Tokomon and Roka travelled along happily, chattering away to each other enthusiastically. They had instantly hit it off, both feeling like they had known each other forever, yet had forever to catch up on.
The more Tokomon heard about Roka's life in the human world, the more intrigued he became, especially with the endless types and styles of food – and pudding! He spent much of the time pressing his partner for details.
"So what's a fudge brownie?" He looked down at Roka from his perch on the boy's head.
"Oooh Toko'," Roka sighed, picturing a mountain of fudge brownie before him and beginning to drool slightly at the thought. "A fudge brownie is just heaven..."
Tokomon wrinkled his nose at the sight of his human's drool. "What's heaven?"
Roka looked up at Tokomon in surprise. "You've never heard of heaven?"
Tokomon shook his head, "nope."
"Well, it's where you go when you're dead. You live with the angels in the sky. And it's like a paradise... all the chocolate fudge brownies and ice cream and candy floss you can eat!" He cried happily, stretching his arms out and grinning. "Everyone you love is there too. But all the bad people go to hell instead." Then he realised what he had said and gasped, paling slightly.
Bad people... is dad a bad person? Would he go to hell? He shook his head angrily. No, Dadda's not bad. He's trying to get better, he's not bad at all! I love you dadda...
Tokomon noticed Roka's change in mood and looked down to see if he was okay. "Roka...?"
Roka snapped out of his dark thoughts and looked up at his new friend, "Uh huh?"
"What's wrong?"
"Oh," he hesitated slightly before plastering a smile back on his face, "nothing."
"Okay," Tokomon didn't buy it, but still. "So what's your favourite pudding then? Except Brownies. Mine's chocolate pie covered in chocolate mushrooms and lots and lots of honey, Mmmmm..." He rolled over and rubbed his pink, round little belly, grinning.
Roka laughed, "That's just weird! And besides, nothing can compare to my Aunt's chocolate fudge cake with custard. Warmed up and served with Hob Nob biscuits to dip in the chocolate sauce and custard when you've finished... Aunty Ayako was just the best at puddings, I'll have to take you to her house sometime Toko'. Your belly would just explode!"
They giggled and carried on chattering, Tokomon was glad to see that whatever had upset his partner, Roka had got over it. He wondered what it could have been?
But he didn't have much time to dwell on it as right then they heard a rumble in the bushes in front of them.
Roka froze and Tokomon immediately took a protective stance on his head.
Then there was another rumble in the bushes and out popped an angry digimon that looked like a strange hybrid cross between a frog and an aquatic dinosaur. It was green and had blue striped markings on its body and a large orange fin on its head. It also had a small tail and four little fins for feet with razor sharp, nasty looking claws at the end of them.
Well that one's nowhere near as cute as Toko, Roka thought affectionately, looking up at his digimon proudly.
"What are you two doing here?" The digimon growled. "This beech and the area around it belong to me!" It stared at them with eyes which were completely white, with no pupils or irises at all, and a malicious smile spread across its face.
Tokomon scowled.
"Look," Roka said nervously, unnerved by the strange white eyes. "We're lost, we're just passing through, but we'll be gone before you know it and we mean you no harm, okay?"
"Do I care what you mean?" the digimon spat. "I am Betamon and you don't want to mess with me, little kiddies."
"Oi!" Tokomon cried indignantly. Who did this rookie think he was, to be calling them 'little kiddies'?!
"You want to make something of it, blobby?" Betamon turned to sneer at Tokomon, who was staring at him angrily.
"Well I-" Tokomon began.
"Electric Shock!" Betamon interrupted him with a powerful attack, firing a lethal shock of energy out from his mouth. He was aiming directly at Roka, but Tokomon quickly pulled him out of the way and they both fell to the floor, gasping in shock. They hadn't been expecting that.
Tokomon quickly stood up and placed himself between Roka and Betamon, keeping his friend out of harm's way.
"Bubble Blow!" He yelled, hitting Betamon on his head and knocking him over, slightly dazed.
