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Prelude of Light 2

Chapter 5 of Digital Rescue Squad

By Kendo Kawabata

Grass. There was tall grass. Stretching so far away in front of him. It was like an ocean of grass spread out before him, the grass blowing in waves.

There were pink things, balls of pink things dotting the grass like flowers. They were balls of spun cotton that smelled like sugar.

Cotton candy flowers.

It was a sea of grass and cotton candy flowers.

He started to run. It felt so good to run. Just...running forward. Through the sea of grass and cotton candy flowers.

The sea was endless, it just kept going on and on. There was no end in sight.

It didn't matter. He was running. It was fun to run.

He was laughing now. Laughing loudly. It felt so much fun to laugh.

He was having fun. How long had it been since he had fun?

Don't let it end. He just wanted to run and laugh and have fun all day. Every day.

"Wake up."

The smell of sugar was all around him, the cotton candy flowers blowing through the air as he kept running.

"Wake up."

The cotton candy flowers stuck to his skin as he ran, covering him in pink polka dots as he kept running, kept laughing.

"Wake up."

He didn't want to wake up. He just wanted to run and laugh through the sea of grass and cotton candy flowers.

"Wake up."

Something poked his nose.

"Wake up."

He got poked again.

The ground suddenly tilted and he felt himself falling forward, unable to stop himself. He fell into the grass, and kept falling deep into the sea of grass.

"Wake up."

His nose was poked again.

The grass and the flowers enveloped him, flooding his vision as he kept falling through, sinking deeper and deeper.....

"Wake up."

He was poked again.

Flamedramon stirred in his sleep as he felt his body and his mind start to connect again, pulling him out of his dreams and back to the reality of his existence. He didn't want to leave the dream, it was just so much fun to run and laugh. He didn't want to leave something that made him feel so happy.

"Wake up."

His nose was poked again.

It was with a very reluctant groan that he found his eyes opening as reality set in around him. He became aware, slowly, of where he was.

He was still in the infirmary, where he had been the last several days. Or maybe it was longer. It was still hard to tell one day from the next. The bed had been comfortable enough, but it was starting to feel hard after laying in it all day and night.

"Wake up."

His nose was poked again.

Flamedramon slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurred as he tried to focus. He should have been looking up at the ceiling, flat smooth white stone covered in white paint. That's what he should have been looking at.

Instead, he was looking into a square muzzled head with big yellow eyes and red markings across his face. And it was grinning at him with a mouth full of sharp teeth.

"Wake up."

Flamedramon could not help but be startled awake, almost falling out of bed and pulling the digimon that was sitting ontop of him with him in a tangle of bed sheets. But, the digimon sitting ontop of him prevented him from falling out of anything.

"You're awake."

"Wha.....what?"

"You're awake, you're awake. You finally woke up" the black digimon said with a happy smile across his face as he started bouncing up and down on the bed like an overjoyed smile.

"You....you woke me up....?"

"I did. I did wake you up. Cause you were sleeping and I wanted you to wake up."

"What....who..." Flamedramon said as he sat himself up, staring in surprise at the black digimon that was sitting on him as he tried to piece together what was going on.

"Come on sillymon. You gotta wake up."

Sillymon? Where did he come up with that one....wait, he had heard that before, didn't he? It sounded familiar. Who said that to him....wait....

"G-Guilmon?" Flamedramon asked as he looked up at the digimon. It definitely looked like Guilmon, he was just....black and red instead of red and black. He looked basically the same, just a different colour.

"I'm BlackGuilmon" he said with a happy smile. "And you're my friend. You're Flamedramon."

"I....I know who I am....I think..." Flamedramon said as he sat up, the blankets falling from his slender torso as he sat up properly. It was a bit difficult with the digimon sitting on his legs and making no attempt to make it easier for him to shift his position. "What...what happened to you? Why are you black?"

"I woke up black" BlackGuilmon said with a smile, in a tone of voice as if it was obvious. "I fell asleep red and I woke up black."

"Oh...ok" Flamedramon said. To anyone else, that did not make sense. But to Flamedramons somewhat simplified mind, it did make sense. How else could he explain it other then Guilmon woke up black?

"You have to get out of bed now" BlackGuilmon said pointedly.

"Why? I just woke up..." Flamedramon said as he looked around the infirmary for a moment. Wasn't it yesterday that all the beds were full of recovering digimon? Did they all leave while he was asleep? How come he was the only one left in a bed?

"You have to get out of bed now" BlackGuilmon said again. "This isn't your bed any-more."

"Um....yes it is....?"

"No it's not. It doesn't have your name on it" BlackGuilmon said with a big grin on his face. "You have to sleep in the bed with your name on it" he said, as if it was obvious.

"My name?" Flamedramon asked as he found himself starting to get confused again. What was he on about?

"Your name is on the bed you have to sleep in. this isn't your bed. So you gotta get up and go to your bed" BlackGuilmon said as he grabbed Flamedramons hand. "So come on. You gotta get out of this bed" he said, giving him a pull.

"But I'm not dressed....." Flamedramon protested.

"I'm naked too" BlackGuilmon said as he gave another tug, almost pulling Flamedramon from out from under the blankets in that one pull. However, he couldn't with himself sitting on him and keeping him in place, so all he managed to do was pull hard enough that he lost his balance and ended up falling onto the floor.

Flamedramon looked over the edge of the bed to see that BlackGuilmon had gone and face planted himself on the floor again, the black dragon digimon laying on the floor between the beds with his arms and legs spread out for several long moments.

Flamedramon was just beginning to consider calling for someone, after several long moments in which the digimon was laid out perfectly still on the floor with no sign of breathing, when BlackGuilmon leapt up from the floor.

"I'm OK" he cried out, somewhat triumphantly as he wobbled on his feet for a few moments before he shook his head. "Come on, I gotta show you your bed" he said, grabbing Flamedramons hand again and pulling him out of the bed, along with the sheets.

Flamedramon had no way of stopping him as the dragon was surprisingly stronger then he was as he was dragged along. Although he was somewhat of a confused mind at the same time, that although it seemed being either Guilmon or BlackGuilmon, he was essentially the same. And he couldn't decide just yet if that was a good thing.

