It has been quite some time since I've done any posting, but I never once stopped writing. Sorry to anyone that has been waiting for anything, and that this is a remake of one of my other stories. I've grown a bit, I've improved a bit (Or so I believe), and I've done a good bit of maturing. Hopefully you all like this. I've done my best to make this a story worth reading. When I wrote the original, I was still kind of young, and my motivation for writing wasn't quite what it has become, though maybe that part will still be there. I'm older now, wiser, and hopefully a better writer. And with this growth, I consider myself a new man, a new demon lord. So with that, comes a change of name. Otherwise, if you'll pardon me borrowing a certain phrase, I'm still me.

Oh, by the way, you can find my gaming channel on YouTube, at Lord Generias (May change to Lord Generias Gaming, let me know if you think that'd be a better name?), if you want to hear my, uh, handsome voice... Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I'm trying, and it's the voice I've got, not much I can do about that... Oh, and you can now find me on Twitter now as well, as Lord Generias. Not much as of yet, but I like and comment on various things, and I'll occasionally post gameplay clips and when I'm posting new videos, maybe my writing as well, I haven't decided. And sooner or later I'll be posting on another writing website, Archive of Our Own, so if you want to see stuff that might not exactly be here, I'll probably have the same name there. Haven't decided yet, but I'll let y'all know when I do.

So here we are, at last, for the story of Mao, rewritten to be a little faster. This is now something new. A story about Digital Demons. Please enjoy, and please leave a review. I can't grow if I don't know where I could try to improve.

I, Lord Generias, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon or anything else mentioned that exists in the real world. Please do not try any of the stunts you read about, they cannot be replicated in real life, most likely.

...

I sat quietly, enjoying the sun as I looked out the sunroof. The music on the radio wasn't my taste, but I was a passenger, and it wasn't like I didn't like it. I just felt like it was a little uninspired. The usual 'the publishing company wanted a new album, so here's some stuff we just came up with' kind of music. Still, the instrumentals were okay. Whoever handled that was doing a decent job, at least.

"Mao?" Mara asked. I looked at her as she looked over her shoulder. "I can see Kelly headed this way, but I left her juice in the cooler. Would you please grab it for me?" I nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, I'll just be a sec." I said. She smiled and stepped out to help Kelly in as I undid my buckle and climbed into the back of the minivan. It took a bit, and while Mara was getting Kelly into her seat, I opened the cooler.

"Where's Mao?" Kelly asked. I raised the juice box triumphantly.

"Present." I said. "With a present!" Mara took the juice and got it ready while I climbed back into my seat. I had to use a booster seat, but I didn't mind.

"I made a picture!" Kelly said. I looked as she presented it, and Mara smiled. When Kelly showed it to me, I saw it was me, Arthur, and Mara, with Kelly in Mara's arms.

"You're getting so good at this." Mara said proudly. It was a pencil sketch, and while it wasn't perfect, it was a really good black and white recreation of the photo she'd taken to school that day. She must have spent a whole class and part of lunch on it.

"You really did a good job on the neckerchief." I said, tapping the one I wore around my neck. I put my seatbelt back on as she smiled. "You might have to enter a contest someday." Kelly giggled as she put the paper in her backpack and drank her juice. Mara went to speak when her phone went off. A feeling ran through me for a second and I turned to look out the window.

"Arthur?" She asked. I heard his voice, but couldn't understand much of what he said due to my focus being elsewhere. "I see. I'll get close, but I just barely picked up Kelly... Okay, we'll see you soon." I looked as she ended the call.

"There's a job." I said. She nodded.

"A portal in the park." She said. "It hasn't spat anything out yet, but he needs you there, pronto." I nodded as she closed the door, got in, and started the engine. It was only a couple of minutes before we got to our destination, and Arthur was there, waiting. He opened the door as I undid the buckle. "Any changes?"

"Yeah, and it's a big one." He said. "But nothing we can't handle, or haven't handled before. Just your bog standard Tyrannomon." He picked me up and got me ready. I was short, but also light. As I got my feet on his hand, he held me so he could throw me. Our usual dynamic entry. "We'll be back soon."

