Is it just me or is each chapter getting longer than the last??
Mute: It's not you, it's your eyes. They show nothing but the truth.
Me:…Fine, oakey-dokey lets see…thank you to all people who were willing to part with a little more of their lifetime to read and review the story. It was not a waste of time and is much appreciated I assure you! Whever I get a review I am ecstatic with joy! My parents have to physically remove me from the ceiling each time. (Grin).
Mute: (looks at her in disgust) 'Oakey-dokey?!? Who_exactly_says that?
Me: Insane people like me… (Compares Renamon and Megidramon) how could Renamon evolve into that? She's not a virus she's data…
Mute: (sigh) Don't own Digimon never have done, never will.
Me: If you reading this then I'm assuming you read the other chapters and have liked the story so far…
Mute: What do you think the reviews are for!
Me: Good point. Ohh, you've got me excited now! (Hugs a startled Mute)
Mute: Acck! Get it off me! Ribs breaking! Spine snapping!
Me: Since when did you have a backbone?
Mute: Oh, ha ha…
********************
Mid-morning. The city streets are bustling with activity as life forms move around, the dizzy circulation of life never ceasing. And not all of these life forms were human either. Nor were they part of the busy hives of insects roaming the litter bins or cracked paving tiles. No, these creatures were ones composed of computer and bearers of extraordinary power. And one was regarding the scene before her with a detached sort of interest.
Renamon, one of the few Digimon to have come closely bonded with a human, sighed. The buzz of the city didn't enthral her in the slightest. She doing notice a small, purple being sneak alongside the trash cans towards her.
"Bada Boom!"
The vixen's head snapped round to the source of sound. Her eyes alerted her to the fact that she was directly in the path of a speeding fireball. A flurry of movement and she seemingly disappeared, leaving the flaming sphere to evaporate away in empty air.
A fist belonging to the enraged Renamon, eagerly seeking retribution for the unprovoked attack, flashed down towards the smaller being. The only thing saving him from becoming floating data was his ready eyesight and his surprising agility.
"Nice moves, lady", he commented, once he was out of fist-smashing distance.
"You want a fight, you got one!" snarled Renamon preparing to bombard him with an onslaught of diamonds.
"Oh, not going to run off to your tamer for help?"
Renamon grabbed hold of her anger before it could manipulate her into doing something rash, withdrew her fighting pose and questioned quietly, "How do you know I have a tamer?"
"Easy! It was pretty hard to miss the fight with the deranged banana guzzler yesterday!" he replied, waving a red glove dismissively, "Name's Impmon and I'm here to give you some friendly advice, Digimon-to-Digimon. Ditch the human."
Renamon bristled, a dangerous gleam entering her eyes.
"What?"
If Impmon recognised the dangerous tone in her voice he ignored it, glancing at a sweet wrapper as though it held more interest to him than the visibly fuming vulpine in front of him.
"You heard me. Leave the brat, what do need him for? He's holding you back from reaching your full potent ional, he doesn't even know what his doing half the time! Humans are nothing but trouble, fox-face, he'll grow tired of you eventually and abandon you to chase after the next craze of toys or whatever."
Renamon's jaw bones caught her teeth in a vice-like grip as she slowly approached the offender like a lioness stalking a water buffalo.
"Takato is my partner; he treats me as though we are equals and has shown me nothing but kindness since we became acquainted. What he lacks in skill he makes up for in spirit and it is our bond that makes me strong not just my power and speed. You believe the key to victory is in brutal strength? You fool! I pity you as you obviously have no concept of the value of friendship. But I have and having tasted it I will do anything to hold onto the bond with my tamer. It will take more than petty words to distance myself from him."
With those words vibrated in the air Renamon causally flicked Impmon's nose before turning round and launching herself off the building and onto to the next one. She was going to find a quieter spot where she could ponder her thoughts without any further disturbances.
Impmon gazed open-mouthed after her for a few seconds before his cool attitude disappeared without a trace.
"Hey fox-face come back! I ain't done with you yet!"
******************
Rika absent mindedly flicked through the TV channels muttering insults at the world around her as she silently rejoiced at the thought of her classmates struggling through double history and God knows what else.
Tiring of jabbing various buttons on the control with her thumb she tossed it towards the lamp stand where a giant hand snuck through the air at lightening speed and seized it easily.
"Careful, I don't think your mother will be too pleased to find an item of furniture broken"
Rika shrugged, bored of the topic of conversation already.
"Let her scream all she wants. With any luck she'll pass out."
She turned round to give her companion a rare, uncharacteristic grin.
