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.
Well, this is the penultimate "real" chapter of Exodus. After this, there will only be one more full chapter (which is going on 10,000 words, and I'm still not finished with it!) plus a short epilogue chapter. Chapter 38 should be out around next weekend, but if I can have it ready before then it will be released sooner.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Long Road Home
The children left Sage's valley early on Friday morning, reaching the portal to the Swamp Level without incident. Before leaving, however, Steph and Hawkmon tried to Bio-merge one last time, then tried in vain to make the bird Digivolve using Digivolution cards when that failed. A slightly-deflated Steph and Hawkmon finally resigned themselves to swapping between mounts on their journey, choosing Gaogamon for their first day of travelling.
The Tamers' good luck (with the exception of Hawkmon's inability to Digivolve) held all the way through the Swamp Level, with no hostile Digimon attacking them as they travelled through the damp, vile-smelling realm. They passed through the portal to the Jungle Level about half an hour before nightfall, making camp on the far side at the top of a large hill that provided them with a breathtaking view of the seemingly-endless greenery, which was broken occasionally by another distant rocky hill. The area was soon shrouded in darkness, however, reducing the scenery to a series of vague blurs.
The mood among the Tamers was light, the chill air and unnerving surroundings doing little to overcome the excitement caused by their impending return home. Only Ryo stood apart from the others, his mood definitely positive but still much more reserved than that of his friends despite repeated demands from Kazu that he 'lighten up'. The older boy's natural paranoia and suspicion coupled with memories of Zhuqiaomon's surprise assault on them meant he was finding it all but impossible to relax, especially when everybody else seemed to be doing so. He still managed to join in as everybody sang "Happy Birthday" to Jeri, though only after Rika ordered him to do so on pain of death. As the night dragged on, the children started running out of steam and plodding off to bed, Sam and Suzie being the first at a little after nine o'clock, the latter practically dragging Lopmon with her. Jeri, Kenta and Steph left next, with the others following them one by one until only Ryo, Henry, Monodramon and Terriermon were left awake.
Friday 19th November – 10:04p.m.
Jungle Level
Terriermon stifled a yawn as he gazed out over the jungle below him. Ryo and Henry were deep in conversation about battle tactics and the quickest route to the beach where they would be meeting Whamon, the former somehow managing to keep watch despite the complexity of his conversation. Monodramon was perched on a nearby rock, also keeping watch while occasionally joining the conversation with his own observations. Terriermon, on the other hand, had been able to feel his concentration gradually waning over the last ten minutes or so. Another yawn managed to defeat all of his attempts to suppress it and the little Digimon finally decided to admit defeat.
"That's it, I'm done," the rabbit mumbled and got to his feet, turning and heading back to where the rest of the group was sleeping. "See you guys in the morning."
A chorus of mumbled goodnights followed the diminutive Digimon as he sauntered towards the small sheet of quilted cloth that served as his makeshift sleeping bag. He barely spared a glance at the slumbering forms he tiptoed past, managing to move so quietly that not even the ever-alert Renamon noticed his presence. The one person he gave any attention to was Suzie, who was snoring softly in the sleeping bag next to her brother's. Lopmon was clutched in the little girl's grip, which appeared once again to be too tight for the rabbit's comfort, as she was struggling to escape without waking her Tamer.
"Need a hand?" Terriermon whispered with a tired grin, receiving a frantic nod in reply. With all the delicacy and care of a qualified surgeon, he slowly lifted Suzie's left arm just enough for Lopmon to slip free, lowering it again and stepping back with equal slowness.
"Thank you," the former Deva gasped as quietly as she could. "You shall have to teach me how to do that."
"It's easy enough when you've had some practice," the green-and-white rabbit chuckled in reply. "Back before she knew I was alive, I was Suzie's favourite toy. It could be pretty fun trying to get away from her to handle a bio-emergence."
"I can imagine," Lopmon agreed as she sat down on a small rock next to her sleeping Tamer with a thoughtful look. "I assume that means I will have to endure this treatment even after we get back to the human world…"
"Yup," Terriermon sighed and slumped onto his sleeping bag. "Meh, at least now I've got someone to share the crown of Princess Pretty Pants with…"
"Princess Pretty Pants?"
