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Elegy of Emptiness

Chapter 3

By Kendo Kawabata

Flamedramon could hear Ebemon continue to scream at him as he hurried out of the office, holding Guilmon over his back as he started running as fast as he was able to into the hallways.

"Oh Gennai...what now....what now" he panted in fear, his heart racing in a way it had never done before as he hurried, turning corners at random as he tried to find some kind of way out of there.

The trouble was, Flameramon had no idea on how to actually leave. He couldn't remember how he had ever managed to get there in the first place, and as far as he knew, he had never left either. If there was an entrance in and out, he had no clue about it.

"Which...which way?" he panicked as he continued to hurry down the halls, twisting and turning around every which way. The place was bigger then he had first believed, or maybe, he was actually running around in circles. Running in circles made sense, as everything seemed to look the same anyway.

"It's OK Guilmon...I'll....I'll think of something....Oh Gennai, why can't I think of something?" he panicked as he continued onwards as best as he could. Who was Gennai anyway and how did he know that name? Why was he doing this in the first place?

"I attacked Ebemon. I screwed up, I'm going to hell for this" he whimpered as his heart hammered in his chest as he continued to run. His head was actually starting to hurt as he tried to think as best as he could, but he had no ideas that he could call on.

He turned another corner at random, and almost skidded off his feet as he saw the hood-less Kumamon in the distance. The blank eyed bear simply stood there, his gaze directly on the escaping Flamedramon. The little bear digimon didn't say anything as he simply began to walk forward.

"OK...OK not this way" Flamedramon panted as he backed up a few feet before he managed to turn around and head back down the direction he had just ran down. He turned another corner and found himself skidding again.

He swore that he had just ran down that hallway and there was no-one he had passed. But there was the hood-less Goblimon, seemingly waiting for him. The Goblimon began to walk forward as well, his eyes still blank and staring, but blank and staring at Flamedramon.

"Get....get away from us" Flamedramon shouted, but his voice was wavering and he didn't sound brave at all. He sounded as scared as he was as he turned and ran past the nearest corner he could find.

He ran down two more corners before he had to stop, finding his way blocked again, this time by the Gotsumon. The moment the Gotsumon saw him he began to walk forward, again just walking with no real need to hurry. Flamedramon swallowed a lump in his throat as he turned around, and felt sweat drip down the side of his head.

Behind him, the Kumamon was walking towards him. As he turned to face another hallway, there was the Goblimon. Flamedramon felt his lips go dry as he realized his options on where to run were starting to run out.

He hoisted Guilmon up against his shoulders again, and ran down a nearby hall that was free of hood-less for now. He threw his head from left to right as he glanced down corners and intersections, hoping that he was getting some kind of distance between them.

"Oh no" he said as he had to stop in a hurry, so much in a hurry that he almost dropped Guimon from his grip. Before him, at the Y intersection ahead, were the turtle Kamemon, and the ferret Prairremon. They stood there, both unmoving and unblinking, their vacant blank eyes staring at him before they both started moving in unison towards him.

"No...no stay back....You can't have him" Flamedramon shouted at them as bravely as he could, but his voice was wavering as he turned around and began to run in a new direction.

His breathing was starting to get harder, and his legs were starting to ache. How long had it been since he had last run? Since he had last done this much to himself? Guilmons body was starting to get heavier in his arms as he felt his grip becoming weaker. He couldn't keep running forever.

He turned another corner and almost collided with the hood-less that was waiting for him. This one, was an Etemon, a large muscled yellow monkey with black spec shades across his eyes. Well, they were normally across his eyes. They were sitting on his forehead, and his large blank staring eyes were looking straight at the two fugitives.

Flamedramon just managed to back up and turn around without getting caught as he stumbled down the nearest hallway. And he found that hallway blocked, as well as the corners around him by the other hood-less. They were closing in on him, and they were closing in fast.

He whimpered through his panting as he pushed himself to run down the only hallway that he could. He didn't have anywhere else to go, because this hallway, was just one one long hallway with only one place past it.

The pit.

Flamedramon ran out of the hallway and across the large open area of the pit, slowing down when he reached the front of the dais. His body finally started to give out as he stumbled ot his knees, his grip on Guilmon finally giving way as the dragon slipped from his grasp and fell of his side.

Flamedramon collapsed forward onto his hands, panting hard and sweat dripped from his muzzle. His heart was racing and his limbs felt like lead as he slowly looked up. He could see the edge of the pit beyond the dais, the sounds of mining continuing on.

He looked over his shoulder and his heart sank several inches in his chest as he saw the remaining hood-less had been waiting for him around the entrance to the hallways. There was the living flame digimon, Meramon. Then the large stuffed teddy bear, Monzaemon. There was the small overly fluffy cat, Meicoomon. And the little black and white bear, Pandamon. There was the white feathered harpy digimon, Sylphimon. And the last one, was a small water digimon that resembled a duck with dreadlocks, a Gawappamon. All six of them were standing three on each side of the entrance-way, their blank staring eyes looking directly at him.

They had been waiting for him, as if they knew exactly where he was going to. He watched as the remaining hood-less walked through the entrance-way and joined the others in a large semi circle that blocked his escape forward. Flamedramon felt even worse. He had been led there, on purpose. He couldn't have run away, even though he had tried.

The only way that the hood-less hadn't covered, was the edge of the pit. But it was well over a dozen feet below. He could probably survive if he jumped off the edge, but the only reward waiting for him was a pair of broken legs. And Guilmon probably wasn't going to survive the fall any better if he went with him. And there was no way out of the pit either.

All that breaking his legs would accomplish was making it easier for them to capture him. And breaking his legs. He had nowhere to go. They had him good and trapped.

"I'm sorry Guilmon" he whimpered as he felt the tears brimming against his eyelids. "I'm sorry....I tried...." he whimpered as he felt his heart sink even more.

The hood-less stopped a distance away, having effectively blocked him from running away. The ones in the middle stepped aside, as a familiar figure stepped up between them. It was Ebemon. Somehow, he had been let out and he had finally joined them.

And he did not look happy. Probably because he was still wet.

