AN: Hello all and welcome back. So this one took a little bit because I really wanted to make this the best I could due to the subject matter. This chapter goes into a little backstory on Alice. So obviously she never really had much backstory in the original besides having her grandfather being a monster maker and showing a picture of her with him and her dad. So I decided to expand on that a bit. Anyway enjoy and I hope you're all doing ok out there in these crazy times.
Digimon Tamers: Hazards Sorrow
Episode 17: Overcoming the Past
Shinjuku, Japan
The bell rang as high school students began to flood out of Shinjuku High School. It was the weekend and they were all eager to start it after a long week of tests and academics. Two students separated from the rest and stopped to talk, the male smiled at her, "So what's your plans for the weekend Alice?" Alice sighed, "I'm hoping to relax actually, Yamaki has been quiet so I'm enjoying the down time." Ryo nodded, "We haven't had any evil Digimon since Monodramon digivolved to Cyberdramon two weeks ago, maybe he scared them all off." Alice smiled slightly, "As much as I would love if that were true, I think it's just because of whatever HYPNOS is working on."
Ryo frowned , "You really trust Yamaki that much that you don't care about what he's planning?" Alice rolled her eyes, "We just became friends again Ryo let's not have this argument." Ryo nodded, "Fine, I'm not smart enough to argue with you about it anyway." There was an awkward silence for a moment, Ryo was baiting her into going further with it but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction. After a few moments she decided to change the subject, "What are your plans?" Ryo shrugged, "Chill at home for the most part, I'll probably go try to visit Rika." Alice nodded, "How is she doing by the way?"
Ryo smiled slightly, "Getting a little better I think, haven't you been visiting her?" Alice shook her head, "Only a couple of times, last time I saw her we argued about my hatred for Takato and she told me to screw off." Ryo sighed, "You and Takato used to be cool, I don't know why you hate him so much now." Alice glared at him, "He's fine to get along with, but he used us at times and was dangerous and most importantly he lied a lot, and the thing I hate most in the world is a liar." Ryo shook his head, "And Yamaki doesn't lie to you?" Alice nodded, "I haven't caught him in a lie yet, he's been nothing but honest with us and that earns him more points in my book than Takato."
Ryo rolled his eyes, "Well I'm gonna go before this turns into an argument." He waved goodbye and slowly began to walk away, Alice thought about calling out to him but hesitated. They had only just become friends again and she didn't want to risk that again, she had treated him and Rika horribly for months and she was only slowly starting to rebuild those relationships.
Even if she wanted them to forgive her she wasn't willing to compromise her views on Takato to earn their forgiveness. She had learned a long time ago people like him couldn't be trusted and even if she had to watch her friends walk away from her she wouldn't change her mind.
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It usually took her about 20 minutes to get home from school but today it had only taken her 15. Alice just wanted to get home and enjoy a weekend without any incidents from HYPNOS or Digimon in general. She was looking forward to just kicking back and listening to music and maybe doing some reading. As she entered her apartment she called to her grandfather who was usually home, "Grandpa I'm home." Rob McCoy or Dolphin as his friends for some reason called him stuck his head out of his office and smiled at her, "Oh hey Alice you're home early." Alice walked into his office and shrugged at him, "I was just really looking forward to the weekend, Dad isn't home yet?"
Her father worked as a teacher at an elementary school and he'd usually be home by now unless he had something to do after work. She was close with her father and he would've told her if he had some kind of errand to do after school. Her Grandfather frowned and rubbed the back of his head, "Uh about that, you see he got a call from your mother, she's here in town and wanted to see you but he went to see her instead." Alice frowned at hearing this, "I don't want to see her." Dolphin nodded, "I know that and your father knows that, that's why he went to go see her instead." Alice scowled and folded her arms, "I don't even know why she'd bother coming here, no one wants her around."
