The Search

Dasuke blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting to the lower light. There was a good reason this place was called Dark Forest. He then watched as Ichi began examining the trees, expressing the great power they were giving off and how they functioned as an alarm of some kind. Dasuke felt no such power, but who was he to doubt Ichi? He began his search of the area as instructed.

Using the palm mounted scanner of his D.I.G. as a flashlight, Dasuke looked around, trying hard to find any trace of Sol or where he could have gone. Tire tracks, perhaps. Suddenly, something caught his eye. "DOCTOR! Over here!" he called.

Lying on the ground, barely visible even in the beam of his light, was a familiar red scale and specks of blood everywhere. They were sitting in a tire track and it was headed deeper into the woods. "Sol was here! He's hurt, badly! We have to find him fast!" Dasuke cried, moving his light around the area frantically, as is he expected Sol or his captors to pop out of the trees. He looked back at the tracks and determined the direction of travel based on the blood spatter, and began to run off in that direction. Should Ichi call him or Nurse Fear cut him off, he would stop.

Ichi and Nurse Fear's search had gone unfruitful. It was their good fortune however that Dasuke had better luck. The boy called out to Ichi in a frantic worry. Dasuke in his panic, ran past Ichi headed towards the wood. "Wait a moment." Ichi said, just as Dasuke was to run past Nurse Fear, she reached behind her grabbing Dasuke by his collar.

The nurse's grip was like a vice, and her body immovable. Any struggle to free himself from her would be for naught, short of removing his shirt. Ichi walked over to the scale and examined it. "Remember what I said about getting lost in those woods? You will never get out or be eaten by the primal digimon. If your lucky, you'll be captured by Dark Helix." He held up the scale viewing it at every angle.

"You must remain reserved. The minute you give in to your panic and worry and lose your head, Sol is lost." Ichi put the scale into his pocket. "Judging by the damage to the scale, it was forcibly removed by something with great pressure. It's a softer scale so it was a part of one of Sol's extremities. A foot or maybe the sheer end of his tail." Ichi walked back towards the two.

"The tracks are to faded to follow. To much time has passed. There is only one way to find him now. I'll need to tap into their network. If the power flowing through these trees expands to the entire forest, then syncing my digisoul to it will allow my D.I.G. to find Sol. I will try to be quick and as least invasive as possible. Hopefully, I won't be found out." Ichi placed his D.I.G. on the trunk of the closest tree.

"Hmm...." A moment went by then he looked at Dasuke, removing his hand from the tree. "The entire forest is connected at a single point. The roots are intertwined, feeding information to a structure about four days walk from here. I did see a closer structure to the north west. About an hours run. The meadow where Sol was taken is 5 hours away. I'll bet that they need to refuel and that structure is used for just that." Ichi walked to Dasuke.

"That's is the most likely place Sol will be, if they didn't move him." Ichi looked at Fear and nodded. Then before Dasuke could take off anywhere, Nurse Fear picked him up; cradling him. "No offense but I can't have you slow me down. I can run much faster than you." Ichi said turning towards the Woods entrance. "We will be there shortly." Ichi then took off running, his digisoul surrounding his feet. Nurse Fear took off just as fast. The wind pressure would land Dasuke's face in between Nurse Fear's bosom, if he didn't fight against it.

Meanwhile deep in the woods, inside Dark Helix's private bath.

"Your majesty." A young Palmon called. Through the thick steam, sitting alone in a wide bath was Jesibel the Rosemon X. "Your majesty, someone hacked into your network and mapped the Dark Wood." She said. Jesibel softly laughed lifting her right leg high out of the water then crossing it over her left. "I'm aware dear." She replied.

"Should I inform the Captains?" Palmon asked. "That's kind of you dear but no. You would have to be of considerable talent to hack my network. No has bin off the street could do that. No...." Jesibel stood up and turned to Palmon walking out of the bath. Palmon's face grew red and her eyes full of envy and admiration at Jesibel's beauty. Jesibel walked past her patting her head on the way past.

"No indeed.... I'll see to this intruder myself." Jesibel said. She snapped her fingers and in a bright flash of petals and red was clothed and armed. "Such an interesting character is deserving of an audience with me. Hm Hm hm." She said with a wide smile.

Dasuke was surprised by the sudden stop caused by Nurse Fear grabbing his collar. He choked a moment as he was jerked back and tried instinctively to free himself from her grasp, but it was to no avail. Her strength was incredible, especially for a dead person. Dasuke finally gave up the fight and listened to what Ichi was saying. He watched as Ichi tapped into the trees network with his digisoul and listened as he explained Sol's likely location. A mere hour's trek seemed like nothing compared to what it could have been, even more so against a possible eternity wandering the forest. Before Dasuke could even respond, both Ichi and Nurse Fear took off at a full sprint, and the recoil sent Dasuke's head straight into Fear's chest. Had she been alive, it may have been enjoyable, but under the circumstances it was quite uncomfortable. Dasuke tried to call out to Ichi as they ran, his voice shaking and breaking along with the bouncing of Fear's running. "I-i-i-chi! Wha-a-a-a-at are the o-o-o-d-s-s-s-s-s of Sol still being a-li-i-i-i-ive?" Dasuke couldn't do much else in the nurse's grasp and tried to hold on, though the odds of her dropping him were near zero.

