Examon couldn’t quite tell how long it had been since the return to his failures in the wars against the Demon Lords had faded away. It hadn’t taken long after the deaths of Gankoomon, Jesmon and their best and brightest had played out before him in vivid detail for him to be catapulted fully back into his long years of helplessness in the belly of the Knights’ operation. “... This isn’t right. This isn’t how I remember.” But this time, something had changed. The sensations that had been so vividly recreated when he relived the concluding massacres of the war were nowhere to be found as he moved further through his past. When Examon had first lived through the decay of the Knights, he had been a young warrior: traumatized by the loss of mentors, friends, and fledgling students. When Imperialdramon subsumed the helm of the Knights from Omegamon, installed and upheld savage lunatics as the protectors of the realm and trapped the Digital World in his controlled chaos, he’d felt as helpless to change things as a child trapped at the lowest level of servitude to the Knights’ machine. Now, all he felt as he relieved those long, awful years was the strength he’d neglected and denied himself. He still saw the atrocities unfold. Temples built in honour of the Sovereigns and Ancients were razed and their occupants driven out into the bleak wilderness; but this time, he saw the hesitation and regret in the eyes of the soldier that tore them down and chased the victims away. Councils were held to discuss the invasion of yet another remote and independent part of the Digital World, and the motion passed for the Knights to swallow them up like a snake descending upon a mouse: but this time, Examon felt the anger that would have let him speak up, and knew the qualms amongst others that would have given that objection the floor. Examon remembered a conversation that he’d had with Siggy when he’d first come to the human world. Supposedly, humans became almost entirely different creatures every seven years: all cells that had been alive at the beginning of that interval of time would have died off and been completely replaced by its end. It had seemed surreal, almost unbelievable at the time, especially when Siggy had cracked a rare joke that he’d be a completely different human being by the time he was an old man. But now, the ridiculousness of it all was a spark of light in the darkness. Unlike Siggy, Examon may or may not have been made of the same data as he had those many years ago: but like the human he’d come to call partner- no, the human he’d come to call friend, he’d become almost entirely a different person from his youth. Reliving the horrors of the war had shaken Examon; but as memories of the intervening years between then and now washed over him, little about them shook him. At the time, he’d felt as helpless as he had when he’d been laid low by the enemy. Now with age and experience behind his belt, he realized how much of a fool he’d been. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been the cleanest affair, but the possibility of fighting back against Imperialdramon and his goons had been real from the start. The loss of Alphamon had been a terrible one, but it shouldn’t have been the death of his hope. As poor as their relationship had been, Craniamon may have sided with him. Even distraught over UlforceVeedramon’s disappearance, Magnamon might have joined him. He wondered how he’d even questioned the loyalty of Gallantmon, MirageGaogamon and ShineGreymon. And- [b]"You heard me. Go to assist your master. I won't stop you."[/b] It wasn’t simply age and experience that differentiated Examon from his younger, foolish self: it was knowledge of his fellow Knights. Chinks in the armour of Imperialdramon’s regime had existed even beyond the obvious weakpoints: even Parasimon, deeply twisted and beholden to the will of Yggdrasil as he was, may have given him and his fellow skeptics their piece if they’d cared to approach him as a fellow Knight rather than as an insurmountable obstacle. The foundation of the order that Imperialdramon had built through hook and crook had not stood upon the steel of domination, but the sand of deception and resignation. Their situation had been bleak, yes. But never had it been hopeless. If only they- no, if only he had the courage to stand up for what he believed and accept the risks of mounting resistance, none of this might have come to pass. In any other situation, the realization may have been harrowing, or even devastating. A final, grim punctuation to the mess his life had been, the final word on his impotence. But in this situation, it was all that he needed. His consciousness of his agency would come to haunt him soon enough, but in that very moment, all he felt was something breaking as the visions of his past faded into nothing. Courage had been all he needed then to fight back against Imperialdramon, and it was what he needed now to escape the grasp of Moon=Millenniummon. --- An empty twilight void was