Okay, chapter five. I got more readers for the last chapter posted, but it didn't seem to last beyond Saturday. It's really disconcerting. Please, review, because I want to know if more than one person likes this story. I like knowing if and why people like my work, so I can grow as a writer. If I don't have a little help, my stories stay about the same. With your help, I can make better chapters, without, it takes much longer.
Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.
…
"Oh, my goodness, Arthur." His mother said. "You, became a Tamer? When did this happen?" Arthur moved his foot casually while I looked around the room.
"At school." He said. "He just, appeared out of nowhere. A computer screen flashed, and we didn't see him at first. He saw us though, and hid behind a trash can… I saw the tip of one of his ears." I walked into the living area and it was dark. I felt uneasy, but it was a new place, and I was now the partner of a human I had only just met. "He's cool though, really, polite. I didn't expect it, since… Well, you saw those Impmon that caused trouble the other week at the school."
"I hope you don't plan to do that here, mister." She said. I turned and looked at her. "I keep a clean house, and partner or not, you're not to pull any messy pranks around here." I nodded and held up my hand.
"I promise, I'm not like a normal Impmon." I said. "It's been my lifelong dream to be a sheriff, actually." I lowered my arm. "Pranks aren't exactly my thing." She smiled a little as I looked around. "And, you do a great job keeping this house clean. I'll help if you need me… For, low shelves and such." She laughed as Arthur rubbed his head.
"So, can I, keep him?" He asked. She looked at him. "I know he's not like a dog or anything, but, you know how you're always telling me to make friends. Digimon can be pretty close friends. Maybe, he could even help. You know he'd be great as a conversation starter."
"And I can even take part in them." I said, crossing my arms. He laughed.
"Well, as long as you keep an eye on him." She said after a minute. "And don't think that I'll let you just run off to every wild Digimon that shows up to fight them. If you're in the area, maybe, and only if he's either with you or if I can get him to you." She looked at me for a second before walking over and kneeling, holding out her right hand. "I'm Mara. Do you have a name?" I slowly took her hand and shook my head.
"No, not yet at least." I said. "For now… Just call me Sheriff." She laughed.
"Arthur should think of something soon." She said. She looked back at him. "Right?" He nodded.
"Yeah, no problem." He said. She stood up and walked toward the kitchen.
"Well, I'm glad I decided to make a little extra for dinner tonight." She said. She looked over as she opened a pot. "Do Digimon eat?" I nodded.
"Yes." I said. "Actually, in the Digital World, meat grows on plants, so there's lots of food. I'm, actually surprised that it doesn't in this world." She laughed and Arthur snickered.
"Well, you'll be glad to know we still have meat." She said. "And lots of other delicious things." I sniffed and walked over to the kitchen as Arthur walked in.
"Where's Kelly?" He asked.
"She went to sleep at her friend's house tonight." She said. "So it's… Still just three of us tonight." They laughed as I jumped up to the counter and sniffed, and she suddenly held a spoon in front of me with a ball of meat on it. "How does this taste?" I slowly reached up and grabbed it and looked at it. "Spaghetti and meatballs with marinara, made from scratch."
"Everything you make is made from scratch, mom." Arthur said. She laughed as I put the meatball in my mouth and my eyes went wide. I closed them as I ate it, savoring it. "I'd say he likes it."
"Well, Sheriff?" She asked with a southern drawl. "How is it?" I swallowed it, almost reluctantly from how good it was.
"It's better than anything I've ever had." I said. I looked over at her as she smiled.
"Good." She said. She looked at the pot and moved the spoon a few times before closing it. "Just another minute and the spaghetti should be perfect." I climbed up and she laughed as I looked at another pot. She held out a pad to me and I looked at her. "Open it with this, away from you. It's going to be very hot." I slowly took the pad and used it to open the pot, a great deal of steam coming out of it as I looked in at, a lot of noodles. "I spoke too soon." I put the lid back and she suddenly picked me up. I struggled at first but she set me down on a chair by the table, next to Arthur. "How hungry are you?" I went to speak when my stomach growled loudly. "I'll take that as 'starving'." She laughed as Arthur got up and went to the cupboards, pulling out glasses and plates.
"How long has it been since you've eaten, Sheriff?" He asked. I looked at the ceiling as I thought.
"This world's time, or mine?" I asked. They laughed.
