Ch. 2: House of Shadows
As Yuji and the others walked through the fog, the field slowly began fading from view. However, the boy couldn't focus on his surroundings. No matter how hard he tried, his gaze kept falling back to the Lopmon leading them. The creature seemed to have calmed down since its last outburst, but something about it seemed a bit shaken, still. Maybe it really would have been better if they didn't show up, after all...
"Hey, Lopmon..." The kid began. "I'm sorry. About the field, I mean." Yuji put his hand on his neck as he looked away, embarrassed at the whole scenario. "I don't know what I said, but those flowers mattered to you a lot, right? I don't want you to feel bad because of me."
The rabbit didn't even seem to react to his words at first. Then, after a pause, it finally spoke. "Stupid human..." he uttered. "I am the one that has the problem. You just... you don't know. You don't understand a single thing. It's not your fault, I just happen to find all you humans insufferable. That is all."
After a short walk further, the fog suddenly cleared. In front of the three of them stood a large Japanese-style feudal building covered in bright red paint! The sun setting behind it painted the sky a bright orange color as heavy shadows brushed across the ground. Even the landscape felt harsher, crisp yellow dirt cracking as short blades of grass pierced through the soil. And yet off in the distance, although much further than before, one could still see the hints of a slight fog still surrounding them...
Rita stared at the sky, unblinking. "How is this possible? We've only been walking a few minutes, maybe half an hour at most! What's up with the sky?! Why is it sunset?!"
"What do you mean?" Lopmon said, still clearly irritated. "Why would the sky have anything to do with the time? The sun is where it is, and it changes with each zone. The only way to know the time is with a clock! Everybody knows that, human."
The girl could only stammer, struggling to think of words. Nothing about this world made sense! An ocean of questions flooded her head, although none of them seemed even remotely valuable in figuring out the world around her. "B- But...!" She muttered. "Then when do you sleep? If the sun is always out in this zone, then would you just move to a 'night zone' if you got tired?"
"What are you blabbering about now?" The rabbit shot back. "You rest when you feel tired, of course. And if one person rests, then everyone else does so, too, as not to disturb them." He simply glared up at the human, like what he just said was so painfully obvious that it didn't even need to be stated in the first place. "Why would one even need to rest when the sun is down? That's what buildings are for, are they not? You simply need to have either a closed tent or a room with shut windows. Do humans not use forms of shelter for sleeping? Would you just sleep out in the dirt if it was dark enough? Think before you speak next time."
Rita raised her finger as if she wanted to object but only found herself stammering even more. What was there to even object to? He had complete confidence in his logic! And yet the more she thought about it, the less sense it seemed to make!
Crossing his arms, Yuji nodded his head in response. "Now that you mention it, that does make sense." He admitted. "This world really does follow video game rules. If it's dawn, it's dawn forever. If it's night, it's always dark. Maybe if you close the window of a room, then the sun doesn't matter, you know? It just becomes 'dark' for you." A half-second later, a slight smirk crossed the human's face as he thought through the implications of his idea. "Actually... if that's the case, then what if we dug up a field battery? Maybe it doesn't actually matter what the soil is like, you know? What if you planted it right here? Wouldn't that make flowers grow here, as well?"
Both Rita and Lopmon could only stare at the boy. "That's..." Rita started. "Actually-" Lopmon interrupted. "It does work that way," the rabbit said, his mouth wide with shock. "Well, it mostly does, I suppose." He continued, resuming his typical dignified tone. "Of course, if another specific plant is being grown, then it won't always override it. Also, there are certain areas where nothing can grow, but you wouldn't have known about those. Still... I'm impressed. I didn't expect you to actually understand things so easily."
Yuji pumped his fist in excitement. "I thought so!" He uttered to himself. "It's just like a basic farming sim... or Cartcraft..."
"Well, we shouldn't hesitate too much." Lopmon reiterated. "Your ally is right behind these doors. However, I must warn you that what you are about to see may be shocking. If there are no objections, I'll explain more once you see for yourself."
With a heavy push, the Digimon opened the door with its ears. Light streamed in, blinding out for a moment. Then, the scene emerged before them. Round ninja-like Digimon ran around frantically as a large pile of gold, furniture, and jewels towered above them! A cackling laugh rang out from the top as a girl with long white hair wearing a red kimono lorded over them. "More! More!" She demanded, grinning madly. "My next demand... sweets! Bring me the finest chocolate in all the land!" After chugging from a brown bottle, the mistress of the manor chucked it as hard as she could! Smashing it on the ground right next to another ninja-like Digimon before he dashed away in a panic!
All Yuji and Rita could do was stare at what was happening in disbelief. "Yuji, that's..." Rita began. The boy stared at the dictator before them. There was no mistaking it. "That's definitely Vex's character... I always knew she could be a handful, but this is... a lot... what happened?"
