Chapter Two: A Judgment Call

["You sure are a hungry little guy, huh?" Jason half laughed, pushing another grape into Poyomon's mouth. The greyish-white blob grinned and jiggled happily as it gulped down the better part of the entire bunch that Jason had found dangling from a clothes line. That's right. A clothes line.
"Poyo!" It laughed, finally bouncing free of Jason's arms and hopping around in a little circle.

"Ha! Got energy in you, have you?" Jason smiled, popping a grape past his own lips as he stood up. Somehow, thankfully, he was fully dressed yet not in his usual garb that he would be wearing at home. Since waking up, he had been in a crisp white shirt that somehow managed not to get dirty at all with tight-fitting jeans around his hips. The sunburst necklace that he had worn for years had remained around his neck and his visa-versa wristbands were intact from the night before.

"Poyo, poyo, poh!" The strange creature's merry dance turned into a confused stumble as he ground to a halt, blinking up worriedly at the blond youth.

"What's wrong?" Jason didn't know what to do. It wasn't like this thing resembled any animal he had ever seen before, so whether something was wrong or not was beyond him.

Poyomon's face contorted into a grimace of concentration and with a 'po' and a puff of smoke, the little creature exploded.

"TOKOMON!"

"Waah!" Jason fell backwards, landing awkwardly on the ground. Where the little Poyomon had been squatting now stood a pink pig-like monster with shriveled little ears and a great big smile on its face.

"Jason!" It laughed, jumping onto the Digidestined's lap and snuggling into his chest. "I knew you'd come for me!"]

*I've got to get back there! I've got to save him!* Jason berated himself for leaving his partner behind, his legs a blur as he sprinted through the trees. Thunderclaps boomed in his temples as he drove himself onwards, fire igniting in his muscles as he pushed himself harder and harder.

["So, you're Poyomon, too?" Jason asked as he walked, his new companion trotting beside him.

"Yup yup yup!" Tokomon agreed, nodding sagely. "I digivolved! Me and Poyomon are one and the same, but I'm cuter, no?"

"Uh, sure." Jason didn't know what to say. Some small pink piggy thing was talking to him and for some reason it didn't feel strange at all.

"Not only am I cuter, but I'm stronger too!" Tokomon giggled, running ahead and skipping around in a circle. "I was waiting for you for a long time, Jason! But then you came and freed me from the Digiegg! I knew this Digital World still had Virtues! I just knew it!"

"Not sure about cuter, but you're definitely louder." Jason muttered under his breath.]

*That, that thing! It'll kill him!* Jason wailed internally, his stomach making knots that he knew would never untie unless his friend was alright. There was no way such a little guy could stand up to that monster. No way in hell. It was as sure as the sky was blue…. Purple? Whatever. He should never have left him behind. It was just like before…

["Did you hear that?" Jason whispered, holding up a hand to silence Tokomon from his ranting chatter. Tokomon looked a little peeved by this, but raised his crinkled ears all the same.

"Hear what?!" He said none too quietly.

"Sssh and you'll hear it!" Jason hissed.

The sound came again. A droning buzz. Something like a stick being drawn across the railings on a school yard, but faster. The sound seemed awfully familiar, but at the same time completely new. It was kind of like the sound of a dragonfly's harshly beating wings over a still pond in the summer. But this was louder. Much louder.

"Awww, sounds like a Digimon!" Tokomon complained, drawing his ears down over his face. "Make it stop, Jason!"

"Me?!" Jason protested. "I don't even know what it is! Maybe if we took a look over-"

Suddenly, the foliage to their side was shredded in a cacophony of tearing branches and fluttering leaves. An enormous bug burst into their clearing, its giant mandibles chopping and chomping at the air above them. Jason instinctively kicked Tokomon, sending him flying out of the path of the massive insect as it flew past. It was bigger than Jason himself! Its exoskeleton was red and black, markings that bugs normally showed to display a warning to predators. But what kind of predator would this thing have!?

"Owwie!" Tokomon grumbled as he got up, oblivious to the giant bug circling above them. "Whaddaya kick me for?!"

"Up there!" Jason pointed in outrage at the massive bug.

"Oh! That's Kuwagamon!" Tokomon said, peering up at the red insect. "He's not a very nice guy. No-sir-ee!"

"Uh, then let's get out of here?!" Jason yelled, just as the thing called Kuwagamon descended on them both. Tokomon gave a growl and leapt to protect Jason, spitting out tiny pink bubbles as he went.

"Bubble blow, puu!" He shouted. The bubbles struck Kuwagamon as he approached, making him falter in flight and crash to the ground. Tokomon got caught up in the crash, flung away by a flailing claw.

"Tokomon!" Jason moved to help his fallen friend, but Kuwagamon had recovered quickly and was now fast approaching, blocking Jason off from his partner. Scissor-like pincers moved closer and closer to Jason as he backed away, darting glances to Tokomon who was shaking off his momentary daze with fitful turns of his pink head. With a massive snarl, Kuwagamon took a chop at Jason's head, making him duck for cover and tumble backwards.

"Jason, NO!" Tokomon screamed, hurtling towards them. The strange machine that Jason had received with the Digiegg suddenly began to scream in high-pitched tones, light shining from its face.

Jason lifted it up to get a better look at it. "Huh?"

"Tokomon Digivolve to!..... PyroPatamon!" An orange-red Tokomon with larger, sharper ears replaced Jason's pink bundle of a Digimon and was now zooming at Kuwagamon.
"Pata-Rush!"

PyroPatamon slashed across the Kuwagamon's face, landing somewhat close to Jason's feet. He looked shocked that he had changed in the way that he did – almost as shocked as Jason, but he didn't have time for anything else as he focused on his battle.

"Run, Jason! I'll be fine!" PyroPatamon cried. "Burning Bubble!" Jason gulped and without a second thought dashed into the trees, leaving the angry red beetle behind with his little friend. Fear and pain drove him on as he sped away, leaving the tiny Digimon to his fate.]