Partner no more?
Part IV
by Christian "Sid" Lang
The Police arrives first.
"Did you call us?" the Police Officer asks as he exits the car.
There is a group of people in front of him, all of them gesturing and shouting.
"Hey! Did you call an ambulance and the police?" the officer shouts.
Finally he is getting some attention. One man leaves the group and greets the policeman.
"I called you." he admits.
"All right, listen. The ambulance will be here any second, so you should-"
"We don't need that anymore." the man tells the officer.
Renamon barely sleeps this night.
Daniel insisted that she stayed with him.
"You have to stay down for a while." he told her.
Hiding like the criminal I am. she thinks, a tear rolling down her cheek.
She is lying on his bed, her tail drawing wild and uneasy patterns into the air.
Finally, Daniel comes in again. He is carrying a cellphone.
"Did you call the hospitals?" she asks desperately.
Please, oh please let her be alive! she prays.
"I phoned all of them. Ruki hasn't been in any emergency room." he tells her, shaking his head.
Renamon drops on the bed, feeling weak.
So this is it, then. If she hasn't been to any hospital, there is only one choice left.
"I killed her." she sobs, her paws covering her face.
Daniel simply sits down next to her, putting a hand on her back.
"It was an accident." he whispers, trying to calm her down.
"I killed her." Renamon repeats, as if not hearing him.
"It was an accident." Daniel simply repeats.
Then why am I feeling like a murderer?
Ruki is feeling lonely.
She is standing in a completely black space.
The only thing that gives her a familiar feeling is the existence of a floor.
"Where am I?" she whispers, glad to hear her voice break the silence.
This darkness drives me crazy!
Although there is no source of light, she can clearly see herself when she looks down.
Still, she cannot see anything else.
Then, suddenly, she is standing in front of a giant judge's desk.
The desk looks more like a podium and is so high that she cannot see the judge.
"RUKI MAKINO." a voice booms, seemingly coming from everywhere at once.
Overwhelmed by this, Ruki drops onto her knees.
"THE TIME OF THE FINAL JUDGEMENT HAS COME."
Ruki looks up at the desk in horror.
The judge is standing now, looking down at her small form.
Ruki screams in horror when she realizes that the judge is Renamon.
"YOU WILL BE JUDGED BEFORE ENTERING THE AFTERLIFE."
No, this can't be! This can't be! This can't-
She jumps when she feels a hand on her shoulder.
"Boy, you do look frightened." she can hear somebody mutter behind her.
Ruki has made two quick steps forward before turning around to face the person behind her.
She was puzzled by the sound of the voice, it sounded very familiar.
When she sees the other person, she screams again.
Standing right in front of Ruki is... Ruki.
But unlike herself, the other Ruki is wearing a long dress and is wearing her hair at shoulder length.
Ruki isn't sure what to find more bizarre:
Her own death, her afterlife lying in the paws of her Digimon or seeing herself dressed like a lady.
While Ruki catches her breath again, she keeps staring at the lady Ruki.
"Everything all right again?" the lady Ruki asks, smiling slightly.
Ruki opens her mouth to answer, but she doesn't know what to say first.
Oh sure, I'm all right. Just feeling a little... DEAD! she thinks sarcastically.
Then she decides not to risk anything.
Not while my future depends on Renamon. Oh, I remember my lasts words again: I hate you.
Ruki shakes her head, almost laughing.
Oh boy, I'm dead.
Then she realizes that this is nothing but the truth.
She is startled when she sees her other self standing next to her.
"Tsk, if I had known you'd react like this, I would have chosen another approach." the lady tells her.
While the lady shakes her head, the court vanishes.
Instead, Ruki is standing in her room again.
"What the-" Ruki starts.
She is interrupted by her lady self coming into the room.
While she had been wearing an evening dress before, she is now wearing a summer skirt and a shirt.
And she is still smiling happily.
Oh I get it. This must be my afterlife. Eternal suffering by seeing me like this. Ruki muses.
"What will I do now?" Renamon quietly asks.
"Hm?" Daniel just asks.
