piedmon was glad for to be able to listen in on the keychains. waiting could grow boring otherwise. he took the four digidestined and his key back into the hut, and linked patamon/angemon to the bag.

'poor little knick-knacks. left waiting around for the rest of your group to join you. maybe they've abandoned you.' he taunted the four keychains he dangled. he held onto the key and listened in on their thoughts. first he focused on his new addition, tk. such a defiant little pest. but a rather useful keychain. his expression matched the mood of the keychain perfectly, and the fairly plain look of the boy had translated well into the keychain of the boy. the hat was stuck on, probably a part of his head as a keychain.

~~~~~

tk wasn't going to lie to himself. he was afraid. the blackness, the silence, the lack of any sensation, only his own thoughts. he wasn't ready to give up though. he'd not give piedmon the satisfaction, assuming the evil digimon could tell. he knew someone would come and help. he just had to wait.

...

he could hear something. like sobbing. one of the others?

is there someone there? tk thought, hoping whoever it was heard him. the sobbing paused and tk heard a voice back.

tk? is that you?

so either piedmon had lied and he could actually speak with kari despite what he had claimed, or he was imagining he could hear her. he didn't care.

yeah, it's me.

he got you? she asked. she sounded even more worried now.

uh, yeah. screwed it up this time. somebody else is gonna have to save us this time around.

i hope they're quick. i don't want him getting anyone else. you and mimi is bad enough. hey, wait, how come i can hear you?

i'm not sure but we can. he said. she didn't seem to have noticed him think about the possibility she was just a figment of his imagination and the real kari was as trapped and alone as he was.

~~~~~

disappointing. the boy had not only guessed he might be imagining it but didn't care. the boy was unaware the same thought was going through kari's head and that she wasn't caring either. luckily, mimi's silence on the other side meant kari would be unlikely to figure out mimi was there. mimi's earlier thoughts had been a startled reply, not aimed and with only sora and he listening in. and now the two of them were optimistic of being rescued. sickening. his entertainment was getting dull. maybe if he unlinked them and put tk onto sora now that sora was thinking she was alone?