"My dear...little Flamedramon" Ebemon said, with a very controlled voice that was in no way dripping with venom. "You've caused quite a bit of trouble for me. But, I am willing to go easy on you, if you hand over the Guilmon like a good little faithfull" he said. It sounded like he was speaking through a fake smile, if he could make one.

Flamedramon slowly stood up, the tears finally breaking free as he shook his head.

"N......no" he found himself saying. "I.....I can't...." he said, feeling the tears stream down his face as he tried very hard to stop his body from shaking in fear.

Ebemons head twitched enough that there was a slight crack from his neck, which meant his head wasn't supposed to twitch in that direction.

"I am asking you.....very fucking calmly....to please hand over the little shi.....the little Guilmon beside you...and I promise I won't ....get.....mad...." he said in a very carefully controlled voice, although the tone of voice sounded like he wanted to strangle him with his own hands.

"You....you're going to hurt him...." Flamedramon said as he spoke up, his arms shaking beside him. "I....I don't want you to hurt him......Y-y-....you can't hurt him..." he stammered out. His heart was still racing as the tears of fear flowed down his cheeks.

"I'm not asking" Ebemon said, his voice getting slightly strained and a little louder. "I am telling you.....to step aside...and hand over the fucking guilmon....before I really get mad" he practically seethed.

Flamedramon shook his head again, his hands and his knees starting to shake. He couldn't do it, he couldn't just step aside and let them come and take Giulmon. The dragon was still out of it, thin bloody streaks across his face, which was starting to go pale. Guilmon was not in a good way, and he didn't want to hand him over to someone who was going to hurt him even more.

"Ok, I'm done being fucking nice" Ebemon said as he rubbed the side of his head for a moment. "I am. I am done being fucking nice. Hand over the little shit, or I'll have the hood-less here take him and leave you with your arms and legs broken into little fucking pieces."

"NO" Flamedramon said as loudly as he could.

"I didn't fucking stutter. That is against my programming. Hand the little shit over, of you're fucking dead."

"I ..... I said....I said NO."

"HAND HIM OVER YOU FUCKING FUCKER!"

"FUCK YOU."

There was...silence. Well, as much silence as there could be with the sounds of pings and bangs coming from the working digimon below them. Well, the silence between Ebemon and Flamedramon just made them louder.

"Did....did you just swear at me?" Ebemon said, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"You....you say it all the time" Flamedramon pointed out to him.

"No I fucking don't."

"You....just said it right there."

"I'm the fucking leader around here. I'LL FUCKING SWEAR IF I FUCKING WANT TO" Ebemon shouted. "Wait, why the fuck am I arguing with you on this? You two" he said, gesturing at the Kumamon and the Gotsumon on either side of him. "Break his fucking legs" he ordered.

The Kumamon and the Gotsumon ran forward without hesitation, the two rushing in a rippling of robes as the quickly closed the distance between them. It just seemed to be worse that their blank staring eyes didn't change, neither did their facial expressions.

Flamedramon felt a wave of panic rush over him as his heart leapt into his throat. He didn't know what to do, they were going to get him and they were going to go break his legs. His mind was empty, he had no clue what to do....

Then.....something tweaked inside him.

"FIRE ROCKET."

The Kumamon and the Gotsumon were suddenly met with a burning fireball of molten flame that collided with their torsos and blew them backwards like ragdolls. The two digimon didn't react or scream out as they were literally blown backwards, their robes burned from their bodies and reduced to flaming cinders.

With two crashes, both impactfull enough to leave a small cracked crater on the hard obsidan wall behind them, the two digimon falling to the ground with dull thuds, whisps of smoke rising up form their unconscious bodies.

"The.....FUCK!!?????!!!???!?!?!"

Ebemon stared in shock as he had just witnessed what he thought he had witness, and he didn't want to believe that he had witnessed it, even though he had been there to witness it and he had indeed witnessed it.

Flamedramon was also staring in shock, his arm outstretched before him. Except, it didn't look like his arm. For one, there was a solid metal gauntlet covering his hand and his forearm, reaching up to spike around his elbow. It was a mix of red, yellow and orange flame decal.

From the end, it rounded out, but there were three sharp metal blades on the end that curved inwards like pincers. The tips were glowing a dull red, and there were wisps of smoke emanating from the tip.

Ebemon was staring at him, not in confusion or terror, but in the kind of rage that was making his eyes slowly turn red. Flamedramon suddenly became aware of a weight on his head that he had never felt before, and, as his right hand was still naked, he reached up to touch his face. There was the feeling of warm metal against his fingers, as he found that he was now touching a flame coloured helmet, with a large metal blade sticking up like a horn on his forehead.

Somehow, he now had partial armor.

And he had just attacked two of the hood-less.

Forget his legs. They were going to kill him.

"You....you just fucking attacked my hood-less? YOU FUCKING ATTACKED MY HOOD-LESS?" Ebemon shouted, his voice rising as his eyes glowed with pure rage. "HOW DARE YOU FUCKING ATTACK MY FUCKING HOOD-LESS."

"I....I didn't mean to...I ...I don't know how......please....I don't know what just happened....." Flamedramon said as he found himself panicking again. He had no idea what just happened, he had just.....he didn't even know what the hell had just happened. How the hell did he just manage to shoot fire?

Where the hell did this armor just come from? What the hell was going on with him?"

"FORGET HSI LEGS. BREAK HIM IN FUCKING HALF" Ebemon shouted, his eyes practically burning with rage as he pointed at the Etemon, the Monzaemon, the Meicoomon and the Goblimon. "FUCKING BREAK HIM!!!"

The four digimon leapt forward, their robes billowing around them as they rushed in for the attack.

Flamedramon found himself panting in fear again, his knees shaking as he shook his heavy looking but surprisingly light gauntlet at them, trying ot get it to work again.

But nothing was happening, and the hood-less were within striking range.

Flamedramon closed his eyes, he didn't stand a chance. He didn't want to see it coming.

"FIST OF THE ICE KING!"

Flamedramon heard them all cry out as they were suddenly attacked, and then their cries were cut short rather instantly, before silence filled the area. When he was aware that all he could hear was the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears, Flamedramon slowly opened his eyes.

The digimon that had gone to attack him, were frozen in place after being knocked back, their bodies encrusted with frost and ice as they were held in place, immobile and unmovable. Something had attacked them, and prevented them from continuing with their own assault.