"Your world." He said. "Add ours to it if you want. About, ten, eleven hours?" I mouthed quietly before shrugging.
"About four days." I said. They stopped and looked at me.
"Do you, not have to eat often?" Mara asked.
"No…" I said. "I just, didn't have time to eat very often. I lived in the Dark Area. There's not a lot of food there normally, and I was always on the move. You'd be surprised how many bad Digimon just want to delete everyone they see to grow stronger." Arthur slowly set the table as I looked at the chair for a second. I looked around the kitchen as he sat down, and I saw a large book by the refrigerator. I jumped down and walked over.
"Where are you going?" Arthur asked. I grabbed the book and held it over my head as I walked back over to the chair. "Oh, good idea." I set it down and looked at it and then at my legs for a second before pushing the chair in a little. As I jumped up, Mara had put a good deal of the spaghetti on the plate, and several meatballs in a generous amount of sauce. I licked my lips as I looked at it. The one meatball was great, and this smelled fantastic. "Okay, once mom's set, we eat." I nodded and licked my lips again as she sat down.
"Dig in." She said. I went to grab a meatball but stopped myself. I looked to the side and saw the fork, so I grabbed it as Arthur began eating fairly quickly. "Arthur, you're going to choke if you keep eating like that." I put the fork in and leaned forward a little, pulling the pasta toward me, and I ate it slowly, smiling as I closed my eyes. "Look, Sheriff is starving, hasn't eaten in four days, and he's taking his time." He laughed quietly as I swallowed, opening my eyes.
"I always try to savor and appreciate what I eat." I said. "And just devouring food this good would be a waste for all the effort and care you put into it." She smiled.
"Well, I think we're going to get along quite nicely." She said.
"You know, I think I might have a name for you." Arthur said. I looked at him after I put more of the spaghetti in my mouth. "You're like a little demon, right?" I nodded. "And, you want to get stronger, right?" I nodded again. "Like, demon lord level strong." I swallowed the spaghetti.
"Yeah." I said. "I want to be a sheriff, so I have to be as strong as possible to protect everyone I can." He smirked.
"Well, I'll call you Mao." He said. I blinked.
"Demon lord." I said. He nodded.
"Digimon appear most often in Japan, so, why not?" He said. "If the shoe fits, wear it." I nodded and smiled.
"I like it." I said. "Mao…" I laughed. "I really like it." I looked at the plate in front of me. "Not quite as much as this spaghetti, but I like it." They laughed as I put the fork in a meatball and ate it.
…
"Mao, wake up buddy." Arthur said. I rolled over and suddenly fell to the ground with a surprised yell. I looked around as he started laughing. "Mao, we stayed at the headquarters, remember?" I stood up and licked my lips.
"All I remember, is Mara's delicious, spaghetti and meatballs." I said tiredly. He laughed louder and I jumped up, grabbing the bunk, and reaching forward and grabbing my guns. After dropping down again I holstered them and looked up. "I wonder what they serve for breakfast." He shrugged as he turned and opened the door.
"Let's find out." He said. We walked out and toward the cafeteria when Percy walked out somewhat quickly, Scott flying out and landing on his shoulder. "What's up?"
"We're on." He said quickly.
"Wait, what?" Arthur asked.
"Bio-Emerging Digimon at the mall." He said. "Two Agumon and a very angry Greymon." He walked past as Arthur and I turned. "There are many more in other parts, but those are our specific targets, over by the sporting goods right now."
"So, the agency vehicle?" Arthur asked quickly. Percy nodded as I jumped up and grabbed his free shoulder and climbed up. "I'll pull it around to the front." He ran ahead as Percy sped up. I put my earpiece on as Arthur put his in, and I flicked mine on.
"This should be good to see what we can do together." Percy said. "Scott will Digivolve right away and ride in the passenger seat while we take the back." I nodded as he pushed the front door open and walked quickly. He pulled out the D-arc as I jumped down, and he quickly slid the card through. Scott jumped up quickly and began glowing.
"Patamon, Digivolve to!" He called. I whistled as he was enveloped in an egg shaped barrier of white swirling code. It vanished and he landed, spinning his new staff. "Angemon." He looked down at me and I smirked.
"Lookin' tall." I said. He laughed.
