Hey, so I am moving everything back to one account. I have more confidence in my writing. Currently sick with the cold, so I can't write without exhausting myself so I'm doing this instead. This story has undergone many changes as has my writing in general, so I hope you enjoy those.
1. A Shattered World
Darkness shrouded the unsettling spread of terror, silhouetting the swarms of Digimon that fled in their desperate attempts to protect their young. Occasionally, one would stumble, and another would loop back – a soldier aiding the wounded – and support them until they could carry themselves once more. But, when DemiDevimon had approached them and asked them for the same comfort, they had rejected him. Unsurprisingly, they had refused to extend their protection from the corruption that plagued their world to him.
He had flown as fast and as hard as he could away from it all, using his bat-like wings to support his blue, ball-shaped body. But it hadn't taken much for the exhaustion to settle in, each flap sending a rippling burn through his muscles. Without help from those of his kind, he had made short work of finding an out-of-sight crook to take rest. From there, he was forced to watch his home - his world - as this blanket of unimaginable evil swallowed it.
And the small Digimon was powerless to stop it.
He shuddered, unable to quieten the tremors that rippled through him. There was so much pain, so many screams. He could hear the writing wrenches of sickly shrieks while a mother cradled her babe. And that scent - he sucked in a breath - it clung to the air like a noxious cloud. He could taste it: a metallic tang that encased his tongue in a hold that was un- shiftable.
Albeit DemiDevimon couldn't help them. His attempts to play the nurse had always failed. Between the haunting wails and the occasional lash from a frightened Digimon that had been startled by his appearance, he had become despondent by the idea. He was tired of finishing up by cowering in the disrupted dirt that flitted through the air like confetti, listening to their erratic breathing as they fled the scene.
In their eyes, he was a carbon copy of the DemiDevimon that had aided Myotismon in terrorising the worlds of digital and human. He was nothing more than another monster. Why did he have to be seen as identical to that beast when they couldn't be more different? Why did they only see his type and nothing else?
They never took the chance to get to know him and see that he was different. Instead, they would rather leave him at the mercy of the storm that was brewing within the digital world. A storm that carried a threat that petrified him.
Sako - one of the creatures that had entered the digital world - had been refashioning Digimon. Those that had been taken would re-emerge - empty; unlike themselves - and would turn on their friends. It was like their coding had been altered, leaving behind a mindless zombie that had been stripped of all free-will. Now, there were more 'slaves' than Digimon. They sought out those that lived free, on the run, and out of sight. Anyone that could be added to their ranks.
DemiDevimon tucked himself further against the gnarled trunk, peering out at these 'slaves' as they tore a Digimon from its home. They wore dead expressions and eyes that were void of life - obtaining nothing that had once made them whole - and their captive looked unnerved.
Heart thudding, the bat-like Digimon let out a tiny whimper. But he couldn't do anything but observe the ghastly situation, his small body trembling against the rough bark that jutted into his side. He was pathetic, and the new screams made his stomach churn.
A crack sounded above him; a branch cascaded down and slammed against the ground beneath. With it, a pair of those desolate orbs followed, finding him with ataraxia. In that minute, DemiDevimon could have sworn that his heart stopped, his lungs begging for the oxygen that had been snatched in one fell swoop. They had seen him, picked him out like a blur of colour among a sea of grey.
In a blink, Unimon was before him, menace tangled into the muscles of its horse-like body. It lurched forward, giving DemiDevimon little time to evade the attack. It collided with his wing, sending him to the ground with a pained wail. With a wince, he curled in on himself and blinked at his injured limb. This is it, came the dejected thought, I'm done for.
He closed his eyes, resigning himself for the next blow. Except, it never arrived. Arms encircled him, yanking him back to allow Unimon's hooves to collide with the earth where he had once been. There was grunting; a brisk growl; then silence.
Had someone saved him? That was impossible, right? Everyone hated him. They found him to be disgusting due to his type - so... why?
Easing his eyes open, DemiDevimon lifted his eyes to see his saviour, disbelief carrying in his tearful topaz eyes. A concerned pair of eyes stared back; the feline-like nose twitched as his rescuer withdrew. It moved with tentative movements as if worried that it would startle him.
"Who are you?" he rasped out, pushing his words with the little strength he had left. After flying for so long without food, water, or needed rest, the tiny devil Digimon could barely summon the strength to smile. Each intake of air scraped his throat like sandpaper, and his vision swam, spreading the oranges into the blacks and merging them with the white.
Nevertheless, DemiDevimon's dread that his end was nigh began to fade. A warmth began to spread through him in its place - a nasty searing heat that ebbed from his wing. In the haze, he tried to fathom if that attack had inflicted permanent damage to it, but he didn't have enough capacity to seek the answer.
Gently, the cat Digimon kneeled, burying its knees in the dirt. "I'm Mikemon," it spoke, taking care to speak firmly but not too loudly. "Are you alright? And don't panic, we should be safe in here. I've placed a selection of charms to protect this place temporarily."
