Chapter 2: The Bark and the Bite
It was clear now that Monochromon, the dinosaur Digimon, was after them. Seeing scorches of flame light up in the distance, Austin and Justice and their newfound Digimon companions decided to seek shelter deeper in the forest. The trees gave cover, some with massive dark blue leaves like palm trees, other with branches stretching for meters above the others. It was like a maze. The vegetation looked the same as the next with a carpet of flora and leaf litter. Anyone that would dare try and explore this forest would only get lost in the process. And that's exactly what they hoped for Monochromon to fall for.
Once they found a good place to sit, the two humans were able to take in their surroundings, which gave them a very clear message. They were no longer home, or on the same planet in that manner. Wherever they were, it was all alien to them. Raptormon and Veemon, their "Digimon partners" filled them in on what Digimon and the Digital World were, the world that they were in. Overall, they remained skeptical of the whole thing.
"Okay, one thing at a time." Austin told them. He moved, pacing around trying to get what he heard into his mind. "So basically, we got sucked into this world after we were sent that weird message. Now we are stuck here until we do something. Is that right?" He tried to make sense of this but wasn't sure if it came out right.
"Yeah that sounds like you got it," said Veemon. "And since we're your partners, it's our responsibility to kick evil in the ass and keep our world safe. So, let's be the best team we can be!"
"I didn't say I was his partner," said Raptormon quickly. "I said I'd hang around for a bit. I'm still not convinced that this tub of lard is my partner."
Veemon rolled his eyes. "You know, I feel like you're giving him a chance by basically staying here. C'mon, just admit that you're interested in him."
"I will not admit anything," said Raptormon in a stern tone, crossing his arms. "I don't believe in this shit. Leave me out of it."
"Wow, what made you such a grumpy lizard," said Veemon in a playful tone.
Raptormon just shook his head, turning away from the others. Austin chuckled at the interactions between the two Digimon. The opposite attitudes between them made for some hilarious conversation. Justice on the other hand remained silent and took a look at the mysterious watch on his wrist. His gloved fingers brushed over the center of the watch, which then light up in response. His analysis was halted by Veemon who grabbed his attention.
"So, do you guys understand what this means," he asked.
"Nope," responded Justice. He struggled to his feet slowly and stood on the spot. Taking his gloves and putting them in his pocket, staring at the blue Digimon in disbelief.
"Listen, we're not heroes shorty. But in order to get out of the situation we're in, we ain't got no choice." Austin nodded his head, feeling the same way.
Veemon gave him a surprised look, shocked at what he said. At first, he thought his explanation came across buttery smooth, but it didn't look like it got through their heads yet.
"Well, hopefully you two will come around to the whole tamer thing. Let's just talk about what we're going to do about that Monochromon."
Austin and Justice said that it would be best to avoid the digimon at all costs. Raptormon thought that was a good idea, but Veemon wanted to do things differently. He wanted to go all out and fight that digimon.
"We can beat him," said Veemon with a confident tone. "We have powers that he doesn't. We just need to try."
"And what exactly are the powers that we possess," asked Justice with a cautious tone.
Veemon pointed to the thing Justice was holding. The egg thing that he grabbed from the shrine was the key.
"With that Digimental of Courage, we can unlock a power that can get me to digivolve into a stronger form."
"Wait, slow down," said Justice. "What is digivolving and how does this thing fit into this?"
Veemon was trying to find the words to explain it, but Raptormon quickly butted in.
"Digivolving is the process of digimon transforming into stronger forms. Some digimon can retain a from forever while some can only hold it for a period of time. Veemon is referring to armor digivolution. It's a form of digivolution that uses the power of the digimentals to achieve a new form. Only certain digimon can use them, and Veemon is one of them. However, the one you're holding is activated by your courage, so you better be courageous or that shit isn't working."
The three looked at Raptormon after he finished his explanation. Veemon was the most surprised.
"How did you know all of that," asked Veemon curiously.
"I know a lot. My elder was a very knowledgeable digimon. He told me about many things, and digivolution was one of them."
"Well if you know so much, can you digivolve yourself?" asked Austin.