"Thanks for letting me stay off school."
He snorted, adjusting his wings' slack position.
"You were in no fit state to attend this 'school' of which you speak of
…and why should you go today when you have more important matters to take care of…"
"Like?"
"Designing new combos, training me, practising your tamer skills and talking to me…"
"What there to talk about?"
"You."
The girl clutched the arm of the sofa tightly as though it were her only lifeline. Yet the coolness never left her voice and she never dropped the emotionless mask she wore every day.
"What about me?"
"…Everything…"
A long arm reached out for her. A few seconds later there was silence. The only life forms present were the newly-hatched batch of house spiders under the radiator.
*****************
Takato was wandering below the dancing branches of the park trees feeling incredibly bored as a warm yet surprisingly strong breeze tugged at his hair and clothes as well as any brightly coloured wrappers scattered carelessly on the path.
That was of course until his D-Power assaulted his ears when it's high pitched 'beeping' sound.
Raising it up to eye level, Takato frowned. It wasn't acting the same as when a Digimon usually bio-merged. Judging by the image on the screen, it was as though a Digimon already in the real world had created something huge…
Shrugging, the boy ran off in the direction the D-Power pinpointed for him. If was a false alarm he didn't want to drag Renamon off from whatever it was she was doing for no reason. No, he would check it out himself first of all…
*****************
The girl stirred sleepily in the arms of her own personal 'guardian angel'. Although using the adjective angelic was certainly not applicable to describing him.
Violet eyes shot open furiously. How dare he grab her and teleport her to…
Rika jaw dropped as she surveyed her new surroundings. A carpet of ice graced the ground where there had once been wooden floor boards and pillars of ice shot up at regular intervals, forming artistic shapes that caught the beams of light travelling through the windows and split them into miniature rainbows circulating the room. Apart from the windows the rest of the room was covered in frozen water. Yes, at first glance one could say it was a white wasteland but if you took the time to observe every single detail you would see the pure beauty of it.
"Put me down." commanded Rika breaking the spell of silence, as the arms shifted slightly to grant her request.
"Well? Do you like it?"
Rika glanced up startled. His voice had a nervous tinge to it…but that couldn't be right could it? Since when was Icedevimon ever nervous?
"Did you make this?"
"Yes…but you didn't answer my question…"
A genuine smile graced her lips as a flicker of joy ran through Rika's eyes.
"Like it? Like it! I LOVE IT!"
Arms flying through the air, outstretched, Rika giggled as the little girl within her was awaked. She bounded between the ice formations and chased the streaming rainbows. She had been forced to grow up so quickly that she had forgotten the sheer enjoyment of the simplicity of childhood. But now the more tender, gentle side of her was being exposed to the world, having been unlocked by the white demon who looked on with a knowing smile.
The moment was spoilt however when a slight gasp of surprise invaded their privacy and reached their eardrums.
The two spun round to the sight of a brown-haired boy crashing to the floor awkwardly. How he had burst through the frozen-over door was a mystery; physically he wasn't much to look at.
"What are you doing here goggle head?" Rika said coldly, her keen vision noting the goggles on his head and feeling rather disgusted. How could people be so impressionable and copy some role model like Tai or Davis off the television?
The boy looked up and his eyes widened.
"Oh, another tamer! Sorry, my D-Power went crazy and led me here. I thought I had better check it out…I'll leave now, sorry if I disturbed you…"
"Where's your Digimon?" asked Rika the distant yet familiar light shinning in her eyes at the prospect of battle.
"Renamon? I don't know, she'll turn up if I call her though."
"Renamon?!? What's she doing in this realm! Summon her at once!" snarled Icedevimon, flexing his taut muscles threatening and generally looking like he was about to embark upon a rampage.
"What! Why should I? I'm really sorry if I've done something to upset you?!?" called Takato, trying to unsuccessfully hide the quaver in his voice.
"There no need to holler at my tamer like that, I'm already here." stated Renamon calmly as she flowed out of the shadows and took up a protective stance in front of Takato.
"Renamon, what are you doing here?" questioned Takato anxiously.
"Do you honestly think I require the assistance of a machine to sense another Digimon? My senses are much more sensitive than human ones! Do did you truly believe I would let you face a Digimon alone, without any protection?" hissed Renamon, eyes rotating to meet his so that she would not have to alter her position in order to see him.
"Enough chit-chat! Time to fight!" yelled the hot-headed ice queen, developing a slightly arrogant posture.
