Shengumon stood proudly upright in the morning hours. His Master had taken them, and in fact all the Digimon that he could, into the area where Fanglongmon would awaken. Soon enough they would all move to their position and await the Yellow Dragon's arrival. Shengumon glanced back at the team of six slaves that held his tethers. It was laughable to think that six Champions would ever be able to truly keep him grounded, but while they held them Shengumon was forbidden to move. It was his Master's latest attempt to make a jester out of the Southern Slave.
Huihumon noticed as he approached that the Virus that Shengumon's cores had brightened again. They had done so twice during the ceremony, the Western Slave wondered at the meaning. But that was not the reason he was here. "Shengumon," he greeted, the name rolling off his tongue as if this was the ten millionth time instead of the first.
"Huihumon," the other replied with similar ease. "Why are you out this way, when your station is nowhere near here?"
"I will have time enough, but there was something that I needed to do first."
"Oh?" the Southern Slave asked.
"Yes," the Tiger replied suddenly becoming awkward. "I realize the last time we spoke, I did all the talking, and that most of it—all of it really—was me yelling and falsely accusing you. I had thought it might affect our ability to work together so I wished to apologize—or at least that was how I justified this to myself."
Again Shengumon's cores flared, before settling at their new brightness. "My personal feelings will not affect my combat abilities, Huihumon," the Southern Slave replied evenly. But Huihumon could almost hear the "…as you should very well know, Steel-for-Brains," that would have been attached at the end. "If that was all you came for, go back to your place."
"Shengumon, please," Huihumon begged. "Everything is so different from how it used to be, I'd like something to stay the same."
"I thought this was about our ability to work together… or did you not say that?" Shengumon asked his cores reaching a new intensity.
"I said, that was how I justified it to myself!" Huihumon all but roared. More quietly he continued, "Even though it has only been a brief time, ever since I am who I am now, I feel as though all my actions that are not directly pertaining to my orders must have a logical justification. I can't explain it, but I couldn't even move this way until I had a reason and once I started moving I couldn't stop! I don't know all that has happened to me, nor do I pretend to understand what has happened to you, I was just hoping that we could help each other out like we did so long ago… I apologize once again and once more for wasting your time." The Tiger Slave began to turn away.
It was then that Zhuqiaomon understood what was happening. "Huihumon!" the Southern Slave called out. The Western Slave stopped and turned to look back. Now he just had to figure out how to say this what he needed to. "I think you've mistaken me for Zhuqiaomon and yourself for Baihumon. Anything between them is not between us, though if I see Zhuqiaomon I will let him know. I think he would forgive Baihumon personally." The Tiger began to walk away again with a chuckle. "I wouldn't mind if we could have something like they did, though."
The Tiger stopped and Shengumon could see a true smile under his wicked visage. It was then that he realized another way his word could have been taken. "You… you don't have feelings for me do you?" he asked embarrassed.
The Western Slave jumped at the insinuation. Then he calmed down and replied honestly, "No, never." The "Not as Baihumon or now," went unsaid between them. They would never again directly bring up who they had been before; such a futile gesture would only bring pain.
"Good," Shengumon replied. "I'd hate if the first thing I had to do was break your heart." A thought came that the Fire Digimon voiced. "How long do you have?"
"We will know when I cannot stay," the Metal Mega replied. "You know, out of us all, I'd have thought that you would be the one who most often would be slouched down as far away as you could be without disobeying orders. And yet, I think you stand straighter than either Ebonwumon or I more often than not. It's like you are proud to serve."
"I am proud," Shengumon replied, enjoying the shock in the Western Slave's body language. "But not in serving our Master. I have not been broken, Huihumon. And so I take pride in my appearance. I take pride in the name he gave me. I even take pride in my Rings and tethers," he said motioning to the six slaves that dumbly held onto the cords. "Because they all represent times where I could have broken, but I didn't. I display them to remind our Master that they are the only things that make me serve him, to remind him of how many times he failed to break me. I am obedient to him by force, not by will, and I can take comfort in that."
The Western Tiger laughed. "There should be another syllable in your name, Shengumon."
"I think he knew that as well when he decided my name, Huihumon. But he hid it, so it would not be so obvious. Our Master is brilliant after all."
Huihumon sighed. "Yet another thing I thought I would never hear you say, Shengumon. Or are you just tormenting me?"
