Joe was curled up in the far corner of the room, hiding as best he could between the bed and the wall. The heavy manacle weighed down his ankle, a thick, rusting chain attaching him to the fisheye bolt in the wall. He'd come to a while ago, Digitamamon laughing and leaving the door wide open, knowing that he would barely be able to reach the frame. Bukamon, bloody and bruised and fighting to merely stay alive, had his flippers shackled together and had been tossed carelessly into the room. He wriggled and forced himself onto him stomach, feeling his bones shifting in ways they were never meant to move. Evolution would mostly fix his internal injuries, but all he could do now was not give in to the urge to close his eyes and sleep forever.

"Joe," he whimpered, spitting blood onto the floor. "Joe, you gotta... you gotta stay strong. The others. The other's'll come soon..."

"They're dead," Joe hissed, wrapping his arms around his knees. "Tai died a long time ago, and everyone else was picked off one by one."

"What about Matt," Bukamon tried to reason. The darkness between then was filling the small creature's eyes with tears. "He's still alive."

"I doubt it." Joe couldn't help it. He spit on the ground next to him, trying to wash the taste from his mouth. "He promised he'd come back and he didn't. Something must have killed him, too." His chest burned with the same disgusting heat put off by his crest. "I'm the only one alive and I wish I wasn't."

Bukamon hated hearing Joe talk like that. He inched closer, pressing his nose against his Tamer's knee to offer some shred of comfort. The reaction was instantaneous. Joe yelped like he'd been set on fire and kicked out, sending his partner across the room. The chain around his ankle clattered deafeningly in his ears and he screamed, screwing shut his eyes, "Don't touch me! Don't fucking touch me!"

Bukamon grunted as he landed heavily against the dresser. His insides twisted and churned and he fought to not throw up the bile in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't just watch his Tamer anymore, curled up and sobbing in the only corner he could claim for himself. Something had to change, and it had to happen soon.

'I swear, Joe,' Bukamon thought, coughing and spitting out part of a tooth. 'I'll do anything I can to get you out of here. Even if I have to die to save you.'

The sound of raunchy laughter drifted into the room, fear building in the pit of Bukamon's stomach. Would Digitamamon bring up another client? So soon after Joe's nearly successful suicide? The staircase rumbled under the heavy weight of feet stomping and Bukamon rolled under the dresser. He hated having to hide, but if what ShimaUnimon said was correct, for the right price he would suffer right along with his Tamer.

Bloodshot blue eyes watched from below the dresser as Vegiemon and Digitamamon walked into the room. The yellow root bounced over to the corner, waiting as Digitamamon stood over Joe.

"You should be thankful," he said with a chuckle that made Bukamon's stomach churn. "I don't normally forgive those who try and run out on their debts so easily."

The seal couldn't see Joe, but he could hear the rattle of the chain as he pulled into himself tighter.

"Leave me alone..." he could hear his Tamer murmur in a voice so defeated, it was physically painful to hear. "You'll get what you want out of me soon enough, won't you? Why do you have to stay and torture me?"

"So bringing you food is torture now, is it?" Vegiemon asked. "I guess this'll just be your last meal then."

There was a pause and then a great clatter as Joe lashed out with the same fury as before, knocking the plate to the ground, mushy rice and half-raw rolls scattering across the floor. Vegiemon cursed, louder and harsher than anything Gomamon had ever heard, and Joe yelped as he was belted across the face with an enraged tentacle.

"Now, now," Digitamamon said, stepping between the two. "Rosemon will be here tomorrow. We can't have our merchandise too bruised up, now can we?" A harsh whisper that was surely not meant to be picked up by Bukamon's sensitive ears. "I'm already taking a loss because of that damned facial scar, do not make me loose more or else you're going with her."

Vegiemon snarled, raising his tentacles as though he was prepared to incur Digitamamon's wrath, but he stopped. He spit a sweet-scented glob at Joe's feet and dragged himself from the room, grumbling harshly under his breath. Digitamamon just sneered, growling out, "Do as you wish for now, but don't get used to it. Rosemon doesn't allow this sort of attitude in her brothels." And with that he was gone, storming down the stairwell.

