"Oh man, Kari's going to kill me!" TK ranted.
"Come on, TK. It's not your fault, you were under the control of the spires." Patamon rested on top of TK's head.
"But still I blabbed to everybody!" TK had no idea how to even begin to apologize to Kari. He sighed to himself. "We'd better get back." TK unenthusiastically replied. He was not looking for to the inevitable confrontation with his probably ex-friend. Suddenly, an old lady appeared down the street, and headed towards them. "Patamon, hide! I don't know how people will react to a digimon."
Patamon nodded once. As luck would have it, a gym bag half eaten with rot was on the street. Patamon hid in the bag as TK slung the bag over his shoulder. The old lady limped towards them. She walked up towards TK and grabbed his shirt. "Wherever did you get these clothes, sonny? I haven't seen clothes without holes for years." TK was trying to think of an answer when the lady answered for him. "Ah, Joe's Church! I was headed there myself." The old lady blew her nose on her sleeve. "Walk with an old lady and keep her company will you?"
TK agreed and the lady started walking down the streets. She walked a little bit ahead, so TK started whispering to Patamon in the bag. "I think we should meet up with Joe and Mimi. We need some more friends. You know what, it doesn't surprise me. Even in this day and age I would expect pacifists like Joe and Mimi to run a church or hospital or something."
TK turned up a stairwell right behind the old lady. A crude hand-painted side proclaimed JOE'S CHURCH in bright purple letters. A yellow light cast a long shadow from TK that stretched half way down the street. The old lady turned around and smiled a toothless grin. "We're so close to being safe, safe from the digimon, digimon." The old lady laughed.
Suddenly, the doors swung open in front of him. TK and the lady turned around. TK gasped in surprise. It was Joe, but it was not. He still wore his glasses, but had an eye patch over his left eye that barely covered a scar that ran down the side of his face. He was still skinny, but his body had a more muscular look. But the most surprising feature was the pair of .44 magnum revolvers in his hands. TK was about to say something when Joe fired. Two bullets slammed into the lady's chest as she fell down.
"YOU MURDERER!" TK leapt forward to the woman's aid.
"Get away kid!" Joe pushed TK off the railing. TK fell to the ground with a grunt of pain. Patamon landed roughly in the bag next to him. TK was dumbstruck by the turn of events. He was even more surprised when the lady stood, then floated up in front of Joe.
"Nice shot." The voice was much deeper now. The old lady turned white, her form warping until a Bakemon appeared in her place. "I hate it when you ruin our fun."
"So why don't you come down and do something about it?" Joe shook his weapons at the ghost digimon.
"Now, you know any digimon that hurts you or your pink-haired companion has a short life expectancy. But that doesn't mean we can't have some fun with your clientele." The Bakemon flew up in the air, laughing as he disappeared into the distance.
Joe replaced the guns in holsters under his armpits. He jumped down of the stair well. "Sorry kid." He grabbed TK by the shoulders and almost effortlessly picked him up to his feet. TK picked up the bag with the shaken Patamon. Joe motioned for him to follow. "You may as well come in. We don't have much, but you're welcome to share."
"Um yeah thanks." TK was fluster by the dramatic change in Joe's personality. "But how did you know?"
Joe motioned to the light over the doorway. "Bakemon don't have shadows, and neither did that 'lady'." Joe led TK up the stairs. "The Bakemon like to lead people to my church here, and then kill them on the doorsteps. We've found too many corpses here."
TK walked behind Joe as he looked around. This wasn't anything like he expected. No pews, no parishioners. There were cots fill with sick and injured people. "What kind of church is this, Joe?"
Joe chuckled. "It's a nick-name the refugees gave it. The digimon don't hurt me for some reason, or anyone around me. I act like a sanctuary of sorts to these people, so they call this place a church. Joe stopped and began to bandage a deep gash over an elderly man's face.
TK looked over, slightly nauseated at the sight of so much blood. "I thought you were afraid of blood?"
"All the horrors I've seen, a little blood is nothing." Joe got up, finishing his job and eyed TK suspiciously. "How do you know about me?"
TK thought fast. "I remember you from camp, right before the digimon came."
Joe smiled as the memories flooded back. "Ah yes, you almost cut off finger with that saw in shop. T….K?" TK nodded. "I'm glad to see you survived this nightmare. You may also remember my friend." Joe motioned down the rows where a young girl in a tank top and shorts was helping a middle age lady into bed.
"Mimi!" TK exclaimed, happy to see another friendly face. Unlike Joe, it looked like she hadn't change a bit.
Mimi got up and walked to TK, and shook his hand. "You have a good memory, we only meet each other in camp for a short while."
