WoS Ch12 - On the Ropes

The story so far: Five children have come to the Digital World under mysterious circumstances. Their quest is to reach the Forest Terminal. Aiding them along are the Spirits of the Ancient Warriors which allow them to turn into digimon. Unlike the rest of the party, Tommy has already found his Beast Spirit in addition to the Human Spirit that everyone else already possesses. Only Beast Spirits are completely uncontrollable and during his first and final transformation into Blizzarmon, Tommy has killed a potential ally. Now he doesn't even want to use his Human Spirit anymore. But he might have to as the village they are staying in is about to be attack by an enemy Spirit Warrior who also commands both a Human and Beast Spirit.

Chapter 12 - On the Ropes

-Tommy-

Tomoki didn’t know if he wanted to digivolve again. For a while, just looking at his D-Tector had caused him to think back to–!

...He’d been trying, really trying to remember why he’d wanted to stay in the Digital World, but it wouldn’t come to him anymore. All he could think of was Gwappamon.

Gwappamon had saved him. Gwappamon had been kind and helpful. And just because he’d wanted the Beast Spirit, Blizzarmon had destroyed him without a second thought.

Tomoki shuddered because he could still feel the discarded fractal code in his D-Tector. Even when he wasn’t touching it, he knew the data strings were there. They were always with him as if he was invisibly connected to the D-Tector and it just wouldn’t let him go.

Kumamon was also there, but he didn’t help anymore because now Blizzarmon existed. Blizzarmon who was uncontrollable, raw feelings and primal urges. How could anyone say that Tomoki was worthy of the Spirits of Ice when all he did with them was either getting beat up or going on a slaughtering rampage?

His friends had been so afraid. He’d seen it. When he’d glimpsed the outside world through Blizzarmon’s eyes, and it had been terrifying. Someone like him couldn’t... be a hero. That’s why he’d just trudged along with the others, who were much better at saving this world, and hoped that he didn’t get in the way.

But then Keisaki had that nightmare and she kinda... really... gave him hope again. She was destined to become a great hero, and even she’d done something so bad! Maybe it was okay to... to fail sometimes?

And then Grumblemon arrived. Everything came crashing down again and breathing was suddenly so hard…

He wasn’t ready yet! He couldn’t... He couldn’t... His D-Tector felt heavy in his pocket as if it could drag him down and lock him in place. The world lost focus, and he was back in the icy cave, splitting Gwappamon in half.

Tomoki was terrified of digivolving again. What if Blizzarmon took over? Was it even safe to become Kumamon?

He didn’t realize he had trouble breathing until JP leaned towards him. JP was saying something, but his words were carried away by the current. Nothing made sense.

Then Keisaki appeared, shaking him. “Tommy, please. Remember? You’re going to protect the civilians. It’ll be alright!”

He nodded weakly. A part of him knew that she was sending him away from the real fight with a job that wasn’t dangerous at all, but right now, that was okay. The thought of actually digivolving had him freeze in terror. All around him, sounds were distorted and faint, and he struggled to fight down a wave of nausea.

Tomoki swallowed the big lump in his throat and tried to calm down. He could do this. Probably.

The hurried, bustling Gotsumon led him down a flight of stairs and through another tunnel. Behind him, Kouji faintly complained about someone making off with something of some vague importance to him, and an explosion sounded. Grumblemon was out there, and Tomoki had trouble setting one foot in front of the other. He hated that. He hated that he couldn’t go with the others and help, but his thoughts spiralled with the fear of hurting someone again. They were like chains around his mind, and he couldn’t concentrate on anything else.

Maybe a hundred Gotsumon lived in the village and only a few had joined the effort against Grumblemon. The majority pooled into a large underground cavern with ceiling lights just like the tunnels. After the last Gotsumon had entered the room, the rear guard sealed the entrance with a boulder that seamlessly melted into the opening.

The villagers huddled together and shot anxious looks upwards where another explosion shook the place. Tomoki sat down near the closed-off entrance and wrung his hands. They were itching for his D-Tector, but every time he reached for it, he shied back as if stung. He slung his arms around his legs and put his chin on his knees. Around him, the Gotsumon were politely ignoring him and his breakdown and were whispering about the fighting going on outside.

Tomoki knew the plan. He’d been the villagers’ guard from the beginning, but with panic constricting his thoughts, he’d completely forgotten about that. He was here to protect them because Gotsumon weren’t particularly strong or resilient (or eager to fight). That was also why so few of them were helping outside.

Tomoki also knew that the plan was incomplete. Grumblemon had shown up too soon. Now he could only hope that the others would wing it. Tomoki caught himself staring upwards too. Were they doing alright? There had been a suspicious lack of explosions for the last few moments. Did that mean everything was over? Had they won?

Suddenly, the Gotsumon around him jumped to their feet, eyes fixed on the doorway. They had something like an earth-o-vision which the others had thought would come in handy. Because Grumblemon loved to move through the earth. It was the real reason Kei and Kouji had been okay with leading a group of untrained civilians into battle. The rock digimon didn’t need their eyes to see; they could concentrate and see their surroundings through the stone.

