Sorry this took so long! After my computer had it's problems it was a couple of months before I got a computer, and tbh by then I forgot about my fics I had been working on. But now I intend on working on this story again! I can't promise it will be as fast as it used to be, as I'll be working on homework, some of my other unfinished fanfictions, and personal projects, but I think getting back into writing will be good for me! So have this chapter 7, finally, after all this time.
Yamikibou-hope : sadly it will probably be some time before PAtamon comes into the story :T. Uhhhh I'm not really sure about Azulongmon, tbh I don't even remember what role he plays in Tamers? And I'm not sure yet if I'm incorporating aspects of the Tri canon into the characters.
Arthogawa : It's so interesting to see your theories! I just hope that the actual fic will live up to your expectations.
Oathkeeper16 : I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter! I really like a lot of the side characters so I was hoping to high light them in a few scenes.
Apollo Sensation : Hope this chapter is a least a little longer for your liking
Puberty7756 : thank you for your kind words :) Finally got this out!
OmnicromXR : sorry about the POV discrepencies, the original version of this was first person but I didn't like how that sounded, too confusing. Sometimes while rewriting it I slip up. I'm playing fast and loose with a lot of the rules rn, so like the digivices I'll kinda tweak them to fit the story, some of the story beats, characters personalities (like Ms. Asaji) and the rules of the digital world.
Guest and yuutojaden : ;)
Mr. Wong feverishly patted down his pockets, panic bubbling up in his throat and they continually came up empty. He sat down on a curb and opened up his briefcase, double checking even in there, and let out a loud, frustrated sigh when it proved to be in vain.
"I can't believe I left my phone at the house." He tossed a look at the bus longingly, torn between turning around or pushing on ahead to work anyway. He thought about his children, worry gnawing away at his stomach as he thought of them somewhere, alone and scared, trying to reach him, to call him, and only getting his answering machine… Mr. Wong turned around. His work would surely understand when he explained it to them, at least that's what he told himself to try and calm his anxieties of showing up late. Internally he was smacking himself, wondering where his mind had been recently. Usually he was Mr. Prepared, even when he was younger, or at least paranoid about being caught unprepared.
Picking up his pace he headed back in the direction of his apartment building, cutting through the park in order to save some time. No use being later than he already was. Usually he tried to avoid the park, as it was where his song often hung out, and he wanted to make sure he gave Henry enough space to grow, so instead he just prayed that he didn't run into his son and ruin any fun he was having with his friends.
"You and your pipsqueak have got nothing on me!" A voice cried out, grabbing Mr. Wong's attention. There, in the middle of one of the pathways, was a small purple monster with a red bandana tied around its neck, goading someone else on. Lifting his eyes Mr. Wong turned his attention to a Terriermon who was facing the creature, a very familiar looking Terriermon…
There, behind the Terriermon, was his son Henry, standing defensively and glaring at the creature. At the digimon. Mr. Wong watched as his son's eyes raised, as if in slow motion, to meet his own, widening in horror.
"We don't have to tolerate this!" Terriermon cried in a voice that Mr. Wong could distantly match up with from whispers he had heard in his home. "Yoo hoo, Earth to Henry?" Terriermon said, looking up at his partner with a sem i frustrated expression. "Geez, what're you looking a-" Terriermon stiffened as soon as he caught sight of Mr. Wong, face paling with realization. Mr. Wong found that he could only stand and stare at the sight in front of him. He had always tried to keep his hope at bay by telling himself that there was a good chance that Terriermon was truly a stuffed animal and not a living, breathing digimon. But here he was, in front of him, moving and talking and reminding him of…
"Hey, what're ya looking at? I'm talking over here!" The purple digimon yelled indignantly at the now frozen pair. "Geez, you have horrible manner, even with your master, you little lapdog. What a disgrace to digimon kind!" He harumphed, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently.
"Digimon." Mr. Wong repeated, letting the word hang in the air, in reality, where anyone could see it. As if speaking the idea back into existence, and he could practically feel his past being dredged up with it, all the bad… and all the good. The small purple Digimon turned to see Mr. Wong, raising an eyebrow.
