ZAFT: Well, new update. Getting closer to the big reveals~ XD
DarkFoxKit: But talking about something exciting outside of stories, Deltarune's chapters 3 and 4 are coming out on June 5th! That's the most exciting news I've heard in a while! :D
Andy: *Slowly sticks his head through the door* What about Switch 2 and Mario Kart World?
DarkFoxKit: *Looks at the backlash Nintendo is facing due to the absurd pricing* Yup, the only exciting news I've heard in a while.
Takuya: *Pulls Andy back inside* Do you want to be caught by these two? They may have more "plans" for us!
ZAFT: Oh, we have lots planned~ :3 And now onto the chapter~
Chapter 30: The Next Step
Lopmon, Patamon, Biyomon, Kokuwamon, and Labramon continued walking along the train tracks. It was cold, the area they were in was still full of snow. They had just left Takuya, Tommy, Zoe, JP, and Koji since they had all found their Beast Spirits. They had always known this day would come, but now that it was here, it didn't feel real. They had to go on their own, and hope the kids would be able to go on without them from here until the virus decides to show itself. They knew they were on a time limit, they had until the kids took on Cherubimon.
"So we're trying to get to the Rose Morning Star before the kids reach Cherubimon, right?" Labramon asked.
"That's the current plan, we need to talk to Ophanimon, and… try to reason with Cherubimon before the kids take him out," Biyomon answered.
"But they're on a Trailmon, meanwhile we're walking there on foot. What's wrong with this picture? They're going to get there way before we even step foot in the Dark Continent!" Kokuwamon pointed out.
"I thought Trailmon didn't want to go to the Dark Continent because it's Cherubimon's territory…" Lopmon frowned.
"They don't… I think the Trailmon will probably just stop in the middle of the tracks and push them out," Patamon replied. "At least that's what that one Trailmon did when we were watching the dream unfold."
"Either way, they're going to have at least a hefty headstart…" Labramon frowned. "So we're still not exactly in a good position…"
"Maybe we could find a faster way to get to Cherubimon's castle ourselves." Biyomon suggested. "If the children can ride a Trailmon, why couldn't we?"
"We have no money, so we couldn't afford a ticket," Lopmon pointed out. "The kids had all the money."
"Ugh… great. So we're back to square one, just walking." Biyomon sighed.
"Well, what can we do then?" Labramon whispered.
"It'd be a lot easier if we could digivolve… but even after everything we've done, after all of that time, all of that fighting… all of that being near death… we were still unable to digivolve." Kokuwamon frowned.
"Yeah… that is a problem…" Lopmon agreed. "If we're unable to digivolve, how are we going to be able to protect ourselves?"
"But then how did Salamon digivolve?" Biyomon asked.
"I suspect that Cherubimon made her digivolve," Lopmon answered. "Otherwise she likely would be in the same boat as the rest of us."
"There's got to be a way though… what is blocking our Digivolutions?" Patamon frowned.
Suddenly a static screen slowly began to appear in front of them, and a familiar voice. "Hello…? Hello…? Can… hear… me…?"
"Whoa! What's going on!?" Labramon yelped.
"Wait… that voice… is that Mom?" Lopmon blinked, his ears picking up on the familiarity of the voice.
"Ah! Then they must finally be able to contact us in the dream world! I knew they would pull through sooner or later!" Kokuwamon smiled.
"Is that… ? Can… hear me?" Maddie's voice asked again before the static cleared to show Maddie Fenton in front of the five Digimon.
"Mom! We can hear you!" Lopmon smiled.
"You managed to reach us! Finally…" Patamon sighed.
"Finally?" Maddie blinked. "How much time has it been for you since you arrived?"
"It's been at least three or four months now, I think," Biyomon answered. "It's difficult keeping track of time when a lot of things are happening."
Lopmon furrowed his eyebrows, Maddie's surprise at Patamon's comment about how she finally reached them didn't escape his notice. "How long has it been for you?"
"It's only been four hours," Maddie answered. "It took us a while to hack into the Dreamer to contact you, but not that long. It's already been four months for you guys?"
"Yeah." Patamon replied. "I guess the dream world moves faster than our world, at least in time rate anyway. It really throws things out of whack when I think about the time difference."
"Still though, the fact it's only four hours in our world does make it easier when we get out," Lopmon remarked.
"Oh jeez, I just can't imagine it only being four hours. These four months felt long and real…" Labramon remarked.
"We should let her know what's been going on," Biyomon suggested.
The group were still walking, the screen Maddie was on seemed to be following them at least. They informed her of what happened.
"So you've already split up, because they all found their Beast Spirits…" Maddie frowned.
"Yeah, and we're trying to get to the Rose Morning Star so we can talk to Ophanimon," Lopmon said.
"And Cherubimon," Patamon added.
"Let's… not worry about Cherubimon yet," Lopmon sighed.
"You're getting close though." Maddie noted. "Perhaps we can pull this off yet, but I don't think it will be so easy. We need to be careful no matter what."
"Yeah, we don't want all of our hard work to go to waste." Patamon agreed.
"The Rose Morning Star is the best place we can go, since we know that's where Ophanimon is. She's the next Digimon we need to speak with, as we'll need her power." Biyomon said. "But the problem is, the Legendary Warriors have a headstart on us."
"And if they confront Cherubimon, both he and Ophanimon will die," Kokuwamon added grimly. "Then we'll be stuck."
"We're still not entirely sure what happened to Seraphimon, just that he transferred his essence into Patamon," Labramon said.
"We're hoping Ophanimon will clear that up," Patamon pointed out.
"This is rather vexing. But you should already have a way to get to the Rose Morning Star before the others do," Maddie pointed out.
"How?" The others asked.
"Lopmon, you said earlier that Mercurymon commented on how he's interested in capturing you and Patamon, right?" Maddie asked.
"Yeah…" Lopmon frowned, though he hadn't really told Maddie it was likely because he and Patamon were… Celestial Digimon in the real world, it was something he rather not think about.
"Well, what if the next time you run into the evil Legendary Warriors, you let them take you?" Maddie suggested. "I know it's risky, but you won't be able to make much progress if you don't take a risk. You know this by now considering everything you went through."
"Are you… really okay with that, Mom?" Lopmon asked.
"Sweetie, we're doing everything we can to make sure your bodies are safe and stabilized while this is going on. While I rather you and your brother didn't put yourselves in danger, I know you'll need to do everything you can to save Takuya and the other children. We can't be hesitant," Maddie answered.
Patamon and Lopmon frowned, but they knew Maddie had a point.
"Well… that's true… I get what you're saying, Mom, but… are you sure it's the best option we have?" Patamon asked.
"At this point, we can't be picky about how things are done." Maddie replied. "It's the best way to get to the Rose Morning Star before the Legendary Warriors. Using the fact the evil Warriors are interested in you two will be necessary, since we know they won't harm you right away."
"What about the rest of us?" Biyomon questioned.
"You might be able to come with us. It sounds like Cherubimon is interested in recruiting more Digimon to his side, otherwise he corrupts them," Lopmon noted.
Then Lopmon looked at Maddie. "Mom, there's a couple of things I want you to look into."
"What would that be, sweetie?" Maddie asked.
