DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or any video games, books, films, TV shows or pieces of music referenced in this story. Original characters owned by me are stated in my profile.
Chapter Thirty-Two: A Friend in Need
Monday 15th November – 5:00a.m.
Sovereign Level, Zhuqiaomon's Prison
"Get up," a voice growled in Steph's ear, rousing her from yet another nightmare.
"W-what?" she mumbled and rubbed at her eyes, yelping quietly in shock as she moved her hands away and found herself nose-to-teeth with Caturamon. "What time is it?" the girl asked groggily when her heart rate had slowed back to more normal levels.
"Irrelevant," the canine snapped and paced out of the cell, obviously expecting Steph to follow him.
"Where are we going?" she asked as she jogged to catch up.
"Not we – you," Caturamon replied with an evil glint in his eye. "You and your partner are going on a little walk."
Mountain Level – 3:43p.m.
"This is it," SargeCommandramon declared as he ordered the rest of his squad to stop with a series of hand motions. "This gate will take you right into the heart of Zhuqiaomon's lands, much further in than the piece of junk you were planning on travelling through."
"Thank you," Leomon replied with a respectful nod, the rest of the group adding their own thanks as they glanced around at their surroundings.
The Commandramon had led them deep into a ravine fifty metres long and ten wide. Sheer rock walls rose up several hundred metres into the air on either side, the sun's rays barely visible over the cliffs in front of them. The gate itself was concealed behind a set of obsidian double doors over fifty feet tall, their massive faces covered with ornately-carved images of fire and destruction, a massive phoenix dominating the centre of the fresco. A flickering orange glow could be seen emanating from the miniscule crack between the colossal doors and a faint crackling noise whispered softly to all those present.
"I'm guessing it was Zhuqs who commissioned the doors," Terriermon remarked drily, earning a chuckle from SargeCommandramon.
"Aye, it was. The Dragon Emperor keeps 'em around as a reminder of what we face – an arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic psychopath with the firepower to level a continent."
"So how do we get to the portal itself?" Cam asked, impatient to be on the move again.
"Watch and learn, boy," the dragon replied and lit his cigar with a silver Zippo lighter. After taking a few puffs, he began to walk slowly towards the titanic portal. When he came within reach of the doors, he took the cigar from his mouth and stubbed it out on one of the engraved phoenix's toes.
The effect was instant and appropriately dramatic. A line of liquid fire began running along the door from where the cigar had touched it, outlining the engravings one at a time in blazing orange. The fire moved across the door slowly at first, speeding up and brightening as it spread until every single carved flame was burning with real fire, both doors looking more like columns of fire than anything else by this point. With a rumbling groan, the doors swung slowly open to reveal an eight-metre wide circular portal hovering just above the ground that looked to be made of the same liquid fire as filled the carvings on the doors.
"Whoa…" Jeri breathed, squeezing Kenta's hand unconsciously.
"Say what you want about Zhuqiaomon – he sure knows how to impress his visitors," the green-haired boy chuckled and squeezed her hand in return.
"Are we sure that thing is safe?" Henry asked as he studied the flaming portal carefully. "It looks a little…fiery."
"It's safe," SargeCommandramon replied cheerfully. "At least, I think it is. We've never had to use it before."
"Very reassuring," Gaomon muttered sarcastically.
"Well, it should be safe. Zhuqiaomon intended to use it as a backdoor into the Dramon Kingdom for his armies, so it wouldn't make sense if walking through it incinerated you."
"That would lead to some rather high attrition rates," Leomon agreed with a chuckle and padded slowly over to the gate. "I say we try it. Any objections?"
There were none, and the Tamers and Digimon gathered around the leonine warrior in front of the portal. Taking a deep breath, Henry and Terriermon were the first ones to step forwards, disappearing into the fireball with a conspicuous lack of piercing screams or spontaneous combustion. The others followed close behind, Cam and Gaomon stepping forward next and Leomon stepping through last of all, Jeri, Kenta and MarineAngemon perched on his shoulders.
Sovereign Level – 3:46p.m.