Dolphin sighed, "Alice the last time you saw her 7 years ago she very well could have changed." Alice nearly growled at the possibility of the woman who created her changing, "She didn't change in the 10 years we were a family, why would she change now?" Dolphin shrugged, "All I know is she wants to see you and after 7 years I would strongly suggest you consider it." Alice shook her head, "No way, it's not gonna happen." Dolphin frowned, "Fine, but at least here what your father has to say when he comes home." Alice walked out the door not even acknowledging his last comment. Her mother had hurt her too much and she refused to see her, she didn't give chances to people like her.
She walked into her room and walked out onto the balcony that was connected to it and sat down in the chair. Next to her was a sleeping Dobermon who woke up at the sound of her sitting down. He yawned and looked at his tamer, "Good afternoon Alice, how was school?" Usually he didn't attempt much small talk but she was clearly upset and he wasn't good at this sort of thing, he didn't want to just ask outright. He waited 5 minutes for her to respond but all she did was look out into the city clearly lost in her own thoughts. Deciding he may as well just get to the point he cleared his throat to get her attention, "So care to tell me what's wrong?" Alice shook her head, "Not really."
Dobermon rolled his eyes, "Clearly something is wrong and I thought we'd agreed to talk to each other more." Alice glared at her partner for a moment before speaking, "I'm upset ok, happy?" Dobermon frowned, Alice usually acted more mature for her age but for once she was acting like a bratty teenager, "I can tell, what are you upset about." Seeing he wasn't going to drop it Alice sighed, "I learned my mother is in town and wants to see me." Dobermon raised an eyebrow, "And that's bad because?" Alice scoffed at his attempts at talking, "If you hadn't realized she doesn't live with us, my parents are divorced." Dobermon nodded, "Ok but why do you not want to see her?" Alice continued to look out at the city not facing him as she answered, "The divorce was mostly her fault, she's an alcoholic and a drug addict who cheated on my dad a lot."
Dobermon had no idea what that meant but he assumed it was bad, "And that's why you don't like her?" Alice shook her head, "No it's because she used me to get away with it for so long and when I finally realized it I vowed to never see her again." Dobermon frowned, "I'm sorry Alice, Digimon don't really have parents so I don't know how to help, but if there's anything you need let me know."
Alice sighed and reached down to pet him, it used to annoy him when she did it but he's become somewhat more tolerant of her displays of affection, "Just let me have some quiet time ok? A lot of bad memories are coming back." Dobermon nodded, "I'll be here if you need me." She nodded and he settled down again, willing to stay by her side and rest until she needed him.
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California, USA(12 Years Ago)
5 year old Alice loved playdates and she had so many friends so that meant a lot of playdates. Sometimes she had playdates with kids she didn't know, her mommy would just bring her along with her when she was going to a friends house and she would play with their kids. Usually while she played her mommy would go into the bedroom with her friends daddy and they wouldn't come out for nearly two hours. Once she asked her mommy what she did with her friends but she never got an answer only being told adult stuff. Alice did find it weird how she wasn't allowed to tell her daddy about the playdates but according to her mommy it was because it was a special mommy and daughter thing.
She had been at a friends house for two hours and she was playing with her friend Graham when her mommy had finally come out of the room. She looked all sweaty and her hair was a mess but she took her by the hand and she waved goodbye to Graham unsure if she'd ever see her friend again. Even though she had so many friends she sometimes didn't see any of them again or not for a long time as her mommy said she didn't need to see all of them a lot. They got in the car and began to drive, her mommy always drove a little fast but Alice trusted her enough that she'd keep them safe. As they drove her mommy turned and smiled at her in her seat, "Alice baby I know you probably want to go home but I have one more stop to make before we go home."
Alice frowned at her, "But mommy I want to go home now." Her mommy sighed, "Tell you what, if you are a big girl and let me go make this one last stop and wait in the car, we'll get ice cream on the way home." Alice smiled brightly and raised her arms in happiness, "Ice cream yay!" She continued to celebrate in her seat as her mommy pulled up to a very run down looking house and unbuckled her seat belt, "Now just stay here Alice I'll be right back." Alice couldn't hear her though as she was lost in thought about what kind of ice cream she wanted.
