Chapter 10:
Flaming Tutorial, 101
"T RUNKS!?!" The purple-haired boy grinned sheepishly, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. I blinked, completely shocked. I knew I probably looked strange with my eyes bulging and my jaw hanging open, but at the moment, it was all I could really do. "What the hell are you d-doing here? How the hell did you g-get here?" I stammered, amazed. Now, even more people were staring, as much from my exclamation as Gatomon and Trunks's appearance. He rubbed the back of his head shyly, looking down at the ground as he shuffled his feet. "Through the. um, portal thingy." Still stunned, I was prepared to fire another round of questions at him when Gatomon held up her paw, stopping me. "Shut up for a moment. Let him finish." Turning to Trunks, she added, "Tell her what you told me." As if just remembering, Trunks began speaking in a more excited manner. "Oh! That's right! Kyra's waiting for you!" Heh, and to think, I didn't think I could get any more surprised. "Gawk later," Gatomon commanded, jumping to Trunks's shoulders. "He'll explain on the way." Finally shutting my gaping jaw, I merely nodded numbly and followed suit. "When I found her," he explained, "she was really beat up. Badly. She told me it was from battling with Sirius." Gatomon nodding, confirming the statement. "Did you take her to Dende." He nodded. "Yep, but he was unable to fix her wing all the way. I didn't quite understand why, but then again, I never stopped to ask him why. At least she looked a lot better than when she first appeared through that big ball of white light." "White light?" I repeated, intrigued. "Are you positive it was white?" "I'm pretty sure. It was kind of bright, so I couldn't really tell, but it looked white to me." "That must have been the same light that grabbed us," Gatomon said, glancing down at me. I nodded, and then turned back to Trunks. "Okay, go on." "Well, since her wing wasn't completely fixed, she had to wear it in a sling. Goku had insisted she take a nap since she was pretty worn out, and the next thing we knew, she was completely conked out." I smirked. "Sounds like her." Trunks smiled. "Yeah, well, I opened the door once just to check on her when I saw the light again and next thing I knew, we were here." Gatomon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know the feeling. Caught you by surprise and completely unexpectedly, right?" Trunks looked at her. "No, not really." We both stared at him, confused. Seeing this, he proceeding with explaining. "Well, what I mean is that sure it caught me by surprise, but she had already explained it all to me before, so it wasn't really that bad." "Wait a minute," I said, "When did she explain what to you?" "My question exactly," Gatomon added. Trunks looked back and forth between the digimon and me, almost as if her were surprised we didn't know. "Well, back when the three of you first came, she told me that she wasn't really the Kyra I knew, and that the three of you were kind of bouncing between different worlds. She couldn't really explain the rest because she didn't quite understand it, but I didn't really mind. She didn't tell you?" I shook my head, thinking to myself, And to think, I thought she was off playing her role as his girlfriend. "No, she didn't," Gatomon replied, just as surprised as I was. She exchanged knowing glances with me and I nodded. We were definitely going to have a little talk with her. "So where is she now?" I asked casually. "Up there," he replied, pointing. Gatomon looked up and her moaned. "Are you kidding? She was there the entire time?" As I glanced up, my thoughts echoed her words, for it was the same building we woke in, the very same building, which he pointed at. "She's on top of the roof." Rolling my eyes, we decided to walk to the back of the building where no one would see us, and stealthily leapt onto the roof. However, before I could even straighten myself from the landing, I was instantly flung to the ground, hard. "Prance! It's really you! I can't believe it! It feels like it's been forever!" I coughed, gasping for air while trying to pry the arms off my neck. "Kyra, would you chill out? You're a lot stronger than you look, you know!" In the end, it took both Gatomon and Trunks to pull her off of me. Staggering to my feet, I took long, deep breaths. "Geez, what are you trying to do, kill me?" Kyra grinned sheepishly. "Aw, come on. I was just glad to see ya!" I rolled my eyes. "Oh, good, that makes me feel a whole lot better, cause for a second there, I thought you were about to assassinate me." Gatomon eyed Kyra, smirking. "Guess that Dende guy did a decent job on you, then." Kyra nodded energetically. "Yep, see?" she added, pointing to the single left wing exposed, wrapped comfortably in white bandages. "I wanted to go down there and help Trunks look for you, but Dende said I couldn't pull my wing back in for a few more days, and I couldn't exactly walk around school with it out, so I was stuck up here. You have noooo idea how boring it was up here, either!" I rubbed my tail vigorously. "That explains the tackling." "Enough small talk," Gatomon snapped, crossing her arms. "I wanna know what happened with Sirius! How on earth did you make it?" Kyra smiled, and opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again, looking around. "Okay, but can we get outta here, first?" "Oh, sure," I replied, glancing down at Gatomon. "Did you find any portals?" "Two," she replied, "One to one of those pokemon centers going into the girls bathroom, and one just over a little house that looks like an igloo that's in a portable on the side of the school." Kyra perked up. "That sounds like Goku's house. We should probably head there." Glancing at me, she added, More for the sake of Trunks than anything. Think of how it would look if he were to walk into a girls bathroom. I stifled a chuckle as we turned and followed the digimon, hopping across the roofs rather than walking around on the ground. The journey was short, for the portables we were looking for were only on the basketball courts, located behind the gym, which was next to the building we were on. After making sure no one was around, we jumped to the blacktop and followed the digimon to the yellowed portable buildings, weaving our way through them until we arrived at one in the center. "That door," she said, pointing. Nodding, I walked forward and placed my hand on the doorknob, turning and pulling. Sure enough, there was the house she spoke of. I glanced back at Kyra. "Are you positive this is Goku's house?" Walking to my side, she peered inside and smiled, nodding. "Yep." "Okay, then, let's go," I said promptly, walking through. Behind me, the other three followed. Turning, I was about to ask what to do next, but paused as I noticed Kyra rubbing her left shoulder. