Chapter 41 - The Players
I groaned and wiped the sweat from my face. Phil put his arm around me, but I shrugged it off, but smiled at him, not wanting the additional body heat. I was used to cold, I live in New York after all, and it's winter there now, so wandering through a hot stretch of rocks was a little fast in the temperature change department for me.
Mimi had once told me that Azulongmon lived in a valley in the great grassland on the continent of server. Azulongmon knowing anything was the only lead we had, and this was the only clue to his location. But it was better than nothing, so here we were.
I groaned again.
"I can't believe how hot it is out here!"
Phil grinned at me, and I could tell I wasn't going to like what came out of his mouth.
"Geeze, women are never happy. If they aren't too hot, they're too cold… though a hot woman isn't necessarily a bar thing…"
I smacked him on the arm to shut him up, but let it go at that, simply rolling my eyes as we moved on. There was a groan from Steve's arms, where SnowAgumon was resting.
Poor guy, this heat isn't doing him any good.
Lou's Otamamon wasn't quite as disabled, but the heat still wasn't doing him any favors. Fortunately for me, Elecmon was good to go, and Phil's Muchomon was actually enjoying it.
Lou, who was a little ways ahead, called us over, smiling a little, and pointed at a hole in the ground.
"If we can find a way down there, it may make and ideal place to rest for the moment, expecially for those of us whose digimon are… susceptible to the current weather conditions."
We collectively rolled our eyes at Lou's different way of saying things, and made our way over. It would be good to get off our feet for a bit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I ran down the street, looking down at my watch.
I'm late!
With my little 'boot camp' now complete, this was the day that I was taking Jun, Carmela, and their partners into the digital world to try to get the others out.
And I was late, running down the sidewalk looking at my watch. And if there's one constant in my, it's that bad things happen the second I stop paying attention or let my guard down.
I slammed into what felt like a brick wall, and was thrown backwards, landing on my butt. Looking forward, I saw a white pair of slacks. Looking up, this continued into a white muscle-shirt, covered by a blood-red jacket. This was topped off by a red headband just below the wild blond hair.
Dominic…
Blue eyes flashed dangerously.
Not good.
"Cullen, Ryong…"
His two goons walked up behind me as always, trapping me where I was. I nervously scratched the back of my head.
"Heh heh… Um, hey Dominic…"
His eyes narrowed.
"Matsuki."
"Um, look, I really don't have time for this… can I come back later?"
He smirked, and I felt my blood boil, BlackJyarimon growling in my head.
"I don't think so, Matsuki. Hold him guys. I want to give him a small taste of what's to come."
He took off the jacket, and readied himself. What happened next is a little weird. Instead of the other way around like it usually was, BlackJyarimon's emotions started influencing mine. As Dominic's fist closed in for my head, I ducked and twisted in an attempt to get away. This caught the two holding me off guard enough that it pulled one of the two of them into the path of Dominic's fist.
In the ensuing confusion, I got up and made a run for it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I groaned as I came awake. My head was splitting, and I couldn't remember much. I seemed to be in some kind of room, strapped down to something upright, leaving me staring dazedly across the room. I was pretty sure the walls were metal, but again, my head was swimming, so it was hard to say for certain.
After a moment it hit me, and I remembered seeing Scorpiomon come for me as I fell.
"Armadillomon…?"
My voice was weak and slurred, but someone heard. Someone who was not Armadillomon.
"Oh, awake are we? Finally. Let's get down to business."
The girl…
"Where's… Armadillomon?"
She scowled, but answered.
"In a holding cell, with all of your friend's digimon. Now it's your turn to answer questions. Name?"
"What?"
She sat down at a metal table I hadn't noticed before, and that hadn't been much, and lay her head down on it, grumbling with paper and pen in hand. She looked back up and glared at me.
"Look. I don't want to do this anymore than you do. Just get it over with. Now. What. Is. Your. Name?"
"Cody."
She sighed.
"Okay. Let's try complete answers this time. Name?"
