Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Less than Human
Chapter: 53/ The Die is Cast
Takato blinked his eyes blearily as the doctor removed his penlight and stepped away from him.
"Well Takato," said the doctor as he fished out his writing board and scribbled down a few notes based on his checkup of the Tamer. "My compliments to your physician. You are in perfect health."
"Pihpih!" Exclaimed MarineAngemon happily, flapping his tiny, angelic wings to indicate his glee at the compliment.
"He says thanks," said Kenta as he smiled and rubbed the back of his head. The man smiled at the pair and nodded.
"Well, you did do a good job…uh…pink…fairy, thing…"
"MarineAngemon," corrected Kenta, while said digimon giggled.
"…MarineAngemon. A very good job indeed. Given what I've seen I'm rather envious of your abilities. I imagine that such skills are quite useful in a line of work such as yours if I'm not mistaken, what with you being Tamers and all. Tell me something young man, have you ever considered looking into the field of medicine to compliment your partner's abilities?"
Kenta hesitated and raised an eyebrow.
"Uh…actually, I haven't really given it a thought before…"
Kenta was interrupted by the sound of the doctor's pager beeping. Sighing in exasperation the doctor took it off of his waste and looked at it, grimacing.
"Sorry," he said, giving Kenta an apologetic look. "But it looks like I'm going to have to cut this short. Mr. and Mrs. Matsuki; Tamers." The doctor bowed respectfully to each of them before turning and exiting the room. Silence hung in the room for a second before being broken by the sound of Takato readjusting himself in his hospital bed and chuckling lightly.
"You know Kenta, he does kind of have a point about the doctor idea…"
"Yeah," laughed Kazu as he wrapped a friendly arm around his friends shoulder in a camaraderie fashion and poked at his face pointedly with one finger, his grin growing to an exaggerated size. "All those times that you've had to patch things up when we were younger…"
Kenta eyed Kazu with a neutral expression.
"I wouldn't call covering a scrape with a Band-Aid back in third grade the equivalent of surgery…"
"Even so," said Kazu, not phased by his friend's words. "Sometimes I get the feeling that you have the right kind of touch for that sort of thing."
"Except that you're forgetting one thing. Because I have MarineAngemon there's really not much of a need for me to learn that kind of stuff."
"So? Renamon knows martial arts, but that's not stopping Rika from going out to learn that sort of thing on her own. C'mon chumley! You ought to know that there are some things that we're going to have to handle on our own and we need to know something so that we're not caught with our pants down at the wrong moment. Take me for example. I used to only know how to heat food using a microwave but I couldn't make it from scratch. Now I know how to make bread, so I won't starve if the power goes out or anything."
"But…wouldn't you still need electricity to use the stove in the first place?"
"Depends on whether or not it runs on electricity or gas…er…I think…"
Typical Kazu, thought Takato with a shake of his head and a bemused smile on his face, one that was shared by his parents. Still, Kazu did have a point there. About being self-reliant that is. That was certainly a lesson that he could take away from his battle from yesterday when he had been caught on his own fighting that…what did Kazu and Kenta call it? Argo? No, Argus. Either way, he had been pretty much helpless in that fight, which resulted in him getting smacked around quite a bit. Ultimately he had been saved by quick thinking and damn fool luck. While he was sure that some people would consider the martial arts or any other form of basic hand-to-hand combat training as something of a wasted effort when it came to digimon unless the user was also a digimon (or biomerged with one), a certain memory of Henry defeating a Divermon, an Ultimate level digimon, almost single handedly and in the digimon's own watery element to boot, came to mind.
And after yesterday, Takato could see quite a lot of pros and cons of being able to defend himself adequately, especially if he wasn't able to biomerge with his partner.
Takato frowned at the thought of his loss of that particular ability. That was something that he hadn't expected to occur from Guilmon's rebirth. But then, there was quite a bit about Guilmon's resurrection that was unexpected. The dino's loss of memory, his change of appearance…the list went on and on it seemed. It was definitely something that bore looking into as soon as he was able to, that much was certain. If he was to continue functioning as a fully affective member of the team he had to find out what it was that had changed Guilmon so much and if there was any way that he could return him to normal.
Takato was interrupted from his thoughts as his parents got up from their seats and told him that they were going to see about getting him discharged now and that they would be back as soon as they could. Nodding Takato watched them leave before returning his attention back to his two friends and fellow Tamers. The two boys took the opportunity to walk over from their position by the door and take the recently vacated seats. Pulling up one of the chairs Kazu turned it around so that he could rest his arms on its back-now-turned-front and he leaned forward and smirked at the brown haired boy good-naturedly.
