The eerie, peaceful silence of the forest was the perfect hideaway. Every single movement was picked up. Every oddity was noted. The vines traipsing over everything twitched and swayed, nonchalantly, but with utter malice. Nothing could hide. There was nowhere to hide.

And once you were seen, you were pursued.

The vines scuttled away into the undergrowth as the creature barrelled its way through, its constant falling motion letting it plough through the thick foliage with ease. It swung its body from side to side, the huge spiked plates on its tail stabbing at any tree that got in its way. The creature paused, and raised its unusual head, letting out another horrifically sad wail.

It waited, hearing the sound of its own voice as it was swallowed up by the trees. And still it kept listening, swaying gently.

Then it proceeded into the creepers, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. It would find them. It had to find them. That was its only purpose. A hunter. A pursuer. A slave. It would make master happy. The beast sobbed again. Maybe master would make its existence less painful.

Maybe.

As the beast pressed forwards, something shuffled behind it, out of its earshot. The undergrowth opened just a little, and a little pointed nose edged its way out.

Shrewmon trembled. “That...was far too close.”

A hand reached out and wrapped around her mouth, yanking her back into the bushes. Ursula angrily whispered in the shrew’s ear, “Don’t blow this for us, mole!”

Lorelie sat back in the undergrowth, rocking slightly, and wondering how many traumatic life-threatening experiences a fourteen-year old girl could experience before it was no longer rude to ask for sympathy.

The whole operation had been chaotic at best. From the moment they’d seen the beast running towards them, everything had gone in somewhat of a blur. Lorelie couldn’t entirely see what was going on, and that had made things even worse. She’d felt Shrewmon grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the relative safety of the forest, all the while yelling with Ursula in muffled voices. Lorelie had just kept running; the single image of the lopsided creature running towards them burned into her vision, and as she was dragged further inland, she’d definitely became aware of the great footsteps pummelling through the sand, in a rhythmic galloping fashion. And getting louder all the time.

The three had barely reached the edge of the forest cover as the creature shot past them, overshooting due to its immense momentum. Still, they’d only gotten a few dozen metres in when the monster had spotted them again, clawing at the thick treeline and crying that desolate wail from before. From then on it had been nothing but scraping their way through thick vines threatening to grab them, and past deadly spiky tree-trunks, all the while staying ahead of the rolling juggernaut behind.

And now, at last, some peace and quiet. Everything was calm and tranquil. True, this was in no way a good situation, but it’s nice to relish little victories.

After about five minutes crouched over in silence, the trio decided that the danger had sufficiently passed, and also Ursula was getting cramp in her legs. Slowly they unfurled, hopping out awkwardly into the beast’s trail of destruction and untwisting all their joints. Shrewmon hissed under her breath.

“Hopefully that one will leave us alone.”

Ursula blinked. “That one?”

The shrew grinned. “I’m not so naive as to think there’s only one of those freaks wandering around.”

Lorelie felt around in her inner pockets, locating her keypad and holding it out to each of her companions in turn. “You mean there’s more out there?”

Shrewmon looked up at Ursula, who shrugged. “With our luck? Yes. There must be.”

“What are they? Why are th”

The girl stopped in mid-type, and her shoulders fell. She stabbed down at her keypad, fumbling with the letters, before holding it up at the others.

“What about Hinkymon and Empermon? Did those things take them?”

Ursula’s eyes widened, and she looked behind her, all of a sudden taking in how isolated they were.

Lorelie stabbed down at the device again. “What about Callum and Eleanor and everyone else? What if they’ve been taken? 0_0”

The girl tried to hold her arm steady but it was shaking too much, the uncertainty getting to her. Ursula stepped forwards and held the girl’s shoulder; awkwardly, but firmly enough to provide some support. The taller girl looked away.

“They’re smart. Wherever they are, we’ll find them. We can’t be that far away...”

“Hey, girls?”

Shrewmon beckoned the two over, and pointed down at the ground. Where the crying chimera and pushed its way through the undergrowth, there was a trail of flattened plants...with the exception of a new carpet of vines, which were slowly slithering in the direction it had gone. Lorelie crouched down, but Ursula held her back.

“Stop! They could be dangerous!”

“I’m just looking.”

The girl squinted for a second, keeping at a safe distance from the trailing creeper at a as it edged from side to side, apparently uninterested in her. Looking closely, she noticed a series of lights flashing along its length, sending out little packets of multicoloured light. She straightened up again, and held out her keypad, a puzzled emoticon on her face.

“They’re not vines. They look like cables.”

Ursula shrugged. “We are in the digital world. That could just be what plants look like here?”

Shrewmon pointed. “Whatever they are, they’re leading the same way that our clumsy friend went.” She glanced up, smirking. “Shall we?”

They didn’t have any other real options. Together, the girls shuffled forwards, following the shrew’s directions. It was easy to see where to go at first, but soon the path of destruction began to merge with other, similar swathes through the forest. Evidently this wasn’t the first time the creature had come this way. But where the paths crossed, the cables led the way, meeting up and twisting together in larger and larger bundles.

Presently the undergrowth gave way to a clearing, almost completely suddenly. Ursula gasped loudly, and it was Lorelie’s turn to pull her back and place a hand over her mouth. Shrewmon just stood there, gawping.

“Well that’s...unexpected.”

The three chimeras jostled amongst themselves, edging around the group and letting off unintelligible noises at one another. The one that had been Gizamon shuffled forwards, pressing its grotesque head down towards the group and letting off little squeaks. Its many glazed eyes moved lazily among them, before settling on the still Terramon down below.

“...yOu cAme fOR me...”

Eleanor leapt in front of her partner, backhanding the monster across the cheek. “You stay away from her, you maniac. You’ve done enough.”

