Forgive and Forget-Me-Not

Andrew was still excited about having defeated Persiamon, even though he was carrying Frimon in his arms as we walked. It was a pretty boring week. To entertain himself, Commandramon had started playing some game, I guess it was. He defended it as "being prepared for the next attack." All he was doing was being all "Mission Impossible," and hiding behind every tree, bush, and rock in sight, holding his rifle vertically, and peeking around the corner. Oh, and then he'd jump out and point his gun at a bird and scare it off.

It was a day like any other day stranded in a parallel world on a continent named after a type of computer: boring. The scenery had become forested again, and we were walking on a trail. We hadn't had to deal with anything eventful in the last couple of days, since we'd defeated Persiamon. It was blissfully quiet. In short, I shouldn't have believed I'd get out of having a problem that day even for a second. Not with my luck.

Given the chance to do it all over again, I'd have Commandramon shoot him out of the sky. It was a small ball that passed for a head, with wings and claws. It was a fairly bat-like digimon.

"You two look lost."

I glared at the bat. "Ah, get lost."

"Cole! Is that any way to treat someone you've just met?"

"Hey, don't you remember the last time you got friendly with someone you'd 'just met'?"

Andrew humphed at me and turned back to the digimon. "My name is Andrew. This is my partner, Frimon. The rude one over there is Cole, and his partner, Commandramon."

The digimon seemed to nod, which I admit was funny to watch. "My name is DemiDevimon."

Finally the alarm went off in Andrew's head. "Wait. DemiDevimon?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, I used to be a bad guy, but I've changed. Look at me, I'm a whole new mon. I'm on your side!"

Andrew seemed to actually consider this. I couldn't believe it! I stepped in with a slap in the face from the good guys. "Change? He can't change! It's in his programming!!"

Andrew turned on me. "That's assuming he has programming, and that his programming is fixed. We don't know how things work here!"

"Fine! Do the same thing you did with Persiamon! See if I care!"'

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Frimon leapt from Andrew's arms, coming over to me, and Andrew stormed off, DemiDevimon following.

Frimon seemed concerned. "Think we should follow him?" he asked slowly.

"You mean you really want to after that?" I wasn't exactly happy with Andrew at the moment.

"Of course. Don't you?"

"No, not really…" Sighing, I gave in. "Oh, alright." Hiding ourselves in the brush, we followed behind them.

DemiDevimon's voice was starting to annoy me. "Really? You beat Persiamon? I supposed I should be thanking you, then."

Andrew's voice was curious. "Oh? Why?"

"Well, you see, Persiamon was a bad cat. She mistreated everyone who didn't do what she wanted."

"That's terrible. You must've suffered a lot."

"Ah, don't worry about it."

The two stopped walking, and I could finally get a good look at them. There were just standing around, or in DemiDevimon's case, hovering, near a small building, talking. Where did that building come from? But I didn't have time to figure it out, because DemiDevimon seemed to spot a batch of mushrooms across the clearing from them. The mushrooms were just a few feet in front of me.

"Hey, look, mushrooms! You hungry?"

Andrew grinned. "Starving."

Commandramon sniffed in the direction of the mushrooms. "Something doesn't smell quite right about those mushrooms…"

Frimon was immediately worried. "Andrew's in trouble!" The small digimon glowed, using his tail to propel himself from the bushes as Andrew started to grab a mushroom. "Frimon, digivolve to… Leormon!!!"

Andrew stepped back, a sneer on his face. He was obviously not happy about that. "What are you doing here?"

"Protecting you." Leormon growled at DemiDevimon.

"You left me, remember?"

Leormon ignored the question and turned around, sniffing at the mushrooms. He turned around again, snarling at DemiDevimon. "These are the Mushrooms of Forgetfulness!" He tried to roar, but, as always, it came out as a strangled mewl. "He's trying to poison you, Andrew."

DemiDevimon was stuttering. "I-I-I-it's not true."

Andrew just seemed insulted. "Why would you stoop so low as to say he's trying to poison me?"

"See for yourself!" Leormon swiped a claw at one, tossing it into the air at DemiDevimon. "You eat one!" It hit DemiDevimon square in the face. But he'd kept his mouth unusually tightly closed.

When DemiDevimon refused, Andrew seemed shocked, and hung his head. I came out of the bushes, Commandramon alongside me. Andrew sighed. "I'm sorry guys… Can you forgive me?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I forgive you. Just don't forget me, okay?"

He laughed. "Sure thing." Then he started staring at my chest. I looked down. My crest was glowing silver. "It started glowing when you said you forgive me… Forgiveness?"

I scrutinized Andrew for a moment. "You think that's the name of my crest?"

"Could be."

That was when we turned to look at DemiDevimon again. I heard him curse under his breath, and all we saw was his backside as he flew off.

"There's no way he could be working alone. He's got to be working for someone." Andrew seemed quite sure of his assessment.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, for one, he's the same level as our digimon. There's no way he could take us on himself. For two, he's an idiot. How could he come up with a plan like the Mushrooms of Forgetfulness? Obviously he wants our crests so we can't defeat whatever digimon he's working for…"

"What if he can digivolve, though?"

"Eh, I doubt it. If he could, he would've just now."

"Eh, you're probably right. Come on, we should keep moving…"