New chapter!

Disclaimer: I actually do own Digimon. Just kidding; I just wanted to see if I could say that.

LAST TIME:
KIYOKO: Gatomon and I went to a diner to get something to eat. While we were there, she told me about the Digi-Agents. And wouldn't you know it, one of them showed up. LadyDevimon tried to rough up the of the diner, but we both got her to stop. LadyDevimon told me I was something called a Digi-Destined and attacked us. It didn't last long though; with our moves, we were able to drive her off. But I had the feeling we weren't done with her.

Chapter 24
Evil

Kiyoko and Gatomon walked for the rest of the day through the plains near the lakefront, eventually reaching a forest. The two decided to stop for the night, realizing that they'd had a long and eventful day, one they should rest from. The two found a secluded area, formed a makeshift, but comfortable, shelter, and soon slept.

When they woke up, they fixed breakfast using fruit they found from the trees above them. Kiyoko ate cautiously because, unlike in the restaurant, she couldn't identify what she was eating.

The duo continued walking aimlessly, hoping to eventually find something that might help Kiyoko get back to her home world. But as they walked in silence, Kiyoko couldn't help thinking, What if I'm supposed to be here? That old man wouldn't have sent me here if there wasn't something he wanted me to do. But then, why not tell me what that is? She looked over at Gatomon and could tell that she was deep in thought as well. She couldn't be sure, but it was possible that Gatomon was thinking about her. Is she also thinking that I'm supposed to be here? LadyDevimon seemed determined to destroy me, all because she thought I was this so-called "Digi-Destined," whatever that means. What if I am? I mean, the D-Power isn't just any other gadget; it actually affects Gatomon in various ways, giving her new powers. Is that the key to defeating these Digi-Agents? Am I supposed to be the one to beat them?

She continued to mull over these thoughts until she heard Gatomon talking to her. "Kiyoko, Digi-World to Kiyoko." Apparently, she had been trying to get her attention for a while.

"Uh, sorry, Gatomon," Kiyoko said. "What is it?"

"Your pack is glowing," Gatomon replied. Kiyoko looked down at her waist to find a pink glow coming out of her pack. She opened it and pulled out the D-Power, the source of the glow. "What do you think it means?" Gatomon asked.

"I'm not sure," Kiyoko answered. She looked around and saw an old tree with a hole in the trunk. Kiyoko noticed that it got brighter as she pointed the D-Power toward it. "But maybe if we investigate here…" She stepped forward, ready to search the tree.

Suddenly, a white, jagged line laced with red shot out in front of Kiyoko, who jumped back the second she saw it. After recovering from the shock, she turned in the direction the line was coming from. She saw a man dressed like someone who came out of London's Scotlandyard, his uniform blue, and carrying a walking stick. Most of his face was hidden beneath his hat and trenchcoat, but she could make it out to be gray and scarred.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that young lady," he said in an English accent.

"Why not?" Kiyoko challenged. "Afraid I'll find something in there?"

"That is milady's primary concern," the man said.

"And who might 'your lady' be?" Gatomon asked.

The man laughed. "Just a nameless soul, who just so happens to be one of the Digi-Agents, soon to be masters, and mistress, of the world."

"Spare them the speeches," a female voice said. Everyone looked up to see LadyDevimon floating down toward them. "Just kill them now!"

The man bowed. "As you wish." Gatomon quickly ran up to the man and used her tail ring to knock the walking stick out of his hand and next to Kiyoko. Kiyoko grabbed it and held it up for Gatomon's Lightning Paw. The cat's punch severed the staff and Kiyoko threw both halves in front of the man.

"Looks like your weapon won't be much help to you now," Kiyoko taunted. But the man's reaction was completely unexpected: he started laughing.

"Did you really think that stick was something more than a stick?" he asked them. "I'll show you my real power." He then started to tremble and his form began to change. Where once stood an English bobby now stood a mummy, wrapped mostly in white bandages apart from his face, most of which was hidden except for his left eye and his evil smile. In his right hand, he held a large gun that seemed to support him from under his shoulder. He also wore a purple bandana on the top of his head. His appearance seemed more like someone in the military than a tomb.

"What is that?" Kiyoko asked.

"Mummymon," Gatomon answered. "I should have recognized his Necrophobia attack earlier. He's an undead Digimon who channels dead spirits through his gun, the Obelisk."

"Makes sense he'd hang out with her," Kiyoko said spitefully. "Gatomon!" She took out her D-Power and a card.

