3) Unexpected Rival, New Friend

"Step aside, Tamer, this is a digimon battle"

Takato saw that he wasn't as alone as he figured. A girl his own age stepped from behind the tree where she'd been hiding and observing. Her hair was red, pulled up into a large pony tail, held in place with a rubber band, giving her head a resemblance to a pineapple. She wore boys' jeans, sneakers, a white T with teal and yellow accents, and a large, dark blue, broken heart emblazoned on the front. The casual way she said it made it all the more threatening.

"You...", Takato started, "I... I've seen you somewhere?" He couldn't recall, but he was certain he'd seen her, though she was definitely not a student at his school, nor did she live in his neighborhood. That much, he knew.

"I want Renamon to fight and win"

His attention drifted towards the tree where the anthrovixen was perched, absolutely motionless, on a branch.

"Guilmon, are you alright?", he asked as the red dino still seemed dazed from the surprise attack. The anthrovixen dropped from the tree, to take her place by her Tamer's side.

"Are you really a Tamer?", she asked.

"Yes, I really am a Tamer", he replied as he adjusted his goggles to call attention to the fashion accessory.

"Very well, then", the girl replied, "let's settle this quickly as a digital field didn't appear to conceal us from sight".

"Settle this?", Takato asked. "What is there to settle? I didn't do anything to you... Guilmon didn't do anything to you! He was just created..."

"Just created? Are you saying he's a Fresh?"

"Well, no, he's a Rookie, but he was just created three days ago"

"Created? What. Ever. Renamon..."

Renamon began to advance towards Guilmon.

"Stop this!", Takato called out, though he knew it would do no good. Renamon wouldn't listen to him.

"Get it together", the girl told him. "You're a Tamer, right? You do understand what digimon are all about, don't you? Then back up your partner and try to defeat us".

Renamon leaped high above them.

"Guilmon! Run!", Takato called out.

"Koyousetsu!", Renamon launched her main attack. The glass-like shards struck the ground all around them, exploding like firecrackers, raising smoke and dust. Takato didn't see even one of those projectiles strike Guilmon.

Renamon retreated to the tree branch.

"Pyrosphere!", Guilmon retaliated.

Renamon leaped clear just as Guilmon's plasma ball blew off the upper twenty feet of the tree, which crashed to the ground with a dull thud. She threw herself at the crimson dino in a very vulpine posture, as she hissed at him.

Guilmon readied himself, and leaped to intercept her. They fell to the ground together. Guilmon had one of her arms clamped firmly in his jaws. They wrestled on the ground, neither getting the best of the other.

"No data?", Ruki asked herself. She tried getting an ident on Guilmon, but there was no data on him. "What kind of digimon is this?", she asked herself.

"Guilmon...", Takato told himself, "there's something different about his eyes". He'd noticed that Guilmon's mammalian eyes had gone reptilian.

"Aren't you being a bit sloppy, Renamon?", she said as she reached for the card carrier she wore on her belt.

"A Battle Card?", Takato asked himself.

"Heavy Metal!", as she scanned the card with her digivice.

Particles of data were arriving, coalescing around Renamon's free paw.

"The Impact!", Takato called out. He'd recognized this as it was one of the instruments one could deploy in Battle Cards. "Guilmon! You have to let her go or it's gonna kill you!"

"Winner: Renamon", the girl announced with confidence.

"Guilmon! Let her go! Why aren't you listening to me?!", he called out in desperation. It was too late. Renamon had the impact hammer right up against his head, and he knew it could crack his skull like a walnut.

Guilmon seemed to regain his senses, as he looked away. Renamon fired the impact hammer, and missed. Guilmon ran to Takato.

"Takato, what's wrong?", he asked, not realizing how close he'd come to being reduced to nothing more than data.

"Renamon, ignore him", Ruki ordered. "You're absolutely worthless if we lose!"

Renamon leaped, intent on hitting Guilmon with the hammer. Too late did she realize that missing had allowed the piston to slam with full force against the cylinder, cracking it. The impact hammer was jammed and useless. Regardless of how inexperienced Guilmon was at fighting, he wasn't going to miss with his Pyrosphere at such close range.

"I'm sorry, Ruki, but it looks like I lost this one", Renamon thought to herself.

"STOP IT!", came a third party call.