"There had been some ghosts in this world messing some things up. We haven't seen them in a while, but I'm sure they're still lurking around here. See if you can find anything about them," Lopmon requested.
"Oh yes, you told me about them before," Maddie realized. "I'll look into it. Our scanners might be able to detect paranormal activity."
"And… the other thing… can you find out why we can't seem to digivolve?" Lopmon requested. "The sooner we can figure out why, the sooner we might be able to actually digivolve."
Maddie's eyes furrowed at the second request. "You can't digivolve? That's… unusual, but I think we can look into that. That one will take some time, but it can be done."
"Thanks, Mom, try to get back to us as soon as you can," Lopmon said.
"Is there anything else we need to know?" Patamon asked.
"Not that I can recall." Maddie replied. "We'll get back to you as soon as we figure out what's going on with your ability to digivolve. Just be wary of those ghosts, it sounds like they were sent to come after you."
With that said, the screen disappeared.
"So… are we really going to just… go with the evil Legendary Warriors?" Labramon asked. "It just… doesn't seem right, you know?"
"Yeah, but… Mom also has a point. We're clearly not going to be able to get there before the Legendary Warriors on our own." Lopmon frowned.
"We can't afford to be playing it safe anymore." Patamon admitted. "I don't like it, but if it's our best option, we need to take it. We can use their interest in us against them."
"Problem is we haven't seen any of them since we chased off Petaldramon back at the Autumn Leaf Fair," Biyomon pointed out. "I doubt they'll come for us specifically, they're going after the kids right now and we're not with them anymore."
"We've relied on those kids for a while, didn't we?" Kokuwamon sighed.
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Labramon asked.
"That's a good question…" Patamon frowned.
"Let's do what we did when we first arrived in the Digital World," Lopmon suggested. "Back when we weren't even sure if Takuya and the others were in the Digital World to begin with."
"What are you suggesting?" Kokuwamon asked.
"We'll need scouts," Lopmon said. "You three could fly ahead, and see what's around. If there's a town, we could stop there, take a moment to rest and gather ourselves, then we'll see if there's a way we can get to the Rose Morning Star quicker, or if there's an evil Legendary Warrior who will take us."
"While I don't like it because of what happened last time we did scouting, it's our best option." Patamon sighed. "We'll just have to try and keep a limited distance for how far we travel from each other."
"Okay," Biyomon said. "You and Labramon stay together then, watch your backs until we get back."
"We'll keep an eye out for those ghosts too, in case they decide to attack us," Kokuwamon said.
"Yeah, you guys watch yourselves too," Labramon replied.
Patamon, Biyomon, and Kokuwamon flew up into the sky going on ahead to see if they could find any place for them to rest and find anyone who would be willing to help them.
"Funny… it feels like yesterday when we were back at the Digimon Village, waiting for the humans to arrive," Labramon said. "And now we're on our own."
"I know what you mean," Lopmon said. "We've definitely grown close to them, haven't we? I just hope they won't get too distracted looking for us while they continue on the path… the path we plan to rescue them from."
"I hope so too…" Labramon agreed with a sigh. "It feels… odd not being with them, but… if it means we have the chance to find a way to save them… I'm sure they'd understand."
"We have a plan… the only problem is trying to execute it," Lopmon said.
"Right… considering how risky it is. I mean we're planning to give ourselves to the bad guys and all," Labramon said. "BlackGatomon has been strong, but could the rest of us resist becoming all evil and dark?"
"I don't know… I don't know what the evil Legendary Warriors would do to us once they get their hands on us, or what Cherubimon would do, but the fact of the matter is we need Cherubimon's help if we want to succeed," Lopmon sighed. "Getting his help won't be easy… but I think it's possible."
"How would it be possible?" Labramon asked. "As far as we know, Cherubimon's been corrupted too much to listen to reason."
"He may not help us if he knew what our actual objective is, but that doesn't mean he won't help us if he believes it'll benefit him and his goals," Lopmon replied. "For example, what if we told him that if he used his powers with Seraphimon and Ophanimon's powers, it'll grant him ultimate power?"
Labramon grimaced. "That may work, but it could also backfire on us." She admitted. "Then again, taking risks is necessary now that we aren't with the children, or if we want to save them."
"I understand it's a risk. Cherubimon may even see through that lie," Lopmon sighed. "From what I know, he's pretty clever. He only got tricked by Ophanimon because he was desperate to…"
Lopmon furrowed his eyebrows.
"What?" Labramon asked.
"... It's possible Cherubimon doesn't want to be evil," Lopmon said.
"What makes you say that?" Labramon asked
"The reason he got tricked by Ophanimon was because he listened to her sweet words of purifying him of his darkness," Lopmon answered. "Why would he even bother with that if he was happy with the way he was now?"
Labramon looked down in thought. "That's true. No one is truly evil… Perhaps we could use that to our advantage if we had to. But we would have to be smart about how we did it."
"We're just a bunch of high schoolers, we're not exactly smart," Lopmon bluntly said.
"Wow, way to hit it where it hurts," Labramon grumbled.
"But that's never stopped us before," Lopmon chuckled, "We've made it this far after all."
Labramon chuckled. "You're right. Sometimes we just have to go with a plan if it has a chance of success. We don't need to be super smart to overcome this."
"We leave the super smart stuff to my parents and Jazz," Lopmon replied. "Their ingenuity are what even allowed us to get into this dream world in the first place."
"Yeah, that's true." Labramon agreed. "I'm pretty sure most of that technical stuff would've gone over my head if I had to help with that. Just thinking about it gives me a headache… I usually left that stuff up to the techno geek or Mikey."
"Huh…" Lopmon looked at Labramon.
"What?" Labramon asked.
"You're able to say Mikey's name," Lopmon noted.
"Why? What's so important about that?" Labramon huffed, puffing her cheeks out in annoyance.
Lopmon frowned before he tried saying his original name, only for little snowflakes to come out. "... Odd… we can't say our own names, but we can still say the names of other people. I was able to say Jazz's name too now that I think about it."
"Didn't Dr. Carbon make it so our names were blacklisted?" Labramon asked. "So it'd make sense we can still say other people's names, just not our own, right?"
"That's right… I guess I got used to thinking only Takuya and the other's names could be said here because they're the only humans that are allowed here," Lopmon noted. "I wish I figured this out sooner…"
"Why? I mean what does it matter?" Labramon asked.
"Because Takuya knows Mom, Dad, and Jazz," Lopmon answered. "If I had mentioned their names, he might suspect something's wrong without me breaking one of the core rules. It's a loophole."
"Really? You just realized that now?" Labramon sweatdropped. "That could've helped us out so much…"
"It's too late now," Lopmon replied. "Unfortunately…"
"Well… what do we have here? Two lost Digimon alone?" A voice spoke up.
Lopmon and Labramon stopped in their tracks, their senses going cold with dread. Turning around, they saw the figure behind them. It glowed red, its eyes were black and soulless. It had red and black tentacles for arms. It looked like it was primarily red with a black gem-like object in its chest. And it had long, pointy looking legs with no feet. Its face had one big pointy spike at the tip of its head.
"W-what is that?!" Labramon yipped in fright.
"It's one of the ghosts!" Lopmon realized. "It's gotta be!"
