Chapter 13: Curiouser and Curiouser
"Oh Duh!" I woke up and looked at the clock, 5:50, I forgot that I didn't have school today. There was a teacher's meeting at school that I totally forgot about. Oh well. I sat up to find Herpetomon lying on the floor looking up at the ceiling.
"Hey." I said
"Hello, feeling any better?" He asked smiling.
"Yeah, a little, I'm still mad, but as long Nick doesn't pull anything else it'll be fine." I said "Good thing too, I hate to be so angry, especially at him, but I can't help it, it just happens."
"Looks like we both have an anger issue then." Herpetomon said. His insight was showing again.
"Yeah, I guess. Sucks." I said.
"Yep it does." Herpetomon said "I don't know what to say"
"Let's just try and control it for now." I said.
"Sure, I guess." He responded "So what are we going to do today?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot, I don't have school today." I told him
"I know." He said with a sly look.
"How do you know?" I asked surprised.
"I saw it on your school's website." Herpetomon said smiling.
"Fine…weirdo. Well, I was thinking I could go over my friend Matt's house, and I might introduce him to you." I said.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? Just yesterday you were talking about stupid decisions."
"No, trust me, if I know Matt there won't be a problem. Plus it's not a stupid decision because I'm making it."
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Well I'm up for it."
"Ok, well, I'll call Matt later then." I said.
"Fine, Do it, you won't" He said.
"Yeah, yes, yes I will! I'll throttle ya'!" I said. I was glad he could lighten things up. That's another thing he and I have in common, we can both take the tension out of a situation pretty well.
The morning dragged on slowly. I was eager to introduce Matt to Herpetomon. I called him and said I had a surprise, he's going to be so jealous. Around 11:00 Herpetomon and I left for Matts house, he only lived a town away and it would be easier to just walk. He took to the roofs as usual. I turned one the D-Gadget and held it like a cellphone.
"Hey Herpetomon." I said
"Yes," I heard his voice over the D-Gadget.
"When I get to his house I'm going to bring Matt out into a circle of woods behind his house, then I want you to drop down from the trees when I snap my fingers, that will be so awesome...Ok?"
"Yeah, it's going to be grandiose even." He said. Still surprising me with his vocabulary.
It was a longer walk than I thought, but it was alright. It was getting increasingly colder out, I was wearing blue jeans, a black turtleneck, and a red beanie. It was bright outside, but not sunny. Soon enough we came to Matt's house. He lives in a small ranch with his Mom, Dad, and much younger sister…who has a crush on me. I told Herpetomon to stay up on the roof and wait for my signal. I knocked on the door, Matt answered.
Matt was a small boy, always was. He joined the Football team at the beginning of highschool and packed on some muscle. He has a small face with squinty blue eyes.
"Hey, B." Matt said, he and his family were probably the first to coin the nickname "B." I came in, took my shoes off, and followed Matt to the kitchen.
"So what's been going on? Haven't heard from you in a while." Matt said.
"Nothing much" I said trying not to smile "Just been…hanging out. Yeah, I brought a surprise."
"Oh yeah, you said that, what is it?" Matt asked.
"…It's a surprise. Come on, I'll show you out back." I said
"Why out back?" He asked.
"Pffft, just come on." I said, walking out. He stumbled after. We went and grabbed our shoes, and left out the back. Matt's Grandma was watching him and his sister and she wouldn't mind us leaving. We walked through the crisp wintry air outside. Trees were bare, the ground was frosted. It was a bit of a walk, I had to make sure we were into the clearing enough so that Herpetomon wouldn't be seen from the houses around it.
"Ok, so what is it?" Matt said as he took a step back.
"Hold on a sec." I said. I took out the D-Gadget, turned away from Matt and whispered "Hey, are you ready?"
"Yeah, this is going to be so cool. Just watch." Herpetomon said.
"B, what is that, what are you doing?" Matt asked, trying to see what I had.
