And the second to last chapter of Don't Trust Me is finished! I hope you guys are as pumped as I am for the finale~but that's coming up a little later! We're almost there, though! Keep on keepin' on!

I know that this took a while to get out, but I've had a lot of issues with this chapter haha. When you don't write Moroamon's character for a while, it's very difficult to get back into her mindset. But after watching the second part of The Hobbit and reading some Frankenstein for school, I got right back into her head :3 But that's just a glimpse into how my brain ticks, haha.

Nevertheless, I won't blab for too long. We've probably got one more actual chapter after this one, and then the epilogue, and then much rejoiching and many tears shall come. So, until then, please read, review, and enjoy!


Chapter 14~

'Meditate,' he says. 'Clear your head.' Might as well tell me to grab the sun and hold it in my hand... I scowled at the truth of my irritated thoughts as I hurried to shift my leg before it cramped. It was slowly becoming irritating and uncomfortable sitting with my legs crossed and tense like this. I'd been trying to 'meditate' here in Davis's room for a few hours now, and I'd been completely unsuccessful. It was a mystery to me how anyone could benefit from this act.

It had been Davis's idea for me to try this, though I supposed that I had to take some of the blame. He and I had talked briefly of my human memories and how I couldn't recall them, and even more briefly about how they could very well benefit me and the others somehow in our upcoming fight. I had been doubtful, and still was at that, but the glimpses that I still remembered from when I'd been at the Ichijouji apartment last had compelled me to agree.

I was regretting that decision greatly now that a cramp had successfully seized one of my quadriceps.

However, it hadn't truly been a bad idea. The problem was simply my overpowered senses, which I rarely if ever thought of as a hindrance. And, as if it wasn't bad enough, the most useful of my senses was causing me the greatest grief: my hearing. It made me feel a little uncomfortable that my favored advantage was now a disadvantage, sort of like how a spider might react if it became unintentionally tangled in its own web.

Normally, my ability to pick up on noises that most others were unable to was a great thing, but now, when I needed to be able to 'clear my head' and focus, it was bothersome. I could hear the people in the next apartment over talking about bills and taxes as if they were directly in front of me; the sounds of water and air seeping through the cracks in the building's foundation sent chills up my spine. The footsteps were the worst though, and they had me looking around to make sure that I was truly alone.

I stood from where I'd been sitting cross-legged on the floor and wandered over to stand before the glass door. It was rather dark outside despite it being a little past noon. I knew in my head that the reason for this was simply the everlasting rain; however, in my fearful heart, I believed that it was a sign, a finger pointing restlessly towards the moment that my and Devimon's fight would occur.

My skin crawled at the thought of it. I rubbed my arms, trying to force away the unnatural chill that those memories of Devimon brought up. Confidence wasn't filling me how I would've liked it to be, but I wasn't totally petrified with fear yet, either. Nevertheless, I wanted to think about him as little as humanly possible until the time came that I could ignore the being no longer. And as of now, that time would be a good two days in the future at the least.

But with all the planning taken care of and with nothing else to figure out about that battle aside from how I was going to get the collar off, I was left with little more to do than think. This fight was something that no one in their right mind would actually want to think about, really, but sometimes it couldn't be helped.

At times like these, with Davis and his family gone, it was much more difficult to keep such thoughts out of my head. The apartment felt barren, becoming more and more like a ghost town as the hours, feeling like years, crept on. I wasn't lonely, but I felt very alone, and I wasn't sure if I liked that right now. Perhaps if it was lighter outside like it should be at midday I wouldn't have minded, but it was as if it was midnight once more.

I sighed and turned halfway about to face Davis's empty bedroom. The brunet would be home soon; I would need only to wait a few more hours. Discomfort chased that thought away, and I decided instead to drop the meditating and go for a wander about town. There would be no DigiDestined-meeting today, and I knew when the humans would be returning, so as long as I was back soon enough no one would worry.

Sliding the glass door open, I took in a deep breath of the wet city air, happy to be rid of the stuffiness of the empty apartment. I stepped out onto the balcony and closed the door securely behind me. My hand slipped from the rain-speckled handle as I turned away to face the widespread city of Odaiba. Taking a step closer to the railing, I felt as if I became one with the scenery, blended into it by the blinding rain.

The buildings appeared as gloomy and soaked as an abandoned puppy sitting in a melting cardboard box. The clouds were lazy and fluffy, but heavy like wet cotton balls. Every now and again the sun would show its bright face, but it hid behind its dark, puffy shield for the most part. The occasional glimmer of blinding sunlight turned the raindrops into gold momentarily as they fell, and it became a very magical scene for those few short seconds. However, I could sense a great storm coming; I could see it rushing toward the city like a raging bull.

