Chapter 37: Anguish

Thomas Kasuto

Magnus’s Hideout

 

“Bio Hybrid DNA Charge! Bio Hybrid Digivolve to, BioBlastmon!” The light that emanated from Magnus’s Digivice vanished; where he had once stood was now a terrifyingly large Digimon, whose head just barely missed the ceiling. “Tell me…do you still feel as though you can defeat me?!”

“Not…really, no,” Statuedramon’s eyes were fixated on the huge Digimon.

“Well, no matter; either way, I’d still pummel you! Final Subago̅n Punch!” BioBlastmon raised his fist and slammed it down toward the two of us.

“Statch, we’ve got to catch it!” I shouted. Before the enormous Bio Hybrid could hit us, Statuedramon and I held up our hands and caught his fist.

“Well, now…don’t know how you two managed to stop me…” BioBlastmon struggled to bring his fist down further, but to no avail. “But this ends now; Diamond Tail!” BioBlastmon swung his tail through the air, striking the two of us. The Bio Hybrid laughed maniacally as we soared through the air and crashed into a pile of empty crates, destroying them. “Before I destroy you…is there anything you’d like for me to tell you? You can ask me about anything.”

“Tell…us?” I climbed out of the rubble of the destroyed crates.

“I’m not as big of an asshole as Adrian or Sephyrus, you know,” BioBlastmon said. “Is there anything you’d like to know?”

“Yes…could you tell us…about quintessence?” I asked.

“Quintessence? …Why would you ask about something like that?” BioBlastmon asked.

“You said we could ask you about anything, right? Well, I want to know about quintessence,” I said.

“…Fine. It’s not like I was going to let you live, anyway,” BioBlastmon muttered. “So, before I begin, what exactly do you know about it?”

“We already know how it’s formed; we just want to know why all you Bio Hybrids need it,” Statuedramon said.

“…You’re wasting your time, then. I only know how to extract it, just like the two of you. I don’t know why we need it,” BioBlastmon said.

“You can’t be serious!” I said.

“Sorry; I make it a personal policy to never tell a lie. Now, are the two of you done asking questions?”

“Damn it, we only asked one question, and you didn’t even answer that one!” Statch said.

“…I’ll take that as a yes; Diamond Machine Gun!” The crystals covering BioBlastmon’s body all began to glow.

“Don’t worry; I’ve got this; Dimensional Shield!” Statuedramon held up his shield just as BioBlastmon fired the crystals from his body at us; however, every single one of the crystals fired were absorbed into Statuedramon’s shield.

“What?! No way! What just happened?!” BioBlastmon asked.

“Sword of Dragon’s Soul!” Statuedramon’s sword fired an icy-blue projection from it that struck BioBlastmon directly in the chest. The enormous Digimon yelled in pain when the attack hit him, and to the  Bio Hybrid’s surprise, his Digimon form vanished, leaving Magnus behind, struggling to stand up.

“No way…for a Digimon of your stature to be able to defeat me in one hit…it’s unthinkable,” Magnus said.

“If that’s all you’re capable of, then we’ll be leaving to find our friend now,” I said.

“No…wait! You want…to know about quintessence…don’t you?” The two of us turned to face him.

“You told us you didn’t know anything,” Statuedramon said.

“Yes…I did. Quite obviously, that was a lie…Even when I said it was a personal policy of mine to never lie…yeah…that was also a lie…but now…you two deserve to know,” Magnus said.

“…Why are you telling us?” I asked. Magnus shrugged.

“Who knows? Nobody’s ever defeated me before…Not even any of the other Bio Hybrids…I suppose I just sorta…respect the two of you…for being able to do what nobody else could,” Magnus said. “Now, listen up; quintessence…if enough of it is gathered, it can be used to—” Magnus was interrupted when the doors leading to the room suddenly swung open, shattering the ice that covered it.

“Lector…what are you doing here?” Statch asked.

“What do you think? I’m here to help you,” Lector said. Brandishing his lance, he ran forth and impaled Magnus in the chest with weapon.

“Lector, what the hell are you doing?!” I yelled. I watched in disbelief as blood began to spill from Magnus’s chest and onto the cold, steel floor.

“He was about to tell us something important!” Statch added.

“Doesn’t matter; my order from the higher ups was to see that this man died,” Lector said. Weakly, Magnus reached up and wrapped his hand around the lance just as Lector forcefully pulled it out. Magnus fell to the floor in a heap, large pools of blood flowing from the hole in his chest.

“Magnus! What were you going to say?!” Statuedramon asked. The Bio Hybrid tried to speak, but all that came from his mouth was blood. He motioned for me to get closer, and as I did, he whispered something into my ear before dying. “Lector…he was about to tell us what the other Bio Hybrids were doing!”

“That doesn’t matter. The orders were to eliminate this man,” Lector said. “And…to eliminate anyone who may he may have exchanged information with.”

“Information…you mean…”

“You two did not speak with this man; do I make myself clear? If anyone asks…” Lector looked away. “Now, I’m going to have to ask that the two of you come with me.”

“We can’t; Clive’s taken Zelda to Cyclamen!” I said. “I’m not going anywhere until I get her back!”

“…I’ll send one of my subordinates to Cyclamen immediately. You two must come with me.”

“Forget it, Lector! We’re not going anywhere with you until we save our friend!” Statuedramon said. “Why are you making this so difficult?!”

“Because those are my orders!” Lector said. “Besides, you can’t go after Clive with just the two of you! You don’t know what the man or his shadow is capable of! At least go back to the villa and take Apollomon with you!”

