Fire and metal spat forth in a thunderous roar as both of Gargomons Vulcan's spat hundreds upon hundreds of rounds in dazzling barrage shredded the shapes of all familiars at its end- leaving their shapes as mincemeat. Overpiercing, the rounds tore at the background of cakes, frozen treats, and other sweets.
"Honestly Mami, you made them sound way more scary than they turned out to be." Gargomon's bragging was interrupted as a familiar aimed for his head, before being dispatched quickly by a powerful shot by Mami. Her guns though ornate, matched Gargomons own firepower blow for blow, easily reducing the entire familiars body to bits.
"Well Gargomon, I guess we're so lucky you're so strong then. Right, Henry?"
"Oh, this is nothing. You should see me when I'm Rapidmon. Better yet, MegaGargomon."
"We don't need to stomp around as a building-sized Digimon." Henry looked around, watching as the remains of the familiars faded away into nothing "Between you and Mami it looks like this might be overkill."
Leaping above, Gargomon came crashing down a particularly large familiar before pressing the nozzle of his Vulcans against what Henry assumed was its head. The muzzle and flair quickly eclipsed the familiar's form. When Gargomon had finished all that remained was the smoke from the bullet craters on the surface below his feet, the smoldering shells that had been ejected, and the gunsmoke coming from his Vulcans. With a sharp whistle of air, Gargomons chambers snapped open, and from his magazine belt, he quickly reloaded his depleted storage. Snapping his chambers closed again, Gargomon let out a chuckle.
"He's enjoying himself, don't you think?" Mami spoke, landing beside Henry as he shook his head. She was right of course, Gargomon was enjoying himself. Too much, but Henry had known his partner had always embraced the combative nature of the Digimon, much more than either Guilmon or Renamon.
And Renamon used to spend all her time uploading the data of other Digimon thought Henry, looking at Mami
"So what are these familiars anyways?"
"I like to think of them as worker bees. They work towards the sole benefit of the queen, the Witch in this case."
"By acting as its forces, I take it?"
"Yes, but like a hive they do need to provide sustenance to the queen. A healthy queen means they, in turn, get to continue thriving and expanding."
The slight shift in her tone, and the implication made Henry almost avoid asking further.
"Do you know how many people have been taken by this witch?"
"I wish I could tell you, but no. However, by how large the labyrinth is and by how frequent its familiars are, it's more than I'm comfortable speculating about." Mami sounded grim, monotone even. Henry's hand tightened up, but he restrained himself from acting out.
The fact finally sunk in. It seemed as though he had entered an entirely different world.
How many people go missing every day? How many more would be lost without anyone even caring to look for them? Lost not in some alley or some town they didn't recognize. Instead, targeted for what they had inside of their heart, or because they made a wrong turn. Reduced to nothing more than food for some horrible creature they could have never even considered.
"Mami, just how long have you been a magical girl anyway?" Magical girls themselves brought a different set of questions for Henry, but for now ocused on Mami.
She didn't seem surprised. It might have been his sight, but he thought he caught a glimmer of relief.
"Two years." She answered, pausing for just a moment before continuing, "I know what you're thinking. Where the witches come from and just how long they have been doing this… It scares me to think about it."
Those thoughts scared him too. While he and the other Tamers had been busy fighting the emerging Digimon, the Devas and the D-Reaper, just what other battles had been occurring behind those? Battles fought by magical girls, all alone if Mami was anything to go by.
Resting his eyes on her face, something sparked inside of Henry.
Henry brought out his D-Ark, swiping down a card that would replenish Gargomon's ammo supply.
"Last thing we need is to get caught off guard, right?" Henry said with a confident smile, trying to lift Mami's mood. Watching her smile rise to match his own, it seemed like it worked.
"Ah, I'm letting Gargomon get ahead of me. That's a pretty poor show of effort on my part." Mami manifested two more ornate guns at her side. Tucking away his D-Ark, Henry nodded firmly.
"So far they've ignored me, but the last thing I want is to be caught alone or too far from Gargomon to help him if he gets in trouble. Even if I'm not as tough as you are, I'm still a Tamer." That earned a giggle from Mami.
