Tamers: Stuck in Paradise
Part 5
by Christian "Sid" Lang
For the first time in his life Lee would like to be more like Ruki.
He'd scream, shout, tell the people how wothless they are.
But no. It's not Izzy's fault. He's done everything he can do. Lee tells himself.
Terriermon jumps onto his shoulder, looking just as defeated as Lee feels.
Then suddenly, Terriermon switches to his child-like happy mood again.
"Come on, Lee! Let's go home. I'm starving!" the little Digimon proposes.
"You're right. I guess everything will be all right after a while." he answers, trying to smile.
Ruki and Renamon have already left the park and Lee briefly wonders how she feels.
Then he realizes another thing.
"Who'll tell Takato?" Lee asks, startling the others.
"I can tell him." Kari volunteers.
"No. I'll do it. You look after Ruki and Renamon." Izzy tells her.
Everybody nods as Lee and Terriermon leave the group.
"Hey, wait for me!" he hears Ken shout.
Lee and Ken walk side by side, nobody knowing what to say.
Finally Lee breaks the silence.
"So, you and Yolei are... friends?" he asks with a grin.
Ken instantly blushes, but smiles.
"I guess it's a bit more than that." he admits.
"Are you in love?" Terriermon asks.
"Terriermon!" Lee scolds his partner, but Ken just chuckles.
"We kept our feelings down while there has been a threat to the DigiWorld. But now..."
"Have you kissed her?"
This time Lee almost strangles his partner.
"I'm sorry. Terriermon simply says what's on his mind." Lee quickly explains.
"It's all right." Ken calms him down.
"Are you and Yolei the only couple of the group?" Terriermon asks, causing Lee to groan.
"Oh yes. You haven't witnessed the real fun part yet." Wormmon announces.
"I wouldn't call it fun, Wormmon." Ken comments.
When he sees Lee's questioning look, he smiles and explains.
"Well, it's about Kari. She likes T.K. and T.K. likes her."
"I don't see the funny part here..." Lee tells Ken.
"Well, Davis likes Kari, too. But it's unsure if Kari likes Davis."
"Oh. Oh boy." Lee says after a while.
"The same goes for their Digimon." Wormmon tells them.
"Their Digimon are... in love?" Lee asks with wide eyes.
"Well, Gatomon has two admirers: Patamon and Veemon." Ken explains, shrugging.
"At the moment Patamon seems to have the advantage." Wormmon whispers.
"I didn't know you were so well informed." Ken tells his partner with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, we have to talk about something while you're in class." Wormmon admits.
Ken sighs and rolls his eyes.
"Well, here's my advice: If T.K. and Davis are together, don't try to interfere." Ken says.
"Why not?" Lee asks innocently.
"They'd think you were trying to date Kari, too."
Lee gulps when he imagines T.K. and Davis teaming up to get rid of another rival.
"Being in love must be wonderful." Terriermon states, making everybody laugh.
"You sure you're all right?" Renamon asks. Again.
"Of course not! What do you think?" Ruki yells, making Renamon flinch.
Ruki is sitting on her bed, her fists trembling.
"I... I'm sorry." Renamon finally whispers.
"Pah. what are you sorry for?" Ruki asks.
When Renamon starts to pace, Ruki realizes that the Digimon wants to tell her something.
"I have been thinking, Ruki. Maybe it's all my fault."
Ruki raises an eyebrow, but doesn't interrupt her Digimon.
"Maybe you wouldn't be trapped here... if we never met." Renamon finally sighs.
Ruki bites her lower lip, unsure what to answer.
"You could be happy now. At home. Now you're trapped and I feel responsible."
Ruki sighs.
"Renamon. Come here for a second." she orders.
Renamon frowns, but kneels in front of Ruki, looking up to her.
The Digimon flinches when Ruki slaps her lightly on the nose.
"Have you lost your mind?" she hisses, grabbing Renamon's shoulders.
The Digimon's eyes widen in shock.
"You're not responsible for what's happened. How can you even think such a thing?"
Ruki's voice almost fails her, and she has to fight back her tears.
"I don't regret having met you. You're the only one who really cared for me."
She pulls the Digimon closer to her. Ruki can feel Renamon relax.
"I could never blame you for this. Never."
Kari and Gatomon arrive an hour later. They are greeted by a smiling Renamon.
"Uh, everything all right with Ruki?" Kari carefully asks.
"She'll manage. She's a strong girl" Renmon answers with a shrug.
