Chapter 12
A thin shaft of light filtered into the tent as Yamato drew back the flap that served as a door. He cautiously peered into the tent, and was a little surprised at the scene that met his eyes.
Pipermon, TK, Gabumon, and Patamon...all of them, curled together in the center of the tent. Pipermon's head rested on Gabumon's side as though he were a pillow, and Patamon was sound asleep on the floor of the tent beside Gabumon. TK was curled up against Pipermon's abdomen, and her left arm was draped over his shoulders. Yamato smiled. They looked so peaceful. Pipermon stirred, her eyelids fluttering open. She squinted in the morning light and lifted her head. Recognizing the figure in the ingress as Yamato, she slowly sat up, careful not to wake TK. Yamato ducked quickly inside the tent, his heart in his throat. Holding the flap of the tent open with his foot, a look of horror washed over his face. Had TK succumbed to the enemy? Had they lost him? He was afraid to ask. Pipermon saw the anxiety on Yamato's face, and her expression lightened as she held up two fingers in a V for victory. She winked at him, and a huge grin spread across his face as Pipermon scooped up TK and slowly got to her feet. She handed the younger child's sleeping form to his brother, and Yamato gingerly cradled TK in his arms as though afraid he might break. Pipermon tousled TK's hair.
"He's a fighter, this one," she told Yamato softly, and stepped out of the tent into the morning sunlight. Yamato watched her leave, then looked down at the sleeping TK. He quickly dropped to one knee and laid Takeru down beside Gabumon, then hurried outside.
"Pipermon!" Yama called, and she paused. He ran up behind her.
"Pipermon...are you...gonna be okay now?" he asked.
Her face reflected a second of shock. She still found it hard to believe that anybody could ever worry for her the way these children had. She smiled.
"I'm fine," she said, lifting into the air as though that would prove the point. "The effects of the spell's backfire have abated by now, I'll be fine." She hovered a few inches above the ground, then drew her knees up to her chest and reached out one arm. "How about you? Feel okay? No fever relapse or anything?"
Yamato pulled away, feeling awkward.
"No, no," he said, "I'm okay." He paused. "Pipermon," he went on after a moment. His hands twitched. "Pipermon, I wanted to...to thank you..." he said, bowing his head. "I wanted to thank you for what you--"
She cut him off with a sharp wave of her hand.
"Don't...don't thank me," she said softly, "I didn't do anything--"
"Sure you did!"
They both spun when a small voice piped up from behind them.
"TK!" Yamato cried, his eyes lighting up. He dropped to one knee as Takeru rushed forward and threw his arms around him. Yama squeezed his little brother tightly, relieved beyond belief that he was all right. "TK, you're really okay!" he exulted.
"You're...kinda squishing me, Yama-chan," TK squeaked, and Yamato pulled back.
"Sorry," he said quickly, and got to his feet, his hands still on Takeru's shoulders. TK looked up at Pipermon, grinning broadly.
"And you DID do something, Pipermon," the child said. "I never could have been so brave without your help. It was so scary, Yama-chan," he went on, his eyes getting wider, "it wasn't at all like you and Tai and Sora had said... We weren't running, we were stopped. Me, and Izzy, and Jyou, and Mimi, and Kari were the only ones there! There WAS the black cloud thing, though, and it was in the middle of a field, it was trying to get us, but I wasn't afraid, because I remembered what Pipermon told me, that if I was scared, Kurarimon could hurt me. If I was brave, then she couldn't. So I just stood up in front of everyone else and I told that big old creepy black cloud to take a hike!"
Pipermon laughed.
"That's the spirit, Takeru-san," she said.
TK frowned.
"But nobody was in front of me, Yama-chan," he went on, "we weren't in a line...so there's no way to know who will be next!"
"NOBODY will be next, TK," Yama replied, "because now we know how to fight her nightmares."
TK turned to Pipermon.
"Thanks, Pipermon," the younger boy said, a sparkle in his eyes. "You helped me be brave. It was almost like you were right there in the dream with me..."
Pipermon sucked in a sharp breath.
"It...it wasn't..." She didn't finish her sentence.
"Sure it was," Yamato concluded for her. He clasped his hands together and bowed slightly at the waist. "Arigatou."
With that, Yamato smiled at her, and then grabbed TK's arm to go break the good news to the others. Pipermon stood perfectly still outside the tent, watching the brothers as they headed for the other tents. Then she clenched her fists and lifted lightly into the air, hovering over to the boulder where she had fixed Izzy's computer the other evening. She plunked down on the rock, troubled.