However, the storm still had some distance left before it touched Odaiba, and so I continued with my plans. I leapt from the balcony to a building nearby, and then to another near it. My movements were lithe as I hopped from building to building, roof to roof, the slick rain doing nothing to deter me. It was amazing how nice it felt to stretch out my muscles after having been cooped up indoors all day. Such things normally didn't get to me, but for some reason they had today.

I made my way across town by bouncing off of the sides of the edifices and springing onto the rooftops of buildings close to them. Most of the time I touched down right at a window, but because using my claws to gain stability would break the glass, moving quickly was the only option. It took some concentration, but it still wasn't enough to cause me to pant. I felt too free for this to feel like work.

I passed by many places in this small part of the human world, though, that kept me from truly being free, places that made me realize that I couldn't take part in the same freedoms that many others could. These locations were where I'd taken innocent lives, or simply places that reminded me of areas in other countries where I'd hunted.

When I looked upon the houses, I only saw homes that would always be one child short, families that would never, ever be the same. I gazed upon them and I saw that they were now the same as I was on the inside: different from everyone else, unable to be changed back to what I was before I became empty. The only difference was that they had done me no wrong, while I had destroyed them for Devimon's enjoyment and gain.

I paused when I came to homes or parks or even streets that made me think like this, staying only long enough to recall which human it had been. Most times, the face of the child came back to me, but I'd never known their names. Instances where I couldn't remember the victim but could recall the scene of the crime were few and far apart.

The point of remembering was very simple, and I'd actually come up with it while meditating before: the more children I recalled, the more reason I would have to fight Devimon, and the more incentive I would find to win against him. The invisible children who normally called down curses on my name in the darkness would cheer me on to victory, to vengeance. They could finally rest in peace within my dreams.

Though, if I lingered for a bit too long then the guilt began to return. It came in waves like the rain and washed over me slowly, seeping into my bones and brain as the sorrow of the families I'd harmed returned to my memory with bitter force. Their horror at my crime was impossible to forget, and as those memories began to creep into the limelight, I took my leave.

I wandered aimlessly for what felt like hours after I'd seen all that there was to see of the city, though I wasn't sure exactly how much time had truly gone by. There was absolutely nothing for me to do, and there was nothing worthwhile to think about that I hadn't already exhausted seven times over. Most of those topics had revolved around Devimon and the Digital World, not to mention the future battle.

Only two days had passed since we'd agreed upon how the battle would go, and yet I'd spent every waking moment plotting further. I would sit on a corner of Davis's bed—my new nighttime-spending place—and I would stare into the darkness, imagining the red eyes that I'd once crumpled under day after day, the bright white sneer that had scrutinized me for five torturous years. I imagined how I would stand under them now, now that I was out from under his cursed thumb.

How would I avoid him and his attacks? He was able to cover far more ground with less effort than I was—granted I could be much faster than he if I put my mind to it. My old master could seep into the darkness itself and become one with it; he could hide in order to rest for a moment or think in peace, or transport himself to a spot with a better angle for an attack.

He was just as cunning and daring as a Digimon with dragon-data, perhaps even more so than they. It wouldn't upset him in the least if another of his minions was stolen by fate, not as long as he could get a little higher by stepping onto the stair that the disembodied data of the fallen formed. Some of his soldiers might even dare to die in his place. They would do anything for his favor.

But would they even get the chance? Could I land a fatal blow upon the demon that had changed me? His body was tall and unnaturally thin like some sort of diseased creature, but also hard and lithe like the rigid muscle of a beast that had been contained in a dark cage for far too long. Without a long-range attack, I would need to get close to destroy him. I would need to hit him physically, but would he not also strike back?

My feet touched down upon the wet grass of the soccer field where I'd once fought Dokugumon; however, I nearly slid into the mud at the shock of my thought. It was astonishing how human I'd become in mere weeks—I'd overlooked the most menacing part of Devimon's powers! Of course he would strike back at me, for just one of his fingers could be my downfall!

With one touch, he could return me to evil!

That single thing turned our entire plan to dust; it made my resolve to protect the DigiDestined completely meaningless. I couldn't fight Devimon if that could be the consequence! He knew that I'd become more like a human in the mind, so he'd guessed that I would have forgotten about his special attack. That foul, winged being hadn't destroyed us that night he came to the human world because he had recognized that there was a chance he could retrieve his most powerful weapon now that he himself had become stronger!

That was what he was planning, wasn't it? Before he opened the Dark Gate, or just after, he wanted me back on his side of the playing field.

My breath froze within my lungs. "I have to tell them…" I muttered as I sprung from my spot in the mud and barreled through the moist air like a Wingdramon, my mind wrapped solely upon getting to the DigiDestined's school. I didn't care if it would be another hour until the final bell rung, I would go straight into their classrooms if the need came. It didn't matter if I was seen by other humans anymore because I would be the last thing they'd see if we didn't think of a better strategy to pit against Devimon!