Now that they were all staring at the blocked tunnel, it could only mean someone was coming.

Tomoki felt cold. They would only react like that if it were—

“It’s him! Grumblemon is coming!”

—Grumblemon.

Tomoki squeezed his eyes shut, trying to reign in the panic that this exclamation caused. His hand wandered into his pocket and closed around the D-Tector, and he could almost feel the power of his Spirits. One transformation and he’d be able to protect everyone. All these people in here...! So many innocent, very smash-able people...! Tomoki let go of the D-Tector. He’d be as much a threat to them as Grumblemon!

A metallic boot with a vicious spike pushed through the boulder blocking the entrance. Less than a second later, a grinning Grumblemon stepped through the stone and casually hefted his hammer.

The assembled Gotsumon scrambled away from the evil digimon, leaving an uncomfortable cleared spot around him. Tomoki was frozen in place directly in the newly created dead zone. If Grumblemon was here... Did that mean...? Were the others...?

“You have quite the welcoming party going on upstairs,” Grumblemon proclaimed in his self-satisfied voice. He sounded out of breath and looked like he’d been having a hard time. Yet, his confident swagger never wavered. He spotted Tomoki and smiled viciously. “Oh, I was wondering where you went, you little runt!”

Somewhere along the shock, Tomoki found his voice and shouted, “What have you done to the others?”

“Well, wouldn’t you like to know?” Grumblemon drawled. He switched the hold on his hammer. “You know what? I’ll tell you once I have your Spirit! Hah!”

He brought the spiked weapon around in a horizontal arc and Tomoki had to throw himself against the wall to avoid the swing. Afterwards, he had nowhere to go. He was stuck in the corner, and Grumblemon was fast advancing. What should he do? A sea of yellow eyes watched him fearfully, all the Gotsumon unable to fight. They would fall at Grumblemon’s hands if no one stopped him!

In Tomoki’s hand, the D-Tector sang. He screwed his eyes shut and summoned the data ring.

Execute Spirit Digivolve to... Kumamon!

Kumamon felt as familiar as ever when the data cocoon burst open. Tomoki inside was still anxious, but Kumamon... Kumamon was safe.

“I will give you nothing!” he declared, and his voice definitely didn’t waver. At all. He pulled the rocket launcher Romeo from its holster on his back. “Blizzard Blaster!” and let a volley of ice balls streak towards Grumblemon.

The Earth Warrior brought his hammer up and used its handle to block the attack. A hammer shouldn’t be that flexible and easy to wield; this wasn’t fair!

At least the Gotsumon took this as their opportunity to flee the cavern.

“Haha! Is that all? Your friends put up much more of a fight!” Grumblemon gloated, and Kumamon hated the implication. Just what did that vile creature do to his friends?!

No. He needed to stay calm and focused. He couldn’t let Grumblemon rile him up!

“Crystal Freeze!” Maybe a fresh breath of ice-cold air would trigger a different reaction! It had a good chance of freezing Grumblemon, since his hammer couldn’t block it!

Grumblemon vanished into the ground. Right, he did that all the time. Now he could be anywhere!

Kumamon looked around frantically. How was he supposed to prepare for that...? In a split second, he remembered a piece of advice from so, so long ago. From a time, before Blizzarmon when they’d been in a forest, training. Kouji had told him back then that there was so much creativity in his ice powers...

Kumamon didn’t see Grumblemon jumping out of the ground behind him; the gnome had much more experience than him. “Seismic Sledge!”

Instead of squishy flesh, the hammer met a thick layer of ice that Kumamon had summoned around himself like armour.

It shattered easily, but the blow was weakened enough for Tomoki to hold onto Kumamon through the pain. The strike still sent him flying, and he slammed against the wall. As he slid to the ground, he started to despair. His idea had saved him this time, but he couldn’t take another hit like that! When he got back to his feet, Grumblemon had vanished again. Oh no!

“Kumamon, he’s directly below you!”

He had no time to thank the helpful voice and just let his instincts take over. In a smooth move, he rolled out of the way and brought Romeo in prime position to send a Blizzard Blaster at the emerging Grumblemon. This time, his enemy wasn’t quick enough, and the force of the blow blasted him a few meters away.

It gave Kumamon the opportunity to look around and spot a trio of Gotsumon that had stayed back while the others escaped. They had their eyes set in determination, ready to help him with their earth-o-vision.

“Not that again!” Grumblemon looked positively livid when he freed himself out of his impact hole in the ground. He advanced towards the Gotsumon, but not only did they turn into stone and melted seamlessly with their surroundings, Kumamon also sent another freezing attack towards him. Grumblemon didn’t let tunnel vision consume him and jumped out of the way.

Kumamon pointed Romeo at him. “I’m your enemy!”

“Well, it’s not like you’re all that strong,” Grumblemon said dismissively, and he was right. He’d taken a direct Blizzard Blaster and didn’t look any worse for the wear, and that was Kumamon’s strongest attack!

Kumamon gritted his teeth, but there was nothing to do but soldier on.

