Chapter 9: Every Rose has it's Thorn

Rosemon just stood over me for what felt like an eternity, I had not ever the slightest clue how I was going to get out of this one, my friends were still all tied up, and even if they weren't, how the hell were they going to fight a mega?!

I could tell despite not being able to see her eyes she was watching me, she had to know how panicked I was, I wasn't exactly hiding it very well, "Yes you know it, don't you child? How hopeless this is… how, no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try… you can't get out of this… well, not alive anyway." Said Rosemon.

She then applied pressure to my chest, digging her heel into my stomach. It felt like a pike being driven through my belly, I whimpered and choked as the pain was too immense even for so much as a simple cry for help. "Where's your bravado NOW human?! I thought you were going to stop the Digimon King?! How can you possibly hope to do that when you can't even save yourself from a hotel manager?!" Rosemon growled as she continued to apply pressure.

I couldn't even so much as focus on my surroundings, all that my mind could think about was the horrible screeching pain in my abdomen, and the uncaring, hateful Digimon that was causing it. I tried in vain to squirm out from under her but I couldn't even so much as budge her foot an inch. "Look at you… so pathetic… so helpless… deep down in that stubborn heart of yours you know this is the end. But you struggle regardless! Why can't you just accept death with dignity?!" Snarled Rosemon, clearly getting frustrated with my struggling.

"STOP! ROSEMON PLEASE STOP THIS!"

It was Psychemon, he was trying to plead with Rosemon, I doubted it would do any good, her mind was set on killing us, she thought she had to to save her guests. It's funny, in all the pain and panic, I had forgotten deep down she was just as scared as I was… a good Digimon turned to evil just to protect her guests… I guess there's an irony in there somewhere.

I managed on open an eye to see Rosemon had Psychemon by the throat, his attempt to appeal to her failing miserably. "You ungrateful little beast! I gave you a home! Protection from your former faction! And this is how you repay me?! Betraying me, and for what? HER?!" She said, grabbing him by the head and forcing him to look at me. "She who's too weak to even cry for help! I hope it was worth betraying every Digimon in this hotel just to save some foolish girl!" She snarled before violently tossing him to the ground. Psychemon whimpered as he tried in vain to get to his feet, but Rosemon's slam had taken what little fight he had away.

I was once again on my own, Gaomon despite being awake, was still tied to the others, and even if he wasn't, he'd still be three levels below her. It really was hopeless… wasn't it?

However I then noticed that Psychemon was once again on his feet, I could tell from the look in his eyes he wasn't ready to let this happen, "Rosemon please! This isn't you! Please… The King has already warped my former faction, don't let him do it to you too! Let her go!" He pleaded with her, I now figured out what he was doing, he was doing what I did, trying to appeal to her better nature. He knew he couldn't take her in a physical fight, but a war of words was much more feasible.

But Rosemon simply whipped her former bellhop with her vines, sending him tumbling back into a wall, "Don't you DARE try to talk to me about corruption! I've done my best to keep the Digimon King from taking this hotel from me! To keep it a safe place for Digimon to escape to! And if compromising my own principles by killing these humans is what I must do, then so be it." She said.

However Psychemon wasn't on his own, "And for how long?!" Gaomon chimed in, "You really think the Digimon King is going to live up to his end of the deal? Once we're dead, he'll have no reason to keep his word!" He added, bringing up a very good point, the Digimon King had no reason not to go back on his word, even if she did kill us, he wasn't going to let those rebels in her hotel stay untouched.

Rosemon however, "LIES! He'll keep his end of the deal! Or… or" She said, clearly uncertain.

"Or what?!" Gaomon barked back, "You have nothing else he wants, all you have is his word, and you and I both know that isn't worth much." He said, clearly having the advantage in this exchange.

I felt the pressure on my abdomen loosen slightly, she was conflicted now, the reality of the situation hitting her quite hard, however, "Even if that's the case… it's not a chance I'm willing to pass up! If I let you leave here, he'll know I didn't keep my end of the deal! And he'll definitely come after the File Inn then! I can't risk that!" She said, also bringing up a good point, letting us go would paint a huge target on the File Inn… oh god this is not going well!

However, now that I wasn't being crushed under her weight anymore, "And how many more will die because you killed us?!" I yelled, managing to work my way out from under her, "Even if he lives up to his part of the bargain, the Digimon outside of it will never be safe!" I yelled, I was desperate to help the Digimon get through to her, she wasn't a bad Digimon, she was just doing what she thought was right, and if I could just get her to see what she was doing wasn't right…

Rosemon snapped her vine whip right at me, getting me in the cheek, there was a small sting as the thorns of the whip had cut my cheek, but I stood firm, "And what? I trust you to save us?! Don't think I don't know why you're doing this! You know you can't take me in a fight! So you're trying to defeat me with words instead! But it won't work!" She snapped.

