Part 24:
After awakening at Dr. Lambert's touch, Wizardmon and she had quietly departed
her place and driven towards where the Schanke's residence was located with only
a quick stop so that the digimon could stuff himself on a large vegetarian pizza
and side order of pasta.
The detective's place wasn't hard to miss as it was the only one on the block
festooned with colorful balloons. When they pulled into the driveway out stepped Don Schanke, dressed in a a white chef's hat
and a "Kiss the Barbeque Artist" apron that was soiled by several grease spots
as well as several large wet marks.
"Hey, there!" he greeted them cheerfully, flashing them the spatula in his hand.
"I was getting worried you weren't going to show, Mr. Wizardmon." Schanke looked
grimly back to his house where several kids could be seen running around from
the back and attacking each other with water pistols. "The natives are already
restless; I don't think I'll be needing to water the lawn today, the little
monsters have pretty much soaked everything but the grill, thank heaven."
"Hi, Schanke," Natalie grinned back, "So they've been keeping you busy, eh?"
Don grimaced, "It's like a bloody, undeclared war! I had an easier time when I
was still a beat cop."
"Hello, Mr. Schanke," Wizardmon said from the passenger seat where he was
struggling to get the seat belts off.
How did these things work?!
The detective chuckled as he saw him struggling with the locking device. "I hope
'escape artist' isn't one of your specialties," he quipped.
Wizardmon sighed and looked downcast. "It is not."
Schanke exchanged glances with Natalie, who shrugged. She leaned over and
applied the necessary touches to get the stubborn locks to release and Don went
around the door to open it for him. Wizardmon noticed his apron and looked up at
the detectives face with a bemused expression.
Don grimaced in mock sterness as he shook his spatula at the wizard. "Don't get
any ideas, mister! The only ones who kiss this cook are his wife and kid!"
Wizardmon allowed a wicked chuckle to escape from his mouth, but hopped to the
grass without trying anything. No sooner was the digimon out of the vehicle than
he was spotted by some of the children. They rushed over, a motley gaggle of wet
and grass-stained prepubescent hoodlums ready to accost this outlandish newcomer.
"Radical outfit!"
"Are you supposed to be some sort of magician?"
"I can't stand balloon animals; there better not be any or I'll pop 'em!"
The last child---a boy of about nine and large for his age---loomed over the
wizard with arms crossed in challenge.
Meeting the other's eye, Wizardmon brought his hands together into a ball shape
and breathed some words. When he started to separate his hands several red
balloons appeared between the leather gloves. With a few deft twists and more
words the balloons had attained the shape of a fiery, rubbery, Phoenix bird in
the wizard's hand.
"Go ahead and pop it."
Frowning, the boy produced a pin from his pocket and did just that, smiling when
the balloon made the customary 'bang!' noise that all such structures emitted
when so introduced to a sharp object. His glee was short lived, however, when the 'popped' balloon refused to deflate as expected
but kept its shape.
"Uh..."
The child took a half step back, his expression a study in confusion.
None the less amazed by the Phoenix's refusal to die, Schanke performed his own
magic trick by confiscating the pin and making it disappear into his pocket. "I
think I'll take possession of that, Harold; its bit dangerous of a thing to be
waving around."
"Uh," Harold repeated, still trying to figure out why the balloon animal refused
to become a mere scrap of red garbage as it should. He gave up when he saw that
the others were already following the adults and the odd little man to an open
area of grass that had been reserved for the entertainer's use.
Don's wife, Myra, came out of the house bearing trays of cookies which she
passed around the eager children once they'd taken seats on the lawn. She passed
one to Wizardmon as well, who thanked her---and with a wink, flipped it so that
it arched gracefully in the air to fall back between the brim of his hat and top
of his cowl.
"Delicious! Thank you, dear lady. You are certainly an grand artist on the
canvas of good cooking."
Myra blushed and giggled a little as she gave him another before she went over
to stand with her husband and Natalie who were watching on the 'sidelines'.
"Wherever did you find such a sweet man?"
"Oh… he just sort of 'appeared' in the city," Natalie said airily. "He's a
friend of Nick's."
"Well, you can bring him by to visit anytime---and Don, don't eat all those by
yourself!" she declared as she went to restock the food table. Donald guiltily
put back half of the handful of cookies he'd swiped.
------------------------------------------
Boosted by occasional food gifts courtesy of Myra, Wizardmon spent the next 45
minutes performing simple acts of magic for his audience.
He was enjoying himself immensely.
The only alteration that would have made the event better would have been if
Nicholas had been able to watch as well, but the open sunlight had nixed any
possibility of the vampire attending.
