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Disclaimer:
Most of the characters herein are trademarked by Bandai and/or Toei. This work is derivative of season 3 of the Digimon television series (Digimon Tamers) and is in no way meant to imply ownership or infringe on any trademark or copyright.
Author's Notes:
This is the direct sequel to Wild Card. Read that story first if you haven't already.
A link to a picture of Coyomon can be found on my bio page.
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ACES
by Eqgz
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Chapter 1
A Bad Start
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The wind whipped around the great mesas of the Iron Desert, howling and moaning through all the weird shapes of sculpted sandstone that dominated the landscape of the lowest level of the Digital Dimension. The sky itself was red with suspended dust.
A renamon crouched on the cliff edge of one of those mesas, her violet eyes slitted down to protect them from the stinging sand, her tail streaming out behind her, fur riffling in waves. She couldn't hear much above the noise of the wind and all scents were fragmentary and confused but she knew they were out there somewhere-- those vile human tamers and their digimon slaves.
She bared her fangs slightly in a savage smile as she ran over her plans in her mind. Soon she would accomplish her mission. The Digimon Sovereign would reward her with power and a high position in the new digimon empire on Earth. And, more importantly, she would have her revenge on the bastard who had spurned her. He was tainted beyond redemption-- he'd proved that himself-- and that taint would be his undoing. The emotion of love and the weakness it created in him was the opening she needed.
She turned her head and looked down at the weapon she would use to destroy him. It was something so simple, so innocent looking. She ran a hand over its smooth surface, knowing it would be the death of him.
Kunomon turned away from the cliff edge and retreated into the small cave she used as a den, carrying with her the small yellow and red-speckled egg.
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"Are we going to make friends with every damn digimon we stumble across?" Coyomon complained. "Do I look like a Care-Bear or something? I want a good fight once in a while!"
As usual, everybody was ignoring him. Almost everybody. "Put a sock in it, flea-bag." Rika snapped, "We just got here. You're going to get plenty of fighting before this is all over and Meramon might be able to give us some information."
"He's just upset because he lost all of his supplies," Renamon told her tamer. "He wants to take it out on someone."
"Supplies? You mean all those boxes of doughnuts?" Rika asked Coyomon with distaste. "How many of those disgusting, sticky things could you eat, anyway?"
"Well, I'm never going to find out now, am I?" Coyomon huffed. "And it wasn't just the doughnuts-- everything else I put in my vest portal is gone, too!" He flapped the side of his vest revealing that the inside was an unbroken piece of buckskin. The small dimensional portal he had always used as a handy cache had vanished when he and the rest of the team had entered the Digital Dimension. Coyomon snorted in disgust. "I'm gonna go take a look around." He bounded up the side of the nearest overhanging antenna-like rock formation and disappeared over the crest. Rika glared after him.
"Don't worry," Renamon told her, "these moods of his never last long. He'll calm down soon."
"He'd better," Rika said, "or I'm going to kick his furry behind!" She turned and stomped off to join the rest of the group who were clustered around the fiery Meramon.
Renamon sighed and looked up at the mesa's edge where Coyomon had disappeared. She was a bit frustrated and impatient herself-- but, typically for her, she wasn't letting her feelings affect her outward calm. She considered following her mate and attempting to comfort him but thought better of it. She knew he'd come back after he'd cooled down a bit and that the best thing she could do was leave him alone for now. She carefully scanned the surrounding desert for any hint of danger and then followed her tamer.
Meramon didn't have any useful information for the team about the whereabouts of Calumon or the monkey deva Makuramon so the kids decided to settle down where they were for the night and everyone picked a soft-looking patch of sand to stretch out on. Renamon folded herself into a lotus position and bowed her head-- resting but not sleeping.
Coyomon returned a little while later and sat down next to Renamon, sighing.
"Anything?" she asked him.
"No," he sighed again, "there're digimon out there-- but a long ways off. I don't even know if there are special places where they keep their eggs or if that's just a myth. Before you came to Earth, did you ever--"
Renamon shook her head. "I left here when I was young." She smiled, thinking back to the day she had met her tamer. "Young, inexperienced, and so arrogant-- to answer Rika's call for the 'strongest' digimon."
"Is it still considered arrogance if you've got good reasons to think you are the best there is?" Coyomon murmured into her ear as he slipped an arm around her shoulders.
Renamon smiled and leaned against his chest. "You're biased, lover."
