71
Relocation
"There were gates to be passed, and strange dimensions to traverse. And so [he] moved through awful abysses of pulsing, fearful darkness…" – Henry Kuttner, "Hydra"
Anubimon was dragged along as the Dark Man went about his business, effortlessly slicing open space-time so that the two of them could step from the temple in the desert to a large cavern where the division of Cyclomon waited. Then another incision was made in reality, allowing the Cyclomon access to File Island and the Village of Beginnings. Anubimon expected that the Dark Man's next step would be to return to where Sato was, but instead he opened a portal to a place that Anubimon did not immediately recognize.
It turned out to be a forest. The trees grew thickly together, so that it was dark in spite of the day's sunlight. A faint, cold wind was blowing, carrying with it the smell of wet plant life. Anubimon had lost sight of the Dark Man, and at first he couldn't find him in the deep shadow. Then he picked out the subdued sparkle of the Dark Man's eyes, and a moment later he could make out the outlines of the body, leaning against a thick tree trunk.
"Did I just waste my time, Anubimon?" the Dark Man asked.
"I don't know what you mean," the Digimon answered evenly.
"Yes you do."
Anubimon waited for the question to be repeated, but instead the Dark Man only flashed his smile and started on what seemed to Anubimon to be an unrelated topic.
"Amusingly," the Dark Man said, "it is Sato's caution that leaves his plans vulnerable. He's decided to take one risk in order to avoid another. I hope he'll succeed, but the outcome is certainly in doubt. Well, we'll just wait and see, won't we?"
The Dark Man raised his hand in a gesture Anubimon recognized as the motion used to open a new gate. Before the Dark Man could finish creating the portal, however, Anubimon interrupted with a question of his own.
"Why did you need me?"
The Dark Man stopped. Anubimon half expected to be reprimanded, but instead the Dark Man just smiled and waited for him to continue.
"You can open gates between worlds on your own. You could have brought the towers of darkness to the Digital World without having to use my power. You could have left me in peace."
"I could have," the Dark Man answered. "Of course I could have. But it wouldn't be very fun, would it? Bringing the Dark Towers into this world is a full-time job, especially at the rate those children go through them. I have more important things to do."
He waved his hand, and into the dark coolness of the forest came the heat and brightness of the desert through a newly opened gate. The hole in space expanded, swallowing the Dark Man and Anubimon both before shrinking and closing on the forest, now behind them, like a disembodied mouth.
Anubimon watched the Dark Man step forward to announce his presence to Sato Katsu, who stood nearby over the fallen Chosen Children. As he watched, Anubimon's fear of the Dark One slowly transmuted itself into a hatred the depth of which he had never felt before. Everything he had suffered in recent times had been unnecessary. The Dark One didn't need him. Anubimon had been involved in all of this as a result of simple, pointless cruelty.
With the dawning of his hatred came a realization, one that tied together the things that the Dark One had said back in the forest. The Dark One was not an idealist, or a crusader for evil, as Sato was. It wanted to be entertained. Anubimon and Sato's organization were just sideshows in the carnival of horrors that the Dark One had built for its own amusement. It was a disturbing thought, of course, and yet…yet…
Before he could put what he felt into words, his thoughts were interrupted by the Dark Man's voice.
"So then, Sato-kun. All is ready. I suppose you've given some thought to where you'll relocate?"
"Yes," Sato said. "But I haven't made a decision."
"Then may I make a suggestion?"
Sato nodded.
"We don't know if the Chosen Children with the old Digivice can get to the Digital World. Probably they can't, but they always seem to have another miracle at the ready, don't they?"
Sato made a short, disgusted sound in his throat, but didn't say anything.
"But there's a place that the old Digivices have never opened a gate to."
"Yes," Sato said. "The World of Darkness was my first thought. But it has its own inconveniences, such as finding Digimon that can properly function there."
"You can leave recruiting to me," the Dark Man said, "As you always have."
Sato didn't reply. He gazed for a long time off into the empty distance, his expression unreadable. The Dark Man broke the silence with a chuckle.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"That has nothing to do with it," Sato said, giving the Dark Man a sharp look. "If your recommendation is the Dark World, I have no objections." He let his eyes fall and linger on the bodies of the Chosen Children. "I look forward to sharing it with them."
"We should have gone with them!" Taichi said. "We should have been there to help stop what was happening in the Digital World!"