There was an uncomfortable silence that befell the room, two minds locked in a game of words and neither willing to give an inch, two minds carefully planning their next move, the one that would tip the scales in their favor.

However, I had the better hand, "Then why haven't you done it yet?" I asked her, she froze… letting me know that I had her, "If you were so sure killing us would save your hotel, then what are you waiting for! Why bother tying them up?! Why not just kill them now?! You have the power! You have the know how! But what you don't have… is the certainty!" I roared, I had her on the ropes now… I could tell by the look on her face that the doubt I thought was there existed, "So what are you waiting for?! Kill me and my friends, have a roll of the die and see what you get! Because that's what this is at the end of the day… a gamble… but can you live with yourself if you roll snake eyes? You and everything you ever worked for will be destroyed and the only people who could have stopped it will be dead by your hands! So go ahead! Test your luck! KILL ME!" I challenged her.

Rosemon gritted her teeth, vine whip in hand, I could tell even from here she was having an internal battle, the risks of her next action taking their toll on her. Her face drenched in hot sweat, hand trembling with the knowledge it's next movement could either spell salvation or doom for her and everything she ever worked for. I would be lying if I said I wasn't really hoping she'd decide against it. She then let out a frustrated yell as she flailed her vine whips violently, causing the chandelier above us to be cut from it's place, I barely managed to move out of the way in time as the lighting fixture crashed to the ground with a loud crash, sparks of electricity crackled and soon fire followed as one of the sparks managed to land on the rug.

I stumbled backwards, almost getting caught in the inferno! That crazy bitch! She was going to get us all killed! However, Rosemon soon found herself caught in the inferno! "NO! AGHH! NOOO!" She wailed as she was engulfed, the room was lighting up fast! My friends would be burned alive if I didn't hurry! I took one of the broken pieces of the chandelier and used it as a makeshift knife in order to cut the rope holding the Digimon. Gaomon being the only one of the group not unconscious, rushed over to the tied humans and began to tear at the rope with his teeth.

Me and Psychemon began to try to get them to come to. "Come on Soldier boy! Up and at 'em!" I yelled as I slapped Commandramon's face several times, we wouldn't be able to carry everyone, so getting them to wake up was important! The room was an inferno now, and that fire was getting way too close for my liking.

Thankfully, Hawkmon had come too at least, "Wh… what's happening?" He said groggily, before he noticed it was Psychemon standing over him, of course he freaked out and began kicking at him, "YOU NO GOOD SCOUNDREL! YOU SET US UP! YOU… YOU!" He screamed as poor Psychemon tried in vain to calm him down, considering the situation we were in right now we really didn't have time for this!

I then felt movement from under my arms, "Kate… the room is burning and you pinning me to the floor isn't helping me any..." I heard Commandramon say, well at least he was awake now, and as emotionally detached from the situation as always. I quickly let him go, Commandramon didn't waste a word, rushing over to Jason who, while free now, was still out cold. He lifted Jason's unconscious body over his shoulder, "We have no time to waste! The hotel's going to completely go up any minute! We need to get out of this room before the fire blocks our only exit!" He said, he had a point, that fire was getting uncomfortably close to the door.

We all managed to get our unconscious friends and rush out the door to find the hotel whipped up into a frenzy as the fire was spreading out of the room and into the halls! All this from a tiny electrical spark! Psychemon quickly took the lead, "There's a fire exit near the back of the building! Follow me!" He said, we all agreed and followed him.

"YOU AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE!"

We all turned to find a rather crazed looking Rosemon standing behind us, "Look at what you've done! If you think I'm going to let you escape with your heads still attached you've got another thing coming!" She yelled.

Yeeeeah how about no? Me and the others just legged it as fast as we could, the weight of our unconscious friends being a real burden right now, as not only did we have to outrun the fire, but a crazed Rosemon on top of it! God for once can't things just be easy? But then again, nothin' worth doing is easy, and saving my friends was certainly worth doing!

We thankfully managed to somehow lose Rosemon down a hall, however the hotel began to rattle and shake a little, "Do I wanna know what that was?" I asked no one in particular.

Commandramon looked around the building, "The structure is weakening from the fire, we may only have seconds to get out of here before it collapses!" He said, oh come on! As if our situation wasn't bad enough right? We all legged it as fast as we could, as bits of burning wood and plaster fell around us, god this place sure lit up fast didn't it?

Psychemon then stopped at a door, "This is it!" He said, pointing towards said door, without so much as a single word everyone began to funnel out onto the fire escape. Home free! Well after we get down from the fire escape of course… however…

CRASH!

