Disclaimer:
"To own, or not to own. That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of a vengeful Toei, or to claim that I own Digital Monsters…"
"You seem much calmer today," Izzy says, looking up from his laptop. "And you appear to have waxed eloquent, as well…"
Nolaquen shrugs a shoulder and half-grins. "Such is my personality. Albeit somewhat exaggerated, but it's entertaining."
"Uh-huh." Looking around the massive library, Izzy says, "So, what are you doing here in the library? In the mood for a good book?"
Nolaquen peruses a nearby bookshelf, trailing a finger over the leather-covered spines. "Actually, I'm hiding."
Izzy arches an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Nodding, Nolaquen pulls a large volume off the shelf and begins to flip through the yellowing pages absently. "Guilmon found the sugar."
Izzy sweatdrops. "Then, shouldn't you be stopping him with your omnipotent author's powers before he destroys everything?" the redhead asks, wincing at the mental images resulting from mixing Guilmon with processed sugar.
Nolaquen grins wickedly. "No, no. I'm leaving him to Takato and Rika at the moment. Of course, Rika's still feeling a bit under the weather, so I doubt she's helping much…but, of course, that'll only contribute to the mayhem…"
Izzy blinks. "…I don't get it."
"It's the way life seems to unfold with fictional characters," Nolaquen explains, still studying the dry text before him. "If they—that includes you, really—aren't faced with a life-and-death scenario, a profound discovery that furthers the plot, or simple character development, then, inevitably, the only important things left are…awkward moments in pseudo-romantic relationships."
"…fluff, then?"
"Basically."
Silence.
"…I agree with Terriermon. You're diabolical."
Nolaquen grins widely. "Oh, so you heard about that?"
Izzy turns back to the relative safety of his glowing computer screen. "It would be sort of difficult not to. I'm pretty sure the whole community witnessed the, um, event firsthand…"
The author shrugs flippantly. "What's a few fireworks and a little cannon-fire between neighbors?"
"A dozen restraining orders, apparently…"
"Touché."
A/N: Hm. I haven't updated in more than two months. Bad me…well, my schedule's freed up a little now, so new chapters should be coming in a little more often. Cross your fingers…
Okay, for clarification, I'm adopting a standard method of labeling the different Digital Worlds our beloved heroes are stranded in. These designations will be as follows:
DigiWorld Alpha: Takato, Rika, Davis, Kazu, Mimi, and Co. (meaning, Digimon partners and other assorted characters)
DigiWorld Beta: Tai, Sora, Matt, Kenta, Ai, Suzie, and Co.
DigiWorld Gamma: Ryo, Ken, Izzy, Yolei, Cody, Mako, and Co.
Tokyo/DigiWorld Delta: Henry, T.K., Kari, Jeri, Joe, and Co.
Simple enough, right? That should help keep things straight…er.
And yes, the chapter title is both appropriate to the content and a tribute to the FOX TV show 'Prison Break'. Which I don't own. Come to think of it, what do I own…?
…the answer I'm coming up with isn't very encouraging…
On a side note, I'm going to be out of the country for the last week of June and most of July, so I won't be able to work on DR during that time. Sorry, but that's the way it goes.
XxXxX
Chapter Nine: Prison Break
XxXxX
/DigiWorld Gamma. The Dungeons. 3:35 p.m./
"I spy, with my big eyes, something…green."
Wormmon groaned. "I don't like this game…"
Hawkmon sighed in exasperation, but dutifully answered, "That would be Wormmon…"
"That's right! Good job!" Tentomon exclaimed, nodding happily. "How long did you say you've playing this game?"
Hawkmon shook his head. "For the past ten minutes or so, since we gave up trying to break our chains…"
Tentomon blinked his multifaceted eyes, completely discounting the fact that insects don't have eyelids. "Oh," he said sheepishly.
Armadillomon clicked his short claws together, vexed. "When I get my paws on those PawnChessmon…"
"Yes, it was very inconsiderate of them to just lock us up like this and walk away after dropping us through the floor," Hawkmon added quickly, forestalling any more of Tentomon's games. "And to top it all off, my wing is getting cramped…" the Rookie finished, giving the manacle and attached chain on his wing a little shake for emphasis.
Wormmon continued sorrowfully, "They didn't even leave us a TV…"
"…I don't believe that television is our top priority at the moment," Hawkmon responded dryly, eying the cell's wooden door, which was about ten feet away.
"That's too bad. I Love Lucy is on tonight…"
Tentomon cocked his head. "I thought you watched soap operas?"
"No, that would be Ken's mother…" Wormmon replied, puzzled.
Armadillomon raised a paw. "I hate to interrupt, but can we get back on track? Finding a way out of here sounds like a good idea to me."
"Agreed," Hawkmon concurred. Tapping a feathered finger to his beak, the avian Rookie said, "Well, perhaps we could try Digivolving?"
"Digivolving?" Tentomon asked, as puzzled as Wormmon had been a moment before. "How could we manage that? We have no idea where our partners are, and correct me if I'm wrong, but don't we usually need them in order to Digivolve?"
Armadillomon shrugged. "It's worth a try, isn't it? What have we got to lose?"
"Point taken."
Wormmon set his nonexistent shoulders determinedly. "Alright! I'm going to try it!" Bracing himself, the little Rookie said aloud, "Wormmon, Digivolve to…!"
"…"
"…"
"…well, that didn't work."
"Apparently not," Wormmon sighed as he reluctantly relaxed. "Great. I think I strained something…"
Tentomon moaned. "Wonderful. We're doomed to spend the remaining years of our lives trapped in this cell, wasting away to husks, forced to eat each other to survive…"
Armadillomon, Hawkmon, and Wormmon blinked before turning to each other. "Someone had better figure something out, fast," Hawkmon said darkly, eying their anxious insectoid companion warily. "This is one bird who would prefer not to be eaten by his usual prey…"
xxxxx
Ryo raised his head from his knees. "What's up, Cody?"
The young DigiDestined glanced up from his yellow-gripped D-3. "I'm examining my Digivice," the boy explained. "I want to see if Azulongmon did something to it that could help us."
"Good idea," Ken said, craning his neck to peer over at his companion's Digivice. "Anything so far?"
Cody shook his head. "Not yet. To be honest, I'm not sure where to start."
"Try pressing the buttons," Yolei said, her enthusiasm peaked.
Cody arched a thin eyebrow. "Thanks, Yolei. The thought never would have occurred to me."
Yolei sighed loudly. "When Cody starts getting sarcastic, you know we're in trouble…"
"I have to agree there," Izzy agreed, taking out his own D-3. Scrutinizing the newly modified device closely, the redhead said, "You know, I haven't had much opportunity to study these things closely yet. This might turn out to be a good way to pass the time."
"Pass the time until what?" Ryo queried. "Sure, we might find something useful, but shouldn't we also keep trying to find our way out of this mess? I mean, I know Cyberdramon's resourceful and everything, and Mako's a good kid, but how much can they do to help us from wherever they are?"
Izzy shrugged. "Well, why don't some of us see if we can tackle our problem from a different angle, while the others check out the D-3s?"
Ryo considered the idea. "…well, why not? I suppose it won't hurt to divide the mental workload."
Yolei groaned. "As much as I enjoy tech like this, I think I'll stick to brainstorming for now. I'll let the resident geniuses work out the hardware."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Ken added, nodding. A moment later, the teenager then blinked. "Wait. Was I included in that category of 'geniuses'?"
Yolei immediately leaned into the boy, her face bright with pride and awe. "That's my Ken; modest to a fault…" She then batted her eyelashes repeatedly as she fawned over her…friend.
Ken squirmed and cast around silently for support. He received nothing but a raised eyebrow from Cody, a small grin from Ryo, and a blank look from Izzy.
Receiving no helpful response, the blue-haired genius turned his eyes to the cell's ceiling beseechingly.
No response to his hails, Captain.
XxXxX
/Tokyo Delta. Shinjuku. 3:36 p.m./
Joe looked at his watch. "Ten minutes on the button."
Ren nodded as she glanced around the corners of the alley. "Not bad. This is working out better than I thought." The teenaged girl drew back a moment later, leaning up against the outer wall of the small electronics shop where the group had stopped. It was sufficiently shaded by the surrounding buildings and the setting sun that the humans and their partners were well hidden from the eyes of any pedestrians or drivers on the street.
After a moment, Ren said, "Let's back up a little. I don't want to draw anyone's attention with this." With that, the girl quickly ushered her companions behind the shop, leaving the streets out of sight. With the building's back wall on one side and a shoddy wooden fence on another, the group was effectively concealed from any prying eyes. Unless someone were to open the back door of the electronics store, the crew would be left in relative peace.
Blowing a strand of brown hair out of her eyes with a puff of breath, Ren began to silently tinker with her D-Platform's multiple buttons. The others watched on in curiosity, eager to see how Ren planned to get in touch with her partner from the Real World.
After several moments, Ren's thin lips flexed upwards in a small smile. Raising the Digivice to her mouth, she said aloud, "Dorumon? Find a portal and come meet me. Something's up, and I guarantee you'll be interested." With that, she pressed another button, presumably ending her message, and lowered the D-Platform—which was still strapped to her left forearm—to her side.
Henry gave her a questioning glance. Noticing this, Ren responded, "I just sent Dorumon a message. He'll pick it up in a moment, and then he'll find a nearby terminal to lock onto my transmission. We should see him in a few minutes." Shoving her hands into the pockets of her green overcoat, Ren leaned back against the electronic shop's back wall casually.
"That's it?" T.K. asked, surprised. Ren nodded in confirmation. "I expected something a little more…interactive."
A corner of Ren's small smile quirked upwards a little farther. "What, because of the Platform?" She shrugged her covered shoulders. "The Platforms might be nifty, but there still has to be something to receive and send a transmission in response. As it is, Dorumon will just hear my voice in his head once he comes within range of some communication device in the DigiWorld. He says it was a disconcerting experience at first, when we discovered the function, but it's pretty useful at times."
"I can imagine," Joe said, considering the idea. "Getting in touch with your partner anywhere would be really helpful."
"Actually, I can't usually use it like this," Ren replied. "Contacting Dorumon in the Digital World from here is mostly thanks to this little shop," she explained, pulling out a hand from her pockets and gesturing to the building behind them. "It's the electronic equipment they have in there. According to Eric, it creates a sort of electrical field that the Platform uses to boost the signal strength and send it into the Digital World. I'm not sure how, exactly. But, without a field of this strength, a message can't be sent from one world to another. Otherwise, its farthest range is about a half-mile when Dorumon and I are in the same world." Considering her statement, Ren then revised, "Sometimes more, if there are other D-Platforms in the area."
