01-The Digimon Master
Location: Odiba Nippon, Friday 22 October 2010, 2015
The girl spun around the corner of the building, vaulting the rail of the staircase and jumped down onto the table below her. The people at the next two tables shot up in shock but the now audible shrieks of the Bakemon alerted them to the danger. Understanding of the girl's fright and sudden appearance and disappearance was quick to come as they fled themselves.
The girl had conveniently triggered the fire alarm so that the shopping mall would be evacuated.
The girl paused for a second, leaning back into the side of the building she was against and looked at the netbook with her digivice attached. The mall's map showed her the two digivices she was looking for where she expected them. The problem was that she was away from where they were evacuating. In fact, it looked like they had taken off on the one's Digimon.
"Damn IT!" she swore, cringing at the shock of her words. Not her normal language. A crashing sound behind her got her moving yet again. She could hear the comments from her family. She really should have taken Nyaromon with her but she had not been concerned enough to and neither had her father or the family Augumon. Last time she makes that mistake.
There were people able to defend themselves against the aggressive or abusive Digimon but there were none around her. She hadn't planned on her cell phone getting damaged when the Fantomon had declared that she was their target, the Bakemon rushing to obey their master. While she had it and was sure she could get the data off it, be it through the dealer with a new one or with her brother's best friend's computer, it was useless at the moment.
She really did not know why the dangerous Digimon had a habit of going for her. It made no sense to her. She was a nineteen-year-old student at the international academy she attended. How a student with an education major and photography minor would be a threat to the dangerous Digimon, she could never figure out.
Jumping onto a planter bench/box she ran its length and cut across a courtyard. She almost made it to the next section when the Fantomon spied her and directed his troops. The Bakemon took one look and, small comfort that it was she saw in the shop windows, left their current victims behind and chased after her, the Fantomon floating along over them, the humans and the few other Digimon ignored in favor of whatever she possessed or did.
The netbook and digivice chirped that there was another signal approaching the mall. It was a risk; the path took her dangerously close to the pursing Bakemon should she run for it. Deciding it was a risk worth it, she shoved her netbook into her purse and took off, the digivice ripped free and held like a talisman in her hand. Not that it would work against the lot of them, but it might buy her a chance with the first one that reached her.
For some reason the Bakemon and others like them recoiled from the touch of a digivice.
Jumping up on a rail, she leapt over the panicking family of Elecmon and took off toward the entrance nearest to the location of the new digivice. With luck it would be her paranoid brother Taichi with his own Augumon or his friend Koushiro and Tentomon. The electronics store was having a sale after all.
Screaming in fear as the Bakemon launched their attacks she dodged the shredded remains of a number of businesses that rained out into the causeway. The Fantomon was not amused by the way she was getting away, berating her attackers for their failure and asking if he needed to feed on them since they couldn't get the single human he wanted. The response was negative cries and more attacks that she could barely dodge whether it was getting ahead of, stopping and letting the strike happen or just falling to the ground, usually with a cry of fear.
She really had nerves of steel, but that was with Nyaromon or her friends with her.
Spying the exit she ran for it, bursting out of the mall with the last of the people who had fled through this entrance. The Bakemon came out and she got half way across the parking lot before the Fantomon came out. She knew that because he roared mid-rant with her location and the Bakemon were after her again. She ran down the stairs toward where the bus stop would be and found herself on the ground, her foot dripping with someone's abandoned ice cream cone.
She consoled herself that at least she had the digivice still and her purse hadn't sounded the death of the netbook.
Looking up she saw a young man run up to the stair case and then turn back to the mall. "Take them out!" he ordered before he stepped onto the top step, looking at a device in his hand. A holographic map appeared with a layout of the parking lot and two glowing icons. One was at the top of a staircase and the other was at the base of it. She, her eyes wide at the appearance of a hologram outside of Koushiro's home, realized that it was this staircase and his was the digivice she had run for.
Screams of shredded data suddenly echoed as the Bakemon were being deleted. The man turned back and held his digivice up, the hologram disappearing as the screen lit up, lighting up the section of the parking lot he was in. "Count one," a male voice spoke. "Count two," a female voice smirked. The two voices alternated the count, the female one ending with "Count eighteen."