It took several more long leaps in order for me to get to their school, but in the end I'd miscalculated the final leap and I had to cling to the side of the building like a trapped housecat. Panting there in the rain, I glanced in the nearest window and saw that the teacher was facing away from me, as were all of his students. None of the DigiDestined were sitting in the room. I would have to search for them.

I dropped to the ground from my spot on the wall, and was about to charge carelessly through the school's main door when sense fought through the panic shrouding my judgement. When it had forced itself completely through the cloud, I halted. Taking a deep breath through my nose, I attempted to push my fright back in order for me to think more reasonably about the situation.

Was it very, very important that the DigiDestined know as soon as possible? Yes, of course it was, but was it important enough, relevant enough in this very moment, for them to know now? Unless they were thinking of changing plans suddenly and going off to fight Devimon today, then no, they didn't have to know this very minute. I didn't have to react with such fire in my heart and only end up sending half of Odaiba into an uproar over some monster that had broken into a school.

A little calmer now, I decided that I would still go in and see if I could find any of the DigiDestineds' partner-Digimon. I'd run into Patamon and Gatomon a few times via the air vents, so I was willing to venture a guess that I could find them there again. Their opinions on this matter would be nice, and I would let them relay the message of my revelation to their partners if they indeed thought that it needed to be heard immediately.

I slipped through the door soundlessly, and scampered up into the nearest air duct before any human wandering the hallways had a chance to notice my presence. After being outside for so long (though, in retrospect, it must've only been an hour, perhaps two at the very most since the students were still in class), the ducts felt very cramped. It took a moment to get used to the lack of space, but once I was comfortable I began my search.

I tried to pick up some sort of scent trail as a starting point since I wasn't actually certain that Kari or TK had brought their Digimon along with them today. It took several seemingly endless minutes, but I eventually found a rather fresh Digimon sign on one side of the duct. It had been made by Patamon, perhaps from his wing brushing against the shiny surface while stretching.

Now that I had a 'map' of sorts to follow, I made fairly decent time crawling through the ducts and worming my way through places that became rather tight for even me to squeeze through. At some point I passed a place that I could either turn to the right or go straight, and another Digimon's scent mingled in with Patamon's. It took a moment for me to realize that it was both Yolei's Digimon Poromon and DemiVeemon.

Since they appeared to all be going straight, I hurried along to catch up to them. After another few minutes I thought that I could hear their voices, or at least DemiVeemon's little giggle. I followed the sound and soon found myself in the rafters of the gymnasium again. Despite the only DigiDestined in P.E. at the moment being Yolei, all three of the Digimon were here watching the humans run about playing various sports. Gatomon, surprisingly, wasn't here.

Poromon was busy watching Yolei chuck a basketball at some boy's head, otherwise he would've noticed me before Patamon. The bright-eyed Digimon looked troubled when he saw me. "I thought you weren't coming today." He cocked his head. "Is something wrong?" The other two Digimon turned to me with concern as I knelt beside them.

I skipped the greetings and went straight to explaining to them about how I'd left the Motomiya's apartment for some air and had eventually come to the revelation of Devimon's Touch of Evil attack. "I'm not sure if my wearing the collar or not will make any difference if he tries to use that attack on me, but even if I knew, I haven't come up with any ideas on how to get it off anyway," I finished.

My words were met at first with complete silence. The faces of all three of the Digimon before me were shocked to the point of speechlessness. I thought that DemiVeemon had been about to speak when another Digimon came running out from the air duct. I turned and saw Gatomon panting there, her anxious eyes on me. "Why are you here? You told us you couldn't handle people well!"

I gave a small sigh before reluctantly giving the entire story again. The white cat Digimon took my revelation in a different way compared to the other Digimon. She stared at me for a while before saying in an incredulous voice, "That's what you're so worried about? We all knew about that already—well, the majority of us knew." She added the final part because DemiVeemon had opened his mouth to object, but had closed it now.

However, Gatomon wasn't finished making me feel that my intelligence truly was becoming more and more insignificant. "No one mentioned it to you at the last meeting because everyone thought that having been under his control for so long, you of all people would've known the risk!" She fumed for a little while, keeping me under her unimpressed and rather angry gaze for some time before sighing.

"But I guess that not even you could've thought of everything," she conceded as her glare softened. "We'll have to let our human partners know about the risk, but if you want my two cents, then I believe that you should still be the one to try defeating Devimon. You know him the best, so it makes sense. Besides, it's already in our plans for the fight, so we shouldn't change that before going back to the Digital World."

