Chapter 14: Day Care Nightmare
Akira jolted at the sight of Jared standing in the alleyway, and his hand formation broke. As a result, the building being recreated completely disappeared seamlessly. "Wh-where did you come from?!"
"We're just cleaning up like you are," Jared responded, wondering what Akira could have been doing. "We saw that building start materializing out of thin air."
"It's… nothing. Don't worry about it," Akira said. "Starmon and I were just picking up rubble."
"C'mon, Akira, you can't hide it from him," Starmon said. "Akira has this weird ability that he's not proud of."
"It's not the ability that I'm not proud of. It's what I used it for…"
"What?" Jared asked, confused. "You're not some sort of weird digital drug dealer, are you, Akira? Because you are much too young to be getting into that--"
"Do I look like that kind of person?!" Akira scoffed. "There's a lot to what you just saw… so can we just drop it?"
"No, actually, I'd like to hear more--"
"No, we wouldn't," KoKabuterimon interrupted Jared. "If he's not comfortable with sharing stories, I do not believe he should have to… sir."
"You don't mind if I still do what I just did, right?" Akira asked. "I promise I'll find time to explain it to you all later."
"It's no big deal, I'm sure whatever it is can wait," Jared replied. "I mean, it helps the city… may as well use it."
The four nodded in agreement, and thanks to Akira's strange skill, the city was restored in a matter of hours. The entire group met back at the town square that they had established, which turned out to be the busiest part of the city. They were greeted by the one hundred or so Digimon who remained, and many of them even gave each of the kids a personal thank you.
"Well done, lassies and laddies!" Jijimon smiled joyously. "Not only did you fix the door on my hut, you completely rebuilt it! Not to mention the rest of the city!"
"Trust me, it wasn't too hard," Akira laughed. "Anyway, we have places to go, things to see…"
"We do?" Max asked stupidly.
"Thank ye for yer time then, kids," Jijimon said. He stepped forward to shake each of their hands, and they took off on the road again with Akira at the head of the pack.
"Where are we going?" Jared wondered.
"Weren't we going to head to Primary Village, Akira?" Starmon asked his partner.
Akira thought and then stated, "Yeah, I need to speak with an old friend."
Most of the Digimon began talking with their partners rather than the rest of the group. The only pair that seemed to be avoiding this was Veemon and Jen. KoKabuterimon asked Jared questions about the Real World. Candlemon was arguing with Max about who was faster, and Alexis was teaching Penguinmon what a knock-knock joke was. Akira and Starmon conversed about serious matters which were all gibberish to the rest of the group.
"What's wrong, Veemon?" Jen asked her partner, already well aware as to why Veemon wasn't communicating.
"I'm nothing but data, right?" Veemon responded. "Why do you still talk to me? It's not like I have feelings or anything."
"You're not still freaking out about what I said, are you?"
"Why wouldn't I be? Oh, yeah, because I can't. I'm data."
"You've changed since we first met, dude. And I don't mean in a good way."
"I could say the same thing for you!"
"Would you two please stop your incessant bickering?" KoKabuterimon begged. "I can barely hear Jared tell me about ice cream!"
The pair arrogantly crossed their arms and groaned in unison.
"We're definitely going the right way," Akira said. "I've seen this area before." The group was exiting File City by now and was on a dirt trail heading out. Tall grass was on either side of the path.
"What's Primary Village anyways?" Alexis asked.
"It's where Digimon are reconfigured into Digitama and reborn," Candlemon answered. "A guy named Leomon works there and he raises them until they can roam free."
"He's like a nanny then?"
"He sure doesn't look like one, I'll tell you that!" Starmon chuckled. The trail took a few turns, and the kids arrived at a rather peculiar looking field of grass. It was a rather playful looking place, with gigantic blocks decorating the plain. Large, colorful eggs stood in small holes in the ground all about the land.
A majestic looking creature was hunched down in front of one of the eggs. He resembled a lion, though humanoid, and was very muscular in physique. His tan fur was most prominent in his ferocious mane, where it was more goldenrod than brown, and he wore black pants with a belt buckled around his waist. Akira and Starmon knew him as Leomon, and the others thought that he fit that profile well enough to assume him to be the fabled caretaker of the village.
Leomon jerked back to his feet when he noticed the kids entering the area. "Akira, it is good to see you again," he said in a low tone. He approached the boy and bowed, then shook his hand. He was at least six foot tall, and towered over the ten year old body. Leomon eyed Starmon, "I see you brought your follower as well."
"Gee, who could that be?" Starmon said sarcastically. "Take no note of the eight others with us."
Leomon instead pretended not to notice Starmon. "And who might your friends be?"
Akira introduced them one by one by their names. Leomon greeted them as a whole. "What is it you're here for?"
"I was wondering," Akira said, "if you could tell us what you know of the Virus Busters."
"Ah, the Virus Busters disappeared decades ago…" Leomon said. "They never even completed their duty of defeating Millenniummon. He did that himself."
"Can I just pretend that I know what you're talking about?" Jen said.
"I see you've neglected to inform them of many important things," Leomon sighed. "Please, let's not mingle here anymore. Come on into the village! Take a load off!"
The kids shrugged and nodded to Leomon. Each of them walked through the grassy plain and observed the baby Digimon eggs. Some of them had recently hatched and were just sleeping amongst the remains of their eggshell.
At the edge of the village was a beautifully clear river. Jen and Alexis sat down at the side of it and pulled their shoes and socks off, dipping their feet into it. Max and Jared wandered still while nurturing the Digitama. The Digimon were playing with each other nearby, seemingly mock fighting, except for Starmon, who - along with Akira - disappeared with Leomon.