"Oh, you'll find out when we get home."
"That sounded…ominous."
"It was meant to," the white-furred Digimon giggled. "Anyway, Suzie's not all bad. She's a good kid, even if she is a little on the loopy side."
"I shall bear that in mind."
"Smart move," Terriermon yawned. "Anyway, I'm off to bed. G'night."
"Goodnight," Lopmon replied as he climbed into his sleeping bag. After about a minute, when Terriermon was halfway asleep, she spoke up again.
"Um, Terriermon?"
"Yeah?" he mumbled groggily in reply, stifling a groan as he opened his eyes and sat up.
"There's something that's been…that I've been thinking about," the brown-furred Digimon began, glancing down at the floor nervously. "Why did you…why was everyone so accepting of me?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean…you all accepted me into your group without question. You don't seem bothered by the fact that I was a Deva, or about what I did in that time."
"What, you'd rather we put you on trial?" Terriermon teased her gently.
"N-no! I'm not complaining, but I just wond-"
"Hey, slow down, lady – I was just messing with ya!" the green-and-white rabbit giggled. "Look, I can't speak for everybody else, but personally, I think you made up for that stuff when you saved Suzie and Sam from Caturamon, and according to Little Miss Crazy, you were the only one who was nice to them when they were in prison."
"Yes, but I allowed them to remain-"
"If you'd have tried anything earlier, you'd have just got yourself killed, and maybe the girls along with you. And then after that you stood up to old Zhuqs and told him to go screw himself, so we know that you're on our side. Not much chance he'd take you back after that little speech…"
"True…"
"And anyway, there's no way you'd have been able to bond with Suzie and become her Tamer if you weren't a nice person!"
"Erm, isn't she meant to be my Tamer?" Lopmon asked with a confused frown.
"I'm kinda hoping things'll go the other way around this time…"
The Tamers were up early, setting off almost as soon as they had woken to ensure that they would be able to reach their rendezvous point with Whamon by the next morning. Unfortunately, though quite understandably, Sam and Suzie were somewhat less than thrilled at having to spend another boring day riding on the backs of various different Digimon. After a quick discussion with their respective partners (and confirming it with Henry), Rika and Cam offered to let the girls ride with them, as their partners' Champion forms possessed the greatest mix of speed and stealth and would thus be acting as advance scouts. Suzie leapt at the chance for what Cam described as "a white knuckle ride", as did Sam after somebody had explained to her exactly what it meant.
Saturday 20th November – 8:52a.m.
Jungle Level
"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Suzie cheered as Gaogamon tore through the jungle, leaping into the air every so often to jump from tree branch to tree branch. The girl was anchored to the blue-furred canine by his long, red scarf, which had formed itself into a pair of hands and had a firm grip on both Suzie and her rather nauseated partner. "You'll never catch us!"
"Don't be so sure," Kyubimon muttered in reply, meeting the girl's challenge with a sudden burst of speed that would probably have knocked Rika and Sam from her back had they not been bound to the kitsune's ornate red and white collar by Rika's belts.
As part of the deal to keep Sam and Suzie occupied, Kyubimon and Gaogamon would stop whenever they found a place they deemed safe to have a brief run around. In return, the girls would be reasonably quiet the rest of the time, and would follow the orders of the elder children and the Digimon. The deal was designed to allow Sam and Suzie to get some relatively safe fun and excitement out of the day, while still allowing the Digimon to scout ahead of the rest of the group properly. However, neither of the parties in the agreement had expected that the Digimon would get as much enjoyment out of the deal as the children.
"We're getting closer…" Sam squealed excitedly, letting out a surprised yelp as Kyubimon suddenly leapt into the air and followed Gaogamon through the tree branches. With a triumphant cry, the vulpine Digimon pounced at her opponent, twisting in mid-air so that she sailed over him mere inches above the heads of his passengers. As she landed, Kyubimon summoned a tiny aura of flame around one of her nine tails and swiftly swatted Gaogamon on his right hind leg, eliciting a yelp of pain from the massive canine as he skidded to a halt and fixed her with a small glare.
