Chapter 12: Welcome to Toyland!

Well this was just great wasn't it? We leave for a few minutes and both Ethan and Gaomon were gone! I would have thought the lad had run off if we weren't too gimped to prance! And now we had to fight off the Ninjamon ourselves! Thankfully, we had managed to corner five of them in the village square with the help of Buraimon.

"No where to run now," Said Buraimon as he inched closer to one. "Surrender now or else!" He threatened, but of course, the Ninjamon weren't exactly intimidated.

One drew it's own sword, "Surrender to you? That's a laugh! You're the only champion here Buraimon! Sooner or later, your little village will fall!" The Ninjamon said rather smugly.

He wasn't wrong, as much as I would have liked him to have been. Neither me nor Kate had managed to digivolve our Digimon yet, and Jason hadn't exactly learned how to Digivolve Commandramon again. We would have to hope the numbers game would be enough I guess.

However, suddenly a small tornado just up and smacked into the group of Ninjamon, sending them flying back. Confused, we all turned around to see a rather large blue dog had found us, surrounded by a sea of little samurai chickens. You know, normally seeing this kind of imagery was a strong sign that you were mad as a hatter, but in the Digital World, this was Tuesday.

It wasn't until I saw Ethan passed out on the giant canine's back that I realized that, somehow, someway, Ethan had managed to Digivolve Gaomon. I honestly didn't know how I didn't realize this before, considering how similar he looked to this new dog creature, he even still had his bloody boxing gloves!

The new creature glared at the Ninjamon, "You might as well give up now Ninjamon, your little camp is in ruins, and you're all that remains of your little clan! Your days of tormenting this village are over!" He said, well at least now I knew where they had been, how they got there would be a question for later. Right now, we had some pesky ninjas to get rid of.

The five Ninjamon seemed shocked by the news that their friends had been killed, and that their Hyokomon had been freed (I'm guessing that's who the little chickens were,) Suddenly they weren't feeling to confident it seemed. "Fine! We weren't getting that much from it anyway!" One said, trying his best not to sound scared and failing at it. And with that, they all vanished, I couldn't help but let a sigh of relief escape my lips, I was glad this little detour was over and we could move on.

Later…

We all had gathered around the village square with Buraimon, and Gaomon had reverted back to his rookie form in that time, Ethan having finally woken up from his slumber as well. The whole village was alive with cheers and celebration, finally freed from the Ninjamon's menace, even Buraimon seemed happy, something I don't think I'd ever seen before. "Thank you Digidestined," He said, "Thanks to your efforts, we are free from the Ninjamon's menace once and for all, this whole village owes you a debt of gratitude," He said with a respectful bow.

It was nice to finally get something done for once, instead of barely escaping with our lives, we actually managed to make life a little brighter for someone in this god forsaken world. It was the first time I had ever felt like our existence here had actually made a difference.

Jason returned Buraimon's bow with one of his own, "We're just doing our duties Buraimon, I'm glad we could help," He said, clearly enjoying actually having helped someone for a change, Jason always stuck me as the charitable type, someone who would have annoyed me to no end back home, but here, it was different, everything was different here.

After we all said our goodbyes, we left the village behind us, and made our way to the Metal Empire, which Buraimon had mentioned before we left wasn't too far from where we were. It seemed we were finally making things click together, finally making progress as opposed to beating our bloody heads against a wall like we had been since we left the rebel camp. But I had a sinking feeling we'd end up crashing and burning eventually, or maybe that was just the cynic in me reminding me to not get my hopes too high.

On the trek towards our next destination, Ethan had filled us in on what had happened to him, apparently while we were away the Ninjamon had kidnapped him and brought him to their little camp, he said they were talking about selling them to someone, god knows who, but thankfully Ethan never had to find that out as he had actually managed to break out, Digivolve Gaomon, and beat them all. So I guess it was safe to say Ethan had a very… interesting evening.

Speaking of evening, night had soon arrived, and for the first time on this little trip of ours, we set up camp. We didn't have much in the way of camping equipment, Commandramon only had so much in the ways of supplies on him, so we had no tents or sleeping bags, just a small campfire and each other's company.

I stoked the fire as we all sat on fallen trees of the ground, "Well, I can't say I'm not glad to be done with all of that," I said, trying to start a conversation. I usually didn't like to talk to people more than I had to, but in this insane world, little comforts like conversation with other human beings were more necessary than you'd think.