"It's in here, it's in here."

Flamedramon had been dragged through several hallways and more then a few doors, unable to tell exactly where he was being dragged. Although he had a feeling that BlackGuilmon didn't know the way either because they passed the same water cooler at least twice.

They finally managed to get through a door that lead outside, Flamedramon having to shield his eyes against the sudden burst of sunlight that assaulted his faces, before he was dragged across a pebble lined path before being pulled through another door into a large building.

"See? It's in here."

He was dragged over a single bed with a large footlocker at the end of it. At the head of the bed was a set of shelves that were attached to the wall. And on the bottom shelf, was a small plaque that had a name on it.

"See? This is your bed here. It has your name on it. You gotta sleep in this one" BlackGuilmon said with a grin as he pointed with a large claw towards it. Flamedramon took a look at the plaque for a moment.

"Is...that my name? Just...Flame?" he asked.

"Ahuh. It's your name. So this is your bed. You're sleeping beside me" BlackGuilmon said with a happy smile as he let go of Flamedramons hand and immediately jumped up onto the bed beside his. The plaque on the shelf simply said "B-G."

"This is my bed. And that's your bed. We're bed buddies" B-G said with a happy smile as he began to bounce on the bed like an over excited child.

"Yeah, yeah I guess so" Flame said with a nod as he rubbed his hand slowly over the top sheet of his bed. Unlike the sheets in the infirmary, these sheets were much softer and felt nicer against his bare skin. His very own bed. it looked and felt so much nicer then the cot he was used to.

B-G continuted to bounce up and down on his bed like a happy child as Flame slowly sat down on his bed, feeling how nice and soft it was. He was starting to feel a lot better now that he had his own bed. It was almost like he belonged there now. like he actually had a home. The bouncing stopped as they both looked up when they heard the door to the barracks open. The rather hulking frame of B-W entered, the big digimon having to stoop to actually enter through the door. "Wow. He's big" B-G said. The blackwargreymon walked over to them, and they could both feel the vibrations in the floor from his extremely large feet. And both couldn't help but shrink back a little as they realised just how big he was when he was that close to them. B-W then held out his hand, the one wihtout the very lethal looking black metal blades covering it, and indicated for Flame to get up off his bed. Flame very slowly nodded, suddenly feeling rather small and very vulnerable without anyhting to protect him as he stood up from the bed. The big towering digimon looked rather fearsom, with his glowing yellow eyes staring down at him through his rather battle scarred helmet. The bigger mon indicated with his hand for him to follow, and Flame rather hesitantly followed behind him, feeling even smaller now that he was behind the hulking beast in front of him. "I'll just wait here" B-G called out as the door was closed behind them.