"Don't worry, Henry, if you get in trouble I'll make sure to save you, okay?" Mami said with a wink.
Before Henry could reply, Gargomon landed in front of them with a loud bang.
"Jeez, c'mon you two get your head in the game. Don't sweat it Mami, Henry's got all the firepower he needs right here." boasted Gargomon as he raised both of his gun arms proudly
"And hey if he doesn't we can always make the jump to Rapidmon, or skip that, and jump straight to MegaGargomon?"
Sighing, Henry heard Mami giggle again.
"Keep this up and I won't use that Gundramon card Takato gave me."
The trio continued down further and further, battling more and more familiars as they did so.
Neither Gargomon nor Mami showed any signs of slowing down. Rather, they had found a sort of synchronicity with each other. Gargomons Vulcans were loud, firing rounds faster than Mami herself could produce with her guns. However, due to both the nature of the guns and the nature of their owner, Gargomons rounds were missed just as often as they landed. Mami, who while possessing a slow rate of fire compared to him, was a far greater sharpshooter. In the military shooter games he used to play, this strategy flushed the enemy out into the open.
Fiction mirrored reality more closely, he thought.
And so, Gargomon would flush them out with a barrage they could not possibly hope to stand against, and those lucky or quick enough quickly found themselves up against the wall that was Mami.
Suddenly, the environment shifted and turned, clearing itself of the brightly colored cakes and treats. It became a murky, oily black as large pillars shaped like matchsticks gave them brief illumination.
"Wow that was a little screwy." muttered Gargomon before his ear twitched, snapping his head and arms towards the sudden noise.
"Oh, Hello Mami! Hello Gargomon and Henry." a small red eyed fox looking creature sat calmly at the end of Gargomons barrels. Gargomon blinked, before pulling his arms back and scratching his head with the barrel-hands.
"Uh, Mami, this a friend of yours or what?" approaching, Henry caught sight of the small white creature, instantly recalling Takato having mentioned seeing it during the fight with DemiDevimon. Pulling out his D-Ark, Henry scanned it.
"No data. Just like Takato said." muttered Henry under his breath.
"Oh Kyuubey you're here. Then there must be a grief seed to be found." Mami stated almost matter-of-factly and Henry made a note to ask her what a grief seed was.
"Yes, its good to see your instincts are sharp as ever." commented Kyuubey who looked at Henry before walking towards him, all while Gargomon kept an impassive look locked onto him.
"Its good to meet you Henry. I'm Kyuubey, the one who makes contracts with magical girls like Mami for the purpose of fighting Witches." The small white creature introduced himself sweetly. Henry briefly cast a look at Mami who nodded her head.
"Its nice to meet you too." Henry answered friendly, deciding that there wasn't any reason not to be.
"Interesting- so Gargomon is the evolved form of Terriermon... you even create your own armaments." Gargomon looked down at his Vulcans, spinning them before rubbing the back of his head in confusion.
"I guess I do, yeah." Answering awkwardly Gargomon before continuing "Wait, you said you make contracts with Mami. What is that supposed to be? Some kind of deal, right?"
Henry listened closely. He had been curious about it, so he counted this among the few times where Gargomons blunt nature was a good thing.
"That's right! In return for granting a wish, the contractor becomes a magical girl that fights witches." Kyuubeys simple answer was enough to impress Gargomon.
"Wow, a whole wish! Hey, Mami what did you wish for? I'll bet it was something cool!" Gargomon's innocent reply was met with the briefest of silence, and Henry thought for just a moment that Gargomon had asked something he shouldn't have.
"My my you're getting personal, Gargomon~ We just started our team-up, you know?" Mami stuck her tongue out teasingly "Besides a wish should be a private thing to start with. Even if it came true, you should respect its nature."
"Hey, Kyuubey, what did Mami wish for?" Gargomon asked bending over towards the small white creature.
"If Mami wouldn't tell you then neither will I. Please understand Gargomon." Gargomon raised his head, clicking his tongue in frustration, much to Mami's amusement. Henry smiled as well, forgetting for just a moment that they were in another space entirely.
