What happened was all over the news, reports of another giant monster and the sounds of terrible screams that echoed for miles had the media buzzing. Luckily, they'd managed to clear the area fast enough to not be caught up in the choppers and news vans investigating the area. But everyone was scared, sure that another monster of some kind had appeared and somehow gone into hiding. The city officials even went as far as to warn citizens from going out alone or after dark just in case, and to report any suspicious sightings.
Kai and Cody took Madison to a nearby hospital, while Kotemon took Shamanmon back to Kai's family home to hide out. Tsukaimon stayed with Maddie, playing the role of a stuffed animal whenever anyone else was around. Thomas went back to trying to work on his plans for a counter measure with Kokuwamon.
While Samantha disappeared with Darcmon, not bothering to tell the others where they were going only that she'd be in touch.
In truth, they'd retreated to Samantha's rooftop home that overlooked the city. The dark skinned young woman seemed to be bothered by something, and her partner picked up on it easily enough. "You're being awfully quiet," Kudamon pointed out, having reverted to rookie form following the brutal battle. "Something on your mind?"
"It's these new allies we've made," She said simply, taking a seat at the table. "They've had their partners what, a week? And yet every single one has digivolved to Champion level... Something I didn't even think was possible in the real world." Her hand idly drifting to the center of her chest, "And... I haven't even-"
"To be fair," Kudamon said as she slid up onto the table. "They have been put under extreme circumstances."
"I suppose..." Sam admitted, before narrowing her eyes. "We just got our asses handed to us by a Digimon I thought wasn't even a threat." She scoffed, shaking her head. "Tsukaimon didn't just beat us, she crushed the entire team... Maybe we'd have won in the end but-"
"I understand," Kudamon already knew what she was getting at. "We need to become stronger, Devidramon was only champion level..."
"We've been at this for a long time, defeated a lot of wild digimon..." Sam set her Digivice on the table, "But why hasn't it happened yet? Why haven't you digivolved to Ultimate level?" Even without the Digivice, it should have happened by now.
"Perhaps it is different for us," She suggested, "The circumstances of our meeting are... Quite different than the others."
"That's putting it mildly," Sam rolled her eyes, "But if anything, you'd think being born in the Digital World would make our connection stronger, not to mention what Dad gave me."
"Yes... And on that note, why haven't you told the others about this yet?" Her partner questioned.
"Because I didn't think it was important," She said simply, "What does my place of birth change?"
"Well, the others might actually listen to you more if they knew you had more experience." She shrugged, curling up on the table.
"Listen to me huh?" Sam scoffed, shaking her head. "If they'd listened to me, Tsukaimon would be gone right now... I didn't have any faith in her, or Madison." She wrapped her fingers around her device, "We have allies now, but I'm still thinking about this like I'm the only one that knows what to do..."
"Give it time," Kudamon offered, "You've all only just started working together, after all."
Sam had her doubts, "Well we'd better get our act together fast, I doubt the bad guys are gonna wait for us to be a fully functioning team." Her eyes drifting to the TV showing the news, watching the weather forecast rolling by for the week. "Well, at least we've got some sunny days ahead of us, could certainly use some after that mess..."
. . .
At the hospital, Madison was admitted to an emergency room for the head wound she'd suffered, the doctors fearing their could be a skull fracture at worst, a bad concussion at best. For now, they were working on examining her while Cody and Kai waited in the lobby, luckily they'd convinced the doctors to take Tsukaimon, assuring them that Madison would want to see the 'stuffed animal' when she woke up.
The two boys stood around in silence, Cody leaning against the wall with his arms crossed while Kai sat quietly in one of the chairs. Waiting for some news, any news about their comrade.
But it was Kai who broke the silence between them, "Things got a little heated back there," Putting it mildly, bowing his head slightly. "I apologize for insulting you."
"You're apologizing to me?" Cody quirked an eyebrow, before looking away. "Eh, don't worry about it, besides I'm not the one you should be saying sorry too."
