Chapter Two: Making Friends
Here we are again, so soon. I've been on something of a roll with this story, and I hope I can keep it up for a bit. Not much to say, not an action chapter, but I think it's good to do character building.
Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon or any named companies or properties mentioned.
...
I groaned quietly as the alarm sounded repeatedly, and as Arthur turned it off with a light thump of his hand, I rolled out of my hammock onto the pile of blankets and pillows we'd set up. To say I wasn't a morning person would be like saying clouds block a little sunlight. That is to say, it's very obvious. I slowly crawled out of the blanket pile and followed Arthur to the hall, never standing up, just crawling on my stomach. He slowly got me to my feet, and I started walking, swaying slightly from side to side with my eyes barely open enough to see where I was going. Arthur laughed quietly and opened the bathroom door just ahead of me. When I was done with my business and had washed my hands, he walked in and handed me the cup and toothbrush. It was already full of water, so I stepped out and started brushing my teeth as he shut the door again. After a bit, he opened the door, carefully picked me up, and set me down on the counter.
"Good thing we've got the timing down." He said. I spat the toothpaste into the sink as he started brushing his own teeth. Once I'd rinsed a few times, I set the cup down and put the brush inside it. I hopped down, slightly more awake, and went to the stairs. Arthur was just behind me, and we made our way to the kitchen, where the smell of freshly made breakfast woke me up even more. But as I got to my seat, I smelled the thing that made me fully alert. Freshly made black coffee. "I will never understand coffee."
"You will." I said as I picked the cup up. "When you're a little older, you'll get it. Just start easy. Iced mocha, should do just fine for a starter, or maybe a nice latte."
"Maybe with some caramel." He said. "Real caramel, not that mass produced sugar overdose the use at those chain coffee places."
"I'll make some for tomorrow's breakfast." Mara said. She plated an omelet on a third plate before setting one down in front of me and another for Arthur. "Three eggs, chives, Gruyere cheese, and cubed bacon." She then set a stack of six pancakes down before plating two for each of us. "Buttermilk, with a little extra vanilla." She poured some strawberry syrup on Arthur's pancakes before pouring maple syrup on hers and mine. "And our usual syrups."
"We are absolutely spoiled for having a mom that's a multi Michelin star chef." Arthur said.
"You mean blessed." I said happily. I took a long sip of the coffee and sighed contently, steam issuing from my mouth.
"How hot is that?" He asked.
"Freshly boiled." Mara said. "I poured it right before you both walked in."
"It still amazes me that you don't burn your tongue with stovetop boiled coffee." He said.
"You forget, I'm a demon." I said. It would be the tenth time that month I'd said that. We did this often, but it was fun. "What's burning hot to you is perfect for me." I set the cup down and let Mara and Arthur give their morning prayer. I wasn't religious, given my nature, but it was something I very much respected. When they finished, I smiled a little.
"Amen." They said together. As we began eating, Arthur looked at me.
"Oh, the Optimizer finished while we were asleep." He said. "It looks like you can use the attacks now. I don't know how much energy they'll use, but we should practice them outside of a fight so we know how they work. That means we'll have to hit up the training place."
"Good thing we got you a membership." Mara said. I took a reasonable bite of the omelet, smiling very happily. "Aside from that, isn't today the day the FDDB visits?" Arthur was silent before putting a hand to his forehead.
"That's right." He said. "I'm supposed to bring Mao with me." The Federal Digital Defense Bureau. At Sixteen, Arthur needed to get a license from them, while I needed a license to continue intervening. He would turn sixteen soon, and planned to get a license form from them during the visit. "You up for it, partner?"
"You know it." I said. "I've been waiting for this. I just hope they don't bring any angelic Digimon along."
"Hmm..." He muttered.
"This whole rivalry." Mara said. "I still don't quite get it."
"It's, a whole thing." I said. "But, it's basically what it seems like. Demons and angels just plain do not get along. It's partly nature, like, they refuse to trust me because of what I am, and I'm always on guard around them because of what they are. It... Creates a self fueling thing."
"But, where did it start?" She asked.