Alexis was quiet until she decided to spark a conversation. "What are your parents like, Jen?"
Jen paused, pulled her feet out of the water, and pulled her knees to her chest. "You don't want to know."
"Do you have any siblings?"
"No."
The glare Jen had given Alexis told her not to provoke her anymore, so she toned down.
Akira came up from behind and startled Jen by tapping her on the shoulder. He said in a rush, "We have to go. Come on."
"What are you talking about?" Jen responded. "We just got here!"
"The water's at the perfect temperature!" Alexis feebly argued.
"We need to go," Akira urged. "Something's going on and I don't like it."
"Did Veemon break one of the Digitama?" Jen asked.
"NO! Hurry up and get out of here!" his voice demanded. Jen and Alexis got to their feet and pulled their footwear back on as they ran. The rest of the group joined shortly after. Akira must have warned them prior to informing Jen and Alexis.
The kids and their Digimon partners came to the entrance of the village and were headed out, but they were stopped by two monsters that Jen recognized.
"Sealsdramon?!"
Two of the navy-armored dragon creatures stood in front of the team with one hand held forward. Almost silently, three more came from behind and grabbed Starmon, KoKabuterimon and Penguinmon. With the kids distracted and looking in the opposite direction, the other two Sealsdramon took advantage of this and snatched Veemon and Candlemon. Each of the children's partners were held captive!
Penguinmon, KoKabuterimon, and Starmon remained rather motionless, but being as stubborn as they were, Veemon and Candlemon squirmed madly in the Sealsdramons' grips.
Akira glanced at Starmon, who then made eye contact, and then it was as if billions of words had been spoken. Starmon grabbed his Sealsdramon captor by the arm and tossed him over his shoulder, slamming him to the ground. Akira closed his eyes shut, clapped his hands together and made a hand gesture, and seemingly out of nowhere a short sword materialized into his right hand's grip. He thrust the blade through the fallen Sealsdramon's chest, and in seconds the monster degenerated into data, which wandered about the air.
The four remaining Sealsdramon stupidly released the rookie Digimon from their clutches and ran after Starmon, wielding their knives. The kids, who were amazed by what Akira had done, were too busy gaping their mouths at the boy to notice their D-Cells glowing.
"Initiate Digivolution Matrix."
"Veemon digivolve to… Veedramon!"
"Candlemon digivolve to… Meramon!"
"KoKabuterimon digivolve to… BladeKuwagamon!"
"Penguinmon digivolve to… Dolphmon!"
The four Champion level Digimon each went after a separate Sealsdramon. Veedramon leaped forward at one of them and tackled him to the ground forcefully. Meramon surrounded his target in a ring of flames and began firing fireballs at him, and BladeKuwagamon zipped through the air and impaled his enemy through the back. Dolphmon, in her quick thinking, brought in a large wave of water from the river and manipulated it to create an artificial whirlpool around the fourth Sealsdramon.
BladeKuwagamon's victim was destroyed instantly, and Meramon continuously engulfed his enemy in flames until he disintegrated into pixels. But Veedramon and Dolphmon couldn't seem to finish off theirs. One kicked Veedramon off of him, while the other narrowly escaped Dolphmon's trap. The two stood next to each other, and all five Champions lined up to face them.
The two groups stared each other down for a while, then it seemed the Sealsdramon duo drew the first revolver. The pair began to illuminate all about their bodies, and soon they combined into one mass of data. It materialized into a new form, one of an army grade tank. Its body was covered in deadly weapons and arms that made it look like it could challenge every military on Earth.
"Am I crazy, or did they just digivolve… together?" Veedramon questioned as a beat of sweat ran down the side of his face.
"I believe we're safe assuming both answers, my friend," BladeKuwagamon buzzed.
"I've seen this before," Starmon chimed in. "DNA Digivolution. It's when multiple Digimon combine into one being…"
"I don't suppose you know who this guy is, too, Jen?" Max asked. Jen shook her head, but not before Max pulled out his D-Cell to check for himself. "He's Tankdramon, an Ultimate level. His Striper Cannon attack packs an explosive punch!"
"Surrender, or I will annihilate this village!" Tankdramon growled.
"What good would come of that?" Starmon protested, stepping forward. "We want nothing more than peace here!"
Tankdramon ignored Starmon, instead laying him out with a quick barrage of bullets. He fell over soundlessly, seemingly unconscious. "Anybody else want to step up to the plate?" Tankdramon noticed no reaction and smirked, "Good. Now come on over and don't struggle."
Each of the four Champions nodded to each other. Veedramon approached Tankdramon first, holding his arms forward. Tankdramon demanded, "Degenerate back to your Rookie form, fool."
Veedramon groaned, noticing his size was triple that of Tankdramon's. "I… can't."
"Am I going to have to make you do as I say?!" Tankdramon asked rhetorically. "I know you can degenerate, you little bugger. Now do it."
"I told you. I can't."
Tankdramon roared angrily. In his rage, the twin cannons on his back fired two missiles into the air. Seconds later, they fell back down to the ground head first and made an explosive impact.
A heroic Leomon's voice cried in the distance, "NO!"
The entire group was forced in scattered directions around the blast's radius. The team agonizingly coughing their brains out, the smoke finally cleared, but not to a happy sight. Leomon's body lay motionless on the ground, half of his body missing and forming a data mass nearby. "…Children…"
"Leomon…" Akira gasped, grasping his stomach. He looked up at the cackling Tankdramon, and then to the barren, scorched Earth around him. The once colorful and happy village now resembled a demented Saturday morning cartoon.