"Come with us…" it hissed.
"What? Who are you?" he replied with fear.
"Impmon… join us… we know you still crave the dark power you once had, come with us…"
"I'm past that! I don't need it, who are you anyways?" he snarled.
"Join us, join us, join us…" it chanted.
"No! Leave me alone!" Impmon snapped straight up and was breathing heavily. He scanned his surroundings with eyes wide as saucers. It—it was a dream? What just happened?
"Impmon, are you okay?" the sweet voice of Ai interrupted his thoughts.
"Yeah, I just had a nightmare," Impmon said. Ai waited for an elaboration, but when Impmon stayed quiet she walked over to him.
"I'll stay up with you, if you want." Impmon smiled warmly, but shook his head. "Thanks, but you should go back to sleep, I'll be okay," he smiled. But Ai wasn't convinced, and Impmon saw it on her face. "C'mon, you don't believe me? I'm Impmon, the toughest Digimon you know!" he said, poking Ai in the stomach. She giggled, but still felt uncertain. She stepped towards Impmon to give him a warm embrace.
"Sleep tight," she whispered.
"You too kid," he replied, and watched her as she climbed into bed. He waited a few minutes for the tell tale sound of her sleeping breath and walked over to the window. He hoisted himself onto the windowsill.
Impmon sighed as he looked at the full moon hanging in the night sky. What happened? All he could recollect was the feeling of doom, and shivered despite the closed window. I'll have to go see Renamon tomorrow. Impmon stared once again at the glowing entity and slowly drifted to sleep.
He sat upon his throne, staring out at the three moons, sipping from a brass goblet. The night is ever so beautiful. He smirked and closed his eyes, feeling the hard steel beneath his head. The sounds of approaching footsteps were heard, and without opening his eyes, he called out to the source.
"What is it Barbamon?"
"I have unfortunate news, your Greatness," he said. With that, the other opened his eyes, sat straighter in his seat and frowned.
"What is it?" he sneered.
"Well you see, communication with the one was successful," he reported, "but he denied the offer, and after that, communication was lost." Daggers were sent in his direction but he did not falter. The superior was displeased with his reaction, or rather lack there of, and so began to spoke.
"I don't see how this is a problem, you'll just have to try again," he said haughtily.
"That is where another issue arises. Communication with his world is limited; I can only try once an Earth week. But if it's any consolation, I am able to monitor his every move."
Fire blazed in his eyes, but the greater decided against his violent thoughts and sighed in contempt. "Then try next week, I don't care, try until we capture him," he gesticulated.
"Of course, I will not disappoint."
"Of course you won't," he replied, with shrug. He didn't expect him to, after all this task was small potatoes compared to his first. "And Barbamon, I think it's appropriate for you to call me by my name, we are partners in crime, no?"
"Undoubtedly, Lucemon," he said with a wicked grin, for he knew that the mere mentioning of his name gave shivers to anyone within hearing range. The two bellowing laughs melded and filled the spacious castle, reverberating against the walls, echoing into the dark.
"Impmon, Impmon, where are you?" Said Digimon was awakened by the voices of his Tamers. He opened his eyes to discover that he was surrounded by toys.
"Here I am!" he said as he popped up from the toy box. "I guess I fell in when I went to Snooze Town."
"Good morning!" Ai and Mako said simultaneously, "What do ya wanna do today?" Impmon hopped down from the box and scratched his chin in thought. He recalled the plan he made last night frowned slightly.
"Sorry guys, but I have to visit a friend today," he announced guiltily.
"Oh," Mako said. Disappointment was clearly written on his face, but Ai being the older and more responsible sibling decided to cheer him up.
"It's alright, Mama said that we were going to help her in the kitchen today, remember?"
"That's right!" he cheered, but frowned once more, "but I guess Impmon will miss out on the fun…"
"Its okay, my visit won't take that long, so I'll be back sooner than you think," he clarified. The two brightened considerably at the news.