"Nuthin'" I put the D-Gadget back in my pocket "Ok, Come here" I gestured for Matt to come stand next to me. "Ready?"
"Ready, for what?" He asked.
"Just watch." I raised my right hand high in the air so Herpetomon could see. Snap! It echoed slightly in the clearing. Herpetomon waited a moment, and then I saw him plung out from the trees in from of us. It was so perfect, he did a backflip in the air and landed in front of us, with his face in shadow. Then he stood up, and I moved next to him. Then I said
"Surprise!"
"Woah, what, what is this?" Matt said, stepping back. "Is this one of those,uh, Digimon?"
"Aww, how did you know?" I asked, somehow he'd heard of them. I didn't think he was a Digimon fan.
"I heard on the news, there was some damage in your town, tracks and stuff police say it was the work of monsters, Digimon." Matt said.
"Oh well, I thought it would be a surprise, aren't you surprised I have one? His name's Herpetomon I created him." When I said this Herpetomon smiled a sabertooth smile.
"Wait, what do you mean you have one? Aren't they dangerous?" Matt asked.
"Well, let me explain. Simply put, there are two dimensions, the one humans live in, and The Digital World, where Digimon come from. Some Digimon come to The Real World to find partners who can augment their powers, make them stronger. Herpetomon is my partner." I explained.
"Ok, so he's not evil?" Matt asked
"No…I'm not evil, so he's not evil." Herpetomon and I had to pause when I said this. Still unsure about ourselves.
"Well, that's cool. He's pretty awesome." Matt said.
"Thanks, I agree." Herpetomon responded.
"Oh yeah, they can talk too." I said laughing.
"When did you first find him?" Matt asked.
"A few weeks ago. I basically wished for him to appear and he did. Oh yeah, you know my friend Nick and my cousin Kayla, they each have one too. We go around stopping the bad ones who come into this world. In the Digital World there are these leaders called The Sovereign, and they are keeping an eye on us too."
"Wow, that's crazy. So does he have any weapons?" Matt asked. Matt was always a fan of weapons and firearms. In response I just held up Herpetomon's clawed hand. "Oh, that's sick! And I love that tattoo thing. Well, I saw that you can jump, what else can you do?"
"I can do lots of things." Herpetomon said simply.
"Well let's see it." Matt responded. I was happy Matt didn't freak out or anything. I knew I could trust him. But I was a little alarmed people were beginning to know Digimon were around.
For the rest of the afternoon Matt and I watched as Herpetomon did amazing things like jumping through the trees, and chopping small trees down with his bare claws. It was pretty fun, just Matt, Herpetomon, and I. It was good to get away from the fighting for a while.
It was getting to be late, about 4:30. And we were all cold so we headed home.
"That was so awesome!" Matt was saying after Herpetomon did a double back flip off a tree and stuck the landing. "I wish I had a Digimon! He'd be like, some kind of robot, or something with, like, a blade arm or something." Herpetomon came over and we began walking.
"It's been done, but sure, why not?" I said. Now I was happy, Matt was jealous. I didn't usually revel in that kind of pleasure, but for some reason, having a Digimon when he didn't made me smile.
When we were at the entrance to the clearing Herpetomon froze. Oh no I thought. I turned and sure enough Herpetomon's were turning green.
"Matt, come over here." I brought him behind Herpetomon. "A Digimon is about to come into this world, we may have to fight him."
"How do you know?" He asked.
"My D-Gadget is rumbling, and Herpetomon's eyes are turning green, but happen when a Digimon is coming." I explained.
"Well Wha---" Cut off, the digital field appeared. I told Matt to stay close and I took out the D-Gadget. Waiting, waiting, and then, the display.