Steph let out a muted whimper of pain as her left foot slipped sideways into a crack, twisting her ankle painfully. This had to be the hundredth time this had happened to the girl on her ten hour long trek across the harsh volcanic wasteland that was Zhuqiaomon's realm. The terrain consisted almost entirely of cracked, scorched ashlands with a few pools of lava and occasional jagged, rocky peaks providing the only change in scenery. The sky was even more monotonous than the ground, a single tiny, star-like object the only item breaking up the monotonous scab-red expanse.
"Are you alright?" Vajramon asked as he always did when he noticed that the girl had stopped.
"Fine," Steph replied tersely as she tried to pull her foot free from the crevasse, realizing suddenly that an uncomfortable amount of heat was being conducted through her trainer's sole and into her skin. Redoubling her efforts, she managed to get the offending foot free, but left the shoe behind. She bent down to retrieve it, only to retract her hand as she realized that the sole had melted onto the rock. "What the…?"
"We must be over a lava flow," her bovine companion muttered in a worried tone and glanced at the girl's foot, now bare apart from a thin, dirty white sock. "We should turn back and try heading through another valley. It is too dangerous to try and proceed through this one."
The blonde-haired girl nodded slowly, staring dumbly at her ruined footwear. As Vajramon began trotting back the way they had come, she set off after him at a slow walk, only to stop after a few paces clutching her left foot in agony and trying not to cry out as she stood on an incredibly hot, dangerously-sharp rock.
"Stephanie?" Vajramon asked with a touch of concern as he noticed that the girl had stopped moving again, trotting back to her side when he saw the tears running down her cheeks and the blood staining her sock. "What happened?"
"My foot," she whimpered, clutching the wounded appendage and trying desperately not to break down and cry properly.
"Can you walk?"
"I…I think so…" she replied, getting to her feet and yelping in agony as an especially-hot patch of ground seared her skin through the fabric of her sock. Collapsing to the floor, she finally lost her battle for self-control and began to sob quietly.
"Erm, Stephanie?" Vajramon asked hesitantly, blinking in surprise as the normally-timid child fixed him with a glare that could melt steel.
"WHAT?" she screamed, tears streaming from her eyes. "What do you want now? Are you gonna tell me to get up, keep walking? Well I WON'T! I don't care anymore! Nothing you can say will make me keep walking! I don't even care if you take out those stupid swords and threaten to kill me! I wouldn't even care if you did it! I DON'T CARE!"
The Deva stood there patiently as the girl ranted, only speaking up when it was clear she was done. "In that case I shall have to carry you."
Steph let out an indignant yelp as the bull gathered her up in his arms and set off walking again, totally ignoring her struggles and protests. After about a minute, she settled down into moody silence, much to the relief of Vajramon.
Sovereign Level – 5:37p.m.
About two hours of walking later, the Deva came to a halt at the edge of a rocky cliff and gently placed his charge down on the ground. "We will rest here," he stated matter-of-factly and shrugged his massive backpack off of his shoulders. "I shall set up camp and get a fire started. It gets surprisingly cold at night out here."
"This place has a night?" Steph asked with a confused frown.
"Yes. The sky doesn't darken or change in any way, but it gets very cold very suddenly. That should be happening in about twenty minutes or so," Vajramon replied as he began to set up a small circle of stones to act as a makeshift fire pit. "I'll need the fire set up by then or you'll freeze to death."
"Like you'd care," the girl muttered under her breath. The Deva didn't reply verbally, instead fixing her with a glare before continuing with his work. "Sorry," Steph whispered eventually, a jolt of surprise running through her as she realized she meant it.
"It's fine," Vajramon sighed. "I don't expect you to like me – in fact, I expect you to hate me."
"I, um…" she stammered, not knowing how to reply. The pair descended into awkward silence for several minutes until the campsite was fully set-up, a small fire crackling away happily at the centre.
"Here," Vajramon muttered and threw a coarse blanket to the girl. "This should help keep you warm. You'll need it soon."
"Um, thanks," she replied, wrapping the itchy fabric around herself.
"How is your foot?"
