The two Tamers, Liz and Sam, ran as fast as they could through the wrecked streets of Queens, New York in search of the rampaging Digimon, Minotarumon.
They had followed his trail while at the same time keeping their distance, as Biyomon and Lopmon were still exhausted from their last battle.
"Where did he go? I thought you said you saw him go that way?" asked Liz with annoyance.
"I swear I saw him head towards the bridge. Did we lose him?" asked Sam, worried with the possibility that a rogue Digimon had gotten away to destroy the city.
As they continued through the devastation left by Minotarumon, Sam couldn't help but notice the many cars and buses knocked over by the Digimon. People dusted themselves off while firefighters worked to pull drivers out of their turned-over vehicles.
A sobering sight, yet somehow hopeful for the future as if things would go back to the way things were tomorrow.
The fact that everyone was willing to carry each other during these times filled Sam with the hope that things would get better.
She also noticed that Liz didn't share her sense of compassion and hope as the redhead's face lit with anger.
"I swear, when I get my hands on that Digimon…" muttered Liz as she hugged her Biyomon close. Biyomon's wing was still sore from her earlier fight with the beast.
Although she didn't share Liz's thirst for vengeance, Sam didn't want to argue with Liz right now as she had every right to be upset. After all, if it was her Digimon that was hurt, Sam would probably be just as furious.
Walking to the bridge, Sam and Liz spotted a strange sight. The Minotarumon, or what was left of him, was fading away as Digi-Dust flew away from the beast's broken torso.
With a grunt, Minotarumon's head collapsed in itself and the beast became dust in the wind.
"What do you think happened to him?" asked Lopmon.
"Isn't it obvious? Beebee hit him harder than we thought" boasted Liz proudly.
"But I thought it was BlackAgumon that hit his arm", remarked Biyomon weakly. Liz shushed her and continued boasting.
"Yeah we rock! What would your team do without me?" laughed Liz.
"Not sure, but what do you want to do now? I mean, Dev and Noah are still in the sewers. Should we rejoin them and help them fight Gesomon?" asked Sam.
"Nah, there is no way I'm going down there. Besides, you said Betamon can Digivolve. Right? So there is no way they can lose to that squid", replied Liz before adding, "I'm kind of out of a job right now since the parlor is a pile of rubble and everyone ran away. I guess I should go find out where my boss went to see what he wants."
"Or, maybe we could go shopping!" interrupted Sam as she and Lopmon enthusiastically jumped in the air.
"Are you serious?!" asked Liz as she raised her eyebrows with skepticism.
"Yeah! It'll be fun, I promise!" replied Sam with a giggle, "There's a shopping district not too far away from here and my friends and I always go to that mall every week. I have my driver on speed dial so we wouldn't have to walk!"
"You have a driver? You must be living the dream", muttered Liz with a slight bit of envy.
Sam frowned. "Or we could walk around and head to the card shop Noah and me likes."
"Yeah that sounds great I guess", groaned Liz as they left the bridge.
At a nearby taco vendor's trailer, a teenager with cold black eyes watched the two girls with disinterest while the vendor gave a couple their meal.
"Great. There's more of them", said the stranger with a groan as he noticed Lopmon and Biyomon with the girls.
In the shadows, a mass of eyes changed its attention from the boy to the two girls.
"Hmm, perhaps those two will be easier prey for Devimon's agents than the coldblooded one", whispered the Shademon as he changed his pursuit to Sam and Liz.
"Do you think Minotarumon and Gesomon were coordinating somehow?" asked Sam as she tried to talk to her frustrated acquaintance.
"Who cares," growled Liz, "All I know is that one is down and the other one is up against Dev and Noah. That idiot better not lose."
"Look, Liz. Devon is not that bad a guy", replied Sam, assuming Dev is the idiot Liz is complaining about, and "I know you two don't exactly get along, but he's an all-around good guy. He just moved here from North Carolina and it might be scary for him being in a big city. He's just teasing you because that's how he is. Please don't hate him."
Liz sighed as she took everything Sam said and thought it over.
"I guess you're right. I guess I'm just hard on him because he doesn't take anything seriously. You saw how bad BlackAgumon was at fighting. Do you think he cares about Digimon as much as you and Noah? It just bothers me that he doesn't care about the consequences of his actions, you know?" said Liz as she opened up to Sam.
"I understand. Sometimes I worry about how Noah is with Betamon, but they both mean well and he was the first to digivolve his Digimon", mentioned Sam.
"I've been meaning to ask you about him. Are you two a couple?" asked Liz.
"Well, not exactly," replied Sam as she went on, "we've been friends forever even before he moved to Coney Island from California. He's family, you know? It wouldn't really work out anyways. He's been getting over a breakup for awhile now. He and his girlfriend in California broke up after three years of dating."
"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Liz.
"He was so devastated about it. They broke up over the phone right before he moved here", added Sam before changing the subject, "so what school do you go to?"
"It's nothing special. Just a public school in southern Brooklyn", answered Liz, "I know where you're going with this. My grades are probably less than average and you're probably top of your class, fancy school kid, and live a different lifestyle. Let's not talk about it anymore".