"Uh, uh, uh!" a mischievous voice said. Suddenly, something flew past Kiyoko. It took her a couple seconds to realize that her D-Power was missing. She looked to Mummymon; he had a new Digimon at his side. It was small, mostly a head with a gaping mouth and limbs and had bat-like wings. In one of its hands, it held Kiyoko's D-Power.

"Hey, you creep," Kiyoko said angrily. "Give that back."

"You won't be needing it," Mummymon said maliciously. "Not where you're going. Necrophobia!" Mummymon positioned his gun and fired the white stream that tried to attack them earlier. Kiyoko and Gatomon jumped out of the way.

"Gatomon, can you distract him?" Kiyoko asked.

"I plan to do more than distract," Gatomon replied. "But get that D-Power anyway; I don't really like the odds as they stand." Gatomon stood up and jumped with her paws ready to attack. "Lightning Paw!" Mummymon blocked her with his gun.

Kiyoko, meanwhile, tried to sneak up on the little Digimon who held her D-Power. Suddenly, she heard something fly toward her. "Black Wing!" Kiyoko dodged just before LadyDevimon could impale her with her transformed hand-blade. "Did you forget that I was still here, little girl? Vilemon!" The creature looked up at LadyDevimon. "Make sure she doesn't get that Digivice." Vilemon saluted.

Kiyoko had an idea to make the job easier. "Oh, please," she said. "How do you expect to keep it away for so long? You barely come up to my waist; I should overpower you in seconds."

Vilemon tensed and bowed his head and clenched his fist. "What did you say to me?"

Kiyoko realized she was touching a nerve and decided to go further with it. "Put in terms you can understand, you're about as short as a rat, without the dignity." Vilemon growled.

LadyDevimon shook her head. "I wouldn't have done that if I were you, little girl. You see, Vilemon aren't exactly thrilled when someone calls them short."

Suddenly, Kiyoko began to hear voices all around her, all sounding like Vilemon's. "She didn't just say that, did she?" "Short, are we?" "Want to change your mind now, girlie?" Kiyoko looked up and around and saw glowing eyes, and she could soon make out the form of more Vilemon. She was surprised to find more than just the one Vilemon, but then, she did remember Gatomon saying something about Digimon being separated by species.

"Demon Darts!" The Vilemon around her slashed their hands and the energy from their fingertips formed crisscrossed patterns heading for her. Kiyoko tried to dodge them all, but because there were too many, sheeventually got hit from some of their attacks.

Gatomon saw this and cried out, "Kiyoko!"

"Worry about yourself, kitty!" Mummymon said. "Snake Bandage!" He held up his left hand and a few bandages flew to Gatomon, binding her. Gatomon struggled to break free, but the bandages continued to tighten themselves.

"Gatomon, no!" Kiyoko screamed. The Vilemon continued their assault, never letting up. Kiyoko tried to escape, but she was constantly cut off. Finally, she took so much damage that she collapsed, but they still continued. Why won't they stop? she thought in agony.

"That's enough!" LadyDevimon said. "She's learned her lesson." Finally, she stopped feeling any pain, though she figured it would be a short reprieve. Suddenly, the Vilemon piled onto her, preventing her from getting up. LadyDevimon floated down until she touched the ground. She knelt in front of Kiyoko and whispered, "This is what you get when dealing with us, little girl. The good news is you won't have to suffer much longer." She stood up and held up her left hand. "Black Wing!" Her hand transformed into the blade and she held it above Kiyoko.

But even defeated, Kiyoko refused to give up. She went through her options for escape, but realized she had none; Gatomon was wrapped by Mummymon, and her D-Power was now in the hands of one of the Vilemon. Suddenly, she had an idea. This may be a really bad gamble, but…

"Hey, you with the D-Power!" she yelled, causing LadyDevimon to halt her attack in surprise. The Vilemon she yelled to, who was removed from the group on top of her, walked toward her questioningly. "I have just one word for you." The Vilemon came closer. "Pipsqueak."

LadyDevimon, annoyed with her antic, prepared to stab her again. However, Vilemon, having taken offense at this, blindly charged in, ready to strike her as well. As soon as it came to her face with its hand ready to attack, LadyDevimon inadvertently stabbed it, destroying it and letting the D-Power fall.

The other Vilemon stared in shock at what had just happened, so much so that they loosened their grip on Kiyoko. She used this opportunity to shake them off her and grab her D-Power. LadyDevimon didn't react in time and soon, Kiyoko was a fair distance behind her.

Kiyoko wasted no time in retrieving her card. "Digi-Modify! Lobomon Lobo Kendo, activate!" Gatomon felt two objects appear in her hands. Instinctively, she activated them to reveal two beams of light coming through her bonds. The bandages fell away and Gatomon revealed two swords with blades made of light.

