I do not own Digimon. All characters are original characters.
The Panel Biter presents…
Digimon: Vital Spirit
Chapter 2: Lift! Lift! Lift! Maximum Tyranno Power!
Part 1: Before
January 4th
6:49 p.m.
"So, there were these two Digimon" Demo's voice echoed, "They were brothers. They were called Greymon. One was known as Blue, and the other was Black".
Bud and Rith sat quietly on the other side of the booth. The cafe was nearly empty and the rain outside heavily drowned out the rest of the noise. Other than Demo's voice.
"My partner Veemon and I spent months recruiting Digimon to help us fight the Greymon Brothers" he went on, his voice flat and precise. He knew exactly what he was talking about. "On that island, there had to be a ruler, so they were in charge. But these brothers didn't treat Digimon very well, they destroyed anyone who didn't do what they said. Sometimes they would destroy Digimon just to scare everyone straight".
Rith heard the cracks in Demo's voice. She had heard her father talk this way before. Almost as if this whole conversation played out in Demo's head, and now he was just repeating it. Bud finally understood why Demo was so disconnected from the world, why his parents tried to protect him for so long. Seeing what two Digimon could do to a stadium, Bud couldn't imagine how scary it probably was for Demo, who was only a kid back then.
"Veemon changed" Demo described, "He got bigger and stronger. They call it Digivolution. While our side and their soldiers fought each other, Veemon and I, along with some of our stronger friends, charged into their castle. It was scary, but separated from their army, Black and Blue were overwhelmed".
"What happened to them?" Bud asked. "Did Veemon…"
"No. I wouldn't let him. I wouldn't let anyone. Even if I really wanted to, and even if others thought it was a good idea" Demo replied. His hands gripped his coffee mug. He didn't need the caffeine. His reunion with Veemon and their fight against Bulkmon and Thundermon only happened that morning and his heart was still racing. The coffee soothed him.
"So, what did you do with them" Rith asked, after sipping her tea.
"Veemon and the others dragged the brothers out to the edge of the island and threw them into the ocean. We were all pretty sure they could swim back, but it didn't matter. We elected a new leader. All the Digimon who worked for the Brothers agreed to help rebuild and help us. Well, help them".
"And you came back?" Rith asked.
"Yeah. The night of the battle when I went to sleep, I woke up in my bed in our world".
"Just like that?" Bud replied.
"Just like that. I guess they didn't need me there anymore".
"And what about now? What about these?" Rith asked, raising her bracelet. "What does this mean?"
"I'm not sure. In the Digital World, I found a device they called a Digivice and I could use it to strengthen my bond to Veemon. I'm guessing these bracelets can do the same thing" Demo glanced at his bracelet. "I bet Veemon could tell us more, but I don't know how to get him out again".
"Good" Bud said boldly, "the less monsters bursting out of nowhere the better".
Demo gave him a look. Rith side-eyed Bud from over her tea. Bud noticed and explained.
"Look, I believe you Demo. There is no doubt in my mind you helped your friend fight giant dinosaurs. And it hurts me to admit something that crazy. But, like, that was scary. I thought I was going to die. I don't want to be around you anymore if monsters are going to appear like that".
"Bud. The Digital World might need my help again" said Demo.
"Well, tell them no" Bud nearly shouted, "or tell them to call the Secretary of Defense or something. You may have been a help back then, but now-"
"Now what?" Demo asked, his look becoming a glare.
"Now, I don't know, now you're here" Bud said, arms folded, "and I'm here. And our families are here. It's different".
"It's not different" Demo coldly replied, "Not for me".
Bud slid out of the booth and stood up. "Well, whatever is about to happen, you either back out or clean it up faster than three months".
"Bud" Demo whined.
"I mean it, Demo. You're my friend, but I don't want to get electrocuted to death or impaled on a horn. If being around you means my life is in peril, then I don't know if I can let you crash on my couch anymore".
"Bud, this is stupid. Think about everyone else in this city. Thundermon is still out there right now and people-"
"Then until that thing is taken care of, I don't want to be around you" Bud marched off. When he went through the door he ran down the street and caught up to a parked cab.
Demo turned back to Rith, who sat still with her hands folded together. Demo sighed and put a hand over his forehead. Bud was the only person he considered himself close to, and now he might not even have him. All because the Digital World needed help from him again, but sent no message, no warning. Just monsters and trouble. What could he do? How could he learn anything more about all this? Demo looked up at Rith again, she continued to sit still and wait. What did she have to do with any of this?
"Now what?" Rith asked quietly.
"What do you think?" Demo replied, a fist under his cheek.
Rith checked her watch. "I think my curfew is in an hour" she said, "and I think you have more to tell me about these Digimon".
Part 2: Meanwhile
January 4th
9:13 p.m.
