Madi
When Madi came to, she was lying in a bed. She started reflecting, going through the last moment she remembered. Bearmon almost reaching her, a flash of lightning, then nothing. She sat up immediately.
The room she was in was well kept, bland white, but functional. There were no doors, no windows, nothing for her to escape through. She couldn't even find a vent. She reached for her pocket, unsure if she had her phone. She found only empty pockets.
She flung the blanket off of her, leaning over and out of bed. The digivice and card case normally at her hip was on the night stand. She grabbed them as she slowly got out of bed. She started to feel around the walls, looking for some hint of a door. She didn't just teleport here, after all. A voice came from the opposite side of the room, "You won't find anything there." It says, blankly.
Madi jumps, surprised as she turns. The man in the cloak was standing inside a door frame that wasn't there before.
"Where am I? Where's Bearmon?" She asks, trying to give off no emotion.
"He ran off." He answers. "Nowhere to be seen."
"Liar!" She snaps, breathing slowly to regain her composure, "He wouldn't do that." Her tone more calm this time.
He says nothing, only looking on. After a few moments, Madi looks away from him, breaking from the stare. "What do you want from me?" She moves, circling the room.
The cloak hides everything but his mouth, he smirks when he answers, "I don't want anything from you. It's what I want for you."
"Okay fine. Tell me that then." She rolls her eyes.
"In due time." He answers, monotonously.
Madi hunts the room with her eyes, looking for something, anything to use as a weapon. The room is blank. "So I'm bait then?" She asks, trying to open a drawer in a study, it doesn't budge.
"Not at all." He answers, a slight smile in his tone now. "I would say, incomplete. Were you Bearmon's original partner, you'd be ready for what's next. But you haven't biomerged with him yet."
Madi turns, confused at the statement, "How do you mean?" She asks, "Not ready?"
The man makes no effort to hide what he's been doing, "I'm in the process of perfecting evolution for digimon and humans alike." He begins, "The two together make for a stronger being. Once you've biomerged, a transformation takes place, allowing your mind and body to become….transferable."
Her face twists even more in confusion, "You're going to put humans in nonmon bodies?" Her tone is utter shock.
"I call them Paragon, but yes!" He says, joyously. "Even for someone who doesn't know about them, it's the next logical step."
Madi glares at him, "I've seen the results of your work." She says, nearly hissing, "Those things are not the next step. They're slaves." She stomps toward him. "You're not looking to help, you're looking to enslave!"
The man laughs, snapping his fingers, a barrier activating between the two. He answers her visible confusion at the screen between them, "You're in the digital world. I have all the control here."
Bearmon
A car pulled up behind Madi's. Bearmon peaked up to see Rika and Jeri. He opens the door, still a little off balance. The shock from the lightning strike still effecting him. The rain was still coming down when Rika ran up to the door and got in, he moves back to the passenger seat to make room for her.
"Are you okay?" She asks as the back door opens and Renamon steps in.
Bearmon only shakes his head. A few minutes later, they were all on the highway again. Rika driving Madi's car, Jeri driving her own. They made a stop at a gas station, taking shelter from the rain while they tried to figure out what to do.
Rika and Jeri settled on calling Dr. Wong. Renamon, stayed with Bearmon.
"It's not your fault, you know." Renamon says, once Rika was out.
Bearmon just stares at the floor.
"I know you, you wouldn't let this just happen." She continues, "No matter what happened, this is on them."
"They were different." He finally says. "They came straight for us. We were fighting because I was too focused on what I wanted. She was right, if I had been concerned about working with her instead of to protect her, this wouldn't have happened."
The rain starts to lighten up along with the clouds. The two are silent.
"Rika and I fought once." Renamon breaks the silence after a few minutes. "I decided I didn't need her to be the strongest. That I could do it on my own." She sighs, thinking of the memory. "I was wrong. But so was Rika. Stress had gotten to her and she lashed out at me. But when I was fighting a digimon that had bio-emerged, I wasn't nearly as strong without her. I couldn't even fight the same, knowing she wasn't there. But when it started to get bad, she was there for me. We never fought like that again. We realized that…" she trails off, looking at her partner, "we're better together."
Bearmon leans his head against the door. "I may not get that chance." He says. "They took her from me. There's no telling what's going to happen now."
"There is." His friend says, calmly. "You're going stop feeling sorry for yourself, stand up, and go help your girl." Her tone matter of fact.
"Easy for you to-" Renamon cuts him off.
"Anything other than agreement means you don't care." She says harshly. "That girl is your partner. You're connected to one another. You're better together and you will stop at nothing to be there for her." She lectures, her words stinging with every syllable.
Rika opens the door, getting in. "We have to move fast. Dr. Wong picked the nonmon up on radar, but he also picked up a portal." She starts the car. "This weather is from it being created and then the nonmon bio-emerging."
The rain stops, nearly suddenly as the clouds start to disappear.
Bearmon sits up, straightening his hat. He grabs the necklace from the cup holder, wrapping the chain around his left arm straps. "Let's go get Madi." He says, hope filling him once more.
Renamon closes her eyes, smiling.