22. The Big House

"Hey! I know you can hear us out there! We need some food!"
Tigremon squeezed her muzzle through the narrow gap between the bars of their prison cell. Right next to her a beak poked through another gap.
"And I demand my own cell!" Muchomon called out. "I refuse to spend another night with these humans!"
"Well, it hasn't exactly been a picnic for us either!" Charlie said from her place on one of the two stone beds in the cell. "It's so cramped in here with all of us; we can barely move!"
"Oh, cry me a river! At least you can move!" Blitzmon's voice came from outside the cell. He was manacled to the wall by his wrists and ankles. "I've had an itch for the past ten minutes!"
"Could everyone please stop yelling!" Kartik coughed and lowered his voice. "You'll disturb Tarumon."
Kartik was sat on the other bed beside his partner who still hadn't woken up since his fight with MetalTyrannomon the previous day. Tarumon lay still with his head resting on Charlie's folded hoodie.
"Y-Yeah. The last thing we w-want is for him to go crazy again w-while we're trapped in here with h-him."
Kumomon was crouched on the sill of the bared window looking out into Saurus Fortress' courtyard. The dinosaur digimon were moving back and forth as they prepared for MetalTyrannomon's departure to File City.
"That's not funny, Kumomon." Charlie reprimanded her partner.
"Wh-Who's laughing? Not all the d-digimon who almost died in an e-earthquake!" Kumomon shot back.
"She does have a point," said Tigremon.
"Tigremon!" Shinyu looked up from where he'd been sat under the window, staring at the floor.
"What? You're always pouncing on me whenever I make a mistake! Tarumon almost brings the whole fortress down and he doesn't even get a slap on the wrist?"
"Look at where we are!" Shinyu raised his arms and looked pointedly around the cell. "Nobody's gotten a slap on the wrist for this!"
"How have you all made it this far?" Muchomon stared at the cell's occupants. "All you do is yell at each other! I thought you File City digimon would be more subservient to your human masters."
"He is not my master!" "I am not her master!" Tigremon and Shinyu answered simultaneously.
"We didn't come here to command or control digimon." Kartik said calmingly. "We were asked to help find a way to stop the Digital and Physical Worlds from colliding. That's all."
"Then why do you have those digivices that let you control our digivolution?" Muchomon asked accusingly.
"I don't know. Maybe Yggdrasil thought we might need a way to defend ourselves against digimon who attack cities and hunt us halfway across the continent!" Charlie matched Muchomon's glare.
Kartik looked down at Tarumon's sleeping form and then turned to Muchomon.
"You were there when Tarumon digivolved. Was there anything you saw that might explain why he was so... violent?"
Muchomon shrugged.
"Many Virus-type digimon have a predisposition towards aggression. It may simply have been his true nature coming out."
"Muchomon, don't stereotype!" Blitzmon's affronted voice called out. "Baalmon and Coredramon aren't aggressive!"
"They looked pretty aggressive when they were attacking File City." Tigremon muttered just loud enough for Muchomon and Blitzmon to hear.
"Tarumon's not like that at all!" Charlie cut in before Muchomon could reply to Tigremon's comment. "He looks after baby digimon! He wouldn't just attack people for no reason!"
A sudden noise from Tarumon drew everyone's attention. He was shifting around and mumbling something.
"Mmmno... Kee... Nha khi khi kill..."
He shot up into a sitting position with a gasp.
Muchomon pressed herself against the bars and brought her flippers up defensively. Everyone else watched Tarumon intently; waiting to see what he would do.
The bovine digimon looked around at everyone.
"Why are you all staring at me?"
"J-Just waiting to see if you're g-gonna go berserk and try to k-kill us."
"Kumomon!"
Kumomon raised her forelegs in a shrug as Charlie glared at her.
"Oh, c-come on. We were all th-thinking it."
Tarumon's forehead crinkled with confusion. His eyes darted around as he tried to remember what he'd been doing last. Suddenly, an image came back to him.
