"Lua! Wake up!" Sonne stands up in a second, launching Lua, who was using his belly as her pillow, away from him, making her wake up in a second too.
"What the heck? Can you be more gentle next time? I know you can!" Lua growls
"We must go now! No objections!"
Lua blinks. She notices that Sonne is very stressed, which is not normal for him, so she immediately mounts on him without bickering. "Is it about Komet?"
Sonne opens his wings and takes the skies, flying towards the ocean. The sun is almost at the top, which he could tell it's almost midday. They got at least 6 hours of sleep. "It is. I can no longer feel any signal from her"
Lua's eyes get very wide open in shock, and she immediately starts shaking. "S-she… S-she is… DEAD?"
"This is a matter I cannot confirm, hence the reason of our immediate leave"
Lua starts crying, feeling very guilty for taking a time to rest, even if that was Komet's request. She starts muttering something while sobbing.
"Do not despair, Komet could just have lost her smartwatch. Regardless, since we have no access to her anymore, we better act quickly before it is too late"
"O-oh… OH… I… I heard 'vital signs'... I thought you said her heart stopped or something…". Lua wipes her tears and slowly exhales in half relief. "Maybe they forced her to hand it away for the sport…"
"In any case, we must recover it after we rescue her"
"Y-yeah, of course! So, what's the plan…? We look for the Sirenmon creature…? We sneak into the island…? Both Komet and lady grassface said they hate Man-type Digimon. You are clearly not one of these, so maybe you can get in easier…?"
Sonne inhales, trying to think about something, and then exhales, shaking his head. "I will try to think of a plan. Focus your attention in finding the islands or spotting enemies"
Lua nods. She looks at the bone club tied to her necklace, very worried. "I hope her situation is not dire…"
Komet wakes up in a jump by the sound of a horn. She quickly looks around while her heart beats fast. She is in a smaller room, still surrounded by the Ancient Greek-like walls. The lass looks up and notices she can see the sky, with the sun shining bright at her face. Despite that, she doesn't feel the heat from the sun. She rubs her eyes and checks the time: it's only a few minutes away before the labyrinth hell begins. But she also reads something in her smartwatch that can be the beginning of her doom: 'NO SIGNAL'
"No signal?" She looks at the sky and looks at her smartwatch again, getting more nervous. "What's going on? It was working well before…!" She tries calling Sonne and Lua, but as expected, it immediately fails. "Dammit… Now I'm forced to win this stupid sport or whatever it's called…" She tries to retrieve the boomerang, but for the same reason, she can't do it either. "I'm weaponless… That gives us even less chances against Minotaurmon…" She shakes her head and punches the wall, frustrated.
Some minutes pass, and a horn can be heard again. This time, the wall in front of her opens, revealing a long corridor. "It seems this is the beginning of our 'heroism'…". Komet closes her eyes, gives a deep breath and steps out of the small room. She starts walking down the corridor and looks behind her back. She sees the door closing. She also sees a bronze rearing bull statue above the walls. "Hopefully this can be my reference…". Then she starts walking through the maze, afraid of what can happen next, while hoping she can find a way to contact her friends again.
Lua gets excited as she points at the horizon. "Land ahoy! It's about damn time!"
As soon as Sonne hears that, he starts going down, so that he won't be spotted by whoever is guarding the island. He and Lua look at the sea, trying to spot dangerous sea creatures. But the ocean is calm. Way too calm. So calm that Lua decides to jump out of Sonne and run on it.
The lion looks at Lua shocked and impressed. "I was not aware you were capable of such an act!"
The bunny whips her head at him. "What? Did you think I would swim in the ocean yesterday? I'm not stupid, you know?"
"I wish that was true all the time"
As expected, Sonne's comment causes them to start bickering. They go on for 4 minutes with Lua complaining most of the time. At that moment, something jumps out of the water between Lua and Sonne.
"No.3 - Canon!" The creature sings, creating note-shaped projectiles and shooting at Sonne. The lion is already on alert, so he dodges it. The creature faces Sonne. "I'll not let you approach this-"
Before the creature finishes, Lua hits her on the head with a diving kick. The creature sinks for a moment and resurfaces not long after. Lua grabs her. The creature is less than half of Lua's size. She is a little humanoid with a beak-shaped mask, green hair and big round red hat. She wears baggy white and light blue clothes, and a cape that's shaped something between bird wings and tail and fins. The bunny looks closer, as if there's something in her mind. "Wait a minute… Are you Sirenmon?"
The little humanoid shakes her head, trying to recover from the impact. "Y-yes, I am! Why would you attack me? I was trying to save you from the beast!"
"The beast…?" She looks at Sonne and points at him. "Ah, you mean the lion? He is my friend!"
"Friend…? From Tavrmenos…?"
"Ugh, I think the impact messed with her brain…" Lua shakes Sirenmon a bit. "Lua calling Sirenmon. Can you hear me? Great! Me and my big puss friend came here to rescue another friend that has been captured by big birds to play some kind of dangerous sport for them. She told us she is with someone called Aegiomon, and that we should find Sirenmon to help rescuing them"
The fairy nods, opening a big smile. "Thanks, whatever gods that listened to my prayers! I finally have allies! But… Did you say 'dangerous sport'? It's not a sport! It's a sacrificial race-festival thing!"
Lua looks shocked. "W-wait, WHAT?"
"Yes! And I'm pretty sure Aegiomon told this to that friend of yours!" Sirenmon proceeds to tell the tale of Bullmon of Tavrmenos that was transformed into Minotaurmon, and their reason for the festival. But before Sirenmon even finishes the story, Lua and Sonne start rushing towards the islands. The bunny didn't even bother releasing the little humanoid.