The prodigy sighed heavily, "I suppose you're right, you were right before as well, I'm a coward." He shook his head, "I didn't even consider how she might be feeling, I saw that Kotemon was in trouble and all I cared about was making sure he survived, not just cowardly but selfish too." His guilt over the incident, especially after seeing Kotemon hurt, was prominent. "I'm supposed to be better than this."
"Hell of a pity party you've got going on over there." Was Cody's response.
Causing Kai to blink, "I- What?" His attempts at a sincere moment apparently falling on deaf ears.
Cody sighed and shook his head, "Look, you feel bad right? Then make it up to her." He shrugged, "You seem like a smart guy and this isn't hard to figure out." Shaking his head, "Yes, you're a selfish, cowardly dumbass, but if all you're gonna do is sit here and feel sorry for yourself than that's all you'll ever be."
A little blunt, but there was... Some wisdom, in his words. "Right..." But there was something else Kai wanted to know, "How were you so sure she could do it?" He questioned curiously, "I mean... I had no reason to trust her because we'd only just met, but what gave you so much confidence in her abilities?"
"Abilities? That's a weird way to word it..." Cody rubbed the back of his neck with one hand as he thought, "Nothing really, I've only known her a few days... But I guess I could just... Feel it, you know? Gut instinct."
"Hmm, well you're gut is quite wise then." Kai noted.
"Yeah well..." He looked off towards the nearest window, enjoying the sunshine coming through. "Sometimes a person just needs someone... Anyone, to give them a chance right?"
Kai wanted to question if Cody was still talking about Madison, but before the words could leave his lips the doors to the lobby burst open. Two men, one maybe a few years older than them, the other much older, came rushing up to the front desk almost in a panic. The younger of the two bearing a striking resemblance to Madison, the teens able to extrapolate who they must be.
"My daughter was admitted a little while ago," Said the older man. "Madison Morales, something about a head injury?"
The lady behind the counter nodded, quickly flipping through the screen in front of her. "Yes, she suffered from both a severe concussion and exhaustion, the doctors are taking care of her right now and can tell you more when they've finished with her stitches."
"STITCHES!?" The younger man exclaimed, "What happened!?"
"Sir I'm going to have to ask you to keep your voice down," She replied firmly, "If you want to know what happened, I suggest you talk to the two young men that brought her in."
Both Cody and Kai stiffened, "Uh oh."
"They're right over there."
"She sold us out!" Cody squeaked, as both the eyes of Madison's brother and father landed on them.
The two advanced upon them looking for answers, the older man taking lead. "What did you do to my daughter?" He demanded.
"Whoa easy there old man," Cody held up his hands, "We didn't do anything, just brought her here after she took a nasty fall."
"Well, he's technically not lying." Kai reasoned, rising from his seat to stand with them. "I'm sorry, this must be difficult for you but the doctors assured us she will be okay."
"I don't want platitudes, I want answers," He grunted in response, crossing his arms over his chest. "How did this happen? And who are you? My daughter never mentioned going to see her friends... In fact, this morning she rushed out of the house without saying a word..." Keeping his focus on Cody, taking one glance at the way he looked and deciding he must be the one responsible. "If I find out you had something to do with her getting hurt I'll make sure you regret it, you got that punk?"
Kai facepalmed, "Oh no."
"PUNK!?" Cody exclaimed, eye twitching. "Keep making wild accusations old man and Maddie ain't gonna be the only one in your family with a severe concussion!" Waving his fist around like a maniac.
"Can you please-" Kai grabbed him by the arm, "Not escalate the situation!" Before looking to the two family members, "I'm sorry, he's just like this, I promise you we had nothing to do with what happened to her, we were just with her when she took the fall." Alright, maybe that was a little bit of a lie, but if it prevented a fight from breaking out in the hospital lobby...
Her brother Mark placed a hand on the father's shoulder. "Dad, lets wait for Madison to explain things and then we'll worry about starting fights, alright?"
He wanted to argue more, but the deadly look they were all getting from the nurse behind the counter told him not to push it. "Fine..."
. . .
Her ears were ringing, world spinning as she tried to regain her senses.