"Where's Bowmon? Is he okay?"
"That little puppy guy? He's fine." Charlie reassured him. "His carer came out looking for him after you..."
She trailed off and fiddled with her hat while looking to Shinyu.
"The point is, he's back with the other little digimon." The boy said. "Relemon's with them too. She'll be looked after until MetalTyrannomon decides what to do with us."
"What to...?" Tarumon looked around again, taking in his surroundings. "Are we in a prison cell?!"
"Catches on quick, doesn't he?" Muchomon seemed to have relaxed and was now leaning against the bars with her flippers crossed.
"What are you doing here?!" Tarumon climbed down from the bed, only to sway on his hooves and fall forward.
"Easy!" Tigremon caught him and lowered him into a sitting position. "You've been out of it for almost a whole day. You lost a lot of data when MetalTyrannomon blew your arm up."
"What?" Tarumon pressed his hands against his head. "I don't remember... Will someone please tell me what's going on?"
Everyone recounted the events of the previous day while Tarumon sat listening in silence; his eyes staring into space.
"You really don't remember any of it?" Shinyu asked.
Tarumon shook his head.
"The last thing I remember is those two threatening Bowmon. The rest is all a blur."
"We never threatened him!" Blitzmon's voice protested. "We were just going to keep him quiet until our mission was completed. We're not monsters!"
"Ha! Guess your partner forgot that when she left me and Tarumon to be buried alive in Sunshine Canyon!" Tigremon cut in with a snort.
"She did what?!"
Tigremon was caught off guard by the genuine surprise in Blitzmon's voice. She'd assumed he would've known or at least approved of Birdramon's treatment of them.
"We're getting off topic!" Muchomon's feathers puffed up as she felt Blitzmon staring towards her. "I just want to be sure you're not going to become Minotaurmon again; since we're stuck in each other's company for the time being."
"F-From the way you were acting, this s-seems to be a case of dark d-digivolution." Kumomon said to Tarumon. "But your c-confrontation with Muchomon and K-KoKabuterimon doesn't sound like it w-would be enough to cause that."
"Dark digivolution? What does that mean?" Charlie asked.
"W-When a digimon is ready to digivolve, it d-doesn't happen right away." Kumomon replied. "It requires a tr-trigger of some kind. This could be a response to d-danger or a powerful surge of e-emotion."
"Yeah, like a strong sense of pride after you've defeated a powerful enemy." Tigremon added. "That's how I digivolved to what I am now."
Kumomon stared pointedly at Tigremon, clearly not appreciating the interruption.
"But, er, I can tell that story another time." Tigremon grinned sheepishly and nodded to Kumomon. "Carry on."
"Th-Thank you for granting your p-permission." Kumomon rolled her eyes and continued. "Anyway, the emotion a d-digimon feels can sometimes a-affect their digivolution. In the case of dark d-digivolution, the digimon is so overcome with h-hate that they lose all sense of reason and become l-little more than a f-feral animal. They will attack a-anyone they come across and won't st-stop until their target is destroyed."
Tarumon's eyes seemed to glaze over as Kumomon was talking and he clasped his hands together tightly.
Kartik, who had been listening quietly up to now, reached down from the bed and placed his hand on Tarumon's shoulder.
"T-To feel that much h-hatred though." Kumomon stroked her fangs with a foreleg. "Are you s-sure there was nothing else g-going on that could've tr-triggered such a response?"
"I don't know!" Tarumon shook his head. His ears flicked up and down erratically. "It all happened so fast! I can't even remember what I was thinking!"
"Let's stop talking about it for now." Kartik spoke soothingly as he rubbed Tarumon's back. "What matters is that you're back to normal."
"Yes, but for how long?" Muchomon was eyeing Tarumon like he was a coiled snake. "Without your digivice, how are you going to turn him back if he goes berserk again?"
