A/N: Okay, peeps, I'm gonna start crying if you don't start reviewing. This
story doesn't suck /that/ much. . . pweese? I'll give you a cookie.
Disclaimer: You know, I don't usually do disclaimers. They aren't really necessary. After all, by writing fanfiction, we automatically acknowledge that we don't own it, but we wish we did, so we spend time /pretending/ we own it. There. That's the disclaimer for the whole series. Nyaah.
Chapter 2: Partners
Yoko grabbed the blue-green cat Celamon and stumbled through the hole in the shield, closely followed by Tamara and Kaishi. Sandra reached over them with the baton and swung it sharply up, closing the gap just as the two gusts of wind slammed into each other.
The force of the collision ripped a hole in the Crystal Shield and sent the Digidestined to their knees. Celamon squirmed out of Yoko's arms and glared upwards. "What do you think you're--"
With a loud roar, Aerodyemon vanished.
"Oy," Sandra said intelligently.
"Is it over?"
Inero shot a glance at the trembling bush which had, apparently, spoken. "Who's that?"
"Ranumon. Who's that?"
"Inero Takana."
"Oh!" The shaking stopped and a small yellow mouse bounced out of the bush. He had silver stripes winding up and down his body and a very long, thin tail with a hard golden ball on the end. "You're my partner, then."
"Okay," Inero said.
Tamara grabbed her brother's arm to prevent him from moving forward to greet Ranumon. "Don't touch it. We don't know what it is. Looks kinda like a warped Pikachu."
"You have spoken the name of evil!" Kaishi intoned. "Now must thee die!"
"I don't really think 'thee' is the proper word there," Sandra murmured.
"Thou, then. Now must /thou/ die."
"I think 'thee' sounds better," Chino objected. Darmon nodded, his green eyes wide behind his mask.
"I like thou," Tamara said, grinning at Kaishi.
"Aw, thanks," he said, blushing prettily.
"All this talk about the Pikachu," Yoko noted.
"It's Ranumon," Inero corrected her. "/He's/ Ranumon."
Ranumon jumped up and balanced on the ball at the tip of his tail. "We're digimon, digital monsters. This is the Digiworld, and you're the Digidestined. Oh, and that was Aerodyemon. I never liked him."
"Okay," Chino said slowly. "Digi. So we're, like, in the computer?"
"Wake up, baseball boy," Kaishi snapped. "Digi doesn't necessarily mean 'in a computer.' Does this look like a computer to you? No computer in the world is this big."
"Maybe we shrunk," Sandra suggested.
Inero jerked his arm from Tamara's hold and went to pick up Ranumon. "I think it really is a different world, Mara-san."
"Yeah, right," she muttered.
Kaishi bit his lip in thought. "So that's Darmon, and that's Celamon, and that's Ranumon." He pointed at each as he spoke. "All ending with 'mon'. That seems to suggest that the Tentomon Dad's been getting emails about is /also/ a digimon."
Tamara shrugged. "Your point?"
"My father must know about this place."
Yoko's eyes widened. "Mother got an email about Palmon a week ago! She started crying!"
"Mother?" Kaishi asked incredulously. "What kind of freakish ten-year-old calls their mom Mother?"
"I'm nine, thankyouverymuch," the small girl said stiffly.
"An' I'm a Rookie!" Celamon added, trying to sound prim and not succeeding.
Chino shook his head in confusion. "A /what/?"
"It's the fourth level," Darmon said. "There's Egg, which isn't really a level at all, Baby, In-Training, and Rookie. Rookie is normal for partner digimon. Oh, and after that there's Champion, Ultimate, and Mega."
"This is a lot to take in," Tamara said. "My head's spinning. Don't I get a digi-whatever?"
A canine-type digimon bounded from the bushes, trailing flame behind her. "Of course, Tama! I'm Arcamon. Don't touch me without /warning/ me, 'kay?"
Tamara jumped back in alarm. "Er, you're on fire, Arcamon."
"Silly! I'm /supposed/ to be on fire!" Arcamon giggled.
"Whatever you say. Can I call you Arcanine?"
"You have spoken the name of another evil," Kaishi warned her.
"And /when/ did /you/ become so fluent in Pokemon names?" she asked, glaring at him in mock anger.
"When I had to endure your endless ranting during your Pokemon phase."
"Oh. Right."
Sandra looked around suspiciously. "Kaishi and I don't have our digimon yet."
