Chapter 15: A Tail About Drusilla

Taylor was on the D-Eco communication system with Martin. It was nighttime and Taylor was once again perched up on a rock in the ocean in mermaid form. It had been two days since Taylor came to the Folder Continent Beach Resort with her parents and their Digimon, and she actually got to do a lot of playing on the second day (the first day, she had to fight Ragalecusmon). The DigiWorld's full moon illuminated the ocean surface below.

"Really!? MotherNaturemon digivolved into Vineyardmon, her Ultimate a.k.a Perfect form?!" Taylor exclaimed in happy surprise.

"Yep. You should have seen her. She was so beautiful. She had all kinds of different flowers growing all over her body. She looked like she was wearing a sundress made of flowers! And the trees growing out of her back had grapes that blew up our enemy but also could heal allies! She was incredible!" Martin said.

The two of them looked like tiny hologram heads projected above each other's digivice. Taylor was about to respond, but she heard Naturemon in the background exclaim "Oh, Marty Hearty! You're making me blush!" Taylor smiled. "So, it looks like you've made up with your Digimon." Taylor observed. "Indeed. Camping alone, just the two of us, we not only made up but…I think we grew closer." Martin said. Taylor looked out at the ocean to her right. A slight breeze came by and rustled her hair. "I wonder which one of us will digivolve to Ultimate next?" Taylor said.

Jessica peeked out the window of their bungalow. "Taylor, come inside! It's time for dinner!" She said. Taylor sighed. "Ah man."

The Gray Residence….

It was the next morning. Drusilla lay in bed sound asleep with Coalmon next to her. Although something was different; she had two huge horns growing out of her head like goat horns! Drusilla opened her eyes and sat up. She rubbed her eyelids and yawned. Drusilla turned around and set her feet on the floor. "Spring Break. Yay. So…what am I going to do…exactly? I suppose I could read those novels I've been meaning to get to." Drusilla thought to herself as she made her way into the bathroom. Drusilla turned and looked into the mirror. She saw the horns! She reached up and began rubbing the horns. "No way! What?" She exclaimed. She also looked behind her and noticed that she had grown a tail that ended in a triangular tip like a devil tail. "Horns AND a tail!? What is happening!?" Drusilla exclaimed. She pulled slightly on the horns and tail to see if it was some sort of prank, but these weren't attached to her or stuck on with some adhesive. These were growing out of her. Drusilla started to look panicked. "MOM!!!!!!!!" She screamed. Zai was downstairs drinking coffee, but when she heard Drusilla's panicked scream, she put it down and ran upstairs as fast as she could. "Drusilla!? Drusilla! What's wrong, sweetie!" Zai asked as she was running. Zai opened the bathroom door and saw the horned and tailed Drusilla standing in front of the bathroom mirror. "Mom? What's happening to me?" Drusilla asked. When Drusilla spoke, large fangs could be seen in her mouth. Syn, Zai's BlackGatomon, had come running as well, as did Coalmon. Syn looked taken aback! "Whoa! What the whattity what what? It aint Halloween time yet!" Syn exclaimed. Zai frowned and sighed.

They went downstairs and sat at the kitchen table. Drusilla's dad, Jacob, was also sitting with them. Jacob looked concerned. "Sweetie, I know you're into the whole goth aesthetic, and I totally support that, but don't you think this is taking it a bit too far?" Jacob asked. Zai and Drusilla both rolled their eyes. "Honey, these aren't Halloween props. It's….well….it's kind of like puberty for a Devillian." Zai said. Jacob's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Whaaaaaa!? You mean this is actually a part of our little girl's body!?" He exclaimed. Zai nodded with a firm "Mmhmm."

"Let me explain. As you both know, the Devillian race, like mermaids and mermen of whom our mutual friends Jessica and Taylor descend, visited Earth semi-covertly in the past. While some of Devillis' people are good - as I am proof of - we are in a minority. Most Devillians are violent, evil, savage creatures…who only care about power and strength, and lording that power and strength over others. There aren't even any murder laws on my home planet. If someone kills you, the government sees that as you just not being strong enough. It's a survival of the fittest philosophy. When Devillians came here over 150 years ago, they sucked the blood of many, many people. This horrible act in conjunction with their appearance led to the vampire myth which spawned the Dracula 'novel', the Dracula movies, the Twilight books, and pretty much all things vampire that exist today." Zai explained. Jacob took a sip of coffee. His mug had a caption on it; "My wife drives me batty" with a little cartoon bat under it. It was a gag gift Zai got him. "Yeah…you told me that when I first met you. What does this have to do with our daughter's…erm…'puberty'?" Jacob asked.

"Well, artistic depictions of Satan and other demonic entities in paintings also came from Devillians. I'm sure you've seen them. Well, I clearly don't have horns, fangs, and a tail. Just batlike wings and pale skin. The latter of which I didn't always have, but your sun is just too weak for my skin. At some point during the 10th year of every Devillian's life; the horns, tail, and fangs sprout. These give the Devillian incredible abilities, such as being able to see in the dark, the sight, smell, and hearing of a predatory animal, the ability to turn invisible, and being able to hear a human's heartbeat from miles away when hungry, just to name a few. These physical features and the powers that go with them aren't permanent. Unless the tween Devillian drinks the blood of 100 creatures, the horns and tail and the powers that go with them will vanish forever. Perhaps the most rewarding of all the abilities that come with this is an extended lifespan. It's not immortality, but you can live for about a thousand years rather than a measly hundred." Zai explained.

