DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs in this story and my other stories (except where stated otherwise). Zach Strafer is the property of Fireblast123.

Thanks to Crazyeight for beta reading this chapter.

Right, from now on it's all new, so enjoy!


DIMENSIONS

Stratagems

By Blazing Chaos


CHAPTER 2

Asuka Kumiko


"AQUILLAMON! NO! NO!" the girl screamed, Zach not moving as he stared at her, her eyes brimming with tears as she stared into thin air, her partner rapidly dissimilating into nothing. The Artmon showed neither sympathy nor celebration for his victory, instead turning his weapon on the navy haired girl, her hair running down to just near her shoulders. She was far too busy crying from her reddish eyes to even consider the peril she was now facing. Her partner was dead. Hawkmon was dead. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't supposed to happen! It was wrong!

"Move!" Zach yelled, the girl snapping to reality to see the Artmon priming its cannon. Zach rapidly turned, not wanting another person to die. "Particularly since I haven't been able to tell her how attractive she…"

The girl screamed, the pealing sound bringing Zach back to reality as he realised it was the wrong time to be thinking about that. He grasped a card quickly in his hand, sweeping it through his D-Arc.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Power Activate!" he called, glancing at the card quickly for its name. Candlemon grinned, sending a large flaming rock flying towards the Artmon.

"FLAME BOMBER!"

The Artmon turned, noticing the projectile but being too late to stop it, as it exploded over its form, turning it into specks of data which Candlemon quickly absorbed into his form, before turning to his partner, now crouching over the girl, who was now in the foetal position, what had just happened being too much to bear for her.

"Zach, help me out here!" he asked, but was ignored for the time being. Rounded square shadows continued to flow along the street, paired with the Artmon above.

Zach looked down to the girl, putting his hand carefully on her shoulder as he tried to get her attention.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his usually jokey voice now containing mere concern. This girl had just lost her partner, and Zach couldn't possibly conceive that happening to him and Candlemon. How on earth would he cope without his partner, obsessed with pointing out the obvious as he was?

"No," she mumbled in her sobs, not even looking up.

"Oh," Zach answered, not sure how to console a girl he didn't even know the name of. He reached down to her hand, hoping he could help her up. "Come on, we've got to…" he began.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed, swatting his hand away, to his surprise, before concern manifested on his face again.

"We've got to move!" he repeated, this time not trying to help.

"This isn't happening!" she insisted. "It can't be happening! Not Aquilamon! He said we'd be partners forever. He can't die!" she said, looking Zach in the eye.

"Zach, look out!" Candlemon yelled, as a gun cocked overhead.

Zach didn't pause; he ploughed into the girl, pushing her and him over onto the ground as the laser blast collided with the sidewalk behind them, dust rising into the air.

"FLAME BOMBER!"

An explosion behind them signalled the end of that particular Artmon, further dust kicked into the air. Zach coughed up the dust, looking around him at the further Artmon descending.

Zach suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm, causing him to leap aside before he turned to quickly look for the source, fearing the worst. Unfortunately, all he saw was a disgruntled girl rubbing her arm irritated.

"You were lying on my arm!" she explained, breaking her tears periodically as she pushed herself to her feet, before Zach did likewise and quickly began arguing his case, rubbing his arm to numb the similar pain he now had.

"Not my fault!" Zach argued, his hands out defensively, but then realised this wasn't exactly the time for arguing about things like that. The girl seemed to now be entranced, staring at the hordes of Artmon flying above, and the few that came down towards them on the street.

"This…this isn't real…please tell me this isn't real!" she insisted, looking across to Zach, who didn't answer, simply looking into her eyes nervously. "How can I tell her it's real?! Even I can't believe this is happening! This isn't the kind of stuff that really happens. This can't be real life! In real life, you don't have a mysterious voice telling us that he is now our overlord! In real life, you don't have billions of boxy Digimon wiping out people indiscriminately! In real life, you don't literally bump into a rather attractive g...not the time!"