"Huh? What're you looking at?" He raised his hand a bright red flame appeared, dancing in his palm. "Maybe you need a bad-a-boom!" He threw the flame at Mr. Wong who raised his briefcase up in defense, old muscle memory taking over as it rushed to the forefront of his mind. Finally he was grateful for keeping up with Cody's Tai Chi lessons from so long ago.
"Dad!" Henry yelled, eyes wide with horror. Mr. Wong looked back at Henry, opening his mouth to reassure him that he was okay. Obviously this digimon, from it's mannerisms to its appearance, was a Rookie, so he shouldn't be too in danger. Instead his eyes flickered to the boy standing behind Henry, his friend Takato, except now with all the recent developments, when he looked at the young boy he seemed to the shadow of someone he once knew there, their identity just out of reach...
"Maybe you need another one!" The digimon yelled, another flame coming to existence over his hand as he lobbed it at Mr. Wong. Distracted by the boy Mr. Wong began to raise his briefcase too late and instead felt a searing warmth spider across his shoulder. A small cry of pain escaped his lips and his hand instinctively reached up to hold it, as if it would keep the pain from being felt. He had felt worse, but not in a while.
"No, Dad!" Henry called, surging forward. "You need to get away from here!" Terriermon, the ever faithful companion, hopping protectively in front of Mr. Wong, ears raised slightly and body leaning forward as he glared the purple digimon down.
"Leave him alone!" Terriermon said as the purple digimon looked at him in shock.
"You're really defending this guy?" He questioned, gesturing to Mr Wong. "Whatever. I'm outta here." He jumped into the bushes, away from the scene. Mr. Wong was Terriermon begin to pursue him before glancing back at him and rushing to his aid instead.
"Mr. Wong, are you okay?" Takato asked, stepping towards him. Mr. Wong glanced over at his son, who was nervously shuffling his feet.
"I'm fine, but Henry… we need to talk." He couldn't help as his voice took on a serious tone, his son's eyes widening.
"No Dad. I'm sorry, but I can't do this right now!" He bent down and picked up Terriermon in his arms, eyes full of fear that made Mr. Wong's stomach twist with guilt. He should have taken a better approach. He watched as his son ran out the way that he had come, in the direction of the train station.
"Uh, nice seeing you Mr. Wong!" Takato shouted as he ran after Henry. A moment was taken to stand in dumb silence before he shook his head, determination taking over. He had to follow Henry and make sure whatever it was his son was doing, that he was okay. That was his job as a father.
oOo
"Hey, are you guys okay?" TK asked as he sized up both Takato and Henry. They were out of breath, and Henry had this shaken look in his eyes as he took his seat on the bus, constantly looking around as if expecting to see someone. Me and Rika had been waiting for them at the station when they had burst in, panicked and sweating.
"It's-"
"It's nothing." Henry cut off Takato firmly, giving him a look that went over TK's head. Aw well, he was sure if it really affected them that Henry would let them know. Ie it was personal, then it was personal. It wasn't like TK had exactly spilled his guts on everything that was going on with himself, it would be wrong of him to expect the others to do that.
"Whatever." Rika said, arms folded as she glared out the adjacent window. Out of all the tamers, TK knew Rika the least. She was incredibly cut off in a way that was unfamiliar to TK, whose companions during both adventures with the digital world had been at least open enough to talk and joke around. RIka was more of the no-nonsense type, and from what Takato had told him when he'd asked about her, it had pretty much been that way since they'd formed a team.
During the trip Terriermon was uncharacteristically quiet - they'd even gotten a relatively empty train car and were sitting in the back, a perfect position for him to go on ahead and be chatty if he wanted to. Instead he just sat in the safety of Henry's arms, nervously tugging at Henry's vest.
At last they made it to the shopping center, hopping out and finding a bench around the electronic department where they could sit down and scope out the area.
"Do you think he'd actually going to show up?" Takato asked excitedly, one of his legs bouncing up and down as he looked around, keeping an eye out for a blue and yellow jacket.
"Probably when pigs fly." Rika said sharply. TK looked around more before pulling out his digivice and pushing some of the buttons. It stayed silent for a while, screen black, before finally it lit up with the grid screen showing the himself and the red dots of Henry, Rika, and Takato. It was with mild disappointment that he didn't see any other dots glowing.