Raptormon turned away from the group again and crossed his arms. "No, I can't. My species is unable to digivolve. Sometimes it pisses me off that I'll never get stronger than this."
Austin regretted asking the question as it seemed to put Raptormon in a bad mood. Veemon continued the explanation from where Raptormon left off.
"Like Raptormon said, you need to have courage Justice. With your D-Watch, I can digivolve into a stronger form and take down that Monochromon."
"D-Watch?" Justice looked at the watch.
"Yup, the thing on your wrist. With that, I can draw upon your energy in order to evolve."
Justice and Austin looked at their watches in response, even more curious about the nature of the device.
Overall, the two were still trying to process everything that was said to them. There was so much information, but it just seemed to go in and out their ears. What really stuck with them was the idea of this digivolution thing. If they could pull it off, they would be stronger and able to fight that larger digimon. Austin and Justice were still hesitant to fight. Their thoughts were interrupted when Raptormon told them to climb the tree.
"Why do we need to climb," asked Austin nervously.
"Monochromon is coming. We need to hide. Climbing would give us a hiding spot and a way to see him, so climb."
The group climbed up the tree, Austin and Raptormon perched on one branch while Justice and Veemon climbed a bit higher and stopped at another. As they got there, Monochromon appeared. Raptormon was right that they could see him, but the others weren't sure about this as a hiding place. Monochromon didn't notice them above him, but he knew they were in the area.
"I know you little bastards are here. I have your scent, so show yourselves!" He continued to search the area. The group was trying to remain quiet until he left.
"Damn, there goes the getting lost in the forest plan," Justice murmured."
"What do we do if he sees us," whispered Austin to the others.
"We fight," whispered Veemon.
"No, we run," whispered Justice, adamant about not fighting.
Veemon looked annoyed that his human partner was so hesitant about fighting. He was starting to think that Justice had no courage to give for his digivolution. Veemon was about to say something when Monochromon started to shout furiously.
"You're all dead when I find you. Even if I have to tear down every tree in this forest, Once I have your corpses skewered, your last thoughts will be never coming to this world!"
Austin and Justice were going white after the threats made to them by the giant dinosaur digimon. Raptormon and Veemon were calmer, but Veemon still wanted to fight. In his fearful state, Austin had loosened his grip on his skateboard. It slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. It landed next to Monochromon. The four in the tree held their breath as Monochromon examined it. He then looked up and saw them.
"Aw, too bad kiddies," said Monochromon in a devilish tone. He then slammed the tree with his horn. It began to collapse.
Austin and Justice fell to the ground landing straight on their backs. Surprisingly, they weren't paralyzed, just in tremendous pain. Raptormon and Veemon on the other hand, landed on their feet, ready to fight.
"Justice! Are you alright?" yelled Veemon, rushing at his side and helped him up slowly. His body, limbs and muscles all felt like they had been pulled from their sockets and screwed back in again, badly. His head was aching so much he couldn't think straight. He slowly got up and grabbed his glasses that fell off his face. Surprisingly, the lenses were still intact.
"Well, I'm alive. That's a good thing, right?" He turned his attention to Austin who was still down. "You dead Austin?"
Austin slowly got on one knee, holding his back in pain. "I will be if we don't do something about this guy," he said weakly. Raptormon gave a sigh of relief in response.
"Justice I know you didn't want to fight, but we have no other option now," said Veemon with a slight grin on his face.
"Fine, just please don't do anything stupid," replied Justice, defeated.
Monochromon smiled devilishly. He opened his mouth and prepared for an attack.
"BIG BLAZE!" A stream of flames covered the ground heading for the group. Austin and Justice narrowly jumped out of the way. They then ran behind a boulder for shelter.
"So, what's the plan?" asked Veemon.
"We're going to sit back and stay out of your way," shouted Austin.
"Yeah, we can't fight that thing, so good luck," said Justice.
