[copy/paste disclaimer from parts one and two here. You probably know it by heart already.]
[and to add to the disclaimer ... this little phone-tag game could be found in almost any cop or adventure series on television, so I won't go rattling off a long list of shows. But the Delores business I guess Seven Days fans would recognize - that's somewhat where I got the idea for DIGITAL CONUNDRUM, anyway ... hey, 'Delores' did sound a bit like Archnemon, eh? Oh well.]
start 'Seven Days' theme song....
Backstep 03
Runabout Ways
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Location - the Center
Time - approximately six days before Digital Conundrum
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"Heaven's ... Knuckle!"
Takeru and Hikari, sprawled on the ground, saw the golden beam of light arch its way to the explosive in the center of the room. The bomb went off in a cloud of smoke and mechanical parts when the light hit it. The children covered their heads just to protect themselves from the flying debris.
The dust settled, and Takeru and Hikari stood and dusted themselves off. Angemon was again in a military attention, but this time he was facing the children. He then spoke, but his mouth moved with his words like a badly dubbed movie.
"All will be safe now, Chosen Children," he whispered in the strange voice he spoke in when he replied to Dagomon. "The danger has passed."
Takeru looked down at his arm and rubbed the tender burn. "Well ... thanks, Angemon, but you could have warned us about the attack." He winced and brought his hand away from the burn. "I don't suppose this Center has a pharmacy."
Angemon walked towards Takeru slowly and purposefully, his staff clanging on the metal floor with every step. The angel brought a hand to Takeru's wound, grasping the boy's arm lightly. His body started to glow with a white light, like the one that engulfs a digimon when it evolves. Takeru raised his free arm to shield his eyes, but Angemon harshly pushed the boy's arm away with his staff.
Hikari advanced towards Takeru and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Angemon," she started, "what are you doing? You've already harmed your partner!"
The angel rapped one of Hikari's hands lightly with his staff. "Silence," he whispered harshly. "Step away from the boy."
Hikari warily backed away from Takeru and looked upon Angemon in shock. The majestic angel had forgotten the name of his own destined partner! What kind of power did the Center have on digimon? And what had it done to Angemon?
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Location - NNL
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Parker and Buck sat bored in Owsley's quarters, ready to nod off to an early sleep. An empty bowl of popcorn was set on the top of a comic book-covered coffee table, ready to fall off. Owsley had left the quarters for a few sodas from the nearby soda machine, and he hadn't been back for a few minutes.
"Oh, when is Owls going to get back?" Parker moaned, rubbing his eyes furiously. "He said he was just going to get us some root beers."
A phone on the coffee table started to ring, the computerized tone rousing Buck. The world-renowned reporter aimlessly pressed the speakerphone button, and a light on the phone turned red.
"Uh, hello?" Buck said drowsily. "Who is this?"
The sultry female voice on the other line was alien to him. "Oh, you're Mister Cameron 'Buck' Williams. I don't think I've met you. I'm Delores. I would like to talk to both you and Mister Frank Parker, if you don't mind."
Buck stammered his reply. "Sure. Parker's here, too."
Parker put a hand over his eyes and shook his head. "Not this Delores girl again," he breathed as he sat up. "What do you want, Delores?" he asked the phone.
"Oh, I just want you and Buck to meet me at O'Connell's Pub and Grill in downtown Los Angeles," Delores replied. "There'll be a big price to pay if you don't."
Parker sighed in defeat. "Let me guess - little birdies are going to fall from the sky."
"You're telepathic, aren't you?" Delores joked. "Smarter than I thought. Well, yes ... little birdies are going to fall from the sky - and maybe a big bird or two. Remember - O'Connell's Pub and Grill. Be there at eight. And only you and Buck. Bring anyone else and I'll make the birdies fall."
Parker forced a nod, and Buck just sat emotionless. "All right." He looked at his watch - it was seven in the evening, making it six in Los Angeles. "Buck and I'll be there."
"Good." Delores hung up, but the familiar dial tone did not sound. Owsley's voice, though, was heard instead.
"Uh, guys, you still there?"
Parker nodded. "Yeah. Where are you?"
Owsley seemed to be rummaging through a warehouse for words. "Well ... uh ... I'm in the ... uh, prototype airplane hangar. Yeah. I was tracing the call. Didn't get any real lock on it though, but Isaac and Olga believe that the call was jumped through inter-dimensional rifts."
"Inter-dimensional rifts?" Buck asked. "But didn't you say that it was impossible?"
"Well, not entirely. One of our ... uh ... experimental aircraft went through another dimension - rumor has it that it caused severe damage out here. I'll try to recreate that event as a means of communicating with this digital world so we could put an end to the disappearances that will soon come."
Buck nodded blankly. "Oh."
"Keep up the good work, Owsley," Parker said, rising from the couch. "Has Talmadge arranged for a ride to LA yet?"
"Yeah," Owsley droned. "You'll be at LAX within the hour."
"That's good," Parker said, helping Buck out of the couch. "Don't want our birdie to fall from the sky." Too late did he realize that it was a bad joke - even for someone that had already experienced the disappearances.
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Location - O'Connell's Pub and Grill, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Parker and Buck swaggered into O'Connell's a minute before eight in the evening. They were dressed rather nondescript - Parker in black and Buck in clothes that would make him look akin to a jungle explorer. Nobody could tell that one was an NSA agent and the other a world-famous journalist.
"It's already eight," Buck sighed. "There are so many women around here! Any one of them could be Delores."
"You're right," Parker said, taking a seat by the bar. A man came with an ordering pad. "I'd like a beer, please." He looked over at Buck and saw the 'no thanks' look in his eyes. "And ... a root beer for my friend here."
The barkeeper went off and soon returned with two glass bottles. Parker handed the barkeeper a ten-dollar bill before giving the root beer to Buck.
"Drink up," Parker breathed, opening his beer with his thumb. "This may be the last time you get to drink one of these."
Buck reluctantly opened his bottle of root beer and took a drink. "Please don't say that, Parker. You're making me more nervous."