"Actually," said a hissing sort of voice, "I've been here for some time, now."
Kaishi jerked away from the shadow-creature that had suddenly materialized before him, floating in front of his face. "Don't do that."
"Varismon does what he chooses to do," the shadow hissed. "And I choose /you/."
"Now who's spouting evil?" Tamara snickered.
"What about /me/?" Sandra asked, pouting adorably. Not even the plants could resist that pout, which was proved when a strange-looking fern moved to come closer.
"Don't do dat, Alexandra."
"Sandra," the girl corrected, peering at the fern. "What are you?"
"Teromon." The fern tilted its head up, revealing a pixie-like face and a slight, wispy body mostly hidden by the amber-streaked fern on her head. "You /my/ partner, Alexandra."
"I choose you, Pikachu," Tamara said, grinning broadly. "Okay, we have partners, so now. . . why the heck are we here?"
"The Game's afoot," Arcamon said cryptically. "Farasimon, the Plant Master, is being mean all of a sudden."
~~
"How flattering," Farasimon remarked.
~~
Teromon nodded, almost overbalancing because of the fern on her head. "She ordered all of us to start working on a really ugly palace. She wants to take over the world."
~~
"As a matter of fact, all I want to do is win the Game," Farasimon corrected, examining her nails.
Kemaimon chuckled. "You've just been insulted. Ugly palace."
"I know. I'll deal with it later. Whose turn is it?"
"Mine," Ryukumon rumbled. "I'm waiting, though. If we throw too much at them right now, they'll start to suspect something."
"True," Skydramon acknowledged.
Senauramon didn't care to participate in this discussion. She gently tapped the face-down card she had given to Kaishi. She would, of course, wait for the right moment to bring it into play. It wouldn't do to have too many of the other Masters around. They would suspect something immediately, perhaps even see her real plan.
After all, one didn't play an Armor card of such potency unless one had a fairly well-planned strategy. Surely the others would know that.
Then again...
Senauramon waited, her eyes glinting.
~~
"Take over /this/ world?" Inero asked.
"Yes," Ranumon answered.
"I get it," Chino announced. "We have to find this Farasimon and convince her not to take over the world. That's why we're here."
"That's brilliant!" Yoko squealed.
"For a sports dork," Kaishi muttered. Then, raising his voice, he said, "We'd better get going, then. We've got to get to Farasimon's palace."
"What do we do when we get there?" Yoko asked.
"Um. . . I'll tell you when we get there." That settled, the redhead walked determinedly off into the forest, the strange shadow Varismon hovering over his head.
"Is that the right way?" Sandra asked.
"Yes," Teromon answered. "That's the right way."
"Okay," Tamara said. "Come on, Arcanine." She walked off after Kaishi, closely followed by Arcamon, Inero, and Ranumon. The remaining Digidestined just looked at each other.
"Do we follow?" Yoko asked finally.
"I guess," Chino said uncertainly. "Seems like we should."
The three humans looked at each other, then silently moved off after the other Digidestined.
~~
Ryukumon finally chose a card and handed it to Farasimon, who had been standing impatiently at the window. She walked to the table and laid it down as the dragon announced, "That's the Protection spell. It can't be removed. When the Digidestined sleep, they cannot be attacked by any monsters."
Farasimon yawned, bored, and played her own card. "Roseinamon in defensive mode. She will be the first of my guards."
Skydramon's next card floated to the table. "Night Descending. That means it's nighttime now. I love these cards."
Kemaimon, finally free to move, frowned. "Do you think they're too powerful? After all, the power to decide when it's night is kinda. . . I dunno. Anyway, this is my play. It's quite simple, really." He set down a card - face-down.
"All that whining about a /face-down/ card?" Farasimon sneered.
Senauramon grinned maliciously, staring straight at Ryukumon, who looked away as she said softly, laying down a card, "Perhaps I cannot remove your Protection spell. But there are other ways of attacking. I set the Nightmares card in play. It will not take effect for one full turn."
Skydramon whistled, although it came out sounding like a hiss. "That's one powerful card."
Farasimon smirked and stood up, setting her hand on the table, face-down. "I'm off to see to the preparations of my castle. Call me on my turn. Oh, and 'Naura - brilliant move. Especially since it's a recurring card." She swept out of the room, slamming the heavy door behind her.
"Recurring?" Kemaimon asked.