"You dare!" roared the Fantomon. By this time she, against her better judgement, had returned to the parking lot. She beheld a dozen Bakemon standing arrayed around the Fantomon as they faced their attackers. A single pair of Digimon stood in the air before the Bakemon and the Fantomon. The one to her left was a male angel with six wings and long flowing orange-blond hair, dressed in white armor with blue and gold armor pieces, a gray helmet covering his upper head and eyes and a golden staff in his right hand. The one on her left was a male demon, his body clothed in black armor, horns jutting from its head, the wings appearing to be in tatters.
"You know we could just destroy them and be done with it," said the demon Digimon, a tone and stance indicating he really was amused by that thought.
"Patience Devimon. You know we will end up destroying them. It is just a question of now or later," the angel said, looking like he had become comfortable with the banter the way friends will just trade words as a matter of course.
"Well?" Devimon said as he unfurled arms that extended longer than normal to his body proportions from where he had them crossed in front of him. "Are you going to ask him to leave or not?" he asked the man that they were with.
"What were you doing here?" the man directed his response to the Fantomon, demanding that he provide the answer or die. The most terrifying part was how bored he appeared to be, completely relaxed and using the tone he would ask about the weather.
"We have no need to talk to a human!"
"Gentlemen?" was the bored response. He stood as the angel punched the air and a beam of pure light hit a Bakemon, deleting it into digital bits. "Count Nineteen," the male voice, not the man's himself, proclaimed. Devimon thrust his hands out as a beam of darkness lashed out and took out another Bakemon. The girl saw the data was being absorbed by the man's digivice. "Count Twenty," the woman's voice smirked. "You have ten Bakemon left. Care to answer?"
"DIE!" roared the Fantomon, the grim reaper styled Digimon flying forward with his scythe raised to strike. The angel got in front of the human and lashed out with the staff in a thrust to the Fantomon's chest. The Fantomon was flung back and his red eyes increased in size before he broke down into data bits.
"Count Twenty-one," the male voice proclaimed, the Fantomon's data absorbed into the digivice.
"Finish them," was the bored comment from the man. The Bakemon, suddenly realizing that they were all but deleted screamed in terror. It was rather amusing to see the Digimon that looked like a bad ghost costume at the Halloween holiday screaming like a scared little girl. Or a classroom full of scared little girls. They tried their attacks, but as predicted by the fact that they needed to declare them to trigger their use, they had no effect upon the two Digimon that worked with the man in front of her.
"Count Thirty-one," was proclaimed less than a minute later, if it took that long to get the last one.
The man was tapping at his digivice like it was a phone equipped with text capability. It might be for all the young lady knew. The remaining customers and employees of the mall had fled by the time of the Fantomon's destruction and the emergency services were starting to arrive. Not that they saw the young man or his Digimon allies. They had already walked down the staircase, the young lady following behind the young man.
"Did you have to delete them?" she asked, surprising herself with the sound of her voice and the impertinence of the question.
He shrugged. "I think the fact that they were apparently attacking you specifically may cause a sense of necessity to the action," he said, focusing on his digivice. "Congratulations you two: thirty Adult levels and one Perfect. Not bad for a mere five minute encounter."
"Do you expect any less?" the Devimon asked, teasing in his tone.
"Not really. I figured you would enjoy the carnage after all," the man replied in the same tone. "After all, you really don't play the dark knight well at all."
"Nope, more of a Jason Todd than a Batman who masquerades as his birth identity," was the smug response.
"Are you alright mademoiselle?" the angel Digimon asked the lady who they had encountered/rescued.
"I am fine. And yourself?" she asked, deciding that the angel was the most benevolent of the three.
"I am fine. My name in this form is Angemon. This is our ally Devimon." The demon Digimon waved in acknowledgement, a grin that wasn't outright disturbing on his face.
"Pleased to meet you. My name is Yagami Hikari," she said, pausing and bowing as appropriate. Angemon and Devimon paused in their walk and returned the bow, Devimon actually behaving appropriately. "I have a Digimon partner as well. Nyaramon who is at home with the family Augumon and my father."
