and began to run off. (Ace, I'm going to kill you...)
"Are the children gone?", asked Musyamon.
"Yeah!", replied Nathan.
"Good... then I can fight with full strength!", shouted Musyamon. He flung his sword upwards and the Shadow clattered backwards, collapsing into a pile of parts. Nathan sighed.
"That was easy."
"It's not over yet. It just has to reform itself. The only way to kill it is to penetrate it's core. And each different type of Shadow has a different area for it's core.", said Musyamon. "Jijimon and I have been fighting them since you guys last left."
"Uhhh, yeah. About that, that wasn't our fault. Matt and Garurumon jumped through the portal with us, and the computer thought they were you.", explained Nathan.
"We know."
"Alright. Now I'm gonna see if my D-Volver can analyze this thing...", said Nathan, holding his D-Volver up to the pile of parts. From a safe distance, of course.
"It's not doing anything... oh! Wait! Changing signals... what the...?", asked Nathan, confounded as his D-Volver began to go on the fritz. Suddenly, it showed Data for the Shadow.
"Hmm... it says this is a Sword Shadow. It has the power equality to a Champion Level Digimon. It doesn't have any intelligence and just goes after whatever moves, striking with it's blades of death.", read Nathan. "Sounds friendly."
Suddenly, the Shadow leapt up again and charged Musyamon. Musyamon swung at it, hitting it dead-on! The Shadow's torso flew backwards, but it's hands stayed where they where and began attacking Musyamon! Musyamon deflected all the sword swipes and leapt forward to impale the core of the Shadow, which was in the torso, but a sword caught him in the back and he fell forward into the sand.
"Musyamon! Get up!", shouted Nathan. "You can do it!"
"It is... trifling...", muttered Musyamon. "But I won't give up!"
------------------------------
Containment Camp B:
"Ok, open this sucker up!", said Kevin.
{WITH PLEASURE.}
Kevin plugged the laptop into the small computer port on the right side of the huge gate. The gate creaked a little as rust fell off it, and then it slowly began to open.
"This door hasn't been opened for centuries...", said Jijimon. "This used to be a place of worship before the Shadow destroyed this place."
"Good to know...", muttered Alex, as the door opened.
"Ace! When I give an order, I expect you to follow it!", shouted Lee. They turned to see Lee and Ace walking over to the group, as Arik supported a woozy Allison behind them.
"You aren't the leader!", yelled Ace back.
"Yeah, actually he is. Now would you two stop the stupid arguing?!", asked Arik.
"Shut up Arik!", yelled Ace. "I don't need this! Why is Lee the stupid leader anyway?!"
(That's a good question...) thought Lee.
"Because, unlike you, he's competent!", shouted Alex. "Now shut up, we're about to go into enemy territory!"
Ace mumbled, but decided to listen to Alex. Lee sighed. (If anything happens to any of them... I'll feel responsible... any of them... oh, why was this burden put on me?)
"So what are we waiting for? Invitations?", asked Alex, walking in. Lee followed her closely, with all the others behind. Jijimon brandished his cane around, expecting an attack. Kevin hooked Sheena up to a computer monitor, and Sheena displayed a map of the entire complex.
"Holy crap, this place is huge!", shouted Arik. And he was right too. The room they were in didn't even take up one hundredth of the map and it was about as big as a ballroom. Basically, there were three doors leading out of the room they were in, and each one led through a series of corridors, minimazes and traps until they reached the captured Chosen.
"Can you give me a scan of all the Chosen being held here?", asked Kevin.
"That's gonna be one big scan...", muttered Lee.
"Who cares? Think of all the allies we'll have!", shouted Ace, excitedly.
"If we get to them.", replied Lee.
{CURRENT RESIDENTS OF DESOLATE SERVER ARE:
-Ichijouji, Ken
-Takenouchi, Sora
-Rea, Carrie
-Shiota, Hirokazu
-Tennant, Kayla
-Matsuki, Takato
-Friend, Amy
-Hida, Cody
-Nonaka, Rika
-Groves, JJ
-Johnson, Kala
-Kido, Joe
-Wong, Henry
-Takaishi, TK
-Redfield, Tom
-Inoue, Yolei
-Motomiya, Davis
-Izumi, Izzy
-Reno, Chris
-Kamiya, Tai
-Ishida, Matt
-Kitagawa, Kenta
-Mason, Sarah
-Akiyama, Ryo
-Kamiya, Kari
-Sethakage
"Allies indeed...", agreed Arik. Suddenly, there was a rumbling in the middle of the room!
"I knew this was too easy!", shouted Jijimon. A Shadow leapt out of the ground. It looked like a skeleton, but all the bones were made of ice! It glared at the Chosen and turned it's head 360 degrees.