"W-what are you two doing? You are not thinking about fighting all of the Tavrmenoans to save them, are you? It's impossible!" says Sirenmon
"Nothing is impossible for us" says Lua, with anger and regrets in her voice
Sirenmon grits her teeth and closes her eyes. She cleans her throat, says some 'la la la' and then starts singing in high soprano. That causes the duo to slow down until they stop moving completely. Lua and Sonne do their best to make their body move, but it feels too heavy for that.
"W-What… Happened…?" asks Lua, still trying to fight her body
"Don't worry, I did this. Have you noticed how the waters are calm? It was the same technique. I'll not let my allies get themselves killed, you hear? I guess I get why your friend lied about the festival. But don't worry, I did the same mistake at some point too" Sirenmon says
Sonne lowers his head. "Apologies. We let our emotions dictate our actions"
"There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you don't just go around doing dumb stuff" The fairy looks at Lua and notices that she is almost crying. "Hey, don't be sad… Our friends told you to find me for a reason: I know a lot about this place! Besides, the sacrificial race takes hours to end. They are most likely still alive, especially if your friend and Aegimon are together!"
Lua looks at her, looking defeated. "You better be right… Or I'll never forgive myself"
"Of course I am! And the lion will prove it for us! Just listen to me" She smiles, although she isn't 100% sure of it
Sonne looks at Sirenmon. "The name's Sonne. How can I assist you?"
"Okay, Mr. Sonne! What we need to do is to know the exact location of the maze. In the main hall of the main island, Tavrmenoans gather to watch the sacrifice game on a big screen. I never went there to watch by myself for obvious reasons, but you are a beast, and they grant access to beasts as long as you show interest in their ideals. Get all the details of the place they are in, and come back as soon as possible! Don't look suspicious. Me and bunny will be waiting here on the sea!"
Sonne nods. "Understood. Do not change your positions" He feels his body feeling less heavy and flies towards the islands.
"Good luck, big puss! Don't do anything stupid, please!" says Lua
Sirenmon jumps in the water. "I'll be right back! I can't let the sea monsters wake up!". She waves at them and dives.
Lua stands on the water alone. "So, Komet lied to us because she knew we could just get ourselves killed". She thinks about the previous night, where Sonne insisted on flying despite being very tired. "And she is not wrong… Goddammit… I hope she is being careful too"
"Roses are red, violets are blue. You better stop overthinking, or Minotaurmon will kill you. Why are violets blue? I thought they were, you know, violet. Gh, whatever… My head hurts now…"
It's been more than two hours since Komet started walking in the maze. She has found no one yet. No other participant. No Aegiomon. No Minotaurmon. It's not like she wants to find Minotaurmon yet anyway. She keeps checking her smartwatch to see if she gets some signal, and the answer remains unchanged: no. "If I can see the sky, but I can't even call, then is that really the sky? Maybe there's some kind of electromagnetic field around…?"
She stops for a bit to rest her legs and checks her device again. "Heck! I didn't notice that a long time had passed already, and I still have no clue on how to find Aegiomon… He told me to trust him… And then what…?" She closes her eyes to try to remember what he said. "To trust him… And trust… My ears… I don't know if I should hear something, but…" She starts focusing. She doesn't know what to expect, but she does it. Suddenly, she feels some kind of resonance, and then starts hearing the same flute song she heard before she fell asleep.
"I hear it! It's him! I'm sure it is!" She starts running towards the music. She doesn't understand how, but it's as if the song is guiding her. She goes through lots of corridors. She takes a lot of turns. She keeps running, trying to reach whatever the flute is telling her. She places her heart in the song, until, around one hour later, she finally finds the satyr.
"Kometmon! You finally found me!" Aegiomon says, while putting his pan flute away. "I was so worried that you actually changed your mind and left on your own…!"
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry…" She shakes her head and sighs. "My mind was full of thoughts, so I forgot for a moment… But don't worry, I don't break promises, I never do!" She looks up and sees part of a bronze statue of a rearing bull in the distance. "I think this is the third time I've seen that statue… Am I that bad at walking around mazes…?"
The satyr looks at the direction she is looking at and looks back. "Oh, that? If I'm not mistaken, there's a lot of these statues. It's Great Bullmon!"
"Oh, so I can't use them as a reference. Great. Anyway, did you find any other Digimon?"
"I found the wolfie carrying the samurai, who looked unconscious… They probably fought and the winner will use the loser as bait or something…" He shivers. "I think she saw me as well, but left me alone because I was playing my flute…"
This unsettles Komet. "Well… I was lucky enough to not find anything in my way… But I still bring bad news… I can't access my weapon right now, and my combat skills are… Well, pretty limited to… Ramming into others… So, if we end up finding Minotaurmon, let's be careful. We will most likely not be ready to fight him yet. Even because I think it's a better idea to face this monster when our friends find us"
Aegiomon nods. "Understood! So we are going to look for the bell now, right?"
"Right, and pray that no one got there yet…"
They start running in the maze. They run through lots of corridors, take lots of turns and reach a few dead-ends. Unfortunately there's no way for them to know if they are going the same path twice. They keep going for so long that everything starts looking the same. The same turn? Same corridor? Same bronze statue? They don't even know anymore. Only the sky doesn't look the same, since the clouds and the sun are constantly moving too.
It's been some time, around one hour since Sonne left. Lua would sit on the water if she could, but only her paws are capable of making her stand on it. She looks shocked at Sirenmon, who is flying next to her. "More than one year here? Why didn't you leave and ask for help?"
"W-well… I couldn't… Not yet… There were always too many beasts around, ready to attack any Man-type Digimon… I didn't know the way back to the continent until some weeks ago, and now that I know… I decided to not go yet, because Aegiomon said he would find a way to put an end to all this, and I just didn't want to leave him behind… So I came here, a path between Tavrmenos and the continent, the most common path for them to take" says Sirenmon, while holding her hands behind her back and looking pensive.
"Hey, at least we're very lucky to have found you! What did you do while you were stuck here?"
