Commissioned by Aleph
Alephmon and Stry were training on the roof of their crumbling castle when Alephmon got flattened as usual. Usually, that wouldn't be a problem. Except that new recruits are coming and he wants to be presentable with his dignity intact. Stry promises to help him hide, but will he succeed?
Note: This story is unrelated to the previous Aleph stories. This is an alternative universe Aleph where he was a human before using his Digivice to turn himself into a Digimon.
This is another fun story that I wrote. Aleph always wanted a story where he remains flat for most of it. I hope that I succeeded.
Enjoy!
The art in the thumbnail is made by
Aonik!
Nekozukimon belongs to
https://twitter.com/Leo_NekozukiStormymon belongs to
https://twitter.com/StormyWolf295Castmon belongs to
https://twitter.com/CastawayCollieToximon belongs to
https://twitter.com/ToxinChinchilla(Will be posted in two parts)
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The sun shone upon Alephmon the Flof Digimon. He wielded his sword, Checksum, up into the sky. The sun’s light reflected cold and bright on its polished iron blade. When Alephmon smiled, his two canine teeth poked out in a cute way. His yellow eyes glimmered from the sunlight.
He stood on an improvised battlefield on top of a castle’s ruins. Around him stood three cobblestone pillars, the fourth fallen long ago. The castle itself once belonged to a knight Digimon millenniums ago. He vanished without a trace of where he went or what happened to him. What remained of his existence were carvings of his knightly form with armor from head to toe. One such is a statue erected near the battlefield atop the castle. Bits of blue and white paint remained on it; the rest decayed away.
Alephmon swung his sword at Stry the Veemon. Stry jumped to the side while grinning with confidence. His red eyes narrowed at the blade. He bent his knees low as soon as his feet-paws touched the ground. He pounced forward, aiming his yellow V on his forehead at Alephmon. He leaned back with a grunt to avoid the attack. Stry grumbled as he instead zoomed toward a pillar. He headbutted it so hard that it collapsed with cobblestones flying all over.
“You need to do much better than that, maf!” Alephmon flipped back onto his feet-paws. His long, white claws scratched against the mossy stones, leaving behind scratch marks. His black, fingerless gloves snug tight against his swollen hand-paws. He pointed Checksum at Stry. “What do you say about that?”
“You’re getting much better at dodging,” Stry said. He rubbed his unharmed forehead to dust away any dust on it. He wiped away the sweat while ensuring none got on his red bandana around his neck. He turned around at Alephmon and gave him a thumbs up. “Even when you were a human and a lot frailer, you often stood there like a tree!”
“Don’t remind me.” Aleph blushed. He rubbed against his khaki shorts with his other hand-paw. He tightened his own red bandana around his neck with a grin. The bandana itself lay over his white, extra-fluffy chest. “Again, maf?”
“Always!”
Stry swung both arms in a circle. He charged at Alephmon with a loud battle cry. Mossy stones flew off from Stry’s claws from how fast he dashed. “Veveveve!”
Alephmon braced for the attack by raising his sword to block it. His muscles tensed up. His other hand-paw pressed against Checksum’s flat side with the blade shining cold. He lowered his head and swallowed. He dug his claws deep into the mossy cobblestone ground.
Stry struck his sword with enough force that a shockwave emitting from it. Alephmon slid back until his back smashed against another pillar. He wiggled his feet-paws to dislodge any stones that stuck onto them.
“You really should’ve dodged that one!” Stry jumped three times while charging at Alephmon. With the final jump, he leaped high before rocketing toward Alephmon with both feet-paws forward. Alephmon grinned with his short muzzle and jumped away. Stry’s kicks instead crashed through the pillar, kicking out a bunch of cobblestones. He landed and spun around, blinking in confusion. “Huh?”
The remaining stones that held the pillar up shattered. It creaked as it toppled toward Stry. For his part, he folded his long, floppy ears back. His eyes widened in anticipation and horror.
“Oh.”
The pillar crashed on top of Stry. It squashed him as flat as paper with cracks all around his body. His eyes spun until they became black spirals. Alephmon rubbed the back of his fluffy head with a satisfied grin. He stepped toward the shattered pillar and planted his palms on it. He pushed it with a grunt, rolling it off of Stry.
