Digital Shuffle
By famirad
Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon Tamers, this is for fun.
Author's Note: Think of this as an AU to Digimon Tamers, if that was the best outcome, then what is this outcome? This is a crossover between Tamers (main canon), Adventure, Wonderswan games, and X-Evolution.
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Digital Shuffle
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(Colossus)
Last night's search hadn't turned up anything. Just when they needed a Digimon to bio-merge too! They were going to try again today after school: Renamon reported that she'd felt a large disruption in Odaiba's direction a few days ago and Terriermon confirmed this. So Odaiba it was today.
Ruki glanced out the window of the classroom. Why are they pretending nothing's wrong? There were empty seats today, more than yesterday, but the teacher continued about her business, asking the girl sitting next to Ruki to recite off the class reader. Sitting here when she knew time was limited made the Tamer want to squirm in her seat. If this kept up, she was so ditching school and spending her time searching for the fake Takato. At least that would be more productive!
Classes ended early, just before noon. Most of the other kids were glad to get out early, but Ruki only frowned. The adults knew something was wrong, could feel it if not see or understand it.
Ruki remained behind to clean the classroom. She had just finished when there was a knock on the door.
"Hello."
The Tamer looked up. A girl stood in the doorway, looking around in mild confusion. A foreigner? Ruki raised an eyebrow. They didn't get many of those in this school, but the natural blond hair swept in twin ponytails and the accent were a giveaway.
"Can I help you?" Ruki asked.
The strange girl looked at her. "Where's the administration office? I'm afraid I got lost."
Oh. A new student. Leaning on the broom, Ruki sized her up. That explained why she was wearing those weird clothes – a simple, almost Victorian dress - instead of the school uniform. The foreigner was dressed as if she was going to a funeral. Black everywhere, from her high-collared dress down to her black tights and boots. She looked more like a life-sized doll than a girl. Weird.
"It's down the hall and to the right, near the stairs," Ruki said.
The foreigner offered the barest of polite smiles as she turned to go. "Thank you. What's your name?"
"Ruki Makino."
A strange expression flitted across the blonde girl's face, but she covered it up before Ruki noticed it. "Alice McCoy." Alice glanced at Ruki, and then down the hall. "I'll be seeing you later then."
She left. Ruki finished putting away the rest of her things into her backpack. Weird they'd have new students – foreign ones at that – coming in this time of year but she honestly had more important things to be thinking about right now. One of which was just what she was going to do if she really did run into the fake Takato. She'd be less conspicuous if only Renamon was with her. But there was also the risk she'd be out-numbered. Over-powered was doubtful, but power had nothing to do with it if the numbers were against her.
Shouldering her backpack, Ruki went out the door and down the hall. Renamon and I can handle this. If anything happens, we make a break for it. Jenrya had his hands full anyway. She shook out her umbrella and opened it as she stepped out of the school. All the other kids were gone by now, the school grounds empty and soggy with the downpour.
Ruki had disappeared down the street and out of view before the willowy form of a girl stepped out from her hiding place behind one of the trees.
Alice rested her hand on the moist bark. Her expression was thoughtful.
"She's one of them?"
A dark shadow materialized behind Alice as she watched Ruki. She nodded. "Looks like it."
"Are we going to make contact?" Dobermon growled, padding closer and nuzzling her hand with his snout. She caressed the rough fur of his forehead absently. "Officially, that is."
"We have to."
Dobermon only grunted between his fangs. "Are we too late?"
"I don't know. It's getting too close." Alice rubbed behind one of Dobermon's long pointed ears. The Champion rumbled in pleasure. "We'll follow her. She probably knows where the other two Tamers are as well. If we can get them all in one place, so much the better."
Dobermon knelt down as Alice took hold of one of the steel spikes of his collar and hoisted herself onto his back. He had been there when Alice's grandfather told her what she needed to do. There wasn't much time. Tamers had always been rare: the fact there were not one, but three in Tokyo already was incredible. The girl settled herself between the line of bony ridges down his back.
"Ready?"
"Yeah." Alice held on tightly to Dobermon. "Let's go."
Nodding, the Champion bunched his legs and with two bounds, lept to the roof. Rain fell around them as he raised his head, sensitive nose sniffing. The girl Alice encountered was out of sight, but her scent was still strong in the air, damp though it was. Dobermon moved from rooftop to rooftop, paws splashing on the wet surfaces as he followed the direction of the scent.
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Yamaki wished he could shoot something. Or hit something. Preferably both.
Ever since yesterday, that damned woman kept hounding him with all sorts of questions. Right now Kincaid was providing a running commentary on what he was doing for anyone who cared to listen. It drove him up the wall. Maybe he should fire her. Or maybe he couldn't, because Kincaid was Nagamora's hire. Goddammit. Reika had helped last night to cure his increasing migraine but the moment he forced his way through Nagamora's blockade camped outside the building, it came back. Yamaki wondered crossly why he ever thought Kincaid was an asset.
"Sucks you keep getting all these problems right now," Kincaid was saying now, leaning on his chair. "You've got to be one of the most unlucky people I've ever been employed under."
That was it. He stood up, glaring at her.
"Don't you have a job to do?"
"I did. I was asking you a question." An innocent grin. "Job-related."
Hell, Yamaki couldn't even remember what the question was at this point. Without bothering to reply, he stalked away. This was hell week. Kincaid was right – he honestly couldn't remember having these many problems over such a short space of time. If it wasn't one problem, it was another right on its heels.
Yamaki found himself standing outside the Yuggoth's main room lighting a cigarette. Another one. Already. The reflexes were automatic. Reika found him smoking up a storm this when she came down the stairs.
"Is something wrong, sir?"
"Nothing aside from the usual stupidity," Yamaki gritted.
Reika glanced back the way she came. They were alone. Good. I should talk with him now. She tried last night, but Yamaki wouldn't hear of it. He had been in a sour mood and not receptive to any kind of conversation, much less any of her "typical interrogations". Obviously his mood hadn't improved since then. "Look, can I talk to you?"
"Make it quick."
Reika shook her head. "No. In private. It's important."
Yamaki paused, but after a moment, nodded and led her toward the elevator. The ride up to his personal office was in silence. Once there, he sat behind his desk. Reika took her customary seat across from him. How to put this? Deciding diplomacy would waste both of their time, she decided to get straight to the point.
"Are you worried about employee loyalties?"
Yamaki frowned. "It's crossed my mind. Is there anyone in particular this is about?"
"It's about Kincaid." The corner of Yamaki's mouth twitched at the mention of that name, but Reika continued on. "I…well, this is going to sound stupid, but I don't trust her."
