Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. The concept of The Tamer v2.0: In His Name is a fanfiction idea. Please support the official properties.
The Tamer v2.0: In His Name
Chapter 25: Nightmare Motorcycle
Henry ran up and down the sand where their friends has been a moment before, "Crap! Where'd they go? We have to find them!"
He was about to chase after the beam of light when Leomon grabbed a hold of his shoulder, "No dice! Do you have any idea what'll happen if you just jump in that? There's no guarantee that you'll go where they did. You could end up anywhere! And what good will you do them then?"
"We can't just leave them!" Henry argued back, amazed that the lion was barely breaking a sweat as he tried to get free. In fact, the lion lifted him up into the air casually, dangling in front of his face, "Don't worry. They have Renamon and Andromon with them. I can't think of anyone better to have at your side. Those two can take care of them. What's important now is that we keep a level head."
"Moumantai, Henry!" Terriermon patted his partner. Juri looked to Takato, who was still staring off into space silently and tapped on his shoulder to snap him out of it. He didn't react. It took Guilmon nuzzling him with his snout to finally snap him out of it, "Huh? Oh, hi boy."
"Are you out of your funk, now?" Terriermon asked gesturing at the beam of light as it moved along the desert sand, "Because we've already run into a serious problem and I'm pretty sure you didn't even notice."
"Sorry, what's going on?" Takato looked between them in confusion, finally noticing half of their group were not present, "Where'd everyone go?"
Terriermon chuckled at being proven right while Leomon groaned in frustration. He really hadn't noticed their friends getting sucked up into the pillar of light! Juri pointed him towards the ever growing distant beam of light and explained, "They got sucked up into this beam of light that went past us!"
Takato raised an eyebrow in surprise, tracing the beam of light skyward, "Beam of light? From what? It's not connected to anything! It just…sort of goes up forever."
He traced its path with its finger up the sky until he was pointing straight up, "Well, crap that is a problem. They could be anywhere. They could even be in a completely different world!"
"Yes, we know! How do we find them?" Henry demanded, "Because we're not going to find them just sitting here doing nothing! Who knows what trouble they'll get in by themselves? Especially Kazu and Kenta. And you know Rika's probably going to try and pick a fight."
"She hasn't been that bad lately," Guilmon offered in her defense.
"I think they'll be fine. They have Andromon and Renamon too. Really, the only one I'm worried about is Kazu," Takato answered sheepishly, "But if we're going to find them, we can always go to the Hallowed Bastion. I can track them from there. Come on!"
He turned on his heels and started walking off in a random direction, stopping to check his digivice, and then continued on in a slightly different direction. Guilmon raced after his partner while the rest of them swapped nervous glances. There were so many questions now and Henry asked first, "What's the Hallowed Bastion?"
"Home City of the Ancients," Leomon answered quietly, lifting Juri up on to his shoulder, "We should keep up. We don't want to fall too far behind."
"How far is it?" Terriermon asked, climbing up onto Henry's head to sit without asking. He was heavy on Henry's head, until the digimon spread out his ears to offer some make shift shade. Takato pointed ahead, "That way! Maybe a few days? Actually, we're going to stop by an old house if that's okay. I want to get something first."
"I see time has done nothing to modify your concern for others," Leomon commented quietly, something Takato chose to ignore. Juri was less sure of that statement. As far as she could think, Takato had always been trying to help others. He'd even been trying to stop fighting between other digimon! She poked Leomon's head and asked, "What does that mean, Leomon?"
The lion grimaced, "The last time I saw The Tamer, he was less concerned with the well being of others and more concerned with ensuring they fulfilled their destiny. Whatever that would be. Even if it meant forcing them to watch the people they cared for die."
None of that sounded like the Takato she knew. Then again, she realized that this wasn't even the Takato she knew. This Takato was just someone wearing his face and running around with his name. The real Takato was lost…possibly in this world. Thinking about all of this made her heart feel heavy.
And why did Leomon feel the need to bring up destiny? Did he know something she didn't? She looked back at Leomon, "How do you know all this?"
