The chamber was quieter than usual, the goings-on having gained the attention of the figures present. Echidnamon tutted to herself, before lowering her torso and staring more intently at the two prone bodies in front of her.

“Well that didn’t last long.”

The disappointment in her voice was evident. Sighing, she reached out with a vibrant red claw and gently poked the rounder one, sending him rolling a short distance.

“Riveting.”

She reared up to her full impressive height again, and stretched, yawning as she did so. Even in the gloom she cut a vibrant figure; bejewelled green skin, a braid of deep red hair arching down her back and a plethora of beads and bangles adorning her body. Her top half was humanoid, with an engorged belly that morphed into a thick snake’s tail. She folded her arms, her eyes glowing crimson in the dim light.

Some of her companions were beginning to draw forwards, along with their varying minions, who scuttled around the edges keeping a wary distance, but at the same time immensely curious.

“Daddy daddy! I caught them!”

Echidnamon watched as Bambolamon scampered across the floor, jumping into the waiting arms of his ‘daddy’, as it were. The creature gave a deep booming laugh, and scuttled forwards on four spider-like legs, as wooden crosses waved around all over his body. A bunch of other Bambolamon clung to him, jostling amongst themselves for space. The newcomer bent down, examining the two children with his one screw-head eye and his one microscope one, as he stroked his fibrous moustache.

“Humans? I’ve never seen proper humans.”

The newest Bambolamon giggle coyly, swaying back and forth.

“Don’t get too close.”

Another voice called out, and a large five-legged ball of fur gallumphed forwards, his long beard dragging along the ground and his face twisting in anxiety beneath a tall, spiked crown. He skidded to a halt in his usual manner; while he looked almost spidery in his normal stance, he seemed to struggle with the idea of walking properly in a straight line, tending instead to roll in such a manner that he looked like he was constantly about to fall over.

He growled softly, his eyes darting between the two unconscious boys. “They’re dicey. They can snap at any moment.”

The puppet placed a chisel-like hand to his chin, and laughed snootily. “That’s because you’re a wuss, Buermon.”

“It’s never a good idea to underestimate humans. Trust me, Fantocciomon, I know.”

“Disgusting, that’s what it is.”

Another figure hobbled into view; this one far smaller than the others, with another long beard, crooked hunched back and a staff of twisted birch branches. He sneered, and spat to one side, causing the many iron bells dotted around his body and the end of his staff to jingle wildly. “Absolutely disgusting that any of them should be allowed to walk around here in the first place. Your dolls should have strung them up.”

Echidnamon raised an eyebrow. “Bitter, much?”

The old demon, Krampusmon, merely squinted up at her. “You have no idea what bastards like this put me through.”

“I do. You told us all. Several times.”

“They’re good stories, gramps.”

“Great stories.”

“Scary stories, yay!”

Krampusmon stared towards the heavens. “Christ...I’ll never understand what bright spark let you damn hell ponies out...”

‘Those damn hell ponies’ pawed at the ground and giggled amongst themselves. Their equine shape was only a mockery; with bony chests, ridged backs and mouths practically bursting with sharp, hooked teeth, they easily cut terrifying figures despite their incessant chattering like ten year olds at a sleepover. They always went around in a group; Podargosmon (the tall one), Xanthosmon (the clever one), Lamponmon (the cute(?) one) and Deinosmon (the one currently drooling through a mouth so chock-full of sabre-teeth that she couldn’t even close her mouth properly).

Though nobody ever wanted to talk to them for any length of time to get to know them individually, so they usually just went by ‘those damn hell ponies’ or suchlike.

Echidnamon felt a sudden chill down her back, and looked over her shoulder at the ever-spiralling black void that hung lazily at her side. It spun in its constant circles, as a plethora of eyes blinked in and out of existence perfectly symmetrically around the central void.

The naga nodded sagely. “What do you think, Annihilamon?”

“This World Is a Lie That Perpetuates Unnecessity And Consistently Defies The Will Of All Universes. It Must Be Purged Of Molecular Impurities And Return To The Chasm From Which All Worlds Must One Day Return”

“Okay, cool.”

Echidnamon stared heavenwards as the void continued to float around, spouting the exact same platitudes it always did amongst the bickering and chatting and casual death threats from her other companions. She wondered to herself whether Cruachmon would be interested in all this commotion, and took a moment to glance upwards at where he was hanging above them all; a vast, crooked serpent-like-thing with a skull-like face, and ten idols circling lazily around him. A constant stream of blood fell from his mouth, forming a nasty puddle in the centre of the chamber.

Cruachmon probably wouldn’t have any opinion. She didn’t know. He just kind of hung there, doing his own thing. Which was not a lot.

Still, at least he was quiet.

“My lady, my lady, I’m so sorry, please forgive me, I didn’t mean to let them come out this far-“

Echidnamon jolted out of her stupor and looked down at a profusely grovelling Polypmon, whose mouth was stammering so much they could barely get the words out. Echidnamon raised an eyebrow.

“Since when did I become your lady?”

“Oh, I just thought, that...oh Yggdrasil I’m sorry!”

“Whatever.”

The snake woman shifted her bulk to one side, and slithered towards Fantocciomon, who was still in the middle of a massive row with Buermon and Krampusmon. She reached out and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Oi, Geppetto...”

Several of the Bambolamon grinned up at her, but the puppeteer himself cleared his throat and excused himself from the conversation.

“My dearest?”

“Your face in a minute, mate.” Echidnamon pointed a thumb over her shoulder. “Can you lend a couple of your sailor boys? These humans look heavy, and the jelly looks weedy.”

Fantocciomon chuckled, and spun his fingers, releasing a couple more puppets that clattered on the ground, writhed for a bit, then stood at attention, saluting. “Do help our cnidarian acquaintance put away all the escapees, won’t you, my handsome boys?”

“Yes daddy!”

The three dolls rushed off one after the other, hoisting the two boys and the unconscious Empermon onto their shoulders. With a click-clack they jogged swiftly back down the hallway, with Polypmon bobbing along after them, still muttering to themselves. Fantocciomon turned to Echidnamon and shrugged. “They do enjoy themselves.”