"I didn't think you were prone to paranoia, Reika."
"I'm not," Reika replied steadily. "I wouldn't bring this up if I didn't feel this strongly about it." Yamaki motioned for her to continue. "She seems to support Nagamora, for one thing. And I was talking to her earlier – she was avoiding certain questions. Like she doesn't want to talk about them."
"That doesn't seem enough to base any suspicions on," Yamaki remarked.
"I know. It's not just that either. It's…it's hard to explain. She doesn't feel right. Something about her doesn't seem…well, natural."
Oh, that was believable. Now that she heard her own words out-loud, Reika realized how ridiculous they sounded. She might as well be a schoolgirl trying to tattle on someone. Yamaki regarded her silently. For a moment, all that could be heard was the rain running in streaks down the office's window. Yamaki cleared his throat.
"You said she didn't feel right. Like she didn't 'belong'?"
"Yes," Reika blushed.
Yamaki folded his arms across the desk. "I felt that too, but not with Kincaid. I'll run a background check on her."
Reika gave an inward sigh of relief. That was good and all, but her feeling of foreboding didn't fade away. That wasn't going to be enough. Something was going to happen: she could feel the tension lacing Hypnos.
"Just be careful in the future," Reika said quietly. "I don't think that she's as simple as we thought. She might have other reasons for being here."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Reika left. Yamaki remained in his seat, thinking. He would never admit it officially, but he trusted Reika more than he trusted anyone else in Hypnos. She had been with him the longest and he saw no reason for her to start misleading him now. On the other hand, Kincaid had only been here a few months. And he hadn't missed the way she favored Nagamora over him either. The fact she had been present at their meetings was an indicator that maybe she meant more to Nagamora than he guessed. Yamaki removed his sunglasses, rubbing lightly at his eyes.
Great. So now he had to be on the lookout not only for Digimon, but now for other humans as well. Reaching over, he opened his laptop and began the background search on Kincaid. While that was running, he opened up the e-mail he'd gotten not long ago.
By now it was fully translated. The address the e-mail had been sent from was bogus with no record of it ever existing. That puzzled him. Yamaki's tracking programs were of the highest caliber. They should've found something even if the address had been deleted. He focused his attention on the text. It read:
Your savior is the harbinger of the digital apocalypse.
The rest of the short e-mail seemed like gibberish, despite the translations from English to Japanese. Names that didn't mean anything to Yamaki. Something that looked like the coordinates of a location. Then a repeat of the one coherent line in the e-mail. Another repeat of the same line throughout the paragraphs. And that was it.
Yamaki tried to puzzle it out. The only thing he could really focus on was that one line. And the coordinates. The names he could run through a scan and see if that brought out anything. My savior? Well, "digital" obviously applied to the Digimon threat. He wasn't too sure about "apocalypse"; the incoming Digimon weren't in such numbers that they were overwhelming. At least not yet. Yamaki leaned back into his seat, staring hard at the screen, green eyes reflecting the mysterious e-mail.
'Your savior'... That might mean Hypnos. Hypnos was the biggest thing standing against the Digimon, after all. But it didn't seem quite right. That line suggested that whatever he thought was his "savior" would result in some catastrophe. Hypnos itself was doing what it could to hold back the digital menace. So it probably wasn't Hypnos itself but something else.
I don't have time for riddles. He'd look at it again later. Closing the e-mail with the mental reminder to look at it later, Yamaki got up and left his office.
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"What happened to Juri?" Hirokazu asked.
The atmosphere in the classroom was muted. They were in the same groups, but several students were missing. Jenrya glanced at the teacher. Mr. Mori, instead of strolling up and down the aisles like he usually did, remained at his desk with his eyes glued on the newspaper in his hands.
"I think she left Tokyo for some family trip," Jenrya said.
Slouched across the desk next to Jenrya, Ryo remained silent. He looked as cocky as he did the first day he arrived, a bored grin on his face as flipped his pencil between his fingers.
Hirokazu was doodling on his worksheet with a pen. "Lucky. Jeez, I wish I had time for a vacation."
"Yeah." Jenrya's reply was only half-hearted.
"So what's up? We working on this thing or what?"
"It's stupid. Why bother? It's not like it'll help us later in life," Ryo muttered. Jenrya shot a frown at Ryo. He could at least pretend to sound more interested for Hirokazu's sake. "Screw it."
"Yeah, but it's for a grade..." Hirokazu was taken aback.
Jenrya interrupted. "We'll just finish it fast and get it over with."
Ryo at least was willing to help, but whenever anyone tried to talk to him, he only shrugged it off with the same "whatever, who cares" expression. If Jenrya hadn't known any better, he could've sworn he'd been taken back in time to the first couple of days that he'd known Ryo. He acted exactly the same. Kind of a jerk. Exasperated, Jenrya vowed to have a word with him. Or something. What did you say to someone like Ryo?
They finished around the lunch break. The teachers, for some reason, allowed the other classes to eat together: it didn't escape Jenrya's notice all the adults went into one corner of the room as a group, talking quietly. Hirokazu ran off to find Kenta as Jenrya sat down next to Ryo. Ryo didn't bother to touch the lunch he'd made for himself.
"What's wrong?" Jenrya asked finally.
"What?"
"Why…never mind." Jenrya took a sip from his soda. There was no sense in trying to argue over nothing. "I'm going out searching again tonight. You're coming, right?"
"Yeah."
Jenrya paused. "You don't think we'll make it."
"No, I don't. Even though it's possible, the odds are against you," Ryo said, glancing out the window, chin resting in his hand and his expression deceptively bored. "Tokyo's too big. Assuming you find Takato – not the one you know, but the Other – then what? I mean, what if he doesn't lead you to the real one?"
"I don't know. We have to try. I mean," Jenrya lowered his voice, "we don't exactly have any other plans to deal with what you told us. If we find Takato, we could cover more ground. So maybe our chances would be better for locating this…um…whatever it is that would open the door between Digital and Real Worlds."
"But even then those chances would be small."
Jenrya didn't reply.
"I don't believe you'll succeed. I know I've considered the fact I could die: have you?" Ryo paused. He was being too blunt, even by his standards. His voice softened slightly. "Okay, you're right about trying. It can't hurt."
Ryo groaned mentally. Nice recovery, he thought sarcastically. Ryo hadn't meant to be that harsh, but that was how it came out. Seemed like he couldn't deal with folks after all that time in the Digital World. Just because he knew he was going to die before his time didn't mean everyone else had. What he had gone through wasn't the norm. Unlike him, Jenrya hadn't grown up as fast as he did, seen the number of years he had. Jenrya was definitely mature, but in some ways, he was still a kid. Kids didn't think they could get killed. Not really.
