Chapter Thirteen

The Lucky Chapter

With a bound, the beast raced onto the scene. In shape, it looked like something between a wolf and a grizzly, with a noble posture. Mostly, its shaggy fur was light brown, but on its head and neck it was smoky white. Two white manes hung on its neck, one on either side. One spot on its nose was dark red-brown. Its tail was long, and fanned at the end; there was an elaborate pattern of circles and triangles on the plume, which seemed to have meaning.

Kim and Kisakidramon were startled. The latter flew, ribbon-like, at the apparition. She held her hands parallel to one another. "Soul of Fire," she called. Small flames jumped between her claws, and shortly a fireball erupted below the beast's feet. It dodged at the last second, swerving clumsily.

Kim squinted, as if trying to discern something. Gen peeked over the wolf's head, looking deservedly harried. "What are you doing! We're not the enemies!" he shouted. Kisakidramon double-took, blinking, as Atriamon thundered past her. Her long body was blown into a knot in the wolf's wake.

Bastemon had been creeping up behind Kim, this time looking murderous. She reared to bite her. "Material Barrier!" Atriamon roared. The air flashed, light reflecting for a second off a transparent wall between Bastemon and Kim. Kim spun around to see Bastemon being thrown backwards by the sudden force.

Kisakidramon followed up; her wings burned black for a moment, as she executed "Soul of Ice!"So quick you'd think it was a time lapse, unmelting ice formed around Bastemon, even as the cat woman tried to get to her feet. Atriamon ran to the enemy Digimon and spun, his heavy tail smashing through the ice. Even as Kim and Kisakidramon prepared to attack again, Bastemon shattered.

As befit such a deceptively beautiful Digimon, her data spiraled apart, reminiscent of a dance. A few pieces glittered especially bright. Were they happy memories, Kim wondered? She could only wonder… at least for now.

But, though her data dispersed, Bastemon didn't disappear. Beneath the large cat was a smaller body, small being a relative term, as it looked like an adult human. Before Kim could get a good look at it, though, Puppetmon appeared from nowhere in front of it, arms held out. The strings quickly wove themselves in to a curtain, totally concealing the figure from view.

Kim pulled the card she'd had ready through her Digivice. "Digimodify! Offense Plugin A, Activate!"

"Soul of Fire!" Kisakidramon attacked, not missing a beat. The fire attack was amped up by the card's data, exploding into a column of flame. Like before, it created no smoke. Atriamon scampered out of the way.

When the fire died down, Puppetmon was still standing, unharmed. It smirked. A clicking sound came from behind the curtain, and it began to fade. Puppetmon, and whoever it was protecting, appeared as transparent sketches for a second, before even those disappeared, as if drawn in reverse.

Kim wiped her brow and sighed. Kisakidramon clenched her fist. "Those teleporting cowards… Censored!"

Giggling, Kim half-hugged Kisakidramon. "Why'd you say 'censored' instead of cursing?" she couldn't help asking.

"You're saying 'censored' isn't a curse?" Kisakidramon gasped earnestly, making Kim laugh harder.

She covered her mouth. "Hehe… it must be cultural." If I had died back there, Kim thought jokingly, I never would have gotten to laugh at that. Deep down, though, she wasn't really joking.

Gen slid off of Atriamon's back. His heart was pounding, from the battle and from the jarring ride. He didn't know how Kim could act so lightly after all that.

Kim slapped him on the back. "Did I mention what a lovely pose you were in back there?" she teased, grinning cheerfully.

Gen grimaced. "I wasn't posing. … I had trouble…"

"Whatever," Kim chuckled.

Gen reached into his pocket and pulled out Kim's goggles, which he had retrieved from the river, handing them back to her. "Puppetmon used this to tell us you were dead," he explained laboriously. The sentence gave him trouble- it wasn't the sort of topic covered in a typical English lesson.

Kim's hands shot to her forehead. She felt around, and found nothing but hair. Her jaw dropped. "Oh my gosh, when could it have taken them?" she exclaimed.

"Showoff," Kisakidramon grunted, arms crossed.

"It must have thought we were friends," added Gen.

Kim froze. She looked sadly at the boy. "…Aren't we?" she asked quietly.

Gen shook his head, though he kept his expression gentle. "We don't… We aren't friends yet."

For a moment, Kim looked disappointed, but it passed. She pulled her goggles back on, not realizing the way they pulled her stiff hair down, making it look even sillier. "Well, let's go to my place! We have so much to do- the gate's on the internet, and who knows what else we'll learn!" She began marching home.

They talked on the way. Kisakidramon told Gen everything she'd told Kim, and Gen, in turn, filled the girls in on what had happened to him and Atriamon. At first, Atriamon was shy. But, after listening to the others talk for awhile, he started asking questions of his own.

Kisakidramon was shocked at Atriamon's ignorance when it came to the Digital World. It took the wolf Digimon awhile to explain the place where he had grown up. "It's like… a river," he used the first simile that came to mind. "On either side is a bank, but in between those banks, there's always a river. Things on one bank can't get to the other. Except, on a river, you can see the other bank…" he looked down.

