Chapter 3: Too Real

Megadramon's attack hadn't been widespread enough to cause much more damage, so Tyler and Volpesmon didn't have much more to check before ensuring that everyone in the immediate vicinity was okay. Still, Volpesmon wanted to look around some more, since Megadramon had been prowling the area for a little while, and may have launched more attacks besides the one they had witnessed. Tyler decided to go along with it, feeling a desire for more excitement and deciding that it was unlikely that his dream would leave him with much inactivity after all of that.

But action didn't come as quickly as he had thought, and after the two had been walking in silence for a few minutes, he began to feel bored. To pass the time, he looked at the device on his wrist, which displayed what looked like a status screen for Volpesmon: name, information, attacks, and even an HP bar.

He looked at the small box in the corner of the screen labeled "Information." At the moment, it only displayed two things: level and attribute. Apparently, Volpesmon was a Rookie-level Digimon of Vaccine attribute. Tyler had no idea what either of those things meant, so he pressed a finger against the box, seeing if he could find out more. It turned out he could; the box expanded to cover the entire screen, and more words appeared. Nothing expanding on the level or type classifications, but there was a short description, which Tyler read.

Volpesmon has a warrior mentality, with strong opinions about what is right and wrong and a single-minded determination to help those in need. He is something of a loner by nature, but will treat others well, and is more than willing to team up if need be. If so, he will hold such an alliance in high esteem, and expect his teammates to, as well. He is not quick to hold a grudge, but an angry Volpesmon is not someone you want on the other side.

Well, that last bit was a little intimidating. Where had his subconscious come up with that? But at least Volpesmon seemed to be a guy you could count on. And if not, they probably wouldn't be together for too long. How long did dreams last, anyway?

Still, he was curious, and so after looking around the "Information" box for another few seconds, looked up at Volpesmon. "What does Rookie and Vaccine mean?"

Volpesmon blinked; it had been the first time either had spoken in a few minutes, and he had looked like he was concentrating on something. "Huh?"

Tyler held up his wrist. "According to this, you're a Rookie-level, Vaccine-attribute Digimon."

"Oh, those. Attribute's not all that important; it just means I've got a slight advantage over certain other Digimon."

"What about level?"

"I was gettin' to that, yeah. Digimon all have levels—the more powerful the Digimon, the higher the level."

"So…where does Rookie fall?"

Volpesmon's eyes seemed to narrow for a second before he responded. "It's third. The levels go Fresh, In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, Mega."

"Wait, so Rookie is above those first two, but below the others?"

"Yeah."

Well, it didn't sound as though that was too bad. Even if Volpesmon was weaker than Digimon of three other levels, he was stronger than Digimon of the first two. That had to count for something, right? "So," continued Tyler, his curiosity still strong in spite of himself, "if you're at Rookie, what about others? Like Megadramon?"

This time, he definitely didn't miss Volpesmon's eyes darkening. "Er…bad topic?"

"Huh?" Volpesmon blinked. "Nah. Just…nothin'. Anyway, Megadramon's an Ultimate Digimon."

Ultimate…that was two steps above Rookie. Good thing they hadn't tried to fight him, then. "Well, I'm sure we can handle what—er, whoever we come across."

Volpesmon looked over at him. "Thanks."

"Yeah, sure."

They walked on for another couple of minutes before Volpesmon perked his head up. "You smell that?"

Tyler sniffed. "Smell what?"

"Burnin'. C'mon, this way."

He quickened his pace, and Tyler followed. Soon, he could make out the unmistakable scent of burning, too…but he also picked up something else. "Um…" he said, pausing.

Volpesmon turned around. "What's up?"

"Do you hear that?"

Volpesmon concentrated for a second, then nodded. "Yeah. Almost sounds like…someone cryin'."

The two looked at each other for a moment, uncertainty in both faces. Rescuing Digimon was something they could do, but comforting them? It was a little outside of Tyler's skill set, and based on Volpesmon's expression, the fox Digimon wasn't an expert in it, either.

Finally, Volpesmon drew himself up. "We'd better check it out."

Tyler had to agree, and so the two made their way over to the source of the noise, which, as it turned out, was in the same direction as the burning smell. Emerging a few seconds later from the trees, Tyler couldn't help but let out a gasp. This area had been ravaged much worse than the last one they had seen, with all of the trees burned away in what must have been a fifty-yard radius. Smoke still rose from the ground, and from some of the charred remains of what were once tall trees.