Drusilla sat listening intently. She was a little uncomfortable, not knowing what to do with the forked tail protruding a mere inch above her buttocks, so she fidgeted in her sea. "Well, those abilities sound really awesome, but sucking the blood of 100 creatures to get it just isn't worth it. I don't want to hurt anyone." Drusilla said. Zai smiled. "I didn't either. And you have to drain your victim completely dry for it to work, so you would be doing more than just hurting them." Zai said.

Drusilla was running her fingers over her newfound fangs. "Although…" She said with a worried tone. "I….kind of hunger for it." She said, looking concerned. Drusilla was wondering if the fact that she was actually thirsting for blood meant that she was transforming into some kind of monster. Jacob looked worried, but Zai didn't. Zai motioned her hand to Jacob to indicate there was nothing to worry about. "Yeah, that's just your body's way of trying to get you to do the ritual. That will be gone by tomorrow. You'll just have to endure it. I did when I was your age. By tomorrow, you'll be back to normal." Zai said.

Drusilla looked over to Jacob with a very worried look. "Dad….in your opinion…as a human….are Mom and I….monsters?" She asked. Jacob walked over and hugged his daughter with a smile. "Absolutely not. I would never marry a monster, and you will always be my precious little baby." Jacob said. Coalmon looked put out. "Hey! What's wrong with being a monster? We Digimon are monsters! Digital Monsters!" She said. Drusilla smiled at Coalmon. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe we should stop using monster as a slur." She replied.

Drusilla was wondering how she'd spend the day now. She couldn't go outside looking like this, could she? Despite all the different forms of creatures now living alongside Earth's native human population, Drusilla had to admit that she looked scary, even to herself. Could she just casually walk down the street without getting stares? Then it occurred to her she could probably just pass herself off as a new kind of humanoid Digimon, like Martin's Naturemon. Zai made them all breakfast, and they ate. Afterwards, Drusilla brushed her teeth, showered, and decided to head out.

As Drusilla and Coalmon walked down the streets, Drusilla looked around and realized nobody really gave her a second glance at all. "Guess I was right. With so many alien species - not to mention Digimon - occupying this planet, I don't look out of place at all." Drusilla observed. Coalmon was rolling along, she stopped to answer. "Yep. No need to worry about looking strange in this day and age. By the way, just how strong IS your thirst for blood?" Coalmon asked. She then resumed rolling.

"It's pretty strong. I won't lie. But…Syn once told me that just because we might have evil impulses doesn't mean we have to follow through with them. She told me that we all have free will…and we can choose between good and evil. She said that's why, although most BlackGatomons, LadyDevimons, and Lillithmons are pure evil, she chooses to be good." Drusilla said.

Just then, a middle aged man with smooth red hair in a suit walked up to Drusilla. A Tentomon was flying behind. "Excuse me, but judging by your features, I think it would be a justified inference to say that you're Drusilla Gray, one of the Elemental Four Digidestined, is that correct?" He asked. Drusilla nodded. "Yeah. I'm her." She responded. The man smiled and said "Prodigious! My name is Koushiro Izumi, but most people call me Izzy. It's a nickname which plays off of the I and Z in my family name. I'm from the World For Us All organization. I meant to give this to you a long time ago, but totally forgot. Our leader chewed me out." He said. He handed a pendant to Drusilla that was dark orange and had an image of a flame engraved into it. "My crest?" observed Drusilla. "Your Crest Of Fire to be precise." Tentomon said. Then realizing he hadn't introduced himself, he extended an arm, "Oh, by the way, I'm Tentomon. Izzy's Digimon partner. We've been together for a long, long time." Drusilla shook Tentomon's front insectoid leg like a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Tentomon." Drusilla then looked at Izzy and said "Thank you. I'll try to bond with the element as soon as I can." Izzy smiled and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I still have to deliver the Crest Of Air to Emmett. If I don't, Mirei will have a fit." Izzy said.

After Izzy and Tentomon left, Drusilla and Coalmon continued on their way. "How does one go about becoming one with fire? What does that even mean?" Drusilla wondered aloud.

Devillis…

On a planet in a nearby galaxy, a man dressed in all black walked the streets of what looked like a post-apocalyptic city. He wore a black cloak and spiked boots with skulls on the sides of them. His collar stood up and the interior of his collar was red. His eyes were blood red. He had very long black hair, and a short black mustache and beard. The ground was dry everywhere, with only a single tree here and there. The planet itself was 70% molten and very hot. It was a hellish environment, but here, the Devillis race thrived. The man walked into a bar. It was somewhat dark, but it was lit up enough by neon lights so those in the bar could see what they were doing. Bat winged humanoids were all over the place. Some were dancing to music, others were drinking, some were doing a bit of both. Some of the Devillians only had bat wings protruding out of their backs. Others had horns, a forked tail, and fangs in addition to the bat wings. The man walked by some scantily dressed winged horned girls. The girls took a swig of a dark red fluid. The man walked up to the bar stool with the scantily clad girls and said "Mind if I take a seat?" One of the girls replied, "Go ahead."