"No, no, Huihumon," the Southern Slave replied placatingly. "I do believe that he's brilliant." Again Shengumon's cores brightened. "He would not have been able to bind us if he weren't. I wish I could call him stupid, but I can't… Not universally, anyway. I doubt our Master truly understands what he has done. I doubt his Common Sense, not his brilliance."
Here Huihumon's cores brightened. "So… we serve him… because he's smarter… than we are…" the Tiger said in a daze.
Shengumon's cores flashed again as he grimaced in agreement. "Yeah I guess you could say that… Hey, you alright?"
The Tiger's daze ended, but they both felt the pull. "I'm fine. I have to get into position, Shengumon." The Western Slave said as he walked away. They didn't say anything more because that would jinx it. Shengumon didn't care if his Master failed, but he didn't want Huihumon to be killed for it. Still why did Huihumon's Cores react like they did, and did that have anything to do with why the Tiger zoned out? Was the same true for him?
The Emperor made to awaken Fanglongmon. The world held its breath, and then then the inspiration was released and the world trembled. As the Center Sovereign awoke he uplifted tons of earth in every direction. The slaves behind Shengumon released his tethers and the Southern and Eastern Slaves simultaneously kicked off hard into the sky. Huihumon jumped to and fro his feet never staying on one of the boulders for more than an instant as he made his way to the Emerging Dragon. Ebonwumon had become faster but not nearly enough to evade the debris, so instead he took the hits to his shell and pushed them out of the way. When Fanglongmon emerged he saw black reflections of three of his Sovereign airborne and attacking him. The Center Sovereign prepared for war.
Ebonwumon unleashed a Mugen, though before it could hit Fanglongmon swung his tail and blew the attack right back with a force that threw even Ebonwumon into the air. Before that would have been all the Northern Slave would have been able to contribute to the battle, but now he was able to recover. He was hurt, but not out.
The Emperor grimaced, the counter attack had been unexpected, as had that strike wiping out an eighth of his army. Still he had come prepared—hopefully. It might be a mistake to reveal his trump so early in the game, but there was no counter for it really. He watched the Four Mega duke it out, Fanglongmon having forgotten Ebonwumon for the moment. As Shengumon began his next Blazing Helix the Emperor played his trump. The Jewels on the Fire Virus's Rings Exploded with Red light, and Shengumon unleashed the most powerful Blazing Helix he had ever wielded. The raw power astonished all the combatants, but Molongmon and Huihumon had orders to follow.
They continued their assault and in the confusion the Emperor threw his first Soveriegn Class Ring. Huihumon should have been clamping down on the Yellow Dragon's neck, holding it still for the Ring. But Fanglongmon was far faster than he had a right to be and instead of his head being there, it was his tail. The Ring snapped shut around his tail, and for a moment Fanglongmon was confused. It was not until he tried to swat the Tiger away again that he found his tail was completely dead, it was now just a weight behind his body, completely useless as a weapon. No matter, he had other way of punishing his wayward servants. Still it might not do to have one of those get around his neck. The BlackZhuqiaomon's cores were getting duller, Fanglongmon noted, and his attacks were weakening as well.
With his Dragon Smash out of commission, Fanglongmon moved to his Oukai. That would give him some breathing room. But as Fanglongmon began to turn his leg had gotten caught in something. Turning to see what it was the Center Sovereign was in disbelief, it was another one of those Rings! Where did they keep coming from?! He looked up and saw three more descending. Growling Fanglongmon rose on his back legs and swiped them away with a swing of his fore-claw. His swing got two of the Rings, the third closed around his fore-arm. The Yellow Dragon was forced back to all fours, and the jewels from the other three Slaves began to shine. Fanglongmon's mind was assaulted on three fronts. The situation was bad. Fanglongmon could tell without really looking that everyone in the Digital World was here, they had already fallen… yes that was it! It was so simple! The world was already doomed, so why shouldn't he just end it?! All it would take was an extended Taikyuko and it would be over, everything would be back to normal! "Those five Rings look rather good on you but I think it needs something… more, don't you?" a boy said appearing in front of him.
What did the brat just say?! Shaking, Fangmongmon looked himself over again, there were five Rings on his body. One on each fore-arm and thigh and one at the base of his tail. But how… how did he not notice? Looking back at the gathered crowd he noticed that the Black Ebonwumon was standing again. When did that happen, his strike should have kept the Turtle out for another day! And then the arguments were again in his ears in full force. Appeals to Ethics, to Logic, and to his Emotions. It was maddening. "I only have one more with me, and from the looks of it you're not in any state to object," the boy continued pulling out another of those Evil things.
