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Howdy...here's chapter 12...um...enjoy! :D 



Games of the Mind *Chapter Twelve*




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 clich�, 
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."

Silence.

"Wh...whaddya mean?" Kari asked. "Why is she so bent on destroying us?"

"Duh," Tai said grumpily, "because we're good and she's evil. That's so 
clich�, couldn't she think of a better reason to want to obliterate us?"

"But that's not it at all, Kamiya-san," Pipermon said, forbidding 
herself to laugh at his comment.

"Then what IS her reason?" Tai demanded.

"She holds you all personally responsible for her being what she is," 
she replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Izzy asked, curious.

"She was created to destroy you, that was her entire purpose," she 
explained, "but she took it a step too far. Upon learning that it was by 
your destruction of Piedmon that caused her to live, she took it as a 
personal vendetta and her desire to annihilate the Digidestined consumed 
her."

"But if she sees us as the reason she lives," Yamato began, "she should 
be THANKING us...not trying to KILL us, ne?"

Pipermon shook her head.

"She finds her existence a wretched one," she said. "Because of what she 
is, and how she was created, and the fact that she was basically a 
motley concoction of digimon you all defeated, she thinks of herself as 
a mistake. An aberration. She doesn't think herself worthy of existing 
in this world because, without basically stealing information from other 
digimon, she never WOULD have existed."

"But then why does she desire to hurt US and not herself?" Izzy 
questioned. "If she sees her own existence as a mistake, shouldn't she 
be endeavoring to end it?"

"Why should she want to destroy herself when she could rather destroy 
those who she finds responsible for her being the abomination she is?" 
Pipermon questioned back, and the children paused in silent pondering.

Jyou narrowed his eyes.

"So what do you suggest we do," he asked, "enroll her in an 'I Am a 
Worthy Digimon' self-help group?"

Pipermon sighed, then slowly shook her head.

"I don't know what to suggest," she said, "but I can tell you this 
much...as long as you remain in this forest you are safe from her."

"Safe?" Yamato echoed incredulously, his eyes wide. "You call this 
safe?? We've already been attacked half a dozen times and you're saying 
that we haven't even GOTTEN to the dangerous part yet??"

"That's EXACTLY what I'm saying," she affirmed.

"Oh, this is just perfect..." Jyou muttered. "And just when we thought 
the hard part was over..."

"Why?" Yamato asked, narrowing his eyes at Pipermon.

She blinked.

"Why what?"

"Why hasn�t she slammed us yet?" he asked. "If she's so strong, why does 
she send her twin lackeys after us? If she has so much power, why 
doesn't she just show herself?"

Pipermon sighed.

"Because she can't," she said.

"She can't?" Mimi echoed, lifting one eyebrow.

"How come?" TK added.

"She cannot leave the mountain," Pipermon said. "Somehow, when she 
created this forest, something misfired, and she lost nearly all her 
power. Only upon this very mountain does her power remain. Her strength 
lies within Kuroniji itself, it is the mountain that makes her so 
strong. There is something in the stones of this cursed place that 
trapped all her power, thus trapping her here. If she were to leave 
Kuroniji Mountain, her powers would be reduced to those of a Rookie-form 
digimon. She knows that...and that's why she is making YOU go to HER." 
She paused. "But...you don't have to go along with her plans...you can 
turn around right now and go home. I'm sure there's a way to reopen the 
digiport--"

"No," Tai said firmly, and everyone turned to look at him. "No, we're 
not leaving. Not now, not after we've gone through so much to get here." 
He jutted his jaw forward and pursed his mouth. "We know from our trials 
here in the past that whatever happens to the digital world eventually 
affect the real world, too. We're not going to let Kurarimon destroy two 
worlds just because she has a self-esteem problem. Not without a fight, 
anyway."

"But don't you value your lives at ALL?" Pipermon cried, both shocked 
and amazed by Tai's courage.

"Whether we are defeated fighting Kurarimon, or destroyed when she 
inevitably tries to annihilate our world doesn't matter, Pipermon," Tai 
explained. "We MIGHT be defeated if we face Kurarimon in person, but 
we'll DEFINITELY lose if we DON'T."

Pipermon froze. He had a good point...she had never thought of it that 
way before. She had felt so guilty about leading these children to 
impending doom in a battle with Kurarimon that she hadn't ever thought 
that maybe they had WANTED to come this far all along. It hadn't ever 
occurred to her that, if they DIDN'T battle Kurarimon, both worlds would 
be destroyed for certain. She gnawed on her lower lip.

"Your courage is admirable," she admitted, "but your cause is a hopeless 
one. Even with all your digimon fully digivolved, they're no match for 
her."