The sudden aggression caused the other two chimeras to growl, and one of them snapped at Martin, who backed away, holding his hands over the buttons of his D-Psyche. “What do we do?”

Eleanor glanced back at Terramon, who was staring at her palms.

“This...is just wrong...it’s just so wrong...”

The girl shook her head, and looked up at Martin. “I’ve got nothing, mate. It’s on you.”

Polypmon moaned as they slid off of Martin’s shoulders, raising their tentacles. “You mean it’s on me, don’t you...”

Martin winced. “Sorry about this...”

“Polypmon, Psyche Synchronise!”

“Manowarmon!”

Spooked by the sudden burst of energy, the three chimeras sprang into action, letting out guttural sounds and flailing their lopsided limbs wildly. The one that had been Gizamon lunged towards the group first, but Eleanor threw a punch, deflecting the tiny dangling body and causing it to stab the ground instead. Eleanor cringed, and held her fist. “I feel like I’m punching these kind of things far too often nowadays...”

“You’re telling me! Toxic Shocker!”

Manowarmon was doing remarkably well with holding their two initial assailants back, sending pulses of pink lightning into each one in turn. The round, flexible one spat, and coiled its pale limbs into a corkscrew, sending its own lightning down the funnel in a long spear. It wasn’t an elegant attack, but it caught the jellyfish off guard, knocking them down into the dirt. Instantly the other one was upon them, giving great pendulous punches with its trunk-body-thing. Manowarmon managed to catch the trunk in both palms after the fourth hit, but their strength was clearly outmatched.

“Why am I always stuck on my own with these things?”

A flash of green caught Manowarmon’s eyes, and they glanced to the side to see Terramon; shaking uncontrollably, but still building energy within her jaws.

“M...Marsh Bomb!”

Terramon fired, and a series of green globules struck the chimera’s trunk head, and it coiled back just enough for Manowarmon to wriggle loose, sending tentacles in a wide arc and slicing at the chimera’s flesh. It was an impressive display, but even so, it was three-against-one, and Manowarmon was clearly outmatched.

Eleanor bit her lip hard enough to leave an imprint, and she made an executive decision.

“Leg it!”

“Toxic Shocker!”

Manowarmon splayed their tentacles wide, releasing pink lightning not in short bursts, but in a wide arc that struck all three creatures in the faces. They reared back, temporarily incapacited, as the two humans and Digimon rocketed towards the nearest treeline. Eleanor huffed angrily, barely able to get any words out. “Fuck...all...this...running...”

Manowarmon rubbed their smarting tentacles, humming in an irritated fashion. “This would be a lot easier if we knew what we were fighting against!”

Martin raised a finger, his other hand going to his D-Psyche. “I might be able to help. We know they’re chimeras, right? They’re made of other Digimon. That’s why I was getting a bunch of different readings. That might give us something to work with.”

Eleanor dropped back, trying to run and concentrate on the images that were flashing up on the boy’s screen. “Spit it out, dictionary kid.”

“Can we get to somewhere else first PLEASE JESUS!”

A globule of sparkling liquid struck the ground in front of them with an intense flash, spreading out and eating into the sand. The group turned at a right angle just as the culprit – the chimera that had been Gizamon – readied for another shot as they scuttled forwards on several ragged legs. The distant mumbles and gurgles indicated that the others weren’t far behind. The group reached the treeline just as Gizamon’s ghost fired again, some of the liquid striking Manowarmon on the flank and causing the gelatinous flesh to peel back.

“Aah-hahahow!” hissed the jellyfish, before firing off a couple of angry lightning bolts behind them. “I am not cut out for this!”

Martin bit his tongue, fiddling with the screen on his chest. “Hang on, I’m nearly there...”

“Martin! I am in distress!”

“What am I gonna do? I’m a fat kid with a squint; I have nothing to offer here except for dictionary definitions!

Manowarmon winced, hearing a crashing behind them as the three chimeras started knocking their way through the forest again, though their progress was being thankfully slowed. The jellyfish grumbled, rubbing their rearmost tentacles together. “I’m only asking for a bit of emotional support.”

“You’re doing fantastically. You always do.” Martin paused for breath, and smiled up at his partner. “I am very sorry for your constantly stupidly high workload but right now there’s not much I can do to help.”

“I said emotional support, not harsh realism.”

“Well...pwft. You got me there. Sorry.” Martin glimpsed down, as little images flashed up on his screen. “Aha! Information!”

Eleanor glanced up. “How long is this gonna take? I think our friends are getting closer.”

Martin pointed at the little areas on his screen, swiping left and right. “So the round monkey one is part Gesomon, part Thundermon and part Kangarumon. I’m guessing it can fire lightning and it’s squishy.” He winked up at his partner. “You’ll have fun with them.”

“Please carry on. I’ll consider who I’m gonna take out for drinks at a later point.”

“Right. Sorry.” Martin swiped around. “The big one’s made of Mammothmon and Woodmon, with a Nanimon on the end, and it looks like it can just hit things really hard. The other one...”

The boy swallowed, staring a glance at Terramon, who was looking the other way.

“...Wizardmon and Dokugomon. And a bit of Monochromon. It’s a bit hard to tell; it looks like it’s sort of a magic and poison kind of thing. There’s not a lot of Gizamon in what I saw; she...must have been a bit of an afterthought.” He blinked, and his screen went blank. “I’m sorry.”

There was a grunting noise as Terramon retched, falling to one knee. Eleanor pressed her eyes shut, and knelt down beside her partner, who was shaking her head, tears in her eyes.

“This is so cruel...who the fuck would do something like this...?”

“Terramon...”

“I’m sorry...you should never have come-“

“Don’t say sorry. Please. It wasn’t your fault; I’m as much to blame for us coming here.” She exhaled, and whispered gently into the turtle’s ear. “I don’t know if we can make this right. I don’t think we can. But what we can do is find whatever’s doing this and twat it in the face. Does that sound like a plan?”