"Do you guys think… that there are more tamers than us?" TK asked carefully. After all, these three had lived in Shinjuku longer than himself, if anyone was going to have a good idea on whether or not there was word or indications of his friends somewhere here, it would be them.
"Sandiramon sure seemed to think it was only us." Henry commented, absentmindedly petting Terriermon, who leaned into his touch, eyes half closed.
"It there were any other tamers, I'd think they'd have shown up by now. Or they're just cowards." Rika commented, eyes trained on the people passing by, hopping from one person to the other, looking for the man in the jacket. TK looked around eagerly, anxious to find the mysterious man - if there was a person out there creating magic digimon cards, maybe they knew why he was here. A small part of him was extremely hopeful that it was Gennai. He'd appreciate a familiar face that always seemed to know what was going on.
TK got distracted watching one of the televisions, which was broadcasting some sports game. He watched as the image warped until it was reduced to static, along with all the other televisions. He frowned, eyebrows knitting together.
"What the- guys!" Henry said, standing up. All around them the electronics were going haywire, the sound of static sinking into their ears like some kind of poison. TK winced against the abrasive noise. Terriermon was standing up attentively, staring up at the sky with an uncharacteristically serious expression.
"Incoming." He said and backed away just as two figures burst form the descending cloud of fog, leaving craters in the street. Screams shouted and blended oddly with the static sound as people fled the streets. Rika just rolled her shoulders, and from the mist Renamon appeared, eyes narrowed. Digimon were bigger than TK remembered as the two figures go up, looking around with blood red eyes.
"Oh no, they don't look too fun!" Calumon appeared, hopping ontop of TK's head to get a better view. The two digimon were similar - looking like some kind of centaur… if the centaur was also part minotaur. One of them was a bull, the other a sheep, and each step they took seemed to shake the earth as they began to eat the electronics, slurping down wiring like Davis used to eat ramen noodles. Which is to say rapidly and with gusto.
Takato pulled out his digivice and directed it at the pair, the screen coming to life as it got it's reading.
"Looks like the bull one is Vajramon a… Ultimate level!" His voice squeaked a bit as he turned it to the other digimon, shaking. "Pajiramon - same type! I knew I should have brought Guilmon!" Takato worried, pocketing his digivice.
Pajiramon released a loud bleat that shook the earth and the cars. TK could feel the sound waves resonate painfully in his skull before he put down his hands, ears still ringing.
"These guys are nasty." Takato said, biting his lip as Terriermon continued to move forward bravely.
"I bet they're Deva's too." Henry said, watching as they continued to eat the electronics. "I wonder why they're eating though…" TK looked over, and for a moment Pajiramon's form seemed to fizzle to static.
"I don't think that they're stable yet!" TK said, and Rika and Henry shared a look.
"Then I guess we need to ruin their meal." Rika said confidently. "Let's go Renamon." Her digimon appeared behind her.
"Of course Rika." Renamon became a blur of motion as she rushed up at Vajramon.
"We got the meat head, you get bo beep." Rika said, and Henry nodded, Terriermon rushing forward and landing a hit on Pajiramon. Both of the Tamers withdrew their decks, thumbing through the cards. TK looked over, somewhat excited to see the new feature in action again.
"Digi-modify! Thor's Hammer, activate!" Henry shouted.
"Digi-modify! Crystal fire, activate!" Rike yelled. Both of their digivices glowed brightly, and in sync their partners emitted a glow.
"Yeah!" TK looked over at Terriermon, who was now holding a massive hammer, so disproportioned with his small body it actually looked downright cute. It was pretty incredible, and it made TK want to look through decks on his own to see what other possible effects the cards could cause.
"Taste this, glutton." Renamon said as she rushed upon Vajramon, a blue fire was glowing on her fists and feet, striking his across his face. Terriermon swung his hammer, slamming it down on the back of Pajiramon's head. TK found his face lit up in excitement, only to fall as he saw how both of the Deva's were largely unaffected by the attack, turning as if they had merely been hit by a summers breeze. He could see that Henry was also unnerved, and though Rika didn't really emote, her steely gaze intensified.
"We didn't even make a dent." Rika ground out. A sense of foreboding wormed it's way into TK's stomach, and out of the corner of the eye he saw Takato pull out his deck and begin to filter through it.