Stry groaned. “Who called in the train three hours early?”
“Whew. I’m getting better at being sneaky, maf,” Alephmon said. He crouched over to Stry. The wind blew; Alephmon’s light blue fur swayed with the breeze. A few seconds passed and Stry popped back to normal. “Alright there, buddy?”
“Uggggggh.” Stry rubbed his blue head before he shook it. He opened his eyes, with them back to normal. He turned to Alephmon and gave him a thumbs up. “OK. You tricked me there.”
“Yay!” Alephmon danced around while blushing pink. His two black belt suspenders hanging against his legs bounced up and down. He sheathed Checksum into the scabbard on his back. The black belt that held the sheath wrapped around his right shoulder and left waist. “I’m improving!”
“Um, Aleph?” Stry swallowed. The third remaining stone pillar cracked. The shockwave from his attack damaged it much more than he thought. “Pay attention.”
“When the new recruits come and join our freelance agency, I’m sure they’ll look up to me!” Alephmon fluffed up his fur. He closed his eyes and leaped up in joy. “And I won’t be lagging behind, maf!”
“Aleph.” Stry took a couple of steps forward. “Open your eyes and pay attention. You’re—”
“I’m
so hoping that they’ll be impressed with me!” He pressed his palms together before rubbing one of his hand-paws’ backs against his cheek. Joy-filled sparkles emitted from his body with a couple impacting the pillar. The pillar cracked more, with a few pieces falling off. “I can guess what one of them would say, maf. ‘Oh, Alephmon—’”
“ALEPH!!!”
Alephmon winced and opened his eyes. He turned over to Stry in confusion. “Wha—”
The pillar made an audible crack as it crumbled. Alephmon blinked and turned to the pillar. Dread crawled up and down his body, knowing what will happen. It toppled and fell toward him with its shadow all over his body. He gulped and, out of nowhere, pulled out a white flag.
“Maf.”
It crashed down on top of him with a loud boom. Cracks spread out all around, almost like a spiderweb. Stry smacked his hand-paw against his forehead. Regardless of what he did, fate or luck always flattened Alephmon in one way or another. He gritted his teeth for several seconds before he sighed. He hurried over to the pillar.
“Oh, Aleph. What am I going to do with you?” Stry crouched down next to the pillar. Sweat drops formed behind his head in an exaggerated manner. “Doing alright there, buddy?”
“Maaaaaaaf.”
“Good.” Stry dug his palms underneath the fallen pillar. He lifted with his entire body while trembling. He grunted and wheezed while gritting his teeth. The pillar cracked as he elevated it inch by inch. He flipped it off of Alephmon with sweat all over his body. When the pillar landed with a bang, he sat down next to it and Alephmon. He planted his back against the pillar and panted. “I swear this kind of bad luck happens to you a lot.”
Alephmon’s eyes spun into black spirals. His mouth hung open with a tongue sticking out. The white flag he held disappeared by that point; its purpose fulfilled. He wiggled his flat head until his eyes returned to normal. He rolled up halfway and lifted his hand-paws in a thumbs up.
“It-it could’ve been worse.” Alephmon snickered. He got up and stood with his two paper-flat feet-paws. He stumbled a bit before he steadied himself and stood straight. He twisted around, his body remaining as flat as paper. “It could’ve been raining, maf.”
“Tr—”
Thunder rumbled across the cloudless sky. As though by command, clouds rolled in within seconds, blocking the sun. Stry gritted his teeth and slapped his forehead just above his pointy nose. Alephmon hung his mouth open in a wide smile. Thunder roared again and, following that, the ringing sounds of rain.
“Never mind. False.” Stry stared at Alephmon with half-closed eyes with wrinkles below them. Rain drenched them so they became soaked all over their bodies. Alephmon wiggled in defiance despite the shower feeling like countless punches against his flat body. Stry sighed and piled Alephmon up over his shoulder. He carried Alephmon over to the hatch. “What else can go wrong?”
He lifted the hatch with exasperation. A moment later, he stepped down the ladder with Alephmon. Before he got to the bottom, he closed the trapdoor so no more rain got in. The weather may have turned for the worst, but at least they were close to home.
Much like before, the clouds swept away along with the rain as though by command. The sun shimmered down upon the Digital World as though it was never cloudy in the first place.