"Go on," Kim urged.

Atriamon cleared his throat. "…It's not like a river at all, really. It's the world that all the gates connect to, really. I don't know if it existed before the Digital World was created. Only one… being ever lived there. It protects the Sunset World, throwing out any creature that enters. That's why it started calling itself the Gatekeeper. The transfer happens so quickly, most people don't even realize they've been there."

Gen nodded. "But why would gates only connect to that world? It doesn't make sense for them to all lead to the same place."

"They just do." Atriamon shrugged.

"What's it like there?" Kim asked.

Atriamon's eyes misted over in reminiscence. "There's an ocean- that's like a river, only so big you can't see the other side," he wasn't sure if this world had oceans, "Trees grow near the shore, where there's sand- like dirt, but white and hard."

"Yeah yeah, we have all that stuff too," said Kisakidramon with disdain.

Atriamon cringed. "Sorry, I couldn't have known. …Where was I? Well, the world is so big I haven't seen all of it. Actually… I think I've barely seen any of it. But the sky is filled with all colors- it's not like that in the Digital World, is it, Kisakidramon? - and everything looks so much more real that way."

Kim applauded. "The days are getting longer, so we might have to wait awhile to see a sunset. But I'll have to show you."

Atriamon paused. "I can't wait," he finally said, smiling.

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Raul "Bloody Angel" Woolf was in a bind. He was expertly hog-tied, and packed into a suffocating burlap bag, reinforced with felt. No more than three inches separated his myriad wounds. His handgun was in the pocket of the Snake goon who had done all this to him. Unlike the dope last time, this guy was no amateur; he'd even taken Raul's boots, and the concealed knife along with them. The guy had definitely found the one in his sleeve. All of Raul's braids had been untied, yielding a pack of matches, a swiss army knife, and a vial of arsenic- the Snakes must have seen that trick before. And, showing admirable determination, the poison darts had been found and removed from the pocket sewn into the inside of his underwear.

Fortunately, there was still one hiding place that insightful man hadn't thought of. Raul jerked his shoulder so that it rubbed against the wire around his neck. The wires tightened painfully around his hands and feet, but, steadily, the rubber skin on that shoulder peeled off. Raul prayed that the Snake was still far from his destination.

The knife hidden beneath the rubber slid off. Turning his head, the wires cut into his real skin. He tried to nudge the knife into his hands. The Snake slammed the bag into a wall, before continuing walking. "Stop fidgeting," he shouted.

At last, the knife landed in Raul's hand. He started to cut the wire running between his neck and ankles, though it required a bit of a stretch. After what seemed like hours, it snapped. Almost happy to be free of that uncomfortable position, Raul shifted so as to be more comfortable, though not enough to make the Snake suspicious. "Stop fidgeting," the Snake repeated. "We're almost there." He sounded triumphant.

Hastily now, Raul worked at the cords around his wrists. He had to do this by clamping the knife between his knees and rubbing the cords against it. The knife slipped once, cutting the side of his hand. Soon after, though, a wire snapped, and the tie loosened enough to pull apart.

Just then, the bag containing Raul was thrown to the ground. He couldn't hear anything through the felt, so he held still. The bag was opened. Raul jumped out, ignoring the spasms of pain the sudden movement caused. He swung one fist to his right, in case anyone was standing there, while his left hand, holding the knife, stabbed through the bottom of the jaw of the Snake who had captured him. The man collapsed, and Raul dropped the knife. He grabbed his gun back and rolled; a shot from across the room missed him by an inch, shooting the dead man instead.

A soft, irregular hissing sound filled the air. Raul spied a third man lifting a shotgun. He fired wildly, getting lucky and blowing right through the man's knee. He howled and doubled over, dropping the shotgun. A bullet blew through Raul's ribcage, barely missing his heart. Though, from the pain, it might have been a direct hit. Raul didn't scream, but only because his lung had been popped. His knees buckled, his entire body hurt so much it felt numb.

Raul's vision blurred. Everything looked black. He didn't notice hitting the ground, and had no clue what happened after his being shot- but somehow, he still felt conscious. In the midst of the blackness, then, a light began to gather. It began dim, distant, as every color of the rainbow, but as it focused and intensified grew blazing white. The light was soon on top of him, filling his sight, and he thought, Oh boy, I'm dead.

When Raul awoke, the room was dark. It was a tiny room, with unadorned concrete walls, and a single broken light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Caked blood was all over him, and he lay on the empty burlap bag. The body of a Snake member was a grotesque cushion. Carefully, dazedly, Raul stood up. He was surprised he didn't hurt, and began to feel around for injuries. He was even more surprised to find none- so surprised, he felt sick.

In the middle of the floor, surrounded by a short railing, was a ten foot deep pit, filled with snakes upon snakes. It was the Snake gang's infamous pit. The live snakes seemed to have calmed down, and were no longer hissing. The men who had called themselves snakes lay where they had fallen. Both of them bore tattoos of black snakes. The man who had shot Raul was gone.

Eerily, the two dead men's eyes had been closed, and the blood wiped off their faces. Their arms were folded serenely over their chests.

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