Something shifted in Grumblemon’s approach. Instead of getting sneaky with the groundwork, he charged forward with his hammer raised.

Kumamon could avoid the first blow and got off another Blizzard Blaster, but ultimately it didn’t amount to anything. Grumblemon was completely right.

He wasn’t strong enough to defeat him and not fast enough to run from him.

In one crushing move, a Seismic Sledge destroyed the hastily thrown-up ice wall and brought Kumamon so close to unconsciousness that the sound of Grumblemon’s gloating faded into the distance. Through hazy eyes, he saw the data ring surround him and with it appeared his two Spirits.

That threw Grumblemon for a loop. “Wait a second! You have your Beast Spirit already?!” But then realization hit him, and he laughed in earnest. “Ha! That’s perfect! Now I can take two Spirits for the great Cherubimon!”

“Stay away from him! Rock Fist!” With that war cry, the three Gotsumon shifted into existence and threw a clump of rocks at Grumblemon.

The Earth Warrior was so surprised that they managed to get a few free shots in before he caught himself. Their brave interruption gave Tomoki the clarity to drop his Spirit form, since he simply couldn’t hold onto it anymore. At least the Spirits were now safe in the D-Tector and Grumblemon wouldn’t be able to take them, but...

But with Kumamon’s calming presence gone and his body aching all over, Tomoki fell back into himself, trying to be as small as possible. That didn’t make the Gotsumons’ pained sounds go away when Grumblemon beat them into the ground. Tomoki couldn’t... just. He couldn’t stop thinking about how much he utterly failed at being a Spirit Warrior. He would never be as strong as Kouji or as creative as Keisaki or as fast as Zoe or as reliable as JP. He just wasn’t good enough...!

“Why are you doing this, you stupid rock heads?” Grumblemon growled and kicked one of the Gotsumon hard enough to bring forth the circle of fractal code around its body. It still held onto consciousness though, and its form didn’t fade into black. Instead, it looked to Tomoki, and its yellow eyes were full of desperation. Why was it looking at him like that? He couldn’t help! He needed the others! They were supposed to deal with Grumblemon! Why did they have to leave him alone with Grumblemon? He—

“Look at them go, trying to protect you! And to think all this time you had a Beast Spirit and never even thought to use it!” Grumblemon was still laughing and threw the weakened rock digimon against its two companions.

The words were even more painful than he’d imagined, and Tomoki pulled his hat over his ears, hoping to block the sounds. It didn’t work.

“What’s the matter? Are you afraid you can’t control it? Well, once I take it from you, you’ll have nothing to worry about anymore!”

Tomoki didn’t even know if he had enough energy to manage a transformation, and Blizzarmon was... it was...

Like a cold wave, fear spread through his body, freezing him in place. No, he couldn’t... he couldn’t use it. Grumblemon had figured him out. All this time, in the back of his head, Tomoki had known that he couldn’t defeat Grumblemon with just his Human Spirit. But the Earth Warrior hadn’t even needed to transform into Gigasmon to defeat him!

A painful outcry made it through the wall that Tomoki had build to escape reality. He didn’t look up, but he slowly let go of his hat. The Gotsumon weren’t leaving.

“Stop hurting them,” he said just to say something, and even to his ears it sounded weak and pathetic. But the words did help. They reminded him that he wasn’t just fighting for himself. He might be a failure, but the Gotsumon... why were they even defending him?

Tomoki got to his feet and wobbled slightly. He found his balance and shouted at the trio, “Stop that! Run away!” Run away from here...

“So you’re finally willing to hand over your Spirits?” Grumblemon asked in a conversational tone, while he smashed a Gotsumon to the ground and stomped on its head until it stopped moving.

Grumblemon had no mercy—a terrifying creature full of malice.

Tomoki gulped. He curled his fingers at his side, trying to stop them from trembling. The world was spinning around him. It took all he had to focus on the D-Tector shaking in his hand. Even if... Even if he... Would his Beast Spirit even be strong enough? He balked as his mind followed the thought further. What was he thinking? He couldn’t use Blizzarmon! The haunting feeling of floating in nothingness while his body did terrible things was burnt into his mind, and just thinking about the loss of control had his stomach turning.

Grumblemon took a step forwards, and the Gotsumon lying beaten on the ground with the data circle still around its midsection stretched out its hand and grabbed him around the ankle. “Can’t... let you have... Legendary Warriors...”

“Fine, have it your way then,” Grumblemon said coldly and pointed a finger at the brilliant ring of fractal code. “Scan!”

No! Gotsumon howled as it dissolved into nothingness.

Tomoki watched on in horror. “No! Stop!” But his cry went unanswered, and within seconds, only the white DigiEgg remained. It floated serenely through a ceiling light and out of view.

That was his fault! He’d let Grumblemon do that because... Because he was too afraid to do the only thing that could maybe stop him.

The other two Gotsumon were scrambling for the tunnel in pure panic, but Grumblemon wouldn’t ignore them any longer. One swing of his hammer brought them to their knees, the fractal code sparking into existence.