"Shurimon put her in charge." Lopmon simply stated. "Muysamon has always led the Kage Manor. But, while he's away, Shurimon is his second in command. Which means what he says goes." A heavy sigh escaped him at the thought. "Musyamon has always been well-liked and ran a tight ship. But, secretly, Shurimon's been scheming of ways to overthrow him for a while now. His most recent plan involves giving authority to one of you humans so they can become his partner and evolve him. Your friend agreed, but the whole idea seems absurd to me, really... everyone's already fed up with how things are going. I'm afraid that most of the Ninja of Kage Manor might leave before the two even get their duel at this rate. And I doubt either of you would partner with someone so underhanded, either."
After a moment of thought, Yuji felt like he understood the basics of what was happening well enough. If Vex didn't listen to them, things could get messy. Whoever this Shurimon was sounded like he probably wouldn't be okay with Vex backing out of the arrangement, either, further complicating things. Eventually, the kid looked up at the master of the pile. "Hey, Vex?!" He shouted. "Come down here! We need to talk!"
The girl smirked back before raising her arm to wave. "Hey, Yuji!" She exclaimed. "You should see how great things are up here! I just say what I want, and these funny little critters find it for me! It's like I'm their queen or somethin'! If you want, they can probably find stuff for you, too!"
Oh no, it really was her... it wasn't someone who looked like her avatar or a duplicate. This was unmistakenly 100% Vex.
Before he could reject the offer, she continued. "Yeah, this is great!" Vex beamed. "All I have to do is hold some device! Then Shurimon will make me a real Ninja Princess! Isn't that awesome?! He just has to win one duel, and we're set!"
"What happens if he loses?!" Yuji shouted back. "If you betray Musyamon, he probably wouldn't want you around, right?! And if Shurimon loses, then I don't think he'd be forgiving, either!"
"Yeah, right!" The white-haired girl laughed. "If he loses?! Well then, I'm... wait... if he loses, then... hang on- oh. Oh crap. Huh, that's... not great, is it..." The cheer suddenly left her body as the reality of the situation began to sink in. Awkwardly, Vex glanced down. There were ten, maybe twelve or more, armed creatures running around fulfilling her demands and cleaning up her messes just inside the manor itself. Her face began to sweat as she looked at one of the shinobi to her far-right, which was currently occupied chopping a log up into a statue resembling her image. The blade glided across the wooden statue effortlessly until it got to the head, which the creature accidentally cleaved off in one smooth sweep. Those were real swords, all right. They were, undeniably, actual blades. Perfect for dealing with undeniably real traitors. She gulped.
"Hey, Yuji?!" The girl shouted in a much less calm tone than before. "I think I might be in trouble! But you're going to get me out of this, right?!"
The boy held his hand to his chin. Good question... was there even anything they could do about this? Maybe if they snuck away, they could find somewhere to hide?
Before he could answer, Rita suddenly tugged on his sleeve, pointing at a nearby window as she did so. "Yuji, what's that?!"
As soon as he looked up, some form of plant-like ninja dressed in white swung through a window on the far side of the room before landing on the second floor's walkway! His face was covered, but each arm and leg was made of a spring-like vine appendage. Each one of which ended in limbs gripping four massive Shuriken, with another giant shuriken strapped to his back. Even without Lopmon, the identity of this Digimon was clear to the children. This was Shurimon.
The plant monster looked down on the newcomers before him. "Sorry, humans, but I already have a partner. After I defeat Musyamon, having other Champion Digimon who can evolve will just be a threat to my own reign, after all."
"Champion...?" Yuji repeated.
A hearty laugh escaped Shurimon. "It's simply the course of things! Do you believe one such as that Lopmon with you is on my level? Absurd! Ridiculous! Champions like myself and these Ninjamon are fully combat-capable! Anything below that is barely even a threat." The rabbit clenched its fists at the comment before Shurimon continued. "Listen, human. This world belongs to us Digimon. Only the best and most pure-hearted of your kind are meant to serve us, and only the strongest of ours may be fit to rule! THAT is the way of this world! Anything else defies existence!"
Another voice rang out. "That's rich coming from a low-life like you."
Everyone turned to see a Black Gatomon standing on the pile of objects next to Vex. "Yeah, sorry, you're trash. Call them like I see them." The cat continued before looking at the girl. "Right, here's your rock by the way." It said before forcing a black stone in her hand. "I would have given it to you sooner, but it's just really funny to see a human ordering things around, right? Welp, here's your evil Digivice for your dark soul or whatever. I suggest you pick a partner ASAPossible."
The stone quickly morphed into a black Digivice similar to the ones Yuji and Rita had obtained. Then, Vex slowly glanced back to Shurimon in confusion. An awkward smile crossed her face. "Uhh... this isn't going to be a problem, right...?"
Despite wearing a mask, Shurimon was visibly furious. He looked down at Vex. Then back to BlackGatomon. Then down further to Yuji, Rita, and Lopmon, before turning his gaze back to Vex. "You." He said, pointing at the girl with his right arm's shuriken. "Execution by beheading. One hour. Throw this black-hearted scum in a cell until then."
"Wha-" Rita uttered at the sudden decision. "B-but-! You can't-!"
"YOU two!" The plant shinobi yelled, motioning to the other humans. "You shall be imprisoned! Decide to serve me, and I'll let you live. Refuse, and your executions shall be scheduled next. My decision is final! Be grateful for whatever time you may have remaining..."