Author's Note #1 (Skip this if you are a first time reader and never read Blood in the Moonlight): A long time has passed since I first published BITML. Basically, I loved writing it but hated how corny and just... dumb some of it was. So, I rewrote it, still didn't like it, and rewrote it again. I love it now! It's a lot different than before. It's more gritty and real, and the story has been altered but former characters remain. Also, one little thing, I decided to go with Myotismon instead of Vamdemon. I decided it was annoying to go with one Japanese version of a digimon name but have the rest be the english dub names (even if I did like Vamdemon better).
Author's Note #2 (For all readers): This story takes place in a Digital World of my imagining. This story is MATURE, it has swearing, violence and sexuality. Also, it does describe illegal drug use and general substance abuse. It is also adult in theme as it describes mental illness and is possibly triggering (? Not sure if it's triggering but it doesn't hurt to warn just in case). The first chapter is a little slower paced and there is some explaining done by MagnaAngemon but I promise it picks up in the next chapters. Below are some points to clarify my story.
In my story digimon do not yell out their digivolution and as a general rule, don't yell out their attacks (some do). Human type digimon are generally human sized and beast digimon can be of varying sizes. Not all beast digimon can speak as some live wild like animals. The same animals that inhabit our world also inhabit the Digital World with the exception of humans. Digimon mate, give birth to a digiegg, the digiegg hatches, the digimon lives and grows through it's stages (maybe going all the way to Mega level, maybe only ever getting to Champion), and then they die the way humans do. They do not explode into data nor are they reborn. Finally, human type digimon in my story encompass every race: Chinese, African, First Nations, Indian and so on; and human type digimon do not have face coverings or shields: Angemon has no metal face thing, Myotismon has no red mask, Piedmon has no black and white mask, etc. Why? Because I didn't like it, nor did I think it was realistic for my particular story.
Also, I have illustrations for this story and will try and find a way to link to them by the time I post chapter 2. The cover art is of Devimon and I drew it on my Galaxy Note 2 phone.
Chapter 1 Bats in the Belfry
The little bat creature flitted about her in a panic as she stood overlooking the ocean. She couldn't seem to recall what had caused the massive tidal wave that loomed in the distance, only that there was no escape from its mass of destruction.
She turned to the bat creature. "Get back to the Digital World, before it's too late," she ordered it.
"No, no, no!" it cried. "You just have to come with me!"
"You know I can't. Don't you think that I'd be there right now if I could? Now get in there!"
She held out a hand held computer in front of the creature. It looked at her with tears running down it's face. "You can't make me go! I want to stay with you!"
She reached forward and kissed it on the top of it's head. "Good bye. Don't worry, we'll see each other again... somehow." She tried to smile through her own tears.
"Okay," it sniffed. "I promise I'll never forget about you. Ever." It flew toward the computer. "Bye."
It shrunk upon itself and disappeared into the computers small screen in a burst of light. She let the computer slip from her grasp and watched the tidal wave as it grew closer. She had to admire the beauty of the clear, calm night.
Finally, she closed her eyes and silently awaited the inevitable...
Angel Carlson sighed as she smacked at the button on top the alarm clock. Not only had it been years since she'd had that recurring dream, this time she could also remember more of it... well, until the alarm had woken her.
She tossed her hair and slowly crawled out of bed to get ready for work. Normally, she didn't mind the drive to the auto shop but today her mind was stuck on the dream; however, once she arrived at the old garage where she was employed as an auto mechanic, she shook the away the cobwebs and was soon elbows deep in the engine of a red 1998 Dodge Durango.
She was overall Caucasian with an olive complexion that hinted at a little exotic heritage, slim and fine featured, 5'5" with long wavy dark brown hair and hazel eyes. She wore little to no make up, especially to work and had on fitted black cargo pants, a long sleeve dark grey wool shirt and a Calgary Flames hockey team hoodie.
In the shop she worked along side a thirty year old man named Mike. He was easy enough on the eyes, light brown very wavy hair, grey eyes, slim and fit but aside from sharing a love for classic cars they had nothing in common. He had numerous friends, many of whom stopped by the shop to socialize while Angel preferred to keep to herself.
During her first break it occurred to Angel that her boss, Bob had not left his office since she'd come in; in fact, she had not even seen him at all today, so she decided to check if he'd slipped in unnoticed or if he was sick for the day. To her surprise the door was unlocked with no one inside, Bob always locked the door when he left the shop. She saw that the computer had been left on and figured that if no one was inside, she'd turn it off.
"Wha...," she muttered to herself as she gazed upon the screen.
There on the screen was her Facebook account logged in and Angel could feel the blood rush to her face in embarrassment, what had Bob seen? Then anger replaced the embarrassment, what was Bob doing looking at her Facebook account? That fat old pervert was going to get it, she thought to herself as she prepared to log off. Before she did the chat screen in the lower right hand corner caught her eye. A message from someone called Uriel beckoned her.
"Angel, do not be afraid. I am a digimon and I am communicating from the Digital World. My world is in peril and you have been summoned to aid us. Please be prepared to be transported to the Digital World."
She growled in anger. Bob had not only been looking at her account, not that there was that much to see, but he'd also been using her profile to talk to his online gamer buddies or something. She considered jamming the wrench in her hand into the computer but bit her lip and thought better of it. After all, it was because of Bob that she had gotten an apprenticeship and was now a full fledged mechanic. She owed him, but seeing this invasion of privacy was infuriating and she would deal with him.
Angel was distracted from her thoughts of confronting Bob by the incessant buzzing in her pocket and pulled out her Galaxy S4. The device told her that it had suffered an error and needed to be connected to a computer. She cursed her bad luck today, she had only bought the phone less than a month ago, it was the newest Samsung Galaxy S4 and it shouldn't have been fucking up this soon. Bob always had chargers available, so she selected the correct one and plugged it into her cell phone and then plugged the USB end into a free port on the computer.
Angel was furthered irritated to see the screen of the phone grow insanely bright the instant the USB cable touched the port and was about to unplug it and smash the stupid piece of technology into the wall when she was treated to the ride of her life.
She felt as though the floor had opened up beneath her and was tumbling head over heals in blackness, only for a moment and then was on her feet with her heart racing in fright. She immediately recognized the creature before her, an angel, but was far from being comforted. She panicked and backpedalled into the waiting arms of another. Left with no hope of escape she screamed, but the arms held her fast and she had no choice but to calm down after a while. She kept her eyes locked on the beautiful many winged angel before her with an angry stare.
"Hello, welcome to the Digital World," the angelic being began. He had short very light blonde hair, nearly platinum in colour and his eyes were a glacial blue.
"No, no, no," she told him. "This is a joke, how did I get here?" She took in the angel, he looked very authentic and even possessed a soothing quality to his presence, but her logical mind refused to buy into it.
"Through the means of ancient technology, we digimon have succeeded in transporting a few humans to our world," the angel responded.
Angel shook her head. "This isn't right, are we at Comic Con or something?"
"No, please understand," he beckoned. "This is not a dream, you are not dead nor are we in your world. I have taken you to the Digital World, inhabited by beings known as Digital Monsters, or digimon for short, such as myself. I am a MagnaAngemon, but please call me Uriel," he continued as he bowed slightly in greeting.
By this time the frightened tears that had formed in her eyes spilled down her cheeks. "Why am I here?"
The creature who named himself Uriel nodded to the entity whose arms she was trapped in. She was released from the creature's grasp and turned to see what it was, another angel who appeared to be of First Nations descent and different from the one in front of her but no less impressive. "Please let me introduce my General, an Angemon. He is called Laughing Tears."
