62
Twisted Reflections
"'Certainly, there was Noth'g but ye liveliest Awfulness in that which H. rais'd upp from What he cou'd gather onlie a part of.'" – H. P. Lovecraft, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
Takeru knelt on the floor, cradling Patamon. He hadn't been in time to stop his partner from hitting the ground, and the little Digimon lay limp in his arms.
"Patamon! Stay with me! Please, Patamon!"
But it was clear that Patamon was unconscious – the fall had knocked him out – and he made no response. Around the pair of them the Digimon in the machines had largely stopped making any noises other than screams and screeches, partially because of their continuous pain but also out of hope or fear. All at once the sounds of those nearest the partners grew in urgency, and Takeru looked up from Patamon, trying to avoid any sight of the machines on either side, as a shadow fell over him. One of the giant bat creatures was hovering just above the ground, looking down with yellow eyes.
"Patamon. Patamon," it said, sounding like a warped recording of Takeru's voice. Its long, furry tail, tipped like its other appendages with a curved metal sickle, came questing forward from beneath its body, reaching towards the boy's partner.
"No," Takeru said, hunching over to protect his friend, covering as much of Patamon as possible with his own body. The bat-thing hesitated a moment. Takeru remembered someone having said that the enemy didn't want the Chosen Children to be killed. If that was the case, he would just have to make sure that anything that wanted to get at Patamon had to go through him. He stayed curled up, and waited.
The whining of the trapped Digimon rose in pitch. In another moment Takeru felt cold metal graze the back of his hand, delicately making an incision. The pain followed, and he gritted his teeth as blood dribbled out of the wound. Amid the sounds of the tortured Digimon he heard the bat-thing titter. It withdrew its tail, deciding on where to cut next.
Across the room, several of the creatures had their attention focused on Digmon. He was doing his best to keep Iori out of harm's way, but the monsters about had the partners surrounded.
"Gold Rush!"
A couple drills scored hits on their airborne targets, but the bats were agile enough to dodge many of them, and before Digmon could ready his weapons for another attack one of the enemies swooped in from behind, digging its sickle claws into his back. He cried out in pain, and nearly lost his balance. Iori's hands weren't enough to steady him, but his partner's touch gave Digmon the strength he needed to keep from collapsing.
Iori was the one who lost balance as he was suddenly yanked backwards by his shirt collar. One of the bat creatures had grabbed it with its teeth, and pulled Iori from Digmon's side, wrapping its bladed arms about him. Digmon spun around, but in that moment there was no way that he could safely attack.
"Crazy Sonic!"
This time the waves of shrieking sound hit directly. There was a brief, white-hot flash of pain in Digmon's head, and then he had devolved to Armadimon. Iori cried his partner's name, but there was no way to go to the little Digimon's side without being sliced into segments. The bats laughed hysterically. One drew a little closer to Armadimon and kicked him with the sickle at the end of a leg. Armadimon screamed as the force of the blow flipped him onto his back.
"Armadimon…"
Iori was in tears. The thing wrapped about him chuckled shrilly in his ear.
"Don't worry," it said. "We're not going to kill him. There's already a generator picked out especially for him."
At first, as he came to the top of the staircase, Daisuke didn't see Hikari, but whipping his head from side to side he found her some way down the hall, leaning with a hand against the wall for support, facing away from him. Even at a distance he could see she was breathing heavily. Maybe the run up the stairs had winded her.
"Hikari," Tailmon called, coming to the top of the steps and hurrying to her partner's side. As she approached she happened to notice that the black pipes running down the center of the stairs continued on this upper level, leading away down the hall they were in and curving out of sight into another.
"I'm sorry, Tailmon," Hikari said quietly as her friends gathered round her. "And everyone."
"It's alright," Tailmon replied, though Daisuke wasn't sure what Hikari was apologizing for. "Let's go find the others. Maybe if we follow these pipes in the floor we'll reach them."
"Really?" V-mon asked. "How do you know that?"
"I don't," Tailmon answered, turning to him with a slight smile born from the relief of being away from the black room, "But it's the only thing we can see that's different from the rest of this place. They have to lead somewhere."
They lead right to that room, Daisuke thought, irritated again, but he kept it to himself. Hikari merely nodded at her Digimon's logic, and the pair of them started off after the black tubes.