all that Alphamon could see, for she had spent so much time in slumber beneath Dorumon’s consciousness that she was spared much of the horror endured by her previous and current hosts; couldn’t torment her with a past she had mostly abstained from anyway. Was she lucky? Maybe she was; maybe she wasn’t. Hard to say. Her presence as a primarily spoken myth left her with virtually no tangible mark on the Digital World, made worse by Imperialdramon having scrubbed much of her remaining presence within the Royal Knight’s ranks and exemplified by Dorumon being fully unaware of her presence. Observe. Wait and observe. Protect in silence, then observe again. How long had Alphamon played that role over and over again? Was she not sick of it? “Of course I was.” Was her regular sneaking sprees not a proof of that? Was her yearning to talk with other Digimons outside of her circle not clear enough when she approached the Rookies she rescued during the fair? Was her decision to sleep and create Dorumon from a fragment of herself not a loud statement of her desire to understand what life looked like through the eyes of those they were sworn to protect? Then why didn’t she speak up? She was the Knight of the Empty Seat. The other Knights would most likely listen to her had she just said something in the first place. While they wouldn’t outright agree with her, many would’ve given her quandary some thoughts and few could’ve been persuaded to adopt her way of thinking. “... I thought I was the only one with such an idea.” Or was she? When Dorumon became aware of her presence, she acknowledged her with a justified resentment, but she not only acknowledged her existence and independence, but also talked to her much like a sibling would talk to an elder sister she often fought with, but couldn’t live without. It was endearing, in a strange way, and she was quite fond of their exchanges, vitriolic as many of them were. Despite the power Imperialdramon exerted upon the Knights, Examon still remembered her. Yes, he had every right to resent her for leaving the Royal Knight to become a shadow of itself, but he acknowledged that she used to exist. Through her fusion with him, her presence helped turned the tide of battle against the usurper Imperialdramon and his forces. Examon even made a personal point of throwing a massive fit over her decision to make him her new host, a decision that - once again - she made in her lonesome. He cared about what she did, if only because of the impact it had on him, his human partner and the one particular Digimon he seemed to care beyond mere friendship and alliance. Looking far back, she then remembered that the Rookies she saved still made the point of expressing their gratitude for her despite their initial fears. Because of her, they could continue to enjoy the fair, to bask in the momentary merriment and live for another day. Beneath the jet black armor and blue mantle was a Knight so isolated by her own solitude that she was unable to see the other roles she played in her existence. It took her [i]this[/i] long to realize that her presence and actions had an impact on others, both good and bad. She may never function the same way other Digimons did, but that didn’t mean that she was disconnected from them. She was not alone, never was. She was simply too scared to acknowledge that. [b]The Royal Knight of the Empty Seat was scared of being forever alone.[/b] In the past, that epiphany would’ve left her with more thoughts to mull in her lonesome, not to mention all the denial she could muster, but now, that acceptance became the bright light that manifested in the endless, bottomless twilight room of void as it twisted into a dark tunnel, seemingly trying to drag that light as far away from her reach as possible. “Oh no, you don’t. You’re not taking that anywhere!” With a crouch, then a leap, Alphamon chased after the light, the truth she now wished to grasp and never let go again. She had a lot of amendments to make, so she wanted to start with this one: catching that light and reuniting with her allies once more. --- The barren, unremitting silence within the union of consciousness that formed Examon Mordred was finally broken as a web of fractures split the white void of the mindscape on either side. With a roar and a laborious effort that pulled the borders of the union wide open, Examon’s mind forced its way back into its own time, the tumultuous screaming vortex of his personal timestream fading first into a burst of static and then into a great nothingness that disappeared with a groan as the fractures went with them. Shaken, but not broken, Examon’s mind adjusted to the merciful silence of the mindscape. Now it was simply his thoughts that wreaked havoc on him: a feeling that age had taught him to cope with, however shakily. Still, Examon didn’t have much time on his lonesome as a burst of light suddenly came crashing into the already white mindscape and Alphamon ungracefully came tumbling in, rolling once before landing