“Thank god.” Buermon raised a spindly leg to his face and wiped his brow. “Those children give me the chills.”

“Oh, you don’t half moan.” Fantocciomon shrugged, a look of false pity on his face. “You and Krampusmon were defeated by pipsqueaks like that? You are both amateurs.”

Krampusmon scrunched his face up, and smacked one of Fantocciomon’s legs with his birch staff. “Says the Digimon whose bright idea was to replace the leaders of the Elysian Courts with your goddamn sailor dolls.”

“Hold your tongue! I got at least halfway through the council before anybody noticed!”

There was a smattering of giggles from behind, and one of the eldritch ponies pulled a face. “Silly puppet man doesn’t know how to be wicked.”

“Stupid puppet man.”

“Dumb dumb.”

Buermon swivelled on one heel. “You girls never did tell us how you ended up down in the Dark Area. Were your ventures really so impressive?”

The foremost pony shuffled coyly. “Once we ate the mayor of Silicon City and a whole Eldradimon.”

“Of course you did.”

“She was delicious.”

“Of course she was.” Buermon rolled his eyes. “Kids these days...”

“You’re quite tasty as well.”

“Yummy.”

Buermon stamped his foot, causing the chamber to rumble. “DON’T YOU DARE-“

“Ssshzppfft!”

Krampusmon lurched over and yanked the spider-lion-demon back, clamping a palm over his mouth. The chamber stopped shaking, as the demon nodded upwards.

“I thought we’d agreed we weren’t going to wake him.”

The demons all glanced nervously up at Cruachmon, who swayed a little more. His idols rotated again, with a new one entered the everlasting bloodstream dripping from his maw. But he remained asleep.

“Can we give it a rest, please?” Echidnamon rubbed the bridge of her nose, grumbling to herself. “Is it too difficult to get some peace and quiet? We’ve already had one breakout or whatever from whatever the heck the minions caught this time, and it would be nice if we could leave it at that.”

Everyone muttered amongst themselves, but quietened down. All except for Annihilamon’s incessant yammering about The End Of Days And The Betrayal Of The Sanctity Of The Great Emptiness.

To be fair, after so long in the dead silence and slow enveloping darkness of the Dark Area, all of them were somewhat glad for the stimulation.

Although Echidnamon could definitely feel a migraine coming on.

Damn eldritch voids of nihilism and despair. Never shutting the hell up.

“I told you we needed to be careful with them.”

Polypmon folded their tentacles and huffed in a gelatinous fashion at the three figures around them. “Oninarimon, where the heck were you?”

The fox spirit sniffed beneath his mask. “Busy.”

Redcapmon reached up and rubbed his shoulder, letting off a raspberry. “It was cold. I don’t like that bird. He can go in the cage.”

“Yes, by the sound of it you all had quite the experience...” Oninarimon swayed, a couple of Kankomon floating in the air behind him as he placed his pen to his lips. “Evolution, wasn’t it?”

Redcapmon shrugged. “Don’t care. They’re in a cage.”

“Yes, Redcapmon, you’ve made that clear.”

“Scary, that’s what it was.” Polypmon shivered. “Just...the human’s arm opened up and...ew, it was like watching the world throwing up all over you. It was nasty.” They hummed. “Well...not nasty, but...I don’t know...”

“You seem remarkably interested in it for something you apparently find so disgusting.” Oninarimon sniggered. “You’d better watch what you say or the bosses may want to have words with you.”

Polypmon rubbed anxiously behind their head crest, and looked up at Bambolamon – though which one it was, he could never tell.

“You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

Bambolamon beamed at him, but said nothing. The jellyfish sighed, and hovered over near one wall, running a tentacle down the rock.

“I guess...maybe, it’s...have you guys ever seen humans before? Up close, I mean?”

There was a mumbled chorus of denial. Polypmon continued. “That’s what I figured. They always seemed so...distant. So far away. Even more so when we were down there.” Polypmon turned around. “I know Yggdrasil is supposed to be scum and unfair and everything but nobody ever really mentioned what we’re supposed to think about humans.”

Redcapmon raised a hand. “Krampusmon met them. He doesn’t like. Says they pushed him off a cliff.”

Oninarimon nodded sagely. “I have to agree; I have a feeling a lot of our senior companions had run-ins with them. I mean, yes, the children are beautiful, but judging by what happened earlier they don’t seem to have our best interests in mind.”

“Well that’s normal for us.”

“Indeed.”

The jellyfish quivered. “So then what do the Digimon up there see in them? What’s so special that they’d give up their freedom just to fight for them?”

They turned again, staring back down the hallway.

“Are they anything like us at all?”

Polypmon got no response. On turning they were met with three blank faces. Oninarimon yawned beneath his mask. “Who honestly cares? We can poke them more tomorrow.”

He turned and sauntered away, with Redcapmon following with a grunt and a mumble about cold feet yet again. Polypmon was left with Bambolamon. Always the best conversation. The jellyfish sighed. “I suppose you want to head back to your daddy.”

“Thanks!”

With a wooden click-clack, Bambolamon skipped back down the corridor as well, leaving Polypmon all alone.

“It wasn’t my fault.”

Callum fiddled with a tuft of his hair as he lay back, sulking. The atmosphere inside the cage was decidedly more sullen than it had been a couple of hours ago, before their pathetic attempt to escape and subsequent bundling back inside by three souped-up dolls and a flustered jellyfish. Even the trapdoor was jammed shut now, wedged hard with one of Redcapmon’s barbed metal poles.

(Because of course he had barbed metal poles. Aesthetic is everything amongst the irredeemable.)

So right now, with Callum gently muttering passive-aggressive comments in the corner, nobody was really in the mood to start arguing with him. Unfortunately, Callum wasn’t really in the mood to stop complaining either.

“We just went the wrong way. Nothing we can’t fix if we try again.”

Still only mumbles, and a slight jab in the ribs from his penguin partner, who was busy moping himself. Callum snorted.

“We just need to follow the plan next time.

