Time for another chapter. The beginning continues the flashback, while we go back to the present near the end. And we get a very interesting plot twist. So anyway, here we go.
-Kouji Tamino
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A few days had passed since Takeshi had been saved by Haburi. The boy stared at the card the man had given him while lying on his bed, still in his plain navy blue pajamas. What did he mean by 'changing the world?' The future Tamer was determined to find out. But would his mother let him? "…Of course she will…" Evidently, his mother had developed a bit of a crush on the man. "How… creepy." he muttered to himself, rolling out of bed to go take a shower.
After washing up and getting dressed, he walked downstairs into the kitchen. He walked out the door and shut it, surprising his mother, who was washing some dishes. "Takeshi? Aren't you going to eat…" she paused as she realized that he was gone. "…breakfast? Hey, where'd you go?"
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Digimon Tamers Outbreak
Episode 8: The Origin
Takeshi gasped as he arrived at the Hypnos building. "Wow, it's huge…" He took another look at the card to make sure that he was at the right place. Yep, this was it alright. He walked into the building and started to walk to the front desk. The parts of the building behind the desk were blocked off by high security doors. "Excuse me?" he began as he spoke to the receptionist. "Can you tell me where I can find Mr. Haburi? He asked me to come speak with him."
The bespectacled woman with her brown hair in a bun, dressed in a gray business suit, stared at him plainly. She did not feel like dealing with some brats stupid prank. "…Do you have an appointment?" she asked, humoring him for the moment.
"…N-no" he said nervously, a bit unnerved by the woman's cold demeanor. "B-but--" he was quickly silenced by the woman's sudden interruption of him.
"I'm sorry, but you need an appointment if you want to do business with Hypnos." she replied, pointing him towards the door. "So if you would please leave…"
Clenching his fist in anger, he gained a sudden rushed of courage, taking the card out of his pocket and flashing it. "But Mr. Haburi gave this card! He told me that I could help change the world and free it of the virus!"
The woman's eyes widened. He was that boy? The new tamer? Haburi would have her job if she kicked him out! "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Opening one of the doors with her fingerprint, she waved him towards it. "Right this way, sir! Mr. Haburi is on the top floor in this office!"
With a cocky grin on his face, the young man walked up through the doorway. "I thought so…" he replied, turning to the receptionist for a moment. "Thanks."
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"So, you've decided to accept my offer, Takeshi Yamato?" Jin Haburi asked cheerfully, hand on his chin as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm glad. How is your lovely mother doing?"
"She's fine…" Takeshi replied, feeling a bit awkward being in such a large office and in front of such a powerful man. "My… mother said hi…" He didn't feel like bothering the man with his mother's recent infatuation with him.
"Now, I must ask you this…" Haburi began, his friendly tone becoming serious. "Are you sure that this is what you want? This will be a very dangerous job. You will be dealing with vicious, infected Wild Digimon." He stared at the boy hard and long before finally finishing his statement. "I cannot promise your safety."
"I don't care!" Takeshi suddenly snapped, his body shaking. He looked to the floor, fists clenched and his voice strained. "Those damn things… already got my sister. I can't just sit around and let something like that happen to anyone ever again!" Tears began to run down his face. "Even if it means dying to do so…"
A surprised look came upon the head of Hypnos's face. "I admire your show of bravado, but I can tell that you are quite frightened by the aspect." He gave him a comforting expression. "Besides, what of your mother? Who will watch over her if you die?" He stared at the crimson eyed boy for a moment before laughing, but quickly stopped as he noticed the look of anger the boy gave him. "I apologize, Takeshi… I did not mean to mock you, but…"
"But? But what?" Takeshi asked, glaring at the man furiously. "Why are you laughing? Am I really that pathetic and desperate sounding?"
Haburi waved a hand in defense. "It's not that at all…" He shook his head, smiling. "It's just that… I find it amusing that someone young like you acts so grown-up."
"I've been forced to become the man of the house, ever since my father died…" Takeshi explained, choking back tears as he looked away. "It's kind of hard to be a kid when you have to act so adult to fill the gap…"
"Takeshi…" Haburi began, in a sympathetic tone. "You shouldn't feel obliged to fill the hole your father left. Your only obligation as a kid… is to be a kid!" Rubbing his temples, he leaned even farther back in his seat. "But if you are really deadest on becoming part of our organization, then fine." Holding out his hand, he smiled. "Welcome to Hypnos, Tamer Takeshi Yamato."
"Th-thank you, sir!" he replied, shaking his hand and overwhelmed by the fact. He suddenly did a double take. "Wait, Tamer? As in Digimon Tamer?"
"Yes, that's correct." Haburi replied, raising an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?"
"I hate Digimon…" Takeshi sneered, crossing his arms. "They are disgusting creatures…"
"Well sorry, but the only way to fight a Digimon is with other Digimon." Haburi growled under his breath. "If you want to stop these infected Digimon, you will have to learn how to work with friendly ones to defeat them."