on her back with a wheeze. The chase for the light had been a long and seemingly endless one, but she somehow made it, much to her surprise. With a grunt and a shake of her head, she pushed herself back to her feet, stumbling slightly in the process, and then took a deep breath before turning to see Examon, shaken, but relatively intact. “Thank you for making it here before I do,” she said to the dragon with a bemused chuckle. What she wouldn’t give to see the familiar grump. “It would’ve been quite egregious for the guest to return before the host.” “I guess I can take pride in that much.” However, that grump was nowhere to be seen as Examon finally caught his breath and spoke up: a grimace on his face and a chuckle of his own twisting his voice. “But from what I saw, I haven’t exactly got much else to be proud of.” “You’re not alone in that regard, Examon,” Alphamon calmly replied. She wouldn’t claim to know what he had seen, but from the look on his draconic face, she could guess that it was most likely an unpleasant blast from the past. “There is no joy in being confronted by my own denial, but I suppose I had it coming,” she said with another chuckle, a self-depreciating mockery of herself, “Still, I’m relieved we both made it through.” “I suppose I have to say the same: I’ve known I’m an idiot as long as I can remember, but it’s taken me long enough to realize just how much of one I am.” Examon continued to chuckle too, his laughter equally self-deprecating as his voice found itself getting shakier. “There I was, going off on you for running off and disappearing: maybe I should have had a word with myself about giving up so quickly.” The chuckles stopped, replaced by a deep sigh. Weak attempts at humour could only carry Examon so far. It was time to be serious. Alphamon couldn’t help but notice someone was still missing though. “Where is your partner, Siggy?” “I don’t know where Siggy is: whatever Moon=Millenniummon did to us, I don’t think it’s as simple as giving us visions of the past.” Examon couldn’t help but shudder at his recollection of the experience. “It felt too real, like I was there when those demons almost bled me out. I don’t know about you, but it took me a bit more than stubbornness to break free of it.” She could understand why Examon had such a struggle against the bizarre visions. No, scratch that; she even hesitated to call them as such. Rather, they felt like real recollections, almost as if their souls were being placed on that point in time to experience all as it had happened: every sensation, every sound, every turmoil, and every pain. “I don’t blame you. What I’ve seen was nothing short of a reminder of my past mistakes and failures, one after another. Looking back, it struck me just how lenient you were with your words, given the impact of my selfish actions.” Alphamon nodded, her forlorn gaze obscured by her jet-black armor. However, she knew that the time to sulk and brood was not now; they had other things to worry about. “... Maybe so, but I’ve got to face up to the facts myself.” And fortunately, so did Examon. His voice cracked slightly. This time, however, it trembled with remorse instead of dark humour. If it were possible, it was quite likely he’d be holding back tears at that very moment. “I don’t know where Siggy is, or how long it’ll take for him to make it back. I don’t even know if we’ll stand a chance against that [i]thing[/i] without him.” He took a deep breath: and then another that turned into a haggard, shaky affair that broke what stoicism was left in his voice altogether. “But I do know something. Too many people have died because I was too stupid to do what I could before it was too late, and if I don’t change that now, he won’t have anything to come back to.” Alphamon had never seen Examon so… broken, for a lack of better word. For as long as she knew him, the dragon had always held out against whatever chaos they endured together, so to see him looking like he’d lost all hope was quite disheartening, yet it also made him relatable at the same time. Without his stoicism, the dragon became less of this mythical paragon others painted him, along with his fellow Knights, to be and more of a Digimon with his own strengths and weaknesses who just happened to be immensely powerful. “Neither of us know where Siggy is; that is a fact.” Alphamon slowly walked towards the dragon, giving him his personal space, yet also cutting short the distance between the two of them. “However, I personally have faith in him as much as I do in you. He is a strong man and he will break through just as you have. It will take time, yes, and I’m certain that he will have his struggles as well, but we will eventually be together again.” Pausing for a moment to put more of her thoughts into coherent words, she then said to him, “This will sound incredibly strange, coming from me, but the only thing we can do for him is wait. Still, I understand your frustration, one that I now share myself.” Another pause as Alphamon