"The Circle of the Digidestined," written by Freedom Fighter Disclaimer: None of the characters, human or Digimon, belong to me, the writer. Author's Warning: The following fanfic features gruesome character death, both of the human and Digimon kind, violence of varying levels, some profane language, and some suggestive situations. Please do not read this fanfic if you're underage or feel that you cannot handle any of said features. This particular episode features sensitive sexual dialogue and some mild language. ****** Gabumon was up and about after his little nap, running through the halls of Space Station Zum with his partner's dark green D-3 in his paws. It was obvious that Gabumon was looking for Matt. The problem was that he couldn't find him. "Matt! Matt! Where are you? We have an emergency!" Gabumon had a feeling that there was something wrong in the Digital World, and that it was imperative that he and Matt get there to investigate. But his search for the Digidestined astronaut wasn't going anywhere... and it didn't help matters that he was running towards the end of the station opposite of where Matt was. ====== Speaking of Matt, he and Penelope continued to work on their calcium-neon-sodium compound that lay in a protective glass casing. Wearing gloves, Matt stuck his hands through the casing's two armholes and began to pick at the compound with a popsicle stick. "Um, Matt? I don't think it would be wise to stir the mixture," Penelope advised. "Are you sure? I've done this with calcium-sodium mixtures, neon-sodium mixtures, and calcium-neon mixtures, and nothing's happened! What are the chances of something happening here?" As luck would have it, something did happen. But nothing as dangerous as the young prodigy had predicted, as the mixture begins to turn a glowing green. But the sodium was dissolving quickly, and their compound was breaking up fast. In fact, the neon gas began to filter out of the casing and into the room. Matt and Penelope rushed out of the room as fast as they could. Just in time, too, for seconds later that particular laboratory exploded in a flash of bright neon light, blinding the duo and anyone else nearby. ====== On Earth, in the streets of Tokyo, a young couple was among those crossing a busy intersection when the female of the pair spotted something in the sky. "Look dear! A star... and a bright one at that!" The male looked up, and just as he did, the 'star' disappeared. "How gullible do you think I am?" the man asked. "Who ever heard of stars during the day, much less within the city?" ====== Back on the space station, the light of the 'star' burned out, making things in the laboratory visible again. Matt and Penelope crawled back in and spotted that their mixture had evaporated. Nothing of it was left. The three-element compound was completely gone. "We don't have another one of those on board, do we?" Matt asked. "No," Penelope replied, "and I told you that stirring the mixture was a bad idea." "It wasn't that bad of an idea... we're still alive and well, right?" Matt then headed to the door to go and see if they had a spare casing of their experimental mixture. Unfortunately, the light had blinded Matt enough so that he mistook the door out of the room for the door leading into the restroom next door. "Ouch!" Matt yelled, as the sound of him tripping over the toilet bowl rang through the air. Penelope opened her mouth to utter a familiar five-letter word, but thinks better of it. After all, she wouldn't wanted to be arrested for copyright infringement of a girl from another time and anime series. ***** Episode Nine - Go Get a Room! (05.29.03) ***** From the cold reaches of outer space to the cold mountains of the southern quadrant of the Digital World we go, as Ken, Yolei, Cody, Wormmon, Hawkmon, and Armadillomon arrive at their destination. "This should be it," Ken said, checking the coordinates on his Digivice. "The Southern Quadrant, Sector 0.00." "Are you sure that number's right?" Yolei asked, rubbing her arms with her own hands to try and keep warm in the calm yet chilly conditions. "It feels like it's below that!" "If it's that cold, then where's the snow?" Cody wondered... before crossing the line into that particular freezing region, where there was snow on the ground. "Does that answer your question?" Yolei shot back. "Come on, you two!" Ken cut in, lightly scolding them. "We've got a job to do!" "That's right!" Armadillomon said in agreement. "Brrrrrrr... don't