"You win, Kyubimon…this time," he growled playfully, eliciting a small chuckle from the victorious fox.
"I'm game for a rematch any time you are, little doggy."
"Is it over?" Lopmon whimpered and opened one of her eyes hesitantly.
"It's over," Cam replied with a small grin. "What's the matter? Travel sick?"
"I was not designed for high speed manoeuvres," the rabbit squeaked indignantly. "I tend to become slightly…uncomfortable when I move faster than a certain speed in this form."
"Remind me never to take you on a roller coaster…"
"Or in the car when daddy's dwiving," Suzie giggled. "Evewything wooks wike a big bwur when he dwives me to dance cwass."
"I think we'd better get back on the job," Rika suggested as she saw a familiar, depressed look flicker across her sister's face. I know that look…talking about cars must have reminded her about her mum's accident… she thought sadly, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder as Kyubimon started moving again at a slightly more sedate pace. "You okay?" the redhead asked quietly as soon as Cam and Gaogamon were out of earshot.
Sam nodded and mumbled a reply in the affirmative, though anyone with eyes could quite clearly tell that she was anything but okay. Making sure that she had her balance, Rika hesitantly untangled her left hand from her partner's fur and wrapped it around her sister in an awkward hug from behind. Sam responded by leaning back into the hug, tears running down her cheeks as she started to cry quietly.
"Grief often strikes when we least expect it," Kyubimon whispered sadly in her Tamer's mind.
Meanwhile, about a mile further back through the jungle, Jeri and Kenta were in the middle of a debate on a rather delicate topic.
"I just don't think we should tell anyone yet," Kenta said quietly, keeping his voice down so that their friends wouldn't hear them.
"But why not?" Jeri asked. "We're going to have to tell them sometime, and besides, half of them know anyway!"
"Uh, only two of them know – Rika and Ryo. And it's not their reaction I was worried about!"
"Well, how do you think Kazu and your friends back home will take it if they find out by accident?"
"Pipipuh…"
"Hey, you stay out of this!" Kenta moaned at his partner, who replied with a massive, cheesy grin and a single heart-shaped bubble.
"You know I'm right," Jeri giggled. "Look, it's gonna be even harder to hide this when we get back to Japan. I mean, my dad always asks me where I've been when I come home, and I'm a terrible liar! And then there's my friends – Miki and Ayaka especially are gonna be a problem – and then there's sorting out the stealth-dates in the first place…"
"Alright, I get it. You're right," the green-haired boy sighed. "We'll tell everyone before we leave the Digital World. Um…actually, it might be best to do it tonight, since we might not have time to do it tomorrow what with the time limit on getting to the Ark."
"Tonight it is," Jeri grinned triumphantly and kissed him swiftly on the cheek. "Thanks."
"Hey, Leomon, hurry up!" Kazu called, Monodramon struggling not to laugh at the boy's total cluelessness. "You're lagging way behind – what gives?"
"Ah, my apologies," the leonine warrior replied with a knowing grin. "I thought I saw something in the trees over there, but it was just a rock."
"You're sure?" Ryo asked, keeping up appearances.
"I'm sure. Don't worry, just my eyes playing tricks on me."
The Tamers stopped at about midday for a quick break, their scouting party quickly re-joining them to report their findings. Gaogamon and Kyubimon took advantage of the opportunity to de-Digivolve and get something to eat to heal the numerous, though minor bites and burns they had inflicted on each other in their games of 'tig' (which they still insisted were purely for the benefit of Sam and Suzie, refusing to admit they were enjoying themselves beyond acknowledging the game's usefulness as a 'training aid'). Fortunately, thanks to their unique digital physiology, all they required was half an hour's rest after their restorative meal before they were ready to go again, Digivolving back to their Champion forms and launching back into the thick jungle as soon as their passengers were strapped in.
The scouting party found no traces of danger after the first hour, though they did come across a clearing studded with large, flat-topped rocks that made an ideal playground for the two Champions. Their luck changed, however, soon after they left the clearing.
