Chapter 5 - Search Parties
I looked around at the others, even Jamie was coming forward from where he and Lynxmon were.
"Okay, I'll ask again. What just happened? He had us. I'm willing to admit that we were loosing. So why did he run off?"
"Umm…"
I looked over at Ai. Maybe she had some explanation for this.
"Well, can we just… forget about this for now? I mean, he's gone now, right? Let's worry about it another time."
I sighed. Then I glanced around.
"Anyone else have any idea what just happened?"
The others shook their heads, even Mica's sister, who looked to be in the middle of a crying fit. Since I wasn't getting anything out of them, I just nodded to Ai, and let the matter drop. Mica looked up at me.
"Umm… Mako?"
"Yeah?"
"Umm, can you help me look for my sister?"
I frowned.
"Isn't that her?"
Mica shook his head.
"No, I mean my other sister. I came looking for Justen because Delia's gone, and, well… I don't think Justen is…"
Suzie had a weird look on her face as he groped for words, probably trying for something inoffensive, but Justen cut him off.
"No. I-I'm okay."
She looked up, and looked at Ai, Suzie, and me with apprehension before speaking again, a little more confidently this time.
"Mica, I'm going to help look for her. The rest of you… this isn't your problem. We can handle this."
I shook my head.
"No way. I'm not sure what your deal with Suzie is, but you need more than just the two of you out looking, especially with you in your condition, and Mushroomon barely able to walk. You'd be practically defenseless. Let's not forget that DeaxDoruGoramon isn't the only wild one out there."
Justen looked like she was going to refuse, then slumped her shoulders.
"Fine. Do what you want."
Ai took charge then.
"Okay. Do you have any pictures of her or anything? Any distinguishing marks?"
Justen shook her head.
"No… but she's got black hair and green eyes, like Mica."
Ai bit her lip.
"Well, that could describe a lot of people. The fastest way is usually splitting up, but since we can only go by recognition, that pretty much defeats that."
Mica shook his head.
"No. You have Justen and me. We can spit up. You guys can help."
Justen looked a little panicked.
"No! Mica, you can't-"
"I can't what? Justen… Delia's gone. And she needs us. We need all the help we can get. And two groups are better than one."
Now I remember where I'd heard that name before. Delia Otenuski, huh? Well, that explains a few things. I bet that's what Suzie was thinking earlier.
Justen propped herself up a little more, and nodded.
"Yeah. Listen. We'll meet back at the apartment in an hour, okay?"
Mica nodded.
Ai smiled.
"Well, why don't you go with Su-"
Suzie butted in.
"No. I'd like to go with Justen. We have some things to talk about."
Ai and I both looked at her a little strangely, but let it go.
"Okay, then Mako and I will go with Mica. Jamie-"
"Leave me out of this. I'm going home."
We all just looked at him. He glared back.
"You guys may be all buddy-buddy now, but that doesn't mean that I have to be. See ya."
And then he walked off.
"Okay, forget that jerk. Suzie, will you and Justen be okay by yourselves?
She nodded.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure."
I grinned.
"Okay, let's go."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I walked with Justen down the sidewalk of a surprisingly busy street for the waning daylight, Lopmon back on my head, and Kokuwamon back in the shadows.
"When you first… attacked… me today, you were yelling something about a 'her'. Was that Delia?"
She nodded slowly, and for a time there was silence as we walked.
"Yes… I just… do you remember what happened about year ago?"
I nodded slowly.
"Well, yes and no. I wasn't really involved… I just heard about it from Henry. He wouldn't let me fight. But I remember him talking about a Delia with an Armageddemon."
She nodded.
"That was our sister… and… she was taken from us!"
"What do you mean?"
She swallowed, trying to keep herself under control.
"After that last battle… Delia wasn't the same anymore. Mom's dead… Dad works on some deep sea research lab in the middle of no where… She was all we had to take care of us… and…"
She stopped talking then, and we walked in silence for a bit, eyes constantly peeled for any signs of Delia. After a while she started up again.
"Delia was always the strong one. She took care of us. It's not that I don't care about Mica, I do, but we haven't been exactly… close… before this. I did my thing, he did his, and Delia made sure that we were all okay. It was good, but then… She wasn't the same. She barely comes out of her room to eat anymore. She doesn't talk to us. I have to do everything now. And I can't… I need her. I can't do this much longer."