But the crash had left her dazed, and the creeping cold of the winter night was quickly taking hold.
The last thing she remembered with the lights of that oncoming vehicle, control lost to the icy streets, was her mother throwing her body over the young girl for protection.
"Maddie..."
She managed to turn on the ground just enough to see her.
"M-Mom?"
Body broken, blood pooling across the cold surface of the snow beside their toppled vehicle.
She wanted to move, run to her, but her body refused to obey her.
Paralyzed with fear and shock.
"It's okay... An ambulance will be here soon just... Just hold on."
"But... You-"
"I love you so much," She interrupted, as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Never... never forget that, okay?"
Why couldn't she move?
Why couldn't she run to her mother, tell her she loved her too?
Why did she spend those last precious moments, watching her beautiful smiling face fading away in silence?
. . .
When Madison opened her eyes, she felt a dull throbbing on the side of her head. She reached up, touching her cheek as she felt a little moisture, realizing a teardrop had escaped during her dreams. Or rather, during her reminiscence of the worst night of her life.
"Oh good, you're awake," Her eyes drawn to the doctor in a nearby seat at his desk. "Don't get up, it's best you reserve your strength for now." He stated.
But why? She wondered, "Right... I took a pretty nasty bump." She said after clearing her throat, before she noticed the IV attached to her arm, connecting her a bag of clear fluids. "What's this for?"
"Your body showed signs of severe exhaustion," He explained, standing up from his chair and approaching with a clipboard. "Did you notice any fatigue? Trouble moving around?"
Madison blinked in surprise, "No, not really," Shaking her head, "I felt fine until I fell down."
"Hmm, strange..." He muttered, making a few notes on his clipboard, "Well we've got you on a nutrient solution to help you recover, I'll have the nurses bring you something to eat." He assured with a smile, before looking to one of the nearby chairs. "Oh by the way, your friends said you'd want this when you woke up."
Madison turned her head, and immediately had to fight back a snort of laughter as she saw Tsukaimon sitting quietly in the chair. Trying desperately not to make a sound of move as the doctor grabbed her, and placed her in Madison's lap. "Y-Yes thank you," Fighting back a giggle. "Are my friends still here?"
"I believe they're waiting in the lobby," He nodded, "Along with your father and brother, I'll go let them know you're awake and explain everything."
"Right," She nodded, "Thank you..." As he exited the room, she sighed heavily and looked down her partner, "Okay he's gone."
"MADDIE!" Dropping the stuffed toy act, Tsukaimon practically jumped up into her arms, burying her face in Madison's chest. "I'm so sorry! I'm a terrible digimon, I'm a terrible partner!"
"Aaand she's crying." Madison laughed lightly, gently petting her. "Hey, don't worry about it, I blame Devimon for this, not you." She assured, "You were just as much of a victim as I was." Hugging her tightly, "I'm just glad you're okay too." Turning her eyes towards the window, she could see it was late afternoon, realizing she must have been out for a few hours. Before noticing that Tsukaimon was still whimpering, crying in her arms. "Hey now," Holding her up with a smile, "Come on, no more tears alright? I'm fine see? Just a little bump and some bruises."
"It's... It's not just Devimon's fault," She admitted, shaking her head. "This wasn't the first time I've... Turned into Devidramon."
Madison understood without her having to say it, "It's okay, I get it..." She'd heard what he said before she digivolved.
"Remember what you did to your precious Wizardmon!"
And what Tsukaimon had told her the other night...
"I had a friend, Wizardmon, who would sometimes sing to help me sleep when I was too scared."
"I told you... I come from a scary place, with bad digimon..." Tsukaimon continued, "I-I think... I'm one of them."
Madison put her down slowly, unsure what to really tell her to make her feel better. She couldn't lie and say she understood, she couldn't imagine how terrible it would feel to kill your own friend. But... She could sympathize, "A few years ago, my mom and I got into an accident, a driver lost control on the icy roads and sent us through the guard rail." She explained, "My mom... She threw herself over me as we fell, it might have saved my life but..." She slowly shook her head, "I watched her die in front of me, and-" Her words hitching in her throat, feeling those pent up emotions trying to force their way out. "I was too scared to tell her I loved her, to run to her and try to tell her it would be okay, so... She died alone, in the cold." Before releasing a sad, choked laugh past the lump in her throat. "So, I guess we're both pretty terrible." Before hugging the little Digimon once more.