"What'll you have?" The bartender asked.

"I'm not thirsty for alcohol. I'm thirsty for information." He said.

"If you want information, you've got to buy a drink. That's the rule." The Bartender said.

The cloaked man removed his cloak from over his head. This caused the girls and the bartender to look surprised. "It…it can't be! Dracula Kuro!" The Bartender said. "Yep. That's me." Said the previously hooded man. "Dracula? Like, oh my devil! I'm such a big fan!" One of the girls said. "Totes! You're infamous throughout the galaxy! You help Devillian children keep their horns by taking them to various planets to feed. On your own dime too!" Another girl said. "I wouldn't still be alive if not for you! You helped me feast on 100 victims 200 years ago!" Another girl said. She looked to be about 30, but in reality, she was 210 years old! 200 years ago, Dracula had taken her along with a group of other 10 year old Devillian children to Earth to feed on the blood of many humans. Dracula smirked and put his hand underneath the woman's chin. "Oh, really? Well, I'm glad you came along. It'd be a shame if this pretty face were rotting in the ground right now." He said. The woman blushed. Her heart began racing. Dracula was a charmer. He could charm almost any woman he met, regardless of race.

The bartender began cleaning a cup. "Since it's you, Lord Dracula, I'll tell you anything you want to know on the house." He said.

"I have an ungrateful daughter who has eluded me for years. Last I heard, she was in the construction business, and even built this very bar 15 years ago." Dracula said. He reached into his pocket and brought out a couple of photos of her. One was when she was a teenager, and the other was more recent. They were picture's of Zai!

"Zaiaku Kuro? Yes. She and her team are great at building things. But I'm afraid that apart from knowing she led the construction team that built this establishment, I'm afraid I don't know much about her." The bartender said.

One of the women leaned in close to Dracula. "I know Zai. She was like, my BFF for years. She was never any fun though. She never wanted to destroy anything. Only build. Like, I get that we can't destroy EVERYTHING or else a civilization is impossible, but at least burn one home down every now and then, like, gaah." She said. Dracula raised an eyebrow. Now, his interests were piqued. "So you must know where she is right now?" Dracula said. The Devillian woman nodded and smirked. "Yep. She told me she was moving to Earth to start a new life there. Spewed some nonsense about not being able to tolerate this violent planet anymore." She replied.

"Any more specific than that? Earth's got lots of places for my little girl to hide." Dracula said.

"Nakano, Japan." The woman replied.

Dracula reached in and started making out with the woman for a few moments! When he pulled away, he said "Thank you." The woman was now blushing. Dracula turned around and walked out of the bar, pulling his hood back over his head as he walked. He looked down at the photos of Zai he had in his hands, of when she was 14 and when she was 30. "Earth, huh? Yeah…I had some pretty good times there a couple hundred years ago." He said. He then looked up at the sky, which was an orangish brown color. Three Suns were in the sky, close to each other. "I wonder if she's given me any grandbabies….and if it's too late for them?"

He looked over and saw a Devillian man with a DigiWorm phone in his hand. He pointed over to him. "Hey you! Give me that DigiWorm phone!" Dracula demanded. The Devillian man scoffed. "Yeah, buddy. That aint gonna happen." He said. Dracula dashed towards the man at blinding speed. He jumped up high into the air and then came down onto him, biting into his neck like a wild animal! Dracula's victim screamed and tried to put up a fight before eventually going limp! Dracula sat up and wiped the blood dripping from his mouth. He had just drained this man dry! When he did, the horns on his head and his tail glowed red for a moment. "Guess I was thirstier than I thought." Dracula said. Other Devillians were watching. Interested, but not worried. Getting killed in the streets was just another day in paradise for these people. Dracula then took the DigiWorm phone out of the dead man's hands and opened a portal. "Zai, daddy's coming to see you!" He said, giving off an evil looking grin.

Earth….

Dracula came through the other side of the portal. He looked up and saw a small figure flying around in the sky. Dracula's eyebrows furrowed. "Hmm….I wonder." Dracula thought to himself. Drusilla and Coalmon were flying around the skies of Tokyo. Coalmon was inside of a pet carrier, tightly locked so she wouldn't fall, and could look out. "Weee!!!! Drusilla! This is so much fun!" Coalmon shouted. "I know, right? Now watch this!" Drusilla said before doing a very dangerous loopty loop. "WAHOO!!!" Coalmon screamed. "I finally mastered the loopy loop! Just wait until I tell Syn!" Drusilla said. Drusilla then felt an immense pain in her gut. "Drusilla, what's wrong?" Asked Coalmon. "I need to land." Drusilla said. So, she did. She landed in the middle of the streets of Shibuya. She knelt down in pain. "Hunger pangs. So…..hungry. Need……blood!" She said. Coalmon came out of the pet carrier and put her rocky hand on Drusilla's shoulder with a concerned look on her face. "But you can't!" Coalmon said. "I know! I know!" She said through the pain. People around her looked at her with concern. One human knelt down and asked "Are you alright? Do I need to call an ambulance?" Drusilla grabbed the man and pulled him down close, opening her mouth to take a bite out of his neck! But right before she did, she got a hold of herself and pushed him away! "Get away from me! Everyone leave me alone!"