Her mommy was gone for awhile and even the mind and imagination of a 5 year old eventually got bored and she eventually started to look out the window hoping her mother would exit from the scary looking house. Finally after more time passed her mommy exited the house and Alice thought she could see her place a plastic bag into her pocket. As she got back into the car she smiled at Alice, "Ok are we ready for some ice cream!" Something seemed weird, her mommy seemed to be acting differently and her eyes looked red. It didn't matter though because she was the best mommy in the world and Alice just felt so lucky to be able to spend so much time with her.
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Shinjuku, Japan(Present Day)
She had sat on her balcony for what had felt like hours, simply staring out into the city dreaming about what her life would've been like if she had stayed in America, most importantly if she had stayed with her. She thought of many things, how pretty the city was, how it compared to where she used to live, her anger at her mother and she even thought about calling Ryo. She didn't have anyone to talk to about this and as much as she wanted to confide in Dobermon she was worried he didn't care. Ryo would at least care, he wouldn't be able to offer helpful advice or sympathize with her but he'd at least care.
She pushed that thought from her mind though, she hadn't told him or anyone about her past with her mother and she didn't feel the need to. She was the one who helped solve their problems and offered advice, she didn't want them to know she had her own problems. If she did then they might not come to her for advice anymore and if they didn't then they might not need her anymore. She suddenly heard a knock at her bedroom door and got up to open it. Standing there was her dad smiling at her, his usually neat blonde hair was messy and his glasses were off.
He'd must've been thinking heavily as he had a tendency to mess up his hair when he was doing serious thinking. Alice stood there staring at him waiting for him to speak, "Uh hey Alice I brought take out home from your favorite sushi place why not come out of your room and eat some dinner." Alice said nothing and walked past him into the kitchen where her grandfather was already eating and staying quiet. The two sat down at the table to eat and finally Alice spoke up, "So what did she want?" Her father looked at her confused, "What did who want?" Alice rolled her eyes, "Grandpa told me where you went after work so don't play dumb."
Her father sighed, "I was debating on how to tell but your grandpa opened his big mouth." Alice continued to shoot a death glare at him, "What did she want." Her father frowned, "She was here on vacation and she wanted to talk and I thought I owed her that after 7 years of not speaking." Alice pounded her head on the table, "Like hell, she doesn't deserve a damn thing." Her father put a hand over her hand to get her to calm down, "Alice relax, she just told me how her life has been going and kept asking about you." Alice calmed down and continued to frown, "And?" Her father smiled slightly, "She said she's been clean for 7 years and turned her life around."
Alice glared at him, "And you believed her?" Her father hesitated before nodding, "I was married to that woman for 15 years and I know when she's lying, so yes I believe her. She wants to see you Alice and I strongly encourage you to meet with her before she leaves on Sunday." Alice shook her head, "I don't want to see her, I'd rather never speak to her again." Her father nodded, "I can't control your life Alice, if you don't want to see her that's fine but I'm telling you'll regret it if you don't." Alice said nothing and the McCoy family went back to eating silently, the rest of dinner was going to be very awkward.
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California, USA(10 Years Ago)
It was midnight and 7 year old Alice was awoken with a start as she felt someone shaking her. She opened her eyes to see her mom sitting at the edge of the bed smiling at her. Something was wrong, she felt awful and seemed to not be registering that she had woken up. She sat up and looked at her mother, "Mom what is it?" Suddenly her mother hugged her and began to cry, "Oh Alice you know how much I love you right baby girl?" She was slurring her words and Alice was sure something was wrong with her, "I love you too mom what's wrong?"
Her mom still smelled and Alice wasn't sure what it was as her mom continued to slur her words, "Just promise me that you won't let anyone take you away from me ok?" Alice nodded, "Of course mom I'd never want to lose you." Her mom stopped hugging her and smiled, "Good so if anyone ever asks you if things are fine when I'm with you, you gotta tell them yes understand?" Alice nodded, "You got it mom, now can I go back to sleep?" Her mom nodded, "You got it, good night baby girl." She left her room and Alice went back to sleep hoping she was simply just dreaming of this bizarre encounter with her mom.