"What—"
"Gennai gave me the ability to do so from one of the DigiCores," Mikemon continued, answering the question before it could be finished. It gestured to the other's wing, bobbing its head in a mute request of consent.
But DemiDevimon hesitated, his body quivering from the exhaustion that rocked him. "Aren't you scared of me?" His voice wavered, rolling into a feeble croak while he fought to remain conscious. But his eyes were drifting, and his mind was turning into a comforting buzz of static.
Puzzlement flickered across the feline's features, its brow furrowing. "No. Should I be?" it queried, cocking its head to the side. "What you are does not determine who you are. It is your choices that do that."
A little sniffle slipped free from the injured Digimon's lips. "Thank you," he whispered, feeling his eyes water at the sincerity behind the other Digimon's words. "Thank you so much," he repeated, hearing the way his sentence faded out as his vision finally gave way. As he found himself spiralling into a sleep full of pain and monsters, he heard Mikemon's sympathetic voice as it filtered through the vacuity.
"You're welcome."
Donned in a white robe, Gennai stood in silence. Behind him, his odd company hovered, not sparing a single word in passing. They had fled to higher ground, aware that there was nothing more that they could do to hold back the spreading sea of darkness.
Whatever needed to be done had become the responsibility of the Chosen.
Now, he wanted to believe in that inkling of hope that had been handed to him by the Chosen Children. But, as time went on and he was forced to watch the way those vile servants tainted his world, he could feel his hope dribbling through his fingers like grains of sand. Their once- peaceful past was gone - obliterated before their eyes - and left in its wake was an abyss full of bloodlust, anger, and loss. There was not a shred of common decency.
"Gennai," a gruff voice spliced through the older man's thoughts. "We need the DigiDestined."
An anthropomorphic lion stepped forward, assertively gesturing to their crumbling empire. He didn't have to look far to see the unjust change; to notice the way their lives had become centred around survival. He didn't have to imagine the images of Digimon as their codes were unravelled, the flickering of uselessness that blossomed within their desperate eyes. No, he could close his eyes and feel the rush of their screams that kept him from his sleep. Or he would see their faces - those eyes that pleaded for it to be a nightmare - as they perished within this battle.
With eyes as sharp as steel, his gaze fell on Gennai. In the end, the elder had to understand the situation that they were facing. Digimon were being obliterated, or they wound up being taken and their data poisoned. There was always that lingering echo that twisted his gut and stroked his frustration.
Surely, there had to be an end to this.
"The DigiDestined have abandoned us, Leomon!" another voice snapped, and a green- skinned Digimon glowered at the man. "This is what we've received in return for the faith that you put in humans, Gennai!" He ground his teeth together, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his club. Anger flared, thrumming through his body, and boiling his blood. He had known that the humans shouldn't have been trusted.
Stupid humans... His thoughts were bitter, translated immaculately to the stone-cold blue of his irises. Lying sons of a gun.
His muscles quivered, alive with the urge to hit something; to do something more than standing there and watching. Inside, he knew it was reckless. They had already lost so many fellow Digimon by rushing in and attempting to wrangle the situation by themselves. Spit flew from his mouth as he raged on, "The Digital World is ending! Even the DigiDestined's partners have been corrupted by this evil!"
There was silence. Cold, brooding silence. Ogremon could tell that they knew he was speaking the truth. All of it. He opened his mouth to say something more but stopped upon seeing Centarumon's chest puff up and the air around the green Digimon tensed.
Leomon walked forward, his muscles rigid and his eyes frigid. His posture said, 'come at me,' and his eyes spoke a more menacing story, 'and you will die.' Leomon may have proven to be stronger, but Ogremon put his weapon in a ready position.
Centarumon sighed, interrupting before Leomon and Ogremon could begin bickering once more. "Why don't we allow Gennai to speak? The situation is dire so perhaps sticking together might be a better option than arguing amongst ourselves. Just a suggestion."
Gennai could hear the slight irritation in Centarumon's voice and would have been amused by it in other circumstances, but he was exhausted. Sako had placed a curse on him, and it was slowly draining his code of its vital energy. He was barely managing to go on due to the power from one of the DigiCores that had been lent to him.
"I have sent one of the Chosen digimon to rescue another one," Gennai finally said. "Once the chosen digimon are brought together, we will send them to the real world to find their human partners. As much as you dislike humans, Ogremon, they are the ones who've saved this world before. I want to believe in them once more."
"Are you kidding?" Ogremon snapped angrily. "They haven't responded once! How do we know those digimon going to the real world will make a difference?"
"For two reasons," Gennai replied still calm, not at all phased by Ogremon's anger. "One – it is possible that the enemy has blocked the communications between the real world and the digital world. Secondly – if the chosen digimon go into the real world, the DigiDestined will definitely understand the severity of the situation. Or Izzy will at the very least."
Ogremon opened his mouth to retort but then shut it again, huffing. "Fine, what do you have in mind?"
"That once more, we place our faith in mankind and destiny," announced Gennai, solemn and stony-faced.