It took him a moment to realize that the large muscled figure of Panjyamon was standing in front of him, his fist outstretched in a punching position. His eyes were blank and staring, but his face was one of anger and rage.

"You....helped me....again..." Flamedramon said softly in surprise. Panjyamon didn't say anything as he lowered his huge fist, his angry blank gaze staring directly at Ebemon and the other hood-less.

Ebemon could only stare in shock for several long moments, before he planted his face into his palm and his entire body shuddered a little as if he had broken down crying. Except, he wasn't.

"Great. Just fucking dandy. So, another one has decided to break through and rise up against me" he said as he shook his head back and forth, banging his oversized gun against the side of his head a few times in frustration.

"Just what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Ebemon asked as he looked up and gestured with his hand for the big lion to say something. Panjyamon just stared at Ebemon for several long moments, then his facial features began to twitch slightly, as if he was trying to maintain control of himself. Or lose his self control.

"You....will....not.....hurt.....them....." Panjyamon managed to growl out between his teeth, as his eyes twitched. "Won't.....let you....." he growled out as he seemed to growl in pain as well, as if he was fighting himself.

"Oh, nice. So, you've decided to rise up and fight me as well. First I get drenched in water, in DIRTY fucking water, then I get a mop shoved into my face, then my hood-less drones get attacked, and now it seems everyone wants to join in on the fun" Ebemon moaned out loudly as he banged his oversized gun against his head again.

There was a crackling sound, like something was on the verge of breaking, and then the ice covering the hood-less digimon broke into many shining shards of blue and white. The now freed digimon collapsed in heaps on the stone floor, where they did not move. They didn't even shiver. Maybe they didn't feel the cold.

Flamedramon heard Guilmon moan beside him and he looked away from Panjyamon and the others as he knelt beside him, slipping his large gauntlet under the mons head for support as he looked him over.

"Guilmon....can you hear me?" he asked as he looked down at him, feeling his heart in a panic. Guilmons eyes fluttered before they slowly began to open, his large eyes looking bloodshot as he looked blearily up at him, without actually seeing him.

"I....don't.....feel.....so.....good" he mumbled out, his lips barely moving as he spoke in a hoarse voice.

"It's gonna be ok.. I promise....we'll get out of this" Flamedramon said to him as he kept the mons head cradled against his gauntlet.

"I'd hate to interupt, but I AM STILL FUCKING HERE YOU KNOW" Ebemon shouted as he waved his several arms at the Flamedramon to get his attention. "You think I'm just going to let oyu fucking walk out of here just cause you ignore me?"

"May I just remind you all, that I am a fucking Mega level digimon" Ebemon shouted at them. "And I see in front of me, one ultimate level lion, one armor level flame jerk, and a near brain dead rookie" he said as he gestured with his gun at them all one by one. "I don't like your odds one bit."

"You....won't....hurt....them..." Panjyamon said as he struggled to gain control over himself as he lifted his huge fists up, glaring at Ebemon even as his face twitched with his instincts conflicting with one another.

"Looks like I have to go through you first" Ebemon said as he readied the huge gun and looked down the scope as he pointed the crosshairs as the lion. "I should have done this first off, just turned your mind to mush and made you my obedient bitch. Well, I can make up for lost time now....."

He trailed off slowly as he lifted his head away from the scope, his glaring red eyes suddenly going rather quickly back to yellow as they also went rather wide eyed. His gun even began to shake, as if he was seeing something he didn't want to feel.

And Flamedramon felt something.

He could actually feel his skin grow cold and .... some kind of dark empty hollow void was starting to appear in his chest and spread down his stomach. He actually felt his hands shake, the gauntlet beginning to rattle slightly as his limbs shook.

This sensation....the feelings he was having....he had never felt them before. But.... he felt...dread. Horror. Fear. The worst kind of feelings he could feel. They were swarming through his body and creeping into his mind as he felt his whole body freeze from the fear, unable to move or get up and run.

And he wanted so badly to run.

He could feel Guilmon shaking against him, the smaller dragon feeling the same degree of horror and terror and despair that was he was feeling. He looked up as he saw Panjyamon was now shaking as well, his own internal battle being added to by the dread feeling that he was experiencing as well.

And then he saw a hand reach up over him. A terribly dark hand, wrapped in the flowing sleeve of a blood red and gold embroidered robe, with a thick gleaming jewelled ring on the middle finger. That terribly dark hand reached over and tapped Panjyamon on the back of his exposed head.

"Sleep."

The hand pulled back out of Flamedramons vision, and the terror he was feeling increased as Panjyamon stopped shaking and simply slumped to the ground as if someone had turned a switch inside of him. Not a single sound or word was made as the large burly lion simply dropped dead weight to the ground.

"Sleep."

Flamedramon felt a weight against his arm and he looked down, fear racing through his head as Guilmon slumped, dead weight as well after being touched by that horribly black hand. He felt his heart race as he started to panic again, his breathing becoming rapid and raw as he couldn't understand what was going on.

And then he felt it. Something touched the back of his head.

"Sleep."

Flamedramon felt himself falling backwards into darkness as sleep overcame him faster then he had ever felt as he slumped backwards, his body becoming dead weight on the black stone. The gauntlet and the helmet on his body shattered and vanished in a brief haze of blue code particles the moment he was passed out.

Daemon straightened himself up as he stood behind the three renegade digimon, standing on the dais as he looked down at them with an expression of mild interest in his hollow red ringed eyes before he looked back up at Ebemon and the others.

"What the fuck are you all standing around for? BOW. FUCKING BOW NOW" Ebemon said as he gestured rather desperately at the other hood-less that were still standing. One by one the hood-less all knelt down on one knee and bowed forward, as Ebemon did the same thing.

"Everyhting under control?"

There was no hint of malice, judgement, or even annoyance in his voice. In fact, he could have simply been discussing the weather, if there was weather around for him to discuss. But Ebemon was not going to take any kind of chances.

"We.....we were getting it...under control" Ebemon said as he dared not look up as he kept his yellowed eyes on the floor before him.

"We have a new group of brothers and sisters coming in tomorrow" Daemon said simply. "Please clean up this mess and see to it that they are prepped ready to join" he said simply as he gestured with his hand to the three unconscious digimon at his feet.