you know that Hawkmon and cold weather don't mix?" stated Yolei's Digimon partner Hawkmon, who was freezing just as much as she was. "I don't like it either, but I'm above complaining about it," added Wormmon, putting in his two bits. The six of them started to tread through the snow, despite not being properly equipped for such an excursion. Their best bet was to get this over with as quickly as possible, which wouldhopefully be before they froze to death... "I'm so cold!" Yolei screamed. ...or before Yolei's whining got way too annoying to stand. ====== Meanwhile, about a mile away, one of the 'bad guys' and his Digimon were camped out and awaiting the arrival of the Digidestined to their location. But they had been waiting for nearly three hours, and the cold weather wasn't exactly making things comfortable for them. "Man, why did we have to be the ones stuck here?" the man in the blue shirt shouted, freezing even though he was sitting on the snow and in front of a small campfire. "Lucky you," his Digimon, Betamon, complained. "I know that snow and ice are forms of water, but I prefer the warm kind, thank you very much!" "They'd better get here soon, or we're leaving!" "But didn't the boss say..." "The boss? Screw what that fucking idiot said! He's not the one out here freezing his ass off, waiting for some washed-up has-beens to show up!" "You shouldn't say that about him. What if he's listening to us right now?" "Who cares? I'm only doing this because I want to be rich and rule the world! I just wish we hadn't seen that chick that screwed up our entire plan." "You're referring to the Digidestined of Light, I take it?" "Of course I'm referring to her! She messed up all of our plans! If I ever saw her again, I'd ring her scrawny little neck and put her out of my misery!" "Don't you mean her misery?" corrected Betamon. "No, mine!" "Oh." Betamon scratched his head, still confused. "I don't see what Kensuke ever saw in her." Blue shook his head. "Doesn't he know what women do to men?" Betamon sighed and rolled his eyes. He knew where this was leading. "Women use their bodies to persuade men to do their bidding!" Blue continued. "Women live just to make slaves of us men! Can you believe that, Betamon?" "I believe it!" Betamon shouted loudly, mockingly praising his teammate's beliefs, as he always did. "Men have to have jobs, buy the cars that women drive, give up their pay for bills that the women charge up, and a whole lot more!" "Amen!" "And they get to go out and party and dance, and flirt openly with other men, while we, the men, get reprimanded for even thinking about looking at another woman!" "Amen! Amen!" This time, Betamon glanced up to the sky. "Kensuke should know that dating women isn't worth it! He should date the sex that will care about him all the time!" "And what sex would that be?" "The men! Men do things for each other! Men can always talk about whatever they want without having to worry about what women think! And most importantly, girls don't wanna have fun! Men do!" "Amen and alleluia!" Betamon began to bow before Blue over and over. "One day I will convince Kensuke of the right way!" Blue said this with determined conviction, clenching his fist to accent his point. "There are no words to describe the way I feel now," Betamon said. "Oh, you're so good to me!" Blue picked Betamon up from the ground and started to rub his face against his Digimon's. "Not here!" objected Betamon. "What if people are watching?" "That's bitch talk, Betamon! Men don't care if people are watching!" "Okay, fine... we can do it here! Just promise you won't lick my horn, okay?" "I'm not promising anything, good buddy!" Betamon sighed. It was obvious who the man 'wasn't' in this relationship. ====== Back with our heroes, Ken has gotten Yolei to calm down and stop complaining about the weather... in his own special way. "Is that better?" Ken asked, looking at his wife lovingly. "Much better!" Yolei smiled, happy that she was wrapped in the arms of her own handsome husband, who was easily keeping her warm. "When Yolei's happy, I'm happy!" Hawkmon announced as he marched along, not feeling the cold as much as he had before. "How about sharing the love?" Armadillomon asked, now shaking in his boots, if he had them to wear, because of the cold temperatures. "That makes two of us," Wormmon added, as his small body was easily freezing up. The only person who didn't seem to care more or less about the