Parker took a swig from his bottle and smacked his lips. "That's why I don't drink soda during a big mission. It makes me nervous."
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Location - the Center
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Takeru tried to avert his eyes from the brightly shining body of Angemon, yet how could he if the angel was holding his wounded arm so tightly and keeping his head and free arm restrained with that staff? This may have been Angemon, released from that strange Crest of Hope-shaped engraving on the pedestal, but he didn't act like the Angemon that Takeru knew. Why was Angemon behaving so ... coldly?
"Angemon ... what are you doing?" Takeru breathed through clenched teeth.
Angemon (?), though, only answered his partner with a light tap on the boy's cheek with his staff. "Silence, Takeru," he whispered in a monotone. "Be patient." He seemed to see Takeru close his eyes against the light. "Open your eyes."
Takeru reluctantly opened one of his eyes, and the light that had engulfed Angemon immediately died down. Now a strange angel clothed in white robes stood before the boy, a gloved hand resting on Takeru's arm. His single pair of large white wings looked as if they would fill the entire room. The angel cocked his ivory miter-shielded head towards a faltering Hikari, and then looked down at Takeru again. He then spoke, his words now in unison with the motions of his mouth.
"Holy ... Disinfection."
Angemon - or whomever this new digimon was - slowly released his hold on Takeru's arm. The boy looked down where the bright red burn had been - it had scarred over, as it would after weeks of healing. Takeru then raised his head towards the angel with a wan smile on his lips. "Uh ... thanks," he stammered, unsure. "Who are you?"
The angel, emotionless, backed away to where the Crest of Hope was engraved on the floor. White light flooded from the engraving as the angel stepped upon it, bathing his form in brightness. He then opened his mouth again, his words echoing across the large room.
"I am the Guardian."
And then the angel fell into a limp military attention, staring off unawares at the two children before him.
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Location - O'Connell's Pub and Grill
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Parker and Buck had finished their drinks when the bartender came up to them again. He didn't have an ordering pad this time, but an urgent look was upon his face. "Is one of you Frank Parker?" he asked sullenly.
Parker nodded. "Yeah. What gives?"
"There's a call for you on the pay phone by the restrooms." He pointed to a brick-lined corridor by the bar. "Girl on there sounds like she needs you urgently."
Parker shrugged and climbed off the barstool, and Buck rose from leaning on the bar table. "Okay. Thanks for telling us," Parker groaned. "Come on, Buck." He sauntered down to the pay phone, with Buck trying to navigate through the obstacle course of slightly drunk patrons. Minutes later the two reached the pay phone.
"I knew that you two would be here," a familiar voice crooned from the other end as Parker picked up the phone. "Right on time."
Parker sighed and leaned on the phone booth. "Where are you, Delores?" he barked.
"Bad move, Parker," Delores whispered. "You'll find out in due time. But I can tell you that I'm not at the bar."
Parker slammed his fist on the phone booth with such force that even some of the patrons looked down into the hallway. Buck sheepishly waved his hands as a cover as Parker continued to speak. Eventually the other people at the bar grew uninterested and turned away.
"So how do we get to where you are?" Parker hissed into the phone.
There was a pause, then, "See that window at the end of the hallway?"
Parker, stunned, glanced down the other end of the hall. It ended in a brick wall, with a large, open rectangular window in it. A view of a sleepy road was all it granted, other than some frigid evening air.
"Yeah, I see the window," Parker droned. "Now what?"
"Oh, you and Buck just have to jump out of the window into the dumpster below." Delores seemed to give a hearty chuckle as she spoke. "There's something for the two of you inside so that I won't have to dial collect to all these phone booths."
Parker warily motioned for Buck to look down out the window. The reporter obeyed, and then shook his head in shock.
"There's a dumpster down there, and it's open," he groaned.
"Great," Parker cursed under his breath. "What do we do with whatever we find in the dumpster?"
"There'll be a note somewhere with those items that'll tell you what to do with them. I'll hear from you soon, Frankie." The click of a phone hanging up, then the drone of a dial tone came from the other end of the line.
Parker hung up and walked over to the window where Buck was. "We've got to jump into that dumpster," he sighed. "You up to it?"
Buck nodded his head, but the motion seemed as if it were forced. "First time for everything," he breathed as he climbed out of the window. Nobody was in the hallway or even remotely nearby to report what was happening.
The window was on the second story of a building, but the distance from the dumpster to the window seemed like a mile. Buck closed his eyes as he leaped from the window. Moments later a muffled thump was heard below, and Buck's head emerged from the dumpster. Two large, yellow envelopes were in his hands.
"I think these are ours," Buck called from below. "Our names are on them."
Parker nodded and climbed out of the window. "Maybe. Now get out of the dumpster - I'm coming down."
Buck stumbled out of the dumpster moments before Parker crashed inside. The sound of aluminum being crunched rang like bells as Parker climbed out of the dumpster and took the envelope that said PARKER in bold black letters from Buck's hands. He opened it and dumped the contents into his hands.
It was a headset, much like those the phone operators wore at NNL. There was a single earpiece that fit inside the ear, and a microphone attached to it that curved down towards the mouth. Parker put it on and threw the envelope in the dumpster.
Buck opened his envelope and found not only a headset, but also a square piece of paper with scrawled writing on it. It read, "Go to the abandoned lot two blocks north from here. More instructions will be given when you arrive."
Buck put the headset over his head and threw the envelope into the dumpster. The note he handed over to Parker. "You think we should do this?"
Parker glanced at the note before wadding it up and tossing it inside the dumpster. "If we're going to stop a few hundred local flights from crashing, then I guess we should." He started to run out to the street, and then stopped at the corner. A moment later he motioned for Buck to follow, and the two men promptly ran across the street.
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Location - an apartment in downtown Los Angeles
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Delores sat in a darkened room before an array of computer screens that displayed various images. A bowl of ramen was on her lap, and on occasion she would dip her chopsticks inside and slurp up the noodles.
Currently, though, the mysterious woman was chewing on her chopsticks as she stared at one of the screens. This one was of the Center, with the pesky Japanese 'Chosen Children' standing warily before the Guardian. There was no sign of the bomb she had planted there.
