ANOTHER Digidestined?
Chapter 3:
Reality went AWOL
Legal crap: Digimon belongs to blablabla. Blancmon, Raedmon and Razormon belong to me, blablablabla and blah belongs to blablablabla.
Author's notes:
What the crap's Sorato, Mimoe, Taito and Takari? And all those other weird names from Digimon characters?
Why does everyone write Daisuken? AND WHAT THE CRAP IS IT?!?!?!?!
Now that's off my chest, on with the story. Oh yeah, the Digidestined are Japanese, so they speak Japanese. Duh. Whenever Ben speaks to Mimi, it's in Japanese. Oh yeah, the Digidestined got to keep their Digivices even though they can't go back to Digiworld (I dunno if that really happened in the show, but hey...)
Falling in love again
And there's nothing I can do
Falling in love again
And this time it's with you
When I fall
It's always the same and I'm so tired
Of playing this game
Ben had been humming that for most of the day. It was the chorus of a song he had heard the day before on the radio.
"I choose...Troy."
"Mathew."
"Travis."
"John."
"And that leaves Ben. You're with Jake's team." said the teacher.
Ben mumbled an incoherent reply and moved towards the boys chosen by Jake.
"You ready for some B-ball?" asked his teammate.
"Of course he is, Troy. Get off his back." defended Andy.
"I dunno, he looks kinda spaced out." added Jake.
"I'm ok, really." answered Ben.
"Everybody ready?" called the teacher.
Jake and Benson walked to the center of the basketball court.
"Set... GO!"
He threw the ball into the air. Jake got to it first and passed it to Travis, and Travis started running as fast as he could.
"Travis you dork! YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!"
Travis ran to his side's own basket and jumped. He looked like he was going to slam dunk it, but instead he threw the ball to the center of the court. Ben caught it and ran in the right direction. Jake ran angrily up to Travis.
"You moron! What on earth where you thinking?"
"Chill it, kay? It was just a ruse. Everyone was chasing me so Ben's got an open shot."
The others seemed to notice this too. A few tried to catch up with Ben but he scored before they even made it halfway. Jake's team gave a collective cheer, and they commended Ben and Travis for their good work.
Another Time, Another Place (homage to the immortal Simon Furman, god of the Transformer writers)
*Driing! Driing!*
[Izumi residence. Who is speaking please?]
[Hi, this is Tai. Can I speak to Izzy?]
[I think so.] "Izzy! It's your friend Tai!"
"Is it important? I'm rather busy!" came the reply.
[He's busy. Can I take a message?]
[I want to know if he could come out this afternoon. Sora Takenouchi organised a small picnic and we'd like the whole gang to come.]
"Tai asks if you're free this afternoon!"
"What for?" called Izzy in return.
"A picnic with your friends."
Izzy contemplated the offer. He certainly wasn't getting anywhere with the task of re-opening the portal.
"Sure!"
[He can come.]
[It's at the park close to the fountain. At 3 o'clock.]
Matt and T.K. were walking together towards the park. They didn't say anything to each other the whole journey. When they arrived, they barely acknowledged Sora's greeting.
"What's with you guys?" asked Tai.
"..." replied Matt.
"Who else is coming?" asked T.K.
"Everyone except Mimi." answered Sora. "But Izzy and Joe aren't here yet."
This isn't going as well as I thought. Where are Izzy and Joe?
"What's that?" asked Mimi.
"It's a WebCam. I can send not only e-mail, but video messages as well." replied Ben.
"How much did it cost?"
"Roughly fifty dollars."
"THAT much?"
"It's an Internet camera! If I wanted to, I could make my own TV show!"
"Computer freak." mumbled Mimi under her breath. He certainly wasn't as bad as Izzy but he spent a lot of time, effort and money on computers. She looked around his room. In the far corner, to the right, was his bed. She giggled. When she had seen it for the first time, she couldn't stop laughing. The bed itself was normal, but the sheets and pillow weren't.
"Are you going to stop staring at those?" asked Ben with a bite of annoyance in his voice.
Mimi smiled.
"It's just that I never thought you actually like Carebears. It really isn't 'you'."
Ben sighed and checked his World Control Panel.
"It's roughly 3 in the afternoon there. I guess now's your chance."
Mimi yawned. It was 1 a.m. here. She hoped Izzy would be able to receive the transmission.
"Here goes nothing."
He sent the signal.
"Hey guys!"
Everyone turned to see Koushiro 'Izzy' Izumi walking towards them.
"Izzy! I was starting to think you weren't going to come!" replied Sora.
Izzy looked at everyone.
"Why all the long faces?"
"They're just depressed about Joe and Mimi." replied Tai. He grinned. "But I'm not gonna let that stop me from having a good time."