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Do you need to sit down?" Kyra shook her head, smiling. "Nah, I'm fine. Besides, we need to start heading to Kami's lookout. Goku'll kill me if he thinks I'm overworking myself. which I'm not, by the way!" she added emphatically. I still didn't buy it. "Well, if your wing hurts, maybe we should rest a while before starting off. I mean, how far away is it?" "A little over fifty miles," Trunks replied. "Fifty miles!" Gatomon exclaimed, appearing overwhelmed. I, myself, was about to agree when I paused, noticing a change in Kyra's expression from cheerful to smug. I narrowed my eyes. "Okay, what are you looking so cocky about?" She turned to me and grinned. "Oh, nothing." I raised an eyebrow. "Need I repeat your ever favorite quote, dear Kyra?" "Really, it's not that big," she replied, sneaking a glance at Trunks who merely smiled, shaking his head. "I just happened to pick up a handy little trick from Trunks while I was here before." "A little trick?" I repeated sarcastically. Her eyes sparkled fiercely. "Come on, you didn't think I'd seriously sit around on my butt all day, did you?" Gatomon stared accusingly at her. "No, not really, but with you in your condition, we would have hoped for it, anyway." "What condition?" Kyra exclaimed heatedly. "I'm fine! Dende has already healed me! Just because I have this thing messed up," she hissed, pointing at her bandaged sling, "doesn't mean out of commission, yet!" "Alright, alright, don't get yourself worked up," I said calmly. "If you want to show off your trick, then go ahead and show off." Kyra smiled, nodding and holding her right hand up. "Very well, then." The next few moments were somewhat confusing. I vaguely remember hearing a snapping sound of what I assumed were Kyra's fingers, but the next instant I blinked, and we were suddenly at Kami's lookout. I looked around, amazed, while Gatomon folded her arms and smirked, glancing up at Kyra. "So, you've finally got 'zapping' down," she commented. "Ooh," I said, understanding, "so that's what Matt meant!" Kyra nodded, smiling. "Yep! Trunks helped me with it and a few other things while I've been stuck up here, wasting away like a-" "Ky! What are you doing out of bed?" The four of us whirled around to see Goku storming up to us, adopting for the first time since I've met him an expression of almost paternal anger. He marched up to Kyra who lifted her chin defiantly, trying to look imposing next to the towering figure of her 'brother'. "I got bored sitting in there all day. So what?" "So what? You're supposed to be resting." Laughter exploded from behind him and Krillin started walking toward the group. "Come on, Goku. When was the last time you were hurt and you didn't have Chichi chasing after you to stop training and get back in bed?" "Never, that's when!" Kyra spoke up confidently. I could only look on in amusement as Goku looked back and forth between Kyra and Krillin, looking a lot like a mouse ambushed by a couple of cats. "Well, fine!" he exclaimed indignantly. "Since you all seem to be teaming up against me, anyway." And with that, Goku walked away, sulking like a scolded five-year-old. Throwing a brief smile back at me, Kyra began jogging after him with Krillin walking leisurely behind, still laughing his head off. Trunks could only smile and shake his head. I tilted my own head in curiosity. "What?" "It's just really hard to not imagine her as the real Kyra," he explained, chuckling. "Growing a quick temper was something she had learned from spending a lot of time with Chichi and my mom." I smirked. "Don't worry. No matter who she is or where she is, 100 % full blown temper is always her style." Gatomon nodded in agreement. "Obviously," Trunks replied, walking toward where they had disappeared. I was about to join them when I suddenly paused, watching Trunks closely. Gatomon, noticing my absence, stopped and turned toward me. "What is it, now?" she demanded. "Oh, nothing," I replied thoughtfully. "Just thinking." "About what?" "Well, in reality, Trunks was in love with the real Kyra, right? I was just wondering if he must feel disappointed now that she's kinda gone and our Kyra's replaced her." "Who knows?" Gatomon said, shrugging. "Besides, it's none of our business, anyway." I stood for a moment longer before walking again beside the digimon. "Yeah, I guess so."
After apologies had been made to Goku, the four of us sat around Kyra's room, or rather, the same spare room that we had woken in the last time we were in this world. I sat in a chair flipped backwards, watching Kyra as she settled herself into a comfortable position on the bed. Gatomon sat on the corner of the bed while Trunks stood in the doorway, leaned against the frame, both watching out for anyone passing by and opening an ear to listen. "So?" Gatomon asked after a decent amount of time had passed. "Are you going to tell us what happened or not?" "Yeah, yeah, I know," she replied, crossing her legs one over the other out of habit. I smiled. "Well, basically, the last thing you probably remember was Sirius jumping toward you, ready to attack right after you had burned his hand, right?" We both nodded. "Well, while that happened, Gatomon had started running forward to try to help you out, and the next thing I knew, some bright, twinkling white light appeared out of the sky and kind of swallowed the two of you up." "Yeah, I remember that," I commented. "We both saw it, and Trunks had said you appeared here in the same kind of light." Glancing at him, he nodded his confirmation. "Yeah, well, after that, Sirius pretty much stopped in his tracks." To my surprise, she actually let out a small chuckle. "Hah, he looked kinda funny, just standing there, looking around himself wildly like a monkey." Secretly, I struggled to restrain the laughter that threatened to burst. I could only imagine the wolf's furious reaction had he ever found out he had been called a monkey. "Anyway, after a while of looking around, he finally saw me and started walking toward me." She paused, shivering slightly. "It was creepy. At first, all he did was ask where you had gone. After he finally got the message that I didn't know, he started getting mad cause he didn't get to get rid of you." "Oh, poor little thing," I muttered dryly. "My thoughts exactly. But while he was mad, I did notice he mentioned something about Rastal." My ears perked. "Rastal?" "That other gold wolf?" Gatomon asked. I nodded. "What did he say?" Kyra shook her head. "I'm not sure, exactly. He was kinda muttering to himself, but I definitely heard him say the name Rastal, and something I think about his home. I also thought I heard the word revenge, but I wasn't sure, cause after that, I also could have sworn he said