Chapter 53: Liftoff…
"Uh-oh!" Tina thought aloud as she realized their conundrum: Ingrid still had to be vaccinated. That meant she had to get a booster shot; a thing that Tina dreaded, herself. She would hate to think what getting a shot would do to a child whose mind and worldview were just developing, like Ingrid's. The worst guess that Tina could think of was that Ingrid wouldn't trust her anymore. Tina knew that she would have to be right there with Ingrid for Ingrid to feel the most secure during the shot, and, once Ingrid got the idea of what was going on, Ingrid would struggle for sure. Tina didn't want to have to be the one to hold her down; Ingrid's trust of her would be broken immediately---not to mention her view of the world as a whole.
So Tina came up with this plan: Tina would get a booster shot herself, before Ingrid would get hers. Throughout the whole operation, Tina would have Ingrid sitting in her lap, with Ingrid watching her get the injection before receiving one herself. Tina had it in her mind to do this, but she dreaded this idea even more, knowing that there would be two bouts of suffering involved.
Joe strapped on his sterile, rubber gloves. "You're sure you want to do things this way?"
"Not really," Tina admitted, with a fake smile on her face as she looked down at Ingrid. Tina rolled up her turtleneck's sleeve and waited for the pain of the injection. She first felt a gauze soaked in cold alcohol rub her arm, which made her feel all the more nervous and made it all the more difficult for her to fake a smile and keep her cool in front of Ingrid. Yet, somehow she managed---even when the needle went into her arm---to keep a smile on her face and keep Ingrid thinking that everything was okay. It felt awful to have a needle pierce her skin and pump foreign, cold IV fluid into her bloodstream, and she hated to think how it would seem to poor Ingrid. A few weeks before this, life had seemed to Ingrid like a nightmare that made her feel like curling up in a ball and hiding from anything that was alive. To feel pain again---pain as bad as a booster shot---would only incite bad memories and make her feel awful and terrified again.
Finally, it was over. The needle was out of Tina's arm, and there was a neon pink bandage covering the spot where the needle had gone in. Ingrid looked at the bandage, and thought that a brightly colored pink spot like that was one of the coolest-looking things that she had ever seen, and she wanted one of her own. Ingrid rolled up her own sleeve, the same way Tina had done. She kept looking up at Tina and smiling, as if to say, "Now I'm going to get one, too! Fun, huh? I'm glad we had this little outing!"
Then, the alcohol came. Ingrid let out a grunt of disappointment as she felt the coldness of the gauze and the fluid. She tried to roll her sleeve down, but Tina held the sleeve back. "No can give booster shot if have sleeve rolled down!" she said to Ingrid.
Ingrid looked up at Tina as if to say, "What're you keeping my sleeve up for? That's freezing!" So, knowing her own skin was warm to the touch, Tina wrapped her arms around Ingrid and held her tightly. (This wasn't just to make up for the cold; it was so that Tina would have an excuse for restraining her when Joe would give her the shot.)
"This'll keep Ingrid warm," Tina said.
"Warm?" Ingrid asked.
"Warm," Tina reassured her. After a few minutes, the coldness of the alcohol was only a bad memory…and a memory that Ingrid forgot. All she could think about was that bright pink spot that she'd get for having a booster shot. She didn't, of course, see the pain coming. She didn't think that getting a needle stuck in her arm would have any pain involved; Tina never argued when it happened to her! So Ingrid let out a loud, surprised scream when she felt the needle go into her arm. Tina held on to Ingrid even tighter than before; keeping her from wiggling and hurting herself even more. Then the needle came out, and Ingrid's scream changed into sobs. The scream started up again when Joe came towards her with a spot bandage. "Joe, I think you'd better let me put on the bandage. I think she's scared of you, now."
"Okay, but get it on her fast."
"I will." Tina wrapped Ingrid in her blanket and carried her away. "It's okay, honey…you'll be fine…" Tina carried Ingrid back to the orphanage, and she cried the entire way there. Tina set Ingrid down next to Natasha, where she usually sat. But Ingrid didn't stop crying, even after she got the coveted pink spot bandage on her arm. It took a lot of lullaby-ing and holding Ingrid to get her to stop crying. But she still had an unsure look on her face and looked up at Tina, looking for reassurance. Tina tried to smile down at her, but she couldn't. Somehow, she managed to smile through a needle in her own arm, and yet she couldn't smile after watching someone else, so young and frail, get a shot. She hugged Ingrid and tried to make her as comfortable as possible.
"So…I take it, she got the vaccination?" Natasha asked.