"I don't know all the details because I wasn't there, but supposedly he allowed someone's mother to die to ensure that certain events happened the way they were supposed to," Leomon answered. He looked her way and offered a small smile, "It's alarming but I've learned it's better not to worry about it. It'll make you paranoid. Make you do things that you normally wouldn't. I think another one of the digidestined said it best: destiny will work itself out either way, so why worry about it?"
That hardly made her feel better. She felt a lump forming in her throat and tried to swallow it, but couldn't it. Maybe it was just too hot and dry to do it? Yeah, that had to be it.
Impmon followed Makuramon and the hostage Calumon through the endless desert and complained, "Hey! How much farther is this place yous was talkin' 'bout?"
"Not much farther, dear Impmon," the monkey answered playfully, poking the cage he was using to hold Calumon hostage, "Isn't that right my dear little pet? Oh, what fun we'll have when I return you to Lord Zhuqiaomon!"
"I don't think I'll like your idea of fun," Calumon's voice quivered in fear. Makuramon answered by shaking the cage as violently as he could, "Oh, come now Catalyst. I'm sure you'll enjoy all the little games we'll play when we finally meet our Lord!"
"I hope you ain't expecting me to bow coz' I don' got no lords," Impmon folded his arms, growing irate the longer he followed this monkey. It was the smart decision at the time - the monkey had him in a death grip and he'd be dead if he didn't agree. But now he was wondering if death would've been the smarter choice. It would've saved him from having to listen to this monkey chatter on and on about crap he didn't care about.
A small bright light appeared in the distance, one he hadn't seen before. Impmon's eyes narrowed and he looked at Makuramon with a raised eyebrow, "What's that?"
"That is my destination. I do have a gift to present. But don't worry, Caturamon will take care of you," Makuramon cackled. Impmon didn't like the sound of that laughter and turned to see a snarling dog just inches from his face. He leapt back, preparing two balls of fire in his hands, "How'd you do that?"
"Why is that the first thing everyone asks me?" the dog asked, noticing the cage in Makuramon's hand, "Is that it?"
Makuramon held out the cage with a big old grin on his face, "Indeed it is! The catalyst given digimon form by the Sovereigns themselves! And do help this poor little fellow. His services were useful in the acquisition of our goal."
"Alright," the dog nodded, getting so close to Impmon that his breath made him gag, "Listen well, little one. I am Caturamon, servant of the Sovereigns and guardian of this area. Tell me what you seek and I will help you acquire it."
Impmon rolled his eyes, skeptical of the wish granting and keeping the fireballs close, "Hey, I ain't da wishin' type."
Caturamon grunted his disapproval, snarling at the imp before blowing out the flames in his hands. Impmon panicked and reignited another set of flames quickly only to have them blown out again. Caturamon then added, "I can do this all day idiot. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Anything you want, you can have at our lord's grace. But this offer will only come once and won't be given again. What do you want, child?"
Impmon continued staring skeptically before finally answering, "I want the same thing I've always wanted: to survive. If that means bein' strong or smart, I don't care. I want to not need anybody' or anythin'!"
Caturamon stared at the imp in surprise, and that annoyed him, "WHAT?"
"Who hurt you?" was all he asked. Impmon was taken aback by that question because of how close it hit to home, "Who says anyone hurt me?"
"No 'mon is an island," Caturamon explained, "To want no one or anything...who hurt you?"
"NOBODY!" Impmon snapped angrily. Caturamon closed his eyes, taking a long and deep breath as if to indicate his frustration. Then he sighed, "Very well. I will grant your heart's desire: but what that means is power. Power unlike any other. And only one can grant that power. The sovereign himself! Lord Zhuqiaomon."
"I told you, I ain't got no lords!" Impmon protested, suddenly finding Caturamon taller than he was a second ago. That couldn't be right. He was eye level a moment ago. Unfortunately, it took Impmon just a second too long to realize he was sinking into the ground like he were stuck in quicksand. He tried to step out of it, but the struggle only made him sink faster, "HEY! WHAT GIVES!? What kinda trick is this? Get met outta here!"