If Stry realized it happened as soon as he closed the hatch, his brain would crash and need several minutes to reboot.
He swung the flat Alephmon around until all water droplets sprayed off of him. Alephmon blushed in embarrassment, his head bright pink. Stry carried him to the clothesline that held several clips. He grabbed two of those clips and checked them. Satisfied, he hung Alephmon on the clothesline with the clips on his long flat ears.
“That’ll be a good place for you to dry off.” Stry rubbed the back of his head. He added in a low voice, “And hopefully won’t get into too much trouble in the meantime.”
“Maf?” Alephmon wiggled. “What was that?”
“Oh! Nothing!” Stry grinned wide at Alephmon. “While you hang there, I best prepare for the incoming new recruits today.”
“Today?” Alephmon folded his face forward. “I thought they’ll come in tomorrow.”
“No. It’s today.”
Alephmon kept silent for several seconds. One could almost hear his head processing this information, like gears turning or fans blowing. Once completed, his eyes turned white in a panic with a black outline around them. He wiggled and flapped against the clips, trying to break free. Stry widened his eyes and sweat-dropped in shock.
“Aleph?”
“I CAN’T LET THEM SEE ME LIKE THIS!!” Alephmon’s entire body turned white with black outlines. “IF THEY DID, THEY’LL NEVER TAKE ME SERIOUSLY AGAIN!!”
“Aleph, buddy! Settle down!” Stry rushed forward and grabbed his legs. The ruins became somewhat agitated by Alephmon’s screaming to the point that cracks formed. “It’s not that big of a deal!”
“I’LL BE A LAUGHING STOCK!!” Alephmon’s tail puffed up despite remaining flat. “HOW WILL—”
Stry punched Alephmon’s face hard enough for it to stretch out. “CALM DOWN!!”
Colors returned to Alephmon’s body. He panted with his flat tongue sticking out and his ears drooping low. He rolled down his head. “Thank you, maf. I needed that.”
“OK. Now that you’ve calmed down, let me show you something.” Stry reached over to a wall where an Agumon clock lay. He took it off from the wall. He showed the clock to Alephmon. “As you can see, it’s about 1:07 PM. They’ll be here by three. That’s plenty of time.”
“B-but I won’t be able to pop back to normal by then, maf.” Alephmon’s eyes became white with a black outline around them. “H-how will I—”
“Relax, buddy.” Stry patted Alephmon on his flat head. “I don’t think they’ll look down upon you for it. If anything, they’ll be amused by it, especially since it always happens.”
“S-still, that isn’t the impression that I want to make.” Alephmon wiggled closer to Stry. “I want to be seen as awesome, not silly. Maf.”
“That’s a tough call,” Stry said in a low voice. He added in his normal voice, “But if you’re still worried about that, when they come and you’re still flat as paper, I’ll do my best to cover for you. OK?”
“Whew.” Alephmon relaxed. He closed his eyes in exhaustion. He raised his flat arm up and gave Stry a thumbs up. “Thank you. You’re the best partner a Digimon could ever have, maf.”
“It’s what I’m here for, buddy.” Stry gave Alephmon a thumbs up in return. He strolled away with heavy lines over his eyes. “Welp, luck be a lady today.”
# # #
Time passed by with the sun crawling from the top of the sky to the west. Scattered clouds covered the sky, each avoiding the sun’s path like the plague. Meanwhile, the sun baked the ground below with its sunlight. A cool summer breeze went by to combat the heat, with the leaves and grass wiggling. A droplet strugged to remained on a leaf, but it fell and landed beautifully on the ground.
In short, a beautiful day in the Digital World.
Stry stepped outside through the tall front doors. Little of the original wood remained on the door; the rest rotted away. The replacement lumber for the door stuck out from how crudely they were nailed on and how little they matched the original. Stry stretched out with a grunt that turned into a yawn.
“One of these days, we’ll get this place repaired,” Stry said to himself. He turned ahead and blinked. He leaned forward with his hand-paw over his large eyes. Ahead traveled four figures coming to the castle. “They’re here!” Stry waved at them with a wide grin. He whispered to himself, “It’s a good thing I already hid Aleph in the closet. That should be a good hiding spot.” The four travelers rushed forward, though two hurried their walk instead of running. “Welcome!”