He is lying in bed now. Renamon has walked through the room for the last hour.
She doesn't even notice that she has woken him.
"What should I do now? Without Ruki..."
"Look, Renamon. Ruki had abandoned you. She told you that she hates you."
Renamon winces when he mentions this.
"I'm sorry. But you can't spend the future missing someone who hated you."
Slowly she nods.
"You're right. I'm sorry Daniel." she whispers.
"It's all right. I know you miss her. But you still have me, don't you?"
She manages to smile.
"Yes. Thanks, Daniel." she says sitting next to him and giving him a hug.
"So, how do you feel?" the feminine Ruki asks.
"Take a guess."
"So snappy..." lady Ruki mutters, shaking her head.
"When will I be judged? Or am I going directly to hell?" Ruki asks.
Lady Ruki just smiles.
"Oh, you mean the court?" she asks innocently.
"Yes, of course I mean the court!" Ruki shouts at her...self.
"That was a fake. Just wanted to tease ya."
Ruki feels her jaw drop to the floor.
Just as she wants to protest, the feminine Ruki continues to explain.
"You should be thankful, not many people get a test run of this." she says.
"But-but-but-" Ruki stutters, trying to find the right words.
"No but's. You may suspect this by now, but you are not dead."
When the lady sees Ruki's expression of hope, she adds one word.
"Yet."
There is a long pause.
"If I'm not dead... yet, what is all this?" Ruki finally asks.
The lady Ruki spreads out her arms.
"Everything here is happening inside your head." she tells her.
"Then you are-"
"A figment of your imagination. But please don't try to think me away."
Ruki stares at her in surprise for she just wanted to try this very thing.
"I am everything that you aren't." the lady continues.
"Friendly, happy, having a sense for fashion.
I represent everything you have consciously or unsconsciously locked away from your personality.
Just like some kind of inner child. And since we don't get together like this very often-"
"Thank Heaven." Ruki mutters.
"- I decided to show you some of your mistakes." her lady self finishes.
"I didn't-"
"You might die because of your biggest mistake." the lady tells her.
For the first time since her arriveal, her lady self isn't smiling.
Ruki gulps and slowly sits on her sleep mat.
"Good. then you are aware that you failed." the lady mutters.
"Failed?"
"You failed Renamon. You do realize that, don't you?"
Noticing her blank expression, the lady sighs.
"Renamon picked you. Not the other way around. Don't answer, you know that it is this way.
She trusted you by becoming your partner. Have you ever noticed the other tamers?
No, don't say anything, I know what you think of them. They have Digimon, too.
Have you seen how they behave towards their Digimon?"
Ruki inhales slightly to answer, but her lady self isn't done yet.
"They care for each other. That's the whole point. It's that simple."
There is a moment of silence as the lady gives Ruki time to think.
"But she-" Ruki finally wants to say.
"Don't say it! I dare you!" the lady suddenly shouts at her.
"You wanted to say that Renamon turned her back on you, right? RIGHT?"
Deeply frightened, Ruki nods.
"In knew it! I knew it!" the feminine Ruki yells, walking in circles.
"Did you ever think about the reason why Renamon did this? Hm? No, of course not."
There is a long pause again.
"I would say more, but I feel that you're drifting away." the lady finally says.
I'm drifting away? Where to? And why did Renamon leave?
"No! Please wait!" she yells as the space around her darkens again.
"They care for each other, Ruki." she can hear the lady's last words.
Then, everything is black again.
"And you really want to write that into tonight's report?" the driver asks.
"All the witnesses tell the same story." the officer says and shrugs.
"Come on. A girl falls off the roof, and the man calls an ambulance. OK.
A minute later, another person falls off the roof. OK.
But then the second person picks the girl up and runs away? Come on!"
Again, the man next to the driver shrugs.
"The guys from the ambulance have simply noted that one as a false alarm." the driver says.
"I know."
"Shouldn't we do the same? I mean, we don't even have a description of the persons."
"Well, a teenager wearing jeans and a shirt and a guy in a robe with a hood covering his face."
There is a short pause.
"False alarm." both men say in unison and nod.