"Do not resist. All will be well," Caturamon said, failing to be any more reassuring than that stupid monkey. Impmon growled, trying to grab at Caturamon in vain to keep himself above the ever rising sand. But it was too late now. His arms were now submerged in the dirt, leaving only his flailing hands reaching desperately for something. As it made its way up to his face, he tilted his head up to keep it above the rising earth. With his last breath, he cursed the damned dog and the monkey. He cursed himself for being so careless. Darkness took him, followed by a vision of large bird wreathed in flame. Then a flash of fire swallowed him.
They walked for the rest of the day, stopping only at the end of the day to eat bread from Takato's bag and sleep out in the open. As the night grew colder, they tried to get a fire going but had nothing but the bread wrappers to burn - something that only lasted a couple of seconds before the flames burned out. So they spent that night mostly going cold - something Guilmon vocally complained about despite being in a large desert.
Juri slept by Leomon's side, since his fur and his large size made him nice and warm. Sleeping beside him reminded her of when she was younger and her dad had been more open with her. It reminded her of all the times he'd let her fall asleep on his lap while he was working or watching TV, before carrying her to bed and tucking her in for the night. It was probably her best night's sleep in a long time. When she awoke the next morning, she found that the others had also moved in to be beside Leomon at some point in the night. Maybe he was just too warm to resist in this frigid cold desert. And she was well aware how insane that sounded when she thought it out loud.
They headed out again after a quick breakfast of some more bread and hurried on in the direction Takato led them. It was another day of endless trekking through arid heat under a baking sun until they saw what looked like several small mounds in the desert. From afar, it looked like a mass of hills. But the closer they got, the more it began to resemble igloos of mud with their doors sealed shut with scrap metal.
"What is this place?" Juri asked, looking around curiously at the many huts. The place was almost like a ghost town, except ghost towns had signs people used to live there. But there were clothes hanging off clothes lines and smoke coming from the chimneys. So someone had to be living here now, right? Takato took one look around, "A village by the looks of it. Let's see if anyone's home! HELLO! Anybody here? Were friendly! I promise! Don't mind the lion! Or the dinosaur. They're the nicest. The bunny dog thing is more dangerous than they are."
"Hey!" Terriermon grumbled, sticking out his tongue at Takato and turning his head in disapproval. Takato ignored him and knocked on one of the doors. When no answer came from inside the abode, he banged harder, "Anybody? Somebody? Hello! I swear we're friendly!"
"Takato!" Henry pulled him back, "What are you doing?"
"Knocking," he answered quietly, "What does it look like I'm doing?"
"No, I mean why are you banging on the door? We don't know who lives in there!" Henry corrected him anxiously, "For all we know, it's some crazy dangerous digimon who'll eat our face."
Despite his concerns, Takato shrugged it off and patted his head, "Don't be ridiculous Henry. Only Kuwagamon do that and they tend to live under the sand, not in huts this small."
"Okay, so what if it's something else? Something that wouldn't mind eating us!?" Henry pointed out. He and Takato stared at each other for the longest time before he knocked on the door again, throwing all of Henry's concerns out the window with it. Henry groaned in frustration, just as the metallic door slid open for a little brown bear made of dirt to peek out, "Hello?"
Takato put on his cheeriest face, "Hi! We've lost some friends and are looking for them. Then again, we're also a little lost ourselves. Do you have any water or some food?"
"You're not with that demon, are you? The crazy demon motorcycle," the little brown bear asked. Takato looked back at the rest of them with a raised eyebrow, skeptically remarking, "Demon motorcycle? Don't be ridiculous! We're not with a demon motorcycle! I've seen a crazy puppet, statues comes to life, and even world ending monsters from outside reality and not once have I ever seen a demon motorcycle!"
"What kinda digimon is that?" Juri pointed at the brown bear, "I've never seen one before like this."
"Chuchidarumon. They're a subtype or Frigimon only made with mud instead of ice and snow," Takato answered knowledgeably, "They're a really docile digimon too. Normally friendly. This motorcycle must have you guys really spooked if you're locking all your doors!"