For a while no one responded. Koshiro was the one to reply, and he knew before he said anything that his opinion would be an unpopular one.
"We had things to do here, to make sure no one else got hurt."
"And how do we do that?" Yamato asked, before Taichi had another outburst. "We don't know where this thing is. All we can do is wait for it to attack again!"
"But that attack could have been on one of our family members," Jou reminded him.
"What's this about family members?" Taichi asked. "Hikari and Takeru are out there right now!"
"Patamon and the rest of the Digimon could be in danger as well," Gabumon added.
"Gennai's allies are on their way to help," Koshiro said.
"But what if they're too late?" Yamato demanded.
"We can still find them," Koshiro said. "No matter where they're moved to in the Digital World, we can track them. The enemy probably doesn't know this. We won't lose them."
"What if they're – what if they're killed?" Taichi asked.
"Well," Sora said in a small voice, keenly aware of how Yamato was feeling, "They wanted everyone alive, didn't they?"
"But… but they could still hurt them," Mimi said. "What if they…"
"I'm going!" Taichi said. "I won't let that happen!"
"But we can't open the gate with our Digivices," Koshiro reminded him.
"We did it once," Yamato said. "On New Year's Eve last year."
"The circumstances were different," Koshiro said, looking increasingly uncomfortable. He knew it must seem as though he was arguing against taking action to save the other Chosen Children.
"What's different?" Yamato asked, raising his voice. "We needed to get there, and we got there! We can do it again."
"Alright," Koshiro said quietly, giving up. He stood aside. Taichi approached the computer and thrust his Digivice out towards it.
"Please!" he said. "Open!"
For a long while there was no reaction. Yamato stepped up with his own Digivice at the ready, and still nothing. The pair's faces darkened.
"We Digimon could go, couldn't we?" Agumon asked.
"And not be able to evolve?" Taichi asked, glaring at him. "It would be pointless." He turned back to the closed Digital Gate. "Come on!" he growled through clenched teeth. Koshiro took a sad glance at the computer, then something caught his eye and he leaned forward for closer inspection.
"What is it, Koshiro?" Yamato asked.
"They're gone…"
"What?"
"On the map. Takeru-san and the others are gone!"
There were exclamations from the others. "What?" "Where are they?" "What happened?"
"Please let me check," Koshiro said, gently moving Taichi and Yamato out of the way. He performed a quick search – a function that he had created and installed after the earthquake that Daisuke's, Miyako's, and Jou's siblings had been involved in. But it came up empty. Unless there was a bug in the program, Daisuke and the rest were no longer in the Digital World.
"They're gone," he repeated incredulously. "I can't find them on the map."
There was a moment of confused silence before everyone started talking at once. Yamato quickly made himself heard above the others.
"What does that mean?"
"The program seems to be working right," Koshiro said, turning away from the screen, "But they aren't in the Digital World anymore."
"But what does that mean?" Taichi asked. "Are they back in the human world?" His eyes widened as an idea struck him, and he pulled out his D-Terminal to send his sister a message.
"We can't say that for certain," Koshiro said, "But that's the most likely explanation."
"So there's a chance," Sora said, shifting her eyes to Taichi as he watched his D-Terminal intently, "That some of them may be safe."
"There's a chance," Jou said, "But it would be weird for them not to let us know that something had happened to Iori."
"I'm afraid Jou-san is right," Koshiro said. "It's most likely that they have all been captured and moved to the human world."
"Then it will be harder to find them," Yamato said, his fists clenched at his sides.
"It's probable," Koshiro said, "that they are somewhere in the city or close to it, wherever the dark Digimon are stationed. Perhaps… ah!" The others looked at him in confusion. "Lilithmon," he told them. "Lilithmon told us that she was preparing something for us, and that she would contact us tonight. There's a possibility that—"
"That she'll lead us right to them," Taichi finished for him. No longer looking at the D-Terminal, his expression was hard and determined. The others were thinking what he was thinking. This was an opportunity to put an end to everything – by defeating Lilithmon, rescuing the other Chosen Children, and finding Chiho's attacker.
But could it really be that easy? Koshiro wondered. The enemy wouldn't run the risk of leading the Chosen directly to them unless they had absolute confidence in winning. It was just as likely— But there Koshiro stopped himself. There was still a possibility of everything turning out fine. He had just said so. He looked at the faces of the others, and as his eyes passed over Yamato, the latter gave a barely perceptible nod. Takeru was no longer here, but they had to keep hope alive.