Bukamon wriggled and strained. He was sticky with half dried blood, but the more he moved, the looser his bonds became. It also helped that his ribs could move, despite the pain of them stabbing into the very organs they were designed to protect.

"Joe," he hissed, a dribble of blood escaping the corner of his mouth. "Joe!"

"Go away..." The boy's voice was muffled as he spoke into the wall. There was no where else he could turn to avoid being looked at.

"No, Joe, we have to try again. Try to get out of here. If Rosemon gets you -"

"'If'? Bukamon, there is no 'if'." There wasn't even anger in his voice anymore. Just a hollow noise that echoed in the windowless room. "You heard Digitamamon. Rosemon will be here tomorrow. I'll be sold. Drugged. Probably killed. There's no future for me."

One of Bukamon's flippers escaped it's bonds and he used that to drag himself back to his Tamer. The boy had abandoned his glasses, for what use would he ever have of them again? He was sure he would never see beyond another bedframe for what remained of his young life.

"You have to eat," Bukamon pleaded, snatching a roll off the floor. It almost fell out of his mouth as the small creature forgot he was missing the tooth on that side of his jaw. He flopped forward another inch, setting it at Joe's toes. "Get your strength up."

"I don't need to." Joe sighed, as though Bukamon was being stubborn about his bedtime. "Rosemon uses drugs, something called Garurubane. Digitamamon said it keeps her from having to feed her whores. I might as well start getting used to that now."

Bukamon shook the thought of Garurubane from his head. He knew about the plant from whatever source it was that fed him information about all digital creatures. The plant was an incredibly poisonous hallucinogenic, used long ago to connect with the Spirit World, but now was mostly used to send those in incurable pain to a gentle death. Even when used in small amounts, it was a highly addictive drug that lingered in the system long after being flushed out. If he'd known what was in the Human World, he would have compared it to heroin or LSD.

"I'm not giving up," Bukamon growled, almost too loudly. He wanted to stop thinking such terrible things, and it was hard to remain positive with the soul-crushing bleakness that was flooding their bond. He shuffled his nose across the ground, lapping up all the rice he could find. "I don't care what you say, I'm going to find a way to evolve and get you out of here."

As though just noticing for the first time, Joe looked at the Digivice habitually clipped to his beltloop. His crest was almost blinding with its sickly light and he murmured softly, "Why didn't he ever take this from me?"

Bukamon gnawed through the brunt crust of a roll, chewing the raw dough inside. "Maybe he couldn't?" Any conversation was better than self-pitying silence. "Remember how Leomon couldn't touch them?"

"He was taken over by Black Gears. I don't think even Gears could make someone so... despicable as Digitamamon is." There was the briefest flash of warmth as Joe thought back to the early days of the Digital World. Before Tai had died, before leaving File Island. If only they'd never left, if they'd stayed like he'd wanted to... He shook his head clear. It was no use to look back on happier times, he was sure to be mindless soon enough. "I'm sure Rosemon will find a way to take it away. From what it sounds like, she's much worse than Digitamamon will ever be."

Bukamon choked as a salty clump of rice stuck in his throat. Unwarranted, the knowledge rose within him of just how Rosemon could take away the Digivice. If should could convince Joe that he was better off alone, or even that Bukamon was a useless partner, he could always repudiate the small seal. Their bond they'd shared ever since the Digital creature hatched would close, the Device would loose its source of power, even the Crest would shatter without the power to maintain it, and Joe would be left completely without protection. Bukamon knew, not just from his source of information, but deep in his very code, that Rosemon held that knowledge as well.

He had to get Joe out, if not tonight, then by morning. Otherwise, he would loose his beloved Tamer forever.

Bukamon had managed to slip his bonds completely, and while he could still feel the blood gathering internally, he refused to let the stolen meal evolve him. He didn't have much time to rescue his Tamer, and he didn't want any of his energy to go to waste. Joe had stopped talking again, too tired and too depressed to even cry, and Bukamon wanted to curl up in his lap, to sleep away this waking nightmare. But Joe still flinched every time he thought the creature was going to come too close, so Bukamon sadly, and demeaningly, licked away any hidden tastes from the floor and cracked plate. He was distantly glad that they had spent so much time cleaning the room so he wasn't eating nothing but dust, but quickly squashed that thought down. He needed to focus on saving Joe from this Hell.