cold was Cody, who was trotting along at the back of the group. It took Cody's own Digimon for the others to realize that. "You okay, Cody?" "I'm fine," Cody replied. "I'm just... thinking." "It's too cold to think!" Yolei cut in. "Just enjoy the beautiful weather!" "How can you say that after complaining about it just a few minutes ago?" "That was before Ken warmed me up!" "If you're still cold," Ken told his wife, "I can warm you up a bit more when we get back to the real world." "Warm me up even more?" Yolei smiled slyly. "I love the sound of that! I'll especially love the sounds that we'll share later on." Cody sweatdropped. "Geese Yolei... how often do you guys do it? Isn't three children enough?" "That's none of your business!" yelled Yolei. "Besides, Ken absolutely loves all of the 'special' attention I give him. Isn't that right, Kenny-poo?" Ken blushed. "Not in front of everyone Yolei-kins! Especially in front of Cody!" "Why not?" "Because I can use it against the both of you should I happen to be the attorney for the opposite side in a case," Cody smirked. "You wouldn't dare!" Yolei looked as if she was going to tear Cody limb from limb. Luckily, Ken had enough sense to keep Yolei leashed, so to speak. "Would you really do that?" Hawkmon asked as he looked at Cody. But it would be Armadillomon, Cody's partner, that would answer that question. "Cody would. He's a lawyer. Trust me, he's done it before." "Armadillomon!" "I'm just tellin' 'em the truth!" "This is why things were a whole lot better when we didn't have to hear about the problems humans have," Wormmon sighed. "You sure you and Mimi aren't sisters?" Cody asked Yolei. "You two seem to have similar tempers... short ones!" Yolei growled angrily. "You're just lucky you don't have your suitcase with you! I could've used it to knock your brains out!" "Okay Yolei, calm down!" Ken restrained his wife, working as the peacemaker in this situation. "Stop it this INSTANT!" Yolei grabbed a hold of herself, as she knew what Ken was like when he was angry. It was nothing compared to the anger she was feeling towards Cody right now. It was a whole lot worse than that. She didn't want him to be angry. Cody knew that as well... so he decided to shut his mouth and not say another word on the matter. The three Digimon also decided to be quiet, so the rest of the walk through the snowy grounds was rather uneventful. ====== Things would change when they found themselves at the campsite of Blue and Betamon. Unfortunately for them, the small campfire looked to be the only thing in the area moving. "There must be someone around here," Ken said, noting the fire. "Yeah," nodded Yolei. "Maybe he knows where all the Frigimon that are usually here have gone." Suddenly, the group noticed that there was something moving around in the tent. The sound of someone growling could be heard. "You think it's a wild Digimon?" wondered Cody. "Either that, or this is the guy that we're looking for!" Yolei deduced. "Leave this to us," Armadillomon said. "In case it is a wild Digimon; let us Digimon handle it!" After getting approving nods from Ken, Yolei, and Cody, the three Digimon huddled up to decide on a fair way to pick who should go in. "We need a game that gives everyone the same chance of being the unlucky one," Hawkmon said, establishing a ground rule for all of them to abide by. "Sounds good to me," agreed Wormmon. "How about rock, paper, scissors?" suggested Armadillomon. "Great idea!" the other two Digimon said in unison. Balling up their paws into fists, the three Digimon played rock, paper, scissors. But as with many other attempts to determine the lucky (or unlucky) person this way, they would always seem to either draw the same form or cancel each other out by drawing one of each. As the activity continued in the tent and the three humans waited patiently, one of the Digimon finally ended up as the odd 'mon out. "You're it!" Armadillomon told Hawkmon. "Okay," Hawkmon sighed, reluctantly agreeing as he walked towards the tent. "But I still don't get how paper beats rock!" Hawkmon tiptoed his way over to the tent, and slowly pulled back the flap to look inside. "Excuse me for interrupt... oh my!" Hawkmon dropped the flap and ran back to the others. That's because Betamon came running out behind him, trying to chase him away... and maybe stick his horn in Hawkmon's tailfeathers. "Come back here, you peeping tom!" Betamon shouted angrily. "I'm sorry!" apologized