Flame was lead back outside as he followed after B-W, as he managed to get a proper look of the grounds now that he wasn't being dragged along against his will. The outside of the headquarters, he noticed, was surroudned by a very large wall made of smooth white stone, with a large pair of iron wrought gates at the front. The front courtyard was a large area covered in smooth white cobblestones and lined with iron wrought lamps. as FLame was lead from the barracks and across the edge of the front yard, he noticed all the other rescue squad members were standing in rows and parcticing their moves out in the open. Vaj, the large mean looking tauren digimon was walkning back and forth, his arms crossed over his large chest plate as he watched them closely, watching them as they all practiced hte same movements over and over again. All of the squad members were there, practicing their punches and kicks in various patterns, as well as a few new members that must have joined up after they were rescued and cleared with good health. In addition to the already impressive squad, there was also a BlackGabumon standing in the back. There was also a round portly little dragmon digimon, known as a Monodramon beside him. And a rather wild looking cat digimon covered in leather, a Strabimon. And a blue aquatic looking girl who might have been crossed with a tadpole. A Raramon. Vaj seemed to be training them hard, as whenever he saw someone how didn't kcik properly or throw a punch the right way, a large hand would very quickly reach out and swat the offending mon with a loud smack to the back of their head, followed by a loud yell on how to improve. He did not seem to be afraid of getting in their face. Flame felt kind of glad that he didn't have to train with theo thers, as even just a simple routine of punching and kicking like that seemed to be hard. He did notice that Aqua was in the front row, and she didn't seem to be having much trouble keeping up. In fact, the way she moved, she seemed to make it look easy. As he walked past, with his gaze on her, she looked up briefly from her practicing and saw him looking at her. She gave a brief smile to him before rather quickly going back to her practicing before Vaj could smack her on the head. Flame almost collided with B-W before he realised the big digimon had stopped walking in front ofh im and had in fact opened up the door to the main building ahead of him, indicating with his hand for Flame to go inside. Flames face burned hot and red in embrassment as he hurried inside. Flame was lead upstairs to the second level, which seemed to be more business then the residential rooms on the first floor. The hallways were bigger, which allowed B-W to walk without having ot bend over. He was lead to a doorway that had the word "Treatment" written over it. B-W knocked twice on the door, surprisingly quietly. Flame thought for sure that if he had tried, he could have knocked the door off its hinges with ease. B-W stepped back and indicated for Flame to go ahead and walk inside. And he did, suddenly feeling even more nervous then he had before as the door was closed behind him. "If your feeling nervous, its perfectly normal." The room was rather grand looking, with a rather equisite looking rug with embroidered gold edges. there was a large wooden desk under the window, and a very long leather couch that looked like it would be good to lay down on. And sitting at the desk, in a large wooden chair that he sat on like it was a throne, was Anub. "Thank you for joining me. Please, take a seat" the large royal jackal said with a gesture of his hand towards the couch. Flame carefully made his way over to the couch and sat himself down on it. It was firm, but soft enough that it wasn't uncomfortable. It was then he suddenly realised he was still naked, and with a bright red flush on his cheeks he quickly covered himself up. Anub sat back in his chair and propped his fingers under his chin. "no reason to be bashfull. it's not like i haven't seen it all before" he said in a rather formal but comforting tone of voice. It didn't do much to make him feel any more relaxed as Flame simply sat there, back straight and his hands covering his lap. "I see B-G has already shown you to your new bed. Quite thoughtfull of him, although a little quick. I was hoping to show you myself, once Lilly had cleared you. But, you know where it is now, so no harm done I believe" Anub said with a nod. Flame didn't say anyhting, as he wasn't sure what he was there for. "You can relax, I just simply wish to talk to you about how you'll fit in aroudn here" ANub said calmly. "You and B-G have been given your own beds here, which means you are now part of our resistence. So, you have a home here, together." "That....that sounds nice" Flame said slwoly as he managed to remember how to speak. "NOw, how would oyu like some therapy?" Anub asked him. The word therapy did not sit well with Flame as the mere mention of the word suddenly filled his mind with several very painfull images. Imagines of a large metallic gun being shoved into his his ear and frying his mind. Images of a glass cell covered in scratch marks from digimon trying to break free. And images of his friend being tortured with silver spikes being screwed into his head. Anub noticed the way that Flame went rigid at the word and starting turning both pale and green at the same time. He allowed him to wait a moment for the male to get past his imagery before he continued to speak. "Not that kind of therapy, I assure you" Anub said. Although his tone of voice was that of comfort, Flame had the turge to run like mad the moment he regained hijmself. "I...I do'nt want that..." he found himself whimpering as he foudn himself scooting closer to the edge of the couhc. "No...no I don't want that...." "if you wish to leave now, I won't stop you. But, you won't be able to join us properly if you aren't cleared for it" Anub said calmly. He did gesture to the door with his hand, giving Flame the opportunity to leave if he wanted. Flame looked over at the door, having the urge to run like mad and don't stop running. But he hesitated. "Or, if you want to remember who you are exactly, I suggest you give my therapy a try" Anub said calmly. "Because that's a problem for oyu, isn't it? no matter how hard you try, you can't remember who you are." Flame slowly turned his gaze from the door, and down over the carpet and back up to the royal jackal sitting across from him. "I'm not just the tactician for the squad here, I am also the therapist" ANub continued to speak. "In the good sense, that I wish to help the members of the squad, and not try and turn them into something they're not" he contiued. "Now, I can see that you're uncomfortable right now, and you probably wish to leave still. I'll make a deal with you. Stay, and let me tell you how I want to help. If, after I have said my piece, you still wish to leave, I will let you go. If you wish to let me help you, then we can try. Is that alright with you?" he asked. Flame thought it over for a moment. Everyone he had met so far seemed really nice, like htey wanted to actually help him. And anub was saying he watned to help. wasn't that a good thing? But still, just the word therapy didn't sit well with him. But he could at least listen to him for a moment, couldn't he? "You are naked because you have forgotten yourself" Anub said after a minute or two had passed in silence between them both. "There have been many flamedramon since they first came into the digital world, and you're one of them. You know you are a flamedramon, but you don't know your identity. every single flamedramon is different from every other one. some are good, some are bad. some are both. they each have an identity to set themselves apart, and you are no exception to the rule. "You experienced something terrible, something very painfull and horrific. what exactly I do not know. I can only assume it was bad enough that it was easy to join Ebemons little cult in some way. What he did to yourm ind helped to lock whatever it was that you expeirenced in the back of your mind where you couldn't think of it. "EBemons mind probing has helped you to forget what was locked away, and just like the digimon in the cult, you have all forgotten who you were. Which is why you were stripped naked. A digimons clothes, weapons, attacks. they are all part of their design and part of who they are. if a digimon is stripped naked of all these things, then they are laid bare because they are, in retrospect, bare. "my therapy is a way of heping you to not only remember who you were, but also to help you face whatever it was that you didn't want to remember. If you can remember who you were, then you can truly be part of the group. Or you can just remain naked as you are" Anub finished. "I....."Flame began to say, but he wasn't sure how he wanted to finish that sentence. Anub soudned like he knew hwat he was talking about, and it wasn't like he was going anywhere anytime soon. he thought about how hard the others were training in the courtyard. it was simple enough, but it looked hard. Would it be easier if he had 'himself' back to help him out? "I....I do'nt want to be naked anymore" Flame said as he slowly moved his hands from his lap so he was no longer covering himself. Anub nodded to him with a small smile on his face as he saw that Flame was starting to relax. even if it was just a little he was still relaxing enough to give this try. He leant forward and picked up a large book made of parchment. "Good. Then we shall begin."