It was that kid from school, who had a digivice clipped to his belt and a very real Terriermon as a partner.

"You are...", Takato started, but couldn't recall the name right off. He'd heard of the weird kid from Class A who still played with animal dolls, well past the age where that would be considered normal.

Terriermon ran down the hill, and up to Renamon.

"A digimon?", Ruki asked herself. "I didn't know so many had crossed over".

"You're strong", Terriermon complimented Renamon. "Can you do more? Can you evolve?"

"Terriermon!", his partner called out, "why are you asking such questions?"

"No reason", Terriermon replied, "Moumentai"

"Why are you making your partner fight a fellow digimon?", Terriermon's Tamer asked the girl, "and a partnered digimon at that".

"What do you mean? Because that's what a digimon does, isn't that obvious?"

"They're here with us, these guys, and we shouldn't be using them as fighting tools", he explained. Terriermon climbed into his arms.

"I don't get what you're saying", she replied. "Renamon, we're leaving"

With that, Renamon fell in line with her partner, who never realized how close she was to losing Renamon forever. Takato thought there was something odd about that battle. Guilmon should have lost.

0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

"You're Lee, Class A, right?", Takato asked. "I spent hours finding this place".

After the battle, Takato showed his new friend what he'd found. It was hidden deep in the park, well off the usual trails. A concrete shed of some sort with a gate of iron bars. The hinges stiff and creaky with corrosion and a lack of use; the interior filled with wind blown debris: fallen leaves, scraps of paper and plastic. He figured it must have been a maintenance shed or a grounds keeper's shed at some point in the past. There was nothing to indicate it had been used any time recently. The summer foliage would soon make it all but impossible to spot.

Terriermon and Guilmon were playing. Guilmon was bouncing Terriermon off his tail.

"And you're in Class B? I agree, it's a perfect hiding place".

"Uh-huh, Takato... Takato Matsuda"

"Jenrya Lee", he said. "Uhhhhh... I never heard of a 'Guilmon' before, and I thought I knew them all?", he asked.

"I don't suppose you would have. I designed Guilmon myself. It was something I felt I had to do, you know, instead of just playing the game, to add something I could call my own".

"I see... I never thought of that, and it's surprising a brand new character would materialize. I thought it was only the video game characters", he knew that there were many more digimon than just the ones appearing in the Animes and featured in the card games and video games.

"Anyway, it was that day, the weird storm..."

"I remember"

"There was this Blue Card, and when I scanned it with my card reader, it turned into a digivice. I scanned all my notes, and then this digiegg appeared. When it hatched, well, there was Guilmon, just like I designed him... except for that symbol on his chest. I didn't draw any pictures of that. It's the damnedest thing, though, I never found that Blue Card again".

"You can use them just the one time", Jen explained, "after that, they turn back into regular Battle Cards. I used one on the card reader that comes with the video game, and it turned into a digivice right before Terriermon materialized in my bedroom".

"It's odd", Takato said. "In your bedroom? I had to go searching for Guilmon. Although I guess it worked out OK. I don't know how I'd explain if Guilmon had appeared right there in the bakery. I mean I always figured Guilmon materialized like the answer to a wish precisely because I designed him. Then I meet two others with digimon from the game in one day. How many digimon are here? How do you suppose this happened?"

"I've been asking myself that same question ever since Terriermon arrived. I really... don't know... that's why I don't try to hide my digivice. I figure if I meet another Tamer, he/she'll recognize it. After all, Terriermon is the best friend I've ever had. You'll see: Guilmon will be your best friend".

"He already is. You and Terriermon live together, right?"

"Yep... kind'a".

"That must be nice. Guilmon is too big to hide, and I'm not allowed to have pets. Because my 'rents run a bakery, and there are regs regarding what you can and can't have around food preparations. I don't know how the 'rents would take that. I mean, he's not exactly an animal, is he? What would the health inspectors think? That's a big question right there".

"I haven't exactly told my folks either", Lee explained. "So far, they think Terriermon is just a plushie I carry all the time. So do a lot of the other kids, though they give me a bunch of shit over playing with plushies at my age. At least he can hide in plain sight".

It was getting late, the sun was almost down: "Thanks for all your help,... Jen? We're also friends".

"Friends", Jenyra agreed. See you at school tomorrow?"