Part IV
by Christian "Sid" Lang
The Police arrives first.
"Did you call us?" the Police Officer asks as he exits the car.
There is a group of people in front of him, all of them gesturing and shouting.
"Hey! Did you call an ambulance and the police?" the officer shouts.
Finally he is getting some attention. One man leaves the group and greets the policeman.
"I called you." he admits.
"All right, listen. The ambulance will be here any second, so you should-"
"We don't need that anymore." the man tells the officer.
Renamon barely sleeps this night.
Daniel insisted that she stayed with him.
"You have to stay down for a while." he told her.
Hiding like the criminal I am. she thinks, a tear rolling down her cheek.
She is lying on his bed, her tail drawing wild and uneasy patterns into the air.
Finally, Daniel comes in again. He is carrying a cellphone.
"Did you call the hospitals?" she asks desperately.
Please, oh please let her be alive! she prays.
"I phoned all of them. Ruki hasn't been in any emergency room." he tells her, shaking his head.
Renamon drops on the bed, feeling weak.
So this is it, then. If she hasn't been to any hospital, there is only one choice left.
"I killed her." she sobs, her paws covering her face.
Daniel simply sits down next to her, putting a hand on her back.
"It was an accident." he whispers, trying to calm her down.
"I killed her." Renamon repeats, as if not hearing him.
"It was an accident." Daniel simply repeats.
Then why am I feeling like a murderer?
Ruki is feeling lonely.
She is standing in a completely black space.
The only thing that gives her a familiar feeling is the existence of a floor.
"Where am I?" she whispers, glad to hear her voice break the silence.
This darkness drives me crazy!
Although there is no source of light, she can clearly see herself when she looks down.
Still, she cannot see anything else.
Then, suddenly, she is standing in front of a giant judge's desk.
The desk looks more like a podium and is so high that she cannot see the judge.
"RUKI MAKINO." a voice booms, seemingly coming from everywhere at once.
Overwhelmed by this, Ruki drops onto her knees.
"THE TIME OF THE FINAL JUDGEMENT HAS COME."
Ruki looks up at the desk in horror.
The judge is standing now, looking down at her small form.
Ruki screams in horror when she realizes that the judge is Renamon.
"YOU WILL BE JUDGED BEFORE ENTERING THE AFTERLIFE."
No, this can't be! This can't be! This can't-
She jumps when she feels a hand on her shoulder.
"Boy, you do look frightened." she can hear somebody mutter behind her.
Ruki has made two quick steps forward before turning around to face the person behind her.
She was puzzled by the sound of the voice, it sounded very familiar.
When she sees the other person, she screams again.
Standing right in front of Ruki is... Ruki.
But unlike herself, the other Ruki is wearing a long dress and is wearing her hair at shoulder length.
Ruki isn't sure what to find more bizarre:
Her own death, her afterlife lying in the paws of her Digimon or seeing herself dressed like a lady.
While Ruki catches her breath again, she keeps staring at the lady Ruki.
"Everything all right again?" the lady Ruki asks, smiling slightly.
Ruki opens her mouth to answer, but she doesn't know what to say first.
Oh sure, I'm all right. Just feeling a little... DEAD! she thinks sarcastically.
Then she decides not to risk anything.
Not while my future depends on Renamon. Oh, I remember my lasts words again: I hate you.
Ruki shakes her head, almost laughing.
Oh boy, I'm dead.
Then she realizes that this is nothing but the truth.
She is startled when she sees her other self standing next to her.
"Tsk, if I had known you'd react like this, I would have chosen another approach." the lady tells her.
While the lady shakes her head, the court vanishes.
Instead, Ruki is standing in her room again.
"What the-" Ruki starts.
She is interrupted by her lady self coming into the room.
While she had been wearing an evening dress before, she is now wearing a summer skirt and a shirt.
And she is still smiling happily.
Oh I get it. This must be my afterlife. Eternal suffering by seeing me like this. Ruki muses.
"What will I do now?" Renamon quietly asks.
"Hm?" Daniel just asks.
