Chapter 1 - The Gauntlet is Cast
I grumbled as I pushed my way through the mall, those two elusive items eluding my sight.
Not that I knew what the said items were yet.
Why is shopping for Mako and Ai's birthday always so difficult?
"Ow!"
Some rude guy rammed into me, making Lopmon fall off my head, and be forced to grab my ponytail instead to keep from falling. I grabbed her before someone could take it as more than a figment of their imagination. I hissed under my breath.
"Lopmon!"
"Sorry Suzie…"
I sighed, trying to ignore the weird looks I was getting. An eleven year old dragging her 'stuffed animal' into a mall wasn't exactly common.
Just because I'm short, even for an eleven year old, doesn't give them the right to ram into me…
About an hour later, I'd managed to get a book for Ai, and had placed Lopmon in the bag to prevent further mishaps, but was no closer to finding a gift for Mako. I sat down on a bench to think for a moment.
"Suzie…"
"Lopmon!"
"Sorry Suzie, but I smell a digimon…"
Oh boy…
"Let's go…"
Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that I was Henry's little sister, Lopmon and I hadn't seen much action. And now every big hitter we had except Impmon was out of town. I reached into my pockets for my deck and D-Ark.
Just because I'm inexperienced doesn't mean I can't defend myself…
I grabbed Lopmon and my bags, running where she told me to go. The area was clear of any other people, and there was no digital field around. Then she told me to stop.
"He's just around the next corner, doesn't feel too powerful…"
I nodded, and readied a card. Just in case.
"TINY TWISTER!"
"Wah!!!"
Lopmon threw the little digimon for a loop.
"Mushroomon!"
Huh?
A little boy with straight black hair in a bowl cut ran over.
"Mushroomon, are you okay?"
Whoops…
I stepped forward.
"Um, sorry about that… is Mushroomon your digimon?"
The boy looked up at me, and gasped; fear in his little green eyes.
"Don't hurt Mushroomon, please?"
The little mushroom-like digimon rolled to his feet then.
"Mica? I'm okay, see? Come on, cheer up! Let's go play somewhere, okay?"
Mica nodded, and got up, brushing himself off. I tried again.
"I'm really sorry kid, I thought it was a wild digimon…"
He looked up at me, distrust in his eyes.
"Yeah right. You probably just want to fight. Come on Mushroomon, let's go play outside!"
They bolted before Lopmon or I could get in another word.
"Strange…"
I nodded.
"You said it Lopmon. Well, let's get back to shopping, eh? We still have to find a present for Mako…"
She nodded and jumped back in the bag so we could move on before someone wondered what was going on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I stared at the computer screen, a confused look on my face. I looked over at Impmon.
"Um, that's not supposed to happen, is it?"
Impmon was looking just as confused.
"Huh? You'd think a site set up by the sovereigns wouldn't go down. Maybe it's the computer!"
"Maybe…"
We sat there for a few minutes just starting at the error screen, occasionally reloading the page or checking the wiring, but no luck. After a while, Impmon spoke again.
"Well, we could try Henry…"
I shook my head.
"No, that's no good. He left for the digital world, remember? …But maybe… yeah! Suzie might be able to help!"
Impmon just looked at me.
"Suzie."
"Yes, Impmon. Suzie. She's learned a lot from Henry you know."
"Ooookay…"
"Oh, quit your whining and let's go."
"Right."
Impmon and I left the house and proceeded down the block to Henry's apartment. I was worried and not really paying attention. That site should not have gone down. Ever. Which meant something was very wrong. Of course, my preoccupation meant that something bad could happen right under my nose and I wouldn't realize it.
"ELECTRIC STUN BLAST!"
The blast hit Impmon in the back, sending him sprawling.
"Impmon!"
I spun around as Impmon got back to his feet. He looked around warily, watching for his attacker. There was a slight flicker of movement, and Impmon went sailing back, propelled by a kick. A small gray rabbit landed in a crouch. I raised my digivice.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Gazimon
Level: Rookie
Type: Virus
Class: Mammal
Attacks:
Electric Stun Blast
Pitfall
This bunny's not quite so fuzzy as he is mean. Look out for his jumping skill though, because his Pitfall attack can mean death from above!
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Impmon wasn't one to take something like that lying down, so he was up in an instant, throwing fireballs.
