Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. (looks at watch) Whoops. Arrived a little late. (readers have become skeletons) O.o;
Author's Notes: Okay. Spent some time trying to regain information for my stories (seeing as how my info database was on my busted Inspiron). Oh well.
To the reviews!
Ninetalesuk: Hurricane's past. I'm good.
Dark Qiviut: Um…I hate to break it to you, but do you really think Yolei won't try and get her clothes off the flagpole before leaving?
Bluesv20: Yes. But not in this story.
Yamimaru: This one's actually quite easy (has been looking up Japanese mythology for info on the Naruto story) The brother is Tsukiyomi, and he is the god of the moon.
ficmaster: I live in the south.
AlphaOmega: Naruto-not-a-fan no jutsu:P
Chibi-Kari: Lucky you. My warranty expired by the time it broke.
Cloud-821: I know my data's safe, but still, it stinks. I'm currently using the laptop I used beforehand; a Compaq Armada M700 that's missing several keys (the 1, 2, 3, P, ;, and keys).
Yami Vizzini: Haven't heard of it, I'm afraid.
duskmon87: CLIFF! (boots him off)
Anthony1: Last chapter was about quality, not quantity. ;)
Sora Potter: Laughter!
Digi fan: If so, then where's my prize?
Dot Cubed: Of course! That's why it has 'Zero 2' in the title. :P
b0bo-the-sword: First of all, welcome! And secondly…what about Star Wars?
Assamite: Okay, let me clarify my point a little. Here's the deal; I'm not saying that terrorism in Britain is a new thing. But there are a couple of reasons I mentioned it.
One; terrorism is not a daily part of life like it is in the Middle East (particularly Israel). After all, what do you usually hear in the news concerning Israel? Aside from talks concerning an attempt at peace, you hear 'BOMBS! SUICIDE ATTACKS! TERRORISTS!' People are uncomfortable with that constant barrage of negativity, so they just tune it out and become apathetic.
Second; Britain is one of the paragons of Western civilization. That's why I think the attack (there was another one on the 21st that didn't go as well as the terrorists had planned, thankfully) should be a wake-up call of sorts. Why? So people can realize that it can STILL happen to anyone…even innocent civilians.
And I'm not saying Christmas in the US is a big commercial deal, but do you know of any Japanese schools performing a play on the Nativity? ;)
And what's so 'HA!' about my 78' GMC? (boots him off a cliff before he can answer)
Crimson G: (points to link below)
www(dot)digibros(dot)net/(tilde)digipedia/
A tilde is the little squiggly line near the upper left corner of the keyboard (look under the Escape key). The Digimon Encyclopedia has a complete encyclopedia on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seasons of the show (Frontier is being worked on at the moment).
generic reviewer: True, but you have to admit some of their concerns are legitimate. I mean…have you listened to the One Piece intro? It's RAP! RAP!
SjKid: Ah! Welcome back!
Silver Warrior: Hmm…(checks pulse) Yeah, I'm alive.
legends sword: Go ahead. Do so at your own risk. ;P
Oh, and just for fun, I've received three anonymous reviews on 'Revision', telling me that 'Kari's eyes are blood-red, not yellow', that 'amber is yellow, not red', and 'people can't be forcefully digi-ported'. The last one is in reference to how Shaun opened a Digiport in episode 6 and stepped away as the Digidestined were swallowed and absorbed by the TV's light. All I can say is this: where do you have the basis for THAT, mister?
And as for Kari's eyes…first of all, amber is technically 'brownish yellow, dark or medium brown yellow, or deep yellow'. And secondly, this is MY story. Who cares if her eyes were different in the anime? I don't care if they were red, brown, blue, white, or polka-dotted; they're amber now. THE AUTHOR HAS SPOKEN!
Begin!
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Chapter 22: Bonding: Momoe
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/Rooftop, Inoue Apartment, Odaiba, 12:05 PM/
"Davis?"
"Yeah?"
"Why'd you ask me to fly you home?"
In case you're wondering, Davis was speaking with XVmon. The winged, bipedal dragon blinked curiously at Davis' satisfied grin. "Well…let's just say I wanted to beat Yolei home."