Patamon was the next to speak since the other two Digimon were still too stunned to speak. Obviously, he was on Gatomon's side. "She's right. I can tell you've been thinking about your fight with him, so why put all of your own plans to waste? You might have some problems if your nerves get all riled up, but as long as you're careful you won't have to worry too much.

"We should tell TK and the others, but it's really only something that they should be aware could happen. Nobody can know for sure if you're right about him wanting you back. I thought he sent you out into the desert because he didn't want you anymore, so he probably won't even try turning you evil again. So, I guess I wouldn't worry about that if I were you, Moroamon." Patamon finished with an encouraging smile and a nod, but I couldn't return either.

They may've been able to pass off such words with ease, cast them to the backs of their minds for later thought, but I couldn't bring myself to do the same. The image of my malevolent self attacking the DigiDestined that had done their very best to become my friends was a horrifying scene to ponder. I hated to imagine myself standing loyally beside Devimon once more. I hated it more than anything.

But even if my friends were able to escape me, able to evade Devimon for a moment, they would still be left with all the grief of my change. I would be returned to a bloodthirsty corpse, and the only life that such a being could ever be allowed to live. I would feel nothing and want nothing other than destruction and the pain of others. I would be causing the DigiDestined pain even if I wasn't there physically to bruise and batter them.

The worst part of the entire ordeal, though, was the unnamed sensation that I had told Davis about the last time we'd had a heart-to-heart. The feeling that I now knew as loneliness would become a mystery once more, a foreign burn in my blackened soul that I would be unable to soothe with my own power. And there was no guarantee that the DigiDestined would be able to help me heal once again.

I didn't voice these fears to the other Digimon. They were currently speaking of when the best time to call another meeting with all their human partners would be. As the four of them discussed, Gatomon occasionally casting me glances that she must've thought of as inconspicuous, I tried to calm my frightened mind by listening to Yolei commanding her other classmates in regards to whatever game that they were now playing. I wasn't sure how, but her familiar aggression was comforting.

But then everything changed.

A gigantic, crashing boom echoed throughout the entire building, shaking the edifice to its very core and nearly throwing me and all the others to the gymnasium floor below. Dust rushed in from underneath the doors with the terrified screams of both students and teachers. A scent that I had dreaded for some time assaulted my nose and stole every ounce of oxygen from my lungs.

"What was that?!" Poromon exclaimed as he covered his head with his tiny pink wings. Gatomon turned to my tense form after he'd spoken. She'd put one of her paws over Poromon and the other over DemiVeemon to provide some bit of protection, but her gaze was anything but kind when it fell upon me. It was obvious that she didn't share her partner's thoughts on granting me grace.

I didn't respond to any of them, choosing to act in favor of explaining. I sprung over their heads and smashed through a high window, rushing out into the dark rain outside. The faint sunshine that had been present only a little while before was completely swallowed up by black clouds now. The only light came from the city, though it was an eerie, despicable glow, the sort of light that only existed to show the evils of the night to those who could not see them without it.

Car alarms were going off, joined by approaching police sirens and the shouts and wails of the frightened public. If I hadn't already known the cause of the panic, then I would've been wondering what was so horrible and fear-inspiring that it had brought everyone out to steal a peek. But as I propelled myself onto the roof of the school and my eyes were met by the back of a DeviDramon, I knew it would be foolish to be surprised by the curiosity of the humans.

Taking in a deep breath of the cold, wet air, I roared with all my strength at the black dragon-beast. This was something I hadn't done for quite some time, and it felt a little strange to hear such a beastly sound flow so smoothly from my throat. The bellow surpassed the noises of the sirens and the terrified people below, and I thought for a second that all of them had gone quiet at my sudden appearance.

DeviDramon turned his head halfway about to growl at me, "Your little howl doesn't impress me. If you want me to leave, you're going to have to listen to my Master's demands! Lord Devimon is done playing around!" The Digimon's bright red eyes glowered down at me, his teeth flashing dangerously as he cast his threat at my feet.

But his words held no menace for me. Devimon was his master, his lord, not mine; therefore, that pale-skinned demon's wishes meant nothing to me. "I don't care what you think or what he has to say!" I snarled viciously at the other Digimon as I began to charge at him. "Get out of the human world! You're not going to do any damage here!"

I sprung from the roof of the school, sending my body hurtling through the downpour toward DeviDramon's exposed back. His large black wings flapped once, and he turned all the way around to face me. My subconscious mind, the part of me that still retained some memory of how to hunt and fight like a drone, expected him to strike at me or sue some kind of attack. But he didn't.

He had hostages: Kari in one fist and Davis in the other.

My muscles failed me and became as heavy, cold, and lifeless as lead. My mind went blank like it never had before, as if, like chalk, everything had been erased. An emotion that I barely knew of stabbed me in the chest, and nothing but that feeling, the sight of both my friends in my enemy's hands, enveloped my mind. I'd never felt fear like that before.