"You can call me Gouda~" The ghost replied with a grin. "I tried to take out your BlackGatomon friend, but she's protected by quite the powerful Digimon. But it looks like you two are on your own, so this should be easy."
"We're not going to go down that easily!" Lopmon argued.
"W-we're not?" Labramon asked as she shook.
"No, of course not!" Lopmon replied.
Labramon shook her head and remembered why she was doing this. "You're right. We won't go down so easily, not with our friends counting on us!" She exclaimed, trying to push past her fear.
"Oh? But you're shaking~ Are you sure you want to face me alone?" Gouda chuckled darkly.
"If we have to, we will!" Labramon growled.
Gouda grinned as he raised up his tentacles and started creating a glowing green ball of ecto energy.
"S-so… Lopmon, what's the plan here?" Labramon asked nervously.
"It's simple," Lopmon said. "We run."
"W-what?"
"RUN YOU IDIOT!"
Lopmon quickly began running in the opposite direction. Labramon yelped as she quickly ran after Lopmon as Gouda fired the ecto blast, hitting the ground, leaving a large hole and some data corrupting itself.
"Oh? So they were smart and ran? How fun~ It will be a pleasure to go on the hunt for them." Gouda grinned sinisterly before flying after the two of them. "Come and face me, little Digimon~ Or are you going to run back to your Legendary Warrior friends?"
"Why are we running!? I thought we were going to fight!" Labramon asked as she and Lopmon were running.
"Who said anything about fighting?" Lopmon replied. "I meant what I said, we're not going down that easily. I didn't mean we were going to fight! We're no match for a strong ghost on our own, Labramon! The ecto energy itself would severely mess up our partners if we get hit!"
"I forgot… Thanks for reminding me!" Labramon exclaimed, only to yelp as she felt another ecto blast nearly hit her again. "We gotta move faster! That last ecto blast was much closer than I like!"
Gouda was now chasing them from the side. He was laughing as he summoned more ecto energy with his tentacles and started throwing them at the two Digimon. Lopmon and Labramon began dodging the ecto energy. Luckily, Gouda seemed to be toying with them instead of being serious. He created ecto balls of energy and threw them.
"Just think of it as dodgeball!" Lopmon called out to Labramon.
"I usually dominate dodgeball, not dodge the balls!" Labramon yelped.
"Then this is a good chance for you to learn!" Lopmon called back.
But despite this, they couldn't dodge the ecto balls forever. They needed a plan and quick.
"Into the woods, hurry!" Lopmon pointed out.
Labramon didn't hesitate to follow Lopmon into the woods. "I hope this works!" She exclaimed.
The two Digimon darted into the woods, weaving between the trees and hoping to throw off Gouda's aim.
"You can't escape me that easily! I can go intangible!" Gouda shouted.
Lopmon grinned as he looked back. "Yes you can, but how can you hit us if you're intangible? Even your ghost powers need to be tangible to hit us!"
"You know an awful lot about how ghosts work, Lopmon…" Labramon noted.
"I've… fought with more than a few in Amity Park," Lopmon admitted. And studied one in action, but you don't need to know that.
Labramon grinned. "So you're using what you learned against this Gouda ghost! Nice!"
Gouda growled, fully aware Lopmon was right. "You're awfully smart to have figured out the weakness of my ghost rays." And this makes attacking the two of them much more difficult.
"And if you fire too many of your ghost rays, well, let's just say you're going to catch the attention of the Legendary Warriors," Lopmon replied. "We may not be allowed back to them anymore, but you're not allowed to be seen by them either. And then what will happen?"
Gouda hesitated before growling in anger. "Dang it… For a small Digimon, you're much braver than you appear to be. I guess I can't just play around with you as my prey anymore, not if I want to avoid catching the attention of the Legendary Warriors."
Gouda grinned. "I can still catch you the old fashion way!"
"Run faster, Labramon!" Lopmon quickly said.
Labramon yelped as Gouda was flying after them. Labramon ran faster, her four, longer legs able to carry her through the rocks, trees, bushes, branches, and other things quickly. Lopmon, however, despite being based on a rabbit, was much slower. He was on two shorter feet, so he couldn't run as fast. Gouda was quickly starting to catch up to him.
"I'm going to catch you, little rabbit~" Gouda grinned as he began to stretch out some of his tentacles.
Speed is not my best factor here. But in order to outrun a faster predator, the prey must use the environment around them. Lopmon thought to himself, trying to keep calm in this intense situation.
Lopmon began weaving through the trees, cutting sharp corners, jumping over the rocks. He would duck or jump to avoid getting grabbed by one of the tentacles that lashed out to grab him.
Lopmon saw Labramon ahead, who seemed to have stopped on one side of a rather large boulder and was taking a moment to catch her breath. Lopmon, seeing an opportunity, and praying that it would work, ran to the other side of the large boulder. Goudra flew forward, trying to grab Lopmon and Labramon… only to smash right into the boulder face first.
Labramon winced as she felt the boulder shake with the impact. "Ouch… That had to hurt."
"Let's go before he has a chance to recover," Lopmon quickly said.
Labramon nodded.
The two of them fled the area, just as Gouda began to regain his senses. "Ow… Who put that boulder in the way…?" He groaned out groggily.
Gouda was definitely not used to having solid matter slamming into him like that… or he slamming into it… That Lopmon pretty much baited him right into that thing. "What's with that rabbit? He should be easy prey!"
Meanwhile, Lopmon and Labramon were hiding in a hollow tree, trying to catch their breath.
"I can't believe that ghost ran right into that boulder," Labramon said.
"Yeah… it was a good thing you were on one side of that boulder. It let me get to the other side and that ghost tried to grab both of us, not even taking the boulder into account until it was too late," Lopmon remarked.
"Well, I'm glad that worked out for us." Labramon chuckled. "I didn't think it was possible for a ghost to not use its… um… whatever is a brain for a ghost, to realize a boulder was in front of it."
"I think the ghost was just used to not having to worry about solid matter since they can go through stuff subconsciously… or instinctively," Lopmon replied. "But he couldn't go intangible since he was aiming to grab us. But we better be careful, we may not get so lucky next time."
Labramon nodded. "Agreed. I'd hate to risk doing the same plan again and it backfires on us."
Labramon then frowned. "But… how will we get back on the track? That ghost will likely go back there to look for us."
Lopmon frowned. "That's a good question… Right now, our best option is to run and hide from these ghosts. If Patamon were here, he may be able to take them on. But without him, we're sitting ducks."
"Patamon?" Labramon asked. "Why Patamon?"
"He's… a special case," Lopmon replied. "Now that we can no longer go with the Legendary Warriors… it's best I tell you now. Patamon's data got infused with some ectoplasm in Amity Park. It hurt him a great deal, but he managed to survive, and his body was able to adapt to the ectoplasm. So it granted him a ghost form he can shift into, making him much stronger. I don't know if he's still counted as a Digimon or a ghost in that form, but he's a lot stronger than the average Rookie Digimon at the very least."
"Is that even possible?" Labramon asked, surprised. "This is the first I've heard of this."
"You'd be surprised what's possible in any world," Lopmon answered. "Digimon are mysterious beings with mysterious powers… but then… so are humans."
Lopmon looked away from Labramon when he said this. Labramon may not the best people person, but she could tell something about what Lopmon said bothered him.