We passed an alley, and a voice spoke out of it suddenly.
"Consorting with the enemy are we, my dear?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ai, Mica and I walked in silence for a bit, down by the river, where some of the docks were. It's hard to know what to say to a kid when you're helping him look for a missing sister. I glanced over at Ai, who was fiddling with her pigtails.
Not sure what I'd do if Ai went missing. Drive everyone nuts looking for her probably.
Ai spoke up.
"Do you know why Justen was fighting Suzie, Mica?"
He nodded.
"Since the fight last year, Delia's been different. She doesn't eat much, and she doesn't talk to us. She just sleeps and stares at her digivice. Justen says it's your guy's friend's fault."
I frowned.
"Then why take it out on us?"
He shrugged.
"I'm not sure… but I know that Delia was hurt fighting the guy with the dragon digimon, but I'm not sure why she wants to hurt you. I just know she does."
I sighed.
This isn't going to be easy…
"Mica, do you know why Delia was fighting?"
He frowned.
"No… I…"
He looked like he was going to cry again. We stopped by some guys unloading a boat and Ai knelt down next to him.
"Hey, what's the matter?"
He looked up at her.
"Delia was doing something wrong, wasn't she?"
I closed my eyes.
Great, what do I say to that?
"It wasn't her fault kid. No totally, anyways."
We looked up. One of the dock workers had stopped working for a moment. He had curly dark brown hair, and was big. Like you'd expect from a weight lifter. Mica looked up at him, then his eyes widened. The guy spoke again.
"Been a while, hasn't it Mica?"
Mica nodded a little.
"Yeah…"
Ai and I looked up at him, obviously expecting an explanation. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.
"If you know about Delia, then you obviously know about me."
Ai's eyes widened.
"You're Dirk!"
He nodded, but readjusted his attention to Mica.
"Mica, we did some bad things out there. We started it. Because we were stupid enough to believe the empty promises of a madman."
Mica was confused.
"So, why wasn't it all her fault?"
He grumbled, probably suppressing some bad words.
"You ever watch the series?"
Mica nodded.
"Yeah… why?"
"Well, the three of us, Alicia, your sister, and I, were implanted with Dark Spores."
Mica's eyes grew wide like saucers.
"Really? But… why…?"
He shrugged.
"Like I said, we were stupid. Listen. That Takato, he did us a favor. We don't have them in anymore, and that's a good thing, no matter what happened."
"HEY! BACK TO WORK!"
He sighed.
"Looks like my break's over. Keep looking for her, you hear?"
Mica nodded, looking a little better.
"I will! Thanks!"
Dirk waved as he went back.
Heh. One of them's changed at least…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh no…
That was the first thing that crossed my mind at hearing Mr. Shadow's voice come out of the alleyway.
"I-I… well…"
He seemed a little impatient.
"I'm waiting. I didn't give you a digimon just to let you let the prey get away."
Give? Prey?
I closed my eyes, fists shaking as I let it sink in.
He… He… used me! He used me!
Through my anger-distorted haze, two things came to me. How friendly the girl next to me was, how unlikely it would be for someone like that to do something like that to anyone, even Delia, and the look on Mica's face when I was fighting them.
The look on his face when he was… scared of me…
"I'm still waiting…"
"No. No more hate. Mica's right. This isn't getting us anywhere. No more."
He sighed.
"Why is it so hard to find good help these days? Well, no matter. At least I have one loyal servant here. Kokuwamon, kill her."
Kokuwamon floated out on metal wings and stopped in front of me. A glance out of the corner of my eye told me Suzie was still in shock. Lopmon was worn out anyways.
No help from that corner.
Kokuwamon looked up at me with his shiny brown eyes… Then turned around.
"What's wrong?! I revitalized you. You should have no problems with the rabbit in her current condition. Kill them!"
"No. I won't."
There was a growl from Mr. Shadow.
"You what? How dare you! Who rescued you from that pitiful wretch of a prison?! You are my servant! Then, now, and forever!"
The metallic beetle narrowed his eyes and crouched down, charging his pincers with electricity.
"No. Not anymore."
Mr. Shadow growled.
"Fine. Have it your way. I came prepared for this. Wisemon? Annihilate them."
A black-cloaked figure emerged from the shadows.
"As you wish…"
I reached for my deck, and Suzie, coming out of her shock, reached for hers as well.
"EVIL NIRVANA!"
