Just read.
Disclaimer: Digimon's not mine. Happy now? Hey, be glad SOPA's not around; otherwise, I'd be arrested anyway.
LAST TIME:
KIYOKO: When we got thrown off Locomon, Gatomon and I landed in the human world. Unfortunately, we landed near my so-called father's house. It really shook me up, something a BlackGatomon, who was really LadyDevimon come back to life, tried to take advantage of. But after a little talk from Gatomon, I was able to pull myself together, and we put that cat down a second time. Using another portal, we managed to get back to the Digital World and with the boys. Daichi told us both about something called GranDracmon, who sounds like the leader of the Digi-Agents. Sure hope we're ready for this.
Chapter 32
Castle
The land was little more than a barren wasteland. The only trees for miles were dead ones stripped of their leaves, and those were few and far between. The ground was mostly rock, and cracks littered the landscape.
"I'll say this," Kiyoko said. "GranDracmon sure knows how to make himself feel at home."
"Speaking of His Awfulness," Isamu spoke up, "how do we intend to get into the castle?"
"I'm thinking," Daichi replied. "If he was able to get LadyDevimon before she made it to the Village of Beginnings, he must be pretty smart; smart enough to know that she was destroyed in the first place, how to retrieve her data, and give her those extra powers you mentioned. So I doubt sneaking in will be our best option."
"Maybe we could set something up," Kiyoko suggested, "something to get his attention."
"This whole getting-rid-of-the-Digi-Agents thing seemed to work better when we just had to wait for them to come along," Dracomon said.
"Maybe," Gatomon pointed out, "but this guy's supposed to be the leader."
"You think maybe that's why we had that dream?" Kiyoko asked.
"I can't see any other reason," Daichi answered.
"What do you know about GranDracmon?" Isamu asked. "As a Digimon?"
"Very little," Daichi answered. "I tried looking him up on the Analyzer, but I think it has to be near a Digivice whose owner has seen what I'm looking for before it can work like that."
"In other words…?" Dracomon asked.
"None of us has actually seen GranDracmon yet," Daichi explained, "so I can't just look up information on him on command."
"That stinks," Dracomon interjected.
"So now what?" Isamu asked. "We know next to nothing about this guy, or his plans for that matter. And to find out, we'd have to get inside Castle Drac, but we can't because we don't have a plan because we know nothing about him. I hate these vicious circles."
"What we need is a way to get in without looking suspicious," Kiyoko said. They all thought for a second.
"Hold on," Daichi said. Everyone looked up at him. He turned to the two humans. "You guys remember the story of the Trojan Horse?"
A large, black bug walked across the wasteland, heading in the direction of Castle Drac. In his large pincers, he carried three humans, tied to the pincers with silk-like string. As the castle came closer the humans started to struggle. "Let us go, you freak!" the girl shouted. The giant insect ignored her and kept walking.
He approached the gates, guarded by two Bakemon holding spears. They saw him coming and pointed their weapons at him. "Halt! State your business," one of them said.
"I merely wish to present GranDracmon with these humans," the insect said.
"You better let us go now, you big jerk!" the girl yelled once more.
"Kiyoko," said the boy next to her, with gloves poking out from his bonds, "you're only going to make things worse us."
"Well, we can't just sit here doing nothing!" the girl shouted.
"Wait. Kiyoko," one of the Bakemon whispered to himself. He floated up to the pincers and inspected the humans. "Inform Lord GranDracmon immediately. He'll want to see this." The other Bakemon floated into the castle. "You," the first pointed at the insect, "come with me." He floated toward the gates and the insect followed.
"Lord GranDracmon," the Bakemon said as he reached his master's quarters.
"What is it?" a calm, dark voice asked. "This had better be important."
"A Digimon has come to our gates, carrying three humans," the Bakemon reported. "One of them is a female that goes by the name of Kiyoko."
A figure, reclining and wrapped in shadow, brought his hand to his chin. "Hmm. Ah yes, LadyDevimon's last playmate." He chuckled to himself. "Then the other two must be her Digi-Destined friends." The figure got up and walked to the central chamber. "This should be interesting."
Bakemon led the insect to the castle's central chamber and told him to wait. He did not have to, however. When the Bakemon left, another door opened, revealing a Digimon almost as large as he was. His build could have been described as a centaur, with four legs below his humanoid torso, except each leg sported a clawed foot. His human half was rather skinny, resembling the vampire that his name suggested. His face was covered by a three-pronged mask, which also hid the base of two horns. His back sported bat-like wings. The final feature was the most unique; two bullet-shaped attachments on the front upper leg joints that looked like they possessed semi-sentience, like those of attack dogs.
