Arukenimon and Mummymon are back, thirteen years after the end of 02. Out adventuring, they become trapped in an underground complex, along with the strange Digimon, Toeremon. To escape, they must power up the complex - with Digital life. Mummymon does the honors, but instead of being consumed entirely, he is transformed into a human.
Toeremon left the two companions to each other and busied himself with the bank of instruments dominating the nearest wall. The Digital World promptly provided Mummymon with clothes reflecting his mind's eye: a hooded sweater in his usual blue, driving gloves, and other essentials. Arukenimon looked relieved. Mummymon put his misgivings about the situation to one side for the moment and concentrated on finding his balance in his new body. First things first.
Arukenimon watched him move and stumble with unknowing, drunken grace. She scowled. Her initial relief hadn't lasted long. He was alive... but what was he to her now? "How long will the power last?" she asked Toeremon.
"A long time," he replied, scanning lines of data on the now-functional computer screens. "It was very efficient. There is no hurry."
Mummymon walked up beside him, one hand on the ledge of the screen for support. "Why did it do this to me?"
"You have many questions... What are you?"
"Sorry?"
"If you were only a Digimon you would not be here now. I hypothesise you were part human. Now that is the only part which remains. Please explain yourself."
Mummymon shrugged. "I was part human. That's all there is to know."
The dog-like Digimon looked frustrated. "How did you come to be-"
Arukenimon's cry interrupted them. "WHAT is this?" she demanded, pointing furiously to a cubby-hole that had opened in the wall. Inside, on a padded floor, in Digimon form, lay Mummymon.
Toeremon growled and moved to examine the prone form while the others stared, thrown off. "It is alive," he pronounced.
"I'm alive," the Human Mummymon took offense, "I mean, he's alive! I'm not an 'it!'"
Arukenimon ignored him. "What the hell is this about?"
"I do not know," Toeremon snapped.
"Arukenimon?"
All three of them stopped and stared at the new arrival, whose eye had opened just a sliver.
"It's good to see you," the Digimon mumbled, eye closing, and then he seemed once more fast asleep.
There was a long silence.
"What's going on?" the Human wailed, confused.
Toeremon threw his hands in the air. "It appears the Engine has reconfigured him from that which it absorbed. Do not ask me any more! I do not know. Let us go... I am tired of this place..." With that he stormed over to the still shimmering gate and disappeared through it.
Arukenimon and Mummymon glanced at each other, sharing their trepidation. "Well," Mummymon said, pushing his silver hair out of his face, "I guess I'll carry.. uh.. him." He reached for him.
Aru got in his way. "Don't be stupid. You're still staggering around like a foal, and I'm stronger than you anyway." She slipped her slender arms under the unconscious Digimon, picking him up easily, and headed for the gate.
Mummymon stood there, guts churning, then followed her.
The gate led them aboveground just as they'd hoped, into a small room that led outside. Mummymon ran to catch Toeremon. "Wait!" he called, "Please.. Can't you help put me back the way I was?"
The Digimon stopped and turned to glare at him. "No, I can't. I do not know that machine any more than you do. And frankly I have other pressing concerns. Find someone else to help you."
"I laid down my life to set you free of that place!" Mummymon protested, outraged.
Toeremon shrugged. "Thank you," he said, and continued walking.
"Don't bother, Mummymon," Arukenimon sighed as she approached.
Looking over at her, he was struck by how much closer they were in height now. "Where am I?"
"Back in that gateway room. There's no point lugging him around just to look for the jeep."
"I.. I guess I'll keep an eye on, uh, him then..."
"Good idea. The last thing we need is your better half wandering off in a daze."
"What are we going to do?" he asked, trying not to whine.
She scowled at him. "Do? How should I know what 'we' are going to do? I'm going to bring the car back here." She shifted into her Digimon form and cantered off in search of the jeep without a backwards glance.
Mummymon watched her go, then watched the dusty land she had gone into. Eventually he went back to the gate room. The gate at the far end was still on, casting a weak green light. The unconscious Mummymon was in a corner, laid out with unusual care, for Arukenimon. The Human sat by his side and studied him wonderingly.