Hawkmon, although it was too late for it. "What's wrong?" Yolei asked. Yolei would get her answer as a man with a blue shirt and khaki pants on came out of the tent. Needless to say, his clothes looked like they had been put on in a rush... and putting two and two together, Yolei quickly figured out what was going on. "Betamon, back!" commanded Blue. Betamon obeyed his human partner and ran back, allowing Hawkmon to seek shelter behind Yolei's legs. "That's just disgusting!" Yolei exclaimed. "I've never seen this happen in my entire life, and I was hoping it would stay that way!" "Be quiet, you!" barked Blue, not happy about the intrusion. "What do you want?" "What happened to all of the Frigimon?" Cody asked. Blue smiled. "So... you're the group of heroes that I'm waiting for. I remember you all from the incident at the Koromon and Tsunomon villages." Ken was stunned to hear this. "You were there?" "We all were!" Blue exclaimed, lifting his arms up to the sky. "We?" Yolei asked. "As in more than one?" "Oh, you'll meet all of us soon enough. For now, I'm just going to test your powers to see what we're up against. Ready for battle, Betamon?" Betamon got into a ready stance, waiting for the command to attack. Hawkmon, Armadillomon, and Wormmmon got into position as well, in order to protect their Digidestined partners. "Let's go for it!" Ken, Yolei, and Cody all shouted at the same time, raising their respective D-3s into the air. "Show 'em who's boss!" Blue exclaimed as he lifted his own D-3 into the air. Betamon went charging straight towards the three opposing Digimon. He immediately went after Hawkmon, who had aggravated him in the first place. "Electric Shock!" The charge of electric energy flew towards Hawkmon with tremendous speed. It was so fast that Hawkmon was unable to dodge it. The attack succeeded in nearly frying Hawkmon, and it was enough to ground him for the moment. "You can't do that to our friend!" Armadillomon shouted. "Take this... Sticky Net!" Wormmon exclaimed, shooting out a web to ensnare Betamon. Betamon leapt out of the way though, easily avoiding the trap. But he didn't account on Armadillomon waiting for him. "Diamond Slamming Attack!" Armadillomon charged right into Betamon's back side, sending the Digimon flying several feet away... and right into the waiting wings of Hawkmon, who had recovered from the initial attack. "Get 'em, Hawkmon!" Yolei shouted, drawing a strange look from Blue. "Feather Strike!" Hawkmon announced the name of his attack as he fired the feather atop his head right at Betamon. The attack hit its intended target, making a big scratch on Betamon's head. "Again, Hawkmon!" "Not so fast!" Blue cut in. "Betamon, fry that bird!" "Electric Shock!" Betamon unleashed another electric attack. At close range, this attack was much more powerful, and this one nearly knocked Hawkmon out for good. Hawkmon, barely able to stand up, watched as Betamon started to approach him. "Hawkmon!" Yolei yelled as she ran over to protect her Digimon, glancing at the menacing Betamon at the same time. "Stay away!" "So that Digimon's yours? Very well then... Betamon, take care of them both!" Ken, quickly realizing the danger that Yolei had unwittingly put herself into, ran over to protect his wife from getting hurt. "Electric Shock!" The third shot of electric energy was directed right at Yolei, who realized way too late what was going on. But at the last possible moment, Ken dived in and pushed Yolei out of danger, taking the full brunt of the attack in the process. "Ken!" Yolei gasped as her husband fell to the snowy ground. "What?" Blue was enraged by Ken's heroics. "How dare you save that woman!" As Yolei checked Ken for injuries, he slowly got to his feet and glared at the man that opposed them. "This woman is my wife! And I won't let you hurt her!" Blue shook his fist with rage. "You scum! You actually got married to a woman? How wrong is that?" "What are you talking about?" Ken asked. "Don't you know what women do to men? They make men their undying slaves for life! It's not worth getting into a relationship with them!" "How dare you say that?" Yolei shouted, now angry as well. "Ken and I have a great, equal relationship that we wouldn't change for the world!" "Women are the devils of the Earth!" Blue exclaimed. "They must be eliminated!" "Oh yeah? I'll show you what a woman can really do!" Yolei looked to Hawkmon for help, as the bird Digimon got to his feet and prepared for another