"What is that!?", asked Allison.
"An Ice Shadow! They're extremely versatile! Watch out!", yelled Jijimon. He leapt at the Ice Shadow. "Cane Of Death!"
Jijimon swung at the Ice Shadow, who simply leaned back to avoid his assault. He kicked upwards, sending Jijimon flying into the air!
"Jijimon!", shouted Kevin, with worry.
"Oh, he's not out yet...", said Lee.
Jijimon came flying down onto top of the Ice Shadow. "Cane of Death!" The Shadow was sent flying across the room, and crashed into a wall. Jijimon landed on the floor.
"Run, children!", shouted Jijimon. "You have to free the others!"
"Right! Let's split up! Alex, with me. Allison, take Arik! Ace, go with Earnest! Now split!", shouted Lee. Lee and Alex headed for the furthest right door. Lee began to kick it down, but the clanging noise attracted the Ice Shadow's attention. It launched icicles directly at Lee!
"Down!", shouted Alex. She tackled Lee, and the icicles ripped through the door, causing an opening to be made.
"There's a convenience.", said Lee. The two of them got up and ran through the opening.
----------------------------
Outside:
"Musyamon, hold on!", shouted Nathan. The Sword Shadow had the upper hand, forcing Musyamon onto the defensive. It was slashing rapidly and Musyamon was straining to parry all of its attacks. Eventually, it knocked Musyamon's sword right from his hands! Musyamon gasped and began to back away.
"Well, I've seen the others do this when they're in trouble...", muttered Nathan, looking at his D-Volver. "Musyamon! Digivolve!!!"
{{{DIGIVOLUTION}}}
"Musyamon! Warp Digivolve to..."
Musyamon shed his body armor and began to morph his shape. He didn't get much bigger, but he was now enshrouded in a robe. Two horns emerged from his head, which his mask hid all of but his two glowing eyes.
"...DAEMON!!!"
{{{END DIGIVOLUTION}}}
"Daemon? SWEET!", exclaimed Nathan. Daemon appealed to the gothic side of Nathan. Daemon glanced at the Sword Shadow, who was preparing to attack him again.
"Evil Inferno.", said Daemon, blasting the Sword Shadow into smithereens with one shot of dark fire. Nathan jumped up and down in excited victory.
"Daemon, or whatever your name is! We did it!", shouted Nathan. Daemon nodded.
"Come. We must aid the others.", said Daemon, looking at the containment camp. Nathan nodded and the two of them turned to run in that direction. But Daemon simply picked Nathan up and began flying him over to the camp.
"Ahahaha! I have the best partner!", shouted Nathan, before his pants fell off and fell into the sand below. "Err... Daemon... we need to make a pit stop."
-------------------------
Containment Camp B:
"Cane of Death!", shouted a worn-out Jijimon, firing dark energy at the Ice Shadow. The Ice Shadow simply deflected it back at him and he flew across the floor. Kevin gritted his teeth.
"Can't you do anything!?", asked Kevin.
{I'M A LAPTOP! I DON'T EXACTLY HAVE THE BEST COMBAT SKILLS!}
"Ugh... are these Shadow's Desiree's doing?", asked Kevin.
{NEGATIVE. DESIREE SIMPLY TRIED TO WORK AROUND THE SHADOWS WHEN PLACING HER CAPTIVES HERE. THE DARK NECKLACES SHE CREATED WERE ACTUALLY PART MADE FROM POSSESS SHADOWS THAT SHE HAD KILLED. THAT IS WHY THE POSSESS SHADOW ATTACKED HER, LEE HAD FREED THAT ONE SHE WAS GOING TO USE TO MAKE IN MORE DARK NECKLACES.}
"Wow... our new enemy vanquished our old enemy, because she tried to use their superior power to her own devices. Gotta love irony.", said Kevin. The Ice Shadow emitted a cold fog from his mouth which froze Jijimon on the spot. He raised his claw to finish Jijimon...
"Evil Inferno!!!", shouted Daemon, blasting a hole right through the wall and hitting the Ice Shadow dead-on. It died instantly, being susceptible to fire attacks. Daemon flew into the room and unthawed Jijimon. Nathan ran in through the doors and over to Kevin.
"Yo, Nathan. Who's the big guy?", asked Kevin.
"Musyamon! He evolved to the Mega level!", squealed Nathan, excitedly. But all celebration was cut short, as dozens more Shadow emerged from the ground!
"What are these?!", asked Kevin. They were rather small, about knee-high. They looked alot like ants standing on their hind legs.