TK was about to mention that they all lived in Hightenview Terrace years ago, when he heard a door open. He didn't see anybody at first, until he looked down. A small figure crawled on the ground, carrying a sack bigger than he was. "Hey Joe, I'm back with the fish. Sorry it took so long, but Biyomon went off on another one of his rescue missions."
Joe grabbed TK from behind by the shoulders. "Now don't freak on me! I know he's a digimon, but he's harmless."
"Gomamon!" TK shrugged off Joe's grip and bent down shaking his paw. "I'm so glad to see you. And Biyomon's safe too? That's great!"
Suddenly TK felt a strong grip on his neck. Before he knew it, he was dragged into an empty room and thrown roughly to the ground against a wall. TK's bag fell out of his grip. When he looked up, Joe had a gun leveled at him. "Ok, you know my name and all about me. You know my digimon friends and you aren't scared of them. Now you've got three seconds to tell me who the hell you are and what you are doing!"
Patamon saw this whole drama unfold in a hole in the duffel bag. He knew TK told him to stay put, but this was too much. Patamon burst out off the bag. His body expanded, "Boom Bubble!"
A surge of compressed air connected with Joe's gun, sending it flying. Joe howled in pain. "I knew it, you traitor! You brought a digimon in here!" With uncanny speed, Joe drew his second magnum and aimed it square between Patamon's eyes. Patamon squeezed his eyes shut as Joe pulled the trigger.
"JOE, STOP!" Gomamon hurled himself against Joe's knees. Joe still fired, but the tackled sent his shot off. Joe fell back as his knees collapsed on him.
"Gomamon, what are you doing?!" Joe shouted as he jumped up again.
"Joe, it's Patamon from File Island!" Gomamon rushed forward as Patamon landed. He grabbed Patamon with his flippers. "Patamon, you're back! But how? I saw you die."
Patamon was about to answer when suddenly his breath left him. A glazed look came over his eyes. He fell over to the ground and did not get up.
"I'm sorry." Joe repeated, although he knew words were not enough.
"How could you?" TK cried as he kneeled down next to the bunk Patamon was on. Patamon's breathing was slow and labored. His lower body was bandaged with white bandages. A small dot of red appeared on the gauze on his lower torso where the bullet went in.
"I'm sorry, he attacked me and I reacted instantly. You have to act fast in this world or you're dead, you must know that." Joe placed a hand on TK's shoulder.
The spires began to work on TK's grief-stricken mind. "Get away from me, you murderer!" TK backhanded Joe. Joe took the blow full in the jaw, knocking him over. Joe fell to the ground as TK ran out of the room and out of the building.
Joe got up to follow, but Mimi grabbed his arm. "Wait, let me go. You'll probably just aggravate him further." Joe sighed and nodded in agreement. Mimi beamed a quick smile out before taking off after TK. Mimi arrived in the middle of the street. She saw TK turn the corner at the end of the street. She ran after him, turning down the same corner a minute later. She lost him, but the slamming of a door turned her attention to an abandoned hotel. She cautiously opened the door and looked around. She had to be careful, since the spires had probably taken him over completely by now. Footprints in the ancient dust alerted her to TK's whereabouts. She quietly made her way to a rather large hotel room with the doors wide open. It was probably the honeymoon suite. She looked around as she entered the room. "TK?" She called out quietly.
The door slammed shut behind her. She gasped in surprise and turned around. TK was standing in front of the door. His eyes were filled with rage. "Joe hurt one of, no, my best friend." TK began to advance on Mimi. "I think I'll do the same to him."
Mimi backed up. "Now just simmer down!"
TK grabbed Mimi by her shoulders. "I know all about you. You're a cowardly pacifist. You'd rather talk then fight, even when you have no choice. You were always a whiny spoiled little girl."
"Maybe back at camp…" Mimi balled up her fist, and delivered a gut buster to TK stomach. TK doubled over in pain, cluthcing his stomach. "But a girl doesn't survive in this world by being a wimp."
TK looked up, anger welled up one his face. "Why you BITCH!" TK leapt forward, aiming for her throat.
Mimi grabbed TK's extended left arm, and executed a hip toss. TK went head over heels, slamming his head into the wall. TK groaned and lay on his back. "Never use the b-word." Mimi sighed as she picked up TK with a grunt of effort. "Did you think I'd chase after you when you are in some spire controlled rage if I couldn't defend myself? Joe is an excellent instructor." Mimi sat TK up against the wall, examining the mark on TK's head. "Well, you are going to have a nasty bump there, and one heck of a migrane when you wake up. Let's just hope you are in a better mood when the spires wear off."