Laughing Tears greeted her with a shy smile. "Hello."
Angel felt her guard go down. "Hello," she responded with a sniffle while she looked around.
She was in a white, windowless room, similar to what she had seen on Star Trek and indeed, she was standing on something similar to a transporter pad but this one had a mass of wires running out of it that connected to what appeared to be a massive computer along the side of the room. Everything looked real enough but she wasn't sure.
Uriel continued. "To answer your question, you are here because we need you. The Digital World is in peril. For over a thousand years there has persisted a legend of an evil digimon named PrinceMyotismon who attempted to enslave all digimon. Apparently, he was defeated by the forces of good and disappeared; somehow twenty five years ago, he was revived."
Angel tried to follow. "Okay..."
"PrinceMyotismon is not only attacking our world and building something he calls the Neo Obsidian Army but we believe he plans to enter your world eventually. We must stop him and that is where humans come in because we digimon cannot stop him alone," he paused to let her absorb and continued. "As far as we know, the Digital World is an alternate dimension to yours that was tapped into by your ancient ancestors during the time of Atlantis. Your ancestors found that this world, which is an exact topographical mirror to your own could physically manifest some of their computer data and that is how digimon came to be. Our early digimon ancestors could even enter your world and humans could enter ours, but that technology was lost when Atlantis was destroyed.
"The creation of your worlds internet, the exchange of data in electronic form has allowed digimon to peer into your realm. We can access, but not interact with the web through use of our own computers, our worlds are different enough that only limited interaction can occur. PrinceMyotismon has been working to find a way to your world since the creation of your internet. I have had years to create an army of my own which I call the Holy Allied Forces, but we have not defeated PrinceMyotismon nor located his base of operations. I once met PrinceMyotismon in battle and barely escaped with my life.
"Early on, I began to realize that ordinary digimon, even united, could not hope to defeat his army. He appears to posses unnatural power. Our forces had been working tirelessly to find a way to infuse digimon with the strength to defeat the Neo Obsidian Army. Years ago, we discovered that sometimes digimon and humans share a unique energy signature. Using the human's energy a digimon could become stronger when it evolved to a new form."
Angel was thoroughly confused and made no attempt to hide it.
"I know that this is a lot to take in, I wish I could give you more time to understand everything but time is of the essence. Digimon mature and become stronger over time by a process called digivolution and sharing a human's life force energy can imbue a digimon with power beyond any seen before.
"Nearly eighteen years ago, our strongest digimon were selected and their partner humans were summoned to the Digital World. The process of summoning a human to our world is done with Atlantean era technology and few artifacts have survived. I was able to summon ten humans before PrinceMyotismon attacked us and stole the remaining technology which he exploited to summon eight human partners for his own evil digimon soldiers.
"A long bloody war ensued, only three of the digimon with human partners in my army remain and five of his. I must be honest, the Holy Allied Forces are near defeat, we all have been praying for a miracle."
He smiled. "Recently, I received an answer to my prayers. In a dream, I was instructed to find a digimon with a specific energy signature and use the last of our resources to summon his human partner. I was told that these two would turn the tide in this long, terrible war. Do you understand why you are here? And more importantly, will you help us?"
Uriel extended a hand to her to help her off of the transporter pad. She hesitated but accepted. "Assuming that this is all true, I will help you of course, but what do I have to do?"
"We will take you to my other base at another location, PrinceMyotismon may already have detected your entrance to the Digital World and will convene on my base to attack," he told her. "However, before we leave I wish to return this to you." He took what appeared to be her Galaxy S4 off of a table near the computers. "This is the device, we call a digivice, that will allow you to be connected to your partner digimon and will allow you to share your energy with him when the time is right."
Angel took it but raised an eyebrow. "It's just a cell phone, I don't think it can do anything like that."
"I appears the same as the device you call a cell phone to allow you to use it with ease but we must leave, quickly." He lead her out of the room and into the lobby of what appeared to be an abandoned office building where they took the stairs down to the basement. There, Uriel used his sword to cut a large hole in the concrete wall. "We must use the abandoned underground Trailmon tracks to avoid being detected, but I am afraid that we must carry you. It's much too far and would take too much time to walk."
Angel nodded going along with everything up until this point but was still wondering if she was at Comic Con where everyone was watching her and laughing at what seemed like the weirdest prank in history. Uriel deactivated the crystal sword and gently lifted her in his arms. He even smelled as good as he looked and then she remembered that she was still wearing her grease stained coveralls, but she tried not to worry as there wasn't anything she could do about it. However, the speed at which this being flew erased any doubts she had over whether this was some kind of joke. There was no way in the universe that any machine could carry a person to make them appear as though they were flying at the speed they were travelling.
It didn't take them long to get to where they were going which was up a hatch in the ceiling of the subway tunnel and into the middle of some kind of canning factory. Uriel placed her on her feet and she watched monsters and creatures of all kinds scurry about in panic.
"My lord," a tall dragon-man stopped in front of the them. "Communication has been cut and we could not contact you."
Uriel nodded.
"PrinceMyotismon is attacking the base, we are evacuating."
"Thank you, EmperorGreymon, I will deal with our newest human and her partner at a secret location and contact you later." Uriel turned to Laughing Tears. "Bring Devimon to location Beta and call the others to the main hanger!"
Laughing Tears bowed without a word and left.
"PrinceMyotismon has always had spies within the Forces but I did not know that he had them in such high up positions, this is troubling," Uriel told Angel as he lead her through the base.
She followed but found herself becoming more apprehensive and tense, it was a lot to take in. The digimon motioned to Angel to follow and she was forced to jog to keep up as they passed many broken down machines and corridors until they reached what must have been the main hanger. It was a huge mostly empty space, a few stories tall. A group of digimon stood inside; and humans, Angel noted as they ran closer. Two men and a woman who all appeared to be in their early forties, about fifteen or so years older than her twenty six years.
The tallest was a Caucasian man with his long grey streaked midnight black haired tied back. He wore a dark green fitted T-shirt and jeans. The woman was darker skinned with long straight hair, also streaked with grey and wore straight legged black pants and a rose coloured polo shirt. The last human was distinctive with bright orange-red hair and pale complected. He wore khaki pants and dark blue long sleeved shirt.
Beside the dark haired man stood a many winged angel child whose height reached his mid chest. Angel noted next the dog with the golden collar that sat on it's haunches beside the woman of the group. The red haired man was engaged in conversation with a short blue dragon with small red wings. Angel assumed these were the digimon partners to the humans that Uriel spoke of.
They turned in unison to regard her so Angel managed a weak smile. The man with the tied back hair looked her up and down with a measured expression while his digimon looked away. He did not return her smile. The other two humans and their digimon did return her smile after a moment. The dragon digimon treated her to a long stare, after which it's lips turned up in a grin. If Angel didn't know any better she'd have thought that the digimon had just checked her out. Indeed, it elbowed the red haired man and they exchanged an expression of amusement. The woman just continued to smile politely.
Another angel type digimon ran up to Uriel and they began speaking in hushed tones. She felt incredibly self conscious with others eyes upon her and lowered her gaze to concentrate on a crack in the concrete floor. A minute or so passed in relative silence with a million thoughts and questions running through her head. There were still doubts in her as to whether this fantastic world was even real. It certainly felt real enough but she didn't have time to dwell on the thought before the sound of heavy footfalls broke her train of thought.