"Fine," Steph answered him automatically, cursing silently as her consciousness began to register the pain coming from her cuts and burns once again.
"Liar," the bull chuckled and reached into the backpack, throwing her an unmarked silver tube of cream. "Rub that into the wounds. It'll dull the pain."
The girl did as he said, blinking in surprise as the pain immediately faded away. "That stuff acts fast…thanks."
"Don't mention it."
They lapsed into another long silence, Steph staring sadly out at the blasted wastelands below. After a while, the air grew suddenly cold and the girl drew her blanket closer around herself as a shiver ran through her body.
Note to self: never wear a skirt in the desert at night… she thought to herself. Right, because I forgot how I was kidnapped along with a wardrobe full of clothes to choose from…
"Vajramon?" she began hesitantly. "Why do you…why don't you…why are you so…"
"Why don't I treat you like scum, like Caturamon or Makuramon do?" he finished for her, continuing when he received a nod in response. "It is a long story."
"Do I look like I have anything better to do?"
"Good point," he conceded with a dry chuckle. "Most of the other Devas believe…or believed that humans are scum. That you are pathetic weaklings who deserve to be exterminated and your resources appropriated for our use. Union of a Tamer with a Digimon is regarded as the ultimate insult by Zhuqiaomon and the other Devas. I do not believe this, and neither does Antylamon."
"So why do you fight for Zhuqiaomon?"
"Because I made a promise to somebody. Somebody very dear to me…" Vajramon replied, a look of heartrending grief forcing its way onto his face. "Not long after we were created, Antylamon and I grew intensely dissatisfied with our lots in life. At first we took pride in our status as the swords of the might Phoenix God, but even blind faith can only justify so many atrocities. We had planned to run away and live in peace, away from Zhuqiaomon's madness, but one thing got in the way of our plans. I fell in love with one of my fellow Devas – Pajiramon.
"When Pajiramon found out about my plans to leave, she wasn't angry. She was just…hurt. She was one of the most dedicated of Zhuqiaomon's servants and would never turn away from him, yet she could not bear the thought of having to face me in battle. I felt the same way, and I knew that she would never come with me so I abandoned my plan to leave. Antylamon knew that she would never get away on her own and instead brought her doubts before Zhuqiaomon. The manipulative bastard twisted her around his little talon, playing on her loyalty and good nature and convincing her that her cause was just, that his great, divine plan would be revealed in time.
"Pajiramon…" the bull trailed off, his eyes growing damp with unshed tears. "Pajiramon was slain in battle with the Tamers. Makuramon sacrificed her to create a big enough distraction to kidnap you. He threw away her life to save his own skin."
"Oh, God…" Steph whispered, desperately searching for the right words to respond with. "If Pajiramon…if Makuramon did that to her then why didn't you…?"
"I would like nothing more than to reduce that maggot of a Digimon to mincemeat," Vajramon snarled, his expression softening after a few seconds. "But Pajiramon…the day before…before her last mission, we were together in our chambers in Zhuqiaomon's tower. She made me promise her that if she were to die in battle, then I would remain true to Zhuqiaomon. That I would continue to fight against the 'Abominations'. That I would avenge her death…"
The bull fell silent as tears began streaming down his cheeks.
"SHE KNEW!" he roared suddenly. "She KNEW that she was going on a suicide mission! That she wasn't coming back! She knew that she was being sent to her grave, and Zhuqiaomon's brainwashing made her leap into it gladly!"
"Vajra-"
"But that's not the worst part!" he growled. "She knew that I would keep my promise, that this damnable code of honour would force me to keep my word against my better judgment! I'm tied to that worthless, despicable worm of a Sovereign more strongly than ever now!"
"You can't…Pajiramon tricked you into making that promise!" Steph said softly. "You can't really expect yourself to keep it. And what does your code of honour say about kidnapping children?"
"What do you think it says?" Vajramon snapped. "My code of honour tells me to follow my conscience and protect the weak while it forces me to keep my word, to follow a mad Sovereign with a god complex."