"I decided to investigate by myself, to understand why they brought my friend here. Unfortunately I couldn't save him… There were some others that I tried to save too, but…" The fairy shakes her head, very disappointed. "Tavrmenoans started to hunt me down after that, but thanks to my size and versatility, I can be pretty hard to catch. After some time around, I've learned they always go after Man-type Digimon, and then I learned their reasons for that…"
"Which makes no sense!" Lua shakes her fists in anger. "Punishing a whole group just because they share the type of the original problem is the most stupid thing I've heard until now! Maybe when you finally leave this hell, you could ask for help to destroy the whole island, because they sound like lost cases"
Sirenmon flies in front of the big bunny and frantically waves her hands. "N-no, of course not! If I do that, I'll be no different from them!"
"Why is this a problem? You actually would be doing this world a favor!"
"N-no! It's not that simple… After I met Aegiomon, back when he was still an Elecmon, I learned about their love for Great Bullmon… Before the Minotaurmon thing, all types of Digimon lived here, and Bullmon were very present in the society… But after the transformation, all of that changed… The islands were almost completely destroyed along with the people, but a mysterious creature that goes by the name 'Lord Barong' changed everything… He locked Minotaurmon away and saved the island. So now everyone is grateful for it, and follows his instructions to a T… Despite never seeing Lord Barong by themselves in their life…"
"Wait a second, is this Aegiomon, that was an Elecmon, the same Aegiomon that my friend Komet found? They threw one of their kin to the sacrifice chamber just because… He evolved into a Man-type?"
Sirenmon winces. "Y-yes… And that might have been my fault…! Because he started to realize how wrong things were… I think his sympathy for our kind made him evolve into that…"
Lua grits her teeth. "By the sound of it, those people are brainwashed, and this 'Lord Barong' is probably the cause of all this problem. Still, that wouldn't stop me from punching all those idiots that condone this! They are causing pain to a lot of people!"
"D-don't do it, please! They are just victims too, and Elecmon is proof of it! I already have a plan to save them…! After we rescue our friends, I'll go back to the continent and ask for help! We need more powerful monsters to control things here"
Lua looks at Sirenmon's determined eyes. She exhales a long and loud sigh. "Okay, fine, I'll try to be careful to not destroy them. But that's just because Komet would agree with you"
A few more minutes pass, and Sonne finally returns.
"Mount me. We should not stay around" says Sonne
As soon as Lua rides him, he flies away from the place, while Sirenmon flies beside him. Lua looks at him, a mix of angry and worried. "It took long enough! Hopefully you got what we need"
"Infiltrating was an easy task. Leaving, however, was the hardest part. They were very welcoming to me after I stated my false intentions, but this did not exempt them from being suspicious of my presence"
"Lemme guess: you had to fight at some point"
Sonne nods. "They possess a guard of fliers. One of them took me on a tour around the festival before arriving at the desired destination, and it is the same one that I had to take down to be able to leave. They went around telling stories of their land. They mentioned Great Bullmon and someone called Lord Barong. They seem to be extremely grateful for the latter."
"Okay, okay, now go straight to the point. Did you or did you not see the stupid maze?"
"I spectated the madness, yes. I also saw Komet with someone I believe is Aegiomon. It relieved me to see that she is fine, at least for the moment. About my observations. The walls of the maze are finely decorated. It has no signs of aging, battle or anything of sorts. The sky is visible, and some bronze statues of what I believe to be Bullmon can be seen. The bull is rearing, and I believe there is more than one of them, but it is something I unfortunately cannot confirm"
"All that time for only this? Grrr, this is probably not helpful at all! At least we know she is still fine, though" says Lua, while her initial disappointment transforms into relief
"There's only one place that matches the description, even if it wasn't a lot!" says Sirenmon
"Wait, so it is enough?"
Sirenmon nods. "However, I never saw a maze there. Maybe it only appears during the festival…?"
"That doesn't matter now, we won't know until we check it. Guide us to the stupid place!" she says, while pointing at a random place
"This… This is a bit embarrassing… Hopefully no one will see me like this…"
"You said you were tired, didn't you? My legs were itching to go faster, so this is a win-win situation for both!" says Aegiomon. He carries Komet on his arms while running through the maze, while she tries to choose the best path to the bell, but in reality she has no idea where they are going, just as expected from a maze. Corridors and turns go by, until…
"Lizard Dance!"
Aegiomon's reflexes are too good. He easily dodges the series of blade attacks launched by the humanoid lizard despite holding extra weight. Then, the lizard gets the greatsword from his back, and launches a slow, but powerful attack. "Akinakes!"
"Iron Trust!" Aegiomon turns around and kicks the big sword to the side
"Why are you attacking us?" asks Komet, while still being carried by the satyr.
"Just stand still and you will find out soon enough" says the lizard, lifting his greatsword while flashing a smug grin. "I'm so lucky for finding the weakest foes around!"
Komet grit her teeth. "Let me guess. Minotaurmon is nearby and you are in need of a distraction for the monster"
"Ooh, you are a smart one. But intelligence can only take you so far here!". He lunges at them, hoping for a direct strike, but Aegiomon dodges again. Despite missing all his attacks, the lizard mon still smirks. That makes her feel uneasy.
"Careful, Aegiomon, this might be part of his trap already…!" Komet looks to the opposite side to see if there's any sign of the bull monster approaching.
Aegiomon nods worried, without shifting his attention away from the lizard. "Hey, why don't you join us? Together we could destroy Minotaurmon and save everyone! Or survive together to the end"
"Ha! You don't even believe your own lies! Let's suppose the masked dude is lying and the monster is actually killable. Why would I join you, a weakling that has to carry an even weaker creature? You are not even capable of laying your hooves on me! All you want is a stronger person carrying you around. Now, stand still and let the stronger one survive, just like what the laws of our world expect from us! I'll take you down here and take the girl with me to be the next bait" he says, while readying his cleaver. "Dino Slash!"