"Tell that to MetalTyrannomon. Maybe he'll give our digivices back." Charlie said, running her fingers over her bare wrist. Despite only having had it for a short time, the absence of her digivice was bothering her.
The screech of a bolt being slid back echoed throughout the cell block. The door to the prison swung open with a groan and heavy footsteps approached the cell.
"Hey, guys. I brought you some food."
The group breathed a collective sigh of relief at the sound of BlackGreymon's voice. The horned dinosaur was carrying an open crate which he set down by the cell door. He stuck his claw into the lock which let out a series of beeps before the door opened with a click.
Muchomon eagerly waddled up to the crate as BlackGreymon pushed it inside the cell. Her face fell as she laid eyes on the contents.
"Is this it? Only five drumsticks? There are eight of us here, or can't you bone-brained reptiles count?!"
"Quel con." Charlie shook her head at Muchomon.
"I know what that means!" The red penguin snapped back at her.
"Sorry." BlackGreymon fiddled with his claws and looked down in shame. "Prisoners are always given minimal rations. It's to keep them from trying to break out."
He tapped the metallic walls.
"Not that you'd have much luck either way. These cells are lined with Chrome Digizoid. Even a Mega-level digimon would have trouble busting through."
"It's fine. We can share." Kartik took out a drumstick and tore a chunk off before giving the rest to Tarumon who hesitated for a moment before accepting it.
As Tigremon bit into her share of the digimeat, she noticed a familiar black band on BlackGreymon's upper arm.
"Hey, check it out! Looks like somebody's gotten promoted!"
BlackGreymon touched the armband and his carapace turned pink under his eyes.
"Uh, yeah. MetalTyrannomon said I showed great courage and loyalty fighting Minotaurmon." He didn't notice Tarumon flinching as he spoke. "He said Saurus Fortress needs soldiers like that now more than ever."
"So, since you're in the army now," Charlie edged closer to him and raised a suggestive eyebrow. "Maybe you could see about finding a way to convince MetalTyrannomon to let us out of here?"
"That's not really a fair thing to ask of him, Charlie." Kartik said as BlackGreymon vigorously shook his head.
"I can't do that! I'm only a private! There's no way MetalTyrannomon would listen to me! Besides, he's already made his decision and what he says, goes."
"So, that's it?" Tigremon curled her lip. "He decides what happens and no one's allowed to even question it? I don't know how you can live like that?"
"This place is full of strong digimon. Without MetalTyrannomon's authority keeping them under control, they'd probably be fighting each other for leadership all the time." A hint of defensiveness slipped into BlackGreymon's voice. "It's not always easy, but at least everyone has food and a safe place to sleep. A lot of dinosaur digimon didn't have that before MetalTyrannomon built this place. He's tough, but he does care about us. I'm sure he's just doing what he thinks is best."
He picked up a drumstick and stepped outside the cell, holding it up for Blitzmon to chew on.
"Nice going, Tigremon." Shinyu turned a withering eye on his partner.
"What did I do?!"
"Here we g-go." Kumomon settled down with her drumstick to watch the show.
"You just insulted his leader, his home and his way of life! Just once, could you stop and think before you open your mouth?!"
"Don't go acting like this is all my fault!" Tigremon pointed a claw at Tarumon. "He's the one who attacked MetalTyrannomon and totaled the fortress! Why isn't he getting the guilt trip?!"
"Tarumon wasn't himself when he did that!" Kartik spoke up in defence of his partner. He was about to continue when Tarumon held his hand up in a halting gesture.
"No. She's right. For whatever reason, I lost control of myself and cost us MetalTyrannomon's support. Now we've lost our best chance of saving File City."
He sounded so miserable that Tigremon found herself feeling guilty for her outburst. Rubbing the back of her head, she searched for something comforting to say.
"Well... technically we did what we set out to do. MetalTyrannomon's going to File City to confront Baalmon."