The foremost ran with his arms spread out behind him like a bird or a plane. His long, maroon hair-mane flowed behind him down to his tail. Short, sandy-colored fur coated all over his body. Six bright vertical red lines lay on his cheeks with three on each, becoming shorter as they reached his muzzle.
“You must be Nekozukimon,” Stry said. He extended his arm to him. “Welcome!”
Nekozukimon the lion Digimon poofed into white smoke. Stry flinched and took a step back. A plushy version of Nekozukimon rolled out and stopped against Stry’s feet-paws. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned in that direction. Nekozukimon stood there while spinning a kunai on his finger.
“Pretty cool, eh?” Nekozukimon winked one of his brown eyes at Stry.
“W-woah!” Stry took a step back. Nekozukimon snickered at him. “H-how did you d-do that?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.” Nekozukimon snapped his fingers, summoning a fire above them. “After all, you’re not a ninja like me!”
Stry nodded and turned to the next one rushing in. He recoiled and widened his eyes. The one rushing in reminded him somewhat of Alephmon until she got closer. Unlike Alephmon’s light blue fur, she held light green fur with sick green eyes. Her short and fingerless gloves contained dark green pigments. Her eyes flashed sick green in joy.
“S-so you must be Toximon,” Stry said. He recomposed himself and extended a hand-paw to her. “Welcome!”
Toximon the chincat Digimon nodded with a wide grin. She reached out to his hand-paw, but missed. She tripped and fell down with her face planted on the ground. Nekozukimon laughed and helped her up. Toximon blushed bright, but she laughed. Stry winced at the sight, especially at the grass dying where her face landed.
“I’m OK!” Toximon giggled. She brushed off the dirt from her red bandana around her neck. “I heard so much about you and Alephmon! You guys are like super awesome!”
“Um, thanks?” Stry shook Toximon’s hand-paw. “It’s good to have you here.”
The remaining two Digimon walked over to the others. The front of the two stood a half-foot taller than the rest. Black and blue fur coated much of his body with blue on his torso, hand- and feet-paws, and the bottom of his tail. White wrappings covered his forearms and right foreleg. His electric blue eyes sparkled as though they contained lightning.
“So you must be Stormymon!” Stry extended his arm to him. “Welcome!”
“Likewise.” Stormymon the wolf Digimon said. He took Stry’s hand-paw and shook it tight. His facial expression remained cool as the wind. Stry thought an electrical spark had come from his hand-paw. His black and electric blue cape fluttered with the breeze. “Hmm. Didn’t think your base would be in such condition.”
“Oh, this?” Stry blushed. He glanced back at the castle with some embarrassment. The cliff behind it helped protect it from possible attacks and weather. Even so, parts of it fell off with gaping holes. “We’ve been trying to repair the place. Hopefully—”
“Hmm. Just concerned. That’s all.” Stormymon set his hand-paws behind his back. “Can’t be too safe.”
“Right, right.” Stry nodded. He blushed more despite himself. If only Alephmon didn’t get himself flat. He sighed and turned to the final one.
The fourth one blushed out of shyness, enough that his face was more pink than light brown. Brown, fingerless gloves stretched up as far as his elbows. A plaid red and black scarf wrapped around his neck and extended down to his feet-paws. His golden eyes glistened in the sunlight.
“And you must be Castmon!” Stry grinned. He extended his hand-paw over. Castmon the fox Digimon glanced from side to side before he took it for a shake. His grip felt rubbery to Stry. “Welcome!”
“Th-thank you!” Castmon kept his tail, light brown with a pale tip, still. He inhaled and exhaled to calm himself down until he stopped blushing. “This sure is an interesting place.”
“Why, thank you!” Stry bowed to him several times. “Alephmon and I found his place. It’s practically a gold—”
“I’m sure you can show us,” Stormymon said. He leaned his elbow on top of Nekozukimon’s head just above the headband. Nekozukimon lifted his sleeveless shirt’s collar to cover his frown. His tail tip burst into a flame. Stormymon ignored that and added, “Though I can’t seem to find Alephmon.”
“You know, he got a point.” Toximon twisted around. “Like, I came to see him specifically. But where is he?”
“He, uh, got tangled up in a mission,” Stry answered. Sweat drops formed on the back of his head. “We got one at the last minute and he volunteered to take it. It offered good money for repairing the castle.”