The turtle looked at her partner, and nodded slightly. Eleanor stood up, and turned to the others. “So...you’re not gonna like this plan...”

Martin shrugged. “Eh...I’m used to it by now.”

He jumped as there came a chattering from behind him, and he turned to see the three figures looming within the treeline.

“Though we might wanna retreat until we have a slightly more permanent plan!”

The gurgling one shoved its arms through the treeline, slamming one down on the ground like a huge flyswatter. The others leapt back as the chattering one stuck its head through, grinning on its spherical goggled face.

“Torpedo Coil!”

Manowarmon shot forwards, spinning and causing their tentacles to slash outwards, but they did little against the chimera’s head as it raised one of its tiny arms to block the attack. It mumbled, and swung its entire head into the jellyfish. Manowarmon stumbled back, but before they could retaliate, the great flexible tendrils of the gurgling one wrapped around their chest.

“Oh no...”

There was a crackling and a flashing light as thousands of volts coursed through the jellyfish’s form, causing their tentacles to flail wildly and their arm bundles to separate. Martin rushed forwards, but was unable to get close due to the pure power of the attack that held his partner hostage.

“Manowarmon! No!”

The jellyfish twitched, the intense discharge throwing them and the monster off balance, and they separated with a bang. Manowarmon shot forwards, already trailing data as they blinked wildly.

“Alright, I’m done! What’s the next plan?”

The spider-like chimera was already advancing on them, twirling a very old, bent magician’s staff and swaying as fire played over its knuckles. The two children grabbed their partners and ran, the last of Polypmon’s Champion data dispersing as a pathetic distraction. Still, it did the job, as the acidic fire mostly missed; instead eating away at the plants it touched.

The children didn’t look back as they heard the trees crashing to the ground. They just kept moving, forcing themselves through smaller and smaller gaps and further away from their pursuers and-

They shot out into an open clearing, and Eleanor found herself in the clutches of something new.

“Aaah, fuck! What now? Haven’t we suffered enough?”

Ursula raised an eyebrow. “Charming.”

She pushed the girl gently away, and rubbed her shoulders down, looking her all over. “Have you had a fun journey?”

“Piss off. I’m glad to see you.” Eleanor grumbled, and folded her arms, trying and failing to hide her relief. “Are you two okay? Any trouble?”

Lorelie shrugged, as Shrewmon nodded sagely. “A little. We had a run in with something big, creepy and ugly.”

Martin adjusted his glasses, which had fallen at an angle. “Oh, you too? We’ve just had three. What was yours like?”

Shrewmon held her lips in. “Weird...”

“You’re gonna have to be more specific.”

“Hang on...”

Eleanor peered around the grove, trying to spot something in the surrounding bushes. “Where are Hinkymon and Empermon? They did go with you, didn’t they?”

Ursula looked down at the ground. Lorelie held out her keypad. “Something took them.”

She tapped again, looking at everyone in turn. “I hope they’re okay...”

“You hope they’re okay? What about me?” Polypmon puffed out their cheeks, folding their tentacles. “I just took a darn lightning bolt for you people; don’t I get a little-“

“Polypmon...”

Martin nudged the jellyfish, and gestured to his side. The jellyfish stopped mid-rant, and bit their lip. “Oh...yeah...not the time...”

Martin, Polypmon and Eleanor held their breath, and they all turned to Terramon. The turtle scratched her forearm, blinking as if she’d just woken up.

“I...I...”

The turtle her breath for several seconds. Then she exhaled.

“I’m okay. I’m gonna help. The others are in trouble. I won’t let this happen to anyone else.”

She raised her head, her eyes narrow and steeled for the first time since Eleanor had met her. She looked between Lorelie and Ursula. “Do you know whereabouts they’d have been taken? Any clues whatsoever?”

The two girls suddenly found themselves feeling very intimidated. Ursula cleared her throat. “We...uh...found something...but there wasn’t a lot we could do so we figured we’d try and find somebody else...”

The turtle tapped her foot. “Where?”

The girl swallowed, and pointed behind her, back down the trail of devastation. Terramon followed her fingers, and started marching, opening and closing her fists as she did so. She stopped at the edge of the grove, turning towards Eleanor.

“Whoever’s doing this, we stop them right here.”

Polypmon coughed, and raised a tentacle. “Pardon me, but...aren’t we a little outnumbered right now?”

“Who cares!” Shrewmon scampered forwards, placing an arm around the turtle’s shoulder. “Time for a little action! Finally the heroes of the hour!”

The turtle shook her head, smiling gently as she removed the shrew’s arm.

“I don’t care about heroism. I just want this whole thing to end.” She smiled at the shrew, cracking each knuckle in turn.

“Please lead the way.”

It had been so sudden. A vine wrapping around both of their ankles in turn and yanking them beneath the silver sand before they could even take a breath.

Empermon had passed out in seconds from the shock of it, though he had still managed to keep his saxophone clutched close to his body, holding on tightly even in unconsciousness. Hinkymon had slightly more experience with tunnels, and was able to keep a hold of his bearings for a few moments more as they were pulled into the forest. But even he’d had to succumb eventually.

Still, being more used to imminent danger and claustrophobic spaces, Hinkymon was the first to wake the other end. His first instinct was to hop to his feet and scamper to the nearest vantage point, to try and scope out his current location. From the ties around his hands and feet, even he could see that wasn’t really an option, although being a slippery little bastard he was able to separate his limb-bundles in such a way that he could at least shuffle around with relative ease. His lantern had dimmed considerably, although it still had a faint glow. The goblin squeezed his eyes shut, focusing as much as he could. There were a couple of clicks, a puff, and the flame was active once again, dancing back and forth and illuminating his whereabouts.