Ethan sort of groaned and held his abdomen, "Ditto, man getting injured sucks," He whined, personally, he should just be thankful that Ninjamon didn't have better aim. I just hope his injury wasn't going to slow us down, I wanted to get this thing over with so I could go back to life as usual, in a world that wasn't constantly trying to kill me.

Jason turned to Ethan, "Well, hopefully a little more rest will help, we have a lot of ground to cover, and we have a whole world counting on us. But for tonight, I think we've all earned a bit of a rest," He said, I couldn't agree more, after the madness that we had to deal with back there, I think we all needed a moment to breathe.

So with that, we put the fire out and all tried to get some sleep, trying to sleep on the cold, hard dirt was a task and a half, but I guess all the excitement today had taken a lot more out of me than I thought as I soon drifted off into slumber…

Meanwhile…

Me and Okamon had finally managed to find something other than woods and trees, the File Inn, I remember hearing Rex mentioning it a few times as a hiding place rebel forces sometimes used, the fact it was run by a mega level had kept Rex from simply sending a strike force there to flatten it. Although it seemed someone had managed to do just that, as the File Inn was now nothing more than a pile of burnt rubble, the smell of smoke and ash was strong, and unpleasant.

Okamon tried sniffing at the air, but the smell of smoke overpowered the scents of the Digidestined causing him to shake his head, "I can't track them, too many other scents here for me to pick theirs apart from the others." He explained.

"What are you doing here?!"

Me and Okamon turned to see Rosemon herself, carrying some wood, and surrounded by what I assumed was a mix of guests and employees. "If you've come to destroy my hotel then you're obviously too late, I accidentally did that for you when I was trying to live up to your stupid deal!" She snarled at me, deal? I don't recall any sort of dealings the king had with her.

"We're not here for you Rosemon, if you and the kings had any dealings I was never told, I'm looking for the Digidestined, and from your wording, it seems that you've met them, so… do tell me, where are they now?" I asked, I knew she'd resist, I could tell from her face she had no intentions of telling me what I wanted to know.

She shook her head, "I'm done making deals with you and your mad king! Get off my property now before I destroy you and your pet!" She threatened me, I knew I stood no chance against Rosemon, so fighting her was a bad idea, but I needed a lead.

So… "Fine… then I'll tell the king you directly interfered with our hunt for the Digidestined, I do hope your guests are good at running, because they're going to be doing a lot of it when he sends his strongest troops to… pay you a visit," I threatened her, Rosemon, from what I heard, wasn't hard to get to, threaten her guests and she caves instantly.

And she did just that, hanging her head low, "I don't know okay? They didn't say where they were going, but I do know they left a few days ago, and personally, I hope they make him suffer for what he's done to us!" She spat, defiant as ever, but I had an idea of where they headed now, two days passing meant they'd be somewhere between the Wind Guardians and Metal Empire territories, since I figured they were trying to liberate the two territories controlled by Rex, and the Metal Empire was closer.

Without another word, me and Okamon left in search of the Digidestined, part of me hoped I arrived in time to watch Datamon fall to the Digidestined, it'd be cathartic…

The Next Day…

I awoke the next day to be met with a strange sight, I saw what appeared to be a soft yellow leg, almost like it belonged to a giant stuffed toy. I looked up to see that, indeed it was a stuffed toy, a teddy bear to be exact, it must have been at least three meters tall! It's design was quite simple, it was a yellow teddy bear with a white snout and belly, two pieces to tape in an "X" pattern stick to where it's belly button would be, it's eyes were thin and red, fixed in an upside down "U" shape giving it a slightly sinister look.

I began to think this had to be some kind of joke, before the teddy bear knelt down so he was eye level with me, "Why hello there, I do hope I haven't intruded or anything," the stuffed toy said in a deep base of a voice, almost like a large man making baby talk to their child almost. The others soon awoke to see this giant stuffed bear.

Jason was the first to address the giant ursine plush, "C… can we help you?" He asked rather sheepishly, I didn't blame him, seeing a stuffed toy living and moving on it's own wasn't nearly as cute in person as it was on the telly, it's unnerving, and unsettling, a sensation known as the "Uncanny Valley" if I recall, but in reverse, something that looks fake, but acts realistic and organic, it was… terrifying.