Yamato whirled angrily.

"Don't be such a pessimist, Pipermon," he growled.

"It's NOT pessimism!" she shot back. "I'm not being trying to be some 
prophet of doom, I'm telling it like it is. I'm trying to save you from 
a battle you can't hope to win!"

"We can always HOPE to win," Yamato shouted. "There's no way we're 
turning back now. Kurarimon has crossed the line. She attacked our minds 
and made us turn on one another! She tried to tear us apart and we can't 
forgive her that!"

"You seem to know an awful lot about her," Agumon said, "surely you must 
know SOME sort of weakness she has..."

"I'm more interested in HOW she knows so much," Gatomon hissed softly. 
"If Kurarimon wasn't completed until AFTER Piedmon was destroyed, then 
how could you possibly know so much about her unless you had some other 
affiliation with her?"

Pipermon winced.

"Look, where I got the information isn't what's important right now," 
she said quickly, trying to avoid the subject, "I'm trying to--"

"I think it IS important," Gatomon challenged. "I think we have a right 
to know how you have so much information about the enemy!"

"I TOLD you," Pipermon snapped back testily, "the how's and why's are 
not the issue here. What matters now is the fact that this is a battle 
lost before it's begun! You still have a chance to walk away from this 
alive."

Yamato scowled.

"We appreciate the concern, Pipermon," he said slowly, and looked her in 
the eye, "but you have to understand...we cannot just stand by while 
Kurarimon destroys both your world and ours."

Before she could protest any further, Yamato moved forward, and pushed 
past the line of trees marking the final barrier protecting them from 
Kurarimon's awesome power. He gasped softly as an electric sensation 
rippled through his body, as though the very air was charged and ready 
to ignite. The rest of the children followed closely, also noticing the 
strange energy in the air.

Jyou took the frames of his glasses between his fingers and slid the 
lenses down the bridge of his nose to look overtop of them.

"Holy portentous stone mansions, Batman!" he gaped.

Patamon looked at Gatomon.

"Who is Batmon?" he asked, and Gatomon shrugged.

"You got me, kid," she replied.

The rest of the children followed Jyou's gaze, and there were several 
awed gasps at the sight of Kurarimon's abode. Pipermon looked up, her 
eyes scanning the castle. She had left this place four days ago on a 
mission to return with the Digidestined...now she had returned, as she 
was instructed, but she would have given anything to have been somewhere 
else. She sadly watched as the children marveled at the chateau.

The castle was huge, at least fifteen stories high, with two towers that 
reached toward the sky like enormous stone arms. Dozens of windows 
adorned the thick marble walls, and creeper vines curled their way up 
and down the outside of the structure. Yamato thought to himself how it 
reminded him of the famous Hollywood Hotel from the old Twilight Zone 
television show. After a moment of gawking at the impressive structure, 
Yamato snapped out of his trance and turned to Pipermon.

"We're GOING to stop her, Pipermon," he said firmly, "whether you 
believe we can or not."

Gatomon was still leery of Pipermon, as she had always been right from 
the start. Gatomon herself had once fought against the Digidestined, 
when she had been sided with Myotismon years ago. She saw something in 
Pipermon�s eyes that worried her...it was a look Gatomon had found her 
own eyes used to hold. It was the look of a creature who wasn't entirely 
certain whose side they were on, and that scared her. She squinted at 
her.

"Pipermon," she said after a second, "why do you refuse to tell us how 
you know what you know?" She flexed her claws. "Why are you being so 
secretive? What are you keeping from us?"

Pipermon folded her arms stubbornly over her chest.

"It's not something that you need to know," she insisted, though she 
didn't even believe that herself.

"If you don't have anything to hide, Pipermon," Palmon said slowly, 
"then why are you so reluctant to tell us anything?"

Before Pipermon had a chance to reply in her own defense, the sound of 
soft, low laughter echoed eerily in the air around them. Everyone froze 
as the laughter intensified from a sinister chuckle to a wild, maniacal 
cackle.

"So you have nothing to hide?" an ominous voice hissed. "Nothing to 
hide, Little Piper? Why, it would seem you have EVERYTHING to hide, my 
dear,"--there was a flash of light , and a figure appeared before them--
"as you've been feeding these children tall tales and half-truths since 
the beginning!"

Pipermon's eyes widened in fear.

"Kurarimon..." she whispered.

"If you don't have anything to hide, Pipermon," Palmon said slowly, 
"then why are you so reluctant to tell us anything?"