He was stuck in what could only be described as a large metallic bubble; perfectly spherical, save for several nodes dotting around the place from which extruded several cables, and so chrome that just looking around made his head spin even further. He followed a few of the cables, before discovering that a lot of them seemed to be attached to his own body, occasionally pinching at his thick skin with little suction cups.

Another bundle was conglomerated at another point in the chamber; Empermon was lying there, still utterly prone, also hooked up to the dome.

Hinkymon placed one finger inside his mouth, considering his options. They didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, and deep down he truly felt that the penguin had been through enough.

On the other hand, the penguin was a grumpy sod, and this was too big of an opportunity to miss out on. The imp reached out, and began to tickle.

“Haahahahaha-“

Donk

“YOWCH!”

A few moments later, Empermon was sat up, cradling his head with both flippers from where he’d jerked awake and thwacked it against the back of the floor. The penguin blinked several times as he came to grips with where he was.

“Geez...what the hell is wrong with you? What’s going on? Why the hell am I itching all over?”

He glared up at the goblin, who was sat cross-legged not far away from him, humming a happy little tune. Empermon rubbed his eyes as best he could, then took a good, long look as his front flippers. Then all over his body, then turning, staring at his face in the mirrored wall of the sphere. Then he glared back at Hinkymon.

“Have you been drawing on me while I was asleep?”

Hinkymon shook his head. “Newp. They got me too. See?”

He spread his arms, revealing the tapestry that adorned his own body. Along with the cables, there was a network of dotted lines, arrows, circles, numbers and one or two notes in a completely illegible handwriting. Empermon was sporting much the same; he angrily tried to rub away some of the offending markings, but it did absolutely nothing save for ruffle his feathers. Hinkymon couldn’t contain his mirth anymore; he rolled over onto his back, giggling wildly.

Empermon shot him a look. “This isn’t funny!”

“Newp. It’s really funny.”

“We look ridiculous!”

“And that’s why it’s really funny.”

Empermon suddenly went stiff, and he held his breath. “Oh god...”

Hinkymon peered up. “What’s wrong? Does your head hurt?”

“They’d better not have defiled Selma...”

The penguin leapt to his feet, fell down, then leapt up again and rushed around the chamber, while Hinkymon watched with great mirth, still cackling. After a solid five minutes, Empermon placed his flippers to his head.

“No...NO! They’ve taken her! They’ve taken Selma!”

“Yoo-hoo!”

The penguin turned towards Hinkymon, who winked, waving the saxophone in the air in front of him. “Still nice and shiny for you.”

“Give me that!”

Empermon stormed over and swiped the instrument from the goblin’s hand, stroking her a little before tucking her under his arm. “You have no respect for antiquity and craftsmanship!”

Hinkymon blinked. “I know it’s pretty. It’s the prettiest recorder I’ve ever seen.”

Twitch

After several seconds in which sudden tragic accidents were contemplated, the penguin took in a breath and waited for ten seconds. He exhaled, and sat back down, taking a proper look all around him. “So...how the hell do we get out of here?”

“Subject awareness at desired level. Introducing additional catalysts.”

The sudden voice made both Rookies jump, and the chrome chamber flashed blue momentarily, the cables shifting around as current flowed through them. Empermon looked perplexed. “That might be a start.”

Sadly, it wasn’t.

“Please keep all extraneous limbs away from the gap, and be mindful of rapidly descending entities.”

There was a squeaking, and the top segment of the sphere spun wildly anticlockwise, before the whole section lifted up. There was a clattering and a dull-thudding sound, which grew louder. Hinkymon cleared his throat, and beckoned the penguin to shuffle a few metres to the right.

“I think we’re in the way.”

Only a couple of moments later, the top of the sphere flipped over and Callum and Aardmon tumbled out, landing in an untidy heap within the nice clean sphere. As soon as they were inside, the cell closed up once again, sealing with a clinical hydraulic hiss. There was a pleasant jingling sound, and the disembodied voice piped up again.

“Thank you for your co-operation. Please maintain your bodies appropriately, and I hope you will gain much invaluable personal development from your new roles.”

Aardmon groaned as she pulled herself out from beneath Callum’s chest, her own body having also been graffiti’d to all heck (although, Empermon noted, Callum had seemed to have gotten away scot-free on that regard). Aardmon let out a noise halfway between an aggressive groan and a hung-over whine.

“Remember when bad Digimon would just...y’know...eat you? Or set you on fire? They were good times.”

Empermon rubbed a temple. “I know. It’s frustrating. Everyone just tries too hard to be different and creative nowadays.”

The penguin glanced up as Callum got to one knee, and their eyes met. Callum froze, his mouth hanging in an awkward position. Empermon rubbed his own neck, and coughed.

“’Sup.”

Callum nodded. “’Sup.”

“We have to stop meeting like this.”

“Agreed. I won’t do it again.”

“Cool.”

“Right.”

Callum slowly pushed himself to his feet, and wandered back, staring at the wall. Empermon didn’t move, but just clutched his saxophone tightly. The tension within the dome thickened to a soup-like consistency.

Completely unexpectedly though, it was thinned out again very rapidly by Aardmon, who planted a fist in her paw.

“Right, okay, I see what’s going on here. Let’s have a team chat.”

Empermon and Callum both blinked as Aardmon marched to the centre of them both, glaring at them in turn. Hinkymon scooched further up one wall, holding his toes and generally enjoying the show.

Callum raised a finger. “I...uh...”

“Look you two, am I gonna bring up the Mammothmon in the room or will someone else do the honours?”

The boy scratched his head. “It depends which one you’re talking about.”

“I would be happy to let you two hate each other in your own time, but you do know that you’re the only ones who can get us out of here, right?”