"Good - it doesn't seem that the brats notice," she chuckled through the chopstick in her mouth. "Now let's see how President Carpathia is holding up." She swiveled her chair to glance at another computer, taking care not to spill her ramen - her dress was still terribly stained from the previous night's incident.
Nicolae Carpathia, despite the late hour in New York, was holding a meeting with ten of the top representatives of the United Nations. The renowned botanist Chaim Rosenzweig, the creator of the so-called Eden Formula, was also present. Nicolae's words of "We shall unite the world as a Global Community" were faintly heard through the speakers.
"Well done, Nicolae," she whispered, turning to the next screen. "Maybe you have some use in the Conundrum after all. Now how are Frankie and Buck doing?"
The last screen showed the abandoned lot that she had instructed Buck and Parker to go to. The men were there now, staring up at two objects hanging from the hook of a crane.
Delores took her ramen and set it on the table before leaning over to a microphone. "Frankie, Buck - can you hear me?" she called in her sultry voice.
Parker's voice cackled through the speakers. "Yeah, we can. What now?"
Delores slurped up some ramen as she spoke. "You see those things hanging from the crane?"
This time it was Buck who replied. "Yeah, we do."
"You have ten minutes to retrieve them. They're palmtop computers, and they have directions as to where to go next. Now hurry up - time's a-wasting."
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Location - an abandoned lot in Los Angeles
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Buck gasped in shock. "Ten minutes to get two palmtop computers from the top of that crane! How are we going to manage that?"
Parker gave a sly grin and ran to the crane's control cabin. "Simple. All we have to do is bring the hook part of the crane crashing down to our level. Now come on - I have a plan."
Buck shrugged. "All right. What am I going to do?" He followed after Parker.
"You stand a little off from directly beneath the hook of the crane," Parker said, climbing inside the cabin. "I lower the hook. Then you take the computers."
Buck nodded and backed away from the cabin. "I've got it," he called. "Is out here good enough?"
Parker nodded and settled himself in the cabin's chair. An array of levers littered the control panel before him. He pulled one down, and the cable that held the hook lowered to the ground at an exceedingly sluggish pace. The machinery squeaked with strain and neglect at five-second intervals.
A minute later Buck held up his hand in a halt signal. Parker craned his head out of the cabin, and saw that the two palmtops were at level with Buck's waist.
"Good job, Buck," Parker called as he climbed out of the cabin. Buck tossed one of the palmtops to him, and then took the other from the hook.
The miniature computers were of a strange make - they resembled oversized stopwatches, minus the nylon used to string it around one's neck. A raised part of it was circular, enclosing an oversize square screen. The edge of the raised portion was engraved with Digital Hieroglyphs. Three buttons - two small ones on the right side, and a large one on the left - flanked the raised area. An antenna, like one on a cell phone, stuck out from the raised section.
The strange thing about the device, though, was that it seemed so ... familiar.
"Good work, guys - you did it quicker than I thought." Delores' voice cackled through Parker and Buck's headsets again. "Now follow the directions on your digital devices and go to the Corner Bookstore five blocks from here."
Parker and Buck looked down at the screens of their devices. A grid with faint red dots was displayed, along with a blue star in a corner.
"I guess that blue star is where we have to go," Buck sighed. "Come on."
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Location - the Corner Bookstore
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It was almost nine in the evening when Buck and Parker reached the Corner Bookstore. The store was a modest establishment, situated in a three-story brick building that was on a street corner. Despite the late hour, a few bookshelves were still out in the street.
"So, what are we supposed to do here?" Buck asked, looking up the side of the building. A few windows on the higher levels were lighted from inside, giving view to people eating a late dinner.
"Good question, Buck," Delores' voice crooned again from the headsets. "You and Frankie have to take the fire escape to the roof. You'll find two backpacks with what I'd like to call ... oh, survival equipment. You have fifteen minutes, or else the next big news you hear is the airplane that's about to crash land over your heads."
Parker groaned and walked off to an alleyway behind the building. "Climbing a fire escape may take more than fifteen minutes. Come on, Buck." He found the rungs of a fire escape above his head, near a closed dumpster. Grudgingly Parker climbed on top of the dumpster and took hold of the ladder, making sure to shove his digital device in his pants pocket.
When Buck saw Parker on the second-story level of the fire escape, he clambered to the top of the dumpster and climbed the fire escape after him. Moments later the two were at the top of the building, looking out at the street.
"Now where are those backpacks?" Parker groaned, taking his digital device from his pocket. Buck did the same. A new blue dot glowed on the screen, nearly on top of the red dots that stood for the men.
Parker then looked down at his feet. Two military-issue backpacks were before him and Buck. "I guess we've found them," he said, taking one and slinging it over his shoulders. He clamped his digital device to a strap.
Buck grabbed the other and placed it on his back. "Looks like another job well done. But what do you think are in these?" He shoved his digital device in a pants pocket and looked at Parker.
"Beats me. We don't have time to check."
Momentarily Delores' voice was heard from the headsets. "That was an excellent job, Frankie and Buck. You did it in ten minutes. That gives you more time to reach where I am."
"And where's that?" Parker asked, yelling into the microphone of his headset.
"Ah! Not so loud! You're ruining the speakers!" Delores yelled. Clattering was heard in the background. "Now look - you made me spill my ramen. Well, anyway, Frankie, all you have to do is follow this makeshift bridge I constructed especially for you. It's the laundry line behind you that leads to the abandoned apartment complex. You and Buck have to use the laundry line as a bridge. See you in twenty minutes!"
Parker and Buck turned around, gaining view of a half-demolished brick building across the alley from them. A laundry line, laden with sheer nightwear, was strung between the two buildings, gaining access to the fire escape on the third level of the abandoned building.
Buck groaned and slammed his hand on his forehead. "Don't tell me we have to walk across that."
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Location - an apartment in downtown Los Angeles
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Delores stood up and stared down at her red dress. Two consecutive ramen spill stains in the exact same place! There was no way this stain was going to come out.