"Get away from the door! If the motorcycle sees you, it'll come back!" a voice rang out from inside the hut. The door slammed shut after that, followed by the unmistakable sound of the click of several locks. Terriermon frowned, "Well that was rude."
"What do you suppose they mean by demon motorcycle?" Leomon asked. Henry shrugged and pointed out, "More importantly, why do they keep talking about the motorcycle and not the rider? I'd think the rider is more dangerous."
"Does anyone else hear that?" Takato asked, holding up a finger for complete silence. Juri closed her and cupped a hand to her ears, hearing only the distant sound of the wind blowing past. She opened her eyes and answered, "I don't hear anything."
Terriermon's ears perked up and he added, "I do! It's like a...a rumble."
"Something's coming," Guilmon added, lifting up his nose to sniff the air. Juri closed her eyes again and tried to listen carefully. Nothing. No wait, there was something. A soft hum or rumble. Like an engine. A motorcycle engine! And it was getting closer and louder. Turning her head towards the noise, she saw the unmistakable shape of an unridden motorcycle roaring their way with no one riding upon it. And the headlight of this motorcycle flashed a grim blood red as it raced towards them, like a singular eye pierced into their very being to judge them. She gasped and Leomon groaned, "You've gotta be kidding me! They were serious!? A demon motorcycle!?"
"Oh, that is new," Takato said almost too gleefully, "A self driving motorcycle!"
"Uh...it's coming right at us," Henry pointed out.
"We should run," Terriermon added, pulling on Henry so that he would turn and start moving. Everyone did just that, hurrying towards one of the huts and climbing on top of the mounds to avoid the rampaging vehicle. At first, it seemed they would be safe but that did nothing to slow the machine down or hinder it as it rammed at full speed into the side of the hut. It shook violently, Juri grasping on to her partner for dear life while he dug his sword into its side to anchor them. The others were hardly fairing any better, trying to keep from getting knocked off and hanging on only by digging their hands straight into the mud. The hut shook one more time and motorcycle emerged from the other side, throwing a Chuchidarumon forward onto the ground and running it over. The digimon let out a single pained cry before disappearing into data. During that brief moment the motorcycle passed under them, Juri swore she saw what looked like a small metallic rabbit riding on its seat - so small that it was hardly noticeable. In fact, it was smaller than Calumon of all things. And it didn't look to have any arms or legs! How was it driving the motorcycle?
The motorcycle turned on its spot and revved its engine at them, producing a loud roar as it charged again. This time, it raised up its front wheel to transfer its momentum and raced up the side of the hut.
"JUMP!" Takato shouted, as they all leapt off the hut in time for the motorcycle to fly past them and land on the other side. Leomon kept Juri on his shoulder, "Hang tight, Juri. This motorcycle really is a demon!"
"No, there's someone riding it!" Juri pointed out, "A little rabbit thing!"
"A rabbit?" Takato repeated, eyeing the motorcycle carefully. It had already regained its footing and was readying itself again, rushing their way. Takato ran in front of them and shouted, "HEY! LOOK AT ME! COME AND GET ME!"
"TAMER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Leomon roared out, rushing forward to stop the boy. The motorcycle had already turned though and was rushing right at him. Takato continued onward though, flailing his arms above his head, "That's right! Over here! Come and get me!"
"What is he doing!?" Juri gasped, closing her eyes to avoid seeing what she thought she was going to see. There was a loud thump and soft crash. Her heart stopped. The only person who had any idea how to get them back had just thrown himself in front of a motorcycle! They were doomed! Royally doomed. She peeked her eyes open a little to see Takato on the sand, cradling something in his arms as he looked over his shoulder at the motorcycle continuing into the distance. Now with Guilmon riding upon it. As he stood up, Juri could make out the metallic rabbit in Takato's arms and it weakly apologized, "I'm sorry! I saw everything. As soon as I was on the seat, I lost all control. It was like the motorcycle was making me do those things!"
"It's alright, MetalKoromon," Takato assured the little bunny and stroking its head. He handed the digimon over to Leomon and announced, "Do you mind holding this? I need to go save Guilmon!"
