Chapter 2 : Parkside Problem

"I was… wondering if you'd like to go to the park with me?"

Sabrina closes her eyes and winces- silently accepting the possibility of rejection. Mary was silent- silent for a bit too long. She hears her open her mouth, waiting for a firm "no"-

"Sure."

Sabrina unclenches her wince- almost in disbelief. "Oh. R-really?"

Mary nods- "Mmhm." Her gaze trails, as Sabrina grabs onto her hand excitedly,

"C-cool! The park, it's, uh, right down the street." Sabrina hums, leading Mary excitedly along. Though her expression is as tired as ever, there's the slightest hint of a smile upon the girl's face.

The walk is short- across the road and a turn, and they reach the entrance of Penguin Park. The statue the park was named after stood tall in the center, carved in granite. More recently, however, a blue-colored slide wrapped around the penguin's body.

Sabrina had a smile on her face as they entered. "I've never been here with a friend…" She begins to explain, nervous. "Usually, I like to sit under the slide. But- uh, we can go on it if you want!"

Mary yawns- and mutters "Sitting sounds good."

"Oh..! Cool!"

As the two young girls walk along the emptied path, Sabrina steps in something mushy. Her eyes darted to the floor- and her foot was planted firmly in a small pile of snow.

"... Huh..? It's too warm for snow…"

Mary notices as Sabrina stops- and turns around curiously. "You… Okay?" She asks- raising her hand and making an "O-K" gesture.

Sabrina nods- "Yeah, I'm okay! I'm fine, don't worry! It's, just…"

Another snowball lands in-between the two girls- seemingly from behind the statue- and larger. The statue seems to moan in pain- or whatever hid behind it.

A wormhole warped the ground, fizzing with binary and a blue glow. A creature with a body of snow seemed to be desperately crawling out of the hole- eyes glowing and pale.

Sabrina clenches her jaw- "Not again…" she mutters, as the frosty beast pulls itself from the portal. She pulls her digivice from her back pocket- and turns to Mary. "Ah!"

To her surprise, Mary had a similar device in her hand- a stark, icy white, accented by a dark blue. Her lazy expression shifted- to a hint of surprise. But, she presses a few buttons and summons her partner regardless.

In a series of voxels and binary, a creature appears in front of Mary, teleported from her home. It was taller than her, covered in slick, blue scales. Its draconic, spiky maw breathed icy air, as if it were winter. While its left arm was clawed, the right was a massive claw.

… It stands still, for a few seconds, staring straight ahead with a blank, red-eyed gaze. Then- "Why've ye called me here, girlie?"

Mary points behind her pirate-like partner- who's again still for a few seconds, before turning, and staring at the monster. "Another fight… Morozmon."

Sabrina follows suit- particles of white and gray summoning her partners. Though identical in their cat-like appearance- the first, pure white, the second, black as night.

"Sorry about the sudden summon, you two…" Sabrina mutters, as the twin Gatomon landed and adjusted to the new landscape. "But, there's another one of those portals, and-"

Another painful groan emerges from the Frigimon. As it howls, a series of snowballs shoot from its body- scattering in various directions.

"Lightning Paw!" As Sabrina winces, bracing for impact, BlackGatomon's claw cuts through the snowball approaching her.

Morozmon's pincer-like claw opens, catching the snowball approaching Mary. It shuts closed afterwards, and he growls. "Avast, this one be lookin' fer a duel…"

"Quite strange…" Mutters Gatomon. "Frigimon are typically pacifists, right, Emm? It wouldn't normally go on the attack..."

"Doesn't matter now." BlackGatomon scoffs, brandishing sharp claws. "Get ready to fight, Cass!"

The Frigimon growls, trying to speak- "Destroy… Need to… Destroy!" Its words were choked and garbled, and its body builds with frost. It stomps towards Mary, and again, a series of snowballs fire recklessly from its body.

As the twin Gatomon try and run around the snowballs- Morozmon takes one right in the face. Its mouth slowly turns to a grin, as it steps in front of its trainer. "Y' call this ice, landlubber?" It hisses, body cracking with lightning. "*This* is ice!"