He reached into the hamper, and brought out a soda. Izzy sat down and took his Pineapple out of his bag.
"Don't you go ANYWHERE without that?" asked Kari.
"I'm just finishing off a search program that I'm writing." replied Izzy.
The computer let out a series of beeps.
"What the-"
Izzy's browser program activated.
"What's wrong?" asked Tai.
Tai, Sora and Kari gathered around Izzy.
"Someone's trying to send a message... VIDEO? This could be Gennai!"
Izzy's fingers flew over the keyboard.
Elsewhere...
"Well, they've received the transmission and are responding. You'll be able to talk to your friends in a minute."
Ben got up and started to walk out of the room.
"Aren't you going to meet them?" asked Mimi.
"Nah. I'll let you guys catch up on things without interfering. Besides, I need to get my bed ready."
He exited the room before she could protest any further.
"Mimi?" came a voice from the computer.
Mimi turned to it and waved.
"Hi Izzy!"
Although she couldn't see him, he could see her.
"Where are you?" he asked.
48 minutes later, Mimi came downstairs with a small bounce in her step and a huge smile on her face. Ben was watching a late-night comedy show on TV. As she came in, he turned off the TV and faced her.
"I take it went well." he commented.
{God, she's beautiful when she smiles.}
Mimi didn't reply. Instead she bent down and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Ben sat there, speechless.
"Thank you." said Mimi. "And goodnight."
She then went back upstairs, leaving a very shocked Ben.
Ben just sat there. Slowly he reached up and touched the place where she kissed him. Suddenly, reality went AWOL. He had never felt like this before, never. He knew now without a doubt that he was in love. He, a mere 5th grade kid, was in love with a Japanese girl!
{I love her.} He repeated the thought over and over. {I love her. IloveherIloveherIloveher!}
As he got into his makeshift bed, he contemplated the thought of confessing to Mimi.
"No," he said out loud. "I won't. It's too soon. I might scare her off, or-"
{Great. I hopelessly in love with her and I can't even tell her. Man, this is gonna be tough. Gah, I WILL scare her off. I'm too young to be in love.}
But that last thought didn't help much. Even if he was too young, he was still in love. If all those books he read were true, he'd either go insane, or stay quiet for so long that when he would tell her it'll be too late. Ben grimaced at the notion.
{I'm basing my predictions for the future on a bunch of romance novels. Ugh, I hate it when life goes like this.}
He could already feel it: if he didn't tell her soon, he'd go nuts. And then a horrible thought occurred.
"What if she dumps me?"
Time moved quickly for Ben. May became June almost instantly. The annual camping trip was coming soon. It was something of a surprise when Ben found out he was allowed to go. The school had set up this trip as a means to encourage the students to work harder at school. To even be invited one had to get at least an A- average. The extra work was worth it though: the lucky few that did come were treated to a week's worth of summer camp- weeks earlier than others. While the rest still had to go to school, do homework and sit through mind-numbingly boring lessons while it was a perfect summer day outside, the campers got to go hiking, fishing and all sorts of outdoor activities. Ben had jumped at the chance.
"So how long will you be gone?" asked Mimi.
"A week." replied Ben. They were in the lunch hall and Ben had just told her about the trip. "Are you coming?" he asked hopefully.
"No. I didn't get an invitation." Ben's hopes fell. He had thought that with all her extra effort and his help she'd been able to get good enough grades. "I got a C+ average."
Jake came to their table.
"Is this a private conversation?" he asked.
"No. Besides, you wouldn't understand us."
"Really? Come on, Japanese shouldn't be THAT hard. If a brainless numbskull like you can learn it, it should be as easy as pie for me."
"May I remind you that I got an invitation and YOU didn't?"
"That's below the belt, but I'll ignore it. Try me. Say something in Japanese." he coaxed.
"Okay, how about..." Ben said something that made Mimi succumb to a fit of giggles.
"Hmmm... You said that I'm good looking?" he guessed. That made Mimi laugh even harder.
"I swear, you are one TWISTED kid."
"Hey, you're the one that hangs with her 24 hours a day."
"What's wrong with that?" parried Ben.
"Ben and Mimi sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-" started Jake. Ben blushed.
"Knock it off."
"Make me."
"Ya know, the language isn't the only thing I learned from Japan." Jake raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, really?'
'Want me to try out some kung-fu techniques on you?"
"Nah, I'd wipe the floor with you."
"Wanna bet?"
"Sure. If I win, you have to write on the notice board in the entrance hall that you love Travis."
"That's it. I do NOT know you. You make me sick!"
"That's the idea."
At that moment the bell rang, interrupting their melee.
"Well, gotta go. Later, lovebirds."
Ben gave Jake a nasty glare as he walked off.