But then again, why should he? Just because his last couple of years had been anything but ordinary didn't mean everyone else experienced the same thing. Ryo was the exception, not the rule.
"Sorry," Ryo said awkwardly. "I shouldn't have said those things."
The other boy shook his head. "You had a point: it wouldn't be right to get too optimistic about this."
Jenrya went back to his lunch, face troubled. Ryo sighed. Apologies were never his strong point.
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By the time classes were almost over, Jenrya seemed to be in a better mood. Ryo was surprised. Then again, it looked like Jenrya was more forgiving then he would've been if he'd been in his position.
Ryo made it clear he wanted to visit Tamayo before they went out on their search. The storm was still dumping rain on their heads, the few people out there huddled under whatever protection they could find. Little flickers of faint blue lightning danced across the clouds' underbelly, the rolling boom of thunder echoing. This stupid storm was making him more and more jittery. Not only was it unnatural, it also cast the city in a dark light. Shadows yawned. And the increased electricity in the air was probably going to make it harder for Terriermon to tell when a Digimon bio-emerged. Ryo half-expected to run into one on the way to the hospital.
Once there, Ryo went to the front desk and told the receptionist who he was. Impatiently he filled out the paperwork as Jenrya hovered in the background, Terriermon watching from his hiding place in the Tamer's backpack. The form filled out, the two boys were led through the doors and down a series of halls. The nurse ushered them into one of the smaller rooms.
Tamayo's leg was in a brace and a small amount of color had returned to her face since the last time Ryo saw her. But she didn't look in any condition to have any visitors since it was obvious she was on painkillers. The break hadn't been clean, the nurse told Ryo. It had been necessary for her to have the painkillers in order for them to at least set the leg straight.
Jenrya half-listened to the exchange between the nurse and Ryo, standing next to Tamayo's bed. Ryo almost appeared like he was ignoring his guardian, but Jenrya didn't miss the way his gaze slid over in her direction more than once during the conversation. His jaw worked as he bit the inside of his cheek.
"But she'll be okay, right?"
The nurse nodded. "Oh, of course. As I said, not a nice clean break, but she can recover from it. She just needs time to heal and rest. So you're her son?"
"No. She's my legal guardian."
The nurse's eyebrows rose slightly. "I see," she said. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions. Why don't we take this outside?"
Ryo nodded. They walked out into the white hall outside, the door closing behind them. Jenrya sat down in the chair next to Tamayo's bed to wait for them to coming back. Terriermon shifted in his backpack.
"Jenrya, how long are we gonna be here?" Terriermon whispered.
"Not that long. We'll go once Ryo's done, 'kay?" Jenrya whispered back.
Terriermon nodded and settled back into the backpack. Jenrya glanced about the room. It was basically how he'd always pictured a hospital room: barren and as cold and impersonal as the halls outside. Not a place I'd ever want to be in. It was an unnerving place. The conversation outside was muted and unintelligible. His gaze fell on the woman lying next to him. Tamayo's eyes were half open, but they were glazed and unfocused, her chest under the sheets rising and falling slowly. He wondered if she even knew she had visitors.
He definitely hadn't expected her to speak. Jenrya nearly jumped out of his skin when a shaky, drug-numbed voice broke the silence.
"Ryo?"
Jenrya whirled in his chair. Her eyes were aimed at his general direction. "What?"
"Ryo? Are you okay?"
Exchanging glances with Terriermon, Jenrya swallowed. "Sorry, but I'm not Ryo," he said.
For a second, Tamayo went silent. It was like he hadn't even said anything by the way she reacted.
"Why…everyone ignore you?" the woman's words were heavily slurred as her head lolled drunkenly on the pillow. "Lef' you out there, I mean."
What's she talking about? Jenrya felt guilty, but he was starting to get curious again. She really did think Ryo was here. He leaned forward, still feeling guilty about what felt a lot like eavesdropping on what was shaping up to be a one-sided conversation.
"I was gonna tell you 'ventually, y'know. Wasn't right they lef' you out there. Wasn't fair. Know you don't trus' me still, but I wanna help. Always did. Not like th' others."
"Jenrya…?" Terriermon's question was cut short as Jenrya hushed him.
Tamayo heaved a sigh, turning her eyes toward the ceiling. "Jus' wanna help," she mumbled. "Same now as las' time. Don't want t'see you hurt like las' time. Really care 'bout you; not doin' this for m'benefit. Don't want you t'hate me."
The half-Chinese Tamer's bewilderment grew. But after that, Tamayo fell quiet. She remained in the same state even when Ryo returned with the nurse. Wondering if he should tell the older boy what happened, Jenrya stood up. Ryo nodded to the nurse as she left and strode forward to stand uneasily at the foot of his guardian's bed. He didn't look happy.
"I asked if they could transfer her out of Tokyo, but they said she can't be moved," Ryo bit his lip, eyebrows knitting. "I don't want her to be here. It's not safe, not with the Golems running around."
"Ryo…"
Ryo sounded angry. "I can't even help her."
"It's not your fault - " Jenrya started to say, but Ryo rounded on him, black eyes flashing.
"If I was still a Tamer, if Cyberdra –" Ryo flushed angrily. He collected himself before continuing. "If I wasn't so powerless, I'd be able to do something. Should've told her to leave when I had the chance, but I didn't!"
Jenrya didn't know what to say to that.
"I don't know what to do," Ryo balled his fists. "Really hate this."
"If we succeed, she'll be fine."
"That's assuming she manages to live long enough for us to get that far," Ryo replied bitterly. "If the Golems strike here, she'll be killed."
Jenrya frowned. Ryo was right about that too. There was a chance even if they did somehow work things out, she wouldn't make it. And thinking like that, Jenrya couldn't help but wonder about his own family's safety. They were in this too. All the more reason for them to hurry.
"We should get going, Ryo. The more time we spend out there, the better her chances."
"I know."
"Come on," Jenrya said gently. He held the door open for the other boy. Ryo followed reluctantly, but not without a long stare back over his shoulder at Tamayo.
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Forces were moving. The Juggernaut knew this. Exterior forces were at work even now. But something wasn't right: a factor was missing from its data banks, something that should have been in its calculations but wasn't. It could have been a simple error on its part, but that was doubtful. To the Juggernaut's knowledge, all humans with Digimon had already been accounted for, both living and deceased.
It had been aware of the arrival of a foreign girl, of course. She arrived before the first veils of the Shield's barrier began to fall into place. But the Juggernaut had not realized she was one of the transgressors of the taboo until it sensed a Digimon traveling with her. If the supercomputer had been capable of true surprise, it would have done a double-take. But of course such wastes of time were reserved for humans.