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A few days after her late night encounter with her mom Alice was sitting at the kitchen table doing some math homework when her dad walked in. He taught in the same school that she went to and though he wasn't her teacher usually offered to help her with her homework. He sat down at the table with her and smiled at her, "Alice do you mind if I asked you a weird question?" Alice shook her head, "No go ahead dad" Her dad sighed, "Do you ever not have fun when you spend time with your mom or does she do anything weird?"
Alice remembering her promise to her mom shook her head, "No of course not, I love spending time with mom and everything is fine when we do." Her dad nodded, "Alright then but you gotta promise me that you'll tell me if she ever makes you uncomfortable." Alice nodded, "Ok dad." Her dad then dropped the subject and started to help her with her homework. Anyone older would've questioned what was going on with her parents but to Alice's 7 year old mind this was perfectly normal part of her day.
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Present Day
Ryo had just finished visiting Rika and was walking back to his apartment. She was getting better and he had hoped she would soon be back in the fight. Losing Takato had been hard on her and they all had thought she would retreat from the world and become the ice queen she once was but thankfully she's recovering from her grief well. As he continued to walk he heard something following him, they weren't footsteps. No they sounded more like the sounds a dog made when walking on pavement. He turned around and looked at his stalker, "Any reason you're following me Dobermon?" Dobermon glared at the brown haired tamer, "Am I not allowed to go where I please?" Ryo frowned, "Well you can, but Alice isn't with you so it either means you two had a fight or she's finally ordered you to kill me."
Dobermon looked at him confused, "We didn't have a fight and she would probably kill me if I harmed you." Ryo laughed, "Then what are you doing here? Because you and I aren't exactly friends." Dobermon let out a sigh of defeat, "Because human, you've helped me before concerning Alice and I need your help again." Ryo rolled his eyes, "What happened this time?" Dobermon glared at him, "Sorry to disappoint you but Alice and I didn't fight, but something is wrong with Alice." Hearing his comment Ryo looked at the digimon in concern, "What's wrong with her?" Dobermon shook his head, "It's not for me to say?" Ryo glared at him, "Then why the hell are you here?" Dobermon frowned, "I want to comfort her since I can't sympathize with her and I don't know how."
Ryo sighed, "Just uh listen to her and be there for her, even if you can't offer advice you can offer an ear to listen and affection when she needs it." Dobermon raised an eyebrow, "That's really all there is to it?" Ryo nodded, "For a girl like Alice yea, she isn't gonna take any advice anyone gives her anyway, so just support her." Dobermon thought for a second before nodding, "Thank you human, I suppose I owe you for the advice." Ryo smiled, "You could tell me what's wrong with Alice." Before he could get a response Dobermon ran off leaving a disappointed Ryo. Ryo simply just shrugged, "Ah well guess she'll tell me when she's ready." He continued to walk back to his apartment hoping his friend would tell him sooner rather than later.
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Following the awkward dinner last night with her family, Alice decided she didn't want to spend the day inside her home and had left early in the morning. She had gotten bored though, Henry was doing whatever computer nerds did on Saturday, Ryo was visiting Rika and was probably pissed at her. Dobermon went off to who knows where and probably wouldn't show up unless he was looking for food, and Jeri was working at her family's restaurant. That was it, she was hungry anyway so she'd go visit Jeri and spend some time with her. The girl wasn't one to pry about personal issues so there was no chance she'd ask her if she was upset. She had gotten several texts from her father about leaving in the morning but she had been ignoring them. He couldn't believe that he would dare suggest she speak to her mother after everything she did.