She looked up to see the oddest digimon she had seen yet hovering in front of her face. It was no bigger than a cat, completely pink with a red heart on it's chest, had arms but no hands or legs, and a pair of feathered wings. It looked at her with large brown eyes and smiled. She was captivated and even soothed by the pink flying creature until she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was the dark haired man. Only he, his digimon and Uriel remained as she watched the pink flying digimon disappear into a shimmering doorway or portal ten metres away.
"We're leaving," he told her, motioning to the portal.
She nodded, walked to the entrance but hesitated, unsure of the concept of travelling through unknown magical realms. She glanced behind her and his mouth was a curved in a clearly artificial smile.
"You'll be fine, honey, just go through," he said to her in a mildly patronizing tone.
She bit back a reply and crossed the threshold of the portal. It was like walking through a door composed of light and she found herself standing in the middle of a large concrete prison. Several stories of prison cells surrounded the group but none were occupied and the building was in a state of disrepair. The prison had been long ago abandoned but Angel supposed it would make a decent secret base.
Uriel and the dark haired man appeared a moment later. "See hon, we're all okay," the dark haired man told Angel, the fake smile remained there.
He was trying very hard to be nice, a little too hard and while she was suspicious of his motives, she was mostly irritated by his tone. "I'm not your hon," she corrected him and she watched his mouth press into a tight line.
Uriel placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "Why don't you introduce yourselves?"
The dark haired man closed his eyes for a moment and nodded, the artificial smile returning to his but with less intensity. "I'm Dylan from Montana, my partner is named Michael, a Lucemon." He gestured to the woman. "That's Bituin from the Philippians, her partner is Star, a Salamon. Last is Angus from Scotland and his partner is Moses, a Dracomon."
Uriel placed a hand on Angel's shoulder. "The others were told very little about you in order to protect you. This is Angel from Calgary in Canada."
Dylan nodded. "Hah, a canuck, I should have guessed. Which hockey team do you root for?"
"The Flames, of course," Angel told him, finally finding her voice.
"You're a trades person," Angus remarked in a thick Scottish accent on her coveralls.
"An auto mechanic," Angel corrected him.
Bituin smiled. "Good to see a woman in the trades." Her english was only lightly accented.
"How old are you?" Dylan asked.
"Twenty six."
"Do you know anything about combat?" Michael, the Lucemon asked her in a clear almost musical voice.
She shook her head. "No, I only fix cars, sorry."
"It's okay," Dylan replied. "We don't expect you to know anything."
Angel couldn't understand why the man was feigning overtures of friendliness. She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at Dylan.
"Except hockey, maple syrup and twenty different kinds of snow," he added in a failed attempt at humour which extracted a laugh out of Angus.
Bituin tried to interject, presumably to diffuse the tension but Angel whose frustration had been building cut her off. "That's right," she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "I'm just a stupid hoser. I might as well just go home to my igloo and take my pet moose for a walk and eat a steaming bowl of poutine." She stopped herself before she worked herself up too much and then continued. "What is your problem, man?"
Dylan and the others did not respond and Angel looked to Uriel for answers. The beautiful celestial digimon appeared apologetic. "I am afraid that my decision to bring you to the Digital World has been difficult for some of the others to accept," he explained. "While they ultimately support my decision, they do disagree with it."
"Why?" she asked.
Dylan sighed. "Look, I'm sure you're a nice girl," he began.
Angel cut him off. "Don't patronize me."
Uriel stepped between them. "You're all tired. It's been a long day, we'll rest and then talk about the next step."
Dylan clenched his jaw and punched the concrete pillar beside him finally unable to control his anger. "That's the problem," he told Uriel. "There is no next step if Devimon won't cooperate! And look at her," he gestured to Angel. "She's useless to us. She's just some random person from the other side. You carefully chose us ten and our partners."
"I know how difficult this has been for you, Dylan," Uriel began. "Devimon has been..." he struggled to find an appropriate word, "trying for us to deal with but I firmly believe he will fight for us in time."
Dylan turned to face him. "You know he'll try to kill her."
Angel watched the heated exchange feeling more confused than ever. These guys didn't even have it together. No wonder they were on the losing side.
The angel digimon took on a stern expression. "Dylan, the war is almost over, PrinceMyotismon has nearly defeated us. Devimon is already incredibly powerful, I dare say the most powerful Champion we've ever encountered, with a human partner he'll be unstoppable."
Dylan appeared ready to explode again but took a deep breath to calm himself. "Alright, I'll support you in this. Perhaps Devimon will be more compliant once we can degenerate him."
Uriel nodded his agreement. "That is my hope as well."
"But I want to try something, Uriel. I want to see what we're working with." Dylan turned to Angel. "Look, I don't want to waste any time. A lot of digimon and seven humans have been killed fighting that waste of a digimon, PrinceMyotismon. Uriel is right, Devimon is strong and we can use all the strength we can get right now."
"Um, okay," she managed.
He looked at the two other humans. "I'm taking her to Devimon right now."
Angel was thoroughly overwhelmed with the thought of being faced with this Devimon, who apparently would kill her. She began to panic; she threw up her hands in front of her and waved them in protest. "No, no, no. The other guy is right, I'm tired."
He said nothing and seized her by the wrist. She tried to pull away but his grip was iron.
"Perhaps a gentle touch," Uriel began before Dylan cut him off.
"She's scared out of her mind and I don't want to wait for her to calm down, once we get this over with she'll be fine."
She was dragged through the door and past a set of prison cells with the others following.
"I know it seems harsh but Dylan is right, better to get the first meeting over with," Bituin spoke up from behind. "See how they get along and then come up with a plan of action."
Dylan looked at Angel as they entered a long hallway with a door at the end. "He's being kept in there restrained because he's cranky but he can't hurt you. Michael will protect you, anyway."
She looked at the digimon who was now a little taller than Dylan. He had two wings, a long staff and red clothing. She had not seen him transform and was amazed, but the door now loomed in front of her. She forgot the tall digimon and she could feel her heart beating quickly in her chest. Michael opened the door and entered. Dylan sensing her panic tightened his grip painfully on her wrist and dragged her through. She pulled backward with all her might but it was no use.
"Devimon, we have a visitor for you," Dylan called out.
They were in a room which held three ordinary looking prison cells with the middle one being occupied. Inside the middle cell, Angel glanced a dark figure she wanted nothing to do with. She ceased pulling and kicked sharply at Dylan's shin. Her steel toed boot made a hard thud when it connected with his leg and he crumpled to the ground in pain. She raised her fist to punch him but firm hands caught her by both arms. She stared into the gold eyes of a large blue dragon who held her tight.
"Dylan won't forget that," it rasped, amused.
Dylan got up with a limp. "Let her go, Moses."
The dragon grinned and released her. "Your funeral."
She turned to see she was surrounded and slumped with defeat. She stared at the ground refusing to acknowledge the dark figure in the cell. Why she was so afraid, she wasn't sure. She glanced sidelong at the digimon after a while and decided it was not him she was afraid of, although he did appear imposing as he stood looking, no, glaring out at her.
He was Caucasian, around six feet tall with two large black bat like wings, longish unkempt yellow blonde hair, black clothing adorned with strange buckles and bandages, and crimson red eyes. She could feel his glare boring into her soul; on an angry impulse, she snapped her head up and returned the favour.
Time stood still as she boldly stared into his crimson gaze and it didn't escape her notice that, despite the rather gothic attire, two black horns, and messy hair that looked like he'd cut it himself, he was attractive. He was toned but not bulky with a handsome face.
