12
Catfight
"Belfries that buckle against the moon totter,
Caverns whose mouths are by mosses effac'd,
And living to answer the wind and the water,
Only the lean cats that howl in the wastes."
– H. P. Lovecraft, "The Cats"
Holsmon remained frozen, not taking his eyes off Miyako and the Witchmon that held her. By the sound of it, three other enemies had been lying in wait in the not-so-abandoned buildings behind him. They stood around him now, but did not attack.
"What are you doing?" Holsmon asked, his voice low.
"We don't want your friends knowing about the surprise party, so we'll wait until Bastemon takes care of them before we finish you," said the Witchmon before him.
"Hikari-chan," Miyako breathed, only to feel the Witchmon's grip tighten. Would she be able to kill me before Holsmon could save me? she wondered. Miyako was afraid, of course, but the fear was somewhat overcome by her anger. She had always had a volatile temper, and it served her well at times. Once it had led her to attack a LadyDevimon with a skateboard. Ironically, what had set her off was LadyDevimon's use of a human shield. A chance will come, she thought, irrationally, but with conviction. I just have to know when to take it.
"Nile Jewelry!"
Bastemon sprang into the air and Nefertimon's projectiles slammed harmlessly into a dilapidated building, knocking large holes in the wall. The cat woman landed on the roof of the building and stood there looking down at them.
"You'll need to do better," she said, yawning. Hikari was looking up at her sternly, but Nefertimon's attention was fixed on the wall she had destroyed.
"Hikari," Nefertimon whispered, "we can break through to Holsmon and Miyako. Follow me."
"What are you mumbling about down there?" Bastemon asked, annoyance in her voice. In answer, Nefertimon charged forward, straight through the damaged wall. Hikari followed as quickly as she could, passing into the darkness of the building. Up on her perch, Bastemon blinked, surprised, then realized what their goal must be and turned towards the place where the Witchmon waited. She rushed forward and began to leap from rooftop to rooftop. Those brats would not outsmart her, oh no.
Nefertimon looked back over her shoulder to make sure Bastemon had not followed. There was no sign of the Perfect-level Digimon yet, but surely she would not be long in following. Nefertimon then faced in the general direction they had come. Hikari stood beside her partner, a hand resting on the Digimon's back. The scars made by Bastemon's claws were gone, but Nefertimon was by no means fully recovered. The Digimon's breathing was ragged.
"What are we going to do?" the girl asked, glancing at the Nefertimon-sized hole in the wall. Just as she finished speaking, they heard the patter of feet on the roof above them. Bastemon was headed back towards the church.
"Hikari, get on!" Nefertimon cried. Hikari understood. Bastemon was heading towards the others, and they needed to be there first. She climbed atop her partner. "Hang on. Curse of Queen!" Pink light shot from the Digimon's headdress, effortlessly burning through the walls ahead of them. Nefertimon sped forward, and it took all of Hikari's strength to successfully cling to her position. Through building after rotting building they charged, the walls melting ahead of them, Hikari ducking to avoid the worst of the debris as they passed.
Suddenly a wall gave way and the one behind it did not burn. This wall was black. Nefertimon slid to a halt, narrowly avoiding crashing headlong into the object. Hikari had closed her eyes in expectancy of the collision. Upon opening them when the collision failed to occur, she saw clearly what they had almost run into.
"A Dark Tower." But this tower was much shorter than those they were used to seeing. Unless… Her keen eyes looked to where the tower's ebony surface met the floor. There was a barely perceptible crack between the tower and the floorboards. Part of it had been buried underground. No wonder they had not noticed anything from the air.
"Rosetta Stone!" The heavy slab struck the tower and broke through where the Curse of Queen had failed. The structure crumbled, and the two of them started forward again.
In the open court the tableau held until that first crash as the Dark Tower fell. The Witchmon, who had been getting jumpy as they waited by the silent Holsmon, all turned their heads to look in the direction the sound had come from. The Witchmon holding Miyako started, and the girl had her chance. She drove her elbow backwards, into the witch's gut. Her captor grunted as the wind was forced out of Witchmon's stomach. Miyako stumbled a little, but managed to get clear, leaving Holsmon with a direct line to the enemy.