There was one thing though that the mage was concerned about. It wasn't anything
major--- just the niggling feeling that it was more than just his known audience
watching his every move. Perhaps it was only some of the neighboring humans?
"For my next trick, I will require the use of a large box." Wizardmon nodded
towards Don, who handed his doughnut to Myra before going to the side of the
house to get a metal box that he had brightly painted in advance for the magic show.
The detective hefted the sturdy cubicle, mumbling under his breath that those
kids must have worn him out more than he'd thought since he hadn't remembered it
being quite this heavy before. He then carried it over to where Wizardmon was
waiting and set it down before walking back to his wife and waiting doughnut.
"Man, oh man," do I ever need this!" he chuckled, taking a bite out of the
chocolate pastry.
Wizardmon, meanwhile, had started the customary magician's line of how this was
an ordinary box made of unextraordinary materials and was, of course, quite
empty. Taking hold of the lid, he prepared to lift it to prove the latter to
everyone. The hinged flap acquiesced to his desire---
And lifted to show a pair of luminous eyes peered up at him with malicious glee.
"Wizardmon, I got you now, you---!"
The data mage hastily flung down the steel lid and held it that way with his
arms while he sat on it.
DIGI-SLUDGE!
His alarm was not lost on Natalie, who quickly sprang forward to see what the
matter was. The problem quickly became apparent when the sharp point of a
hypodermic rammed up through the lid, narrowly missing Wizardmon's hand.
What the hell?
"It's Demidevimon," Wizardmon hissed in a low voice. "That little creep I told
you about!"
"How…?"
That's what he'd like to know! the mage's mind raced to think of possibilities.
"I don't know, but we have to get him away from these humans!" He rearranged his
hold just in time to avoid another needle. He could read where the imp was going
to strike next, but that wouldn't help once the box became so riddled with holes
Demidevimon simply ripped through it!
Spinning around towards their hosts and the kids, Natalie offered them all a
weak smile while Wizardmon bore the box towards Natalie's car as quickly as he
could. "Er… We seem to be having some technical… difficulties with the equipment
and have to cut this short. Sorry!"
"Natalie?" Don asked as they shouldered by him.
"Sorry, Schanke, Myra, can't chat now! Gotta go!"
They'd made it to the car when two teenagers appeared from behind the vehicles
and grabbed Dr. Lambert. Wizardmon skidded to a halt as he recognized the
youths. This was bad. If he let go of the box to summon his magic and aid her,
then Demidevimon would get out and start attacking.
This couldn't be coincidence. The evil little so-and-so must have recruited the
kids to help him!
"Hey, freak," Samuel Patterson said as he held a knife to Natalie's ribcage,
"Why don't you let go of the box you've got there?" Joey Martinez grinned and
smacked his brass-knuckled hands together.
"I have a better idea," Schanke said as he trained his gun on the teenagers. His
other hand held a cell phone which was open. "Why don't YOU put down the knife
while we wait for the backup I've already called for?"
"Oh, shit!" Patterson cursed as he debated whether to surrender or not. He saw the
cop's wife herding the other younger kids into the house.
Wizardmon didn't wait, but took the opportunity to sit on the box to keep it
closed while he used his magic to disarm the boys. Unfortunately, he couldn't
change his position in time to avoid the latest stab from his prisoner and felt
the poison enter his system.
Damn.
"Nataliiieeee…."
Natalie delivered Patterson a swft kick to the shins before she ran over to the
slumping Wizardmon. While Schanke was distracted, Martinez made a run for it.
"Hey---freeze! Ah, hell! Nat?"
Natalie waved for him to go ahead and give chase while she checked on Wizardmon.
"Paraaalysssiiisss," Wizardmon slurred. "Oouut frrr howrrrsss… msst rrrnn."
Natalie nodded as she hefted him up and ran for her car, thankful for the little
electronic device that allowed her to open her doors at a push of a button. She
pushed Wizardmon in just as a darkish ball of a creature broke out of the box
and flew at the open door. The doctor shut it in the thing's face. It growled at
her as she started the car and drove off, the hideous creature clinging
tenaciously to the car antennae.
She got two blocks before her trusty Taurus sputtered and stalled.
After several attempts, she gave up trying to start the engine----Patterson or
Martinez must have sabotaged her car!
On the other side of the windshield, Demidevimon cackled at her situation,
scratching the hood's paint job as he danced a victory jig.
"Give it up, lady! Just give me old Raggedy Ass there and I'll leave you be!"
Natalie gave him the finger as she found her cell phone and hit a pre-dial
button.
A sleepy Nicholas answered.
----------------------------------------------------------
End of Part 24
Yeah, not my best but its been so long and I wanted to get *something* out!