"When the Digital World first created both types." I said. "The angels see us as evil, we see them as jerks, so they start trouble because we don't want to deal with them. Most times, we just want to be left alone, and they rarely ever oblige." I shrugged. "They get suspicious, so us wanting to not deal with them is deemed suspicious, and most times they escalate things well beyond anything reasonable. If there's an angel, I know there's gonna be a problem no matter what I do."
"You will have to leave the gun with the office." She said. I shrugged. "And the bullets. And the knife. And probably the holster."
"I'm good with that." I said. "I'll be quiet, stick close to Arthur, and if something happens, it won't be from anything I do." I ate a big bite of the pancakes, enjoying the warm syrup.
"I'll make sure to have my phone's camera going." Arthur said. "That angel at the station sure was a jerk, and as many times as we've had problems with angel types, I trust Mao more than I do them."
…
I yawned quietly into my hand as Arthur spoke to the agent about the paperwork. We had enough time for him to fill out his pages, whereas I would be issued one just for being his partner. Unfortunately, there were three angels, and I could feel all three staring at me from wherever they were. Despite that I was just sitting still, yawning, I saw the Angemon tighten the grip on his staff, and I had zero doubt the Magna Angemon was making a fist because of me.
'Yeah, par for the course.' I thought. 'One Rookie level Digimon, and they're acting like I'm a Super Ultimate that's about to run amok.' I wanted to go for my coffee in the thermos, but I knew they'd get hostile. If not outright attacking me, they'd definitely grab the thermos and dump it out just to see what it was. It was probably barely warm at this point, so I knew it was going to be cold before I got to drink it. Pre-lunch assemblies weren't much fun. Sure, I could warm it with some of my fire, but I had to wait until they weren't around to try. 'Paperwork. Yeah, that's the speed of government for you. Five pages when one would probably do just fine. Two at the most.' I had to stifle another yawn, and I heard armor shifting. 'Wow. They are on edge today. Over an Impmon. How much worse have their teachings gotten that they're getting this riled up over literally nothing?' I leaned back a little and the chair suddenly tilted. "Wh-whoa!" It fell, and I barely got my hands behind my head in time to protect my head. "Oof!" I heard some concerned voices as I rolled onto my side to get up. "Okay then! That happened..." I put the chair back up and looked to see it wobble. "Huh, it wasn't like that a minute ago." I heard armored footsteps, so I scratched my head. "That's a serious wobble... I leaned back ten minutes ago, and nothing happened, so why did it fall back like that?"
"What did you do to this chair?" The Magna Angemon asked.
"I sat on it." I said simply, keeping the annoyance buried. "Huh... Weird." I walked around it once and scratched my head again. "Did you see anyone do anything to it?"
"No one touched it." He said firmly, as if I had just insulted him.
"Weird..." I said, pretending not to have heard the tone. Shaking my head, I gestured to it. "Well, I'll let a teacher know and ask them to check the cameras. It wasn't that unstable before, so something happened. And under such heavy watch? Must be some kind of illusion magic."
"Yours, I assume." He said.
"Nah." I said. "The only illusion magic I've got I just learned yesterday, and it only works on how I look... I think. Haven't had a chance to test it yet." I walked over to Arthur as he finished, and he looked at me. "I'm good. Chair tipped over, and we couldn't figure out what made it so unsteady. It wasn't like that when I sat down on it." I shrugged. "I'm guessing ghost Digimon." He and the agent laughed.
"Well, we'll have the licenses to you by the end of the week." The agent said. "Then you can officially investigate, with the school's permission."
"Nice." I said. "But I'll just ask them to check the cameras. No reason to cause a fuss. Besides, we'll need to figure out our going rate first." We all laughed, and I was handed a small card, and as he leaned in, he lowered his voice to a whisper.
"I'm very sorry about our partners." He said. "The higher ups chose us because of the holy trinity, and once we spotted you, we knew they were gonna have their feathers ruffled over it."
"I'm used to it." I said quietly. "It'll take more than glaring to bug me." He laughed and leaned back up.
