Chapter 10
Beelzemon looked at Renamon curiously. She knew the ox? Her expression was blank. He had a feeling that she was slightly surprised though. He couldn't guarantee his hunch, but she always seemed to be in deep thought when expressionless-which was practically all the time.
"Renamon," he said her name again, but more gently, "It's been too long."
"A friend'a yours?" Beelzemon asked, looking at the golden fox still in his arms.
"No," she said firmly. Her eyes narrowed at the ox.
"That's all I needed to know," Beelzemon said. As he was about to fly down to place Renamon down and attack the Deva, Vajramon spoke.
"Renamon, come with me. I must speak with you," Vajramon told her. He turned his body towards the city, but his gaze remained on the vixen.
"There's nothing to talk about," Renamon told him simply. She got out of Beelzemon's arms and landed safely within the trees.
"Don't worry about him, Renamon. I got this," Beelzemon insisted, beginning to draw his Berejena guns. Renamon; however, stopped him. She held out her paw without turning around. He looked at her in surprise. Why didn't she just let him finish Vajramon off?
He noticed that Vajramon hadn't fully materialized. His hooves and the lower part of the ox's legs had materialized, but the rest of the Vaccine Digimon's body was practically transparent.
Beelzemon then realized something else. With the sudden and unexpected arrival of a Digimon, most likely already killed, he would have to explain Dream Data to Renamon. He knew she was too smart to believe that this was all some sort of dream.
Renamon's glare didn't move from Vajramon. "I could've sworn I defeated you," she said, talking to both the Digimon and herself.
Vajramon took a step toward her, his red eyes soft with admiration. "And our battle was wonderful. Never have I seen a Rookie Digimon battle with such grace and skill. You fought with beauty and force, which is truly magnificent," he told her, taking another step closer. "Come with me..."
Beelzemon began to feel a little irritated as Vajramon seemed to flirt with her. He kept his hands on his guns, ready to blast at the Digimon's hooves at any moment. Renamon's paw was still out-stretched; signaling him not to react violently.
"I'm not going anywhere," Renamon argued.
Vajramon looked over at Beelzemon. "Who are you?"
"The name's Beelzemon. Who the heck are you?"
"I am Vajramon and I serve the Sovereign," he replied. He narrowed his eyes at him and Beelzemon responded by doing the same, even though he was already giving him the occasional glare every time he flirted with her. "Renamon," his focus centered on the fox again. "Join me. Join the Sovereign!"
Beelzemon and Renamon were quiet. Renamon didn't understand why he was asking her this. She had already refused his offer when he made it before a long time ago. Why was he repeating it? Why was he even still here? She knew that Vajramon fought against her, as Kyubimon, with Growlmon, and Gargomon. The battle seemed to lean in the Deva's favor, until Kyubimon Digivolved into Taomon and then defeated him.
"Together, under the Sovereign, we shall rule over the humans. The humans should serve us! Digimon shouldn't lower themselves to being these humans' slaves!" he protested. He then repeated his offer to both of them. "Both of you should join the Sovereign in ruling over the humans!"
"Humans are not our slaves. They're our partners," Renamon argued in a calm voice. Before Vajramon could have a chance to argue back, she asked, "I thought I refused your offer before. I don't know how you came back, but I'm going to make sure you're gone for good this time."
Renamon crouched down, getting ready to make her move. Beelzemon noticed this and hesitated; trying to figure out whether to warn her or let her find out for herself. Renamon began to push her feet against the tree limb she crouched down on when she heard, "Stop!"
Renamon paused and looked over her shoulder to see that it was Beelzemon who was warning her. She gave him a quizzical look. "What are you doing?"
Beelzemon flew down towards her. He had a lot of explaining to do. "Renamon, you can't attack him."
"What do you mean?" Renamon asked, getting impatient.
"He's Dream Data," the Digimon blurted out. Renamon still looked at him with the same puzzled look. Beelzemon hesitated to continue. This would mean he'd have to explain Ai, Caturamon, and Leomon. He thought things would be just fine without her knowing.