Ogremon's mouth dropped, he didn't want to trust the same people that could cause harm to their world as had happened in the past few years, especially by that emperor kid, but he also knew Gennai had a point. Leomon's expression went from one of anger and suspicion to fear and anxiety, but there was a light in his eyes that Gennai recognized as the hope that only a warrior like Leomon could possess. Centarumon tilted his head and his expression softened. Together, they stood in shock, looking at the old man.
"Gennai," Leomon murmured. "Is the prophecy of the new DigiDestined finally coming true?"
Gennai didn't answer for a moment or so before finally speaking. "The time has come when we finally need to call upon a new group of DigiDestined. Our world will fall if we do nothing. These Shadow Spirits are dangerous creatures and I feel behind them is someone even more powerful. We need to believe in the new DigiDestined. I believe Mikemon will return with one of the rescued Chosen Digimon soon and even if I cannot gather the others, sending the two of them, for now, will be enough. They will connect with a certain human more than everyone else and that's how the partners will choose their chosen human. Centarumon, make sure the emergency portal is ready. There must be no mistakes."
Centarumon nodded and got to work on the emergency portal to the real world.
Pool of blood. That was what Gumdramon opened his eyes to. He had been captured amidst the chaos and because he was so feisty, some of the Bio-Hybrids had gotten their slaves to try to beat him into submission. He wouldn't give in though. He coughed, wishing he were stronger. If he had been stronger, he would have never been caught like this, but he wasn't sure what he could do right now. If he wanted to keep himself from being a slave, he needed to get out of here.
He smashed his head against the bars that were keeping him imprisoned from the outside world but all that did was make him feel even dizzier than he had before.
"You should save your strength." A squeaky voice from beside him came and the blue dragon digimon turned to see a flower bud digimon covered in bruises, looking at him sympathetically.
"I gotta find a way out of here," Gumdramon replied gruffly. "I'd rather die than become a slave and destroy my own world. I won't give up."
"Working by yourself won't get anything done," The bud said again. "I'm Lalamon, another one of the prisoners here. You're not the only one who wants to get out. You're just the only one brave enough to take a stand. If you can build up the strength, let's all dig our way out of here."
"All?" Gumdramon blinked to see at least seven different digimon trapped in the cage with them. They were all pretty run down, bruises littering their bodies in various arrays of colour dictating which were the newest wounds, but upon listening to Lalamon's words, a spark of hope appeared in their eyes, and he clenched his paw into a fist and nodded in agreement. "Are you all ready to help me?"
The digimon chorused their agreement. Of the digimon present, he recognized members of the species of Prairiemon, Bearmon, Gotsumon, Burgermon, Falcomon, Gaomon and Guilmon and he knew if they all worked together, despite their different abilities, they may be able to escape.
"How long do we have?" Gumdramon asked Lalamon.
"Till before sundown," Lalamon admitted. "They consider us weaker digimon so they don't put tight security, but they will check on us at sundown so we better hurry. I think we can do it."
"Ok then!" Gumdramon cried out. "Everyone start digging! These walls are pretty rough but the road to freedom isn't an easy one!" He pushed aside his weakness since he was still bleeding but his injuries could be tended to once they were out of this prison cell because if they didn't get out, he probably wouldn't survive anyway.
Osamu 'Sam' Ichijouji watched Omnimon under observation and saw the blue liquid from a distance. He pushed his indigo hair back to watch in curiosity as his partner, Commandramon stood beside him with a smirk on his face.
"Is Omnimon very ill, Commandramon?" Sam asked softly, worry lacing his voice. "None of the others have been put through this kind of treatment so why Omnimon?"
Commandramon looked at Sam. "He was hurt quite badly. If we don't run this treatment, Omnimon will dedigivolve back to Agumon and Gabumon and they will both die."
"Both?" Sam appeared puzzled by this. "Omnimon is two digimon in one?"
Commandramon nodded. "Yeah. It's called DNA digivolution. His human partners abused him so he would digivolve and fight for them. Most humans are cruel, Sam. You're the one who is most kind. The DigiDestined... remember what I told you about them?"
Sam nodded, biting his lip. He remembered every word. The DigiDestined were a bunch of humans who had tried to claim digimon as their partners and tried to abuse them in order to make them digivolve to destroy both the human and the digital world. They were awful creatures, and he knew if they ever found a way into this world again, he'd eliminate each and every one of them. A yawn escaped his lips and he realized he had been working to treat these digimon for the whole day.
"Sam, come on, you need rest," Commandramon said in a gentle voice. "Master would hate it if you collapsed while treating the digimon."
Sam rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, I'd better get to sleep huh? Can Daemon-sama get someone to cover for me?"
Commandramon smiled. "I'll make sure Omnimon's treatment is ongoing. You go on ahead to your room."
Sam hugged Commandramon quickly in thanks before skipping off to his room, not seeing the satisfied glint in Commandramon's eyes as he closed the door to his bedroom behind him.