Kari smiles when she hears that and enters her own room.
Renamon starts to leave, too. But Gatomon coughes politely, making Renamon stop.
"Uh, Renamon, wouldn't you like it if somebody showed you the city by night?"
Renamon cocks her head and frowns.
"Sure. Why not?" she answers hesitantly.
"Great! Then you will help me?" the cat Digimon asks happily.
Am I missing something? Renamon asks herself.
"Help you by doing what?" she asks back.
Gatomon laughs nervously, alerting Renamon even more.
"Well, I have a date with Patamon this evening." Gatomon starts to explain.
"You and Patamon are... dating?" Renaomn asks, unaware of Gatomon's admirers.
"We're... close friends. Unfortunately, Veemon also wants to date me..."
"Are you dating two guys at once?"
"Of course not. But I bet that he's going to try to interfere."
Renamon thinks about this situation.
"I'm missing the city-at-night part." she finally protests.
"Well, I thought that you could help me with Veemon..." Gatomon hints.
"You want me to date that blue lizard so he can't interfere with you?"
Gatomon laughs nervously again.
"Oh no. Don't even think about it." Renamon quickly tells the cat.
"Oh Renamon. Why don't you like to date him?" Renamon can hear Ruki tease her.
The girl must have sneaked out of her room while Renamon has been talking to Gatomon.
"You sound just like you mother." Renamon groans, starting to understand Ruki's usual mood.
"Watch it, or there will be extra training tomorrow." Ruki scolds her Digimon.
Renamon groans at the thought of extra training.
"Oh all right. But you owe me big time for this." Renamon tells Gatomon.
Kari's parents arrive at five. Kari can tell that they have had a busy day.
After some smalltalk, they call Ruki out of her room, too.
The girl looks quite normal, considering what has happened today.
Mrs. Kamiya presents them some items.
"I have spoken with the mayor today. And he wants you to have these." she annonuces.
The girls look at the items.
"A credit card and a cell phone?" Kari asks, frowning.
"They want to show that they're supporting you however they can. You're official heroes now."
"Who pays the stuff we buy with this?" Ruki asks, holding up her credit card.
"Mayor's office. So please try not to ruin the city's finances, OK?" Mrs. Kamiya says.
Everybody giggles at the thought.
"Motomiya residence, Veemon speaking."
Heya, it's me, Hawkmon!
Veemon quickly checks if anybody is watching him.
When he is satisfied, he holds the receiver closer.
"OK. Have you found out anything?" he whispers.
Patamon told me that they'd go to the pond in the park. Hawkmon tells him.
"Thanks buddy. If you ever need something, let me know."
With that, Veemon places the receiver on the station.
He'd have about an hour to finish his preparations.
The doorbell rings, and Veemon flinches.
Then he reminds himself that he doesn't have to hide any more.
"Could you open the door please, Veemon? It's probably Mom." Davis shouts from his room.
"Sure." Veemon answers, mentally checking what he still has to do.
"This will never work. Never." Renamon whispers.
Oh well, maybe he is nicer than he looks. she tells herself.
Gatomon had told her not to kill or cripple Veemon. That still left her the option of beating him up.
But it wouldn't be the same. Renamon sighs and stares at the door in front of her.
She briefly considers simply appearing inside. But that would be impolite.
So she waits patiently. Finally she hears somebody open the door.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
*SLAM*
Davis frowns at the unusual sounds coming from the front door.
Before he can stand up to examine what has happened, Veemon storms into his room.
The little Digimon looks pale. Davis frowns as he tries to remember the last time Veemon has looked this way.
He didn't even look that scared when we fought MaloMyotismon.
He kneels to face his shivering partner.
"Davis! Help me! Hide me! Anything!" the blue Digimon yells frantically.
"What's up? And who has been at the door?"
"It's the Terminator!" Veemon shouts.
"Schwarzenegger?"
"ARGH! The yellow one! Renamon!"
The doorbell rings again, causing Veemon to jump slightly.
"What does she want from us?" Davis asks, not knowing about Veemon's plans.
"Gatomon must have sent her to finish me off before I can mess up her date!"
"You wanted to mess up her date?"
Veemon sighs.
"Yeah. I bet that featherball talked. And now Gatomon has sent this killing machine after me!"
Davis and Veemon are startled when they hear a knock at the window.
Veemon looks out first.
"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH! It's her! It's her!" he yells, sprinting out of the room.