"What's going on, Lopmon?" Labramon asked. "It seems like something is bothering you."
"It's nothing," Lopmon replied. "It's just personal stuff I rather keep to myself. We should go, if we stay here too long, we might get discovered."
"Alright," Labramon said.
Lopmon and Labramon began walking through the woods, trying to head back to the main train tracks.
"You know… before this whole thing began…" Labramon started. "I was still pretty much a bully to you, you know… why did you decide to trust me to help you with something like this? Not only that, but you know I'm not the smartest tool in the shed… in fact, the only reason I even made it to high school was because I threatened Mikey and other nerds to do the work for me."
"It's true you haven't been the best person," Lopmon admitted. "But you have been willing to change for the better, and ever since you met Labramon, you've been doing a pretty good job of that. And I believe you're smarter than you give yourself credit for. You're doing alright in school without using Mikey and the other booksmart kids to do your work for you. And I believe people deserve a second chance, but only if they're willing to take it."
Labramon smiled. "Thanks, Lopmon. And… to be honest, I've been wanting to take that second chance for a while, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. But now… now I think I know how I can do that. I have been trying to not bully others, and I feel I've been doing a good job so far, but only actions can prove I have changed instead of just words alone."
"You've been brave, standing up to Digimon and ghosts that are stronger than we are. You've been helpful. You've been helping Koji out when he needed it. You're a part of the Digidestined now, so there's no reason to not include you to help our friends," Lopmon stated. "We need all the help we can get."
Labramon beamed. "I will do my best to help in any way I can." She said with pride before it faded. "I just hope this can be pulled off with success. We've come too far and put too much on the line to lose what we've worked towards."
"But let me ask you something," Lopmon spoke up. "What made you decide to change? I know you told me before it was because of that whole… dragon fiasco, which hopefully we'll never have to worry about again, but I doubt you decided to make such a change on just one moment… is it?"
"Well… truth be told, that one moment was quite monumental," Labramon sweatdropped. "But I guess I've always thought about it at least, it was just that dragon thing made me realize how… bad it was to feel to being helpless, being under someone else's mercy. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but it was all I knew. I wasn't doing well in school, my parents were always putting pressure on me to succeed. I started taking my anger out on the other students who seemed weaker than me and were doing a better job. My parents would often bring up their names to compare my grades with, so I would usually target them. Before I knew it, I ended up becoming a bully, and I couldn't just stop because if I did, then I would be seen as weak. Those I hurt would find their chance to hurt me back."
"Sounds like you've had it rough," Lopmon noted. "Were my and my brother's names mentioned? You did seem to like targeting us for a while too."
Labramon grimaced. "No, your names were never brought up, but your sister's was." She admitted. "But for some reason, I just couldn't stop picking on you two. I think it was because you had such a brilliant older sister. I didn't want to go around beating up a girl though, as that would make me look bad, so I picked on the next best thing, you two."
"Huh… of course our sister's natural intelligence would get us into trouble," Lopmon grumbled. "Wouldn't be the first, or last, time. Sometimes I think she's too smart for her, and our, own good…"
"You say that, but…" Labramon looked at Lopmon. "Aren't you smart too? I mean you outsmarted that ghost back there earlier, and you were the one who gave us a chance to even attempt to save our friends from Dr. Carbon's weird dream machine."
"I'm an average student who makes average grades," Lopmon replied. "I only know how to say the right words if I know the person enough. I like animals, so I used to do a lot of research on how they survive in the wild. That was how I knew how to avoid getting caught back there. It's not that I'm smart, I just have knowledge that I can use when I need to."
"So it's more of you using what you know, not how smart you are." Labramon mused. "That makes sense. I guess it's not all about intelligence alone; you have to know how to use what knowledge you have to help you."
"People do it all the time, it's just a matter of execution," Lopmon said. "Like how you usually use what you know to get Mikey to do your homework for you. And Mikey uses what he knows to ace a test. I suppose anyone could be smart, just like how anyone could be dumb. We have our strengths and weaknesses. I could never hope to match up to my sister when it comes to booksmarts, but I'm sure there are things I can do that she can't… I don't know what that is, but I'm sure there's something."
"Well, you'll find out what it is." Labramon reassured Lopmon. "Maybe not know, but certainly down the road."
Lopmon gave a small smile to Labramon. "And you're bound to discover a lot more weird things about our world the longer you stick with us. You may have to do a lot of fighting too."
"I can handle that," Labramon said. "If I can stand up to Firamon when he tried to destroy the Flame Terminal, I can stand up to just about anything."
Lopmon nodded before he and Labramon got a sudden chill. "That ghost… is he already here?"
"Do you really think you could get away from me so easily?" Gouda shouted.
"I don't think he's seen us yet…" Labramon noted in a quieter voice, trying to keep them from being discovered.
Lopmon and Labramon lowered themselves under some rocks, hoping to stay hidden as Gouda was floating around, looking for them.
"I know you're here!" Gouda growled, his tentacles moving around the trees and bushes.
Lopmon and Labramon realized they couldn't stay here, they needed to move. Lopmon used one of his ears to touch Labramon's head, getting her attention. Without speaking, Lopmon nudged his head forward, letting her know to follow him.
Both of them stayed low to the ground as they began crawling to the next hiding spot.
Slowly and carefully, the two Digimon crept along, making sure to not make too much movement or even step on any branches that could snap.
"Where are you?!" Gouda exclaimed, moving to another bush and rustling it hard.
A large rocky outcropping was just ahead of Labramon and Lopmon. It would provide good cover from Gouda and his tentacles wouldn't be able to reach in through the small openings scattered about so easily either.
The two little Digimon squeezed themselves in the tightest of spots, trying to find the least likely place Gouda would find them in.
Gouda was floating around, but he was getting further away. Both of them breathed out a sigh of relief.
"I wish we could fight… I don't like having to run and hide…" Labramon whispered.
"I know…" Lopmon frowned. "If only we could digivolve… or at least digivolve our partners, we might stand a chance."
The two of them continued to move in the opposite direction. They didn't know where they were going, they just knew they had to get back to the train tracks.
"How many of those ghosts do you think are here?" Labramon asked.
"I doubt there would be too many of them," Lopmon replied. "Especially since Dr. Carbon set up that rule that they can't interact with the Legendary Warriors. So the more of them there are, the harder that would be, especially if they were sent here to eliminate us specifically."
"E-eliminate us?" Labramon gulped.
"From this world," Lopmon quickly corrected. "I doubt Dr. Carbon actually wants us dead in reality."
"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better…" Labramon admitted. "I-I mean… it does make me feel better, just not in a… comforting way, you know? I get he doesn't want to hurt us, but it still doesn't help me feel better about what he's doing."
"None of us approves of what he's doing, that's why we're here," Lopmon said. "Ever heard of psychological horror?"
"Well hello there!" A new voice suddenly spoke up, causing them to jump.
A face appeared on one of the rocks and grinned at them. "It's been a while since I saw you last, little bunny!"
Lopmon blinked. "Who are you?"
"Oh how could you forget about me? It's me, you know… Milk," The face came out of the rock, showing a familiar creepy doll.
Lopmon's eyes went wide as he backed away.