Stormymon half-closed his eyes with them full of doubt. “Really?”
“Yes, really!” Stry laughed for a few seconds. “Why? What do you think happened to him?”
“Hmm.” Stormy stopped leaning on Nekozukimon’s head. Instead, he rubbed his smirking snout. “Perhaps he’s hiding? That’ll be a clever thing to do.”
Toximon gasped. “You mean like hide-and-seek? That’s my FAVORITE game!”
“That’s not what I—”
“Why, I bet he saw us right now and is hurrying to find the PERFECT spot to hide in!” Sparkles emitted from Toximon’s body. “And I bet the one who finds him first gets a super special gift!”
Toximon rushed to the high doors. She swung them open with a great deal of force. The hinges groaned from the stresses. She entered the castle while leaving the others behind. Stry stared out with wide, horrified eyes over losing control. Stormymon rubbed his face in exasperation. Electrical sparks emitted from his body.
“Toximon, come back. It’s dangerous to go in a half-collapsing castle.” Stormymon stepped inside with his head low.
Stry stammered. “I-er-uh—”
Nekozukimon laughed. The fire on his tail sputtered and fizzled out. He slapped Stry’s back. “Oh, Toximon. Always getting into so much trouble.” He set his hand-paws on his hips where the fiery design on his shirt lay. The red and orange fire pattern separated the solid black jeans from the black shirt. “Might as well join them, then!”
Before Stry could stop him, Nekozukimon slapped his palms together. Despite the sudden force, he did not make a sound. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared from the area with a whistle. Stry dropped his jaws to the ground, turning white in dismay. Castmon shifted around before he tapped his shoulder. Stry flinched and turned to him.
“Um, permission to go in?” Castmon asked. He blushed with his ears folding back. “I-I know that the others haven’t, but—”
“No. It’s OK.” Stry sighed. He patted Castmon’s shoulder in a feeble attempt to relax. “Let’s go in.”
“OK.” Castmon nodded.
The two stepped inside without a sound. Stry smiled at Castmon, though he was panicking in his head. The shade covered them up from the blazing sun. Stry closed the doors behind them with a loud thud. It echoed in a doom-like sound throughout the large hallway. The door handle cracked somewhat, though Stry overlooked it for other problems. For example, finding the others. He swallowed and went up the stairs. Behind him, Castmon followed close.
# # #
Alephmon lay hidden against a wall within a closet. Ahead several clothes, including some oversized coats, hung above. Dust hovered above his flat nose to the point of tickling it. He wiggled in an attempt to suppress a sneeze. The inch grew more potent to the point that he doubted he could contain it.
Outside, a door crashed open just as he almost gave in.
“Alephmon! I know you’re here somewhere!” Toximon said in a teasing tone.
Alephmon wiggled his ears in fear. He covered his nose and pressed hard against it. Meanwhile, Toximon rushed through the room in glee. She pulled on blankets and sheets on beds for a hiding Alephmon. A peek under the bed proved the same. Drawers opened up, curtains pulled away, and chairs pulled out from desks. She even checked the blue vases on the bedsides. All showed to Toximon that Alephmon was not hiding there.
Stormymon stepped in while shrugging. “Toximon, this is a bedroom. It’s rude to search in here like in the last few rooms.”
Alephmon inhaled. He recognized that voice anywhere.
“But like he must be hiding here!” Toximon spoke with a cute tone. “He must be an expert in hide-and-seek!”
“Toximon, I didn’t brink it up because I thought he was playing a game. I thought—”
Alephmon’s face turned bright red. He pressed on his nose harder, trying to suppress the sneeze building up within. It won, and he sneezed.
“What was that?” Toximon twisted toward the closet.
“Hmm. Perhaps he hid here after all.”
Alephmon shifted from side to side in a panic. He brushed against an oversized coat and an idea formed in his head. He slipped into one of the coats with it covering much of his body. He folded his head into the collar. The closet door swung open with light filling it up.
“Huh?” Toximon bent down below. “I KNOW I heard something from here.”
“Hmm.” Stormymon checked the sides and the ceiling. “I don’t see anyone. Do you?”
“No. Wait! I know!” Toximon grinned. She got up and grabbed some of the clothes. “He must be hiding behind these clothes!”