"A Yagami with a family Augumon. You must have come from Hikarigaoka. Pleased to make your acquaintance Mademoiselle Yagami. My name is Takashi Takeru and these are my partner Digimon, Angemon and Devimon," the young man introduced himself as he reached out and took her hand, bestowing a kiss upon it with a bow and flourish. He was pleased to see her suddenly go beet red. "Pardon my manners but I am quite a student of my grandfather's French culture. We share a history that intersects in our childhood: Both of our families lived at the Terrace."
"So you witnessed Koromon's battle with the Parrotmon," she said as she took a step back from the very European mannered man before her. A very sexy European mannered man actually she suddenly noticed. It was clear he was at least a dozen centimeters taller than her and while he was not bulky in his musculature he was quite clearly toned and more than filled his tee-shirt out. She could see the six pack he was in possession of and the pectoral muscles and…her face got even redder as she realized she was staring.
It also made her quite aware of her appearance, or more accurately the disarray of it. Her chestnut hair flowed down her back to below her shoulder blades while her simple blue jeans and white blouse appeared to be royal clothing on her. She was not a vain person if she was to describe herself, aware that her family and friends thought that she was way to giving of herself. Her sole pampering was that she used an all natural lotion for her skin and, when she was feeling intent on making herself look the best she could, a bit of lip gloss. A hair clip and the minimalist approach rendered the young lady into an angel.
Provided they weren't torn and dirtied like they were now.
Takeru just smiled at her and motioned with his head for her to continue on with him, his digivice held up for study. She fell in alongside him as the hologram came up and continued to display the data that he was looking at. Curiosity finally got the better of her and she asked what he was looking at.
"The data on the Bakemon and the Fantomon. They were more than mere Digimon but that tells me nothing. They had concentrated on evolution and not on mastery of their powers. Think of it like each level of evolution is a single power level in a roleplaying game. They breezed through the individual thresholds but they have never mastered their individual levels to their full skill set."
"Like how they had to verbally trigger their attacks yet your partners do not?" Hikari asked, aware enough of roleplaying games since Daisuke and Miyako were avid Square Enix patrons.
"Exactly. They were numerous and focused around the Fantomon who was looking for something from you. The why is the question I have. After all, there are only a couple dozen of us in Nippon, never mind the world." He paused as a chirp came from his hip pouch, which he wore as the belt to his jeans. Pulling out a netbook he opened it up and logged in. "Well, what do you know," he mused to himself and his partners. "She took out that Vamedemon," he called up to them.
"Vamedemon?" Devimon said, an actual tone of respect in both voice and body posture. "That guy is a bad representation of evil and a worse parody of the European vampire. My honest compliments."
"A dark Digimon dead, a much brighter day unfolds. This is good news. Let her know she has my compliments as well Takeru," Angemon spoke up, looking around at the approach of the police helicopters. "We might want to downsize," he mused.
"Card slash time," Devimon growled out, more from force of habit that any actual dislike, Hikari decided.
"True," Takeru said as he pulled out a deck of cards. Hikari recognized them as the Digimon card game that had exploded with the apparent death of the digital world eleven years ago when the Digimon first showed en masse. It was at that time that Taichi had gotten his personal Botaman and she had received her Yukimibotamon as well as their digivices. Taichi's friend Koushiro had received his partner Tentomon on the same day, also at his Fresh level. Over the next three years, a number of other children had gained their own partners and digivices.
1 August 1999 will be a day of danger and an end of innocence for a great number of people.
Her attention was returned to Takeru as he found the two cards he wanted. They looked different somehow from the others in the deck. They seemed to be a different blue and they did not have the game card's backing on them. "Card slash! Devimon: Evil's Illusion!" was called as Takeru swiped the card through his digivice. Devimon was suddenly enshrouded by a white sphere of energy and then it dispersed and Hikari let out a squeak of shock. As hot and sexy as this Takashi-san was, Devimon looked to be an even sexier bad boy version.
