Chapter 3 - Anger Management
Why does that girl keep staring at me?!
This girl in the back of the class, Justen… something, I couldn't remember what, kept boring holes into the back of my head with her eyes.
And it was really irritating me that I didn't know what I'd done to deserve it. I mean, it's not like I had Impmon for a partner or anything, Lopmon was usually completely innocent. I was grateful when the bell rang, and I was able to get out of there. But the eyes followed me.
And it's really getting on my nerves…
I sighed and kept going, until I got outside, and I could still feel her eyes on me. I turned.
"Excuse me?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Yeah?"
"Why do you keep staring at me?"
She laughed.
"Wouldn't you like to know…"
She passed me by then, slamming into me rudely as she did so. I stumbled back a bit, but kept my balance.
Some people…
Still… I really wonder why she was doing that. What did I ever do to her?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"BADA BOOM!"
The Stegomon gave a final roar before exploding into data for Impmon to load. Impmon just let it float off though, and grumbled a bit.
"Geeze. Isn't there any decent data around here?"
I grinned.
"Maybe the word's getting out."
He snorted.
"Yeah right, Mako. But seriously, only really stupid digimon have come through lately."
"That explains a lot."
We both spun around. My eyes narrowed.
Jamie…
"What do you want, Jamie?"
He frowned.
"I heard this ridiculous rumor that Impmon there was strong. Humph. What a joke."
My eyes blazed along with Impmon's.
"Of course Impmon is powerful. Why don't you try taking us on again, Jamie?"
His eyes narrowed.
"Fine. Gazimon?"
The rabbit digimon strolled out of the shadows.
"PITFALL!"
"BADA BOOM!"
Gazimon may have been aiming for Impmon, but Impmon aimed down at his feet, the small blasts causing a dust cloud, which he sprinted into. Gazimon looked confused, as his feet hit the pavement with a loud crunch.
"INFERNO FUNNEL!"
The high-powered attack took Gazimon by surprise, straight into his back, sending him to the ground. But he was back up in a flash, and ready to attack as the cloud faded… But Impmon was nowhere in sight. I grinned as Jamie swore.
"Is your Impmon done playing these childish games?"
I just kept smiling.
"BADA BOOM!"
Gazimon spun, taking the hit, and sending his attack back.
"ELECTRIC STUN BLAST!"
Impmon came out then, looking a little singed around the edges, but otherwise fine.
"BADA BOOM!"
Gazimon quickly leapt to the side, dodging the shots, then launched his own attack.
"PITFALL!"
Gazimon leapt high. But rather than use the same tactic twice, Impmon stood his ground, waiting for the right moment. The moment Gazimon was at the apex of his jump.
"INFERNO FUNNEL!"
Almost completely unprepared, the force of the blow threw Gazimon higher into the air, slamming him against the side of a building. He came down hard. Jamie looked pissed, then slashed a card.
DIGI-MODIFY! Digivolution Activate!
Digivolution_
Gazimon digivolve to… Lynxmon!
Impmon's eyes grew wide, and he uttered what I was thinking.
"Oh no…"
"WILD NAIL RUSH!"
The attack tore into Impmon leaving him battered on the ground. I drew my own digivolution card.
DIGI-MODIFY! Digivolution Activate!
Impmon digivolve to… Boogeymon!
I grinned at Jamie, who was a little shocked.
"All right, let's do this."
"THERMAL MANE!"
Boogeymon flew above the attack, and countered.
"RUBY EYE!"
The optic blasts shot out, but Lynxmon was too fast, and they harmlessly struck the pavement.
"WILD NAIL RUSH!"
Lynxmon's leaping assault, however, was just as effective, as Boogeymon was simply able to drift to the side. He waited for Lynxmon to be right below him.
"DEATH CRASH!"
Swooping down, Boogeymon drove his pitchfork into Lynxmon, adding to the force of the fall, before finally averting back to the sky just a fraction of a second before Lynxmon hit the ground hard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I frowned, and stared at the screen once more. I still didn't understand how there could be absolutely no signs that the site had ever been there. I sighed.
Henry would have figured out something by now.
I pushed myself away from my computer and headed out into the living room, and collapsed on the couch. Lopmon came over and sat in my lap without words. I smiled and gave her a brief hug. Then I heard a key scratching at the door. I panicked a little and sighed in relief when dad stuck his head in. He grinned.