No, this was like Gwappamon, only worse! No one would come to help him. Tomoki was all alone and afraid, but this was no good.

In that moment, everything came to him. His fear was causing all these problems. He was so afraid of screwing up that he was letting far worse things happen. He was letting himself get pushed around again! Not by someone else, but by his feelings of failure and inadequacy—despairing over what to do.

Tomoki uncurled his fingers. There was something decisive he could do. He needed to take things into his own hands, stand up for himself and everyone that needed protection. No more running away. He couldn’t let fear control him!

“I said, STOP!” He shouted and brought forth his D-Tector, a tight net of fractal code around his left hand.

Execute Beast Spirit Digivolve to...  

PAIN! Overwhelming, unbearable pain. It hurt so much! Oh how easy would it be to let go and float away... NO! Ahhh! He needed to hold on... hold on... hold-

...BLIZZARMON!

Blizzarmon was free once more, the chains of the human falling from it, and it had only one goal: destroy Grumblemon. It felt good to know that the human was on board. The fiend hadn’t scanned the two Gotsumon yet, and Blizzarmon lashed out with its combat braids. They ended in arrowheads that helped with wrapping around Grumblemon’s tiny body and pulling him away from the prey.

The fractal code on these Gotsumon looked so mesmerizing, so perfect for augmenting Blizzarmon’s strength. It stepped forwards, one clawed hand raised and—

And like a cold shower, the calming presence of the human flooded its thoughts, imposing moral and reason. Tomoki desperately reached into the calamity that was Blizzarmon to find something, anything to grab onto. But every time he thought he’d found something tangible to assert control, an errant thought broke his concentration. Blizzarmon would lunge forwards, excitable and uncontrollable, to examine whatever struck its fancy. It wasn’t inherently evil or malicious—just an animal that saw the world for the first time in hundreds of years. It reacted to the whims of curious smells, sights and emotions, to wandering thoughts and to the need to please the God of Ice that loved the fight. Tommy understood it now.

By that point, Grumblemon slammed a spiky hammer into him. It didn’t matter, Blizzarmon’s fleeting, jumping thoughts briefly remembered the threat. It grabbed the offending weapon and broke it into pieces. Losing interest again, it became transfixed by the ceiling lights. It was like holding onto water! But at least Tomoki wasn’t floating in nothingness anymore. Blizzarmon hadn’t killed the Gotsumon, no, they huddled in a corner, unable to escape now that the titans occupied the room. They were alive and they would live to see the next day. He’d cost them their comrade, but there was no time for remorse now.

Somewhere in the past few seconds, Grumblemon had turned to Gigasmon. Seeing that hateful figure had Tomoki appreciate Blizzarmon’s direct, no-talking approach. He really was on board with the ‘Destroy Grumblemon’ directive. His human side hadn’t been enough to finish the job so maybe, instead of fighting for control, he could...

Blizzarmon and him, they weren’t two separate entities. Right here, right now, they were fighting for the same cause. With sudden clarity, Tommy realized he wasn’t just a human anymore. He’d fused with a beast and now he could use its raw power for a good cause.

He found the voice cords of his new form with ease. “Gigasmon, I’ll make you pay! You should’ve never come here!”

And he would make him pay. Grumblemon had been kicked around outside, worn down from the battle with the other four Spirits, and Blizzarmon was revitalized and strong and ready. The Beast of Ice jumped upwards and brought Éji and Ōji, his trusty tomahawks, onto the enemy. “Avalanche Step!”

Gigasmon spun around in place, turning into a light brown whirlwind of fists. “Quagmire Twister!”

Blizzarmon wasn’t afraid of being hurt. He had thick fur and even thicker skin. The cold powers of ice went into the thrust of his tomahawks, and they cared little for the enemy’s attempt at deflection. The fists pounding him meant nothing as the freezing cut of his weapons powered through the enemy attack and brought Gigasmon to his knees.

Gigasmon had to know he was outclassed, wounded and facing defeat. Good, because Blizzarmon wouldn’t forgive him for attacking the village, for killing Gotsumon. In fact, he would never forgive anyone that chose to destroy innocent lives. He raised Éji for the finishing blow. From now on, he would protect who he could and fight for the good of the world with all he had!

(But Gigasmon wasn’t stupid. He saw the deadly axe bearing down on him, remembered that he hadn’t been fighting at full health and that just around the corner waited four more annoying children with Spirits. Plus, a rampaging Garmmon that had it out for him for no reason at all. He knew when to cut his losses and rethink his strategy.)

Éji struck the ground. Gigasmon had escaped. No!

-Meanwhile-

No! NOOOOO! The wretched creature was escaping! Garmmon could feel it through the earth! This couldn’t be! The four terrible monsters haunting it were still there, and it had been fighting their evil valiantly, but it was so hard, so hard to focus on them when there was Grumblemon, and it needed to kill Grumblemon! Grumblemon needed to die! It howled in rage, accidentally firing a laser beam. At least it burnt through the monsters, and Garmmon finally saw a path. Grumblemon was fast escaping, but it was fast now too! It would tear him apart, limb from limb and scatter his data so he could never return! In a moment of pure concentration, it lowered the wheels attached to its strong legs and now nothing could stop it from pursuing the target. Mountains turned into trees and into the sandy avenue of a beach, but Garmmon never lost track of its target because it was still a Gotsumon inside. Grumblemon would fall!