"I'll park by the coffee shop." Mara said. "And Arthur, please, stay back."

"Always do." He said. "Ready, partner?"

"You know it!" I said. "I could feel it in the air the moment the portal opened." He ran across the street and showed me where it was. "Oh. He's a bit bigger than the usual..." I looked to my right and saw someone else with a Digimon partner. A girl, with a Black Renamon. The Renamon had spotted me, so I nodded. She did as well, and the girl spotted us. I drew my revolver and looked at Arthur. "Get over by the girl there. Coordinate." He nodded and readied himself. "Deploy!" He threw me into the air, and I sailed toward my target. The Renamon ran in at full speed and readied her attack.

"Violet Leaf Storm!" She called. I fired three shots as her attack landed, angering the beast. But we both did some damage. Her attacks left shards embedded in him that exploded, leaving visible wounds on the thick skin. My bullets weren't going in as far as I wanted, but I was okay with the situation. My shots were aimed well, and the grouping was good, tearing into the right knee. It dropped to the other knee, roaring in pain. It turned and began readying its fire breath, so I took aim at the head. "Watch out!"

"Shadow Shot!" I called. Normally a gunshot would issue a report with an orange and yellow burst of flame from the exploding powder. My special attack turned it purple and dark blue, the smoke taking on a lighter blue. The bullet itself was cloaked in very dark purple energy, and when it went into the roof of the red dino-dragon's mouth, it tore through the roof of the mouth and out through the top of the skull. The flames guttered out quickly as the eyes widened, and then rolled up as it fell sideways.

"Wh-what was..." The Renamon asked. I smirked, raised the pistol, and blew on the end of the barrel, blowing the smoke away and dissipating it. It smelled more of brimstone than typical gun smoke, and it was a smell I was very used to. "You could have killed it sooner?" I opened the cylinder and nodded, emptying the spent shell casings.

"I wanted to see how much damage your attacks would do." I said. "And my own standard bullets." She looked at the body as it faded to code. What flew to me gave me some energy, a small amount of which I drew to my free hand. "Just a second." I closed my hand and felt the bullets forming. "Dark Reload." My voice had taken on a brief reverberating hiss. I reloaded the revolver and closed it, lining up the chambers to make sure it would be ready. "That's better. One or six, reload the spent rounds as soon as you have a safe moment."

"You're powerful for an Impmon, but, I've never seen one with a pistol before." She said. I spun the revolver clockwise twice and counterclockwise once and holstered it.

"I'm a subtype." I explained. "Specifically, I'm a Tin Star Impmon." I tapped the tin star pinned to my neckerchief. Arthur walked over, closing his phone.

"So, mom's headed home." He said. "We have to stay to give our report to the police and the feds."

"I hate this part." The human girl said as she walked over. "I never feel comfortable in a police station."

"It's part of the job." I said. "We have to make sure they know what we did and why." I held a finger up. "And hey, we get a bounty, right?" She was silent for a moment.

"I like that part." Arthur said. "It's a great way to save up for college." The girl laughed as the Renamon sighed.

"Still, you'd think they could just set up a website to fill out reports." She said. Arthur's Digivice beeped a few times and we all looked over.

"Hmm?" He muttered. He looked at the screen. "Scan mode, on? There's a scan mode?" He looked it over.

"That's, a strange looking Digivice." The human girl said.

"It's called an 'Optimizer'." I explained. "It can use cards, placed to the screen. But it can also reallocate data in my body to make me stronger, faster, or more durable. Sometimes it, changes, or adds new functions. It's... We don't know why it is like it is, but it might be a prototype that'll become more common in the future." I shrugged in time with Arthur. "It is what it is, and I guess now it has a scanner of some kind."

"And now I know what the scanner is." He said. "It takes a scan of nearby Digimon to, do something. It's processing. It says six hours to 'decode' one of your moves."

"Mine?" The Renamon asked.

"Yeah..." He said. "Your 'Touhakken'?"

"It's based on a hand game in Japan." Renamon explained. "I use it to cover my paws in foxfire for a stronger attack." Another beep.

"And, Kohenkyo?" He asked. "I wonder if this means it'll teach Mao how to use these attacks."