2:31p.m.
Gaogamon let out a low growl as he surveyed the rocky clearing in front of him. A canyon, just too wide for him to jump across, ran through the middle of the clearing, a rickety rope bridge providing the only crossing. It was a clearing he recognized from the journey in the opposite direction (though it wasn't the one where Rika and Kazu had had their now near-legendary fight – they had passed through that clearing without incident not long before their lunch break). The bridge in this clearing, on the other hand, was guarded by a trio of Ogremon.
"They could be Zhuqiaomon's agents," Cam whispered as he peered at the massive, green-skinned Digimon. "He's sent Ogremon against us before."
"They are not members of the Sovereign's army," Lopmon replied with a frown. "Zhuqiaomon's forces have identifying tattoos on their right arms – these Ogremon are lacking that mark."
"That doesn't mean they're friendly," Rika noted.
"True," Gaogamon agreed. "Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be able to get around them easily."
"Then we shall have to go through them," Kyubimon declared.
"Hold on, we don't even know if they're hostile or not," Cam began with a frown. "I mean, if they aren't in Zhuqiaomon's army, they might not want any trouble."
"Ogremon are not known for their friendly disposition," his partner countered.
"He is correct. The Ogremon had a reputation for brutality long before they became favoured soldiers of the Sovereign. In fact, that is likely why he hired them," Lopmon added.
"Either way, Flyboy's right," Rika sighed. "We can't afford to get into an unnecessary fight – it'll just slow us down, and if one of you guys gets hurt it'll slow us down even more. We should try talking to them first."
The small group of humans and Digimon walked slowly into the clearing, Cam and Rika walking beside their partners while Suzie and Sam hid behind the older children's legs. Lopmon, meanwhile, was being held tightly in her Tamer's arms, and was barely getting enough oxygen to stay conscious. One of the Ogremon spotted them almost instantly and turned to converse with his two companions, before turning and calling out to the approaching group.
"OI! Who goes there?"
Kyubimon and the children stopped moving, Gaogamon taking a few more steps before coming to a halt and calling out in reply. "We're travellers, just passing through. We just want to cross the bridge and be on our way, as will another group of humans who are following close behind us."
"Well, then we got a problem. You see, this 'ere's a toll bridge," the Ogremon began in what he obviously thought was a businessman's voice. "And you gotta pay the toll, or we won't let you cross."
"I am afraid that we don't have any money with us at the moment," Gaogamon replied, fighting back his growing sense of revulsion. Filthy bandits… "We don't have any way of paying you."
"Now, that's where you're wrong," the green-skinned monster grinned hideously. "You've got four juicy humans with you…"
"What?" Gaogamon snarled as the ogre carried on obliviously.
"…and me and my boys are ever so hungry. I'm sure you could spare just one of 'em as payment – that'd leave three for yourself and your friends there. Now, let's see…" the Ogremon trailed off, scrutinizing the humans as closely as he could from a distance. Eventually, he made his decision. "I want her! The little one holding the Lopmon!"
As the massive Digimon pointed at her, Suzie let out a squeak of fear and darted behind Gaogamon, holding Lopmon tight to her chest. With a sudden, impressive display of contortionism, the rabbit wriggled free of her Tamer's grasp and advanced slowly towards the three ogres.
"Cam, Rika, would you do me a favour, please?" she began, her eyes and voice as hard and cold as steel. "Cover the little ones' eyes, and look away yourselves. You're too young to see what I'm about to do to these…vermin."
As Lopmon spat the last word with almost-unnatural venom, a bright white light shone from Suzie's D-Arc and the little Digimon was encased in a pink data sphere. The sphere quickly grew to a little over six metres in height and suddenly shattered to reveal the slender, graceful, terrifying form of Antylamon. Rika and Cam quickly obeyed the former Deva's request and covered the eyes of their young charges, then looked away themselves.
Two short screams of terror were quickly followed by a pair of wet squelches, two heavy thuds echoing through the clearing as two of the Ogremon fell dead to the floor. The third ogre began babbling incoherently, suddenly letting out a long scream that quickly faded away into the distance as he was, presumably, thrown off the edge of the cliff.
