"Catherine, I'm tired. Can I take a break?" Floramon asked as she collapsed onto the ground. Catherine smiled sympathetically at her partner as she wiped the sweat off her brow. They've been working for hours and made a good chunk of progress.

"Sure, I think I might join you. Maybe even take a nap," Catherine said as she joined her partner on the ground. She gazed at their work and lightly smiled at the hole in the wall they were putting in.

"Do you think we'll find a way out?" Floramon asked. Catherine shrugged and let out a big yawn as she tried to get comfortable.

"I hope so, but if we don't I know our friends we'll come and save us," Catherine answered as she closed her eyes. Before she could doze off she heard a loud scoff coming from the cell across from her. She peered over and saw a Gazimon brooding.

"You really think your friends will come and save you? That's got to be the funniest thing I've heard since I was locked up."

"They'll come! I know it!" Floramon argued and Gazimon lightly chuckled.

"That's what we all say, then days turn into weeks and all that hope you have disappears. I wish I didn't put so much faith in a cowardly king," Gazimon grumbled. Catherine frowned and looked at Gazimon. She saw he had a scar going down their right eye and had their left arm in a makeshift sling.

"What happened to you?" Catherine asked. Gazimon pondered before sighing.

"Weeks ago, after Rosemon first attacked our kingdom, the king planned to retaliate. It wasn't successful and as punishment, Rosemon started kidnapping our babies," Gazimon paused, wiped away a stray tear, and took a deep breath before continuing. "Our king planned another attack and asked for volunteers to fill his army. I was the first to volunteer and begged to be put on the front lines. It didn't take long for me to realize my mistake."

"Wh-What happened?" Floramon hesitated to ask. Gazimon scoffed and raised his injured arm as tears streamed down his face.

"A massacre that's what! Friends, neighbors, and coworkers all gone in an instant!" Gazimon shouted. He didn't bother wiping away his tears, finally releasing all of his pent-up emotions.

"I-I'm sorry for your loss," Catherine said, not knowing what to say. She couldn't offer a shoulder to cry on or any sympathetic words. She could only give her condolences.

Gazimon continued to cry and Catherine and Floramon let him. They could tell he was holding it in for so long. He cried for minutes until he took a deep breath to compose himself.

"Thanks, that'll do me good until the inevitable happens."

"What do you mean?"

"Rosemon has a hierarchy with her prisoners. Those she deems useful are forced into her army and those she deems pointless are disposed of. Then there are Digimon like me."

Gazimon gestured to his injuries before signaling to the other cells. Catherine and Floramon looked around the dungeon and saw all the injured imprisoned Digimon. They all had some form of injury whether it was a broken leg, arm, or ribs, or scratches and bruises covering their bodies. They also look defeated as if their will to keep going was destroyed.

It was simultaneously heartbreaking and terrifying.

"We're the in-between of useful and useless. Rosemon keeps us locked up because we're too hurt to be forced into her army, but she doesn't want to get rid of us because she needs hostages to prevent the king from destroying this place," Gazimon then chuckled grimly. "She'll give us a chance to heal, but if we exceed that time limit then there will be an empty cell for a new prisoner."

"A-And when does y-your time run out?" Floramon hesitated to ask and Gazimon couldn't hold back his laughter anymore. It sounded like he had given up on everything.

"Tomorrow or maybe it's today! I can't remember since it's been so long since I've seen the sun," Gazimon said after he composed himself. He then lay down and got as comfortable as he was going to get on the hard ground. "So until my cell gets unlocked for the first time in weeks I'm going to relax and hope that my demise will be quick and painless."

"No! We won't let that happen!" Catherine exclaimed. "We're gonna get out of here and we're going to make sure that you're all coming with us!"

Catherine looked around and saw that all the imprisoned Digimon started to perk up. She saw the little bit of hope they had left started to swell up. Even Gazimon appeared to believe what she said before he let out a loud snort. Then a loud symphony of the other Digimon's laughter rang out throughout the dungeon.

