Chapter 2 - The Other Side of the Coin
When I look at the other kids at school, I feel jealous. Just a little, but still. I don't have friends here, I'm too shy. I'm the quiet kid in the back corner, who has to be forced into groups for projects. The kid who is pretty much ignored.
When the bell rang, I walked slowly out of class, heading home like always. Another thing that was like always was that Mushroomon was creeping along with me, making sure to stay hidden. But just one little thing wasn't like always though, when a digital field came in around us. I glanced around, looking for an exit.
"Um, Mushroomon?"
Mushroomon ran up beside me.
"I hope you have your deck Mica. I don't think we're getting out of this one without a fight."
I nodded and reached for my digivice. I don't like to fight as a general rule, but I know that there are some times that it's necessary.
That doesn't make it any easier to handle though.
There was a howl from in front of me that made me a little nervous.
Okay Mica, calm down, you've seen Delia and Justen do this a few times. It can't be that hard.
A massive upright black wolf dressed in jeans with spikes on them leapt seemingly straight out of the ground. I held up my digivice with a shaking hand.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
BlackWereGarurumon
Level: Ultimate
Type: Virus
Class: Beast
Attacks:
Shadow Claw
Full Moon Kick
This Werewolf doesn't play around. With his Shadow Claw and Full Moon Kick, he's a devastating opponent.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Um, Mushroomon, I think we might want to run…"
He nodded in hurried agreement.
"Definitely not a nice doggy to play with, Mica. We should come back when he's in a better mood."
We turned to run, but BlackWereGarurumon was simply too fast. He was in front of us before we got two steps.
"Uh oh…"
Mushroomon got a determined look on his face.
"FUNGUS CRUSHER!"
He jumped up with his little fists and started wailing on BlackWereGarurumon, but to little effect, as the ultimate level digimon simply smacked him into the ground.
"MUSHROOMON!!!"
Digivolution_
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ordinarily I would use my home computer for something weird like this, but Mako had wanted to know now and the computer lab after school was the best I could do.
"Okay, that is weird."
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mako smirk a little. I only sighed. I deserved it - this time.
I mean, Mako's not the most computer literate person I've ever met, so he's wrong more often than not.
Ai looked over my shoulder from the other side.
"So what's wrong with it, Suzie?"
I shrugged, trying to keep my head still for Lopmon's sake.
"Well, that's the funny thing. Technically, the address is still accessible, but…"
"But…?"
I shrugged again.
"There's simply no evidence that anything existed there. Ever."
Mako blinked, then looked at Impmon and Ai.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mushroomon Digvolve to… Woodmon!
I gazed up at where Woodmon faced down BlackWereGarurumon. I didn't really think that Woodmon could actually take down BlackWereGarururmon, but he might be enough to slow him down long enough to escape.
"WOODY SMASHER!"
I grinned, watching the branch sail directly at BlackWereGarurumon's head. But he simply caught the branch.
"SHADOW CLAW!"
BlackWereGarurumon's other hand came sweeping in, catching my struggling Woodmon by surprise. He fell back, dedigivolving as he went. I just stared in shock that Mushroomon had only lasted under minute as a champion before dedigivolving.
I knew we didn't have a chance against this guy, but still…
"PITFALL!"
What I recognized as a Gazimon bounced off BlackWereGarurumon's head, landing beside me where I crouched over Mushroomon.
"SHADOW CLAW!"
A fist shot out and smacked Gazimon before he could move, sending him slamming into the brick wall behind us.
"Damn."
I saw a green haired guy over at the edge of the field, cursing, but reaching for his deck.
DIGI-MODIFY! Recharge Activate!
"FULL MOON KICK!"
I looked up, eyes wide as BlackWereGarurumon's foot came at us, tearing through the air.
DIGI-MODIFY! Power Activate!
"HYPER CANNON!"
The Tankmon's attack didn't do much damage, but the powered up blast was enough to knock BlackWereGarurumon back, deflecting the attack. I grinned as Justen hopped off the back of the Tankmon.
"You alright Mica?"
I nodded, and Mushroomon grinned weakly.
"Yeah."
BlackWereGarurumon rose up again, howling. His eyes narrowed and he roared again, rushing for us. Tankmon maneuvered in front of us.
"MACHINE GUN ARMS!"
Tankmon was trying, but BlackWereGarurumon was simply too fast, and closed anyways, dodging the bullets.
Over by the edge, Gazimon was recovering as well. His tamer swiped a card.
DIGI-MODIFY! Digivolution Activate!