After a moment, she smiled ruefully. "Of course, that doesn't happen much anymore…"
The group fell silent, and Kari pondered their new companion. 'Ren seems almost…nostalgic, I guess,' the DigiDestined thought to herself. 'Like she's remembering fond days from sometime before we got here. But, she has such a tranquil air about her, and her eyes hold something else that doesn't really match up with the sadness of loss. A soft light, like laughter, that makes her look perfectly content with the way things are today. Even if there are only a few people who really understand her and her relationship with Digimon. That separates her from so many other people in her world, but she looks happy.'
'It's…different than I'd expect from anyone in her place. If I were her, would I be the same way?'
Mulling over the girl's unusual personality traits, and the life she must lead, Kari then voiced tentatively, "They don't keep in touch, then?"
Ren shrugged a single shoulder; such a mannerism seemed constant in her, along with that small enigmatic smile.
"Not really. I hear from a few of them every now and again," she said, "but there's not much to say. We've just…gone our separate ways, I guess." Her lips quirking upwards again, Ren finished, "It's alright, though. Eric and I are enough to handle anything that comes up."
"I don't doubt it," Jeri said with a friendly smile. Ren returned the gesture with a warm nod. A few silent moments passed before Terriermon began to fidget.
"So…could you persuade your partner to take the Bullet Train or something? 'Cause I'm not seeing him yet."
"Terriermon…"
"Well, sorry! It's getting kind of boring, and I hate waiting."
Ren shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Henry. As for Dorumon…I'd give it another couple of minutes. He said something about watching a tournament before he left this morning. Knowing him, though, he's probably entered himself…"
"Tournament?" Patamon commented from the top of T.K.'s hat. "Sounds like fun."
Ren nodded slightly. "Like I said before; fighting's a big thing in our Digital World. There are different tournaments arranged all the time. It's one of the best ways to test your skill and power. Dorumon likes the action and the noise. It makes up for staying hidden here in the Real World." The girl then chuckled softly. "It's hard to keep Dorumon under control sometimes. He likes playing practical jokes, and it drives my parents crazy sometimes. He can be pretty creative at times…"
Henry smiled in amusement. Dorumon appeared to be almost a polar opposite to Ren, from what he'd heard of the first and seen of the second.
Apparently, Jeri was thinking something along the same lines.
"You're very calm about all this," the female Tamer said to Ren. "If I was in your place, I think I would have reacted a little, well…more."
"That's true," T.K. added, inclining his head curiously. "Since you first saw me and Henry in the park, you haven't looked all that surprised."
With that sparkle in her eyes and that small smile hovering on her lips, Ren continued, "And I haven't shown much else, have I? Nothing more than mild interest, or a smile if I think something's funny. Which is just about everything, so far, I suppose."
"That about sums it up," Gomamon interjected. Joe rolled his eyes at his partner's cheek.
Ren laughed softly. "What can I say? It's me. I've been that way forever, and everyone I know comments on it. I guess…"
After trailing off, the girl again shrugged her shoulder. "Well, as strange as it might seem, it's who I am. I guess I've just gotten used to it, so people are often confused when they meet me. I don't act much for people anymore."
Looking off into the distance, she added quietly, "It makes for an interesting life."
Silence reigned as each member of the group retreated to their own thoughts. Most of these thoughts, naturally, revolved around the girl leaning casually against the store's wall.
All in all, Henry finally decided, Ren Sato was something of an enigma. But a friendly one, and one willing to help the Tamer and his friends. And that was enough for him.
About a minute later, Ren glanced over into a cardboard box sitting next to the door of the electronics shop. Reaching in, the girl pulled out a loose sheaf of newspaper and began reading it idly, apparently oblivious to anything else.
Several more minutes passed in peace. Before long, Joe looked at his watch, frowning. Seeing this, T.K. said, "Relax, Joe. If we make it, we make it. If not…" He trailed off, his next words unformed by his mouth as his brain caught up.
"We don't get back today," Gatomon finished.
T.K. sighed. "Yeah, pretty much."
"Well, that's not so bad," Jeri said in response. "I mean, if the Portal really appears everyday, then we could catch it tomorrow, right?"
"The issue then would be keeping you guys hidden," Ren interjected, her eyes still drifting over the newspaper page in her hands. "But yeah, I don't see any other problem."
"That's good," Kari said, sounding relieved. "Now it doesn't feel like we have such a pressing deadline."
Henry's mouth twitched as he glanced at Ren; nonchalantly leaning against the wall while reading the newspaper, the girl looked as though she had all the time in the world. 'Somehow, I doubt she was ever frantic about our chances of getting there in time.' Henry thought dryly to himself.
As the Tamer observed their new friend, Ren's faint smile reappeared, prompting Henry to raise an eyebrow. As though she had some sort of sixth sense, Ren looked up and caught his look. Nodding to the newspaper, she said simply, "Ultra updated Crisis."
Henry blinked. "…huh?"
Ren's smile grew, and the light dancing in her eyes seemed to take on an even more mirthful energy. "These two hackers, Ultra 007 and Nol 265…they're famous around here for a bunch of different stuff. They cause a little bit of mayhem on the Net now and then, for one thing. Anyway, they're big Digimon fans." Gesturing with the newspaper, she continued, "They write Digimon fan fiction. They're just two of thousands, but they make their presence known; partly because they're really good at what they write, and partly because they hack into the major newspaper offices and insert the latest chapters of their stories right before the papers are printed."
Henry sweatdropped. "Yeah…I figure that'll spread your name around Tokyo…"
Ren laughed, again reminding her companions of the sound of pleasant wind chimes. This small conversation caught Terriermon's attention, who decided to satisfy his curiosity by jumping onto Ren's shoulder and perusing the paper on his own.
"Let's see…alternate worlds…gatherings of super-powered Digimon…constant gags involving Davis and Veemon…heh, that one's pretty funny…ooh, Godzilla!"
"Davis and Veemon?" Patamon echoed, confused.
"Godzilla?" Gomamon similarly parroted, his face scrunched up in bewilderment.
Ren chuckled. "It's a long story…seriously. It'd take you weeks to read everything leading up to Crisis…and it'd probably be a little awkward for you, seeing as each of you are star players."
"I can imagine," Joe said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I think I'll pass today, thanks. Things are strange enough already."
Before any more conversation could be initiated, however, a small beeping sound penetrated the back alley. Ren pulled her left hand out of its pocket, glancing at her D-Platform; the screen was flashing a luminous blue.
"Well, he's on his way."
"About time," Terriermon voiced, jumping down from Ren's shoulder to the ground.
"Terriermon…"
Henry was seriously considering therapy. For Terriermon or himself, though, he wasn't quite sure.
Ren pushed herself off of the store's wall, fixing her eyes on a spot five feet away, to Kari's left. "Normally, we need a computer to open a Gate, but between the Platform, this store's electrical field, and the terminal on Dorumon's end, he should be appearing right about now…"
They waited in silence for several moments.
Terriermon yawned, either in boredom or honest exhaustion. "Well, wake me up when he gets here…"
Then, a silver line of light appeared in midair, right at the point Ren was looking at. The shimmering line seemed to pulse once, then twice, before widening into a rectangle of silver light, about five feet high and three across. Then, a shadow appeared on the ground in front of the gateway; the shadow's caster quickly came within sight, as the Rookie level Dorumon stepped out into the back alley.
Terriermon snorted. "With that sort of timing, you'd think someone was planning this."
"Terriermon…"
Heedless of the verbal byplay, the gateway closed behind a waist-height Digimon the same way it had appeared, but the Dorumon stood still, blinking at the sight of the Tamers, DigiDestined, and their partners. Several long moments passed without words, before the Dorumon said, in a tenor voice, "Ren? I'm assuming this isn't payback for that water-balloon from last night, because I already told you it was an accident…"
One of Ren's dark eyebrows rose slightly. "Actually, I'm still coming up with the right sort of retaliation for that one. No, they're as real as you and me."
"Oh." Dorumon stood there for another moment. "…let me guess. It's a long story?"
XxXxX
/DigiWorld Gamma. The Dungeons. 3:45 p.m./
"Interesting," Izzy said aloud, hefting his purple-gripped D-3 in one hand.
"What?" the others asked, their attention arrested from relative boredom and blank minds.
Izzy replied, "Well, there haven't been any new functions added, as far as I can tell, but the previous ones have been enhanced."
"Enhanced, how?" Cody asked, taking out his own D-3.
"Take the Detect function, for example," Izzy answered. "The range appears to have been vastly increased. I'd say they cover almost half a sector now, if we're measuring distance by the map we use on the computer."
"You mean the grid map?" Ryo questioned. "The one with squares that used to show up black when a Control Spire was in the area?"
"Yes, that one." Izzy nodded in emphasis.
Yolei considered this new information carefully. "If the area is that big now, can we use it to find out where Mako and Cyberdramon are?"
Ryo frowned. "Well, Ai's the one who carries their D-Arc, so Mako doesn't have a Digivice with him right now. And I don't think the D-3s usually pick up any other signals than Digivices and, now, True Portals, right? And it's only thanks to Alphamon that we can use them to find True Portals, so…"
Izzy scrutinized his D-3 thoughtfully. "I think you're right, Ryo. Unless there's a way to widen the tracking parameters, Mako and Cyberdramon's whereabouts are still a mystery to us."
Sighing, Cody then asked, "Well, is there anything else new with the Digivices?"
Ken answered, "Not really, except for the physical appearance." After a moment, he added, "Well, there is something else…"
"What's that?" Ryo queried, an eyebrow raised.
Ken shrugged in response. "I'm not quite sure. It's in the Digital function, where the Digivolution protocols are. It's like…" he trailed off, shaking his head.
Izzy took up the conversation. "Like there are new data pathways in those protocols. Without a computer, I can't read the source code, so I'm only going from the look of the internal components, but if I'm right, then they've become more…streamlined, I suppose."
"Streamlined?" Cody asked in confusion. "What's that mean?"
Ken's brow furrowed. "It's difficult to explain. Well, to start off, Digivolution is a complex process. Data is taken apart and reconfigured on an incredible scale according to certain guidelines; protocols, in other words. The higher a Digimon's level, the more complicated and sophisticated the protocols become—that's because there's more data to process, and the number of ways the data is utilized is much higher. In the old Digivices, the highest levels were difficult for the both the hardware and software to compute, then carry out."