Just then, a man in black came up from behind the distressed 10 year old Devillian girl and her Digimon. It was Dracula. "I never thought I'd encounter a fellow Devillian here on Earth." He said. Drusilla's hunger pangs subsided for the moment. Drusilla stood up and looked at the man who just spoke to her. He noticed his features; two horns, bat wings protruding from his back, fangs, and a forked tail just as she had. "You're…like me." Drusilla observed. Dracula smiled. "Yes, child. I am. I came to this planet looking for my daughter. You wouldn't happen to know a Zaiaku Kuro would you?" He asked before taking out the pictures he had of Zai and showing them to her. Drusilla looked surprised. "That's my mother!"

Dracula grinned and opened his arms. "Then that makes you my granddaughter. It's very nice to finally meet you. My name is Dracula Kuro. It looks to me as if your horns and tail grew in. Tell me, have you been feasting on blood to ensure it's permanent?" Dracula said. Drusilla shook her head. She couldn't place her finger on it, but she didn't feel like she was safe with this man. Was this really her grandfather? She felt evil vibes coming from him. "I don't want to hurt anyone." Drusilla said. "But doesn't it hurt? The hunger pangs? Your body longs for blood, does it not?" Dracula asked. "Yeah, it does. But I just have to wait a day and I won't have to worry about it anymore." Drusilla responded. Coalmon looked at Dracula with worrying eyes. She was getting the same evil vibes Drusilla was feeling. Drusilla looked down at Coalmon and they both gave each other a knowing nod. Drusilla looked up at Dracula. "It was nice meeting you, grandfather. But uh..I have to get home now." Drusilla said before turning around to leave. Dracula grabbed Drusilla's arm. "Hey, hey! What's the rush? We just met, my sweet granddaughter." He said. Grabbing her arm was a big red flag. Drusilla then made the mistake of looking up into his eyes, which were now glowing a red color. It looked like he had blood moons for irises. "How about you spend some time with your ole' grandpa? We have some catching up to do." He said. Drusilla's face went expressionless, and her eyelids became only half open. "Yes, grandfather." She replied in a monotonous tone. "Your skin is so pale. How could your mother choose to raise a child in an environment with only 1 sun and very little molten earth? You look so sickly." Dracula said. "I'm sorry, grandfather." Drusilla responded in a monotonous tone.

"Drusilla, snap out of it!" Coalmon said. She looked up at Dracula. "You! What have you done to Drusilla?" She asked. Dracula let out a slight chuckle. Dracula took out his DigiWorm phone and opened a portal. "Come, child." He said. "Yes, grandfather." And they both walked through the portal. Fortunately, Coalmon managed to slip into the portal before it closed up!

Syn, Zai's BlackGatomon, was spying from a nearby ally. "This is not good! I have to tell Zai right away!" Syn said before turning around and running home.

Syn ran back to the Gray residence and told Zai everything. Zai slammed her fists on the wall. "NO! NO! NO! NO! Damn it! How did he even find us!?" Zai asked. She was panicking. "Honey, what does your father intend to do to her?" Jacob asked. Zai turned and looked him in the eye. "The same thing he TRIED to do to me when I was 10!" Zai replied. Zai took out her black D-Smartphone and the word "DIGIVOLUTION" scrolled across in big green letters with the symbol for Zai's Crest Of Balance underneath the word.

"BlackGatomon digivolve to…LadyDevimon!"

Zai then used her digivice to contact Flora Soleman. "Flora! We need Mastemon! My daughter's been taken to Devillis! Abducted! Please help me!" Zai pleaded. Zai was breathing heavily. "Oh my gosh! I'll be over there immediately! Hang tight!" Flora responded. Zai and LadyDevimon ran out the door to meet Flora, who lived right next door to her. Flora got out her green D-Smartphone. The word "DIGIVOLUTION" scrolled across in big green letters with the symbol for Flora's Crest Of Amity beneath it.

"Gatomon digivolve to…Angewomon!"

Then Flora and Zai both jumped back and aimed their digivices in the other's direction. The words "DNA DIGIVOLUTION" scrolled across both of their digivices simultaneously. Light from their digivices shot out and collided with each other. Then the light split into two additional beams of light which enveloped both Flora's Angewomon and Zai's LadyDevimon.

"Angewomon…"

"LadyDevimon…"

"DNA Digivolve to…."

"Mastemon!"