“We don’t have time for that! You remember why Clive was in jail in the first place, don’t you?!” I asked.

“…He was…imprisoned for life without parole for rape and murder,” Lector said.

“Exactly! That’s why we can’t go with you! We aren’t going to let someone like that spend another minute alone with Zelda!” Statuedramon said.

“…Fine. Go on; go to Cyclamen,” Lector said. “But you will return to me immediately after you find her; understood?”

“…Yes, sir,” I said.

Zelda

Cyclamen City

8 Hours

 

Cyclamen was in as bad a state as it was the last time I was here; run down, destroyed buildings everywhere. At least the corpses are nowhere to be seen… The sun had set a while ago, and the moon hung low in the night sky.

“Well, I guess here is as good of a place as any; just as desolate as any other part of the city,” Clive said. “We’ll stop here for the night.” I looked at the man, unsure of what he was thinking. “Look, you don’t have to be that afraid of me; Magnus told me not to…” His tongue ran across his upper lip. “…touch…your….soft…supple…little…body…so…I…won’t. Trust me; I’m fucking scared of that man. But, if you try to escape…or, if you try to summon one of your Spirit friends…I’m going to have to hurt you, and I really don’t want to see that pretty face of yours messed up.” My heart was beating faster than it ever had before; I was absolutely terrified by the thought of being alone with this man, and the reality was infinitely worse.

“…Mr. Howell…is it alright if I…make a request?” I asked.

“Depends on what it is.”

“May I…may I summon Renamon?”

“Now, why would you ask that, knowing what I would to do you if you tried that?” Clive asked.

“I’m sorry…I just don’t want to be alone. I’m scared…please…let me summon her…”

“…Fine. But you’d better make sure to tell her not to attack me,” Clive said.

“…I know.” I reached into my satchel and pulled out Renamon’s talisman, summoning my friend.

“Is something wrong, Zelda? You look scared,” Renamon said.

“That man…please, don’t attack him,” I whispered.

“I understand,” Renamon said. Smiling, Clive walked away. “Why not?” she whispered.

“If you attack him…he’ll hurt me,” I said. “Can you…stay here with me? I don’t want to be alone with him…”

“Of course I will, Zelda. I’ll stay with you as long as you need me to,” Renamon said. The two of us sat down behind a pile of rubble on the opposite side of Clive. Renamon placed her arms around me and never let go all through the night, and I did the same to her.

Thomas Kasuto

20 Minutes

 

“Cyclamen City, once again…” Statuedramon sighed. “Well, at least we’ll be the only ones here; we won’t have to deal with those annoying assholes that used to live here, right? And with the bandits that wrecked this place all gone, we shouldn’t find anyone here! Well, other than Zelda, and…Well, you know what I mean.”

“Don’t be so sure; Vajramon may have defeated all the bandits that were here last time, but more bandits could’ve come here. Places like this are a safe haven for them,” I said. At least the corpses are nowhere to be seen… Statuedramon and I continued our way through the damaged city, finding no signs of anybody around.

“Do you think maybe they didn’t go to Cyclamen?” Statuedramon asked.

“No; you saw the way Clive acted around Magnus. He was definitely afraid of him,” I said. “If he had disobeyed him like that…Clive knew what would have happened to him. They’re here.”

“Or maybe not here yet?” Statuedramon added.

“Yes, that’s another possibility…”

“Well, there is somebody here,” Statuedramon said. “Up ahead…I can’t tell who it is…but it looks like a big group of people.”

“Let’s go check it out,” I said. The two of us quietly crept over to the people Statch saw. “Bandits…I told you there would be some here.”

“I never doubted you,” Statch replied. “Should we do something about it? It looks like they’re surrounding someone. Look; they’re all facing the same direction.” We crept closer and closer, trying to get a better view of what was going on, when suddenly, a huge lance swung through the air, toppling several of the bandits over, to the shock of several of the other bandits. Several of them had run away, but most of them advanced toward the person who had killed their allies; a tall, young, blonde woman.

“Fighting a group that large by herself?” I asked.

“A woman after my own heart,” Statuedramon chuckled. “C’mon, let’s help her!” The two of us ran forth, jabbing our swords through the backs of two bandits that were about to ambush the woman from behind. When the woman heard them fall to the ground in a heap, she turned around and noticed the two of us. Glaring, she turned back around and stood still, ignoring the bandits around her. “I take back that last comment; apparently, she expects us to do all the work ourselves! Dianamon or Zelda would never do something like that!”

“Statch, quit complaining and focus on the battle!” I said, lopping off the head of one bandit. Not long after, the two of us were nearly done driving off the cutthroats.

“Well, that's the last of 'em!” Statch said, removing his blade from a bandit's gut. Looking over to the young woman, who hadn't moved an inch since she noticed us, he asked, “Hey, are you all right, Miss?”

“They're all gone; have they hurt you?” I asked, placing my hand on her shoulder, but as I did, she flinched and slapped my hand away.

“Hands off; I don’t let fucking Humans touch me!” the woman snapped, an angry look on her face. “And I don't need to be saved by any of you vile scum!”

“Vile...Human?” Statch had a confused look on his face. “But...you're a Human, too, aren't you? Or are you a Digimon?”

“Oh, shut up, you digital parasite! I’m not like either of you bastards! Get the hell away from me!” The young woman stormed off in a huff, leaving the two of us behind.

“…What the bloody hell just happened?!” Statch asked.