"Great to have you back buddy," Kazu said with an air of contentment around him.
"It's good to be back," replied Takato as he returned the smirk with a smile.
"You're looking a lot better then you were when we last saw you," said Kenta. "I mean, aside from yesterday that is…"
"I believe what my chronologically challenged friend is referring to is when we saw you last week when you were going to board the plane to Okinawa. How is your cousin by the way?"
"He's good. Fishing as always, but always willing to lend a listening ear. He helped me out quite a lot when I was there."
"From what you've told us about him it sure sounds that way," laughed Kazu. "Man I almost wish that I could meet the guy. He sounds pretty cool. Maybe some day when you go over there again I'll bus on over using Air Guardromon or something. Well, when his engines decide to move faster then the speed of slow…"
The three friends shared a good laugh with each other for a couple minutes before they settled down and the mood took on a bit more of a serious atmosphere.
"So what do you think about that stuff with that girl that Henry found in the park?" Asked Kazu. Takato tilted his head to one side in confusion.
"Huh? Girl?"
"Kazu, he doesn't know about her. He was unconscious for most of the time, and we didn't bring it up while his parents were here."
"Oh. Right," said Kazu as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Um…a little confused here…"
"Uh…well," Kazu coughed to clear his throat. "This is what we heard after we regained consciousness. Yamaki was holding a meeting and he insisted on our attending it after we got a clean bill of health. That storm from yesterday, the…what was it that Henry called it?"
"The Hazard Storm," answered Kenta. Kazu bobbed his head up and down in acknowledgement before returning his attention to Takato.
"Yeah, the Hazard Storm. Turns out it was caused by a girl that Henry knows."
If Takato hadn't already been confused earlier he certainly was now.
"Say wha…?"
"Kenta? You want to take it from here?"
The bespectacled boy leaned forward in his chair as he took over the conversation.
"You'd have to talk to Henry about it since he was there personally when he witnessed the whole thing, but from what I remember from the meeting last night the girl that he said caused the storm was the girl that was reported missing after that fight with Lucemon…"
"Pihpihpuh!" Piped in MarineAngemon from his spot next to Kenta. The dark haired boy nodded.
"Right. Her name's Noriko Nakata."
Takato blinked.
"I remember that name."
"Duh!" Exclaimed Kazu. "Her name was plastered all over town. She only came back earlier this week. Henry found her wondering out of a digital field…"
"Whaaaa…?"
Kazu rolled his eyes.
"Chumley…if you keep doing that, this story isn't going to get explained. The leading theory is that she got sucked into the digital world when Lucemon made his getaway after he clobbered us. She came back with some holes in her memory…amnesia or something."
"She's missing something like three weeks I think," supplied Kenta.
"Something like that, yeah."
"But…" Takato shook his head, trying to clear it of the cobwebs of confusion that he felt building up in his head as he followed Kazu and Kenta's story. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask, but Kazu was right. The story couldn't be told if he kept interrupting. But still, some questions begged to be asked. "What does her going to the digital world have to do with her being the cause of that storm from yesterday? Did she become a Tamer while she was there?"
"Henry didn't find a digivice on her," said Kazu with a shake of his head. "And before you ask if she had a digimon with her let us at least finish, because this is where it gets weird. Henry said that when he found the Noriko girl she was…um…not human."
Takato furrowed his eyebrows in concentration.
"You mean she…biomerged, right?"
Kazu, Kenta, and MarineAngemon shook their heads in one, identical, uniform motion.
"Well," corrected Kenta. "Actually, we're not sure. Terriermon said something about how she spoke in the same way that you guys do when you biomerge with your partners but she didn't separate into a human and a digimon like you guys do. Instead she just became human, but before that Henry said that she looked like a mix between an angel and a black dragon. And she had a Hazard sign on her chest too."
Kazu paused for a moment, looking as though he were considering something, and then shook his head as though just by doing that he would shake off the thought as well. Takato, for his part, took no notice and neither did Kenta.
"Angel?" Asked Takato, his face becoming serious. "Dragon?"
"Yeah. And she had a Hazard symbol on her too. In fact, come to think of it, she said that before she returned to her human form the dragon part of her was colored black."
