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Digimon Tamers Crimson Episode 31: Memories? or Illusions?
As the Tamers wander about in the field they found, Cherrymon stood on an incline watching their every move. "So... These are Daemon's targets... A group of little kids who are clearly in over their heads. I guess I'll have to set up my illusion mist... Just to make sure I can isolate each one of them." He said planning out his tactics, as his opponents were wandering into the woods. Suddenly the moustache that Cherrymon had started talking. "Well word does spread through the grapvine obviously! So why don't we just kill them?!" Cherrymon responded to his stache by saying "Look, our orders weren't to kill them. But rather... Cripple them. Through what they fear most. GYAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Cherrymon then continued to cackle as the day ended up going into night. "Dammit! Oh well... At least now I'll be able to isolate their location." Cherrymon then walked slowly into the forest to lie in ambush for the Digimon Tamers. Simon and the others meanwhile walked around the woods for a bit until they decided to camp out in the woods. "These trees are still as big as I remember them." Guilmon remarked considering the immense size of the trees in the Forest zone. Simon looked around and responded "I'm surprised that nobody here ever considered using the wood from these trees. You could make quite a number of log cabins with these huge ass trees!"
Ken then asked Simon "But won't that cause a lot of Carbon Dioxide to end up on this world's atmosphere?" Simon thought about what Ken said and Renamon interrupted saying "We're data. We don't need this... "Oxygen" to breathe. Therefore, we could be likely to go into space without this equipment that you humans need." Rika responds "But doesn't this world have an established ecosystem?" V-Mon then says "Well of course! Plus, these trees aren't exactly coming down anytime soon. So unless you find some way to permanently delete these trees... You can't use them." Rika then shrugged and said "I would question that but... We've been through enough nonesense to know that anything is possible here." Takeru ends up on look out duty with Patamon whom looks in every opposite direction Takeru looks in... Just to make sure that he didn't actually see anything. Henry then says "You think there might be a Digimon around here that isn't friendly?" Nia responds "Well, if there is in this zone... No surprise right?" They all nodded in agreement and Simon decided to take over look out duty for Takeru just so that he and the others can get sleep. Guilmon walking with Simon was looking back at Renamon and seemed very concerned for her safety. "Y'know Guilmon, you could just go over to Renamon and sleep nearby her right?" Simon asked Guilmon who responded "No, I was gonna try and out do you in anything. And that includes staying up all night!"
Simon laughed at Guilmon's comment and said "Y'know... I just hope that... Once this is over... We can still have that picnic I've always wanted to have with the others." Guilmon nods and says "Well, we gotta get rid of Yggdrasil after Vamdemon and the Royal Knights... Then, we can have that picnic." Simon responds "Well, I just hope that we could get to Vamdemon first. I mean, we just got here and saved a couple of people and Digimon. So for now, all we can focus on, is Vamdemon." Guilmon's eyelids started getty heavy. He then said "I think... I'll just... take a... take a... take a quick nap..." Guilmon then proceeded to fall into a deep sleep and Simon whispered to him "Sweet dreams buddy. Sweet dreams." Later on, Simon fell asleep nearby Guilmon and Cherrymon using his vines, took each of the Tamers and their Digimon. When Cherrymon took them to an isolated section of the forest he then made sure they were securely pinned to the trees. Later he released a mist that covered the area. "Illusion mist..." He said as the mist then seemed to remain only in the immediate area. "Now then, once they wake up... They'll be forced to see their worst nightmares. And best of all... The Shadow Tamer won't be able to do anything about it! GYAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" He once again continued to cackle loudly with his stache laughing along with the whole scenario.
Simon woke up the next morning with Guilmon. They both notice that everybody isn't at the campsite and Simon and Guilmon both came to a similar conclusion. "They've been kidnapped!" Both said at the same time before running in the woods to find the culprit. Guilmon was sniffing around the forest until he came across Renamon's scent. "Simon! Follow me!" Guilmon yelled to Simon who figured that Guilmon found something. After following Guilmon through the woods, Simon comes across the culprit and scans him to find out who he is. "Cherrymon, Virus Type, Ultimate Level. Attacks are: Cherry Blast, Illusion Mist and Vine Attack." Simon quoted his Digivice before approaching Cherrymon. "Hey! Bushstache!" Simon yelled to Cherrymon who turned to face him. "Well, well, well... We meet face to face at last, Shadow Tamer!" He said to Simon who was checking on the others, all while noticing they each have blank expressions in their eyes. "Now then, would you like to tell me just what's going on here?!" Simon said to Cherrymon who responded "Why it's merely my illusion mist technique. All I'm doing is showing them something. Something that can vary from one's greatest desire... To one's greatest fears!" Simon looks at Nia's expressionless eyes and turns back to Cherrymon and says "I'm guessing it's their worst fears huh?" Cherrymon nodded to confirm Simon's suspicions and Simon then says to him "I'll give you one chance to release them from this illusion... Otherwise... Prepare to be a nice comfy chair for me to sit in."