mustard." I rolled my eyes. "Geez, someone needs her ears checked." Her eyes flicked toward me. "Well, sor-ry if I don't exactly have huge ears like you guys do that could hear a pin drop a mile away!" "Just go on with your story," I said nonchalantly. "Right, just change the subject conveniently," she muttered loudly. "Kyra, just get on with it!" Gatomon said impatiently. "Oh, fine!" she exclaimed defensively. "Well, anyway, after he went on like that a while, he finally got fed up with me and held out his hand to." She suddenly grew very quiet, all contempt gone from her voice. She glanced up briefly at me before looking down at her feet tucked under her legs. "Well, you know. but right before he. did anything, the same light came back and grabbed me. But after I woke up, I had pretty much guessed I wasn't in the same place you guys were cause I couldn't see you anywhere." "Where were you?" I asked. "Surprisingly, I was at the movie theater," she replied. "The room itself was empty, though, which was really good since I still had both wings open and one weighed practically a ton, not to mention I practically felt like crap. But I wasn't that far from the exit door, so I crawled toward it, and it ended up being a portal to here. I was barely able to make it through and close the door before I think I fainted. When I woke up again, I was here. Goku found me, apparently, and brought me back to Dende, and that's pretty much it." I nodded, then decided to ask a question that had been on my mind. "So," I began excitedly, "what exactly did you learn while you were up here?" She shrugged. "Like I said, nothing super big. Just small stuff like moving objects and making them appear. I can only do small distances, though, and the zapping only works with places I know really well, otherwise I can only do within about a half a mile radius. But if I practice more, I can make it bigger." "Cool," I said admirably. Ignoring the both of us, Gatomon stood up, arms crossed and her expression serious. "So what do we do, now?" "That's a good question," Kyra agreed, looking at me. "What do we do now?" I sighed, sinking into the chair. "Unfortunately, that's a really good question. Thing is, we know Sirius isn't gonna sit on his lazy tail waiting around for us to coincidentally run into each other again. He's going to be on the hunt, not to mention being completely pissed off due to that little present I left on his hand." "And no matter what you did to it," Gatomon added grimly, "it won't be near enough of an advantage for you two to take him." "I know." "So," Kyra concluded, "we obviously have to stay away from Sirius. That's kind of a given. But what do we do in the meantime?" I sighed again, staring at the ground as I tried to think of a plan. For some reason, something seemed to be tugging at the back of my mind, but I couldn't quite grasp it. Kind of like solving one of those logic puzzles when you think you're stuck but you have these two clues that you know make perfect sense, but you just can't think of what they're trying to say. It was just out of my reach, but yet, at the same time, felt almost obvious. Racking my brain, I quickly ran through all the places we've been through before- the Digital World, where we found those sparks and Gatomon said she saw Sirius, here, where Goku said Rastal and Deesum had been storming, the Cardcaptor world where we first encountered Sirius and Kero said he saw Rastal trap Sakura and Li, and finally the Pokemon world. Suddenly, it hit me. "Hey, I've got an idea." Gatomon and Kyra looked up at me, surprised. Kyra smirked. "Wow, that is a cause for celebration." "Oh, shut up," I replied, not really caring. "But do you remember that town Ash and Misty said we were heading for?" "The town?" Kyra repeated, looking up at the ceiling in thought, tapping her chin. "I'm sure. I remember it had something to do with fortune or fate or something like that." "Destiny town?" Gatomon said, looking at me suspiciously. "Yeah, that was it!" Kyra exclaimed. "So, what about it?" "I say we check it out," I replied. "Think about it. Every other world we've been through has had some sort of interaction between Sirius, Rastal and Deesum except for the Pokemon world. Besides, Destiny town sounds like an interesting place to inspect." Gatomon quirked an eyebrow. "So you're suggesting we go check this place out on the sole reason that it's name sounds interesting?" I briefly thought about my dreams before shrugging. "Let's just say I have a hunch about this one. So what do you say?" Kyra bounced to her feet, grinning. "I say we go for it. It's the only real lead we have, anyway." "Yeah, I guess so," Gatomon admitted reluctantly. Nodding, I glanced up at a clock that stood above the bed. Only three. I sighed. "Okay, so now we have a plan, but what do we do till tonight? We obviously can't go to sleep, now." Kyra's face clouded over in thought as she sank back into the bed, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she stared up at the ceiling. "You could always try training," Gatomon suggested gruffly. "I don't know about you, but I'd certainly feel better if you two didn't rely on luck so much, always hoping something will happen at the last minute. There are only so many times you can rely on luck before it runs out." Kyra brightened, spinning around towards the door. "Hey, maybe Trunks could help you out." The young man shrugged. "I suppose I could." I glanced back and forth between them. "Well, I guess. I mean, I don't think I'll be able to do all that much, but." "Oh, yes you will!" Gatomon exclaimed harshly, suddenly leaping to my side. Baring the long claws of one paw, she clenched them gently around my tail. "You don't have a choice. We are not going to face Sirius or anyone else with you being as weak as you are!" I grabbed the base of my tail and jerked it away from her, flushing and glaring at the digimon at the same time. "Okay, okay, I'll do it!" I hesitated, waiting for her to move further away from me before I added under my breath, "And I am not weak!" I twirled around and marched past Kyra and Trunks through the door before she could respond. Kyra jogged behind me. "Aw, come on, don't be so mad. This'll be fun! She's just trying to get on your nerves so that you'll want to get stronger. I think it's just her way of showing she has confidence in you." "Yeah right!" was the flat answer coming from back inside the room. A sweatdrop rolled down both of our heads. Kyra tried to smile reassuringly. "Yeah, well, don't mind her. She's just in denial." I quirked an eyebrow. "Do you always have to be so annoyingly perky and optimistic?" "Are you kidding?" she replied emphatically. "Goku made me stay in that stupid room all day with absolutely nothing to do! Trust me, I'm just getting started!" "Oh, boy."
