Chapter 14:
Traitor
In another part of the forest, Rion and Guilmon were slowly trudging through large bushes, branches, and overgrowth. Guilmon shivered as the wind blew through the trees, but Rion paid no attention to it. He kept on walking, arms folded and eyes closed, lost in his thoughts.
Ever since Rion had returned to the Digital World, he and Guilmon went straight to work. They trained and fought, and defeated every Digimon that got in their way. Every time, they had been successful.
Now they had a problem. More than one.
Rion looked up at the faint, light patch of sky in the distance, and thought of the first problem.
The other kids. And the other Digimon.
The last time he had seen them was on the first day, probably no more than a couple of weeks or a couple of months ago, but it had felt like a million years. Ever since then, even though they were apart, he could feel them. He could feel their strengths increasing, slowly but surely. Especially one team in particular.
Akira. And Kodamon.
When it came to those two, Rion felt threatened. As time went by, he began to suspect things. And not too long ago, when he saw part of a large, flaming sphere emerging from a nearby mountain range, he finally knew.
They had finally caught up to him. Kodamon had reached the Perfect level once again.
Which brought Rion to the second problem.
Guilmon couldn't do it. No matter how hard both of them tried, he couldn't evolve a second time. And Rion didn't know why.
A loud crack and a mechanical hum jolted him out of his thoughts. He looked up suddenly, eyeing the trees with a suspicious glare.
Guilmon noticed this. “Rion? What is it?”
Rion motioned him to be quiet. An eerie silence fell, and no one dared to move.
An icy chill went down Rion's spine. They were being watched, he could feel it. His eyes narrowed, and he looked over at Guilmon.
“You stay here. There's something I want to check out.”
“But, Rion-”
“Just stay,” Rion answered harshly. Guilmon's mouth opened and closed a few times in surprise, then he lowered his head and nodded.
“Good.” Rion walked off, disappearing into the foliage.
For a while, there was silence, and then Rion heard the cracking of a twig. He stopped and looked around, hardly daring to breathe. The silence continued for almost a whole minute. Then, Rion heard a rustling of branches, and soft, swift footfalls.
He whipped around, Digivice in hand, and came face to face with a girl. She was a few inches taller than him, with black hair, violet eyes, and yellow goggles, and dressed in a blue tank top and red shorts. Her image was slightly fuzzy and indistinct, and flickered every now and then.
“I wouldn't use that if I were you,” the girl said in an echoey, faraway voice, “It would just go right through me if I wanted it to, or it could bounce off me and do you in instead.”
Rion glared, and slowly lowered his Digivice. “Who are you and what do you want?” he asked suspiciously.
“Who am I?” she echoed, “You don't need to know just yet. And as for what I want, I'm just here to ask you some questions.”
Rion looked away. “I don't feel like talking.”
She sighed. “Why do I get the feeling that I knew this was going to happen?” she asked softly, mostly to herself.
“Now that you know that,” Rion replied darkly, “can you go away? Far, far away, where I won’t have to see you again?”
The girl frowned at his rudeness. “Is that how you treat everyone you meet?” she asked, “Or am I a special case?”
“You look like someone I wish I could blast off the face of the earth,” Rion hissed.
“I'm surprised you didn't try that already,” she said cooly.
“It crossed my mind,” Rion replied, “But you're not her.”
The girl raised an eyebrow. “How would you know that?”
“You look just a little younger, your goggles are a little different, and so are your clothes. I haven't seen you smile even once.” Rion looked directly at her face. “And you're far too creepy.”
Ignoring that last remark, the girl abruptly stopped walking and looked down. “You seem to know a lot about this other person,” she replied carefully, “Are you sure she isn't a friend of yours?”
Rion glared. He turned around and started walking away.
“Where are you going?”
“Away from you,” he called, not bothering to look back. He walked a few paces, stopped, then reluctantly turned around to see her right behind him. “Will you quit following me?” He tried to move forward, left, and right, but she blocked his way. “Leave me alone!” he shouted.
“No.” the girl said firmly. “Not until you answer my questions.”
“Who are you, anyway?” Rion exploded, “Did someone send you here to get on my case?”
“No one sent me anywhere to do anything,” the girl replied, “I just come and go, every now and then, making sure everything's in order.”