"BADA BOOM!"
The Gazimon actually had the nerve to laugh at Impmon, barely moving to dodge the little bursts of flame. Impmon was getting steadily ticked off by this guy, and I swiped a card to be safe.
DIGI-MODIFY! Power Activate!
Impmon grinned, and took a step back and a deep breath to prepare.
"INFERNO FUNNEL!"
The larger ball of fire flew forward, and I grinned along with Impmon because it looked like it was going to hit. But at the very last instant, Gazimon leapt into the air, avoiding the shot.
Oh boy…
DIGI-MODIFY! Hyper Speed Activate!
"PITFALL!"
Even with the card, Impmon only just missed the rabbit digimon's feet as they slammed into the pavement where he had been standing only a moment before. Gazimon barely paused in his assault.
"ELECTRIC STUN BLAST!"
Impmon tried dodging, but only partially managed, the blast sending him stumbling for a moment. Gazimon was quick to capitalize on Impmon's misfortune with a jump kick. I swiped a quick card.
DIGI-MODIFY! DemiDevimon's Demi Dart Activate!
As Gazimon closed, feet first, two darts appeared, one in each of Impmon's hands. He threw.
"DEMI DART"
Both darts scored direct hits, but not before Gazimon's foot impacted. Both flew backwards. Gazimon rolled to his feet looking a little winded. A quick glance at Impmon showed him struggling to get to his feet. Gazimon geared up for another strike, but a voice interrupted him.
"Gazimon, no. Let him be for now. He is no real match."
Though I was seriously angry, the voice was right. I was no match against whoever this was.
I had to use every card I could think of to help Impmon, and this guy didn't even use one.
A figure walked out of an alley, and for a moment I was a little shocked.
"Jamie?!"
He grunted and smirked, exceedingly pleased with himself.
"You're no match for me, Mako. I could have told you that before now, but now it's official. You're just lucky I left your little toy there in one piece."
Oh boy. That's not good…
The fastest way to pick a fight with Impmon that I knew of was either to, a, threaten one of his friends, or, b, imply that he was a possession.
"Toy? TOY?! I AM NO ONE'S TOY!"
Our eyes shot over to Impmon, whose eyes were glowing blood red.
"INFERNO FUNNEL!!!"
Impmon let out a staggering gout of flame. I was glad that I was far enough away, because there's no way that I would have had the reflexes to dodge like Jamie and Gazimon did.
I rushed over to Impmon before the smoke could clear over where Jamie and Gazimon were.
"Whoah…"
Impmon had used up enough of his energy to dedigivolve. I tried again.
"Um, are you okay Yaamon?"
He blinked, obviously feeling better now that there wasn't as much data to support directly.
"Whadda ya mean, Yaa… whoah. Huh. Maybe I better get something' to eat, huh?"
"Touching, but ultimately futile."
We turned back to see Jamie there. Gazimon strode up beside him as he continued.
"But still, an impressive display of power, especially in his weakened condition."
He straightened, and locked eyes with Yaamon in my arms.
"You'll never hear me say this again, so feel privileged. I was mistaken. You are most definitely not a toy. That kind of firepower, while no match for Gazimon and myself, naturally, is certainly worthy of a certain amount of limited respect."
Then he turned and walked out, leaving Gazimon to say the final words.
"We'll meet again. Bet on it."
Then Gazimon was gone as well, leaving Impmon and myself confused.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Missss me?"
I froze for a moment at the hissing voice behind me, before recognizing it as the elusive Mr. Shadow.
"Oh. It's you. What do you want."
"Are you keeping your end of the bargain little girl?"
I shivered involuntarily, but answered.
"Of course. Why do you ask?"
"Because that inssssipid brother of yours misssssed a chance at one of the Tamerssss!"
I spun to face a figure in the shadows. He never really allowed himself to be seen, which was why he had the name, lame as it was. He was intimidating, sure, but he had just set me off.
No one, and I mean no one, threatens Mica. Otenuski's stick together.
"Mica has a digimon for self defense and companionship you jerk! I made this deal, not him, so you leave him out of it, you hear me?!"
All I received in response was a chuckle.
"Very well, Mssss. Otenuski, but do try not to misssss any more chancessss like thissss, no?"