Takato is not what one would call an impulsive boy. Passionate, yes but he nearly always had a sense of how his actions affected others, leading him to be somewhat reserved with how he picked and chose his words when talking to certain people, and it was the rare occasion that he rushed forward, figuratively speaking (as this was not the case when it came to battle), and out and out told someone what was on his mind. Henry had commented on it once, telling him that though he was right to always keep his friends feelings in mind he was more of a true friend when he didn't keep things bottled in all the time out of fear of hurting a friendship. Rika had commented on his propriety, though not in the same way as Henry had, and merely stating her annoyance with him acting like he was stepping around broken glass when it came to her in particular and people in general. Needless to say, this did not stop Takato from apologizing to either of them. Typical Matsuki. Again though, Takato has been described as passionate. Reserved at times except when it came to battle (and most situations that involved digimon, with or without violence) or when he had his back hair up, but not impulsive in his actions, and as such it was rare that he ever leapt into things too quickly.
However, when he heard Kazu give a description of Noriko's 'other form', the black dragon and the Hazard, something in his mind clicked and soon enough Takato found himself springing out of his bed and looked around frantically for his clothes, his mind already moving at the mental equivalent of warp speed.
"Dude!" Exclaimed Kazu in surprise. "What're you doing? Are you okay?"
"He's back," spoke Takato in a low voice as he spotted his clothes folded up neatly on a chair by his room's window. Kazu and Kenta exchanged a glance.
"Who's back?"
"B…" Takato paused and frowned as he began to look over his thoughts more fully. The thought that he had about what Kazu and Kenta had just told him…it couldn't be true…could it? But the description that he had been given seemed to be too close to what he had on his mind for him to just let it go.
"Hellooo! Earth to Chumley! Wake up dude! What's going on in your brain?"
"Kazu," began Takato carefully. "Where's this girl being held? I need to see her!"
"Wow! Isn't this like déjà vu all over again buddy? Just how many girls do you need to see already?"
"I'm serious Kazu! Where…is she?"
"What's this all about?" Asked Kenta, worry starting to bleed through into his voice. Takato frowned as he picked up his clothes.
"Just an idea, but…call me crazy but what you guys just told me about that girl, it reminds me of BlackGuilmon."
"What?" Exclaimed Kazu in surprise. "Are you serious? Listen Chumley, that lizard was blown to smithereens and loaded by Lucemon. We all saw it…well, except for you but everyone else did. No digimon comes back from that!"
Takato closed his eyes, and called up a mental image based on Kazu's description. His mind working furiously Takato spoke.
"You said that she had…black skin and the Hazard symbol on her, right?"
"That's right."
"What else was there?"
Kenta and MarineAngemon exchanged a glance, their minds already starting to catch onto what Takato was getting at.
"Angel wings," answered Kenta.
"I think we already established that earlier when we…" Kazu stopped and blinked. "…Oh. Yeah. Angel wings."
There was a brief silence between the three friends before Kazu finally exploded.
"That's crazy! Are you saying that Noriko chick that Henry found in the park somehow got mixed with Lucemon and BlackGuilmon?!"
"I'm not saying anything," answered Takato. "But there's just something about this that doesn't sit right in my head."
"It does kind of add up," said Kenta. "At least as far as Henry's description goes. Think about it. Angel wings, dragon-like body, hazard symbol…"
"I don't buy it though! How could Noriko combine with two digimon at once? Better yet, what would she be doing sharing the body of two digimon? And how would BlackGuilmon still be around like that when we clearly saw him get vaporized and loaded? It doesn't make sense!"
"Well, she did disappear around the same time that Lucemon went back to the digital world," said Kenta. "Something must have happened when she was there that got her messed up like that. I mean Takato can biomerge with Guilmon…"
Takato bit the inside of his cheek against reminding Kenta that he had been unable to biomerge with his partner so far, as that would only serve to complicate their present topic of conversation.
"Okay," said Kazu. "I'll concede that it's well within the realm of weirdness for us, and I have to say that of all the weird things that we've seen so far this one certainly rates a ten out of ten. So what are we going to do about it?"
"Like I said," answered Takato as he picked up his clothes and pushed past his friends, heading towards his rooms lavatory so that he could change. "We have to find her, and I'm sure that Yamaki's going to want to hear about this too. He might need it."
"No sweat!" Said Kazu, his face beaming triumphantly as he brought his fists up in front of him. "Kenta and I can take care of that!"