"Oh don't look so scared, I don't have a lot of power unlike Gouda and Dairy," Milk remarked. "I prefer a more… subtle way of dealing with things."
Labramon moved in front of Lopmon. "I won't let you get to Lopmon." She growled out threateningly.
"Oh please, if I wanted to 'get to Lopmon', I could've easily done that while you two were talking earlier," Milk remarked. "I hear Gouda's looking for you though."
"What are you going to do? Alert him that we're here?" Labramon growled.
"That would be something, wouldn't it?" Milk grinned. "But since you're trying to hide… how about we play a game instead?"
"A… game?" Labramon raised an eyebrow. "What kind of game?" She didn't like the sound of how Milk was trying to be playful.
"We're already in a game or two," Lopmon grumbled. "We're in Dr. Carbon's game, and we're currently playing hide-n-seek from Gouda."
"Aww, but that doesn't mean you can't play with me either. After all, you're kids, you love playing games, don't you?~" Milk grinned. "Come on, if you don't play, I'll be sure to alert Gouda exactly where you two are, then it won't be fun anymore."
Labramon frowned. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place, her and Lopmon. If they didn't play with Milk, then Gouda was sure to find them. But… if they did play with Milk… who knew what kind of game this creepy doll had in mind?
"What do we do, Lopmon?" Labramon asked. "I don't wanna be found by Gouda, but… what kind of game would this little guy want to play with us?"
"Only one way to find out…" Lopmon replied. "What kind of game do you want to play, Milk?"
"It's a game I like to call… 'What Are you Afraid of?'" Milk's grin turned from playful to malicious.
All of a sudden, the area around Lopmon and Labramon began to shift and turn dark.
"L-Lopmon! What's going on!?" Labramon shouted.
"I-I don't know!" Lopmon gulped.
Suddenly they began falling into the dark void. Both of them yelled as they fell.
Labramon shook herself. She found herself alone, no sign of Lopmon. "Lopmon? Where are you?"
Milk suddenly appeared over Labramon. "Greetings, little pup~"
"Wah! H-hey! What did you do to Lopmon?" Labramon growled.
"If I were you, I'd worry less about the bunny, and more about yourself," Milk replied. "There is only one way to win this game. And that is to get out."
"What do you mean 'get out'? Where am I?" Labramon frowned.
"Consider where you are," Milk said. "Being able to tweak the reality you're in, to create another world of illusions. See if you can find your way out of the illusions, or let it consume you."
"What the heck does that mean?" Labramon questioned.
"Figure it out, mutt, I'm sure the rabbit would," Milk grinned before he disappeared.
Left alone again, Labramon frowned. She didn't really know what to do other than walk forward. Find a way out of the illusions or let it consume me… I wish I knew what that meant… And where Lopmon is…
Labramon frowned as she noticed a building up ahead. She started running toward the building, hoping to find someone to help her. However, as she got closer to the building, it began to look more and more familiar.
Wait… is that… It's Casper High? Why would I be here? Labramon wondered to herself.
Slowly, Labramon made her way closer to the high school, confused and wondering what was going on. She kept herself on high alert, but the familiar sight of the school was oddly comforting too.
Carefully, Labramon entered the school by nudging open the doors, which was difficult considering she didn't have hands. The interior of Casper High looked the same, which was another source of comfort. Huh… Things certainly haven't changed… But… Why do I feel uneasy then? Labramon wondered as she looked around.
Labramon wasn't sure what Milk had done, but he may have teleported her back to Casper High. But then… that didn't answer why she was still Labramon and not in her human form. The hallways were eerily empty. Labramon wondered if there was even any school today.
Suddenly, the school bell rang, shocking Labramon. But Labramon didn't have time to worry about the sudden bell, because almost immediately, all the doors opened and students started walking out. But instead of different people in the crowd, there were just grayscale people that looked the same, wearing the same white T-shirt and gray pants, walking around the corridors. Labramon couldn't even see any faces on these people.
Getting creeped out by this, Labramon began running down the hall, trying to get through these faceless people's legs, she kept going until she ran through an open door that led out to the football field. Instead of more faceless grayscale people, however, she saw… the entire football team, including Kwan and Calvin.
"Way to go, Calvin! You're the best football captain we've ever had!" Kwan complimented.
"Of course I am!" Calvin beamed with pride. "I'm way better than someone else who is currently the football captain!"
Wait… Why is Calvin the head of the football team? I thought I was the captain. Labramon frowned to herself. What's going on here?
"I'll say!" Another jock said with a big grin. "No one can top you! You're so strong and impressive!"
"Ever since you've substituted for our other captain, who isn't here right now, you've shown just how strong and reliable you are," Another jock praised. "Maybe we should tell Coach Tetslaff to replace him with you."
"Oh we definitely should, but maybe we should wait for our captain to get here, it wouldn't be fair to him if we kicked him out of the team without doing it in front of his face." Calvin grinned.
Labramon, having forgotten that she was currently a small dog-like Digimon, ran over to the football team. "H-hey! What's this talk about replacing me?"
"Oh, look who it is, Labramon our current football captain," Calvin sneered.
"Where've you been, man?" Kwan asked Labramon like she had always been a Labramon and there was nothing strange about that. "You've missed out on like 7 practices! Calvin had to take over as captain."
"What?" Labramon was confused. "I've… I don't remember missing practices. And… Why are you all praising Calvin so much?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Kwan asked. "Calvin is the biggest and strongest of us all. Plus, he is more reliable. He hasn't missed practice, and he has led us to victory in multiple games."
"But I was supposed to be the biggest and strongest, that's why I was made the captain!" Labramon argued.
"Yeah right!" Calvin got up in her face all of a sudden. "You may have once been the king of Casper High, but lately you've been hanging out with the Fenton Freaky Twins and their loser friends. You've been slacking in using Mikey to do your homework for you. When was the last time you really used any of your A-List package? And besides, you're going soft on us, Labramon. We haven't seen or heard you beating up or chasing down some poor sap that's lower on the popularity chain. How could we trust a softy like you to lead our team to victory, huh?"
"B-but… why does hurting others should be something the captain does? That's… not what a leader's supposed to do…" Labramon frowned.
"Well, for us, what matters is strength. We're supposed to show that we are the alpha males, we are not to be messed with. We dominate, show the others their place in this school!" Calvin sneered. "And I have that strength, unlike you~ You just hold us back. For all we know, your leadership has been soft the whole time!"
"And with how weak and soft you're becoming, maybe it's about time we treat you like one of those nerds!" Another jock grinned, pounding his fist into the palm of his hand.
"You can't do that! I'm still your captain! Right, Kwan?" Labramon spoke up. "... Kwan?"
"S-sorry, Labramon… but Calvin's… kinda scary… I have to side with him," Kwan timidly replied.
Labramon felt her body begin to shake with fright. "B-But… Why? Why is strength all that matters? That can't be true! It can't!" She shook her head. "Strength can't be all that matters! Not if it hurts others!"
Calvin and the other jocks began to surround Labramon. Labramon had never felt so small in her life as it looked like Calvin and jocks had grown to become much bigger than they really should be. Labramon, now fearing for her life, began running. The football team started chasing after her, yelling how they would tear her apart, and flush her pieces down the toilet.
Labramon ran into a classroom to hide from the football team. She ended up running into Mikey.
