Chapter 7:

Ahh, My Ginjinka Digimon

     Once he was sure everything was clear, he set the girl down and holstered his guns, "Are you…okay?" he asked slowly, forcing the words out.

     Nabiki smiled up and him, making him blush underneath his mask, and said, "Never better! Itai!" she accidentally used her bad hand to try to stand and screamed, "Itai, itai, itaiiiiiii!!"

     The Mega Digimon chuckled. "Ready?" he asked in his gruff voice once the girl was on her feet.

     "Ready."

     He De-Digivoluved into Impmon. Nabiki, despite how hard Impmon fought, carried her friend, who was in more pain then he let on. His face was as red as his bandana was and it was driving him nuts.

     Will I stop blushin'?! She's a stupid human! He thought, shaking his head to clear it. But another thought entered his mind. What if…I…No! She's a human, ya stupid idiot! Humans are the enemy! They made my life a living h***!! He jumped out of Nabiki's arms and ran off, leaving Nabiki in the dust.

     "Impmon! Impmon!" she yelled, running after him, fearing that he might get attacked and deleted.

     I gotta be alone for a while…he thought, trying to ignore the pain in his chest as he managed to lose his friend.

     Nabiki watched as Impmon ran off as she dropped to her knees and sighed, feeling tears well in her eyes once again, "Impmon…"

     Suddenly, the tamers and their Digimon were beside her, asking where Impmon was. She pointed in the direction Impmon had run off in.

~~~~~~Later…

     Impmon sat on top of a large rock, thinking. When will my life turn around for the better? He thought, laying back.

     Maybe if I let Nabiki be my Tamer…out loud he said, "No! I don't need a stupid Tamer! I don't need that girl! If I become her 'Partner', I'll just wind up as some stupid pet meant to do stupid tricks! I'll be a lousy slave again!"

     He remembered how Nabiki had stood up for him when Sam was going to make him battle MegaDevimon. She had risked her life for him. She could've been killed, yet…He knew she knew she could die but she did it anyways. "Impmon isn't battling a Mega! He's only a Rookie!" he remembered her saying.

     He chuckled softly to himself. "That girl's got more guts then I thought she did…and she really seems to care about me…But…I doubt it'd work out…" he whispered, staring at the gray sky, his heart aching.

     Suddenly, Calumon appeared beside him, making him yelp and fall off the rock and land on his head. "Hiya! Whatcha doin'?" the little Digimon asked, looking down at Impmon, who looked like he wanted to kill him.

     "Lyin' on the ground and lookin' angry, What do you think, Airplane-head?!" Impmon shouted, leaping to his feet and raising a fist.

     Calumon giggled. "Your silly. I heard you talking to yourself. Something wrong?" he asked, his cheerful smile never fading.

     Impmon's eye twitched at Calumon's cheerful attitude. This guy makes Xelloss look like a sob story…he thought, also trying to figure out weather or not to Bada-Boom the annoying Digimon all the way into the Real World. "Nothin'." he answered hotly.

     "Oh…But…your wish is gonna come true, ya know." Calumon said softly, his smile fading.

     Impmon raised an eyebrow and asked, crossing his arms and turning so that Calumon could see his profile, "Oh? An' what wish would that be?"

     "Nope! Can't tell! You'll see!! See ya!" with that, the triangle on Calumon's forehead glowed and engulfed Impmon, making the purple Digimon shield his eyes. When the light faded, Calumon was gone, leaving Impmon to ponder what the little guy had said.

     What wish? He thought for several minutes, tapping his foot and chin.

     Then, he heard someone shout from behind him. He turned and saw Nabiki, followed by the Tamers and their Digimon, running toward him. Nabiki's hand was bandaged up again and she had several band-aids on her where the cuts were. He couldn't help but smile slightly.

     The seven stopped before him and Takato asked, "Um…Hi. Listen, have you seen a purple Digimon that looks like this anywhere?" Takato held a drawing out for Impmon to see.

     The Digimon was confused. He was right there and they were asking him where he was like he was someone they didn't know.

     He glanced at Nabiki, who looked disappointed.

     "D***…I thought for sure Impmon would be here…" she said softly, looking like she wanted to cry.

     Henry patted her on the shoulder and said, "We'll find him, Nabiki." Impmon glared at Henry, bristling as an anime vain appeared on his forehead.

     Terriermon piped up, crawling onto Henry's head, "Momentize, Nabiki. Momentize."

     She smiled slightly. "Yeah. You're right. Thanks." She looked at Impmon and said, "Ojiisan (sir), please. Have you seen Impmon?"

     Sir? Since went did she call him sir? "Huh?"

     "Have you seen Impmon? You know, the Digimon in the picture?" Nabiki was worried, he could tell by the way her voice was cracking.

     "…Yeah…"

     Nabiki's face lit up. "Where?!"

     "…" Impmon pointed to himself. "Its me…"

     The Tamers and their Digimon sweat dropped as their eyes bugged out. "Y…your…" Takato sputtered, looking Impmon over. "Impmon? Henry! Catch her!" Nabiki had fainted.

     Impmon sweat dropped. "What?" he asked, sounding annoyed.

     "Um…well…er…Guilmon! You tell him!" Takato said, hiding behind Guilmon, who hid behind Terriermon.

     "Nah huh! Terriermon! You do it!" Guilmon said, only to have two people hiding behind him. Terriermon and Takato.

     Renamon sighed and said bluntly, "Your human."

     "Blunt, aren't you?" Henry asked, making his way slowly toward Rika.

     Impmon's eyes bugged out as he screamed, "WHHHHAAAAATTTTTT!?!?!" he looked like he wanted to faint