It was over the view from the branches of one of the biggest trees in the nearby forest that had the best vantage point to oversee the D.R.S. Headquarters. The high wall surrounded the entire compound, with the only real way in and out through the main gates. All along the edge of the walls top were various security mounted cameras, all panning in various directions to give a full view of anyone or anything that may have tried to sneak up and find a way inside. Of course, it was handy if anyone was stupid enough to actually try and attack the area itself. The members of the squad were all eager and able to actually defend themselves, although most often then not they didn't manage to get very far at all. Thanks in part mostly to B-W. Blackwargreymons were infamously known to be highly powerfull and deadly in any combat situation. And B-W was of course no exception. Under his protection, the compound never really saw an attack as most were too afraid to take him head on, as his attacks could wipe out even entire armies. And if anyone did manage to slip past him, they still had an entire compound of digimon to contend with. OF course, to actually try and take on B-W, a digimon would have to be either highly egotistical, suicidal or just plain crazy. Kuzuhamon, was somewhere amongst all three. "Doesn't seem all that impressive" she said as she stood on the branch, holding her staff behind her back as she gazed across the compound. "honestly, i was expecting something a little more....more. This seems like something someone built in Fallout 4 and just went 'good enough.'" "You sure that this is a good idea, attacking them head on like this?" kuzuhamon was not alone. She had with her, her two best little minions that she had brought along to help capture the D.R.S. They were loyal to her, under the right conditions. The first, was a Piddomon. He looked like a normal Angemon, except his long sash that wrapped around his body was pink instead of blue. He looked enough like a holy angel that could show mercy, except he didn't. He was anything but holy and merciful when it came to fighting, because he liked to get down and dirty and end the fight with as much blood as possible. The other minion, was a Kazemon. Looking like a pale skinned human wrapped in grey leather straps with large gossamer wings, she was the most loyal to her mistress. She had once been a kind and gentle digimon, until Kuzuhamon had wrapped her dark collar around the mons neck and never removed it. Her mind was gone, having vanished so long ago and replaced with nothing but a single command. Obey. "Darling, it's not a good idea" Kuzuhamon said with a smirk under her purple visor. "It's a fabulous idea. Those silly fools down there never expect anyone to attack them head on. This will be somehting they are not expecting." "Because there's a giant black digimon of death guarding the place. That's why no-one ever attacks head on." Piddomon said as he gazed out as well, clutching his staff in his hand. "He'll rip us to shreds before we get ten feet in front of hte gate." "Oh darling, do you have so little faith in me already?" Kuzuhamon said with a smirk of her red painted lips. "You forget, we aren't going to fight him. Just distract him long enough to snap a collar around his neck. And then he's going to be our big black submissive toy." "I think there are a few things I'd like to do to him" Piddomon said with a smirk of his own as some very wicked thoughts passed through his mind. "Oh sweetie, I have those same thoughts" Kuzuhamon said with a grin as she brought her hand up to her mouth and ran her fingers across her lips slowly. "Those dark twisted littel thoughts that make me so moist and wet. Mmm, the fun we'll have when we take over this stupid little group of defenders." "Defenders?" "Oh, I meant rescuers. Must have been thinking of another group" Kuzuhamon said as she licked her lips and held her staff in front of her. "Now, would you and Kazemon here be a couple of sweeties and go down there and make your presence known for me?" she asked. "Yes mistress" Kazemon said as she simply stepped off the branch and fell the length of the tree down to the ground without hesitation. Piddomon nodded and slid off his branch as well, landing on his feet with a wave of his wings to cushion the fall. Kazuhamon watched with a twisted smile on her face as her loyal minions walked down the path towards the headquarters. "Now, lets have ourselves a little bit of fun" Kazuhamon said with a grin as she pulled her staff around to her front and pulled the dark collar from amongst the already hanging rings. "Copy and paste, time to lay waste" she said with a malicious smile across her features as the black collar started to hover above her hand, shining with a dark glow as it began to multiply around her.

"Save your twisted enemy So you might earn forgiveness You know your whole world is waiting So why can't you speak?" The security center of the rescue squad compound with a large semi-circular room, with the circular part filled with various sized television screens, all showing many different angles of the compound both in and out. Shoutmon was supposed to be watching them. Except he was currently singing into his microphone with his headphones blasting music into his ears so loud that any normal mon would have been rendered deaf within the first few seconds of listening. "I feel it coming over me I'm still a slave to these dreams Is this the end of everything? Or just a new way to bleed?"

The room itself was thankfully soundproofed, so none of the other digimon in the nearby vicinity were able to listen to him. It was better he sing where no-one was able to hear him rather then sing in the showers, where the acoustics were so much worse.

As he continued to shake his hips and gyrate his body against the music that only he was able to hear, several large red warning messages appeared on several of the screens, each one rather obviously saying the word "WARNING."

"So go and tell all your friends That I'm a failure underneath If it makes you feel like a bigger man But it's my, my heart, my life That you're calling a lie I've played this game before And I ...... can't take........... anymore..........Oh.....that does not look good." Shout tapped his earphones as the music in his ears suddenly turned off as he clambered into the large comfortable chair in front of the security console and began tapping at several keys.

"Oh, we have visitors.....Hmmm, haven't seen those two around here before" he said to himself as he leant closer to one of the screens. "Better get them checked out, they look kinda shifty to me. Plus, i don't like being interupted during rehearsel" Shout said as he brought up his communications bracelet.

"Hey B-W, we have two visitors at the gate. Wanna go check them out?" he spoke into the bracelet. He didn't get an actual response, since B-W was unable to speak. Instead, his bracelet flashed twice with a green light, to signal the word 'Yes.'

"Good. He can take care of that, I can go back to rehearsal. I am not losing another karaoke contest to Vaj" he grumbled as he got off the chair and turned his music back on.

Kazemon and Piddomon didn't have to wait long after they walked up to the large front gates before they were met with their opposition.

"I suppose that is ten feet right there" Piddomon said as B-W landed in front of the gates, the towering black warrior digimon drawing himself up to his full height. "Guess I owe the boss five bucks. Dammit" he grumbled under his breath as he coughed into his hand and addressed the compounds gaurdien.

"You wouldn't be able to help us would you? We're two lost little digimon who need the help of the rescue squad. Do you think you could ask the group inside to come out so we can talk?" Piddomon asked in as gentle a tone of voice as he was able to make.

B-W just looked at him through his scarred helmet with his large glowing yellow eyes, which did not blink after the explanation. Which obviously meant, he wasn't fooled by the angels excuse.

"oh,that didn't work did it?" Piddomon said with a slight sneer on his face. "Oh well. Plan B."

"Hurricane Wave"

Kazemon threw her hands forward with her fingers outstretched, and tendrils of high powered wind blew from her fingers, ten snakes of gale force tendrils flew through the air straight at B-W.

The big digimon crouched as the large shield on his back whipped around onto his arm and effectively blocked the attack, the wind blasting it with the power of a cyclone, but he didn't even feel the vibrations as the wind was neutralised.

Shoutmon saw the warnings on screen just as he was about to launch into the next song on his playlist. He turned the music off and planted himself back in the chair as he pulled up close to the screen.

"Tempest Twist"

Kazemon ran forward towards B-W, then threw herself forward into a handstand in front of him, then she began to spin on the spot. Her feet began to slam into B-Ws shield as she spun herself around and around, her feet slamming into the shield with the power of the wind guiding them.

All it did, was simply make his shield vibrate from the onslaught. It did practically nothing to him as he was all too easily able to hold his ground.

The moment she stopped spinning, B-W simply slammed her with his shield and she was thrown through the air, and straight into a nearby tree. The force of the throw was enough to snap the tree in half and have her spiralling through the air for a few good feet more.

"They are not hear to sell cookies door to door" Shoutmon said as he leant in closer.

"Well, that was somewhat expected" Piddomon admitted as he saw just how far, and rather easily, Kazemon had been blasted away. And the big black guardien did not look all that impressed from being attacked.