Then he stepped back, fading into the darkness. I glared at where he had been, before turning around and heading home. The only place Mica would have had time to encounter another Tamer like that would have been while we were at the mall earlier, where Kokuwamon had been unable to enter without setting off every metal detector and magnetic protection device inside.
I growled and walked down the street, managing the bags I had.
"Are you sure you don't need any help with those?"
I smiled a little at the voice in the shadows.
"No, Kokuwamon, I'll be okay, it's not that far from home. You could open the door for me when I get there though."
"Consider it done, Justen."
There was a rustle of metal wings, and I knew that Kokuwamon would be waiting for me outside the apartment, where Mushroomon was supposedly keeping watch over Mica.
The ride up the elevator was smooth, but it jerked to a stop, making me have to stop to pick up the groceries. But that was really a minor annoyance all things considered. Kokuwamon opened the door from the inside, and I entered, arms completely full.
A few minutes later, I finished and tucked Mica in. Kokuwamon met me outside, a worried expression on his face. I frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I thought I was just getting a sensor glitch earlier, but upon talking with Mushroomon, I realize that this is an error."
I tapped my foot impatiently. I was feeling a little tired myself.
"Well, what was it."
"I'm not entirely sure. It seems that something with a distorted digital presence was around here earlier. Something almost familiar… Mushroomon and I couldn't quite figure out what it was, but I know I've felt it before… somewhere…"
I frowned.
This could be huge, or it could be nothing.
I sighed.
"Look. Tell Mushroomon not to say anything to Mica, and of course, Delia, but you come straight to me if you sense it again, okay? I don't want you wandering into an uncertain situation without me."
He nodded.
"I understand Justen. Something about that familiar part really creeped me out though…"
I smiled faintly and crossed the main room to check on Delia, peeking in the door softly. She was sleeping now, but she was tossing and turning.
Should I wake her up?
I stood there for a moment agonizing. In the end I decided not to, Delia got so little sleep as it was, even if the rest of the time she just went around like a zombie.
"Good night, Delia. Get better soon."
I went to my room and collapsed on the bed, clutching a pillow to me before I allowed the tears to pour down my face. With our father overseas at work, Delia was all the family we had. I whispered into the night, but I don't think anyone heard.
"We need you Delia… please…"
I grumbled as I pushed my way through the mall, those two elusive items eluding my sight.
Not that I knew what the said items were yet.
Why is shopping for Mako and Ai's birthday always so difficult?
"Ow!"
Some rude guy rammed into me, making Lopmon fall off my head, and be forced to grab my ponytail instead to keep from falling. I grabbed her before someone could take it as more than a figment of their imagination. I hissed under my breath.
"Lopmon!"
"Sorry Suzie…"
I sighed, trying to ignore the weird looks I was getting. An eleven year old dragging her 'stuffed animal' into a mall wasn't exactly common.
Just because I'm short, even for an eleven year old, doesn't give them the right to ram into me…
About an hour later, I'd managed to get a book for Ai, and had placed Lopmon in the bag to prevent further mishaps, but was no closer to finding a gift for Mako. I sat down on a bench to think for a moment.
"Suzie…"
"Lopmon!"
"Sorry Suzie, but I smell a digimon…"
Oh boy…
"Let's go…"
Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that I was Henry's little sister, Lopmon and I hadn't seen much action. And now every big hitter we had except Impmon was out of town. I reached into my pockets for my deck and D-Ark.
Just because I'm inexperienced doesn't mean I can't defend myself…
I grabbed Lopmon and my bags, running where she told me to go. The area was clear of any other people, and there was no digital field around. Then she told me to stop.
"He's just around the next corner, doesn't feel too powerful…"
I nodded, and readied a card. Just in case.
"TINY TWISTER!"
"Wah!!!"
Lopmon threw the little digimon for a loop.
"Mushroomon!"
Huh?
A little boy with straight black hair in a bowl cut ran over.
"Mushroomon, are you okay?"
Whoops…
I stepped forward.
"Um, sorry about that… is Mushroomon your digimon?"
The boy looked up at me, and gasped; fear in his little green eyes.
"Don't hurt Mushroomon, please?"
The little mushroom-like digimon rolled to his feet then.
"Mica? I'm okay, see? Come on, cheer up! Let's go play somewhere, okay?"
Mica nodded, and got up, brushing himself off. I tried again.