Still, as she looked into his eyes, the feelings of fear didn't diminish but rather seemed to increase to nearly panic inducing levels along with a strong sense of uncertainty. It was out of character for her but the bead of sweat of that trickled down the side of his face caught her attention as well as the slight tremble in his hands. She faced down the fear and uncertainty with white hot defiance and to her complete surprise he looked away.
Angus and Moses laughed. "Shut up," Dylan snapped at the pair.
"Come on," the dragon digimon said in an amused tone. "I've seen a lot of things but I've never seen a mon as powerful as that Devimon be stared down into submission. Well, it's clear who's alpha and I'm half surprised he didn't roll over to prostrate himself before her."
Angus chortled and clapped Angel on the shoulder. "I'm impressed with ya lass!"
"Why?" Dylan wondered with irritation. "She won a staring contest."
Moses shook his large scaled head. "You're not a digimon, she definitely whipped him."
Angel didn't know what to say and looked back at Devimon who glanced at her before looking away again.
"Don't let what they're telling you go to your head," Dylan told her. "Devimon are not natural leaders and this one is no exception."
"It's a good start though," Bituin added.
"It is," Star agreed. "If she can maintain his obedience, then that's all we really require."
"I can't believe I'm listening to this," Dylan muttered. "She may have a stronger personality than him but he's still dangerous and I don't think he would hesitate to kill her if it meant he could escape."
"I wouldn't be so sure, Dylan," Uriel replied. "I can see that there is a lot of celestial in his background. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he was parented by two celestials. I don't think he is a killer at heart."
"Fine," Dylan said. "How soon before we can degenerate him?"
"What?!" Devimon roared as he slammed his fists against the bars and Angel nearly jumped out of her skin.
The dragon chuckled. "Relax mon, we partner digimon all went through it ourselves."
Angel felt inexplicable panic and was having trouble comprehending. "What is degenerate?" she asked Bituin, who was closest to her.
"It means to return Devimon to his youngest form and sort of have him grow up all over again. It wouldn't take as long as a human, it's different with digimon. Well, he'd be a lot stronger having used your energy to get back to being a Devimon and his higher forms would be a lot more powerful as well."
"You mean he'd be turned back into a baby?" Angel asked and did nothing to mask her incredulous tone.
"Yes."
She looked at Devimon with genuine pity but he was busy attempting to pry the bars apart. "He looks strong already."
"He is," answered Angus. "But he'll be much stronger if he's degenerated."
Angel balked at the idea. "What if I don't agree with this? I won't do as you ask, even if you do turn him into a baby. It just sounds wrong."
"It wouldn't be exactly like a human baby," Uriel told her.
'Would he still have his memories?" she asked. Uriel nodded. "I'm out," she said as she started to walk away wanting to be anywhere but in that room.
"Where are you going?" Michael asked as he stepped in front of her to block her exit.
Feeling angry again, she glared at the tall digimon. "Fine, I can't escape but I won't work with you guys. You can't just turn someone back into a baby and expect them to be different. There is no reset button on life! I know that better than anyone!" she shouted at him.
Dylan groaned loudly and slid a hand over his face. "Oh God, here come the feelings and the emotional baggage."
Angel turned toward him, blinded by anger, and lunged at him. Her fist connected with his jaw and the impact hurt her hand, but it didn't stop her from pulling back her arm for another punch. She never got the chance as she was dragged away by Michael who restrained her. She clenched her teeth as the rage battled with the panic inside her. Her Galaxy S4 vibrated inside her pocket and Angel was aware of a strange sensation she wasn't able to describe. Almost like her entire being had been filled to the brim with electricity.
Angus noticed and grabbed the cell phone from her pocket and whistled. "Full charge!" he exclaimed.
The intense emotions began to subside, not quite gone though but at least she could think again. Devimon had ceased raging and stood silently fuming.
Dylan rubbed his jaw. "Holy shit, was he going to digivolve?"
"I think so," Angus replied.
The dark haired man shook his head in disbelief. "Okay, Uriel, you have my support on this. They must be incredibly strong."
"Even stronger than I imagined," Uriel agreed.
"But, they're both so volatile. What's their stories?" Dylan asked.
Uriel shrugged. "There's little on Devimon. He was abandoned at an orphanage from what we could tell, not uncommon for Devimon lines since they are sometimes parented by celestials with recessive genes, and as I said earlier, I believe this to be the case with him, and I am certain he spent a portion of his life as a wild digimon before turning to organized crime."
"That explains him then. What about her?"
Angel, irritated that he was referring to her in the third person wanted to kick him again but found she had barely enough energy to stand. Her ears rang loudly.
"Born in Strathmore, Alberta, no living relatives and grew up in foster homes."
Dylan ran a hand over his face. "And that explains that, they're both fucking messed up."
Uriel shook his head. "No, it means they've both overcome similar adversity early in life, and that is likely what makes them strong."
The voices sounded distant to Angel and a moment later she blacked out.
When she awoke she was stiff and sore all over and irritated to find she had been laying on one of her wrenches all night or day. Whatever time it was. She looked around the unfamiliar surroundings, confused and wondering about the strange dream she was certain she'd just had, but then memories came trickling in. This was no dream.
She sat up in the semi darkness of the open cell she occupied and found her cell phone on a table beside her. It was three o'clock in the morning. She was famished but afraid to leave the room and decided to wait until morning. After laying awake for two hours, she finally managed to fall back asleep until someone awoke her. It was Uriel, the MagnaAngemon.
Angel sat up and studied the celestial creature in front of her. He appeared no older than thirty but she placed his age to be much older due to his demeanour and the wise aura that surrounded him.
"I'm sorry for passing out. I just felt... not right," she told him.
He smiled. "I really did not mean for you to have so much thrust upon you but Dylan needed convincing of yours and Devimons potential. Also, Devimon will require patience but I am certain he will come around."
Angel nodded. "So I just need you to explain one thing, why does everything end with 'mon'?"
Uriel smiled again. "It stands for monster. Angemon breaks down into Angel Monster. Devimon, Devil Monster and so on."
"So Devimon doesn't have an actual name?" Angel wondered.
"It varies with digimon," he explained. "Some were given human names by their parents, while some, like myself, chose a name and some prefer tradition. Those who prefer tradition will be called Devimon or MagnaAngemon. Devimon will be called something different when he digivolves. It's why many digimon have assumed human names, it's less confusing when there are three Angemons in the room or when one of us digivolves as one Angemon may have a different digivolution path than another Angemon."
Angel nodded without comment, still feeling light headed and famished. Uriel lead her to the mess hall where she made quick work of two large helpings. She couldn't remember ever having been so hungry. Dylan, Angus and Bituin, along with their digimon, joined her there.
"So, today we officially start your training," Michael, the Lucemon told her.
"Training?" Angel asked as she took a sip of some tea.
Angus spoke up. "When we were first dropped here in the Digital World, we didn't have the benefit of much help. No one knew what in bloody hell they were doing but it'll be different with you, lass. We'll train you up good."
"So when do we start?"
"Right now," Dylan said. "Come with us."
Uriel did not join them as they lead her down a familiar corridor and Angel began to hesitate. She hadn't thought the training would involve Devimon as he was obviously unwilling and as they approached the door she felt a twinge of fear. Michael had transformed again, apparently expecting resistance and lead her through the door with a firm grip on her shoulder. Devimon was standing in front of the bars again, glaring.
"What's going on?" Angel demanded.
Dylan didn't answer and no one else volunteered any information. She looked back at Devimon and decided that if looks could kill, Dylan would have disintegrated where he stood. Suddenly it hit her, they were going to degenerate him right then and there. She assumed that the device had something to do with the process, so without thinking she reached to snatch it from Dylan's grasp and throw it to the ground to destroy it. Michael stopped her by seizing her wrist.