“Um, Toximon. Unless he weights as much as a piece of paper, he couldn’t have—”
“It’s something that I would do!” Toximon yanked the clothes out, batches at a time. They fell on the floor behind her. Stormymon flattened his ears back and shook his head in disappointment. All of the clothes lay outside on the pile. No Alephmon hid in the closet. “Huh. He wasn’t.”
“And now you made a mess.” Stormymon sighed. He tapped his foot against one of the oversized coats. He rolled his eyes. “I’m not cleaning that up.”
“There you two are!” Nekozukimon appeared between them out of thin air. Toximon yipped and fell on her rear. “Woah. There’s a lot of clothes on the floor. What happened here?”
“She did it.” Stormymon crossed his arms.
Toximon giggled and rubbed the back of her head in awkwardness. She blushed with her eyes shifting up to her upper right. She got up and blushed some of the dirt off. “I guess I did, like, let myself get carried away.”
Nekozukimon glanced inside the closet. “So, what’s with tossing out the clothes from here?” He snapped his fingers and a fireball formed above his palm. Orange light filled the closet with all the nooks and crannies visible. “There’s nothing here.”
Alephmon poked his head out from the coat. Blue lines covered much of his face in dread. The clothes on top of him pinned him down with little wiggle room. At least the other three stared into the closet instead of at the clothes. If they did, they would have seen a panicking Alephmon wiggling.
“Toximon here thought that Alephmon must be hiding in the closet,” Stormymon answered. His ear flicked with electrical sparks falling out.
Alephmon swallowed and wiggled out of the coat bit by bit.
“Yeah! Like, we heard a sneeze coming from there!” Toximon giggled again.
Alephmon loosened himself out from the coat and clothes pile.
“So, you thought that he might be behind the clothes?” Nekozukimon smirked. He laughed and his tail tip burst into flames. “That’s so like you, Toximon!”
Alephmon twisted into a spiral from side to side. The bedroom door remained open as though granting him freedom from the other. He tensed at the thought of a quick escape through there. He wiggled toward there until he heard pawsteps coming up. He paled and stopped himself. He pressed his head against one of the two beds and an idea formed.
“Yeah! I must say that Alephmon must be a better hide-and-seek player than I thought!” Toximon laughed.
Alephmon swallowed and inhaled. He knew it was a silly idea, but he had little choice. He slipped between the bunk and mattress. His tail flicked before it hid with him. It was a tight squeeze, but he sighed in relief.
“Like, really good!”
“Would you please let me complete what I think he’s doing?” Stormymon shook his head. “Alephmon isn’t hiding for som—”
“What in the wide Digital World just happened?!”
Stry the Veemon stood at the doorway. His eyes widened in horror with his arms hung loose on his sides. Beside him, Castmon glanced around with a curious expression. He took a couple of steps in before he stopped. He blushed out of shyness.
“I. Have. Nothing. To do. With this.” Stormymon gritted his teeth. His tail flicked out of annoyance. “That was all Toximon’s doing.”
“It was a clever hiding spot.” Toximon stuck her tongue out. “Like, I bet you’ll do it too if you were hiding.”
Once Stry’s head rebooted, he shook it. He rushed in in a fury. He shoved Nekozukimon aside as he headed into the closet. He turned all around in the closet down to up. He sucked his lips from how out of control everything got. But where did Alephmon go?
“And to think all of this happened is because you heard a sneeze.” Nekozukimon laughed into a screech. He produced a kunai out of thin air and spun it on his index finger. “But there is one thing you’re all missing.”
“What’s that?” Toximon rubbed her palms together. She wagged her tail fast.
“A ninja like me!” Nekozukimon smirked. He flung his kunai into the air and caught it. “You see, we ninjas are experts in hiding. It’s part of our jobs, in fact. We know all about the art of hiding. How well? Why, I might be hiding as we speak!”
Stormymon rolled his eyes. He snapped his fingers to generate an electrical spark on one of his fingers. He poked Nekozukimon’s shoulder with it to transfer the shock. Nekozukimon jumped into the air with all of his fur standing up.
“Hmm. Nah. You’re not hiding.” Stormymon chuckled.