"In." I sucked in air. ". and out." I slowly released the breath. "In. and out." This isn't working, you know, I thought harshly, desparately wanting to open my eyes. What are you talking about? Of course it is! You just need to give it some time. Yeah, right. Well, Kyra thought quietly, partially to herself, it did work for me. Shut up, I commanded. Shutting up. I sighed, continuing with my breathing. Knowing Kyra's eyes were closed, I cautiously opened one of my own to look around me. We had been sitting like this in the courtyard for over a half hour, now. Trunks had gone as soon as we left the room, volunteering to keep an eye on Goku and the others while we trained. That is, if you can even consider this training. Gatomon sat perched on the roof of the building closest to us, temporarily caught between deciding whether to watch our proceedings or go to sleep. I sighed again. Wish I had the luxury of an actual choice. Finally, I opened my other eye and yawned. Kyra opened hers just as I was standing up. "Hey! What are you doing?" I shook my legs and tail, returning feeling to my practically dead limbs. "What does it look like? This obviously isn't working so what's the point?" "Prance, come on," Kyra whined, standing while still wary of her bandaged wing. "At least give it a try." "I did," I retorted. "And the only thing that's come out of me trying is an empty stomach and a sore tail." "Well, maybe if you didn't open your eyes every three minutes and actually tried to look like you were attempting to try this out, something might have happened by now!" Gatomon snapped, nimbly leaping down to join us. "What was that, kitty cat!?" I snarled, twirling around to face her, face red, veins popping. I was not in the mood for this. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kyra slinking away, not wanting to get caught up in another one of our "friendly" disputes. "You heard me," she replied calmly, taking no heed of my challenging tone. "You're nothing more than a lazy bum that doesn't even want to try to save her own butt next time we run into Sirius!" Alright, that was it. This little rat had pushed me too far too many times. "Well, if you think it's so easy," I countered, "why don't you sit here for an hour and breathe! Or better yet, breathe with a paper bag over your head- very deeply!" "Hey, don't get pissed at me cause you can't do something as simple as light a candle." I narrowed my eyes. "Well, Miss-Smarty-Paws! I don't see you lighting any simple candles, now, do I? Talk is cheap from someone who can't back their words with action!" Gatomon smirked. "Nice try, kitten, but I'm not a fire based digimon. It's not in my data, so I can't, but you can, so why not get to it. if you can." My hands tightened into fists beside me as I struggled to contain the tremendous urge to punch the irritating feline. "So, what, now you're saying I can't so it?" "You said it, not me." "Right, and all this is coming from the same digimon who practically cowered behind me while I burnt Sirius's hand to a crisp! Whatdya call that, then? Huh?" "Dumb luck," she replied, looking very smug with herself. "Sirius was caught off guard cause he thought you weren't fighting back. That little light show of yours couldn't harm a flea." "Oh yeah!?" I screamed, raising my hand, unable to hold back any longer. "Well, tell me, genius. Let me know if this hurts enough for ya!" Next thing I knew, I felt my palm grow warm and suddenly I was hurling a sphere of orange flames the size of a grapefruit at the loud-mouthed cat. Unfortunately, I only had the luxury of witnessing a small expression of concern cross her face as she deftly jumped out of the way of the attack. The ball, missing its intended target, flew harmlessly past, crashing into the wall of the building behind them and leaving a decent sized indentation. Glancing behind her, Gatomon turned back to me and stuck her tongue out. "Hah, you call that an attack? I know baby digimon that make better bubbles than that!" Furious, I lifted my hand again. "Oh yeah? Bubble this!" Simultaneously, I let out a series of flaming assaults, one after the other, on and on in the digimon's direction. However, to both my dismay and utter horror, the feline seemed to be able to keep up with the onslaught, always a step ahead of my next flaming projectiles. "What's the matter? Is that all you got?" Under my breath, I began hissing. If you want a challenge, I'll give you a challenge. Releasing several more fireballs, I suddenly took off, speeding toward her while still maintaining my rapid fire. Startled, she took my change in strategy as a dare, and continued running, this time directly at me. Together, the two of us looked like we were in a jousting tournament, racing toward each other in a duel. However, I highly doubt that the Renaissance age battles consisted of fire throwing cat people and bad- mouthed digimon. But beside that, it was kinda the same. As we drew closer and closer together, the distance between my hand and her quickly shrank, resulting in less time for her to escape my flames. More and more balls of fire were coming closer to searing her short fur. I grinned. Let's see you escape, now! However, before I could release the final blow, Gatomon crouched low and sprang over my head, landing somewhere behind me. By now, I was getting seriously ticked off. "Arggg, you're gonna pay Gatomon!" I exclaimed, spinning around as I held another ball of fire waiting to be unleashed. But as I turned, Gatomon's face wasn't the one I encountered. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Ple-eease don't burn me-eee!" "Kyra!?" I exclaimed, flames instantly put out but fury not yet vanished. She stood before me, arms covering her head. Hesitantly, she opened one eye and glanced at me. "Are you gonna burn me?" I rolled my eyes, lowering my hands. "Of course not." "Phew!" she exclaimed, releasing her pent up anxiety and wiping her brow. "Thank goodness!" "What are you doing standing in my way, anyway?" I asked. From behind me, a voice laughed. "Don't you even realize what you just did?" I spun around. Trunks was walking toward us, smiling at me as he sauntered over to Kyra's side. I tilted my head to one side, ears twitching, confused. "Um. no-ooo," I said slowly. Kyra giggled, shaking her head. "Think, brainiac! You don't even remember what we came out here to do in the first place?" I looked at my friend strangely. "Yeah, I was supposed to practice my 'fire- thingy'." "Well, hel-lo! What the heck do you think you just did?" As I stared at Kyra, it suddenly clicked, and a slow smile crept onto my confused face. "Oh crap, I did it, didn't I? I don't believe it, I actually did it!" "All thanks to her," Kyra added cheerfully, jerking her thumb behind her. With her chin high and her arms crossed, Gatomon smiled as she sauntered toward the kitchen. "I'm a genius." *sizzle* "PRANCE!" Gatomon screamed, paws clutching her scorched tail. Grinning, I leaned forward and stuck my tongue out at the beast quickly before spinning around and taking off. Good thing, too, for when I looked back the digimon was already on my tail, claws forward and teeth bared, eyes blazing. Kyra and Trunks stood motionless, watching the chase in bored agitation. After a few seconds, Kyra sighed and sank to the ground, shaking her head. "I think it's safe to say that it's definitely her temper that triggers her power," Trunks said bluntly. Sinking her head into her hands, Kyra added, "Unfortunately."
