Disclaimer: Hello, don’t sue me. I don’t own Digimon or anything remotely related to the topic except a few original characters and a certain plot idea to be implemented into this fic. As always, review or else I’ll torture you to death with really lame jokes about plastic army men.

DigitalWar:

Campaign II:

Interlude

“What was that?” Mister Matthews asked to no one in particular. He had the distinct feeling though, that it was someone who he should not have taken a shot at. The man sighed and inspected the damage done. That thing had caused his property some cosmetic damage and only one wall needed to be repaired.

He looked out the still open door. “Bloody hell!” The exclamation had been directed toward his neighbors, who had heard the gunshots and come running to see the spectacle. Undoubtedly they had seen the monsters and that was why the police had not been called.

By now his wife was awake and sipping a glass of cold sweet-tea to calm her down. “That one boy said that it was Eli,” she said, looking at her husband. “What if it was? What if it really was Eli—our son? What if—”

“It wasn’t him,” Matthews said bitterly, inspecting the wall again. Two more rifles were lying in ruin after the onslaught. “It wouldn’t have attacked us if it had been Eli. Even if I had attacked first.”

“You did attack first, though! You shot it and look at this—” she held out the tooth that the monster had spit out, bloody and sharp. “We can have it tested for DNA and see if it really was him.”

“It wasn’t him!” Matthews shouted angrily toward his wife, who reflexively dropped her tea and began to sob again. “It wasn’t him. I’m sure of it.” At least, he thought he was sure of it. After all, his son was not a monster.

Are you sure? Matthews turned around to face nothing. Are you honestly sure that that was not your son?

“I think it was him,” the man’s wife said uneasily, wiping the wetness under her eyes away. “He’s not going to come back, though.”

He will not come back.

“I’ll get him back, love,” Mister Matthews told his wife suddenly aware that the voice was coming from inside his head. “I promise I’ll get him back if I have to drag him back by his ears.”

Then you will have to drag him back by his ears, Mister Matthews. Your son will not come back to you again, and there is no way you can force him back… There was a slight pause and Matthews thought that the voice might be smiling at him. …There is no way you can force him back without my help.

Who are you? Matthews thought into the emptiness. That someone had to be able to hear him, or his thoughts at least.What do you want? The man turned back to his wife and sighed. He needed to get Elijah back if only to sooth her.

I want to help you. You see, Elijah is my son as well, the voice told him. The monster you saw was your son, a clone of me. Therefore he is my son as well, and I would like have him back among family as well.

Matthews did not quite understand what he was being told. His only son was a clone of some eerie voice in his head? I don’t understand. H—how is it possible? Elijah was born to his wife. Matthews was in the delivery room when it happened, and was there at conception! I saw him being birthed…

My genetic material was transferred to the unborn child shortly after conception, the voice said. I wish to know my son, as you wish to have him back with you. I can feel the guilt you are feeling after having shot him. And I want to help you assuage that guilt by helping you find him.

And just what was the catch? Matthews may not have understood any of this had happened, but he knew a deal that was too good to be true. Somewhere along the line, he had the feeling that this arrangement would come back and bite him in the butt.

I want him to live with me, the voice admitted.You are welcome to stay as well, but Elijah must be with me. He is my only heir.

And just who are you?

My name is Bek.

“Hon,” Matthews said, sitting down by his wife, “I can’t get him back for you. But I know a way that we can still be with him somewhere else.” She looked at him, drying tears that would not stop coming, and nodded.