"Then find a new code!" the girl suggested desperately. "If your code has forced you into a corner like this then it's not worth following!"
"I could do that no more easily than you could stop breathing. And it is not like I've been left without any options," the Deva chuckled sadly, his ears pricking up suddenly as a strange whining began to echo off of the cliffs, quickly building up into a full-fledged screaming. "This is all that I can do for you."
Earlier that day – 3:46p.m.
"Well, isn't this just lovely?" Gaomon muttered to himself as he gazed out at the volcanic wasteland that stretched in every direction seemingly to infinity, their vantage point from atop a set of red cliffs affording the Tamers and their partners with a soul-destroyingly monotonous view of the landscape.
"I wouldn't exactly recommend it as a holiday destination," Leomon admitted with a wry grin. "Hmmm…this doesn't look anything like the part of the Sovereign Level we visited last time we were here. Any idea where we should go?"
"Sage gave us a couple of landmarks to look out for, but…" Henry began and looked around slowly. "I'm not seeing any of them."
"Maybe me and MachGaogamon should take a look around," Cam suggested.
"Will you be alright on your own?" Jeri asked with a concerned frown.
"We can move pretty fast on our own – fast enough to scout the area pretty damn quickly. Plus we can get away from any trouble we can't handle."
"Sounds like a plan," Leomon nodded.
"Great! Now, remind me what we're looking for again?"
"Keep an eye out for a mountain with eight peaks, a canyon shaped like a number '3' and a statue of a skeleton pointing at the sky," Henry replied with a small grin and shook his head slowly.
Minutes later, MachGaogamon was tearing across the wasteland with his engines at full power, hurtling along only a few metres above the ground.
At least it's pretty flat around here – makes it nice and easy to see, Cam thought to himself with a wry grin. Well, apart from the mountains. Now, let's see…
Is that a-no, wait, only five peaks.
Oh, is that…? Damn, that's not a skeleton.
The next few minutes continued like this, the boy finding himself completely unable to locate any of the landmarks Henry had told him about. Maybe if we had a little more altitude… he thought to himself.
"Hey, could you try flying a little higher? I can't really see from dow-WAH!" Cam yelped as his partner's engines suddenly cut out and the werewolf skidded to a halt behind a nearby boulder.
"Be quiet!" MachGaogamon growled quietly. "There's somebody on top of that cliff up there."
"Have they noticed us?" the Tamer whispered in response, receiving a slow shake of the head from his partner.
"I don't think so."
"I'm gonna take a look," Cam declared and climbed onto the canine's shoulders, poking his head cautiously over the top of the boulder.
"What do you see?"
"There's a Digimon – looks kinda like a bull crossed with a centaur," the boy replied, squinting to try and catch a glimpse of something behind the bull. "I think he's talking to somebody, but I can't see who."
"We should get out of here," his partner advised. "We cannot afford to risk detection."
"Alright," Cam agreed and was just about to climb off of the werewolf's shoulders when the unidentified Digimon bent down to pick something up. A look of shock plastered itself across the young Tamer's face as the bull turned and he caught sight of what he was carrying. "That's Steph!"
"Are you sure?"
"How many other blonde-haired girls in glasses could be running around the Digital World?"
"You have a point," MachGaogamon agreed, taking a peek himself before slumping back down with a sigh. "That's Steph alright. I don't know anybody else who would wear a purple skirt with an orange jacket…"
"So what do we do?"
"In all likelihood, that Digimon is a Deva. We could probably take him on our own, but…"
"I know what you mean," Cam nodded. "My D-Arc can't get a lock from here, so we don't even know the first thing about him!"
"We should go get the others and form a plan. They should be easy enough to track with Rapidmon's sensors."
4:04p.m.
"Cam and MachGaogamon have been gone for an awful long time," Kenta said hesitantly, breaking the awkward silence that had descended on the group.
"They'll be fine," Henry reassured the boy. "MachGaogamon's not stupid. He won't let them get spotted."
"Wish we could say the same for Cam," Terriermon chuckled from atop his Tamer's head. "Then again, I guess his head's thick enough for MachGaogamon to use it as a shield if they run into trouble…"
"Terriermon…"
"What? He's not around to hear me."