Eleanor half-opened one eye, fully aware that the others were glancing at her in a somewhat dependent manner. It appeared like she had indeed been designated the official pointing-out-the-bullshit officer. Or perhaps she’d volunteered for the position. Either was likely.

“Would that be the plan where you jump out in the middle of someone else’s battle and try to square off with the demonic forces of Digi-Hell?”

“It was working!”

“Yeah, for two seconds. The element of surprise will only get you so far, mate.”

Empermon raised a tired flipper. “I would just like to point out that I knew this was a bad idea-“

“You still went along with his idiocy though.” Eleanor crossed her legs, glaring darkly across the cage. “It’s quite simple, Empermon. The way to deal with guys like this is to let them jump out on their own, get punched in the face on their own, then hope they’ll actually listen next time.”

Callum glared back. “What, like you’ve never done anything like that...”

“Only in situations where I know I can win.” Eleanor sniffed. “I’m not a moron.”

Callum shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not like anyone else had a decent plan.”

There was a coughing to his right, and he glanced over to see Ursula now glaring at him. “Oh for god’s sake, what have I done now?”

“I had a plan. I said we should wait and try and escape when they’d all run off.” The taller girl crouched up, and stared at the bound trapdoor in front of her. “You know. Back when it was an option.”

Callum exhaled. “Fine. I made a mistake. This is new to me.”

“You fucked up. It happens.” Ursula looked away, hiding her mouth behind her arms. “But then you ran away. Me and Lorelie; you just abandoned us. All of you did.”

The boy faltered, catching his retort in his mouth. “I didn’t...they’d got you...”

“Whatever.” Ursula muttered under her breath. “I thought we were supposed to be a team. Maybe I was wrong. Wrong about all of this.”

Callum’s shoulders sagged. His mind was a blur of anger and confusion and he was struggling to put a coherent plan together; the oppressiveness of his surroundings not helping.

“We are a team...come on, we’re all in the same situation here. I’m just trying to help. What am I supposed to say?”

Something landed in his lap with a dull thunk, and he picked it up. It was Lorelie’s keypad, with a single word written on it.

“Apologise.”

Callum stared at the small screen, then held it back out to the girl next to him. He glanced up, seeing her round screen reflecting his own face back.

“...”

The boy pressed his teeth together.

“...I’m sorry...”

He turned his head slightly, and stared out of the cage down the crimson halls, the prison swinging ever so slightly.

“We’ve got to get out of here. We’ve got to start moving again.”

There was a shuffling sound as Martin sidled up to Callum, staring at the ground himself. “It’s easy for you to say. You’re the only one with a partner at the moment.”

“He is a good one.”

Empermon’s eyes twitched. “Am I really your trump card right now?”

“’Fraid so.”

“Great.”

Callum leaned forward. “It’ll be alright; I know it will. You just need to get stronger. We did it once; we can do it again.”

He smiled reassuringly down at the penguin, but was met with a less than hopeful expression. “I don’t know...”

“I promise to you. Things will work next time.”

The penguin still looked doubtful, but luckily Martin came to his rescue. “Even if he does get more powerful, he’s still only one Digimon. And let’s face it; we got lucky finding him.”

Callum grumbled. “It’s nice to know everyone’s so optimistic round here.”

“I am optimistic. I’m just being pragmatic.” Martin adjusted his glasses. “I agree we need to do something. But it needs to be something more developed than ‘let's charge forwards brandishing the penguin by the feet.’”

There was an indignant squawk. “Thanks very much!”

Martin blushed. “Metaphorically, of course.”

Callum frowned, placing his finger on his forehead. It was a fair point. Whichever way he looked at it, they were severely outnumbered. A thought crossed his mind, and he glanced up at Ursula, who was still looking the other way.

“Hinkymon, wasn’t it?”

No movement, but the girl’s eyes flicked towards him.

“That gremlin thing that saved us.”

“You mean before you got us captured again?”

Callum cleared his throat. “Sorry. Yeah. That guy.”

Ursula unfurled herself a little. “Are you thinking we could ask him to be one of our partners? Why are you asking me?”

“Well...you’re the one who spoke to him...kinda. Did he seem like a decent person...imp...thing?”

The girl puffed out her cheeks. “It is hard to get a measure on someone’s character from just a few seconds. But maybe he will come back.” She turned to Aardmon. “What do you think?”

The aardvark was sprawled out, muttering to herself, so Ursula poked her with one foot, causing her to jump. “Yes, right! What?”

“Hinkymon. Good or bad partner?”

“I...uuuuuuh...” Aardmon quailed. “Look, this partners thing is complicated and nobody really knows how it works-“

Empermon tapped his head with his saxophone. “Well, you’re our best bet for answers. I’m not carrying the whole load here.”

“Well...I’ve met a few Hinkymon. They’re not...conventional partner material, so to speak.” Aardmon stared at the penguin. “Then again, neither are you.”

Ursula looked tired for a second, then threw her shoulders up. “Well, it was worth a try.”

“Come on, there has to be a chance.” Martin leaned back as best he could, running his finger around the screen on his chest. “Maybe these can do something to help. They’re the things that seem to interact with the guys round here after all. Perhaps if we-“

A sudden bolt of static ran through his hand, causing him to jump. As he sucked his finger, he became aware of something buzzing within the great vessel around his body. Some sort of...pull. A presence. Come to think of it, he’d noticed it with Empermon and Aardmon as well whenever they were close, but hadn’t really thought much of it. But with the addition of a third pulse, he suddenly became very aware.

He turned his head slightly, and put a finger to his lips. “Everyone, ssh...”

The others did so, looking in his direction as he stared out down the hallway.

There was a flash of yellow, and Polypmon wobbled out from one of the alcoves, looking rather sheepish. “How the heck did you people hear me? Do you have, like, super-hearing-sense or whatever? Is that a human thing?”

Eleanor scoffed. “Oh brother. More from the world’s most annoying hellspawn.”