"For sure"

"Terriermon", he called out, "time to leave".

"Already?"

"Terriermon".

"Moumentai", he said as he rolled down Guilmon's front from his head, and climbed onto Lee's back.

"We'll play again?", Guilmon asked.

"Say", Takato called out, "what does 'moumentai' mean?"

"No problems, relax, take it easy", Terriermon answered.

"I'm home!", Takato called out as he entered through the main entrance instead of the residential entrance. It was getting late, almost closing time, and the bakery wasn't busy.

"Your order, Juri", his mother handed over a bundle of baked goods. "It's always good to see you", she said of the happy-go-lucky girl.

"Thank you, Mrs. Matsuda", she said, as she turned to leave. "You're gettin' in kind'a late", she said to Takato.

"Give my regards to your mother", Takato's mother called after her.

"I'll be sure to do that", she promised.

Takato's classmate was a regular. She stopped by frequently to pick up orders as she lived not that far away.

"Don't worry", she whispered, "I didn't tell 'em you ditched P.E. this afternoon".

"I owe you one", he whispered back.

"Did you take back that 'cardboard box'?", his father asked. "I know it must've been painful", he added sarcastically.

"Ehhhhh...", was all he could say, with a slight shrug.

"Anyway, get ready for supper", he informed him, though that was hardly necessary, as dinner time was always the same time.

Later that evening, Takato lay in his bed, but he wasn't sleeping. He was examining his digivice.

"Digimon are instruments of battle?", he asked himself. He'd just been exposed to two, diametrically opposed, perspectives.

Ruki was prowling the streets after dark, as Renamon looked after her. This was a daily habit with her, ever since the arrival of Renamon.

"Jen! Dinner time!", Jenyra's younger sister, and the youngest member of the family, invaded his "inner sanctum" as he was working on his computer, as he almost always did with all his free time.

"I know", he said, not bothering to look up. "I said I'd be there soon, didn't I?'

"It's sukiyaki night! Suki! Suki! Suki!", she said in a sing-song voice, as she patted the Terriermon "plushie" none too gently. "We're having sukiyaki", she informed the "doll".

"Sorry 'bout that", he said after his little sister departed.

"Moumentai", Terriermon replied. It was the price for pretending to be a stuffed animal.

"Uhhhh... Terriermon", he said just as he was leaving his bedroom.

"What is it, Jen?", he asked.

"Do you want to evolve?"

Terriermon said nothing.

"If you evolved and became bigger and stronger, it would be more difficult for us to remain friends", he explained. "I keep saying that over and over, don't I?"

"And I keep listening over and over", Terriermon replied. "If you don't want me to, then I won't. Moumentai".

"I'll bring back some manjuu", he promised as he left.

"Yeay! Manjuu!", Terriermon cheered to the empty room.

Takato was taking two sacks stuffed with the left over stock to Guilmon's new hide-out.

"Guilmon! What have you done?", he was surprised at the dino's latest activities.

"Make bigger", Guilmon said of the excavation. He'd used his Rock 'n' Roll breaker to dig into the hillside behind the rear wall of the concrete shed, and an enormous new chamber whose depths were concealed by the darkness.

"I'll say", Takato agreed, "that's a helluva hole".

"Guilmon make bigger".

"Anyway, I brought you more bread. See you tomorrow?"

"We play?"

"You betcha... Good night, Guilmon"

"'Night"

Ruki's mood was growing fouler by the minute, as she walked down a crowded street.

"Hey you!", someone called out as she passed by a group of teenagers. "You wouldn't happen to be the Digimon Queen, would you?"

"The what...", another began to ask.

"The Digimon Queen. She's the latest Digimon Battle Card champion.".

"Th... this girl is..."

Ruki turned to glare at the three boys.

"...An incredible player, the grand prize winner of that big Tamer Tournament..."

She walked on: she was in no mood to be dealing with fanboiz (though under more normal circumstances, she would have relished the sycophantic fawning).

"Renamon", she called out at a cross walk, no loner caring if anyone saw or not. The anthrovixen appeared at once.

"Yes, Ruki?", she asked.

"You want to get stronger, don't you?", she asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "Get stronger. Much stronger!"

"I have...", Renamon began to explain.

"Then how come you won't evolve?", Ruki vaguely accused.

"About that... ummmm..."