"Yeah. He j-just may end up replacing B-Baalmon's occupation with h-his own." Kumomon added dryly. "Great job, t-team."
"You're not helping, Kumomon." Shinyu turned his glare on her.
"Oh, I'm s-sorry. Should I be doing a l-little dance to celebrate the f-fact that we are all c-completely - "
Kumomon was cut off by an ear-splitting roar from outside. With an 'Eep!' she hopped off the window sill and hid inside a pillow case.
"Oh, that's MetalTyrannomon. He wants to give us our orders before he leaves." BlackGreymon picked up the empty crate and shut the cell door with a click. "I'll come see you guys later."
He hurried out the prison door and everyone heard the bolt being slid back into place.
Tigremon bounded up to the window sill and angled her ears in the direction of the thundering footsteps of the dinosaur digimon.
Meanwhile, Charlie was examining the lock on the cell door.
"If only I had a really big paperclip. I bet I could get this bad boy open."
"You know how to pick locks?" Shinyu raised a sceptical eyebrow.
"I've seen it in movies. It doesn't look that hard."
Muchomon let out an exasperated sigh.
"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"
"Th-That hasn't stopped her y-yet." Kumomon said as she poked her head out of the pillow case.
"This is a data lock." Muchomon tapped the panel with a claw. "They're designed to only open when presented with a specific type of data. I must admit, I didn't expect to see something so high-tech being used by dinosaur digimon."
"Would you quit yapping?! I'm trying to listen!" Tigremon strained to hear what MetalTyrannomon was saying to his digimon.

-

"Allomon, I'm leaving you in charge." MetalTyrannomon nodded to the blue dinosaur. "Keep up the patrols as usual and don't let any outsiders in. While I'm gone, the fortress is to be on lockdown."
The gray cyborg turned his attention to the soldiers who would be accompanying him to File City. The whole squad had an air of excitement around them, but GeoGreymon looked particularly eager. MetalTyrannomon made a mental note to keep an eye on him. His fighting skills would certainly be essential if it came to a battle, but he didn't want the aggressive digimon to start a conflict prematurely.
"Remember, our mission is to discover the full extent of Babamon's and Baalmon's knowledge regarding the humans and their digivices."
He tapped a panel on his left wrist. It slid open, revealing the three devices laid in a small compartment. MetalTyrannomon looked down at them with consternation before closing the panel and returning his gaze to his soldiers.
"This will be accomplished with words if possible; and force if necessary. Either way, the Digital World will be reminded that we are still here and we will not be brushed aside. We are the first digimon and we are the strongest!"
The dinosaur digimon raised their arms and tails and roared in response to their leader's words.
MetalTyrannomon looked to the top of the wall and waved his tail. The gates swung open and he led his digimon out of the fortress into Layer Desert.

-

"We've got to get out of here!" Tigremon jumped down from the window sill and joined Charlie and Muchomon by the lock. "We have to get to File City before MetalTyrannomon!"
"Tigremon, calm down." Shinyu kept his voice level and fought down the frustration building in his stomach. "MetalTyrannomon said he wanted to talk to Baalmon and Babamon. It would probably be best to let the three of them sort this out. I'm sure Babamon will convince him to let us go."
"You didn't hear how riled up they all were!" Tigremon unsheathed a claw and started working at the lock with it. "These are digimon with something to prove! Remember what GeoGreymon and MetalTyrannomon said? Yggdrasil gave them the short end of the stick and all the other digimon look down on them. They need a win and this is the perfect opportunity - Yow!"
She jerked back as a spark of electricity shot from the lock and zapped her claw.
"I already said that won't work!" Muchomon slapped at Tigremon's arm. "We need the right kind of data to get the lock open.
"And what kind of data is that?" Shinyu asked with a sigh. His hopes that they could leave the problem to the digimon leaders were fading fast.
"BlackGreymon was able to open the door." Charlie pointed out. "Maybe the lock responds to dinosaur digimon data."