"HERE I COME TAKATOMON!" Guilmon roared at the top of his lungs, turning the motorcycle to face him. There was something off now about the red dinosaur, something different about him. Almost like he was possessed. MetalKoromon urged Takato, "Don't do it! If that motorcycle gets you, it's all over! All it wants is to find stronger riders! As soon as it does, it kicks off whoever is on it and kills everything else. Please! Don't do it!"
"I'm not letting anything happen to Guilmon," Takato said, adjusting his goggles over his head to cover his eyes. He looked back at Leomon and declared, "Be ready to knock me off as soon as you can!"
"What are you going to do?" Henry asked. Takato shrugged, "Get on the motorcycle, see what happens, maybe take it for a ride afterwards."
He ran forward again and Henry groaned, "What's with the throwing himself in danger act? Is he crazy or stupid?"
"We all know it's both," Terriermon remarked.
The motorcycle revved again, and Guilmon shouted, "YOU'RE ALL MINE NOW!"
"Then come get me!" Takato shouted back, standing in front of the motorcycle with his arms wide open. The motorcycle roared its engine and charged in again, going faster than it had before. Still, Takato didn't move. Just as she was sure he'd get run over this time, the motorcycle's brakes shrieked as it slid to a stop in front of him. It idled there with Guilmon staring Takato down, "YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT!"
"Yeah, I'm right in front of you. No need to shout. Or be rude," Takato rubbed his ear. He stepped onto the side of the motorcycle and took hold of the handle bars. Immediately, Guilmon fell off in a daze so that Takato could get on the seat. He was hilariously small on its large frame, scooting as far forward as he could to grab both the handle bars and the foot rests, "So how does this work? Is it immediate or - CONTROL ACHIEVED! NOW WE RIDE! FIND STRONGER! KILL ALL ELSE! Yeah, I don't think so. Also, why do you sound like Rika? IMPOSSIBLE! CONTROL HAS BEEN OVERRIDDEN! SURRENDER TO MY WILL! I AM THE BEAST! With all that shouting, I don't doubt it. YOU WILL RESPECT MY WILL! Don't tell me how to live my life. It's my body and it's my choice!"
It was weird. One second, Takato was screaming at the top of his voice and the next he spoke with the calm he'd shown before. And he was arguing with himself using the two voices.
"Tamer, what's happening?" Leomon shouted at him. Takato answered, "The demon motorcycle is trying to take over my brain, I think. It's not very good at it. I HEARD THAT! That's because I said it as loud as I could. YOU WILL BREAK BEFORE ME BOY! Boy? I'm older than you, I think. Also you look really familiar, have we seen each other before? HOW DO YOU RESIST!? BREAK! BREAK! BREAK! Not with that attitude, I won't. Maybe you ought to try asking nicely? It's not going to hurt. AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! I WILL RUN YOU DOWN!"
"Is it safe to get close?" Henry asked aloud. Takato shot him a dirty look and roared, "TRY IF YOU CAN MEAT BAG! TOUCH MY TREADS! I DARE YOU! It's probably safe. I still have control over the finer motor functions so it's not like it can make me rev the handle bar. WHY WON'T YOU SUBMIT? You didn't say please. SO YOU WILL IF I DO? I didn't say that. I HATE YOU SO MUCH! GET OFF! But I just got comfortable."
Henry stared at him quietly before asking the obvious question, "Okay, so what happens now that you're on there? If we knock you off, does the motorcycle just topple over or does it start moving on its own?"
"WHY DON'T YOU COME CLOSER AND FIND OUT MEAT SACK! LET ME RUN YOU OVER! KILL! KILL! KILL! Don't be rude. Those are my friends and you should treat them with respect. THEY CAN RESPECT MY TREADS! KILL THEM ALL! YES! KILL THEM ALL! Okay, that's totally uncalled for. And I don't know, Henry. It's not going anywhere so I think I'm in control of it but who knows what'll happen," Takato replied with a shrug. Leomon readied his sword and marched over to Takato, quietly answering, "There's only one way to find out. Hah!"