Flaming Tutorial, 101
"T RUNKS!?!" The purple-haired boy grinned sheepishly, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. I blinked, completely shocked. I knew I probably looked strange with my eyes bulging and my jaw hanging open, but at the moment, it was all I could really do. "What the hell are you d-doing here? How the hell did you g-get here?" I stammered, amazed. Now, even more people were staring, as much from my exclamation as Gatomon and Trunks's appearance. He rubbed the back of his head shyly, looking down at the ground as he shuffled his feet. "Through the. um, portal thingy." Still stunned, I was prepared to fire another round of questions at him when Gatomon held up her paw, stopping me. "Shut up for a moment. Let him finish." Turning to Trunks, she added, "Tell her what you told me." As if just remembering, Trunks began speaking in a more excited manner. "Oh! That's right! Kyra's waiting for you!" Heh, and to think, I didn't think I could get any more surprised. "Gawk later," Gatomon commanded, jumping to Trunks's shoulders. "He'll explain on the way." Finally shutting my gaping jaw, I merely nodded numbly and followed suit. "When I found her," he explained, "she was really beat up. Badly. She told me it was from battling with Sirius." Gatomon nodding, confirming the statement. "Did you take her to Dende." He nodded. "Yep, but he was unable to fix her wing all the way. I didn't quite understand why, but then again, I never stopped to ask him why. At least she looked a lot better than when she first appeared through that big ball of white light." "White light?" I repeated, intrigued. "Are you positive it was white?" "I'm pretty sure. It was kind of bright, so I couldn't really tell, but it looked white to me." "That must have been the same light that grabbed us," Gatomon said, glancing down at me. I nodded, and then turned back to Trunks. "Okay, go on." "Well, since her wing wasn't completely fixed, she had to wear it in a sling. Goku had insisted she take a nap since she was pretty worn out, and the next thing we knew, she was completely conked out." I smirked. "Sounds like her." Trunks smiled. "Yeah, well, I opened the door once just to check on her when I saw the light again and next thing I knew, we were here." Gatomon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know the feeling. Caught you by surprise and completely unexpectedly, right?" Trunks looked at her. "No, not really." We both stared at him, confused. Seeing this, he proceeding with explaining. "Well, what I mean is that sure it caught me by surprise, but she had already explained it all to me before, so it wasn't really that bad." "Wait a minute," I said, "When did she explain what to you?" "My question exactly," Gatomon added. Trunks looked back and forth between the digimon and me, almost as if her were surprised we didn't know. "Well, back when the three of you first came, she told me that she wasn't really the Kyra I knew, and that the three of you were kind of bouncing between different worlds. She couldn't really explain the rest because she didn't quite understand it, but I didn't really mind. She didn't tell you?" I shook my head, thinking to myself, And to think, I thought she was off playing her role as his girlfriend. "No, she didn't," Gatomon replied, just as surprised as I was. She exchanged knowing glances with me and I nodded. We were definitely going to have a little talk with her. "So where is she now?" I asked casually. "Up there," he replied, pointing. Gatomon looked up and her moaned. "Are you kidding? She was there the entire time?" As I glanced up, my thoughts echoed her words, for it was the same building we woke in, the very same building, which he pointed at. "She's on top of the roof." Rolling my eyes, we decided to walk to the back of the building where no one would see us, and stealthily leapt onto the roof. However, before I could even straighten myself from the landing, I was instantly flung to the ground, hard. "Prance! It's really you! I can't believe it! It feels like it's been forever!" I coughed, gasping for air while trying to pry the arms off my neck. "Kyra, would you chill out? You're a lot stronger than you look, you know!" In the end, it took both Gatomon and Trunks to pull her off of me. Staggering to my feet, I took long, deep breaths. "Geez, what are you trying to do, kill me?" Kyra grinned sheepishly. "Aw, come on. I was just glad to see ya!" I rolled my eyes. "Oh, good, that makes me feel a whole lot better, cause for a second there, I thought you were about to assassinate me." Gatomon eyed Kyra, smirking. "Guess that Dende guy did a decent job on you, then." Kyra nodded energetically. "Yep, see?" she added, pointing to the single left wing exposed, wrapped comfortably in white bandages. "I wanted to go down there and help Trunks look for you, but Dende said I couldn't pull my wing back in for a few more days, and I couldn't exactly walk around school with it out, so I was stuck up here. You have noooo idea how boring it was up here, either!" I rubbed my tail vigorously. "That explains the tackling." "Enough small talk," Gatomon snapped, crossing her arms. "I wanna know what happened with Sirius! How on earth did you make it?" Kyra smiled, and opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again, looking around. "Okay, but can we get outta here, first?" "Oh, sure," I replied, glancing down at Gatomon. "Did you find any portals?" "Two," she replied, "One to one of those pokemon centers going into the girls bathroom, and one just over a little house that looks like an igloo that's in a portable on the side of the school." Kyra perked up. "That sounds like Goku's house. We should probably head there." Glancing at me, she added, More for the sake of Trunks than anything. Think of how it would look if he were to walk into a girls bathroom. I stifled a chuckle as we turned and followed the digimon, hopping across the roofs rather than walking around on the ground. The journey was short, for the portables we were looking for were only on the basketball courts, located behind the gym, which was next to the building we were on. After making sure no one was around, we jumped to the blacktop and followed the digimon to the yellowed portable buildings, weaving our way through them until we arrived at one in the center. "That door," she said, pointing. Nodding, I walked forward and placed my hand on the doorknob, turning and pulling. Sure enough, there was the house she spoke of. I glanced back at Kyra. "Are you positive this is Goku's house?" Walking to my side, she peered inside and smiled, nodding. "Yep." "Okay, then, let's go," I said promptly, walking through. Behind me, the other three followed. Turning, I was about to ask what to do next, but paused as I noticed Kyra rubbing her left shoulder. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Do you need to sit down?" Kyra shook her head, smiling. "Nah, I'm fine. Besides, we need to start heading to Kami's lookout. Goku'll kill me if he thinks I'm overworking myself. which I'm not, by the way!" she added emphatically. I still didn't buy it. "Well, if your wing hurts, maybe we should rest a while before starting off. I mean, how far away is it?" "A little over fifty miles," Trunks replied. "Fifty miles!" Gatomon exclaimed, appearing overwhelmed. I, myself, was about to agree when I paused, noticing a change in Kyra's expression from cheerful to smug. I narrowed my eyes. "Okay, what are you looking so cocky about?" She turned to me and grinned. "Oh, nothing." I raised an eyebrow. "Need I repeat your ever favorite quote, dear Kyra?" "Really, it's not that big," she replied, sneaking a glance at Trunks who merely smiled, shaking his head. "I just happened to pick up a handy little trick from Trunks while I was here before." "A little trick?" I repeated sarcastically. Her eyes sparkled fiercely. "Come on, you didn't think I'd seriously sit around on my butt all day, did you?" Gatomon stared accusingly at her. "No, not really, but with you in your condition, we would have hoped for it, anyway." "What condition?" Kyra exclaimed heatedly. "I'm fine! Dende has already healed me! Just because I have this thing messed up," she hissed, pointing at her bandaged sling, "doesn't mean out of commission, yet!" "Alright, alright, don't get yourself worked up," I said calmly. "If you want to show off your trick, then go ahead and show off." Kyra smiled, nodding and holding her right hand up. "Very well, then." The next few moments were somewhat confusing. I vaguely remember hearing a snapping sound of what I assumed were Kyra's fingers, but the next instant I blinked, and we were suddenly at Kami's lookout. I looked around, amazed, while Gatomon folded her arms and smirked, glancing up at Kyra. "So, you've finally got 'zapping' down," she commented. "Ooh," I said, understanding, "so that's what Matt meant!" Kyra nodded, smiling. "Yep! Trunks helped me with it and a few other things while I've been stuck up here, wasting away like a-" "Ky! What are you doing out of bed?" The four of us whirled around to see Goku storming up to us, adopting for the first time since I've met him an expression of almost paternal anger. He marched up to Kyra who lifted her chin defiantly, trying to look imposing next to the towering figure of her 'brother'. "I got bored sitting in there all day. So what?" "So what? You're supposed to be resting." Laughter exploded from behind him and Krillin started walking toward the group. "Come on, Goku. When was the last time you were hurt and you didn't have Chichi chasing after you to stop training and get back in bed?" "Never, that's when!" Kyra spoke up confidently. I could only look on in amusement as Goku looked back and forth between Kyra and Krillin, looking a lot like a mouse ambushed by a couple of cats. "Well, fine!" he exclaimed indignantly. "Since you all seem to be teaming up against me, anyway." And with that, Goku walked away, sulking like a scolded five-year-old. Throwing a brief smile back at me, Kyra began jogging after him with Krillin walking leisurely behind, still laughing his head off. Trunks could only smile and shake his head. I tilted my own head in curiosity. "What?" "It's just really hard to not imagine her as the real Kyra," he explained, chuckling. "Growing a quick temper was something she had learned from spending a lot of time with Chichi and my mom." I smirked. "Don't worry. No matter who she is or where she is, 100 % full blown temper is always her style." Gatomon nodded in agreement. "Obviously," Trunks replied, walking toward where they had disappeared. I was about to join them when I suddenly paused, watching Trunks closely. Gatomon, noticing my absence, stopped and turned toward me. "What is it, now?" she demanded. "Oh, nothing," I replied thoughtfully. "Just thinking." "About what?" "Well, in reality, Trunks was in love with the real Kyra, right? I was just wondering if he must feel disappointed now that she's kinda gone and our Kyra's replaced her." "Who knows?" Gatomon said, shrugging. "Besides, it's none of our business, anyway." I stood for a moment longer before walking again beside the digimon. "Yeah, I guess so."
After apologies had been made to Goku, the four of us sat around Kyra's room, or rather, the same spare room that we had woken in the last time we were in this world. I sat in a chair flipped backwards, watching Kyra as she settled herself into a comfortable position on the bed. Gatomon sat on the corner of the bed while Trunks stood in the doorway, leaned against the frame, both watching out for anyone passing by and opening an ear to listen. "So?" Gatomon asked after a decent amount of time had passed. "Are you going to tell us what happened or not?" "Yeah, yeah, I know," she replied, crossing her legs one over the other out of habit. I smiled. "Well, basically, the last thing you probably remember was Sirius jumping toward you, ready to attack right after you had burned his hand, right?" We both nodded. "Well, while that happened, Gatomon had started running forward to try to help you out, and the next thing I knew, some bright, twinkling white light appeared out of the sky and kind of swallowed the two of you up." "Yeah, I remember that," I commented. "We both saw it, and Trunks had said you appeared here in the same kind of light." Glancing at him, he nodded his confirmation. "Yeah, well, after that, Sirius pretty much stopped in his tracks." To my surprise, she actually let out a small chuckle. "Hah, he looked kinda funny, just standing there, looking around himself wildly like a monkey." Secretly, I struggled to restrain the laughter that threatened to burst. I could only imagine the wolf's furious reaction had he ever found out he had been called a monkey. "Anyway, after a while of looking around, he finally saw me and started walking toward me." She paused, shivering slightly. "It was creepy. At first, all he did was ask where you had gone. After he finally got the message that I didn't know, he started getting mad cause he didn't get to get rid of you." "Oh, poor little thing," I muttered dryly. "My thoughts exactly. But while he was mad, I did notice he mentioned something about Rastal." My ears perked. "Rastal?" "That other gold wolf?" Gatomon asked. I nodded. "What did he say?" Kyra shook her head. "I'm not sure, exactly. He was kinda muttering to himself, but I definitely heard him say the name Rastal, and something I think about his home. I also thought I heard the word revenge, but I wasn't sure, cause after that, I also could have sworn he said mustard." I