The attack flew out, trapping Lopmon and Suzie in a haze, freezing them in place, horrified expressions on their faces. I managed to slash my card.
DIGI-MODIFY! Digivolution Activate!
Digivolution_
Kokuwamon Digivolve to… Tankmon!
Wisemon snorted.
"Fool. PANDORA DIALOG!"
A red orb of evil energy flew out from his hand, slamming into Tankmon, who slumped slightly.
This is not good…
"HYPER CANNON!"
Wisemon dodged, then closed in, coming too close for Tankmon to attack effectively.
"EVIL NIRVANA!"
The haze closed in over Tankmon, and he shuddered for a moment, then righted himself, slamming one of his arms into Wisemon, sending him flying.
"Why? Why didn't it work?!"
Tankmon grinned.
"Mental attacks don't work very well on machines. MACHINE GUN ARMS!"
Wisemon got hit a few times, but was otherwise too fast.
"PANDORA DIALOG!"
With the confined space and his slow speed, Tankmon wasn't able to dodge.
Come on… there has to be something I can do to help… Anything… He needs me!
A glow interrupted my search. A smirk grew over my face as I recognized it.
DIGI-MODIFY! Matrix Digivolution Activate!
Matrix
Digivolution_
Tankmon Matrix Digivolve to… MetalTyrannomon!
The metal dinosaur grinned down at the smaller ultimate.
"FIRE BLAST II!"
With alley's confined space, there wasn't anywhere Wisemon could dodge, and he was hit on.
"Yes!"
The attack faded from Suzie and Lopmon then, bringing them out of it, and back to the real world.
"Is it over?"
I nodded, pointing into the smoke pouring from the alley. Lopmon shook her head.
"No… he's still there…"
What?!
I looked back in. As the smoke cleared, there was Wisemon. Burnt to a crisp and in quite a lot of pain, but still able to stagger around. I frowned, then grinned as I got an idea..
"Ever see Jurassic Park, MetalTyrannomon?"
He grinned too.
"Right."
And with that, MetalTyrannomon leaned over and bit into Wisemon at the waist, bringing him, and shaking him around, until he finally shattered into data for him to load.
"Eww…"
Suzie didn't look too good, but I kept the wicked grin anyways.
I looked around at the others, even Jamie was coming forward from where he and Lynxmon were.
"Okay, I'll ask again. What just happened? He had us. I'm willing to admit that we were loosing. So why did he run off?"
"Umm…"
I looked over at Ai. Maybe she had some explanation for this.
"Well, can we just… forget about this for now? I mean, he's gone now, right? Let's worry about it another time."
I sighed. Then I glanced around.
"Anyone else have any idea what just happened?"
The others shook their heads, even Mica's sister, who looked to be in the middle of a crying fit. Since I wasn't getting anything out of them, I just nodded to Ai, and let the matter drop. Mica looked up at me.
"Umm… Mako?"
"Yeah?"
"Umm, can you help me look for my sister?"
I frowned.
"Isn't that her?"
Mica shook his head.
"No, I mean my other sister. I came looking for Justen because Delia's gone, and, well… I don't think Justen is…"
Suzie had a weird look on her face as he groped for words, probably trying for something inoffensive, but Justen cut him off.
"No. I-I'm okay."
She looked up, and looked at Ai, Suzie, and me with apprehension before speaking again, a little more confidently this time.
"Mica, I'm going to help look for her. The rest of you… this isn't your problem. We can handle this."
I shook my head.
"No way. I'm not sure what your deal with Suzie is, but you need more than just the two of you out looking, especially with you in your condition, and Mushroomon barely able to walk. You'd be practically defenseless. Let's not forget that DeaxDoruGoramon isn't the only wild one out there."
Justen looked like she was going to refuse, then slumped her shoulders.
"Fine. Do what you want."
Ai took charge then.
"Okay. Do you have any pictures of her or anything? Any distinguishing marks?"
Justen shook her head.
"No… but she's got black hair and green eyes, like Mica."
Ai bit her lip.
"Well, that could describe a lot of people. The fastest way is usually splitting up, but since we can only go by recognition, that pretty much defeats that."
Mica shook his head.
"No. You have Justen and me. We can spit up. You guys can help."
Justen looked a little panicked.
"No! Mica, you can't-"
"I can't what? Justen… Delia's gone. And she needs us. We need all the help we can get. And two groups are better than one."