Tsukaimon could feel her partners sorrow, and had a few tears welling up as well. But there was something she didn't quite understand, "Madison, what is a mom?"
Causing her to blink in surprise, before she released another short laugh. "A mom is someone who takes care of you, and teaches you things, and protects you," With every word it made more tears fall, but it also made it hurt a little less. "And... Lets you know that everything is going to be okay..."
"..." Tsukaimon was quiet for a moment, before looking at up Madison smiling. "It sounds like she was a good mom."
"Yeah... The best." Lifting her head slowly, as the door opened. Both her and Tsukaimon watching as her father, followed by her brother Mark stepped inside. Behind them were Kai and Cody as well. "Hey guys," She waved, before wiping her tears. While her partner panicked and immediately went stiff, pretending to be a stuffed animal again. Madison noticed and laughed lightly, "It's okay, I don't want to hide you anymore."
Her father stepped forward, "Maddie, I'm so glad you're okay but-" Watching as Tsukaimon dropped the act, using her wings to wipe away her own tears.
"What is that?" Mark finished the thought, pointing a finger at the strange little creature.
"This is Tsukaimon," She explained, holding her up. "She's a digimon, and she's my partner."
She waved with one tiny hand, "Hello!"
"It talks?" Her father blinked while her bother noticeably flinched back. "Maddie what is this? What is a digi-whatever? D-Did it have something to do with how you got hurt?"
Tsukaimon's ears drooped, but Madison spoke up before any accusations could continue. "No, my injuries are my own fault," She explained, "I was reckless..."
"Reckless?" Mark scoffed, in the rare position of being on their father's side. "The doctor showed us the X-Rays, its a miracle you didn't have a skull fracture, you could have died from that kind of brain trauma not to mention the exhaustion your body suffered."
"I don't like this," Her father shook his head, while Kai and Cody watched from the doorway. "You've been acting strange lately, and I'm sure that thing is to blame, I want it gone."
But for once, for the first time since her mother died.
Madison spoke back to him.
"That isn't your decision to make." But she never raised her voice, didn't let anger into her tone.
Her father looked taken back, "Excuse me?"
"You're right, I have been acting differently... I'm actually really happy again," She said simply, "Something I haven't been able to say in a long time." Before looking between her father, and her brother. "I'm in this hospital bed because Tsu was in trouble, I made a promise that I'd protect her."
Mark seemed to hesitate, "Maddie... Is this uh... Digimon, the same kind of creature as the one on the news a few days ago?"
"Sort of," She nodded, "But there are good digimon and bad digimon, Tsu came to this world to be my partner, so we could protect everyone from the bad Digimon." Well, in theory anyways. "It sounds scary but... My new friends and I have defeated a bunch of Digimon that nobody ever even got the chance to see!" Trying to build a strong case, leaving out certain facts of course. She didn't care that it was lying, she just didn't want her family to worry.
The older man remaining silent for a moment as well, struggling to find the right words. "Madison this... This isn't who you are," He didn't want to make her sad, but he was scared for her. Seeing his daughter like this, it made him think of her. "You're... You're not strong enough for something like this, fighting monsters? You're... You're quiet, gentle, you shouldn't be-"
"You're wrong!" Tsukaimon jumped from Madison's arms and into the air between them. Her ears flapping as she hovered in place, "Maddie is strong, and smart, and- and she's really brave!" She exclaimed, "And she likes drawing little pictures for me, and writing songs," Madison didn't stop her, simply watching Tsu go off. "And she has a pretty voice and..." Her frantic protesting getting her a little wound up, and the little Digimon had tears in her eyes again. "And please don't make me leave her!"
