"This is it," Alice whispered. "Over there, that old, abandoned apartment complex... I just know that Barbamon's hiding in there."
Taomon, Compsomon, Sheperdmon and Leomon peeked around the house corner and looked at the building the young Gaomon was pointing at.
"Over there?" Mie wondered. "How do you know?"
"Yes, that's what I would like to know as well," Taomon grumbled.
Alice shrugged. "Oh, that was easy. Do you remember those reports of the Angel girl that supposedly has captured two thieves by herself?"
"I heard about that as well," Sheperdmon nodded. "I remember it so well because I was so surprised that she was a Rookie... I've never seen Angel Digimon that young before."
"That was just a big heap of rubbish the civilians came up with," Taomon grumbled. "A Rookie Angel? Thieves that suddenly surrender themselves without even putting up a fight? I might remind you that one of them was a Pumpkinmon. An Ultimate Digimon, you know? Why would he surrender to a Rookie?"
"Well, unlike you, I take everything in consideration when I investigate," Alice frowned. "And since the shop the girl saved was close by, I checked around this neighborhood until I finally saw the Angel girl. She was walking around all by herself... and all I had to do was to follow her until she returned back to this building."
"But what does this girl have to do with Barbamon?" Leomon frowned.
Alice smirked. "Do you remember the huge battle with the Demon Lords? Your kids, my team and I sure had our hands full. The strange thing was that Barbamon himself never interfered until he got attacked directly..."
"Please, get to the point!" Taomon hissed.
Alice sighed. "All right, no need to get grumpy. Well, you might recall the instant Belphemon woke up... and let me tell you, he was mighty pissed. I already feared that we would have to fight him as well, when I saw that Angel girl approaching him from behind."
"What?" Compsomon asked in surprise. "You mean the same girl who..."
"Exactly!" Alice grinned. "Belphemon didn't attack only because she talked to him. I also saw Beelzemon near them, so I figured that she had to be one of the Demon Lords. But it was only after I met the girl again that I recognized her form. After all, my foster parents have told me many legends about that Digimon..."
"Wh-what are you talking about?" Taomon asked in an irritated voice.
"You see," Alice explained. "That girl was just a normal Hybrid a couple of days ago, a Cupimon that lived with her twin brother and her parents... her mother is a servant of my mother, I might add. But when I met her, she was about to follow the same creep you are trying to bring behind bars."
Leomon narrowed his eyes. "Barbamon."
"Yup," Alice nodded. "For some reason, the girl had decided to follow him - something about wanting to protect her parents and stuff. Anyways, I have reasons to believe that she is still staying with Barbamon and that he's hiding in the same place she returned to." She pointed at the building again. "And that's in there."
"A good piece of detective work, I must say," Mie grinned.
"Nonsense!" Taomon grumbled. "If she's his hostage, why should he let her walk around freely? And I doubt that it's in his interest that she would help other people against robbers."
"I don't know anything about their reasons," Alice shrugged. "The only idea I have for why he would let her do what she wants is that she is now on his side."
Now Sheperdmon had to frown as well. "Alice... she's just a child."
"But do you know how dangerous that child is?" Alice asked. "My Dad... I mean, Azulongmon told me all about the Digimon she had become. Back when the Seven Demon Lords were still plagueing the world, that Angel had become corrupted and joined their ranks. And he became the Demon Lord of Pride. Do you now know who I mean?"
"It can't be!" Mie gasped. "Roshi, she... she's talking about Lucemon. According to the legends, Lucemon had become corrupt back when he was a Rookie... if that girl has become the new Lucemon..."
"We have to stop her," Taomon said with a dark frown.
"Are you certain?" Sheperdmon asked. "Maybe we can still make her listen to reason before she digivolves and..."
"Can we discuss that after we captured Barbamon?" Leomon grumbled. "After all, that's why we have come here."
"Is it really safe to confront them both?" Mie wondered. "I mean, they are both Mega Digimon..."
"Maybe we are lucky and she's on one of her excursions again," Alice shrugged. "Besides, if she's really younger than me, maybe we can reason with her."
"Well, we can't reason with my father, that's for sure," Taomon growled. "All right, let me check everything... I have to make sure that Barbamon is by himself. Afterwards, we can contact HQ so they can send us the trap devices your husband has designed, Mayumi."
Sheperdmon grinned. "Oh, so you don't think he's insane, all of a sudden?"
"Do you have to bring that up?" Taomon winced. "All right, I'll be right back..." And with these words, he used the same ability his daughters were so skilled in: He merged with the shadows and turned himself invisible.
Taomon ran across the street and checked the immediate area. When he saw that nobody was around, he skillfully leapt up the building's wall and clung to a window sill. For a short while, he didn't move to make sure that nobody heard him. Afterwards, he carefully peered through the window.