{THEY ARE SHADOWS. THE MOST BASIC TYPE. THEY ARE FEROCIOUS IN LARGE NUMBERS.}
"I'd call this a large number...", muttered Nathan. "There has to be over 40 of them!"
"Not for long!", shouted Daemon, as he and Jijimon leapt into battle!
-------------------------------
Elsewhere:
"Man this is a long walk...", groaned Ace. "My feet are sore..."
"So are mine, and you don't hear me bitching.", said Earnest. "We have to be getting close to where we should be heading..."
"Yeah, probly. Think there are booby traps?", asked Ace. As Ace said that, he stepped on an infra-red sensor on the floor. An axe swung down and hit the floor directly in front of him!
"Eep.", whined Ace. Earnest looked up.
"Oh no... run!", shouted Earnest.
---------------------------------
Elsewhere again:
Arik and Allison ran up a flight of stairs at top speed. The stairs were crumbling behind them!
"I don't think this is in my contract!", shouted Arik.
"You don't have a contract.", replied Allison. The two of them made it to the top and leapt forward, hitting the floor as the last of the stairs crumbled behind them. Arik slapped himself to make sure he was still alive. Allison, breathing heavily, walked into the next room.
"Arik! You better come see this!", yelled Allison. Arik walked into the next room and rubbed his eyes. What he saw were alot of holding cells, with Chosen and partners alike trapped inside. Arik's jaw dropped.
"Holy crap...", muttered Arik.
"No time to gawk. Let's get them out of there!", shouted Allison.
"Alright!", agreed Arik. "...uhm... how do we get them out of there?"
"Like THIS!", shouted Allison. She kicked one cell and it shattered open. Takato fell out, unconscious, and landed in her arms. "See? It's this easy."
Arik ran up and kicked a holding cell, only to stub his toe. Allison sighed and laughed at the same time.
--------------------------
Elsewhere twice removed:
Lee and Alex had a different task to getting their cells open. They had to crack a password that had been set by Desiree on a previous visit.
"Oh man... I'm stressing out! What could the code be?", asked Lee, bashing his head on the computer console. The console was basically built into the wall, and Lee was sitting in a chair that was next to it. Alex walked over and began to rub his shoulders.
"Relax...", she said, soothingly. "Think."
Lee let out a moan of pleasure, before concentrating back on his work.
"You're good at that."
"Yup!"
Lee put his finger to his chin, then typed 'Desiree'.
{ACCESS DENIED}
"Bah! It wouldn't have been that easy anyway...", muttered Lee.
"Try 'Skyelander'.", suggested Alex.
{ACCESS DENIED}
"What about... 'Impmon'...?", said Lee, thoughtfully.
{ACCESS DENIED}
"We aren't very good hackers.", muttered Lee.
"What about 'Impy'?", asked Alex. "I've heard Desiree call her partner that before."
"Can't hurt to try..."
{ACCESS ALLOWED}
"Alright! That was a great idea, Alex!", shouted Lee, in triumph. "Now get back to that massage."
Alex smirked and decided to do it anyway. "Why does she call him Impy, anyway?"
"It's a pet name!", said Lee. "I call TecKuwagamon 'Tecky'!"
"...why?"
"...less syllables.", muttered Lee. "Whatever, let's release our captives... now!"
Lee pushed a button and all the tubes opened... leaving this chapter...
Shadow War, Part 1: Enter The Shadow
========================
Enter a dark void. There is nothing anywhere... only darkness. Lee opens his eyes and in shock looks around, in Desperation.
"Guys! Where are you!?"
Lee stumbled around, looking for his friends... or a way out. He found neither.
"Alex! Are you out there!?"
Nothing.
"Earnest! Ace! Allison! Anyone!?"
Nothing.
"Where are they!? Argh, how could I have lost them?"
"You didn't lose us. We lost you. You were lost to us from the beginning.", said a female voice from behind Lee. It was Alex.
"Alex?! What do you mean?"
"You're weak. You know that. Any of us would've made a much better leader than you."
"I'm... weak?"
"Because it's all YOUR fault we were killed!"
Alex cast a finger at Lee, who, feeling hurt, ashamed and afraid, put a hand to his hard to see if it was still beating. It wasn't.
"What is THIS!?", screamed Lee. "Alex, can't we--"
Lee ran towards Alex, but she deleted right before his eyes. He screamed and punched the wall (Or what appeared to be the wall).
"Murderer!", shouted Arik, pointing at him. "You killed Alex!!!"
"I say we destroy him!", said Ace. "A life for a life!"
"No... torture would be much more fun!", shouted Earnest. "And so much more amusing for us!"
"Yes...! Activate the torture chamber!", said Nathan.