Rosemon burst through the walls, "You've gotta be kiddn' me!" I commented, we all quickened our pace down the stairs as Rosemon gave chase, ya know, for a mega level Digimon, she wasn't very fast was she?

She began violently lashing her vine whips at us, "GET BACK HERE! GET BACK HERE AND DIE!" She screeched, yeah I think it was safe to say Rosemon had completely lost her mind, I guess that's what happens when you burn your own hotel to the ground trying to kill a bunch of kids and their furbies.

We all managed to get down the fire escape safely, running as fast as we could to escape the hotels crazed owner, we found a gathering of guests and employees at the front, letting us know at least a good number of them had managed to get out in time.

However, we turned to see Rosemon hadn't lost us yet, "You little weasels! Look at what you've DONE! You've turned my hotel into an inferno!" She growled.

I slowly backed away, "You were the one that whipped the chandelier you crazy woman!" I pointed out, this only managing to make her even angrier as she roared defiantly.

She then slowly began to approach us, "Would you believe I actually felt guilty about trying to kill you? I did! But after… after this? NOT ANYMORE!" She screamed as she grew closer.

However, the crowd had managed to overhear everything, and from the sounds of things…

"You burned down the hotel Rosemon?!"

"Why are you trying to kill the Digidestined?! They're trying to save us aren't they?!"

"She's gone crazy! Look at her!"

"She's betrayed us! How could you do this to us?!"

… they didn't seem too impressed, I couldn't say I blamed them frankly, they were just trying to enjoy a nice vacation, or seek refuge after losing their homes, and captain crazy here burns the damn thing to the ground!

Rosemon herself seemed stunned as her former guests began to surround her, bombarding her with questions as to why she would try to kill us, "Y… you don't understand! The King said if I killed them… the hotel would be safe!" She tried to explain.

Kind of rang hollow as the hotel she was claiming to want to protect was currently burning to the ground. "Yeah… and how well did that work for ya lass?" I asked with a smirk, I couldn't help but find the irony hilarious. But this seemed like a good opportunity to try one more time to appeal to her, "Do you see now? How much you've lost already trying to pursue this stupid deal? You've destroyed the very thing you were trying to protect." I said, Rosemon began to cry… it was finally beginning to hit her how much she'd screwed up. "Don't make it any worse… focus on rebuilding instead… and let us give it a better world to be a part of… what do you say?" I said.

Rosemon paused for a moment, debating with herself whether she wanted to forgo trying to kill us, but the Digimon around her began to encourage her…

"Yeah! We can fix it!"

"Make it even better than it was before!"

"Please Ms. Rosemon? We'll help!"

Rosemon seemed genuinely touched, which caused her to finally relent, "Very well… I'm sorry Digidestined… I shouldn't have let my fear consume me… you were right… and I was wrong." She admitted, finally… I had gotten through to her… "But I want you to promise me that you will stop the Digimon King, so the new File Inn can exist is a safer world, free from his influence." She added.

I gave her a nod, "I will." I told her.

Satisfied by the answer, she returned her attention to the Digimon, "Okay! First things first, we need to put out the fire." She instructed everyone, soon enough everyone was grabbing buckets and rushing off to get water. Me and the Digimon all moved our unconscious friends out of the way as we waited for them to come to, man, would I ever have a story for them when they woke up.

I then saw a shadow approach from behind, "I can't believe we actually managed to get through to her." Said Psychemon.

I turned to face him, "Yeah, I guess all it took was the customers she was trying to protect to help her see what she was doing wasn't right." I commented, watching her conduct the other Digimon as they worked on dousing the fire.

Psychemon then let out a sigh, "So… I guess I'm… I'm a part of the group now?" He asked, in all of the excitement we never really got to discuss him being my partner now.

I shot him a toothy grin, "As every bit a part as I am!" I said cheerfully, I guess I was finally getting to enjoy finally having a Digimon of my own now that the dust had settled.

Psychemon rubbed the back of his head, "I hope our adventures aren't… that crazy in the future..." He said, managing to get a laugh out of me.

I patted him on the head, "I can't make any promises, but with a little luck… we can at least avoid burning down a hotel." I said. Surprisingly earning a little laugh from Psychemon, the first time I'd ever heard him laugh. Yeah, I think he's going to fit into our little group just fine… as soon as they wake up of course…

But I won't lie, when I came to the world, it was off the promise of adventure, and boy… did I ever get one so far… yeah… I think I could get used to this place…

A/N: And thus the File Inn arc ends!

I'm sure you could tell I really struggled to get our heroes out of that one since, well I couldn't have rookies beating a mega in a fight, but I think I came up with a pretty good solution… even if it did end with the File Inn a smoldering pile of rubble…

11/3/17: More corrections of embarrassing spelling errors and bad dialogue. Proofreading is important kids.