After a brisk 10 minute walk she had arrived at the restaurant and went in hoping to see Jeri. Thankfully Jeri was around when she had walked in and told her to sit wherever she wanted. Jeri brought her some tea and smiled at her, "If you give me 5 minutes I'll sit with you for my break." Alice nodded at her and soon became lost in thought as she contemplated her current problems. As she continued to think she didn't hear someone calling her name, "Alice, Alice, Alice you there." Seeing a hand wave in front of her Alice jolted up and turned to see Jeri who had now sat at the table, "Oh sorry Jeri I was just thinking about stuff."
Jeri smiled at her, "You know most people aren't that lost in thought unless something is wrong." Alice shook her head, "Nothings wrong, I'm fine." Jeri smiled at her, "You know I'm not one to pry Alice but I can tell something is wrong and you may as well tell me because I won't leave you alone until you do." Alice frowned at her, "I said I'm fine, you guys don't need to worry about my problems." Jeri shook her head, "You're my friend so I'll worry about them anyway." Alice looked at her tea that had grown cold, "I don't want you to think less of me."
Jeri laughed at the comment, "Alice I know you're usually the one helping us with our problems, but you're human and you have problems too so I won't look down on you if you need to vent." Alice looked at the worried girl, "You really won't think differently of me?" Jeri nodded, "Alice you're my friend, I bring you lunch at least 3 times a week, you being upset won't make me hate you." Alice sighed, "Fine, have you ever noticed I never mention my mom at all when I talk about my family." Jeri nodded, "Now that you mention it, yeah you never have." Alice took a sip of her tea before continuing, "That's because she still lives in America, my parents got divorced when I was 10."
Jeri looked at her confused, "So do you not see her?" Alice shook her head, "I don't want to see her, she's a drug addict and alcoholic and cheated on my dad a lot." Jeri's face turned to worry and she placed a hand on Alice's, "Alice I am so sorry, was it hard to deal with?" Alice shook her head, "I never really noticed because I was a young kid, but when I finally found out it was the last day I saw her." Slowly she began to think back to that fateful day 7 years ago.
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7 Years Ago
Her mom had just picked her up from school and they were driving home or at least Alice was hoping they were. Lately her mom had taken her places and had left her in the car while she went into whatever place they ended up at for sometimes an hour. Alice once didn't mind this but now she had homework and she wanted to talk to friends online so she didn't have time for an errand. Home had been a scary thought for her recently, her parents fought a lot and her mom was acting more and more weird. She kept asking Alice to lie for her and tell her dad that she wasn't doing anything bad when they went out for Mommy/Daughter time but Alice was starting to get the feeling her mom was lying to her.
Her mom seemed to be driving weird as she kept turning fast and swerving a bit. The same smell she sometimes had when she would wake her up in the middle of the night was present in the car and Alice was wondering if something was wrong. Her mom seemed to be nervous as Alice turned to her, "Uh mom are you ok?" Her mom turned to her appearing angry, "I'm fine Alice, why don't you mind your own damn business you stupid kid!"
She continued to yell at Alice but Alice wasn't focusing on that, her mom wasn't paying attention to the road and now they went off the street. Alice could barely yell out, "Mom watch out!" But it was too late, the car crashed into the tree and Alice saw white before everything became black.
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Alice felt warm, she wasn't sure where she was and she was afraid to open her eyes as she feared the worst. Struggling to open her eyes she found herself in a hospital bed, her grandpa was sitting by her bedside as she opened her eyes. He saw her moving and jumped up and smiled, "Alice oh good sweety you're awake how are you feeling?" Alice looked at him confused, "I feel a little sore but I'm fine, where's mom?" Her grandpa nodded, "Don't worry about that right now, I'll call your dad." He began to walk out of the room yelling, "Keith!" As he ran out of the room Alice struggled to remember what had happened, she remembered her mom yelling at her a lot of mean things. Then the car went off the road, then it hit the tree and that's where her memory stopped.
Her dad ran into the room and smiled at seeing her awake, "Oh Alice you're awake I'm so glad." Alice looked at him, "Daddy what happened? Is Mom ok?" Her dad knelt by her bed and began to stroke her hair to comfort her, "You two had an accident, you've been asleep for a day but the doctors said that you should be fine just some bumps and bruises." Alice nodded, "Ok but where's mom?" Her dad looked at her grandpa before sighing, "You aren't going to see your mother for awhile." Alice looked at him shocked, "But why not? I want to know if she's ok." Her dad nodded, "She's fine Alice, but you see she's in a lot of trouble."