"We know you're good at target practice," she taunted to Mummymon. "Let's see how you fare in fencing." She jumped toward him with the swords at her sides. Mummymon held up his gun in defense, but Gatomon slashed through it, leaving it in three pieces. "And now, it's your turn." Gatomon spun and jumped again, holding the blades outward. With no proper defense, all Mummymon could do brace himself. It did little good, as the blades passed over him and left scars of light on his body before it disappeared.

"Very good," LadyDevimon said with a fake applause. "But can you handle the rest of us?" All the Vilemon surrounded Kiyoko with anger in their eyes. Whether it was because of her earlier insults or the destruction of one of them, Kiyoko could not be sure. Gatomon jumped in front of her with her swords at the ready.

"You sure you can take them?" she asked. "There are a lot of them."

"I know," Gatomon said. "That's why I'll just kill two Birdramon with one stone. Cat's Eyes!" Her eyes shone and she turned so that all the Vilemon could see her face. They all began to relax their stance as if they had no interest in fighting.

This did not go unnoticed by LadyDevimon. "What are you doing, you fools? Attack!"

Gatomon smiled. "You heard her." She pointed up at LadyDevimon. Suddenly, the Vilemon opened their wings and resumed their battle stances. They flew up. "Demon Darts!" The Vilemon launched their attacks, but, to Kiyoko's surprise, at LadyDevimon.

As the demon-lady fought off her own forces, Kiyoko looked down at Gatomon. "You didn't by any chance have anything to do with this, did you?"

"Just a little hypnotism," she answered. "Now come on, let's get to that tree."

"Tree?" Kiyoko questioned before suddenly realizing. "Oh, yeah, right!" She ran to the old tree where her D-Power tried to glow before Mummymon attacked. She held it up to the tree and it began to glow again. The tree started glowing as well. The glow seemed brightest in the hole and something came out of it; it looked like a necklace with a peculiar charm on it.

"What is this?" Kiyoko wondered aloud as she caught it.

"We'll worry about that later," Gatomon said. "Let's just hide." She threw the swords away from her as she and Kiyoko ran into the nearby bushes.

"I've had it with you all!" LadyDevimon screamed. "Darkness Wave!" The dark aura spread from all around her and blasted the Vilemon away from her, destroying them. LadyDevimon looked around for her targets, but saw no one. The old tree was all that remained. "Evil Wing!" She released a pack of bats and destroyed the tree. She flew down to investigate the wreckage, but nothing was in it. "They have the tag!" she growled. "But where did they go?" She looked around again and saw something interesting: the hilts for the light swords Gatomon was using. "They must have dropped these when they ran off," LadyDevimon surmised. "Well, they won't get too far." She sped off through the forest in a straight line from the hilts.

Not too far away, Kiyoko and Gatomon were trying to hold back their laughter. "I can't believe she fell for the oldest trick in the book," Kiyoko said.

"It's just temporary," Gatomon said, though her voice sounded less than serious. "She'll be back eventually."

They both calmed down and Kiyoko took a moment to analyze the necklace. "This will make a great souvenir," Gatomon said. "'I Went To The Digital World And All I Got Was This Stupid Necklace.'"

"Maybe," Kiyoko said, "but LadyDevimon seemed upset when she found it was gone." There was a short pause. "Gatomon, I've been thinking." Gatomon looked up at her. "I think I want to stay here. I'm needed here. I was sent here for a reason. Whatever this necklace thing is, it reacts to my D-Power, so maybe I'm supposed to be here. Maybe I'm supposed to fight off these Digi-Agents. With you. I don't know if it's destiny or whatever, but… well, you get what I'm trying to say, right?"

Gatomon didn't speak for a while, but she finally said, "Believe it or not, Kiyoko, I was waiting for you to say that. I noticed a certain connection between us. Not just with the D-Power, but emotionally, like we were made for each other. If you want to save the Digital World from the Digi-Agents, all I can say is, 'What next?'"

Kiyoko smiled. "Well, we need to find out what this thing is," she said, holding the necklace up. "So let's find someone who does." The two looked around to make sure LadyDevimon wasn't around before getting up and moving onward.

With clear direction in mind, Kiyoko truly begins her journey. Will she learn the tag's secrets? Keep reading Digimon: Digital Monsters!

And so another chapter draws to a close. On a semi-unrelated note, those of you who have been reading my x-over "Hi, I'm a Pokemon, and I'm a Digimon" will be pleased to know that I'm working on a new chapter as of this writing, with more ideas to come. So sorry for the wait. Stay tuned.

This is CF signing out.