seemed to be dealing with her own displeasure before she continued on, “It is vexing that we can only stand here and wait. If there was anything we could do to get ourselves up and moving-” “... God damn it, you old bat.” As Examon found his voice again, something like disbelief was plain in his voice. His eyes widened, shaking in their sockets, and his lips turned up to reveal his teeth- “I could just about fucking kiss you right now.” But a moment later, and it was clear that it was anything but anger that brought Examon to life again. What had looked like a snarl turned into a uneasy but sincere smile: and what had sounded like cold fury turned into a chuckle, and then into a wheezy chorus of laughter. “There I was, getting mad at you, but you might have just saved us all, you stupid, amazing old bitch.” The laughter became steadier, but then stopped. When Examon continued, his voice was steady and confident once more. “Siggy may still be out there in that hell, but so long as we’re in this body, he can’t be entirely gone: and we can’t be entirely helpless. Tell me, Alphamon. How many minds does it take to coordinate a Biomerged body?” Like a ticking clock, Alphamon’s digital mind began to run through all sorts of programs until she seemed to reach a conclusion. “Two, I would assume,” she replied, “which will be the two beings who make up the Biomerged body, in most cases being the human and the Digimon.” It was then that something clicked, like a new formula derived from this equation. “However, there are three of us here: you, Siggy, and myself, yet only you and Siggy make up the entire physical data of this Biomerged body whereas I’m only here within an operative capacity and, at any given time, only two minds are required to properly operate a Biomerged body. If we can assume that the data that make up the body is perfectly intact despite what is happening to us mentally, then…” Her eyes lit up with hope as she began to reach what she believed to be the conclusion Examon came up with. “... The two of us might still be able to operate it regularly.” “Like you said, Siggy’s a good kid. But if we wait for him to wake up, there might not be anything for him to wake up to.” As he’d expected, Alphamon had quickly figured out what he meant. There was no time to waste: and nothing to lose in putting the idea to the test. “He’ll come back when he’s good and ready to come back. And until then, we’ll do everything we can to send that floating pile of garbage to the depths of Hell before it’s too late. I think- no, I’m [i]sure[/i] he’d agree. Do what you can, when you can, and don’t lose faith.” “This untested idea can either be horrendously disastrous or momentous enough to help us hold our ground and turn the tide of battle…” A brief musing in silence, then a soft chuckle from Alphamon. It wasn’t her usual calm chuckle, but one with a tinge of reckless madness and steely determination, much like the reckless bravery of Dorumon. “Well then, Examon, shall we roll the dice together and see if we get a high enough number to see this abomination destroyed?” “Let’s do it.” Examon had nothing left to say. The time for words had passed. With the familiar hard-headedness coming over Alphamon as he steeled his own resolve, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he went about synchronizing with his physical form once more: and as he reached out to Alphamon, a great rush of sensation blasted over them all at once as light broke through into the world around them. --- [Kept You Waiting, Huh?] The plan had been simple enough on its own merits. With no realistic chance of taking BanchoLeomon down head-on in his current state, Beelzemon had decided to rematerialize elsewhere in the panicking city and bide his time for an opening. When the sky suddenly turned dark as the world around him was swallowed up by the red and black mist, he saw his opening. He’d surprise BanchoLeomon while his attention was set on whatever the hell that thing from earlier had become, and warp away to another world altogether once he’d torn his crest from the bastard’s deteriorating corpse. “Truth be told, I can’t fault you for leaving. But that changes nothing.” But that simple plan had gone all kinds of wrong as he got within a few hundred meters of his target and the goddamn world just about gave out from under him. When he came to, he was still in a ruined city: swallowed up in a bright orange haze of heat and flame that turned everything that still stood into a wavering, indistinct silhouette. But this time, the bastard that ‘greeted’ him was [i]far[/i] worse than BanchoLeomon or Moon=Millenniummon. With no strength left to even attempt escape, Beelzemon settled for trying to curse defiantly at his assailant, to no avail. It was as if he had lost even the most basic control over his own body. However, even if he hadn’t, the unbearable heat of the inferno enveloping his surroundings would have sufficed to silence him; as would the sheer force of the armoured boot crushing his throat as it pinned him by the back of his neck to the ground. “If only you’d ran and stayed in your hole, you may have enjoyed a painless end.” Beelzemon was helpless to move as he heard a weapon leaving its sheath behind him: and as he felt his very organs begin to boil in place as an even greater heat swallowed up the air around him. “But even freed of your Crest, you couldn’t rise above your own base nature.” Beelzemon heard himself wheezing out one final growl. Whether it was from defiance or fear, he could no longer tell: but he was helpless all the same as he felt something at his back, a blaze of terror filling his body along with his combusting innards. “I won’t apologize, Beelzemon.