"Cody Hida."
"Great. Can't believe he's wasting my time with this… Age?"
Am I… being interrogated?
"Sixteen."
I gave this information willingly. I was recovering little by little, but I couldn't see any possible use for this to them, and I wasn't sure I would like what would happen if I didn't answer.
They'd probably do something to the others… I should probably avoid speaking more than I need to. Might let something slip.
"This is the biggest waste of time…"
"Then why are you doing it?"
The words slipped out before I could stop them. She just looked at me like I was stupid.
"Because I was told to. Now shut up."
I sighed, and slumped in my bonds.
"Father's name?"
I though back.
"Well?"
"I'm thinking!"
She arched an eyebrow.
"You have to think to remember your father's name?!"
I felt a few tears gather in my eyes.
"HE DIED!"
This seemed to slap her in the face, and for just an instant, she looked human instead of evil.
"Oh. Tough break. Just answer the question so we don't get in trouble with Murmuxmon, okay?"
I twisted my mind trying to remember. And then I did.
"Hiroki. Hiroki Hida."
She nodded, and then groaned when she read the next question.
"Great. Sorry kid, but I didn't write these questions."
She sounded bored and tired, not sorry at all. She continued with the question.
"Father's Occupation?"
"Police Officer. He… he died in the line of duty."
She nodded shortly, made a note on her paper, then went for the next question.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was, much to my surprise, an easy route down into the quarry. I grinned as I plopped myself down into the shade.
Muchomon may like this heat, but I'm certainly not.
The mentioned Muchomon had parked himself on a rock, and was lying back, sunning himself. I smiled fondly at him.
"Don't over do it, Muchomon!"
There was a smile in his voice.
"Me? I never even get tanned! Let a bird catch some rays."
I got up, and let Maria have my seat. It was pretty comfortable, as far as rocks go. It had plenty of shade too. I dropped a kiss to her forehead, and wandered around a little. Steve frowned.
"Phil, don't go wandering too far off now!"
"Yes mother. Seriously, I don't think we'd find anything other than a few Gotsumon here. I just wanted to take a quick look around."
Steve nodded, but slowly.
Probably still thinks it's too dangerous.
I shrugged, and wandered a bit, over to the far side. Lou spoke up when I reached the wall.
"We should leave… now. Something is very wrong here…"
Maria looked over at him, and pleaded; while I walked over to the far wall… there was something about it that bugged me.
"Can't we stay a bit longer? We just got here!"
Lou held her gaze for a moment, then sighed. I gave the wall a light kick in frustration.
I still can't figure out what bugs me about this wall…
"Very well. But all of you be-"
He was interrupted by a deafening boom as the wall I kicked suddenly collapsed into so much rubble. They all looked at me.
"What?"
Lou sighed. I shrugged again and turned back towards the wall I kicked, and opened my mouth in shock.
"You guys! Over here! You've got to see this!"
Steve just looked over, a little annoyed, and not one of them was coming anywhere near a wall that had just collapsed.
"What?"
"There's a humungous skeleton here! I'm gonna be famous! I've discovered a prehistoric digimon fossil!"
They did come over at that, even if Steve was grumbling.
"There aren't any digimon skeletons you fool! When a digimon dies, it becomes data and reintegrates into the digital world, being reborn at…"
He stopped and gaped, for there truly was a large skeleton in the wall. Lou and Maria were a little freaked out, but Steve was muttering to himself, even though we all could hear.
"This doesn't make any sense. Digimon are data. Living data yes, but data just the same. They don't leave skeletons lying around, which eliminates that conclusion. So what else could it be…?"
He paced for a few more moments, and I kinda tuned him out after that, just gazing up at my discovery. Then there was a hoarse cry from Steve, and we looked over at him.
"Lou was right! We have to get out of here! NOW! That isn't a skeleton! That's-"
With the very strange sound of tearing rock, the skeleton pulled itself free of the wall, and I now saw what Steve was trying to say. This was not a prehistoric digimon skeleton.