Aegiomon takes the turn to the left the moment the slash comes out, which leads to a long corridor. Komet, now looking at the humanoid lizard, feels more unnerved. "I think I hear heavy footsteps…! We need to go to his opposite side before- AEGIOMON, FALL PRONE NOW!"
The satyr just does as commanded without thinking. The cleaver flies over their heads, bounces off the wall and falls in front of them. He quickly gets up while still leaving Komet on the floor. "Kometmon, you were weaponless, right? Get that blade and take it for you, I'll open a way for us!" he says, while getting in a fight stance.
Komet nods and quickly grabs the cleaver. The lizard laughs while getting the greatsword again. "Thanks for making thi-"
Aegiomon just starts launching a lot of electrified punches at the lizard, hitting all of them. "Stun Beat Blow!". He gives one last but more powerful punch on his stomach, making the bladed mon, now unable to move, fall on his knee. "I-I'm sorry for that, but if you don't plan to save the others, then I can't let myself die here. Let's go, Kometmon!"
The lass turns around and both quickly get past the lizard, who still tries to recover from the stun. But they don't get very far when they suddenly feel the floor shaking. It shakes so hard that it makes both fall. And what they are fearing appears around the corner: a three meters tall humanoid bull, brown fur covering the body from top to bottom that looks more like a jumpsuit, since it has a lot of stitches around and a zipper in the middle. It wears brown boots and has a big golden ring in its nose. His left hand is some kind of elaborated metal cylinder.
"M-Minotaurmon!" says Aegiomon in shock.
Komet notices that the bull emits a familiar purple aura, while his miasma is somehow being absorbed by the floor and walls. His eyes are all white, and he acts in pure rage. She can't tell if he has any mutation on his appearance, but one thing she knows for sure. "It's an Infected…! But why?"
The bull stands in front of the lizard, who tries to grab his greatsword again. But Minotaurmon quickly grabs his neck and presses him against the wall, roaring at his face. The lizard's expression suddenly changes to fear, while drool drips on his face. Komet and Aegiomon, after the initial shock, finally get up. "W-what level is this monster…?" she asks, while pointing at him and feeling shaky.
"A Perfect, I think? No, I'm sure it's a Perfect! Why?"
"You said you evolved from an Elecmon, so you are an Adult now". She sees Minotaurmon crushing one of the lizard's arms with his metal arm, making the poor mon shriek in pain. This also causes another quake, making Komet fall again. "Ugh…! I don't believe he is unkillable, but we are no match for him, not only the two of us!" she says, feeling more scared.
Aegiomon, who didn't lose his balance from the quake this time, quickly helps Komet get up. "H-how are you so sure of that?"
"I've dealt with this kind of monster before. I know how dangerous they can be!"
"S-so, we go for the bell? But Minotaurmon is in our way!"
Minotaurmon crushes one of the lizard's legs. The lizard, who is now bleeding a lot, hopelessly looks at the other two, who are still watching in horror and shock. The destroyed limbs burst into bits of data after some time, and start flying to the skies… Except that they hit some kind of invisible ceiling, and start flowing through the maze, all to the same direction. Komet sees that, looks at the smartwatch, which still shows 'NO SIGNAL', and has the fastest idea she ever had until then. "Aegiomon! Follow the trail of data, now! No absorbing, just follow it!"
"O-okay!" He takes Komet on his arms again and starts running after it. "But why?"
The last thing Komet sees from the horrible scene is the bull opening his mouth to rip the lizard's face off. She feels her stomach burn and feels sorry for the victim, even if he was trying to get them killed. She grits her teeth and focuses on their survival. "Don't you think it's weird that the data just didn't fly away, like they always do? That means that everything here is sealed. But if it's still flowing somewhere, all of it in the same direction, then there's an open spot somewhere, which could be the bell area or the exit!"
"That's… That's an awesome observation!" Aegiomon smiles very impressed. "But… What if you are wrong…?"
"Do we have a better idea?"
Aegiomon lowers his head. Then he suddenly lifts it back up with a smile. "Kometmon's plan, here we go!" He waves at the bits of data. "Thanks, lizard mon, for helping us in the end! We will not let this go in vain!"
"This guy sure is weird sometimes…" she sighs. "Let's hope we can stop this madness before the rest is killed too…"
Sonne lands at the designated area. The coast seems to be covered by a dense forest. They walk through the forest while being guided by Sirenmon. It doesn't take long for them to reach a glade. A very big one. The trio spy through the bushes and see ten bronze statues of Bullmon, all of them apart by the same distance. On the other side, they see a bigger statue of the same monster, but in a sitting position.
"I don't see any maze… Are you sure these are the statues you saw, big puss?" asks Lua
"Yes. From the perspective I saw it, the maze should be under the ground level. Perhaps we must fly over the land, but I cannot think of a way of doing so without going undetected…" says Sonne
"You don't need to worry about that, we already know you are here, kye kye kye!"
The trio whip their heads towards the voice in shock. They see about 5 or 6 masked monkeys holding big boomerangs. Lua immediately rides Sonne, who flies away towards the glade. Sirenmon follows him. The monkeys throw their boomerangs at them, but they are already out of reach.
"Well, I guess you can fly over the stupid open area now!" says Lua. She looks down expecting to see the maze, but to her surprise and disappointment… "I only see grass! Is this not the place after all?"
Sonne growls. "Is this the only place where those statues are present, Sirenmon?"
The fairy lowers her head in frustration and nods. "Y-yes, it is…"
Suddenly, a white swan in silver armor appears in front of them and shouts. "Swanmon Guard, attack!". A lot of other swans appear from the woods, surround them and start closing in. "Now! Down Tornado!". The other Swanmon spread their wings and create a tornado of cold wind and sharp feathers. Sonne and Sirenmon try to react to it, but they are caught by the attack, which unstabilizes their flight and knocks them to the ground.