The girl sighed, before glancing to his arm, still being rubbed by his other arm, as she remembered what she had done and how she had reacted to what was merely an accident. Albeit, it was one that had probably saved her life.

"Sorry," she muttered. "Thanks for saving me," she added.

"Same," Zach replied, grinning. "And it's nice to be saved by such an at…"

"ZACH, THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR FLIRTING!" Candlemon yelled. "SWIPE A BLOODY CARD!" he added, yelling at his Tamer angrily, attracting the pair's attention.

Zach nodded, determination flaring on his face once again. He pulled forth a card from his deck, which rapidly changed into a blue card. "I really don't want to go ultimate, but we're going to need all the power we can get."

The girl sighed, frowning at the sight of Zach's emerald D-Arc and the cards. "Hawkmon…" she sadly thought.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Matrix Digivolution Activate!" Zach called, swiping the card.

M-A-T-R-I-X

D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N

Candlemon Matrix Digivolve to…

Mummymon!

The wizard was replaced by a tall humanoid form (except for his massive claw-like hands), bandaged from head to toe. A large blaster was held in his right arm, complimented by ammo and straps around him. He had a sadistic smirk on his grisly face, as he raised his gun, named Obelisk.

"I hate him when he's like this," Zach thought sadly, the girl noting the frown on his face.

"NECROPHOBIA!"

A blast of energy collided with one Artmon, wiping it from existence, before being turned rapidly onto another. The data, instead of being absorbed by Mummymon, was instead absorbed quickly by the other Artmon, quicker than Mummymon could intervene.

He hardly cared though, merely taking down Artmon after Artmon, not even taking his finger off the button.

"Mummymon, please don't get wrapped up in this again!" Zach pleaded. "How can he enjoy this so much?" he thought. The first time he had used this form, against an Okuwamon, he had been deeply disturbed by Mummymon's sadistic enjoyment of his battles, and had decided there and then to avoid the form wherever possible. Then again, Wizardmon was also boastful, although thankfully not so foolish during battles. Zach was consistently amazed by his partner's personality changes in his various forms.

Mummymon simply laughed demonically, causing the girl to shudder at the sound, before falling against the wall, slumping down sadly. Zach frowned, turning to her and crouching down again.

"Come on, please don't do this again!" he panicked, before heading the clicking of an empty gun. He turned, looking nervously to his partner, who had used his blaster for so long apparently that his gun had malfunctioned.

"What's up?" he asked, Mummymon glancing at his gun, seemingly out of power.

"GIVE ME MORE POWERRRRR!" he commanded.

"Mummymon, we've got to…"

"NOW!" Mummymon yelled. Zach sighed, he really didn't want to encourage his partner, but he didn't have a choice right now, as further Artmon drew in for the kill, seeing a now vulnerable trio of targets to be destroyed.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Recharge Activate!" Zach called, sweeping another card through his D-Arc. Mummymon laughed, not even thanking his partner as his gun was fixed by data swarming onto it.

"NECROPHOBIA!"

The Artmon didn't even scream, as they were vaporised by a newly recharged blaster. Zach sighed, turning to face the girl once again, hoping he could coax her out of her trauma again. She seemed to simply be staring at the navy D-Arc in her outstretched hand now, entranced by the static dancing across its display, signifying that it no longer had a purpose.

"Please…err…whatever your name is, we've got to move!" Zach pleaded, reaching down and grabbing her arm, the girl lacking a reaction this time as she continued to stare at her D-Arc, a look of resignation on her face.

Zach, making a decision, yanked her arm upwards, pulling her slightly to her feet as he began to drag her along, thankful that the girl was still subconsciously making walking movements. He paused, turning to his berserk partner.

"Mummymon, now, we've got to move!" he commanded.

"But this is fun!" Mummymon cheered, dispatching yet more Artmon.