After awakening at Dr. Lambert's touch, Wizardmon and she had quietly departed
her place and driven towards where the Schanke's residence was located with only
a quick stop so that the digimon could stuff himself on a large vegetarian pizza
and side order of pasta.
The detective's place wasn't hard to miss as it was the only one on the block
festooned with colorful balloons. When they pulled into the driveway out stepped Don Schanke, dressed in a a white chef's hat
and a "Kiss the Barbeque Artist" apron that was soiled by several grease spots
as well as several large wet marks.
"Hey, there!" he greeted them cheerfully, flashing them the spatula in his hand.
"I was getting worried you weren't going to show, Mr. Wizardmon." Schanke looked
grimly back to his house where several kids could be seen running around from
the back and attacking each other with water pistols. "The natives are already
restless; I don't think I'll be needing to water the lawn today, the little
monsters have pretty much soaked everything but the grill, thank heaven."
"Hi, Schanke," Natalie grinned back, "So they've been keeping you busy, eh?"
Don grimaced, "It's like a bloody, undeclared war! I had an easier time when I
was still a beat cop."
"Hello, Mr. Schanke," Wizardmon said from the passenger seat where he was
struggling to get the seat belts off.
How did these things work?!
The detective chuckled as he saw him struggling with the locking device. "I hope
'escape artist' isn't one of your specialties," he quipped.
Wizardmon sighed and looked downcast. "It is not."
Schanke exchanged glances with Natalie, who shrugged. She leaned over and
applied the necessary touches to get the stubborn locks to release and Don went
around the door to open it for him. Wizardmon noticed his apron and looked up at
the detectives face with a bemused expression.
Don grimaced in mock sterness as he shook his spatula at the wizard. "Don't get
any ideas, mister! The only ones who kiss this cook are his wife and kid!"
Wizardmon allowed a wicked chuckle to escape from his mouth, but hopped to the
grass without trying anything. No sooner was the digimon out of the vehicle than
he was spotted by some of the children. They rushed over, a motley gaggle of wet
and grass-stained prepubescent hoodlums ready to accost this outlandish newcomer.
"Radical outfit!"
"Are you supposed to be some sort of magician?"
"I can't stand balloon animals; there better not be any or I'll pop 'em!"
The last child---a boy of about nine and large for his age---loomed over the
wizard with arms crossed in challenge.
Meeting the other's eye, Wizardmon brought his hands together into a ball shape
and breathed some words. When he started to separate his hands several red
balloons appeared between the leather gloves. With a few deft twists and more
words the balloons had attained the shape of a fiery, rubbery, Phoenix bird in
the wizard's hand.
"Go ahead and pop it."
Frowning, the boy produced a pin from his pocket and did just that, smiling when
the balloon made the customary 'bang!' noise that all such structures emitted
when so introduced to a sharp object. His glee was short lived, however, when the 'popped' balloon refused to deflate as expected
but kept its shape.
"Uh..."
The child took a half step back, his expression a study in confusion.
None the less amazed by the Phoenix's refusal to die, Schanke performed his own
magic trick by confiscating the pin and making it disappear into his pocket. "I
think I'll take possession of that, Harold; its bit dangerous of a thing to be
waving around."
"Uh," Harold repeated, still trying to figure out why the balloon animal refused
to become a mere scrap of red garbage as it should. He gave up when he saw that
the others were already following the adults and the odd little man to an open
area of grass that had been reserved for the entertainer's use.
Don's wife, Myra, came out of the house bearing trays of cookies which she
passed around the eager children once they'd taken seats on the lawn. She passed
one to Wizardmon as well, who thanked her---and with a wink, flipped it so that
it arched gracefully in the air to fall back between the brim of his hat and top
of his cowl.
"Delicious! Thank you, dear lady. You are certainly an grand artist on the
canvas of good cooking."
Myra blushed and giggled a little as she gave him another before she went over
to stand with her husband and Natalie who were watching on the 'sidelines'.
"Wherever did you find such a sweet man?"
"Oh… he just sort of 'appeared' in the city," Natalie said airily. "He's a
friend of Nick's."
"Well, you can bring him by to visit anytime---and Don, don't eat all those by
yourself!" she declared as she went to restock the food table. Donald guiltily
put back half of the handful of cookies he'd swiped.
------------------------------------------
Boosted by occasional food gifts courtesy of Myra, Wizardmon spent the next 45
minutes performing simple acts of magic for his audience.
He was enjoying himself immensely.
The only alteration that would have made the event better would have been if
Nicholas had been able to watch as well, but the open sunlight had nixed any
possibility of the vampire attending.
