Hikaru stopped when Miyuki nudged him and he glanced over to his right when Miyuki said that they had unexpected visitors. He had been going to reply with "Of course we do, we're in their territory." but chose not to as the higher priority was working together to beat them.
The opponent Digimon snickered at them before running off down the hallway they were walking down.
"Or not… That was odd, to say the least." Miyuki noted, puzzled as to why the Digimon hadn't wanted to challenge them to battle.
Examon watched for a moment longer. "Probably didn't want to fight us, because we are Ultimate levels. It knew it wouldn't have stood a chance against us as it was an Adult."
Miyuki nodded in silence as she continued walking with Hikaru. "Okay, so where is this room? We're so bloody lost right now. Does the Digivice have a GPS?"
The pair wandered down the hallway and checked any side rooms they encountered, looking for any sign of the other Chosen team. After the earlier appearance of the Adult level who didn't challenge them, which Miyuki still thought was odd, there seemed to be no other meetings with rogue Digimon.
"The whole castle can not be empty, surely?" Miyuki asked Hikaru, turning her head slightly in his direction.
Hikaru shook his head. "I doubt that it's empty; more we're just having very good luck so far in not running into anything. Other than that Adult, but it doesn't count so."
When the GPS on the Digivice finally activated, it was twenty or so minutes after they'd already entered. Miyuki sighed, shook her head and swore. "We really could've used that at the start. Would've saved us from a lot of time being wasted… Dumb Digivice." She shook the device roughly.
The two friends had instantly stopped when the GPS activated and Hikaru had an amused smile on his face at Miyuki's cursing. He laughed at the swearing, before falling silent a few moments later. As funny as this was, they had to find Taichi's team as soon as possible. Time was of the essence.
Miyuki felt the nudge at her side and looked over, ceasing her swearing for now. She watched him point to the Digivice and then in the direction it wanted to take them. "Let's go." She nodded and headed in that direction.
Hikaru followed soon after, happy.
By this point, Miyuki couldn't believe how huge the castle was. It was so confusing to try and navigate in here, despite having a GPS. A Vilemon or two and a BlackGarurumon had popped up during their travels down the hallways, itching for a fight. The two friends had had to run from the enemy Digimon, not wanting to get into any unnecessary battles.
This had caused the opposition to throw jeering remarks about "weakling Chosen", which made Miyuki so furious, but Hikaru shook his head while they ran. So Miyuki held her tongue, even if she didn't completely agree. Their partners devolved as they fled to conserve energy.
Hikaru shook his head, opting to ignore his friend's fury. He turned his focus to the long, dark hallway and the monsters he knew were waiting for them. It really was unsettling, knowing that Taichi's team had been here for who knows how long and it was up to them to save them. However, in the back of his mind, he couldn't stop the nagging feeling that they were walking into a trap, a trap they could not win.
Trap or not , he told himself, we have a job to do .
Hikaru was silent as they followed the digivice's map down a dark and grimy hallway. He wasn't sure how long they had been walking down one disgusting hallway, which soon opened up to several more. Hours must have gone by before they finally reached a pair of dark purple and red doors.
The group of humans and Digimon silently opened the doors and made their way down a flight of stairs. After a short walk, the Chosen spotted several gigantic red dragon-like Digimon with their upper bodies covered in some kind of armour machinery.
Beads of sweat formed on his brow as he took sight of the sharp blades on the Digimon's arms. He did not want to be hit by one of those. "What are those things?" He whispered, not wanting to alert the Digimon that were guarding Vamdemon's prisoners.
"Those are Megalo Growmon," Dracomon whispered back. "They are Perfect-level Digimon, Virus and Cyborg type. These must be the Digimon Lady Devimon was warning us about, but it is hard to believe they came to serve willingly."
"What do you mean?" Miyuki asked.
"Megalo Growmon usually lives in the Jungle Area, guarding their sacred treasure," Tailmon X answered. "It is odd seeing them here. They don't seem too happy either."
They were right; the Digimon looked rather miserable as they stood in front of what looked like some kind of holding room. Then, the sudden whispers of an unfamiliar voice caught their attention.
"It's okay, Wizarmon. You are going to be okay."
"That's right," said another, a male this time. "Well, find a way out of here and kick that vampire's ass to next week."
"At least they're all together," Miyuki whispered as she turned her gaze beyond the fearsome Digimon and into the cell. They were too far away to see and the room was too dark to see anything clearly, but she was able to make out a female with short, light brown hair and a pink bird. Next to them was a boy with wild, dark brown hair and goggles and a yellow dinosaur.
Miyuki tapped Hikaru's shoulder, gaining his attention. "Hmm?" Instead of responding, she silently gestured to the cell where the other Chosen, their partners and Wizarmon were currently being held. He nodded, but looked a bit unsure on how to handle their current situation. "How should we handle this? Fighting them could draw attention to ourselves."
