Digimon: Digital Monsters

The Clockwork Alchemist

Chapter Five: Checkmate

"So, where do you think we should start looking first?" Davis asked, shading his eyes as he glanced up at the noon-day sun. It was a nice day, not too warm or cold, and he was glad to be outside. The Digital World seemed to be in a particularly good mood, as if welcoming them back with the brightest array of colors and lights it could muster. All of this seemed lost on Veemon, however, as he was currently nosing through Davis's bag in search of something to eat. This was regardless of the fact that they'd just eaten not an hour before.

"Maybe we should start asking around," Sora suggested. "I'm sure the local Digimon might have seen someone or noticed if anything strange were going on."

"Right, and I think we should split up; we'll cover more ground that way," Tai said.

"Good idea," Davis said enthusiastically, moving to stand next to Kari. "How about we team up with whoever's on our right?"

"Great. Me, Joe and Sora'll take the Western region; Izzy, Matt, and Mimi will go South; Ken, T.K. and Kari can search up North; and Davis, Yolei, and Cody will check the East," Tai said, divvying them all up quickly. "Is that alright?"

They all nodded affirmatively while Davis stood with his mouth hanging open in surprise and not a little disappointment, not having realized that while Kari was on his right, he'd been on Yolei's.

"Hold on, I think Joe and I should switch teams," Matt cut in quickly, careful not to cast a glance Sora's way. "Gomamon works best in water, so he ought to be near the Southern beach, right?"

Tai pretended to consider, inwardly fuming. But Matt had a point, and he didn't see a way to argue against it without sounding ridiculous. Damn. He'd been hoping to get Sora away from the musician and have her for himself awhile.

"Yeah, that's alright," he agreed—grudgingly—his manner casual, as if he didn't care one way or another; though he didn't miss the gleam of triumph in Matt's eyes.

"You know, I think I ought to go North with Ken and Kari," Davis interjected desperately. "'Cause, you know…Veemon breathes fire, and could…uh…melt the ice…"

"Davis, I'm cold-blooded!" Veemon objected.

"Nice try, but no," T.K. smirked, knowing exactly what the goggle-head was after. Davis scowled and stuck his hands in his pockets, defeated. "So, are we all decided, then?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, let's go!"

The DigiDestined turned in their respective directions, Digimon Digivolved, and they were on their way across the plain. Matt glanced up towards Sora, nestled comfortably in one of Birdramon's talons, and smiled to himself. Catching Tai's eye, that smile turned to a grin, one their unnofficial leader returned with just as much challenge in his eyes. This was going to be fun.

.xXx.

"Look, mommy, look what I made!" little Rosemerry cried triumphantly, showing her mother the miniature steel rocking horse she'd transmuted. Bethany Elric looked up from the laundry and stared in surprise at the figure in her seven-year-old's hands, and then at the large grin on Romy's face.

"You made this?" she asked.

"I made one, too, see?" Walter, Romy's twin brother, said excitedly. "Mine's a dog."

Bethany bent down to examine her children's creations, noting that even though they were a bit rough around the edges, they were still quite an achievement for the two at such a young age. "I think they're both wonderful!" she said with conviction, earning a happy smile from the twins. "But where did you learn to do alchemy? Did your father teach you?"

Romy made a face and shook her head. "How can he, when he's never home?"

"Rosemerry, you know he has work."

"Well, he didn't teach us, we learned on our own!" Romy went on, and beamed proudly.

"I see," Bethany said, hiding a grin. "So you snuck into his study without permission again. I wondered what that huge mess was the other day…"

"Did we do something bad?" Walter asked anxiously.

"No, of course I'm not!" Bethany cried, laughing. "I'm very proud of you two. I'm going to brag to everyone I know about this."

Romy and Walter shot each other overjoyed looks and cheered, hugging Bethany around the waist. And that was all it took—just a few words of their mother's praise—for the twins to dive headfirst into the science that was alchemy.

"Go on, scoot now! I have the laundry to finish and supper to put on the table!" Bethany said, still chuckling as she shooed them away.