Though wary to leave her computers behind, Delores marched off to another room. Moments later she emerged with a clean dress, a clone of her previous one. She was about to walk into the computer room when a familiar form caught her sunglass-hidden eyes.
It was Nicolae Carpathia.
"Now, how did you get here so quickly?" Delores snapped at the Romanian in power suit and tie. "It's a six hour flight from here to New York."
"But it is a six second jump via computer," Carpathia countered, approaching Delores. "You forget - we are digimon, not human."
Delores sweatdropped and giggled nervously. "Oh, yeah. So ... how are things going at the UN?"
Carpathia sighed and walked towards the computers. "Same old, same old. Had a meeting with the ten I have chosen to lead after the Conundrum. Even got hold of Chaim Rosenzweig - a miracle I did, with that Special Ops team guarding him like a military secret. He has agreed to give me the rights to Eden Formula for the allotted seven years."
Delores smiled gleefully, and then took her seat by the computers. One screen showed the Japanese brats still staring at the Guardian; another gave view to a laundry line filled with women's underwear; the last was of the empty United Nations conference room. A clock by one computer started to beep - Buck and Parker's allotted twenty minutes were up.
"It looks like Buck and Parker aren't going to see tomorrow," Delores sighed. She swiveled her chair to another table, this one with a computer screen decorated with the words DIGITAL CONUNDRUM. A red button beside the monitor flashed on.
"And now it's time to bring about Apocalypse," she snickered, pressing the button.
A message flashed on the screen of the computer: EXPLOSIVE NOT CONNECTED. PLEASE TRY AGAIN.
Carpathia leaned over the table to view the monitor that displayed the Center. He pressed a few buttons on a keyboard, gaining a wider view of the area. "Lovebunkins," he crooned, "your explosive has gone off a little bit too early."
Delores angrily scooted herself before the computer, shoving Carpathia out of her way. "You're right!" she gasped. "It's gone! Darn Guardian and Chosen Children! They always meddle in our plans!"
"I hope you haven't forgotten about us, Delores."
The mysterious voice caused both Nicolae and Delores to turn away from the computer. In the doorway were two figures - Frank Parker and Buck Williams. They both had handguns pointed at the computers.
"We heard the entire conversation," Buck growled. "You, know, maybe I should resign from my post as Nicolae's publicity manager."
Nicolae slowly raised his hands over his small head. "Uh, you know, Mr. Williams, that would be a very bad idea, considering that you have not done a thing for me yet. You know, I even gave you the wrong CD."
"Yeah, sure, we both knew that," Parker growled. "Now then, Nicolae and Delores - or should I say, the digimon duo - come out with your hands up, and keep any weapons where we could see them."
Nicolae seemed to pause for a moment. "Oh, so you mean this weapon?"
A large machine gun materialized in the Nicolae's hands, pointed towards Buck and Parker. As he revealed the weapon, Nicolae's body flashed with a gray burst of light. When it died down, the form of a man with skin the pallor of the deceased took his place.
The strange thing about this man, though, was that he was covered in toilet paper like a badly wrapped Egyptian mummy.
Buck lowered his gun and turned to face Parker. "Uh, Frank," he stammered, "that's the guy that demolished my apartment a few days ago!"
Parker didn't ease down his firearm, but he could only stare at the transformed Nicolae. "Great - so Nicolae's dark side trashed your pad," he groaned. "Got any plans?"
Nicolae aimed his machine gun at Parker and pulled the trigger. "Snake Bandage!"
Parker ducked as a beam of crimson and white electricity arched over him. He pushed Buck further down a hallway, running farther from the rampaging mummy. "Let's get out of here!"
Buck and Parker hurriedly ran down the shambles of the hall, occasionally ducking from the beams of electricity that Nicolae fired. Minutes later the end of the hall started to glow with a semi-fluorescent light.
"We're almost out," Buck panted. The weight of the heavy backpack was taking its toll on his running. "You think we can outrun Nicolae?"
Parker chuckled; he seemed to show no strain from the weight on his back. "I didn't know that anyone would want to run from him."
"Well, at least we have a reason."
Parker then suddenly halted. Buck nearly ran into him, and saw why he had stopped.
The floor ended in a band of thick support wires. All that was left was a steel framework of the building, and a stack of sandbags fifty feet below.
"This doesn't look good, Frank," Buck breathed, looking down at the long drop. Nicolae's pounding footsteps were growing closer, and another beam of electricity raced by Buck.
"There is nowhere for you to run from Mummymon!" Nicolae roared, firing beams of electricity from his machine gun. "Snake Bandage!"
Parker and Buck ducked from the crackling electricity that arched over their heads. "We have to jump!" Parker yelled over the din. "The sandbags aren't that far away!"
Buck's eyes widened in shock. "What? Are you crazy?"
"We have to! Come on!" Parker shoved his firearm into a hidden holster about his waist and grabbed Buck's free arm. The two leaped off the floor, headed for the sandbags below.
Nicolae (Mummymon?) stopped at the edge of the floor, and saw the two human men fall to the ground. He aimed his machine gun at the pile of sandbags below, and pulled the trigger.
"Snake ... Bandage!"
An arc of electricity raced down to the sandbags, exploding them in a burst of gravel and sackcloth. Buck and Parker shielded their eyes from the blast as sand rushed towards their bodies. Moments later the dust settled, but the sandbags were nowhere to be found.
Instead, a whirlpool of mud wound its way into the ground, giving way to a dark hole. There was no glimpse of where it would lead.
"Oh no, this is not good," Buck whimpered, shielding his eyes with his free arm. "We're going to die, Parker!"
Parker closed his eyes and shook his head. "We are so screwed," he cursed as the two fell into the sinkhole.
Immediately after their bodies sank into the ground, the whirlpool collapsed upon itself. All that was left was a pile of gravel where a stack of sandbags had been.
