Yes, yes, yesyesyesyesyes, I finished this fucking chapter, holy shit, god fucking damn, I want to cry, someone give me a hug, I finally finished this motherfucker! Almost three years in the making, fuck my lack of inspiration and deep desire to procrastinate, I did it.
Read it already, I'm not even going to say anything else until the end of the chapter, just enjoy the story.
Rooftops of Shinjuku
Two days after the hospital incident
"Have you found our target yet?" Pajiramon asked, looking at her partner in clime with an authoritative look on her sheep face.
"Not yet Pajiramon" Vajramon responded "It's energy output is too low for us to get a good grip on it" he explained the sheep Digimon at his side "It seems that the only way for us to have a good track on Culumon is if we interrogate these tamed Digimon and their Tamers ourselves" he finished explaining her.
"I see" Pajiramon closed her eyes in an understanding way "So they're the only ones who know where Culumon is or where it might be encountered" she deduced, in which Vajramon nodded.
"I believe so" Vajramon responded her "The real question is, which one should we go after?" he crossed his arms in wonder.
"We have three targets, counting their Digimon partners, we have six, but it seems that their Digimon are always accompanying them whenever they go, so again it's only three" Pajiramon told her partner, trying to think of a way they can ambush one of the Tamers and make him spill his guts about Culumon's location.
"What about that strange blue creature?" Vajramon asked, curious about it "Do you think he might be friends with those kids?"
"It seems to be strong, but not that much, and I highly doubt he has anything to do with the kids" Pajiramon said, completely disregarding the hedgehog as a threat "He must be some kind of government experiment. You know... like one of these stories where they create an incredibly powerful life form for a purpose " she said with a hand cupping her chin, contemplating what he actually was.
"..." Vajramon sweatdropped at his partner's last comment "Ever since Zhuqiamon allowed books on our domain, you've been getting too many weird ideas lately" Vajramon commented on his partner's crazy assumptions.
"Can you think of something better?" she asked, clearly feeling quite angry and insulted by his words.
"..."
"Humph, I thought so" Pajiramon commented out loud, making Vajramon squirm slightly under her dangerous gaze.
"So..." he started slowly, not wanting to make her any angrier "When and where will we start?" he asked her, wanting to know how the course of their mission with proceed.
"And how will I know?" she snapped at him "First, we need to find one of these brats and then we must formulate a plan to take full advantage of the situation" Pajiramon warned her partner rather harshly "We know that they can and will go to perfect level if necessary, if that happens our mission will get a lot more difficult" she explained a possible scenery for them to follow "Should they manage to reach perfect form, we will grab Culumon, who is most likely to be near them and make a break for it" Pajiramon finished explaining their possible plan.
"Run away from the Tamers?" Vajramon asked incredulously "Master Zhuquiamon will have us executed for such act" he almost shouted at her.
"Not if we manage to get Culumon and bring it to him" she reminded him "Our mission's priority is retrieving that Digimon, killing the tamers and their Digimon is not obligatory" she explained him once more, itching to smack him in the head for not understanding what she said earlier.
"But still..." he tried to continue.
"But nothing" she interrupted him "We'll keep patrolling this town in order to find the perfect chance to attack one of these Tamers by itself and beat some information out of it " she exclaimed, punching her knuckles together.
"Hai!" he nodded.
Soon enough, both Digimon disappeared from sight in a burst of speed.
XXXXXXX
Shinjuku Hospital - Day Time
Sonic was once again on the hospital bed, not the one he was two days ago mind you, these were completely obliterated by Baalmon, along with the entire floor actually. Sonic not only was bored out of his mind for having to stay put on the bed again, he was mulling over the fact that the Hospital could've been demolished because of those after him.
The staff didn't really mind, sure, an entire floor was completely wiped out, but at least Sonic managed to scare off the aggressor, and more importantly, he managed to keep everyone inside the building safe. So it didn't take long for our hedgehog to realize that even though things got out of hand, he still managed to save the day with absolutely no casualties.
Except for Renamon though.
Sonic was worried about her, after he took her to the staff so they could patch her up, when he regained his conscience the day after, he asked the staff what happened to her and they informed him she vanished from her spot in a swirl of leaves after they tended to her injuries.
At first Sonic thought nothing of it, as it was Renamon's usual behavior when around people she didn't know. But it's been two days and she didn't even came to visit him, considering that she visited him almost every day, that was a surprise. Rika even came the day after asking if he knew where Renamon was, only to realize that Sonic also had no idea where she was.
'What have gotten into you, Renamon?' he thought to himself, worried about her well being.
When he stopped Baalmon from killing Renamon, Sonic was able to see the shame in her eyes. Shame for not only being unable to withstand such powerful adversary, but also being unable to protect her friend.
'She's doing exactly what I did' he realized, after he fought Astamon, Sonic saw that he wasn't strong enough to protect those close to him and decided to go on a training trip. Needless to say, it was an almost failure, he worked so hard that his body couldn't handle the stress and now he's here sitting on the hospital bed for only god knows how long.
Renamon seemed to have become self conscious about her overall fighting capability. She's good, very good actually, but it doesn't seem to be enough if she needs to depend on Digivolving to defeat her enemies. And she realized it while fighting Baalmon, if she can't fight without having to expose her Tamer to the danger of being attacked, then she must find a way to become strong on her own and stop relying on Rika so much.
"What do you want?" Sonic asked all of a sudden, sitting up on his bed and leaning himself against the bed frame's head.
On the room's window, appeared none other than Impmon himself. Sonic turned his head to the imp Digimon, and noticed there was something different about him. Impmon didn't have that smug look from the same time Sonic encountered him, he had a somewhat distant look, as if he couldn't stop thinking about something.
"How did you know I was here?" Impmon asked, shocked that the hedgehog didn't even turn his head to know that he had entered the room, he thought that only Renamon could do it.
"I could feel your troubled presence" Sonic responded rather wisely.
He didn't know it was Impmon, but he did knew that someone was entering the window of his room, and this someone was emitting waves of doubt, anger and even sadness. It didn't take a specialist to realize that something was wrong with the imp Digimon, especially when the same was an annoyingly prideful prick that thought he was the best, his case was even worse that Shadow's.
"So, what do you want?" Sonic asked, closing his eyes and crossing his arms behind his head in an uninterested manner.
"I..." Impmon started, looking very bashful "I wanted to talk to you" he blurted out in a surprised manner, even surprising Sonic.
"..." Sonic just stared at him, his eyes wide in surprise but his mouth in a thin straight line "Humph" Sonic closed his eyes and smirked "Alright, let's talk" he agreed "What do you wanna talk about?" Sonic asked.
"What? J-just like that?" Impmon asked incredulously.
"Just like what?" Sonic asked back.
"I mean, we're not exactly friends, and I also said all those things about Renamon when we first met..." he said lowly. Impmon's tone was very unlike the one he used to have.
"What happened, happened. There's nothing we can do about that" Sonic told his current companion "You can't live your life in the past, you gotta keep looking forward" Sonic smirked to the little imp "Now, what is it you want to talk about?" Sonic asked once more.
"Right..." Impmon nodded "I..." he started, it seemed it was unclear to him what he wanted to talk about "I..." he stammered again, was it doubt or worry he had? Sonic's eyebrow rose in confusion and annoyance, his patience in known worldwide for being thinner than air.
"I..." Impmon stammered once again. Suddenly, to Sonic's surprise, Impmon's eyes steeled and he stood from his seated position on the window's edge "I want to know what it means to be strong" he blurted out with resolve.
Sonic's eyebrows shot upward because the Digimon's sudden change of behavior and question. He could see Impmon's eyes, and they screamed determination and thirsty for that particular question's answer. Sonic just humph'd and smirked at the little Digimon.
"W... what are you smirking at?" Impmon growled out, blushing in embarrassment, thinking that he just made a fool out of himself in front of the currently disabled hedgehog.