"Well…" Gaogamon began, not knowing quite what to say as Antylamon de-Digivolved in a flash of white light. "That was…"
"Impressive," Kyubimon finished with a note of respect.
"I, um, thank you," Lopmon mumbled with a hint of embarrassment. "I'm not entirely sure how I did that, but thank you."
"Um, Lopmon?" Sam piped up nervously from behind the kitsune. "Can we look now?"
The Tamers were reunited just after sunset at the beach where they had entered the Jungle Level on their first trip through. They quickly set up a camp with a small fire on the cliffs above the beach and gathered around, chattering away excitedly about their imminent return home. After about half an hour, when the conversation had died down a bit, Jeri and Kenta shared a nervous glance and stood up shakily, the girl clearing her throat and speaking up in a quavering voice.
Jungle Level, near portal to Ocean Level – 6:50p.m.
"Um, everyone? We have an an-n-nnouncement to make," the brunette stammered, glancing at her boyfriend desperately when she had everyone's attention. "K-Kenta?"
"Well, uh…you see…" the green-haired boy began. "Me and Jeri are…we're d-d…we're go…we're-"
"They're dating!" Monodramon interrupted in an exasperated tone, earning a mock glare from his Tamer. "Oh, come on, it was taking them forever!"
"Monodramon…" Ryo sighed and shook his head slowly, fighting to suppress a grin.
A stunned silence descended on the group as everyone processed the new (for most of them, anyway) information. Rika, Renamon, Ryo and Monodramon wore knowing smirks as the two lovebirds shifted uncomfortably under the rest of the group's gaze. Henry, Steph, Cam, Takato, Terriermon and Hawkmon looked mildly surprised (mostly at the fact that the two Tamers had actually acted on their painfully-obvious feelings), while Gaomon rolled his eyes and muttered "about bloody time" under his breath. Guilmon, Andromon and Lopmon, on the other hand, simply looked confused, while Sam and Suzie wrinkled their noses in distaste and exclaimed "ewww, boys!" in perfect unison. Kazu's reaction, however, was absolutely perfect. The visor-wearing Tamer wore an expression of utter shock, his mouth working open and closed like that of a goldfish.
"I…I…I…" he began, shaking his head suddenly and looking closely at the couple. "Is this a joke?"
"Nope!" Jeri giggled cheerfully and pulled her boyfriend into a sudden kiss, making his face flush bright red. The sudden display of affection caused Kazu's jaw to drop further and inspired a chorus of laughter and cheers from most of the children and Digimon as the brown-haired Tamer spluttered in shock. The two younger children mimed throwing up, while Rika looked away uncomfortably.
"I wouldn't recommend doing that again," Leomon chuckled with a shake of his head. "I think that poor Kazu might have an aneurysm if he gets hit by any more surprises today…"
The sound of his name being spoken brought Kazu back to reality and he snapped his jaw shut, struggling to regain the use of his voice for long enough to interrogate his oldest friend. "I…you…when? How?"
"When we first arrived in the Jungle Level and me and Jeri went off to scout around," Kenta began. "We were walking through the Jungle when a coconut fell off of a tree."
"It would have landed on my head if Kenta hadn't pushed me out of the way," Jeri added. "But, well, he pushed a little harder than he meant to and we both ended up rolling down a hill. We were a little stunned, and when Kenta asked me if I was okay and I said yes he…um…kissed me."
"Too much information…" Kazu groaned as Steph emitted a sound that could only be described as "squee".
Kazu spent most of the rest of the evening in shock, not being helped by the fact that Jeri and Kenta were now cuddling or holding hands openly at every opportunity. Most of the children and Digimon simply took this in their stride, though Sam and Suzie engaged in some gentle teasing and Rika made a conscious effort not to look at the couple. Eventually, things returned to some semblance of normality and conversation started picking up again.
7:58p.m.
"I wonder how everyone's doing back home," Sam said absent-mindedly as she gazed out at the ocean, marvelling at the sheer size of the glassy black expanse. "I mean, I hope they haven't had to fight any mean Digimon while you guys have been gone."
