"As you can see," Belphemon said as he lead Yamaki and his little crew through the underground base. "We have everything we need down here. Quarters for everyone, a security system, a huge kitchen and a functional food provision network..."
"How does that work?" Tally asked curiously.
"Well, we simply dug a few small tunnels that are connected with the surface... the entrances are in perfectly disguised, of course... and every now and then, one of our Ninjamon or Falcomon spies heads up to the surface and brings us everything we need. That includes food, machine parts, weapons, equipment, potions that fill up your HP..."
Riley blinked. "Your what?"
"What I would rather like to know is, how were you able to build up such a base in such a short time?" Yamaki asked.
"Well, that's mostly because most of the base already existed when we got here," Ai's father explained.
"What do you mean, Mr..." Yamaki shook her head. "Sorry, what was your name again?"
"I suppose you could just call me Daisuke," the little boy sighed. "Since most of us have the appearance of Rookies or grade schoolers, we call each other by our first names anyway."
"Okay, Daisuke... but what do you mean, that base already existed? I've never seen any reports that indicate the existence of such an underground base..."
Alice winced. "I guess I have an explanation for that," she said. Turning to Daisuke, she asked: "Did you, perchance, find any sorts of equipment that have a big, blue 'D' on them?"
"Yes, how did you know?" Daisuke said in a surprised voice. "We found many crates and a few pieces of machinery that had this sign on them. We were wondering what it meant..."
"I can tell you that," Alice frowned. "It means 'Dolphin'... this is my grandfather's secret, secondary laboratory."
"What?" Yamaki shouted. "But how could he have... I mean, the government never found anything that indicated such a second laboratory would exist."
"Do you really think he could have made all his experiments in that little lab at the edge of town?" Alice huffed. "Down here, he was REALLY able to work undisturbed."
"How was he able to build this?" Belphemon asked.
Alice smirked. "Simple, he hired a gang of Digimon mercenaries, a group of Drimogemon, and you know that no Digimon is able to dig faster than those drill-noses."
"And how could he make sure they wouldn't tell anyone of his experiments?" Riley asked.
"He... he used them as guinea pigs... for the strength of his first batch of Hybrid clones..." Alice muttered. "The Drimogemon never stood a chance... still, those clones were imperfect, so grandpa decided to kill them off again the next time they were resting in their tanks... that's why he decided to hire Kouki and Ivan to serve as templates... instead of artificially merging human DNA and Digimon data to create clones, he wanted to turn already existing humans into Hybrids by splicing them with Digimon data."
"Wait a minute!" Kouki shouted. "You want to tell me we are just... his secondary alternative? He only took us because his first team was a bunch of losers? I can't believe this!"
"Believe it, Kouki..." Alice said in a bitter voice. "I was the only one he ever told me about it... and only shortly before I entered the tank to... to become a Hybrid." She sighed. "I never knew of his other experiments or this other base before... all he did was a mystery to me... I seriously believed he wanted to help humans and Digimon to come closer..."
"I... heard rumors," Ivan suddenly spoke up. "I heard that he wanted to create the ultimate soldier to take revenge on the government or something like that... but I still volunteered to take part in the experiment."
"You... still took part after knowing all of this?" Kouki gasped. "WHY?"
Ivan closed his eyes. "Because... I needed the money... to take care of my little siblings, back in Russia..." he whispered.
"I would have had the chance to back out of the experiment," Alice said. "But I still decided to do it... for my grandfather."
"There... was another reason, wasn't there?" Ivan asked.
Alice nodded. "Yes... since nothing was able to bring Dobermon back from the dead, I decided to let him live through me... by letting grandpa splice me with his digital cells."
"So, your digital half is made of Dobermon's data..." Yamaki murmured. "Who would have thought it?"
"Yes," Alice nodded. "I was shocked when I heard the truth about my grandfather's experiment... but I was still unwilling to back out..." She looked down at her furry form. "By now, I don't believe anymore that Dobermon is still conscious through his data, but back when I decided to join grandfather's experiment... I guess I was fooling myself by believing that Dobermon would keep on living... by being a part of me."
"Zhuqiaomon..." Tally murmured. "I wonder... did he know about all of this? And if he did... did he have a reason not to attack this underground base? Neither my father nor my mother ever told me about this..."