"I guess it's my turn isn't it?" he asked as he stepped up. He spun his ornate gold staff in his hand, making it whirl around in the air as he seemed to make something of a show of how good he was.

Over and over he spun the staff as he made it spin around his hands, up into the air and over his shoulders as he turned and spun like a cheerleader twirling her baton. He seemed to be in no hurry to actually do anything other then show off how good he was at twirling.

Both B-W and Shoutmon raised an eyebrow as they obvserved from their positions. And both of them had the same conclusion that this Piddomon had to be pretty stupid to think he was going to win or even fight by twiling his staff around.

"Wait...what's....." Shoutmon said as he saw something on one of hte other screens that had cuaght the edge of his vision. He tapped a few buttons and the screen in front of him flashed through several other feeds from the other cameras before he settled on one that gave a view of the wood canopy of the forest beyond the gate.

"Who the hell....." Shoutmon said as he peered closer to the monitor as he made the camera zoom in closer. There was someone standing at the top of one of the trees. Where the cameras would normally not pick them up. It looked like a purple fox woman.

He zoomed in closer and noticed that the fox woman was holding a staff in front of her, and there were multiple spinning black things surrounding the air around her. He zoomed in as close as the camera was able to go, and then the screen flashed a rather dangerous shade of red.

With words that he didn't want to see.

"Identified : Kuzuhamon. Digital World Wanted. Threat Level : 6"

Kuzuhamon looked up from where she was concentrating, and looked directly at the camera, at least that was the impression Shoutmon got as he looked at the screen in shock. And then she blew him a kiss.

"OH SHIT" Shoutmon shouted as he made a fist and slammed it down on the big red button beside his keyboard.

Those out in the courtyard stopped their routines and movements as they heard the rather shrill emergency siren suddenly blare from around the compound. It wasn't often that the siren actually rang out like that, and was a moment of confusion for some.

"Umm....isn't that the attack siren?" Leo asked as he stopped his handstand and got back on his feet.

"No, that's the 'we're getting attacked' siren" Aqua said in annoyance to him.

"We are?" Mono the Monodramon asked as he suddenly looked nervous.

"Shout, status report" Vaj said as he brought his wrist up and spoke into the communicator bracelet.

He did not get a reply as the gates were suddenly blown open.

B-W had heard the siren, and had taken just a moment to take his eye of the showboating angel to look over his shoulder. And that moment was all that Piddomon needed. Piddomon stopped spinning his staff and then spread his wings.

"FIRE FEATHER."

The angels wings suddenly glowed a bright white, illuminating each feather so bright it was almost hard to look at. Then flames erupted from between those feathers and thousands of small fiery blasts of molten heat flew through the air with a single flap.

It took B-W a moment to realise that, with his attention turned away, the Piddomon hadn't actually targeted him. He had targeted the gate.

The iron gates were blown clean off their hinges, flying through the air and crashing through the walls of the barracks. B-G, who had resumed testing out his bed by jumping on it till he could actually hit his head on the ceiling, twice, crashed to the floor as his bed was blown from under him by one door, and the other crashed through the wall and destroyed most of the other beds.

The mons in the courtyard ducked and covered their heads as the doors were blasted overhead, many piles of rocks and gravel were also showered down over the courtyards as the doorframe and much of the wall around them were blown clear away.

Clouds of dust covered the group as they started to get up, coughing their way as they tried to clear the smoke from around them so they could see what was going on.

"Shout. Status report. Now you little tone deaf annoyance" Vaj shouted into his communicator as he tried to see what happened past the now non existent gate.

"We are under attack!"

"No shit. Tell me something I don't now."

"Threat level six. They're on the wanted list!"

"Who? Who the hell are you talking about you irritating little zit?"

"Vaj... we're in trouble."

"I know we're in trouble. Shout, tell me who is attacking us before I come in there and find you." "Vaj.... we need to run. Now."

"We are not running from a fight Aqua. Shout, answer me now."

"VAJ!!"

Vaj looked up from his communicator as he saw where Aqua was pointing, and where the rest of the sqaud were also looking at. The dust was starting to clear over the ruins of the gate frame, which was now just a huge hole in the wall.

And standing in the middle of the dust cloud, was a Piddomon. Who was grinning at them with a wide and rather triumphant smile on his face. Beside him was a Kazemon, who looked like she had crashed through about a dozen trees and had twigs and leaves sticking out of her hair.

And behind them, was B-W. Who had a blank expression within his glazed over eyes, and a thick black collar around his neck. All the group members recognised the glazed over look, as they had seen it on every member of Ebemons cult members. B-W was no longer in control of himself.

"Knock knock" Piddomon said with a wide smile on his face.

"Get the new recruits into the safe room now" Vaj said as he reached behind his back and pulled his massive red and yellow glaives from their holsters.

"We're not...not gonna run...." Ren stammered as he and the others got to their feet. But he did not look very sure of himself.

"Against B-W, we're dead" Aqua said as she swallowed a lump in her throat. "Withdraw. Now" she shouted.

"Run fast" Piddomon said as several large black collars flew from behind him through the dust and began to fly straight towards the group.

Vaj leapt forward as he swung his glaives through the air, slicing through multiple collars as he furiously whipped the massive weapons around as the group began to run towards the main building. But the collars were fast and very agile, and despite his best efforts several of them flew past him.

BB let out a cry as she felt the collar slam into the back of her neck and suddenly wrap itself around her. She fell to the ground as her limbs began to spasm as she tried to fight and grab the invading menace around her neck. But it only took a few moments for the collar to do its work as she fell silent and still.

"BB" Ren shouted as he stopped and took a step towards her to help her. He was almost relieved when she picked herself up. But that relief was short lived as BB stood up, her eyes glazed over and a dull expression on her face.

"I obey."

"RUN YOU IDIOT" Aqua shouted as she sliced her gauntlets in the air, slashing through several collars as she provided cover as best she could while the group ran through the front doors of the building.

"BB Snap out of it" Ren shouted as he stepped back and brought his hands together.

"DIAMOND STORM."

A storm of diamon shards flew through the air, shattering through several dark collars as they flew towards BB, Ren hoping that at least one would strike the collar around her neck.