Digivolution_
Gazimon digivolve to… Lynxmon!
I blinked and then looked at Justen's digivice as she analyzed it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Lynxmon
Level: Armor
Type: Vaccine
Class: Animal
Attacks:
Thermal Mane
Wild Nail Rush
A blazing quick cat, this creature takes no prisoners with his lightning agility and burning attacks.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
I blinked at the use of an armor level, but shrugged. Armors were pretty much a variable level. They could be nearly as weak as rookies or almost as powerful as ultimates depending on the individual.
"WILD NAIL RUSH!"
"SHADOW CLAW!"
The two digimon collided, but surprisingly, Lynxmon was the faster of the two, and managed to evade BlackWereGarurumon's attack while planting his own. BlackWereGarurumon stumbled back from the blow.
"HYPER CANNON!"
Tankmon, this time dealing with a much more slowly moving target, hit again, slamming his target back with a howl of pain.
"THERMAL MANE!"
Lynxmon's enflamed fur flared higher as he plowed into BlackWereGarurumon, burning him severely. Tankmon kept him off balance as he tried to put the flames out.
"MACHINE GUN ARM!"
"WILD NAIL RUSH!"
This time when Lynxmon's attack struck, he plowed right through BlackWereGarurumon, the latter bursting into data. Lynxmon took it without a second thought.
The guy with Green hair strode over, and Justen nervously drew her short hair back behind her ear with a hand. She looked up at the guy.
"Um, hi Jamie. Thanks for looking out for Mica here."
Jamie looked between us.
"Brother?"
Justen nodded. Jamie nodded, mostly to himself.
"I wouldn't call it saving him, but I don't stoop to picking on little kids either."
My sister shrugged.
"Well, whatever you call it, thanks. If my sister were here, she'd say it too."
If Delia had been here, with Keramon, we wouldn't have even needed the help.
Jamie just shrugged, and Lynxmon dedigivolved. Surprising us all, even Jamie, by helping Mushroomon to his feet and over to me. I picked Mushroomon up and smiled at Gazimon.
"Thanks."
Gazimon shrugged and didn't answer. Jamie arched an eyebrow at him, and Gazimon merely shrugged. Jamie 'hmphed' and left, walking off with his digimon partner in tow. Tankmon dedigivolved back to Kokuwamon as Justen turned to me.
"What were you thinking taking on an ultimate like that? You could have been killed!"
I shrugged myself.
"It's not like we didn't try to get away. BlackWereGarurumon was just too fast. But you missed Mushroomon digivolving!"
Justen smiled at me and ruffled my hair.
"Come on, kid. Tell me on the way home."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"GAAAHH!"
I groaned from my position on the bed.
"What is it this time, Impmon?"
He grumbled.
"I just can't believe I lost. Loosing to Megidramon is one thing. Loosing to a horde of Machinedramon is another. Those I can accept. But to a freakin' rookie?! It's simply unbelievable! I won't accept it! Never, you hear me, never! GAAAH!"
I rolled my eyes.
"Well, blame it on both me and your lack of experience fighting."
Impmon eyed me.
"Whadda ya mean by that? I fight all the time!"
I sighed.
"Yeah, but not really in your rookie form. You fought in your mega all the time before. And I remember certain digimon getting their butts kicked all the time when they were rookies."
Impmon grumbled, but didn't say anything. It was as close to 'you're right' as I was going to get.
"Besides, you're really strong. I bet you'll start digivolving on your own in no time. You probably just need a little shove in the right direction."
He grinned at me. I was relieved to finally see it. It meant that he was getting over it.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll be big as life Beezlemon in no time flat. Then we'll see who the better fighter is, right?"
I smiled some more.
"Yeah. No time flat."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I glanced over at Doroon as he looked around.
"So, Ai, um, where's Mako?"
I shrugged.
"He and Impmon went looking for more wild ones to fight. They seem to think that Impmon's on the verge of digivolving."
Doroon looked a little startled.
"And you're… not with them?"
I sighed, and turned to look at him.
"Look, don't tell Mako that I said this, okay? He'd completely flip out and make assumptions trying to fix it."
He blinked.
"Fix what?"
I glared in response.
"I said promise. Promise me Doroon."
He looked at me a little funny.
"If Mako finds out I'm keeping something from him, I'm dead."
I shot him a dirty look, and he continued.
"But I promise anyways."
I nodded.
"This isn't really easy to say or anything, so I'm just going to come out with it."
He nodded, and gestured for me to continue.
"I just… I feel like I'm not fitting in that well."