"Every time a Night Descending card is played, Nightmares takes effect," she said with a malicious grin. "Protection won't help, Ryukumon, not when I can get inside their minds!"
Disclaimer: You know, I don't usually do disclaimers. They aren't really necessary. After all, by writing fanfiction, we automatically acknowledge that we don't own it, but we wish we did, so we spend time /pretending/ we own it. There. That's the disclaimer for the whole series. Nyaah.
Chapter 2: Partners
Yoko grabbed the blue-green cat Celamon and stumbled through the hole in the shield, closely followed by Tamara and Kaishi. Sandra reached over them with the baton and swung it sharply up, closing the gap just as the two gusts of wind slammed into each other.
The force of the collision ripped a hole in the Crystal Shield and sent the Digidestined to their knees. Celamon squirmed out of Yoko's arms and glared upwards. "What do you think you're--"
With a loud roar, Aerodyemon vanished.
"Oy," Sandra said intelligently.
"Is it over?"
Inero shot a glance at the trembling bush which had, apparently, spoken. "Who's that?"
"Ranumon. Who's that?"
"Inero Takana."
"Oh!" The shaking stopped and a small yellow mouse bounced out of the bush. He had silver stripes winding up and down his body and a very long, thin tail with a hard golden ball on the end. "You're my partner, then."
"Okay," Inero said.
Tamara grabbed her brother's arm to prevent him from moving forward to greet Ranumon. "Don't touch it. We don't know what it is. Looks kinda like a warped Pikachu."
"You have spoken the name of evil!" Kaishi intoned. "Now must thee die!"
"I don't really think 'thee' is the proper word there," Sandra murmured.
"Thou, then. Now must /thou/ die."
"I think 'thee' sounds better," Chino objected. Darmon nodded, his green eyes wide behind his mask.
"I like thou," Tamara said, grinning at Kaishi.
"Aw, thanks," he said, blushing prettily.
"All this talk about the Pikachu," Yoko noted.
"It's Ranumon," Inero corrected her. "/He's/ Ranumon."
Ranumon jumped up and balanced on the ball at the tip of his tail. "We're digimon, digital monsters. This is the Digiworld, and you're the Digidestined. Oh, and that was Aerodyemon. I never liked him."
"Okay," Chino said slowly. "Digi. So we're, like, in the computer?"
"Wake up, baseball boy," Kaishi snapped. "Digi doesn't necessarily mean 'in a computer.' Does this look like a computer to you? No computer in the world is this big."
"Maybe we shrunk," Sandra suggested.
Inero jerked his arm from Tamara's hold and went to pick up Ranumon. "I think it really is a different world, Mara-san."
"Yeah, right," she muttered.
Kaishi bit his lip in thought. "So that's Darmon, and that's Celamon, and that's Ranumon." He pointed at each as he spoke. "All ending with 'mon'. That seems to suggest that the Tentomon Dad's been getting emails about is /also/ a digimon."
Tamara shrugged. "Your point?"
"My father must know about this place."
Yoko's eyes widened. "Mother got an email about Palmon a week ago! She started crying!"
"Mother?" Kaishi asked incredulously. "What kind of freakish ten-year-old calls their mom Mother?"
"I'm nine, thankyouverymuch," the small girl said stiffly.
"An' I'm a Rookie!" Celamon added, trying to sound prim and not succeeding.
Chino shook his head in confusion. "A /what/?"
"It's the fourth level," Darmon said. "There's Egg, which isn't really a level at all, Baby, In-Training, and Rookie. Rookie is normal for partner digimon. Oh, and after that there's Champion, Ultimate, and Mega."
"This is a lot to take in," Tamara said. "My head's spinning. Don't I get a digi-whatever?"
A canine-type digimon bounded from the bushes, trailing flame behind her. "Of course, Tama! I'm Arcamon. Don't touch me without /warning/ me, 'kay?"
Tamara jumped back in alarm. "Er, you're on fire, Arcamon."
"Silly! I'm /supposed/ to be on fire!" Arcamon giggled.
"Whatever you say. Can I call you Arcanine?"
"You have spoken the name of another evil," Kaishi warned her.
"And /when/ did /you/ become so fluent in Pokemon names?" she asked, glaring at him in mock anger.
"When I had to endure your endless ranting during your Pokemon phase."
"Oh. Right."
Sandra looked around suspiciously. "Kaishi and I don't have our digimon yet."
"Actually," said a hissing sort of voice, "I've been here for some time, now."