"Hi! How's my little munchkin?"
I groaned and rolled my eyes.
"Fine, Dad. Just frustrated, that's all."
He came over and sat next to us, giving Lopmon a nod.
"That's good. School going okay?"
I nodded.
"If this other girl would stop starring at me and being generally creepy, it would have been just like any other day."
"Why does she keep staring at you?"
I shrugged.
"Not sure really."
Dad smiled.
"Well, you'll figure it our. You're a smart girl, just like your brother."
I let myself collapse back into the couch.
"Henry would have figured it out by now."
Dad frowned.
"Suzie… I know you think highly of your brother, and it's really great to see you two getting along without bickering, but even he would have trouble with some of this. He's not perfect."
Lopmon smiled.
"Your father's right, Suzie. You're holding yourself to too high a standard. I agree that Henry probably is better than you in some ways, but he's had a lot more experience too. You're not as good as he is yet, but you will be. You're doing your best, and that's all there is to it!"
I gave Lopmon another small hug.
"Thanks you guys. I'm feeling a bit better now."
Dad smiled, and draped his arm over my shoulders.
"Good. Now show your old man around, being sure to note how much food is in the refrigerator, so that your mother doesn't kill him."
I laughed and began to show dad around, just so he could make sure there was nothing wrong.
I'm actually kinda surprised that Mom isn't banging the door down.
Dad and I talked some more after a while, and he promised to look into the website as well, thinking that Mr. Yamaki would probably be interested if he had time. After a bit, he left, and I sat back down on the couch, wondering just what I should do.
Hmmm… Well, I can't solve the website thing today, I've done everything that I can.
The angered face of a black haired girl flashed before my eyes and I suddenly remembered.
Otenuski! Her last name is Otenuski!
I frowned. Now the problem was how to find her. My answers wouldn't come from any other source.
Maybe…
My eyes brightened.
"Lopmon, come on, we're going out!"
Lopmon hurried into the room.
"Where are we going Suzie?"
I smiled grimly.
"Back to school. There's something I want to check out."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"WILD NAIL RUSH!"
I smirked as Lynxmon's attack hit head on. It wasn't enough to finish Mako's Boogeymon, but it was enough to seriously damage him.
Uggh. This is getting embarrassing. Not to mention boring. I should finish this fast.
I looked down, and pulled a card. It was a shame to use such a thing against someone like Mako, but style was a secondary consideration to results. I smirked again when I found the right card.
Perfect…
DIGI-MODIFY! Gargoylemon's Statue Bomber Activate!
I looked over to see Mako grin back, a wild gleam in his eyes as he finished his card slash.
What the?! I missed it! What card did he swipe?
"STATUE BOMBER!"
The statue came crashing down on top of Boogeymon, but he raised his left hand straight above his head…
"ENERGY CANNON!"
Boogeymon's arm changed, and blasted the statue out of the air, sending the shrapnel flying. Mako flashed the card at me.
Gorillamon…
I had to admit that that impressed me… just a little. But his next move surprised me a lot more.
DIGI-MODIFY! Seadramon's Ice Blast Activate!
This was a serious problem. That attack could do serious damage to Lynxmon.
"RUBY EYE!"
I blinked.
He didn't use it?
Then I saw it. Lynxmon froze, letting the attack hit right in front of him. I yelled.
"MOVE!"
But it was too little too late.
"ICE BLAST!"
Lynxmon couldn't move fast enough, and the attack smashed into him, knocking him back and forcing his flame down. He seemed to… fizzle… for a moment, then dedigivolved. My eyes widened.
"This… this can't be happening…"
Boogeymon landed then, breathing heavily and scorched around the edges, but certainly in much better shape than Gazimon. I growled.
"Fine. Finish it."
Boogeymon dedigivolved instead. He heaved Gazimon over his shoulder and dumped him at my feet.
"No."
I looked out at them, where Impmon was retreating back to Mako, who was digging through his deck, probably for a recharge card or something.
"Why?"
Impmon looked back.
"I don't delete digimon who aren't evil. You're obsessed with power, but you're not evil."
He smirked and continued back on his way as Mako slashed the card. He stopped, just before he reached Mako, and spoke without turning around.
"You guys remind me of me a few years ago. Don't make the same mistakes I did."
