For The Love of a Gatomon
Chapter 8: Betrayal at the Krondor
Mrs. Kamiya sighed deeply as she headed towards the couch with her favorite book, 'The Adolescent and the Fidgety.'
"If anything can get rid of my throbbing headache, it's this book," she said, clutching it lovingly to her bosom, "I have to talk to Kari about her digimon slamming doors like that." Mrs. Kamiya's eyes bugged out as she stared at the couch. From behind a pillow, Patamon's ears were sticking out and twitching. "AHHHH!!!!!!" she yelled, grabbing a broom. "Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!!!" she screeched, smashing the crap out of the pillow with the end of the broom.
"Mom, what's wrong??" said Kari, rushing back into the living room. Her mother was still shaking and pointing at the pillow/ears. Kari quickly realized what her mother had just beaten up. "Oh no! Patamon!" she yelled, rushing over to the pillow.
"Patamon?" her mother said, confused. Kari pulled the pillow away to reveal Patamon looking less than well. His eyes were rolling around in their sockets and his tongue dangled lifelessly from his open mouth. "Oh my! Kari I'm so sorry! I thought he was a bat or something."
"That's okay, Mom," said Kari, picking Patamon up, "He's just here to take Gatomon out on a date."
"Dates taste like candied yam," mumbled Patamon.
"But where's Gatomon then?" her mom asked.
"Probably in the bathroom or something," said Kari, taking Patamon to her room. "C'mon, Patamon, let's get you fixed up."
"Uh.. I'm really sorry!!" yelled Mrs. Kamiya.
Kari closed the door behind her and sat down on her bed with Patamon. He was starting to recover a bit from the beating he took earlier.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"You're in my room," said Kari. "Are you okay?"
"I think so," he said, rubbing his head.
"Good," said Kari, "Because I need to talk to you about something."
"Um.. okay," he said, looking up at her, "What's up?" Kari took a deep breath and sat down next to him.
"Well, early this morning, Veemon was over and he caught me in an embarrassing situation. I don't know if he's told Davis about it or not but one thing I REALLY don't want to happen is for T.K. to find out too, okay?"
"Uh huh..," said Patamon, not really getting it, "What happened?"
"That's not what matters here!" she yelled. Patamon slinked back. "Sorry, sorry. Look, I just want you to prevent T.K. from hearing about it, alright?"
"Well, I will, but how can I do that if I don't know what I'm trying to prevent him from hearing?" asked Patamon.
Kari opened her mouth to object but closed it slowly. She knew he was right. She sighed deeply and recounted the tale. Patamon's eyes opened wider and wider as it went on.
"So that's what happened," she finished, "Now do you see why I don't want T.K. to know about it?" Patamon's face remained unchanged from its shocked look as he nodded. "The worst part is that it went a bit further than that."
"How could it get further than THAT??" asked Patamon, doubly shocked.
"Well...," said Kari, recounting a part of the story that she didn't even tell Gatomon. Once she was through describing it, Patamon no longer looked shocked. He had a slight smirk on his face and a wicked look in his eyes.
"Well, no problem, Kari," said Patamon, "I know JUST how to fix things. Where did Gatomon say we were going out?"
"To the Krondor..... wait why didn't you know that?"
"C'mon, who do you think she's REALLY there with?" he asked.
"....... Why that little liar!! She's with Veemon?!"
"I wouldn't be surprised. Having me come over was probably just a cover-up."
"I see. Okay, then, do me TWO favors....." said Kari, looking equally wicked.
******At Davis's Place******
Approximately two hours had passed since Patamon and Kari had their discussion. Davis was in his room getting all jazzed up.
"Oh my darling, knock three times on the ceiling if you want me. Twice on the pipe, if the answer is 'no.' Oh my sweetness...," he sang as he put on a tie to go along with the rest of his ensemble.
"Davis!! How many times do I have to tell you not to throw out perfectly good vegetables?!" Davis's mom yelled.
"Wasn't me!" yelled Davis. Just then, Veemon slowly opened the door and sulked his way over to the bed.
"Yo! Veemon, what's up?" said Davis, not really noticing the way his friend was walking. Veemon silently crawled into bed and pulled the covers over his head. "Veemon?" asked Davis looking over at the bed. He walked towards the lump in the covers and tapped it. "Hey dude, what's the matter?" Veemon just sniffled a bit from the covers. Davis pulled them down a bit. "Veemon? Are you okay?" Veemon's eyes were wet with tears.
"She *sniff* she found out the rest of the shtory, Davish," he sniffled.
"Huh? The rest of what? What's going on?" he asked.
"I didn't tell you the whole story, Davish," Veemon sobbed, "I did more than jusht looking at her."
"......Wha?" said Davis still not getting it. Davis picked Veemon up, out of the covers and sat him on the bed. "Mind telling me what's going on?"
"Well....." said Veemon as he began to recount what took place earlier that night.