"But that wouldn't be any fun," the boy said with a demented smirk "No, you are going to willingly put it on, because that is the only way that the arguments will stop. You can probably already tell that for some reason you can't use any of your attacks, nor can you move. When my rings found that they couldn't take you all at once they went for your motor controls and Skill Access. It was something that I modified Sovereign Class Rings, the kind you are wearing, to do as a prevention measure. I didn't want the thrashing that Azulongmon did to happen again, it would have destroyed my precious Garden."
Fanglongmon shook on frozen legs that would not let him drop. The Yellow Dragon stared at the Ring and knew he could spend an eternity just like this before going crazy and putting it on because he thought it would be fun. He had already lost, Taikyuko was beyond him. And they were all telling him to do it; it would be so easy—quick and painless. The Center Sovereign searched the crowd, looking for one set of eyes that would be telling him to continue to fight, but there was no one. All the eyes were hungry, expectant. Clinging to the shreds of his sanity, Fanglongmon bent his head. 'This is what the Digital World decided,' he told himself. 'This is what it chose. I shouldn't ignore its wishes.' He slipped his head through the collar, and felt it shrink to rest snuggly on his neck. Fanglongmon's eyes became glass, his conscious slept.
When The Center Slave had emerged from the waters of the Dark Ocean, it looked as though the waters were a robe that the Mega was slipping out of. The ore that made up his body had become the color of the Abyss sucking in any light that touched it, except that of his jewels; two to each of his six Rings. But even then the light seemed to be drawn in differently at different angles creating the effect of shades of black. The towering spines had become Control Spires in their own right. Then the Emperor cracked his whip and the void scales seemed to vanish. Under them were rows of cages, empty for now. But there were entrances into the giant Mega near where his Metacarpals and Metatarsals, there was an entrance in the tip of his tail, and there was almost guaranteed to be one in the Mega's mouth. "This is Lílongmon, my Masterpiece!" the Emperor declared to his servile world.
"Now, Go Home." With that command roughly a fourth of the assembled Digimon stepped forward and began walking to the Living Cage. All four of the other former Sovereign walked to Lílongmon's mouth who obligingly opened it, to allow them in. Huihumon, almost immediately split away from the group, because his cage was part of the Center Slave's brain. As they continued down they watched as Digimon approached their cage and were admitted before the bars slammed shut. There was no noise, just the eerie blank stares of millions of dead red eyes. Mòlongmon was the next to leave, being stationed in Lílongmon's heart.
After a time, Shengumon split from Ebonwumon. The Turtle was going to a higher part of the Center Slave's gut. When each of the Slaves reached their destination they, waited until the bars had slammed shut before almost simultaneously sighing. For better or worse it was over, well and truly over. The Digital World would evolve from here.
Lílongmon's void scales returned and using the voices of those Slave he carried within him, pledged his loyalty to the Digimon Emperor.
Yay! Story done! Seriously, I just threw these chapters up because the story had been incomplete for about two years now and I had only been planning Five chapters and I already knew how it would end, so it was starting to annoy me. But should I really be cheering about what the heck I just did? What does that say about me that I'm happy about this... or you guys for reading this-I mean I put Tragedy up front, you knew how this would end.
Couple pieces of information because I don't see how you could infer them.
1)All of the Four Directional Sovereign hold something rather important in their Digi-Cores. They are all part of what the Emperor considers "The Argument for Service." Molongmon both stores and creates the Ethos, the ethics and customs of the "society." Ebonwumon holds the appeal to Positive Emotions, half of Pathos. Huihumon deals with Logos, the logic and rationality of the argument. Shengumon focuses and restrains the subject's negative Pathos, so things like anger.
As they accumulate more and more their Digi-cores get brighter. Molongmon, Ebonwumon, and Huihumon can unleash their stored arguments into a Digimon that is wearing a Ring but is trying to disobey (Fanglongmon). Shengumon can channel the Negative Pathos to empower the target's attacks. So for a really sick and twisted reason Ken constantly messing with Shengumon was so that he'd have as much power as possible to fight Fanglongmon with.
2)The Digimon Emperor was actually really careful with how far he pushed Shengumon. As Shengumon was and still is a Fire type digimon, he is most effective if he can be passionate, which means that he can't be "broken." So he was constantly playing brinkmanship with Shengumon's sanity but always knew exactly when to let up.
Though I might do a follow up that isn't related to Prelude, might be interesting.