He and Mako left without another word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I looked up at a knock on my door. Mako stood there smiling.
"Hey, sis. Here's the deck back. You should have come with us today! It was great! We beat Jamie!"
I put the book down as I Mako put the battle deck on the table. I arched an eyebrow.
"Mr. Boo-Hoo-I'm-So-Pathetic actually beat him?"
Mako rolled his eyes.
"While I don't agree with everything you said, that's about the gist of it, yeah. You really should have been there. We probably would have beaten him faster."
I smiled a little.
"Thanks Mako, but I did have homework you know."
Mako's face whitened.
"I knew I was forgetting something."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Justen…"
I stopped for a moment, then resumed walking.
"What is it Kokuwamon?"
"My scanners have picked up a digimon. It's close."
I nodded.
"Lead the way."
Kokuwamon flew out from the shadows to my left, and then flew back into them, motioning for me to follow. He led me through the alley, and into a small park. Conveniently deserted.
Well, except for her.
Suzie Wong was walking across the park, wearing her Lopmon like a hat on her head. She stopped when she saw me, eyes widening at the sight of Kokuwamon. Lopmon jumped from her head as she started talking.
"Justen… just who I was looking for. I want to know what I did to you. Why do you hate me?"
I growled.
"First thing's first. How'd you find me?"
She blinked, then answered.
"I looked up your phone number in the school directory, then matched the number to an address in an online city directory. Now, what did I do? I've been wracking my brains all day, and I can't figure it out!"
Suzie was getting annoyed, and I was getting angrier by the second. I looked at the ground and whispered something. Suzie looked at me funny.
"What was that? I didn't hear it."
My head snapped up, and my eyes blazed. My voice was a roar now.
"YOU TOOK HER FROM US! YOU TOOK HER FROM US AND NOW YOU WILL PAY!"
I grabbed my D-Ark and deck, wrenching the right card from, barely looking to make sure it was the right one before slashing.
DIGI-MODIFY! Digivolution Activate!
Digivolution_
Kokuwamon Digivolve to… Tankmon!
"HYPER CANNON!"
Suzie and Lopmon just stood there like deer in the headlights as the attack moved in for them.
Why does that girl keep staring at me?!
This girl in the back of the class, Justen… something, I couldn't remember what, kept boring holes into the back of my head with her eyes.
And it was really irritating me that I didn't know what I'd done to deserve it. I mean, it's not like I had Impmon for a partner or anything, Lopmon was usually completely innocent. I was grateful when the bell rang, and I was able to get out of there. But the eyes followed me.
And it's really getting on my nerves…
I sighed and kept going, until I got outside, and I could still feel her eyes on me. I turned.
"Excuse me?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Yeah?"
"Why do you keep staring at me?"
She laughed.
"Wouldn't you like to know…"
She passed me by then, slamming into me rudely as she did so. I stumbled back a bit, but kept my balance.
Some people…
Still… I really wonder why she was doing that. What did I ever do to her?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"BADA BOOM!"
The Stegomon gave a final roar before exploding into data for Impmon to load. Impmon just let it float off though, and grumbled a bit.
"Geeze. Isn't there any decent data around here?"
I grinned.
"Maybe the word's getting out."
He snorted.
"Yeah right, Mako. But seriously, only really stupid digimon have come through lately."
"That explains a lot."
We both spun around. My eyes narrowed.
Jamie…
"What do you want, Jamie?"
He frowned.
"I heard this ridiculous rumor that Impmon there was strong. Humph. What a joke."
My eyes blazed along with Impmon's.
"Of course Impmon is powerful. Why don't you try taking us on again, Jamie?"
His eyes narrowed.
"Fine. Gazimon?"
The rabbit digimon strolled out of the shadows.
"PITFALL!"
"BADA BOOM!"
Gazimon may have been aiming for Impmon, but Impmon aimed down at his feet, the small blasts causing a dust cloud, which he sprinted into. Gazimon looked confused, as his feet hit the pavement with a loud crunch.
"INFERNO FUNNEL!"
The high-powered attack took Gazimon by surprise, straight into his back, sending him to the ground. But he was back up in a flash, and ready to attack as the cloud faded… But Impmon was nowhere in sight. I grinned as Jamie swore.
"Is your Impmon done playing these childish games?"
I just kept smiling.