Roka watched in amazement as his digimon fought to protect him.
Then slowly, Betamon's eyes began to seep as he shed white, gloopy tears which ran in rivulets down his face. As the tears ran the white of his round eyes were gradually replaced with a sinister black. The white tears had been the white in his eyes, and as they were shed the pitch black which lay underneath was revealed, showing soulless, sightless chasms.
This child and his pet are my enemies, the digimon heard a voice say in his head, they are to be destroyed. This is My will.
He bowed his head and slowly got up. "Yes Master, Your will is my command."
Roka noticed Betamon's voice had changed, it now held no emotion or tone and sent a chill down his spine.
Roka and Tokomon exchanged glances.
Who was Betamon talking to? Whose will was his command? Roka had no idea what was going on, but he had the feeling that whatever it was, they were in deep trouble.
Then Betamon turned around to face them and they saw his eyes, which were now completely black but with tracks of white tears seeping out of them, streaking down his face.
What was left of his soul... Tokomon thought sadly.
Roka cried out at the sight, not understanding what was going on and just seeing this digimon who looked possessed, with black eyes and white tears. He scrambled away and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to unsee the disturbing image. But it was no use, it was burned into his mind.
Tokomon, however, did not cover his eyes as he had witnessed this many times and knew exactly what was going on.
The white eyes had meant that the Evil Master had possessed Betamon already, before they had met him, wiping his soul blank so that this digimon could be manipulated with ease. Then when the Evil Master needed his service for any special task he would complete the possession process, purging them of their soul completely and allowing it to drain through their eyes, leaving only darkness. What was left of their soul became the white tears and this darkness became the black, soulless eyes; the eyes of the damned.
He winced. It had been the Evil Master that Betamon had just been talking to, meaning that He had already spotted them.
It was time to run.
"Roka we need to get out of here now. Run! Quick!"
Roka lost no time with that, scrambling to his feet and sprinting off, with Tokomon flying just in front to lead the way.
They could hear Betamon behind them as he gained distance. Roka was only little and his two small legs were no match for Betamon's four strong fins, so it was not long before Betamon was able to tackle Roka to the ground, swiping at his face with a clawed fin.
"Bubble Blow!" Tokomon roared, as his attack hit Betamon mere seconds before he could touch the terrified Roka. Betamon was sent flying and Roka was temporarily safe.
"Th-thanks Toko," he gasped, still in shock.
Tokomon nodded. "No-one touches my partner."
They ran on, but again Betamon caught up to them with ease. Tokomon's attacks seemed to have no real effect, in fact they only succeeded in annoying him even more.
"Run," cried Tokomon as he turned to face Betamon. His plan was to hold him off long enough for Roka to get a sufficient head start, but Roka was having none of it.
He stopped stubbornly. "No way, not without you."
"I'll catch up," Tokomon said quickly. "Just go. Now. Plea-!"
"Electric Shock!" A ball of electricity hit Roka on his leg and caused him to fall to the ground in pain. He groaned in agony as the electricity ran up and down his little body and singed his skin. He desperately fought off the urge to cry. Instead he spasmed and writhed, gritting his teeth as the electricity fried him from the inside out. Then, after only a moment, the electricity passed through and the only pain remaining was in one leg around the area where he had been hit. All things considered he was in pretty good shape, aside from the fact that he was still a little shaky with shock and embarrassed after realising that he had wet himself.
I should be dead, he thought, amazed. But I'm just fine except a bad leg and some shaking. This is surreal.
Tokomon then rounded on Betamon, furious with rage. Betamon just smirked, dark eyes boring into him as his tears fell, leaking his soul drop by drop.
"You gonna fight properly now, Hamtaro-chan?" He jeered.
Tokomon let out a low growl and sucked in a gust of air, inflating to about twice his normal size. Yes, he was going to attack - he was going to attack with all of his might!
"BUBBLE BLOW!" He yelled, determination etched all over his features.
Again his attack hit Betamon head on, but all that it seemed to do was push him backwards and amuse him slightly.
