It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time a little MummArch fic by Lithrael
Happy discalimers & warnings: This fic is fairly violent, nekkid, sadistic, and more than a little naughty. Since I *am* writing from the dub, I'm using the dub spellings. "Arukenimon" may be a bastard romanization of Archnemon, but hell, it still sounds like that. Next thing I know you'll be yelling at me for calling Deathsaurus "Dezaras" or something.. I don't own nuthin'. I'm just borrowing the characters to be mean to them for a bit and then smoosh them together. On with the fun.
The blast that destroyed the control spire had thrown Arukenimon a good twenty yards, through several trees and a rock. Mummymon had been too panicked to stop and see how badly she was damaged - he had simply scooped her up and run in a blind terror, his only concern putting distance between them and Blackwargreymon. His jeep lay, overturned and forgotten, far behind them.
He stumbled once, twice, and kept running, the strength his fear lent him almost exhausted. He slowed down and finally stopped, turning and listening hard. The forest was quiet - the frightened silence of animals - and there was no sign of Blackwargreymon. Mummymon shivered with relief and plopped down in the soft leaves, resting the unconcious Arukenimon in his lap. It looked like Blackwargreymon had never even bothered to chase them. He sat there vigilantly anyway, staring into the forest, until the animals calmed down and resumed their normal activities. Then he looked at Arukenimon.
His mouth opened in a small gasp of concerned surprise. She was considerably roughed up from being thrown, with a nasty cut running right across one cheek, and another on one shoulder, and her clothes were practically in tatters. One of her gloves was missing, as was her hat, and her... her dress was broken... Mummymon dithered, unsure of what to do, confronted with most of Arukenimon's milky white chest and long, slender legs. Thankfully her belt held and the dress didn't split awfully far up, or he might have passed out on the spot.
Then again, that might have been for the better.
At last he decided the best thing to do would be to try and fix it. He lifted his big hands and tried to pull the remains of the dress back into place. Arukenimon stirred slightly, moaning softly, and he froze. Was that a good moan or a bad moan? He let himself imagine for a moment that his clumsy ministrations had, however unintentionally, elicited some pleasure from Arukenimon. Deleriously, he stroked the undamaged side of her face. Presently she woke up the rest of the way.
She looked up at him with a soft, sleepy gaze that absolutely melted his heart. Then she seemed to realize where she was - and that Mummymon was touching her far too intimately - and roared, knocking his hands away and jumping to her feet, "WHAT do you think you're doing?"
"I'm sorry, my darling, I..."
His apology was drowned out by a shriek as Arukenimon noticed the state of her dress. She clamped her arms over her chest and spun around, turning her back on Mummymon, who looked like he might die of mortification. "Give me your coat," she commanded, in a quietly outraged voice.
The seam had split obscenely high in the back. Mummymon tried not to look at her. He concentrated on getting his coat off - WHY did he have so many buckles? - and kept his eye safely on the ground. At last, he shrugged off the coat and handed it, at arm's length, to Arukenimon.
"I'm sorry, my dear," he said after a moment, but the only reply was the continued fabric-rustle of Arukenimon trying to make herself decent. She moved into his line of sight, a smear of blue, and he looked up. His protective worry didn't leave him, but it was pushed aside for the moment by the utter adorability of Arukenimon swallowed up in his coat. It was absurdly huge on her, but because of its cut, it still only barely made her G-rated.
Arukenimon was used to Mummymon staring at her. Usually she could tolerate it, but this time she was distinctly offended. He was looking at her like she was a kitten that had just been kicked - a cute, pitiful creature that needed his help. And he was *still* blushing. She hoped he would try to touch her, so she would have an excuse to hit him with something. She could probably still justify a punch for the *grope* he'd been having when she woke up, but the moment had passed, and suddenly she was really feeling her injuries... Her enthusiasm for abusing her suitor dwindled as her own dull, rising pain set in. She sat down against a tree to rest, focusing her attention inwards, waiting to see whether her aches would get worse before they got better.