"Eh?" Takato halted in front of the bathroom door and turned to look at his visor-wearing friend, one eyebrow raised in confusion.
"What? Did you forget that your folks haven't signed you out of the hospital yet? Not to mention that they mentioned something about 'having a talk with you' once you got home. Not to mention the fact that you've only just recovered from yesterday's fight."
"Oh…right." Takato frowned. "But…I can't just leave this…"
"Takato," began Kazu. "You're not leaving anything really. C'mon! You just got home yesterday and your folks have hardly had any time to spend with you outside of the inside of a hospital room. Not exactly what I'd call a 'welcome home' party if you ask me…"
"But I'm a Tamer. I can't ignore something like this if it's important."
"Well…yeah," conceded Kazu. "But don't you think you ought to take it easy today?"
Takato sighed.
"I've been taking it easy for the past week. I can't get anything done if I keep taking it easy from everything that gets thrown my way." Takato's face took on a sorrowful expression as he continued. "And I've already procrastinated enough as it is."
With that said, Takato pulled open the door to his room's lavatory and stepped inside, shutting it behind him with a dull click. Kazu and Kenta exchanged looks.
"He is right you know," said Kenta. Kazu scowled and he placed his hands on his hips indignantly.
"Yeah…I know. It's just…he's already been through a lot. It just doesn't seem right to have him constantly go out there. I wish that he'd just really rest up for once and get whatever's bothering him out of his system. You know how weird he's been acting even after Shibumi gave him Guilmon's digi-egg. He's got something on his mind. And now with this business where he thinks that girl Henry found is combined with Lucemon and BlackGuilmon…that's like living a nightmare all over again. I'd rather that he didn't have to go through that."
"I get what you're saying Kazu, but for some people facing what they fear is important to them. Sure, Takato's a little unsteady at times but I've never seen him back down from a challenge, and when he knows that he has us behind him and supporting him then he knows that he doesn't have anything to worry about. Remember what Tai said in the TV show? 'A man must face himself before he faces his enemies'."
"Dude, I can't believe that you just quoted a line from the show and applied it to this situation."
"Funny Kazu. I kind of remember you doing that too when you showed that little kid how to ride a bicycle a couple years ago…"
"Do I have to bring up the story about you not being able to do one Pull-Up in Gym class again?"
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry!"
MarineAngemon just looked at the two kids with a curious gaze.
Guilmon sniffed the ground near the chain link fence and raised his head to look at Renamon and Impmon as they stood, or in Impmon's case lounging on a branch, over by a nearby tree, watching him.
Renamon focused on the crimson dinosaur, her black and azure colored eyes locking with the gold and white hued ones of Guilmon, conveying a silent, unspoken message between them before it was broken and Guilmon went back to sniffing the ground.
"Well?" Asked Impmon. "Remember anything?"
Guilmon didn't answer right away, but instead walked up to the fence and looked it over carefully, tracing the interlinked, metal wires with his eyes before reaching out with his claws to touch them. As he did so, he felt something emerge in his mind. Something that felt…hazy…
Guilmon was following his Tamer through the lush brush of the park, eventually coming out into an open area marked off by a fence. Takatomon was in the process of thinking of where the best place would be for Guilmon to hide out until school was over and they were able to play together. His main reasoning for this particular area of the human city was because not too many people showed up there, making it just right for an easily visible digimon to go romping around. Not that it offered foolproof invisibility from the public eye of course, as the goggle-wearing Tamer was just now lamenting.
"Nah. This feels too much out in the open. Where can we hide you? Hmmm…ahhh…"
Guilmon wished that he could help his Tamer find a place that he could stay in (though truth be told he wasn't at all sure why he had to stay hidden despite his encounter with the Principal. Not that he didn't enjoy a good game of hide and go seek and dressing up in a box), but he just wasn't all that familiar with the human city. He could easily find his way around by following Takatomon's scent with his nose (as he firmly believed that wherever Takatomon was had to be the 'right direction') but when it came to finding things other then Takatomon, if it wasn't food he wouldn't know where to look. Oh well. He was certain that he could trust Takatomon to find him a nice place where he could…
Guilmon's senses suddenly kicked into high gear as he felt danger in his immediate vicinity, and approaching fast! Turning with a harsh growl Guilmon had just enough time to register a furry, fox-like form speeding towards him before he felt his back impacting with the fence behind him.
