8
Trouble in the West
"Moloch and Ashtaroth were not absent, for in this quintessence of all damnation the bounds of consciousness were let down, and man's fancy lay open to vistas of every realm of horror and every forbidden dimension that evil had power to mold." – H. P. Lovecraft, "The Horror at Red Hook"
Gennai had informed Daisuke and Ken the first day Paildramon evolved to Imperialdramon that their partner's flight speed allowed him to circle the earth in half an hour. Several hundred kilometers was nothing by comparison, but had he flown full speed they were apt to overshoot the Dark Towers by quite some distance. Even keeping to a slower pace, however, the journey was quick, and they arrived at the first of their assigned towers well in advance of the other two groups.
Once Imperialdramon had come within several kilometers of the target area, he began to slow, and not intentionally. The blue light which surrounded Daisuke and Ken began to pale.
"Imperialdramon! Are you okay?" Daisuke yelled over the rushing wind.
"I'm losing strength. It must be the Dark Tower…" The massive Digimon began to sink slowly towards the ground. Eventually the dragon's claws touched down. Daisuke and Ken sat upon his broad back, feeling him quiver beneath them.
"Imperial…dramon…?" Daisuke asked, but received no answer. Ken thought that he understood what was happening.
"I think he's fighting," Ken said. "Trying not to revert to Child level." He was correct, and the battle was a losing one. Within minutes Imperialdramon had dissolved in the golden glow which reshaped itself into V-mon and Wormmon. The humans were deposited as usual on the ground beside them.
"Guess we'll have to walk, Daisuke," V-mon said.
"Yeah." They tried taking stock of their surroundings. They had landed in an open field, but ahead, the way towards which the towers lay, woods grew ever thicker as they approached the horizon. They could also see that it was a hilly area into which they were headed.
What they were unable to see from the field was the great number of deep ditches and ravines which marred the ground. They had wandered through the dense woods for some time, turning back in places and catching no sight of a Dark Tower, when Daisuke decided he had had enough of it.
"Come on, V-mon. We can use Fladramon here. Like in that city with all the Guardromon, remember?" V-mon did remember, and was more than ready to try it again.
"Digimental Up!"
"V-mon, Armor-Evolve! … Burning Courage, Fladramon!"
Fladramon took a moment to secure Daisuke with one arm. "We're going to take a look around. Be right back." So saying, he crouched and leapt straight up into the air, keeping his head down so as to protect his eyes as he crashed through the branches above.
That first leap brought Fladramon and Daisuke above the trees, but the tall, domelike hills prevented them from seeing what might lie to the west. Landing about where he had jumped from, Fladramon turned to Ken and Wormmon.
"Can't see any Dark Towers from here. Should we go on?"
"Yes, we'll be fine," Ken assured him. "Daisuke, see if you can find a way for us to get through on foot."
And then the pair was gone again, Fladramon bounding from treetop to treetop as he progressed up the slope of the hill. Ken leaned up against a nearby tree trunk and prepared to wait for their return. Wormmon jumped up into his arms, and for a while the two of them sat there silently.
"Ken-chan?" Wormmon said at last, breaking the silence.
"Mm?"
"Did you dream last night?"
Ken thought for a while, debating. Eventually:
"Yes, I did."
"What did you dream about?" There was another moment of silence.
"I dreamed about you, Wormmon. The time that we spent together. But," his voice trembled slightly, "not about the good times. About the times I – hit you, and – insulted you." Ken pulled his D-3 out of his pocket and examined its black surface. "I didn't deserve you back then, Wormmon. I've spent all this time trying to make up for the terrible things I did. But… I don't know that it will ever be enough."
Wormmon began to speak, to tell his partner that he had done more than enough, to reassure him that the color of his Digivice no longer reflected his soul, when a harsh laugh cut through the silence of the forest.
"I know of only one way for you to pay your debts." The voice was mocking, arrogant. In a moment Ken and Wormmon were on their feet, scanning the green shadows of the woods with their eyes. "Don't you want to hear it?" the voice continued.
"Show yourself!" Ken demanded. The completeness of the forest's silence, broken only by the voices of its occupants, was what saved Ken's life. He heard the click of shoes on the roots of the very tree he had been leaning against, and an odd clicking sound, such as a firearm might make. Someone was behind the tree, and for whatever reason Ken's first reaction to the knowledge was to crouch as low to the ground as possible. No sooner had he done so than the tree appeared to explode from the inside, spraying bark in every direction as bullets shredded it.
"Come on, Ichijouji-chan. If you hadn't moved so quick I might have put an end to all your guilt right away." The smoke from the assailant's weapon began to disperse as the top of the ruined tree fell harmlessly. Ken caught a glimpse of a humanoid figure. Then he had his Digivice in his hand.
"Digimental Up!"
Daisuke and Fladramon were standing atop the hill, looking out at a hilly, wooded landscape, several of the lower hills crowned by Dark Towers, when they heard the shots behind them.
"Ken! We have to get back."
"Hold on," Fladramon said. He propelled himself forward, leaping clear of the trees and dropping to the smoking woods below.
Their attacker had the appearance of an oddly dressed human being if one ignored the vestigial bat wings protruding from his back. A bestial horned mask covered his eyes. "Before I end you, it may interest you to know that I am Astamon, a noble of the Dark World, handpicked to be your welcome today. Now that we're familiar, I think I'll finish this before your buddies get back." The Digimon slid a knife out of his sleeve and charged towards Pucchiemon.
"Love and Fire!" the fairy Digimon cried, swinging his burning, heart-shaped antennae into Astamon's path. The demonic Digimon had expected this, however, and slid beneath the attack, thrusting his spiked shoe out like a piston.
"Maverick!" The kick connected, and Pucchiemon fell backwards, his pudgy stomach ripped open by the spikes. Before Ken could think, Astamon's gloved hands had gripped his shirt collar, and he was pulled aloft. "Let the healing begin," the demon grinned.