“Then go away and do your ordering somewhere else!” Rion said irritably, “If you know so much about everything, then you'd already know that Guilmon and I aren't doing anything wrong!”
“Not doing anything wrong?” she echoed in disbelief, walking closer to him. “You're about to make the biggest mistake of your entire life!”
Rion's eyes narrowed. “And what's that?”
“Refusing to join up with the others. By doing that, you're putting the entire Digital World in danger!”
“What others?” Rion asked.
“Don't play stupid with me!” she shot back, “Of course you know who I'm talking about!”
Rion glared at her through the corner of his eye. “Why should Guilmon and I even bother with all of them?” he asked, “They're too weak to deal with what we've dealt with.”
“Akira isn't. Neither is Kodamon.”
Rion's face darkened. “I don't want anything to do with them.”
“That doesn't change anything,” she continued, “You need to be with all of them. Keeping yourselves apart from them, alone – you're corrupting yourselves! Pretty soon, you'll forget the real reason why you're here!”
“Shut up...” Rion's fists clenched.
“You need to be near them, so you can find the real you...”
Something in Rion snapped. “I said, shut up!” he screamed. He lunged at her, pulling out his Digivice. Darkness shot out of it. The girl jumped away, missing the shot.
Rion aimed again, but the girl stiffened, and caught the dark beam in her hand.
“I don't want to do this,” she replied, straining, “But you leave me no choice.” She made the beam fragment into thousands of data particles and made them bounce back at him. She saw Rion shield his face with his arms, and shoot off another beam with his Digivice. She was about to fragment that one as well, when a sudden blast of red energy jolted her circuits. She looked up and saw Guilmon crashing through the bushes.
“Leave him alone!” Guilmon shouted, sending another Fireball her way. The attack fragmented in her hands.
Guilmon began to glow, and Rion's Digivice beeped.
“Guilmon, evolve to... Growmon!”
When the light disappeared, Guilmon, as Growmon, was at least ten times taller. The girl started to back away. The attack-blocking was starting to wear her out, and she needed to get out of there before things got even more out of hand. She turned around and started running, barely missing an energy beam. As she jumped into a clump of bushes, another one grazed through her image and short-circuited it. Sparks flew. The girl slowed down and hit the ground, gasping for breath. The bushes hid her from view.
As Growmon attacked, a strange light began to shine from the black crest hanging from Rion's neck. Rion stared at it with a disbelieving but hopeful look. Growmon began to glow again. The light from him and the Crest got brighter and brighter, until the Crest crackled and sparks flew from it. Rion let out a shout and dropped it like a hot potato.
Growmon began to shrink, and became Guilmon again. He dropped to the ground in exhaustion.
Rion looked at his Crest with a fearful expression, and after waiting a couple of minutes, he slowly bent down and picked it up. He glanced at Guilmon, laying on the ground.
“Guilmon...” Rion walked over to him, legs trembling, and dropped to his knees. He took a few deep breaths, shut his eyes, and pounded the ground with a fist. “Why?” he shouted, “Why can't you evolve again? Why aren't you getting stronger?” He stared at the black Crest in his hand. “Why is this stupid thing not working?”
“Because something's holding you back,” a deep voice answered.
Rion looked up, and saw a strange, tall figure clad in flowing, black robes and holding a long, silver staff. His face was concealed behind a large hood.
“W-who are you?” Rion asked fearfully.
“I am Mataymon,” the dark figure replied, “You need not fear me. I am here only to help you.” He laughed.
“Matay...” Rion murmured to himself, “Death...” He looked up again. “With a name like that, how do you expect me to believe you?”
“Because I know the answers to all that you seek...” Mataymon said cryptically.
Rion wiped his eyes. “What is it then?” he demanded, “What is it that's holding me back? I need to know!”
“Yourself!” Mataymon answered.
“Me?” Rion asked incredulously, “I don't understand.”
“I think you do,” Mataymon answered, “Think about it.”
Rion looked at him questioningly.
“Every time you fight, you know that you have to, but still, there is a small part of you that resists,” he continued, “You understand that what you're doing is the only way to put things right, but a part of you still doubts it.”
Rion looked down. He didn't deny anything.
“What is it you really want?” Mataymon asked.