Guilmon gave a startled yelp as he landed on the ground on his back, a victim of an ill-placed foot claw due to his own surprise.
"Owww…" whined the crimson dinosaur as he rubbed the top of his head even though it hadn't born the brunt of the impact. A lithe, purple-gloved paw placed itself on his shoulder and Guilmon turned to look up into the concerned eyes of Renamon as she knelt next to him.
"Are you all right?"
Guilmon's face took on a hurt expression and he looked back at the fence.
"Renamon…why did you kick me?"
"What're you talking about?" Demanded Impmon rather loudly as he hopped down from his spot in the tree and began walking over to the pair. "All you did was jump backwards and fall down on your…"
"Impmon," said the vulpine digimon in a tone that stated simply, just by using his name, that he was to stop talking and let her speak to Guilmon. Shutting his mouth Impmon did as he was bid and watched the scene between the two unfold.
"What did you see, Guilmon?"
"I was walking through the park with Takatomo…" Guilmon paused, and cocked his head to one side in confusion. "Taka-toe…mon?"
Guilmon blinked, and a small smile appeared on Renamon's face as she remembered the old nickname that Guilmon had called his Tamer once upon a time. He rarely did so in the days prior to his death, and only during periods of extreme stress but otherwise had outgrown the habit. It seemed as though he was going to outgrow his referring to Takato as his 'mother' now as well.
Although that might take some doing, thought Renamon in bemusement as she remembered the time when she and Rika met the two in an alleyway down near Rika's house. She had made fun of Takato then, saying that he would make a better mother then a Tamer with the way that he babied his digimon. While he had turned out to be a rather fine Tamer in the end, the idea that he would still make a good mother, or rather a father due to the boy's gender, was something that she still believed quite well only without the sense of derision and contempt that she had felt then.
"I was walking through the park with Takato…mon," Guilmon shook his head before forcing himself to continue, "And he was trying to find me a place to hide during the day while he was at school. We were passing through here," Guilmon indicated the path with one claw, "And then you…kicked me into the fence."
Guilmon looked up into Renamon's eyes with a face that was gripped with hurt and betrayal, pleading with the vixen to explain how she could have done such a thing when she said that they were friends. Renamon fixed her gaze on Guilmon's as she spoke.
"Things were very different in those days, Guilmon," said Renamon, and though her voice was gentle, she did not sugarcoat her words. They did after all, concern her past relationship with the red dino, and she saw no reason to hold anything back from him. "Back then I did not think twice about deleting other digimon and absorbing their data in order to grow stronger. My partner, Rika was of the same mind then and merely wished that I became stronger. We both saw each other and the rest of the world as a means to an end, you and others like you were merely competition to being the strongest, and things like friendship held no meaning in that belief. As time went on we began to see things differently, and eventually we realized that we were wrong."
While listening to this story, Impmon lowered his eyes down to the ground, remembering his own acts while he had been in the service of the digimon Sovereign Zhuqiaomon. They bore a striking similarity to Renamon's tale.
Only between the two of us she was smart and got away from that before it could really harm her and others while I…I just fell and I kept right on falling after that.
Impmon gripped his red-gloved fist tightly, glowering at it as he noted an orange aura flickering around it. Another reminder of what he had done to the Tamers and had taken from them, all for the sake of power.
But I'm still here to make up for that, affirmed Impmon as he raised his gaze back to the crimson dino and the yellow fox. And I'm not going to let my past stop me from doing all I can to help out my friends.
Impmon felt a sharp tingle in the back of his head all of a sudden, and he realized that Guilmon and Renamon had stopped talking and were looking around them as though they sensed something nearby and were trying to find its source. Joining their search Impmon's green eyes sought the sky, followed by Guilmon and Renamon until all three of them, drawn like a moth to the proverbial flame, focused squarely on a nondescript fog floating in the air.
And it was coming towards them.
This doesn't look good, thought Impmon darkly as he got into a defensive stance.
"You know Miki," began Ayaka as they made their way through the park. "Maybe we should just forget about the whole thing…"
The dark haired girl turned a curious look on Ayaka.
"Why's that? Are you tired?"
"No! It's not that I'm tired it's just…" Ayaka took a deep breath to steady herself. "Look. We've been combing the park for a while now and we haven't found a single sign of that digimon…"
"Beanie," Miki corrected. Ayaka merely rolled her eyes.