"Just be careful." He said. "I know you can handle the Greymon, but I want you to deal with the Agumon first." I nodded as a loud engine roared and we looked as a large black van with dark tinted windows stopped. It rolled down and revealed Arthur.
"This is our means of transportation?" Percy asked. "Incroyable. Plenty of room, but is it going to get us there before they cause damage?" I ran over and jumped up to the window and climbed in.
"If we ask questions, we won't know." I called. I jumped into the back and saw a car seat. "What's this?"
"That's for you." Arthur said. "Because of your size…" I sighed and got in it slowly as Percy and Scott got in. I put the belts over and crossed my arms.
"One word." I said warningly. "One word and I listen to that little voice that tells me to prank you." Arthur laughed as Percy carefully put his seatbelt on. Arthur quickly got us onto the road and Scott looked over at me, so I pointed at him. "You owe me for the blanket burrito so can it." He laughed.
"I was going to say, once you can become a Champion, that seat is going out the window." He said. I put my hand to my chin.
"I like the way you think." I said. Everyone laughed as I rubbed my hands together. "All the more important, eh?"
"Hey Mao, when I was getting the van, I checked the Optimizer." Arthur said. I looked up. "It said you can use the Boom Bubble in another way. You can focus it to a spent cartridge and fire a lot of hot air. It's not quite your Badda-Boom shot, but if that's not working, maybe air will." I nodded as I began thinking, and I thought of the child seat.
"I can catapult this out of the window then." I said. "Great thinking." Everyone laughed more as he turned on the siren.
"Good thing I'm allowed to run red lights." He said. "But, don't tell my mom. She'd kill me."
…
I walked into the food court, where they said the Agumon went, and were joined by a few Gizamon. I looked around slowly when my earpiece made a sound. I pressed the button and pulled the mouthpiece down where it would work.
"Mao, can you hear me?" Arthur asked.
"Loud and clear." I said quietly. "I've got no sign of them, but I've got an idea."
"Fire off a few rounds?" He suggested.
"No." I said. "That new attack, Boom…" I stopped and thought. "You know what, it's my attack, why shouldn't I rename it?"
"What do you want to call it?" He asked. "Bear in mind you should hurry and find the wild Digimon." I shrugged.
"Dark Bubble." I said. "It's dark purple, right?"
"Sure." He said. "Hey, can you lead an Agumon here? They've got some cool attacks. Maybe you can use them." I shrugged again. "Okay, how do you want to play this?"
"Dark Bubble to draw them out, and I'll use your gun to see if I can deal with it." I said. "I might even use both. Double Dark Rounds in two different calibers might be interesting." He laughed. "But let's go with a fast approach, but still give me a little power if I have to throw a kick."
"Got it." He said. "Done." I felt the rush and drew the pistols, and I began inhaling. "Fire away partner."
"Dark Bubble!" I called as I spat the attack. It cleared a few tables without breaking them, and the Agumon and Gizamon quickly jumped out. I charged energy to the handgun and my revolver. Four Gizamon, two Agumon. 'Piece of cake.' They started running, and one Agumon had flames in his mouth. "Dark Rounds!" I fired repeatedly, hitting the Gizamon first, rapidly, and I only fired one from Baffle. They all fell quickly, save the Agumon. Somehow it had ducked away, just barely avoiding it. I then pointed at it with Baffle and fired three times. As expected, it didn't avoid them this time, and fell quickly to two hits to the chest and one to the head. I quickly holstered them as the Agumon started stepping back, but I put my finger to my eyelid and pulled it down, sticking my tongue out at it and making a silly sound. It growled as I turned and ran. "Handbag!" I ran forward quickly and dove over a fountain where Arthur had hidden behind. I looked at him as he turned his earpiece off. "Ready?" He nodded as I stood up, drew the pistols, and pointed them at it as he got up and pointed the Optimizer at it. It stopped instantly as the light covered it, and two beeps were heard.
"Got it!" He said quickly.
"Bye bye!" I called. I fired once from each gun and hit it in the head and chest. As it fell I looked to see the Greymon's fireballs just barely missing Scott, and hitting the ceiling. "Backup?"
"Backup." He said. "Two moves. Pepper Breath and Spirit Fire. Think you can use them?" I thought as we started running toward the area where Scott was dodging more flames.