Next to him, Volpesmon's hands clenched into fists. "Megadramon…" he snarled. "One day…"

Another sob cut into their thoughts, and the two of them looked over to their left. A few feet away, another Digimon was seated on a tree stump, crying into its hands, despite the shortness of its arms. It was a small Digimon, with a pink top half and green lower half, and a yellow sprout growing out of the top of its head. Next to it stood another creature, this one representing a peacock in a jacket and crown with a large bush growing out of its backside (Tyler had, at this point, decided to just go with anything strange like that that he saw). Unlike its companion, it was not crying, but its sad countenance was visible even from a distance. After another glance at each other, Tyler and Volpesmon approached them. "Uh…everythin' okay?" said the latter.

The crying Digimon shot them a glare from behind its stubby hands. Despite its size, Tyler couldn't help but cringe a little. Clearly, everything was not okay.

The peacock spoke up. "If you will excuse us, we have just experienced a very harsh loss. Our home has been destroyed, and many of our friends with it. I'm afraid we will need some time to recover."

Tyler was not unwilling to grant his request; he felt rather out of place there. But his partner had other ideas, and spoke up again. "It'll be fine. You can rebuild your home; I'm sure there will be Digimon willin' to help."

"And our friends?" the peacock asked, his tone cool.

"They'll…they'll be reconfigured, right?" said Volpesmon. "They're not gone forever. Just—"

"Not gone forever?" said the crying Digimon in a high voice. She turned to Volpesmon. "Everyone knows Digimon are reconfigured in Primary Village. But can you tell me how to get there? And can you tell me how to find them specifically? Or…or how to make them regain their memories of us? Can you tell me that?"

She burst into tears again, and the peacock stepped in front of her. "I appreciate your concern," he said, in a tone that suggested quite the opposite, "but you cannot help us. Now, if you please, leave."

Stung by his rebuke, Tyler nodded, and jerked his head. "Let's go."

"But…"

"C'mon, Volpesmon."

The fox Digimon's reluctant expression did not fade, but he followed Tyler as he walked away from the scene of destruction and sorrow. "We could've helped them," he said, once they were a fair distance away.

"They didn't want our help," said Tyler. "You heard them."

"We might've been able to find a way."

"They wouldn't have let us stick around long enough. Besides, it seemed like we were doing more harm than good by being there."

Volpesmon frowned and dropped his gaze. "I was tryin' to help them."

"Uh…" Great, now he was feeling guilty about making Volpesmon feel bad, too. "Yeah, I know. I just…it just didn't seem the best way to do so."

Volpesmon grunted. "Maybe."

They continued to walk in silence, and Tyler looked up. Okay, maybe this dream's run its course, he thought. I mean, if I'm running into mourning creatures that reject any offers for help…yeah, this is the point where I wake up, and feel better about this all having been a dream. Then I can find out what happened to Tom. I hope I haven't been out for too long.

But the dream didn't seem to want to end. Tyler waited for a couple more minutes, but he was still in the forest, walking next to a two-legged fox who spoke like Al Capone.

He sighed. Well, if he was still in this…there was something else that Volpesmon had said that made him curious. "What did you mean, the Digimon will be reconfigured?"

Volpesmon glanced at him, then sighed himself. "Kinda complicated…see, Digimon are made up of data particles. When we're destroyed, those particles are broken up, separated. Then, they're reconfigured into an egg, a Digi-Egg, and we hatch from them and start life again."

Tyler blinked. "Wait, so…you can't really die?"

"Well…there are conditions. For one, we're a lot weaker when we're reborn. And, more importantly, we lose most of our memories after we're reconfigured. So it's like…when we're reborn, it's a different version of us."

"Oh. That kinda sucks." He thought back to their encounter. "That's what that pink Digimon meant, then. When she said something about regaining their memories…"

Volpesmon nodded sadly. "Yeah…I was tryin' to cheer her up back there, but it's actually really likely she'll still never see 'em again. Or if she will, they won't know her."

Tyler looked back. "Then it is like they really died…"

Volpesmon shrugged. "Well…they'll still get another life. They won't remember their previous one, but they'll make a new one. But, yeah, to their friends, it's like they're gone for good."

With that cheerful thought on their minds, they walked on, even though Tyler wasn't sure where they were going. Just far enough away from the disaster site, he guessed. Trying to get his mind off of the events of the past few minutes, he looked back at the device on his wrist, and noticed something that he hadn't before: a red meter, below the light green one that represented health. Like the HP bar, it was labeled with just two letters, "DV."

Tyler frowned. Despite his limited experiences with them, he knew enough about video games to know that "HP" stood for "Hit Points," but he had never heard of the abbreviation "DV" before. He raked his eyes over the screen, looking for any indication as to what it might stand for, but there was no "Help" option that he could find, or anything like that. "Hm," he said, trying to think of a time when he might have seen these initials, or how they might have worked their way into his dream.

Well, if Volpesmon was another character in the dream, and had known about levels and attributes, he was as good a person—or Digimon—to ask as anyone. But just as he opened his mouth, Volpesmon's head perked up again, and he stared straight ahead. "Someone's coming."