Finishing its efficient removal and disposal of the corpses left over from the Golems, the Juggernaut focused its efforts on pulling up information on this new factor.
Alice McCoy. Set search parameters to 100%.
The search-scan came up with very little.
Alice McCoy
Sex: Female
ID Number: N/A
Status: Alive
Nationality: N/A
Partner: Dobermon
Partner Status: Active
Parents: N/A
Next Relative: N/A
Threat Level: Unknown
Strange. Unthinkable that of all the profiles the Juggernaut had access to from its growing influence on the networks, it could not trace more information than this on Alice McCoy. A closer look at the information and the trails leading to it. The information existed, but it was tampered with in such a way it would be difficult to crack through the codes, even for the Juggernaut. It was possible given enough time. The supercomputer immediately set several of its extensions at work to do this.
Most humans simply didn't have the skill level to evade the Juggernaut like this. Others had somehow concealed Alice McCoy's identity, as well as her protectors' identities. Once the supercomputer cracked through the blocks on Alice McCoy's profile, it wouldn't be difficult to trace back to whoever was responsible. Measures would be taken for their elimination. It wouldn't do for skilled humans to be roaming free to do as they pleased.
Until it had determined Alice McCoy's threat level, the Juggernaut wouldn't strike at her. Only if she was a threat to itself and its duties would it take action against this new factor. It would wait for more information to filter in.
All the other systems within the Juggernaut ran smoothly. The latest energy from the Golems stored away for its later use. The companion system operated with acceptable errors due to its human nature. And the Will was submissive. Aside from this unaccounted factor called Alice McCoy, everything was as it should be.
The Juggernaut, while mildly concerned, wasn't worried. This new factor could only be drawn here because of the already abnormally high number of humans with Digimon. It would be merely another target in the future. If they were all in one place it would be easier to eliminate them. It simply made it easier for the Purge in the future.
The current energy levels were good: the Juggernaut had 5% of what would be required to make the breach. It already calculated the specific date when it would be ready. The supercomputer expected to be looking at a successful completion of its main duties in a few weeks. It was already planning ahead as to what it would do afterward. There were also its other plans – in the very rare, very improbable event that something went wrong – but those were only back-ups.
Hardly worth looking at unless the threat to its survival was very real.
The probability of that was low. Perhaps if the first Purge hadn't happened, then the Juggernaut might have considered the back-up plans more seriously. But the first kids had been eliminated before the supercomputer had even been conceived, much less built.
These new Tamers were already crippled now that one of their own had been put to a better use. Even the addition of this Alice McCoy could pose little real danger.
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Ruki stepped off the train and opened her umbrella as she crossed the platform. Rain drummed against the roof and poured from the blackening sky with the same strength as when she boarded the train. It had splattered violently against the windows then. Now it painted the area in a blue-ish gray light.
The platform quickly cleared of the few people still standing on it. Within a few minutes, Ruki was the only one left. She waited patiently to the side. The train moved faster than Renamon could keep up, but her Digimon couldn't be that far behind.
Eventually Renamon faded in before her with a swirl of damp green leaves. Ruki nodded at her.
"Ready?"
Renamon nodded. "As always."
"Do you sense anything?"
"Yes. It's a bit difficult to tell what with this…feeling in the air, but there is something definitely out there." The Rookie tilted her snout. "It feels large. It's not moving, but is instead just sitting there."
"Do you think it noticed us?"
"Not yet."
Ruki thought about this for a moment. "We'll check it out," she held up a blue card. "Ready?" Renamon nodded. ""Digi-Modify! Digivolution, activate!"
The transformation only took seconds. Kyuubimon shook out her array of bushy tails, the last bits of residue from the evolution glinting and flickering out in blue sparks. Ruki quickly mounted her partner, holding on tightly to her thick fur. Kyuubimon burst into the air and sailed easily up to the roof and rebounded onto the next until they were traveling along the Odaiba's roof-tops. The air was far more salty than Shinjuku and Ruki could feel the icy sea air whipping at her face as they bounded from building to building.
Kyuubimon took a roundabout course, zigzagging along the rooftops, steadily drawing closer to the dark gray expanse of the sea. Despite the rain splattering against her jacket and her face, Ruki could still hear the piercing calls of the seagulls. Tiny white spots wheeled in wide circles in the distance, the birds paying no attention to the black clouds hanging over the harbor and the rest of Tokyo. Ruki put on her tinted shades. They weren't as useful as goggles might be against this rain, but they were better than nothing.
Ruki had no idea what was near the harbor. She hoped it would be Takato – the fake one – but Renamon would've been able to identify him. Probably not. Still had to be something worth investigating.
Assuming this "Ryo" knows what he's talking about in the first place. Ruki didn't know what to think about him. She had heard about him from Jenrya a while back and had expected a person way worse. While she was neutral about this stranger, she wasn't sure what to make of his information from the other night. One side of her seriously doubted this was the "end" and that since Ryo obviously had some screws loose – whether Jenrya noticed or not – he wasn't to be entirely trusted. But on the other hand…
A lot of things did add up that supported his story. Not only what Renamon told her, but from what she'd seen happening in Shinjuku and the rest of Tokyo.
Ruki glanced up at the ugly clouds. The black underbellies looked solid, thickest over the harbor as they gently swirled…
…Against the wind.
Ruki snapped to attention, stiffening. A sharper look. She wasn't wrong. The clouds were moving in the opposite direction of the wind splattering rain at her. And now that Ruki looked, she could see a definite pattern to the movement. The darkest sections of storm-clouds were circling inward into a giant spiral. The mass of the unnatural mass of clouds loomed over her with the center – the blackest part – hanging thickly over the harbor. The cloud tendrils continued to slowly spin toward the center as Kyuubimon approached.
At first Ruki didn't feel any different. But as her partner bounded closer, the more she felt like the air around her was suffocating in a growing humidity. Kyuubimon didn't seem to notice any change in temperature and Ruki felt the cold impacts of the rain. She had to be imagining the wet heat of the air.
The humidity intensified suddenly. Kyuubimon, about to close the few yards to harbor's edge, suddenly veered left along the rooftops. At the very same time, water exploded upward in a massive torrent, Ruki clinging onto her partner as the Champion raced parallel to shore. What the - ? Ruki risked a glance over.
An enormous Digimon emerged from the harbor waters, lumbering out. A large green carapace protected its entire back, thick horns curling up from its temples and its heavily furred snout. It easily dwarfed the two of them: the huge war-hammer alone in its bus-sized claws looked big enough to swat down a building with one easy strike. Kyuubimon peered over her shoulder quickly:
"Zudomon. An Ultimate."