The next time she looked up, Mummymon was sitting attentively nearby, still gazing at her over his shoulder with his relentless infatuation. Caught staring, he looked away, resuming his forest vigilance. She cast her eyes away, disgusted.
But she was drawn slowly back, staring herself this time. Mummymon was shirtless beneath the coat. His wide, grey back was turned to her - and it was absolutely *covered* with long, straight, deeply carved scars. The damage had to have been inflicted on a few different occassions, she mused. He couldn't have been whipped that badly all at once, or he would have died. She chewed on her lower lip, consumed by curiosity, but reluctant to show concern by asking. He *had* to be showing off, wanting attention, and she didn't want to let him win so easily.
"Mummymon?" she hazarded. He turned. Shit! He had scars on his shoulders, too. Her eyes lingered on the smooth grey expanse of his chest. "What happened to you?"
He looked blank for a moment until one of the gears of his mind actually caught and he figured out what she meant. He had forgotten that Arukenimon had never seen his naked back. The very thought of her looking at him made him go all bashful again,and he smiled, his gaze dropping to the ground. "Don't feel sorry for me, my dear. It was a long time ago."
*A long time ago..?* she wondered. She couldn't remember *anything* having happened a long time ago. The last few years were clear enough, but before she'd met their employer, there was only a blank. Oikawa had promised to return her memories when her work for him was finished. Not that she particularly cared. She couldn't miss what she didn't know.
"That's not an answer," she retorted.
He sighed deeply, getting ready to dredge up bad memories. He didn't really want to talk about it, but now that Arukenimon was curious... Well, she would always be looking at him *that way.* He raised his eye to confirm that 'that way' was really so bad. It was. He looked away again. "You're lucky to be an antagonist by nature. You're just what he wanted. But on the first try... he got *me.*"
Her jaw dropped, and she jumped to her feet again, shouting, "Are you saying-" and then she sat back down, hard, with blackness dancing at the edge of her vision. "Uhff," she commented.
For once, he didn't come to her rescue. He just nodded. "It wasn't his fault. He only wanted me to be better. He thought he could toughen me up that way, make me meaner. But it just made me confused." He pushed a pebble around on the ground with one huge fingertip. "I'm afraid I stayed that way."
"But why? Why did you *let* him?"
"I wasn't so powerful in those days," he said, grinning and throwing back his shoulders for a moment.
Arukenimon caught herself appreciating him, and frowned. Then she frowned harder - Mummymon had noticed her little war of emotions and was smiling stupidly at her.
It was true- he hadn't found his true Digimon form until after he and Arukenimon had spent some time in the Digital World. She had been there the very first time he had shed his gijinka form - the first time he could remember, at least. He often wondered why Oikawa had hidden their memories. Surely they would be more competent agents if they were intact? Perhaps it made them easier to control.
He often wondered *if* Oikawa had hidden their memories. The man had never shown anything but a cold, controlled face to Arukenimon, but Mummymon could never forget how... desperate and unhinged Oikawa had been when he himself had first materialized in the Human World. Maybe Oikawa had simply lost some part of them when he brought them over. Maybe he didn't really understand what he was doing at all.
"Anyway," Mummymon continued, "once he got tired of me, I gather he tried again and summoned you. I was 'let go,' if you know what I mean. But honestly, what could I do but stay by your side?"
"Did it hurt?" she asked, then scolded herself internally for saying something so stupid.
He just smiled at her, sadly. Dammit, he was STILL blushing! They both fell silent for several long minutes. Mummymon turned his attention back to the forest. Arukenimon stared at her shoes. Absently, she tested the cut on her face with the tips of her fingers. She wouldn't scar from such a small injury, would she? "...Mummymon?"
He turned around again, but suddenly she didn't want to ask him about scars anymore. Her mind cast about wildly for something else to say. "I'm hungry." And she *was,* too.