~~~~~~~~~The Tamers POV…

     Henry wrapped Nabiki's hand up while Rika and Renamon cleaned the scratches on the newest Tamer's leg. "What's your name again?" Henry asked.

     "Nabiki." She answered, wincing as Renamon pressed a little to hard on a wound.

     "Gomen (sorry)." The fox Digimon said before continuing.

     Terriermon sat on Nabiki's lap, liking the attention he was getting from her. He grinned when she scratched behind his ear.

     "All done." Henry said, standing. Terriermon gave him a dirty look that said, 'party pooper'. Henry shrugged and sweat dropped as Terriermon jumped onto his shoulder and muttered darkly as his Tamer helped Nabiki to her feet.

     After everyone had dusted themselves off, Nabiki looked at her D-Arc, a compass appearing on the screen. After a moment, it pointed north, so they headed north, Nabiki in the lead.

     After two hours, they saw a bright flash of red light. Nabiki panicked. "Impmon!" she yelled, running forward, the Tamers and their Digimon following.

     But when they there, there was only a boy about the group's age. He had short spiked purple hair and emerald green eyes. Everyone failed to notice Impmon's infamous smiley on the front of the boy's purple shirt.

     Nabiki sighed and thought, clutching her D-Arc to her chest, I hope Impmon's okay…

     Renamon sniffed the air. She looked at the teen, who looked very confused when Takato showed him the picture of Impmon. That smell…where have I smelt it before? She thought, sniffing the air a few more times.

     Guilmon did the same and thought, this guy almost smells like Impmon…maybe Impmon Bada-Boomed him…

     Terriermon was still a bit peeved about Henry interrupting Nabiki while she was petting behind his ear, his favorite place to be pet, but that didn't mean that he didn't notice the smell that the teen before them was letting off. He smelled like a Digimon, but looked nothing like a Digimon. Strange…he thought, shrugging it off.     "D***…I thought for sure Impmon would be here…" Nabiki said, tears welling in her eyes.

     Henry saw this and walked over, patting her gently on the shoulder. She looked up at him as he said, "Don't worry. We'll find him."

     Terriermon jumped onto his Tamer's shoulder and said, grinning, "Momentize, Nabiki. Momentize."

     Nabiki felt a little better, and said, "Yeah. Your right." She walked over to the confused teen and said pleadingly, "Ojiisan, please. Have you seen Impmon?"