Raptormon and Veemon got into their fighting stances. Monochromon only stared them down. He was as still as a rock. He made a quick move with his head, causing Raptormon and Veemon to flinch. Monochromon knew that they were scared now. He charged them with surprising speed. The two dodged out of the way but were caught by his tail. The two were sent into a tree, causing it to fall. They got up slowly.
"That hurt," said Raptormon holding his arm. "I guess we need a plan to take him down."
"What did you have in mind," asked Veemon.
"We need to use our wits together. I'm fast and can get in quickly with weak, but multiple attacks. From what I've seen, you're strong, with average speed. You can hit him with a hard hit and leave him with some damage. We need to play off that to win this."
"I get what you mean. As you go in with your swift strikes, I'll hit him hard."
Raptormon smirked with excitement. He got into a running stance and bolted. Veemon was impressed with how fast he was. Raptormon seemed like he was disappearing with how fast he was moving. He got behind Monochromon in no time and attacked.
"VELOCISLASH!" Raptormon slashed at his back legs. Monochromon gave a painful roar, slumping down on a nearby log, crashing through it.
"You little pest!" Monochromon was distracted when Veemon launched an attack.
"V-KNOCKOUT!" Veemon hit Monochromon in the face with a hard punch. Monochromon went down. He shook his head and glared at Veemon. Veemon glared back, determined to not back down.
"You shouldn't have done that runt," said Monochromon as he got up. "Now you're in for it."
He was about to make a move when Raptormon made another move. "REBEL ROLLER!" Raptormon slammed into Monochromon in a ball. Monochromon didn't go down this time, but he was distracted again. Veemon launched another move. "V-HEADBUTT!"
Monochromon was hit again. He was furious now. Austin and Justice were in awe at the fight. They started to think that their digimon had a chance to defeat this Monochromon.
"Raptormon is so fast. How does he move like that?" Austin was in awe at the speed of his digimon friend.
Veemon and Raptormon launched forward towards Monochromon. With a forward thrust of his leg, Veemon boot kicked, nailing Monochromon in the horn. But in response, the large Digimon deflected his kick with his horn and launched him up in the air. Veemon flipped backwards and quickly landed on a nearby branch, giving Raptormon an opening. But Monochromon was onto their trick. He figured Raptormon would go for the legs again, so he prepared. Raptormon was going for the legs again, but the large Digimon swiped Raptormon with his tail hard. Raptormon was caught off guard and slammed into another tree.
"Now I'm finishing you off, VOLCANIC STRIKE!" Fireballs were hurtling towards Raptormon. He couldn't recover fast enough to dodge. A direct hit sent him flying into the boulder Austin and Justice were hiding behind. Austin ran to his side.
"Raptormon, are you ok!?"
"I'm fine, just a little sore," said Raptormon coughing up blood. "I'll get him on the next shot."
"No, you're down for the count. You can barely stand and you're coughing up blood." Austin knew that Raptormon needed to stand down.
"What are you talking about? I'm fine." He tried to stand up, but he fell back down. Austin caught him. "Ok, maybe I'm seriously hurt. But Veemon needs me to help him." He coughed again.
Veemon was standing up to Monochromon by himself now.
"I'm taking you down for sure now," he said punching his hands together.
"You can try, but you'll end up like your friend over there." Monochromon motioned towards Raptormon who was now sitting in Austin's arms.
Veemon felt a burning passion inside him. He wanted to make sure this scum didn't get out of this for free. He turned back to Monochromon and gave him a look of determination.
"I will stop you here. I swear it on my new role as a tamer's partner that I will take you down here." Veemon then charged Monochromon.
"Hah!" Monochromon responded with a charge as well.
Veemon started to wind up his fist to let loose a punch. Monochromon lowered his head to hit Veemon with his horn. Veemon jumped out of the way and punched Monochromon in his eye. He screamed in pain as he thrashed around. Veemon landed and prepared his V-Headbutt. Monochromon attacked before he got hit again.
"BIG BLAZE!" A blast of flames headed straight for Veemon. He couldn't get out of the way. The flames consumed him as he held his arms up to block. Monochromon charged in and tackled Veemon as well. He was charged through three trees before he was tossed towards the others. Veemon was tossed directly towards Justice, who caught him, but rolled onto the ground a few times due to Veemon's velocity.