Cherrymon looks at Simon's expression and sees quite a lot of anger. Guilmon was a similar case when he saw Renamon. "End this illusion... Now!" Guilmon yelled with a significant amount of fury in his eyes. "Unless you kill me, it's impossible. However, I do have fruits that do show what they are experiencing right now!" Cherrymon responded lowering glowing fruit from his head. Simon and Guilmon looked at each one of them and saw what each Tamer and their Digimon feared most. Henry, in his rage accidentally killing his sister. Terriermon, alone to wander an empty void forever. Rika, slowly becoming colder and colder with each passing day, until she ended up frozen in isolation. Renamon, being forced to watch Rika go through Kazuhamon's ritual and not be able to do anything about it. Nia, unable to help anybody with anything. Impmon, being rejected by everyone just for being a demon lord. Suzie, being abandoned by her own family. Lopmon, having to face harsh judgement from Zhuqiaomon for failing in her mission. Daisuke, losing Kari and being blamed for it by everyone. V-Mon and Wormmon oddly shared the same fear, feeling powerless to stop the Royal Knights' destruction of the Digital World. Hikari, going back to being the timid girl that she was. Gatomon, being forever helpless. Takeru, being blamed for the divorce between his mother and father. Patamon, Not being able to give Takeru positive reinforcement. And Ken, feeling like he should have died in the accident instead of Osamu.
Simon saw all of this and it just added fuel to his fire. Suddenly, Simon triggered the Hazard all without command, and Gulimon evolved straight into Wargrowlmon without the need of a card. They both screamed in rage "YOU BASTARD!" Before charging at Cherrymon who then fired two Cherry blasts at Simon and Guilmon as a distraction. He then tried escaping using his vine attack to swing through the trees... Only for the tendrils of Simon's hazard armor to stop him in his tracks. Simon then grabbed Cherrymon and threw him high into the skies. "Wargrowlmon! Altitude!" Simon yelled to Wargrowlmon who scooped up Simon and flew up to Cherrymon. Cherrymon then attempted to fire another cherry blast... But this time, the blast didn't affect either Tamer or Digimon. Wargrowlmon threw Simon into the air and Simon then pierced Cherrymon with his Falchion. Though Cherrymon had another plan in mind. "If I die, then you'll go with me Ackerman! Illusion Mist!" He then sprayed Simon with his mist before being reduced to data. Simon however, ended up succumbing to Cherrymon's mist which also disabled the Hazard armor. He was falling past Wargrowlmon who raced towards him to make sure he's safe. Wargrowlmon then thought to use his mind link with Simon as they were falling. What Wargrowlmon wasn't expecting... Was what was within his Tamer's mind at the time...
In Simon's Illusion...
When Simon regained consciousness, he woke up and saw that... He was in a strange meadow. Simon then stood up and looked around the meadow. He started walking around the meadow not sure exactly where he was, or why he decided to move around in this field. "Not sure exactly what Cherrymon was trying to accomplish but... I guess I should try and find out what kind of illusion this is..." Simon continued to wander the meadow, until he came across a transparent figure in a cloak. "So... Who are you exactly sir/madam?" The figure then spoke in a voice that Simon hasn't heard of in a long time. "I'm sorry Simon..." It said and suddenly Simon's eyes widened significantly. "Wait... This... Can't be... But, why?" Simon was saying, utterly shocked by the figure's voice. It then started floating away from Simon but then... "Wait! I need answers... Now! Who are you?!" He yelled and chased after the figure. He kept on running towards it until Guilmon showed up and said "Simon! You need to wake up! Whatever you're seeing... Isn't real." Simon stopped and responded "I know Guilmon. But... I need to know something about this person. That voice was so... familiar to me. I just can't place where." He then continued to chase after the figure only this time, with Guilmon in tow. Simon saw the figure stop and unveil the face. What Simon saw shocked him significantly... He had a brief flashback regarding the figure... "Simon... My baby boy... I know you've been through a lot. But don't worry... We'll help you get through this... Together."
After that Simon continued to chase the figure further, but with tears in his eyes. "WAIT! COME BACK! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU!" Simon was screaming until he reached the cliff on the edge of the meadow. However, disregarding the edge Simon jumped to reach out to the figure and he then began to plummet. Guilmon followed him just to wake him up from the illusion.
Back in the Digital World...