"I don't think so," her sister replied. "Yamaki would have found out about it from Mr Wong and told us if that had happened."
"Wow, that's lucky," the little girl began, turning around and lying down on her stomach with her chin resting on her hands. "I mean, it would have been pretty scary if one of the bad guys had arrived when you and the others weren't around."
"Yeah…" Henry mumbled as a thoughtful look came over his face. "You know, that is pretty lucky."
"Actually, it's not really luck," Lopmon piped up as she opened her eyes and stood up from the spot beside her Tamer where she had been dozing. "When Zhuqiaomon found out that all the Tamers had entered the Digital World, he stopped sending Digimon to your world. He had a greater chance of eliminating you all while you were in his territory, and he wanted to make sure he had as much backup available as possible if Project NOSFERATU failed."
"Wait, you're saying that all the Digimon who've bio-emerged so far have been sent by Zhuqiaomon?" Takato asked with a worried frown.
"Not all of them, no," the little Digimon replied. "Some Digimon manage to make it through on their own without the Sovereign's aid, but there are not many of them. I think there was a Devimon that managed it, plus a Sangloupmon and an IceDevimon. There are a few others, but those are the ones I remember most vividly."
"Yeah, I remember those three," Rika muttered, suppressing a shiver as she remembered her experiences with IceDevimon. "Wait, if Zhuqiaomon has been sending practically every other Digimon we've fought, why doesn't he just send one of his armies through all at once? I mean, Gogglehead and the others barely managed to take down a hundred ForgeTankmon, and that was after a bunch of them got killed by friendly fire."
"Fortunately, he is unable to send more than one or two Digimon through the barrier at a time using his current method," the rabbit began. "Without knowing the location of the portals to the human worlds, Zhuqiaomon has been forced to use a machine that he recovered from the ruins of an ancient temple in the Great Desert. When a portal between the worlds is formed, a number of minor breaches in the barrier plane are formed around it. The machine basically takes either one or two Digimon and fires them in the general direction of one of these breaches. This destabilizes the barrier plane for about a day, preventing another attempt at bio-emergence from being made until it has calmed down again. About a third of the time, the Digimon will hit one of the breaches and be transported through to your world."
"What happens the rest of the time?"
"They either miss or are torn to pieces by the trauma of entering the barrier plane. Sometimes there are periods of time when the barrier plane becomes calmer or more turbulent, and the success rate can rise to 98% or fall to 10%. Also, at the calmest times, multiple Digimon can be transported in rapid succession, like what happened when Indramon and Pajiramon were sued as a distraction while Makuramon and Majiramon kidnapped Sam, Steph and Suzie."
"From what you say, it sounds like it's completely random whether the Digimon ends up in England or Japan," Renamon mused.
"For most Digimon it is, yes," Lopmon replied. "Apparently Devas are capable of guiding themselves…or ourselves to a specific world, though it takes a significant amount of effort. Most other Digimon are too weak to guide themselves properly, though apparently most Ultimates or a strong Champion like IceDevimon can do it."
"And finding a portal would allow him to choose where all of his crazy little minions ended up?" Terriermon piped up.
"Yes. It would also allow him to send dozens, or even hundreds of Digimon through at a time as often as he liked," the former Deva sighed gravely. "It would also allow him to overcome the limitation of his machine that frustrates him the most – the fact that it catastrophically overloads every time any Digimon more powerful than a Deva attempts to use it. This is the only thing that has prevented him from travelling to Earth himself and obliterating it."
"Oh, no," Jeri whispered in horror. "If he finds one of the portals…"
"He will not," Lopmon reassured her. "Finding the portal would require him to track us back to it and JewelBeemon was the only one of his servants capable of doing that for any length of time without being noticed by us. However, I doubt that even he would have been able to get close enough to track us without being detected by Guilmon's nose."
"So we're safe?" Kenta asked.
"Yes, I believe so. All that Zhuqiaomon knows is that the portals are in the Great Desert, and he has no way of detecting them unless they are active. Do not worry."