"Veemon, are you ok!?" Justice was holding on to him tightly.
"I'm alright, a few bruises won't keep me down," said Veemon as he got up. He stumbled a bit as he stood up. Justice noticed that he was barely standing on his left leg. It must have been injured during the fight.
"Veemon, you can't keep fighting. I can tell you're in pain. We should run before anything else happens." Justice was adamant about this decision.
"I can't do that," said Veemon. "I have to beat this guy. If I can't do that, what's the point of me being chosen to be your partner? My strength will carry us to victory." He then turned to Justice. "And maybe yours could help too, but it seems like you're not going to show it.'
Veemon began to walk back towards Monochromon when Justice stopped him. Veemon was surprised that he was trying to stop him, but something else was in Justice's head. From the looks of it, it was not cowardice.
"Veemon, I've known you for only an hour. From what I've seen, you are reckless, yet full of heart." He took the gloves from his pockets and puts them back on, turning around and smiling at the blue dragon. "I have no idea what the fuck being courageous has anything to do with this fight. But right now, it's do or die time. And if it's my time to die, I'd rather go out with a bang than a whimper."
Veemon's confidence in his new partner was renewed. Despite his noncombatant personality, he sees that he'll step up to the plate when it all relies on him. Veemon closed his eyes, smirking.
"Thanks Justice. I know it's hard to not show fear in this situation, but I want to let you know something. I'm completely scared of fighting this guy. I'm not showing it to make you guys feel better. Even if you have courage, it's ok to be scared. Conquering fears is part of growth. Now let's conquer this one together."
"I couldn't agree more, Veemon. My strength is your strength." Justice and Veemon bumped fists to signify they were fighting together.
Suddenly, Justice's D-Watch began to glow. The Digimental of Courage also began to glow. Justice wasn't sure what to do until he heard a voice inside his head.
"Use this to amplify your courage towards your partner. Then say Digi-armor Energize to activate his digivolution."
Justice had no idea who that was speaking to him, but he decided that it was worth a try.
"Let's end this! Digi-armor Energize!"
Veemon was enveloped in a bright light. He began to change.
"Veemon armor digivolve to…Flamedramon the Fire of Courage!"
Austin and Raptormon looked with awe at the new form Veemon had taken. He was taller with a spike protruding from his head. He was wearing armor covered with flame-like designs that referenced the Digimental of Courage with belts on its upper arms and thighs. Flamedramon looked to Monochromon, who was still not worried about this fight.
"Change all you want kid, you won't beat me," he said confidently.
"Now let's get started, Round 2!" said Flamedramon.
Monochromon raced forward. "Guarding Tusk!" He charged his horn forward, intending to impale the armor Digimon. Flamedramon extended his arms, grabbing the larger Digimon's horn. The two collided with horn to claws. Flamedramon used this opportunity to grab the horn and toss Monochromon with a powerful throw. Austin and Justice couldn't believe the power that Veemon gained just by changing his form. Raptormon rolled his eyes with jealousy.
"Argh damn it," shouted Monochromon who was visibly pissed. "You'll pay for this. BIG BLAZE!"
The stream of fire raced towards Flamedramon. Justice shouted for him to move out of the way, but Flamedramon just stood there, motionless.
"It's ok Justice, I can handle this. Just sit back and watch. FLAME SHIELD!"
Flamedramon created a ball of flames around himself to block the attack. The flames were absorbed into the shield. As he lowered down the shields, Monochromon started to charge at him, tackling him through a tree, sending Flamedramon flying for a couple of feet before he quickly jumped to his feet. The two of them began to pant. From the looks of things, they were evenly match.
"You're not so bad, big guy." Flamedramon said, wiping the blood from his mouth, "Look, whatever what your master said to you, these two humans have done nothing wrong. So, for your sake, give up while you still can."
Monochromon gave a gruff sigh and lowered his head.
"I'm fighting on behalf of my master. Failure is not an option. I'd be choosing death if I were to turn and run."