"I think that was the purpose of the Crests," Izzy interjected. "With them, we were able to access the Ultimate and, in Tai and Matt's cases, Mega levels. They probably served as some sort of additional RAM for the Digivolution data, to help carry out the process. Obviously, with experience, they became unnecessary, but that's beside the point…"
"And the first Digi-Core Azulongmon gave us helped to recharge that function," Ken continued, a touch of excitement on his face; he was enjoying the thought process involved in the discussion. "The older Digi-Destined had given up the ability to Digivolve—which I suppose included the protocols themselves—to those higher levels, in order to repair the Digital World's boundaries, but they were restored by Azulongmon at that point."
"I think I see what you're saying," Ryo said slowly, nodding. "So, what about DNA-Digivolution? That sounds even more complicated than normal Digivolution, in terms of reconfiguring data."
"The D-3s are upgraded models of the old Digivices, right?" Cody asked, before Ken or Izzy could respond. When the two geniuses nodded, Cody continued, "Well, in that case, logic suggests that the D-3s have a greater processing power, better hardware to handle the procedure, and better protocols. Is that correct?"
Izzy nodded again. "Actually, from what I've seen, DNA-Digivolution has its own unique set of protocols. However, you're basically on track."
"Hold it," Yolei interjected. "What about Omnimon, then? WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were able to DNA-Digivolve years ago, and both Tai and Matt had normal Digivices then."
"That's correct," Izzy responded. "I think their case is different, though. Each time, they were in the Internet when they merged. It's likely that the Net helped facilitate the process. Not to mention contributing the energy for it the first time."
Ryo cleared his throat. "Okay, so we've established normal procedures for Digivolving. What about the new D-3s?"
"That's the interesting part," Izzy said, holding up his D-3. "The internal components—by which I mean the little electronic memory boards and processors, et cetera—are smaller, and they're not as crammed together as they used to be. This is great, but I also think that, in addition to the upgraded hardware, the Digivolving software has become more efficient. If I'm right, it'll be easier for our Digimon to reach higher levels, with less energy and time needed for each transformation. Of course," Izzy cautioned, "this is pure speculation, and we have no way to test my hypothesis yet, but there you are."
A moment of silence reigned as each member of the imprisoned group took in the implied ramifications.
Finally, Ryo let out a low whistle. "Wow. That's something else."
Cody nodded. "If Ken and Izzy are right, then we're going to be playing in a whole new ball-field."
"Once we get out of this cell and reunite with our partners, anyway," Ken said, a frown gracing his face.
Yolei, whose face had taken on an expression of wonder, sighed loudly. "Yeah, no kidding." Taking a deep breath, the girl then yelled, at the top of her lungs, "MAKO! CYBERDRAMON! WHERE ARE YOOOUUU?"
Ryo's eye twitched. His hands were clasped tightly over his ears, mirroring his other companions. "…I don't know, but I'm almost positive that they heard you yelling for them…"
Cody added dryly, "Assuming they're not rolling around on the ground in agony, they're probably on their way right now."
xxxxx
/The Digi-Village./
"A man…er, Digimon, is stranded on a desert island with nothing but a calendar. There is no edible food on the island. When he is discovered one year later, he is not only alive, but has a full belly. How did he survive?"
Keramon tapped a long finger to his chin thoughtfully. "…hmm…that's a tough one…"
He, Mako, and Cyberdramon had settled down inside the restaurant, leaving Keramon's information cart outside. Thanks to the blue Rookie, the three had acquired a private booth near the back, where they would remain hidden from all but the most determined eyes.
After a moment, Keramon grinned widely, his face seemingly split open by his mouth. "The man ate the 'dates' out of the calendar." Then, he added, with another grin, "And he could also have eaten the 'Sundays' for dessert."
Mako sighed, but he was grinning as well. For a while, he could almost forget that he was trying to acquire information vital to rescuing his friends.
Cyberdramon merely sat quietly, watching the other occupants of the restaurant. That left Mako and Keramon to their game of riddles.
The Rookie took a swig out of his glass, savoring the sweet taste of lemonade. After he smacked his lips in appreciation, the Digimon gestured with a gangly hand. "Alright, let's here your next one."
"Give me a second…" Mako replied, casting around for another riddle. He had been throwing tricky word problems at Keramon for nearly fifteen minutes, stopping only for drinks and some thinking time. The young Tamer felt he was beginning to scrape the bottom of the metaphorical apple barrel.
"…what gets wetter and wetter as it dries?"
Keramon snorted. "That's an easy one. A towel."
"Yeah…" 'Boy, I've got to come up with something smart fast…'
Mako was slowly beginning to sweat. All of his good riddles had already been guessed correctly by his opponent. That left him with simple wordplay and other common riddles; unfortunately, Mako had realized that wordplay was one of Keramon's specialties, and the young Tamer was running out of normal riddles.
"What word, when written in capital letters, is the same backwards, forwards, and upside-down?"
"…noon."
'Didn't expect him to know that.'
"…it has a bed, but never sleeps; has a mouth, but never eats; has two legs, but never walks; always murmurs, but never talks."
"…a river."
"What is no sooner spoken than broken?"
"…silence."
"…this is as light as a feather, but no one can hold it for long."
"…hmm…oh. One's breath."
'Agh…think, think, THINK…something unique, something that'll blow his mind…'
"This thing, all things devours: birds, trees, beasts, flowers; gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal; slays kings, ruins towns, and beats high mountains down."
Keramon inclined his head for a few moments. "Time," he then answered casually.
'Nuts. That's the last riddle I take from 'The Hobbit'…well, it's time to change my strategy…'
"What object has keys that open no locks, space but no room, and you can enter but not go in?"
Keramon blinked. The Rookie opened his mouth, but then closed it as a frown creased his face. Mako gave an inward sigh of relief, but it was tempered by tenseness in his hands. 'I don't know how much these Digimon know about the human world, or if they've even HEARD of humans, so this may turn out to be impossible for Keramon to solve. Once I tell him the answer, he might say it's unfair, if he doesn't even know about it…so this riddle may just turn out to be a time-buyer…'
Keramon sat mutely for almost a minute. His wide mouth occasionally moved minutely as the Digimon silently formed words. As time passed, the Rookie began swaying in place, still wearing a puzzled expression.
At long last, Keramon shrugged his slim shoulders, a small grin appearing on his face. "Well, I'm stumped. What's the answer?"
Mako drew a breath, mentally preparing himself to be disappointed. "…a keyboard."
Keramon blinked, then cocked his head. "A keyboard…?" Not noticing Mako's small wince, Keramon continued, "Now where have I heard that word before…?"
A moment later, the Rookie grinned widely. "A keyboard! Like one of those artifacts from the other world! The one that's used with 'computers!' I remember now…" Shaking his head, Keramon continued, "I've never seen one, myself, but I once convinced a traveling Datamon to describe one to me in great detail. Yes, the 'space' and 'enter' buttons…" The Rookie then chuckled in amusement. "You're lucky, Mako. I'm probably the only Digimon in the entire area who understands that riddle—once you told me the answer, anyway. Of course, that also means that I've lost, so I guess I owe you something you want…"
Mako blinked as Cyberdramon turned his head to survey the two. "You mean…?"
Keramon nodded, with another grin. "That's right. The passageways. I tell you, I think I made a pretty good deal. A load of fun new riddles for some architectural information…not bad at all."
Shaking his head, Keramon downed the last of his lemonade. "Well," the Rookie said, wiping his mouth with a long hand, "if you want to help your friends, now's the time to be leaving. I can have you inside the dungeons in less than twenty minutes, so there's no point in wasting time." Sliding out of the booth, the Digimon began weaving his way through the restaurant's filled tables, with Mako and Cyberdramon right behind him.
When they stepped outside, Keramon excused himself momentarily to secure his cart. As the Rookie slid away, Cyberdramon turned to Mako. "You see?" the Ultimate asked in his gravelly tone.
Mako grinned up at his companion. "Yeah. You were right; I did convince him to tell us how to help our friends!"
Cyberdramon nodded, with something like a crooked grin momentarily gracing his face. Mako—though surprised by the Digimon's expression—nodded in response. When Keramon returned a few moments later, the trio set off down the street, each satisfied in his own way.
XxXxX
/DigiWorld Beta. 3:55 p.m./
Beelzemon surveyed his surroundings with a scowl. The Demon Lord had never liked sand much; it was coarse, gritty, and it ended up getting everywhere. At the thought, the Mega drew one of his shotguns and peered at the weapon closely. Fortunately, it appeared that the weapon was relatively clean, for the time being.
Holstering the Berenjena shotgun, the Demon Lord gazed out at the horizon. Somewhere out there was a group of DigiDestined and Tamers, along with their partners…
Narrowing his three eyes, the Mega looked behind himself at the city towering above the red-hued sand. There was nothing for him there, but it seemed that the humans were heading his way, so the city must be their destination.
Making up his mind, the Demon Lord turned on his heel, striding towards the metropolis. From the sounds and smell of it, there could be some fun stuff there to tide him over while he waited for his prey…
Perhaps this trip wouldn't be such a waste after all.
xxxxx
Kenta raised his eyes to the clear, deep blue heavens. "What I wouldn't give for a glass of water…"
"Water…" MarineAngemon echoed wearily from the Tamer's shoulder.
"We have been in this desert for almost two hours," Sora conceded, licking her dry lips.
"The fight with those Scorpiomon and SkullScorpiomon is what's really taking its toll right now," Tai said, frowning. "That was exhausting, and we weren't even the ones doing the fighting!"
Matt, Ai, and Suzie nodded in agreement, each wearing similar facial expressions of growing fatigue.
Biyomon, walking next to Sora, shrugged. "I'm not feeling too bad, actually. A little sore, and I'd love a nap, but I feel like I can walk for hours still."
"Same here," Agumon agreed, scratching his chin with a claw. "Still, it'd be nice to know if there's someplace around here where we can rest."
"And get a good meal," Gabumon added, nodding.
Ai sighed. "Great, now I'm hungry…"
Kenta groaned before putting his fingers in his ears. "I can't hear you, I'm not thinking about food, I'm perfectly happy right now…"
Grinning, Matt asked, "Hey, Kenta. Is the self-hypnosis working?"
"No…" came the dejected reply.
Chuckling, Tai turned his gaze forward, focusing on the horizon. There had to be an oasis or something around them. Of course, with their luck, they'd probably end up walking for days.
'Just like old times…except I'm pretty sure we don't have as much time to spare this time around. Plus, we weren't separated from each other before…'
Ai, who was now officially tired of the landscape, was allowing her eyes to roam across the sand of their own accord. As such, she was the first to notice something unusual.
Doing a double take, the young Tamer said aloud, "Huh? What's that?"
"What's what?" Impmon asked, unclasping his hands from behind his head. Ai simply pointed off to the side in answer.
A small, rectangular object was sticking up out of the sand some fifteen feet away. The group stopped and looked at the curious sight, puzzled.