He frowned when he saw the small room that looked like it belonged to a little girl. Realizing that nobody was in there, he slowly opened the window and jumped in. He then opened the only door in the room and entered the corridor.
When he saw the big, golden cage at the end of the corridor, he didn't want to believe his eyes. He shook his head and double-checked, but the view was the same.
'What happened here?' he wondered. 'Bars of light... clearly the powers of an Angel were at work here.'
When he came closer, he saw a small shape crouching in one corner of the cage. Still invisible, he came closer and looked inside.
The child-sized Rookie looked a lot like his daughter, Renamon, only was it a boy, and he was much smaller than her. His fur was also purple, and his tail was tipped with a small, red flame.
The unknown Rookie looked up at Taomon in annoyance and said: "You can drop your disguise, I've heard you since you opened the door to the brat's bedroom."
Taomon was so surprised that he did as the fox-boy told him. "How could you have seen me?" he asked.
The little fox huffed. "Please... I'm the one who taught you how to use that ability. You'd believe I would spot you anytime."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Taomon frowned. "Who are you anyways? And how did you get here?"
"Typical..." the boy sighed. "You're as slow-witted as ever, son..."
Taomon froze. "What... did you just call me?"
The little fox sneered up at him. "Oh, you don't recognize me? Well, I don't blame you..." He lowered his head. "I would have never chosen to return to this level myself... such a shame..." All of a sudden, he giggled. "And here I thought only Betamon and DemiDevimon would deserve such a fate..."
"Barbamon?" Taomon murmured as he slowly knelt down in front of the cage. "Is that you?"
The Rookie glanced at him. "Congratulations, Mr. Police Officer, you win a cookie. Still, there's not much of Barbamon left in me, is there?" he sighed. "Before I found the Demon Lord data, I was a powerful Doumon... and back when I met your mother, I was a Youkomon. And when I became the new Lord of Greed, I was able to change between my different forms. Still, I never chose to return to this level..."
He snarled as he looked down at his small body. "The body of a weak child... not befitting of a true Demon Lord. I never understood how Leviamon and Daemon could turn back into their Rookie forms once they reached the Mega Level. Then again, they were just children. But never... never did I believe that I would be tricked like this..."
"So it is you..." Taomon gasped. "I can't believe it... what happened?"
"I was betrayed!" the former lord of Greed yelled. "That's what happened! Look at me! I was a Demon Lord, do you understand? A DEMON LORD! I wanted to rule everything! But now... now I am just a weak, little Bimon..." He hid his face in his hands in shame.
Taomon blinked. "Bimon?"
Bimon groaned. "Never heard of kitsune-bi? Foxfire?" He raised his hand and let a small, purple flame appear in his palm. "It's what you used as well when you were still a Kyubimon. Ask your daughters if you have forgotten about it."
Taomon frowned. "I know about foxfire. I just can't believe why you would digivolve back into a Rookie."
His regressed father snickered. "Well, it's a funny story... maybe I'll tell it to you some day..."
"No, you will tell me NOW!" Taomon shouted and stood up from the ground. "You haven't changed a bit, even though you're a Rookie now! You are still the same immoral bastard! The situation is still the same, father! You are a criminal and I am a police officer. And since you have no means of defending yourself anymore, I hereby put you under arrest! And you will tell me everything, or else..."
Bimon grimaced. "I want a lawyer."
BioCalumon chuckled. Right now, he was sitting on top of Tokyo Tower, from where he could look all over the city. But the only thing he was looking at right now was the Virus Circlet in his hands.
Almost all of the seven crystals were glowing.
"Only the virus data of Lust and Pride is missing," he smirked. "And since we wouldn't want to rain on little Ai's parade, we'll let her have fun for now. That means we only have to find where our dear, black kitten is hiding..."
A small cloud with eyes was flitting around him.
Bio chuckled. "Oh no, I haven't forgotten about you. You are the best servant I could ever think of, anyways. Without your help, I could have never snatched the circlet from Barbamon... the senile old fool really believed I was a helpless little Rookie. But for now, I have no needs for your services, Mokumon, so return to your true body."
The little cloud Digimon let out a few squeaks.
"Don't worry," Bio snickered. "You won't remember anything until I summon you again. Now go, before your other self starts to poop in her panties."
The little Mokumon nodded and flew down to the city, while BioCalumon sighed and leaned back as if he was sitting in an invisible chair. "I knew it was a good idea to leave that cursed pacifier behind... now every time I need a little servant, poor Yui's infantile urges will manifest themselves... and in the meantime, I have a servant who will do whatever I say."
He giggled insanely, while Mokumon flew back to be reunited with her other self, who was still back at school, where she was comforted by Renamon...
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(Posted Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:39)
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