The bear let out a tiny giggle, not helping the creepiness at all. "I apologize for disturbing you, but I was taking my usual stroll through the woods and saw you eight just laying there, it's not safe to sleep in these woods, you never know what's lurking in the shadows out here. What are you all doing out here?" He pointed out, the irony of a terrifying monstrosity warning us of the dangers of the forest not lost on me at all.

Kate rose to her feet, "We're actually trying to get to the Metal Empire," She explained, I don't think this is the kind of person we should be telling this to Kate! Something about this bear didn't sit well with me, and it wasn't just the creepiness he exuded, he seemed quite dodgy, he seemed to be taking a little more interest in us than someone normally would to someone he just randomly found in the woods.

The bear seemed to jump a little upon hearing this, but his face grew a smile, "Really? Well it just so happens the city I look after is a part of the Metal Empire! I can take you all there if you like," He offered. Odd, I thought that a requirement for being a part of the Metal Empire was, you know, being metal?

Of course, I was the only one who seemed suspicious it seemed, as Jason got to his feet rather quickly, "We'd appreciate it, thank you," He said, all I could do was shake my head, it was this kind of gullibility that almost got us killed at the File Inn, and while I admit I was the one who bumbled into it, I'd learned from my mistake, but it seems Jason and the others hadn't.

The bear was, of course, delighted. "Great! Come with me, the Land of Toys isn't too far from here!" He said, before going off to lead us to this "Land of Toys", to be frank, I didn't know how I felt about going to an entire city filled with creepy living toys, I'm pretty sure they've made horror movies out of that kind of premise, but it was progress none the less, we'd be in the Metal Empire, if not at least a strange subsection of it.

As we made our trek to the Land of Toys, I managed to get the bear's name out if him, Monzaemon, he seemed to be the friendly type, but then what else would you expect from a giant children's toy? That aura of creepiness didn't go away however, something about him didn't seem right, but I for the life of me just couldn't place it. We soon found ourselves at a gate that seemed to be made of baby blocks, the letters on them spelling "Toyland" as they arched over the entrance. The gate itself was a simple metal gate you'd find at any posh residency, it seemed to open automatically as soon as Monzaemon approached, he said he looked after the place, so I guess they knew him well enough, and it's not like he was someone you'd mistake for someone else, being a giant stuffed bear, he stood out.

We entered the little city to find what could only be described as what a nursery would look like if it took over an entire town. Bright pastel colors littered the streets in a checkered pattern, like someone had spread a giant blanket over the land. The houses looked like they had been made of giant Lincoln Logs, giant toy blocks and bouncy balls littered the landscape, as if we were in a giant child's playroom. Even the trees where toy like, plastic and smooth. The inhabitants were all toys as well, the most prominent being little plastic dinosaurs that appeared to be made of giant Lego. They came in three flavors it seemed, one was made of green, red, and yellow bricks, others were made only of black bricks, and I even saw one made of clear bricks. It seemed all the Digimon that lived here were based on some kind of toy, I even saw one that looked like a walking Yo-Yo!

Monzeamon turned to us, "This is Toyland, the only really peaceful place in the Metal Empire since the King took over," He said, "Turns out the Digimon King doesn't have much use for toy Digimon," He added, yeah I could imagine, not exactly going to bring the Digital World to it's knees with an army of teddy bears are ya? "Feel free to have a look around, I'll meet you back here later, I had… things I need to attend to," He said before walking off, not even giving us a chance to ask why.

I waited for Monzeamon to vanish from sight before I decided to tell the others exactly how I felt about this place, "This place give me the willies, I think we should work on getting out of here before too long," I said, earning strange looks from the others.

Ethan let out a small chuckle, "Aw what's wrong Ross? You scared of the giant teddy bear?" He teased me, clearly not getting my point at all.

I just rolled my eyes, "Doesn't this seem a bit… off to any of you?" I asked, I couldn't possibly be the only one who found this place so dodgy, I mean… come on… a teddy bear from the very territory we were headed to just so happened to find us? I mean… come on!

However, Jason merely shook his head, "Just because one Digimon tried to kill us in her hotel doesn't mean every Digimon out there wants to kill us Ross, besides, we won't be staying long, just long enough to let Ethan rest his wounds a little, and quite frankly, I wouldn't mind getting some supplies so we don't have to rough it so hardcore next time," Jason explained, all I could do was sigh, he had a point, trust was a hard thing for me, given my past, but Ethan needed the break, and quite frankly, I doubted a teddy bear could do that much to us regardless.