Now Davis looks out, too and sees Renamon who is looking rather annoyed.
Frowning, he opens the window so Renamon can climb in.
"Thanks." she mutters when she is standing next to him.
"Do you really want to kill Veemon?" Davis asks her.
Renamon just sighs and rolls her eyes.
"Trust me, I'd love to by now. But I'm here to kinda ask him out."
"You're what?" Davis asks, not believing his ears.
"Gatomon asked me to do it so he couldn't interfere with her date."
"Oh, clever. He thinks Gatomon sent you to finish him off."
"Nah. I proposed that, but Gatomon somehow didn't like that." she says and shrugs.
Davis gulps when he hears that.
"Well, you've seen his reaction. I doubt he'll be too eager to join you." he finally says.
"We'll see about that..." Renamon purrs as she walks out of the room.
It doesn't take Renamon long to sniff out Veemon.
The Digimon has locked himself inside the bathroom.
Shaking her head, Renamon knocks at the door.
"Davis?" she hears a voice from the other side.
"Not quite."
"HEEEEEELP!"
Renamon shakes her head again, asking herself why she is actually doing this.
"Listen up, Veemon. I am not here to kill you." she says loud enough for him to hear.
"Nice try!" Veemon shouts throught the still locked door.
"No, really! I'm just here to stop you from messing up Gatomon's date."
"By killing me?"
"By asking you out." Renamon answers firmly.
There is a slight pause as Veemon recovers from this statement.
"Uhhh... What if I don't believe you?" he finally asks.
"Then I'll simply wait here until Gatomon is back from her date."
When she doesn't get an answer, she sighs.
"Come on, Veemon. Let's just make the best out of it, OK?" she asks.
After half a minute, she finally hears the bathroom door unlock.
She opens the door slowly, trying not to scare Veemon.
Renamon smiles when she sees Veemon cowering in a corner.
"Playing hard to get, eh?" she chuckles and opens the door fully.
"You're really not going to hurt me?" Veemon weakly asks.
"I will hurt you if you stay in that corner any longer." Reanmon replies, still smiling.
Veemon seems to think about that, then hurriedly starts to prepare himself.
Let's just hope he'll be less hysterical outside.
Shaking her head, she waits in the living room while Veemon is getting ready in Davis' room.
Part 5
by Christian "Sid" Lang
For the first time in his life Lee would like to be more like Ruki.
He'd scream, shout, tell the people how wothless they are.
But no. It's not Izzy's fault. He's done everything he can do. Lee tells himself.
Terriermon jumps onto his shoulder, looking just as defeated as Lee feels.
Then suddenly, Terriermon switches to his child-like happy mood again.
"Come on, Lee! Let's go home. I'm starving!" the little Digimon proposes.
"You're right. I guess everything will be all right after a while." he answers, trying to smile.
Ruki and Renamon have already left the park and Lee briefly wonders how she feels.
Then he realizes another thing.
"Who'll tell Takato?" Lee asks, startling the others.
"I can tell him." Kari volunteers.
"No. I'll do it. You look after Ruki and Renamon." Izzy tells her.
Everybody nods as Lee and Terriermon leave the group.
"Hey, wait for me!" he hears Ken shout.
Lee and Ken walk side by side, nobody knowing what to say.
Finally Lee breaks the silence.
"So, you and Yolei are... friends?" he asks with a grin.
Ken instantly blushes, but smiles.
"I guess it's a bit more than that." he admits.
"Are you in love?" Terriermon asks.
"Terriermon!" Lee scolds his partner, but Ken just chuckles.
"We kept our feelings down while there has been a threat to the DigiWorld. But now..."
"Have you kissed her?"
This time Lee almost strangles his partner.
"I'm sorry. Terriermon simply says what's on his mind." Lee quickly explains.
"It's all right." Ken calms him down.
"Are you and Yolei the only couple of the group?" Terriermon asks, causing Lee to groan.
"Oh yes. You haven't witnessed the real fun part yet." Wormmon announces.
"I wouldn't call it fun, Wormmon." Ken comments.
When he sees Lee's questioning look, he smiles and explains.
"Well, it's about Kari. She likes T.K. and T.K. likes her."
"I don't see the funny part here..." Lee tells Ken.
"Well, Davis likes Kari, too. But it's unsure if Kari likes Davis."
"Oh. Oh boy." Lee says after a while.
"The same goes for their Digimon." Wormmon tells them.
"Their Digimon are... in love?" Lee asks with wide eyes.