"All that aside, if you're here then that must mean there is a grief seed to get from the witch of this labyrinth." Before he could say anything Mami turned to him "Think of it as the core of the witch itself. Strong enough ones like the one we're about to face can use it to re-manifest itself if we don't get it to Kyuubey."
"Guess it's a good thing we came along with you then. Don't know that we'd know what to do with it." Henry didn't want to dwell on it, but without her, they might have not even known what it was.
"Yeah, what we do with a grief seed anyways?"
"Digimon don't make use of grief seeds? I wonder why those other Digimon are trying so hard against the Witch then." Gargomons head snapped and Henry stepped forward.
"Other Digimon?" both he and Gargomon said in unison. Raising his D-Ark frantically, Henry was unable to see or track any other Digimon besides Gargomon.
"I assumed you knew. But yes, before you arrived with Mami, two Digimon began their attack against it. They forced it to unleash its full power, but even now they are closing in on it." Raising his head to Mami, the fierce focused look on his face was mirrored on her own.
"Alright then let's get going which way!" Gargomon's head turned his head towards where they came from and the seemingly endless corridor ahead of them.
"This corridor was merely just a trap, an illusion. Attack it Gargomon, and it will break."
Without another word, Gargomon vulcans roared as their bullets tore apart at the very space.
Like a wall, pieces fell from the open space where a new kind of light shined.
Following the sounds of monsters and witches, the three of them stepped through the open space.
In a moment the dark corridor was gone, replaced by vibrant and bright colors. Henry instantly thought about the windows that displayed baked goods. Not the real kind found in stores, but the kind that would be seen in movies or TV. Ones that had every kind of cake, with every kind of frosting, filling, topping, and more. Ice-creams in every flavor, held in every way ice-cream could be held. It put the previous scenes to shame. Under any other circumstance, Henry might have been filled with a sense of wonder, maybe even a desire to eat them. He thought about how Suzie would have loved a place like this.
But his eyes narrowed and snuffed whatever budding sense of wonder tried to take hold.
Focusing on it, it stood out ot him how fake everything looked. Like in movies and tv, they were props created and placed out of a window that lacked any actual depth.
It was built to look like the real deal, but nothing else beyond it.
Hollow, that's what Henry settled on. Like a cage built to house a lonely bird.
Dismissing it, he raised his head towards the real importance.
Above, what he assumed had to be the witch, its form cartoonishly long like a misshaped madly colored worm, wirthed back and forth. Its comically large, but dangerously sharp teeth snapped wildly, attempting to devour or tear a chunk from its assailant.
A tainted white cloth with sharpened teeth occupying its mouth and black eyes to match the darkness emanating from under its white cloth. Henry didn't even need his D-Ark to know which Digimon it was.
"Bakemon. A Virus Ghost Champion-level Digimon." But Kyuubey had said two Digimon, hadn't he? So where was the second one?
"Wow, a champion-level Digimon emerging? Guess Takato wasn't joking when he mentioned the Greymon." Gargomon spun the ammo chambers open, making he had been fully stocked.
"A virus type? Its a bad time to ask, I know, but what does that mean?" Before Henry could answer her question, Gargomon spoke.
"Means he's nothing but trouble. Don't worry though Vaccine trumps Virus every time!" boasted Gargomon as he snapped his chambers back into place with a flick of his arm. Henry placed a hand on his arm and held him back.
"Hold on, before we rush in there." Henry turned Kyuubey "Kyuubey a day ago my friend Takato saw a MetalGreymon fighting with a witch, not against it like here. Since you knew about this fight, did you see the other fight with MetalGreymon?"
"I did, yes. It was quite amazing."
Henry had no idea what was so amazing about Takato and Madoka almost being killed by MetalGreymon, but he kept that thought to himself as he continued.
"You said you don't know why a Digimon would want a grief seed, but why would a witch work alongside a Digimon in the first place?" Glancing, he saw Mami's expression become an inquisitive and focused one.