The Digimon version of himself was slightly more monstrous than he remembered being. The features were more emaciated, the flesh more corrupt. Or perhaps he'd just lied to himself about his appearance. He had stolen a kiss from Arukenimon not long ago, looking like this... He pictured this thing kissing her and his stomach flipped.
Yet she had kissed back..? He had to be missing something. He remembered believing he wasn't so bad to look at... Not exactly handsome, but he'd considered himself dashing for an Undead type...
And Arukenimon, well.. she only looked Human.
Mummymon's big, yellow cat's eye was looking at him out of that grey face. He looked back.
"What happened?" the Digimon asked, sounding exhausted. "Where's Arukenimon? Who are you?"
"Uh.. well, we're out of the complex, Arukenimon is bringing back the jeep, and I... well... You remember letting the Engine have you?"
"I'm amazed I survived. It felt like I was being incinerated."
The Human gulped, chills coursing through him at the memory. "You didn't... exactly... survive."
"What?" He sat up weakly, scowling. "Who are you?"
He didn't know how to say it. It sounded too unreal. "Maybe I should show you."
"Show me then!" Mummymon demanded, upset, getting shakily to his clawed feet.
"Can you walk?"
"Yes I can walk! What's going on?"
"Follow me then," Mummymon said, his voice heavy. "It's in the engine room."
The engine room still smelled of charred meat. The Human led the Digimon to the dais where the wreckage of the shell of his former body still lay. Ash, dust, claws, warped knives, ruined braces. They stared.
Mummymon pushed his hair out of his face. "I was... inside all that," he managed. "And you were in there when we found you," he pointed to the recess in the wall. "T... Toeremon thinks the engine sort of... pulled you out of me, took some of your energy, and then put you back together." He chewed his lip. "I'm... I'm Human."
"You're me?" Mummymon stared at the Human version of himself in frank astonishment, and the Human stared back. "...You're... so perfect," the Digimon stammered at last, looking gobsmacked, heartbroken. "You're absolutely perfect, without me." He scowled. "I'm sorry I held you back all this time. Just... be with her, the way you should have."
"Stop," the Human cried, "No - don't you understand? I need you back."
"You don't need me."
"If nothing else," Mummymon pleaded, shoving that irritating silver hair back over his ear again, "think of Arukenimon.. I'm sure she'll love us, if we try - but we have to be together first! The way we were meant to be! Neither of us are enough on our own."
"Look at you," Mummymon snapped, "What's not to love?"
"Yes, look at me! I'm human! I can't fight, I can't create ports, I can't do anything! Sure I'm pretty," he spat, "But what good does that do me?"
Mummymon cocked his head, looking down his linen-wrapped nose at the human. "You don't even have powers like the Chosen Children? Why not? Even though the Boss made us, we're still native to the Digital World - doesn't that-"
"No. I don't know why."
"I wonder," he said, leaning down to look himself in the eye, "If Arukenimon would like me without you."
He looked horrified. "What?"
"If you are all the weak and useless parts of me - what do I need you for?"
He didn't know what to do about that at all. He stood and stared, frozen to the spot, as Mummymon grinned and swaggered away towards the gate.
The Human Mummymon sat at the mouth of the gate room, looking out at the dry landscape. Arukenimon had not returned yet. His Digimon self had gone tracking her, despite his protests. So he waited.
Eventually the sound of the jeep approaching reached his ears. He jumped to his feet and ran to meet Arukenimon.
Arukenimon, back in human form behind the wheel, watched him running, and realised she was staring. She snapped her eyes to the land in front of her, parked near the gate room and vaulted out of the car. "Alright," she said irritably. "Let's get out of here. We'll make a plan when we've had something to eat."
"We'll have to find my other half first. He went looking for you."
"He.." She glared. "Why? You knew I was coming back."
Mummymon looked at the ground. "He wanted to see you alone."
"Alone? But you are him! Ugh, I should have known you'd be as stupid in halves as you are all in one. Fine, let's go look for him."
"Unnecessary!" the Digimon Mummymon called out, jogging up to them, looking twice as exhausted as before, and trying blatantly not to show it. "I didn't get that far.. the wind destroyed your tracks, my dear."
"Before you flirt," she growled at him, "Don't. I am not in the mood."