"HA!" Terriermon yelled out as he attempted again, slamming down the hammer. The sheep digimon just headbutted him, flinging the small digimon across the area. He landed with a dull thud on the ground.
"You are the pathetic little bug that must answer to the whim of humans?" Pajiramon questioned as she placed one of her hooves on Terriermon's small body, lowly lowering it and digging it into his stomach. Henry's eyebrows knitted together and he grit his teeth as he watched his partner squirm in pain. "Tell me, scum, what is your name?"
"None of your business!" Terriermon spat out.
"And what about yourself?" Vajramon asked Renamon, who had softly landed on the hood of a car nearby, not even leaving a dent.
"You won't remember it after the beating I give you." She replied, piercing him with her eyes. Vajramon gave a sickening grin, sending a shiver up TK's spine.
Pajiramon picked up Terriermon, holding him in her fist. He looked like a small toy in her gigantic hand. Next to TK, Henry was shaking.
"Uh-oh, they don't look happy." Calumon said.
"No, they don't." TK agreed.
"Let him go!" Henry yelled, voice full of fury, but one look at him revealed the fear that was edging it's way into his gaze.
"And why would I do that?" Pajiramon questioned as she began to squeeze him tighter. "It's so much more fun to watch the life slowly drain out of him."
"We're wasting time!" Vajramon said. "We were told to crush the Digimon that are servants to humans and load their data." Pajiramon nodded, and then threw Terriermon into the air, taking out her weapon, a crossbow, for the first time.
"You should feel honored to have your data loaded by a Deva." She said as she sent n arrow in his direction.
"No, Terriermon!" Henry shouted, and a red light flashed, momentarily blinded them. A loud, familiar screench came from Henry's digivice, illuminating Terriermon as he changed forms. TK looked on eagerly.
"Terriermon, Digivolve to…" TK squinted through the light, and he could've sworn he could see the digimon's data being stripped down and rewritten into a new form. "Gargomon!" He cried as the light came down and he landed on the ground, lifting up a pair of hands that were now guns, shooting them off rapidly.
"Pants." TK said lamely, and Henry threw him a smile.
"I know, right?" Takato replied.
"Ack." Pajiramon said as she put her arms up around her head, trying to protect herself from the assault of bullets. He landed onto the concrete with a smug grin.
"Are you going to Digivolve as well?" Vajramon asked as he took out one of his midnight black swords. "I'd hate to destroy your before I saw that."
"I don't need to." Renamon replied. "This is easy enough in this form."
"What did you say?!" He shouted as Renamon jumped into the air, spreading her arms out.
"Diamond storm!" Was her response as glittering gemstones showered onto his head. Vajramon twirled his sword, easily deflecting her attack.
"Dance sheep, dance!" Gargomon cried happily as he shot the ground at Pajiramon's feet.
"This is becoming tiresome." Pajiramon said. "Vajramon, stop fooling around and destroy her!" She shouted at her companion, who was laughing as he blocked another onslaught of diamond storms from Renamon.
"Speak for yourself, I'm having a blast!" He let out a boomed bark of laughter.
"He's toying with her." Rika said in disgust. TK glanced over, almost surprised to see how bothered she was by the entire charade. Apparently the rude behavior to her Digimon had cut through her usually cool exterior, showing the care that she typically had under a firm seal.
"Henry, try this out. I think it might give Gargomon an edge." Takato handed Henry one of his cards, who took it gratefully.
"Digimodify! Hyperspeed activate!" Gargomon started to run towards Pajiramon, but she raised her front hooves and slammed them harshly into the ground, causing it to shake violently, Gargomon falling to the ground.
"I. Have. Had. Enough!" She shouted as she pulled out her crossbow again, loading it up. "Stay a while." She fired the arrows, pinning Gargomon onto the ground. In the background Renamon was still attacking Vajramon with no result. Pajiramon readied more arrows, aiming at Gargomon's chest.
"No, Gargomon!" Henry cried out, moving forward. Takato grabbed him and held him back.
"It's my job." Pajiramon said cooly, her gaze steely. "The least I could do is ride the world of this pest." She forcibly spat out the word. Meanwhile Vajramon sliced his sword in the are where Renamon had been just moments ago. By now she was in the air, seeming to hang there for a moment longer than someone should before kicking him in the face and landing on the flat side of his sword.