rolled my eyes. "Geez, someone needs her ears checked." Her eyes flicked toward me. "Well, sor-ry if I don't exactly have huge ears like you guys do that could hear a pin drop a mile away!" "Just go on with your story," I said nonchalantly. "Right, just change the subject conveniently," she muttered loudly. "Kyra, just get on with it!" Gatomon said impatiently. "Oh, fine!" she exclaimed defensively. "Well, anyway, after he went on like that a while, he finally got fed up with me and held out his hand to." She suddenly grew very quiet, all contempt gone from her voice. She glanced up briefly at me before looking down at her feet tucked under her legs. "Well, you know. but right before he. did anything, the same light came back and grabbed me. But after I woke up, I had pretty much guessed I wasn't in the same place you guys were cause I couldn't see you anywhere." "Where were you?" I asked. "Surprisingly, I was at the movie theater," she replied. "The room itself was empty, though, which was really good since I still had both wings open and one weighed practically a ton, not to mention I practically felt like crap. But I wasn't that far from the exit door, so I crawled toward it, and it ended up being a portal to here. I was barely able to make it through and close the door before I think I fainted. When I woke up again, I was here. Goku found me, apparently, and brought me back to Dende, and that's pretty much it." I nodded, then decided to ask a question that had been on my mind. "So," I began excitedly, "what exactly did you learn while you were up here?" She shrugged. "Like I said, nothing super big. Just small stuff like moving objects and making them appear. I can only do small distances, though, and the zapping only works with places I know really well, otherwise I can only do within about a half a mile radius. But if I practice more, I can make it bigger." "Cool," I said admirably. Ignoring the both of us, Gatomon stood up, arms crossed and her expression serious. "So what do we do, now?" "That's a good question," Kyra agreed, looking at me. "What do we do now?" I sighed, sinking into the chair. "Unfortunately, that's a really good question. Thing is, we know Sirius isn't gonna sit on his lazy tail waiting around for us to coincidentally run into each other again. He's going to be on the hunt, not to mention being completely pissed off due to that little present I left on his hand." "And no matter what you did to it," Gatomon added grimly, "it won't be near enough of an advantage for you two to take him." "I know." "So," Kyra concluded, "we obviously have to stay away from Sirius. That's kind of a given. But what do we do in the meantime?" I sighed again, staring at the ground as I tried to think of a plan. For some reason, something seemed to be tugging at the back of my mind, but I couldn't quite grasp it. Kind of like solving one of those logic puzzles when you think you're stuck but you have these two clues that you know make perfect sense, but you just can't think of what they're trying to say. It was just out of my reach, but yet, at the same time, felt almost obvious. Racking my brain, I quickly ran through all the places we've been through before- the Digital World, where we found those sparks and Gatomon said she saw Sirius, here, where Goku said Rastal and Deesum had been storming, the Cardcaptor world where we first encountered Sirius and Kero said he saw Rastal trap Sakura and Li, and finally the Pokemon world. Suddenly, it hit me. "Hey, I've got an idea." Gatomon and Kyra looked up at me, surprised. Kyra smirked. "Wow, that is a cause for celebration." "Oh, shut up," I replied, not really caring. "But do you remember that town Ash and Misty said we were heading for?" "The town?" Kyra repeated, looking up at the ceiling in thought, tapping her chin. "I'm sure. I remember it had something to do with fortune or fate or something like that." "Destiny town?" Gatomon said, looking at me suspiciously. "Yeah, that was it!" Kyra exclaimed. "So, what about it?" "I say we check it out," I replied. "Think about it. Every other world we've been through has had some sort of interaction between Sirius, Rastal and Deesum except for the Pokemon world. Besides, Destiny town sounds like an interesting place to inspect." Gatomon quirked an eyebrow. "So you're suggesting we go check this place out on the sole reason that it's name sounds interesting?" I briefly thought about my dreams before shrugging. "Let's just say I have a hunch about this one. So what do you say?" Kyra bounced to her feet, grinning. "I say we go for it. It's the only real lead we have, anyway." "Yeah, I guess so," Gatomon admitted reluctantly. Nodding, I glanced up at a clock that stood above the bed. Only three. I sighed. "Okay, so now we have a plan, but what do we do till tonight? We obviously can't go to sleep, now." Kyra's face clouded over in thought as she sank back into the bed, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she stared up at the ceiling. "You could always try training," Gatomon suggested gruffly. "I don't know about you, but I'd certainly feel better if you two didn't rely on luck so much, always hoping something will happen at the last minute. There are only so many times you can rely on luck before it runs out." Kyra brightened, spinning around towards the door. "Hey, maybe Trunks could help you out." The young man shrugged. "I suppose I could." I glanced back and forth between them. "Well, I guess. I mean, I don't think I'll be able to do all that much, but." "Oh, yes you will!" Gatomon exclaimed harshly, suddenly leaping to my side. Baring the long claws of one paw, she clenched them gently around my tail. "You don't have a choice. We are not going to face Sirius or anyone else with you being as weak as you are!" I grabbed the base of my tail and jerked it away from her, flushing and glaring at the digimon at the same time. "Okay, okay, I'll do it!" I hesitated, waiting for her to move further away from me before I added under my breath, "And I am not weak!" I twirled around and marched past Kyra and Trunks through the door before she could respond. Kyra jogged behind me. "Aw, come on, don't be so mad. This'll be fun! She's just trying to get on your nerves so that you'll want to get stronger. I think it's just her way of showing she has confidence in you." "Yeah right!" was the flat answer coming from back inside the room. A sweatdrop rolled down both of our heads. Kyra tried to smile reassuringly. "Yeah, well, don't mind her. She's just in denial." I quirked an eyebrow. "Do you always have to be so annoyingly perky and optimistic?" "Are you kidding?" she replied emphatically. "Goku made me stay in that stupid room all day with absolutely nothing to do! Trust me, I'm just getting started!" "Oh, boy."