"Well, Gatomon has two admirers: Patamon and Veemon." Ken explains, shrugging.
"At the moment Patamon seems to have the advantage." Wormmon whispers.
"I didn't know you were so well informed." Ken tells his partner with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, we have to talk about something while you're in class." Wormmon admits.
Ken sighs and rolls his eyes.
"Well, here's my advice: If T.K. and Davis are together, don't try to interfere." Ken says.
"Why not?" Lee asks innocently.
"They'd think you were trying to date Kari, too."
Lee gulps when he imagines T.K. and Davis teaming up to get rid of another rival.
"Being in love must be wonderful." Terriermon states, making everybody laugh.
"You sure you're all right?" Renamon asks. Again.
"Of course not! What do you think?" Ruki yells, making Renamon flinch.
Ruki is sitting on her bed, her fists trembling.
"I... I'm sorry." Renamon finally whispers.
"Pah. what are you sorry for?" Ruki asks.
When Renamon starts to pace, Ruki realizes that the Digimon wants to tell her something.
"I have been thinking, Ruki. Maybe it's all my fault."
Ruki raises an eyebrow, but doesn't interrupt her Digimon.
"Maybe you wouldn't be trapped here... if we never met." Renamon finally sighs.
Ruki bites her lower lip, unsure what to answer.
"You could be happy now. At home. Now you're trapped and I feel responsible."
Ruki sighs.
"Renamon. Come here for a second." she orders.
Renamon frowns, but kneels in front of Ruki, looking up to her.
The Digimon flinches when Ruki slaps her lightly on the nose.
"Have you lost your mind?" she hisses, grabbing Renamon's shoulders.
The Digimon's eyes widen in shock.
"You're not responsible for what's happened. How can you even think such a thing?"
Ruki's voice almost fails her, and she has to fight back her tears.
"I don't regret having met you. You're the only one who really cared for me."
She pulls the Digimon closer to her. Ruki can feel Renamon relax.
"I could never blame you for this. Never."
Kari and Gatomon arrive an hour later. They are greeted by a smiling Renamon.
"Uh, everything all right with Ruki?" Kari carefully asks.
"She'll manage. She's a strong girl" Renmon answers with a shrug.
Kari smiles when she hears that and enters her own room.
Renamon starts to leave, too. But Gatomon coughes politely, making Renamon stop.
"Uh, Renamon, wouldn't you like it if somebody showed you the city by night?"
Renamon cocks her head and frowns.
"Sure. Why not?" she answers hesitantly.
"Great! Then you will help me?" the cat Digimon asks happily.
Am I missing something? Renamon asks herself.
"Help you by doing what?" she asks back.
Gatomon laughs nervously, alerting Renamon even more.
"Well, I have a date with Patamon this evening." Gatomon starts to explain.
"You and Patamon are... dating?" Renaomn asks, unaware of Gatomon's admirers.
"We're... close friends. Unfortunately, Veemon also wants to date me..."
"Are you dating two guys at once?"
"Of course not. But I bet that he's going to try to interfere."
Renamon thinks about this situation.
"I'm missing the city-at-night part." she finally protests.
"Well, I thought that you could help me with Veemon..." Gatomon hints.
"You want me to date that blue lizard so he can't interfere with you?"
Gatomon laughs nervously again.
"Oh no. Don't even think about it." Renamon quickly tells the cat.
"Oh Renamon. Why don't you like to date him?" Renamon can hear Ruki tease her.
The girl must have sneaked out of her room while Renamon has been talking to Gatomon.
"You sound just like you mother." Renamon groans, starting to understand Ruki's usual mood.
"Watch it, or there will be extra training tomorrow." Ruki scolds her Digimon.
Renamon groans at the thought of extra training.
"Oh all right. But you owe me big time for this." Renamon tells Gatomon.
Kari's parents arrive at five. Kari can tell that they have had a busy day.
After some smalltalk, they call Ruki out of her room, too.
The girl looks quite normal, considering what has happened today.
Mrs. Kamiya presents them some items.
"I have spoken with the mayor today. And he wants you to have these." she annonuces.
The girls look at the items.
"A credit card and a cell phone?" Kari asks, frowning.
"They want to show that they're supporting you however they can. You're official heroes now."
"Who pays the stuff we buy with this?" Ruki asks, holding up her credit card.
"Mayor's office. So please try not to ruin the city's finances, OK?" Mrs. Kamiya says.