But the butterfly girl quickly backflipped out of the way, as if she had expected the attack and flapped her wings at the fox.

"HONEY WAVE."

"REN" Aqua shouted as the fox found a torrent of thick stickey honey blown at him, covering him from head to toe and preventing him from moving. And he was an instant sitting target for a black collar to slam into his neck.

Aqua heard several windows above her smash and break, and she looked up to see a huge cloud of black collars was in the air surrounding the building. The others had already run inside, she had to get them safe first and foremost. With one last look at Vaj as the huge bull taur was still whirling his blades around like a hurricane, she ran inside and slammed the heavy wooden door shut.

"Did they....did they get BB and Ren?" Leo asked as Aqua shoved the door closed and slammed the heavy wooden bar over it.

"They got them. What the hell are you still doing standing here in the lobby? Get to the safe room" Aqua shouted angrily at them. "We need to move now."

"But they have our friends" he protested.

"What are we going to do?" Gao asked. "We've never been attacked like this before."

"We need to fight back" Strabi the Strabimon said as he looked annoyed. "That's what we signed up for isn't it? To fight?"

"I'm scared" Rana the Ranamon said, as she rather visibly shook.

"We need to get to the safe room" Pan said as he walked up and put a hand on the door. "This door won't hold against B-W or the others if they want to get inside. Aqua, you take them. I'll slow them down."

"You heard him. Shout" Aqua said into her bracelet. "Open the safe room. We're heading there. Get out of the security room and head there."

"I can't. I had to seal the room" Shout said over the comms. "The collars broke through the windows to the infirmary. Lillys banging on the door trying to get in. I'm stuck in here."

"We have to go get him" B-Gabu, the BlackGabumon said. "we can't leave him there."

"NO. I can open the safe room from here. You guys get in there. We can't let them get all of us" Shout said over the comm. "It's opening up now. You have to hurry" he said as several lights suddenly lit up on the floor, glowing in a sweeping motion as they seemed to show the way. "You got five minutes. The collars haven't flooded the basement yet, so run like hell."

"Follow the lights. I'll try and slow them down" Pan said. The look he gave Aqua suggested he wasn't going to argue with her, and she nodded without trying to start one.

"You heard him. Follow me. And don't stop running" Aqua said as she began to lead the way.

Pan nodded after them as they all heard more windows break upstairs as he made sure they had ran down the hallway before he turned back to the door.

"FIST OF THE ICE KING"

He threw his fist forward, an icey echo of a roaring lion flew from his fist and collided with the door. The roaring echo struck and exploded, casting a huge foot thick wall of ice across the doorway, effectviely sealing it shut with one attack.

"This is not going to hold them for long" He thought as he steeled himself, getting into a fighting position as he focused on defending the door from intruders.

Three enourmous, thick steel claws sliced through the door with one punch forward, as if the foot thick wall of ice and the door were made of butter.

Pan didn't falter as he kept his stance, as B-W effortlessly sliced his way through the door.

"Hurry up. Do'nt lag behind or they'll get you" Aqua shouted over her shoulder as she led the group through the halls. The safe room was located under the building in the far end of the basement, and all they had to do was follow the lights.

Unforunately, the building was now flooded with the dark collars that were searching for them.

"WATER ROCKET"

A blast of water blew forward through the hallway, ripping through several paintings and knocking over tables as the water slammed into the collars with the force of a crashing wave, ripping them to pieces and clearing the hallway.

"Come on, hurry" Aqua shouted as they ran forward across the wet floor. The others quickly followed behind her as their feet splashed on the floor as they ran. Although Aqua had managed to clear the hallway ahead of them, the spinning dark collars were rushing through the air behind them.

The lights on the floor guided them towards the main stairwell, which was a huge spiralling staircase that ran upwards and downwards through the building. And the whole area was flooded with the dark collars.

"WATER ROCKET"

Aqua did not hesitate to throw her attacks forward as she ran, blasts of hard surging water flying through the air and smashing through the dark collars. They were surprisingly fragile and seemed to break easily in the air. But the sheer amount of them seemed to make up for it as it took several attacks to clear them away enough for the group to move.

"NO. GET AWAY FROM ME"

The group went to stop at the stairwell as they heard someone shout from above, but Aqua pointed ahead.

"Don't stop. Keep running" she shouted at the group.

"Follow me" Gao shouted at the new recruits as he lead the way down the stairs, guided by the flashing lights. Mono, Strabi, Rana and B-Gabu followed behind him as Aqua looked up and saw someone at the top of the stairs.

"Please... I didn't do anything wrong..." she saw Flame at the top of the stairs, the male backing away as she could see Anub advancing on him. The jackal digimon had his staff in his hand, and a black collar wrapped around his neck. And the look on his face suggested he was well and truly under the enemies control.

"AMMITS LIGHT"

Anub pointed the tip of his ankh staff at Flame and a bright light glowed around the end for a moment, before a heavy beam of liquid gold light burst forth and flew at Flame. Flame took a step back without looking where he was going and felt nothing under his foot, letting out a cry as he fell backwards down the stairs as the beam of light burst past his face. "FLAME" Aqua shouted as she ran foward. Flame cried out as he almost rather comically bounced down the flight of stairs as his body rolled and collided on the way down. She managed to reach him just as he collided on the landing in front of her.

"Flame...Flame speak to me" Aqua said as she grabbed him by the shoudlers and began to pick him up. Dark bruises were already starting to appear on his shaking body from the impact down the stairs, and the side of his face was burned from the intensity of the passing attack.

"He...the window....broke and....he tried to...hurt me..." Flame managed to pant out as Aqua pulled him to his feet.

"We need to run, now. Get up and get moving" she said as she pulled his arm over her shoulder. "Like, right now" she said with urgency in her voice as she pulled the injured digimon up.

"Hurts....." he moaned out as his legs shook with the effort to hold himself up. She looked down and grimaced as she saw the swelling appearing around his right ankle. "Hurts so much..."

"We need to move. The collars are coming back" Aqua said as she looked up and saw the broken windows in the stairwell were starting to swarm with the spinning black circles again. There just seemed to be no end to them.