Ichi ran in front of Nurse Fear having the superior running ability, Fear did well to keep on his heels however. Ichi looked back to Dasuke when he proposed a question, "The spot we transported in was not the initial capture zone. There was just a single scale with remnants of blood. Without seeing where he was caught and analyzing the scene, I cannot determine accurately if Sol is alive or dead. I can assume that he is alive for a few reasons. The people we are dealing with are essentially treasure hunters and digimon traffickers. They sell what they find to the highest bidder. Sol, although a compilation of trash data, has taken on the appearance of a Guilmon. They are not native to Xuan Wu or this continent. In fact in recent history, Guilmon have been so reclusive that only a small pack was ever seen briefly in the desert regions. That was more than ten years ago. Sol is priceless to these people, if he is badly damaged his price diminishes. I can hope he is being treated like royalty." Ichi replied and then went back to thinking silently. He was taking note of everything he passed by.

They arrived at their destination in the exact time Ichi foretold. If nothing else, the man was punctual. Fear put Dasuke down on his feet then grabbed his shoulder, yanking him down to his knees with her. Ichi also knelt down behind some brush. They looked ahead and saw a fortified structure, what used to be a ruin. It was fairly large and men bearing the crest of Dark Helix on their shirts were walking and talking everywhere. Lookouts were posted on the outside of the building and on it. They were armed with rifles. Based on outside appearances, Dasuke and Ichi could both tell that there was at least six floors above the first. "Hmm. That insignia, I've seen it before. Dark Helix. A few agents had unfortunate run in with them. They had their partners stolen by these people. I had my suspicions but I still hoped it was bandits. This complicates matters...hmm?" Just as Ichi was talking a man dressed in what appeared to be a Tailmon outfit came out of the building screaming and yelling at the men. They bent to his every whim. "Who is that?" Ichi said allowed. "How could someone so foolish possess power over these men?" Ichi opened the palm of his D.I.G. and the analyzer hologram appeared. "Huh? It's a digimon? Perfect level to. I've never seen his type before. I want to dissect him." Ichi said with a gleam in his eye. Nurse Fear amply chopped Ichi's head with her hand causing Ichi's head to smash into the tree he was hiding behind leaving a perfect indentation of his face. "Right. Later then." Ichi turned to look at Dasuke who could notice a small water droplet in Ichi's right eye. "Okay, we're going to have to learn where they're keeping Sol...if they're keeping Sol. Stealth isn't really my forte, so you're going to have to do it." Ichi said.

"If you can get close enough, I'll need you to inject one of the guards with this." Ichi reached into his coat pocket and handed Dasuke a syringe. "It's truth serum of my design. Normally, it makes the subject aloof and free of restraint of thoughts. This hallucinogenic will literally make you appear as if you're the subjects greatest and most trustworthy ally. They will tell you anything. It does have the worst hangover though...probably will bedridden your chosen subject for a good week. I haven't exactly perfected it yet." Ichi said. "I trust you to choose your target, leave your bow and quiver, I will support you if anyone else get's to close. Don't worry, I'll replenish any potential arrows. I may not look it but I'm a master of nearly all forms of weaponry." Ichi said. "Any questions Mr. Agent?"

Dasuke was somewhat relieved to hear Ichi's theory on how Sol was being treated, but realistically it didn't help him feel much better. As they arrived at their destination, he barely had time to gain his footing once Nurse Fear put him down before she grabbed his shoulder and shoved him to the ground behind a bush. He rubbed his shoulder and rolled it around to regain feeling in it. He still couldn't believe how strong this zombie henchman thing was. He looked at the structure ahead of him and took note of all the guards roaming the grounds. Dasuke spotted the oddly dressed man at the same time as Ichi did, and got a small chuckle when Ichi realized it was a digimon, got sidetracked and had his face slammed into a tree by Fear to get him back on task. Dasuke also raised his D.I.G. scanner at the digimon in question and read the information displayed on the readout: 

Betsumon. Perfect class. This individual reads at Level 52. Betsumon specializes in building costumes based on other Digimon and using weaker versions of their powers, and is particularly fond of Tailmon. Engaging a Betsumon in combat is not recommended.

