"Okay," Rika said. "You're me, and I'm how. How the heck did this
happen?"
"I don't know," Jeri told her, "but I hope its over soon. Shopping with your mom was horrible."
"Did you buy anything??" Rika asked frantically. If Jeri had, she'd never hear the end of it from her mother.
"No, but I think your mother bought something anyway," Jeri said, remembering Rika's mom taking that trip 'to the restroom' that took 10 minutes.
"I kinda figured that. When it shows up in my closet tomorrow morning, give it to Renamon. She'll know what to do with it," Rika explained. She knew about her mother's little trick, slowly getting rid of her broken heart shirts and replacing them with dresses. Luckily, Renamon always saw exactly what Rika's mother did with the shirts. And the dresses? They make such lovely bedding. Which reminded her…
"One more thing? If I were you, I'd tell Renamon that you're not feeling all that well tonight," Rika said softly, glad that the distance hid her embarrassed blush.
"Oookay," Jeri said slowly. "Umm, how'd things go with you?"
"Working for your family's terrible, and the pay sucks, but the perks are nice," Rika chuckled, remembering Takato. It was best not to go too far with it though, she thought. There was messing with Takato's head, and then there was screwing up Jeri's life.
"Perks?"
"Never mind."
"Right. Uhh, if you hear noises outside, it's just a cat," Jeri said. It was her turn to be embarrassed.
"I'm sure it is," Rika said knowingly. "Anyway, tomorrow, Guilmon's cave, 11 A.M."
"Right. Good night Rika."
"Sleep well, Jeri."
******
The night passed fairly uneventfully. Renamon bought the story that Jeri wasn't feeling well, though Jeri could have sworn she looked disappointed. In the morning, Jeri opened the closet and, sure enough, one of Rika's shirts was gone, the pink dress hanging in its place.
"She never learns," Renamon said, appearing inside the room. She pulled the dress off of the hanger and replaced it with a broken heart shirt. "The usual treatment?"
It was a shame to see the dress going to waste. "Actually, why don't you drop it off at Jeri's house? She might like it."
"All right," Renamon said, slowly. Gifts for Jeri now? It wasn't her place to say anything. "Remember to make sure there's some breakfast left for me." With that, she was gone, dress in tow.
It wasn't hard to leave some breakfast behind; Jeri wasn't very hungry. She was nervous about getting back to her own body, if that was possible. She carried the plate over towards the sink and, in a flash, it was gone.
"Thank you," said Renamon's voice inside Jeri's head. Despite the mind switch, the link between Rika and her partner remained with Rika's body.
"Any time?" Jeri thought back. The mental image she got of Renamon smiling told her that the message had gone through. This was just one more thing she would have to get used to.
Breakfast was over quickly enough. Jeri made her way over to the park and Guilmon's cave. Rika wasn't there yet, but Takato was.
"What are you doing here, Rika?" Takato asked. He hadn't expected to see her here.
"Umm, hey Takato," Jeri said, quickly clearing her throat. It wasn't enough to stop the slight tint of red from her cheeks. She hoped Takato wouldn't notice. "As if it's, uhh, any of your business, I'm, err, meeting Jeri her for… card lessons."
Takato in fact did notice, but he tried not to say anything. "Ahh, okay. You're not being too hard on her now?"
"Of course not. Who said I was?"
"Oh, nobody. I gotta run. Ehh, bye Rika," Takato said. Jeri crossed her arms with a hmmph, and Takato turned and walked off towards his house. Did Rika just blush? No, it was probably just his eyes playing tricks on him.
******
Leaning against the outside wall of the cave, Jeri waited for Rika to show up. Just when Jeri started to wonder where she was, the digivice clipped to her belt started to go off. Another wild one. Jeri sighed and ran off in the direction that the device pointed, expecting Leomon to already be there.
Sure enough, Leomon was there, along with his Tamer, Rika. Also there were Henry and Gargomon, taking on a digimon that resembled a massive wooly mammoth. Rika turned to Jeri and cleared her throat. "Where's Renamon?" she asked pointedly.
"Right," Jeri nodded. "Renamon?"
"At your service," the vixen digimon responded, fading into sight. She turned to face the enemy digimon, and her eyes glowed. Jeri took out her digivice and analyzed the beast.
"Uh-oh, its Mammothmon. He's an Ultimate! His Tusk Crusher missiles can flatten an entire city block!"
"Well then," Renamon said, "we better get rid of him quickly. If you'll do the honors…"
"Right!" Jeri and Rika said in unison. Rika winced as she realized her mistake.
"Digimodify! Speed activate!" Henry called out, beating both of them to the card slash. He pretended he didn't notice both girls saying the same thing, but it was a little odd.
His rate of fire boosted by the card, Gargomon unleashed his Gargo Laser attack. A barrage of blasts thudded against Mammothmon's thick hide, doing little damage. The thing trumpeted, and a blast of freezing air blew from its trunk.
"Fist of the Beast King!"
An enormous flaming lion head intercepted the cold air, and the two attacks cancelled each other out. The large bulk that was Leomon landed on the ground in front of Rika.