"BADA BOOM!"
Gazimon spun, taking the hit, and sending his attack back.
"ELECTRIC STUN BLAST!"
Impmon came out then, looking a little singed around the edges, but otherwise fine.
"BADA BOOM!"
Gazimon quickly leapt to the side, dodging the shots, then launched his own attack.
"PITFALL!"
Gazimon leapt high. But rather than use the same tactic twice, Impmon stood his ground, waiting for the right moment. The moment Gazimon was at the apex of his jump.
"INFERNO FUNNEL!"
Almost completely unprepared, the force of the blow threw Gazimon higher into the air, slamming him against the side of a building. He came down hard. Jamie looked pissed, then slashed a card.
DIGI-MODIFY! Digivolution Activate!
Digivolution_
Gazimon digivolve to… Lynxmon!
Impmon's eyes grew wide, and he uttered what I was thinking.
"Oh no…"
"WILD NAIL RUSH!"
The attack tore into Impmon leaving him battered on the ground. I drew my own digivolution card.
DIGI-MODIFY! Digivolution Activate!
Impmon digivolve to… Boogeymon!
I grinned at Jamie, who was a little shocked.
"All right, let's do this."
"THERMAL MANE!"
Boogeymon flew above the attack, and countered.
"RUBY EYE!"
The optic blasts shot out, but Lynxmon was too fast, and they harmlessly struck the pavement.
"WILD NAIL RUSH!"
Lynxmon's leaping assault, however, was just as effective, as Boogeymon was simply able to drift to the side. He waited for Lynxmon to be right below him.
"DEATH CRASH!"
Swooping down, Boogeymon drove his pitchfork into Lynxmon, adding to the force of the fall, before finally averting back to the sky just a fraction of a second before Lynxmon hit the ground hard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I frowned, and stared at the screen once more. I still didn't understand how there could be absolutely no signs that the site had ever been there. I sighed.
Henry would have figured out something by now.
I pushed myself away from my computer and headed out into the living room, and collapsed on the couch. Lopmon came over and sat in my lap without words. I smiled and gave her a brief hug. Then I heard a key scratching at the door. I panicked a little and sighed in relief when dad stuck his head in. He grinned.
"Hi! How's my little munchkin?"
I groaned and rolled my eyes.
"Fine, Dad. Just frustrated, that's all."
He came over and sat next to us, giving Lopmon a nod.
"That's good. School going okay?"
I nodded.
"If this other girl would stop starring at me and being generally creepy, it would have been just like any other day."
"Why does she keep staring at you?"
I shrugged.
"Not sure really."
Dad smiled.
"Well, you'll figure it our. You're a smart girl, just like your brother."
I let myself collapse back into the couch.
"Henry would have figured it out by now."
Dad frowned.
"Suzie… I know you think highly of your brother, and it's really great to see you two getting along without bickering, but even he would have trouble with some of this. He's not perfect."
Lopmon smiled.
"Your father's right, Suzie. You're holding yourself to too high a standard. I agree that Henry probably is better than you in some ways, but he's had a lot more experience too. You're not as good as he is yet, but you will be. You're doing your best, and that's all there is to it!"
I gave Lopmon another small hug.
"Thanks you guys. I'm feeling a bit better now."
Dad smiled, and draped his arm over my shoulders.
"Good. Now show your old man around, being sure to note how much food is in the refrigerator, so that your mother doesn't kill him."
I laughed and began to show dad around, just so he could make sure there was nothing wrong.
I'm actually kinda surprised that Mom isn't banging the door down.
Dad and I talked some more after a while, and he promised to look into the website as well, thinking that Mr. Yamaki would probably be interested if he had time. After a bit, he left, and I sat back down on the couch, wondering just what I should do.
Hmmm… Well, I can't solve the website thing today, I've done everything that I can.
The angered face of a black haired girl flashed before my eyes and I suddenly remembered.
Otenuski! Her last name is Otenuski!
I frowned. Now the problem was how to find her. My answers wouldn't come from any other source.
Maybe…
My eyes brightened.
"Lopmon, come on, we're going out!"
Lopmon hurried into the room.
"Where are we going Suzie?"
I smiled grimly.
"Back to school. There's something I want to check out."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"WILD NAIL RUSH!"