"Aha!" exclaimed XVmon as he snapped his fingers. "A race! I get it now…but wait, did you just cheat by using me to give you a lift?"
Davis sweatdropped. "…uh…ur…" His mind quickly came up with a diverting tactic. "Last one to the store is a rotten Digitamamon!"
XVmon blanched as Davis rushed for the fire escape and clambered down the ladders. "Hey! No fair!" He quickly jumped down into the alleyway, the collision creating a massive THUD. He quickly dedigivolved just as Davis got to the bottom of the fire escape. "I'm gonna beatcha Davish!"
"Oh no you don't!" light-heartedly retorted Davis. The two quickly ran around the corner and towards the front doors to the convenience store.
DING.
The doors opened quickly as Davis and Veemon rushed in simultaneously, vaulting into the air while yelling, "FIRST!"
SLAM.
However, they were too focused on winning that they forgot to land. Thus, faces to the floor. "……"
Subaru, Sasuke, and their current customer Mr. Takenawa (Good ol' Takenawa. Remember him?) sweatdropped at the sight. The elderly man simply slipped Subaru a ten-dollar bill and a five-dollar bill. "That should be enough."
"And you get 4 dollars and 53 cents in change," replied Mrs. Inoue as she handed Mr. Takenawa his change. The old man politely tipped his bowl hat at the co-proprietor before walking towards the doors…and stopping by Davis and Veemon.
Calmly, the old man patted Veemon on the head with his free hand (the right hand held a bag filled with bread, milk, bran cereal, and three Baby Ruth candy bars). The Rookie smiled at the contact, even though it was unexpected. Before he could walk out, Davis stopped him. "Sir?"
"Yes?" asked Mr. Taeknawa, his large eyeglasses reflecting the glare of the store lights.
Davis seriously asked, "Ever since you first saw Demiveemon and Poromon in this store, you've done nothing but treat them nicely and with respect. Considering what happened to Odaiba…why don't you hate them?"
Mr. Takenawa was silent…and then he smiled. "A wise question. I suppose it's an old man's intuition, but I can tell this little one has a good heart, as well as the other one." This time, the old man knelt down and patted Davis on the head. He didn't intend to patronize Davis (although the Child of Miracles sort of resented being patted like he was some sort of a little kid); all he did was say, "I can also tell that you have a good heart as well. That's a good sign. I only hope there will be more like you in the coming generation."
Davis' feelings of being demeaned by the old man's pat on the head vanished. All he felt now was respect. "…" As Mr. Takenawa left, Davis silently mouthed, 'Thanks'.
Suddenly, the back door burst open, startling Sasuke (after all, he was near the back door and was busy wheeling a container of expired beverages out of the store) out of his wits. The one who walked out of the back door was none other than Momoe, eldest daughter of the Inoues. She suddenly found Davis and exclaimed, "Aha!"
Davis stared briefly at the girl…and found himself wondering, like he had done once concerning Mantarou. To be honest, he hadn't hung out a lot with the eldest of the female Inoue daughters (then again, that title might belong to Jun…or did it? How old was Momoe exactly? Davis forgot, much to his annoyance)…and thus was at a blank. He DID know that she had the Inoues legendary temper…but beside that, nothing.
And then Momoe sneezed. She ran a hand through her brown hair and readjusted her glasses before saying, "Mom, dad, I need to borrow Davis for a bit so I can go to Aquacity."
"Sure."
"Go ahead."
Davis blinked out of confusion as Momoe suddenly grabbed him by his shirt's neck collar and pulled him to the back door, through it and into the back hallway before leading him out the convenience store's rear entrance, entering the alleyway.
Veemon blinked as his partner was suddenly whisked away. "Where's she taking Davish?"
"Aquacity," casually replied Subaru as she wiped the counter.
"Oh." Veemon had a thought bubble; he was imagining an underwater city, a la Atlantis.
POP!
Sasuke calmly pulled away the pen he had used to pop the thought bubble. Veemon protested, "HEY!"