Callum placed a palm on his D-Psyche. “And you did see what happened the last time we tried that, didn’t you?”

“So what? You’re just gonna give up? Cause you went round the bend once?” Aardmon’s hands were shaking, so she held them close to her abdomen. “You’re not the first human to have lost control, y’know.”

Callum gave her a hurt look, but before she could acknowledge it she turned towards the penguin.

“And you? You’re far from the first Digimon.”

Empermon stamped his foot. “I’m feeling delicate, alright? This isn’t normal! I shouldn’t be in a situation like this in the first place, and now when things go wrong I’m not even allowed to sit around feeling shit about it? That’s my only method of coping in this goddamn world!”

He stomped off, found himself facing a wall, and stomped back, folding his flippers and sulking. The other three just stared, causing the penguin to twitch, until he let out a moan.

“Yeah, alright. I know you’re right but you don’t need to force it on me.”

Aardmon stepped back, her sudden confidence wavering. She held her forearm close to her body.

“Yeah...I do. I know I don’t have the right but I don’t wanna see you like this. You’re better than me.” She glanced up at the boy behind her. “You both are...”

She hung there for a while, nobody saying a word. Even Hinkymon remained quiet, though he did keep rocking back and forth as he waited patiently.

Aardmon clenched her fists, but before she could speak again Callum walked past her, slowly approaching Empermon as the penguin waited patiently. Callum stopped. He crouched down, staring at the penguin’s reflection in the mirrored wall.

“I’m sorry.”

“Callum?”

“Yeah?”

“That really fucking hurt back then.”

The boy winced, and clutched his own shoulder.

“I know, dude. I’m sorry.”

Empermon took a deep breath. “Yeah...I know that too”. He sighed, and looked up at Callum. “I don’t know. I don’t even think I’m mad at you anymore.”

Callum blinked. “You were mad? You were very civil about it.”

“Anger doesn’t solve anything.”

Callum raised a finger, wanting to point out the penguin’s earlier outburst, but decided that might cause further complications in their relationship. The boy gripped the bridge of his nose, exhaling.

“Let’s get through this quickly. I’m an idiot, right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I know you know. And you’re stubborn and lazy and non-committal.”

“Yes I am.”

“Do we really need to have a long heart-to-heart chat where we discover how much we really mean to one another and stand up and make some generic oath to the power of love and friendship or something?”

Empermon pulled a face. “I’m good, thanks.”

“Thank fuck. I’ve got nothing in that regard.”

“Me neither.” Empermon shrugged. “Besides, we’ve got an audience. It wouldn’t be sincere.”

Hinkymon and Aardmon threw confused looks at one another as the boy and the bird stood around, loosening up their bodies. Empermon pointed with his flippers. “That bit looks breakable. We’ll go for that.”

Callum rubbed under his nose, feeling the twinge in his left arm as the D-Psyche began to grow cold once again, blue lights falling from its surface like glitter. “Sounds like a plan.”

Empermon held his breath, and shut his eyes. “Do take it a little easy, will you? I really am feeling delicate.”

“Sure thing.”

Callum focused, and the glow dimmed ever so slightly, focusing on the screen at the end. The flat hand twitched, before the whole device split, slowly unravelling itself from its massive tangle.

“Empermon...Psyche...Synchronise!”

“Evolution Activate!”

The D-Psyche unfurled; choppily at first, but then with a smooth, automotive motion, like a flower opening. Empermon flinched as the energy engulfed him again, but slowly his posture grew stronger, and the lights glowed ever so slightly brighter. The other three watched as he grew, his pose growing more confident with every pulse. Callum smiled, just a little.

“Here we go again...”

“Saxophmon!”

The penguin whistled as the energy dissipated, pulling against the bindings on his hands and feet. He focused, letting frost travel over his wrists and ankles, and penetrating into the metal bindings. They snapped with ease, and the penguin stretched, wringing his limbs out.

“That’s sure a relief!”

“Ahem?”

Saxophmon turned, and saw Aardmon and Hinkymon holding their arms out. Hinkymon grinned. “Now that you’re feeling better, can we have a hand?”

“Midnight Blues!”

“Wurgh!”

Both Digimon tumbled back as fractals erupted between them, slicing through their bindings with ease. The penguin smirked, and tipped his hat down. “Honestly, I need to do everything for some people...”

There was a pleasant tingling sound above, and the voice came over the tannoy once again. “Please be advised that this is not a component of standard experimental procedures, and it would be much appreciated for you all to return to your most comfortable forms.”

Callum placed his free arm on his hip, grimacing. “Okay, whoever you are? You’re bad at this. You’re supposed to say ‘please give up or I’ll set the chamber on fire’ or something.”

There was a pause, and a muttering in a strange accent, before the voice cleared its throat. “That is not part of the normal experimental procedure. I must insist that it is very bad practise to devise your own experiments without hypotheses in mind, and I would add that you are ill-equipped as a species to comprehend the delicacy of such hypotheses. Thank you for your co-operation.”

Callum blinked, and turned to Aardmon. “Did he just call me stupid?”

“Um...”

“I mean he’s right, but come on, the guy doesn’t even know me.”

The boy rolled up his sleeves, and pointed up at the ceiling. “Alright Saxophmon? Take us out of here!”

“You’ve got it!”

The penguin scampered up the side of the wall, swinging his instrument to gain momentum as he aimed for the thin panel in one of the upper quadrants. He brought Selma forward with a bang, creating cracks in the panel that snaked outwards. There was a gasp from above, followed by the sound of somebody dropping the microphone, and the tannoy promptly went dead.

“Harmony Frost!”