"It's just as well," he lamented good-naturedly, "I'm too hungry to flirt... Pumpkin."
She grabbed one of his arms and flipped him flat onto the ground. He looked up just in time to have a cooler full of wrapped sandwiches dumped over his head. "Not. In. The mood," she reiterated and, not having anywhere useful to go, simply turned her back on him and looked daggers at the innocent landscape.
The Human offered his hand to the Digimon to help him up and, trying to use strength that was not available, fell directly on his ass. He sat there, stunned, gazing at his soft, pale hand. He knew Humans were weak, but this was ridiculous! Arukenimon could throw him forty meters one-handed, even in her current form...
Mummymon was chuckling at him. "It's just not the same, being on the ground, when it's not her who put you there, is it?"
He looked up into the Digimon's single yellow eye. Oh, yes, it seemed to say, this is a competition. He stared defiantly back. The Digimon broke the stare to choose a sandwich. "So after this we'll make a plan?" the Human asked, reaching for one himself.
Arukenimon turned around. "No. Your 'packed lunch' scarcely counts as something to eat. We're finding a town. I am spending this," she waved the ruby-red stone, "on some comfort. After that we'll see about a plan."
"Oh! I thought you'd lost that."
"You'll think I've lost my flute next. Hurry up with your snack. I want to leave."
"Of course, Arukenimon," the Human conceded, repacking the cooler and stowing it back in the jeep while he wolfed down a sandwich. He was glad that food, at least, was still as he expected.
"That reminds me," Mummymon said, tapping a claw thoughtfully against his chin, looking over at the Human, "what shall we call you?"
"What?" Mummymon stopped, feeling cold again. "Call me Mummymon! It's my name!"
"It's a Digimon name."
Arukenimon growled loudly. "Shut up! Shut up! You morons!"
"..Arukenimon," Mummymon said quietly, "Can I talk to you alone for a moment?"
"What?" the Human cried. "What can't you say in front of me?"
"Fine then," he shrugged, "Arukenimon, I'm a true Digimon now. I'm better than I ever was. I want to prove to you that.." he shrugged his horned shoulders, "That I'm worth your time."
The Human's jaw dropped. "What are you saying? You can't just.. We're going to find a way to fix this! You can't just bow out!"
"Who says I can't? You won't have such a bad time as a Human. I remember being wistful for a Human life sometimes. Well, now you have it."
To his horror, Mummymon's eyes filled with tears and his chest got tight. "But... I'm mortal."
The two Digimon both stared at him with dawning realization. Digimon were more or less eternal, thanks to the reconfiguration process, and incredibly long-lived in any case. Humans did not get second chances. The Humans themselves seemed to be fine with that, on the whole. But for the newly Human Mummymon, suddenly realizing he could die, in the Human sense, was an epic shock.
"Well," Arukenimon said at last, turning to the Digimon, her voice sour, "In any case you can forget about ditching half of yourself to win me over. I'm not in the mood to cope with you two freakshow attractions' problems."
"But Arukenimon!" he whined, "I'm better! Stronger! I can-"
"I don't care how strong you are! Leave it alone!"
"What are you doing?" the human hissed to Mummymon. "You're just making her angry! Arukeni.. I'm sorry.. I'll have a talk with him.. I-"
"Why won't you give me a chance?" Mummymon complained. "I'll do anything... Please." He reached out to stroke an affectionate claw across her cheek.
She narrowed her eyes, raising a hand to rest on his wrist. "You can start by listening to me when I say LEAVE ME ALONE!!" With a quick shift of her grip and balance, she sent him flying. He smashed into the rock near the doorway to the gate room and tumbled to the ground. She sighed, feeling a little relieved, then saw that the other Mummymon was staring at her with trepidation. "What?" she snapped. Then it hit her. He was scared of her. Sneering hard, she stepped up to him and grabbed a fistful of the front of his sweater, pulling him closer. "So... Nervous of my temper, are we?"
"My dear!" he cried, looking terrified and lost, "I don't mean.. That is - I'm just not used to this yet! You'd be nervous too if you were turned into glass!"