"Yeah, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night," Gazimon said after he calmed down. Catherine blushed with both frustration and embarrassment as the laughter continued to rain down.

"Stop laughing! I'm serious!" Catherine screamed. "We're gonna break out of here! I swear!"

The laughter soon died down and all the Digimon settled down. Gazimon turned away from Catherine and let out a long drawn-out yawn.

"Fine, but could you dig a little quieter this time? I would like to have one last good night's rest before I'm gone."

Catherine let out a frustrated sigh as she got back to digging.

"Come on, Floramon! We don't have time to lose!"

"Right!"

Catherine and Floramon started digging with new vigor. They were going to break out to not only save themselves and find their friends but to also save all of the Digimon that they were imprisoned with. That's a promise.

The carriage rocked back and forth on the bumpy trail. Willis looked around and saw everyone being thrown around. It was almost impossible for any of them to get any sleep.

"Man, how is she doing that?" Ryo commented while watching Chloe. Unlike everyone else, except for the Digimon, she was the only one who managed to stay asleep on the rough terrain.

"She must've been extremely exhausted after everything that happened. Can't exactly blame her," TK said with a yawn. He had bags forming under his eyes, signaling that he wasn't able to get any sleep during the ride.

"I can't begin to understand what she's going through. I'd probably act the same way if my brother was kidnapped," Ken said sympathetically. TK nodded along to what he said.

"Yeah, and I hope Catherine is fine. When I was held captive during my first adventure I literally had to run for my life. I only escaped because I made fun of them for having no friends," TK chuckled before letting out a loud yawn.

"Maybe you should try to get some sleep. You look like you're running on fumes," Ken said in a concerned tone, but TK shook his head.

"I'm fine, I'll sleep when we get there. Besides…" The carriage rocked again, knocking everyone around. "I don't think I'm going to be able to get any sleep with this shaking every five minutes."

Willis stuck his head out the window to get a better view of what was happening outside. The Monochromon that was pulling their carriage remained steadfast on the path they were on. Earlier they tried telling the dinosaur Digimon to either slow down or find a different path but they assumed it didn't hear them. Ryo guessed it was the fastest way to the kingdom if Monochromon wasn't changing to a softer route.

Willis looked ahead in the distance and saw some bright lights. They had to have been man-made because nothing would shine as bright in the night. He brought his head back in and looked at the others.

"Start waking everyone up. I think we're almost there."

After a few minutes passed, and struggling to wake everyone up, they found themselves in a city. It was bright with lights lining each corner and building. They would've found the place beautiful if it wasn't for the destroyed and abandoned buildings.

"What happened here?" Willis pondered out loud.

"It was Rosemon," Chloe answered grimly and no one argued.

The ride continued on until it stopped in front of a huge castle. The doors were opened and they were escorted out by an Apemon.

"Hello, and welcome to Pyrion, Digidestined," they said politely. "Now come, I shall show you to your chambers."

"Thanks, but I thought we were going to meet with the king when we arrived," Willis said and Apemon nodded.

"I understand, but the king is in the middle of an important meeting with the other kingdoms right now and decided it would be best to hold off your meeting until morning."

"But we traveled all the way here to meet him so we could stop Rosemon!" Chloe argued and TK and Penguinmon were quick to settle her down. Apemon hummed for a second before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry but this is an important meeting and I can't interrupt it under any circumstances. He'll be free in the morning."

"Oh that's bull—!"

"Chloe!" TK quickly interrupted her before bowing. "I'm sorry, we can wait until morning."

"It's fine. Now, follow me," Apemon led them down the hall. TK and Chloe stayed in the back to talk.

"I get that you're upset and scared, but you can't go around biting everyone's head off," TK told her and she frowned.

"My sister was kidnapped and you're expecting me to be calm!?"

"I'm not expecting you to be all sunshine and roses, but we need to be patient."

"What we need to do is save my sister!" Chloe yelled and TK placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a stern look.

"We will, but we can't run in without a plan. The king has dealt with Rosemon before so I know he'll give us something to help us beat her."