"Rika?" Renamon asked, and Jeri snapped out of her daze.
"Oh, right," she said, reaching to the holder on her back hip and pulling out a card. She did her best to slash it like Rika.
"Digimodify! Digivolution activate!"
She fumbled the card a little, but it wasn't noticeable. What was noticeable was the fact that Renamon didn't digivolve. Renamon's right arm transformed into a cannon instead.
"Umm, Solar Ray?" Renamon said, firing a burst of energy from the cannon. It connected with the beast's face, blinding it momentarily.
Rika sobbed theatrically and slapped her forehead with a hand. Wrong card. This was making her look bad. She sighed and pulled out one of Jeri's cards.
"Digimodify! Power Charger!"
Leomon pulled back his fist with a look of amazed pride at his Tamer, and started charging up another attack.
"Now it's your turn, Renamon! Attack!" Rika said, taking charge of the fight for the moment. Henry remembered that the last time he had tried something like that, Rika had nearly bitten his head off. And yet, here, nothing.
Renamon, her arm changed back to an arm, hesitated slightly before charging at Mammothmon, fists flying. The flurry of blows slowly drove Mammothmon backwards and Gargomon joined in. "Bunny Pummel!"
One gun arm smacked the side of the elephant digimon's head, and the other caught the beast under the chin. It reared back on its hind legs, and Leomon launched his attack.
"Fist of the Beast King!" sent a massive flaming blast into the thing's head, and it tipped over backwards and fell on its side.
"Digimodify!" Jeri tried again, pulling out another card. "Hyper Speed activate!"
"Digivolution," a female computer voice said, and the process began. Wrong card one more time.
"Renamon digivolve to… Kyubimon!"
"Well, that'll work too," Rika sighed. She had a lot of work if she wanted to undo the damage Jeri was doing. The Digimon Queen suddenly was the Digimon Pauper.
Jeri only shrugged as Kyubimon leapt into battle. Mammothmon was still struggling to its feet when a Dragon Wheel enveloped its head. It still had presence of mind to launch a pair of tusks. One missile slammed into Kyubimon's side and exploded, sending the fox beast crashing into the ground. The other exploded between Gargomon and Leomon, and a cloud of dust and debris obscured them from sight.
"Kyubimon!" Rika cried, at the same time as Jeri cried out for Leomon. As the two partner Digimon got to their feet, they looked strangely at their Tamers. It would have been perfectly normal, had they not been in each other's bodies.
"Umm," Henry began, "We're going to need some more power if we're gonna beat this guy. We need to use the blue cards."
With a gasp, Rika realized one significant problem. Jeri had no idea how to make a Blue Card. This could be trouble.
"I don't know," Jeri told her, "but I hope its over soon. Shopping with your mom was horrible."
"Did you buy anything??" Rika asked frantically. If Jeri had, she'd never hear the end of it from her mother.
"No, but I think your mother bought something anyway," Jeri said, remembering Rika's mom taking that trip 'to the restroom' that took 10 minutes.
"I kinda figured that. When it shows up in my closet tomorrow morning, give it to Renamon. She'll know what to do with it," Rika explained. She knew about her mother's little trick, slowly getting rid of her broken heart shirts and replacing them with dresses. Luckily, Renamon always saw exactly what Rika's mother did with the shirts. And the dresses? They make such lovely bedding. Which reminded her…
"One more thing? If I were you, I'd tell Renamon that you're not feeling all that well tonight," Rika said softly, glad that the distance hid her embarrassed blush.
"Oookay," Jeri said slowly. "Umm, how'd things go with you?"
"Working for your family's terrible, and the pay sucks, but the perks are nice," Rika chuckled, remembering Takato. It was best not to go too far with it though, she thought. There was messing with Takato's head, and then there was screwing up Jeri's life.
"Perks?"
"Never mind."
"Right. Uhh, if you hear noises outside, it's just a cat," Jeri said. It was her turn to be embarrassed.
"I'm sure it is," Rika said knowingly. "Anyway, tomorrow, Guilmon's cave, 11 A.M."
"Right. Good night Rika."
"Sleep well, Jeri."
******
The night passed fairly uneventfully. Renamon bought the story that Jeri wasn't feeling well, though Jeri could have sworn she looked disappointed. In the morning, Jeri opened the closet and, sure enough, one of Rika's shirts was gone, the pink dress hanging in its place.
"She never learns," Renamon said, appearing inside the room. She pulled the dress off of the hanger and replaced it with a broken heart shirt. "The usual treatment?"
It was a shame to see the dress going to waste. "Actually, why don't you drop it off at Jeri's house? She might like it."
"All right," Renamon said, slowly. Gifts for Jeri now? It wasn't her place to say anything. "Remember to make sure there's some breakfast left for me." With that, she was gone, dress in tow.
It wasn't hard to leave some breakfast behind; Jeri wasn't very hungry. She was nervous about getting back to her own body, if that was possible. She carried the plate over towards the sink and, in a flash, it was gone.
"Thank you," said Renamon's voice inside Jeri's head. Despite the mind switch, the link between Rika and her partner remained with Rika's body.