then he saw something moving out in the forest. did he have visitors again? he'd let them make themselves at home before greeting them...

~~~~~

matt and tai were worried enough when kari had asked for help. tai was naturally worried something had happened to his sister first as well as his friend. matt's concern had been for his friends first, especially since kari and his brother were close. but now sora and his brother were supposed to be up ahead and there was no sign of them at all.  

'this isn't good.' gabumon said when the four reached the empty and lifeless cabin

'you don't say.' matt said.

'i'm going inside.' tai proclaimed and made for the door. the others did not protest and followed. tai first found the table, with just a pink rucksack on it. mimi's.

'mimi's bag...' agumon said sadly.

'look at the keychains!' gabumon shouted. in the mass of buttons and other trinkets, the four keychain digimon sat.

'no way. he's dead!' matt argued.

'reports that i'm deaf have been greatly exagerrated!' piedmon yelled from outside. the four raced back out to see the evil clown holding up a key with four familiar shapes attached.

'you'd better not have hurt her!' tai yelled.

'who? there's three girls. or did tk have a sex change?'

'my sister you moron!'

'oh, her. i threw her against a wall, does that hurt you humans? and you should know if being turned into one of these pretty little trinkets hurts.'

tai was ready to run over and rip piedmon apart himself when the clown held up two keychains in particular.

'ah, calm down and take a joke. otherwise for my next trick i snap their heads off and see what happens if i turn them back. and you two had better not even dream of becoming bigger.' piedmon threatened the four.

'what do you want?' matt asked.

'well, what was it like when you were keychains?'

'a dream. like it wasn't real.'  tai said. piedmon left tk and kari on the key, but unhooked sora and mimi.

'who wants them? you'll be giving me them back or i'll break mimi and sora instead. do they like their legs? i bet you two like their legs.'

'whatever your point is, give them to me.' matt said. piedmon tossed the key and keychains over. as soon as matt touched the key he could hear his brother and kari.

'...they're still concious?' he said, mortified. then he listened to their words and smiled.

'they don't sound very scared.'

'i know. boring, isn't it. let tai listen, just have him touch the key what are they talking about now?' piedmon asked.

'the last time they beat you.' tai replied.

'see? boring. last time it was fun, having them run away thinking their big brothers were going to be keychains forever and watching their friends get turned one by one into cheap little toys. but now they know better and once again that brat ruined everything. by now kari should have been going half insane like mimi and sora are, but now both of them think the other might just be their imagination and they don't care. but if that was their imagination and they wanted to hear a reassuring voice, why aren't they hearing you two?'

'how should i know?' matt asked.

'ah well. anyway, the point is i'll make a deal. i'll give you back one of the eight i've turned into keychains for every one of you four. but you can't have a human plus their digimon partner. mixes only. any questions? oh, and give me the keychains back.'

matt and tai stood their ground until piedmon held mimi up and began bending her plastic leg.

'okay, we'll give you them back!' matt said. piedmon held his hand out and caught them.

'good. now, do we have a deal?'

matt and tai looked at each other. both shook their heads.

'no. all or nothing.' tai said.

'ah, good choice, i was going to lie anyway and just turn them straight back.' piedmon said, tossing hankercheifs at the two digimon. the boys watched with horror as their digimon shrank down yelling.

'deja vu, huh, boys? ready to hold onto my keys?'

'just get it over with.' tai growled.

'ah, so you want to go first.' piedmon said, tossing a handkercheif. piedmon sighed as tai didn't even yell. they were all conspiring to ruin his fun.

'you know what, you do the honours matt, pick up your friend and describe him.

'what?' matt asked.

'go on. do it and i'll let his sister go. no tricks.'

'how dumb do you think i am? there's always tricks with you!' matt shouted, getting a handkercheif in the face.

'what can i say, matt, even though it's been a while you still know me so well.' piedmon said. he picked up the two new keychains. their legs were sticklike, but the trousers of their uniform gave them some bulk. they were almost opposites. tai had unkempt wild hair, blazer unbuttoned and shirt a mess. matt meanwhile had longish hair but had at lest combed it and tried to look like he was going to school, not walking out of a hurricane.

the digimon had become little plastic lumps with stubby limbs. unlike the humans, their eyes had some detail to compensate. fine additions to his bag. and as for the humans, they had friends to meet. he tossed the humans down on the table while he put the two new bag-trinkets into place.

'have fun talking to the bag!' he told them before looking at the newcomers. the links for them would be easy. interrupt tk and kari's cosy little chat with their brothers blabbing from the other side of the loops. and to make it fun, make sure they had to relay. tk to tai, kari to matt. if they wanted to talk to their brothers, they'd need to talk through their friend.

'let's see you tolerate being trapped in just your minds now.'

~~~~~

damn, why am i even trying to talk to someone just now, piedmon's probably not linked me to anyone.... tk suddenly heard in his head. or his mind. whatever he had been turned into.

tai?! he said in surprise.

my brother? what about him? kari asked. they had been talking about times when they were not keychains until tk had said her brothers name.

um... i can hear him.

wait, tk? can you hear me? tai said. unfortunately, kari was trying to speak at the same time

hey, wait a second, you're both talking at once! tk said.

...i can hear your brother too. kari said.

tk, is my sister all right? tai asked.

yeah. well, no. i don't know. kari, tai's asking if you're okay.

your brother's asking how you're doing. kari replied

i'm getting annoyed with this whole having to talk to our brothers through each other thing and the whole turned into a keychain with no idea of what's going on outside but yeah, i'm fine. tk complained.

hey, why so snappy? tai asked.

well, it's got to be annoying to you as well, right? tk said.

~~~~~

what fun, piedmon thought. anything but happy families. maybe now this conversation would get fun. and how crazy would they go if he were to put mimi in the middle? she was ignoring all the voices, frightened she was going completely mad. sora meanwhile was frustrated and had no clue if she was going mad or not. he was about to test his new idea when the stone smashed the window. he looked out and saw a browin-haired boy with goggles and a bomber jacket with a flame pattern. the boy was now running back into the forest.

'ah, one of the new ones. credit where credit is due, at least none of you six smashed my windows...' piedmon said. he'd have fun introducing this new one to the collection...