Tamer Evolution
Part 5
by Christian "Sid" Lang
"Renamon? Are you in th-" Takato shouts, opening the door.
When he sees Ruki's room, he stops.
Mikino had told them to come right in. Renamon would be in there.
"Oh, Takato. Juri. Guilmon." Renamon replies calmly openign her eyes.
The Digimon had probably been meditating or something.
Takato is still standing in the doorway, staring at the room Renamon is sitting in.
There are black metal shards scattered across the floor.
What happened here? It looks as if something exploded!
Then he notices that he is actually seeing Renamon. The Rookie level Digimon.
"What happened?" he asks, taking a look around.
He gasps once again when he sees Ruki lying in a corner, covered with a blanket.
"Where are Lee and Terriermon? And where is Yamaki?" Renamon asks back.
"They should be here any minute now." Juri answers.
Renamon nods slowly, her facing giving them no clue about her emotional state.
"Would you please wait outside while I... while we get ready?" the fox finally asks.
Yamaki frowns when he sees Takato, Juri and Lee.
Or rather, the bright light coming through the door they're leaning next to.
Ruki's grandmother had told him where to go, but she hadn't told him about such things.
"What's going on here?" he asks, pointing at the door.
As if having waited for the cue, the light disappears.
"Renamon is getting ready in there." Takato tells him.
"Well, as long as she hurr-"
Yamaki coughs politely when he sees the young lady come out of Ruki's room.
Maybe Ruki's aunt. Or her real mother, judging by her looks.
"Good morning, Mrs. Makino. My name is Yamaki and-" he starts to introduce himself.
"-and you obviously mistake me." the woman replies with a smile.
"She's Renamon." Takato whispers with a chuckle.
"And Ruki." Juri adds.
"Rukimon." Guilmon cheers.
Then the dino Digimon kisses the floor and grunts after being hit by Renamon's punch.
"You kids never fail to amaze me..." Yamaki whispers and allows himself a smile.
An hour later, the Tamers and their Digimon are sitting in the van Yamaki has rented.
"Okay, you know the plan. Please, PLEASE stick to it!" he shouts over the sound of the engine.
Everybody nods, knowing what is at stake here.
Yamaki doubts that any of them are actually thinking about his career, but he knows they'll execute the plan.
"Well, here it is..." He mutters as he drives the van around the last corner.
The Hypnos building complex looks even taller from the street.
"Yamaki?" Lee asks, interrupting his thoughts.
"What is it?"
"Why are you doing this? I mean... If we stick to the plan, and if you really take full responsibility..."
The blue-haired boy hesitates, as if looking for the right words.
"Won't you get arrested for it?" he finishes the question.
Yamaki chuckles.
"Not if everything works as I expect it to work." he answers dryly.
There is a long pause as the Tamers understand the implications.
As he parks the van, Yamaki gives the kids a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about it. We'll bring back your friend no matter what."
"Oh yeah. Work for Hypnos. Good pay. Nice organization." Janet groans.
She had been a bodyguard. Then her family had to move here.
She had declared she'd start a new life in Japan. A safe life.
So she had applied for the job of receptionist. The name Hypnos sounded nice back then.
Then this D-Reaper started taking over Tokyo during her first week.
From that time on, she wasn't too eager to join the Hypnos fan club.
At least things are pretty calm now. she tells herself and sighs.
"Hello Janet!" a happy male voice greets her.
Janet tries not to blush. Getting caught daydreaming is not the best thing to happen.
She looks up with her best smile on her face.
"Good day, welcome to Hyp-" she startes her usual greeting.
Then she sees who she is talking to.
"Ya-Ya-" she stammers, staring up at the man.
Darn! It's this lunatic they fired some days ago! And he looks too happy.
"Please stay calm. We just have some business to attend to."
Janet blinks and looks at the persons next to Yamaki.
A woman and a girl. But Yamaki never looked like a husband or a father to her.
"Please call the guards. There is going to be a crisis here in about thirty seconds."
Janet looks at the smiling woman who had spoken.
Before she can think of a good reply, the trio walks to the stairwell.
Janet blinks. Then she realizes that she has just let intruders walk into the building.
"Hey you! Wai-" she shouts and stands up.
Then she sees something just outside the building.