There was a moment silence from the armor Digimon, knowing that in a way, Monochromon was similar to him, not wanting to run away from a fight with the odds were against you. As he jumped into the air, his eyes glowed pure red and his body was enveloped in flames. He started to spin into a rushing tornado, amplifying the flames around him to its maximum velocity. Monochromon raised his horn to counter in response
"FIRE ROCKET!"
"GUARDING TUSK!"
The two collided with tremendous force. Flamedramon was pushing hard as was Monochromon. The two seemed to be at a stalemate until Monochromon started to push back Flamedramon.
"Oh no, I don't have enough power to end this. He's pushing back hard. But f I give in, he will kill Justice and the others. I have to push harder."
Justice watched as Flamedramon tried to end this, but Monochromon was not giving up easily. He did the only thing that he could do, encourage his new friend.
"Flamedramon! Burn his carnivorous cranium back to whatever the fuck he came from!"
Austin joined in. "Beat that big fucker down and show him your strength!"
"You got it dude," cheered Raptormon.
Flamedramon felt his strength increase from the encouraging words of his partner and the others. The flames grew brighter and stronger. Monochromon was beginning to slide back.
"You're toast!" Flamedramon broke Monochromon's horn and landed the finishing blow. The two disappeared in a fiery explosion, with the others bracing the wind from the force. Flamedramon jumped out of it and landed in front of the group. The smoke cleared and Monochromon was down, still alive.
"I…lost." He weakly said You really did it, runt." He tried to get up, but his body did not respond. He was down for the count.
The group walked up to Monochromon. He was smiling.
"Why are you happy? You just lost." Flamedramon said confused.
"I am free from his control. The one that ordered me to kill you, you freed me from his control."
"Can you tell us more about this mysterious figure that sent you," asked Austin.
"Hold up." Justice interrupted, looking down at the defeated Digimon with animosity. "How do we know you're not just trying to bait us into attacking us again? You must have lost your goddamn mind if you think you're gonna trick us.
"C'mon Justice, it doesn't look like he's in a position to move," said Austin.
"I'm not taking any chances." Justice put his hands up in annoyance and stepped back. "But if you wanna get shit out of him, whatever happens next is on you."
Monochromon waited until the two stopped bickering. After that he cleared his mind. "I can try, but I don't know much. He came to me and looked into my eyes. I was paralyzed by his evil gaze. That's when he put me under his control. After that I was forced to do his bidding."
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Austin. Giving him a look of sadness. "But at least we freed you, right?"
"Yes, I thank you for that. Especially for not killing me."
"Your welcome." said Flamedramon, smirking at him.
"Can you get up?" asked Raptormon.
"Unfortunately, I can't move, so it might be my time to move on."
"I can help with that." A loud, low voice was heard. The group looked around until they saw a large figure in the sky. He was shrouded in darkness, making it hard to see his face, but Monochromon knew who it was.
"That's the one that took control of me: Tactimon!" Before Monochromon could say another word, Tactimon spoke.
"You failed me Monochromon. Your failure has granted you the punishment of death." Tactimon snapped his fingers and Monochromon began to fade away until he was gone.
"What the fuck just happened," asked Austin nervously.
"He's gone." replied Justice with a scared tone.
Flamedramon and Raptormon glared at Tactimon who looked back.
"I will send more to destroy you four. This is only the beginning."
Tactimon disappeared into thin air, leaving the group to stare puzzled into the sky. They had no idea what the hell just happened, or even how to react. Austin looked at the spot where Monochromon had laid. It was empty except for the impression he made on the ground. Flamedramon walked up to Justice as Raptormon stood against a tree. When Flamedramon got to Justice, he dedigivolved back to Veemon.
"Boy, we really showed him a thing or two, huh," said Veemon.
Justice only stood in silence. He didn't know what to feel right now. Despite the Digimon going tooth and limb in trying to kill them, he was under control against his will. He was as much as a victim as they were. He started to regret what he said to him.
"It's ok, he's not gone forever." Veemon reassured Justice. Sure, it was shocking to say the least, but he wasn't all torn up about it.