"He was only becoming a threat to Zhuqiaomon when his experiments met with success..." Riley grumbled. "That's why he sent the Deva to destroy his other lab... and he only sent them there because the Hybrids were stored there at the moment."
"We've never been in the underground base," Alice explained. "All the experiments he conducted in here were connected with his creation of clones... after he found out that method wouldn't work, he decided to mostly abandon the project and concentrate on infusing humans with digital DNA... and that's why he abandoned this laboratory. All of the entrance tunnels were sealed off, so that nobody would ever find it..."
"But we found it," Belphemon said. "After Kenta and Kazu had the ingenious idea of digging a tunnel underneath Lucemon's force field..."
Huge grins appeared on the faces of the dynamic duo.
"We found someone who was able to dig faster than any Drimogemon. With only a couple of strokes of his tail, we managed to create a deep trench at the edge of town, close to the abandoned laboratory... and in the end, we found this abandoned base."
"Who could dig such a deep trench in such a short time?" Riley wondered. "And why hasn't Lucemon found it yet?"
"Oh, he was able to quickly heap the earth back up where it belonged," Daisuke smiled. "Only leaving a small tunnel that most human-sized Digimon could use to get here... if they know where to search for the entrance."
"As for who did it, I suppose you should meet him in person," Belphemon smirked and gestured towards the towering door he had come through when he entered the cave. "Shall we?"
They followed the rehabilitated Demon Lord through a tunnel that was created for someone of his size, until they reached a cavern that was nearly as big as the previous one, only that in here, there were almost no machines of furniture of any kind. The back of the cave was padded with many, colorful cushions and pillows, and in one corner, a huge pile of fish was lying. While most of the others held their noses, Tally and Riley licked their feline lips when the smell reached their nostrils.
A small Otamamon was sitting on the pile and was busy throwing fishes into the huge maw of the Digimon that was spread out on most of the pillows.
"There you go, Junior... open wide!" the Otamamon said in a squeaky voice.
The colossal reptile chewed on the fishes, swallowed them and belched loudly. "Thanks, Dad!" he then grinned, showing two rows of sharp teeth.
Yamaki and his team stared at the colossal Digimon in disbelief. Even though he now resembled an alligator more than a caiman, and even though his scales were now a bright white instead of a dull red, they clearly recognized him.
"Leviamon?" Riley gasped.
The huge crocodile sneered at them. "Hey, look who's come for a visit! How's it going, babe?"
Riley growled. "Betamon..." she hissed. "You may have the body and voice of a grownup, but your manners are still as immature as ever."
"Hey, what shall I say?" the former Demon Lord shrugged. "Lucemon didn't really give any of us the time to grow up, didn't she?"
"Well, that didn't seem to bother you back when you still wanted to side with Barbamon!" Riley shouted. "Is there a reason why we should trust you?"
"There is a pretty good reason," Belphemon intervened. "If he still wanted to be a true Demon Lord, he wouldn't have turned into the redeemed form of Leviamon."
"And... what are your motives?" Alice asked the giant alligator.
"My motives?" Leviamon grumbled. "I'm gonna tell you my motives: I've had it with Barbamon, Lucemon or whoever wants me to act like their little tool! And after Barbamon betrayed me... well, let me tell you that it really took a load of my mind..."
"I... I tried to help him," Otamamon said. "I managed to get him out of that asylum after I said that I was his father. I think I was the only one who still was willing to accept him... as the one he was."
"So you are..." Tally said.
Leviamon grinned. "Everyone, meet my Dad! Yeah, he helped me a bunch after I lost my virus data. He made me realize that I would continue to be all alone if I would still keep on living as the glutton I was... that's why I decided to help Belphemon when he came to me and asked me to help him dig that trench."
Riley looked at the giant pile of fishes. "Somehow, I find it hard to believe that you stopped being a glutton..."
"Hey, a big boy needs plenty to eat," Leviamon defended himself. "If I was still a Demon Lord, I would have eaten any Digimon I came across, just to satisfy his hunger."
"I think we can trust him," Tally said. "Isn't his redeemed appearance the proof we need?"
"Well, all right..." Riley grumbled. "But I'll keep an eye on you, bozo!" she shouted and pointed a claw at her former fellow Demon Lord.
Leviamon grinned. "I told you the girls dig me, Dad..."
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(Posted Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:42)
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