10:22p.m.
As usual, the Tamers and Digimon trickled off to bed one by one as the evening dragged on. Eventually, the only ones left awake were Rika, Renamon and Ryo. The trio mostly sat there in silence, the only communication being conducted telepathically by the redhead and her vulpine partner, who were meant to be the ones on watch. Much to Rika's irritation, Ryo had yet to go to bed, and he was behaving as if he was the one on watch. The girl quickly tired of the older Tamer's presence, and decided to confront him about it with her usual subtlety and social grace.
"Alright, Akiyama, what the hell are you still doing up?" she demanded, fixing him with a glare that would have shattered the resolve of a lesser man.
"I thought I'd keep you company," Ryo replied with his trademark grin. "It can get awful lonely on watch – I thought you might appreciate the extra conversation."
"Bullshit," Rika snapped, her temper flaring hotter as she recognized the obvious lie. "Don't lie to me, Mr Perfect. You're not as good at it as you think."
A brief flicker of unreadable emotion crossed the boy's face, and Rika knew she'd hit a nerve. "Why shouldn't I stay up? Might as well have an extra pair of eyes on watch…"
"So that's it," the girl snarled, a hurt expression materializing briefly on her face before being quickly disguised. "You don't trust me."
"What?" Ryo exclaimed in what seemed like genuine surprise. Okay, so maybe you're a better actor than I thought, Akiyama… "That's not it at all!"
"Yeah, right. Why else would you be sitting out here trying to babysit me, again?" the redhead sneered, memories of the older Tamer's repeated attempts to coddle her over the last two weeks springing into her mind. "Stop treating me like some Damsel in Distress, Ryo. It's insulting."
"Rika, that honestly isn't why I'm out here," the teenager insisted.
"Oh yeah? So why are you out here?"
"I…gah, I can't believe I'm about to admit this…" Ryo sighed, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Look, it's not that I don't trust you…it's that I don't trust myself." Noticing his fellow Tamer's bewildered expression, he decided to elaborate. "Ever since we got ambushed by Zhuqiaomon, I've been feeling…okay, I'm just gonna say it. I screwed up. I let my guard down after we managed to rescue Sam and Suzie, and if I hadn't, then Zhuqiaomon might not have been able to sneak up on us."
Ryo was about to continue when he saw the incredulous look on Rika's face. "You…you have got to be kidding me," she muttered and shook her head in disbelief. "You arrogant…melodramatic…self-obsessed asshole! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Uh…"
"You think that we got attacked just because you let your guard down? Get over yourself!" the redhead laughed mirthlessly. "We all let our guard down, we all got overconfident. We should have had an escape plan prepared for something like that, or even just kept moving through the night and sleeping in shifts until we got out of the Sovereign Level. Come to think of it, we still don't even know how Zhuqiaomon found us."
"Look, I know, but it was my responsibility to-" the older Tamer began.
"Since when was anything your responsibility?" Rika interrupted. "It was your responsibility to guide us to the Sovereign Level, nothing else. You're not our Glorious Leader or anything, despite what the Dimwit Duo think, so stop acting like it. It was all of our responsibility and we all screwed up."
"I-" Ryo began angrily, hesitating suddenly as another unidentifiable emotion flickered across his face and he let out a long sigh, his trademark grin reappearing almost immediately. "Damn it, you're right. I really am an asshole aren't I?" he chuckled and shook his head.
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
"Well, if it means I get to hear the beautiful, heavenly music that is your voice, Princess…" he crooned, deliberately using the pet name he knew Rika hated the most.
"Would you stop calling me that?" the redhead snapped and looked away, folding her arms as she stared into the night. "It makes you sound like a dirty old man out on the prowl. And it creeps me out!"
"So, you prefer my other names for you?"
"No, I just hate that one slightly more. Now for the kami's sake, go to bed!"
"As you command," Ryo replied with a small bow and turned to wander off to bed before glancing back over his shoulder with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Say, Rika…how would you react if I said I just made all that stuff up and actually just wanted you all to myself for a little while?"