Ruki cursed under her breath. "Did he see us?"
"Not yet, but I'm sure he knows we're here!" Kyuubimon said. Ruki glanced over again at the giant Digimon standing knee-deep in the harbor. He had his back to them, holding aloft his war hammer as if directing some unseen force. The gray expanse of water began to roil, bubbling over violently. Soon the center of the harbor was nothing but a strange colored froth. Kyuubimon began to move farther back, but Ruki stopped her.
"Wait! We have to see what he's doing."
Kyuubimon didn't agree with this but relented nonetheless, circling back once again around the harbor-grounds at a safe enough distance that she could dodge any attacks from the Ultimate.
Zudomon continued to hold the hammer pointed at the sky. The spiral had grown much more dense, the clouds jet-black in the center. Rain slashed from every direction and wind howled all around Ruki and Kyuubimon in a whirlwind. It reached a nearly deafening level when Zudomon hefted his war-hammer and struck the boiling water. It sent up a huge spray of foam into the air. The pillar of water shone a vivid blue, the frothy edges sparkling with bits of glowing electrical energy, and continued to travel up into the sky. Ruki openly stared, gaping.
The glowing pillar continued upward until she couldn't see the top anymore. Then it stopped. It gleamed even brighter than before and the upper region began to flatten and expand outward over Odaiba in a monstrous umbrella. From this viewpoint, it looked like it was crawling, but Ruki knew that if it was at that height, it was in reality moving very fast. At this rate it would encompass all of Odaiba within a few hours…or was it going to continue to spread to the other cities within Tokyo? Or even all of Tokyo?
"Ruki, he's just spotted us!"
Ruki snapped back to attention. She had barely enough time to bury herself in Kyuubimon's mane before the Champion bolted to the right. Zudomon towered above them, an impossibly huge, living skyscraper lit from behind by the glowing pillar. Eyes narrowed in recognition, the Ultimate swung down with his war-hammer after them. At this close a range, he wasn't going to miss –
"Schwarz Strahl!"
Something abruptly exploded behind them. Ash rained down in a white snow. Ruki glanced over her shoulder. Another Digimon had engaged Zudomon: he couldn't have arrived at a better time, managing to drive the Ultimate off-balance in momentary surprise at the aggressive assault. Ruki didn't even have to ask, for her partner had come to the same conclusion and bounded toward Zudomon again. Greasy smoke streamed up in several places from Zudomon's fur where small fires sprang up.
"Fox Tail Inferno!" Kyuubimon let loose an attack of her own, sending a salvo of blue flames sailing up toward Zudomon's face.
Their rescuer immediately followed up with another attack of his own. "Schwarz Strahl!" With a hissing whine, threads of bright red energy lanced out from the large spikes of the dog-like Digimon's collar and toward the Ultimate, leaving behind false-image trails. With their alternating combined attacks, the Ultimate was hard-pressed to choose a target.
"Ruki Makino!"
Ruki looked up at the voice and stared. Somehow she had missed their rescuer's rider but now, if she squinted, she could make out the platinum blond of pig-tails and the somber black of clothing of the other girl. Alice McCoy! No time for questions: even with two Champions, they were outmatched. It was only a matter of time before Zudomon regrouped under the surprise attack. Ruki nodded.
"Right!" She bent to speak into Kyuubimon's ear, "We saw enough. Pull back!"
"Agreed."
Alice did the same and her partner nodded. Exchanging glances, the stranger Digimon and Kyuubimon attacked one more time. Blue fire encircled Zudomon's face as the crimson beams of the Schwarz Strahl cut a hissing path through the air. Kyuubimon turned, and with a quick bound, leapt to the roof tops and raced away as quickly as she could. The rescuers weren't fair behind. By the time the smoke cleared enough for Zudomon to glare about for his assailants, they were long gone. He let loose a threatening guttural roar after them but did not follow.
The fact that she had been almost killed wasn't lost on Ruki. But neither did that make her inclined to automatically trust these two new strangers. What was with these people crawling out of the woodwork? Ruki glanced up at the sky and scowled. Whatever that pillar was doing, it was still sending out those tendrils and parts of the dark sky now had a blue tint where the growing energy had already crossed overheard.
Just what was that? And what did this mean?
And now a cold thought: most Digimon tended to keep a low profile in the Real World. That was why they remained in their digital fields or other hiding places whenever she'd seen them cross over. But Zudomon – the largest and most powerful Digimon she'd encountered so far – had been in the open. Almost like he didn't care.
A sidelong glance at Alice. Her unexpected appearance here was far too weird to be coincidental. Was she a Tamer? She has to be – her Digimon isn't trying to kill her, Ruki told herself. But if Alice was a Tamer, then maybe there were other Tamers around the world? What if they somehow could locate them? With that kind of help, they might be able to win… Ruki turned that thought over in her mind as she rode on Kyuubimon.
The retreat from Odaiba was in complete silence and the two Digimon were out of breath as they finally came to a stop in an abandoned construction zone. Tall cranes peered over the boarded up fences, the empty unfinished doors and windows of the small structure full of shadows. Kyuubimon managed to make it into the lot, panting. They had run straight from Odaiba to the edges of Shinjuku and her paws trembled slightly from the exertion. The other Digimon was in the same shape, tongue lolling as he panted.
Ruki slid off her mount as Alice did that same. She walked over a few paces from her Digimon and sat down on an over-turned concrete tube to redo one of her pig-tails. Ruki stared at her impatiently. Alice re-tied the black satin ribbon:
"Where are the others?"
Ruki crossed her arms over her chest. "What others?"
"The other two Tamers."
"I don't know why I should tell you. Maybe you saved us, but that doesn't mean I have to trust you right off the bat," Ruki retorted. Alice's partner growled warningly at this and bared his canines. Ruki didn't flinch.
Alice folded her hands in her lap. "If I was your enemy, it would've been less effort to let Zudomon do with you as he pleased."
Well, that made sense, but…
"So? What if you just want to get at the others?"
"Then I don't know what to say. I do want to get to the other two, but not to hurt them," Alice said, her pale eyes on Ruki. "You're going to have to trust me."
Ruki snorted. "I don't know who to trust anymore."
"That's unfortunate."
Ruki frowned. "Look, whatever you want to tell the others, tell me."
"It's not that simple!" Alice's Digimon suddenly snarled. He quieted when Alice raised a hand.
"Dobermon, wait," Alice turned back to Ruki. "There isn't a lot of time. It would be easier for me to tell you all together. Besides, there are three of you against just me and Dobermon. We'd be outnumbered if we did anything."
