This time we're switching the point of view to Daisy. As you recall, the last chapter was a cliffhanger, with Mao activating his X-Vaccine data. Here's what happened with a quick show of what happened where Mao couldn't see, from the eye sockets of a very big cactus with boxing gloves.
Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you. And again, this chapter is from the point of view of Daisy the Togemon.
…
I threw a hard punch and knocked the Kuwagamon away before I rushed in and began punching much faster, increasing in speed. When I got to the point where I couldn't see my fists, I wished I could have smiled at that point, because it was faster than before.
"Mao, above you!" Scott called over the radio. I gave a mighty uppercut that sent the bug sprawling, and I looked up just in time to knock a second one around.
"Not today." I said. I took a few steps toward it as it landed and picked it up before I began beating it up. Unlike human boxing gloves, mine were a lot harder, like they were filled with lead shot, though they weren't.
"Get back here!" Scott called. I threw the bug into the other and looked up as Scott got into a fight with a Buraimon. As they traded blows, I had to look back to the two Kuwagamon. I felt pretty good about how I was pummeling them.
"You're going down." I said calmly. I walked up and began punching rapidly again. Unlike most Digimon's special attacks, I could use mine for a fairly prolonged period, because of how my attacks just needed me to throw faster punches, so I could just keep it going while using relatively little energy. Even then, it was more to keep my muscles from being fatigued than for damage. "Hold still!" I began punching the two in tandem, each one getting one fist. After a few minutes, I threw two very hard punches, throwing one aside while the other hit the nearby stone pillar, cracking its head. As it tried to recover, I hit it even harder, smashing it and deleting it. "Kay-oh!" I turned and blocked the other one, but to be honest, I was worried from the lack of gunshots. By the time I'd deleted the one, Mao should have put down at least the Buraimon.
"Daisy, how are you doing down there?" Mao asked suddenly. I gave the other one an uppercut as it tried to rush me.
"One bug's dead." I said. "The other two are in pain. Where are you?"
"Dick's Sporting Goods." He said. "I think." I brought both hands down on the Kuwagamon's head before punching it into the central area. "I'm under the counter, and that, Buraimon seems like, it's hunting me. It's really after me…"
"Merde!" Percy said angrily. I jumped down and landed as Harrigan was thrown back by a Kuwagamon while Lena climbed up its back and sliced at its wings with her claws. "Mao, Scotts hurt, and he had to break off! Get out of there before the bird hurts you." I went to look up, and I was immediately attacked by the Kuwagamon, pushed back into a wall where I couldn't punch back. Luckily my needles were keeping it away, but I wasn't going to last long with it so close. "Scott wants to blindside him, using you as a decoy…"
"That figures." Mao said. I felt trapped, but I managed to lean forward with enough force to throw the bug back. As it tried to move, it ran right into my fist. I threw a few punches, pushing it back while Harrigan battled the bug that had just thrown Lena into a nearby bush.
"Mao, that X-Vaccine data, it's going active." Arthur said. "Should we go for it?"
"Do it…" Mao said quietly. "Scott, I'm going to draw him away with the X-Vaccine. Be ready. I'm not sure what'll happen." I knocked the bug around for a few moments when suddenly a gunshot cracked the air, and the head of the Kuwagamon in front of me just disappeared, along with the Kuwagamon as it was digitized. I stepped back and looked up to see Mao, in the form he was in some time ago, when he'd been hurt.
"Good shot!" I called. He fired again, and I looked to see the other Kuwagamon disappearing. He hadn't even called out the name of the attack. I heard a yell and suddenly three more shots rang out. I looked to see him firing at the Buraimon, and one of the swords had shattered. He fired one last time, hitting it in the arm before the bird flew up and out of a shattered window. "Mao!" Before I could ask what he was doing, he fell over and landed in a kiosk as he returned to normal. I ran over as fast as I could manage, and Arthur was already there. Mao had landed in a stuffed animal kiosk. As I stepped up, Arthur pulled him out of it, and he looked like he was asleep. "Is he…"
"He's alive, but it took a lot out of him." He said. "I know he's alright, but, we'd better find something to, wake him up. I've got an idea." He stood up and walked toward the food court.