Mummymon leapt to his feet, as though in the midst of an epiphany. "Of *course* you are, my dear! I'll get something for you. Something *good!*" with that, he dashed off back the way they had come.
Then she was alone in the unfamiliar forest.
It took longer than he expected to find the jeep. He had covered an insane distance during his mad dash, and the explosion had picked up the small vehicle and thrown it just as it had thrown Arukenimon. When at last he spotted it, tangled in a crush of underbrush, he gave a grimace of sympathy pain and rushed to its side. He pulled it out of the mess with some difficulty, flipping it back onto its wheels in the process, and gave it a cursory examination. It seemed to be unhurt, though he wouldn't be able to use it to return to Arukenimon - the forest was too dense in that direction. Digging around in the back , he was pleased to find the case containing his stash of food unharmed.
A few minutes later, he had sucessfully whipped up a very attractive, if small, meal, which he wrapped up in a square of linen. With this present, a bottle of wine, and a satisfied grin, he headed back towards Arukenimon.
Arukenimon did not like the sounds that she heard every once in a while, mixed in with the foerst background. Something predatory was lurking nearby. Something nasty, anyway. She didn't like it when things nastier than her went around doing things of their own volition. Especailly when she was injured and vulnerable.
She wondered if there were any more control spires near here. Experimentally, she plucked out a long white hair, stroked it straight, and whispered, "Spirit Needle!" It floated in the air for a moment, then shot off into the forest. She couldn't tell where it had gone.
That sound! There it was again. Very close, this time. Where the hell was Mummymon? If anything happened to her, she would be sure to make him suffer for it.
Not that he wouldn't make *himself* suffer for it, but that was besides the point.
Shit! There it was again! She looked around and there was a grinning face inches from hers. She shrieked and it hung there, breathing and drooling, connected to a hulking yellow and grey body. It stood, still but for its heaving as it breathed, for several minutes, each waiting for the other to make a move. Then it spoke, in a gruff, crude voice.
"You hurt."
She flinched as if struck, but nothing else happened. By the time she realized it hadn't actually attacked, she had enough wits about her to scurry painfully away from the creature. Once she'd achieved a comfortable distance, she was offended. Not enough to provoke a large beast in her state, but offended nonethless. "So what if I am," she replied.
It took a few steps closer. "Here. I show you."
She shrank back, summoning what little energy she had left to try to perform a partial transformation. Her gloved hand lengthened and warped into a heavy, pawlike shape, which she threw out in front of herself. "Spider Thread!"
She gave an exultant little yell when the attack actually worked, twisting cords lancing out at the Wendigomon and entangling it. Then she grimaced, realizing that was all she had - her clawed hand was already shrinking back down, leaving her with a soft, brittle human body, completely defenseless.
The Wendogimon shook off the attack and took hold of her, one hand around her left arm and the other braced against her side, and started to pull. She felt her shoulder slowly being dislocated and gave vent to a full-throated scream.
The thing smiled in her face. "It hurt, don't it." Gradually, it relaxed, no longer pulling, but it did not let go. "Maybe I kill you." It shrugged. "The other one. Maybe I kill him too. He coming back." It grinned, broadly. "Maybe he never find you no more." Then it started to chuckle madly to itself.
Her Control Spire Digimon chose that fortunate moment to make its appearance, gliding swift and silent out of the forest and strafing the crazy Wendigomon with its outstretched talons. The little Salubrimon's claws slashed the Wendigomon's upper arm deeply as it sped past. The Wendigomon roared, letting go of Arukenimon, and whipped around to strike at it, but it was already far out of reach. Arukenimon took advantage of the distraction, slinking painfully out of sight and hiding herself amongst the trees.
The little winged creature was back for another pass, this time getting in under the Wendigomon's guard and smashing itself into the big creatures's side. It locked itself in place with its serrated teeth and claws, performing its attack, Sanguine Bite.