The concern Alice was feeling continued to grow, "Why would she be in trouble?" Her dad sighed, "They've taught you about drugs and alcohol in school right?" Alice nodded, "Yeah they've been teaching us about them this year." Her dad nodded, "Well your mom as it turns out has a really big problem with both of them and she was driving while on both of them." Alice starting to understand nodded, "And we were that it could get you into a lot of trouble." Her dad nodded again, "So while thankful neither of you were hurt badly your mom is still in trouble."
Alice looked at her dad feeling tears in her eyes, "So what happens now?" Before her dad could answer her grandpa walked over, "Well I just got a pretty good job offer in Japan and your dad and I were talking about you two coming with me." Alice nodded, "That sounds nice but what about?" The two adults looked at each other and frowned, she wasn't old enough to understand everything going on.
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Present Day
Alice continued talking after telling Jeri the story, "As I got older I realized a lot more about my mom and how much of a liar she was and she manipulated me to get away with her habits for so many years. Eventually I developed a lot of hatred for her and hatred in general for people who lie and manipulate others." Jeri had a frown on her face and nodded, "Alice I'm so sorry you had to deal with that as a kid. Is that why you hated Takato." Alice thought for a moment and nodded, "Probably, I think after catching him in a few lies I didn't want to risk trusting him so I chose to believe he was dangerous and a threat." Jeri sighed, "So why is this all coming up now?" Alice took another sip of tea, "Because she's in Japan claiming she's changed and wants to see me and even my father is convinced she's changed."
Jeri looked at the blonde, "And you don't want to see her?" Alice nodded, "I refuse to believe that woman could change." Jeri shook her head, "You should see her Alice." Alice glared at Jeri, "Excuse me?" Jeri looked at her determined to say her peace, "Look you were young and you hardly remember, your feelings are a result of being told things not what you actually experienced. If you have even one happy memory with her you should give her a chance now." Alice continued to look angry at Jeri, "Why should I do it? Just to open myself up to be hurt again?" Jeri shook her head, "Alice at least you have a mother, mine passed away when I was young and I'd give anything to see her again. Now she wants to be there for you, you owe it to yourself to at least see what she wants or you'll regret it."
Alice was speechless, Jeri wasn't wrong. At least she had a mother who seemingly wanted to see her and cared about how she was doing. Alice frowned, "Jeri I'm sorry if I upset you by being a jerk." Jeri smiled and shook her head, "Don't worry about it, look you don't have to see her but I recommend you do." Alice nodded, "Thanks Jeri I appreciate it." Jeri nodded, "Oh anytime Alice, it's nice to see you opening up to someone." Unfortunately Jeri needed to go back to work and said goodbye to the blonde, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Deciding she wasn't getting anywhere hiding in the restaurant Alice left some money on the table for her tea and left. Jeri wasn't wrong, she could end up regretting it if she let her mother leave and not see her. Sighing she took out her phone and dialed her father's number. After three rings he picked, "Hello? Alice is that you."
Alice was silent for a moment knowing she could never go back after this, "Uh hey dad, any chance you could set up a meeting tomorrow with her?" Knowing who she meant her father let out a little cheer of happiness, "Of course Alice, I'm proud of you for agreeing to this." Alice smiled, "Oh don't say that I haven't seen her yet." Her father laughed, "Alright then Alice, I'll see you later." Alice nodded, "Alright see you later." She hung up and sighed to herself as she continued her walk. Eventually finding herself at the park she sat down on a bench and continued to think to herself. She was brought out of her thoughts by a deep voice, "Alice how are you doing?" Alice turned to find Dobermon sitting next to her, "Oh Dobermon, where have you been?" Dobermon grunted at her, "I went to get answers, I wasn't sure how to help you with your problem until now."
