Disclaimer- Digimon… Hmmm… I don't own it now, and never have, but maybe I should take it over… I haven't done something really EVIL lately… I know! I'll get a giant pink kidney bean-shaped Digimon to go crap all over TOEI Studios, forcing the writers out! The animators I will have lured out early with large drawings of 3D Digimon, and then I will take over! Wahahahahaha! Hmm… that would be a mess to clean up… I wonder if Sora's cousin ever got it out of his car…
HeeHeeHee… It's up! Chapter Two is ready to roll…
CHAPTER TWO
(School 7:00 AM)
(Bell Rings) 'Oh No!' Thought Davis in a hurry. 'I'm late again! Stupid alarm clock! Why did I have to oversleep?'
Hopping into the classroom on one foot, desperately trying to pull on his other shoe with one hand as he held his books in the other, Davis barely managed to make it in to class before the door was shut.
"Well well, look who finally decided to show up," snickered Yolei, as Davis frantically tried to pull on his goggles.
Davis sweatdropped. "Well, I was up late doing my Science report."
Kari laughed. "What, the one Mrs. Miashi gave to us two weeks ago?"
"Yep, that one," replied Davis defensively, a little slow on the uptake.
"Settle down, class," announced Mr. Nakamoto. "We have a new student today. She just transferred all the way from Seattle, Washington in the U.S.A., and I hope you'll all make her feel welcome. Class, meet Marika Toren."
A tall, blonde haired girl about 13 stepped up from behind Mr. Nakamoto, smiling broadly. "Hi!"
"It's a GIRL?" Yolei's eyes widened.
"Is that the new Digidestined?" Whispered TK, obviously in shock.
"I thought it was gonna be a guy! And a total geek, you know, more like Yolei," remarked Davis.
"What!?" Screamed Yolei in a whisper, and clouted Davis on the head.
Davis, subdued, sulked with a large sweatdrop.
Mr. Nakamoto, missing their conversation entirely, kept talking. "Who wants to show her around?"
Willing to give the girl a chance, Kari's hand shot up first.
"Kari Kamiya, thank you for volunteering. Marika, please take the desk next to Kari. Davis, you can have the seat next to Yolei until Ms. Toren becomes antiquated with her new surroundings."
Davis, fuming, moved over to Yolei, who shot a death glare at him.
"Hi Kari, nice to meet you," the new girl said with a smile. She unconsciously pushed her hair back, revealing large blue eyes that accented her blue-gray pants and white shirt with a yellow smiley face on it.
"Hi." Said Kari with enthusiasm. "This is…"
The next bell rang, signaling the beginning of the first class. Everyone moved out, and headed toward their next class.
"That's okay," remarked Marika with a smile.
"You can meet them after school if you want to stay for a little while," Kari replied, "and maybe some other people too."
"Great! Now if I could only figure out where Math is…"
"Here let me show you…" Kari and Marika walked down the hall, bent over a scrap of paper.
"Huh. What do you think of that?" inquired TK of Davis. "Personally, I don't think she could be the kind of person sent away for trouble. She must be a really good Digidestined."
Davis, muttering blackly replied, "I certainly don't like her very much."
" Why, because she took your desk next to my Kari?"
"YOUR KARI! WHAT?!" Shrieked Davis, his head exploding.
TK simply ignored him, staring after his crush and her charge. He shrugged, and walked down the white linoleum tiled floor, hands in his pockets. Davis followed, still sputtering angrily, arms waving.
(Somewhere in the Digital World)
The elderly Mojiamon held the hand of the younger one. They both strolled through an ice field, snow-covered trees filling the horizon. The biting cold didn't seem to bother the furry humanoid digimon; instead they seemed to relish it.
The old one dropped to one knee, pointing to a gray plant. "And this, my son, is a winter Thrish plant. I don't know why they call it a winter Thrish- it's ALWAYS winter here!"
The old digimon laughed, and the young one stared down at him adoringly. This Mojiamon was his mentor, and he hoped to be just like him when he gained more years.
"Here is an excellent example of… my son?"
No reply.
The Mojiamon whirled around, quickly for someone of his age, drawing his bone weapon from behind his back.
Before him stood not his young student, but a tall, ever shifting figure. Behind the creature lay the discarded body of the Mojiamon's young pupil, tossed aside like unwanted baggage.
"What have you done to him?!"
Nothing of consequence. He was young. The young have not yet learned to harness their feelings- they are not as good for harvesting. Still, he will be ready again by the full moon.
The voice came not from a mouth, for she, and it was a she, had none. The voice came instead from inside her head, emanating in waves.
"No! Impossible! You…you can't be here! You are simply a legend!"
You will find that legends are something to listen to.
"No! Stop! Don't come any closer! Bone Boomerang!"
The attack sliced right through the ever-shifting digimon, severing her body. The Mojiamon sighed, relieved, but then she started to shift, morphing. Her putty-like flesh closed over the gash through her torso, healing it in an instant.
She advanced on the awestruck Mojiamon, and placed her fingers around his head. Just one question before I remove your consciousness, and you sink into apathy. What is your name for us here?