Wargrowlmon finally got a hold of Simon and began to slowly descend towards the forest. The others seemed to be awake and really confused... Until they saw Wargrowlmon holding an unconscious, sobbing Simon. Wargrowlmon seemed to cradle him in his large arms, though Simon ended up muttering "Mom..." Before crying a little more. And then, he finally fell asleep. Terriermon was confused and asked "Wait... Is he dreaming again?" Wargrowlmon shook his head and responded "Cherrymon got him with his last Illusion mist... And now, he's fallen unconscious due to what the illusion entailed." Renamon then looked closely at Simon and then asked "Was this about his mother?" Wargrowlmon nodded and explained. "He saw his mother in a meadow and I believe the intention... Was to antagonize Simon by showing him something he wants, but can never attain." Nia then moved some hair away from Simon's forehead and said "I hope you'll be okay Simon..." Impmon responded to Nia by saying "He's Simon Ackerman... Of course he's gonna be alright! He wouldn't let this little illusion get to him... Right?" V-Mon sighed and said "Y'know for now... We should wait until he wakes up and then see if this got to him like the rest of us... Okay?!" Impmon realized what V-Mon said and responded "Alright then, we'll go with your suggestion." V-Mon nodded and said "Well for now, we move onwards! To victory!" They all nodded at V-Mon statement and proceeded through their trek in the woods. One night, they all got together in a campfire and started to discuss what exactly Cherrymon made each of them see. So that they may determine, what may help their leader in case he wakes up...
After a while, the others decided to camp out nearby the exit of the forest. Simon was still unconscious during this trek through the woods. "So... What exactly did Cherrymon and bushstache make us see?" Takeru asked the group who seemed at first somewhat uncomfortable to answer... Until Terriermon answered first "I saw that... I was all alone. I tried calling for Jianliang or Xiaochun but... Nothing. I just... Couldn't bear the thought of the loneliness that got to me for so long..." After hearing Terriermon's fear... Henry went up next and said "Well, Cherrymon made me see me... Accidentally killing Suzie in my rage. After all that, I felt like nobody could ever forgive me for that." Henry then held Terriermon for comfort since they clearly needed one another. Rika saw the two giving each other a form of comfort and then decided "Me next." She then said "I saw that... I got colder and colder towards people... To the point where my heart... Just froze along with my body. The worst part was that... I ended up being fine with that." Renamon saw Rika feeling bad about what she had just said and said "Rika, I saw you being used for Kazuhamon's ritual. And I couldn't do anything to stop her from using you... I just wish that my worst fear wasn't too real..." Rika ended up not feeling too bad considering that others do care about her... And she cares about each one of them. Nia then goes next and says "I saw that I ended up no longer being able to help anyone, including my dad and Simon. I just don't want all my hard work... To just go to waste." Impmon then walks up adding "My fear has always been the same thing. Only this time... It's being rejected by all of you and especially you Nia." Nia then went to cradle Impmon in her arms to calm him down.
Impmon gave a scowl to the other Tamers/Digimon and said "Only she gets to treat me like this. Anybody else... Piss off!" The other Digimon were a bit shocked to see Impmon's softer side, though a little unsettled that he doesn't like others treating him like a small child. Daisuke looked around and said "Guess I'll go next. I ended up seeing Hikari... Dead. And I wasn't there to protect her. Overall, it felt like it was all my fault with that." Hikari looked over at Daisuke with a very concerned face. She then said "I saw that... I was back to my old self. And I couldn't make any friends without any courage to approach or talk to people. But then again, I guess my fear isn't much compared to yours Daisuke." Daisuke then gestured her to come sit nearby him and he offered her some comfort. Gatomon felt anger at her fear and said "Well, I saw that... I literally couldn't do anything to help anybody. And I feel that, was my greatest fear." Gatomon looked down feeling pretty bad about herself. Ken went next and said "My fear was witnessing the accident that killed my older brother Osamu. And I felt as though... I should've died in that crash instead of him. But I guess what keeps me going... Is that, this is what he would want me to do. Keep going forward and not giving up." Wormmon and V-Mon looked at each other and decided that V-Mon would speak up. "Me and Wormmon shared the same fear. We saw that, as Imperialdramon... We couldn't stop the Royal Knights form destroying the Digital World." Wormmon then added "It was like a hellfire just spread throughout the Digital World." They then sat by their Tamers and then said at the same time "Let's hope we can make it through this..." Everybody then looked at Takeru who then said "Well, I saw that... I was being blamed for the divorce... And not just by mom, or my dad. But also by, my big brother... Yamato. Sometimes I think that, maybe I really was the cause."