"Come on, Wally, let's go show Valery!" Romy said brightly. Walter nodded in agreement and they scampered off down the old country road towards their friend's house. Bethany shook her head in amazement and watched them for a moment before sweeping her gaze out over the gorgeous green landscape that was Resembool. Then she turned back to the laundry, thinking she would finish and get dinner ready in time for her husband to come home.

.xXx.

"I can't believe this," Romy groused, scowling in frustrated annoyance. "Why did you have to pick the short straw?"

"Believe me I didn't do it on purpose…" Wizardmon retorted, albeit a little crossly. "The least you could do is make the best of it and stop complaining."

"I wouldn't have so much to complain about if you weren't such a fatalistic stick-in-the-mud…" she muttered, kicking ill-temperedly at a loose rock in her path and sending it skittering off down the road. After Wizardmon's shoulder was bandaged, they'd immediately set off for Primary Village, though as of yet neither was too happy about it.

"I am not fatalistic," the wizard defended. "I just happen to know a lot more about these things than you do. It doesn't matter what you say, you're a DigiDestined whether you like it or not and as such you have a duty to fulfill."

"Why are you still harping on about that?" Romy sighed. "My answer is still no, and you won't make me change it. So drop it already. I just want to get to Gennai's and go home."

"What if he can't send you back?" Wizardmon asked. "What will you do then? You'll have been wasting your time, and by then it could be too late."

"I'll think about that when I get there, if it happens at all," she said firmly. "So…what's in Primary Village?"

He knew she was changing the subject, but decided to let it slide. He wasn't quite ready to give it up, but he was patient and could wait for as long as it took to bring her around.

"Hopefully, your partner," he said. It was a perfectly civil answer, but Romy caught his meaning: My chance to dump you on someone else, thank god.

"You've already said that. What else?" Which meant: Quit repeating yourself, you annoying little prick.

"It's where all Digimon start out, as babies. There's their guardian, as well, but you shouldn't have much trouble with him." Translation: You act like such a spoiled brat already so he'll probably mistake you for one of his own.

"You on good terms with him?" she asked, but what she really said was: Like you?

"I don't pass that way often, but he knows me well enough," Wizardmon replied. "He's very protective, though, so I suggest you be on your best behavior."

The meaning of this was so obvious subtitles would have been redundant. Even if it wasn't, the subtle under current of disdain in his voice was enough to tip her off on the insult to her maturity. Romy looked skyward, repressing the urge to smack him. "Don't worry about me, as long as he's a reasonable gent I'll get along with him just fine." This could roughly be interpreted as: You are anything but reasonable, which is probably why I don't like you. On top of that you're an arrogant, single-minded, overly righteous, scruffy, fatalistic git and I can't wait to get rid of you.

Who's scruffy? Wizardmon thought indignantly, running a self-conscious hand over his attire. So he wasn't the most glamorous Digimon out there. So what? He liked to think he didn't care about appearances—that wasn't exactly what wizards were about, after all…but still. She didn't have to be mean about it.

"I'm sure you will," he replied flatly, and she smirked. This time it was he who changed the subject. "So, tell me, what is it that you have to do?"

"Pardon?"

"You said you had something important to do back where you come from," he clarified. "What was it?"

Abruptly, he felt her mood shift. She had been a little vexed with him before, but he'd sensed that in some way she had enjoyed their verbal sparring. But suddenly something was wrong and her mind closed off before he could figure out what it was.

"More important than this," she answered bitingly.

"Hey, this is my world you're talking about," he bristled, a little more forcefully than he'd intended, and moved to block her path. "I don't know what it is that's so important to you, but this is important, too. My home is in danger, as are all those that live here, many of which are friends I could lose. If you don't want to fight for it, fine, but don't you dare pass it off as nothing!"

"If you're so worried about your precious Digital World, then what are you doing hanging around here?" she retorted, scathing. "If you want to protect it so much, go do it yourself."

"The only reason I'm not long gone is because I'm helping you!"

"Hey, don't do me any favors. Besides, it's not like I'm twisting your arm," Romy sneered. "If you want to go, then by all means, get lost. It'll be the greatest help yet."