A huge pit of spikes appeared in the center of the void, and Kevin strapped Lee onto it. Kevin began to lower him down into the pit.
"Don't worry, this will only hurt infinitely!!!", laughed Kevin, almost maniacally.
"Someone! Someone help!", shouted Lee, struggling to get free. He looked up at the site of his best friends laughing at him. He looked over and saw James looking over the pit.
"James! Help me!!!", shouted Lee.
"...negative.", replied James. "You didn't help me! So why would I help you!? YOU LET ME DIE!!!"
"I didn't mean too! I didn't... it wasn't... ARGH! Get me out of this f*cking thing!!!", screamed Lee. Suddenly, the torture chamber, James, Nathan, Kevin, Earnest, Arik and Ace all deleted. Lee fell to the bottom of the void gasping and crying. Their voices echoed "murderer" across the void.
"Get off the floor.", said a female voice. Lee looked up to see Allison standing there. He wiped away his tears and leapt to his feet, facing her.
"Allison! Oh my god, I'm glad to see you!"
"Oh?", asked Allison. "Is this before or after you screwed me over for Alex!?"
"Allison... no... don't do this to me... I have no idea what's going on..."
"I loved you Lee! I LOVED YOU! And after what you've done... the only thing you deserve is THE PIT!", shouted Allison. She flung Lee backwards and he was hanging over the spike pit again. Images flashed through his head of James dying, Alex deleting, all his friends deleting and Desiree getting hit by the Possess Shadow and flying lifeless to the floor. He screamed in mental anguish.
"Kokuwamon! Where's Kokuwamon?!", asked Lee, desperately. Kokuwamon leapt onto Allison's shoulder.
"Finish him.", said Kokuwamon. Kokuwamon blasted Lee and he fell into the spike pit, getting impaled as their laughter echoed into the air.
---------------------------------
"I-- ahhh!", screamed Lee, coming to. He looked around, seeing nothing but alot of sand. He groaned and tried to stand up, but fell over.
"Easy there. We all hit pretty hard when we landed here...", said Alex, lifting him up. Lee looked at her.
"Alex! Oh my god, you're alive!", shouted Lee, locking her in a tight hug.
"Uhh... yeah.", she said, hugging back. "You must've had one crazy-ass dream, you were shouting the whole time."
"I do that.", replied Lee.
"So I've heard.", said Alex. "Come on, the others have set up camp not far away from here."
Alex and a staggering Lee walked over to a small place with a bunch of sleeping bags and a fire. Arik, Nathan, Ace and Allison were asleep already. Kevin and Earnest were having a conversation about something by the fire. The laptop was set near Kevin's sleeping bag. There were alot of empty food cans, indicating they had ate, but Lee didn't care. He was still shaken up from his dream.
"Oh-- hey Lee. How ya doing?", asked Kevin.
"Fine. My head really hurts...", groaned Lee. "Did Allison bring any Tylenol?"
"Knowing her, probably.", said Kevin. "I'll check her bag."
"I'll come with. There are certain pockets you shouldn't go into...", said Alex.
"What?", asked Kevin.
"Private girl stuff.", replied Alex.
Lee went and sat down by Earnest, who smiled at Lee.
"So Lee... we're finally here. Ready to rescue all of them...", said Earnest.
"Yeah... this will be a task."
"Mmm-hmm."
"Earnest, can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Am I a bad leader? Like, you don't think I'd get you all killed, do you?", asked Lee.
"I think you're a great leader, Lee. You've pulled us out of every scrape so far, haven't you?", asked Earnest. Lee nodded.
"Still... wouldn't you rather be the leader?"
"Uhm... no... I'm happy with the way things are. Just glad to be part of the force.", replied Earnest.
"I don't think everyone feels that way...", sighed Lee.
"What's with all the questions?", asked Earnest.
"I just... don't want to be the leader anymore...", sighed Lee. "I don't want anything else to happen like..."
"James?", asked Earnest. "That was beyond your control."
"Still... I was right there! I feel like I should've done something!", shouted Lee.
"You've done enough...", said Alex, walking up behind them. "Now what you gotta do is take this Tylenol and hit the sack."
"With you?"
"You know it."
(Well... this ain't all bad...) Thought Lee. (But why doesn't Earnest acknowledge how pathetic I am? What's with him...?)
----------------------------------
The next morning:
Lee woke up to find his sleeping bag Alex-less. Most of the others had already awoken, with the exception of Ace, who was sleeping like a log. They were in the process of packing everything up. Lee got up and went over and started lightly kicking Ace.
"No Allison... I don't want anymore foot massages...", mumbled Ace in his sleep. Lee glared at him and kicked him really hard. Ace snorted and his eyes popped open.