Before Pipermon had a chance to reply in her own defense, the sound of 
soft, low laughter echoed eerily in the air around them. Everyone froze 
as the laughter intensified from a sinister chuckle to a wild, maniacal 
cackle.

"So you have nothing to hide?" an ominous voice hissed. "Nothing to 
hide, Little Piper? Why, it would seem you have EVERYTHING to hide, my 
dear,"--there was a flash of light , and a figure appeared before them--
"as you've been feeding these children tall tales and half-truths since 
the beginning!"

Pipermon's eyes widened in fear.

"Kurarimon..." she whispered.

Kurarimon's golden hair was smoothed carefully over her left eye, and 
the visible one was narrowed unpleasantly. Her spindly fingers were 
pressed together at the tips, her hands at the level of her chin, her 
head bowed slightly.

"You seem so surprised, Pipermon," Kurarimon said, tilting her head, 
"had you forgotten about me?"

Pipermon made no reply, but stepped in front of the children, standing 
between them and Kurarimon. Kurarimon clicked her tongue.

"My, my, aren't we the plucky one?" she taunted. "Defending them now? It 
sickens me to think that, at one time, I considered you the finest in my 
service..."

Pipermon winced at the sounds of shock that arose from the children upon 
Kurarimon's statement. Somehow, it hurt more to think that those words 
were uttered to them by Kurarimon's mouth and not her own...somehow she 
had thought it would hurt less for her to tell them herself that she had 
been deceiving them all along. But then, she had never expected it to 
hurt like this in the first place... She didn't even have to turn 
around, she could sense the children's shock and despair. It felt as 
though someone had plunged a hot knife into her heart. But she didn't 
falter...she stood her ground, refusing to let Kurarimon get to her. She 
glared daggers at the more powerful digimon, and Kurarimon scowled.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Pipermon?" she asked, her mouth a 
small, thin line across her face. "You've disobeyed my orders."

"I've done no such thing, Kurarimon," Pipermon said, pointing her finger 
accusingly. "Your orders were to bring the children here," she went on, 
a growl in her voice, "nothing more than that. You never said I couldn't 
try to convince them otherwise."

Kurarimon's eyes narrowed to angry slits.

"You know I despise loopholes."

"I don't care," Pipermon hissed, surprised by her own boldness, "I don't 
care what you think of me anymore. I just don't care. I've done what you 
asked me to do, so just leave me out of it from now on!"

Kurarimon looked a trifle taken aback.

"Such harsh words to your master?" she gasped melodramatically. "Such 
rudeness toward me? In many places such insubordination would be 
punishable by death!"

"Insubordination?" Pipermon echoed incredulously. "INSUBORDINATION?? You 
were never my master, Kurarimon, NEVER!" She fisted her hands. "I CHOSE 
to follow you, that never gave you any power over me! I followed your 
orders because I WANTED to, and now I realize that was where I made my 
mistake!" She glared at her. "I chose to follow you, Kurarimon," she 
said again, and sliced her hand through the air, "and now I choose to 
follow myself."

"Hah!" 

Kurarimon threw her head back in wild laughter. 

"Follow yourSELF?? You wouldn't know how!" She smiled maliciously at the 
angrily blaze in Pipermon's eyes. "When Piedmon was destroyed, you fell 
apart, child. When I found you, you were a basketcase! You didn't know 
what to do with yourself!" She lifted her thin eyebrows. "And so it, is, 
Little Pipermon," she went on. "You are a servant...a flunky...that is 
your purpose, it's what you were created for. That is all you are. You 
were born a slave, you've lived the life of a slave, and you shall die a 
slave."

Pipermon winced.

"How I live and die is no concern of yours, Kurarimon,� she growled.

"Well, then whose concern is it?" Kurarimon shouted. "It certainly seems 
it's not your own! If you HAD any concern for your own well-being, you 
would have realized your mistake and rectified it before it came to 
this. You would have stopped your treachery and done with these children 
what I originally ordered you to."

"Sorry, Kurarimon," Pipermon snarled, "but I won't. I won't take your 
orders any longer."

"You're making a grave mistake, child," she hissed.

"Child?" Pipermon echoed. "Is that all I ever was to you? A child? 
Someone you could order around? Someone who would be there at your beck 
and call? Who you could keep under your thumb and only let loose when 
you needed an errand run? That's all I am, Kurarimon, is your gofer! 
Well, I won't cringe beneath your boot anymore!" she shouted, crossing 
her hands in front of her chest. "You can find yourself another footmon, 
because I won't be your hireling anymore."

"That's enough, you insolent little worm!" Kurarimon screamed, balling 
her spidery hands into tight fists.