"You're going to get some ice to awaken him?" Percy asked. We all followed.
"No, something a lot easier." He said. "Mao loves beef, especially the smell. I see a, Burger King, so we'll see if there are any burgers ready…" I ducked under the low ceiling and followed until he set Mao down on the counter, so I nudged him a few times. "Don't worry… Here, this should do it." He walked over and unwrapped a large burger. "Double bacon cheeseburger. If this doesn't do it, we'll need a fresh burger from mom to do the job." He waved the burger under Mao's nose, and after a moment, it began twitching. He was sniffing at the burger. A few seconds later, he leaned up, making Arthur laugh as he reached for it.
"Be-e-e-eef…" Mao said tiredly. Arthur let him have the burger. As Mao opened his eyes, he stared at it before looking at us. "Why was I asleep in the middle of the food court?"
"Mao, what happened?" Arthur asked. "You told me to activate the X-vaccine, and you just, went silent, until you fired. I thought something went wrong." Mao stared for a moment.
"I, remember that…" He said quietly. "Then… Nothing. Total blank. I, kinda remember, being on a ledge, and then, nothing, again. Feels like I, hit something though." I slowly nudged him.
"You fell into a stuffed animal hut." I said. "We thought you were dead." He slowly lowered the burger, but looked at it.
"I know, what I said before, and though it stands…" Scott said. "I'm glad you killed the Kuwagamon. Even if Buraimon escaped, there's no way he was wild."
"Yeah…" Mao said. He sat up a little more. "Before the activation of the data, he flew off, but he said something about being told how powerful we were, said, Scott, was what he was told, but I was faster… He knew about us." I leaned in after a few moments of silence.
"Glad you're okay." I said. "Had me worried, again. Lucky, I don't give you a hug." He laughed. "If I were a Palmon or a Lilymon, I would." Everyone laughed.
"If you were a Lilymon, no offense, I'd try to worry you now and then." Arthur said. I laughed with the others.
"I believe I would as well, and as Arthur said, no offense." Percy added. We stopped laughing after a few moments, and Scott raised his hand slightly.
"I would merely ask for a hug now and then." He said. I slowly nudged him with my glove, but Mao patted my other one, making me look. I put my hand on his head and he laughed.
"Thanks guys." He said. "So uh, lunch?" I slowly nudged him off of the counter and he let out a joking surprised yelp, tossing the burger up, which I caught.
"You and food." Arthur said. "One of these days, you'll eat yourself into a food coma."
"Yeah, with any luck…" Mao said. "Hey… I found where they keep the toys."
"Ooh, lemme see!" Riley said. I dropped the burger and Mao yelped again.
"Special sauce!" He yelled. "My only weakness!"
"Mao, your 'only' weakness is my mother's cooking, action movies, and Sarah in a bikini." Arthur said. I laughed as Mao jumped up, a burger patty held in his mouth as he landed on the counter while Riley ran around.
"Yes, the toys!" She called. "Ooh, and I want, this one!"
"I'll leave some money and a note." Arthur said. Mao ate his burger while Arthur put a few on the counter. "So, who's hungry?"
"I think we should wait." Sarah said. "I want to try your mum's cookin'. All the talk about how good it is makes me really want to try it."
"This should be good for me." I said. I watched as Arthur unwrapped them, and I just pushed them onto one glove before dropping them into my mouth all at once. The others just laughed as I ate. "Mmm… Needs more ketchup…"
"And chips." Sarah said. Arthur held up a bag, and she laughed. "No, chips! You know, you call 'em fries."
…
I sat beside the empty table while the others talked. I was too big and had too much of an appetite to really eat with them. I mostly just wanted to enjoy the company.
"Hey, how are you holdin' up?" Mr. Rowe asked. I looked at him as he walked over. "You look a little, left out."
