Chapter 26:
Downward Spiral
Swish. Spin. Catch.
Swish. Spin. Catch.
The soft sounds of a yo-yo being released and caught were unusually loud as Rion hurled it around in frustration. Guilmon sat nearby, yawning and making occasional glances at the yo-yo.
They had been like this for a while, ever since their last assignment, at the old castle in the snow. It had ended in failure, with Fenrimon and Lupimon deleted and the kids getting away without a scratch. Another failure, on top of others.
Rion scowled, and spun the yo-yo harder. The more he threw it out and caught it, the more disappointments and annoyances came to mind, and the madder he got.
And underlying all of this was just one question.
Why?
“If you keep throwing it too hard, you’ll break it,” a voice suddenly said.
Rion looked up to see Guilmon staring at him innocently.
“The yo-yo,” Guilmon said again, “You looked so mad, and you were throwing it so hard. I thought you were going to break it.” All the while, his head was going up and down, up and down, following the yo-yo.
Rion sighed, and when the yo-yo came his way again, he caught it and shoved it into his pocket.
Guilmon pouted as Rion put the yo-yo away, and he stared down at the ground, letting out a sigh.
“I’m bored…” he murmured.
Rion stared back at him, hiding a small smile.
At one time or another, Rion had been just like him… cheerful and carefree…
Not anymore.
Rion wondered what Guilmon was thinking about right now. How did he feel about their situation? Worried? Angry? Or did he just not care?
How would Guilmon feel when all of this was over, and the rest of the Chosen Children were defeated? He would probably feel happier, wouldn't he?
That’s not true, a small voice in the back of Rion's mind said. You know it’s not true.
Rion stiffened a little. It was that voice again – whispering contradictory things in the back of his mind.
He’d been hearing it, off and on, ever since he had started fighting the other Chosen Children. It was a light, annoying voice, popping up whenever he thought certain thoughts. Sometimes, he’d wondered if he was going crazy. Or maybe that creepy, super-powerful girl-program was secretly monitoring his thoughts. Or, most likely, it was just his conscience running wild…
Sure, it’s your conscience, the voice replied, interrupting his thoughts. But do you ever listen to it? You’re so thick-headed, you wouldn’t notice a wrong thought even if it jumped at you and stabbed you in the heart!
Shut up! Rion scowled, and imagined himself kicking the unknown voice out of his mind, just as Akira had said-
Akira.
An image of Akira smiling at him surfaced in his mind, and he sighed in frustration. This line of thinking was getting him nowhere.
“I’ve had it,” he murmured, “I’m not thinking about this stuff anymore.” He pulled out his yo-yo again, and played around with it for a while, willing himself to calm down.
As he watched the movement of the yo-yo, and heard its familiar spinning, memories came to mind. A soft laughter filled his ears…
“Kuya! Kuya, do it again!” a five-year-old Rion giggled, looking at the yo-yo in his big brother’s hand. The rumbling of the school bus and the shouting and chattering of the other kids filled the air.
His eleven-year-old brother looked back at him and frowned. “Again?”
“Yeah!” Rion answered, “I wanna see it go up and down again. It’s so funny!”
“Well…”
“Please, Kuya?”
His brother sighed. “Oh, all right.” He smiled, and started the yo-yo again, managing every time to catch it before the bus went over large bumps. Rion laughed.
One boy, sitting in the seat in front of them, turned around and addressed Rion’s brother. “Hey, Ryou… why does he always call you ‘kuya’?”
“It’s Tagalog for ‘big brother’,” Ryou answered absently, “Ever since my mom taught him the word, he’s never stopped calling me that.”
“Isn’t it annoying, though?”
“No.” Ryou smiled. “Somehow, I like it.”
“You guys have the weirdest family,” another kid remarked, “Talking to each other and having different names for everything in like fifty different languages…”
“Not fifty,” Ryou answered, “Just three.”
“But still, it’s weird!”
Just then, the bus slowed down, and came to a rest at a street corner.
“That’s our stop,” Ryou mentioned, packing away the yo-yo and getting up. “See you tomorrow.”
Rion followed him, and they both got off, walking down the remaining couple of blocks to their house. The late November sky was cloudy and gray, and a cold wind blew.
“Do you think it’ll snow?” Rion asked, excitedly.