round. "Don't wanna give up?" Betamon asked, charging up for another attack. "Maybe you will after this Electric Shock!" Betamon fired his Electric Shock attack. This time around, though, Hawkmon flew out of the way and completely dodged it. Hawkmon then dived in for an aerial attack. "Take this, you misguided Digimon!" Hawkmon swooped in and gave Betamon a few good pecks of the beak on his head. He then grabbed Betamon by the horn and then swung him around and around, finally releasing him and sending him back to his human partner. "Betamon... Betamon?" Blue looked to see if his Digimon was still responsive, but that throw had knocked the little guy out. Blue growled angrily as he used his D-3 to open a portal back to the real world. "I will get my revenge on all of you!" Blue then pointed a finger at Yolei. "Especially you and your Hawkmon, you bitch!" With that, Blue carried Betamon into the portal. Yolei ran after him, hoping to ring his scrawny neck for calling her a bitch... but the portal closed before she could get there. "Come back here and fight!" Yolei screamed. "Then I can show you what this bitch can do to your face!" "Oh boy, hit the deck!" Hawkmon shouted, lying down in the snow and putting his wings over his head. "Yolei's about to explode!" "No argument here," Ken agreed as he, Cody, Armadillomon, and Wormmon all hunkered down. "And this is the woman you married?" Cody asked Ken. Ken sighed happily. "It's the total package, Cody. The total package." ====== In the real world, Dora had just pulled her '25 Toyota Celica into a parking lot adjacent to one of the city's busiest Internet cafes. Before stepping out though, she reached into the glove compartment and pulled out her D-3, which was orange. "There's only one other place he could be..." Dora growled angrily. Heading into the cafe, she found an empty computer terminal and got herself to the Digiport map website. Seconds later, she jumped into the screen and made her way to her destination... the Digital World Research Lab in Osaka. ****** Author's Notes: First off, to answer the hunches of whom Penelope is based off of, as I mentioned in Episode 7... it is Ruri Hoshino from 'Martian Successor Nadesico.' Note that Penelope, though, is a little older and is actually human, but she's still smart enough to realize that the people around her do idiotic things. For more proof of that... you'll see in Episode 11. If I remember my chemistry right, and I hope I do because I never liked it, the elements sodium, calcium, and neon cannot be combined to form a compound. Neon is one of those perfect gases that have been scientifically proven not able to form compounds with any other elements, including each other (the perfect gases themselves). Add to that that sodium and calcium are on the same side of the periodical table, which makes it virtually impossible to make a compound out of those two elements. But it is the future, and science has found ways around difficulties like that. I'd go more into detail, but it's not a major part of the fic at all. You don't have to worry about that... because those of you who have yet to take chemistry probably wouldn't understand it anyway. In fact, I probably wouldn't either. Catch the joke about Ken's group being in Sector 0.0? Well, and this is a chemistry factoid I know for sure, 0 degrees is considered the freezing point in the Celsius scale. That equates to 32 degrees Farenheit, the scale that is used in our neck of the woods. And since snow melts if the temperature is higher than that, then it must be below... which is why Yolei asks if it is. Yeah... Blue is supposed to be like that. I didn't make a big deal of it earlier because I was more concerned about setting up the fic in general. But now that he has his own episode and his own time alone... you can see what he's like for real. I'm not sure if Armadillomon ever said the name of his attack in the show. He probably did, but I don't remember. It's listed at 'The Digimon Encyclopedia' website as being Diamond Slamming Attack. ***** Next Episode - The Key to Kari's Heart ***** Up in the northern quadrant of the Digital World, Kari finds herself suffering from aches of the heart. Both Davis and TK still harbor feelings for her, even though all three of them are already married to other people! Things are complicated even more when their target is another person that Kari had dated in the past! It's the love septagon that needs to lose a few sides!