Suzie, shrugging, began walking towards the item, with Lopmon trailing close behind her. A second later, Kenta blinked and—MarineAngemon still on his shoulder—began to jog after her. "Suzie, I've got a bad feeling about this…"
Apparently ignoring the older Tamer, Suzie stopped and, after a moment of hesitation, plucked the item from the sand. Staring at the object in her hand in confusion, the young Tamer said slowly, "It's a playing card…"
In the next instant, the sand around Ai and the DigiDestined's feet was violently parted by several dozen dark blurs. Tai yelped in surprise as he fell backwards onto the seat of his pants, staring up in surprise as a host of more playing cards floated around him and his companions in a spherical formation.
"What the…?"
His question was partially answered when the cards flashed brightly; in the next instant, each card was connected to several others—above, below, and to the sides—with static streams of bluish electricity. Blinking in bewilderment, it took Tai a moment to realize what was happening.
Each card floated motionless at least three feet away from the group on all sides, forming a vague outline of a hemisphere around them. Starting at the level of the sand, cards were arrayed in midair all around and above the crew. With electricity coursing through the air between each thin item, the situation became obvious: Ai, the DigiDestined, and their partners were trapped inside a cage of cards, with electricity for bars. The 'cage' greatly resembled a climbing structure from a child's playground, with the faint geometric faces formed by the cards and the electricity connecting them.
Suzie and Kenta blinked. "…well, that's something you don't see every day," Kenta finally commented. "I never imagined you could really be imprisoned with a deck of cards."
Matt grimaced as he eyed a line of electricity nearly within arm's length of his face. "I don't think I want to touch this and find out how powerful a shock I'd get…"
"Good idea, Matt," Sora said grimly. "So, how do we get out of this?"
"You don't. At least, not yet."
Tai groaned. "Great. Another stranger who appears out of nowhere…these last few days have been weird enough…"
"My humble apologies. If I had known you'd be so put out by my appearance, I would have sent you a letter instead."
The speaker suddenly appeared in midair, in front of the card dome, tossing a silver cape around him with a flourish. The being stood close to six feet tall, and besides the cape, was dressed in bright, elaborate garments of red and gold. His hands were covered in white gloves, and he wore a pair of flexible leather boots, with tops that came up to mid-thigh.
His face was surprisingly human; his nose, mouth, and eyes were in the correct proportions—although his irises were red—and, despite the pointed ears nearly concealed in blond-brown hair, Tai might almost have taken him for an average human being walking the streets of Tokyo.
Frowning, Tai said aloud, "What do you want?"
The figure inclined his head a fraction, peering into the DigiDestined's eyes intently. "To test you."
"Test us?" Biyomon exclaimed, her shrill voice almost a squawk. "What for?"
"Answers later." The being turned his crimson eyes to Kenta, MarineAngemon, Suzie, and Lopmon—all of whom stood a little ways away, watching anxiously—and said, "For now…let the games begin."
XxXxX
/DigiWorld Gamma. Outside The Castle Walls. 4:05 p.m./
"Well, this is it," Keramon said, halting in front of a small stream flowing through a grate; the grate itself was set in the stone walls of the great castle where Mako and Cyberdramon's companions were being held captive.
Mako surveyed the drainage carefully. "Is there a way to get into the castle's sewers from here?"
"Actually, no."
The young Tamer frowned. "Then what are we doing here?"
Keramon winked. "That's the secret." Turning, the blue Rookie walked a few paces away, trailing his gangly hands along the stone blocks of the outer castle walls. Several moments later, Keramon came to a stop, nodded, and brought up his other hand to touch one particular block.
"Oh…" Mako exclaimed. "You're going to push open a secret door?"
Keramon shook his head, grinning. Mako blinked in confusion.
"Watch and learn."
With that, Keramon did push the stone block. However, instead of exposing a passageway, all Mako and Cyberdramon heard was a faint click!
Nothing else happened. Keramon stepped back and faced the two, a lazy grin on his face.
"Now, we go back the way we came."
Mako's eye twitched. "How far back?"
Keramon pointed. "Just to that little grove of trees over there."
Shaking his head, the Tamer, and Cyberdramon, followed their guide to the group of trees. The leaves of those trees were full of green leaves, and the gnarled trunks were covered in a brown, smooth bark. In the center of the trees was a small clearing, filled with undisturbed grass.
In this clearing, Keramon came to a halt and flung himself onto his stomach. As Mako and Cyberdramon watched, the Rookie began weaving his way through the tall grass, apparently searching for something on the ground.
Chewing the inside of his cheek impatiently, Mako watched the Rookie intently. With some sort of switch in the castle walls, and something else—perhaps equally important—in the grass nearly two hundred yards away, it wasn't too surprising that this passageway was a mystery to others.
As Mako thought this to himself, Keramon gave an audible ah-ha! of discovery. Standing, the Rookie pulled up what appeared to be a trapdoor; the concealing device was covered in the same grass as the kind that surrounded it, suggesting to Mako that the trapdoor had something like sod growing on top of it.
As Keramon pulled up on the trapdoor—it resembled something that a hunter or sniper might build and use to hide from his prey—Mako said, in an excited tone that suggested a little impatience, "Are we going through an underground tunnel to reach the dungeons?"
"Not exactly," was Keramon's response. Frowning, Mako approached the opened trapdoor and beheld…
A large red button mounted on a metallic base, jutting out of the bare ground around it.
As Mako stared incredulously, Keramon pressed the button with a long finger. Blinking his bulbous eyes, the Rookie nodded and proceeded to flip the camouflaged trapdoor back over the button.
"There. That's another step finished…" Looking around at the surrounding trees, Keramon then murmured to himself, "Now where is that secret knot? It's always so hard to find…"
Mako palmed his face. As Keramon approached a nearby tree, the young Tamer said in a muffled tone, from behind his hand, "Cyberdramon? Is this getting as ridiculous as I think it is?"
Cyberdramon grunted noncommittally before following the Rookie. Mako stood there for a moment before he groaned and began to pursue the two Digimon.
Now, Keramon was running his hands along the tree's twisted trunk, peering closely at it all the while. A few moments later, another small click, similar to the one from the castle wall, echoed from within the tree. Smiling, Keramon reached out and pushed open a cleverly concealed door in the trunk; this created an opening about five feet high and three across. Just perfect for Mako…even if Cyberdramon would have to squeeze through.
Turning, Keramon said, "Here we are."
"At last," Mako grumbled to himself. Then, he said quickly, "Wait, you're sure this is the actual secret passageway?"
"Yep."
"No more buttons?"
"Nope."
"No more concealed doors or special levers?"
"Nuh-uh."
"Any fiendish booby traps we have to avoid?"
"…actually, now that you mention it…"
Mako moaned and shook his head miserably.
XxXxX
/DigiWorld Beta. The Desert. 4:17 p.m./
Suzie's D-Arc had identified the strange Digimon as Gamblermon: an Ultimate level Demon Man of the Virus type. The Digimon's attacks seemed—from the Digivice's brief description—to be based mostly in cards and dice: tools of the gambling trade, in other words. In addition, these attacks seemed to include luck as a large factor in the effectiveness or power of his techniques.
Now, Gamblermon and MarineAngemon were locked in a fierce battle of wills. The two Digimon eyed each other from either side of their battlefield intently, showing no quarter. Crimson and aquamarine gazes clashed together, sending chills down Kenta and Suzie's spines.
After a long moment, Gamblermon said slowly, "Well?"
MarineAngemon, not breaking eye contact with the Ultimate, laid down his trump card.
Literally.
"Ace! Ace!"
Kenta and Suzie jumped up from their sitting positions, whooping in victory. Lopmon, sitting next to MarineAngemon, clapped her ears together politely. Gamblermon merely arched a neat eyebrow.
"Impressive. That's four out of nine games. I don't often lose with such frequency. Not to mention the fact that I just taught you how to play…"
From inside the imprisoning dome of cards about twenty feet away, Tai's right eye twitched madly. "…I'm about to throw myself into this electrical field. Maybe that'll put an end to this."
"I won't be far behind you, pal," Matt added jadedly, grinding his palms into his temples.
Gabumon shook his head. "It's not that bad, guys! After all, he hasn't attacked us yet!"
"Yeah!" Agumon and Biyomon agreed, nodding in emphasis. Sora just shook her head, silently marveling at the absurdity of the situation.
"Humph," Tai grunted. Flopping back onto the sand, the former gogglehead stated, "An attack, I could handle. Heck, I can understand some sort of twisted mind game…but this?" Gesturing, Tai continued, "We're trapped inside this little cage of playing cards—which, by the way, looks like any old deck you could buy in a secondhand store—while our captor and our friends are playing games. They might as well just hand us some bread and water and finish acting the role of lazy guards!"
"Tai, if one of us was out there instead of Suzie or Kenta, we'd probably be forced to do the same," Sora said sternly.
"That's the point, Sora," Matt interrupted. "He's not forcing them to do anything! He just said, 'While your friends take a little break, why don't we have some fun?' And, lo and behold, fifteen minutes later, they're gambling together like old college pals, or something!"
"I doubt those two's parents would like this, anyway," Tai grumbled, watching as Gamblermon deftly dealt out another set of cards from up his frilly sleeve. "Do you honestly want their parents accusing us of being a bad influence?" At this, Impmon snorted, while Ai giggled quietly from behind her hands.
Sora sighed. "Alright, alright. Give them a few more minutes, and then we'll demand to know what's going on."
"Sounds like a plan," Matt replied in a disgruntled tone.
Yet, despite this, the blond teen eyed the game their friends and would-be 'captor' were playing carefully. It really was a little intriguing.
xxxxx
Feel free to skip this part if you don't want to read all the rules in exhaustive detail. If you agree with my Beta, instead of the hardworking author, and think that this section is unnecessary, just scroll down. And down. And down…
The rules, apparently, were simple. On the surface, it appeared like a variation of simple poker: five cards were dealt out to each player, with another three set face-up on top of a small wooden board that Gamblermon had procured with a flourish from inside his silvery cape. Next, each player looked over their cards carefully, while hiding them from the view of their opponents.
From Gamblermon's earlier verbal instructions, it seemed that each player tried to accumulate the best possible trio of matching cards, using cards from both one's hand and the board. For example, at the end of the first round, Gamblermon had won by laying down three Jacks; similarly, MarineAngemon had won the third round by revealing two tens, combining them with another ten already on the board. Players had a chance to gain new cards by turning in old ones, with a limit of two (out of the initial five), and receiving the new ones from the deck (which was back in the possession of Gamblermon, the dealer, this round).
However, the next phase of the game was where it got interesting. Once each of the game's players had their cards ready, the dealer took a single die—which, until this point in the round, rested on the wooden board—rolled it around in his hand, and cast it back onto the board.