"Guess again," Jeri giggled and pointed behind the rabbit, who turned to see the black-haired Tamer shoot a sarcastic glare in his direction.
"Uh, momentai?"
"Kicking your arse can wait until later. I have good news!" Cam announced cheerfully.
"You found the landmarks?" Leomon asked hopefully.
"Even better," the boy replied with a grin. "I found Steph!"
"What?" Henry exclaimed. "Where is she? Is she okay?"
"I saw her a few minutes' flight away from here. She was with this weird bull Digimon in red armour."
"That sounds like Vajramon," Kenta said thoughtfully.
"He's the bull Deva," Jeri explained. "We ran into him when we came to the Digital World to rescue Calumon."
"Looks like you guessed right," Cam nodded to his partner. "Terriermon, can you use your sensors to track them if you Digivolve to Rapidmon?"
"No problem," the rabbit replied. "I can't wait to get my hands on that no-good, low-life scumbag of a Digimon!"
"Someone's awfully protective," Leomon teased gently. "Does Terriermon have a little crush?"
"Ow, my sanity…" MachGaogamon groaned and shook his head slowly.
"So, how are we gonna do this?" Kenta asked. "I mean, are we just gonna launch an all-out attack or what?"
"We should try and hem them in somewhere, or wait until they stop for the night," Henry suggested. "That way there's very little chance of them getting away."
"Agreed, now let's get moving," Leomon nodded. "We don't want them to get any further ahead than they already are."
5:02p.m.
"Slow down," Rapidmon called to MachGaogamon, the canine speeding up as Vajramon passed out of sight behind a small cliff. "We can't let him see us."
"I know, but I don't like letting him out of my sight."
"Well, he's not out of my sight," the android replied and tapped the side of his head with the 'hand' at the end of his right missile launcher-arm. "These sensors are pretty sensitive."
"Hmmm…" the werewolf grumbled, but slowed down all the same.
The two Ultimates carried on for a few more minutes, their partners riding on their backs, the others riding Leomon who was following close behind at a run. Suddenly, the contact on Rapidmon's sensor screen began to flicker and jump at random.
"Wonderful…" the rabbit sighed sarcastically. "My sensors are picking up some interference from something. I'm gonna try and get a little closer. You mind taking care of Henry for a little while? He's no trouble – he's house trained and everything!"
"Rapidmon…" the boy sighed and rolled his eyes as he hopped across onto MachGaogamon's back.
"Be careful," Cam nodded with a small grin. "We can't let him see us…"
"Oh, a wise guy, eh?" Rapidmon muttered and increased thrust to his engines, drawing ahead of the black-haired boy and his partner. As he began to loop around the rocky cliff Vajramon had passed behind minutes earlier, the blip began to clear itself up. "There we go…shit!"
The android reversed his engines suddenly, throwing himself back behind the corner he had just rounded as he saw Vajramon walking along a small clifftop a few hundred metres away.
Damn it! he cursed mentally. I can't believe I made such a stupid, ridiculous…wait…what…?
Confusion washed over Rapidmon as the blip on his sensor screen continued moving at the exact same pace, not pausing or faltering for even a split second. Did he not see me? I don't see how he couldn't have – he was looking practically right at me!
A sense of relief flooded the rabbit's mind as the bull continued walking, apparently oblivious to his presence. "That was too close," he whispered to himself and settled down into a sitting position, waiting for his friends to catch up while keeping a close eye on his sensor screen.
5:22p.m.
"I think I've found a good candidate for an ambush site," Henry called as he shook himself free of his mental bond with Rapidmon, the sensor display overlaid on his vision vanishing immediately. "This valley opens out into a small area of open ground surrounded by high walls on three sides and a cliff on the other. There's only two ways in or out of it."
"Sounds perfect," Leomon agreed.
"The way Vajramon's heading, it looks like he's gonna get to the choke point before nightfall," Rapidmon informed them. "Me, Henry, Cam and MachGaogamon can loop around and cut him off from one end while you guys keep going in this direction."