“Am I talking too much?” Polypmon put a tentacle to their mouth. “Whoops. Guilty. I do that a lot. Usually people just walk away but...well, I suppose you can’t, because...this thing.” They smiled. “Isn’t it nice? The Dark Area has produced some great metalworkers. I think this is three-hundred years old or something, and look at it.” They reached out with a tentacle and attempted to knock against it, only for the flesh to hit the pole with a rather sad flapping sound.

“Solid as a rock.”

They smiled as they looked amongst the assembled throng in turn, but their smile slowly began to tilt decidedly downwards as they realised quite what it was they were being so chipper about.

“I mean...I guess it’s not that good.”

Aardmon raised an eyebrow. “What do you want? Here to poke us some more?”

“Not really...I just...” Polypmon shuffled forwards, and awkwardly pressed themselves through the cage, folding their tentacles up into a neat bundle beneath them.

“I’m interested. That’s all.”

Eleanor placed a thumb on her chest. “In us?”

“Yeah. You’re humans aren’t you? You must have a tonne of interesting things to share.”

The girl shrugged. “Not really. Most of us are arseholes, all present company included.” She pointed at everyone in turn, her voice showing no enthusiasm whatsoever, “He’s a prick, he’s a nerd, she’s a pushover, she’s German, and me...well, I’m just really fucking cute.”

Martin and Ursula gave each other pointed looks, and both of them nodded in unison. “Yep. That’s it.”

“Oh.”

Polypmon looked genuinely disheartened, so Martin piped up again. “What about you? You seem slightly nicer than your...siblings? Fellow minions? What do you call yourselves down here?”

The jellyfish frowned, squirming in mid-air. “Nothing really. Honestly I only met most of them a few days ago.”

Martin looked puzzled. “Really? The way you were talking I could have sworn you’d known each other for ages. You know, with the...small talk and the...coordinating in trying to catch us and...”

“It’s complicated.” Polypmon absent-mindedly twisted two tentacles together as they explained further. “I’ve know of them all for a long time. We were all stuck in this place; the Dark Area? I don’t know if you’ve heard of it.”

All the children shook their heads. Both of the other Digimon nodded vigorously, and were looking incredibly uncomfortable. The jellyfish ignored them and carried on like the socially observant invertebrate that they were.

“Imagine that everything around you is just...soup. Thick black soup, which takes away everything –all matter, all light and all feeling - and replaces it all with thought. In fact, not even that. Just awareness. A constant awareness of everything going on everywhere in the world, but no way of interacting with it.”

Lorelie stiffened, and gently tapped a couple of words.

“So...hell?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“A place of all evil and suffering?”

Polypmon shook their head (body?). “If that’s the case, then this all around us is hell. The Dark Area is something worse. Like an empty yet stagnant space of nothing but your own issues and sins with no way of escaping or even contributing to the outside world, with only an endless barrage of criticising voices from outside and foul spewing from the creatures inside to keep you company within the oppressive blackness.“

Eleanor raised a palm. “So like reality TV, then.”

“I don’t know what that is, either.”

Aardmon gave a conspicuous cough and shot Polypmon a look. “I see that you’re neglecting to tell them that the Dark Area is a prison for the worst and most depraved Digimon in the world.”

“I was getting to that.”

Callum gestured in some vague direction behind him. “So...those big scary guys from before are escaped prisoners?”

“We all are. I mean...it’s not everyone who was trapped there, of course; there are a few real nasties who have been sealed away tighter than anyone. But when the core went nuts it opened up a few holes and a few of us fell out. Or swam out. We’ve been holed up here ever since.”

“So you are all literal hellspawn. That makes...some sense.” Ursula folded her arms. “Though I have to admit, you seem rather okay yourself. What did you do to get thrown in there?”

Polypmon coiled and uncoiled their tentacles. “Nothing. I was born there.”

Empermon and Aardmon both blinked in unison. “Huh?”

“It happens. You know, Digieggs come from Digimon and there are Digimon in the Dark Area and...you know...stuff happens.” The jellyfish raised a tentacle. “I think I was...you saw Echidnamon, the big snake lady, right? The one who smacked you in the face? I think I was one of hers. Same with Oninarimon, I think. There are probably hundreds of her spawn floating around in there, and she always makes more-”

Martin raised a hand, his face turning a decidedly blue-green colour. “Thanks. We understand.”

“I thought you guys wanted to know-“

“Too much information.”

“You think that’s weird? I haven’t even gotten to the bit where Fantocciomon carves each individual Bambolamon out of the flesh off his own-“

“THANKS.”

Polypmon yelped as Empermon swung at them with his saxophone, ducking out the way. As chipper as they were, even they took the hint that perhaps telling the miserable prisoners about their bosses’ procreative methods was not reeeeeeeally what they wanted to hear right now. They readjusted themselves – ever so slightly out of the penguin’s reach – and continued.

“I’m sorry. It’s just nice to be out and talking with someone who isn’t...resentful, I guess?”

Martin leant back, staring up at the jellyfish with his hands behind his head. “I would have thought that you’d get along quite well with those guys.”

“Yeah, maybe, but...I never really knew any of them. You don’t actually ‘meet’ people in the Dark Area; you know they’re there but there’s no connection. Just incoming noise. So really I only met them a few days ago.” Polypmon counted a few times on their tentacles. “Redcapmon’s alright, I guess. Buermon has some interesting stories, and I hit it off quite nicely with a couple of the demon ponies before they tried to eat me. Everyone else though is just...either really bitter or really depressing. Every time I pass them it’s all ‘the humans’ this and ‘the Digital World’ that and ‘it’s not fair’.”

Martin watched, intrigued, at the jellyfish pulling off several advanced uses of air-quotes above him. In truth everyone was paying attention at this point; even Aardmon had let her guard down just a tiny bit. While she hated to admit it, she was curious about hearing a life story from an actual denizen of the Dark Area.

Even if said denizen was clearly a massive dork.

“I don’t know. It just feels like we’re out, you know. We can go wherever; take a portal to whatever part of the Digital World we want. We can leave this hall in an instant,” Polypmon blabbered on, gesticulating in every direction, “right through the wall and out the catacombs and into the outside world. But no, apparently it’s no fun if the world’s already screwed up.”