"The behavior is new, I'll admit. To be frank, I have no idea what it would be for. Digimon are something I am still learning about, but thus far I believe it's a sort of mirrored relationship similar to what you Tamers have with your own Digimon." But if that was the case, why were those two fighting?
"DEATH CLAW!" the cry of the Bakemon's attack ended the conversation. Though aimed at the witch, Gargomon rushed in ahead, jumping and bouncing off of the various treats that littered the area.
Wordlessly he and Mami shared a look that ended with a smile and a nod with before Henry watched her ascend as well, manifesting yellow ribbons that sent her soaring with a single tug of her arm.
Henry took out his D-Ark, manifesting a screen that let him see everything Gargomon saw.
"Gargomon, focus on Bakemon. Mami will take care of the witch."
"You got it! Yo, Bakemon! Why don't you pick on a mon your level!" Lacking warning, Gargomon rained down upon Bakemon hot metal and fire. Bakemon pulled away from the witch, scattering itself as the witch looked at Gargomon with an almost curious look before smiling devilishly.
Before it could act on whatever intent was in his mind, Mami's ribbons wrapped themselves around it, holding it in place. A genuinely confused look flashed across its face before Mami appeared before it. Landing elegantly, Mami's calm and almost happy look was betrayed by the assault she unleashed upon it in a moment.
A string of fireworks burst open in a dazzling display. The worm-like witch, shuttered and moved, peeling away layer upon layer into a new body to escape from Mami's assault.
It managed to pull itself away from the fiery ball, its head bent comically as the butt of Mami's gun collided against it, sending it away crashing into some large cake-like gnat.
Briefly in awe by how strong she, and perhaps by extension the magical girls themselves, Henry turned his attention back to the battle with Bakemon.
"BUNNY PUMMEL!" colliding the ends of his vulcan into the Bakemon's mid-section, short bursts of round were unleashed against the body of the ghost digimon. Bakemon cried out in pain, turning back towards Gargomon as he tried to clamp his jaws down upon him. Instead, Gargomon collided his gun-shaped fist into his face, twisting his hips as he sent Bakemon flying away.
"C'mon, now you can put up a better fight than that! First time I get to fight a Digimon in four years, don't tell me that's all you got!" Gargomon's words, fierce and hot-blooded, were betrayed by the joyful tone they were delivered in. Of course, Henry had expected it, he understood his partner well enough that no matter how much he tried, that impulse to fight for the sake of the fight was still there.
"Gargomon don't get carried away, lets get Bakemon out of here so we can help Mami take care of that witch." From across the screen of the D-Ark, Gargomon let out a groan.
"All work and no play makes Gargomon bored, Henry. But I hear ya. Hey, why don't you use that Gundramon card! We can end this off with a real bang!" Henry sighed at his partner's desire for overkill.
Honestly, he shouldn't be surprised but he-
"Huh.. what- Gargomon! To the top left its-!" Henry didn't finish his sentence, a bright flash covering the area. Henry shut his briefly blinded by its intensity. But there was no mistaking what he had caught, far into the corner of the space. It was almost lost in the chaotic landscape, and perhaps it was a miracle he had seen it.
"Its the Copipemon" cried Henry, shaking his head as he attempted to restore his vision. Takato had told him about it, how it was seemingly working with Demidevimon for some reason. If this was the same Copipemon than the two situations were more linked than he thought.
Fighting past the blurriness a panic an almost terror-like sensation gripped him.
Mami, who had also been caught off guard by the sudden light, had been left at the mercy of the witch, who looked down on her the same way a greedy child might look down on a treat.
He opened his mouth, but the words failed him.
The witch opened its toothy maw and moved closer and closer to Mami. Time halted, and Henry felt the terror inside become like despair and hopelessness. His eyes widened, though he did not want to witness it.
It closed its teeth, and in a moment, it was over.
A torrent composed of hundreds of Bakemon, crashed into the witch.
They swarmed it, covered its once rainbowed black body from head-to-tail in the tainted white of their clothes. Beneath, the witch squirmed, bucking its body as if to shake itself free of the Bakemon, only to fail futile.