Everybody giggles at the thought.
"Motomiya residence, Veemon speaking."
Heya, it's me, Hawkmon!
Veemon quickly checks if anybody is watching him.
When he is satisfied, he holds the receiver closer.
"OK. Have you found out anything?" he whispers.
Patamon told me that they'd go to the pond in the park. Hawkmon tells him.
"Thanks buddy. If you ever need something, let me know."
With that, Veemon places the receiver on the station.
He'd have about an hour to finish his preparations.
The doorbell rings, and Veemon flinches.
Then he reminds himself that he doesn't have to hide any more.
"Could you open the door please, Veemon? It's probably Mom." Davis shouts from his room.
"Sure." Veemon answers, mentally checking what he still has to do.
"This will never work. Never." Renamon whispers.
Oh well, maybe he is nicer than he looks. she tells herself.
Gatomon had told her not to kill or cripple Veemon. That still left her the option of beating him up.
But it wouldn't be the same. Renamon sighs and stares at the door in front of her.
She briefly considers simply appearing inside. But that would be impolite.
So she waits patiently. Finally she hears somebody open the door.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
*SLAM*
Davis frowns at the unusual sounds coming from the front door.
Before he can stand up to examine what has happened, Veemon storms into his room.
The little Digimon looks pale. Davis frowns as he tries to remember the last time Veemon has looked this way.
He didn't even look that scared when we fought MaloMyotismon.
He kneels to face his shivering partner.
"Davis! Help me! Hide me! Anything!" the blue Digimon yells frantically.
"What's up? And who has been at the door?"
"It's the Terminator!" Veemon shouts.
"Schwarzenegger?"
"ARGH! The yellow one! Renamon!"
The doorbell rings again, causing Veemon to jump slightly.
"What does she want from us?" Davis asks, not knowing about Veemon's plans.
"Gatomon must have sent her to finish me off before I can mess up her date!"
"You wanted to mess up her date?"
Veemon sighs.
"Yeah. I bet that featherball talked. And now Gatomon has sent this killing machine after me!"
Davis and Veemon are startled when they hear a knock at the window.
Veemon looks out first.
"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH! It's her! It's her!" he yells, sprinting out of the room.
Now Davis looks out, too and sees Renamon who is looking rather annoyed.
Frowning, he opens the window so Renamon can climb in.
"Thanks." she mutters when she is standing next to him.
"Do you really want to kill Veemon?" Davis asks her.
Renamon just sighs and rolls her eyes.
"Trust me, I'd love to by now. But I'm here to kinda ask him out."
"You're what?" Davis asks, not believing his ears.
"Gatomon asked me to do it so he couldn't interfere with her date."
"Oh, clever. He thinks Gatomon sent you to finish him off."
"Nah. I proposed that, but Gatomon somehow didn't like that." she says and shrugs.
Davis gulps when he hears that.
"Well, you've seen his reaction. I doubt he'll be too eager to join you." he finally says.
"We'll see about that..." Renamon purrs as she walks out of the room.
It doesn't take Renamon long to sniff out Veemon.
The Digimon has locked himself inside the bathroom.
Shaking her head, Renamon knocks at the door.
"Davis?" she hears a voice from the other side.
"Not quite."
"HEEEEEELP!"
Renamon shakes her head again, asking herself why she is actually doing this.
"Listen up, Veemon. I am not here to kill you." she says loud enough for him to hear.
"Nice try!" Veemon shouts throught the still locked door.
"No, really! I'm just here to stop you from messing up Gatomon's date."
"By killing me?"
"By asking you out." Renamon answers firmly.
There is a slight pause as Veemon recovers from this statement.
"Uhhh... What if I don't believe you?" he finally asks.
"Then I'll simply wait here until Gatomon is back from her date."
When she doesn't get an answer, she sighs.
"Come on, Veemon. Let's just make the best out of it, OK?" she asks.
After half a minute, she finally hears the bathroom door unlock.
She opens the door slowly, trying not to scare Veemon.
Renamon smiles when she sees Veemon cowering in a corner.
"Playing hard to get, eh?" she chuckles and opens the door fully.
"You're really not going to hurt me?" Veemon weakly asks.
"I will hurt you if you stay in that corner any longer." Reanmon replies, still smiling.
Veemon seems to think about that, then hurriedly starts to prepare himself.
Let's just hope he'll be less hysterical outside.
Shaking her head, she waits in the living room while Veemon is getting ready in Davis' room.