Tyler followed his gaze, and soon heard the sounds of leaves rustling and twigs snapping. "Uh…good or bad?"

Volpesmon frowned. "I can't say for sure until we see…" He sniffed the air. "But I do have an idea…"

Tyler considered asking him what the idea was, but given the proximity of whoever it was, it probably wouldn't do much harm to wait.

And they didn't have to wait long. Seconds later, another Digimon emerged from behind a nearby tree. It wasn't like the ones Tyler had seen before: instead of being plant-, insect- or bird-based, this one looked like a small dinosaur, like a baby T-Rex. It had yellow-orange skin, a wide head, and hands ending in sharp white claws. And it didn't look too happy.

Yet Volpesmon seemed to brighten up upon seeing it. "Thought it might be you, Agumon," he said. "How're you holdin' up since—"

"You're trespassing," said Agumon, cutting him off. The Digimon's voice was high, but Tyler could tell it was male.

Volpesmon was clearly not prepared for this reaction. "Trespassin'?"

Agumon gave a curt nod. "This land belongs to…to the great Tyrannomon." He seemed to ease up for a second, his attitude becoming less assertive and more sympathetic. "Sorry, but you better leave."

"Leave?" Volpesmon shook his head. "What are you talkin' about? Agumon, we've met before; you know me." He raised an eyebrow. "Right?"

Agumon lowered his gaze. "Things changed. You gotta get out of here."

Volpesmon frowned. "And what if I don't want to?"

Agumon raised his head back up. "I'll make you if I have to."

Volpesmon took a step forward. "Is that a threat?"

"Don't make it one."

"And what's that mean? You're the one who made it."

"Just get out. You can't be here."

Volpesmon growled. "We'll go wherever we please."

Agumon's eyes hardened, and he sunk into a crouch. "Then you leave me with no choice."

Volpesmon mirrored his stance, pulling his hand back to attack.

"Uh, Volpesmon?" said Tyler. "Is…is this necessary?"

"Apparently it is," said his partner through gritted teeth.

"You're the one making this difficult," said his opponent.

"Me? I'm not the one orderin' people around! If you've just become a servant of this Tyrannomon, then you ain't worthy to be givin' commands, lowlife!"

Tyler thought he might have been being a little harsh…but still, he was not prepared for Agumon's reaction. With a feral snarl, the dinosaur leapt forward, his claws swinging in an arc directly at Volpesmon's face. Even with his honed instincts, Volpesmon only barely managed to dodge, and could not regain his balance quickly enough to evade the second strike. The sharp claws raked across his chest, and he winced and leapt back. "What the hell happened to you?" he demanded.

Agumon's only response was to rear his head back, flames licking the side of his mouth. "Pepper Breath!" he shouted, and a fireball burst from his mouth, heading directly for Volpesmon. But the fox Digimon was too quick, and rolled out of the way.

Tyler stood on the side, not sure of what he should do. He might be able to help in the fight; Agumon was about the same size as Volpesmon, so Tyler had a good couple of feet on him. But, then again, he had sharp claws and fire breath. Tyler had no counter for that. Still, if he came at him from the back or something, maybe he'd be able to get the jump on him.

And besides, if Agumon did hurt him, maybe that would provide the final catalyst needed for him to wake up. Tyler had been in dreams before when he was in danger, and he remembered that he always woke up right as he was being attacked.

So he stepped forward, holding his arms out to try to grab the dinosaur Digimon. But the latter noticed, and stepped back. "What are you doing?" he said, clearly not expecting Tyler to get involved.

Volpesmon had similar sentiments. "Hang on, I can handle this…"

"I can help," said Tyler.

Agumon's eyes narrowed. "Get out, I said!"

Tyler continued to come at him, thinking he could try to throw a punch, and curled his hand into a fist. But Agumon noticed. And, upon seeing that Tyler was seriously involving himself…well, he'd make Tyler a real combatant, all right. Jumping back a couple of steps, he reared his head again. "Pepper Breath!"

Another fireball burst from his mouth, but this one was headed for Tyler. He barely had time to register how his dream was about to come to an end before he was hit.

Pain erupted along his chest as he felt the fire burn his skin, and he was knocked back, landing on his back on the ground. Acting on instinct, he rolled over and smothered the flames, soothing some of the pain.

Then, it hit him. That had really hurt. And he hadn't woken up yet. You didn't hurt this much in a dream, at least not without waking up…

His eyes widened as the truth fell upon him. The hard, ridiculous, impossible truth. This was real. This was no dream. All of this was actually, really happening to him.

His brain seemed to shut down, trying to process the shock. There was no way, no way… He had to think of a way that this could make sense, that he could put this all together…

But nothing came to him. He could only lie still as the noises around him seemed to fade away, leaving him with a hollow sensation in his chest.