Alice raised an eyebrow at him, "And what was the answer?" Dobermon smiled slightly at her, "To simply provide an ear to listen and comfort you when you need." Alice smiled at him, "Well thank you Dobermon I'm glad to know you're here for me." Dobermon nodded, "So how are you feeling?" Alice frowned, "Confused, I was so angry but after a talk with Jeri I think I'm more confused and scared than anything. I agreed to meet with my mom tomorrow and I'm uncertain how it'll go." Dobermon sat there for a moment trying to think of an answer, he was over thinking it before he remembered Ryo's advice of just being there for her. He got closer to her and rested his head on her lap as most dogs would as a display of affection, "Have faith in yourself Alice, you're smart enough to know that it'll go fine."
Alice nodded, "Thanks Dobermon, man who'd you go to answers for cause they must've been smart." Dobermon laughed, "Would you believe it was Akiyama?" Alice smiled and nodded, "You know I actually would believe it." They sat there for a few minutes before Dobermon began to smell something, "Alice there's a digimon not far from here." Alice rolled her eyes, "You know these wild digimon have really bad timing, let's go take care of it." The two ran off ready to go take on the wild digimon.
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The two arrived at the site of the digimon and found themselves in what seemed to be a blizzard. Feeling a chill Alice rubbed her shoulders trying to warm herself up, "Man who turned on the AC?" A silhouette appeared from the blizzard and Alice could swear it was Leomon. Dobermon walked up to him thinking he was an ally until he was met by a blast of cold air. The digimon walked forward to reveal itself as Alice scanned it with her digivice, "Panjyamon an ultimate level vaccine type, it freezes its opponents with its Frozen Fury attack." Dobermon growled at it, "Clearly this isn't Leomon." Panjamon simply growled in response.
Alice nodded, "Take it out Dobermon." Dobermon launched himself at the icy digimon who blocked it with its sword. Sending Dobermon back who launched an attack at it, "BLACK BEAM" The beam traveled at the digimon who opened its mouth "BLIZZARD BREATH" He let out an icy breath and froze the beam solid resulting in it dropping to the ground. Alice glared at the digimon, "Ok that didn't work how about this, DIGIMODIFY: MERAMON'S FIREBALL ACTIVATE" Dobermon using the attack summoned a fireball from his mouth and fired it at Panjamon who simply slashed it in half with his sword. The blizzard grew more intense as Panjyamon prepared an attack, "FROZEN FURY"
The attack hit Dobermon directly who was knocked back with ice covering him. Alice ran to him and tried to get him up, this couldn't happen not when the two were getting along. They'd come so far and she didn't want to lose him now. Suddenly a blue light came from Alice's card deck and she took out a card revealing it to be blue. Recognizing it as the card Henry had told her about enabling further digivolution she swiped it, "DIGIMODIFY: MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION ACTIVATE." Dobermon recovering glowed black, "DOBERMON MATRIX DIGIVOLVE TO" Black flames were everywhere as Dobermon emerged in his ultimate form, "CERBERUSMON"
Alice smiled as the flames from his digivolution pushed some of the snow back, "Cerberusmon an ultimate level digimon, known as the watchdog of hell, he uses the attacks PORTALS OF DARKNESS and EMERALD BLAZE along with the armor on his shoulder to punish enemies." Panjamon not liking the newly digivolved Cerberusmon evening the odds stepped back into the blizzard hoping to overwhelm him. Cerberusmon sat there waiting for him to make a move, suddenly an attack came to his side, "FROZEN FURY" Thanks to his armor though Cerbusmon dodged the attack and sent one back, "PORTALS OF DARKNESS"
The dark portal appeared behind Panjyamon distracting him as Cerberusmon charged him and knocked him in, sending him to the dark area. Jumping in after him Cerberusmon watched him struggling to overcome the darkness. He growled at the helpless digimon, "Time to finish this, EMERALD BLAZE '' He fired a red-hot jet of flames at Panjyamon completing melting him and deleting him. Cerberusmon loaded his date victoriously and exited the dimension returning to Alice as the blizzard disappeared. Alice smiled at him as he walked up to her and allowed himself to be pet, "Good job Cerberusmon." He nodded at her and the two left the area before anyone else could arrive and question what had happened there, as Alice figured Yamaki would probably call her later anyway about it.