"Well, get over it," she snapped, and thew him too. He hit Mummymon ,who had just gotten up and dusted himself off, and they fell in a tangle of arms and legs.
"Ow," the Human hissed, delicately getting up off his other self, who grinned.
"Truth told, we missed this, didn't we?" Mummymon smiled. Then a cooler hit the ground right next to his head, bounced, and dumped the rest of the food out again.
Then they heard the jeep fire up.
"Arukenimon?" Mummymon called, getting hastily back to his feet.
She was driving away.
"Wait! Arukenimon!" the Human yelled, as the Digimon ran after her and stumbled to a halt, realizing it was too late.
"I can't believe it," Mummymon breathed, "she left us."
The Human watched the dust trail settling. "She left us." What was he going to do now? He.. He needed help.. Maybe one of the old Chosen Children might help him? Like Ken or Daisuke, who he'd tried to shoot in an attempt to impress Arukenimon... Maybe not.
Mummymon was scowling. "What is she playing at? I don't understand it..." he glanced at the other Mummymon. "Before you were here, she always accepted me."
"I was always here," Mummymon replied in a tone of stony anger, his eyes narrowed.
"I'm a better Digimon without you, by definition. Why doesn't she appreciate that?"
"She liked us together, idiot."
"Don't call me an idiot, pinky."
"Pinky?!"
"Shut up. No, there has to be a way to show her..."
"Are you incapable of listening? She said she doesn't care how 'good' you are. She hates us because we're not who we're supposed to be anymore!" Saying it out loud forced him to admit it to himself and he started to cry. It was strange getting both sides of his face wet. "We've lost her.. You and me both, we've lost her."
Mummymon snarled, turning back to the open plain. "Maybe you've lost her but I haven't! I'll prove myself!" and with that he started walking.
A few minutes later, the Human half of Mummymon came jogging up to the Digimon half, carrying the once more repacked cooler. "Where are you going?" he asked, only slightly out of breath.
"What business is it of yours?"
"Don't be stupid. I am you."
"You're not me. You're a part of me I didn't need." He grinned, tossing a glance at the Human. "I'm not ashamed of what I want anymore."
"I was never ashamed! I was considerate!"
"Ever since we were reconfigured, you were too afraid to court her openly!"
"How can you talk about me like I'm not you?"
"Because you're not."
"I am! And I can prove it - I still know who you are, even if you're pretending to forget me.. I know exactly where you're going."
"No you don't," the Digimon said, but there was an edge of doubt in his voice.
"You think strength is what she'll respect. You want something clear and tangible that shows you're stronger now." He smiled, and was surprised at how sly it felt on his face. "You want to Digivolve."
Mummymon frowned and took a few beats to respond. "That couldn't be too tough to guess."
"You're going north. You're going to ask the Holy Beast, Xuanwumon, for a quick boost to the next level, from one of his DigiCores. Like Qinglongmon did for Paildramon. You don't think he would, but you probably think you can make him."
He stopped and faced him. "How did you know that?"
"I. Am. You," he said. "We haven't even been apart a day. We're only different in the way we think and feel. And we can both remember how we thought and felt, all our lives before this. At least, I can."
"I remember being a weak, foolish, cowardly, kowtowing idiot."
"Then to win Arukenimon over, you need me more than I thought," the Human sniped back, "because you are a complete jerk."
"I don't need you," Mummymon repeated, and resumed his journey north.
"Tough," Mummymon snarled, and followed him.
Arukenimon drove for hours, first in a rage, then in a mood, and at last in a quietly irritated calm. The day had forced so many feelings on her, and she needed to let them simmer and digest for a while before dealing with anything new. She thought she could see now why she was so upset; Mummymon had survived, more or less, but for all intents and purposes her lifelong companion was gone.
Perhaps they could be set right. There was no shortage of obscure machines and strange natural processes in the Digital World. If something could pull them apart, chances were something could put them back together. Only she knew nothing of such things. She didn't even have a clear idea of who to ask for help. Gennai, perhaps, but she had no way to contact him. If she was lucky Oikawa might by chance observe their troubles and send him - but Oikawa was still a scattered presence at best. Gennai had once noticed the pain she felt about the state of her former boss, and tried to comfort her by suggesting one day he might be strong enough to resemble the Oikawa she missed so badly.