Doroon blinked again. He does that when he's surprised.
"You're… not?"
I shook my head.
"Impmon and Mako are great, and it's not like they're excluding me intentionally, but… it just seems like I'm not keeping up, you know? Before, I chose the cards, and Mako swiped them. But since Impmon lost his power, Mako's taken to carrying his playing deck around just in case. And…"
Doroon's voice was soft and concerned.
"What?"
"And… Mako's getting better. The cards come faster when it's just one person, you know. It's more efficient. And since I realized that, I kind of realized that I was holding them back. Maybe Impmon wouldn't have lost his power if I had been faster, or if it had just been Mako from the beginning… Oh, I don't know. I still want to help, you know? I don't want to be left behind while Mako runs off and has all the fun, but I don't want to hold them back anymore either. I just… oh, who knows. I bet I sound silly, don't I?"
Doroon shook his head.
"I don't think you sound silly at all. I mean, it's natural. When I met Impmon and heard about you guys facing down wild digimon, I kind of thought that I couldn't be a part of that. I wanted to help too. I still do. I haven't found a way yet, but I keep looking for one. I make up excuses for people as to why he's gone, but that seems a little silly too."
"No more silly than feeling like you're being left behind."
"Yeah, I guess so."
We sat there, on the floor of my room, for a while, just soaking in the silence. Then I looked over at him.
"Hey Doroon?"
"Yeah, Ai?"
"Promise me something else?"
"Hmmm. I suppose. What is it?"
"Promise me, that no matter what happens with Impmon and Mako, the other digimon, or whatever, that we'll always stick together. Be friends forever."
He looked over at me and smiled warmly.
"Yeah Ai, I can promise that. No matter what happens from here on, we'll always be friends. I promise."
I smiled at him.
"Thanks Doroon. I needed to hear that."
Mako walked in a while later, grinning from ear to ear. When Impmon wasn't following him, I got suspicious.
"Mako, where's Impmon?"
Mako smiled innocently.
"Impmon? Who's Impmon?"
My eyes narrowed.
"Our digimon, you fool."
He grinned.
"Oh, you must mean…"
Then, a red, winged three-foot demon with a pitchfork flew in the door. I screamed, and Mako's grin got wider as I realized I had been set up.
"Boogeymon!"
When I look at the other kids at school, I feel jealous. Just a little, but still. I don't have friends here, I'm too shy. I'm the quiet kid in the back corner, who has to be forced into groups for projects. The kid who is pretty much ignored.
When the bell rang, I walked slowly out of class, heading home like always. Another thing that was like always was that Mushroomon was creeping along with me, making sure to stay hidden. But just one little thing wasn't like always though, when a digital field came in around us. I glanced around, looking for an exit.
"Um, Mushroomon?"
Mushroomon ran up beside me.
"I hope you have your deck Mica. I don't think we're getting out of this one without a fight."
I nodded and reached for my digivice. I don't like to fight as a general rule, but I know that there are some times that it's necessary.
That doesn't make it any easier to handle though.
There was a howl from in front of me that made me a little nervous.
Okay Mica, calm down, you've seen Delia and Justen do this a few times. It can't be that hard.
A massive upright black wolf dressed in jeans with spikes on them leapt seemingly straight out of the ground. I held up my digivice with a shaking hand.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
BlackWereGarurumon
Level: Ultimate
Type: Virus
Class: Beast
Attacks:
Shadow Claw
Full Moon Kick
This Werewolf doesn't play around. With his Shadow Claw and Full Moon Kick, he's a devastating opponent.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Um, Mushroomon, I think we might want to run…"
He nodded in hurried agreement.
"Definitely not a nice doggy to play with, Mica. We should come back when he's in a better mood."
We turned to run, but BlackWereGarurumon was simply too fast. He was in front of us before we got two steps.
"Uh oh…"
Mushroomon got a determined look on his face.
"FUNGUS CRUSHER!"
He jumped up with his little fists and started wailing on BlackWereGarurumon, but to little effect, as the ultimate level digimon simply smacked him into the ground.
"MUSHROOMON!!!"
Digivolution_
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ordinarily I would use my home computer for something weird like this, but Mako had wanted to know now and the computer lab after school was the best I could do.
"Okay, that is weird."
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mako smirk a little. I only sighed. I deserved it - this time.
I mean, Mako's not the most computer literate person I've ever met, so he's wrong more often than not.
Ai looked over my shoulder from the other side.
"So what's wrong with it, Suzie?"