"Are you alright, Daisuke?" V-mon asked, looking up at him.
"Just come on," Daisuke said. "They're leaving us behind."
The group continued on, more quickly than before, following the black piping through halls and rooms. At first everything still seemed abandoned, but as they approached a place where two corridors met the sound of running feet broke the stillness. Tailmon and Hikari picked up the pace, hoping against hope that they had found their friends. But what emerged from the passage ahead was someone they had never seen before, a Digimon.
Even so, the partners found something familiar in the form of the being. It reminded them of their dead friend Wizarmon, but Wizarmon this certainly was not. The clothing was tattered, and predominantly red in color, while the flesh was hideously desiccated as if from terrible burns.
"Finally found them," it said hoarsely, as two others of its kind joined it, blocking the hall.
"Hikari-chan!"
Daisuke caught up and inserted himself between Hikari and the newcomers, while V-mon stopped at Tailmon's side.
"I feel something weird," the little dragon said. "It's like… like the Digimental of Courage."
"Good guess!" the enemy replied. "We are FlaWizarmon, born of the Digimental of Courage to teach you to fear."
"FlaWizarmon?" Hikari repeated, her former uneasiness beginning to develop into anger.
"What do you have to do with the Digimental of Courage?" Daisuke asked, angry already.
"Don't worry about that," one of the other FlaWizarmon said in a husky voice. "You just step back, Chosen Children. We aren't allowed to roast you yet."
"We don't have time for you," Tailmon said venomously, leaping towards the nearest of the three with claws at the ready. Aping both Wizarmon and the Crest of Courage, the double mockeries infuriated her. But with an agility she hadn't expected, her opponent jumped up into the air and shot a foot out, planting a solid kick that knocked her out of the air.
"Daisuke!" V-mon shouted.
"Right," Daisuke answered. "We have the real courage. Digimental Up!"
"V-mon, Armor Evolve! … Burning Courage, Fladramon!"
"Get back, everyone!" Fladramon said, spreading his limbs to take up the span of the hallway.
"Now this will be interesting," said the central FlaWizarmon, as with one movement he and his allies drew from a holster on their belts staves like oversized matchsticks. The ragged tops of their hats began to leap and dance like bonfires.
"Fire Cloud!"
Gouts of flame leapt from the heads of the matches, engulfing Fladramon, but with a growl of exertion he shook it off, slicing it into sparks with his claws.
"Fire is my power! Knuckle Fire!"
There were three fiery projectiles, one for each target. Before they could find their mark, however, the foremost FlaWizarmon snatched up another staff, pointing its blue match head at Tailmon. Instantly the target of Fladramon's attack changed, and the fireballs circled around and launch themselves at Hikari's partner. Fladramon was too surprised to intercept them, and Tailmon was barely quick enough to jump out of the way.
"S-Sorry, Tailmon!" Fladramon cried, his mouth hanging open.
"Your mastery of fire is second-rate," FlaWizarmon sneered.
"Maybe," said Fladramon, recovering quickly. "But then—"
He finished the thought by springing forward, and the first FlaWizarmon's face crumbled into data beneath the crushing impact of his claws. The other two lashed out with their staves, but Fladramon dodged one and parried the other, finishing the maneuver by slicing open another of his opponents.
"Magic Ignition!"
The final FlaWizarmon had pulled his blue-headed staff from its holster, and covered Fladramon in what looked like blue fire, but instead of heat, all Daisuke's partner could feel was his vitality suddenly draining away. The FlaWizarmon's grimace became a smirk as it saw its spell take effect, but—
"Neko Punch!"
The blow caught FlaWizarmon in the side of the head. The match went flying out of his grasp, and all he could do was turn to face Tailmon before being punctured repeatedly by the rapid strikes of her claws.
"Like the others, they aren't as strong as real Armor Digimon," Tailmon said as the enemy disintegrated. "So they're just fakes after all."
"Alright," Daisuke said. His partner devolved to V-mon, but with the return of action he was coming out of his funk. "We must be getting close! Come on, Hikari-chan!"
Hikari nodded. She hoped that Daisuke was right. If they could reunite with their friends, there would be nothing to fear. Together, the Chosen Children could stand against the darkness of the past and present. If she could only hold on…