Tina sadly nodded and rubbed Ingrid's shoulder. "I think that I'll be camping out with Ingrid for the next little while. She feels more secure with me next to her, so I think I should stay with her until she gets over this emotionally."
Natasha took the hint. "I'll let Brock know, and he'll pass word to your mom." Natasha explained the situation to Brock, and, instead of going out to explain the situation to Yolei, he came towards her.
"What happened to her?" Brock asked with a flush face.
"She lost all her memory. She doesn't know how to speak, and she barely knows how to walk."
"Ouch."
"Yeah…so how do you treat a child who can't speak your language?"
Brock sighed. "I don't know…I don't actually have training; I just have experience."
"Oh…but could you let my mom know that I'll be sleeping here tonight?"
"Sure, I'll do that." Brock's face flushed again. "Do you need me to join you and help watch her?"
"No, thanks."
Ingrid was delighted to find that Tina was going to be sleeping in the orphanage. Tina let Ingrid sit on her lap as she played Super Mario World, and, again, it delighted her to see those bright colors and characters running around the screen. Tina kept away from some of the darker-colored levels, like the underground and the ghost houses, because those levels and their music could get creepy.
Again, Tina spoon-fed Ingrid and tried to put her to bed. But Ingrid didn't want to sleep; she wanted to be awake for every moment that she was with Tina. (Put that way, Tina would've been flattered, but Tina was actually annoyed.) Tina let out a disgusted sigh. There was a way to get her to sleep: Tina unzipped her own sleeping bag and crawled in. She beckoned Ingrid close and said her prayers out loud in front of her. Then she looked up and said, "Good night." Tina then shut her eyes and half-pretended and half-tried to get to sleep.
Ingrid wasn't so easily defeated: she began punching the sleeping bag at random places to try to wake Tina up. Tina looked at her.
"Man, she won't take 'no' for an answer, will she?" Tina asked, looking at Natasha.
"That's what happens when you don't punish your child."
"So…what am I supposed to do? She just got a shot, isn't that enough suffering for one day?"
"Well…you wouldn't actually need to punish her, you'd just need to show that you mean business."
"Hmm…" Tina sat up, took Ingrid by the shoulders, and forced Ingrid down and aside into her bed. Ingrid wasn't happy to be put to bed, but Tina held her down. Ingrid looked up at her with a very sad look on her face, so Tina sighed, kissed her face (as if to say, "this doesn't mean I don't still love you"), and kept holding her down.
Ingrid finally accepted defeat and slept.
Tina sighed and rested her head back down on her pillow. She was just beginning to get to sleep when her mother barged in. "Tina, you can't do this!"
Tina groaned. "Not so loud! I don't want her to wake up again!"
"Honey, we need you for Operation Caravan!"
"…Oh, right," Tina answered with an embarrassed blush.
Yolei put her hands on her hips. "You forgot, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did…"
"So you didn't get extra sleep so that you'd be able to come along?"
"No, I didn't."
Yolei let out a disappointed sigh. "Tina, what am I going to do with you?"
Tina sighed. "…When does it leave?"
"In about twenty minutes!"
"…Oh, great!" Tina sighed and thought for a moment. "Hey…wait a minute! I just got an idea: what do you need me for with Operation Caravan?"
"You're supposed to have Joey find the---"
"And would me getting out of Imperialdramon's force field be necessary for that until we get to Minnesota?"
"…I guess not, but---"
"So that means that I can sleep during the trip!"
Yolei felt defeated somehow. "Okay, fine…! Get your sleeping bag in gear and be at the front door in ten minutes!"
Tina was surprised to find that Rika would be coming along on the trip. "I thought you didn't like to be out-and-about!" Tina asked, looking at her.
"And I thought you were supposed to be in the orphanage. But this sure is a day for being wrong, isn't it?"
Tina rolled her eyes. "Let's just get moving, okay?"
"Okay." Looking at the sleeping bag over Tina's shoulder, Rika asked, "I thought this was a trade mission, not some kind of slumber party."
"I'm just…catching up on sleep, that's all."
"Psh! Good luck."
"Say, where is Imperialdramon, anyways?"
"To answer your question, I don't think that---"
"Veemon, digivolve to…Exveemon!"
"Wormmon, digivolve to…Stingmon!"
"Exveemon!"
"Stingmon!"
"DNA digivolve to…Paildramon!"
"Paildramon, mega-digivolve to…Imperialdramon!"
"---that Veemon and Wormmon have digivolved, yet," Rika finished, somewhat after-the-fact.