What was she supposed to do now? They were so close--she could FEEL Kurarimon's evil power skulking through the trees like an intangible serpent. It wouldn't be long now, before they reached the mountain, and then Pipermon wasn't certain she would be able to help them anymore. She was strong, but Kurarimon was stronger. Kurarimon would ALWAYS be stronger, and, though Pipermon knew Kurarimon, like any digimon, had her weaknesses, Pipermon did not posses the powers needed to take advantage of those weaknesses.
She frowned.
How could she do that, anyway? How could she turn against Kurarimon? How could she turn against the one who had pulled her from the edge of despair after Piedmon was destroyed? The one who had convinced her that, even though the only creature she had ever truly trusted was gone, she could still go on? That, even without her master, her life would not stop? Kurarimon had picked her up and dusted her off, and put her back on her feet with a new purpose, and Pipermon felt a certain loyalty to her for that.
But am I that loyal to her that I could sacrifice the lives of eight innocent little children? she wondered. Can I really destroy them if I am ordered to do so? She frowned. Could I really betray HER and refuse to?
So many questions...so many awful questions, each one more terrible than the last.
Who do I fight for? she asked herself, burying her face in her hands. Who do I fight AGAINST?
She ran her hands down her face and let out a gusty sigh. Her arms flopped down to her sides and she rested her hands on the boulder, staring off at the horizon.
Whose side AM I on??
Within three hours time, they had reached the static section of the woods that neither shifted nor migrated around them. Pipermon had said hardly a word the whole time, and the children could tell something was wrong. All the times before, Pipermon had chatted with them, or pointed out certain landmarks--Kyouboku, the largest tree in the forest, and the Heika River--but nothing this time. Only anxious silence. Even oblivious Mimi had noticed the unusual quiet, and hadn't once complained about being hungry or tired. Tension hung in the air like a thick blanket of fog, swirling about them and making everyone a little bit nervous.
They had passed the point of no return long ago, Pipermon knew that. She knew now that, sooner or later, she was going to have to make a choice: Kurarimon, or the children. Oh, what an awful decision to have to make...in one hand, she held the lives of eight young children...eight special human beings who were their world's only defense against the darkness Kurarimon was certain to invoke once they were all out of the way. In the other hand, she held her own life, as Kurarimon was sure to kill her should she side with the Digidestined.
So what will it be, Pipermon asked herself, my life...or theirs?
She stopped them just short of a line of trees--the last barrier between the group of children and their nemesis, Kurarimon. Between good and evil. That's all it came down to, really...the forces of good against the forces of evil...the light against the endless darkness. How cliché, she though with a frown. She never imagined herself caught betwixt two such powerful forces. She took a deep breath.
"This is it, kids," she said softly, looking back at them, "beyond these trees is the base of Kuroniji Mountain."
Yamato's expression became one of severe determination.
"No turning back now," he said, and started forward.
"Wait--!" Pipermon cried, extending one arm and stopping Yama in his tracks. He turned back over his shoulder, and Pipermon hesitated. "It's...it's not too late," she went on.
"Too late?" Tai asked.
"Too late...for what?" Kari added.
Pipermon frowned.
"It's not too late...to turn back..." she said.
"Turn BACK??" they all cried.
"We can't turn back NOW!" Jyou shouted.
"We've come so far!" Sora chimed in.
"And we've gone through so MUCH!" Tai added.
The protests continued, the children and digimon alike debating over whether or not to turn back.
Pipermon let out a growl and fisted her hands.
"Now HOLD it!" she cried, slicing her hands through the air. "I don't think you kids understand the severity of the situation you're in. Up until now, you've only been given a sample of what Kurarimon is really capable of, but, once you step beyond these trees, there isn’t a digimon power in this world that can protect you. I'M not even strong enough to protect you from Kurarimon's power."
There was a moment of silence, and then Izzy piped up.
"What do you mean, Pipermon?" he asked. "Just what is Kurarimon after?"
"Yeah, why does she wanna hurt us, anyway?" TK added.
Pipermon sighed.
"It's...kind of a long story..." she fudged uncomfortably.
Taichi frowned.
"That's okay," he said, "I'm really curious as to what she's got against us..."
Pipermon hesitated.