Night was falling, and he could hear the sound of Digitamamon approaching. Though he'd intended leaving the door open as a form of torture, Bukamon silently thanked the egomaniac as it would be much easier to escape to safety. He grabbed the bloodied rope and gave a forlorn look to Joe, who had remained curled in on himself all day. He wished desperately that he could take his Tamer away, hide somewhere safe with him, but instead shoved himself under the dresser. He wouldn't be seen there, and especially wouldn't be seen unbound. That would give him at least the element of surprise.

"Come on in!" Digitamamon crowed cheerfully, sounding like a pushy salesman. "Final day, half off! Get in while I got 'im!" The sound of money being counted was drowned out by uproarious laughter.

Bukamon blanched, struggling not to vomit as a line of Digimon filed into the room. He heard Joe shrieking as he was dragged from the imagined safety of his corner, sobbing and begging, chain around his ankle clattering. He closed his eyes tightly against the sight of those feet moving, but he couldn't close his ears to the laughing, the screaming, the jeers or the cries. The bed was squealing, springs shrieking in protest as they were abused over and over.

Bukamon covered his head, hot tears pouring down his cheeks as he felt every bit of pain explode through his body. He plunged deep to find the bond they shared, opening it as far as it would go to allow the pain to flow from Joe to him, only... he found nothing of the sort.

The only emotion Joe had left to share with his precious partner was an overwhelming sense of nothingness. He was completely hollow inside, nothing but misery and self-loathing saturating his soul. Though the small creature couldn't hear Joe's thoughts, but he could certainly feel them, the wretched emotions stating simply, 'This is what I deserve and all I'll ever be.'

"Joe..." Bukamon sobbed, listening to his Tamer whimper and gag, the sound of his flesh tearing echoing even over the lecherous mockery. "I won't let this happen... I can't let you be like this...!"

The pilfered meal rolled in in the Digimon's stomach, and he felt rage slip into his muscles. The gross light of Joe's crest seemed welcoming now, offering terrifying strength that seemed... right, almost. Anything to protect his Tamer, even if it meant loosing his mind in darkness. The dresser he hid under flipped with a burst of yellow light as he felt his form change.

"Bukamon, Digivolve to...!"

The monsters in the room stepped back, forgetting their broken prey. Joe, still bound to the wall, slid off the bed, achingly crawling back to the corner where he could pretend nothing was happening, even as his Digivice screamed into the suddenly deafening silence.

Bukamon felt his body heal with the light as he shifted to Gomamon. His burnt ruff of fur, now back to glossy white and purple exploded into thick tufts of white fur as Ikkakumon emerged, the floor groaning beneath his sudden weight. Finally, the tarnished silver glow of the crest merged with the glow of the Digivice, sending sparks flying from it's seams, burning the ankle fur of a nearby Goburimon.

Ikkakumon felt the raw power, the self-loathing, the twisted sense of responsibility that stated simply: "If you do something, anything, you are responsible for it. No matter what you must do." He could hear Joe's father telling a young child, barely old enough to comprehend, "If I can't rely on you, what good are you?"

The large walrus grew tall and thin, the ceiling of the room cracking, shattering away, as he rose. Fur fell off in clumps, dissolving into blackened water that pooled around black feet. Blue wings, large and ripped, spread from his back, knocking aside whatever creature that called itself Digimon that just so happened to be in their way. Thick white tentacles emerged from his shoulders and transformed long blue-black arms, reaching out and grabbing the rubble that was falling from the roof caving in, tossing the stone and plaster against the walls. Three red eyes shone with the same gross light as the now achingly-painful Crest that burned Joe's flesh with the same severity as Meramon had.

The new Digimon opened its mouth, revealing rows of shark-like teeth, spewing boiling water at the shocked creatures that remained, dissolving them into puffs of data. The precious bond that had once grounded Gomamon to his Tamer's pain was muted. Not gone, but overwhelmed with the new raw power that was contained within. The only thing this Digimon wanted, was to destroy, to rip apart, all the disgusting monsters that were now terrified at his feet.

"... MarineDevimon!"