"M-Mikey?"
Mikey looked over at her. "Oh, it's you. Looks like you got kicked out of the football team. So that means I no longer have to work for you!"
"Mikey… I… I'm sorry that I picked on you and hurt you, but I-"
"I don't want to hear your excuses. You brought this on yourself. Good luck getting any good grades now, your parents are sure to dump you off to military school," Mikey hissed venomously at Labramon.
Labramon whimpered at Mikey's cold words. "I… I don't…" She was shaking now. "I didn't… I'm sorry, Mikey! I really am!"
"Save it!" Mikey hissed again. "You screwed yourself over! I'm done with you, so you can go get kicked out to military school and out of my life, out of every nerd's life!"
Mikey pushed Labramon out of the classroom, and Labramon suddenly found herself falling. She didn't understand why she was falling, just that she was. She whimpered when she hit solid ground. She saw someone standing in front of her. She let out a gasp when she saw Koji there, scowling at her.
"Is it true? Were you really a bully and hurt people to do your bidding?" Koji harshly asked.
"N-no! No, I mean… I-I was, b-but I'm trying to change, Koji!" Labramon quickly explained.
"I don't deal with bullies." Koji growled out. "I can't stand others who beat other people up if they don't get their way."
Labramon felt her heart stop. "B-But, Koji! I really am trying to change! I have been backing off of beating others up!"
"Excuses don't erase what you've done." Koji snapped back. "No amount of apologizing will do that either. Either you are a bully, or you aren't, and I know which you are now."
Koji then began to walk away.
"Koji! Wait! Don't leave me alone here!" Labramon begged as she hurried after him.
Koji glared as he turned around and kicked Labramon away. "Don't you dare come close to me!"
Labramon whimpered as she looked up. "K-Koji…"
Fractal code surrounded Koji, transforming him into KendoGarurumon. He growled at the smaller canine Digimon, looking ready to tear her apart.
Maybe I do deserve retribution… the pain that I caused… the people I hurt… I really am no better than just a one-dimensional bully… Labramon cried.
"I believe anyone deserves a second chance if they're willing to take it."
It was a memory… something that someone had said recently.
"We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Anyone can be smart just as anyone can be dumb."
The bright light coming from KendoGarurumon blinded Labramon. She was waiting for her end.
"Dash! You can't let this illusion consume you! WAKE UP!" Labramon's voice shouted through the bright light.
Labramon gasped as the light shattered suddenly. The boy named Dash was back in the void, with a magenta circle protecting him.
"Dash… don't listen to the illusion. It's trying to break your spirit!" Labramon's voice spoke up.
"What?" Dash blinked.
"You can't let your insecurities consume you, or you'll never wake up," Labramon's voice said.
That was when Dash remembered what Milk said earlier, about illusions consuming him. He was beginning to understand now what that meant.
"I… I can't let… That's right… I can't… I can't let my worry about what others think… my worries about being seen as weak… I can't let them hold me back or become what defines me." Dash realized. "I… I have others who care about me… They don't care about my issues."
"That's right, Dash. Nobody is perfect, everyone's got an inner demon they have to deal with, but that doesn't mean you have to deal with it alone! And remember, I'm here too, Dash. We're in this together!" Labramon's voice encouraged. "You don't need to hurt others to show you're strong. There are other, better ways to show how strong you are."
"That's right… a true leader… isn't someone who hurts others and uses them as stepping stones," Dash said. "I still have a long way to go before I can really consider myself a true leader. But I know one thing for sure, I'm strong, and I'll keep getting stronger, not to hurt those around me, not to dominate to show off to my peers, but to help and protect those who can't!"
"We want to become better than who we were before."
"And we'll do it together!"
Fractal code suddenly surrounded Dash's body and the core that was Labramon. Labramon's body was glowing brightly. She let out a howl as she held out her front paws, fractal code surrounded them like ribbons, covering her paws and extending out, creating a pair of arms and hands. Her back legs were then covered by fractal codes as well, extending out into legs and feet. Her body was wrapped in fractal code, turning large and bulky, then her face was wrapped in fractal code, turning into a human face, with short blond hair and blue eyes. The fractal code that was surrounding her body then separated from the human body, turning into Labramon herself.
Dash and Labramon were now two separate beings. Dash blinked as he looked down at himself, and at Labramon.
"H-how… did we just… split apart?" Dash asked in shock.
"I think so," Labramon noted. "But… I don't think it's going to last long. If we're going to do something, we better do it fast!"
"But what can we do separately that we couldn't do when we were fused together?" Dash frowned.
Labramon smiled. "I can digivolve."
Dash blinked before he remembered Lopmon's words back when they had spoken to Mrs. Fenton, about not being able to digivolve. "Right! That was an issue. But how do you know you can digivolve now? What if fusing together made it so you can't anymore?"
"We can't worry about that. We need to act now." Labramon replied.
Dash frowned a bit, but he nodded. Hesitation wasn't an option anymore. "Right." He said before giving Labramon a big grin. "Let's show we aren't holding back anymore. For everyone. We're getting out of here!"
Dash focused on his bond with Labramon, hoping that she would be able to tap into her power of digivolution. Like with before, fractal code surrounded Labramon.
"Labramon, digivolve to…" Labramon felt her skin and fur beginning to peel off of her body. The same happened to her face and ears as well. Darker colored skin appeared on her limbs and body, along with black fur growing in. Bony accents appeared on her body as well. Her tail was now thin and black, and her face was now slender and she had red eyes. "Dobermon!"
The fractal code dissipated, revealing Dobermon at Dash's side.
Dash grinned. "It worked! Sweet!"
"Quickly, get on, we need to get out fast and find Lopmon," Dobermon quickly said.
Dash didn't hesitate to hop onto Dobermon's back. As soon as Dash was on her back, Dobermon ran forward, going back to the fake Casper High.
"If this is an illusion, how do we get out?" Dash asked.
"We brute force our way out," Dobermon responded.
Dobermon opened her maw and fired out a dark beam. "Black Beam!"
The beam hit the school, though instead of causing an explosion, a black hole appeared suddenly. Dash let out a yelp as Dobermon and he went through the black hole. Dobermon was now running through a dark tunnel with Dash hanging onto her collar.
"Where are we going?" Dash asked.
"To Lopmon, I hope, I smell him up ahead!" Dobermon replied.
That's right, Lopmon got caught up in this weird nightmare game too! Dash realized. What could he be going through?
Dobermon jumped out through a green looking portal, and landed on a floating piece of rock in some kind of green and black void, but there were floating islands all over the place, and purple floating doors.
"Wh-where are we?" Dash asked, looking around in nervousness. "It's… like a green and black version of space… but with purple doors and rocks floating around instead of stars."
"I don't know, but it feels off to me, like I shouldn't be here." Dobermon replied. "But we can't worry about that right now. We need to find Lopmon, and he appears to be here."
Dobermon began to jump from island to island, trying to figure out where Lopmon was.
"This place is pretty big, how are we going to find Lopmon like this?" Dash frowned.
"He's gotta be nearby. I doubt Milk would've been able to make this place that big if he's just aiming for one target," Dobermon replied.
Suddenly, a brown and pink blur ran past them.
"What the!?" Dash yelped.