"Huh-- ow, Lee! What was that for?", asked Ace, half-asleep.
"Uh... you were snoring.", lied Lee. "But it's time to get up. So get up."
Lee turned away and walked over to the others. (Please tell me I didn't just get jealous when he muttered Allison's name...)
"Good morning, Lee.", said Allison, walking by. Lee almost screamed.
(I'm just going to go find Alex...)
----------------------------------
Later, they were trudging through the dirt, heading in the direction of Containment Camp B. Lee was walking along with Ace, Arik and Nathan, while the other four walked ahead, as they were more awake. Both Ace and Nathan went up on opposite sides of Lee and put their elbows on his shoulders.
"So.... Lee... what exactly was going on in that blanket last night?", asked Nathan.
"More than was going on in yours.", said Lee. Nathan glared at him, that not being the answer he expected.
"I was watching them... it was pretty hot.", said Ace, slowing down to walk with Nathan. Lee cast a sideways glance at Ace. Ace, Arik and Nathan all whistled and pretended they weren't talking about anything.
"Oh, I can't take this!", shouted Lee, storming ahead to the other group. Kevin was holding out the Guardian as she gave him directions to the Containment Camp. Lee walked up and started to set pace alongside Alex. Alex smiled and grabbed his hand. Lee felt guilty.
"There it is!", shouted Kevin. Everyone looked up for the first time and saw what they had all expected. A huge, metallic spire, which was probably bigger than their entire city! Everyone was speechless.
"THAT'S where the other Chosen are being held!?", asked Ace. "It's huge! It's almost as big as my grandma!"
"I-- shut up Ace.", said Alex. "We have to find the entrance, right?"
{AFFIRMATIVE. IT'S LOCATED EAST FROM HERE, I HAVE THE ACCESS CODES.}
"Alrighty then.", said Kevin. They all turned to head east, when suddenly, they heard two shouts of joy. Everyone looked to see two Digimon running at them.
"Oh my god, I don't believe it...", gasped Kevin.
"Jijimon and Musyamon!", shouted Nathan. Kevin gave the laptop to Allison and ran over to greet his partner, Nathan ran over there too.
"Wait wait wait. THEY have partners?", asked Alex, in surprise.
"Yup! And this is going to be a big help!", shouted Lee. "Whoa, hey, Allison... what's wrong?"
Allison looked like she was about to cry. She looked up at Lee.
"Oh, Lee! After seeing this... I... I just miss Octopimon so much!", shouted Allison. She buried herself in Lee. Lee, unsure what to do, looked at Alex, who nodded.
"There, there.", said Lee, trying to comfort her. "We'll find Octopimon, and all the others!"
(I hope.)
"Yes... I am beginning to feel... er... distressed without Leila. I haven't been away from her for so long since I was little.", said Earnest. Lee cocked an eyebrow at him.
(The way he talks about Leila, it sorta sounds like they're more than friends. But that's just wrong. So I'll just keep on playing carnival music in my head.)
"What about the other Chosen? Aren't they going to hate us for sending them here?", asked Arik.
"They shouldn't. After all, we were only defending ourselves.", said Earnest.
"Still... I can't help but get a bad feeling...", muttered Arik.
"You always have a bad feeling.", said Ace.
"And I'm usually right too.", replied Arik.
The group of them walked over to see Jijimon and Musyamon, who looked alot more worn-out than when they had last seen them.
"You guys look like hell!", shouted Nathan. "What happened?"
"Nathan! The Shadow are here!", said Musyamon. Nathan's jaw dropped.
"Wha-at?! The Shadow? Like that nutso thing that attacked Desiree?", asked Nathan.
"The one and the same.", said Lee. "Where are they?"
"We don't know. The Shadow are very whimsical, they can melt through ground and travel miles. They can also run themselves through electric circuitry.", said Jijimon. "Basically, they go where they like and appear when they want."
"Oh yeah?", asked Ace. "Well I think that's one RIGHT THERE!!!"
Everyone looked in the direction Ace pointed and they saw a creature with almost no limbs at all. Just a torso and a head.
"What the heck is it gonna do?", asked Allison. Her question was answered as suddenly, two feet and two arms appeared out of the sand. They weren't attached to the body, but floating in the air next to where they should be attached. And the arms had two large swords on them. It looked (or what it appeared to be doing was looking, since it had no eyes) at the kid and charged at them!
"It's head straight for me!", screamed Allison.
"They hate humans!", announced Jijimon. "Especially pretty ones. They get envious."
"Envious!?", asked Allison. "Damn my good looks."