DeviDramon, seeing my momentary lapse into nothingness, spun around and smacked me away with his tail. I finally snapped back into reality when I crashed through the window of a skyscraper a few blocks away from the school. The glass rippled and shattered around me like stagnant water after having a stone dropped into it. I heard several people scream as their desks and computers flew all over the room as I tumbled through it.

I came to a stop after slamming into one last desk, the man who'd been sitting at it having shoved himself away in his swivel chair at the last second. The drawer handles dug into my back like spikes when I hit them, and glass stuck out of various parts of me. Both men and women were screaming at the sight of me upon their floor, some running for the closest exit while others were too paralyzed with fear to even think of moving.

But I didn't have time for their petty fear of monsters, especially when I wasn't the one they ought to be afraid of. "Be quiet!" My shout silenced them, perhaps more out of shock than courtesy, but at this dark point, I was willing to take whatever I could get. I could feel all of their eyes on me, but it mattered little compared to the incredible hurt the glass brought.

Grunts of pain slipped through my pursed lips as I tugged a few of the shards from my shoulder and arm. I threw them away from me, the violent show making some of the adults closest to me jump. I shoved myself up onto my knees with a touch of reluctance, picking out the more menacing pieces of glass as I steadily rose to my feet.

"Are…" I glanced up from my injuries when the voice of a human I didn't know sounded. She cowered back from me quickly when I turned to look at her, not even bothering to finish whatever she'd been about to ask me. However, the mere fact that someone had spoken to me, though it was only one word, was enough for me. It meant more to me than it probably would have to anyone else.

However, my attention was drawn away from the humans around me when DeviDramon's deep, bellowing voice rode the stormy wind to my pricked ears. The people nearest the windows grabbed onto each other as the dragon-Digimon called, "Moroamon, your master has grown tired of waiting for you to make your move in this game; therefore, he will now force your hand.

"Someone will be coming back with me to the Digital World, and it is up to you to decide who. I have two of your beloved human pets here—" I thought I heard Davis protest at being called a 'pet', "—and I doubt that they will fare well in our world without their partners." The truth of his words was sinking into my mind with a slow horror. I barely noticed when the large Digimon glided over to float before the window I'd broken through.

All our plans for the last battle against Devimon were meaningless now. We'd waited too long, a single day too long, and now everything was falling apart right before our eyes. I could see that easily enough from the shock that had silenced Kari, the dazed gloss over her normally-light-filled eyes. Davis wasn't far behind, but he seemed to be keeping a hold on himself by focusing his gaze upon me.

"However, I have orders to grant the humans safety if you come back to the world you belong in." I looked up into DeviDramon's soulless red eyes, and the first thing that I felt creep into my heart was an unceasing hatred for him and everyone else who was fool enough to follow Devimon, to answer to his every call in hopes of gaining some sort of favor, glory, or power.

That loathing fire sparking deep within my soul couldn't deny that though I couldn't stand those who followed that red-eyed demon, I had no choice but to listen to him now. With the collar still on, although it was cracked, I had no chance against DeviDramon. Well, I could certainly defeat him, but at what cost? Would I make a mistake and end up hurting Davis or Kari as well? I couldn't risk their safety so carelessly.

But in the same way, I couldn't stand here and do nothing. Although the strategies we'd planned were zilch now that Devimon was taking away our air of surprise, our confidence, I couldn't let DeviDramon take two of the DigiDestined to the Digital World completely unprotected. I couldn't bear to imagine what Devimon would do to them, and all because he wanted to draw me closer to himself for his own selfish reasons.

I couldn't let Devimon have his way. But I also couldn't let my friends fall into his hands.

Without a clear idea of what I was going to do, I started walking toward the broken window. DeviDramon bared his teeth, uneasy under my heavy, pale stare. Stopping a foot away from the shattered glass, I gazed up with DeviDramon and growled, the sound as dark as the storm clouds high above us all. I had no choice. My friends had to come first, no matter what it might do to me.

"Hand them to me and I'll come quietly—" Davis made a move to protest, but I cast him a glance that silenced him. Kari was looking at me as if she'd seen me for the first time—as if she was seeing me as something other than a monster, but not a Digimon and not a true human. I wasn't truly certain what her eyes focused on, but I didn't have the time to ponder her strange gaze.

I looked away from the two humans and returned my eyes to DeviDramon. He seemed very pleased that I was working to meet his vile master's demands. Taking another step towards the broken window, I held my arms out. They were pelted by the rain as I waited anxiously for my soaked friends to be brought to me, to be safe. I flexed my fingers to distract myself from the sense of unease tingling in my stomach.