     The teen looked even more perplexed. She asked again, "Have you seen Impmon? You know, the Digimon in the picture?"

     The boy slowly nodded. "…Yeah…"

     Nabiki's eyes lit up with new hope. "Where?!" it was her turn to be confused when he pointed to himself.

     "Its…me…" he said, making everyone's eyes bug out and sweat drop.

     "You can't be serious…" Renamon muttered, joining in on the sweat drop feast.

     "Y…Your…" Takato looked like he was going to faint. Guilmon stood ready to catch his friend if he did. "Impmon? Henry! Catch her!" Takato pointed at Nabiki, who had fainted.

     Henry yelped and caught her and set her down on the ground, leaving Terriermon sitting beside her.   

     Impmon sweat dropped at this. "What?" he asked, annoyance in his voice.

     "Um…well…er…Guilmon! You tell him!" Takato jumped behind Guilmon, who sweat dropped and hid behind Terriermon.

     "Nah huh! Terriermon! You do it!" the red dinosaur said, only to find out that he had two people, Takato and Terriermon, hiding behind him.

     Renamon sighed in a annoyance. "Your human." She said bluntly, making everyone have multiple sweat drops.

     "Blunt, aren't you?" Henry asked, slowly making his way behind Rika, who was expecting Impmon to start Bada-Booming everything that moved.

     But, instead, just a strangled, "WHHHHHAAAAATTTTT?!?!" escaped his lips as his eyes bugged out. But then, the expected happened. Impmon started Bada-Booming everything, except for the Tamers and their Digimon, but that was because they had hidden behind several burnt up trees and rocks.

     Nabiki woke up as said, "I just had the strangest dream. I dreamt Impmon was a human! And you, and you and you were there!" she pointed at each of the Tamers and their Digimon.

     "Ooooookaaayy. I think she's seen the Wizard of Oz one to many times…" Takato said, sweat dropping as a fireball whizzed past his head.

     Nabiki saw this and said, standing, "Impmon! Where…oh. Hi there." She was nose to nose with Impmon, who didn't look very happy.

     "…" He grabbed her shoulders, pushed her to the side and grabbed the nearest Digimon and shouted, "WHERE THE H*** IS CALUMON?!"

     Guilmon sweat dropped as he replied, "I don't know!"

     Impmon dropped the dinosaur and plopped on the ground, muttering about what he planed to do to Calumon the second he saw him.

     Nabiki sat down next to him and said, rubbing her shoulders, "Well. Look on the bright side. At least you didn't lose your Digimon powers! And your kinda kawaii (cute) this way…whoops…did I just say that?" she sweat dropped and blushed at the last comment.

     Impmon's cheeks turned ten shades of red as he looked at her, his emerald eyes wide. "What…was that?" he questioned, hoping that he hadn't heard her right, yet also hoping that he had heard her right, if that makes any sense.

     "Um…err…uh…I said…um…lets go home!" she jumped to her feet and started to run off, but tripped over her own feet and landed flat on her face. Impmon and the others sweat dropped as Takato said, "Well…At least we know she isn't a ballerina…"

     Impmon stood and looked himself over and sighed. He was having a really bad month and he decided that some god hated him.

~~~~~~~Meanwhile…

     Kami1: Your move.

     Kami2: I think I'll make him blind.

     Kami3: No, no, no. How about we turn him into a rat?

     Kami1&2: Oooh. That's really good. Lets do that last.