"Oh, then Arik is safe!", said Ace.
"Well, you're double safe!", retorted Arik.
"Well you're triple-"
"Guys, this is not the time! MOVE!", yelled Lee. Lee grabbed Ace and Arik by the back of their shirts and pulled them both to the ground, a sword just narrowly missing the three of them. The Shadow threw another sword at Allison...
...but Musyamon leapt in the way and deflected it with his own sword!
"Go, run!", shouted Musyamon. Lee looked Musyamon in the eye, and he could see Musyamon's determination to hold the creature off. Lee nodded.
"Come on, guys! Let's crack open that Containment Camp!", shouted Lee. Earnest, Kevin, Jijimon and Alex turned and ran for the doors.
"Ace, Arik, protect Allison!", commanded Lee.
"But I don't want to... I'm more worried about my own ass!", shouted Ace, turning and running.
"Ace! That's an order! ...Ace!", yelled Lee. Ace didn't listen.
(Damnit Ace...) Thought Lee. "Come on, Arik!"
Arik and Lee ran in and grabbed Allison, who was pretty much in shock and they began to carry her off. Lee looked at Nathan.
"Come on, Nathan!", shouted Lee.
"No, Musyamon needs me!", protested Nathan.
"I-- fine. But if something happens to him, you get the hell outta there! Good luck!", shouted Lee. He and Arik picked up Allison and began to run off. (Ace, I'm going to kill you...)
"Are the children gone?", asked Musyamon.
"Yeah!", replied Nathan.
"Good... then I can fight with full strength!", shouted Musyamon. He flung his sword upwards and the Shadow clattered backwards, collapsing into a pile of parts. Nathan sighed.
"That was easy."
"It's not over yet. It just has to reform itself. The only way to kill it is to penetrate it's core. And each different type of Shadow has a different area for it's core.", said Musyamon. "Jijimon and I have been fighting them since you guys last left."
"Uhhh, yeah. About that, that wasn't our fault. Matt and Garurumon jumped through the portal with us, and the computer thought they were you.", explained Nathan.
"We know."
"Alright. Now I'm gonna see if my D-Volver can analyze this thing...", said Nathan, holding his D-Volver up to the pile of parts. From a safe distance, of course.
"It's not doing anything... oh! Wait! Changing signals... what the...?", asked Nathan, confounded as his D-Volver began to go on the fritz. Suddenly, it showed Data for the Shadow.
"Hmm... it says this is a Sword Shadow. It has the power equality to a Champion Level Digimon. It doesn't have any intelligence and just goes after whatever moves, striking with it's blades of death.", read Nathan. "Sounds friendly."
Suddenly, the Shadow leapt up again and charged Musyamon. Musyamon swung at it, hitting it dead-on! The Shadow's torso flew backwards, but it's hands stayed where they where and began attacking Musyamon! Musyamon deflected all the sword swipes and leapt forward to impale the core of the Shadow, which was in the torso, but a sword caught him in the back and he fell forward into the sand.
"Musyamon! Get up!", shouted Nathan. "You can do it!"
"It is... trifling...", muttered Musyamon. "But I won't give up!"
------------------------------
Containment Camp B:
"Ok, open this sucker up!", said Kevin.
{WITH PLEASURE.}
Kevin plugged the laptop into the small computer port on the right side of the huge gate. The gate creaked a little as rust fell off it, and then it slowly began to open.
"This door hasn't been opened for centuries...", said Jijimon. "This used to be a place of worship before the Shadow destroyed this place."
"Good to know...", muttered Alex, as the door opened.
"Ace! When I give an order, I expect you to follow it!", shouted Lee. They turned to see Lee and Ace walking over to the group, as Arik supported a woozy Allison behind them.
"You aren't the leader!", yelled Ace back.
"Yeah, actually he is. Now would you two stop the stupid arguing?!", asked Arik.
"Shut up Arik!", yelled Ace. "I don't need this! Why is Lee the stupid leader anyway?!"
(That's a good question...) thought Lee.
"Because, unlike you, he's competent!", shouted Alex. "Now shut up, we're about to go into enemy territory!"
Ace mumbled, but decided to listen to Alex. Lee sighed. (If anything happens to any of them... I'll feel responsible... any of them... oh, why was this burden put on me?)
"So what are we waiting for? Invitations?", asked Alex, walking in. Lee followed her closely, with all the others behind. Jijimon brandished his cane around, expecting an attack. Kevin hooked Sheena up to a computer monitor, and Sheena displayed a map of the entire complex.
"Holy crap, this place is huge!", shouted Arik. And he was right too. The room they were in didn't even take up one hundredth of the map and it was about as big as a ballroom. Basically, there were three doors leading out of the room they were in, and each one led through a series of corridors, minimazes and traps until they reached the captured Chosen.