"He'll have nowhere to run," Cam chuckled darkly and cracked his knuckles. "Let's do it!"
Vajramon's Campsite – 6:05p.m.
"All you can…what do you mean?" Steph asked with a confused look that transformed into outright bewilderment as the screaming echoing off of the valley walls finally registered in her brain. "Wait, that sounds almost like a jet en-"
"Freeze, Deva!" MachGaogamon and Cam snarled as one as the werewolf shot out of the mouth of the northern exit from the small plateau, Rapidmon and Henry half a second behind him. Vajramon drew his twin swords and held them up in a guard position as Leomon and MarineAngemon cut off his only other route of escape. The bull was now trapped, a several-hundred metre drop from the top of the cliff at his back.
"Hand over the girl," the leonine warrior growled and raised his sword.
"I'm afraid I can't just give her to you," Vajramon replied cordially. "I swore an oath to serve the lord Zhuqiaomon until my dying breath."
"You don't need to throw your life away needlessly!" Henry protested from atop his partner's shoulder.
"My life was forfeit as soon as I let myself get ambushed by you," the bull chuckled darkly, a glint of mischief in his eye. "The Divine Lord Zhuqiaomon will have my head if I lose one of his precious humans."
"You can't really believe that nutjob is a god!" Cam spluttered incredulously. "He's just a spiteful racist with a god complex!"
"Spiteful, eh?" Vajramon snorted in amusement. "Then he should definitely approve of my next move…TERRA BLADE!"
The Deva lashed out with his twin blades, striking the ground and shattering the rock to either side of him. An ear-splitting rumbling echoed off of the valley walls as the twin fissures arced around, heading back to the edge of the cliff at lightning speed. A horrified shriek escaped Steph's mouth as the ground collapsed from under her, a ten-metre wide fragment of rock detaching from the cliff face and casting the girl and her captor into the abyss.
Rapidmon was moving before Vajramon's swords had even reached the ground, accelerating as quickly as he could in an attempt to reach the falling girl. Despite his engines' screams of protest and the warbling of alarms in his mind warning of overheating, he managed to reach her before she had fallen more than a foot. Throwing his engines suddenly into reverse, Rapidmon managed to launch himself backwards far enough to land on solid ground before his engines gave out with a spluttering cough. Before he landed, the android spared a single glance down at the falling Vajramon and felt confusion flood his circuits as he saw the expression on the Deva's face.
He was smiling.
As soon as Rapidmon set Steph down on the ground, she broke down in tears of pure relief and gripped the nearest living thing (which just happened to be Henry) in a death-hug worthy of Rumiko Nonaka.
"It's alright," the blue-haired boy whispered as he hugged the girl back, her tears quickly creating an enormous wet patch on his shoulder. "You're safe now, you're with friends."
"Oh, god…" Steph sobbed. "I was…so scared I…they made us do…go on these runs and…and I talked back to one of them and they…"
"Sshh," he shushed her gently. "It's okay, just take deep breaths. You don't have to worry about that anymore."
Several minutes later, Henry's attempts to comfort her seemed to be having an effect and the shaky sobs wracking her form were quickly replaced by shivers caused by the chill air. With a small smile, Cam pulled off his hooded jacket and slipped it around her shoulders as she released Henry from his hug, the massive item of clothing easily engulfing most of her body.
"Thanks," she croaked, a small, grateful smile gracing her features as she sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Sorry for getting all…you know…"
"Don't be ridiculous," a now de-Digivolved Gaomon reassured her gently. "It's perfectly natural to be emotional after what you must have been through."
"Pipipipuh!" MarineAngemon added cheerfully, punctuating what was presumably some form of reassuring comment with a volley of pink heart-shaped bubbles.
"Wait, was that…?" Steph trailed off as she noticed the presence of Kenta, Jeri and their respective partners for the first time. "Konnichiwa, Kenta!"
"Hey there!" he replied with a small wave. "Long time no see!"
"Erm, okay…" Steph mumbled in confusion and glanced at Henry for help. "How come I can understand what he's saying?"