Heavy metal music blared from the wall-mounted stereo throughout the private gym. Hado was a man in his late thirties, his life was spent exercising, bulking himself up with proteins and enhancement drugs. By the time he was twenty-one he could lift an old-school motorcycle over his head. He went from shattering bones on the football field to throwing grown men off of tables in the professional wrestling circuit, where he earned the name "Hado The Horrible".
Claiming victory of some of the industries top talents, Hado sold action figures, posters, and T-shirts. He appeared in commercials and TV broadcasts, splattering stacks of watermelons on late night talk shows. His muscular form could be seen in action movies where he played hired henchmen and movie monsters. Men cowered and envied him, women swooned and idolized him. He was on the fast track to fame, until his very public humiliation.
Hado had spent the last fifteen-minutes on the phone with agent, lifting a 2-ton weight in one hand as he barked and bullied his employee, who called him with nothing but bad news. Recently, footage of Hado at a night club began circulating. This video contained the drunken Hado fighting his way through the club. Among his victims were a pregnant woman, as well as a man with a freshly broken arm prior to Hado throwing him over a table. This rampage was stopped not by a bouncer or a police officer, but by a drink server who hit Hado over the head with a steel vase.
After exhausting his lungs and his agent's ear, Hado hung up the phone and smashed it against his window.
Bump-pa-bump. Bump-pa-bump. Bump-pa-bump.
Next came the 2-ton weight which he threw into his large fish-tank. Yellowtail and koi flopped on the tiled floor among multicolored pebbles and broken glass.
Bump-pa-bump. Bump-pa-bump. Bump-pa-bump.
Hado paced the gym, flipping benches and tossing water bottles across the room.
Bump-pa-bump. Bump-pa-bump. Bump-pa-bump.
His career, no, his entire life was threatened by this video. Everyone in the world could see it. He could lose his job, his sponsorships, everything. In his anger, Hado slammed his arm against his glass window.
Bump-pa-bump. Bump-pa-bump. Bump-pa-bump.
VITAL BURST!
From the radio on the wall exploded out a bright green light. Hado shielding his eyes and lifted another weight off the ground, ready to slam it into whatever appeared. When the light began to take the shape, Hado opened his eyes and saw some sort of dinosaur. With sharp claws and an unyielding grip, Hado was caught and lifted by the monster, who barely fit under the high ceiling of the gym.
"Hey! Put me down, ya punk!" Hado yelled.
The monster, Tyrannomon, roared back at Hado. It opened its jaws slowly to chomp Hado's head off, but hesitated when it smelled something in the room. Hado was confused, as Tyrannomon dropped the man on his bottom and began sniffing the air some more. Tyrannomon's head dropped down and it began eating the fish off the floor.
With a moment of freedom, Hado ran out of the gym and hid behind the sliding door of the shower in the adjacent bathroom. He stood in the shower trying to think his way of this situation.
"Maybe I could call animal control" he said to himself, "No, that's stupid! I would at least need to call a zoo". Hado slammed his hands onto his head, realizing he left his phone out there. He slid down the wall of the shower and began hyperventilating.
"This is ridiculous" he huffed, "I'm not some little girl. I'm Hado! Hado the Horrible! I'm the strongest there is". Hado stood back up, "I'm not going to let this big, dumb lizard push me around".
He walked out of the shower and up to the door leading back into the gym, "Hey, loser" he yelled from behind the door, "You better scram! Or I'll come out there and beat the snot out of you!" Hado counted to three, which took longer than it should have, and kicked open the door.
Hado stood dumbfounded, which was new for him. Well, at least the "founded" part. Tyrannomon wasn't charging at the door or stealing money from Hado's wallet or anything, he was throwing Hado's weights into a wall. Barbells and weight plates stuck out of the walls like pencils in classroom ceilings. As Hado stood there mouth agape, Tyrannomon glanced over at him. Tyrannomon picked up another plate and handed it to Hado.
"Huh?" Hado said.
Tyrannomon pointed its claw towards the wall.
"Hmm" Hado pondered. With a mean swing of his arm, Hado threw the plate like a frisbee into the wall. It bounced off the wall and fell to the ground, causing Tyrannomon to laugh. Hado continued being confused, but then smirked. "So, you like to break things" Hado asked the dinosaur, "Maybe I could find you something else to break". Hado walked over and picked up his phone, which continued to play the dreaded video. "Yeah" he said, "plenty more to break".
January 4th
9:50 p.m.
Bud and Demo awoke from their sleep when they heard property damage outside. Bud slowly crawled out from his bed, Demo abruptly fell from the couch in the living room. While they peered out different windows, both of them saw the commotion across the street. Outside of the club neither of them were ever cool enough to visit was a big, red dinosaur. Beside the dinosaur was a muscular man very excitingly yelling at the club.