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The Next Day
She was nervous as she walked to a local cafe to see her mother, she felt butterflies in her stomach. She still wasn't sure but Dobermon and her family were encouraging her so even if it didn't work out she had them. She walked into the cafe and saw her, she hadn't changed much, just a few more wrinkles and her long blonde hair was now shorter. She saw her and waved to her, "Alice oh my goodness you're actually here." She ran up to her and despite her not wanting her too she hugged her anyway. Alice responded slowly, "Hi mom." Her mother smiled at her, "I'm so glad you gave me the chance to see you."
She led her to a table and the two sat down. Over the next hour her mother told her about her life, she'd been 7 years sober and now held a steady job. She'd had a boyfriend for 5 years who loved her despite her past and was willing to accept her for who she was. Her mother had changed despite the lying and manipulating, she was a good person just like Alice remembered before everything happened. Alice smiled at her mother as their time was coming to a close, "Mom I'm so sorry for being so difficult I was so dead set on being mad at you."
Her mother put a hand on hers and shook her head, "Alice I don't blame you for being mad at me, all I can do is thank you for giving me a chance." The rest of the time went well and by the end the two had exchanged contact information, Alice wasn't going to lose her mother again and though she was still hesitant she was willing to see where their reconnection led them. After she said goodbye to her mother she walked out of the cafe finding Ryo waiting outside. She had called him there and she smiled at him, "Hey did you wait long?" Ryo shook his head, "No why?"
Alice shrugged, "No reason, c'mon let's go visit Rika." Ryo looked at her confused, "You sure? I thought you two were pissed at each other." Alice nodded, "Yeah but I owe you an explanation about what's been going on this weekend and I want to tell you both about it." Ryo nodded, "Alright let's get going then." Alice smiled and the two walked off towards Rika's home. Alice had to figure if her mother could change then why couldn't others.
It was time for her to stop holding grudges towards people who had lied to her before. She had a lot of apologizing to do for her actions but she just hoped wherever he was, Takato would forgive her for not seeing past the little lies he'd told. He had asked her to be a good friend to Rika before he left and it was probably time for her to do just that.
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The Digital World
Babamon hummed quietly to herself as she prepared dinner for herself and Jijimon. It had been so quiet around their home since finding that human in the crater and she was starting to wonder if he'd ever wake up from the coma he was in. Jijimon exited the room he was being held in and sighed, "Still no change in the kid or the digimon that was with him."
Babamon smiled at him, "Oh don't worry dear I'm sure he'll get better soon." Suddenly they heard a knock at the door, dropping what she was doing she turned around to go answer the door. Opening it she greeted the visitor without looking at them, "Greetings and what can I do for you today." She opened her eyes and was shocked at the visitor, having to look up she found the two royal knights Ulforceveedramon and Kentaurosmon looking down on her.
Ulforceveedrom cleared his throat, "Hello ma'am sorry to bother you but we were wondering if you'd possibly seen a human with brown hair somewhere in the area, he'd probably have a red digimon with him." Babamon weakly nodded and then fainted from the reaction of seeing two royal knights. Kentaurosmon sighed, "Well at least we found them." Ulfroceveedrom nodded, "But the question is, what kind of state are they in." The two looked at each other in concern as they patiently waited for the elderly mega level digimon to recover so she could tell them where their lost comrade was.
AN: Alright so things are heating up, the royal knights have found Takato but he's not exactly in fighting condition. Next chapter will be a Jeri chapter and I think everyone can guess what Leomon's ultimate level will be after this chapter just used one of the options. And I promise Rika will finally be back next chapter and there might even be an update on how the Juggernaut program is doing. Anyway I'll see everyone next time.