"You can?" Henry asked with a thoughtful frown. "Interesting…"
"It is likely something to do with the Digital World," Leomon sighed and rolled his eyes in minor exasperation. "While they're here, non-Tamed Digimon don't technically know or speak in any human language – they communicate using a data-based language. They only gain a script to translate this language into a given human language when they bio-emerge."
"In that case, I guess it's possible that all spoken words in the Digital World are translated into the original Digimon language…" Terriermon began with a contemplative look.
"And then re-translated into whatever language a listener can understand!" his Tamer finished. "That's pretty incredible."
"Um, I hate to interrupt the scientific debate," Steph began hesitantly as she fought to suppress her shivering. "But can we set up some sort of camp, please? I'm freezing!"
A few minutes later, the Tamers and their partners were gathered around a newly-made campfire against the rock wall at the "back" of the rocky plateau, Vajramon's campfire having gone over the edge of the cliff with him. Their tents were set up a few metres away in a small hollow in the wall, giving them some cover from any prying eyes. Henry and Cam spent a little while explaining some of the oddities of the Digital World to her, but when it became clear that Steph was sufficiently-recovered to talk properly, conversation quickly turned to her time in captivity and the state of her fellow captives.
"So…I guess that's about it," she finished quietly as she ended her account of what Makuramon and the other Devas had put her and the others through.
"That's…" Cam broke the long silence that had descended, trailing off as he failed to find the right words to express his horror.
"Evil," Gaomon finished for him, his voice a low, menacing growl. "I knew Zhuqiaomon was insane, but to put children through what is tantamount to torture…"
"He has to pay," his Tamer snarled, cracking his knuckles angrily.
"He will pay," Henry stated, his voice filled with so much cold, barely-contained rage that it sent a shiver down the spines of his friends. "I'll make him pay."
"Well, at least we can look on the bright side," Terriermon chuckled nervously in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood. "At least the Devas aren't the brightest of goons…"
"What do you mean?" Jeri asked.
"Well, think about it. Both me and Gaomon can fly in our Ultimate forms and we're two of the fastest Digimon around, but Vajramon decided to throw Steph off a cliff that was high enough for us to easily be able to catch her."
"Actually, he's right," the blue-furred canine agreed with a thoughtful frown. "It does seem to be quite an odd move when he could have just used his swords in a more…direct manner."
As Gaomon spoke, Steph felt a sudden revelation was hover her as she remembered Vajramon's last words to her.
"This is all that I can do for you."
"He let me go," she whispered in shock.
"What?" Cam asked disbelievingly. "Why would he let you go?"
"Actually, that kinda makes sense," Terriermon said hesitantly and stared at the floor, perfectly mirroring his Tamer's expression of deep contemplation and confusion. "I mean, when my sensors kept losing him and I went ahead to try and get a better signal, there was a moment where I was sure he'd seen me, but he just kept on walking."
"And he did say his life was forfeit as soon as he let himself get ambushed," Gaomon noted. "I assumed that it was just a figure of speech, but maybe it was a subtle hint."
"But why would he let you go?" Cam insisted. "I mean, he worked for Zhuqiaomon. He had to hate humans."
"Actually, I don't think he did," Steph replied quietly, going on to relate the story the bull had told her about his dissatisfaction with the Sovereign and love for Pajiramon.
"Well, he was telling the truth about Pajiramon's fate at least," Gaomon muttered and glanced at the floor. "I was the one who killed her. She and Indramon were sent out as decoys to allow Makuramon and Majiramon to capture you and the others."
"I…I can't believe he'd…all because she…" Jeri stammered, looking close to tears.
"Perhaps we should leave it there," Leomon suggested gently. "It's getting late and it's been a hard day. We'll need to be refreshed for tomorrow if we're going to find our way to the meeting point with the others."
"You should probably eat something before you go to bed," Cam added with a small grin. "It'll take care of all those cuts and burns, plus the energy drain will make sure you sleep through the whole night."
"That'll be a nice change…" the girl replied with a tiny, sad smile.