"Udjat Gaze!"
The witch looked up in time to witness the attack, briefly flashed orange, and stood staring incredulously forward, hypnotized into immobility. The other Witchmon recovered and started toward Miyako, but in no time Holsmon was between them and the girl.
"Climb on," he said, and once she had a good grip he took to the skies. The Witchmon held up their open hands, and broomsticks materialized in their palms. They mounted and began to ascend. Holsmon meanwhile had alighted on a nearby rooftop. "Stay here," he said. "I'll take care of them."
"You can do it, Holsmon." Miyako said, jumping onto the flat roof. He leaped back into the air, and saw the Witchmon level with him. They raised their hands simultaneously.
"Baluluna Gale!"
But Holsmon had foreseen this, and was prepared to unleash a gale of his own.
"Tempest Wing!" He began to spin, gathering tornado-force winds around his body. The waves of wind the witches had flung towards him were caught up in the whirlwind, only adding to his attack's power. The Witchmon saw and tried to maneuver their brooms out of his way, but he drove forward too quickly, and all three were engulfed. When the winds had cleared, only Holsmon remained, floating tranquilly. He turned to face Miyako.
"It really has started again," she said. Holsmon nodded.
"There was no other way," he said.
Bastemon had almost reached her destination by then, but paused when the noise of the Dark Tower's destruction reached her. It had sounded nearby, and she tried to get an idea of exactly how far her enemies had come. She was ahead, at least. There was nothing to worry about. The Witchmon had the situation in hand, and even if they failed there remained nine other towers, half buried and hidden throughout the town, which would prevent normal evolution.
She started forward again, hopping between buildings until she reached the tall, abandoned church she sought. She leaped upwards and perched on the building's roof behind the steeple. By now she could hear the sounds of the combat raging above the courtyard. She pulled back her lips into a snarl. Those idiots did mess things up. Bastemon looked around the side of the steeple and watched the demise of her compatriots. A second crash from behind indicated the destruction of another Dark Tower, but she paid no attention. Holsmon now hovered below her. With a running jump… yes.
Miyako was the first to see her, a blur of red and gold which launched itself from the church's roof. "Holsmon!"
He turned as quick as he could, only to see the flash of his enemy's claws before they tore into him. Bastemon dropped to the ground, and Holsmon fell with her, landing heavily in the midst of the courtyard. Bastemon touched down like a true cat, uninjured. She looked to her opponent, who was struggling to his feet.
That was when the third explosion sounded, as Nefertimon burst through another Dark Tower and the wall beyond it, and bounded out into the court. Bastemon instinctively jumped upwards, but within the space of a second Nefertimon had spotted her enemy.
"Rosetta Stone!" This time not merely one stone but several in rapid succession shot out of the light emanating from Nefertimon's collar. Already airborne, Bastemon had no chance of dodging them. A couple missed their mark, but one hit, and the hit was solid. The stone shattered from the impact, and Bastemon fell limply to the earth several yards away from where Holsmon now stood, and lay still.
"Where's Miyako?" Hikari wondered.
"Up here, Hikari-chan!" the other girl called from her rooftop. "That was so cool!" She looked to her partner. "How bad are you hurt, Holsmon? Can you still move?"
"Of – of course," he answered.
"We'll keep watch over the enemy," Nefertimon said. "Holsmon, there are Dark Towers hidden in some of these buildings. The town is abandoned."
"So we can level it," he said, finishing the thought. He rose once more into the air, allowing Miyako to mount again.
"Red Sun!" Beams from his eyes began to set the building ablaze. Meanwhile, Bastemon began to stir. She got to one knee and glared murderously at Nefertimon. The white Digimon gazed inscrutably back.
"You should stay here, Hikari," Nefertimon advised. Hikari got reluctantly to the ground while the two still faced each other, unmoving.
"I… will tear you to pieces," Bastemon panted. She raced forward, and the other ran to meet her.