"No. I don't think so." Muchomon stroked her beak in thought. "MetalTyrannomon is notoriously slow to trust. He wouldn't want just any of his digimon to be able to open the prison."
Kumomon's eyes suddenly widened and she whipped a forearm into the air.
"Th-The armbands! Only members of M-MetalTyrannomon's army wear them; and BlackGreymon s-said he was given one because of his show of l-loyalty."
"Of course! They must be data patches!" Muchomon clapped her flippers together. "We just need to get a hold of one."
"BlackGreymon said he'd be back," said Tigremon. "Maybe you guys can distract him while I get the band."
"We can't do that to him!" Shinyu sat up straight with a look of indignation on his face. "He's wanted to join MetalTyrannomon's army for a long time! This would ruin all that for him!"
"Well, what else are we supposed to do?!" Tigremon threw her arms up. "He's the closest thing we have to an ally on the outside!"
"Wait. No he isn't." Everyone turned their attention to Tarumon. "We've got Relemon."
"The baby?" Muchomon raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "You can't be serious."
"Hey, she was able to sneak the digivice and key out from under your nose." Tigremon pointed out with a grin. "We just need to find a way to send a message to her."
The cell went quiet as everyone tried to think of a solution. Finally, Muchomon let out a sigh.
"I've got something."
She fluffed up her feathers and reached under the ones on her neck. She took out a folded piece of paper with written characters on it.
"Baalmon sent this talisman to us with the message to get your digivices. I kept it to let him know when we had succeeded."
"How do you use it?" Charlie leaned over her shoulder, looking at the talisman with interest.
"You just have to concentrate on what you want the message to be, and who you want it to go to."
Muchomon started running a claw over the writing on the talisman. The previous words disappeared and were replaced with a new message.
'Find black armband. Bring it to prison.'
"There. I just hope the baby doesn't eat the message or something."
"Relemon's really clever." Tarumon reassured Muchomon. "She'll know what she has to do."
Muchomon walked up to the window. She tried to jump up to the sill, but her legs wouldn't get her that high.
"Let me help." Tarumon knelt beside her with his hands clasped together.
Hoping that her red plumage was hiding her embarrassed blush, Muchomon placed a foot on Tarumon's hands and he lifted her up to the window.
She held the talisman up to the bars. It folded itself into a small bird and fluttered out into the courtyard, quickly disappearing from sight.
Everyone looked at each other with hopeful expressions - that disappeared when Kartik spoke up.
"Hold on. Can Relemon read?"

-

Relemon had her tail wrapped around her. She lay in a straw nest inside a large barn. Other baby digimon were all around her, either playing or sleeping in their own nests.
"Come on! I said I was sorry! I didn't mean to get you caught!"
Bowmon nudged Relemon with his nose but the little yellow digimon just curled up tighter.
She'd thought she had found a way to get back to her friends when BlackGreymon had come to pick up some food for them. Relemon had jumped into the crate disguised as a piece of digimeat.
The plan would've worked if that dumb dog digimon hadn't let out an amazed bark and stared at the crate in the most obvious way. This led Monochromon to notice her tail and take her out.
Now she was stuck in this place, surrounded by strangers, and the dumb dog kept pestering her.
"Can you digivolve too? Can you show me? Where's your human? Do they all have those little machines? Can they make you digivolve into whatever you want?"
"Leave her be, Bowmon." Monochromon nudged the In-Training away from Relemon's nest with his tail. "Go play outside. I've got to clean up in here."
Bowmon reluctantly did as he was told, looking back at Relemon before leaving the barn.
Monochromon slipped his horn into a harness attached to a wide broom head. He pushed along the floor, sweeping up straw and dust. Some of the babies hopped onto the broom head, squeaking and chirping with delight as they rode it around the room.
Monochromon watched Relemon out of the corner of his eye. The little one didn't even look up at the sounds of the other babies playing.
