Wrenched From Calm, Thrown To Battle: Part 2
[A/N: So, anyone like so
far? I finally thought up jobs for
Shinji's parents! But I warn you
now. This part is pretty violent for
the second part of a series. Enter a
certain someone… ^_^]
[Disclaimer: Don't own.]
"Man, this fog is thicker than the fuzz on the cheese in the fridge." Matt muttered, staring at the sky from the balcony of his apartment. "So, you think it's him?" Tsunomon inquired from the ground. "You had better believe it." Matt agreed, turning and leaning on the ledge.
TK
stared sadly at the barrier of fog. He
couldn't make up his mind. It was too
big of a risk to have Patamon digivolve just to get him in, and his mother
probably wouldn't go. She was too busy
with her paper article. But there had
to be a way to convince her. If there
was a way to beat the Digi-destined's enemy, there was definitely a way to
convince his mom!
Kari
had gone a walk, even though the fog made it close to impossible to see. She kind of liked the fog, and really liked
walking around in the park when it was foggy. Kari knew the way, and didn't get lost at all. The trees could hardly be seen, but Kari knew she was in the
park.
The
cool moisture of the fog licked Kari's cheek, and she giggled and kept walking. Suddenly, there was a clopping of
sneaker-rubber against the concrete, and someone yanked Kari backwards. The eight-year-old stumbled, but someone
held her up before she fell. Kari was
about to yell for help, but the familiar sound of a car going by at high speeds
reached her ears.
"Hey,
little girl, you shouldn't be walking around in the street." someone said
kindly, "Are you all right?" Kari bent
her head backwards and looked up into the darkest blue eyes she had ever seen. "Yeah, thanks!" she replied with a warm
smile, "You saved my life!" "Ah, don't
say that." the person laughed, "I don't want to call in any favors."
Kari
giggled and turned around. "Well,
thanks anyway…" she dropped off, not knowing what to say. "Shinji Shazaki." the person held out a
hand, "You?" "I'm Kari!" the
eight-year-old replied, "Kari Kamiya!" The two shook, and Shinji stood. "See you around." she murmured, walking away. A few seconds later, she disappeared, and Kari let out a
sigh. She was officially freaked out,
and wanted to get back home.
Shinji,
unlike Kari, disliked fog for some reason, and also desired to return home.
As
soon as the sun began to set, the sound of wooden wheels rolling across the
gravelly pavement was heard in the darkest places. The Digi-destined dared not to leave their homes, especially not
the girls. Tai would not let Kari even
think about getting near the door, because he was worried.
"Hey,
Shin-chan?" Shinji's father, Kagato, asked, "Sorry to ask so late at night, but
I'm sure you'll say yes…" "What do you
need at the store?" Shinji asked with a knowing smirk. "Rice." her mother, Rei, said from the desk,
"We used the last of it tonight." Her
daughter smirked, upside-down, and rolled backwards. Her feet fell from the air and landed with a dull thud on the
floor, and her head finally came up from the ground.
"So,
one bag of rice then?" she repeated. Kagato nodded and added, "You had better take a flashlight. The fog's pretty thick." His daughter did as he advised, slid on her
sneakers, and headed out into the foggy night.
A
young woman of nineteen slumped easily to the ground, twin, throbbing red marks
on her neck. A pale figure dressed in
blue and a black flowing cloak grinned coldly and licked the last trace of
blood from his glimmering fangs. His
heavy black boots hardly made a thud as he stepped into the carriage that was
driven by nothing. The wooden wheels
made no sound except for the crunched noise of gravel. The creature that fed upon the blood of
young women grinned once more and hoped for one last meal that night.
"I
hate fog…I hate fog…I hate fog…" Shinji repeated over and over, walking through
the thick fog, one hand in her pocket, the other holding a bag of rice. Her free hand was inside her pocket, holding
the flashlight tightly. But very
suddenly, she froze. Dull footsteps a
bit behind her froze as well. "Great."
the fourteen-year-old thought, "First I have to walk around at night in fog,
and now some weirdo is stalking me." She took a few steps, then froze again. The footsteps stopped as well, but this time, they sounded much closer.
The
teenager remained still, daring the person behind her to come closer. Many people knew her father, and they knew
her as well. They also knew that she
was a better fighter than her father. But somehow, there was a tinge of fear burrowing deeper and deeper into
her. There was something extremely
different about the person following her. Shinji's heart pounded uncomfortably, and her hand covered the strange
necklace she had found that morning through her silver tee-shirt.