"What makes you think I have the answer for that question?" Sonic looked directly at him, still holding the smirk on his face.
"B... but you're strong, I've seen you fight" Impmon told Sonic, who just chuckled at his response "Why are you laughing?" Impmon almost shouted, getting angrier and angrier at the hedgehog.
"I'll answer you if you introduce yourself to me" Sonic smirked at the little imp, making the same surprised by the strange request.
"Introduce... myself?" Impmon asked incredulously.
"Yeah" Sonic replied, closing his eyes and yawning "We've*yawn* met before, but I still don't know your name and neither you know mine" he shook his head, trying to shake away the sleepiness. Being stuck inside the hospital for so long is without anything to do is boring as hell.
"Welll... Alright then... I guess..." Impmon nodded suspiciously, jumping down from the window's frame and making his way to Sonic's bed.
Once beside the bed, Impmon jumped up and landed right in front of Sonic. Turning to his side and sitting down, he came face to face with our blue hedgehog, and stared right at his eyes. Sonic just stared back unblinkingly and without any worry at all. Impmon hesitantly brought his right hand up and looked at it, clenching and unclenching his little fist.
"Sonic..." Impmon's eyes widened a peach colored hand appeared in front of him.
He sent his head in the direction where the voice came from and saw the confident hedgehog, who now sported a smile instead of the usual smirk. Impmon looked at the hedgehog, then his hand and then his face once again, Sonic just nodded at him and waited for the Digimon to grab his hand, which he did, albeit weakly and hesitantly.
"Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic shook Impmon's hand heartily, turning his smile into his usual smirk.
"Impmon" he responded, a small smile actually forming on his face. He didn't know why, but being around the hedgehog made him at ease, very unlike his usual self.
"Are you going to answer my question now?" Impmon asked, hoping for a reply to come from the hedgehog.
"What it means to be strong?" Sonic rubbed his chin in deep thought, furrowing his brows and looking up in doubt "I can't answer that" Sonic shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face.
"You... what?" Impmon's jaw fell down as he looked at the hedgehog "What do you mean by that?" Impmon almost shouted, standing up and holding his fist up, demanding a proper response from Sonic.
"What I mean is..." Sonic started, placing his hand on Impmon's head and forcing him to sit down on the bed "I can't answer that because there is no legit meaning for what it means to be strong" he told the little imp.
"No... answer?" Impmon asked, a little disheartened after hearing that.
"The real meaning of being strong is what you believe is important to gain strength for" Sonic close his eyes and crossed his arms.
"I don't get it..." Impmon spoke, pretty much asking Sonic for an explanation.
"Hmm... how do I explain this?" he cupped his chin with his right hand, a slight frown donning his face "The meaning of strength is an abstract matter, there is no true, legit, or official meaning for what it means to be strong. However, there is reason!" Sonic exclaimed with a classic smirk as he held up his right index finger "Your reason as to why you want to be strong, what you believe is important to strive for it, is what will give you your very own meaning of strength" Sonic explained to the little imp Digimon.
"My very own meaning of strength..." Impmon repeated the words spoken by the blue hedgehog in wonder.
"Tell me, why do you want to be strong, what is so important to you that you feel the need to strive for such an answer?" Sonic asked to his little companion.
...
"..." Impmon was a little surprised by the hedgehog's question, he wanted to know more about him? No one have ever wanted to know more about Impmon, but here it was, someone he barely even know, willing to listen to what he had to say.
"I want to be strong because... I want to be acknowledged by others!" Impmon exclaimed loudly "I'm always seen as useless, a waste of space, a good for nothing. Everyone ignores me and sometimes don't even acknowledge my existence, as if I'm not even there" the imp clenched his little fists in anger "And you know what's the worst part of it is?" Sonic shook his head, giving Impmon the signal to go on "They are right..." Impmon could feel some tears forming on the corners of his eyes.
Sonic said nothing, and just kept listening to what the Digimon in front of him had to say.
"I've never achieved anything in my life, I've never defeated other Digimon, I don't have any friends, I'm so weak not even humans feel threatened by me, they just think I'm a random child wearing a Halloween costume..." Impmon brought up his hands to rub off the tears cascading down his eyes "... I don't want to feel this useless and unimportant anymore" incapable of fighting off the tears, the little imp Digimon now openly cried in front of the hedgehog.
"H-hey come on, don't cry!" Sonic cried out, wishing he had not asked that question to the imp. Sonic extended his right hand placed it atop of Impmon's head "Impmon" he called out, but the imp still didn't listen "Impmon!" Sonic tried to be a bit more forceful with his tone, but still noting.
"Impmon, listen to me!" Sonic almost shouted, his voice sounding more serious, and a bit more angry. That seemed to do the trick as Impmon took his hands away from his eyes and turned them to the hedgehog in front of him, but now he expected some sort of backlash from Sonic.
"You are not useless!" Sonic took his hand from Impmon's head and placed them both on his shoulders. Impmon's eyes widened a bit, surprised to see the hedgehog actually defending him, however, he saw just as an attempt to cheer him up.
"But... I, they-"
"They nothing!" Sonic exclaimed, interrupting the small imp "Who gives a shit about what a bunch of strangers call you!?" the vulgar language used by Sonic caught him a little off guard "You shouldn't be letting their words get to you, instead, you should be trying to prove them wrong!" Sonic shook Impmon's shoulders slightly.
"I have a friend who thought the same thing, no one believed he was capable of anything impressive, and often got depressed about that, but one day, in a dire situation, he realized he couldn't keep thinking like that, and he, right there, decided to believe in himself, to believe that he was capable of achieving greatness, and prove that he too could to great things, and he did!" Sonic exclaimed loudly, making sure that Impmon was hearing him "On that day, he showed everyone what he could do, and he did that by saving millions of people, all by himself" he finished telling the story the little imp Digimon, who couldn't help but awe a little.
"What I'm trying to say is, have faith in yourself, don't let what others think of you let you down, because once you start believing in their words, they might turn out to become the truth, you don't want that to be the case, do you?" Sonic asked Impmon, looking at him dead in the eyes.
Impmon looked right back into Sonic's eyes and saw something that he had never seen before with anyone else, faith. Sonic's emerald eyes were telling Impmon that he believed in him, which made him think, if someone whom he barely knew and met was capable of believing that he could become strong, why couldn't he as well?
"Do you?" Sonic asked one more time, shaking Impmon out of his stupor.
"No..." Impmon started weak, but he soon found strength to back his words "No, I don't!" He almost shouted, his voice filled with determination "I can become strong, and no one can tell me otherwise!" the imp exclaimed.
"That's more like it!" Sonic gave him a smirk and a thumbs up "Now go out there and show the world what you've got" Sonic extended his arm and pointed dramatically to the window, more specifically, the horizon.
"Right!" Impmon responded back, he sounded really fired up, as if nothing could stand in his way.
Getting up from the bed and marching toward the window, Impmon jumped onto the window's frame. But before he jumped off, he stopped for a second, and turned around to speak to the hedgehog one last time.
"I... I want to thank you, you really helped me" Impmon went from fired up to bashful in a couple of seconds "So thanks a lot" he surprisingly bowed in a gesture of gratitude toward the hedgehog.
"Nah, don't worry" Sonic lazily waved his hand in front of his face "That's what friends do" he smiled at the Digimon.
Suddenly hearing Sonic call him friend filled Impmon with something he never thought he would ever feel again in his life, joy. With a smile of his own and a pair of determined eyes, he nodded in response to Sonic's statement and jumped away from the building.
Sonic believed in him, he believed that Impmon could achieve greatness. And if Sonic believed in him, Impmon would not let him down.
"Heh..." Sonic smirked as he crossed his arms and leaned back on the bed's head "He's quite a decent guy, who would've thought?" he said to himself.
...