"Post this, you nerds!" He yelled as people ran out from all exits.
Tyrannomon had slashed nearby cars, even kicking one parked car into another. As Hado cheered him on, Tyrannomon gathered fire in his mouth and spat a huge fireball at a sign hanging above the club. The neon sign melted and fell from above, crushing yet another parked car.
"You can spit fire?" Hado asked. "That's awesome!"
"What is that? Another Digimon?" Bud asked as he walked into the living room and watched out the window next to Demo.
"Yeah, I recognize it" Demo replied.
"Recognize it? Like, you've met it?"
"No, what I mean is I've seen one of them before. The Greymon brothers that Veemon and I fought had armies of these things. It's a Tyrannomon".
Demo stood suddenly and reached under the couch, pulling out a wooden baseball bat. Demo started towards the door, but Bud called after him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?"
Demo turned and replied, "Those people are in danger".
"Well, what are you going to do?"
"Try and help. You said it yourself, this Digimon stuff is my problem".
"That doesn't mean I want you to get yourself killed! Can't you get that blue guy to do something?"
"I haven't been able to summon Veemon since the stadium. I don't know how this bracelet works yet".
"So you're just going to hit the dinosaur with a bat?"
"Unless you have a bazooka under your pillow".
Bud looked at Demo quietly. He never knew his roommate to be so confident, to speak with such authority. Maybe this was the part of himself he hid for so long.
"Wait for me" Bud replied, "I have some hockey sticks in my closet".
Demo smiled and nodded.
Part 3: Currently
The sound of Demo's baseball bat snapping against the back of Tyrannomon was followed by one of two sounds: Hado's boastful laughter, and the snap of Tyrannomon's tail against Demo's chest. Demo couldn't decide which came first, he was too busy skidding backwards across the pavement.
Bump, bump. Bump, bump. Bump, bump.
Bud kept his hockey stick up and yelled, "You better stop this! Right now!"
Hado laughed again and walked in between Bud and Tyrannomon. "What are you two losers supposed to be?" He asked, "Neighborhood Watch?"
Hado continued to laugh as he grabbed the stick from Bud and snapped it over his knee. Then he pointed at Bud and told him "you're next".
Bump, bump. Bump, bump. Bump, bump.
Tyrannomon went back to smashing the windows of the club. Demo sat on the pavement trying to lift himself up. He watched helplessly as Hado grabbed Bud and forced him to the ground, stomping on his face with glee in his laugh. Demo glared at his bracelet, which began glowing yellow.
Bump, bump. Bump, bump. Bump, bump.
VITAL BURST!
A yellow V-shaped arrow launched upward from Demo's bracelet and cascaded down onto the street. Veemon appeared. His arrival grabbed the attention of Hado and Tyrannomon. Veemon began stretching his arms and yawning. It appeared all he really did need was a long nap. Veemon looked back at Demo.
"Isn't that your friend under that guy's boot?" Veemon asked.
"Uh, yeah, you mind helping him out?" Demo replied.
"You got it!" Veemon gave a thumbs up and ran forward.
Hado laughed, "Please! What's this little dork supposed to-"
"Vee Headbutt!" Veemon yelled as he launched his boulder-like cranium into Hado's crotch.
To describe the sound that came out of Hado would be like describing nuclear physics to a 4-day old kitten. Needless to say, Hado collapsed onto the street.
Bud rose into a sitting position, "Thanks, little guy. I'm Bud, by the way".
"Yeah, I remember! You were with Demo earlier!"
Tyrannomon roared and tore the club doors from their hinges, throwing them to the side of the street.
Veemon looked at Bud, "We'll talk later". Veemon then looked back at Demo, who was finally able to get up.
"Call the cops and get somewhere safe" Demo told Bud as he ran by him and into the club.
"Best idea you've had all night" Bud grumbled.
Tyrannomon threw Veemon across the club like a rag doll. Veemon crashed into bottles behind the bar as Tyrannomon continued rampage.
"If he keeps this up he'll burn down the whole club," Demo said out loud, "maybe even the whole block".
Demo grabbed a fire extinguisher from the nearest wall and yelled at Tyrannomon. As the dinosaur turned towards Demo and readied a fireball, Demo filled its mouth with foam. For a moment it worked, and it seemed the foam was at least annoying the monster. Tyrannomon lunged, but Demo hit the floor causing Tyrannomon to go flying onto the stage. Its large, cumbersome body thrashed atop the DJ booth. Music discs shattered under its weight as Tyrannomon spat foam from its mouth.