A voice comes from the sitting bull statue. "Capture them and bring them to me, Sepikmon!"
The monkeys waste no time and immediately throw their boomerangs at the trio. They try to to react, but they are easily overpowered. The monkeys chain all three and take them towards the bigger statue.
"You did an amazing job, Swanmon Guard. As a reward, you are all free to gather to the main hall and watch the labyrinth challenge!" says the mysterious voice from the statue
All Swanmon look very pleased. "Thank you, Lord Barong!" they say in unison. They all fly away orderly.
The Sepikmon take the trio inside the statue. They see someone in a long red cape watching something on a holographic screen. Sonne recognizes it: it's Minotaurmon's labyrinth. He immediately snarls.
"Did you really think your presence here would go unnoticed, Firamon? I was informed about the new visitor that suddenly disappeared not long after. This, together with our little old friend Sirenmon putting some Digimon to sleep, made your next move very predictable. I just didn't expect a third monster. What a nice surprise!" The creature turns around, revealing to be a humanoid wearing a green robe, brown boots and gloves, and some kind of ritualistic mask.
"Lord Barong…!" Sirenmon grits her teeth. "Of all things, the least I would expect is that you are a Man-type yourself! Now I understand why you never appear before Tavrmenoans! Wait… Does that mean all this curse story is a lie?"
"Yes" says Lord Barong. Sirenmon has the impression that the mask grinned more
"But why? What will you achieve with that? This is just a bunch of senseless killing! Tell me everything, Lord Barong!"
Lua looks at Sirenmon and raises her brow. "Do you really think the guy that got us easily captured, which probably has some kind of twisted plan, would just tell us everything like an idiot villain?"
"Yes, I'll tell you everything! Everything you want to know!" says Lord Barong
Lua rolls her eyes. "Really? Are you really going to be this kind of villain? Just watch this backfire. Since you are sooooo niiiiice, I have a question too, Lord Idiot. How come no soul data is returning to Anubismon if you keep hosting this sacrifice tournament very often? This should be impossible!"
Lord Barong looks at Sonne. "Do you have any questions for me too?"
Sonne growls. "I only desire to rip your head out of your body and rescue my friend"
Lord Barong claps his hands amused. "Ah, yes! Of course you all came for your friends!" He looks at the screen behind him and looks at them back "But before I give you the taste of their suffering - that is, if they are still alive - I will answer your questions. First, what is this all for? I just found an opportunity in the 'curse' hehehe. The curse is nothing more than a series of unfortunate. While Minotaurmon is in fact Great Bullmon, it just happened that he got infected by some kind of disease that's spreading in many areas" he shrugs
"Okay, but why would you go all out to make a fake story about needing sacrifices instead of just putting Minotaurmon down? What do you gain with all that?" asks Lua while trying to break out.
"Very simple" he raises his hands towards a flow of data that is coming out of a hole. "I get power and entertainment without much effort!" he says proudly. "I like to feed on souls, so I used this amazing Tavrmenoan technology to guarantee no data escape from this labyrinth, especially soul data. I also love to watch these poor creatures vainly fight for their lives. They try so hard to survive, just to die from a gruesome death from the hands of a cruel monster from an unknown island. It's so beautiful to see the hope in their faces slowly fading away, until they become just data to feed me. It's so nice to know that those simple minded beasts think they are doing the greater good for their land, but they are just being deceived into sending innocent prey to die! Isn't all that beautiful?"
Sirenmon looks at him very horrorized, while Sonne and Lua feel their blood boiling by hearing that. "You are… cruel…! Just… pure cruelty! You are a sadist! A monster!" yells Lua in extreme anger
Lord Barong raises his hands in a shrug. "Aren't all we monsters already?" He laughs very loudly.
Sonne keeps snarling. "You are way too confident and comfortable to provoke enemies face to face" He tries to bite Lord Barong's mask off. "Do you really think these chains will hold us forever? We will make you deeply regret playing with us like that!"
The lord steps away from the attack. "Oh, asking for mercy kill already, aren't you?" He approaches Sonne again. "Do you really think this is my first time doing that, 'big puss'? Many others came before you. I gave them a little bit of hope until I crushed all of it and sent them to the same place your friends are now. That includes you, little Sirenmon! I knew you were around, I knew you couldn't escape!"
The fairy puts her hands on her mouth in shock, almost feeling like crying.
"Shut up, you edgelord. Just free our friends before we beat the shit out of you!" yells Lua
"Oh, right, your friends! I wonder if they are still alive". He drags the holographic screen closer to the trio. "Which one are they?" The masked man keeps switching between the participants, until he notices a different expression from them when it shows Komet and Aegiomon. "Oh, what an interesting coincidence! It seems your friends joined forces, huh? And they seem to be getting closer to the bell already. Impressive, very impressive!"
All three of them gasp. They don't know what they should feel, but they obviously hope for the best outcome. "What happens once they hit the bell? Are they released? Locked up for the next festival?" Lua growls
"Oh, wouldn't you love to know?" he says in a smug tone.
Komet and Aegiomon keep following the flow of data. They arrive in a room that looks fancier than most of the maze. The ceiling is now visibly covered. For some reason, or maybe for no reason at all, some golden objects, like trays and plates, are hanging on the wall. There are also some nicely painted big vases on the floor. Despite being curious about the content, they just keep running behind the flow, before they lose track of it. They take one more turn before Aegiomon looks amazed and points at a long corridor.
"Look! It's the bell! You were right!". He opens a big smile
"Let's go! We are gonna ring it together!" she says
They both sprint towards the bell, hoping this is finally the end of their nightmares. They get to the room, which is somewhat big, and reach for the rope. Together they shake it, ringing the bell very loudly. They give a high five and low five, but still look around in alert. Then, they feel the floor starting to shake, stopping not long after.
Komet looks around, trying to find the source of the quake. "Did something open for us…? I don't see anything different…"
The duo hear a loud roar from the distance.