"First, Mao?" She asked, looking at me.

"Oh, it's one of the few Japanese words I know." Arthur explained. "Knowing what it means and what he can one day possibly become, I thought it'd be kind of a cool name, but also a goal. You know, something to motivate us to become as strong as we can." She slowly nodded.

"And Kohenkyo, lets me, more or less copy what someone looks like." She said. "It doesn't let me use their abilities, but..." She looked at me again.

"It lets you camouflage yourself as someone else, like the old legends." I said. She nodded. "That'd be fun."

"Yes, but the moment I get hit, or lose focus, I change back." She said. "I can still use my attacks."

"Why isn't it copying your version of Diamond Storm?" The girl asked. Arthur and I shrugged together as he put the device back.

"Idunno." He said. "This is a whole new function. Up until last month, it was basically just a D-Arc with a slightly bigger screen and the ability to make Mao more powerful."

"If we knew half of why it does what it does, maybe we could add new stuff ourselves." I said. "I'd like the ability to devote data toward unlocking my next form. I'd happily burn some new data I absorb to speed that up. I'm seventeen years old and still an Impmon. Been like this for fourteen years." I saw a black SUV and a police car near the cafe, so I tapped Arthur's leg. "There's our rides. Hope they can get security footage from somewhere to help back us up. Otherwise we might be staying the night."

"Oh, god, I hope not." The girl said. "Their sandwiches suck."

"No kidding." He said. "And I didn't think to save any snacks from lunch."

I drank the coffee as Arthur walked out of the room, and the federal agent patted him on the back.

"Glad to know there are brave kids out there looking out for folks." He said. "Please give some thought to the offer." Arthur nodded, smiling.

"On it." He said. The agent looked at me as I put the empty cup in the sink. Renamon had already left with her partner, who I'd learned was named Kate, so apparently the authorities were more interested in me and Arthur. But that was nothing new. The Optimizer was apparently one of a kind, or at least anyone else with one wasn't active in stopping emerging wild Digimon. "How was the coffee?"

"Ugh, I had some." The agent said. "Tastes like dirt."

"No surprise there." I said. "It was ground this morning." He laughed quietly and held a hand up, so I gave him a high five. Or, a high three, in my case.

"So, if the officer was right, this is nothing new for you two." He said. "Just the usual paperwork, a pat on the back, and a check for two hundred and fifty bucks, split between you two and the other pair." We nodded as Arthur patted his pocket. "Good work out there. I saw the video, and letting Arthur toss you into the fight was impressive."

"Well, Arthur does some weight training." I said. "Gotta put those arms to use." The agent laughed, smiling.

"I'm the new guy assigned to the station, so if I'm right, we'll see each other again." He said. "Have you got a way to get home?"

"Yeah, I texted my mom, and she'll be here in a few minutes." Arthur said. "Thanks for having us." He shook the agent's hand. We walked outside, and the sun was setting. "Feels good to be appreciated."

"Yup." I said. A few people were still outside, and one or two had Digimon with them. I got odd looks from the Digimon, but I just hopped onto a bench as Arthur sat on it. As I sat, he pulled out his phone. "So, any new questions?"

"The agent asked about the Optimizer's new function." He said. "Last I checked, it's still three hours to finish scanning. They want me to send an email in describing what the new function does once it's finished."

"Cool." I said. Someone cleared their throat, so I looked to see a, fairly heavyset woman with a familiar haircut. Part of me worried what was possibly coming, but she was the least of my concern. It was her partner, an Angemon with a barely concealed scowl. 'This should be good.'

"What are you doing?" The woman asked.

"Waiting for my mom to pick us up." Arthur said. "We just got done with a report about a Tyrannomon emergence in the park." She was silent. "We helped a girl with a Black Renamon take it down."

"You're certain it was wild?" The Angemon asked.

"It spat flames at a jogger without provocation." Arthur explained. "So, if it wasn't wild, and had a Tamer, it was clearly breaking a few laws. It also appeared out of a portal, and no one was shouting orders to it, so going by evidence..." They were both silent, so I looked down the street for Mara's minivan.

"You should have waited for someone stronger." The Angemon said.