The two women's Digimon fused into one being. In the place of Angewomon and LadyDevimon stood a humanoid womanly figure with white angelic wings on one side and black devil like wings on the other. She was fully clothed in armor, and one side of the armor was white while the other side was black. This was Mastemon; the jogress digivolution between Angewomon and LadyDevimon. Flora and Zai had caused their Digimon to attain this form before in order to defeat The Mother Eden 13 years ago, back in 2021, in another timeline, when a virtual reality program called Eden existed, created by Kamishiro Enterprises. Back when Evander first became a cyber sleuth.

"Mastemon has the ability to manipulate space-time, so I know she can traverse the great distance between here and Devillis, no problem." Flora said.

"Indeed. I can't let Drusilla become a tool for my father to become immortal." Zai said.

Mastemon swung both of her arms and shouted "Chaos Degradation!" A portal opened up. Mastemon looked back at both of them. "Let's go save Drusilla." Mastemon said. They went through the portal. Jacob stared at their backs as they went through the portal. He had a worried expression on his face. "Good luck." he said softly.

When the two women made it to the other side of the portal, Mastemon immediately de-digivolved into Gatomon and BlackGatomon. They appeared to be worn out. "Hey! What happened? We need Mastemon to get back home!" Flora said, looking down at the two cat Digimon.

"Sorry, but we haven't had lunch yet. We don't have the strength to maintain our digivolved forms for long." Gatomon said.

"Sorry, Zai." BlackGatomon said.

"It's fine. Let's just begin looking for my daughter." Zai said.

Flora waved her hand like a fan. "Dang, it sure is hot here!" Flora said. She looked to the left and then to the right. "Do you have an idea of where Drusilla might be?" Flora asked. Zai frowned and closed her eyes. "Somewhere I'd hoped I'd never see again." She replied. Syn looked up at her and clenched her little paw. "Then lead the way, Zai!" She said. They took off running.

Drusilla and Dracula entered a big castle that looked like something out of a fairy tale book. Drusilla was still expressionless, still being under her grandfather's hypnosis. "My domain. It's beautiful isn't it? I had it built to mimic the one I lived in on Earth back in…what you'd probably call the 1800s. Romania was beautiful, and so were the women." Dracula said, reminiscing about the past. "Yes, grandfather." Drusilla said. Coalmon rolled behind them, following behind.

They walked into the castle and eventually came to a big room lit up by several chandeliers. Scattered across the floor were lots and lots of people. One hundred people, in fact! But they weren't Devillians, they were humans! Dracula smirked. He snapped his fingers and undid the hypnosis he put Drusilla under. Drusilla looked around confused. "Where am I? What?" She looked all around her to find humans bound and gagged all across the floor of this big fancy ballroom. "Who are these people!? Why are they tied up!?" Drusilla asked. Drusilla looked over to see her grandfather standing right next to her. Dracula placed his hand on Drusilla's left horn and rubbed it gently. "My child, this is a feast I've prepared just for you. Eat up. Eat until your belly is full with blood. I've abducted all of these humans just for you. Human blood is the tastiest of all the races." Dracula said. Drusilla slapped his hand away from her horn. A look of outrage was on her face. "That's terrible! YOU'RE terrible! No wonder Mom never talks about you! You're so not cool!" Drusilla said. Drusilla was then hit with more hunger pangs. She fell to the floor and held her abdomen, grunting in pain. Dracula teleported behind her and knelt down. He grabbed her forked tail and rubbed the tip of it. "What's terrible is forcing you to suffer like this. What's a few dozen human lives to you, anyway? It's not like they're personal friends of yours, are they?" Dracula said while caressing Drusilla's devillike tail.

"Zai taught Drusilla that ALL life is sacred!" Coalmon said. Dracula looked over to the little coal Digimon. He wasn't surprised at her presence. He had known all along that she had followed them. He just didn't care. "That's exactly the kind of weak philosophy my late wife held to. Unfortunately, she drilled those silly ideas into our daughter." Dracula said before standing back up. Then Drusilla's hunger pangs worsened. "Ugh! Ugh! It hurts so badly! My stomach feels like a knife is being dug into it!" She said. Drusilla then jumped up and lunged over to a random tied up person. She opened her mouth and bit down hard on the woman's neck and began draining the blood. The woman let out a blood curdling scream. "NO!!! PLEASE!!!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!!" Her screams assaulted Drusilla's conscience like a nuclear bomb. She let go and sat back, looking horrified at what she just did. "I'm so sorry!" She felt terrible, and yet, the blood trickling down from the bite marks she just made looked so inviting, so appetizing.

"Drusilla, what's wrong? Eat up. Don't you want to keep your powers? Don't you want to live for a thousand years?" Dracula asked.

"But if I did that, then…I'd outlive all of my friends. Taylor…and Sharkmon….and Martin, Naturemon, and….Coalmon. Emmet, and Dovemon! And my mom and dad. They'd all be long gone while I lived on. I don't want that. I don't want to outlive every single person I care about." Drusilla said.

"Friendship….bah!" Dracula scoffed.