"So, that card has the number of the agency." He explained. "If you ever need any help, or just need information about a situation, call and you'll be taken care of." I put it in my wallet, which I kept in a special pouch on my belt. "Say, uh, I've never seen an Impmon with a belt, and I'm told you have a weapon."
"I'm a subtype called Tin Star Impmon." I explained. "I've always wanted to be like a wild west sheriff. I use a revolver, I can make bullets for it, and I have some cowboy themed attacks."
"And you do have a very slight southern accent." He said. "Whatever you turn into next should be interesting." I smiled and nodded. He handed Arthur a card as well and shook his hand. "Maybe we'll see each other again. Maybe by then I'll have made some progress in getting my partner to be less... Well." Arthur and I nodded. "Have a good day, you two."
"We'll definitely try." Arthur said. We walked away, and I grabbed my pack, slinging it onto my shoulders. "So, we'll get our cards soon, and then we can just tell the police they'll be getting a copy of the report. Then we can go home without having to deal with a bunch of questions."
"Do we need anything special?" I asked.
"We'll be sent a body cam for me." He said. "That way I can record our, uh, missions."
"Cool." I said. We walked outside, since it was basically free period until the end of the school day. A full three hours to ourselves. "Sun's bright..."
"Yeah, I know how much you prefer overcast weather." He said.
"With some sun shining through." I noted. He laughed. "And rain. I love a nice rainstorm. That's just relaxing."
"Reminds you of your old home?" He asked.
"Kind of." I said. "But it's the sound of rain falling I like, and doubly so when it's pattering against something. Especially a tin roof!"
"Like the song goes." He said.
"Rain is a good thing." We said together, laughing.
"Um, h-hey!" A girl said. "Boy with the Impmon!" We stopped and turned as a girl with a Palmon jogged over. She was carrying the Palmon in her arms. "Y-you were the ones that, took care of that Tyrannomon yesterday, aren't you?"
"That's us." Arthur said.
"You helped my friend." She said.
"Not me." The Palmon clarified.
"M-my name is Annabelle Summers." The girl said, setting the Palmon down. "And this is Daisy." Arthur shook her hand as I shook Daisy's.
"Nice to meet you both." Arthur and I said together. The girls laughed.
"I'm Arthur Rowe." He said. "This little guy is Mao."
"Big name to live up to." Daisy said.
"I see it as a name with an idea to aspire to." I said.
"A demon king?" She asked. Arthur and Annabelle walked away to let us talk, so we sat down near some trees.
"Doesn't mean I have to be evil." I said. "Honestly, I want to be the opposite of evil. I want to fight evil, and protect people." I shrugged. "Just so happens the name sounds cool to me and Arthur." Daisy laughed quietly. "So I do what I can to get stronger every day. A little bit of target practice when I can, lifting some weights, running on a treadmill now and then, stuff to help me build myself up."
"Cool..." She said quietly.
"As it happens, I'm more powerful than I probably should be." I said. I looked at my hand. "I pour double the energy into my attacks, yeah, but even when I can't do that, it's strong enough to critically wound Champion level Digimon. Well, one of my attacks." I made a finger gun with my right hand and conjured a fireball. "This, my 'Bada Boom Shot', is maybe enough to hurt a Champion, very lightly. Doubled up, it's like getting punched by a small Champion."
"Doubling up?" She asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"So I hear." I said, looking at her as I dispelled the fireball. "Arthur had some tests done, and my data is, more stable. Maybe it's something that's catching on in every Digimon's code, maybe it'll be a thing in the next update? Idunno. What I do know is that my data's stable enough that when I double up my power in an attack, it doesn't have the usual issue." Putting too much power into an attack had a chance of destabilizing the attack. This could either power it up, or cause it to go out of control and potentially hurt the user. "That, or I've got some seriously good luck." She laughed.
"I wish I could fight better than I do." She said. "I'm, at best, a support fighter." She held her fingers up. "Poison Ivy to paralyze, various powders to inflict poison, or sleep, or paralysis, stuff like that. I have to knock out an opponent and literally strangle them with my finger vines to actually do anything, and even then they might wake up, so I have to use a lot of energy to grow my fingers out until I've wrapped them up like a cocoon, starting at the throat." She had a look in her eyes. "But, if I could help someone else..."