A few hours later after waking up, TK and Mimi were making their way back to Joe's church. TK woke up with a killer headache, and apologized repeatedly for attacking her. Mimi accepted, but made TK swear he would not tell Joe. He hadn't planned on anyway. If Joe found out he had actually tried to hurt Mimi… TK shuddered at what this alternate-reality gun-toting Joe would do to him. Suddenly TK stopped. "Wait." TK announced holding Mimi back. "Listen."
"What is it?" Mimi looked around nervously.
TK strained to hear, "It sounds like, like harmonica music." TK focused on the source, a figure in the third story window of a near by office building.
The music became louder and a deep voice began singing in between the melody. "Well here I am." Da-na-na-na. "The baddest digimon in the land." Da-na-na-na. "And all the young fillies just want to shake my hand." Da-na- na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-naaaaaaaa.
"Metaletemon!" TK shouted.
"Metal? Where did you get metal from, you squirt?" The figure jumped down from the window and landed in front of TK. Brown furred skin instead of shiny digizoidium alloy covered his body. "It's just plain old Etemon, King of Rock and Gamma's right hand digimon. Un-huh."
TK chuckled involuntarily. "That's right, we haven't deleted you in this reality. YET."
"A sense of humor, got to love that. Un-huh." Etemon bowed to Mimi, who jumped back. Etemon smiled at the reaction. "Now where were we?" He tapped the harmonica he was holding against his head. "Ah yes, a gift!" Etemon grabbed TK's hand and pulled it out. He dropped the instrument in TK's hand and released his grip. "Gamma wants you to do a concert for him." Etemon turned back to Mimi and blew her a kiss. "Hope to see you there, cutie, Un- huh." Etemon bounded back into the office building and disappeared.
Mimi was speechless for a second. "That was one of Gamma's most powerful servants, and you didn't even blink!"
TK turned to face Mimi. "Please, I stood eye to eye with Puppetmon, and he was at least ten times more powerful than this tone-deaf clown." TK smiled at Mimi's expression. "I'll tell you about it sometimes. Right now I'm more interested in why he gave me this…." TK turned the instrument over in his hand. His voice stopped. He ran his fingers over the inscription as to verify if it was really what he saw.
Mimi saw TK's face turn dark. "Calm down. What's wrong?"
TK turned the instrument over showing Mimi the insignia. The name Matt was etched out in the silver casing. "Gamma has my brother."
"Come on, TK. It's not your fault, you were under the control of the spires." Patamon rested on top of TK's head.
"But still I blabbed to everybody!" TK had no idea how to even begin to apologize to Kari. He sighed to himself. "We'd better get back." TK unenthusiastically replied. He was not looking for to the inevitable confrontation with his probably ex-friend. Suddenly, an old lady appeared down the street, and headed towards them. "Patamon, hide! I don't know how people will react to a digimon."
Patamon nodded once. As luck would have it, a gym bag half eaten with rot was on the street. Patamon hid in the bag as TK slung the bag over his shoulder. The old lady limped towards them. She walked up towards TK and grabbed his shirt. "Wherever did you get these clothes, sonny? I haven't seen clothes without holes for years." TK was trying to think of an answer when the lady answered for him. "Ah, Joe's Church! I was headed there myself." The old lady blew her nose on her sleeve. "Walk with an old lady and keep her company will you?"
TK agreed and the lady started walking down the streets. She walked a little bit ahead, so TK started whispering to Patamon in the bag. "I think we should meet up with Joe and Mimi. We need some more friends. You know what, it doesn't surprise me. Even in this day and age I would expect pacifists like Joe and Mimi to run a church or hospital or something."
TK turned up a stairwell right behind the old lady. A crude hand-painted side proclaimed JOE'S CHURCH in bright purple letters. A yellow light cast a long shadow from TK that stretched half way down the street. The old lady turned around and smiled a toothless grin. "We're so close to being safe, safe from the digimon, digimon." The old lady laughed.
Suddenly, the doors swung open in front of him. TK and the lady turned around. TK gasped in surprise. It was Joe, but it was not. He still wore his glasses, but had an eye patch over his left eye that barely covered a scar that ran down the side of his face. He was still skinny, but his body had a more muscular look. But the most surprising feature was the pair of .44 magnum revolvers in his hands. TK was about to say something when Joe fired. Two bullets slammed into the lady's chest as she fell down.
"YOU MURDERER!" TK leapt forward to the woman's aid.
"Get away kid!" Joe pushed TK off the railing. TK fell to the ground with a grunt of pain. Patamon landed roughly in the bag next to him. TK was dumbstruck by the turn of events. He was even more surprised when the lady stood, then floated up in front of Joe.