“No way,” Ryou answered, “It’s way too early. And it’d have to get a lot colder than this before we get anything close to snow around here! But…” He paused to think. “I heard that about ten or twenty miles from here, up in the mountains, it’s been snowing for a week.”
“If it snowed here,” Rion answered, “maybe Kei would want to play!” He smiled as he thought of the three-year-old girl who lived next door and always came over to play. “I haven’t seen Kei in a week,” he continued. “And Mrs. Nogami’s been all scared and crying all week. Maybe Kei’s sick with a cold? The flu?”
“Maybe…” Ryou answered.
As they passed by the neighbors’ house, Rion could hear a man shouting.
“Kuya…” Rion whispered, “That sounds like Mr. Nogami.”
“Huh?” Ryou stopped and listened for a moment. “You’re right.” He looked around, and spotted a couple of police cars in the Nogamis’ driveway. “I wonder what’s wrong.”
Rion noticed Mrs. Nogami standing near the front door of the house, holding Kei in her arms. Both of them were crying.
“Kei…” Rion murmured in surprise. He turned toward Ryou. “Kuya, what’s going on?”
Ryou shook his head. “I don’t know.”
As the two boys reached the driveway of their own house, the shouting got louder and louder. A small crowd of people began to flock toward the noise, and soon Rion could hear faint whisperings among them.
“So they finally found her…”
“Who?”
“The Nogami girl.”
“You mean the girl who was kidnapped last week?”
“The same.”
Rion blinked in surprise at hearing this, and he listened carefully as the whispers continued.
“I heard that someone at ITI was responsible.”
“What? ITI? The biggest computer company on the planet? What would they want with a kid?”
“Her father works for ITI, doesn’t he? Maybe he had enemies…”
“But does that explain why he’s chewing out the neighbors?”
There was more murmuring and whispering, too soft to hear, and then a few more people spoke up.
“That’s Minoru Araneta he’s yelling at…”
“Minoru Araneta? The president of ITI?”
“Of course.”
“How can they be fighting? They’re supposed to be colleagues, right?”
At that, Rion and Ryou had reached the front of their house, and Rion finally realized where the shouting was coming from.
Standing in front of their house was their father, and he was in the middle of a heated argument with Mr. Nogami. Their mother was standing near the edge of the driveway, watching the two enraged men fearfully.
“Mom!” Ryou called out, catching their mother’s attention.
“Ryou!” she answered, with the worried expression still on her face.
“What’s going on?” Ryou asked, “Why are Dad and Mr. Nogami shouting like that?”
Their mother was about to reply, when Rion suddenly ran off toward the two arguing men.
“Rion, come back here!” their mother shouted.
“Daddy!” Rion called out, running toward him.
The two men paid Rion no attention at all.
Touma was yelling in an accusatory tone, while Rion’s father did nothing but stare at him calmly.
“It was all your fault, after all!” Touma shouted, enraged.
Minoru stared back at him. “Do you have any proof that I was responsible–”
“The police have been suspecting that the kidnapping was linked to ITI,” Touma interrupted, running right over Minoru’s words. “Everything happened so neatly, it had to be an inside job!”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
Touma glared at him. “And the computer systems that were found at the scene were all high-end and state-of-the-art,” he continued, “They were some of the best in the world… and they’re not even on the market yet!”
Minoru’s expression remained calm. “So?”
“What do you mean, ‘so’?!” Touma roared, “My daughter was found in the middle of nowhere with criminals that just happen to have ITI prototype computers lying around! How the hell do you explain that?”
Minoru shrugged nonchalantly. “The techs brought out some prototypes for field testing in that area, and a few of those were reported missing on the day the kidnapping happened,” he continued calmly. “The kidnappers must have stolen them.”
“Field testing?” Touma replied, his voice dangerously soft. He started shaking with anger. “Field testing?! In the middle of a damn snowstorm? What the hell kind of excuse is that?!”
“You’ve been acting pretty suspicious lately,” Touma continued after a moment, “That new project you started a few months ago? ‘Mobius Two,’ or whatever. You’re being awfully secretive about it. You’ve got entire labs working on stuff, and the techs won’t breathe a word about what they’re working on. You’ve got security guys running around all over the planet looking for who know what. You’ve been spending a lot of money, running up a big bill, and no one else on earth knows what you’re up to!”
Touma stopped for a moment, and his eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you trying to do? What does Kei have to do with all of you? What do you want from her? You had her kidnapped so she could get all mixed up in your secret plans, didn’t you? How else can you explain what’s happened?”