There was one thing though that the mage was concerned about. It wasn't anything
major--- just the niggling feeling that it was more than just his known audience
watching his every move. Perhaps it was only some of the neighboring humans?
"For my next trick, I will require the use of a large box." Wizardmon nodded
towards Don, who handed his doughnut to Myra before going to the side of the
house to get a metal box that he had brightly painted in advance for the magic show.
The detective hefted the sturdy cubicle, mumbling under his breath that those
kids must have worn him out more than he'd thought since he hadn't remembered it
being quite this heavy before. He then carried it over to where Wizardmon was
waiting and set it down before walking back to his wife and waiting doughnut.
"Man, oh man," do I ever need this!" he chuckled, taking a bite out of the
chocolate pastry.
Wizardmon, meanwhile, had started the customary magician's line of how this was
an ordinary box made of unextraordinary materials and was, of course, quite
empty. Taking hold of the lid, he prepared to lift it to prove the latter to
everyone. The hinged flap acquiesced to his desire---
And lifted to show a pair of luminous eyes peered up at him with malicious glee.
"Wizardmon, I got you now, you---!"
The data mage hastily flung down the steel lid and held it that way with his
arms while he sat on it.
DIGI-SLUDGE!
His alarm was not lost on Natalie, who quickly sprang forward to see what the
matter was. The problem quickly became apparent when the sharp point of a
hypodermic rammed up through the lid, narrowly missing Wizardmon's hand.
What the hell?
"It's Demidevimon," Wizardmon hissed in a low voice. "That little creep I told
you about!"
"How…?"
That's what he'd like to know! the mage's mind raced to think of possibilities.
"I don't know, but we have to get him away from these humans!" He rearranged his
hold just in time to avoid another needle. He could read where the imp was going
to strike next, but that wouldn't help once the box became so riddled with holes
Demidevimon simply ripped through it!
Spinning around towards their hosts and the kids, Natalie offered them all a
weak smile while Wizardmon bore the box towards Natalie's car as quickly as he
could. "Er… We seem to be having some technical… difficulties with the equipment
and have to cut this short. Sorry!"
"Natalie?" Don asked as they shouldered by him.
"Sorry, Schanke, Myra, can't chat now! Gotta go!"
They'd made it to the car when two teenagers appeared from behind the vehicles
and grabbed Dr. Lambert. Wizardmon skidded to a halt as he recognized the
youths. This was bad. If he let go of the box to summon his magic and aid her,
then Demidevimon would get out and start attacking.
This couldn't be coincidence. The evil little so-and-so must have recruited the
kids to help him!
"Hey, freak," Samuel Patterson said as he held a knife to Natalie's ribcage,
"Why don't you let go of the box you've got there?" Joey Martinez grinned and
smacked his brass-knuckled hands together.
"I have a better idea," Schanke said as he trained his gun on the teenagers. His
other hand held a cell phone which was open. "Why don't YOU put down the knife
while we wait for the backup I've already called for?"
"Oh, shit!" Patterson cursed as he debated whether to surrender or not. He saw the
cop's wife herding the other younger kids into the house.
Wizardmon didn't wait, but took the opportunity to sit on the box to keep it
closed while he used his magic to disarm the boys. Unfortunately, he couldn't
change his position in time to avoid the latest stab from his prisoner and felt
the poison enter his system.
Damn.
"Nataliiieeee…."
Natalie delivered Patterson a swft kick to the shins before she ran over to the
slumping Wizardmon. While Schanke was distracted, Martinez made a run for it.
"Hey---freeze! Ah, hell! Nat?"
Natalie waved for him to go ahead and give chase while she checked on Wizardmon.
"Paraaalysssiiisss," Wizardmon slurred. "Oouut frrr howrrrsss… msst rrrnn."
Natalie nodded as she hefted him up and ran for her car, thankful for the little
electronic device that allowed her to open her doors at a push of a button. She
pushed Wizardmon in just as a darkish ball of a creature broke out of the box
and flew at the open door. The doctor shut it in the thing's face. It growled at
her as she started the car and drove off, the hideous creature clinging
tenaciously to the car antennae.
She got two blocks before her trusty Taurus sputtered and stalled.
After several attempts, she gave up trying to start the engine----Patterson or
Martinez must have sabotaged her car!
On the other side of the windshield, Demidevimon cackled at her situation,
scratching the hood's paint job as he danced a victory jig.
"Give it up, lady! Just give me old Raggedy Ass there and I'll leave you be!"
Natalie gave him the finger as she found her cell phone and hit a pre-dial
button.
A sleepy Nicholas answered.
----------------------------------------------------------
End of Part 24
Yeah, not my best but its been so long and I wanted to get *something* out!