The number of pips—in baser terms, the hollowed dots on a dice—showing face-up determined the outcome of the game. Once the die had settled on the board, the players would look at the die and continue accordingly. How did they do this? As Gamblermon explained, there were two possible outcomes, or categories, resulting from a toss of the die. The first category—Gamblermon casually called this 'First Cat'—was 'filled' if the die showed one, three, or five pips on the top side. If it showed two, four, or six pips, then 'Second Cat' was announced by the dealer.
These two categories were essential in making or breaking a player's hand. If 'First Cat' was announced, then a high Trio won the round; for example, a player with three Kings would beat another player with three tens, while the three tens beat three twos. However, if the die showed 'Second Cat', then a holder of a low Trio would be the victor. Under Second Cat, three twos would trump three fives, as three fives would beat three Jacks, which would in turn defeat three Kings.
The Aces in this game were special. If a player had three Aces, then, after the die was cast and the bets were placed, the player could announce them as either the lowest possible hand or the highest possible hand. Simply put: a Trio of Aces beat any normal set.
The final stage of the game followed the toss of the die. After the Cat was announced, the players would lay down a single card, and begin betting. After going around the circle, players would lay down another card, and bet again. After that, the final cards were shown, and the player with the best hand took the pot (however, if one or two of the player's Trio was already on the board, then he or she abstained from laying down the third card of the Trio, and simply continued betting until the end).
In this way, bluffing was an effective tool of the game; one might not have a Trio of cards, but that didn't stop them from fooling others. Of course, this meant putting your hard-earned money into the pot, but the risk could be worth it if your opponents were unsure of their own cards and dropped out of the round.
Gamblermon had explained three last rules: if no one had a Trio, then the money already in the pot was left for the next round. Next, holding two Trios was a possibility: with three cards on the board, and another five in the hand, this was a nice insurance policy when wagering your money. Having two Trios trumped any other hand; you simply used the secondary Trio to force a win over everyone else with just one set—even if a single Trio had a better value than your own strongest cards. If two players somehow managed to hold two Trios each, then the one with the single best Trio—under the current Cat—was the victor. Finally, if a Trio showed up in the cards on the board at the beginning of the round, they simply counted as a second Trio for all players.
And this was the game that the five beings played on the board in the middle of the desert. Kenta and Suzie had been leery of playing, at first, but as Gamblermon had continued to patiently explain the rules and begun to dole out the cards, the two Tamers had mostly forgotten that their other friends stood a little ways away, trapped by the Ultimate's own devices.
xxxxx
Well, back to the action, because I'm sure some of you are asleep by now.
Gamblermon shuffled his deck of cards quickly and neatly, occasionally impressing his fellow gamers with near-impossible tricks. At one point, the Ultimate bridged the deck into the air, forming an arch that fell into his other hand; yet, the arch had a spiral twist to it above Gamblermon's head, causing Kenta and Suzie to ooh! and ahh! in appreciation.
Gamblermon grinned slightly, revealing dazzlingly white teeth. "Oh, this is nothing. You should see me with swords and torches." With one last flourish, the Ultimate placed the deck onto the wooden board. After cracking his gloved knuckles, Gamblermon began dealing out cards as fast as greased pigs.
"…'greased pigs'?" Kenta asked aloud, incredulously.
…I'm going to have to hire a general contractor, or something, because that fourth wall keeps getting pulled down…
"Sorry."
Clearing his throat, Gamblermon brings us back into the flow of the story. "Hands are dealt…and the table has its cards." Said 'Table's Hand' was composed of a Two of Spades, a Seven of Clubs, and a Queen of Hearts.
Scrutinizing his hand with a perfect poker face, Gamblermon then said, "Kenta? How many cards would you like?"
Chewing his lower lip in concentration, Kenta slowly withdrew two cards from his hand and set them down on the board. "Two."
Nodding, Gamblermon took the top two cards from the deck and pushed them in front of the Tamer. Kenta then took the new cards and began reevaluating his hand. Turning to MarineAngemon, Gamblermon questioned amiably, "And you, my friend?"
The petite Mega—somehow managing to hold five cards with his stubby, fingerless hands—chimed, "One!"
After that, Suzie took two cards while Lopmon abstained from a change of her hand. Gamblermon himself exchanged a single card, casually glancing at his new one only briefly, before turning his attention back to his companions; it was impossible to divine anything from his facial expression, so his fellow gamers were, as usual, left in the dark as to the possible strength of his hand.
Surveying the eager faces before him, Gamblermon smiled slightly before picking up the die and rolling it around in his free hand. Kenta, MarineAngemon, Suzie, and Lopmon followed the movements of the hand closely, their eyes clearly showing excitement.
At last, the Ultimate cast the die onto the board. It landed with three pips facing up.
"First Cat," Gamblermon announced. Without even glancing at his own hand, the Digimon continued, "Lay down your first card." As cards were laid down around the circle, Gamblermon said aloud, in a formal tone, "Kenta: Jack of Diamonds. MarineAngemon: Nine of Clubs. Suzie: Six of Hearts. Lopmon: Queen of Spades." With a simple flourish, Gamblermon plucked a single card from his own hand and set it down in front of him. "Dealer: King of Hearts."
Kenta and Suzie groaned, but they quickly resumed silence as the Ultimate continued, "The first round of betting has commenced."
Next to him, Kenta hesitantly picked up two of his silver poker chips—more goodies procured from nowhere by Gamblermon before the first game. After studying the chips for a moment, Kenta tossed them into the middle of the board, below the 'Table's Hand'.
MarineAngemon didn't hesitate before matching his partner's wager. Following suit, albeit with a slight frown that she failed to hide, Suzie put in two of her own silver chips.
Lopmon, after matching the stakes, put in an additional five bronze chips. "I raise," the Rookie said in a polite tone, her dark eyes moving from one opponent to another thoughtfully.
Gamblermon nodded before putting in three silver chips. "I match, and raise another five bronze."
Kenta sighed. "Fold." Placing his hand facedown onto the board, Kenta leaned back to watch the rest of the game.
After MarineAngemon and Suzie had put in additional bronze or silver chips, Gamblermon said, "Next round." He then nodded to MarineAngemon, who promptly put down his next card.
"…MarineAngemon: Nine of Diamonds. Suzie: Six of Hearts. Lopmon…Two of Clubs." Dropping his formal tone, Gamblermon nodded at the chocolate-colored Rookie. "A good choice. If you have the one of the last Queens, then you obviously can't reveal it, but laying down a Two suggests that you may hold two Trios. With three more cards in your hand, it's certainly a possibility."
Lopmon nodded in appreciation, but she gave no other indication as to whether or not she was pleased with the Ultimate's praise.
Finally, Gamblermon put down his second card. "Dealer: King of Spades," he said, reassuming the stiff tone of the dealer. "The second round of betting has commenced."
Some distance away, Tai, with crossed arms, watched the game progress impatiently. Tapping a finger against his arm, he turned to Matt and asked, "Are you following this?"
Matt nodded as he watched the gamers begin to bet more chips. "I think so," the blond replied. Frowning, the teen continued, "MarineAngemon may have another Nine, and Suzie might have another Six. It's anyone's guess who'll come out ahead there, but Lopmon has two possible Trios, and the Queens are pretty high all by themselves. Finally, Gamblermon might be holding a third King, which would beat everyone else unless Lopmon does have two Trios."
"In other words," Gabumon added, "it's between Lopmon and Gamblermon, right?"
"That's pretty much what it looks like," Matt responded. "I guess we're about to find out…"
Indeed, the last round of betting had concluded; Suzie, pouting, had folded, and now sat back like Kenta with her arms crossed huffily. Sora, from inside the prison of cards, smiled slightly at the childish look.
Nodding, Gamblermon intoned, "Lay down your final cards."
As one, the three remaining players set down their hands, and began to examine their opponents' newly revealed cards.
After a moment, Gamblermon smiled widely. Over several groans, he said, "Well, well, well…the dealer does not have a Trio." As something of an aside, the Ultimate said warmly, "No Kings for me, this round." Continuing, he said, "Lopmon does not have a Queen, but she does have another Two: this one is Diamonds."
"However, using a strategy that can be highly effective if it is not noticed, MarineAngemon has revealed, not another Nine, but the last two Queens from his hand." Bringing his gloved hands together, the Ultimate clapped lightly. "Under First Cat, MarineAngemon wins with a Trio of Queens."
Inside their spherical prison, Ai said aloud, completely befuddled, "Huh?" Her sentiments were echoed by Biyomon and Agumon.
Sora let out an ah of understanding. "Oh, I get it. MarineAngemon was playing red herrings before."
Tai blinked. "In English, please."
"She means," Matt interjected, smiling slightly, "that our little Mega was using his Nines as a distraction. He really had two Queens all along, but he didn't want anyone to know that. So, he put down two Nines to make everyone less interested in his cards." The blond finished, with a pleased tone of voice, "He passed right under their radar."
"Oh…" Ai breathed. "That was really smart of him, wasn't it, Impmon?"
Impmon shrugged. "I guess. I could 'a done da same t'ing, ya know."
Ai giggled and wrapped her arms around the Rookie's neck, nearly choking the little imp with her tight grip. "Yeah, I know you could have, Impmon…"
Impmon merely gasped, his eyes bugging out, "Ai! Can't…breathe…!"
Rolling his eyes, Tai regarded the gamers with a new determination. Pounding a fist into the open palm of his other hand, the former gogglehead said firmly, "Alright, they've had their fun. Now it's time for some answers!"
No doubt hearing Tai's exclamation, Gamblermon stood up and brushed the sand off of his red trousers. "Well, since I've intruded upon you and taken up nearly a half hour of your valuable time, I suppose I should explain myself," the Ultimate said casually as he reached down and began picking up his cards, chips, and other assorted playing equipment.
As Tai's eye twitched in annoyance, Gamblermon made his things disappear inside his silver cape, drawing the fabric around himself like a cloak. When it unfurled, the playing board, the deck, and the bag of chips had vanished from sight.
"Hmm…" Gamblermon mused aloud. "Where to begin, I wonder?"
The Ultimate stood silently, tapping a finger to his chin. The DigiDestined, Tamers, and other Digimon waited patiently, more or less, for the enigmatic being to respond.
After several moments, Gamblermon nodded, and began, "My story is something of a tragedy, really." Smiling slightly, he added, "Well, that may be an exaggeration, but it sums things up nicely."
Looking directly at the imprisoned humans and their partners, the Ultimate said amiably, "But, I can't tell my story with you trapped in that contraption of mine, now can I? I've been rude enough as it is."