The hunger pangs seized Drusilla again. "Damn it! So! Damn! Hungry!" She lunged at the woman again and began sucking her blood. "NO!!!!" the woman screamed. "Drusilla, stop!" Coalmon shouted. Dracula smiled and laughed. "Yes! Hurry up! Drink from every last human before tomorrow!" Dracula said. Tears were streaming down Drusilla's cheeks as she sucked. Her conscience was in agony, but she couldn't resist the urge any longer. Coalmon rolled over to Drusilla, "Coal Roll!" She shouted. Coalmon slammed into Drusilla and knocked her back a couple of feet away from her "meal". Coalmon looked Drusilla in the eyes with a serious look on her face. "What's happened to you, Drusilla? The Drusilla I know would never kill someone for her own personal benefit!" Coalmon scolded. Drusilla rubbed her arm. It was sore where her Digimon had slammed into her. "You're right. I'm so sorry!" She said, beginning to cry some more.

Drusilla then got up and wiped the blood from her mouth. The woman was still alive, she hadn't had so much blood drained that her life was in danger. Drusilla looked at Dracula with an angry expression. "You're pure evil. I will free all one hundred of these people and bring them back to Earth with me." Drusilla said. Dracula laughed. "Such nonsense, child! Now, quit playing around and eat! We only have 15 hours left before your horn and tail disappear!" Drusilla raised an eyebrow. "Killing people is so not cool. Also, why do you care so much about whether I keep my horns and tail?" Drusilla asked.

"Drusilla!" Zai's voice came from the entrance to the ballroom. Drusilla, Coalmon, and Dracula all looked over to the entrance of the ballroom to see Zai, Flora, Gatomon, and Syn the BlackGatomon standing there. Drusilla looked happy to see her mother. "Mom! You're here!" She exclaimed with a smile. Zai looked at Dracula angrily. "How dare you!" She exclaimed.

"Mom, what's going on?" Drusilla asked.

"Back when I was exactly your age, my own horns and tail grew in. I thought it was kind of cool; I could see through walls, in the dark, I could hunt wild game like a wolf. But my father, Dracula, had dark plans for me. You see, if a Devillian sucks the blood of one of their descendents who has completed the transformation ritual, then that Devillian will de-age and extend his life. As bad as most Devillians are, even they draw a line at sacrificing family. But not Dracula. He was going to have me finalize the transformation ritual and then…lock me up in the dungeon of this very castle and keep me as a source of constant renewal!" Zai explained. Drusilla looked horrified, as did Flora, the two Gatomon, and Coalmon. "That's like….the uncoolest of not cool!" Drusilla exclaimed. "Freaking messed UP! Dannng!" Coalmon exclaimed.

Dracula folded his arms and sighed, looking in Zai's direction. "Yes, and it would have gone without a hitch if you weren't so averse to drinking the blood of other living things. But that pesky wife of mine filled your head with silly ideas about life being sacred." Dracula said.

Zai resumed her explanation, "And Drusilla, your grandmother…Luxelle Kuro was her name. She was a kind and gentle woman. All the values I have and instilled in you were passed onto me by her. She found out about my father's plan when she overheard him talking one night. She got me out of bed in the middle of the night and we tried to flee. Sadly…Dracula was onto us. He caught up to us and….he killed my mother! Luxelle Kuro was slashed in the throat by Dracula's claws. I watched my mother bleed to death right in front of me."

Zai was trembling from her anger as she spoke, but she managed to explain her past to her daughter calmly and with a clear head. She was, after all, skilled at controlling her emotions. She often got beatings from Dracula if she displayed them too blatantly, so she learned to hide them which ended up in her seeming cold and stoic when she first met Evander and co.

Flora looked over at Zai compassionately. She placed her hand on Zai's shoulder. "Oh, Zai….I had no idea." She said. "So…how did you escape?" Drusilla asked. Dracula decided to answer this question. "Your grandmother temporarily incapacitated me by injecting me with a syrenge full of garlic juice. I was paralyzed for five hours!"

"Wait, so that part of the vampire myth our species spread is true?" Drusilla asked.

"Only for Devillians like him who have awakened their horns and tails." Zai responded.

"Alright, so now you know the whole truth, Drusilla. No doubt you don't want to be grandpa's vending machine of eternal life, but you know I'm not giving you a choice in the matter. So you may as well comply." Dracula said. Drusilla clenched her fists and looked up at Dracula, baring her fangs and letting out a hissing sound. "Go stick a stake through your chest!" She said before taking off in Dracula's direction. She lunged up into the air and caused sharp claws to come out of her hands. She was going to tackle him to the ground and slash his throat, but just as she came down and swung her claw, Dracula evaded the move, looking as though he teleported. Dracula wagged his finger. "Nuh uh uh. You can't get rid of me that easily." Dracula said. Drusilla ran towards Dracula and swiped at him with her claws several times, but he evaded each time. Dracula then grabbed Drusilla's arm and began twisting it, causing her to cry out in pain. "You really think I've lived for centuries and would be taken down by a little girl? I've evaded angry mobs on Earth, so-called vampire slayers, and even survived listening to Mariah Carey at Christmas time!" Dracula boasted. Drusilla looked back at Dracula and suddenly, her eyes began glowing red. "Fine. Then if I can't kill you, I'll hypnotize you into letting us all go." She said as she stared into his eyes. Dracula's own eyes started glowing red and he began smirking. "So arrogant. Thinking your eyes can overpower mine. Now be a good little girl and eat your supper." Dracula said. Drusilla's face went expressionless like before. "Yes, grandfather."