Now I remember where I'd heard that name before. Delia Otenuski, huh? Well, that explains a few things. I bet that's what Suzie was thinking earlier.
Justen propped herself up a little more, and nodded.
"Yeah. Listen. We'll meet back at the apartment in an hour, okay?"
Mica nodded.
Ai smiled.
"Well, why don't you go with Su-"
Suzie butted in.
"No. I'd like to go with Justen. We have some things to talk about."
Ai and I both looked at her a little strangely, but let it go.
"Okay, then Mako and I will go with Mica. Jamie-"
"Leave me out of this. I'm going home."
We all just looked at him. He glared back.
"You guys may be all buddy-buddy now, but that doesn't mean that I have to be. See ya."
And then he walked off.
"Okay, forget that jerk. Suzie, will you and Justen be okay by yourselves?
She nodded.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure."
I grinned.
"Okay, let's go."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I walked with Justen down the sidewalk of a surprisingly busy street for the waning daylight, Lopmon back on my head, and Kokuwamon back in the shadows.
"When you first… attacked… me today, you were yelling something about a 'her'. Was that Delia?"
She nodded slowly, and for a time there was silence as we walked.
"Yes… I just… do you remember what happened about year ago?"
I nodded slowly.
"Well, yes and no. I wasn't really involved… I just heard about it from Henry. He wouldn't let me fight. But I remember him talking about a Delia with an Armageddemon."
She nodded.
"That was our sister… and… she was taken from us!"
"What do you mean?"
She swallowed, trying to keep herself under control.
"After that last battle… Delia wasn't the same anymore. Mom's dead… Dad works on some deep sea research lab in the middle of no where… She was all we had to take care of us… and…"
She stopped talking then, and we walked in silence for a bit, eyes constantly peeled for any signs of Delia. After a while she started up again.
"Delia was always the strong one. She took care of us. It's not that I don't care about Mica, I do, but we haven't been exactly… close… before this. I did my thing, he did his, and Delia made sure that we were all okay. It was good, but then… She wasn't the same. She barely comes out of her room to eat anymore. She doesn't talk to us. I have to do everything now. And I can't… I need her. I can't do this much longer."
We passed an alley, and a voice spoke out of it suddenly.
"Consorting with the enemy are we, my dear?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ai, Mica and I walked in silence for a bit, down by the river, where some of the docks were. It's hard to know what to say to a kid when you're helping him look for a missing sister. I glanced over at Ai, who was fiddling with her pigtails.
Not sure what I'd do if Ai went missing. Drive everyone nuts looking for her probably.
Ai spoke up.
"Do you know why Justen was fighting Suzie, Mica?"
He nodded.
"Since the fight last year, Delia's been different. She doesn't eat much, and she doesn't talk to us. She just sleeps and stares at her digivice. Justen says it's your guy's friend's fault."
I frowned.
"Then why take it out on us?"
He shrugged.
"I'm not sure… but I know that Delia was hurt fighting the guy with the dragon digimon, but I'm not sure why she wants to hurt you. I just know she does."
I sighed.
This isn't going to be easy…
"Mica, do you know why Delia was fighting?"
He frowned.
"No… I…"
He looked like he was going to cry again. We stopped by some guys unloading a boat and Ai knelt down next to him.
"Hey, what's the matter?"
He looked up at her.
"Delia was doing something wrong, wasn't she?"
I closed my eyes.
Great, what do I say to that?
"It wasn't her fault kid. No totally, anyways."
We looked up. One of the dock workers had stopped working for a moment. He had curly dark brown hair, and was big. Like you'd expect from a weight lifter. Mica looked up at him, then his eyes widened. The guy spoke again.
"Been a while, hasn't it Mica?"
Mica nodded a little.
"Yeah…"
Ai and I looked up at him, obviously expecting an explanation. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.
"If you know about Delia, then you obviously know about me."
Ai's eyes widened.
"You're Dirk!"
He nodded, but readjusted his attention to Mica.
"Mica, we did some bad things out there. We started it. Because we were stupid enough to believe the empty promises of a madman."
Mica was confused.
"So, why wasn't it all her fault?"
He grumbled, probably suppressing some bad words.
"You ever watch the series?"
Mica nodded.
"Yeah… why?"
"Well, the three of us, Alicia, your sister, and I, were implanted with Dark Spores."
Mica's eyes grew wide like saucers.
"Really? But… why…?"