Then,
one more footstep sounded, and that immediately frightened the girl into an
adrenaline rush. She whirled around,
whipped the flashlight from her pocket, and turned it on. The bright light cut through the fog and a
male voice nearly screamed in agony. The man disappeared faster than she could tell, and she was left,
stunned and frozen. No person ever
cried out that loud, even if a flashlight was staring them in the eye…
Then,
a cold hissing sound resonated in her ear, and she started to turn around. The flashlight was knocked from her hand,
and the light vanished. The hand that
had been holding the flashlight was held in a harsh grasp, and her other hand
let go of the rice. Her fist went up instinctively,
but the man caught her punch and squeezed her hand tightly. Now, only the fear was present, the
adrenaline gone, and the teen was frozen.
"You
are a bothersome little human." the man's voice said in a soft tone, "But,
impertinent humans make the best meals." Shinji's blue eyes widened at those words. The sun-hiding fog…the scream at the bright light… Why couldn't she see it before? The man chuckled as the girl tried to pull
away weakly. "My, you are the first
person other than those children that know what I am." he laughed. "Y-you're something other than a vampire?"
the teen questioned, trying to get away.
With
a heavy step, the vampire glided up to the human so he was nearly pressing
against her. He was a head taller, and
had blue eyes. Eyes that matched her
own… The human was breathing hard,
tears nearly coming to her eyes. Suddenly, the necklace beneath her shirt began to glow with a bright,
yet dark light. The vampire's eyes
widened and he leapt back, letting go of the girl.
"You?!"
he shouted, "You are one of those children?!" The vampire growled and stepped heavily towards Shinji. But suddenly, his sneer became a smirk. "I understand." he chuckled, "The team is
now nine, but if I make it eight, then seven once more, this world will be
mine!" He stepped forwards, and she
stepped backwards.
"Wha-what
does that mean?" she inquired, "What children?" The vampire continued to step forwards, forcing her
backwards. "Seven children that have
hindered my plans throughout both worlds!" the creature snarled, "And now that
I have found one that they have never heard of, there will only be the Eighth
Child left to find." His gloved hand
shot out and wrapped around her neck. But as his grip began to tighten, something in the back of his mind
snapped and the necklace beneath the human's shirt shimmered brighter.
A
different understanding crawled into his mind, and he slowly let the human
go. She gasped for breath and rubbed
the area he had been crushing. The
vampire stared over her head, thinking slowly about something. The necklaces those children wore always
burned his eyes when they glowed, so why didn't this one burn him?
The
digital device clipped to Shinji's belt started to beep as if it were
screaming. The vampire stared at the
light flowing from the digital device, but still it didn't burn as normal light
did. "What the heck is this thing?!"
the human seemed to forget about the vampire, yanking the device from her belt
clip, "I don't know what to do with it!"
"Digivice."
the vampire said. The human jumped and
looked at him slowly. "It's called a
digivice." he repeated patiently. The
human blinked and slid off the necklace and held it to the vampire. It swung slightly, the dark blue-black
shimmering. "As long as you aren't
trying to bite me, do you know what this is?" she tried.
"The
brass part of it is called a tag." the vampire explained, the necklace covering
his eyes at moments, "But everyone that knows about it calls it a Crest,
because of the stone inside the tag." He glanced at the stone and then back at the girl.
"Where
did you get this?" he questioned, "Only the children I spoke of have
these. Unless you stole it from one of
them." The human sweatdropped and
jumped. "Shoot!" she moaned, "I
forgot! I have to get home!" She grabbed the bag of rice from the ground
and started to run off, when the vampire grabbed her shoulder. "Tell me where you found it." he ordered,
"And don't try to run away again."
Shinji
cast her eyes at the foggy sky and groaned inside her head. Her plan didn't work.
"I
just found it this morning." she finally admitted, "And the digivice too. They just were there. Now if you would let go, I really need to
get home so my parents don't kill me for being out this late." He slowly let go and turned from the
human. The girl nearly sighed in
relief. "I'm Shinji Shazaki." her
manners overtook her sense. The vampire
didn't pay any mind, but walked into the fog again. Shinji nearly asked him his name, but stopped.
She
too turned towards her home and started off. But as she started to walk off, a breath of wind carried a word to her
ears, "…Myotismon…"
Shinji
jogged up the stone stairs and to her house. The door was still unlocked and she walked inside.
"Sorry
I'm so late." she called, "I got lost in the fog." There was no reply. Shinji reasoned that perhaps she was later than she surmised, and her
parents had gone to sleep. But still,
the silence was eerie. She was about to
slide off her black sneakers, when, with no warning obviously, two ropes
slithered up from either side of her, and tied themselves around her torso and
ankles.