Above, the digimon that was formerly known as Nicolae Carpathia snickered evilly. "It looks like they will not meddle in the Conundrum anymore," he hissed as he crept away.
to be continued
[and to add to the disclaimer ... this little phone-tag game could be found in almost any cop or adventure series on television, so I won't go rattling off a long list of shows. But the Delores business I guess Seven Days fans would recognize - that's somewhat where I got the idea for DIGITAL CONUNDRUM, anyway ... hey, 'Delores' did sound a bit like Archnemon, eh? Oh well.]
start 'Seven Days' theme song....
Backstep 03
Runabout Ways
-------------------------------------------------
Location - the Center
Time - approximately six days before Digital Conundrum
-------------------------------------------------
"Heaven's ... Knuckle!"
Takeru and Hikari, sprawled on the ground, saw the golden beam of light arch its way to the explosive in the center of the room. The bomb went off in a cloud of smoke and mechanical parts when the light hit it. The children covered their heads just to protect themselves from the flying debris.
The dust settled, and Takeru and Hikari stood and dusted themselves off. Angemon was again in a military attention, but this time he was facing the children. He then spoke, but his mouth moved with his words like a badly dubbed movie.
"All will be safe now, Chosen Children," he whispered in the strange voice he spoke in when he replied to Dagomon. "The danger has passed."
Takeru looked down at his arm and rubbed the tender burn. "Well ... thanks, Angemon, but you could have warned us about the attack." He winced and brought his hand away from the burn. "I don't suppose this Center has a pharmacy."
Angemon walked towards Takeru slowly and purposefully, his staff clanging on the metal floor with every step. The angel brought a hand to Takeru's wound, grasping the boy's arm lightly. His body started to glow with a white light, like the one that engulfs a digimon when it evolves. Takeru raised his free arm to shield his eyes, but Angemon harshly pushed the boy's arm away with his staff.
Hikari advanced towards Takeru and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Angemon," she started, "what are you doing? You've already harmed your partner!"
The angel rapped one of Hikari's hands lightly with his staff. "Silence," he whispered harshly. "Step away from the boy."
Hikari warily backed away from Takeru and looked upon Angemon in shock. The majestic angel had forgotten the name of his own destined partner! What kind of power did the Center have on digimon? And what had it done to Angemon?
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Location - NNL
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Parker and Buck sat bored in Owsley's quarters, ready to nod off to an early sleep. An empty bowl of popcorn was set on the top of a comic book-covered coffee table, ready to fall off. Owsley had left the quarters for a few sodas from the nearby soda machine, and he hadn't been back for a few minutes.
"Oh, when is Owls going to get back?" Parker moaned, rubbing his eyes furiously. "He said he was just going to get us some root beers."
A phone on the coffee table started to ring, the computerized tone rousing Buck. The world-renowned reporter aimlessly pressed the speakerphone button, and a light on the phone turned red.
"Uh, hello?" Buck said drowsily. "Who is this?"
The sultry female voice on the other line was alien to him. "Oh, you're Mister Cameron 'Buck' Williams. I don't think I've met you. I'm Delores. I would like to talk to both you and Mister Frank Parker, if you don't mind."
Buck stammered his reply. "Sure. Parker's here, too."
Parker put a hand over his eyes and shook his head. "Not this Delores girl again," he breathed as he sat up. "What do you want, Delores?" he asked the phone.
"Oh, I just want you and Buck to meet me at O'Connell's Pub and Grill in downtown Los Angeles," Delores replied. "There'll be a big price to pay if you don't."
Parker sighed in defeat. "Let me guess - little birdies are going to fall from the sky."
"You're telepathic, aren't you?" Delores joked. "Smarter than I thought. Well, yes ... little birdies are going to fall from the sky - and maybe a big bird or two. Remember - O'Connell's Pub and Grill. Be there at eight. And only you and Buck. Bring anyone else and I'll make the birdies fall."
Parker forced a nod, and Buck just sat emotionless. "All right." He looked at his watch - it was seven in the evening, making it six in Los Angeles. "Buck and I'll be there."
"Good." Delores hung up, but the familiar dial tone did not sound. Owsley's voice, though, was heard instead.
"Uh, guys, you still there?"
Parker nodded. "Yeah. Where are you?"
Owsley seemed to be rummaging through a warehouse for words. "Well ... uh ... I'm in the ... uh, prototype airplane hangar. Yeah. I was tracing the call. Didn't get any real lock on it though, but Isaac and Olga believe that the call was jumped through inter-dimensional rifts."
"Inter-dimensional rifts?" Buck asked. "But didn't you say that it was impossible?"
"Well, not entirely. One of our ... uh ... experimental aircraft went through another dimension - rumor has it that it caused severe damage out here. I'll try to recreate that event as a means of communicating with this digital world so we could put an end to the disappearances that will soon come."
Buck nodded blankly. "Oh."
"Keep up the good work, Owsley," Parker said, rising from the couch. "Has Talmadge arranged for a ride to LA yet?"
"Yeah," Owsley droned. "You'll be at LAX within the hour."
"That's good," Parker said, helping Buck out of the couch. "Don't want our birdie to fall from the sky." Too late did he realize that it was a bad joke - even for someone that had already experienced the disappearances.
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Location - O'Connell's Pub and Grill, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Parker and Buck swaggered into O'Connell's a minute before eight in the evening. They were dressed rather nondescript - Parker in black and Buck in clothes that would make him look akin to a jungle explorer. Nobody could tell that one was an NSA agent and the other a world-famous journalist.
"It's already eight," Buck sighed. "There are so many women around here! Any one of them could be Delores."
"You're right," Parker said, taking a seat by the bar. A man came with an ordering pad. "I'd like a beer, please." He looked over at Buck and saw the 'no thanks' look in his eyes. "And ... a root beer for my friend here."
The barkeeper went off and soon returned with two glass bottles. Parker handed the barkeeper a ten-dollar bill before giving the root beer to Buck.
"Drink up," Parker breathed, opening his beer with his thumb. "This may be the last time you get to drink one of these."
Buck reluctantly opened his bottle of root beer and took a drink. "Please don't say that, Parker. You're making me more nervous."