"The Digimon is Black Guilmon. No problem, he's a rookie, you should be able to handle him easy. Go get him." I said. The Digimon came creeping out of the field, looking as ferocious as Herpetomon. It made me wonder if there were many Digimon that come under alert like that. BlackGuilmon needless to say looks like the regular Guilmon but he's black rather than red. They fought. They were struggling hand in hand. Herpetomon was victorious, he pushed BlackGuilmon into the ground. Then he called "Pyro Bomb!" He opened his mouth wide and blasted out a searing ball of purple flame which exploded on contact with Herpetomon.
"Holy Shit!" Matt cried.
"Don't worry, watch this." I said. Herpetomon recovered from the blast and knelt down. Then blasted into the air and cried "Lizard Claw" The miasma covered his hands and he slashed downward on his opponent. BlackGuilmon was badly injured. He stumbled for a while, and looked like he was trying to stop fighting. He tried to walk away, but he came back and tried to slash at Herpetomon again. Herpetomon dodged and let BlackGuilmon fall to the ground. I began to wonder why BlackGuilmon continued to fight, he was beaten, but he still tried. I came to the conclusion that it was his alert-mode. Like Herpetomon he can't resist a fight. Even though he wants to leave he can't. He's compelled to stay. The Alert mode causes them to think irrationally and ferociously. I don't understand it, why do they have it. Was it because they are viruses? Maybe this is just how viruses have it in the rookie form. It seems so unfair, I don't know about BlackGuilmon, but Herpetomon is a good Digimon, he doesn't deserve that. I don't understand it. I would tell Herpetomon to leave him alone, but I had a feeling neither of them would be able to leave each other alone. I'll have to ask Protagamon, if we ever hear from her again.
"Raaagh" The BlackGuilmon feebly tried again to attack, but Herpetomon punched him in the back of the head as he went by, defeating him. His data was released and then absorbed by Herpetomon.
"Wow, that was intense" Said Matt. Herpetomon came out of alert mode.
"Yep, but I got him." He said.
"Good work." I said still lost in thought over the bane that is alert mode. "I think we should go."
"I understand. I'll see ya'." Said Matt as Herpetomon and I ran off just in case anyone saw us. The trip home always seems shorter. Herpetomon jumped through my window and I walked casually through the front door.
"Hey, how was Matt's house?" Mom asked.
"Good." I said
"Fine, whatever, grouchy." She responded. I hate being called something so lame as grouchy, but it's been happening more and more lately. I retreated to my room before she could talk to me any more. Herpetomon was on my bed already.
"Get outta here!" I said, pushing him off. He got up and laid down on the floor, I turned on the TV and we proceeded to hang out for the rest of the afternoon. There were occasional interruptions from mom, telling me to do any number of things. Around 8 Herpetomon started to fall asleep so I interrupted him.
"Hey, Herptomon, do other Digimon have alert modes like you do?" I asked
"Yes, I fought one or two. I don't think they are as bad as me though. They can usually stop if they really need too." He said.
"But that's so wrong. I mean, I know Digimon lead a life of battle, but you shouldn't have to if you don't need too. I just keep thinking it's my fault you ended up this way. Like my anger, my fury, caused this in you." I said.
"Oh, no don't think of it that way. I've always been like this." He said
"I know, but you forget, I made you from the beginning, don't you think some of 'the creator's' traits might rub off on his creation?" I said.
"Well that's a good point." He said. "Well, it's not all bad, I mean, it does make me stronger."
"Yes, but at the expense of your sanctity of mind." I don't think I like it, it's too dangerous, and furious. It reminds me of myself sometimes. I've always been pretty mellow, but sometimes I just get completely furious, and it worries me, losing composure like that."
"I see." Herpetomon said pensive, he was in the thinking pose I usually go into when I'm fascinated with something. "Well, along with "Why I'm here." And "What The Sovereign wants" let's just add "What is the cause of alert mode" to our list of unanswered questions. Hey, maybe if Protagamon returns we can ask her!"
I didn't like having to put everything off, but the truth was there's really no way we could find the answers to those questions.
"Yeah, why not?" I responded. We went back to watching the Matrix and soon enough we were both falling asleep. So we went to sleep. Herpetomon snored.