While the family was stunned, Kai decided to speak up. "She isn't wrong," He said simply, "I have only known her for a short time, but I think I can safely say she is the strongest one of our group." Maybe not a direct apology, and he still had some things he wanted to say to her, but it was a start.
Madison blinked in surprise, expecting something like that from Cody but not from Kai. "W-Wow... Thank you, both of you."
Looking around the room, her father could say for certain that he was outnumbered. Looking between Kai, Cody and then back to Tsukaimon. It made him realize, he couldn't think of a time when someone said such nice things about her. They were standing up for her, trying to support her. And the way she spoke, the look in her eyes, just overflowing with emotion even as she kept a calm voice and expression.
"You even sound like her," He thought, a mixture of sadness, pride and shame filling his chest. "Alright, I... I don't like it, but if this is what you want to do..." He held up his hands, "I'll support you."
Both Madison, and her fellow digimon owning comrades breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, dad... I promise I won't make the hospital bed a regular thing." She assured, laughing lightly.
"Alright," Cody spoke up suddenly, "Great to see you're alright Maddie, but uh..." Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "I think we're gonna head out before any of the touchy feely stuff starts."
Kai nodded, "We should probably go get our partners before they find trouble."
"Right," Madison waved them off, "We'll catch up later, thanks for staying." While Tsukaimon fluttered back around and landed on the bed.
As they left, Mark shifted nervously, getting the sense that maybe Dad wanted to have a moment with Madison. "I'll uh... Check if there's anything good in the vending machine down the hall." Quickly slipping out, the door closing behind him.
Once he was gone, Madison's father slowly made his way over to one of the seats beside the bed. Unsure really where to begin, still processing everything he'd just heard. But as he slid down into his chair, his daughter watching him intently, he decided...
"So... I had no idea you liked to sing."
He'd focus on the good, and let the bad rest for now.
. . .
"And Tsukaimon is still alive?"
"That's right, with Madison at the hospital."
"And you're sure what happened this morning won't happen again?"
"No, I'm not." Thomas scoffed, staring at the screen. "We really can't be sure of anything at this point."
And staring back at him was Grayson himself, "Then you need to contain that Digimon or get rid of it, if your report is accurate-"
"It is."
"Then your entire team was almost crushed by one Digimon!" Evidently the CSGO was not too happy with this morning's events. "It represents a monumental security risk!"
Thomas could certainly understand why, "Or a powerful asset," He countered casually, "I believe in Madison and her partner... Once she can control that power they'll be an invaluable member of the team."
"Hmph, I'd say if they can control it." He scoffed in response, "We've already got enough problems."
Causing Thomas to quirk an eyebrow, "Then, this call was about more than just Tsukaimon?"
"Indeed," He nodded, "We've detected a massive buildup of energy at the edge of cyber space, we believe its what we've feared."
"They're getting ready to open the gateway that won't close," Thomas surmised, "We need more time, the countermeasure is almost ready." He assured.
"Then I hope you work well under pressure," Arthur replied, "We've got a location, the same bay where Ebidramon emerged, we've already started putting out bulletins for evacuation, best we can tell this energy surge will reach critical mass by 6:00PM tomorrow." Putting his hands behind his back, "I've convinced the top brass to lend us a support fleet, but it's going to be up to your team to do most of the heavy lifting."
"What?" Thomas shook his head, "Why? Don't they understand the threat we're facing?"
"Look kid," Arthur sighed heavily, "I'd be lying if I said the eyes up top aren't watching this event very carefully."
"What do you mean?" Thomas asked, shifting in his chair.
"They want to know just how dangerous Digimon are," He said plainly, "And if we can really rely on a bunch of kids to fight them for us."
"..." So they were being field tested as a deterrent now? Even after everything that's happened? "I understand."
"Warn your people, and get ready for a fight."
Before he ended the call, leaving Thomas in silence with his partner who'd been listening quietly from nearby. "So," Kokuwamon said finally, "What do you think?"
Thomas remained quiet for a moment, "I've got to make some calls, let the others know what's going on..." Opening up another window on his laptop, watching the numbers roll by. "Gonna be an all-nighter to get this countermeasure ready in time."