Beelzemon's hopes were given a second chance as Vajramon interrupted, "This Digimon...this disgrace of a Digimon takes the form of a human; puny and ugly in every and all its ways."
"Puny?! Ugly?!" Beelzemon yelled back, getting ticked off at the Vaccine Digimon. He already disliked this Deva because of the way he had just flirted with Renamon, but this was pushing his limits. He grit his teeth and went to whip out his guns, but remembered that he was only Dream Data. As much as he would love to blast this ox Digimon into bits of data, he couldn't do it. Not at this time.
"Don't let this human-serving Digimon sway your judgment. All Digimon shall rule over the humans. They shall be our slaves. We shall not shame ourselves by obeying their orders. Humans will know who rules and who serves," Vajramon protested. The Deva glowered at the Virus Digimon and pulled out his twin Bao Jian, pointing one of them at him. "Those who stand against us shall suffer the same fate as the humans who continue to defy us. Death."
Beelzemon said nothing. He could take this Deva on when he materialized. He had gathered an unbelievable amount of data throughout his dark past. Now, with changing his ways, he could use them for the right reasons. Renamon was growing impatient. "I don't know how you came back, but I'll finish you off."
As Renamon was preparing to charge full speed at Vajramon, he disappeared. She blinked in astonishment. She whipped back around to get answers from Beelzemon. She remembered he still hadn't explained about what this Dream Data was about. However, when she turned around, he was flying away. "Beelzemon!"
The Virus Digimon ignored her call. He needed to find out more from Caturamon tomorrow morning.
:*:*:
Impmon awoke from his sleep as he heard the sound of human voices coming from the far end of the house. The groggy Digimon rubbed his eyes and yawned; finding it difficult to get up and get moving. Suddenly, he realized who those voices belonged to and was wide awake. He jumped to his feet and ran to the closet.
He left the closet door open slightly, just so he could see when they left.
Ai and Mako's father came rushing in. The man seemed flustered as he searched the room. What is he lookin' for? Impmon wondered.
"It has to be here somewhere..." the man said aloud.
All of a sudden, the man turned towards the closet and Impmon panicked. Impmon shifted to the back of the closet as his Tamers' father came closer. Just as it seemed he was about to open the closet door, the man sighed. "That was close. I thought I wouldn't find it."
Despite not being able to see as well with the closet door fully open, he identified what his Tamers' father was looking for. It was the teddy bear Ai and Mako had fought over a long time ago.
"Honey? Do you have it? Do you have the toy?" the man's wife called out.
"Yes, dear," he replied.
The father left hastily after retrieving the bear and Impmon got out of the closet. Impmon looked over at the clock in his Tamers' room and saw that it was 7:15 A.M. Normally, he would've complained, yawned, and fallen back asleep. However, it wasn't an ordinary day. It hadn't been an ordinary couple of days. He needed to go talk to Caturamon again.
He made his way towards the same tunnel he found Caturamon in and stopped before he entered.
He inhaled and exhaled; preparing for this next encounter. He tried to contemplate what his plan would be. Planning things before hand was never one of his better traits, but he had to think this one through. After deciding a few things he would ask, he entered.
The same bright light that had blinded him before shone again, but Impmon didn't flinch. His green eyes narrowed as the Dog Deva sat before him; the usual mist surrounding them once more. Impmon could've sworn the Dog Deva looked slightly different this time. He was less transparent than before. He's materializing quickly, thought Impmon.
"Have you come to ask for something else?"
"Yeah," Impmon replied back. "I wanna know why that ox-face Deva, Vajramon, is here. Did you bring 'em back?"
Caturamon smiled, but shook his head as well. "I told you before, Virus Digimon. The Digimon that materializes from various bits of digital data is random. No one truly has absolute control over it."
Impmon didn't like how Caturamon said 'absolute'. "Then how'd you bring Leomon back? Ain't he Dream Data?"
The Dog Deva pondered this, looking off into the distance as he did so. "That's hard to define."
Impmon crossed his arms. "Is that supposed to be a 'yes'?"