"I'm okay." I said. "Too big to eat without, eating you out of house and home." He laughed and sat down by me. "Nice to be here, though. Quiet…" He nodded.
"Yeah, that it is." He said. "Glad for that. Overseas… It's a mess, always loud. Gunshots after dark, shelling so often you could set your watch to 'em, and the occasional bomb going off. I got called in to protect people, barely slept most nights… Thank goodness I was able to get rest during the days or I'd be a mess right now." I nodded, mostly to show I was awake. Not having visible eyes made it difficult to tell if I was awake or not. "You know, I notice that, Ann has a little crush on my boy…" I laughed quietly as he looked over. "He's got the Rowe curse. All the males in the family have this, charisma, this, power, to draw attention from most girls about their age." He looked at me. "Don't let him get in too deep, too fast. Interfere now and then." I nodded.
"You got it." I said. I leaned in and lowered my voice as low as I could get it. "I'm more worried about Mao."
"That little blackout he had?" He asked. I nodded.
"He plays it off, but I know he's worried." I said quietly. "As lucky as he is, it isn't good for him. That power really hurts him. He won't say it, but I know."
"Sounds like you're fond of him." He said quietly.
"He's, strong." I said quietly. "Really strong. Way strong." He laughed. "Could give my dad a run for his money, and he's a Mega."
"Well, I think he's lucky to have a, uh, guardian, cactus." He said. We both laughed. "Come on, join us over here. I think Mao could use a friend to cheer him up. Look at him. Laughing, twirling his pistols… Yeah, he's hiding something… Then again, I think we're all hiding something, whether we know it or not." I stood up and walked over with him, and Ann checked her purse.
"You know what, we need a picture, of all of us." She said. She pulled out a camera and set it up. "Come on, group picture." Mrs. Rowe slowly took it and everyone gathered around me, even Mr. Rowe. As she set the timer, she knelt by the nearby folding table and gestured. We moved back, and she set it down, and ran over. When she turned, she adjusted Scott's hair. "Okay, cheese!"
"Cheese!" Everyone said.
"Fromage!" Percy called. We all laughed as the camera flashed. When Mrs. Rowe looked at the camera, she brought it over and showed it to all of us. "Ah, magnifique. It's perfect."
"I'll get copies of this, for all of us." Ann said. "I think we should take one of these again when you all Digivolve again, to show how much stronger you've all gotten." We all agreed, and she turned to me. "Daisy, I hope your eyes were open." I playfully pushed her a little.
"Always are." I said. They all laughed when Mao jumped onto the chair by the table.
"I have an idea." He said. We all looked at him. "Tomorrow, let's go back to headquarters, and talk to the chief. I'm supposed to Digivolve soon, right?"
"Yeah…" Arthur said.
"We spend a few days there, until I do, and let the lab guys get some scans." Mao said.
"Why?" Scott asked.
"So they can scan you all and maybe get an idea of how it all works." I said. "I mean, they've never scanned a Digimon naturally Digivolving before, right?" We all nodded. "They've got the artificial data, and they're trying to create Blue Cards that any Tamer with a D-Arc can use, using the artificial process as a basis for it. If they knew how natural Digivolution worked, maybe it'd help them with that, but also see how close other Digimon are to it."
"You know, that's a pretty good idea." Lena said. "It'd really help us figure out how the whole thing works, and maybe, help find a way to speed it up, or slow it down, or maybe, I don't know, negate it completely if we prefer staying, Rookies or Champions." I nodded, as did the others. "Mao, that's, actually a really great idea." Mao smiled a little.
"Well, it just hit me." He said. "All this time, naturally Digivolving has been, almost random. You never get to find out how close you are. Maybe knowing will help us grow stronger, somehow." He shrugged. "Never know."
"Well, unless it happens between now and the morning…" Arthur said. "I have no problems with it." We all agreed. "Just one thing. What if it doesn't tell them anything? Will we just, sit around and wait?"