With the wave of a hand, the strands of electricity flowing between the cards that made up the spherical prison disappeared. The cards, still floating in midair, then flew towards Gamblermon, stopping above his hand. As the group watched, the cards neatly arranged themselves into a deck, which promptly vanished as the Ultimate closed his fist around it.
Relieved at their release, yet still cautious, the former prisoners slowly made their way to stand by their other friends, facing the unusual character before them.
Crossing his arms, Gamblermon then continued, "Truly, my tale is a simple one. Not long ago, I was crossing the desert, on my way to DigiVegas. You know how it is: the lure of wealth, fun, and general merriment." Shaking his head ruefully, the Ultimate continued, "But, as fate would have it, I was suddenly attacked from behind, and I promptly lost consciousness. Rather embarrassing, really, as I'm often considered not only an excellent card player, but a fighter as well." At this, the Digimon shrugged, a modest smile gracing his striking visage.
Raising an eyebrow, Matt said, "Okay…?"
"Well, when I came to, I realized that a very valuable item had been stolen from me," Gamblermon said, a slight frown replacing his smile. "Thinking it lost for good, I continued on my way, although I regretted the loss deeply." The frown disappeared from his face as the Ultimate added, "But, Lady Luck appeared to have graced me with her favor. No sooner had I arrived in DigiVegas and checked into a luxurious suite, that I discovered, to my great surprise and delight, that my stolen possession had become a reward in a high stakes game at the largest casino in the city!"
Tai, Matt, and Sora exchanged incredulous looks. Venturing to comment, Sora said slowly, "And…what does that have to do with us?"
Gamblermon smiled. "Patience, my dear. Now, I immediately approached the sponsors of this particular tournament, and demanded that my property be returned to me, as it had been stolen. However, I was coldly informed that the item in question now belonged to them, and that if I wanted it back, I would have to win it back." Sighing dramatically, the Digimon said, "It really is a lamentable situation, is it not?"
The group pondered this 'situation' quietly. After a few moments, Kenta asked, "Well, I still don't see how we can help you…"
It's quite simple, really," Gamblermon replied with an even wider smile. "You see, after I realized that I would not be able to get my property back any other way, I immediately reserved two seats in the game: one for myself, and one for another player. My hopes were that, if I could find a player of reasonable skill who truly sympathized with me, and had nothing to lose by playing with me, my chances of winning the game and recovering my property would be doubled."
"Ya mean," Impmon interjected, "dat you wanted somebody who'd help you win dis game and get yer stuff back…and dat, if dis other player won instead 'a youse, he'd be willin' ta give you yer stuff and walk away without a word?"
"Well, not precisely," Gamblermon replied, raising a neat eyebrow. "I'd make it worth this other player's while, of course; one can hardly expect someone to do something for someone else for nothing. At least," he amended, "not in DigiVegas."
Tai was beginning to catch on. "And this game…?"
"Is called 'Triple Cubed.' And, as a matter of fact…" Gamblermon continued, smiling again, "…it's the very game I've been playing with you for nearly twenty minutes."
Silence greeted this statement.
"…so, basically, you want one of us to help you win this 'Triple Cubed' tournament and get one of your personal effects back?" Matt asked, frowning.
Gamblermon nodded. "To be precise…" He raised a finger. "…I'd like you to play with me in the tournament."
The group blinked, and looked at the being who the Ultimate was pointing at.
MarineAngemon cocked his head and chirruped, "Me?"
"Precisely," Gamblermon replied, lowering his hand. "I'd be forever in your debt; this item is very valuable, and more significantly, it holds a great deal of importance to me. Sentimental reasons, and all that."
Another period of silence.
Chewing his lip, Tai motioned his friends around. "Okay, group huddle." Turning to Gamblermon, the former gogglehead asked, "Do you mind giving us a minute to talk this over?"
"Not at all," came the congenial reply. The immaculately dressed Ultimate then strode several yards away, and, folding his hands behind his back, turned his gaze across the reddish horizon.
Once Tai had decided that the Digimon wasn't interested in eavesdropping, he faced the others in their circle. "Okay, a couple of questions. First: is this guy for real?"
The others exchanged thoughtful looks.
Suzie was the first to speak. "Well, I kind of like him," the young Tamer said, brushing sand from her jeans absently. "I mean, he's really friendly, and I think he actually wants us to help him."
"Friendly, huh?" Gabumon asked in a slightly irritated tone. "Then why'd he surprise us with his little house of cards like that? He didn't need to make us think he was going to attack us." Several of the others nodded in agreement.
Kenta said, "Well, let's ask him." Before anyone else could say anything, Kenta turned to Gamblermon and asked loudly, "Hey, Gamblermon? Why'd you trap our friends before you started teaching us how to play?"
"Because," came the casual reply from about twelve feet away, "I wanted to catch your attention. Otherwise, how would you have treated a strange Digimon who appeared out of nowhere, beseeching you for your assistance? At least, my way, I had a captive audience who was willing to hear me out."
Tai and Sora rolled their eyes while Kenta and Ai sweatdropped at Gamblermon's choice of words.
"And, in addition, I dare say that I have something of a flair for the dramatic." The Ultimate chuckled lightly before turning his attention back to the stunning landscape.
"Gee, I never would have guessed," Biyomon said dryly, still surveying the Digimon warily.
"Hmm…" Tai murmured. Turning back to the group, he said, "Okay, next question: can we really afford to stop looking for the True Portal to help him? I mean, we need to get back to the others, and the sooner, the better in my book."
Agumon nodded in express agreement, while the others had similar looks on their faces.
Still, Ai sighed. "Well, we really should help him, shouldn't we?" At the questioning looks she received, she continued, "After all, since when have we ever turned down an offer of help from someone? Isn't that what being a DigiDestined or a Tamer is all about?"
The others' faces took on thoughtful expressions as each considered the youngest Tamer's words. From the way Ai put it, it was almost their responsibility to aid those in need. And, despite the unusual circumstances surrounding this instance, that guideline certainly seemed to apply.
At long last, Tai heaved a sigh. "Alright, alright. All those in favor of helping Gamblermon say 'aye!'"
He was met with an enthusiastic chorus of Aye! Nodding in confirmation, Tai turned to Gamblermon, who continued to watch the distant horizon, apparently paying little attention to the nearby group.
"Alright, Gamblermon; you've got yourself some friends."
Said Ultimate turned to face his new companions with a cheery smile. "Well, I'm glad you decided in my favor. As I said, I'm in your debt, win or lose. Preferably 'win', of course."
"A' course…" Impmon echoed, clasping his gloved hands behind his head.
Matt let out his breath in a huff. "Well, if we're going to do this, let's get on with it. Where is DigiVegas, anyway?"
Gamblermon turned and pointed. "Straight that way. It's another twenty miles or so; we shouldn't have a problem getting there."
Suzie blinked in recognition. Taking out her pink-ringed D-Arc, the young Tamer quickly consulted her compass.
"…guys? My Digivice says the True Portal is that way," she said, looking back up. "That's the way we were going before."
Sora raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
Gamblermon spoke up. "If you're looking for something as well, then chances are it'll be in DigiVegas. There isn't anything else noteworthy around here for close to two hundred miles."
"Huh," Agumon said. "I guess it's a good thing we met up with you, then."
Smiling, Gamblermon said amiably, "Most definitely. I know enough about DigiVegas to help you while we're there. Perhaps we can consider this an exchange of services?"
"Sounds good," Tai said, nodding.
"Good! Good!" MarineAngemon squealed happily, clearly excited about playing in this tournament with his new friend, Gamblermon.
XxXxX
/DigiWorld Gamma. The Dungeons. 4:20 p.m./
Mako sighed regretfully as he fingered a new hole in the loose sleeve of his shirt. "If Cyberdramon had been a second slower…"
Keramon shrugged helplessly. "Hey, I only know the basic layout of this place. I had no clue there would dart launchers set in the wall."
The young Tamer made a face. "What about the flying razor disks, or the fake floor with spikes beneath it? Or the pendulum blades hanging from the ceiling, the super thin tripwire, or that collapsing ceiling from five minutes ago?" he asked indignantly.
Keramon puffed himself up, nearly as annoyed as his companion. "Trust me, if I'd known about any of those things, I would have asked for a whole lot more than just riddles to convince me to come down here with you. Like, maybe, a chest of gold…"
Mako let out his breath in a huff. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he replied, his face flushing in frustration.
From nearby, Cyberdramon peered closely at another thin wire; this one was suspended between the walls of the small corridor at about chest level (for the Ultimate, anyway). Bringing up a razor-sharp claw, Cyberdramon cut the wire deftly and watched the two ends fall weightlessly to the floor.
With a snort, the Ultimate turned and said, in his gravelly tone, "These are new."
Keramon frowned. "New? You mean all these traps were installed recently?"
Cyberdramon nodded in response. Scowling, Keramon murmured, "Well, that explains why I've never heard about these before. Still, who would want all this stuff down here? The guards are usually enough to take care of any prisoners in the dungeons."
Mako frowned thoughtfully. "Could it be because of our friends?"
Keramon snorted. "If so, then someone really wants to keep them down here; permanently, from the looks of it. The question is…why?"
The trio silently pondered the situation, taking advantage of their momentary resting place. Ahead and behind, the stone corridor stretched on into darkness.
At last, Cyberdramon growled, "Demon Lords."
Mako nodded. "It has to be. But, why would this QueenChessmon send her goons after us?"
"If you've got enemies," Keramon replied thoughtfully, tapping an elongated finger to his chin, "then they may have followed you here from wherever you're originally from. I don't think it would be too difficult to manipulate our beloved Queen into believing you were dangerous to her." Grinning darkly, the Rookie continued, "And her actions in such matters are usually pretty extreme."
"I guess that explains the traps, then," Mako mused, eyeing the cut wire now lying on the stony ground. "At least one of the Demon Lords must be here…"
"Whispering in QueenChessmon's ear," Keramon finished, nodding.
Mako shook his head. "Why are these things never easy?"
Shrugging, Keramon replied, "Then life would be boring, wouldn't it?"
He was answered with a groan. "Boredom's better than losing your head to some stupid trap."
As if to accentuate the young Tamer's statement, a metal rod covered in wicked, curved spikes suddenly burst from the wall next to Cyberdramon with a loud VOOSH! Faster than the eye could follow, the rod buried itself in the opposite side of the corridor with a THUNK!, leaving a very dangerous looking metal cylinder suspended halfway between the floor and the ceiling.
If Mako were to walk forward, the top of his head would just brush the bottom of the sprung trap.
Cyberdramon, displaying an eerie calm, merely looked at the long object disdainfully before ducking underneath it and continuing on down the corridor.