"NOW!" Zach yelled, catching Mummymon's attention as he stopped firing, looking to his partner as a child would look to a parent when he was reluctantly admitting to a wrongdoing.

"You didn't have to yell, you know," he noted. Zach growled, before pointing to the girl he had a tight grip on one hand of.

"Help me out," he asked, Mummymon reluctantly taking the girl's other hand, which quickly tightened around her D-Arc. Her eyes were still transfixed on its screen, as Mummymon began to hold his blaster in his free hand, firing at a few nearby Artmon. "Not now!" Zach scolded. "I wish he'd listen to me!" he thought, as they began to practically drag the girl towards the nearest cover, the trees and grass of the park nearby.

"Oh Aquilamon…" the girl murmured as they crossed the empty road, Mummymon still attacking despite Zach's orders. At least it was keeping the Artmon at a distance, although it was clear that was simply because Mummymon was dispatching them too quickly, and not because of a fear of death. These Artmon seemed to be little more than robots.

"Please," Zach asked, turning to the girl as he tried to snap her out of it. "I know you've lost your partner, but we've got to move, and you're not helping," he replied, not wanting to sound like he was complaining, but inevitably doing so.

"Not worth it," the girl muttered.

"I'm not leaving you there to die! I saw all those people die, I can't let you die too!" he summarised, as they came under the canopy of the trees, thankful for the brief respite in Artmon activity.

They paused, Zach bending down to the girl who landed on her knees.

"Are you alright?" he asked, the girl shaking her head sadly, her deep blue hair twisting with it, contrasting with her sore red eyes from the tears. "I'm sorry, but we've got to move…please," he asked, the girl glancing to him as she leaned on him, pushing herself to her feet.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Aha, more!" Mummymon laughed, holding up his gun again. "NECROPHOBIA!" he roared, dispatching some Artmon that had begun to pursue them.

"Mummymon, dedigivolve, now!" Zach ordered, making a decision.

"Oh, but why? I'm having such fun!" Mummymon answered sadistically.

"That's an order!" Zach commanded, Mummymon frowning sadly. "You're just attracting more attention for us, we've got to keep quiet and low," he explained. Mummymon sighed, his body glowing as it was replaced by Candlemon once again.

Zach breathed a sigh of relief, turning to the girl who looked at how he and his partner were interacting with a curious eye. "Why does he act like that?" she asked, having never seen a Digimon be so disrespectful towards their owner before. Indeed, the most unruly Digimon usually got was when they first acquired a higher form, but she could tell this was certainly not the first time.

"I wish I knew," Zach answered, quickly moving onto more pressing business. "Do you have anywhere we can hide out?" he asked, looking nervously about the park, hoping not to see a silhouette of a rounded box through the trees. That was the last thing they needed right now.

The girl frowned, shaking her head. "No," she answered. "I live on the other side of the city…" she began, before stopping mid-speech, a gasp reaching her lips. "My parents!" she panicked, gripping her hand to her mouth, as she turned, beginning to run. Zach quickly gripped her wrist, stopping her. "Let me go!" she pleaded, tears once again reaching her eyes.

"You'll get killed out there!" Zach warned, astonished at how this girl seemed to be completely out of it. Wasn't she aware of the danger? Then again, Zach was pretty sure that losing your partner would leave one in a rather hazy state, particularly given the traumatic way this girl had reacted to it.

"I don't care, I have to make sure they're okay!" she replied bluntly, Zach simply tightening his grip. "Let me…" she began, but Zach sighted the one thing he didn't want to, passing nearby. Quickly, and not pausing to worry about whether it would hurt her or not, he put his hand over her mouth, gripping her tightly.

The electronic sound of an Artmon passing overhead reached his ears, along with the mumblings of the girl, screaming into his hand.

"Be quiet," he asserted softly. "They'll hear us…" he added, being thankful when the girl stopped struggling.