A minute or so had passed before Sonic realized that he was, once again alone, and had nothing to do.
"Crap..."
XXXXXXX
Shinjuku Public School - Evening
*DING... DONG*
"Finally ..." Takato sighed with a small smile the moment he heard the School's bell ring, signalizing that for that day School was finally over. Standing up from his chair, he stuffed his materials on his bag and walked out of the classroom.
He walked through the hallways of the school and waited outside of it for his friend to show up so they could go to the park and hang out with their Digimon. At the sight of his blue haired friend, he waved his hand and received a smile and a hand wave in response. As usual, his Digimon partner was mounted on his back, just below his bag, disguising itself as a doll.
Henry knew that carrying a plush around looked weird, and that most students on the school would look strangely at him, some would even outright laugh. But Takato knew him well, he knew that Henry wasn't one to give importance to what anyone thought of him or what he did, that's just like how he is.
"So..." Takato started speaking when Henry neared him "Wanna hang out at the park today? It's been a while since Guilmon and Terriermon got the chance to play" Takato asked his friend while they made out of the school grounds.
"Say yes Henry" Terriermon muttered on his Tamer's back so only the two kids could hear him "Pleeeeease?" the little dog Digimon asked to his partner, both Tamers could only chuckle at Terriermon's antics.
"Terriermon want to go, so what do you say?"Takato looked at Henry, waiting for an answer.
"I'm sorry but I'll have to refuse" Henry looked back at Takato with an apologetic smile adorning his face.
"Aww..." Terriemon muttered, slumping it's little shoulders in sadness.
"Today I have training to do and I can't miss it, otherwise my dad would hang me by neck" Henry explained, bringing his hand up as if holding a rope that was tied around his neck.
"I understand, my dad can be rather exigent with me as well with some tasks" Takato admitted with a laugh, he did so that Henry he wouldn't feel so guilty of not going with him "Must be a dad thing I guess" Takato shrugged his shoulders.
"Probably just trying to teach some responsibility to us" Henry thought out loud "Anyway, if I don't go now I'll be late for training" Henry said hurriedly, bidding his friend good bye and running off to the direction of his Dojo.
"Can you go tomorrow then?" Takato shouted to the running Tamer, and got a thumbs up from both Henry and Terriermon. Takato then smiled and made his way to the park, Guilmon can sometimes get very depressed if his Tamer is not there to accompany him.
...
...
...
"SORYA!" Henry cried out as he flipped an opponent almost twice his own size over his shoulder and slammed it against the hard wooden floor.
His opponent, however, didn't have all that size just to show off and quickly stood up, shrugging off the attack from his fellow martial arts student. Henry, seeing that his adversary had yet to go down for good, took up a stance and prepared himself for another go.
"Ready for another round?" the obviously older and more experienced student asked his young kouhai with a smile.
"Yes, Senpai!" Henry shouted back, determined to show do his best against his opponent, even if he was panting quite a lot.
Quickly after giving his answer, Henry charged directly at the older student. Nearing his opponent, Henry two quick jabs to his midsection, only to have them redirected to the sides, completely missing their target. Seizing the open guard, the older student sent a right hook, intent on hitting the boy's face.
Henry saw the punch coming and quickly ducked under the powerful hook, it was so heavy that he could even hear the punch slicing the air above him. After ducking he went for a sweep kick, but his opponent's experience allowed him to easily predict the move and not only jump over the kick, but also give a spinning kick of his own.
His attack hit right on the spot, striking Henry's face with so much force that he was blown back, his back sliding against the floor. The blue haired boy took some time to stand up, but did it nonetheless, and rubbed the side of his face that was hit. Henry was about to charge once again when he heard his teacher speak.
"Alright, that's enough" the instructor told as he walked right between the two combatants and called off the fight "You two have been fighting for ten minutes already, the rest also wanted to fight, but you two took the rest of the time for yourselves" he gave the two of them a small glare for taking so long with their fight.
"Sorry Master" the two students bowed down apologetically, the instructor nodded in acceptance after their apologizes.
"No need to apologize, it's easy to for one to lose focus of everything else in the heat of battle" their teacher told them. After their master ended the fight, the two students walked up to one another and bowed in respect, after that they shook hands.
"Good fight, if you keep up like this you'll get far very soon" the older student complimented the young Tamer.
"Thank you, that means a lot" Henry bowed once again as the older student walked away to the showers.
"Henry..." his master called him.
"Hai!" Henry quickly turned himself and faced his teacher.
"Well done on keeping up with him for so long, you have what it takes to be an exceptional martial artist " this time it was his master's turn to compliment the boy, if he kept getting compliments like this he would end up blushing in embarrassment.
"Thank you Master" Henry bowed to his teacher "But I don't like fighting that much, I believe knowing self defense is necessary, especially to protect those I care for, but fighting for sport is not something I would say I enjoy" Henry confessed to his master.
"I see" his master crossed his arms and closed his eyes, Henry gulped in fear that he might have disappointed his instructor "It's very noble of you to learn something you don't enjoy for the well being of those close to you" his master smiled at his young blue haired student.
His master's understanding of his ideals made Henry happy, and he nodded with a smile of his own as he made his way to the showers.
XXXXXXX
Streets of Shinjuku - Night
"Your teacher was right Henry" Terriermon told his partner.
It was night time and Henry decided to walk back home through a more calm and less populated area of Shinjuku, so that Terriermon could have more freedom to speak to him if he wanted. Said Digimon, currently resided upon his Tamer's head.
"You're a very talented fighter, I bet that if you were a Digimon you would be one of the strongest" stated with confidence, which made his partner smile at him in response "I just don't understand why you don't want to get better" Terriermon confessed.
"Because..." Henry started speaking as he picked up Terriermon who was perched on his head and held him within his arms "I don't like fights in general, and you know that very well. The main reasons why I practice is because it's kind of a family tradition. I couldn't just straight out tell my instructor that I practice only because my father makes me, he would become very disappointed " he told his partner.
"I see, I guess you're right" Terriermon hummed to himself in thought "But about the part where you said you also practiced to defend your close ones, was that a lie?" Terriermon asked back, genuinely curious about the matter.
"Sort of, I guess? I never really thought about the matter up until now" Henry cupped his chin, cooking up an answer for himself and his partner "While the desire to protect my friends isn't my drive to practice, I recognize that it can be real handy if a situation demands it" the blue haired tamer answered the question.
"Hmm, but even then" the little dog Digimon started speaking, leaning his head up to face his Tamer "If you have me, then why worry about your family and friend's well being at all?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Because you're not going to be with me at all times" Henry told his partner, who was about to protest until he was held to face his tamer eye to eye "Unless you want me to stuff you into a tiny bag and carry you around in it, do you?" Henry asked the Digimon with a cocked eyebrow.
"Yeeeaaah... no, I wouldn't. Your reasoning is effective, a bit illogical, but effective" Henry laughed at his partner's response, and Terriermon laughed back as he was held against his Tamer's chest.
"But even so..." Henry's little partner spoke up again "Isn't it a little reckless of you to not prioritize the safety of your family and friends with your experience in martial arts?" he asked, both curious and concerned, as Henry just said that the safety of his close ones was not one of the main driving points of going to practice.
"No, it's not" Henry said, short and simple.
You could almost hear a crack as Terriermon's neck snapped in surprise and shock, he didn't expect the blue haired Tamer to give him that particular answer.
"Because that's not the way to protect them" Henry continued, Terriermon let out a barely audible 'what' before Henry went to explain "The only way for me to protect them is becoming a better Tamer. Practicing martial arts will only help me so much, when the true threat comes from the Digimon that invade our city"
"The only way to properly guarantee their safety is you and I becoming better together, and we get better by facing enemies and defeating them. My martial arts is useless against Digimon, which is why I don't rely on it as a method of protection, but in my experiences and future encounters with rampaging Digimon" Henry finished his explanation.