"O...of course I will" Ebemon said as quickly as he was able to.

"See that you do" Daemon said, once again nice and calmly, as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. The air behind Daemon began to shimmer in a haze as he seemed to slip back into the darkness behind him, even though there was no darkness behind him.

"You...you heard him" Ebemon said as he stood up, finding his tentacle limbs shaking as he gestured at the hood-less. "You fucking heard him. Take them to the cell block in my office and lock them up. And keep everyone working. The day resumes as fucking normal, you got that?" he demanded.

"Take these knocked out idiots and fucking dump them somewhere till they wake up" he added as he gestured to the knocked out hood-less around the room. "And if any other fucking faithless dick decides to even cough wrong, don't bother bringing them to me. Take them back to their cells, and beat them into submission. And then i'll fucking look at them" Ebemon said as he glared at the Sylphimon.

The Sylphimon nodded in complete obedience as Ebemon walk/slithered away as the hood-less began to clean up the unconscious bodies in the area.

"This is not my fucking day."

How long had he been in that cell? There was no way for him to tell. He hadn't heard the buzzer that rang three times a day, nor was there any clock or light that passed by to indicate how long of anything.

The cell was made of three glass walls, and one stone wall at the back. The glass door was sealed shut, and there was no way for him to open it. Judging by the deep claw marks, the scratches and the burn marks, there had been many digimon who had tried to get out, and had failed.

There was no furniture, the cell was empty. Flamedramon sat in the corner, hugging his legs as he rocked back and forth, unable to do anything except cry. He had woken up in that cell, and he had been there for who knew how long.

He was so terrified, scared, confused, he had no idea where all these feelings were coming from, and he was unable to stop himself from feeling them. His whole world was coming down around him, like the wallpaper was peeling off and what lay under it was terrifying.

Flamedramon could not have counted the amount of sins he had committed, and he knew he was in trouble he couldn't fathom. He hugged his legs tighter against his chest as he tried to make himself as small as possible in the corner of the cell.

Panjyamon was in the cell on his right, and the big lion hadn't woken back up. He lay slumped on the floor, the only sign he was OK was the fact he was breathing. Flamedramon had tried to get his attention, but the lion hadn't woken up.

Guilmon was in the cell on his left, and the dragon was not looking good. His head had stopped bleeding, but he continued to twitch and shake on the cold floor, whimpering in pain and discomfort every now and then. Flamedramon tried not to look at him, because it made him feel worse, that he couldn't help him.

All he could do was rock back and forth, and whimper. He was useless, and he knew it.

Something tapped loudly on his cell door, startling him with a cry as he looked up to see Ebemon tapping a finger on the glass, the mons yellow ringed eyes narrowed in focus at him.

"Are you ready for your treatment?" Ebemon said, in a rather sarcastic way. "If you're not, I can call for the hood-less to come in and break your legs and give you more time to consider" he said matter-of-factly. "So, are you going to behave like a good little bitch and do what I say?"

It only took him two seconds for Flamedramon to nod his head slowly, while the rest of his body trembled under his robes.

"Good" Ebemon said with a smirking tone of voice as he pressed the big red button on the cell and the glass door slowly slid upwards with a soft hissing noise. "Now, if you don't want your legs broken, remove your robes and get on the fucking chair" he ordered.

Flamedramon stood up, his body trembling as he slowly removed his robes. His naked body came into view, although it gave no real pleasure for Ebemon to see it. Personally, Ebemon hated sex, mostly because he couldn't have it. He saw it as an unnecessary distraction and waste of bodily functions with no real purpose to it.

"Now get on the chair" Ebemon said as he gestured to the big dentist style chair in the middle of the room. Flamedramon had to force his feet forward as his legs felt like his legs were going to give out with how scared he felt. He somehow managed to get himself on the chair as he lowered his shaking body down till he found himself looking up at the big threatening laser above him.

"Comfy?" Ebemon asked with a smirk, although the flamedramons comfort was of no concern to him. "Anything to say for yourself? Anything you'd like to get off your chest?" he asked in a condescending tone of voice. "Like say, apologizing? Maybe for attacking my hood-less? Kidnapping a fellow brother?"

"Or maybe, you'd like to apologize for SHOVING A FUCKING MOP IN MY FACE" He practically screamed right up against the Flamedramons ear. The noise was so sudden that it just terrified the poor digimon even further as the dragon cowered and whimpered pitifully.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he whimpered as he clenched his eyes closed in fear. "I'm sorry I sinned, I'm so sorry."

"SORRY FOR WHAT?"

"I'm sorry.....I'm sorry I attacked you...."

"ARE YOU FUCKING SORRY?"

"YES YES I'M SORRY"

"Good. Was that so hard?" Ebemon asked with a delighted grin on his face as he started to get to work on securing the mon down with the heavy leather straps. He almost seemed to be whistling as he worked, in a surprisingly good mood.

"Ah, sin. Such a good concept isn't it? Tell someone something is a sin and tell them a sin is bad and you'll be punished and held accountable if you commit it. And they not only believe it, they take it to heart and follow it to a T. I have to admit, it's one of the best fucking ideas I've had. It was just so easy to control you when everything beyond simple obedience was considered a sin."

Flamedramon slowly opened his eyes as he listened. What...did he just say?

"It's all a lie. Just a big fucking scam. And it's working" Ebemon said with a grin in his eyes as he made sure the last straps were secured tightly. "I just needed a good way to control you, and what better way to dumb you all down and make you follow a cult that doesn't really do anything? You tell everyone that questioning the teachings and the way of life is a sin, and no-one even dares have an errant thought. Oh, the control you can fucking have. It's delicious."

"It....it's a lie?" Flamedramon whimpered.

"Of course it's a lie" Ebemon said with a grin. "I can actually tell you this, because when I'm done with you, there will be nothing you can do about it anyway. So I can afford to tell you" he said with a happy tone of voice.

"I have a very special attack. It's known as Brain Rupture, and it comes out of this little gun here" he said as he waved the small cartoony looking laser in front of the Flamedramons vision. "It basically allows me to drain all the information from a digimons memory banks and wipe the slate clean. They just become a drooling idiot that stands there and does nothing except breathe. It got fucking dull after a while. You can't control them when they don't even have the brain capacity to register the ability to follow an order."