"Go!" the girl growled, glaring at the slowly-retreating boy's back for a few seconds before returning her gaze to the jungle surrounding her. Huh, I guess he is a better actor than I gave him credit for…I almost believed him about that last part…
The Tamers rose not long after daybreak and made their way down to the beach to await the arrival of Whamon. The massive, blue-skinned Digimon arrived just before 7am and, after some convincing, the group of children and Digimon filed into his mouth so that he could transport them through the underwater gateway to the ocean level. As soon as he had passed through the portal, Whamon resurfaced and allowed his passengers to move onto the top of his head, much to the relief of Renamon. The whale continued swimming for almost two hours, heading towards what the Tamers had originally assumed was a cloud on the horizon. As they drew closer, however, it quickly became clear that the cloud was in fact a medium-sized, rocky island.
Whamon reached the island just before nine o'clock, unloading his passengers and giving them directions to the cave containing the portal to the Desert Level. After the usual round of thanks and farewells, the whale plunged back into the depths of the ocean – though not before giving the water an incredibly hard slap with his tail and soaking his former charges with the resulting spray.
The Tamers found the portal exactly where Whamon had said it would be –right at the back of a small cave, the entrance to which was located on the beach just past a rock that looked like a giant bowl of rice. With exactly four hours to go until the Ark to Japan arrived, they passed through the appropriately sandy-coloured portal to the Desert Level, and embarked on the last leg of their long journey home.
Sunday 21st November – 12:00p.m.
Beneath Zhuqiaomon's Palace, Sovereign Level
At midday on Sunday 21st November, almost three full days since his torment began, Majiramon finally stopped screaming. Zhuqiaomon's vile machines had completed their work, and the creature that was left in his victim's place was almost totally unrecognizable as having once been Majiramon. The mad Sovereign closely inspected his prize, noting the puffs of black mist that appeared every time it exhaled with a sense of smug satisfaction. He suppressed a twinge of regret at the fact that he had not been able to observe the full process, instead being forced to join several battles against the forces of Examon and Dynasmon, who had decided to try to take advantage of the recent destruction of his prison-fortress by launching their own separate invasions of the Sovereign Level. The two Royal Knights had been easily repulsed after their armies came into contact with one another and were pulled into a pitched battle, leaving them easy prey for Zhuqiaomon's numerically-superior forces.
"What are you?" the phoenix asked, bringing himself out of his reverie as he glared at the monstrosity lying in front of him.
"I…am nothing…" it croaked in reply.
"Why do you live?"
"I live to serve…Master…"
A booming laugh erupted from Zhuqiaomon's beak as he released his newly-remade servant from its bonds, the laughter growing ever louder as it bowed before him. "Excellent. EXCELLENT!" he cackled, a wave of flame washing out from the Sovereign's form in response to his amusement. "I do believe I have outdone myself this time…now, rise!"
The serpentine Digimon rose out of its bow and pulled itself into an upright position, gazing up at its master with eyes filled with nothing but awe and love. "What are your orders, Master?"
"There are tracking devices planted inside each of my Devas, yourself included. Unfortunately, the range on these devices is limited, and the signal is not powerful enough to reach my domain after they have entered the Desert Level. You will travel to the Great Desert and use Antylamon's tracking signal to follow the humans back to the portal they used to gain entry to this world," the Sovereign declared, his voice cracking under the weight of his insanity. "Once you have located the portal, you will slay the Abominations and their human masters, enter the human world and destroy everything you find within a ten-mile radius! You will then establish a beachhead for my armies and report back to me."
"Understood, Master," the monster growled as a shroud of black mist gathered around it. When the mist had completely obscured the shape of the beast, it suddenly leapt into motion, rocketing out of the door and along the narrow corridors to the surface of the Sovereign Level.
Magnificent! Zhuqiaomon thought as he watched his latest creation leave. Such power, such grace – and best of all, it appears that the indoctrination program was a complete success! In just a few short years, I will have harvested enough of the black mist to create a legion of such perfect warriors. The Abominations will surely fall before my latest creation, and with an army of them I will be unstoppable! EARTH WILL BURN!