Patamon on top of Takeru's head then said "TK! You know that's not true! They all love you! And besides, what I saw was that... I couldn't provide anymore positive reinforcement to you. And... One thing that I want to do, is help you whenever you need it!" Takeru then gave a hug to Patamon to give some reassurance to him. All eyes were on Guilmon who de-evolved from Wargrowlmon. Guilmon looked at Simon and back the others and said "Simon saw his guilt-ridden Mother in a meadow. The worst thing for him was that... It intentionally was meant to mess with him. With giving him something he wants... But not being able to reach it." The others were a bit skeptical with that, except for Henry, Rika and Nia who knew Simon the longest out of all the Tamers. Takeru after letting go of Patamon said "Well, as soon as our fearless leader wakes up, we'll hopefully get our game plan and proceed to kick Daemon's ass!" Everybody then felt their hopes increase tenfold. The Tamers and their Digimon then went back to sleep in the hopes that Simon will wake up... And lead them to victory. Guilmon however, knowing Simon had some doubts in his head. He looked at Simon and said to his unconscious Tamer "The others are counting on you to make a decision... And I know that this won't make you quit! Not now! Not ever! Besides... We promised to reach beyond the heavens... Didn't we?" Guilmon then slept next to his Tamer to make sure that he woke up...
Meanwhile in Vamdemon's castle...
Daemon had a communication line going straight to his cohorts. "So then, as we can see... I already have a way to defeat all of the Tamers and their Digimon. Blackgargomon... How long have you been waiting to see your little brother?" One of the silohouettes then responded "Daemon... I have waited at least fifteen Digital years for my little brother to either join me... Or be destroyed... So what kind of stupid question is that?!" Daemon was silent for a bit and then responded "Well, I'm going to give you a chance to fulfill that ambition Blackgargomon. Does that sound good?" Blackgargomon shot the air above him and asked "When do we begin the operation?" Daemon responds "As soon as we all know the plan. Kazuhamon, I now ask you the same about that rogue Renamon... How will you deal with her and her... Tamer." Kazuhamon smirked from where she was and responded "You know, this is a chance to gain a new member in my council. So, of course I'm happy to take this chance!" Daemon laughed in response to Kazuhamon's statement and then says "Now that we got that out of the way, Puppetmon! What say you?" Puppetmon on the other side says "Well now, this is quite an honor for me. To be a part of the Demon corp, and... To toy with others... I think I want Antylamon's Tamer to play with me..." Daemon pondered this for a bit and says "Interesting... I'll let you deal with them. Machinedramon in the meantime, will deal with Xros Heart." Machinedramon on his end activated and responded "UNDERSTOOD. PROCEEDING WITH MAIN OBJECTIVE." Daemon turned to Devimon and asked "So how do you plan on defeating MagnaAngemon... Considering, his power appears to be much greater than yours?" Devimon responds "Oh, don't you worry about that... Besides, I always come prepared for these situations..."
Daemon looks over to another one of the silohouettes, who says "I guess I'll take down Ophanimon's recent incarnation. Just hope it's not disappointing is all I ask!" Daemon responds and says "Yes, Beelstarmon... This one is also quite a worthy opponent. Though, be sure to excersize caution around her and her Tamer." Beelstarmon nodded in understanding. "It seems that I am left with both of Imperialdramon's halves as opponents. I only have one request Daemon..." The last silohouette said to Daemon who responded "And what is that request... Tactimon?" Tactimon on his end held up his sword, in it's sheath. But it appears that, there are chains on this sheath. "Would you be so kind as to... Remove the seal on my blade?" Tactimon asked Daemon who waved his hand. And in that motion, Tactimon's sword was unsealed. "Thank you lord Daemon. I shall use this power to help end this farce!" Daemon smiles underneath his cloak and says "Now then, you all have your positions... Go now! And I shall send you your opponents! Once tomorrow ends... There will be no more saviors! No. More. Hope! NO. MORE. DIGIMON. TAMERS!" They then saluted Daemon and communications ended between the Demon corp. "The best part about all this, is that... I finally get to kill two thorns in my side at once! Megidramon, one of the four sacred dragons. And most importantly... Simon. ACKERMAN! HeheheheheheheheheheeheheheheheHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Daemon laughed so loud that it seemed to attract the attention of Reapermon, who was watching the whole event take place. "The moment you die... Is the moment, I personally collect your data... If it doesn't disperse first." Reapermon said before going to report this recent event to Vamdemon.
Back with Simon and co.
[Cue Persona 3 ost Living with Determination]
Simon seemed to have regained consciousness. However, he noticed that everyone was asleep... Including Guilmon. He then got up and walked over to a nearby tree. He started carving a message for the other Tamers and Digimon. He then placed Falchion and it's scabbard on a nearby rock as well as his goggles, Digivice and cards. He looked back at the others before leaving them behind. "I'm sorry everyone... But... This is goodbye." Simon thought to himself before walking away from them. He activated his hazard armor and jumped through the woods, hoping to find the exit from the zone.
Now that Simon has left the Tamers... How will they cope, once they find out? What was the message left behind? Can Simon defeat Daemon on his own? Or, has the Demon lord already won? Find out next time, On Digimon Tamers Crimson!