"I'm really sorry kid, I thought it was a wild digimon…"
He looked up at me, distrust in his eyes.
"Yeah right. You probably just want to fight. Come on Mushroomon, let's go play outside!"
They bolted before Lopmon or I could get in another word.
"Strange…"
I nodded.
"You said it Lopmon. Well, let's get back to shopping, eh? We still have to find a present for Mako…"
She nodded and jumped back in the bag so we could move on before someone wondered what was going on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I stared at the computer screen, a confused look on my face. I looked over at Impmon.
"Um, that's not supposed to happen, is it?"
Impmon was looking just as confused.
"Huh? You'd think a site set up by the sovereigns wouldn't go down. Maybe it's the computer!"
"Maybe…"
We sat there for a few minutes just starting at the error screen, occasionally reloading the page or checking the wiring, but no luck. After a while, Impmon spoke again.
"Well, we could try Henry…"
I shook my head.
"No, that's no good. He left for the digital world, remember? …But maybe… yeah! Suzie might be able to help!"
Impmon just looked at me.
"Suzie."
"Yes, Impmon. Suzie. She's learned a lot from Henry you know."
"Ooookay…"
"Oh, quit your whining and let's go."
"Right."
Impmon and I left the house and proceeded down the block to Henry's apartment. I was worried and not really paying attention. That site should not have gone down. Ever. Which meant something was very wrong. Of course, my preoccupation meant that something bad could happen right under my nose and I wouldn't realize it.
"ELECTRIC STUN BLAST!"
The blast hit Impmon in the back, sending him sprawling.
"Impmon!"
I spun around as Impmon got back to his feet. He looked around warily, watching for his attacker. There was a slight flicker of movement, and Impmon went sailing back, propelled by a kick. A small gray rabbit landed in a crouch. I raised my digivice.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Gazimon
Level: Rookie
Type: Virus
Class: Mammal
Attacks:
Electric Stun Blast
Pitfall
This bunny's not quite so fuzzy as he is mean. Look out for his jumping skill though, because his Pitfall attack can mean death from above!
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Impmon wasn't one to take something like that lying down, so he was up in an instant, throwing fireballs.
"BADA BOOM!"
The Gazimon actually had the nerve to laugh at Impmon, barely moving to dodge the little bursts of flame. Impmon was getting steadily ticked off by this guy, and I swiped a card to be safe.
DIGI-MODIFY! Power Activate!
Impmon grinned, and took a step back and a deep breath to prepare.
"INFERNO FUNNEL!"
The larger ball of fire flew forward, and I grinned along with Impmon because it looked like it was going to hit. But at the very last instant, Gazimon leapt into the air, avoiding the shot.
Oh boy…
DIGI-MODIFY! Hyper Speed Activate!
"PITFALL!"
Even with the card, Impmon only just missed the rabbit digimon's feet as they slammed into the pavement where he had been standing only a moment before. Gazimon barely paused in his assault.
"ELECTRIC STUN BLAST!"
Impmon tried dodging, but only partially managed, the blast sending him stumbling for a moment. Gazimon was quick to capitalize on Impmon's misfortune with a jump kick. I swiped a quick card.
DIGI-MODIFY! DemiDevimon's Demi Dart Activate!
As Gazimon closed, feet first, two darts appeared, one in each of Impmon's hands. He threw.
"DEMI DART"
Both darts scored direct hits, but not before Gazimon's foot impacted. Both flew backwards. Gazimon rolled to his feet looking a little winded. A quick glance at Impmon showed him struggling to get to his feet. Gazimon geared up for another strike, but a voice interrupted him.
"Gazimon, no. Let him be for now. He is no real match."
Though I was seriously angry, the voice was right. I was no match against whoever this was.
I had to use every card I could think of to help Impmon, and this guy didn't even use one.
A figure walked out of an alley, and for a moment I was a little shocked.
"Jamie?!"
He grunted and smirked, exceedingly pleased with himself.
"You're no match for me, Mako. I could have told you that before now, but now it's official. You're just lucky I left your little toy there in one piece."
Oh boy. That's not good…
The fastest way to pick a fight with Impmon that I knew of was either to, a, threaten one of his friends, or, b, imply that he was a possession.
"Toy? TOY?! I AM NO ONE'S TOY!"
Our eyes shot over to Impmon, whose eyes were glowing blood red.