"He'll be reborn. Monochromon will be sent to a place called Primary Village to be reborn. It happens to all digimon since we're made out of data. Instead of our data getting deleted, it gets reconfigured back into a DigiEgg. Then we hatch as a new, fresh Digimon, usually without any memory. Don't you guys get reborn?"
Austin and Justice looked at each other, arching an eyebrow, then back to him.
"Well, not really," said Austin, his body stiffened a bit, becoming a bit uncomfortable with answering him. "When humans die, that's just it unfortunately. We only got one life to live, one life to enjoy."
Veemon's joyful demeanor quickly disappeared. The fact that humans compared to Digimon only have one life scared him. He swallowed a lump in his throat, unable to utter a word. The mere idea alone seemed cruel and terrifying. Watching the small, blue dragon get choked up over the concept of only living once stirred feelings in Justice he wouldn't be able to explain, but one thing was certain, it shook him up a bit.
"Man…" said Justice, as he raised both hands behind his head, crossing one leg over the other while standing. "Lucky!" He had said that last word in a tone that sounded a lot more like that of a schoolboy, envious of a classmate's new game rather than that of an older school-age boy, envious of a monster's practical immortality. Veemon looked up surprised, confused at his reaction
"I mean, technically nobody really knows what happens when humans die. But the general idea is that it feels the same way you felt before you were born. But…" Justice raised his voice somewhat, turning his head upwards. "…We ain't PROUD of it! But fuck it, that's the way it is, so I can't complain."
Veemon didn't know how to respond to that. His calm and carefree demeanor showed the dragon Digimon that there was more to this human than meets the eye. He scoffed at his comment in response.
"I guess I'll just have to make sure you don't die then," said Veemon.
"Right back at you, Vee."
"Vee?" Veemon questioned.
"Yeah, Vee. I think it's a cool nickname for you, don't you think?"
"Ehh, I give it a 6 out of 10, but it's a good one."
Justice and Veemon chuckled as they continued to chat. They sat down to rest after the battle. Austin walked over to Raptormon, who was still holding his arm. He leaned on the tree next to him and turned to him. Raptormon was staring intently at Justice and Veemon. He rolled his eyes at them.
"Why'd you do that," asked Austin.
"I just don't see the point of digivolving. Most digimon can do it, but not all are capable. My clan is one of the unlucky. I'm not sure what we did to deserve this, but I do know that it is entirely unfair. Every time I see a digivolution, I just shake my head and think about what I could be. This is one of the reasons I don't see why I'd be a chosen digimon. What use am I if I can only remain like this? I'd only be a burden."
Raptormon stared into the sky, holding a necklace. It looked to be the claw of some digimon.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up something that makes you feel bad. I assume that the necklace you have is significant to your situation?" Austin wasn't sure how Raptormon would react.
"This is a treasured item to me. It's a claw from the Tyrannomon that was once the leader of our clan. He was the only one of the Raptormon clan that was able to digivolve. He was revered as a hero, but he was killed defending the young clan members from intruders to our jungle sanctuary. He was my mentor, so I took this claw to keep as a memento of his heroism."
Raptormon clenched the claw in his hand. Austin placed his hand on his shoulder. He didn't know what to say. He just rubbed Raptormon's shoulder.
"I can see why you were hesitant to be my partner now," said Austin comfortingly. "But I don't care if you can't digivolve or whatever you called it. All I want is to have a cool partner like you."
"Thanks Austin, but I still don't know how to feel about this whole thing. I feel like you'd be better off with a digimon that can actually be useful."
"I think I'm fine with you Raptormon. As long as you can try to make it work between us."
"My earlier statement still stands. Show me what I want or I'm leaving."
"You got it, but you're going to stay at this point. You wouldn't have shared that much with me if you didn't feel comfortable around me."
Raptormon smiled at Austin. The two stared up at the sky contently. A noise caught the attention of the group. They looked up and noticed something in the trees. A closer look revealed two figures. One looked humanoid while the other seemed to be a digimon. As quick as they spotted them, the two disappeared into the thicket of branches. The two were left pondering about what they had just seen.