-Zoe-

How to summarize this mess?

We’d found Kouji’s Beast Spirit.

Only someone else had called dibs on it and was very, very reluctant to let it go—as the laser beam that I met on its hurting end attested to.

That someone had a dangerous obsession with undoing Grumblemon.

So when Grumblemon legged it, that someone, and therefore Kouji’s Spirit, made a beeline for the exit as well. (I dreaded what that meant for Tommy and the village.)

Lobomon stared after the fleeing Beast Spirit, obviously torn. The need to help the village, the need to go to the Forest Terminal, the need to get his Beast Spirit. They were mutually exclusive. I couldn’t go on anymore, and Garmmon, as one of the Gotsumon called it, was disappearing over the horizon. I didn’t think anyone was fast enough to keep up with this thing.

“You can go after him! We’ll stay in touch over the D-Tectors!” Anumon said. She’d deployed the cunning strategy of only once coming close to the enemy and was therefore completely unharmed.

I wasn’t sure if going after Garmmon was such a good idea. Did Kei really think that this was the best course of action, or was she just not thinking straight after coming down from the battle?

Lobomon certainly thought this was a worthy plan, but I didn’t know how he intended to track Garmmon. Then, I remembered my connection to Kazemon. The Spirits always wanted to stay close to their true wielder. Maybe Garmmon was calling out to him. Or maybe I’d taken one too many hits to the head today.

“You can’t go alone!” Beetlemon cautioned, but Lobomon took off regardless.

“He totally did,” Anumon said dryly. A moment later, she realized that Kouji was about to face a super powered Beast Spirit all alone. “Beetlemon, maybe you should help him! You can fly him out if the going gets too tough!”

Beetlemon hesitated.

We were really in a terrible situation. We couldn’t all leave to run after Kouji because someone needed to check on Tommy. We couldn’t let Kouji go alone, either. What kind of friend would do that? I wished I had the energy to digivolve again, but two transformations, each with a violent end, left me too drained for anything fancy.

After thinking back and forth, Beetlemon slammed his fist into the mountain wall. “Fine!” He had the decency to look guilty when a small part broke loose and seeped to the ground. He waited until the wall calmed down and added, “Fine, I’ll go after him.”

Since he could fly, he’d quickly gain on Lobomon, and I was sure he would catch up to him in no time. While he left, Anumon landed next to me and, in a flurry of data, became Keisaki again.

“What’s going on down there?” she asked in a hurried voice, while we were rushing into the tunnel.

The Gotsumon followed us, and one of them chimed, “The others have left the safe room! Your friend is still in there!”

Okay, so Tommy hadn’t been defeated and scanned or worse... But ... did that mean...?

The first thing I noticed while we were passing through the tunnel was the abundance of unharmed-looking Gotsumon. They sent us grateful glances as we rushed past them into the empty safe room. It had definitely seen better days, its walls and floor were riddled with huge holes. A weight lifted off my shoulders when I spotted Tommy at the entrance. He looked a bit roughed up, but I had expected so much worse.

“Tommy! Are you alright?”

“Zoe! Kei!” he answered and ... how should I put it? He sounded a lot more alive than he’d been these past few days. Despite the subdued tone in his voice, his eyes were alight with determination and purpose. He seemed a lot better and healthier than just hours earlier.

“Uh... I’m fine, but...” he trailed off and looked guiltily at the two Gotsumon in the room.

They huddled together, hugging each other... Oh. There was a strange mixture of gratitude and sorrow on their faces, and one of them was crying.

“Tommy, what happened here?” Kei asked, unable to piece it together.

It wasn’t easy for the little guy to find an answer. His eyes darted from the Gotsumon, to his D-Tector and back to us. “Grumblemon attacked... I- I couldn’t save all the Gotsumon, but I chased him off before he could get anyone else. I’m sorry!” That last one he shouted at the watching rock people.

They sent him a watery look and a forced smile. One of them made a half-hearted noise that did little to alleviate Tommy’s guilt.

Kei was ready to take the blame. “We should be sorry! We let Grumblemon escape. I’m sorry, Tommy.” She turned to the Gotsumon for some comforting words.

Tommy shifted the D-Tector in his hands. He stood straighter than usual and while he seemed nervous, something was fundamentally different about him. I didn’t know how to ask about it and hoped that looking at him encouragingly would spawn an answer.

My intuition didn’t fail me. While Kei did some much-needed damage control and talked to the village council about what had happened and how to continue onwards, Tommy looked at me, face set.

“I don’t want anyone to suffer or die anymore. I want to save everyone.”

He hesitated and I nodded. I had similar thoughts. Regardless of what waited at the Forest Terminal, I would end all this pain and suffering in the Digital World. I would vanquish it.