Kate then clapped her hands together, "Alright, now that that's settled. I say we all take a look around town, see what they have here, maybe we could find something useful? Like a shop or something?" She suggested, it sounded like a plan, although I didn't like the idea of splitting up too much, I still had a bit of worry in me.

But we all did just what she suggested, for what it's worth, we did take our partners with us, so it wasn't like we were going completely on our own. But having Hawkmon with me did little to ease the weariness I had about this place. The cheery and wholesome facade this place had felt like it was a mask, hiding some sinister undertone I just couldn't see. So I just walked the brightly colored streets, trying to keep my head straight. "You know Ross, for what it's worth, I believe you, there is a strange aura to this place that doesn't quite feel right," Hawkmon said.

I turned towards my avian partner, "I'm glad I'm not the only one, I just have this unshakable feeling that something's going to happen, something bad," I said, it was a relief to know at least Hawkmon shared my suspicion about this place, it made me feel less like I was going mad.

Hawkmon sighed, "The fact it's in King controlled territory doesn't help either, I doubt the Digimon King would have just left this place alone when it's part of the territory he took over," He pointed out, which was another good point, this place seemed completely untouched, and I doubt the Digimon King was intimidated enough by a soft plush bear to not send his armies to level it or bully it into compliance. "But, it's best we don't say much more about it for now, if we're right and we say too much we risk the whole town attacking us," He added, making a valid point, it was best to wait and watch, I didn't want to risk the group on a hunch after all.

So I gave him a nod, letting him know I understood, we spent a good couple of hours strolling through the town, I hadn't found anything suspicious on my trek, by all accounts, it seemed like a normal town, well… normal for a town made of and inhabited by children's play things. Soon I met back with the others, Jason had managed to find some supplies, which Commandramon carried on his back, I was surprised they too weren't glorified toy supplies, but actual blankets and tents. Kate and Ethan hadn't found much though, Kate admitting she had just wanted to see the sights, and Ethan claiming he got lost and managed to somehow work his way back to the town square.

Soon enough Monzeamon rejoined us from, whatever it was he had done, "Ah, I see you've managed to find some supplies for your journey at one of our stores!" He said, noticing the supplies Commandramon carried.

Jason nodded, "We found it a little while ago, thankfully Commandramon carries Digital World currency on him, apparently," Jason said, it sometimes confused me how much stuff that robot dino carried on him, first the food, then money, what else did he have in that backpack of his? The holey grail?

Monzeamon chuckled a little, "Very good, now that you all have had a good look around, I insist you rest your bones at our inn, so we can have our medical staff take a look at your injured friend there," He offered, oh hell no! No more bloody inns! Not after what happened the last time!

But, of course, Jason and Kate liked the idea, "Thanks Monzeamon, we'd appreciate the help," Said Jason, being a gullible twit as usual. But I was again, outnumbered, so off to the inn we went, it was full of more lego dinos.

Monzeamon rung the front bell, causing another Lego dino to appear from under the counter, "Ah! Mr. Monzeamon, how can we help you?" The Lego dino greeted.

The stuffed bear Digimon turned and motioned for Ethan to come forward, which he did, "Our new guests here have an injured member here, do you mind taking care of this one while the others relax and spend the day?" He said, the Lego dino nodded and rang a little buzzer under his desk, causing two more Lego dinos to walk in, both with little nurse's hats on their heads.

They took Ethan by the arm, "Right this way sir, we'll have our doctor look at that wound of yours," One said, and before Ethan could even respond, they dragged him away to treat him, Gaomon following him naturally.

Monzeamon then turned towards us, "There we are, now, Toy Agumon here will take you to your rooms, your friend will join you there soon," He said, at least now I knew what the Lego dinos were called, they were apparently "Toy Agumon", the Toy Agumon then proceeded to do just that, leading us into a small, simple room, not nearly as nice as the one Rosemon's inn had, but I really didn't much care.

The Toy Agumon then bowed, "Enjoy your stay, it will take a while for us to finish fixing up your friend, we do hope you enjoy your stay," He said before leaving, the door softly clicking shut.

I shook my head, "I don't like leaving Ethan alone with those things, we don't know anything about these people," I said, I wanted out of this town, I didn't trust it as far as I could throw it, and I found it kind of dodgy that they had a hospital attached to an inn of all things, seemed awfully convenient if you ask me.