"We've handled Tyrannomon before." Arthur explained. "Sometimes solo. Better to at least distract something dangerous than to let them potentially cause harm."

"You're too young to be doing this kind of work." The woman said. I was really trying to hold my tongue. I wanted so badly to say she looked too old or too big, but I managed to bury the quips.

"There were no adults nearby with Digimon to handle things." He said. "If we didn't step in, no one else could." I saw the minivan, so I stood up.

"Where are you going?" The Angemon asked. I pointed.

"Oh, that's my mom." Arthur said. "I've got homework to do, and it'll be time for dinner soon enough."

"Hmph." The woman huffed. She walked away, and the Angemon followed. When we got into the van, Mara looked at us as I buckled myself in.

"Trouble?" She asked.

"Same old, same old." Arthur said. "That lady was just being overbearing. You know the type."

"All too well." She said. "I had one today that takes the cake, almost literally."

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Came in with a Digimon partner." She said. "Her and a Growlmon. She ordered filet mignon, well done. And you know us chefs."

"Well done is for people who can't handle medium rare." Arthur and I said together.

"But!" She continued. "She wanted it medium rare. She made sure to raise a stink about it. And her Caesar salad, that she specifically ordered, was supposed to be a chicken Caesar. The wine was supposed to be a different year than what she specifically ordered."

"Wow, she was after a free meal." I said.

"Nailed it." She said. "Apparently she tries this on my days off, and figured having me there would guarantee a five star meal for getting me fired, like she had tried with a friend of mine. But then her partner's order was even worse. He ordered grilled salmon, but wanted the sea bass."

"Please tell me she had the name." Arthur said, fighting a laugh.

"Her name was Bertha Crane." She said. "And she was thin as a rail. Evidently, she'd eat a third of the meal, but otherwise she would barely ever eat much. She fed the rest to the Guilmon. Then she'd complain about her meal, demand it be free, and try to get the cooks fired. She does this all over town. She has been banned from eight different restaurants already, making today her ninth."

"Wow." I said. "She goes out of her way to be a pain in the neck."

"Yeah, she does." She said. "But other than that, it was an uneventful day for me. How about you two? How'd the report go?"

"A smooth bounty and the usual questions." He said. "But the agent asked about a new function of the Optimizer. It scanned the Renamon, and we're waiting on a timer. But, it didn't let me pick what it scanned. It picked two abilities, and now those are being analyzed..." He shrugged.

"The coffee still sucks." I said. "Honestly, is a cup of Folgers that bad for the budget?" They both laughed.

"You and your coffee." Arthur said.

"You either like it or you don't." I said. "And I like mine to at least be passable. Maybe we should start carrying something to flavor it a little."

"I'll grab something from the store." Mara said. "So, how does a baked ziti alfredo sound?"

"It sounds delicious." Arthur said happily.

"And for dessert, a vanilla and raspberry trifle." She said.

"If you keep this up, I'm gonna start drooling." I said. They both laughed. "Honestly, heaven is, at least, adjacent to Mara Rowe's kitchen at dinner time."

"Thank you, Mao." She said. "And I made raspberry lemonade." My favorite. "I know how much the precinct's coffee isn't up to your standards." I wasn't a snob when it came to coffee, but my tastebuds were, kind of odd. I liked bitter and sour things more than most other things, and those were only second to my love of savory foods. And Mara had introduced me to some very good coffee, but just about any coffee that wasn't stale or scorched was something I'd happily drink if someone offered me a cup.

"Even the water isn't that great." Arthur said. "They need some funding for a plumber to fix or replace some of the pipes."

"Good coffee starts with good water." I said. "Even a paper filter can make a decent cup if you start with quality beans, or even quality grounds, and good water."

"If it weren't so late, I'd offer you a cappuccino." Mara said. "Oh, and I found something I think you'll both like. I thought I'd lost it, but I found it thanks to Kelly." As we reached a freshly red traffic light, she looked at Arthur and then me. "I found a picture of us, from just after Kelly was born." Arthur smiled. "The blanket she was in was the cutest little thing, Mao." I smiled as well.

"The wall by the front door would be a good spot for it." I said. "We'd see it before we leave the house and after we get back."