"Are you two really enemies?" asked Mimi.
"No, we get along fine actually. It's just that he can be a teeny bit annoying now and then. Come on, we gotta go to class."
Note: It should be obvious that Mimi speaks English to Christine.
Mimi reached for the doorbell. Now was the time. She held up her Digivice. She didn't know why, but she had the feeling that if she didn't tell him now, she never would. She pressed the buzzer and Ben's mother, Christine Curtis, opened the door.
"Hello Mimi."
"Hello Mrs Curtis. Is Ben here?"
"Yes. You can see him, but we're going out very soon."
"O.K."
She walked inside to see Ben packing a few things into his bag.
"Hi Mimi."
"Ben, there's something I'd like to tell you, but not here." she whispers in Japanese.
They walked upstairs to Ben's room. Ben closed the door and sat on his bed.
"What is it?"
Mimi put her Digivice on the table.
"Last year, during the summer-"
"Ben, we've got to leave now!" called Christine. "They're closing ten minutes early!"
"Damn. Sorry Mimi, but I have to go."
Ben ran out of the room, followed by Mimi. He raced outside and got in the car. Mimi came out of the house and Christine locked it. She sat in the driver seat and turned on the engine.
"See you next week!" shouted Ben as the car raced off. Mimi stood on the sidewalk. She started to walk home. Though she wasn't cold, a shiver danced up her back. She couldn't shake the feeling that that was the last time she'd see him.
Ben woke up with a start. He was having a dream that boys his age shouldn't be dreaming, when the alarm clock rang. He got up and stretched. He got dressed, turned on his computer and activated his e-mail. As usual, nothing serious, just a bunch of newsletters, and a letter from someone called Gennai. He was about to open it when his mother called him. He came downstairs to meet the mouthwatering smell of eggs and bacon.
"What's this for?" he asked.
"It's the last time you're going to have some decent food for a week. Besides, I couldn't help it." replied Christine. They chatted while they ate their breakfast.
"How am I getting to school?" he asked.
"You're walking. I've already sent your suitcase and bag to the school."
"Why?"
"I'm leaving for Atlantic City in 5 minutes. I won't be back until you come home."
"Oh."
Christine finished her plate, kissed him goodbye and left. Ben continued in silence. An hour later he was ready for the trip. He watched a bit of TV then remembered the e-mail message from Gennai. He looked at the clock. Half an hour to go. He went into his bedroom and picked up the Digivice on his table.
{Mimi must've forgotten this.}
He looked at the strange thing in his hand. Apparently it was important, as Mimi tried to talk to him about it the day before. He examined the device as he turned on his computer again. Ben couldn't make out what it was, other than it was electronic. It seemed to be very advanced, as if it came from the future. He put it up next to the WebCam on his computer monitor and initiated his e-mail program. He opened the Gennai message but never saw the contents. A bright light drew his attention upwards. The moment he had opened the message, the Digivice activated. Ben reached up and grabbed it. It was emitting a bright white light that quickly became blinding. He looked away, wondering what had triggered it, when the bright beam suddenly engulfed him.
The next thing Ben knew was that he was lying on his back. He was looking up at a dark grey sky, filled with angry-looking black clouds.
{Yow! What the hell happened?}
What had happened, indeed? He could only remember covering his eyes from the the strange light with his coat then POOF! he was here. Wherever 'here' was. He sat up and looked at the landscape around him. To his left was a forest, but not a forest like anything he had seen in real life. It seemed sub-tropical, but Ben remembered that he was too far north. Besides, Ben didn't recall there was a forest within 50 miles of his hometown. Stranger still, to his right was an extremely tall mountain. Ben certainly knew there weren't any mountains within 700 miles. To the denizens of this world, it was called Infinity Mountain. But right now, Ben could only guess at its name. His attention was drawn behind him.
*BZZZ*
He looked around again. Behind him was more forest, but in front was what looked like an often-used path that lead to a large building in the distance. Ben slowly walked in the direction of the buzzing. He walked between the strange trees, looking at everything. He walked into a clearing and gasped.
For the first time since he came here, panic and fear gripped him. He was lost, alone, and there wasn't anyone to help him. Furthermore, the biggest insect Ben had ever seen was crashing through trees at the other end of the clearing. It was multi-coloured, mainly red, and had huge pincers sticking out of its 'mouth'. It sensed a new presence and turned around. It saw Ben and charged. Ben, paralysed with fear, panic, shock and amazement, just stood and stared.
Did you like it? I tried to make up for the way-too-short-and-shallow parts with this one. It certainly isn't as long as most people's stories, but I write in short segments at a time. I'd like to apologise for this taking so long but I got caught up with other things. Send all the mail to razorpack@excite.com