"But, I found, if I move the attack, from this little gun, to the much bigger gun" he said as he swapped the guns around and showed him the much larger more threatening gun, "and I add in a little program of my own making, I can not only remove the data, but I can fucking rewrite your mind anyway I like."

"So, it happens like this. I strap you down and I hypnotize you with the big flickering crystals, get you all defenseless and dumb as fucking as shit" he said as he lent over Flamedrmaon, his eyes just an inch away from his. "Then, I shoot your mind with my big gun. Goodbye every little memory and detail, and your mind just gets rewritten into being a happy little cult follower. Complete with rules and fucking guidelines so you already come pre-teached."

"But, its doesn't last, does it bitch?" he asked as he pulled away, not sounding happy now. "It wears off after a while. All the crystals everywhere are all within your lines of vision, and they help keep you dumb and indoctrinated for longer. But, little memories start slipping through in your dreams, and you start questioning shit around you. And before you know it, I gotta re-service you."

"It....it's all a lie? Everything?" Flamedramon asked. Everything he knew was a lie? Everything he believed in and followed...it all meant nothing?

"No shit" Ebemon said with a brief burst of glee as he booped Flamedramon on the nose with the end of his little spacey gun. "It's all a lie. See, the one I work for, my lord Daemon, he wants control. And that's what I'm doing for him. I'm providing control, one little digimon at a time. It's fucking boring and fucking slow, but it's working. We've been under here for months, slowly growing. One day, we're going to outnumber the people up top, and they will never see us coming when that day happens. "

"It's all a lie?" he asked again. He had believed nothing but lies? Everything, even himself, was even himself a lie? He didn't get to dwell on his thoughts more before Ebemon slapped him across the face.

"Hey, I'm explaining shit here. You'll have plenty of time to have your little self pity session later. Trust me, you're going to have all the time in the world for it" he promised. Flamedramon felt the sting on his cheek, but he didn't dare say anything back.

"This little device here, in my little room here, this is the permanent shit. The stuff Daemon doesn't like me doing, because it can't be undone. Well, maybe. But it's not easy. He likes digimon to be broken over and over and over. Break them for good, you got nothing to play with" he explained. "So, I reserve this little treatment, for the little fucking brainless idiots that keep breaking out of it. And they become my hood-less. My perfect fucking obedient slaves.

"I just tweak the little rods to break into their minds, probe the right sections, and I can pour the program straight into your mind where it can't be stopped" Ebemon said as he gestured to the big laser up above them. "It travels down the probes and right into your mind. It'll scramble them, remove everything that makes you you, and you'll do nothing except anything I fucking say.

"You...were gonna do that...to guilmon..." Flamedramon whimpered.

"Yeah, I was" Ebemon said with a smirk. "Till you interupted. Do you have any idea, how insulting it is, to be washed down with DIRTY water? That was just fucking insulting, after all I have done for you o keep you all safe."

"And I'm still going to do that to Guilmon. And the fucking idiot lion there. And to any other digimon that even start blinking wrong, I'm going to do it to them." He seemed to stop and think for a moment. "Actually, I'm going to have you do it."

"Mm.....me?" Flamedramon whimpered. Ebemons eye smiles grew wide.

"Oh, that's a good idea. I'm going to have you do you. You're little punishment, for attacking me with dirty water, is you're going to do all the treatments for me. You're going to fucking wipe their minds" Ebemon said with a grin.

"No...." Flamedramon whimpered. How...how could he do that? He couldn't do that, could he? "I...I won't do that....I won't hurt Guilmon....he's......he's my friend....." he said as he felt the tears in his eyes again.

"Yes" Ebemon said joyfully as he slowly lowered the skewer cage over the top of Flamedramons head. "I'm going to screw these into your mind and upload a very special program into you. Don't worry, you're not going to lose any memories or thoughts or whatever. I'm going to let you keep them instead" he said.

"What you are going to lose, is the complete ability to control your body" Ebemon said with a smirk. "Your mind is going to be trapped, probably screaming while I command you around like another one of my hood-less."

"You wont be able to eat, sleep, move, hell, if I want you to stop breathing, all I have to do, is say that I want you to stop breathing. And you will. You'll just stop breathing and I'll just stand and watch as you slowly turn even bluer then you are" Ebemon said with a grin. "I'll even make you dance for me. I won't make it rain, but you'll fucking dance."

"And while you're inside your mind, screaming at yourself to stop, I'll have that little Guilmon hooked up to this chair. And you'll slowly screw those probes into his head, probably while he's begging and crying for you to fucking stop, because it fucking hurts, oh it hurts so bad, please don't hurt me, you're my friend, friends don't hurt friends, please make it stop" Ebemon said as he changed his voice to do a poor but still accurate imitation of Guilmons nasal pitched voice.

"And you'll just continue screwing away, unable to stop yourself as you betray probably the only friend you're ever going to have. And you're going to do it to everyone else too" Ebemon said with a smirk.

"NO......no I won't...." Flamedramon whimpered. The very thought of that, hurting Guilmon even if it was against his will, it would hurt him worse then what he was feeling. He couldn't do that.... he couldn't hurt him....not him or anyone else.... Ebemon seemed to sense what he was feeling as the smiles in his eyes hadn't stopped.

"You're not going to have a choice. And I'm going to have a lot of fun watching. So, lets begin shall we?" he asked with a grin as he took one of the screw probes into his fingers and began to very slowly wind it forward. "Go ahead and scream. I like it when you fucking scream" he said rather gleefully as he slowly turned the screw. "That's why I use the hypnotism thing. I could just blast your mind anytime I want, but pain just makes you tense up and make the process a little harder to input. So trust me, it's for my benefit, not for yours."

Flamedramon was completely helpless. He was unable to move his body, he couldn't turn his head away, he couldn't do anything as he saw that screw move closer to his forehead. He was going to scream in pain, and soon he'd be screaming in his own mind as he made Guilmon scream.

"I'm so sorry...." he whimpered as the tip of the probe touched his forehead.....

Both of them were surprised when they heard the muffled explosion off in the distance.