I shrugged, trying to keep my head still for Lopmon's sake.
"Well, that's the funny thing. Technically, the address is still accessible, but…"
"But…?"
I shrugged again.
"There's simply no evidence that anything existed there. Ever."
Mako blinked, then looked at Impmon and Ai.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mushroomon Digvolve to… Woodmon!
I gazed up at where Woodmon faced down BlackWereGarurumon. I didn't really think that Woodmon could actually take down BlackWereGarururmon, but he might be enough to slow him down long enough to escape.
"WOODY SMASHER!"
I grinned, watching the branch sail directly at BlackWereGarurumon's head. But he simply caught the branch.
"SHADOW CLAW!"
BlackWereGarurumon's other hand came sweeping in, catching my struggling Woodmon by surprise. He fell back, dedigivolving as he went. I just stared in shock that Mushroomon had only lasted under minute as a champion before dedigivolving.
I knew we didn't have a chance against this guy, but still…
"PITFALL!"
What I recognized as a Gazimon bounced off BlackWereGarurumon's head, landing beside me where I crouched over Mushroomon.
"SHADOW CLAW!"
A fist shot out and smacked Gazimon before he could move, sending him slamming into the brick wall behind us.
"Damn."
I saw a green haired guy over at the edge of the field, cursing, but reaching for his deck.
DIGI-MODIFY! Recharge Activate!
"FULL MOON KICK!"
I looked up, eyes wide as BlackWereGarurumon's foot came at us, tearing through the air.
DIGI-MODIFY! Power Activate!
"HYPER CANNON!"
The Tankmon's attack didn't do much damage, but the powered up blast was enough to knock BlackWereGarurumon back, deflecting the attack. I grinned as Justen hopped off the back of the Tankmon.
"You alright Mica?"
I nodded, and Mushroomon grinned weakly.
"Yeah."
BlackWereGarurumon rose up again, howling. His eyes narrowed and he roared again, rushing for us. Tankmon maneuvered in front of us.
"MACHINE GUN ARMS!"
Tankmon was trying, but BlackWereGarurumon was simply too fast, and closed anyways, dodging the bullets.
Over by the edge, Gazimon was recovering as well. His tamer swiped a card.
DIGI-MODIFY! Digivolution Activate!
Digivolution_
Gazimon digivolve to… Lynxmon!
I blinked and then looked at Justen's digivice as she analyzed it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Lynxmon
Level: Armor
Type: Vaccine
Class: Animal
Attacks:
Thermal Mane
Wild Nail Rush
A blazing quick cat, this creature takes no prisoners with his lightning agility and burning attacks.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
I blinked at the use of an armor level, but shrugged. Armors were pretty much a variable level. They could be nearly as weak as rookies or almost as powerful as ultimates depending on the individual.
"WILD NAIL RUSH!"
"SHADOW CLAW!"
The two digimon collided, but surprisingly, Lynxmon was the faster of the two, and managed to evade BlackWereGarurumon's attack while planting his own. BlackWereGarurumon stumbled back from the blow.
"HYPER CANNON!"
Tankmon, this time dealing with a much more slowly moving target, hit again, slamming his target back with a howl of pain.
"THERMAL MANE!"
Lynxmon's enflamed fur flared higher as he plowed into BlackWereGarurumon, burning him severely. Tankmon kept him off balance as he tried to put the flames out.
"MACHINE GUN ARM!"
"WILD NAIL RUSH!"
This time when Lynxmon's attack struck, he plowed right through BlackWereGarurumon, the latter bursting into data. Lynxmon took it without a second thought.
The guy with Green hair strode over, and Justen nervously drew her short hair back behind her ear with a hand. She looked up at the guy.
"Um, hi Jamie. Thanks for looking out for Mica here."
Jamie looked between us.
"Brother?"
Justen nodded. Jamie nodded, mostly to himself.
"I wouldn't call it saving him, but I don't stoop to picking on little kids either."
My sister shrugged.
"Well, whatever you call it, thanks. If my sister were here, she'd say it too."
If Delia had been here, with Keramon, we wouldn't have even needed the help.
Jamie just shrugged, and Lynxmon dedigivolved. Surprising us all, even Jamie, by helping Mushroomon to his feet and over to me. I picked Mushroomon up and smiled at Gazimon.
"Thanks."
Gazimon shrugged and didn't answer. Jamie arched an eyebrow at him, and Gazimon merely shrugged. Jamie 'hmphed' and left, walking off with his digimon partner in tow. Tankmon dedigivolved back to Kokuwamon as Justen turned to me.
