Episode 29: Bringing the Monsters Home

Wild opened her eyes to find herself on the corner of Kagarame and Rō. It didn't look like much time had passed, though they had been in the Digital World from evening to morning. Night still reigned in the Human World, the sound of crickets casting a haunting melody to match the cool spring-to-summer night.

"Everyone OK?" Nikolai asked, standing up. He hadn't come into the Human World on his feet, but on his backside. He stood up and gave it a rub. "God," he swore, "the Boss sure tossed us out quick."

"He wanted us out as soon as possible," Yukio reminded him. "Just in case." He looked wobbly, so he used Nikolai's mother's car as something to keep himself steady.

He was right about that – the Boss had called them back and sent them to the Human World with very little speech involved. He said his obligatory good byes and be carefuls, but that was about it. He had looked incredibly troubled, to be honest.

Nikolai pulled out his iPhone and mentioned, "We've only been gone, like, two minutes. Jeez; it felt like we were gone forever! I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that feeling; it's like jetlag."

Yukio nodded his agreement as Wild turned to look at their companions. The Boss had been correct in the fact that their digimon partners would degenerate into lower levels of themselves – Flamemon had turned into a round creature about the size of her head, covered in soft pink-colored fuzz. His red eyes were huge and shining as he looked around the new world he was in. Two antennae-like things came from the top of his head. His mouth was full of surprisingly sharp-looking teeth.

Strabimon had turned into another large round creature, only he bore a large, sharp horn on the top of his head. His eyes were red and still just as sharp as before, too. His face was soft-looking and creamy white, while the rest of his body was covered in rough-looking brown fur.

Breezemon had become something a little different – she wasn't a ball like the others, but she had a bulb-like shape with little tentacle-like legs that mimicked the roots of a tree. She was pink and soft-looking, with a large blue flower growing out of her head. Yellow stamens came from between the petals, one curling and tinged with red. Her eyes were a pretty blue-green color. She reached to about Yukio's knee in height.

The three tiny digimon were dwarfed by what KiddGarurumon had become. Since he had been a Champion-level digimon in the Digital World, here he had become a Rookie. He was about the size of a large dog or a young wolf, with periwinkle fur covered in blue stripes. His claws were fuchsia-colored, and his paws were big. He had along, winding tail and oddly flat ears. A strange-looking horn came from his forehead. His eyes were the same ice-blue as before, and his muzzle was shorter and still scarred. He came up to about Loaño's waist in height and wore a large golden bangle around one foot.

Loaño stood in the middle of all of them, barefoot, looking up at the sky with wide eyes. She was wearing a green shirt and pants that looked to have been made here. She looked about at the buildings towering high above her and shivered.

"How are you guys doing?" Wild wondered.

"Everything's so tall!" the pink ball that had been Flamemon whispered in awe.

"That's because we're shorter," said the brown-and-white digimon.

The bulb-shaped digimon shivered and said, "This is so strange! Everything feels so strange!"

"Speaking of strange," Nikolai mused, "what are we supposed to call you guys now?"

"Koromon!" said the pink ball.

"Tsunomon," offered the horned digimon.

"Yokomon!" explained the bulb.

"Warugamon," grunted the dog.

"So, when do we get to see where you all live?" Koromon wondered. He bounced himself over to Wild. She bent down and picked him up, finding him soft and light, like a little stuffed animal. She hadn't really ever been interested in stuffed animals as a child.

Yokomon and Tsunomon did the same, approaching their partners. Yukio held Yokomon tucked into one arm while Nikolai carefully embraced Tsunomon. Nikolai even poked the tip of Tsunomon's horn and pulled away with a pricked finger dripping a bit of blood, proving that the horn was sharp.

"Soon," Wild promised. "But you and I and the Princess have somewhere else to go first."

"Really?" Koromon exclaimed, wriggling in her arms, "Where?!"

"Hush," Wild insisted. "Don't be so loud. People live around this area. We don't want to wake them up!"

"Oh, sorry," Koromon mumbled, sighing.

"I'm staying at a friend's house for the weekend. Don't worry, we can trust her," Wild promised. "I was planning on telling her, anyway. At least now I have some indisputable proof."

"Meg?" Nikolai guessed.

Wild nodded. "I'll bring the Princess with me, too," she said. Looking at the Princess, who was still silent and staring, she asked, "Is that all right?"

"Uh huh," Loaño murmured, still shocked at the world around her.

It's going to take a while for her to come around, Wild realized. But she'll get used to things, I think.

"Well, I can drop you off at Meg's, if you want," Nikolai decided. He rummaged in one of his pockets for his car keys. "I should be getting home. I'll stop off at a store on my way back so it seems like I actually went somewhere. My Mum hates it when I waste her gas."

"A store?" Tsunomon repeated coolly. "Do they sell food there?"

"Yeah," Nikolai replied.

"Hm, I wonder what Human World food is like..." Tsunomon mused. He settled himself in Nikolai's arms and said, "Well, let's not waste time here. I'm eager to meet your family, Nikolai."