“ Daemon took the hilt of Ira in both hands, aligning the incandescent blade above the former Demon Lord’s core. “But consider this mercy, against what Lilithmon may have inflicted upon you.” The point of the sword plunged downwards: and, mercifully, Beelzemon’s vision yielded into darkness almost instantly as his core swiftly gave out beneath the overwhelming power of Ira, and all sensation in his body along with it. “Don’t listen to him!” All except for the voice that jolted him back to awareness, bringing him to another place. --- “Is this really alright? I never thought I’d care a jot more than I had to for the inmates up there, but here we are.” This time, the world around him was cold and intensely, uncomfortably bright. An unpleasant hum of mechanical noise filled Beelzemon’s ears from the surroundings, and harsh, fluorescent light assaulted his face as he opened his eyes, enough to make him flinch. He tried struggling, but once again, his body refused to respond. Once again, he couldn’t move: but this time, for as weak and depleted as he felt, he could tell it wasn’t because of physical exhaustion. Nor, for as effective as they felt, was it the bindings that encased him from head to foot in his cell. “I getcha. Even they don’t deserve to put up with trash like this.” As his vision cleared, Beelzemon saw the source of the voice from before. His cell was closed up by a transparent door, with a human figure in some kind of bulky uniform standing with his back to him. The voice now was different, however: it seemed to come from the Digimon standing across from the humanoid, a species that Beelzemon couldn’t discern at a glance. “But the Sovereigns and the higher-ups back home can’t agree on how to handle him on account of everything that’s happened, so he’s our problem until then.” “What, because he used to be one of theirs?” The first voice scoffed. “Goes to show how far connections can get you, huh? First their warden, and now this piece of shit.” Beelzemon had no idea what the two were talking other than how it confirmed his suspicions that he’d been captured and imprisoned once more: but a rage began to build in his chest that would make Daemon himself take a step back. He was the Lord of Gluttony! If only his body would listen to him, he’d rip the Digimon’s limbs clean from his body and make him watch as he did the same to the human. How dare they talk about him like that! “Enough.” And then a third voice introduced itself. This time, as Beelzemon looked up, there was no mistaking the speaker’s identity: and an even fouler fury filled him down to his stomach as he looked upon the silhouette of MirageGaogamon. “I had my misgivings about this, but the Commander, Subcommander and Lord Captain explained it clearly in the briefing. However he may have been in the past, this state is a different question entirely. If we can convince him that what happened to his partner wasn’t his fault, we might be able to snap him out of it.” If, in that moment, Beelzemon had been able to free himself of the bindings, the opening round to his retribution upon the two guards would have been forcing them to watch MirageGaogamon slowly die as he pinned him to the ground and burned him from the inside out with black flames. Not his fault? Of course it wasn’t his fault! As pleased as he was that his final actions had led to his freedom, that dumb brat had brought his fate upon himself! And what did that stupid mutt know about him? If he remembered right, he could barely handle a Demon Lord’s Captain, let alone the real deal! Where did he get off spouting this bullshit?! [i]“Look, I don’t like him either, but he’s right.”