Saxophmon blew with all his might, aiming directly at the panel. It vibrated, cracked, and exploded outwards, revealing even more shiny chrome outside, and the stifling smell of chlorine. The penguin hopped up onto the edge, and the chamber, already falling to pieces, began to tip to one side. Saxophmon helped everyone out in turn, with Callum being the last to exit as the sphere collapsed behind them. Callum grinned up at his partner.

“Thanks man.”

“Hey, it’s good to be back.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The four stopped, and turned in unison to the weird, spaghetti-looking shape at the far end of the room, who was hopping up and down in a cartoonishly furious manner.

“I told you! That equipment is fragile! Do you have any idea how long it took to build that? How inconsiderate are you, you heathens?!”

“Is that what I think it is?”

Shrewmon had led the group to the clearing, which was in far more of a flurry of activity than before. It was as if a bowl had been carved out of the canopy; only just wide and deep enough to house the mysterious craft that sat in the centre of it. It was elliptical, with a half-dome covering its front and a series of lights straddling the entire outer rim. Four stubby legs held it off the ground, and a large ramp stuck out from the back like a tail. Several dozen cables also stuck out from the base, spreading outwards and reaching into the surrounding canopy. Occasionally they jerked, flashing red or white and passing messages back into the main craft.

To tell the truth, the whole thing wasn’t really anything familiar, and yet it was instantly recognisable to the three girls, despite them never having seen one or even believing they existed. Eleanor let out a breath between her teeth.

“Is that...an alien spaceship?”

Lorelie sighed, and held her keypad in front of Eleanor’s face. “We’ve been through this already.”

The other girl’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know why that’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen in this world so far, but there you go.” She turned to Ursula. “So your dude definitely came this way?

“I don’t know. Probably.” She glanced up, and bit her lip. “Speak of the devil...”

The tamers and their remaining partners rushed behind the nearest set of shrubs as another misshapen figure pulled lazily down from the sky; letting off its own cries and splutters and annoying sounds. It was the strange bird thing which had been flying around before, perhaps on lookout duty.

Now it was arcing downwards, spiralling in ever-decreasing circles until it finally landed next to the ship. Although landed was probably a generous term. Splatted. That’s more like it. It did have a marvellous pair of wings; two pairs actually, one set crisp and insectoid, and one set a vermillion so bright they seemed to be aflame. The rest of its body was not so majestic however; seeming to be composed of mouldy putty, with little eyed tentacles pointing out every which way, and no arms or legs to speak of. It did have a beak however, albeit one embedded inside a grotesque flower of jaws and barbed teeth. It reared back, its beak letting out an annoying drone like the buzzing of a fly.

At its signal, the other member of the carnival of horrors made their full appearance, rolling quite gracefully out of the treeline at the other side of the clearing. Eleanor noted Shrewmon, Ursula and Lorelie’s repulsed reactions and pointed. “You know this guy?”

“Only briefly.”

Up close, the beast seemed more erratic than ever; having bright pink legs that seemed to roll back and forth, causing its strange gallumphing motion. Half of its body was bare skin and muscle, where the other half was studded with shards of yellow and grey bone and armour plate, which swirled around forming two spiked spiral peaks of bone on its back, and coagulated at the end of its tentacle-like tail in one vast ball of flotsam. It swung its head sideways, revealing its face to be adorned with green tentacles.

I say face. It was a gun. A gun sprouting two arms which swung lazily below, each of them sporting addition guns. The main gun was wearing a cowboy hat, which rested ill-fittingly on top of the green tentacles.

Martin blinked at the spectacle, then looked down at Eleanor, who was busy screaming into her cupped hands.

“You okay? Do you need a minute?”

“I hate this fucking place.”

The others waited a moment, before the girl straightened up, ran her fingers through her hair, and turned, smiling at them. “I’m okay! I’m completely okay.”

Martin tapped at his D-Psyche, squinting down at the screen. “So the bird seems to be Birdramon, Kabuterimon and Numemon, whereas the other one’s Ankylomon, Shell-“

“Okay, scratch that, I’m NOT completely okay. And I’ve just decided I don’t care.” Eleanor pointed at each chimera in turn, hissing her comments out through gritted teeth. “That one can be Buzz and that one can be Crybaby, alright? I’m not dealing with this. Let me guess; they’re guarding the spaceship and we’ve gotta fight them to get inside? Is that it? I bet that’s it. It’s always something like that.”

Ursula nudged her, and pointed at the edge of the clearing. Eleanor snapped her head sideways.

“Oh, sweet crispy fucknuggets...”

With a tremendous cacophony of annoying sounds, the other three chimeras entered the clearing, taking their posts around the saucer. There was a barrage of lights and sounds coming from inside; likely due to some sort of commotion. Which given the current circumstances, was probably relatively good news.

“Well that’s something.” Eleanor smirked. “I trust Callum’s managed to fuck things up quite nicely.”

Lorelie beeped, and held out her keypad. “Do you ever have anything nice to say about him?”

“He’s persistent?” Eleanor shrugged. “I dunno. Compliments aren’t my strong suit.”

Martin sighed, and pushed his glasses up. “So I guess now it’s our turn to try and break in?”

“Newp.”

The boy looked incredulously up at Polypmon, who was shaking their head determinedly. “That’s not happening. I can’t even beat one of those things, let alone five.”

“No-one’s saying you have to do it alone!”

The jellyfish raised a non-existent eyebrow. Martin looked around.

“Oh yeah...we have an issue of numbers...”

Shrewmon raised a paw. “I’ll help! I can beat them!”

Polypmon laughed nervously. “Thanks for the reassurance.” They groaned. “My head hurts. Do I really have to do this? Again? Really?”

“Ah relax, I’ve got you covered.”

“Terramon?”

The turtle stretched, wringing her paws out. “I’m done with this moping thing. It’s overrated. Send me out there; I’ll back y’all up.”