Parker took a swig from his bottle and smacked his lips. "That's why I don't drink soda during a big mission. It makes me nervous."
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Location - the Center
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Takeru tried to avert his eyes from the brightly shining body of Angemon, yet how could he if the angel was holding his wounded arm so tightly and keeping his head and free arm restrained with that staff? This may have been Angemon, released from that strange Crest of Hope-shaped engraving on the pedestal, but he didn't act like the Angemon that Takeru knew. Why was Angemon behaving so ... coldly?
"Angemon ... what are you doing?" Takeru breathed through clenched teeth.
Angemon (?), though, only answered his partner with a light tap on the boy's cheek with his staff. "Silence, Takeru," he whispered in a monotone. "Be patient." He seemed to see Takeru close his eyes against the light. "Open your eyes."
Takeru reluctantly opened one of his eyes, and the light that had engulfed Angemon immediately died down. Now a strange angel clothed in white robes stood before the boy, a gloved hand resting on Takeru's arm. His single pair of large white wings looked as if they would fill the entire room. The angel cocked his ivory miter-shielded head towards a faltering Hikari, and then looked down at Takeru again. He then spoke, his words now in unison with the motions of his mouth.
"Holy ... Disinfection."
Angemon - or whomever this new digimon was - slowly released his hold on Takeru's arm. The boy looked down where the bright red burn had been - it had scarred over, as it would after weeks of healing. Takeru then raised his head towards the angel with a wan smile on his lips. "Uh ... thanks," he stammered, unsure. "Who are you?"
The angel, emotionless, backed away to where the Crest of Hope was engraved on the floor. White light flooded from the engraving as the angel stepped upon it, bathing his form in brightness. He then opened his mouth again, his words echoing across the large room.
"I am the Guardian."
And then the angel fell into a limp military attention, staring off unawares at the two children before him.
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Location - O'Connell's Pub and Grill
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Parker and Buck had finished their drinks when the bartender came up to them again. He didn't have an ordering pad this time, but an urgent look was upon his face. "Is one of you Frank Parker?" he asked sullenly.
Parker nodded. "Yeah. What gives?"
"There's a call for you on the pay phone by the restrooms." He pointed to a brick-lined corridor by the bar. "Girl on there sounds like she needs you urgently."
Parker shrugged and climbed off the barstool, and Buck rose from leaning on the bar table. "Okay. Thanks for telling us," Parker groaned. "Come on, Buck." He sauntered down to the pay phone, with Buck trying to navigate through the obstacle course of slightly drunk patrons. Minutes later the two reached the pay phone.
"I knew that you two would be here," a familiar voice crooned from the other end as Parker picked up the phone. "Right on time."
Parker sighed and leaned on the phone booth. "Where are you, Delores?" he barked.
"Bad move, Parker," Delores whispered. "You'll find out in due time. But I can tell you that I'm not at the bar."
Parker slammed his fist on the phone booth with such force that even some of the patrons looked down into the hallway. Buck sheepishly waved his hands as a cover as Parker continued to speak. Eventually the other people at the bar grew uninterested and turned away.
"So how do we get to where you are?" Parker hissed into the phone.
There was a pause, then, "See that window at the end of the hallway?"
Parker, stunned, glanced down the other end of the hall. It ended in a brick wall, with a large, open rectangular window in it. A view of a sleepy road was all it granted, other than some frigid evening air.
"Yeah, I see the window," Parker droned. "Now what?"
"Oh, you and Buck just have to jump out of the window into the dumpster below." Delores seemed to give a hearty chuckle as she spoke. "There's something for the two of you inside so that I won't have to dial collect to all these phone booths."
Parker warily motioned for Buck to look down out the window. The reporter obeyed, and then shook his head in shock.
"There's a dumpster down there, and it's open," he groaned.
"Great," Parker cursed under his breath. "What do we do with whatever we find in the dumpster?"
"There'll be a note somewhere with those items that'll tell you what to do with them. I'll hear from you soon, Frankie." The click of a phone hanging up, then the drone of a dial tone came from the other end of the line.
Parker hung up and walked over to the window where Buck was. "We've got to jump into that dumpster," he sighed. "You up to it?"
Buck nodded his head, but the motion seemed as if it were forced. "First time for everything," he breathed as he climbed out of the window. Nobody was in the hallway or even remotely nearby to report what was happening.
The window was on the second story of a building, but the distance from the dumpster to the window seemed like a mile. Buck closed his eyes as he leaped from the window. Moments later a muffled thump was heard below, and Buck's head emerged from the dumpster. Two large, yellow envelopes were in his hands.
"I think these are ours," Buck called from below. "Our names are on them."
Parker nodded and climbed out of the window. "Maybe. Now get out of the dumpster - I'm coming down."
Buck stumbled out of the dumpster moments before Parker crashed inside. The sound of aluminum being crunched rang like bells as Parker climbed out of the dumpster and took the envelope that said PARKER in bold black letters from Buck's hands. He opened it and dumped the contents into his hands.
It was a headset, much like those the phone operators wore at NNL. There was a single earpiece that fit inside the ear, and a microphone attached to it that curved down towards the mouth. Parker put it on and threw the envelope in the dumpster.
Buck opened his envelope and found not only a headset, but also a square piece of paper with scrawled writing on it. It read, "Go to the abandoned lot two blocks north from here. More instructions will be given when you arrive."
Buck put the headset over his head and threw the envelope into the dumpster. The note he handed over to Parker. "You think we should do this?"
Parker glanced at the note before wadding it up and tossing it inside the dumpster. "If we're going to stop a few hundred local flights from crashing, then I guess we should." He started to run out to the street, and then stopped at the corner. A moment later he motioned for Buck to follow, and the two men promptly ran across the street.
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Location - an apartment in downtown Los Angeles
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Delores sat in a darkened room before an array of computer screens that displayed various images. A bowl of ramen was on her lap, and on occasion she would dip her chopsticks inside and slurp up the noodles.
Currently, though, the mysterious woman was chewing on her chopsticks as she stared at one of the screens. This one was of the Center, with the pesky Japanese 'Chosen Children' standing warily before the Guardian. There was no sign of the bomb she had planted there.