Terriermon could only let out a silent 'oh' in understanding, what Henry said was true, a human with knowledge of martial arts is next to useless when facing a Digimon, if he wanted to protect his friends and family, he had to get better as a Tamer, and Terriemon promised himself to get better and stronger as a Digmon to help him protect them as well.
Suddenly, the lights that illuminated the lonely street they were in started flickering randomly.
"Huh?" Henry stopped in the middle of the street, looking curiously at the street light going on and off repeatedly. He then felt Terriermon starting to get restless within his grip immediately after. He knew what was happening, there was a Digimon around, and Terriermon could feel its presence.
Letting go of his partner, Terriermon went straight in the direction where he felt the wild Digimon's presence. With Tamer on his wake, he ended up taking Henry back to the more populated area of Shinjuku, side stepping every person it encountered on his way as he ran to the middle of a big cross road full of people running from the giant grey fog that started to form.
"A Digital Field in the middle of the street?" Henry spoke out loud, as he stopped right next to the field, as did Terriermon.
Soon after saying that, he heard the sound of the sirens from the police cars. He turned around to see some cars that actually were not from the police, out of the came out man using a peculiar military outfit. He remembered the uniform as the same one that the pilot of Yamazaki's chopper. He felt one of them was looking at him and saw it nod in his direction, signalizing that he knew who he was what he had to do. Henry nodded back, pulled out his own sunglasses and ran into the Digital Field.
"Are you ready Terriermon?" Henry asked to his partner, readying his Digivice for the inevitable battle ahead of them.
"Ready!" and with Terriermon's answer, both of them ran straight into the digital field.
Trespassing the fog wall, both Tamer and Digimon slowed down to walk, as they cautiously looked around for any incoming. Upon reaching the center of the field, they looked forward to see two darks silhouettes surrounded by the fog, and slowly, the fog around them dissipated, revealing two centaur like Digimon. Henry's eyes narrowed almost immediately at their sight, both of them wore familiar Chinese looking garb.
"The Devas..." Henry muttered under his breath.
"I see you know who we are" the sheep looking centaur said in a clearly feminine voice, crossing her arms "I suppose you also know why we're here?" she asked to the boy.
Henry glared at them harder than before, he had discovered during the school trip with Takato that the Devas were after Culumon, from what he could gather, Culumon had the ability to allow Digimon to Digivolve faster than they should. Gripping the Digivice tightly around his fingers, he brought it up in order to scan the monsters in front of him, the information he was given wasn't the least encouraging.
"Pajiramon and Vajramon... both Ultimate level Digimon" Henry took out his sunglasses and pocketed them.
"We're in for quite a fight, aren't we?" Terriermon said, a small, nervous smirk donning his muzzle.
Henry said nothing, he just pulled out a card from his card holder and slashed it across his Digivice's reader.
"Card Slash!" He began "Super Evolution Plug-In-S!" he finished slashing the card across the reader.
"Terriermon, Digivolve to..." a bright green cocoon surrounded Terriemon's little body and expanded in size until it exploded outward, revealing the Digimon's next stage "Gargomon!" he shouted, jumping forward in front of his Tamer and spinning his gatling guns in anticipation.
"So, what the reports said was true" Pajiramon spoke to herself "They can Digivolve their partners anytime" she slowly galloped forward, materializing a purple crossbow.
"Stay out of my way" She said, a bit of arrogance in her voice, as she raised her armed hand in front of her partner "I'll get them" she finished, turning her head to the side and looking at him "You'll wait in the sidelines in until the target appears" ordered
"Are you sure?" Vajramon asked back, visibly irritated for not being allowed to fight.
"Yes" She responded immediately "It's not like it will be difficult" she cocked her head to the side in a mocking way "He's just a pathetic Champion" Pajiramon sneered at her opponent.
Vajramon hesitated for a moment, but he complied none the less, disappearing from view, and landing on top of one of the many buildings surrounding the area. She was getting careless, which is a bad thing to do considering what happened to Mihiramon, and the rest of the Devas defeated by the Tamers.
"I wouldn't get too confident if I were you..." Gargomon almost growled, he held a frown on his face the moment she talked him down.
"Don't let her words get to you Gargomon" Henry warned his partner softly "You need to stay focused" he said wisely.
"Yes, listen to your owner" she insulted him with a sneer, implying he's just a pet "You don't want to get hurt, do you?" her voice reeked with false worry.
Gargomon growls at her again, but kept his cool. Just as Henry said, she was trying to get the best of him, and he wouldn't give her that pleasure. Gargomon brought up his arms and readied this attack. Not long after, Gargomon charged at the sheep Digimon, his arms spinning as he tried to shower Pajiramon with as many bullets as he could.
Pajiramon, not wanting to be on the receiving end of annoying stings, jumped high into the air in order to avoid the shots, and aimed her own long ranged weapon at the dog Digimon.
"Bao Gong!" Pajiramon shouted the name of her attack as multiple arrows of light were fired from her Cross-Bow.
The attack descended so fast that Gargomon had no time to dodge, but rather than hitting him, all the shots fell all around him like meteors. The explosions generated by the attack lifted up a curtain of smoke, and if it was hard to see before, now Gargomon has next to no sight at all.
Gargomon's eyes narrowed as his head and long ears twitch left and right, trying to look or hear where the sheep Digmon might appear. If it shoot the ground to raise a smokescreen instead of shooting directing at him, then it obviously wants to sucker punch the long eared Digimon at the given chance, a chance he was not going to let it have.
He suddenly hears something to his right, and raises his right arm to the sound's location and shoots dozens of bullets by instinct. But the only sound he hears later are his bullets hitting the side of a building, he sighs, releasing the air he didn't know he was holding.
"Behind you" he heard a voice come from his back, and turned his head just in time for his jaw to meet a black skinned, clenched fist. Gargomon's body went flying immediately after, cracking the concrete floor as it bounced on it at high speed, hitting a stationary car head first not long after.
"Gargomon!" the large dog Digimon heard his tamer call his name in worry, and opened his eyes just in time to let him jump high up in the air, allowing him to escape being stomped down on the car by Pajiramon's front legs.
Pajiramon however, wasn't a Perfect for no reason, and jumped right after him. Upon quickly reaching his current height, Gargomon's face contorted in surprise as he gave a yelp before being kicked into an office inside of a building by the sheep Digimon.
Gargomon slid across the office's floor, scattering computer parts, tables and sheets of paper as he collided with everything in his way. Due to the long eared dog's lack of hands of claws, he could do naught as he slid all the way to the wall at the end of the office, finally halting his momentum.
XXXXXXX
"Oh no!" Henry muttered to himself in worry when he saw the sheep looking Deva kick his partner inside an office building.
"What's happening, culu?" a high pitched voice spoke to Henry, but he didn't even mind to turn to it, he was too worried for his friend.
"My friend is fighting with a-!" he finally turned his head to the side and saw the small Digimon the Devas were looking floor, in all of its cute glory.
"Culu?" the small white Digimon cocked its head to the side.
His eyes widened at the sight of the small Digimon, the one the Devas were looking for. He quickly picked the white skinned Digimon on his arms and ran inside of an abandoned store at the side of the street, hoping that the other Digimon did not see Culumon at all. Inside the store, he went behind the counter and sat there for a moment to catch his breath.
"Are we playing a game, mister?" Culumon asked cutely to the blue haired tamer.
"Umm..." he looked back at the Digimon, thinking of what to say "Y-yes, we're playing a game" he responded with a nervous smile, trying to think of a way for the Culumon to not appear on the streets, he had to get back there, but he couldn't just let her come after him.
"Ya-" Culumon's shout of glee was interrupted by Henry's hand covering her mouth.
"If you shout you'll lose the game" he said, keeping his hand on her mouth "The rules are as follows, I want to see how long you can stay put and stay quiet inside this store" he explained the rules with a serious face "If you make any noise, or come out of the store, you'll lose the game, got it?" he finished, and got a nod in response.