However, DeviDramon still made no move to release Davis or Kari. My brow furrowed, pale eyes beginning to grow fiery. "Give them to me now. I won't go with you before they're safe." At those words, DeviDramon came drifting toward me very slowly. The adults behind and beside me scattered back from the great black dragon like defenseless ants before a cruel child with a magnifying glass, but I stayed still as a statue.

DeviDramon stopped, but he extended one hand to me—it was the one that held Davis. I felt my heart quicken its pace when the Digimon held the boy so far away from himself, and yet still so far from my fingers. I gulped and leaned as far as I could while still being stable in my footing. Horrible thoughts of the evil Digimon attempting to trick me or harm Davis crossed my mind, but I pushed them as far from me as possible once they appeared.

But then the dark creature's hand released the brunet, and he was hurriedly ensnared in my arms instead. I held Davis close to myself, closer than what one would've thought possible. Never in my thoughts, before or after meeting and growing so close to these humans, had I ever imagined that such peace would come from holding one of them in such a strong embrace, nor could I've dreamed that he would wrap his arms around me just as firmly.

When I drew back, Davis's gaze met mine. He had the air of one that was a little shocked by what had been done him, but he didn't appear injured or afraid despite his lack of a Digimon partner at the current moment. However, there was a concern beginning to grow in his dark eyes. Obviously it was due to my pledge to go to the Digital World once more.

I smiled encouragingly at him, but said nothing. The very most that I could do was to rest my icy fingers against his cheek for the shortest of moments, both for me to remember what love felt like and for him to be able to recall me if he ever had the desire. My frozen touch was like no one else, while words could be repeated by both human and Digimon alike, and so it was far better than a verbal proclamation. My willingness to make innocent contact with another living being, after the life I'd led, was the best proof of my feelings toward Davis.

The brunet appeared to relish the minute touch, despite how short-lived and uncomfortably cold it was. He'd understandably flinched at the freezing temperature, but had braved it and allowed my fingers to remain there for a long moment. When I finally moved them, the patch of skin that I'd been touching was turning pink, a sign of just how different our temperatures were. My heart felt soothed by the heat dancing slowly up from my digits.

After taking one last look at Davis, at the face that had often bestowed such compassion and kindness upon me through nothing but a simple glance, I turned him over to one of the adults nearest me. The man didn't need me to speak in order to understand that he was to watch over Davis and get him to safety. I locked eyes with the human, who was much taller than me, and he seemed to shrink under my gaze as he bobbed his head.

I turned back to DeviDramon as a heavy gust of wind carried a barrage of rain into my face, each droplet feeling like a pin as it hit my exposed skin. He held Kari firmly in his grasp, but his mind paid her no attention. His face showed absolute disgust for the affectionate display that he'd been forced to witness take place between Davis and me. He said nothing, but his scrutinizing eyes made his thoughts easy to read.

I snarled when he didn't make a move to hand Kari to me. "And the other human?" I reached out toward him, fingers yearning for the warmth of that one last human, the human that my existence had put into danger. I tried not to look into her eyes; there was something in them that made my courage crumble and become like sand. It made no sense to me, that she should have such an expression. I wasn't sure if I'd ever seen a human with such a look.

She stared through me with eyes wide and blank, her face angled down to hide from the rain. She was shaking very slightly, but I couldn't tell if it was due to a chill or something drastically different. Water dripped from her face like tears, those small drops attracting my attention with far greater success than the downpour that pounded the earth. The light that normally shone from her face strangely appeared to be dimming.

"Give her to me," I said with an accent of impatience, urgency. However, there was a new atmosphere around DeviDramon, and I took a step towards him with a threatening growl that attempted to dispel it. He wouldn't go back on our agreement now, would he? He wouldn't, not when I was the one he wanted. Devimon's plans had nothing to do with Kari, aside from using her as bait. "I thought that you wanted to get back to Devimon quickly."

The dragon gave a flap of his vast wings, water cascading from them like a small waterfall. The red and blue police lights flashing below us cast strange shadows across his body. The garnet glow cast a bloody shade across his face, and I saw that he was sporting the vilest, most despicable grin. I couldn't recall seeing a living being wear such a horrible smirk with such pride.

His long tail swished back and forth with a hidden excitement, each of his four eyes exhibiting such a light that I was not used to seeing in my enemies. It was impossible to look away from such eyes, but I knew that it was dangerous to meet the gaze of a being with such powers as what DeviDramon had. If one were to stare into those scarlet eyes for a moment too long, he would become paralyzed, unable to avoid the beast's attacks.

Those thoughts animating my body, I hid my eyes from DeviDramon with my arm until the stiffness that had begun to affect my muscles faded away. When I moved my forearm to force some sort of explanation out of the dragon, get him to tell me why he was making me wait for Kari's return, my eyes widened and my entire body tensed. DeviDramon was lunging for me, his free hand extended.