“Never mind about that project,” Minoru answered coldly. “It’s not your concern, and it certainly has nothing to do with your daughter!”
Touma stiffened, and glared murderously at Minoru for at least a minute.
Minoru stared back, not saying a word.
“On that day,” Touma said softly, “when the rescue squad finally found Kei, she was alone in a flimsy tent, in the middle of a blizzard. The kidnappers had already run off. They left her there for two days.” He looked up, rage in his eyes.
“Two days! Can you imagine how that must have been for her? How scared she must have felt, with no one around, no mommy or daddy, nothing – except freezing snow, ice, and wind, and wild animals and wolf packs… with no one around to ‘make them go away’?!” he finished with a shout.
He looked down at Rion, standing nearby. Rion gulped.
“Imagine Ryou or Rion in that position,” Touma continued. “You’d be angry too, wouldn’t you? As angry as I am right now…”
He laughed, a low, sadistic laugh. “It could happen to them too, you know. Just as easily as it did to Kei.” He smiled. “With a job as illustrious as the head of ITI, you’re definitely a powerful and influential person. There’s bound to be someone who hates you enough to kidnap your kids!”
At this, Minoru’s calm demeanor finally cracked. He scowled and his eyes flashed. “You leave my sons out of this.”
Touma sneered. “Too late for that. You’ve already harmed my daughter.” He turned away, walking back to his house. “It’ll never happen again, while I’m still around!”
A moment later, he ushered Kyoko and Kei into the house, and slammed the door shut.
No one spoke for a moment after that.
“Daddy?” Rion murmured softly, looking up at his father in confusion.
Minoru placed a hand softly on top of Rion’s head. He continued to stare straight ahead, with a grim expression on his face…
Rion’s eyes snapped open. He pulled up his yo-yo and caught it with a faint crack. He felt a warmth in his pocket, and he reached in, pulling out his Digivice. It shined brightly, and pulsed every now and then. It did not beep or make any other noise.
He looked around, and noticed Guilmon sitting next to him, snoring loudly.
He smiled, and his thoughts quickly returned to his… dream? Memory? Or both?
A memory of when he was five years old. When he and his mother were still living together with his father and older brother. When his family was still together.
The recollection had been vivid and crystal clear, to an impossible degree – there was no way he could have remembered everything so well, including all of the little details. He looked down at his Digivice, noticed how it was reacting, and wondered if it was somehow helping him remember.
He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes again, wondering if he’d remember more…
A week went by, and nothing else happened. School came and went, and Rion and Ryou’s parents went to work and back. Everything seemed perfectly normal, except for the fact that Kei didn’t come over to visit anymore.
On one afternoon, however, everything changed.
The day started out normal, with Rion and Ryou going to school and back. When they returned home, no one was home. The answering machine contained two separate messages from their mother and father, explaining that they would be working overtime that day and would not come home until late.
Ryou sighed and walked toward his room. Rion plopped down on the living room floor, bored.
After a few moments, Rion looked up to see his brother enter the room, holding an elaborately carved rattan stick.
“What’re you doing?” Rion asked.
“Arnis,” Ryou spoke up, “Filipino martial arts.” He held out the stick and eyed it carefully. “Mom said I could have lessons, and learn how to fight with this!”
Rion nodded. “Oh.” He got up and started walking away.
“Where are you going?” Ryou asked.
“Somewhere,” Rion answered, “I’m bored.”
“Oh…” Ryou twirled the rattan stick with his fingers, deep in thought. “Hmm… Maybe you could draw something. I think Dad still has a little bit of paper in his office!”
Rion’s eyes lit up at the thought of drawing something. He loved to draw. “I’ll do that!” he said cheerfully.
Ryou didn’t answer. He began to swing the rattan stick around, pretending to hit imaginary enemies.
Rion looked at him a moment. “If you keep doing that, you’ll hit something.”
“Sure, sure…” Ryou answered absently. At that moment, the stick swung behind him and slammed into the back of his head. “OW!!”
Rion giggled and walked on up the stairs. He walked over to his father’s office and turned the knob. The door was unlocked, and the room was very quiet, save for the humming of the computer.
Looking around the room, Rion could see that his brother had been underestimating grossly about the amount of paper left in it. There was paper everywhere – from neat, organized piles to just simply strewn about on the desk. The papers on the desk were covered in random scribbles.