No... Tokomon panicked. Why don't my attacks work? I need to protect Roka. I can't let him down, he's depending on me right now.
"Beta Slugger!" Betamon yelled as his fin flew towards Tokomon. It was a direct hit, Tokomon fell to the floor injured and severely weakened.
"Toko!" Roka cried, sitting up and groaning as fresh waves of pain washed through his whole body. "Toko, are you alright?"
Betamon smiled sadistically. The Master would find so much amusement in hearing all about this child and his digimon's last moments. Their concern for each other and the pitiful way in which they tried to protect each other right to the end was just so quaint and pathetic. The Master would certainly enjoy these juicy details and how he relished the thought of being the one to tell Him.
He wondered who he should kill first. What would be more amusing, should he make the boy watch his digimon die, or vice versa?
Decisions, decisions…
Tokomon rose and glared at the amphibious digimon. Then he turned to glance at his partner, sighing. I won't let you down, Roka. I will fight.
Suddenly he found that he no longer felt weak from his injuries, in fact one look at Roka had filled him with a strange new strength.
There was a blinding flash of bright blue light and Roka looked down to see that it was coming from his device. Tokomon felt immense waves of power surging through him as he too began to glow with a blue aura. His eyes began to shine blue too - a powerful, energy ridden, vibrant blue.
He cried out as the light devoured him, and Betamon and Roka had to cover their eyes from the brightness.
Tokomon evolved to... Tsukaimon!
When Roka opened his eyes he was amazed, for where Tokomon had just been was a new creature. This creature had slight similarities to Tokomon, in that it had the same hamster like appearance. But it was much bigger, with skin that was a dark shade of purple and a cream coloured belly. Also, instead of the scrawny pink ears that Tokomon had had, this creature had large, thick ears which heavily resembled bat's wings. It also had four little paws with three black fingers on each, although they weren't really fingers, they were more like claws with rounded edges.
Roka gasped in awe as he stared at him.
Betamon did a double take at such an unexpected turn in the tide of the battle and began to panic slightly. This was not at all what he'd signed up for when he took on that weakling. But he couldn't fail, The Master wouldn't like that. And you didn't want to upset Him, that'd be suicide.
He grimaced and readjusted his stance to a fierce attacking stance, masking his nerves.
He would fight for the Master, he could not fail Him.
Good, a majestic voice boomed in his head. Now go destroy them, my servant. Do as I wish.
"Yes, Master. As you wish, right away." His lips turned up into a smirk and he charged at the newly evolved digimon.
Tsukaimon dodged and stuck his tongue out, teasingly.
Then Tsukaimon looked at the enemy digimon seriously. "You will pay for what you did to Roka." He puffed out his chest. "I am Tsukaimon, a rookie level, and now I'm gonna teach you a lesson about messing with my friends," then he grinned mischievously before adding, "Frog breath!" just because he could. After all, now that he'd evolved this Betamon was no longer much of a threat so he figured he could get away with a little fun.
Betamon regained his composure and attacked again, "Electric Shock!"
But Tsukaimon was just too fast for him, and he easily dodged out of the way.
"What, again?! Is that all you got, that boring old Electric Shock?" he taunted, flying around Betamon's head and circling him playfully. "I've gotta tell you, it's gettin' a little repetitive." He tutted and winked at Roka, who laughed.
"Wow, you're so cool, Toko!" he sighed happily, nursing his tender injury with one hand.
"It's 'Tsukai' now, not 'Toko' any more Roka," he grinned proudly. "I'm evolved!"
Tsukaimon bowed theatrically to his friend and grinned, his eyes sparkling with enjoyment. Since when had battles been so exhilarating? Or so much fun?
Betamon chose this moment when Tsukaimon's vanity got the better of him to attack. "Electric Shock!"
Tsukaimon was hit and slightly taken aback, but it didn't damage him greatly, he just got back up and shook it off.
"Ouch." he said simply, "But now it's your turn, frog breath."