"What were you thinking taking on an ultimate like that? You could have been killed!"
I shrugged myself.
"It's not like we didn't try to get away. BlackWereGarurumon was just too fast. But you missed Mushroomon digivolving!"
Justen smiled at me and ruffled my hair.
"Come on, kid. Tell me on the way home."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"GAAAHH!"
I groaned from my position on the bed.
"What is it this time, Impmon?"
He grumbled.
"I just can't believe I lost. Loosing to Megidramon is one thing. Loosing to a horde of Machinedramon is another. Those I can accept. But to a freakin' rookie?! It's simply unbelievable! I won't accept it! Never, you hear me, never! GAAAH!"
I rolled my eyes.
"Well, blame it on both me and your lack of experience fighting."
Impmon eyed me.
"Whadda ya mean by that? I fight all the time!"
I sighed.
"Yeah, but not really in your rookie form. You fought in your mega all the time before. And I remember certain digimon getting their butts kicked all the time when they were rookies."
Impmon grumbled, but didn't say anything. It was as close to 'you're right' as I was going to get.
"Besides, you're really strong. I bet you'll start digivolving on your own in no time. You probably just need a little shove in the right direction."
He grinned at me. I was relieved to finally see it. It meant that he was getting over it.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll be big as life Beezlemon in no time flat. Then we'll see who the better fighter is, right?"
I smiled some more.
"Yeah. No time flat."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I glanced over at Doroon as he looked around.
"So, Ai, um, where's Mako?"
I shrugged.
"He and Impmon went looking for more wild ones to fight. They seem to think that Impmon's on the verge of digivolving."
Doroon looked a little startled.
"And you're… not with them?"
I sighed, and turned to look at him.
"Look, don't tell Mako that I said this, okay? He'd completely flip out and make assumptions trying to fix it."
He blinked.
"Fix what?"
I glared in response.
"I said promise. Promise me Doroon."
He looked at me a little funny.
"If Mako finds out I'm keeping something from him, I'm dead."
I shot him a dirty look, and he continued.
"But I promise anyways."
I nodded.
"This isn't really easy to say or anything, so I'm just going to come out with it."
He nodded, and gestured for me to continue.
"I just… I feel like I'm not fitting in that well."
Doroon blinked again. He does that when he's surprised.
"You're… not?"
I shook my head.
"Impmon and Mako are great, and it's not like they're excluding me intentionally, but… it just seems like I'm not keeping up, you know? Before, I chose the cards, and Mako swiped them. But since Impmon lost his power, Mako's taken to carrying his playing deck around just in case. And…"
Doroon's voice was soft and concerned.
"What?"
"And… Mako's getting better. The cards come faster when it's just one person, you know. It's more efficient. And since I realized that, I kind of realized that I was holding them back. Maybe Impmon wouldn't have lost his power if I had been faster, or if it had just been Mako from the beginning… Oh, I don't know. I still want to help, you know? I don't want to be left behind while Mako runs off and has all the fun, but I don't want to hold them back anymore either. I just… oh, who knows. I bet I sound silly, don't I?"
Doroon shook his head.
"I don't think you sound silly at all. I mean, it's natural. When I met Impmon and heard about you guys facing down wild digimon, I kind of thought that I couldn't be a part of that. I wanted to help too. I still do. I haven't found a way yet, but I keep looking for one. I make up excuses for people as to why he's gone, but that seems a little silly too."
"No more silly than feeling like you're being left behind."
"Yeah, I guess so."
We sat there, on the floor of my room, for a while, just soaking in the silence. Then I looked over at him.
"Hey Doroon?"
"Yeah, Ai?"
"Promise me something else?"
"Hmmm. I suppose. What is it?"
"Promise me, that no matter what happens with Impmon and Mako, the other digimon, or whatever, that we'll always stick together. Be friends forever."
He looked over at me and smiled warmly.
"Yeah Ai, I can promise that. No matter what happens from here on, we'll always be friends. I promise."
I smiled at him.
"Thanks Doroon. I needed to hear that."
Mako walked in a while later, grinning from ear to ear. When Impmon wasn't following him, I got suspicious.
"Mako, where's Impmon?"
Mako smiled innocently.
"Impmon? Who's Impmon?"
My eyes narrowed.
"Our digimon, you fool."
He grinned.
"Oh, you must mean…"
Then, a red, winged three-foot demon with a pitchfork flew in the door. I screamed, and Mako's grin got wider as I realized I had been set up.
"Boogeymon!"