"No," he replied firmly. "It's 'yes' and 'no'." Caturamon began to explain, "The way I brought Leomon back was through me. He's partly Dream Data, but I also donated the memory of him that I had. It's not much, but apparently it was sufficient enough for your friends to accept him."
"How do you know they're not suspicious?" the Virus Digimon questioned.
"You know how I do things," Caturamon said with an edge in his voice and a grin. Impmon started to feel anger build up inside of him. He knew what the Dog Deva was hinting. Impmon knew very well that Caturamon could appear and harass people in their dreams.
Impmon tried to ignore it though. Making Impmon furious is what the Dog Digimon wanted. Therefore, he would do his best to resist. "Besides, it seemed like you explained things that he would've already known when bringing him to his Tamer."
The imp Digimon cringed, remembering that he had told Leomon all that had transpired; including details about who was who. He had just gotten caught up with the fact that Leomon had returned. Impmon shook his head, removing those thoughts from his mind. He was still interrogating Caturamon. There was no time to dwell on one thing when there was still so much to uncover.
"Did you bring Vajramon back or not?"
"So what if I did? What if I didn't? What does it concern you?" he asked. He closed his eyes and tilted his head up slightly. "The remainder of my memory doesn't recall you two ever crossing paths before."
"All you ever seem to do is harass people. If there's any chance that you, or any other Deva, hurtin' anyone I know, it concerns me!" Impmon protested.
Caturamon stood on all fours now. He glowered down at the imp as he said, "Just focus on Leomon. That's all that you can handle."
Impmon was getting tired of this. "Don't blow me off! I want answers!"
Caturamon shook his head and sighed. "You shouldn't overwhelm yourself with all of this. Focus on Leomon." Caturamon arose to leave him. Before he began to walk away, he added, "And watch out for your Tamers." The Dog Deva laughed mockingly as he left.
Impmon's hands turn into fists and he yelled out after the Dog Deva, "Get back here!" It was too late though. The bright light blinded him and soon he was back to just standing in the tunnel.
He looked around, making sure it was really over. He sighed, disappointed that it was over. That he didn't get more information about Vajramon or about Caturamon himself. Were there more Digimon materializing all around them? They already had a link to the Digital World, but having two Deva's materialize here is suspicious. What if more Deva's appear?
Another thought popped up into his mind. How did Caturamon know he explained mostly everything to Leomon on their way to Jeri's?
"Impmon?"
He whirled around at the sound of his name; his thoughts erased within a split second. It was Takato and Guilmon. "What are you doin' here?" he asked the boy.
"We were heading over to the park. Did you... did you wanna join?" Takato seemed to hesitate asking.
Impmon looked away. "Nah, I got more important things to do than just hang around," he told him.
"That reminds me... how did you find Leo-" before Takato could finish his sentence, Impmon was off. Takato sighed. "It's impossible to talk to him."
"Maybe if you gave him some bread?" Guilmon suggested.
Takato gave a small laugh at his Digimon's comment. "Sure, boy. It might work." The two then continued down the street towards the park.
:*:*:
Jeri rested peacefully in her bed. She dreamt sweetly, because she knew she had her beloved Digimon by her side.
Leomon leaned against the wall of Jeri's room. He wanted to protect her the best he could; especially since he had been gone for so long. He felt he needed to make up for not being there for Jeri. Although he couldn't remember everything, he knew he loved Jeri and the she loved him. There was a special bond that connected them. Or at least, that's how he felt.
He didn't know how they first met. He didn't know when they first fought together. He didn't even know when they first met the friends Jeri was with at the park. She had happily reminded him though.
Now, in the silence of the night, Leomon tried to recall the memories Jeri told him of, but to no avail. He couldn't remember anything. He could try to imagine the stories Jeri and her friends told him, but he knew they weren't real.
He crossed his arms and watched as Jeri continued to rest peacefully. Leomon tried to push his problems aside and focus on the little girl who cared for him so much. He decided to direct his attention to her... for now.
Hey, guys! It's been awhile hasn't it? I had originally wanted to get this chapter out yesterday (Valentine's Day and all...) but I guess not. Oh well. This chapter is out in a rush, so sorry if it's not that great.
Read & Review, please!