"Alright" he took his hand away from her mouth and placed her down on the floor "I'll be outside counting the time" he said, quickly bolting off the store.
XXXXXXX
"Ow, ow, ow" Gargomon grimaced, slowly standing up from his position. When he stood up however, his face was struck with a powerful straight punch, sending the back of his head against the same wall he has just gotten up from.
The dog Digimon quickly shook the pain from his head as best as he could before sending his own punches toward the white furred sheep. He sent forward a hook that was promptly blocked and easily countered with a quick jab to his face. Next was his Animal Uppercut, to which she easily dodged and sent her own head downward to hit Gargomon with a hard headbutt.
Disoriented by her unconventional attack, Gargomon failed to notice Pajiramon stomping his feet with her front hooves. She then started mauling his face with her fists, jabs, hooks, uppercuts and wide arc heavy punches, she unleashed a brutal wave of blows one after another toward the dog Digimon, her hooves on his feet keeping him from toppling toward the ground or flying upward at each uppercut.
Pajiramon caked the black skin of her fists with his blood as she continued to relentlessly pound his face until she finished with a powerful hook, taking her hooves off his feet and letting him fly off into another wall, breaking it apart and sending him directly into the male restroom of the building's floor, breaking sinks on the far wall.
"Uhh..." Gargomon groaned, he felt like his head was going to explode. His body was still laid across the wall of the restroom, with the broken sink splashing water over his head. At least it refreshed him a little bit, and cleaned his face of the blood he didn't remember that he had. The concept of Digimon bleeding was still new to him after the incident with Sonic, but now he was sure he would never forget after seeing his own smeared all over his opponent's fists.
Pajiramon walked through the debris made by Gargomon's body crashing against the all, kicking small debris and pebbles out of the way as she trotted in his direction. Nearing the poor green and white Digimon, she forcefully grabbed him by one of his long ears and started dragging him out of the rest room, the Digimon screaming and kicking all the way.
She dragged him all the way to the hole on the side of the building made by their scuffle, and tossed him back into the streets like a ragdoll. Henry shouted for his friend's name when he saw Gargomon's body plummeting to the floor, and ran as fast as he could to try and catch him, despite their immense weight difference.
The boy dove forward and turned himself in the air, catching the huge body of his partner and softening his fall. However, it came with a cost, the weight of Gargomon's body crushing Henry's against the concrete floor fractured one of his ribs.
"Henry... why?" Gargomon asked with a whine, rolling off his Tamer's body and kneeling beside him. He completely ignored the miserable state he was in to focus on the boy.
"Do I *groan* need a reason to help a friend?" Henry groaned in pain, holding his chest with his arm, with Gargomon carefully helping him up.
Gargomon frowned, but it turned into a smile right afterwards. The moment, however, was short lived when he heard something coming his way, and quickly, but carefully, shoved Henry away from him as Pajiramon fell on top of him, stomping his body against the concrete, exploding the ground and sending debris everywhere.
"Gargomon!" the tamer shouted for his partner's name, holding his chest to ease his pain.
"How cute" the sheep Digimon gloated, her hoof stationed on the dog's neck "The bond between Human and Digimon" she squeezed Gargomon's neck against the pavement, eliciting a pained grunt from him.
"Why are you doing this?" Gargomon spoke between grunts, trying to get her hoof off his neck at the same time he tried his best to breath.
"Because you're a heretic" she spoke with venom lacing her voice "A Digimon who betrayed its own kin for something as low as a human being" she hissed at him, putting more pressure on Gargomon's neck "And heretics must be purged" he tried even harder to pry her leg off his neck.
The sheep Digimon picked the crossbow on her back, and aimed it down toward the struggling long eared dog. Her initial mission of finding and capturing Culumon completely forgotten in her mind as she thought of nothing else but executing the heretic Digimon. Gargomon could do naught but watch the tip of the crossbow close to his snout shine with a strong yellow light, ready to take his life.
*thwack*
Gargomon gasped and his pupils shrunk when he saw a medium sized rock hit Pajiramon square on her chin, the blow making her head lean up a bit. The rock came from none other than his partner Henry, who had picked one of the debris on the floor and hurled it toward the powerful enemy hurting his friend.
She slowly brought her head back to regular angle, and her eyes looked downright murderous, the idea of a lowly human standing up to her made her both disgusted and mad. Pajiramon took her hoof off Gargomon's neck, and while he coughed his lungs out, she slowly trotted her way to the boy who dared to attack her.
She stopped right in front of the human, staring at him with anger donning her features, while Henry stood up to her defiantly, his scowl not faltering one bit in front of the Deva.
"Stay away from him!" Pajiramon heard the dog Digimon shout at her. He was on his knees, trying his best to stand up to continue facing her in battle, but rather than turning around to face her opponent, she kept staring at the boy, her fist clenched tightly around the handle of her crossbow.
With a lot of difficulty, Gargomon did manage to stand up, and he started slowly making his way toward the sheep Digimon. Getting beside her, however, resulted in Pajiramon backhanding him away from her. Henry jumped in response to her action, and was about to run toward his downed partner, when he too, found himself, too, in the receiving end of a backhanded strike.
Upon hitting the floor, Henry's card holder snapped from his belt and scattered his cards all over the floor beside him. He coughed up some blood, letting a blood trickle seep from his mouth, as he tried to pushed himself off the pavement. Pajiramon, however, was not finished with him, and steeped up to Henry, stomping him on his chest, right on his broken ribs, eliciting a scream from the blue haired boy. She smiled cruelly at that, rubbing her hoof around the rib cage area of the boy with a lot of pressure to hear him scream in pain.
"Henry!" Gargomon shouted with a grunt, he felt a sudden surge grow within his body as he slowly picked himself up. Pajiramon felt the sudden growth of density in the atmosphere and turned her head to see the dog Digimon she trashed around giving off a dangerous presence "STOP HURTING MY FRIEND!" the dog screamed at the top of his lungs, making his presence even more noticeable and intimidating.
"Uhh" Henry grunted in relief when Pajiramon finally took her hoof off him. He turned his eyes toward Gargomon, who looked downright mad at the sheep Digimon, until a bright shining at the corner of his eyes caught his attention. He turned his head and saw one of his cards glowing strongly, only for the glow to dimmer and reveal blue card, the blue card one of his friends had given him a few days earlier.
"Wha-?" he turned his head to the store he had left Culumon, and there she was, right at the doors of the store, looking at them worriedly with the red mark on her forehead head shining brightly.
Henry steeled his eyes, he was given the opportunity to fight back, and if he didn't take it, Gargomon would die. So with a burst of his own strength, he picked the blue card and stood up unsteadily.
"Gargomon, get ready!" Henry shouted, he held up the blue card and the Digivice, upon seeing them, the dog Digimon nodded and steeled himself "Card Slash!" the blue haired boy yelled instinctively as he slashed the card across the Digivice's reader "MATRIX EVOLUTION!" he shouted.
"Gargomon, digivolves to..." Gargomon's body shone a neon green light so brightly that Pajiramon was forced to put her arm in front of her face in order to not get blinded. What she didn't see was Gargomon's body changing drastically, his body slimmed down and got lengthier and wicked looking, he had green metal armor covering his upper chest, his hips, and a knight looking protecting his head, and very long and large armor pieces protecting his ears. On his back he had a pair of missile launchers, on his arms he had grey shoulder pauldron covering his shoulder blades, and the rest of his having a mechanical look, with a black fabric covering his lithe upper arm, and cannons covering his forearms. On his legs he had armor of the same material covering his long pointy feet and his ankles.
"RAPIDMON!" he burst out of the light that his own body had produced, shouting his name. All of his earlier injuries from before were completely recovered, and he looked ready for more action, a little too ready for Pajiramon's liking.