I smirked as Lynxmon's attack hit head on. It wasn't enough to finish Mako's Boogeymon, but it was enough to seriously damage him.
Uggh. This is getting embarrassing. Not to mention boring. I should finish this fast.
I looked down, and pulled a card. It was a shame to use such a thing against someone like Mako, but style was a secondary consideration to results. I smirked again when I found the right card.
Perfect…
DIGI-MODIFY! Gargoylemon's Statue Bomber Activate!
I looked over to see Mako grin back, a wild gleam in his eyes as he finished his card slash.
What the?! I missed it! What card did he swipe?
"STATUE BOMBER!"
The statue came crashing down on top of Boogeymon, but he raised his left hand straight above his head…
"ENERGY CANNON!"
Boogeymon's arm changed, and blasted the statue out of the air, sending the shrapnel flying. Mako flashed the card at me.
Gorillamon…
I had to admit that that impressed me… just a little. But his next move surprised me a lot more.
DIGI-MODIFY! Seadramon's Ice Blast Activate!
This was a serious problem. That attack could do serious damage to Lynxmon.
"RUBY EYE!"
I blinked.
He didn't use it?
Then I saw it. Lynxmon froze, letting the attack hit right in front of him. I yelled.
"MOVE!"
But it was too little too late.
"ICE BLAST!"
Lynxmon couldn't move fast enough, and the attack smashed into him, knocking him back and forcing his flame down. He seemed to… fizzle… for a moment, then dedigivolved. My eyes widened.
"This… this can't be happening…"
Boogeymon landed then, breathing heavily and scorched around the edges, but certainly in much better shape than Gazimon. I growled.
"Fine. Finish it."
Boogeymon dedigivolved instead. He heaved Gazimon over his shoulder and dumped him at my feet.
"No."
I looked out at them, where Impmon was retreating back to Mako, who was digging through his deck, probably for a recharge card or something.
"Why?"
Impmon looked back.
"I don't delete digimon who aren't evil. You're obsessed with power, but you're not evil."
He smirked and continued back on his way as Mako slashed the card. He stopped, just before he reached Mako, and spoke without turning around.
"You guys remind me of me a few years ago. Don't make the same mistakes I did."
He and Mako left without another word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I looked up at a knock on my door. Mako stood there smiling.
"Hey, sis. Here's the deck back. You should have come with us today! It was great! We beat Jamie!"
I put the book down as I Mako put the battle deck on the table. I arched an eyebrow.
"Mr. Boo-Hoo-I'm-So-Pathetic actually beat him?"
Mako rolled his eyes.
"While I don't agree with everything you said, that's about the gist of it, yeah. You really should have been there. We probably would have beaten him faster."
I smiled a little.
"Thanks Mako, but I did have homework you know."
Mako's face whitened.
"I knew I was forgetting something."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Justen…"
I stopped for a moment, then resumed walking.
"What is it Kokuwamon?"
"My scanners have picked up a digimon. It's close."
I nodded.
"Lead the way."
Kokuwamon flew out from the shadows to my left, and then flew back into them, motioning for me to follow. He led me through the alley, and into a small park. Conveniently deserted.
Well, except for her.
Suzie Wong was walking across the park, wearing her Lopmon like a hat on her head. She stopped when she saw me, eyes widening at the sight of Kokuwamon. Lopmon jumped from her head as she started talking.
"Justen… just who I was looking for. I want to know what I did to you. Why do you hate me?"
I growled.
"First thing's first. How'd you find me?"
She blinked, then answered.
"I looked up your phone number in the school directory, then matched the number to an address in an online city directory. Now, what did I do? I've been wracking my brains all day, and I can't figure it out!"
Suzie was getting annoyed, and I was getting angrier by the second. I looked at the ground and whispered something. Suzie looked at me funny.
"What was that? I didn't hear it."
My head snapped up, and my eyes blazed. My voice was a roar now.
"YOU TOOK HER FROM US! YOU TOOK HER FROM US AND NOW YOU WILL PAY!"
I grabbed my D-Ark and deck, wrenching the right card from, barely looking to make sure it was the right one before slashing.
DIGI-MODIFY! Digivolution Activate!
Digivolution_
Kokuwamon Digivolve to… Tankmon!
"HYPER CANNON!"
Suzie and Lopmon just stood there like deer in the headlights as the attack moved in for them.