"Can you give me a scan of all the Chosen being held here?", asked Kevin.
"That's gonna be one big scan...", muttered Lee.
"Who cares? Think of all the allies we'll have!", shouted Ace, excitedly.
"If we get to them.", replied Lee.
{CURRENT RESIDENTS OF DESOLATE SERVER ARE:
-Ichijouji, Ken
-Takenouchi, Sora
-Rea, Carrie
-Shiota, Hirokazu
-Tennant, Kayla
-Matsuki, Takato
-Friend, Amy
-Hida, Cody
-Nonaka, Rika
-Groves, JJ
-Johnson, Kala
-Kido, Joe
-Wong, Henry
-Takaishi, TK
-Redfield, Tom
-Inoue, Yolei
-Motomiya, Davis
-Izumi, Izzy
-Reno, Chris
-Kamiya, Tai
-Ishida, Matt
-Kitagawa, Kenta
-Mason, Sarah
-Akiyama, Ryo
-Kamiya, Kari
-Sethakage
"Allies indeed...", agreed Arik. Suddenly, there was a rumbling in the middle of the room!
"I knew this was too easy!", shouted Jijimon. A Shadow leapt out of the ground. It looked like a skeleton, but all the bones were made of ice! It glared at the Chosen and turned it's head 360 degrees.
"What is that!?", asked Allison.
"An Ice Shadow! They're extremely versatile! Watch out!", yelled Jijimon. He leapt at the Ice Shadow. "Cane Of Death!"
Jijimon swung at the Ice Shadow, who simply leaned back to avoid his assault. He kicked upwards, sending Jijimon flying into the air!
"Jijimon!", shouted Kevin, with worry.
"Oh, he's not out yet...", said Lee.
Jijimon came flying down onto top of the Ice Shadow. "Cane of Death!" The Shadow was sent flying across the room, and crashed into a wall. Jijimon landed on the floor.
"Run, children!", shouted Jijimon. "You have to free the others!"
"Right! Let's split up! Alex, with me. Allison, take Arik! Ace, go with Earnest! Now split!", shouted Lee. Lee and Alex headed for the furthest right door. Lee began to kick it down, but the clanging noise attracted the Ice Shadow's attention. It launched icicles directly at Lee!
"Down!", shouted Alex. She tackled Lee, and the icicles ripped through the door, causing an opening to be made.
"There's a convenience.", said Lee. The two of them got up and ran through the opening.
----------------------------
Outside:
"Musyamon, hold on!", shouted Nathan. The Sword Shadow had the upper hand, forcing Musyamon onto the defensive. It was slashing rapidly and Musyamon was straining to parry all of its attacks. Eventually, it knocked Musyamon's sword right from his hands! Musyamon gasped and began to back away.
"Well, I've seen the others do this when they're in trouble...", muttered Nathan, looking at his D-Volver. "Musyamon! Digivolve!!!"
{{{DIGIVOLUTION}}}
"Musyamon! Warp Digivolve to..."
Musyamon shed his body armor and began to morph his shape. He didn't get much bigger, but he was now enshrouded in a robe. Two horns emerged from his head, which his mask hid all of but his two glowing eyes.
"...DAEMON!!!"
{{{END DIGIVOLUTION}}}
"Daemon? SWEET!", exclaimed Nathan. Daemon appealed to the gothic side of Nathan. Daemon glanced at the Sword Shadow, who was preparing to attack him again.
"Evil Inferno.", said Daemon, blasting the Sword Shadow into smithereens with one shot of dark fire. Nathan jumped up and down in excited victory.
"Daemon, or whatever your name is! We did it!", shouted Nathan. Daemon nodded.
"Come. We must aid the others.", said Daemon, looking at the containment camp. Nathan nodded and the two of them turned to run in that direction. But Daemon simply picked Nathan up and began flying him over to the camp.
"Ahahaha! I have the best partner!", shouted Nathan, before his pants fell off and fell into the sand below. "Err... Daemon... we need to make a pit stop."
-------------------------
Containment Camp B:
"Cane of Death!", shouted a worn-out Jijimon, firing dark energy at the Ice Shadow. The Ice Shadow simply deflected it back at him and he flew across the floor. Kevin gritted his teeth.
"Can't you do anything!?", asked Kevin.
{I'M A LAPTOP! I DON'T EXACTLY HAVE THE BEST COMBAT SKILLS!}
"Ugh... are these Shadow's Desiree's doing?", asked Kevin.