“That was a figure of—”
“Could everyone PLEASE step out of mine and Aleph’s bedroom!?” He twisted back to the others. His blue and white face turned red. “You lot shouldn’t even be here in the first place!”
“That’s what I thought as well,” Stormymon said. He sighed and strolled over to one of the beds. “And with all of the other rooms Toximon searched. Besides, as I was saying, Alephmon wouldn’t be here. And he’s not doing it because of—”
Stormymon sat on a bed at that moment. The same one that Alephmon hid under.
“Yip!”
A cold chill crawled into the room that only Stry and the hidden Alephmon felt. Stry flinched back in horror with his face turning white. Stormymon blinked and got off the bed. Toximon and Nekozukimon stared at the bed in confusion.
“Could it be that he hid underneath that bed all this time?” Nekozukimon asked. He folded his left ear to the side.
“B-but like, I checked that bed. Even underneath the blankets.” Toximon folded her ears back. “He wasn’t there.”
“But did you lift the bed off from the mattress?”
“No.”
Alephmon breathed faster. He poked his arm out the other side and slid it underneath the blanket.
“It’s nothing!” Stry stomped a couple of times. “And again, Aleph isn’t here! I told you that he’s out on a mission!”
“That’s what you say.” Stormymon gripped the mattress tight. “But I doubt it.”
Alephmon gritted his flat teeth. He slid out more until he hid underneath the blanket. He held his breath and clutched the sheet tight.
Stormymon lifted the mattress up at a forty-five-degree angle. Nothing, not even dust, hid underneath it. He frowned and lowered it back down. “Hmm. Strange. I know something yipped underneath it.”
Nekozukimon pulled down his shirt’s collar to rub his chin for a few seconds. He closed his eyes, deep in thought. Toximon and Stormymon heard a sneeze of some kind from the closet. They searched it and discovered nothing. Now, everyone heard a yip from a bed for sure. Stormymon searched, but he did not find it. Strange, was it not?
The fire went out from Nekozukimon’s tail. He paced around for a few seconds. Twice, a sound was heard. Twice, they searched for the source but could not find it.
Unless it moved.
Nekozukimon snapped his eyes open and snapped his fingers. “Aha! I figured it out!”
“What?” Stormymon turned around while crossing his arms. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, that Alephmon is such a genius! I could learn a thing or two from him!” Nekozukimon grinned as bright as his reignited tail. “He is here!”
“Ohhhh?” Toximon’s eyes dazzled. She rubbed her palms together. “I knew it!”
“Why are you guys LIS—”
“Look, you said that you heard something in the closet, correct?” Nekozukimon cut through Stry’s words. “Here’s what I think happened. He WAS in here! And he hid in the one place that only a ninja like me could think of!” He pointed at the tossed-out clothes. “In there!”
Stormymon flattened both of his ears back. He let out a smirk before he snorted. “Hiding in the clothes? Really?” He leaned back and laughed. “That’s the silliest thing I heard all day! Even if he was in those clothes, we would’ve spotted him as soon as we opened the doors!”
“Not if he was flatter than paper.” Nekozukimon grinned.
Stry sweated at the words. At least, until his mind clicked. He strolled away from the group without a sound. He sighed in his mind when even Castmon got absorbed by the conversation.
“Oh, come on!” Stormymon shook his head. He laughed again. “You’re telling me that our brave new leader is malleable like that? Really?”
“Why not?” Nekozukimon smirked. He leaned in closer to Stormymon. “It’ll be beneficial for a leader to become flat.”
Stry tiptoed to the other side of the bed.
“Uh-huh.” Stormymon shifted his eyes away. “Supposing that he was ‘flat’ and hid ‘in the clothes,’ where else could he go?”
“Simple! He snuck underneath the mattress to hide!” Nekozukimon winked in confidence.
Meanwhile, Stry checked underneath the blanket. Alephmon remained still underneath it, sweating flat sweat drops while sucking his lips. With his one chance, Stry rolled him up bit by bit.
“However, you blew his cover by sitting on the bed!” Nekozukimon grinned with his teeth sparkling.
Stry held the rolled-up Alephmon while glancing around. A blue vase lay nearby on the bedside. He swallowed and stuffed Alephmon inside it. He set the blanket back as before and strolled away. It all comes down to this.