Tommy gave me a wavering smile. “I can control Blizzarmon now.”

It would be a lie to say that that surprised me. He’d chased off Grumblemon somehow and as bad as I felt about thinking it, Kumamon really wasn’t the fighter to do that.

I smiled at him and patted his enormous hat. “Good job. Ben fatto!”

“Where are Kouji and JP?” he asked.

Oh, that can of worms.

“Uh,” I said intelligently.

This brought us full circle, and I struggled through an explanation. It still felt wrong that we were down two party members. Had they reached Garmmon by now? Was it attacking them? When was it safe to contact them on their D-Tectors?

Kei joined us as we followed the tunnel outside and emerged blinking into the sunlight. It was still noon. We had an entire day ahead of us, but with the others missing, we couldn’t head out towards the Forest Terminal. Could we?

After much discussion I said, “Well theoretically, we could head out towards Forest Terminal like planned.” I pointed at our rucksack. We had the map right here.

When Kei put on her thinking face and remained silent, Tommy said, “But what about Kouji and JP? They don’t have a map... Won’t they come back here?”

“Maybe we should go after them instead?” I offered after considering that.

“We don’t know where they’ve gone...” Kei mumbled and screwed her eyes shut in frustration. “Okay, note to self: never split the party.”

Well, that made her earlier decision to do so a ‘heat of the moment, didn’t think this through’ thing. Then again, hadn’t she wanted to keep up via walkie-talkie?

I concentrated on JP (subconsciously, I saw Kouji as Garmmon tearing up the landscape) and spoke into the D-Tector, “Hey, can you hear me? Do you have the Beast Spirit already?”

There was only static, and I frowned at the display.

I showed it to the other two and Keisaki let out a low groan. “That’s perfect. Is there a range limit on this thing?”

Not letting the discovery discourage him, Tommy tried Kouji with similar results. “Uhm... Maybe they are still digimon?”

Another valid assumption. Maybe they were still transformed? It seemed like we were forced to wait until we could reach them, or until they came back to us. How long would it take to track down a transformed Gotsumon and convince it to part with the Beast Spirit?

For now, the villagers began repopulating the village grounds. They even put up a table for us in the mountain’s shade and promised us that food was on the way. I told them that that sounded great, and so a group of them left to cook us their speciality. We’d effectively saved them from Grumblemon’s attack, so they were ready to share their food with us now. In fact, they believed the onslaught of Grumblemon was completely over. I was ready to agree with them. Grumblemon came here because of the Beast Spirit, which was gone now.

Huh. Kei, Tommy and I had four juicy Spirits between us... Wouldn’t they be like a beacon to him?

I placed my hands on the table and asked, “What if Grumblemon comes for us again?”

Kei wasn’t concerned. “Well, I’m pretty sure we can deal with him. We almost had him beat last time before he fled.”

Tommy got this strange, angry face. “I won’t let him get away next time,” he vowed and for a second, it almost sounded like he’d transformed into Kumamon. His voice changed whenever he used his Spirit. It became colder and more aloof and focused... Tommy himself always had an air of innocence and naivety. He noticed my look, blushed and looked down at the table. “That is... Because I have Blizzarmon now...”

That sounded more like the Tommy I knew.

The timely arrival of food interrupted our discussion.

...Wouldn’t you know? Freedom apparently tasted like ‘rock soup’. I stared at the noodle broth and sighed. Why was I not surprised? At least it didn’t taste like rocks. It was pretty good actually. Nothing on the spiciness from Flame Terminal or the general treat from Breezy Village, but hey: Free food!

“Speaking of Blizzarmon,” Keisaki began after she slurped up the last of her noodles and put her bowl down with a decisive clunk. “It looks like we have some time on our hands. Do you want to try out your Beast Spirit while we’re waiting for Kouji and JP?”

I was proud of her. She was trying to include Tommy more!

Tommy blinked multiple times in surprise, but then realization dawned on him. Like me, he remembered our two training sessions, first in Breezy Village and then in Gargoylemon’s Village. He nodded reluctantly, seemingly torn over how eager he was supposed to feel. “But... But not in the village, right?”

“Nah, I saw an empty field past the tree line. We can go there after Zoe’s done eating,” she said and shot me a playful look.

I grumbled to myself, still fighting with the soup.

But eventually, I was victorious, and we moved out of the village and into the fields.

I stopped next to a small rock close to the tree line and wondered if I should sit down. The food had revitalized me, but I still felt sore.

Meanwhile, Tommy moved to the other side of the field—a precaution he’d insisted on.

“Ready?” Kei asked me.

“I might need a minute,” I said. “You can start without me.” I waved her off when she took a worried step towards me.

Kei wavered for a moment. “Alright...well, if you say so.”

I nodded, confident that nothing would go wrong.

We waited for Tommy’s sign then Kei summoned her data cocoon.

For the first time, I saw a Beast Spirit at work, and I was surprised by how different the data cocoon looked. The fractal code was more erratic and wild and swirled much faster.

Execute Spirit Digivolve to... Anumon!