He is lying in bed now. Renamon has walked through the room for the last hour.
She doesn't even notice that she has woken him.
"What should I do now? Without Ruki..."
"Look, Renamon. Ruki had abandoned you. She told you that she hates you."
Renamon winces when he mentions this.
"I'm sorry. But you can't spend the future missing someone who hated you."
Slowly she nods.
"You're right. I'm sorry Daniel." she whispers.
"It's all right. I know you miss her. But you still have me, don't you?"
She manages to smile.
"Yes. Thanks, Daniel." she says sitting next to him and giving him a hug.
"So, how do you feel?" the feminine Ruki asks.
"Take a guess."
"So snappy..." lady Ruki mutters, shaking her head.
"When will I be judged? Or am I going directly to hell?" Ruki asks.
Lady Ruki just smiles.
"Oh, you mean the court?" she asks innocently.
"Yes, of course I mean the court!" Ruki shouts at her...self.
"That was a fake. Just wanted to tease ya."
Ruki feels her jaw drop to the floor.
Just as she wants to protest, the feminine Ruki continues to explain.
"You should be thankful, not many people get a test run of this." she says.
"But-but-but-" Ruki stutters, trying to find the right words.
"No but's. You may suspect this by now, but you are not dead."
When the lady sees Ruki's expression of hope, she adds one word.
"Yet."
There is a long pause.
"If I'm not dead... yet, what is all this?" Ruki finally asks.
The lady Ruki spreads out her arms.
"Everything here is happening inside your head." she tells her.
"Then you are-"
"A figment of your imagination. But please don't try to think me away."
Ruki stares at her in surprise for she just wanted to try this very thing.
"I am everything that you aren't." the lady continues.
"Friendly, happy, having a sense for fashion.
I represent everything you have consciously or unsconsciously locked away from your personality.
Just like some kind of inner child. And since we don't get together like this very often-"
"Thank Heaven." Ruki mutters.
"- I decided to show you some of your mistakes." her lady self finishes.
"I didn't-"
"You might die because of your biggest mistake." the lady tells her.
For the first time since her arriveal, her lady self isn't smiling.
Ruki gulps and slowly sits on her sleep mat.
"Good. then you are aware that you failed." the lady mutters.
"Failed?"
"You failed Renamon. You do realize that, don't you?"
Noticing her blank expression, the lady sighs.
"Renamon picked you. Not the other way around. Don't answer, you know that it is this way.
She trusted you by becoming your partner. Have you ever noticed the other tamers?
No, don't say anything, I know what you think of them. They have Digimon, too.
Have you seen how they behave towards their Digimon?"
Ruki inhales slightly to answer, but her lady self isn't done yet.
"They care for each other. That's the whole point. It's that simple."
There is a moment of silence as the lady gives Ruki time to think.
"But she-" Ruki finally wants to say.
"Don't say it! I dare you!" the lady suddenly shouts at her.
"You wanted to say that Renamon turned her back on you, right? RIGHT?"
Deeply frightened, Ruki nods.
"In knew it! I knew it!" the feminine Ruki yells, walking in circles.
"Did you ever think about the reason why Renamon did this? Hm? No, of course not."
There is a long pause again.
"I would say more, but I feel that you're drifting away." the lady finally says.
I'm drifting away? Where to? And why did Renamon leave?
"No! Please wait!" she yells as the space around her darkens again.
"They care for each other, Ruki." she can hear the lady's last words.
Then, everything is black again.
"And you really want to write that into tonight's report?" the driver asks.
"All the witnesses tell the same story." the officer says and shrugs.
"Come on. A girl falls off the roof, and the man calls an ambulance. OK.
A minute later, another person falls off the roof. OK.
But then the second person picks the girl up and runs away? Come on!"
Again, the man next to the driver shrugs.
"The guys from the ambulance have simply noted that one as a false alarm." the driver says.
"I know."
"Shouldn't we do the same? I mean, we don't even have a description of the persons."
"Well, a teenager wearing jeans and a shirt and a guy in a robe with a hood covering his face."
There is a short pause.
"False alarm." both men say in unison and nod.