"Can't have you cluttering the air," calmly replied Sasuke as he placed a box filled with new beverages near the freezers, preparing to replace the expired ones he had just taken out. "Wanna help?"
Veemon smiled. "Okay!" He quickly grabbed a bottle of grape soda, and then, well…
"AHHH! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DRINK IT!"
"But I thought you wanted me to help you drink it!"
And all the while, Subaru just sighed.
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"What are you doing?" demanded Davis, his feet straggling across the concrete ground of the alleyway. Suddenly, he was let go, causing him to drop down onto his back. "Ow…"
"Simple. Mantarou's still at the university, so I can't borrow his vehicle, nor can I ask him for help. Chizuru is at Taekwondo practice, Jun and Yolei haven't come home yet, and the parents need to min the store. So you know what that means? YOU have to help me pick up some stuff at Aquacity!"
Davis stared at her blankly. Finally, he asked, "How did you get home?"
Momoe blinked. "Eh?"
"HOW DID YOU GET HOME!" roared Davis out of irritation. "The only reason I got home so fast was because I flew here on XVmon. There was no way you could've gotten here so quickly!"
Momoe suddenly sneezed again. "This answer your question? Got a bit of a cold last yesterday. Cue a fever of 100.1, and I'm out of school for Saturday. Even though I could've gone anyway, but you know mom and dad…"
"…so why are you out here anyway?" muttered Davis out of annoyance. He smelled something fishy here. "If you're sick, then how come you're up and about? And why the heck did your folks let you out anyhow!"
Momoe grinned deviously. "That's the trick…today's Saturday, and now that schools are out now, there's be a major upswing in business. They're so busy trying to keep the place ready for the students' arrival that they get a bit scatter-brained…so I figured if I could say my request vaguely and pick the right opportunity…I'd be free! And so I am."
Davis looked at her with suspicion. "…and I'm supposed to believe this? How do you know they'd be scatterbrained on Saturdays?"
Momoe stared at him, a 'You're joking' look in her eyes (and somewhere, crickets played their tune, even though it was noon in Tokyo for pete's sakes…). Suddenly, Davis felt a bit scatterbrained himself. "Oh. Right. Lived with them all your life." The Child of Miracles mentally smacked himself…but then again, he was a bit wary of female Inoues at the moment (no thanks to Yolei and her stupid powder bomb…why'd she have to restart the Prank War anyway? Stupid girl…), so it was understandable.
Suddenly Momoe reached behind a dumpster and wheeled out…a scooter. To be precise, a white Honda Elite CH80 scooter from 1986. It was old – you could tell that from the scuffed up paint job and some dents near the bottom rims – but you couldn't tell HOW old, because it was in rather excellent condition, considering it was almost twenty years old.
Nevertheless, Davis was unimpressed. "A scooter?"
"Bought by my folks in the 80s'. Used as a personal transportation vehicle for one or two people until they got the Hyundai minivan after Momoe herself had been born. When Mantarou had become 16, he had used his savings to buy a used Toyota pick-up truck. After he got his truck, he passed the scooter down to me…and unlike Mantarou, I don't really need a car." Momoe grabbed the keys out of her pocket and sat down on the black seat. "Hop on and hold on tight."
Davis sighed out of acquiescence. He might as well give in; he didn't really feel like arguing right now. Besides, what harm would it do?
So he got onto the seat behind Momoe and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Well, go ahead."
Momoe smiled as she cranked the ignition and pumped the accelerator. She zoomed out of the alleyway and onto the streets, roving at 45 miles per hour.
"HERE WE GO!" screamed Momoe as the sped past a green light. She giggled happily as the wind whipped her brown hair. "Isn't the speed great?"
"Eh, I guess," yelled Davis over the sound of the blowing wind. Truthfully, this wasn't that fast to him; he could go even faster whilst wearing the Armor of Miracles. This was nothing. "What's the big deal though?"
Momoe smiled as she turned left. In Japan, the lanes were reversed; you moved forward in the left side, whilst cars came toward you on the right side. "Simple; when I feel the wind in my face…it's…well, I can't really describe it. It's like one of the greatest feelings in the world…a feeling of exhilaration that doesn't let up. You know what I'm talking about, right?"