And then she saw Anub was, rather calmly, walking down the stairwell with his staff pointed at the two of them.

"PYRAMID OF GIZA"

"MOVE" Aqua shouted as she pushed with her legs and leapt forward, pulling Flame with her as she moved to avoid the attack. A single bright triangle of light shot from Anubs staff like a bullet and moved past the space that the two dragons had occupied just a moment ago.

Unfortunatley, Lio hadn't run ahead with the group and had been standing behind Aqua, and when she had pulled Flame with her to dodge the attack, it had only one place to hit.

The little triangle of light hit Lio in the chest and then erupted, a large golden pyramit made of light and escribed in glowing heiroglyphs formed around the small lion digimon. Lio banged his hands on the wall of the pyramid, but it sounded like he was hitting thick glass.

"HEY...Let me out of here you big bully. That's no fair. I didn't see it coming" Lio shouted as Anub gestured with his staff towards the captive lion. Aqua knew that Lio was done for. That attack from Anub was a prison technique, that prevented any digimon from escaping it. They had all been subject to it at one stage or another, and no-one had managed to get out of it. B-W had come close, but hadn't managed to get out of it.

At Anubs gesture, the collars suddenly swarmed forward and enveloped the pyramid. She couldn't even see the light through the swarm, and then there was a scream and a gagging noise, which meant only one thing.

"Get moving" Aqua said as she half carried, half dragged Flame down the stairs towards the basement level.

She ran as fast as she could, but Flame wasn't making it easy. His legs were getting tangled up between them and he was slipping from her grasp as she tried to move him down the hallway that lead to the safe room. She could see the doorway to the safe room ahead, and it was still open.

"HURRY UP" Gaomon shouted as he stood in the doorway, seeing them hurrying as fast as tehy could. "The doors about to close!"

"We're almost there.... keep moving" Aqua said as she had to hoist Flame up against her shoulder as he was slipping again. "I know you just fell down a flight of stairs but that's no excuse not to pull your weight along" she grunted as she tried to hurry forward.

She heard noises behind her and she chanced a look over her shoulder, and she saw the black collars were flooding the hallway behind her like the worst kind of bug swarm she could have imagined.

Flame cried out as his ankle gave out only a few feet away from the door and he stumbled, slipping from Aquas grasp as he crashed to the floor. Aqua stumbled forward as she felt Flame slip from her grasp behind her.

"Hurry up, the doors closing" Gao shouted as the large steel doors of the safe room started to slide closed. "Come one, hurry."

Aqua looked at the door as it started sliding closed, and then back at Flame as he struggled to get up. The swarm was getting closer, and she only had time to make one decision. Leave him behind, or grab him and hope.

"GET THE FUCK UP" Aqua said as she ran forward after making her decision and grabbed Flame by the arm. She hoisted him as hard she could as she began to run forward as hard as she can. Flame cried out from the sudden yank in his arm, almost pulling it from the socket as she literally dragged him across the floor.

However, the door closed right in front of her, slamming shut with a heavy thudding and several moving pieces behind it began clanking in place as the door sealed itself shut.

"DAMMIT" Aqua shouted as she failed to get to the door in time. There was no point in banging on the door or trying ot open it from the outside. Once it was sealed, that was it. It had to be opened from the inside.

She dropped Flames arm as he fell to the floor, panting in pain as he struggled to get himself up, feeling his limbs shake as he couldn't support himself without feeling pain.

"I'm....I'm sorry....it's all my fault...." he whimpered as he looked up at Aqua. "I slowed you down...."

"Don't be sorry" Aqua said. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I was too slow" she said. She sounded more disapointed in herself then she was with Flame as she turned to see the writhing mass of dark collars was getting close.

"Are they.....are they going to get us?" Flame asked as he pushed himself back up against the door, feeling the cold steel against his bare back. He whimpered in fear as the collars swarmed even closer. He could feel a cold sweat against his forehead as his limbs trembled in fear and pain.

"They are" Aqua said as she lifted her bladed gauntlets up. "They're going to take us. And I do'nt know what they're going ot make us do" she said as she put herself in a readied stance.

"Doesn't mean they won't have an easy time taking us" Aqua said as the collars flew closer. "Whatever you do, don't move from out behind me."

"WATER ROCKET!"

"WATER ROCKET!"

"WATER ROCKET!"

"WATER RO...."

"........................."

Silence.

Gaomon slowly backed away from the door as he couldn't hear them anymore. Aqua was down. And that meant Flame was down as well. The group in the safe room, they were the only ones left.

Rana kept her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide in fear as the silence filled the room. The others milled around, just standing as they could do nothing but listen to the silence.

"They got them" Gao said as he took another step back. "They're all taken. We're the only ones left" he said.

"But...but what's stopping them from getting us?" B-Gabu asked as he stepped forward. "B-W could probably rip through those doors like they were paper."

"This safe room is just that. It's a giant safe" Gao said firmly as he took a deep breath. "It's specially designed to keep whatever is inside it, safe from anyone that tries to break in."

"And how is that supposed to work?" Strabi asked with an annoyed tone of voice. "a safe is made out of metal. A wargreymons claws can slice through anything you konw" he said.

"Yes, I do know that" Gao said. "But, like i said, there are preventive measures that have been installed" he said as he pointed to one of the four walls of the safe. He then flipped the light switch beside the door, and the room was bathed in light enough for them to see.

Etched onto the walls of the large safe room, including the floor and the ceiling, were severall large runic symbols that gave them all a funny feeling just by looking at them. They looked somewhat familiar.

"Those are the special repelling symbols that keep certain digimon from breaking through something. These are the same symbols that Anub uses on his Pyramid attack to trap digimon" Gao explained. "They prevent Data, Virus, Vaccine and Neutral digimon from actually breaking into this room. The only way out is to open the door from the inside once it's locked."

"So that's it then? We're trapped in here?" Strabi asked.

"Until I let us out, yes" Gao said as he sat himself indian style on the floor. "How...how can you be so calm about this?" Rana asked as she lowered her hands, her body trembling.