He had a black jacket over his skintight tank top, which was the only white he wore. The black jeans even tighter than Takashi-san's navy blue. They actually looked like leather, jacket and pants. Cowboy boots, black leather of course, finished the clothing he was wearing. As for his skin, gone was the pasty white of his face and a warm Caucasian tone was visible on his face and hands. Onyx black eyes matched the color of his hair, which was an unruly mass on his head. She hadn't thought she would get any redder this night; his appraising smirk in this human form had her discovering she could and would.
Takashi-san let loose a chuckle at her discomfort and she realized that she was wrong: she could get even redder. Thankfully he did not comment and neither did Devimon. Instead he swiped the second card. "Card slash! Angemon: Human Guardian!" he called as the energy field swirled around Angemon and suddenly the Digimon was gone and the human stood in his place.
With the exception of light blue jeans and waist length orange hair, Angemon's human form could, would, was the twin of his human. A blue jeans jacket with gold thread covered his arms, while a white tee shirt and white sneakers finished the outfit. Angemon decided the overt teasing of Devimon and the unspoken teasing of his human had gone on long enough and came to the lady's rescue. "We are ready to escort you home," he said as he started her moving again.
"Oh! I couldn't…" she started, arms rising to ward him way.
"I insist. Don't worry about it, you will be safe," he replied with a smile.
She really should not fall for either his blue eyes or Takashi-san's she thought to herself. She really should not. "OK," she heard herself say as she motioned the way to her home. "My father might be worried about me since I have a broken cell phone," she said as she found her arm being taken by Angemon. Her blush was not going to go away. Dimly, as Angemon made small talk with her, she was aware of Takashi-san and Devimon discussing tactics.
Apparently, what she was able to overhear, the three of them were working to take out the dangerous Digimon, though for different reasons. Takashi-san was doing it to protect his mother according to Angemon when she asked him about it. He was doing it because he was Takeru's primary partner. Devimon was in it for the power and thrill, which got a catcall from Devimon and a laugh from Takashi-san. None of them would elaborate on how the three of them came to work together but they did confirm that Takashi-san and Angemon had paired on 1 August 1999 like Taichi, Koushiro and she had with their Digimon.
"Why do you have a different digivice?" she asked as they reached her neighborhood.
Takeru smirked. "I can thank my friends for it. The two of them have pushed the threshold of the digivices to the limit and they have yet to crack. I like it since it works with so many more functions than Yamatto's. Come to think of it, he and his lady toy Mimi were also at the Terrace. Mimi with her parents and Yamatto with ours."
"Yamatto is your brother?" she asked, shocked at how casual this Yamatto was to his friend, though that might be Takashi-san's wording.
"Yeah, and if they ever actually admitted they were dating I would call Mimi his girlfriend. She is it for all intents and purposes but they don't admit it for some reason." He closed the digivice down. "There seems to be no other issues tonight guys so it's time to find lodging."
"Are we able to get food before we find it?" Angemon asked as he turned to face his partner.
"Pizza. Gross, disgusting, dripping in cheese and meat, American style all the way," was Devimon's request/demand regarding their food options.
"Yes, we know you are a carnivore. We will have meat for certain. Care to join us?" Takeru asked, turning to the lady they had accompanied to her home.
"Well, if it's not an issue, you guys can crash in my apartment until after the food is consumed. Then we can see if you find the living room worth sleeping in?" she trailed off, shocked at the offer she was making. Devimon was smirking and Angemon was nodding in gratitude as he turned to look at their human ally. Who was wearing an amused look about him.
"Sure, let's take you up on a place to eat. Don't worry; I will be buying. Lead on my lady," he teased, her face lighting up again in embarrassment. Staying quiet she led them to her apartment and entered, calling out that she was home.
"Hikari!" a feline ball of fur bounded up, the ears and tail the only indication that she was a feline type of Digimon. "Your hurt!" it shrieked as it launched itself into Hikari's arms, nuzzling her face as she did so.
"I am fine," she reassured her partner. "I had help from these three," she said as she stepped inside and let Takashi-san and his allies enter. "Where is dad?" she asked, noticing that he was not around.
"He had to go and meet your mother. Your aunt's latest pregnancy was a difficult birth. She won't be able to help her sister as well as she thought so your dad volunteered to come and help."