"Me too, Yukio!" Yokomon said happily, wriggling a little. "Oh, this is all so new and fun!"

"Yeah; I wanna meet your family, Wild!" Koromon said eagerly. "Come on, let's go!"

Wild froze a little and thought, You wouldn't want to meet my family if you knew anything about them. My mother, maybe, but the rest... She didn't want to think of what would happen if Toushi saw Koromon or Warugamon or the Princess. She could imagine the looks, though, and she didn't want to see that. It made her feel like vomiting.

"Meg's first," she insisted.

"Well, get in the car and buckle up," Nikolai offered. He looked at the little digimon and said, "And don't bounce around while I'm driving. It'll distract me. I know being a car will be something really new, but you'll have to get used to it. Tsunomon, you can't sit on my lap while I'm driving."

"He can have shotgun," Yukio decided.

"What's shotgun?" Tsunomon wondered. "Is it something bad?"

"It's just the seat next to mine up front," Nikolai informed him. "It's easier to call it shotgun, though."

Nikolai went around the car and opened the front passenger door and set Tsunomon in the seat. Yukio opened the back door on the sidewalk side and clambered in, putting himself at the far end. Wild held Koromon tightly, unsure of how he would act by being in a moving vehicle, and got in to sit beside Yukio, who held Yokomon on his lap.

Outside the car, Nikolai shut the passenger door after buckling Tsunomon in as best he could. Yukio and Wild were settled and buckled in with their partners, so he went around the car to find Warugamon using his short muzzle to push Loaño towards the car. She looked wary of everything around her, as if it would all break if she touched it.

"Give 'er a momen'," Warugamon decided. He placed two paws in the car. "She'll be fine."

"Have you ridden in a car before?" Nikolai asked warily.

"Aye," Warugamon promised. "Don' worry 'bout me. I know 'bout all'a this. I won' make no messes." With that, the dog clambered into the car and settled at everyone's feet.

Nikolai looked to the Princess. She stared at the car, her arms wrapped around herself as if she were hugging her small body. Nikolai laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Will you be fine?" he asked.

Loaño looked up at him and nodded.

"Do you remember anything like this?" he wondered. Maybe if she recalled her time in the Human World, she might feel more comfortable with being here.

Loaño shook her head. "No," she said quietly. "I don't."

"Don't worry; we'll help you out. Stick with Wild and trust us; we won't let you get hurt," Nikolai promised. I won't let you get hurt.

"Thank you," she said quietly. She pulled away from him and stepped into the car. She sat down on the back seat and Nikolai leaded in to help her buckle herself. He didn't plan on getting into an accident, but he made it a personal rule not to let anyone in the car – especially his mother's car – without being buckled in.

She was secured with a click and he adjusted the shoulder strap so that it didn't chafe or hurt her. When she was settled he closed the back door and opened the driver's seat. He got in, put the key in the ignition, turned it, and listened to the car start. He decided that the radio might not be the best idea right now. He put the car in gear and drove off down the road, heading for Meg's house.


"OK," Meg decided, leaning on the open door frame. "You're definitely explaining this to me. And don't tell me that you just recently got into stuffed animals, Tatsu-chan – I know you better than that."

Thankfully, Damien Bourke was asleep in his bedroom when Wild and the Princess were dropped off. Meg had answered the door. Jimmy was nowhere to be found, but there was no way that Meg could ignore Koromon or Warugamon, or the Princess herself. Though she met the digimon with a look of indifference, Wild could sense the gears turning in her friend's mind.

Meg let them into the house and took them back to her room. "I don't get it," Meg decided, "you left, like, ten minutes ago – and now you come back with some stranger and... these things. What the hell happened?"

Wild sat down on Meg's bed and invited Loaño to do the same. Koromon leaped off of Wild's lap and bounced on the bed like a child, smiling with glee at the springiness of the mattress. Warugamon rolled his eyes and grunted at the little digimon.

"Meg, it's a really long story so I want you to pay attention," Wild explained. "You know, for once."

"I'm all ears," Meg offered. For once she seemed serious about this. Wild thought for a moment that Meg was actually genuinely worried about her well-being, but she shook her head of it. Meg, worried? Please.

Wild gestured to Loaño and introduced, "This is Loaño, the Princess of the Digital World. These things are called digimon. They live in the Digital World. The big dog is named Warugamon, and he's Loaño's guardian. The one bouncing on your bed is Koromon; he's my partner..."

She went on to explain as best as she could the Digital World, digimon, and everything that had happened to her and Nikolai and Yukio in the past week. For once, it seemed like Meg was actually paying some sort of attention. Wild explained about what was happening in the Digital World and that she was a Digidestined, along with Nikolai and Yukio. She explained about Zen, Aws, and Sin and what they were doing. She also explained why Loaño and Warugamon and the other digimon were here in the Human World.