But she didn't miss him, exactly. She still felt guilty for not choosing her loyalty correctly that day, thirteen years ago... She should have died fighting for the Human she'd known as her boss. She should've died fighting, like Mummymon.
She roared out loud and took a hand off the wheel to punch the dashboard, shaking her head sharply. She hated her emotions! She glanced down and winced at the dent in the dash. Mummymon was going to have a fit when he saw it. Which wasn't going to be too far in the future, since she'd have to hunt them down soon. She didn't trust either of them to be ok on their own for more than a few days.
She parked the jeep outside a small building in the town she'd chanced upon at the edge of the plain. It looked like a meeting or mess hall. There was a huge handwritten sign by the door: "Sick? Hurt? Free Help Today." She raised her eyebrows in amazement - some good luck at last?
There were a number of Digimon inside, in varying degrees of health, but the first thing she saw when she walked in was one of the Chosen Children. He was in his very late twenties, and looked a little fatigue-frayed around the edges. He looked up from his patient to see who had come in, their eyes met, and a hush of tension fell over the room.
"Well, if it isn't Kido Jyou," she drawled, forgetting to bother whether she sounded threatening or not. "What an astonishingly lucky coincidence."
Jyou had only really seen her once, and in Digimon form, but he could still recognise Arukenimon, one of the Digimon that had worked for Oikawa and helped to unleash Belialvamdemon upon both their worlds. He stared, fishing for words. He had heard she was back and not causing real trouble, but no details. If he was lucky, maybe she just wanted a checkup...
A white, seal-shaped Digimon suddenly blocked Arukenimon's view of the Human. "You stay away from Jyou," he warned, the purple markings on his face wrinkling with a warning scowl.
"Gomamon!" Jyou admonished, moved to action. "Uh.. What can I do for you, Ma'am?" He addressed Arukenimon cautiously, pushing his partner Digimon gently to one side.
She looked grumpy and sighed. "Look. You don't have to be afraid of me unless you get me violently irritated. I'm here for your help, that's all." She glared around at the other waiting Digimon in the room, who looked wary of her. "You can cut that out!" she snapped, and some of them jumped.
"Please!" Jyou interrupted, hoping to avoid the impending scene, "Come with me - Arukenimon wasn't it? Tell me what I can help you with.." he babbled, leading the Digimon in red to a room at the back, out of sight of the locals.
"My idiot is broken," Arukenimon sighed.
"What?"
"My traveling companion has had a mishap," she explained, "and I have no idea how to help him."
"Your companion?" Jyou asked. He remembered Oikawa's other lackey. They were still together, after all this time? "You mean Mummymon?"
"Yes, him."
"Well, what happened to him?"
"He was split in half."
Jyou stared, turning pale. "I.."
Gomamon raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if even Jyou is that good of a doctor..."
She rolled her eyes. "Not cut in half.. He went into some kind of machine and two of him came out. One's a Digimon. The other is Human." She paused and squinted at Jyou. "Like you," she added.
"You want to put them back together?" he hazarded.
"Of course I want to put them back together!" she snapped.
"Yeah, what else would she want?" Gomamon echoed cheerily.
"I.. don't know if I can help you," Jyou admitted, rummaging through his pockets for his D-terminal. "but I know someone who probably can."
Koushirou blinked when he heard the ping from his D-terminal, but didn't reach for it, instead capturing the message and opening it in one corner of a computer screen already festooned with windows. He glanced over at it and, while his expression of deep concentration didn't lift, his eyebrows went up in interest.
Tentomon had heard it, too, and his head popped up above desk-level. "What is it? Is it something urgent?" Tentomon asked hopefully. He found, as calm as things had been lately, that he was always hoping for a little adventure. He buzzed up behind his partner's shoulder to read, but couldn't find the right window.
"I don't know about urgent, but it sounds interesting," the young man mused, glancing at Tentomon before setting about marking his place in his several works and setting up a few processes to run in his absence. "How do you feel about a little unexpected trip to the Digital World?"
"Sounds.. dare I say.. 'prodigious?'"
Koushirou shook his head, chuckling, and opened a Digi-Port.