Overcome with curiosity and forgetting the reason he came, Rion walked over to the desk, glanced at the scribbled sheets, and was amazed to see that a few of them contained more than just random pen and pencil marks. There were black-and-white sketches and line drawings of various symbols.
A coiled heart. Two linked circles. A teardrop. A sun with thin, pointed rays. A circle with two waves. And a sun with a large beam of light shining down.
Rion stared at the symbols for a while, not understanding what they were or what they meant. He then pushed the papers aside. He was about to reach for more when his hand bumped the computer mouse, causing the black screen to light up. Rion looked up, startled, and looked at the screen.
Two windows were open on the screen – one contained a list of text, while the other seemed to be running a diagnostic. Rion glanced at the list of text, and was puzzled by what he saw:
Mobius Two – Search:
Tian Shu – Shanghai, China, June 2058
Jun Aikawa – Okinawa, Japan, July 2064
Mana Saitou – Okinawa, Japan, July 2064
Yuka Kazama – Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan, August 2064
Seita Kazama – Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan, August 2064
Kei Nogami – Appalachian Range, Virginia, USA, November 2064
Confirmed Matches: 6
Unknown Remaining: 2
Rion blinked as he read Kei’s name on the list, with a date of less than a week ago. He had no idea why her name was there, or who the other people were. He thought about the weird sketches, and wondered what they really were. Why was all of this in his father’s office?
A strange mechanical noise caught his attention next. It came from a small, rectangular metal box, with a cord running from one side of the box to the back of the computer. The diagnostic on the computer appeared to be related to the box, somehow.
Slowly, almost as if he was hypnotized, Rion reached out and touched the box. Immediately, the diagnostic stopped, and a blinking cursor appeared on the computer screen, as if waiting for a response.
Rion didn't notice any of this, as he was focused completely on the box. He picked it up, and lifted the lid.
Inside, there was a large number of strange black spheres. They looked almost as if they were buttons or marbles, but were not. A mysterious gray-black light radiated from them. Rion looked closer at them, completely oblivious to everything else, and slowly reached a hand to pick one of them up. He almost did, until...
Until a few of them moved...
Rion let out a frightened shout, and quickly shut the box. Breathing heavily, he stared at the closed box, still clutched in his hands.
He was immediately startled by a loud crash from downstairs, followed by a familiar shout.
Rion looked up. “Kuya?”
At that, the office door burst open, and a large group of men streamed in, wearing black suits and sunglasses. One of the men, at the head of the group, wore a black ski mask over his head.
Rion stared at them fearfully as they scurried around the room, sifting through papers and books and making a mess of everything. It was almost as if they were searching for something.
None of the men seemed to have noticed him, except for the man in the ski mask. The man stared right at him, with deep, blue eyes. He glanced at the computer screen, with the text list and the diagnostic, and then shifted his gaze back to Rion and the metal box he was holding.
“Give me the box, little boy,” the man said in a frighteningly quiet voice.
Rion couldn't speak. He stared back at the man, terrified, and he clutched the box tighter.
“Give it to me,” the man repeated, more menacingly, “Now!”
“Leave him alone!” a loud voice exploded from the doorway.
Both Rion and the strange men turned. Rion's eyes widened.
“Kuya!”
Ryou stood in the doorway, breathing heavily, and clutching his rattan stick. Immediately, the computer sounded an alarm, and the diagnostic began to run wildly, printing out long lines of code on the screen.
“Let him go!” Ryou shouted again, in a mean, angry voice. “Or else!” His eyes began to flicker between a chestnut brown and a deep, cold black.
None of the men moved, and Ryou's expression turned ugly. “I said, GO!” he shouted. His eyes then turned completely black, and he swung out his rattan stick, slamming it hard across the legs of one of the men. The man went down with a shout, and Ryou hit another man in the back.
Rion watched everything in fright. His brother on a wild rampage, and the men trying painfully to stop him.
Then, he saw the man in the ski mask pull out a gun and slam the handle of it against the back of Ryou's head. Ryou's head snapped back, and his eyes widened, reverting from black to brown. He dropped to the floor like a stone.
“Kuya!” Rion screamed. He stared at Ryou's limp form desperately.
Ryou didn't move.
“Kuya...” Rion murmured in shock.
The man in the mask then turned to Rion again. “Now, give me that box!” he shouted.