[/i] And then a new voice came. Beelzemon was jolted straight from his dark thoughts about his wardens as the sound came straight into his head. It wasn’t like the others. It spoke directly to him, not around him. It was the voice from before. [i]“We don’t have much time, Beelzemon. Please, listen to me, before it’s too late-”[/i] “Fuck you!” This time, Beelzemon’s voice came loud and clear in his head: and the world fell away once again as the tremendous roar shook his mind once again from one place to the next. --- “So, you had the gall to come back. I’m actually a little bit impressed.” It was back to being dark, but the air was as cold as before. All around him, disgusting shapes and structures filled the room to the brim. Thick wires and cables ran along from all the ends and walls, connecting into organic devices that further connected into a raised platform in the centre, some kind of altar or reactor. Above that, the top of the building had been torn asunder, letting light in from the night sky above. The view from the breach was one that revealed them to be high above the ground, and the light of the moon, stars and spotlights of the neighbouring skyscrapers illuminated the figure standing atop the central structure. As he saw who it was, Beelzemon wished he could change her back for Daemon or MirageGaogamon. “It’s been a while, Beelzemon.” Lilithmon’s tone was calm, but deathly cold: and her concealed glare could well have made him drop dead all by itself. Behind her, her Captain trained his weapon on Beelzemon, the savage smirk that usually covered his face replaced with the same death stare as his mistress. “Come to take your punishment head-on, have we?” “Hardly.” Beelzemon spoke without realizing it: and his mind screamed with indignant fury at himself. “Don’t play dumb, Lilithmon. You know there’s more going on here than your boyfriend’s letting on.” Seriously, what the [i]fuck!?[/i] The hulking brute of a Captain snarled and readied his weapon: but a raised hand from his mistress a moment later bid him to stop. “Calm yourself, AvengeKidmon.” Lilithmon’s tone was still calm and measured. Seemed like he hadn’t signed his death-warrant yet: but that didn’t stop his heart from jumping into his mouth as the Lord of Lust stepped forward as her Captain lowered his gun. “Perhaps, but do you really think some clever little words will be enough to snatch my loyalty away from Lucemon?” This time, Lilithmon’s words were broken by a haughty chuckle: and a fierce clap of red lightning that brought her horrid barbed spear forth from the void and into the grip of her clawed hand. “That may have sufficed for those soft-hearted knights of yours eleven years ago, but you haven’t learned a single thing since then if you think it’ll work on me.” “Beelzemon!” Suddenly, there was someone at his side. Turning, he saw that there was a small group of humans and Digimon behind him, all but one of them worn down and edging worriedly away from Lilithmon. The newcomer was one of the only two who seemed ready to fight to live: something about the tall, red-haired young woman seemed familiar, but his already-disturbed stomach seemed to do cartwheels on its axis as he saw the Digimon with her. “Seriously, you have some damn sense of timing.” The Seraphimon was silent and focused even as Beelzemon barely held his sense of composure together at the sight of him. Instead, it was that uncannily familiar girl who did the talking. Predictably enough, she didn’t seem happy to see him: at least, not until she continued. “But I’m glad you came through. Do you think we can hold them?” “Kid, with the five of us here, we could push them back until the heat death of the universe.” Beelzemon couldn’t believe what he was doing and saying. What kind of next-level hell had he wandered into? “Hmm. That’s the Beelzemon I remember.” Seraphimon finally broke his silence with a nod of assent: and that was all the push that the Demon Lord needed to dissociate again. --- “What the goddamn shit was that?” This time, Beelzemon barely paid any attention to the new place he had been sent to. This bizarre situation had made no sense to begin with, and that last experience had somehow dragged his understanding to some point below zero. “The truth.” And then that damn voice chimed in again. “It’s like what that stupid triangle did to us, but worse. They’re futures- possible futures. And you have to get up, Beelzemon, or that thing’s going to kill-” “No. Fuck you.” Beelzemon snarled, fury dissociating him straight out of whatever was going on around him once more and into yet another environment. “Who the [i]fuck[/i] are you and why the [i]fuck[/i] do you think you know me?” “... Right, you’re an idiot.” The voice sighed. Beelzemon’s resulting snarl was answered with: “Well, you asked at a good time. Looks like this thing shows you the past, too.” Beelzemon bit down on his snarl. Anger still dangerously close to boiling point, he momentarily allowed himself to regain focus: "Come on, get up. You gotta get up!" The voice came again: only this time, it wasn’t in his head. It came from right next to him. His anger froze solid. A Parrotmon loomed above him, pinning him to the ground with murderously sharp claws. He felt himself scream defiantly as the Digimon attacked: but it wasn’t for his sake. It was for the boy who’d put himself between them. The boy he’d now gone out of his way to save from the attack of the Parrotmon. “... Dirk?” The frozen anger melted away, as did Beelzemon’s awareness of his surroundings. “I knew you were in there somewhere, dumbass.” This time, Dirk’s voice was almost cracked with emotion. “Now, let’s get you out of here.”