When she was done she took the water she had ordered earlier, just before she'd left to fight Kimeramon, and drank about half of it. She was parched and her throat was dry and Meg was silent. Koromon had stopped bouncing on the bed to hear her explanation and had fallen asleep at the Kimeramon part. He was snuggled up on a pillow. Warugamon listened with half-interest, more interested in judging Meg's character. If he was tired, he didn't show it.

"Huh," was all Meg said, after a moment.

"Huh?" Wild repeated. "I tell you all of that, and all you have to say is huh?"

"Yeah," Meg said with no interest in her tone.

"God, you're even lazy with your reactions," Wild decided, sighing.

"It explains how wonky you've been acting lately," Meg admitted. "I'm not going to call you a liar – not like I can, since these digimon things are right in front of me – and I know you better than that. So you've got to babysit the Princess here?"

"Not babysit, per se; but I need to keep an eye on her," Wild corrected. "I need her to stay here until tomorrow. She'll come home with me after that."

Meg raised an eyebrow. "Don't want your Mum to see her yet... or Toushi?"

Wild shivered and growled, "Let's not get too into the details."

"And what about you – you haven't said a damn thing the whole time," Meg grunted, looking at Loaño.

"I didn't want to interrupt," Loaño decided. She folded her hands together and said, "I'm sorry for doing all of this. I don't know you, but I know you're a good person. I'm glad that you're taking this so well. I'll be staying with Wild and, if you want, I won't bother you... but I'd like to be friends, if that's all right. I come from the Human World and yet I don't know anything about it... so... I'd like to be able to learn what I can."

Meg took a deep breath, and then sighed. "Fine," she decided. "You can stay. I'll figure out a way to sneak your... pets... out of my house tomorrow. My Dad should be going to the store tomorrow and he's prolly gonna take Jimmy, too. That'll give you guys time to get out of here – he never takes me along when I have company."

"Thank you," Loaño said, her voice cool and calm. "You have a kind heart, Megan Bourke."

Meg grimaced and grumbled, "Yeah, yeah; just don't go telling other people. I don't like other people."

"Thanks, Meg," Wild offered. "I know I've probably been kind of... hard to put up with lately, and..."

Meg scoffed, "You seriously think you're hard to put up with? I deal with Jimmy on a daily basis."

"True."

"I'll see what I can do about getting another bed set up. I don't think Fluffy here needs a bed... and your little Roly-Poly guy found a bed on one of my pillows." She looked to the Princess and began, "You..."

"Loaño," the Princess offered.

"I'm just going to call you Lo because your name is really fucking hard to pronounce," Meg decided. "You OK with a bed made of a shit ton of blankets?"

"She can have the air mattress," Wild offered. "I'll take the blankets."

Loaño shook her head. "No, I'll take the blankets," she said. She looked at Wild and said, "I'm not a Princess here, Wild; I'm just Loaño... or Lo. I'm just a regular person here. After what I've put all of you through, I don't want any sort of special treatment."

Meg looked between the two of them and then sighed. She stood up and brushed off her pants. "I'll be right back," she decided. "Fish and chips, Tatsu-chan... your explaining everything made me really tired. I'm sure you guys are beat too. Don't fall asleep on my bed. Roly-Poly can stay."

The brown-haired girl turned and left the room to go and gather more blankets for their extra, secret guest. Wild sighed and laid back on Meg's bed, staring at her ceiling. Her head was pounding and sleep was threatening to overtake her – but if she fell asleep on Meg's bed she would be woken up so violently that she would never get back to sleep again.

Warugamon stretched out and yawned. He found a suitable place on Meg's floor and curled up there, his tail brushed over his nose. He closed his eyes, obviously tired. Koromon was still snoring lightly on one of Meg's pillows.

"She took that really well," Loaño decided.

"That's Meg for you," Wild told her, sighing. "You could tell her that a house full of puppies were just shot and killed and she would still be just as apathetic."

Loaño looked down at her knees.

"You'll get used to things, Lo," Wild told her reassuringly. Damn it, now Meg's got me calling her Lo. Though that's probably not a bad thing – her name is so strange it makes her stick out. Zen, Aws, and Sin are humans, too – they'll be here looking for her, no doubt. We'll have to do all we can to make her seem like a normal, everyday person.

"What's your family like?" Loaño wondered.

"My... family?" Wild repeated. Loaño nodded. Wild propped herself up on her elbows and said, "My Mom is nice. Kind of lost inside, but she's nice."

"Do you have any siblings?"

Wild ground her teeth and admitted, "Yes."

"Brothers? Sisters?"

"I had two brothers," Wild muttered.

"Had?"

"Good night, Princess," Wild decided abruptly. She got up and crossed to her makeshift bed on the other side of the room. She buried herself beneath the blankets covered the air mattress and closed her eyes, trying to force herself to go to sleep.

Sleep failed to come, however. Nothing was right. Things were much too different. Wild silently tore off her ascot and stared at it beneath the blankets. The shade of the blankets above her turned the red into a dark sanguine color, like blood. She shook her head and closed her eyes as tightly as possible.