Execute Beast Spirit Digivolve to... (Ahhhh!) ...Blizzarmon!

Woah! While Keisaki gained maybe two heads in height, the difference between tiny Tommy and gargantuan Blizzarmon was staggering. The white yeti with the vicious-looking axes towered over everything!

Anumon took to the air and shouted, “How are you feeling?”

It took a while for Blizzarmon to raise his head and look at her, and even then, his eyes had trouble focusing on her. “I’m fine. Just ... Everything’s a bit difficult... eh, different.” It was so weird hearing that hulking monster speak with Tommy’s bright voice!

Now that there wasn’t a combat situation, Blizzarmon had trouble controlling something that huge and unfamiliar. For the next five minutes, we watched him awkwardly trudge about the field, swinging his tree trunk-thick arms and oddly bent legs. Sometimes he would fall into a prayer stance or jump around excitedly, and that was all decidedly non-threatening. He wasn’t in full control, but in no danger of going on a roaring rampage either. It was actually cute once I got over the fact that those axes could split people in half. (“You can also call them tomahawks. Here, let me introduce them” – Yes, apparently the weapons had names. He also told me that Kumamon’s blaster was called Romeo. Che carino!)

Anumon watched him intently, blue eyes calculating. I was sure, I’d soon hear about all the strategies that Blizzarmon opened up...

Once I transformed as well, we used the surroundings for target practice. After a while of menacing trees, Anumon had Us fly around at top speed, pretending to sweep in and rescue defeated allies from imminent scanning. We were oddly satisfied with that. After having seen multiple times that We weren’t all that effective at defeating enemies, We could see that it might be vital to have someone dedicated to keep everyone safe. Plus, Our wind was perfect for deflecting ranged attacks as well as disorienting enemies. It even worked on Blizzarmon, who otherwise shrugged all attacks off. It became more and more obvious that We were a support fighter instead of a front-line combatant. We felt conflicted.

 “So, let’s see... Blizzarmon, you’re pretty much the strongest thing we have on our side right now,” said Anumon, and looked indeed very thoughtful behind her mask. She examined a tree that the Beast Warrior had effortlessly chopped in half and a rock his smashing fists had pulverized. “You’re not as fast as Kazemon.”

Pfft, no one was faster than Us! (We ignored Garmmon’s existence.)

Anumon wasn’t done and tapped a finger against her cheek in thought. “But not really that slow either, actually. That’s pretty neat...”

We grimaced and remembered when we’d made the mistake of asking her to talk strategy at Us. She’d spent an hour talking Our ears off.

After twenty more minutes, we finally transformed back with no further incident. I tried contacting Kouji or JP again, to no avail. A clump of worry formed in my stomach.

Keisaki itched for pen and paper and hogged the rucksack, and Tommy looked genuinely happy for once, as if a great weight lifted off of his shoulders.

We moved back to the village with Kei murmuring things like “good at trapping” and “creating ice, very useful” to herself while looking like a kid that got her Christmas presents early. From that, I knew she hadn’t once thought of Blizzarmon joining our ranks, and she now made up for that with over-excitement. It caused Tommy to send her worried glances. Maybe her strategy obsession had marched past him because she used to ignore Kumamon?

“So how does it feel to use a Beast Spirit?” I asked to distract him from the mad girl behind us.

“Well at first it hurts a lot,” he explained, looking ahead and therefore missing how I reeled back. “But then ... Blizzarmon is really powerful so... I feel powerful too. It’s really cool.”

I worried about the ‘hurts to transform’ part. It didn’t seem to bother him, so I quickly pushed it out of my head. “Cool like ice?” I asked and was happy to hear him giggle.

When we came back to the village, we ran into one of the Gotsumon that had helped us keep track of Grumblemon outside. She was easily recognizable by the necklace with the kanji for family.

She looked at us in worry, fretted for a bit while we stared at her, and then said, “Hello, Legendary Warriors. I’m missing my nephew. Please tell me he did not take the Spirit his father forbade him from researching just to run after Grumblemon.” She rattled that all down without breaking for breath.

I had a little trouble following her, but Kei seemed to have a better idea and asked for clarification, “The Gotsumon with the magnifying glass, right?”

Her eyes lit up in recognition. “Yes, yes! What happened to him?”

This was awkward. She was looking at us expectantly,

Kei hummed nervously. “Well uhm. You know…” She traded a look with me while Tommy just continued to look confused. The aunt had her nephew well figured out. “How about we don’t tell you that, then?” Kei ended up saying, still awkwardness personified. “He’s with our friends. They’ll bring him back.”

Gotsumon’s expression fell, and her hand went to the pendant. “I… see. He’s not going to come back.”

“What? Why not?” Tommy asked.

She turned away from us and took a deep breath, her voice raw. “Because Beast Spirits consume. He will never stop hunting Grumblemon now. He’s always been too adventurous for his own good.”

“Well, our friends definitely need to come back to us,” I offered, hoping to help her over the difficult situation.

