Azulongmon closed his eyes. "She has just left the palace. She is outside, but... she is not alone. Someone is with her..."
He frowned. "Someone with a dark aura. How could he get near my palace without my noticing, I wonder?"
"Well, if he's evil, we can't leave him alone with Suzie," Guilmon said with determination.
Harmony nodded, the worry she felt for her little sister was clearly visible on her face. "C'mon, let's hurry!"
And she ran down the stairs, followed by her friends.
"I should have never allowed her to come with us," the young Hybrid blamed herself.
Terriermon could feel his friend's and Tamer's anguish, so he said: "Don't worry, Harmony! If anyone out there wants to lay a hand on Suzie, they have to deal with me!"
Harmony smiled at her partner gratefully.
They came out of the big main gate, ran across the stone bridge... and gasped. On the rocky ground, the groaning form of Gargoylemon was lying, his wings twitching in agony.
"Wh-what happened?" Harmony asked. "Where's my sister?"
"He... he got her..." the Armor Digimon stuttered, his big talon gesturing ahead.
And then they saw them... Suzie, fearfully standing in front of a tall, human-like Digimon that was wearing a face mask and a robe.
"I've been waiting for you, Hybrid Tamers," the figure said in a calm voice.
"Now I know I'm in a computer game..." Terriermon groaned. "That line just screams 'cliche'."
Renamon scowled at the strange Digimon, while Rika frowned.
"Renamon... that guy... he looks just like a Taomon."
"Similar, yes, but not identical," her sister replied darkly. "He is a Doumon, a Virus version of a Taomon."
Doumon smirked. "I've been waiting for such a long time to see you two again. My, Renamon... you truly have the good looks of your mother."
Rika had a real bad feeling about this. "Who are you?"
Doumon laughed. "Don't tell me you don't remember a member of your family. My, Rika, I'm hurt!"
"Stop that!" Harmony shouted in irritation. "Let my sister go, now!"
"Oh, I don't think so. At least not until you met my conditions. And you better not try anything, we don't want this little cutie here to be hurt, do we?"
He intensified his grip on Suzie's arm, and the little Tamer tried very hard not to show any tears. "S-stop, it hurts..."
"Do not worry, Suzie!" Lopmon shouted. "We will think of something, trust me! Well, at least I hope so..."
Guilmon growled angrily, but his brother held him back. "Don't," Takato said. "We can't do anything as long as he has Suzie."
He raised his voice. "So, tell us your 'conditions', Doumon!"
The Ultimate Virus Digimon grinned. "I want Rika... to come with me!"
"What?" Everyone looked at Rika. "Why her?"
"That is of no concern for you. Do it, or I'll take the little one along with me."
Rika, in the meantime, was in a state of shock.
'Family...' she thought to herself in horror. 'Family, he said. And he's a Doumon... But... but Mom told me, he... he would be a Taomon. But if it's true... Oh god, no... This stupid game! Can it be that cruel?'
"I'll go!" she suddenly said with a firm voice and stepped forwards.
That made everyone look at her in surprise. "Rika?" Renamon asked.
Rika looked at her sister. "Don't worry! I'll be fine. I just want to find out more about him. And maybe he doesn't even want to hurt me."
"He's on the side of evil, Azulongmon told us as much," Renamon insisted. "I can't let you go, Rika!"
"And what about Suzie? He clearly doesn't seem to show any interest in her besides using her as a bait for me to come. If this is a chance to save her, I want to take that chance."
"Rika..." Harmony said in a small voice. "If you will save Suzie, I'll forever be grateful, but... are you sure you wanna do this?"
Rika smiled at her long-time friend from school, which she sadly could not remember from before. "I already made up my mind. And if old mask-face over there tries anything stupid, I'll give him some nice, old-fashioned beating."
"Rika... be careful," Jeri said in worry. Takato nodded at that.
Rika gave them the thumbs up.
She then took a step closer to Doumon. "Well, here I am! Let Suzie go and I'll come!"
Doumon smirked. "Oh no, that won't do. I'd rather want you to start walking the same instance I release Suzie. Remember, I'm making the rules here."
Rika gritted her teeth. 'Okay, this time, maybe,' she mentally grumbled. 'But even if my fears turn out to be true, this won't hinder me from kicking your butt!'
And when she took her first step, Doumon released Suzie's arm. "Go slowly," he grumbled. "And only take a step when she does, understood?"
Suzie nodded weakly.
----
Meanwhile, in a dark and damp cell.
A young Cupimon blinked as she awoke from her slumber. She was sitting in what felt like a warm bed of fur to her.
Magnadramon smiled down at her. "Slept well, child?" she asked in her gentle voice.
Ai nodded and looked around. She didn't know for how long she had slept, and she really didn't care. She only wanted to get out of here.
She cuddled closely to the warm body of the Mega Digimon. "I'm hungry..." she whined.
"I'm sorry," Magnadramon said. "If I knew you were coming, I would have left you something from my last meal. They don't really bring me food that often..."
Suddenly, the door leading into the dungeon opened. MegaSeadramon slithered in, followed by a dark figure.
"I see you are awake," the serpentine villain hissed. "Maybe you would like to come with us, we have prepared a very special gathering. And there will be food."
At the mention of food, Ai's little tummy began rumbling, but her fear of the evil Digimon was bigger than her hunger. She hid her face in the warm fur of the female dragon and mumbled: "I don't wanna."
"Aw, come on now, it will be fun. We will meet more of our brothers. The Seven Demon Lords will be together again. We will show the Digital World the true meaning of fun!"
"Didn't you hear the child?" Magnadramon rumbled dangerously. "She doesn't want to go with you."
"Oh, I don't think you have something to say in this," a second voice exclaimed, as the other figure stepped out of the shadows.
Magnadramon stared at him. She never saw this certain Digimon before, but she definitely recognized his evil soul.
"Wrath..." she whispered.
NeoDevimon nodded. "Well, not yet, but very soon, I hope."
"He joined our little group today," MegaSeadramon explained with amusement. "And he is glad to be one of us. You see, Magnadramon, in no time, we will all be together again. And seriously, what would the Seven Great Demon Lords be without the Master of Pride?"
"You won't get her!" Magnadramon growled and stood up.
MegaSeadramon frowned. "Feisty as ever. I knew we should have installed a second cell strong enough to hold a Mega Digimon."
NeoDevimon sighed. "Whatever... we don't really have time for that."
"I know," his serpentine superior nodded. He then smirked. "Maybe she won't be as aggressive towards someone she knows."
He turned around his head and called: "Come in!"
And while a third figure stepped out of the shadows, MegaSeadramon spoke: "Magnadramon, I want you to meet the Sixth One, the Mistress of Lust!"
Magnadramon gasped as she recognized the female Digimon standing in front of her cell. "No... LadyDevimon..."
Riley smirked. "Hello Mother! Fancy meeting you in a place like this!"
----
Back in the human world, Kenta and Kazu were strolling through the mall. They were bored.
"Man," Kazu sighed. "How come Takato and the others can go back to the Digital World and we have to stay here? That so sucks!"
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Kenta nodded. "It's not like we have anything important to do back here."
"You can say that again," Kazu agreed. "Playing babysitter for Calumon is not my favorite leisure activity."
Kenta was going to agree, when suddenly, his gaze fell upon a certain display of computer games they were just walking by.
He tipped his buddy on the shoulder, and Kazu took a look as well.
In big, golden letters, the game's title was written upon the colorful game box:
'RPG REALITY'
Kenta and Kazu looked at the game package for a while, then they looked at each other with open mouths.
"No way!" they said at the same time.
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(Posted Sat, 31 Mar 2007 12:21)
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