"Anyone can bully a weaker foe" Rapidmon pointed his arm forward, getting the attention of the sheep "Let's see what you can do against someone your own level!" he suddenly shot forward at ludicrous speed and rammed Pajiramon on her chest, dragging her with him to the other side of the street and breaking through the wall of a building.
Inside the building, Pajiramon stood up shocked from the attack and looked left and right, searching for her recovered enemy, until the ground burst from beneath her and she received an uppercut right to her chin, sending her straight a few floors upwards. Following her, Rapdmon maneuvered around her rising form with impressive grace and nimbleness for someone his size, and kicked her in the face, sending her flying onto the glass windows of the building and off the building itself, but he was not over yet, with his superior speed he followed her once again and brought both his arms up and slammed them against her back, sending her down against the pavement, shattering it into dozens of debris.
He was about to do another follow up to his attack when he sensed a killing intent beside him and turned around just in time to place his arms up and block a double sword strike from the, until now, observing Vajramon. The red clad centaur placed all of his strength behind his sword slash and sent Rapidmon flying down against the pavement as well, only he managed to straight himself up on in the air and land on his feet, with the floor cracking under them.
"Wow..." Henry marveled at the incredible show of strength and speed of his partner. He pulled his Digivice and scanned Rapidmon "Rapidmon, Ultimate level Digimon. It possess the title of Keen Hound, uses its next to speed of light velocity to quickly bring down his opponents, and its ears act as a radar, capable of detecting anything within its large range" the blue haired boy looked at the descriptions with wide eyes "Awesome..." he muttered under his breath. Rapidmon couldn't help but smirk in response to his Tamer's reaction.
"What are you doing here?" Pajiramon words sounded weak, the Digimon facing her right now did a pretty good number on her, she can barely stand upright without staggering left and right.
"I'm here to assist you, obviously" he responded, positioning himself in front of her and holding his swords up in an offensive stance.
"I don't need your help" she clearly didn't look happy that her enemy had gotten the best of her, and brandished her crossbow.
"That's not what those injuries tell me" and true to his words, Pajiramon was hurt all over the place, her fur had dirty spots, her skin had visible bruises, her clothes had gashes and scratches on them, and one of her horns had a broken tip.
"Will you shut u-"
"Are we here to talk, or are we here to fight?" Rapidmon, who was across them, interrupted them as he patiently waited for their bickering to end, not one to fight an opponent that's haven't started fighting yet.
"Are you sure provoking them is safe?" Henry asked beside his partner, he still had his hand across his ribs, to ease the pain, as he looked worriedly toward the green armored dog.
"I can take them" the response was quick and short, his confidence in victory was rather exaggerated, but considering how he managed to deal so much damage to Pajiramon under such short time, his confidence might be justified "But I want you to get away" he warned Henry, turning his head slightly to the side to face his tamer "Things might get a little hectic, and I don't want you in the middle of it" the blue haired boy looked into his partners eyes before nodding and backing himself away.
"I'm not letting you!" Pajiramon saw the blue haired boy getting away, and still consumed by the rage of being attacked and defied by him, she charged straight for the boy. However, she was promptly intercepted by Rapidmon when she neared the tamer, and found herself in the receiving end of a powerful hook to the face, sending her straight back where she had charged from.
"Your fight is with me" he spoke loud and clear for both opponents to hear "You knew this would happen if you dared to touch my tamer, now you have to pay the piper" Rapidmon straightened both his arms toward Pajiramon and Vajramon "Rapid Fire!" he roared, unleashing a barrage of missiles from both his arm cannons and the missile launchers on his back.
The missiles released streams of smoke as they made their way toward the two hoofed Digimon. Vajramon was capable of escaping in time by jumping to the side, but Pajiramon wasn't so lucky, and due to her injuries, she didn't escape the onslaught of explosives and was thrown backwards by the detonation.
Not one to lose his momentum, Rapidmon charged straight toward Vajramon, ready to give him a piece of his mind. Vajramon sensed that, however, and held his swords in a cross formation, blocking the green armored dog's attack, he then tried to slash Rapidmon on his exposed midsection, only to have the blade of his sword deflected by an arm canon. Soon, both Digimon found themselves trading lightning fast strikes, resulting in a stalemate between both fights, with them holding and having their attack held by the opponent.
"You're pretty good for a heretic" Vajramon grunted, throwing his weight onto the dog Digimon, in hopes of getting him off balance.
"You're not so bad yourself" Rapidmon grunted back, throwing his own weight forward, preventing himself from falling backwards.
"Bao Gong!" Rapidmon heard the shout coming from his side, and quickly jumped backwards when he saw a shining light at the corner of his eyes. He had jumped just in time to dodge a light arrow that was shot straight across him and kept going until it hit and blew up a car at the side of the street.
Rapidmon flew left and right, evading all of Pajiramon's energy arrows. He made a sharp turn in the air and charged toward the sheep Digimon to give her another good punch to the face. When he neared her, she brought her arms up in a cross guard when the armored dog's arm neared her face, effectively protecting her from the strike, but Rapidmon didn't stop, and he sent a barrage of punches until her guard broke and he sent a multitude of heavy, wide swings to her face and chest.
He would've kept pummeling her if a clenched fist didn't make its way to his own head and sent him flying sideways. Straightening himself up in the air, Rapidmon's metallic feet slid across the concrete road, and he jumped up to evade a beam of energy from the one who socked him in the face.
"Homing Blast!" Rapidmon shouted the name of his attack as missiles shot out of the launcher on his back and homed on Vajramon and Pajiramon's general direction.
But the red clad centaur wasn't having none of that, and jumped to meet his opponent, taking the missiles head on and chopping them to pieces with his twin swords on his way to his enemy. They met in the air with a stalemate, and started trading quick blows with one another till they both landed simultaneous blows on one another, Rapidmon connecting a hook to Vajramon's face, and Vajramon slashing Rapidmon's exposed midsection.
"Ugh" the green armored dog grunted in pain from the slash he received, it wasn't deep nor life threatening, but it hurt like hell.
Suddenly, his senses went into overdrive as his large ears detected something moving within vicinity and charging in his exact direction. He turned his body around, ignoring Vajramon and blocked a charging headbutt from Pajiramon. He took advantage of the situation and grabbed the sheep Digimon by her horns, and used her like a club to hit the centaur right in the face, sending him down to collide with the hard floor. Rapidmon then spun in the air at high speed and launched Pajiramon against her partner, causing the road to burst and smoke to arise.
"Bao Jian!" Rapidmon heard Vajramon scream, he turned his head to see the centaur cross his blades over his chest as they shone greatly before a beam of light shot out of them directly at Rapidmon. Pajiramon, having already gotten up, took advantage of the opportunity and shot her opponent with another wave of cross bow shots.
"Rapid Fire!" the armored dog Digimon shot dozens of missiles from his arm cannons and the launcher on his back, bigger and stronger than the ones from his previous attack. The missiles collided directly with the energy attacks and resulted in a massive explosion in the middle of the air.
The explosion caused a sizeable smoke screen around the perimeter, and sent Rapidmon off balance. While he tried straighten himself up, Vajramon and Pajiramon seized their chance and shot their respective long ranged attacks with all their power, and without time to react properly, Rapidmon was struck dead on his exposed midsection, and with a loud pained yell, he was dragged all the way to a building with concrete walls by the beam, destroying the wall, and lifting yet another smoke screen.
"Rapidmon!" Henry shouted from where he stood, inside the store he hid Culumon and keeping it out of the Devas' field of vision.
When the smoke started to dissipate, they could see the outline of Rapidmon's body, and when it disappeared, there he was, stuck on the wall and completely still, arms spread to the sides, his legs hanging down below him, and his head hanging down as well.
"Oh no..." he gasped, seeing the current state of his Digimon partner.
"Heh, serves him right" Pajiramon sneered with a huff, rubbing off the blood tricking down from her lips with her hand, the fight left her very tired and injured.