"Well, well, well," he said in a rather charming voice. "So these must be the Digi-Destined brats I've been hearing so much about."
"And you must be GranDracmon," the gloved boy returned.
"Indeed," GranDracmon said. He looked toward the insect. "And who might you be?"
"I am GranKuwagamon," the insect said.
"So nice to meet a fellow Gran Digimon," GranDracmon said. "I must ask you where you got these humans. The last I heard, they had tumbled from Mount Snowcap. Of course, I had also heard that they survived their various trials."
"You planned everything that happened to us?" said a boy separate from the other two. This one wore goggles on his forehead.
"To the last detail," GranDracmon said.
GranKuwagamon decided to speak. "Actually, I found them on this side of the mountain. I attacked them and defeated them quite easily."
"As evidenced by your bringing them here," GranDracmon said. He walked around GranKuwagamon as though looking for something. "Odd. I thought they each had a Digimon with them."
"They did," GranKuwagamon explained. "When they were defeated, the goggle-headed one told them to run for safety. After some hesitation, the dragon Digimon took the other two and flew off. I only ended up with these three."
GranDracmon just shrugged. "No matter. If these Digimon are foolish, and they are, they will come here to try to rescue them."
"And they will succeed, buster!" the girl yelled.
GranDracmon bent down toward the girl. "Ah. Kiyoko, is it?" The girl just scowled. "LadyDevimon has told me a lot about you. Well, to be more accurate, BlackSalamon has told me a lot about you."
"Kiyoko," the gloved boy whispered, "you're just going to get us killed if you keep that up."
"On the contrary," GranDracmon said. "I intend to destroy you only after I round up your Digimon pals. I don't believe in making room for mistakes." He stood upright and snapped his fingers. A large amount of Bakemon floated into the room. "Take these three to the dungeons. And make sure you take their Digivices; I don't want any surprises."
The Bakemon cut the strings holding the humans to GranKuwagamon's pincers. The humans fell into the hands of other Bakemon waiting below them and carried them off.
"So," GranDracmon turned back to GranKuwagamon, "I have to ask what you wish in return."
"Merely to offer my services to you," the insect answered, bowing his head. "I am well aware of the Digi-Agents' plot to rule the world. I simply wish to be on the winning side."
GranDracmon chuckled. "I knew there was a reason I liked you. You'll make a fine asset to my organization."
The Bakemon carried the humans to the lower levels of the castle. Although all three were struggling, Kiyoko was giving them the most difficult time. Still, she couldn't stop them from throwing her and her friends into one of the empty cells. Their Digivices had been taken from them during the trip. The Bakemon closed the cage-like door and left.
When they were sure the Bakemon were gone, Isamu spoke first. "This may be just me, Kiyoko, but I think you overplayed your part."
"I was trying to make it sound convincing," Kiyoko defended. "GranDracmon sure bought it." She turned to Daichi. "So, what now?"
"We wait for our Digimon to free us," he answered. "GranDracmon was right, they would be here. He just doesn't know how soon."
"So, remind me why we had to use Wormmon as our 'Trojan Horse,'" Isamu said.
"For starters," Daichi explained, "he's a mega, so the story of taking down all our Digimon would be more believable. Second, he's a virus type, and like GranDracmon said, he has the same prefix as him."
"But what if he finds out?" Isamu asked.
"I'm betting that it'll take him a while to figure it out," Daichi answered.
"What are you talking about?" Kiyoko asked.
"Digivolution is nothing like the theory of evolution back home," Daichi explained, leaving some confusion in Kiyoko due to the seeming change of subjects. "Some Digimon at a higher level are actually the result of Digivolving from multiple lines." He took out one of his cards and showed it to Kiyoko. The title on it read "Kuwagamon." "I'm pretty sure GranKuwagamon is also part of the Kuwagamon line due to the name. I'm hoping that GranDracmon will think so too."
"Whatever your reasons, Daichi," Isamu said, "this whole plan had better work."
"As soon as they get here," Daichi said, "we'll reunite with GranKuwagamon and take GranDracmon by surprise."
Will Daichi's plan work? Where are the Digimon now? THe answers to these questions and more can be found on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!
Sorry to leave you hanging like this, but, that's the way the story reads. (Oh come on, give me a break. I couldn't find an apt cookie/crumbling analogy.)
This is CF signing out.