Drusilla then turned and appeared in front of one of the humans tied up on the floor. She bent down and began sucking out his blood, causing him to scream. "Drusilla! She's under Dracula's control again!" Coalmon shouted. "What'll we do?" Syn exclaimed. Coalmon acted quickly, she rolled over to Drusilla. "Coal Roll!" Coalmon slammed into Drusilla and knocked her down. Drusilla sat up and groaned. "Uggghh….my head." She complained. "Drusilla! Digivolve me! Surely he can't beat CoalGolemon!" Coalmon suggested. Drusilla stood up and took her digivice out of her pocket. The word "DIGIVOLUTION" scrolled across the digivice's screen in big green letters.

"Coalmon digivolve to…CoalGolemon!"

Dracula then began a transformation of his own! He morphed into an 8 foot tall man bat! "What in the world!?" Zai exclaimed. "Surprised? This form is attained when a Devillian drains dry the blood of 500 Devillians over the course of his lifetime!" The Man-Bat Dracula explained. Five hundred Devillians? "You mean Dracula is a cannibal?" CoalGolemon observed.

CoalGolemon raised her arms up and started to attack, "Molten…" Then Drusilla cried out "Wait!" CoalGolemon looked back at her partner. "Why?" She asked. "If you fight in this room, the human hostages will get hurt." Drusilla replied. CoalGolemon turned her attention back to the monstrous Dracula. "I see. Then let's take this outside." CoalGolemon said. Dracula turned around and faced the exit. "Agreed. These hostages are no good to me if they get turned to ash." He said. They both went outside. Drusilla followed behind.

"Molten Blast!" CoalGolemon shouted as she fired streams of lava from her hands. Dracula flew up to dodge. Dracula then dove down and tackled CoalGolemon, knocking her over. CoalGolemon fell on her back and Dracula began pummeling her face with both of his hands. CoalGolemon held up her arms to block after a few strikes. However, Dracula's punches were so powerful, they were starting to crack her arms, her arms made of coal! CoalGolemon moved her arms away from her face for a brief second to shoot a stream of fire out of her mouth at Dracula. Dracula got hit with the fire and got knocked back a few feet. He grunted in pain. Although Devillians were resistant to heat, not even they could endure being set on fire or submerged in lava.

CoalGolemon got up and began punching at Dracula. "Mega Coal Clobber! Mega Coal Clobber! Mega Coal Globber!" CoalGolemon shouted. Dracula evaded each punch. Meanwhile, Drusilla was sweating profusely. She wiped the sweat from her brow and watched the fight between her grandfather and her Digimon. "You can….you can do it, CoalGolemon!" Drusilla shouted. She was having a hard time breathing due to this extreme heat. "I *huff* don't *huff* get it. I *huff* am a Devillian. *Huff* This heat should *huff* be….nothing to me. *huff* *puff*". Drusilla said. Dracula's castle was surrounded by a mote of lava, and the castle yard was lit with rows of "Fire Trees". These were special kinds of trees that only grew on Devillius. Instead of producing oxygen, they produced an immense amount of heat. Of course, Devillius had oxygen producing trees too, but those were different from these. Dracula kept evading CoalGolemon's Mega Coal Clobber. When CoalGolemon stopped, the man-bat Dracula let out a horrible sonic screech! CoalGolemon got hit with the sonic waves and small parts of her coal body crumbled off! Dracula then looked over to Drusilla who was soaked with her own sweat. She fell to her knees and breathed heavily. Drusilla took her vest off and tossed it to the side. "This is so….not cool." Drusilla said. She was so wet that she looked like she had been completely submerged in water! "Drusilla, why are you so hot? The weather is about average for this time of year." Dracula said.

Zai, Flora, and their Digimon ran out. Zai looked over and saw her daughter suffering from the immense heat. "I was worried about this." Zai said. Flora looked in her direction. "Worried about what?" Flora asked. "Well, you know how Taylor needs goggles to open her eyes underwater, and how Martin has a set of human ears in addition to his cat ears? These are the results of our species interbreeding with humans. We often forget that Drusilla's only half Devillian, like Taylor is half mermaid." Zai said. Flora looked worried too now. "You mean…" She inferred what Zai was getting at. "That's right. She can't endure Devillis' hot climate." Zai said. Flora was sweating a lot too. "I'm having a hard time enduring it, myself." Flora said as she pulled on the collar of her shirt.

Dracula told Drusilla "If that's the case, you should go back inside. The castle is air conditioned for the sake of the hostages." But Drusilla responded "I can't leave my Digimon!"