He shrugged.
"Like I said, we were stupid. Listen. That Takato, he did us a favor. We don't have them in anymore, and that's a good thing, no matter what happened."
"HEY! BACK TO WORK!"
He sighed.
"Looks like my break's over. Keep looking for her, you hear?"
Mica nodded, looking a little better.
"I will! Thanks!"
Dirk waved as he went back.
Heh. One of them's changed at least…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh no…
That was the first thing that crossed my mind at hearing Mr. Shadow's voice come out of the alleyway.
"I-I… well…"
He seemed a little impatient.
"I'm waiting. I didn't give you a digimon just to let you let the prey get away."
Give? Prey?
I closed my eyes, fists shaking as I let it sink in.
He… He… used me! He used me!
Through my anger-distorted haze, two things came to me. How friendly the girl next to me was, how unlikely it would be for someone like that to do something like that to anyone, even Delia, and the look on Mica's face when I was fighting them.
The look on his face when he was… scared of me…
"I'm still waiting…"
"No. No more hate. Mica's right. This isn't getting us anywhere. No more."
He sighed.
"Why is it so hard to find good help these days? Well, no matter. At least I have one loyal servant here. Kokuwamon, kill her."
Kokuwamon floated out on metal wings and stopped in front of me. A glance out of the corner of my eye told me Suzie was still in shock. Lopmon was worn out anyways.
No help from that corner.
Kokuwamon looked up at me with his shiny brown eyes… Then turned around.
"What's wrong?! I revitalized you. You should have no problems with the rabbit in her current condition. Kill them!"
"No. I won't."
There was a growl from Mr. Shadow.
"You what? How dare you! Who rescued you from that pitiful wretch of a prison?! You are my servant! Then, now, and forever!"
The metallic beetle narrowed his eyes and crouched down, charging his pincers with electricity.
"No. Not anymore."
Mr. Shadow growled.
"Fine. Have it your way. I came prepared for this. Wisemon? Annihilate them."
A black-cloaked figure emerged from the shadows.
"As you wish…"
I reached for my deck, and Suzie, coming out of her shock, reached for hers as well.
"EVIL NIRVANA!"
The attack flew out, trapping Lopmon and Suzie in a haze, freezing them in place, horrified expressions on their faces. I managed to slash my card.
DIGI-MODIFY! Digivolution Activate!
Digivolution_
Kokuwamon Digivolve to… Tankmon!
Wisemon snorted.
"Fool. PANDORA DIALOG!"
A red orb of evil energy flew out from his hand, slamming into Tankmon, who slumped slightly.
This is not good…
"HYPER CANNON!"
Wisemon dodged, then closed in, coming too close for Tankmon to attack effectively.
"EVIL NIRVANA!"
The haze closed in over Tankmon, and he shuddered for a moment, then righted himself, slamming one of his arms into Wisemon, sending him flying.
"Why? Why didn't it work?!"
Tankmon grinned.
"Mental attacks don't work very well on machines. MACHINE GUN ARMS!"
Wisemon got hit a few times, but was otherwise too fast.
"PANDORA DIALOG!"
With the confined space and his slow speed, Tankmon wasn't able to dodge.
Come on… there has to be something I can do to help… Anything… He needs me!
A glow interrupted my search. A smirk grew over my face as I recognized it.
DIGI-MODIFY! Matrix Digivolution Activate!
Matrix
Digivolution_
Tankmon Matrix Digivolve to… MetalTyrannomon!
The metal dinosaur grinned down at the smaller ultimate.
"FIRE BLAST II!"
With alley's confined space, there wasn't anywhere Wisemon could dodge, and he was hit on.
"Yes!"
The attack faded from Suzie and Lopmon then, bringing them out of it, and back to the real world.
"Is it over?"
I nodded, pointing into the smoke pouring from the alley. Lopmon shook her head.
"No… he's still there…"
What?!
I looked back in. As the smoke cleared, there was Wisemon. Burnt to a crisp and in quite a lot of pain, but still able to stagger around. I frowned, then grinned as I got an idea..
"Ever see Jurassic Park, MetalTyrannomon?"
He grinned too.
"Right."
And with that, MetalTyrannomon leaned over and bit into Wisemon at the waist, bringing him, and shaking him around, until he finally shattered into data for him to load.
"Eww…"
Suzie didn't look too good, but I kept the wicked grin anyways.