"Calm down, beefcakes." He raised one of his eyebrows.
"Feisty one, aren't you?"
"You have no idea." She replied, dealing another blow and deftly getting out of the way of other attacks.
"Try this card." Takato offered after shuffling through his deck again. Henry grabbed it with shaking hands, glancing at it and nodding.
"Okay. Digi-modify! Rock armor activate!" In a flash of light Gargomon turned to stone. TK let out a sigh of relief as an arrow bounced off his now hard exterior.
"It'll take more than that to stop me." Pajiramon gritted out, approaching Gargomon and slamming onto him with her hooves." The air left TK's lungs as pieces of Gargomon began to shatter off, his exterior cracking.
"Anything else?" Henry asked, desperately looking at Takato who was shifting through his deck of cards still.
"All I have are garbage cards… wait, what about the blue card? It's got to do something, right?" Takato asked earnestly, and Henry reached into his pocket, pulling it out. The shiny blue caught the light through the fog, making it refract into a myriad of colors when it caught TK's eyes just right.
"It can't make things worse." TK urged, and Henry's expression solidified.
"Right. Digi-modify! Blue card, activate!" As soon as the card was swiped through it began to glow, and TK thought maybe it would turn into a laser or something, but instead it just shot out of his digivice, disappearing into the sky.
"Well that was a little disappointing." Takato muttered. Though it did distract PAjiramon for a moment she shrugged it off, turning back to Gargomon and rearing back one of her hooved feet.
"I'm done with this."
"No!" Henry shouted, reaching out. TK looked over, and he could visibly see himself when he had lost Patamon the first time, as if the entire world was about to break around him. Frantically he looked around for something he could do, but TK was just a human and he had no partner that could help out. Suddenly a figure emerged from the mist, slamming into Pajiramon and, with the element of surprise, knocking her off her feet.
"What the-" Pajiramon turned to look at her attacker, reaching for her crossbow that had been tossed when she fell. Her eyes landed on none other than…
"Dad?!" Henry said, half in surprise, half in horror. Mr. Wong's fists were clenched and his expression was hard, but there was a slight tremble to him that TK could see even from here.
"D-Don't you hurt him." He said in a shaky voice, moving so that he was protectively in front of Gargomon.
"Pathetic human, get out of the way." PAjiramon reared back up and slammed her hooves into his chest, a sickening crack rang through the air as he was flung to the ground, glasses flying off of his face. From his spot on the ground he coughed, and it was too wet sounding. "I am finished playing around."
"Dad!" The words tore out of Henrys throat filled with anguish. There was a shrill beeping from his digivice and deep in his chest TK felt something jerk. Distantly he heard Calumon let out a small cry, and Gargomon glowed vibrantly, code being reworked and remade
"Gargomon Digivolve to…" The light spread out over the street. "Rapidmon!" His new form was sleek and metallic looking, with rabbit like ears and a green exterior, eyes full of fury. He shot out from his spod on the ground, moving so fast that TK was having a hard time keeping track of him.
"What?!" Pajiramon exclaimed.
"Yeah, that's right. This is for Mr. Wong!" He shouted, hitting into her face with such force that it knocked her off her hooves, slamming into the side of a building. "Thanks for playing Parajiramon, but it's gameover." Rapidmon said cooly, aiming his guns. She disintegrated into data the same moment that Vajramon did, Renamon landing on the ground next to him, breathing heavily.
"Dad!" Henry ran towards his dad's prone floor, Terriermon drifting down from the air on top of his head, giving off pieces of data as he returned to his rookie form. Henry knelt down over his dad, who was shaking and coughing, Henry's hands hovered over his dad. Afraid to touch him. "Dad, please tell me you're okay."
"H-Henry." Mr. Wong groaned, his eyes cracking open before coughing again, flecks out blood spraying out of his mouth. Each of his breaths were short and shallow, his eyes scrunched up in pain.
"S-stay with me." Henry pleaded as sirens began to grow louder. TK glanced over to see Rika put away her phone - at least someone here had their wits about them. The ambulance pulled up and took Henry and his dad away, leaving the other three tamers to stand numbly in the destroyed electronics department, feeling somewhat numb and afraid. It was a feeling TK was familiar with. He gritted his teeth tightened his fist around his digivice. He was so useless without a partner.