"We've defeated many strong opponents, haven't we? Loaded their data as well, right? Then why haven't you evolved?!"

"I don't know..."

"How can a digimon not evolve? What good is a digimon who can't evolve?"

Renamon had no answer for that. She was dismissed as the light turned green.

"Digimon as friends: what bullshit", she said to herself as she crossed the street.

As for her partner, she had not evolved beyond Rookie since her arrival. Ruki tried that "Super Evolution Plug-in S" card to no effect whatsoever. She had Renamon load as many opponents as possible in order to increase her store of data to make her evolve. Isn't that how it worked in both the card game, and the video game? Score enough points, and your game character evolves to the next level.

Ruki was beginning to suspect that her partner wasn't evolving, not because she couldn't evolve, but because she wouldn't evolve. That Renamon was being passive/aggressive in her defiance of her Tamer. More and more, her excuses were sounding like so much bullshit. The question remaining was why was Renamon failing to fulfill her destiny as a digimon? The thought that she might be failing Renamon as a Tamer never occurred to her.

The Dinosaur Shelter

"Option card! Win ratio, forty percent", Kazu made his play, as he laid the card on the lay-out to Kenta's horror.

"God-DAMMIT!", he called out.

"'Mornin', guys!", Takato greeted.

"I've done it, Kenta! Complete evolution! Eat that!", Kazu crowed, as he waved the winning card in Kenta's face.

"You won again?", Takato asked. As bad as Takato was, Kenta was even worse.

"That was a cheap shot", Kenta protested.

"What're you talkin' 'bout?", Kazu replied. "What's 'cheap' about sending one digimon after another? Option Cards are how a Tamer shows how strong he is. There was nothing 'cheap' (finger quotes) about it".

Takato remembered what happened yesterday, during the fight with Renamon. That girl swiped an Option Card through her digivice, didn't she? He hadn't realized that these game cards had a purpose beyond the card game he played with his friends, or that they could be used for more than the video game version his new friend played.

"I see...", he said more to himself than to Kazu.

Shinjuku Chou Park

The whole soccer field was taped off with that yellow warning tape advising "Keep Out" in both English and Japanese.

"By the fountain, continuing the investigation", one of the techs was advising Chief Yamaki of their progress. Yamaki was, himself, on the scene. It wasn't that common to be able to detect an on-going digibattle, to get to a fresh scene. Hypnos had detected and followed Renamon's and Guilmon's fight.

"Background radiation levels nominal", another reported. So far, this investigation had been disappointing, yielding very little new information about this latest bout of incursions from the Digital World.

"What do you make of this?", Yamaki asked the opinion of one of his techs, as he pointed out the burnt and blasted tree top lying on the ground.

"Clear sky lightening?"

"Except there wasn't a storm within a radius of a dozen kilometers", Yamaki objected.

"Energy weapon? A COIL? Could kids be experimenting with such things?", the tech speculated. These days, there was very little you couldn't find over the 'Net, including some very dubious things indeed. It was bad enough, the olden days, when kids experimented with black powder and homemade fireworks. That they might be able to make a COIL was truly frightening. That they'd choose a pubic park to fire the damn thing, doubly frightening.

Yamaki walked across the playing field, clicking his ever-present Zippo, lost in thought, he almost didn't see it. He picked something out of the dusty ground, and recognized it as one of those Digimon Battle Cards. He was familiar with this game, as there was a popular video game version that could be played alone, or with others across the 'Net.

He had no doubts that this was the scene of digimon activity, and now it looked more and more like kids were involved.

Takato's School

(Ummmm... therefore without the Internet, we would be worse off …)

"Why can't I ever get to the main point?", Ms. Asagi was complaining to herself.

"I want to enter the next Tamers Tournament", Kazu was saying. He, Kenta, and Takato decided to stick around for awhile, rather than retire directly to the playground for recess.

"That's so cool!", Takato said, "I want to enter too".

"Yeah", Kenta said, "you're forgetting: the competition's pretty stiff. Lots of strong players... There's even one living right here..."

"Who?", Takato asked.

"The Digimon Queen", Kazu explained, "lives on the East Side. Won last year: the tenth champion of the whole Tournament series..."

(The Digimon Tournament was as old as they were.)

"Someone that strong is a girl?", Kenta asked, incredulous.