"Great...." Dasuke muttered to himself. There was no way he could do anything with that Betsumon running around. He turned his head to Ichi as he began to speak, and his eyes were drawn to the syringe in Ichi's hand. He took it and examined the contents. "Let me get this straight, Doctor. You want me to get closer to the heavily fortified structure, sneak up on a passing guard, pump him full of talking juice, and hope to god that you can pick off any other guards that get wise with my bow before they shoot me dead? That about sum it up? You do realize that's crazy, right?" Dasuke shook his head and sighed. "I guess I don't have much choice here. I'm not about to say no and let Sol die or be sold to the highest bidder. I'll do it," Dasuke said. He removed his bow and quiver from his back and handed it to Doctor Ichi. "And I'm holding you that whole thing on replacing my arrows. I have 20 in there, and I'd like to go home with the same number," Dasuke said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. If Ichi had nothing important to add to Dasuke's mission, he would leave to sneak into the trees and wait.

Dasuke had noticed that one of the guards was doing a routine patrol of the tree line, pacing back and forth along it. That was his target. He would stay hidden in the bushes and wait for the man to pass by again. When the guard got close, Dasuke would intentionally snap a branch in the bush he was hiding in, then move back to a different location. With luck, the guard would investigate the noise and his initial search would leave his back to Dasuke from his new position. Dasuke would then sneak up to the man's back and move to inject him in the neck. If he failed, he would have no choice but to trust Ichi to protect him from certain death.

Ichi smirked when Dasuke reiterated the plan to him, "Well, crazy is usually what the greatest minds are called so I'll take it as a compliment. It wouldn't be the first time I've been called crazy or any number of it's synonyms." Ichi said glancing a quick look to Fear. He took Dasuke's bow and quiver and watched him as he made his way down towards the fortress. The guard walking by the treeline was very bored and completely oblivious to everything around him. "Man, I wanted to go see a movie tonight. Why did I agree to work overtime? Oh right. I didn't want my head to be the new centerpiece of the bosses table." The guard stopped walking and let out a sigh, it was then that he heard the snapping and he nearly dropped dead at the sudden fright.

He lifted his rifle and pointed it in the direction of the noise, "Who the hell is out there hmm!? Jim? Billy? This had better not be some elaborate trick! I'm still getting the tomatoes out from my underpants from last time!" He said allowed. He walked closer and closer to the treeline and moved his rifle through the bushes to see if he could spot anything. "Okay....maybe I'm just hearing things...." He said relaxing a bit and putting his gun down, he didn't turn around however and instead pulled out a box of cigarettes and started to light one.

Dasuke smiled when the guard moved to the bush he had used as a decoy. He crouched down and made his way to the man, and when he was inches away, he would pop up as swiftly as he could and cover the guards mouth with his left hand to muffle any screams, then stab the needle into the man's neck with his right hand and press down on the plunger of the syringe, pumping him full of the serum. If the other guards detected the disturbance, Dasuke would be left exposed and defenseless to any response. He would have to run back into the woods, hope Ichi was paying attention, and try not to die.


If successful, Dasuke would grab the now intoxicated guard under his arms and drag him backwards through the woods to where Ichi and Nurse Fear were hiding, and drop him on the ground propped against a tree. "Alright, Doctor. I brought you a new friend. Let's see what he knows, shall we?" Dasuke crouched down to be eye level with his victim and rested his arms on his knees. When the man would look up, Dasuke would simply smile and say "Hi, there!"

The man had been momentarily surprised but it was short lived as the pinch his neck caused him to go numb and lose his perception of reality. He didn't even realize that he was being dragged off somewhere. Meanwhile, up on the perch where Ichi could view the fort, he had Dasuke's bow and an arrow already pulled back on the string. He was motionless and his breath was slow and steady and was ready to shoot at a single moment, he did not however account for Dasuke dragging the man back to the perch and when he heard the struggling of Dasuke pulling the man, Ichi aimed the arrow at the direction of the noise. Once Dasuke and the drugged man came into view, Ichi relaxed the bow. "Mr. Agent....did you just drag that full grown man from the fort to here? I do not understand the reason behind doing that...you're fortunate all your noise did not alert the fort. You're also fortunate I did not notice him first....otherwise he'd be a corpse." Ichi put the bow and quiver down and approached the woozy gentlemen.

