I don't own digimon.
Story 34
Finning for a Light
Ken Ichijouji wasn't sure what to expect as he stepped out on the other side of the digi-gate.
"Ken, suu~ēden no mītobōru o kau tsumoridesu ka? (Ken, are we going to get some Swedish meatballs?)" Wormmon announced and got a chuckle from his partner. Had he said something weird? Or was Ken just not in the mood for meatballs?
"Wāmumon, anata wa suu~ēden no koto o kangaete imasu. Watashitachi wa Finrando ni imasu. (Wormmon, you're thinking of Sweden. We're in Finland.)" Ken answered and got a look from the insect digimon. Part of him was a touch sad that he wasn't going to get to have any meatballs, but he was glad that Ken took the time to correct him on that fact. Would've looked mighty silly in the middle of this very serious situation. Looking around, the small 'internet room' for guests to look up information was by no means the place he expected them to end up at. But when the message went out, it fell to him and Ken to answer. Regardless of the massive mountain of homework threatening to implode on the pair with the amount of things going on.
"Good morning, Mr Ichijouji." a voice called out, a figure stepping into the small room. Dressed in a blue police uniform, a blue ribbon decorated with a strange sword and a single stripe hung over the left shoulder. Held up with a single silver button, it stuck out from the rest of the uniform. "I hope that you don't mind me speaking to you in english."
Ken and Wormmon shook their heads. While they both would have preferred to speak in their native languages, they were a long way from home and such formalities as finding a translator skilled in both Finnish and Japanese. Especially on short notice.
"That works for us." Ken answered and watched the officer exit the room. Following right behind, the pair found themselves standing at the edge of a massive hotel lobby. Outside, the sun continued to beat down with reckless abandon. Doing his best to ignore it, Ken's gaze returned to the officer. "I trust that this is the first murder that you've had in some time?"
The officer nodded and headed to the far end of the lobby. Following right behind, the chosen could already feel a variety of gazes locked onto him and Wormmon. Sticking out like a sore thumb, they were most definitely not in Odaiba anymore. A couple thousand kilometers away. He had taken the time to tell his parents, just in case. Dang near anything could occur when you're so far from home. Better safe than sorry.
"Correct. The only thing that comes close was an incident where someone tried to pass off a stabbing as an Eosmon attack." the officer answered and headed to the left. Waiting for a moment for Ken to catch up, he was met with a confused look from Wormmon. Considering the size of an Eosmon, there was no way that someone could really think they could pass off a stabbing like that… right? The math didn't work out. Unless he did one of the calculations wrong in his head.
"I would assume that officers were not fooled?" Ken added and got a nod from the officer. Turning back ahead, a sense of unease washed over the chosen and his digimon partner. The only thing that came close to right now was that time when he confronted Okiawa while the Daemon Corps attacked Japan. Hard to believe that was only eight years ago. It honestly felt closer to double that in his mind. Not that he could put a finger on why that was. Nor did he care enough to spend any more time on wild speculation. Especially the sort that he didn't have anything concrete to go off.
"Is there something wrong, Ken?" Wormmon whispered and Ken shook his head. Looking in the direction of the hallway ahead, he let out a deep breath. They needed to be ready for the awful display that awaited them.
"Anything else that you can tell us about this case?" Ken inquired, the officer turning around. Letting out a sigh, he took a moment to get his thoughts in order. The details provided were awful, but there was no way this could somehow make this worse.
"The woman's partner was found with a businessman. We aren't completely sure how it got into his room." the officer explained and headed off. Ken and Wormmon continued to follow. Further unease crawled deeper into the pair, the sight of blue and white tape entering their vision. The word 'POLIISI' in dark blue letters was proudly emblazoned on it. Slowing down, Ken fished his D-3 out of his pockets. By no means the best form of identification, it was all he had to prove his identity. Something to ask Koshiro about when he got back. He probably had an idea or two that could work. But the chosen let that thought fade away and turned his attention to the body. A woman, she was slumped right against the wall. Staring right at the hotel room door opposite of the wall, the door prevented anyone from seeing inside. Not that there was a real need to own it up. Dressed in relatively normal clothes, an extreme amount of dried blood covered a majority of the attire. Even her brunette hair had not remained untouched in her attempt to end the one life she had. Ken's gaze had already moved away from the body and over to the message she had left behind. Stepping across with the officer, a million different thoughts bounced across his head.
Menoa, fére me píso sto Neverland
"We're not sure why she left that as her message." the officer explained, Ken taking the opportunity to hand Wormmon a pad of paper and a pencil. Going to town on it, Ken let out a sigh. While he had no firsthand experience of Neverland, everything he had heard from the survivors of that place was less than ideal. The closest thing that came to mind was that time in the strange dimension where he got his ass kicked by dream digimon for the crimes he commited.
"If I had to take a guess, she was one of the few who wished to remain - even in the face of Neverland's destruction." Ken announced and got a look from the officer. Odd of an explanation that it was, what else could fit here? She was somehow super entranced by Peter Pan and wanted to somehow enter his world? No, that would be silly. This woman had to know the difference. Ken hoped that was it.
"Haluaisiko joku oikeasti palata sinne? (Someone would actually want to go back there?)" a voice announced and Anton poked his head out across the police tape. Trying his hardest to not trip and end up back in the crime scene, that's easier said than done.
"As far we can tell, yes." the officer answered, Anton looking behind himself. Lumosmon floated behind him, occasionally flashing yellow. In turn, they got a pat to the top of the lantern in return. Turning back to meet Ken and the officer's gazes, he regained his composure. "Anton, this is one of the chosen children- Ken Ichijouji. Mr Ichijouji, this is Anton. He was the one to find the woman and her digimon partner."