Deep blue markings glow on Morozmon's skin, and it roars, summoning a series of stake-shaped icicles. They circled around its claw, and Morozmon raised the appendage like a gun, aiming it at Frigimon. "Frost Barrage!"

It fires the icicles, each one crackling with lightning. The hostile Frigimon roars as it strikes and embedded its form- and moves to the side to dodge. The excess fire strikes at the leaves and trees, before Morozmon's arm follows after Frigimon.

"Captain, watch your aim." Mary instructs.

Sabrina swallowed- Mary and Morozmon were much more in-sync, much more focused. At the very least, combat-wise. "Come on, you two! Let's… Work together!'

BlackGatomon's eyes roll- "You don't sound very confident. But fine." It looks to its twin, and they nod.

"Lightning Paw!" At the same time, as Frigimon panicked, the two cats slash at the monster's ankles. The Frigimon's blank-eyed gaze turns downwards- as the twins began to run again.

The Frigimon's attention turned to the two of them- after BlackGatomon in particular. Its body bulks up- and again, it fires a series of snowballs.

"Try and get me!" BlackGatomon calls- as the snowballs bounce and bound around the park. It turns- bringing a claw to pull down its eyelid and stick out its tounge. In that taunt, however, it slips on a pile of slush while running, short enough for Frigimon to catch up.

"Emm, watch out!" Sabrina yells- BlackGatomon shuffling back as Frigimon rears back a fist. The cat braces for a hard hit, wincing-

But the blow never comes. Rather, another, lion-like digimon jumps in front of her, fist burning with scorching flame. "Corona-Knuckle!" It yells, and its fist meets Frigimon's. The fire and ice collides, and Frigimon's hand recoils, beginning to melt.

A teenager emerges down the park path, towards Sabrina and Mary. A smirk was on her face- with bright orange hair, and sports-tape across her hands and arms. "Well, well. Seems I arrived just in time." Isabelle smirks. "How about it, Coronamon? Is it worth your time?"

The red-furred Digimon standing between BlackGatomon and Frigimon smirks. "Heh! It's weak now."

BlackGatomon turns, sheepish. "You- I had it, you know?" It hisses, attempting to sound intimidating as it rises to its feet. Coronamon merely laughs heartily at its attempts to save face.

Isabelle's cocky smirk widens, and she gives her partner a thumbs down. "Take it out!"

The digimon's body blazes fiercely, and Frigimon steps back, intimidated by the heat.

"Petit… Prominence!" Coronamon growls- and leaps forwards, body ablaze. It charges, fist-first, into Frigimon's stomach, and straight through it. Coronamon lands on the other side of the beast, while Frigimon fumbles- processing the new, gaping hole.

With one last pained moan, Frigimon melts- into a pile of water, voxels, and binary. Defeated.

Gatomon rushes to her twin's side- "Are you hurt?"

"Peh… Just a few scratches." BlackGatomon scoffs, standing upright. As it walked back to Sabrina, however, it wobbled- quickly being caught by its lighter twin.

Sabrina frowns at the sight of the two. "Sorry…" she mutters, and pulls out her Digivice. "The two of you should take a bit to heal, okay?"

They nod- and vanish into a burst of voxels. Sabrina's digivice screen lights up- and small, pixelated versions of her partners appear on the screen.

As she tended to her partners, she looks towards the wormhole. It seemed smaller than before- and it shrunk to nothing iinstantaneously. The hole in reality was gone, as was all evidence of the fight.

Mary hums- turning to Morozmon. The digimon grins- "Y'arrr, quite th' brawl."

Sabrina nods- "Y-yeah. Thank you for the help. Um… I'm Sabrina. And this is Mary."

That cocky, almost hungry grin never seems to leave her face. "Long as you kids are alright." She hums- though, she seemed the slightest bit dissapointed. "First one I've seen in days. I was itchin' for a good fight."

Mary raises a hand to her chin- and after a few seconds of silence, Morozmon's gravelly voice speaks up for her. "Avast, this don't be our first encounter with these portals… It makes ye wonder how they appear."

Mary nods along, in agreement, stifling another yawn.

"Yeah… Your guess is as good as mine." Sabrina sighs. "These fights are far from over."