"Please tell me that was not you" Ebemon said as he paused in his screwing. There was the sound of another muffled explosion and the sounds of shouting were also being heard as well.

"Oh for the love of almighty fucking fuckery" Ebemon said as he pulled his hand away from the screw and turned towards the doorway. "The fuck is going on now? Oh, if that's another bloody idiot coming out of his trance...." he said as he hoisted his guns up in the air and gave them a shake. "I think I'm going to enjoy it.

"Now you. You just lie there, and think about how you're gonna tear up your little friends mind when I get back" Ebemon said as he made his way to the door. "So stay where you area and...well...just squirm. That's all you can do right now" he said as he sealed the door shut on the other side.

When the door was sealed the room was plunged into darkness. All he could hear was the sounds of his own terrified whimperings. And somehow that just made it seem all the more worse.

Ebemon emerged into the widespread working area to find it filled with fighting from his hood-less and his faithful against a group of digimon that were not part of either group. He was suddenly thankfull that he had placed the subroutine into their minds that made them attack and defend themselves against anyone that wasn't part of the cult.

Although it didn't seem to make much difference, as none of them seemed to know how to fight using their abilities. All they were doing was punching and kicking.

"Oh for the love of fucking fuckery" Ebemon said in disgust,mostly with himself at how he had forgotten such a basic thing to even install. "How the FUCK did they even get in here?" he demanded loudly, although no-one was paying him attention as they were too busy fighting each other.

It was a group of about six digimon that were at the dais, fending off almost every member of the cult that were trying to subdue them. And they were making it look easy.

"Remember, non lethal attacks" one of them said. It was a blue coloured Flamedramon, covered in shades of blue and white instead of the flame decal. Except, judging by the shapely breast plate and the flowing hair that looked like moving seaweed, it was a female. It was an Aquarismon.

"Yes boss." There was a Gaomon there, a small blue wolf with a red bandanna and large red boxing gloves. And he was throwing punches left right and center with obviously practiced eased.

"Get the ones on the stairs. They're starting ot break through" Aqua shouted as she knocked the hooded digimon back with her gauntlets. "keep them off us."

"On it" shouted another digimon. She, it was obviously a she, was a Butterflamon. A bug type with large gossamer wings that looked like a warrior butterfly. She quickly spiralled up into the air with surprising grace as she flapped her wings.

"HONEY WAVE" she shouted as she beat her wings rather furiously. A thick sticky rain of golden honey began to shower down on the hooded digimon on the stairs to the pit, showering them in the thick rick goo. The thick honey proved too thick and sticky as they all began to get stuck together and were unable to become unstuck.

"This is fun. It's like whack-a-mole" a small red and yellow lion said with a thick pendant around his neck that resembled a collar. It was a Liolmon, and he was jumping from shoulder to shoulder of the digimon around them, slamming both of his fists into their heads in a heavy slam punch.

"This is not supposed to be fun. Take it seriously" shouted a renamon as he went from target to target, landing several hard kicks and punches to knock the digimon back. He was extremely agile and seemed to have no trouble evading the punches.

""They just keep coming. We need breathing room" Gaomon said as he landing a heavy punch to another hooded digimon, knocking him back. But the mon didn't seem to register the attack as he simply got back up and ran forward again.

"Hold on" the Aquarismon said as she lifted her gauntlet.

"BUBBLE BARRAGE" she shouted as she sliced the air before her. The air suddenly became thick with milllions of bubbles that swarmed through the air and collided with the marauding digimon. These weren't ordinary bubbles though, they slammed into the mons like balls of steel that pummeled them backwards till they fell over from the barrage.

"YOU" Ebemon practically screamed, as the sudden barrage had cleared enough of the digimon so that he could get a good look at them. And he recognised the Renamon, who he had been told more then a week ago, had been infiltrating his cult.

"Well, damn" Renamon said when he heard the scream from the angry robot, as he knew he had been singled out.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU" Ebemon screamed as he lifted up his gun and pointed it straight at him.

Renamon acted quickly as he dug his hand into the satchel bag strung around his waist as he pulled out what looked like a glowing glass ball. He quickly threw it into the air at Ebemon, where it flashed several times before it exploded into a very quickly expanding cloud of dark smoke.

"BRAIN RUPTURE" Ebemon shouted as he fired his gun anyway to where he knew the Renamon was standing. But, the issuing laser broke through the smoke and cleared it very briefly, only enough that he could see he didn't hit anyway.

"You think smoke is gonna stop me from finding you?" Ebemon said as he slowly slithered forward, his eyes narrowed as the smoke billowed around him. "No way in here, no way out. I'll find you eventually, you fuckers."

"Why do'nt you make it easy on yourselves and just give up? It's you versus about two hundred of my little faithless. Don't like the odds against you fuckers" he called out as he kept both his guns up and around him, carefully watching the darkness.

He saw a shape appear in the darkness, and he didn't hesitate to fire.

"BRAIN RUPTURE"

The laser flew through the smoke and struck the target. There was a cry of pain as the figure grabbed at its head and cried out, before its voice gargled and sputtered before the body stopped trembling. And then it fell forwad.

He had struck the Agunimon. The digimon had fallen forward, foam dripping his mouth as his body simply twitched multiple times, his eyes completely empty and void of any intellect.

"Fuck" Ebemon said in annoyance, more at the fact that he had struck the wrong target then the fact he had hit one of his own.

"Not much a leader, hitting your own people."

"You think I care?" Ebemon said as he went back to watching through the darkness. "That's just one out of a few hundred. You think it matters?" he said with a smirk in his voice. "One good treatment and he's back up and running and doing whatever the fuck I say. Or I can just leave him there. No fucking skin off my back."

"Such a charmer you are."

"You're the fuckers hiding behind smoke" Ebemon called out as he slithered forward again, seeing another shape emerge in the smoke. "What's the matter, can't fight me in a fair fight?" he asked as he aimed the gun.

"BRAIN RUPTURE."

The laser fired again, breaking through the smoke as it hit the figure. There was a scream of pain, before the scream gurgled and the figure fell forward, the body twitching and foaming at the mouth.