"Was that Minotaurmon…? Maybe he is getting pacified…?" asks Aegiomon
"Wait, you don't know?" she says, looking shocked
"Erm… Every time someone rang the bell, the transmission would end immediately, you know…?" he says nervously. "W-we don't know what happens to Minotaurmon, I-I don't know how the champion is released, we don't get to see that… W-we would just go celebrate with lots of foods and drinks, especially the winning clan"
Komet gets anxious by hearing that. "You… You could have told me this earlier, you know…?"
The duo hear the same loud roar from closer.
"Is he getting closer?" he asks, also getting anxious
They start hearing heavy footsteps walking in their direction. They look at the corridor they came from and see Minotaurmon slowly walking towards them.
The bell could be heard in all islands. As soon as it rang, Sonne, Lua and everyone else there heard the celebration from the people in the festival on the main island.
"Today we feast, brothers and sisters! The champions of Tavrmenos will make us stronger!" says Barong, laughing maniacally
Sonne gasps as soon Minotaurmon appears on screen. "The disease you talked about… It is the Corrosion Virus!"
"'We feast' my ass! They will destroy Minotaurmon and ruin the fun for you! We have dealt with stronger Digimon, so this is gonna be easy!" bluffs Lua.
Barong just keeps smiling, as if he has heard that some other times already. "Why don't you relax and watch their last showdown? Oh, before I forget." He walks towards the flow of rising data. "You probably noticed it, but there's a hole here, you can see the labyrinth from it. They are almost right under us at this moment. Maybe you could try doing something about it?" The masks grins harder. "Loosen the chains, Sepikmon!"
Sonne starts to feel more anxious and angry, and feels like his heart is beating faster, almost jumping out of his body. "Komet!". He immediately runs towards the small hole, clads his claws on fire and attacks it, hoping to make it wide open. Lua joins him right after, performing the diving kick to help with the impact. But their attacks don't seem to damage the floor at all. But that doesn't stop them from trying again.
Sirenmon, on the other hand, faces Lord Barong. "You are horrible! You are insane! I will make you regret everything you did!". She cleans her throat and opens her wings. "No. 3 - Canon!"
"Storming Knives!" Lord Barong launches a barrage of explosive bullets from his chest, countering the fairy's attacks. He looks at the duo trying very hard to hopelessly open the hole wide. "Do you like it? It's fine Tavrmenos engineering! Those walls are unbreakable while Minotaurmon lives"
Lua looks at the masked man in anger. "You will regret very hard existing!". She jumps towards him and tries to punch him, but he just kicks her back down. Lua looks at the screen, feeling dizzy from the kick, and watches the nightmare. From the screen, she sees Komet looking at her smartwatch while holding a cleaver, while Aegiomon gets in a fighting stance. Since the fight is happening very close to them, all of them can hear it.
Lua looks back to the hole and starts shouting. "Komet! Komet, can you hear me?"
"Lua? Is that you?"
From the screen, Lua sees Komet looking around, trying to find the source of the voice. But also in that moment, Minotaurmon punches the floor with the metal hand, making an earthquake so strong that even Lua and the others feel it. The lass and Aegiomon fall. Minotaurmon grabs one of the vases and throws at them, but Komet blocks it with the cleaver, making it shatter. Minotaurmon quickly dashes towards them and grabs the neck of the first one in front of him, which happens to be Komet.
"Leave Kometmon alone! Stun Beat Blow!". Aegiomon punches Minotaurmon's ribs multiple times, releasing electricity from his arms. That causes Minotaurmon to release Komet, but the bull immediately grabs Aegiomon from his arm, lifting him.
Komet grabs one of the trays and throws at Minotaurmon, but he blocks it with his hand and flings Aegiomon at her. The poor satyr falls on her, hurting both. Not satisfied, Minotaurmon gets another clay vase and flings at the two, hurting Aegiomon more.
Lua looks more shocked and scared than she had ever been. "Komet! Run! You need to survive! Please! Komet!" she yells.
"RELEASE HER NOW, YOU WASTE OF OXYGEN! OR YOU ARE GONNA EXPERIENCE TRUE HELL" yells Sonne. His pupils slit.
"Don't worry, I'll make great use of their souls" says Barong, while keeping a safe distance from them. Two Sepikmon get nearby to protect Lord Barong at any cost.
Komet forces herself to get up and helps Aegiomon do the same. "I-I can't die yet…! T-There's still something… I should do… Before I can… Finally…" Her eyes start to tear, but she is not ready to give up yet. She walks as fast as she can with the satyr towards the only corridor they have access to. Minotaurmon roars at them and starts walking towards the duo. He grabs one of the golden trays from the wall and throws it at Komet. The lass staggers when it hits her. Aegiomon is quick to hold her and keep walking.
"We will do it, don't worry" says Aegiomon. His face has some bruises and scars now, and is not as cheerful anymore.
They reach the end of the corridor and get to a small cubic room full of pottery. "It's… It's a dead end…" says Komet, starting to sound hopeless. She looks up and sees a very small hole. Freedom is so close, yet so far. She looks at Minotaurmon. The bull is approaching. She gets one of the vases and throws it at him, but he punches it with his iron hand.
Barong opens a big grin. "Look at that, now you can see them in person! What are you gonna do? Try to kill me to see if something happens? Or uselessly try to open a bigger hole, so that you can save your friends, assuming you can beat Minotaurmon, that is"
Sirenmon, extremely angry and in tears, tries to punch the masked annoyance, but he easily dodges the attack. "You are cruel! Super cruel! Hyper cruel!" she yells
Both Sonne and Lua start watching exclusively through the little hole, ignoring the existence of Lord Barong. The bunny is shaking. She is scared. "She is gonna die if they don't do anything to save her!" But what can they do? She looks at Sonne. He is in fear. He is agonizing inside. It's a scene she never expected to see in her life. She looks through the hole again.