Ursula threw a quick glance sideways at Eleanor, who nodded. She’d caught it too. Neither of them said anything though, and remained staring at the jellyfish.

Martin was slightly more sincere in his engagement. “Sounds rough. I’m sure they’re lovely people, but...hmm.” He pursed his lips together. “I’ll shut up.”

Polypmon shrugged. “What can you say to offend them? They’re archdemons and chthonic monstrosities; they’ve heard everything.” Polypmon blinked, and very suddenly flew down towards Martin. “Enough about me; what’s up with you guys, anyway?”

“Huh?”

“I saw it earlier.” The jellyfish turned, extending a tentacle at Empermon. “You evolved. You’re not supposed to evolve like that. Is this what the humans do? What these devices do?” They frowned. “They’re a bit big, aren’t they?”

“Well done. You’ve noticed,” mused Callum, but with nothing better to do he twisted his palm upwards and allowed Polypmon a better view. The jellyfish was transfixed, floating around and murmuring to themselves. More than once they reached out a tentative tentacle, but they withdrew every time.

“I don’t want to mark it.”

While they were busy, Eleanor shimmied up to Ursula and nudged her surreptitiously. The German girl glanced backwards, before tapping Lorelie’s palm. The shorter girl was surprised for a minute as Ursula took her keypad, and fumbled with it for a little, before showing it to Eleanor.

“Behind us. Where Hinkymon went. Must be caves.”

She passed the device back, tapping the screen as Lorelie read the message. Eleanor folded her arms. “What do we do about the boys?”

Ursula raised an eyebrow. “They can follow us this time.”

“Fair point. Though maybe we should try and make a better job of staying together.”

“Now we just deal with the cage...” Ursula looked up at the thick, curved bars. “Somehow...”

“Something’ll happen.” Eleanor put her hands behind her head. “Always assuming that Captain Gelatinous over there decides to leave within the next millennia.”

She said it slightly louder than she meant to, but it didn’t matter. Captain Gelatinous was indeed still talking. And would remain so for the best part of an hour.

Eleanor was beginning to understand why the other little hellspawns had abandoned them.

That may well have been the case, but as it turned out the other little hellspawns in question were busy having their own discussions. And they weren’t alone.

One of the Kankomon on Oninarimon’s shoulder snarled and swiped at one of the demon ponies who had wandered just a little too close for comfort, and promptly found its head bitten clean off. As it retracted into its pen vessel to lick its wounds, Oninarimon gently sidestepped away from the pony and curtseyed graciously.

“My helpers don’t particularly like it if you eat them.”

The pony (Deinosmon to be accurate, but who’s keeping track at this point anyway) stuck her tongue out. “He started it.”

“Oh really?”

There was a grumble from above them as Buermon rolled into view, glaring down at the both of them. “Knock it off, will you? I can’t believe you’re all so remarkably calm about all this.”

Oninarimon raised an eyebrow beneath his mask. “Have you met me?” He stretched. “Relax. Those children are merely that. Children.”

There was a clattering as Fantocciomon stepped over, tenderly caressing four different Bambolamon with his slender arms. “And yet, as weak, feeble beings, they are able to instill fear into one of the great demonic minds of the Digital World.”

Buermon chuckled nervously. “That’s the problem with having a big brain. You get big anxiety.”

“I can see your concern. Well, your reason for concern. My boys have been watching them since they were brought down here. Humans certainly have potential.”

“Potential to ruin us all.” Buermon folded two of his arms as best as he could. “I don’t like it. I’ve been through this before. We all think we’re fine, and then suddenly we’re on our backs staring up at the sky and wondering where we made a mistake.”

Oninarimon mused to himself, placing a brush to the lips of his mask. “We don’t have to explicitly antagonise them, though. There’s no need to fight, but there’s plenty to explore. With that power of evolution, for example.” He cocked his head. “It seems a waste to just leave them there to rot.”

There was an angry spitting from nearby, and Krampusmon leaned forward on his staff. “Best thing for them, in my opinion.”

Oninarimon shrugged as the Kankomon giggled behind him. “I’m just thinking aloud. If nothing else it’s a hobby.”

Buermon scrunched his face up and huffed, but Fantocciomon ran his spindly fingers down his own varnished chin. “It’s tempting. I could get some new ideas.”

“You’re a true artist. I like you.”

“I don’t like any of this.” Buermon swivelled on his rearmost foot, facing back into the hall. “Echidnamon? They’re having very bad ideas again.”

A voice echoed from the darkness.

“Whatever.”

“But the children could get out!”

“I really, honestly, don’t care! I don’t even know why you freaks caught them in the first place; poke them, kill them, nothing actually matters.”

“All Will Crave The Chasm At The End Of Days.”

“Thank you Annihilamon. Very helpful.”

Oninarimon smiled up at the elder denizens of the Dark Area, swaying back and forth. “See? It can’t hurt just to have a little play. You might even find you’ll enjoy it.”

“Oh no. Keep me out of your sick, twisted little games.” Buermon squirmed. “You and Fantocciomon can go and have your craft workshop to your heart’s content. But don’t come running to me when everything goes wrong.”

Oninarimon nodded up at Fantocciomon, who rolled his shoulders, his whole body jittering wildly. Three Bambolamon leapt off his back, first standing up straight, before surrounding the foxy artist. The puppetmaster waved a hand. “Play nicely, boys. Don’t go too far.”

“Humans getting tortured? Ah what the heck. I’m in.”

Krampusmon took a couple of steps, stopped, and stretched, arching his back and wincing. “I may go along for the show in a minute. You run along though. Give me something interesting to watch when I get there.”

Oninarimon bowed low, with the Kankomon and Bambolamon copying him all around. Then, with a smile and a slight hum to himself, he sauntered off into the gloom.

It had been an interesting day for Polypmon. Meeting otherworldly creatures, seeing the extent of their power, and now actually full-on talking to them and learning about the intricacies of their lives and of a world beyond their own. Before the jellyfish had just been excitably curious, but now they were utterly fascinated. Sure, it wasn’t...an ideal place to learn about other beings, and they couldn’t help feeling that some of their audience were being a bit stand-offish.