"Okay, well let me tell you about my life then", replied Sam as she wanted to tell Liz all about it.
"Alright then, you tell me some basic things about your life and maybe I'll tell you mine", groaned Liz.
Sam smiled. Finally, they were going to have a heart to heart conversation and really talk for once.
For the next half-hour, Liz and Sam talked about all sorts of things as they slowly bonded.
Sam talked about her workaholic parents, her amazing friendship with Lopmon, her excellent grades in school, and her childhood friendship with Noah and their mutual love of the ocean.
Noah loved surfing while Sam preferred finding seashells. She also talked about how she met Devon that night at Central Park and how they took down a MadLeomon together.
Liz on the other hand was reluctant to talk about her life, preferring to talk about her battles with Biyomon at first. They had fought many Champion and Rookie-level Digimon that bio-emerged into the real world.
Her passion was fighting ever since she was a little girl watching wrestling matches on television with her family.
"Really? Sounds like your family is pretty close", remarked Sam, hoping to get Liz to talk more about her life and open up.
"We kind of have to be, considering how small our apartment is. I have five younger brothers and sisters that I take care of, not to mention my mom and dad," replied Liz.
"Five?! Is that why you have so many jobs?" asked Sam as they walked across another street.
"Yeah. It's hard paying for rent and taking care my brothers and sisters, so I do what I can to help my parents", muttered Liz.
They talked some more as Sam listened to Liz's story. On the day that Liz appeared and defeated Cyclomon in front of Dev and the gang, she was returning home from her work at another restaurant nearby. In fact, her apartment building was not too far from where Noah's Barber shop was located.
Liz went on discussing her annoyance with Dev, her big Latino/Scottish families, and each job she has worked.
"Wow, I had no idea how hardworking you are", said Sam as she was finally starting to understand Liz better.
"It's nothing, really. Pretty much work every day, all week. Not exactly the good life you have, right?" asked Liz.
"My life is actually not as good as it seems", replied Sam without being offended, "You'd be surprised how lonely it can be with two workaholic parents and no siblings."
"Yeah? Well I guess that's why we're so different then", spoke Liz as they then became silent, both a little hurt by each other's comments.
They then proceeded to walk for an hour as they both agreed to head to the card shop Noah and Sam liked. Sam and Lopmon frowned to each other as Liz walked in silence. Things were more different between them than Sam thought.
"I think it's just around the corner", said Sam as they reached the corner of the street with a skyscraper looming over them from above.
"You think or you know?" asked Liz in frustration, "we've been walking forever".
Reaching the store, Sam gasped in surprise as they both turned to see the looted remains of the card shop.
The large store, with its glass front shattered, had its lights out and the door barred. Broken glass and cards were scattered around the street as the wind blew cards all over the place. Police tape lined up the store and formed a barrier where the store's glass front would have been.
"What the heck happened? I thought you said you and Noah were here before?!" yelled Liz as she went up to the door to knock, "It looks like it's been closed for a while."
"We were here, maybe two or three weeks ago", said Sam as her eyes were watery, "I can't believed this place shut down. Noah was here last week, telling me how great the sales were on pre-owned trading card decks."
"Yeah well according to this sign on the door, this place was closed recently due to a break in and looting", noted Liz as she read the note, "THIS STORE IS CLOSED INDEFINITELY DUE TO CATASTROPHIC ROBBERY AND INVESTIGATION", not reading the rest after that.
Sam looked at the remaining cards that lay on the sidewalk. 'That's odd', thought Sam.
"This just sucks! Where are we going to get cards now?!" cried Liz as she put Biyomon down to punch a brick wall on a nearby building.
"Liz, come look at this", whispered Sam as she ushered the fuming Liz to the scattered cards, "you notice anything weird about these cards?"
"What? Besides them being on the ground?" shouted Liz angrily as she rubbed her fist that struck the wall.
"I remember Noah telling me how evenly balanced the store was with its different card games. Look at the ground. There are all kinds of cards here, but no Digimon cards", noted Sam.
"Oh yeah, so?" asked Liz. Sam pointed at the dark insides of the store at the shelves, still lined with various wares.
"That shelf over there was where they kept their Digimon cards. The one to the right was for stats and Digi-modifying cards specifically", said Sam.
"But that shelf is empty", replied Liz.
Liz's breathing grew silent as both of them reached the same conclusion.
"There's another Tamer out there who stole them!" declared the two girls.
"What are we going to do now? We still need cards", asked Liz.
"How about we go to the card shop Dev mentioned?" asked Lopmon.
"There's no way I'm going to that weirdo's shop. No way!" shouted Liz as she crossed her arms in defiance.
"Samantha? Is that you?" asked a feminine voice from across the road.
Liz turned to see a trio of the girliest girls she had ever met. All three wore identical pink skirts with matching high-heels and pink purses. Sam screamed with glee as the three girls crossed the street, two of them screaming as well.
"Betsy! Luisa! What are you guys doing here?" asked Sam as they hugged and giggled together.
"We were just getting some new shoes with Rachel at the mall. How are you?" giggled the taller one, Betsy. The tallest girl out of the five at six feet, she sported long black hair that fell down her back and blinked with almond shaped brown eyes.