Two boys. And a red dino. And a small almost-animatronic bunny.
"Oh boy." she mutters, realizing that these are not puppets.
Lee smiles at the woman staring at them.
Slowly, he raises his D-Arc.
Even from that far away, he can see the woman's eyes widen.
"Here goes nothing..." Takato whispers.
Lee nods without breaking the eye contact with the receptionist.
"Card Slash -" he shouts, beginning the startling sequence of movements he had developed.
Just startle them. Scare them. Don't kill them. he reminds himself once again.
"- DIGIVOLUTION ACTIVATE!" he shouts, completing the slash.
"Terriermon digivolves to..."
"SECURITY TO LOBBY! SECURITY TO LOBBY!" Janet screams into the phone.
The sight of the animatronic bunny starting to glow and grow had told her the entire story.
She had always considered bunnies and dogs to be cute.
What's the matter, Janet? the guard at the phone asks.
Janet gasps, trying to think of a way to describe the huge creature outside.
"Errr... Picture the Energizer Bunny. Then picture his big, bad brother wielding machineguns..."
She closes her eyes briefly and lets out a sigh.
Oh yeah. Work for Hypnos. It's sooooooo safe.
Hmmm... Are you feeling all right? You sound a bit... well... unstable...
Just as Janet is about to reply something really ugly, she sees the dog-bunny raise its arms.
"Oh crap."
Yamaki jumps slightly when the sound of machinegun fire echoes through the stairwell.
He then coughs and tightens his grip on the bag he is carrying.
"Relax." Renamon whispers, but Yamaki realizes that she is not really talking to him.
The woman-shaped Digimon continues to look up, as if trying to x-ray the floors above them.
Then she frowns, causing Juri and Yamaki to frown, too.
"God, being in a human body feels like being deaf and blind!" Renamon finally mutters.
As if on cue, the door in front of them is slammed open.
Yamaki curses himself, remembering that the guard's room is on that floor.
"See what I mean?" Renamon asks, sounding almost bored.
Yamaki looks up at the armed guard standing in front of them.
"Run! There are evil Energizer Bunnies on the loose!" the man suddenly shouts.
Yamaki sees Renamon and Juri grin when they hear this.
However, the fun ends abruptly when the guard sees Yamaki.
"Hey wait, aren't you the guy who had been fired by-"
The guard grunts and collapses, Renamon now standing next to him, her fist buried in his stomach.
Yamaki blinks and asks himself how anybody or anything could move this fast.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Yamaki hears somebody shout.
"Terrific." Renamon mutters and slams the metal door shut again.
"Come on! We've got to run!" Yamakie shouts at her, but Renamon shakes her head.
The woman/Digimon closes her eyes and keeps standing in front of the door.
Just when Yamaki wants to ask another question, Renamon moves again.
Yamaki can make out a spiralling jump-kick of some sort, but it happens too fast to make out details.
The effects, however are qute easy to make out.
Renamon had kicked the door, sending the massive door flying into the corridor.
Judging from the screams and grunts, there had been some people just behind it.
"Now." Renamon only mutters as she jogs past the shocked Yamaki.
When she realizes that he isn't moving, she sighs.
"They're not dead... I guess. I didn't kick with full force." she tries to calm him down.
"Hm. However, by now everbody knows there are two invading parties in here."
Yamaki looks at Juri, who had said these words, and nods.
"Fire-BALL!" Guilmon shouts, sending another fireball into the lobby.
"Lee?" Gargomon asks, briefly looking at his Tamer.
"What is it?" Lee shouts from his hideout.
He and Takato had to move once the guards started to return fire.
"I don't feel that good about this." the Champion Digimon shouts.
The gigantic dog-bunny shoots into the hall, taking great care to shoot past the guards.
"I mean... We're fighting... humans!" he shouts after the attack.
"Right. It's so wrong!" Guilmon adds.
"I know! I know! But you're not hurting them! Just scaring them!" Takato tries.
"Besides, they work for the same people who made Ruki braindead!" Lee shouts.
The boy frowns when he sees Guilmon snickering.
"Don't! Whatever you want to say: DON'T!" Takato shouts more or less angrily.
"But- But-" Guilmon stammers, a grin spreading on his face.
"I'll tell Ruki whatever you say now!" Takato bluffs.