That was fair.

“So your mission here is to try and fix this world using...what are those things?”

Martin showed one of the little flash drives on his palm, although he kept it just out of reach of the jellyfish’s grasping tentacles.

“Programs. Antivirus or something like that. Do you know anything about the Funnyman?”

“Buddy, I don’t even know anything about the world when it’snormal, let alone when somebody’s shuffled it up.” Polypmon rolled up a front feeler. “Though I suppose that would explain why the big guys are so peed off. They spent so long trying to take over the world or destroy it or cleanse it or...whatever...and then some utter nobody comes round and shows them all up.”

Empermon put his hands behind his head. “You wouldn’t happen to know what exactly the Funnyman is though, would you? You said you could hear everybody’s voices in the Dark Area.”

“Everyone at once. It’s not exactly good for pinpointing things.” Polypmon let out a puff of gel that floated away down the corridor. “Though I suppose if it was something distinct. What does he look like?”

Empermon opened his beak, but found himself at a bit of a loss for words. Luckily Eleanor was there to fill the jellyfish in. “Try giant fuck-off hands made of computer shit that speak with the voice of the legion.”

It was an apt description, but Polypmon drew a blank. “That...doesn’t sound like any Digimon I’m aware of...”

Empermon scratched his head. “I guess he may not be a Digimon. The old world was wrecked by something completely alien, after all.”

Aardmon’s eyes darted between the two, and she coughed abruptly. “Does it really matter? If we get the drives to the core we can reset the world and it’ll all be fine anyway.”

The penguin glanced sideways at her. “I’m just musing. No need to bite my head off.”

“I’m not. We just don’t need a dictionary definition on this guy.” Aardmon lowered her head, clasping her fingers. “He’s bad news. Isn’t that enough?”

Callum shuffled forwards. “It wouldn’t hurt to know a little bit more about what we’re actually facing. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we’re at a massive disadvantage here.”

Aardmon pouted. “Yeah...I know...”

“If we’re going to take this guy on, we need all the help we can get.”

Polypmon blinked, hovering ever so slightly above the cage floor. “You all sound like you’re planning something. You’re not actually thinking on taking this thing on, are you?”

Ursula nodded. “That was the plan.”

“But...you’ll need to be out in the main world. You can’t go. You’re here.” Polypmon scratched their head. “I think. You’re supposed to stay here until we’re done with you.”

“Done with doing what?”

“I don’t know.”

Eleanor sat up, crossing her legs. “Yeah, well our mission is a little more important than your little playtime, buster. Maybe have a word with your bosses and get us the fuck out of here.”

Polypmon looked taken aback. They made a slight creaking noise, only to have Lorelie’s keypad thrust in their face. “Pretty please?”

“I...don’t think that’s how it works...” Polypmon looked amongst everyone. “My word...you’re all totally serious about this, aren’t you...”

“Sounds fun!”

Polypmon double-took, and they screamed, pointing a tentacle off to one side. “You! What are you doing here?”

There was a snigger from outside the cage, and everybody jumped as they saw Hinkymon’s playful face amongst their own. The imp stuck out his tongue. “Lookit. The funny floating jelly guy is having a crisis of confidence.”

“You little...” Polypmon’s tentacles crackled as they rose up, only to hiss in pain as they whacked their head on the roof of the cage. In a tangled ball they rolled out the bars and bore down on Hinkymon, who skipped away as he laughed.

Ursula raised an eyebrow. “Oh wonderful. Now it is time for the encore.”

Martin bit his lip. “I could have sworn we were getting somewhere...”

Callum sighed. “We were. Then the comedians showed up and suddenly nothing makes sense again.”

“Do we need to get used to this?”

“Probably.”

Polypmon certainly hadn’t lost any zeal as they barrelled after the gremlin, sending bolts of electricity in all directions. Hinkymon was fast though, bouncing off the walls and even leaping over the jellyfish more than once. Polypmon cursed under their breath, and spun around, focusing on the bobbing flame before him.

“Zappelnder Narr!”

"Gorgon Grappler!”

Polypmon charged forwards as their tentacles spun wildly with the ferocity of buzzsaws, preparing to ensnare the dancing imp before them as they lunged at full pelt...

...into a wall.

There was a full squelching sound, followed by a high tittering from a completely different part of the hallway. Polypmon groaned as they unstuck themselves from the wall, and turned to see somebody else standing not a few metres away.

“Oh...Oninarimon. Good, I...I need...” Polypmon shook themselves out, and looked all around. “You haven’t seen the imp around, have you?”

Oninarimon rolled his neck. “Ah, leave him be. It’s inconsequential when we have other things to discuss.”

“I, uh...oh...”

Polypmon glanced sideways at the swinging cage, and the worried looking expressions that they could just make out inside.

“I wasn’t doing anything...untoward...”

“’Course you were. You’re a member of the Dark Area. That’s all we do; may as well embrace it.”

“What’s with the Bambolamon? And the Kankomon? You’ve got...more than usual.”

The fox neglected to answer, instead tiptoeing around the now-silent cage as he stared inside. Polypmon bobbed along behind him, tapping him on the shoulder. “What are you doing here?”

“I want to find out more about the humans. The same as you. Am I right?”

Polypmon brightened up. “You want to talk with them? How lovely! They’re ever so fun.”

There was a snort from inside the cage, followed by Eleanor muttering to herself. “Glad that after everything we only qualify as fun.”

Oninarimon chuckled, and ran a nail up one of the bars. “Anybody can talk, Polypmon. But from what I’ve heard, these humans can do so much more.” He shrugged. “I’m only curious, that’s all. It’s in my blood.”

He gestured with his head, and two of the Bambolamon shimmied underneath the cage and ripped the barricaded trapdoor clean off with a snap. There was a squeak from Lorelie, and everybody else suddenly found themselves pressing themselves together as one of the dolls’ heads slowly raised up through the floor.

The fox spirit stepped back, twirling a brush in his right hand, and he held his other out towards the jellyfish. Polypmon paled, and raised a tentacle.

“I...uh...don’t think you’re supposed to be doing that...”