He swung it as hard as he could so that the flat end of the blade struck Takato in the chest. The boy grunted, thrown off the bike and landing beside it with a frown, "Wow! What a trip! I'd do it again if I didn't have to fight a killer bike for control of my own body. Now where did you come from? I mean...you weren't here last time I was in the Digital World. Another world? Another version of the Digital World? What's your story?"
"Not knowing things seems to be a theme for you, doesn't it?" Terriermon observed. All eyes were on the motorcycle now as it sat there unmoving. Its engine was still running despite having no rider, but it had lost all ability to propel itself forward without a rider to steer or keep it balanced. Then it toppled over into the sand. Guilmon sniffed the motorcycle and Takato dusted himself off, "Well, that's that. We should not do that again."
"We? That was all you, Takato," Henry slapped his back, then looked back down at the motorcycle. They were all thinking the same thing, even though they weren't saying it. They should probably destroy it. Leomon raised his sword above his head, "Well, let's finish this!"
"Wait!" Takato interrupted, "If we destroy this, someone's going to need to absorb its data. The last thing we need is for its data to get loose into the Digital world! Who knows what kind of damage that could do if all that...killing intent ended up scattered. It might drive us all crazy. Or, worse, it could just mean the motorcycle reformats somewhere else. And then we'll be right back where we started."
"Are you sure about any of that?" Leomon asked, poking the motorcycle with the pointy end of his sword. The motorcycle revved its engine in protest but that just made Leomon jab it harder. Everyone else leapt back in surprise, covering their ears as it roared even louder. Terriermon commented, "I guess it's still kicking."
"But it doesn't look like it can do anything without a rider so who cares?" Henry pointed out. The motorcycle continued to rev its engine in protest, trying in vain to do something other than just lay on the ground. The noise started to draw attention though as the mud bear digimon started to emerge from their huts en masse to see the motorcycle for themselves. One of them looked at it, "Is it…is it beaten?"
"Looks like it," Leomon said, continuing to poke it with his sword, "As long as no one else climbs on it, it'll just lay there and gather dust."
That announcement drove the motorcycle into a rage as it started roaring its engine as loud as it could, making its rear wheel spin so fast that it began to spin in place on the ground. The Chuchidarumon retreated away in terror until Leomon jabbed his sword between the spikes of the rear wheel to stop it from spinning. The sword made a sickening grinding noise as the wheel became stuck on the sword and the engine finally died. Takato pointed at the motorcycle, "Are you done throwing a tantrum? Because it's not going to help you get out of your situation. And it's not going to make us help you get up. So why not stop with this and-"
As Takato continued to lecture the motorcycle, another soft rumble caught their attention. Juri clung on to Leomon, "Earthquake!"
"Not an earthquake! A sink hole!" Takato said, moving back from the motorcycle as the ground opened up just ahead of them. As they retreated away, the hole widened large enough to swallow the motorcycle into it. About a meter down into the hole was a layer of boiling hot magma that consumed the motorcycle. The motorcycle revved its in engine, creating a horrible grinding noise as it sank into the molten crag and burst into flame. One of the Chuchidarumon threw a rock at it as it sank in, "Good riddance!"
"That stupid thing has been terrorizing us for weeks! We could only leave our homes for a few moments at a time before it came to attack us!" another added, "Thank goodness it's all over."
Juri shared that sentiment - watching Takato go half insane like that was terrifying. What would possess the motorcycle to even behave like that? Why was it so driven to destroy everything? What had the Digital World ever done to it to make it like that?
The earth began to rumble again, and the surface of the lava began to ripple outwards until the motorcycle emerged. It flew out of the pit that had opened in the ground, driven by a new rider - a tall man wearing all leather under black armor. It wore a violet mask over its face, concealing everything but three glaring eyes full of blood thirsty glee. The rider cheered, "OH YEAH! THIS IS POWER, RIGHT HERE! REAL POWER! OH, I CAN FEEL IT! ALL OF IT! LISTEN UP! I AM BEELZEMON, RIDER OF THE BEHEMOTH, KING OF THE DIGITAL WORLD, DESTROYER OF WORLDS, AND WRECKER OF YOUR SHIT!"