"Good - it doesn't seem that the brats notice," she chuckled through the chopstick in her mouth. "Now let's see how President Carpathia is holding up." She swiveled her chair to glance at another computer, taking care not to spill her ramen - her dress was still terribly stained from the previous night's incident.
Nicolae Carpathia, despite the late hour in New York, was holding a meeting with ten of the top representatives of the United Nations. The renowned botanist Chaim Rosenzweig, the creator of the so-called Eden Formula, was also present. Nicolae's words of "We shall unite the world as a Global Community" were faintly heard through the speakers.
"Well done, Nicolae," she whispered, turning to the next screen. "Maybe you have some use in the Conundrum after all. Now how are Frankie and Buck doing?"
The last screen showed the abandoned lot that she had instructed Buck and Parker to go to. The men were there now, staring up at two objects hanging from the hook of a crane.
Delores took her ramen and set it on the table before leaning over to a microphone. "Frankie, Buck - can you hear me?" she called in her sultry voice.
Parker's voice cackled through the speakers. "Yeah, we can. What now?"
Delores slurped up some ramen as she spoke. "You see those things hanging from the crane?"
This time it was Buck who replied. "Yeah, we do."
"You have ten minutes to retrieve them. They're palmtop computers, and they have directions as to where to go next. Now hurry up - time's a-wasting."
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Location - an abandoned lot in Los Angeles
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Buck gasped in shock. "Ten minutes to get two palmtop computers from the top of that crane! How are we going to manage that?"
Parker gave a sly grin and ran to the crane's control cabin. "Simple. All we have to do is bring the hook part of the crane crashing down to our level. Now come on - I have a plan."
Buck shrugged. "All right. What am I going to do?" He followed after Parker.
"You stand a little off from directly beneath the hook of the crane," Parker said, climbing inside the cabin. "I lower the hook. Then you take the computers."
Buck nodded and backed away from the cabin. "I've got it," he called. "Is out here good enough?"
Parker nodded and settled himself in the cabin's chair. An array of levers littered the control panel before him. He pulled one down, and the cable that held the hook lowered to the ground at an exceedingly sluggish pace. The machinery squeaked with strain and neglect at five-second intervals.
A minute later Buck held up his hand in a halt signal. Parker craned his head out of the cabin, and saw that the two palmtops were at level with Buck's waist.
"Good job, Buck," Parker called as he climbed out of the cabin. Buck tossed one of the palmtops to him, and then took the other from the hook.
The miniature computers were of a strange make - they resembled oversized stopwatches, minus the nylon used to string it around one's neck. A raised part of it was circular, enclosing an oversize square screen. The edge of the raised portion was engraved with Digital Hieroglyphs. Three buttons - two small ones on the right side, and a large one on the left - flanked the raised area. An antenna, like one on a cell phone, stuck out from the raised section.
The strange thing about the device, though, was that it seemed so ... familiar.
"Good work, guys - you did it quicker than I thought." Delores' voice cackled through Parker and Buck's headsets again. "Now follow the directions on your digital devices and go to the Corner Bookstore five blocks from here."
Parker and Buck looked down at the screens of their devices. A grid with faint red dots was displayed, along with a blue star in a corner.
"I guess that blue star is where we have to go," Buck sighed. "Come on."
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Location - the Corner Bookstore
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It was almost nine in the evening when Buck and Parker reached the Corner Bookstore. The store was a modest establishment, situated in a three-story brick building that was on a street corner. Despite the late hour, a few bookshelves were still out in the street.
"So, what are we supposed to do here?" Buck asked, looking up the side of the building. A few windows on the higher levels were lighted from inside, giving view to people eating a late dinner.
"Good question, Buck," Delores' voice crooned again from the headsets. "You and Frankie have to take the fire escape to the roof. You'll find two backpacks with what I'd like to call ... oh, survival equipment. You have fifteen minutes, or else the next big news you hear is the airplane that's about to crash land over your heads."
Parker groaned and walked off to an alleyway behind the building. "Climbing a fire escape may take more than fifteen minutes. Come on, Buck." He found the rungs of a fire escape above his head, near a closed dumpster. Grudgingly Parker climbed on top of the dumpster and took hold of the ladder, making sure to shove his digital device in his pants pocket.
When Buck saw Parker on the second-story level of the fire escape, he clambered to the top of the dumpster and climbed the fire escape after him. Moments later the two were at the top of the building, looking out at the street.
"Now where are those backpacks?" Parker groaned, taking his digital device from his pocket. Buck did the same. A new blue dot glowed on the screen, nearly on top of the red dots that stood for the men.
Parker then looked down at his feet. Two military-issue backpacks were before him and Buck. "I guess we've found them," he said, taking one and slinging it over his shoulders. He clamped his digital device to a strap.
Buck grabbed the other and placed it on his back. "Looks like another job well done. But what do you think are in these?" He shoved his digital device in a pants pocket and looked at Parker.
"Beats me. We don't have time to check."
Momentarily Delores' voice was heard from the headsets. "That was an excellent job, Frankie and Buck. You did it in ten minutes. That gives you more time to reach where I am."
"And where's that?" Parker asked, yelling into the microphone of his headset.
"Ah! Not so loud! You're ruining the speakers!" Delores yelled. Clattering was heard in the background. "Now look - you made me spill my ramen. Well, anyway, Frankie, all you have to do is follow this makeshift bridge I constructed especially for you. It's the laundry line behind you that leads to the abandoned apartment complex. You and Buck have to use the laundry line as a bridge. See you in twenty minutes!"
Parker and Buck turned around, gaining view of a half-demolished brick building across the alley from them. A laundry line, laden with sheer nightwear, was strung between the two buildings, gaining access to the fire escape on the third level of the abandoned building.
Buck groaned and slammed his hand on his forehead. "Don't tell me we have to walk across that."
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Location - an apartment in downtown Los Angeles
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Delores stood up and stared down at her red dress. Two consecutive ramen spill stains in the exact same place! There was no way this stain was going to come out.