"Do you think he's down?" Vajramon questioned the sheep Digimon, he had a feeling the green armored Digimon wasn't down just yet, but he too was tired from the fight, he put almost everything he had into that last attack.
"Of course he is, if not, we can kill him later" she sheep responded, signalizing her partner to follow her toward the boy, whom they were going to get answers from.
As soon as Henry noticed them coming for him, he lowered his stance, ready to make a run for it if necessary, Culumon was hidden deep inside the store, so there was no way for them to see her. The sheep looked smug as ever trotting his way, but the centaur's eyes shifted left and right uncomfortably, waiting for something to happen.
Then, out of a sudden, a triangular beam of green energy shot down like at the speed of a lightning bolt, and struck down Pajiramon's entire body, she could do naught, as her body was completely disintegrated into data in an instant. Vajramon himself was partially struck down, with the left side of his body completely wiped out.
"AAARGHH" the centaur screamed in pain, holding his left side with his right arm, it flickered wildly with data particles, he gave the boy a murderous glare before vanishing from there, he would not stay her if it meant him getting erased from history.
Henry could not believe what he just saw, it all happened so fast. He looked up to where the beam came from to see his partner completely intact, with small balls of energy disappearing from his arms and feet. The Digimon looked back at his pumped his arm up, signifying his victory over the two Devas.
The victory, however, was short lived when his body began to glow and he degraded back into Terriermon, and started to fall from his perch in the building. Henry immediately started to run in the small dog's direction and caught him in his arms before he could hit the floor.
"I won" the little dog huffed and puffed in tiredness in the arms of his trainer "Oh god... I'm tired... tired and hungry..." he panted between his words, but nonetheless still managed to held his sense of humor to himself, which got both partners laughing in result.
They noticed the foggy digital field started to dissipate, and had to get out there quickly, else they wanted to be seen by people and possibly the media. When got out of view, the fog dissipated completely, allowing all the people who had gathered at the middle of the street in wonder to see the destruction left by the fight between Terriermon and the Devas.
And in the middle of them, was none other than Henry's very own father, and he didn't look very happy.
XXXXXXX
Streets of Shinjuku - Night
Henry walked around the busy streets, his goal? Well, his home, of course. He had rubbed the blood stain that trickled off his mouth, and did his best to make himself look presentable to not draw any suspicion toward himself. Terriermon found himself perched on the boy's back, disguising as a backpack.
The boy walked with a noticeable limp, however, each step he made would make his ribs hurt, and he would recoil whenever it happened. It was enough to draw a few odd and/or worried looks in his general direction, but he tried to keep cool as much as he could until he could reach home before someone was bold enough to ask him if he was okay.
Henry stopped walking however, when a familiar looking car passed by him and stopped just a few feet in front of the boy. He recognized the car's license plate almost immediately, it was his father's car, and it brought a relieved sigh out of his mouth, he would not need to get home by foot anymore.
He walked up to the car, which's door had already been opened for him, but when he looked inside, he was met with a very serious looking father, and he knew he was in for it. Trying to be as natural as he could, Henry slowly got into the car and closed the door, picking the unmoving Terriermon out of his back like a backpack and placing it on his lap. Terriermon just knew he had to do his best to keep himself from making any sort of movement while in Henry's father presence.
Part of the way was driven in an awkward silence as father and son didn't spoke to one another. His father, Janyu Wong, looked more serious and normal, well, he wasn't actually all that serious, so when he saw his father with that out of place expression, he knew something was wrong.
"So..." he started, hands on the wheel and never taking his eyes off the street "... this is what you've been doing all this time when you go out for walks, or after school" he asked... stated to his old and experienced voice seeking to know the truth.
"D-doing what?" Henry's eyes looked left and right, nervous that his father might be onto something.
"Don't play dumb with me" his tone got more serious as Janyu addressed his son, and he flinched in response to his dad's tone "I saw what happened in that fog" he told his son, who turned his head to look at him with wide eyes.
"You saw that?" he asked, gulping down in fear of what his father would do.
"Yes, I saw you running down the street, following your backpack" Janyu's eyes turned quickly to the Digimon on his son's lap, and then back to the road in front of him "And when I saw you getting inside of the fog, I obviously tried to go in to bring you back, only to be barred by authorities" he turned the march of the car while saying that "I had to confirm that you were my son for them to let me see what was happening in there" this time he turned his eyes to his son, they showed worry, but also strictness.
Henry didn't respond back, he just looked down and gripped his pants with his fingers.
"When did it start?" Henry's father asked, this time his voice was a bit softer.
"..." the blue haired boy didn't respond at first, trying to find the strength to talk to his father about the matter at hand "... do you remember that Digimon game you bought me a while back?" Henry asked his father, and received a short nod in response "While playing the game, I had picked Terriermon as my partner" he held the small Digimon closer to his body "And barely I knew that Terriermon wasn't just a piece of code inside the game, he was alive, and I had befriended him through the game"
"One day, I found around my deck of cards a strange blue card, and with the game booted, I swiped it through the card reader to see what kind of card it was" he explained to his father, who was doing his best to pay attention to the road in front of him "And Terriermon was born... well, born in our world anyway. We have been best friends since, and he and I..." he held the Digimon tighter in his grip, said Digimon looked up to Henry with a worried expression "We... we have been protecting Shinjuku since, fighting rogue Digimon and keeping them from destroying the city" he spoke in one go, with determination in his voice. Henry's father didn't respond to what his son said, he looked pensive, reflecting on the story Henry had just told him.
"You know, son..." Janyu started speaking to his son, whom started listening carefully "When I saw you entering that strange fog, and facing those... Digimon... alongside your friend, I was really scared..." Henry's eyes widened the moment his father said that "You were getting yourself into danger, and it made me fear for your life. I wanted to do nothing more than run in there, grab you, and get you back home to safety, especially when you got attacked yourself" Janyu had to park the car so that he could speak better to his son, and looked straight at him with a very serious expression "Do you know how I felt back there?" he asked. Henry had an idea, but he still shook his head negatively "I thought I was going to lose you"
"But then you showed me a side of you I have never seen before, back there" Janyu carefully placed his hand on his son's shoulder "You have shown selflessness and loyalty toward your friend, putting him before yourself, and purposefully getting in danger for his sake, even if it didn't have the best results" he smiled warmly at his son "I wish I could tell you to stop what you're doing and just keep living a normal life, away from danger" shaking his son's shoulder lightly.
"I've always expected responsibility from you, which is why I have been very strict to you sometimes" Janyu said, his hand still on his kid's shoulder "But you have shown me how much you have grown, and I can see that you're not a kid anymore, but a man, and you have duties and responsibilities where you can't just turn your head the other way"
"You... you understand?" Henry muttered lowly while looking into his father's eyes, even Terriermon was listening carefully to what his tamer's father had to say.
"Yes, I do" he nodded to his son "I may not like it, but I'll try to support you as much as I can" Henry had his mouth open in surprise, and it soon turned slowly into a smile .
"Thanks dad" he smiled at his father "That means a lot to me"
"I just ask of one thing from you" Janyu lifted one finger to get the point across, while Henry listened to him "Be careful out there" he suddenly pulled his son in to a warm hug. Henry was surprised by the sudden act, but soon he returned the hug with a smile of his own.
"Hey!" they heard a high pitched voice between them "I don't get one too?" Terriermon puffed his cheeks and huffed, faking offense.
Henry laughs lightly at Terriermon's antics, Terriermon had his eyes closed and tiny arms crosses, until he felt someone was staring at him and turned his head to look at Henry's father, who was indeed looking at the small Digimon on his son's lap.
"So, you're my son's friend, huh?" he said seriously, looking at the little dog Digimon up and down, said Digimon could only gulp under the analyzing eye of his Tamer's father "I saw how you saved my son and was always thinking about his safety first and foremost, you have my deepest gratitude" Janyu bowed his head lightly toward the small Digimon.