Dracula then dodged a punch from CoalGolemon. Dracula let out another sonic screech, causing more bits of coal to crumble off of CoalGolemon's body. Dracula then rammed into CoalGolemon head first and knocked her on her back. Dracula got on top of CoalGolemon and began pounding her with his fists over and over, cracking her coal body with each hit. His strength was incredible! Drusilla looked worried. "This is bad. If I don't do something, we're going to lose!" Drusilla thought. Flora's Gatomon and Zai's BlackGatomon came up from behind them to attack. "Lightning Paw!" They both shouted simultaneously. However, Dracula's keen senses enabled him to know they were approaching, and gave him the reflexes to turn around, grab both of them by the heads, and slam them to the ground. "Syn!" Zai cried out. "Gatomon!" Flora cried out. Dracula went back to pounding on CoalGolemon.

Drusilla was feeling nauseated and a little dizzy from the heat. She thought she was about to pass out. But then…she felt fine. Her nausea left her, her dizziness left her, and it felt as though the area around her was normal. "I'm….not hot anymore?" Drusilla said in surprise. Just then, Drusilla saw a bright light coming from her digivice. Drusilla took her digivice out of her pocket and flipped it over. Her Crest Of Fire was glowing, no, shining!

"DIGIVOLUTION"

"CoalGolemon digivolve to….MagnetGolemon!"

In CoalGolemon's place was now a Digimon who was a coal golem, but she was floating in mid-air. She had large coal arms, but neither of them were attached to her body. Rather, both arms floated beside the main body. The fingertips on the hands were also detached, but floated in front of the hands. "I'm MagnetGolemon. My body has become magnetized, allowing me to float in mid-air. The fire inside me is now hotter than ever!" MagnetGolemon said.

MagnetGolemon knocked Dracula off of her and fired "Rocky Missiles!" at him, which were the fingertips floating in front of her hands, but launched as projectiles. Dracula got hit and grunted in pain. The missiles came at him at a speed too quick for him to dodge. Dracula groaned and stood up. He looked over to Drusilla. "What happened? You look fine now." He said, noticing she wasn't suffering from the heat anymore. Drusilla smiled. "I guess my body really is more Devillian than human. I just needed some time to adjust." She said. Drusilla then started jumping up and down and grinning. "And in doing so, I caused CoalGolemon to digivolve! Whoo hoo!" She cheered. Dracula growled. "Stop that! Such display of emotion is unbecoming of a Devillian!" He shouted, angrily. "For someone who disavows emotion, you sounded quite angry there, Dad." Zai said, dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey Count Abductula!" MagnetGolemon taunted. Dracula had taken his attention off of his opponent for a moment. When he looked back, he saw MagnetGolemon making a HUGE ball of fire over her head. "Fire Force!" She shouted before tossing the huge ball of fire at Dracula. Dracula got hit with the attack and screamed as the fire consumed him. "Goodness gracious!" Zai exclaimed. "Great balls of fire!" Flora exclaimed. "I WON'T….I WON'T LET YOU BEAT ME!" A badly burned Dracula exclaimed as he flew towards MagnetGolemon. He was going to ram her again, but MagnetGolemon smacked him aside with her massive hand! She then prepared another huge ball of fire. "Fire Force!" MagnetGolemon shouted before chucking the huge ball of fire at Dracula. Dracula got hit and cried out in pain again. Dracula fell to the ground and reverted back from his man-bat form. He was burned from head to toe, and lying face down on the ground, groaning in pain.

Zai walked over to her badly burned vampiric father, looking at him with disgust. "Your reign of terror is over." She said. Dracula turned his head to the side to look up at his daughter. He grit his teeth. "Damn….you….." He said before passing away. Zai bent down and checked his pulse. There wasn't one. "He's gone. He won't be hurting anyone ever again." Zai said.

Everyone went back into Dracula's castle. They untied the human hostages. "What are you going to do with us?" One of them asked, looking afraid. "We're going to take you back home to Earth. I'm deeply sorry for what my father has done to you." Zai replied. Drusilla was holding Coalmon in her arms. She grinned. "Leaving you here would be so not cool." She said. Flora looked concerned. "Zai, exactly HOW are we going to get back home? Mastemon de-digivolved." Flora said. "I'm sure my father has some food stashed in this castle. Our Digimon will eat to regain their strength and then we'll leave." Zai replied.

So, they did just that. Gatomon and Syn ate some food from Dracula's kitchen, and then they had the strength to become Mastemon again. When they digivolved into Mastemon again, they opened up a wormhole for them all to get back home.

The Gray Residence….

Drusilla layed back on her bed and folded her arms. Coalmon was sitting on the bed with her. It was quite a day. Zai walked into the room. "Drusilla, are you ok, sweetie?" Zai asked. "Yeah. I mean, Coalmon reached the Ultimate level. That means she's one step closer to becoming Harmonymon." Drusilla responded. Zai walked over and sat down. "Are you surprised to find out the infamous Draculla is your grandfather?" Zai asked. "Of course, I am. But at the same time, I'm glad I finally know about them. Even though grandad is so not cool, it sounds like grandma totally was. I'd like you to tell me more about her." Drusilla said. Zai smiled and replied "Sure."