Though wary to leave her computers behind, Delores marched off to another room. Moments later she emerged with a clean dress, a clone of her previous one. She was about to walk into the computer room when a familiar form caught her sunglass-hidden eyes.
It was Nicolae Carpathia.
"Now, how did you get here so quickly?" Delores snapped at the Romanian in power suit and tie. "It's a six hour flight from here to New York."
"But it is a six second jump via computer," Carpathia countered, approaching Delores. "You forget - we are digimon, not human."
Delores sweatdropped and giggled nervously. "Oh, yeah. So ... how are things going at the UN?"
Carpathia sighed and walked towards the computers. "Same old, same old. Had a meeting with the ten I have chosen to lead after the Conundrum. Even got hold of Chaim Rosenzweig - a miracle I did, with that Special Ops team guarding him like a military secret. He has agreed to give me the rights to Eden Formula for the allotted seven years."
Delores smiled gleefully, and then took her seat by the computers. One screen showed the Japanese brats still staring at the Guardian; another gave view to a laundry line filled with women's underwear; the last was of the empty United Nations conference room. A clock by one computer started to beep - Buck and Parker's allotted twenty minutes were up.
"It looks like Buck and Parker aren't going to see tomorrow," Delores sighed. She swiveled her chair to another table, this one with a computer screen decorated with the words DIGITAL CONUNDRUM. A red button beside the monitor flashed on.
"And now it's time to bring about Apocalypse," she snickered, pressing the button.
A message flashed on the screen of the computer: EXPLOSIVE NOT CONNECTED. PLEASE TRY AGAIN.
Carpathia leaned over the table to view the monitor that displayed the Center. He pressed a few buttons on a keyboard, gaining a wider view of the area. "Lovebunkins," he crooned, "your explosive has gone off a little bit too early."
Delores angrily scooted herself before the computer, shoving Carpathia out of her way. "You're right!" she gasped. "It's gone! Darn Guardian and Chosen Children! They always meddle in our plans!"
"I hope you haven't forgotten about us, Delores."
The mysterious voice caused both Nicolae and Delores to turn away from the computer. In the doorway were two figures - Frank Parker and Buck Williams. They both had handguns pointed at the computers.
"We heard the entire conversation," Buck growled. "You, know, maybe I should resign from my post as Nicolae's publicity manager."
Nicolae slowly raised his hands over his small head. "Uh, you know, Mr. Williams, that would be a very bad idea, considering that you have not done a thing for me yet. You know, I even gave you the wrong CD."
"Yeah, sure, we both knew that," Parker growled. "Now then, Nicolae and Delores - or should I say, the digimon duo - come out with your hands up, and keep any weapons where we could see them."
Nicolae seemed to pause for a moment. "Oh, so you mean this weapon?"
A large machine gun materialized in the Nicolae's hands, pointed towards Buck and Parker. As he revealed the weapon, Nicolae's body flashed with a gray burst of light. When it died down, the form of a man with skin the pallor of the deceased took his place.
The strange thing about this man, though, was that he was covered in toilet paper like a badly wrapped Egyptian mummy.
Buck lowered his gun and turned to face Parker. "Uh, Frank," he stammered, "that's the guy that demolished my apartment a few days ago!"
Parker didn't ease down his firearm, but he could only stare at the transformed Nicolae. "Great - so Nicolae's dark side trashed your pad," he groaned. "Got any plans?"
Nicolae aimed his machine gun at Parker and pulled the trigger. "Snake Bandage!"
Parker ducked as a beam of crimson and white electricity arched over him. He pushed Buck further down a hallway, running farther from the rampaging mummy. "Let's get out of here!"
Buck and Parker hurriedly ran down the shambles of the hall, occasionally ducking from the beams of electricity that Nicolae fired. Minutes later the end of the hall started to glow with a semi-fluorescent light.
"We're almost out," Buck panted. The weight of the heavy backpack was taking its toll on his running. "You think we can outrun Nicolae?"
Parker chuckled; he seemed to show no strain from the weight on his back. "I didn't know that anyone would want to run from him."
"Well, at least we have a reason."
Parker then suddenly halted. Buck nearly ran into him, and saw why he had stopped.
The floor ended in a band of thick support wires. All that was left was a steel framework of the building, and a stack of sandbags fifty feet below.
"This doesn't look good, Frank," Buck breathed, looking down at the long drop. Nicolae's pounding footsteps were growing closer, and another beam of electricity raced by Buck.
"There is nowhere for you to run from Mummymon!" Nicolae roared, firing beams of electricity from his machine gun. "Snake Bandage!"
Parker and Buck ducked from the crackling electricity that arched over their heads. "We have to jump!" Parker yelled over the din. "The sandbags aren't that far away!"
Buck's eyes widened in shock. "What? Are you crazy?"
"We have to! Come on!" Parker shoved his firearm into a hidden holster about his waist and grabbed Buck's free arm. The two leaped off the floor, headed for the sandbags below.
Nicolae (Mummymon?) stopped at the edge of the floor, and saw the two human men fall to the ground. He aimed his machine gun at the pile of sandbags below, and pulled the trigger.
"Snake ... Bandage!"
An arc of electricity raced down to the sandbags, exploding them in a burst of gravel and sackcloth. Buck and Parker shielded their eyes from the blast as sand rushed towards their bodies. Moments later the dust settled, but the sandbags were nowhere to be found.
Instead, a whirlpool of mud wound its way into the ground, giving way to a dark hole. There was no glimpse of where it would lead.
"Oh no, this is not good," Buck whimpered, shielding his eyes with his free arm. "We're going to die, Parker!"
Parker closed his eyes and shook his head. "We are so screwed," he cursed as the two fell into the sinkhole.
Immediately after their bodies sank into the ground, the whirlpool collapsed upon itself. All that was left was a pile of gravel where a stack of sandbags had been.
Above, the digimon that was formerly known as Nicolae Carpathia snickered evilly. "It looks like they will not meddle in the Conundrum anymore," he hissed as he crept away.
to be continued