******9:20PM******
Gatomon and Veemon were sitting at a nice table in the corner of the Krondor, a pizza place in downtown Shinjuku.
"This was a great place to come, Veemon," said Gatomon, admiring the fun interior of the Chuck-E.-Cheese-like joint.
"Hey, what's better than eating pizza and playing games?" said Veemon, smiling, "So.. now that we're here, you mind telling me what all that was about back at your place?"
"Oh, you know, this and that," said Gatomon, a bit nervously.
"Oh, I get it, I have to MAKE ya talk, ay?" said Veemon, sliding beneath the table.
"What? No!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" she laughed as he tickled the heck out of her feet. "Stop it stop it stop it! I give!!" she laughed, flailing all over the place. Veemon popped up beside her and cuddled up like a puppy.
"Then you'll tell me?" he asked, batting his eyes and grinning like a fox.
"Uhh.. yeah sure," she said, looking around for a way out of the tight situation. She had avoided the subject all the way to the restaurant but now it seemed she had no choice.
Oh well, what's the worst that could happen? she thought, I'm sure he'll understand.
"Why don't you let me in on it?" said Patamon, from another table behind them. Gatomon and Veemon stood straight up and peered behind them. Patamon was resting his head in one paw and tapping his other one on the cushion that separated their booths. "How's it going, guys?" he asked.
"..Fine," said Gatomon, guiltily.
"..Fine," said Veemon, wondering why the heck Patamon was there.
"Oh good, good," said Patamon, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to butt in like that. I just couldn't help overhearing your conversation and I figured maybe I could help you out there."
"NO! I mean, that's okay, no thanks," said Gatomon, shaking like a chiwawa in winter.
"Oh? Well, then, maybe I could help you guys out with a secret of Veemon's?" he said, obviously holding all the cards.
"...... *gasp!* NO! That's just fine, thanks," said Veemon, realizing what Patamon must have somehow figured out. Gatomon looked at Veemon quizzically.
"What's wrong?" she asked, momentarily forgetting her own guilt.
"...Wanna go somewhere else to eat??" he blurted out.
"Oh don't do that," said Patamon, snidely, "I'm sure your food's almost ready."
"Uhhhhh," said Veemon that option now lost.
"Oh I get it!" said Patamon, "You don't want Gatomon to find out from me what REALLY happened that night with Kari. Isn't that right, Veemon?"
"Uhh uhba... uhbababuauua," Veemon mumbled, glancing nervously back and forth between Patamon and Gatomon. Patamon, still smirking, hopped over the divider and landed between them. He put his wings around both of them.
"Now then, why don't we all have a seat and tell each other all about our interesting day, shall we?" Gatomon and Veemon, both knowing someone was going to be in trouble, sat down with Patamon. "Now then, let's roll back the clock to earlier this morning."
"Patamon, don't you have somewhere you need to be right now?" Veemon asked, still looking for a way out.
"Oh, but I'm sure Gatomon would just LOVE to hear about how you molested Kari in the bathroom," said Patamon.
"What?????" said Gatomon, standing up on the seat cushion.
"That's right, Gats," said Patamon to her, "You're steady boyfriend did more than Kari told you he did. After he saw Kari, he climbed on top of her and tried to, well, take the cucumbers place if you know what I mean."
"WHAT???!!!!!!!!!!" yelled Gatomon, startling everyone in the restaurant. All eyes turned to look at Veemon who had slouched down and was babbling incoherently, sweating like a pig in a tanning salon.
"I-I-I-I It's not true, I swear!" he said, clutching his hands over his face, lest she deck him out of the seat. Gatomon was FUMING. Her paws were clutched into fists so tightly you could practically hear the bones cracking. She looked like a stick of dynamite ready to blow as she clenched her teeth and snorted violently through her nose. Veemon crouched into as small a ball as he could. Suddenly, Gatomon's fury and rage disappeared. She had found a much more painful punishment for Veemon.
"Patamon?" she asked, slowly, "How would you like to take me out? I believe I'm done here."
"I'd be happy to," said Patamon, taking her Paw. They walked across the table top together and hopped down onto the floor.
"C'mon," she said, "I know of a MUCH nicer restaurant to go to than this tasteless dump."
"Sounds good to me," said Patamon as they strolled out. Everyone in the restaurant paused and applauded.
"Wow, those new toys are really good actors!" mentioned one guy. Veemon, still frowning, took a nonchalant bow and sat back down, face in hands.
******Back at the Motomiya's (present time)******
Davis seemed even angrier than Gatomon had been.
"You did WHAT to Kari??!!!!" he yelled.
"*SNIFF* Nothing!!" sobbed Veemon, "Patamon lied. I wash caught off guard. I didn't know what to shay. I can't prove anything to Gatomon and now.. and NOW! Ohhhhh..." He started sobbing again as the rest of his sentence turned to mush.
"Hey, hey..... Hey Veemon, it's okay," said Davis, patting his back, "Look this is totally simple."