Komet starts to shake. "I-I can't…". She gets ready to fight back, but she looks now more like a cornered prey. She swings the cleaver trying to intimidate the monster with no avail.
Aegiomon gets up and prepares to sprint towards Minotaurmon, but the bull thrusts his metal arm on the floor, causing another strong earthquake that makes the poor victims fall. All the pottery around falls on them, injuring them even more. Aegiomon still gets up and runs towards the bull, but he is punched in the stomach and launched back to the room, falling on Komet.
Komet opens her eyes after the impact and sees Minotaurmon approaching. She looks up at the little hole. "I'm sorry, Team…"
Lua's pupils slit. "No! It's not over yet! Komet! You can't die yet! You still have things to do!"
"We cannot afford to lose you! We still have unfinished tasks! There is so much we still need to do together, and so much more I would love to do after everything calms down! We- We-!". Sonne starts to hyperventilate. He is avoiding at all costs thinking that they failed. That they failed to save the friend that he swore to protect with his life. That he failed as her assistant, or friend, as she likes to say.
Barong just laughs louder and louder as he amuses himself with their despair. "Don't worry, after Minotaurmon is done, I'll give you two the opportunity to try to get your sweet revenge!"
Minotaurmon grabs Komet by her neck. Aegiomon is too injured to move. He tries to react, but his body refuses. "K-Kometmon…"
The lass looks hopeless. "It's… It's over…". She looks up, at the hole, and stretches her arms towards it, which is very far away. She looks sorry for failing them, but she doesn't want to die.
Lua looks directly at Komet's eyes. She wants to save the girl, but there's no way in. But Komet can't die. She still had a lot to do. A lot to save. A lot to enjoy together.
Sonne looks at Lord Barong, full of anger. He is angry at the sadistic Digimon. He is angry at the bull. He is angry at himself. This is not how it's supposed to end. It's not been long since they saved Komet's life by giving everything they had. It can't end like that. It can't.
It won't
"Komet can't die yet!" yell Sonne and Lua in unison. Suddenly, they both start glowing and become a flowing data, 0s and 1s that moves towards Komet. Lord Barong looks at that in shock. He tries to stop them, but Sirenmon gets in his way and launches note-shaped projectiles at him.
Minotaurmon raises his metal hand to start crushing Komet's limbs in the same way he did with the humanoid lizard. But at that moment, a huge amount of data flows in Komet. The girl feels the pride of the burning sun and the confidence of the chilling moon. She feels three different minds, whose hearts are beating together, in the same rhythm. Those hearts wish the same thing. The sun and the moon, although opposites, embrace her, making her shine brighter.
"I can't die here! I won't die here!"
An explosion launches Minotaurmon away from them. Aegiomon looks shocked and impressed, unaffected by the explosion. "Kometmon…! You… You evolved! Oh, I mean, you are now…?"
"Icarumon" says the new creature. Then she realizes what she and Aegiomon just said. She looks at her own body and at the tray:almost 2,5 meters tall light orange mammal-like creature, with long wings attached to her arm, in which the feathers get more red-tone the farther it is from her arm. She has long ears, like Lekismon, and a long mane, like Firamon. She wears a wing-shaped gray mask, a metal chestplate, gray half-dress tied by a belt and anklets. Darker orange markings decorate her body, an antenna grows from her forehead, with a bright sphere in the end of it, and two long light gray protrusions grow from her back.
Icarumon isn't sure of what happened or what she is exactly, but she has no time to think about that. Her goal is to destroy Minotaurmon and end the cycle of sacrifices once for all. "Wait here, Aegiomon. I can handle it myself" she says.
The satyr smiles and gives a thumbs up. "I'll be here for support, in case you need it"
"Don't worry, I'll make it fast". The winged mon focuses on the bull man and retrieves his data. "Minotaurmon, a Perfect level, just like Aegiomon said. So you like to cause earthquakes, huh? It would be a shame if I could fly, don't you think?". She smirks, flaps her wings and hovers.
Minotaurmon gets up, roars at Icarumon and runs towards her. She spreads her winged arms out and shoots multiple crimson-colored feathers at him. "Daedalus Feather!". The bull puts his arms in front of his face and takes the hit. The feathers stab through his skin and catch fire on contact, burning the skin. Icarumon quickly flies towards him and kicks him, making the bull fall.
"I'll make it quick, so that you can rest in peace and never kill any more innocent mons, Great Bullmon" says Icarumon, looking serious now. She raises her leg, which starts steaming with sheer cold, and kicks his head very powerfully. "Theseus' Kick!" The cold spread through his face, making it burn. She presses her foot harder, making the skull crack. Minotaurmon's body glitches. She keeps pressing until she knocks the bull down. He bounces on the floor, lets out a last roar and bursts into bits of data. The winged mon stretches her arms towards the infected data, summoning some kind of golden pyramid that captures the dark moth-like data. The encaged data gets sucked back to her hand, and she nods.
Icarumon returns to Aegiomon and gives him a hand to help him get up. Aegiomon grabs it and stands up, smiling.
"We did it! We reached the bell and destroyed Minotaurmon! Now we just need to find our way out of here" says Aegiomon
"Worry not, there's an easier way out now!" She does a handstand and pushes herself towards the ceiling, using her strong legs to break it.
As soon as the ceiling crumbles, Sirenmon immediately flies in and hugs Aegiomon tight. "You survived! Y-you survived! And you did it! You found a way to end the 'curse'!".
The satyr hugs her back, very happy to see her again. "Yes! I met Kometmon and she was willing to help me, and she had friends outside willing to help too! Where are they, by the way?"
Before getting a chance to get answers, they hear Lord Barong's voice being amplified by something. "Capture them! No, kill them! Their insolence will cost the peace of Tavrmenos! They must be killed as soon as possible, or the curse will consume the whole island in a few hours!"