The Wendigomon howled and brought a huge fist down on the little artificial Digimon. The Salubrimon faltered under this attack, lost its hold and disintigrated into a puff of data. Arukenimon made a worried scowl, keeping perfectly still, hoping the stupid thing had lost track of her during the short battle. The Wendigomon stood there, heaving and panting (and drooling), for three or four minutes straight. Then its wits, such as they were, seemed to gather about it and it started looking around for its prey. Laboriously, it circled the area, swinging its massive head slowly from side to side, scanning.
After about twenty minutes of this, Arukenimon shook herself out of her tired 'on-hold' mode. The Wendigomon had spotted something. Not her, thankfully. She couldn't judge the direction - she'd gotten mixed up during the fight - but it was long past due for Mummymon to return. There was no way to warn him. As a healthy Ultimate, he shouldn't have any trouble anyway. As long as he had the chance to return to his full Digimon form, at least.
Mummymon sensed something was wrong long before he reached the spot where he'd left Arukenimon. The forest had gone silent again, tense. Nearing his destination, he laid his offerings aside at the base of a convenient tree and dropped his Gijinka form.. Just in case. Possibly Arukenimon herself had put the forest on edge with a tantrum or just some antagonism towards some resident. But possibly not.
He spotted the Wendigomon when he was still at a fair distance. It was lumbering around in some parody of a patrol. He did *not* spot Arukenimon. A bolt of fear shot through him and warped itself into self-recrimination. This thing had attacked Arukenimon, and he hadn't been there to protect her. He'd happily wandered off, knowing full well that she was in no condition to defend herself if the need arose... The emotion twisted one more time, into rage, and he raised his rifle and charged.
"Necrophobia!" he shouted, and that was as much warning as the Wendigomon got. It raised its broad arms in a defensive posture, just as the electric arc hit it dead-on, knocking it back into the trees. It picked itself up and roared, but by that time Mummymon was already on it, blazing away with the electric rifle point-blank. It howled in the electron stream, pulled one of its fists back, and threw a jaw-breaking punch at its tormentor. Mummymon, deep in the throes of his rage, never saw it coming. He soared backwards, losing the rifle, cracked to a halt on a massive tree trunk, and fell bonelessly to the ground.
Arukenimon winced from her hidden vantage point, and watched the Wendigomon walk slowly, dazedly, towards her fallen companion. Damaged and out of power, there was nothing she could do. She pressed her fist to her lips. Get up, she hissed in her mind, get up, get up! But Mummymon was still out cold when the Wendigomon reached him. It leaned down and picked him up off the ground, dusted him off, and patted him on the side of the face until he woke up, his one yellow eye blearily opening.
"Hello," said the big Wendigomon, making sure its grip was good and solid. "You hurt?" it asked, gruffly, but didn't wait for Mummymon to answer. "I hurt too," it said, and wrenched both of Mummymon's arms backwards, pulling one clear out of its socket. Mummymon screamed, bright terror mixed in with the pain, and kept on screaming. The Wendigomon nodded, taking careful hold of Mummymon's large, spiked shoulder, and snapping it back into place. Each adjustment brought a fresh bellow of pain.
Arukenimon was no longer watching. She was running - well, stumbling - away from the two battling Digimon. But she couldn't escape Mummymon's screams. She cursed him - how stupid did he have to be to let that moron Wendigomon get the upper hand? How stupid...
How stupid did she have to be, to let BlackWarGreymon get out of control? Why didn't she know how her creations worked? Why did she get close enough to let herself be injured? Why did she let Mummymon wander off and leave her alone? If she hadn't been too chickenshit to ask if he knew how her wound would heal, he wouldn't have gone off to find food.. They were going to die, both of them, to die, for SANDWICHES...
She was crying, but it didn't matter. Blurry vision or not, she would never find another Control Spire in time.