"Nice shot." The voice was much deeper now. The old lady turned white, her form warping until a Bakemon appeared in her place. "I hate it when you ruin our fun."
"So why don't you come down and do something about it?" Joe shook his weapons at the ghost digimon.
"Now, you know any digimon that hurts you or your pink-haired companion has a short life expectancy. But that doesn't mean we can't have some fun with your clientele." The Bakemon flew up in the air, laughing as he disappeared into the distance.
Joe replaced the guns in holsters under his armpits. He jumped down of the stair well. "Sorry kid." He grabbed TK by the shoulders and almost effortlessly picked him up to his feet. TK picked up the bag with the shaken Patamon. Joe motioned for him to follow. "You may as well come in. We don't have much, but you're welcome to share."
"Um yeah thanks." TK was fluster by the dramatic change in Joe's personality. "But how did you know?"
Joe motioned to the light over the doorway. "Bakemon don't have shadows, and neither did that 'lady'." Joe led TK up the stairs. "The Bakemon like to lead people to my church here, and then kill them on the doorsteps. We've found too many corpses here."
TK walked behind Joe as he looked around. This wasn't anything like he expected. No pews, no parishioners. There were cots fill with sick and injured people. "What kind of church is this, Joe?"
Joe chuckled. "It's a nick-name the refugees gave it. The digimon don't hurt me for some reason, or anyone around me. I act like a sanctuary of sorts to these people, so they call this place a church. Joe stopped and began to bandage a deep gash over an elderly man's face.
TK looked over, slightly nauseated at the sight of so much blood. "I thought you were afraid of blood?"
"All the horrors I've seen, a little blood is nothing." Joe got up, finishing his job and eyed TK suspiciously. "How do you know about me?"
TK thought fast. "I remember you from camp, right before the digimon came."
Joe smiled as the memories flooded back. "Ah yes, you almost cut off finger with that saw in shop. T….K?" TK nodded. "I'm glad to see you survived this nightmare. You may also remember my friend." Joe motioned down the rows where a young girl in a tank top and shorts was helping a middle age lady into bed.
"Mimi!" TK exclaimed, happy to see another friendly face. Unlike Joe, it looked like she hadn't change a bit.
Mimi got up and walked to TK, and shook his hand. "You have a good memory, we only meet each other in camp for a short while."
TK was about to mention that they all lived in Hightenview Terrace years ago, when he heard a door open. He didn't see anybody at first, until he looked down. A small figure crawled on the ground, carrying a sack bigger than he was. "Hey Joe, I'm back with the fish. Sorry it took so long, but Biyomon went off on another one of his rescue missions."
Joe grabbed TK from behind by the shoulders. "Now don't freak on me! I know he's a digimon, but he's harmless."
"Gomamon!" TK shrugged off Joe's grip and bent down shaking his paw. "I'm so glad to see you. And Biyomon's safe too? That's great!"
Suddenly TK felt a strong grip on his neck. Before he knew it, he was dragged into an empty room and thrown roughly to the ground against a wall. TK's bag fell out of his grip. When he looked up, Joe had a gun leveled at him. "Ok, you know my name and all about me. You know my digimon friends and you aren't scared of them. Now you've got three seconds to tell me who the hell you are and what you are doing!"
Patamon saw this whole drama unfold in a hole in the duffel bag. He knew TK told him to stay put, but this was too much. Patamon burst out off the bag. His body expanded, "Boom Bubble!"
A surge of compressed air connected with Joe's gun, sending it flying. Joe howled in pain. "I knew it, you traitor! You brought a digimon in here!" With uncanny speed, Joe drew his second magnum and aimed it square between Patamon's eyes. Patamon squeezed his eyes shut as Joe pulled the trigger.
"JOE, STOP!" Gomamon hurled himself against Joe's knees. Joe still fired, but the tackled sent his shot off. Joe fell back as his knees collapsed on him.
"Gomamon, what are you doing?!" Joe shouted as he jumped up again.
"Joe, it's Patamon from File Island!" Gomamon rushed forward as Patamon landed. He grabbed Patamon with his flippers. "Patamon, you're back! But how? I saw you die."
Patamon was about to answer when suddenly his breath left him. A glazed look came over his eyes. He fell over to the ground and did not get up.
"I'm sorry." Joe repeated, although he knew words were not enough.
"How could you?" TK cried as he kneeled down next to the bunk Patamon was on. Patamon's breathing was slow and labored. His lower body was bandaged with white bandages. A small dot of red appeared on the gauze on his lower torso where the bullet went in.
"I'm sorry, he attacked me and I reacted instantly. You have to act fast in this world or you're dead, you must know that." Joe placed a hand on TK's shoulder.