The brown and pink blur stopped and turned around, looking just as surprised as Dash was.
"What the!?" Lopmon yelped back.
Lopmon shouted something, but only little snowflakes came out of his mouth. "-how are you… what!? WHAT!? Dobermon? WHAT!? I am so confused! Wait! You're just another illusion, aren't you!?"
"N-No, I'm not an illusion!" Dash replied. "I'm here, as is Dobermon. But why are you here? Are you okay?"
"Nothing here is okay!" Lopmon shouted. "Whether you're real or not, I suggest you get out of here!"
Before Dash or Dobermon could even ask, ghost rays shot at them. Dobermon quickly moved out of the way.
"Is that Gouda!?" Dash yelled.
"I wish!" Lopmon frowned. "... No, I mean, that would be better than what's actually chasing me!"
"What's chasing you?" Dobermon frowned.
"A very angry ghost…" Lopmon grinned, though it wasn't a happy grin.
"LOPMON! You can't keep running forever!" The ghost shouted.
Dash felt like he heard that voice before.
"Why does that voice sound like… your brother?" Dash wondered. "But it's… echoey, like a ghost's."
Dash looked up, seeing what looked like the ghost boy, but something was wrong. The ghost boy's usual green eyes were glowing red for some reason, and he had a sinister smile on his face, something Dash had never seen on the ghost boy… except for that one time when he and some other ghosts were stealing treasures and money from Amity Park. It was proven that the ghosts and Agunimon were being controlled by an evil ringmaster, but it was really unsettling to see.
"Oh…" Dash felt shivers run down his spine upon seeing the red eyes and sinister smile.
"C'mon, Lopmon! You can't avoid me forever! I'd like to just get this over with and get back to my Master!" The ghost boy sneered.
The ghost boy started flying at Dobermon, Dash, and Lopmon.
Lopmon looked down at the seemingly endless voice from the floating rock they were on. "This has to be an illusion, or a nightmare Milk trapped me in. I'm going to jump!"
"WHAT!? Are you crazy!?" Dash shouted.
"Maybe I am! But I'm going to get out of this nightmare one way or another!" Lopmon shouted back before he jumped.
"Dobermon, jump after him!" Dash quickly said.
Dobermon hesitated for a bit before she looked at the incoming ghost boy. The sinister red eyes and grin made up her mind for her. "Hold on then." She instructed Dash.
Without a hesitation more, Dobermon jumped down after Lopmon.
The green and black changed around them, turning into a night sky with stars and a moon. Dobermon and Lopmon landed on what felt like something hard.
"Where are we now?" Dash frowned.
Dash heard what sounded like a train steam whistle. The long platform they were on suddenly started moving, and the scenery around them began to blur as the train went faster.
"Back here…" Lopmon hissed.
Two figures walked over to them, revealing to be the ghost boy again, with his red eyes. And next to him was the dark corrupted version of Agunimon.
"Oh, c'mon! Do we have to deal with Agunimon too now?" Dash growled out. He was really starting to get sick of these ghosts playing mind games like this.
"Please, stop this now! I know this isn't real!" Lopmon shouted. "I've already been through this nightmare! You can't break me again with the same old tricks!"
"We told you, Lopmon… we like being like this!" Phantom hissed. "And I don't want you changing us back again!"
"Having this much power is so much more rewarding~" Agunimon snickered before his voice became menacing. "I won't be changed back so easily either. Being a goody two shoes makes me sick."
"You…" Dash felt his body shaking a bit at the menacing tones from Phantom and Agunimon, but he wasn't about to back down. "No. No, this isn't them. The real Phantom and Agunimon would never act like this, not willingly."
"Oh? And how do you know that?" Agunimon asked menacingly. "For all you know, we could genuinely like being like this~" He spread his mismatched arms for emphasis.
"It feels so good, so freeing to finally let out my true ghost side! Why would you want me to go back to suppressing that again, Lopmon?" Phantom asked. "Are you… afraid of me? Do you… hate me? You think I took away your brother, don't you? That because of me, he can never truly just be your brother again. Well, guess what? I'm never letting him go!"
Phantom's teeth looked like they got sharper, and the whites on his hazmat suit looked like they started turning red, and his white hair also looked to be turning dark red.
Lopmon was shivering as he backed away.
"W-what is this nightmare?" Even Dash was afraid, he couldn't believe someone like Lopmon had such nightmares and worries. Though he understood Agunimon, but he didn't understand why the ghost boy in particular.
"You can't escape…"
"Look out!" Dobermon suddenly warned.
A large white creature stood next to the train. Several harboons pierced through the train, holding it in place. Lopmon, Dash, and Dobermon were jostled around. Dobermon and Lopmon used their claws to try to hang onto the train while Dash was hanging onto Dobermon's body.
"W-what now?!" Dash exclaimed. "W-Who is this guy?!"
"Look!" Dobermon pointed out. "At this guy's hands!"
Dash did, and his jaw dropped. "Is that the symbol of Ice?!"
"Yes, but as far as I know, the Legendary Warriors are not aware of us in this dream." Dobermon replied.
"Then why are they attacking us!?" Dash yelled.
"Because they are after Lopmon and we are with him," Dobermon explained.
"Please stop… end this…" Lopmon cried. "I don't want this anymore…"
Dash frowned, he had never seen Lopmon look so vulnerable. "Dobermon… can't we end this nightmare like you did for me?"
"I can only do that if the nightmare weakens," Dobermon answered. "Lopmon needs to fight back, but he's letting it consume him."
"Then… we have to help Lopmon." Dash realized. "He's the one who has to end this, just like I did."
"Lopmon, instead of running away or trying to 'fix' us, how about you join us?" Agunimon said as he and Phantom walked closer to them.
"Yeah, it would feel so much better to just let it all go instead of fighting so much. I know you're tired of this," Phantom grinned.
Dash gritted his teeth in anger before he looked directly at Lopmon.
"Lopmon, you need to stop running." Dash said to Lopmon. "You know these two better than anyone, right? And Tommy too, you know Tommy wouldn't be hunting us down like this!"
"Don't you think I already know that!?" Lopmon snapped. "I've been plagued by this nightmare again and again! It doesn't stop and I'm sick of it! Why should I have to keep fighting to save them? They need to save themselves for ONCE!"
Dash and Dobermon were rather surprised to hear that.
"... Does that make me bad?" Lopmon asked. "I always have to worry for the sake of everyone… I always have to think about these things… the risks that we take… but I can't always save them. One of these days I'll fail, I'll fail to save anyone!"
Dash looked down before he looked back up at Lopmon. "No… It doesn't make you bad. You want them to be able to help themselves. That's a good thing, but there will be times that they can't help themselves, and will need your help. Everyone needs help sometimes, you know this."
"Why am I hearing this from you of all people?" Lopmon questioned.
"Because I realized that myself, you and Labramon helped me realize that!" Dash answered back. "And while it's true you may need to help them from time to time, you need to trust that they'll be able to handle themselves too."
"How can I?" Lopmon asked. "Look at what's happened to them! To Takuya! To Tommy! To Koji even! They were all captured and brainwashed right under our noses!"