Guilmon's smile freezes, then shatters into a million pieces.
"Now scare those guards!" Lee reminds them, pointing into the lobby.
"Thank God, we made it." Juri mutters and gasps.
Yamaki groans and nods. It hadn't been that much fun running up the twenty floors.
Even Renamon has started to seat a bit.
After a short break to catch his breath, Yamaki leads them through the corridor.
A short time later, they see an intersection leading left and forwards.
"Just around this corner and we're-" he startes to say, stepping onto the intersection.
Then everything happens at once.
Even while he gasps because Renamon pulls him back, he can hear multiple shots being fired.
When he hits the floor, everything is silent.
"Holy..." Yamaki mutters, looking down at himself.
No bullet holes. No blood. I'm... alive.
Then he looks at the wall to his right and curses involuntarily.
He counts about fifty holes. Possibly more. Most of them at chest-level.
"They're clever and wait for us, knowing we'd come here." Renamon whispers.
"Now what? They have machineguns, they're in a fortified position..." Yamaki groans.
Renamon frowns, then nods.
"Is there another way in?" she asks, although she seems to know the answer.
Yamaki only shakes his head.
Then he hears somebody shout.
"Surrender, Yamaki! You have no chance!"
"You've hurt an innocent girl!" Renamon snaps.
The woman's eyes become narrow slits when they hear the men snickering.
"Well, it's a cruel world, people get hurt..." somebody laughs.
"Yeah. Law of the Jungle I guess!" somebody adds.
Yamaki gulps when he sees Renamon's hand tremble. A single tear flows down her cheek.
Then there is a brief flash of light, and Yamaki blinks.
When he opens his eyes again, he can see two figures instead of one.
"Hold her for a minute." Renamon mutters, handing him Ruki.
Yamaki stares down at the unconscious girl in the too-large clothes.
Then he looks at the fox and frowns.
"Well, it's a cruel world, people get hurt..." Renamon whispers coldly, flexing her claws.
"Are you going to-" Juri timidly asks.
"We have no time to toy around with them."
With these words, Renamon vanishes.
Yes... Kill...
Kill... Come to me...
Come to me... Free me...
Free me... and die.
Part 5
by Christian "Sid" Lang
"Renamon? Are you in th-" Takato shouts, opening the door.
When he sees Ruki's room, he stops.
Mikino had told them to come right in. Renamon would be in there.
"Oh, Takato. Juri. Guilmon." Renamon replies calmly openign her eyes.
The Digimon had probably been meditating or something.
Takato is still standing in the doorway, staring at the room Renamon is sitting in.
There are black metal shards scattered across the floor.
What happened here? It looks as if something exploded!
Then he notices that he is actually seeing Renamon. The Rookie level Digimon.
"What happened?" he asks, taking a look around.
He gasps once again when he sees Ruki lying in a corner, covered with a blanket.
"Where are Lee and Terriermon? And where is Yamaki?" Renamon asks back.
"They should be here any minute now." Juri answers.
Renamon nods slowly, her facing giving them no clue about her emotional state.
"Would you please wait outside while I... while we get ready?" the fox finally asks.
Yamaki frowns when he sees Takato, Juri and Lee.
Or rather, the bright light coming through the door they're leaning next to.
Ruki's grandmother had told him where to go, but she hadn't told him about such things.
"What's going on here?" he asks, pointing at the door.
As if having waited for the cue, the light disappears.
"Renamon is getting ready in there." Takato tells him.
"Well, as long as she hurr-"
Yamaki coughs politely when he sees the young lady come out of Ruki's room.
Maybe Ruki's aunt. Or her real mother, judging by her looks.
"Good morning, Mrs. Makino. My name is Yamaki and-" he starts to introduce himself.
"-and you obviously mistake me." the woman replies with a smile.
"She's Renamon." Takato whispers with a chuckle.
"And Ruki." Juri adds.
"Rukimon." Guilmon cheers.
Then the dino Digimon kisses the floor and grunts after being hit by Renamon's punch.
"You kids never fail to amaze me..." Yamaki whispers and allows himself a smile.
An hour later, the Tamers and their Digimon are sitting in the van Yamaki has rented.
"Okay, you know the plan. Please, PLEASE stick to it!" he shouts over the sound of the engine.