Takeshi snarled, putting his hands at his sides. "…Fine. But if that thing expects me to be friends with it when we meet, I--"
"Tamer!" the dark blue dinosaur like Digimon shouted joyfully as it hopped from behind the desk. It bounced around the room before jumping towards Takeshi.
By reflex, the shocked boy caught the Digimon. "What the hell is this thing!" After calming down, he began to realize how heavy the monster actually was. He quickly dropped him.
"That is Kasaimon, a virus-type Digimon of the Rookie level." Haburi explained, smirking. "He will be your partner in the battle against the D-Virus."
"I see…" The boy said unsurely, watching as the Digimon ran around the room like a maniac. "He's really weird…"
"Nonsense, he's just a little…" Haburi paused for a moment as he pondered about what choice of words he should use. "…eccentric. But trust me, he will be a very reliable ally to you. He was created in a Hypnos lab using Digimon data gathered from the D-Reaper War, the base of the data being based off of Tamer Takato Matsuki's partner Guilmon." Opening one of his drawers and reaching in, he pulled out the familiar red and black uniform. "This is what you will wear while on duty. While it is preferred that you wear it as many times as possible, at least wear it on school days."
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A few minutes later, Takeshi was dressed up, putting his civilian clothes into his locker. "What next?"
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Soon, Tamer, Digimon, and Boss were in a dark, dimly lit room. The lights slowly hummed on, and Haburi motioned toward a red and black D-Power that was sitting next to a deck of cards. "These are yours. Your uniform should have a deck holder attached." Chuckling heartily, he produced a pair of black goggles and presented them to the boy. "And no leader is complete without these…"
Taking the goggles and bowing to his new employer, he put them on his head. "Thank you, sir! I won't let you down!"
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Walking through town, Takeshi walked awkwardly as his new partner traveled happily by his side, getting a few stares from people. Ever since a Digimon attacked an innocent young woman, people have been less trusting of the digital creatures. He growled to himself before speaking to Kasaimon. "Hey, you? Do you really have to follow me like that? I would prefer to not be associated with a Digimon…"
"Why, Takeshi?" Kasaimon asked naively, wondering why his Tamer was acting so cold towards him.
"Because I hate you!" the boy suddenly snapped, turning towards him. "I hate all of you Digimon! My sister didn't deserve what happened to her, damn it!"
"Takeshi, I…" Kasaimon whimpered pitifully, tears running down his face. He screamed out, running away.
The goggle boy's expression softened as he watched the Digimon run off crying. "I… didn't mean to make him cry…" He growled again, kicking the ground. "Stupid Digimon…" He began to walk on his own, walking down a small alleyway that he often used as a shortcut. He began to take notice of a shadow in the corner of his eye. As he looked over to see what it is, the shadow disappeared. Shrugging, he continued to walk. He suddenly heard the pattering of feet, then quickly jumped around to catch his stalker. His eyes widened in fear. It was the Gatomon that started this all. It seemed to simply stare at him, teasing him. He fought the urge to shiver, but he couldn't stop. What was it going to do to him?
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Meanwhile, Kasaimon was sadly wandering alone along the sidewalk, still getting suspicious looks. He sighed sadly. Why did Takeshi hate him so? They were supposed to be partners. Why didn't he want to be his Tamer? At that moment, his pupils gained a feral look. "Takeshi is in trouble…" The Digimon quickly rushed back to where he left his Tamer, hoping that he wasn't too late…
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Takeshi screamed as the Gatomon leapt at him, closing his eyes and preparing for the worst. 'Well sis, looks like I'll be joining you in the hospital…' He kept his eyes closed for a moment, wondering why it was taking the infected Digimon so long to tear into his flesh and give him a horrible disease. He reluctantly opened his eyes to see Kasaimon slamming into Gatomon with his shoulder, hard. He gasped, watching in excitement. He watched as the cat-like Digimon skid across the concrete before turning to the blue dinosaur. "You saved me?" he asked, incredulously. "And after the way I treated you? But, why?"
"Because you're my Tamer, Takeshi…" Kasaimon, tears in his eyes. "And I want to be your friend…"
The boy choked back a cry, sniffling. "K-kasaimon…" A determined look growing on his face, he looked to the recovering Gatomon. "Kasaimon! Let's do it!" He held up his deck of cards, ready to fight alongside his new Digimon partner.
"Right!" the blue Digimon shouted, a look of confidence on his face. "I'm ready, Tamer!" He quickly dodged a slash from the cat, swinging his tail in retaliation. The enraged Gatomon ran over and missed hitting Kasaimon by a few inches. The now frightened dinosaur/dragon could only dodge the attacks now as they became more wild and more frantic. "Gyah, Takeshi!" The yelled as the Gatomon jumped at him, only to land on top of him and kicking him in the back of his head with it's heels as it jumped off, sending his head snapping forward quite forcefully.