The foreigner had a point. Ruki didn't like it, but it was hard to argue with that type of logic. She exchanged glances with Kyuubimon. Her partner gave a small nod. Hoping she better not regret this, Ruki sighed. "Fine. I'll take you to the others. But I don't care if you saved us or not: if you try anything, I'm not going to let it slide."
Alice remained expressionless at this threat. She gestured. "Please, lead the way."
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Kincaid paced impatiently across the Yuggoth deck. Yamaki had fled from her again, but at the moment, she wasn't ready to run after him. Not when she had more important matters to be concerning herself with.
Those human brats tried to attack the Shield. It happened a few hours ago and it irritated her that only now she was learning of these developments. Amazing how stupidly brave humans could be! They tried attacking and had run before the Shield could dispose of them. It was as if they were calling for their own Purges, defying their betters like the first children had tried. But then again, humans were very stupid, as a collective species. One couldn't expect much from them.
Still. The very nerve!
Kincaid scowled.
It'll be easier to deal with them once the barrier is in place. It would take about a day or more for it to surround Tokyo. She obviously couldn't be expected to be there in person, but she knew what it felt like when one of Zudomon's creations anchored to the ground. The very earth would quake and groan under the shimmering power of the Shield's barrier, would belch forth fire where fire had lain dormant for generations before. She had seen it happen in the Digital World. It couldn't be that different here.
That made her feel better. You took entertainment where you could get it.
It was a bit gratifying to think the inevitable earthquake would wipe a few of these worthless creatures off the map. Gratifying, but not very productive.
She turned and trooped down the stairs, her feet clanging on the metal grating. The incident with the Shield a few hours ago should have been dealt with. The Juggernaut should have taken care of those brats before they got even within a mile of Zudomon. So why hadn't it? Is it disobeying my orders? Kincaid inwardly frowned, pretending to smile and wave to one of her co-workers, for a moment feeling unsettled.
No. The supercomputer was incapable of deception. It was more likely she hadn't been specific enough in her orders, and the machine followed them literally to the word. If she meant to imply something, it might not have caught that.
Kincaid didn't understand why these children had been allowed to break the taboo before she arrived. Nagamora had to have known about them. After all, he had been one of the heads of the Purges all those years ago. He was thorough in everything he did, including killing. Perhaps he'd been given a different brief than she had concerning these new humans.
Either way, they weren't needed now. At this point in the plan, they'd get in the way and make it difficult for her to do her job. And she couldn't have that now, could she?
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Jenrya picked up the phone on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's me."
"Ruki! Did you find anything?" Jenrya glanced outside. Evening was approaching, the already dark sky starting to blacken through the curtain of rain.
"Kinda. Not what I was looking for, but it's important."
"What is it?"
"It'll take too long to explain right now. Look, we need to meet somewhere and talk. I…met another Tamer."
"Another Tamer?" Jenrya's voice rose in surprise. Across the room, Ryo looked up. "What? Where? How?"
"I'll explain when we meet up. You free tonight?"
Well, he wasn't supposed to. The teachers gave him homework, but he decided he could skip it. A small portion of him felt guilty about ignoring that, but Jenrya pushed that to the side. "Yeah, we're free. When and where should we meet you?"
"The tunnel. You know the one. Head over right now. I'm going to leave in half an hour, so you might get there before me," Ruki said on the other end of the line. "Be careful on your way over."
She hung up. Ryo got to his feet, already reaching for his jacket. "What's this about another Tamer?"
"Beats me. She said she met another one."
"That's impossible," Ryo said flatly. "They killed all the others. This 'Tamer' can't be a real one."
"If this person is with a Digimon, I think that qualifies them as one of us."
Ryo only scowled, clearly not ready to place any amount of trust on this, but not against the idea of verifying his doubts either. Jenrya paused in the middle of retrieving his umbrella. Ryo had just said something weird and for a second, he tried to run over just what it had been. Jenrya nearly dropped the umbrella as it dawned on him what Ryo had thrown out this time. Killed…all the others?
"Wait, what's this about killing all the other Tamers?"
Dammit, yet another thing Ryo shouldn't have said. "Aren't we going somewhere?" Good going, idiot.
Jenrya remained stubbornly where he was. "Don't avoid the question. What happened to the others?"
"You don't want to hear about this –"
"-Don't tell me what you think I want to hear," Jenrya snapped.
Jenrya was serious this time. Ryo sighed. There was no way to avoid this and no matter how much he wished he could swallow those words, take them back, it was impossible now. "…Fine, if you feel that way. I'll tell you on the way."
The Tamer stared at him for a long moment, as if sure Ryo wasn't going to keep his word when they walked out the door. Finally, he nodded unhappily. "Okay."
Ryo didn't want to talk about this. Honestly didn't want to. It was one of the many nasty little things he'd stumbled upon in the Digital World. One of the nasty links between human and Digimon, between the Real and the Digital Worlds. Proof enough that even humans were capable of their own kinds of evils, in some ways worse than Ryo's own betrayal. At least he had found out. The first Tamers had no idea what had happened to them. Had to have died without ever knowing just what they had done wrong, or why they were even there in the first place. Supposedly they'd put up a hell of a fight in the end. Supposedly.
All he knew was they were dead. Amounted to the same thing in his book.
"We weren't the first Tamers," Ryo began as they finally stepped out into the deepening twilight. His dark expression matched his thoughts. "There were a few others before us. This was before the video games came out, they hadn't made the card game yet."
"So this was several years ago then?" Jenrya asked, Terriermon's button eyes fixed on Ryo.
Ryo nodded.
"Yeah. Back then, the concept of Digimon and the Digital World wasn't known to a lot of people. It was only after…the deaths they made it public," Ryo continued as they walked through the puddle-strewn sidewalk, rain pattering around the three. "I don't know much about the details, like why the first kids were there. Or why they were allowed to be with Digimon even though it's a taboo in the Digital World. They were already long-gone by the time I got there, at any rate."
"A group of kids suddenly vanished from their summer camp. Bet there's some mention of them in old newspapers if you wanted to look it up. They were called the 'Chosen Children' back then. Not 'Tamers'. Sick little joke if you ask me, because who would want to be 'chosen' to end up like that? Or why monsters are out for your blood? I don't know how they got 'chosen' to go to the Digital World, except it was humans who sent them and it was humans who abandoned them when things got bad."
An old anger flashed across Ryo's face as he went on.