"So, you're Aquarismon, are you?" Ebemon called out, ignoring the now twitching Blackweregarurumon on the ground as he walked/slithered right past him. "Took me a moment to realise who you were, you fucking flamedramon ripoff" he said. "course, I should have recognised the Renamon, but they are so damn common it's not funny. But, you two together? I know what's going on. "

"The Fucking Digital Rescue Squad, the D.R.S." he said as he aimed the gun again, firing off another laser blast, hitting another one of his followers without caring that he did. "Aquarismon, team leader. Only some stupid bitch could be stupid enough to come down here and take me on" he called out.

"Gaomon. Melee fighter. Good with his hands, disciplined. Tough" Ebemon continued to explain as if he was following a coffee order, firing his gun again and making another faithful fall to the ground in a twitching mess. "Butterflamon. Aerial specialist, fastest flyer in the region I believe.

"Renamon. Excellent combat specialist, but also a tech user. Good smoke bomb, but it usually lasts a few minutes. Liolmon" He said as he fired again, striking another figure in theshadows. "Waste of time having him on the team. Like having a toddler filled with sugar without a leash on him."

"Hey, I had normal cereal this morning, not the sugary kind."

"Oh yes, I know all about you lot. And your little team mates back at your base. I know all about those cowardly fuckers as well" Ebemon said as he kept his guns at the ready.

"So, how did you get down here in the first place?" he called out. The smoke wasn't clearing,and he couldn't see very far ahead still. Not that he cared. He could hit as many of the faithful as he watned. Law of averages meant he'd hit the bitches sooner or later. "No way in, no way out. So, that leaves one option really. An E.D.T. Emergency Data Transfer. You basically Star Trekked your way into here" he said as he fired off another round, hitting a hood-less. He didn't bother looking to see which one it was.

"Of course, you can't use that without co-ordinates. So, someone must have told you....someone has FUCKING sold me out" he said as he fired multiple times into the smoke. More screams around him as more of the faithfull were struck and they fell to the ground, twitching and foaming at the mouths as their minds were left empty. "I am giong to FUCKING murder that little shit who tattled on me, the little FUCKER HAS NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT FUCKING PAIN IS TILL I'M DONE WITH YOU" He screamed as he fired in rapid succession.

The screams around here reached a fever pitch as the bodies hit the floor, collapsing in piles around him.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN FUCKING COME IN HERE AND DISRUPT ALL THE FUCKING WORK I'VE BEEN SLAVING AWAY FOR FOR FUCKING MONTHS?" He screamed out. "I'LL FUCKING SCRAMBLE EVERY FUCKING ONE OF YOU" he promised.

"DIAMOND STORM"

He had to brace himself as a sudden barrage of hard diamond shards blew through the smoke at him. His gun made a good shield to block the heavy hitting attack, but he could feel the damage that attack would have done if it was a direct hit.

"That all you fucking got?" Ebemon called out.

"HONEY WAVE"

He was suddenly drenched from behind by a huge splatter of thick sticky golden honey that slathered over him like he was a piece of toast. Ebemon slowly extended his arms, thick golden strands as his movement was restricted.

"This...is fucking disgusting" Ebemon said as his eyes began glowing a bright furious red. "YOU SICK FUCKS!"

"GAO RUSH"

He didn't see the blue wolf leap out of the smoke, but he did feel the furious flurry of those red boxing gloves slamming into his face repeatedly. The force of each punch was enough to knock his head back almost off his shoulders as it flopped back and forth like a punching bag. The force of the punches actually started to crack the glass dome on his head, even though the punches were protected with the gloves.

If they were this hard with the gloves, imagine them without.

Gaomon landed one last punch to the face, with enough force to actually send the Ebemon flying backwards. Ebemon landed with a wet sticky splat on the wall behind him, his arms and legs splayed out and stuck to the wall with the honey.

The smoke began to clear as Ebemon struggled, unable to move his arms or his legs as the honey did a fantastic job of sticking him to the wall like glue. He struggled more, but the honey was too thick for him to do anything except wiggle about without really moving.

The members of the D.R.S. were standing in a semi circle in front of him, with the Aquarismon in the middle. The floor was littered with the bodies of the hood-less and the faithful, although they weren't dead. Most were knocked out by the hands of the squad, and the rest were still twitching and foaming at the mouth from Ebemons handiwork.

"Still couldn't take me in a fair fight?" Ebemon said with fury in his eyes and a smirk in his voice. The Aquarismon walked forward, her gaze directly on the trapped Ebemon as she lifted up a gauntlet, one of the three blades brushing under Ebemons chin.

"Oh, that was a fair fight. We just planned it out" Aquarimon said to him. "Smoekscreen, to hide us from you, so you can't see us taking out the targets in peace. We attack your front and make you lower your guard. We strike you on your back, or in this case, cover you in honey. Then we strike the front again, and knock you back onto the wall. Wall plus honey plus you, equals you stuck."

"You proud you learned math?"

"You're going to start talking" she said in a firm voice. "And for starters, you can tell us where our friend is."

"Friend? What friend. You'll have to be more fucking specific then that" Ebemon said smirking. "Two hundred plus digimon here. Narrow it down a little bitch" he said to her.

"You know who we're talking about" she said firmly, not looking impressed as she pressed the blade against his throat more firmly. "Tell us, where he is, or I'm going to start cutting things off" she said.

Ebemon just smirked at her as his eyes continued to glow red with the fury he was feeling.

"Go ahead" he said with a smirk in his voice. "Course, I do know where he is, and I know who you're talking about. But, he also is in no condition to be disturbed right now, and he needs some fucking medical attention. Which, only I can give him to make sure he survives. So, go ahead. Cut my fucking fingers off, cause then I'll have nothing to help him with" he said.

"You're bluffing" she said to him. Ebemon smirked again.

"Going to take that risk bitch?" he asked. "Or, are you going to let me down and maybe we'll talk?"

"If I let you down, you'll just blast me in the face the first chance you get. And I'm not going to let you violate me like that" she said to him, an annoyed look on her face. "so you can just hang there. We'll find him on our own."

"You can try. But i'm sure you'll know, it'll take you a long time to find him, unless you know the way" Ebemon said with a smirk. "So, tick tock. Aint got a lot of fucking options."

"More then likely, you have him in your office" Renamon said as he crossed his arms over his slender chest. "That's where you do your treatments. So you'd be keeping him there. And I know where that is."