"So, like, you and Annabelle team up with me and Arthur?" I asked. She nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'd be okay with that. It'd be nice to have some help now and then. But, can your pollens affect Champions?" She nodded.
"Yeah, I've always had strong pollen attacks." She said. "I'm not a great fighter, but I can lock down a threat for you to follow up on." I nodded, smiling.
"Much as I love a good fight, it would be nice not to put people in danger." I said. "Being able to pin a target down is easier when the method doesn't involve a bullet punching through something." I put a hand to my head. "Trust me, seeing a bullet pass through another Digimon and leave a ten inch deep bullethole in the ground is a scary thing to think about. Imagine if I hadn't been on a branch shooting down at the time and had been aiming level ahead."
"OH, that, that would be bad." She said. I nodded. "So, I put them to sleep or paralyze them, and, you aim down to finish them off?"
"Sounds good to me." I said. "And I'm sure Arthur will agree if Annabelle asks to team up. And his mom will be happy he's made a friend."
"What about you making a friend?" She asked.
"That too, but I'm not her son." I said. "I'm just the friend she kinda-but-not-really adopted." She laughed out loud, and I smiled.
…
I kicked my foot a little to the side to make the hammock swing left to right while Daisy sat in a sunny spot. Arthur and Ann were working on their homework while Mara was making dinner. In short, all was right with the world as far as I was concerned.
"This is a great yard." Daisy said. "And the garden is so pretty!"
"Arthur has a green thumb." I said. She looked at me. "He likes a nice garden for summer and fall, for the fourth of July and October in general. Pumpkins and watermelons. But he also grows plenty of tomatoes and peppers, some peas and cucumbers... I think he's even got some carrots this year."
"Wow." She said. "I, thought it was Mara's."
"She uses them for dinner." I said, shrugging. "But Arthur loves to garden. It's a hobby, but one that pays for itself. He's good at it, too. Got a neat trick to water everything." She nodded and sat down by the tree trunk.
"So, is this your normal afternoon?" She asked.
"Most days, yeah." I said. "Arthur likes to help around the house, but sometimes we go see a movie or hit up the mall arcade. Tomorrow is our usual shooting range day. He's got a license, but he still needs to wait for the background check to clear. That shouldn't be a problem, and now that we've got a job working with the feds, it should clear with more room to spare." She laughed.
"You know, Ann always thought Arthur was cool." She said. I looked at her. "She's, kind of shy. She'll explain why, but, well, you'll get it... I hope." I shrugged.
"People have their reasons for everything." I said. "S' long as it doesn't interfere with someone else's life, I'm cool with most things." She laughed again.
"You sound sleepy." She said.
"I'm nocturnal." I said.
"I've met Impmon that are fine during the day." She said.
"Everyone's different." I said. "And I said I am nocturnal. Never said it was due to being a type of Impmon." She laughed again, but stopped when we both sat up. "Yeah, we both got that one." I hopped down and we jogged into the house, and Arthur was putting his phone away.
"We're good." He said. "They've got someone on it."
"O-oh." I said, feeling a little disappointed. I wasn't entirely happy with it, but I actually loved fighting. Not killing, of course, but fighting Digimon was fun for me. I never quite knew why, but whenever it was time to go in, I was excited to do so.
"Sorry, partner." He said, patting my head. "Maybe next time."
"You sound dejected." Ann said.
"Mao is, a fighter." Arthur explained. "He likes getting into fights with bad Digimon. Not ending them, of course, but he really likes the part where he gets to challenge his own abilities against something bigger and stronger than he is."
"Not exactly a danger seeker or an adrenaline junkie, but, yeah, it's fun." I said, shrugging. Daisy laughed quietly as I put my hands behind my head. "Guess I'll help with dinner."
"C-can I help, too?" Daisy asked.
"I'm sure mom 'll appreciate the extra hands." Arthur said.