Behind him, Mako and Keramon stared at the lethal trap and the departing Ultimate, eyes twitching.
"…I'm sticking close to him from now on. He never seems to get hit."
"…that sounds like a good idea, Mako. Let's just hope our luck holds out until we find your friends. This dungeon is something of a maze, and I've got a feeling that the whole place is booby trapped…"
"Terrific."
XxXxX
/Tokyo Delta. 4:23 p.m./
Stopping, Ren announced, "We're here."
"That took way too long," Terriermon said from atop Henry's head. The Rookie peered out at the deserted street from the alley's entrance, looking for any sign of movement.
Joe shook his head in response to Terriermon's comment. "Considering we've been sticking to the back alleys, I'm not surprised. You can't exactly take a direct route that way," the elder DigiDestined replied.
"At least we weren't spotted," Ren said calmly. Without waiting for any sort of reply, the teenage girl cautiously stepped out onto the sidewalk. Turning her head swiftly to survey the area, Ren nodded in satisfaction. "Good. There's no one around."
Turning back to face the rest of the group, the girl pointed up the sidewalk and continued, "There's the subway entrance. This line's been discontinued, so I wouldn't worry about meeting anyone down there."
"And the coast is clear now, right?" Jeri asked hesitantly, stepping out next to Ren and glancing at the terminal's entrance.
Ren nodded. "This area's pretty deserted. I thought the media's estimates of the Holo Tournament's attendance were off, but I guess they were accurate after all."
"Well, that's good for us, right?" Gomamon interjected from Joe's arms.
Gatomon nodded. "The best way this could work out is if no one sees us at all."
The feline received a number of nods in response. After a few tail flicks, Gatomon then said, "I'll go first and see if the coast is clear. I'll attract a lot less attention than the flying guinea pig—"
"I'm really starting to hate that name…"
"—or the joker with flippers—"
"Who, me?"
"—or the furry walking dino."
"…I'll decline to comment, thanks."
Nodding in satisfaction, Gatomon took off down the sidewalk on all four paws, her tail twitching above her back. Kari and the others watched the Champion's progress carefully, occasionally glancing behind them or across the street to be sure that no one was around.
The subway terminal was about thirty-five feet from the alleyway. It took Gatomon only a few moments to reach the concrete stairs, where she looked down carefully. Seeing no one inside the terminal, the feline turned and waved a paw, motioning her friends forward.
T.K. turned to Ren. "Should we do this one at a time, or all go at once?"
"How about a compromise?" Ren replied pleasantly. "Take it in pairs. Dorumon and I'll go next." And so they did, darting along the sidewalk like material shadows. Fortunately, in addition to the street's abandoned state, the sidewalk was shrouded in the late afternoon shade of the surrounding buildings, adding an element of stealth to the pair's movements.
Once Ren and Dorumon reached Gatomon and the terminal's entrance, T.K. and Patamon took a quick glance around before following. Those two were then trailed by Kari and Jeri, who were the first to begin making their way down the terminal's steps to the hallway below.
The only complication arose when Joe and Gomamon were halfway between the alley and the terminal. At the moment when the older DigiDestined—carrying Gomamon in his arms—stepped into the shadow of one of the nearby buildings, a red car appeared seemingly out of nowhere, roaring down the road. Freezing instinctively, Joe turned his body slightly to shield his partner from the driver's view; grimacing, Joe stood as still as he could, repeating a silent mantra of 'You can't see me, I'm not that interesting to you anyway, and you certainly wouldn't care about my Digimon friend…'
Whether or not the chanting worked, the red car continued to speed by; the driver was singing and drumming his hands on the steering wheel, apparently oblivious to his surroundings, for which Joe was thankful, but also equally concerned. After all, reckless driving is the path to the dark side. Reckless driving leads to inattention; inattention leads to accidents; accidents lead to suffering…
…ahem. Continuing on.
When at last Henry and Terriermon reached the others, they were all breathing a little harder than usual, with the possible exception of Ren and Dorumon. After all, Dorumon appeared to be used to hiding and avoiding detection, and Ren simply appeared placid, giving away little emotion but that of mild interest in their current situation. From what the DigiDestined and Tamers had gathered, this was her usual expression; Dorumon had confirmed as much earlier while talking with the otherworldly group in the alleyways.
When the entire crew had assembled at the bottom of the concrete steps, below the street, Ren said calmly, "Not too much farther, now." Turning on her heel, she and her partner proceeded to lead their new friends through the darkened hallways of the subway; apparently, no one had changed any light bulbs since the line had been decommissioned. Thus, the lighting was suitably dim, revealing only enough of the area to keep the group from feeling its way across the floor.
After several minutes of silent walking, they came upon one of the terminal's platforms, where a single subway train sat glumly upon the tracks. The train's cars were empty, and several window panes were broken. Ren quietly explained that local kids would sometimes come down and explore the tunnels, despite the stern admonitions of their parents and other adults to avoid that kind of behavior. More often than not, the juveniles would leave graffiti on the tiled walls or break the cars' windows for kicks. This news didn't quite reassure the others of their chances of remaining concealed, but they continued on determinedly, regardless of the fact.
Approaching the front of the subway train, which stopped short of the platform's edge, Ren turned and said, "Watch yourselves when you jump down. The tracks aren't carrying any electricity, but you don't want to sprain your ankle on them if you land the wrong way." After delivering her warning, Ren carefully jumped down beside the rails before moving aside to allow more room for the others.
Several moments of quiet scrambling later, the entire group began walking down the darkened subway tunnel, which was lit only every now and then by an orange light set in the tunnel's ceiling. The tunnel itself had two sets of rails, between which the humans and Digimon marched in single file line. Despite Ren's assurances that this line had been shut down long before—which the condition of the area seemed to attest to—the majority of the group couldn't help but feel leery of walking where underground trains had once barreled along, carrying hundreds of passengers around Tokyo.
After a minute of walking, Ren checked her D-Platform's holographic map, quietly noting their location and that of the True Portal. "Not much farther," she said aloud. A moment later, she smiled widely. "It looks like Eric's beat us here," she added, looking up at the others.
Turning her attention back to her Digivice, she tapped one of the buttons next to the device's screen. In response, the 3-D map projected above it shifted to show a close-up cut-away of the tunnel; at the far end of the projection, obviously inside the simulated tunnel, a glowing sphere hung suspended above the ground.
"That signifies a D-Platform: Eric's, to be precise," Ren explained. "If I could get the hologram to be any color but blue, that little sphere would probably be silver or black. Those are his colors."
"His colors…?" Jeri asked, bemused.
Turning off the holographic map, Ren raised her D-Platform. "Digivice colors. Black body and silver trim. Obviously, it's different than mine." Lowering her arm, she asked, "Shall we?"
"Yeah, let's get this show on the road," Gomamon chimed. "We're losing time standing around here."
Nodding, Ren began leading the way again; this time, the girl stepped onto the subway's rails and began walking forward on them with her arms spread to her side for balance. A moment later, a grinning Dorumon jumped up behind her and mimicked her posture as he followed.
Terriermon shook his head bemusedly. "She's enjoying this, isn't she?"
Jeri nodded. "You heard her earlier; she's been waiting a long time for something important to do. I guess helping people from other worlds counts."
Kari giggled as she, too, stepped onto the old rails. "And besides that, this is fun! Come on, Gatomon!" the DigiDestined added cheerfully as she carefully followed Ren and Dorumon down the tunnel.
Rolling her eyes, Gatomon nimbly leapt onto the tracks and pursued her partner casually, walking along the metal beam like it was a whole road unto itself.
"Cats and their balance," Terriermon said in exasperation as Henry and the others continued on. Henry chuckled in response.
"Momentai, Terriermon." To which the Rookie promptly replied, "Yeah, yeah…"
After another minute or two of walking, Kari came to a halt behind Ren, who had stopped at the sight of two shadowy silhouettes, each hidden from the pale orange light emitted by a single bulb in the ceiling above. Leaning to Ren's side, Kari watched the dark profiles closely, an expression of curiosity on her face.
Noting Kari's attention, and the lack of movement from the hidden figures, Ren raised her voice and said warmly, "It's okay, Eric, Velocimon. You don't have to hide from us."
A moment passed—during which Henry and the others jostled for position to see—before the unknown figures revealed themselves.
At first, all they could see was a spot in the distance, which reflected a bit of illumination from the failing bulb above. In a moment, the spot resolved into the blond hair—so light it was nearly white—of a tall boy garbed in a black trench coat. It was difficult to tell whether or not the coat was made from leather or heavy cloth, but regardless, it stretched to the teen's ankles and jet black tennis shoes. Zipped up with a silver zipper, it completely covered its wearer's body, leaving only the teen's head, face, and hands exposed.
After staring for several seconds, Henry managed to make out the face of the teenage boy. Hazel eyes of green and gold calmly surveyed the unlikely group, showing little more at first glance than a keen mind and an intelligent curiosity that immediately predisposed Henry to like the stranger. Those eyes, however, also held small embers deep within the pupils, not unlike the dancing lights in Ren's eyes; in this case, though, the embers were slightly cool and distant, buried under who knew how many layers of thought and personality.
A faint pattern of gold, blue, and green marked the angular face of the Digimon that followed. Reddish down, like that of a crimson robin, covered the creature's body—which was somewhat smaller than Guilmon's, as it barely reached Eric's waist in height. A long, slim tail of muscle and bones slowly twitched behind the Digimon's body, helping Henry to come to the conclusion that this one was some kind of dinosaur variety.
Two sets of silvery claws, which glinted metallically in the meager lighting, tipped four long fingers on two arms, which were held loosely to the Digimon's side. Similarly, the Digimon had large talons of the same silvery color on his feet; from a glance, they were as sharp as razors, and Henry could hear a faint click! as the wicked curves skirted the tunnel's concrete floor.
Eric and Velocimon.
For a moment, Henry pondered a slight mystery. 'Funny. Agumon and Guilmon share a lot of the same physical characteristics, and this 'Velocimon' fits the same mold. Is it some kind of unwritten rule that at least one major DigiDestined/Tamer/whatever has to have a partner who looks like a raptor?'
The Tamer was brought back to reality when Eric said mildly, "I see you brought friends, Ren." The teen's voice seemed to match his eyes; slightly detached, yet engaging at the same time.
Ren's enigmatic half-smile reappeared as she replied, "Yeah. It's been an interesting day so far." Her comment received several quiet chuckles from the DigiDestined, Tamers, and their partners.
Turning to the otherworldly visitors, Ren said, in a stage whisper, "He's actually astonished right now. He just doesn't show it. One of his tells is the way he arches that left eyebrow when he's at a loss for words."