Tina blinked. "Well…that sure answers my question!"
"Let's get on, already!"
******
Blackwargreymon sneered. "You dare to challenge me?!"
"You don't really know what you're up against, do you?" The Figure asked.
"Frankly, I don't care: I know that you won't be able to defeat an experienced mega digimon with such a new creature as Black Rook!"
"That's why I'm not using Black Rook. Pangolimon?"
A scaly digimon stepped forward. "Shall we do our thing?" it hissed.
"Digi-modify! Digivolution, activate!"
"Pangolimon, digivolve to…Glyptodomon!" Glyptodomon looked like Ankylomon, but he was a little bit smaller, he had a greenish tint to his scales, and had a hammer on his tail instead of a mace.
"Ha! Terra Destroyer!" Blackwargreymon hurled a ball of red flame at Glyptodomon, hoping to destroy him before any real threat happened.
Glyptodomon had a strange answer: "Tail Slicer!" It slashed its tail through the air, and it left a white streak as it flew. That white streak must've been a force field, because it absorbed the fireball. The attack easily destroyed the force field, but Glyptodomon didn't take any damage.
"I'll admit that was impressive," Blackwargreymon answered. "But you still won't defeat me!"
"Careful, Blackwargreymon!" Henry cautioned. "This guy can be tough, from what I've heard!"
"Others will hear new things about him soon after this battle!"
"No kidding," The Figure sneered. "Digi-modify! Counter-crest digivolution, activate!"
"Glyptodomon, digivolve to…Diplodomon!" Diplodomon was a scaly, huge dinosaur with a long neck and a huge tail.
"HA!! Black Tornado!"
"Blackwargreymon, no!" Takato hissed.
"Solidifying Blaster!" Diplodomon shouted as a burst of blue-white energy flew from his mouth. The sub-zero blast froze Blackwargreymon in a block of ice, and he plummeted into the ground.
"This doesn't look good…which one of us takes this guy?" Henry asked.
"You know how tough this guy can be; his digimon are genetically engineered by some alien civilization! I think we both go for it!"
"…This is a big risk…"
"I don't see what choice we have. Digi-modify! Digivolution, activate!"
"Guilmon, digivolve to…Growlmon!"
"Digi-modify! Digivolution, activate!"
"Terriermon, digivolve to…Gargomon!"
"Pyroblaster!"
"Gargo Laser!" The two attacks flew at Diplodomon, and Diplodomon's long neck was knocked backwards.
"Growlmon, thaw out Blackwargreymon while I handle this guy!" Gargomon shouted.
"Right!" Growlmon ran towards Blackwargreymon.
"Don't let him go there, Jaymon! Digi-modify! Digivolution, activate!"
"Jaymon, digivolve to…Nekhbetmon!"
"Pyroblaster!" Growlmon fired at Nekhbetmon.
"Meteor Blast!" it answered, letting a stream of white flame spew out its mouth to cancel Growlmon's attack.
"Fine then! Dragon claw!" Growlmon threw a white blade of energy up at Nekhbetmon.
"Grand blast!" The tips of its two horns glowed, and it fired a pair of orange beams at the blade and erased it.
"This just isn't working!" Takato shouted. "Digi-modify! Hypersonic, activate!"
Growlmon dashed around Nekhbetmon and began blowing flame at the frozen Blackwargreymon.
"Fine then!" The Figure answered. "Digi-modify! Firepower, activate!"
It seemed as though both of his digimon had reaped the benefits of the mod-card: they both fired at the tamers' digimon. Neither shot landed a hit, but both made pretty big explosions.
"This isn't good!" Henry thought aloud. "Looks like a matrix digivolution is called for!" He put his entire deck in his hand and stared at the cards. He felt a strange tingle in his thumb as one of the cards changed into a blue card. "Finally!! For once, it wasn't a flaky change… Digi-modify! Matrix Digivolution, activate!"
"Gargomon, digivolve to…Metalgargomon!" Metalgargomon aimed his weapon arms at Nekhbetmon. "Sharp Rockets!" A pair of guided missiles flew at Nekhbetmon. Neither landed a hit as Nekhbetmon fired a pair of beams at them, but Nekhbetmon was distracted long enough for Growlmon to finish thawing Blackwargreymon.
"Time to get in some revenge!" Blackwargreymon snarled.
"This time, let's be careful!"
"…Fine! We'll try it your way! But what exactly is careful? To get out of here now, or destroy some of these digimon and make sure they don't attack us again?"
"Good question…but there's one idea I have!"