“No, no, NO!” Rion shouted, terrified.
The man took the box and yanked it from Rion's grasp. Rion landed on the floor, and looked up as the man opened the box. His eyes widened when he saw what was in it.
“So this was what he was hiding,” the man said softly, “That weasel.”
He looked down at Rion again, and his eyes narrowed. He pulled out a glittering, silver gun, and loaded in one black sphere.
“He wants a field test, does he?” the man muttered to himself, “I'll give him one!” He pointed the silver gun at Rion.
Rion shut his eyes as uncontrollable fear filled him, expecting to die at any moment. But then...
Then... after a moment, he no longer felt afraid. He looked up at the masked man, holding the gun, and felt nothing but anger. Intense, uncontrollable anger.
The man stopped and stared back at Rion in surprise. The others stopped and stared at him as well.
Rion got up, and slowly walked toward them, his anger building.
The last thing he was aware of was the bleeping of the computer and a string of text on the screen:
Ryou Araneta (33%), Rion Araneta (67%) – Washington, D.C., USA, December 2064
Confirmed Matches: 7
Unknown Remaining: 1
After this, Rion’s consciousness flowed away… and he was no longer himself…
Some time later, when Ryou finally came to, he picked himself off the floor and looked around the room in surprise. The entire room was a mess, with papers torn and strewn about, and furniture knocked over. The creepy, black-suited men were gone. And in the middle of the room was Rion, standing calmly, with a blank, dead expression on his face.
“Rion…” Ryou whispered. His voice trembled.
Rion turned toward him, slowly. His eyes, at first, were a deep, menacing black. When he caught sight of his brother, though, his eyes slowly reverted to brown. A shocked and terrified look appeared on his face.
“Kuya…” Rion murmured. Tears flowed from his eyes, and he threw his arms around Ryou. “Kuya!”
Ryou hugged him back, and they both cried.
After a while, they could hear police sirens in the distance, slowly getting louder and louder until it seemed as if they were directly outside the house. Then, they heard a familiar voice ring out through the house, calling their names.
Ryou looked up at the noise. “Mom!” he answered, his anguished voice still choked with sobs.
Their mother raced in, her face ash-white with shock as she looked around at the mess strewn around the room. Then, she saw both boys sitting on the floor, crying.
“My God…” she whispered in horror. She rushed over to them and hugged them.
“Mom!” Both of them hugged back, sobbing hysterically.
“What the devil happened in here?” another voice murmured quietly.
Rion looked up sharply at the voice. “Daddy!” he cried out, launching himself at his father and hugging him fiercely. His father hugged back.
They all went downstairs and outside as the police made their way into the house. They stood in the driveway, and after a moment, Rion's father looked up and glanced toward the neighboring house.
Rion looked in the same direction, and saw Touma Nogami, standing outside with his back toward them. He seemed to be very busy with something.
Minoru’s eyes narrowed, and he stood up straight, pushing Rion away slightly.
“Stay with your mother,” he said softly.
Rion nodded tearfully, and his mother hugged him.
“Nogami!” he heard his father roar across the yard.
Touma looked up from what he was doing and walked over, giving him a murderous glare. “What the hell do you want?” he answered vengefully.
“My office. Tomorrow, eight o’ clock sharp,” Rion’s father said coldly, “We need to talk.”
Rion didn’t hear Touma’s reply. Just one look at the man’s angry face made him scared all over again, and he cried again, hugging his mother tightly…
“Rion!”
Rion’s eyes snapped open, and he suddenly got up, breathing hard. His yo-yo dropped out of his hand and fell to the ground.
“You were dreaming,” Guilmon said softly, “You okay?”
Rion nodded, partly to reassure Guilmon and partly to shake his mind clear of the fuzzy, fading memories.
Where did all of that come from? He couldn’t possibly have remembered all of that from five years ago, could he? Either that, or his imagination must have been working overtime…
A light squeeze from Guilmon’s hand interrupted his thoughts.
“I’m fine, Guilmon,” Rion answered, bending down to pick up the yo-yo and giving him a small smile. “Don’t worry.” He closed his eyes for just a moment, and further wisps of memory ran through his mind.
This time, the memories were from a later event, about a week after their house had been broken into. He could barely remember it – his mother and father and their soft, hushed voices flowing from a half-closed door…
“I’m leaving,” their mother said softly.
“What?” Minoru blurted out.