Both humans and the Digimon breathed a sigh of relief once the Artmon was out of sight, Zach gently removing his hand from the girl's mouth.

"Sorry about that, but you were going to get us killed," he apologised. The girl simply looked stunned, amazed that this was all going on. "We have to stay silent, it's too dangerous!"

"But what about my parents?" she pleaded, her voice laden with emotion.

"I'm sorry, but we can't go to find them," he answered.

"What do you mean, we can't go to find them?" she asked, horrified by such a suggestion. "I'm not leaving them!" she added.

"Girl, my parents are out there too, and I want them to be alright. But they are halfway around the world from us, and I just have to hope they're okay."

"But my parents are in this city, I have to go help them!" she insisted.

"He said he was decimating them. That means one in ten of the population, they may still be alive!" Zach suggested. "But we can't risk ourselves in going to find them," he added, his advice not suiting the panicky manner in which it was given.

The girl frowned, sighing. "I just want to go home," she murmured, Zach nodding.

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that," he said, not particularly in the way that would reassure her. She began to stare at the ground, pondering how on earth this could be real. Their entire planet, for god sakes!

Zach frowned, this girl was taking it all really badly, and he couldn't blame her. Only now was the reality beginning to truly dawn on him. His parents could already be dead, and he wasn't even there to save them. That was what Tamers were meant to do, to save those they loved, and here he was, so far from them that he didn't have an ice-cube's chance in hell of saving them!

Still, Zach was cool-headed enough to know that didn't change the present. He, and this moderately attractive girl he still hadn't learnt the name of, along with his Digimon partner, had to get to shelter as soon as possible.

He glanced around, pondering where they could be. His knowledge of Shinjuku wasn't all that good, but he knew enough to know this could only be one place.

"The park! Brilliant!" he thought. "Which means I know just where to shelter!"

He put out his hand reassuringly, the girl looking to him stunned, glancing to his hand before back up into his eyes.

"Come on, I know where we can hide," he prompted. "How long does this chick take to do the simplest of things?! What, does she think by taking my hand she's agreeing to love me forever or something? Geez, she really needs to cut the dramatics."

Finally, she gripped his hand in return, as he turned, pulling her with him as they begun to head to where Zach presumed their destination would be. "Thanks," she muttered.

"No problem, I know a place around here. Well, not personally, but I saw it on Digital Watch," Zach commented.

"That's a website, on the internet," chirped in Zach's partner, Candlemon, from where he walked beside them.

"Uh, yeah, thanks for that Obviousmon, but I think she probably knew that already," Zach said to his partner, using the usual nickname.

"Are all your partner's levels really weird?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy.

"Babe, you don't know the half of it," Zach answered, grinning.

"Uh…huh," the girl answered, glancing down to where Zach still gripped her hand. "Uh, two things…one, stop calling me strange derogatory nicknames, and two, when are you going to stop holding my hand?" she asked curiously.

Zach let go, grinning all the while. "Sorry, thought you liked both of those things," he answered.

"When was the last time you talked to an actual girl?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him as a small smile crept onto her face.

"Uh…"

"And I'm willing to bet you've never had a girlfriend either?" she joked, at his expense.

"Uh, yeah, you're right there," he answered, nervous about his "truth" being exposed, and glancing forward in the hope the hideout was near by now. That could put an end to this conversation, for sure. Unfortunately for Zach, it was still out of sight. He hoped they were going the right way.

"And I'm assuring you that that is going to stay the status quo for a while, because you're not my type. I mean, what are you, some kind of Goth?" she asked, glancing him and his weird outfit up and down.

"Hey, I just like black, okay girl?" Zach defended.

"And again with the names, just use my real name for god's sake!" the girl argued, exasperated by this kid's attitude.

"Uh…" Zach pondered, not sure exactly how to phrase his question. "I'm not sure exactly how to phrase this but…" he began, looking to her again nervously, she staring curiously back. "What is your name?" he asked.