"We don't have a choice. I don't see any other way." Miyuki replied, quiet as she continued to observe the Megalo Growmon guarding the other team. We could try and negotiate with them, but I'm not sure that will work… especially if Vamdemon has control over them emotionally or whatever . "Well, let's do this, Hikaru. Ready up."
Hikaru looked at her for a second, surprised by her tone. He then smiled faintly and nodded. "Right." He glanced down at Tailmon X. "Let's go, Tailmon X." The boy held up his Digivice at the same time Miyuki did.
Both Digimon partners inhaled and let the light of evolution wash over them, as their features grew larger. When the light died down, Examon and Medieval Dukemon stood in the places where Dracomon and Tailmon X had once been.
The evolutionary light caught the MegaloGrowmon's attention and they became alert. "Who's there?" The one on the right declared, taking a step forward and peering like an owl in their direction.
Were they short sighted? Miyuki wondered, but paid no mind to her own thoughts as she and Hikaru came out from behind the corner they had hidden in. "We're here to rescue the Chosen and Wizarmon." She spoke, her tone determined and steady.
The Megalo Growmon who had spoken jerked his head down and stared at the tiny human. "A small human like yourself? Against our might? We shall see. Bring it." For all the bravado, his laugh was sad.
"I feel sorry for you." This was all Miyuki said, before Examon stepped past his partner to engage the Perfect in a fight.
Without saying anything, Examon raised his tail in a manner that said he was going to strike with it and the MegaloGrowmon flinched a bit. Odd behaviour… His tail snaked forward like lightning after his brief thought and pierced Megalo Growmon's chest armour. Holding him up with the end of his tail, he proceeded to smack him into the walls and ground a few times.
"Mercy! Please! I didn't even want to be a lackey of Vamdemon's!"
Miyuki studied the Perfect for a long moment, semi aware of Medieval Dukemon fighting the other Megalo Growmon across from her and Examon. She waited a second more, before she gave her partner an instruction.
"Hold, Examon. Let him down. He can tell us where Vamdemon is right now."
"Okay." Examon lowered his tail to the ground, but did not remove it from the Megalo Growmon's chest armour. He brought his tail closer to his own body and in front of Miyuki so she could question the Perfect.
"Do you know where Vamdemon is?" She asked, recalling that she hadn't seen the vampire since his visit to her hospital bed.
The cyborg-based Digimon was about to reply with something when his eyes focused on something behind Miyuki and he smirked in response. "Heh, you're about to find out. Look behind you, fools."
Examon growled. "It's a trap, Miyuki! Be careful."
Miyuki and Hikaru froze as they stared at the Digimon. The hidden fear they saw deep within their yellow eyes told them all they needed to know. The monster that caused so many deaths and division among the Digimon and humankind alike stood tall against the door frame, his cold blue orbs piercing into their souls.
Miyuki gathered her courage to turn to the monster. The vampire's shocked blue eyes shifted from her to the group of Digimon, their partners, to Hikaru and then back to her. He had not been expecting so many intruders to pass his defenses so easily.
As quickly as the shock came, it was replaced with a cold indifference Miyuki was all too familiar with. "Oh," Vamdemon said casually to Miyuki and Hikaru. "It's you again?"
A foggy cloud coated her senses as the undead Dracula wannabe returned his gaze to her with a fixed stare. "You really should have accepted my offer, girlie. You would have done so well as a Dark Chosen."
Miyuki did not appreciate all the eyes that were now on her. She could hear Examon and Hikaru's surprised gasps and the whispers of the Virtue Chosen, who she hoped were not terribly injured.
"My offer still stands," he said with an utterly unreadable smile. "You are being lied to. The Gods of this world do not care for us or the children they summoned to stop me. They had allowed so many to die, to be written off as deletable, to allow those oh so perfect Vaccines to wipe us out as they see fit! I am merely doing what must be done to prevent a complete genocide. Surely you must understand that?"
"Don't listen to him!" the leader of the Virtue Chosen said. "He can't be trusted!"
That doesn't mean that he's lying, though .
Miyuki hadn't thought about his offer since he visited her in the hospital. She had been angry, confused, upset about the attack and every trauma she had in the past. She had always acted out and said things she did not mean when upset. Now was no different.
"Shut the fuck up," Miyuki spat between gritted teeth. No one was sure who she was referring to: the Chosen, Vamdemon, or her own troubled mind. Nothing seemed to matter as human and Digimon stared indifferently at each other.
The King of Undead Digimon's lips twitched into a smile of satisfaction as his head tilted ever so slightly at his enemies. "Very well, girlie."
Why did it feel like he got what he wanted? She thought seconds before Examon and Medieval Dukemon rushed towards the vampire, feeling overconfident and blinded by their need to protect their partners, to even consider if this was a mistake or not.
Vamdemon took a step away from the door frame as the two Digimon came charging at him. His arrogant smile never faltered; his cold blue orbs never left hers as Medieval Dukemon made the first strike.
Miyuki shivered. Why did she feel that Vamdemon was telling the truth?