"Then everything is sorted out, we'll see you soon Impmon," Ai said. Impmon waved as he hopped out the window and started on the streets. As he made his way towards Rika's house he tried his best to ignore the stares. Even though the people of Shinjuku were eternally grateful for their heroic battle, and ultimately their victory, they can't help but find these creatures a tad bit odd. Understandably, it would be somewhat of a shock, seeing how the Digimon came back after a six month break. When Takato found the small portal, Henry's father and his team of geniuses tried to find a way to break through. Fortunately they were able to transcend the barrier and were able to rejoin Earth, just in time for Rika's birthday. It was the nearly the end of June now, a little over a month later, and the citizens were finding it hard to adjust once more. With this reeling though his mind, Impmon forgot his course of direction. He quickly cleared his mind and went forward to Rika's abode.
Rika and Renamon were in the garden outside of her room. They were enjoying both the weather and each others company. Renamon sat majestically on the porch, eyes closed and meditating. Rika lay on her stomach admiring her new cards, and her friend. She was mesmerized by the other's soft yellow fur, strong arms and serene aura.
"What is it Rika?" Renamon said feeling her gaze. Rika blushed but did little to hide it. She was getting better at sharing her emotions, especially with Renamon, seeing how she lost her once and didn't want to take anything for granted.
"Nothing," the red head said, but shared a small smile with her Digimon.
"I see," she replied. They both went back into a comfortable silence, absorbing everything on this warm summer day.
"Hey ladies! Did you miss me?" called a raspy voice. Normally Rika would have been angered because of this somewhat rude interruption, but she really did miss the purple little Digimon.
"Impmon! We haven't seen you in a while," she declared.
"Yes, what brings you here?" the fox-like Digimon inquired.
"I just wanted to see what you guys were up to," Impmon paused, "and, I have something I wanted to talk about." The other two noticed quite a serious look on his face and toned down their festive mood.
"Alright, let me make a pot of tea, and then we can get started." Rika got up and went inside, leaving the two Digimon alone. Renamon looked deeply at Impmon with her blue eyes, searching for any clue that might give away at the troubles eating away at Impmon. He noticed this and sighed; he walked over to her, and lay down next to her sitting self. With his hands behind his head, he looked up at the sky, basking in the comfort his friend was exuding.
"Hmm, very interesting…" Barbamon said as he climbed down the stairs. "Lucemon, I have a very intriguing progress report."
"I'm listening," he responded.
"It seems as though Impmon has a friend, a fellow Digimon."
"Intriguing indeed," Lucemon said turning his full attention on him.
"In addition to that, it seems as though Impmon's friend also has a friend, a human friend." Lucemon's eyes widened in disbelief, but it soon turned into anger. He hated humans. He scornfully thought back to the six children that defeated him, all that time ago. He exhaled forcefully and tried to regain composure.
"Show me," he said with control.
"Right this way," Barbamon gestured up the stairs. The two flew up into a tall tower, and entered a room lit by the glow of a screen. On the screen were Impmon and Renamon.
"The tea is done," a voice announced. Lucemon and Barbamon moved closer to the screen.
"That's the human," Barbamon pointed out.
I'm aware of that, thought Lucemon, but he was too busy observing the girl, the girl with red hair and lavender eyes. He focused on the way she moved, gracefully but with strength.
"So, what's up?" she asked.
"Well… it was last night," Impmon began, "and everything is fuzzed out but, all I remember is this feeling of coldness. It really creeped me out, like something was lurking around, waiting for me." Lucemon turned to Barbamon for an explanation. He shrugged.
"I thought it would be best if he didn't remember the whole thing, in the case that he declined, which he did, and in case something like this would happen, which it is." Lucemon, satisfied with this plan turned back to the screen, and narrowed his eyes when the girl spoke again.
"Wow Impmon, are you sure you don't remember anything else at all?"
"Zilch," he replied.
"I think in a time like this, we should call the others here," Renamon suggested, "Rika, can you please call them?"
"Sure, great idea," she said as she got up to get her phone.
"Others?" Lucemon grunted with disgust. "I'm leaving now, but I want you to keep watching, and observe the others. Give me full report when you're done," he ordered from the exit.