Henry's chest rose and fell, and he became aware of the breath he had held deeply. Glancing he saw Mami, unscathed and unhurt, rub her eyes as she looked down at the struggle between the Bakemon and the witch.
"Gargomon! Go grab Mami and get back here!" A franticness layered Henry's throat as if the danger had finally sunk into him.
"I don't think I'll be able to do that, Henry." turning down to his screen, Henry saw Gargomons vision being covered with dozens upon dozens of Bakemon. Henry grit his teeth, remembering how Takato had described the fight with the Demidevimon and the Copipemon. This was far beyond what he had said.
However, Gargomon was anything but alone.
Shots rang as the Bakemon were cut down in single blows by Mami, who had landed beside Gargomon.
"The witch doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Let's clear these Bakemon and head back to it, right?" Mami showed no signs of flinching despite the odds. Gargmon smiled, pumping his arm vigorously.
"Hear that Henry, we can't let ourselves fall behind now!"
Emotions still ran wild within Henry. How close they were to losing Mami just then, the sudden legion of Bakemon appeared before them. All within the new reality that the existence of witches and magical girls brought.
He found himself chuckling.
It reminded him of what it felt like when Terriermon had first came through his screen. Only four years ago, but it seemed like a lifetime ago.
Reaching down into the pocket of his school uniform, Henry ran a card through his D-Ark.
"DIGI-MODIFY! HYPER WINGS ACTIVATE!"
Six white wings appeared on Terriermons back. With a laugh and enthusiasm, he lifted himself as though he had been born with his newly acquired wings.
"Terriermon, blast those copies of Bakemon out of the sky!" ordered Henry.
"Now you're speaking my language! Hey, Mami, have you ever flown before?" Gargomons answer was met with a curious, but knowing, look from Mami who shook her head.
"No, I can't say I have." she replied was Gargomon gestured with his barrel hands towards his back.
"Hop on, we'll show those Bakemon what real aerial domination looks like." Without another word, Mami grabbed onto Gargomons back, and the two set off into the air towards the legion of Bakemon.
In an instant, Gargomons words proved prophetic.
Flying with the grace of a butterfly, the combined forces of the Digimon and the magical girl made them into a fighter jet. They tore through the Bakemon with ease, bobbing and weaving through any attacks. None of them could get close, not even a little bit.
Henry couldn't say the sight, no matter how dazzlingly brilliant it was, made him happy. Violence was violence after. Its necessity didn't change its nature. But, looking through his D-Ark, he saw Mami's smile and found some measure of comfort.
"A Digimon and a magical girl? A frighteningly powerful combination." It was Kyuubey, and only then was it that Henry had realized he had forgotten about him. But he didn't turn to face him, keeping his attention on both what Gargomon saw, and the larger battle.
"The past few days have been a truly remarkable learning experience."
"How so?" Henry replied through his laser-focused attention.
"The Digimon are unlike anything that I've ever encountered. Even now, the bond between you and Gargomon grows even more powerful. The manifesting and channel of energy like this is proving to be something to behold." Henry couldn't understand what it was he was saying, but listened to him speak anyway.
"Perhaps this is why they are attracted to the Witches. Manifestations of mankind's curses are, ultimately, of mankind itself. The distinction only matters if you look at the outcome, but if you ignore that, the source remains identical. However, don't you think it's interesting to see the difference the presence of grief seed makes? No attempts to bond with or understand like before, it's a pure animalistic desire on display today."
Moments ago, he had wondered about the difference between the two situations.
Breaking his line of sight, Henry turned to Kyuubey.
"What is a grief seed-"
"Ah, they reached it."
Like bone breaking, or the shattering of glass, or metal being peeled, a terrible awful noise threatened to knock over Henry. Trails of blackness ran across the sky, across the wall and even the ground. Resembling ice that had reached its breaking point, Henry turned his head back to where the witch had been overrun by the Bakemon, witnessing a large black egg forming where the struggle once was.
"BAKEMON DIGIVOLVE TOO…"
The egg cracked, and as a golden scythe emerged, Henry understood why it was that the Digimon had sought the seeds.
"PHANTOMON!"