"How can you be such an insufferable brat?" he demanded

"How can you be such a pompous runt?" she hurled back.

"That's it!" the wizard barked. "That's it. I've had enough. You want to get to Primary Village you can find it on your own. Good luck."

And with that he whirled away and flew off, leaving Romy standing alone on the road.

"Good riddance!" she shouted after him before turning on her heel and marching off in the opposite direction.

Unnoticed by either of them was the couple perched in the canopy of a nearby tree, watching silently. These two were brothers, and Roachmon, which could only mean they were nasty pieces of work.

"Come on, let's go tell the boss," the first muttered, his antennae twitching as he shot a look at his brother, who nodded. With a buzz of wings, they took to the sky and were gone. Getting that strange feeling of being watched, Romy scowled in the direction they'd flown, but when she didn't see anything she dismissed it and continued on.

.xXx.

"She is alone?"

"Yes, boss," the older Roach brother replied, keeping his head down. "She and Wizardmon separated, and the girl went on for Primary Village alone."

"So she survived…"

"Sir?"

"Bring me KnightChessmon," the Black Beast ordered, shaking his great head. "Perhaps they will be of more use."

"Yes, sir," Roachmon said as he backed out of the chamber, and hurried off to find the requested Digimon waiting for him outside. The Knight nodded silently as he approached and cantered inside before he could say anything. Roachmon watched him disappear into the gloom, then shook himself and buzzed off, glad to be away.

In the cavern, the chess D'mon waited in the dark for his master to show himself. Naturally, he was modeled after the knights in a chessboard, though he more resembled a centaur than anything else. Completely black in color, he sported an immense lance and wore chivalry like a cape.

"You know of the Prophecy concerning the child," the Beast said.

"Yes, sir," he answered.

"Then you know what must be done."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Take her out. Use any means necessary."

"As you wish."

.xXx.

Rosemerry trudged along the road, hands shoved in her pockets, kicking at anything that appeared in her path: rocks, sticks, empty soda cans, clumps of dirt…

"Back up," she said, stopping in her tracks and snapping her head around to stare at the can she'd just stomped on, then up at the vending machine sitting out in the middle of nowhere by the side of a deserted road.

"This place just gets weirder and weirder," she muttered, walking up to the thing and eyeing the beverages inside with a greedy eye. Come to think of it, she was rather thirsty, and when was the last time she'd had a decent meal? The problem was she didn't have any money. Surreptitiously, she looked around. Well, there was no one to be seen, and the machine didn't look like it belonged to anyone. It was by the road, after all, so there was a good possibility it had been dumped by someone. So nobody would mind if she took a drink, right? Right.

Grinning, Romy clapped her hands and opened a hole in the machine big enough to reach in and grab something cold. Another clap and the hole disappeared completely. There, no one would ever even notice.

"You shouldn't take what doesn't belong to you," said a cold voice directly behind her.

So much for going unnoticed. Turning casually, Romy found herself faced with a strange sight. She had always liked fairy tales, so she knew a centaur when she saw one, but this one was decidedly not flesh and blood. It was crafted from some sort of steel, all black, and carrying the biggest lance she'd ever laid eyes on.

"Come on, you wouldn't refuse a girl dying of dehydration a drink, would you?" she said reasonably, popping the top and taking a swig, just to be impertinent.

"You should pay for it."

"Sorry, but I'm broke."

"Not yet, you aren't," the centaur replied, and without warning he charged forward, lance directed straight for Romy's chest. She ducked and rolled away, just as the lance punched through the vending machine and out the other side. Setting his fore-hoof against it, he wrenched his weapon out and turned to face her.

"Too slow!" she jeered, clapping her hands and pressing them to the ground. Hands shot up out of the earth and made a grab for the centaur's legs, but he reared and leapt away, swinging the lance. She jumped straight up in the air, the spear passing just under her toes as she swung her foot into the Digimon's face. He yelped and staggered back a little, more surprised than hurt.

They squared off again, sizing each other up, ready move at the slightest provocation.