{NEGATIVE. DESIREE SIMPLY TRIED TO WORK AROUND THE SHADOWS WHEN PLACING HER CAPTIVES HERE. THE DARK NECKLACES SHE CREATED WERE ACTUALLY PART MADE FROM POSSESS SHADOWS THAT SHE HAD KILLED. THAT IS WHY THE POSSESS SHADOW ATTACKED HER, LEE HAD FREED THAT ONE SHE WAS GOING TO USE TO MAKE IN MORE DARK NECKLACES.}
"Wow... our new enemy vanquished our old enemy, because she tried to use their superior power to her own devices. Gotta love irony.", said Kevin. The Ice Shadow emitted a cold fog from his mouth which froze Jijimon on the spot. He raised his claw to finish Jijimon...
"Evil Inferno!!!", shouted Daemon, blasting a hole right through the wall and hitting the Ice Shadow dead-on. It died instantly, being susceptible to fire attacks. Daemon flew into the room and unthawed Jijimon. Nathan ran in through the doors and over to Kevin.
"Yo, Nathan. Who's the big guy?", asked Kevin.
"Musyamon! He evolved to the Mega level!", squealed Nathan, excitedly. But all celebration was cut short, as dozens more Shadow emerged from the ground!
"What are these?!", asked Kevin. They were rather small, about knee-high. They looked alot like ants standing on their hind legs.
{THEY ARE SHADOWS. THE MOST BASIC TYPE. THEY ARE FEROCIOUS IN LARGE NUMBERS.}
"I'd call this a large number...", muttered Nathan. "There has to be over 40 of them!"
"Not for long!", shouted Daemon, as he and Jijimon leapt into battle!
-------------------------------
Elsewhere:
"Man this is a long walk...", groaned Ace. "My feet are sore..."
"So are mine, and you don't hear me bitching.", said Earnest. "We have to be getting close to where we should be heading..."
"Yeah, probly. Think there are booby traps?", asked Ace. As Ace said that, he stepped on an infra-red sensor on the floor. An axe swung down and hit the floor directly in front of him!
"Eep.", whined Ace. Earnest looked up.
"Oh no... run!", shouted Earnest.
---------------------------------
Elsewhere again:
Arik and Allison ran up a flight of stairs at top speed. The stairs were crumbling behind them!
"I don't think this is in my contract!", shouted Arik.
"You don't have a contract.", replied Allison. The two of them made it to the top and leapt forward, hitting the floor as the last of the stairs crumbled behind them. Arik slapped himself to make sure he was still alive. Allison, breathing heavily, walked into the next room.
"Arik! You better come see this!", yelled Allison. Arik walked into the next room and rubbed his eyes. What he saw were alot of holding cells, with Chosen and partners alike trapped inside. Arik's jaw dropped.
"Holy crap...", muttered Arik.
"No time to gawk. Let's get them out of there!", shouted Allison.
"Alright!", agreed Arik. "...uhm... how do we get them out of there?"
"Like THIS!", shouted Allison. She kicked one cell and it shattered open. Takato fell out, unconscious, and landed in her arms. "See? It's this easy."
Arik ran up and kicked a holding cell, only to stub his toe. Allison sighed and laughed at the same time.
--------------------------
Elsewhere twice removed:
Lee and Alex had a different task to getting their cells open. They had to crack a password that had been set by Desiree on a previous visit.
"Oh man... I'm stressing out! What could the code be?", asked Lee, bashing his head on the computer console. The console was basically built into the wall, and Lee was sitting in a chair that was next to it. Alex walked over and began to rub his shoulders.
"Relax...", she said, soothingly. "Think."
Lee let out a moan of pleasure, before concentrating back on his work.
"You're good at that."
"Yup!"
Lee put his finger to his chin, then typed 'Desiree'.
{ACCESS DENIED}
"Bah! It wouldn't have been that easy anyway...", muttered Lee.
"Try 'Skyelander'.", suggested Alex.
{ACCESS DENIED}
"What about... 'Impmon'...?", said Lee, thoughtfully.
{ACCESS DENIED}
"We aren't very good hackers.", muttered Lee.
"What about 'Impy'?", asked Alex. "I've heard Desiree call her partner that before."
"Can't hurt to try..."
{ACCESS ALLOWED}
"Alright! That was a great idea, Alex!", shouted Lee, in triumph. "Now get back to that massage."
Alex smirked and decided to do it anyway. "Why does she call him Impy, anyway?"
"It's a pet name!", said Lee. "I call TecKuwagamon 'Tecky'!"
"...why?"
"...less syllables.", muttered Lee. "Whatever, let's release our captives... now!"
Lee pushed a button and all the tubes opened... leaving this chapter...