Tamers: Stuck in Paradise - Season 3
Part 6
by Christian "Sid" Lang




Ruki groans and turns around in her bed.
Bed?
Her hands carefully move over the blanket covering her.
When she realizes that this is indeed her bed, she opens her eyes.
"Good morning, Ruki." Renamon greets her.
Ruki notices that the Digimon is kneeling at her bed, avoiding direct eye contact.
What's wrong with Renamon?
She cocks her head.
Renamon's behaving just like in the old days.
Ruki's eyes widen when she realizes what has happened just before she passed out.
"Because your Tamer orders it?!"
She had behaved just like in her own world. Like the Ice Queen.
And Renamon has been scared. Ruki can see that the fox is still careful.
"You looked as if you needed rest. That's why I brought you here instead of the park."
Renamon's voice is barely a whisper.
Ruki strokes the Digimon's golden fur and sighs.
"I'm sorry, Renamon. I didn't mean to scare you. I just overreacted." she admits.
Renamon looks up at her and smiles. Her paw gently strokes her hair.
"I know. But don't worry. No matter what happens, I will be there for you."
Ruki wraps her arms around Renamon's neck and sighs again.
"Besides, I think we're all a bit edgy." Renamon adds after a while.

Boy, I knew he was edgy, but this is ridiculous!
Yolei carefully crawls out of her hiding place in the living room.
The terrible noise has stopped some seconds ago.
When she sees the wall seperating her own room from the living room, she gasps.
The wall looks more like the bed of a fakir.
Dozens of feathers stick out of the wall, being driven through it from the inside of her room.
Yolei can imagine how her room must look now. She has already seen it once.
It had been the day when Hawkmon told her that he loved Renamon.
He had then attacked Veemon at his home.
The walls of Davis room had been pierced by Hawkmon's Feather Strikes.
Yolei looks at the coin that has saved her life and sighs.
She had just wanted to open the door to her room when she saw the coin next to her feet.
Just when she had kneeled to pick it up, a dark red feather flew straight through the door.
It would have hit my chest or even my throat!
Yolei had instantly run away from the door and looked for cover.

Hawkmon closes his eyes and tries to control his breathing.
But he is still full of rage and hatred.
They've mocked me. Used me. All the time!
His wings tremble, but he resists the urge to do another Feather Strike.
Veemon. Lizard of friendship. He is too retarded to deserve Aquaveemon!
He growls and closes his eyes again.
Gatomon. Why does she even interfere with our business?
And why does she want to help Veemon? He has done all kinds of mean things! Not me!
He blinks when he notices that he is again holding a feather in his hand.
Slowly he lowers his wing and sighs.
Does she want to help? Or does she simply want to make me suffer?
"H-Hawkmon?" somebody whispers.
Great. My oh-so-oblivious be-nice-to-others partner.
What. he mutters flatly.
"Wh-What's wrong? Did I do something-"
"No. No." Hawkmon mutters and walks to the door.
Whatever their motivations are, I will show them what happens if you mess with the Hawk.
"Where are you going?" Yolei asks, her voice becoming bolder again.
"I'll test if cats really have nine lives."
He walks to a closed window and starts to open it.
Hawkmon gasps when something hits the window frame.
The fact that surprises him most is that it is one of his own feathers.
Slowly he turns around and sees Yolei standing in the living room.
And when he sees the girl's face, he knows he has gone too far this time.

Yolei slowly unclenches her fists.
Every surface in her room is covered with feathers.
And Hawkmon is definately angrier than the day when he told Renamon that he loves her.
Now her partner seems to be able to think clearly again.
"Y-Yolei-" he starts to stammer.
"Step away from that window, Hawkmon." Yolei whispers.
His wings tremble. Hawkmon does not move.
"Y-You don't understand!" he finally shouts.
Yolei simply frowns and cocks her head.
"They use me! All of them!" the hawk continues.
"Including me?" Yolei asks flatly.
Hawkmon hesitates. Then he shakes his head and looks down.
Slowly Yolei approaches him and holds him close to her.

Oh Yolei. I'm sorry. Hawkmon thinks.
The girl has prevented him from doing something stupid.
He does realize it now. Brute force never helped.
Veemon and he have learned this lesson, fighting about, for and against the girls they love and loved.
No. Brute force would make me look like a jerk.
Still snuggling against Yolei, Hawkmon starts to prepare his own agenda.
The big problem is Gatomon. Dealing with Veemon should be easy enough.
The telephone rings, startling Digimon and DigiDestined.
Yolei answers it, then frowns.
"Err... Hawkmon? It's for you. Gatomon."
Hawkmon looks up and frowns. With a sigh he takes the receiver.
"Yes?" he asks, trying to sound normal.
Hi there! How's the Hawk of Love doing?
Gatomon's voice could have easily caused caries.
Tell me, how'd you like helping out a fellow Digi-Kitty?
Now what? "No thanks, I'd actually like to get rid of you since I love Aquaveemon."?
Hawkmon shakes his head. No, he'd have to be subtle.
Yeah. subtle. Like James Bond.
He frowns when he remembers 'The world is not enough'.
Maybe a bit more like Connery. Yeah. That's it. Cool, a charmer and an infiltrator.
"How could I deny a request from our favourite kitty-cat?"
Yay! That's the spirit! Now here's my plan...