“But aren’t you curious?”

“Y...yes...”

Oninarimon chuckled, and snapped his fingers. “Which of them was the pair who evolved again?”

All the Bambolamon immediately pointed at Callum, who looked slightly taken aback. “Have I met all of you?”

The dolls didn’t answer; quickly and efficiently bundling him and Empermon out of the cage. As one of them stood at attention beneath the open trapdoor, leering upwards at the children within, the other two dragged him in front of Oninarimon. Callum tried his best to stand tall and look intimidating; it wasn’t a bad attempt given that he was a good foot taller than the fox spirit, but then again, he didn’t have two Boy Scout flunkies and a spectral backing group.

“You can’t keep us here forever! We’re heroes! We will defeat you!”

An audible groan sounded from inside the cage, and even Lorelie placed her head in her hands, visibly cringing. Martin stared out, clutching one bar. “Callum...no...”

Oninarimon hadn’t even acknowledged the vague threat; he put his hands behind his back, and leant forwards, staring at Callum’s arm. He hummed and muttered amusedly to himself for a couple of seconds. Then he twisted his head around, staring down at Empermon.

“Is this your companion?”

Empermon narrowed his eyes. “Who’s asking?”

Snkt

“Ah!”

Callum flinched as the backs of one of the Kankomon’s nails raked across one cheek, leaving faint lines. He braced himself, but Oninarimon stayed back, cold and calculating. Polypmon hovered behind him, their expression unreadable.

“Go on then. Aren’t you going to evolve your partner? To defend yourself?”

Another strike, this time against the metal of the D-Psyche. It groaned, and the Kankomon recoiled harshly, shaking its hands. But Callum stayed standing, glancing down at Empermon.

“Hey...”

The cage behind him swung as the others were pressed against the wall, beside themselves. Eleanor gritted her teeth. “What is he doing? He was way too gung-ho about evolving before, but now he’s just standing there!”

Martin swallowed. “I don’t think that’s down to him.”

“Who then?”

Lorelie pointed through the bars, singling out the penguin, who stood, his head low and his shoulders hunched. He hadn’t said a word.

Oninarimon hummed thoughtfully, and began to pace. “Stubbornness, maybe? Perhaps denying my own curiosity out of spite. But if he’s not willing to protect himself...”

Slash

“Empermon!”

In a flash the spirit had whirled round, and purple claws had struck the penguin down, leaving deeper wounds than Callum had received. The boy bent down and helped his partner up, worry on his face. “Dude, what’s wrong...we need to do...something...”

Empermon stared up at him, his eyes blank. Hollow. Ashamed. Yet firm.

Oninarimon stepped forwards, holding his arms out. “First blood and still no reaction? Although Digimon are notably tougher than humans. Externally, anyway.”

“Leave him alone!”

Callum’s legs powered against the ground and he brought his D-Psyche up, the metal crashing into Oninarimon’s body. The fox spirit was sent clattering to the ground, but as he did so, dozens of Kankomon shot out and lunged at both the boy and the penguin, slamming them both to the ground themselves with a deceptive strength.

The boy opened his eyes and looked across at Oninarimon, who was being helped up by Polypmon. He sighed.

“How mundane. Violence. That can’t be right.”

Polypmon’s eyes narrowed just slightly. “Whatever you’re trying to do, I don’t think it’s working.”

“Nonsense!”

The fox clicked his fingers again and in mere seconds the rest of the cage’s contents had been bundled out and marshalled forwards by the three smiling sailor dolls. Oninarimon rubbed his hands together.

“We’ve got five different people here and two separate Digimon. That’s at least ten different combinations all with hundreds of catalysts and ideas to explore. The perfect scenario, Polypmon. It’s all down to iteration. Trial and error. And if it goes wrong, you simply return to first guesses.”

He whirled round, and pointed a finger down at Aardmon. “You! Who is your supposed partner?”

Aardmon allowed herself a smirk. “I don’t have one. I’m useless.”

“No such thing. If you don’t, then we’ll just have to pick...you!”

His finger landed on Martin, who was immediately shoved forwards with the aardvark. The Kankomon were on him in an instant, their claws digging into the metal around his shoulders as his D-Psyche screeched in indignation. Martin shook his head. “This isn’t going to work. You know we can’t-“

“Shush. Have a little faith in yourselves.” Oninarimon suddenly burst into laughter, and clapped his hands. “That’s how it works, isn’t it? Faith! Or is it courage...or maybe friendship.”

Martin pressed his lips together. “You have no idea, do you? You’re so much worse than any of the others.”

He shut his mouth as Oninarimon’s claws suddenly curled around his chin, pressing against his flesh.

“How perceptive. Even amongst the wicked and irredeemable down here, there’s nobody quite like me.”

There was a tittering amongst the Bambolamon, and the fox tilted his head up. “What’s so funny?”

“Daddy’s a little like you.”

The one on the end smiled. “Yes. He’s a better artist than you are.”

“Shut up!”

“Copycat!”

The fox spirit uncurled a taloned finger, pointing at the giggling trio. “Your Daddy will have to treat me with respect when I’m done. I will be the first Digimon to create art with humanity, and then-”

“Oninarimon!”

There was a burst of sparks, and the fox-spirit turned around, the gaze of his mask resting on Polypmon. The jellyfish was quivering, clearly uncertain of their own words. “This is too much. Yeah, they’re our prisoners but...they’re not yours. They’re not toys.”

Oninarimon leered forwards, and Polypmon rose their tentacles in defense.

But then the masked fox paused. He placed a hand on his chin.

“I have nothing but respect for them. But...that’s true. They are communal property.” He tilted his head backwards. “So are you asking to have a go?”

“What? No!” Polypmon trembled, and their tentacles flailed in all directions. “I didn’t-“

They tried to back away, but suddenly became aware of a swarm of Kankomon behind them, who nipped at the ends of their tendrils, forcing them forwards. Oninarimon merely retreated a short way, his arms behind his back. “Maybe you’ll have better luck. It’s quite simple. Provoke them in any way you choose.”