"Purple Fog!" he cried, as a thick fog descended over them, completely blinding and disorienting Betamon. He coughed and panicked, not knowing where Tsukaimon could be.
Tsukaimon silently flew behind him. This is such a great game, he thought happily. "Slamming Attack!"
Tsukaimon's attack hit Betamon on his bottom, causing him to squeal like a piglet, running forward and bumping into a tree. Tsukaimon giggled mischievously, delighted by the scene before him.
He then flew around to Betamon's left side and crept up close, until he was breathing right down his left ear."Boo!" He shouted, giving Betamon the fright of his life.
Tsukaimon burst into a fit of giggles before deciding that it would be best to wrap this battle up. Jijimon-Sama would not be impressed if they were late, and there would be plenty of time for practical jokes later.
As Betamon hurried away Tsukaimon yelled "Slamming Attack!" and hit Betamon right between the eyes.
Betamon colapsed, becoming completely limp like a sack of potatoes, and Tsukaimon saw the darkness seep out of his eyes in the form of more tears. Black tears covering white tears, until all that was left was nothing. Betamon's eyes were empty and they haunted him.
"Purple Fog!" He whispered shakily, and the fog dissipated.
Roka came over to see what had happened and flinched at the sight of Betamon and his terrible eyes. Tsukaimon bit his lip and used his little paws to gently close his eyelids, hiding the horror of such a sight from Roka and giving the fallen digimon back some dignity.
"This is why you're here." He whispered sadly, looking up at Roka with mournful eyes, such a contrast to the mischief that had danced around in them a minute ago. "You're here to save us from this."
"Me?" Roka asked in disbelief. "Tsukai, I'm weak, I can't help anybody." He thought immediatley of his inability to face even school yard bullies and sighed.
"You helped me." Tsukaimon said simply, remembering how it had been the thought of saving Roka which had given him the strength to evolve in the first place.
Roka bit his lip and considered this, not convinced by his own ability yet unable to argue with his digimon's point.
They then silently buried the body of Betamon. Tsukaimon insisted on wiping away the poor digimon's tears, hoping to remove any trace of the Evil Master's influence and hoping that the digimon would be allowed to rest in peace.
Tsukaimon found himself crying as he lay the palm leaves over the digimon's lifeless body. (AN - they bury him for a reason, at this point in the fic I don't want them to live again as digitamas, that will come later...) This had been a brother digimon whom he was now laying to rest; this was what the Evil Master was doing to digimon everywhere. He thought of the eyes and shuddered.
We will defeat the Evil Master, he thought determinedly. We'll fight for each other, he looked tenderly at his partner, and for the digimon everywhere who are used and destroyed by His dark forces. And I will do it for Betamon. So that there will be no more deaths and we will live in a world free of evil.
He placed the last palm leaf over the lifeless body and bowed his head respectfully. "Moishe" He whispered hoarsely.
He then noticed that Roka was also busy doing something, he was tying two twigs together in a cross shape. He watched as Roka slowly walked forward and stabbed the cross into the ground next to where Betamon was buried.
"It's to safe guard his soul, so he gets to heaven." He explained quietly.
"Oh."
After a few minutes of silence they turned away and walked on, leaving Betamon behind as they continued their journey.
Lost but never forgotten, in their hearts that poor digimon would remain forever.
Betamon, their first casualty of war.
Okay, this chapter was very Roka-Tokomon-Tsukaimon focussed.
Sorry if you didn't quite like that.
The next one, if all goes to plan, will be a Renji-Benji-Digimon focussed one (especially for Ravn MTM, who seems to like the twins)
Then I will hopefully move on to the Jijimon scene and let them get the good old explanation-of-the-digidestined-destiny type thing.
If you have any ideas that you would like me to explore - i.e. you want me to look at other characters and their journey to Jijimon or something - feel free to ask.
If not then that's my game plan.
Thank you all so much for reading
I hope that you enjoyed it
Much love to everyone from Blonde-Eko xXx