"Hm." Eric's voice reflected a dry amusement, though it was hard to tell how much the feeling—and, indeed, his 'astonishment'—affected his own thoughts. "Whereas you, on the other hand, probably got over the shock about fifteen seconds into it."
Ren nodded, a wider smile gracing her face. "True enough."
"Typical," the blond youth responded, shaking his head in something approaching disbelief.
These were some curious characters, Henry decided. Friendly, with enough quirks and unusual personality traits to require some serious study before they made sense.
Sighing, Eric then began, "Putting aside the inevitable 'How the heck did you meet anime characters in the middle of Tokyo?' question, I'm curious as to why you wanted to meet next to our mystery portal. It's a little out of the way."
Apparently, the local DigiDestined/Tamer equivalents weren't too incredibly surprised by Henry and Co.'s appearance. Maybe it was like a common immunity to unexpected events that was shared among those connected to Digimon. After all, Henry reflected, hadn't his own first encounter with living Digimon in effect desensitized him to some of the curiosities of other worlds and beings?
While Henry bemusedly thought this, Dorumon answered, "They suddenly showed up here in our world, and, through a course of events that would take some time to relate, we've come to the conclusion that their ticket home is the portal you and Velocimon found here."
"Ah." After a moment, Eric, his penetrating gaze drifting from one person to the next, asked Ren, "You did tell them about the timing of this thing, right?"
Ren nodded in response, her own gaze sliding to the darkness behind Eric and his silent partner in question.
Eric shook his head. "Sorry, but you guys missed the portal by about an hour. It seems to appear at exactly 3:27 in the afternoon."
Several groans were heard; Joe's was the loudest, as the elder DigiDestined immediately began thinking over their situation. 'Great. Now we have another twenty-three hours to stay hidden from prying eyes. We'll have to find someplace to hide out, a way to get food and water, maybe some medical supplies, and…'
Joe, as the Child of Reliability, is one of the best people to ask to plan for some unforeseen complication. He'll immediately come up with a list of needed supplies and other resources, as well as a set of rough guidelines to follow in order to maximize the chances of survival.
Give him another five minutes, and he'll have a detailed schedule of the day's activities, which would mostly include: hiding, running in the shadows, foraging for food, avoiding unwanted attention, etc., etc. He's also got enough contingency plans to put the military to shame.
Eric smiled slightly, though his eyes still held a cool intensity, like that of a dim, white dwarf star. "Hey, don't worry about it. It works like clockwork, so we'll just take you somewhere safe until tomorrow. In the meantime…I'm Eric Young."
T.K. chuckled. "I guess we don't really need introductions on our end, do we?"
"No, not really. Obviously, I'm a fan." Eric replied, his grin widening momentarily before fading into a slightly amused expression. "But anyway, this is Velocimon," he added, gesturing to his left.
Velocimon inclined his head in something between a nod and a bow. "It's a pleasure," the raptor stated in a surprisingly cultured voice. "This is something of a surprise, but not unpleasantly so."
Henry raised an eyebrow. "Uh, thanks." Smiling slightly, the Tamer asked the Digimon, "Do you mind if I scan you? I've never seen a Digimon like you before."
"Not at all," Velocimon replied congenially. Nodding in thanks, Henry raised his D-Arc and waited for the device to process the information it was gathering.
"…okay, Velocimon. Virus type, and Rookie level. Your attacks are…Searing Flame and Raptor's Claw."
"That's right," the Rookie confirmed, nodding his head. "Have you heard of one of my species' Champion forms? Raptormon?"
Henry thought about the name for a moment. "Sorry, doesn't ring a bell."
Velocimon spread his hands, palms-up, in a shrug. "That's to be expected, I suppose, when you're from another world. Really, I prefer becoming MetaDracomon, anyway. We might be slightly less well known in that form, but it's a nicer package. Other Velocimon always get jealous when I Digivolve, so I guess I prefer not to follow the pack…"
"Yeah, enough ego-boosting, pal," Eric interjected. "Lord knows you don't need it…"
Velocimon nodded in concession, an amused smirk dancing on his face.
Kari, who had been looking at Eric's face closely, then commented, "You're an American?"
The teen turned to the DigiDestined and replied, "As a matter of fact, yes. I live in the U.S. when I'm not visiting Japan. I was planning on entering the Holo Tournament today—Ren's probably filled you in on that, among other things—but then I got a cryptic text message from my friend here," he inclined his head to indicate Ren, who half-smiled again, "and my attention was diverted. So, here I am."
"You speak Japanese very well," Joe said. "Fluently, even."
"Thanks. I try," Eric replied, nodding modestly. After a moment, the blond teen stuck his hands into the pockets of his trench coat. "Well, what say we take a trip to the Digital World? That would be the best place to go, if we don't want to attract attention. You can fill me and Velocimon in on all the details on our way." A brief look of curiosity and confusion managed to assert itself on the teen's face before it was replaced by a more placid expression.
"That's what I was thinking," Ren added. "I couldn't come up with anything better for the time being."
"We could hit your apartment later," Eric said aloud, his hazel eyes beginning to gaze off into the distance as he thought. "Your parents are still gone for the week, right?"
"Business trip in Osaka, yes," Ren confirmed. "We can spend the night at my place and some of the next day before we come back here. They won't mind."
"Good. Sounds like a plan." Turning back to the assembled humans and Digimon, Eric said, an eyebrow raised, "Well, what do you guys think? Up to a little dimensional travel?"
Henry laughed. "After today? Only just. But seriously, can we do this with a minimum of sneaking through alleys? I've had enough of that, too, for one day."
"Agreed," Jeri added, shooting an agreeing smile at Henry. "I could use a change of pace." Her sentiments were quickly echoed by T.K., Kari, Joe, and their partners.
"And later, can we find something to do that doesn't involve us as the center of attention?" Gatomon asked. "It gets a little tiring after awhile."
"There's a tournament going on in the DigiWorld!" Dorumon stated, grinning. "We can go watch it before dinner!"
"Always thinking with your stomach, aren't you?" Ren lamented, shaking her head hopelessly.
T.K. laughed aloud. "That's a Digimon for you."
Eric nodded. "Definitely. You should see Velocimon sometimes. When he's hungry, he won't stop to cook the meat before he chows down. It makes such a mess…"
"Gross!"
"Eeww!"
"Bleh!"
Velocimon shrugged. "What can I say? When you've gotta eat, you've gotta eat."
XxXxX
/Barbamon's Mansion, the Dark Area. 4:36 p.m./
Barbamon tapped his fingers against his chair's lacquered arm impatiently; his long nails made constant clicking noises as the fingers drew up and down in a constant rhythm.
Click. Click. Click. Click-click-click-click…
Clenching his fist in frustration, Barbamon scowled. 'This is taking too long. It's just out of my reach…nearly within my grasp…but, for all the power that I sense from it, it still remains that far away.' Furrowing his brow, Barbamon thought to himself, 'Could it be toying with me? Could it be sensing my hunger, my own power, and dangling itself in front of me like bait? TAUNTING me?!'
The Demon Lord nearly snarled, but he managed to check himself. 'I'm letting this get to me. I've been waiting for this for years…I can wait a little longer. I WILL endure!'
Drawing a deep breath, the Demon Lord turned his attention to the viewing crystal in front of him. Reflected along countless prismatic faces, the Demon Lord could see Leviamon finally opening a portal underwater and sliding through it smoothly. A moment later, the slash in space closed behind the crocodilian Demon Lord, leaving Barbamon with a view of an empty lagoon.
"So, that great oaf has finally set out." Barbamon pondered the current situation carefully, trying to otherwise occupy his increasingly volatile mind. "Belphemon is well on his way with his own little group of brats. He does love his little toys, doesn't he? Beelzemon is waiting, as is Lilithmon. However much they despise each other, they think so much alike." Chuckling darkly, the old man continued, "Wouldn't they love to kill me for saying that aloud?"
"And…that leaves me…and Lucemon." Suppressing another frown, he murmured, "My own servants have been dispatched, and I await their results with great eagerness…but Lucemon…"
Turning his attention back to the viewing crystal—which was now a foggy white, empty of images—Barbamon said quietly, with an ounce of venom, "You are up to something, my old friend, but I know not what it is."
A moment later, the eldest Demon Lord chuckled malevolently. "Of course, it doesn't matter. How could it? Whatever he could do pales in comparison to my own grand designs. Oh, how he and all the others will rue the day they were formatted…"
His malicious gaze drifted, almost of its own accord, to that side door in the wall.
'Soon…so soon…it will ALL be mine…'
XxXxX
A/N: My OCs are turning out to be interesting characters to write. I wanted to set them in a world where they were pretty much alone, except for each other, yet give them personalities that were not only comfortable with their circumstances, but thrived in them. Definitely a learning experience. One has to wonder what they'd be like in real life…
As a treat, links to Ren and Eric's D-Platforms can be found in my profile! Thanks to Plasmasphere, the Beta, for making those.
I know, there was nothing from Takato and Co. from DigiWorld Alpha this chapter. Poor Rika's having a little downtime, and everyone else with her. You'll understand why I'm giving them a break soon enough…
And yes, Rika's little infection is actually important. Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies…
Yes, there was small self-insertion in this chapter, and I pulled a fellow author along for the ride. It should be obvious enough, really. Being the author is lots of fun… ;) And for those of you who also follow Ultra's Crisis, don't worry about the possible paradoxes resulting from Ren reading that particular fic when Eric and Velocimon (at least) are a part of it. Little things like that just make life more fun.
If you're wondering about Gamblermon, yes, he's original. Which means he actually belongs to me. Also, Ren, Eric, and Velocimon belong to me, too.
If you want a clearer idea of Gamblermon's personality, think of Balthier from Final Fantasy XII. If you haven't played it…well, he's suave, debonair, has a dry wit, and is pretty calm in any situation (if you can't tell already). I'm going to have fun writing him.
Also, the card game 'Triple Cubed' is my own idea as well. I've never heard of anything like it, so I'm assuming that it's, at least, mostly original. Did reading all the rules make your eyes cross? ;) As a side note, in the game, ten bronze equals a silver chip, and ten silver chips equal one gold. On the subject, thanks to an anonymous reviewer for pointing out an error regarding the toss of the dice during the game between Gamblermon and the company of DigiWorld Beta.
Well, this time around, we've got a classic Star Wars line and a partial scene from The Princess Bride. If you're interested in knowing, anyway.
Okay, before you go, don't forget to review! Otherwise, I might send my goons after you…and you all know you wouldn't like that…
Plus, it might be another two months before I update again.
Is slapped by angry readers.
…you know, considering my overseas trip, it's probably going to be two months anyway…
Is slapped again.
Ow.