"As you wish," Barbamon said closing the door. Lucemon seethed as he went down the stairs and into his throne as he got to work. He had lots of planning to do for his comeback, and even more now that he's got those pesky children interfering with Impmon.
"I see, very interesting," Henry said. He ran a hand through his black-blue hair and sighed. "But I can't see where we're going with this with so little information." Henry, Terriermon, Takato, Guilmon, Rika, Renamon and Impmon were all sitting in a circle, taking occasional sips of tea and nibbles of cake. They were all trying to find ways to help Impmon in some shape or form.
"I hope you're not offended but, I think we should all just let it go," Takato confessed, "if it just is a bad vibe, maybe it was just a nightmare you can't remember, after all I forget a lot of my dreams most of the time." The others agreed, sharing the same experience more than once. But Impmon felt differently, he knew it wasn't just a dream or a nightmare for that matter, it was—it was different. But with everyone agreeing with Takato's idea, he wouldn't want to cause more trouble.
"I guess you're right, thanks for the help, really," Impmon thanked. Everybody smiled at their friend. "I'd like to hang, but I promised Ai and Mako I'd be back soon, so I'll see you around."
"I have compiled several profiles for you to study," Barbamon presented. Lucemon nodded in approval. "We begin with Takato." A still-photo of the boy was displayed on the screen. "Takato is a male human, with brown hair and amber eyes as you can see, he wears goggles on his head for whatever reason and has a child-like personality. He is very innocent and carefree, but it can be seen the level of responsibility he holds. His partner: Guilmon." A picture of Guilmon was then projected next to Takato's. "Guilmon has a similar persona to Takato; he is much more childish and carefree and more often oblivious. Great ability of combat can be seen in him."
"Next is Rika, the girl from before. She is a strong type, very keen on listening but not so much for speaking. Though that may be the case, she is very precise and straight forward with her delivery." Lucemon nodded, noting this from before. "Her partner: Renamon, also very like her associate. Calm, cool, and collected."
"Lastly, Henry, the boy with blue-black hair and grey eyes as seen here," he pointed to his picture. "He is also calm, but voices his opinions more often. He is intelligent and thinks logically. A different side of him can be seen when he is interacting with his partner. Terriermon seems to bring out a more playful side of him. Unlike the other two, Terriermon is quite different from Henry. He is jumpy and excitable. But he remains calm when it is needed. That concludes the analysis."
"Excellent work Barbamon," he praised. "I want you to keep track of these creatures, and don't forget Impmon too."
"No problem," he replied. He summoned more screens onto the wall, each displaying the subjects. Rika and Renamon were walking through the busy streets. Henry and Terriermon have just returned home. Takato and Guilmon were at the park, squeezing out the time left to play in the evening. And Impmon were helping two small children lift a bag of flour.
"I'm impressed," Lucemon smiled. His grin exposed his gleaming white teeth, shinning as brightly as the moon itself.
She looked out her new window, looking at the moon. She sat on her new floor, in her new room, in her new home, surrounded by boxes, exhausted by all the unpacking that was done. She got up and walked over to her bed and slid in, slumbering away, wondering what was going to happen next, if anything was going to happen at all.
The sound of the door opening alerted her. "Henry, can you come in the kitchen and help me?" The waft of chocolate danced past his nose.
"Sure mom," he said placing Terriermon down. "What's the occasion," he asked.
"You'll find out soon enough, now pass me those eggs."
Hey guys just wanted to clear some things up. Yes I know, there isn't a lot of romance or humour, but I'm workin on it. This chapter was just to get the ball rollin.
Also, just to clear any confusion, Rika's birthday is on May 9, and the setting in the story is like June 25 ish, so it's been almost two months. Also, I won't be including a lot of Japanese culture, so I won't go by their school schedule, so right now they are in summer break. And it will continue throughout July and August.
And yes, there are quite a lot of cliffhangers:
How did Lucemon come back?
Who is this new girl?
What is she like?
What does chocolate have to do with anything?
WILL HE PASS THOSE EGGS?
Tune in and find out.