He answered her in telepathy, and the reply came swamped with fear. You are the kuukyomon.
Thank you. You will help our cause greatly. "Soul Siphon!"
(Outside Odaiba Junior High School 4:00 PM)
"What time is it already?"
" Davis, stop whining. I'm sure Kari and Marika are late for a reason."
"But I just…"
"Enough! I'm tired of waiting too!"
"Davis, just shut up. Whatever you say to Yolei will just get you in worse trouble."
" Hey TQ, who put you in charge?"
"Fine, you can put your foot in you mouth even further with Yolei if you want to."
"I will, thank you." Davis said as everyone snickered.
"There they are," announced Cody, as Marika and Kari walked in the door, chatting and laughing.
Everyone's eyes narrowed, and Yolei blurted out, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!!"
Kari looked up suddenly, and looked at her watch. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. I guess we lost track of time."
Piping up quickly from behind, Marika said, "Don't get mad at her. It was really my fault. Everything is so different here; she had to explain something every thirty seconds. We really didn't realize that it was so late. I need to meet some people inside soon too."
Leafmon, popping out of Ken's backpack, spoke up. "You're meeting us, right? We're early."
"Whoa! You... But... I... Kari?" Shocked, Marika pushed her hair back behind her ear again.
"Yep, I'm Digidestined too. Sorry, I was having such a good time. I just forgot to tell you earlier."
"That's okay. I had a good time too. I especially liked the Tai stories. I can't wait to meet your brother," she replied with a giggle.
"Oh, here," Kari said, turning to everyone, "this is Marika. Marika, this is TK, Cody, Davis, Yolei, and Ken."
"Hi TK, I remember you from class."
"WHAT? You don't remember me?" Yolei started to sulk.
Cody bowed politely. "Nice to meet you."
"I bet you've heard of Ken," said Yolei assuredly, always ready to show off her friendship with the famous boy.
Ken's broke out in red color.
"No, I don't think I have," Marika uncomfortably replied.
Davis blurted out, " Of course you have. Ken Ichijouji, boy genius…" He was always ready to show off his friendship with the famous boy.
Unsure of what to say, she replied, "No, I would have remembered if I had." Marika smiled and turned to the speaker.
"You then, must be Davis. I've heard of you."
"Aha! See? She's heard of me, but not boy genius over there. I must be really famous. Davis… soccer superstar. Davis… best fighter in the Digital World…"
"Actually, Willis told me all about you, and to stay away from you as much as possible."
Davis, sweatdropping, blushed crimson. "Oh."
"You know Willis?" Kari joined in.
"Yes. And really, I didn't get along with him. Oh well. I liked most of his team."
"See? She doesn't even like Willis. I knew I wouldn't like her." Yolei murmured partly to Davis, partly to herself.
"That's not what I remember. Will the new digidestined like me? What'll the new digidestined be like?" Davis quipped.
Yolei glared at him. "Oh, shut up. That's before I got to know her."
Davis looked at her. "Before you knew she was a girl, right?"
Yolei ignored him.
Cody inquired, "Willis has a team?"
"Yeah. They found each other over the Internet, and I flew to their houses to set up their own personal Digiports on their computers. It's sort of a hobby, and what I do as a digidestined most of the time. "
Walking while talking, everyone reached the computer lab.
"Whoa! You guys have the new flat-screen Pentiums!"
"What? Queried Davis, confused.
"The latest computer technology!"
"Actually, the company is already starting to make new ones." A voice spoke up from a computer chair. "Hi, you must be Marika Toren. I'm Izzy."
"A pleasure to meet you. So, the new computers, are they all new, or just a new monitor?"
During the impromptu conversation, everyone else got more and more tense.
"Ahem." Politely interrupted Hawkmon. "Perhaps you could continue this conversation later?"
"Yeah! Let's get to the Digiworld!" Davis, always in a hurry, blurted out.
"Alright!" Stated Patamon.
Marika, making a move for the computer, was quickly intercepted by Yolei.
"Hey sister, this is my job. I open the Digiport."
Everyone sweatdropped, and TK, always ready to break up a fight, spoke up quickly. "Yolei, calm down. It's okay."
"I… I'm sorry. I didn't know. Here." Blushing, Marika waved her hand at the computer, bringing the Digiport box to the screen with a bleep.
Yolei, fuming, yelled the familiar phrase…"Digiport- OPEN!"
After a long Digiport sequence, everyone landed in the Digiworld.
"Izzy! You came with us!"
"Yeah Cody, I have some questions to ask Gennai too."
"Gennai? Huh?"
" Oh. Sorry Ken. Am I leaving things out again? We're supposed to meet Gennai in this sector at 5:00. It's still a little early…"
"Look there he is! With another Digimon…?" Kari wondered.
"It's Kyremon!" Running towards the two figures, Marika shrieked. "Oh Kyremon, I missed you so much!"
Kyremon… a panther Digimon. She may look cuddly, but look out for her Stripe Shear attack!