The spires began to work on TK's grief-stricken mind. "Get away from me, you murderer!" TK backhanded Joe. Joe took the blow full in the jaw, knocking him over. Joe fell to the ground as TK ran out of the room and out of the building.
Joe got up to follow, but Mimi grabbed his arm. "Wait, let me go. You'll probably just aggravate him further." Joe sighed and nodded in agreement. Mimi beamed a quick smile out before taking off after TK. Mimi arrived in the middle of the street. She saw TK turn the corner at the end of the street. She ran after him, turning down the same corner a minute later. She lost him, but the slamming of a door turned her attention to an abandoned hotel. She cautiously opened the door and looked around. She had to be careful, since the spires had probably taken him over completely by now. Footprints in the ancient dust alerted her to TK's whereabouts. She quietly made her way to a rather large hotel room with the doors wide open. It was probably the honeymoon suite. She looked around as she entered the room. "TK?" She called out quietly.
The door slammed shut behind her. She gasped in surprise and turned around. TK was standing in front of the door. His eyes were filled with rage. "Joe hurt one of, no, my best friend." TK began to advance on Mimi. "I think I'll do the same to him."
Mimi backed up. "Now just simmer down!"
TK grabbed Mimi by her shoulders. "I know all about you. You're a cowardly pacifist. You'd rather talk then fight, even when you have no choice. You were always a whiny spoiled little girl."
"Maybe back at camp…" Mimi balled up her fist, and delivered a gut buster to TK stomach. TK doubled over in pain, cluthcing his stomach. "But a girl doesn't survive in this world by being a wimp."
TK looked up, anger welled up one his face. "Why you BITCH!" TK leapt forward, aiming for her throat.
Mimi grabbed TK's extended left arm, and executed a hip toss. TK went head over heels, slamming his head into the wall. TK groaned and lay on his back. "Never use the b-word." Mimi sighed as she picked up TK with a grunt of effort. "Did you think I'd chase after you when you are in some spire controlled rage if I couldn't defend myself? Joe is an excellent instructor." Mimi sat TK up against the wall, examining the mark on TK's head. "Well, you are going to have a nasty bump there, and one heck of a migrane when you wake up. Let's just hope you are in a better mood when the spires wear off."
A few hours later after waking up, TK and Mimi were making their way back to Joe's church. TK woke up with a killer headache, and apologized repeatedly for attacking her. Mimi accepted, but made TK swear he would not tell Joe. He hadn't planned on anyway. If Joe found out he had actually tried to hurt Mimi… TK shuddered at what this alternate-reality gun-toting Joe would do to him. Suddenly TK stopped. "Wait." TK announced holding Mimi back. "Listen."
"What is it?" Mimi looked around nervously.
TK strained to hear, "It sounds like, like harmonica music." TK focused on the source, a figure in the third story window of a near by office building.
The music became louder and a deep voice began singing in between the melody. "Well here I am." Da-na-na-na. "The baddest digimon in the land." Da-na-na-na. "And all the young fillies just want to shake my hand." Da-na- na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-naaaaaaaa.
"Metaletemon!" TK shouted.
"Metal? Where did you get metal from, you squirt?" The figure jumped down from the window and landed in front of TK. Brown furred skin instead of shiny digizoidium alloy covered his body. "It's just plain old Etemon, King of Rock and Gamma's right hand digimon. Un-huh."
TK chuckled involuntarily. "That's right, we haven't deleted you in this reality. YET."
"A sense of humor, got to love that. Un-huh." Etemon bowed to Mimi, who jumped back. Etemon smiled at the reaction. "Now where were we?" He tapped the harmonica he was holding against his head. "Ah yes, a gift!" Etemon grabbed TK's hand and pulled it out. He dropped the instrument in TK's hand and released his grip. "Gamma wants you to do a concert for him." Etemon turned back to Mimi and blew her a kiss. "Hope to see you there, cutie, Un- huh." Etemon bounded back into the office building and disappeared.
Mimi was speechless for a second. "That was one of Gamma's most powerful servants, and you didn't even blink!"
TK turned to face Mimi. "Please, I stood eye to eye with Puppetmon, and he was at least ten times more powerful than this tone-deaf clown." TK smiled at Mimi's expression. "I'll tell you about it sometimes. Right now I'm more interested in why he gave me this…." TK turned the instrument over in his hand. His voice stopped. He ran his fingers over the inscription as to verify if it was really what he saw.
Mimi saw TK's face turn dark. "Calm down. What's wrong?"
TK turned the instrument over showing Mimi the insignia. The name Matt was etched out in the silver casing. "Gamma has my brother."