"The Digimon didn't attack aggressively at first. I don't think they knew what to make of us, just like we didn't know what to make of them. A few kids probably didn't seem threatening. But something happened and, for whatever the reason, they began to attack more and hit harder. And they must have found out about whoever chose these 'Chosen Children', because any help those kids must've had before disappeared. These kids were our age – naturally they didn't know what to do and they got disorganized."
"The Digimon were the complete opposite. They organized. Even when the 'Chosen Children' split and went their separate ways, the Digimon rooted them out and began to systematically kill them all one by one in what they called 'Purges'. No survivors. I don't know what happened to their partners: maybe they might've been deleted themselves, who knows?"
Ryo fell silent and then shrugged as he finished up.
"Their partnership with those Digimon was a death warrant in itself. And it's the same now."
Terriermon shrank back inside Jenrya's backpack. "Eight kids?"
"Five boys, three girls."
"…Jenrya, what was that TV show called again?" Terriermon asked, his voice suddenly small.
Ryo frowned. He'd never heard of this. "What TV show?"
"Digimon Adventure."
A sick feeling began to settle in Jenrya's stomach.
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The humans were moving closer together. As night fell on the shaken city, the Juggernaut prepared for another round of data uploading. It had been tracking all the human children, but they were only now coming together. Despite the lack of information regarding Alice McCoy, the supercomputer knew what they were doing: they were attempting to organize.
That type of organization was dangerous. The joint presence of both Ryo Akiyama and this Alice McCoy couldn't be ignored, not after further data trickled in concerning the latter.
The Juggernaut was going to have to act and act now.
A quick cycle through courses of action currently available. Black Growlmon remained near the area where they were most likely heading for, judging on its triangulation system. There was enough spare power to force another evolution, to the Ultimate level, if it became necessary, but it would only be temporary and could fry the connection it had on the beast. Ignoring that option, the Juggernaut opted for another. It would attack both with its extensions and with Takato Matsuda's Digimon without additional evolutions.
Are they coming?
The Juggernaut easily slipped back within the Will's psyche.
Jenrya suddenly appeared within Takato's little white room. His silver-within-black eyes roved about the room for a second before coming to rest on the boy before him. Takato got to his feet, hugging his arms to his chest. His discomfort was obvious.
Fear nearly paralyzed Takato. Jenrya sometimes let him get a glimpse of what was happening outside. He had done so ever since Takato woke up here in this place. Takato didn't like it when he did that. Vague images of his enemies moving, moving together to hurt and kill just like he'd been forced to hurt and kill during the nights. But Jenrya was here now in the flesh. That could only mean that something needed doing. Jenrya needed him, no matter how obedient Takato was, how inferior he was.
They're coming. Jenrya crossed the room, and, reaching out, took one of Takato's hands in his cold claw-tips. Takato shuddered at Jenrya's mutations touching him. But we're not going to let them do as they please.
Blind hope surged at Jenrya's words, prompting the barest of smiles from the avatar. The hand he held tightened around his claws, Takato's other arm still hugging his chest as if he was holding himself together.
Don't worry. They won't get near me.
I don't want them to, Takato's fingers trembled around Jenrya's new claws. I don't want them to find you. Don't want you to leave me alone.
You made your promise to me and I will keep my own word. You should know me better than that.
Takato received this faint reprimand as if he'd been slapped across the face.
He rocked backward, wavering on his feet slightly. Jenrya's face remained expressionless, his inhuman eyes unreadable. The pupils pinpricks inside wells of silver.
Very soon our enemies will be together. They want us destroyed. Now we must defend ourselves. Jenrya's lips never moved as he spoke. You must control your Digimon when the time comes. I will assist.
Why couldn't Jenrya just kill them? He was much more powerful than Takato would ever be.
It's a waste of resources. I am not willing to expend more energy than necessary. Use of your Digimon is more cost-efficient. Jenrya replied coolly. Our joint attack will commence in approximately thirty minutes. You will engage Jenrya Lee and Ryo Akiyama while I engage Alice McCoy and Ruki Makino.
A small kernel of Takato felt uneasy at this but he only nodded, still feeling his shame from doubting his friend who had done nothing but help him.
This is no different from eliminating our other enemies.
No difference. Just strangers…they didn't mean anything to Jenrya, why should they mean anything to Takato?
Precisely.
Takato smiled back brokenly. Oh. That was good then.
The Will quieted, lying dormant and waiting for the signal to start the attack.
The Juggernaut worked without ceasing through this exchange. Only a minor portion of it was needed for this and while the avatar programming for the Jenrya Lee image had been damaged by the merge and had mutated, there was no need to correct it now. The companion system was beyond being able to distinguish the difference anyway.
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The Juggernaut already began to lay the ambush in Shinjuku.
Black Growlmon crouched in the darkness of an incomplete building's shell, near the end of the tunnel where he was reborn. His eyes narrowed into yellow slits as he faced the path leading to the entrance. Takato told him his enemies were on the move. That they were on their way to organize an attack on him, to kill his Tamer.
The Champion nearly broke his cover at hearing this, pure rage clouding his vision. But Takato had applied some kind of pressure - the buzzing bees suddenly agonizingly intense in the Digimon's head - and forced him to remain where he was. Black Growlmon could feel his whole body taut with tension, his wickedly sharp claws digging into the dirt with barely suppressed fury.
He was going to kill them. Tear every last one into bloody shreds.
That thought was nice. He liked it since it made the buzzing in his skull a little better. And it was something Takato would approve of. Takato wanted him to tear them into bloody shreds. Muscles tense, the large Champion quivered with rising blood-lust. These enemies were torturing him even now! Black Growlmon wanted to kill now, but they weren't here yet, Takato told him. He'd have to wait.
Yet another thing that Black Growlmon hated them all for.
They were delaying their deaths just to madden him further! Twisted. Not only did they want to hurt his Tamer, but they were out to torture him as well. How could anyone, human or Digimon, be so downright disgusting?
"They're sick," Takato's voice agreed. "We're going to flush them out like the disease they are. You have to flush an infection from a wound before it spreads. They want to infect me, make me hurt even more."
A snarl of fury rumbled through Black Growlmon's body. His Tamer hadn't done anything to earn any of this. They had betrayed him for no reason. They wanted to hurt him for no reason. Why couldn't he come out and hunt them down? This waiting was unbearable, each second dragging on longer then the one before it.
"Trust me, you won't have to wait long."
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The rain didn't look like it would let up any time soon. Terriermon didn't like this rain: something about it felt wrong. Flat and monotonous. Dead. The trip toward the tunnel had been mostly silent after Ryo's explanation, but that didn't make it any less awkward. It was one of the few times Terriermon wished he wasn't a Digimon and that he could vanish inside Jenrya's backpack.