"I don't know." Mao said. "Just a thought… And, Harrigan, he's probably close. Either you Digivolve in battle and you don't change back, or you do it so much you get used to it and you transform a while later, or it happens, who knows when." Mr. Rowe laughed as I reached over and put my glove on Mao's head. "Anyway, I mean, it's just an idea. Figured, we could help 'em out. They're comin' up with all of this cool stuff lately. If it helps make artificial Blue Cards, then, why not give 'em a few scans?" I sat down as the others walked over.
"So, they'd need like, a baseline." Arthur said. "They took that when we joined." Mao nodded. "If there's a difference in the areas they're looking for, maybe, they can gauge how close. That's, what you're thinking, right?"
"Yeah." Mao said. "Not my words, but, about what I was thinking. Hopefully it'll work properly. If not, we tried, right?"
…
I walked through the garden with a bright smile, turning and looking at all of the beautiful flowers and trees, while the sun hit me just right. They had special mirrors set up so that there was always light filtering in from all directions, warming me and keeping me comfortable. It was my 'bedroom'. Annabelle's parents were a little, odd, but familiar. The only difference was that it was less so than I was used to.
"I hope this room is like this all the time." I said. I sniffed a few times and smiled as I looked at a bunch of flowers. "Wow…" I closed my eyes and continued sniffing, when I heard footsteps.
"Is this room to your liking, young miss?" The butler asked. I nodded. "Very good. Dinner will be served shortly, and it has come to my attention that you are to be instructed in the use of the proper cutlery." I looked up at him and he set a small card table down, while two others put out a set of chairs on two sides. When they were done, he set down a large number of metal items, so I jumped onto the chair and looked at them. "It may take some time, but they are labeled in order of purpose. Study them, and when dinner is called, I will show you to your seat."
"Uh, thanks…" I said. "Is Annabelle going to sit next to me?"
"You will sit between Miss Annabelle and her mother." He said. "If I may say so…" I nodded after a second. "I am quite pleased that Miss Annabelle has made a new friend, and that you are to be a permanent guest of the family. It has been some time since Miss Annabelle has had any friends, and it is obvious she is quite fond of you already." I smiled. "I am quite certain that in due time, you will be seen as no less than the sister she has not yet had."
"I hope so." I said. "She's been really nice to me already." He nodded.
"That is her nature." He said. "Kind, almost to a fault, that any friends either are seen as family, or they become so gradually. Sadly, the few friends she has known were hiding behind a façade, trying to use her to gain social status, or money. As you merely wish to have a place to stay, and a friend, she will be quite pleased to allow you to live here, as a friend and companion." I nodded and looked at the forks, and slowly moved one over. "Oh, dear, I must be losing my touch… Yet, you knew where it went. Bravo."
"It just, felt like where it should have been." I said quietly. I looked past him and smiled, and he looked.
"Ah, Miss Annabelle, I was just instructing our new guest of proper cutlery usage." He said. She walked over and looked. "I seem to have accidentally misplaced the salad and fish forks. I blame myself for being somewhat excited." Annabelle giggled into her hand.
"I think we're all a little excited that I have a friend that will live with us." She said. "And, I think I have come up with a name. I was staring out of my window, when I was presented with a bouquet of flowers from, a suitor… And I realized, the name of the flower, was quite nice." She looked at me. "Would it be okay if I called you, Daisy?" I thought for a moment. "It's a very pretty flower, and some day, you will become a Lilymon, a very lovely plant fairy." I smiled.
"I like it." I said. "It sounds really nice."
"I shall inform your parents." The butler said. "If you will excuse me."
"Thank you." She said. He bowed before walking away, and Annabelle sat down. "Do you like the garden?" I nodded and looked around.
"I love it." I said. "It's so big, with so many beautiful flowers and trees…"
"They remain in bloom all year." She said. "Our greenhouse is mainly for the beauty aspect, but there are many things to eat, many fruits and vegetables, edible herbs and fungi… I hope, that isn't offensive, or scary."
"No, not really." I said. "I'm hardly edible." She giggled after a moment, and I laughed with her.