Veemon appeared atop the bar table just in time to see Tyrannomon ready another fireball towards Demo. Veemon looked around frantically. He let out an "ah hah" when he found drink squirters. Tyrannomon was yet again distracted, this time by streams of Lemon Lime soda and Diet Pop being sprayed at him from Veemon. Tyrannomon lifted the entire DJ table and threw it at Veemon. Veemon dove to the floor as the table broke every wall-mounted glass bottle Veemon missed before.
"This isn't working! You need to Digivolve" Demo shouted.
"I can't, Demo" Veemon replied as he crawled across the floor.
Tyrannomon just kept throwing chairs while Demo and his empty extinguisher shuffled closer to Veemon.
"But why? You could do it before" Demo said, his back against a yet-to-be-thrown couch.
Veemon hid under a table across from Demo, "Before we were in The Digital World! I'm not as strong here".
Tyrannomon lifted the table over his head, but found no Veemon under it. Veemon gripped the bottom of the table tightly, knowing Tyrannomon wasn't smart to check the underside of the table he lifted.
"Besides," Veemon continued, "you needed a Digivice to Digivolve me, and you don't know how that new one works".
Tyrannomon spotted Veemon above him and threw the table across the room. Veemon fell off mid-throw and landed on the couch in front of Demo.
Demo poked his head around, "Well, we gotta try something. Keep him busy!"
Veemon leaped from the couch and tackled into Tyrannomon. After the blow was dealt, the foe tried slashing at Veemon, but missed with every swipe.
"Come on. Do something" Demo begged his bracelet as he pressed buttons randomly.
Tyrannomon blasted a fireball and Veemon became enveloped in flames. He fell onto his side, but got back up again and fought through the pain.
Demo's heart raced, he could hear Veemon's cries of pain with every punch and kick Tyrannomon delivered. And all Demo could do was beg for the bracelet to work. And it did.
Part 4: Then
January 5th
7:20 a.m.
Rith barely slept that night. Her mind was racing with everything Demo told her. A world of monsters, a war with armies of super-powered creatures, humans chosen to save them, it all sounded like fantasy. But the bracelet she wore on her arm reminded her just how real it all was.
Pulsemon, this electric dragon child who went from roaring at police officers to chilling in her bracelet. It was all so overwhelming. She didn't know what to tell Demo last night. When he told her about Veemon going into his bracelet, Rith lied and said Pulsemon just vanished. If he knew she had Pulsemon with her, would it be bad? Would Veemon have to fight Pulsemon again? She didn't want to be any more involved in this than she already became, so Rith told Demo she needed some time to process all of this.
Rith came downstairs and greeted her mother, who was washing dishes from last night, and her father, who was doing some paperwork at the table.
"Ready for school, dear?" Rith's mother asked.
"Yeah, I don't know. I'm kind of tired" Rith replied.
"I'll grab you a coffee on the way to school" her mom offered.
Rith's father looked up from his paperwork, "That's her solution to everything".
Rith chuckled with her father. Rith's mother huffed and finished up the dishes. "Be ready in five minutes, I gotta get my scrubs on" her mother instructed her.
When her mother left the room, Rith's father asked, "Everything okay, honey?"
Rith's eyes dropped from her father's face to his wheelchair. He had enough to worry about, he didn't need to hear his daughter talk about digital monsters right now.
The doorbell rang and Rith used the opportunity to dodge her father's question. When she answered the door, Rith was greeted by Bud.
"What are you doing here?" Rith asked as she shut the door behind her.
"I need your help" Bud replied, he looked tired and frustrated.
"Okay, but how did you know-"
"You can find anyone's address online, okay? Now will you please help me?"
"Help you with what? And where is Demo".
"He took him, Rith. He picked up Demo and left".
"Who? Who took Demo?"
"Veemon!"
Demo's head spun, his midsection ached, and as he awoke from his slumber he could feel the ocean air brush into his face. He placed his hand over his forehead and felt a painful lump. He couldn't recall how it got there, or how he got here atop shipping containers. Clearly he was in the shipping district, with the city to his right and the vast ocean to his left. Looking over the container, he would surely break something if he fell off. What could have brought him here? He feared Tyrannomon might have been responsible.
From the other side of the shipping container, Demo could hear scrapping up the side of the structure. Something was climbing up to the top of the stack. Demo prepared for the worst, but instead of seeing Tyrannomon, he was greeted by a large blue dinosaur with sharp horns. It kind of looked like Veemon. In fact, if Demo's reappearing memories were correct, it was Veemon. A champion form Veemon hadn't taken before.
"Veemon," Demo stuttered, "you look different, pal".
His voice was drowned out by a roar. This wasn't Veemon anymore. This was Veedramon. And he looked mad.
Next on "Digimon: Vital Spirit"…
Rith must master The Vital Burst and enlist the help of Pulsemon to help rescue Demo from Veedramon, the beastly evolution of Veemon.