The angelic being looked at his partner. "I told you she'd be offended."
Dylan rolled his eyes. "Good God, woman, what is your problem with degenerating him?"
"I am going to kill you," Devimon snarled.
Dylan waved a dismissive hand toward him. "Yeah, I've heard that one from you before."
Angel stood helpless, not sure what to do. Somehow, she was aware of how panicked the demon digimon was and she wondered about the flow of energy. Could it flow backwards as well? Only one way to find out. She brought her boot down on the digimon's foot while imagining a great strength filling her being. It was hopelessly ineffective and she despaired for the digimon she didn't even know. Angel understood that despite apparent strength benefit to being degenerated, she would do anything to avoid facing the humiliation of being reduced to her weakest physical size and state.
Dylan looked up from the device and nodded to the others. It was then that Angel noticed the female angelic digimon that had appeared in a flash of light from behind her. She turned in time to watch the blue dragon engulfed in a bright glow and transform into a tall chrome clad dragon warrior with a flaming great sword. The dragon man walked to Devimon's cell without delay and opened it.
Devimon kept perfectly still until the last possible second before making his move. He feinted a punch and instead attempted to kick the sword from Moses hands. Moses sidestepped but Devimon's boot connected and the sword clattered to the ground. Moses lost no time in seizing Devimon's arm and dragged him from the cell.
Angel watched as the female digimon seized his other arm and Dylan stepped forward with something that resembled a computer chip. Devimon pulled away with all his might and Angel was filled with his intense panic along with the strange electric sensation she'd experienced the day before. Devimon growled in defiance but ceased resisting.
"Hold up, Dylan," the dragon warrior warned. "He's digivolving."
Darkness enveloped Devimon and the transformation was over in a moment. The dark clad demon man was replaced by an ordinary human in a blue military uniform adorned with a cape. No, not quite human, Angel decided. His messy hair was an unearthly shade that resembled spun gold, he possessed flawless skin and ghostly, glowing blue eyes that appeared to be illuminated from within. She realized he was a vampire.
"A Myotismon?" Dylan exclaimed.
Angel could see the digimon struggle with all his being, to no avail, even in his more powerful form. It was hopeless. Dylan shook his head, then applied the chip to Myotismon's chest and stood back. The two digimon holding him released his arms just as black electricity surrounded the vampire man. Myotismon cried out in abject terror.
She didn't expect the intense pain that came from nowhere. Angel gasped and clutched at her chest where her heart was located. The organ felt like it had silently exploded within her. Simultaneously, Myotismon's agony and fright filled her. Michael finally let go of her and the pain and intense sensations left her quickly. Myotismon was gone and a very large egg lay on the floor. Dylan stooped to pick it up and patted it gently.
"You gave us quite a fight," he told it.
Amazement replaced her Angel's anger and she reached to take to the egg when Dylan held it out to her. It was heavier than she expected and not like any egg on earth. It was about the size of an ostrich egg and white with dark blue bands encircling it. Still, she felt sad for Myotismon, he obviously did not want this.
"See?" Bituin told her. "He's alright now."
Angel looked up from the warm egg. "It was painful."
She gave Angel a confused expression. "But it's over now," she said.
Angel decided to let it drop. "What do I do now?"
"Wait for him to hatch," Angus answered.
Angel sighed. "How long will that take?"
"Perhaps a day or two," he said.
"That soon?"
"It's complicated but we reduced him to his simplest form to allow him to digivolve through all the levels using your energy. As we've told you before, he'll be much stronger than he was on his own. He won't actually have to grow up all over again since he already knows how to digivolve."
Angel was still angry and decided she would work with them, but only until a point. If an opportunity presented itself, she would help Myotismon escape.
Angus continued in his thick accent. "You've already shown him who's boss, so when he comes out you'll have no problem taming him."
Angel raised her eyebrows. "You make him sound like an animal."
Angus chuckled. "It's not so different with a half wild digimon like him. Just have to feed him twice a day, brush him, take him for a walk and then when he's naughty, you give his leash a tug and smack his rear."
Angel barked a laugh. "Damn, I feel like I just listened to the summary of some freaky dominatrix fetish porn!"
Angus threw his head back and laughed heartily and Moses, who had returned to his small dragon form, joined him. Bituin looked away embarrassed, while Dylan pressed his lips into a tight line.
"Angus," Dylan snapped. "We need to encourage her to take this seriously if that Devimon is going to be of any use to us, not nurture any immaturity.
"Relax," Moses implored. "She's going to need that sense of humour, it'll serve her well."
Angel felt a spark of irritation at Dylan's remark about her immaturity but engaged her logical side to diffuse the anger. She didn't know the guy well enough to know why he was so very serious. Perhaps it was just in his nature or it could be all that he'd been through fighting this PrinceMyotismon. Regardless, Angel knew on the intellectual level that the remark was not worth a response and it certainly wasn't the worst insult she'd ever received.
The internal rationalizing was enough to lower her anger to a manageable level. She rubbed the digiegg absentmindedly and was surprised to feel it move. "Don't worry," she told the egg. "You won't have to stay in there too much longer."
"Your first lesson is this," Dylan said to her and she looked up from the egg. "You're his Tamer, not his friend. You'd be wise to remember that because he's not going to be your pet like Angus suggests."
"How's he going to fight for me if he doesn't even like me?" Angel wondered with raised eyebrows as his jab broke through her thin resolve to not react to the older man.
"I'm going to make this very clear for you," Dylan explained in a slow, careful tone that Angel interpreted as insanely patronizing. "He's not the guy next door. He's not going to be your friend or your buddy, and he most certainly is not going to be your boyfriend." He paused for a moment when Angel scoffed and her cheeks flushed, and then he continued. "He's was an assassin for the mafia. I want you to think about what that means; other digimon paid him to kill and he's obviously killed a lot of digimon because he's a very wealthy."
His words made her uncomfortable but the anger held on and she felt a lump form in her throat as she shoved down the angry words that threatened to find their way out. "Fine, fine!" she managed past the lump.
"Shit, Dylan," Angus said as he shook his head. "You're scaring the poor lass."
"Good," Dylan replied to the ginger. "More than anything, she needs to know this is real life and not a game." Angel looked down at the egg and clutched it closer to her as the angry lump in her throat tightened painfully. "I need to know you get this because it's for your own good. Your digimon is going to be different than the rest of ours. Michael is someone I trust with life, and I know Angus and Bituin feel the same way about their partners. I wouldn't trust Devimon as far as I could throw him. The moment he sees an opportunity to escape, he won't hesitate to kill you. And the fact that he was wild for a time makes him even more dangerous to you because he doesn't follow or understand our customs or laws. If something or someone gets in his way, he removes them and that will include you. Do you understand me?" he asked and she looked up from the egg to glare at the man as she nodded.
"I think that's enough," Michael said gently as he laid a hand on Dylan's shoulder and the dark haired man backed off.
The rest of the morning, what was left of it and most of the afternoon, was spent teaching Angel about digimon. The differences between human types and beast types, the differences between Vaccine, Data and Virus; their classifications, their levels and their life cycles. Angel was surprised to learn that females carried, then gave birth to the digiegg, or digitama as the others had referred to it at times, and that the digiegg hatched within a day or two after birth.