"INFERNO FUNNEL!!!"
Impmon let out a staggering gout of flame. I was glad that I was far enough away, because there's no way that I would have had the reflexes to dodge like Jamie and Gazimon did.
I rushed over to Impmon before the smoke could clear over where Jamie and Gazimon were.
"Whoah…"
Impmon had used up enough of his energy to dedigivolve. I tried again.
"Um, are you okay Yaamon?"
He blinked, obviously feeling better now that there wasn't as much data to support directly.
"Whadda ya mean, Yaa… whoah. Huh. Maybe I better get something' to eat, huh?"
"Touching, but ultimately futile."
We turned back to see Jamie there. Gazimon strode up beside him as he continued.
"But still, an impressive display of power, especially in his weakened condition."
He straightened, and locked eyes with Yaamon in my arms.
"You'll never hear me say this again, so feel privileged. I was mistaken. You are most definitely not a toy. That kind of firepower, while no match for Gazimon and myself, naturally, is certainly worthy of a certain amount of limited respect."
Then he turned and walked out, leaving Gazimon to say the final words.
"We'll meet again. Bet on it."
Then Gazimon was gone as well, leaving Impmon and myself confused.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Missss me?"
I froze for a moment at the hissing voice behind me, before recognizing it as the elusive Mr. Shadow.
"Oh. It's you. What do you want."
"Are you keeping your end of the bargain little girl?"
I shivered involuntarily, but answered.
"Of course. Why do you ask?"
"Because that inssssipid brother of yours misssssed a chance at one of the Tamerssss!"
I spun to face a figure in the shadows. He never really allowed himself to be seen, which was why he had the name, lame as it was. He was intimidating, sure, but he had just set me off.
No one, and I mean no one, threatens Mica. Otenuski's stick together.
"Mica has a digimon for self defense and companionship you jerk! I made this deal, not him, so you leave him out of it, you hear me?!"
All I received in response was a chuckle.
"Very well, Mssss. Otenuski, but do try not to misssss any more chancessss like thissss, no?"
Then he stepped back, fading into the darkness. I glared at where he had been, before turning around and heading home. The only place Mica would have had time to encounter another Tamer like that would have been while we were at the mall earlier, where Kokuwamon had been unable to enter without setting off every metal detector and magnetic protection device inside.
I growled and walked down the street, managing the bags I had.
"Are you sure you don't need any help with those?"
I smiled a little at the voice in the shadows.
"No, Kokuwamon, I'll be okay, it's not that far from home. You could open the door for me when I get there though."
"Consider it done, Justen."
There was a rustle of metal wings, and I knew that Kokuwamon would be waiting for me outside the apartment, where Mushroomon was supposedly keeping watch over Mica.
The ride up the elevator was smooth, but it jerked to a stop, making me have to stop to pick up the groceries. But that was really a minor annoyance all things considered. Kokuwamon opened the door from the inside, and I entered, arms completely full.
A few minutes later, I finished and tucked Mica in. Kokuwamon met me outside, a worried expression on his face. I frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I thought I was just getting a sensor glitch earlier, but upon talking with Mushroomon, I realize that this is an error."
I tapped my foot impatiently. I was feeling a little tired myself.
"Well, what was it."
"I'm not entirely sure. It seems that something with a distorted digital presence was around here earlier. Something almost familiar… Mushroomon and I couldn't quite figure out what it was, but I know I've felt it before… somewhere…"
I frowned.
This could be huge, or it could be nothing.
I sighed.
"Look. Tell Mushroomon not to say anything to Mica, and of course, Delia, but you come straight to me if you sense it again, okay? I don't want you wandering into an uncertain situation without me."
He nodded.
"I understand Justen. Something about that familiar part really creeped me out though…"
I smiled faintly and crossed the main room to check on Delia, peeking in the door softly. She was sleeping now, but she was tossing and turning.
Should I wake her up?
I stood there for a moment agonizing. In the end I decided not to, Delia got so little sleep as it was, even if the rest of the time she just went around like a zombie.
"Good night, Delia. Get better soon."
I went to my room and collapsed on the bed, clutching a pillow to me before I allowed the tears to pour down my face. With our father overseas at work, Delia was all the family we had. I whispered into the night, but I don't think anyone heard.
"We need you Delia… please…"