"Oh, would you listen to yourself?" Ayaka asked, a little irritation starting to make itself known in her voice. "You're acting as though you and that little guy are already destined for each other and you don't even have one of those digivice things that the real, and let me emphasize the word real here, Tamers have. I mean seriously, you don't even know anything about this guy!"
"Beanie," Miki said again, causing Ayaka to growl in frustration.
"Will you stop it with the pet name already?! He's his own digimon for crying out loud, and you practically kidnapped him in the hopes that he would become your partner! To be frank, I don't know what your whole obsession is with that little squirt and why you even want to be a Tamer in the first place!"
Miki arched an eyebrow at her blonde haired friend.
"Hey. You okay? You weren't like this before when we first started learning about the game from Henry earlier this week. In fact, I thought that you wanted to be a Tamer too."
Ayaka growled and folded her arms across her chest.
"That was before I was in the middle of one of their fights."
"I was in one with you guys yesterday too, remember?"
"Except that you weren't there for the whole thing, Miki. I was. Heck, I was almost killed by one yesterday in case you haven't forgotten, and it didn't happen just once but twice unless I miraculously ducked beneath an energy blast when I wasn't looking…or you count that stupid hammer wielding dwarf…"
Miki expression just scrunched up in even more confusion.
"Hammer wielding dwarf?"
Ayaka continued as though she hadn't even heard the question.
"Anyway, this stuff is very serious! This digimon Taming thing…it's not all fun and games. I should have hit on it sooner when we heard about what happened to Takato and Guilmon but it just didn't click with me right away until I was actually out there and in the thick of it! Sometimes…hearing you go on about…Beanie! Grrr…sometimes I don't think that you really quite get what you're thinking about getting into! People will get hurt in this stuff!"
Miki stared at her friend with a hurt expression and she turned her face away, instantly causing Ayaka to regret her words.
"Look," began Ayaka as she placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry okay. I'm just stressed because of the fight from yesterday and hearing about what happened to Takato. But I do think that you need to rethink why you want to be a Tamer and everything. Kazu and Kenta can go on about how fun it is being a Tamer and everything, but even they know that it comes with a pretty heavy price. I got that much yesterday when I saw them in action. They take their job seriously, and they know that one mistake or one cocky move and they could end up losing their partner or having someone accidentally getting hurt…maybe even killed. I wouldn't want to see you having to learn something like that the hard way."
Miki held one of her arms protectively, rubbing it in an uncertain fashion as she continued to plod along, her eyes no longer scanning the trees and brush for any sign of the Rookie digimon that she had labeled 'Beanie' during the brief time that she had kept him at her house. Deep down inside she knew that Ayaka was right, but…
But…
"You know, when I first saw Beelzemon the first thing that I thought was just how cool he looked." Miki giggled half-heartedly as she recalled the day that the winged Demon Lord had appeared at the schoolyard looking for Jeri. "He looked like he was such a 'bad boy', but he spoke so respectfully to Jeri that it was rather sweet to see. He kind of reminded me of some 'avenging angel', only with a sad, dark look about him. Kind of like some one of those heroes that you read about in stories, you know? There was something in him that called to me, but…he already had a partner."
"Partners," corrected Ayaka, stressing the plural form of the word. "Henry said that he had two."
"Right," said Miki nodding. "Anyway, I just remembered thinking that if I ever got a partner, him, or someone like him would be one that I wanted. I…guess that I've always enjoyed the idea of getting swept off my feet by someone like that." Miki came to a halt and frowned at the ground. "Maybe it is just a silly crush…"
Ayaka bit her lower lip, and at that moment contemplated telling Miki that she was better off without Beanie because of what she saw yesterday when that big dinosaur showed up. But before she could even open up her mouth to say anything, her eyes spied a figure flitting through the tree line, leaping from branch to branch like a darting shadow.
"Miki," whispered Ayaka as she grabbed hold of the girl's arm and pointed in the direction that she saw the figure in. "Look there."
Miki's eyes looked up and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion for a moment before widening suddenly in surprise. A second later Miki burst forth, breaking free from her friends grip as their earlier conversation completely flew out the window.
"BEANIE!" Miki shouted at the top of her lungs. Ayaka gaped at her friend before breaking into pursuit a second later.
"Oh good grief…MIKI!"