'Damn! It's just toying with the poor guy!' He thought to himself, anger increasing. "Get away from him, Kasaimon! Otherwise you'll be infected, too!" He looked through his deck, searching for something, anything, that could save his Digimon partner. "Come on, come on! Damn it!" After a few moments, he found what he was looking for. "Ah ha! Perfect!" Holding up both his D-Power and what he hoped would be his 'Miracle Card', he glared, crossing his arms above his head and scanning the card. "Digi-modify! 'Metal Greymon's Armor' activate!"
Kasaimon turned around as the Gatomon jumped toward him, glimmering razor sharp claws bared. He winced as the Gatomon aimed for his face, finally going for the kill. Unable to dodge this attack, he pointlessly raised his arms to attempt to protect himself. As he braced himself for impact, he raised an eyebrow as he felt a faint 'thud' on his front arm, a loud scratching sound, and the yelp of the Gatomon. He uncovered his face to find that he had suddenly gained metal armor on his chest, head, and one of his arms. He also had odd wings on his back. "Takeshi? What's going on?" he asked, terribly confused at this sudden development.
"Don't waste time, Kasaimon!" Takeshi screamed frantically. "Quick, while it's still stunned! Attack!"
The now metal covered blue dragon nodded in understanding. "Here I go!" A big blue flame began to form in the dragon's mouth, growing even bigger. Breathing it at the cat in a powerful fireball, he shouted the attack's name. "Biig Flaaame!" He watched in satisfaction as the infected Gatomon ran around in circles, screaming as it got burned. He wasn't quite finished, though. Running towards the flaming cat, he waved his metal coated arm to the side. "Metal Claw!" he screamed as he ran past, slicing clean right through the enemy Digimon and reducing it to particles of data. He didn't dare try to absorb it, however, as he had been warned that doing so would infect him as well. He sighed as he fell to the ground in a heap, completely exhausted. The armor disappeared, having worn off.
"You… did it, Kasaimon!" Takeshi, shouted gleefully, running over and grabbing his partner in a big hug. No matter what his feelings towards other Digimon were, after what Kasaimon had done for him, he could never hate this digital creature. "You did it, you did it! That was so awesome!"
The blue dragon shook his head, smiling. "No way, we did it, Tamer…" He smiled, tears of happiness rolling down his scaly face. "I could have done it without you, Takeshi." He groaned out in hunger pains as his stomach growled, both noises ruining the touching moment.
"You hungry, buddy?" The new Tamer asked, chuckling. "To tell the truth, I'm pretty famished myself…" He sighed, shaking his head as he started walking to his house. "Come on, Kasaimon… Let's go home." He sweat dropped, whimpering. "But I wonder what mom is going to say when she sees us?"
"Buddy?" the pure hearted virus type Digimon asked, tilting his head. Did this mean that Takeshi wanted to be his friend, too? For now, that didn't matter, as he was getting a free meal.
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"And that's how it all began…" Takeshi of the present time said to himself, lying on the ground at the former battlefield. "Ai and Mako joined sometime after, and they helped with the stronger Digimon that we couldn't handle." Sitting up, he looked at the sky, which was slowly but surely returning to it's normal colors. "I've grown to love Digimon, but I despise any Digimon infected with that despicable disease…" Still looking up at the sky, he raised his right hand into the air and stared at it, making a grabbing motion and closing it into a fist. 'But what happens next, I wonder?'
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About a day or two later, all three Hypnos Tamers were called to Haburi's temporary office. The only one not there was Impmon, who was still being cared for and was unfortunately and progressively growing more ill. They had no idea what was causing it, but I was worrying them a lot. They walked down the halls, entering the office. "Mr. Haburi, you called us, sir?"
"Yes I did." The head of Hypnos, sans shades and wearing an eye patch to cover up the empty eye socket that resulted from the attack on Hypnos. "Kids, I have a very important announcement. Please don't get upset, but…" he began, leaning back in his seat.
Takeshi growled, getting impatient and letting his temper once again get the best of him. "Damn it, Haburi, get to the point!" He gasped, ashamed at his outburst. The others gasped in shock as well. "I-I'm so sorry, sir!" he apologized frantically, bowing very low several times. "I didn't mean it, I-- You know I only have the most upright respect for you, and--"
Jin laughed, amused. Still, he waved his hand to silence him. "Still have that fiery temper, I see…" Digging in his ear with his pinkty finger, he cut to the chase. "Well you see, With the introduction of the Behemoth system, the Hypnos Tamers have become obsolete." He sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but your services are no longer required."
All three kids and the Digimon gasped, not believing what they were hearing. How could this be? The Hypnos Tamers were being… disbanded?
To Be Continued…
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Sorry for such a long delay, but I was buried in school work. I'm actually trying this year, so I barely have any room for free-writing. I'll try and get the next one up quicker, though.
-Kouji Tamino