It's a SkullGreymon!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had arrived on time. I checked my watch again.
Takato is late.
I glanced at my companion, who if she was to be believed, had been here a full two hours early, she was so excited to be here. Fortunately, she seemed to be wearing normal clothing now, even if she and Bearmon were fidgeting madly. Then she grinned and I turned to see Takato running down the street. He stopped, panting, when he reached us.
"Sorry… ran into a… little trouble."
I just shook my head.
"Let's just go. We need to get this over with."
He nodded.
"Let's go then. Next stop, the digital world."
He drew and slashed the glowing green card then.
DIGI-Modify! Digital Gate Activate!
The green portal appeared, and we went through.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I smiled over at Joe, who gave a soft smile back. I looked up at Tai, who had barely let go of me for two seconds since I'd woken up.
"I need to go talk to Joe, Tai."
He nodded, and unclasped his arms from around my waist, letting me up. I sat down next to Joe.
"How are you doing, Joe?"
He smiled a little.
"Better, honestly. It doesn't hurt quite as much anymore. I… I don't think I'll ever get over what happened, but… at least I can think straight now."
I arched an eyebrow.
"Don't you mean you'll never get over her?"
His face went white.
"Wha…? How?"
"She almost drowned a few weeks ago, and Gomamon didn't know where else to bring her. He's been staying with me you know."
Joe nodded slowly.
"I hope she didn't well…"
"Freak out?"
He nodded.
"She did that to me. She… was afraid… even when I told her it was okay, that it was safe…"
I knew I had to head this off before it got too far out of hand.
"I know, she told me. Talk to her Joe. When we get out of here, talk to her. She's been adjusting. It's slow, but she was starting to come to grips with it before I was taken. Just…"
He put a hand over mine, silencing me.
"Really?"
I nodded.
"Yes. She wants to see you again Joe. So I need you to cheer up a little, and help us work on something to escape. We can't just depend on Takato and Cody."
He nodded, and I walked back over to Tai, who began our impromptu meeting.
I groaned and wiped the sweat from my face. Phil put his arm around me, but I shrugged it off, but smiled at him, not wanting the additional body heat. I was used to cold, I live in New York after all, and it's winter there now, so wandering through a hot stretch of rocks was a little fast in the temperature change department for me.
Mimi had once told me that Azulongmon lived in a valley in the great grassland on the continent of server. Azulongmon knowing anything was the only lead we had, and this was the only clue to his location. But it was better than nothing, so here we were.
I groaned again.
"I can't believe how hot it is out here!"
Phil grinned at me, and I could tell I wasn't going to like what came out of his mouth.
"Geeze, women are never happy. If they aren't too hot, they're too cold… though a hot woman isn't necessarily a bar thing…"
I smacked him on the arm to shut him up, but let it go at that, simply rolling my eyes as we moved on. There was a groan from Steve's arms, where SnowAgumon was resting.
Poor guy, this heat isn't doing him any good.
Lou's Otamamon wasn't quite as disabled, but the heat still wasn't doing him any favors. Fortunately for me, Elecmon was good to go, and Phil's Muchomon was actually enjoying it.
Lou, who was a little ways ahead, called us over, smiling a little, and pointed at a hole in the ground.
"If we can find a way down there, it may make and ideal place to rest for the moment, expecially for those of us whose digimon are… susceptible to the current weather conditions."
We collectively rolled our eyes at Lou's different way of saying things, and made our way over. It would be good to get off our feet for a bit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I ran down the street, looking down at my watch.
I'm late!
With my little 'boot camp' now complete, this was the day that I was taking Jun, Carmela, and their partners into the digital world to try to get the others out.
And I was late, running down the sidewalk looking at my watch. And if there's one constant in my, it's that bad things happen the second I stop paying attention or let my guard down.
I slammed into what felt like a brick wall, and was thrown backwards, landing on my butt. Looking forward, I saw a white pair of slacks. Looking up, this continued into a white muscle-shirt, covered by a blood-red jacket. This was topped off by a red headband just below the wild blond hair.
