* * *
Elsewhere, Gabumon was searching for his partner. It was hard to see through the thick undergrowth, and the growing winds made the leaves of the trees rustle noisily, blurring sounds together. Getting a little frustrated, he barged through a thick mesh of green… and came face to face with two angry-looking human guards dressed in camouflage gear. They yelped in shock and charged at him, holding out two frightening-looking electric prods.
Gabumon dived between them and shot backwards with his Blue Blaster attack. They collapsed to the ground, stunned, as he sprinted away. He dashed through the undergrowth, branches scratching his arms and whipping his face.
As he passed through a clearing, something grabbed him forcefully by the shoulder. He swiped at it with his claws, causing it to give out a horrific howl of pain. It dropped him and he chanced a glance back at what it was.
He’d clawed Aidan’s nose.
He held it painfully, eyes watering. “Watch it!” He growled. “Well, at least we found you.”
MetalArmadillomon was smirking slightly. “Why were you in such a hurry?”
Gabumon pulled them down behind the bushes. “Human guards are out. I think they might have Matt,” he panted.
Aidan and MetalArmadillomon looked at each other with equal looks of concern.
“We’ll have to find a way inside.” Aidan muttered, his nose still stinging.
MetalArmadillomon nodded, straining his eyes to see through the trees. A glimpse of concrete a few hundred metres away caught his eye. “Over there.”
He curled up into a spiked ball and charged off through the undergrowth. Aidan and Gabumon followed in hot pursuit, Aidan hacking down intervening branches. They pelted through the trees, knocking over two guards and setting off numerous digimon traps as they went.
They stopped at a waterfall. Gabumon sniffed the air curiously.
“Matt was here.” He said quickly. A way off behind them, they could hear angry shouts drawing nearer. Aidan looked back and threw up his Light Shield.
“Get into the waterfall,” he said firmly.
Obediently, they jumped down through the wall of water and landed in the concrete entrance. A rancid smell of smoking plastic and blood burned their nostrils. On the wall, the fried swipe-card mechanism hung loosely by its wires. The floor was sticky with scarlet. Bullets half-embedded in its frame, the thick metal door was stuck half-open. Gabumon was frozen in fear. Was it Matt’s blood spilled on the floor? Was he still alive? His claws shook nervously.
MetalArmadillomon swallowed down his stomach and called to Aidan. “Aidan, get down here!” He grabbed Gabumon, still paralysed with worry, and hurled him underneath the door. Bullets whizzed through the water and pounded into the walls with loud cracks, sending bits of concrete flying everywhere. More soldiers in camouflage gear appeared from behind the trees opposite and fired their guns at where Aidan was standing. As the bullets ricocheted from his shield, he hovered over the waterfall entrance. This would take perfect timing.
The soldiers kept firing relentlessly as more appeared from all directions. Growling, Aidan drew his sword. Over the gunfire, he heard MetalArmadillomon’s concerned cries. He was glad the humans didn’t have his acute hearing, otherwise the digimon would already be dead.
He could feel his energy failing him as the shield began to flicker. “Three…”
The bullets kept coming. “Two…”
Two more guards appeared from behind him and opened fire. “One…”
Summoning up his remaining strength, he launched his sword in a spinning flight at a tall tree opposite him. It cut through the trunk with ease and flew right into the next one. The first tree toppled over onto two of the guards. The others stopped firing in surprise. As the sword travelled in an arc, it cut down the trees behind the soldiers. They scattered, frightened for their lives.
His sword returned like a boomerang into his waiting claw. Immediately, he dived into the waterfall and under the door.
MetalArmadillomon and Gabumon were waiting inside, looking deathly concerned. Aidan threw them a quizzical frown.
Shakily, Gabumon pointed over to a bloody mass in the corner of the room. Aidan edged over to it slowly and poked it with his sword. It rolled over and groaned- a human soldier. In a state of semi-consciousness, he looked up at Aidan and wailed in fright. Aidan jumped back, sickened.
* * *
Something was tugging at his skin. He tried moving his arm to catch it. Everything was so much heavier. He didn’t feel well. Groggily, he opened an eye. Something green seeped onto the surface of his eye- it burned. Wincing in pain, he let out a quiet growl.
That was his voice? It was so much deeper than he remembered it. Perhaps he was dreaming. He shut his eyes again and tried to fall back to sleep.
His whole body hurt. It felt like he’d been rearranged during the night, as if someone had hit him over his entire body, turning it into one gigantic bruise.
“Awake yet?” a muffled voice called. He opened his eye again. This time, the green substance didn’t hurt him. He was in a large glass cylinder, but couldn’t see beyond the cloudy liquid.
“Wheeere... I?” he couldn’t speak properly. His jaw felt numb.
The voice laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to the changes soon enough. Welcome to your new world.”
He could see a purple mist discharging into the top of the tube. Almost immediately, he drifted back to sleep...
* * *
Crack!
Aidan hit the human squarely on the head with the pommel of his sword. He was knocked out instantly; his head flopped back to the floor with a thud.
“He’ll live.”
A feeling of disgust shot through MetalArmadillomon. “How could you do that? He’s a living creature!”
Aidan glared at him sternly. “I didn’t kill him. He’ll be knocked out for a while. When the other humans find him he’ll be easier to deal with. And besides, do you really want him to be attracting attention to us?”
MetalArmadillomon looked away, anger stinging his eyes. Aidan looked around. The room was fairly dark- the bulb had been damaged. Light beamed in from the corridor opposite them. At the end was a lift.
Aidan nodded forwards. “This way.”
Reluctantly, MetalArmadillomon followed him. Gabumon felt terrible. Plunged into the sea, they’d been thrown onto an island where they were being hunted like game. Matt had disappeared. He could be lost, injured, or worse. He shook his head, trying to erase those thoughts from his mind.
But what if he never saw him again?
They stepped into the lift, not saying anything to each other.
Aidan jabbed the ‘door close’ button and looked to MetalArmadillomon.
“What?”
MetalArmadillomon gritted his teeth. He was trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t result in him yelling. He didn’t have to hit that soldier. He hated humans, but he hated unnecessary cruelty even more.
Aidan kneeled down, his wings almost knocking Gabumon over. “Look…” he started.
He didn’t know what to say. He knew he didn’t have to hit the soldier. But he couldn’t help himself. It was like he was programmed to do it.
He shuddered. Programmed. He wasn’t a plaything to a sick mind anymore. He could break the programming... he had to.
He clenched his jaw, mixed feelings of hurt and anger flowing through him. He stood back up again and opened the doors. Hearing the humans nearing the waterfall entrance outside, he ran back down the corridor and picked up the man carefully. Striding into the lift, he punched a button and the doors skidded shut.
MetalArmadillomon looked up at him, his face tired but relieved.
“Thank you.”
Slowly, the lift descended into the human’s base…
TO BE CONTINUED...