"Well," she said, "if you really want to know..." Her voice trailed off. Then she lifted off the ground and drew her knees up so she was sitting indian-style in the middle of the air. "As I told you once before, Piedmon created me as a prototype of sorts...sort of to test and see what he was capable of creating...or rather what he was capable of controlling. What I DIDN'T tell you was that he created four prototypes."
"Four?" Tai echoed. "You mean that you're not the only digimon Piedmon created?"
"Bingo," she replied. "Along with myself, Piedmon had created three other digimon...Hollymon, Ivymon..."--she inhaled sharply--"and Kurarimon."
"Kurarimon??" they all cried.
"You mean that SHE is one of Piedmon's creations, too?" Jyou wailed.
"And you knew this all along?" Yamato cried. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"I didn't really think it mattered what her origins were," Pipermon said honestly. "I figured that what counted was the fact that she was your enemy, I didn't think that where she came from or by whom she was created would make a difference..."
"It doesn't," Tai said quickly before the others could protest any further. "Go on."
She drew in a deep breath and continued slowly.
"Kurarimon was actually the first of Piedmon's creations, but he put off completing her," she explained. "Hollymon and Ivymon came after her. Only once he discovered just how powerful he had created Kurarimon to be did he realize he would never be able to control her. He'd had a hard enough time controlling the twins."
"Why were they so difficult to handle?" Agumon asked.
"They're at a lower level than you are, Pipermon," Gomamon added, "you beat them easily."
Gatomon snorted, but no one, save Pipermon, seemed to notice. She uneasily cleared her throat.
"Their level wasn't what made them difficult to control," she said, "it was the fact that there were two of them. Separated, neither one would be hard to handle, nor, however, would they be very effective as adversaries. Together, however, their combined attacks can be quite devastating...but they are extremely hard to control."
"Why's that?" Sora asked.
Pipermon frowned.
"I'm not entirely sure," she said honestly. "It might have something to do with the fact that they are so similar...Piedmon basically spliced the information of one digimon into two, thus creating twins. Don't ask me why...like I said, he was experimenting...but he found that the twins were simply too difficult to handle when they were together, and Kurarimon was just too powerful."
"So he got it right on the third try when he created you," Izzy said.
"Essentially," she replied. "Since Kurarimon was too strong, and individually the twins were too weak, he simply found a happy medium in me."
"So what does this have to do with Kurarimon's hatred for all of US?" Mimi asked, carefully sitting down on the ground to rest her aching feet.
"I'm getting to that," Pipermon replied. "Piedmon would have really done himself in had he animated Kurarimon...he was simply too cocky...he made something he realized he would never be able to handle and, thankfully, never completed her, or else we would have had some serious problems."
"But if he never completed her," Gabumon said, "then how--?"
"Hush," Pipermon chided, "let me finish." Gabumon sheepishly fell silent. Pipermon threaded her fingers together, and continued, "Kurarimon was never physically completed by Piedmon's hands...rather he made her sort of like a time-bomb. He somehow set things up so that, should anything happen to him, she would be awakened to exact the destruction of the Digidestined in his place."
"But you just said she was never completed," Yamato protested. "If that's true, then how could she have been brought to life?"
"When you children destroyed Piedmon, his information was scattered, the same way any digimon's information is relocated when their current existence is terminated," she explained. "Somehow the act of dispersing Piedmon's energy set off a chain reaction in Kurarimon."
"What sort of chain reaction?" Patamon queried softly.
"Somehow," Pipermon stated, "Kurarimon was completed with the fragments of all the subsequent enemies you Digidestined destroyed. Bits and pieces of every digimon you defeated from Piedmon to now were used in Kurarimon's completion."
"So you mean she's like a part of all of them?" TK asked, perplexed.
"More like each of them is a little piece of her," she clarified. "I'm sure you all remember Apocalymon? And how he could use the attacks of any digimon he chose? Kurarimon is sort of similar, except she doesn't use their attacks, rather she uses their energy. She has the strength of Piedmon, Apocalymon, Diaborumon...and any other digimon defeated at the hands of the Digidestined, all compounded and multiplied upon one another. She is, essentially, as strong as all the recent enemies you have defeated...combined."
"That still doesn't quite explain why she wants to destroy all of us," Kari said. "So what if she was made for a certain purpose? Surely she must realize that we've never done anything to personally harm her. And Piedmon is gone, so why does she feel the need to carry out the purpose he gave her? Can't she think for herself?"
"That's just it, Hikari-san," Pipermon said slowly, "she IS."