On one side of the 'arena' stood a gentle, slightly naive soul, brimming with the warmth of compassion, a courageous heart of gold nestled within his chest. And directly opposite stood a warrior's with a nerve of pure steel with a will to match. In contrast to his warmth she sported an array of bitterness, loneliness and a heart churning with ice.
"Fight? What! But we-"
Takato's protests were cut off as both Digimon dived towards each other, fury deeply etched on each of their faces.
"Diamond Sto-"
"Avalanche Claw!"
"Arrgh!"
Before she had the chance to recover from the strong attack, Icedevimon was on her, hacking away at her unguarded body with gnarled hands, before spinning around to deliver a blow with his wing.
"Yarghhh!" yelled Renamon as she was sent promptly to the floor.
"Renamon!" came the distressed cry of her partner who watched on in horror.
"Takato! Stay back!" whispered the vixen, her quiet voice losing none of its commanding tone.
"Oh dear, you don't seem to have a lot of mobility for such a thin figure." taunted Icedevimon as he watched with a high degree of malicious glee.
"Maybe I would have if you allowed me more room to breathe!" gasped Renamon as she pushed her weakened body into an upright position.
'More room…' Takato pondered this as his panting Digimon prepared to launch herself at the sneering demon. Maybe she had a point. If Renamon was given more space to fight in and make her various, characteristic stunts they might stand a chance.
Brown eyes scanned the environment anxiously as he noted how high the ceiling of the icy caravan was. Enough space for a flock of pigeons to fly around in at any rate. And it was that thought that gave him an idea, that thought that sent his fingers to go leafing through his deck…
"Digi-modify! Hyperwing activate!"
All the other three beings turned round in surprise at the strong, clear voice that was being emitted from the boy's mouth as a card slid smoothly through the D-Power with ease. As though it belonged there.
"So the kid knows how to upgrade his little toy? Big deal! As though that will get him anywhere!" snorted Rika, although her tone was wavering. One reason for this was that she had been caught off guard by the fact that Takato actually knew how to make his Digimon stronger via modifying cards. The second one was that Takato had suddenly sprouted a ferocious, determined face that she could not believe a wimp like him was capable of. Yet it was only a small worry. After all she too had modifying cards and was certain she use them a lot more intelligently than any wannabe tamer! Plus there was the small matter of Icedevimon being a champion while Renamon remained at the lowly rookie one.
While these thoughts ran through Rika's mind, an interesting transformation was occurring on the field, as two fiercely glowing wings emerged from Renamon's back, filling her with a vigorous and unrelenting will to be the conqueror. They gave off a dazzling white glow as their new owner shot into the air for an aerial attack.
"Now this is more like it!" she crowed as she rammed a furry knuckle into the back of Icedevimon's skull, catching him by surprise.
"C'mon!" snarled Rika, "you mean to tell me you can't handle a hang-glider! You got wings, use them!"
"As you wish my dear", said Icedevimon grimly as his holed wings spread out and he rose into the air to face his rival.
Renamon bolted down from the sky to float beneath him and perform an upwards facing diamond storm. Unfortunately for her, the bloodshot eyes of her adversary had deceivably sharp vision, and he was able to easily spot her swift movement and fall into a quick dive and unleash an attack of his own.
"Tundra Freeze!"
Renamon being unused to her new gift of flight was unable to dodge in time and took the full brunt of the icy attack.
"Arrghhhh!"
The yellow fox cried as she slumped to the carpet of ice, her bruised and battered body leaving a slight imprint of her form in it, due to the force at which she was sent spiralling down to the ground.
"Renamon!" cried Takato as he shot over to her still form not caring when the other two flashed him a look of annoyance. He fell to his knees by her side ignoring the bitter coldness seeping through the thin material of his trousers as he did so, and hesitantly rested a pale palm on her shoulder. It felt just as cold as the surrounding climate. He carefully gathered the upper part of her body into his arms, straining against gravity as he raised his precious cargo off the floor. She was a little too heavy for his young muscles to lift completely so he had to make do by resting her head on his lap, his arms surrounding her chest.
One dim, blue eye opened.
"T-Tak-kato?" cracked a thin voice, weakly.
"Renamon! Don't worry I won't let them hurt you! How are you feeling?"
"I've had better days…T-Takato don't do any-t-tthing stupid…p-please…get out of here…the ne-e-ext part will only upset you…"
"What?"
"I-I-iced-devimon has g-got to load my data…"
"No! I won't let him!"
"Y-you have to-o-o! If you s-stand in his wa-a-ay he'll hu-urt you or worse…"
No sooner were the words out of her mouth, when the demon in question drifted towards them, eyes narrowing.