After dinner, at about six in the evening, where she ate a hearty helping, she retired to her cell or room. Angel had found, to her delight, that the e-book application on her phone still retained her beloved books and she fell asleep with Devimon's digiegg beside her in the midst of beginning a reread of the series, A Song of Ice and Fire. She awoke an hour or so later to find that the digiegg had disappeared and she sat up in a panic. She didn't bother to put on her steel toed boots and left the cell barefooted to find someone.
As she rounded a corner she nearly ran into Dylan. "Lose something?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. He opened his hands and across his palms sat a small forlorn creature with tears in it's red eyes. "This is Poyomon, born a little earlier than we thought he would be and he's discovered that he won't be able to get past the firewall around this area."
Angel gazed in amazement at the little grey jellyfish but he turned away from her. She rolled her eyes, realizing she should have expected a cold reception. She also aware that the little digimon was afraid of the man. "You're scaring him," she said.
"I wouldn't buy into that, remember what I told you."
"I remember," she said in a sharper tone than she intended.
"He can't get away but I still want you to keep him with you. Do you think you can handle that?"
"Yes," she replied in a level tone though she was more than tired of Dylan's condescending attitude toward her.
Dylan was going to say something else when Poyomon floated away from his cupped hand to rest on Angel's shoulder. Angel could tell he was relieved to be away from Dylan who stared at the digimon surprised. "Cool, you can fly. You may be smaller than me but I sure as hell can't fly so you've still got one up on me," she remarked to Poyomon who still turned away from her. "Can he understand me?" she asked Dylan.
He nodded. "He still retains his memories and life experience, so yes but he won't be able to speak until he digivolves a level up."
"Oh, okay," she said.
"And don't let your guard down, he can still inflict some damage," Dylan told her as he lifted his arm to reveal a burn mark.
Angel masked her amusement and she wasn't sure how but she was aware that the little digimon didn't intend to hurt her. "I think I can manage," she told him and displayed the back of her hands which sported several scars. "I'm a mechanic, I'm tougher than I look." On impulse she then pushed up the sleeve of her right arm and flexed her muscles. "And stronger than I look. I can handle him just fine."
Dylan looked at her a moment, it was obvious he had very little faith in her ability to handle a hundred gram jellyfish. "Al..."
Angel cut him off, cranky from his constant jabbing. "Sorry, I have to take a leak, if you'll excuse me, please?"
She turned around to go back the way she had came but he caught her arm and sighed. "If you need help, you know where to find it. We're all here to help you, we were all new here once."
She was anxious to be away from the man at once, though aside from his irritating attitude she wasn't sure why. "Oh, thank you. That actually means a lot to me," she told him with a small smile. She could barely stomach the corny words but knew it was what he wanted to hear. She would tell him anything to get him to leave her alone.
With that, she left for her cell and breathed a sigh of relief when she got there. She realized with dismay that aside from the bars, there was little stop Dylan from barging in and she expected he would at some point, to check in on her. Poyomon floated off her shoulder to the bed. Angel didn't look at him, knowing that if she had been the one who had been shrunk down to a baby, she'd hate people staring at her, too.
"You should have aimed for his dick, not his arm," she told him with a sidelong glance as she retrieved her wool socks from her work boots and put them on her cold feet. The freezing concrete floors had chilled her toes. That's when she remembered what was in small pocket on the right leg of her cargo pants.
Angel took out the contents and nearly melted with relief. It had been a day and a half since her arrival and, caught up with all the excitement, she hadn't noticed how badly she'd been jonesing for a high. She took out the small pipe and stuffed a good amount of marijuana into the bowl.
"Fuck," she muttered as she realized that she was missing her lighter. She looked at the small digimon who had been watching her prepare the pipe. "I don't suppose you can breathe fire, can you?" Poyomon narrowed his eyes at her. "Fine, forget I asked... oh wait," she exclaimed as she jumped up to retrieve her coveralls, she had stuffed them under the bed the prior night. "I always have back up matches in my wallet," she said more to herself than anyone else.
When she found the wallet, she plucked the pack of matches out of a pocket and grinned with anticipation as she struck a match. After a couple good hits off the pipe, she remembered Poyomon. "Want some?" The digimon looked up at her with disgust. "Suit yourself," she said with a shrug as she extinguished the pipe.
She put the pipe and the small baggie of marijuana back into her pocket and picked up her Galaxy S4 from the floor where it had fallen. The time read 10:09 PM. Angel glanced at the digimon, not sure what to do with him but as the high took hold, the uncertainty and anxiety retreated to the back of her consciousness. She sighed with content as apathy settled over her like a warm blanket, and she peeled off her dark grey wool shirt and black pants. Underneath her clothing she wore a plain grey bra over her 32D breasts and a grey pair of Hanes women's boxer briefs.
Angel sat on the bed with her back against the wall and smirked at Poyomon. "Hope you enjoy the view," she told him before resuming her book.
"Jesus!" a voice exclaimed a little while later and Angel yelped with surprise while Poyomon growled. "What are you doing? You do know that your partner is the same age as you?"
Angel rolled her eyes at Dylan, shrugged and then ended with a mischievous grin. "Come on, man," she implored. "I'm sure it's nothing he hasn't seen before." She grinned down at the digimon. "Right?"
Dylan entered the cell and narrowed his eyes as he leaned over her. "Are you drunk?"
"No," she said with the grin she wasn't able to extinguish.
"Don't lie," he told her with a stern expression.
"No," she repeated. "I'm not drunk, where would I get alcohol from anyway? I... just am trying to relax. I was hot, I didn't want to lay in my own sweat, it's colder where I come from. You know, from Canada, the land of snow and hockey. Eh?"
"You think you're being cute? Well, I'm not impressed," he said to her and then looked at Poyomon. "And you shouldn't be either." He sighed and tossed the container in his hands on the bed beside her. "I figured he might be hungry."
"Oh okay, thanks," she said. "But you know, I'm not trying to be cute, I was just sitting here reading. If I was trying to be cute, you'd know it."
In that moment, he looked much older than the forty or so years she figured he was. "Alright, I need some sleep, can I trust you to be mature enough to make it through the night?"
"Of course," she told him with the serious expression she knew he wanted to see. "Good night," she said as he nodded and left. Angel opened the container and sniffed the contents, which turned out to be some sort of stew. Her mouth watered as she experienced the hunger that came with the high but she resisted and held out the container to Poyomon. He glared at her and turned away. "You really going to starve yourself to death?"
She looked into his red eyes and was overcome with inexplicable sadness and anxiety. To her complete surprise, the digimon's eyes filled with tears, which quickly spilled over. "Dammit," she told him in soft tone, as her own eyes watered in an empathetic response to his plight. "Don't cry, seeing a man cry is like my kryptonite. Look, they said you should do that digivolving thing soon, then you'll be back to yourself..." she paused and took a breath. "They told me that I'm supposed to force you to obey me, but you know what I say? Fuck everything about that. Once you get back to Devimon, Myotismon, or whatever, I'll help you bust out of this place. Why? Because I'm not going to waste my time trying to turn a guy like you into a hero. Hell, we're both not cut out for this hero shit. I'm sitting here in my underwear, getting high in the middle of a war, I know I'm not a hero. What do you say?"
The jellyfish looked up at her after a moment and nodded. Angel reached a hand toward him but he startled, which in turn caused her to startle. "Hey, don't be afraid of me, it makes me feel bad. I'm not going to hurt you." He looked away, ashamed but allowed her to wipe away his tears. "There, if you're hungry you should eat something. It'll probably help you digivolve sooner."