"Rachel's here?!" asked Sam as she sighed at her friend's revelation. The third girl known as Rachel was the same girl from Dev and Sam's classes. Sporting shoulder length straight blond hair, this blue eyed drama queen was the most popular girl at school, if not the meanest.
"You're looking as horrible as ever, Sam", mocked Rachel as all three took notice of Sam's filthy outfit. Sam's blue blouse was torn and covered in dust after the battle with Minotarumon/Gesomon.
"Oh, hey Rachel. I didn't see you there", replied Sam with a sigh as Luisa, the shorter girl, laughed for some strange reason. The shortest of the three, even shorter than Sam (Luisa's head was at Sam's shoulders), this girl sported curly brown hair that ended it crooked pig tails.
"Isn't it so great for us to meet here!? We have got to go shopping right now!" squealed Luisa.
"I would, but you see, I'm hanging out with my friend Liz here…" answered Sam before being cut off by Betsy.
"That's ok, she can come too! Isn't that right Liz?!" asked Betsy as the trio turned to face Liz.
Liz was red in the face, but it wasn't out of shyness. Rather, she grew tired of this distraction and the high-pitched squeals of Sam's friends.
"Actually I…" growled Liz before being cut off by Betsy.
"Great! What are we waiting for?! LET'S GO!" shrieked Betsy as she and Luisa dragged Liz by the arms, dropping Biyomon to the ground in the process. Biyomon had nothing to say, as she and Lopmon pretended to be dolls.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I sure wish I was with Dev and Noah right now", muttered Liz with a groan as the five girls made their way to the nearest shopping center.
…
"I sure wish I was with Sam and Liz right now", muttered Dev as he and his friend Noah waded through scum and muck in the dimly lit tunnel. They had been walking down the tunnel for nearly an hour, with no sight of BlackAgumon.
"I can believe that", replied Noah as he held up his D-Power's light in front of them. Dev also used his D-Power's light, although he waved his around in search for any rats that might be close by. Betamon silently led the way as his red dorsal fin stuck out of the dirty water.
"How do you figure?" asked Dev as they carried on.
"It's pretty obvious to me that you like Sam, maybe even Liz since you two get in each faces all the time", retorted Noah laughing as Dev blushed.
"No! Well maybe I do like Sam. So what? Are you two pretty close?" asked Dev, now open with his feelings for Sam at the moment with Noah.
"We're close, but not that close," answered Noah, "she's like a sister to me, and I've noticed how well you two get along. I'm cool with it if you ask her out."
"Really? That's great, man", replied Dev enthusiastically, "I think she's really cute and funny and smart and nice and…"
"There's just one little problem," added Noah, "she kind of has a boyfriend already, but she wouldn't tell you that."
"Oh really?" sighed Dev as his hope faded.
"Yeah, his name is Sukamon…" said Noah before being interrupted by a loud scream.
"Did you hear that?!" cried Dev as the two began to run towards the screaming, with Betamon in tow.
Nearly seventy meters ahead, there was drier land as the water reached a drain. The tunnel had breached so many different lines that the end was another water line, this time perpendicular to the tunnel.
It seemed that the water was shut off in the large pipe as contaminated water was sucked out through the pipe's other end.
Dev soon discovered where the screaming was coming from. Two male workers wearing protective suits were cornered against the right side of the tunnel as BlackAgumon stood in front of them, sniffing the air.
"Yikes! MONSTER!" cried one of the workers as he jumped in his coworker's arms.
"He's not a monster, right Black?" asked Dev as the two caught up with them.
"Wait, where did you guys come from?" asked the worker carrying the other worker.
"My friend and I have been walking down this tunnel in search of our friend. What are you doing?" asked Noah as he tried to make them the center of attention.
"You mean to tell me that you two boys walked in absolute filth through this tunnel to get this dinosaur thing?" asked the skeptical worker as his coworker put him down.
"Yeah, long story short: there's a giant squid down here too", added Dev as the workers laughed.
"We've been trying to fix this water line breach for hours when we found this tunnel. As you can see, we have a lot to do here, and we haven't seen a giant squid anywhere," explained the second worker.
"Dev! I do sense a Digimon really close and it is Gesomon!" argued BlackAgumon, causing the workers to scream again.
"He can talk!?" yelped the first worker as he then jumped into his coworker's arms.
"Where? The tunnel ends at this pipe", asked Noah before observing the white pipe beside them. Strange. The pipe was moving somehow.
Suddenly, a low rumble rocked the tunnel as Gesomon unflattened himself from the pipe's exposed outer walls, growling all the while.
"Look out!" shouted the workers and Dev in unison as the monster crashed his tentacles around them in a circle.
"So he disguised himself as part of the white outer edges of the pipe, and then changed his shape to fit the contours of the surface. Clever squid", remarked Noah.
"We're trapped!" cried Dev as they had no way of escaping.
"Spitfire Blast!" roared BlackAgumon as he prepared to blast a ball of fire.
"No don't! It'll…" warned one of the workers before the tunnel burst into flames.
TO BE CONTINUED…