Kari screamed for me to watch out—in fact, most of the humans near me did. I had mere seconds to brace myself for DeviDramon's attempt to grab me, and I surprised even myself when I was able to get my hands up fast enough to catch two of his fingers. I pushed back against his large hand, but he was far more powerful than I was with the collar on. He wasn't able to wrap his long digits around me, but I couldn't risk letting go of him and trying to escape his shadow.

I dug my claws into the floor in hopes of gaining some power, but it did nothing. The dragon-creature forced me backwards, my claws leaving gashes in the carpeted floor. My entire body shook with the effort of holding him back, but no matter how hard I tried to gain some ground back, I couldn't push his arm back out the window I'd shattered. I couldn't defeat him.

The thought that I couldn't beat even a simple DeviDramon chilled me to the bone. How could I stand up under Devimon if I couldn't even defeat one of his cronies? Was my goal even possible if my current fight was already destined to end in my enemy's victory?

However, such foolish questions couldn't be allowed to reside for more than a moment in my mind, not when so much was at stake. Doubt was unavoidable, but it was still ignorable. I had to trust myself, trust in the DigiDestined and in the power that their friendship had bestowed upon me, otherwise everything truly would be over for both the humans and the Digimon.

But that power…I couldn't summon it. It refused to aid my muscles in keeping DeviDramon's fingers from closing around me. I thought I could feel a fire building up deep within my soul, the fiery blaze of hope, but it wasn't offering me any physical strength. The Digimon above me knew as well as I did that his body was currently stronger than mine.

My body was failing me.

And then, like someone who'd laden themselves with far more than what they could carry, I crumbled with a shout of pain and defeat. DeviDramon's victorious fingers crushed my bent arms against my body; he held me so tightly that I wondered if he was still afraid of me despite my weakened state. The gleeful glow in his eyes told me otherwise, though a sudden snarl from me dimmed that light slightly.

I thought that I heard Davis call my name, but it was difficult to tell since DeviDramon retracted his arm from the building with a jerk, and my ears were suddenly pelted by the sound of the strong winds and the vicious rain. The dragon, ignoring the shouts of the humans below and in front of him, turned and flew faster than a bullet in the opposite direction.

The wind pummeled both Kari and me, and it was difficult to keep my eyes open. I struggled to stop myself from covering my sensitive ears with my hands to block some of the loud roars of the storm around us. I didn't want to display any more weakness in front of DeviDramon. Though, even if I'd wanted to cover my ears, my arms were too tightly pinned against my body for me to be able to move them.

We'd probably only been soaring for a minute at the most when the buildings that we passed by began to look a little familiar to me, but I was unsure why. It was almost impossible to get a good look around with how DeviDramon had me positioned in his hand, not to mention the speed at which he was flying turning most everything into a gray blur.

However, after another moment, I realized where he was taking us: DeviDramon planned to go back to the Digital World through the same pond-portal that I had utilized so very often. A mere minute after I'd had that thought, the small body of water came into sight. But the idea of slowing down before hitting the water didn't seem to have crossed our captor's mind yet, nor did it appear to be coming to him any time soon.

The dragon hit the water hard, but I knew no more after hearing the water rushing to greet us.


When I came back to myself, I could sense that I was very alone. DeviDramon's scent, though it was all over me, was nowhere in the area. The faint smell of other Digimon that I was unsure if I knew could be detected around the spot where I lay, but nothing more. At the moment, I couldn't feel Kari's warmth or hear her breathing. Where were we? Where was she?

With a groan, I forced my stiff muscles to move. Rising to my knees, I looked around and was shocked to find myself in a place so dark and gloomy. Rock walls surrounded me, and there was a deep, deep trench a mere foot away from me. I glanced down into it, and saw nothing but a dark, endless abyss. Looking up, I could see a little bit of torch light flickering, but nothing more touched my vision.

Except for Kari.

While I was down here on a shelf of rock a long mile below the face of the Digital World, Kari was in chains at the mouth of the trench, one of her pale, tender hands hanging over the edge. "Kari!" I called up to her, knowing better than to shout. I knew exactly where we were: the bottomless pit that Devimon had hidden deep within his castle. Yelling would either cause some sort of rockslide or it might attract some of the demon's cronies. Or worse.

The girl didn't respond to my call. I furrowed my brow and steeled my courage against the stories that Devimon had told me amidst cruel laughter, the stories about Digimon who had tried their best to, once having been thrown into the pit, climb back out of it. None had completed that task, and I wouldn't claim to whether or not I got to the top. I hadn't started at the very bottom like they had.

I stood and began to search for a good spot to begin my long climb. After a few moments I found a decent place to begin, and I dug my claws into the hard rock and pulled myself up the first few feet without much trouble. While the adrenaline pumping through my body was still offering me some energy, I moved very quickly up the wall of stones and slippery pebbles. I made it pretty far like that, catapulting myself up the cliff's face in such a way.