"You can't predict everything! How were we, you, supposed to know they would get abducted!? Things that we don't expect will happen to everyone, to those you, we, care about!" Dash replied back. "You can't keep worrying about them all the time! If you keep acting like you can't save them, then you will only go down that path of thinking! Yes, they were abducted under our noses, but it wasn't something you knew about! It's not your fault!"
Lopmon gritted his teeth.
"Who was the one who gave us the chance to save them now?" Dash asked. "Who was the one that allowed us to be here now? It was you! You're already trying your best to save them. And you know they are capable, you saw them grow when we started our journey with them. You knew we had to trust them to get through the rest of this without us. Now trust that they will, and that we will succeed in saving them."
Lopmon looked at Dash as Dash held out his hand to Lopmon. Lopmon remembered a similar situation when he was trying to push back Cerberumon's attack and Patamon held out his hand to Lopmon. It was an unspoken promise to fight together until the bitter end. Lopmon didn't have to do this alone. While Dash had been someone who bullied him in the past, it was clear that Dash was now a member of the team, and was willing to do anything to help him however he could. Putting his trust in Dash, Lopmon moved his ear and grabbed onto Dash's hand.
"Now Dobermon!" Dash called out.
Dobermon let go of the train, and they started falling. "Black Beam!"
Dobermon unleashed the powerful piercing beam at the train, destroying it, Korikkakumon, Phantom, and corrupted Agunimon.
The entire environment shattered around them as they continued falling… until… they found themselves back at the field of rocks, where Milk was earlier… where they were earlier.
Lopmon blinked a few times, trying to recompose himself, and he looked over at Dash and Dobermon.
"You two… you really are real?" Lopmon asked, surprised.
"Yes, we are," Dobermon confirmed. "And it looks like we're back in reality… well.. As reality as this world could be."
"We're not in that nightmare place anymore at least," Dash noted.
"I guess that means we won," Lopmon said before he frowned. "But… how are you two… separated?"
"That's… the weird thing…" Dash admitted. "It… It happened after Labramon and I vowed to become better people than we were. I don't know how it happened, just that it did."
Lopmon blinked. "That's…"
"What?" Dash asked.
"That's… what usually happens when our partners digivolve. We face something difficult, overcome it, and then digivolution miracle happens," Lopmon explained.
"But… we've faced a lot of things when we were with others, but nothing ever happened," Dash pointed out.
"We were mostly focused on helping or saving them, not ourselves," Lopmon reminded. "This is the first time… since we got to this world that we had to face something personal to us… and for you, at least, it worked. It let you separate from Labramon and digivolve her into her Champion form."
Dash blinked before he smiled. "I guess it did. And that's what enabled me to help you now."
"Yeah… thanks for that," Lopmon said softly. "It's funny. Of all people, I never thought my former bully would be the one to save me."
Dash chuckled. "Yeah, who would've thought? But it worked, so you could consider it a big change from how I used to be."
Dobermon suddenly groaned. "Dash… I don't think I can hold this form much longer…"
Dash frowned as he got off of Dobermon. "Will you be alright?"
"Yes… I think… I think we'll just fuse again," Dobermon answered. "But… we should be able to separate again if we need to now, as long as we're not too exhausted to do it."
Dash nodded. "At least we know what to do now to get the upper hand if we need it."
Lopmon watched as Dobermon was covered in fractal code. That fractal code spread over to Dash. The two came together again. When the fractal code vanished, there was no Dobermon, there was no human boy, there was just Labramon. Labramon opened her eyes and looked over at herself for a moment.
"Looks like I'm back to just being Labramon again," Labramon noted.
"Yeah," Lopmon said. "But… wasn't it against the rules for us to be here as… well, humans? Why hasn't Dr. Carbon kicked you out?"
"I don't think he is aware of what just happened." Labramon theorized. "I mean, I had no idea that would happen myself, so… maybe Dr. Carbon didn't consider us separating as being possible."
"He probably didn't consider us being able to come here as our partners either. I wouldn't be surprised if he thought we were literally our partners," Lopmon noted. "He's mostly keeping an eye on Takuya, Tommy, and the others, so he's not paying much attention to us."
"That might explain the lack of Digimon in the area. We were mostly running from ghosts that exist outside of this dream, but we hadn't run into any Digimon," Labramon noted.
"He can probably only keep things consistent with Tapirmon," Lopmon remarked. "Trying to split it would strain his partner's powers."
"So… do you think that means there won't be any Digimon in any towns unless we're with the Legendary Warriors?" Labramon questioned.
"I don't know," Lopmon said. "I doubt Dr. Carbon would make the cities and towns completely devoid of life, especially if the Legendary Warriors got separated. He's probably just not paying attention to rural places like the woods if they're not there. Video games usually have NPCs placed somewhere in the world for the players to find and talk to."
Labramon frowned at the comparison. "Sounds to me like Dr. Carbon is trying to treat this as a video game, albeit one that can brainwash people."
"I don't think that's his intention," Lopmon said. "It's probably just the easiest way to create a living world. But regardless, we could use this to our advantage. As long as Dr. Carbon is focused on the Legendary Warriors, and we're nowhere near them, he can't tell if we're breaking the rules. That gives us a little bit of breathing space."
Labramon nodded. "Yeah, that's true. But we still have to be wary in case those ghost… things… come after us again. They could report this new discovery to Dr. Carbon if we use it each time we encounter them."
"Well, Milk saw you," Lopmon reminded.
Labramon sweatdropped.
"And you're still here," Lopmon added. "So the ghosts may not be working with Dr. Carbon, but someone else. They seem to be just as afraid to get caught as we are."
"Huh… That's strange. I assumed they were with Dr. Carbon." Labramon mused. "But if that's the case, the ghosts being as afraid of being caught as we are, then we could perhaps try to find out who the ghosts answer to."
"Right… but we better be careful, they're still stronger than us," Lopmon warned. "You and Labramon aren't used to… this new method of digivolution yet, and you could strain yourselves. Lopmon and I haven't quite figured out how to do what you did either, so you'd be fighting alone with Dobermon if we get caught. We need to find our friends and hope they didn't get caught either."
Labramon nodded. "Right. Let's get going. I'm worried about them just as much as you are."
"If possible, we should find some higher ground. It's dangerous to keep walking on the road like this where we're easily spotted," Lopmon warned. "We better stay in the forest, at least the trees can keep us covered."
Labramon nodded, one thing he had learned since joining the Digidestined guild, was that Lopmon seemed to know what he was doing and it was best to follow him when possible.
"Heh, being the only two non-flyers, we better stick together," Labramon chuckled.
Titanic X: ZAFT: So glad you liked that! XD It was so much fun to write out~! X3
DarkFoxKit: Don't be surprised when that brotherly bond gets put to the test at some point.
pokemon fan 1991: DarkFoxKit: Hmm? I think you mean Andy's point of view since most of it was in his point of view. But I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Guest: DarkFoxKit: I have a few things to say to you, assuming you're even going to read this. To answer your question, yes, my old story, Child of Mew, is dead. I don't have any intentions of returning to it any time soon. If I do, it'll likely be a new story as a remake or reimagining. Second, it's very rude to come to a completely different and unrelated story to ask me about another story. Not to mention disrespectful to me and my co-writer who had been putting in time and effort to write all this out. If you don't care about the story and just want to ask me personally about something, you should try private messaging me.