"Damn straight", Kazu continued, "used a ruthless digimon too. Shows no mercy, and always plays for keeps. Had high school kids wetting their pants, and she's our age..."

"This Tamer", Takato interrupted, "what can you tell us about her?"

"Like I said, she lives east of the train station, and goes to a private, girls' only academy in her immediate area. Lives in a big, fancy house, if I remember correctly. Old money family".

"That's where I saw her", he thought to himself. He wondered how it took so long. After all, Takato had followed that very tournament on local access cable.

"I think these Tarot cards are pretty cool", it was Juri, now joining them.

"How can you battle with Tarot cards?", Kazu asked.

"Not Tarot Cards", Kenta explained, "Digimon Battle – a game for men!"

"Isn't that a bit sexist of you?", Juri asked.

"Well, I'll explain it then", Kazu told her. "Now there's an idea: how about you learn how to play? Maybe you could take the Digimon Queen down a couple of notches, or so. Maybe you can be the next Digimon Queen... of course, you'll have to get by me first..."

Before he could get an answer: "Juri!"

"Hold up, Yuki. I'm comin' with you guys", Juri called out as she went off to join up with some of the other girls.

"The Digimon Queen...", Takato said to himself. The problems he thought he had with an over enthusiastic Tamer just got a helluvalot more serious. If she insisted on fighting Guilmon... He didn't want to think about that.

After school, Takato was headed for the park. He saw a convoy of unmarked, black vans, their roofs bristling with antennae, roll past, going in the opposite direction. He thought no more about it.

"Guilmon!", he called out as he ran up the steps to Guilmon's home, but got no reply. He stepped inside, but no Guilmon.

"Where'd you go?", he asked the empty shed.

"Guilmon!", he called out as he ran down the paved walking path. "Guilmon!" It was only then that he remembered to use his digivice's direction finder. The red arrow swung around, he followed it to a thicket.

"Guilmon! You in there?"

"Takato?", the crimson dino popped out of the thick foliage.

"Why'd you leave?', he asked.

"Guilmon got bored"

"I guess you would... I know I would, having to stay in there all day".

"Why can Guilmon not go nowhere?"

"No one's ever seen anything like you before", Takato explained. He was too young to remember the last time the digimon visited the Material World.

"Although..."

"Ehhhh?", Guilmon asked.

"Let's try it. What's the worst that could happen? If we scare too many people, we can always come back".

Guilmon and Takato walked across a plaza. The sight of the digimon attracted little notice. These days, ever since DATS – the Digital Accidents Tactical Squad – had failed, and failed spectacularly, in their mission to keep the public far into the dark about these UMAs, everyone knew who the digimon were. It turned out that the government was worried about nothing. Knowledge of the existence of digimon didn't cause the level of panic they feared.

Takato would have known about this, but he was barely out of diapers at the time, and paid no attention to the news whatsoever. By the time he was old enough, it was all ancient history that no one ever bothered to mention anymore.

The only attention he got: "Hey!", a little kid, maybe six or seven, accompanied by his mother, stopped to ask. "What kind of digimon is that? I never saw one like him", the kid observed.

"You wouldn't", Takato explained, "because I designed him. His name's Guilmon"

"You did! That's so cool!", the kid's eyes lit up, "Noway!"

"That's great", the kid's mother was saying, "come along Riku", she urged the kid onwards. It was obvious she had appointments.

"Bye-bye, Guilmon" Riku called after them.

"Bye-bye", Guilmon waved.

"It looks like everyone's OK with it", Takato observed. "I guess I was making a big deal out of nothing", he said, to his relief.

His digivice chimed as soon as Guilmon began growling. He had a look, and the LCD screen was a uniform red. "What does this mean?", he asked himself.

"Guilmon! Where do you think you're goin'?!", he called out as he began to run off. Takato had no choice but to try to keep up – an impossible task.

He caught a glimpse of red disappear down the ramp of an underground garage. He crossed the street, and down the ramp. Once inside...

"The Digimon Queen!", he wasn't expecting to see her here. Now, the moment he'd been dreading ever since their first meeting had arrived. Could he get lucky a second time?

"Digimon are naturally attracted to one another", she was explaining. "Mine, however, is one digimon that lives to fight".

"Fuck that! I refuse to allow Guilmon to fight for no good reason!"