He nodded and she set some stew out for him on the end table while she lay down facing away from him, knowing he wouldn't want to be watched as he ate. She returned to her book for a while, becoming engrossed in it. When her eyelids drooped she looked over her shoulder and saw the little digimon on the edge of the bed with his eyes closed. Angel knew he wasn't asleep and noticed him trembling, no, more like shivering. She realized he was cold and rolled over to face him. It was no surprise that he continued to pretend to sleep, so, while she still rode the mellow of her high, she hiked the covers over herself, then picked up the digimon and brought him closer. He was definitely cool to the touch and didn't protest when she slipped her arm around his small body to hold him securely against her warm chest.
Angel was aware that he was content, well, as content as he could be, considering everything and a few minutes later his tiny snores reached her ears. Moments later, she was fast asleep. That night, she dreamed.
Angel approached the familiar car and stopped to admire it. It was a 1969 Camaro SS, black on black. A good solid car with a good solid engine. She'd bought the thing for a few thousand dollars years ago and she'd saved the money to rebuild the entire thing herself. It was her car and she loved it.
She got in and placed her hands on the steering wheel. A dark figure got in the passenger seat, it was Myotismon. He didn't say anything as she started the engine which roared to life at her beckoning. Angel smiled as she let out the clutch and nudged the accelerator, the vehicle was soon barrelling down 16th Ave, or the Trans Canada highway heading west out of Calgary toward the Rockies. It was midday in high summer.
As they passed Calaway Park, Calgary's permanent amusement park, the engine began to sputter and cough. Angel cursed and was forced off the freeway. She opened the hood and found, to her dismay, that the engine was full of rust and holes and had been infested with rats nests. Somehow, she already knew about all this and also knew that in the trunk, there was a remedy.
The vampire man remained silent as he shadowed her and she became very self conscious in his presence. The gas tank cover fell off and clattered to the ground. Angel scrambled to pick it up and slapped it back on with a grin, hoping to throw Myotismon off. She popped open the trunk after a couple infuriating tries and found, to her immense relief, what she knew would fix everything. A can of black spray paint.
With the can in her hand, she walked back toward the engine and shook the can before removing the top. Myotismon scrutinized her every move as she sprayed black paint over the engine. Rats scurried from their nests to deeper in the engine and a matte black covered the rust and holes. She looked up and noticed the scratches on the body of the car. Angel didn't know how'd she'd missed them before and ran her finger over one. These looked like they'd been there for years. Had she really been driving around like this all along? Why the fuck hadn't anyone told her?
Black paint quickly covered the scratches and there were a good number of them. She looked inside the car and noticed the cracks in the dash and the rips in the leather seats. Angel shook the can and, to her dismay, found it was already empty but it didn't matter, she knew the paint wouldn't cover those anyway. It was hard to see inside from a distance, so maybe no one would notice the interior damage.
She stepped back to survey the vehicle, it was worse than she'd originally thought. The cheap, black matte paint only drew attention to the scratches and the engine looked awful, way worse than before. The paint hadn't hidden the car's flaws, it had only put them out on display for all the passersby on the freeway and a surely disappointed Myotismon to see and judge. And judge her they did, she could feel it. Every car that rushed by at 110 KPH and faster hurled their weighty criticisms that struck her like medicine balls to the chest.
But her car... it couldn't be that bad, right? It had potential, it could be worked on; after all, it was classic muscle car that many people loved, it had definite value. She just needed time to work on it and parts for it.
She looked back to the car and found to her ultimate, soul crushing despair, that it wasn't actually a Camaro, it had been an old, cheap, rundown, peeling white Hyundai Excel all along. Nothing special, just a run of the mill car that no one would look twice at and now, with the black paint highlighting it's flaws, it looked like a fucking hunk of junk that was on it's last few thousand kilometres.
Myotismon got in the passenger side of the car again with a resigned expression and Dylan strode over to Myotismon's window. "Even you know better than to get in that piece of scrap, it's a death trap," he told Myotismon.
The vampire digimon leaned out the window. "I'm only going to Canmore," he replied, referring to the small Alberta town, situated just inside the majestic Rockies. "This is adequate enough to get me there."
"In this weather? I don't know," Dylan replied.
Angel watched snowflakes fall and realized that there was nearly ten centimetres of snow on the ground. "Don't worry, I have chains!" She threw open the trunk, clumsily pulled out the chains and frantically set to work putting them on the tires...
Angel finally awoke before the dream had ended. It was eight in the morning, she was still a little tired but didn't want to fall back asleep for fear of resuming the dream. The emotions from the dream held on and she figured that what she had experienced was more like a nightmare. She rolled over and found Poyomon staring at her.
"Why can't I have normal nightmares, like monsters chasing me or someone trying to kill me? Why this shit?" Angel muttered to him and he sighed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you with it," she added as she sat up. She looked down and realized she was in her underwear and tried to tell herself it was too late to worry about it; that the digimon had already seen everything but it didn't stop her from feeling like a complete fool.
She grabbed her clothes and dressed in the most nonchalant manner she could manage and then remembered that Dylan had also seen her. She ran her hands over her face, which burned hot with embarrassment. She knew it wasn't just about the fact that both men had seen her in her gonch, after all it wasn't any different than say, a bathing suit; it was that fucking dream, nightmare, whatever.
Angel knew exactly what it meant. The car was her. No matter how hard she tried to hide, forget, even try and fix how messed up she was, everyone could see it. And, not only that, the more she tried to cover it up, the more glaringly obvious it was that she was totally screwed up.
She didn't belong in this world as it's saviour and last hope, she knew it and soon enough when she royally screwed everything up, everyone one else would too. The depression crushed her while anxiety crept into join it and the intense emotions waltzed a frenzied path through her mind.
Angel sat on the edge of the bed, her face in her hands for a long time before she heard foot steps. She looked up and wasn't surprised or pleased to see Dylan. "Hey," she greeted him, she gave her best effort at sounding normal.
"Good morning you two," he replied. "How did you sleep?"
"Great!" she exclaimed with way more enthusiasm than necessary. Angel wanted to smack herself.
"O-kay," he replied with a raised eyebrow and then beckoned for them to follow.
Poyomon looked up at her, she knew he was afraid and unsure. "Don't worry, I got your back," she told him, trying to ignore Dylan's soft disapproving sigh. The small digimon floated to her shoulder and to her amusement, further provoked Dylan by pressing himself against her neck. Angel knew Poyomon was just cold but on impulse, she winked at the man.
Instead of the expected scolding, he beckoned to her again and they met up with the others at the mess hall. Angel, once again, ate a large amount and after some prodding, Poyomon ate a little in Angel's lap, out of the sight of the others. She saw that her partner preferred meat and made note of it for the future.
After they were done eating, Uriel joined them and they lead Angel and Poyomon, who had returned to his former spot against her neck, to an empty grey room with an old wooden table and several old computer chairs. They all sat down, Uriel and Dylan flanked her, and Angel expected them to start teaching her more about the Digital World and digimon. She was eager to start as she still had a lot of unanswered questions.
"Angel," Uriel began.
Angel cringed at hearing her name, pressed a fist to her forehead and sighed. "Please, call me 'Ang'... or 'Angie', I'll even take 'Angela'. I just really hate that name."
"Oh," he said with a nod. "Ang, then?"
Ang nodded and smiled. "Thank you, I've never been able to make a nickname stick back home but here, with a new start, I thought I'd give it another shot."
Uriel smiled. "Ang, I'm pleased to hear that you consider this a new start. In fact, it's why we wanted to talk to you, and Poyomon both."
"Okay," she said, not entirely sure what he was talking about.