She
fell head-over-heels once the ropes had finished tying themselves and slammed
hard onto the floor. "Mom!" she yelled
fearfully, "Dad! What's going
on?!" Suddenly, there was a
disorientating feeling of floating, and somehow, something drew her to the
largest room in the house.
Her
blue eyes widened in shock as her sight viewed her parents, tied up as
well. "Mom! Dad!" she cried once more. "So glad you could finally make it to the play." an unfamiliar voice
cackled. Shinji looked to her right and
saw what appeared to be a demonic clown sitting in one of the chairs.
"Who
are you?!" Kagato shouted, "What do you want here?!" The clown chuckled. "I am
Piedmon, ruler of the Digital World." he answered, "I have come here to see
with my own eyes how my minion, Myotismon, has been doing with his plans." "But why are you here?" Shinji
questioned. Her parents stared at her,
and Piedmon laughed aloud. Shinji
slowly pulled a small pocketknife from her back pocket and began cutting
through the ropes that held her.
The
vampire stared through the fog. He
could see through it, and had watched that Shinji girl walk back home. But there was something dreadfully
wrong. He knew when tears in the
dimensions appeared, and one had when he and the human had been talking. Someone was here. One of his race. A
stronger one of his type. They were
after her…
"I
heard that there were actually nine Digi-destined!" the clown laughed, "So I
come to the Real World, and guess what I find. I appear by this house, and I sense the power that only a Crest and
Digivice give off! So I decide to wait
for the Digi-destined to return. You
come here, and so I can get rid of the Ninth Digi-destined child!" He paused and looked at her. He could not see the small pocketknife, and
smiled quite coldly.
"But
no, I see you, and I decide against it." Piedmon continued, "Such exquisite
beauty should be cherished, not obliterated." "What do you intend to do to my daughter?!" Kagato shouted. The evil clown grinned at Shinji's
father. "Why, I intend to take her with
me to the Digiworld, and keep her." he said.
Destiny
was calling him… No. It wasn't just destiny that drew him towards
her home. It was her…
"But,
I'm sure that you'll purposefully try to find the Digi-destined brats to have
them come back to the Digital World and find your daughter." Piedmon stared at
Rei and Kagato coldly, "Those children must not learn of my plans! I will find this girl's partner, and turn
them against the Digi-destined! I will
not fail!" He grinned evilly and then
murmured, "And so you must be eliminated."
Piedmon
stood from the chair and held up a gloved hand. His red-velvet-clad form seemed to shimmer with deadly power, and
Shinji's parents stared at him. "CLOWN
TRICK!" the evil digimon shouted. A
ball of black energy formed before his hand, and it flew forwards. It consumed Shinji's parents, and then
vanished.
"And
now they are gone." Piedmon grinned. Shinji was frozen. But then, the
weakened ropes were no match for her rage-induced strength, and she snapped
them and flipped to her feet. "And what
are you trying to do, my dear?" Piedmon smiled, "Run away? Wail and sob?" "I'M GOING TO FREAKIN' KILL YOU!" Shinji screamed. She leapt forwards and slammed her fist into
the side of Piedmon's face. The
digimon's head was turned to the side, and then Shinji slammed her foot into
his stomach.
Piedmon
was doubled over with pain, and Shinji slammed her knee into his forehead. The blow nearly cracked his face-helmet, and
he fell back onto the floor. Shinji
breathed slow and hard, and turned away, ready to go and find the rest of those
kids Piedmon mentioned.
But
a hand grabbed her shoulder. Shinji
turned around with a stunned expression, and then Piedmon pressed two fingers
against her forehead. Shinji fell
unconscious, and Piedmon caught her. "Ah, ah, ah, my dear." he chuckled, "That's no way to start this off."
Suddenly,
a blue-green hole appeared behind him and he whirled around. "A dimensional vortex-" he started in
shock. Suddenly, from the shadows of a
corner, what appeared like a bat flew out of the shadows and smacked Piedmon in
the head. He stumbled backwards, let
Shinji go, and fell backwards into the vortex. Shinji fell into the shadows, and vanished into the blackness.
In
the inky blackness of the Shadow Realm, Shinji sank down from Light Realm and
fell into the vampire's arms. He smiled
lightly at the now-unconscious girl and then jumped backwards, fading into a
different place.
Tai
stared woefully out into the fog. How
would they ever find him if he was hiding in the fog? The leader of the Digi-destined sighed and turned back to his
room, letting the blue drape fall back over the window. As the large-haired boy flopped into bed,
the fog behind the drape started to slowly dissipate…