Terriermon hadn't really known that much about the details of the "Purge", other than that it existed and supposedly a "great evil" had been eliminated through it. In the Digital World, he had mostly kept to himself, but even rumors like that had reached him in the wild.
Wonder if Ryo hates all Digimon for that. It was a random thought, but Terriermon's eyes flicked over quickly to the tall human. Not all of us hunted those kids…
True. But also true was that the Purge had been in the past. Momentai, Terriermon reminded himself. Momentai always made him more optimistic and this wasn't any exception. That Purge with the first kids had been in the past. He had nothing to do with it. But if there was going to be another one – from what Ryo had said, there was – then the Rookie already knew which side he was on.
Eventually they took a turn down the empty street. Moonlight struggled to filter through the storm clouds and the best light they could get was from a large lamp burning dimly in the abandoned construction site half a block away. The gloom made visibility poor, the pattering rain on the sidewalk a never-ending drum.
Jenrya finally broke the silence as they stopped under a plastic canopy of a store. He glanced at his watch.
"We're a little early, but she's on her way."
Terriermon started to plop back down into the depths of his Tamer's backpack but then hesitated. His nose wasn't as good as Guilmon's, but he was picking up something. Something familiar. He frowned and tried to place the scent. Ryo glanced out at the downpour. The temperature had dropped since the sunset and his breaths came out as little puffs of white.
"So we waiting here or heading over?"
"We'll head over in a minute. I wanted to stop and see if we forgot anything."
"Got my D-Arc, but it's still fried from last time."
"I brought mine too. And some cards just in case," Jenrya bit his lip. "Can't think of anything else I need right now. Terriermon?"
Terriermon didn't reply. He had crawled out of Jenrya's backpack during the exchange and now half-perched on his Tamer's head, small paws buried in his thick blue hair. His nose wiggled as he sniffed at the damp air.
"Terriermon, what're you doing?" Jenrya protested as his partner rested more weight on his head.
"Something smells funny," Terriermon said, his nose still twitching. "It's hard to tell with all this rain, but it's…familiar. It's not one of your human-smells."
Ryo exchanged glances with Jenrya. "Another Digimon?"
"I think so. But I didn't sense a digital field or anything," Terriermon sounded confused. "Maybe…I dunno. This scent though! I know I've smelled it before."
Jenrya gazed out through the rain. It was hard to see through the darkness, but the only thing to see was the single construction lamp illuminating the gaping maw of a half-finished office building and the tunnel entrance behind it. Other than that, nothing. Just the same, dull pattering of the rain spilling from the mass of clouds above. But Terriermon obviously was onto something, so...
"Can you tell what direction it's from?"
Terriermon made a face at Jenrya's question. "Not really. I think it's close but…" he suddenly froze, his small claws catching in his Tamer's hair.
"Ow! Close but what?"
Terriermon sounded panicked. "I knew I knew it! It's Guilmon's!"
Guilmon? What was going on here? Guilmon vanished a few days ago right out from under Terriermon's nose. When did he return to the tunnels? And more importantly, why did he wander off in the first place? Ryo made a small snort at this, clearly suspicious. Jenrya himself wasn't sure what to do. It was good and all that they found Guilmon…yet, something didn't seem right.
"Should we go look for him?"
"Of course we should!" Terriermon looked surprised his Tamer would even ask.
Ryo shook his head. "I don't think we should," he said at the same time.
"We can't do both," Jenrya said as Ryo ignored Terriermon's scowl. "Terriermon, are you sure it's Guilmon?"
Terriermon tested the air again. "Yeah, pretty sure. There's some other weird smells, but I can tell it's his."
"Look, if the Digimon could change shapes and pretend to be human, they could pretend to be another Digimon," Ryo replied. "It's too convenient."
"…Okay, fine. We'll go into the tunnel and search there. It's not a good idea to go wandering about until we meet up with Ruki and this other Tamer she said she found," Jenrya said. "We can look for Guilmon then. We'll be better prepared if we're in a group."
It was decided. They left the safety of the store's overhang and went back under the relentless downpour. The chill of the air, mingled with the constant pattering of the storm, made it dangerously easy to fall into a lull. Jenrya forced himself to stay on his guard as they went down the side street toward the construction site that sat before their destination. He trusted Terriermon and he trusted Ryo enough now that his advice was worth thinking over. Guilmon was more than likely around here – or had been recently – but there was something wrong as well.
Just what did Guilmon have to do with Takato disappearing?
Guilmon knows we were worried about him. Terriermon had been bouncing in pure panic when he found out. And even now, just as one part of Jenrya was sick with worry over the loss of his best friend, another was concerned about Guilmon. Terriermon said he had been acting like he was sick the last time he saw him. So was he okay now? Still sick?
The three neared the construction site. In order to get to the entrance, they would have to cut across the fenced-in area. Since the makeshift gate hung open on hinges broken from too many curious kids, they would use a side gate to get into the blocked road leading to the tunnel. Jenrya had done it plenty of times whenever they met up here in the past.
For some reason, though, Jenrya found himself not wanting to approach what sat in the construction site. The blackness of the half-finished office building struck him as ominous, its structure covered with the rusting scaffolding clinging to its sides. It almost felt like it was somehow breathing.
Something bright sparked within the heart of the building:
"Exhaust Flame!"
The small group managed to scatter. Barely. A split second passed and blazing heat exploded right where they stood only seconds before. It seared right through the rain and sent up a cloud of steam as the jet of white fire belched from the gaping hole in the office building.
Jenrya hit the pavement hard, splashing through a muddy puddle as he quickly picked himself up off the ground. A few feet away, Ryo was doing the same. Automatically Jenrya reached for his cards as Terriermon hopped down. Between Ryo and Jenrya stood a line of fire, some of the ground scorched into glass from the very heat of the attack, flames flickering and dancing brightly even in the downpour.
It was by the eerie light of this fire that Jenrya caught his first glimpse of their attacker.
The Digimon blended in with the very shadows around him as he left the confines of the building. His hide was as black as the sky above, his form all too familiar to Jenrya. Spikes protruded out from the Digimon's acid-yellow eyes, the long silver mane matted in the heavy rain. The bands around his limbs and tail glowed faintly in the light as he came into full view. Long fangs revealed themselves as the looming shadow snarled, the white fire licking between those jagged knives.
Even hearing the strange hatred in the Digimon's voice, Jenrya knew exactly who this was:
Growlmon.
To be continued…
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Again, working my way through correcting grammar and stuff in the chapters. 12/2012. The old school fanart I did for the Juggernaut and the story can be found on my Deviantart.