She felt Eleanor’s hand on her shoulder, and smiled up reassuringly. “Don’t worry. I’m fine now. Just a bit of a shock.”

“About twenty minutes ago, you found out your friend was dead. That seems more than ‘a bit of a shock’.”

“Hey, I’m a turtle. I’m tough.” Terramon nodded up at her partner. “I promise.”

Ursula raised a finger. “Just out of interest, what are we calling the other three chimeras?”

Eleanor shrugged. “I dunno. Gurgle, Chatter and...”

She blanked, looking down at Terramon. The turtle thought for a moment.

“Squeak?”

“You sure?”

“Whatever that thing is, it’s not Gizamon anymore. I won’t have any misgivings.”

Ursula nodded, smiling. “Good. Well, just so you know, Squeak’s walking this way to check us out. I think we’ve been too loud.”

Eyes widening, the others peered out from their hiding spot.

“Ah fuck. Motivational team-talk over.”

Martin and Eleanor looked at one another, and nodded, before standing up in unison, as Shrewmon, Terramon and Polypmon rushed out with a roar into the field.

“Terramon...Polypmon...Psyche Synchronise!”

Aardmon, Callum, Saxophmon and Hinkymon blinked as the strange creature threw the loudest and most embarrassing temper tantrum any of them had ever seen. He swayed from side to side, running each of his four limbs down his extended grey body in turn, and scuttled from control panel to control panel pressing random buttons with his face.

He was a relatively tall individual, standing about a foot above Callum, and he was incredibly lanky, with arms that dragged along the ground when he wasn’t busy waving them about. His hands were disproportionately huge as well; long-fingered, bulbous and wrinkly, with soft pads on each of his fingertips. He wore what looked like a bright-yellow sweater-vest and large, pointy shoulder pads, as well as a pair of goggles that almost, but not entirely, covered two huge owl-like eyes that were sunken into his face. He moaned, and waddled up towards them, his tiny mouth making an awful lot of noise.

“I hope you have a proper explanation for how you’re going to fix all of this!”

Saxophmon scoffed. “You brought us here, you know. It’s all on you.”

“Haven’t you heard of common courtesy?” The alien squinted, and smacked the penguin about the beak with one long, fleshy hand. “Don’t go around breaking other people’s stuff!”

Aardmon raised a tentative finger. “Pardon me, but...who the hell are you?”

She ducked as another limb whipped out, just missing her as it sailed through her mohawk. The alien humphed, and waddled backwards. “My name isn’t important. It would only confuse your tiny minds.”

Saxophmon rolled his eyes. “Oh come on...you’re not so special that you don’t have a name.”

“It’s really not important.”

“Yes it is.”

“No it’s not.”

“You’re putting us at a disadvantage.”

“...Fine.”

The alien paused.

“My name is Graymon.”

“Greymon?”

“No relation.”

Aardmon squinted. “Sounds a bit like blatant plagiarism to me.”

“See!?”

Another long arm came swinging around, though both Aardmon and Saxophmon ducked this time, and it sailed floppily into one console. Graymon didn’t seem to care, his personal insecurities taking over his better judgement.

“I told you my name wasn’t important! It’s my name! I have a right to be called that without people getting confused and calling me a ripoff! That’s all anyone ever does!”

Now it was Callum’s turn to raise a finger. “What’s a Greymon?”

The arm swung round for a fourth time and connected squarely with his jaw, where it stuck in place with a schlop. Saxophmon sniffed. “Alright, you probably deserved that one.”

“I usually do.”

Callum peeled back the sticky appendage and dropped it on the floor, where Graymon sucked it back like the cable on a vacuum cleaner. “So what’s this operation you’re running here anyway? You looking to discover the essence of a human like me or something?”

Graymon stared at him, blinking.

“What? Ew. No. You people are gross. I just thought you made good food or something for the real interesting guys.”

Everyone gawped at this comment, with the exception of Saxophmon, who nudged Callum playfully in the ribs, chuckling.

Callum ignored the obvious insult, raising an eyebrow. “Alrighty then. What is the game here?”

“You wouldn’t understand if I told you, you pathetic, smelly little man-creature.”

“Callum. And try me.”

“Pathetic, smelly little man-Callum then.” Graymon sighed, and draped himself over one console, trying his best to look dramatic and instead looking like a toddler at the end of a four-hour sugar-high.

“This world is imperfect...”

“Ah fuck...” Aardmon groaned, and planted her hands in her face. “Not one of these guys...”

She closed her mouth as Callum nudged her in the shoulder, gesturing at the open corridor behind him. Hinkymon had already spotted it, and together the two Digimon made a beeline for the seemingly unguarded exit. Saxophmon and Callum shuffled nonchalantly, making agreeing noises and blocking the alien’s view of his escaping quarries. Graymon was already too far into his philosophical-scientific waxings to pay much attention.

“...thus the essence, nay, the truest condensation of the Digital being is still a mere hair’s breadth away from my grasp, and with it, the truest meaning of what it must actually mean for a Digital being to exist in this world, unhindered and unbounded by all hindrances and boundaries to become the truest and most beautiful creature with the purest of spirits and the warmest of-“

He was interrupted by Saxophmon playing a low G#. “I get it, I get it, so you love Digimon. Is that it?”

Graymon swayed dreamily. “Oh, god, so very much, I just want to caress their very essence – the utmost core of their being - and hold it close and feel it course and pulsate inside of me.”

“Ew.”

The alien held his four arms out, his eyes half-closed as he motioned towards Saxophmon. “Your form...your truest power is yet to be uncovered. Please let me uncover it. Peel your outer shell away and reveal your soft and beautiful essence. I beg of you.”

Saxophmon grimaced, before looking down at Callum. “Okay, I know I ought to be fighting this guy but I really don’t want him to touch me.”