Dracmon felt his frustration growing with every second that went by in which he did not find one of the Tamers. During his time with the Exodus, when Oni had been helping them he had been briefed on them and shown images so that he could recognize them on sight upon entering the real world. Having fought them a couple times their image was now burned into his memory to the point where it would take a complete and total reconfiguration to make him forget what they looked like. Despite this, and his digimon senses, he was having trouble locating a single one of them.
Well, it is a big city, thought Dracmon irritably, but he felt as though that was more of an excuse then anything else. These were Tamers he was talking about. They had digimon! He should be able to find them easily even in a city of this size and population. Seriously. How hard was it to pick out a kid who was hauling around a digimon even in a largely populated city like this? And if failing that, how hard was it to find a digimon? Now those creatures stood out like a sore thumb…
"BEANIE!"
Wha…? Startled, Dracmon lost his footing the second that he landed on another tree branch. Gravity quickly taking hold of his tiny form the demonic little digimon spun his arms in an effort to stabilize himself. Alas, gravity proved to be much too strong for him and soon enough he fell forward and hit the ground with a resounding thud.
Owww…that…hurt…
"Oh good grief," Dracmon distantly heard another voice mutter. This voice, and the other one, sounded strangely familiar to him. "MIKI!"
Dracmon's eyes snapped open beneath his facemask as he struggled to suck air into his digital lungs. That name! Not the Miki one, though that too carried its own weight with him, but the other one. Beanie.
Oh you have got to be kidding me…
Feeling a new surge of strength Dracmon struggled to regain his feet so that he could get out of there, his instincts for survival overriding all other thoughts. Fear, a surprising emotion for one such as him to feel, flashed through his mind at the thought of becoming a victim to yet another one of the girl's possessive, and bone-crushing hugs. Lurching to his feet as quickly as he could, Dracmon almost collapsed again as black spots darkened his vision from lack of oxygen.
"A-Are you all right?" Spoke up a timid voice from behind the demonic little digimon, and Dracmon flinched as he felt a soft hand place itself gently on his back. Looking over his shoulder Dracmon was surprised to find himself looking into the dark eyes of the girl who had 'brutalized' him prior to his incident with Argus and Oni.
Oookay…not that I'm complaining but…where's the glomp? Shouldn't she be holding me in a death grasp by now?
During the short time in which Dracmon had lived in Miki's home he had come to learn a few things about her, namely her excitement when it came to all things digimon (a surprise since her room was actually quite Spartan when it came to that subject, and indeed was covered wall to wall with all manner of things not-digimon and more along the lines of cute, complete with stuffed rabbits and fluffy toy kitties) and him in particular. Something of a most unhealthy combination in his opinion, and if it weren't for the fact that he had believed that it would be a good place to start if he were to infiltrate the Tamers he would have been out of there long before Argus came hunting for his head. The way that she eyed him with amazement, a dreamy hope, nigh possessiveness, not to mention her excessively chatty nature when it came to his person were reasons aplenty in which Dracmon felt that it would be best to avoid the girl as much as conceivably possible during his stay in the real world and in her dwelling, especially since he had to put up with her naming him Beanie of all things. Her having to go to school certainly brought that much needed relief (until he learned that he was allergic to the poofy feline that she referred to as Fluffy). Not fun, and after Oni had brought him back to that warp between the worlds he had thought that he was well-rid of her and very much glad for it.
Fate however, he was coming to learn, could be such a cruel mistress. All things considered though, when he thought back to his first encounters with this child, he was very much surprised to see her not trying to squeeze him to death or eyeing him like a belonging. It was kind of strange, but it was not an unwelcome experience.
"Uh…yeah," coughed Dracmon uncertainly as air finally entered his lungs without a struggle. "Yeah. I'm…fine."
Miki smiled at the tiny demon.
"That's good. I've been worried about you ever since what happened yesterday. You didn't come back, and Ayaka," Miki indicated the blonde haired, pig-tailed girl in the red and orange striped t-shirt who was regarding Dracmon with narrowed, suspicious eyes, "Said that you managed to get away, so I thought that we might go looking for you."
"Correction. You were looking for him. I was just tagging along and trying to talk to you about…"
"Ayaka!" Miki snapped. "Can't you see that Beanie's hurt?"
"He's a digimon! I seriously doubt that little fall from a low-lying tree branch is really going to do anything more then shake him up a bit, so would you stop treating him like a baby already? If what we heard from Terriermon is any indication, this guy used to be at the Ultimate level when he came here. He's probably got more years on us then the other way around."