"I missed you too, Marika! How was your flight? Did you save me any of those bagged pretzels?" The silvery-white Digimon cried, leaping into her partner's outstretched arms.
"Ouch! Watch the claws," Marika yelped.
"Sorry," The purple striped Digimon replied, as her best friend enveloped her in a hug.
Meanwhile, Izzy and Gennai, for that was Kyremon's companion, were talking.
As Marika moved over to join the rest, Gennai spoke up for everyone to hear. "I see you all are well."
"Yeah, we're great, but why…"TK was interrupted.
"I know you all probably have a lot of questions, so I'm here to clarify."
"Yeah, like who IS Marika?"
"Cody, that's something you'll have to ask her yourself."
"I AM here however, to tell all of you about the disastrous problems we have been having in the Digital World."
"What!" Everyone gasped.
"But, we haven't been getting any readings on our D3's! At least, I haven't." Ken blurted out.
"You shouldn't be getting any, because the problems are not concerning obvious evil, or control spires. The Digimon themselves have been acting strangely."
"How so?" Queried Izzy.
"Digimon all over the Digital World have simply been leaving their jobs and homes, shops and restaurants, and doing random things. For example, a Centarumon did nothing but dance Irish Jigs for seven days straight, and a Mojiamon went into a forest and knocked down 67 trees. Lately, things have been getting much more disturbing. Some Digimon have simply collapsed, unable to be wakened until the next New Moon."
"What happens at the New Moon?" Yolei curiously asked.
"All the Digimon return to normal, and don't remember anything that has happened during their vacant period. They seem to be sapped of strength for several days, and they are totally back to their old selves."
"Have you noticed any patterns in which Digimon this happens to?" Marika asked from the back of the group.
"No, only that the lower level and weaker Digimon were vacant first, and now the higher Digivolved and stronger Digimon seem to be affected too."
"What can we do?" Asked TK and Kari at the same time, and then grinned at each other.
"All we can do now is watch, and try to see under what circumstances these vacancies occur. If you see anything strange, just e-mail me."
"I think we can turn Davis in right here," Whispered Yolei to Cody.
When Cody and Yolei snickered, Davis yelled, "I know you said something about me, now what was it?!"
Yolei yelled back, "The world doesn't revolve around you, you know! Not everything I say concerns you, so just butT out!" Softly to Cody she said, "I just happened to be talking about him that time."
Davis muttered, "People should be more careful. I could have sworn I was just run over by a Mammothmon."
Everyone snickered, and then Marika spoke up. "Gennai, why am I here? I mean, no offense everyone, but Odaiba isn't at all like Seattle." Turning to her new friends, she added, "And I'm sure all of you would rather me not be here too. I sort of barged into your lives, and I just complicate things."
TK, Cody, and Yolei winced. It was one thing to have those feelings resounding throughout their heads, but to hear them voiced by Marika's nonchalant voice made them twitch.
"Isn't it time that you should be going? You all have families to go home to, and your parents will worry." Gennai changed the subject.
After a quick look at their watches, Kari, Yolei, Davis, and Ken gasped, bowed quickly, and hurried in the direction of the Digiport.
"Bye! See you tomorrow!"
TK and Cody followed the others at a more leisurely pace.
Marika, Kyremon and Gennai remained behind, watching the silhouettes of the other Digidestined disappear over the crest of the hill. Kyremon moved away, and after a pause, Marika quickly said, "Thank you."
"Yes, I didn't think you had told them yet."
"Oh, please don't start on that again. I think they might actually like me."
"And you think they wouldn't after you told them about…"
"What happened before?" Marika quietly interrupted.
With a sigh, Gennai changed the subject. "In answer to your question, you are here to help them out."
"How? We don't even know what we're up against!"
"The council and I decided that you being here could prevent serious damage. You will also bring the team together."
"All I seem to be doing now is bringing them apart. Kari seems to like me, and Ken's okay, but I can almost feel the distrust from the others."
"Despite what you say, you are needed here."
Turning to leave, Marika asked one last question. "Am I here to watch over them, or is it the other way around?"
"A little of both," Gennai replied mysteriously, before disappearing in a medley of colored lights.
Shaking her head, Marika moved towards the Digiport, calling to Kyremon. "Well Kyremon, why do you think they don't like me?"
"Well, maybe if you had a different appearance…"
"Hey! Do you have a problem with the way I look?"
"Well, it doesn't compare to an original Digimon."
Marika, opening the Digiport with a silver and purple D3, laughed as Kyremon ducked her wild punch with the ease of practice.
"Come on silly, let's go find out where the apartment is. Our stuff should already be there, and I think it's nearby."
"Thank heaven," replied the Digimon, stepping into the Digiport. Marika followed silently.
~*~
MarikaQ: Another one down…. I think rewriting is harder than writing!
Kaiser: Whatever.
MarikaQ: You just have no respect for what I do.
Kaiser: Ha! As soon as it deserves respect-
MarikaQ: ::busily bludgeoning Kaiser with a stale jelly roll:: Excuse me everyone, but I seem to have pressing engagements…