Well… Davis sighed as he thought about his battles with the other Digidestined against the Emperor, UmbraDevimon and his minions, the Demon Corps, and BelialMyotismon. During those times…the rush had been indescribable. Remember those stories where you fought against fairytale monsters? He had LIVED out those stories…and MORE. Fighting against monsters was one thing…but fighting against monsters with the fate of the world at stake? THAT was an adrenaline rush unlike any other.
Davis sighed as he dreaded the coming boredom of shopping with a girl. "Eh…where are we going again? Aquacity?"
"Nope. We're actually going to Decks Tokyo Beach for one reason."
"And that is?"
Momoe smiled as she turned right. "Tokyo Joypolis."
Davis blanched. "The giant arcade? WHA?"
"What? A girl can't have fun?" joked Momoe as she revved the accelerator.
Suddenly, Davis found himself looking forward to spending time with his older 'sister'. Free trip to the arcade! Sweet!
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/Sidewalk, Near Inoue Convenience Store, Odaiba, 12:40 PM/
Inoue grumbled as she stomped alongside Jun towards the Inoue Convenience Store, which was only one block away. Thankfully, she had gotten her clothes down from the flagpole before heading home. Even so, the humiliation had been extreme and complete. "Stupid Davis…STUPID DAVIS…"
"I still can't believe that Davis would break the no-pranking pact!" moaned Jun as she tugged at the edges of her red skirt.
"Who cares?" roared Yolei, her eyes blazing red. "DO YOU REALIZE WHAT HE PUT ME THROUGH?"
Jun nodded as she pulled down on her skirt again. "Of course I know; even the high schoolers managed to catch the sight of you pulling your clothes off the flagpole."
The Child of Caring groaned as she ran a hand across her brow, wiping sweat away. "Feh…makes me wonder why I'm the Child of Caring if Davis keeps doing stuff to make me hate him."
"Ironic, yet true," commented Jun as she kept readjusting her skirt. Yolei glanced at her new sister and asked, "You know something, how come you go to the same school as Momoe, Izzy, Mimi, Sora, Tai, and Matt, yet you wear a different uniform?"
Jun giggled slightly as she rubbed her hair nervously. "Well…that's quite an odd story I must say…"
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/Flashback/
/Four Years Ago, Odaiba School, Odaiba/
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE MY UNIFORM READY?"
A school official responsible for handing out uniforms at the beginning of each year blanched at the sight of the infuriated 14-year old Jun Motomiya in his face. "Well, uh…you see, there's a bit of a problem. We THOUGHT we ordered exactly the amount of uniforms needed…but since you transferred, well…"
Jun growled out of frustration. "Great…first time transferring to a new school, and I don't even have my uniform ready!"
"The reason this happened is because we changed our design…but we do have a surplus of some of the older uniforms. We could give you that until new uniforms arrive." The meek official quickly stood up and walked into a nearby closet to obtain the uniform.
Jun sighed irritably as she tapped her foot. At least she would be getting a uniform (in fact, the new design was the reason for the new uniforms to be sent out in the first place to all high school students). Minutes later, the man returned with an older uniform. "Here you are ma'am; a uniform set to the specifications in the forms you were given during applying for this s school."
Jun nodded as she held the folded-up uniform in one arm. "Thank you sir." She quickly scampered away, uniform in hand.
/End Flashback/
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"Now that I think about it, I never got my new uniform," mumbled Jun as she looked down at her uniform. "Guess it slipped my mind."
"And you didn't mind having a different outfit from everyone else in school?" incredulously asked Yolei.
Jun smiled as they neared the convenience store. "At first, yeah…but I guess I didn't care or notice after a while. Besides, I'm graduating this year anyway; no sense on wasting money on a uniform I'll be wearing for six months."
"True," replied Yolei as her thoughts returned to revenge on Davis.
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/Tokyo Joypolis, Decks Tokyo Beach, Odaiba, 1:05 PM/
Davis blinked as he watched two guys compete against each other on…a typing arcade game featuring dogs. …LAME.