"I disagree," Pipermon shouted back, her fury making her voice icy cold, 
"I don't think you know when enough is enough. You've been stringing 
these children along, Kurarimon, playing with their minds and toying 
with them like puppets, and for what? For your own twisted pleasure? 
Because you think they're responsible for making you what you are?"

Kurarimon scowled.

"It matters not my reason," she growled. "It doesn't matter why anymore, 
Pipermon, your words to their defense fall on deaf ears. Look behind 
you, Little Piper, and you'll see that these children find you to be as 
much their enemy as I."

Pipermon flinched.

"You think that matters to me now?" she said angrily, through clenched 
teeth. "What happens to me from this point on is irrelevant." She sliced 
her hand through the air again. "What the Digidestined children think of 
me from here on out makes no difference. I refuse to be the one to 
inflict any more pain upon them."

There was a pause, and then Pipermon heard a small voice from behind 
her.

"Is it true?"

She winced and turned slowly back over her shoulder. She looked into 
TK's large blue eyes, and suddenly felt like crying. The boy's eyes 
looked so absolutely lost and torn that Pipermon felt as though she 
might as well have just sent the children to the ends of the earth. TK's 
lip trembled.

"Pipermon," he asked again, "is it true? Are you working for Kurarimon? 
You've...you've been the enemy all along?"

Pipermon opened her mouth to reply, though she wasn't certain what she 
could say. Yamato interrupted.

"How could you?" he demanded, pulling TK back. "How could you do this to 
us?"

Pipermon's eyes stung with bitter, guilty tears, but she forbade herself 
to cry. She clenched her fists, and again started to reply, but was cut 
off my another wicked cackle from Kurarimon.

"Oh, ho, now you've done it, Piper," she sneered. "You've really fixed 
yourself good this time. You�ve played both sides now, Little One, and 
where has it gotten you? Nowhere, child, absolutely nowhere! You have no 
one left to turn to, Pipermon, nowhere left to run. You've lost the game 
before we even started play...enemy to both sides and allied to 
neither."

Pipermon spun back to Kurarimon, her eyes flashing angrily.

"Shut up!" she shouted, taking a step closer, pointing. "Shut up, 
Kurarimon, just shut up! I don't care what you say anymore! You have no 
power over me, I was never your underling! I don't care what you say to 
me, do to me, or THREATEN to do to me, I'm not following your orders 
anymore! Whatever these children think of me now, I deserve it, but even 
if they think of me as your ally and their enemy, there's nothing you 
can say that will make me hurt them! There's not one single thing you 
can say or do that will make me harm a single one of them any more than 
you already have."

She paused, her chest heaving in pure anger. Her lip was shaking, and 
her hands were fisted at her sides, clenched so tightly that they were 
quivering. Kurarimon seemed unfazed by Pipermon's harsh, hateful words. 
Her ruby eyes narrowed, and Pipermon saw her fingers twitch.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Pipermon," Kurarimon said softly, and her 
eyes suddenly snapped open wide, "for if you will not help destroy the 
Digidestined, then you will die alongside them!"

Kurarimon snapped her arms out to her sides, and her cape bounced from 
the sudden movement. Pipermon whirled in time to see the ground beneath 
the children split apart, like there had been a massive earthquake 
somewhere beneath the ground's surface. She cried out sharply as the 
split in the earth widened, and the ground dropped out from beneath her, 
and the blackness swallowed her up, along with the Digidestined children 
and their digimon partners, plunging them into what seemed like eternal 
darkness. 

Pipermon pitched downward into the nothingness beneath Kurarimon's 
mountain. She didn't know where this void led, nor did she really care. 
It didn't matter--she had failed. She had failed to protect the 
children, and at the same time, she had failed to do what Kurarimon had 
asked of her. She had failed everyone... She didn't even bother to use 
her levitation powers, wherever Kurarimon was sending the children, 
Pipermon deserved to suffer the same fate. If Kurarimon was, indeed, 
going to kill the Digidestined, she would kill her along with them.

And so they fell, spinning and tumbling end over end. Pipermon closed 
her eyes and tried to block the sounds of the frightened cries in the 
dark around her as they all plummeted into obsidian nothingness.




Dun dun DUNNNN!! Bwaaahahahaha!! Another trademark Hikari cliffhanger! 
}:D We're getting to the really good part, too, so don't go away! Oh, 
and I wanted to thank Broken Angel for her wonderful emails, you're such 
a sweetie! :D Quickie Translation Note: "Kyouboku" actually *does* mean 
"tall tree"..."heika", however, has nothing to do with rivers. "Yama" 
means mountain, tho...hahha!
~~hikari