“I’m leaving,” she repeated, “I’m going back home to the Philippines. And I’m taking Rion with me.”
There was silence in the room for a moment. Then, Minoru spoke up. “This has to do with Mobius Two, doesn’t it?”
No answer.
“…I see.”
“It’s gotten too dangerous here, in this neighborhood, ever since you started that project. With the Nogamis’ daughter getting kidnapped… our house getting invaded…” There was a short pause. “I’ll feel much safer back home. And Rion will be safer too. He can’t grow up being scared all the time!”
Minoru gave no reply.
“I really don’t want to do this…” their mother continued, her voice trembling, “I don’t want to split us all up like this… but it’s the best I can come up with.” She sighed. “I would much rather we all just moved out, but I know you can’t leave. Your work is here.”
“What about Ryou?”
“He can stay here, with you. He has to stay – he’s starting middle school next year, after all.”
Again, there was silence in the room.
“Is there anything I can do…” Minoru said softly, “… to make you change your mind?”
Silence.
“No.”
In the other room, Rion was only slightly listening to the conversation. He was busy glaring at the picture he was drawing. Somehow, it didn’t look quite right. He got up, scattering his crayons, and padded over to Ryou, who was sitting next to the door, listening intently. He looked strange – both sad and scared – but Rion didn’t think much about it.
“Kuya…” Rion whispered. Ryou turned suddenly, and Rion handed him the half-completed drawing.
Ryou stared at it a moment. “You’re missing the tail,” he replied, in answer to Rion’s unspoken query.
“The tail?”
“Yeah. It’s a dinosaur, right? It needs to have a tail.”
“Okay!” Rion said cheerfully, and proceeded to draw in a tail.
“Rion…” Ryou murmured.
“What?”
Ryou regarded him for a moment, then continued. “No matter what happens to all of us… you won’t forget me, right?”
Rion looked back at him blankly. “I won’t forget you, Kuya. How could I forget you? You’re always here! I always see you!”
Ryou stared back at him sadly and turned away. Rion didn’t understand why.
At least, not until later.
Rion opened his eyes again, glistening with teardrops.
So that was it. That was why his family had never lived together in so long.
He scowled, and a newfound rage boiled inside of him.
He thought of the times he visited his father and brother in the States, and of the many long months in between that he had spent overseas with his mother. There were some times when he felt bitterly angry with his mother for deciding to live apart.
And there were other times when he felt rage against Touma for causing them to split in the first place.
It’s all Touma Nogami’s fault, he thought angrily. It’s all his fault that my family is split up. His fault that I can’t see Dad or Kuya more than once or twice a year.
He remembered every visit he made to the States, and how Touma seemed to always be around, looking back at him from the house next door, always with a disapproving scowl on his face. He remembered the few times he had spent with Kei, and again, Touma was always nearby, watching him like a hawk. Watching his every move, as if he was an experiment to be examined.
He remembered the incident with Akira in the hospital… with Touma ordering him to be sent away, while at the same time ordering Akira’s memory to be erased…
We all used to be happy. And then he comes to ruin it all, every time!
Rion shut his eyes and clenched his fists.
It’s not fair!
He thought of the situation he and Guilmon were in now, of all the other times they had failed, and of all the other awful things that had happened to them, and to Akira and Kodamon, both in the real world and the Digital World. With Touma at the root of them all.
We all wouldn't have ended up like this if he had just left us alone and minded his own business!
I'll bet he's the one behind everything – the Digimon attacks, the Dark Seeds, everything! He's the one responsible! He has to be!
Rion shut his eyes, angrily wiping away tears.
It’s all his fault!
Suddenly, a random thought occurred to Rion.
Wait…
Wait a minute… He thought back to that day he wandered into his father’s office, as a five-year-old… the day when the scary men broke into their house and tried to take the box he had found… the one with the freaky little black spots that moved…
He’d found a box of Dark Seeds. Just like the one Mataymon had given him to test on Kei and Yuka…
If Touma Nogami was really the person responsible for those Dark Seeds…
Rion gulped.
Then why would Mataymon have them too?
The thought of it turned his insides cold, and set off more doubts.
What was Mataymon planning? Rion realized that he didn’t know. He had been so intent on getting both himself and Guilmon stronger, that he had agreed to help the mysterious Digimon without question.
He wondered now if it was such a good idea to follow Mataymon after all...