"Oh, stop it" Terriermon closed his eyes and held his cheeks with his little paws "You'll make me blush" Henry laughed louder at that, and even his father chuckled a little bit.
"Ha ha ha- ugh..." Henry's laughter was interrupted by a sudden grunt coming from his throat. The boy grimaced, holding one of his hands over his chest once more, trying to ease the pain of his fractured ribs.
"What's wrong?" his father asked worriedly, although he already had an idea of what it could be, and started the car in preparation.
"My ribs, I think they're broken" Henry wheezed out to his father.
"Let's take you to the hospital, then" Janyu spoke seriously and drove the car as fast as he could to Shinjuku Hospital for treatment, without worsening his son's condition, to receive proper treatment.
XXXXXXX
Shinjuku Hospital - Night
"Henry?!" Sonic almost jumped from his bed after seeing the boy being transported to his room via wheelchair by a nurse, with Terriermon on his lap and his father following close behind "What are yo- what happened to you?!" he asked, worried about his friends condition.
When they got into the hospital, Janyu made sure that Henry was treated almost immediately. Luckily, for the boy, his ribs weren't so bad, just fractured, and while it wasn't nice to have fractured ribs, he would be back in action in a few days, maybe a week and a half tops. When he was finished being examined, he was told that he would need to be in the hospital for some days before being allowed to recover on his home, and since that was the case, Henry had asked if he could be placed on the same room as Sonic. The doctors remembered the boy from that day, and obliged to his request, so now here he is.
"Oh, you know" he rubbed the back of his head with a chuckle coming out of his lips "The usual" he shrugged his shoulders while the nurse helped him to the bed beside Sonic's.
"I thought the usual meant Terriermon fighting the Digimon, not you" he had a raised eyebrow.
"I had some complications" he rubbed the back of his head, thanking the nurse for the assistance when she made her way out.
"Yeah, I was getting my ass handed to me, and he had to bail me out" Terriermon plopped himself onto Henry's bed "But the good news is that I beat them in the end, and now I can Digivolve into an Ultimate" he crossed his little arms and nodded to himself, really proud of his achievement.
"Oh! That's pretty cool" Sonic smiled to his friend, his upper leaning his body forward.
"And that's not all of it" Terriermon got up and jumped from Henry's bed to Sonic's "I'm faster than you are when I Digivolve into my Ultimate form" he smirked at the hedgehog confidently.
"Oh?" the blue hedgehog raised a brow at the dog Digimon's statement "Is that a challenge?" he leaned his head forward, lightly bumping it against Terriermon's.
"You bet!" both of them smirked at one another while Henry laughed lightly at their antics.
While the boys' conversation went on, Janyu listened to the casual conversation between them with mild interest. He knew who Sonic was, he had seen the news, and apparently he was some hot shot hero who was always helping around town and preventing crimes, but he didn't know the hedgehog was, from what he could assume, one of his son's friends.
"You must be Henry's father" his musings were cut short when the hedgehog addressed him.
"Y-yes, I am" he stuttered at the beginning from the suddenness of Sonic calling him "But, how did you know?" he asked the hedgehog, cocking up an eyebrow in wonder.
"You literally look like an older Henry" Sonic smile with a chuckle, he wasn't wrong, Janyu looked just like Henry, only older and with longer hair "I gotta say though, you did a great jog raising your son" the hedgehog pointed out, which made both father and son blink their eyes at his statement "He's level headed, humble, and dauntless, have a great sense of justice and loyalty, avoids fighting unless utterly necessary, and is willing to put himself in danger for those close to him" Sonic raised one finger for each characteristic.
Janyu's eyes widened at how the hedgehog described his son, who looked bashful at the moment, due to being praised by his friend like that. He smiled warmly at his son and placed a hand on his head, rubbing in a way only a father knew how, and it was met with a smile from his own son.
XXXXXXX
Rooftops of Shinjuku - Night
The silhouette of a single lone figure could be seen on top of a skyscraper, a lithe and tall figure, with its arms crossed, overlooked the beautiful city lights. It was Renamon, and she stared down the city with pensive eyes, after the fight against Baalmon, she needed some time for herself, to reflect on her downright shameful performance in that fight, and the conversation she had earlier this day.
She was glad that Sonic ended up okay at the end, but it was still not enough to take her mind away at how easily she had been overpowered by her foe, and how pitiful her attempts of protecting her friend was. It angered Renamon to her very core to know that even after all this time and all the effort she put herself through, she still wasn't strong enough.
"So, what do you say?" Renamon heard a voice suddenly calling for her in the midst of the night. When she turned her head, she saw the red clad centaur from the ruckus earlier this day, with his body intact. And when she then turned around to face Vajramon, the results of that battle were as clear as day on her body.
Her left arm sleeve was missing, and there was a huge scar going from just below her shoulder blade all the way to the middle of her forearm, and in her face was a scar crossing her right eye, luckily it was still functional, Baalmon had only cut the skin using his sword. If it wasn't for the doctors' treatment, however, they would probably be a lot worse.
"I don't know, I'm still thinking about it" she responded nonchalantly, turning herself away from the centaur and back to look at the city below.
Renamon had met him earlier that day, she sensed a Digimon within vicinity and jumped from rooftop to rooftop in order to reach it, and was met with Vajramon watching the onslaught below from the rooftop. She had sensed his power, and knew she was in a tight spot if she tried to jump below to help, so Renamon had chosen to stay up there and watch the fight. She had to do her best not to show the Digimon how much she wanted to jump down and assist them, instead she opted for staring at the fight with her usual cold stare.
Vajramon apparently took a liking to her the moment he laid eyes on her figure, and sensing she was distraught about something , read her like an open book, and struck a conversation with Renamon about ways to become stronger while they watched the fight, a subject she took interest almost immediately when he touched upon it, even if the centaur was from the enemy's side.
He had spoken about how she could become much stronger by allying herself with the Deva, instead of staying in the human realm with her Tamer. And if she had to be honest with herself, it was tempting, throughout all of her live she had been seeking power in any way possible, and the chance to become strong so fast was too good to be true.
"What is there to think about?" he spoke to her in a surprisingly calm way, unlike the way he spoke earlier when around "You saw how that attack was useless to me" he lifted his left arm and clenched his fist to show her that he was back in tip top shape, like him losing part of his body didn't even happened "You want power, don't you?" Renamon nodded to him when he asked the question "Then join me and the Devas, and you can easily become one of, if not the strongest" Renamon clenched her fists, fighting within herself over the choice.
"You don't like these humans, and you don't like being here either" the centaur kept talking to her, and Renamon listened very carefully to his words "I can see it in your eyes, you only associate yourself with them because they can make you stronger" he trotted around the vixen while she followed his movements with her eyes.
"If you could, you would have never come here in the first place" Vajramon stopped right in front of her, his imposing figure towering her much smaller frame "But that's how you are, you'll do anything you can in order to reach your ultimate goal. When you want something, you go and get it " he lowered his head and stared at Renamon dead in the eyes.
"You're just like us" Vajramon stated to her and her eyes widened a bit with realization "I can promise you power beyond your wildest imagination. A power that your human will never manage to give you in her entire life spam" he leaned his head back and brought his open hand forward "Will you join us?" he asked the vixen.
It took Renamon a moment, but soon she had her choice made.
"Yes"
Okay, now that I'm calm, I'll take this section of the chapter to deeply apologize once again for taking my sweet ass time in making this fucking chapter, I hope you have liked it, because while I did procrastinate a lot, it wasn't just that, it was really hard to write this chapter, I most of the ideas and concepts down, but I was having a shit ton of trouble constructing the chapter around these ideas.
So yeah, sorry for the massive time spam between my last update and this... almost three years, holy shit, I can't even believe it myself.