"In." I sucked in air. ". and out." I slowly released the breath. "In. and out." This isn't working, you know, I thought harshly, desparately wanting to open my eyes. What are you talking about? Of course it is! You just need to give it some time. Yeah, right. Well, Kyra thought quietly, partially to herself, it did work for me. Shut up, I commanded. Shutting up. I sighed, continuing with my breathing. Knowing Kyra's eyes were closed, I cautiously opened one of my own to look around me. We had been sitting like this in the courtyard for over a half hour, now. Trunks had gone as soon as we left the room, volunteering to keep an eye on Goku and the others while we trained. That is, if you can even consider this training. Gatomon sat perched on the roof of the building closest to us, temporarily caught between deciding whether to watch our proceedings or go to sleep. I sighed again. Wish I had the luxury of an actual choice. Finally, I opened my other eye and yawned. Kyra opened hers just as I was standing up. "Hey! What are you doing?" I shook my legs and tail, returning feeling to my practically dead limbs. "What does it look like? This obviously isn't working so what's the point?" "Prance, come on," Kyra whined, standing while still wary of her bandaged wing. "At least give it a try." "I did," I retorted. "And the only thing that's come out of me trying is an empty stomach and a sore tail." "Well, maybe if you didn't open your eyes every three minutes and actually tried to look like you were attempting to try this out, something might have happened by now!" Gatomon snapped, nimbly leaping down to join us. "What was that, kitty cat!?" I snarled, twirling around to face her, face red, veins popping. I was not in the mood for this. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kyra slinking away, not wanting to get caught up in another one of our "friendly" disputes. "You heard me," she replied calmly, taking no heed of my challenging tone. "You're nothing more than a lazy bum that doesn't even want to try to save her own butt next time we run into Sirius!" Alright, that was it. This little rat had pushed me too far too many times. "Well, if you think it's so easy," I countered, "why don't you sit here for an hour and breathe! Or better yet, breathe with a paper bag over your head- very deeply!" "Hey, don't get pissed at me cause you can't do something as simple as light a candle." I narrowed my eyes. "Well, Miss-Smarty-Paws! I don't see you lighting any simple candles, now, do I? Talk is cheap from someone who can't back their words with action!" Gatomon smirked. "Nice try, kitten, but I'm not a fire based digimon. It's not in my data, so I can't, but you can, so why not get to it. if you can." My hands tightened into fists beside me as I struggled to contain the tremendous urge to punch the irritating feline. "So, what, now you're saying I can't so it?" "You said it, not me." "Right, and all this is coming from the same digimon who practically cowered behind me while I burnt Sirius's hand to a crisp! Whatdya call that, then? Huh?" "Dumb luck," she replied, looking very smug with herself. "Sirius was caught off guard cause he thought you weren't fighting back. That little light show of yours couldn't harm a flea." "Oh yeah!?" I screamed, raising my hand, unable to hold back any longer. "Well, tell me, genius. Let me know if this hurts enough for ya!" Next thing I knew, I felt my palm grow warm and suddenly I was hurling a sphere of orange flames the size of a grapefruit at the loud-mouthed cat. Unfortunately, I only had the luxury of witnessing a small expression of concern cross her face as she deftly jumped out of the way of the attack. The ball, missing its intended target, flew harmlessly past, crashing into the wall of the building behind them and leaving a decent sized indentation. Glancing behind her, Gatomon turned back to me and stuck her tongue out. "Hah, you call that an attack? I know baby digimon that make better bubbles than that!" Furious, I lifted my hand again. "Oh yeah? Bubble this!" Simultaneously, I let out a series of flaming assaults, one after the other, on and on in the digimon's direction. However, to both my dismay and utter horror, the feline seemed to be able to keep up with the onslaught, always a step ahead of my next flaming projectiles. "What's the matter? Is that all you got?" Under my breath, I began hissing. If you want a challenge, I'll give you a challenge. Releasing several more fireballs, I suddenly took off, speeding toward her while still maintaining my rapid fire. Startled, she took my change in strategy as a dare, and continued running, this time directly at me. Together, the two of us looked like we were in a jousting tournament, racing toward each other in a duel. However, I highly doubt that the Renaissance age battles consisted of fire throwing cat people and bad- mouthed digimon. But beside that, it was kinda the same. As we drew closer and closer together, the distance between my hand and her quickly shrank, resulting in less time for her to escape my flames. More and more balls of fire were coming closer to searing her short fur. I grinned. Let's see you escape, now! However, before I could release the final blow, Gatomon crouched low and sprang over my head, landing somewhere behind me. By now, I was getting seriously ticked off. "Arggg, you're gonna pay Gatomon!" I exclaimed, spinning around as I held another ball of fire waiting to be unleashed. But as I turned, Gatomon's face wasn't the one I encountered. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Ple-eease don't burn me-eee!" "Kyra!?" I exclaimed, flames instantly put out but fury not yet vanished. She stood before me, arms covering her head. Hesitantly, she opened one eye and glanced at me. "Are you gonna burn me?" I rolled my eyes, lowering my hands. "Of course not." "Phew!" she exclaimed, releasing her pent up anxiety and wiping her brow. "Thank goodness!" "What are you doing standing in my way, anyway?" I asked. From behind me, a voice laughed. "Don't you even realize what you just did?" I spun around. Trunks was walking toward us, smiling at me as he sauntered over to Kyra's side. I tilted my head to one side, ears twitching, confused. "Um. no-ooo," I said slowly. Kyra giggled, shaking her head. "Think, brainiac! You don't even remember what we came out here to do in the first place?" I looked at my friend strangely. "Yeah, I was supposed to practice my 'fire- thingy'." "Well, hel-lo! What the heck do you think you just did?" As I stared at Kyra, it suddenly clicked, and a slow smile crept onto my confused face. "Oh crap, I did it, didn't I? I don't believe it, I actually did it!" "All thanks to her," Kyra added cheerfully, jerking her thumb behind her. With her chin high and her arms crossed, Gatomon smiled as she sauntered toward the kitchen. "I'm a genius." *sizzle* "PRANCE!" Gatomon screamed, paws clutching her scorched tail. Grinning, I leaned forward and stuck my tongue out at the beast quickly before spinning around and taking off. Good thing, too, for when I looked back the digimon was already on my tail, claws forward and teeth bared, eyes blazing. Kyra and Trunks stood motionless, watching the chase in bored agitation. After a few seconds, Kyra sighed and sank to the ground, shaking her head. "I think it's safe to say that it's definitely her temper that triggers her power," Trunks said bluntly. Sinking her head into her hands, Kyra added, "Unfortunately."