"But he's a Rookie…"
"I really don't think that you're quite getting it Miki. Anyway, the guy's nothing but trouble…"
"But if he was wouldn't he have done something to hurt us by now?" Miki turned to Dracmon and smiled at him once again. Ayaka had to roll her eyes at this one.
Great. The fate of the world is probably at stake because this little guy's caught up in some kind of weird conspiracy and all Miki can do is make eyes at him. Jeri warned me that there were going to be days like this when I told her about Miki's 'find'.
Ayaka took note of the fact that the little demon was looking more then a little uncomfortable over the way Miki was eyeing him. Yup. It was only a matter of time before she went into full crush gear, both the figurative, romantic term and the literal, physical act. Ayaka couldn't decide whether or not she should feel sorry for Beanie, for being handed such a fate.
You reap what you sow I guess, thought Ayaka sardonically, tilting her head to one side as she considered Dracmon.
"Now then…what are we going to do with you?" Asked Ayaka as she bent down to be more eyelevel with Dracmon, resting her weight on the balls of her feet. Dracmon tensed up, uncertain as to what the girl was thinking until he had a thought. Or rather, a memory from when he had seen her yesterday.
She was with that Tamer of the MarineAngemon. That means…that she knows the Tamers! Well if this isn't the strangest bit of luck I've ever had! It's almost like killing two birds with one stone…only the stone's actually a boomerang that clobbers me upside the head as I throw it. Either way, this might work out better then I hoped it would!
"I need to see the Tamers!" Dracmon broke in abruptly, causing both girls to blink at him in surprise.
"Excuse me?" Asked Ayaka bluntly while Miki responded with a 'huh?'
"The Tamers," rasped Dracmon, starting to feel a tad bit more irritated then he had been when Miki discovered him. "I…need…to…see them! It's a matter of extreme importance!"
Ayaka scoffed.
"Yeah right. How do we know that this isn't some kind of trick?"
"Ayaka!" Exclaimed Miki incredulously. "You don't even know this digimon…!"
"Neither do you," said Dracmon bluntly as he got to his feet. Miki looked at him in surprise. "Ayaka knows a little bit more about me then you do I'll warrant. She kept following me after yesterday so she at least knows that I showed up here working for somebody, and it was that somebody who saved me from deletion yesterday."
"Huh-wha…?" Surprised by this, Miki whirled to look at Ayaka. Ayaka, to her credit, didn't even flinch as her gaze met Miki's. Sensing that he had accidentally stirred some trouble in the waters between them Dracmon was swift to keep talking before anything bubbled to the surface.
"Look. I need to see the Tamers. There's a lot that they have to know about what's going on. About…uh…Argus…" Dracmon scowled. He wasn't even all that sure if these two, being non-Tamers, would even know about that particular program. Humans, like digimon had the habit of keeping certain things hidden from others who were not on a 'need-to-know' basis. His curiosity was rewarded when both girls just looked at him blankly.
"Oh for the love of…I just need to see the Tamers! I don't care what emergency safety steps you think needs to be taken but I need to have a word with them! A lot of things went down yesterday and they need to be told about them before things get out of contro…!"
Dracmon's ranting screeched to a halt when he felt something pull forcefully on his senses at about the same time that the two girls looked over Dracmon and at something directly behind him. Risking a glance over his shoulder Dracmon's eyes widened underneath his facemask as he saw a fog-like cloud that had apparently appeared out of thin air making its way towards them. His heartbeat quickened its pulse as he an intense force assaulted his senses with all the power of a cement truck. Whatever it was that was in that cloud, it was big, and more importantly powerful. It was also an imprint that his senses recognized all too well, having memorized it from countless, bloody engagements in the digital world prior to his coming here.'
"GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!!"
Reacting on pure instinct, Dracmon launched himself into the air and threw himself towards the digital field at the precise moment that it touched down on the earth and detonated. His body slicing through the fog like a bullet, Dracmon summoned his energies to deliver his most powerful attack, hoping to buy the two girls the time that they needed to get out of here, even though he would recognize after the fact, that it was really hopeless act of self-sacrifice. Nonetheless, Dracmon was moving on instinct, and thus had no time to think about such things. Which was why a second later he found himself trapped within the grasp of a black colored gauntlet and staring into the gaunt eyes that lay within a skull-shaped, metallic helmet.
"Well, well, well," said Craniummon coldly as he brought the squirming Dracmon to eye level. "We've been looking all over for you."
Aw…nuts!
14