Ken waved his hand in Anton's direction. Getting a wave back, his attention turned to the officer. Whispering something under his breath, he received a nod back in return.
"I'll be serving as translator for Anton, if you're fine with that." the officer explained, getting a thumbs-up from Ken. Turning back to Anton, he waited a moment for the businessman to compose himself. That, and to make sure that Lumosmon wasn't blinding him or any nearby officers. Once he was certain on that front, Anton split his gaze between the pair.
"Löysin Lumosmonin huoneestani pari tuntia sitten. (I found Lumosmon in my room a couple hours ago.)" Anton explained, the officer doing his best to translate. Wormmon wrote down the information, his gaze shifting to Lumosmon. Floating back and forth, they would occasionally flash bright colors. Blocking it out, he returned back to writing.
"I was here on a business trip. Do you think it might have something to do with that?" Anton continued and Ken shook his head. Even with the neverland angle, there was still a chance that someone was trying to make this look like a suicide when in fact it was a murder. Would be an odd hook.
"We don't know enough yet to make a decision yet. Speaking of which, what do you do?" Ken inquired and Lumosmon lit up. Flying about a couple times, they took a moment to stare at
"Toimistotyöntekijä. (Office employee.)" Anton answered and looked in the direction of the door. So much for his presentation. Even if there hadn't been a murder, Lumosmon's antics would've mostly likely kept him up far longer than necessary. Which in turn, leaves him with nowhere close to enough sleep to even be in a state to actually be presenting. Hopefully his boss would be aware of such a delay. If the police had alerted them about this weird mess he was in. "Teemme pääasiassa logistiikkatyötä. Ei oikeastaan mitään huippuluokkaa. (We mostly do logistic work. Nothing really top of the line.)"
Waiting a moment for the officer to translate, Ken took a moment to put his D-3 away. Not much use in continuing to hold it out like some kind of badge. No, there didn't look to be any other officers here. What could they possibly be dealing with here that would take their attention away from the ca-
Before Ken could even finish that thought, a ball of energy coursed across the crime scene. Looking further down the hall, one could make out a woman dressed in a blue dress. Locks of fluffy blondish brown hair hung down to her neck, met by blackish blue eyes. A set of dark blue mary janes covered her feet, tapping against
"I'll be taking that body, thank you very much." the woman announced, Ken's D-3 coming back out. Of course this happened the moment he put his D-3 away. Turning to Wormmon, his partner handed back the pad and pencil. Slipping the objects into his pockets, Ken threw Wormmon in the direction of the woman. Effortlessly passing right over the crime scene, corrections did need to be made in order to avoid slamming directly into Anton and Lumosmon.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!"Wormmon announced, a green cocoon of light forming around his body. Anton looked away, doing his best to not be blinded. Was this a normal occurrence for one of the chosen? Their lives couldn't be all digimon battles and trying their best to contain the damages done by their partner. Better yet, did having Lumosmon make him their partner. He didn't have this woman's digivice. Nor had anything in the way of identification been found. Beyond the photograph of her and Lumosmon. She had to have a name. But neither Ken, the officer or the woman attacking had confirmed that. Perhaps it would be best to just watch and see
Wormmon digivolve to… Stingmon!
Large green arms covered in bulky black armor pierced through the cocoon, a head coming right after. Red lenses looked towards the woman, the sound of wings rapidly buzzing about echoed across the hotel walls. The rest of the cocoon disappeared and revealed a green body and legs with black armor. Didn't explain the strange guns on his hands.
Mūnshūtā (Moon Shooter)!
Pointing a hand at the woman, a spike shot out in her direction. Met by an orb, both projectiles shattered. A small cloud of dust shot up, but disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
"Do you really think that I would go down that easily?" the woman announced, raising a cutlass up in Stingmon's direction. Charging for the insect digimon, Stingmon ran towards his opponent. What the heck was this woman thinking? They were right in the middle of an investigation. Could she wait a bit longer before trying to jump them. Add in Anton and Lumosmon, this could easily turn into a recipe for disaster. But he pushed that thought away. He just needed to hold this person off long enough to figure out what the heck their deal was and defeat them. An absolute cinch. Stingmon hoped it would be one.
"Why do you want her body that badly?" Stingmon announced and was met with an eye roll from the woman. Clenching her fist, heat gathered around it. Punching the air, a cone of flames shot out.
"So she can join the other lost children in Neverland." the woman countered, getting met with a slash from one of Stingmon's spikes. Punching the blade off, she tried to bite down into the insect digimon's arm.
Mūnshūtā (Moon Shooter)!
Aiming with his free hand, Stingmon did his best to shoot another spike at the woman. But all he managed to accomplish was shooting a spike into the hallway ceiling.
"Aw… is this really the power of the chosen children? How path-" the woman started, only for Lumosmon to smash their entire body into her head. Falling backwards, Stingmon's opponent landed on the floor. Getting a few more headbutts in for good measure, Lumosmon floated back over to Anton as the woman shattered into digital data.
"I guess they didn't take too kindly to their former partner being taken away?" the officer suggested as Ken slipped a set of rubber gloves. D-3 going away, he bent down to meet the body. The search that follows was perhaps the hardest challenge the chosen child had faced. This mystery woman had to have a digivice on her. But where? Fishing about the pockets, he felt his hand grab something solid. Lifting the appendage out, a bloody digivice appeared. Holding it in the direction of the officer, it was promptly bagged up. "Anything else?
The chosen shook his head and stared back at the woman. He couldn't comprehend why exactly someone would go through this. And yet, he could understand perfectly from his own past experiences. This was most definitely not the first, nor would it be the last.
Notes:
Our first official appearance of an actual canon character. It feels kind of odd to say that. Up next, something special to celebrate 2500 views and Halloween. At the same time.