~~~~~~~Back in the Digital World…

     Sam watched all this and grinned. Impmon being a human meant that he wasn't as strong as he was in Digimon form and could easily be picked off. He snickered and turned around to gather his Digimon.

~~~~~~~Meanwhile…

     The group turned toward a blood-chilling scream, their eyes wide. Then, the scream stopped just as suddenly as it had come. Henry looked at Terriermon, the one with the second best hearing and said, "What…what was that?"    Terriermon shook his head and said, "I dunno but I didn't like it…wait a sec…I smell…" Guilmon finished up for his friend.

     "A Digimon…and its powerful…" he said, his eyes narrowing as he got ready for a fight.

     Nabiki stood and asked, shaking, "Wha…what was that?"     Impmon didn't answer. He just stepped in front of his friend, his fists clutched as his emerald eyes narrowed. He sniffed the air. Something smelled bad. Almost like…"Death…" he said softly, making Nabiki squeak and cling to the back of his shirt.

     Terriermon wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Yew! It stinks!" he said, waving his paw in front of his nose.  Soon, even the Tamers could smell it. "Man! It really stinks! It smells worse then my sneakers do after a month!" Takato said, his voice muffled by his hands.

     The Digimon and their Tamers nodded, their hands covering their mouths and noses.

     Soon, they saw something walking stiffly and jerkily toward them, its arms swinging limply at its sides. Nabiki pointed out the obvious as she said, "Hey! Someone's coming!"

Chapter 8:

Duel!

     Impmon glanced at the girl and snapped, pinching his nose between his thumb and index fingers, "Be see dat!" Nabiki growled and snapped back, getting up in Impmon's face, "Yeah, well…wait a sec…that's a Digimon!!" she yelped, making Impmon stumbled backwards from the force of her shout.

     He rubbed his ear with his free hand as he snapped, "Don't do that, ya baka! An' whaddoya mean, 'that's a Digimon'?!" Impmon asked, covering his mouth and nose with his hand.

     "She means that it's a Digimon!" Terriermon said as the Digimon got close to them.

     Something was wrong with it. It looked like a Harpimon, but it smelled dead. Blood dripped from its claws and its eyes were glowing red. Its armor was slashed open and dark blood feel from the three deep gashes.

     Nabiki yelped and clung to Impmon, who pried her hands off of him and stepped in front of her, taking a step forward.

     Guilmon, Henry, Terriermon and Takato were starting to feel nauseous from the sight of the blood. "Um…guys…" Takato piped up, his face a little green. "Do you mind if we take a breather?" he waved slowly and ran off, followed soon by the other three.

     Impmon wrinkled his nose. "Feh. Wimps." He mumbled, casting a quick glance to Nabiki, who was holding onto the back of his shirt and shivering.

     He then asked, "Whaddoya want?"

     The Harpimon grinned, stopping several yards away from him. "Just a battle." it said in a lifeless voice.

     Impmon grinned smugly. "If it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get." He said, a fireball flaring up on the tip of his finger. "Bada-boom!" he shouted, throwing it.

     The Digimon took the fireball head on, not even flinching.

     Nabiki felt someone dragging her with them. It was Takato, Henry, Rika and their Digimon as Takato said, "I think Impmon can handle this. Its just a Harpimon."

     "…Um, Takato." Henry said, stopping.

     "Yeah?" Takato skidded to a stop and looked at his friend questionably.

     "Remember what happened when Renamon was attacked by a Harpimon?" Takato thought for a moment.

     "…I see your point. Maybe we should help him…" The Tamers watched as Impmon and the Harpimon exchanged blows. Impmon was tiring out rather quickly thanks to his human body. He was also taking more damage and was bleeding from several gashes on legs and arms.

     He yelped as he was thrown backwards by Harpimon's Wind Seeker attack. His right arm had taken the majority of the blow and was now useless.

     He groaned in pain as he tried to sit up, but failed. Harpimon jumped onto him, pinning him down as it gathered energy for it's next attack.

     Nabiki grabbed up a jagged rock and ran forward, leaving the Tamers behind. She jabbed it right into Harpimon's back, braking it's concentration.

     It glared at Nabiki and growled as it lunged at her, knocked her down. Impmon stood slowly, only to cry out in pain and collapsed. His knee had been knocked out of aliment by the last strike.

     Henry ran over and helped Impmon's leg while he watched helplessly as his friend cried out as the Harpimon's talons dug into her.

     Renamon sprinted forward, punching Harpimon in the face, following up with kick while Rika and Takato pulled their comrade out of the battle.

     Guilmon ran up and shouted, a ball of light gathering in his mouth, "Pyro-Sphere!" He spat the energy ball at Harpimon, who let out a screech as it was deleted.