Nurse Fear kept her attention to the fort. The man started to gain his perception and the blurry vision and headache he had been enduring had finally faded. Ichi took out a recorder, "Dr. Ichi's log with Agent Dasuke Moto. Testing Truth Serum attempt four hundred. Note, subject has shown no signs of external bleeding. His eyes have not exploded and it appears he has not lost his bladder control. Side effects have been neutralized in injection stage." Ichi said pressing pause. The man came to and focused on Dasuke's face. He looked confused when he saw Dasuke, "Mom? What are you doing in the Digital World. How the hell did you even get here?" He asked. Ichi pressed record on his recorder, "Subject has returned to proper state of being, his mind now confuses Agent Moto as subject's mother. Note Dasuke's obvious feminism may be the cause of such a reaction." Ichi said and with such a mellow tone that it was impossible to tell if he was joking. "Agent, ask your questions. He should tell you anything now. Do try to play the part it strengthens the effects." Ichi said. The man looked at Ichi, "You brought your yoga instructor? Oh god, are you guys sleeping together again!?" He asked seeming disgusted. "Subject's mind confuses me for his mother's yoga instructor slash lover. Note Dasuke's feminism may be the cause of this confusion. More testing needed." Ichi said then pressing pause on the recorder cleared his throat, "Yes. We're sleeping together. Your mother appreciates the tenderness I give her. We came here to see how you were faring." Ichi said with the same tone. "Ugh. Well, whaddya want ma!? Is it because I don't send you enough letters? I told you, you can't get condoms in this place!" He said.

Ichi pressed record, "Subject's mother; Dasuke is in constant need of condoms." Ichi said pressing pause.

Dasuke was taken aback by the way the Serum made the man perceive him and Dr. Ichi, and even more so by how Ichi was responding and taking notes on his recorder. Dasuke stuttered and stammered as he attempted to reply to the man. "I...uh....yes. We are. I....ermm...... love him. And we don't, um....need more condoms.....thank you...." Dasuke took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and collected himself. "We were just wondering what you've been up to these past few days. Find anything exciting or see a rare Digimon maybe? I like hearing your stories and a letter just wouldn't cut it this time. We were hoping for a face to face meeting and then a yoga session after to do some.....family bonding. What do you say?" Dasuke was eyeing the man and hoped this ruse would work. He had no idea what would happen and Dr. Ichi's mentions of this serum's side effects did not bode well. What if they were just taking longer to kick in? If this didn't work, they would have no other way in besides brute force, and Dasuke wasn't sure that he and Ichi combined would be able to handle the defenses outside this fortress. They couldn't even be certain that Sol was still inside. Or alive for that matter.  This was their only hope.

The gentlemen seemed annoyed and took an exaggerated sigh, "You are such a nuisance sometimes, if you must know we're guarding a very special Digimon just down the road. I can't take you to see him cause I'll get into a lot of trouble. Maybe if you stick around a bit, when we're ready to transport him to our home base you can see us loading it into the truck." The man said. Ichi put his recorder away and a gleam went across his eyes, "What is this Digimon's species?" He asked. "It's a Guilmon. Super rare for these parts. I'll promise to send you a cut of the money once we get paid." Ichi put his hands in his pant pockets, "Thank you, you've been a great help." Ichi said the man looked confused but it was short lived as Nurse Fear knocked him unconscious. "It seems our Guilmon friend is here after all. We need to move quickly if we're to find him, I'm going to create a distraction we will use the opportunity to go inside." Ichi began moving down towards the fort. He got to the final brush just before he'd come into view of the guards. Once Dasuke had reached him he'd begin, "Stay right behind me okay?" Ichi looked to Nurse Fear who darted out of the brush at ridiculous speeds and caught the two guards at the entrance off guard and very quickly incapacitated them.

"We're under attack! It's some woman in a nurses outfit!!" The guard on the tower said, they immediately began to fire on Nurse Fear. The bullets whizzed through her flesh but she did not react. She began running up the fortress, incapacitating the guards on the outside. Once the full attention of the fort was on Nurse Fear, Ichi moved towards the fort without a word. He expected Dasuke to follow behind him, Ichi would slip in undetected from the outside patrol. Ichi hid behind a stone pillar as guards were walking by with Betsumon at the head. "So NO ONE can tell me who this mystery woman is!? What the hell do I pay you idiots for!? How did she even find us and what does she want!? SOMEONE FIND OUT!" Betsumon yelled pointing every which way. "L-Lord Betsumon, the woman.....we're certain she's been shot several times....but she isn't dying!" A man said. Betsumon gave this solider a death glare, "Are you saying she is immortal!? Humans....aren't....immortal! If you imbeciles can't kill one human girl, then you're all useless to me! I will paint the inside with your blood! NOW KILL HER! If she is here for Lady Jesibel's prize then she cannot be allowed to live!! She needs to be kept out of the inner sanctum at all costs!!" Betsumon yelled. "Ye-yes sir!" The men began pouring out of the building to find and do battle with Nurse Fear.

"I had better check on that Guilmon....." Betsumon said and walked off towards the inner sanctum alone. Ichi stepped out from behind the pillar and looked for Dasuke, "Hmm? You're still around? I thought for certain you'd have been shot by a stray bullet or something. I'll have to update your luck parameter in my profile of you as slightly lucky." Ichi said in his usual monotone voice. "It seems Sol is that way. Let us go." He said as he began to walk towards the inner sanctum himself.