"Probably wanting the excuse for an impromptu vacation," Hikari mused. Reaching down she scratched the head of the orange dinosaur type Digimon that had joined them, he was watching Devimon intently. "Welcome to my home. This is my partner Nyaromon and our family Augumon."
"Pleased to meet you two," Takeru said, bowing as did Angemon, Devimon just inclining his head. "If we may have the phonebook we can get to ordering the pizza's we decided we wanted. Is there something you would rather have?" he asked as Hikari handed him the phone book.
"Can I make a request for something chicken and a salad?" she asked.
"Chicken salad or plain salad and chicken pizza?" he queried as he opened it to the restaurant section.
"May I be greedy and ask for both types of salad?" she asked as she set Nyaromon down.
"Extra order of salad and a side of chicken. Grilled or fried?"
"Don't worry, we already consume a lot of food being Adult level Digimon, despite the human form that Takeru has used his digivice to give us," Angemon spoke up before Hikari had a chance to protest. "It's not a problem."
"…grilled please," she replied, conceding the point for now.
A sound effect of an old style cash register came from the digivice. "Payment in full," Takeru said before pausing and started speaking to the outlet of the international pizza chain.
"Payment in full?" Hikari asked Angemon as she sat at the counter in the kitchen.
"We hunt Digimon. The UN pays us since we are some of the few that can do it." Angemon said as he sat down next to her. "Takeru and we are among the most successful."
"That reminds me! Did you hear Hikari? The Digimon Queen deleted Vamedemon tonight!" Nyaromon said as she bounced into Hikari's lap. "The Kaiser himself announced it as public service for the UN and the Nippon Protectorate!" the baby Digimon announced. It was a known fact that Nyaromon was always waiting for the three humans that fought the dark Digimon to have their latest accomplishments announced. She would like to be heroic like their friends V-mon and Hawkmon but she practically worshiped the legend of the Three Rulers as the humans were known.
There was the man known as the Digimon Kaiser, a supreme genius that had paired with his Stingmon to be unstoppable. Tall, dark and sinfully handsome were the descriptors most used with Ichijoji Ken. He routinely saw things that made the systems of the world run better and was such a good soccer player that even her brother and Koushiro's girlfriend Sora were unable to compete with him. He was a tactical general the likes of which were matched by the Digimon Queen.
No one really knew anything about the Queen, just that she had a government division in her pocket and she fought with a Renemon. A Renamon that had the ability to take on Adult level Digimon despite being a Child level. When she did evolve to her adult form, she had actually taken out an Ultimate. The MetalTyranomon had been attacking Shinjiku looking for food. A bad idea when the Queen was on the prowl. Kyubimon had killed it in seconds.
But they were nothing compared the man known as the Digimon Master. A man that owned the allegiance of an angel and a demon Digimon, he was even more reclusive than the Digimon Queen despite the fact that he cared not to stay in the shadows. The Hypnos organization was suspected of keeping his picture from the few security cameras that could actually penetrate the distortion field that obscured the human partners when their Digimon were active.
The events of the evening suddenly clear in her mind she looked at Takashi-san with a great deal more respect than she had thought he deserved previously. "Takashi-san," she said when he got off the phone. "You know the success of the Digimon Queen because she is your counterpart, Digimon Master." At Nyaromon and Augumon's startled exclamation she met his amused gaze.
"Ichijoji really needs to be smacked for that posturing bit of his. I still don't know how he managed to come up with that or what he does to sleep at night. After all, he and Stingmon are brutal when it comes to evil Digimon. Never mind what I get like." Hikari blinked, having seen the attack on the Digimon tonight and seen the many clips of the Kaiser in full combat mode. Takashi-san was bored while Kaiser-san was brutal against the dark Digimon. He was hailed as a hero, a grandstanding one the critics say, because he would always try and rescue the innocent children, human and Digimon.
"What do you mean, the way you get?" she asked. Neither he nor Angemon would elaborate and Devimon merely said to let it go. She remained silent for a few minutes before getting up and changing into clean and intact clothing. "Mom is going to have a fit. That is the seventh attack this year that I have had to escape or be rescued from," she grumbled as she came out of her room.