Everybody nods, knowing what is at stake here.
Yamaki doubts that any of them are actually thinking about his career, but he knows they'll execute the plan.
"Well, here it is..." He mutters as he drives the van around the last corner.
The Hypnos building complex looks even taller from the street.
"Yamaki?" Lee asks, interrupting his thoughts.
"What is it?"
"Why are you doing this? I mean... If we stick to the plan, and if you really take full responsibility..."
The blue-haired boy hesitates, as if looking for the right words.
"Won't you get arrested for it?" he finishes the question.
Yamaki chuckles.
"Not if everything works as I expect it to work." he answers dryly.
There is a long pause as the Tamers understand the implications.
As he parks the van, Yamaki gives the kids a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about it. We'll bring back your friend no matter what."
"Oh yeah. Work for Hypnos. Good pay. Nice organization." Janet groans.
She had been a bodyguard. Then her family had to move here.
She had declared she'd start a new life in Japan. A safe life.
So she had applied for the job of receptionist. The name Hypnos sounded nice back then.
Then this D-Reaper started taking over Tokyo during her first week.
From that time on, she wasn't too eager to join the Hypnos fan club.
At least things are pretty calm now. she tells herself and sighs.
"Hello Janet!" a happy male voice greets her.
Janet tries not to blush. Getting caught daydreaming is not the best thing to happen.
She looks up with her best smile on her face.
"Good day, welcome to Hyp-" she startes her usual greeting.
Then she sees who she is talking to.
"Ya-Ya-" she stammers, staring up at the man.
Darn! It's this lunatic they fired some days ago! And he looks too happy.
"Please stay calm. We just have some business to attend to."
Janet blinks and looks at the persons next to Yamaki.
A woman and a girl. But Yamaki never looked like a husband or a father to her.
"Please call the guards. There is going to be a crisis here in about thirty seconds."
Janet looks at the smiling woman who had spoken.
Before she can think of a good reply, the trio walks to the stairwell.
Janet blinks. Then she realizes that she has just let intruders walk into the building.
"Hey you! Wai-" she shouts and stands up.
Then she sees something just outside the building.
Two boys. And a red dino. And a small almost-animatronic bunny.
"Oh boy." she mutters, realizing that these are not puppets.
Lee smiles at the woman staring at them.
Slowly, he raises his D-Arc.
Even from that far away, he can see the woman's eyes widen.
"Here goes nothing..." Takato whispers.
Lee nods without breaking the eye contact with the receptionist.
"Card Slash -" he shouts, beginning the startling sequence of movements he had developed.
Just startle them. Scare them. Don't kill them. he reminds himself once again.
"- DIGIVOLUTION ACTIVATE!" he shouts, completing the slash.
"Terriermon digivolves to..."
"SECURITY TO LOBBY! SECURITY TO LOBBY!" Janet screams into the phone.
The sight of the animatronic bunny starting to glow and grow had told her the entire story.
She had always considered bunnies and dogs to be cute.
What's the matter, Janet? the guard at the phone asks.
Janet gasps, trying to think of a way to describe the huge creature outside.
"Errr... Picture the Energizer Bunny. Then picture his big, bad brother wielding machineguns..."
She closes her eyes briefly and lets out a sigh.
Oh yeah. Work for Hypnos. It's sooooooo safe.
Hmmm... Are you feeling all right? You sound a bit... well... unstable...
Just as Janet is about to reply something really ugly, she sees the dog-bunny raise its arms.
"Oh crap."
Yamaki jumps slightly when the sound of machinegun fire echoes through the stairwell.
He then coughs and tightens his grip on the bag he is carrying.
"Relax." Renamon whispers, but Yamaki realizes that she is not really talking to him.
The woman-shaped Digimon continues to look up, as if trying to x-ray the floors above them.
Then she frowns, causing Juri and Yamaki to frown, too.
"God, being in a human body feels like being deaf and blind!" Renamon finally mutters.
As if on cue, the door in front of them is slammed open.
Yamaki curses himself, remembering that the guard's room is on that floor.
"See what I mean?" Renamon asks, sounding almost bored.
Yamaki looks up at the armed guard standing in front of them.
"Run! There are evil Energizer Bunnies on the loose!" the man suddenly shouts.
Yamaki sees Renamon and Juri grin when they hear this.