"If he did then she would've already been defeated," Catherine argued and he agreed with her a little.

"You're not entirely wrong, but he probably knows where Rosemon's base is. Catherine's Digivice is out of our range right now and it's not safe to walk aimlessly around the desert," TK shot back before sighing. "Listen, let's get some sleep and I promise you the first chance we get we'll go and save your sister."

Chloe pouted but she didn't argue with him. They caught up with the rest of the group and Apemon led them to a ginormous room filled with queen-sized beds.

"This is where you'll be staying. The bathroom is down the hall and a guard will come and get you for breakfast in the morning," Apemon told them. They all thanked the guard before he left and were quick to pick out their beds. TK made sure that Chloe didn't take one close to an exit.

"Welp, I'm gonna catch some shut-eye," Ryo said as he sprawled out on his bed.

The others followed suit and it didn't take them long to fall asleep. TK stayed awake a little longer to make sure Chloe was asleep before his tiredness took over him.

"Come on, Floramon! A few more hits," Catherine said while breathing heavily. They worked all throughout the night and Catherine thought they were close to busting out. She readied the rock she was using and slammed it into the hole. That was soon followed up by Floramon charging into the hole and creating a dent.

Floramon collapsed to the floor and panted heavily. Catherine was quick to join her partner as exhaustion had taken over her. She looked at the hole and smiled a little at the progress they had made.

"Let's take a short break. We've earned it," Catherine said between breaths. Floramon didn't hear it because she was fast asleep.

Catherine was going to join her but the sound of heels clicking throughout the hallway prevented her from doing so. It was Rosemon and she was being tailed by five Apemons that were being held under her control. She was quick to cover the hole with her body, but the pixie Digimon didn't even look at her cell. She paid more attention to the cells' of the Digimon that were cowering in fear and saying little prayers.

"Cell numbers 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9 come with me," she ordered. The Apemons then unlocked the cells she listed and dragged out the Digimon that were being held in them. She then led the Digimon down the hallway, each with a variety of injuries. The last one in line was the Gazimon she talked to.

"At least you tried," he said to her in a defeated tone before he walked out of the room.

Catherine became hectic as she got back to working on the hole. She started smashing her rock against it and when it broke she got a new one. She continued this trend until she couldn't find any rocks that were big enough to use. She didn't care because she quickly started using her hands.

She scratched and clawed at the hole for minutes. She didn't care about the little progress she made or that her fingers were bleeding she was going to break out of here. She promised.

She would've kept going if it wasn't for Floramon pulling her away.

"Catherine, stop!"

"No! I got to save them!"

"You're hurt and tired!"

"I don't care! I need to save them before she kills them! I promised them!" Catherine screamed as tears started to pour down her face. She let out a harrowing wail as Floramon pulled her into a hug.

"It's too late, Catherine. There's nothing we can do," Floramon said as Catherine continued to cry. She was going to argue but Floramon brought one of her hands to her face and sprayed her with pollen. The last thing she remembered was Floramon slowly laying her on the ground.

Mimi grumbled as her friends were talking about which store to go into next. She wouldn't have minded if it wasn't for them constantly asking her for her opinion, and whenever she did tell them it was always the wrong store. If that was the case then why did they keep asking her? It didn't make sense.

"Come on, Mimi, food or clothes?" One of her friends asked dryly. She was still miffed at her for lying about her birthday dress being beautiful. She still remembered the snickers from the high schoolers when they saw her dress.

"I don't know. Clothes I guess," Mimi answered in a deadpanned tone.

"Food it is then!" The friend exclaimed, which annoyed Mimi.

"Why ask me if you're going to do the opposite of what I say," she grumbled as she followed her friends.

They walked through the food court, asking Mimi what was good and doing the opposite of what she said. This frustrated Mimi because she didn't see the point of her being here if they were going to disrespect her. She got up and left before her friends could annoy her anymore.

"I was never treated this way by my friends back home," Mimi grumbled.