Polypmon looked down at Martin, who had his lips shut tight. The screen on his chest was glowing a very deep purple, and letting off an electronic hum.

“I can’t attack them! Not after talking with them.”

“You attacked them before, didn’t you? When they were escaping.”

“That’s...”

“What if they attack you?” Oninarimon thought for a moment, and snapped his fingers again. “Or what if I attack you? Would they step in? To save an innocent bystander? Or even a deadly enemy. How do these humans work?”

Polypmon tried to turn again, but a swipe from the wall of Kankomon sent them reeling backwards, terror on their face.

“How did this happen...how did I get myself into this-“

“Polypmon?”

The jellyfish flinched, and turned around, gazing down at the boy before him. Martin gave a small nod.

“I don’t mind, you know. It’s not personal, is it?” He smiled. “Don’t get yourself hurt for my sake.”

Beside him, Ursula glanced down at the boy’s hand, which was clenched tight, the knuckles almost white. She gritted her teeth, trying to avoid stepping in. Glancing the other way, she noticed something behind the line of Bambolamon. A small orange flame, and a pair of bright, purple eyes, watching every move that was going on.

Slash

Polypmon yelped again as the Kankomon lunged at them, and they slowly floated down to the boy’s level.

“What are you people? What business did you ever have here?”

Martin blinked. Several times. He shook his head. “Do what you have to do.”

“But...why?”

“Because I’m human. And you hate humans, don’t you?”

“But I never knew humans.”

“You don’t need to. It’s who you are.”

Polypmon flinched. “Is that all I am?”

“I don’t know. Is it?”

“I’ve never been anything else! I can’t be anything else!” Polypmon rubbed their tentacles over their head, groaning. “I’m so confused...”

Eleanor took in a breath, and stepped forward, glaring up at the jellyfish. “Listen you floating bag of wet pudding, if this is ‘who you are’ then why the hell are you taking so long? Some of us have places to be!”

Polypmon jumped, their eyes darting between Martin’s serene expression and Eleanor’s accusing one. “Do you really think I have a choice?”

“I don’t know. Are you being held here against your will?”

“...no...but...”

Now Callum spoke up, pushing his body upwards. “Is it just easier? Or are you scared?”

And Aardmon. “How can they be scared? They’re the ones that everyone’s afraid of.”

Polypmon looked all around as the row of children in front of them all started speaking up at once, their voices getting louder and more accusing. Oninarimon placed his hand on his chin, watching his experiment unfold into madness with great intrigue.

“Are you scared of us?”

“...sh...shut up...”

“Are you scared of them?”

Polypmon quivered, and raised their front two tentacles, the ends sparking. “I said shut up!”

Martin shot a glance left and right. Everybody was looking at him, all as tense as he was. He held his breath.

“What do you want to do, Polypmon?”

“I’m NOT SCARED!” Polypmon cried out, rushing forwards all of a sudden and swinging their tentacles.

“ZapLash!”

The arcing bolts of electricity struck Martin straight on the chest. There was a flash. A bang. A vicious screeching.

And Martin’s chest opened.

Polypmon barely had time to react before the wave of purple energy struck them, then spread out to everybody around them. It was so intense that the Kankomon dissipated in an instant, fleeing into their rods around Oninarimon’s belt. The fox spirit himself was forced back, his mask straining against the light.

“Get offa me!”

One of the Bambolamon suddenly found himself clattering to the ground after a punch from a temporarily more mobile Eleanor, and she grabbed Aardmon and pulled her back away from the fireworks. Ursula and Callum broke free as well, and they all stepped backwards, watching the purple display before them.

Martin was standing now, although he was clearly in something between confusion and distress. Probably due to the great gaping maw in his torso, emitting a bright light as the cogs and cranks shifted around like mechanised teeth. With every movement, he winced, although honestly he felt no discomfort.

And if he was finding the experience surreal, Polypmon was utterly bewildered. They hung in mid-air, held in the centre of a series of threads, gently forming a matrix around them. They struggled, panic in their eyes as they were slowly taken over with white light. But there was no stopping it now.

“Polypmon...Psyche Synchronise!”

With a scraping sound Martin’s back arched, the D-Psyche opening fully and exploding with purple energy. It struck the polyhedron around the jellyfish and crystallised it, obscuring the Digimon from view. Only the silhouette was visible, pulsating within the light.

“Evolution Activate!”

The crystal blew apart, but the threads of light remained connected to Polypmon’s illuminated form, in a manner not dissimilar to Empermon’s first evolution. The jellyfish grew, the gelatinous flesh pulsating with multicoloured lights as they took up the whole volume of the matrix, pressing against the bright fibres. Then it snapped, and disappeared, sending lights into the air around them as a new figure unfurled themselves, floating a couple of metres off the ground.

Half of them was almost humanoid, with two arms made from clusters of tentacles, held in place by pink rings. From their waist down their body gave way to a bulbous dome, which tapered off at the back. Tiny lights flickered along its side as rows of cilia pulsed downwards in waves. There were even more tentacles; the ones at the back thick and muscular, and the ones at the front long, swaying gently and tipped in blue spikes. The figure’s head was angular, with four tubular eyes and three head fins that poked off at right-angles to each other. Five more eyes stared out from the dome at their waist, blinking in confusion. The whole creature was practically neon in the dim light, their dark blue body laces with glowing pink and yellow and blue, which waved all around in a beautiful spectral display.

“Manowarmon!”

Martin steadied himself as he felt his D-Psyche closing up, and he backed away, staring up at the half-man-half-jellyfish (jellytaur? Let me trademark that) floating before him. While it was difficult to keep the excitement off his face, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of uncertainty.

Manowarmon raised their hands, staring at them. Their face quivered, scrunching up.

“What...what the hell...”

Martin stepped back as the tentacles began to writhe, swinging back and forth in chaotic fashion as arcs of electricity began to spit outwards in all directions, letting off horrendous squeaks and tearing sounds.

“What have you done to me!?”

Martin smiled sheepishly at the eldritch creation in front of him.

“So...this is a bit sudden, but...would you like to be my partner...?”

TO BE CONTINUED...