He walked around, finding several people playing Video Game Blackjack. …LAME.
He then saw people shouting at toy horses racing around a derby track, since there was betting involved. …still LAME.
He then saw Momoe beating two drums on the Taiko no Tatsujin arcade game (think Donkey Konga). …sort of fun, but not quite there yet. He kept searching for the game he felt like playing.
Hmm…what to play, what to play…
You know, he seemed awfully indecisive considering that the arcade he was in spanned three floors. But oh well.
Suddenly, it caught his eye. "Alright! F-Zero AX!" Davis quickly jumped into the game's cockpit, buckled in, and plunked his quarters in.
Minutes later, Davis stumbled out of the cockpit, his eyes swirly out of sheer sensory overload. One thing could be said about F-Zero AX, it knew speed.
"Well…that was fun." Davis stood up and brushed himself off before walking further into the arcade. Perhaps I'll try a VR game…perhaps the Crypt? Or maybe Aqua-Nova…?
He suddenly noticed a large crowd gathered around the DDR machines. The Child of Miracles could already make out the large nose, black hair, and narrow gray eyes of Tomoe Kaziwashi, local DDR champ. That is until Shaun kicked his sorry butt.
Shaun.
Davis sighed as he remembered how Shaun had beaten Tomoe quite handily at his own game. And to be honest…it had been quite a sight (it had also been particularly sweet for Tai, who had been humiliated after losing in his challenge to Tomoe).
The song suddenly ended, and Tomoe gasped as he fell down to his knees. The crowd slowly moved away, no longer interested now that he had stopped. Davis took this opportunity to move in; oddly Tomoe had been playing alone.
The DDR champ guzzled down some water from his black bottle before glancing at the figure approaching him…and blinked. "You…"
Davis blinked in return. "Me?"
"I remember you. You came into the arcade a couple of months ago with that superkid…the first one to beat me since I became the local champ." Tomoe chuckled as he stood. "Are his skills still sharp? I'd like a rematch with him."
A twinge of pain crossed Davis' face. "…I'm afraid you'll never be able to settle the score. He died…in the Odaiba War."
Tomoe's face fell, his cocky smirk being replaced by a disappointed frown. "Oh…I see. Well…that certainly bites." The DDR champ chuckled as he gazed around at the bustling arcade goers. "And I was really looking forward to challenging him on Dead End…the very same song he beat me on the last time we met."
Davis resisted the urge to scowl; even now, the only memories Shaun brought back were painful ones. Despite any good times the Child of Wisdom had shared with the others…the sheer weight of his mission and his death continued to weigh on him. "…" Davis smiled slightly to try and sugarcoat the situation. "Well…it's not like you would've won anyway. After all, he trounced you handily…and he did with all those bells and whistles added."
"You mean 8x speed and invisible arrows?"
"Yeah," replied Davis. "I mean, that's gotta be tough!"
"Only if you use your eyes," countered Tomoe as he stretched his limbs. "He played against me with his eyes closed. That tells me that he knew that song by heart…and although it says 8x speed, the beat of the rhythm remains the same. I've been working nonstop to get that good…and I finally beat that song with the same settings. Course', doesn't matter anymore, now does it?"
Remorse filled Davis' soul. His head sagged slightly as he muttered, "Sorry."
"Don't be," replied Kaziwashi as he ran a hand through his long, spiky hair. "I certainly don't regret facing that guy…but I wished I would've been in one last dance-off. Oh well…can't be changed."
"Tomoe, shall we go?"
Davis and Tomoe both turned their heads to the ground…and Davis paled.
A small, robotic creature no more than 2 feet tall stood before them. His body was short and stocky, made of nothing more than a metallic gray cylinder. Four segmented legs sprouted from the body, each forming one dark gray foot (oddly enough, each foot had a fleshy pink appendage). He also possessed two long, segmented arms, completed with five-fingered hands. The fingers themselves were also segmented, capable of splitting apart on their own for various reasons. The body was split in the middle by a line, allowing jagged teeth to come through. His right eyes was yellow mechanical optic sensor…whilst the metal over his left eye was torn off, revealing a normal red eye. Finally, a clear dome of glass covered the gears, electronics, and cybernetic components of his 'brain'. The Digimon…was Datamon, an Ultimate level. And in his arms…were a bunch of tickets.