"Well now I've seen everything and I hate it," Takato threw up his hands in frustration, "I mean what did I miss? The Digital World is a lot more surreal than I remember."
"He smells familiar," Guilmon sniffed in the Beelzemon's direction, "He smells like…Impmon."
Juri squinted her eyes at Beelzemon, unsure there was a resemblance between the digimon. She had only seen Impmon once, and this was definitely not him. But Guilmon seemed to recognize him. Takato blinked and pointed at the digimon in disbelief, "That's Impmon? He's a lot taller than I remember."
"Wait, Impmon is the one who kidnapped Calumon, right?" Henry pointed out. Beelzemon grunted, "Hmph."
"Where is he!?" Terriermon shouted, "Don't you know what you did by giving him over to the Devas!"
"So what? That ain't my problem," Beelzemon growled, revving the engine of the motorcycle. Takato snapped his fingers, "I got it! You're infected by the motorcycle! It's in your head and making you exceptionally violent! We just got to fix that and knock you off."
"Knock me off? What? Are you mockin' me!?" Beelzemon roared. He cracked his knuckles and reached for a strap on the side of the motorcycle, producing a double barreled shotgun which he cocked by spinning it in his hand. He pointed it straight at them, "I'll show you! TAKE THIS!"
"DUCK!" Takato shouted, diving onto Guilmon and pushing him to the ground. Henry followed suit, holding Terriermon close as he dove for the dirt. Leomon followed suit, removing her from his shoulder and hugging her tight as he leapt for safety behind one of the buildings. All of the Chuchidarumon ran away in a panic, running into their homes for safety while Beelzemon roared, "THAT'S RIGHT YOU LITTLE SHITS! RUN! RUN AWAY! AH-HA-HA-HA!"
"So did he always swear this much or is that just the motorcycle?" Terriermon asked, watching Beelzemon rev the engine again as he turned the motorcycle towards them. He grinned ear to ear and revved his engine one more time before turning away from them. He raised his middle finger at them and rode off into the distance, taking one last chance to shout, "I DIDN'T NEED HUMANS' THEN AND I DIDN'T NEED 'EM NOW! SCREW YOU DWEEBS!"
"Well, at least we know Impmon's safe," Takato said dryly, taking a moment to dust the sand off himself before helping his partner up. Guilmon frowned, "He seemed really mad. I hope he's not mad at us."
"I doubt it," Takato frowned, "We got two choices: go after him to find Calumon or keep going to the Bastion to find the others."
Juri didn't like the fact that they had two equally difficult choices to make in front of them and frowned at Henry's answer, "That shouldn't even be a question. We find Rika and the others, then we go after Beelzemon. Besides, without Calumon, none of our digimon can digivolve. We'll need as many of us together as we can to stand a chance. Rika's our best fighter and Juri's still new to all this. No offense, Juri."
"None taken," Juri waved it off, putting on her biggest smile while feeling more useless than she had a in a while. Leomon was probably the strongest digimon on their team right now, and she hadn't done anything with him. Rather, he'd taken initiative on everything. She felt like a horrible partner right now.
Author's Notes: They lost one set of friends, and promptly lost another they were looking for. What will Takato's group do now? Are Rika and the others alright? What about their families in the Human World? Find out all this and more in the next chapter of The Tamer v2.0 - In His Name due out next Friday September 20th at 5 PM CDT. Let me know what you guys think in the reviews section! Don't forget to favorite the story to show support and to follow to keep up with all the latest updates! That's all I have for now, so let's look at previews for the next chapter!
She removed her backpack and thrust it into Kazu's hands, "Besides, Renamon and I have practically carried you guys since we got here anyway."
Kazu groaned and dropped the bag, "What's your deal with me? It's like you personally enjoy crapping on me!"
Rika put a hand on her hips and raised her eyebrows grumpily, and the boy quickly picked the bag back up in a panic.
"Well, you do make it easy for her," Kenta answered. Ryo stopped in his tracks to look at Rika, staring unblinkingly at her. She wished he would stop doing that, "What?"