"Any time?" Jeri thought back. The mental image she got of Renamon smiling told her that the message had gone through. This was just one more thing she would have to get used to.
Breakfast was over quickly enough. Jeri made her way over to the park and Guilmon's cave. Rika wasn't there yet, but Takato was.
"What are you doing here, Rika?" Takato asked. He hadn't expected to see her here.
"Umm, hey Takato," Jeri said, quickly clearing her throat. It wasn't enough to stop the slight tint of red from her cheeks. She hoped Takato wouldn't notice. "As if it's, uhh, any of your business, I'm, err, meeting Jeri her for… card lessons."
Takato in fact did notice, but he tried not to say anything. "Ahh, okay. You're not being too hard on her now?"
"Of course not. Who said I was?"
"Oh, nobody. I gotta run. Ehh, bye Rika," Takato said. Jeri crossed her arms with a hmmph, and Takato turned and walked off towards his house. Did Rika just blush? No, it was probably just his eyes playing tricks on him.
******
Leaning against the outside wall of the cave, Jeri waited for Rika to show up. Just when Jeri started to wonder where she was, the digivice clipped to her belt started to go off. Another wild one. Jeri sighed and ran off in the direction that the device pointed, expecting Leomon to already be there.
Sure enough, Leomon was there, along with his Tamer, Rika. Also there were Henry and Gargomon, taking on a digimon that resembled a massive wooly mammoth. Rika turned to Jeri and cleared her throat. "Where's Renamon?" she asked pointedly.
"Right," Jeri nodded. "Renamon?"
"At your service," the vixen digimon responded, fading into sight. She turned to face the enemy digimon, and her eyes glowed. Jeri took out her digivice and analyzed the beast.
"Uh-oh, its Mammothmon. He's an Ultimate! His Tusk Crusher missiles can flatten an entire city block!"
"Well then," Renamon said, "we better get rid of him quickly. If you'll do the honors…"
"Right!" Jeri and Rika said in unison. Rika winced as she realized her mistake.
"Digimodify! Speed activate!" Henry called out, beating both of them to the card slash. He pretended he didn't notice both girls saying the same thing, but it was a little odd.
His rate of fire boosted by the card, Gargomon unleashed his Gargo Laser attack. A barrage of blasts thudded against Mammothmon's thick hide, doing little damage. The thing trumpeted, and a blast of freezing air blew from its trunk.
"Fist of the Beast King!"
An enormous flaming lion head intercepted the cold air, and the two attacks cancelled each other out. The large bulk that was Leomon landed on the ground in front of Rika.
"Rika?" Renamon asked, and Jeri snapped out of her daze.
"Oh, right," she said, reaching to the holder on her back hip and pulling out a card. She did her best to slash it like Rika.
"Digimodify! Digivolution activate!"
She fumbled the card a little, but it wasn't noticeable. What was noticeable was the fact that Renamon didn't digivolve. Renamon's right arm transformed into a cannon instead.
"Umm, Solar Ray?" Renamon said, firing a burst of energy from the cannon. It connected with the beast's face, blinding it momentarily.
Rika sobbed theatrically and slapped her forehead with a hand. Wrong card. This was making her look bad. She sighed and pulled out one of Jeri's cards.
"Digimodify! Power Charger!"
Leomon pulled back his fist with a look of amazed pride at his Tamer, and started charging up another attack.
"Now it's your turn, Renamon! Attack!" Rika said, taking charge of the fight for the moment. Henry remembered that the last time he had tried something like that, Rika had nearly bitten his head off. And yet, here, nothing.
Renamon, her arm changed back to an arm, hesitated slightly before charging at Mammothmon, fists flying. The flurry of blows slowly drove Mammothmon backwards and Gargomon joined in. "Bunny Pummel!"
One gun arm smacked the side of the elephant digimon's head, and the other caught the beast under the chin. It reared back on its hind legs, and Leomon launched his attack.
"Fist of the Beast King!" sent a massive flaming blast into the thing's head, and it tipped over backwards and fell on its side.
"Digimodify!" Jeri tried again, pulling out another card. "Hyper Speed activate!"
"Digivolution," a female computer voice said, and the process began. Wrong card one more time.
"Renamon digivolve to… Kyubimon!"
"Well, that'll work too," Rika sighed. She had a lot of work if she wanted to undo the damage Jeri was doing. The Digimon Queen suddenly was the Digimon Pauper.
Jeri only shrugged as Kyubimon leapt into battle. Mammothmon was still struggling to its feet when a Dragon Wheel enveloped its head. It still had presence of mind to launch a pair of tusks. One missile slammed into Kyubimon's side and exploded, sending the fox beast crashing into the ground. The other exploded between Gargomon and Leomon, and a cloud of dust and debris obscured them from sight.
"Kyubimon!" Rika cried, at the same time as Jeri cried out for Leomon. As the two partner Digimon got to their feet, they looked strangely at their Tamers. It would have been perfectly normal, had they not been in each other's bodies.
"Umm," Henry began, "We're going to need some more power if we're gonna beat this guy. We need to use the blue cards."
With a gasp, Rika realized one significant problem. Jeri had no idea how to make a Blue Card. This could be trouble.