Tomoe whistled. "Dang. The games have been treating you well."
"When you have the ability to merge your programming with electronic constructs, manipulating the code to perform to your specifications are quite simple," replied Datamon with a factual tone.
Tomoe and Davis blinked out of bewilderment.
Datamon sweatdropped as he sighed. "In layman's terms, I can kick butt. Now, shall we go?"
"Sure, why not." Tomoe walked away before glancing back at Davis. "It seemed odd at first…but a partner's not THAT bad of a deal. Hope you get one of your own."
As Tomoe and Datamon walked away, Davis smiled. Heh. Already have one.
"Davis!"
Davis turned around to see Momoe walking towards him. She kindly asked, "So…how do you feel?"
"…well, pretty good, considering." And that was true; the sight of Tomoe Kaziwashi having a partner cheered him up from the self-inflicted doldrums.
Momoe smiled. "Great!" Then she sneezed. "That makes this whole – sniff – trip worth it!"
Davis blinked…and then gasped. "You mean…you got out of the house just so I could have a good time?"
"That's the gist of it." Momoe smiled…before she sneezed again, sniffling all the while. "Ooh…perhaps we should head home now."
No kidding, thought Davis as he helped the sick Momoe out of the arcade.
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/Road, Odaiba, 1:46 PM/
"So you only left the house just so I could feel better?" asked Davis incredulously.
"Yup," replied Momoe. Both of them were now back on the scooter, heading back at a slow pace to the Inoue Apartment. "ACHOO!" Another sneeze.
Davis' mind was boggling. Cheering up? He didn't need any cheering up! "I didn't need any cheering up! I was happy as it was!"
"Now THAT is a fib," sarcastically replied Momoe as the lights turned green, allowing her to move forward. "You see Davis, I know you're still hurting on the inside because of what happened to your original parents. I know you're still trying to adjust to life as an Inoue…but don't forget that we're also family now."
"…" The Child of Miracles sighed. "But it still doesn't explain your willingness to just visit the arcade."
At this Momoe smiled. "Well…even though I got into my fair share of sibling scuffles and rivalries when I was growing up…now I try to make everyone in my family as happy as possible. It sounds silly…but it works."
At this, Davis Inoue couldn't help but smile. So committed to making her family members happy…even though she was sick. Heh…now I know why she's best friends with Jun.
Because Momoe was, without a doubt, the most friendly member of the Inoues thus far.
Momoe slowed the scooter to a stop in front of the store. "I'm going to go park it," muttered the eldest Inoue daughter as Davis got off. Momoe slowly drove into the alleyway as Davis walked into the convenience store. He felt like taking a nap to recharge his body; he was bushed.
DING.
Davis ignored Veemon and Poromon's greeting. He ignored the casual 'hellos' of Jun, Subaru, and Sasuke. He just calmly walked upstairs into the apartment and toward his room. Man…I feel so bushed. Must be feeling the effects of putting my prank into action…
He pulled his door open and walked into get onto his bed-
Thwip.
Davis tripped on a piece of wire that had been strung across the door. He suddenly felt a moment of freefall as he fell face-first to the floor. He barely had time to open his mouth before he slammed into the floor.
BAM!
Davis groaned as he stood up…and much to his shock, he couldn't see. Huh? He tried to see…and suddenly realized a sticky substance was gluing a piece of paper on his face.
Davis' face was now coated with flypaper. On the back were the words 'The Prankster Just Got Served!'
He didn't need to be told Yolei was behind it.
Hmph…this is a tame prank Yolei. I'll strike back before you know it! Davis shakily stood up, grinning behind the flypaper. Just you wait!
He just had to deal with the flypaper first.
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To be continued…
Next time…
Chapter 23: The Prankster Strikes Back
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Author's Notes: Blegh. I hate writer's block. Momoe was a hard person to write about.
Oh well. MORE PRANKS!
See you soon, and please review!