"What'sh that shupposed to mean??" Veemon cried.
"It's easy. Look, Kari forgave you already, so all you have to do is tell her about Patamon's lie and she'll tell Gatomon the truth. Gatomon will definitely believe it coming from Kari. She'll see Patamon lied, dump him, and go back to you. See?" Veemon's crying died down.
"Wow Davis," he said, drying his eyes, "That's two times in one week."
"Two times for what?"
"Two times you gave me good advice," said Veemon, winking.
"Hey! My advice is always good!"
"..Yeah, it is," said Veemon, humoring him.
"One thing still bothers me though," he said, going back to the mirror to straighten his tie. "Most guys would jump right back and call Patamon a liar in a situation like that. Why didn't you?"
"Well, like I said, I was caught off guard...... also, part of his story was true." Davis stopped tying his tie and slowly turned to look at Veemon.
"Exactly WHAT part of it was true?" asked Davis.
"Well...," said Veemon as he began to recount.
******Early that morning******
Veemon was in the bath playing with a rubber ducky while Gatomon had gone off to get him a towel.
"Rarh!! You are mine, Doom Duck! Vee head-butt!" said Veemon, smacking the duck with his head, missing it, and banging it through the water into the bottom of the tub. He sat up holding his head until the wringing stopped. Suddenly, he became aware of footsteps coming towards the door. They were too heavy to be Gatomon's so he quickly drew the shower curtain. Just as he thought, the door opened up and a taller figure walked in.
"Oh no!" he thought, "That's probably Tai! What if he tries to take a shower?! If he catches me and tells Kari, Gatomon will be mad!" Veemon listened closely and indeed heard the sound of clothes being stripped. A feminine creature took a deep breath and released it. "Uh oh. Worse than that, it's Kari herself!" He covered his eyes and prepared for the inevitable scream when she would pull open the curtains. A few seconds went by and it didn't come, though. Carefully, he peered between the wall and the curtain. His jaw opened as he saw Kari about to.. take herself with the cucumber she had taken from the fridge.
Oh my GOD! Veemon thought, Look at the size of that gash!! She needs medical attention right away!!!
"Kari, don't move!" he shouted, leaping out from behind the shower curtain.
"WAAAHHH!!!!!!" yelled, Kari, scrambling to cover herself up. Veemon zipped over to the counter and grabbed some band-aids and some first aid cream. "Oh man, it's really bad!" he said, pulling the cucumber out. Kari screamed again and covered herself up.
"No no no!!!" she yelled, banging him on the head over and over with her fists.
"Kari, this needs to be treated!" he yelled, rubbing the cream all over her ... her.
"THAT'S NOT A CUT, YOU MORON!!!!" she yelled, gripping his ears and staring him straight in the eye.
"...... But.........oh. OH! Uhhhhh!!! .. Uh oh," he said, his fingers still where they were and the cucumber still in his other hand.
"GET OUT RIGHT NOW!!!!" she yelled.
Veemon raced out of the bathroom with his hands covering his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!" he said, running past Gatomon, who had just come back with a towel, "Call you later, Gats!!" That said, he zipped out the front door and slammed it behind him, taking the cucumber with him.
******In Davis's Room (present time)******
Davis stared at Veemon, shocked.
"You thought she was cut???" he asked, incredulously.
"Well, how was I supposed to know humans have... well... you know, private parts?" asked Veemon.
"Why do you think we wear clothes?!" asked Davis.
"I dunno, I thought you just got cold easily or something," said Veemon. "So, anyway, that's when I came home, dumped the cucumber in the trash and told you what happened. I didn't want to tell you the whole thing because I was worried you'd kill me."
"...... Wow, I don't know whether to beat you up or ask you what it was like."
"I'd prefer the second one any day," said Veemon, backing away, "..Um.. so, wanna tell me why you're getting all snazzed up?"
"Huh? Oh yeah! Guess who's got a date with Kari?" he said, already forgetting about Veemon's situation.
".....No way," said Veemon, "How'd you get her to say yes?"
"..Well.. I haven't actually asked her yet," said Davis, going back to straightening his tie in the mirror.
"Huh? How does that work?" asked Veemon.
"Easy see I'm sorta gonna blackmail her into going out with me."
"You're gonna what???" Veemon yelled, hopping onto the floor.
"Well, maybe blackmail is too strong a word. More like.. greymail. See, I'm going to casually let her know that I found out about her cucumber thing and then ask her out on a date. She'll definitely go out with me if she knows I know her secret, see? It's not like I'm actually gonna SAY, 'Kari if you don't go out with me I'll tell everyone your dirty secret.'"
"Davis, that's low!" said Veemon.
"Maybe so but...... wait, did you say you threw the cucumber in the garbage here??"
"Um yeah," said Veemon.
"MOM!! Don't throw out that cucumber!!!!" yelled Davis, running out of his room. Veemon put his hand to his face and sighed deeply.
To be continued...