"Didn't I already tell you the reason? That is what a digimon is. Renamon will fight Guilmon, win, down load his data, then Renamon will evolve"

"You want to absorb Guilmon? I'llneverallowit!"

"Then you have but one option, Tamer: defeat us and load Renamon's data. Then your digimon can evolve. If you do, then congratulations in advance. If she doesn't win, Renamon is useless to me".

Guilmon was growling, eyes gone reptilian again, as he advanced slowly on Renamon.

"Guilmon! No!", Takato called out. His partner wasn't listening.

"Pyrosphere!", he fired at the anthrovixen, who'd retreated to the roof of a car. She easily dodged since the one great weakness with this attack was the bright red glow that always appeared at the back of Guilmon's throat. The car exploded into flames. Renamon immediately retaliated with her Koyousetsu attack that sent the projectiles ricocheting off the floor, into nearby cars, breaking windows and setting off a cacophony of blaring car alarms.

Guilmon turned to face the anthrovixen where she landed, and roared at her.

"Guilmon! Stop!", Takato insisted, but the red dino still wasn't listening as he advanced on his opponent, who danced backwards.

"EVERYONE!", someone called out, "JUST CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"

It was Jen and Terriermon, just now arriving via an access doorway.

"Don't interfere", Ruki warned him off, "that pipsqueak of yours is no match for Renamon".

Terriermon jumped to the ground: "How rude!", he complained. "That's a harsh thing to say"

"Digimon came to this world on their own", Jenyra attempted to explain, "that's strange enough in its own right. While it's true 'Net digimon were created for fighting, there is no reason it has to be that way in this world".

"Hell're you sayin'", Ruki protested, "Digimon is digimon no matter where they are. There is but one rule of digimon: fight, win, download and evolve. Renamon: ignore him, and hurry up and beat him", Ruki ordered.

Renamon jumped over a car in front of Guilmon: "Koyousetsu!", she attacked just as Terriermon stepped in front of the attack.

"Moveyourass!", Renamon called out. It was too late to recall the attack. Terriermon realized what he'd done...

Terriermon Evolve! …

GALGOMON!

With silly giggling, Galgomon let loose with his twin 0.50s. Golden showers of brass casings clattered to the floor as bullets ripped through cars, gouged huge chunks of concrete from walls and ceilings. The scent of cordite soon filled the air.

"Terriermon evolved?", Takato asked himself.

"Terriermon, why did you evolve?", Jen complained. "This is bad; this is what I was afraid of".

Ruki ran an "ident":

Galgomon
Anthro animal digimon, Champion
His main attack is Gatling Arms

Unlike virtual bullets, Galgomon didn't know real bullets have mass, and therefore momentum, and therefore recoil. He was having difficulties with aiming, if he was attempting to aim at all.

Takato, Guilmon, Jen, Ruki, Renamon: they had no choice but to hit the deck.

"Galgomon!", Jen called out, "Control yourself!"

Galgomon wasn't listening to his Tamer any better than Guilmon had listened to his. That silly, almost maniacal, giggling continued, as Galgomon continued firing at anything and everything.

The gunfire stopped, and Renamon took this opportunity to leap onto Galgomon's back.

"That's it Renamon, destroy him!", Ruki encouraged.

She scratched six deep, bloody gouges across his face.

"This is bad", Jen announced in an understatement.

Renamon leaped clear as soon as Galgomon resumed firing, this time, causing part of the roof to collapse.

There was another sudden silence. Takato looked up and gasped in horror: Galgomon, gun barrels still smoking, was advancing on a terrified Ruki, neither of them were in any doubt: Galgomon was going to blow her head off. She backed into a support column.

"Guilmon!", Takato called out. Renamon also saw, but Guilmon was closer. He was already moving as though anticipating Takato's order. Guilmon gave a flying tackle, sending Galgomon into the near wall, perhaps a little harder than he'd intended.

"What power", Jen said.

Guilmon collapsed on top of Galgomon, who didn't struggle, as he realized to his horror what he was about to do. This was no video game.

This fight was over, and Renamon used that "teleportation" ability of hers to leave. Ruki stood, leaning heavily against the column, on the verge of tears. She would have, but for the audience, and an overwhelming desire not to be seen crying in front of these two. She'd never live that humiliation down.