"I'm experienced, is what I am," he said, kissing her lightly on the muzzle. "I know for sure how good you are." He snuggled closer to his mate and then stiffened as a sudden thought struck him. "Hey, if you've made the jump to Earth from here once before--"
Renamon knew where he was going and cut him off. "No, there was no portal. I just felt the pull from Rika and simply didn't resist. The transition was almost instantaneous-- and certainly easier than our trip back here."
"Crap," Coyomon swore. "This expedition isn't exactly getting off to a great start."
Renamon lifted her head and kissed him, lovingly and thoroughly.
Coyomon sighed in contentment as they broke off the kiss to gaze into each other's eyes. "But it seems to be improving," he said, grinning at her.
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Impmon fell.
He smashed through several tenuous layers of semi-solid data as he dropped lower and lower into the Digital Dimension, weary and battered but with enough strength left to curse as he tumbled through the air.
He groaned as he watched another layer rushing up toward him. This one looked more solid than the others-- more painful.
He grimaced and closed his eyes just before he hit. It didn't help.
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Time runs strangely in the Digital Dimension but it felt like two or three in the morning when the Jagamon herd stampeded through the team's camp.
The earth began to shudder and loose rocks and pebbles clattered down the face of the mesa. Everyone but Kazu and Kenta woke nearly instantly. Leomon grabbed both of the girls in his arms and leaped up onto a shelf of rock a few meters up the side of the cliff while Renamon yanked the two half-sleeping boys to safety. Takato heaved Guilmon up from below with Henry and Terriermon pulling from above. Saving his partner took so long that Takato was nearly caught by the lead Jagamon. Coyomon leaned over the edge of the shelf and grabbed him by the belt, half-lifting, half-throwing him onto the ledge.
Flashes of red light flared in the night as a laughing Meramon threw chunks of glowing magma into the herd. He hadn't bothered climbing to safety, but had chosen to fight instead. The team watched in dismay as scores of the galloping Jagamon broke from the herd and slammed into Meramon. He fell beneath their flashing hooves and screamed only once before the light of his fire flicked and went out.
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In the morning Takato insisted that they raise a cairn to mark the place of Meramon's death. He took a piece of notepaper and made a drawing of the fiery digimon to add to the rock pile.
"Why is he taking it so hard?" Coyomon wondered in a whisper to Renamon. "He's seen dozens of digimon die-- heck, he's been responsible for a lot of them!"
"I suppose, in Takato's mind, those ones were all 'bad guys' and he was fighting to protect his friends and his city. This was just--" Renamon searched for the right word, "--casual-- an ordinary part of daily life in the Digital Dimension. I think he didn't realize how brutal existence here could be."
Coyomon shrugged. "He's a tough kid and a good tamer-- he'll get used to it pretty quick."
"Yes," Renamon sighed, "but it's a shame that he has to."
Coyomon gave her an odd look and then turned away from the group. "I'm going to scout around a bit while we're waiting," he said and trotted off.
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Kunomon hissed in her sleep and her right hand clutched spasmodically, her long black claws tearing grooves in the sandstone floor of her cave. She awoke with a sudden jerk and was on her feet in a fighting stance almost instantly, growling and searching for a non-existent enemy. After a moment her breathing slowed and she relaxed, blinking in the light from a clear morning sky.
She checked the egg where it lay resting on a soft heap of sand and then walked out of the cave to the cliff's edge, carefully crouching low to avoid silhouetting herself against the skyline. She saw a cloud of dust in the distance, too long and thick to be caused by a single large digimon. Probably Jagamon or another of the herd-types-- uninteresting to her in any case. She sniffed the air and was rewarded with the faint scent of human beings. Judging from the strength of the scent and the lightness of the breeze, the tamers weren't all that far away. With the way the air swirled around the rock spires of the desert, she couldn't be sure of the exact direction but that hardly mattered. She could find them within an hour or two at the most.
Suddenly Kunomon gasped and clutched at her left wrist. "No!" she snarled, "not now!" But the ring of black metal hidden beneath her arm guard continued to pulse with a burning cold. Her master was calling-- and the penalty for disobedience was too terrible, too final. She raged silently as she prepared to make the long trek. She packed more sand around her precious weapon and then heaved debris across the narrow entrance of her cave, hiding it from any but the most careful search.
Coyomon had gained another few, undeserved days of life, thanks to her interfering, impatient master. "Enjoy it while you can, you bastard." Kunomon spat into the wind.
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