Kaishi jerked away from the shadow-creature that had suddenly materialized before him, floating in front of his face. "Don't do that."
"Varismon does what he chooses to do," the shadow hissed. "And I choose /you/."
"Now who's spouting evil?" Tamara snickered.
"What about /me/?" Sandra asked, pouting adorably. Not even the plants could resist that pout, which was proved when a strange-looking fern moved to come closer.
"Don't do dat, Alexandra."
"Sandra," the girl corrected, peering at the fern. "What are you?"
"Teromon." The fern tilted its head up, revealing a pixie-like face and a slight, wispy body mostly hidden by the amber-streaked fern on her head. "You /my/ partner, Alexandra."
"I choose you, Pikachu," Tamara said, grinning broadly. "Okay, we have partners, so now. . . why the heck are we here?"
"The Game's afoot," Arcamon said cryptically. "Farasimon, the Plant Master, is being mean all of a sudden."
~~
"How flattering," Farasimon remarked.
~~
Teromon nodded, almost overbalancing because of the fern on her head. "She ordered all of us to start working on a really ugly palace. She wants to take over the world."
~~
"As a matter of fact, all I want to do is win the Game," Farasimon corrected, examining her nails.
Kemaimon chuckled. "You've just been insulted. Ugly palace."
"I know. I'll deal with it later. Whose turn is it?"
"Mine," Ryukumon rumbled. "I'm waiting, though. If we throw too much at them right now, they'll start to suspect something."
"True," Skydramon acknowledged.
Senauramon didn't care to participate in this discussion. She gently tapped the face-down card she had given to Kaishi. She would, of course, wait for the right moment to bring it into play. It wouldn't do to have too many of the other Masters around. They would suspect something immediately, perhaps even see her real plan.
After all, one didn't play an Armor card of such potency unless one had a fairly well-planned strategy. Surely the others would know that.
Then again...
Senauramon waited, her eyes glinting.
~~
"Take over /this/ world?" Inero asked.
"Yes," Ranumon answered.
"I get it," Chino announced. "We have to find this Farasimon and convince her not to take over the world. That's why we're here."
"That's brilliant!" Yoko squealed.
"For a sports dork," Kaishi muttered. Then, raising his voice, he said, "We'd better get going, then. We've got to get to Farasimon's palace."
"What do we do when we get there?" Yoko asked.
"Um. . . I'll tell you when we get there." That settled, the redhead walked determinedly off into the forest, the strange shadow Varismon hovering over his head.
"Is that the right way?" Sandra asked.
"Yes," Teromon answered. "That's the right way."
"Okay," Tamara said. "Come on, Arcanine." She walked off after Kaishi, closely followed by Arcamon, Inero, and Ranumon. The remaining Digidestined just looked at each other.
"Do we follow?" Yoko asked finally.
"I guess," Chino said uncertainly. "Seems like we should."
The three humans looked at each other, then silently moved off after the other Digidestined.
~~
Ryukumon finally chose a card and handed it to Farasimon, who had been standing impatiently at the window. She walked to the table and laid it down as the dragon announced, "That's the Protection spell. It can't be removed. When the Digidestined sleep, they cannot be attacked by any monsters."
Farasimon yawned, bored, and played her own card. "Roseinamon in defensive mode. She will be the first of my guards."
Skydramon's next card floated to the table. "Night Descending. That means it's nighttime now. I love these cards."
Kemaimon, finally free to move, frowned. "Do you think they're too powerful? After all, the power to decide when it's night is kinda. . . I dunno. Anyway, this is my play. It's quite simple, really." He set down a card - face-down.
"All that whining about a /face-down/ card?" Farasimon sneered.
Senauramon grinned maliciously, staring straight at Ryukumon, who looked away as she said softly, laying down a card, "Perhaps I cannot remove your Protection spell. But there are other ways of attacking. I set the Nightmares card in play. It will not take effect for one full turn."
Skydramon whistled, although it came out sounding like a hiss. "That's one powerful card."
Farasimon smirked and stood up, setting her hand on the table, face-down. "I'm off to see to the preparations of my castle. Call me on my turn. Oh, and 'Naura - brilliant move. Especially since it's a recurring card." She swept out of the room, slamming the heavy door behind her.
"Recurring?" Kemaimon asked.
"Every time a Night Descending card is played, Nightmares takes effect," she said with a malicious grin. "Protection won't help, Ryukumon, not when I can get inside their minds!"