“Uh-huh. One problem.” Stormymon half-lowered his eyes in sarcasm. “I just checked under the mattress. Still, nice theory.”
“Except that he managed to sneak out quick enough!” Nekozukimon stepped toward the bed. He glanced at Stry leaning against the wall. “May I?” Stry flinched but nodded. Nekozukimon smirked and gripped on the blanket. “So, the one place that Alephmon snuck into, the only place that he could hide in quick enough, is right under—”
He yanked the blanket off.
“—here?”
Nekozukimon blinked in confusion at the Alephmon-less bed. He patted it a few times and checked under the bedsheet. Stormymon gave a slow clap before he laughed. He shook his head.
“Hmm. You were saying?” Stormymon asked in a half-joking tone.
“B-but he should’ve been there!” Nekozukimon lifted the mattress up. “H-how? Why?”
“Hmm. Maybe you’re being too clever for your own good.”
“Awwww. I wanted to see Alephmon. Like, even a flat Alephmon.” Toximon’s ears drooped. “It made so much sense too.”
“Yeah. So much sense.”
“Like, really?”
“No.” Stormymon shrugged. “Hmm. I think we’re done here. Right, Stry?”
“Oh? Um, yeah!” Stry nodded. He puffed his red cheeks out in anger, though it was half-acting. He pointed at the door. “Now that you’re done searching, PLEASE LEAVE ALEPH’S AND MY BEDROOM!!”
“Sure.” Stormymon wiggled his index finger until electrical sparks came from the tip. He poked Nekozukimon with it while smirking. His sandy and maroon fur fluffed up or stood up straight from the shock. “Come on. Let’s head out.”
“Y-you don’t need to do that!” Nekozukimon flattened his ears. He stormed out of the room in a huff.
“Yes, I do.” Stormymon chuckled. He crossed his arms again. He took a couple of steps forward before glancing back. “Come on, you two.”
“Alephmon must be, like, an expert hide-and-seeker even for a ninja. I’m liking him so much more now.” Toximon rubbed the back of her head. Castmon stood next to her and his eyes shone. He clapped his palms together. When he pulled them away, he held a flower between his fingers. He offered it to Toximon while blushing. “Awwww. Thank you.”
Toximon and Castmon strolled over to Stormymon as though he was their big brother. He rolled his eyes in disbelief but led them out. Stry waited until the remaining recruits left the room. Once that happened, he rushed to the door and shut it tight.
“As I keep trying to tell you all, Alephmon isn’t doing this to play a silly game. He’s hiding from us so he can observe us from a distance. That way, he can judge us better on how we behave without his presence affecting us.”
“Ohhhhh. I get it.” Toximon paused for a few seconds. “I don’t get it.”
Stry ignored Stormymon’s sigh and the following comment. Instead, he rushed over to the blue vase. He flipped it over and tapped on the bottom. A rolled-up Alephmon slid out and unrolled on the floor. He sighed in relief, his dignity intact. Stry picked him up and carried him back to the closet.
Stry gave Alephmon a thumbs up and a grin. Alephmon returned the gesture with his own flat thumbs up and grin, despite the flat sweat all over his body. Stry picked up the clothes and dusted the dirt off. He hung them back into the closet. Once done, he shut the door somewhat hard. Relief washed all over him. So much so that he did not notice that he lay his back against it and slid down. He sighed.
“That was a close call.”
He got up with determined renewal. He picked up the pillows and fluffed them up. He set them back onto the bed. The blankets followed, covering the pillows halfway. If one could take a look at the bed, it would be picture-perfect.
Stry wiped away the sweat and inhaled long. He followed it up with an exhale, which is perfectly normal behavior. He went to the bedroom door and opened it.
“—and being flat is such a ridiculous—oh!” Stormymon spun over to Stry.
“All done!” Stry said. He gave them a thumbs up. Nekozukimon grinned and gave a thumbs-up in turn. Stormymon nodded and turned away. Toximon wagged her tail in eagerness. Castmon blushed so hard that he seemed to shrink in size. “And now that you’re all gathered here, I’ll show off the castle, ending with the special secret in the basement.”
“Special secret, eh?” Stormymon raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“It needs to be seen before shown.” Stry winked. “All I can say right now is that it’s the reason why Aleph and I chose this castle as our home and base.”