"Oh, right…Asuka Kumiko," she introduced herself.

"Zach Strafer, at your service," he said likewise.

"American, are we?" she asked, noting his accent, and silently being glad this conversation was taking her mind off things.

"Yeah," he answered.

"And yet you for some reason greet me as if you are a Brit from an old movie, what's up with that?" she asked.

"Every girl loves a charismatic British dude," Zach answered.

"And you are neither," she asserted.

Candlemon quietly chuckled at this until Zach shot him a glare. Candlemon was always amused by Zach's unsuccessful, to say the least, flirting attempts. Zach, whilst having good intentions, didn't seem to understand that most of the girl's he talked to were less than impressed by how he acted. "You'd think he'd have got the idea by now," Candlemon mused.

Zach turned to notice Asuka smiling at the amusing sight, before coughing to mask it, something that didn't go unnoticed by Zach. Pushing it aside for now, he asked a question that had been on his mind for a while. "So, what's with the perfect English?" he asked.

"Unlike most Yanks and Anglophones, we Japanese at least make an attempt to learn someone else's language. I mean, seriously, what can you say in Japanese?" she asked.

"Baka?" he suggested.

"You really don't know how to flirt if you just called the object of your affections an idiot."

Zach sighed, this girl seemed to be far more resistive than he expected to his approaches. It was a shame; earlier on she seemed so much more frail and fragile. Zach pondered that it was strange what a few tears could do to a person's image. Well, a few tears was a bit of an understatement.

"Is that it?" she asked, Zach looking to her. Was she taunting him for failing?

"No, I've got plenty more where that came from!" he cheered, grinning.

Asuka groaned in annoyance. "Baka, look over there for god's sake!" she said, emphasising the finger she was pointing out in front of her with.

"Oh, right," Zach realised, laughing embarrassedly about his mistake. He looked to where she was pointing, a greyish, crumbling structure at the end of some worn concrete blocks that constituted steps. "Yeah, that looks like it," he noted, walking forward and up the steps, eager to see that which he had only seen previously in pictures. Stepping into the building itself, he glanced around happily, not sure where to look first.

"This is where those Angel guys hang out, right?" she asked, from where she stood outside with Candlemon, watching his behaviour amusingly.

"Yeah, this place has more history than that bacon roll at the back of my fridge!" Zach said joyfully.

"Oh, I ate that," Candlemon noted. "Was that a mistake?"

Asuka groaned at the antics of the pair of them, walking forwards into the hideout, glancing around curiously at the inside of the structure, her look changing quickly to disdain as she noticed the dirty floor, the huge hole in the wall, and the general dilapidated state of it all. "Is this really a good place?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she addressed Zach.

"Yeah, this place is great," Zach cheered, sitting down against one wall.

"If you say so," Asuka sighed, sitting down against the opposite wall, Candlemon quickly joining them inside. Asuka glanced around, sighing once again at where she had ended up, on a day that had seemed to start out well as well. "God, this is depressing," she vocalised.

"I don't know, it could be worse," Zach commented.

"How could this be worse?" she yelled at him.

"There, go!" they heard a stern voice command, footsteps rapidly approaching, and guns cocking, the three of them turning nervously to look upon a squad of soldiers, guns primed and aiming at them.

"Me and my big fat mouth," Zach sighed.

TO BE CONTINUED…


Ah, I love my characters at times. Some great interaction between Zach and Asuka here, and I still can't believe that I didn't even call her by her name until near the end. Certainly took some masterful writing, yet displaying the chaos that descends over them.

Anyhow, this is beginning to take a different course to the original. The next chapter will have a similar-ish scene to the original, but other than that, most of this is all new! Hopefully you're enjoying it so far, although I do question how much enjoyment can be gained from a fic where a main character's partner is destroyed almost as soon as the Tamer is introduced.

Until next time…