Isis yawns and looks at the morning sky.
The trip with Davis has ended two hours ago. But Isis still feels great.
She paces through the apartment and looks at the neighbouring roofs.
And at the white cat merrily jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
She cocks her head and smiles.
"Hey Aquaveemon, look! It's Gatomon!" she cheers.
The Digimon joins her and rubs her eyes.
"Really? Where?" she asks and looks around.
Isis points at Gatomon, who is now on the roof of the neighbouring building.
"Hey, looks like she wants to jump into the apartment from there." Aquaveemon remarks.
"That would be really dumb because of the-"
Isis jumps when the white cat slams against the window.
She notices the surprised expression of the cat hanging at the window like a large sticker.
"Guess the other DigiDestined don't have windows with antireflection coating."
Aquaveemon looks up at her partner and blinks.
"What kind of coating?" the Digimon asks while Gatomon slowly sinks onto the balcony.
"It removes annoying reflections. It's the kind of glass used for showcases."
"I think Gatomon doesn't like that kind of glass."
Isis nods and opens the balcony door.

"You sure that you'll be OK?" Isis asks. Again.
"Trust me, I'll be fine." Gatomon assures her.
"So you don't mind if I leave you two alone for a while?"
Gatomon cocks her head.
"Yolei invited me. She said she wants to hear everything about the States."
"But since Hawkmon isn't there, I decided to stay here." Aquaveemon adds.
"How nice, then we could talk a bit! Of course only if you like..." Gatomon purrs.
"But of course!" Aquaveemon cheers.

"Really?" Aquaveemon asks and gasps.
Gatomon just nods.
"Yeah. We'd be toast without Veemon. I can't even guess how many times he saved us."
Aquaveemon nods and smiles.
"And he really has been in love with you?" the young Digimon asks in awe.
Gatomon shrugs.
"And he tried to date you although he knew that Patamon tried to do the same?"
"He's a very passionate Digimon. He can be a real charmer." Gatomon purrs.
Yeah, that's right. Make her drool...
"And you dumped him?"
"Well, yeah. I really love Renamon. She's 'the one'."
"No, I meant before that." Aquaveemon interrupts her.
Gatomon frowns and cocks her head.
"I mean the events that have led to the newspaper photo of Renamon and Veemon."
"What do you mean?" Gatomon asks, trying not to sweat.
"Well, Yolei told Isis on the phone about it." Aquaveemon tells her.
Now what?

"So you really sent Renamon do divert Veemon so you could date Patamon?"
Gatomon gulps. She hadn't expected Aquaveemon to know these details.
"Why did you do it? you just told me that Veemon's a very passionate Digimon!"
"He is! He can be very romantic and stuff!"
"Then why didn't you simply pick him?"
Gatomon starts to sweat now.
But the question has caused her to think about her actions in the past.
Yeah... Why didn't I just pick him?
She looks away and frowns.
I never thought about Veemon's feelings. Did he feel used? Cheated? Tricked?
She quickly tells herself not to feel guilty because of it.
After all, she didn't pick Patamon either, right?
Man, I just wanted to make her drool a bit and she starts an interrogation!
The cat knows that she has to come up with something.
Then she has the perfect idea.
"Well... Veemon is... how should I put it... He's too much 'mon for me to take!"
Gatomon smiles when she sees that Aquaveemon blushes and giggles.
Perfect. Now I just hope that Hawkmon is doing his job at making Veemon drool.

Veemon wakes up slowly when he hears somebody tapping against the window of Davis' room.
"H-Hawkmon?" he mumbles and rubs his eyes.
Then he opens the window.
"Hi there, how're you doing?" he greets the bird Digimon.
Hawkmon looks at Veemon and cocks his head.
"I'm doing fine. Unlike you, right?" Hawkmon asks innocently.
"Unlike me?" Veemon asks and frowns.
"Yeah, you somehow look... different..."
Veemon looks down at himself.
"What's wrong with the way I look?"
"Nothing. I guess I'm just imagining stuff. Forget I mentioned it."

Hawkmon enjoys seeing Veemon sweat.
Gatomon had told him to tell Veemon sweet things about Aquaveemon.
To make the ugly lizard drool. To make him realize that Aquaveemon is a nice Digimon.
But Hawkmon has decided to make Veemon nervous.
If I shatter his self-confidence, he won't even think about dating her.
"Hawkmon! Please tell me! You're my buddy!" Veemon begs him now.
"Nah. I don't think you want to hear it..."
Veemon grabs Hawkmon's wings and looks him straight into the eyes.
"You are the Hawk of Sincerity! You have to tell me!"
"Well... I'll be honest then. You look kinda fat."
Veemon gasps.
"And your muscles aren't just as firm as they have been..." he adds.
The lizard quickly touches his arm muscles and frowns.
"By the way: Did your tail always look this... limp?"
Hawkmon smiles when Veemon runs out of the room screaming.
He guesses that the lizard runs to the bathroom to check himself there.
"Yep, my duty here is done." he mutters to himself.

"So, did Davis show you around?" Yolei asks.
Isis nods and smiles. Yolei notices that it's a rather wide smile.
"Yes. Davis is a really nice guy." Isis admits.
"Well, he does have the crest of friendship."
"He's so caring. And soooo cute!"
Yolei cocks her head.
"Davis? Cute?"
"Yeah. He's a real charmer and a gentleman."
"I guess he just tried to be a friend."
"You think so? It seemed to me as if there was more..."
Yolei gulps. She really hopes that she misinterpreted the girl's comments.
"And I really started to like him too." Isis suddenly whispers.
Ohhhhhhh boy... Yolei thinks and barely suppresses a groan.