Chapter 18: I Guess It Is A Soap Opera!
"I'm sorry, Renamon! It's the best I can do."
"Well…thank you for giving me some of your time to this."
"You should keep that part of your fur dry and avoid putting pressure on it for the next five days."
"That will be difficult to do."
"If you don't, then it'll look even worse."
Renamon sighed. She tucked her poncho under her arm and hurried back to her room. As she was walking to her room in the halls, Hare caught her in the corner of his eye, and he noticed that her poncho wasn't wet at all and that there was a strange smell on her. "Hey, Renamon!"
Renamon's face instantly flushed. "Hi, Hare…"
"So…how'd it go?"
"Fairly well…excuse me, I have a shift in the morning."
"Aren't you missing dinner?"
"I'll…I'll survive."
Hare decided to ask her about the smell that was coming from her: "Did…you have to handle strange chemicals in this mission? I mean, there's this smell I noticed---"
"That's---what I was doing, yes, you could put it that way…"
"You really ought to shower off, then. I mean, weird chemicals can hurt you if---"
"Oh, no…I'll be fine, trust me." But trusting her was a thing that Hare was having difficulty doing. Renamon rushed back to the room before anyone else asked her anything.
"Success?" Rika asked.
"Sort of. I'm not supposed to touch the spot or get it wet."
"We'll need to get you a waterproof apron…"
"If I'd had one of those to begin with, then this wouldn't have happened!"
Rika sighed. Without knowing what she was saying, she said, "I'm sorry."
Both were shocked at Rika's sudden social action: she had apologized for one of her mistakes! This was a major, albeit accidental breakthrough for her! Renamon stuttered, "It's okay, Rika…I forgive you."
Rika was further shocked. She really didn't know how she was supposed to feel. It felt strange and wonderful to be forgiven, but on the other hand, she felt extremely shy…bashful enough to make her want to go into the fetal position inside a safe and lock herself in. She curled up in her bed and turned her back to Renamon out of her introversion.
Renamon sighed. It never ends, she thought to herself, lamenting over Rika's coyness.
But, then again, she was more than a little shy, herself: she had refused to tell Hare the truth, even when she'd promised herself that she'd tell him about the bleach. Shaking her head, she curled up with her back to Rika, and went to sleep. (If she had slept with her face towards Rika, she'd have put pressure on the dyed spot.)
Few hours later, Tina and Youngdramon quietly entered the room, and saw that Renamon and Rika were sleeping with their backs turned to each other. "Uh-oh!" Tina whispered to Youngdramon. "They're mad at each other!"
"Are we going to have to play peacemakers?" Youngdramon asked.
"Afraid so."
Youngdramon cautioned, "If we're going to get involved, then---"
"Oh, come on. We'll address the issue in the morning."
" 'Address the issue!'? What are we, politicians? Like I've told you, you ought to run for office!"
"We'll have to see how my diplomatic skills carry over."
******
T.K., Cody, and Golem were on seek patrol together. Chilly winds nipped at their cheeks and ears and made them wonder how anyone would be able to survive out there. But that was all the more reason to get anyone and everyone out of there.
"You know, Cody, I think that we really ought to check the insides of some of these buildings. It'll be warmer in there. I mean, I wouldn't stick around outside if I were a refugee."
"Which one should we check?"
"Probably a big one---you know, with a boiler room."
"It's worth a shot, I guess…how about that one?" Cody suggested, pointing to a huge office building. They left Golem outside while they investigated the inside of the building.
"T.K., one question: are we supposed to check every room in this building?"
"Good question. But I don't see what choice we have."
"Great. If Golem gets attacked out there, he'll be a disk by the time we get down there."
"For one thing, it shouldn't be that tricky for Cleaver to revive him. And for another thing---"
They heard the roar of a spiderstrike outside.
"Never mind…!" T.K. shouted as they did a 180° and ran for Golem.
They skidded to a halt. "Great. So what're you thinking?"
"Two words: DNA…digivolve!"
"Armadillomon, digivolve to…Ankylomon!"
"Patamon, digivolve to…Angemon!" Angemon's form was a little different: he wore a long white robe, but, other than this, his form and attacks hadn't changed.
Cody and T.K. clapped their digivices together.
"Ankylomon!"
"Angemon!"
"DNA digivolve to…Archaeopteryxmon!"
Archaeopteryxmon looked like more of a cross between Ankylomon and Angemon than had Shakkoumon. He had scaly, yellow skin and a pair of golden wings. He was armed with a mace that had a long handle.
"Golem!" Archaeopteryxmon shouted. "Get out of the way! Optics Beam!" Archaeopteryxmon fired a pair of red lasers out his eyes and knocked the spiderstrike out of the sky. "That wasn't so tough!"
He'd spoken too soon: He was immediately hit in the back with a huge, blue sphere of energy. He looked unconscious.
"Aw, great!" T.K. muttered as he looked on at the gorillouts that were readying their attacks.
"So, how do we get out of this one?" Golem asked.
"Good question," T.K. admitted.
"Wait, what about module evolution?" Cody wondered, pulling the digi-egg of knowledge out of his pocket.
"It's worth a try," Golem agreed.
Cody touched the digi-egg of knowledge to Golem's leg.
"Golem, module-evolve to…"