"Find that out sneaking around on me you little fuck?" Ebemon said as he looked over at him. "You've never been anywhere near my office. I would have seen you."

"I was in your office. You didn't even register that you not only have only twelve hoodless, not thirteen, but that you don't even have a Dorurumon here."

".............FUCK!"

"Ren, take Lio and find him. The rest of you, get everyone here ready for a mass E.D.T. back to the base" Aquarimon said as she pulled her gauntlet away from Ebemons face. "Soon as we find him, we bring everyone back. And you'll be coming with us."

"What are you going to do? Cut me off the wall?" Ebemon smirked.

"NO. when that honey dries properly, it'll set in like amber. We can peel you off the wall but you'll still be stuck in place. We'll take you back to the base and hang you on the wall like that stupid singing fish toy" Aquarimon said to him with a grin.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

Ebemon was about to say something, when the air behind him and between the wall began to shimmer rather rapidly. Aquarimon stepped back as the space seemed to explode outwards in a large circular void of darkness.

"NO...NO...DO'NT FUCKING TAKE ME" Ebemon screamed as the swirling black and red void expanded outwards, and several long black skeletal hands covered in red rags emerged outwards and clamped down on Ebemons body, clutching him in their dark hold.

"YOU FUCKERS DID THIS TO ME. I'LL KILL YOU I SWEAR I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU" Ebemon screamed as the dozens of dark hands pulled backwards, pulling the digimon into the dark swirling vortex. The dark circular void stayed there, the surface swirling with the black and red darkness before a voice was heard.

"Releasing direct control."

Then the dark void vanished into the wall as if it had never existed, taking the digimon with it.

"Well that was just creepy" Butterflamon said as she hovered in place with the others.

"What in Gennais name was that?" Gaomon asked. The others all looked confused as well, as they hadn't seen something like that before. Aquarimon dropped her arms to her sides as she shook her head, then turned around to face the others.

"He's gone. Start getting everyone ready for the evac. Ren, Lio. Get moving" she said as she gestured at them both. They both nodded as Renamon lead the way into the hallway, the Liolmon skipping behind him.

It was then that they noticed that several of the digimon were starting to wake up slowly from their states of unconsciousness.

"What....what happened?" a Floramon asked as she sat up, the look on her eyes was one of confusion, and no longer glazed with confusion and ignorant bliss. Aquarimon noticed that they were all starting to ask the same question. Whatever had happened to them, something or something had just turned it off.

He could hear voices again. He had lost track of time in the darkness. With his eyes closed or open, it made no difference. He could still feel the tip of the needle pressing into his forehead, but he couldn't see it. He couldn't see anything. He was just...lost in the darkness.

The voices were muffled, but he could sort of hear them enough to make out what they were saying. Didn't give him much comfort, since he didn't recognize who was doing the talking.

"He calls this an office? Looks boring to me."

"Doesn't matter. This is the only place I couldn't get into without being caught, so it makes sense they're keeping him here."

"A desk and a chair. I don't see anyone."

"They're probably being kept in a hidden room, so that makes sense there's a hidden switch."

"Ok, I call dibs on the desk."

"Fine, just be careful."

"Will do."

"If there's a hidden door in the wall, that should be easy enough to find, unless it's been very carefully hidden, which will make it less then easy to find..."

"OH MY FUCKING GENNAI!"

"For the love of Takato, do not scream like that."

"But Ren, this...this...you have no idea what this is that I found!!"

"What? A hidden button or something?"

"No, this is even better. This is awesome, look look, you gotta see this."

"The hell is that?"

"It's 'Fifty Shades of Greymon'. A first edition."

"Oh dear Gennai, get that piece of trash away from me."

"No, no. you gotta look close. Look, this was signed. By Succubimon herself."

"I really do not care...."

"THIS IS HER PERSONAL COPY. THIS IS A NATIONAL TREASURE RIGHT HEHRE."

"Lio, get that disgusting filthy book away from me or I will kick you in the nads."

"Ren, it is not disgusting. Look, this is incredible, just look at it.....huh....well, that's odd....the pages won't come apart.....it's like they're stuck togeth- OH GOD!! EWW EWW EWW"

There was the sound of something thudding against the wall and then there was a hissing noise as the door was illuminated in the darkness. It actually hurt his eyes as the doorway slowly slid upwards and brought light into the room, followed by the other lights in the room turning on. He had to squint, his body still shaking as he dreaded the worst.

"Oh look, I found the door."

"You are not getting credit for that. And the first sink we come across, you are washing your hands."

"Awww, but I hate water."

"You do it, or I'll shove your face in and hold you under."

Flamedramon could just make out two figures in the doorway. One looked like a fox, the other like a small lion. He...didn't recognize them. He hadn't seen them before.

"This is it. This is where they're holding him" the Renamon said as he spoke into the bracelet on his wrist as he walked up to one of the cells, the one where Panjyamon was being kept. "Pan is safe, but I'm not sure of the condition. He's asleep, he'll need medical attention when we bring him back. Prepare an EDT for him. And prepare a mass EDT relay once we have the rest of the victims sorted."

"That's a lot of people we have to bring back" the Liolmon said as he walked up the bound digimon in the chair. "Oh look, shiny pokey things. Wonder what they do?" he asked as he peered at the skewer cage with a curious expression.

"Do NOT touch them" Renamon said, just as Liolmon began reaching for one of the screws. "Our first priority is to find Pan. We found him. The safety of everyone else, comes second" Ren said. "And in your hands, that's not safe."

"Aww, ok" Lio said as he retracted his hand.

Renamon then walked over to where Flamedramon was bound, and pulled a small bottle from the satchel on his hip. It looked like a little perfume bottle. Flamedrmaons terror only grew when the little bottle was brought up to his face and it was aimed at it.

"I know you're scared, but we're going to help you" the Renamon said. "we're going to get you out of here. You just need to relax, and sleep" he said in a gentle tone of voice, before he pressed the plunger.

A fine mist of spray struck Flamedramon in the face, and for a brief moment, he smelt something pretty flowery mixed with spices. And then his entire body stopped shaking as his heartrate slowed down almost immediately. His head cleared and he found himself slipping back into darkness as sleep claimed him once more.