Dominic…
Blue eyes flashed dangerously.
Not good.
"Cullen, Ryong…"
His two goons walked up behind me as always, trapping me where I was. I nervously scratched the back of my head.
"Heh heh… Um, hey Dominic…"
His eyes narrowed.
"Matsuki."
"Um, look, I really don't have time for this… can I come back later?"
He smirked, and I felt my blood boil, BlackJyarimon growling in my head.
"I don't think so, Matsuki. Hold him guys. I want to give him a small taste of what's to come."
He took off the jacket, and readied himself. What happened next is a little weird. Instead of the other way around like it usually was, BlackJyarimon's emotions started influencing mine. As Dominic's fist closed in for my head, I ducked and twisted in an attempt to get away. This caught the two holding me off guard enough that it pulled one of the two of them into the path of Dominic's fist.
In the ensuing confusion, I got up and made a run for it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I groaned as I came awake. My head was splitting, and I couldn't remember much. I seemed to be in some kind of room, strapped down to something upright, leaving me staring dazedly across the room. I was pretty sure the walls were metal, but again, my head was swimming, so it was hard to say for certain.
After a moment it hit me, and I remembered seeing Scorpiomon come for me as I fell.
"Armadillomon…?"
My voice was weak and slurred, but someone heard. Someone who was not Armadillomon.
"Oh, awake are we? Finally. Let's get down to business."
The girl…
"Where's… Armadillomon?"
She scowled, but answered.
"In a holding cell, with all of your friend's digimon. Now it's your turn to answer questions. Name?"
"What?"
She sat down at a metal table I hadn't noticed before, and that hadn't been much, and lay her head down on it, grumbling with paper and pen in hand. She looked back up and glared at me.
"Look. I don't want to do this anymore than you do. Just get it over with. Now. What. Is. Your. Name?"
"Cody."
She sighed.
"Okay. Let's try complete answers this time. Name?"
"Cody Hida."
"Great. Can't believe he's wasting my time with this… Age?"
Am I… being interrogated?
"Sixteen."
I gave this information willingly. I was recovering little by little, but I couldn't see any possible use for this to them, and I wasn't sure I would like what would happen if I didn't answer.
They'd probably do something to the others… I should probably avoid speaking more than I need to. Might let something slip.
"This is the biggest waste of time…"
"Then why are you doing it?"
The words slipped out before I could stop them. She just looked at me like I was stupid.
"Because I was told to. Now shut up."
I sighed, and slumped in my bonds.
"Father's name?"
I though back.
"Well?"
"I'm thinking!"
She arched an eyebrow.
"You have to think to remember your father's name?!"
I felt a few tears gather in my eyes.
"HE DIED!"
This seemed to slap her in the face, and for just an instant, she looked human instead of evil.
"Oh. Tough break. Just answer the question so we don't get in trouble with Murmuxmon, okay?"
I twisted my mind trying to remember. And then I did.
"Hiroki. Hiroki Hida."
She nodded, and then groaned when she read the next question.
"Great. Sorry kid, but I didn't write these questions."
She sounded bored and tired, not sorry at all. She continued with the question.
"Father's Occupation?"
"Police Officer. He… he died in the line of duty."
She nodded shortly, made a note on her paper, then went for the next question.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was, much to my surprise, an easy route down into the quarry. I grinned as I plopped myself down into the shade.
Muchomon may like this heat, but I'm certainly not.
The mentioned Muchomon had parked himself on a rock, and was lying back, sunning himself. I smiled fondly at him.
"Don't over do it, Muchomon!"
There was a smile in his voice.
"Me? I never even get tanned! Let a bird catch some rays."
I got up, and let Maria have my seat. It was pretty comfortable, as far as rocks go. It had plenty of shade too. I dropped a kiss to her forehead, and wandered around a little. Steve frowned.
"Phil, don't go wandering too far off now!"