"You're good, I'll give you that," the Digimon acknowledged. "There's never been a human that could stand up to me. Not without help."

"You attack little girls without reason often, do you?" she shot back.

"No, there is a reason," he replied, charging her again. She flipped back, clapping in midair and landing on her hands. A wall erupted out of the ground and the centaur crashed into it, hard, unable to stop himself in time.

"Mind filling me in?" Romy asked, perching herself up on the barrier she'd transmuted and grinning down at him. The Digimon stabbed at her, the point whooshing past her ear as she dodged out of the way. Another clap and she grabbed the weapon, splitting it right down the middle as her alchemy traveled along the length of it like red lightning. He dropped it quickly and whipped around, his hind feet swinging out like pistons to smash into Romy's wall like twin titanium battering rams. Romy gasped as her barricade was kicked out from under her feet, and then abruptly something shoved her to the ground so hard her lungs nearly collapsed they'd been emptied so fast.

"There is a prophecy foretelling a great war to come."

"Yeah, so?" she coughed, glaring up at the Digimon pinning her.

"You are involved."

"You believe all that?" she snorted. "What is it with you things and destinies?"

"The prediction was made by the oracle Delphimon," the centaur replied stoically. "They are never wrong."

"The way I hear it, prophecies are pretty tricky things," Romy said. "They tend to get misinterpreted. You sure you got the right person?"

The centaur faltered a moment, thinking that over. He'd never considered it before, and supposed it might be possible. But suddenly something shot up out of the ground and slammed into his stomach, throwing him down before he could react. Gasping, he tried to stagger to his feet, when the iron cage surged up and shut him in from all sides.

"How…?" he asked, staring at the blunt lance jutting from the ground in astonishment. "Your hands…you didn't clap."

"I don't always need to clap to transmute something," Romy grinned, and he noticed the little diagram she'd drawn into the dirt while he'd been distracted. "It's called a transmutation circle. Now that I've won, how about you tell me who sent you?"

"You fight well, little one," the centaur said, sounding genuinely impressed. "But I cannot tell you that."

"I don't think you have a choice in the matter," she growled threateningly, and touched the bars of his make-shift prison. At once the entire cage began shrinking all around him, pressing in hard. "Now tell me."

"I would, lass," he replied, forced to duck his head and crouch uncomfortably. "But you haven't won, yet."

Romy stared at him wordlessly, her smile fading as she realized what he meant. She'd just whirled around and barely managed to keep from being impaled; instead the lance caught her at a glancing blow and ripped through her side before hurling her sideways into a tree. Hard. She collapsed instantly and crumpled to the ground in shock as the second centaur tore her cage apart, freeing his partner.

"Sorry, but we KnightChessmon travel in herds," he informed her. Dazedly, she lifted her head and saw that this one, besides being white, looked exactly like the first.

"I'll remember that next time," she panted, bleeding heavily and supporting her weight against the tree as she shakily tried to get up, only to—literally—come face to face with the business end of the centaur's lance.

"There won't be a next time," he said, pulling back and leveling the weapon at her chest. "But I will allow you a moment to pray before you die."

To be continued…

Disclaimer: Digimon and all concepts relating to Fullmetal Alchemist belong to their respective creators.

Hooray, chapter five is finally done! And it's a cliffhanger! Woot! It was really long, though, wasn't it? A lot of stuff happened. But I hope you enjoyed it, and that I kept in character. A pissed off Wizardmon's hard to pull off—it's difficult to picture him upset, and there isn't much of anything I can reference since I don't remember him ever really getting angry in the anime. Sure, he was righteously angry at the vampire-dude (that guy has too many damn names: Myotismon, Malomyotismon, Venommyotismon. I wish he'd just make up his mind, already) but that isn't the same thing. Ah well.

Sorry there wasn't more of Tai and the others. But they'll get more active roles soon, I promise, once they meet up with Romy. And you can be sure everything will hit the fan when they do. Also, more on Romy's past will be coming up, too.

Keep sending me your lovely reviews! They make the world go 'round, you know.

Signing off,

Calfuray