"Panicking does not solve anything" Gao said. "Besides, they cannot get in. And we will not be leaving. If we leave, we will be captured. All we can do, is wait for them to leave and then work our way from there" he said simply.

"So, you're just gonna sit there and what...meditate while they walk off with your friends?" Strabi asked in anger. "we should be out there fighting to get them back."

"Would oyu like to go out there and take on a Blackwargreymon, a Vajramon, a Panjyamon and an Anubismon all at the same time? Three ultimates and a mega?" Gao asked. Strabi didn't say anything for a moment as he considered what Gabu said.

"Why....why aren't you using their names?" Mono asked slowly.

"Because those aren't our friends anymore. They are just like any other of their species while they are under someone elses control. And they will not fight like our friends. They will fight like our enemies" Gao said simply.

"So, we sit, wait and remain calm" Gao said curtly. "Unless you have a better idea on what to do" he said.

Strabi didn't say anything, but he did kick a chair in frustration.

"Oh this is just DARLING!"

Kuzuhamon stood in the ruined training area of the D.R.S. Headquarters, a happy look of delight on her features as she clasped her hands together, almost bouncing on the spot as her whole curvacious body seemed to jiggle with delight.

Almost the entirety of the D.R.S. were standing in a line in front of her, all of them captured and collared while the headquarters were laying in ruins around them.

"It seems several of them managed to escape into some kind of safe room" Piddomon said as he stood behind her with Kazemon. "and one has locked himself in the communications room. But, they're all rookie level and hardly a threat if we leave them alone."

"Oh, that's doesn't matter. A handfull of rookies isn't a match for a mega like me" Kuzuhamon said with a girlish giggle "Let them lick their wounds and hide in their little holes. We'll flush them out like the rats they are eventually" she said as she waved the notion off with a wave of her hand.

"Now, lets see who we have standing here ready to serve" she said as she looked down the line of her new servants.

First, there was B-W, of course, as he was the first to succumb. Then, there was BB and Ren, who came next. Ren was still covered in honey patches all over, although eonugh had hardened and fallen off that he could still move.

Then there was Pan, who was definately bruised up from the tussle he had with B-W. In fact, he was probably going to sport a new scar across his chest once it was healed up. And then next to him was Vaj. Vaj had let his guard down once he had seen B-W slice his claws over Pan and almost sliced him in half. He had rushed over to to assist him, to drive B-W away, but he had been attacked from behind by both Ren and BB at the same time.

And then he was collared, and so was Pan.

Lilly and Anub had both been attacked by the collars when the windows to the main building had been broken through. Then there was Lio beside him. Finally, at the end, was Aqua and Flame.

"Why is this one broken?" Kuzuhamon demanded when she saw how beaten up and bruised Flame was. He was wobbling slightly back and forth as he stood up, all the pain in his body ignored as he was ordered to stand, and stand he did, even with a twisted ankle.

"Seems he fell down the stairs" Piddomon said with a shrug. "Anub must ahve been chasing him to weaken him enough for capture. And he must have overdone it" he said, although he sounded like he did'nt really care.

"You can take him. And the big white lion too" Kuzuhamon said. "I do'nt like it when my toys are broken before I can play with them. Oh, and take the fox boy. He's sticky. I do'nt like them when they're sticky."

"You like making them sticky" Piddomon pointed out. Kuzuhamon placed her hand on her chest and opened her mouth in a mock showing of shock.

"I make them sticky for their own good" she said. "During the fun, it's good to get nice and sticky. After we've played, then it's just nasty and gross" she said. "You can play with them first and then give them back once you've cleaned them up."

"Yes mistress" Piddomon said with a smirk under his helmet.

"We.....are missing someone" Kuzuhamon said as she pointed her hand down the line of captive digimon. "Isn't there another big lion that runs this place?" she asked.

"Well, I don't see a big muscle bound hunk lion in an oversized coat, do you?" Piddomon said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"How hard is it to capture a damn leader of these places?" Kuzuhamon said with a hsake of her head. "I mean, the Leomon variety are just big shirtless mara muscle studs in tight leather pants. They stand out. It shouldn't be this hard to capture one" she said.

"Perhaps we should leave someone behind in case he decides to come back. As a welcoming committee. To welcome him into your ranks" Piddomon suggested.

"Now that is a good idea. You, ponyboy" Kuzuhamon said with a smile on her face as she pointed her hand at Vaj. The big centaur bull nodded his head as he stepped forward obediantly, his face blank and his eyes glazed over.

"You can stay here. Poke around in the rubble or eat some hay or whatever. If you see anyone left over, or any big macho man lions walking around, then you capture then and collar them for me. Can you do that for me my pony bull?" she asked.

Vaj simply nodded obediatnly, which made Kuzuhamon smile even more.

"Oh that is perfect" she said with a smile on her face. "Now, how about we take you all back to my little lair and we have ourselves a little fun to celebrate?" she asked. She didn't wait for a reply as she pointed her staff at an open space nearby. The rings around the ornamental head jangled once before several sparks appeared in the air a few times.

A large oval opening appeared, a swirling makss of dark red and black smoke and mist writhing together, opening a rift between two locations.

"Everyone head on in and make yourselves at home. Piddomon dear, take your toys and have your fun. And i want them returned clean and in good condition" she said to her angel servant, who nodded at her. Kazemon simply walked forward into the portal first, and allowed the others to follow suit.

"So, once we've had our fun with the new additions, what is the next step of the plan?" Piddomon asked.

"Simple. We use the D.R.S. Against the rest of this pitiful island" Kuzuhamon said with a wide smile of her painted lips. "We'll send one or two of them to the next town, and they'll get allowed into the middle because they're the well respected trusted heros."

"And then they'll release the black collars on the population and capture them all. And we bring them back and put them to use. And then the next day, we do it to the next village."

"And the next. And the next, untill every village on the island is taken over and they become my property" Kuzuhamon said as she began to giggle in amusement. "We'll flush out every digimon on this island till they are all my loyal enslaved little toys.

"What took Ebemon months to accomplish, I'll have accomplished in less then a week. And there won't be anyone that can stop me. I'll prove to Daemon that my plan will work, and when it does...."

"Then everything will be safely under my control."