"Yes mother. Seriously, I don't think we'd find anything other than a few Gotsumon here. I just wanted to take a quick look around."
Steve nodded, but slowly.
Probably still thinks it's too dangerous.
I shrugged, and wandered a bit, over to the far side. Lou spoke up when I reached the wall.
"We should leave… now. Something is very wrong here…"
Maria looked over at him, and pleaded; while I walked over to the far wall… there was something about it that bugged me.
"Can't we stay a bit longer? We just got here!"
Lou held her gaze for a moment, then sighed. I gave the wall a light kick in frustration.
I still can't figure out what bugs me about this wall…
"Very well. But all of you be-"
He was interrupted by a deafening boom as the wall I kicked suddenly collapsed into so much rubble. They all looked at me.
"What?"
Lou sighed. I shrugged again and turned back towards the wall I kicked, and opened my mouth in shock.
"You guys! Over here! You've got to see this!"
Steve just looked over, a little annoyed, and not one of them was coming anywhere near a wall that had just collapsed.
"What?"
"There's a humungous skeleton here! I'm gonna be famous! I've discovered a prehistoric digimon fossil!"
They did come over at that, even if Steve was grumbling.
"There aren't any digimon skeletons you fool! When a digimon dies, it becomes data and reintegrates into the digital world, being reborn at…"
He stopped and gaped, for there truly was a large skeleton in the wall. Lou and Maria were a little freaked out, but Steve was muttering to himself, even though we all could hear.
"This doesn't make any sense. Digimon are data. Living data yes, but data just the same. They don't leave skeletons lying around, which eliminates that conclusion. So what else could it be…?"
He paced for a few more moments, and I kinda tuned him out after that, just gazing up at my discovery. Then there was a hoarse cry from Steve, and we looked over at him.
"Lou was right! We have to get out of here! NOW! That isn't a skeleton! That's-"
With the very strange sound of tearing rock, the skeleton pulled itself free of the wall, and I now saw what Steve was trying to say. This was not a prehistoric digimon skeleton.
It's a SkullGreymon!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had arrived on time. I checked my watch again.
Takato is late.
I glanced at my companion, who if she was to be believed, had been here a full two hours early, she was so excited to be here. Fortunately, she seemed to be wearing normal clothing now, even if she and Bearmon were fidgeting madly. Then she grinned and I turned to see Takato running down the street. He stopped, panting, when he reached us.
"Sorry… ran into a… little trouble."
I just shook my head.
"Let's just go. We need to get this over with."
He nodded.
"Let's go then. Next stop, the digital world."
He drew and slashed the glowing green card then.
DIGI-Modify! Digital Gate Activate!
The green portal appeared, and we went through.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I smiled over at Joe, who gave a soft smile back. I looked up at Tai, who had barely let go of me for two seconds since I'd woken up.
"I need to go talk to Joe, Tai."
He nodded, and unclasped his arms from around my waist, letting me up. I sat down next to Joe.
"How are you doing, Joe?"
He smiled a little.
"Better, honestly. It doesn't hurt quite as much anymore. I… I don't think I'll ever get over what happened, but… at least I can think straight now."
I arched an eyebrow.
"Don't you mean you'll never get over her?"
His face went white.
"Wha…? How?"
"She almost drowned a few weeks ago, and Gomamon didn't know where else to bring her. He's been staying with me you know."
Joe nodded slowly.
"I hope she didn't well…"
"Freak out?"
He nodded.
"She did that to me. She… was afraid… even when I told her it was okay, that it was safe…"
I knew I had to head this off before it got too far out of hand.
"I know, she told me. Talk to her Joe. When we get out of here, talk to her. She's been adjusting. It's slow, but she was starting to come to grips with it before I was taken. Just…"
He put a hand over mine, silencing me.
"Really?"
I nodded.
"Yes. She wants to see you again Joe. So I need you to cheer up a little, and help us work on something to escape. We can't just depend on Takato and Cody."
He nodded, and I walked back over to Tai, who began our impromptu meeting.