Kate let out a groan, "Will you stop? These people are helping us! You need to stop being so paranoid!" She said, stubborn as she always was.

I knew trying to argue with them was pointless, and if I was wrong, I'd only look like more of an asshole. It was a simple case of picking my battles, and this is one I shouldn't fight, at least not yet.

Jason sat on one of the beds, "To be fair, last time we stayed at an inn, we wound up almost getting killed," He pointed out, letting me know they at least were aware of why I found this so troubling. "But still, it's not fair to them to start pointing fingers, we should give them a chance at least," He added, causing me to roll my eyes.

If we wind up dead Jason, I'm blaming you…

Meanwhile…

The hospital room was strangely quiet, and desolate, I didn't even see so much as a counter for medical supplies, the Toy Agumon had just laid me on a table and left me there, the silence had started to get to me, I began to fear that Ross may be right, and we just wandered into a trap, if that were the case… I was screwed, well, not entirely, Gaomon was still here at least, although they had tried to get him to wait outside, even tried to escort him out, which only resulted in one of them getting punched in the nose for their troubles.

Gaomon began to notice how uncomfortable I was, "Ethan, you alright? You seem tense," He asked, god, sometimes I hated how Gaomon could read me like a book so easily, nothing got by that Digimon I swear.

I gave a sigh, "You think Ross might be right about this place? I mean… it is in the Metal Empire, aka Digimon King territory," I asked, I kinda felt like I was just being paranoid, but to be fair, it was a legitimate concern, you never knew what people were up to in this world. None of us had expected Rosemon to try to kill us after all.

Gaomon looked to his right before returning his gaze to me, "I can't lie, it's possible, but that's why I insisted on staying here, just in case," He said, yeah you kinda made that point pretty forcefully… but still, it was comforting to have someone I knew I could trust in the room with me at the very least.

Suddenly the door opened, strangely Monzeamon came in, "I hope we haven't kept you waiting too long, the doctor is on his way," He said, I found it strange he felt the need to oversee the treatment, but something about his body language said he was up to something, before I could even ask anything, he suddenly pressed a button and metal rings sprang from the bed I was in! Strapping my arms to it like this was a Bond movie or something. "Keep in mind I find no joy in doing this, but you must understand human, you and your friends have made a mess of things, a mess that threatens my town, it's nothing personal, just… business," He said.

Gaomon turned to the stuffed bear Digimon, "You tricked us! Ross was right! We never should have trusted you!" He barked at Monzeamon. This was bad! I was trapped, and Gaomon couldn't digivolve!

Monzeamon approached Gaomon, "Too bad you won't get the chance to tell him or any of the others how right he was," He said before locking Gaomon in a bear hug, he cried out as the teddy bear began to squeeze his body with a surprising amount of strength.

Suddenly the door opened, and in stepped several Commandramon, followed by what could only be described as a tin can with arms and a brain in a jar attached to it, he seemed quite pleased with himself, "Ah… how foolishly trusting you humans are, you fell right into my trap! I knew Bridget only struggled to best you due to her incompetence!" He said, I had no words, "And don't bother screaming for help boy, this room is soundproof," He also pointed out, of course it was, because that's just my luck isn't it? The tin can then turned to Monzeamon, "You can release the blue mutt Monzeamon, my Commandramon will subdue him, I need him for my mines after all and I'd rather you didn't break his back in two," He said,

"Yes Datamon," Monzeamon as he released Gaomon, as soon as he hit the ground, two Commandramon pinned him to the ground, insuring he wouldn't be able to free me, if he even could.

The tin can, Datamon I guess, then skittered over to me, "As for you, I do hope you don't have any delusions of making it out of this, after Monzeamon's rounded up all of your friends, I'll have him deliver you to my personal lab for… further study," He said rather menacingly, before cackling up a storm as he left, oh god… why is it always me?

A/N: It just goes to show kids, never trust sentient talking teddy bears!

Will our heroes realize their in danger in time to escape Datamon's clutches? Or will they all be his personal lab experiments? Tune in next time!

BTW: Sorry I got this out late, I had quite a busy day yesterday and the day before, and by the time I had time to write, I didn't have the energy to do so. I'm going to try to get chapter 13 out pretty soon to make up for it though, so keep an eye out for that k?