Attacking Volpesmon when they had previously been on pretty good terms was one thing. But attacking his partner, a human, who didn't have the same sort of resistance that a Digimon did, was entirely different. As soon as Agumon's attack made contact, Volpesmon was leaping at him, bringing his hand forward. "Enforcer's Hand!"

Agumon turned to him just in time to get his face smashed in. He was sent flying back, and Volpesmon went after him, lashing out with his fists at every opportunity. "You…do not…mess with my partner!" he yelled, in between blows.

Stumbling around, Agumon attempted another Pepper Breath, but Volpesmon cut him off with an uppercut to the jaw. The dinosaur Digimon was forced to take a couple steps back, pinning himself against a tree. Closing the distance between them, Volpesmon put a hand on his opponent's throat. "All right, now," he growled. "I'm gonna give you one chance to explain yourself. Why are you workin' for Tyrannomon? Why are you attackin' those who just walk into this part of the forest?"

Agumon stared back defiantly…but then, his expression dropped, and his look lost its fire. "Why do you think?"

Volpesmon raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean? I have no idea why—"

"You remember when we last saw each other?"

Volpesmon blinked. "Yeah."

"And what I was doing?"

The fox Digimon thought back. "You were…leadin' a group of other Digimon to some place to settle down…"

The memory clicked, and Volpesmon wondered how he could have forgotten about it. Agumon had really been devoted to the other Digimon, a group of In-Training Digimon who looked up to him as their leader. Still, what did that have to do with why he was attacking him?

Agumon stared intently at him. "And where do you think they are now?"

"Wherever you ended up settlin' down, I gue—"

It finally hit him, and his eyes widened. "Wait…you mean Tyrannomon…" He stared at Agumon. "He has 'em?"

The dinosaur Digimon's silence was all the confirmation Volpesmon needed. He pulled his hand back, and Agumon fell to the ground, breathing heavily. "I…couldn't save them…from him," he said, his voice shaking a little.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why'd you just attack me like that?"

Agumon glared up at him. "Because I can't do anything without them being…being torched." His eyes fell. "The least I could do was keep everyone else away."

"Geez." Volpesmon looked down. "I…I had no idea…"

Agumon rose to his feet. "Don't blame yourself. But you really should leave."

Volpesmon blinked. "Leave? Just let you and the others stay in his power?"

Agumon frowned. "What other choice is there?"

"We help you," said Volpesmon, as if Agumon was missing the obvious. "If there are Digimon in trouble, we're not gonna leave 'em."

The dinosaur Digimon shook his head. "What can you do? He's stronger than you are."

"We'll do whatever we can."

Agumon stared at the fox Digimon for a few seconds before a small smile broke out on his face. "I do remember you being stubborn about helping others."

"You complainin'?"

"I guess not." His frown returned. "But it's dangerous to go up against someone like Tyrannomon." He nodded at Tyler, who was still lying on the ground. "You should at least let him sit out."

As Volpesmon beheld his partner, he felt a surge of guilt hit him. Tyler had been wounded in the fight, and he had just forgotten about him. "Tyler!" he said, dashing over to where he lay. "You all right?"

Tyler looked like he was recovering from some great shock, and Volpesmon's worries intensified. Had he been hurt that badly? "C'mon, let's take a look at your chest," he said, putting his hands on Tyler's shoulders and bringing him to his knees. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw that, aside from a couple of minor burns, his partner was relatively unscathed. "All right, you'll be fine," he said. "Just take a minute to recover. Then we gotta go help Agumon."

Tyler seemed to snap out of his trance. "Help him?"

Volpesmon nodded. "Turns out he and his friends are being held captive by a real baddie, Tyrannomon. I think we can help 'em out."

"W-what? How?"

Mildly taken aback by the fear his partner was showing, Volpesmon tried to look reassuring. "We'll figure somethin' out."

He started to walk away, but Tyler called out. "Wait."

Volpesmon turned. "Yeah?"

Tyler stared at him for a moment, his expression a mixture of shock and fear. "This…this is real…" he said. "All real…"

Volpesmon frowned. What was he talking about? "Of course it's real. What did ya think?"

"Just…a dream…"

Volpesmon's expression hardened. "This ain't a dream, Tyler. Sorry, but we're all real." He pointed at the woods behind them, where Agumon had come from. "All the more reason to help out whoever we can. Right?"

Tyler didn't respond, so Volpesmon left him to confer with Agumon. "All right, what are we gonna do?"

Agumon nodded at Tyler. "Is he in?"

"Hey, he's my partner. I'm not gonna exclude him."

Agumon shrugged. "If you're sure…"

"Sure I'm sure. Now let's come up with a plan."

A/N: Next chapter, some real action. Shouldn't be too long before I have it up.