His thoughts were interrupted by a blast of wind from behind him. A low, menacing laugh accompanied it.
Rion turned around. “Mataymon...”
“What's wrong, Rion?” Mataymon asked with a laugh, “Afraid?”
Rion glared and shook his head. “No!” He stared back at him, silently, expecting another assignment.
“You and Guilmon will not be getting a new task,” Mataymon answered, as if he had read Rion's mind. “I'm here to relieve you.”
Rion's eyes widened. “Relieve? You don't mean...”
“I am no longer in need of your assistance. I have other, stronger helpers than the likes of you!”
“But you can't!” Rion answered despairingly, “You can't just throw us away like that! You said yourself that we would get stronger if we helped you! Guilmon hasn't gotten strong enough yet. We're not done!”
“Silence!” Mataymon shouted.
Rion looked back at him, startled.
“I've been keeping a close eye on you, Rion,” Mataymon answered testily, “You haven't changed at all since the first time we met. You've become weak again.”
“That's not true!” Rion shot back. “I'm-”
“I cannot use those who are weak!” Mataymon interrupted sharply.
Rion looked down in desperation.
“I will speak to you again when you have regained the strength you once had,” he added sternly, “Until then, farewell.”
Rion's thoughts were in a jumble, thinking desperately for a way to get Mataymon to help him again. Somehow, he had to be stronger.
Guilmon had to be stronger. Stronger than Growmon or MegaloGrowmon. Better than his best. Better than perfect.
Then, Rion gasped, as an answer occurred to him. Of course.
“Wait!” he interrupted wildly, “Give us just one more chance!”
There was silence. Then, a moment later, Mataymon chuckled.
“Don’t laugh at me!” Rion shouted.
“You must be desperate, pleading with me like this,” Mataymon murmured.
Rion glared at him. “Guilmon and I can still defeat them. All we need is just one thing!”
“Oh? And what is that?”
Rion hesitated.
He thought of Akira, smiling at him as they talked about anything and everything. Comforting him when he was sad. Trying her hardest to protect him when he was in trouble.
His best friend. The big sister he never had.
Did he really want to hurt her that much?
But...
Akira had forgotten about him. During the times he'd really needed her, she was never there to help, was she?
He'd decided long ago that he’d never forgive her, right?
Right?
“Well?” Mataymon demanded.
Rion gulped, and pushing away any remaining doubts in his mind, he looked up at Mataymon. “Give Guilmon the power to evolve to Ultimate.”
Guilmon looked at him fearfully. “Rion!”
“It’s the only way,” Rion answered coldly, “If you evolve to an Ultimate form, you’ll be stronger than all of them put together! You could beat them easy!”
“But… but I-” Guilmon stammered.
Rion ignored him, and looked back at Mataymon fiercely. “You agree, don’t you?”
Mataymon didn’t answer.
Rion glared. “Answer me!” he shouted. His eyes flashed black.
Mataymon’s answer was equally cold.
“No.”
Rion’s eyes widened. “What do you mean, ‘no’?” he spat.
“Evolving to Ultimate will be impossible,” Mataymon answered, “It requires more power than you have, and more than I can give.”
Rion glared back at him, livid.
“And even if I could give you that power,” Mataymon continued, laughing, “there’s no way you or Guilmon could control it. It would control you!” His laugh grew louder and harsher.
“How can you say that?” Rion shouted, enraged. “How would you know unless we try?”
Mataymon didn’t answer. He just cackled, low and menacingly. His eyes, partly hidden by his dark cloak, violently flickered.
Rion stared at him, and his angered expression deepened.
“Oh… so that’s it, huh?” he said darkly, “It was all a conspiracy against me – just a plan to get my hopes up, and then at the last moment make them come crashing down! You’ve been against me all along, haven’t you? You’re just like all the others. Just like Akira!”
At that, Rion’s eyes turned completely black, and the black Crest around his neck glowed eerily.
“But not anymore. I’m going to change that, right now.”
He turned away from Mataymon. “Guilmon, let's go.”
“You'll never defeat them on your own, Rion,” Mataymon said mockingly, “Because of your weak resolve, they'll cut you down. They'll defeat you a million times over.”
Rion said nothing.
“Turn away from me, and you will regret it,” Mataymon added, “You'll never win.”
“Oh, yeah?”
Rion turned around to face Mataymon again, and sneered.
“Just watch me.”