Callum gave his partner a sympathising look, before asking his own questions. “So what’s with the freakazoids outside? I’m guessing they’re part of your collection.”

Graymon tensed, and flailed his arms wildly. “Don’t you dare slander my works of art, you man-shaped manure heap!”

“Okay, so he’s the essence of all creative thought and the purest being and I’m a pile of shit? That’s some double-standard bullshit you’re pulling right there!”

Graymon quivered, and swung another arm at Callum’s face, but the boy saw it coming and knocked it away with his D-Psyche. “Stop slapping me! I don’t know where you’ve been!”

“It hurts me more defiling myself with your flesh than it does you!”

“Stop talking about my flesh you weirdo!”

Callum shivered, before pointing an accusatory finger. “And by the way, what the hell have you been doing with all those Digimon? Doesn’t sound like you care about them much to me!”

“They are progress. They are a way to further our people beyond the likes of your filthy kind. Their sacrifices are for the betterment of their very selves!”

Callum pressed his mouth shut, glaring as the alien kept wiggling around. “The cataclysm was a blessing. It opened up new possibilities when I landed here. The Digimon I’ve come across. The ones I met, the ones I’ve saved, and the ones who stayed willingly to help. You aren’t the first, human, to resist truest progress. And you won’t be the last. But the ball has begun its descent now. You can’t stop it. Nobody can.” He waved an arm out at the window. “Digimon-kind is about to evolve!”

There was an awkward pause, as Callum glared daggers at the alien. Saxophmon whistled, and looked at the boy.

“Can I slap him now?”

“I don’t wanna force you. He’s an icky one.”

“It’s alright. I think I’m ready. Actually I think I’m looking forward to it.”

“Saxophmon?”

“Yeah?”

“Fucking wreck his shit.”

“Cool cool.”

The penguin rushed forwards, swinging Selma up and clocking the alien in the chin with sufficient force to knock him back several feet. Graymon scrabbled on the ground, rushing for one corner as Saxophmon brought his instrument to his mouth.

“Midnight Blues!”

Serrated spikes of ice launched themselves out from the walls and the floor all around, flying around Graymon and piercing several equipment panels at once. The alien yelped, clutching his head. “My hardware!”

“Screw your hardware! Midnight Blues!”

The penguin doubled his tempo and skidded towards Graymon, lashing out with a kick laced with dark blue razors. His adversary squeaked, and held up all four arms in a diamond shape.

“Plasmatrix!”

The penguin halted mid swing, held by a pulsating white energy that enveloped him, like so much cling-film wrapped around a sandwich. He strained, his leg trembling as Graymon laughed nervously.

“You all are still just imperfect! I can fix that! I will fix you! But first I have to break you!”

He lunged sideways, and Saxophmon flew into the wall with an immense crack, leaving an indentation. He rolled away, immediately released from the grasp as Graymon shuffled over.

“My equipment...” Graymon sniffed sadly, before turning back towards the penguin. “But still...you will be worth any sacrifice.” The alien wrapped his arms around his sides and vibrated enthusiastically. “So lithe...so supple...”

“Will you STOP THAT? HARMONY FROST!”

A discordant note struck Graymon full in the chest, partially freezing him in place, but even as Saxophmon was rushing to strike him the creature’s tentacles lashed out, parrying his moves with ease. Graymon cracked his neck, and spun rapidly, his four arms lashing out at Saxophmon in a clothesline spin. The penguin grimaced, and blew a series of notes, causing a mess of spikes to spin around in front of him.

“Midnight Blues!”

“Plasmatrix!”

Saxophmon didn’t quite dodge in time, and was dragged upwards into the ceiling. He spun as he fell, his foot connecting with the alien’s head, but Graymon was getting into his stride now, countering with a hefty swing that sent the penguin rolling away. The alien’s arms rippled, and laid themselves over the twisted metal surrounding the ruined lab, the hands seeming to expand even more.

“DNA Splice!”

The metal was absorbed into the alien’s flesh, rippling beneath the skin, before bursting out in spikes, corkscrews and wires. Graymon shuffled forwards, spinning his four arms like lethal bludgeons, going way too fast to simply counter. Though Saxophmon tried.

“Harmony Frost!”

The blast caught two of the arms, but one other caught the penguin’s legs, sending him stumbling sideways. The last one came out of nowhere, smashing into his side with the blunt edge of a panel. Saxophmon grabbed his side, winded and with blood seeping out from the impact zone, but the alien wasn’t finished yet; he wrapped his adversary in the spiny appendages and drove him into the ground at his feet.

“You’ll come round eventually. Don’t worry.” The alien leaned forwards, shaking metal from one of his arms and gripping beneath the penguin’s beak.

“I’ll make sure to keep you alive.”

Callum watched in horror as Saxophmon tried to counter, but it was hopeless. He felt the sickening sensation returning; exactly the same as before. His D-Psyche burned at his shoulder, all that rage and fear and confusion bubbling around inside and waiting to burst forth. He gripped the metal tightly, holding his breath. But each strike to his partner made the feeling worse.

“I can’t lose control again...” he muttered to nobody in particular, though already he could feel his feet taking him forwards, towards the absolute beatdown going on in front of him.

“But if we can’t even defeat an arsehole like this, what are we gonna do against the Funnyman...?”

He stopped, flinching as Saxophmon crashed back against the wall, leaving yet another imprint. His hat rode up slightly, and Callum caught sight of his partner’s eye; black, yet bright against the chrome all around them. Saxophmon pulled the rim of his hat back down, a thin stream of blood running down his beak.

“Saxophmon?”

The penguin nodded, watching as Callum’s hand went up to his D-Psyche, holding the shivering metal.

“Do it.”

TO BE CONTINUED...