But then my strength started to fade away, and I found that the harder I tried to push myself up out of the abyss, the more difficult the trek became. Black spots appeared in my vision, my muscles burned, and my lungs ached as if I was breathing in the smog of the most polluted city through a tube. I leapt up as far as I could one last time before I had to cling to the rocky wall to rest, but I was still a ways from the top of the precipice.

I panted harshly as I rested my forehead against the stones. My arms shook as they tried to hold me in place and keep my body from slipping back down the cliff at all. But the effort wasn't the sole cause of my tremors. The simple fact that such a trial was exhausting me was terrifying. I'd known that this day would come eventually, but it had arrived much faster than what I'd originally anticipated.

I hadn't had any kind of sustenance in about three months now, and my body was beginning to tumble down the last decline that it would ever suffer through. I would be unable to pull myself out from such a downward spiral without murdering another human, but that could not be done. I would rather meet this fate and become a vegetable—unable to think, unable to move, unable to survive alone—than kill one more innocent life form.

With no idea of exactly how long I had until my last hour came, I knew that there was no use in wondering about it. I had much more pressing matters to tend to, the most important of which being getting to Kari before anything else came by to see my progress and, instead, found that human girl completely unprotected. I refused to let anything harm her.

Those thoughts giving me a sort of second wind to ride upon, I continued my trek with renewed strength. It was still very rough going, but thanks to that last burst of power, I was able to reach the part of the abyss that was actually touched by the flickering yellow light of the torches. And finally, my aching hands found the lip of the trench, and I pulled myself up out of the darkness of the gorge and onto the smooth stone beside Kari's unconscious form.

I stayed there upon my hands and knees for a moment, trying to catch my breath as quickly as I could. Looking over at Kari, I was stunned to see how very pale and fragile she looked. Her skin was almost transparent, making the blue of her veins stand out so much that they appeared as if they'd been drawn on her with markers. There were dark circles around her eyes, and her brow was furrowed as if she was having some sort of nightmare.

"I've made you a friend."

My body felt frozen as I instinctively got to my feet, the sound of that voice driving an intense, rebellious loathing through my soul. Blue eyes that had not looked upon a creature so worthy of hatred and justice rose from the ground, a fire burning deep within their sockets, until they reached the face of the one whom they could hardly bare to gaze upon. Devimon's smile was the most putrid thing I'd seen in a very, very long time.

He continued to grin as he gestured for me to speak. "Come, come, where are the manners I taught you? I deserve your gratitude. Note that I didn't force you to come back alone; I've allowed you to have one of your beloved humans come along. But," his smirk suddenly contorted into something so despicable that I could no longer look at him, "I did make a little…change. She'll last longer now."

The black-clad demon wiggled his fingers. The creature seemed far too proud of himself, as if he'd come up with something that any other villain would've thought of as truly astounding. At first I was unsure what he was talking about, but then...my eyes fell upon Kari's pale, cold body. She was beginning to shiver; I could feel just how incredibly cold she was from where I stood. Even now her teeth were beginning to look sharper than what any human needed them to be.

Devimon had made Kari a hybrid. Soon, she would be just like what I used to be.

I felt hot, angry tears slip down my cheeks. A sound of disgust at such a show of human emotion came from Devimon, but I ignored him. I didn't care what he thought, not if he would do something as vile as this! "How could you do this? Give her back her humanity! I would rather be alone forever than have anyone else be anything like what you made me! Return her human soul!"

I knew that my shouts fell upon deaf ears, my tears upon a heart that had never truly been a heart. It was a stone, a piece of coal that longed for the blaze that only power brought. He would never understand the pain that he'd caused me—he enjoyed pain far too much for him to understand the heartache that I'd suffered, that every single one of his victims had suffered.

Devimon flicked one of his wings irritatedly. "How dare you question such a kindness from me." He snapped his fingers, and out of the darkness came LadyDevimon and DemiDevimon. They each held part of a thick chain in their hands, and with swiftness I'd never known them to have before, they wrapped me up in the metal. I was too slow to get away from them, too weak to break the metal.

I struggled against the chains, but the two of them held me fast, and I was unable to escape. While I was writhing in my iron cocoon, Devimon used a single finger to lift my head. I snarled at him, snapping my jaws like a beast, but he sent his hand crashing into my head like a brick when I did. That agony was something I could never forget, not grow used to.

"If you don't recall your manners," he said, his words and face blurry in my head due to the pain, "then your new reward will be this: you will fight your little friend once she turns, and I will cherish the one who wins." With that, he clubbed the side of my head once more, and my vision was once again clouded by a darkness I couldn't fight against.