Dylan lifted a hand to interject. "Look, Ang," he began. "First off, I want to apologize for how I've been treating you since you got here. It was unfair for me to judge you and I want to start over."
She took a second to absorb his apology and felt her stomach drop but then she instinctively put on her best smile in defence. "Good, it's what I want, too. Apology accepted." She hoped this would be the end of it.
"Last night," Uriel told her. "I spoke with them," he motioned to the humans and their partners. "About my concerns regarding you and Poyomon. "
Ang tried to swallow the lump forming in her throat and her stomach dropped even further. "O-okay," she managed.
Uriel continued. "More specifically, your childhoods. I had already had access to all your respective information, however, it wasn't until you had arrived and I saw you and Devimon interact that I realized that throwing you into this conflict was not at all appropriate or justifiable until we had addressed your mental health."
Ang blanched and was rendered speechless. It was like the nightmare she'd just had, only worse. Uriel continued to Ang's despair. "We have resources and I believe we can help, you, and Poyomon both, to overcome your challenges." He looked at Poyomon and smiled. "I am already encouraged by your progress, Poyomon, trusting her must have been difficult for you." Uriel looked back at an increasingly anxious Ang. "Furthermore, for him to place this level of trust into you only further demonstrates your inner strength as digimon of his capabilities would not follow a weak mind.
"However, Poyomon, your abnormal level of anxiety and fear is an obvious challenge for you. Also, I understand that it is likely that you did not choose a life in organized crime, and that for a Devimon, there would be few options. I believe underneath you posses a gentle and rather sensitive heart. It would certainly make you a target for digimon in organized crime to exploit your strength and techniques.
"It is my hope that with help, you will be able to let go of the past, forge a strong relationship with Ang and find positive meaning for your life."
Poyomon tensed as he listened to Uriel, Ang could feel it as he pushed harder against her neck. She knew he wanted to disappear into a black hole; he would rather drop dead than accept the 'help' the celestial digimon was offering. She knew the feeling well, as she herself had experienced the hell that was the countless hours of counselling and treatment for her 'problems'.
She didn't have time to experience much sympathy for him; her heart filled with dread and began to thump painfully in her chest when she realized she was about to receive her 'pep talk' and she knew, with a profound sense of certainty, that the conversation would focus on a certain event in her past.
"Ang," Uriel addressed her with a smile.
Somehow, the smile made it worse; bad enough that she wasn't quite able to suppress the downturn of her mouth. The lump in her throat that held back the despair was intensely painful. Poyomon squirmed against her and she tried to find solace in the fact that she wasn't alone in her torture; but Satan himself couldn't have concocted a more perfect hell for her and her despair only deepened into a chasm, colder and blacker than the deepest trench in the ocean. It took her highest level of control to hold back the unbidden tears that threatened to emerge.
Uriel's smile faded to an expression of concern. "This is difficult for you?" Ang didn't move, she knew any movement or word out of her mouth would result in the loss of her thread thin emotional control. "When I looked over your information it was apparent to me that your social system had failed you. To anyone else, it appears that you overcame impossible odds to become an upstanding individual. You're a licensed automotive technician, you own your own home, and have smart investments; a considerable achievement for someone your age.
"However, these are things I believe you have done in order to deflect any doubts concerning your mental health after the accident. I believe that because since then, you've isolated yourself considerably."
"I read the statements," Dylan spoke up. "And I agree with what you originally said, that even without the alcohol in your blood, the result would have been the same. Sober or not, when you hit black ice, there's not much you can do."
She pushed her palms against her eyes, hoping the pressure would hold back the tears; she didn't want them to see her cry, in their minds it would only prove them right. She growled in frustration at herself.
"Just take a deep breath," Dylan's voice urged. "We're here to help you through this. You aren't alone anymore."
Ang wanted to laugh at how stereo typically corny he sounded.
"That accident hurt you far more than it hurt your sister. She made a complete recovery but you never did," Uriel said after a moment.
At that moment Ang was able to pull herself together enough to form a coherent response. "You're wrong, you're dead wrong."
"How so?" Dylan asked.
"Yes, I caused that accident. I accept full responsibility for it, I shouldn't have been drinking and driving but because I did, my foster sister nearly died. And doesn't matter if the result would have been the same whether I had been drinking or not, the fact is I made a bad call. I accept, have reflected upon and understand that. And you know what? After feeling guilty and then accepting that I can't change the past, I moved on. I moved on years and years ago.
"Except that no one fucking believed me. I had to endure hours and hours of torture, fucking torture. That's what," she raised her fingers to signify quotation marks. "'Counselling', is to me; what you're doing right now, it's torture, fucking torture. And I'm pretty sure I can speak for Poyomon as well when I say that we would rather die than be subjected to this torture."
"I understand that those things were very difficult to hear and for you to talk about," Uriel replied with an empathetic expression that nearly drove Ang insane.
"No!" she exclaimed. "What's difficult is that no one, not one fucking person can accept that I like, I genuinely like, being by myself. I am an introvert, why is it so difficult for other people to accept that? Why do I have to have people hanging off me to be normal? And I bought my own place because it was a good investment." At this point, she slammed her fist down on the table and the impact hurt like a bastard. "I have worked hard, too hard, to keep the government and people like you off my back and from meddling in my life. Aside from that one fucking mistake I made when I was only seventeen years old, I've done nothing wrong! I've done nothing, but try and fend people like you off, when all I want to do is fix cars and then, at the end of day, go home and watch the new episode of A Game of Thrones. Is that too much to ask?
"The answer is yes! Apparently, since I'm an orphan who never received the miracle of being adopted, I must be fucked up! Has it ever occurred to the government, to anyone that they're the ones that have made me screwed up by never leaving me the fuck alone?! And now, I, no we," she corrected, motioning to Poyomon. "We have to endure this hell; this hell of people judging us, analyzing our every behaviour, going through intensely private information and then telling us how fucked up they think we are!
"And you're wrong about him, too. He doesn't trust me, how could he? He doesn't even fucking know me! I just happened to be the only one that's considered that he wants nothing to do with your fight. I also seem to be the only one who thinks that your invasion of his privacy, by sniffing through his records, is disgusting. And the way you've stripped him of his dignity by reducing him to his weakest state, it's cruel. Then, to top it all off, you have the audacity to tell him he's made 'progress' when, in reality, you've terrified him so completely, that he's actually felt compelled to take refuge with a complete stranger!"
Dylan leaned forward. "You need to calm yourself!" he urged in a serious tone. "Your state of mind is affecting your partner."
She looked at Dylan and wanted to laugh or slap him, maybe both. "You want us to calm down? Stop trying to..."
The dark haired man cut her off and shook his head. "You need to know that as a Tamer, your negative energy affects your digimon but more so for you than anyone else. The amount of energy you're feeding him is off the charts, like nothing we've ever seen. When he digivolves to his Mega level, he's going to become the most powerful being in existence, in both of our universes.
"You also need to know that he's very mentally unstable. First off, suffers from bipolar and a serious anxiety disorder; then add in that he's half wild and has been ostracized his entire life for simply having been born a digimon of the element of darkness. Now, factor in that your negative emotions can actually corrupt his digivolving process and cause him to digivolve into what we humans would consider a horrible monster. A monster of unsurpassed power, with a serious mental imbalance and corrupted by your own negativity.
"Does that not terrify you? Because it sure as hell terrifies me! If you cannot find a way to control yourself and honestly, control him, then we'll be forced to destroy him. Or, if we cannot destroy him because he's exceeded our digimon's strength, then we will destroy the source of his power, which is you."
Ang absorbed the threat and didn't respond.