"What do you mean, the seventh this year?" Devimon asked her, eliciting a shocked squeak. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Disturb yes. Scare no," he teased, getting a glare and a smack on his shoulder as she went by him to join Angemon and Nyaromon in the kitchen with the food as Takashi-san paid the delivery driver, eliciting a happy giggle from the woman.
"Do you flirt with everyone?" she asked as Nyaromon evolved to her Child level of Plotmon.
Takeru shrugged. "I enjoy it and the ladies that I flirt with seem to enjoy it as well. But then I never try to get more than a smile from them and I always seem to get that." He picked up a plate from the stack that Augumon held out, the dinosaur still watching Devimon.
"I think it's important that you answer the question," Devimon pressed as he came up and thanked Augumon. "You comment that this is the latest of a series of attacks," he pressed, getting raised eyebrows from both Takeru and Angemon. "You said it was the seventh so far. Are the dark Digimon actively hunting you?"
"I have always seemed to catch their attention as they meander up and down the length of Nippon. There is nothing to say…did you say dark Digimon?" she asked looking up at him. Ignoring the appraising look he was giving her.
"Yes, there are the dangerous ones such as the Daeva's and then there are the dark ones. Such as the Fantomon and Vamedemon. They prey upon the innocent as a matter of course."
"Such as yourself?" she replied holding his gaze.
"Takeru, change in plans is being suggested: we get a base of operations somewhere nearby. Kaiser and Queen can wait for our return. If this young lady is really a dark Digimon magnet we will be able to take them out as they come to us." He was grinning, pleased she had realized the type of danger that he represented. Even with his allegiance to the dangerous human he had allied with.
"They already come to us because of the two tag's I wear Devimon. I doubt we need to stalk Mademoiselle Yagami for them to appear. Though if Plotmon can't reach her Adult level we might want to hang around as the gentlemen Angemon and I are and you can play the role of.
"Your bed partner is proof of that," he half scowled. Devimon had the grace to shrug in apology while Takeru handed a plate with pizza and salad to Hikari. "A vegetarian pizza with extra cheese and then basic salad. Feel free to add the chicken and Parmesan cheese," he said pointing to them on the table.
"Thank you," Hikari said as she took the plate. Angemon was already placing one down on the stand Plotmon used for her food while Augumon was filling his plate. "Apparently being rescued by you includes food in addition to the aggravation." Takeru just shrugged. "Do you think you can sleep in the living room?" she asked, honoring her offer earlier.
"Yes, thank you. Don't worry, we will behave ourselves," he replied as he finished his plate and left Devimon to fix his own, Angemon joining him at the table.
Hikari just stared and looked down at Plotmon and the family Augumon. Shrugging she sat down and joined her Digimon while Takashi-san ate with his. Her life got a lot more complicated tonight than it had been. Technically she and Plotmon had been insulted, never mind that it was true. Plotmon had never evolved to her Adult level, unlike Augumon who had actually managed to destroy the Perfect level Parrotmon all those years ago at the Terrace.
As she got the juice bars she had for desert, being the good hostess and offering them to Takashi-san, she headed back to her room where Plotmon and Augumon joined her. The three of them usually slept together but this time Plotmon remained at her Child level instead of reverting to Nyaromon.
The really bad thing was that she really didn't mind Takashi-san's presence. It was the attitude that got her. An attitude that, as she lay in her bed, her sweats worn, she knew was justified to some degree.
Plus he was cute in a dangerously sexy way…she tried rubbing the images from her mind by rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hands.
Groaning in frustration she pulled Plotmon to her and went to sleep.
Chapter Word Count: 5,337
Story Word Count: 5,337
The premise was born a couple of years ago, first by wondering what it would be like had Devimon been a partner of Takeru as well as Angemon. The next thought that went into it was how would things have changed if the children never had a chance to meet up, followed by a brainstorm of why. After a failed start by focusing too much on Hikari's feelings during the attack I backed out and rewrote it focusing on her escape first, immediate differences between canon later.
I must admit to great fun to referencing to Ruki and Ken - yes, what are equivalents to the Tamers are indeed here. Obviously this is a Crossover AU, and apparently a violent one. Well, that can be gained from the title of the story line - World's End. :::shrug:::