The fairy shakes her head, angry. "That piece of crap panicked when he saw Minotaurmon get killed. I tried to take him down, but he fled!"
Icarumon looks up. "He is desperate, he knows his sick plan is endangered now. I… I would love to have his head, but…" She grits her teeth and shakes her head in disappointment. "We have no time to waste… The whole island is probably coming for us now. Let's make a different hole and leave!". She flies down the long corridor and looks back at Sirenmon, who is following her by flying while carrying Aegiomon. "Could you use that song that can make foes numb as soon as I open the hole? The last thing you want is to engage in a battle with monsters you want to save, right?"
"Give me a minute!" Sirenmon cleans her throat and starts saying some "la la la" to warm up. They hear someone saying "They are inside! Get in, quickly!" from the broken ceiling. She grits her teeth and does a handstand again, waiting for the fairy to be ready. As soon as she hears the song starting being sung, she launches herself up and uses her strong legs to shatter another part of the ceiling.
They both immediately fly out, emerging on the glade with the bull statues. Sirenmon sings her song louder, and the imminent danger - the Swanmon Guard - stops moving while flying in place. It is a good start, except that all of a sudden meteorites start to rain down on the field. "You are not getting away! You will all die!" echoes Lord Barong's voice through the glade.
Some of the projectiles hit the numbed Swanmon, getting some of them killed. It doesn't seem like Lord Barong is trying to be careful with his attacks. So Sirenmon and Icarumon dodge the meteorites and fly away towards the ocean.
"Beasts of the sea! Beasts of the sky! Destroy them and show me proof of it! You will be well rewarded!" echoes Lord Barong's voice
They hear noises behind them. They look behind and see a lot of Digimon flying and swimming after them. Icarumon could identify a lot of them: the Saberdramon that captured 'her'. Yatagaramon. Birdramon. Kabuterimon. Kuwagamon. Seadramon. Rukamon. Ebidramon. The list goes on and on. These Digimon start launching desperate and disorganized attacks at them, which causes friendly fire at times.
"Where are you going now, Mr. Sonne…? Or… Bunny…?" asks Sirenmon
Icarumon looks at her in confusion. "Huh?"
"Icarumon!" says Aegiomon. "Her name is Icarumon!"
"Oh, sorry!" says the fairy, while dodging a few projectiles. "I will go south, back to my hometown. Aegiomon will live with me while we don't solve the problem of Tavrmenos. But we promise we will destroy Baromon and free Tavrmenoans from his brainwashing!"
Icarumon smiles. Sirenmon is really determined to help them realize they were being lied to by a cult. But she also feels a bit guilty for not being able to help. "That means we are parting ways. I have to return to The Skyscrapers. I really would like to assist you, but unfortunately there are other things I need to do ASAP"
"Don't worry about that! You already helped a lot by destroying the biggest threat! There's even a chance that the residents of Tavrmenos will realize there was never a curse to begin with!" she says, while dodging some more attacks.
"Thanks for everything, Icarumon! I'm happy for meeting you!" Aegiomon waves "Byeeeeee!"
Icarumon nod. "I wish luck to you all!"
"We wish the same!" says both
Icarumon and Sirenmon fly in different ways, which divides the group of Digimon that are pursuing them. Icarumon looks at the sea and then at the foes. "I still have an attack I could use…" She shakes her head. "No, let's focus on fleeing." She focuses on flying as fast as possible while dodging the attacks. She feels a sudden burst on her body and starts flying faster, and after a couple of minutes, she finally manages to shake them off.
She sighs in relief. "It's over, it's finally over… All I have now are questions… Why was the sky visible in the maze…? Why was Minotaurmon related to the maze being unbreakable…? Is Lord Barong from Tavrmenos…? If yes, then why manipulate his own people like that…?" She shakes her head. "I don't think thinking about that is relevant anymore… What's more important is that his overconfidence doomed him in the end…"
She keeps flying. She looks down and sees her own reflection. "That's me now… But… What am I…? Who am I…? I feel I am 'myself', whoever 'myself' is…" She keeps looking, but in a more reflexive way. "Just before Minotaurmon tried to kill 'me', I think I felt their spirits mixing with 'mine', all wishing for the same thing… They trusted 'me' with their powers. And I felt more proud. And more confident. What's the last time 'I' felt like that…?"
"Before you burned everything down" says a familiar voice
Suddenly, Icarumon sees herself flying in a dark area. Black flames appear in the horizon. Sharp teeth and a pair of red eyes open from the flames. It doesn't matter for how long she flies, it seems to never reach the black flames.
"N-nightmare! W-why are you here? I'm not sleeping- Or, I shouldn't be!" says Icarumon
"Why wouldn't I be here, Tayna?" says Nightmare
"I don't know what you mean!"
Nightmare sighs. "Who are you? Who am I? What are we?"
Icarumon just grits her teeth
"Are you sure you can be trusted? Do you really think your 'friends' should have trusted you with their powers?" continues Nightmare
"I… I…" Icarumon starts to feel nervous and unsure about that. She hasn't thought about that before, and now that she has the opportunity to do so, she starts to think that maybe doing that was a mistake. They shouldn't trust her. They don't know her. They don't know what she did. She doesn't have the right to feel confident and proud of herself. She quickly shakes her head. "N-no, that's all wrong! They can trust me! I… I'm not that person. I'm different!"
"Are you sure you won't let the fire ruin lives again, Tayna?"
"I… I…!". Suddenly, Icarumon realizes that the surrounding back is normal. The continent can be seen, but her wings are on fire. Her feathers are quickly burning down, one by one. "No! The wings!"
She hears Nightmare in her head. "You can't get too close to the Sun, Tayna. You don't deserve the light"
Icarumon loses control. She starts falling, spiraling towards the sea. She tries to recover, but it's too late. She hits hard on the water and falls unconscious, leaving her at the sea's mercy.