However, the fun ends abruptly when the guard sees Yamaki.
"Hey wait, aren't you the guy who had been fired by-"
The guard grunts and collapses, Renamon now standing next to him, her fist buried in his stomach.
Yamaki blinks and asks himself how anybody or anything could move this fast.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Yamaki hears somebody shout.
"Terrific." Renamon mutters and slams the metal door shut again.
"Come on! We've got to run!" Yamakie shouts at her, but Renamon shakes her head.
The woman/Digimon closes her eyes and keeps standing in front of the door.
Just when Yamaki wants to ask another question, Renamon moves again.
Yamaki can make out a spiralling jump-kick of some sort, but it happens too fast to make out details.
The effects, however are qute easy to make out.
Renamon had kicked the door, sending the massive door flying into the corridor.
Judging from the screams and grunts, there had been some people just behind it.
"Now." Renamon only mutters as she jogs past the shocked Yamaki.
When she realizes that he isn't moving, she sighs.
"They're not dead... I guess. I didn't kick with full force." she tries to calm him down.
"Hm. However, by now everbody knows there are two invading parties in here."
Yamaki looks at Juri, who had said these words, and nods.
"Fire-BALL!" Guilmon shouts, sending another fireball into the lobby.
"Lee?" Gargomon asks, briefly looking at his Tamer.
"What is it?" Lee shouts from his hideout.
He and Takato had to move once the guards started to return fire.
"I don't feel that good about this." the Champion Digimon shouts.
The gigantic dog-bunny shoots into the hall, taking great care to shoot past the guards.
"I mean... We're fighting... humans!" he shouts after the attack.
"Right. It's so wrong!" Guilmon adds.
"I know! I know! But you're not hurting them! Just scaring them!" Takato tries.
"Besides, they work for the same people who made Ruki braindead!" Lee shouts.
The boy frowns when he sees Guilmon snickering.
"Don't! Whatever you want to say: DON'T!" Takato shouts more or less angrily.
"But- But-" Guilmon stammers, a grin spreading on his face.
"I'll tell Ruki whatever you say now!" Takato bluffs.
Guilmon's smile freezes, then shatters into a million pieces.
"Now scare those guards!" Lee reminds them, pointing into the lobby.
"Thank God, we made it." Juri mutters and gasps.
Yamaki groans and nods. It hadn't been that much fun running up the twenty floors.
Even Renamon has started to seat a bit.
After a short break to catch his breath, Yamaki leads them through the corridor.
A short time later, they see an intersection leading left and forwards.
"Just around this corner and we're-" he startes to say, stepping onto the intersection.
Then everything happens at once.
Even while he gasps because Renamon pulls him back, he can hear multiple shots being fired.
When he hits the floor, everything is silent.
"Holy..." Yamaki mutters, looking down at himself.
No bullet holes. No blood. I'm... alive.
Then he looks at the wall to his right and curses involuntarily.
He counts about fifty holes. Possibly more. Most of them at chest-level.
"They're clever and wait for us, knowing we'd come here." Renamon whispers.
"Now what? They have machineguns, they're in a fortified position..." Yamaki groans.
Renamon frowns, then nods.
"Is there another way in?" she asks, although she seems to know the answer.
Yamaki only shakes his head.
Then he hears somebody shout.
"Surrender, Yamaki! You have no chance!"
"You've hurt an innocent girl!" Renamon snaps.
The woman's eyes become narrow slits when they hear the men snickering.
"Well, it's a cruel world, people get hurt..." somebody laughs.
"Yeah. Law of the Jungle I guess!" somebody adds.
Yamaki gulps when he sees Renamon's hand tremble. A single tear flows down her cheek.
Then there is a brief flash of light, and Yamaki blinks.
When he opens his eyes again, he can see two figures instead of one.
"Hold her for a minute." Renamon mutters, handing him Ruki.
Yamaki stares down at the unconscious girl in the too-large clothes.
Then he looks at the fox and frowns.
"Well, it's a cruel world, people get hurt..." Renamon whispers coldly, flexing her claws.
"Are you going to-" Juri timidly asks.
"We have no time to toy around with them."
With these words, Renamon vanishes.
Yes... Kill...
Kill... Come to me...
Come to me... Free me...
Free me... and die.