“I want to be stronger,” Rion said firmly, “I want to be strong enough to do whatever I have to, without having to depend on anyone else! I want to be stronger than the person who forgot about me!”
“Then join me,” he answered, “If you do, you and Guilmon can become stronger. Strong enough to overcome your doubt and defeat anyone who gets in your way. Strong enough to defeat that one person you hate.”
Rion eyed him suspiciously. “How do I know you're telling the truth?”
Mataymon laughed. “You still do not believe me? Very well, then. Let me show you!” He raised a hand, and let it fill with dark energy. Then, he shot it at Rion.
Rion gasped, and dodged it, missing it by a hair. “What are you doing?” he shouted in disbelief.
Mataymon said nothing. He sent out another attack, but this time, Guilmon jumped in and tried to block it, but it sent him flying. He got up again and charged at him, evolving into Growmon along the way.
“Exhaust Flame!”
Flames shot out and surrounded Mataymon, but he beat them away with his robe.
Growmon started to glow again, and so did Rion's Crest. Rion stared at it again with that same wild hope.
Light shot out of the Crest and merged with Rion's Digivice, and Growmon began to change.
“Growmon, super evolve to... MegaloGrowmon!”
Rion gaped at the large, metal-clad Digimon that Growmon became.
MegaloGrowmon began to attack Mataymon again, but Mataymon held up his silver staff and stopped MegaloGrowmon in his tracks. The light surrounding him faded, and he shrank, becoming Guilmon again.
Rion had a look of shock and disbelief on his face. “Amazing...” He stared at Guilmon for a while. “MegaloGrowmon...” Then he looked up at Mataymon. “My Crest worked... How did you do it?”
“My powers are greater than you can ever imagine. Nothing else compares,” he answered, “If you join forces with me, you will be just as powerful!”
Guilmon watched as Rion digested this, and slowly walked over to him. When he saw the look on Rion's face, Guilmon knew his mind was made up.
“Let's do it, Guilmon.”
Guilmon glanced at Mataymon, and quickly shook his head. “I don't think we should. I don't trust him.”
“What are you talking about?” Rion demanded, “He made my Crest work again! You can reach the Perfect level! After all of that, you still don't trust him?”
“No.” Guilmon shook his head again, with a determined look on his face.
Rion glared hard, then grabbed one of Guilmon's hands, pulling him toward Mataymon. “It doesn't matter. We're doing this anyway, whether you like it or not. This is for our own good, trust me!” He ignored Guilmon trying to pull him away, and stopped right in front of Mataymon.
Mataymon smirked. “So, do we have a deal, boy?” He extended a bony hand.
Rion nodded and took it. “Yes.”
Guilmon saw the evil glinting in Mataymon's eyes, and his own eyes widened in fear. No!
Mataymon cackled. “Good...” Right then, waves of dark energy began to flow from his hand and into Rion's and Guilmon's.
Guilmon felt the energy spread through him. He did feel stronger, but it was very unsettling. He tried to hold back the evil thoughts that were beginning to seep into his mind.
Rion became pale, even paler than he already was, and his eyes became even darker. There was a lazy, hypnotic smile on his face.
“So...” he said, in a dangerously quiet voice, “Where do we start?”
Hidden in the nearby bushes, the girl watched the whole scene, her image recovered but still bristling from Growmon's attack. She could see Rion talking to Mataymon, but she was too far away to hear what he was saying. When she saw Mataymon disappear and Rion and Guilmon rush off, she sighed.
“Well... that didn't go very well, did it?” she said to herself. “What to do now...” She leaned against a tree and looked up at the dark gray sky. She stared at the fast-moving clouds threatening to bring rain, and her image fluctuated as the wind whipped through the trees. It wasn't a good sign.
In just a moment, everything had gone wrong. When she first approached the boy, she knew that it would be hard to persuade him, because of the power he shared with his Digimon. Theirs was a necessary evil, but they weren't meant – or expected – to turn to the other side. Losing Rion and Guilmon to the dark forces was a devastating blow. If they were as strong as she thought they were, the other seven didn't stand a chance.
She groaned, and slammed a semi-transparent fist into the tree trunk. “What do I do now?!” She closed her eyes. “Gennai, where are you when I need you? I can't do this by myself!” she said to the air.
But she didn't get an answer. She never did get any answers. She was on her own, as always.