It reminded me of that time when my favourite cousin and I decided to run away from home. Just because we’d really wanted to know what it felt like to be runaways. (It was a weird phase in my life, okay.) We didn’t get further than the forest a kilometer away from town, but Aunt Laura had been in tears upon discovering our absence, and I had felt really bad afterwards. Grounding us had been completely uncalled for, though.

Gotsumon didn’t seem to have any faith in my words. She gave us all a solemn look and excused herself with the words: “I hope you find what you need at Forest Terminal. May Life and Law travel with you.”

I wasn’t too sure why, but Kei facepalmed, saying, “Damn, I’m so stupid.”

“Kei?” I asked.

With the air of a woman on a mission, she started marched towards the village.

“Zoe, we’re talking about Kouji here.” She sounded like this explained everything, so I hurried to catch up with her, trying to see what she was seeing.

Thankfully, she explained herself once we reached the actual village perimeter. “The Forest Terminal is in the North of here, right? And guess where Garmmon fled earlier? North!” Technically, the Forest Terminal was northeast but I suddenly knew where she was going with this.

She looks first at me, then, catching herself, at Tommy. “Do you really think Kouji’d come back here, wasting progress? He’s, like, super fixated on getting there.”

She had a point. Even Tommy didn’t jump in to defend Kouji like I expected him to. But... there was still some hope! “JP wouldn’t leave us behind,” I said. “And what are you doing?”

“Uh.” She stopped in her tracks near some Gotsumon that were reconstructing the mountain side. They waved at us merrily.

“Well, I thought it’s best to pack some food and plan our next step. I’m hoping at least JP will call by then,” she said uncertainly.

I was actively worried about JP and Kouji now. I couldn’t reach either of them, and they had neither money nor food. The steep lines drawn across Kei’s face told me that she experienced similar worry. At least with Grumblemon seemingly gone, the Gotsumon opened their storeroom for us.

So we picked up food and supplies, got assured by everyone we passed by that we did wonderfully and that the village would be forever in our debt, and eventually found us back at our table in the mountain shade.

“So...” Kei began, staring at the map I’d spread on the table. “How far away is the next village? Could we still reach it today?”

I wasn’t sure why she was asking me since she had eyes herself. I raised my brow and pointed at the spot that marked the Gotsumon village. It was really close to the ocean or maybe just a really big lake. “We’re here. And over...there is the Forest Terminal.” I took a moment to find the correct squiggly caption. I still couldn’t read DigiCode and largely did things by memory. “It’s easy to find because there’s this elaborate castle right next to it,” I mumbled.

The Forest Terminal was, as the name suggested, inside a huge patch of forest. Seraphimon’s Forest, to be precise. A beautiful castle was drawn next to the squiggle for the train station. There were many of these little pictures on the map, presumably to indicate some kind of cultural heritage. The Gotsumon village’s main attraction was three Moai statues—that I hadn’t seen anywhere in real life. Maybe it was a stylistic choice, then.

Kei trailed our path to the Forest Terminal and stopped at the two villages that we would encounter on our way. I estimated that we’d reach the first one before nightfall—if we hurried. It sat on the edge of a plain between the Forest of Dreams and another forest that wasn’t Seraphimon’s Forest. Seriously. So many ‘forests’ in the Land of Forest. Geez, I would’ve never guessed. The only drawing in these villages’ vicinity was a temple on the plain.

“Well, then. Should we head out by ourselves or wait and see if Kouji and JP come back here?” Keisaki asked us, first looking at me, then at Tommy expectantly.

“What if something happened to them? Can’t we go after them?” Tommy asked worriedly.

Since this was my suggestion from earlier, I also looked at Keisaki for an answer.

“I don’t know...” she said slowly, staring at the map.

Garmmon had headed north along the coastline, while, as mentioned, the Forest Terminal was in the Northeast. The coast would curve northeast at some point too, otherwise, there was only ocean.

“It’s like this. Kouji and JP know we’re here. They also know we need to go to the Forest Terminal. So if we just head out in a random direction, we might miss them and never find each other again even if they decide to come back here,” said Kei.

“We could leave them a note,” Tommy suggested.

I thought about it, but Kei saw its flaw. “That wouldn’t solve the problem. Then we’d be gone, and they’d have no way of finding us.”

We wasted a few more precious minutes of daylight before we decided to head somewhat north. We were hoping to catch a signal on the D-Tector, but if that failed, we’d go straight to the unremarkable village on the plain.

Our venture north didn’t produce any results, and the thought that we’d left a note with the Gotsumon was cold comfort. Kei tried to engage us in her strategy ideas, but while that was definitely useful, I could only take so much theory.

We ended up chatting amicably about our home and families. It made me miss our world for a while but gave Tommy the opportunity to state once and for all that he’d stay here and fight for the Digital World.

Thoughts of our absent teammates returned when we reached the nondescript village a couple of hours after nightfall. It was small and featured two things excessively: tiny little stone houses and oil drums. We found its one inn and booked a night.

The villagers were various forms of walking metal and earth, and I even spotted a few Gotsumon among them—neither of them familiar. They were mostly indifferent to our arrival, and no one had seen any humans passing through...

End... of the Second Act.