"I'll try." I said. "Let's go with the Tyrannomon plan." I skidded at the edge where Percy was looking over at the tough dragon. I ejected the magazine and went to reach for one when I thought about the Shadow Reload. 'Not the best time, but…' I held out my hand. "Shadow Reload." I waited for a second as I focused, and a magazine for the pistol appeared as a purple outline before filling in. "Jackpot." I put it in and pulled out Baffle.
"You can reload a different gun?" Percy asked.
"Apparently…" I said. "Shadow Reload." I emptied Baffle's spent rounds and reloaded it, dropping the extras. "Scott."
"Kind of busy." He said as he dodged a flame. "What is it?"
"I'm going to drop in on him." I said. "I'll shoot him, and you fly in and finish him off."
"Better idea." He said. "I'll use my Angel Rod to knock him off balance, and you get him in the head. My Hand of Faith isn't going to cut it this time." He spun his staff and deflected some flames as I jumped up and looked down Baffle's barrel, taking aim at the head of the large Greymon. It was huge, even by the standards I knew. "Here we go!" He flew in and clocked the dragon, putting the staff in its mouth and moving onto its back. I looked and searched for a shot that wouldn't put Scott in danger as he held on. "Take the shot, Mao!"
'Dang it, this better not hit him.' I thought. It was like time had stopped for just a second, and I went to pull the trigger, but Scott was thrown off. It looked up and I jumped down as it shot a huge burst of flame up at me. I fell for a second, somewhat off balance, my back to the ground as my arms flailed. "Oh crap!" I landed in a pool of water and stayed down for a second, feeling a bit of pain in my back from the landing. I coughed under the water and saw the Greymon as it moved over the water and opened its mouth as I reached for Baffle, which now rested beside me. Suddenly it stopped, seemingly in pain. As it started looking away, I grabbed Baffle and pointed at it, the barrel still underwater. 'Take this!' I fired until Baffle was empty, each shot hitting away from where I was aiming due to the refraction of the water, but three hit the shoulder and chest, two hit the neck, and the last hit the back of its head, killing it. I got up and treaded water, coughing and sputtering as I shook my head. Scott walked over with his staff and held it out to me, since I was at the middle. I grabbed it and he pulled me forward, and I put Baffle on the edge as he laughed. "Thanks for stunning it. It was about to, dip down and, eat me or something."
"It wasn't me." He said. I looked at him and he looked down at someone, so I looked down to see a Palmon, standing somewhat behind his leg. "It was this little flower, hiding in the bushes with vines set to paralyze the brute." She slowly stepped out and smiled. I got up and sat on the edge as she smiled a little more.
"Thank you." I said. I dropped down and held out my hand. "I owe you one." She took my hand and smiled.
"I'm Daisy." She said. "My Tamer, told me to wait when they attacked. I'm glad you guys got here when you did." I shook her hand when Scott suddenly recoiled.
"Ow." He said. I looked up as he waved his hand. "What was that? Your revolver just, shocked me."
"He works for my hand, or the hand of someone I…" I said, trailing off. I jumped and quickly picked Baffle up and laughed. "Others can use him, but I have to hand him to them for him to accept them. I didn't do it before because, I didn't think you'd want to use him." I held him out and he laughed as he took it for a second before handing it back to me.
"A little warning next time." He said. Daisy laughed as she turned.
"I've gotta get back to my Tamer." She said. "I'll, see you around?"
"Before you go, I'm Mao." I said. She smiled as Scott turned and bowed.
"And I'm Scott." He said. "Hopefully, we will see you again." She giggled and jogged away as Scott picked me up. "Alright then, back to our Tamers." He flew up and landed, putting me down as I emptied Baffle.
"That was just dumb luck." Arthur said. "Oh, the Palmon." He raised the Optimizer and pressed the button, but it made the second type of beep. "Nothing?"
"Maybe I have to be at least a little compatible." I said. "Breathing fire, works with the lungs I guess. Same with the bubble."
"Stands to reason." Percy said. "Or somehow use energy with your weapon." I nodded and cleared my throat.
"Shadow Reload." I said. "Man, I hate having to call the attack names to use them."
"I agree." Scott said. I slowly reloaded. "It makes the element of surprise nonexistent." I spun the last bullet and put it in before closing and holstering Baffle.
"I think we should try to find a way to stop it." I said. "It might just get us hurt if we keep doing it."
"I agree." He said.