After completing his round of the barn, he gently shook the babies off of the broom and placed it back in the corner. Leaving the rest of his charges to return to their games, Monochromon stepped up to Relemon's nest.
"I understand that you must be feeling pretty lonely right now" He spoke in a low tone so as not to attract the other babies' attention. "Once things have calmed down, I'll see if I can take you to visit your friends."
Relemon peeked over her tail upon hearing this.
"In the meantime, you may find some friends around here." Monochromon gestured to the tiny digimon around the barn with his horn.
Relemon looked at the other babies, then turned to Monochromon with a hesitant squeak.
"Okay. I get it. You need a little more time." Monochromon gave her a nod and walked towards the doors. "We'll all be here, when you're ready."
He went outside and had to pull up short to avoid stepping on Bowmon. The puppy digimon was stood just outside the doorway, peering intently at their new resident.
"Bowmon! What did I tell you?" Monochromon looked down sternly at him.
"I saw you talking to her." Bowmon was too excited to notice Monochromon's disapproving look. "Did she say anything about digivolving? Can I go ask the humans about it?"
"She's a baby. She can't say anything yet. And no, you can't go talk to the humans. Remember the trouble you got into yesterday?"
Bowmon's ears drooped and he scuffed the ground with a stubby leg.
"But this could be my only chance to learn how to digivolve right." He looked up at his carer with desperation in his eyes. "If I do it wrong then maybe a human could change me back, like Tarumon's did, and I could try again."
Monochromon's gaze softened and he spoke more gently.
"Bowmon, you can't always control what you digivolve into; and I don't think you should. Whatever form you take will be what best represents you." He looked over at the other In-Trainings playing in the yard. "I know you want to be like everyone else, but being different isn't necessarily a bad thing. There's no one else here with a nose like yours, after all."
He lowered his head and booped Bowmon on the nose, eliciting a giggle from the little digimon.
"Now stop all this worrying and go have some - Hey! Break it up, you two!"
Monochromon stomped away towards a Koromon and Kyokyomon who were rolling around biting at each other.
Feeling a little better, Bowmon decided to dig up the bone he'd buried yesterday. He sniffed along the ground, zigzagging across the yard. Finally, he found the spot and started digging.
Lost for a moment in the satisfying motion of moving dirt from one place to another, Bowmon's ears pricked up at the faint sound of flapping. He looked up to see a small bird fluttering over the yard. It flew over him and entered the barn.
Bowmon looked over to Monochromon, who was busy lecturing the two In-Trainings that had been fighting. Seeing that the coast was clear, he scampered into the barn.
Relemon was still lying in her nest, but she'd uncurled her tail and was watching the other baby digimon chasing each other around. They were a lot more lively than the ones back in Ganimon's nursery. She remembered how often she'd gotten bored and went to play hide and seek with Ganimon, although her carer didn't seem to find it as much fun as her.
That was why she'd snuck into Kartik's bag. He was something new!
She'd seen a lot of new things since that day. A lot of them were scary but they were also exciting! And she had new friends to see them with.
But now her friends were gone and she didn't know when she'd see them again. The nice dinosaur had said he'd try to take her to them but she'd peeked out of Kartik's bag and seen how angry the other dinosaurs had looked when that mean bird was talking about them.
Just as she was thinking that, the sound of fluttering came from above her. A small strange looking bird circled through the air and landed in the nest in front of her.
Before she could even squeak in surprise, the bird unfolded into a long sheet of paper. There were markings on the paper but Relemon couldn't make out what they were. They reminded her of the book that Kartik always carried with him. She'd tried reading it a few times but the letters never made any sense to her no matter how hard she looked at them.
Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. This was important; she knew it was. Her friends may have sent this. She couldn't show it to anyone else. Her friends would get in even more trouble! They needed her help, but she didn't know what to do!
"Do you want me to read that for you?"
Relemon turned around to see Bowmon standing behind her. The puppy digimon wagged his tail.
"I wanna help your friends too."