"Stand aside boy!" he hissed, raising his claw for the final blow that would shatter Renamon into data that he would claim for his own.
"Takato! R-run!"
"No! Go away you freak!"
"What are you doing you stupid little googlehead! Get out of the way!" hollered Rika, eyes widening. What was he doing? Why did he look like he was about to cry over a pile of data? Why was he risking his life for something that could not love him back? Unbidden an image of Icedevimon in the same position of Renamon swarm into her mind and she subconsciously gasped. Would she stand back and let him be deleted? Or would she do what Takato was doing and shelter him with her body no matter what the risk? Something told her that she wouldn't just stand by and let the one creature that understood her be destroyed…
Amidst the confusion no one noticed a small white Digimon peek round an ice pillar and watch the scene with sad eyes, the red crystal on his head beginning to shimmer with a vibrant light…
"Renamon…c'mon I'll help you up, we gotta get out of here!" pleaded Takato as he tugged at Renamon's unresisting form helplessly.
Icedevimon scowled. He didn't particularly want to slay the boy. It wasn't that he had suddenly developed a morale sense of right or wrong it was that he was sure that Rika would never forgive him for hurting another human being. Whatever her views on Digimon he was sure that people did not fit into her category of not being real.
"Renamon…"
Takato buried his face into her bushy mane and heaved a long, shuddering sob.
Unbeknown to him, so wrapped up in his grief was he, his D-Power started glowering. He did however notice Renamon's body shift beneath his arms and became enveloped in a crimson orb. He backed away hesitantly, not wanting to leave her side but unsure of what to do. It was probably just as well that he did as no doubt he would have 'freaked out' if he had seen Renamon's skin ripped off her body as the data underneath swelled and reformatted itself to receive new skin and acquire a new skin.
"Renamon digivolve to…"
The crimson orb dispersed leaving a new Digimon in it's place.
"…Kyuubimon!"
A golden coat covered the coiled muscles that had now become even more powerful via dig evolution as all four limbs rested firmly on the ground, each paw lost in a swirling mass of white flames. Nine, impressive tails floated alongside the co-ordinated movement of her body as she took a step forward, each tips ending in a mina fireball of white. A red and white striped collar wound itself around her neck, now swamped in an even bushier mane than before, the ends having bronze bells attached to them and a ying-yang symbol was now engraved on her head as well as on all four legs.
Kyuubimon grinned in a very sly, fox-like way.
"Winter's over, Jack Frost!" she called confidently, basking in the aura of her new found strength.
"How did she evolve? Tell me!" spat Rika, her sharp mind whirling round trying to discover an explanation for the creation of the four-legged fox standing on the other side of the battlefield.
"I d-don't know…one minute she was Renamon then 'whoosh'…she was Kyuubimon!" Takato rambled, his own head attempting to comprehend how his Digimon had reached the next stage of development.
"Rgghh!"
The newly-evolved Digimon took a few strong strides forwards before leaping forwards at Icedevimon who barely dodged, causing Kyuubimon to land near Rika, before spinning round, her tails billowing out behind her like a male peacock's.
"Foxtail Inferno!"
Nine blue fireballs erupted out of her tails, aiming themselves towards Icedevimon who having a pair of wings at his disposal, easily avoided being hit. The fox ground her teeth together in frustration before launching herself into the air and somersaulting, her body becoming a living mass of blue energy.
"Dragon Wheel!"
A large dragon spectre formed out of the energy, shot forwards and rammed straight into the demon's chest, knocking him to the ground.
Before Icedevimon knew what had happened, the vulpine was on top of him, sinking her teeth into his arm.
Rika reached into her card holder before drawing out a card that could turn the match around in her…no…their favour when…
"Stop!"
Everyone turned to see Takato trembling with horror at the bloodbath that was about to take place.
Kyuubimon spat out Icedevimon's arm and rushed over to her tamer's side leaving a hesitant Rika to walk up to her partner's side to check his condition.
"Takato? What's the matter are you ill?"
"No! It's just that this fighting is pointless! We're both tamers we should be on the same side! In the end one of us is going to lose a friend and be heart-broken…that's not way it should be…"
"Takato…that's the way it is for us Digimon, it's all or nothing…"
"How can you say that? Don't you care about your own life? Or who you'll leave behind…"
"Of course I do! What can I do to prove myself to you?"
"…Walk away from this fight…"
There was no hesitation in Kyuubimon's voice or heart as she gave her reply.
"Let's go home…"